Enforced celibacy and secrecy are the major factors in why child abuse is so 'prevalent' in the Catholic church around the world, a major new report has found.
Australia is in the 'unique' position of being a country where 'people have lost trust completely' in the Church, according to the Jesuit priest Hans Zollner, a founding member of Pope Francis' Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
Pope Francis today travels to Medellin, once notorious as the stomping grounds of drug lord Pablo Escobar, to find a city transformed since his predecessor Pope John Paul visited in 1986.
Pope Francis, on his fifth visit to his native Latin America, is visiting Colombia with a message of peace. But despite a fragile three-month ceasefire, the country is still riven with conflict and has millions upon millions of internally displaced people.
Pope Francis yesterday implored a youthful audience to turn away from the 'illness' of narcissism that produces only sadness. He encouraged young people to laugh at themselves and look outward to the needs of others.
A Colombian nun will rap for Pope Francis when he visits her country this week. Sister Maria Valentina de los Angeles is one of a group who will sing the official song for the Argentine pope's visit as he greets the crowds.