Proceedings before a criminal trial involving former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick will continue March 3 in Massachusetts, where he faces three counts of sexually assaulting a teenager in the 1970s.
Child & Youth Protection
Law firm to publish report on handling of abuse in Munich Archdiocese
In mid-January, the law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl is scheduled to publish a report into the handling of clerical sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.
Pope approves updates to norms for dealing with ‘grave crimes’
Pope Francis has given formal approval to a series of updates and modifications that have been made over the years to the norms regarding clerical sexual abuse and other crimes reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In sunrise walk, bishops, survivors seek day of prayer to end sex abuse
The sun barely had peaked over the horizon, ending the darkness and bringing light into Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, where two U.S. cardinals, six bishops and prominent leaders of various faiths clasped hands with a group of about 20 men and women Nov. 18, praying for an end to the “evil” that brought them together.
Bishops agree to begin review of charter earlier than planned
On Nov. 17, the second of two days of public sessions during their fall general assembly Nov. 15-18 in Baltimore, the bishops voted to begin the process of updating the charter in 2022 rather than in 2025. The vote was 230 bishops in favor of the plan and five bishops against it.
Pope thanks reporters for speaking truth, giving voice to abuse victims
Honoring two reporters who have covered the Vatican for more than 40 years, Pope Francis paid tribute to all journalists who work to explain what is going on in the world and “make it less obscure.”
Former Harford County priest pleads guilty to coercion and enticement of a minor
Fernando Cristancho, a former priest assigned to St. Ignatius, Hickory, in Forest Hill, pleaded guilty Oct. 4 to coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, according to an Oct. 5 news release from the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office. Cristancho met the victim through the parish. He also admitted that he produced nude images of four other minor victims.
Report estimates 330,000 children abused in French church since 1950s
An independent report on sexual abuse in the French Catholic Church estimates 330,000 children have been abused since the 1950s. Most of the victims were pre-adolescent boys of all social backgrounds, and more than a third of the assaults were committed by laypeople.
Boston Globe: Police charge McCarrick with assault in case dating to 1970s
The Boston Globe reported July 29 that police in the Boston suburb of Wellesley have charged former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 in a criminal complaint filed by Wellesley Police in a district court in nearby Dedham, Massachusetts.
Pope denies cardinal’s request to resign; agrees ‘we have sinned’
Agreeing with German Cardinal Reinhard Marx that Catholic leaders cannot adopt an “ostrich policy” in the face of the clerical sexual abuse crisis, Pope Francis still told the cardinal that he would not accept his resignation as head of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.
Pope promulgates revised canon law on crimes, punishments
A series of laws and procedures promulgated by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI and, especially, by Pope Francis to protect children, promote the investigation of allegations of clerical sexual abuse and punish offenders are included in a heavily revised section of the Code of Canon Law.
Seminaries in Archdiocese of Baltimore among those committing to sexual misconduct policy benchmarks
Eighteen seminaries – including St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore and Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg – have committed to meeting five sexual misconduct policy benchmarks developed by a group of laypeople, seminary leaders and bishops.