Catholic Church sex scandals

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Gay Abuse Victim Spoke to Pope. Francis' Words Were 'Forceful'

Juan Carlos Cruz said Francis told him: 'God made you like this and loves you like this'

(Newser) - While religious conservatives have long argued being gay is a choice and even a "disorder," Pope Francis has been known to push back on those arguments, most famously with his 2013 statement : "Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?" Now...

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...

World's No. 3 Catholic Faces Sexual Assault Trial

George Pell pleads not guilty

(Newser) - A judge has ordered Cardinal George Pell to stand trial on sexual assault charges, making him the most senior Catholic ever to be tried in connection with the church's sex scandals. Pell—Australia's most senior Catholic and, as Vatican treasurer, the church's No. 3 official worldwide—formally...

Jesuit University Cuts Off Hannibal Buress Mid-Set

Loyola didn't like jokes about priest abuse

(Newser) - Somebody at Chicago's Loyola University wasn't laughing when Hannibal Buress started cracking jokes about Catholic Church sex scandals during a performance Saturday night. The funnyman, who'd been booked to appear at the Jesuit college's two-night "Colossus" show, had his microphone cut soon after his set...

Pope Apologizes to Abuse Victims Over Comments

But he continues to defend Chilean bishop accused of cover-up

(Newser) - Pope Francis apologized for insisting that victims of pedophile priests show "proof" to be believed, saying he realized it was a "slap in the face" to victims that he never intended. But he doubled down on defending a Chilean bishop accused by victims of covering up for the...

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...

Child Abuse Probe Attacks Catholic Priests' Celibacy

Australian commission slams 'catastrophic failures'

(Newser) - An Australian inquiry into child abuse on Friday recommended that the Catholic Church lift its demand of celibacy from clergy and that priests be prosecuted for failing to report evidence of pedophilia heard in the confessional. Australia's Royal Commission into Institution Responses to Child Sexual Abuse delivered its final...

Freed Pedophile Priest Moves Across From Kids' Dance Studio

Mass. town is upset as Paul Shanley moves in after controversial release from prison

(Newser) - A defrocked priest at the heart of Boston's Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal was released from prison Friday and settled into an apartment across the street from a children's dance studio. Paul Shanley, who was convicted of raping a boy in the 1980s, moved to the town of...

Vatican's No. 3 Leaves Rome to Face Sexual Assault Charges

Cardinal George Pell arrived in Australia on Monday

(Newser) - The most senior Vatican cleric to ever be charged in the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal returned to Australia on Monday to stand trial in his home state on charges alleging he sexually assaulted multiple people years ago. Cardinal George Pell, Pope Francis' top financial adviser, avoided waiting media...

Vatican's No. 3 Official Charged With 'Historical' Sex Crimes

Cardinal George Pell denies accusations

(Newser) - Cardinal George Pell, the third highest-ranking Vatican official, has long been accused of mishandling the church's response to clergy abuse scandals in his native Australia. Police in Victoria state now say he might have been one of the abusers. Australian police say the 76-year-old Vatican treasurer faces "multiple...

Shocking Scale of Priest Sex Abuse in Australia Revealed

7% of Catholic priests were accused of abusing children

(Newser) - A staggering 7% of priests in Australia's Catholic Church were accused of sexually abusing children between 1950 and 2010, a lawyer said Monday as officials investigating institutional abuse across Australia revealed for the first time the extent of the crisis. The statistics were released during the opening address of...

2 Pa. Bishops Hid the Abuse of Hundreds of Kids: AG

They paid off victims, moved alleged abusers: report

(Newser) - Over four decades, two Catholic bishops in Pennsylvania covered up the abuse of hundreds of children at the hands of more than 50 religious leaders, according to a grand jury report . A 147-page document notes Joseph Adamec and James Hogan of the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese moved offending priests between parishes, paid...

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...

In First, US Bishop Convicted in Porn Coverup Resigns

Missouri's Robert Finn was under pressure after failing to report priest's porn

(Newser) - Pope Francis today accepted the resignation of a US bishop who pleaded guilty to failing to report a priest suspected of child abuse in the first known case of a pope sanctioning bishops for covering up for pedophiles. The Vatican said today that Bishop Robert Finn had offered his resignation...

Disgraced Cardinal Resigns After Sex Inquiry

Keith O'Brien gives up rights, privileges of cardinal

(Newser) - After sending him away for "penance," Pope Francis has officially accepted the resignation of disgraced cardinal Keith O'Brien. The cardinal resigned as archbishop in 2013 when he was accused of inappropriately touching four priests, but the latest move means O'Brien will give up the rights and...

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"...

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,"...

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—...

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