Tag: religion ‘

Man charged with attempted murder over Canada priest attack

  MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — A man who allegedly stabbed a priest in front of his congregation live on television during mass at Canada’s biggest church was charged Saturday with attempted murder and assault with a weapon. Vlad Cristian Eremia, 26, appeared briefly by video link in a Montreal court on Saturday afternoon, sporting a beard and wearing a checked shirt. He will remain in custody, with his next hearing on Monday. The suspect is […]

Emotional Muslims return to Christchurch mosque as NZ works to move on

  by Chris Foley / Glenda Kwek Agence France Presse CHRISTCHURCH,New Zealand (AFP) — Muslims held emotional prayers inside Christchurch’s main mosque on Saturday for the first time since a white supremacist massacred worshippers there, as New Zealand sought to return to normality after the tragedy. The Al Noor mosque had been taken over by police for investigations and security reasons after alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant gunned down Muslims gathered there and at a smaller […]

Priest stabbed live on TV at Canada’s biggest church

  by Julien Besset Agence France Presse MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — A priest was stabbed in front of his congregation live on television during morning mass on Friday at Canada’s biggest church, in what police described as an isolated incident. Footage broadcast on a Catholic television station and picked up by the top-rated CTV network showed a man in jeans, parka and white baseball cap approach Claude Grou at St Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, in […]

French sex abuse victims seek answers from top Vatican official

  LYON, France (AFP) — A pedophilia victims’ group is calling for a Vatican cardinal to be stripped of his immunity so he can face prosecution over the cover-up of alleged sex abuse by a French priest, one of the victims said Wednesday The announcement comes a day after Catholic Church’s Pope Francis rejected the resignation of a French cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who was given a six-month suspended jail sentence for failing to report the […]

US state of West Virginia sues Catholic diocese, bishop for employing known pedophiles

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US state of West Virginia on Tuesday sued a Catholic diocese and a bishop over allegations they knowingly employed pedophiles in schools. State attorney general Patrick Morrisey announced he had filed suit against the diocese of Wheeling/Charleston — located over 250 miles (400 kilometers) west of Washington — and against its former bishop Michael Bransfield. Bransfield was himself dismissed in September following allegations of sexual harassment against adults. […]

Catholic Church’s Pope Francis rejects resignation of French cardinal convicted for sex abuse cover-up

  LYON, France (AFP) — Catholic Church’s Pope Francis has rejected the resignation of French cardinal Philippe Barbarin who was handed a six-month suspended jail sentence this month for failing to report sex abuse by a priest under his authority, prompting surprise among Church leaders and condemnation from victims. The pope’s decision, announced by Barbarin in a statement and confirmed by the Vatican, comes ahead of a judicial appeal of the case. But it also […]

Australian priest charged with sex abuse of boy: police

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian police said on Wednesday they had charged a Catholic priest with indecent assault of a 15-year-old boy more than two decades ago, the latest member of the clergy caught in the church’s global sex-abuse scandal. The announcement comes a week after disgraced Australian Cardinal George Pell was sentenced in Melbourne to six years in prison for the sexual abuse of two choirboys. Police said the 61-year-old man, whose identity was […]

Convicted French cardinal Barbarin to tender resignation to pope

  by Catherine MARCIANO Agence France Presse VATICAN CITY (AFP) — French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who received a six-month suspended jail sentence for failing to report sex abuse by a priest under his authority, is to meet the Catholic Church’s Pope Francis at the Vatican to tender his resignation on Monday. The private meeting is expected to take place around 0900 GMT, according to his diocese, with the pontiff to decide within weeks whether to […]

Cardinal Pell victim says ‘hard to take comfort’ from sentencing

The former choirboy molested by Australian Cardinal George Pell led the response to his sentencing Wednesday, saying it was “hard to take comfort” from his six-year jail term. Pell was sentenced in the County Court of Victoria after being found guilty of five counts of sexual and indecent assault in the sacristy of a Melbourne cathedral in 1996 and 1997. Chief Justice Peter Kidd told the court the 77-year-old would be eligible for parole after […]

Judge says disgraced Australian cardinal Pell may die in prison

  MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Disgraced Australian Cardinal George Pell “may not live to be released from prison”, the judge warned a Melbourne court Wednesday as the sentencing of the 77-year-old for child sex crimes began. Pell, the most senior Catholic clergyman ever found guilty of child sex abuse, faces a maximum 50 years in prison for assaulting two choirboys in a Melbourne cathedral in 1996-97. The Australian cleric has been in custody since late […]

Statue of Polish priest accused of sex abuse to be removed

  WARSAW, Poland (AFP) — The statue of a Solidarity-era Polish priest accused of sex abuse will be permanently removed from a public square, city authorities in the port of Gdansk decided on Thursday, despite objections from supporters. Claims of abuse against the late priest Henryk Jankowski resurfaced in December when liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza published an article reviving allegations that had first surfaced years ago. Gdansk Mayor Aleksandra Dulkiewicz said she saw only “one […]

French cardinal convicted over sex abuse cover-up

  by Pierre PRATABUY / Alexandre GROSBOIS Agence France Presse by Pierre PRATABUY / Alexandre GROSBOIS Agence France Presse LYON, France (AFP) — The archbishop of Lyon Thursday announced he was resigning just hours after being handed a six-month suspended jail sentence for failing to report sex abuse in a case that has rocked the French Catholic Church and added to the Vatican’s woes. Philippe Barbarin, 68, is the most senior French cleric caught up […]