Pope Francis has ordered an apostolic visitation of the Archdiocese of Cologne, in Germany, to examine the pastoral situation and the handling of sexual abuse cases. The archdiocese said that the pope’s apostolic visitors would evaluate “possible mistakes” made by its leader, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki. “During the first half of June, the Holy See’s Read more
Police and prosecutors have decided not to file criminal charges against the Bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders over allegations of sexual misconduct. This decision comes just days before the Catholic Church deadline to decide Saunders’ future. The Vatican started a separate, internal investigation into his management of the diocese. He was then sent on a Read more
A bishop in Minnesota resigned Tuesday at the request of Pope Francis after he was investigated by the Vatican for allegedly interfering with past investigations into clergy sexual abuse, officials said. The Vatican said Francis accepted the resignation of Crookston Bishop Michael Hoeppner and named a temporary replacement to run the diocese. Hoeppner is 71, Read more
Sexual abuse perpetrated by Roman Catholic priests has been headline news for years. But even with so much press attention, there are many commonly accepted misconceptions about this. Remarkably, evidence-based research doesn’t always receive attention, while sensationalized stories that create a particular—and sometimes false—narrative do. This ultimately misinforms and harms the public—not to mention efforts to keep Read more
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the international organization that supports persecuted Christians around the world, has confirmed that a decade ago it received a “credible” allegation of “aggravated sexual assault” against its founder, Father Werenfried van Straaten. The Dutch-born priest founded ACN in 1947 and was its leader until his death in 2003 Read more
Sexual abuse perpetrated by Roman Catholic priests has been headline news for years. But even with so much press attention, there are many commonly accepted myths about this issue. Remarkably, quality evidence-based research and facts about the problem doesn’t always receive attention while sensationalized stories that create a particular—but sometimes false—narrative do. This ultimately misinforms Read more
If Catholic bishops hope to reclaim their moral credibility after revelations about covering up clergy sexual abuse, the hierarchy might start by sending a simple but potent message: Church leaders should take a year of abstinence from preaching about sex and gender. It might seem obvious that a church facing a crisis of legitimacy caused Read more
The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, stands accused of putting the Church’s reputation ahead victims of child sex abuse. The accusation, 20 June, came in a government inquiry report. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) concluded that children could have been saved had the Catholic Church not “repeatedly failed” to alert the police Read more
Half a century ago, the bishops’ conference of the United States commissioned an interdisciplinary study of the priesthood in that country. Key parts of it were led by two priests who at the time were celebrities in the Catholic community, Andrew Greeley the sociologist and Eugene Kennedy the psychologist. (Disclosure: as a seminarian I was Read more
Dear brothers in Christ, shepherds, fellow pilgrims, We address you as you approach this year’s national meeting in Baltimore because we know there is nowhere left to hide. It’s over. All the manipulations and contortions of the past 33 years, all the attempts to deflect and equivocate — all of it has brought the church, Read more