Publication: The Pillar
Motion to Dismiss Delays Trial of English Bishop Accused of Raping a Minor
Lawyers for an English bishop accused of raping a minor have asked the court to dismiss the case. Bishop David Oakley of Northampton appeared in court at the Old Bailey ...
Second German Bishop In Two Weeks Resigns, Citing ‘Toll Of Office’
The Holy See press office announced Sept. 2 that the pope had accepted the resignation of Bishop Heinrich Timmerevers of Dresden-Meissen, eastern Germany, almost a year before the bishop reached ...
Laicized Wisconsin Priest Arrested Over NEW Grooming Charges, Bail Jumping
A former Wisconsin priest has been charged with bail jumping and new sexual offenses against minors, the Diocese of Madison has confirmed. Andrew Showers was arrested Aug. 20 for attempted ...
German Priests To Cardinal Marx: Homosexual Blessing Guidance Creates A Loyalty Conflict
Twenty-six priests in Germany’s Archdiocese of Munich and Freising have reportedly written to Cardinal Reinhard Marx, saying that his request that they follow national guidelines on blessings has presented them ...
DOJ Files To Revoke Citizenship Of Capuchin Priest Convicted Of Abusing Minors
he U.S. Department of Justice has filed to revoke the citizenship of a Capuchin priest from Mexico who was convicted of sexually abusing minors while working in a parish in ...
English Bishop on ‘Personal Leave’ After Being Charged with Rape of a Minor
Bishop David Oakley of Northampton, England, has been charged with two counts of rape of a minor, local police confirmed June 24. The bishop has been on a leave of ...
USCCB Leaders Ram-Through Changes To Dallas Charter
Bishop Barry Knestout, who heads the USCCB’s Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People (and a roommate of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick), reiterated his position that the document was ...
U.S. Bishops Urged to Address Crisis in Catholic Education
Most Catholic colleges have become essentially secular, imitating non-Catholic schools rather than embracing their distinct religious identity. Catholic colleges and universities today are largely failing to fulfill their mission, and ...
Appeals Court Says Sexual Assault Suit Against Fr. Rosica Can Proceed
An appeals court in Canada has rejected a request by the Congregation of St. Basil to dismiss a lawsuit against the congregation and its prominent member Fr. Thomas Rosica. The ...
Independent Report Leads to 4 New Sexual Abuse Convictions in Portugal
The Archdiocese of Braga announced last week that a canonical process involving Father Albino Meireles, accused of child abuse, had concluded with his dismissal from the clerical state. The announcement ...
Tulsa Deacon Pleads Guilty To Stealing $1.4 Million From Parish
Deacon John Sommer, the former business manager and parish manager of Christ the King Parish, accepted a plea deal with federal prosecutors on May 13. Sommer acknowledged that from March ...
Have The German Bishops Finally Lost Their Synodal Majority?
The chairman of the German bishops’ conference has suggested that the first scheduled meeting of a controversial synodal body will be delayed absent approval of its statutes by the Vatican ...
Vatican Orders Vos Estis Investigation Of Baton Rouge Bishop
The Vatican has ordered an investigation in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, over allegations that the Bishop Michael Duca discouraged a whistleblower from calling the police, after a local priest ...
Is the Vatican About to Lose Millions More on the Peter’s Pence London Property Fiasco?
While the fate of the Vatican’s criminal prosecution over the infamous London property deal appears to hang in the balance in the city state’s court, a number of legal developments ...
Vatican Watchdog: Suspicious Financial Reports Rose In 2025
The Supervisory and Financial Information Authority’s latest annual report, published April 30, detailed 78 reports of suspicious activities in 2025, 73 of which came from the Institute for the Works ...
Bishop Bonnemain: No Excommunication For People Who Shared Eucharist With Dogs
The diocese said three people who shared the Eucharist with their dogs “did not act with sacrilegious intent.” The Diocese of Chur announced in an April 17 statement that it ...
Peña Parra Appointment: Exile or Probation?
Pope Leo XIV on Monday ordered the biggest curial personnel change of his first year in office, transferring the sostituto of the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, to ...
The Vatican Court’s Double Standards
The Vatican City Court of Appeal issued a decision Tuesday ordering a review of the investigation and indictment which opened the landmark financial crimes trial in 2022. The March 17 ...
Leo Accepts Resignations of Chaldean Patriarch and Bishop Amid Corruption Scandal
The Vatican announced March 10 that the pope had accepted the resignations of Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako and Bishop Emanuel Shaleta one day after the bishop entered an initial plea ...
German Bishops to ask Rome to Permit Lay Homilies
According to Church law, homilies at Mass are “reserved to a priest or deacon,” but lay people can receive permission to preach in a church or oratory, “if necessity requires ...
Gutless Notre Dame Leaders Rely On Ostermann Withdraw Versus Removing Her Themselves
After weeks of inaction on the part of the University's leadership, Ostermann withdraws from consideration. An outspoken abortion advocate will not assume the directorship of an academic institute at the ...
