French cardinal admits to abusing 14-year-old girl
Vatican CityRNS Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, a member of the Vatican department charged with sanctioning abuse cases in the Catholic Church, admitted in a statement on Monday to sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago when he was a parish priest in his native France. “I have decided not to remain silent about my situation […]
Child sex abuse in Britain is epidemic, UK inquiry says
London, UKReuters Child sex abuse is epidemic in Britain, affecting millions of victims, and those who work with young people should be prosecuted if they fail to report it, a seven-year public inquiry concluded on Thursday. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse said institutions and politicians had prioritised reputations over the welfare of young […]
US report: Catholic clergy’s unquestioned – and uneducated – power spurs abuse
United StatesRNS A new report based on interviews with some 300 Catholic priests, nuns and laypeople concludes that clergy aren’t adequately prepared to wield the power they exercise and need more education on questions of sex and gender. The report, Beyond Bad Apples: Understanding Clericalism as a Structural Problem & Cultivating Strategies for Change, released […]
Insurers suddenly raise stakes on German churches’ sex abuse response
RNS Germany’s Catholic and Protestant churches have been criticised for their handling of clergy sexual abuse for years now by victims, believers and the media. Now they face new pressure from an unexpected corner: the insurance industry. VBG, a national association of accident insurance providers, recently complained to the two predominant church bodies in the […]
Hundreds of church sexual abuse victims “just tip of iceberg”, Portuguese panel says
Lisbon, Portugal AP A commission investigating child sexual abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church said on Tuesday the nearly 300 testimonies of alleged victims it has collected so far were “just the tip of the iceberg”. “There have been multiple cases of sexual abuse of children and teenagers in the past,” said the head of […]
Spain’s Church seeks to add credence to enquiry of alleged child abuse
Madrid, SpainReuters Spain’s Catholic Church sought to give more credence to an investigation into the alleged sexual abuse of minors, saying on Tuesday a law firm would coordinate and audit the effort, in a move a victims’ group has already dismissed as a “smoke screen”. The allegations are only gaining traction now in Spain, years […]
#ItalyChurchToo: Abuse survivors demand Italy church inquiry
Rome, Italy AP Advocates for victims of sex abuse by Italian clergy launched a campaign Tuesday to demand a cover-up inquiry, lamenting that deference showed the Catholic Church hierarchy in Italy has conditioned everything from criminal prosecutions to media coverage of the problem. A consortium of groups said they hoped recent national inquiries in Germany […]
Italy’s Catholic Church faces pressure for independent abuse inquiry; One of first official reports on abuse published in Spain
Rome, ItalyReuters At a trial under way in Sicily, a 28-year-old Italian is seeking justice against a man he accuses of forcing him to perform sex acts before going on to become a priest. The victim says the alleged abuse, committed more than a decade ago when he was a minor and the accused was […]
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. […]
Child abuse: Vatican child protection expert says prelates should apologise for abuse cover up
Following last week’s report scathing report on sexual abuse in Germany’s Archdiocese of Munich and former Pope Benedict XVI’s response, CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ, of Religion News Service, speaks with Jesuit Fr Hans Zollner, a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors…