Catholic News Service

The clerical abuse scandal has caused everyone in the Catholic Church "pain and unbearable suffering," Pope Francis said, but it also is a call to repentance and the renewal of the church.

Auxiliary Bishop Mario Dorsonville of Washington called on Congress to adopt legislation that would protect "Dreamers" and those covered by temporary protected status and Deferred Enforced Departure.

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the chairman of the USCCB domestic policy committee joined in expressing sorrow for those in Alabama mourning lives lost in a violent tornado that whipped through the region March 3.

A French cardinal was given a six-month suspended sentence at a civil trial after he was found guilty of covering up abuses committed decades ago by a priest.

Robert Lockwood, former president of Our Sunday Visitor, longtime columnist for OSV Newsweekly and former director of communications for the Pittsburgh Diocese, died March 4 at his home in Fort Wayne.

The Mexican bishops' conference has presented an action plan for protecting minors from sexual abuse by clergy and pastoral agents.

Australian Cardinal George Pell, the highest-ranked Catholic clergyman to be found guilty of child sexual abuse, has had his appeal process fast-tracked.

The percentage of Catholics in the world has remained steady, while the number of priests has decreased for the first time in almost a decade, according to Vatican statistics.

The kingdom of God is being established slowly in the world through patience and gentleness and not by violence or force, Pope Francis said.

The Supreme Court gets attention not only for its decisions but also for what it chooses not to review.

Just over four months after Pope Francis forced Bishop Martin Holley to step down as bishop of Memphis, Tennessee, he named Bishop David Talley of Alexandria, Louisiana, to lead the diocese.

The Nicaraguan bishops' conference said it has not received invitations to play a role in a recently convened national dialogue to pull the nation out of political crisis.

In releasing a list of clergy who have served in the Diocese of Columbus and have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor, Bishop Frederick Campbell said he shares with "the faithful of our diocese sorrow, sadness and anger over such behavior."

What makes a politician "Catholic" is not party affiliation, but dedication to promoting the common good, particularly through listening to and empowering people who often are overlooked, Pope Francis said.

Lent is a good time to concentrate on fighting the urge to gossip about others and instead trying to correct one's own faults and defects, Pope Francis said.

Federal documents show that the U.S. government has received more than 4,500 complaints over the last four years alleging that children who are under government custody because of immigration matters faced sexual abuse.

Declaring that the Catholic Church is unafraid of history, Pope Francis announced that documents in the Vatican Secret Archives relating to the wartime pontificate of Pope Pius XII will be open to scholars in 2020.

The Department of Homeland Security has filed notice that it is extending temporary protected status for foreign nationals from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti and Sudan until Jan. 2, 2020.

Green Bay Bishop David Ricken announced in a letter to parishioners of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral that former Bishop Aloysius Wycislo's name will be removed from the Cathedral Center, a facility located north of the cathedral.