priest sex abuse – News Stories About priest sex abuse - Page 7

Apr 5, 2010 8:10 AM CDT

Hardest Word for Pope: Sorry

Why Benedict won't be apologizing anytime soon

(Newser) - Pope Benedict didn't join the many bishops in countries plagued by sex abuse scandals who said "sorry" during this Holy Week, and you won't hear that word come from his mouth any time soon. That's because the Pope "operates on an entirely different public relations plane to media-savvy...

It's Time to Man Up, Benedict

MAUREEN DOWD

Apr 4, 2010 9:52 AM CDT

It's Time to Man Up, Benedict

Vatican needs to stop covering up and admit its role

(Newser) - Maureen Dowd's column never rests on Sundays, and she takes this Easter to continue her full-on assault of Pope Benedict, this time eviscerating the Vatican's chief exorcist's assertion that the New York Times' unfavorable coverage of the sex abuse scandal has been "prompted by the Devil." "The...

Pope Hailed as
'Unfailing' Leader
at Easter Mass

Apr 4, 2010 8:29 AM CDT

Pope Hailed as 'Unfailing' Leader at Easter Mass

Pontiff keeps his silence on sex abuse scandals

(Newser) - A senior cardinal defended Pope Benedict XVI from "petty gossip" today, praising his "unfailing" leadership, even as the pontiff maintained his silence on mounting accusations of sex abuse cover-ups during his Easter message. At the end of the two-hour long ceremony, a weary-looking Benedict delivered the papacy's traditional...

Pope Waited Years
to Defrock Ariz. Priest

Apr 3, 2010 6:23 AM CDT

Pope Waited Years to Defrock Ariz. Priest

Ratzinger's actions as cardinal under new scrutiny

(Newser) - The abuse cases of two Arizona priests cast further doubt on whether Pope Benedict XVI shielded pedophiles as a cardinal. Then Cardinal Ratzinger took over the abuse case of Rev. Michael Teta, then let it languish at the Vatican for a dozen years despite repeated pleas from the bishop for...

Church Sex Abuse Fallout Compared to Anti-Semitism

Apr 2, 2010 4:06 PM CDT

Church Sex Abuse Fallout Compared to Anti-Semitism

Pope Benedict's personal preacher defends pontiff against attacks

(Newser) - A high-level Vatican official who serves as preacher to the papal household is under fire for saying in his Good Friday homily that criticism of the way the pontiff has handled the child sex abuse scandal is comparable to "the most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism." The Rev. Raniero...

Vatican Told of
Abuse in 1963

Apr 2, 2010 8:07 AM CDT

Vatican Told of Abuse in 1963

US priest wrote Pope Paul VI urging defrocking of 'problem priests'

(Newser) - A letter sent to Pope Paul VI in 1963 surfaced yesterday, and its contents suggest that the Vatican was aware of the sexual abuse problems happening in the US Catholic Church nearly five decades ago. Rev. Gerald Fitzgerald wrote the letter, which was made public by lawyers representing alleged abuse...

US Bishops Returning
Accused Priests
to Ministry

Apr 1, 2010 8:55 AM CDT

US Bishops Returning Accused Priests to Ministry

With sex abuse scandal behind them, some slide back into ministry

(Newser) - The Catholic Church’s official policy is that any priest credibly accused of sexual abuse will be removed from ministry, but the definition of “credibly accused” seems like a loose one. US bishops have been quietly reinstating accused priests in the decade since this country's abuse scandal, NPR reports....

Vatican: Pope
Deserves
Praise,
Not Scorn

Mar 31, 2010 4:36 PM CDT

Vatican: Pope Deserves Praise, Not Scorn

Cardinal criticizes New York Times, defends pontiff

(Newser) - The Vatican defended Pope Benedict's handling of long-ago abuse cases, lashed out at the New York Times for coverage “deficient by any reasonable standards of fairness,” and said the pontiff actually deserved praise instead of condemnation. “We owe Pope Benedict a great debt of gratitude for introducing...

Vatican Tries to Shield Pope from Lawsuit

Mar 31, 2010 5:00 AM CDT

Vatican Tries to Shield Pope from Lawsuit

Offers 3 reasons he isn't responsible for abuse, and can't testify

(Newser) - The Vatican is launching a legal defense that it hopes will shield the pope from a lawsuit in Kentucky seeking to have him answer questions under oath about clerical sex abuse. Vatican lawyers plan to argue that the pope has immunity as head of state, that American bishops who oversaw...

Get Lost, Benedict,
We Need a Woman
for the Job

MAUREEN DOWD

Mar 28, 2010 9:24 AM CDT

Get Lost, Benedict, We Need a Woman for the Job

Pope is hopelessly tainted, and it's time for a nun to right the church

(Newser) - Maureen Dowd continues her rant on the scandal-ridden Catholic patriarchy for a second Sunday, calling for Pope Benedict to "go home to Bavaria," while the church gets itself a "nope"—"a nun who is pope." Dowd isn't buying claims that the "sin-crazed 'Rottweiler'...

Scandal Swirls
as Pope Opens
Holy Week

Mar 28, 2010 5:49 AM CDT

Scandal Swirls as Pope Opens Holy Week

Vatican digs in, insists Benedict acted appropriately

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI has opened the church's solemn Holy Week amid increasing questions about his own handling of priest sex abuse cases. Benedict's procession entered St. Peter's Square today at the start of Palm Sunday Mass. The pontiff, in crimson and golden vestments, waved to the throngs of faithful waving...

Priest on Sex Abuse:
'I Went Too Far'

Mar 27, 2010 7:12 AM CDT

Priest on Sex Abuse: 'I Went Too Far'

German blames lack of supervision, 'proximity to pupils'

(Newser) - As a wave of sex abuse threatens to engulf Pope Benedict's papacy, a German priest "granted leave" a month ago takes the issue head on: "I know that I had some contact with pupils where I went too far, and which I do not approve of today."...

Pope Hasn't Begun to
Apologize for Irish Abuse

SINEAD O'CONNOR

Mar 26, 2010 11:50 AM CDT

Pope Hasn't Begun to Apologize for Irish Abuse

Now do you understand why she ripped up that picture in 1992?

(Newser) - “Almost 18 years ago, I tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on an episode of Saturday Night Live,” Sinead O’Connor writes. She explains that she wasn't anti-religion but had a deep problem with how the church treated Irish Catholics. Then, “people did not...

Pope Knew of US Deaf Boys' Sex Abuse, Did Nothing

Mar 25, 2010 7:38 AM CDT

Pope Knew of US Deaf Boys' Sex Abuse, Did Nothing

Priest linked to hundreds of cases never disciplined

(Newser) - Pope Benedict knew of the suspected abuse of hundreds of deaf Wisconsin boys by a renegade priest yet the Vatican office he headed as cardinal halted a process to remove the man from the priesthood. A local archbishop wrote a letter to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1996 pleading that Father...

Benedict
to Ireland's
Pedophile
Priests: Submit
Yourselves

PAPAL LETTER

Mar 20, 2010 6:44 AM CDT

Benedict to Ireland's Pedophile Priests: Submit Yourselves

In letter, pontiff apologizes to victims, blasts bishops, opens inquiry

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI rebuked Irish bishops for "grave errors of judgment" in handling clerical sex abuse and ordered a Vatican investigation into the Irish church to wipe out the scourge. Benedict used his harshest words for the abusers themselves: "Conceal nothing," he exhorted them today in a...

Pope Benedict's Enemies
Are Twisting Facts

OPINION

Mar 19, 2010 11:07 AM CDT

Pope Benedict's Enemies Are Twisting Facts

Pontiff didn't allow a pedophile to serve as a priest

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI is taking an unfair beating in the world press, writes Damian Thompson. Headlines to the contrary, the then-archbishop of Munich "did not allow a priest he knew to be a pedophile to continue in ministry." He did permit the priest to receive counseling, and that...

Priest, 82, Filmed Having Sex with Altar Boy

Mar 19, 2010 5:44 AM CDT

Priest, 82, Filmed Having Sex with Altar Boy

Sex scandals rocks Brazilian church

(Newser) - In the latest scandal to rock the Catholic church, a Brazilian priest has been removed from his post after a video of him having sex with a 19-year-old altar boy surfaced. Father Luiz Marques Barbosa, 82, was filmed with a hidden camera by a 21-year-old who alleges he was abused...

Cardinal: Maybe
Celibacy's
Not Such a
Great Idea

Mar 18, 2010 4:05 AM CDT

Cardinal: Maybe Celibacy's Not Such a Great Idea

Vatican 'needs to look into source of sex scandals'

(Newser) - The Catholic church needs to take a long hard look at its celibacy policy in the wake of its seemingly endless sex scandals, an influential cardinal says. Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, the archbishop of Vienna, wrote in his archdiocese magazine last week that the Vatican should carry out an "unflinching...

Jon Stewart Slams the Vatican

Mar 17, 2010 7:53 AM CDT

Jon Stewart Slams the Vatican

Catholic Church quick to punish sinners ... just not priests

(Newser) - Jon Stewart ’s latest victim: the Catholic Church. Stewart is unhappy about a few things, among them: the cover-up of a gay sex ring, the pope’s protection of a pedophile priest, and the suspension of two Catholic school students for having lesbian parents. The church is swift,...

German Priest in
Sex Abuse Case
Suspended

Mar 16, 2010 10:41 AM CDT

German Priest in Sex Abuse Case Suspended

Peter Hullermann convicted in 1986, but continued to serve

(Newser) - When Pope Benedict was Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, he transferred Peter Hullermann to a different diocese in Germany after the priest was accused of sexually molesting young boys. Six years later, in 1986, Hullermann was convicted of sexual abuse but received a suspended sentence and continued in the priesthood—and working...