Catholic News Service

That many religions exist in the world is a fact, but what that plurality communicates to believers about God is a question that theologians are still discussing.

The Field Hospital: Over a dozen clergy sexual abuse survivors are in regular contact with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis' Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment. They provide advice for the archdiocese's outreach to other survivors.

Having considered the holiness of St. Paul VI and the influence of his ministry for the church worldwide, Pope Francis has approved putting the saint on the church's universal calendar of feast days.

The sainthood cause of Jesuit Fr. Pedro Arrupe was formally opened in Rome at the Basilica of St. John Lateran Feb. 5, the 28th anniversary of Arrupe's death.

Francis Chronicles: The pope said that the joint document signed by him and Egyptian Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of al-Azhar and chair of the Muslim Council of Elders, was a step forward in promoting dialogue and brotherhood.

Letters from lawyers for Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann were sent to individuals and groups the attorneys think may have defamed or libeled Sandmann particularly in the initial reaction on social media.

On Feb. 2, Santos Gaspar Romero Galdamez, 89, the younger brother of Salvadoran Archbishop St. Oscar Romero, died in San Salvador, El Salvador.

The need to seek justice and reconciliation has become one of the more intriguing concepts not only with personal dealings but on the world stage as well.

Catholic Relief Services cut its services to needy people in the Gaza Strip by closing a U.S. government-funded program because of the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ACTA).

Racism can be ended in the United States, but the past has to be confronted first for that to happen, said a participant in a panel discussion on racism Feb. 3 as part of the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering.

The nation's immigrant population continues to leave a mark in their chosen corners of the United States, just as generations of immigrants before them have.

After accusations of sex abuse, the Vatican has laicized American Richard Daschbach, a former Divine Word missionary who ran orphanages in East Timor for 27 years.

The Catholic Church's process of reconciliation in China is not a "competition or who is right, but of brothers and sisters in the faith," said Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

The choice to follow God in life is not just a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity but a decision that is made every day, Pope Francis said.

The sun had set long before Pope Francis arrived in Abu Dhabi Feb. 3, but Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince, and Egyptian Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar, still went to the airport to welcome him.

The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily put on hold a state law restricting Louisiana abortion providers.

Bishop Michael Duca of Baton Rouge released Jan. 31 the names of all priests, a former bishop of the diocese, and one former seminarian credibly accused of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Baton Rouge.

The new Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul, Iraq, faces a challenge of rebuilding, but not just structurally.

Being a Christian does not mean life will be just a big endless party, Pope Francis said.

The following are excerpts of statements made by the bishops of several Texas dioceses Jan. 31 on the disclosure of the names of clergy who have been credibly accused of sex abuse of minors. The lists from all 15 Texas dioceses included the names of 278 clergy dating to 1950.