Swiss Catholic church orders study of past sexual abuse
Geneva, Switzerland AP The leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Switzerland have asked two academics to lead a study into the Swiss church’s history of sexual exploitation since the mid-20th century, joining other churches in other countries in Europe and beyond to undergo such a reckoning. The Swiss Conference of Bishops and two other […]
Calls for new laws as tech fuels “explosion” of online sex abuse
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation As a schoolgirl, Sarah Cooper became close to an online buddy called “J”, bonding over a love of pop singers like Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj, and confiding about problems at home. Some two years later he sold her into sexual slavery. Cooper, from the US city of Boston, told how […]
“This is the moment of shame,” Pope says about France abuse report
Vatican CityReuters Pope Francis said on Wednesday he was saddened and ashamed by the Catholic Church’s inability to deal with sexual abuse of children in France and that the church must make itself a “safe home for everyone”. “I would like to express to the victims my sadness, sorrow for the trauma they have suffered […]
WHO employees took part in Congo sex abuse during Ebola crisis, report says
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters More than 80 aid workers including some employed by the World Health Organization were involved in sexual abuse and exploitation during an Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an independent commission said on Tuesday. The probe was prompted by an investigation last year by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and The New […]
Polish Catholic bishop punished over abuse cover-up has died
Warsaw, PolandAP Edward Janiak, a retired Roman Catholic bishop from Poland punished this year by the Vatican for the alleged cover-up of sex abuse of minors by other priests, has died. He was 69. The Kalisz diocese where Janiak had served as bishop said he died Thursday. No cause or place of death was given […]
Increases in aid sex abuse complaints reflect tougher scrutiny, Britain says
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Increases in complaints about sexual abuse and harassment by aid workers are likely a sign that more victims feel able to come forward following closer scrutiny of the sector and increased safeguards, the British Government said on Tuesday. Aid agencies have come under pressure over the issue in recent years after […]
US missionary gets 15 years for sex abuse at Kenya orphanage
Philadelphia, USAP A Christian missionary from Pennsylvania expressed remorse as he was sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison Thursday for sexually assaulting girls at a Kenyan orphanage he led. Gregory Dow, 61, of Lancaster, and his family started the Dow Family Children’s Home near Boito, Kenya, in 2008 and operated it for […]
Dublin Archbishop who helped Ireland heal from abuse retires
Rome, ItalyAP Pope Francis on Tuesday accepted the resignation of the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, who worked to rebuild the Roman Catholic Church’s credibility in Ireland after it was shattered by decades of clergy sexual abuse and cover-up. Martin turned 75 earlier this year, the mandatory retirement age for bishops. Francis named Bishop Dermot […]
McCarrick report shifts views of Pope John Paul II in a polarised Catholic Church
Vatican CityRNS For more than a week at the end of October, massive demonstrations swamped the streets of major cities in Poland as women marched against a court decision increasing abortion restrictions in the country. The demonstrators, accusing the Roman Catholic Church of being a partner with Poland’s increasingly authoritarian conservative government, also showed their anger by […]
Polish bishops defend John Paul II after McCarrick report
Warsaw, PolandAP Polish bishops defended St John Paul II on Friday against evidence that he rejected reports that ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick slept with his seminarians, seeking to salvage a papal legacy that has been badly tarnished by his inaction on clergy sexual abuse. The head of the Polish bishops conference, Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, said in […]