VATICAN CITY – Learning to pray with the Scriptures, improving homilies and ensuring an accurate interpretation of Bible passages were the major themes of formal presentations, open discussion and small-group work Oct. 7-8 at the world Synod of Bishops on the Bible.Read More

WASHINGTON – Five years after the U.S. bishops passed their landmark policies to prevent child sex abuse, they can look back at successes in institutionalizing safeguards and look ahead to challenges in restoring church credibility. But the basic question is: Are children safer now? “Absolutely yes,” answers Patricia O’Donnell Ewers, chairwoman of the National Review...Read More

WASHINGTON – On the opening day of its fall term Oct. 6, the Supreme Court declined to hear four cases dealing with abortion or abortion-related protest efforts.Read More

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of the controversial head of Argentina’s military diocese, who submitted his resignation at age 75 in accordance with canon law. There was no immediate word on who would succeed Bishop Antonio Baseotto, who clashed with the government of President Nestor Kirchner two years ago....Read More

MIAMI – People who look after the church’s money say they are worried but not panicked about the nation’s current financial woes.Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – Describing what he sees as an “electronic tsunami of pornography,” Archbishop George H. Niederauer of San Francisco told a Utah-based anti-pornography organization that pornography “debases the priceless worth and dignity of each human being and (God’s) gift of human sexuality.” While pornography “is not a new challenge,” the archbishop told members of...Read More

Karen Hilseberg drives a 12-year-old Chevy Caprice with a dent in the back. She couldn’t afford a house, so she lives with her three children in one her mother owns. She and her kids forego brand-name clothes, the latest gadgets and, most years, a summer vacation.Read More

VATICAN CITY – Despite claims there are still secrets connected to the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, Pope Benedict XVI and his secretary of state said the entire message has been published and has been interpreted accurately. The Marian apparitions to three children in Fatima, Portugal, began 90 years ago May 13, and Pope...Read More