WEST BANK - Gloom was banished from Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem for the first time in years on Monday as Christian pilgrims from all over the world flocked here to celebrate Jesus' birth in an atmosphere of renewed tranquility. ...more

December 24, 2007

"In God's Name" begins with a brief introduction from its filmmakers, Jules and Gedeon Naudet, who take the viewer back - back to the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when the brothers were in lower Manhattan working on a documentary on New York firefighters. ...more

December 23, 2007

In Raleigh Whiteman's column of Nov. 8, Democracy Not Always The Answer, he appears to slight democracy in the title. Actually, the column is about religion. Whiteman says there are over billion atheists and agnostics in the world, the wildest estimate I have ever heard. According to Whiteman, "Nary a one of these 37 churches considers any of the others to be equal or valid." On the contrary, today the Roman Catholic Church considers a baptism in virtually any Protestant church to be valid. Although there are several sects of Eastern Orthodox, they all recognize the others as having valid Apostolic Succession. The Church of England practices InterOrdination with a sect called the Old Catholic Church.Bishops of either church are sometimes ordained by Bishops of both churches. The Methodist Church split off the Church of England, but not because of differences in belief. John Wesley did not introduce new beliefs, he wanted a new emphasis on Bible study and to bring Christian services to the American frontier. ...more

December 9, 2007

The Roman Catholic Church must figure out what it is doing wrong in the battle for souls, because so many Catholics are leaving the church to join Pentecostal and other evangelical movements, a top Vatican cardinal said Friday. ...more

November 24, 2007

John Lipscomb, retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Southwest Florida, has asked for a release from his vows from his church's presiding bishop and will become a member of the Roman Catholic Church. ...more

November 22, 2007

Two weeks after Olga Reyes danced at her wedding, her bloated and disfigured body was laid to rest in an open coffin - the victim, her husband and some experts say, of Nicaragua's new no-exceptions ban on abortion. ...more

November 9, 2007

Venezuela's pro-government National Assembly overwhelmingly approved constitutional reforms Friday that would greatly expand the power of President Hugo Chavez and permit him to run for re-election indefinitely. ...more

November 3, 2007

A devout and defiant Austrian farmer beheaded by the Nazis in 1943 for deserting Hitler's army was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church on Friday in the last major step before possible sainthood. ...more

October 27, 2007

Pope Benedict XVI named 23 new cardinals Wednesday, giving Texas its first 'prince' of the Roman Catholic Church in a clear recognition of the growing Latino presence in the U.S. church. ...more

October 18, 2007

In Southern California, where the Roman Catholic Church has agreed to pay victims of pedophile priests $660 million, the archdiocese is ordering nuns out of convents so the buildings can be sold to fund the out-of-court settlement. ...more

October 6, 2007