NATION/WORLD

Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles said the McCarrick Report findings mark "another tragic chapter in the church's long struggle to confront the crimes of sexual abuse by clergy."

Although dogged for years by rumors of sexual impropriety, Theodore E. McCarrick was able to rise up the Catholic hierarchical structure based on personal contacts, protestations of his innocence and a lack of church officials reporting and investigating accusations, according to the Vatican summary of its report on the matter.

With Joe Biden now elected as the nation's 46th president, it is "time for our leaders to come together in a spirit of national unity," said Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Horns blared near the White House just before noon Nov. 7 as major U.S. news organizations projected Democrat Joe Biden will be the 46th president of the United States, making him the second Catholic in the country's history to be elected to the nation's highest office.

The Holy See will release Nov. 10 a long-awaited report on the investigation about the ascent to power of now-disgraced former U.S. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick.

Blessed Michael J. McGivney was "an outstanding witness of Christian solidarity and fraternal assistance" because of his "zeal" for proclaiming the Gospel and his "generous concern for his brothers and sisters."

Blessed McGivney, the first American parish priest to be beatified, can be viewed as a martyr of a pandemic. When he died of pneumonia complications at age 38 in 1890, he was tending to the faithful during an outbreak of influenza known as the Russian flu Thomaston. Some recent evidence, according to the Knights, indicates the outbreak may have been the result of a coronavirus.

When Pope Francis spoke about civil unions, he was not changing or challenging "the doctrine of the church, which he has reaffirmed numerous times over the years."

Plenary or full indulgences traditionally obtained during the first week of November for the souls of the faithful in purgatory can now be gained throughout the entire month of November, the Vatican said.

A divided Senate, in a 52-48 vote, confirmed Amy Coney Barrett as a justice for the Supreme Court the evening of Oct. 26 and soon afterward she was sworn in by Justice Clarence Thomas at a White House ceremony.