Catholic Church

Europe 10/05/21, 15:29

A 2,500-page report contains the results of a two-and-a-half-year investigation by the French Independent Commission against Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE), according to which at least 216,000 children were raped in the last seven decades.  The abusers would have been around 3,000 male priests or religious, and when including laypeople ...

U.S. 06/27/21, 15:25

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone wrote a statement directed at the 60 Democratic congressmen claiming to be "Catholics" who published a defense of their support for abortion and pressured the bishops not to take communion away from President Biden. As Biden continues to defend and endorse abortion across the country, 60 ...

China 05/30/21, 19:34

China has imposed new draconian regulations requiring clergy to follow the essential values of communism and promote the 'sinicization of religion'—using intimidation of criminal repercussions—in a further blow to Pope Francis' secret Sino-Vatican concordat. The Communist Party of China's (CCP) State Bureau of Religious Affairs (SBRA) on May 1 released the ...

World 05/09/21, 18:23

In an alarming disclosure, every two weeks, a religious structure in France vanishes—primarily due to arson and vandalism. The conclusion was drawn by the president of the Observatoire du patrimoine religieux (Observatory of Religious Heritage) in Paris, Edouard de Lamaze. His alarm came after a fire on April 15 in Romilly-la-Puthenaye, Normandy, ...

China 09/30/20, 03:56

the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) harsh crackdown on religious groups has only increased in the two years since the Vatican signed a deal between the Catholic church and Beijing. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo previously criticized the deal, which is up for renewal next month, and he is headed to ...

2022 Campaign 08/12/20, 19:45

When Joe Biden announced on Tuesday, Aug. 11, he had chosen Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as his running mate, he described Harris as a “fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants.” Not so, say the victims of sexual abuse by the clergy in ...

U.S. 09/29/19, 10:09

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a statement of interest on Friday, Sept. 27, in support of a Roman Catholic archbishop’s decision that led to the firing of a gay, married teacher.  The Justice Department statement says the First Amendment gives the diocese the right to apply Catholic doctrine in employment ...

U.S. 06/10/19, 13:49

The Catholic bishop in Springfield, Illinois, banned Holy Communion to Catholic lawmakers who voted for an extreme abortion law that also repeals decades-old restrictions on abortions in Illinois. Bishop Thomas Paprocki issued the decree on June 2. Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, and Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, both Catholics, have ...

U.S. 05/20/19, 17:22

Catholic parishioners in Pennsylvania discovered Sunday that a vandal spray-painted their church with pro-abortion graffiti, sparking public outcry and a police investigation. The as yet unidentified culprit wrote, “You do not have the right to decide how others lives,” in black spray paint across the glass doors of the Notre Dame ...

Europe 05/17/19, 09:38

Contradicting claims by Poland's ruling party leader, the head of Poland's Catholic church says recent revelations about priests abusing minors are not attacks on the church but will help its cleansing. Poland's primate, Archbishop Wojciech Polak, was referring to a documentary film, "Tell No One," that contains testimony by men and ...

Europe 05/14/19, 07:55

Poland's prime minister is vowing tougher punishments for those who sexually abuse minors after a new film spurred the country into grappling with the problem of abuse by priests. The documentary "Tell No One" has triggered soul searching in the deeply Catholic country since it was released on Saturday on YouTube. Shock ...

World 04/30/19, 04:44

The checkpoints started just outside of an east Sri Lanka village, the strictest seen in the days after Islamic State-aligned militants launched suicide attacks that killed over 250 people.The trucks stopped first, soldiers digging through crates and produce. Buses disgorged their passengers. Cars lined up single file so soldiers could ...

Europe 02/22/19, 02:24

A French Catholic Church official says the country's bishops have "agreed in principle" to provide financial compensation to sex abuse victims whose cases are too old to be taken to court. Vincent Neymon, the deputy general secretary of the French bishops' conference, says he hopes a system for making "a financial ...

World 02/21/19, 03:31

For centuries, the Vatican's canon law system busied itself with banning books and dispensing punishments that included burnings at the stake for heretics. These days, the Vatican office that eventually replaced the Roman Catholic Inquisition is knee-deep in processing clergy sex abuse cases. The procedures of the Congregation for the Doctrine ...

World 02/05/19, 02:05

In an earlier speech at an interfaith conference in the UAE, Pope Francis appealed to "human fraternity" as he called for an end to wars in the Middle East

Texas 02/01/19, 02:40

Names go back to the 1940s, many are dead, it is unclear if any will face charges in court

U.S. 01/15/19, 20:51

Guam's Catholic Church has filed for bankruptcy, a move that will allow the archdiocese to avoid trial in dozens of child sexual abuse lawsuits and enter settlement negotiations

World 01/02/19, 23:15

Two survivors' advocacy groups have sent an open letter to Pope Francis asking to be a part of a historic gathering that Catholic leader called for in February at the Vatican, to discuss the ongoing crisis roiling the church

U.S. 12/20/18, 00:21

Report says church did not carry out thorough investigations and tried to discredit victims