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ST. PAUL, MN (AP) -- Relatives of a slain funeral home director are objecting to the use of his name for a group trying to fight homosexuality in the Roman Catholic Church. Dr. David Pence, a longtime critic of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, recently formed the Dan O'Connell Society to fight what he considers a "gay culture" in the church. But relatives of O'Connell, who was killed in 2002, allegedly by Wisconsin priest Ryan Erickson, are threatening legal action unless Pence stops using O'Connell's name. The goal of Pence's group, according to its founding documents and Web...

Equipped with gummy bears, lubricant and gay porn, a defrocked Pennsylvania priest was ready for sex with a boy but instead got busted by an undercover cop, police said. Thomas Bender, 72, of Macungie, Pa., was arraigned yesterday in First District Court in Hempstead on five counts of first-degree disseminating indecent material to a minor and one count of attempting to commit a criminal sexual act. Since September 2004, cops said, he engaged in online conversations with a detective who was posing as a teenager. "During that year, he was grooming the boy - or who he thought was a...

A former vice chancellor of the Boston Archdiocese and six other priests accused of molesting children have been defrocked by the Vatican, church officials announced Friday.In a statement, Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley expressed his "deepest sorrow for the grievous harm" done by Monsignor Frederick Ryan and the other Boston priests."The violations of childhood innocence, under the guise of priestly care, are a source of profound shame," O'Malley said.Ryan was one of the highest-ranking church officials to be accused of child molestation since the Boston sex scandal broke in 2002. He resigned that year after being accused of abusing two boys...

ROME (CNS) -- Cardinal-designate William J. Levada said a priest who publicly announces he is homosexual makes it difficult for people to see the priest as representing Christ, the bridegroom of his bride, the church. A public declaration of homosexuality places a priest "at odds with the spousal character of love as revealed by God and imaged in humanity," said the U.S. cardinal-designate, who is prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Cardinal-designate Levada made his remarks during a Feb. 26 homily as he presided over a Mass for the installation of the new rector of Rome's...

How weird it is that I, a layman, had to debate a Catholic bishop on the issue of the problem of homosexuality in the priesthood. It's weird because I was defending the Catholic Church's perennial teaching about this issue and Bishop Gumbleton was taking the position that their being homosexuals in the priesthood is not a problem. It was a brief debate, all of 20 minutes ... but it was enough time to see the two massively different approaches to this issue that Bishop Gumbleton and I took. What are your thoughts? Listen to the show here... [with link to...

Who knows whether Cardinal Edward Egan is sleeping soundly these days. But as head of the New York archdiocese—as the top Roman Catholic prelate in the state—he'd have every reason to be restless after the recent advent of a little-noticed lawsuit. The suit, now pending in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, was filed on December 13 by Bob Hoatson—a 53-year-old New Jersey priest considered a stalwart ally among survivors of sexual abuse by clergy. Hoatson, the now-suspended chaplain for Catholic Charities in Newark, is suing Egan and nine other Catholic officials and institutions, claiming a pattern of "retaliation and harassment"...

February 10, 2006 - Chicago's Francis Cardinal George sent a letter containing an ultimatum to priests. Seemingly stunned by the ongoing issue of priest sex abuse, the cardinal has called for any priest living a double life to come forward for the good of the church. Francis Cardinal George is tending to his wounded flock, dispatching a letter to more than 400 churches across the Archdiocese. In his letter to priests the Cardinal writes: "All of us are sinners, but there are types of perversion that are completely incompatible with the calling toward ordained priesthood." The cardinal apologizes for not...

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - A jury rejected an insanity defense and found prison inmate Joseph Druce guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder in the strangulation of pedophile priest John Geoghan, a central figure in Boston's clergy sex abuse scandal. Druce admitted sneaking into Geoghan's prison cell in August 2003. He jammed the door shut with a book, then beat and strangled the 68-year-old before guards could stop him. The defense had argued that Druce was mentally ill and under the delusion that God had chosen him to kill Geoghan and send a message to pedophiles around the world. Prosecutor Lawrence Murphy...

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - The inmate who strangled child-molesting priest John Geoghan behind bars testified Monday that he resolved to kill the clergyman after Geoghan arrogantly brushed off criticism that he had "destroyed all kinds of lives." Joseph Druce took the stand for a second day at his trial for killing Geoghan, who was serving time for groping a 10-year-old boy and had been accused of molesting 150 other children. Druce, 40, said that in the weeks before the slaying, he twice confronted Geoghan about molesting children. Instead of denying the accusations, Geoghan was "arrogant" and said he was worth...

CHICAGO, January 19, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an annual interview with Chicago Sun Times reporter Cathleen Falsani, Chicago Cardinal Francis George revealed that last year the United States Bishops visiting with the Pope asked the Vatican to delay release of the long-awaited document on homosexuality and the priesthood. The document entitled, "Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders", reinforced Church teaching barring men "who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture'", from becoming priests....

Breaking ranks with his peers, a Roman Catholic bishop called yesterday for state legislatures to temporarily remove the time limits that have prevented many victims of sex abuse from suing the church.In making that extraordinary appeal, Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit also unburdened himself of a secret. As a teenager 60 years ago, he said, he was "inappropriately touched" by a priest.Gumbleton, 75, is the first U.S. bishop to disclose that he was a victim of clergy sexual abuse. He is also the first to endorse proposals in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and other states to follow California's example...

San Francisco -- Former Archbishop William Levada was expected to answer questions from lawyers Monday about how the Portland diocese handled priest sex abuse cases during his tenure there. Levada was served with a subpoena Aug. 10, right before he left for Rome to take over as prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the position formerly held by Pope Benedict XVI. It's the highest Vatican post ever held by an American. Levada served as archbishop in Portland from 1986 to 1995 before transferring to San Francisco. In 2004, Portland became the first Catholic diocese in...

MARATHON, ON, January 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The pastor of Holy Saviour Catholic parish in Marathon, Ontario, Rev. Scott Gale, announced to his parishioners during Masses on New Years day that he is a homosexual and can no longer stand the Church's requirement that he remain celibate. Citing his "longing for a loving relationship," Gale told his parishioners that he was quitting. "It has become increasingly difficult for me to be an official representative of a Church which does not accept and value my sexual orientation," he said reading from a 2 page letter. Strangely, Fr. Gale has remained in...

THIBODAUX, La. (AP) - Deciding he had to practice the honesty he preached, a popular priest has told his family, his bishop and the people in his parish that he is gay. The Rev. Jim Morrison said he had been working since October on the letter which he sent early this month to 300 members of the congregation at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and 200 members of the student ministry. He mailed the letter and handed his bishop a copy on Jan. 2, about a month after the Vatican released a policy statement saying people with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies...

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,"...

As Rev. Scott Gale strode through Marathon’s Holy Saviour church Thursday morning, a parishioner sitting in a pew caught his eye and said quietly, “See you on Sunday.” Sundays are typically busy for the outspoken Gale. But the day after tomorrow will be different — likely the last time the veteran cleric will address a congregation as an active priest. Gale, 47, resigned last month after revealing he is gay, and that he is no longer able to commit to being celibate. Most of Holy Saviour’s parishioners learned of Gale’s decision to pursue his “longing for a loving relationship” as...

"At Work in the Vineyard -- Planting, Nurturing, Harvesting" was the theme of this year's conference of the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries, held September 22-25. Participants of the conference, held at the San Jose Hilton, were "out and proud,"with priests admitting their homosexuality and attendees railing against upcoming seminary visits and the approval by Pope Benedict XVI of a document that, some reports have said, would ban homosexuals from the priesthood. San Jose' s Bishop Patrick McGrath gave a welcoming speech on the opening night of the conference. Although the Hilton ballroom was set up...

1. The recent instruction regarding the ordination of homosexuals took, by various accounts, anywhere from five to eight years to write. I realize that things move slowly in Rome, but this may mark a new record in time inefficiently spent. The instruction was not long, it broke no new ground, and it contained no theological obscurities that necessitated long periods of high-level head scratching. It could have been written in a single afternoon. Perhaps it was, after which it was shuffled from one desk to another--for years. If in that time it was seen by many competent eyes, I wonder...

"At Work in the Vineyard -- Planting, Nurturing, Harvesting" was the theme of this year's conference of the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries...Participants ...were "out and proud," with priests admitting their homosexuality and attendees railing against upcoming seminary visits... San Jose' s Bishop Patrick McGrath gave a welcoming speech on the opening night of the conference.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A priest accused of sexually abusing boys more than two decades ago has been dismissed from the priesthood, the Catholic Diocese of Juneau said Sunday. The dismissal of Michael Patrick Nash stems from an investigation that began in late 2002, when a former Juneau resident claimed that he had been abused by Nash in the early 1980s."I am relieved we are coming to a sense of resolution and some conclusion to what all around has been a tragic affair," Bishop Michael Warfel said Sunday.The diocese decided that Joel Post, who now lives in Duluth, Minn., had "suffered...