This day in history, Dec. 23, 2017

On Dec. 23, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson, on his way home from a visit to Australia and Southeast Asia, held an unprecedented meeting with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican; during the two-hour conference, Johnson asked the pope for help in bringing a peaceful end to the Vietnam War. In 1788, Maryland passed an act to cede an area "not exceeding ten miles square" for the seat of the national government; about two-thirds of the area became the District of Columbia.

Pope arrives in Bangladesh in shadow of Rohingya crisis

Pope Francis landed in Bangladesh on Thursday after a diplomatically sensitive trip to mainly Buddhist Myanmar, where he made no direct reference to the plight of Rohingya Muslims who have fled to Bangladesh in their hundreds of thousands. Pope Francis walks with Bangladesh's President Abdul Hamid after arriving at the airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh November 30, 2017.

Vatican defends Pope’s avoidance of word Rohingya on historic Myanmar visit

The Vatican is pushing back against criticism aimed at Pope Francis for not speaking out against Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingya Muslims during his historic visit to the southeast Asian country. Foreign diplomats, including US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, have called what Myanmar's military is doing to the Rohingya ethnic cleansing, a charge that its leadership and the country's defacto ruler Aung San Suu Kyi deny.

Russian hacking stretched far beyond US elections, digital hit list reveals

The hackers who upended the U.S. presidential election had ambitions well beyond Hillary Clinton's campaign, targeting the emails of Ukrainian officers, Russian opposition figures, U.S. defense contractors and thousands of others of interest to the Kremlin, according to a previously unpublished digital hit list obtained by The Associated Press. The list provides the most detailed forensic evidence yet of the close alignment between the hackers and the Russian government, exposing an operation that stretched back years and tried to break into the inboxes of 4,700 Gmail users across the globe -- from the pope's representative in Kiev to the punk band Pussy Riot in Moscow.

Is “Weak Leadership” to Blame for Catholic Trump Support?

It's perhaps a sign of the times that two of the four articles in the Washington Post's "Outlook" section dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation are actually about the role of evangelical and white Catholic voters in politics - particularly the rise of Donald Trump - in a sign of how inseparable the two have become in what used to be called the "Christian Coalition." Lydia Bean pins the evangelical and white Catholic support of Donald Trump on the failure of elite religious leaders to sway voters: The reason that Trump did so well with both groups is that laypeople were not looking to theologically trained religious elites to tell them how to vote.

‘Preposterous and insulting’: Cardinal fires back at Steve…

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, fired back at Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's former chief strategist, following Bannon's suggestion that the Catholic Church was economically motivated to oppose Trump's decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. "You might imagine I was rather befuddled to see it," Dolan said on Sirius XM's Catholic Channel on Thursday.

Pope due to visit Myanmar, Bangladesh, before Christmas – source

Pope Francis will almost certainly visit Myanmar and Bangladesh, two countries caught up in a crisis over the Rohingya Muslim minority, before the end of the year, a senior Vatican source said on Wednesday. The trip, which would be the first time any pope has visited Myanmar, is due to be officially announced before the end of August, added the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Liberal Stacked College Of Cardinals Asks Why HHS Mandate Still Exists

New cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of the U.S. leaves the altar after he received the biretta, a four-cornered red hat, from Pope Benedict XVI during the Consistory ceremony in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican November 24, 2007. Pope Benedict, elevating 23 prelates from around the world to the elite rank of cardinal, made a pressing appeal on Saturday for an end to the war in Iraq and decried the plight of the country's Christian minority.

Another Europe trip for Melania Trump means forging new relationships

Her trip with President Donald Trump to Poland and Germany is an encore to the nine-day tour of the Middle East and Europe in May that showcased more of the first lady than the world had seen to date. She received mostly glowing reviews -- there was praise for her style notes and cultural sensitivity, her quiet repose at religious sites, even the way the Pope cracked a joke and a smile when she was in his presence.

President Trump, Pope Francis Meet at Vatican

President Donald Trump and Pope Francis, two leaders with contrasting styles and differing worldviews, met at the Vatican on Wednesday, setting aside their previous clashes to broadcast a tone of peace for an audience around the globe. Trump, midway through a grueling nine-day, maiden international journey, called upon the pontiff in a private, 30-minute meeting laden with religious symbolism and ancient protocol.

Donald Trump Meets With Pope Francis For The First Time At The Vatican

Donald Trump met Pope Francis for the first time at the Vatican Wednesday morning, where the two men exchanged gifts and pleasantries inside the Apostolic Palace after meeting privately for nearly half an hour. The pope gifted Trump with a medal designed by a Roman artist in the shape of an olive, which he said represented peace and had signed personally for him.

‘We can use peace’: Trump and Pope Francis meet new

President Donald Trump and Pope Francis, two leaders with contrasting styles and differing worldviews, met at the Vatican on Wednesday, setting aside their previous clashes to broadcast a tone of peace for an audience around the globe. Trump, midway through a grueling nine-day, maiden international journey, called upon the pontiff in a private, 30-minute meeting laden with religious symbolism and ancient protocol.

Pope and I in Cairo

In Cairo, Pope Francis, once again, did what he usually does best: he snapped at the state of immorality and selfishness, which is governing the world, particularly in the West. The message to Egypt's priests could actually be directed at the population of the European and North American cities: The first temptation is to letting ourselves to be led, rather than to lead The second temptation is complaining constantly The third temptation is gossip and envy The fourth temptation is comparing us with those better off The fifth temptation is individualism, 'me, and after me the flood' the final temptation is 'keep walking without direction or destination' Pope Francis gave speeches, and met the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

Marine Le Pen: Pope Francis Exceeds His Role as Religious Leader…

Marine Le Pen lashed out at Pope Francis in a recent interview for pressuring Western countries to open their borders for migrants. French presidential frontrunner Marine Le Pen has criticised the Pope for pressuring Western countries to open their borders to migrants, accusing him of asking states to disregard their own citizens.