Joshua J. McElwee

San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy has responded to a letter he received two years ago from the late clergy abuse survivor advocate Richard Sipe, in which the psychotherapist had listed about a dozen priests and bishops he said had abused children.

After two days of silence following release of a grand jury report in Pennsylvania that shocked Catholics with revelations of historic clergy sexual abuse of some 1,000 victims, the Vatican press office said Aug. 16 that the acts documented in the report are "criminal and morally reprehensible."

Canon lawyers weigh in on the process US bishops are considering for reporting allegations of misconduct by bishops; the experts say the process could take many shapes.

Pennsylvania's bishops respond after release of the Grand Jury Report, the archdiocese of Washington launches a new website to present Cardinal Wuerl's record on clergy abuse.

Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl has proposed that the national conference of U.S. Catholic bishops create a new high-level panel to receive and evaluate any allegations or rumors of sexual misconduct by one of its member bishops.

A major new study has found that more than three-quarters of the leaders of religious orders of priests, brothers and sisters in the U.S. believe it is "theoretically possible" to ordain women as deacons in the Catholic Church.

Irish pastoral worker trolls Trump, commentators respond to McCarrick's resignation from the College of Cardinals, a jetliner crashes in Mexico, and three journalists are murdered in the Central African Republic.

Retired Washington Archbishop Theodore McCarrick has renounced his position in the College of Cardinals, leaving the global Catholic Church's most symbolic and powerful group in the wake of revelations that he sexually harassed or abused several young men during his meteoric rise to become one of the U.S. church's most senior prelates.

Sarajevo: During its second day, an international meeting of nearly 500 theologians highlighted the ways in which women ethicists are responding to rapid shifts in the global geopolitical environment, while panels featured theological voices from five continents.

Sarajevo: "We are called to recognize every sign and mobilize all our energy in order to remove the walls of division and build bridges of fraternity everywhere in the world," Pope Francis wrote in a letter to 500 theologians gathered here.

Advocates say that Francis' upcoming visit to Dublin in late August as part of the World Meeting of Families is the perfect opportunity for the pope to decry the "culture of abuse and cover-up" that has plagued Ireland for decades.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Tegucigalpa, Honduras Auxiliary Bishop Juan Pineda Fasquelle, who had reportedly been accused of financial and sexual misconduct.

Theologians from about 80 countries are expected to take part in the July 26-29 conference called "A Critical Time for Bridge-Building: Catholic Theological Ethics Today."

Chilean clergy abuse survvior reveals new details about his recent meeting with Pope Francis, President Trump angers U.S. allies again, Italy's new populist government intensifies its stance against migrants.

In an address opening the Vatican's "Saving Our Common Home" event, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that people around the world, "as members of the common household, need to come together."

Pope Francis appointed the head of the Italian bishops' television channel as the new prefect of the Vatican's communications office July 5, entrusting a lay journalist with the task of continuing the consolidation of the city-state's various media entities.

The official commission for dialogue between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches has published its first document in 13 years, focusing on how each global institution can learn from the other in balancing exercise of ecclesial authority at the local, regional and worldwide levels.

Vatican City - In a ceremony marking the creation of 14 new cardinals, Pope Francis said, "The only credible form of authority is born of sitting at the feet of others in order to serve."

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of two more Chilean Catholic bishops, bringing to five the number of prelates he has replaced so far as part of the continuing fallout of the country's clergy sexual abuse crisis.

The leaders of the German bishops' conference say they feel "obliged to stride forward" with their proposal to create national guidelines on allowing Protestants married to Catholics to receive Communion, even after the Vatican's doctrinal chief asked them to set the matter aside.