News/International

President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal DiNardo, and the chairman of its child protection committee, Bishop Doherty, made a statement after the Pennsylvania attorney general released a grand jury report Aug. 14 on a months-long investigation into abuse claims spanning a 70-year period in the six Pennsylvania dioceses.

U.S. bishops 'shamed' by 'sins, omissions' of priests, bishops leading to sex abuse

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WASHINGTON – The U.S. bishops as "are shamed by and sorry for the sins and omissions by Catholic priests and Catholic bishops" that have led to sexual abuse and caused great harm to many, said an Aug. 14 statement from the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the chairman of its child protection committee.
Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, and Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, concelebrate a Mass of thanksgiving in 2010 in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

Cardinal Wuerl named in grand jury report more than 200 times, responds to criticism

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WASHINGTON – Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, D.C., and the former Bishop of Pittsburgh, has been named more than 200 times in a Pennsylvania grand jury report, released Aug. 14, after an 18-month investigation into historic allegations of sexual abuse in six Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses.
Chaldean Christians in Mosul, Iraq, attend Christmas Mass at St. Paul Cathedral Dec. 24, 2017.

Chaldean Catholic synod give alms for return of displaced Christians

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DAHUK, Iraq – The Chaldean Catholic Church concluded a weeklong synod in Baghdad offering thanks to God for the return of numerous displaced Christians to their hometowns in the Ninevah Plain and for pastoral achievements in their dioceses.
Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, Myanmar, pictured in a 2017 photo, hailed Pope Francis' admonition that imposing the death penalty is always inadmissible.

Myanmar's Cardinal Bo backs Pope's opposition to death penalty

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MANDALAY, Myanmar – Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, Myanmar, hailed Pope Francis' admonition that imposing the death penalty is always inadmissible.

Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide, Australia, arrives Aug. 14 at Newcastle Local Court. The Australian court has approved house arrest of Archbishop Wilson, who had been found guilty by an Australian court of failing to inform police about child sexual abuse allegations.

Australian court approves house arrest for Archbishop Wilson

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ADELAIDE, Australia – An Australian judge approved home detention for Archbishop Philip Wilson, the retired archbishop of Adelaide who was found guilty of failing to report child sexual abuse allegations in the 1970s.
People stand near a 60-foot illuminated cross Aug. 12 at Holy Land USA, a former theme park in Waterbury, Conn., during a Mass honoring sainthood candidate Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus and a native of Waterbury.

'Mountaintop Mass' celebrated to honour Father McGivney draws more than 1,000

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WATERBURY, Conn. – More than 1,000 people gathered in the rain on top of Holy Land USA as Archbishop Leonard P. Blair of Hartford celebrated Mass to honour Waterbury native Father Michael McGivney, a candidate for sainthood, founder of the Knights of Columbus, and two-time seminarian in Quebec. 
Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, is pictured before a consistory in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican June 28. A U.S. priest, Father Boniface Ramsey, wrote to Cardinal O'Malley in 2015 regarding the alleged sexual abuse of seminarians by Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick. Cardinal O'Malley said he did not "personally receive" the letter but that a reply was made at the staff level that it "did not fall under the purview of the Commission or the Archdiocese of Boston."

Priest sent second letter reporting McCarrick abuse to Cardinal O'Malley

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WASHINGTON – In a June 2015 letter to Boston's Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley obtained by Catholic News Service, a New York priest tells the prelate about "sexual abuse/harassment/intimidation" allegations he had heard concerning then-Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick and asks that if the matter doesn't fall under his purview, to forward it to the "proper agency in the Vatican."
View across the valley of the monastery and college buildings of Ampleforth, a Benedictine abbey and college in north Yorkshire, England.

'Appalling sexual abuse' by monks covered up at schools in England, inquiry finds

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MANCHESTER, England – The "appalling sexual abuse" of children as young as 7 was covered up in two leading Benedictine-run schools in England to protect the reputations of predatory monks, a government-backed investigation concluded.

Boston Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, speaks to World Youth Day pilgrims 2016.

Cardinal O'Malley calls for investigation at Boston seminary after social media reports

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WASHINGTON – The Archbishop of Boston said in an Aug. 10 statement that he has asked the rector of its main archdiocesan St. John Seminary to go on sabbatical leave immediately and is asking for an investigation of allegations made on social media about activities there "directly contrary to the moral standards and requirements of formation for the Catholic priesthood."
Seminarians pray during a Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, 2016.

Social media plays role in breaking Church sex abuse stories

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WASHINGTON – Magazines and newspapers have long been sources to break big news stories. Now, too, social media is taking its turn.
The dome of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican is framed by trees June 14. Abuse accusations against U.S. Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick will be "examined in a regular canonical trial," the Vatican press office announced July 28. Until then the former cardinal has been ordered to pray and do penance.

Explainer: How Vatican abuse trials work

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VATICAN – Any member of the clergy accused of the sexual abuse of a minor is tried according to procedures outlined in the Code of Canon Law and specific norms spelled out in "Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela" ("Safeguarding the Sanctity of the Sacraments").
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