Catholic Church

Ireland probe: Some 9,000 children died at Church-run homes in 1920-90s

Irish PM Micheal Martin says the country must "face up to the full truth of our past," as a long-awaited report recounted decades of harm done by church-run homes for unmarried women and their babies, where thousands of infants died.

US Boy Scouts to face more than 80,000 sexual abuse claims

Rocked by accusations of sexual abuse, BSA filed for bankruptcy in February in an effort to block settlement claims from hitting the organisation directly and instead funneled them to a compensation fund.

Is Pope Francis a left-leaning Catholic leader?

The spiritual leader of the Catholic world recently criticised capitalism, suggested he found the free market system inadequate when it comes to meeting basic human needs.

Vatican urges bishops to report sex abuse cases to police

The Vatican released guidelines for bishops and other senior officials on dealing with clerical child sex abuse claims, clarifying rules on tackling a decades-old scandal plaguing the church.

Australian inquiry found Pell should have reported child sex abuse

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found that Cardinal George Pell knew about abuses dating back to the 1970s and kept them hidden.

Will the pandemic force the Catholic Church to transform?

While the church has a vast body of members, the pandemic is leaving one of the oldest religious institutions in financial limbo.

Globe braces for long battle against virus as cases spread

Scientists race to find a treatment, crews scrub everything from money to buses, and quarantines are being enforced from a beachfront resort in the Atlantic to an uninhabited island in the Pacific as the world fights the spread of the coronavirus.

Amid protests, Portugal lawmakers vote to allow euthanasia

The landmark vote left Portugal poised to become one of the few countries in the world permitting the procedures.

Ecuador President Moreno orders curfew as protesters clash with police

Violence has persisted in the country's capital since last week when President Lenín Moreno's decision to end subsidies led to a sharp increase in fuel prices.

The Pope, Catholicism and the Italian government crisis

Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini likes to present himself as a devout Christian but the head of the Catholic Church has taken starkly different political stances.

Australian court upholds child sex convictions against Cardinal Pell

In 1996 and 1997 when sex abuses took place, Cardinal George Pell had just become archbishop of Australia's second-largest city and had set up a world-first compensation arrangement for victims of clergy sexual abuse.

Putin, visiting Italy, says hopes Rome can help mend Moscow-EU ties

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a lightning visit to Rome, including talks with the pope, hailing efforts by the Italian government to ease sanctions despite Moscow's ongoing crisis with the West.