Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY — The sex abuse crisis, a history of sexism and an overly narrow focus on a small number of moral issues can keep young people away from the Church, Pope Francis wrote  in a new apostolic exhortation.

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO ROME — To fight clerical sexual abuse, the Catholic Church must have clear laws and procedures, but it also must engage in "spiritual combat," because it is obvious the devil is at work, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis wanted to go to Morocco in December to draw attention to the need for international co-operation in assisting migrants and in alleviating the situations that force people to seek a better life outside their homeland.

VATICAN – That many religions exist in the world is a fact, but what that plurality communicates to believers about God is a question that theologians are still discussing.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — In an officially Muslim nation where Christians are welcomed as guest workers and free to worship, Pope Francis urged leaders of the world's main religions to embrace a broader vision of freedom, justice, tolerance and peace.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates  ̶  The sun had set long before Pope Francis arrived in Abu Dhabi Feb. 3, but Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince, and Egyptian Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar, still went to the airport to welcome him.

VATICAN CITY – The clerical abuse crisis and the "crisis of credibility" it created for the U.S. bishops have led to serious divisions within the U.S. Catholic Church and to a temptation to look for administrative solutions to problems that go much deeper, Pope Francis told the U.S. bishops.