VATICAN CITY - A former Vatican nuncio will stand trial in a Vatican court on charges of the sexual abuse of minors and possession of child pornography.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has approved new procedures for the Vatican to investigate and judge claims of "abuse of office" by bishops who allegedly failed to protect minors and vulnerable adults from sex abuse.

[Click here to read the 94 recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report.]

[Click here to read other articles about the Commission's report.]

OTTAWA - Pope Francis should personally apologize to residential school survivors and their communities, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission says in its final report.

OTTAWA - Now that the tragic history of Canada’s residential schools has been thoroughly documented, it’s time for healing, said Justice Murray Sinclair, chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Catholic schools are ready for reconciliation, ready to equip the next generation with an honest history of Canada, but there’s work to be done.

The truth is we’re not reconciled, even as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concludes its five-year inquiry into the legacy of 150 years of Indian residential schools with the release next week of its final report.

TORONTO - A simple idea that has helped hundreds of women who face domestic violence and abuse is down to its last few weeks unless Ontario’s provincial government comes up with $70,000 per year to keep it going.

By Joy Smith, Catholic Register Special

On New Year’s Day, Pope Francis delivered his annual World Day of Peace message that passionately called for an end to modern-day slavery. The title, “No longer slaves, but brothers and sisters,” is taken from St. Paul’s letter to Philemon. Pope Francis noted that “slavery is rooted in a notion of the human person which allows him or her to be treated as an object” and highlighted the many forms of modern-day slavery, including “persons forced into prostitution, many of whom are minors.”

OTTAWA - A Mexican group that includes the mother of one of 43 students who disappeared from a teacher-training college in Ayotzinapa, Mexico, is asking Canada to take Mexico off its list of safe countries.

Early in his papacy Pope Francis committed to continuing the work of Pope Benedict XVI to impose a zero-tolerance policy for abuser priests and see-no-evil bishops. So it was more than symbolic in late April when a Kansas City bishop was forced into retirement following a criminal conviction of failing to report suspected child abuse.

OXFORD, England - A Belgian bishop said the president of the bishops' conference urged Catholics to respect a court judgment against him for failing to act on allegations of abuse.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Catholic Church spent a total of $150.7 million on child protection efforts and to address allegations of clergy sexual abuse of minors in dioceses and religious orders between July 2013 and June 2014.

VATICAN CITY - The question of accountability for bishops and religious superiors who fail to follow through on protecting minors from abuse was "put on the table" during the latest meeting between Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals, said the Vatican spokesman.

TORONTO - The Pan Am Games will be a big deal for Toronto. They will cost $1.4 billion. With less than 100 days to go, more than 350,000 tickets have been sold. With athletes coming from 41 countries, it’s bigger than the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver — the largest multi-sport event ever held on Canadian soil.

NEW YORK - Cardinal Edward Egan, who served as archbishop of New York through the trauma of the 9/11 terror attacks and the clergy sex abuse scandal but was best known for administrative acumen that helped solidify the finances of the sprawling archdiocese, died March 5. He was 82.