The bishop said he knew people are frustrated that it is taking so long for the report to be published, but "an institution that's been around 2,000 years doesn't turn on a dime."

Pope Francis had slapped a pilgrim's hand in an incident that quickly went viral on Twitter. Departing from his prepared text the next day, he said that "love makes us patient. We often lose our patience; me, too, and I apologize for my bad example last night."

"Women and Francis" is the theme of the January 2020 issue of Women-Church-World, a monthly supplement to L'Osservatore Romano. It was released Dec. 28.

Pope Francis prayed that Jesus would "bring his smile, through our poor faces, to all the children of the world: to those who are abandoned and those who suffer violence.

The report "identified 175 minors as victims of sexual abuse committed by 33 priests of the congregation" in the 78 years since the order's founding.

Francis also changed the norms of the office so that the dean would be elected to a five-year term renewable only once.

The group, which included 14 children and teens, arrived in Rome from the Greek island of Lesbos Dec. 4.

Before declaring that a person lived a holy life and is with God in heaven, the pope said, intense investigation is necessary.

In their "ad limina" visit with the pope, the bishops from Ohio and Michigan discussed a wide variety of topics, including the sex abuse crisis and how that impacts the work of priests.

A Jesuit who works for Jesuit Refugee Service in Thailand raised the question of ministry among migrants and refugees.