Communist authorities in China are cracking down on the seven priests of the Diocese of Heilongjiang who opposed the ordination of Father Joseph Yue Fusheng to the episcopate.

On the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the patroness of fishermen, a Spanish bishop expressed solidarity with fishermen and their families amid the economic crisis affecting their industry.

Melinda Gates, the wife of billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates, has launched a massive campaign to expand artificial contraception and abortion across the globe in direct opposition to the Catholic faith she claims as her own. One of the world’s wealthiest women, Gates paired with Andrew Mitchell, the United Kingdom’s secretary for the Department for International Development (DfID), to raise $4 billion in order to extend “affordable, life-saving contraceptive services to an additional 120 million women in the world’s poorest countries by 2020.”

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Last Wednesday was the United Nation’s World Population Day. Predictably the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) marked it by calling for more funds for family planning. Wednesday also was the closing day of a London Summit organized by the British government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, together with UNFPA and other partners.

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More than 18 million people in West Africa's Sahel region don't have enough food. A bad harvest last year and high food prices have caused a widespread food crisis across Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Chad, Senegal, parts of Nigeria and Gambia.

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Both evacuees and residents of the Colorado Springs area are in “utter shock and disbelief” at the major fire threatening the outskirts of the city, a local Catholic Charities official says. Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”

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Visit this link to download a Bureau of Statistics Census comparison of the top 20 religions in Australia, including the top 5 in Capital Cities and their growth from 2006 to 2011.

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A decision last week by President Barack Obama to defer deportation for all young people eligible under the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act was welcomed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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With political leaders from around the world gathering in Rio de Janeiro to discuss the future of the planet, Catholic leaders said governments must not forget to put people at the forefront of their policies. At a press conference June 17, the Vatican's apostolic nuncio and permanent observer to the United Nations, Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, reiterated the Holy See's position that people must remain at the center of policies in all aspects of sustainable development.

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As world leaders, CEOs and a number of representatives of civil society take part in the 2-day Rio+20 United Nations sustainable development summit, a 'People’s Forum for Social and Environmental Justice' has been set up to remind these world leaders of what is really important! The Forum is made up of environmental activists, indigenous peoples, aid organizations, development agencies and religious communities, coming together to identify solutions to the multiple and rising crises we face as humans on planet earth.

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