Nuns in mass rape
BELGIAN nuns have been singled out for attack and mass rapes in Zaire, according to refugees evacuated this week from the riot-torn Zairean capital, Kinshasa.
Cost of abuse
THE AMERICAN archdiocese hardest hit by the country's clerical child abuse scandal has admitted spending £1.2 million tackling the problem last year.
Holy Land talks
VATICAN Foreign Minister Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran this week flew to Morocco in pursuit of a new Middle East peace accord. Rome said Morocco's King Hassan could help the process as president of en Islamic Conference Organisation committee on Jerusalem.
Polish abortion
POLAND's Upper House this week adopted a compromise and-abortion bill, allowing terminations when the mother's health or life is threatened or the unborn child "severely damaged".
Foot loose
SPAIN's Crown Prince Felipe this week officially opened the Year of St James at the saint's shrine in the pilgrimage city of Santiago de Compostela. The Prince walked the last Idlomethe of the pilgrims' way on foot.
Bishop goes
THE Vatican has accepted the resignation of Dutch Bishop Gijsen, who delegated almost all his authority to two priests two years ago following sea scandals among priests in his diocese.
Keyhole press
THE Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano this week lambasted Britain's press for "keyhole reporting" of intimate conversations between Princess Charles and Diana in the socalled Camillagate affair.