Opinion: While concerns about hardliners in Tehran undermine rapprochement between the U.S. and Iran, the bigger threat may be hardliners in Washington.

The diocese of Gallup, N.M., has formally started the process of bankruptcy, citing the costs incurred by a growing number of sex-abuse claims.

Organizing an effort to listen "as widely as possible" to Catholics views on various issues takes time and dedication, as previous synods show.

While U.S. bishops consider how best to collect information ahead of a 2014 global meeting on family issues, several lay Catholic groups took the task into their own hands.

Groups of religious women and men have mobilized their networks in the Philippines to help communities affected by the Super Typhoon Haiyan that hit the region Nov. 8.

The Vatican announced earlier this week it will donate $150,000 in emergency aid to the Philippines to be distributed through the local churches in regions most severely hit, helping people displaced or otherwise affected by flooding, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines said.

Archbishop John Nienstedt acknowledged a need for transparency, for greater communication and "to be more of a shepherd" than administrator.