ST. LOUIS (RNS) Catholic sisters gathered at their annual assembly intensified discussions on Thursday (Aug. 9) aimed at thwarting a Vatican takeover of their group, but hanging over the meeting was an even larger, existential question: Do the nuns have a future? By David Gibson.

AMITYVILLE, N.Y. (RNS) Some critics say many Catholic sisters have been using the Second Vatican Council to justify positions and activities that are in conflict with official church teachings, but some nuns say they are living by Vatican II's call to get out of the convent and into the community. By Kim Lawton of Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.

(RNS) Hundreds of pilgrims are visiting the upstate New York shrine to Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, the 17th-century Native American woman who will become the Catholic Church's first Native American saint this October. By Renee K. Gadoua.

(RNS) The scandal-plagued Vatican Bank still has a long way to go in order to comply with international standards for independent oversight and financial transparency, according to a status report from European officials released Wednesday (July 18). By David Gibson.

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The disgraced Legion of Christ religious order needs to rethink its identity, according to the papal envoy in charge of the group's overhaul. By Alessandro Speciale.

(RNS/ENInews) Leading church historian Diarmaid MacCulloch believes Christianity faces a "bright future" worldwide, but predicts the Roman Catholic church will undergo a major schism over its moral and social teaching. By Jonathan Luxmoore.

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI has tapped a fellow German to lead the Vatican doctrinal office he headed for 24 years before being elected to the papacy. By Alessandro Speciale.

 VATICAN CITY (RNS) Archbishop Fulton Sheen moved one step closer to sainthood as Pope Benedict XVI recognized his "heroic virtues" and declared him "venerable." By Alessandro Speciale.

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Catholic traditionalist group SSPX said the Vatican's latest reconciliation offer is "clearly unacceptable,'' a move that comes as Pope Benedict XVI appointed a high-profile American prelate to oversee relations with traditionalists. By Alessandro Speciale.

ST. LOUIS (RNS) In his new job as the Vatican's senior communications adviser, Fox News reporter Greg Burke, 52, will be counseling Pope Benedict XVI and his closest staff on how to better project the Catholic Church's image to the rest of the world. By Tim Townsend.

VATICAN CITY (RNS) For the past four months, the Vatican has been in turmoil over the publication of several internal memos in the Italian press and in a bestselling book. The case led to the unprecedented arrest of the pope's butler, but is it possible to distinguish fact from fiction in this not-so-holy whodunit? By Alessandro Speciale.

NEW YORK (RNS) Cardinal Timothy Dolan loves to play up his Irish roots, but he may want to steer clear of the old sod for a while given the Irish bishops’ sharp rejection of Dolan’s scathing verdict on the orthodoxy of Ireland’s leading seminary. By David Gibson

(RNS) American nuns who are under investigation by the Vatican say last week's discussions with Rome were "difficult" and indicate that public comments by a number of U.S. bishops have not made negotiations easier. By David Gibson.

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The leader of the traditionalist Catholic movement that's been at odds with the Vatican for decades received the final draft of Pope Benedict XVI's reconciliation offer on Wednesday. By Alessandro Speciale.

VATICAN CITY (RNS) As the trial begins for the pope's former butler, the court system of the world's smallest nation comes into the spotlight. And sentences are less harsh than one might expect. By Alessandro Speciale.