Calls for clergy abuse database; Point of Grace

Friday’s RNS report starts off with a report by Jeff Diamant about renewed calls from victims’ advocates for a national database of clergy abusers, following last month’s grand jury report on abuse in Philadelphia: Amid all the disturbing tales of priests being charged with sexually abusing minors, stories about Nicholas Cudemo stand out. When a […]

Friday’s RNS report starts off with a report by Jeff Diamant about renewed calls from victims’ advocates for a national database of clergy abusers, following last month’s grand jury report on abuse in Philadelphia: Amid all the disturbing tales of priests being charged with sexually abusing minors, stories about Nicholas Cudemo stand out. When a grand jury released its report last month on clergy sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, it revealed Cudemo had been accused of abusing 16 minors, raping an 11-year-old and helping her get an abortion. He was laicized-formally dismissed from the clergy-in June after four decades as a priest in eastern Pennsylvania. Despite that Vatican action, which was publicized, Cudemo presided in July at a baptism at Christ the King Church in Haddonfield, N.J., where the resident priest did not know his status.

Greg Garrison writes about Point of Grace, a quartet of female singers who have been a fixture on the Christian music scene for 15 years, and who are trying to teach teenage girls about modesty and chastity: Across the country, they are leading two-day “Girls of Grace” conferences. They blend concerts with a workshop for teen girls that promises to take on such issues as premarital sex and being fashionable without showing too much skin. The conferences feature tips on cosmetics and shopping.

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