NJ Supreme Court decision paves way for investigation into Catholic clergy sex abuse allegations
New Jersey Supreme Court decided unanimously on Friday that the state’s attorney general can move forward with a grand jury investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy statewide, originally announced in September 2018.
Seven years ago, then-attorney general Gurbir Grewal said he was forming a task force after a report by a grand jury in Pennsylvania found more than 1,000 victims over 70 years. The PA report also implicated around 300 priests and found evidence of a coverup by church leaders.
The reason behind the court’s delayed decision was suggested by a NorthJersey.com article on Feb. 5, which said that the Diocese of Camden had challenged New Jersey’s authority to empanel a special grand jury to lead the sex-abuse inquiry at a secret hearing in May 2023. That inquiry was supposed to end with a comprehensive report documenting individual abusers as well as any broader coverup by the church.
Meanwhile, most other states that followed in Pennsylvania's footsteps with their own inquiries into local dioceses only took two years to complete their reviews. At least 23 other states around the country, including New York, Kentucky, Nebraska, and as of February, Michigan, have conducted their own public reviews into local dioceses.
But this is not the only case looming over New Jersey’s Catholic dioceses, particularly the Archdiocese of Newark. The Setonian previously reported on a series of Politico articles regarding a 2019 report produced by the law firm Latham & Watkins to investigate possible sexual abuse at Seton Hall’s seminaries, including abuse allegations against the now-defrocked former Archbishop of Newark , Theodore McCarrick (in April, McCarrick died at 94). According to Politico, the Latham report—which has not been released publicly—found that Reilly was aware of sexual harassment allegations involving ICS seminarians and did not report such allegations to SHU officials, in violation of the university’s Title IX policies.
https://www.thesetonian.com/article/2025...llegations
The ruling elite in Armenia are increasingly convinced that Catholicos Garegin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, will resign in the near future
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has intensified his public criticism of the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II, accusing him of violating his religious vows—specifically, the vow of celibacy required of high-ranking clergy in the church. Pashinyan’s allegations, disseminated through a series of social media posts, suggest that the Catholicos may have fathered a child after having taken his vow, a serious breach under the canons of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church.
The prime minister’s most recent Facebook post posed a pointed question to the Holy See of Etchmiadzin, the spiritual center of the church, asking what the canonical consequences are when a celibate clergyman allegedly violates this commitment. His messaging implies a demand for accountability and institutional transparency, challenging the traditional silence of the church hierarchy on such matters.
https://caliber.az/en/post/armenian-ruli...esign-soon
Legion of Christ priest arrested in Mexico City airport on rape charge for alleged abuse of a minor
Authorities arrested a Roman Catholic priest at the capital’s international airport on charges of raping of a minor over a period of years, officials said Thursday.
The Mexico state prosecutor’s office said that Rev. Antonio Cabrera, a member of the Legion of Christ religious order, was arrested Wednesday night on a court order for rape.
Authorities cited incidents in 2004, 2007 and 2011, but the investigation only began in December 2024, after the alleged attacks were reported. The abuse allegedly occurred in Naucalpan, a Mexico City suburb. The prosecutor’s office did not say why Cabrera was at the airport.
The Legion of Christ religious order has been involved in sexual abuse scandals before, including those of its late founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, who was later determined to be a serial pedophile.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wir...-122800170
New Jersey Supreme Court decided unanimously on Friday that the state’s attorney general can move forward with a grand jury investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy statewide, originally announced in September 2018.
Seven years ago, then-attorney general Gurbir Grewal said he was forming a task force after a report by a grand jury in Pennsylvania found more than 1,000 victims over 70 years. The PA report also implicated around 300 priests and found evidence of a coverup by church leaders.
The reason behind the court’s delayed decision was suggested by a NorthJersey.com article on Feb. 5, which said that the Diocese of Camden had challenged New Jersey’s authority to empanel a special grand jury to lead the sex-abuse inquiry at a secret hearing in May 2023. That inquiry was supposed to end with a comprehensive report documenting individual abusers as well as any broader coverup by the church.
Meanwhile, most other states that followed in Pennsylvania's footsteps with their own inquiries into local dioceses only took two years to complete their reviews. At least 23 other states around the country, including New York, Kentucky, Nebraska, and as of February, Michigan, have conducted their own public reviews into local dioceses.
But this is not the only case looming over New Jersey’s Catholic dioceses, particularly the Archdiocese of Newark. The Setonian previously reported on a series of Politico articles regarding a 2019 report produced by the law firm Latham & Watkins to investigate possible sexual abuse at Seton Hall’s seminaries, including abuse allegations against the now-defrocked former Archbishop of Newark , Theodore McCarrick (in April, McCarrick died at 94). According to Politico, the Latham report—which has not been released publicly—found that Reilly was aware of sexual harassment allegations involving ICS seminarians and did not report such allegations to SHU officials, in violation of the university’s Title IX policies.
https://www.thesetonian.com/article/2025...llegations
The ruling elite in Armenia are increasingly convinced that Catholicos Garegin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, will resign in the near future
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has intensified his public criticism of the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II, accusing him of violating his religious vows—specifically, the vow of celibacy required of high-ranking clergy in the church. Pashinyan’s allegations, disseminated through a series of social media posts, suggest that the Catholicos may have fathered a child after having taken his vow, a serious breach under the canons of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church.
The prime minister’s most recent Facebook post posed a pointed question to the Holy See of Etchmiadzin, the spiritual center of the church, asking what the canonical consequences are when a celibate clergyman allegedly violates this commitment. His messaging implies a demand for accountability and institutional transparency, challenging the traditional silence of the church hierarchy on such matters.
https://caliber.az/en/post/armenian-ruli...esign-soon
Legion of Christ priest arrested in Mexico City airport on rape charge for alleged abuse of a minor
Authorities arrested a Roman Catholic priest at the capital’s international airport on charges of raping of a minor over a period of years, officials said Thursday.
The Mexico state prosecutor’s office said that Rev. Antonio Cabrera, a member of the Legion of Christ religious order, was arrested Wednesday night on a court order for rape.
Authorities cited incidents in 2004, 2007 and 2011, but the investigation only began in December 2024, after the alleged attacks were reported. The abuse allegedly occurred in Naucalpan, a Mexico City suburb. The prosecutor’s office did not say why Cabrera was at the airport.
The Legion of Christ religious order has been involved in sexual abuse scandals before, including those of its late founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, who was later determined to be a serial pedophile.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wir...-122800170
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
