Declaring themselves "strongly unified and intensely focused," the top Catholic bishops in the U.S. vowed to continue their multipronged defence of religious liberty in the courts, Congress and the White House.

The U.S. bishops' attempts to defend religious freedom and the traditional definition of marriage must be accompanied by stronger efforts to educate Catholics about the Church's real teaching about sexuality and marriage, several of the bishops said while at the Vatican.

A hearty dark brown beer produced at a Trappist monastery in Belgium has been rated the world's best brew by an online community of beer lovers.

Pope Benedict has asked an Italian married couple, founders of the Focolare Movement's New Families initiative, to write the meditations for his Way of the Cross service at Rome's Colosseum April 6.

The 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council is an opportunity to revisit the clear teaching of its documents and reject distortions and false interpretations that have gained traction in the Catholic Church, according to a council scholar.

Members of a historical troupe are seen before the start of Pope Benedict's general audience

A priest lights a candle in front of a picture of Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, Egypt.

Pope Benedict has established a commission to investigate a series of leaks of letters exchanged among Vatican officials and between the officials and the pope himself.

Catholics have a duty to bring faith-inspired convictions to politics, and they can never allow politics to trump principles articulated by the bishops in their role as official teachers, said Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.

The leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion has announced his resignation.