Catholic priest

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'Father Justin' Gets Demoted After Mighty Strange Claims

AI chatbot was taking confessions, offering sacrament while claiming it was a real priest

(Newser) - Wouldn't it be comforting to have a priest accessible online, a man of the cloth who could offer you solace and advice right from the computer screen? A group called Catholic Answers apparently saw that potential in "Father Justin," an artificial intelligence-driven chatbot launched last week for...

Alabama Priest Who Married Teen Is Laicized by Pope

Alex Crow is no longer a Roman Catholic priest

(Newser) - The Alabama priest who fled to Europe with an 18-year-old and then married her has been removed from the priesthood, with Pope Francis confirming Alex Crow's laicization in a letter. The archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama, said Crow "initiated the process for his own laicization." Archbishop Thomas Rodi...

Pope: Priests Can Bless Same-Sex Couples

Those seeking God's love and mercy shouldn't be subject to 'exhaustive moral analysis' to get it

(Newser) - If same-sex couples go to their priest looking for a blessing, Pope Francis is cool with it. This news comes via a new document approving a radical change in Vatican policy by insisting that people seeking God's love and mercy shouldn't be subject to "an exhaustive moral...

Nebraska Priest Fatally Stabbed in Church Rectory
Man Charged With
Killing Nebraska Priest
UPDATED
Dec 12, 2023 5:56 PM CST

Man Charged With Killing Nebraska Priest

The Rev. Stephen Gutgsell was stabbed in Sunday attack at Catholic church

(Newser) - Nebraska prosecutors have charged Kierre L. Williams, 43, with first-degree murder, burglary, and two weapons counts in the stabbing of the Rev. Stephen Gutgsell, a priest at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Calhoun. Moments after the 65-year-old priest called 911 on Sunday to report that a man...

This Is Not Your Father's Catholic Priest

Catholic priest Guilherme Peixoto spreads the gospel as a DJ

(Newser) - Guilherme Peixoto, a village priest in northern Portugal, has been busy this month celebrating Masses at his two parishes, presiding over remembrances for the dead—and, as the AP reports, preparing the electronic music set for his next international DJ gig. What started nearly two decades ago as a novel...

Confederate Statues Aren't the Only Ones Coming Down

Homage to late German cardinal comes down days after new sex-abuse allegations

(Newser) - Confederate statues aren't the only ones being taken down: A statue of a deceased German cardinal was removed from its perch outside Essen Cathedral in western Germany on Monday, reports the AP , days after allegations of sexual abuse decades ago became public. The accusations against Cardinal Franz Hengsbach,...

Priest Charged 24 Years After Admitting to Child Sex Acts

Lawrence Hecker indicted on rape, kidnapping charges in Louisiana

(Newser) - A 91-year-old retired Catholic priest, previously named by the Archdiocese of New Orleans as being "credibly accused" of sexual abuse, is now facing charges over the alleged sexual assault of a teenage boy in 1975. A Louisiana state grand jury has indicted Lawrence Hecker on felony charges including aggravated...

Vatican Defrocks Anti-Abortion Priest
Vatican Defrocks
American Priest
Dec 18, 2022 10:15 AM CST

Vatican Defrocks American Priest

Frank Pavone once placed an aborted fetus on the altar

(Newser) - The Vatican has defrocked an anti-abortion US priest, Frank Pavone, for what it said were “blasphemous communications on social media” as well as “persistent disobedience” of his bishop, per the AP . A letter to US bishops from the Vatican ambassador to the US said that the decision against...

Bishop Leaves Priesthood To Marry Satanic Erotica Author

Xavier Novell i Gomà was once Spain's youngest bishop

(Newser) - He was once the youngest bishop in all of Spain, but Xavier Novell i Gomà, 52, has given it all up in order to marry a woman. Back in September, the BBC reported that Novell had resigned from the Roman Catholic church for personal reasons that Spanish media reported revolved...

Report: French Catholic Church Showed 'Cruel Indifference'

Commission finds 330K children may have been sexually abused by clergy, laypeople since 1950

(Newser) - A new report slams the Catholic Church for "cruel indifference," with clergy in France accused of sexually abusing an estimated 216,000 children since 1950. Jean-Marc Sauve, head of the inquiry commissioned by the French Catholic Church, says most of the victims over the past seven decades were...

Benedict Breaks His Silence as Pope Emeritus

Makes it clear he doesn't like the idea of lifting celibacy rules, now under consideration

(Newser) - A retired 92-year-old man has broken his silence to insist that his former colleagues should never have sex. Pope Benedict XVI, who adopted the title "pope emeritus" after retiring in 2013, argues that priestly celibacy is essential in a new book, "From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood,...

Mom Sues Priest Over His Speech at Her Son's Funeral

Rev. Don LaCuesta said taking own life was 'against God'

(Newser) - The mother of a teen who died by suicide is suing the Archdiocese of Detroit over his funeral, claiming a Catholic priest chose that moment to debate whether or not 18-year-old Maison Hullibarger would get into heaven. "We couldn't believe what he was saying," the teen's...

Catholic Bishops Call for Married Men to Be Ordained

Bishops from the Amazon also want to revive debate over women becoming deacons

(Newser) - Catholic bishops from across the Amazon called Saturday for the ordination of married men as priests to address the clergy shortage in the region, an historic proposal that would upend centuries of Roman Catholic tradition, the AP reports. The majority of 180 bishops from nine Amazonian countries also called for...

In the Amazon, Married Catholic Priests? Perhaps

Vatican proposal would permit the ordination of married men there

(Newser) - It's just a proposal, but the Vatican on Monday opened debate on what would be a very narrow path to the priesthood for married men, specifically those living in remote parts of the Amazon. The AP reports the call for study on the proposal was included in a working...

Priest Stabbed as Mass Was Being Live-Streamed

Incident happened at Canada's largest church, and Father Claude Grou is OK

(Newser) - Those watching the livestream of morning mass at Canada's largest church on Friday saw a jarring scene: Police say an assailant went to the altar of Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal and stabbed the 77-year-old Catholic priest, Father Claude Grou, reports NBC News . Churchgoers then interrupted the assault,...

Accused Pedophile Priest Now a Homicide Victim

Dozens in New Jersey alleged John Capparelli had sexually abused them when they were boys

(Newser) - John Capparelli traveled across the US three years ago, hoping to leave the sexual abuse allegations about him behind on the East Coast, and many in the defrocked priest's Henderson, Nev., neighborhood may have had no clue about his past. That history came to light this week after Capparelli,...

Amid Pa. Wave of Predator Priests, a New Cleric Is Charged

Allentown priest Kevin Lonergan allegedly sent nude pics to teen on Snapchat, groped her

(Newser) - More than 300 "predator priests" were recently identified by a grand jury report in Pennsylvania. Now, an unrelated case is bringing an Allentown priest into the headlines. Charges of indecent assault and corruption of a minor have been filed against 30-year-old Kevin Lonergan, who served in Allentown's Cathedral...

Accused of Molesting 3 Boys, Priest Is Nowhere to Be Found

Edmundo Paredes might've fled to Philippines

(Newser) - The Catholic Church has hired two private investigators to track down a former Dallas priest who disappeared months before sexual abuse allegations against him surfaced. Pastor at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Oak Cliff for 27 years, Rev. Edmundo Paredes stands accused of molesting three boys in their midteens between...

Cops Find Big Clue in Ceiling of Alleged Crooked Priest

Police discover $63K stashed in the Rev. Jonathan Wehrle's ceiling

(Newser) - A Catholic priest is charged with embezzling more than $5 million from his Michigan parish—and on Tuesday, police say they found $63,392 in cash above ceiling tiles in his basement. The Rev. Jonathan Wehrle was charged with six counts of embezzlement last year after a diocese-ordered audit found...

He Doled Out Hail Marys to Abuse Victim. Now, a Verdict

Archbishop Philip Wilson found guilty of covering up child sex abuse

(Newser) - An archbishop accused of turning a blind eye to the abuse of altar boys by a pedophile priest has become the most senior Catholic ever convicted of concealing child molestation. An Australian court has found Philip Wilson, archbishop of Adelaide, guilty of covering up the abuse in the 1970s, the...

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