SANTIAGO, Chile (CNS) -- Diana Olivares' husband, Daniel Sanderson, had one foot out the door before a gentle nudge from his wife convinced him to stay with the family instead of heading to the mine for work. Later that day, the couple received word that the San Jose mine where Sanderson worked had collapsed, trapping 33 miners, including Olivares' cousin, Carlos Buge.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace joined 27 other Christian leaders in welcoming the renewal of direct peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders brokered by the United States. Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., and leaders representing Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and evangelical churches and organizations that constitute Churches for Middle East Peace urged President Barack Obama to be vigilant in the effort to help both parties to find acceptable solutions to the long-standing conflict.

CHICAGO (CNS) -- The Catholic Church Extension Society has provided more than $14 million in grants to help Catholic communities recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina five years ago. The grants provided by the Chicago-based organization have been primarily earmarked to support church-related projects and encourage faith in the devastated region. Although grants for the Gulf Coast dioceses support a wide range of work -- from salary subsidies to area student ministries -- the most pressing need has been repairs to hurricane-damaged churches.

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- As Mexico began bicentennial celebrations of its independence from Spain, the Mexican bishops' conference issued a wide-ranging pastoral letter, calling for a national reconciliation of the centuries-old divisions over ethnicity, historical interpretations and the often-strained relationship between church and state. "One of the great pending tasks ... is the reconciliation among all those that formed this great nation," the bishops said in their Aug. 30 letter.

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- Citing the abundant blessings that have followed the suffering and deaths caused by Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond marked the fifth anniversary of the nation's worst natural disaster Aug. 29 with a Mass and an interfaith prayer service at St. Louis Cathedral. "Five years later, we remember the unwelcome visit of Katrina, but we have put her to rest," Archbishop Aymond said in his homily at the Mass, which was celebrated in honor of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, the patroness of the archdiocese.

CAYES-JACMEL, Haiti (CNS) -- Hyppolite Lappe, an agronomics student, stood in a long line at a health clinic run by American volunteers at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish. His elderly mother was by his side. He watched as tempers flared under a hot August sun while people pushed and shouted trying to get to the registration table. "Haiti has so many difficult situations," said Lappe, who was displaced by Haiti's Jan. 12 earthquake. "People have lost their homes, jobs.

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- People today have a duty to leave the earth in a state in which future generations "can live in dignity and safeguard it further," said Pope Benedict XVI. Expressing his support for the Sept. 1 Day for Safeguarding Creation, the pope told people gathered in the courtyard of his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo Aug.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Five years after the devastating effects of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, rebuilding efforts are still very much a work in progress. Many, but not all, Gulf Coast residents have returned and although many homes and buildings have been rebuilt, more still needs to be done. Amid the ongoing recovery, many exasperated locals say they just want to move on, especially as the nation remembers the five-year anniversaries of Hurricane Katrina, which slammed into the Gulf Coast Aug. 29, and Hurricane Rita, which made landfall in Texas and Louisiana Sept. 24.

NEW YORK (CNS) -- More than 1,000 people dressed in blue and white filled a cordoned traffic lane across from the Empire State Building Aug. 26 to protest the decision of the building's owner to deny a request to illuminate the upper floors in honor of the 100th birthday of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. The event, organized by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, featured a melange of local political, religious and entertainment personalities who addressed the crowd from a podium set on the back of a flatbed truck.

CALABASAS, Calif. (CNS) -- A Sister of St. Louis was killed and the retired pastor of a Malibu parish was severely injured when a car driven by Douglas Kmiec, U.S. ambassador to Malta, crashed into a drainage ditch in Southern California Aug. 25. Sister Mary Campbell, 74, who was well known at Our Lady of Malibu Parish and taught at the parish school, was dead at the scene, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol said. Msgr. John Sheridan, 94, pastor emeritus of the parish, underwent emergency surgery at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles soon after the accident.