Tag Archives: Catholic Church

German Cardinal Accused In Abuse Coverup Offers To Resign After His “Spiritual Timeout” Granted By Pope

The Associated Press reports: A prominent Roman Catholic archbishop who faced strong criticism for his handling of the church’s sexual abuse scandal in Germany said Wednesday that he has offered his resignation to Pope Francis following a “spiritual timeout” granted by the pontiff. Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, the archbishop of Cologne, marked his return to work with a lengthy letter …

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Elderly Nun Jailed After Stealing $800K For Vegas Trips

Courthouse News reports: A federal judge sentenced an 80-year-old nun to a year in prison after she confessed to stealing more than $800,000 from the elementary school where she worked as principal to, among other things, fund her gambling trips to Las Vegas. Mary Margaret Kreuper must also pay $825,338 in restitution, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s …

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Ex-Pope Sorry For Mishandling Clergy Abuse Cases

The Associated Press reports: Retired Pope Benedict XVI asked forgiveness Tuesday for any “grievous faults” in his handling of clergy sex abuse cases, but admitted to no personal or specific wrongdoing after an independent report criticized his actions in four cases while he was archbishop of Munich, Germany. “I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church. All the greater …

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Italian Catholic Military Chaplain Condemns Anti-LGBT Archbishop For Spreading Deranged Anti-Vax Claims

The Associated Press reports: Italy’s Catholic military chaplain has pushed back strongly against calls by a former Vatican ambassador for the armed forces to resist COVID-19 vaccine mandates, saying the ambassador’s “conspiracy theories” were a source of confusion and disinformation. Archbishop Santo Marcianò penned a letter to Italian law enforcement personnel in response to the latest missive from Archbishop Carlo …

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Anti-Vax Italian Priest Who Claimed COVID Vaccines Contain “Aborted Embryos” Dies Of Something At 51

The Daily Beast reports: An Italian priest who shunned COVID-19 vaccines over the false belief that they contain “aborted embryos” has died at the age of 51 after battling coronavirus for several weeks. Don Paolo Romeo had resisted pleas to get vaccinated from friends and colleagues who tried to talk sense into him, according to the L’Unione Sarda newspaper. Romeo, …

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NYC Priest Axed Over “Inappropriate” Chats With Teens

The New York Daily News reports: A Queens priest has been stripped of his clerical collar after a Catholic Church review board substantiated claims of misconduct, officials said Monday. Not only was the Rev. John O’Connor forced to step down as pastor of St. Gregory the Great in Bellerose, he was completely removed from the ministry upon the recommendation of …

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Pope Francis Condemns “Infodemic” Of Anti-Vax Lies

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis denounced fake news about COVID-19 and vaccines Friday, blasting the “distortion of reality based on fear” but also urging that people who believe such lies are helped to understand true scientific facts. Francis met with Catholic journalists who have formed a fact-checking network to try to combat misinformation about the pandemic. Francis has frequently …

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Pope Francis Calls On Parents To Accept LGBT Children

Reuters reports: Pope Francis said on Wednesday that parents of gay children should not condemn them but offer them support. He spoke in unscripted comments at his weekly audience in reference to difficulties that parents can face in raising offspring. Those issues included “parents who see different sexual orientations in their children and how to handle this, how to accompany …

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Ex-Pope Benedict Accused Of Ignoring Abuse Reports

The BBC reports: Former Pope Benedict XVI failed to act over four child abuse cases when he was archbishop of Munich, a German probe into the Catholic Church has alleged. Pope Benedict, then called Josef Ratzinger, held the position from 1977 to 1982. He has denied the accusations. But a new report into historical abuse allegations carried out by a …

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Catholic Diocese Apologizes For Asking Court To Decide Whether Child Victim “Took Pleasure” In Rape By Priest

ABC News reports: A Catholic diocese in Poland apologized today for having asked a court to determine whether a man who was sexually abused as a child by a priest is gay, and whether the sexual contact may have consequently been pleasurable for him. Following wide criticism, the Bielsko-Zywiec diocese said that its letter to the court should not have …

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Polish Catholic Diocese Asks Court To Decide Whether 12-Year-Old Victim “Took Pleasure” In Rape By Priest

Notes From Poland reports: A Catholic curia in Poland has asked for a court to determine the sexuality of the victim of a priest and whether he took “pleasure in the intimate relationship”. The victim says he was 12 years old when the abuse began. Last year, Janusz Szymik – pictured above as a child – launched a civil case …

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Vatican Issues Vaccine Mandate For Tourists And Staff

Religion News Service reports: The Vatican has tightened its COVID-19 regulations by requiring the use of FFP2 masks (similar to N95 masks) inside and making vaccinations and booster shots mandatory for employees and visitors wishing to enter the Vatican Museums and gardens. In an attached document, the Vatican also issued fines for people who do not respect the new regulations. …

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Pope Condemns Anti-Vax Lies And “Cancel Culture”

The Wall Street Journal reports: Pope Francis on Monday warned that antivaccine misinformation was undermining recovery from the pandemic and denounced a “cancel culture” intolerant of traditional values that he said was impeding cooperation among the world’s societies. The pope’s remarks came in his annual speech to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, in which he typically highlights urgent international …

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Pope Francis: Having Pets Instead Of Babies Is “Selfish”

Agence France-Presse reports: Pope Francis risked the ire of the world’s childless dog and cat owners by suggesting people who substitute pets for children exhibit “a certain selfishness”. Speaking on parenthood during a general audience at the Vatican, the pontiff lamented that pets “sometimes take the place of children” in society. “Today … we see a form of selfishness. We …

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Pope Prays For End To COVID In Christmas Address

The Associated Press reports: Pope Francis prayed Saturday for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, using his Christmas Day address to urge health care for all, vaccines for the poor and for dialogue to prevail in resolving the world’s conflicts. Amid a record-setting rise in COVID-19 cases in Italy this week, only a few thousand people flocked to a rain-soaked …

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Vatican Sorry For Removing LGBTQ Resource From Site

The Associated Press reports: A Vatican official has apologized to a leading Catholic LGBTQ advocacy group for having yanked a reference to it from the Vatican website, saying he realized the move caused pain and that the Catholic Church does indeed want to include gays and hear from them. The Vatican’s General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops, which is …

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Pope Cans Paris Archbishop Over Affair With Woman

Religion News Service reports: Pope Francis said Monday he accepted the resignation of the archbishop of Paris because the monsignor could no longer govern effectively thanks to the “gossip” about his relationship with a woman a decade ago. Francis was asked en route home from Greece about the surprise decision, which came only days after Archbishop Michel Aupetit put his …

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Anti-LGBT Catholic Archbishop Tells Press He’s Anti-Vax

The National Catholic Reporter reports: San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has revealed he is not vaccinated against the coronavirus and suggested — incorrectly — that the inoculations the federal government approved to prevent COVID-19 “are not really vaccines.” “We think of a vaccine as a shot that gives you immunity to a disease for life or at least for a …

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German Catholic Church Holds “Penance Service” Over Sexual Abuse Scandal: “This Is A Confession Of Guilt”

Religion News Service reports: Germany’s Roman Catholic archdiocese of Cologne held a service of penance Thursday for cases of sexual abuse by clergy, saying the ritual was not an absolution for the perpetrators but a “confession of guilt.” The German Catholic Church’s handling of sexual abuse reports has caused a crisis in Cologne, where the archbishop, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki …

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US Bishops Drop Effort To Deny Communion To Biden

The Washington Post reports: U.S. Catholic bishops Wednesday overwhelmingly passed their first document in 15 years on the meaning of Communion, emphasizing in the text the “special responsibility” of Catholic public figures to shape their own views based on “the Church’s faith and moral law.” The document did not mention politicians who support abortion rights or single out abortion in …

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