The $1.1 trillion federal spending bill approved by the House of Representatives Dec. 11 and pending in the Senate avoided a repeat of last year's government shutdown and largely keeps in place social services spending, especially programs benefiting low-income families.Beyond the current fiscal

As a 17-year-old convert to Christianity living in Pakistan, Ali (not his real name) was stabbed in the chest and left for dead by Muslims upset he had rejected their faith.When he fled to England, his assailants tracked him down and threatened him.A chance meeting with an Anglican priest led to tem

During the second year of his pontificate, Pope Francis was still feeling the love, and not just from Catholics or those from his homeland of Argentina.A Pew Research Center study released Dec. 11 showed that the pope has broad support across much of the world. Sixty percent of the 43 nations polled

Dressed in green T-shirts and clutching statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe covered in plastic, a group of pilgrims from Guerrero prayed, posed for photos in front of the basilica dedicated to the national patroness, set out on a march to their hometown in the hills south of Mexico City.They described

Latin American church leaders apologized for historical complicity with colonial atrocities in the Amazon and called for a church with an "Amazonian face" in a pastoral letter issued as negotiators from around the world met for a climate summit here."The exploitation of the Amazon thr

Leaders must 'overcome distrust; promote a culture of solidarity'