Catholic Church

News outlets and the public will be able to attend a hearing next week in New Orleans on the confidentiality of emails between Roman Catholic officials and the city’s NFL franchise concerning clergy sex-abuse scandals. A state judge in New Orleans ruled Thursday that the Feb. 20 hearing will be open, although she cautioned attorneys […]

The owner of the New Orleans Saints said Monday that the NFL team played no role in determining which priests would be named in the list of “credibly accused” clergy published by the area’s Roman Catholic Church. Gayle Benson, a devout Catholic who has donated millions of dollars to church causes, also said in a […]

The Samples were a black Chicago family, with six children and few resources. The priest helped them with tuition, clothes, bills. He offered the promise of opportunities — a better life. He also abused all the children. They told no one. They were afraid of not being believed and of losing what little they had, […]

Americans seem angrier about Colin Kaepernick than they are about the Catholic priests raping over 300 children. DL understands not wanting to support a brand because of things they have done for example, he’ll never eat Papa John’s again. But he doesn’t understand why the levels of outrage are so different for these issues. Share […]

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican expressed “shame and sorrow” Thursday over a scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report about clergy who raped and molested children in six dioceses in that state, calling the abuse “criminally and morally reprehensible” and saying Pope Francis wants to eradicate “this tragic horror.” In a written statement using uncharacteristically strong […]

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A priest raped a 7-year-old girl while visiting her in the hospital after she had her tonsils removed. Another priest forced a 9-year-old boy into having oral sex, then rinsed out the youngster’s mouth with holy water. One boy was forced to say confession to the priest who sexually abused him. […]

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis said Friday that Catholics should look to their own consciences rather than rely exclusively on church rules to negotiate the complexities of sex, marriage and family life, demanding the church shift emphasis from doctrine to mercy in confronting some of the thorniest issues facing the faithful. In a major […]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pope Francis urged hundreds of thousands of the faithful gathered Sunday for the biggest event of his U.S. visit to be open to “miracles of love,” closing out his joyful six-day trip with a message of hope for families, consolation for victims of child sexual abuse and a warning to America’s bishops. […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The pope of the poor, Pope Francis, arrived for his first-ever visit to the world’s wealthiest superpower Tuesday denying he is a leftist and riding in a frugal little family car, windows rolled down. A chartered plane from Cuba touched down at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, where President Barack Obama […]

A church lawyer is making her most detailed allegations yet about a cover-up of clergy sex abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Jennifer Haselberger says in an affidavit released today that archbishops and staff ignored the 2002 pledge by Roman Catholic bishops to keep abusive clergy out of parishes. Haselberger spent five […]

STONE PARK, Ill. (AP) — A convent of nuns in suburban Chicago has filed a lawsuit against a neighbor, a strip club they say plays throbbing music while the nuns try to pray. The Sisters of St. Charles named Club Allure Chicago and the village of Stone Park in their lawsuit filed Friday in Cook […]

APARECIDA, Brazil (AP) — The image of Brazil’s patron saint, the dark-skinned Virgin of Aparecida, emblazons bumper stickers, presides over shops and dangles from gold chains around women’s necks all over this continent-sized country. Replicas of the thin clay statue hang in places of pride on the walls of both the most sumptuous of mansions […]