NEW DELHI  – India's Supreme Court ruled in a landmark judgment that homosexual acts between consenting adults are no longer a crime, but church officials said that legal validity does not make such practices morally acceptable.

DUBLIN (CNS) -- U.S. Jesuit Father James Martin set out a series of ways in which parishes can show welcome and respect to LGBT Catholics.

MADISON, Wis., – In response to recent sexual abuse crises, the Bishop of Madison, Wisconsin, has said that the Catholic Church must renew its conviction to identify and reject sin, and admit that a homosexual culture among some clerics has caused great harm in the Church.

WASHINGTON – A Pennsylvania grand jury report issued Aug. 14 paints a picture of a Catholic Church in six of the state's dioceses that for decades handled claims of sex abuse of minors under its care by hiding the allegations and its victims.

WASHINGTON – In a June 2015 letter to Boston's Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley obtained by Catholic News Service, a New York priest tells the prelate about "sexual abuse/harassment/intimidation" allegations he had heard concerning then-Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick and asks that if the matter doesn't fall under his purview, to forward it to the "proper agency in the Vatican."

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – The Honduran bishops' conference on Monday denied there exists a homosexual culture at the national seminary, in response to a recent report from the National Catholic Register about Honduran seminarians lamenting that culture.

VATICAN – An abuse survivor, who had been disparaged for being a homosexual, said that Pope Francis told him that God made him that way and loved him for who he was.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – The Catholic Church in Trinidad and Tobago has declared its full support for an April 12 High Court decision that paved the way for making sodomy legal in that country.

HAMILTON, Bermuda – The British government has said it will not overrule a Bermudian law passed earlier this month which abolishes same-sex marriage, less than a year after the institution was imposed by a court decision.

VATICAN – Cardinal Kevin Farrell has reportedly barred several speakers set to address an annual women's event inside the Vatican over concerns about their LGBT positions, prompting organizers to find another venue.

When this column cited a vicious smear campaign against Fr. James Martin, it was expected that some people would disagree with his call to build a bridge of dialogue between the Church and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. It was also expected some would agree with his call for civil discourse. Naturally, both things occurred.

VALLETTA, Malta – Lawmakers in predominantly Roman Catholic Malta legalized same-sex marriage Wednesday (July 12), joining much of Western Europe by replacing the traditional "you are now husband and wife" declaration in civil ceremonies with "you are now spouses."

NEW YORK – Disney's live-action adaptation of its beloved 1991 animated film Beauty and the Beast arrives in theatres amid a swirl of controversy over the updating of one of its characters into an openly gay man.

Since the Boy Scouts of America decided to accept transgender youngsters, there appears to be a growing market for a different kind of scouting group.

IRVING, Texas – The Boy Scouts of America's new policy to accept members based on their gender identity will have no impact on Scouting units sponsored by the Catholic Church, said the National Catholic Committee on Scouting.