The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You

NAZARETH, Israel (CNS): Nearing the end of his Holy Land pilgrimage, Pope Benedict XVI came to Nazareth, the city where Jesus grew up, and appealed for the strengthening of family bonds in the region and the world.

JERUSALEM (CNS): Pope Benedict XVI encouraged the "little flock" of Christians in the Holy Land to persevere as a vital presence in society and a witness to unity in the troubled region.

During his visit to the Holy Land, Pope Benedict XVI had a special message for the Palestinian people. CINDY WOODEN and JUDITH SUDILOVSKY report from Bethlehem, West Bank.

VATICAN CITY (CNS): President Barack Obama's efforts to tackle the economic crisis drew praise from a Nobel Prize-winning member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

JERUSALEM (CNS): On his first day in Jerusalem, Pope Benedict XVI visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and said the suffering of Jews under the Nazi extermination campaign must "never be denied, belittled or forgotten".

Archbishop John Bathersby recently completed a whirlwind series of gatherings in the deaneries of Brisbane archdiocese, sharing the archdiocese's vision for renewal centred on Jesus, Communion, Mission. SELINA HARRIS spoke with Archbishop Bathersby about his experience of meeting with hundreds of Catholics to speak about the basis of our faith.

Pope Benedict XVI is visiting the Holy Land, and one of the places he will go to while he's there is the Aida Refugee Camp at West Bank. JUDITH SUDILOVSKY, reporting for Catholic News Service, gives an insight into hopes of some of the refugees.

MEXICO CITY (CNS): Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City prayed to Our Lady of Guadalupe and cancelled Masses in the archdiocese on April 26 due to the swine flu outbreak.

VATICAN CITY (CNS): A local Caritas director was seriously injured in fighting in Sri Lanka's war-torn Vanni region, where tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced recently.