VATICAN CITY - A diocese that cares more about being an organized workplace rather than announcing the good news can fall prey to clericalism and distance itself from Christ, Pope Francis said.

As the Catholic Church comes to grips with an appalling past that saw thousands of children and vulnerable people exposed to abuse at the hands of clergy around the world, Canadians can only turn back the clock to remember when the scourge dominated the headlines at home.

WASHINGTON – A long-time Vatican spokesman has admitted to passing off the writing of others as his own, and apologized for plagiarizing.

VATICAN – For the Catholic Church, there is a "line in the sand," which can never be crossed, and that is to not allow anyone who harms or would harm a child to exercise public ministry, said Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston.

VATICAN – "Every time I refused to have sex with him, he would beat me," an abuse survivor from Africa told Pope Francis and bishops attending the Vatican summit on child protection and the abuse crisis.

VATICAN – Unity and fidelity are indispensable cornerstones of Christian marriage, Pope Francis said.

BEIRUT – At a gathering of Middle East leaders coinciding with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the Syriac Orthodox patriarch emphasized the need to unify efforts against extremism and terrorism.

NEW YORK – Ordaining women to the permanent diaconate now, when the church is "crying for ministry," is a logical way to fulfill its obligation to bring the Gospel to all people, according to panelists at a Jan 15 event at Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York.

VATICAN – A bishop must be "blameless" and at the service of God, not of cliques, assets and power, especially if he is ever to "set right" what needs to be done for the church, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN  – The Catholic Church must be a place of justice and mercy, and its members must be catalysts for change, some young observers said at the Synod of Bishops Oct. 11.

VATICAN – The Catholic Church needs bishops who promote unity, “not soloists singing their own tune or captains fighting personal battles,” Pope Francis told new bishops from the Church’s mission territories.

Groundhog Day is a 1993 movie featuring actor Bill Murray as a cynical television weatherman forced to live the same day over and over again.

The Roman Catholic Church today has nearly 3,000 dioceses and archdioceses, each with at least one bishop.

VATICAN – While the faith of Catholics in Ireland is strong, the scandal of abuse and cover-up by church leaders has caused a decline in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, Pope Francis said.

“We showed no care for the little ones,” wrote Pope Francis. “We abandoned them.”