VATICAN CITY – The Catholic Church would be wise to imitate the positive, prophetic approach of the encyclical Pacem in Terris in its evangelization and social justice works, a French archbishop said.

An Illinois bishop's mention of Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin in an April 14 homily calling Catholics to "heroic Catholicism, not casual Catholicism" has stirred widespread controversy.

Church communicators have an important and serious duty to obey Church teaching and defend the Church's mission of saving souls and safeguarding truth, said the head of the Vatican's highest court.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has expressed its concerns over proposed cuts in federal programs serving the country's poorest and most vulnerable people in a series of letters to congressional leaders.

Father Edwin Gariguez thought it was a joke when he received the call from the office of the Goldman Environmental Prize that he was one of six international winners of a $150,000 award.

With St. Louis Cathedral in the background, Dominican nuns enjoy ice cream during the annual French Quarter Festival in New Orleans April 14.

Bishop Richard Lennon of Cleveland said he will reopen 12 parishes as directed by the Vatican to promote "peace and unity" in the diocese.

Marking the seventh anniversary of the election of Pope Benedict, the Vatican is offering a "widget" – a software application – that will allow anyone with a website or blog to provide readers with automatically updated news and documents from the Vatican.

In what the Vatican described as an encouraging "step forward," the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X has revised its response to a Vatican document laying out basic principles and criteria for interpreting Church teaching.

Pope Benedict has named Cardinal Thomas Collins to the Congregation for Catholic Education, which supports and guides the work of Catholic schools, universities and seminaries.