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February 27, 2019

Priests who father children need speedy process to leave priesthood, Vatican cardinal says

Seminarians attend Mass in 2017 in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at Mundelein Seminary in Illinois, near Chicago.
VATICAN – When the Vatican Congregation for Clergy developed guidelines a decade ago for handling cases of priests who father children, the first objective was to make it easier for those men to leave the priesthood to care for their children and be real dads, said the prefect of the congregation.
Published in International
February 27, 2019

Vatican embassy confirms sexual misconduct complaint against Canada's former nuncio

Archbishop Luigi Ventura served as Apostolic Nuncio to Canada for eight years, from 2001 to 2009.
QUEBEC – The apostolic nunciature in Ottawa, Ontario, confirmed Feb. 26 that it received a first complaint of sexual misconduct concerning Archbishop Luigi Ventura, the Vatican's ambassador to Canada from 2001 to 2009.
Published in International
February 27, 2019

Amazon synod to focus on climate change, not married priests, Peruvian cardinal says

In this 2014 file photo, Father Miguel Angel Cadenas, a Spanish Augustinian missionary, baptizes an infant in an Urarina indigenous community on Peru's Urituyacu River.
VATICAN CITY – The issue of married priests is something for the universal Catholic Church to discuss and is not the focus of the upcoming Synod of Bishops for the Amazon, said Peruvian Cardinal Pedro Barreto Jimeno of Huancayo.
Published in International
February 22, 2019

Bob Brehl: Toronto priest doesn’t pull any punches on clerical abuse

Fr. Michael Machacek

Even before Pope Francis called on bishops from around the globe to meet for a Vatican sex abuse summit, a Toronto priest was travelling to parishes to talk about the origins of and solutions to clergy abuse of minors.

Published in Register Columnists
February 22, 2019

Peter Stockland: ‘Priestly problem’ must be tackled

Pope Francis is seen Feb. 22, 2019, the second day of the Vatican meeting on the protection of minors.

Long ago, a childhood friend and I were walking across an old wooden bridge in the small town where we lived when a car stopped to offer us a ride. The local priest was at the wheel.

Published in Register Columnists
February 22, 2019

Cardinal Gracias asks clerics to cultivate 'culture of fraternal correction'

Pope Francis, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago and Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India, attend the second day of the meeting on the protection of minors in the church, at the Vatican Feb. 22, 2019.
VATICAN – Only together, by humbly sharing their experiences, encouragement and corrective advice, can the bishops and leaders in the Catholic Church work to prevent the abuse of minors and help bring healing to survivors, said the head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India.
Published in International
February 21, 2019

Clericalism, abuse of power, at heart of sex abuse crisis, Colombian cardinal says

Pope Francis walks with his crosier next to Colombian Cardinal Ruben Salazar Gomez of Bogota as he arrives to celebrate Mass at Simon Bolivar Park in 2017. (Pope Francis walks with his crosier next to Colombian Cardinal Ruben Salazar Gomez of Bogota as he arrives to celebrate Mass at Simon Bolivar Park in 2017.
VATICAN – The abuse crisis in the Catholic Church is a call for bishops to unmask the deep-seated clericalism that placed protection of the institution of the church above the sufferings of victims, said the head of the council of Latin American bishops. 
Published in International
February 20, 2019

Irish archbishop warns against sex abuse becoming 'political football'

Ahead of a major Vatican summit on the protection of minors, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Northern Ireland, has criticized Catholics who use the issue of clerical abuse to score points against people they disagree with in the church. Archbishop Martin is pictured in an Aug. 26, 2018, photo in Dublin.
DUBLIN – Ahead of a major Vatican summit on the protection of minors, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Northern Ireland, has criticized Catholics who use the issue of clerical abuse to score points against people they disagree with in the church.
Published in International
February 20, 2019

Notre Dame rescinds McCarrick's honourary degree

Then-Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington and then-Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl leave a 2006 news conference after the archbishop was introduced as the new head of the Washington Archdiocese.
SOUTH BEND, Ind., – The University of Notre Dame has rescinded the honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) degree it conferred on former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2008, becoming the latest of a growing number of schools who have rescinded honorary degrees from the defrocked former archbishop.
Published in International
February 20, 2019

Blaming homosexuality for sex abuse of minors is 'absolutely immoral', victims say

Tim Lennon, board president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, poses in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Feb. 20, 2019.
ROME – People must stop using homosexuals as scapegoats for the sexual abuse of children, two male survivors of abuse by priests told reporters.
Published in International
February 20, 2019

Publishing priest-abusers list an 'act of contrition', Oakland bishop says

Bishop Michael C. Barber of Oakland, Calif., is pictured in a June 24, 2013, photo. The diocese has released the names of 45 priests, deacons and religious brothers who officials say are "credibly accused" of sexually abusing minors.
OAKLAND, Calif. – The Diocese of Oakland, which serves two California counties in the East Bay area, published Feb. 18 a list of priests, deacons and religious brothers who have worked in the diocese and been credibly accused of abuse, dating back to the diocese's founding in 1962.
Published in International
February 19, 2019

Father Catfish’s legacy as strong as ever

Cheering, singing and praying, students celebrate Father Michael “Catfish” Mireau Youth Faith Day in Edmonton.

EDMONTON – In life, Fr. Michael Mireau cast a long shadow.

Published in Faith
February 17, 2019

McCarrick removed from the priesthood after being found guilty of sex abuse

Then-Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, arrives in procession for a Mass of thanksgiving for Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Nov. 22, 2010.
VATICAN – Pope Francis has confirmed the removal from the priesthood of Theodore E. McCarrick, the 88-year-old former cardinal and archbishop of Washington.
Published in International
February 12, 2019

Archbishop: 152 priests in Mexico removed for abuse in last nine years

World Youth Day pilgrims from Mexico pray as Pope Francis leads the Way of the Cross at Santa Maria la Antigua Field in Panama City Jan. 25, 2019.
MONTERREY, Mexico – Over the past nine years, 152 priests in Mexico have been removed from ministry for sexual abuse of youth or vulnerable adults, the president of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference said Sunday.
Published in International
January 31, 2019

Priests must be men of joy, Pope Francis says at Mass

Pope Francis waves as he arrives to lead the World Youth Day prayer vigil at St. John Paul II Field in Panama City Jan. 26, 2019.
VATICAN CITY – A priest must be able to see the people around him as his children, as brothers and sisters, and must be willing to risk everything for them out of love, Pope Francis said in his morning homily.
Published in Reflections
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