The Vatican’s top prosecutor Mgr Charles Scicluna has said that bishops should be held accountable for failing to tackle clerical abuse.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, led a penitential liturgy last night as part of the unpredecented four-day Vatican conference on abuse.

The Vatican has confirmed that the Pope may visit Lebanon in September.

Matthew Cullinan Hoffman compares 21st-century American Catholics to 16th-century English recusants.

Catholic economist Philip Booth suggests it’s silly to ask whether markets can be moral.

And George Weigel considers whether the Church is ready for a Third Vatican Council.

Irish abuse victim Marie Collins told the conference this morning that “apologising for the actions of the abusive priests is not enough“.

Contrary to reports, 83-year-old Cardinal-designate Karl Josef Becker SJ will receive his red hat at the consistory in Rome on February 18.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali argues that Christians in the Muslim world are facing “a rising genocide”.

Robert George and Carter Snead argue that American abortion provider Planned Parenthood has taken breast cancer victims hostage.

And leading Catholic blogger Rocco Palmo pays tribute to his late “spiritual father” and “ever-caring friend”.

The US Army has censored a pastoral letter to Catholic military chaplains criticising the Obama administration’s ruling on contraception coverage.

The Church in Kerala has criticised a poster by the Communist Party of India depicting Barack Obama as Jesus and other world leaders as disciples at the Last Supper.

The number of candidates for the priesthood in Central Java, Indonesia, has risen dramatically, reports AsiaNews.

Fr Federico Lombardi and John Allen preview a major international conference on clerical abuse that begins in Rome today.

Fr Stephen Wang explains how his suggestion that Britain should host World Youth Day went from “a social networking doodle” to “a global mainstream media news story”.

Andrea Tornielli examines the mystery of Fidel Castro’s excommunication ahead of his meeting with Pope Benedict next month.

Fr Dwight Longenecker points out that Blessed John Henry Newman was “misunderstood, blocked, ostracised and undermined” after he became a Catholic.

Graeme Wood hails the Italian cardinal who spoke more languages than anyone else in recorded history.

And Saint Peter’s List gathers photographic evidence that Benedict XVI has a healthy love of beer.

Bishop Bernard Fellay, the superior general of the Society of St Pius X, has said that “even if we are fighting with Rome, we are still, so to say, with Rome“.

The US District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi has dismissed “with prejudice” a lawsuit filed against the Holy See by insurance commissioners in five states.

Robert McClory profiles Michael Ryan, an American security specialist who has fought tirelessly to increase financial transparency in the Church.

Francis Beckwith defines the “new anti-Catholicism” as an effort “to employ the coercive power of the state to force the Church’s institutions to violate the Church’s own moral theology”.

And the BBC has produced a new documentary series that “goes behind the headlines to explore what it is like to be Catholic today”.

Pope Benedict broke canon law when he dismissed the Australian Bishop Bill Morris last May, a Queensland Supreme Court judge has claimed.

The mayor of the Mexican city of Leon has said that the city will not charge people for seating along the Popemobile route in March.

Caritas is helping 24 women who were trafficked to Lebanon to return to their native Bangladesh.

Fr Thomas Weinandy, executive director of the US bishop’s secretariat for doctrine, has said that Catholics who use the Enneagram “have lost their way”.

Eric Giunta argues that the US bishops are themselves to blame for the Obama administration’s decision on contraceptive coverage.

Eric Marrapodi and Brianna Keilar investigate whether Barack Obama is losing the American Catholic vote.

And Jennifer Fulwiler explains why her large family is not contributing to global overpopulation.

Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, the seventh Archbishop of Philadelphia, has died aged 88.

Fr Jeffrey Steenson, the leader of the new Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter, has issued his first pastoral letter.

Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan will make a rare visit to Britain in April to speak at Heythrop College in London.

Lay people have held a protest outside the Bishop’s House in Mangalore, south-west India, accusing the Church of being “unjust and profit-oriented”.

And researchers have found that the Catholic population of Hong Kong is rising.

The Pope has paid tribute to former Italian president Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, who died at the weekend, calling him “an illustrious Catholic statesman”.

Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska, has described the Obama administration official Kathleen Sebelius as “a bitter fallen-away Catholic” following her ruling on contraception coverage.

Senior Austrian bishops met Vatican officials last week to discuss the “Appeal to Disobedience” launched by Austrian priests, Vatican Insider reports.

Bishops from England and Wales celebrated a Mass at the Venerable English College in Rome yesterday marking the college’s 650th anniversary.

Christopher Howse celebrates the genius of the woman who may be declared a Doctor of the Church in October.

Andrea Galli profiles Fr Marcelo Rossi, the priest leading a charismatic revival among Brazilian Catholics.

And a new website, Why I’m Catholic, is gathering a collection of powerful conversion stories.

Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh has described the Obama administration’s ruling as “a slap in the face”.

Bishop Robert Finn, the first American bishop to face criminal charges for allegedly failing to report child abuse, will go on trial on September 24.

The Archdiocese of Vienna has apologised after a priest published the names of those who had formally left the Church.

Fr Bismarque Dias, a Catholic priest running for office in the Indian state of Goa, has received threats ahead for an election in March.

John Allen analyses the Vatican’s firm response to an Italian television programme alleging financial corruption in Vatican City State.

Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz explains how he revived his Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska.

And Matthew Archbold steels himself for a new Hollywood horror film called The Vatican.

The International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in June will be the most ecumenical Eucharistic Congress in the event’s history, organisers have said.

Pope Benedict has named Bishop Joseph Coutts, an outspoken defender of Pakistan’s Christian community, as the next Archbishop of Karachi.

A priest has said that Chinese Catholics are living in fear in Rome after a shocking double murder.

Nancy Frazier O’Brien interviews Fr Jeffrey Steenson, the leader of the new Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter.

Fr Neil Xavier O’Donoghue responds to Sandro Magister’s criticisms of the Neocatechumenal Way.

Desmond Fisher wonders why the Church failed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Pope John XXIII’s announcement of the Second Vatican Council yesterday.

Fr James Martin SJ investigates whether Jesus really had a sense of humour.

And the Nineteen Sixty-four statistics blog discovers how well educated you need to be to understand Pope Benedict XVI’s speeches.

The Vatican news website, News.va, will soon be available in French and Portuguese, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli announced yesterday.

Islamist students have attacked two Catholic schools in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, after a message criticizing Islam was posted on Facebook.

William McGurn says that President Barack Obama has provoked “an unnecessary war” with the Catholic Left.

Former nun Mary Johnson argues that the Vatican is scared of American women religious without habits.

And Shawn Tribe hails the arrival of a new maker of exquisite clerical vestments.