Vatican

An Argentine bishop named by Pope Francis to lead a powerful Vatican office is rejecting accusations that he refused to believe victims of sexual abuse by a priest.

The Vatican opened a file on the disappearance of a teenage girl months after a new Netflix documentary aired on the case and weeks after her family asked the Italian Parliament to take up the cause.

Bells tolled Thursday for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who made history by retiring, as thousands of mourners packed St. Peter's Square.

The priest, Frank Pavone of Texas, heads the anti-abortion group Priests for Life. The Vatican said he was defrocked for "blasphemous communications on social media" and "persistent disobedience."

Pope Francis met with Indigenous leaders and survivors of Canada's residential schools this week. He had expressed sorrow in the past on behalf of the church, but this is the first formal apology.

The Vatican said the 84-year-old pope had been diagnosed with "symptomatic diverticular stenosis of the colon," a reference to a narrowing in the large intestine.

"The presence in such relationships of positive elements ... cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing," the Vatican said Monday.

Only 100 or so people attended the service, and they wore masks and socially distanced. The Mass began two hours early so all could make it home before Italy's virus curfew.

A step-by-step manual for investigating and reporting sexual abuse cases involving clergy calls on church authorities to alert civilian officials even if not required to do so by law.

The theme of the work in the Vatican's St. Peter's Square is welcoming strangers. "The bag is a metaphor for nourishment ... the idea of bringing something to the table," says artist Timothy Schmalz.

Police in the state of Victoria announced charges against Cardinal George Pell, who was a priest there in the 1970s. Now the pope's finance chief, Pell said he looks forward to clearing his name.

Starting Friday, President Trump will address Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia as well as visit the Israel and the Vatican. But there's plenty that could go wrong.