Aug 28 Pope Francis to visit East Timor as church sex abuse scandals there are met by silence By Niniek Karmini, David Rising, Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Pope Francis will come face to face with the Timorese faithful on his first trip to the country but so far, there is no indication he will meet with any victims or even mention the abuse directly. Continue reading
May 29 Watch 8:41 Sexual abuse of Native American children at boarding schools exposed in new report By Lisa Desjardins, Jackson Hudgins, Karina Cuevas For 150 years, the United States government sent Native American children to remote boarding schools as part of a systematic effort to seize tribal lands and eradicate culture. Dozens of these schools were run by the Catholic Church or its… Continue watching
May 28 Watch 5:48 Pope apologizes for using slur while discussing opposition to gay men in priesthood By Geoff Bennett, Karina Cuevas Pope Francis issued a rare apology after word broke that he used a derogatory Italian slur referring to gay men while reaffirming his position against their admission to seminaries and priesthood. The Pope made the remark in a closed-door meeting… Continue watching
Mar 30 Pope presides over Easter Vigil at the Vatican after last-minute Good Friday absence By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Pope Francis presided over the Vatican's somber Easter Vigil service on Saturday night, delivering a 10-minute homily and baptizing eight people, a day after suddenly skipping the Good Friday procession at the Colosseum as a health precaution. Continue reading
Mar 17 Watch 7:13 Investigation finds policies at Catholic-run hospitals restrict reproductive health care By John Yang, Andrew Corkery According to KFF Health News, more than half a million babies are delivered each year in Catholic-run hospitals across the United States. In most cases, there are no complications, but during an emergency, patients can find themselves caught between accepted… Continue watching
Jan 14 Bishop Álvarez and 18 priests released from prison, handed to Vatican, Nicaragua says By Associated Press Nicaragua's government said Sunday it released a prominent Catholic bishop and 18 other clergy members imprisoned in a crackdown by President Daniel Ortega and handed them over to Vatican authorities. Continue reading
Jan 08 Pope Francis calls for universal ban on surrogacy By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press The speech also listed the threats to global peace and human dignity, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Israel-Gaza war, migration and climate crises and the “immoral” production of nuclear and conventional weapons. Continue reading
Dec 18 Pope formally allows priests to bless same-sex couples By Associated Press The Vatican issued a new document explaining a radical change in Vatican policy by insisting that people seeking God’s love and mercy shouldn’t be subject to “an exhaustive moral analysis” to receive it. Continue reading
Dec 16 Watch 7:30 What’s behind a growing rift between conservative U.S. Catholics and the Vatican By Ali Rogin, Simon Epstein, Andrew Chambers Efforts by Pope Francis to make the Catholic Church more inclusive for LGBTQ+ people and women, alongside urging vaccination against COVID, have been creating a growing chasm between the Vatican and traditionalist American Catholics. David Gibson, director of the Center… Continue watching
Dec 16 Vatican cardinal sentenced to 5½ years in prison after being convicted of embezzlement By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press A Vatican tribunal on Saturday convicted a cardinal of embezzlement and sentenced him to 5 ½ years in prison in one of several verdicts handed down in a complicated financial trial that aired the city state’s dirty laundry and tested… Continue reading