US Catholic bishops stop short of mandating lay involvement in abuse investigations
Baltimore, USRNS The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has passed a slate of long-awaited measures designed to combat sex abuse and hold church leadership accountable for mishandling cases, including creating a national hotline operated by an outside group for reporting incidents of abuse or their cover-up. “I’m confident that the idea of doing [investigations] in-house […]
In depth – California lawmakers threaten to break confidentiality of confession to find abusers
RNS Breaking with a long tradition of clerical privilege, California is edging toward requiring priests and other church employees to inform authorities if they learn of a case of child sex abuse during the sacrament of confession. On Thursday, the California State Senate passed a bill that would require priests to report child abuse if […]
Pope demands ‘concrete’ response to abuse crisis at Vatican summit
Vatican CityRNS Pope Francis on Thursday opened a highly anticipated four-day meeting on his church’s ongoing sex abuse crisis by calling on the assembled bishops and other Catholic leaders to “hear the cry of the little ones who plead for justice” and be “concrete.” “The holy People of God look to us, and expect from us […]
Final US Jesuit group releases names of accused abusers
RNS The Northeast province of the Society of Jesus has released the names of 50 men it says have been credibly accused of child sex abuse since 1950. With the report’s release on Tuesday, following others from the Catholic order’s US provinces in recent months, all Jesuit provinces in the United States have now unveiled lists of […]
US Government launches investigation into Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses
RNS The US Department of Justice is launching a federal grand jury investigation into Roman Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania just months after a state-level investigation unearthed decades of allegations of widespread child sexual abuse by hundreds of priests that impacted more than 1,000 children over several decades. The Associated Press reported on the investigation on Thursday, citing […]
US confidence in Pope Francis’ handling of abuse scandal drops
RNS Confidence in Pope Francis’ handling of the child sex abuse scandal within the Catholic Church has dropped dramatically among American Catholics in recent months, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center. The report, released Tuesday, shows that only three in 10 Catholic adults (31 per cent) say Francis is doing an “excellent” […]
ESSAY: WHY IT’S SO HARD TO HOLD PRIESTS ACCOUNTABLE FOR SEX ABUSE
In an article first published on The Conversation, CAROLYN M WARNER, associate director of graduate studies and a professor at Arizona State University, argues that canon law is part of the problem when it comes to holding priests accountable for abuse…
ESSAY: FOUR THINGS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH MUST DO TO RESPOND TO SEX ABUSE
US Catholic Church commentator THOMAS REESE, in an article first published on Religion News Service, looks at how the Catholic Church in the US should respond to the sex abuse crisis it’s facing…