priest sex abuse

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Pope Quietly Trims Sanctions for Sex Abusers

He declined to defrock priest found guilty of sex crimes against children

(Newser) - Pope Francis has quietly reduced sanctions against a handful of pedophile priests, applying his vision of a merciful church even to its worst offenders in ways that survivors of abuse and the pope's own advisers question. One case has come back to haunt him: An Italian priest who received...

Priest Allegedly Hosted Orgies, Acted as 'Pimp' for 15 Women

Italian police are investigating

(Newser) - Not in the job description for a priest: organizing sex parties and running a side gig as a pimp. But that's what Italy's Father Andrea Contin is accused of doing, per the New York Daily News . A bishop got complaints about the 48-year-old, a parish priest in Padua,...

Cardinal: Clerics Swam Naked With Boys

Pope Francis' adviser says Church 'made enormous mistakes'

(Newser) - One of Pope Francis' top advisers acknowledged Sunday that the Catholic Church "has made enormous mistakes" in allowing thousands of children to be raped and molested by priests over centuries, testifying at an extraordinary public hearing of Australia's Royal Commission via videolink from just a few blocks from...

US Archbishop Quits Amid Sex Abuse Coverup Charges

As Vatican announces former envoy will stand trial on molestation charges

(Newser) - The archbishop of St. Paul, Minn., stepped down this morning over allegations that his deeply troubled archdiocese repeatedly failed to protect children from what the AP is calling "unspeakable harm from a pedophile priest." Out of a job is Archbishop John Nienstedt, as well as Auxiliary Bishop Lee...

Archdiocese Charged With Failing to Protect Kids

Prosecutors say Minneapolis church authorities ignored pedophile priest

(Newser) - Criminal charges were filed today against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for its handling of a priest who molested children, with a prosecutor saying church leaders "turned a blind eye" to the abuse. Ramsey County prosecutors charged the archdiocese as a corporation with six gross...

Pope to Abuse Victims: I Beg Your Forgiveness

Francis meets with 6 abuse survivors, apologizes for 'sins of omission'

(Newser) - In a gesture that's grabbing some attention, Pope Francis today met with victims of clergy sexual abuse—six of them, two each from Britain, Germany, and Ireland—and apologized for the "sins of omission on the part of Church leaders who did not respond adequately to reports of...

Pope to Meet Sex Abuse Victims, Declares 'Zero Tolerance'

Vatican abuse probe is looking at three bishops: Francis

(Newser) - Pope Francis announced today he would meet soon with a group of sex abuse victims at the Vatican and declared "zero tolerance" for any member of the clergy who would violate a child. Francis also revealed that three bishops are currently under investigation by the Vatican for abuse-related reasons,...

Vatican: We're a Model in Handling Sex Abuse

Envoy tells UN Church has defrocked hundreds of priests since '04

(Newser) - Sexual abuse of children is a "plague and a scourge" that the Catholic Church has been fighting effectively over the last 10 years, the Vatican's ambassador to Geneva told the United Nations Committee on Torture yesterday. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi told the committee that 848 priests who abused children...

Pope: I Take 'Personal Responsibility' for Abuse

Victims' groups not appeased by his remarks on priests' scandal

(Newser) - Pope Francis asked for forgiveness for the Catholic Church's various sexual abuse scandals today, reports the AP , which notes that it is the first time he, or any pope, has taken responsibility for them. "I feel compelled to take personal responsibility for all the evil that some priests"...

Pope Names 4 Women to Sex Abuse Team

One of whom was a sex abuse victim

(Newser) - Pope Francis has created a commission to advise him on priest sex abuse, but it's unclear whether the group will wield any power against abusers and bishops who cover up for them, report the Daily Beast and the AP . The commission consists of four men, three of whom are...

UN Rips Vatican: You Failed Kids, Saved Sex Abusers

Church 'regrets' that panel is interfering with its teaching

(Newser) - The United Nations is hammering the Vatican for what a panel calls a failure to fully address sex abuse in the Catholic Church. "The Holy See has consistently placed the preservation of the reputation of the church and the protection of the perpetrators above children’s best interests,"...

Chicago Archdiocese Reveals Decades of Sex Abuse

6K pages of documents show priests moved, promoted after allegations

(Newser) - The Archdiocese of Chicago has released more than 6,000 pages of internal documents showing decades of hidden sexual abuse by 30 priests. Priests accused of abuse still received promotions, while alleged victims faced church-backed investigations, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The church moved accused priests between parishes and left abuse...

Benedict Defrocked 400 Pedophile Priests in 2 Years

Numbers spiked dramatically in 2011-12, says AP

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI defrocked nearly 400 priests over just two years for sexually molesting children, according to a document obtained by the AP . The statistics for 2011 and 2012 show a dramatic increase over the 171 priests removed in 2008 and 2009, when the Vatican first provided details on the...

Court Reverses Milestone Conviction in Priest Abuse

Catholic Church official who supervised guilty priest wins on appeal

(Newser) - A Roman Catholic church official who has been jailed for more than a year for his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints had his landmark conviction reversed today. A three-judge Superior Court panel unanimously rejected prosecution arguments that Monsignor William Lynn, the first US church official ever charged or convicted for...

Pope Mentions Sex Abuse for First Time

He also meets with Netanyahu

(Newser) - Pope Francis made direct mention of the Catholic Church's problems with sexual abuse today, asking bishops from the Netherlands to "continue supporting" victims "on their painful path to healing." It's the first time he's publicly addressed the issue, according to the National Catholic Reporter...

Archdiocese Kept Lid on Minn. Priest's Sex 'Compulsions'

Curtis Wehmeyer was allowed to keep working

(Newser) - The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis made it clear that once officials heard about a priest's abuse of two boys, they went straight to law enforcement. Trouble is, the archdiocese actually knew about what Minnesota Public Radio calls Curtis Wehmeyer's "sexual compulsions" for almost a decade—...

Milwaukee Archdiocese Releases Priest Sexual Abuse Records

Records secured by victims fighting archdiocese in bankruptcy court

(Newser) - The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has released 6,000 pages of documents detailing the church's response (and lack thereof) to sexual abuse by its priests over several decades—including the personnel files of 42 priests known to have sexually abused minors, and the depositions of church leaders. Amongst the depositions...

Disgraced LA Cardinal to Vote on Next Pope

But Benedict won't

(Newser) - It's been less than two weeks since Roger Mahony was pulled from all public duties over his role in covering up child molestation cases. But that won't stop the LA cardinal from heading to Rome to help pick a successor to Pope Benedict, the LA Times reports. The...

In 'Extraordinary' Move, Cardinal Relieved of Duties

Former LA archbishop Roger Mahony remains 'in good standing': rep

(Newser) - The former archbishop of Los Angeles has been removed from all public duties due to the central role he played in the coverup of child abuse . Tens of thousands of pages revealing the extent of the abuse crisis, now posted on the church's website, are "brutal and painful...

Judge: Accused Sex-Abuse Priests Must Be Named

Roman Catholic Church ordered to release its files

(Newser) - A judge today ordered the release of thousands of pages of personnel files that would identify Roman Catholic priests accused of child molestation and their leaders in the church. The ruling by Superior Court Judge Emilie Elias contradicts a previous order in 2010 by another judge that allowed the Archdiocese...

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