pedophilia scandal in Catholic church

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After Telling School of Accused Priest on Payroll, a Giant Fine

New Orleans attorney Richard Trahant says he'll appeal the $400K payment to archdiocese

(Newser) - A lawyer who alerted a Catholic high school to past sexual misconduct by its chaplain has been fined $400,000 for violating confidentiality rules by speaking out. Attorney Richard Trahant says he'll appeal the decision handed down Tuesday, which gives him 30 days to pay the Archdiocese of New...

Highest-Ranking Catholic Convicted of Sex Abuse Is a Free Man

Cardinal George Pell cleared of child sex abuse, released from prison Tuesday

(Newser) - Australia's highest court on Tuesday dismissed the convictions of the most senior Catholic found guilty of child sex crimes, the AP reports. Cardinal George Pell welcomed the news and said his trial had not been a referendum on the Catholic Church’s handling of the clergy sex abuse crisis....

Inside This Michigan Building, Group Helped Accused Priests
Why Accused Priests Came
to This Michigan Building
the rundown
Jul 29, 2019 10:20 AM CDT

Why Accused Priests Came to This Michigan Building

AP looks at under-the-radar group Opus Bono Sacerdotii

(Newser) - The visiting priests arrived discreetly, day and night. Stripped of their collars and cassocks, they went unnoticed in the tiny Midwestern town of Dryden, Mich., as they were escorted into a dingy warehouse across from an elementary school playground. They had been brought to town by a small nonprofit group...

West Virginia to Diocese: You 'Knowingly Employed Pedophiles'

State files suit against diocese, bishop

(Newser) - Parents entrusted their children to West Virginia's Wheeling-Charleston Diocese schools and camps—not knowing who their children were potentially being exposed to. The West Virginia attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the diocese accusing it of not conducting adequate background checks for its employees, including priests, and not...

A Potentially 'Groundbreaking' Move on Catholic Church

Sources say feds have subpoenaed Pennsylvania dioceses

(Newser) - The US Justice Department has opened an investigation of child sexual abuse inside the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania, using subpoenas to demand confidential files and testimony from church leaders, according to two people familiar with the probe. The subpoenas, served last week, follow a scathing state grand jury report...

After Damning Grand Jury Report, Priest Pleads Guilty

Rev. David Lee Poulson pleads guilty to corruption of minors, child endangerment

(Newser) - One of two Roman Catholic priests charged as a result of the damning Pennsylvania grand jury investigation admitted he sexually abused children, pleading guilty Wednesday to corruption of minors and child endangerment, the AP reports. The Rev. David Lee Poulson, 65, of Oil City, was arrested earlier this year during...

Hundreds of Pennsylvania 'Predator Priests' Named
Boy Forced to Pose Naked on
Cross: Clergy Sex Abuse Report
grand jury report
Aug 14, 2018 6:15 PM CDT

Boy Forced to Pose Naked on Cross: Clergy Sex Abuse Report

Hundreds of 'predator priests' named in grand jury report

(Newser) - A long-awaited grand jury report examining clergy sex abuse in Pennsylvania was released Tuesday, and it lists more than 300 "predator priests" accused of abusing more than 1,000 child victims over a period of seven decades. The almost 900-page report also has harsh words for Roman Catholic Church...

Pope Accepts Resignation of Disgraced Archbishop

Australian acknowledges 'growing level of hurt'

(Newser) - After repeatedly insisting that he would remain in his position until the appeals process was exhausted, the most senior Catholic cleric ever to be convicted of covering up sexual abuse has resigned. Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson, who was sentenced to 12 months of...

Archbishop Who Covered Up Abuse Sentenced to 12 Months

He failed to report priest's abuse of altar boys

(Newser) - The most senior Roman Catholic cleric to be convicted of covering up child sex abuse was sentenced to 12 months in detention by an Australian court Tuesday in a landmark case welcomed by some abuse survivors as a strong warning to institutions that fail to protect children. Newcastle Magistrate Robert...

Every Bishop in Chile Tells Pope They Will Resign

Their fate is now in hands of pope in midst of church's long-running abuse saga

(Newser) - Every Chilean bishop offered to resign Friday over a sex abuse and cover-up scandal, in the biggest shakeup ever in the Catholic Church's long-running abuse saga. The bishops announced at the end of an emergency summit with Pope Francis that all 31 active bishops and three retired ones had...

Pope's Remarks Stun Victims of Pedophile Priest

He accuses them of slandering bishop

(Newser) - Pope Francis accused victims of Chile's most notorious pedophile of slander Thursday, an astonishing end to a visit meant to help heal the wounds of a sex abuse scandal that has cost the Catholic Church its credibility in the country. Francis said that until he sees proof that Bishop...

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"...

Priest Says Teenage Abuse Victims Can Be Seducers

Father Groeschel apologizes, blames old age, poor health for comments

(Newser) - This inevitably wasn't going to end well: In an interview given earlier this week, a high-profile Roman Catholic leader said that the "youngsters" who are sexually abused by priests are often the instigators, and that priests who are first-time offenders should not go to prison, reports the New ...

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...

Philadelphia Archbishop Retires Amid Scandal

Pope accepts Cardinal Justin Rigali's resignation

(Newser) - 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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