By now thousands of people have either scoffed at or praised Pope Francis for responding to another round of sexual abuse revelations with a long letter condemning clericalism. 

VATICAN – A top official from the Vatican Secretariat of State acknowledged allegations made by a New York priest in 2000 concerning Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, according to a letter obtained by Catholic News Service.

“When a bit of time has passed,” said Pope Francis, perhaps he would answer serious allegations that he permitted a cardinal cited for sexual abuse to return to public ministry.

Amidst the sexual abuse scandals involving Catholic priests around the world — in particular the revolting crimes of 301 Pennsylvania priests over 70 years unearthed in an August grand jury report — a prominent U.S. bishop is calling for the laity to stay and fight, not abandon the Church.

VATICAN – Christian conversion does not entail accusing others, but is shamefully recognizing and sincerely repenting one's own sins, Pope Francis said.

Catholics might finally be ready to pray for the most obvious sign of God’s goodness that has ever been seen, touched or walked through — the natural world. 

The CEO of Salt+Light Media in Toronto has been drawn into the sex abuse scandal engulfing the Vatican by contesting at least one claim by an archbishop who alleges that Pope Francis participated in a coverup.

VATICAN – Clericalism has led to a distorted view of authority that has contributed to the problems of sexual abuse and the abuse of power and conscience affecting the Catholic Church, said the head of the Vatican's clergy office.

WASHINGTON – Addressing the clergy abuse crisis in the church will require "wider lay engagement, more realized accountability and evident transparency," said Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl at the end of a Sept. 2 Mass in Washington.

VATICAN – Christians must engage in spiritual combat every day against a worldly spirit that leads down a path of arrogance and petty gossip, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN – Water is a gift of God that makes life possible and yet millions of people do not have access to safe drinking water, and rivers, seas and oceans continue to be polluted, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN – Days after he called on Pope Francis to resign for allegedly ignoring sanctions placed on then-Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano provided his version of a meeting that, in the minds of many, changed the overall narrative of Pope Francis' visit to the United States in 2015.

ROME – Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former nuncio to the United States who called on Pope Francis to resign for allegedly lifting sanctions placed on Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, now says those "sanctions" were "private" and neither he nor now-retired Pope Benedict XVI ever was able to enforce them.

VATICAN – Jesus himself showed that the best way to respond to scandal and divisiveness is to stay silent and pray, Pope Francis said Sept. 3 as he resumed his early morning Masses with invited guests.

PHILADELPHIA – Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput is asking Pope Francis to call off the Synod of Bishops on young people this October to focus instead on the life of the bishops.