When Cherin Marie joined Christ Our Light Anglican Church in 2013, she couldn’t imagine filing a lawsuit against the close-knit Anglican Church in North America church plant in Big Rock, Illinois, which many of her relatives attended. But three years after her then nine-year-old daughter first said she was sexually abused by Mark Rivera, a lay minister at the church, Cherin feels she has no other option.
Catholic bishops in California have asked the US Supreme Court to review a case challenging a state law that expands the time survivors of childhood sexual assault have to file their claims.
The petition, first reported by the Catholic News Agency, was filed April 15 by nine California Catholic dioceses and archdioceses after the California Supreme Court refused to consider the case—Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland v. Superior Court of California for Los Angeles County—in November.
An archbishop in the Anglican Church of Canada has resigned due to “acknowledged sexual misconduct,” according to a letter from Linda Nicholls, the denomination’s top official.
“With regret and sorrow, the Church announces receipt of allegations of sexual misconduct concerning Archbishop Mark MacDonald,” the April 20 announcement said, noting his resignation was effective immediately.
“This is devastating news,” the letter said. “The sense of betrayal is deep and profound when leaders fail to live up to the standards we expect and the boundaries we set.”