The percentage of Catholics in the world has remained steady, while the number of priests has decreased for the first time in almost a decade.

People must stop using gay people as scapegoats for the sexual abuse of children, two male survivors of abuse by priests told reporters.

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

The president of Microsoft, Brad Smith, told Pope Francis that a "human voice" was needed to speak up in the world of technology today.

To keep silent about the truths of the Catholic faith or to teach the contrary is a form of religious deception that comes from the anti-Christ, said Cardinal Gerhard Muller.

The sainthood cause of Jesuit Father Pedro Arrupe was formally opened in Rome at the Basilica of St. John Lateran Feb. 5, the 28th anniversary of Father Arrupe's death.

"As long as there are new generations able to say, 'Here I am' to God, the world will have a future."

The head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, accepted the resignation of Father Hermann Geissler, a CDF official who is being investigated for apparently soliciting in the confessional, which he denies.

Since the work of child protection must continue after the February meeting at the Vatican on safeguarding, one organizer said they plan on creating a "task force" with teams on every continent.

The Swiss Guards used the new helmets during a special ceremony Jan. 22 at the Vatican commemorating the 513th anniversary of their foundation.