A long-awaited report on sexual abuse in Germany’s Munich diocese has faulted retired Pope Benedict XVI’s handling of cases when he was archbishop in the 1970s and 1980s BERLIN — A long-awaited report on sexual abuse in Germany’s Munich diocese on Thursday faulted retired Pope Benedict XVI’s handling of four cases when he was archbishop […]
Read MoreCategory: Church Scandals
A system of “silence, secrecy and lack of oversight” led to a lack of compassion for the victims of sexual abuse by the clergy, a German cardinal has announced. Archbishop of Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki said he bore some responsibility for the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the German Catholic Church and that […]
Read MoreROME — Catholic groups and abuse survivors on Tuesday called on the Roman Catholic Church in Italy, which has yet to reckon with the scourge of sexual abuse by priests, to create an independent commission to investigate how the crisis has been handled. In a number of countries — including Australia, France, Ireland and the […]
Read More
SEOUL, South Korea — A prominent church pastor whose behavior came under scrutiny when the #MeToo movement took hold in South Korea was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison for “habitually” raping female followers who said they were deceived into believing that he was God. Lee Jae-rock, 75, the founder of Manmin Central Church in Seoul, has been […]
Read MoreA South Korean pastor has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for raping eight female followers of his mega-church. Lee Jae-rock, 75, has about 130,000 followers at the Manmin Central Church in Seoul. He denied all the charges. His victims had spoken of his “divine power” and said they felt compelled to do what […]
Read MoreFirst there was the priest sentenced for allegedly plotting to poison a top church official. Then there was the other priest who alleged that Georgia’s prime minister and a billionaire businessman wanted to kill the church’s revered spiritual leader. Oh, and don’t forget the priest who nearly got into a fight with clergymen and who, […]
Read MoreThe Roman Catholic Church in France will sell some of its assets to compensate victims of sexual abuse, French bishops announced on Monday, one month after the release of a sweeping report on sexual abuse by the clergy that has fueled growing calls for reform. “We will ensure that no one is left behind,” Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, […]
Read MoreThe Vatican’s conference on child sexual abuse would never be happening, and the dark secret of clerical sexual abuse and cover-up might never have come to light, if not for outsiders to the hierarchy. By Rachel Donadio VATICAN CITY—Church officials reacted badly when investigative journalists at The Boston Globe in 2002 uncovered a pattern of sexual abuse of […]
Read MoreIn the past few weeks, alleged sexual exploitation by church priests has rocked Kerala. In a case which revealed the dark side of the religious institution, a 46-year-old nun has claimed that she was sexually abused by Bishop Franco Mullackal of the Jalandhar diocese of Roman Catholic Church. She alleged that the Bishop threatened her […]
Read MoreNew Delhi, India — An Indian court on Tuesday convicted a priest and a nun for the ax murder of another convent sister 30 years ago because they feared their illicit relationship would be made public. Highlighting the latest in a series of sex scandals to hit the Roman Catholic church in the southern state of Kerala, […]
Read More