For more background on the conflict, listen to our online radio show on violence in Northern Ireland.

Worldfocus special correspondent Martin Himel reports on how a decade of peace has not ended the pain for many families whose loved ones were murdered or vanished.  

Pope Benedict XVI travels to the continent as the Catholic population there grows — one-fifth of people in Africa are Catholic.

Father Patrick Ryan, the vice president for University Mission and Ministry at Fordham University, spent 26 years working as a teacher and academic administrator in West Africa and joins Martin Savidge to discuss the effectiveness of abstinence in battling HIV, Africa’s growing Catholic population and significance of the pope’s trip.

For more on the AIDS crisis in Africa, see the Worldfocus signature story: AIDS ravages 1,000 people per day in South Africa.

The decision has outraged Jewish organizations and could strain Jewish-Catholic relations. The Vatican has stated that the initial excommunication and its overturn are “absolutely unrelated” to issues of Holocast denial or anti-Semitism.

Terrence Tilley, the theology chair of Fordham University and president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, discusses the Catholic church’s motives and implications of the decision.

Below, read blogger responses to Pope Benedict’s decision.

“Gawker” blogger Ryan Tate criticizes Pope Benedict, though a mixed-response discussion follows his post — including a comment from “Dorothea Bercq,” who argues that the Pope was merely reversing the priest’s excommunication on unrelated grounds.

Blogger “Deborah Lipstadt” writes that although the Pope has been sensitive to anti-Semitic issues in the past, the decision “makes the Vatican look utterly stupid.”

The “Get Religion” blog has questions about the Pope’s motives, but argues that media coverage has jumped to conclusions about the church’s intentions.

The “Hermeneutic of Continuity” blog supports the Pope’s decision, though opposing Bishop Williamson’s “reprehensible” views – arguing that, while risky, the rehabilitations will promote church unity.

Blogger “Wayne Besen” argues that the Pope’s decision moves the church further away from modernity and reality.

A blogger at “Pam’s House Blend” argues that the rehabilitations reflect both spiritual and political bigotry.

Brazil’s infrastructure has not kept up with its explosive economic growth over the past several years. Now, Brazil has embarked on a multi-billion dollar plan to correct the lack — a plan that has enormous implications for the country.

Brazil is the second largest producer of ethanol after the U.S., and expects to harvest 12 percent more cane than last year and increase exports by 25 percent. For more on worldwide use of ethanol and other fuel, see our map on global energy.

Producer Bryan Myers and correspondent Edie Magnus report on “Brazil Today” — a series that explores Brazil’s spiking conversion to Pentecostalism, its pioneering path toward energy independence and its improving — but expensive — roadways.

The Pentecostal growth in Brazil comes as the world’s largest Catholic community shrinks, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Pentecostals often view their churchgoing experience as more personal and social activism — particularly outreach to the poor — as more common.

Producer Bryan Myers and correspondent Edie Magnus report from the Assembly of God New Zion church in Rio de Janeiro.

Below, see what bloggers are saying about religious shifts in Brazil and across South America.

The “My Brazilian Brasil” blog discusses the “dangerous” relationship between religion and politics in Brazil, writing about the possibility that a Pentecostal may soon become Rio de Janeiro’s mayor.

The “Upside Down World” Web site writes about the role of Pentecostal churches in poor urban neighborhoods in Brazil.

Todd Martinez, a Fulbright research scholar studying in neighboring Uruguay, explores the reasons behind increasing conversion across Latin America at the “Small State” blog.

Also watch PBS NewsHour’s report on the Protestant church’s impact on Latin America.