The Vatican supports efforts to build stronger and sustainable essential health care services on the way toward achieving universal health coverage, a Vatican official said.

The president of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend announced that in consultation with other school officials, he has decided to cover 19th-century murals in a prominent campus building that depict the life and exploration of Christopher Columbus.

"Let us all pray for the conversion of heart for those who celebrate this tragic moment in the history of our state."

The president of China's state-sanctioned bishops' conference has pledged to work with the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association to develop the Sinicization of religion in the communist nation.

The U.S. Senate late Jan. 16 unanimously adopted a resolution "to reaffirm religious liberty and condemn religious tests for federal officials."

"No one ever thought about depriving Caritas of these funds," Raggi told L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, Jan. 14. "The diocesan agency plays an important role for many needy and for the city of Rome, which wants to continue to be the capital of welcome for the weakest."

The Diocese of Pittsburgh in a statement emailed to Catholic News Service Jan. 11 confirmed that then-Bishop Wuerl informed the papal nuncio, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, in 2004 of the allegation against the former cardinal.

The news comes as other countries in Asia are starting to waken to the threat posed by mountains of plastic left at refuse dumps or dumped at sea.

The budget bill try to end the partial government shutdown includes a provision to repeal the "Mexico City Policy" that prohibits U.S. funding of foreign nongovernmental organizations that perform or promote abortion.

Managua Auxiliary Bishop Silvio Jose Baez reiterated his calls for dialogue and respecting human dignity in Nicaragua, where the president has crushed protests, closed critical media outlets and persecuted anyone -- including priests -- publicly opposing his administration.