German prosecutors examined late Pope in abuse probe
Berlin, Germany AP German prosecutors looking into historical cases of sexual abuse by clergy in the Munich archdiocese said on Tuesday that they initially investigated the late Pope Benedict XVI on suspicion of being an accessory to abuse, but later dropped the probe. Munich prosecutors examined 45 cases of possible wrongdoing by church officials that […]
Essay: Pope Benedict XVI – A man at odds with the modern world who leaves a legacy of intellectual brilliance and controversy
In an article first published on The Conversation, MATHEW SCHMALZ, professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross in the US, examines Pope Benedict XVI’s legacy…
Benedict leaves German homeland with complicated legacy
Berlin, Germany AP Pope Benedict XVI leaves his homeland with a complicated legacy: pride in a German pontiff but a church deeply divided over the need for reforms in the wake of a sexual abuse scandal in which his own actions of decades ago were faulted. Benedict has long drawn mixed reviews in Germany, a […]
Former Pope Benedict, hero to Catholic conservatives, dies
Vatican CityReuters Former Pope Benedict, the first pontiff in 600 years to resign and a standard bearer for conservatives who yearned for a more traditional Church, died on Saturday, ending an extraordinary period in which two men wearing white lived in the Vatican. Benedict, 95, died in a former monastery where he had lived since […]
Vatican: Benedict in stable condition, participated in Mass
Rome, ItalyAP Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was in stable condition Friday after suffering a decline in his health and participated in a private Mass in his room, the Vatican said, as the faithful in Rome honoured “this last stretch of his pilgrimage”. The Vatican provided a new medical bulletin Friday afternoon saying Benedict had been […]
Catholic Church in Germany: Benedict woes come as pressure grows on church reform
GEIR MOULSON, of Associated Press, reports on the ongoing push for reform in the Catholic Church amid ongoing scandal over clergy sexual abuse…
Vatican defends Benedict after report faults abuse record
Rome, ItalyAP The Vatican on Wednesday strongly defended Pope Benedict XVI’s record in fighting clergy sexual abuse and cautioned against looking for “easy scapegoats and summary judgments,” after an independent report faulted his handling of four cases of abuse when he was archbishop of Munich, Germany. The Holy See’s editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, provided the […]
Ex-Pope Benedict acknowledges faulty testimony in German abuse case
Vatican CityReuters Former Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged on Monday he had been at a 1980 meeting over a sexual abuse case when Archbishop of Munich, saying he mistakenly told German investigators he was not there. A report released last week on abuse in the archdiocese from 1945 to 2019 said then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger failed to […]
ESSAY: ‘HUMANAE VITAE’ – SEX AND AUTHORITY IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Fifty years after it was first released, Catholic priest THOMAS REESE looks at how the dispute among Catholics over the controversial papal encyclical ‘Humanae Vitae’ wasn’t just about sex but about church authority itself…