Roman Catholic Church News

A Catholic priest who took over a Fort Wayne parish after its pastor was accused of sexually abusing a minor has been removed from public ministry himself for allegedly abusing a minor in Africa some 20 years ago.

Flash floods in southwestern France claimed two elderly victims in the space of 24 hours as unseasonal storms caused havoc across huge swaths of the country on Wednesday.

Catholic schools seem to be in trouble everywhere you look in America. It seems we routinely hear stories about how St. Something-or-other will be closing next week.

Pope John Paul II has moved a step closer to sainthood. A Vatican official says a commission of theologians approved a miracle attributed to his intercession, clearing a key hurdle.

Heavy floods in southwest France have forced the closure of the Catholic pilgrimage site in Lourdes and the evacuation of pilgrims from nearby hotels.

A woman sits in the church following the procession of 'Santo Cristo' during Holy Week in Bercianos de Aliste, northern Spain, March 28. After years of moving in a more socially liberal direction along with the rest of western Europe, the Spanish government is now doing an about face, seeking to clamp down on abortion and return the Roman Catholic ... (more)

The Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted is the bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix. He was installed as the fourth bishop of Phoenix on Dec. 20, 2003, and is the spiritual leader of the diocese's 820,000 Catholics.

With the handoff of a ring, a hat, a staff and a book of Gospels, the Rev. David J. Walkowiak was ordained this afternoon as the 12th bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids.

A Roman Catholic religious order released an unusually candid report Tuesday outlining how its leaders failed for decades to stop sex abuse in its schools and other ministries.

Vice-President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur has launched the beatification process and foundation of the late Cardinal Peter Porekuu Dery.

Not surprisingly, a high percentage of area Catholics have left the church over the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the organization in the past decade.

The plans of a former Microsoft manager to create the "Starbucks of Pot" are worrying other activists who pushed for the legalization of marijuana in Washington state.

Venezuela and the Vatican haven't always seen eye-to-eye. During his 14 years in power, President Hugo Chavez often battled with the church, accusing leaders of participating in a coup against him and calling a Venezuelan cardinal a "troglodyte" on national television.

Two Salvadorans who mediated in a gang truce in their country that cut the homicide rate by at least 50 percent met Monday with gang leaders in Honduras, where they will help do the same.

VATICAN CITY a?? One-hundred days after becoming the first non-European pope since the eighth century, the main difference between Francis and his European predecessors is one more of style than of concrete action.

The Cuban-born bishop was Pueblo's fourth bishop, serving there since 2009. The Pueblo Diocese covers 48,000 square miles and 53 parishes.

Remember the power ballad? It was a subgenre of rock music pioneered by Boston in 1976 and Styx a year later.

Rome - An Italian Catholic activist and journalist who was declared a Righteous Gentile for saving Jewish lives during World War II has formally been put on the road to sainthood by the Roman Catholic church.

That made the Gary, Ind., teen the youngest person ever in the state to face the death penalty.

The diocese received the allegation of abuse of a minor against Father Justin Werner, a senior priest, back on April 20. The abuse, which Fr.