Victims of clergy abuse who are black say they were offered settlements far smaller than those given to white victims, an Associated Press investigation found.

Pope Benedict XVI said the fact that the critiques barely mentioned God proved his point.

Three judges of the Victoria Court of Appeal voted 2-1 to uphold Cardinal Pell's conviction.

Cardinal George Pell's conviction on child sexual abuse charges was upheld by a 2-1 ruling of an Australian court of appeal.

Reacting to the scandal of clergy sex abuse and cover-up 17 years ago, eight bishops offered a bold proposal to convene a regional synod for the church in the United States.

Cardinal Pell would walk free if the three judges acquit him of the five convictions.