Media Statements

We applaud this ruling and the message that it sends. We believe that, when church officials who conceal or enable are held accountable alongside the offending priest, it helps deter future crimes. Church officials who remain silent and fail to report crimes to police must be held responsible as well, both financially and publicly.

This is an extraordinarily callous and dangerous move. Forgiveness is good. Recklessness is not. 

We applaud this report, but by itself, it changes nothing. Understanding the past is good. Changing the future, however, is hard. So everyone involved should be vigilant and determined, not naive and complacent.

Almost half of the world's bishops have failed to meet a Vatican deadline to submit child sex abuse policies. That shows how little Catholic prelates care about kids’ safety.

We call on Pope Benedict and his Vatican staff to investigate and harshly punish the priests who violated the privacy of these young, devout girls and abused their trust in the confessional. It’s a horrific betrayal for Catholic officials to use the sacrament of confession to manipulate vulnerable youngsters.

Eleven days after his consecration as bishop, Metropolitan Jonah Paffhausen was elected to lead the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). The gathered clergy and laity believed that this synodal “outsider” would lead their church, which had been plagued for years by financial scandals at the highest levels, into a better future.

Two groups that focus on clergy sex crime and cover ups are urging a San Jose prosecutor to file perjury charges against a Catholic priest who allegedly molested more than a dozen children.

We support the brave man who is speaking publicly about the sexual exploitation he suffered because of an abusive Episcopalian priest. 

We applaud police for pursuing this case. We are sad for the victim, but are grateful that this youngster is cooperating with law enforcement.

How on earth can Archbishop Charles Chaput say that two of his priests are credibly accused child molesters but refuse to disclose their names on his website or in his news release (http://archphila.org/press%20releases/pr002005.htm)?