Free Republic

As he prepares to be deposed in San Francisco next week, former S.F. Archbishop William Levada may have to come clean about a priestly child molester he protected in Portland. By Ron Russell In April 2004, when questioned under oath by lawyers for victims sexually abused by priests, San Francisco's former archbishop, William J. Levada, was asked about Father Joseph Baccellieri, a parish priest accused of child molestation whom Levada removed from ministry in 1992 while archbishop of Portland. Levada restored Baccellieri to his post two years later. "I believe there was some allegation that occurred while I was there,"...

The Vatican's much anticipated Instruction on homosexuality and candidates for the priesthood is unfortunate both in its timing and its contents. It comes ahead of a series of "visitations" by Vatican officials early next year to seminaries in the United States. The purpose is to find out how young men, both gay and straight, are being prepared for the priesthood. Is it true, as some critics have alleged, that some seminaries tolerate "lavender networks" among their students, in total opposition to the spirit and purpose of priestly formation? I'd like to know the answer to that and to a lot...

Vatican, Dec. 30 (CWNews.com) - The following is a corrected version of a story that appeared on CWNews.com earlier this week, in which a crucial error in translation caused a serious misinterpretation of the news. CWNews apologizes for the error. Vatican, Dec. 28 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican newspaper has denounced a decision by Sri Lanka to reject emergency aid offered by the Israeli government. Sri Lanka declined the Israeli aid because it would have been furnished by a military team. Calling for "a radical and dramatic change of perspective" among people "too often preoccupied with making war," L'Osservatore Romano chastised...