A priest who was once a national hero in Chile, and who now finds himself another casualty of that country’s massive clerical sexual abuse crisis, has been expelled from the priesthood by Pope Francis after being found guilty of abusing minors and vulnerable adults.
Recent revelations and accusations related to clerical sexual abuse have been “a disaster, one crisis after another” for the Catholic Church, according to Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, and have jeopardized its moral authority to speak on other issues such as the sanctity of human life, immigration and the environment.
Bishops in several European countries issued statements urging Catholics to support Pope Francis in response to a former papal nuncio’s demand for his resignation.
An open letter to Pope Francis asking him for answers to charges of cover-ups by him and others over abuse allegations against retired Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington appears on the website of the Catholic Women’s Forum, a project of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank, although the forum’s leader said it is not a project of the organization.
Amidst a growing clerical sexual abuse crisis, questions have arisen as to how it will impact an upcoming summit of bishops to be held in Rome in October.
Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, N.Y., acknowledged that even though his efforts in handling sex abuse claims in the diocese seem to have “fallen short,” he would not resign despite being asked to do so by several local leaders, including Catholics.
Pope Francis spent 90 minutes meeting privately with eight survivors of sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy or in Catholic-run institutions.
Bill Donohue, president of The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, released this statement on how some Catholics are reacting to news stories about the clergy sexual abuse crisis:
