The Associated Press

The spokesman for an Argentine bishop close to Pope Francis who has been accused of sex abuse criticized Argentine prosecutors for requesting an arrest order, saying the release of information in the case hurt his image and his presumption of innocence.

Two impoverished Mississippi men who say they were sexually assaulted by Franciscan missionaries filed a federal lawsuit Thursday claiming that Catholic officials pressured them into signing settlements that paid them little money and required them to remain silent about the alleged abuse.

The federal commission that tracks global religious freedom is facing a rift with Capitol Hill over a proposal that some members warn would hurt its effectiveness.

A Detroit-area Catholic priest was sentenced to 45 days in jail Wednesday for assaulting a suicidal younger man who wanted counseling, while a priest in western Michigan pleaded guilty to binding a teenager with bubble wrap and tape.

Pennsylvania's Legislature moved closer Wednesday night to settling a yearslong battle over lifting criminal and civil statutes for child sexual abuse crimes in a debate growing out of Roman Catholic Church scandals.

Pope Francis arrived in Bangkok on Wednesday to begin a tour of Thailand and Japan, beginning a mission to boost the morale of those countries' tiny minority Catholic communities and speak about issues of concern including human trafficking and peacemaking.

A board member of the Vatican's financial watchdog has resigned in the wake of a Vatican police raid that resulted in the agency's suspension from the global communications network of financial intelligence units.

A Texas archdiocese wants to become a foster care provider, but only if it can be exempt from adhering to federal safeguards against anti-LGBT discrimination.

The mother of a Michigan teenager who killed himself is suing the Archdiocese of Detroit for the alleged harm she suffered during his funeral when a priest questioned whether her son would go to heaven.

Catholic officials on Long Island have filed a legal challenge arguing that the Child Victims Act that loosened statutes of limitations on molestation cases violates the New York state constitution.

International Criminal Court judges on Thursday approved a request from prosecutors to open an investigation into crimes committed against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority.

Pope Francis on Thursday appointed a fellow Jesuit to be the Vatican's finance minister, filling a crucial position left vacant for more than two years after Cardinal George Pell left Rome to stand trial on sex abuse charges in his native Australia.

A Roman Catholic bishop named by Pope Francis to investigate the church’s response to clergy sexual abuse in Buffalo, New York, has himself been accused of sexual abuse of a child, an attorney for the alleged victim notified the church this week.

Thailand's capital boasts garment makers ranging from bespoke tailors to sweatshops, but for a truly divine frock, you have to look a little harder.

French bishops on Saturday approved plans to financially compensate people abused sexually within the Roman Catholic Church.

The most senior Catholic to be found guilty of sexually abusing children will learn this week whether Australia's highest court will hear his appeal against convictions for molesting two choirboys in a Melbourne cathedral two decades ago.

A Minnesota bishop who's the subject of a Vatican-ordered investigation said in sworn testimony released Tuesday that he was trying to protect the confidentiality of a man who said he was sexually abused by a popular priest when he certified to other church officials that the priest was fit for ministry and to work with children.

El Salvador's top Roman Catholic cleric apologized Sunday for the alleged sexual abuse by a priest of an unidentified minor 25 years ago.

When a far-right French official disrupted a regional council meeting to demand that a Muslim woman accompanying a group of schoolchildren be ordered to remove her headscarf, "in the name of our secular principles," her own child buried his head in her shoulder and cried. The scene has triggered a venomous national debate that is scrambling questions over the headscarf, Islam, immigration and radicalization.

Catholic church leaders in Idaho have updated their list of priests the church says were credibly accused of child sex abuse since the 1950s to include more details about where the clergy served when the incidents occurred.