Joshua J. McElwee

Pope Francis will issue a new apostolic exhortation on holiness, a French cardinal will stand trial over suspected cover-up of sexual abuse by a priest, and a Vatican-China deal may be more distant than earlier reported.

Pope Francis will issue an apostolic exhortation on holiness April 9, the Vatican has announced. The document will carry the title Gaudete et Exsultate ("Rejoice and be glad") and the subtitle: "On the call to holiness in the contemporary world."

A Vatican tribunal's guilty verdict last month against a Guam archbishop appears likely not to have been made in direct relation to allegations of sexual abuse by the prelate.

In a homily addressed to the Catholic priests of the world March 29, Pope Francis urged pastors to be close to their people, calling proximity "the key to mercy" and warning against "the temptation of making idols of certain abstract truths."

A Vatican-hosted conference of young people meant to advise Catholic bishops on the needs of youth today has acknowledged that some in their generation want the church to change teachings on issues such as same-sex marriage and use of contraception.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of the head of the Vatican's new streamlined communications office, Italian Msgr. Dario Vigano, a week after his mishandling of a letter from retired Pope Benedict XVI provoked a global outcry.

"That's why we need you young people, living stones of a church with a young face," Pope Francis said. "You provoke us to break free of the logic of 'it has always been done this way,' which is a sweet poison that tranquilizes the soul."

The Vatican has released the full text of a letter written by retired Pope Benedict XVI about Pope Francis, days after admitting that an earlier photo sent to the media of the document was altered to obscure a portion of its contents.

A Vatican tribunal has found Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron, who had been accused of sexually abusing young men decades ago, "guilty of certain of the accusations," imposing a penalty of removal from office and a prohibition from living on the U.S. island territory.

Some 300 young people from around the world will come to the Vatican in late March for a weeklong conference meant to prepare the way for an October Synod of Bishops on issues facing youth today.

A Chilean cardinal and member of Pope Francis' advisory Council of Cardinals has sent a letter to the presidents of various Latin American bishops' conferences to rebut media reports that the pope's visit to Chile in January was a failure.

Mary McAleese, the former president of Ireland, said the church's ban on the ordination of women "has locked women out of any significant role in the church's leadership, doctrinal development and authority structure since these have historically been reserved to or filtered through ordained men."

Mercy Sr. Ana María Pineda, a theologian at Santa Clara University, spoke to NCR about the friendship between Archbishop Óscar Romero and Jesuit Fr. Rutilio Grande, about Romero's spiritual life and the meaning of his pending sainthood.

Vatican City -- Pope Francis has cleared the way for Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero to be made a saint in the coming year. The Vatican announced March 7 that the pope approved the declaration of a miracle attributed to Romero's intercession.

As six members of the papal clergy sex abuse commission have not been renewed, and new members added, one former member sees the structure of the meetings, and the inability to meet with the pope, obstacles to progress.

Pope Francis’ one-day visit to Geneva in June will be an occasion to highlight the “longstanding and rich collaboration” between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches, said the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The Vatican office responsible for overseeing the doctrine of the global Catholic Church has written to the world's bishops to warn against religious practices that "deface the confession of faith in Christ" by stressing individualistic attitudes toward salvation.

The Council of Cardinals is considering how the Catholic Church can speed up its investigations of clergy sexual abuse cases. One possibility is the creation of regional tribunals to deal with a backlog of pending inquiries. 

Pope Francis has removed a Nigerian bishop whose 2012 appointment sparked years of protest from the diocese's priests, backing down from a confrontation eight months after threatening to suspend the priests should they continue to agitate.

Pope Francis renewed the mandate of his clergy sexual abuse commission Feb. 17, two months after the group's lapse into an inactive state led some survivor advocates to question whether protecting children was being given the highest priority in the Catholic Church.