Vatican, Bishops | featured news

At a pivotal national meeting, members of the largest group for American nuns have been weighing whether they should accept or challenge a Vatican order to reform. The national assembly is the first since a Vatican review concluded the Roman Catholic sisters had tolerated dissent about the all-male priesthood, birth control and homosexuality, while remaining nearly silent in the fight against abortion. Officials at the Holy See want a full-scale overhaul of the organization under the authority of U.S. bishops.

The Vatican said Friday it was planning to issue a set of guidelines to bishops around the world on responding effectively to the sexual abuse ...

The Vatican on Monday will make its most detailed argument yet for why it is not liable for bishops who allowed priests to molest children in the U.S., The Associated Press has learned.

The Vatican says Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of a leading German bishop who is being probed for allegedly physically abusing minors and financial misconduct.

Pope Benedict XVI today promised a group of sexual abuse victims in Malta that he will make sure their abusers are brought "to justice," the Vatican announced.

The Vatican for the first time released guidelines that explicitly say that bishops and other high-ranking clerics should report cases of abuse to police if required by law.