Several Catholic high schools have been closed by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for a variety of reasons. Two Roman Catholic high schools in Philadelphia are being closed permanently because their enrollment is down. Another high school, Archbishop Carroll High School in Philadelphia, is only closed temporarily. An outbreak of the swine flu has forced the school to close for the rest of the week.

John Lennon has finally been forgiven by the Vatican for a slip of the lip, which he made in 1966.

Thousands of young Catholics gather today in Sydney to celebrate the World Youth Day with Pope Benedict 16th. World Youth Day (WYD) is the largest youth event in the world and will be held in Sydney from Tuesday 15 to Sunday 20 July 2008.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis of the Diocese of Charlotte will welcome Pope Benedict XVI in a video to be shown at the papal Mass in Washington, D.C.

More than 250,000 Roman Catholic pilgrims are expected to converge on the shrine of Fatima in Portugal over the next three days for the opening of one of the world's largest churches.

Controversial Polish cleric Father Henryk Jankowski, the former top chaplain of the anti-communist Solidarity trade union, says he wants Hollywood star Mel Gibson to film his life story.

Speculations over Tony Blair's decision to become a Roman Catholic soon grew as he made a date with Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Benedict XVI has appealed directly to the youth of Brazil to follow a strict moral code. In Sao Paulo, VOA's Brian Wagner reports the pope's speech to the young is seen as crucial to his effort to strengthen the Roman Catholic church in the face of growing concerns across Latin America.

Pope Benedict XVI stressed church opposition to abortion minutes after arriving in Brazil, expressing confidence that Latin America's Roman Catholic leaders will take a strong stand against it at an important bishops' conference during his first papal trip to the region.

Pope Benedict XVI departs on his first pilgrimage to Latin America a test of the 80-year-old pontiff's stamina and how he intends to deal with pressing challenges to his church in the region.

A new power-sharing government has taken over administration of Northern Ireland, bringing together long-time Catholic and Protestant enemies. VOA's Sonja Pace reports from Stormont, the seat of government in Belfast.

Pope Benedict begins his first trip to Latin America this week, traveling to Brazil. He has asked Catholics to pray for the success of the visit to a region that is home to nearly half of the world's Catholics and which the pope has described as "a continent of hope". Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome.