MANAGUA, Nicaragua – The Nicaraguan bishops' conference said it has not received invitations to play a role in a recently convened national dialogue to pull the nation out of political crisis.

VATICAN – Catholics need to know that their leaders "mean business" when it comes to protecting minors from abuse, the Vatican's top abuse investigator told representatives of the world's bishops and religious orders.

ROME – Three female survivors of sexual abuse by priests called on church leaders preparing for a February summit at the Vatican to listen to the voices of victims and to end a "culture of cover-up" that has dragged on for decades.

VATICAN – Writing to the world's young people, members of the Synod of Bishops said they wanted to encourage them and help them fulfill their dreams, and they prayed that their own failings would not drive the young from the church.

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.

Hayden Straczala had just finished a fruitful year in parish internship when news broke of a Pennsylvania report that identified 1,000 victims who were sexually abused by Catholic priests. As more stories began to come out in Chile, Germany and other parts of the world, it weighed heavily on him as he returned to his academic studies in St. Augustine’s Seminary in Toronto. 

MEXICO CITY – The Mexican bishops conference extended congratulations to presidential election winner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who won a landslide victory on an agenda of change and promises to combat corruption and poverty.

VATICAN – Pope Francis appointed Bishop Nunzio Galantino, 69, as president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, which handles the Vatican's investment portfolio and real estate holdings and serves as the Vatican employment office and procurement agency.

WASHINGTON – Catholic Church leaders and immigration advocates say President Donald Trump's recent moves to clamp down on immigration are extreme and unnecessary.

WARSAW, Poland – Church representatives have accused the European Union of ignoring pledges to defend religious freedom, despite commitments set out in special 2013 guidelines.

VATICAN CITY – Given the ongoing crises in the Middle East, North American, European and other Western nations will need to be more generous in coming to the aid of refugees and displaced peoples, said two prominent church leaders.