Pope wraps troubled visit to Belgium by praising victims and demanding abusers be judged

BRUSSELS (AP) — Pope Francis demanded Sunday that sexually abusive clergy be judged and their bishops stop covering up their crimes as he ended a troubled visit to Belgium by responding to the outrage over the scandal here that has devastated the church’s credibility. “Evil...

Belgian Catholic university denounces visiting pope's views on women after he digs in on their role

BRUSSELS (AP) — Pope Francis’ burdensome trip through Belgium reached new lows on Saturday when defiant Catholic university women demanded to his face a “paradigm change” on women’s issues in the church and then expressed deep disappointment when Francis dug in. The...

Pope gets an earful from Belgian king and abuse victims over scandals and failures to respond

BRUSSELS (AP) — On a brutal day for the frail and aging Pope Francis, the king of Belgium, its prime minister and the rector of the Catholic university that invited him here all ripped into the institution he heads for a spectrum of sins: for covering up cases of clergy sex abuse and being far...

PHOTO COLLECTION: Religion Pope Francis Visits Belgium

PHOTO COLLECTION: Religion Pope Francis Visits Luxembourg

Tone deaf and color blind? Catholic Church struggles to keep accused abusers out of religious art

BRUSSELS (AP) — Little brings more heavenly bliss to the faithful or otherworldly wonder to casual visitors than ethereal hymns cascading amid the columns of Catholic cathedrals. That is, unless the composer is a known molester or someone accused of sexual abuse. A few days before...

Pope travels to the heart of Europe to appeal for peace and to boost his dwindling flock

LUXEMBOURG (AP) — Pope Francis called for Europe to be a beacon of peace in war and a welcome home for migrants and refugees as he arrived in the heart of the continent on Thursday to encourage the dwindling Catholic flock in a onetime bastion of Christianity. Francis received a...

Poll: Latin Americans view Pope Francis favorably. But the biggest drop is in his native Argentina.

Pope Francis is still widely popular in several Latin American countries. But the portion of people who still see him favorably in his native Argentina has plunged by almost 30 percentage points in a decade. Those are among the key findings in a report released Thursday by the Pew...

Belgium's appalling abuse legacy clouds pope's trip as survivors pen letter seeking reparations

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Fresh off a four-nation tour of Asia, where he saw record-setting crowds and vibrant church communities, Pope Francis travels to Belgium this week as the once-staunchly Catholic country again confronts its appalling legacy of clergy sex abuse and institutional cover-up. ...

Pope expels a bishop and 9 other people from a Peru movement over 'sadistic' abuses

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis took the unusual decision Wednesday to expel 10 people – a bishop, priests and laypeople -- from a troubled Catholic movement in Peru after a Vatican investigation uncovered “sadistic” abuses of power, authority and spirituality. The move...