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null / Credit: Andy via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)CNA Staff, Jun 13, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).For many years in the United States, Catholic dioceses have periodically announced major settlements involving victims of Catholic clergy abuse, with the payouts coming as part of bankruptcy proceedings related to abuse claims. Since 2004, when the Archdiocese of Portland declared bankruptcy, dioceses and archdioceses have used Chapter 11 law to navigate the complex and often financially crushing process of resolving decades of sex abuse claims. In recent years, many U.S. bishops have announced major nine-figure settlements for abuse victims. Most recently, the Archdiocese of New Orleans last month agreed to pay a massive $180 million to victims of clergy abuse there, bringing an end to years of bankruptcy proceedings in federal court.Where does the money come from? Marie Reilly, a professor of law at Penn State University and an expert in bankruptcy litigation, including ...
Credit: FreshStock/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 13, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Here's a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:China recognizes Pope Leo XIV's first bishop appointment The People's Republic of China has officially recognized Pope Leo XIV's first bishop appointment, the Vatican announced, signaling what some say is an indication that the new pontiff intends to continue operating under the controversial Vatican-China deal.Chinese officials recognized Bishop Joseph Lin Yuntuan, who was installed as auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou on June 11, just six days after Leo announced the appointment. "This event constitutes a further fruit of the dialogue between the Holy See and the Chinese authorities and is an important step in the journey of communion of the diocese," Vatican Press Office Director Matteo Bruni said in a statement. Historic St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev damaged in deadly drone attack The historic Ho...
Bryan and Rebecca Gantt, two foster parents in Vermont, had their licenses revoked for refusing to embrace gender ideology. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Alliance Defending FreedomCNA Staff, Jun 12, 2025 / 17:38 pm (CNA).Twenty-two states and various religious freedom and free speech advocates have filed friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of two Vermont couples who are suing the state after their licenses to be foster parents were revoked due to their religious beliefs concerning human sexuality. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is suing on behalf of Brian and Katy Wuoti and Bryan and Rebecca Gantt after the Vermont Department for Children and Families informed the two families that their belief that persons cannot change biological sex and that marriage is only between a man and a woman precluded them from serving as foster parents in the state.Despite describing the Wuotis and the Gantts as "amazing," "wonderful," and "welcoming," state officials revoked the couples' fos...
A parental rights group sent a letter to several federal agencies asking them to investigate the YMCA's alleged violation of Title IX policies on June 10, 2025. / Credit: Ronnie Chua/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 12, 2025 / 18:08 pm (CNA).A parental rights group has filed formal complaints against the YMCA with three federal agencies, requesting an investigation of the organization for allegedly violating the law by permitting biological males to use girls' locker rooms, bathrooms, and overnight cabins.The American Parents Coalition (APC), led by Alleigh Marré, sent letters on June 10 to the secretaries of the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She requested an investigation into possible Title IX violations on the part of the YMCA."The YMCA has betrayed the families it claims to serve," Marré said in a statement. "Girls are expected to share teams, locker rooms, bathrooms, and ...
Pope Leo XIV meets with priests of Rome in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall on Thursday, June 12, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Jun 12, 2025 / 09:22 am (CNA).The priests of Rome met for the first time on Thursday with their new bishop, Pope Leo XIV, to whom they are looking for greater leadership and fatherly care after several years of administrative disruption."We are very hopeful; you perceive a lot of enthusiasm, anyway, whether from brother priests or from the people of God," the 32-year-old newly ordained Father Simone Troilo told CNA this month. "The fact that he even set this meeting [with priests] as a priority a little more than a month after his election … is a very important sign as well."The pope is not only the head of the universal Catholic Church, but he is also the bishop of the Diocese of Rome, though he does not manage the diocese like a typical diocesan bishop. A cardinal vicar general, vice regent (deputy), and auxiliary bishops are responsible for t...
Catholic school students won the right to play sports and participate in other public school activities in the State College Area School District after a victory in federal court on June 10, 2025. / Credit: matimix/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Jun 12, 2025 / 10:59 am (CNA).Catholic families in Pennsylvania won a victory at federal court this week when a local school district agreed to allow students of parochial schools to participate in district sporting events and other activities.The Thomas More Society, a public interest law firm based in Chicago, said in a press release that multiple Catholic families had won the "major victory" in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania after bringing the suit in July 2023.The State College Area School District had originally said that parochial school students were not allowed to participate in district extracurricular activities, though it allowed home-schooled and charter school students to take part in those events.The C...
Migrants walk alongside the railroad tracks after dismounting from the "La Bestia" train, which they rode through Mexico to reach the Mexico-U.S. border near Chihuahua, Mexico. / Credit: David Peinado Romero/ShutterstockPuebla, Mexico, Jun 11, 2025 / 17:44 pm (CNA).The Catholic bishops of neighboring Mexico are reacting to the wave of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids that are provoking riots in various cities.In a June 10 statement, the Mexican Bishops' Conference expressed its concern about "the difficult situation that has arisen" as a result of the enforcement operations, saying that, although no one desires the presence of criminals, "it is necessary to distinguish that, although some undocumented migrants commit criminal acts, not all undocumented migrants are criminals." They affirmed that most undocumented migrants "contribute to the good of the communities in which they live and work" and emphasized that this distinction "makes it possible to ov...
Blackrock College in Dublin, Ireland, where extensive abuse took place over decades, according to a documentary that led to the June 2025 report by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland. / Credit: Sarah777, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 11, 2025 / 18:18 pm (CNA).Allegations of sexual abuse of minors within the Catholic Church in Ireland significantly spiked this past year, a newly published report has found.The total number of allegations rose by more than 50% from 252 in 2023-2024 to 385 in 2024-2025, according to the latest report by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland. The figure represents the highest number since the organization began publishing annual reports on child sexual abuse in the Irish Church in 2009. The majority of these allegations, 73%, date to the period between 1960 and 1989, with only two cases relating to the period after 2000...
Bishop Wilhelm Krautwaschl, the bishop of Graz-Seckau in Austria, expressed being "stunned and shaken" following a deadly shooting at a school in Graz on June 10, 2025. / Credit: Screenshot / YouTube / Katholische Kirche SteiermarkCNA Deutsch, Jun 11, 2025 / 13:01 pm (CNA).The bishop of Graz-Seckau in Austria, Wilhelm Krautwaschl, expressed being "stunned and shaken" following a deadly shooting at a school in Graz that claimed 10 lives. On Tuesday, a 21-year-old former student of the Bundes-Oberstufenrealgymnasium Dreischützengasse killed nine people before taking his own life."This horrific act at a school in Graz leaves us stunned and shaken," said Krautwaschl, speaking on behalf of himself and Auxiliary Bishop Johannes Freitag. "Our deepest sympathy goes out to the students, the teaching staff, and the families. We accompany all of them with our prayers and are here to support everyone affected to the best of our ability. At the same time, we thank all those who are off...
Pope Leo XIV meets with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on June 11, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Jun 11, 2025 / 13:57 pm (CNA).Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday received U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres in an audience held in the study of the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican.Guterres subsequently met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state of the Holy See, and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states and international organizations.Although the Vatican did not provide details about the private meeting with the pontiff, it indicated that during the conversation with the Secretariat of State the Holy See's support for the United Nations' commitment to world peace was expressed.Some ongoing processes and upcoming summits organized by the United Nations were also discussed as well as the difficulties the organization faces in addressing current crises around the world.During the course of the conversation, speci...
