MILWAUKEE - (AP) A federal U.S. judge is asking the Vatican to cooperate in serving the Pope and two other top officials with court papers that stem from decades-old allegations of sexual abuse by a priest in Wisconsin. The request is an incremental and... Read More

MILWAUKEE – (AP) A lawsuit from the U.S. aims to place blame for priest sexual abuse at the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church by claiming the Vatican controls leadership, fundraising and doctrine down to the lowest levels. The lawsuit... Read More

PORTLAND, Ore. - (AP) A jury on Friday ordered the Boy Scouts of America to pay $18.5 million to a man sexually abused by a former assistant Scoutmaster in what is believed to be the largest such award against the national organization. Lawyers for... Read More

PORTLAND, Ore. – (AP) A Boy Scouts of America executive on Wednesday told a jury considering whether to award $25 million in punitive damages in a sex abuse lawsuit that a prevention program was developed in the 1980s, although it still is not mandatory... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO - (AP) A man who claimed he was sexually abused as a child by an Irish priest filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa the second such suit alleging the church knew the priest faced abuse charges in Ireland... Read More

PORTLAND, Ore. - (AP) A $29 million sex abuse lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America is in the hands of a jury after a lawyer for the victim closed the case by arguing the Scouts failed to act when they knew they had a serious problem. In closing... Read More

CHICAGO - (AP) A lawyer says he's suing the Vatican on behalf of a woman whose son was sexually abused by a Chicago priest in an effort to hold the Holy See responsible for covering up abuse. Attorney Jeff Anderson says the Vatican engaged in a criminal... Read More

LOS ANGELES - (AP) The Franciscans have asked California's high court to review an appeals court decision ordering them to make public the confidential files of friars accused of sex abuse. Brian Brosnahan, an attorney for the Franciscans, says the... Read More

PITTSBURGH - (AP) The mother of a teenager allegedly molested in school by her math teacher sued the school district, accusing it of turning a blind eye to the abuse and failing to train its staff in the wake of other sex-abuse cases. The woman filed... Read More

MONTPELIER, Vt. – (AP) Dozens of former altar boys who sued Vermont's Catholic church over allegations of sexual abuse by priests 30 years ago will share in a nearly $18 million settlement of their cases. The attorney for the 26 plaintiffs and... Read More

ST. PAUL, Minn. – (AP) An attorney says he is filing a federal lawsuit that accuses Pope Benedict XVI and senior Vatican officials of failing to defrock a Wisconsin priest despite allegations he molested at least 200 deaf children from 1950 to 1975... Read More

PHILADELPHIA — (AP) A civil lawsuit filed Monday against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia by a man who said two priests had sexually abused him as a child may signal a new era in church-abuse litigation in Pennsylvania. The Roman Catholic archdiocese... Read More

LOS ANGELES – (AP) A Mexican citizen filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Tuesday accusing Roman Catholic cardinals in Mexico City and Los Angeles of conspiring to shelter a Mexican pedophile priest in both countries. The lawsuit... Read More

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - (AP) A Pennsylvania couple secretly videotaped a Roman Catholic priest having sex with their 18-year-old daughter in the basement of their home and are now suing, saying he got her pregnant. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Berks County... Read More

VATICAN CITY – (AP) Two Wisconsin bishops urged the Vatican office led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, to let them conduct a church trial against a priest accused of molesting some 200 deaf boys, but the Vatican ordered the... Read More