“We all know that canon law has to be changed so that it stops protecting the priesthood of ordained men over the lives of children," Anne Barrett Doyle, the co-director of BishopAccountability.org, told reporters.

Daily news and analysis of the historic gathering of bishops from 130 countries for a summit on the protection of children

The Vatican will live-stream all the keynote speeches and the interventions of Pope Francis at the upcoming summit on the protection of minors.

Pope Francis has recognized the dismissal from the clerical state, also known as laicization, of Theodore McCarrick, 88, the former cardinal and emeritus archbishop of Washington.

A Vatican diplomat is under investigation by police in Paris for allegedly sexually assaulting a city official.

The central thesis of the 576-page book is that “the more a prelate is homophobic, the more likely it is that he is himself gay.”