Senator Barack Obama won the United States presidential election Tuesday in convincing and historic fashion. Democrats also made gains in the U.S. House and Senate. . . .

This Sunday's gospel highlights the angry tensions that can flare up when different visions of what is religiously appropriate clash in the temple. Two years after angering many Muslims with remarks made about Islam in a scholarly lecture, . . .

The fresh waters and abundant fruit and wildlife Sunday's first reading from the Book of Ezekiel envisioned may be threatened by environmental policy changes the Bush administration is rushing to enact before leaving power. . . .

The theme of the body as a temple of God that should not be violated runs through this Sunday's gospel and second reading. When that temple is violated by rape, however, fear too often keeps the victim silent. . . .

"Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart."

The White House is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on official portraits of Cabinet secretaries, top military officers, and other appointees. The portrait of former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld alone cost $46,790.