Pope Francis’ Holy Week and Easter will be celebrated primarily in St. Peter’s Basilica with a very small congregation.

In a major address on confronting the sin of racism and working for racial harmony, Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, the nation’s first African American cardinal, said a “healing of America’s soul” is needed.

More than 230 professors of Catholic theology have signed a statement protesting the Vatican’s recent pronouncement that priests cannot bless same-sex unions, adding to dissent over the document.

A second Catholic cardinal has questioned the legitimacy of a recent decree by the Vatican to restrict the celebration of the old Latin Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and forbid private Masses in its side chapels.

Rev. Kevin O'Brien allegedly “exhibited behaviors in adult settings, consisting primarily of conversations, which may be inconsistent with established Jesuit protocols and boundaries.”

A report commissioned by Germany’s Cologne archdiocese on church officials’ handling of past cases of sexual abuse found 75 cases in which high-ranking officials neglected their duties.