Around the world: Church makes ‘seismic shift,’ war on ISIS continues
ISIS held its place in Canadian headlines but shared the spotlight with a recent report on the Catholic Church.
By Marielle Torrefranca, for the International Reporting Bureau at Humber College
The militant group ISIS continued to dominate world headlines, as evidenced in today’s Toronto Star and the CBC website. But this morning, the Vatican made waves with a report about its support for homosexuals.
The National Post had a colourful, three-panel photo above the fold, showcasing the three facets of family issues at the core of the Vatican report: homosexuality, marriage and contraception. Reaction from gay rights groups was put on the forefront, with U.S. LGBT rights leader Chad Griffin hailing the report as “a light in the darkness.”
The story continued with a chart highlighting the stance of bishops on the issue, while conservative opponents, some of whom denounced the report as “a betrayal,” had their say in a separate section.
The Post pushed its ISIS story back to A9, while the Star put the jihadist group front and centre. Just under the front-page fold, an image of a Kurdish woman welcoming a U.S.-led airstrike was featured with a throw to the inside. The Star used an Associated Press report on the unfolding negotiations for more U.S. anti-ISIS activity at a major Turkish airbase.
CBC staff correspondents Margaret Evans and Derek Stoffel reporting from Iraq took a behind-the-scenes look, with a report entitled “Life in the shadow of ISIS: ‘We are afraid to speak.’” Here, the story was about what had not been said. The CBC story featured a particular family and soldiers, as they told of their fears (or lack of) and their need for outside help. The story ended with the welcoming reaction by a Kurdish security guard upon seeing a Canadian passport.
The Globe and Mail ran the Vatican story on its front page with a large picture of Pope Francis and a throw to the inside. Global News featured two stories on Ebola on the top of its world section. CTV News led its world section with a story on Turkish citizens fearing the ISIS.
