When we read that a cardinal asked young seminarians to sleep with him, thus corrupting them before they became ordained, and when we read that a few Pennsylvania priests used sacred objects like the crucifix to molest their victims, we cannot plausibly say that this is simply the work of men gone bad. No, it is [...]
No entity in America today, private or public, has more institutionalized mechanisms in place to check for the sexual abuse of minors than the Catholic Church. That is why in the last two years for which we have data, only .005 percent of the clergy have had a credible accusation made against them (see the Annual [...]
Bill Donohue In the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury investigation of the Catholic Church, many states are now weighing probes of their own. To cherry pick the Catholic Church is unjust: If the goal is to root out predators, then no institution, private or public, should be spared. But this is not the goal, which [...]
Scandal brings out the worst in some friends, as well as many foes. Some of those organizations associated with the "pro-Church" side are using news reports of clergy sexual abuse as a pretext to raise money (as if they are going to do something constructive with the cash), while a lot of the Church's foes are [...]
The outpouring of support and commendation for Bill Donohue in the aftermath of his debunking of the Pennsylvania grand jury report was overwhelming. He is especially delighted with the reaction of priests and bishops. This is what led us to pay for a Spanish version of his analysis. Not surprisingly, there was also a wave of [...]
Dear Attorney General: In the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury report on the Catholic clergy, many states are considering a similar probe of offending priests. They should do so, providing they also investigate the clergy of all other religions, private non-sectarian institutions, and public sector entities. Not to do so would be manifestly unjust and [...]
Father Basil Hutsko was getting ready to say Mass on a recent Monday morning at St. Michael Byzantine Catholic Church in Merrillville, Indiana (he was praying at the altar) when a man came up behind him and assaulted him. The priest was grabbed by the neck, choked, thrown to the floor, and beaten mercilessly. His head [...]
Pope Francis' comments on economic issues, the environment, and migration, which reflect his more liberal leanings, have received much media attention, including before his addressing the World Meeting of Families in Dublin in August. In contrast, his statements on marriage, the family, and sexuality, which evince a more traditional moral outlook, have not been widely reported [...]
Stanford University has decided to rename many places on campus that give tribute to Father Junipero Serra, the 18th century Spanish missionary who was canonized in 2015. A total of 21 missions were established by the missionaries, nine of which were under the tenure of Serra; he personally founded six missions. The decision, which was approved [...]
Every time there is a story about a priest accused of wrongdoing, it makes its way into the newspaper. If the accused is a bishop, it merits coverage by all the big media: print, digital, radio, and television. But when a bishop gets cleared of wrongdoing, they go mute. On September 13, Dauphin County District Attorney [...]