“The investigation into the Diocese of Grand Rapids did not reveal any allegations of the sexual abuse of a minor regarding priests in active ministry,” the diocese said in its response. “No criminal charges resulted from this investigation.”   

The diocese added:

During the 75-year period in the report, more than 1,000 priests served in our diocese. The report details the reported abuse of 152 victim-survivors by 51 priests.

The sexual misconduct allegations of 14 priests involve adults. While immoral, these actions are not in violation of Michigan law. The Attorney General has not filed criminal charges against any of these priests.

The vast majority of reported abuse cases in our diocese are very old, with most occurring from 1970-1979. The fact that no charges were filed against priests in the Diocese of Grand Rapids and that all alleged conduct involving a minor occurred before 2002 is evidence that our safe environment programs are working.

“I am following with deep concern the resumption of fighting in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Pope Leo said following his Sunday Angelus address. “While expressing my closeness to the people, I urge the parties in the conflict to cease all forms of violence and to seek constructive dialogue, respecting the ongoing peace process.”

“The visions of Bohm and other holistic scientists are not in contradiction with the Christian faith; on the contrary, they find in Christian theology their most complete and profound explanation,” said Bishop Antonio Staglianò, in an article in yesterday’s edition of the Vatican newspaper.

The prelate explained:

Quantum physics shows us the “how” of the extraordinary interconnectedness of being. Christianity reveals to us the “who” and the “why”: everything is united because everything is created and redeemed In Him, the One, and in Him alone we find our true identity of being One.

Reflecting on the first reading of the Gaudete Sunday Mass, Cardinal Parolin preached that “the Lord comes and visits us in our existential deserts: He does not make the problems disappear, but helps us to face them together with Him. And it happens as when the steppe suddenly blossoms!”

Hanukkah, which “commemorates an event in salvation history cherished by Catholics as well as Jews, proclaims the truth that light endures, even when darkness seems overwhelming,” Archbishop Coakley said in his letter, released yesterday. “I wish the Jewish community to know that the Catholic community stands with them in sorrow and in resolve, committed to friendship that does not waver when fear threatens to paralyze us.”

Addressing actors of the living Nativity scene of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, Pope Leo added, “Spread this message and keep this tradition alive. They are a gift of light for our world, which so badly needs to be able to continue to hope.”

Pope Leo also spoke of “the urgent need for theoretical and practical knowledge of the divine law,” gained “above all through reading the Holy Scriptures, meditating in the silence of deep prayer, reverently welcoming the voice of legitimate pastors, and attentively studying the many treasures of wisdom offered to us by the Church.”

“In the midst of joys and difficulties, our motto must be: if Christ went through this, it is also our duty to live what He lived,” the Pope added. “We must not be driven by applause because its echo is short-lived; nor is it healthy to dwell only on the memory of days of crisis or times of bitter disappointment.”

Pope Leo XIV has twice paid tribute to music in recent days.