Inés San Martín

Chilean bishops say new abortion bill ‘offends the conscience’
- Global Church
- August 22, 2017
Chile’s Constitutional Court on Monday upheld a measure that would end the country’s absolute ban on abortions. The measure, hailed as a victory by President Michelle Bachelet, was criticized by the bishops, who’ve committed themselves to redoubling their efforts to accompany women who “live their pregnancies in extreme situations.”
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Vatican’s top diplomat says climate on Russia trip is ‘very constructive’
- Global Church
- August 22, 2017
Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State and effectively the pope’s top aide, is in Russia this week for meetings with both Patriarch Kirill of Mosow, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and President Vladimir Putin. Though there are some thorny issues between Rome and Moscow, including Ukraine, Parolin described the climate on day one as “positive.”
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Pope calls for an end to ‘collective and arbitrary’ expulsion of migrants
- Vatican
- August 21, 2017
In a message for the Vatican-sponsored “World Day of Migrants and Refugees,” set for Jan. 14, Pope Francis called the “lamentable situation” of migrants and refugees fleeing war, persecution, natural disasters and poverty a “sign of the times,” and called for nations to rise up to the challenge of “Welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating migrants and refugees.”
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Former Belgian PM challenges Pope Francis on euthanasia ban for religious hospitals
- Global Church
- August 14, 2017
Herman Van Rompuy, who has formerly served as the President of the European Council and Prime Minister of Belgium, has tweeted a message implying Pope Francis cannot tell a Belgian religious order to stop performing euthanasia at its medical clinics. Van Rompuy serves on the board of the Brothers of Charity Group.
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Pope spurns horoscopes and fortune tellers, urges faith instead
- Vatican
- August 13, 2017
Reflecting on Sunday’s Gospel at his address before his weekly Angelus prayer, Pope Francis said that those who “consult the horoscopes and fortune tellers,” instead of clinging to the word of the Lord, “begin to sink.” He also called on the Virgin Mary to intercede to help the faithful “stay on the boat of the Church” avoiding the temptation of “amusing” yet insecure boats of ideologies.
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Facing North Korean nuclear threat, Guam Catholics urged to ‘look to God’
- Global Church
- August 11, 2017
Following days of back-and-forth threats between President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, the Archdiocese of Agana issued a statement asking the island’s residents to stay “calm and trust that the security of our island is in good hands” facing a North Korean threat to test-fire nuclear missiles nearby.
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