OAKLAND, Calif. – In what has become a staple of summer television, scores of athletic folks run an obstacle course that looks like a cross between a playground on steroids and the inner workings of a pinball machine.

VATICAN CITY – Members of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America were holding their daily staff meeting when an unexpected visitor came to their door: Pope Francis.

Now that the memorial to St. Mary Magdalene is a feast day, all that remains is for Catholics to decide how they will feast.

VATICAN CITY – Three months after the publication of Pope Francis' exhortation on marriage and family, bishops and bishops' conferences around the world are studying practical ways to apply it. Some still disagree on what exactly the Pope meant.

WASHINGTON – Recent comments by a high-ranking Vatican official have sparked questions about the direction priests should face while celebrating Mass.

VATICAN CITY – A Vatican court, citing freedom of the press, acquitted two journalists who published confidential documents while their source, a Spanish monsignor, was sentenced to 18 months behind bars.

VATICAN CITY – As the Vatican trial of five people accused of complicity in leaking private documents moved toward a conclusion, Vatican prosecutors requested that four of the five defendants be convicted and that three of them serve jail time.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis said he will continue pressing for a church that is open and understanding despite opposition from some clerics who "say no to everything."

VATICAN CITY – To mark the 800th anniversary of the "Pardon of Assisi," an indulgence earned by visiting faithful who confess their sins and make a sincere promise of repentance, Pope Francis will visit a stone chapel rebuilt by St. Francis of Assisi.

SAN DIEGO – There is something distinctive about the chapel where Father William J. Brunner now celebrates Mass. It floats. To be more precise, it's in a space aboard the U.S. Navy's warship USS America docked in San Diego.