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Benedict XVI has told the Italian bishops that penance, forgiveness and justice are necessary to overcome clerical abuse (video).

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa has said that Italy is facing a “demographic winter“.

Archbishop Donald James Reece of Kingston believes that gunmen will not target priests living in the city’s conflict zone.

An investigation has discovered 205 allegations of clerical sexual abuse in German Jesuit schools.

The Pope has sent aid to the victims of flooding in Poland.

Cuban protesters have thanked the Church for playing an unprecedented role in mediating with the government.

Sydney archdiocese has joined the bishops of England and Wales in criticising the first television advertisement for abortion shown in Britain.

The Vatican will lend four tapestries to the Victoria and Albert museum in London to coincide with Pope Benedict’s British visit.

Jeff Israely and Howard Chua-Eoan of Time offer a detailed assessment of Pope Benedict and the abuse crisis.

Jonathan Luxmoore profiles Fr Jerzy Popiełuszko, who will be beatified in Warsaw on June 6.

Megan Sweas wonders whether a professional football player turned seminarian will lead the Pontifical North American College to Clericus Cup glory.

And Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton describes his narrow escape from a bear while playing golf.

Cuban Church leaders have held a landmark meeting with President Raúl Castro to discuss the release of political prisoners. The Miami Herald weighs up the political risks of the talks.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec has called for a new abortion debate in Canada after his comments on the issue created a national controversy.

There have been 100 clerical abuse cases in Italy in the past 10 years, the country’s bishops have said.

A group of Italian women who say they are in relationships with priests have written an open letter to the Pope.

Catholics in Los Angeles have welcomed their new coadjutor Archbishop Jose Gomez at a Mass of Reception.

Canon lawyer Fr Thomas Doyle ponders the excommunication of Sister Margaret McBride, as does Nicholas Kristof.

Catriona Davies of CNN unpicks the diplomatic squabble between Albania and India over Mother Teresa.

David Goldman reacts to Cardinal Walter Kasper’s comments about the Church’s role in World War II.

Ann Carey profiles America’s most vibrant religious orders.

And Adele Malloy meets a new priest whose “second calling” is comedy.

Pope Benedict has accepted an invitation to visit Ukraine in 2012, sources in the country have reported. But the Russian Orthodox Church has suggested the visit may not be appropriate.

The Pope dedicated his general audience today to the theme of the priestly ministry of governing (video, full text of English remarks).

Orthodox Patriarchs Bartholomew I and Kirill have held a landmark meeting in Moscow.

The Irish Times reports that Cardinal Séan Brady has withdrawn from a talk at Oxford University because his presence might provoke protests.

Rising star Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Canberra and Goulburn has issued a major reflection on the clerical abuse crisis.

Historian Guy Walters welcomes Cardinal Walter Kasper’s announcement that the Vatican will open its archives on Pius XII within six years.

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver says that those seeking to sue the Pope “have revived the notion of the Catholic Church as a Vatican-controlled monolith”.

British bloggers Mulier Fortis, Joanna Bogle and Bara Brith respond to the news that attendance at papal events in September will be strictly limited.

Headline Bistro previews the Pope’s visit to Cyprus next month.

And Deacon Greg Kandra hails the legendary Archbishop of New Orleans, Philip Hannan.

Fides has named the 37 Church workers, priests and religious killed in 2009.

Cardinal Walter Kasper says that the papal Mass at Coventry will not be “easy for a German Pope because Coventry is a symbol of the Second World War”.

More than two million people saw the Turin Shroud during its exposition from April 10 to May 23.

The Catholic world marked a day of prayer for the Church in China yesterday (video).

Benedict XVI received President Denis Sassou N’Guesso of the Republic of Congo on Monday (video).

The organisers of World Youth Day in Madrid next year are seeking 20,000 volunteers to support the expected two million participants (video).

A man who once locked a priest out of his own church is to be ordained a deacon.

The Maronites of Cyprus are eagerly awaiting Pope Benedict’s visit to the island next month.

Barrister Neil Addison courts arrest with his post on the arrest of Christian street preacher Dale Mcalpine.

Peter Jennings is dismayed by John Cornwell’s controversial book on Cardinal Newman.

Fresh from a skirmish with Robert George, Michael Sean Winters finds something to praise in the Princeton professor’s work.

Carl Olson and Moyra Doorly debate the “hierarchy of truths”.

Edward Oakes SJ goes another round with the New Atheists.

Depaul UK, a charity with close links to the Church, has created a hit iPhone app giving users their very own homeless person to look after.

And the Vatican has apologised after its television channel wrongly identified a Bulgarian delegation meeting the Pope as Macedonian.

Benedict XVI insisted that “the universal Church precedes the particular Churches” during his homily at Mass on Pentecost Sunday (video, full text).

Pope Benedict said that “without the Spirit the Church would exhaust its strength” at the Regina Coeli (video).

On Saturday that Pope said the global financial crisis was caused by a “lack of trust and adequate creative and dynamic solidarity for the common good”.

On Friday the Pope urged lay Catholics to be more active in the public square during a meeting with members of the Pontifical Council for the Laity (video, full text).

On Thursday Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I arranged for a concert to be held in honour of Pope Benedict (video, full text of papal address, Fr Federico Lombardi’s commentary).

Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was reburied in a Polish cathedral on Saturday. Austen Ivereigh applauds.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster blessed 600 married couples at a Mass on Saturday at Westminster Cathedral.

An ecumenical jury at Cannes has awarded its top prize to a film about a massacre of French Cistercians in Algeria.

Benedict XVI has appointed the American lay canon lawyer Dr Edward Peters a Referendarius (Referendary) of the Apostolic Signatura.

John Allen takes a detailed look at the Vatican’s response to claims that it is liable for clerical sexual abuse.

Michael Sean Winters duels with Professor Robert George over a Supreme Court ruling.

Michael Liccione examines the controversy surrounding the excommunication of Sister Margaret McBride.

Tess Livingstone hails the new English translation of the Roman Missal.

Professor Nicolas Standaert considers the impact of the Chinese on the missionary Matteo Ricci.

And Lady Gaga says she would be happy to play for the Pope – minus her raunchy dancers.

Pope Benedict’s visit to Cyprus next month could lead to a historic meeting with the Patriarch of Moscow.

Benedict XVI expressed concern about the effects of climate change in Mongolia when meeting the country’s new ambassador to the Holy See yesterday (video).

The Pope also welcomed the first ambassador to the Holy See from the United Arab Emirates (video).

A Maltese man has been fined for posting a comment on Facebook saying the Pope should be shot.

Composer James MacMillan’s new Mass setting will be sung in Coventry as well as Glasgow during the Pope’s visit to Britain.

Jason Berry says the abuse crisis has created “cracks in the wall of the Roman Curia”.

Historian Diarmaid MacCulloch accuses Pope Benedict of attempting to re-write Vatican II.

Andrew Brown asks whether the creation of “synthetic life” has turned men into gods. Rod Dreher wonders what C S Lewis would have made of it.

Edward Pentin ponders the political risks of Pope Benedict’s visit to Cyprus.

David Gibson praises Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston for saying that Catholic schools should welcome the children of same-sex couples.

Thomas Reese SJ says Pope Benedict would support greater financial regulation in the United States.

Thomas Peters is annoyed by an irreverent new iPhone app.

And an Italian light-middleweight boxer has promised that if he wins a new title belt he will ask the Pope to bless it.

The official website of Newman’s Cause responds to John Cornwell’s effort to debunk the miracle that will lead to the cardinal’s beatification in September.

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children is questioning the legality of Channel 4′s decision to broadcast an advertisement promoting abortion, the first of its kind in Britain.

Belgium’s Catholic bishops have asked sexual abuse victims for pardon in a pastoral letter issued after their ad limina visit to Rome (full text in French).

An Orthodox archbishop in Cyprus has warned critics of the Pope’s visit to the island on June 4 that they are placing themselves outside the Church.

Benedict XVI reflected on his trip to Portugal at his general audience yesterday (video, full text of remarks in English).

Pope Benedict will visit the Don Orione Centre in Rome to bless a statue of the Virgin “Salus populi romani” on June 24.

A survey finds that 66 per cent of Polish Catholics pray for the intercession of Pope John Paul II.

Jon Kraushar considers what President Barack Obama could learn from John Paul II.

Fr Ray Blake defends the “pre-emptive use” of the new English translation of the Mass.

Andrew Brown compares and contrasts Ireland’s two most prominent Catholic leaders: Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and Cardinal Seán Brady.

And the people of Flint, Michigan, remember a feisty nun known as “Sister Bingo“.

The Traditional Anglican Communion has requested a Personal Ordinariate in the United Kingdom.

Irish children are safer today in the Catholic Church than before, Cardinal Seán Brady has said.

BP has donated $1 million to a Catholic charity helping fishermen affected by the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico.

The National Museum of Catholic Art and History in New York has been forced to close.

Mgr Guido Marini has celebrated Mass ad orientem in the Roman Basilica of St Mary Major.

George Weigel says American Catholics have arrived a critical moment in their history.

Michael Sean Winters argues that Pope Benedict is “emphatically is not looking for a culture war”.

George Anderson SJ is dismayed by France’s ban on the burqa.

Fr James Martin SJ is outraged by James Carroll’s attack on priestly celibacy.

Theologian Tina Beattie argues that the bishops are “the most brutal and ignorant of moral dictators“.

Marcel LeJeune lists his 50 favourite saints’ quotations.

And Fr Tim Finigan reports on a go-kart competition for French priests.

Rome Reports describes the Bolivian President Evo Morales’s audience with Pope Benedict yesterday as “spontaneous and impolite” (video).

The Belfast Telegraph claims that Cardinal Seán Brady has asked Pope Benedict to appoint an “archbishop in waiting” to succeed him as Primate of All-Ireland.

The Irish National Board for Safeguarding Children has asked Archbishop Diarmuid Martin to produce evidence that parishes are not adhering to abuse guidelines.

A village postmaster fears that he will lose 95 per cent of his business if he is forced to close his post office during the Pope’s visit to Coventry in September.

Cardinal Pell has called for tougher action against abusers after the Church confirmed that two Irish priests accused of molesting girls were still performing priestly duties in Australia.

A group of Catholic scholars has argued that attempting to break trade unions is a mortal sin.

The Pope has given permission for a married father of six to be ordained a Catholic priest.

Fr Donald Cozzens says it’s foolish to expect bishops to be held accountable for their actions.

Alma Guillermoprieto of the New York Review of Books examines the Maciel case.

Fr Rob Johansen asks whether the new English translation of the Mass is a disaster or an opportunity.

Simon Rowney wonders if the 83-year-old Pope Benedict “can drag Richard Dawkins into the modern world”.

And Rima Fakih, reportedly the first Muslim Miss USA, attended a Catholic school in New York.