Parishioners Seek Clarification of Who Owns Catholic Churches: A group of local Catholics plans to ask the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops how the Archdiocese of Boston can close more than a quarter of its parishes by claiming it owns the properties while the conference's own president is trying to fend off lawsuits by clergy-abuse victims by claiming church assets belong to parishioners.

Students May Boycott Mass over Bishop's Role in Scandal: [...] From 1992 to 1994, [Bishop John] McCormack investigated sexual misconduct allegations for Bernard Cardinal Law, who ultimately resigned after internal church documents revealed he had transferred admitted child molesters from parish to parish. McCormack has repeatedly refused to resign, even though he agreed under a 2002 settlement with the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office that there was sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against the Diocese of Manchester for doing the same thing. In exchange for the attorney general's agreement not to press charges, McCormack agreed to annual audits of the diocese's child-protection efforts, but later delayed them by balking at their scope and cost, forcing authorities to take the diocese to court. The state ultimately won, and the first audit is going forward.

Women in Bid to Become Ordained: Nine women, including one Canadian and one American, plan to defy the Vatican and become the first female Roman Catholic priests and deacons ordained in North America. The ceremony, which is not sanctioned by the Vatican, is to take place July 25 on the St Lawrence River near Gananoque in eastern Canada following a conference on women as priests at Carleton University in Ottawa. Organisers consider the location for the ceremony international waters between the United States and Canada where no diocese has jurisdiction and thus cannot interfere. "I only have my faith and my hope and what the global scene says to me that I believe it's time to take this step," said former nun Michele Birch-Conery, 65, who was ordained as a deacon last year in Europe. She will be the first Canadian woman to be ordained as a priest next month.

Covington Diocese Sues 3 Insurers: The Covington Diocese has sued three insurance carriers - including two affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church - to pay claims related to its proposed $120 million settlement with sex-abuse victims.

[How does one find news like this? Search for "Catholic" in Google News. Either there is an anti-Catholic bias in search engines, or what appears to be local turmoil is actually part of a larger shattering of the Church. Can't happen too soon for my tastes.]