Tag Archives: Vatican

The Washington Post reports: The Vatican on Friday announced sanctions against retired West Virginia Bishop Michael Bransfield, but stopped short of defrocking him, after investigating accusations of sexual harassment and financial misconduct. The sanctions, ordered by Pope Francis and detailed in a letter posted to the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston’s website, prohibits Bransfield from public ministry and from residing in his …

From a new survey by Pew Research: More than 15 years after U.S. bishops pledged “zero tolerance” for sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, reports of previously unpublicized misconduct continue to receive wide media coverage. A Pennsylvania grand jury last year uncovered decades of sexual abuse and coverup by Catholic leaders, and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick – formerly the archbishop …

USA Today reports: In its first statement on gender identity, the Vatican on Monday rejected the idea that transgender people can change their gender identity in a document meant to instruct Catholic teachers and students on sexuality and gender. The document, titled “Male and Female He Created Them,” suggests only men and women are sexually complementary, and that changing norms …

CBS News reports: The U.S. Catholic Church spent $10.6 million on lobbyists to prevent victims of clerical sex abuse from suing for damages. According to a new report, the money was doled out from 2011 through 2018 in eight northeastern states where bills to reform statute of limitations laws were either in the works or being considered. “This report lays …

The Christian Post reports: Despite opposition from traditionalists, Pope Francis has officially approved a change to the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:13 that replaces “lead us not into temptation” with “do not let us fall into temptation.” Pope Francis first signaled support for amending the “lead us not into temptation” part of the Lord’s Prayer in 2017, arguing that it …

Time Magazine reports: Pope Francis said Saturday that abortion can never be condoned, even when the fetus is gravely sick or likely to die, and urged doctors and priests to support families to carry such pregnancies to term. Speaking to a Vatican-sponsored anti-abortion conference, Francis said the opposition to abortion isn’t a religious issue but a human one. “Is it …

NBC News reports: Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking law Thursday requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-up by their superiors to church authorities, in an important new effort to hold the Catholic hierarchy accountable for failing to protect their flocks. The new church law provides whistle-blower protections for anyone making a …

Via press release from the Vatican: In recent months, thousands of migrants have arrived in Mexico, having travelled more than 4,000 kilometres on foot and with makeshift vehicles from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Men and women, often with young children, flee poverty and violence, hoping for a better future in the United States. However, the US border remains closed …

The Washington Blade reports: A group of more than 50 LGBTI rights advocates on Friday met with a high-ranking Vatican official and renewed their calls for the Catholic Church to condemn laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. ILGA World in a press release said the activists met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, and presented him …

NPR reports: Pope Francis issued a new decree making it mandatory for Vatican City officials or its diplomats around the globe to immediately report allegations of sexual abuse to authorities or face possible jail time. The edict, called a Motu Proprio and which goes into effect on June 1, comes after an international summit of church leaders convened at the …

Just out from Gallup Polling: As the Catholic church responds to more allegations of sexual abuse of young people by priests, an increasing percentage of Catholics are re-examining their commitment to the religion. Thirty-seven percent of U.S. Catholics, up from 22% in 2002, say news of the abuse has led them to question whether they would remain in the church. …

NBC News reports: The most senior Catholic cleric ever to be convicted of child sex abuse was sentenced to six years in prison in Australia on Wednesday morning. Cardinal George Pell, 77, faced as many as 50 years in prison after being convicted in December for the molestation of two choir boys while he was the archbishop of Melbourne in …

France 24 reports: The archbishop of Lyon, the most senior French Catholic cleric caught up in the paedophilia scandals that have rocked the church, was convicted of helping covering up abuse and handed a six-month suspended jail term on Thursday. Cardinal Philippe Barbarin was found guilty of failing to report the abuse of a minor between 2014 and 2015. His …

The Guardian reports: George Pell is arguing his child sexual abuse convictions should be overturned or he should receive a retrial, because of a “fundamental irregularity” that prevented him from entering a not-guilty plea in front of his jury. The Victorian court of appeal has released Pell’s grounds for appeal against his December conviction for sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys …

CNN reports: One of the most powerful men in the Roman Catholic Church was found guilty of multiple historical child sex offenses at a secret trial in Melbourne in December, the existence of which can only now be revealed. Australian Cardinal George Pell, 77, is almost certain to face prison after a jury found him guilty of one charge of …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Pope Francis closed an unprecedented Vatican summit on clerical sex abuse by promising to protect children and help victims of what he called a plague of clerical sex abuse, but he offered few policy specifics. The pope, in his widely awaited closing speech on Sunday, said the church’s response should avoid “defensiveness that fails to …

The Wall Street Journal reports: French authorities placed the Vatican’s envoy to France under investigation for allegedly sexually assaulting a local Paris official last month, the latest in a string of embarrassing episodes involving Holy See diplomats. Paris prosecutors opened an inquiry targeting Archbishop Luigi Ventura, the Vatican’s 74-year-old papal ambassador to France, after receiving a complaint from the office …

The Washington Post reports: D.C.’s embattled Catholic leader, Donald Wuerl, under fire in recent days for untruthful statements regarding what he knew about the alleged sexual misconduct of his predecessor, Theodore McCarrick, apologized late Tuesday, saying he forgot he knew about the allegations and that it was “never the intention to provide false information.” Wuerl apologized to former priest Robert …

Axios reports: In a lengthy and highly unusual letter to U.S. bishops on Thursday, Pope Francis wrote that the mounting child sex abuse crisis has jeopardized the Catholic Church’s credibility. He lambasted church leaders for focusing “more on pointing fingers than on seeking paths of reconciliation.” “This has led to a growing sense of uncertainty, distrust and vulnerability among the …

The Associated Press reports: The Vatican spokesman, Greg Burke, and his deputy resigned abruptly Monday amid an overhaul of the Vatican’s communications operations and a crisis period in Pope Francis’ papacy. The departures of Burke and his deputy, Paloma Garcia Ovejero, signaled that problems associated with Francis’ reform of the Vatican bureaucracy came to a head at a bad time. …