News Story of the Day

Ex-Detroit priest and old abuse charge surface in Twin Cities

A onetime priest at Holy Redeemer parish in Detroit is at the center of another priest sex abuse controversy involving the embattled Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis.

Documents obtained by Minnesota Public Radio reveal that a woman contacted the Archdiocese of Detroit in the early 1990s to complain that the Rev. Harry Walsh molested her when she was 15. Walsh was posted at Holy Redeemer parish in southwest Detroit in 1965-67.


Abuse claims kept secret allowed priest to minister and teach sex ed

When beloved priest Harry Walsh retired two years ago, parishioners of St. Henry’s Catholic Church in Monticello, Minn., decorated a VFW hall with paper shamrocks and musical notes to say goodbye.

They sang, gave speeches and cried. Walsh, then 77, had served as the parish’s music minister for nearly a decade.


Archbishop Nienstedt steps aside as police investigate allegation, say church not cooperating in other cases

A clearly frustrated St. Paul Police Chief Thomas Smith said Tuesday that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has failed to cooperate with investigations into alleged clerical sex abuse.

"We have through written and verbal requests made clear our desire to speak to individuals connected with the archdiocese, and we've been told no," Smith said at a news conference.


Salem woman who molested relative, photographed abuse, gets 25 years in prison

Michelle Lee Freeman's instincts led her to kick her husband out of their Salem house after he confessed he had sexually abused a young relative of theirs.


Despite massive reserves of cash victims of abuse have received a pittance

THE enormous wealth of the Catholic Church in Australia has been revealed in the royal commission with the Brisbane archdiocese alone having $30 million in cash reserves, on top of all the church properties.

Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge said they were not even one of the "fat cat" diocese.

It also made a profit from its archdiocese development fund which last year was $22 million.


Archdiocese's list shows it kept secret seven priests credibly accused of sexually abusing children

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis acknowledged Thursday that it had kept secret for decades the names of at least seven Catholic priests it considers credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

Archbishop John Nienstedt revealed the names on a list of 34 priests posted to an archdiocese website. The names are from a list the archdiocese created in 2009 of priests accused of child sexual abuse. However, Nienstedt now says four of the priests should not have been included.


Talk Is Cheap, Pope Francis

Pope Francis today announced the formation of a high-level commission to advise him on how to handle instances of clerical sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. It is a cautious and underwhelming response. From the NYT report:


Pope Francis Avoids Apology For Clergy Sex Abuse

Why doesn’t popular Pope Francis issue a straightforward apology for rampant child sex abuse by Catholic priests, instead of swerving time and again on the issue?

There is no question that Pope Francis has put a shine on the tarnished Catholic church through acts of humility and courage in the first eight months of his papacy. Cold calls to Catholics and random acts of kindness—including  rumors that he regularly sneaks out of Vatican City at night to help feed the poor in Rome—have endeared him to the most ardent naysayers.  But the first Latin American pontiff hasn’t won everyone over quite yet.


Church document flagged Huberty for misconduct a decade ago

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Top officials at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have said they didn't know about sexual misconduct by the pastor at the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood until this year, but a document obtained by MPR News shows that a church official flagged the priest for sexual misconduct a decade ago.


$200m in assets, but church couldn't find $4m for victims

THE Grafton Anglican Diocese had access to more than $200 million in assets when it refused to pay out less than $4 million to victims of child sex abuse, the royal commission has heard.

The revelation came just moments before former registrar Pat Comben surprisingly announced he had voluntarily relinquished holy orders and was no longer a reverend of the Anglican Church.


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