Former Pope Benedict “very sick”, Pope Francis calls for prayers
Vatican City Reuters Former Pope Benedict, a hero to conservative Catholics and who in 2013 became the first pontiff in 600 years to step down, is “very sick”, his successor Pope Francis said on Wednesday, asking church members to pray for him. Bishops from Europe, the United States and beyond, urged the faithful to keep […]
Luxembourg cardinal calls for revised Catholic teaching on gays; German archbishop backs loosening of celibacy rules
Vatican CityReuters A prominent liberal cardinal who leads a body representing European bishops has called for “fundamental revision” in Catholic teaching on homosexuality, and said it is wrong to fire Church workers for being gay. The remarks by Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich to the German Catholic news agency KNA were among the most direct calls […]
German Archbishop pushes reform after criticism over abuse
Berlin, GermanyAP The Archbishop of Munich said Thursday that the Catholic church needs deep reform to overcome the “disaster” of sexual abuse and made clear that he intends to stay in his job, after a report faulted him and predecessors including retired Pope Benedict XVI for their handling of abuse allegations and cases in Germany. […]
Ex-Pope Benedict accused of failing to act in Munich Church abuse report
Berlin, GermanyReuters Former Pope Benedict XVI failed to take action against clerics in four cases of alleged sexual abuse in his archdiocese when he was Archbishop of Munich, a report found on Thursday, compounding a scandal engulfing the Catholic Church. Benedict has previously denied wrongdoing over the cases. Lawyer Ulrich Wastl speaks at a news conference about a […]
Pope rejects German cardinal’s resignation, urges reform
Rome, ItalyAP Pope Francis refused Thursday to let German Cardinal Reinhard Marx resign over the sex abuse scandal in the German Church, but said a process of reform was necessary and that every bishop must take responsibility for the “catastrophe” of the crisis. Francis wrote a letter to Marx to respond to his bombshell announcement […]
German Catholic abuse victims meet papal investigators
Berlin, GermanyReuters Victims of Catholic Church sex abuse met on Tuesday with two senior bishops sent by the Pope to investigate the German archdiosese of Cologne, which has come under increasing pressure after a report found hundreds of historic cases. The Pope’s two envoys are looking at possible mistakes committed by Germany’s largest archdiocese, after […]
German Archbishop offers to resign over Catholic Church’s sexual abuse “catastrophe”
Berlin, Germany/Rome, ItalyReuters One of Roman Catholicism’s most influential liberal figures, Germany’s Cardinal Reinhard Marx, has offered to resign as Archbishop of Munich, saying he had to share responsibility for the “catastrophe” of sexual abuse by clerics over past decades. His offer, which Pope Francis has yet to accept, follows an uproar among the German […]
WOMEN AND THE CHURCH: GERMAN THEOLOGIAN SPEARHEADS TRANSITION TO A “GENDER APPROPRIATE” CATHOLIC CHURCH
CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ, writing for Religion News Service, reports on calls from within Germany’s Catholic Church for a greater role for women…
At Vatican summit, talk of destroyed files riles bishops’ critics
Vatican CityRNS On a day packed with emotion and unusually direct criticism of the Catholic church hierarchy, victims of church abuse responded sharply to an admission by a German cardinal that the church has destroyed files documenting sexual abuse abuse by its priests. “Files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible […]
CATHOLIC CHURCH: VATICAN STALLS GERMAN BISHOPS’ PLAN TO GIVE PROTESTANTS COMMUNION
CHRISTOPHER LAMB reports for Religion News Service…