One of the most powerful Catholic Church leaders in America approved payments of $20,000 to get abusive priests to leave the church, abuse victims and the archdiocese in question said Thursday.
Pope Benedict XVI's spokesman has denied the pontiff will resign over the arrest of his butler on suspicion of leaking confidential documents, the Vatican press office said Thursday.
An investigation into the Pope's butler continues in a document leaking scandal. CNN's Brooke Baldwin reports.
Pope Benedict XVI's spokesman denied Monday that a cardinal or a woman were being investigated alongside the pope's butler on suspicion of leaking confidential documents.
Some Vatican watchers are seeing a crisis of government at The Vatican. CNN's Matthew Chance reports.
Pope Benedict's butler has been arrested on suspicion of leaking confidential documents to an Italian journalist, the Vatican said Saturday.
A lawyer for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia testified Monday that church officials lied to him about the whereabouts of a hidden list of 35 priests suspected of sexually abusing children.
The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland faces calls to resign. Peter Taggart explains why.
Pope Benedict XVI visits Cuba following the Vatican-brokered release of political prisoners. Patrick Oppmann reports.
Cuban President Raul Castro has granted Pope Benedict XVI's request to make Good Friday a holiday -- at least this year -- Cuban state media reported Saturday.
CNN's Patrick Oppmann reports on Pope Benedict's Havana Mass and his meetings with the Castro brothers.
Greeted by throngs of Catholic worshipers from across the region, Pope Benedict XVI ended his two-country tour in Havana's Revolution Plaza with a reference to what he described as a need for "authentic freedom."
Pope Benedict XVI presided over Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, delivering a homily that focused on the "essence" of the holiday rather than the "commercial celebration" it has become.
Pope Benedict XVI speaks about the need for peace in his Christmas Eve Mass.
Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Havana on Tuesday amid speculation over whether he will meet with the island's former president, Fidel Castro, and how far he'll press the country for greater political and religious freedoms.
Thousands of Catholics greet Pope Benedict XVI in an open air Mass in central Mexico.
Cubans return home to emotional homecomings ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Cuba. CNN's Patrick Oppmann reports.
CNN's Rafael Romo says Pope Benedict XVI wearing a sombrero holds significant symbolism for the Mexican people.
Opening statements are scheduled for Monday in Philadelphia in the first case in which an official of a Roman Catholic archdiocese has been accused of protecting abusive priests by moving them from parish to parish.
Opening arguments are scheduled for Monday in Philadelphia in the first case in which an official of a Roman Catholic archdiocese has been accused of protecting abusive priests by moving them from parish to parish.
On the same day Pope Benedict addressed and blessed a group of 1,800 children in Guanajuato, Mexico, three Mexican authors released a book accusing the Vatican of hiding or ignoring cases of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests.
Pope Benedict XVI begins a Latin American tour in historical Guanajuato, Mexico. CNN's Rafael Romo reports.
The Mexican government is spending millions of dollars to welcome the pope. CNN's Rafael Romo reports.
It has been a project of celestial proportions, but it's finally ready. Construction workers have labored nonstop for months.
There was a time when the Republican Party was strictly for White Anglo Saxon Protestants. It was an alliance between Country Club Episcopalians and twice born followers of the Old Time Gospel, all firmly opposed to mass Catholic immigration from Europe. The nativism of the GOP drove Catholics into the welcoming arms of Al Smith, Jack Kennedy, Tip O'Neill and the Democratic Party.
It was an exciting day for Laura Dominguez and her 11-year-old daughter Paulina.
A papal visit to Mexico is likely to be overshadowed by the previous pope. CNN's Rafael Romo reports.
Cuban authorities have released dozens of members of the "Ladies in White" group after detaining them, a dissident said Monday.
CNN's Patrick Oppmann moves from Seattle to Havana, Cuba.
Thirteen Cubans who occupied a church in Havana in the hopes of meeting with the pope instead were escorted from the building late Thursday by police, the Havana Archdiocese said.
CNN's Susan Candiotti reports on a memo that says a Philadephia cardinal ordered a priest sex abuse file shredded.
A judge on Monday rejected a motion to dismiss charges against a Philadelphia archdiocese official accused of covering up evidence of suspected sexual abuse of children.
Pope Benedict appointed 22 new cardinals at the Vatican on Saturday, with his choices for the lofty role likely to influence who will be appointed as the next pontiff.
A top Roman Catholic official opened a conference on protecting children from sexual abuse Monday by defending Pope Benedict XVI, arguing that he deserved thanks for his efforts.
The Catholic church is outraged at new contraception rules. CNN's Brianna Keilar has more.
Recently, the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Religious Liberty argued that the Obama administration's requirement that most health insurance plans cover contraception goes against "the mandate of Jesus Christ."
Pope Benedict XVI prayed for peace in Syria, reconciliation in Myanmar, and comfort in flood-stricken Thailand and the Philippines in his annual Christmas message "To the City and the World" on Sunday.
Pope Benedict XVI confirmed plans Monday to visit Mexico and Cuba before Easter.
The Archdiocese of Chicago will pay $3.2 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged church leaders failed to remove a priest they knew had sexually abused minors, the plaintiff's attorneys said Tuesday.
Pope Benedict XVI is planning potential trips to Mexico and Cuba in 2012, the Vatican said.
Pope Benedict XVI said goodbye to his native Germany on Sunday, capping a packed four-day visit in which he met with political and religious leaders in a country that -- like many others in Europe -- has seen growing disenchantment with the Roman Catholic Church.
Pope Benedict XVI meets members of the Muslim community in Germany. CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports.
On the third day of his visit to his native Germany, Pope Benedict XVI made two stops Saturday straddling the lines of history that have divided the country violently -- in past decades into Communist east and democratic west and in past centuries into mostly Protestant north and stalwart Catholic south.
Pope Benedict XVI met Friday with a group of people who had been sexually abused by clergy in his native Germany, where disenchantment with the Roman Catholic Church has grown in the wake of the scandal.
On his first state visit to his homeland, Pope Benedict XVI met Thursday with Germany's prime minister and president and spoke to legislators, but insisted that his purpose was not economic or political, but spiritual.
Ireland stepped up its battle with the Roman Catholic Church over child abuse Sunday, with Justice Minister Alan Shatter vowing to pass a law requiring priests to report suspicions of child abuse, even if they learn about them in confession.
The Vatican has rejected criticism that church leaders sought to cover up extensive abuse of young people by priests in Ireland, in a lengthy statement sent to the Irish government Saturday.
Pope Benedict XVI is in Madrid, Spain for World Youth Day. CNN's Al Goodman reports.
Rio de Janeiro will host the next World Youth Day, Pope Benedict XVI announced Sunday to hundreds of thousands of young Roman Catholic pilgrims at the close of this year's event in Madrid.
Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Madrid for World Youth Day, but demonstrators protest over the cost of the pontiff's visit.
Catholic youths should not hide their beliefs from their peers, Pope Benedict XVI told them in a World Youth Day speech delivered Thursday in Spain.
A man arrested in Madrid on suspicion of planning an attack against a demonstration to protest the visit of Pope Benedict XVI was a volunteer for the papal visit's organizing committee, a committee senior spokesman said Wednesday.
Critics say hosting Pope Benedict XVI in Madrid for World Youth Day is too costly. CNN's Al Goodman reports.
To fight child abuse by priests, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops revised its 2002 charter Thursday, the group said.
The late Catholic leader moves one step closer to becoming a saint
CNN's Diana Magnay on the reaction to John Paul II's beatification in the Polish city of Krakow.
For many Poles, John Paul II's beatification simply confirms what they already knew. They thought him a saint already, the very fact of his papacy a blessing for Poland.
Nadia Bilchik talks to T.J. Holmes about the process of beatification, and others who have been through the process.
Christopher Lukasik was building shelves when a metal rod hit his eye, tearing about a third of his optic nerve fibers and leaving everybody from his doctors to his family wondering whether he would ever see again.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe arrived in Rome for the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II, airport officials said Saturday, despite his EU-wide travel ban for alleged human rights abuses.
More than one million people are expected in Rome this weekend for the beatification of Pope John Paul II, the biggest event in Vatican City since his death six years ago.
During Easter celebrations at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI addresses the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.
The New Hampshire House majority leader lashed out Friday on his Facebook page at a Roman Catholic bishop, calling the clergyman a "pedophile pimp" who "has no moral credibility to lecture anyone."
The Vatican is warning people who plan to travel to the beatification of Pope John Paul II to look out for scammers claiming to sell tickets for the ceremony.
The makers say the app isn't replacing the confessional, but it will help people with the sacrament. WCVB reports.
Yes, the Roman Catholic Church still supports the new app designed to help Catholics make confession. To a point.
In March 2010, Cardinal Sean Brady read a letter from Pope Benedict XVI on sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Ireland.
Irish victims of sexual abuse are "disgusted" by a newly revealed letter in which a Vatican official expresses "serious reservations" about requiring bishops to report suspected abuse by priests to police, they said Wednesday.
The late Pope John Paul II takes a significant step towards sainthood. CNN's John Allen explains on American Morning.
John Paul II moved closer to sainthood Friday as the Vatican announced he will be beatified later this year.
The Vatican celebrates Christmas with a traditional midnight mass.
A high-ranking New York priest has been found guilty by a church tribunal of sexually abusing a minor in the 1970s, according to a statement obtained Saturday from the Catholic Archdiocese of New York.
The Holy See's press office Saturday urged the public to read the latest Vatican-related diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks with "great prudence," claiming the allegations cited in the documents reflect only the view of their writers.
Relations between the Vatican and Ireland deteriorated sharply as the Holy See appeared to ignore a commission looking into complaints of physical and sexual abuse of children by Irish priests, according to U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks.
Pope Benedict XVI said that the use of condoms may be acceptable in some cases to prevent the transmission of AIDS.
If you were to ask a group of Quakers or Mennonites whether it's OK for police or soldiers to use rubber bullets against rock-throwing children, you wouldn't be surprised if they said, "Absolutely not!" They are well-known for their commitment to pacifism.
Pope Benedict XVI's possible shift on condom use is a "significant and positive step forward," the head of the United Nations anti-AIDS campaign said, welcoming the potentially historic remark.
Pope Benedict XVI will be making his third trip to Germany next year, a church official confirmed on Friday.
Pope Benedict XVI to consecrate architect Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, unfinished church in Barcelona. Al Goodman reports.
The Catholic Church opened its first seminary in Cuba in more than 50 years on Wednesday, with President Raul Castro in attendance.
Mexican federal authorities are investigating whether a Roman Catholic priest received money from a top narcotrafficker to build a chapel, a church official said Monday.
Roman Catholic bishops for the Middle East concluded a two-week conference with a call for the international community, especially the United Nations, to work "to put an end to the occupation" of Palestinian territories.
Pope Benedict XVI announced Wednesday that he would create 24 new cardinals -- putting his stamp on the body that will select his replacement when he dies.
Australia got its first Catholic saint Sunday, a feisty 19th-century nun who was briefly excommunicated when her colleagues exposed an abusive priest.
Australians are celebrating the canonization of their nation's first Catholic saint, Mary MacKillop of the Cross.
CNN's Atika Shubert reports on the pope's visit to Britain amid concerns over abuse within the Roman Catholic Church.
Pope Benedict XVI praised Britain Sunday for standing up to the Nazis, a remark that could rekindle controversy over the pope's past -- reminding listeners that he was forced as a young man to join the Hitler Youth.
CNN looks at the challenges facing the Roman Catholic Church in Hong Kong and Spain.
Pope Benedict XVI met with five clergy abuse victims while on his official visit to the United Kingdom, the Catholic Communications Network said Saturday, the same day the pope expressed his "deep sorrow" for the scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church.
Investigators in Britain arrested six men on suspicion of terrorism Friday and reviewed security arrangements for Pope Benedict XVI's trip there, authorities said.
CNN's Phil Black reports from Scotland, where Pope Benedict XVI began a four-day visit to the United Kingdom.
"It's something I've always dreamed of," says the singer, who helped welcome the pontiff on his visit to Scotland
As a democrat, I defend the right of Pope Benedict XVI to visit Britain and to express his opinions. But people who disagree with him also have a right to protest against his often harsh, intolerant views.
If you invited a friend to dinner would you escort them to the door at the end of the evening and present them with a bill for steak, cake and a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape?
The Roman Catholic Church has not been vigilant enough or fast enough in responding to the problem of sexual abuse by priests, Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday.
Two-thirds of respondents to a recent poll say they're unhappy about pope's visit to the U.K. Atika Shubert has more.
Sue Cox was 10 years old when she says she was raped by a priest in her family home on the eve of her Confirmation, a sacrament which signifies the cementing of bonds between baptised believers and the Church.
Controversial comments criticizing the state of modern Britain have provoked a backlash as Pope Benedict XVI arrived in the country for its first ever papal state visit.
As the United Kingdom braces to receive one of the best-known and most controversial figures on the planet, Pope Benedict XVI, a question hangs over the state visit: Why is he coming?
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