Catholic Church

Pope Francis delivered his annual Christmas Day speech from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to the throngs of people in the piazza below.

The Vatican said Monday that Pope Francis had approved Catholic priests to bestow blessings to people in same-sex relationships.

A Maryland man behind a class action lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Washington said the assault he endured as a child by a priest caused decades of substance abuse, shame and depression. “From age 15 until I was 40 … I used alcohol to cope with the pain, but all that did was turn me into an alcoholic,” said the…

Investigative Reporter Tracee Wilkins and the News4 I-Team sat down with a man behind a sex abuse lawsuit that triggered the Archdiocese of Washington to challenge Maryland’s Child Victims Act.

The Archdiocese of Washington is seeking to overturn the Maryland law that allows survivors of child sex abuse to bring forward claims no matter when the abuse happened, the News4 I-Team learned. Depending how courts decide, the Child Victims Act could affect survivors of abuse across the state, and not just those abused in church. The Archdiocese of Baltimore said…

Here are four of the big issues the News4 I-Team and legal experts say they’re watching as the Archdiocese of Baltimore bankruptcy process unfolds.

Here are four of the big issues the News4 I-Team and legal experts say they’re watching as the Archdiocese of Baltimore bankruptcy process unfolds.

Authorities in Mexico say the roof of a church has collapsed in northern Mexico during a Mass, killing at least nine people and injuring about 50.

Because of a procedural change in how the U.S. government processes some green cards, faith communities across the country may lose thousands of leaders and workers.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore announced Friday it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization days before a new state law goes into effect removing the statute of limitations on child sex abuse claims.

A new chance for justice begins this weekend for some sex abuse survivors in Maryland. The Child Victims Act of 2023 takes effect on Oct. 1, lifting the statute of limitations on abuse cases so victims from even decades ago can pursue justice through civil cases.

On Sunday, the Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023 takes effect, lifting the statute of limitations on sex abuse cases so that victims from decades ago can pursue justice through civil cases. Though schools or other groups could be affected, much of the focus is on the Catholic Church, which could face suits from potentially hundreds of victims of abuse...

A Louisiana grand jury has charged a now-91-year-old disgraced priest with sexually assaulting a teenage boy in 1975.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who claims he was sexually assaulted by a priest when he was 14 years old.

In 1992, Sinéad O’Connor destroyed a photo of Pope John Paul II on U.S. national television. While the pushback was swift, for survivors of clergy sex abuse O’Connor’s protest was prophetic, forecasting the global denomination’s public reckoning that was still to come.

Conservative sectors in the church are criticizing the appointment of Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández to lead the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith over his 1995 book “Heal Me with Your Mouth: The Art of Kissing.”

Former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is not competent to stand trial on charges accusing him of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in Massachusetts decades ago, an expert for the prosecution says, raising doubts about the future of the criminal case against the 92-year-old. Prosecutors this week disclosed the findings of their expert to the judge, who will ultimately rule…

Pope Francis is expected to be released from the hospital “in the coming days,” as he recovers well and without complications from abdominal surgery last week, the Vatican said Wednesday.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump has announced plans to file a series of lawsuits on behalf of people he says suffered child sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Vincent DeLorenzo, 84, will likely get a year in jail when he is sentenced in June and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.