Pope speaks: We need to “do penance” for our “sins”Pope Benedict XVI has ended his silence on the sex-abuse scandals engulfing the Catholic Church, saying that the Church had avoided using the word “penance” but it was now obvious that was needed.
Catholic Church
exposed 
How predator priests were hidden around the world
An extensive investigation by the Associated Press has found 30 cases of Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse being transferred or moved overseas by the Church, evading police and often reoffending.
PHOTO GALLERY: Creepy Pope pictures
Yes, serious scandals are unfolding down at St Peter’s Basilica, but perhaps it’s no surprise judging on this terrifying gallery of Pope Benedict XVI looking evil and battling his flying cape.
PHOTO GALLERY: Feel the Catholic guilt
The Catholic Church is playing the blame game, accusing anyone and everyone it can for the horrible paedophilia scandals engulfing the church. Salon wraps the list of culprits, from the gays to the NY Times.
exposed The signed letter that damns the Pope
The Associated Press has its hands on a smoking gun on the Pope: a signed letter from 1985 that shows he delayed the defrocking of a pedophile priest for “the good of the universal church”.
Dawkins and Hitchens: Arrest the Pope
Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens are leading a campaign to have the Pope arrested for “crimes against humanity” during his visit to the UK this week.
Is Abbott leading a Catholic revolution in the Liberal Party?
The ALP was once the party for Catholics, but they have since switched allegiances to the Liberals. Has it shaped the party’s policies? And is Tony Abbott really representing their views? asks John Warhurst.
Hitchens: The Pope is not mightier than the law
Christopher Hitchens rips into the Catholic Church, particularly Pope Benedict XVI’s personal knowledge of paedophile priests. These criminals — including the Pope — deserve punishment not protection.
Dowd: We need a female Pope
The Catholic church needs to dump Ratzinger, allow priests to marry, and put a nun in charge if it’s to have any chance of cleaning up the big mess it’s gotten itself into, says Maureen Dowd.
Church abuse victims have been trying to speak for 50 years
Church documents reveal that the deaf boys sexually abused by a Catholic priest in America have been trying to tell the church and local authorities about it since the ’50s — but no one listened.
Catholic Reporter: What did the Pope know, and when did he know it?
American Catholic paper the National Catholic Reporter says the Pope has some ‘splainin to do over charges of sexual abuse within the church, labelling it the “largest institutional crisis in centuries”. Can you excommunicate a newspaper?
Sullivan: The Pope must resign
Atlantic columnist and Catholic Andrew Sullivan says the Catholic Church will have to undergo a “wrenching transformation” if it’s going to survive its recent scandals: the Pope must quit, and priests must be allowed to shag.
Sinead O’Conner: How I was abused by the Catholic Church
In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Irish songstress Sinead O’Conner recounts the horror of her childhood years spent in one of the infamous church-run “Magdalene laundries”.
Guy Rundle: 
Catholic collapse started long before the kiddie-fiddling
Recent revelations of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church are hardly the institution’s first catastrophic moral collapse, says Guy Rundle: its accommodation of the Holocaust was the end of its real existence.
Why the Pope should resign
To address the latest sex scandals involving paedophilia and sexual abuse by priests in Ireland, Pope Benedict XVI has penned a letter to the Irish faithful. But did the Pope know that priests were being protected from their crimes?
The sex scandals destroying the Vatican
New sex scandals involving priests, abuse, cover-ups and gay prostitutions rings has struck the Catholic Church in Europe, and the culture of silence and suppression is causing the Church to crumble, writes James Carroll.
Mungo MacCallum: Captain Catholic’s moral stance now par for the (once) coarse
Tony Abbott’s interview with the Women’s Weekly has confirmed the worst fears of moderates both inside and outside the Liberal Party: Captain Catholic is back in charge
The OTHER miracles of Mary MacKillop, as told to Walter Slurry
Mary MacKillop has been granted Sainthood for performing two miracles … but what about the other miracles she is alleged to have performed? Walter Slurry takes a look at her lesser know saintly acts.
PETA’s latest controversy-baiting campaign: nudity and Christianity
PETA’s new ad campaign has offended someone. It must be Friday. This time, it’s an ad featuring a naked woman with a halo holding a crucifix, with the tag: “Be an angel for animals”. The Catholic Church is not amused.
Bishop bans Kennedy from Communion
He may come from one of America’s most famous Catholic families, but Democratic Rep Patrick Kennedy has been banned from receiving Communion over his support of abortion rights.
The Vatican discovers LOLcats, Rick Astley and hax0rz
Ambassadors from the Web 2.0 — aka execs from Google, Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia — are headed to the Vatican to introduce Catholic bishops to the mysterious ways of the internet. We think the Pope and his pals will fit riiiight in.
Video of the Day: Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry vs. The Catholics
Is the Catholic church a force for good in the world? On the affirmative, Archbishop John Onaiyekan and British MP Ann Widdencombe. On the negative, Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry. Let’s get it on!
Blair’s mission from God rings hollow
Former British PM Tony Blair continued his Mission from God last week with a star-billing at a conference at the Vatican. Too bad his actions in office don’t coincide with his Catholic principles.
