In the light of “a worrying negative prejudice” against the Catholic Church, Pope Francis ordered the publication of a document affirming the absolute secrecy of everything said in confession and calling on priests to defend it at all costs, even at the cost of their lives.
Announcing the themes for the next three World Youth Day celebrations, Pope Francis called on young men and women to meditate on the path of Christian life that God has called them to walk.
At a time when the U.S. Catholic bishops are meeting to vote on new measures for bishop accountability, Pope Francis has given the green light for a penal process for a retired U.S. bishop accused of multiple accounts of abuse.
Francis noted that even though the Spirit is both the first and final thing the Church needs, it only goes where He is invited.
Titled Male and Female He Created Them, the document is in many ways a compilation of several remarks given by Pope Francis, who has often expressed his concern over the impact gender ideology has on children.
The Catholic Church has universal laws valid around the globe, but many of those laws — including on handling allegations of abuse — must be further refined on a local level to respond to national laws and cultures.
McCarrick was removed from the college of cardinals last year, after he was alleged to have abused both minors and seminarians.
For those working at the various communications offices and pontifical councils that have been consumed in Pope Francis’s wake, it even seems the pontiff has access to the dragons Daenerys Targaryen used to sweep aside those who stood before her.
A new book, whose release is timed to coincide with the start of Pope Francis’s major summit on sex abuse on February 21, contains sweeping, although unverified, claims that 80 percent of the Vatican clergy are gay.
At the upcoming meeting on protecting minors, Pope Francis wants leaders of the world’s bishops’ conferences to clearly understand what must be done to prevent abuse, care for victims and ensure no case is whitewashed or covered up.
