Since last year, there has been a 32% decline in U.S. child abuse allegations against Catholic cler-gy, according to the 2024 annual report of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Se-cretariat of Child and Youth Protection. Overall, “902 allega-tions were reported by 855 victims-survivors of child sexual abuse by clergy,” the report said, compared with 1,308 allegations by 1,254 survivors last year.
Covering July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, the annual report is based on a survey of 195 U.S. Catholic dioceses and eparchies, drawn from data collected by the Centre for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University as well as an audit by StoneBridge Business Partners.
The annual reporting stems from the U.S. bishops’ 2002 creation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which established a framework and protocols related to allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy.
StoneBridge also pointed out several cases of noncompliance by jurisdictions and entities that are in violation of the articles established in the 2018 revision of the youth protection charter.
“Measuring charter complia-nce allows each diocese/eparchy to assess strengths and weaknesses and identify programmatic areas requiring improvement, which are critical in our mission of prote-cting our children,” the report said. The report restated the Catholic Church’s commitment “to work to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults by performing background checks on clergy, employees, and volun-teers, and providing training on how to identify and report abuse signs.”
“For the U.S. Church and as articulated in the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, this commitment tran-slates into a zero-tolerance policy toward abuse,” the USCCB report reads. Abuse allegations have shown a steady decline since 2020, averaging a 30% decrease annua-lly, according to data accumu-lated over the past five years.

The Bishop of Makurdi Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe des-cribed the persistent attacks on Christians in his diocese as “genocide.” Speaking after the latest wave of killings by jihadist Fulani herdsmen in Benue State in late May, in which hundreds of Christians died, Bishop Anagbe said: “No nation watches her citizens slaughtered like animals and says there is nothing to be done. It’s genocide.” In May, at least 100 Christians were killed in separate attacks in Gwer West, part of the diocese, and 5,000 people were displaced. Bishop Anagbe told the ACI Africa agency on 4 June that the killings had forced the closure of 17 parishes since 27 May.
“When we talk about 17 parishes being shut, it means an entire community has been displaced and taken over. They cannot go back,” he said.
A statement from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) expressed “deep anguish of soul” at “the utterly barbaric massacre of innocent civilians in Benue State.” “These cold-blooded attacks on defenceless communities – where countless have been slaughtered, homes destroyed, and families left in anguish – are an affront to God, a stain on our shared humanity, and a terrifying reminder of the utter breakdown of security in our land,” said the statement, signed by the CBCN president Abp Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji of Owerri.
“There is no justification whatsoever for the continuous bloodletting that has become the daily reality of many in Benue State and across Nigeria. The relentless attacks on innocent and defenceless communities under the watch of civil authorities constitute a grave moral and constitutional failure. This carnage must end.”

We must listen to others, and above all, to the voice of God. That was the idea at the centre of Pope Leo XIV’s homily at Mass in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, where he celebrated Mass on 25th May Sunday evening. Before heading to the Cathedral of Rome, the Holy Father stopped at Rome’s Capitoline Hill, the seat of the city’s civic and democratic administration, where he was greeted by the mayor of the city, Roberto Gualtieri. The Pope thanked the mayor and the civil authorities present for their warm welcome and expressed his hope that “Rome will always be distinguished by those values of humanity and civilization that draw their lifeblood from the Gospel.”
At the beginning of his homily at the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, after greeting the cardinals, bishops, the “dear priests,” and the beloved faithful, the Pontiff emphasi-zed that “Rome is the heir to a great history, grounded in the witness of Peter, of Paul, and of countless martyrs, and it has a unique mission, perfectly expressed by what is written on the façade of this cathedral: to be Mater ómnium Ecclesiarum, the Mother of all Churches.”
He then quoted Pope Francis, who often “invited us to reflect on the maternal dimension of the Church and on its defining traits: tenderness, readiness for sacrifice, and that capacity for listening which not only makes it possible to help, but often to anticipate needs and expectations before they are even expressed.” “These are qualities we hope will continue to grow within the People of God everywhere – and here as well, in our great diocesan family: among the faithful, among the pastors, and, above all, within myself,” affirmed Pope Leo XIV.

As Pope Leo XIV begins his pontificate with an emphasis on peace, justice and bridge-building, the Vatican has reaffirmed its “unwavering support for the mission of the United Nations” amid conflict and other urgent challenges facing the global community.
The Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, addressed U.N. representatives at the entity’s New York headquart-ers during a May 19 reception in honour of Pope Leo’s election. The reception was organized by Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Holy See’s permanent observer to the United Nations.
The Holy See established diplomatic relations with the U.N. in 1957, representing the Vatican City State as well as the supreme authority of the Catholic Church, including the pope as bishop of Rome and the head of the college of bishops.
Attending the U.N. reception just hours after Leo’s May 18 inauguration Mass at St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Parolin noted that “the election of a new pope is an occasion for renewal, not only for Catholics but for all who seek a world of greater justice, solidarity and peace.”
That message echoed one by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who said in a May 8 statement that the papal election, along with its “profound spiritual significance … comes at a time of great global challenges.” Paro-lin said the pope, “in his first days as the successor of Peter, has expressed his deep commit-ment to building bridges, under-scoring the need to meet, dialogue and negotiate.”
The cardinal described the U.N.’s mission as creating “a forum where states engage in dialogue, bringing forth the voices of their peoples, and where solutions to humanity’s greatest challenges are forged.”

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Msgr. Renzo Pegoraro as the new President of the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV), who has served as the Academy’s Chancellor since September 2011. Msgr. Pegoraro, a bioethi-cist with a medical degree, succeeds Arch-bishop Vincenzo Paglia, who turned 80 on April 21.
In an Academy-issued statement, Msgr. Pegoraro expressed, “I thank Pope Leo XIV for appointing me as President of the Pontifical Academy for Life.” ”The work done over these years alongside Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, and previously with Bishop Ignacio Carrasco de Paula,” said the Italian-born priest, “has been both fascinating and stimulating, in line with the operational and thematic directions of the late Pope Francis.” Born in the northern Italian city of Padua on June 4, 1959, Msgr. Pegoraro would later be ordained a priest on June 11, 1989. He was incardinated in the Diocese of Padua.
He earned a degree in Medicine and Surgery in 1985 from the University of Padua, and, in 1990, he received a Licentiate in Moral Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
He also has a Postgraduate Diploma in Bioethics from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.

Catholic Relief Services said May 21 that most of its projects under a federal inter-national food aid program were terminated, leaving hundreds of thousands of children more vulnerable to hunger. The Trump administration said it was seeking to “align” its programs “with the President’s agenda.” More than 780,000 children across 11 countries will be left without their school meal, in many cases their only meal of the day, as a result of the termi-nation of 11 out of CRS’ 13 proje-cts under the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program being terminated, CRS said.
The program – named for the late Ambassador and Sen. George McGovern and former Sen. Robert Dole, both advo-cates of ending childhood hunger – purchases agricultural commo-dities grown in the U.S. to support school food programs and mater-nal and early childhood nutrition programs in countries around the world, with the stated purpose of reducing hunger and promoting literacy, preventing children from trying to learn with empty stomachs.
Commodities purchased by the program include flour from Oklahoma, bulgur from Kansas, beans and lentils from North Dakota, and vegetable oil from states including Arkansas, Flori-da, Illinois and Iowa, according to the Agriculture Department’s website.
Politico reported May 20 the program was among the major international food aid grants the Agriculture Department plans to cancel. The White House’s proposed fiscal 2026 spending plan called for entirely eliminating the McGovern-Dole program. The first Trump administration pro-posed a similar plan, but Congress continued to fund the program.

The Mexican bishops’ conference has condemned a massacre of seven young people – including minors – at a parish festival, while urging action on the part of authorities amid rising violence and warning the population to avoid indifference in the face of recurring atrocities.
The conference also expressed outrage at the assassination of two senior officials in the Mexico City government, who were gunned down in a vehicle after they stopped outside a metro station on a busy thoroughfare in the national capital May 20.
The attack on the seven youths occurred around 2:40 a.m. on May 19 in the town square of San Bartolo de Berrios in western Guanajuato state, where gunmen “from a cartel” arrived in trucks and “brazenly opened fire on the people they found there,” according to a statement from the Archdiocese of León, signed by Archbishop Jaime Calderón Calderón.
The Guanajuato state prosecutor’s office confirmed the number of deaths but offered no additional details, The Associated Press reported.
“We are outraged, shocked and we condemn this act,” Calderón continued. “I urge our authorities to find those responsible and seek justice so these incidents never happen again in our society. Uncovering the truth and applying justice is a duty to bring comfort to the families of the victims.”
The Mexican bishops’ conference said in a May 20 statement, “As pastors of the People of God, we cannot remain indifferent to the spiral of violence that is devastating so many communities in our country. … We cannot get used to living with violent death, nor allow impunity to become the norm.”

Cardinal Walter Kasper, the former head of Vatican ecumenism efforts, said he now believes there are reasons to create a women’s diaconate because a synodal Church will need a more “sibling-like” culture. “In my personal opinion, opening the permanent diaconate to women has good theological arguments in its favour and would be a sensible pastoral step,” wrote the former president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in his autobiography, due to appear on 10 June. “Women and men have the same dignity before God and must therefore be recognised with their own charisms,” the 92-year-old German cardinal wrote in Der Wahrheit auf der Spur (“On the Trail of Truth”).
“We will continue to need good bishops and priests in the future, but in a synodal Church, the era of clericalism and arbitrary decisions by bishops is over,” he continued. “The laity want and should be heard, and they can also expect accountability from the bishops and priests.” Kasper said the drop in vocations could bring the institution back to the situation of the ancient Church. Advocates for a female diaconate often cite examples for this office in the letters of St Paul.
“The early Church was not a holy remnant that some dream of today; it was a holy beginning from which our Church has grown like a small mustard seed into a large tree,” he said. The Rome-based cardinal, noting changes in the world-wide faith, said developments in the Global South could “bring new momentum to the Church and soon make us Europeans look old”.
Kasper had long had doubts about women deacons, especially after the Anglican Communion split over the question of women priests and bishops while he was head of the Vatican’s ecumenism office–now the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity – in 2001-10, responsible for relations with other Chri-stian churches. But he said he now saw the question as a “megatopic” that Rome must face. “Without conversion, prayer, and repentance, all reforms, no matter how well-intentioned, have no future,” he said.

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Sister Tiziana Merletti, former Superior General of the Francis-can Sisters of the Poor, as Secre-tary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The Dicastery is responsible for orders and religious congregations, as well as secular institutes.
As Secretary, Sr Merletti will serve under Sr Simona Brambilla, who was appointed to lead the Dicastery in January–becoming the first woman ever to lead a Vatican department.
From 2023 to 2025, Sr Bram-billa had served as Secretary of the Dicastery, the role now held by Sr. Merletti. The Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Consecrated Life is Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime.
Sr Merletti is the third woman to hold the position of Secretary within a dicastery of the Roman Curia, following Sister Alessandra Smerilli at the Dicastery for Pro-moting Integral Human Develop-ment, and her predecessor Sister Simona Brambilla.
With Pope Francis’ Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evan-gelium, laypeople, including women, can now lead dicasteries and become prefects, a role that had previously been reserved for cardinals and archbishops.

The official website of the Vatican for the first time has been refreshed since it was created in the 1990s, prominently featuring multimedia content and online links to other Vatican offices and ministries. A banner image of a waving Pope Leo XIV against a simple light blue background can now be found spread across the top half of the revamped Holy See website’s homepage published earlier this week.
Replacing the outdated dropdown mega menus found in the older version of the Holy See’s homepage is a large, clickable “Magisterium” button — which also features a small icon of the pontiff’s new coat of arms — to help online visitors find the pope’s prepared homilies and speeches and additional information about the Vatican.
Acquiring tickets for papal audiences and liturgical celebrations has also been made easier through the updated website. Earlier this year, the Prefecture of the Papal Household — which is one of four Vatican offices featured on vatican.va — launched its new website with digital registration forms for individuals and pilgrim groups wanting to see the pope.
The other three Vatican ministries featured on the updated website are the Church’s charitable organization Peter’s Pence, the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, and the yearlong 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.
Daily news and calendar events related to Pope Leo XIV and the Vatican can also be viewed on the updated homepage in nine languages: Arabic, English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Additional information and Church documents that can be accessed from the new homepage include the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, codes of canon law, ecumenical councils, Catholic social teaching, and reports on the Church’s response to the abuse of minors.