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Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Editorial: Attorney general's report on Catholic clergy child sex abuse lays out a shameful chapter in Illinois history

Religion / Religious News /

The Illinois attorney general’s gut-wrenching 696-page report on Catholic clergy child sex abuse in Illinois is illustrated, incongruously but perhaps necessarily, with aspirational images of the Prairie State: cornfields at sunrise, the shimmering waters of Lake Michigan, sunsets over lakes and barns, gorgeous stained glass windows.

But the...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Hundreds more Illinois Catholic clerics abused children than had been reported, AG report says

Religion / Religious News /

CHICAGO — Hundreds more Catholic clerics abused children in Illinois than were previously reported by church leaders, according to a scathing 700-page report released Tuesday by the Illinois Attorney General’s office following a roughly four-year investigation.

State investigators revealed the names and details of 451 Catholic priests and ...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Hundreds more Illinois Catholic clerics abused children than had been reported, AG report says

Religion / Religious News /

Hundreds more Catholic clerics abused children in Illinois than were previously reported by church leaders, according to a scathing 700-page report released Tuesday by the Illinois Attorney General’s office following a roughly four-year investigation.

State investigators revealed the names and details of 451 Catholic priests and religious ...Read more

Algerina Perna/The Baltimore Sun/TNS

Fact check: What the Baltimore Catholic archdiocese is saying about the Maryland attorney general's report

Religion / Religious News /

BALTIMORE -- Archdiocese of Baltimore officials, particularly Archbishop William Lori, have responded in recent weeks to a report by the Maryland Attorney General’s Office on child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church with interviews, an FAQ and messages to parishioners across Central and Western Maryland.

After a similar report was published ...Read more

Tzogia Kappatou/Dreamstime/TNS

Missouri bill on Gov. Parson's desk would allow public schools to teach electives on the Bible

Religion / Religious News /

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the waning hours of the legislative session, Missouri lawmakers passed a bill long-sought by a pair of Christian lawmakers that would allow public schools to offer elective courses on the Bible.

The legislation, filed by state Sen. Karla May, a St. Louis Democrat, allows public schools and public charter schools to offer...Read more

Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Editorial: Catholic Church cover-up continues; Baltimore Archdiocese still protecting those accused of wrongdoing

Religion / Religious News /

The Baltimore Archdiocese insists it’s a changed institution. The rampant sexual abuse of children and accompanying cover-up within the Catholic Church dating back to the 1940s — revealed this spring in a lengthy attorney general’s report that redacted some of the names of the guilty — could not happen today, officials claim. “For ...Read more

Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Catholic archbishop reverses parish transfer of priest identified in AG's investigation

Religion / Religious News /

BALTIMORE — Monsignor J. Bruce Jarboe, recently identified as one of the high-ranking Catholic clerics cited in an attorney general’s investigation into how the church handled child sex abuse cases, will not transfer to a prominent Towson parish as planned.

Archbishop William Lori told parishioners Friday that instead of moving in July to ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Possible miracle at Connecticut church being investigated by the Vatican

Religion / Religious News /

HARTFORD, Conn. — The results of an investigation into the reports of a possible miracle at Thomaston’s St. Thomas Church have been sent to the Vatican.

On March 5, the Rev. Joseph Crowley, pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish, which includes St. Thomas, reported that during Holy Communion a lay person distributing hosts had found that the...Read more

Lucy Luginbill/Lucy Luginbill/TNS

Light Notes: Mother's coffee cup still fills my heart with warm memories

Religion / Religious News /

On a shelf in my kitchen sits a pastel-pink coffee cup that appears to be empty. But in my mind, it’s filled to the brim with warm memories.

I can still remember the smile this gracefully decorated gift brought to my late mother’s face on Mother’s Day, her favorite day of the year. She was getting on in years back then — didn’t need a...Read more

Jonathan M. Pitts/Baltimore Sun/Jonathan M. Pitts

Catholic leaders named in cover-ups remain active in parish ministries, boards in Baltimore archdiocese

Religion / Religious News /

Several of the five high-ranking priests who worked to cover up and minimize child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore have celebrated Mass in parishes over the past week and remain on the governing boards of Catholic institutions, despite having their identities revealed and a subsequent call by victims’ advocates for them to step ...Read more

Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Diocese of Oakland files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Religion / Religious News /

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland announced Monday that the Diocese of Oakland has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in light of about 330 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse under a recent California statute that allowed decades-old cases to be re-opened.

The Catholic schools that operate within the Diocese are part of ...Read more

Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun/TNS

'It's an old-boy network': Survivors feel disgust, vindication after Sun names church officials in abuse cover-ups

Religion / Religious News /

When Brian P. Hannon finally reported to the Baltimore Archdiocese that as a teenager he had been repeatedly raped by a priest in the rectory of a Catonsville church, one of the officials he met with was the Rev. Bruce Jarboe, now a monsignor.

“He’s the one running the show,” Hannon, now 65, recalled of the meeting about 20 years ago. “...Read more

Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Bishop, other high-ranking Baltimore Catholic officials identified as those who helped cover up sexual abuse

Religion / Religious News /

BALTIMORE — In the fall of 2002, as the country first realized the scope of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, a Baltimore bishop sat in a Carroll County parochial school gym to try and make sense of it all.

Auxiliary Bishop W. Francis Malooly told a group of faithful that it was a mystery to him why priests who the Archdiocese of...Read more

Darryl Brooks/Dreamstime/TNS

Michigan United Methodists see more churches depart over LGBTQ+ issues

Religion / Religious News /

DETROIT — Nearly five dozen Michigan churches plan to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church amid a rift over LGBTQ+ issues that has fractured one of the country's largest Protestant denominations.

Mark Doyal, spokesperson for the Michigan conference of the United Methodist Church, confirmed that as of Monday — the deadline for ...Read more

Vashon Jordan Jr/Chicago Tribune/TNS

False sex abuse claims against priests -- while rare -- can hurt real victims and innocent clergy, experts say

Religion / Religious News /

CHICAGO — The sexual abuse supposedly occurred in 2003 at St. Agatha Catholic Church on Chicago’s West Side.

Accuser “John Doe” claimed in court documents that as a young boy he had been sexually assaulted multiple times during the after-school SAFE program by Daniel McCormack, a defrocked Chicago priest who pleaded guilty in 2007 to ...Read more

Florida churches split from Methodist denomination amid debates over gender, sexuality

Religion / Religious News /

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — The Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church recently approved the requests of 55 congregations in the state to leave the denomination amid debates over sexuality and theology.

Six of the churches that are leaving the conference are from the Tampa Bay area. The congregations can choose to become independent or join ...Read more

JIM WATSON/Getty Images North America/TNS

Editorial: Florida is now where religious freedom goes to die

Religion / Religious News /

Republican lawmakers in Florida are crusaders for religious freedom — until it interferes with riling up the MAGA base. Why else would they criminalize pastoral outreach as a means to attack President Joe Biden on immigration policy?

Legislation proposed by Republican state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia of Spring Hill would toughen work requirements ...Read more

Tim Tai/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Philly archdiocese accused of covering up sex abuse complaints against priest who allegedly found a new victim in Nashville

Religion / Religious News /

PHILADELPHIA — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia is facing new accusations that it covered-up sexual misconduct, this time involving a former priest who allegedly forced himself on multiple women and told them the unwanted encounters were “special trials” ordained by God.

In court filings this week, a 27-year-old woman said ...Read more

E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/TNS

As Eid holiday nears, Chicago-area Muslims face a recurring struggle: Scheduling time off without knowing when to celebrate

Religion / Religious News /

CHICAGO — Last year at the end of Ramadan, Faiza Siddiqui — like millions of Muslims each year — was waiting intently for the moon sighting announcement determining if the next day will be Eid al-Fitr, the holiday after the month of fasting.

Siddiqui, a resident physician at the University of Chicago, refreshed her browser every few ...Read more

Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Ramadan at Claremont Colleges' dining halls: Grape leaf dolmas, halal harissa chicken

Religion / Religious News /

LOS ANGELES — As a sophomore at Pomona College, Aysha Gsibat remembers rushing to get into the dining hall to grab food to break her fast during the holy month of Ramadan, which involves abstaining from food and water from sunrise until sunset.

She read prayers while waiting for the sun to go down. Alone in her dorm room, Gsibat had iftar, ...Read more