Clerical Sex Abuse

Benedict XVI was the first pope to confront the scourge of clerical sex abuse in the Catholic church, but only after a career in which he himself was accused of covering it up.

Ex-pope Benedict XVI asked for forgiveness Tuesday for clerical child sex abuse committed on his watch, but aides rejected allegations of a cover-up while he was archbishop of Munich.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday as the French Catholic Church battles a storm over clerical child sex abuse and the sanctity of confession.

Cardinal George Pell's historic child sex abuse convictions were quashed by Australia's High Court on Tuesday, paving the way for the senior Catholic cleric's release from prison.

Pope Francis on Thursday passed a measure to oblige those who know about sex abuse in the Catholic Church to report it to their superiors, following a global clerical pedophilia scandal.

Angry protesters called Cardinal George Pell a "maggot" and a "monster" Wednesday as he arrived in court, possibly for the last time as a free man, in a last-ditch push for bail while he appeals his historic conviction for child sex crimes.

Cardinal George Pell, one of the most senior figures in the Catholic Church, sexually assaulted two 13-year-old choirboys at a cathedral in the Australian city of Melbourne 22 years ago.

There was a gasp in the Australian courtroom as the jury foreman read out the first verdict on child sex offences against Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican's treasurer, then stunned silence as the same word was repeated for each of the four other charges he faced.

Australian Cardinal George Pell, who helped elect popes and ran the Vatican's finances, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two choirboys, a court said Tuesday, becoming the most senior Catholic cleric ever convicted of child sex crimes.

Pope Francis vowed justice for victims of clerical sex abuse, describing paedophilia as one of the "vilest" crimes ahead of a historic global meet on the crisis roiling the church.

More than half of the Netherlands' senior clerics were involved in covering up sexual assault of children between 1945 and 2010, a press report claimed Saturday, further engulfing the Catholic Church in a global abuse scandal.

A former Australian archbishop, the most senior Catholic cleric in the world convicted of concealing child sex abuse, was spared jail on Tuesday when he was ordered to serve his one-year sentence at home.

The Maulana of the Madrasa, 21-year-old Rahim, had been arrested on charges of sexual assault in Pune's Katraj suburb after two 10-year-old children ran away from the Madrasa.

A Chilean man who suffered clerical sexual abuse has said Pope Francis told him in a private conversation that God had made him gay and loved him that way, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

A group of former altar boys have filed lawsuits against the Catholic Church in Guam seeking damages for historic child sex abuse allegedly committed by clerics in the Pacific territory.

Benedict XVI was the first pope to confront the scourge of clerical sex abuse in the Catholic church, but only after a career in which he himself was accused of covering it up.

Ex-pope Benedict XVI asked for forgiveness Tuesday for clerical child sex abuse committed on his watch, but aides rejected allegations of a cover-up while he was archbishop of Munich.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday as the French Catholic Church battles a storm over clerical child sex abuse and the sanctity of confession.

Cardinal George Pell's historic child sex abuse convictions were quashed by Australia's High Court on Tuesday, paving the way for the senior Catholic cleric's release from prison.

Pope Francis on Thursday passed a measure to oblige those who know about sex abuse in the Catholic Church to report it to their superiors, following a global clerical pedophilia scandal.

Angry protesters called Cardinal George Pell a "maggot" and a "monster" Wednesday as he arrived in court, possibly for the last time as a free man, in a last-ditch push for bail while he appeals his historic conviction for child sex crimes.

Cardinal George Pell, one of the most senior figures in the Catholic Church, sexually assaulted two 13-year-old choirboys at a cathedral in the Australian city of Melbourne 22 years ago.

There was a gasp in the Australian courtroom as the jury foreman read out the first verdict on child sex offences against Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican's treasurer, then stunned silence as the same word was repeated for each of the four other charges he faced.

Australian Cardinal George Pell, who helped elect popes and ran the Vatican's finances, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two choirboys, a court said Tuesday, becoming the most senior Catholic cleric ever convicted of child sex crimes.

Pope Francis vowed justice for victims of clerical sex abuse, describing paedophilia as one of the "vilest" crimes ahead of a historic global meet on the crisis roiling the church.

More than half of the Netherlands' senior clerics were involved in covering up sexual assault of children between 1945 and 2010, a press report claimed Saturday, further engulfing the Catholic Church in a global abuse scandal.

A former Australian archbishop, the most senior Catholic cleric in the world convicted of concealing child sex abuse, was spared jail on Tuesday when he was ordered to serve his one-year sentence at home.

The Maulana of the Madrasa, 21-year-old Rahim, had been arrested on charges of sexual assault in Pune's Katraj suburb after two 10-year-old children ran away from the Madrasa.

A Chilean man who suffered clerical sexual abuse has said Pope Francis told him in a private conversation that God had made him gay and loved him that way, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

A group of former altar boys have filed lawsuits against the Catholic Church in Guam seeking damages for historic child sex abuse allegedly committed by clerics in the Pacific territory.