Catholic Church News

Dozens Allege Child Sexual Abuse in Maryland Treatment Program Run by Catholic Order

More than three dozen people allege in two lawsuits filed Tuesday that they were sexually abused as children at a Maryland residential program for youths that closed in 2017 following similar allegations. In the separate lawsuits, attorneys detailed decades of …

Judge Blocks Chubb Exit From New York Diocese’s Thousands of Child Sex Abuse Suits

A New York judge has ruled that the “plain language” of Chubb Insurance policies dictates that the insurer must cover the Archdiocese of New York parishes and schools as they contend with thousands of sex abuse lawsuits. Chubb has balked …

Maine’s Ending Limits on Child Sex Abuse Suits Is Unconstitutional, Church Tells Court

A lawyer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland told supreme court justices Thursday that Maine’s elimination of time limits on child sex abuse lawsuits is unconstitutional and imposes new liabilities, a reference to costly lawsuits that have driven some …

Abuse Victims Prepared to Sue Baltimore Archdiocese Under New Law

After Maryland lawmakers recently eliminated the statute of limitations for child sex abuse lawsuits amid heightened scrutiny of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced plans Tuesday to bring a series of civil claims on behalf of …

Massachusetts Diocese Releases Clergy Abuse Report With No Names

A Roman Catholic Diocese that covers central Massachusetts has published a new report about clergy sexual abuse of minors between 1950 and 2022, but unlike similar reports released by many other dioceses, the report did not include the names of …

Report: 158 Priests in Baltimore Accused of Abusing 600 Victims Over Decades

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. …

New Jersey Diocese Reaches $87.5M Settlement with Sex Abuse Claimants

The Catholic Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, and the committee representing about 300 survivors of clergy sexual abuse have reached an $87.5 million settlement that will establish a trust to compensate the survivors. The trust will be funded by the …

Church Official Warns of Financial Flood from Clergy Sex Abuse Claims

A top official with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe says a financial flood from clergy sex abuse claims is coming and a settlement would serve as the dam to prevent devastation to parishes across northern New Mexico. A letter from …

Sexual Abuse Victims Claim Catholic Church Pressured Them Into Unfair Settlements

Two impoverished Mississippi men who say they were sexually assaulted by Franciscan missionaries filed a federal lawsuit Thursday claiming that Catholic officials pressured them into signing settlements that paid them little money and required them to remain silent about the …

Gymnasts to Texas Lawmakers: Allow Sex Abuse Victims to Sue Institutions

Former U.S. national team gymnasts backing a Texas bill that would allow victims of sexual abuse more time to sue in civil court on Monday urged the state’s lawmakers to restore a key provision allowing those individuals to sue institutions. …