The U.N. refugee agency said on Aug. 19 that some 30,000 Syrians had streamed into northern Iraq and thousands more were waiting to enter. “This new exodus from Syria is among the largest we have so far seen during the conflict, which is now into its third year,” said Dan McNorton, a U.N
Cardinal Albert Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo, Sri Lanka, expressed “shock and distress,” accusing the Sri Lankan military of storming a Catholic church and firing on those inside. They had sought refuge in the church after a protest over the pollution of a local water source was violently
The number of permanent deacons in the Catholic Church in the United States continues to rise, according to a national survey conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, at Georgetown University. Nationally there are more than 18,000 deacons, about 3,000 of them retired. Many per