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A Roman Catholic archbishop in Minnesota who had been one of the hierarchy’s most vocal opponents of gay rights is the target of an investigation into allegations that he had a series of sexual relationships with priests, seminarians and other men. The investigation of Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt is being conducted by a prominent Minneapolis law firm hired by the archdiocese after church officials received an allegation against Nienstedt. The archdiocese confirmed the investigation, which was first reported by Commonweal, a Catholic magazine based in New York.... Commonweal’s story cites Jennifer Haselberger, former top canon lawyer for Nienstedt, as...

We've all heard the story. Hundreds of young sexual abuse victims long afraid to come forward for fear of embarrassment and scorn, abusers escaping prosecution and quietly moving to different jurisdictions, authorities covering up the crimes to avoid scandal and litigation. It's a saga of grave, grave sin. Of course, you would assume that I'm talking about the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal. And you would be wrong. I'm describing the situation in America's schools -- something that, although mirroring the problems dogging the Church, is strangely ignored. Let's examine the similarities using statistics from the United States. According to...

1980 Letter from Weakland to Marcoux The following is a transcription of a hand-written letter from Archbishop Rembert Weakland to Paul Marcoux, dated Aug. 25, 1980. A handwriting analyst who reviewed the letter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel concluded it is done in Weakland's handwriting. It was sent inside a card with the following quote: Friendship is the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words. - George Eliot August 25, 1980 Dear Paul, The epigram on the cover is more to stir me on than an expression of where - pro...

April 22, 2002, 8:45 a.m. The Gay Question Amid the Catholic Church’s Current Scandals, an Unignorable Issue. By Rod Dreher, from the April 22, 2002, issue of National Review The first thing to understand about the Catholic Church's pedophilia scandal is that it is not technically a pedophilia scandal. Despite the gruesome example of defrocked Boston priest John Geoghan, whose case started the current tidal wave of revelations, the overwhelming majority of priests who have molested minors are not pedophiles — that is, like Geoghan, among the rare adults sexually attracted to pre-pubescent children. They are, rather, "ephebophiles" — adults...