Vatican Puts Knights Templar Documents On Sale

London, Oct 26: The Vatican has finally put the exclusive book reproducing the full proceedings of the case brought against the Knights Templar in the early 14th century, on sale.

Vatican Beautifies 498 Spanish Martyrs

VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican took on Spain's Socialist government Sunday, criticizing its social policies as the church beatified nearly 500 victims of leftist persecution during the country's civil war era. The ceremony was the largest mass beatification ever by the Vatican, which supported the fascist dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco during and after his war against the leftists.

Bush administration partially sides with Vatican in sex abuse lawsuit

The Bush administration partially sided with the Vatican in a lawsuit seeking class-action damages from the Roman Catholic church and its headquarters for an alleged cover-up of priests sexually abusing children in the United States.

The U.S. Justice Department and State Department argued in a friend of the court brief that the Holy See may only be sued as a foreign country, not a religious institution, because the U.S. government recognizes it as a foreign state. U.S. law provides immunity to foreign countries from most lawsuits.

The filing to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals comes in a case brought by three men alleging the Vatican orchestrated a cover-up of U.S. priests sexually abusing children. Louisville attorney William McMurry is seeking class-action status, saying there are thousands of victims across the country.

Parsing The Pope's New cardinals

The significance of any new batch of Roman Catholic Cardinals lies above all in geography. With the internationalization of the College of Cardinals in the past two decades, it was a given that the latest names presented by Pope Benedict XVI would "well reflect the universality of the Church," as the pontiff himself declared Wednesday in St. Peter's Square as he announced the 23 soon-to-be-elevated prelates.

Pope: the Rosary and the mission for peace in the family and in the world

On the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Benedict XVI exhorts all Christians to pray this simple prayer for peace in the world. And he recalls mission – to which the month of October is dedicated – and the way in which Christ’s “true peace” can orientate and spread the Christian sense of “cultural, social and ethical transformations”.