The Archdiocese of Boston has agreed to settle with seven alleged victims of clergy sex abuse. Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, counsel of the claimants, said there were 16 settlements in all, including three with religious orders. The settlements total about $1 million, according to media reports. Garabedian said two settlements with religious orders have been reached Read more
Lawyers for Cardinal George Pell will cross-examine victims who allege he was complicit in a cover-up of clergy sexual abuse. The move comes despite a commitment by the Australian Catholic Church not to subject victims of child sexual abuse to gruelling cross-examination. Cardinal Pell denies the allegations against him concerning the period when he was Read more
Pope Francis met with victims of sexual abuse in Philadelphia on Sunday and told them words could not express his sorrow. The pope met with five adults who had suffered abuse as children. The victims had been abused by the clergy or by members of their families or their teachers. Francis heard their stories and spoke Read more
A judge in Granada in Spain has charged 10 priests and two Catholic lay workers with child sexual abuse. The 12 are suspected of abusing four teenage boys between 2004 and 2007. The most serious offences are alleged to have occurred in a house used by the priests. Pope Francis telephoned one of the alleged Read more
Cardinal George Pell has sparked outrage with comments that the Church should not be held responsible for crimes committed by priests. Last week, Cardinal Pell used a “trucking company” analogy before Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Speaking by video link from Rome, the Cardinal likened the Church to a trucking Read more
Pope Francis has warned the Italian Mafia that they will end up in hell if they do not change their lives and stop doing evil. He made these remarks during a prayer vigil in Rome for victims of the Mafia. “Men and women of the Mafia, please change your lives, convert, stop doing evil,” the Read more
The American archdiocese of Milwaukee has released 6000 pages of documents relating to clergy sex abuse, including the personnel files of 42 priests and the depositions of Church leaders including New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Cardinal Dolan, now the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, was formerly archbishop of Milwaukee. Cardinal Dolan’s Read more
The Catholic Church in Victoria has revised its figures for the number of people abused by priests and religious, producing a total 37 per cent per cent higher than previously given to the state’s parliamentary inquiry. In a new submission the Church said it has now identified 849 victims and 269 offenders. The previous submission Read more
An apologetic Cardinal George Pell has appeared before a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child abuse and vehemently denied personally covering up offending by priests. “No. Never,” the Sydney cardinal told the inquiry. He said the offending had largely escaped the view of Church officials who didn’t know what a “mess” they were presiding over. Cardinal Read more
A bill allowing victims to get part of the compensation paid to prisoners is “eye-for-an-eye” justice, according to the Ombudsman Beverly Wakem. Some criminals have received large compensation payments for violation of their human rights. The Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims (Continuation and Reform) Amendment Bill will make permanent earlier temporary legislation which allowed victims of crime to Read more