Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
LYON, France (AFP) — A French court on Thursday will deliver its verdict in the case of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, accused of covering up sexual abuse of minors by one of his priests. The 68-year-old archbishop and five former aides went on trial in Lyon at a time when the Catholic Church has been hit by abuse scandals in countries as far afield as Australia, Chile and the United States. The outcome of the […]
MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — Vatican diplomat Luigi Ventura — who is already under investigation in France over alleged sexual assault — is now facing a similar complaint in Canada, the Vatican embassy in Ottawa said Thursday. Luigi Ventura, currently the Vatican’s envoy to France, has been accused of molesting an official at the Paris mayor’s office. The 74-year-old Italian archbishop served as the envoy to Canada from 2001 to 2009. He now faces a “single” […]
MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Cardinal George Pell was ordered held in custody Wednesday following his historic conviction for child sex crimes, capping an extraordinary fall from grace for one of the most powerful men in the Catholic Church. Prosecutors told a pre-sentencing hearing that Pell, the most senior Catholic cleric ever convicted for child sex abuse, faces a maximum 50 years in prison for five charges of sexual assault against two choirboys at Melbourne’s […]
By Agence France-Presse MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Angry protesters called Cardinal George Pell a “maggot” and a “monster” Wednesday as he arrived in court, possibly for the last time as a free man, in a last-ditch push for bail while he appeals his historic conviction for child sex crimes. Once one of Pope Francis’ closest advisors, Pell is facing up to 25 years in prison for five charges of sexual and indecent assault on […]
by Ella Ide Agence France Presse VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Catholic Church’s Pope Francis on Sunday vowed to tackle every single case of sexual abuse by priests, comparing paedophilia to “human sacrifice”, but drew an angry response from victims. As the pope promised an “all-out battle” against abusive priests at the end of the landmark Vatican summit on the issue, his critics dismissed his speech as a “stunning letdown”. And when he blamed the […]
Pope Francis on Sunday compared the sexual abuse of children to human sacrifice as he addressed the Catholic church’s top bishops at the end of a landmark summit to tackle paedophilia. “Our work has made us realise once again that the gravity of the scourge of the sexual abuse of minors is, and historically has been, a widespread phenomenon in all cultures and societies,” he said. “I am reminded of the cruel religious practice, once widespread […]
WARSAW, Poland (AFP) — A foundation supporting victims of pedophile priests in Poland on Thursday released a report documenting nearly 400 cases of sex abuse by clergymen in the staunchly Catholic country. The publication of the 27-page report, which activists presented to Catholic Church’s Pope Francis on Wednesday, coincided with the pontiff gathering the world’s top Catholic bishops at the Vatican at a summit on tackling clerical sex abuse. Images broadcast on Polish television […]
by Catherine Marciano with Ella Ide in Rome Agence France Presse VATICAN CITY (AFP) — The Catholic Church’s Pope Francis on Thursday opened a landmark Vatican summit on fighting child sex abuse, calling for “concrete measures” and handing top Catholic bishops a roadmap to tackling paedophilia in the church. “The holy people of God looks to us, and expects from us not simple and predictable condemnations, but concrete and effective measures to be undertaken. […]
by Ella Ide Agence France Presse VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Pope Francis on Thursday handed the world’s top Catholic bishops guidelines to shape the debate at a landmark Vatican summit on tackling clerical sex abuse. “As a help, I would share with you some important criteria formulated by the various episcopal commissions and conferences — they came from you and I have organised them somewhat,” he said as the meeting began. “They are guidelines to […]
By Agence France Presse VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Survivors of clerical paedophilia related their traumatic experiences to the world’s top bishops on Thursday at a landmark summit at the Vatican on the protection of minors. Here are some extracts from their video testimonies, the transcripts of which were provided by the Vatican, without identifying the speakers. – Victim from South America – “The first thing they did was to treat me as a liar, […]
WARSAW, Poland (AFP) — A senior nun has spoken out for the first time about priests sexually abusing nuns in staunchly Catholic Poland following an an unprecedented public admission by Pope Francis. Mother Superior Joanna Olech was speaking after the pontiff earlier this month admitted that priest have used nuns as “sexual slaves” — and may still be doing so. “The problem of sexual abuse committed by priests against nuns has also existed in […]
VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Two cardinals criticized on Wednesday Pope Francis’s approach to the clerical paedophilia crisis, saying “abuse of power” was not to blame but homosexuality. “We turn to you with deep distress! The Catholic world is adrift,” US Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke and German Cardinal Walter Brandmueller said in an open letter to the heads of the bishops’ conferences. “Sexual abuse is blamed on clericalism. But the first and primary fault of the clergy does not rest […]
