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JERUSALEM, May 11 -- Pope Benedict XVI made a solemn visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial on Monday, saying that the memory of those massacred during World War II serves as "a cry raised against every act of injustice and violence."

"They lost their lives, but they will never lose their names. These are indelibly etched in the hearts of their loved ones, their surviving fellow prisoners and all those determined never to allow such an atrocity to disgrace mankind agai

Pope Benedict XVI was publicly criticised today for not going far enough in his condemnation of the Holocaust, on his arrival in Israel for a week's pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Within moments of attending a remembrance service at Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial, he came under fire for not apologising for the Catholic church's wartime conduct.

After landing in Tel Aviv, Benedict delivered a speech calling for the creation of a Palestinian "homeland", but

Pope Benedict XVI urged Christians in the Middle East to hold on to their faith and traditions at an open-air Mass attended by 50,000 worshippers.
He told them to work with other religions to enrich their daily lives and counter violent ideologies. “Be faithful to your roots,” he said yesterday in his homily at Amman’s largest football stadium.

“The Catholic community here is deeply tou

Your Beatitudes,
Your Excellencies,
Dear Friends,

I am very happy to be here with you this afternoon, and to greet each of you and your family members, wherever they may be. I thank His Beatitude Patriarch Fouad Twal for his kind words of welcome and in a special way I wish to acknowledge the presence among us of Bishop Selim Sayegh, whose vision and labours for this Centre, together with those of His Beatitude Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah, are today honored through th

AMMAN -- Pope Benedict visited a mosque on Saturday in another attempt to mend fences with Islam after a 2006 speech caused offence, and urged Christians and Muslims to jointly defend religion from political manipulation.

Speaking at the modern King Hussein bin Talal Mosque in Amman, he struck a note of harmony and shared purpose between t

A new survey from the Pew Center Forum on Religion & Public Life claims that Catholics are more likely than the general population to favor the use of torture against suspected terrorists.

The survey of 742 American adults asked whether the use of torture can often, sometimes, rarely or never be justified. About 19 percent of white non-Hispanic Catholics said they believed that the use of torture against suspected terrorists can often be justified, while 32 percent sai

Urges Religion Teachers to Be Examples of Faith

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Learning religion at school is far from an interference in one's freedom, and is rather an example of mutual respect, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this Saturday when he received in audience Italian religion teachers, accompanied by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian episcopal conference.

The teach

Vatican City, Apr 27, 2009 / 10:29 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI's trip to the Holy Land is now just over a week away, and as it approaches, the Vatican is seeking to bolster ties with Muslim nations in the region.

The Pope's trip will begin with a visit to Jordan on May 8, followed by a trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

This past Friday, Benedict XVI received the secretary general of the League

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican on Friday denounced the criticisms of the pope's comments about condoms and AIDS during his trip to Africa, saying they marked an unprecedented attempt to intimidate him into silence.

Pope Benedict XVI said last month that condoms weren't the answer to Africa's AIDS epidemic and could make the problem worse.

France, Germany, the U.N. AIDS-fighting agency as well as the British medical journal The Lancet criticized the comments as irrespons

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, a congenial cleric with a taste for baseball and fast food and a firm commitment to Roman Catholic orthodoxy, took his place Wednesday in the nation’s most influential Catholic pulpit, as the 10th archbishop of New York.

Archbishop Dolan, 59, who led the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for the past seven years, was officially inaugura

In ceremonies marked by solemn Christian ritual and the stagecraft of the grand entrance, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan was warmly welcomed Tuesday night as the new leader and high priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.

Seven weeks after Pope Benedict XVI selected him to succeed Cardinal Edward M. Egan, who is retiring at age 77, Archbishop Do

Vatican, Mar. 26, 2009 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican has published the complete schedule for Pope Benedict XVI during his trip to theHoly Land in May. The Holy Father will visit Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories during his voyage, which will take place May 8-15.

The first stop on the papal itinerary is Amman, Jordan. Arriving there on May 8, he will make a courtesy call at the royal palace that afternoon.

The next day, Saturday, he will travel to Mount Nebo and

Sunday, April 12, 2009; 11:19 AM

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that reconciliation was the only way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and said the entire world needed to rediscover hope to end wars, poverty and financial turmoil.

In his Easter Sunday message, delivered from the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica,

More than half of Americans acknowledge having a poor understanding of Islam, even though they support President Barack Obama's plan to seek improved relations with the Muslim world, according to a new opinion poll released late Sunday.

The survey by The Washington Post and ABC News showed that 55 percent of those polled said they lacked a good understanding of the teachings and beliefs of Islam.

Forty-eight percent said they had an unfavorable view of Islam while nearly

Medieval knights hid and secretly venerated The Holy Shroud of Turin for more than 100 years after the Crusades, the Vatican said yesterday in an announcement that appeared to solve the mystery of the relic’s missing years.

The Knights Templar, an order which was suppressed and disbanded for alleged heresy, took care of the linen cloth, which bears the image of a man with a beard, long hair and the wounds of crucifixion, according to Vatican researchers.

The Shroud, which

President Obama told reporters in Turkey that America is not defined by any one religion. "I've said before that one of the great strengths of the United States is, although as I mentioned we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values," said the president.

Also on Monday, the Associated Press reports, "Ob

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI demanded urgent action by the European Union and African nations on Sunday to stop the trafficking in migrants, saying the global economic crisis was driving more people to make the perilous voyage.

Benedict recalled the drowning last week of more than 200 Europe-bound migrants whose overcrowded boat capsized in the stormy waters off Libya.

"We cannot resign ourselves to such tragedies, which unfortunately have been repeating themselv

Five years after launching its satellite television network, the Seventh-day Adventists broke ground this week on an extension wing at their Silver Spring headquarters, which will give the fledgling network a new studio.

The Protestant denomination and its worldwide operations center on Old Columbia Pike have grown steadily in recent years, officials say.

"We're bursting at the seams right now," said Scott Steward, spokesman for the Hope Channel network. "The new space is

We're hearing that the president's faith advisory council will hold its first meeting, next Monday evening in Washington.

The council, which will advise the White House Office on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships on policy, so far has 15 members, and the president is expected to name 10 more shortly.

It's been almost six weeks since the