Catholic Church

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Pope Finally Talks Sex Abuse—Sort Of

Benedict says Church must do 'penance'

(Newser) - He might not have mentioned it explicitly, but Pope Benedict has apparently broken his deafening silence on the sex abuse scandals roiling the Catholic Church. The comments, which called for the church to do "penance" for its "sins," came in a homily delivered in the papal palace,...

Horrific Abuse Alleged at Monastery in Pope's Old Turf

Abuse transpired in Ratzinger's archdiocese

(Newser) - More bad news for the Catholic Church from Pope Benedict's native Germany, where monks and lay teachers stand accused of abusing students for decades at an elite Catholic boarding school near Munich. Allegations from more than 100 students that monks "brutally mistreated, sadistically tormented and, not least, sexually abused"...

Priest Calls for Pope to Resign, Applauded at Mass

Mass. Rev. James Scahill says Benedict lied, gets standing ovations

(Newser) - One Massachusetts priest says Pope Benedict is lying when he says the Vatican hasn’t covered up the sexual abuse of children. In four sermons over the weekend, Rev. James Scahill called on Benedict to resign over the scandal, the Longmeadow Republican reports. “There were standing ovations at two...

Ringo Underwhelmed by Vatican's Forgiveness

'The Vatican, they've got more to talk about than the Beatles'

(Newser) - The Vatican may have forgiven the Beatles for their lifestyles, supposedly satanic messages, and bigger-than-Jesus claims, but it's apparently not a moment Ringo Starr was holding his breath for. "Didn't the Vatican say we were satanic or possibly satanic—and they've still forgiven us?" the drummer told CNN during...

Vatican to Bishops: Report Sex Abuse to Cops

Guidelines the first to mandate clergy obey civil law

(Newser) - The Vatican today responded to allegations that it had concealed years of clerical sex abuse by mandating for the first time that bishops and other high-ranking clerics should report such crimes to police if required by law. "Where the civil state creates an obligation to report, bishops are required...

Calif. Priest's Victim: 'He Was God'

Four decades later, Stephen Kiesle's victim speaks out

(Newser) - It started with a 7-year-old girl innocently sitting on the lap of the playful "big kid" priest with the purple sneakers, and it quickly turned to sexual abuse that he framed as exorcisms. "He told me I had the devil inside me" as he touched her chest and...

Bishop: Vatican Abuse Uproar a 'Zionist Attack'

Italian priest allegedly blames Jews for sex abuse scandal

(Newser) - Jews are fanning the flames of the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal, an elderly Italian bishop has allegedly claimed—and American Jewish groups aren't too happy about it. A Catholic website quotes Giacomo Babini, 81, as saying the "powerful and refined" nature of criticism of the church suggests a...

Vatican Finally Forgives Beatles

Once mop-top Satanists, now 'precious jewels'

(Newser) - As the Vatican battles a storm of controversy over new child sex charges, officials have decided to take a moment to forgive ... the Beatles. In a stunning about-face the church has dubbed the Fab Four as "precious jewels" in a front-page article in the Vatican's newspaper, the Telegraph reports....

Atheist Academic Wants to Arrest the Pope

Human rights lawyers hope to prove 'crimes against humanity'

(Newser) - A prominent atheist campaigner is working on a plan to have the pope arrested when he visits the UK in September. British academic Richard Dawkins tells the Times of London he's enlisted human rights lawyers to help prove a case of "crimes against humanity." If his plan works,...

Benedict Stonewalled on Defrocking Pedophile Priest

AP digs up 25-year-old letter that refutes pope's story

(Newser) - The future Pope Benedict XVI resisted pleas to defrock a US priest with a record of sexually molesting children, citing concerns including "the good of the universal church," according to a 1985 letter bearing his signature. The correspondence, obtained by the AP, is the strongest challenge yet to...

Jon Stewart Pummels Pope
 Jon Stewart Pummels Pope 
Apr 8, 2010 6:09 AM CDT

Jon Stewart Pummels Pope

Host says Domino's Pizza more contrite than Church

(Newser) - Maureen Dowd has been nipping at Pope Benedict's heels, but you know you're in trouble when Jon Stewart takes aim at you. On last night's Daily Show , Stewart blasted the pontiff's defiance over his handling of sex abuse cases. "If any other organization had done anything close to...

Hey Benedict, Maybe You'll Listen to a Man

'Times' scribe turns column over to brother

(Newser) - Maureen Dowd suspends her blitzkrieg on Pope Benedict and the Catholic Church today and—because the all-boys network apparently is unable "to take a woman’s voice seriously"—turns her column over to her conservative, creche-collecting, "Vatican-II-made-me-wince" brother, Kevin. But a Dowd is a Dowd, and the...

Nixon-esque Pope Must Convert
 Nixon-esque Pope Must Convert 
Timothy Shriver
Apr 5, 2010 12:15 PM CDT

Nixon-esque Pope Must Convert

The Catholic Church is embroiled in its version of Watergate

(Newser) - The Catholic Church’s current scandal bears an uncanny resemblance to Watergate. What at first looks like an isolated crime has slowly escalated, ultimately revealing corruption at the highest levels of authority. The pope isn’t going to resign—the church isn’t a democracy, and it needn’t bow...

Hardest Word for Pope: Sorry

 Hardest Word for Pope: Sorry 
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...

Pope's Preacher Addresses Anti-Semitism Remark Backlash

Raniero Cantalamessa says he's sorry 'if I hurt feelings'

(Newser) - The Vatican official who compared the fallout from the church's alleged cover-up of child sex-abuse cases to the "more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism" has acknowledged the subsequent firestorm of criticism but stopped short of apologizing. "If—and it was not my intention to do so—I hurt the...

It's Time to Man Up, Benedict
 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

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...

Anglican Leader: Irish Church Lost 'All Credibility'

Archbishop of Canterbury quickly apologizes

(Newser) - The head of the Anglican church has set off a religious row by declaring that the Catholic church in Ireland has lost "all credibility" because of the sex abuse scandal. The archbishop of Canterbury made the comment in an interview with the BBC , then called the Catholic archbishop in...

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...

'Real Men' Reach for Rosary Beads

Boomers recast prayer aid as 'weapon of spiritual warfare'

(Newser) - Pope Benedict says rosary beads are “experiencing a new springtime,” and the signs of the season are unexpected—American men. They're creating beads out of ball bearings or nylon, giving their sons rosaries with football-shaped beads, and using iPhone apps to pray. In Texas, the pickup-driving, camo-bedecked founder...

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