Jonathan Luxmoore

The newly installed head of one of Africa's largest archdioceses will vigorously defend democracy and human rights, while also seeking to reconcile political opponents, said church officials in Congo.

As government delegations from across the globe prepare for a Dec. 2-14 U.N. conference on climate change, Catholic organizations are pledging to make the church's voice heard.

As the Orthodox ecumenical patriarch goes ahead with plans to recognize an independent church in Ukraine, despite harsh Russian reactions, Catholic Church leaders across Europe have been keeping their distance from the inter-Orthodox row. 

The Dutch bishops' conference said it had worked to prevent further sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, but said a recent report by a leading newspaper was "old news."

The Catholic Church in Bosnia-Herzegovina has urged the country to improve human rights and political representation after upcoming elections, 23 years after the country was divided by a bloody war.

The plight of the West African country of Cameroon, where English-speaking separatists have been fighting French-speaking government forces, is worsening. Church-brokered peace talks there were postponed in August, though Cardinal Christian Tumi of Douala pledged he and his Muslim and Protestant partners would go on seeking a solution as "politically neutral servants of God."

The Rwandan Catholic bishops' conference urged the government of President Paul Kagame to preserve religious rights after government officials closed thousands of churches and mosques.

Half a century after Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae, church leaders in Eastern Europe continue to vigorously defend the encyclical, in contrast to many commentators in the U.S. and Western Europe.

With over 3 million people landing annually on Mont-Saint-Michel, the site provides a magnet for pilgrims seeking a link with those Christian roots, as well as an opportunity for quiet contemplation away from the rush of contemporary life.

When Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took office June 2, Spanish Catholic leaders pledged readiness to cooperate wherever possible, despite a history of conflicts with his party.

A Catholic priest involved in the sainthood cause of a Polish cardinal has rejected claims the cardinal fostered anti-Semitism and refused help for endangered Jews.

Known by its Basque acronym, ETA, the militant separatist movement with Catholic ties has apologized to its victims — more than 850 killed over five decades — and announced its dismantling.

Despite high-level interchurch closeness between pope and patriarch, on the local level "the Catholic Church still faces great challenges merely building bridges with Russian society."

Germany's Catholic Church said it would review its employment system after top European judges warned it could violate anti-discrimination laws by requiring staffers to be religious.

The president of the Polish bishops' conference cautioned Polish and Hungarian political leaders against fostering nationalism and xenophobia as both countries face European Union sanctions over their alleged authoritarian direction.

Francis at Five Years: Over the five years since his March 2013 election, as the first pope of the global south, Francis has left the world in little doubt where his church stands on key contemporary issues.

Poland's leading Jewish philosopher urged the Catholic Church to condemn a wave of anti-Jewish feeling, sparked by a new law on responsibility for Holocaust crimes.

In Poland, scholars and leaders weigh in after a Catholic newspaper ran a priest's attack on leaders of both church and state, amid new data showing a drop in Mass attendance, and ongoing criticism of the church's ties with Poland's government.

Making Peace: In places like Congo and the Central African Republic, church leaders have been deeply involved in peacemaking, in a mark of the engagement fostered by Pope Francis.

The president of Croatia's bishops' conference condemned "unjust verdicts" at a United Nations war crimes trial, after a general publicly committed suicide when his appeal was rejected.