The Catholic aid agency Caritas appealed on Sept. 7 for food and clothing for the victims of torrential rains in Guatemala.

The increase in poverty rates in 2009 was the second-largest year-to-year uptick since 2004.

Donating over $700 million a year to international aid agencies, Australia places first in the World Giving Index.

The controversy surrounding a bishop in a diocese outside of Beijing illustrates the problems facing Chinese Catholic communities.

A spokesman for Cardinal Godfried Danneels said the transcript of a meeting in April with a victim of clerical sexual abuse has been taken out of context.

New York's proposed Islamic center could become a powerful symbol of tolerance or a recruiting tool for Al Qaeda.