Pope Francis on Tuesday issued a major revision of Catholic Church laws regulating clerical sex abuse, fraud and the attempt to ordain women. It is known as an apostolic constitution with the title, Pascite Gregem Dei, or "Tend the Flock."Read More
The report on the former archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked last year, states that Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI were aware of the accusations of sexual misconduct.Read More
An investigation by KQED shows that Jesús Antonio Castañeda Serna, a former Catholic priest in the Diocese of Yakima, had been accused before and has moved from the Catholic Church to the Anglican Church and then to another religious group without undergoing complete background checks — or any at all.Read More
The French filmmaker first wanted to make a documentary about an accused pedophile priest. But the victims convinced him that fiction would reach more viewers. It's called By the Grace of God.Read More
The largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. faces allegations of sexual abuse by ministers and controversy over its opposition to women preachIng in church.Read More
The papal decree also sets up new procedures to hold more-senior church authorities such as bishops accountable for committing abuse or for covering up the crimes of others. Read More
Applicable only to Vatican personnel and diplomats around the world, it is the first unified policy for the protection of children and vulnerable adults. But critics say it doesn't go far enough.Read More
Not surprisingly, when Pope Francis summoned more than 100 bishops to a meeting in Rome to address the "Protection of Minors in the Church," the announcement raised expectations that it could mark a turning point in the Church's lagging response to the ongoing clergy abuse crisis. The three-day meeting begins Thursday.Read More
Theodore McCarrick rose to power as a cardinal and archbishop of Washington, D.C. He became the most senior Catholic Church official in modern times to lose clerical status.Read More
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, the Roman Catholic Church is being forced to confront evidence that clergy have sexually abused nuns.Read More
Nearly 50 dioceses and religious orders have publicly identified child-molesting priests in the wake of the Pennsylvania report issued in mid-August, and 55 more have announced plans to do the same over the next few months, the AP found. Together they account for more than half of the nation’s 187 dioceses.Read More
The Catholic Church has been roiled by revelations about clergy abuse in dioceses across the country in 2018. It began with a Pennsylvania grand jury report in August that detailed decades of abuse.Read More
Two Gonzaga University vice presidents have resigned amid fallout from the Catholic order of Jesuits shuffling priests accused of sexual abuse. The Jesuits, Frank Case and Pat Lee, served in leadership capacities at Gonzaga, and both previously led the Jesuit order in the Northwest, formerly called the Oregon Province.Read More
Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh said in a written statement to faculty, staff and students that he knew Jesuit priests accused of sexual abuse were living in a Jesuit residence on campus, but he had not been aware that any of them might be a threat to students.Read More
A 20-month investigation shows the extent the Catholic Church's order of Jesuits, aka Society of Jesus, used Northwest Native reservations and Alaska Native communities to shuffle clergy with credible accusations of sex abuse. Instead of being prosecuted or removed from ministry, many were sent to other remote assignments, and housed in a retirement community on the Read More
The Seattle Archdiocese has paid nearly $7 million to settle claims by six men that former priests abused them when they were children. The men said the archdiocese “knew or should have known that the priests posed a danger to children” and failed to protect them.Read More
The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, will meet in Rome with Pope Francis and other church leaders to discuss further investigations into abuse.Read More
