Pope’s sex-abuse panel highlights accountability
VATICAN CITY – Members of Pope Francis’ sexual abuse advisory board said Saturday they will develop “clear and effective” protocols to hold bishops and other church authorities accountable if they fail to report suspected abuse or protect children from pedophile priests.
Victims groups long have blasted the Vatican for refusing to sanction any bishop or superior who covered up for priests who raped and molested children. They have listed accountability as one of the core issues facing Francis and a key test for his new advisory board.
Francis announced the creation of the commission last December and named its members in March after coming under initial criticism for having ignored the sex-abuse issue.
Reporter held in Egypt appeals to judge
CAIRO – One of the Al-Jazeera English journalists held in Egypt made a rare appeal Saturday outside the defendants’ cage, as the judge trying him and his colleagues wished them a “happy” World Press Freedom Day before ordering them back to jail.
Canadian-Egyptian acting bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy stood before Judge Mohamed Nagi Shehata and explained that journalists have to speak to all sides to do their jobs. But the judge again denied the journalists bail and set their next hearing for May 15.
Fahmy, along with Australian correspondent Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohamed, all face charges of being part of a terrorist group and airing falsified footage intended to damage Egyptian national security. Doha-based Al-Jazeera and the journalists have denied the allegations.
Suspects detained in Nigeria bombings
LAGOS, Nigeria – Security forces raided areas near the site of two bombings in Nigeria’s capital Saturday and detained eight suspects including foreigners, the Ministry of Defense announced as the city prepared to host a three-day international conference.
All schools and government offices in Abuja, the capital in central Nigeria, will close Wednesday through Friday during the World Economic Forum on Africa, according to a presidential order after two bomb attacks in three weeks that killed nearly 100 people. Islamic extremists are blamed for both.
44 tons of marijuana seized in Tijuana
MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s attorney general says investigators have seized 44 tons of marijuana in Tijuana across the border from San Diego.
A statement from the office says nearly 4,000 packets of drugs were found in the Granjas Familiares del Matamoros neighborhood based on a federal warrant. Mexican military and Tijuana police conducted the raid. There were no arrests.
Associated Press
