Sep 22nd, 2008 · Though seven witnesses have recanted their testimony and thousands of people — including the pope and former President Jimmy Carter — have protested, the execution of convicted murderer Troy Anthony Davis is moving forward.
Sep 12th, 2008 · Pope Benedict has arrived for his first visit to France, which has 35 million baptized Catholics. Polls show the French have lost much of their sense of belonging to the church though Catholicism remains by far the country's No. 1 religion.
Aug 17th, 2008 · A group of people claiming to be the heirs of the legendary Knights Templar are suing Pope Benedict XVI, seeking more than $150 billion for assets seized by the Catholic Church seven centuries ago. Fiona Govan, who wrote about the lawsuit for London's Daily Telegraph, discusses the case.
Jul 23rd, 2008 · Barack Obama is expected to be received with the kind of religious fervor usually reserved for the Pope when he arrives in Germany on Thursday. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is seen by most Germans as more than a visiting politician. He's considered a potential savior of something dear to their hearts: Germany's close relationship with America.
Jul 15th, 2008 · The Vatican is rolling out what you might call "Pope 2.0." Pope Benedict is the first pontiff to have a cell phone and a specially engraved iPod. Now he's the first to send text messages to the faithful.
Jun 27th, 2008 · Esquire magazine gave Pope Benedict the honor of "Accessorizer of the Year" after reports that the Pope's bright red shoes were Prada. But the Vatican's official newspaper says the pope's fashions are not informed by style, but by Catholic traditions. "The pope does not wear Prada, but Christ."
Jun 13th, 2008 · President Bush gave the keynote address of his current European tour in France today. This is his last scheduled visit to Europe as president. Bush acknowledged that there had been strains in the U.S.-European relationship during his administration but he said the U.S. and Europe had also had disagreements in the past — the Suez Crisis in the 1950s, for example, and the basing of missiles in Europe in the 1980s. "Yet with the distance of time," he said, "we can see these differences for what they were...fleeting disagreements between friends." Before flying to Paris, the president met with the pope at the Vatican.
Jun 3rd, 2008 · In this novel, French writer Marek Halter explores the life of David Reubeni, a 16th-century proto-Zionist who lobbied European kings and the Pope on behalf of a Jewish homeland in the Middle East.