“We have never seen this level”: Threats to Catholic Charities staffers increase amid far-right anti-migrant campaign
As ALEJA HERTZLER-MCCAIN and JACK JENKINS, of Religion News Service, report, Catholic Charities locations have become the target of far-right media personalities, conspiracy theorists and even members of Congress…
“Time to restore the balance”: Victims of Catholic nuns rely on each other after being overlooked in the clergy sex abuse crisis
TIFFANY STANLEY, of Associated Press, reports on efforts to support and advocate for those who were abused by Catholic sisters and nuns…
Pope Francis urged to offer financial support for abused nuns
Vatican City Reuters Pope Francis needs to set up a fund for nuns who quit religious life after abuse from priests and prelates, activists say, calling for greater attention on a long-neglected issue in the Catholic Church. There are more than 600,000 nuns globally, and their exploitation and abuse has come to the fore in […]
French religious orders demand change over L’Arche abuses
Vatican CityAP The umbrella group of Catholic religious orders in France is demanding church authorities assume responsibility for horrific evidence of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse in L’Arche, once a pre-eminent lay community dedicated to people with developmental disabilities. Sister Veronique Margron, president of the conference of religious orders in France, issued a devastating analysis […]
Shame
There’s something most of us fear more than death. Something we avoid at all costs. Something that makes our very souls shake: Shame. PICTURE: K Mitch Hodge/Unsplash Shame induces trauma in us. Those dark places we don’t want anyone to know about. Failure, divorce, abuse, addiction. How can we show our face again? How can […]
Updated: Pope seeks forgiveness for sexual abuse at Canadian residential schools
Updated: 11:45am (AEST)Sainte-Anne-De-Beaupre, Quebec, Canada Reuters Pope Francis on Thursday asked for forgiveness for sexual abuse at Canadian schools for Indigenous children run by Catholic orders, addressing a deep wound that many survivors wanted him to acknowledge during his apology tour in Canada. Pope Francis greets the faithful before presiding over a Mass at the […]
“Appalling” abuse: Australia to push miners to set up register of offenders
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australia will push its mining industry to set up a register of sexual harassment perpetrators to help rein in abuse, a cabinet minister said, after a state government report detailed cases of “horrifying” and “appalling” behaviour against women. The inquiry by mineral-rich Western Australia, home to the bulk of the country’s iron ore […]
Southern Baptists: Key issues set to be discussed at annual gathering
BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, takes a look at some of the major issues at stake in this week’s annual meeting of the largest Protestant denomination in the US…
Wow!: Pakistan bus network gives women a ticket to work and study
ZOFEEN T EBRAHIM, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how Peshawar’s BRT transport system is helping women travel safely without fear of sexual harassment, opening up new opportunities for them to study and find jobs in the socially conservative city…
World’s children bearing brunt of COVID pandemic, Vatican studies say
Vatican CityReuters The world’s children are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, with marked increases in violence, abuse, child labour, lost schooling, and malnutrition, two Vatican studies said on Wednesday. The studies, based on academic, scientific, United Nations data and other source material, were produced by the Vatican’s development office and the Pontifical Academy […]