Pope expands sex abuse law, reaffirms adults can be victims

Religion and Values

Published
March 25, 2023

Pope expands sex abuse law, reaffirms adults can be victims

The new law makes clear that adults can be rendered vulnerable to abuse even occasionally, as situations present themselves.
Published
March 23, 2023

New report raises alarm over antisemitic attacks and incidents reaching a 43-year high

The number of incidents reported in Maine has grown, although cases remain rare here.
Published
March 18, 2023

Pope promotes ‘humanitarian corridors’ for migrants

Families from Syria, Afghanistan, Rwanda and Ukraine meet with the pontiff in the Vatican auditorium.
Published
March 11, 2023

$3 million in federal funds will help preserve Maine Irish Heritage Center’s history

The center inside the old St. Dominic's church building in Portland's West End, a key piece of the area's rich Irish identity, will get long-needed updates to the roof and brickwork.
Published
March 8, 2023

Six new lawsuits against Maine diocese say priest continued to abuse girls after changing parishes

The civil complaints filed Wednesday all allege that the Rev. Lawrence Sabatino abused the plaintiffs, who were 5 to 11 years old at the time, in Lewiston and Portland from 1958 to 1967.
Published
February 27, 2023

Former cardinal tells Massachusetts court he is unfit to stand trial

Former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick pleaded not guilty in 2021 in the case that alleges the priest sexually abused the boy at a wedding reception at Wellesley College in June 1974.
Published
February 6, 2023

Massachusetts diocese publishes nameless clergy abuse report

Boston Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who has worked on many priest abuse cases for decades, called the report a 'self-serving document' by a diocese that 'has allowed the wholesale sexual abuse of children for decades.'
Published
February 4, 2023

Pope says South Sudan’s future depends on treatment of women

Overall, women and girls in South Sudan live a 'hellish existence,' a U.N. commission reported last year.
Published
January 19, 2023

Diocese clears priest of abuse allegations, assigns him to Auburn parish

The Rev. Robert Vaillancourt spent roughly one year on administrative leave while church officials investigated allegations of sexual abuse in the 1980s. The diocese said in July that these allegations have not been substantiated.
Published
January 18, 2023

Bishop Deeley calls proposal to allow abortions late in pregnancy ‘beyond troubling’

While the leader of Maine's Catholics is vocal in his opposition to Gov. Mills' bill, other religious leaders are divided.