Pope Francis was determined to travel to Iraq this month despite security risks and a recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the country. When some advisers suggested he cancel, the pontiff threatened to ...

It was a frigid Sunday evening at the Catholic Newman Center in Salt Lake City when the priest warned parishioners who had gathered after Mass that their right to private confessions was in jeopardy.

Bills currently under consideration in the Washington and Vermont legislatures would make all clergy in the state mandatory reporters of sexual abuse and would remove so-called clergy-penitent ...

The capital of California was named for a river that was in turn named for the Catholic sacrament of the Eucharist. So it’s notable that last month state senators in Sacramento passed a bill that some ...

A priest and a penitent demonstrate how a confession is conducted at a Catholic church in Salem, Ore., in this May 3, 2019, file photo. (Credit: Chaz Muth/CNS.) Listen NEW YORK – After the Washington ...

The Holy Father addressed about 800 priests and seminarians March 25 at the end of an annual course on the seal of confession and the internal forum. Pope Francis goes to confession during a penance ...

The sacrament of Reconciliation, being a sacrament, is a work of God before it is a work of man. Jesus establishes the sacrament; we just get to be participants in it, and Jesus seems to be so eager ...

This month, Washington State enacted a law requiring clergy to report suspected child abuse or neglect, even when the information is obtained through a confidential spiritual communication, like ...

The Washington Capitol is pictured in Olympia April 11, 2020. Washington state's Catholic bishops filed a lawsuit May 29, 2025, over a new law that requires clergy to report child abuse or neglect but ...

Catholic leaders are pushing back against efforts to alter state laws that exempt clergy from reporting child abuse they hear about during the sacrament of confession, arguing the changes will force ...