Catholic Church Sexual Abuse

Pope Francis said Friday that the Catholic Church must "seek forgiveness" over the "scourge" of child sexual abuse, during a visit to Belgium where the Church's dark past looms large.

The Catholic Church is to pay 104 million Canadian dollars ($76 million) to hundreds of victims of sexual abuse from eastern Canada, according to a statement released Friday.

Portugal's Catholic Church said on Thursday it will financially compensate victims of child sexual abuse within the Church, setting the amounts to be paid on a case-by-case basis, an approach survivors' groups have criticised.

Bolivian prosecutors are investigating 35 members of the Catholic Church after more than a dozen victims accused them of sexual abuse, authorities said Tuesday.

Catholic clergy in Portugal have abused nearly 5,000 children since 1950, an independent commission said on Monday after hearing hundreds of victims' accounts.

Former Pope Benedict, who died on Saturday aged 95, was the first pontiff in 600 years to resign, leaving behind a Catholic Church battered by sexual abuse scandals, mired in mismanagement and polarised between conservatives and progressives.

The Catholic Jesuit order, of which Pope Francis is a member, has been rocked by claims a prominent priest abused several women, a case raising questions about how the Church sanctions offenders.

The Catholic Church must show "zero tolerance" to sexual assault by members of the clergy, Pope Francis said in excerpts of an interview with a Portuguese television channel broadcast Sunday.

The Catholic Church in Colombia has released the names of 26 priests who were investigated for alleged sexual abuse of minors there, local media reported Saturday.

Pope Francis on Thursday asked for forgiveness for sexual abuse at Canadian schools for indigenous children run by Catholic orders, addressing a deep wound that many survivors wanted him to acknowledge during his apology tour in Canada.

A potentially explosive report into the handling of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church will on Thursday be published in Germany, with former pope Benedict XVI among those in the spotlight.

Catholic bishops in France agreed Monday to sell part of the Church's extensive real estate holdings to compensate thousands of victims of child sex abuse at the hands of clergy.

Senior members of France's Catholic hierarchy knelt in a show of penance at the shrine of Lourdes Saturday, a day after bishops accepted the church's responsibility for decades of child abuse.

Protecting children from sexual abuse is an "absolute priority" for the Catholic Church, a French archbishop said Tuesday, walking back previous comments suggesting priests should not violate the secrets of confession.

Pope Francis said on Wednesday he was saddened and ashamed by the Catholic Church's inability to deal with sexual abuse of children in France and that the Church must make itself a "safe home for everyone".

Pope Francis said Friday that the Catholic Church must "seek forgiveness" over the "scourge" of child sexual abuse, during a visit to Belgium where the Church's dark past looms large.

The Catholic Church is to pay 104 million Canadian dollars ($76 million) to hundreds of victims of sexual abuse from eastern Canada, according to a statement released Friday.

Portugal's Catholic Church said on Thursday it will financially compensate victims of child sexual abuse within the Church, setting the amounts to be paid on a case-by-case basis, an approach survivors' groups have criticised.

Bolivian prosecutors are investigating 35 members of the Catholic Church after more than a dozen victims accused them of sexual abuse, authorities said Tuesday.

Catholic clergy in Portugal have abused nearly 5,000 children since 1950, an independent commission said on Monday after hearing hundreds of victims' accounts.

Former Pope Benedict, who died on Saturday aged 95, was the first pontiff in 600 years to resign, leaving behind a Catholic Church battered by sexual abuse scandals, mired in mismanagement and polarised between conservatives and progressives.

The Catholic Jesuit order, of which Pope Francis is a member, has been rocked by claims a prominent priest abused several women, a case raising questions about how the Church sanctions offenders.

The Catholic Church must show "zero tolerance" to sexual assault by members of the clergy, Pope Francis said in excerpts of an interview with a Portuguese television channel broadcast Sunday.

The Catholic Church in Colombia has released the names of 26 priests who were investigated for alleged sexual abuse of minors there, local media reported Saturday.

Pope Francis on Thursday asked for forgiveness for sexual abuse at Canadian schools for indigenous children run by Catholic orders, addressing a deep wound that many survivors wanted him to acknowledge during his apology tour in Canada.

A potentially explosive report into the handling of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church will on Thursday be published in Germany, with former pope Benedict XVI among those in the spotlight.

Catholic bishops in France agreed Monday to sell part of the Church's extensive real estate holdings to compensate thousands of victims of child sex abuse at the hands of clergy.

Senior members of France's Catholic hierarchy knelt in a show of penance at the shrine of Lourdes Saturday, a day after bishops accepted the church's responsibility for decades of child abuse.

Protecting children from sexual abuse is an "absolute priority" for the Catholic Church, a French archbishop said Tuesday, walking back previous comments suggesting priests should not violate the secrets of confession.

Pope Francis said on Wednesday he was saddened and ashamed by the Catholic Church's inability to deal with sexual abuse of children in France and that the Church must make itself a "safe home for everyone".