Salesian Father Tom Uzhunnalil, who was released on Sept. 12 after having been kidnapped 18 months ago in Yemen, is anointed by Pope Francis during a Sept. 13 meeting at the Vatican. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano)

News, Politics & Society

Freed Indian Salesian priest meets Pope Francis

by Junno Arocho Esteves - Catholic News Service September 13, 2017

Catholic Priest Tom Uzhunnalil met with Pope Francis a day after his release from captivity.

Salesian Father Tom Uzhunnalil, pictured in an undated photo, was kidnapped in Yemen March 4, 2016, in an attack in which four Missionaries of Charity were killed. (CNS photo/courtesy of Salesians)

Faith, Vatican Dispatch

Indian priest kidnapped in Yemen in 2016 has been freed

by Gerard O’Connell September 12, 2017

The government of Oman assisted in finding and rescuing Salesian Father Tom Uzhunnalil.

20170201T0844-7771-CNS-IRAQ-MOSUL-CHRISTIANS

News, Politics & Society

Syriac Catholic patriarch says West has ‘betrayed’ Christian minorities

by Denis Grasska - Catholic News Service August 15, 2017

He said the West ignores Syrian and Iraqi Christians because they are neither oil-rich nor a terrorist threat.

20170731T1020-10826-CNS-KNIGHTS-MALTA-REFUGEES

Faith, News

Knights of Malta: Rescuing refugees stranded at sea is a ‘mission’

by Junno Arocho Esteves - Catholic News Service July 31, 2017

ROME (CNS)—While European leaders continue to debate how to handle the influx of migrants, the head of the Order of Malta’s Italian relief corps said that search and rescue operations are a human obligation. Those who believe that rescuing countless refugees who escape war, hunger and persecution only encourages more people to make the treacherous […]

20170727T1025-10759-CNS-LEBANON-MARONITE-YOUTH-DAYS

Faith, News

‘We are bridge builders’: Maronite Catholic youth gather in Lebanon

by Doreen Abi Raad - Catholic News Service July 28, 2017

Nearly 500 young people from other countries joined 1,000 Maronite Catholic youths from Lebanon for World Maronite Youth Days.

20170724T0951-0037-CNS-POPE-ANGELUS-JERUSALEM

Faith, News

Pope Francis prays for dialogue, reconciliation in Jerusalem after uptick in violence

by Cindy Wooden - Catholic News Service July 24, 2017

Pope Francis called on Muslims and Jews in the Holy Land to “moderation and dialogue” as tensions continued around a key site in Jerusalem that is sacred to members of both faiths.

By DFID - UK Department for International Development - UNHCR's Aoife McDonnell, in the Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan

News, Politics & Society

Muslim refugees to U.S. are declining as Christians overtake them

by Madeleine Buckley - Religion News Service July 13, 2017

Out of all the refugees who arrived between President Trump’s inauguration and June 30, about half were Christians and 38 percent were Muslims, according to data released Wednesday (July 12).