News Story of the Day

Even after Kamloops, the Catholic Church opts for obfuscation

The word “shocking” has come up a lot in news stories about the discovery of the remains of 215 children at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops; though, to anyone familiar with the history of such schools, there was nothing remotely surprising about it.


Church still incapable of saying there is no excuse for a priest abusing a child

I don’t know whether he lacks the will or the courage, or whether he is incapable of asserting real and moral authority. I don’t know whether he has been undermined from within, or is just an old man incapable of seeing anything resembling a bigger picture.


Clergy abuse survivors advocate protests outside Springfield prayer Mass, calls on church for full disclosure

SPRINGFIELD — Robert M. Hoatson has grown accustomed to being a protest of one.


New Vatican law criminalizes sexual abuse by priests and church officials

Pope Francis has changed church law to explicitly criminalize the sexual abuse of adults by priests who abuse their authority and to say that laypeople who hold church office can be sanctioned for similar sex crimes.


The Catholic Church plays more games

Some may think the Diocese of Rockville Centre deserves kudos for releasing a list of clergy accused of sexual abuse. They would be wrong. Some may question why clergy sexual abuse survivors never seem to be satisfied with how the Catholic Church responds to them. They would be misinformed, but I cannot blame them for thinking so. There is a well-oiled public relations machine at work here.


Local priest appears in court after arrest on child pornography charges

BOSSIER CITY, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A Bossier City man and associate pastor at a local church arrested last week on child pornography and bestiality charges made his first appearance in court Monday.


Former Springfield priest killed 13-year-old boy in 1972: Hampden District Attorney

A former Springfield priest who was a person of interest in the murder of a 13-year-old boy 49 years ago has been ID’d as the boy’s killer, the Hampden DA said Monday, three days after the man died.


Bishop Stika wants 'the whole story' ahead of Vatican investigation

Bishop Rick Stika, who is only 63, has had both a heart attack and major heart surgeries. A few years ago he lost sight in his right eye. He has severe diabetes, which gives him chronic pain, and he’s walked with a limp since he fractured his foot in five places, falling from a curb while on vacation. He says he should have surgery on the foot, but because of the diabetes, there is risk that surgery could turn into amputation. 


Abuse victims’ long wait

James Cali is losing heart. 

The chairman of the creditors committee in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy believes negotiations between the diocese and insurance companies it hopes will cover the heavy liabilities it expects to incur could be stalled, perhaps fatally. 


Ex-prosecutor Nazir Afzal who brought down the Rochdale grooming gangs will head the Catholic Church's drive to stamp out child abuse scandals

The Muslim former prosecutor who led the crackdown on Rochdale's grooming gangs is to head the Catholic Church's drive to stamp out child abuse scandals, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.


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