Italy abuse case highlights how scandal slowly beginning to come to light in Pope’s backyard
Rome, Italy AP The clergy sexual abuse scandal is slowly gathering steam in Italy with increasing media coverage, criminal convictions and the launch Monday of an investigative podcast dedicated to a case that tangentially involved Pope Francis. A Sicilian court last week convicted a priest of sexual violence and attempted sexual violence against three minors […]
Pope accepts resignation of Polish bishop for negligence over abuse
Warsaw, Poland Reuters Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Polish bishop for negligence in handling cases of sexual abuse committed by some clergy against minors, his representatives in the country said on Saturday. Andrzej Dziuba, a bishop in Lowicz, had not informed law enforcement authorities about the case of a priest from his […]
Pope meets with child protection board as events outside Vatican show abuse scandal isn’t going away
Rome, Italy AP Pope Francis sought to encourage his child protection board on Thursday to continue helping victims, as new developments outside the Vatican underscored that the Catholic Church’s clergy sex abuse scandal isn’t going away anytime soon. Francis met with his Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which is expected to soon release the […]
Top expert resigns from Vatican committee against child sex abuse
Vatican CityReuters Father Hans Zollner, one of the leading members of the Vatican committee against child sexual abuse, said on Wednesday he had resigned from the group, citing concerns over the way it was operating. Zollner was one of the founding members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which Pope Francis established […]
Spain’s ombudsman registers 445 church sex abuse complaints
Madrid, Spain AP Spain’s ombudsman said Monday that an independent commission set up a year ago to investigate historic sex abuse by the Catholic church has collected testimonies from 445 victims, as the nation tackles an issue other European countries acted on long ago. Spain’s parliament voted on 10th March, 2022, to open the first […]
France: About 200 church sex abuse victims get compensation
Paris, France AP About 190 victims of child sexual abuse by priests or other church representatives have been promised financial compensation so far from France’s Catholic Church under a sweeping reparations program, the independent body in charge of the process said Thursday. A report from the Independent National Authority for Recognition and Reparation, or INIRR, said […]
Portuguese Church struggles to adopt concrete measures to tackle child sexual abuse
Fatma, Portugal Reuters Portugal’s Catholic Church announced a handful of steps on Friday to tackle child sexual abuse within the church – but it said suspected priests still in active roles would not be suspended unless the facts against them were clearly established. The head of Portugal’s Bishops’ Conference (CEP), Jose Ornelas, also said 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…
Italy church says 600 sex abuse cases sent to Vatican
Vatican CityAP Italy’s Catholic bishops provided their first accounting of clergy sexual abuse and revealed Thursday that more than 600 cases from Italy were on file at the Vatican since 2000. The report of the Italian bishops’ conference, which only covered complaints that local Italian church authorities had received over the last two years, did […]
French Catholic leaders mired in sexual abuse scandals dig themselves deeper
Paris, FranceRNS Like any modern Catholic official, Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of France’s Catholic bishops’ conference, realizes clergy sexual abuse is a systemic problem, one that calls for serious reform of the church’s uncertain rules and ingrained secrecy. But recent revelations of sexual misconduct by a cardinal and a bishop on Moulins-Beaufort’s watch show […]