Catholic News Service

The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend welcomed findings by a Pennsylvania district attorney that cleared Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of wrongdoing after an allegation of misconduct was made against him.

Vatican City -- Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston. president of the U.S. bishops' conference, struck a determinedly hopeful tone after his long-awaited meeting with Pope Francis to discuss the growing sexual abuse crisis in the United States.

Sexual and physical abuse by priests and religious and the scandal of its cover-up by church authorities thrive in countries where the Catholic Church is "elitist and clericalist," Pope Francis told Jesuits in Ireland in August.

The Vatican confirmed an ongoing investigation into financial irregularities involving the directors of the Sistine Chapel Choir.

A 350-page document leaked to German media and published Sept. 12 documents nearly 3,700 cases of alleged sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, deacons and clergy in Germany over a 68-year period.

Only true love for God and neighbor can destroy the chains of greed, lust, anger and envy that enslave humankind, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis accepted the resignation of a Brazilian bishop who was arrested and charged with embezzling thousands of dollars in diocesan funds.

Chilean Catholics are training clerics and parishioners in abuse prevention and counseling victims, but not just abuse in church settings.

Bishops must remember, particularly when under attack, that their role is to pray, be humble in knowing God chose them and remain close to the people, Pope Francis said in his morning homily.

An English cardinal prayed for the forgiveness of bishops who had brought "the face of evil" into the Catholic Church by allowing or carrying out acts of abuse.

Members of Pope Francis' international Council of Cardinals expressed "full solidarity" with the pope and said the Vatican is planning a response to allegations made against him by a former nuncio.

Fear often causes people to remain silent in the face of other's suffering and marginalize the sick and those most in need, Pope Francis said.

Responding quickly and appropriately to the problem of abuse must be a priority for the Catholic Church, said Cardinal Sean O'Malley, president of the Vatican's Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

The four days of Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh were as heated as the unusually high temperatures in Washington during this first week of September.

Prelates in Germany and Austria have united to support Pope Francis in response to a former papal nuncio's demand for his resignation.

A pair of open letters to Pope Francis asking him for answers to charges of cover-ups by him and others over abuse allegations against retired Archbishop Theodore McCarrick of Washington were sponsored by the Catholic Women's Forum, a project of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank.

Gabriel Rentaria was 7 years old when he started using a gun. Never to kill, he said, just to scare people. But he saw people -- enemies and friends -- fall dead "in my face," he recalled.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law did not anticipate crimes being committed by bishops that could result in their laicization, according to a canon law professor at The Catholic University of America.

A top official from the Vatican Secretariat of State acknowledged allegations made by a New York priest in 2000 concerning Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, according to a letter obtained by Catholic News Service.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington encouraged archdiocesan parishes to participate in a six-week "Season of Healing" to counter what he called "confusion, disappointment and disunity" and to help bring about healing in the wake of recent sex abuse scandals that have rocked the U.S. Catholic Church.