priest

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'Vindictive' Judge Delays Rape Trial of Priest, 93
Disgraced Priest, 93,
Pleads Guilty to Rape
UPDATED
Dec 3, 2024 6:27 PM CST

Disgraced Priest, 93, Pleads Guilty to Rape

New Orleans priest Lawrence Hecker faces life in prison

(Newser) - A disgraced 93-year-old New Orleans priest pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges involving the sexual assault of a teenage boy in 1975. Lawrence Hecker, who left the ministry in 2002, had been scheduled to stand trial Tuesday, the AP reports. Hecker entered his plea to aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature,...

'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...

Italian Priest Had a Literal Poisoned Chalice

Officials believe he was targeted for denouncing mafia

(Newser) - A Catholic priest in southern Italy says he had a poisoned chalice—and it wasn't a figure of speech. Father Felice Palamara halted an evening mass in Vibo Valentia, Calabria, on Saturday to contact police after he noticed a strange smell coming from the chalice of wine and water...

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...

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...

Priest Apologizes for Destroying Pumpkins

In an open letter, Czech cleric admits he stomped on 'satanic' symbols

(Newser) - The Rev. Jaromir Smejkal said that he wouldn't have done it if he'd known the pumpkins were carved by the children of his Czech village, but that he has a duty to protect families from "hidden evil." So the parish priest at St John the Baptist...

Restaurant's Fake Priest Just Cost It $140K
Restaurant's
Fake Priest Just
Cost It $140K
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 24, 2023 4:15 PM CDT

Restaurant's Fake Priest Just Cost It $140K

California eatery had workers confess their 'sins' in 'most shameless' plot to intimidate them, per DOL

(Newser) - It may have seemed a bit unconventional for a priest to show up at their place of employment to offer confession, but workers at the Taqueria Garibaldi restaurant in Sacramento took the holy man up on the chance to admit their "sins." Now, the owners of the Northern...

Ukraine Puts Priest Under House Arrest

Security agency accuses Orthodox leader of justifying Russian aggression

(Newser) - A Kyiv court ordered a leading priest to be put under house arrest Saturday after Ukraine's top security agency said he was suspected of justifying Russian aggression, a criminal offense. It was the latest move in a bitter dispute over a famed Orthodox monastery. Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of...

After Telling School of Accused Priest on Payroll, a Giant Fine

New Orleans attorney Richard Trahant says he'll appeal the $400K payment to archdiocese

(Newser) - A lawyer who alerted a Catholic high school to past sexual misconduct by its chaplain has been fined $400,000 for violating confidentiality rules by speaking out. Attorney Richard Trahant says he'll appeal the decision handed down Tuesday, which gives him 30 days to pay the Archdiocese of New...

2 Priests Gunned Down in Mexico Church, Bodies Taken

Jesuit priests were protecting man who sought refuge in church

(Newser) - Two Jesuit priests were fatally gunned down in a Mexico church Monday, the Jesuits of Mexico announced Tuesday. Fathers Javier Campos Morales, 79, and Joaquín César Mora Salazar, 80, who had almost a century of service between them, were trying to protect a man who was being chased...

Missionary Revered in Catholic Nation Is Headed to Prison

American ex-priest Richard Daschbach, 84, found guilty in East Timor of sexually abusing young girls

(Newser) - A defrocked American priest accused of sexually abusing orphaned and disadvantaged young girls under his care in East Timor was found guilty Tuesday and sentenced to 12 years in prison, in the first case of its kind in the staunchly Catholic nation. Richard Daschbach, 84, who spent decades as a...

Priest Who Held Voter-Fraud Exorcisms Leaves Diocese

Rev. John Zuhlsdorf, who didn't have OK from bishop, says he's going to work on his 'mo jo'

(Newser) - Earlier this month, the Diocese of Madison announced a "mutual" agreement between itself and one of its "freelancer" priests regarding his departure. Now, more on what prompted that. Per the Wisconsin State Journal , the Rev. John Zuhlsdorf, a member of Wisconsin's clergy who also runs his own...

You've Never Seen a Priest Bless Quite Like This

Father Timothy Pelc of Michigan uses a squirt gun

(Newser) - It happened over Easter weekend, but thanks to a Twitter user who just now discovered the photos, a Michigan priest is going viral. Father Timothy Pelc was shown in pictures posted by St. Ambrose Parish last month blessing parishioners' Easter food baskets ... by squirting holy water out of a water...

France's Worst Case of Clergy Abuse Is Over

Ex-priest who abused at least 75 boys is sentenced to 5 years

(Newser) - A French ex-priest who acknowledged sexually abusing at least 75 boys over decades was sentenced Monday to five years in prison, in France’s worst case of clergy abuse to reach trial. The court in Lyon issued the verdict against 74-year-old Bernard Preynat behind closed doors because the coronavirus outbreak...

Francis Makes Surprise Decision on Married Priests

Pope has rejected ordaining married men in remote areas of South America

(Newser) - Late last year, Pope Francis gave hints that he might be open to the ordination of married men, letting them become priests in far-flung parts of the world like the Amazon region, after bishops representing indigenous areas made this push . Now, however, that idea has been officially quashed: The pontiff...

Hoping for a Pope Fight? One Just Took a Step Back

Benedict has name removed as co-author from controversial pro-priesthood celibacy book

(Newser) - If you were hoping that there'd be a bona fide public bickering between Pope Francis and his predecessor, you may have to tamp down your expectations. The current pope has reportedly been mulling whether to allow married men to become priests in some cases, and news broke this week...

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...

He Was Once a Slave. Now He May Become a Saint

Pope deems Augustus Tolton, America's first black Roman Catholic priest, 'venerable'

(Newser) - Pope Francis on Wednesday deemed the first known black Roman Catholic priest in the US to be "venerable," positioning the ex-slave for possible sainthood. The pontiff's designation of the Rev. Augustus Tolton as venerable, meaning the church intensely scrutinized his life and recognizes it as one of...

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,...

Pope at Sex Abuse Summit: 'Listen to Cry of Little Ones'

Skeptics hope his vow for 'concrete and efficient measures' isn't an empty one

(Newser) - "Simple and predictable condemnations" aren't what's needed to fight sex abuse within the Catholic Church; "concrete and efficient measures" are. That's according to Pope Francis, who kicked off on Thursday a four-day global summit on the matter in Rome in front of nearly 200 bishops,...

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