Priest

NEWTON - Dan Kennedy will graduate from Boston College on Monday, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and the recipient of the school's most prestigious prize, the Edward H. Finnegan Award. Winners of the Finnegan, given to the student who best exemplifies the BC motto, "ever to excel," tend to go big - top grad schools, Wall Street, overseas fellowships. Kennedy is planning to give away his computer, recycle his Blackberry, and move to a modest communal house in St. Paul, Minn.

PHILADELPHIA - A Roman Catholic church official conceded that a 1994 list he compiled of 35 priests suspected of sexually abusing children in the Philadelphia archdiocese included some "pretty sick individuals. " Monsignor William Lynn took the stand in his own defense Wednesday in a groundbreaking child-endangerment and conspiracy case. Prosecutors blame Lynn for helping keep those priests and many more in ministry, where they had access to countless children. Lynn, 61, is the first Roman Catholic church official in the United States charged with a crime for his handling of...

In 1968, when he was 11 years old, Michael Mack was molested by his parish priest in North Carolina, he says, and his experience changed him in ways that took years to reveal themselves. In 2002, when a series of Globe articles focused attention on the clergy abuse scandal in the Catholic church, poet and performer Mack began to talk seriously with friends about finding the priest. And finally, in 2005, the Cambridge resident plugged the priest's name into Google. "Amazingly, my abuser was not only still alive, but he was living very nearby," says Mack, 55....

VATICAN CITY - The Legion of Christ religious order, already discredited for having covered up the crimes of its pedophile founder, suffered another blow to its credibility after its superior admitted Tuesday that he knew in 2005 that his most prominent priest had broken his vows of celibacy and fathered a child, yet did nothing to prevent him from teaching and preaching about morality. The admission by the Rev. Alvaro Corcuera is likely to enrage members of the Legion and its lay branch who have endured years of apologies, hypocrisy, and explanations for the crimes of the order's...

ST. PAUL - An attorney for a man who claims he was sexually abused by an Oregon priest in the 1960s said yesterday that the Vatican failed to produce all court-ordered documents in the case, and that papers it did turn over show how the Vatican exercises firm control over the placement and removal of offending priests. Both claims were quickly disputed by a church lawyer who said the Vatican gave Minnesota-based attorney Jeffrey Anderson all its documents pertaining to the late Rev. Andrew Ronan.

The Legion of Christ religious order, still reeling from revelations that its late founder was a pedophile, admitted Wednesday that it knew that its most famous priest had fathered a child years ago yet didn't remove him from teaching morality to seminarians or speaking publicly about ethics. In a statement, the Legion said it was sorry it hadn't acted "earlier and more firmly" to remove the Rev. Thomas Williams from his very public ministry as a spokesman, author and high-profile television personality.

Four years ago, a methodical search for a new place of worship led a group of gay Roman Catholics to the Rev. John Unni, the youthful priest at St. Cecilia’s Church. The search committee was blunt: Would the priest accept an influx of gay and lesbian parishioners? “He told us, ‘All are welcome,’ ’’ said John Kelly, now head of the St. Cecilia Rainbow Ministry. Kelly and other parishioners credit Unni with managing the merger of the predominantly gay congregation from the Jesuit Urban Center, which closed in 2007, and with keeping gays and lesbians in...

A Billerica priest has resigned after allowing a church volunteer - a former priest accused of sexually abusing a girl in the 1970s - chaperone teenagers on a trip to upstate New York last year, according to a statement by the Archdiocese of Boston and court documents. The Rev. Eugene Tully will be reassigned to a new parish after ministering at the St. Theresa of Lisieux Parish in Billerica for 19 years, according to the archdiocese, which delivered a message announcing the move during Mass this weekend.

WARSAW — Thousands of Poles filled a vast sunbathed square in Warsaw yesterday for the beatification of Jerzy Popieluszko, a charismatic priest tortured and killed in 1984 by communist Poland’s secret police for supporting Lech Walesa’s Solidarity freedom movement. The head of the Vatican’s saint-making office, Archbishop Angelo Amato, presided over the Mass at Pilsudski Square that was also celebrated by 120 bishops and 1,600 priests. Popieluszko’s 90-year-old mother, Marianna, his sister and brothers, and Walesa were among some 140,000 attending.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has placed Plymouth priest on leave pending an investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse that dates to the early 1980s. Church officials said Sunday the allegations against the Rev. James Braley, pastor of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha parish have been reported to law enforcement authorities. While on leave, the 62-year-old Braley is not allowed to present himself as a priest or perform any of the duties of a priest. He is also not allowed to live at the rectory.

The head of the embattled Legion of Christ religious order admitted Tuesday to covering up news that his most prominent priest had fathered a child and announced a review of all past allegations of sexual abuse against Legion priests amid a growing scandal at the order. The Rev. Alvaro Corcuera wrote a letter to all Legion members in which he admitted he knew before he became superior in 2005 that the Rev. Thomas Williams, a well-known American television personality, author and moral theologian, had fathered a child.

VATICAN CITY - The Legion of Christ religious order was hit Tuesday by its second scandal in a week after its most well-known priest - a prominent author, lecturer, and television personality - admitted he had fathered a child. The Rev. Thomas Williams, an American moral theologian, said in a statement he was "deeply sorry for this grave transgression" against his vows of celibacy and that he would take a year off to reflect on what he had done and his commitment to the priesthood.

The operator of a Jamaica Plain day care center is in court today to face charges she allegedly threatened a priest and tried to run down parishioners in a dispute over access to a church parking lot, Boston Police said. Linda Chery-Valentin is scheduled to be arraigned in West Roxbury Municipal Court today on a single count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, her car, according to Boston Police and Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley's office. According to police, Chery-Valentin became enraged with parishioners at the Our Lady of the Cedars Lebanon Church on May 6...

An outspoken priest who runs a shelter for migrants in southern Mexico has temporarily left his facility after receiving death threats, the shelter coordinator said Monday. The "Hermanos en el Camino" shelter run by the Rev. Alejandro Solalinde said in a statement that the Roman Catholic priest is "protecting his physical safety" until state and federal prosecutors thoroughly investigate the threats. The shelter said Solalinde is expected to return to his work, but didn't say when.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican is investigating seven priests from the troubled Legion of Christ religious order for alleged sexual abuse of minors and another two for other alleged crimes, The Associated Press has learned. The investigations mark the first known Vatican action against Legion priests for alleged sexual assault following the scandal of the Legion's founder, who was long held up as a model by the Vatican despite credible accusations - later proven - that he raped and molested his seminarians.

PHILADELPHIA - Five priests will be permanently barred from ministry after the Philadelphia archdiocese substantiated allegations of sexual abuse or inappropriate conduct, a Roman Catholic archbishop said Friday. Three other suspended priests will return to ministry, and another died during the investigation, Archbishop Charles Chaput said. Another 17 cases remain under review, he said. "When a child is harmed, the church has failed. When trust is lost, the church has failed.

Jean-Pierre Melville’s movies weren’t as flashy or playfully obstinate as Jean-Luc Godard’s or as exuberant as Francois Truffaut’s. But thanks to Rialto Pictures, he’s been returned to moviegoers, first with the re-release of Melville’s 1969 masterpiece, “Army of Shadows’’ and, starting today, “Léon Morin, Priest.’’ Melville made the black-and-white film in 1961, and watching it all these years later is something of an astonishment....

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- A priest from Nigeria who was serving in Manchester was charged yesterday with sexually assaulting a woman and holding her against her will, police said. The Rev. John Lawani, 40, was charged with two counts of sexual assault, five counts of simple assault, and two counts of false imprisonment. He was being held on $50,000 bail and was to be arraigned today. The woman, 27, came to police recently "and reported to us that a number of these assaults had taken place since October of 2005," Sergeant Lloyd Doughty said.

Five priests will be permanently barred from ministry after the Philadelphia archdiocese substantiated allegations of sexual abuse or inappropriate conduct, a Roman Catholic archbishop said Friday. Three other suspended priests will return to ministry, and another died during the investigation, Archbishop Charles Chaput said. Another 17 cases remain under review, he said. "When a child is harmed, the church has failed. When trust is lost, the church has failed. When the whole community suffers as a result, the church has failed," Chaput said.