The Archdiocese of Boston is launching a website this week entitled "Protection, Prevention and Healing," which has been created for use by all Catholics in the archdiocese. In a statement announcing the site, available at commitment.bostoncatholic.org, the archdiocese said, "The content on the site will inform, educate and provide resources, especially for all impacted by sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults, and includes easily accessible support for survivors and their families."

BRAINTREE -- The Archdiocese of Boston expects to launch its Digital Initiative, a program to provide parishes with a free platform and templates for their websites next month. The multilingual platform will feature e-commerce, email accounts, mobile responsiveness, and syndicated content from the archdiocese, such as links to The Pilot and Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley's blog.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In a vote on the eve of the annual March for Life, the Senate Jan. 17 failed to pass a measure that would have codified the Hyde Amendment, which forbids federal funding for most abortions or abortion-related care.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The two Supreme Court cases that legalized abortion virtually on demand in the United States were based on "deception," said Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas. "The late Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade, lied about being gang-raped," said Archbishop Naumann, new chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities. "After her pro-life conversion, Norma acknowledged that she was deceived by her attorneys about the reality of abortion. For the last 20 years of her life, Norma McCorvey labored tirelessly to overturn Roe v. Wade."

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In a second letter issued in mid-January about what he knew and didn't regarding abuse allegations involving his predecessor, Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, Washington's retired archbishop, apologized Jan. 15 for what he called a "lapse of memory," clarifying that he knew of at least one abuse allegation against former U.S. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, but he had "forgotten" about it.

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Although the U.S. bishops did not vote in November on proposals that would have created procedures for handling allegations against bishops of misconduct or improper supervision, bishops in the Archdiocese of Baltimore will be subject to a policy approved in December by the archdiocese's Independent Review Board.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Only about half of the national bishops' conferences in the world have adopted complete, Vatican-approved guidelines for handling accusations of clerical sexual abuse and promoting child protection, said the Jesuit named to moderate the Vatican's February summit on abuse.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Faith isn't something learned just by studying the catechism but rather is a gift passed on to children by the example of their parents, Pope Francis said. Although children learn the tenets of the Catholic faith in catechism class, it is first transmitted in the home "because faith always must be transmitted in dialect: the dialect of the family, the dialect of the home, in the atmosphere of the home," he said before baptizing 27 babies.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- At the upcoming meeting on protecting minors, Pope Francis wants leaders of the world's bishops' conferences to clearly understand what must be done to prevent abuse, care for victims and ensure no case is whitewashed or covered up.