Cindy Wooden

ROME -- The brothers of the ecumenical Taize community said they have received five reports of sexual assaults on minors committed by three of their members in a period from the 1950s to the 1980s.

VATICAN CITY -- The Catholic Church has universal laws valid around the globe, but many of those laws -- including on handling allegations of abuse -- must be further refined on a local level to respond to national laws and cultures.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI had imposed restrictions on the public ministry of former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick in 2008, but they were not formal sanctions and were not followed strictly, even during the papacy of Pope Benedict himself, McCarrick's former secretary said.

VATICAN CITY -- The Holy Spirit keeps Christians young at heart, supporting them in times of trial and helping them praise God no matter what is going on, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- "Abortion is never the answer" to couples seeking a way to deal with a prenatal diagnosis of serious illness or disability, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- Italian bishops have recognized their "moral obligation" to report allegations of clerical sexual abuse to the police, said the head of the Italian bishops' child protection committee.

VATICAN CITY -- The charity of the Catholic Church must be born from prayer before "the fixed tabernacle and mobile tabernacles" -- adoring Jesus in the Eucharist and ministering to him in the poor and needy, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY -- Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle added a photo of his "Lolo Kim" to a mosaic of migrants, world leaders and Caritas workers to illustrate how humanity forms one family and is sharing one journey.

During his visit to a centre offering respite and food to refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos this month, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski followed a sign that said, “Broken? Fix it here.”

ROME -- Catholic bishops across Europe encouraged their faithful to go to the polls in late May to elect members of the European Parliament who would promote unity and take seriously the power of the European Union to do good in the world.