International

Church charges ceased or resigned in the papacy of Francis for cases of pedophilia

The fight against pedophasty within the Church was one of Francis’ objectives during the twelve years that his papacy lasted, in which there were cemiss and dismissals of members of the ecclesiastical hierarchy involved in these cases.

Among the most prominent are the following:

01.10.2013.- Francis accepts the resignation of Bishop William Lee of Waterford and Lismore (Ireland), after he admitted his ‘inappropriate’ performance in a case of alleged sexual abuse in 1993 committed by a priest of his diocese.

23.09.2014.- Josef Wesolowski, Vatican nuncio in the Dominican Republic between 2008 and 2013, was expelled from the priesthood and his responsibility at the head of the Nunciature after being subjected to a canonical process instructed by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, for his alleged ‘serious acts of child abuse in the Dominican Republic’.

On September 23, 2014, by the will of Pope Francis, the former unnuncio was placed under house arrest inside the Vatican State. Weselowski died on August 28, 2015 in Rome, where he was waiting for the trial to be held.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

09/25/2014.- Francisco replaces Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, bishop of Ciudad del Este (Paraguay), for the defense he made of the Argentine priest Carlos Urrutigoity, suspended for pedophilia in the United States in 2002.

21.04.2015.- Pope Francis accepts the resignation of the bishop of Kansas City-Saint Joseph (USA), Robert W. Finn, three years after being convicted of hiding a possible case of pederasty by a priest from his diocese.

15.06.2015.- The Archbishop of Minneapolis (USA), John Nienstedt, and the assistant bishop Lee Piché resign when a report from the Minnesota Prosecutor’s Office is released that accuses the archdiocese of ignoring and treating inappropriately complaints of cases of pedophilia. The pope accepts his resignation.

29.07.2016.- The bishop of the Irish diocese of Galway and Kilmacduagh, Martin Drennan, resigns, pointed out in a 2009 report on the cover-up of cases of pederasty in the Church of Ireland. The pope accepts the resignation.

29.06.2017.- Francis grants ‘a period of leave’ to Cardinal George Pell, considered number 3 of the Vatican, responsible for the finances of the Catholic Church and maximum representative of the Australian Church, when he was charged by the police of the Australian state of Victoria for alleged crimes of pedophilia.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

Pell was the first high-ranking Roman curia who in December 2018 was found guilty of sexually abusing two minors in the 1990s and sentenced to six years in prison. After spending thirteen months in prison, the sentence was reversed in 2020 and the religious was acquitted in the last appeal. He died in 2023.

18.05.2018.- All the bishops of Chile -34- present their resignation to the pope after several days of meetings with the Pontiff in the Vatican to discuss the serious errors and omissions in the management of cases of sexual abuse, especially those related to that of the bishop of Osorno, Juan Barros, accused of covering up the priest Fernando Karadima, sentenced in 2011 by the Canonical Justice to a life of imprisonment and penance for committing sexual abuse.

11.06.2018.- Pope Francis accepts the resignations of three bishops of Chile: Juan Barros, bishop of Osorno; Gonzalo Duarte García de Cortázar, from Valparaíso, and Cristiano Caro Cordero, from Puerto Montt, for lack of transparency of the Church in the management of cases of sexual abuse of minors.

28.07.2018.- Theodore McCarrick, cardinal and archbishop emeritus of Washington, is removed from his duties on June 20, 2018 after a commission of inquiry determined well-founded and credible accusations of sexual abuse committed by the purpardon when he was a priest in the archdiocese of New York.

30.07.2018.- Francis accepts the resignation of Philip Wilson, archbishop of Adelaide (Australia) after being sentenced to twelve months in prison for covering up a pedophile priest (James Fletcher) during the 1970s. Wilson was acquitted on December 6, 2018 after his appeal against the sentence of twelve months in prison was accepted, then transformed into twelve months of house arrest, of which he must serve six months.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

13.09.2018.- Francis accepts the resignation of Bishop Michael J. Bransfield of the diocese of Wheeling-Charleston (USA), who in 2012 was accused with other clerics from Philadelphia of having sexually abused ten children in the late 70s and early 80s.

21.09.2018.- Pope Francis accepts the resignation of two new bishops of Chile: Carlos Pellegrín Barrera, from San Bartolomé de Chillán, and Cristián Contreras, from San Felipe, also for the scandals of sexual abuse of minors that shaken the Church of the country.

12.10.2018.- The pope accepts the resignation of the archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who presented in September when he was accused of covering up cases of child abuse in the report of the Pennsylvania Prosecutor’s Office (USA).

07.03.2019.- Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon and primate of France since 2002, is sentenced to six months in prison for covering up acts of pederasty in that French diocese.

Barbarin, also sentenced to pay a symbolic compensation of one euro to the eight victims of the priest Bernard Preynat, whom the purpured man kept in charge of a parish in his diocese, presented his resignation to Pope Francis on March 18, 2019, which was rejected by invoking the pontiff ‘the presumption of innocence’. That day, the French prelate temporarily resigned from his position as Archbishop of Lyon.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

23.03.2019.- Pope Francis accepts the resignation of the archbishop of Santiago de Chile, Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, charged in his country for covering up cases of sexual abuse.

04.04.2019.- The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith definitively expels Anthony Sablan Apuron from the position of archbishop of Agaña, on the island of Guam, for sexual abuse of minors.

10/17/2020.- Pope Francis accepts the resignation of the bishop of the diocese of Kalisz (central Poland), Edward Janiak, accused of having covered up cases of pedophilia in the country.

06.11.2020.- The apostolic nunciature of Poland communicates to the retired cardinal, Henryk Gulbinowicz, the prohibition of participating in public celebrations and the use of the bishop’s badge when he is accused of alleged sexual abuse.

29.03.2021.- In Poland, the Archbishop of Gdansk, Slawoj Leszek and the Bishop of Kalisz, Edward Janiak, are prohibited from residing in their respective headquarters and participating in religious celebrations for not reporting sexual abuse of minors.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

The pope grants Stefan HeBe, Archbishop of Cologne (West Germany), the situation of ‘rest’ for alleged evidence of non-compliance with his duty to communicate and clarify alleged sexual abuse on eleven occasions between 1975 and 2018.

06.28.2021.- Polish Bishop Zbigniew Kiernikowski is replaced by the Vatican after an investigation into negligence in relation to sexual abuse in the diocese of Siedle (east).

29.08.2021.- The pope accepts the resignation of Australian Bishop Christopher Alan Saunders, at the head of the diocese of Broome, in which he had been since 1996, when he was investigated for alleged sexual abuse.

07.11.2022.- Jean-Pierre Ricard, cardinal, archbishop emeritus of Bordeaux since 2019, announces his withdrawal from his religious duties by recognizing a ‘reprehensible’ attitude with a 14-year-old girl in the late 1980s.

01.06.2023.- Pope Francis accepts the resignation presented by Bishop Jalandhar Mulakkal, in Punjab (India), who had already been momentarily suspended from his position also at his own request in 2021, due to the complaint filed in 2018 by a nun following alleged and repeated violations that occurred in Kerala between 2014 and 2016.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

The prelate, who was arrested and remained in police custody for weeks before obtaining bail for it, was acquitted of those accusations by an Indian court in 2022 in a scandal that shook India’s Christian opinion.

09.03.2024.- Francisco accepts the resignation of Andrzej Franciszek Dziuba, bishop of the diocese of Lowicz, in Poland, accused of negligence in the management of sexual abuse against minors after several complaints filed with the Holy See.

02.04.2024.- Pope Francis accepts the resignation of José Antonio Eguren Anselmi, Archbishop of Piura, Peru, after accusations of having covered up sexual abuse by Luis Fernando Figari, founder of Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana, the religious congregation intervened in 2018 by the Vatican, after the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office asked for preventive detention for several members and former members of the organization, including Figari.

11.09.2024.- The pope accepts the resignation of Heinz-Günter Bongartz, auxiliary bishop of Hildesheim in Germany, six months before the age limit to remain in office, due to the accusations of families who are victims of abuse of hiding these alleged facts.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

International

Epstein Denies Being ‘the Devil’ in Newly Released Video Interview

Jeffrey Epstein claims he was the least dangerous type of sex offender and denied being “the devil” in a video interview included in the latest batch of documents released over the weekend by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The roughly two-hour interview was conducted by Steve Bannon, a former adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, and appears to have been recorded at the late financier’s New York residence on an unknown date.

Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while in jail awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving minors. Since December, the U.S. government has released millions of documents related to the case under transparency laws.

“Do you think you’re the devil incarnate?” Bannon asks Epstein in the video interview revealed in the latest release.

“No, but I do have a good mirror,” Epstein replies with a smile, wearing a black shirt and glasses. When pressed again, he adds, “I don’t know. Why would you say that?”

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution, also appears to downplay the seriousness of his conviction.

He objects when Bannon refers to him as a “Level Three sexual predator,” a classification in the United States indicating a very serious threat to public safety.

“No, I’m the lowest,” Epstein says.

“But still an offender,” Bannon responds.

“Yes,” Epstein replies.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

The exchange comes after Bannon asks Epstein whether he considers his wealth to be “dirty,” suggesting it was earned by advising “the worst people in the world.”

Epstein insists that he made his money legally, while acknowledging that “ethics is always a complicated issue.”

He claims he donated money to help eradicate polio in Pakistan and India, apparently in an attempt to justify the origins of his fortune.

The documents also show that Bannon maintained regular correspondence with Epstein, who offered to help the far-right political figure spread his conservative ideology in Europe.

Since Trump took office in January 2025, U.S. authorities have released millions of pages related to Epstein, along with photos and videos.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

These materials have shed new light on Epstein’s ties to high-profile business executives such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, celebrities including filmmaker Woody Allen, and academics and political figures, among them Trump and former President Bill Clinton.

International

Hypothermia Linked to Most Deaths During New York’s Recent Cold Spell

Hypothermia “played a role” in 13 of the 16 deaths recorded in New York City during the recent period of extreme cold, Mayor Mandami said at a press conference. Three of the deaths were classified as drug overdoses.

None of the individuals were sleeping on the streets at the time of their deaths, the mayor added, noting that some had previously been in contact with emergency shelter services.

Mandami said the city has activated emergency warming centers and deployed a fleet of 20 vehicles staffed with medical personnel to respond to the cold weather crisis.

“As of this morning, we have made more than 930 referrals to shelters and safe facilities. We have also involuntarily transported 18 New Yorkers who were deemed a danger to themselves or others,” he said.

According to official statistics, New York City recorded between nine and 27 cold-related deaths per year from 2005 to 2021. That number rose to 34 in 2021 and climbed further to 54 in 2022.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

City Comptroller Mark Levine estimated that there are “tens of thousands” of homeless New Yorkers, “most of them families with children.”

He said that “nearly 95%” of the city’s homeless population lives in municipal shelters.

In August 2021, those shelters housed 44,586 people, the “lowest daily population in nearly a decade,” according to official data.

However, the shelter population increased from 22,955 to 62,679 people between January 2000 and January 2020, highlighting the long-term growth of homelessness in the city.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

International

NFL Investigating Emails Linking Giants Executive to Jeffrey Epstein

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on Monday that the league will “examine all the facts” regarding contacts between New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch and Jeffrey Epstein, revealed in documents recently released about the late convicted sex offender.

The batch of files, made public on Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice, includes emails suggesting that Epstein introduced several women to Tisch.

Tisch, a film producer who has never been charged in connection with Epstein, issued a statement last week denying any wrongdoing.

“I had a brief relationship in which we exchanged emails about adult women, and we also discussed film, philanthropy, and investments,” Tisch said of his correspondence with Epstein, which dates back to 2013.

“I did not accept any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all now know, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret having associated with,” he added.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

Speaking at a press conference in San Jose, California, on Monday, Goodell said the NFL would carefully review the details of the ties between Tisch and Epstein.

“We’re going to examine all the facts,” the commissioner said. “We’re going to look at the context of those exchanges, try to understand them, and see how that fits within the league’s policies.”

Tisch, 76, could face disciplinary action under the NFL’s strict personal conduct policy, even if he is not found guilty of a crime.

“We’re going to take this step by step. First, let’s gather all the facts,” Goodell said at the press conference, which was part of the events leading up to Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.