WASHINGTON – Figures released Aug. 26 by the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that, while the number of Americans in poverty last year rose over 2006 levels, the percentage increase was not statistically significant.Read More

NEW DELHI – Catholic education institutions across India planned to close Aug. 29 to protest the continuing violence against Christians that has left at least 10 people dead in India’s eastern Orissa state.Read More

DENVER – It was a rocky start to the Democratic National Convention’s first “Faith in Action” interfaith gathering at the Colorado Convention Center’s Wells Fargo Theater Aug. 24.Read More

WASHINGTON – The rights of doctors, nurses and other medical personnel who do not want to be involved in abortion and sterilization procedures for religious or moral reasons would get a boost under new rules proposed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Read More

Erin Munchel and Kendall Middlecamp have had their share of milestones over the years, but as they sat on the floor of a noisy school gymnasium Aug. 25, the eighth graders realized it was their final opening day of school at St. Joseph of Fullerton.Read More

Moving testimonies from a formerly incarcerated woman, a 70-year-old woman whose mobile home park is closing, an immigrant trying to make a better life for himself in the U.S. and a young person trying to help her peers improve their communities were the main feature of the annual Catholic Campaign for Human Development luncheon Aug....Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – Catholics for the Common Good, the California Catholic Conference, the Knights of Columbus and other Catholic groups have formed CatholicsForProtectMarriage.com to help recruit Catholic volunteers and contributors for Proposition 8, which would overturn the California Supreme Court’s ruling that same-sex couples have the right to designate their unions as marriages.Read More

VATICAN CITY – Exaggerated nationalism that unleashes bloodshed and Cold War attitudes of suspicion must be a thing of the past, Pope Benedict XVI said.Read More