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.

The Vatican has taken testimony from a man who says ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick sexually abused him for years starting when he was 11, evidence that the initial case against the retired archbishop has expanded to include serious allegations of sexual misconduct, including in the confessional.

It has been a very difficult year for Pope Francis.

A prominent U.S. archbishop is asking the Vatican for answers about the status of an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by his predecessor, who was forced to resign in 2015.

Organizers of an upcoming Vatican summit on sex abuse prevention are warning that the credibility of the Catholic Church is in jeopardy over the abuse scandal and are urging participants to meet with victims personally before coming to Rome.

The sisters argue that the Vatican commissioners sent to replace their superior general, who is also the niece of the order's founder, have no understanding of their way of life or spirituality.

The scandal at the Institute of the Good Samaritan was revealed publicly in an investigative report by Chilean national television earlier this year.

"But he knows how to communicate, to express himself," the pope said.

The International Union of Superiors General, which represents more than 500,000 sisters worldwide, vowed to help nuns who have been abused to find the courage to report it, and pledged to help victims heal and seek justice.

During a synod of South American bishops next year, the question of ordaining married men of proven virtue is expected to figure on the agenda.