The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has commissioned a study, expected to be completed late this year, to look at the "causes and contexts" of clerical sexual abuse in the US.
Presenting the study's preliminary results, a researcher from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, told the US bishops in November that "at this point, we do not find a correlation between homosexual identity and the increased likelihood of subsequent abuse".
Last week Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone told reporters in Chile that "many psychologists and psychiatrists have demonstrated that there is no relationship between celibacy and paedophilia, but many others have shown, and they told me recently, that there is a relationship between homosexuality and paedophilia".
Pilgrims flock to see Shroud
Thousands of pilgrims are visiting the public exposition of the Shroud of Turin that began on April 10 and is scheduled to end on May 23.
Pilgrims are being admitted to revere the Shroud without charge, but reservations are required in order to control the flow of traffic. Reservations can be made online at the official site of the Turin Shroud www.sindone.org.
Pope Benedict XVI will visit Turin to venerate the Shroud on May 2.
Slovak Church opposes casino
Slovakia's Catholic Church said it expects plans for Europe's largest mega-casino complex to be called off after campaigning by Catholic groups.
"We're afraid of the moral harm this project will inflict on many people," explained Fr Jozef Kovacik, spokesman for the Bratislava-based Slovakian bishops' conference. "We've presented overwhelming arguments against it and the media have received these positively. Most Slovaks are now firmly opposed to the mega-casino," he said.
The priest was speaking as a final decision neared on plans by the Nevada-based Harrah's Entertainment Inc. for a 74-acre Las Vegas-style complex at Petrzalka, near the Austrian border.
Medjugorje commission meets
The Vatican commission studying the alleged Marian apparitions at Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina held its first meeting in late March. While the Vatican press office provided no details about the meeting, it published the names of the commission members on April 13.
The Vatican had announced on March 17 that at the request of the bishops of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had established an international commission to investigate the claims of six young people who said Holy Mary had appeared to them daily, beginning in 1981.
The doctrinal congregation appointed retired Cardinal Camillo Ruini, former papal vicar of Rome, to head the commission.
Compiled by Fr Joe Borg