Parsing the numbers and understanding the implications can be challenging. Are we learning anything new?
Sexual Abuse
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis fields questions on abuse, his health on return flight to Rome
After a five-day trip to Portugal, which recently came to terms with its own clerical sex abuse crisis, Pope Francis said the Catholic Church must abandon its practice of covering up abuse and instead be “very open” about how it is confronting the crime.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
Some Catholics will never forgive Sinéad O’Connor for tearing the pope’s photo. Others will never forget its power.
Sinéad O’Connor, who was found dead in London on July 26, thwarted any attempt throughout her life to extinguish her creativity or her output.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis visits Portugal as country confronts church sex abuse revelations
Pope Francis is making a five-day visit next week to Portugal, where a scandal that erupted earlier this year over Catholic Church sex abuse is still simmering.
Posted inFaith, News
Jesuits confirm expulsion of Marko Rupnik and lament that Vatican norms block harsher sanctions
The Jesuits say a famous artist priest has been definitively expelled from the religious order for sexually, spiritually and psychologically abusing women.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
New Vatican head of doctrine says he made mistakes in handling abuse allegations against priest
An Argentine archbishop chosen by Pope Francis to head the Vatican office that ensures doctrinal orthodoxy concedes he made mistakes in handling a 2019 case of a priest accused of sexual abuse of minors.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Movie Club
Catholic Movie Club: What ‘Jaws’ can tell us about the sex abuse crisis
“Jaws” is both a nerve-shattering thriller and a biting (sorry) social commentary about the failure of authorities to protect the people in their care.
Posted inFaith, News
Disgraced former cardinal McCarrick deemed not competent to stand trial for sexual abuse charges
Theodore McCarrick is not competent to stand trial in Massachusetts on charges he sexually abused a teenage boy nearly 50 years ago.
Posted inFaith, News
A record half a million left the German Catholic Church last year
More than half a million people formally left the Catholic Church in Germany last year, significantly higher than the previous record as the church wrestles with a long-running scandal over abuse by clergy.
Posted inFaith, News
Bishop Stika of Knoxville resigns early amid Vatican investigation into abuse cover-up and financial mismanagement
Bishop Richard F. Stika of Knoxville, 65, has resigned from pastoral governance of the diocese, after he has faced media interest in alleged sexual abuse cover-up and financial mismanagement.