Michigan Catholic Conference spokesman David Maluchnik confirmed Tuesday that extending the statute of limitations is "of concern" to the church's lobbying arm.

“Behind all this is the unfortunate idea...that priests are everything in the church while sisters are nothing.”

"Anxiety is the number one problem," a program spokeswoman said.

The bishops deem it possible in certain cases to allow the Eucharist to be given to a non-Catholic spouse in a mixed-denomination marriage.

Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals discussed the possibility of establishing regional tribunals around the world that would judge cases of sexual abuse allegedly committed by clergy.

Intentionally causing a patient's death is different from accepting that a patient is dying.