Across vast Muslim world, LGBTQ people remain marginalized
December 6, 2022 GMTYOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — On the outskirts of Yogyakarta, an Indonesian city that’s home to many universities, is a small boarding school with a mission that seems out of place in a nation with more Muslim citizens than any other.
AP Explains: Why Pope Francis wants global approach to abuse scandal
February 21, 2019 GMTIndiana judge won’t block probe over 10-year-old’s abortion
December 3, 2022 GMTINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana's Republican attorney general can keep investigating an Indianapolis doctor who spoke publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim from neighboring Ohio, a judge ruled Friday.
Superior diocese publishes list of credibly accused clergy
November 23, 2022 GMTSUPERIOR, Wis. (AP) — The Catholic Diocese of Superior published names late Tuesday of almost two dozen clergy that it says have had credible claims of sexually abusing minors made against them.
Wisconsin Public Radio reports that many of the allegations date back 30 years or more.
Accused Albany bishop asks to be removed from priesthood
November 19, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — The retired bishop of Albany, New York, who has admitted to covering up for predator priests and has himself been accused of sexual abuse, has asked Pope Francis to remove him from the priesthood.
Vatican urges German Catholic Church to put brakes on reform
November 18, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — Top Vatican cardinals tried to put the brakes on the German Catholic Church’s controversial reform process Friday, fearing proposals concerning gays, women and sexual morals will split the church and insisting they would be better debated later.
Missouri summer camp operators sued over abuse settlement
November 18, 2022 GMTA Tennessee man filed a lawsuit Friday claiming that operators of the Kanakuk Camps in Branson, Missouri, lied to him and his parents while persuading them to sign a settlement over sexual abuse by a camp counselor.
Maryland probe finds 158 abusive priests, over 600 victims
November 18, 2022 GMTANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — An investigation by Maryland's attorney general identified 158 Roman Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Baltimore who have been accused of sexually and physically abusing more than 600 victims over the past 80 years, according to court records filed Thursday.
Italy church says 600 sex abuse cases sent to Vatican
November 17, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — Italy’s Catholic bishops provided their first accounting of clergy sexual abuse and revealed Thursday that more than 600 cases from Italy were on file at the Vatican since 2000.
US bishops to elect new leaders, mark abuse reform milestone
November 14, 2022 GMTU.S. Catholic bishops began their fall meeting Monday, with an agenda that includes the election of new leaders — a vote that may signal whether they want to be more closely aligned with Pope Francis ' agenda or not.
Vatican opens preliminary abuse probe into French cardinal
November 11, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — The Vatican said Friday it has decided to launch a preliminary sex abuse investigation into a prominent French cardinal after he admitted to having behaved in a “reprehensible way” with a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago.
Suspended Indiana priest avoids prison in sex abuse case
November 10, 2022 GMTNOBLESVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A suspended Indianapolis priest has avoided prison after pleading guilty to a lesser charge in a case alleging that he sexually abused a teenage boy.
A Hamilton County judge sentenced David Marcotte, 35, on Wednesday to one year on home detention followed by 18 months of probation, and suspended his 2 1/2-year prison sentence.
Priest indicted on child rape, assault and battery charges
November 8, 2022 GMTWOBURN, Mass. (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest from Massachusetts accused of sexually assaulting a child more than a decade ago has been indicted by a grand jury on forcible child rape and indecent assault and battery charges, authorities said Tuesday.
French cardinal to be investigated over abuse confessions
November 8, 2022 GMTPARIS (AP) — The prosecutor’s office in Marseille has opened a preliminary investigation for “aggravated sexual assault” against Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, one of France’s highest-ranking prelates of the Catholic Church.
Polish court acquits men in toppling of priest statue
November 7, 2022 GMTWARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Gdansk district court on Monday acquitted three men who in 2019 toppled a statue of a late priest suspected of sexually abusing minors, a symbolic moment in the traditionally Catholic country's reckoning with clerical abuse.
French cardinal says he abused 14-year-old girl 35 years ago
November 7, 2022 GMTPARIS (AP) — Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, one of France's highest-ranking prelates of the Catholic Church, said Monday that he had abused a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago and is withdrawing from his religious duties.
Rochester diocese to pay $55 million to sex abuse survivors
November 4, 2022 GMTROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester will pay $55 million to survivors of sexual abuse committed by clergy members under a settlement announced by church officials.
The diocese, which declared bankruptcy in 2019 after hundreds of lawsuits were filed against it under the state's Child Victims Act, will create a trust for abuse survivors, Rochester Bishop Salvatore Matano said Thursday.
Stricter clergy oversight part of Buffalo diocese settlement
October 25, 2022 GMTBUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has agreed to strengthen its oversight of clergy accused of sexual misconduct to settle a lawsuit brought by New York's attorney general alleging the church mishandled abuse claims and protected predatory priests, authorities said Tuesday.
Prominent Chicago priest accused of sexual abuse of minor
October 15, 2022 GMTCHICAGO (AP) — A Catholic priest who gained national fame as an activist has been asked to step away from his ministry while allegations that he sexually abused a minor decades ago are investigated.
Priest convicted of sexual assault on boy in Michigan church
October 14, 2022 GMTDETROIT (AP) — A Catholic priest has been convicted of sexual assaulting a 7-year-old boy in 2004 in a Detroit-area church.
A Wayne County jury convicted the Rev. Joseph “Jack” Baker on Thursday on a charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Lawsuit: Utah firm and lawmaker helped Mormons hide abuse
October 12, 2022 GMTThree children who were sexually abused by their father are accusing a Utah state legislator and a prominent Salt Lake City law firm of conspiring with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to cover up the abuse, allowing it to go on for years.
Retired St. Louis priest admits possessing child pornography
October 12, 2022 GMTST. LOUIS (AP) — A retired St. Louis priest faces sentencing in January after admitting that he possessed thousands of images containing child pornography.
James T. Beighlie, 72, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to two counts of possession of child pornography.
Portuguese bishop says conscience clear about abuse claims
October 12, 2022 GMTLISBON, Portugal (AP) — A senior Portuguese Catholic Church official who has been named in investigations involving alleged cover-ups of sex abuse by priests said Wednesday his conscience is clear.
Portugal’s president feels heat from church sex abuse remark
October 12, 2022 GMTLISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal’s president is scrambling to quell an outcry over his comments appearing to make light of revelations that more than 400 people were victims of child sex abuse by members of the Portuguese Catholic Church.
Historic Portugal church sex abuse ‘truly endemic’ at times
October 11, 2022 GMTLISBON, Portugal (AP) — The head of a lay committee looking into historic child sex abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church said Tuesday the problem in the past had been “widespread” and on some occasions reached “truly endemic” proportions.
Las Vegas Jewish community buys back synagogue from diocese
October 10, 2022 GMTALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A Las Vegas synagogue that is believed to be the first Jewish place of worship in the New Mexico Territory is back in the hands of the Jewish community.
The Albuquerque Journal reported Monday the Las Vegas Jewish Community crowd-sourced enough funds to buy Temple Montfiore last month from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.
Retired priest in Virginia acquitted on sex abuse charge
October 7, 2022 GMTFAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A jury has acquitted a retired Catholic priest from northern Virginia who was accused of sexually assaulting a child more than 20 years ago.
A Fairfax County jury found Terry Specht not guilty Wednesday.
Alabama pastor indicted on charges of rape, sex abuse
October 5, 2022 GMTMOBILE, Ala. (AP) — A south Alabama pastor was arrested Tuesday after being indicted on rape and sex abuse charges, news outlets reported.
A grand jury indicted Gregory Renee Adams, 64, on five counts of rape, two counts of sodomy and two counts of sexual abuse by force, according to court documents.
Vatican cardinal cites Nazi theology in German reform
October 5, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — The German Catholic Church's reform process is again under fire from the Holy See, with a Vatican cardinal seemingly comparing its proposals for theological development to the thinking that sustained Germany's Nazi era.
Judge acquits Legion priests in abuse-linked extortion case
October 3, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — A judge in Milan on Monday acquitted five members of the Legion of Christ religious order and their lawyers of attempted extortion in a case in which they were accused of offering to pay the family of a sexual abuse victim to lie to prosecutors.
Portugal abuse cases mount amid questions over Nobel bishop
October 3, 2022 GMTLISBON, Portugal (AP) — Clergy sexual abuse cases are casting a pall over the Catholic Church in Portugal, ensnaring senior officials even as authorities scramble to explain why shelter was given to a Nobel Peace Prize-winning bishop at the center of sexual misconduct allegations.
Amid crises, rural roots anchor Southern Baptists’ president
October 3, 2022 GMTFARMERSVILLE, Texas (AP) — On the first Saturday of fall, a sweating Bart Barber trekked across a weedy pasture in search of Bully Graham, the would-be patriarch of the rural Baptist pastor’s fledgling cattle herd.
UN, abuse survivor groups seek Vatican investigation of Belo
October 2, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — The United Nations and advocacy groups for survivors of clergy sexual abuse are urging Pope Francis to authorize a full investigation of Catholic Church archives on three continents to ascertain who knew what and when about sexual abuse by Nobel Peace Prize-winning Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, the revered independence hero of East Timor.
Mormon leader calls abuse ‘abomination’ amid policy scrutiny
October 1, 2022 GMTSALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Russell M. Nelson, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, told members of the faith on Saturday that abuse was “a grievous sin” that shouldn't be tolerated and would bring down the wrath of God on perpetrators.
French Catholic Church starts compensating sex abuse victims
September 30, 2022 GMTPARIS (AP) — France’s Catholic Church has paid financial compensation to 23 victims of child sexual abuse by priests or other church representatives under a recently launched reparation process, the body in charge of compensation decisions said Friday.
Vatican sanctions Nobel laureate after Timor accusations
September 30, 2022 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — The Catholic Church's decades-long sex abuse scandal caught up with a Nobel Peace Prize winner Thursday, with the Vatican confirming that it had sanctioned the East Timor independence hero, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, following allegations that he sexually abused boys there during the 1990s.
Advocates list 100s of allegedly abusive California priests
September 29, 2022 GMTSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Advocates for victims of clergy sexual abuse delivered a list of more than 300 publicly accused abusers to the Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco on Thursday as they urged him to release his “secret” files on credibly accused priests.
WA--Washington Digest, 1pm update, WA
September 28, 2022 GMTHere’s a look at how AP’s general news coverage is shaping up for select Washington stories. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s complete coverage of Washington and the rest of the world, visit Coverage Plan at newsroom.ap.org
Medford man guilty of sex crimes, victim released from jail
September 21, 2022 GMTMEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — A jury has found a Medford, Oregon, man guilty of multiple sex crimes following a trial in which the victim was lodged in jail for nine days to ensure she’d testify in court.
Southern Baptists cut ties with LGBTQ-friendly church
September 21, 2022 GMTThe Southern Baptist Convention's top administrative body voted to cut ties with two congregations on Tuesday — an LGBTQ-friendly church in North Carolina that had itself quit the denomination decades ago and a New Jersey congregation it cited for “alleged discriminatory behavior.”
Mexican faith leader jailed for sex abuse; flock stays loyal
September 18, 2022 GMTGUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — Their spiritual leader is behind bars in California after pleading guilty to sexually abusing minors. Yet legions of followers of Naasón Joaquín García in his home base in Mexico remain fervently loyal to him, viewing his imprisonment as a challenge that will strengthen their church, La Luz del Mundo (The Light of the World), rather than weaken it.
Inuits plead for priest’s return to Canada over abuse claims
September 15, 2022 GMTLYON, France (AP) — A priest accused of sexually abusing Inuit children when he missioned in their Canadian Arctic community has told alleged victims and relatives who traveled to France to confront him that he won’t go back to Canada to be questioned.
Spanish ex-priest sentenced to 30 years for abusing minors
September 13, 2022 GMTMADRID (AP) — Spain's Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a 30-year prison sentence a lower court had imposed on a former priest for sexually abusing seven boys he taught at a seminary boarding school.
Utah rep. told Mormon bishop not to report abuse, docs show
September 10, 2022 GMTA Utah lawmaker and prominent attorney for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints advised a church bishop not to report a confession of child sex abuse to authorities, a decision that allowed the abuse to continue for years, according to records filed in a lawsuit.
Former mayor, Mormon bishop accused of sex abuse of children
September 9, 2022 GMTSALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A former Utah city mayor and bishop with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been arrested on accusations he sexually abused at least three children decades ago.
Nicaraguan judge sentences priest to 49 years for rape
September 2, 2022 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — A judge in Nicaragua sentenced a Roman Catholic priest to 49 years in prison Friday for the rape of a 14-year-old girl.
Judge Edén Aguilar Castro sentenced Rev. José Leonardo Urbina to 24 years in prison on two counts of abuse and 25 years for one count of rape.
Chaplain who sexually abused inmates gets 7 years in prison
September 1, 2022 GMTBehind a closed chapel office door inside a federal women’s prison in California, a chaplain forced inmates seeking his spiritual guidance to have sex with him, exploiting their faith and their powerlessness behind bars for his own gratification, prosecutors said.
Funeral of ex-Milwaukee archbishop marked by prayer, protest
August 31, 2022 GMTMILWAUKEE (AP) — Hundreds of supporters, as well as advocates for victims of clergy sexual abuse, attended retired Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland’s funeral, which was marked by an open acknowledgement of his mistakes.
Indictment: Boy forcibly taken to Missouri boarding school
August 31, 2022 GMTThe mother of a California teenager conspired with a former Missouri boarding school dean on a plan that resulted in the boy being forced into a car, handcuffed for more than 24 hours and driven to a Missouri school for troubled youths, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Gritty cult director Ferrara gets religion in ‘Padre Pio’
August 26, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — Abel Ferrara, whose gritty New York exploitation films of the 1980s and 1990s delved into the soulless evils of drug addiction, corruption and sexual violence, pays homage to one of Italy’s best-known and most revered saints in his newest film, “Padre Pio.”
Abortion ruling prompts variety of reactions from states
August 25, 2022 GMTThe U.S. Supreme Court on June 24 overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had provided a constitutional right to abortion.
Protesters demand Utah require clergy to report sex abuse
August 20, 2022 GMTSALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Survivors and faith leaders rallied Friday at the Utah State Capitol to demand change to a state law that exempts religious leaders from requirements that they report child sexual abuse brought to their attention in spiritual confessions.
Vatican cardinal terms assault allegations false, defamatory
August 19, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — The Vatican cardinal accused in a class-action lawsuit in Canada of sexual assault against a woman on Friday denied any inappropriate behavior and said he would vigorously fight the “false” and “defamatory” accusations if the case proceeds.
Vatican shelves assault probe into Canadian cardinal claims
August 18, 2022 GMTROME (AP) — The Vatican said Thursday that a preliminary church investigation into sexual assault allegations by a Canadian woman against a top cardinal, Marc Ouellet, has determined the case doesn’t warrant further investigation.
Judge limits privilege defense in AZ Mormon sex abuse case
August 18, 2022 GMTAn Arizona judge overseeing a high-profile lawsuit accusing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of conspiring to cover-up child sex abuse has ruled that the church may not refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under the state’s “clergy-penitent privilege.”
Southern Baptists say denomination faces DOJ investigation
August 12, 2022 GMTNASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention said Friday that several of the denomination's major entities are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in the wake of its multiple problems related to clergy sex abuse.
Mormon lawmaker pushes abuse reporting reform in Utah
August 12, 2022 GMTSALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Republican state lawmaker in Utah said Friday he plans to introduce legislation that would require clergy to report child abuse to authorities, eliminating the clergy-penitent privilege in a state where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the predominant religion.
Portugal cardinal meets pope as sex abuse allegations swirl
August 5, 2022 GMTLISBON, Portugal (AP) — The archbishop of Lisbon met Friday with Pope Francis in a private audience at the Vatican to discuss “events in recent weeks that have marked the life of the Church in Portugal,” the Portuguese church said.