Child Abuse | featured news

With the Roman Catholic Church facing a series of pedophilia scandals, some observers have begun to ask whether the tradition of celibacy in the priesthood has contributed to child abuse.

A leading cardinal, making an unusual address in defense of Pope Benedict at the start of Easter Sunday Mass, said the Church would not be intimidated by "petty gossip" about sexual abuse of children by priests.

Reports that the Vatican intends to force the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland to resign are denied.

Milwaukee's Roman Catholic archbishop warned a top Vatican office led by the future Pope Benedict XVI about a priest who may ...

The resignation of the bishop, John Magee, added to the fallout of a scandal that has rocked the Catholic church in Ireland and throughout Europe.

Pope Benedict XVI has rebuked Irish bishops for "grave errors of judgment" in handling clerical sex abuse and ordered a Vatican ...

A police investigation continued Thursday into a Catholic abuse scandal in Brazil, which erupted last week when a network aired a video that it said showed a priest having sex with a 19-year-old altar boy.

Ireland’s Catholic leader expressed shame over investigating but not reporting abuse cases 35 years ago.

The Vatican denounces what it calls aggressive attempts to drag Pope Benedict XVI into the spreading scandals of pedophile priests in his German homeland.

The sexual abuse of children is not just a "heinous crime" but a "grave sin" that offends God and wounds human dignity, Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday after a two-day meeting with Irish Catholic bishops at the Vatican.