THE number of new child sex abuse allegations against Roman Catholic clergy in the US and Church payouts for clerical sex abuse cases fell sharply last year, a report commissioned by US bishops said Tuesday.

AN Anglican church commission sharply criticised the US Episcopal Church yesterday for consecrating a gay bishop and called on the church to apologise and refrain from promoting any other clergy living in a same-sex union.

THE Boston Archdiocese, struggling to contend with a flurry of sex abuse lawsuits, has moved a step closer to a remedy usually associated with troubled businesses and people buried in debt: a bankruptcy filing.

The Vatican today rejected the US Church’s new sex abuse policy, saying the sweeping zero-tolerance measures needed revising.