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Lawrence Hecker is charged with raping teenager after strangling him in 1975 in a New Orleans churchA mental competency hearing has been delayed again for a 92-year-old retired Catholic priest faced with charges of raping a teenager after strangling him unconscious in 1975 in a New Orleans church.Lawrence Hecker’s trial on state charges of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft...

Pope Francis to attend installation that includes short film featuring Zoë Saldaña and Giudecca inmatesOriginally a convent dating to the 13th century, and once a reformatory for prostitutes, the Giudecca women’s prison, set on an island in the Venetian lagoon, will this summer perform a quite different role: as the official pavilion for the Vatican at this year’s Venice Biennale.Pope Francis is due to...

Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker, 92, was evaluated by psychiatrist after defense attorneys said he’s too sick to be triedSeven months after his arrest on rape and kidnapping charges, 92-year-old Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker appeared in court in Louisiana on Thursday in an orange prison jumpsuit, was rolled in a wheelchair to a back room and was evaluated by a doctor to see if he’s...

Court rules 4-3 to overturn law that had allowed victims to file civil suits over sexual abuse that took place decades agoIn a split ruling that has major implications for hundreds of child sexual abuse victims, the Louisiana state supreme court has struck down a law that had allowed victims to file civil lawsuits over molestation that happened decades ago.Child molestation victims and their...

Senior church officials in Rome decline to act, citing worsening health of French clergyman known as ‘devil priest’A French clergyman dubbed the “devil priest” who stands accused of sexually abusing Inuit children in Canada’s north will not be dismissed from his congregation after senior church officials in Rome declined to act, citing the nonagenarian’s declining health.Johannes Rivoire, a priest with the Missionary Oblates of...

Pastor of St Patrick’s Cathedral condemns service for Cecilia Gentili after she was celebrated as being ‘mother of all whores’The Roman Catholic archdiocese of New York City has condemned a funeral service for the transgender activist Cecilia Gentili at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral after congregants cheered her for being celebrated as “the mother of all whores”.The packed funeral – organisers reported 1,400 mourners – took...

Father’s lawyers label high court of Australia decision a ‘monumental outcome’ for families of clergy sexual abuse victimsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s highest court has rejected the Catholic church’s bid to avoid paying damages to the father of a choirboy allegedly sexually abused by Cardinal George Pell.The father,...

Saunders has not been charged with any offence and denies allegations he sexually assaulted and groomed young Aboriginal men in WA over 50-year careerFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastChild abuse detectives have searched a Broome property which the ABC reported was the temporary home of the disgraced bishop emeritus...

Maurizio Patriciello has had police protection since a bombing near his church in Caivano, Naples, but he vows to keep fighting crimeFather Maurizio Patriciello is running late. “I’m waiting for my bodyguards,” he says by text message.He is neither a celebrity nor a politician but a parish priest in Caivano, a desolate, crime-ridden town on the outskirts of Naples. He has been living under...

New practice does not endorse homosexuality but is not heretical, Catholic church says amid opposition from some bishopsThe Vatican has stressed that allowing priests to bless same-sex couples is not an endorsement of homosexuality, but neither is it blasphemous, after some Catholic bishops reacted negatively to the measure announced last month.Pope Francis approved a ruling in December allowing priests to bless unmarried and same-sex...