Cardinal explains plan to address ‘moral catastrophe’ of abuse

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Aug. 16 announced three key goals and a comprehensive plan to address the "moral catastrophe" of the new abuse scandal hitting the U.S. church.

Greg Burke, Vatican spokesman, is seen with Pope Francis aboard the flight from Dhaka, Bangladesh, to Rome Dec. 2, 2017. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Vatican wants accountability for abusers, those who protected them

In the wake of a grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse in six dioceses in Pennsylvania, a Vatican spokesman called the abuses described in the report as being "criminal and morally reprehensible."

Catholic News Service

Boston Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley speaks at a conference, "Erroneous Autonomy: The Dignity of Work," Jan. 10 at The Catholic University of America in Washington. (CNS photo/Dana Rene Bowler, The Catholic University of America)

Cardinal to miss World Meeting of Families to tend to seminary matters

The Archdiocese of Boston announced Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley will not attend the World Meeting of Families in Dublin Aug. 21-26.

Catholic News Service

Boston Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley and Deacon Bernie Nojadera, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Child and Youth Protection, are pictured during the 2017 Catholic convocation in Orlando, Fla. In an Aug. 13 interview, Deacon Nojadera said he and his staff at the secretariat are receiving calls from people concerned about the current abuse crisis in the church. "Our fist job," he said, "is to listen, to be empathetic." (CNS photo/Bob Roller) See ABUSE-CALLS Aug. 15, 2018.

Catholics express despair, disbelief, anger at new abuse revelations

After the first allegations of abuse against Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick were publicized in mid-June, employees at the U.S. bishops' conference headquarters in Washington were bracing for calls from Catholics confused, outraged or anything in between regarding the emerging scandal.

Catholic News Service

This is a map of Pennsylvania showing the six Catholic dioceses covered by a grand jury report on an investigation of abuse claims made in those dioceses. The report covers a span of more than 70 years. (CNS/courtesy of USCCB)

Report details rape of children, culture of secrecy that fanned it

The report begins dramatically, imploring its readers: "We, the members of this grand jury, need you to hear this."

Catholic News Service

The Pennsylvania statehouse is seen from the State Street bridge in Harrisburg. 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 Dioceses of Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Allentown, Greensburg and Erie. (CNS photo/Tim Shaffer, Reuters)

Pennsylvania grand jury says church was interested in hiding abuse

A Pennsylvania grand jury report issued Aug. 14 paints a picture of a Catholic Church in six of the state's dioceses that for decades handled claims of sex abuse of minors under its care by hiding the allegations and its victims.

Catholic News Service

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation from the College of Cardinals of Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, and has ordered him to maintain "a life of prayer and penance" until a canonical trial examines accusations that he sexually abused minors. Archbishop McCarrick is pictured in a 2013 photo at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters) See MCCARRICK-RESIGN-CARDINAL July 28, 2018.

Abuse letter to Cardinal O’Malley was second priest sent officials

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."

Catholic News Service

Filipino students light candles and hold a placard during a 2017 protest against the death penalty in Manila. Pope Francis Aug. 2 ordered a revision to the Catechism of the Catholic Church to say that capital punishment was "inadmissible," which is stronger language than what St. John Paul II used in 1997 when he ordered a revision on the death penalty in the catechism. (CNS photo/Mark R. Cristino, EPA)

Bishops, faith leaders condemn Tennessee’s first execution in nine years

Two Tennessee Catholic bishops called the execution of Billy Ray Irick Aug. 9 "unnecessary."

Catholic News Service

Pope Francis talks with Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, during a private audience at the Vatican April 19. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Cardinal O’Malley calls for investigation at Boston seminary

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.

Catholic News Service

Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a professor of psychology and president of the Center for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, is pictured in a 2015 photo. Father Zollner has been on the frontlines of advocating for survivors of clerical sexual abuse and developing detailed programs to prevent abuse. He said the crisis unfolding again in the United States is a summons to a new way of envisioning the church and taking responsibility for it. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) See VATICAN-LETTER-ZOLLNER Aug. 9, 2018.

Abuse expert: Crisis is call to new vision of priesthood, accountability

A Jesuit priest who has been on the frontline of advocating for survivors of clerical sexual abuse and developing detailed programs to prevent abuse said the crisis unfolding, again, in the United States is a summons to a new way of envisioning the church and taking responsibility for it.