July Archive

Benedict XVI seventh-oldest pope in history

Rome Reports | 21 July 2010

On July 19, 2010, Benedict XVI passed Gregory XIII to become the seventh-oldest pope in history.

The bad news from Brussels goes back a long way

Michael Cook | 20 July 2010

Sometimes I am glad that I cannot read other languages fluently. It insulates you from some pretty nasty stuff. But this news in the Brussels Journal should have emerged in the English-speaking world long ago because it helps to explain why the Catholic Church in Belgium has been racked by scandal in recent weeks.

Holier than thou in Times Square

Carolyn Moynihan | 18 July 2010

Whatever the Holy See does to correct the problem of clerical sexual abuse it is never enough for the Holy Office of The Holier Than Thou Media -- the editorial department of the New York Times. This bastion of sexual propriety has used the codification of norms dealing with "grave offences" by Catholics to once again attack the Vatican for not doing things exactly the way the high priests of the media would like.

New Vatican rules on abuse do not replace state laws

Rome Reports | 16 July 2010

The Vatican prosecutor for sex abuse cases has presented the new Church rules to combat sex abuse and to judge priests who have committed crimes more quickly.

Lawyers cannot judge institutions

Pietro De Marco | 09 July 2010

A United States sexual abuse case alleging Vatican responsibility shows the legal profession over-reaching itself, says an Italian professor.

Mandatory reporting of child porn possession by priests under new church rules

Rome Reports | 08 July 2010

New rules will consolidate existing norms.

Keeping ‘the case’ against Pope Benedict simmering

Sheila Liaugminas | 03 July 2010

The New York Times has stirred its pot of selected facts about clerical child abuse and the Pope, again, in a 4000-word ramble.

Abuse suit against the Vatican can proceed

Kica Perez Warnisher | 02 July 2010

June 29 was the final day of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2009-2010 term. The high Court declined to hear an appeal by the Vatican in the case of Holy See v. John Doe, which allows the case to proceed in an Oregon court.