The Catholic Church needs to empower victims of clerical abuse to disclose their predicament, says Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna. It’s been more than a year since Pope Francis published “Vos Est Lux Mundi (You are the light of the world)” – a document that ushered in a new wave of transparency and accountability for abuse Read more
An ageing and dishevelled Cardinal George Pell, Wednesday, returned to his cell in solitary confinement at the Melbourne Assessment Prison. The journey follows the Court of Appeal’s split 2-1 decision handed down by Chief Justice Anne Ferguson. Both she and Justice Chris Maxwell experienced no doubt about Pell’s guilt. “The Chief Justice and Justice Maxwell Read more
Lay advisers to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) want the Holy See to be more open about former archbishop Theodore McCarrick. They want the USCCB to ask for all the relevant documents and the results of diocesan and archdiocesan investigations about McCarrick to be released. Both the National Advisory Council to the US Read more
Church volunteers who are members of the German Catholic women’s movement Maria 2.0 have launched a week-long strike. They are holding rites without priests outside churches and suspending voluntary church work and ministries in 50 parishes in protest over the male-only priesthood, celibacy and the church’s slow response to sex scandals. Masses and committees will Read more
In a decision highlighting the great importance he gives to next February’s summit meeting on “the protection of minors in the church,” to which he has called the presidents of all the Catholic bishops conferences, Pope Francis has appointed a high-powered steering committee to oversee the project. The committee is composed of two cardinals, Blase Read more
A Wellington parish priest changed tack on Sunday, joining his congregation in supporting sex abuse survivors, and tied a ribbon to the church fence. The move by the parish priest of St Mary of the Angels, Fr Kevin Conroy SM, came after helpful conversations with Liz Tonks, an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, and Read more
A Catholic priest who testified against an Indian bishop accused of rape has been found dead. His family suspect foul play. However, local medical staff said he had a series of health problems. Father Kuriakose Kattuthara, 67, was found dead inside his room a week after Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar was granted bail by Read more
After the Vietnam War ended, U.S. military leaders recognized that they could not grasp what went wrong and begin to fix it unless everyone could speak with absolute candor. Every crisis demands the same, including the sex abuse crisis. So, while it is always a mistake to try and figure out what the crazies at Read more
Sixteen years ago, at the height of the 2002 clergy sex scandals in the Catholic church and on the eve of a meeting of bishops in Dallas, The Weekly Standard published an essay of mine called “The Elephant in the Sacristy.” It included an in-depth look at some of the most notorious clergy abuse cases Read more
Canadian cardinal Marc Ouellet says women should assess seminarians’ suitability for the priesthood and help with their training. This would help prevent future sex abuse, says Ouellet the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. He also thinks bishops should also be chosen more carefully. “We are facing a crisis in the life of the church… Read more