In March, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley was elevated to cardinal, providing a strong endorsement for a beleaguered archbishop and a weary archdiocese struggling to rebuild the scandal-torn Catholic Church of Boston. In other church news this year, the adoption arm of Catholic Charities of Boston shut down on June 30. The agency could not navigate a way between the church's opposition to gays adopting children and state law that gives gays the legal right to become parents.
Read the Catholic Charities story
O'Malley's elevation