Zita Ballinger Fletcher

Perspective: Fear is the root of many problems facing Catholicism. I saw my relative transform from a mildly religious person into someone obsessed with the Apocalypse. In my opinion, fear was a key factor.

Perspective: Leaving the church doesn't sound like a choice a Catholic journalist would consider. Yet I have considered it twice in my life: as a teenager and just last year.

Commentary: In the wake of much needed reforms instituted by the Second Vatican Council, the Latin Mass has become a rallying point for change-resistant sects within the church.

At their fall plenary, German prelates offered strong, opposing opinions as they discussed the synodal way — a future roundtable between the bishops and Germany's largest lay organization.

Pallottine Fr. Richard Henkes, beatified Sept. 15, spoke out against the Nazis throughout the 1930s and early '40s. He was later sent to Dachau where he died in 1945.

The German and Polish Catholic bishops' conferences released a joint statement marking the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II in the city of Wielun, Poland.

Archbishop Ludwig Schick honored the Franciscan priest who was killed by Nazis, saying that his life and writings show that God "gives to all people, races and nations equal dignity and equal rights."

The Catholic Church in Germany is at a point where serious debate — including on priestly celibacy and the role of women — and openness to doing things in a new way must be encouraged, said the president of the German bishops' conference.

The Austrian Catholic Church will officially begin a year of honor Jan. 11 to remember the founder of Austria's Catholic Habsburg Empire, Maximilian I, to mark the 500th anniversary of his death.

German Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising called for change in long-standing church tradition as the German bishops' conference prepares for a workshop debate to "review" the issue of celibacy for priests.

German police and prosecutors are launching investigations into clergy sexual abuse following the Sept. 12 leak of a report containing evidence of 3,700 alleged child sex abuse cases in the Catholic Church over a 68-year-period.

Debate continues about whether the Vatican's provisional agreement with China will improve relations between the Chinese state and members of religious groups, which have had a long history of conflict.

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."

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, head of the German bishops' conference, admitted that mistakes were made in the German church's handling of sex abuse of minors and said he anticipates change in the church.

A 350-page document leaked to German media and published Sept. 12 documents nearly 3,700 cases of alleged sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, deacons and clergy in Germany over a 68-year period.

Prelates in Germany and Austria have united to support Pope Francis in response to a former papal nuncio's demand for his resignation.

After recent reports describing clergy sex abuse, Paul Peloquin, a Catholic clinical psychologist and a clergy abuse survivor, shared advice for victims and their families.

Sexual assault victims say they were hurt not only by individual priests, but by church officials and ordinary Catholics who treated them with intolerance and indifference.

The Field Hospital: In an interview with the Irish bishops' magazine Intercom, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, head of the Vatican's Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, said "priests are not the best people to train others for marriage."

The German bishops' conference has published a document containing key points for marriage preparation based on Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation, "Amoris Laetitia."