There are lies, damn lies, statistics and now Congressional Budget Office estimates.

While most of the world has already ratified the U N 39 s Ottawa Convention banning the use of land mines the United States stands among the hold-outs with Russia Iran China Israel Vietnam Egypt and a collection of other mostly Arab and Middle and South East Asian states A decision may fina

As some African nations continue or contemplate a judicial and legislative clampdown on gay and lesbian people the Southern Cross South Africa 39 s Catholic weekly took an editorial stand recently ldquo It would require a very peculiar reading of the Gospel to locate Jesus anywhere else but at

Bureaucratic overreach, a fundamental misunderstanding of the interplay of canon law with secular authority, a headline-grabbing “food fight”: these are just some of the criticisms of a recent broadside from a United Nations committee reviewing the Vatican’s global record on the pr

Too little too late nbsp In an effort to quot define conclusively the posture of the congregation with respect to the behavior of Fr Marcial Maciel and his role as founder quot the nbsp Legion of Christ issued an apology today to Maciel 39 s legion of victims Many have argued that the order

A report highly critical nbsp of the Holy See 39 s response to the global crisis of clerical sexual abuse from the nbsp United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child nbsp was perhaps not a complete surprise giving the tone of the interrogation Vatican officials were treated to during their t

Pete Seeger Mayflower American World War II vet Harvard dropout folk archivist union agitator ldquo unreliable rdquo Communist Party member Weaver husband father and grandfather a banjo picker passed away last night Seeger of course will be remembered for his incomparable contribution

Negotiators in Ethiopia reach plan to end violence and release detainees.

The Associated Press is reporting tonight that a document it has obtained indicates that nbsp Pope Benedict XVI defrocked nearly 400 priests over just two years for sexually molesting children According to the report the statistics for 2011 and 2012 quot show a dramatic increase over the 171 priest

Picking his words with some care during a memorial service in front of Israel rsquo s Parliament building in Jerusalem Vice President Joseph R Biden Jr said today of Israel rsquo s former prime minister Ariel Sharon ldquo Like all historic leaders all real leaders he had a North Star that gui