RELIGION-CUBA: Local Bishops More Critical Than Vatican

Local Roman Catholic Church authorities in Cuba tend to take a more critical stance than the Vatican towards the situation in this socialist island nation, according to some analysts.

RELIGION-BRAZIL: Pluralism Takes a Toll on Catholicism

Religious diversity has taken root in Brazil over the past few decades, chipping away at the number of Roman Catholics as more and more people identify themselves as evangelical Christians or say they do not profess a specific faith.

INDIA: On Eve of Beatification,Mother Teresa Blurs Religious Lines

Six years after her death and as she is beatified in Rome on Sunday, Mother Teresa's spirit remains vibrant in Kolkata, the east Indian city where, for decades, she gave dignity to the dying, compassion to the poor and a home to abandoned and handicapped children.

RELIGION-LATAM: Progressive Theologians Differ on Pope

Although Pope John Paul II has staunchly opposed ''liberation theology'', two internationally renowned exponents of that progressive current in the Roman Catholic Church differ in their views of the Pope.

RELIGION-VATICAN: John Paul II’s Conservative Legacy

All signs are that the next pope, most likely a Latin American or Italian, will maintain the same conservative profile as John Paul II, despite the many points of dissent it has caused within the Roman Catholic Church.

RELIGION: Latin America Marked by Pope’s 25-Year Tenure

In his 25 years in the papacy, John Paul II visited as many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and his travels changed the face of the Roman Catholic Church in the region, pushing to the sidelines its once vigorous progressive wing.

MEXICO: Church Caught Up in Real-Life Narco-Drama

Purported ties between the Roman Catholic Church and drug traffickers in Mexico have gone from the terrain of speculation in literature, film and academic studies to a police investigation of a 70-year-old cardinal who has been mentioned as a papal candidate.

RELIGION-LATAM: Catholic Bishops Speak Out Against Free Trade Area

The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) looks less like a true regional integration project than a ''neo-colonialist'' plan that will make poor communities even poorer and will not respect national sovereignty, said the Catholic bishops of the members of South America's largest trade bloc.

RELIGION-BOSNIA: Pope’s Apology Brings New Hope

The first visit of Pope John Paul II to a predominantly Serb Orthodox part of Bosnia Herzegovina brings hope of reconciliation after he apologised for the crimes of Catholic Croats.

RELIGION-LATAM: ‘Theology of the Poor’ Is Not Dead – Gutierrez

"Liberation theology has not lost validity, but rather quite the opposite," Peruvian theologian, philosopher and psychologist Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino, winner of this year's Prince of Asturias Prize for the Humanities, said in a Tierramérica interview.

IRAQ: Italians Feel Intensely about War and Peace

One might think, watching the vociferous reaction of Italians to the U.S.-led attack on Iraq, that Italy itself was threatened.

LAST CALL FOR PEACE-ITALY: Peace Movement Finds Ally in Trade Unions

The Italian movement for peace in Iraq has found an ally in the country's trade union confederations, although it has failed to forge connections with the opposition parties, and seems to have lost the open support of the Roman Catholic Church.

IRAQ-ITALY: Activists Join Catholics in Fasting for Peace

While activists in Italy joined Catholics in fasting for peace and against a war in Iraq on Wednesday, the first day of Lent, in response to a call by Pope John Paul II, the pontiff's peace campaign has begun to run up against limitations on the political front.

IRAQ-ITALY: Vatican Deploys Media Forces against War

The legions of Pope John Paul II have been deployed to the battlefield to silence the drums of a war in Iraq, an army of tens of thousands of pacifists backed by the powerful Roman Catholic communications media in Italy.

IRAQ: Thousands of Italians gather to protest US military trains

Thousands of demonstrators were gathering in Pisa today to protest against military convoys transporting United States weaponry across Italy.