Thomas Doyle

Jim Doyle, who was executive director of the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada for 30 years, from 1958 to 1988, has died, at age 98.

Over nine months, AP reporters and researchers scoured public databases, court records, property records, social media and other sources to locate the ousted clergy members. That effort unearthed hundreds of these priests who, largely unwatched by church and civil authorities, chose careers that put them in new positions of trust and authority, including jobs in which they dealt with children and survivors of sexual abuse.

Commentary: The most stunning result of the four days in Rome was what the Vatican summit inspired: the unprecedented gathering of clergy abuse survivors from all corners of the globe.

During a recent appearance on the PBS NewsHour, correspondent William Brangham quizzed me about the accusations in a letter Archbishop Carlo Viganò had released a couple days earlier. "Do you see this as a demonstration of a schism within the Catholic Church right now?" he asked.

Catholics gathered at "Voices Pope Francis Will Not Hear" to discuss topics and people excluded from the international gathering, including marginalization of women and LGBT persons, and the abuse scandal.

Appreciation: Jason Berry remembers Richard Sipe, a major voice in the clergy sexual abuse scandal, and the metaphor for a conflicted church that was Sipe's feud with Andrew Greeley.

After a flurry of leadership resignations, members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests gathered for their annual conference, and continued to navigate the advocacy group's transition.

What one state representative predicts "will probably be the worst grand jury report" on sexual abuse may revive prospects for legislation targeting the statute of limitations.