Catholic News Service

Catholic News Service

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO ROME – The Catholic Church has grown in its understanding of the horror of clerical sexual abuse and of the "corruption" of covering it up, Pope Francis said.
VATICAN – During times of freedom or persecution, the Gospel is needed to bring meaning, fullness and hope to life, Pope Francis said.
The head of the German bishops conference formally apologized for sexual abuse in the church, saying it "has been denied, turned away from and covered up for far too long."
VATICAN – The recent Vatican-China agreement on the nomination of bishops seeks the true good of the church, the promotion of preaching the Gospel in China and the re-establishment of the church's full and visible unity, Pope Francis said in a message to Catholics in China and worldwide.
VATICAN – Pope Francis mourned the loss of more than 200 lives in a ferry accident on Lake Victoria near the Tanzanian island of Ukara.
TALLINN, Estonia – In what is probably the least religious country in Europe, Pope Francis said he is surprised by how many people hold firm to their faith despite all the sexual abuse and financial scandals in the Catholic Church.
AGLONA, Latvia – What would Mary do? was the question Pope Francis, in effect, asked Latvian Catholics gathered at their nation's popular Marian shrine.
NAIROBI, Kenya – Due to its impact on young Catholics in Africa, fundamentalism will be a topic that bishops from East Africa prioritize in their talks with other delegates during the synod's intervention sessions.
PARIS – The French bishops said proposals to extend fertility treatments to lesbian couples and single women would harm society by removing fatherhood from the lives of children.
VILNIUS, Lithuania – Outside the former KGB headquarters in Vilnius, Pope Francis ended a day of paying homage to victims of communist, Nazi totalitarianism and of warning Lithuanians to be attentive to any signs of anti-Semitism or hatred.