Pope’s New Encyclical, ‘Spe Salvi,’ Addresses Modern Crisis of Hope In an encyclical on Christian hope, Pope Benedict XVI said that without faith in God, humanity lies at the mercy of ideologies that can lead to “the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice.&#8221

Stem cell breakthrough, new bishops in China, Oregon abuse settlement

Vatican Diplomat Questions Relations With Israel With new problems over visas for foreign priests and the long, ongoing negotiations needed to resolve the tax status of Catholic institutions in Israel, the Vaticans former ambassador to that country said, To be frank, relations between the Catholic

Bishops issue forceful statement on Iraq; Mary Ann Glendon to the Vatican

Women Foundation Heads Meet With Vatican OfficialsA group of U.S. and European Catholic lay women representing their family foundations traveled to Rome last month to discuss the role of women in the church with leading Vatican officials. Representatives of the Amaturo Family Foundation, the Mary J.

Conscientious Objector to Nazis Beatified in Austria A Vatican cardinal beatified Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer who was beheaded in 1943 after he refused to fight in Hitler’s army. Presiding over the beatification Mass in Linz, Austria, Oct. 26, Cardinal José Saraiva Ma