A group of survivors of sexual abuse by clergy have identified 12 cardinals who are currently a candidate for pope in the Roman Catholic Church that have the worst history when it comes to responding to child sex abuse claims.

SNAP, the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests, told media on Wednesday that it was basing its list on news reports, legal filings and victims' statements.

"The single quickest and most effective step would be for the next pope to clearly discipline, demote, denounce and even defrock cardinals and bishops who are concealing child sex crimes. We think that's the missing piece," said SNAP Executive Director David Clohessy. more >>

Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, who has spoken out about his lack of belief in God, said he will send his 11-year-old son to a Catholic school.

"In response to media inquiries, Nick and Miriam can confirm that they have decided to send their oldest son, Antonio, from September onwards to the London Oratory School, a state Catholic secondary school," said a spokesman for the deputy prime minister, according to The Telegraph.

"He is currently a pupil at a state Catholic primary school, Our Lady of the Victories in Putney, where he has been going for the last six years. Now that their decision has been made public, they hope that the privacy of their son will be respected." more >>

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who resigned last week as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Britain over allegations of sexual misconduct, which he initially denied, has now admitted to having acted inappropriately.

"In recent days certain allegations which have been made against me have become public. Initially, their anonymous and non-specific nature led me to contest them," O'Brien said in a letter on Sunday, following news that he had resigned from his position.

"However, I wish to take this opportunity to admit that there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal." more >>

As the Supreme Court gets set to review a number of cases that will determine the future of gay marriage in America, more than two dozen Episcopal bishops in California signed briefs opposing both Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act.

"The Episcopal Church has always seen itself as existing in our culture, not outside or above or in opposition to our culture. For over a century, Episcopalians look to the model of Christ transforming culture, rather than, say, Christ against culture," explained the Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California, in a statement to The Washington Post.

"On marriage equality, our church has traveled on pilgrimage with our culture. Sometimes we have led in advocacy for marriage equality, and sometimes we have learned from the culture and from leaders outside the church. We have developed rites for blessing and marriage for all, and we have extended the support of the church to LGBT people in the form of premarital counseling and the integration of same-sex couples into loving communities of faith," the bishop added. more >>

A new Gallup poll released on Monday revealed that young Hispanics appear to be abandoning the traditional Catholic faith of their parents and turning more often to Protestant alternatives.

"A majority of Hispanics in America continue to identify as Catholic, although the Catholic percentage among Hispanics appears to be decreasing and the youngest Hispanics in America today are less likely to be Catholic than those who are older," Gallup stated about the implications of the results.

"Additionally, those Hispanics who are Catholic are much less religious than those who are Protestant." more >>

The Roman Catholic Church is dealing with new controversy following the resignation of Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the most senior Catholic cleric in Britain and leader of the Scottish Catholic Church, who allegedly engaged in inappropriate behavior with other priests.

In his resignation letter, O'Brien revealed that he had presented Pope Benedict XVI with his resignation a number of months ago, and recently received news that the pontiff decided that O'Brien's service would come to an end on Monday.

"I have valued the opportunity of serving the people of Scotland and overseas in various ways since becoming a priest," O'Brien, 74, who had been Scotland's top cleric since 1985, said in his letter. more >>