The great crime in the Vatican's sex abuse scandal is not the existence of pedophiles within its ranks of priests, although that is bad enough, but the fact that the Church as a matter of policy transferred known pedophiles to unsuspecting parishes.
AP | NICOLE WINFIELD | Posted 04.08.2012
ROME — Priests who rape and molest children lie when confronted with an accusation but victims usually tell the truth, psychologists told Cathol...
AP | MARYCLAIRE DALE | Posted 03.24.2012
PHILADELPHIA — Prosecutors on Monday accused the Archdiocese of Philadelphia of being an "unindicted co-conspirator" in a clergy sex abuse case ...
ca.news.yahoo.com | Posted 08.08.2011
CBC Former priest and teacher William Hodgson Marshall, 88, pleaded guilty in a Windsor, Ont., court on 17 sex assault charges for crimes he committed...
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach | Posted 07.19.2011
A new report argues the high incidence of sexual abuse by priests in the 1960s reflected the growing aberrance of American society during that period, including "an increase in premarital sexual behavior and divorce." Are they serious?
Stephanie Woodard | Posted 06.19.2011
What ex-students describe as rampant sexual abuse in South Dakota's half-dozen boarding schools occurred against a backdrop of extreme violence.
Posted 05.25.2011
By Francis X. Rocca Religion News Service VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI deplored the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests and linked i...
AP | SHAWN POGATCHNIK | Posted 05.25.2011
DUBLIN — The Vatican tried to stop Dublin church leaders from defrocking a particularly dangerous pedophile priest and relented only after he ra...
Posted 05.25.2011
By Francis X. Rocca Religion News Service VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican's top spokesman appealed to victims of pedophile priests who demonstrated...
Posted 05.25.2011
A new study conducted by three local advocacy groups paints a devastating picture of abuse by priests and other clergy within Chicago--showing that mo...
Johann Hari | Posted 05.25.2011
I know that for many British Catholics, their faith makes them think of something warm and good and kind -- a beloved grandmother, or the gentler sayings of Jesus. That is not what Ratzinger stands for.
MP Nunan | Posted 05.25.2011
"You've probably already gathered why I called this meeting," Obama says. "I've spent 18 months in office, and I can't help but notice -- you're not holding up your end of the bargain."
Carla Seaquist | Posted 05.25.2011
The world -- and the molested -- have been waiting, waiting for the Catholic Church's hierarchy to do the right thing in these months of crisis. Sadly, the wait will be longer.
Irene Monroe | Posted 05.25.2011
The Catholic Church is in damage control. Pope Benedict XVI won't resign and he can't be defrocked. And Catholics worldwide are enraged. The Church no...
Religion News Service | Francis X. Rocca | Posted 05.25.2011
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Breaking his silence as an international clergy sex abuse scandal has roiled the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday (Ap...
Religion News Service | Francis X. Rocca | Posted 05.25.2011
VATICAN CITY (RNS) A day after the Vatican's No. 2 official suggested a link between pedophilia and homosexuality, the pope's top spokesman issued a c...
Rev. James Martin, S.J. | Posted 05.25.2011
There were clearly some gay priests who were attracted to adolescent boys, and who preyed on them. But not the vast majority of gay priests, who never abused anyone. This is a critical point.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach | Posted 05.25.2011
The Catholic Church might be terrible at crisis management and the pope may not be perfect. But what might emerge from this dark episode is a more transparent, more accessible, and more sensitive Church.
Rev. James Martin, S.J. | Posted 05.25.2011
Celibacy does not cause pedophilia. But that hasn't stopped otherwise thoughtful pundits and commentators, and among them even some Catholics, from opining on celibacy as a cause of the crisis.
Heidi Sinclair | Posted 05.25.2011
The Catholic Church has chosen the comfortable approach to its communications during this ongoing sex abuse scandal: to cloister itself. Systematically, it has closed down any venue or platform for discussion.
AP | GILLIAN FLACCUS | Posted 05.25.2011
LOS ANGELES — The future Pope Benedict XVI resisted pleas to defrock a California priest with a record of sexually molesting children, citing co...
Cindy Rodriguez | Posted 05.25.2011
Just like a true patriot speaks out when its government fails the people it is supposed to serve, it is necessary for Catholics -- fallen and otherwise -- to call for Vatican reform.
Shan Wells | Posted 05.25.2011
I'm not Catholic, or even Christian for that matter, but it seems to me that being forgiven for whatever you did sort of revolves around the idea of doing "it" right the next time.
Leonce Gaiter | Posted 05.25.2011
With evidence that the Pope enabled the rape of children through inaction, it is appropriate to examine the Church's authority on morality and spirituality.
AP | GILLIAN FLACCUS | Posted 05.25.2011
LOS ANGELES — The head of a Roman Catholic order that specialized in the treatment of pedophile priests visited with then-Pope Paul VI nearly 50...
Jeff Schweitzer | Posted 04.30.2012