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Vatican

Pope Francis honours persecuted Middle East Christians

On the feast of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr, Pope Francis paid tribute to Christians in the Middle East who have clung to their faith during persecution by Islamist…

Iraq

Iraq: Christmas services held in areas recently retaken from ISIL control

Iraqi Christians gathered for church services in Qaraqosh and Bashiqa, near Mosul in Niveneh province, for church services on 25 December.

World News

Bethlehem celebrates Christmas

Tourists from around the world join locals to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem, the town where Christians say Jesus was born.

Vatican

Pope Francis says Christmas "taken hostage" by materialism at Christmas Mass

Pope Francis has given his fourth Christmas Mass from St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

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World News

Christmas Eve crowds flock to Bethlehem

Christian pilgrims from around the world have been gathering this Christmas Eve in Bethlehem – revered as the birthplace of Jesus.

World

No Comment 2016 in review: religious spectacles

These ceremonies are a far cry from Sunday service, with everything from Ice plunging pilgrimages in St Petersburg to flagellation in the Phillipines.

Iraq

Iraq: Christmas service held in Bartella, recently liberated from ISIL

Bartella: Christmas after ISIL Hundreds of Iraqi Christians gathered in Bartella, near Mosul, for a Christmas Eve service – the first since this area was retaken from the Islamic State group (ISIL) in

Vatican

Pope spotted popping out for new shoes

It’s not everyday that you bump into the pope buying shoes, but that is exactly what happened to astonished customers in one pharmacy in Rome on Tuesday, when the pontiff picked up a pair near the Hol

Vatican

Pope Francis turns 80

Pope Francis has celebrated his 80th birthday with a mass and a gluten-free cake made by a pastry chef in Rome.

No Comment

Pope hopes his birthday is not jinxed

Pope Francis jokes early birthday greetings may bring him bad luck Pope Francis, responded to thousands of people cheering “Happy Birthday” on Wednesday (December 14) by joking that doing it early may

Egypt

Cairo attack: 25 dead, dozens wounded in Coptic cathedral bombing

A bombing at Cairo’s largest Coptic cathedral has killed at least 25 people and wounded nearly 50 others.

Egypt

Explosion near Cairo's Coptic Cathedral kills dozens

An explosion near Cairo’s Coptic cathedral has killed at least 25 people and more than 30 injured, the country’s health ministry has said.

Nigeria

Church collapse in Nigeria kills at least 60

At least 60 people have been killed in Uyo, in southern Nigeria, after a church roof fell in.

Cinema

Silence - a Martin Scorsese film and a premier for the Pope

It is a tale of faith under torture, of two Jesuit missionaries journeying to Japan in the seventeenth century in search of their missing mentor.

Netherlands

Dutch parliament backs partial ban on burqas

Lawmakers in the lower house of the Dutch parliament have backed a partial ban on “face-covering clothing”, including Islamic veils and robes such as the burqa and…

World News

What is the difference between the Orthodox and Catholic churches?

The biggest difference between the two churches is the status of the Roman Catholic Pope

France

France: woman killed in retirement home attack near Montpellier

A woman has been killed after a man burst into a retirement home for African missionaries near Montpellier in southern France.

No Comment

Mariachis mark the Feast of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians

Hundreds of Mexican mariachis celebrated on Tuesday the day of the patron saint of music, Saint Cecilia.

Vatican

Abortion still 'grave sin, ending innocent life' - Pope Francis

Pope Francis has restated that “abortion is a grave sin, since it puts an end to an innocent life” but “there is no sin that God’s mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart seek

Vatican

Forgiving abortion: Pope Francis extends power to all Roman Catholic priests

Pope Francis grants all Roman Catholic priests the power to forgive abortion, but the Church maintains the act of aborting remains a sin.