Reagan started weeping upon watching film footage of St. John Paul's triumphant return to Poland in 1979.

To be a voice for victims of clerical sexual abuse, Father Brendan McGuire realized he had to come to terms with the abuse he suffered at the hands of a priest when he was 18. It was a secret he had held for 35 years.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law did not anticipate crimes being committed by bishops that could result in their laicization, according to a canon law professor at The Catholic University of America.

More committees are not the answer to stop the abuse of children and vulnerable adults by clergy, said an Aug. 28 statement by the National Review Board, which is charged with addressing clerical sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church.

“Our first job is to listen, to be empathetic,” said Deacon Bernie Nojadera, the executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for the Protection of Children and Young People.

"Making this a gay issue is distraction, mostly, an attempt to place blame mostly (away from) from the clerical cover-up culture. It does a major disservice to women who were abused by the church and also a major disservice to gay priests."

The Special Olympics, founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, turned 50 this year, with this year's games held in Seattle. The Catholic community had joined in a winning pitch four years ago to host the Special Olympics for 2018 and were rewarded with the games.

Farr cited repeated cases in which diplomats ignored or overlooked the importance of faith and religion in dealing with sensitive matters, leading to decades of stumbles in diplomacy.

The U.S. bishops in 2003 published a pastoral letter, "Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope," which listed principles of reforming U.S. immigration policy. But 15 years later, how do those principles translate into concrete legislative proposals?

The recipient of welfare money has to work at a job, be actively seeking a job or take part in a job training program -- and be able to document it -- to receive the cash assistance. Those who don't are at risk of having their funds cut off for months. For repeat offenders, it could be years.