Testifying before the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, Vatican representatives acknowledged the horror of sexual abuse by members of the clergy and, under sometimes intense questioning, insisted the Vatican was serious about protecting children.Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican observ

The U.S. public shows little appetite for making the spending cuts often discussed as part of a “grand bargain” on the federal budget, according to a national survey by the Pew Research Center conducted in December 2013. The survey found that majorities say it is more important to mainta

The Gospel cannot be proclaimed “with inquisitorial beatings of condemnation. No, the Gospel is preached gently, with fraternity and love,” with an open heart “always longing” for God, like that of St. Peter Faber, Pope Francis told 350 fellow Jesuits at the Church of the Ges

Just a few days before news emerged that the city of Falluja in Iraq’s Anbar Province had fallen into Al Qaeda hands on Jan. 3, the Web site Iraqbodycount.com released its report on the annual death toll in Iraq. Its researchers found that 9,500 civilians died in violence in Iraq in 2013, the

Fides, the Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies, reports that 22 pastoral care workers were killed worldwide in 2013, almost double the number who were killed the year before. For the fifth consecutive year, Latin America had the highest number of such deaths. In 2013, 19 priests,

United Nations peacekeepers and officials struggled to contain two ongoing crises in Africa as the New Year began. Hastily arranged peace talks to end the sudden conflict in South Sudan began in Ethiopia as the world’s newest nation sank deeper into a de facto civil war. Meanwhile, in the neig