The pope spoke about a report released Tuesday that estimated some 330,000 French children were abused by clergy and other church authority figures dating back to 1950.
Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, agreed to plead guilty to one count of money laundering and one count of wire fraud. The federal charges carry a maximum prison term of 40 years.
Francis urged political and religious officials to work toward "healing and reconciliation," but he did not formally apologize for the church's role in the forced reeducation of 150,000 children.
For a long time, the Catholic Church rejected scientific findings that conflicted with its doctrine, even persecuting Galileo. Now the Vatican looks to promote its observatory as a bridge to science.
The first major revision of Catholic canon law in nearly four decades redefines clerical sex abuse and mandates specific punishments. It also sets punishments for the attempted ordination of women.
Opposition to the death penalty is "a teaching that deserves our respect," says Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley. "I don't think it can be simply disregarded."
Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who will be the first Black American Catholic cardinal, talks about the historic nature of his position, the political issues that inform his work in the church and more.
Carlo Acutis, an Italian teenager who devoted his last years to the Catholic Church after being diagnosed with leukemia, was beatified at the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi on Saturday.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Church officials in Nevada say they’re following their counterparts in Louisiana and adding a Roman Catholic priest who was suspended in 2018 to a list of clergy members credibly accused of sexual abuse.
The changes apply to cases of clergy committing violence or sexual assaults against anyone under their authority, as well as minors. The pope also changed rules about child pornography.
Richard Malone had faced scrutiny for allegedly mishandling sexual abuse claims against the priests in his diocese. He announced Wednesday that the pope had accepted his request to "retire early."
Pope Francis recently opened the door to the possibility of women as deacons in the Catholic Church. Some women have sought official recognition for the ministries they already perform.
Hundreds of victims of priest sexual abuse have received reparations from the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania. A new legal maneuver allows people to sue the church over old sexual abuse claims.
Even before the synod began, traditionalists were angered by the suggestion that, to offset a shortage of priests in the Amazon, married men might be ordained to serve in remote communities.
The AARP has filed a lawsuit on behalf of workers at a defunct Catholic hospital in upstate New York, saying hundreds lost their pensions unfairly. And there are similar cases around the country.
An investigation that looked back to 1945 identified 163 cases of abuse. However, many of the alleged offenders are now dead or the statute of limitations on their alleged crimes has passed.
The document entitled "Male and Female He Created Them," laments what it calls an "educational crisis" around sexuality and reaffirming the church's traditional stance on gender identity.
The disclosure from one of the largest archdioceses in the U.S. follows similar revelations that further exposed the depth of a decades-long abuse crisis in Catholic communities across the nation.
The private Jesuit university in Managua, Nicaragua, where priest Chepe Idiáquez works is one of a series of Catholic institutions that have been attacked, as the country's yearlong unrest continues.
Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati faces charges of covering up multiple claims of sexual abuse in Chile's Catholic Church. Pope Francis has named Monsignor Celestino Aos Braco as a temporary replacement.
He had been convicted of sexually abusing two choir boys in Melbourne, Australia, two decades ago. He is 77 and will be eliglble for parole in three years and eight months.
