BEIJING – The Chinese government promised to focus on repairing monasteries damaged in an earthquake in an ethnically Tibetan region of the country, days after monks assisting in relief work were told to leave the disaster area. The death toll from the massive quake that flattened houses rose by nine to more than 2,200, state…

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos’ ability to make headlines landed him on many journalists’ short lists as a possible future pope — but lately, those same headlines also show why he was probably never a serious contender. The retired Colombian cardinal has become the most prominent lightning rod for controversy in the Catholic…

MONTREAT, North Carolina – President Barack Obama made a visit Sunday to Billy Graham’s mountainside home, concluding his North Carolina vacation with his first meeting with the ailing evangelist who has counseled commanders in chief since Dwight Eisenhower. The 48-year-old president made the short drive to Montreat from Asheville, where he spent the weekend, to…

ROME – The Vatican is pushing for research of adult stem cells as an alternative to the use of embryonic stem cells, which the Catholic Church opposes because it maintains that the destruction of the embryo amounts to the killing of human life. On Friday, the Catholic Church threw its support and resources behind the…

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