The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You

ROME (CNS): Following a tracheotomy to alleviate breathing problems, Pope John Paul II may have to reduce his public appearances, rely more heavily on non-verbal communication and live in as sterile an environment as possible, said a neurological expert in Rome...

ROME (CNS): An Iraqi archbishop kidnapped in January said his abductors were ready to slit his throat at one point, but stopped when the prelate asked to say a prayer...

Sr Helen Prejean, whose efforts to end the death penalty in the United States were made famous through the book and movie Dead Man Walking, is still fighting for justice on death row. PETER BUGDEN reports :.

ROME (CNS): The man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, jailed Turkish terrorist Mehmet Ali Agca, has called on the Vatican to reveal what he claims are undisclosed elements of the secret of Fatima...

VATICAN CITY (CNS): For the first time since his hospitalisation on February 1, Pope John Paul II delivered his regular Sunday talk to pilgrims and reinforced his commitment to the papal ministry...

This week will see the ordination of the first permanent deacon for Brisbane archdiocese. FR BILL O'SHEA explains the significance of this event and what it will mean for the future of the local Church.

COIMBRA, Portugal (CNS): Carmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos, the last of three Fatima visionaries, died on February 13 in her cloistered convent in Coimbra, Portugal at the age of 97...

VATICAN CITY (CNS): Vatican officials said new instructions for Church marriage tribunals are designed to ensure Church law is followed, to defend the sacrament of marriage and to ensure the efficiency that justice requires...

VATICAN CITY (CNS): The Vatican's No 2 official said the question of eventual papal resignation was something that must be left to "the Pope's conscience"...