Update 6pm: The Vatican has said the devastating report by Australia's Royal Commission into institutional sex abuse is "thorough" and deserves to be "studied seriously". APUpdate 7am: An Australian inquiry into child abuse has recommended the Catholic Church lift its demand of celibacy from clergy and clarify the extent that the seal of the confession conceals evidence of child abuse. Australia's Royal Commission into Institution Responses to Child Sexual Abuse delivered its final 17-volume report and 189 recommendations following a wide-ranging investigation. "We have concluded that there were catastrophic failures of leadership of Catholic Church authorities over many decades," the report said. The commission's recommendations, which with interim reports total 409, include making failure to report child abuse a criminal offence.

Source: Evening echo December 15, 2017 18:11 UTC