The plan would cede control over financial, human resources and governance functions to professional laity.

The Roman Catholic Church in Mexico called on the country's government Tuesday to modify the legal code and do away with statutes of limitations for sexual abuse of minors.

The ruling comes in a case filed by Dr. Roger Kligler, a retired physician from Cape Cod who has advanced prostate cancer, and Dr. Alan Steinbach, who treats terminally ill patients.

The bishops said they welcomed the minister's willingness to revise and enrich the content of the program, on the condition that "this will not be done to the detriment of the notions of religious culture."

China has blasted a report from Human Rights Watch that accused it of constructing a surveillance state at home while seeking to silence critics abroad.

U.S. Sens. Benjamin Cardin and Christopher Van Hollen, both Maryland Democrats, joined Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore and other local faith leaders to call for increased federal funding to strengthen security at religious sites amid a recent rise in anti-Semitic attacks.