News Story of the Day

Washington AG will appeal court decision rejecting subpoena of Seattle Archdiocese

Jul 16, 2024|National Correspondent
An aerial view of Seattle is seen March 16, 2020. (Credit: Lindsey Wasson/Reuters via CNS.)
NEW YORK – Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has said he will appeal a judge’s decision to reject his request to enforce a subpoena against the Archdiocese of Seattle in a clergy sex abuse investigation, while Archbishop Paul Etienne has renewed his offer for collaboration between the sides.

Vatican admits sexual abuse undermines the Church’s credibility

An official document for the Synod in October of this year explicitly accepts a loss of credibility due to the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

Although credibility has been at stake since the sexual abuse crisis exploded, this is the first time a Vatican document officially admits its pervasive effects.

In Spain, the Catholic bishops announced a plan to offer reparations to victims of clergy sexual abuse, but it is not clear how they will do so.

By Rodolfo Soriano-Núñez

This week the issue of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church became a priority at the global scale and even more in Spain.


Judge rejects effort by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson to get records from Catholic church

FILE - Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson arrives for a bill signing on April 27, 2023, at the University of Washington’s Hans Rosling Center for Population Health in Seattle. A Washington state judge said Friday, July 12, 2024 that Ferguson is not entitled to enforce a subpoena seeking decades of records from the Seattle Archdiocese, despite his assertion that the records are needed to learn whether the Catholic church used charitable trust funds to cover up sexual abuse by priests. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

 

BY  GENE JOHNSON
Updated 9:19 PM EDT, July 12, 2024
SEATTLE (AP) — A Washington state judge said Friday that Attorney General Bob Ferguson is not entitled to enforce a subpoena seeking decades of records from the Seattle Archdiocese, despite his assertion that the records are needed to learn whether the Catholic church used charitable trust funds to cover up sexual abuse by priests.

How the Fresno Catholic Diocese bankruptcy filing in August will impact abuse survivors

The Fresno Diocese would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization “to address the substantial number of claims brought forth by victims collectively.”

Spain’s church to compensate victims whose abusers have died. Victims say the plan lacks guarantees

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain’s Catholic bishops approved Tuesday a plan to compensate the victims of sexual abuse inside the Church whose alleged aggressors have died or whose possible crimes have been proscribed, an initiative the government and victims’ associations called lacking in real guarantees.


Church must pay $104 million to victims of historical abuse in Newfoundland

Written by Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press Saturday, Jul 06 2024, 11:01 PM

Mount Cashel orphanage in St. John's Newfoundland is seen in this 1989 photo. The Roman Catholic Church has been ordered to pay settlements totalling $104.1 million to 292 survivors of historical clergy abuse in Newfoundland and Labrador, including those at the now infamous Mount Cashel orphanage in St. John's. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

The Roman Catholic Church has been ordered to pay settlements totalling $104 million to 292 survivors of historical abuse in Newfoundland and Labrador, including those at the now infamous Mount Cashel orphanage in St. John's.


Massachusetts lawmakers seek to expand scope of certain sexual offenses

BOSTON (AP) — A bill that would expand the scope of certain sexual offenses under Massachusetts law perpetrated by a health care provider or a member of the clergy is making its way through Beacon Hill.


Archbishop Etienne of Seattle Equates AG Ferguson’s Clergy Abuse Investigation to Oversight on “Refill[Ing] Toilet Paper Dispensers”

SEATTLE (WA)
Catholic Accountability Project (CAP) [Seattle WA]

July 2, 2024

By Catholic Accountability Project

 

Archbishop Etienne argues in court brief that the state has no right to investigate sexual abuse or financial mismanagement  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JULY 1, 2024

Earlier this afternoon, Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle submitted his opposition to Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s petition to compel the archdiocese to cooperate with the AGO’s subpoenas demanding abuse-related documents from Washington State’s three Catholic dioceses.


Ex-Missionaries of Charity allege culture of abuse and neglect

A Missionary of Charity in Rome on Sept. 16, 2017. (Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA.)
Jul 1, 2024|Senior Correspondent

ROME – Almost three decades after her death, Saint Teresa of Kolkata, commonly and affectionately referred to as “Mother Teresa,” remains an international icon of charity and among the most beloved figures in the world, probably the Catholic Church’s most celebrated 20th century personality who wasn’t a pope.

Named Time’s “Person of the Year” in 1975, Mother Teresa also founded a religious order, the Missionaries of Charity, which has become one of the Catholic Church’s most celebrated institutions, almost universally hailed for its service to the “poorest of the poor.”


Former Cincinnati parish staffer faces allegations of grooming, sexual abuse in Wisconsin

Posted at 3:07 PM, Jun 26, 2024

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — A now-former parish staff member in Cincinnati is facing charges in Wisconsin connected to alleged grooming and sexual assault of a member of the Milwaukee Children's Choir he directed, according to court records filed Tuesday.


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