IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Rhina Guidos WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Archdiocese of Washington announced Sept. 28 that former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, who was removed from ministry earlier this year after abuse allegations came to light, is now living in Kansas in a friary for Capuchin Franciscan friars. Archbishop …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former nuncio to the United States who accused Pope Francis and church officials of failing to act on accusations of sexual abuse, urged a top Vatican official to release documents that would …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Ignatius Press By Denis Grasska SAN DIEGO (CNS) — “Worms out of undead eye sockets? Really, Eleanor?” That was the reaction that Eleanor Bourg Nicholson, director of religious education at St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish in Charlottesville, Virginia, probably never expected to hear at the parish office. …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By Anne Condodina VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Abolishing the death penalty worldwide would reflect the brave and hope-filled belief that crime can be dealt with without capital punishment and that a criminal should be given the chance to reform, a top Vatican diplomat told world leaders. …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Dawn Eden Goldstein By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — A panel discussion Sept. 25 at Georgetown University on the current church crisis was akin to a very large parish town hall meeting. Panelists and audience members alike shared their pain, shock and complete frustration with recent allegations …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tony Gentile, Reuters By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — During times of freedom or persecution, the Gospel is needed to bring meaning, fullness and hope to life, Pope Francis said. Speaking about his Sept. 22-25 visit to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, the pope said he visited these …

IMAGE: CNS photo/How Hwee Young, EPA By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The recent Vatican-China agreement on the nomination of bishops seeks the true good of the church, the promotion of preaching the Gospel in China and the re-establishment of the church’s full and visible unity, Pope Francis said …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO ROME (CNS) — The Catholic Church has grown in its understanding of the horror of clerical sexual abuse and of the “corruption” of covering it up, Pope Francis said. Returning to Rome from a trip Sept. 22-25 to …

IMAGE: CNS photo/CBS Entertainment By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — Television audiences may recall seeing actor Joe Morton as Eli Rowan Pope, the father of professional Washington fixer Olivia Pope, on the hit series “Scandal.” With “Scandal” having ended last season, Morton was left with nothing to do. But a …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden TALLINN, Estonia (CNS) — In what is probably the least religious country in Europe, Pope Francis said he is surprised by how many people hold firm to their faith despite all the sexual abuse and financial scandals in the Catholic Church. “We know …