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☆ Pope expels a bishop and 9 other people from a Peru movement over ‘sadistic’ abuses
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-25 | by ( Associated Press | Claudia Rebaza | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

VATICAN CITY Associated Press —Pope Francis took the unusual decision Wednesday to expel 10 people – a bishop, priests and laypeople – from a troubled Catholic movement in Peru after a Vatican investigation uncovered “sadistic” abuses of power, authority and spirituality. It was announced by the Peruvian Bishops Conference, which posted a statement from the Vatican embassy on its website. The statement was astonishing because it listed abuses uncovered by the Vatican investigation that have rarely if ever been punished canonically — such as hacking someone’s communications — and cited the people the pope held responsible. Victims of Figari’s abuses complained to the Lima archdiocese in 2011, though other claims against him reportedly date to 2000. The investigation, published in 2017, found that Figari sodomized his recruits and forced them to fondle him and one another.

Persons: CITY Associated Press — Pope Francis, –, Francis ’, Luis Figari, ”, Figari, Pedro Salinas, Paola Ugaz, Sodalitium, Jordi Bertomeu, Charles Scicluna, Martin Mejia, Jose Antonio Eguren, Francis, Salinas, “ Organizations: CITY Associated Press, Peruvian Bishops Conference, CNN, South, Catholic, Maltese, Associated Press Locations: Peru, Vatican, America, South America, United States, Lima, Rome, Spain, Malta, Lima , Peru, Figari, Piura, Ugaz, Eguren’s, Peruvian

☆ Christopher Saunders: Former Australian bishop charged with historical sex offenses
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Brisbane, Australia CNN —A senior Australian Catholic clergyman has been charged with historical sex offenses allegedly committed while he was serving as the bishop of Broome, a remote diocese in Western Australia. Emeritus Bishop Christopher Saunders was arrested on Wednesday at his home in Broome, where he became bishop in 1996, according to CNN affiliate Seven News. Saunders is the highest-ranking Australian Catholic official charged with historical sex abuse charges since Cardinal George Pell faced court over historical assaults allegedly committed in the late 1990s. Of the survivors who reported being abused in a religious institution, 61.4% said the abuse occurred in a Catholic organization. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse reported that 7% of Australian Catholic priests had been accused of abusing children.

Persons: Australia CNN —, Bishop Christopher Saunders, Saunders, Timothy Costelloe, ” Costelloe, ”, Costelloe, Cardinal George Pell, Pell Organizations: Australia CNN, Australian Catholic, CNN, Seven News . Police, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Catholic Bishops Conference, WA, Police, Australian, Australia’s, Catholic, Royal Commission Locations: Brisbane, Australia, Broome, Western Australia, Rome

☆ In very rare move, Pope dismisses conservative U.S. bishop Strickland
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Pope Francis has dismissed Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of Tyler, Texas, one of his fiercest critics among U.S. Roman Catholic conservatives, a Vatican statement said on Saturday. Usually bishops in trouble with the Vatican are asked to resign before submitting a resignation, which the pope accepts. Strickland, a prolific user of social media who was named to the diocese by the late Pope Benedict in 2012, tweeted earlier this year that he rejected Pope Francis' "program undermining the Deposit of Faith". Strickland is a strong supporter of former U.S. president Donald Trump and is seen as a hero by conservative U.S. Catholic media outlets that are aligned with Trump. The Vatican said Francis named the bishop of Austin, Texas, Joe Vasquez, as the interim administrator of the Tyler diocese.

Persons: Joseph Strickland, Pope Francis, Bishop Joseph E . Strickland, Strickland, Pope Benedict, Francis, Donald Trump, Frank Pavone, Joe Vasquez Organizations: Los Angeles Dodgers, Dodger, Roman, Vatican, Bishops Conference, U.S . Church, Catholic, U.S, Trump, Twitter Locations: Tyler , Texas, Los Angeles , California, U.S, Tyler, Texas, United States, Austin , Texas

☆ In very rare move, Pope dismisses conservative US bishop Strickland
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

VATICAN CITY, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has dismissed Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of Tyler, Texas, one of his fiercest critics among U.S. Catholic conservatives, a Vatican statement said on Saturday. It is very rare for a Roman Catholic bishop to be relieved of his duties outright. Usually bishops in trouble with the Vatican are asked to resign before submitting a resignation, which the pope accepts. Popes make such moves, considered drastic, when a bishop refuses a request to resign. Francis named the bishop of Austin, Texas, Joe Vasquez, as the interim administrator of the diocese, the statement said.

Persons: Pope Francis, Bishop Joseph E . Strickland, Strickland, Francis, Joe Vasquez, Phil Pullella, Alvise Armellini, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: CITY, U.S, Roman, Vatican, Bishops Conference, Thomson Locations: Tyler , Texas, Tyler, Austin , Texas

☆ Nicaragua sends Catholic priests to Rome after talks with Vatican
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 18 (Reuters) - Nicaragua sent a dozen Catholic priests who had been "processed" by judicial authorities to Rome on Wednesday, the government said, the latest action, a critic said, in a government crackdown on the church. President Daniel Ortega has at times accused Catholic church leaders of seeking to overthrow his government, while judicial authorities have arrested priests and accused some of committing treason, among other crimes. An exiled Nicaraguan researcher who publishes records of what she describes as the persecution of the Catholic Church under Ortega said sending the priests to Rome was a "forced removal." The researcher, Martha Patricia Molina, accused Ortega of seeking to "strangle and disappear" the church with such action. Bishop Rolando Alvarez, perhaps Ortega's most prominent Catholic critic, was this year sentenced to a 26-year jail term on treason charges, but was not among the 12 priests the government sent to Rome.

Persons: Stringer, Daniel Ortega, Ortega, Martha Patricia Molina, Bishop Rolando Alvarez, Valentine Hilaire, David Alire Garcia, Christopher Cushing, Robert Birsel Organizations: Metropolitan Cathedral, REUTERS, Catholic, Thomson Locations: Managua, Nicaragua, Rome, Italy, Nicaraguan, United States

☆ Pope Francis hints at slight opening to blessings of same-sex couples
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Pope Francis looks on as he meets with French President Emmanuel Macron (not pictured) at the Palais du Pharo, on the occasion of the Mediterranean Meetings (MED 2023), in Marseille, France September 23, 2023. Andreas Solaro/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsVATICAN CITY, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has appeared to leave open the possibility of priests blessing same-sex couples, if they are limited, decided on a case-by-case basis and not confused with wedding ceremonies of heterosexuals. Francis made his opinion known in one answer to five questions from five conservative cardinals from Asia, Europe, Africa, the United States and Latin America. The pope's nuanced response differed from an explicit ruling against such blessings by the Vatican's doctrinal office in 2021. Any eventual blessings, Francis said, should not become the norm or get blanket approval from Church jurisdictions such as dioceses or national bishops conferences.

Persons: Pope Francis, Emmanuel Macron, Andreas Solaro, Francis, Francis DeBernardo, DeBernardo, Philip Pullella, Alison Williams Organizations: CITY, New Ways Ministry, Thomson Locations: Marseille, France, Asia, Europe, Africa, United States, Latin America, Germany

☆ Insight: Catholic clergy report surveillance, beatings amid Nicaragua's crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( David Alire Garcia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's five-year campaign against the Catholic church has intensified since February, according to interviews with five priests inside and outside the country. This week's brief release of Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Alvarez raised hopes for a turning point. The priests describe heavy surveillance of church services by police or civilian members of government-sponsored community councils, especially since Easter. His latest restrictions seem aimed at silencing priests, Erick Diaz, 33, a Nicaraguan priest in exile in Chicago, said. Nine church leaders inside and outside Nicaragua did not respond to interview requests for this story.

Persons: Daniel Ortega's, Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Alvarez, Mexican Bishop Ramon Castro, Pope Francis, Nicaragua's, Ortega, Rosario Murillo, Bishop Alvarez, Alvarez, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, Brenes, Martha Patricia Molina, Molina, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Erick Diaz, David Alire Garcia, Philip Pullella, Ismael Lopez, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: MEXICO CITY, Sunday, Nicaraguan, Catholic, Vatican, Reuters, Organization of American, Thomson Locations: MEXICO, Nicaraguan, Managua, Nicaragua, Mexican, Eastern Europe, Matagalpa, Texas, Leon, Vatican, Chicago, Rome, San Jose

The Vatican announced his visit, which many observers see as an uphill effort, in a short statement. It said the main purpose was "to listen carefully to Ukrainian authorities on the possible ways to reach a just peace and support humanitarian gestures that may help ease tensions". At the meeting in May, Zelenskiy asked the pope to back Kyiv's peace plan, which Zelenskiy has repeatedly said is not open to negotiation. "There can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor," Zelenskiy said after his May 13 meeting with the pope. Zuppi hails from the Sant' Egidio Community, a Rome-based peace and justice group which has been instrumental in several peace negotiations, particularly in Africa.

Persons: Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Pope Francis, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Vladimir Putin, Zuppi, Sant, Philip Pullella, Nick Macfie Organizations: CITY, Vatican, Italian Bishops Conference, Diplomats, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Bologna, Russia, Zuppi, Crimea, Rome, Africa, Mozambique

☆ Women priests, homosexuality, not closed debate in Church, German bishop says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VATICAN CITY, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A leading German Catholic bishop on Saturday contested the Vatican's view that debates about women priests and homosexuality were closed, saying they will have to be confronted in the future. "As far as the ordination of women is concerned, for example, (the Vatican's) view is very clear, that the question is closed. The Catholic Church teaches that women cannot be priests because Jesus chose only men as his apostles and that while same-sex attraction is not sinful, homosexual acts are. "Popes have tried to say the question (of women priests) is closed but the fact is that the question exists. Many young women say 'a church that refuses all of this cannot be my church in the long run,'" he said.

A French cardinal said on Monday that he had abused a 14-year-old girl in the 1980s, making him the first Catholic churchman of his rank to admit to personally abusing a minor. Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, a former archbishop of Bordeaux and former president of the French Bishops Conference, said in a statement that he had “behaved in a reprehensible manner with a 14-year-old girl” 35 years earlier when he was serving as a priest.

A rainbow flag is seen on the wall of a Catholic church as the building is open for same-sex couples to receive a blessing in Cologne, Germany, May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Thilo SchmuelgenVATICAN CITY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Flemish Roman Catholic bishops on Tuesday issued a document effectively allowing the blessing of same-sex unions, seemingly in direct defiance of a ruling against such practices by the Vatican's doctrinal office last year. The document published on the website of the Belgian bishops conference suggested a ritual that included a prayer and a benediction for stable same-sex unions while stressing that it is not "what the Church understands by a sacramental marriage". It said the Church wanted to be "pastorally close to homosexual persons" and be a "welcoming Church that excludes no one". In March 2021, in response to formal questions from a number of Roman Catholic dioceses on whether the practice of blessing same-sex unions was allowed, the Vatican's doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), ruled that it was not.

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