With campaign jets soaring over the land and campaign buses rolling down highways, it's sometimes easy for Canadians to be cynical about the honesty of politicians.

But truth in politics still matters to Canadians, and politicians recognize it, said Prof. Richard Feist, dean of philosophy at Ottawa's Saint Paul University.

Archbishop Charles Chaput gave a frank response when asked why there is so much disunity among Catholics on the question of Catholics in political life standing clearly with the Church on major moral issues such as abortion.

The world must not view poor people as a commodity to be managed and controlled but as unique individuals who need the help of the global community to achieve their full potential, the Vatican's ambassador to the United Nations said.

Pope Benedict's September trip to Germany will include meetings with political leaders, Lutherans and Orthodox Christians, German church officials said.

At a time when federal budget decisions "involve hard choices and much shared sacrifice," a decision on whether to fund the Planned Parenthood Federation of America "is not one of those hard choices," said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo.

The board of directors of the Catholic Theological Society of America has raised concerns about the U.S. bishops' Committee on Doctrine's critical assessment of a theology professor's popular book.

The archbishop of Santa Fe, N.M., admonished unmarried Catholic couples who are living together, those who are not married but are in a civil union and divorced Catholics who remarry without an annulment, warning them not to receive Holy Communion.

The Diocese of Wilmington, Del., will eliminate 19 full-time and three part-time positions as it cuts operating expenses and prepares to pay more than US$77.4 million to survivors of sexual abuse by priests.

The decline of traditional marriage in America continues to affect students' education and the future welfare of the Catholic Church, said a University of Virginia professor.

Chile's bishops publicly asked forgiveness for clergy sexual abuse and pledged to handle such cases differently in the future.