Tag Archives: Catholic Church

Pope Francis Denies Plan To Resign In New Memoir

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis says he has no plans to resign and isn’t suffering from any health problems that would require doing so, saying in a new memoir he still has “many projects to bring to fruition.” Francis, 87, made the comments in an autobiography, “Life: My Story Through History,” which is being published Tuesday, the 11th anniversary …

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Pope Francis Calls On Ukraine To Negotiate End To War

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis said in an interview that Ukraine, facing a possible defeat, should have the courage to negotiate an end to the war with Russia and not be ashamed to sit at the same table to carry out peace talks. “I think that the strongest one is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about …

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Pope Forces Out Polish Bishop For Abuse Coverup

Reuters reports: Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Polish bishop for negligence in handling cases of sexual abuse committed by some clergy against minors, his representatives in the country said on Saturday. Andrzej Dziuba [photo], a bishop in Lowicz, had not informed law enforcement authorities about the case of a priest from his diocese who abused a 14-year-old …

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St. Patrick’s Cathedral Urged To Hold Exorcism After “Scandalous” Funeral For Trans Activist Cecilia Gentili

The Catholic News Agency reports: The pastor of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City said the church has offered a Mass of Reparation after a controversial irreverent funeral service was held there this week for a well-known transgender advocate. The Manhattan cathedral hosted the Feb. 15 funeral service for Cecilia Gentili, an activist who helped to decriminalize sex work …

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Pope: Africans Are A “Special Case” On Homosexuality

Reuters reports: Pope Francis said in an interview published on Monday that Africans were a “special case” in the opposition of bishops and many other people in the continent to homosexuality. But he said he was confident that, except for Africans, critics of his decision to allow blessings for same-sex couples would eventually understand it. “Those who protest vehemently belong …

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Pope Francis Doubles-Down On Blessing Gay Couples

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis has defended his controversial decision to let priests bless same-sex couples but admitted that “solitude is a price you have to pay” when you make difficult decisions. Francis doubled down and insisted that the “Lord blesses everyone,” during a Sunday interview with an Italian talk show. But he acknowledged the remarkable opposition his decision …

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Cardinal Escapes Second Abuse Trial Due To Dementia

The Washington Post reports: The effort to try Theodore McCarrick on charges of criminal sex assault ended Wednesday in a Wisconsin courtroom when the former archbishop of Washington was deemed incompetent because of dementia. McCarrick, 93, had been charged with sexual assault in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor, in connection with accusations of fondling an 18-year-old family friend at a …

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Pope Francis Calls For “Universal Ban” On Surrogacy

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis called Monday for a universal ban on what he called the “despicable” practice of surrogate motherhood, as he included the “commercialization” of pregnancy in an annual speech listing threats to global peace and human dignity. Saying a child is a gift and “never the basis of a commercial contract,” he called for a global …

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Pope Appeals For Peace In Gaza In Xmas Message

Bloomberg News reports: Pope Francis on Monday blasted the weapons industry and its “instruments of death” that fuel wars as he made a Christmas Day appeal for peace in the world and in particular between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to the throngs of people below, Francis said he grieved the “abominable attack” …

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Catholic Cardinal Claims Western Countries Would Throw Jesus In Prison For Being Anti-LGBTQ [VIDEO]

Posted to the Family Research Council’s website: A Roman Catholic cardinal is claiming that Christ would be imprisoned in today’s Western society for His position on sex, marriage, and gender. Appearing on GB News America on Sunday, German Cardinal and former head of the Vatican’s doctrine office Gerhard Müller addressed the threat that transgender ideology poses to the family. “Christ …

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Fox Priest Rages That Pope Has “Placed Priests Who Uphold Doctrine On Sodomy In A Terrible Position”

The New York Times reports: Pope Francis announced on Monday that he would allow priests to bless same-sex couples, a shift that angered some conservatives but was celebrated by those who said that the decision was a substantial step in moving the church toward greater acceptance of L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics. “I will never confer a blessing upon two men or two …

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Archbishop Secretly Worked To Free Child Rapist Priest

The Guardian reports: As he reached the end of his 41-year life, Kevin Portier had endured child rape at the hands of a southern Louisiana Catholic priest for whom he had served as an altar boy; a highly publicized trial that sent the clergyman to prison for the rest of his days; and the trauma associated with those experiences. But …

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Pope Francis Approves Blessings For Same-Sex Couples

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis has formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, with a new document explaining a radical change in Vatican policy by insisting that people seeking God’s love and mercy shouldn’t be subject to “an exhaustive moral analysis” to receive it. The document from the Vatican’s doctrine office, released Monday, elaborates on a letter Francis …

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Catholic Cemetery Erects Memorial To Abuse Victims

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports: A new memorial stone in Yakima’s Calvary Catholic Cemetery is meant to prompt “quiet reflection and prayer” for clergy sex abuse victims. It also has generated criticism from statewide victims’ advocates and a demand to update the list of diocesan sex offenders. Yakima Bishop Joseph Tyson [photo] dedicated the monument. The granite memorial, on the south …

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Vatican Cardinal Gets Five Years For Embezzlement

The Washington Post reports: Inside the high walls of the Holy See, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu — former head of the office of “miracles” that minted saints — was considered papabile, a possible next pope. Then his career collided with church prosecutors, who charged the 75-year-old Italian and nine other officials with corruption, setting up the Vatican’s trial of the …

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RI Catholic Priest Gets Six Years On Child Porn Charges

The Providence Journal reports: Calling his crimes egregious and an enormous violation of the trust to the parishioners he once served, a federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a former Roman Catholic priest to serve six years in prison. “I’m strongly inclined to give you more than that,” U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith said in sentencing Rev. James Ward …

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CA Diocese To Seek Bankruptcy Over Abuse Lawsuits

CBS News reports: The Diocese of Sacramento will seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after more than 250 lawsuits claiming sexual abuse by clergy and other staff, Bishop Jaime Soto said on Saturday. “There are many victim-survivors awaiting compensation for the reprehensible sins committed against them,” Soto said in a statement to his parishioners. “It is the sickening sin of sexual …

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Catholic Priest Gets Five Years On Child Sex Charges

The CBC reports: A Roman Catholic priest on P.E.I. has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of a teenage boy in the 1990s. Maurice Joseph Praught, 70, entered the plea in a Charlottetown courtroom Tuesday morning. He was arrested in 2022 following a joint investigation by Summerside police and the …

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Milwaukee Archdiocese Suspends Priest After Catholic Site Says He’s In A Long-Term Relationship With A Man

Milwaukee’s Fox affiliate reports: The Archdiocese of Milwaukee put a high-ranking priest on administrative leave, as it launched a formal investigation that centers on an allegation of a consensual relationship. Fr. Mark Payne serves in the senior Archdiocese of Milwaukee position of judicial vicar. He has also been pastor of two North Shore parishes since 2022: St. Eugene in Fox …

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Bankrupt Long Island Diocese Makes “Best And Final” Offer Of $200M To Settle Hundreds Of Abuse Lawsuits

Patch reports: The Diocese of Rockville Centre has made its “best and final proposal” for victims of sexual abuse. As Patch reported in Oct. 2022, hundreds of sexual abuse claims were frozen in the wake of the diocese’s declared bankruptcy. The offer announced on Tuesday totals $200 million in compensation, Diocese spokesperson Sean Dolan said. The proposal from the Diocese …

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