HAVANA (AP) — Cuba has begun erecting a huge stage in Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution where Pope Benedict XVI plans to celebrate Mass next month. Architect Luis Manuel Perez is in charge of the project. He says workers are constructing the main staircase and the dais where the pontiff will conduct the ceremony. The altar will face out toward the sprawling plaza and a massive rendering of guerrilla Ernesto “Che” Guevara on the side of a government building. Perez... Read more

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A historic monastery where an apostle of Jesus Christ is said to have performed miracles is close to caving in and needs immediate repairs, the leader of Cyprus’ Orthodox Christian Church said Monday. Archbishop Chrysostomos II urged Greek Cypriot pilgrims not to travel to the Apostolos Andreas — or Saint Andrew — monastery in the island’s northern breakaway Turkish Cypriot northern sector for fear it could collapse. He said if Turkish Cypriot authorities didn’t act fast,... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — Sen. John McCain said Monday Egypt’s military rulers have reassured him that authorities are working “diligently” to resolve a criminal case against U.S. pro-democracy groups that has brought relations between the two allies to their lowest point in decades. As part of a crackdown on nonprofit organizations, Egyptian authorities have referred 16 Americans and 27 others to trial on charges that include the illegal use of foreign funds, expected to begin on Feb. 26. McCain chairs one... Read more

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians says Turkey’s new constitution should grant greater religious freedom to the country’s minority groups. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I met Monday with members of a parliamentary subcommittee seeking an all-party consensus for a new constitution, which will replace the one ratified in 1982 while the country was under military rule. Mostly Muslim Turkey has small Christian and Jewish communities. Bartholomew told reporters he favors a constitution that promotes equal... Read more

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — When Honduran-born Antonella Cecilia Packard converted to the Mormon Faith 20 years ago, she said it was like “coming home.” The Catholic-educated Packard, who grew up in “the middle of Mayan ruins,” appreciated the faith’s strong sense of family and conservative values. She also saw her own history in the Book of Mormon with stories of migrations, tragedies and triumphs of a people many Mormons believe are the ancestors of some present-day Latinos. But two decades... Read more

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police say vandals have sprayed anti-Christian graffiti at a Baptist church in Jerusalem. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Monday that the vandals desecrated the church and slashed tires of three cars nearby. Rosenfeld says that words “price tag” were also scrawled on the church property. It’s a reference to a practice of Jewish extremists who lash out against the Israeli government for actions against settlers. Such attacks usually target West Bank mosques but have recently spread... Read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential contender Rick Santorum, perhaps the most conservative leading candidate for the Republican nomination since Barry Goldwater in 1964, is playing to the ultraconservative, evangelical Christian wing of the party for his surge past Mitt Romney in the race to challenge President Barack Obama. Santorum is finding strength among the highly motivated segment of Republican voters who have tended to dominate party turnout in primary elections and caucuses. He appears to be ignoring the fact that voters... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — Sen. John McCain said Monday U.S. relations with Egypt are changing a year after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak but the two countries “must remain friends.” McCain was speaking at a business conference in Cairo just before meeting with the country’s military leaders, who took power after Mubarak stepped down in the face of a popular uprising. U.S.-Egypt relations are at their lowest points in decades, strained over the government’s crackdown on foreign-funded nonprofit groups working for... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — Sen. John McCain said Monday U.S. relations with Egypt are changing a year after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak but the two countries “must remain friends.” McCain was speaking at a business conference in Cairo just before meeting with the country’s military leaders, who took power after Mubarak stepped down in the face of a popular uprising. U.S.-Egypt relations are at the lowest points in decades, strained over the government’s crackdown on foreign-funded nonprofit groups working for... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court said Sunday the nominating period for presidential candidates will open March 10 and last four weeks, but stopped short of announcing a date for the election. Farouq Sultan, the head of the court committee overseeing the vote, told reporters that a decision is expected soon on when Egypt will hold presidential elections, adding that balloting will take place over one or two days. But he said the announcement of the winner — even... Read more