Catholic Church News

California Governor Vetoes Sex Abuse Lawsuit Bill

Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill Saturday that would have allowed some lawsuits victims who are now barred by the statute of limitations to file lawsuits against private institutions that employed their abusers. Brown said he vetoed the bill because …

California Assembly Panel Passes Bill On Sex Abuse Lawsuits

Some victims of childhood sexual abuse would have one more year to file civil lawsuits against private or nonprofit organizations that employed their alleged abusers under a bill that passed a key legislative committee Wednesday. The bill already passed the …

Mediation In Montana Church Abuse Lawsuits Set For April

Attorneys for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena, a Montana order of nuns and hundreds of alleged sex-abuse victims said this week they will try to hammer out a settlement during a mediation conference in April, meanwhile some of the …

Snag In Montana Church Abuse Lawsuit Negotiations Over Policy Dispute

Settlement negotiations between hundreds of alleged sex abuse victims and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena may have hit a snag with the church’s insurers refusing to cover the claims. The insurers and the diocese are locked in a dispute …

New Mexico Man Settles Sex Abuse Suit Against Catholic Church

An Albuquerque, N.M. man has settled a suit he filed against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and a Catholic ministry group that helps troubled priests over molestation he claims he suffered at the hands of a priest beginning in the …

Court Agrees with Dismissal of Abuse Suit Versus Pittsburgh Diocese

The Superior Court has sided with a judge who dismissed a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh filed by the family of a man who committed suicide last year after the diocese stopped paying for his mental health …

Judge Orders Insurers to Pay in Delaware Diocese Bankruptcy

A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Friday ordered insurance companies to pay their share of a settlement with priest sex abuse victims that is the foundation of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington’s reorganization plan, and he angrily turned aside the insurers’ …

Fourth Abuse Suit Filed Against Washington Diocese

An Oregon man has filed suit in federal court against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Yakima, Wash., alleging he was abused as a teen by a former Catholic deacon who later became an Episcopal priest in Mexico. The lawsuit marks …

Auditors Cite Catholic Church’s Lapses in Child Abuse Prevention

Auditors hired by the U.S. bishops to check child safety in America’s Roman Catholic dioceses each year warned in a new report this week of a drift away from parts of the church’s nine-year-old abuse prevention plan. The agency the …

Virginia Bill Extends Sex Abuse Statute of Limitations to 20 Years

A bill to extend the amount of time victims of sexual abuse have to file lawsuits against their attackers and others who may have covered up the abuse cleared a major hurdle in Virginia this week. The House Courts Committee …