Roman Catholic Church – World Justice News

Australian Bishop charged with rape

February 22, 2024 World Justice News 0

Australian bishop Christopher Saunders has been charged with rape and a string of historical sex offences – some against children. The 74-year-old was arrested in Broome on Wednesday, after parallel investigations ordered by Western Australia […]

Ecuador becomes second Latin American state to decriminalise euthanasia

February 11, 2024 World Justice News 0

Ecuador has become the second country in Latin America after Colombia to decriminalise euthanasia. Its constitutional court voted seven to two in favour of allowing doctors to help a patient die. The court said the […]

Vatican’s Cardinal Becciu on trial in $412m fraud case

July 27, 2021 World Justice News 0

A Roman Catholic cardinal who was once a close ally of Pope Francis is going on trial in the Vatican, accused of misusing Church funds in a ruinous London property venture. Cardinal Angelo Becciu, 73, […]

Vatican arrest man over luxury property deal

June 7, 2020 World Justice News 0

An Italian businessman who helped the Vatican to buy luxury property in London in a controversial deal has been arrested by Vatican police. Gianluigi Torzi is accused of extortion, embezzlement, aggravated fraud and money laundering […]

George Pell: Court quashes cardinal’s sexual abuse convictions

April 6, 2020 World Justice News 0

Cardinal George Pell will be freed from jail after Australia’s highest court overturned his convictions for child sexual abuse. The ex-Vatican treasurer, 78, had been the most senior Catholic figure ever jailed for such crimes. […]

Church sexual abuse: Trial of French priest Bernard Preynat set to begin

January 14, 2020 World Justice News 0

The trial of a former French priest accused of sexually abusing dozens of Boy Scouts in the 1980s and 1990s is set to begin in France on Tuesday. Bernard Preynat, 74, is alleged to have […]

Pope scraps pontifical secrecy rule over sex abuse

December 17, 2019 World Justice News 0

Pope Francis has made changes to the way the Roman Catholic Church deals with cases of sexual abuses of minors, by abolishing the rule of “pontifical secrecy”. New papal documents lift the obligation of silence […]

Phillipe Barbarin: French cardinal guilty of abuse cover-up

March 7, 2019 World Justice News 0

France’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, the cardinal Philippe Barbarin, has been given a six-month suspended sentence for his role in covering up the sexual abuse of minors. Barbarin was found guilty of failing to […]

US former cardinal McCarrick defrocked over abuse allegations

February 16, 2019 World Justice News 0

A former Roman Catholic cardinal has been defrocked after historic sexual abuse allegations. Theodore McCarrick is the most high-profile Catholic figure to be dismissed from the priesthood in modern times. US Church officials said allegations […]

Cardinal Pell ordered to stand trial on sexual assault charges

May 1, 2018 World Justice News 0

Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell will stand trial on historical sexual assault charges, a court has ruled. Cardinal Pell formally pleaded not guilty to the charges on Tuesday. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing. An […]

Human Rights

Self-styled ‘king of Germany’ goes on trial accused of heading criminal group

November 8, 2026 0

A self-declared “king” of Germany has gone on trial in Düsseldorf accused of leading a criminal organisation along with three other men described as his senior “subjects”. Peter Fitzek, 61, who calls himself Peter the […]

Human Rights

Kenyan doomsday cult leader Paul Mackenzie given life sentence for murdering 191 people

November 6, 2026 0

A Kenyan court has sentenced the leader of a doomsday cult, Paul Mackenzie, to 200 years in prison for murdering 191 people, all but one of them children. Alongside 28 others, Mackenzie was found guilty […]

Human Rights

All 548 death row inmates in California to have sentences changed to life in prison

November 6, 2026 0

Governor Gavin Newsom said he’ll commute all death sentences in the state to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He made the announcement as he prepares to leave office after eight years in […]