Pope Benedict XVI

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Vatican Moves to Block Pope Grilling Under Oath

Lawyers argue abuse case has no link to Rome

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI should not be ordered to testify in a Kentucky sex abuse lawsuit, the Vatican's lawyers are arguing. The suit accuses the Vatican of covering up sex abuse, but Vatican lawyers argue that American bishops shouldn't be considered employees of Rome and that the Pope, as a head...

Pope Begs Forgiveness Over Priest Sex Abuse

But he defends celibacy for clergy

(Newser) - Pope Benedict today asked "forgiveness from God" and the children abused by Catholic priests, and promised that the Catholic Church would "do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again." At a gathering of some 15,000 Catholic clergy in Rome to mark the...

Priests' Mistresses Ask Pope to Scrap Celibacy Rule

Nearly 40 write open letter to the Vatican

(Newser) - About 40 Italian women have written an unusual open letter to Pope Benedict asking him to end the church's celibacy rule for priests. The odd hook? All the women claim to have had (or are having) intimate affairs with priests or monks, reports GlobalPost , which talks to some of the...

Masses Flood Vatican to Back Benedict
 'Spontaneous' Masses 
 Back Benedict 
150K, SAYS VATICAN
May 16, 2010 7:26 AM CDT

'Spontaneous' Masses Back Benedict

Vatican claims 150K show up in solidarity with pope

(Newser) - Tens of thousands of balloon- and banner-toting faithful overflowed St. Peter's Square today in a massive show of solidarity with Pope Benedict XVI over the clerical sex abuse scandal. Benedict said he was comforted by such a "beautiful and spontaneous show of faith and solidarity"—organized by 68...

Pope: Church Must Face Abuse's 'Terrifying' Truth

Catholicism dogged by 'sin within'

(Newser) - The Catholic Church must finally face the "terrifying" truth of clerical sex abuse, says Pope Benedict in what Reuters notes are perhaps his most frank comments since the scandal broke two months ago. Catholicism's greatest threat, he told reporters aboard a flight to Lisbon, is no longer enemies from...

Why I Honor the True Catholic Church
 Why I Honor the True 
 Catholic Church 
NICHOLAS KRISTOF
May 2, 2010 11:30 AM CDT

Why I Honor the True Catholic Church

Brave priests and nuns sacrifice their lives for the poor

(Newser) - Nicholas Kristof didn't go to Sudan to pontificate about all that's wrong with the Catholic Church, and instead, unexpectedly, he ran into all that's right with it. Here, in the midst of grinding poverty, "are lowly nuns and priest—notable not for the grandeur of their vestments but for...

Pope Clamps Down on Abusive Order
Pope Clamps Down on Abusive Order
May 1, 2010 4:49 PM CDT

Pope Clamps Down on Abusive Order

Founder had been a favorite of John Paul II

(Newser) - Pope Benedict today took steps to rein in a controversial order of the Catholic Church that allowed sexual abuse to go on within its ranks for decades. The Vatican will assume control of the Legionaries of Christ, whose late founder, Marcial Maciel Degollado, was found to be a serial abuser....

UK to Pope: Uh, Sorry About the Abortion Joke

Brit memo suggested pontiff should open clinic on visit

(Newser) - Pope Benedict is headed to the UK in the fall, and while there he's slated to ... open an abortion clinic? Unveil a line of papal-branded condoms? Let loose and sing a duet with the queen? This according to a cheeky memo circulated in Britain's Foreign Office, and obtained by the...

Wisconsin Sex Abuse Victim Sues Benedict

Claims then-cardinal knew of abuse, did not act

(Newser) - After years of the Vatican ignoring his claims of sexual abuse, an American man is suing the pope himself. The suit, filed in a US Federal Court, does not ask for money, but demands that the Vatican "come clean" by disclosing all files related to cases of child abuse....

Pope Vows 'Church Action' on Abuse

Benedict's first public comments on the scandal in a month

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI promised today that the Catholic Church would confront the clerical sex-abuse scandal, making his first public comments on the crisis days after meeting with victims. During his weekly public audience, Benedict recounted his tearful weekend meeting in Malta with eight men who say they were abused as...

Pope Celebrates Rocky 5th Anniversary

Beleaguered Vatican isn't exactly popping champagne

(Newser) - Today marks the fifth anniversary of Pope Benedict's ascension to the papacy, but they aren't exactly popping champagne at the beleaguered Vatican. At the moment Benedict is embroiled in a massive pedophilia scandal that could define his papal legacy, and it's not like he's had a charmed papacy until now,...

Teary Pope: We'll Protect Young From Abuse

Benedict expresses shame in Malta visit

(Newser) - Pope Benedict met with a group of clerical abuse victims today and promised them the church would do everything in its power to punish abusive priests and protect young people in the future. The Vatican said Benedict expressed his shame and sorrow at the pain the men and their families...

Pope Finally Talks Sex Abuse—Sort Of

Benedict says Church must do 'penance'

(Newser) - He might not have mentioned it explicitly, but Pope Benedict has apparently broken his deafening silence on the sex abuse scandals roiling the Catholic Church. The comments, which called for the church to do "penance" for its "sins," came in a homily delivered in the papal palace,...

Horrific Abuse Alleged at Monastery in Pope's Old Turf

Abuse transpired in Ratzinger's archdiocese

(Newser) - More bad news for the Catholic Church from Pope Benedict's native Germany, where monks and lay teachers stand accused of abusing students for decades at an elite Catholic boarding school near Munich. Allegations from more than 100 students that monks "brutally mistreated, sadistically tormented and, not least, sexually abused"...

Pope's House Tagged With Obscene Graffiti

Police say it involved church sex scandal

(Newser) - Some cheeky heathens have sprayed obscene graffiti on the house in southern Germany where Pope Benedict was born. Police tell Der Spiegel that the message was scrawled in foot-tall blue letters over the front door. They quickly had it painted over, and wouldn’t reveal what it said, except that...

Priest Calls for Pope to Resign, Applauded at Mass

Mass. Rev. James Scahill says Benedict lied, gets standing ovations

(Newser) - One Massachusetts priest says Pope Benedict is lying when he says the Vatican hasn’t covered up the sexual abuse of children. In four sermons over the weekend, Rev. James Scahill called on Benedict to resign over the scandal, the Longmeadow Republican reports. “There were standing ovations at two...

Vatican to Bishops: Report Sex Abuse to Cops

Guidelines the first to mandate clergy obey civil law

(Newser) - The Vatican today responded to allegations that it had concealed years of clerical sex abuse by mandating for the first time that bishops and other high-ranking clerics should report such crimes to police if required by law. "Where the civil state creates an obligation to report, bishops are required...

Vatican Finally Forgives Beatles

Once mop-top Satanists, now 'precious jewels'

(Newser) - As the Vatican battles a storm of controversy over new child sex charges, officials have decided to take a moment to forgive ... the Beatles. In a stunning about-face the church has dubbed the Fab Four as "precious jewels" in a front-page article in the Vatican's newspaper, the Telegraph reports....

Atheist Academic Wants to Arrest the Pope

Human rights lawyers hope to prove 'crimes against humanity'

(Newser) - A prominent atheist campaigner is working on a plan to have the pope arrested when he visits the UK in September. British academic Richard Dawkins tells the Times of London he's enlisted human rights lawyers to help prove a case of "crimes against humanity." If his plan works,...

Calif. Priest Was Immature, Obsessed By Kids

Peers were suspicious of Stephen Kiesle from the start

(Newser) - Even in his seminary days in the early '70s, there were questions about California priest Stephen Kiesle: "He was not grown up. He spent more time with kids than with people his own age. You get suspicious of that. There's something wrong there," says a former Oakland bishop....

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