MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. – Called in prayer a “dark act done under the cover of night,” the execution of convicted murderer David Leon Woods was carried out in the early hours of May 4. Woods, 42, had been sentenced to death 22 years earlier for the stabbing death of a family friend, Juan Placencia, during...Read More

VATICAN CITY – God constantly tries to enter into dialogue with the people he created – speaking through creation and even through silence, but mainly in the church through the Bible and through his son Jesus Christ, Pope Benedict XVI said.Read More

VATICAN CITY – Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said religious leaders have an obligation to God to begin healing the wounds in Catholic-Muslim relations, including those caused by Pope Benedict XVI’s September remarks about Islam. “Meeting the pope cannot heal all these wounds, but at least we are making an effort to begin,” said Khatami,...Read More

A wise person once said: “All of us grow up knowing that we are going to die. And none of us believe it!” What a powerful statement.Read More

MURINGOOR, India – Police have filed criminal charges against 10 top officials of a popular Catholic retreat center in southern India. The accused include two Vincentian priests and a nun. The charges against the Divine Retreat Center officials were filed April 30 at the direction of Kerala state’s High Court, which ordered a probe of...Read More

WASHINGTON – Human dignity can be defended by fighting poverty, said the leaders of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development as they prepared for the program’s 2010 annual collection, which will be taken up in most parishes Nov. 20-21.Read More

WASHINGTON – Results of a survey released April 30 show that the average age of the 475 priests expected to be ordained in the United States this year is 35 and one-third of this year’s new priests were born in another country, primarily Vietnam, Mexico, Poland or the Philippines. The national study of the ordination...Read More

When 17-year-old John Carroll School senior Robert Darin Owens Jr., known simply as “D.J.” to friends, teachers and teammates, endured the sudden death of his father a little over a year ago, football became his mainstay.Read More