Catholic News Service
VATICAN – Pope Francis blamed "clericalism" in the Catholic Church for creating a culture where criminal abuse was widespread and extraordinary efforts were made to keep the crimes hidden.
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International
WASHINGTON – Some victims of clergy sex abuse and their supporters are calling on federal and state entities to investigate sex abuse within the Catholic Church and root out abusers and anyone who has protected them.
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International
MERRILLVILLE, Ind. – A Byzantine Catholic priest was attacked Aug. 20 in the altar servers' sacristy of his church in Merrillville, near Gary in the northwestern part of the state.
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International
VATICAN – Everything in the document "Amoris Laetitia" on marriage and family life is based on Catholic Church teaching "always in continuity -- without ruptures -- yet always maturing," Pope Francis said.
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International
VATICAN – Pope Francis will meet survivors of sexual abuse during his trip to Ireland Aug. 25-26, but it will be up to the survivors to decide whether any information about the meeting will be released, said the director of the Vatican press office.
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International
COCHIN, India – The Catholic Church has joined relief efforts as unprecedented floods and landslides continue to wreak havoc in India's Kerala state, killing about 370 people within a week.
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International
August 20, 2018
Eucharist is a taste of heaven on earth, Pope Francis says
VATICAN – By receiving the Eucharist at Mass, Christians are given Christ's same spirit and a taste of eternal life, Pope Francis said.
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Faith
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – At an Aug. 17 news conference, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, said that in response to the release of the grand jury report on abuse claims in six Pennsylvania dioceses over a 70- year period, he will collect and release a list of the names of priests in the diocese he currently heads who committed similar offenses.
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International
WASHINGTON – In an Aug. 16 interview with Eternal Word Television Network, Erie Bishop Lawrence T. Persico said the only way to regain the trust of the laity after decades-long claims of sexual abuse by priests and others at six Pennsylvania dioceses is by deeds and one of those deeds may mean getting rid of bishops who hid abusers.
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International
August 17, 2018
Vatican wants accountability for abusers, those who orchestrated sex abuse cover ups
VATICAN – In the wake of a grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse in six dioceses in Pennsylvania, a Vatican spokesman called the abuses described in the report as being "criminal and morally reprehensible."
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International