An increase in calls to dioceses to report claims of clergy sexual abuse has happened before, and is likely to happen again in the wake of the credible claim lodged against Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, according to the head of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Child and Youth Protection.

The retired archbishop of Washington said he will no longer exercise any public ministry "in obedience" to the Vatican after an allegation he abused a teenager almost 50 years ago has been found credible.

None have been more outspoken, however, than the bishops with dioceses on or near the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

Respondents to a new America poll said overwhelmingly that their parishes kept them up-to-date with paper bulletins (97 percent) and announcements at Mass (91 percent).

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted today to revise their document on Catholics in public life, "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship," in advance of the 2020 presidential election. 

U.S. bishops may be prepared for a stronger pushback against Trump administration policies that are being criticized as cruel and outside the U.S. tradition on the welcoming of immigrants and the treatment of people seeking protection from harm.