Catholic News Service

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.

Welcoming the finalization of global compacts on migration and on refugees, the Vatican urged nations to adopt the nonbinding agreements to protect people who are on the move and to promote their orderly acceptance in new countries.

The bishops leading Tennessee's three Catholic dioceses said the planned Dec. 6 execution of a man convicted of brutally killing of a young mentally handicapped woman fails to serve the "common good of advancing toward a more just society."

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles Dec. 6 released an updated list of priests accused of sexual abuse of minors, with the report showing two cases of alleged abuse of current minors in the archdiocese since 2008.

Pope Francis approved a new set of laws concerning the structure and governance of Vatican City State in an effort to simplify its many offices and activities and to boost oversight, transparency and budgetary controls.

A proposal by the Trump administration to deny green cards to legal immigrants using public assistance "will dramatically change the process of legal migration and make it increasingly difficult for low-income and working-class individuals to legally migrate to the United States."

An Australian judge overturned the conviction of Archbishop Philip Wilson, whom a lower court found guilty of failing to report allegations of child sexual abuse by a priest.

Christians are not people of faith in name only, Pope Francis said; they trust in God, base their lives on his truth and seek to act on the teachings of Jesus.

The Field Hospital: "Unleash the Gospel" is serving to help the faithful continue in what diocesan leaders called a journey of transformation and spiritual renewal centered on Jesus and the life-changing message of the Gospel.

The newly installed head of one of Africa's largest archdioceses will vigorously defend democracy and human rights, while also seeking to reconcile political opponents, said church officials in Congo.

Jesus' way of praying to his father throughout his life is a reminder for Christians that prayer is more than asking God for something but is a way of establishing an intimate relationship with him, Pope Francis said.

In a 6-1 decision Dec. 3, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said the identities of some clergy accused of abuse that were redacted from a grand jury report issued in mid-August must remain permanently blocked from release.

The Advent season is a time of preparation for the coming of the prince of peace and not a time of making war with those around you, Pope Francis said.

In the spirit of Advent as a season of hope, Syracuse Bishop Robert Cunningham said he hoped the Dec. 3 release of a list of clergy credibly accused of abusing minors over the past 70 years would bring "some peace and healing" to those directly affected and to the faith community at large.

The chairman and CEO of the Eternal Word Television Network said the global Catholic media organization is "grateful that finally" it no longer "has to worry about being forced to choose between massive fines and following our faith."

The revelation in late November that a Chinese researcher had edited genes in human embryos and then implanted them in a woman was "a train wreck of a thing to do," said an ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia.

The Catholic Church has been slow to recognize the presence of homosexual men in the priesthood, which is why superiors must exercise care in helping gay candidates prepare for a life of celibacy or leave the seminary, Pope Francis said.

Christians can turn Christmas into a "pagan" or "mundane" holiday by focusing on the gifts and the tree rather than on the birth of Jesus and his promise to come again, Pope Francis said.

Selling Dorothy Day's former New York parish to make way for luxury apartments would be a devastating blow to residents and former parishioners in a neighborhood threatened by gentrification, an American researcher said.

When he was running for re-election in 1992, President George H.W. Bush told Catholic News Service that he believed that a strong religious faith could provide "an extra shot of strength when you need it."