After backing out of a proposed $30 million settlement with the victims of defrocked priest John J. Geoghan, the Boston Archdiocese has reached a tentative agreement to pay $10 million to 86 alleged abuse victims. Geoghan has allegedly molested more than 130 children since the 1980s and is currently serving a sentence of nine to […]
As charges of abuse by Catholic priests increase in number, some priests are filing civil suits against their accusers for slander. Five cases have been filed since early July by priests against their alleged abuse victims, according to the New York Times. The Times reports that Catholic officials as well as victim support groups say […]
Despite worldwide focus on the notorious child sexual abuse scandal, the Catholic Church is continuing its routine of secrecy, denial, and feigned alacrity in regards to the little-publicized issue of nun sexual abuse by priests. For the past seven years, the Vatican has been aware of the sexual abuse and rape of nuns by priests. […]
In seven hours of videotaped testimony released today in a Boston court, Cardinal Bernard Law admitted to allowing priests accused of sexual abuse, as well as those who had admitted to abuse, to remain in the ministry without informing parishioners. “I did not, as a matter of policy, in 1984, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, […]
Less than a month after the Vatican called the ordination of women to priesthood “an affront to the dignity of women, whose specific role in the Church and society is distinctive and irreplaceable,” seven women priests were excommunicated for failing to repent by the Church-issued July 22 deadline. Last month, the Vatican reasserted its policy […]
A National Review Board consisting of 12 prominent lay Roman Catholics and led by Oklahoma Governor Frank A Keating (R), asked all US dioceses to provide full reports detailing their progress since adopting the sexual abuse policy approved at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in June. The policy requires bishops to remove from ministry […]
Advocates for victims of sexually abusive priests expressed disappointment Sunday following Pope John Paul II’s address to an audience of 800,000 people at World Youth Day in Toronto. During the three-hour-long Mass, the pope alluded to the sex scandal plaguing the church, admitting that “the harm doneÉ to the young and vulnerable fills us all […]
Pope Refuses To Visit With Sexual Abuse Victims Pope John Paul II rejected a request to meet with survivors of sexual abuse by priests during his current tour of Canada for the Roman Catholic Church’s World Youth Day. The Canadian chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), the group that requested […]
In a move that will cost the lives of tens of thousands of women and children around the globe, President Bush officially announced yesterday that he will withhold $34 million in funds for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Bush made this decision despite Secretary of State Colin Powell’s earlier endorsement of the UNFPA’s “invaluable […]
In a statement denouncing the “ordination” of seven women to priesthood, the Vatican yesterday urged the women to repent or face excommunication. Insisting that Romulu BraschiÑthe Argentine bishop who ordained the women from Austria, Germany, and the USÑfounded a schismatic community, the Vatican reasserted its policy banning women from priesthood, saying it “constitutes the simulation […]
The Washington Post reported that recent sex scandals plaguing the Roman Catholic Church have decreased the church’s political influence, particularly on issues such as gay marriage, parental consent for abortions, and increasing the minimum wage. “We had an informed-consent bill on abortion recently when the church’s voice might have been persuasive…but their influence with people […]
After four years of debate between women’s groups and the Catholic Church, New York became the 20th state in the US to require that insurers and employers provide contraceptive coverage for women. A bill passed last month in the New York legislature mandates health-insurance coverage for birth control, mammograms and screenings for cervical cancer and […]
Despite assurances that he will continue to protect a woman’s right to choose if elected governor of California, Republican candidate Bill Simon has been a longtime supporter and adviser to a New Jersey-based organization with close ties to anti-abortion extremists, the San-Jose Mercury News reported Sunday. Good Counsel, which runs five homes for unwed mothers […]
In a decision that could have national ramifications for women’s health, the Northern Kentucky Independent District Health Board is set to vote tonight on funding for contraceptives and reproductive health services for thousands of poor women. The board will consider rejecting $170,000 in federal funds provided annually to the district from Title X, because of […]
A Massachusetts grand jury has convened to consider bringing criminal charges against Cardinal Bernard Law and other leaders of the Archdiocese of Boston for putting priests in position to sexually abuse minors, the Boston Globe reported today. Law enforcement sources told the Globe that the grand jury has been collecting evidence for weeks, focusing on […]
Of the 252 bishops at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Dallas, 239 nixed a zero tolerance policy Friday and opted instead to adopt a policy that merely removes abusive priests from ministry. Following two days of intense debate, the approved “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” called for any priest […]
Conservative US Christian organizations have joined forces with the most unlikely of allies Ð fundamentalist Islamic governments. These alliances have been forged to halt the expansion of political protections and rights for gays, women and children at United Nations conferences. In addition, the Bush administration has backed these unions with the appointment of anti abortion […]
Nearly 300 US Catholic bishops are expected to vote late today on a proposal for dealing with the sexual abuse of minors. The proposal falls short of the “zero-tolerance” policy favored by victims’ advocacy groups. Under the new proposal, priests who molested children in the past or in the future would be dismissed from the […]
As the first day of meetings for the US Catholic bishops on child sexual abuse in the church drew to a close today in Dallas, some said that the bishops are close to consensus on a strict “zero tolerance” policy that would defrock any priest who ever sexually molested a minor. “The mood is very […]
James Kendrick Williams, head of the Diocese of Lexington, KY, has become the third American bishop to step down since the sex abuse scandal hit the US Catholic Church in January. Three men allege that Williams abused them more than 20 years ago. Williams denied the charges and went on leave voluntarily under a diocesan […]
