The Associated Press

The CEOs of vaccine-makers Pfizer and Moderna joined cardinals, academics and the lead guitarist of Aerosmith in opening a unique Vatican conference on COVID-19, other global health threats and how science, solidarity and spirituality can address them.

A fire that gutted much of a historic Catholic church in Southern California last year was intentionally set, prosecutors said Tuesday.

A Roman Catholic priest better known for his outreach to the poor is winning new fans with his catchy public health-focused lyrics set to a popular 1990s salsa tune as Costa Rica experiences its worst moment of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Vatican secretary of state has intervened personally to shed light on one of the most sensational Vatican scandals of recent times: The 1998 murder of the Swiss Guard commander and his wife, purportedly by a disgruntled younger Swiss Guardsman who then took his own life.

Pope Francis has sent another message to Vatican-based cardinals and bishops about his intent to hold them accountable for criminal misconduct: He removed the procedural obstacles that had spared them from being prosecuted by the Vatican's criminal tribunal.

A western Kentucky priest accused of sexually abusing two minors has been reinstated by the Vatican but remains banned from entering schools for five years.

Pope Francis issued tough new anti-corruption regulations April 29 that require Vatican cardinals and managers to periodically declare they are investing only in funds consistent with Catholic doctrine and aren't under criminal investigation or stashing money in tax havens.

Pope Francis responded April 28 to reports of poor governance, financial mismanagement and moral failings in the Ecuadorian diocese of Riobamba by accepting the resignations of the retiring bishop and his heir apparent.

The Legion of Christ, a Roman Catholic order disgraced by sexual abuse committed by its founder and other clergy, is facing new allegations of molestation of children in lawsuits filed in April in Connecticut, where it is based.

A priest in La Crosse has been ignoring COVID-19 gathering restrictions at his masses while warning people that vaccines are useless and anyone who imposes virus-related protocols will burn in the "lowest, hottest levels" of hell. 

In a first public attempt to put numbers to instances of clergy sexual abuse of children in Spain, the Spanish bishops' conference revealed that 220 cases were reported to the Vatican over the past two decades.

Rescue groups and the Vatican are decrying the latest deaths of migrants who put to sea in traffickers' unseaworthy boats, amid laments that Mediterranean nations are choosing not to dispatch vessels to save them.

Attorney General Josh Kaul plans to launch an investigation into clergy sexual assault across Wisconsin's five Catholic dioceses, perhaps as early as next week.

Pope Francis met with Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on April 22 and urged all Lebanese political leaders to commit to the common good as the country amid crises that have prevented the formation of a government. 

Roman Catholic institutions including schools and universities closed April 21 across Haiti in a three-day protest to demand the release of five priests, two nuns and two other people kidnapped more than a week earlier.

The pastor of a Catholic parish has been asked to step aside following allegations he sexually assaulted a minor 36 years ago, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced Wednesday.

Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith appealed to Sri Lanka's Muslims on Wednesday to reject extremism and join Catholics in determining the truth behind the Easter Sunday suicide bombings in 2019 that killed 269 people.

Pope Francis on April 18 voiced apprehension over a recent Russian troop buildup near the border with Ukraine and called for efforts to ease tensions in the 7-year conflict in eastern Ukraine pitting Ukrainian forces against Russia-backed rebels.

Poland's top vaccination official said April 15 he did not see any obstacle to the country's inoculation program from the "moral" reservations expressed by the powerful Catholic Church about two vaccines.

Two years after a fire tore through Paris' most famous cathedral and shocked the world, French President Emmanuel Macron on April 15 visited the building site that Notre Dame has become to show that French heritage has not been forgotten despite the pandemic.