News
Aging gracefully: Partnership helps seniors remain in homes
Catholic Housing and Community Services of the archdiocese is offering seniors in-home support with St. Mary Medical Center in Bucks County. One tangible result is fewer repeat visits to the hospital.
U.S. bishops tell pope abuse scandal ‘lacerated’ the church
No details were released after the meeting between Pope Francis and a delegation from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, led by its president, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, who had requested it Aug. 16 after the Pa. grand jury report.
Update way priests are chosen, accompanied, pope tells new bishops
The best way to help the Catholic Church, Pope Francis told new bishops, is not by pointing fingers and creating scapegoats, but by working together doing God's will.
Vatican confirms ongoing Sistine Chapel Choir finance inquiry
"Several months ago, Pope Francis authorized an investigation into the economic-administrative aspects of the (Sistine Chapel) Choir. The investigation is still in progress," the Vatican press office said Sept. 12.
‘Elitist, clericalist’ church allows abuse to thrive, pope says
Sexual and physical abuse by priests and religious and the scandal of its cover-up by church authorities thrive in countries where the Catholic Church is "elitist and clericalist," Pope Francis told Jesuits in Ireland in August.
Bishop Bransfield retires; pope orders investigation of allegations
UPDATED - Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Michael J. Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston, W.Va., a former Philadelphia priest who faces allegations that he sexually harassed adults.
Women’s Catholic leadership program officially launches
A Catholic women's leadership organization, the GIVEN Institute, which aims to encourage and train young women in leadership roles in the church and society, officially launched Sept. 12.
Leaked German report shows 3,700 cases of abuse of minors in 68 years
UPDATED - The release of the document caused shock in Germany, with many criticizing the German bishops' conference for its detailed knowledge of the abuse and their silence about it.
Pittsburgh bishop asks priests to pray, fast for ‘purification of church’
Bishop David A. Zubik also invited all Catholics to join in the yearlong observance, which is taking place "in light of the scandal of child sexual abuse," the bishop said in a Sept. 11 announcement.
Supreme Court petition next step in effort to stop natural gas pipeline
The Adorers of the Blood of Christ are rooting their legal argument in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, saying that their "deeply held religious convictions about the sacredness of Earth" would be violated.