Even though today's modern tools and technologies are hardly human, the Pontifical Academy for Life is zeroing in on the world of robots and machines powered by artificial intelligence.

Women who worked in Ireland's "Magdalene laundries" but were denied compensation under the state's Magdalene Restorative Justice program have won their long-running battle to have their applications reassessed.

In a letter distributed to the bishops at the beginning of their Jan. 2-8 retreat, Pope Francis said he was convinced their response to the "sins and crimes" of abuse and "the efforts made to deny or conceal them" must be found through "heartfelt, prayerful and collective listening to the word of God and to the pain of our people."

The editor of the "Woman-Church-World" supplement to the Vatican newspaper "L'Osservatore Romano" argued in the January 2, 2019 edition that "the sacrifices of women" are used to "reinforce the power of those who already have it." The editor, Lucetta Scaraffia, wrote about how the Catholic Church should include women in leadership and decision-making capacities.

The Associated Press reports on the shocking abuse of women religious in India, going back decades.

Some of Egypt's Coptic Christians are deliberating whether they should change the date of their celebration of Christmas to align with the western date of December 25th, as a sign of global Christian unity.