VATICAN – The universal Church will face a critical juncture when Pope Francis meets with the world’s bishops to address the abuse and protection of minors, said Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley as the Vatican named members of the organizing committee for the February conference.

VATICAN – The International Union of Superiors General has called on women religious who have suffered abuse to come forward and report it to their congregations and church and state authorities.

CZESTOCHOWA, Poland – The bishops of Poland published Monday a statement on the sexual abuse of minors by some clerics, asking forgiveness of the victims and calling for action, prayer, and penance.

VATICAN – Pope Francis named Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, arguably the Catholic Church's most respected abuse investigator, to be adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

BALTIMORE – As the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opened a Day of Prayer at the Fall Bishops General Assembly Nov. 12, John McKeon was the first to walk a path along Aliceanna Street outside the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, just after 9 a.m.

BALTIMORE – A Vatican-requested delay in adopting practices that are expected to boost accountability among U.S. bishops in their response to clergy sex abuse is a "bump in the road," said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

BALTIMORE – At the start of the annual fall meeting of the U.S. bishops in Baltimore, Archbishop Christophe Pierre encouraged the U.S. bishops to work hard together to restore trust and bring about church reform amid the current crisis in the church.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Diocese of Buffalo is adding to their public list of clergy with credible allegations of sexual abuse against a minor.

KILKENNY, Ireland – Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin warned there was "a danger of complacency or inertia or of slippage into false confidence" in the church's fight against clerical abuse.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A former Church employee said she leaked diocesan documents because when the Buffalo diocese addressed sexual abuse allegations it seemed primarily concerned with protecting the reputation and assets of the Church.

A priest in the Diocese of Calgary has been placed on administrative leave over allegations of sexual misconduct involving two minors and several adults.

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 more than 250 Catholic bishops from around the world meeting at the Vatican in October missed an opportunity to confront the global sex abuse crisis, said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia.

Nobody goes there anymore … it’s too crowded.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia announced Oct. 22 the launch of a hotline and email address to report child sexual abuse by clergy.