Joshua J. McElwee

Pope Francis' upcoming visit to Morocco could play a significant role in helping the country better address economic and social issues that have contributed to the radicalization of some of its young people, say several regional experts.

In separate interviews with NCR, Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich and Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna both said the Vatican should begin disclosing the reasons for a Catholic prelate's removal from office. Among other topics, they also talked about seminary culture and about inclusion of women in synods of bishops.

Vatican City: Pope Francis ended his landmark summit with 190 Catholic bishops on clergy sexual abuse Feb. 24 with a promise the church will "decisively confront" the abuse of minors, but also warned that the global institution must avoid "ideological disputes and journalistic practices" that he said exploit the scandals.

Vatican City: A top cardinal has admitted that the global Catholic Church destroyed files to prevent documentation of decades of sexual abuse of children, saying that such misadministration led "in no small measure" to more children being harmed.

Presentations during the second day of Pope Francis' highly anticipated global summit on clergy sexual abuse focused widely on how Catholic bishops should police one another for signs of questionable conduct, while also making room for the "essential role" of laypeople in rooting out abuse.

Vatican City: Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge said such an office could be focused on ensuring "integrity in the church" and would be a way of signaling the seriousness of the problems facing the worldwide institution.

Pope Francis opened the highly anticipated global summit on Catholic clergy sexual abuse Feb. 21 by telling the hundreds of bishops he had called to Rome for the encounter that people expect them to consider "concrete and effective measures" to confront what he termed the "evil" of abuse.

Vatican City: Peter Isely, an Ending Clergy Abuse member who took part in the meeting, said some of the survivors told the summit organizers it was "not OK" that Francis was not there.

Rome: The heads of Catholic religious orders around the world apologized to clergy abuse survivors Feb. 19, acknowledging in a rare joint statement that orders habitually denied accusations in the past and covered up for abusers.

Vatican City:  Vatican officials Feb. 18 declined to comment on the case of a priest working at the Catholic Church's highest court who has been listed by his home diocese as credibly accused of abuse.

Pope Francis revealed he once concelebrated Mass at the Vatican with Cardinal Gerhard Müller, then the prefect of the doctrinal congregation, and Dominican Fr. Gustavo Gutiérrez, a Peruvian often credited with founding the sometimes controversial field of liberation theology.

Pope Francis has expressed openness to the Vatican stepping in to mediate in Venezuela, where the head of the country's national assembly has declared himself interim president after months of unrest 

United Arab Emirates: Pope Francis sought to fortify the Catholic minority in this Muslim country Feb. 5, encouraging a dynamic but disenfranchised community of migrant workers and housekeepers to "face up to the trials of each day."

United Arab Emirates: Pope Francis urged religious leaders to renounce all forms of support for violence Feb. 4, using the first papal address on the Arabian Peninsula to call it a "duty" of the world's faiths to reject "every nuance of approval" for war.

One of the department heads at the Vatican's doctrinal congregation has resigned from his post, days after an NCR report noted he had been accused of soliciting a woman for sex in the confessional.

Some Middle East experts are wishing Pope Francis would reconsider the February visit to the United Arab Emirates because of that country's role in the coalition led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

The pope hopes the encounter helps Catholic bishops "take consciousness" of the issue, but says problems of abuse will continue in the church. He also addressed abortion, saying of women who abort, "she needs to be in the confessional."

The pontiff stated firmly that he is not in agreement with making celibacy optional, but noted that there are areas of the world where Catholics are deprived of the Eucharist.

In a Via Crucis prayer service during World Youth Day, Pope Francis told crowds packed along Panama City's Pacific shoreline that the church should help create societies that welcome those leaving their homelands due to violence.