Catholic bishops
Pope Francis shrugs off critics, calling schism part of church’s history
By Claire Giangravé — September 10, 2019
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — On his flight back from a weeklong trip to Africa, Pope Francis answered critics of his papacy, saying that although he hopes for dialogue he’s not afraid of a schism.
Choosing to die well
By Thomas Reese — August 29, 2019
(RNS) — A controversy over a Seattle man’s blessing at a Catholic church points up the differences between a peaceful death and assisted suicide.
Amazon fires deepen a split between Brazil’s evangelicals and fellow Christians
By Eduardo Campos Lima — August 28, 2019
SAO PAOLO (RNS) — The apparently intentional escalation of fires in the Amazon rainforest has contributed to a growing political split between Catholics and some Protestant groups and President Jair Bolsonaro's evangelical supporters.
Gilroy, El Paso, Dayton, and the normalization of violence
By Thomas Reese — August 4, 2019
(RNS) — Others may soon respond to mass shootings by ignoring it. No matter how horrible something is, if it is repeated time and time again, we get accustomed to it.
Vatican names new leader of West Virginia diocese to replace Bransfield
By Associated Press — July 23, 2019
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) — Baltimore Auxiliary Bishop Mark Brennan will lead the Wheeling-Charleston diocese after a scandal over the former bishop's sexual harassment of adults and lavish spending.
Catholic bishops and laypeople may live in different news bubbles
By Jack Jenkins — June 7, 2019
(RNS) — Only 4% of bishops named MSNBC as their preferred news station, compared to 28% of Catholics overall who listed it as a source for information about government and politics.
Latest Catholic scandal spotlights questions of consent in priest-parishioner relationships
By Jack Jenkins — June 5, 2019
(RNS) — The fact that the accuser is an adult has not spared the church new scrutiny about its slowness to respond to sexual misconduct claims or about what experts have been quick to call confusion regarding what constitutes consent.
Bishops in Rome struggle to find way to investigate bishops
By Thomas Reese — February 22, 2019
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — How to deal with bishops' abuse or negligence is the biggest problem ahead for the Vatican conference on clergy sexual abuse meeting in Rome this week.
The Catholic Church’s US seminaries need reform
By Thomas Reese — February 12, 2019
(RNS) — The formation of a Catholic priest should be challenging intellectually but should also teach him how to empower the people in his parish.
Faced with resurgent abuse crisis, Catholic prelates answer with more meetings
By David Clohessy — January 3, 2019
(RNS) — To those of us who’ve closely followed the Catholic Church’s distressing self-inflicted scandal for decades, the current flurry of meetings without action is depressingly familiar.
Bishop in Kenya reminds Catholics that Christmas is a season to give
By Doreen Ajiambo — December 26, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — In a season of merrymaking, the bishop reminds Kenyans, 'Let us share the joy and whatever we have with the poor, orphans and widows.'
It’s time for a grand compromise on religious freedom and contraceptives
By Thomas Reese — December 5, 2018
(RNS) — While they can still negotiate from a position of power, the proponents of religious liberty should offer to negotiate a grand compromise on reproductive rights.
Catholic bishops end synod with controversy and compromise
By Thomas Reese — October 29, 2018
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The synod's report deals with a host of issues of concern to young people: treatment of women in society and in the church, the church’s attitude toward LGBT members, clerical sex abuse, warfare, poverty, migration, human trafficking and corruption. But the work must continue in local churches.
Vatican bishops at synod struggle with what to call gay people
By Bob Smietana — October 23, 2018
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Younger Catholics want the church to be more inclusive. But as Catholic leaders wrap up a monthlong synod, they disagree on how to do that — or even how to refer to gay people in official synod documents.
Cardinal blasts archbishop’s attack on pope as ‘monstrous and unsubstantiated’
By Thomas Reese — October 8, 2018
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, refutes Archbishop Carlo Vigano's claim that Pope Francis released ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick from sanctions imposed by Pope Benedict.
