Catholic News Service

Vatican City: If they are truly serious about fighting clerical sex abuse, bishops must join forces with journalists and not view them as enemies plotting against the Catholic Church, Mexican journalist Valentina Alazraki said.

The prepared text of the presentation given Feb. 23 by Nigerian Sr. Veronica Openibo, leader of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, at the Vatican summit on child protection. 

Hundreds of people who were affected by the recent government shutdown received much needed help from Catholic Charities of South Carolina.

A Divine Liturgy brought together four jurisdictions of Eastern-rite Catholic communities, as well as the local Latin-rite Catholic community, at St. Gregory Catholic Church in St. Nazianz.

The French bishops' conference has condemned rising anti-Semitism in the country, as official data showed a massive increase of attacks, prompting new government measures.

Immediately after asking bishops and religious superiors to be concrete in confronting the clerical sexual abuse crisis and the need to protect children in the church, Pope Francis handed them a list of 21 action items to consider.

Laypeople must be involved in a "more meaningful and influential role" to help Catholic bishops create "an environment of safety within the church," the chairman of the National Review Board said in an opinion piece published by The Boston Globe.

Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila, on behalf of the bishops of Colorado's three Catholic dioceses, joined Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser at a news conference Feb. 19 to announce several measures to address child sex abuse, including an independent review of records on abuse claims from the three dioceses.

For the second time in his case, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed an inmate's death penalty sentence because of his intellectual disability.

U.S. Msgr. Joseph Punderson, a senior official of the Vatican's highest court, was "removed from ministry," according to the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey.

Georgetown University in Washington is the latest institution to announce it is rescinding an honorary degree it gave to former U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2004.

The Catholic high school student at the center of an encounter with a Native American tribal leader in Washington filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit Feb. 19 against The Washington Post.

When speaking to God as a father, Christians experience a love that goes beyond human love and affection, which can be unpredictable and mired by selfishness, Pope Francis said.

Catholic Relief Services operations began returning to normal following more than a week of unrest by Haitians frustrated by government corruption and high inflation.

The Diocese of Oakland, which serves two California counties in the East Bay area, published Feb. 18 a list of priests, deacons and religious brothers who have worked in the diocese and been credibly accused of abuse, dating back to the diocese's founding in 1962.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments in April about the Trump administration's push to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census and its decision will come just in the nick of time, since the Census Bureau needs to begin printing forms for the every-10 years-questionnaire this summer.

The Diocese of Brooklyn Feb. 15 released a list of clergy credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor, saying that the 108 names on the list represent less than 5 percent of clergy who have served in the diocese in its 166-year history.

Former Wheeling-Charleston Bishop Michael Bransfield's name has been removed from the gymnasium at Central Catholic High School in Wheeling.

A Catholic bishop in the Philippines said his government's controversial war on drugs is really a war against the country's poor.

Pope Francis has lifted the canonical penalties imposed 34 years ago on Father Ernesto Cardenal, 94, the Nicaraguan poet and former member of the Sandinista government.