The Synod of Bishops will meet in October to try to look at the world and the Catholic Church through the eyes of teenagers and young adults and find ways to encourage their enthusiasm and dreams, help them sift through the possibilities life offers them to serve others and resist the temptations that come their way.
To be a voice for victims of clerical sexual abuse, Father Brendan McGuire realized he had to come to terms with the abuse he suffered at the hands of a priest when he was 18. It was a secret he had held for 35 years.
Pledging to “heal and protect with every bit of the strength God provides us,” the U.S. bishops’ Administrative Committee Sept. 19 outlined actions to address the abuse crisis, including approving the establishment of a third-party confidential reporting system for claims of any abuse by bishops.
In response to the sexual abuse crisis in the church, Catholics are praying for victims, talking about their frustration and anger, and being urged to pray and fast for church healing.
Pope Francis has appointed Father Juan M. Betancourt, a priest in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut.
California’s Stanford University will strip the name of 18th-century Franciscan friar, St. Junipero Serra, from some of its properties but keep a street named after him.
The Synod of Bishops increasingly should be a structure for listening to the Catholic faithful, demonstrating a local bishop’s concern for the entire church and a means of expressing all the bishops’ unity with the pope, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis’ convocation of the gathering, to be held Feb. 21-24, 2019, sends “a very strong signal of a hearty commitment to defend dignity, to safeguard minors in the church.
