Move marks shift in views but sexually active gay men will not be admitted to Roman Catholic seminaries
Gay men will be allowed to train as priests in Roman Catholic seminaries, so long as they observe celibacy, according to new guidelines announced by the Italian Bishops Conference (CIE).
The decision marks a shift from the view previously held by Pope Francis that gay men should not be admitted to seminaries owing to the risk of them leading a double life.
Continue reading...Lawrence Hecker, 93, is set to receive a life sentence after admitting to attacking boy in church bell tower
Shortly before a jury was supposed to be chosen for his trial on criminal charges of kidnapping and raping a boy in the mid-1970s, the self-acknowledged serial child molester and retired Roman Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker pleaded guilty on Tuesday morning.
The 93-year-old is scheduled to receive a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment on 18 December in New Orleans’s state criminal courthouse, where it has been rare for a Catholic clergyman to be charged – much less convicted – in connection with the church’s decades-old clerical molestation scandal.
Continue reading...Revelation emerges at hearing for Anthony Odiong, 55, charged with several counts and held in Texas on $5.5m bail
A Roman Catholic priest with links to Texas and Louisiana who is facing criminal charges for allegedly abusing his position of authority within the church to pursue sex with vulnerable women fathered at least two children with victims of his behavior, authorities have alleged.
The stunning information about Anthony Odiong surfaced at a bail hearing on Tuesday in Waco, Texas, where prosecutors have charged him with several counts of sexually assaulting women to whom he ministered.
Continue reading...Gigantiello, who let singer film in church, stripped of duties after inquiry shows he sent parish funds to Eric Adams aide
The leader of a New York City church where pop star Sabrina Carpenter filmed provocative scenes for a music video was stripped of his duties on Monday after church officials said an investigation revealed other instances of mismanagement.
Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello was relieved of “any pastoral oversight or governance role” at his church located in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, Bishop Robert Brennan said in a statement issued by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.
Continue reading...Lawrence Hecker, 93, self-admitted serial child molester, grapples with Alzheimer’s dementia and had trial delayed
With less than a month to go before his latest scheduled trial date, a self-admitted serial child molester and retired Roman Catholic priest from New Orleans remains competent to proceed with his oft-delayed rape and kidnapping case – albeit marginally as the 93-year-old grapples with Alzheimer’s dementia, according to his most recent medical evaluation.
A pair of doctors who evaluated Lawrence Hecker on 6 November made it a point to note that his illness is “a chronic and progressive disease”, suggesting additional delays beyond several already seen in the case create a risk that the clergyman declines into a state of legal incompetence preventing him from ever standing trial given his advanced age.
Continue reading...Gregory Aymond’s offer, required because he turns 75, says he wants to stay for resolution of institution’s bankruptcy but adds it is up to Pope Francis
New Orleans’ Roman Catholic archbishop Gregory Aymond is submitting his resignation Tuesday, on his 75th birthday, fulfilling a church requirement – though it is unclear if Vatican officials would immediately accept it with his scandal-plagued organization’s expensive, highly contentious bankruptcy case still unresolved.
In a letter issued on Friday to priests and deacons under his command, Aymond cited canon – or church – law that required him to offer to retire because of his age. But he said he also offered to remain in office until the resolution of the bankruptcy.
Continue reading...Former pupils of Catholic schools say corporal punishment was ‘hourly occurence’ in 60s and 70s
The Irish government has been urged to extend the scope of a statutory inquiry into historical child abuse in schools to include corporal punishment, including a practice known as “leathering”.
Survivors of physical assault in Catholic schools have complained they were told there was no scope to include corporal punishment in an investigation into sexual abuse, announced in September.
Continue reading...Mohsin ‘Mo’ Meghji was paid $350,000 to advise on conflicting settlement proposals from the church and clergy abuse victims
An outside expert brought in to help resolve the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans’ expensive, highly contentious bankruptcy protection case has suggested deferring pay to all professionals involved in the matter for three months.
The move is to see if that prompts the church and clergy abuse victims to compromise on conflicting settlement proposals which are hundreds of millions of dollars apart.
Continue reading...Dominican friar hailed as ‘prophet of the poor’ for belief that the church had political duty to end poverty
Gustavo Gutiérrez, the influential Peruvian priest known as “the father of liberation theology” and hailed as a “prophet of the poor”, has died in Lima at the age of 96.
Gutiérrez, a theologian and Dominican friar, was a celebrated – and sometimes controversial – proponent of the idea that the church needed to side with the poor and to fight to improve their lot.
Continue reading...Archbishop expresses sorrow in announcement to pay 1,353 people who alleged they were abused as children by priests
The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880m to 1,353 people who alleged that they were sexually abused as children by Catholic priests, in the largest settlement by a US diocese over decades-old abuse claims.
Archbishop Jose H Gomez expressed sorrow for the abuse in announcing the settlement on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Michigan governor accused of mocking communion, while she says stunt was meant to promote Biden’s Chips Act
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer has apologized for feeding a Dorito chip to a social media influencer who dropped to her knees after Roman Catholic organizations accused the Democratic politician of insulting their religion by mocking the sacrament of communion.
“I would never do something to denigrate someone’s faith,” Whitmer said in a statement that her office provided to the Michigan television news station WJBK on Friday.
Continue reading...Mohsin Meghji’s conduct in a separate case raised ethics questions as ex-judge he was linked to faces investigation
A nationally renowned business-turnaround expert hired to help resolve the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans’ contentious and costly bankruptcy – which has ensnared hundreds of clergy molestation survivors – is now facing scrutiny from the FBI after his conduct in a separate case raised ethics-related questions.
The Wall Street Journal published reporting on Mohsin “Mo” Meghji on Wednesday, the day he was due to complete an assessment on the viability of two competing archdiocesan restructuring plans drafted by the church as well as those to whom it is indebted, among them hundreds of victims of sexually abusive clergymen.
Continue reading...Ukraine-born Mikola Bychok will become the only Australian resident in the powerful Catholic church position and the youngest cardinal overall
At just 44, Ukraine-born Melbourne bishop Mikola Bychok has ascended to one of the most powerful positions in the Catholic church, where he will have a say in who becomes the next pope.
Pope Francis named him as one of 21 new cardinals, making him the only Australian resident who will don the signature red vestments, and the youngest cardinal overall.
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Continue reading...Newlyweds nicknamed ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Italian media had both refused to resign so other could keep job
A man and woman have been fired from their jobs at the Vatican bank because they flouted a ban on marriage between employees.
The young couple, nicknamed “Romeo and Juliet” by the Italian media, got married in August, after the bank imposed a rule banning marriage between employees aimed at preventing nepotism.
Continue reading...Rockville Centre diocese in New York settles with more than 530 victims after proposed deal comes close to failure
A Roman Catholic diocese in Long Island, New York, announced a new bankruptcy settlement on Thursday that would pay more than $323m to about 530 sex abuse survivors who alleged they were abused by priests when they were children.
The diocese of Rockville Centre, which serves about 1.2 million Catholics in Nassau and Suffolk counties, said earlier this year that it did not think a bankruptcy settlement would be possible after abuse survivors rejected the diocese’s previous $200m settlement offer.
Continue reading...Calls rise for Benedict Willard to be punished after recusing himself from Lawrence Hecker case on morning of trial
Court watchdogs and advocates for victims of sexual abuse are calling for a New Orleans judge to be punished and voted out of office after he controversially delayed the trial of retired Catholic priest charged with child rape and kidnapping – on the morning of jury selection.
Judge Benedict Willard’s critics say his angry outbursts have been a problem over more than two decades on the bench. But they are raising fresh concerns after Willard’s decision to remove members of the local district attorney’s office during a rape trial in August reverberated to affect the eagerly anticipated trial of Lawrence Hecker, 93, on Tuesday.
Continue reading...‘If anyone could undo … the will of Louisiana … the Catholic church can and will,’ says survivor whose case is targeted
Months after Louisiana’s supreme court upheld the constitutionality of a state law that let child molestation victims sue for long-ago abuse, despite arguments to the contrary by a Roman Catholic diocese, another church organization is asking the federal government to strike the statute down.
Behind the request in question are the Dominican Sisters of Peace and a law firm that boasts about having represented Catholic institutions in Louisiana courts for more than a century. Another of the law firm’s clients in question, the archdiocese of New Orleans, is offering clergy molestation victims less than 10% of what they are requesting in a bankruptcy settlement, in part by arguing the so-called “lookback window” law doesn’t apply to more than 600 abuse claims.
Continue reading...The pontiff visited the small town of Vanimo after delivering mass to an estimated 35,000 people in the capital of Port Moresby
Pope Francis travelled to Vanimo, on Papua New Guinea’s remote north-west coast, after celebrating a mass in the capital of Port Moresby in front of an estimated audience of 35,000 people.
The pope received an enthusiastic welcome in the town located on a peninsula close to the border with Indonesia. He was greeted by members of the small Catholic community who are served by missionaries from his native Argentina.
Continue reading...Lawrence Hecker, 92 and diagnosed with dementia, will be evaluated again to see if he is capable of defending himself
A court-ordered psychiatrist evaluated self-acknowledged child molester and retired priest Lawrence Hecker for a third time on Thursday, declaring him “fragilely competent” to stand trial on rape and kidnapping charges.
New Orleans criminal court judge Benedict Willard stopped short of declaring Hecker competent to stand trial and assist in his own defense but kept a 24 September trial date in place.
Continue reading...Attorneys for Lawrence Hecker, charged with raping teen in 1975, urge judge to declare him incompetent to stand trial
Retired Catholic priest and self-acknowledged child molester Lawrence Hecker’s trial on rape and kidnapping charges – scheduled for 24 September – could be significantly delayed yet again after a medical report on the 92-year-old’s mental health has been filed in court.
A court-ordered psychiatric evaluation diagnosed Hecker with dementia, saying he has “good days and bad days”, according to a statement from his defense team. Defense attorneys Matthew McLaren and Eugene Redmann issued a statement Tuesday urging judge Benedict Willard to declare Hecker incompetent to stand trial.
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