Manila (UCAN): “We bow in shame, we beg for forgiveness,” Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao, told about 15,000 delegates to this year’s National Youth Day celebration in Cebu on April 27.
 
The head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said, “We continue to say: We are so sorry and beg for forgiveness from the Lord and from those this hurt and the wrongdoing that has been done,” said the prelate during a forum with young people.
 

VATICAN (CNS): Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of 77-year-old Ricardo Cardinal Ezzati of Santiago, Chile, the Vatican announced on March 23. While the Vatican did not give a reason for the cardinal stepping down, however, the cardinal has faced widespread criticism for his handling of cases of clerical sexual abuse in the country. All bishops are required to offer their resignations when they turn 75. The pope chose Bishop Celestino Aos Braco of Copiapo, who will turn 74-years-old on April 6, as diocesan administrator.
 

TACLOBAN (UCAN): McDonald Worley, a lawyer from Texas, the United States (US), said that testimonies and evidence are being gathered for the filing of a civil suit against Father Kenneth Hendricks and a “Catholic church in Ohio” for damages.
 
Worley, is representing a group of children from the central Philippines who allege that Father Hendricks, who is now under arrest, sexually abused them.
 

VATICAN (CNS): Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a leading expert in child protection, said the Church must respect the law and accept court decisions regarding clerical sexual abuse and its cover-up, in a March 15 interview with Vatican News.