A global synod on priests could help the church to end the "terrible" scandals of clerical child abuse, an English bishop told Pope Francis.

“People don’t want finessed press releases. They want to name their betrayal out loud, in public, in sacred space.”

Medellín would be the first and perhaps one of the most successful exercises of appropriation of the Second Vatican Council at the continental level.

The abuses these survivors suffered at the hands of priests were not crimes of passion, they said, but cold exploitations of control.

“Those who have suffered are his priority, and the Church wants to listen to them to root out this tragic horror.”

The state’s attorney general said that his office’s two-year investigation identified 301 priests who abused children and more than 1,000 victims.

"This transparency and objectivity I promise you will include a thorough review of our safe environment policies and procedures by an outside investigator," Bishop Conley said.

A former head of the E.P.A. warns that the pope’s message on the death penalty, like his message on the environment, may not make it to the pews.

A memoir that includes historical analysis as well as biographical narrative tells the tale of four Mexican-Americans unsure if they belong any longer in their adopted country.