Catholic News Service

The redress hearing is one of several involving the Catholic Church in the overall royal commission, which is looking primarily at abuse from 1950 to 1999, although experiences outside these years may also be heard. Abuse being investigated includes sexual, physical, emotional, psychological abuse and neglect.

Conflict is driving four countries — Yemen, South Sudan, Burkina Faso and northeastern Nigeria — into famine, the World Food Program warned.

Like St. Joseph, who had other plans for his life but lovingly embraced his role as Jesus' foster father, a priest assigned to a new parish cannot impose his own ways on that community, Pope Francis said.

The Brazilian bishops' conference and five civil society groups criticized the federal government response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As security forces in Myanmar have increased their crackdown on civilians, with disappearances, detentions and the killing of peaceful protesters, Pope Francis appealed for an end to violence and the start of dialogue.

A former student of the minor seminary located at the Vatican said he was sexually abused over a six-year period despite having told the rector that an older student was "bothering" him.

Every Christian is unique because the Holy Spirit inspires something new and original in each person, creating "an endless field of holiness," Pope Francis said.

A note on COVID-19 vaccines from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops triggered nearly immediate responses from many bishops in Quebec, who felt it was "untimely" and lacked some clarity. Some Catholics also were concerned about the moral permissibility of receiving some of the currently approved COVID-19 vaccines, so the CCCB issued a clarification.

The Jesuit order is pledging to raise $100 million for descendants of people their order once enslaved and sold as a way to make reparations.

Legislation introduced in the Senate and the House aims to protect "the cherished freedom of religious liberty" of faith-based foster care and adoption providers who believe children "deserve to be placed with a married mother and father," the chairmen of three U.S. bishops' committees said March 15.

A Polish cardinal, former secretary to St. John Paul II, could face jail time after a Polish state commission accused him of ignoring sexual abuse by Catholic clergy.

The United Nations and human right groups have strongly condemned the worsening bloodshed in Myanmar as at least 38 people were killed in the military's crackdown on protesters March 14.

"The world will never be the same again. But it is precisely within this calamity that we must grasp those signs that can prove to be the cornerstones of reconstruction," the pope says in a new book.

Before Pope Francis names a new prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, he has asked that an outside expert consult with the office's staff and review its procedures. The congregation is charged with promoting the celebration of the Mass and the sacraments and fostering their correct celebration, including by overseeing the approval of the translations of liturgical books and texts.

Every confessor should understand he is a sinner, forgiven by God, and he is there to offer his brothers and sisters — sinners, too — the same divine mercy and forgiveness he has received, Pope Francis said.

Ireland's Catholic bishops plan to hold a synod within the next five years to — among other things — hear from people who were raised Catholic but have walked away from the church.

Offering general absolution to the faithful without having them personally confess their sins first may still be done in places seeing serious or increasing levels of coronavirus infections, a Vatican official said.

Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier has ordered a reexamination of abuse allegations against Fr. Joseph Kentenich, founder of the international Schonstatt movement, from his time in exile in the U.S.

"I saw the hope of being open to a horizon of peace and fraternity, summed up in Jesus' words that were the motto of the visit: 'You are all brothers,'" Pope Francis said of his recent visit to Iraq.

Pro-immigrant groups applauded a March 8 decision by the Biden administration to protect some 320,000 Venezuelans in the United States under a temporary immigration program.