Jonathan Luxmoore

The French bishops' permanent council has approved a recommendation to remove gender references for parents on baptismal certificates.

Eastern Europe is marking the anniversary of the end of communist rule. Amid prosperity, some wonder how stable the foundations are in a continent still recovering from its infamous East-West divide. 

German Catholics insisted their national "synodal way" reform consultation will have an impact on the church worldwide, as final preparations were completed for the consultation's first plenary in January.

German-speaking Catholics paid tribute to Fr. Johann Baptist Metz, the veteran theologian who died Dec. 2 in Munster, Germany, at age 91.

Catholic campaigners at U.N. climate talks welcomed support from Pope Francis and vowed to bring a "firm moral perspective" to intergovernmental negotiations.

Belgium's Salesian order defended its decision to send a priest convicted of child abuse to work with Caritas in Central African Republic, where he has been accused of abusing children again.

France's Catholic bishops plan to open their plenary assembly for the first time to lay participation following the passage of a controversial bioethics law despite mass church-backed opposition.

Cardinal John Henry Newman was canonized Oct. 13 in Rome, with many leaders of British church and state in attendance. Catholic prelates spoke to NCR about the timely importance of the new saint.

When the convert-cardinal, Blessed John Henry Newman, is canonized by Pope Francis on Oct. 13, it will be the culmination of a remarkable religious odyssey stretching back over two centuries.

A new European Commission takes over this fall, coinciding with the United Kingdom's planned departure Oct. 31 from the European Union. The Catholic Church will be doing what it can to ease tensions.

On the 75th anniversary of Poland's uprising against the Nazis, Krakow Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski denounced LGBTQ campaigners, who have been staging controversial equality marches across Poland.

Catholic leaders in Congo have gathered more than 1.5 million signatures on a petition that demands local elections to curb corruption and strengthen democracy.

A Polish archbishop has condemned attacks on a gay pride rally by protesters claiming to be defending his cathedral.

A German bishop has vowed to intensify "preventive measures" after two church-sponsored reports confirmed systemic violence and abuse at his diocese's cathedral schools between 1945 and 1995.

Poland's bishops promised in May to appoint a legal team to analyze the causes of abuse, set out measures for implementing the pope's call for new procedures in Vox Estis Lux Mundi, and improve awareness and communication in Catholic communities. But their message made no mention of material help or compensation for victims and limited its pledges to "psychological, legal and pastoral support" and offers of "sympathy and sensitivity."    

A senior Dutch priest criticized media reports on the death of a teenager experiencing depression, accusing foreign media of "sensationalizing euthanasia" in his country.

The Polish bishops' administrative council met in emergency session May 22 and later admitted the church failed to act against clerical sexual abuse.

The EU is likely to lose in the long run if it fails to engage with legitimate concerns and reveals itself as an undemocratic power-bloc rather than a free association of sovereign states and nations.

A close aide to St. John Paul II has vigorously defended the late pope's handling of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and denied accusations that he ignored the problem during his 27-year pontificate.

A top Polish Catholic leader, named the first bishops' conference delegate for child protection, welcomed a church report on sexual abuse by clergy in his country and vowed efforts to combat it.