CATHOLIC CHURCH

Pope Francis' weekly general audience often gives ordinary people rare access to the pope.

As Republican-governed states across the nation advance numerous bills targeting transgender young people, America’s faith leaders are starkly divided in their assessment.

Pope Francis has decided to give women the right to vote at an upcoming meeting of bishops.

During the “Burning of Judas” celebrations that take place every Holy Saturday in some Mexican neighborhoods, people gather to light fireworks that destroy colorful figures embodying evil.

A “stable share” of Americans has participated in religious services in some way – virtually or in person – during the coronavirus pandemic, but in-person attendance is slightly lower than it was before the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Vatican has closed its embassy in Nicaragua after the country's government proposed suspending diplomatic relations.

Spain’s ombudsman says an independent commission set up a year ago to investigate historic sex abuse by the Catholic church has collected testimonies from 445 victims, as the nation tackles an issue other European countries acted on long ago.

Pope Francis is marking the 10th anniversary of his election as pope on Monday.

Nicaragua ’s government says it has proposed suspending relations with the Vatican days after Pope Francis compared President Daniel Ortega’s administration to a communist or Nazi dictatorship amid a crackdown on the Catholic Church in the country.

Dozens of priests, nuns, seminarians and church workers have fled Nicaragua in recent years, or been exiled by President Daniel Ortega’s government, which considers them a threat.

A funeral service was held Saturday morning in Clawson for Alexandria Verner, a 20-year-old Michigan State University student who was killed when a gunman opened fire on campus.

A committee looking into historic child sex abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church says 512 alleged victims have come forward, but a report by the expert panel warned that the true number is likely higher than 4,800.

Pope Francis says there's a risk that a reform process in the German church could become “ideological."

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ruled that inaction by the country’s former president and four others led to Easter Sunday bomb attacks in 2019 that killed nearly 270 people and ordered them to pay compensation for violating the basic rights of the victims and their families.

Pope Francis joined tens of thousands of faithful in bidding farewell to Benedict XVI at a rare requiem Mass for a dead pope presided over by a living one.

In many ways, the service at the Catholic Church of Our lady of the Rosary feels like a standard Sunday Mass.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City is one of the world’s most visited and beloved religious venues.

Germany’s Catholic bishops are vowing to continue their controversial reform process after a week of tense meetings with Vatican officials seeking to put the brakes on proposals to ordain women, bless gay unions and rethink church teaching on sexuality.

U.S. Catholic bishops plan to elect new leaders when they gather in Baltimore this week.

Pope Francis has joined 1,300 migrants and homeless people at a special lunch at the Vatican.

One of France’s high-ranking prelates of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, says that he had abused a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago and is withdrawing from his religious duties.

The head of a lay committee looking into historic child sex abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church says the problem in the past had been “widespread” and on some occasions reached “truly endemic” proportions.

Pope Francis is calling for unity in the Catholic Church as he marks the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council.

Pope Francis has expressed worry about the situation in Nicaragua following the detention of a Roman Catholic bishop and several priests.

The Vatican says a preliminary church investigation into sexual assault allegations by a Canadian woman against a top cardinal has determined the case doesn’t warrant further investigation.

Pope Francis has come face-to-face with a long-standing demand from Indigenous peoples during his Canada pilgrimage.

Pope Francis has arrived in Quebec at a time when many French Canadians are not only continuing to move away from religion but explicitly rejecting it.

Pope Francis plans to apologize to Indigenous groups on Canadian soil for harms inflicted at church-run residential schools.

Pope Francis has named three women to serve as members of the Vatican office that vets bishop nominations.

Pope Francis has taken another step to reign in and regulate new religious groups in the Catholic Church.

The new president of the Italian Conference of Bishops says he would launch an independent inquiry on sex abuse by Catholic clergy in Italy.

Pope Francis has named a bishop in his own image as the new head of the Italian bishops conference.

A Roman Catholic bishop in Nicaragua has begun an “indefinite fast” inside a church to protest increasing harassment from national police, who he said followed him throughout the entire previous day.

The top Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land says Israel's police attack on mourners during a funeral for an Al Jazeera journalist was a “severe” violation of human rights.

Rwandans have begun a solemn commemoration of the 1994 genocide in which more than 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu who tried to protect them were killed.

Pope Francis has made a historic apology to Indigenous Peoples for the “deplorable” abuses suffered in Canada’s residential schools.

Spain's Roman Catholic bishops have asked a private law firm to investigate past and present sexual abuse committed by clergy, members of religious orders and others associated with the church.

Thousands of Arizona Catholics recently learned they may have been improperly baptized with the wrong words.

By the thousands, Americans have been seeking religious exemptions in order to circumvent COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

A report on decades of sexual abuse in Germany that shone an unflattering spotlight on retired Pope Benedict XVI has come on top of already strong pressure in Germany to reconsider Catholic rules on issues including homosexuality and women’s roles.

The Catholic Church in Rome is strongly condemning a funeral procession outside a local church in which the casket was draped in a Nazi flag and mourners gave the fascist salute.

Pope Francis has taken a step to reorganize the Vatican’s powerful doctrine office.

The Catholic Church and the northern Italian city of Ferrara are making their peace with Antonio Vivaldi nearly 300 years after the city’s archbishop effectively canceled the staging of one of his operas.

Plans are progressing for a meeting next year between Pope Francis and the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church following their historic encounter in Havana in 2016.

Pope Francis has agreed to meet with the commission that published a ground-breaking report into clergy sexual abuse in the French Catholic Church.

Pope Francis says there are plans for a possible second meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Tuesday night saw nearly 700 people come out as a sign of solidarity during evening mass. On a regular night for sed event, there's an expectation of a typical crowd between 50 to 60 churchgoers.

The Catholic community is at the forefront of the giving season with the fourth annual Granting Celebration.

France’s Catholic Church has announced its decision to financially compensate sex abuse victims by selling property assets and if needed, taking out a loan.

A Nebraska attorney general’s office investigation has identified 258 victims who made credible allegations of sexual abuse against 57 Catholic church officials in the state going back decades.

Victims of sex abuse within France’s Catholic Church have welcomed a new report that says an estimated 330,000 children were sexually abused over the past 70 years.

More and more Hispanic families are joining the Catholic church. The Archdiocese of Detroit said it has seen a 49% increase since 2016.

Pope Francis is urging European bishops to listen to survivors of clergy sexual abuse and consider them partners in reforming the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis has honored Slovakian Jews killed in the Holocaust as he seeks to promote reconciliation with the Jewish community.

Vatican officials are refusing to say whether women will have a vote when Pope Francis convenes the Catholic hierarchy and experts to the Vatican for a meeting on the Catholic church in 2023.

Parishioners of a church outside New Orleans were surprised to find electricity had been restored overnight, allowing for an indoor service on Sunday.

Fernando Karadima, a Chilean priest who was at the center of a sexual abuse scandal that shook the Catholic Church in Chile and who was eventually defrocked by the pope, has died.

More than 150 boarding schools for Indigenous children in the United States were operated by religious groups between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries — and churches are now reckoning with their traumatic legacy.

An Oakland County judge ruled that there is enough evidence against a former priest to send him to trial for criminal sexual conduct charges, according to Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Pope Francis has agreed to meet in December with Indigenous survivors of Canada’s notorious residential schools.

The Vatican has released a long-awaited update to the criminal section of its Code of Canon Law, the internal legal system that regulates the life of the 1.3 billion-member Catholic Church.

A Nobel laureate, a Netflix star and a fashion model have joined the board of a new foundation that hopes to raise money for LGBT rights groups in Poland.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is planning to devote part of its national meeting next month to the sensitive issue of which Catholics are worthy of receiving Communion, despite calls for a delay.

The Archdiocese of Detroit announced Wednesday that churchgoers who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer need to wear a face mask inside Catholic churches.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda on Wednesday described a French report documenting France’s role in the 1994 genocide as “a good thing,” welcoming efforts in Paris to “move forward with a good understanding of what happened” 27 years after the massacres that shocked the world.

The CDC reiterates that the COVID-19 vaccines are effective at protecting you from getting seriously sick.

The report commissioned by Cologne's archbishop, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, absolved Woelki himself of any neglect of duty with respect to abuse victims. Francis has previously declined, at least initially, to accept resignations when they were offered to repent for mishandling sex abuse cases, though he has relented after time. Woelki said he also would temporarily suspend two Cologne church officials based on the findings of the investigation. The report found Schwaderlapp neglected his duty to inform and report abuse allegations in eight cases. AdIn January, a new system drawn up by the church to compensate abuse victims took effect.

FILE - In this Saturday, May 8, 2010 file photo, from left, Liege Bishop Aloysius Jousten, Brussels Archbishop Andre Leonard, Tournai Bishop Guy Harpigny and Antwerp Bishop Johan Bonny attend a press conference at the Vatican. Belgian bishop Johan Bonny, in an opinion piece, has lashed out at the Vatican over its decree that the Catholic Church won't bless same-sex unions. The Congregation's note distinguished between blessing same-sex unions and the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it endorsed. It argued that such unions were not part of God’s plan and that any sacramental recognition of them could be confused with marriage. AdThe orthodoxy office's document argued that same-sex unions can't be blessed by the Catholic Church because they are not part of that plan.

(Tiziana Fabi/Pool photo via AP)ROME – The Vatican declared Monday that the Catholic Church won't bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.”The Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy have the authority to bless gay unions. Since gay unions aren't intended to be part of that plan, they can't be blessed by the church, the document said. Francis has endorsed providing gay couples with legal protections in same-sex unions, but that was in reference to the civil sphere, not within the church. At the time, Argentine lawmakers were considering approving gay marriage, which the Catholic Church opposes. AdSpeaking of families with gay children, he said: “You can’t kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this.

The pandemic has ended so many lives and vaccines are in high demand, but the J&J vaccine is born out of research that the church has long spoken out against. AdMichigan COVID-19 vaccinations: How to find appointments, info on phasesWhile the Archdiocese of Detroit recognizes the need for more vaccines, the J&J vaccine emerged from research dating back to the 1970s that proves controversial for Catholics. “If no other vaccines are available, certainly take the J&J vaccine,” Smetanka said. The vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca are more morally problematic, however. If one does not have a choice of vaccine and a delay in immunization may bring about serious consequences for one’s health and the health of others, it would be permissible to accept the Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca vaccine.

His attorney, Thomas Jubin, said multiple allegations against Hart were “specious,” with some based on second- and third-hand information, and with some accusers emphasizing that Hart didn't physically touch them. “Despite this, Bishop Hart asks me to convey that he continues to pray for all involved in this case so that they may find peace and healing. In Cheyenne, Biegler has previously stood by the findings of his review board, which determined a half-dozen claims were credible. As a result, the sentence showed the arbitrary nature of Vatican’s canonical sex abuse deliberations and judgments, which aren't public. The first known allegations against Hart dated to the early 1960s and were made in the late 1980s.

The district has been at the center of a worsening coronavirus outbreak, with over 160 cases reported over the first three weeks in January. As of Sunday, Hong Kong has reported 10,086 cases of the coronavirus, with 169 deaths recorded. The nation of 26 million people has reported fewer than 30,000 virus cases and a little over 900 deaths. There have been 373,090 total virus cases and a death toll of 3,279 since the pandemic began, according to the health department. The U.S. accounts for roughly one of every four cases reported worldwide and one of every five deaths.

Pope Francis has changed church law to explicitly allow women to do more things during Mass, Monday Jan. 11, 2021, while reaffirming they cannot be priests. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, FILE)DETROIT – The role of women in the Catholic Church is expanding and it’s no longer based on the decision of an individual Bishop. “It’s a really welcome change from the Pope,” Katie Lacz, of Women’s Ordination Conference, said. Advocates for gender equality in the Catholic Church are praising the decision by Pope Francis. Pope Francis has now made it canon law.

DETROIT – The Archdiocese of Detroit has announced plans to form 51 new families of parishes in an effort to better serve worshippers. The idea to form 51 families of parishes was conceived years ago amid a priest shortage, and is designed to help the diocese become more missionary. The Deacon says the transition will help spread resources and keep the doors of the churches open. “This allows us to keep the parishes open with fewer clergy and that’s our goal,” Houghton said. Officials say the transition will happen in two waves: one in January 2021 and the second in July.

DETROIT – For months, mass at St. Clare Montefalco Parish in Grosse Pointe Park has been different in many ways, but still celebrated weekly. Allen Vigneron, extended a blessing. Announced on Friday, the dispensation from the obligation to attend mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation was extended to Ash Wednesday, Feb, 17, 2021. Those who stay at home should keep holy the Lord’s Day by reading scripture or watching mass virtually. You can read the full letter from Reverend Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit here.

DETROIT – The Archdioceses of Detroit announced Friday that mass dispensation for Catholics will be extended until Ash Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2021. DispensationAfter carefully considering these and other factors, I am extending the dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation for people living in or visiting the Archdiocese of Detroit until Ash Wednesday, February 17, 2021. At the same time, one should not take advantage of the dispensation without a true need. To that end, many of our parishes have been broadcasting their services over the internet during these last several months. With assurances of my prayers for you, I remain,Sincerely yours in Christ,The Most Reverend Allen H. VigneronArchbishop of Detroit

Police officers and rescue workers block the access to the scene after a Greek Orthodox priest was shot Saturday Oct.31, 2020 while he was closing his church in the city of Lyon, central France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)LYON – A Greek Orthodox priest was shot Saturday while he was closing his church in the French city of Lyon, and authorities locked down part of the city to hunt for the assailant, authorities said. “We don’t know at this stage the motive for this attack.”Antoine Callot, the pastor at another Greek Orthodox church in Lyon, identified the wounded priest as Nikolas Kakavelakis, a 45-year-old father of two. No one was guarding the church targeted Saturday in Lyon, or the church attacked in Nice on Thursday. The Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “We condemn the attack against an Orthodox priest of Greek origin near the Church of the Annunciation in Lyon, France.

The past week of social upheaval followed a ruling last week by the constitutional court, which ruled that abortion in the cases of severe fetal deformities is unconstitutional. It allowed abortion only in the cases of fetal defects, risk to the woman's health and incest or rape. Last week's constitutional court ruling leaves only the woman's health or pregnancy resulting from crimes as legal reasons for abortion. Health Ministry figures show that 1,110 legal abortions were carried out in Poland in 2019, mostly because of fetal defects. Polish women seeking abortions get them in Germany or other nearby nations, or illegally in Poland.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican and China extended a controversial accord on bishop nominations Thursday over strong opposition from the White House and conservative Catholics given Beijing's crackdown on religious believers. The Holy See and Beijing government jointly announced a two-year extension to the 2018 agreement, which expired Thursday. In an unsigned article accompanying the announcement of the extended agreement, the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said the Vatican “does not fail to attract the attention of the Chinese government to encourage a more fruitful exercise of religious freedom." Beijing foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a daily briefing Thursday that China and the Vatican decided to extend the agreement “after friendly consultations." The Vatican has been vigorously defending the agreement in recent weeks after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo publicly criticized it and urged the Holy See not to extend it.

ROME – Pope Francis says the coronavirus pandemic has proven that the “magic theories” of market capitalism have failed and that the world needs a new type of politics that promotes dialogue and solidarity and rejects war at all costs. “Fratelli Tutti” (Brothers All) was released on the feast day of his namesake, the peace-loving St. Francis of Assisi. In the encyclical, Francis rejected even the Catholic Church’s own doctrine justifying war as a means of legitimate defense, saying it had been too broadly applied over the centuries and was no longer viable. “Aside from the differing ways that various countries responded to the crisis, their inability to work together became quite evident,” Francis wrote. In this case, “Fratelli Tutti” is a quote from the “Admonitions,” the guidelines penned by St. Francis in the 13th century.

Pope Francis blesses a newly wed couple during his weekly general audience in the St. Damaso courtyard at the Vatican, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)ROME – The Vatican released a detailed budget, balance sheet and earning statement for the first time Thursday as it sought to reassure Catholics that it's serious about cleaning up its financial act following a corruption scandal that has exposed shoddy fiscal management. The data showed that the Vatican bureaucracy had narrowed its deficit to 11 million euros last year from 75 million euros in 2018, even taking into account a 25 million-euro drop in donations from dioceses and individuals alike. The Vatican's overall patrimony blooms to 4 billion euros ($4.7 billion) when taking into account the cash-cow of the Vatican Museums, the Vatican bank and other sources of assets and funds. Astonishingly, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - in recent decades perhaps the best-known Vatican office because it processes all clergy sex abuse cases - operates on an annual budget of 3.36 million euros.

Pompeo made the appeal at a conference on religious freedom organized by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, with top Vatican officials in the audience. Pompeo has strongly criticized the accord, penning an essay earlier this month suggesting that the Vatican had compromised its moral authority by signing it. The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said the Holy See was “surprised” by Pompeo’s article. Both focused instead on the Holy See’s longstanding history of promoting religious freedom as a fundamental human right. After the conference, Pompeo met with Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte, the first Group of Seven leader to sign onto China’s infrastructure-building Belt and Road initiative.

FARMINGTON, Mich. – A former priest in the Farmington area has been charged with sexually assaulting a minor. The charges are part of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s investigation into sexual abuse within the seven Catholic dioceses across the state. Gary Berthiaume, 78, has been charged with one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. The victim was 14 years old at the time of the assault, officials said. Berthiaume was arrested in 1977 for sexual assault of two other minors in Michigan.

Tokarczuk said in a tweet Friday that while she appreciated being considered, she “sadly” couldn't accept Lower Silesia’s honorary citizenship. She said that receiving it at the same time as Bishop Ignacy Dec would highlight the “painful rift” in Poland over LGBT rights. Dec has repeatedly described the LGBT rights movement as a threat to the Catholic Church and to Poland, which is predominantly Catholic. “Instead of being a joyous celebration of a sense of community, it is a vivid illustration of the painful rift in our society,” she said. Poland has produced heated debates over LGBT rights in recent months, including after right-wing President Andrzej Duda described the movement as worse than communism as part of his reelection campaign earlier this year.

FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2019 file photo, Pope Francis blesses a statue of the Mother Mary as he celebrates Mass at the National Stadium, in Bangkok, Thailand. Pope Francis is giving his blessing to a new Vatican think tank that is seeking to prevent the Mafia and organized crime groups from exploiting the image of the Virgin Mary for their own illicit ends. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)ROME – Pope Francis is giving his blessing to a new Vatican think tank that is seeking to prevent the Mafia and organized crime groups from exploiting the image of the Virgin Mary for their own illicit ends. The Catholic Church in Italy has long been associated with the Mafia, thanks in part to their post-war common cause against communism. Marian devotion is particularly important to Francis, history's first pope from Latin America, where displays of such popular piety are common.

VATICAN CITY Pope Francis said Sunday that gossiping is a plague worse than COVID that is seeking to divide the Catholic Church. Francis strayed from his prepared text to double down on his frequent complaint about gossiping within church communities and even within the Vatican bureaucracy. Please brothers and sisters, lets try to not gossip," he said. Gossip is a plague worse than COVID. The Catholic hierarchy has long relied on this fraternal correction among priests and bishops to correct them when they err without airing problems in public.

Francis on Thursday named the archbishop of Lodz, Grzegorz Rys, to temporarily take over as head of the Kalisz diocese. The Vatican's ambassador, in explaining the decision, said the current Kalisz bishop, Edward Janiak, 67, retains the title of Kalish bishop for the time being. The film also documented another case of alleged cover-up of another priest during Janiaks time as Kalisz bishop. Polak in May wrote to the Vatican reporting the allegations against Janiak and asking for an investigation into them. Later in May, Kaliszs leading priests were asked by a local bishop to sign a letter to the Vatican pledging confidence in Janiak.

(CNN) - Pope Francis says he is not afraid of a schism within the Catholic Church, even as he confronts criticism from conservative Catholics about his leadership. "I pray that there will not be schisms," the Pope said Tuesday, "but I am not afraid." A schism is a formal break within the church, usually due to disputes over Catholic teaching. "There have been many schisms in the Church," Francis said, referring to the institution's long history of religious disputes. Last Wednesday, on the outbound flight to Africa, Pope Francis said it's an "honor" when traditionalist American Catholics attack him.

Tim Boyle/Getty Images(CNN) - A Roman Catholic diocese in Providence, Rhode Island, published a list of clergy members accused of sexually abusing minors. The list, published at the end of June, contains 50 names of deacons, clergy members and priests who have been accused, along with their ages and whether they resigned, died or were removed from the ministry. In a letter published Friday, Bishop of Providence Thomas Tobin outlined two reasons for publishing the list: a societal expectation and church members' right to know. The list's publication comes at a tumultuous time for the Catholic Church, which is at the center of an international sex abuse scandal. States across the country have begun investigations into the Catholic Church.