Cardinal George Pell has said he will return to Australia to "clear his name" after being charged with "historic sex offences".

La Stampa has published memos revealing the US embassy to the Holy See's initial verdict on Pope Francis.

Catholic monks in Vietnam have said they were beaten by plain clothes police over a land dispute.

Archbishop Philip Naameh, president of the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference, has criticised the "wanton destruction of fertile lands" through mining.

Sandro Magister says the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family will no longer be named after the Polish saint.