German Bishop To Go Amid Abuse Probe

Northern Ireland's leaders say they want to tear down the so-called "peace lines" of Belfast - dozens of walls that divide Irish Catholic and British Protestant neighborhoods - by 2023.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis has indicated for the first time that he may make changes to the Vatican's scandal-ridden bank as part of a broad review of the Holy See's troubled administration.

She uses a wheelchair and carries the weight of her 87 years, but Clelia Luro feels powerful enough to make the Roman Catholic Church pay attention to her campaign to end priestly celibacy.

A Philadelphia father has been accused of beating his 3-month-old son to death.Samuel Cabrera, 27, was arrested and charged with murder.Cabrera’s neighbor, Rashawn Reddick, didn’t hold back her disgust when she learned of the accusations. “It makes me sick to my stomach,” she said. “A 3-month-old innocent baby. It makes me want to cry.”Last Tuesday, 3-month-old Samuel Cabrera Jr., of the 600 block    

The Vatican says Pope Francis supports the Holy See's crackdown on the largest umbrella group of U.S. nuns, who were faulted for focusing too much on social justice instead of issues such as abortion. American sisters had expressed hope that Francis, a Jesuit whose emphasis on the poor mirrored their social outreach, would take a different approach than his predecessor. The Vatican last year imposed a reform of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious after determining the sisters took positions undermining Catholic teaching on the priesthood and homosexuality while promoting "radical feminist themes." The heads of the conference met Monday with the Vatican's doctrine czar, Archbishop Gerhard Mueller. Mueller's office said he told the sisters that in discussions with Francis, the pope reaffirmed the Vatican's findings and reform program.