Has Pope Francis made it OK for priests to hug children?

“I make sure,” said my friend, “that I am never alone with my nephews and nieces.” That comment came from a priest. We were talking about the most sensitive topic imaginable: the fallout from the clerical sexual abuse scandals and the way that has affected our priesthood. It is something that many priests often discuss [...]

Vatican: Pedophilia scandals weigh on body to elect next pope

Activists fighting for truth and justice for victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests hold out little hope for progress under the next pope as controversy brews over a US cardinal who covered up for predator clerics. A Catholic association has asked retired Los Angeles archbishop Roger Mahony to stay away from next month’s conclave [...]

Inquiry will test Catholic church’s good faith

Chris Masters, of The Moonlight State fame, wrote that when Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen was trying to scuttle the Fitzgerald inquiry he warned colleagues that if you lifted an old piece of tin you were likely to find a dead cat or an angry snake. Prime Minister Julia Gillard is doubtlessly aware plenty of stinking cats [...]

Australia’s Catholic Church acknowledges ‘shame’ of child abuse

The head of Australia’s powerful Catholic Church acknowledged the “shame” of child sex abuse among the clergy and welcomed a sweeping inquiry on Tuesday, but also warned that the extent of the problem within his church had been exaggerated. On Monday, Prime Minister Julia Gillard ordered a rare Royal Commission, the highest form of investigation [...]

Australia launches rare national inquiry into child sex abuse

The Australian government stepped in on Monday to broaden inquiries into widespread allegations of institutional child abuse, ordering a rare commission into a scandal that has focused attention on the rich and powerful Catholic Church. The government of Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been under increasing pressure to act after explosive allegations of child sex [...]

Widow sues Catholic Church over abuse-related suicide

A Dutch widow is suing the Roman Catholic Church for 100 000 euros over her husband’s suicide two decades ago as the result of years of sexual abuse in his youth, local media said Thursday. The unnamed woman from the eastern city of Enschede “claims 100 000 euros ($129 000) from the Roman Catholic Church which she holds [...]

Inquiry into Catholic Church abuse begins

A Victorian parliamentary committee has started holding the first public hearings in a landmark inquiry into child sex abuse within religious organisations. The inquiry was launched by the Victorian Government earlier this year after a concerted campaign by victims’ groups. The inquiry has been flooded with hundreds of submissions, with many calling for legislation that [...]

Australia: Catholic Church hid abuse – Vic Police

The Catholic Church and other religious groups hide accusations of abuse rather than expose suspected offenders, Victoria Police says. In its submission to the state government’s inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations, Victoria Police says victims of sexual crime are too often being talked out of reporting the matters [...]

Vatican: Chilean Catholic bishop accused of abuse resigns

Pope Benedict accepted the resignation on Tuesday of a bishop in Chile accused of sexually abusing a minor, the latest in a series of such scandals to rock the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican did not specify the reason for the resignation of Bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernandez of the city of Iquique but it [...]

Suspicions, doubts linger after pope’s butler verdict

The swift conviction of Pope Benedict’s former butler leaves lingering suspicions that he was a pawn in a much larger Vatican intrigue involving infighting in the papal court and alleged corruption at the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church. Despite the Vatican’s desire to quickly turn the page on one of the worst scandals [...]

Australia: Church reveals “shocking” child abuse figures

The Catholic Church in the Australian state of Victoria has revealed its clergy were responsible for more than 600 “shameful and shocking” cases of child sexual abuse dating back to the 1930s. The Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, said the figures were “horrific” – though campaigners said the number of victims could be as high [...]

Catholic bishop says church’s credibility on sexual abuse is ‘shredded’

The U.S. Catholic bishops’ point man on sexual abuse has said the hierarchy’s credibility on fixing the problem is “shredded” and that the situation is comparable to the Reformation, when “the episcopacy, the regular clergy, even the papacy were discredited.” Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of Joliet, Ill., last month told a conference of staffers who [...]

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