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VATICAN CITY (RNS) Catholic historians and theologians are urging Pope Benedict XVI to suspend the sainthood process for the controversial World War II pontiff, Pius XII, until further research clarifies Pius’ record during the Holocaust. “Holy Father, we implore you, acting on your wisdom as a renowned scholar, professor, and teacher, to be patient with…

(RNS) A volunteer Wiccan chaplain is headed to a federal appeals court in an attempt to get California to hire prison clergy outside five religious categories. Supported by interfaith scholars and church-state separationists, the Rev. Patrick McCollum argues that the state policy has the “pernicious effect” of depriving inmates of other religious backgrounds from getting…

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A Haitian judge said some of the 10 U.S. missionaries arrested on charges of child kidnapping would be released Wednesday, nearly three weeks after they were caught trying to take a group of children out of the quake-stricken country. Judge Bernard Saint-Vil would not specify how many people would be released, but…

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican plans to make some of its World War II archives available on the Internet soon to calm down the controversy over Pope Pius XII’s actions during the Holocaust. The Vatican’s newspaper announced the plan, saying it will “render service to the historic truth,” and officials said Tuesday the material will…

(RNS) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday (Feb.16) officially introduced the Obama administration’s new special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, 31-year-old White House lawyer Rashad Hussain. Hussain is the American-born son of Indian Muslim immigrants; he received a law degree from Yale and masters degrees from Harvard in public administration and…

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI concluded an unprecedented two-day crisis management session with Ireland’s Catholic bishops on Tuesday (Feb. 16), denouncing the sexual abuse of children as “not only a heinous crime but also a grave sin.” Benedict and senior Vatican cardinals met Monday and Tuesday with all 24 serving Irish bishops to discuss…

(RNS) Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel whose long-running probe led to the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton, has been named the new president of Baylor University, the world’s largest Baptist university. Starr, who has been the dean of the law school at Pepperdine University since 2004, was chosen unanimously by Baylor’s board of regents…

DHARMSALA, India – The Dalai Lama says he is happy about meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington later this week. The Tibetan spiritual leader left for New Delhi on Tuesday from the northern Indian town of Dharmsala where he has lived since fleeing Tibet 50 years ago. He leaves Wednesday for Washington and is…

(RNS) By the end of January, plenty of New Year’s resolutions have been broken. For those who have ignored pledges to hit the gym every day, or stay away from “American Idol,” a broken resolution is little more than an annual defeat of the will. But for people trying to get their alcohol problem under…

Toronto (RNS/ENI) As the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, open on Friday (Feb. 12) many are focused on praying for the athletes, for the community hosting the event, and, just as passionately, for snow. The British Columbia cities of Vancouver and Whistler are hosting the winter games, but the Vancouver area has been hit…
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