News of George Pell’s death may generate a roller coaster of complex and variable emotions among abuse survivors.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sits in St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 8, 2015. A long-awaited report on sexual abuse faulted his handling of four cases.
AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia
A German report accused retired Pope Benedict XVI of mishandling several cases of sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s. Here are a few of our related articles on the Catholic Church’s crisis.
People pray for the victims of child sex abuse during a special service at a Catholic church outside Paris on Oct. 5, 2021. A new French report estimates that more than 200,000 children were abused by clergy since 1950.
AP Photo/Michel Euler
A French report on the scale of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy is the latest revelation in the crisis, but its roots go back decades – or more. Here are a few of our many related articles.
The pope can order religious investigations that can allow the Vatican to swiftly take action.
Giuseppe Lami/Pool Photo via AP
Early Christians were urged to ‘supervise’ one another. In the present times, that theology is often used by the Vatican for a religious investigation a known as the apostolic visitation.
Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo, at a news conference on Nov. 5, 2018, in Cheektowaga, New York.
AP Photo/Frank Franklin II
Seven US bishops have been removed for covering up clergy sexual abuse since 2015 after decades of no accountability. An expert explains how Catholic movements and whistleblowers forced this change.
The Pennsylvania grand jury report may have played a role in helping survivors come to grips with their past.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
Last year, Pennsylvania’s grand jury report uncovered sexual abuse allegations by over 300 priests. A scholar explains how the report may have helped survivors come to terms with a painful past.
Pope Francis recently made it mandatory for clergy to report sexual abuse to church superiors.
AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
Pope Francis is trying to address gaps in the regulatory processes of the Catholic Church. But clergy can still decide whether, and to what degree, to share information.
Activists hold demonstrating against the church’s sacking of priests over alleged homosexuality.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Pope Francis has discouraged homosexual men from entering priesthood. Prior to the 12th century, even celebrated priests could write about same-sex desires and the church paid little attention.
Pope Francis sits during the traditional greetings to the Roman Curia at the Vatican in December 2018.
Filippo Monteforte/Pool Photo via AP
Pope Francis is meeting bishops for a global summit to discuss sexual abuse by clergy. Such a response, says an expert, is part of a past pattern, unlikely to bring a lasting change.
Pope Francis speaking to cardinals Dec. 21, 2018 at the Vatican.
Filippo Monteforte/AP Pool
Sex abuse by Catholic priests may be as devastating in many cases as sex abuse by a family member because of institutional betrayal, two trauma psychologists write. It calls for special measures.
Member of the Coalition of Catholics and Survivors hold a protesting outside the Boston archbishop’s residence in 2003.
Jim Bourg/Reuters
While the problem of priestly abuse might be centuries old, its modern paper trail began after World War II, when ‘treatment centers’ appeared for rehabilitating priests. Many were send to New Mexico.