IMAGE: CNS photo/Evandro Inetti, pool By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The abuse crisis in the Catholic Church is a call for bishops to unmask the deep-seated clericalism that placed protection of the institution of the church above the sufferings of victims, said the head of the council …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By WASHINGTON (CNS) — Laypeople must be involved in a "more meaningful and influential role" to help Catholic bishops create "an environment of safety within the church," the chairman of the National Review Board said in an opinion piece published by The Boston Globe. Writing Feb. …

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Catholics need to know that their leaders "mean business" when it comes to protecting minors from abuse, the Vatican’s top abuse investigator told representatives of the world’s bishops and religious orders. "They should come to know us as friends of their safety and …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Evandro Inetti, pool By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — "Every time I refused to have sex with him, he would beat me," an abuse survivor from Africa told Pope Francis and bishops attending the Vatican summit on child protection and the abuse crisis. The meeting began …

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Opening the Vatican summit on child protection and the clerical sexual abuse crisis, Pope Francis said, "The holy people of God are watching and are awaiting from us not simple, predictable condemnations, but concrete and effective measures" to stop abuse. The summit meeting …

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. Msgr. Joseph R. Punderson, a senior official of the Vatican’s highest court, was instructed by his bishop to resign his Vatican post late in 2018 and then was removed from ministry 15 years after he was found to be credibly accused of …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Stephanie Keith, Reuters By Dennis Sadowski WASHINGTON (CNS) — For the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the order’s religious freedom claims in a legal challenge to a natural gas pipeline through their land in Pennsylvania came as no real …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Chicago Catholic By Joyce Duriga CHICAGO (CNS) — The canonization cause for Father Augustus Tolton is just one step away from going to Pope Francis for the priest to be declared "venerable." On Feb. 5, the feast of St. Agatha, a nine-member Vatican theological commission unanimously …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Carol Glatz ROME (CNS) — People must stop using homosexuals as scapegoats for the sexual abuse of children, two male survivors of abuse by priests told reporters. "To make this link between homosexuality and pedophilia is absolutely immoral, it is unconscionable and has to stop," …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When speaking to God as a father, Christians experience a love that goes beyond human love and affection, which can be unpredictable and mired by selfishness, Pope Francis said. While often compared to the love of parents, the …