A public accounting of the systemic sexual abuse of children within the local Catholic Church is imminent, with a judge ordering the Maryland attorney general’s office to release its report on the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Baltimore Circuit Judge Robert Taylor determined that the “need for disclosure outweighs the need for secrecy,” and directed the office … Read more
In the 1980s, Father Brian Cox told an official with Catholic church he had a problem – he was attracted to teenage boys. The official, according to court papers, brushed him off, telling the Westminster priest not to “worry about it.” Cox, in a taped conversation with one of his victims, said a bishop once … Read more
Canon 915 and 916 are clear, but leave it up to the U.S. Bishops to obfuscate the issue when it comes to giving Holy Communion to Catholic politician who support abortion. The most hotly anticipated moment might be when a committee that has been asked to take a fresh look at the practice … Read more
Former Philadelphia priest Robert Brennan, 83, changed his plea to guilty Wednesday in federal court, according to court documents. The charges stem from a federal investigation undertaken after Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro released an explosive 2018 grand jury report on abuse in the state’s Roman Catholic dioceses that detailed decades of abuse by more … Read more
The case of a notorious Baltimore-area Catholic priest is cited in a recent report as a key example of how church officials shuffled clergy accused of sexual abuse, leaving more children at risk. Church leaders in Bridgeport, Connecticut knew about allegations against Laurence Brett in the 1960s, according to an independent review of how the … Read more
The Baltimore-based Xaverian Brothers released Friday a list of 34 members who have been accused of sexually abusing children. The list includes two men “with a credible or established offense against a minor” who are currently members of the religious order, according to documents released on the order’s website. The order also identified 18 other deceased or former … Read more
The Maryland Province of Jesuits on Monday released a list of about 30 priests and other order members who have been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of children since 1950. The list compiled by the Roman Catholic group cites men who at some point worked, studied or served in the Maryland Province, which includes eight … Read more
A notice on the webpage of Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh suggests that state authorities are conducting an investigation similar to one in Pennsylvania that found decades of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic clergy and cover-ups by church leaders. Following standard practice, the attorney general’s office declined to confirm or deny that an investigation is under … Read more