The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You

VATICAN CITY (CNS): Christians and Muslims share concern and compassion for those suffering in poverty and can find common ground to work toward eradicating both the causes and the problems it creates, the Vatican said.

KRAKOW, Poland (Zenit.org): Religious representatives from all over the world went to the former concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau on September 8, as part of the closing events of an inter-religious meeting in "the spirit of Assisi".

VATICAN CITY (CNS): Pope Benedict XVI asked Catholics to give generously this year to the Church's missionary agencies, saying that young Church communities need the funding at a time of economic crisis.

It is a year since journalist SELINA VENIER wrote about Vince O'Rourke's inspiring story of love for his wife Margaret with whom he shared the struggle with Alzheimer's disease as her carer. Vince had written a book about their experience and it has touched many hearts. Selina caught up with him again recently

VATICAN CITY (CNS): Efforts to reduce infant mortality around the world are showing positive results, but maternal death rates remain very high in many developing nations, according to a report by the Vatican news agency Fides.

WARSAW, Poland (CNS): A German cardinal said his country will not achieve full reconciliation with neighbouring Poland until both nations recognise the grievances of millions of civilians who lost everything in deportations during and after World War II.

GOMA, Congo (Zenit.org): A representative of Aid to the Church in Need is affirming that the Congolese victims and perpetrators of violence need affirmation of their dignity and worth, not abortion and contraception.

WASHINGTON (CNS): Catholic leaders from coast to coast in the United States praised the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy for his nearly 50 years of public service, but at least one expressed sorrow that his commitment to the less fortunate did not extend to the unborn.

VATICAN CITY (CNS): The blasphemy law in Pakistan, often used by Muslim extremists to foment violence, hangs like "the sword of Damocles" over Christians and members of other minority religions, a Vatican official said.