October 3, 2012 Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — A 49-year-old Italian man protesting the economic policies of Italy and Europe scaled a fence on top of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica Oct. 2 and remained there the next day as some 20,000 people listened to Pope Benedict XVI …

September 26, 2012 Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — Over the past several months, the U.S. Catholic bishops and other religious leaders have urged Americans to defend religious liberty in the United States in the face of what they see as threats to that freedom.  

September 21, 2012 Catholic News Service JACKSON, Miss.  — Seventeen bishops, dozens of priests and a congregation of about 1,000 people gathered Sept. 16 at Thalia Mara Hall in Jackson to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Catholic Diocese of Jackson.  

September 12, 2012 Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — In the wake of the deaths of a U.S. ambassador and three staff members in Libya and the unrest triggered by a U.S.-made amateur film hostile to Islam, the Vatican decried disrespect toward all religions and deplored all violence as unacceptable. …

    A woman lays her hands over the names of the first responders next to roses which were placed along the South Pool of the 9/11 National Memorial at the site of the World Trade Center Sept. 10. Today marks the 11th anniversary of the terrorists attacks that claimed …

September 7, 2012 Catholic News Service KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph was convicted Sept. 6 of one count of failing to report suspected child abuse and acquitted on another count in a brief bench trial.  

August 28, 2012 Catholic News Service DURANGO, Iowa — As summer winds down, vineyards across Iowa are now harvesting this year’s “fruit of the vine.” Despite the worst drought in recent memory, growers foresee a good crop, mostly because grape vines can thrive without much moisture.  

August 23, 2012 Catholic News Service DENVER — Inside the old Spanish-style building in the middle of a posh downtown neighborhood, clusters of two to four young men and women unpacked their suitcases and exchanged spirited greetings.  

August 30, 2012 Catholic News Service ATLANTA — Because of a generous bequest from Joseph Mitchell, the late nephew of celebrated author Margaret Mitchell, the Atlanta Archdiocese now owns 50 percent of the literary rights to her Pulitzer prize-winning, best-selling novel, “Gone With the Wind.”  

August 16, 2012 Catholic News Service DES MOINES, Iowa — For weeks farmers in southwest Iowa, such as Larry Rayhons of Lenox, have been checking the forecasts and clear skies for the hint at some relief in the form of rain during the worst drought since 1936.