Global church Archives

Summit drives home that clerical sexual abuse is a global problem

Feb 25, 2019

Though Pope Francis’s high stakes anti-abuse summit has not yet yielded any major policy moves, one message was clear throughout the four-day gathering: the problem of child sexual abuse is a global one, and no one can leave thinking it’s not a concern in their own backyard.

By Elise Harris

February abuse summit will have to navigate waters of a global church

Nov 25, 2018

A major challenge the planning committee for Pope Francis’s Feb. 21-24 summit on sex abuse will face is taking account of differing instincts inside a global Church.

By John L. Allen Jr.

Understanding why the Synod of Bishops blinked on ‘zero tolerance’

Oct 30, 2018

For Americans and Catholics from other places scarred by clerical sexual abuse scandals, it’s almost incomprehensible that a global summit of bishops could pull back from endorsing a policy of “zero tolerance.”

By John L. Allen Jr.

Peru scandal showcases need for oversight of lay movements

Aug 6, 2018

Among other take-aways, the case of Luis Fernando Figari and his Sodalitium Christianae Vitae illustrate the need for lay movements to get the same oversight as dioceses and religious orders.

By Elise Harris

Chilean cardinal may be next test for Pope on sex abuse reform

Aug 1, 2018

In part one of a three-part series, Elise Harris examines the rise to power of Chilean Cardinal Francisco Errazuriz and why he may be the next test Pope Francis faces in terms of accountability for clerical sexual abuse.

By Elise Harris

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

Jul 28, 2017

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.

By Inés San Martín