The president of the U.S. bishops' conference welcomed Pope Francis' pledge to fight attempts to cover up cases of sexual abuse and to stop offering special treatment to bishops who have committed or covered up abuse.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for bishops, writes that with “necessary permission” of Pope Francis, he now gives “my personal testimony as prefect of the congregation of bishops, about the matters regarding the emeritus archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick.”

The Vatican has issued a first or interim response to the accusations leveled against the pope and senior Vatican officials for their response to allegations against Archbishop Theodore McCarrick.

Concern for migrants and refugees, many of who are young, took center stage at the Synod of Bishops.

The ruling said the ordinance violated the First Amendment rights of Catholic elementary schools and Our Lady’s Inn, by requiring them to employ or house people who are not abortion opponents.

Earlier this year Barber resurrected the Poor People’s Campaign, first organized by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.