Latest news with #priestabuse
Al Bawaba
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
Pope Leo XIV moves to confront priest abuse scandals
ALBAWABA - Pope Leo XIV has made French Archbishop Thibault Verny the new head of the Vatican's Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. This is the first big thing he has done to deal with the problem of priest abuse around the world. Also Read Pope pushes Putin towards peace with Ukriane The move shows that the Vatican is trying again to rebuild trust in the Catholic Church after decades of abuse scandals that hurt its reputation around the world. Archbishop Verny, who is 59 years old, will keep his job as Archbishop of Chambéry in the southeast of France while also taking over as head of the commission. In a statement released on Saturday, Verny reaffirmed his dedication to enhancing safety measures within the Church. "We will work to make sure that resources are shared fairly so that every part of the Church, no matter where it is or what its conditions are, can uphold the highest standards of child protection," he said. The panel was created by Pope Francis in 2014 in response to widespread reports of sexual abuse by clergy in many countries. Over the past ten years, these issues have caused a lot of legal and financial problems and forced a lot of Church leaders to step down. Cardinal Seán O'Malley, who was Archbishop of Boston and now leads the panel, is taking over from Verny. At age 81, O'Malley was still working for the Church after the legal retirement age of 80. During his time in office, there was both growth and problems, such as resignations from within the commission and criticism of how well it worked. Pope Leo XIV signaled commitment to continuing the fight against clergy sexual abuse by appointing France's Bishop Thibault Verny to head the Vatican's child protection advisory commission on Saturday. — Spectrum Bay News 9 (@BN9) July 5, 2025 In 2023, a well-known Jesuit priest and pope adviser quit the commission because he was unhappy with how it was run and structured. Even so, a lot of survivors and supporters have praised the commission's work to push for openness and change. Verny was first named to the committee by Pope Francis in 2022. Since then, he has been in charge of protecting the Church in France and has been praised for taking a proactive approach to reform and safety. The new leader was praised by Cardinal O'Malley, who called Verny "a committed and collaborative leader dedicated to expanding global protections and ensuring the safety of those under the Church's care." People inside and outside the Church are calling for more responsibility and systemic change. With this appointment, Pope Leo XIV starts to shape his papacy's response to one of the Church's most important moral problems.
BBC News
11-06-2025
- BBC News
Canon Patrick McEntee: Priest found guilty of eight counts of historical abuse
A priest has been found guilty of eight counts of historical indecent assault against five young Patrick McEntee, 71, from Esker Road in Dromore, County Tyrone faced a total of nine counts of indecent assault dating back to the late who was a teacher at St Michael's College in Enniskillen, had denied all the was found not guilty on one charge of indecent assault. Canon McEntee was charged with four counts of indecent assault on one male between 1988 and was also a single count of indecently assaulting a second male between 1980 and were a further four counts of indecent assault against three males that occurred between 1978 and prosecution told the court that during the late 1970s into the 1980s Canon McEntee abused young boys who were pupils at St Michael' priest took the boys, who were aged between 11 and 17, into his private quarters where some of the boys were made to sit on his knee or touched jury was told it would have to decide if the priest's action "was pastoral care or sexual deviance". Victims speak of priest's abuse During a police interview, Canon McEntee denied ever having touched boys in the way described saying the allegation was "outrageous".During his second police interview Canon McEntee provided a written statement saying he "categorically denied the allegations" and then refused to answer police the trial at Dungannon Court, the jury heard from the five men who accused Canon McEntee of inappropriate told how he was abused "weekly" by the outlined how he'd been made to sit on the priests' knee as he sang the "horsey horsey" nursery rhyme and was touched on his bottom.A third complaint outlined how Canon McEntee had brought a young boy into his personal quarters after he had been "messing about" in class, and how the priest took his trousers down and assaulted him. Accounts 'chillingly similar' The prosecution said that the accounts from the five witnesses were "chillingly similar".Mr McHugh KC asked the jury "why has lightning struck not once but five times".Canon McEntee told the trial that he was "bewildered" by the trial heard that Canon McEntee was a man of "good character" with no prior defence team pointed out inconsistencies in some of the accusations, using pictures to dispute recollections of the priests' private quarters, what the floor covering was and where windows were defence also questioned why some of the accusations were only made after newspaper reports about allegations against Canon McEntee had been the trial, two past pupils told the court that Canon McEntee was an "complete gentleman" who "embodied Christian values" and was well-respected among the pupils and teachers at St. Michaels. 'Significant' sentence Originally from County Monaghan, Canon McEntee taught religious studies at St Michael's and was college president from 1994 until has been a priest for more than 45 years and has been the parish priest of St Davog's in Dromore since March 2023, the Diocese of Clogher announced he had been granted a leave of absence while an alleged safeguarding issue was McEntee was remanded into custody ahead of sentencing in Richard Greene told McEntee that he would face "a significant custodial sentence".
The Independent
21-05-2025
- The Independent
Pope Leo accused of failing to ‘properly investigate' clerical abuse by Chicago victims group
Pope Leo XIV is under renewed scrutiny over claims that he mishandled priest abuse cases while serving as a leader in the Catholic Church in Chicago. On Tuesday, members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) held a news conference, claiming Leo exhibited a 'pattern of failure to properly investigate abuse claims' during his time as head of the Augustinian order in Chicago. 'It was his responsibility to follow the meager church protocols and laws put in place,' James Egan, a SNAP spokesperson, said. 'Given his record, it doesn't seem that he prioritized protecting children at all.' Leo XIV, formerly Robert Prevost, became the first American pope earlier this month. While he led the Augustinian order in Chicago, the Archdiocese faced numerous clergy abuse allegations. A 2023 report by the Illinois Attorney General found that more than 450 Catholic clergy in the state had abused nearly 2,000 children since 1950, with many cases occurring in the Chicago area. SNAP argues that Prevost's leadership did not go far enough to address the crisis with transparency. While some reforms were made, including background checks and abuse-prevention training, the group questioned how thoroughly the accused were investigated. In response to the news conference, Rev. Anthony Pizzo, current provincial of the Augustinians of the Midwest, defended Pope Leo XIV, saying he implemented child protection protocols in 2001 and remains committed to safeguarding children and supporting victims. SNAP also raised concerns about Prevost in a March lawsuit filed with the Vatican. The first case allegedly happened in Chicago in 2000, where Prevost allowed a priest, Rev. James Ray, accused of abusing at least 13 minors, to live near a school. The same suit also accused him of missteps while serving as a bishop in Peru. The Vatican has not issued a formal statement regarding these concerns, although it denied that Prevost approved housing for the accused priest. However, Ray told the Sun-Times on Tuesday that Prevost had permitted him to stay there. 'We are not going to comment on third-party conversations that a reporter from another newspaper claims to have had with another individual, at this time,' Michael Airdo, an attorney for the Midwest Augustinians, said in a statement, per the Chicago Tribune.
