A Vatican commission expressed the hope that bishops and priests deprived of freedom would be allowed to resume their pastoral ministry.
A German-born bishop who headed a prelature in Norway admitted that his resignation last year was linked to the sexual abuse of a minor.
Two pending federal lawsuits seek to pull the Vatican into U.S. courts over claims that it is liable for damages to victims of sexual abuse by priests
Holy Week in Pakistan this year was set against a backdrop of suicide bombings that have killed Catholic workers.
Catholic officials condemned the slayings of 10 young people in the state of Durango and suspended long-running Holy Week missionary programs.
A group of Palestinian Christians, Muslims and some Jewish supporters managed to breach the tight security separating Bethlehem and Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
Drenching rains already are turning tent camps outside Port-au-Prince into muddy quagmires.