IMAGE: CNS photo/Clodagh Kilcoyne, Reuters By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis will meet survivors of sexual abuse during his trip to Ireland Aug. 25-26, but it will be up to the survivors to decide whether any information about the meeting will be released, said the director of …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Carlos Barria, Reuters By Zita Ballinger Fletcher WASHINGTON (CNS) — Sexual assault victims say they were hurt not only by individual priests, but by church officials and ordinary Catholics who treated them with intolerance and indifference. Four survivors of sexual assaults by priests shared their stories with Catholic …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Barbara Fraser By Barbara J. Fraser BOGOTA, Colombia (CNS) — Asiangelis Guevara sat at the dining room table at a shelter for migrants, sipping hot chocolate, holding her year-old son and encouraging him to eat a piece of bread. He gripped the food, but just stared back at …

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — “No effort must be spared” to prevent future cases of clerical sexual abuse and “to prevent the possibility of their being covered up,” Pope Francis said in a letter addressed “to the people of God.” “I acknowledge once more the suffering endured by …

Pope Francis has responded to new reports of clerical sexual abuse and the ecclesial cover-up of abuse. In an impassioned letter addressed to the whole People of God, he calls on the Church to be close to victims in solidarity, and to join in acts of prayer and fasting in …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CNS) — At an Aug. 17 news conference, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, said that in response to the release of the grand jury report on abuse claims in six Pennsylvania dioceses over a 70- year period, he will …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By CHICAGO (CNS) — “Sorrow, disgust, outrage — these are righteous feelings” for all to have in reaction to the latest abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich said in an Aug. 17 statement. These are “the stirrings of the conscience of a …

By Dennis Sadowski WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Association of U.S. Catholic Priests said its members are “sad … angry … frustrated” over continued reports involving fellow priests and a lack of accountability by bishops. “At every level, our church is in pain,” the 1,200-member organization said Aug. 17. The organization …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Rhina Guidos WASHINGTON (CNS) — In an Aug. 16 interview with Eternal Word Television Network, Erie Bishop Lawrence T. Persico said the only way to regain the trust of the laity after decades-long claims of sexual abuse by priests and others at six Pennsylvania dioceses …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Shannon Stapleton, Reuters By Steve Larkin WASHINGTON (CNS) — A U.S. Commerce Department decision that a question about citizenship status be included on the 2020 census has its fair share of critics and has prompted lawsuits. The critics say such questions might make people less likely to participate …