The synod is intended to involve all the baptized—bishops, clergy, religious and laity—at the diocesan and continental levels.

And why is Pope Francis holding a synod on synodality?

Archbishop (later Cardinal) John Francis Dearden of Detroit (1907-88) played an exceptionally significant role in paving the way for what Pope Francis is trying to do in reviving the ancient practice of including all the baptized in the work and mission of the church.

The high-profile Vatican trial was put on hold after Vatican prosecutors failed to present their evidence to the defendants before submitting it in court.

A Vatican tribunal absolved a former altar boy of charges that he molested a younger boy in the Vatican’s youth seminary, ruling Wednesday in the first clergy sexual abuse trial to be heard by the pope’s criminal court.

The Vatican prosecutor conceded procedural errors in his fraud and corruption investigation into the Holy See’s finances and offered to remedy them by essentially starting over, throwing the trial of 10 people into question.