VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI deplored priests who were unfaithful to their vows and called Thursday for a “frank and complete acknowledgment” of the Catholic Church’s weakness in a letter to priests around the globe. The letter was the first public statement from Benedict since an independent commission in Ireland issued a report last…

WASHINGTON (RNS) President Obama signed an executive order Wednesday (June 17) expanding benefits available to same-sex partners of federal employees, a move that was not unexpected but nonetheless criticized by social conservative groups. “Many of our government’s hard-working, dedicated, and patriotic public servants have long been denied basic rights that their colleagues enjoy for one…

SRINAGAR, India – Thousands of Hindu devotees began an annual pilgrimage Tuesday to an icy cave in Indian-controlled Kashmir amid tight security in the Muslim-majority region, officials said. At least half a million devotees are expected to make the pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine over the next two months. Thousands of army and paramilitary troops…

JERUSALEM (RNS) A new Internet search engine is making it possible for ultra-Orthodox Jews who use computers to obtain information online– but not on the Sabbath, when the site shuts down. Dubbed Koogle (a cross between Google and kugel, the name of a Jewish noodle pudding), the Hebrew-language search engine is being touted as a…

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