2018 will no doubt be remembered as a dark time for the U.S. Catholic Church.
Bishops
Posted inFaith, News
Vatican summit on sex abuse should discuss holding bishops accountable, expert says
A member of the committee organizing Pope Francis’ February summit on the sexual abuse crisis said the meeting should include discussing ways to hold bishops accountable for handling cases correctly.
Posted inExplainer, Faith
If a priest is ‘credibly accused’ of sexual abuse, what does that mean? Depends whom you ask.
The terms used to describe and classify alleged sexual abuse are not standardized across dioceses and religious orders. Should they be?
Posted inFaith, News
Illinois attorney general says local clergy abusers number far more than church officials revealed
While church officials have publicly identified 185 clergy members in Illinois as having been “credibly” accused of child sexual abuse, the Illinois attorney general’s office states that it found allegations of abuse by at least 500 more.
Posted inFaith, Features
Can restorative justice help the church heal from sex abuse scandals?
Adopting the practices of the restorative justice movement could help re-establish the church’s moral credibility on preventing and responding to sex abuse.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
Finding hope and healing in the face of the abuse crisis
Structural reform and renewal are absolutely necessary to reclaim a measure of integrity for the church and—some would even say—for her very survival.
Posted inFaith, News
Cardinal DiNardo’s office raided by prosecutors in abuse case
Prosecutors investigating a sexual abuse case against a Houston-area priest searched the offices Wednesday of the local archdiocese, which is led by the cardinal who is heading the Roman Catholic Church’s response in the U.S. to sexual misconduct.
Posted inFaith, Features
#ChurchToo: How can we prevent the abuse of women by the clergy?
Is the Catholic Church doing enough to prevent the abuse of women by clergy?
Posted inFaith, Short Take
How pastoral failures in communication are provoking a crisis of faith
The tragedy of the last week is that the faithful are left to read tea leaves to understand what their bishops and their pope are trying to do in the first place. The Vatican’s action, which in the past could have been interpreted and explained over time, instead provokes a crisis of faith in church leadership.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Cardinal says he leaves U.S.C.C.B. assembly more hopeful than when it started
Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston said in remarks closing the assembly that his hope was primarily grounded in Christ as well as realizing that the body of bishops was on the road to implementing protocols to boost the accountability of bishops to laypeople and survivors of clergy sex abuse.