DURBAN, South Africa - Although World Cup fever is sweeping South Africa, some Catholics are skeptical about its long-term effects. The German Catholic news agency KNA visited South Africa to talk to people about their expectations for the 64 soccer matches that begin in the country June 11.Read More

WASHINGTON - The new health reform law might have overcome its first hurdles, but it still faces a multitude of challenges - in the courts, in state legislatures and in the minds of many confused Americans.Read More

ROME - One year after U.S. President Barack Obama delivered a groundbreaking speech to the Muslim world, Vatican diplomats said that while there has been much progress in dialogue, much is left to do on the ground.Read More

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO CYPRUS - Pope Benedict XVI said he was deeply saddened by the murder of the president of the Turkish bishops’ conference, but he said Bishop Luigi Padovese’s death should not cast a shadow over his visit to the eastern Mediterranean or over Catholic-Muslim dialogue.Read More

VATICAN CITY - The president of the Turkish bishops’ conference, Bishop Luigi Padovese, was stabbed to death June 3 at his home in Iskenderun, said the Vatican nuncio in Turkey.Read More

How distinctive are the experiences that Jim Hartnett has collected in his 60 years? Try and find another on-campus carpenter who has taught in Australia, coached an Olympic champion and been honored for his good works by his employer.Read More

MIAMI - The deluge let up just as the festivities began. Two hours later, Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski emerged from St. Mary Cathedral into bright sunlight, having officially been installed as Miami’s fourth archbishop.Read More

WASHINGTON - Advocates for Haitian peasants said a U.S.-based company’s donation of up to 475 tons of hybrid vegetable seeds to aid Haitian farmers will harm the island-nation’s agriculture.Read More