The Associated Press reports on the shocking abuse of women religious in India, going back decades.

U.S.-based Roman Catholic bishops will gather Wednesday for a weeklong retreat near Chicago on the church sexual abuse scandal that organizers say will focus on prayer and spiritual reflection and not formulating policy.

While the Vatican is known for its slow pace, even the speediest bureaucracy would have found it difficult to review and approve sensitive legal documents over a long weekend.

2018 will no doubt be remembered as a dark time for the U.S. Catholic Church.

A member of the committee organizing Pope Francis' February summit on the sexual abuse crisis said the meeting should include discussing ways to hold bishops accountable for handling cases correctly.

Pope Francis marked the fifth anniversary of his election in March in the midst of a firestorm over his handling of clerical sexual abuse and bishops' accountability in Chile.