NAIROBI, Kenya – As South Sudanese peace negotiations tackled the last outstanding issues, church leaders called for genuine dialogue, healing and trust building, so that politicians have the will to implement a peace pact.

MANILA, Philippines – A teary-eyed Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila lamented the deaths of innocent people killed since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office.

VATICAN – Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, head of the Vatican office for laity and family, said he was "shocked" when he heard allegations of years of sexual abuse and harassment by Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the man who ordained him a bishop and whom he served as an auxiliary bishop for six years.

VATICAN – Hearts that are closed to welcoming migrants and refugees are similar to those of the Pharisees, who often would preach sacrifice and following God's law without exercising mercy to those in need, Pope Francis said.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Editorials in national Catholic publications have taken the U.S. Catholic Church to task for its failure to root out all forms of clergy sexual abuse in the light of allegations made by former seminarians against Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington.

VATICAN – After an investigation into alleged irregularities in the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of 57-year-old Auxiliary Bishop Juan Jose Pineda Fasquelle.

VATICAN – A leading expert on the cloth believed to be the burial shroud of Jesus dismissed a new study claiming that blood patterns on the shroud are not consistent with those left by a crucified person.