“Parishioners look to SJC to set policy on use of church assets” When the Maffei family agreed to sell eight acres of land in Wellesley to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston in 1946, they believed the property would always be used... [Continue Reading]
“Ore. archdiocese offers bankruptcy plan” The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland has filed a bankruptcy reorganization plan that would pay about $75 million to settle nearly 170 claims of priest sex abuse. Insurance companies have... [Continue Reading]
“Portland archdiocese to settle abuse suits” About 150 people who alleged they were molested by priests have agreed to settle their lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland for an undisclosed amount. U.S. District... [Continue Reading]
The Diocese of Spokane. is in serious trouble as it deals with continuing legal fallout from the Scandal, although the National Catholic Reporter’s subtitle seems a bit of a stretch. While the physical property of the diocese is at risk, a... [Continue Reading]
While diocesan finances and bankruptcies are big news in the US, the problems apparently pale in comparison to what’s going on in England and Wales. The Vatican has demanded a full financial accounting for all the dioceses in those countries... [Continue Reading]
The Boston Globe‘s movie critic gives a surprisingly evenhanded review of the new documentary on the Scandal called “Deliver Us From Evil.” Ty Burr notes that what happened in California dwarfs the Scandal in Boston and says the... [Continue Reading]
Sexual abuse and sex-related crimes are a real problem in our society, there’s no doubt about that. It’s not just the Church and not even primarily the Church, despite what the media coverage would have you believe. (Public schools are... [Continue Reading]
I’ve been saying for some time that I think the USCCB’s “safe environment sex education” programs are an ill-conceived idea that ignores the real reason why we had a major scandal involving clergy sex-abuse (i.e. bishops... [Continue Reading]
Amy Welborn posts a letter from Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos of the Congregation for Clergy to Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, president of the USCCBureaucracy, in which he says that most American parish closings are mergers, not suppressions... [Continue Reading]
Speaking of Supreme Court decisions, the court is allowing a lawsuit against the Vatican Bank to go forward. The lawsuit was filed in 1999 and alleges that the Bank and the Franciscan order profited from assets seized by the Nazis from Jews in... [Continue Reading]