Catholic News Service

Like the ancient Israelites, Christians today also can fall into the temptation of creating their own idols when difficulties and uncertainties arise, Pope Francis said.

A judge has postponed a mid-August trial for a priest accused of embezzling more than $5 million from a parish in Okemos, in central Michigan, part of the Diocese of Lansing.

After the bishops of Chile issued a formal apology for failing to listen to clerical abuse victims and drew up national guidelines for responding to abuse allegations, Pope Francis sent them a handwritten letter of thanks.

A federal judge in Washington Aug. 3 ordered the Trump administration to restore a program that helped young adults brought into the country illegally as minors, saying reasons calling for its demise were not justified.

The Greensburg Diocese said July 31 that in 2016 when it received an allegation of abuse against Fr. John Sweeney, a priest of the diocese, his priestly faculties were immediately revoked, and he was placed on administrative leave.

Once it is released, a grand jury report on a months-long investigation into abuse claims in six Pennsylvania dioceses covering a 70-year span "will be a sad and tragic description of events that occurred within the church," Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik said Aug. 4.

Lincoln Bishop James Conley apologized Aug. 4 for failing to be more transparent about a pastor removed from ministry and sent to treatment last year because the priest had developed "an emotionally inappropriate, non-sexual relationship with a 19-year-old male which involved alcohol."

Chile's bishops acknowledged they had "failed to fulfill our duty by not listening, believing, attending or accompanying the victims of grave sins" after a five-day meeting to discuss the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

Doing God's will means first of all believing in Jesus and allowing love for him to translate into love for one's neighbors, Pope Francis said.

The social action arm of the Philippine Catholic bishops' conference is doubling efforts to promote the use of renewable energy to light up poor communities around the country.

Lafayette, Ind. -- Bishop Timothy L. Doherty of Lafayette, who is chair of the bishops' child and youth protection committee, said "general prayers and apologies are necessary, but not sufficient" for victims of sexual abuse.

Washington -- Bishops are commenting on the scandal that has enveloped the former archbishop of Washington and its impact on the larger church. A round up of statements -- Coakley of Oklahoma City, Etienne of Anchorage, Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, Chaput of Philadelphia.

The courage, prayer and creativity that should characterize every Jesuit's ministry must be especially present when ministering to young people who are unemployed and feel hopeless, Pope Francis said.

The attorney general of California intends to revoke the charity registration in his state for Food for the Poor, a Florida-based Christian charity that gives food, clothing and medicine to aid the poor in Central and South American countries.

Vatican City -- Building on the development of Catholic Church teaching against capital punishment, Pope Francis has ordered a revision of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to assert "the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person" and to commit the church to working toward its abolition worldwide.

The Field Hospital: After the 2018 U.S. Special Olympics in Seattle, Catholics there aim to leverage that success for pastoral initiatives for those with developmental disabilities.

The archdiocesan newspaper of Washington published a question-and-answer interview July 31 with Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl about the next steps for the archdiocese in light of the sexual abuse allegations made against Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, a former cardinal and retired archbishop of Washington.

Washington -- Theodore McCarrick "will rightly face" a Vatican canonical process regarding sexual abuse allegations against him, but the U.S. Catholic Church must take steps to respond to church leaders' "moral failures of judgment," said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Idolatry is a human inclination that spares neither believers nor atheists and deprives people of life and love in exchange for slavery to unfulfilled dreams, Pope Francis said.