Read “What Caused the Crisis? Key findings of the John Jay College Study on clergy sexual abuse,” a story in the June 6, 2011, edition of America magazine by Kathleen McChesney, who was the first executive director of the Office for Child and Youth Protection of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Read a June 7, 2011, blog post at America magazine’s website titled “The European clerical abuse crisis, one year later,” by the British Catholic journalist Austen Ivereigh.

Read a June 20, 2011, Catholic News Service story, “Vatican official: Sexual abuse of minors requires strong response,” about a February 2012 Vatican symposium to be held to help church officials combat clergy abuse of children.

Read the Philadelphia grand jury findings and accompanying report after the case of a Philadelphia clergyman’s sexual misconduct . The archdiocese hired a former sex crimes prosecutor to review the personnel files of all the priests named in the grand jury’s report, and in March 2011 the archdiocese placed 21 priests on administrative leave pending a final report.

Read National Catholic Reporter coverage from May 23, 2011, of the case of the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, the priest of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph who was arrested on child pornography charges.

See a copy of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People that was revised in 2011.

A “circular letter” from the Vatican to all bishops conferences around the world was released May 16, 2011, and presents guidelines for bishops in developing policies on dealing with clergy who molest children. The Vatican also released a summary of the circular letter and a note from American Cardinal William Levada, head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the […]

Read a copy of the John Jay College report, titled “The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010.” The report’s analysis received a great deal of criticism from all sides and continues to generate debate. The report also called on the bishops to develop further uniform and transparent […]

Read a March 1, 2012, article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about a study that suggested changes to Missouri’s system of capital punishment.