The crucifix is at least two feet tall, with the figure of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns and hangs centered on the wall behind the judge. Even at the murder trial of Amanda Knox, the cross is a constant symbol of Italian history, identity and justice.
Pope Benedict XVI is expected to meet the Archbishop of Canterbury on Saturday, the first meeting between the religious leaders since a Catholic overture to disaffected Anglicans that some commentators compared to a hostile takeover on Wall Street.
The second installment in the "Twilight" saga, starring Robert Pattinson as vampire Edward Cullen, Kristen Stewart as his star-crossed love and Taylor Lautner as the wolfboy who loves her, has already ripped through a box office record.
The Vatican said Tuesday it has worked out a way for groups of Anglicans who are dissatisfied with their faith to join the Catholic Church.
Shortly before he died from brain cancer, Sen. Ted Kennedy wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI. President Obama delivered the letter to the pontiff during his visit to the Vatican in July.
Pope Benedict XVI had surgery on his right wrist Friday after he broke it in a fall, the Vatican said.
U.S. President Obama and Pope Benedict XVI discussed current affairs, the Catholic Church's teachings and abortion as they met for the first time Friday, according to the White House and the Vatican.
A Turkish television show is offering contestants what it claims is the "biggest prize ever" -- the chance for atheists to convert to one of the world's major religions.
It's an issue that simply won't go away. In spite of signals from the Vatican discouraging even discussions of obligatory celibacy for Catholic priests, the almost 1,000-year-old rule is under the microscope. And it will be for decades to come. Here's why.
Does Antimatter really matter? And other burning questions
The crucifix is at least two feet tall, with the figure of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns and hangs centered on the wall behind the judge. Even at the murder trial of Amanda Knox, the cross is a constant symbol of Italian history, identity and justice.
Pope Benedict XVI is expected to meet the Archbishop of Canterbury on Saturday, the first meeting between the religious leaders since a Catholic overture to disaffected Anglicans that some commentators compared to a hostile takeover on Wall Street.
The second installment in the "Twilight" saga, starring Robert Pattinson as vampire Edward Cullen, Kristen Stewart as his star-crossed love and Taylor Lautner as the wolfboy who loves her, has already ripped through a box office record.
The Vatican said Tuesday it has worked out a way for groups of Anglicans who are dissatisfied with their faith to join the Catholic Church.
Shortly before he died from brain cancer, Sen. Ted Kennedy wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI. President Obama delivered the letter to the pontiff during his visit to the Vatican in July.
Pope Benedict XVI had surgery on his right wrist Friday after he broke it in a fall, the Vatican said.
U.S. President Obama and Pope Benedict XVI discussed current affairs, the Catholic Church's teachings and abortion as they met for the first time Friday, according to the White House and the Vatican.
A Turkish television show is offering contestants what it claims is the "biggest prize ever" -- the chance for atheists to convert to one of the world's major religions.
It's an issue that simply won't go away. In spite of signals from the Vatican discouraging even discussions of obligatory celibacy for Catholic priests, the almost 1,000-year-old rule is under the microscope. And it will be for decades to come. Here's why.
Does Antimatter really matter? And other burning questions
Critics and Catholics were quick to denounce Ron Howard's faithfully irreligious film of Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" when it was released almost exactly three years ago.
Tom Hanks dashes through a graceful Roman piazza, past an ancient Egyptian obelisk surrounded by fountains of water-spouting lions, his eyes focused on a church tucked into the corner of the square.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday to use his moral authority to thwart anti-Semitic sentiment and hatred toward Israel, especially by Iran.
The Middle East may be the most hyper-sensitive piece of real estate on earth, where no more than a stray word or gesture can trigger an explosion.
Three years ago, the film based on Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code" was the focus of protest and controversy, with a Vatican archbishop calling for a boycott and Catholics at many levels refuting plot points.
For more than 20 years, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then the Vatican's top doctrinal czar, was the intellectual architect of the papacy of John Paul II.
On the second day of his visit to the Middle East, Pope Benedict XVI stressed the need for harmony and unity between Christians and Muslims.
Pope Benedict XVI arrived Friday in Amman, Jordan, for a weeklong visit to the Middle East that he hopes will help "foster good relations between Christians and Muslims."
If director Ron Howard hopes religious controversy will help sell tickets to "Angels & Demons" the way it boosted his "Da Vinci Code," the Catholic Church is not playing along with his script.
Prince Charles visited the Vatican on Monday for his first meeting with a pope since his 1996 divorce from Princess Diana.
Pope Benedict XVI will visit the earthquake-ravaged town of L'Aquila on April 28 -- three weeks after the disaster struck -- the Vatican said Saturday.
Pope Benedict XVI refused Wednesday to soften the Vatican's ban on condom use as he arrived in Africa for his first visit to the continent as pope.
The Vatican said Friday it is not satisfied by the apology issued by a Catholic bishop who denied the Holocaust, saying the cleric must still clearly "distance himself" from the controversial comments.
Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday the Catholic Church is "profoundly and irrevocably committed to reject all anti-Semitism."
A Holocaust denier Pope Benedict XVI welcomed back into the Roman Catholic Church last month has been removed from his position as head of a seminary in Argentina.
Germany's Catholic bishops are calling for the expulsion of a bishop, recently brought back into the church by Pope Benedict XVI, after new reports that Richard Williamson denies the Holocaust.
Three tear gas canisters were fired Wednesday at the Vatican's diplomatic headquarters in Venezuela, the second such attack in less than three weeks, church officials and local media reports said.
The Vatican says it has ordered a controversial bishop who denies the Holocaust to "distance himself" from his views "in an absolutely unequivocal and public manner."
A woman who has been in a vegetative state for nearly 17 years was transferred to a private clinic Tuesday where she is expected to die -- ending what has been a lengthy and controversial legal fight.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded Tuesday that Pope Benedict XVI firmly reject denial of the Holocaust, a week and a half after the Vatican rehabilitated a bishop who denied the Nazis had intentionally murdered 6 million Jews.
A bishop who denies that Jews were killed in Nazi gas chambers apologized Friday that his remarks caused "distress" for the pope.
Jewish officials in Israel and abroad are outraged that Pope Benedict XVI has decided to lift the excommunication of a British bishop who denies that Jews were killed in Nazi gas chambers.
Pope Benedict XVI launched his own channel on YouTube Friday in an effort to use new technology to reach a younger audience.
Three tear gas attacks were reported in Venezuela on Monday, one of them at the Vatican's diplomatic headquarters in Caracas.
Pope Benedict XVI called for peace in the Middle East and an end to the exploitation of children in the homily he delivered early Thursday during the annual Christmas Eve Midnight Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
While not playing down differences, the Pope is as keen as many Muslim scholars to promote mutual understanding rather than enmity
As Pope Benedict XVI announced the ascendance of four new saints, a look back at how the guiding lights of the Catholic faith are identified
The road to sainthood for the Nazi-era Pontiff had been put on hold, but on the holiest of Jewish holy days, the current Pope appears to renew the process
Pope Benedict XVI urged ailing pilgrims to accept death "at the hour chosen by God," reasserting the Vatican's opposition to euthanasia on Monday
A smooth-talking Italian businessman who once dated actress Anne Hathaway and claimed to have friends in high places at the Vatican is headed to prison after pleading guilty Wednesday in a Manhattan real estate fraud case
The singer gives the pontiff a shout-out during her Rome concert, saying, "I'm a child of God"
The Vatican says it wants to move the remains of Cardinal John Henry Newman to allow the faithful to pray to him. But gay rights activists see another reason
As the Catholic Church marks a key anniversary of a traditionalist ascendancy, its leader is still keen to grapple with doubters
An Italian appeals court rules that a father can cut off life support to his comatose daughter in a case that has echoes of a U.S. controversy three years ago
The Vatican said Tuesday it regrets the decision by the Church of England's governing body to allow the ordination of women as bishops.
The new Da Vinci Code flick cannot shoot inside any of Rome's Catholic sites
The Vatican announced Thursday in a general decree that it will excommunicate anyone who would attempt to ordain a woman as a priest and the woman herself.
The Vatican insisted Friday that it is properly following Christian tradition by excluding females from the priesthood as it issued a new warning that women taking part in ordinations will be excommunicated
Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday
Benedict dealt forthrightly with the sex-abuse scandal, but his US tour was more pastoral than policy oriented
Viewpoint: No, we are not the Da Vinci Code heretics the Vatican might suspect. We look instead to the Boccaccio Code
A top official suggests that the Vatican may be reconsidering canon laws concerning sex abuse, giving victims more latitude
Three victims of the sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Roman Catholic Church described an emotional, frank and ultimately hope-filled meeting with Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday.
A private meeting with victims of priest sex abuse is the surprise culmination of Benedict's effort to confront the scandal
His first Papal visit to the U.S. gives Benedict a chance to define his role in global affairs
Pope Benedict's first trip to the United States as pope begins Tuesday -- a five-day visit to Washington and New York, including a speech at the United Nations
Benedict XVI has decided to address the church's pedophilia crisis on his trip to the U.S. But will it be enough to satisfy disillusioned American Catholics?
The Vatican's No. 2 official says Pope Benedict XVI recognizes the damage and pain caused by the clergy sex abuse crisis and will seek healing during his U.S. trip
Pope Benedict XVI may not have the charisma of John Paul II but don't discount his staff -- especially Fr. Georg Gänswein, the gatekeeper-in-chief
Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world's largest religion, the Vatican newspaper said Sunday
Pope Benedict himself performed the baptism, in a rite with reverberations for Church relations with the Muslim world
Other faiths have long been banned from operating openly in Islam's birthplace. A Vatican-Saudi dialogue may change that
Fifteen hundred years after the Roman Catholic Church introduced the original list of seven deadly sins, a Vatican official last week suggested an updated roster for a new age.
The new U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See is an old Vatican hand. Now she gets to usher the Pope into his first official visit to the U.S.
Pope Benedict XVI plans to meet with Muslim scholars and religious leaders this autumn at a Catholic-Muslim seminar in Rome, the Vatican said Wednesday.
The fast-tracking of the sainthood process for the nun who, as a child, encountered the Virgin Mary at Fatima reflects the importance of that apparition to Pope John Paul II
The Pope's Secretary of State is the first important figure to visit Cuba, part of the Catholic Church's attempt to mediate a post-Fidel transition
The Pope has revised a section of the old Latin liturgy that castigated the Jews. But it still calls for their conversion. Jewish leaders are up in arms
Pope Benedict XVI has canceled a planned visit to a prestigious Italian university after a protest by academics and students attacked his views on Galileo, the Vatican confirmed Tuesday.
All the incense and intrigue of another papal conclave is upon us again. Well, sort of
As a showdown with the US looms, Tehran is looking to the Pontiff to intervene -- and is finding a lot of sympathy
Chicago Cardinal Francis George, a defender of Catholic orthodoxy with extensive experience in Rome, was elected Tuesday as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Da Vinci Code fans, get ready. The Vatican is about to release its official chronicle of the last years of the Crusader knights whose power has inflamed the imagination of conspiracy theorists for centuries
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