Catholic News Service

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.

The New York State Office of the Attorney General is the latest to announce that it is launching an investigation of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic Church clergy, sending subpoenas seeking access to the records of the state's eight dioceses.

Without respectfully collaborating with teachers and schools, parents will risk being on their own when it comes to educating their children and be at a greater disadvantage for facing the challenges emerging from today's culture, mass media and technology, Pope Francis said.

The Catholic dioceses of Pennsylvania should set up a fund to compensate survivors of clergy sexual abuse in lieu of the legislature lifting the statute of limitations on civil lawsuits on abuse, according to the state Senate's leader.

If Colombians truly seek peace, they must give up vengeance and seek reconciliation by forgiving themselves and one another, said a priest who is devoting his life to such a mission.

The president of the Pontifical Gregorian University's Center for Child Protection said most of the victims of clergy sexual abuse whom he has met primarily want the church hierarchy to listen to them and understand the depth of their suffering.

On his first day back at work Sept. 4, Bishop George Murry of Youngstown spoke happily of his return, but he also addressed the somber subject of the sex abuse crisis now in the news.

Christian conversion does not entail accusing others, but is shamefully recognizing and sincerely repenting one's own sins, Pope Francis said.