After denouncing the record number of wildfires in the Amazon in August and the growing deforestation of the region, the Brazilian Catholic Church is pressuring the government to guarantee the safety of several Amazonian indigenous peoples, alerting the authorities of the imminent risk of genocide in northern Brazil.

Catholic schools and faith formation programs nationwide have had age-appropriate sexual abuse awareness training since soon after the U.S. bishops adopted the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" in 2002.

"I'm not as bad as they paint me," McCarrick told Slate, which posted interview comments in an article Sept. 3. "I do not believe that I did the things that they accused me of."

Police arrested at least 70 people in South Africa's commercial capital, Johannesburg, Sept. 2, after protesters looted mostly foreign-owned shops and set fire to cars and buildings in the second outbreak of urban rioting in a week.

On Sept. 1, Bishop Francis Duffy of Ardagh announced to a packed basilica that the church had officially recognized 68-year-old Carroll's healing.

"Thank God the firefighters intervened," Francis said, referring to tiny Vatican City State's own fire department.