Archbishop Denis Hart, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has welcomed the appointment by the Holy Father, Pope Francis, of Fr. Antoine Tarabay O.L.M. (Lebanese Maronite Order) as Bishop of the Diocese of St. Maroun (Maronites) in Australia.

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Kidnapped, lost and forgotten: On the 9th of February 2013, 27-year-old Father Michael Kayal from Aleppo, Syria, was abducted by Islamic extremist rebels. Two months later he is still missing, yet the world remains silent.

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The thought he would one day have to eat a fellow human was what drove one Chongjin resident to escape from the nightmare state - to Australia - in a story so incredible it's almost made for TV.

The 8-year-old boy killed in the explosions at the Boston Marathon has been identified as Martin Richard, The Boston Globe reported.

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Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell is one of eight senior churchmen appointed by Pope Francis to review the Roman Curia, the governing body of the Catholic Church.

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The British Ambassador to the Holy See, Nigel Baker, says the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who died this week will go down in history as somebody who alongside giants like Pope John Paul II helped to push over the totalitarian regimes in Eastern Europe. Ambassador Baker spoke to Vatican Radio’s Susy Hodges about Baroness Thatcher’s greatest legacy as a politician and also about her Christian values.

On the 9th of April 2013 Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., sent a telegram on behalf of the Holy Father to Mr. David Cameron, prime minister of the United Kingdom, on the death of the Baroness Margaret Thatcher who governed the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990.

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In January of 2010, Grant Desme shocked the baseball world by announcing his retirement from the game. Only 23 at the time, Desme had recently been named the 2009 Arizona Fall League MVP and was on the verge of playing in the majors. Despite his athletic success, the former center fielder knew he was called to something greater.

The father of a boy with special needs, whose iconic hug from Pope Francis has captured the world's attention, says that the Pope in that instant held “all people” with disabilities.

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Dozens of priests, seminarians and lay Catholics celebrated a mass in memory of Fr. K.J. Thomas this morning, the rector of the seminary in Bangalore (Karnataka) murdered yesterday morning at dawn. Meanwhile, the police continue to investigate a murder described as "brutal, terrible and senseless" by Msgr. Bernard Moras, Archbishop of Bangalore, speaking to AsiaNews. In the coming hours the priest's body will be transported in Ootacamund, his native diocese, where the funeral will take place. The local bishop will communicate the date as soon as it has been decided.