Deborah Gyapong

New sexual abuse policies that Canada's bishops have vowed to implement will focus on prevention but will not include a mechanism to censure a bishop who commits or covers up an offense.

The sexual abuse crisis is like a fire that should be left to burn to purify the church, said the president of the Canadian bishops' conference.

In a rare show of unanimity, the House of Commons overwhelmingly supported a motion to call on Pope Francis to apologize on Canadian soil for abuses that occurred at church-run residential schools.

A conservative member of Parliament blocked a motion calling on the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops to invite Pope Francis to apologize for the Catholic Church's role in abuse at Indian residential schools.

As waves of asylum seekers continue to cross illegally into Canada from the United States, Catholic dioceses in Quebec and eastern Ontario are mobilizing to meet their needs.