L'Osservatore Romano hailed the new U.S.-Russia disarmament treaty on April 7 as a "significant and courageous step toward international security"
Vatican authorities emphasized that it was the pope who, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, pushed for harsher measures against abusers.
A Vatican commission expressed the hope that bishops and priests deprived of freedom would be allowed to resume their pastoral ministry.
Two pending federal lawsuits seek to pull the Vatican into U.S. courts over claims that it is liable for damages to victims of sexual abuse by priests
Catholic officials condemned the slayings of 10 young people in the state of Durango and suspended long-running Holy Week missionary programs.
Drenching rains already are turning tent camps outside Port-au-Prince into muddy quagmires.