According to sources close to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops, Pope Francis decided last month to request Stika’s resignation, after reviewing the results of a Vatican-ordered investigation into the bishop’s management. Stika is accused of protecting Wojciech Sobczuk, a seminarian accused multiple times of sexual assault. Stika last year admitted to The Pillar that he … Read more
The Archdiocese of Chicago is expected to restrict the exposition of the Eucharist during a national Eucharistic pilgrimage that will traverse the Chicago region next year, ahead of the Eucharistic Congress scheduled for next July. The anticipated restriction comes amid differences of emphasis and approach among U.S. bishops over the Church’s Eucharistic revival process, now … Read more
The fact this law even needed to promulgate is disgraceful. Bishop Robert McManus promulgated the new diocesan penal law March 24, warning that use of hookup app technology will lead to sanctions for priests and deacons in the Massachusetts diocese. “The new law reminds the clerics to cultivate and preserve the virtue of chastity as … Read more
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee announced Wednesday that a priest has lost the faculty to hear confessions validly, after he published an op-ed supporting a bill that would remove legal protections for the confessional seal. Archbishop Jerome Listecki announced March 22 that he had “immediately removed the canonical faculties of Father [James] Connell to validly celebrate … Read more
Immediately before participants in Germany’s “synodal way” voted in favor of same-sex blessings last Friday, they received a pep talk from a bishop in a neighboring country. Belgium’s Bishop John Bonny described how the country’s Flemish bishops came to publish a text allowing for a ritual blessing of same-sex couples last September. When the bishop … Read more
The president of a major Vatican Bank told a courtroom Thursday that he reported a suspicious Vatican property deal to investigators, even while senior Vatican officials offered him “protection” to help the deal go through. Jean-Baptiste De Franssu is president of the Institute for Works of Religion, a Vatican City bank. Amid a sprawling Vatican … Read more
The Diocese of Knoxville asked a judge last week to shield documents from the public record, as the diocese fights back against a lawsuit which claims that Bishop Rick Stika covered up an allegation of sexual assault against a seminarian, while defaming the seminarian’s alleged victim. In a motion filed Jan. 31, the diocese asked … Read more
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia diverted hundreds of thousands of euros allocated to support missionary and charitable works while he served as president of the Pontifical Council for the Family. Paglia used much of the money to finance building projects in Rome, including the renovation of his personal apartment, The Pillar has learned. According to multiple independent … Read more
A Vatican-ordered apostolic visitation will be conducted in the Diocese of Knoxville next week, several sources close to the diocese told The Pillar. Sources told The Pillar Friday that Bishops Barry Knestout of Richmond and Michael Burbidge of Arlington have been directed to visit with priests, diocesan officials, and lay Catholics over several days, amid … Read more
A retired French cardinal admitted Monday to abusing a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago. In a Nov. 7 statement, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard announced that he was withdrawing from his functions and would cooperate with both secular and ecclesiastical justice systems. Ricard was president of the French bishops’ conference from 2001 to 2007 and is a … Read more