Probe finds ex-pope Benedict failed to act in German abuse cases

Yahoo – AFP, January 20, 2022 

Ex-pope Benedict has "strictly" denied any responsibility after a report a report
said he failed to stop four priests accused of child sex abuse (AFP/Sven Hoppe)

Former pope Benedict XVI knowingly failed to take action to stop four priests accused of child sex abuse in Munich in the 1980s, according to a damning independent report published Thursday that risks shattering the ex-pontiff's reputation. 

The report by law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW) was commissioned by the archdiocese of Munich and Freising to examine how abuse cases were dealt with between 1945 and 2019. 

Ex-pope Benedict -- whose civilian name is Josef Ratzinger -- was the archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982. 

Benedict's spokesman Georg Gaenswein said the ex-pontiff had responded by expressing "shock and shame at the abuse of minors committed by clerics" but must examine the text, of which he had no knowledge until this afternoon. 

Benedict, 94 -- whose civilian name is Josef Ratzinger -- in 2013 became the first pope to step down from the role in 600 years and now lives a secluded life in a former convent inside the grounds of the Vatican. 

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni also said it intended to examine the report, "the contents of which are not currently known". 

Two of the cases where Benedict allegedly failed to act involved clergymen who had committed several proven acts of abuse but were allowed to continue with pastoral duties, according to WSW lawyer Martin Pusch. 

Ex-pope Benedict failed to act in four child abuse cases, says German law firm

In one case, a now notorious paedophile priest named Peter Hullermann was transferred to Munich from Essen in western Germany where he had been accused of abusing an 11-year-old boy. 

Hullermann was reassigned to pastoral duties despite his history and continued to reoffend for many years. 

'Defensive attitude' 

The lawyers said that "to our surprise", Benedict had denied attending the meeting in 1980 at which the decision was made to admit Hullermann, despite being quoted directly in the minutes of the meeting. 

Any interest in the abuse victims was "not recognisable" in Benedict, Pusch said. 

He also said Benedict had initially shown a "defensive attitude" when responding to questions for the investigation. However, he later changed his stance and gave a detailed written statement. 

The report found indications of sexually abusive behaviour in 235 people it investigated, including 173 priests. There were a total of at least 497 victims. 

The lawyers also accused Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the current archbishop of Munich and Freising, of failing to act in two cases of suspected abuse. 

Benedict, 94, now lives a secluded life in a former convent inside the grounds
of the Vatican (AFP/OSSERVATORE ROMANO)

Marx had last year offered Pope Francis his resignation over the church's "institutional and systemic failure" in its handling of child sex abuse scandals. 

However, Pope Francis rejected his offer, urging the cardinal known for his reforms to stay and help shape change in the Catholic Church. 

Marx on Thursday apologised to the victims on behalf of the archdiocese, which will respond in detail next week, and also said he was "shocked and ashamed" by the findings. 

'Frightening insights' 

The reformist Catholic group "Wir sind Kirche" (We are Church) said the report offered "frightening insights into the lack of sense of responsibility of clerical office holders". 

It called on Benedict to "face up to his ecclesiastical and moral responsibility instead of making more and more denials that are not very credible". 

The SNAP abuse survivors' network went further: "True action could come in the form of admission from Pope Benedict XVI and for him to relinquish his honor as pope emeritus. That could start the act of contrition." 

The Catholic Church has been embroiled in a series of sexual abuse scandals in countries around the world, including Australia, Chile, France, Ireland and the United States. 

The report by Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW), which was commissioned by
the church to carry out the probe (AFP/Sven Hoppe)

In Germany, a string of reports in recent years have exposed widespread abuse of children by clergymen. 

A study commissioned by the German Bishops' Conference in 2018 concluded that 1,670 clergymen in the country had committed some form of sexual attack against 3,677 minors between 1946 and 2014. 

However, the real number of victims is thought to be much higher. 

Another report published last year exposed the scope of abuse committed by priests in Germany's top diocese of Cologne. 

The abuse scandal has thwarted the Catholic Church's efforts to spearhead broad reforms in Germany. 

Payouts for victims of abuse were increased in 2020 to up to 50,000 euros ($56,700), from around 5,000 euros previously, but campaigners say the sum is still inadequate. 

Matthias Katsch, a spokesman for the Eckiger Tisch victims' group, called the report "shocking". 

It was "impressive and very moving" to see the lawyers "take apart this edifice of lies that has been erected to protect Benedict XVI", he said.

Vatican announces surprise resignation of top cardinal

France24 – AFP, 24 September 2020

Vatican City (AFP) - One of the most influential Vatican cardinals, Angelo Becciu from Italy, resigned his position unexpectedly on Thursday, the Holy See announced without explanation.

"The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the office of Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and from the rights connected to the Cardinalate, presented by His Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu," a one-line statement late on Thursday said.

After a career as a Vatican emissary, Becciu has worked for the last six years as the Substitute for General Affairs, a role akin as chief of staff which means he sees Pope Francis daily and is one of his most trusted aides. 

The 72-year-old was named as a cardinal in summer 2018 and has also had responsibility for the department that oversees beatifications and sainthoods. 

His surprise resignation could be a sanction. 

He has been linked in the past to an investigation underway within the Vatican over the last year into a property development in the exclusive Chelsea area of London which was paid for with offshore funds and companies. 

The process to invest in the scheme to build luxury apartments began in 2014 when Becciu was in the Vatican secretariat, the central bureaucracy of the Holy See. 

The Vatican's police force raided the offices of the secretariat last year to seize financial documents and computers, while five members of staff were suspended. 

Becciu defended the purchase at the beginning of the year during an interview.

Benedict XVI becomes oldest pope in history

Yahoo – AFP, Catherine MARCIANO, September 4, 2020

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is now officially the oldest pope in history

At the age of 93 and nearly five months, Benedict XVI officially became the oldest pope in history on Friday, even if the record is complicated by the fact that he stepped down in 2013 and holds the status of "pope emeritus".

Benedict was the first pope to retire in 700 years -- citing his diminishing strength -- after eight years in office.

He was succeeded by Argentinian Jorge Bergoglio, 10 years his junior and who adopted the name Francis.

Born on April 16, 1927, Benedict -- whose civilian name is Josef Ratzinger -- officially broke the previous longevity record held by Italian Leo XIII who died in 1903 at the age of 93 years, four months and three days, according to the calculations of the Italian episcopal journal, Avvenire, and the magazine Famiglia Cristiana.

"34,111 days in the service of God, the world and the ecclesiastical community," wrote Famiglia Cristiana, referring to Benedict.

Aside from Benedict's retired status, Vatican experts say the record could also be disputed because, going back 1,400 years, the ages of previous popes may not always be completely accurate.

The previous record holder, Leo XIII, is known for having written the first encyclical on social problems.

Unlike Benedict's relatively short reign as pontiff, the Italian aristocrat led the church for more than 25 years. By comparison, Pius XI was pope for 31 years and John Paul II for 26 years.

And the first-ever pope, Peter, reigned for at least 34 years, said French historian, Christophe Dickes.

Benedict lives "hidden from the world" in a former convent inside the Vatican grounds.

Often in a wheelchair, he has appeared increasingly frail recently.

But the author of dozens of books, who was nicknamed "God's Rottweiler" as a cardinal, is still mentally sharp, according to people close to him.

Despite his limited mobility, Benedict travelled to his native Bavaria in June to the bedside of his 96-year-old brother, Georg.

The two were very close and Georg died on July 1. Both had been ordained priests on the same day, in June 1951.

Face shingles

On that visit, his first foreign trip since stepping down, Benedict started suffering a painful case of shingles affecting the face, which worsened after the death of his brother.

His private secretary, Georg Gaenswein told a German newspaper last month that the shingles were clearing up, although no official statement has since been issued about Benedict's health.

Shingles are "a very painful disease, but not deadly," Gaenswein said, adding that the former pope had suffered "pain that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy".

The virus that causes the rash is the same herpes zoster behind chickenpox, and can reactivate after long periods spent dormant.

Benedict's German biographer, journalist Peter Seewald, had raised the alarm about the former pope's health after meeting him on August 1 to hand over his latest book.

"According to Seewald, the pope emeritus is now extremely frail," the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper wrote at the time.

Benedict has lived with a pacemaker since 1997, while a brain haemorrhage in 1991 left him blind in his left eye.

The former theology professor, who taught for 25 years before being appointed Archbishop of Munich, went on to become the man in charge of preserving Catholic doctrine by defending points of Christian tradition which seem to be in danger.

On the death of John Paul II in 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected the 265th pontiff, becoming Benedict XVI.

Ex-pope Benedict rejects opening up priesthood to married men

Yahoo – AFP, Ella IDE, January 12, 2020

Former Pope Benedict, (R) has weighed in on the controversial question of whether
or not to allow married "men of proven virtue" to join the priesthood (AFP Photo/Handout)

Rome (AFP) - Former pope Benedict XVI has publicly urged his successor Pope Francis not to open the Catholic priesthood up to married men, in a plea that Sunday stunned Vatican experts.

The ex-pontiff, who retired in 2013, issued the defence of clerical celibacy in a book written with arch-conservative Cardinal Robert Sarah, extracts of which were published in exclusive by France's Le Figaro.

"I cannot keep silent!" Benedict wrote in the book, which follows an extraordinary meeting of bishops from the Amazonian at the Vatican last year that recommended the ordination of married men in certain circumstances.

The pope emeritus, 92, and Sarah from Guinea weighed in on the controversial question of whether or not to allow "viri probati" -- married "men of proven virtue" -- to join the priesthood.

Francis is currently considering allowing it in remote locations, such as the Amazon, where communities seldom have Mass due to a lack of priests, and is expected to publish his decision in the coming weeks.

The pair asked the whole Church not to be "swayed" by "bad pleas, theatrics, diabolical lies, fashionable errors that want to devalue priestly celibacy".

"It is urgent, necessary, that everyone, bishops, priests and laity, let themselves be guided once more by faith as they look upon the Church and on priestly celibacy that protects her mystery," they wrote.

They warned of priests "confused by the incessant questioning of their consecrated celibacy".

"The conjugal state concerns man in his totality, and since the service of the Lord also requires the total gift of man, it does not seem possible to realise the two vocations simultaneously," Benedict wrote.

Sarah insisted that while celibacy can be "a trial" it is also "a liberation".

'Serious breach'

Benedict, who was the first pontiff to resign in almost 600 years, at first withdrew to a life of quiet contemplation in the Vatican, but has increasingly begun to speak out on key Catholic issues.

He and Sarah insisted their plea was not a "political manoeuvre" or "power game".

But Vatican experts expressed astonishment that the retired pope would speak out on such a sensitive topic.

"Benedict XVI is really not breaking his silence because he (and his entourage) never felt bound to that promise. But this is a serious breach," Massimo Faggioli, who writes for La Croix, said on Twitter.

Joshua McElwee of the National Catholic Reporter, tweeted that "a former pope speaking in public about something his successor is currently in the process of considering" was "incredible".

While Vatican expert Iacopo Scaramuzzi pointed out that "cohabitation (in the Vatican) is difficult if the emeritus pope does not respect his own promise to hide away and obey".

The idea of filling empty pulpits in remote locations by allowing married men to become priests is a divisive once, with critics warning the emotive issue could fracture the Catholic Church.

Supporters say it would not be necessary to rewrite Church law; Francis could simply make an exemption to the rules -- like the one already granted to married Anglican pastors who later converted to Catholicism.

But the ultra-conservative wing of the Church -- particularly in Europe and North America -- has spoken out strongly against the idea, warning that making exceptions could pave the way to the abolition of celibacy globally.

Related Article:

Ex-pope backtracks on book warning against relaxing priest celibacy rules

Pope lifts 'pontifical secret' for sex abuse cases

Yahoo – AFP, Ljubomir MILASIN, Alexandria SAGE, December 17, 2019

The decision by Pope Francis was the latest move to improve transparency in
the handling of cases of clerical child abuse (AFP Photo/Tiziana FABI)

Vatican City (AFP) - Priests can no longer cite papal secrecy in abuse cases, the Vatican said Tuesday, the latest move by Pope Francis to combat silence surrounding paedophilia in the Roman Catholic church.

The Church has been rocked by thousands of reports of sexual abuse around the world by priests, and accusations of cover-ups by senior clergy.

Francis' latest instructions regarding Vatican law on sexual abuse say that the pontifical secret no longer applies "to accusations, trials and decisions" involving such cases.

Pontifical secrecy is a rule of confidentiality designed to protect sensitive information related to Church governance, such as diplomatic correspondence, personnel issues and alleged crimes.

Critics say the secrecy laws have prevented priests and victims from reporting abuse, as well as hindered national justice systems prosecuting cases.

The Vatican also announced on Tuesday that it was raising the age at which sexual images of a person were deemed child pornography from 14 to 18.

In May, the pope passed a landmark measure to oblige those who know about sex abuse to report it to their superiors, a move expected to bring even more cases to light.

In Tuesday's statement, issued on the Argentine pontiff's 83rd birthday, Francis spelt out the new obligations.

"The person who files the report, the person who alleges to have been harmed and the witnesses shall not be bound by any obligation of silence with regard to matters involving the case," he wrote.

An 'all-out battle'

Archbishop of Malta Charles Scicluna, the Vatican's chief sex crime investigator, called Francis' move an "epochal decision that removes obstacles and impediments."

He told the official Vatican News website that "the question of transparency now is being implemented at the highest level."

The pope has vowed an "all-out battle" against sex abuse within the Church, but some victims' groups have said concrete measures have been slow in coming.

Marie Collins, a child sexual abuse survivor who in 2017 resigned from a Vatican committee she said was failing to adequately tackle paedophilia, welcomed the pope's latest move.

"Excellent news," Collins wrote on Twitter, saying the committee had recommended the step. "At last a real and positive change."

Despite the lifting of papal secrecy, Francis qualified that discretion in sexual abuse cases was still required.

Information pertaining to such cases should be treated, "in such a way as to ensure its security, integrity and discretion... for the sake of protecting the good name, image and privacy of all persons involved," the pope wrote.

But that should not obstruct the law, the obligation to report abuses and the carrying out of requests by law enforcement, the instructions said.

US bishop steps down in Church abuse scandal

Yahoo – AFP, Peter Hutchison with Catherine Marciano in Vatican City, December 4, 2019

Bishop Edward Scharfenberger speaks to members of the media following the
resignation of Bishop Richard Malone, during a press conference at the Catholic
Diocese of Buffalo on December 4, 2019 in Buffalo, New Yorkn, healing and renewal
that is so needed." (AFP Photo/Aaron LYNETT)

New York (AFP) - A US bishop accused of trying to cover up sexual abuse by priests quit on Wednesday, as the Catholic church continues to be rocked by a worldwide clergy abuse scandal.

The Vatican said in a statement that it had accepted the resignation of Bishop Richard Malone, 73, from the Buffalo diocese in New York state.

Malone has been accused in US media of hiding the names of accused priests and of allowing some to remain in the ministry.

He admitted last year that he had "fallen short" in his handling of allegations of misconduct, particularly by priests accused of abusing adults.

Buffalo has been in turmoil since February 2018 when a retired priest admitted to sexually abusing children, sparking further allegations across the diocese.

The Church has already paid $17.5 million to victims, according to the Buffalo News, which says that more than 220 lawsuits have been filed by people claiming to have been abused by priests.

Most of the allegations date from before 2002 and some date back more than 70 years.

Malone, in his post since 2012, announced he was retiring two years early, explaining that Catholics in Buffalo would be "better served by a new bishop who perhaps is better able to bring about the reconciliation, healing and renewal that is so needed."

"I have acknowledged on many occasions the mistakes I have made in not addressing more swiftly personnel issues that, in my view, required time to sort out complex details pertaining to behavior between adults," he said in a statement Wednesday.

He is alleged to have kept hidden files about abusive priests to minimize damage to the church. Malone was also reportedly recorded expressing reluctance to sack one priest accused of abuse.

In a brief communique, the Vatican said Pope Francis had accepted the resignation of Malone and offered no further detail.

Crisis

Activists welcomed his resignation but criticized the Vatican for not directly firing him.

"He actively did try to cover up and minimize cases of abuse in Buffalo and that's something that can't be allowed or tolerated," Zach Hiner, executive director of SNAP, a non-profit helping survivors of abuse by clergy, told AFP.

That Pope Francis accepted his resignation but didn't publicly force him to stand down sends "a weaker message," Hiner added.

The Catholic Church has been rocked by thousands of reports of sexual abuse by priests and accusations of cover-ups by senior clergy, starting in the Boston archdiocese in the United States in 2002.

An August 2018 grand jury report examining child sex abuse within six dioceses in the state of Pennsylvania found more than 1,000 child victims, underscoring the scale of the problem.

One estimate suggests that there were 100,000 US victims.

Since the crisis became public in the 2000s, the US church has spent more than $3 billion in settlements, according to abuse tracking site Bishop Accountability.

Malone's stepping down follows other resignations, including of auxiliary bishops in New York and Los Angeles.

The bishop of Albany, Edward Scharfenberger, will take over in Buffalo until a new bishop is named.

French bishops approve payouts for sex abuse victims

Yahoo – AFP, Karine Perret, November 9, 2019

French bishops said the size of the compensation scheme for abuse victims will
be unveiled following their next meeting in April (AFP Photo/PASCAL PAVANI)

Lourdes (France) (AFP) - French bishops on Saturday approved a programme of payouts to victims of sex abuse by priests -- but survivors have already objected that the Church has not gone far enough in admitting responsibility.

Voting at the bi-annual Conference of French Bishops (CEF) in the southern city of Lourdes, a large majority of the 120 bishops approved the payments to those who had suffered abuse within the Church.

The size of the payouts will be made will be determined at a meeting in April, conference chairman Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, the archbishop of Reims, told reporters.

But any money paid was designed neither as compensation that would be determined by a court "or by canonical justice", nor as reparation.

But some victims said this did not go far enough.

"The word 'responsibility' of the Church does not appear, that really bothers me," said Jean-Luc Souveton, a priest and a member of the working group on the issue, who was himself abused by a priest when a child.

Michel, another priest who was also a victim but who did not want to give his full name, agreed with Souveton that the statement was not enough.

'Negligence, indifference'

But De Moulins-Beaufort, who is Archbishop of Reims, did acknowledge the "silence, negligence, indifference, an absence of reaction, bad decisions or dysfunctionality at the heart of the Church".

An independent commission set up by the Church to investigate the scandal started work in June.

Committee chairman Jean-Marc Sauve told AFP in September that they had received about 2,000 messages in its first three months.

Most of those who had come forward were older then 50, and two-thirds were men, he added. The committee is looking at allegations dating as far back as the 1950s.

On Saturday, another victim of abuse, Olivier Savignac, objected that the bishops had not waited for the findings of the independent commission.

"The bishops are getting around the recommendations of the ... commission so they don't have to face up to what is going to be a tsunami" of complaints, he said.

In May, Pope Francis passed a landmark new measure obliging anyone in the Church who knew about sex abuse to report it to their superiors.

A few months earlier, a French cardinal, Philippe Barbarin, received a six-month suspended jail sentence for failing to report sex abuse by a priest under his authority. His case is up for appeal later this month.

In August, the Vatican's former number three, Australian Cardinal George Pell, lost his appeal against his conviction for sexually assaulting two 13-year-old choirboys at a Melbourne cathedral in the 1990s.

Two priests should be tried in altar boys abuse case: Vatican

Yahoo – AFP, September 17, 2019

Pope Francis has apologised for predatory priests but cover-ups in the
Vatican have severely damaged trust (AFP Photo/Alberto PIZZOLI)

Vatican City (AFP) - An Italian priest accused of sexually abusing altar boys in a seminary and another priest who allegedly facilitated that abuse have been referred to Italian justice, the Vatican said Tuesday.

A statement said the Vatican’s Promoter of Justice has recommended that Father Gabriele Martinelli stand trial over charges of sexual abuse, and that Father Enrico Radice also be tried over charges of covering it up.

The alleged abuse took place at the pre-seminary of St Pius X, an institution located on Vatican grounds that trains altar boys and is very close to Pope Francis's residence.

"The investigation was launched in 2017 following press reports," the Vatican said.

Martinelli was a seminarian and aged 21 when the alleged abuse took place and was in charge of training the boys.

A Polish roommate of one of the victims said he had witnessed repeated sexual assaults, according to Italian media.

He along with two other seminarians denounced Martinelli to superiors and also in a letter written to cardinals.

The alleged abuse was the subject of 2017 book called "Original Sin" by Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi.

Nuzzi said the young seminarian, who lived there between the ages of 13 and 18, was sent back in 2014 after sounding the alarm on the alleged abuse.

The seminarian claimed that Martinelli came to his room to have sexual relations with his roommate -- who was then aged 17.

He claimed he had witnessed such acts up to 140 times and that Martinelli used "power and intimidation" to impose his will on young seminarians.

The Polish man, who says he is gay, accused the priests of double standards, saying: "During the day, they are homophobes and at night they unwind in gay discos."

Pope Francis has apologised for predatory priests but cover-ups in the Vatican have severely damaged trust in the centuries-old institution, and there is still much to be done to protect minors from clerical paedophiles.

In May, the pontiff passed a landmark new measure to oblige those who know about sex abuse in the Catholic Church to report it to their superiors, in a move which could bring countless new cases to light.

Related Article:

Science & Spiritually Conference 2018, BC – Canada (4), June 16-17, 2018 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Text version “Predictions”)

".... Let me tell you what else is in the field. Two things: These are going to be things that exist now in the field and they are upcoming potentials. The reason I give you these potentials is so if they happen, just like the handshake, you might believe a little more in this process.

There will come a time when Big Pharma will fall over because of a growing higher consciousness of the public. [Applause in the audience] There is a consciousness growing here that begins to have a new respect for each other, so that abuse of women will no longer be tolerated. Things that never happened before will begin happening, like bishops and cardinals resigning. [All 34 bishops in the Catholic Church resigned May 2018 after the new wild card pope called them on their reaction to child abuse for years by their colleagues.] All the things my partner brought today [in the seminar] are actually happening now. Why should some of these drug companies fail? Because there will be a strong reaction from your general public when they realize there are companies that have policies that would keep a Human sick or let him die for money. [Applause in the audience] It would be unconscionable, and the potential grows stronger daily that it's going to happen. The trigger? It's coming. When it does, that industry will be in trouble. Not all pharma is this way, dear ones - understand this - but the ones who are will fall. ..."

US bishops approve changes to Church law on sex abuse reporting

Yahoo – AFP, Cyril JULIEN, June 13, 2019

US bishops have approved a change to Church law on reporting sex abuse first
announced by Pope Francis in May 2019 (AFP Photo/Filippo MONTEFORTE)

Washington (AFP) - The Catholic Church in the United States, which has been rocked in recent years by child sex abuse scandals and investigations, on Thursday approved a papal document that requires clergy to report suspicions of sexual assault.

At a meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore, participants approved by a large majority the changes to the US catechism, which also reinforces systems in place for victims to signal alleged abuse.

The "motu proprio" -- a legal document issued under Pope Francis's personal authority -- declares that anyone who has knowledge of abuse, or suspects it, is "obliged to report (it) promptly" to the Church, using "easily accessible systems."

The law only applies within the Church and has no force to oblige individuals to report abuse to civil authorities.

Under the new measure, every diocese around the world is obliged by June 2020 to create a system for the reporting of sexual abuse by clerics, the use of child pornography and cover-ups of abuse.

Until now, clergy only reported sexual abuse according to their own consciences.

"We approved some motions that will help us to move forward, especially in light of bishops' accountability... and reaffirming the need of lay expertise to help us in our work," said conference spokesman Michael Burbidge.

Victims' rights groups cried foul, especially about the lack of obligation to report any alleged crimes to the police.

Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said the bishops' policy of "self-policing" was not enough and could lead to continued abuse.

"US bishops do not operate a self-governing country when it comes to criminal acts against children," said SNAP board member Becky Ianni.

'Predator' priests

The Church is in the throes of a major crisis of confidence in the United States, with multiple revelations of sexual assault and abuse committed by priests nationwide, notably targeting children, over the course of decades.

Those priests were largely shielded from prosecution by their superiors.

In August 2018, a devastating report from a Pennsylvania grand jury revealed that more than 300 "predator" priests had allegedly abused over 1,000 children across seven decades.

That scandal forced the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who served as a bishop in Pennsylvania and was blamed for not doing enough to deal with pedophile priests.

Another influential US cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, was defrocked earlier this year over accusations that he sexually abused a teenage boy in the 1970s.

Bishop Michael Bransfield stepped down last year amid allegations that he sexually harassed adults.

The Catholic Church is not the only one under scrutiny in the United States.

Also this week, delegates attending the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Alabama easily approved a resolution to bar congregations where allegations of sexual abuse are mishandled.

The decision marked a significant change for a church with 15 million members. The Southern Baptist Convention is largely decentralized and individual churches are largely autonomous.

Related Articles:

Pope changes Church law to make reporting sex abuse obligatory

Pope Francis meets with leaders from the US church at the Vatican on Thursday

to discuss claims of sexual abuse by clergy (AFP Photo/Handout)

Vatican defrocks former US cardinal for sex abuse of minor
Pope says Church can no longer tolerate silence on abuse

Pope meets with US church leaders over clergy sex abuse

US cardinals defend themselves over cover-up storm

Pennsylvania report lists more than 300 'predator' priests

US cardinal caught up in abuse scandal resigns

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Pope accepts resignation of 3 Chilean bishops in sex abuse scandal

Australian archbishop gets 12 months for concealing child abuse
Germany's Catholic Church 'ashamed' by child sex abuse 

Part of the painting, said to one of the highlights of the Vatican collection

Jesus and Joseph, UK, May 27, 2018 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There it a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.