The much-anticipated Vatican summit on clerical sexual abuse of minors is still days away but perhaps the strongest declaration to be expected from this unprecedented gathering of bishops has already been made.

WASHINGTON – Cardinal Donald Wuerl told Washington, DC priests Saturday that he appropriately handled a 2004 allegation of misconduct against Archbishop Theodore McCarrick. The cardinal also said that his recent denials of knowledge concerning McCarrick’s alleged misdeeds pertained only to the sexual abuse of minors.

WASHINGTON – James Grein, a Virginia man who said Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, former archbishop of Washington, sexually abused him for years beginning when he was 11, gave his testimony about what occurred Dec. 27 before a judicial vicar for the New York Archdiocese.

VATICAN – Pope Francis said he stands with the U.S. bishops who recently condemned the Trump administration's policy on immigration that has led to children being held in government shelters while their parents are sent to federal prisons.

HONG KONG – Catholics in China's Henan province have been warned that venues will be closed if they do not adhere to the revised regulations on religious affairs.

VATICAN CITY - Bishops who do not comply with the child protection norms adopted by their bishops' conferences and approved by the Vatican must face real consequences, said Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

In a widely reported statement Pope Francis recently told bishops to protect minors with “utmost care” and warned that anyone who failed would “be held accountable.”