Tag: religion ‘

Sex abuse claims rock Dutch Catholic Church

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — More than half of the Netherlands’ senior clerics were involved in covering up sexual assault of children between 1945 and 2010, a press report claimed Saturday, further engulfing the Catholic Church in a global abuse scandal. Over the course of 65 years, 20 of 39 Dutch cardinals, bishops and their auxiliaries “covered up sexual abuse, allowing the perpetrators to cause many more victims”, the daily NRC reported. “Four abused children […]

Catholic priests abused more than 3,600 children in Germany, says study

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — More than 3,600 children were sexually assaulted by Catholic priests in Germany over nearly seven decades, local media reported Wednesday, citing a study commissioned by the German Bishops Conference. The damning report, which Cardinal Reinhard Marx is to present officially on September 25, deals another blow to the Church after clerical child abuse has been uncovered worldwide. According to the study, 1,670 clergymen in Germany committed some form of sexual attack […]

Catholic Church’s Pope to meet US Church leaders after abuse cover-up claim

  Catholic Church’s Pope Francis will meet leaders of the US Catholic Church on Thursday, the Vatican announced, after a high profile accusation that the pontiff covered up sexual abuse allegations against an American cardinal. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, will attend the meeting after saying last month he was eager to meet the pope following the scandal. Two other conference officials will be at the meeting, as […]

New York subpoenas every Catholic diocese in state

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York prosecutors are subpoenaing each Catholic diocese in the state as part of investigations into clerical abuse after at least 1,000 victims were recently identified in neighboring Pennsylvania. All eight Catholic dioceses have either been or are in the process of being subpoenaed by New York’s state attorney general, confirmed Dennis Poust, spokesman for the New York State Catholic Conference. There are an estimated seven million Catholics across […]

New cases of sex abuse of minors by Catholic priests in Chile discovered; cases triple to 119

  by Paulina Abramovich Agence France Presse SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — Scores of new cases of priestly sexual abuse of minors have come to light in Chile, public prosecutors said Friday, deepening a crisis in the country’s Catholic Church that has embroiled its Pope Francis. The country’s chief prosecutor’s office said the number of cases it was investigating had soared to 119 as more victims came forward. A total of 167 bishops, priests and lay […]

US groups representing victims of clergy abuse press US justice dep’t to conduct probe of cover-up

https://youtu.be/LqFIVfPvTBU     United States groups representing survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests called Thursday on the Vatican to publish a list of clerics accused of sexual assault, even as they pressed the US Department of Justice to “do something about this.” The calls came after Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican envoy to Washington, dropped an 11-page bombshell letter on Saturday accusing Pope Francis of ignoring sexual abuse allegations against prominent US […]

US cardinals defend themselves over cover-up storm

  NEW  YORK, United States (AFP) — US cardinals defended themselves Monday against accusations of a Catholic Church cover-up on sex abuse detailed by a conservative bishop who has called on Pope Francis to resign. Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, a progressive, expressed “shock, sadness and consternation” at the wide-ranging allegations, which he said “cannot be understood as contributing to the healing of survivors of sexual abuse.” “Together with Pope Francis, we are confident that scrutiny […]

Catholic Pope ‘begs for God’s forgiveness’ for sexual abuse scandal

  by Joseph Stenson and Catherine Marciano Agence France Presse KNOCK, Ireland (AFP) — Pope Francis in Ireland Sunday “begged for God’s forgiveness” for the child sexual abuse scandal rocking the church but faced accusations by a former Vatican official that he had personally ignored allegations against senior clergy. Francis is due to speak in front of some 500,000 faithful in Dublin’s Phoenix Park as part of his two-day visit to the former Catholic stronghold […]

Catholic Church’s Pope Francis faces calls for action over abuse, ‘shame’ in Ireland

  by Joseph Stenson and Catherine Marciano Agence France Presse DUBLIN, Ireland (AFP) — The Catholic Church’s Pope Francis expressed “pain and shame” over the Church’s failure to deal with abuse and met with eight victims during a visit to Ireland on Saturday where the prime minister pressed him to take action. Francis said the “failure of ecclesiastical authorities… adequately to address these repellent crimes has rightly given rise to outrage, and remains a source […]

Abuse scandals loom over pope’s landmark Ireland visit

  by Joseph Stenson in Ireland with Joe Jackson in London Agence France Presse The Catholic Church’s Pope Francis faces calls to take tougher action against abuse as he visits Ireland this weekend — a country where multiple scandals have badly damaged the image of the church. The pontiff arrives on Saturday for his first visit to this former bastion of Catholicism, which was last visited by a pope in 1979 when Pope John Paul […]

China investigates top Buddhist leader for sexual assault

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — The former head of China’s government-run Buddhist association is under criminal investigation for alleged sexual assault, the country’s top religious authority said Thursday. Xuecheng, a Communist Party member and abbot of Beijing’s Longquan Monastery, is one of the most prominent figures to face accusations in China’s growing #MeToo movement. He stepped down earlier this month after a report by fellow monks accused him of sexual and financial improprieties. In the […]

Litany of Catholic abuse scandals in Ireland

by Joe Jackson Agence France Presse Accusations of wide-ranging abuse in Catholic institutions in Ireland, including but not limited to the sexual targeting of children by priests, date back several decades. In a sign of the scale of the issue, 14,500 people applied for compensation through an Irish government scheme for those abused at juvenile facilities run by religious groups between 1936 and 1970. As Pope Francis prepares to meet some victims during his weekend […]