Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Kurt Koch spoke on Thursday at the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, telling members of the council that divisions within Christianity further inhibit evangelism.

Previous to the plenary meeting, president of the council Cardinal Koch said that "the credibility of the message of the Gospel depends on unity."

"The division of the church in the world is the biggest obstacle for mission activity in the world," Koch told Vatican Radio shortly before the meeting took place. more >>

A church in Rome opened up a memorial earlier this month to modern-day Christian martyrs that pays tribute to those who have given their lives to help others. The initiative was first started by John Paul II in 1993.

The memorial pays tribute to Christians from various denominations, Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox included.

"You are living through a difficult period. We are praying for you. The blood of the martyrs will not have been spilt in vain," remarked Priest Angelo Romano from the Basilica of St. Bartholomew, addressing all those who suffer persecution on a daily basis throughout the world. more >>

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck northern Italy on Tuesday, just over a week after the same region was shaken by a 6.0-magnitude quake. The death toll is currently at 10 people.

Alberto Silverstri, mayor of San Felice sul Panaro, told Italy's SkyTG24 that the situation is "very serious," as some people remain trapped under rubble.

The quake struck near Modena at around 9 a.m. local time and several aftershocks with magnitudes 5 and above followed. Many buildings, including factories and churches, have been destroyed. more >>

The Shroud of Turin, the ancient 14-foot long piece of burial cloth which many believe holds the imprint of the face of Jesus Christ, continues to be an important artifact when it comes to examining the Christian faith, as a new book proposes that it was this very robe that convinced Christ's apostles that he had risen from the dead.

The controversial claim, which positions that the apostles never actually saw the resurrected Christ as Scripture records, is made in The Sign: The Shroud of Turin and the Secret of the Resurrection by art historian Thomas de Wesselow, who is based in King's College in England.

Although the contents and methodology of the book, which is set to be released on April 3 in the U.S., have mostly been kept a secret, the Telegraph shares de Wesselow's conclusion from the book: more >>

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and head of the Catholic Church Pope Benedict XVI will come together in prayer this coming Saturday in a symbolic gesture of solidarity and unity after years of tension over Anglicans shifting to the Roman Catholic Church.

Tensions between the Anglican and Catholic churches were heightened in 2009 when the Vatican launched a controversial program to allow disaffected Anglicans to join the Catholic Church.

The churches have divergent perspectives with regard to the ordination of women, homosexual bishops, and same-sex marriage. The Catholic Church has maintained a traditionalist stance on gender and homosexuality. Meanwhile, homosexual and female priests have been ordained in the Anglican Communion, which has been undergoing intense internal debate on those issues, leaving some of the church's 77 million members worldwide distressed. more >>

Christian evangelism and missionary work is most often associated with outreach in impoverished nations around the world – but growing secularism in Europe is forcing some organizations to focus on the continent where much of the church underwent its early development. 

The rising trend of secularism has been well documented in recent times – in a 2005 Eurobarometer Poll, 52 percent of European citizens who responded to the survey said they believe in God. In some nations, like Sweden, that number was as low as 23 percent.

As immigrants continue settling in Europe and changing the demographic and social landscape of the continent, however, new evangelism opportunities are unfolding, and some organizations, such as Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus, an Italian-based group that provides evangelization, education, and advocacy around the world, are looking to develop new strategies to get Europeans believing in God again. The organization was founded in Italy in 1857 by St. Daniel Comboni and is a congregation of priests and lay missionaries of many nationalities. more >>