A former top Vatican official has accused Pope Francis of having known of allegations of sex abuse by a prominent US cardinal for five years before accepting his resignation last month and he called on the pontiff to resign.

Campaigner and abuse survivor Marie Collins has called on Pope Francis to face down the senior clerics in the Vatican who are resisting change in the Catholic Church’s response to perpetrators and their victims.

Rachel Zoll, Vatican City

The bells of Notre Dame rang out today on the 60th anniversary of General Charles de Gaulle’s emotional march from the Arc de Triomphe to the cathedral in the city’s heart, closing a week of ceremonies to mark Paris’s liberation from the Nazis.

A FRAGILE yet determined Pope John Paul II celebrated his 25th anniversary yesterday, reaching a milestone matched only by three of his predecessors.

EVEN though Pope John Paul is increasingly unable to complete his speeches as a result of Parkinson's disease, he can still carry out his mission and shows no sign of resigning, several cardinals said yesterday.

Friends of comedian Bob Hope have celebrated his life and career at a Mass in Washington DC, a week after his death at the age of 100.

The Catholic church in the US is to adopt a ‘‘one-strike-you’re-out’’ policy for paedophile priests involved in future sex abuse case, it was decided in the Vatican today.

Leaders from America’s scandal-scarred Roman Catholic Church will hear out Pope John Paul II and present their own proposals today during an unprecedented discussion on public anger over priestly sexual abuse.

American cardinals arrived in Rome today for meetings with the Pope, saying they will take whatever steps are needed to assure Catholics that a paedophile priests scandal is under control.