Franklin Briceño

Roman Catholics across South America responded to news of Pope Leo XIV’s lung cancer diagnosis with an outpouring of prayers and support, along with concerns about whether the first American pope will make his highly anticipated and physically demanding visit to the region next month.

He made his first public comments about clergy sex abuse in a written message to a Peruvian journalist who covered a case of abuse and financial corruption in the Peruvian-based Sodalitium Christianae Vitae.

A Peruvian archbishop who sued two journalists over their reports about sexual abuse and alleged financial corruption in his religious movement, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, has resigned amid a Vatican investigation.

Two key Vatican investigators have begun an audit in Peru’s capital of a secretive Roman Catholic society with chapters across South America and in the U.S. following allegations that its founder sexually molested young recruits.