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Pakistan’s Supreme Court Wednesday overturned the conviction of Asia Bibi, a non-Muslim mother facing execution for blasphemy, in a landmark case which has incited deadly violence. Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in deeply conservative Muslim Pakistan, where even unproven allegations of insulting Islam and its Prophet Mohammed can provoke death at the hands of vigilantes — and the acquittal immediately sparked large protests from hardliners. Bibi appeared to be in state of disbelief after […]
by Jennie MATTHEW Agence France Presse PITTSBURGH, United States (AFP) — Around 1,500 people took to the streets of Pittsburgh Tuesday to demonstrate peacefully in song against a visit by US President Donald Trump and to mourn 11 Jewish worshipers killed in a synagogue. The crowd of all ages and faiths, including many young families, children and the elderly, marched for six blocks holding signs that read “President Hate, Leave Our State!” and “Trump’s […]
PITTSBURGH, United States (AFP) — Gunman Robert Bowers only needed 20 minutes to sow terror at the Tree of Life synagogue in the US city of Pittsburgh, where congregants had gathered peacefully for Shabbat services marking a day of rest. Shortly before 10 am (1400 GMT) the 46-year-old Bowers — who had penned virulent anti-Semitic messages on social networks — burst into the synagogue armed with an assault rifle and three handguns. Stephen Weiss, […]
by Dustin Franz Agence France Presse PITTSBURGH, United States (AFP) — A heavily armed gunman opened fire during a baby-naming ceremony at a synagogue in the US city of Pittsburgh on Saturday, killing 11 people and injuring six in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in recent American history. The shooter — identified as a 46-year-old local resident named Robert Bowers — reportedly yelled “All Jews must die” as he burst into the Tree of Life synagogue, […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The US has for the first time opened a federal investigation into abuse committed by Catholic clergy, issuing a subpoena to dioceses in Pennsylvania two months after the publication of a report on decades of sexual abuse in the state. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia confirmed on its website Thursday that it had “received a subpoena issued by a federal grand jury, which requires the production of certain documents.” […]
Catholic Church’s Pope Francis has defrocked two Chilean bishops for the alleged sexual abuse of minors, the Vatican said in a statement on Saturday after a meeting between the pontiff and the president of Chile. The decision to expel former archbishop Francisco Jose Cox Huneeus and former bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernandez — the latest heads to roll in a country hit hard by the cleric abuse scandal — could not be appealed, it […]
Catholic Church’s Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of US Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who was blamed for not doing enough to deal with paedophile priests when he was a bishop in Pennsylvania, the Vatican said Friday. Wuerl, who has stepped down as archbishop of Washington, had announced last month that he planned to meet with the Catholic pope to discuss his resignation. A sweeping US grand jury report released in August revealed credible allegations […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A US man who says he was raped by a priest as a child announced Thursday he was suing the Vatican seeking the identification of accused clergy members worldwide. Over recent months, the Catholic Church has been gripped by a global sexual abuse scandal — particularly in Australia, Chile and the US — with allegations that cases were covered up by top church officials. “I’m seeking the truth […]
by Raphaelle Logerot and Hui Min Neo in Berlin Agence France Presse FULDA, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s Catholic Church on Tuesday apologized to thousands of victims of sexual assault by clergy, with the institution’s top cardinal saying perpetrators must be brought to justice. Cardinal Reinhard Marx said he was ashamed over the decades of abuse that have shattered trust, as well as how so many looked away for so long. The dismay expressed by […]
by Frank Zeller Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s Catholic Church was Tuesday due to confess to and apologize for thousands of cases of sexual abuse against children, part of a global scandal heaping pressure on the Vatican. It will release the latest in a series of reports on sexual crimes and cover-ups spanning decades that has shaken the largest Christian Church, from Europe to the United States, South America and Australia. […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A Catholic priest on the run for more than 25 years has been arrested in Morocco and extradited to the United States to face charges that he sexually assaulted a young boy in the 1990s, federal prosecutors in New Mexico said Friday. Arthur Perrault, now 80 years old, stands accused of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 12 on several occasions in 1991 and […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The Catholic church in New York has reached a record $27.5 million settlement with four men who said they were sexually abused as children, attorneys said Tuesday. The Diocese of Brooklyn, one of the city’s boroughs, agreed to make the payments to the four, who were sexually abused between 2003 and 2009 by their religion teacher, their lawyers said. The sum breaks down to $6.87 million for each […]
