US Church authorities seem hesitant to test the new Vatican law Interesting times got more interesting this week, when the Archdiocese of St Paul-Minneapolis confirmed to the Catholic News Agency that the Congregation for Bishops has authorised an investigation into the conduct of a sitting bishop, Michael Hoeppner of Crookston, Minnesota, under the procedures outlined in Pope … Read more
The Catholic Herald has learned that the Archdiocese of New York is closely monitoring the crisis in the Diocese of Buffalo, and that broad consultations are ongoing, with a view to possible action. The embattled Bishop of Buffalo, Richard J. Malone, faced several new calls for his resignation last week and over the weekend, including … Read more
The diocese is embroiled in allegations of cover-ups, morally ambiguous behaviour and serious dysfunction The protracted crisis in the US Diocese of Buffalo has piqued Rome’s interest, as many of Buffalo’s 727,000 Catholics have lost confidence in Bishop Richard J Malone’s ability to lead them, and not a few have abandoned the practice of the … Read more
A new report gives a disturbing insight into the way that money circulates among Church leaders. How long can it continue? “The Devil always enters by way of the pocket.” It’s a phrase that Pope Francis often repeats. He has it on no lesser authority than that of St Paul the Apostle, who wrote: “For … Read more
The Archbishop of Baltimore, William Lori, is facing intense scrutiny over his decision to remove the names of several clerics — many of them senior churchmen — from a report he made to the Vatican after an investigation he led into the disgraced bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, Michael Bransfield, who is suspected of serial sexual misconduct … Read more
A while back, a friend of many years wondered aloud, “How bad does it need to get?” My friend was wondering about the crisis of leadership in the Church — a crisis that reaches across several generations and runs all the way up and all the way through the hierarchy — and what it will … Read more
Among the biggest of the pieces that dropped in the major Papal interview with Noticieros Televisa’s long-time Vaticanologist, Valentina Alazraki and the document dump on which Crux and CBS jointly reported, was the one about Pope Francis’s knowledge of the character and proclivities of his old acquaintance, the disgraced former bishop of Óran, Gustavo Zanchetta. … Read more
Bishop Zanchetta joins the Pope and senior Vatican officials on the retreat despite being under investigation for sexual and financial wrongdoing The Catholic Herald has learned that a bishop currently under investigation for sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement, including claims he had naked selfies and gay pornography on his phone, is on retreat with Pope … Read more
There’s one speech you need to read from the Saturday sessions of the Vatican’s child protection meeting — a day dedicated to the theme of transparency — and veteran Vaticanologist Valentina Alazraki of Mexico’s Noticieros Televisa delivered it during the afternoon session. It was the last working session before Vespers and the special penitential liturgy, … Read more
The concluding address did not present a detailed, coherent strategy for reform Pope Francis this morning delivered his concluding remarks to participants in the four-day meeting on child protection that began last Thursday here at the Vatican. It’s a speech that makes interesting reading for several reasons, not least of which is the organisation of its substance: … Read more