VATICAN CITY (RNS) Is Pope Benedict XVI legally responsible for the actions of U.S. Catholic bishops who mishandled cases of pedophile priests, allowing them to sexually abuse more children? Some plaintiffs’ lawyers are arguing that victims of clerical sex abuse should be able to sue the Vatican itself for damages, in large part because they…

CHENNAI, India (RNS) For the second time in two days, Pakistani officials have restricted access to a popular Internet site that it deems offensive to the country’s majority Muslim population. The government Thursday (May 20) blocked access to YouTube because of what it considers sacrilegious content on the video-sharing website. The country’s Telecommunications Authority did…

BERLIN (RNS) A Scientologist may offer child care services so long as she does not mix religion with work, a German court ruled Wednesday (May 19). An unnamed 38-year-old Munich woman had been providing day care for five children, earning about 1,600 euros ($1,982) a month, reported the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung. City regulators ruled she…

WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. Catholic bishops withdrew from a national civil rights coalition on Wednesday (May 19) after the group advocated on behalf of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. The Washington-based Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCR) was founded in 1950 by African American and Jewish leaders to press for the passage of…

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