WASHINGTON (RNS) Religious leaders from the U.S. Catholic bishops to evangelical human rights advocates have applauded President Obama’s executive order that essentially ends torture of detainees held by the U.S. government. On Thursday (Jan. 22), his second full day in office, the president signed an executive order on “ensuring lawful interrogations” to “promote the safe,…

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican extended its digital communications capabilities on Friday (Jan. 23), when it launched its own video channel on the Web site YouTube. The Vatican channel (www.youtube.com/vatican) features short video news clips about events involving Pope Benedict XVI and other Vatican officials in four languages — English, Spanish, German and Italian —…

Washington – As President Obama addressed a nation suffering from economic crisis and waging two foreign wars on Tuesday (Jan. 20), he turned to a familiar source of presidential oratory amid hardship: St. Paul. “We remain a young nation but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things,” Obama…

Washington – Tens of thousands of abortion opponents rallied Thursday on the National Mall to mark the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade amid concerns they could face political setbacks under the new president. The rally and subsequent march to the Supreme Court comes two days after the swearing-in of Barack Obama, which many at…

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