Global

KHARTOUM, Sudan -- Like the early Christians who were challenged by social pressures and political forces, Sudan's Catholics face modern-day challenges that can best be met by "putting Christ at the center of their life," the bishops of Sudan said.

They also said called upon their collaborators in various ministries to initiate a period of spiritual renewal, strengthen the spirit of cooperation, communion and mutual support, share resources and personnel in an effort to better serve the Sudanese people.

The July 16 statement from Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako of Khartoum, Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Adwok Kur of Khartoum and Coadjutor Bishop Michael Didi Mangoria of El-Obeid followed Sudan's partition into two nations as South Sudan became the world's newest country a week earlier.

The bishops urged a peaceful outcome to the recent violence in Sudan's South Kordofan state. Witnesses said a series of attacks by government troops were aimed at the ethnic Nuba people around Kadugli, South Kordofan's capital. Other attacks occurred in Abyei, home primarily to members of the Dinka Ngok tribe, supporters of the government of Southern Sudan.

The global community has greeted the world’s newest nation with acclaim, joy, caution -- and not a few worries.

The Republic of South Sudan formally came into being July 9, amid celebrations throughout the world and as words of hope and encouragement poured in from global leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama.

DUBLIN -- Ireland's foreign minister summoned the country's papal nuncio and demanded that the Vatican give a formal response to the Cloyne Report into the mishandling of clerical abuse.

The July 14 meeting came just a day after a judicial commission accused the Vatican of being "entirely unhelpful" to Irish bishops seeking to implement robust abuse policies.

BERLIN -- A German appeals court has upheld the conviction of a traditionalist bishop for denying the Holocaust.

On July 11, the court ruled against British Bishop Richard Williamson, a member of the Society of St. Pius X, who in a 2009 TV interview said that the Holocaust was exaggerated and that no Jews died in Nazi gas chambers.

The interview was aired by a Swedish TV network the same day the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI had lifted the excommunication of Bishop Williamson and three other of the society's bishops in an effort to reconcile with the traditionalist group.

The pope later repudiated Bishop Williamson's remarks, saying he had been unaware of the bishop's views on the Holocaust. The pope met with Jewish leaders at the time to calm tensions over the incident.

Additionally, the Vatican told Bishop Williamson that he would not be welcomed into full communion in the church unless he disavowed his remarks about the Holocaust and publicly apologized. To date, Vatican officials have said, he has not met that condition.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- The bishop of Belfast appealed for Catholic and Protestant residents to prove to the world they can live together in peace after fresh sectarian violence flared during the region's contentious Protestant marching season.

Bishop Noel Treanor of Down and Connor appealed to both sides to show restraint and respect toward police after 22 police officers were injured July 11.

"I ask all who attend parades or protests in the days ahead to avoid provocation," he said in a statement July 12.

He urged local residents to ensure that "events are not manipulated by destructive influences from outside the communities where parades take place."

Police have expressed concern that fringe elements opposed to the 1998 Good Friday peace accord might be orchestrating communal strife.

On July 12, the traditional "Orangeman's day," Loyalist demonstrations commemorate the 1690 defeat of the Catholic King James II by the Protestant Prince William of Orange that definitively installed Protestantism as the religion of the British monarchy.