Reports: Cardinal found guilty of sexual abuse in Australia
According to multiple media reports, Cardinal George Pell has been found guilty in Australia on sex abuse charges, becoming the highest-ranking Vatican official to be convicted in the Catholic Church scandal.
Pell, 77, the Vatican’s economy minister, was convicted Tuesday of sexually abusing two choir boys in the late ’90s, according to the Daily Beast, which first reported the news.
The Vatican did not address the conviction on Wednesday, but announced that Pope Francis in October removed Pell and Chilean Cardinal Javier Errazuriz from his informal cabinet after they were implicated in the Church’s sex abuse and cover-up scandal.
Errazuriz, 85, has been accused by Chilean abuse survivors of having covered up for predator priests while he was archbishop of Santiago, a charge he has denied.
Florida school massacre panel recommends arming teachers
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.— The panel investigating the Florida high school massacre recommended Wednesday that teachers who volunteer and undergo extensive background checks and training be allowed to carry concealed guns on campus.
The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission voted 13-1 to recommend the Legislature allow the arming of teachers, saying it’s not enough to have one or two police officers or armed guards on campus. Florida law adopted after the Feb. 14 shooting that left 17 dead allows districts to arm non-teaching staff.