Pakistan's decision to shut down a federal ministry charged with safeguarding the rights of the nation's religious minorities has renewed fears that conditions for minorities will worsen.

Pope Benedict XVI blamed persistent world hunger on selfish and profit-driven economic models.

More than 1,400 people have been killed since the regime of Bashar al-Assad began its brutal clampdown on dissent in Syria.

“If the military objective is really regime change, that’s hard to justify in Catholic approaches to humanitarian intervention,” said one ethicist.

Deacon Bernard V. Nojadera has been named to head the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection.

Pope Benedict XVI prayed that the world's Gypsies no longer be subjected to prejudice, oppression and rejection.