NEW ORLEANS (RNS) As pediatricians gathered here for the American Academy of Pediatrics convention, they were greeted by protesters urging the medical group to rethink its position on an issue that makes most people squirm: the circumcision of newborn boys. By John Pope.

(RNS) In a massive display of solemn ecclesiastical pomp, hundreds of Catholic leaders strode into St. Peter’s Basilica 50 years ago, the start of an historic three-year assembly that would change the way the world’s largest Christian body viewed itself and the rest of the world. By John Pope.