In mid-October when seven Pennsylvania dioceses announced they had been served subpoenas to release confidential files and testimony about allegations of sexual abuse by clergy and other church workers to the federal government, the announcement was big news.

His statement appeared to be a reference to those seeking to divide the church today and those using the abuse scandals to further other agendas.

Deacon Paul Snyder will tell his story on “60 Minutes” this Sunday.

Further rounds of “apologies” and requests for prayers are inadequate. We have heard all that before. The resounding theme at my parish event was that it is now time for the church to act.

The church needs our young people. But we elders cannot nurture them in the faith if we repel them.

The bishops of Virginia's two Catholic dioceses said in a joint statement Oct. 24 that they wanted to assure Catholics in the state and the public "we are cooperating with the attorney general's office."