ROME – In connection with the sainthood cause of Pope John Paul II, a graphologist and a psychiatrist were called as expert witnesses in the investigation into the presumed healing of a nun suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the postulator of Pope John Paul’s cause, said the French diocese where the nun lives...Read More

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI and close to 150 top prelates – members of the College of Cardinals and the 24 churchmen who were about to join their ranks – met for a day of prayer and reflection on topics ranging from religious freedom to the clerical sex abuse crisis.Read More

VATICAN CITY – On the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq, three U.S. Catholic peace activists paid a discreet but significant visit to the Vatican. The officers of the Indiana-based Catholic Peace Fellowship were in Rome in mid-March to promote the issue of conscientious objection to war. They didn’t know what kind of reception...Read More

After her husband of 55 years died a few years ago, Marie Cornely tried to live by herself in her South Carolina home. She soon realized it was just too much for her.Read More

MOSCOW – Harvard University will return a collection of historic bells to the Russian Orthodox Church more than seven decades after they were seized and sold by the regime of Josef Stalin. “These bells are not only a witness, but also a victim of history, a symbol of the independence, greatness and identity of the...Read More

In what Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta called “a milestone on the ecumenical journey,” the U.S. Catholic bishops affirmed an agreement to recognize baptisms in four Protestant church communities.Read More

WASHINGTON – Scripture readings were interspersed with testimonies from a U.S. soldier, Iraqis and the mother of a slain National Guard sergeant at a crowded prayer vigil March 16 that kicked off weekend anti-war protests in Washington and around the country. With nearly 3,000 people packed into the Episcopal Church’s National Cathedral and hundreds more...Read More

SCHILLER PARK, Ill. – The effort to enact a comprehensive reform of immigration law is going to be a whole lot harder with the new Congress, according to panelists at a national Justice for Immigrants gathering in Schiller Park Nov. 3-8.Read More