News Story of the Day

France 24, September 27, 2024

Belgium’s prime minister on Friday blasted Pope Francis to his face for the Catholic Church’s horrific legacy of clerical sex abuse and cover-ups in his country, demanding “concrete steps” to come clean with the past and put victims’ interests over those of the church. Alexander De Croo's blistering welcome speech at the start of Francis’ visit was one of the most pointed ever directed at the pope during a foreign trip, where the genteel dictates of diplomatic protocol usually keep outrage out of public remarks. But even King Philippe had strong words for Francis, demanding the church work “incessantly” to atone for the crimes and help victims heal. Their tone underscored just how raw the abuse scandal still is in Belgium, where two decades of revelations of abuse and systematic cover-ups have devastated the hierarchy’s credibility and contributed to an overall decline in Catholicism and the influence of the once-powerful church. Francis applauded at the end of De Croo’s speech and was expected to meet with victims in private later Friday. "This is our shame and humiliation,” he said in an improvised response. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective, FRANCE 24's Mark Owen is joined by Marc Artzrouni, European Coordinator for SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests).

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New indictment leaves Anthony Odiong facing seven sexual assault charges – all in connection with three women

Anthony Odiong delivers a homily in November 2023. Photograph: YouTube page of St Anthony of Padua church of Luling, Louisiana

A grand jury in Texas has handed up more felony sexual assault charges against a Roman Catholic priest accused of preying on women whom he met while ministering to them in that state as well as in south-east Louisiana, officials said.

FILE - Vatican investigators Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, right, from Spain, and Archbishop Charles Scicluna, from Malta, walk outside of the Nunciatura Apostolica during a break from meeting with people who alleged abuse by the Catholic lay group Sodalitium Christianae Vitae in Lima, Peru, on July 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia, File)

By Aubry Killion

Investigative Reporter

A trial for a former New Orleans priest accused of molesting children will not move forward Tuesday after the judge in the case recused himself.

Judge Ben Willard announced in court that the trial against Lawrence Hecker would not move forward and recused himself.

The former leader of the Chicago-area arm of the Passionists order made the promise two years ago after a Sun-Times investigation. Its current leader won’t say why that hasn’t been kept or whether that’s still in the works.

By  Robert Herguth

 

  Sept 20, 2024, 8:00am EDT

Immaculate Conception Church and the Rev. John Baptist Ormechea (inset), who was assigned there from the late 1970s to the late 1980s

Robert Herguth/Sun-Times; Passionists

 

Two years after the Chicago-area arm of the Passionists religious order announced it would establish a sex offender registry of abusive members, the Catholic group hasn’t done so. Its leaders won’t say why or whether that’s still in the works.

September 18, 2024 . 3:35 PM 

Cardinal Robert Prevost

The prefect for the Dicastery of Bishops, Cardinal Robert Prevost, has been publicly accused of never having opened a canonical case into alleged sexual abuse carried out by two priests in the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, which he led from 2014 until 2023, when he was called to Rome. 

The St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square on March 27, 2020, in New Orleans. | Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Sep 17, 2024 / 11:35 am

The Archdiocese of New Orleans has proposed a bankruptcy settlement as part of its plan for addressing sexual abuse by clergy, offering a $62.5 million payout to victims of abuse even as the victims themselves are demanding hundreds of millions more. 

Judge Jennifer Branch sentenced 28-year-old Broderick Witt to five years probation; Prosecutors were seeking 12 years in prison. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 9 to eight counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor; he'd initially faced 15 counts.

KING 5 reveals the Renton Police Department has reopened a three-year-old criminal case into allegations of sexual abuse by a former pastor at a Renton-based church.

David Lorenz, the Maryland director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, talks to journalists Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, outside of the Supreme Court of Maryland in Annapolis, Md. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)