The first synodal assembly on the future the Catholic Church in Germany drew both praise and some criticism, with many of the 230 participants lauding what they called a special atmosphere in the debates on key reforms.

As a moment approaches that is certainly historically massive, one of great triumph or crushing disaster according to your Brexit leaning, Britons are winding ourselves up over a clockwork bell and getting into a flap about a flag.

Jesuits in Belgium wanted to launch a new school that would reach less-affluent communities, but they were also keenly interested in connecting with “people from different cultural and religious backgrounds.”

During his visit to Poland in 2016, the pope visited the Auschwitz death camp, where he prayed in silence and met with survivors of the Holocaust.

With 55% of parishes having closed, attendance at Mass in the Netherlands is continuing to drop, with "peak secularization" yet to come as even more parishes close.

Catholic leaders in Germany have compiled responses from lay Catholics in areas related to who holds power in the church, sexual morals, the role of priests and the place of women in church offices in preparation for an upcoming synodal assembly to debate church reforms.