Catholic News Service

A survivor of clerical sexual abuse who quit the Vatican's advisory group on abuse said she believes new reforms of the Roman Curia will further erode the independence of the body.

As Russian bombardments continue to decimate Ukraine, Pope Francis prayed that God would free the world from war and the need to self-destruct.

Pope Francis told Lebanon's president the country has a special place in his prayers, and he reiterated his intention to visit.

While Pope Francis and bishops around the world will consecrate themselves and all humanity to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, they will include the phrase, "especially Russia and Ukraine."

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is not just a tragic conflict between two nations, but the center of a spiritual battle wrought by the forces of evil that have pitted brother against brother, said the apostolic nuncio to Ukraine.

Pope Francis again condemned Russia's war on Ukraine, calling it a "senseless massacre" and "sacrilegious" attack on human life.

A U.N. working group urged the Indian government to conduct an independent probe into the arrest and death of Jesuit Father Stan Swamy, a prominent human rights activist who died in prison last July.

Priests should try to help show the true face of the church as an open, welcoming home inhabited by the Lord and enlivened by love, said Cardinal Mario Grech and Archbishop Lazarus You Heung-sik.

Pope Francis sends greetings to the March 17-20 Los Angeles Religious Education Congress: "The church is outgoing, not inward-looking, and you must reach the existential peripheries with courage and creativity."

Pope Francis has asked bishops around the world to join him March 25 to pray for peace and consecrate Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Russia's war on Ukraine, and especially its brutality, "leaves us dumbfounded," Pope Francis said; "we never would have imagined we would again see such scenes, which are reminiscent of the great wars of the last century."

Continuing the mission entrusted to him by Pope Francis, Cardinal Michael Czerny visited Slovakia and a Ukrainian border town to convey the pope's closeness to victims of Russia's war against Ukraine.

"Knowing what we know about civilian casualties, a just war cannot be fought today," said Jeffery Nicholas, an associate professor of philosophy at Providence College in Rhode Island.

Although Russia's Catholics hold different views about the conflict in Ukraine, a spokesman for the country's bishops said all are united in welcoming Pope Francis' plan to consecrate their country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The church's charitable outreach to people fleeing war, political instability, poverty and other threats is a requirement for followers of Jesus, the Administrative Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said.

Archbishop Georg Gänswein, private secretary of retired Pope Benedict XVI, has defended his boss and criticized the Munich abuse report, which made international headlines when it was released in January.

Cardinal George Pell has called for the Vatican's doctrine office to intervene and reprimand two leading European Catholic churchmen who called for changes in Catholic teaching on sexuality and homosexuality.

Ready to return to South Sudan after nearly a year of recovery from being shot in the legs, Bishop-designate Christian Carlassare of Rumbek met with Pope Francis.

 In a joint message for St. Patrick's Day, the Catholic and Anglican archbishops of Armagh said the war in Ukraine is a lesson to Northern Ireland to "never take peace for granted." 

The Administrative Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops March 16 called for "the immediate cessation of Russia's armed aggression and unprovoked war on Ukraine."