BOSTON (AP) — Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley is marking the 10th anniversary of the start of the clergy sex abuse crisis with reflections on an event he says “forever changed” the Roman Catholic church worldwide. O’Malley released a letter and his reflections on Wednesday. That’s two days before the anniversary of a 2002 Boston Globe story that sparked a wave of revelations about dozens of pedophile priests and the church leaders who transferred them between parishes while hiding their crimes.... Read more

ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter may never have been president if he didn’t go square dancing. The Georgia Democrat credits a rural square dance club he joined in 1953 with helping him win a state Senate seat by a scant 66 votes. “If I hadn’t received support from our square-dancing friends, I would have lost and never become a state senator,” he wrote in his latest book, “Through the Years with Jimmy Carter.” ”And if that had occurred, I never... Read more

HOUSTON (AP) — Texas prison officials have suspended indefinitely the phone privileges of convicted polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs while they investigate whether he violated rules with improper telephone calls on Christmas Day. Officials believe the calls Jeffs made to two approved people on his phone list were broadcast on a speakerphone to his congregation, a violation of the prison phone rules. “At this point, he’s unable to make phone calls pending the outcome of the investigation,” Texas Department of... Read more

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A lawyer for a man accused of killing a Catholic priest has filed a rare legal request to have the case presented to a grand jury from outside the area where the slaying happened. Jeremy Wayne Manieri is accused of killing the Rev. Ed Everitt of Hammond, La., last July but hasn’t been indicted. Manieri’s attorney, Brian Alexander, filed a request Tuesday in Hancock County, Miss., Circuit Court for a change of venue for the grand... Read more

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Around 200 students and professors demonstrated in Tunisia’s capital on Wednesday calling for an end to the standoff by ultraconservative Muslims at a nearby university. For more than a month classes and exams at Manouba University’s humanities department have been put on hold by a sit-in demanding students be allowed to attend class in the conservative face veil, known as the niqab. “Science before the niqab,” and “no to shackles, no to niqab, knowledge is free,”... Read more

BOSTON (AP) — Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley on Wednesday marked the 10th anniversary of the start of the clergy sex abuse crisis by reflecting on the enduring pain of the scandal, which he said is never “over or behind us.” O’Malley released a letter to Catholics and five pages of reflections two days before the anniversary of a Boston Globe story that broke news of the scandal. The story sparked revelations about scores of pedophile priests and the church leaders... Read more

TORONTO (AP) — A Canadian Roman Catholic bishop who pleaded guilty to importing child pornography has been sentenced to 15 months in jail, but he should be released today with credit for time served. Bishop Raymond Lahey was arrested at the Ottawa airport in 2009 after customs authorities found almost 600 pornographic photos of young teen boys on his laptop and a handheld device. Some involved adolescent boys engaged in sex acts while wearing a crucifix and rosary beads. Lahey... Read more

Sculptor chisels St. Damien statue for church in Puna district where priest ministered HILO, Hawaii (AP) — A sculptor on the island of Hawaii is creating a life-size statue of St. Damien for the Sacred Heart Church in Pahoa, located in the district where the venerated Roman Catholic priest first worked after being ordained in 1864. William McKnight is chiseling a 7-ton basalt boulder into a statue depicting a 5-foot-10, 210-pound Damien topped by his signature hat. The sculpture will... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — The prosecution in the Hosni Mubarak trial said on Wednesday it has concluded that Egypt’s ousted president, his security chief and six top police officers were the “actual instigators” of the killing of more than 800 protesters during last year’s popular uprising that brought down his regime. Mubarak and his seven co-defendants are facing charges of complicity in the killings and could face the death penalty if convicted. Wednesday’s hearing coincided with the second day of voting... Read more

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The pope has accepted the early resignation of a Los Angeles bishop who recently acknowledged being the father of two teenagers. Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala, 60, resigned Wednesday under the code of canon law that lets bishops step down earlier than the normal retirement age of 75 if they’re sick or for some other reason that makes them unfit for office. In a letter to the faithful, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez said Zavala... Read more