A relief worker who recently returned from Pakistan's Swat Valley said the civilians displaced by a government crackdown face "horrible conditions."
Only 48 residents of the Gaza Stripabout half as many as originally reportedwere able to attend the papal Mass in Bethlehem.
Several rulings and policy announcements are effectively rolling back immigration policies initiated by the George W. Bush administration.
The 2,600-page report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse "throws light on a dark period of the past."
"We're very hopeful that significant health reform is going to happen," said Jeff Tieman of the Catholic Health Association.
Catholic social justice organizations, petitioned President Obama to support the formation of an independent commission on the use of torture.
At a press conference in Washington, D.C., two Congressmen urged Obama to forgo rescinding the Bush administration's conscience-protection regulation.