9,000 sex abuse lawsuits filed in New York (AP) For two years, New York temporarily set aside its usual time limit on civil lawsuits in order to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue churches, hospitals, schools, camps, scout groups and other institutions and people they hold responsible for enabling pedophiles or turning a blind eye to wrongdoing. That window closed Saturday, after more than 9,000 lawsuits were filed, a deluge whose impact may be felt for many years…

Pope urges solidarity with Haiti after earthquake (CNA) Pope Francis has called for international solidarity to alleviate suffering in Haiti following a major earthquake that killed at least 304 people…

Poland prepares for beatification of mentor to John Paul II (Crux) When he became pope, St. John Paul II said, “There would be no Polish Pope without the Primate.” The primate he referred to was Polish Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, who will be beatified September 12…

Papal envoy to Medjugorje dies (CNA) Archbishop Henryk Hoser, the apostolic visitor of Medjugorje, has died at the age of 78. The archbishop died in a hospital in Warsaw on Aug. 13 after a long and serious illness, according to an announcement by the Polish bishops’ conference…

Father of four ordained a Catholic priest (The Catholic Spirit) When Father Stephen Hilgendorf, an Anglican priest who converted to Catholicism, felt called to the Catholic priesthood, he needed to submit an application to the North American, Houston-based Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, which in turn passed along the application to the Vatican. He also needed to write by hand a letter requesting ordination. So did his wife, Hannah.Father Hilgendorf needed permission from the Vatican because he had served as a priest in the Anglican tradition. The Vatican created the ordinariate in 2012 for former Anglican communities and clergy seeking to become Catholic…

The strangeness of the Catholic Church’s latest scandal (The Atlantic) The outing of a top administrator of the nation’s conference of Catholic bishops was clearly a story. But what kind? A story about high-tech surveillance and invasion of privacy? About a new breach of journalistic ethics? About the Catholic Church?…