With allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic priests piling up in Germany and Ireland and surfacing in Austria and the Netherlands, Europe appears poised to face church abuse in the broad, wrenching way the United States did in the last decade.
"The devil tempts everyone -- people in politics, in economics, in sport. And naturally, he tempts, above all, the religious leaders, so you shouldn't be surprised if the devil tempts those in the Vatican. That's his job."
The Vatican's chief exorcist tells CNN's Morgan Neill that the devil is present in the Vatican.
A priest who was accused of sexually abusing children -- and whose subsequent move from one location to another the pope approved when he was a German cardinal -- has been suspended, his archdiocese announced Monday. The priest was later convicted.
Pope Benedict XVI will visit England and Scotland from September 16-19, Queen Elizabeth II announced.
Investigators say a Vatican choir member allegedly set up an honorary usher with prostitutes. CNN's Morgan Neill reports.
A Nigerian man who sang in a Vatican choir arranged gay liaisons for an Italian government official who served in the unpaid role of papal usher, according to transcripts of wiretaps collected by Italian authorities.
The Pope will meet with Irish bishops to reassure them that child abuse will not be tolerated. CNN's Jim Clancy reports
The sexual abuse of children is not just a "heinous crime" but a "grave sin" that offends God and wounds human dignity, Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday after a two-day meeting with Irish Catholic bishops at the Vatican.
Alleged victims of child abuse by Catholic priests in Ireland called on the Vatican Monday to hold its own investigation into the scandal and punish those responsible.
Pope John Paul II used to beat himself with a belt and sleep on a bare floor to bring himself closer to Christ, a book published Wednesday says.
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter Want to get health care legislation passed in Congress? Send the elected men home, one congresswoman reportedly suggests. Shea-Porter, a New Hampshire Democrat, said as much at a Manchester town hall meeting last weekend, according to The Hill.com. It reports someone released 55 seconds of her remarks, which went viral and made national headlines.
The pope has summoned several Irish bishops to the Vatican to discuss a report documenting child abuse by Irish clergy members, the Vatican spokesman said Wednesday.
Pope Benedict XVI visited the main Jewish synagogue in Rome on Sunday, a trip that unfolded amid heightened tension between Catholics and Jews.
Pope Benedict XVI is set to take one step forward in Catholic-Jewish relations Sunday when he becomes the first pope since 1986 to visit the main Jewish synagogue in Rome, Italy.
Pope Benedict XVI met privately on Wednesday with the woman who dragged him to the ground on Christmas Eve, the Vatican said.
The pope looked unscathed Friday as he delivered his Christmas message in St. Peter's Square, just hours after a woman jumped a barrier and dragged him down during Christmas Eve Mass.
A woman jumped a barrier and dragged Pope Benedict XVI down during Christmas Eve Mass.
A woman jumped a barrier at the start of Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica and knocked down the pope, briefly disrupting ceremonies.
Pope Benedict XVI ended 2009 much as he began it -- with a major gaffe that angered Jews.
An Irish bishop resigned Wednesday following a government report into the sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy -- the second to do so.
It was a Vatican announcement guaranteed to spark controversy.
Pope Benedict XVI is "deeply disturbed and distressed" by a recent report showing the Irish Catholic Church covered up child sex abuse by clergy for decades, the Vatican said Friday.
Music from late rapper Tupac Shakur has been included as part of the Vatican's official MySpace Music playlist.
The crucifix is at least two feet tall, with the figure of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns and hangs centered on the wall behind the judge. Even at the murder trial of Amanda Knox, the cross is a constant symbol of Italian history, identity and justice.
CNN's Paula Newton reports on the debate in Italy over whether crosses should be displayed in public places.
The second installment in the "Twilight" saga, starring Robert Pattinson as vampire Edward Cullen, Kristen Stewart as his star-crossed love and Taylor Lautner as the wolfboy who loves her, has already ripped through a box office record.
The Vatican said Tuesday it has worked out a way for groups of Anglicans who are dissatisfied with their faith to join the Catholic Church.
Pope Benedict XVI had surgery on his right wrist Friday after he broke it in a fall, the Vatican said.
U.S. President Obama and Pope Benedict XVI discussed current affairs, the Catholic Church's teachings and abortion as they met for the first time Friday, according to the White House and the Vatican.
It's an issue that simply won't go away. In spite of signals from the Vatican discouraging even discussions of obligatory celibacy for Catholic priests, the almost 1,000-year-old rule is under the microscope. And it will be for decades to come. Here's why.
CNN's Ben Wedeman reports from the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth - another stop on the Pope's journey.
Pope Benedict XVI arrived Friday in Amman, Jordan, for a weeklong visit to the Middle East that he hopes will help "foster good relations between Christians and Muslims."
If director Ron Howard hopes religious controversy will help sell tickets to "Angels & Demons" the way it boosted his "Da Vinci Code," the Catholic Church is not playing along with his script.
Prince Charles visited the Vatican on Monday for his first meeting with a pope since his 1996 divorce from Princess Diana.
Pope Benedict XVI will visit the earthquake-ravaged town of L'Aquila on April 28 -- three weeks after the disaster struck -- the Vatican said Saturday.
Pope Benedict XVI refused Wednesday to soften the Vatican's ban on condom use as he arrived in Africa for his first visit to the continent as pope.
The Vatican said Friday it is not satisfied by the apology issued by a Catholic bishop who denied the Holocaust, saying the cleric must still clearly "distance himself" from the controversial comments.
A Holocaust denier Pope Benedict XVI welcomed back into the Roman Catholic Church last month has been removed from his position as head of a seminary in Argentina.
Argentines respond to comments by a controversial bishop. Brian Byrnes reports.
Three tear gas canisters were fired Wednesday at the Vatican's diplomatic headquarters in Venezuela, the second such attack in less than three weeks, church officials and local media reports said.
The Vatican says it has ordered a controversial bishop who denies the Holocaust to "distance himself" from his views "in an absolutely unequivocal and public manner."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded Tuesday that Pope Benedict XVI firmly reject denial of the Holocaust, a week and a half after the Vatican rehabilitated a bishop who denied the Nazis had intentionally murdered 6 million Jews.
Jewish officials in Israel and abroad are outraged that Pope Benedict XVI has decided to lift the excommunication of a British bishop who denies that Jews were killed in Nazi gas chambers.
Pope Benedict XVI launched his own channel on YouTube Friday in an effort to use new technology to reach a younger audience.
Three tear gas attacks were reported in Venezuela on Monday, one of them at the Vatican's diplomatic headquarters in Caracas.
Pope Benedict XVI delivers a message during Mass at the Vatican that urges the end of child exploitation.
Pope Benedict XVI called for peace in the Middle East and an end to the exploitation of children in the homily he delivered early Thursday during the annual Christmas Eve Midnight Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
The Vatican responds to controversial comments made by John Lennon. CNN's Alessio Vinci reports.
While not playing down differences, the Pope is as keen as many Muslim
scholars to promote mutual understanding rather than enmity
A week-long Bible-reading marathon is under way on Italian RAI state TV on its program called "The Bible Day and Night."
A smooth-talking Italian businessman who once dated actress Anne Hathaway and claimed to have friends in high places at the Vatican is headed to prison after pleading guilty Wednesday in a Manhattan real estate fraud case
The Vatican says it wants to move the remains of Cardinal John Henry Newman to allow the faithful to pray to him. But gay rights activists see another reason
As the Catholic Church marks a key anniversary of a traditionalist
ascendancy, its leader is still keen to grapple with doubters
Pope Benedict XVI urged young people to be 'agents of change' as he wrapped up a six-day World Youth Day festival.
An Italian appeals court rules that a father can cut off life support to his comatose daughter in a case that has echoes of a U.S. controversy three years ago
The Vatican said Tuesday it regrets the decision by the Church of England's governing body to allow the ordination of women as bishops.
The new Da Vinci Code flick cannot shoot inside any of Rome's Catholic sites
The Vatican announced Thursday in a general decree that it will excommunicate anyone who would attempt to ordain a woman as a priest and the woman herself.
The Vatican insisted Friday that it is properly following Christian
tradition by excluding females from the priesthood as it issued a new
warning that women taking part in ordinations will be
excommunicated
Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday
The body of the Italian saint Padre Pio goes on public display in southern Italy.
Thousands flock to see the exhumed body of St. Padre Pio on the exhibit's opening day. CNN's Jennifer Eccleston reports.
Benedict dealt forthrightly with the sex-abuse scandal, but his US tour was more pastoral than policy oriented
Viewpoint: No, we are not the Da Vinci Code heretics the Vatican might suspect. We look instead to the Boccaccio Code
A top official suggests that the Vatican may be reconsidering canon laws concerning sex abuse, giving victims more latitude
A private meeting with victims of priest sex abuse is the surprise culmination of Benedict's effort to confront the scandal
His first Papal visit to the U.S. gives Benedict a chance to define his role in global affairs
Benedict XVI has decided to address the church's pedophilia crisis on his trip to the U.S. But will it be enough to satisfy disillusioned American Catholics?
The Vatican's No. 2 official says Pope Benedict XVI recognizes the damage and pain caused by the clergy sex abuse crisis and will seek healing during his U.S. trip
Pope Benedict XVI may not have the charisma of John Paul II but don't discount his staff -- especially Fr. Georg Gänswein, the gatekeeper-in-chief
Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world's largest religion, the Vatican newspaper said Sunday
Pope Benedict himself performed the baptism, in a rite with reverberations for Church relations with the Muslim world
Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Easter Mass.
Christians mark Easter with a vigil at St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.
Other faiths have long been banned from operating openly in Islam's birthplace. A Vatican-Saudi dialogue may change that
Fifteen hundred years after the Roman Catholic Church introduced the original list of seven deadly sins, a Vatican official last week suggested an updated roster for a new age.
Excessive wealth is a sin, says the Vatican which has updated its list of sins. CNN's Jennifer Eccleston reports.
The new U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See is an old Vatican hand. Now she gets to usher the Pope into his first official visit to the U.S.
Pope Benedict XVI plans to meet with Muslim scholars and religious leaders this autumn at a Catholic-Muslim seminar in Rome, the Vatican said Wednesday.
The fast-tracking of the sainthood process for the nun who, as a child, encountered the Virgin Mary at Fatima reflects the importance of that apparition to Pope John Paul II
The Pope's Secretary of State is the first important figure to visit Cuba, part of the Catholic Church's attempt to mediate a post-Fidel transition
The Pope has revised a section of the old Latin liturgy that castigated the Jews. But it still calls for their conversion. Jewish leaders are up in arms
Pope Benedict XVI has canceled a planned visit to a prestigious Italian university after a protest by academics and students attacked his views on Galileo, the Vatican confirmed Tuesday.
All the incense and intrigue of another papal conclave is upon us again. Well, sort of
Pope Benedict XVI ushers in Christmas at the Vatican with a Midnight Mass at Saint Peter's Basilica.
As a showdown with the US looms, Tehran is looking to the Pontiff to intervene -- and is finding a lot of sympathy
Chicago Cardinal Francis George, a defender of Catholic orthodoxy with extensive experience in Rome, was elected Tuesday as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Da Vinci Code fans, get ready. The Vatican is about to release its official chronicle of the last years of the Crusader knights whose power has inflamed the imagination of conspiracy theorists for centuries
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|