If priests are forced to violate the confessional seal, no religion is safe a Dominican priest says. A proposed change in law in California would legally require priests to violate the sacramental seal of confession in suspected cases of child abuse or neglect. Fr Pius Pietrzyk OP, who is an assistant professor of canon law, Read more
A hit documentary, “Sex Slaves in the Catholic Church”, has been pulled from the Franco-German television channel Arte after a priest complained to a German court. The big-budget media investigation, about the way some Catholic priests have abused nuns and used them for sex, was broadcast in March and sold widely internationally since. The abused Read more
The Vatican has upheld its decision convicting the former Archbishop Anthony Apuron in the U.S. territory of Guam for sexually abusing minors. “Our church on Guam can now continue with certainty, our collective journey toward healing and reconciliation. Most importantly, the victims, survivors and their families who have suffered greatly can have some measure of Read more
Pope Francis says it’s possible French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin “is not innocent.” His comment was made in response to questions from French media about the Cardinal of Lyon during an in-flight press conference after his visit to Morocco last weekend. Last month Barbarin was found guilty on one count of failure to report a charge Read more
Sexual immaturity and poor formation are to blame for the sex abuse crisis the Church is facing, says a Canadian nun with a doctorate in clinical sexology. The crisis does not mean “the end of faith” but rather “the end of a lack of formation and the end of deviance,” and a call to return Read more
Last Friday the Catholic bishop of Dunedin, Michael Dooley, signed a memorandum of understanding with representatives from the Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse, Aotearoa New Zealand support group (MSSAT Aotearoa) according to a report in the Otago Daily Times. The Otago branch senior manager of MSSAT Aotearoa, Dugal Armour, said the agreement meant survivors of Read more
Jesus once said: “If anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble… it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” To be a representative of institutional Christianity after last week is to feel the weight of that Read more
The Catholic Church in Poland says they have recorded cases of 382 clergymen who have abused 625 victims under the age of 18 since 1990. The figure includes 198 priests and friars who abused minors under 15 years old and 184 clergy who abused victims between 15 and 18, according to Wojciech Sadlon, head of Read more
A Wellington Catholic high school has agreed to remove a photo in its auditorium of a proven sex abuser of multiple boys. It has been on display till now, despite the Marists in 2009 upholding a complaint from an ex-student that Father Durning sexually assaulted him. Read more
Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions has confirmed that its investigation will include those abused by any person in a pastoral role in a faith-based institution. The clarification came in a “plain English” version of the terms of reference for the royal commission posted Read more