“It’s considered essential to the exercise of religion to have a priest-penitent privilege that will allow people to approach their clergy for the purpose of unburdening themselves, their mind, their soul … to seek peace and consolation with God as well as with their fellow beings,” Utah state Rep. Nelson told the AP. “Without that assurance of secrecy, troubled people will not confide in their clergy.”

“We take every allegation seriously and follow the policies and procedures we have had in place for decades,” said the archbishop. “Only by conducting an impartial and thorough investigation can we fulfill our promise to protect the young people in our care and, if the results warrant, restore the good name of one so accused.” We will communicate the outcome of the Independent Review Board’s work on these cases when the processes are complete.

The Holy Father reiterated the Church’s commitment to zero tolerance of abuse, saying “a priest cannot continue to be a priest if he is an abuser. He can’t. I want to be very clear about this: Abuse by churchmen and churchwomen — abuse of authority, abuse of power and sexual abuse – is a monstrosity, because the churchman or churchwoman, whether priest, religious man or woman, or layman or laywoman, is called to serve and to create unity, to make grow, and abuse always destroys."

The ballot gives each clergy sexual assault survivor the opportunity to say "yes" or "no" to what the archdiocese is offering to compensate them for the abuses. If most abuse survivors vote to support the archdiocese plan, the judge still must confirm it. Most of the 270-plus clergy sex abuse claimants turned in their ballots by Monday's deadline, but there's no official tally yet whether a majority voted to support or reject the church settlement offer.

A federal judge has issued orders preventing the archdiocese from paying priests their monthly stipends if they have been accused of abuse. Bishops are required by canon law to provide for the “decent support” of all their incardinated clerics, including accused priests — this isn’t an option, it’s an obligation Rome has insisted on. In this case, the judge has basically told the archdiocese it may not conduct itself in accordance with Church law.

The district court's Chief Judge ordered attorneys representing the Holy See, or the State of the Vatican City, to ask the pope if he can resolve the archdiocese clergy sex abuse cases as opposed to settling it in court. The Vatican's attorneys wrote that the Judge's inquiry was inappropriate and went on to explain judicial inquires directed at Pope Francis are improper, stating that as head of state he has "absolute immunity and personal inviolability,"

The plaintiff's attorney said that since the State courts have permitted plaintiffs to subpoena the proceedings of diocesan review boards, they should make the same decision when it comes to the investigation of bishops, but if it would preclude that, then that would mean that a victim of a bishop has less rights to discovery than the victim of a parish priest. "Obviously if it's strictly just communication with the pope, that would be excluded under the First Amendment, we don't object to that.”

The priest who is chief of staff for the Archbishop responded to the advocates' criticisms in a statement. "A funeral Mass is not a glorification of a person's life, but rather an act of mercy for the dead during which we pray that, despite any failings in life, they may be received by a merciful God."

The priest was arrested after a boy said the priest molested him in the restroom at an elementary school. After all charges were dropped in 2015, the priest sued the boy’s mother and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priest. The lawsuit was settled in 2017 and the mother and SNAP apologized to the priest. The priest said that he had never met or spent any time with his now 21-year-old accuser, who did not appear in court Thursday.

"The Archdiocese has returned Father to ministry to serve the needs of the poor and vulnerable," spokeswoman said in an email this week. "A re-review of an allegation of misconduct with an adult originally reported almost 20 years ago has concluded and the matter regarding Father has been closed." The center where Father is now assigned provides food, clothing and other basic necessities to struggling families and individuals. The ministry focuses on people in abusive relationships, those struggling with addiction, and pregnant and parenting women.

Pope Francis has determined "there are insufficient grounds to open a canonical investigation for sexual assault by Cardinal Ouellet regarding person ‘F’.” The accusations, which came to light in recent days, concern events that took place more than ten years ago, when Ouellet was Archbishop of Quebec City.

Upon completing the additional formation asked of him, Fr. Silva was given permission to return to active ministry in July and has been assisting at parishes around the diocese. Father is a fine priest, and I am confident that he will serve his parish community very well," the Bishop said in a statement released by the Diocese. "Father has done everything we have asked him to do, I trust him completely, and it’s time for him to get back to work.”

The assertion that Catholic priests are more likely to be abusers because the practice of celibacy attracts pedophiles in the first place is based on a false premise. It ignores the reality that abusers are often sexually active with adults, including spouses, even while they target, groom, and abuse minors, and it clouds the conversation about how to protect young people. The urgent goal of fulfilling that commitment and building institutions that are ever safer for children is not served by the lazy conflation of clerical celibacy with sexual predation.

“Come on, why are there these accusations?” the priest says. “I am wondering what’s the motive?” He is referring to the allegations from six who say he sexually abused them as children while working as a missionary. He says it never happened. None of the charges against him have been tested or proven. “The press is terrible,” he says, tapping his finger on the computer desk. “They can launch anything. “…Things get released into the press and the press only retains the information that, ‘Oh, he’s accused.’”

The Vatican official said, “Pope Francis has called for zero tolerance, meaning no accusation goes uninvestigated and no abusive priest remains in ministry. If the civil structures are inadequate, then let the Church structures make sure that justice is done. But more than justice, the Church can be a powerful instrument of prevention so that abuse is not allowed to thrive in the first place. And it can be there boldly and honestly, seeking forgiveness and healing for those harmed by its clergy."

The number of clerics accused of sexual abuse of a minor during the audit period 2021 totaled 1,914. Accused priests of the audit period totaled 1,707. Of this total, 1,396 were dioc- esan priests, 252 belonged to a religious order, and 59 were incardinated elsewhere. There were 23 dea- cons accused during the audit period. Of this total, 19 were diocesan deacons, and 4 were religious order deacons. Allegations brought against “unknown” clerics totaled 184.

The staggering figure of 330,000 cases of abuse of minors, announced alongside the publication of the 2,500-page document, left the entire local Catholic flock in a state of shock and allowed little room for critical and dispassionate analysis at the time. “I was stunned by the multitude of approximations and methodological errors present in this poll, and I drew the general conclusion that it lacked credibility,” World-renowned statistician Paul Deheuvels says.

“Please remember this well: Zero tolerance on abuse against children or disabled persons; zero tolerance,” he said. The pope also called on priests and brothers to “not be ashamed to denounce” one of their confreres if an abuse is known because they must “protect the others.” “Please, I ask of you this: zero tolerance. You cannot solve this with a transfer (and say), ‘Ah, I’ll move him from this continent to the other continent.’ No!” the pope said.

There remains a sizable gap between the Vatican’s vision of best practice and how U.S. dioceses process allegations. This is especially true of the first stages of handling an accusation, in which dioceses often issue definitive-sounding statements before the full facts of the case are known, and before accused clergy are allowed to mount any kind of canonical defense. The results can lead to a denial of due process for accused clergy, and premature, sometimes irreparable, damage to their public reputations.

"On the basis of a single accusation from thirty or forty years ago, priests are suspended from ministry with their reputations destroyed and their lives in tatters. They must forever wear the scarlet letter of abuse pinned to their garb. Do bishops realize that such actions veer closely toward rash judgment, calumny, and slander, all condemned by the eighth commandment? This entire process has had a devastating impact on priests — who know that they do not have the support of their ecclesiastical superiors and realize they can be deprived of their ministries, their reputations, and their livelihoods in the blink of an eye." Guarino wrote.