LONDON (CNS) -- A Chaldean Catholic church, rectory and convent in the northern Iraq city of Mosul were bombed in two separate incidents in late November, but no one was injured. Explosives were detonated inside St. Ephrem's Church Nov. 26, and the building was reduced to a "blackened shell," said a Nov. 27 statement by the British branch of Aid to the Church in Need, a charity working to help persecuted Christians around the world. It said the church rectory also was attacked. St.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The formal theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion will continue and will focus on the relationship between the local church and the universal church, the Vatican announced. This third phase of work by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission "will deal with fundamental questions regarding the church as communion local and universal, and how in communion the local and universal church comes to discern right ethical teaching," said a Vatican announcement published Nov. 28.

NOTE: This article includes graphic descriptions of abuse that may offend some readers.DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) -- A report detailing failures of church leaders' handling of sex abuse cases in the Archdiocese of Dublin has resulted in calls for bishops' resignations and further investigations and prosecution.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Although there are different approaches to the study of the Scriptures, theology is rooted in contemplation based on faith and the pursuit of understanding, Pope Benedict XVI said at his weekly general audience. Illustrating the lives and teachings of two 12th-century theologians from the St. Victor monastery in Paris, the pope spoke Nov. 25 about the different ways Christian thinkers have sought truth from the Bible. Hugh of St.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Over the years, hundreds of thousands of postcards have come from U.S. Catholics in organized efforts to influence members of Congress on issues ranging from partial-birth abortion to human cloning to health care reform. A new postcard campaign in 2010 will urge Congress to take up as its next priority comprehensive immigration reform that would reunite families, regularize the status of an estimated 12 million people in this country illegally and restore due process protections for immigrants.

DETROIT (CNS) -- When Father Theodore Parker started thinking about how he could celebrate Advent differently at St. Cecilia Parish in Detroit this year, he didn't think he would have to quell the fears of his parishioners. But how would his so-called "Thug Sundays" strike you upon first reference?

ARIVACA, Ariz. (CNS) -- Nearly two years ago, 14-year-old Josseline Janiletta Hernandez Quinteros crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. She and her 10-year-old brother, both from El Salvador, joined a group led by a paid guide, known as a coyote, with hopes of meeting up with their mother, who lived in California. Along the way, Josseline fell ill and the group left her behind. Her brother wanted to stay with her, but Josseline told him he needed to keep going. He needed to make it to see his mother, she told him. Josseline said she'd be all right -- she was his big sister, after all.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (CNS) -- They clogged downtown streets, jammed restaurants, took up hotel rooms, ate up parking spaces and generally inconvenienced downtown Kansas City. But the nearly 21,000 teens and their 3,000 adult chaperones and local volunteers also gave the city a three-day gift of faith. They came to bring themselves closer to Christ. By the time they left the 2009 National Catholic Youth Conference Nov. 19-21, they showed Kansas City -- and the world watching live on the Internet -- what happens when Jesus Christ pours out of the hearts of thousands of believers.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A gradual decline in funding in recent years is forcing the National Pastoral Life Center to close Nov. 30. The home of numerous pioneering programs to help diocesan and parish workers in their ministries for 26 years since its founding by the late Msgr. Philip J. Murnion, the center also has had to face the rapid growth of similar training efforts sponsored by Catholic colleges and universities and other institutes nationwide, said Peter Denio, the center's acting director.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNS) -- Church officials in southern Africa said many people in their region still "live in abject poverty" because of "bad governance, corruption and human irresponsibility." General secretaries of bishops' conferences who met in Harare, Zimbabwe, in mid-November expressed concern about excessive militarization, bribery in the public and private sectors and poor delivery of services.