Several of the foreign-staffed Catholic religious orders in Mongolia run shelters, orphanages and nursing homes to care for a population of 3.3 million where one in three people lives in poverty.
"You don't hear about enslaved people at Mass or in Sunday school," says Rachel Swarns. Her new book tells the story of 272 enslaved people sold in 1838 to help save what is now Georgetown University.
Catholic women's groups that have long criticized the Vatican for treating women as second-class citizens immediately praised the move as historic in the 2,000-year life of the church.
The real-life reenactments in the farming village of San Pedro Cutud in Pampanga province north of Manila resumed after a three-year pause because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The redacted report paints a damning picture of abuse allegations against nearly 160 priests, involving more than 600 victims and spanning 80 years, and the Archdiocese of Baltimore's response.
The doctrine, with origins in the 15th century, was invoked as a legal and religious standing by Europeans who "discovered" new lands and violently seized it from people who had been living there.
The leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics has steered his church leftward after more than two decades of conservative leadership. Opposition within the Vatican is fierce.
His trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan will highlight the long-running conflicts in both countries and the rising importance of Africa to the future of the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis began a visit to Canada on Sunday to apologize to Indigenous peoples for abuses at residential schools, part of the the Catholic Church's efforts to reconcile with Native communities.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco said he sent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter expressing his concerns after she vowed to codify the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco said he sent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter expressing his concerns after she vowed to codify the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision.
The Diocese of Camden agreed to settle claims involving clergy sex abuse with some 300 alleged victims in one of the largest cash settlements involving the Catholic Church in the United States.
The pope spoke about a report released Tuesday that estimated some 330,000 French children were abused by clergy and other church authority figures dating back to 1950.
Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, agreed to plead guilty to one count of money laundering and one count of wire fraud. The federal charges carry a maximum prison term of 40 years.
Francis urged political and religious officials to work toward "healing and reconciliation," but he did not formally apologize for the church's role in the forced reeducation of 150,000 children.
