South Africa's bishops condemned the killings at a platinum mine in Marikana and called for a judicial inquiry into the circumstances that led to the violence.

Government authorities from a district in Vietnam's Central Highlands forced ethnic villagers to remove Catholic pictures and items from their chapel, and authorities replaced them with images of the late communist leader Ho Chi Minh.

The head of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development urged the Senate to retain tax credits that keep low-income Americans from sinking into poverty, saying it would be "unjust and unwise" to let them lapse while addressing tax-cut proposals for higher-income Americans.

Environmental protection is "an expression of faith in God," said the bishops of Kerala state.

"Our faith calls for protecting the creation of God and adopting our lifestyle accordingly," the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council said in a statement after its Aug. 10 meeting.

Members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious announced Aug. 10 at the close of their four-day assembly in St. Louis that they will continue to dialogue with Church officials about the Vatican's doctrinal assessment of their organization.

Going to Mass together and setting aside time each day to talk to each other are two simple practices that can help Catholic couples strengthen their marriage and be examples to others, said a papal message.

A poll analyzing views about gun control in the context of people's faith groups found that a majority of Americans believe gun rights are as important as other constitutional rights, but they draw the line at guns being permitted in churches and government buildings.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church and the president of the Polish Catholic bishops' conference signed a joint message Aug. 17 urging Poles and Russians to set aside centuries of anger and prejudice and work together to maintain their countries' Christian identities.

On Jan. 25, 1959, a new pope shocked the world. Pope John XXIII, speaking to a small group of Roman cardinals following a liturgy to conclude the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, announced that he had decided to convene an ecumenical council.

Bishop-elect Greg Bittman says he feels overwhelmed that he has been called to be a successor of the apostles.