Child Sex Abuse | featured news

Pope Benedict said the sexual abuse scandal shaking Roman Catholicism showed the Church needed to do penance for its sins, in a rare public reference by the pope to pedophilia in the priesthood.

The Vatican sought to distance itself from comments by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, its secretary of state, that homosexuality is “a pathology” and linked to sexual abuse.

An Oregon jury finds the Boy Scouts of America negligent in a case of repeated sexual abuse by an assistant Scoutmaster in the 1980s and awards the plaintiff $1.4 million.

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The Vatican for the first time released guidelines that explicitly say that bishops and other high-ranking clerics should report cases of abuse to police if required by law.

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.

The Vatican says there was no cover-up in the sexual abuse case by an American priest accused of molesting 200 deaf boys and denounces what it calls attempts to smear Pope Benedict XVI.

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