clerical seuxal abuse Archives

Canonist warns Church oversight of troubled lay groups has ‘no teeth’

Through the years the Vatican has developed strong rules and regulations to fight sex abuse in the clergy, but two recent sex abuse scandals in Catholic lay associations show that in these cases the Church is still very slow to respond and that often local bishops fail to exercise the necessary monitoring.

German abuse report ‘shocking’ and not the end, Church expert says

Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a leading anti-abuse expert and a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, called a report documenting hundreds of cases of physical and sexual abuse at a German boys’ choir “shocking,” and warned that as the taboo lifts in other parts of the world, similar accounts are likely to keep emerging.

Pope Francis defrocks Italian priest convicted of child sex abuse

Pope Francis has decided to defrock Mauro Inzoli, also known as Don Mercedes for his love of fancy cars, who has been found guilty of eight counts of sexual abuse of children aged 12 to 16. Benedict XVI moved to defrock him in 2012 but Francis chose leniency before recently changing his mind.

Abuse charges against Pell not good news for Vatican financial reform
- Analysis, Vatican
- June 29, 2017
With criminal charges of sexual abuse having been filed against Cardinal George Pell in his home country of Australia, many questions will be asked, most about the accusations and Pell’s defense. From a Vatican point of view, however, a key question is what all this means for the prospects of financial reform, and the best answer probably is, “Nothing good.”
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Australian Anglican bishop who testified about child sex abuse quits
- Associated Press, Global Church
- March 17, 2017
An Australian Anglican bishop announced his resignation Thursday, citing systemic practices in some sections of the church that enabled “horrendous crimes against children.” The bishop, who was sexually molested as a teenager, quit only a day before the royal commission’s final hearing on clerical sex abuse.
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Drop the ‘cliché’ of a reforming pope v. Vatican foes, cardinal says
- Vatican
- March 6, 2017
German Cardinal Gerhard Muller, whose Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was cited by abuse survivor Marie Collins as part of the reason for her resignation from Pope Francis’s anti-abuse commission, has fired back, saying it’s time to drop the “cliche” of a reforming pope being hobbled by internal opposition in the Vatican.
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