Pope Francis' committee of advisers on protecting children from sexually abusive priests is expanding its workload to include the needs and rights of children fathered by Roman Catholic priests.

Blaine founded SNAP in 1988, years after she was abused as an 8th grader by a Toledo, Ohio, priest who taught at the Catholic school she attended, according to the organization's website. Her pleas for help to Toledo's bishop were ignored. The group gained prominence in 2002 after the Boston Globe's stories on the priest sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church.

The Rev. Carol Howard Merritt says that the image of a God who suffers with us can play a role in helping people recover.

A Vatican priest working in the Holy See's embassy in Washington has been recalled after U.S. officials flagged possible violations of child pornography laws.

Brother Angel Duples, the general director of an elite school founded by the Marist Brothers in Argentina, has admitted he sexually abused a student 38 years ago.