World Mar 29 Pope Francis requires sex abuse allegations be reported to Vatican The mandatory reporting provision marks the first time the Vatican has put into law requirements for Catholic officials to report allegations of sex crimes.
World Mar 19 Pope declined French cardinal’s resignation after sex abuse cover-up conviction The decision greatly disappointed abuse survivors, given that French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin had traveled to the Vatican on Monday to present his resignation following the March 7 verdict and six-month suspended sentence he received.
World Feb 25 AP Analysis: What the Pope’s sex abuse summit has and hasn’t changed No sweeping new law was announced to punish bishops who cover up abuse. No files were released or global reporting requirement endorsed requiring priestly rapists to be reported to police. But some concrete steps were announced at the summit's end.
World Feb 24 Pope vows to end cover-ups, fight sex abuse with God’s wrath Pope Francis closed out his extraordinary summit on preventing clergy sex abuse by vowing Sunday to confront abusers with “the wrath of God,” end the cover-ups by their superiors and prioritize the victims of this “brazen, aggressive and destructive evil.”…
World Feb 23 Nun, among few at Vatican abuse summit, blasts church for ‘mediocrity, hypocrisy and complacency’ A prominent nun blasted the culture of silence that has long kept clergy sexual abuse hidden in the Catholic Church, telling a Vatican summit Saturday that transparency and an admission of mistakes were needed to restore trust.
World Feb 22 Vatican sex abuse summit seeks new culture of accountability Pope Francis summoned 190 religious leaders for a four-day tutorial on preventing abuse after the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal erupted again last year.
World Feb 21 At Vatican summit, Pope demands bishops act now on abuse Pope Francis opened a landmark sex abuse prevention summit Thursday by warning senior Catholic figures that the faithful are demanding concrete action against predator priests and not just words of condemnation. Victims then told the bishops of the searing emotional…
World Feb 18 Sex abuse survivors to meet with Vatican summit organizers The organizers of Pope Francis' summit on preventing clergy sex abuse will meet this week with a dozen abuse victims who have descended on Rome to protest the Catholic Church's response to the crisis and demand an end to decades…
World Feb 16 Vatican defrocks former US cardinal McCarrick over sex abuse Pope Francis has defrocked former U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick after Vatican officials found him guilty of soliciting for sex while hearing confession and sexual crimes against minors and adults, the Holy See said Saturday.
World Feb 09 Vatican ex-doctrine chief pens manifesto amid pope criticism The Vatican’s former doctrine chief has penned a “manifesto of faith” to remind Catholics of basic tenets of belief amid what he says is “growing confusion” in the church today.