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LONDON (CNS) -- Catholic officials have applied for permission to exhume the body of a 19th-century cardinal whose cause for sainthood is expected to soon progress to beatification. They want to transfer the remains of Cardinal John Henry Newman from a grave in a small cemetery in the suburbs of Birmingham, England, to a marble sarcophagus in a church in the city where they can be venerated by pilgrims. A July 14 statement said that the Archdiocese of Birmingham was now in direct contact with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, to obtain the necessary...

The first time I learned about the practice I was horrified. It was the mid-1990s. The source was Sharon Dunsmore, a nurse in a hospital NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) who wrote a small booklet about the experience. One day on the job she had been summoned “stat” to the delivery room to deal with an “oops abortion”—a failed abortion in which the baby unexpectedly survived, or, as Dunsmore quoted the pediatrician on the scene, “had the audacity to survive.” The team struggled as to whether to continue intubating the child—now a little boy, not a “fetus”—who clearly was not...

Another step toward the persecution. My emphases and comments.  FAITH UNDER FIREMajor U.S. city officially condemns Catholic ChurchInstructs members to defy ‘Holy Office of Inquisition’ Posted: July 15, 2008 San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge A San Francisco city and county board resolution that officially labeled the Catholic church’s moral teachings on homosexuality as "insulting to all San Franciscans," "hateful," "defamatory," "insensitive" and "ignorant" will be challenged tomorrow in court for violating the Constitution’s prohibition of government hostility toward religion.Resolution 168-08, passed unanimously by the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors two years ago, also accused the Vatican...

SYDNEY, Australia -- Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Australia on Sunday, saying he wants to use his visit to raise awareness about global warming and address the crisis of clergy sexual abuse. Benedict suggested to reporters on the flight from the Vatican that he would express regret about abuse by priests, though victims' groups are demanding he go further and make a direct formal apology. The clergy abuse scandal is a serious note in the pope's 10-day visit to Australia, his first, during which he will join the World Youth Day festival that has attracted more than 200,000 people. Benedict,...

SYDNEY, Australia -- Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Australia on Sunday, saying he wants to use his visit to raise awareness about global warming and address the crisis of clergy sexual abuse. Benedict suggested to reporters on the flight from the Vatican that he would express regret about abuse by priests, though victims' groups are demanding he go further and make a direct formal apology. The clergy abuse scandal is a serious note in the pope's 10-day visit to Australia, his first, during which he will join the World Youth Day festival that has attracted more than 200,000 people. Benedict,...

Yesterday, Catholic League president Bill Donohue issued a news release calling attention to the plea that Paul Zachary Myers made on his blog: he solicited the Communion Host for the express purpose of desecrating it. Donohue now responds to the reaction he has received from the University of Minnesota Morris professor, as well as others: “Myers went on Houston radio station KPFT last night saying that Bill Donohue has ‘declared a fatwa’ against him. He should know better—I don’t need others to do the fighting for me. I’m quite good at it myself. But he’d better be careful what he...

Ben D. Kennedy of MaidOfHeaven.com sends letter to Minneapolis St. Joan of Arc Church rebuking them for dishonoring the name of Saint Joan of Arc. Issued By: MaidOfHeaven.com Jun 26, 2008 18:06:34 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRLog (Press Release) – Jun 26, 2008 – In a letter sent to St. Joan of Arc Church in Minneapolis author Ben D. Kennedy rebukes the church for dishonoring and disgracing the name of Saint Joan of Arc, the person for which the church is named. Joan of Arc is renowned in history as being one of the purest humans to ever live having dedicated...

 Church Authority In Scripture The source & nature of Church authority is one of the major issues that beginning Catholics have to examine and come to terms with. The Catholic Church makes an amazing claim: it teaches, governs, and sanctifies with the authority of Christ himself. Catholics believe that this gift of Church authority is one of the jewels that Christ has given to us as an aid to our salvation. Keep three things in mind: There is a large amount of evidence in Scripture to support the Catholic Church's claim to authority, as well as from early Church history....

“John and Mary Catholic have a right to have prayer texts that are clear and understandable,” Bishop Donald Trautman of Erie, Pennsylvania, said at this month’s meeting of the U.S. bishops. As he has done many times before, His Excellency was speaking out against a proposed English translation from Latin of the prayers of the Roman Mass. The translation would replace the current one in use in English-speaking parishes – a translation its defenders praise as clear, understandable, and “proclaimable.” Certainly, the current translation of the Mass is all these things, but it is much more besides. The translation is...

LONDON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI would like every Catholic parish in the world to celebrate a regular Tridentine-rite Mass, a Vatican cardinal has said. Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos also told a June 14 press conference in London that the Vatican was writing to all seminaries to ask that candidates to the priesthood are trained to celebrate Mass according to the extraordinary form of the Latin rite, also known as the Tridentine Mass, restricted from the 1970s until July 2007 when Pope Benedict lifted some of those limits. The cardinal, who was visiting London at the invitation of the Latin...

A movie adaptation of Dan Brown’s book, Angels and Demons, is now in production; it is the prequel to the film, “The Da Vinci Code.” There are reports today that the Vatican has banned those associated with “Angels and Demons” from shooting in Catholic churches in Rome or in the Vatican itself. This is important because there are scenes in the movie that are supposed to take place in the Vatican and in two churches in Rome. “Angels and Demons” stars Tom Hanks in his role as Robert Langdon, the symbologist. This time he is trying to unravel a plot...

As reported in the Santa Fe New Mexican, Archbishop Michael Sheehan ordained three priests at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi here in Santa Fe yesterday, and one of the three was Jeffrey Whorton, a married father of five.

Blessed with a nest egg of nearly $1.5 million, a Woodland Hills parish donated almost all of it, leaving just $1,000 in its savings account. An Encino church offered a $100,000 interest-free loan. And a Boyle Heights parish decided it could spare $500 after ruling out the idea of raising money with tamale sales. With gifts large and small, parishes across the sprawling Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles are answering an appeal from Cardinal Roger M. Mahony to help the archdiocese dig out of the financial hole resulting from its multimillion-dollar legal settlements with victims of clergy sexual abuse...

A rifleman angered by a custody dispute with his ex-girlfriend opened fire Saturday at a parish school festival in Granada Hills this morning, wounding the woman and two other fair-goers before being tackled by bystanders and arrested by an off-duty police officer, authorities said. Witnesses described scenes of terror and panic as the man nonchalantly brandished a .22-caliber rifle made to look like an M-16 assault rifle and fired into booths at the fair. The shooting took place shortly before the 11 a.m. start of the festival on a baseball field on the grounds of the St. John Baptist de...

PARIS (AP) — A Roman Catholic bishop said Sunday that the church has officially recognized that the Virgin Mary appeared to a 17th-century shepherd girl in the French Alps. Speaking at Mass in remarks broadcast nationally on France-2 television, Monsignor Jean-Michel di Falco Leandri said he recognized the "supernatural origin" of the apparitions to 17-year-old Benoite Rencurel from 1664 to 1718.

As my good friends know, I lost a daughter to the ravages of alcoholism and a life ruined in her childhood by a child molester. I spent much of my life trying to help, but basically watching helplessly as she suffered and moved from crisis to crisis. As I said at her funeral, a child molester is worse than a murderer; at least when you kill someone they are dead and can’t suffer anymore, and their families have a chance to mourn and then get on with their lives. My child was not molested by a priest, but, because of...

Before he was elected to succeed John Paul II, the modern era's most popular pope, the cardinal who would become Pope Benedict XVI earned the nickname "the Rottweiler" for his staunch enforcement of Roman Catholic orthodoxy. But for a pope so steeped in the infallibility of the church, Benedict's visit to America this week will be remembered for his historic reaching out to the victims of the very church he leads — those thousands of children sexually molested by priests in the past five decades. His decision to focus on their pain and the church's betrayal sent a powerful message...

YOU knew he had arrived by the cheer that welled up from the street. It was electric. Suddenly inside the cathedral, where 3,000 people were waiting, it turned quiet and everyone turned. And now the great huge doors of St. Patrick's opened and sunlight poured in, crashed down, and there was the pope, and the crowd - nuns and religious, deacons and priests, meaning a lot of people who actually deserved to be there - sent a wave of applause crashing against the old Gothic dome. He reacted the way we now know Benedict does. Modest, meek, surprised by love,...

Maher to Apologize for Calling Pope a 'Nazi' By Melanie Hunter-Omar CNSNews.com Senior Editor April 17, 2008 (CNSNews.com) - Liberal talk show host Bill Maher, whose controversial comments about the pope drew fire from the Catholic community, is planning to apologize Friday night for falsely accusing Pope Benedict XVI of being a Nazi, the Catholic League announced Thursday. Catholic League President Bill Donohue received a phone call Thursday from an HBO executive regarding comments Maher made last Friday on HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher." As Cybercast News Service previously reported, Donohue said Maher "lied when he said the Pope...

Hispanic immigrants delivered a letter to the Vatican embassy in D.C. asking Pope Benedict XVI to intercede in “mean-spirited” policies that they say have destroyed thousands of families. Ricardo Juarez of Mexicans Without Borders led about 30 immigrants, some of whom were here illegally, past the carefully manicured lawns along Embassy Row to the front door of the Apostolic Nunciature. The pleadings of the 30 Hispanic immigrants highlight a critical issue for the Vatican. Hispanic Catholics have been filling the pews in the D.C. area. In Arlington County, nearly half the diocese is Hispanic. “Our voice is not strong enough,”...

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (Reuters) - At a Catholic-run shelter just across the border from Laredo, Texas, dozens of Latin American migrants say grace and tuck into a hearty meal of sausages, beans and rice, before trying to swim across the Rio Grande into the United States. Weary migrants on their journey north often recharge their batteries at a network of similar shelters run by the Roman Catholic Church -- a lifeline sanctioned by the Vatican, despite increased U.S. efforts to keep out illegal immigrants. "Migration is a human right and migrants are some of the world's most vulnerable people. It...

There is an interesting article on USA Today that discusses the Vatican donation of at least $20,000 to build a shelter for Central American immigrants traveling to the USA. This money comes from the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, which reports to the pope. I would like to know if our Catholic friends condone the use of Vatican money from a Pontif Commission for encouraging illegal immigrants. Is it right to use Church funds to support and encourage illegal activities? Your comments would be most enlightening.

Bill Maher, true to form on his "Real Time" program on HBO on Friday, went on a tirade against Pope Benedict XVI and the Catholic Church, only days before the Pope’s visit to the U.S.. He stated that the Pope "used to be a Nazi" and compared him to a cult leader. He then went on to call the Church a "child-abusing religious cult" and "the Bear Stearns of organized pedophilia." "And that’s the Church’s attitude: 'We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it,' which is fine, far be it from me to criticize religion."Following a profanity-tinged one-liner concerning the...

(English-language translation) Archbishop of San Juan Roberto González Nieves confirmed to EL VOCERO that agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) interviewed him about two visits the religious leader made to the President of the Boricua Popular Army Los Macheteros, Filiberto Ojeda, while the latter was in hiding. González indicated that some four or five months after Ojeda's death, two FBI agents visited him at the Bishop's Residence in Old San Juan. During the September 23, 2005 [FBI] raid on the Machetero leader's residence in Hormigueros, the authorities confiscated a book the Archbishop gave him and which was dedicated...

Riyadh, Mar. 25, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The president of the Middle East Center for Strategic Studies, Anwatr al Oshqi, has reported that Saudi Arabia’s royal family has decided against building a Catholic church in the kingdom. Earlier this month Vatican Radio reported that the Saudi government was weighing a proposal for the construction of a Catholic church. That report came as a surprise, since the Saudi regime does not allow public worship by any faith other than Islam. In November 2007, when King Abdullah became the first reigning Saudi king ever to visit the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI urged...

Is your name on the list? This just in: If you're an obscenely wealthy drug-dealing pedophile stem-cell researcher who drives a Hummer and doesn't recycle, you are totally going to hell. Oh please, like you didn't already know. Hey, the Catholic Church wouldn't lie, mister. The Big Book o' Deadly Sins apparently has a whole new addendum and it looks like it ain't just gluttony and lust and murder and hot porn and witchcraft and coveting thy neighbor's way cool Flickr photo stream anymore. That stuff is for wimps. Serfs. Lutherans. The Vatican is trying to get serious. Modern. Hip,...

A priest has been attacked in the grounds of his church, in what police described as a "faith-hate" crime. Canon Michael Ainsworth, 57, was injured by two Asian youths at the church, in Tower Hamlets, east London. Canon Ainsworth said a third youth watched as he suffered cuts, bruises and black eyes in the assault at the church of St George-in-the-East. The youths also jeered at the priest for being a churchman in the attack on Wednesday night, the Met Police said. An appeal for witnesses has been made

ONE of Scotland's most senior Catholics has launched an attack on the "gay lobby" in Scotland, claiming there is a "huge and well-orchestrated conspiracy" against Christian values. The Rt Rev Joseph Devine, Bishop of Motherwell and president of the Catholic Education Commission, said gay rights organisations aligned themselves with minority groups, such as Holocaust survivors, to project an "image of a group of people under persecution". He warned that the gay lobby – which he labelled "the opposition" – had mounted "a giant conspiracy" to shape public policy. He singled out the actor Sir Ian McKellen, who was given a...

WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 11, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Tens of thousands of Americans will join the Catholic Church this Holy Saturday through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Many of those in the RCIA program participated in the Rite of Election with their bishops at the beginning of Lent and will be baptized, confirmed and receive Communion for the first time this Saturday. More, who already have been baptized, will embrace full membership in the Catholic Church. The numbers vary across dioceses. The Diocese of Orange, California, for example, will baptize more than 650 people and welcome more than 500 others...

In February, 2000, presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain’s campaign staff made phone calls to prospective voters in Michigan reminding the party faithful of candidate George W. Bush’s visit to Bob Jones University. The message was as follows: “Bob Jones has made strong anti-Catholic statements, including calling the pope the anti-Christ and the Catholic Church a satanic cult.” After first denying that these calls were sponsored by the McCain campaign, officials later admitted they were. Catholic League president Bill Donohue saw the irony in this: “Yes, Bob Jones has a long record of demonizing Roman Catholicism, but so does Pastor John...

Catholic Prolife Heartache: Prolifers Arrested at St. Petersburg Cathedral ST. PETERSBURG, Fl., Jan. 31 /Standard Newswire/ -- Two Catholic Pro-life activists were arrested at St. Jude's Catholic Church in St. Petersburg Florida for handing out pro-life literature in the parking lot. Andrea Terry, 32, and Joseph Landry, 26 were arrested on Sunday, January 20 (ironically, Pro-life Sunday) for placing pro-life literature on car windshields during the 6:00 p.m. Mass. (See news stories below.) Both spent about 5 hours in custody and were bailed out of the Pinellas County jail for $250 each. Also present: Randall Terry, Steve Pokorny, and Francisco...

A Boston priest was arrested in New York City last week and has been charged with stalking late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien, New York City police said. Rev. David Ajemian has been placed on leave after he was arrested last Friday, the Archdiocese of Boston announced Wednesday. Ajemian, 46, remains in the custody of New York City police after he allegedly sent multiple communications to O'Brien over 14 months, police said. They said Ajemian was told to stop with the communications but did not, and a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. CBS...

On Dec. 7, 2007, the movie "The Golden Compass," based on the first book in the fantasy trilogy entitled "His Dark Materials" by atheist Philip Pullman will be released in theaters throughout the world. Pullman wrote his fantasy trilogy because he was so upset by the Christian evangelism of C.S. Lewis in his wonderful series of Christian tales entitled "The Chronicles Of Narnia." Pullman is an avowed atheist who has dedicated his life to undermining Christianity and the Church among young readers. The film's release is only another example of a culture spiraling away from faith, a culture into which...

Anti-Christian Children's Novel Coming out as Time Warner Film in December starring Nicole Kidman By Elizabeth O'Brien LOS ANGELES, August 20, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The best selling novels of atheist author Philip Pullman, which were written specifically to indoctrinate children with anti-Christian values, have sparked the creation of a controversial new fantasy film to be released this December 7 by New Line Cinema - a Time Warner Company. Starring Nicole Kidman, "The Golden Compass," is based on Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, which includes "Northern Lights" (re-titled "The Golden Compass" in the United States), "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber...

CathNews alerts us to the potential problem: Nicole Kidman has denied that a new film she's making is anti-Catholic. The movie features an organisation known as "The Magisterium", which kidnaps children to remove their souls.The Brisbane Times reports that Kidman told a US magazine that her Catholic faith affected her consideration of the script for the film, which is titled The Golden Compass.The fantasy film is based on a novel by Philip Pullman called Northern Lights. It is already attracting attention in the US for avoiding much of the book's perceived anti-Catholic rhetoric.Kidman said some of the religious elements...

LONDON – A debate over a movie’s anti-religious antagonism – or lack thereof – is heating up ahead of its upcoming release, with some accusing Hollywood of “castrating” the anti-Catholic themes present in the novel from which it is based. The expected blockbuster, “The Golden Compass,” is named after the American title of best-selling author Philip Pullman’s novel “Northern Lights” and will star actress Nicole Kidman and James Bond star Daniel Craig. The original children’s novel, part of Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” series, rejects organized religion – in particular, the Catholic Church – and critics of the movie version say...

(English-language translation) "We Did Not Found Another Church" Brazilian Church Supports Eduardo Aguirre By: Gema Palencia Community Journalism Ten bishops of the so-called Brazilian Church insisted that their movement is not outside the Catholic Church and yesterday expressed their support for excommunicated priest Eduardo Aguirre, who they will ordain a bishop. The prelates, who were once in accord with the Vatican, insisted that they have not come to Guatemala to found a new church, but that they are re-establishing the church of the first Christians in which the communities were autonomous. But the Catholic Church in Guatemala considers that this...

(English-language translation) The Catholic Church hierarchy in Guatemala is concerned: excommunicated priest Eduardo Aguirre will be ordained a bishop on Saturday in San Juan Comalapa, Chimaltenango, by represenatives of the Brazilian Church (non-Roman Catholic). Guatemalan Bishops' Conference (CEG) President Álvaro Ramazzini described the event as a "very big" division. "Being appointed bishop will give [Aguirre] more power. It concerns us that he will now ordain other priests before other people, which may create confusion since the faithful might believe that [the priests] are Catholic. There will be a very big division within the Church," warned Ramazzini, who explained that Aguirre...

The Catholic Church and the Creation of the UniversityThe Church played a central if not exclusive role in the establishment and encouragement of theuniversity. The substantial output of medieval scholarship that was produced in the twentieth century should have put this inane caricature to rest once and for all, but here we have another case of specialized knowledge that hasn’t managed to trickle down to the general public.  It was, after all, in the High Middle Ages that the university came into existence. The university, which developed and matured at the height of Catholic Europe, was a new phenomenon in...

Saint Louis (AP) -- Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke, who made headlines last presidential season by saying he'd refuse Holy Communion to John Kerry, has his eye on Rudy Giuliani this year. Giuliani's response: "Archbishops have a right to their opinion." Burke, the Archbishop of St. Louis, was asked by The St. Louis Post-Dispatch if he would deny Communion to Giuliani if the former New York mayor approached him for the sacrament. "If the question is about a Catholic who is publicly espousing positions contrary to the moral law, and I know that person knows it, yes I would," the...

The Vatican and U.S. Roman Catholic bishops are investigating the writings of a well-known American theologian who has analyzed how the Catholic faith relates to other religions. The inquiry's focus is the Rev. Peter Phan, of Georgetown University, a Vietnamese-American priest from the Dallas diocese and former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. The U.S. bishops' Committee on Doctrine has traded correspondence with Phan since July 2005 seeking clarification on his writings, said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a spokeswoman for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. "There was not complete satisfaction with his response, which is why...

Liturgical Colors, Sacred Vessels and Mass Vestments Catherine Fournierfrom the Saint Joseph Daily Missal, Volume I, Catholic Book Publishing Company, New York, 1962.I found this information in an old Missal, dated 1962. It is part of a detailed introductory section. At a time when Church attendance and literacy was high, one wonders why the publishers thought that the faithful needed or wanted this information. But then, perhaps that's why there were so many faithful. They had all this information at their fingertips, they understood their faith very well, and they loved it. Liturgical Colors: White: The symbol of innocence and...

SAN DIEGO -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego said Friday it has agreed to pay $198.1 million to settle 144 claims of sexual abuse by clergy, the second-largest payment by a diocese. The agreement caps more than four years of negotiations in state and federal courts. Earlier this year, the diocese abruptly filed for bankruptcy protection just hours before trial was scheduled to begin on 42 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse. Bankruptcy could shield the diocese's assets, but a judge recently threatened to throw out the bankruptcy case if church officials didn't reach an agreement with the plaintiffs. The...

More than 10 victims have alleged sexual abuse by the late Monsignor Othmar Schroeder and reports are continuing to come in, the Catholic Diocese of Evansville's bishop said Thursday. Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger said two more reports came in Thursday through the diocese's sexual abuse hot line. Most of the reports have been from men but some have been from women, he said. This is the largest number of victims associated with a single priest in the diocese's history, Gettelfinger said.

Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, a Jew who converted to Catholicism and rose through church hierarchy to become one of the most influential Roman Catholic figures in France, died Sunday, the Paris archbishop's office said. He was 80. Lustiger - whose Polish immigrant mother died in the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz - was archbishop of Paris for 24 years before stepping down in 2005 at the age of 78. He died in a medical center in Paris, the archbishop's office said. (snip) A funeral Mass for Lustiger was to be held Friday at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the Paris archbishop's...

HUNTINGTON BEACH - First, there was prayer ... the main course: a meaty discussion about the Catholic Church's teachings on immigration. Parishioners searched for ways to weave together their moral beliefs and civic participation. In the courtyard of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, about 50 parishioners met Tuesday evening for an informal chat about the church's teachings on immigration. Drawing from their families' experiences coming from Hungary, the Philippines and Mexico, participants voiced the need to treat immigrants humanely but some had concerns about illegal immigration. Cathy Duffy said she understood Catholic teachings on immigration but grappled with how...

Pope Benedict XVI reasserted the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released yesterday that says other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation. The statement brought swift criticism from Protestant leaders. "It makes us question whether we are indeed praying together for Christian unity," said the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, a fellowship of 75 million Protestants in more than 100 countries. "It makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogues with the reformed family and other families of the...

Anti-illegal immigration activists eye Fallbrook church By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer FALLBROOK ---- Anti-illegal immigration activists who have organized protests around North County at day-labor sites, migrant camps, city halls and the San Diego County Fair have recently set their sights on a new target: St. Peter's Catholic Church in Fallbrook. For the last three weeks, members of the San Diego Minutemen have staged vociferous Saturday protests against an informal labor center run by the church. The protests have involved shouting through a bullhorn, displaying an effigy of a priest wearing a devil's mask and waving picket signs against...

Vatican-endorsed protest urges end to alleged persecution of Mideast ChristiansBy The Canadian Press Wednesday, July 4, 2007 ROME (AP) - Several hundred people rallied Wednesday in Rome to demand an end to what they said is persecution of Christians in the Middle East that has forced thousands to flee the region. The demonstration was the brainchild of Magdi Allam, Italy’s leading Islamic commentator. It was endorsed by several top Vatican officials and follows recent comments by Pope Benedict. "We cannot remain silent before a tragedy that affects millions of people," Allam told the crowd gathered in a central Rome...

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI has approved a document that relaxes restrictions on celebrating the Latin Mass used by the Roman Catholic Church for centuries until the modernizing reforms of the 1960s, the Vatican said Thursday. Benedict discussed the decision with top officials in a meeting on Wednesday and the document will be published in the next few days, the statement said. The meeting was called to ``illustrate the content and the spirit'' of the document, which will be sent to all bishops accompanied by a personal letter from the pope. The decision comes after months of debate....