NEW YORK – When Pope Benedict XVI returns to the Vatican, he’ll be toting a gift not generally associated with an 81-year-old pontiff. He’ll take home the “official papal skateboard,” a gift from the youths of New York.Read More

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - A Mercy nun and a laywoman who co-founded a program that is widely credited for reducing Philadelphia’s homeless population by half have been named the winners of the 2011 Laetare Medal given by the University of Notre Dame.Read More

MEXICO CITY – A proposal by the Mexican bishops to change the country’s constitution to allow more clergy participation in political and social activities has drawn criticism, but church officials are downplaying its potential impact.Read More

VATICAN CITY – A call to arms – to take up the weapons of the rosary and prayer – rang out at a recent international conference on exorcism in Rome.Read More

WASHINGTON – Pope Benedict XVI will find a spiritual nation when he visits the United States in April, according to a new national survey commissioned by the Knights of Columbus.Read More

Readers were well served by George Weigel and Tony Magliano side by side (CR, March 24). I agree with Weigel’s assessment of the reactionary behavior of teachers’ unions blocking school vouchers for selfish reasons, to preserve their own empire, but he goes far beyond to attack all public unions and place the blame for the...Read More

JERUSALEM – The political situation in the Holy Land has become deadlocked and new means must be found to break the cycle of violence, said Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem in his Easter homily March 23.Read More

A Heritage Edition of the “Saint John’s Bible,” a fine art reproduction of a handwritten text, will be on display at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore during an evening of prayer and reflection April 5, from 7 to 9 p.m., courtesy of Loyola University...Read More