MADRID — Spain’s first official probe of sex abuse by clergy members or other people connected to the Catholic Church in the country included a survey that indicated that the number of victims could run into hundreds of thousands. The survey was part of a damning report by the office of Spain’s ombudsman, or “defensor … Read more
Nicaragua has released 12 Roman Catholic priests jailed on a variety of charges and sent them to Italy following an agreement reached with the Vatican ByThe Associated Press October 18, 2023, 10:33 PM FILE – A poster featuring Bishop Rolando Alvarez and Pope Francis hangs inside the Cathedral in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, Aug. 19, 2022. Nicaragua … Read more
ROME — The Vatican secretary of state on Monday strongly defended World War II-era Pope Pius XII as a friend of the Jews as he opened an historic conference on newly opened archives that featured even Holy See historians acknowledging that anti-Jewish prejudice informed Pius’ silence in the face of the Holocaust. Cardinal Pietro Parolin’s … Read more
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Wednesday opens a big meeting on the future of the Catholic Church, with progressives hoping it will lead to more women in leadership roles and conservatives warning that church doctrine on everything from homosexuality to the hierarchy’s authority is at risk. Rarely in recent times has a Vatican gathering … Read more
VATICAN CITY — A few years ago, Pope Francis told the head of the main Vatican-backed Catholic women’s organization to be “brave” in pushing for change for women in the Catholic Church. Maria Lia Zervino took his advice and in 2021 wrote Francis a letter, then made it public, saying flat out that the Catholic … Read more
LISBON, Portugal — LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Pope Francis visited a once-troubled and crime-plagued neighborhood in Portugal’s capital on Friday to attract consideration to the charitable facet of the Catholic Church and to press his case for a church that goes to the peripheries and welcomes everybody. Francis continued his busy schedule in Portugal, listening … Read more
LISBON, Portugal — When a panel of specialists learn aloud a few of the harrowing accounts they’d collected from not too long ago found victims of kid intercourse abuse within the Portuguese Catholic Church, the nation’s senior bishops squirmed within the auditorium’s front-row seats. Throughout a reside tv broadcast, the specialists reported in February that … Read more