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NEWS ABOUT: pedophile priests

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Lawyer: 200 Sex Abuse Priests Hiding in California

Church needs to alert communities, says Ray Boucher

(Newser) - A stunning 200 priests suspected of committing sexual abuse are living in California, mostly unknown to communities, according to a lawyer who sued the LA Archdiocese on behalf of 500 plaintiffs, reports MSNBC . Because none of those priests was convicted of sex abuse, laws about identifying pedophiles and their locations... More »

Activists: Vatican Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity

Pope, 3 officials named as responsible for rampant sex abuse

(Newser) - In the most substantial effort yet to hold the Vatican's feet to the fire for clergy sexual abuse, human rights lawyers will file a complaint today asking the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute Pope Benedict XVI and three top Vatican officials for crimes against humanity. According to... More »

Boston Archdiocese Lists Accused Priests

159 clerics on list; 91 others omitted

(Newser) - Nearly a decade after a sexual abuse scandal erupted in the Archdiocese of Boston, Cardinal Sean O'Malley has released a list of 159 clerics accused of abusing children. The list was compiled using files that go back as far as 70 years, but the archdiocese has come under fire... More »

Vatican Releases Sex Abuse Files

Holy See denies accusations of cover-up of abusive priest in 1960s

(Newser) - The Vatican attempted to rebut claims it has been covering up sexual abuse by a priest in the United States in the 1960s by releasing files of its internal investigation on the Internet yesterday, reports the Wall Street Journal . The alleged victim filed suit against the Vatican in a federal... More »

Philadelphia Archbishop Retires Amid Scandal

Pope accepts Cardinal Justin Rigali's resignation

(AP) - Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Philadelphia archbishop Cardinal Justin Rigali today, sending him into retirement as the archdiocese faces accusations that it covered up a long-running priest sex abuse scandal. The pope named conservative Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput to succeed him. The brief Vatican announcement said the resignation... More »

Church-Backed Study Blames '60s for Sex Abuse

Priests were ill-equipped to deal with social change, study finds

(Newser) - The Catholic Church's requirement for all priests to be celibate is not to blame for the church's sex abuse scandals, according to a study commissioned by and partially funded by America's Catholic bishops. The study concludes that most sex abuse cases involved priests trained in the '... More »

Vatican to Bishops: You Should Report Abusive Priests

...but we won't make you do so

(Newser) - In a letter to bishops around the world, the Vatican today stated the importance of cooperating with police in reporting sexually abusive priests—but it does not make such reporting mandatory. The AP calls the suggestions "vague" and "nonbinding," and notes that they fall short of US... More »

John Paul Is No Saint

Remember that whole pedophilia scandal he ignored?

(Newser) - On this Easter, Maureen Dowd turns to another resurrection of sorts next Sunday: The beatification of Pope John Paul II, or "PR boost" that Pope Benedict hopes to get from the "swiftest ascension toward sainthood on record." And while there was much to love about the "... More »

Philly Archdiocese Suspends 21 Priests on Sex Charges

Move follows grand jury findings last month

(Newser) - The Catholic Church in Philadelphia has put 21 priests accused of molesting minors on administrative leave, reports the Inquirer . The archdiocese removed them from ministry after a damning grand jury report last month alleged that abuse remained rampant among local priests—and that the diocese seemed more concerned about covering... More »

Alleged Philly Pedophile Priests Still Active

Church hasn't removed most of the 37 mentioned in grand jury report

(Newser) - Dozens of priests accused of sexual abuse are still preaching in Philadelphia, even after a scathing grand jury brought their presence to light. A grand jury last month lambasted the Philadelphia Archdiocese for keeping at least 37 priests credibly accused of improper behavior towards minors in positions that would bring... More »

Secret Vatican Edict: Don't Report Abusive Priests

At a later meeting, bishops told to remember they were 'not policemen'

(Newser) - The Vatican is scrambling to explain a secret 1997 edict rejecting an Irish Catholic Church proposal to report pedophile priests to the local authorities. The “strictly confidential” document, obtained by Ireland’s RTE television for a new documentary, said that reporting priests might give them grounds to appeal to... More »

Archdiocese of Milwaukee Files for Bankruptcy

Hit stalemate over transparency in sex abuse lawsuits

(Newser) - Overwhelmed by 23 sex abuse lawsuits, the Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed for bankruptcy yesterday. In so doing, Milwaukee followed seven other dioceses also forced into bankruptcy by the costs of litigating and settling claims against their priests for sexual abuse. The bankruptcy filing followed a failed mediation effort that... More »

Pope: Sex Abuse at a Level 'We Could Not Have Imagined'

Pontiff issues mea culpa in annual speech

(Newser) - Pope Benedict issued a sobering Christmas speech today, admitting that sexual abuse in the church has reached "an unimaginable dimension,” and calling for major reflection. “We must ask ourselves what we can do to repair as much as possible,” the pontiff proclaimed, according to the New ... More »

Netherlands Finds 1,975 Cases of Catholic Sex Abuse

Report concludes that church hasn't done enough to help victims

(Newser) - Almost 2,000 Netherlanders have come forward as victims of sex abuse at the hands of Catholic priests, an independent commission's report revealed today. That makes the Netherlands the second-biggest victim of Catholic sexual abuse, behind only Ireland, according to Reuters . The report also concluded that the Church had not... More »

Sex Abuse Victim Savagely Attacks Priest

He 'filled my life with rage and bitterness,' says California man

(Newser) - A California man who accused a Catholic priest of sexually abusing him as a child has been arrested after savagely beating the cleric in the lobby of his retirement home, police report. William Lynch, 43, said he dreamed for years of exacting revenge on the man he charged molested him... More »

Pope Canonizes 1st Aussie Saint

Mary MacKillop was excommunicated for outing pedophile priest

(Newser) - Excommunication is an interesting path to sainthood, but Pope Benedict today canonized Australia's first saint, Mary MacKillop, a nun who was once booted from the church in part for outing a pedophile priest. Thousands of Australians were in attendance at the Vatican ceremony, in which five others were also canonized,... More »

Pope 'Penitent' About Sex Abuse

Makes first ever papal visit to England

(Newser) - Pope Benedict made the first papal visit ever to the UK today, but the occasion was overshadowed by questions about the church’s history of sexual abuse. In response to written questions from reporters aboard his plane, Benedict admitted some Vatican culpability, the Wall Street Journal reports. “It’s... More »

'Misogynistic' Church Would Let Polanski Stay a Priest

Maureen Dowd unimpressed by new edict on sexual abuse

(Newser) - If Pope Benedict was trying to do penance for the sex abuse scandal this week, he'd better say a few billion more Hail Marys, because equating the ordination of women as priests with the rape of young children wasn't quite the way to do it, writes Maureen Dowd in the... More »

As Abuse Scandal Spread, Benedict's Office Stalled

Future pope did little, even as bishops complained

(Newser) - The New York Times today delivers another damning assessment of Pope Benedict's handling of the sex abuse scandal as a cardinal. Benedict did little to tackle the problem, even though the office he led for 20 years had been given authority to do so—in the 1920s. The Vatican moved... More »

Vatican Moves to Block Pope Grilling Under Oath

Lawyers argue abuse case has no link to Rome

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI should not be ordered to testify in a Kentucky sex abuse lawsuit, the Vatican's lawyers are arguing. The suit accuses the Vatican of covering up sex abuse, but Vatican lawyers argue that American bishops shouldn't be considered employees of Rome and that the Pope, as a head... More »

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