The Catholic Church cannot pretend to be shocked about the pattern of sexual abuse of adult seminarians by Cardinal McCarrick, recently detailed in a comprehensive story in The New York Times. As The Times made clear in its reporting, many church leaders had received multiple notices of the cardinal’s behavior. Local dioceses had been told, Read more
Archbishop Philip Wilson has gone from church leader with a reputation for dealing professionally with sex abuse cases to being stoned by all and sundry in the national village square. The calls to resign come not only from victims, anti-church crusaders and commentators of every ilk, but also eminent Catholics who fear he may cause Read more
Christa Brown of Tennessee has for years called on Baptist churches to set up an independent panel to evaluate allegations of sexual abuse by clergy — such as the youth minister who sexually assaulted her as a teenager — and to keep predators from striking again at another church. Pastor Jimmy Hinton — a Somerset Read more
At least fifteen years ago, I wrote a confidential email message to a few trusted friends, telling them to brace themselves. Within a few days, I said, a major secular newspaper would break a sensational story about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. To my surprise, the newspaper never ran the story—which finally came out 20 June. At Read more
Innocence? I believe McCarrick is lying, and that he knows he is lying. I have been waiting for this story to break since 2002. Back then, I received a tip from a priest who had gone on his own dime to Rome, along with a group of prominent US Catholic laymen, to meet with an Read more
Only twice in history has a pope asked for the resignation of an entire episcopate: Last week, when the entire episcopate of Chile offered their resignations to the pope, and in 1802, when Pope Pius VII removed both the orthodox, validly installed bishops of France and the rival slate of schismatic bishops never recognized by Read more
The draft terms of reference for a Royal Commision have restricted an inquiry into historical abuse to state institutions, but the Catholic and Anglican churches have both said they would like to be included in it. On 26 March the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said she stood by her belief that the inquiry should look Read more
A Guam court has dismissed part of a defamation lawsuit about sexual abuse against Archbishop Anthony Apuron of Agana. He was facing several accusations of sexual abuse in the 1970s. In a public statement in 2016, the archbishop called the accusations “intentional lies.” The archbishop’s accusers brought a two-part defamation case against Read more
SNAP founder and director Barbara Blaine has resigned amid claims of collusion and a lawsuit by a former employee. Blaine has not given any reason for her resignation from SNAP – the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests. She founded SNAP three decades ago. In January, Blaine, David Clohessy, the executive director of SNAP, Read more
The Apostolic Administrator of Guam has asked the Holy See to remove Archbishop Apuron as Archbishop of Agãna (Guam), and to appoint a successor. In a letter entitled “Putting the house in order without burning it down” that was read out in all parishes in the archdiocese Archbishop Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-fai said: “I want Read more