The Vatican is denying that it has rejected several candidates for U.S. ambassador to the Holy See because of their support for abortion rights. ...more

April 10, 2009

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Pope Benedict XVI to make a "very clear" rejection of Holocaust denials after the Vatican's rehabilitation of a former bishop who questioned whether 6 million Jews were gassed by the Nazis. ...more

February 3, 2009

Sister Emmanuelle, a nun who lived for years among scavengers in Cairo's slums and who has been compared to Mother Teresa for her fight to defend the rights of the poor, died Monday at age 99. ...more

October 21, 2008

Pope Benedict XVI gave World War II pontiff Pius XII a push toward possible sainthood Thursday and defended his memory from accusations that he did little to spare Jews from the Holocaust. ...more

October 10, 2008

Pope Benedict XVI apologized Saturday for the sexual abuse of children by Australia's Roman Catholic clergy, keeping up efforts begun in the United States to publicly atone for what he called evil acts by priests. ...more

July 20, 2008