“For the first time in the history of humanity, the number of hungry persons has reached 1 billion,” Jacques Diouf told the synod.

Progress has been reported on drafting immigration legislation, and promised administrative reviews of some of the most harshly criticized aspects of federal immigration policies.

Europe’s Catholic bishops commemorated the end of the continent’s division between East and West with warnings of a new crisis of values.

More than 1,000 students from the District of Columbia assembled in Washington to urge members of Congress to support an endangered federal voucher program.

In the first week of its new term, the court heard a case concerning a cross displayed on public land.

The Vatican’s foreign affairs minister has called for the establishment of a “nuclear-free zone” in the Middle East.