The Reckoning

States use Catholic clergy abuse lists to screen applicants

In the wake of revelations that scores of Roman Catholic priests and religious workers credibly accused of child sexual abuse are living unsupervised in communities across the country, state officials face a quandary: Should they screen former clergy members who seek licenses for jobs that put them

10 years after Vatican reform, Legion in new abuse crisis

Italian priest, and 2 Kenyan men who say he’s their father

Church offers little outreach to minority victims of priests

Lawsuit: Famed Jesuit abused boy 1,000 times around world

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Hundreds of accused clergy left off church’s sex abuse lists

Richard J. Poster served time for possessing child pornography, violated his probation by having contact with children, admitted masturbating in the bushes near a church school and in 2005 was put on a sex offender registry.

Vatican office struggles to keep up with clergy abuse cases

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican office responsible for processing clergy sex abuse complaints has seen a record 1,000 cases reported from around the world this year, including from countries it had not heard from before — suggesting that the worst may be yet to come in a crisis that has plagued the

SUNDAYS AFTER: Portraits of resilience after clergy abuse

They came from different towns and cities, from different ethnic and economic backgrounds. They were A-students and outcasts, people of all ages.

Surge of new abuse claims threatens church like never before

NEW YORK (AP) — At the end of another long day trying to sign up new clients accusing the Roman Catholic Church of sexual abuse, lawyer Adam Slater gazes out the window of his high-rise Manhattan office at one of the great symbols of the church, St.

AP: Catholic boards hailed as fix for sex abuse often fail

Facing thousands of cases of clergy sex abuse, U.S. Catholic leaders addressed their greatest crisis in the modern era with a promised reform: Mandatory review boards.

Kenyan man’s search for his father runs into church cover-up

SAMBURU, Kenya (AP) — When Sabina Losirkale went into labor, her sister Scolastica recalls, priests and religious sisters filled the delivery ward waiting to see the color of the baby’s skin — and if their worst fears had come to pass.

100s of accused priests living under radar with no oversight

Almost 1,700 priests and other clergy members that the Roman Catholic Church considers credibly accused of child sexual abuse are living under the radar with little to no oversight from religious authorities or law enforcement, decades after the first wave of the church abuse scandal roiled U.S. dio

How AP conducted its investigation into accused priests

In assessing the status of formerly active priests and clergy members from the Roman Catholic Church, The Associated Press started with the official lists published by dioceses and religious orders naming employees who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse.

In Mississippi Delta, Catholic abuse cases settled on cheap

GREENWOOD, Mississippi (AP) — The IHOP in Southhaven, Mississippi, was an unlikely place to settle a sex abuse claim against the Catholic Church.

Catholicism ingrained in daily life on US island of Guam

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — A towering white cathedral built on the site of Guam’s first church dominates the skyline of Hagåtña, the sleepy capital of this American territory.

Guam’s ex-archbishop shielded culture of clergy sex abuse

AGAT, Guam (AP) — Walter Denton wanted to grow up to be just like Father Tony Apuron, until the night he says the parish priest raped him in a church rectory.

Guam victims say clergy sex abuse ruined their lives

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — One by one, they file into a darkened room to have their pictures taken, gracious while loosening their grip on long-held secrets.

In his own words: Ex-Cardinal’s letters to abuse victims

VATICAN CITY (AP) — At first glance, the handwritten postcards and letters look innocuous, even warm, sometimes signed off by “Uncle T.” or “Your uncle, Father Ted.”

Unmarked buildings, quiet legal help for accused priests

DRYDEN, Mich. (AP) — The visiting priests arrived discreetly, day and night.

Stripped of their collars and cassocks, they went unnoticed in this tiny Midwestern town as they were escorted into a dingy warehouse across from an elementary school playground.

Archdiocese removes prominent Detroit priest from pulpit

DETROIT (AP) — A conservative Detroit priest renowned for his orchestral Masses and traditional Latin services has been removed from public ministry after the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit reviewed what it described as a “credible allegation” that he had abused a child decades ago.

Bishops OK anti-abuse steps, but skeptics seek tougher moves

BALTIMORE (AP) — Under intense public pressure, the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops approved new steps this week to deal more strongly with the clergy sex-abuse crisis.

As bishops gather, prosecutors step up scrutiny of church

DETROIT (AP) — Hundreds of boxes. Millions of records. From Michigan to New Mexico this month, attorneys general are sifting through files on clergy sex abuse, seized through search warrants and subpoenas at dozens of archdioceses.

Allegations against top priest under review after AP report

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Catholic Church in Texas says it is reviewing allegations that a top monsignor continued to hear a married woman’s confessions after luring her into a sexual relationship, a potentially serious crime under church law.

Top US cardinal accused of mishandling aide’s sex abuse case

HOUSTON (AP) — When Cardinal Daniel DiNardo first met Laura Pontikes in his wood-paneled conference room in December 2016, the leader of the U.S.

Nuns in India tell AP of enduring abuse in Catholic church

KURAVILANGAD, India (AP) — The stories spill out in the sitting rooms of Catholic convents, where portraits of Jesus keep watch and fans spin quietly overhead.