Pope extends sexual abuse law to include lay leaders
Vatican CityReuters Pope Francis on Saturday updated rules on dealing with sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, expanding their scope to include lay Catholic leaders and spelling out that both minors and adults can be victims. The Pope issued a landmark decree in 2019 making it obligatory for all priests and members of religious […]
In the US, New York Catholic diocese facing flood of lawsuits files for bankruptcy
Albany, New York, US AP The embattled Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany became the latest diocese in New York to seek bankruptcy protection Wednesday as it faces hundreds of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse. Bishop Edward Scharfenberger announced the Chapter 11 filing after months of negotiations between the upstate New York diocese and lawyers representing plaintiffs […]
Greece asks others to ‘imitate’ Vatican return of Parthenon pieces
Vatican City Reuters The Vatican Museums gave Greece three 2,500-year-old pieces of the Parthenon on Tuesday and the Greek side said the gesture should be imitated by others, a likely reference to a collection of sculptures from the ancient temple that are held by Britain. The fragments have been in the papal collections of the […]
In the US, Massachusetts diocese publishes nameless clergy abuse report
United StatesAP A US Roman Catholic diocese that covers central Massachusetts has published a new report about clergy sexual abuse of minors between 1950 and 2022, but unlike similar reports released by many other dioceses, the report did not include the names of the priests who were found to have committed abuse. In the report made […]
Jesuits remain in Mexican mountains after priests’ killings
Mexico City AP Two months after a pair of Jesuit priests were killed in a remote mountain community in northern Mexico, the suspected killer remains on the loose and townspeople are frightened, but the religious order says it is not leaving. The killings of Javier Campos and Joaquín Mora, as well as a tourism guide […]
Is Danish king, who spread Christianity and gave name to Bluetooth, buried in Poland?
Wiejkowo, PolandAP More than 1,000 years after his death in what is now Poland, a European king whose nickname lives on through wireless technology is at the center of an archaeological dispute. Chronicles from the Middle Ages say King Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson of Denmark acquired his nickname courtesy of a tooth, probably dead, that looked […]
As war rages, Ukrainian joins thousands in Portugal to pray for peace
Fatima, PortugalReuters Armed with a candle and a blue and yellow flag, Karina Potomkina, a Ukrainian who has been watching her country being ravaged by war from afar, joined tens thousands of faithful in Portugal on Thursday evening to pray for peace. Potomkina, a 42-year-old who moved from the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia to Lisbon […]
Argentine nuns accuse archbishop, others of gender violence
Buenos Aires, ArgentinaAP Several feminist groups are calling for protests Tuesday in support of a community of cloistered nuns who have caused shockwaves by accusing the archbishop of a northern Argentine province and other church officials of gender-based psychological and physical violence. The pairing of feminists and Carmelite nuns is unusual in a country at […]
First German Catholic diocese allows women to perform baptisms
Berlin, GermanyAP The Roman Catholic Diocese of Essen has become the first in Germany to allow women to perform baptisms, citing a lack of priests. The diocese said in a statement Monday that Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck tasked 18 lay ministers – 17 of them women – with conferring the sacrament of admission into the Church […]
Argentine bishop defended by Pope sentenced in abuse case
Buenos Aires, Argentina AP An Argentine court on Friday sentenced a Roman Catholic bishop to four-and-a-half years in prison for sexual abuse of two former seminarians in a major blow to Pope Francis, who had defended Gustavo Zanchetta following initial allegations. The prosecutors’ office in the northern province of Salta reported the conviction and sentence […]