Earlier this summer, I came as close as I’ve ever come to proverbially setting my hair on fire over the unfolding catastrophe seeming to cripple the Church. And that was before the infamous j’accuse letter from Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò alleging Pope Francis was well aware of the sexual scandal roiling around former cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

ROME – The concern of now-retired Pope Benedict XVI and the promises made by the majority of church leaders were not able to stop the evil of clerical sexual abuse, which has been the 9/11 of the Catholic Church, the retired Pope's personal secretary said.

VATICAN – Members of Pope Francis' international Council of Cardinals expressed "full solidarity" with him in the midst of questions about his handling of the clerical sexual abuse scandal and said the Vatican is planning a response to allegations made against him by a former nuncio.

OTTAWA – The future of the Catholic Church depends on rediscovering the fire of mission and overcoming the “despair” brought on by scandal in the Church, says Bishop Pierre-Olivier Tremblay.

VATICAN – Responding quickly and appropriately to the problem of abuse must be a priority for the Catholic Church, said Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, president of the Vatican's Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Prelates in Germany and Austria have united to support Pope Francis in response to a former papal nuncio's demand for his resignation.

By now thousands of people have either scoffed at or praised Pope Francis for responding to another round of sexual abuse revelations with a long letter condemning clericalism. 

WASHINGTON – Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington encouraged archdiocesan parishes to participate in a six-week "Season of Healing" to counter what he called "confusion, disappointment and disunity" and to help bring about healing in the wake of recent sex abuse scandals that have rocked the U.S. Catholic Church.

WASHINGTON – The New York State Office of the Attorney General is the latest to announce that it is launching an investigation of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic Church clergy, and at least two of the state's eight dioceses confirmed receiving subpoenas seeking access to its records.  

“When a bit of time has passed,” said Pope Francis, perhaps he would answer serious allegations that he permitted a cardinal cited for sexual abuse to return to public ministry.

Amidst the sexual abuse scandals involving Catholic priests around the world — in particular the revolting crimes of 301 Pennsylvania priests over 70 years unearthed in an August grand jury report — a prominent U.S. bishop is calling for the laity to stay and fight, not abandon the Church.

The CEO of Salt+Light Media in Toronto has been drawn into the sex abuse scandal engulfing the Vatican by contesting at least one claim by an archbishop who alleges that Pope Francis participated in a coverup.

VATICAN – Clericalism has led to a distorted view of authority that has contributed to the problems of sexual abuse and the abuse of power and conscience affecting the Catholic Church, said the head of the Vatican's clergy office.

VATICAN – Days after he called on Pope Francis to resign for allegedly ignoring sanctions placed on then-Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano provided his version of a meeting that, in the minds of many, changed the overall narrative of Pope Francis' visit to the United States in 2015.

PHILADELPHIA – Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput is asking Pope Francis to call off the Synod of Bishops on young people this October to focus instead on the life of the bishops.