Catholic News Service - Vatican

Catholic News Service - Vatican: "Dec. 17, 2007
Pope encourages Japanese Catholics to evangelize
Pope Benedict XVI strongly encouraged Japan's Catholic minority to evangelize enthusiastically and let people know that Christianity 'is not foreign to Japanese culture.'"

Dec. 5, 2007
Pope OKs plenary indulgence for Lourdes' 150th anniversary
To mark the 150th anniversary of Mary's appearance to St. Bernadette Soubirous near Lourdes, France, Pope Benedict XVI authorized a special indulgence to encourage renewed holiness.

Nov. 26, 2007
Vatican official says stem-cell studies show science can be ethical
Recent studies showing that human skin cells can be reprogrammed to function as stem cells demonstrate that scientific progress can be achieved without violating basic ethical norms, said Bishop Elio Sgreccia, president of the Ponti fical Academy for Life.


Nov. 16, 2007
Vatican diplomat: Relations with Israel better before diplomatic ties
With new problems over visas for foreign priests and the long, ongoing negotiations needed to resolve the tax status of Catholic institutions in Israel, the Vatican's former ambassador to the country said relations were better before there were full diplomatic ties.

v.2,2007
God and geeks: Vatican astronomer hunts for faith in Silicon Valley
If hard empirical evidence is what makes a techie brain tick, then how is he or she able to justify or believe in something as scientifically unprovable as God or as mind-boggling as transubstantiation?



Oct. 26, 2007
Enough, already! Vatican official says Templars book nothing new
It was billed as the Vatican's effort to "come clean" and reveal secret documents about the mysterious Knights Templar, the medieval crusading order that has inspired ancient legends and modern novels. But after seeing exaggerated press reports for two weeks, Bishop Sergio Pagano apparently had had enough.

Oct. 10, 2007
Because of Jesus' divinity, all humans can be saved, says pope
Continuing a series of audience talks about early church theologians, Pope Benedict focused his remarks on St. Hilary of Poitiers, a fourth-century doctor of the church and strong defender of the church teaching that Christ was both fully human and fully divine.

Oct. 3, 2007
Vatican pulls top astronomers into its orbit for galaxy conference
The Vatican Observatory called together some of the world's top astronomers for a major conference on the creation and evolution of disk galaxies in an effort to better understand the nature of the universe.



Sept. 7, 2007
Pope says Christianity not just legacy of Europe, but way to future
Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Austria for a three-day pilgrimage, saying Christianity was not just the legacy of Europe's past but "the way to the future."