Child Abuse, Sex And Religion | featured news

Nearly 10 years after a worldwide clergy sexual abuse crisis erupted in the Boston Archdiocese, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley today released a long-awaited roster of 159 archdiocesan clerics who have been accused of sexually abusing children.

The pope criticized the “lamentable methods” of Belgian police who last week confiscated files, detained bishops and drilled into the tomb of at least one cardinal in the Brussels cathedral in a search for documents.

The church expressed “shock” after clerics were detained as part of an inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse.

The recent scandal over handling of child abuse in the Catholic church has again focused attention on celibacy.

The Roman Catholic Church in Dublin covered up decades of child abuse committed by priests, an expert commission reported after a probe into previously secret church records.