The Associated Press

A sexual assault trial for the Vatican's former ambassador to France went ahead without him Nov. 10 after he produced a doctor's note saying it was too dangerous for him to travel from Rome to Paris in the midst of France's resurgent coronavirus epidemic.

Police carried off protesters blocking a street in Poland's capital Monday, the 19th straight day of nationwide anti-government protests that were triggered by the tightening of the predominantly Roman Catholic nation’s abortion law.

The Vatican has imposed sanctions on a prominent Polish cardinal, retired Archbishop Henryk Gulbinowicz, after he was accused of sexually abusing a seminarian and of covering up abuse in another case.

Monks at a Catholic college in New Hampshire have settled a dispute with the school’s board of trustees over the amount of influence they wield.

The Vatican has ordered an investigation into allegations that a now-retired archbishop in Poland was negligent in investigating reports of sex abuse of minors by priests in his Gdansk archdiocese. 

Mourners lit candles and prayed silently Oct. 30 to honor three people killed in a knife attack at a church, as France heightened security at potential targets at home and abroad amid outrage over its defense of the right to publish cartoons mocking the prophet of Islam.

Latino men — like men of other groups — have supported Trump more than Hispanic women, and in some cases, in contrast to members of their own families. 

Pope Francis has blamed “this lady called COVID” for forcing him to keep his distance again from the faithful during his general audience, which was far smaller than usual amid soaring coronavirus infections in Italy.

People across Poland are vowing to stay off their jobs on Oct. 28 as part of a nationwide strike to protest a top court ruling that bans abortions in cases of congenitally damaged fetuses.

The Vatican criminal tribunal agreed Oct. 27 to broaden a sex abuse trial involving the Holy See's youth seminary beyond two priests already charged to include the religious organization responsible for running the residence.

Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court late Oct. 26 by a deeply divided Senate, with Republicans overpowering Democrats to install President Donald Trump's nominee days before the election and secure a likely conservative court majority for years to come.

Women’s rights activists and many thousands of supporters held a fifth day of protests across Poland on Monday, defying pandemic restrictions to express their fury at a top court decision that tightens the predominantly Catholic nation’s already strict abortion law.

In an exclusive interview with Religion News Service, President Trump said in a written statement that he no longer identifies as a Presbyterian and now sees himself as a non-denominational Christian.

Australian state police said Oct. 23 they're not investigating the transfer of money from the Vatican to Australia, throwing doubt on Italian media speculation that it might be linked to the overturned convictions of Cardinal George Pell for child sex abuse.

A day after donning a face mask for the first time during a liturgical service, Pope Francis was back to his mask-less old ways Oct. 21 despite surging coronavirus infections across Europe and growing criticism of his behavior and the example he is setting.

Pennsylvania's highest court on Tuesday grappled with whether a woman's lawsuit on claims of sexual abuse by a priest decades ago should be allowed to proceed — a lower-court ruling that has launched many other lawsuits since it was issued a year ago. 

The Vatican's swirling corruption investigation has taken a mysterious new twist with the arrest on an international warrant of a Sardinian woman said to be close to one of the Holy See's most powerful cardinals before his downfall.

For the first time, a clergy sex abuse trial opened Oct. 14 in the Vatican's criminal tribunal, with one priest accused of molesting an altar boy in the Vatican's youth seminary and another priest accused of covering it up.

Dubbed "Not Our Faith," the new super PAC plans to roll out six-figure TV and digital ads focused on Christian voters‚ particularly the evangelical and Catholic voters who helped power Trump to victory in 2016.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett presented her conservative approach to the law Monday at the start of fast-tracked confirmation hearings, while Democrats, powerless to stop her, tried to cast her as a threat to Americans’ health care coverage during the coronavirus pandemic.