Pedophile Priest, Sex Abuse | featured news

The Vatican said on Tuesday it would prove it cannot be held legally responsible for the actions of a priest at the center of a sexual abuse scandal in the United States.

Pope Benedict said the sexual abuse scandal shaking Roman Catholicism showed the Church needed to do penance for its sins, in a rare public reference by the pope to pedophilia in the priesthood.

With the Roman Catholic Church facing a series of pedophilia scandals, some observers have begun to ask whether the tradition of celibacy in the priesthood has contributed to child abuse.