The University of Pittsburgh's Daily Student Newspaper

The Pitt News
The University of Pittsburgh's Daily Student Newspaper

The Pitt News
The University of Pittsburgh's Daily Student Newspaper

The Pitt News
Opinion | Pope Francis’ endorsement of same-sex civil unions is a huge win for queer Catholics

Opinion | Pope Francis’ endorsement of same-sex civil unions is a huge win for queer Catholics

By Julia Kreutzer, Senior Staff Columnist • October 26, 2020
Pope Francis’ call to ensure LGBTQ+ individuals are “legally covered” by civil union laws is a tangible, meaningful gesture.
The Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee listened to testimony during a daylong hearing discussion legislation to reform the statute of limitations on sexual abuse criminal and civil claims.

Opinion | Justice shouldn’t have an expiration date

By Grace McGinness, Staff Columnist • October 9, 2019
Pennsylvania needs to eliminate statutes of limitations by passing Bill 540 and finally rectifying the harmful effects of this law.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a civil suit against the state’s singular Roman Catholic diocese and a retired top bishop on Tuesday.

Editorial: West Virginia gets creative holding Church accountable for abuse

By The Pitt News Editorial Board • March 20, 2019
The state’s solution to these legal impediments might help in the effort to hold accountable those who enabled the abuse to happen.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, center, speaks on the findings of the grand jury report on child sexual abuse in six Catholic dioceses at the State Capitol, with 16 victims or family members of victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests seated on stage with him on Aug. 14.

Editorial | Ruling protecting priest anonymity unfair to victims

By The Pitt News Editorial Board • December 6, 2018
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court voted 6-1 to keep those 11 priests anonymous. But the decision is only a victory for serial sexual abusers and self-interested church officials.
Seated on the stage with 14 other sexual abuse victims during a news conference on the findings of the Grand Jury Report on Child Sexual Abuse in six Catholic Dioceses in Pennsylvania at the State Capital on Aug. 14, two members of the Fortney family console each other as Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro describes the abuse their family suffered at the hands of Father Gus Giella.

Editorial: Pa. response to church abuse insufficient

By The Pitt News Editorial Board • October 19, 2018
The Pennsylvania Senate had a chance to show its support for victims in the form of a bill that would allow victims of church abuse to seek justice, but in an underwhelming display of concern it declined to vote on the bill on the last voting day in legislative season.
Saint Paul's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue is a part of the Pittsburgh Diocese, which was implicated in the Pennsylvania Diocese Victims Report alongside five other Pennsylvania diocese. (Photo by Thomas Yang | Assistant Visual Editor)

Catholics respond to Pittsburgh diocese scandal

By Mario Cattabiani III, Staff Writer • September 12, 2018
At nearly 900 pages, a sweeping report identified some 300 priests accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 children over the past seven decades in six dioceses across Pennsylvania.
Ronald Gainer, a bishop at Harrisburg’s Cathedral Church of Saint Patrick, will hold a Service of Repentance after he was named in the Pennsylvania grand jury report on sexual abuse. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

Catholic Church bears collective responsibility for sex crimes

By Neena Hagen, Assistant Opinions Editor • August 27, 2018
For decades, the Catholic Church has been hammered with sexual abuse allegations in countless dioceses across the globe — and just last week, six Pennsylvania dioceses joined that list in dramatic fashion.
On August 19, 2018, Pope Francis delivers Angelus prayer at St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. (Evandro Inetti/Zuma Press/TNS)

Former Vatican envoy accuses Pope of hiding sexual abuse allegations

By Tracy Wilkinson and Simon Roughneen | Los Angeles Times • August 26, 2018
The former envoy's 11-page broadside rocked the Roman Catholic world as Pope Francis finished a two-day visit to Ireland.
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