Magazine

" Just Asking Re the Signs of the Times item “Church Membership Trends Downward” (9/12): Total births from 2000 to 2009 in the United States did not fall, but rose slightly during the first decade of the century to 4,131,019 from 4,058,814. But the statistics are not broken down accordin

In  2010, 15.1 percent of Americans—46.2 million people, an all-time high—were living in poverty.

Deb Word finds shelter for homeless gay and lesbian teens who have been shunned by their own parents.

" Poverty   The American Dream: Out of Reach? Jon Proctor knows the road to self-sufficiency is a long one. It is even longer when the weekly paycheck totals a little more than $200. “We’re trying to get back on our feet,” the 55-year-old divorced father of six said, explaini

The U.S. bishops have asked preists to address “the terrible toll the current economic turmoil is taking on families and communities.”

The heads of the Christian churches in Jerusalem, including the Latin patriarch, Fouad Twal, reiterated their sense that “a two-state solution serves the cause of peace and justice."

A delegation of Christian and Muslim leaders hope that their visit to Iran will improve relations between the two squabbling countries.