KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Jackson County judge was scheduled to consider motions to dismiss a misdemeanor charge against a Roman Catholic bishop in Kansas City who is accused of violating Missouri’s mandatory reporter law. Bishop Robert Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph were charged last year with failing to report to the Missouri Children’s Division hundreds of photos of young children found on the laptop computer of the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, including a series that... Read more

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Testimony has begun in a landmark trial that explores how the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia handled sex-abuse complaints. Prosecutors have charged Monsignor William Lynn with endangering children by leaving predator priests in ministry. Lynn is the first U.S. church official charged for his administrative actions in the scandal. A witness Monday read a 1992 memo from a priest telling Lynn that he might have gotten drunk and sexually molested a young man. The priest was sent to... Read more

BAGHDAD (AP) — The eerie quiet enveloping the road from the airport to the Saddam Hussein-era palace where Arab leaders will meet this week cannot conceal Baghdad’s grim realities. Behind the freshly planted palm trees and lawns are concrete walls closing off nearby neighborhoods and troops in full combat gear deployed to prevent any attacks. For Arab leaders who seek military intervention in Syria, the Iraqi capital provides a cautionary tale, with violence and sectarian hatreds persisting nearly a decade... Read more

HAVANA (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI prayed for freedom and renewal “for the greater good of all Cubans” before the nation’s patron saint Tuesday, but the island’s communist leaders quickly rejected the Roman Catholic leader’s appeal for political change after five decades of one-party rule. The exchange came hours before Benedict was to meet President Raul Castro, and possibly his brother and predecessor Fidel, behind closed doors in Havana on the pontiff’s second day on the island. Days after dismissing... Read more

HAVANA (AP) — A top Cuban official said Tuesday there are no prospects for political change on the communist-run island despite Pope Benedict XVI’s appeals for “renewal” and “a better society.” Marino Murillo, Cuba’s economic czar and a vice president on President Raul Castro’s council of ministers, said that while the country is shaking up its economy, “in Cuba there will not be political reform.” Murillo’s comments to a room full of journalists covering the papal visit were a quick... Read more

SANTIAGO, Cuba (AP) — The power of a diminutive icon drew the leader of the world’s Roman Catholics to a bucolic hillside town in eastern Cuba on Tuesday for a moment of private prayer and reflection amid days of vast ceremonies and meetings with heads of state. On the second day of his Cuban tour, the pope knelt silently before the Virgin of Charity of Cobre for several minutes, his eyes open and hands clasped. The crowned, wooden statue just... Read more

SANTIAGO, Cuba (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI spent the night in a brand-new home built just for him near the sanctuary of Cuba’s Virgin of Charity icon, where he will kneel in quiet prayer early Tuesday before heading to the capital for political meetings. The pope’s brief homage to the diminutive statue that many consider the symbolic mother of all Cubans — Catholics and non-Catholics alike — will take place in the morning in the small mining town of El... Read more

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — State media in Vietnam say a court has sentenced the pastor of an outlawed Mennonite church to 11 years in prison for sowing division between the government and citizens of this communist nation. The People’s Army newspaper says Nguyen Cong Chinh, 43, was convicted of undermining the government policy of unity at the one-day trial Monday. The news report said Tuesday that Chinh was convicted of authoring and disseminating documents with distorted information that slandered authorities.... Read more

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A high-ranking monsignor on trial in Philadelphia “won’t run” from the Catholic Church’s sex abuse crisis, his lawyer said Monday as the landmark child endangerment trial began. Monsignor William Lynn supervised more than 800 priests as the secretary for clergy in Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004. He’s the first U.S. church official ever charged over his handling of abuse complaints. Prosecutors charge that he kept dangerous priests in parish work around children to protect the church’s reputation... Read more

GOP hits Obama for telling Russia his reelection will allow more missile defense flexibility SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — President Barack Obama said Tuesday he is not trying to “hide the ball” in negotiations with Russia over U.S. plans for a missile defense shield in Europe, expanding upon comments to Russia’s leader that were picked up by an open microphone and quickly drew the ire of Republicans. Obama said he wants to spend the rest of this year working through... Read more