In the summer of 1971, no question before the U.S. Supreme Court was as contentious as the Pentagon Papers case, in which the Nixon administration sought to prevent the New York Times and the Washington Post from publishing a classified report on the Vietnam War. In a 6-3 decision, the court eventually upheld the right … Read more
Immigrant advocacy organizations in Texas say they have not yet been contacted by state Attorney General Ken Paxton after he pledged to launch an investigation this week, at the request of the governor, into the alleged role of non-governmental organizations in illegal border crossings. Gov. Gregg Abbott called for the investigation on Dec. 14, citing … Read more
Soon into the new year, the Diocese of Santa Rosa, California, will join a growing list of U.S. Catholic dioceses to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it faces a wave of sexual abuse lawsuits. Bishop Robert Vasa of Santa Rosa announced in a Dec. 2 statement that the diocese’s attorneys will file for Chapter … Read more
Just when you think that the Vatican’s “trial of the century” against a cardinal and nine other defendants for various alleged financial crimes can’t get any more surreal, two developments pop out of the woodwork to prove you wrong. A hearing Thursday produced both a previously unknown, and unauthorized, recording of a phone call with … Read more
To the surprise of many inside the organization, Pope Francis essentially placed the Catholic Church’s largest charitable organization into receivership Tuesday, removing its current leadership and appointing an interim administrator to overhaul both its statues and management. The decree was published as members of Caritas International were in the middle of a two-day meeting in … Read more
An investigation by Maryland’s attorney general identified 158 Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Baltimore who have been accused of sexually and physically abusing more than 600 victims over the past 80 years, according to court records filed Thursday. Attorney General Brian Frosh announced that his office has completed a 463-page report on the investigation, … Read more
Bishops Richard Malone and Edward Grosz banned from holding any fiduciary role with a charity for life. The Diocese of Buffalo has agreed to enact more secular oversight of its response to complaints of clergy sexual abuse in a legal settlement with New York State attorney general Letitia James, resolving a 2020 lawsuit that accused … Read more
A Catholic priest has been convicted of sexual assaulting a 7-year-old boy in 2004 in a Detroit-area church. A Wayne County jury convicted Father Joseph “Jack” Baker on Thursday on a charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Baker, 60, gasped as the verdict was read, The Detroit News reported. Baker was a priest at St. … Read more
One of the oldest Catholic dioceses in the U.S. has filed its bankruptcy reorganization plan to compensate nearly 400 clergy abuse survivors with more than $121 million. A federal bankruptcy judge in the District of New Mexico will hear the Archdiocese of Santa Fe’s plan in a hearing Wednesday, the Albuquerque Journal reported. The long-anticipated … Read more
An omen of decline for the Catholic Church in America When Bishop Jeffrey Monforton arrived to the Diocese of Steubenville in 2012 some people asked him if he would suppress the diocese amid a declining Catholic and general population in southeastern Ohio. Ten years later, he’s now seeking a merger with the Diocese of Columbus. … Read more