According to the Salvadoran group Citizens' Coalition for the Decriminalization of Abortion, 129 women were put on trial for abortion in El Salvador between 2000 and 2011. Most of them had their charges upped to murder, according to the group, and many were convicted.
Campaigners on climate change believe that a signal from Pope Francis that the Church considers global warming a grave danger could influence the global discussion on the severity of the problem, what has caused it and what can be done.
The first South American pope played a key role in secret negotiations between the United States and Cuba that led to the surprise announcement in December that they would seek to restore diplomatic ties after more than 50 years of tensions.
According to the National Catholic Reporter, the pope also said it was "not true" and an "insult" to suggest that women's rights movements should take the blame for declining marriage rates. Doing so "is a form of chauvinism that always wants to control the woman," Francis said.
Cuba is one of the least Catholic nations in Latin America, where along with a sizable number of the religiously unaffiliated, both Pentecostalism and Afro-Cuban Santeria, an Afro-Caribbean religion, are thriving. The pope's announced visit to the island is probably more about politics than religion, one expert said.
Rev. David Solano, a sociologist and director of the Juan XIII School, acknowledged the trend away from Catholicism in the region: “We see this as a pastoral challenge.”
As part of Costa Rica's Easter Holy Week activities, the Church of Santo Domingo de Heredia on Tuesday held an annual procession that featured kids as leading actors.
