Registration has officially opened for the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in 2012, and organizers hope the event will help reinvigorate the Irish church. Delegates from some 70 countries met June 1-3 to hear plans for the events that Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin described as a “vital element in the reform agenda of the Irish church.” Participants at the June 10-17, 2012, congress will hear reflections, catechesis and workshops from leading prelates and theologians… Read more »

Back-to-back speeches at a Vatican AIDS conference illustrated that condoms in AIDS prevention remains a sensitive issue for both church officials and international health experts. Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, told conference participants May 28 that he was delighted when Pope Benedict XVI, in his recent book-length interview, “Light of the World,” hypothesized that use of a condom to prevent infection could be a first step toward moral responsibility… Read more »