Barack Obama’s election victory is a “momentous day” for the international community and offers renewed hope to millions of people around the world who live in poverty, Catholic development agency Progressio has declared.

A former secret police commander and three agents who served in former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet's regime have been sentenced to seven years in prison for the 1974 disappearance of a Spanish priest.

Roman Catholics can learn from Protestant reformer Martin Luther, the Vatican's top official for Christian unity, has said, as many churches in Germany prepare to launch a 10-year series of events for his 500th anniversary.

Christian denominations working through the ecumenical Action of Churches Together and the Catholic network Caritas are contributing short- and long-term aid to those hit by hurricanes and tropical storms recently.

Parents in Northern Ireland, which is seeking to recover from years of conflict and sectarianism, would like to see single-faith denominational schools replaced by integrated ones, a new survey has shown.

Speaking at a pastoral congress in Germany, Cardinal Martino deplored the prejudice and hatred being meted out to Romany and travelling people (often called "gypsies") in many parts of Europe, and called on churches to support them.

Leading evangelical Christian celebrity Sir Cliff Richard, who is now aged 67, thinks the church should be supportive of committed gay relationships and says he is sick of intrusive speculation about his own sexuality.

After a visit to Russia, the Vatican's top official for Christian unity has said a meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Patriarch Alexei II of the Russian Orthodox Church is "possible". Such an encounter would be a first.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) can now no longer be relied upon as a "neutral and nonpartisan electoral umpire", according a statement from the Justice and Peace Commission of the Zimbabwean Catholic Bishops' Conference.

In a message sent to all of Scotland's 500 Catholic parishes for the 42nd World Communications Day, Bishop Philip Tartaglia claims that "a fundamental disconnection between the provider and the consumer" has occurred in the media