ABUSE TRACKER

Liberty University will pay its former president, Jerry Falwell Jr., about $15 million to settle litigation following his resignation in 2020 after a high-profile sex scandal that drew national attention to the private Christian institution.

The settlement was announced in 2024, but neither Falwell nor Liberty shared details about what it included − or how much Falwell would be paid.

But buried deep in a recently filed 2023-2024 tax form, the university revealed it’s paying Falwell a multimillion-dollar figure to “settle certain claims and close certain transactions.” As part of the agreement, Falwell agreed to pay the university $440,000 to settle “disputed expenses” between him and the university. Details about those claims were not included.

In total, Falwell will receive roughly $5.5 million to settle the lawsuits in addition to roughly $9.7 million he already received as part of his retirement package, according to the tax documents.

Liberty University declined to…

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Survivors of clergy sexual abuse amplified calls Tuesday for a global zero-tolerance policy from the new pope’s American hometown and raised questions about Leo XIV’s history of dealing with accused priests from Chicago to Australia.

The cases span Robert Prevost’s previous posts. They include leading a Catholic religious order, bishop and as head of the Vatican’s office for bishops, where he was made cardinal.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, called out alleged abuse by Chicago priests and other clergy in Peru, Colombia, Canada and Australia where it contended the new pope should have done more.

Along with a worldwide zero-tolerance law for accused priests, SNAP has called for a global truth commission, survivor reparations and church transparency measures.

“It is our hope that Pope Leo does the right thing,” Shaun Dougherty, SNAP president, told reporters in Chicago. “It is our gut, in our experience, that says that he will need…

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“He’s the one who gave me permission” to stay at a Hyde Park monastery in 2000, former priest James M. Ray told the Chicago Sun-Times of Robert Prevost, the newly installed pope who was then head of the Midwest province of his Augustinian order.

A defrocked priest from the suburbs says the future Pope Leo XIV signed off on his move in 2000 to a Hyde Park monastery near a Catholic school after the priest had been accused of molesting children.

Robert Prevost, now newly installed as Pope Leo XIV, was the head of the Midwest province of the Catholic Church’s Augustinian religious order at the time.

“He’s the one who gave me permission to stay there,” James M. Ray, the former priest, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Ray was accused of being a pedophile priest, restricted from public ministry and needed someplace to live where the church deemed he wouldn’t…

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A group known for protecting those sexually abused by Catholic priests has sent a letter to Pope Leo XIV to ask him to sign new canon law taking a zero tolerance stance on sex abuse in the clergy, while questioning why he didn’t do more in his decades spent in the Catholic Church.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests sent the letter the day the new pope stepped out onto the Vatican balcony. It calls for a number of action in his first 100 days.

The biggest ask is making zero tolerance part of the church’s canon law, defining it as the permanent removal of a person from ministry following a single act of sexual abuse “admitted or established after an appropriate process,” “found guilty” in the judicial system, or “found liable in a civil proceeding.”

“It is our hope that Pope Leo does the right thing. It…

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A jury has been sworn in the case County Tyrone priest who is to stand trial for historic sexual abuse charges against a number of males, which began with two complainants but has now increased to five after further reports in recent months which have now been joined to the original matters.

Canon Patrick McEntee (70) from Esker Road, Dromore requested a leave of absence in 2022 while a serious safeguarding investigation was carried out.

Last year he was charged with sexual offences against five males which allegedly occurred in the County Fermanagh area.

There are four counts of indecently assaulting one complainant on dates between 1988 and 1989 and a single count of indecently assaulting another complainant between 1980 and 1981.

In addition there are a further four counts of indecent assault against three males- two counts against one and single counts against the other two.

These matters allegedly…

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[A four-minute video about survivors of Fr. Henry Brian Highfill, relevant documents, and other New Orleans abuse cases.]

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Just as his predecessor was a prime target for fake news, Pope Leo XIV has been hit with various false claims on social media and elsewhere.

One week into his papacy, Pope Leo XIV has already found himself in the middle of multiple false narratives, much like Pope Francis before him.

A social media post, for example, claims that an attached video shows the new pontiff deliberately snubbing and turning away from the LGBTQ rainbow flag as he greets onlookers at the Vatican.

However, the flag in the video isn’t the LGBTQ flag — it’s the Italian peace flag, first used in 1961, which predates the LGBTQ flag.

We can see that the lettering on the flag, while back to front, says “Pace”, the Italian word for “Peace”, and there’s no indication that Pope Leo purposely turned away from it as he approached.

The original video can be…

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Re: “Activists look to pope’s handling of past sex abuse cases,” Metro, May 10:

Among survivors of clergy sexual abuse, there is talk of the church being a broken vessel. No pope has used his power to mend this vessel. Pope Francis came close with the Vos Estis Lux Mundi and the Pontifical Commission for Protection of Minors. But under Vos Estis Lux Mundi, bishops report internally with no accountability.

The new pope must have the courage to turn over the tables and start anew for survivors to trust in the church’s ability to prevent clergy sexual abuse. Survivors of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) San Antonio is asking for child abuse to be a criminal act under canon law.

In 2018, the Archdiocese of San Antonio put Edward Pavlicek on the credibly accused priest list and removed him from ministry. Seven years…

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Mounting evidence points to pattern of failure to properly investigate abuse claims across Leo’s ecclesiastical career

CHICAGO, IL – The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) will hold a press conference on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, at 10:00 AM at 1 E. Wacker Dr. (the Izard Room) in Downtown Chicago, to present new evidence concerning Pope Leo XIV and his alleged involvement in the cover-up of clergy sexual abuse cases during his previous roles in the Catholic Church.

SNAP will unveil new whistleblower documents from the Diocese of Chiclayo (Peru) that substantiate allegations made by survivors and detailed in a formal complaint submitted under Vos estis lux mundi on March 25, 2025. These documents directly implicate Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, in the mishandling of abuse reports during his time as Bishop of Chiclayo. Furthermore, they demonstrate the Diocese of Chiclayo has continued to cover-up Prevost’s failure to properly investigate abuse allegations and misrepresented their…

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Although there is no evidence directly tying Pope Leo XIV—formerly Robert Prevost—to acts of abuse, his record as an administrator places him at the center of a pattern survivors say is all too familiar: cases of clergy sexual abuse mishandled, minimized, or allowed to languish in secrecy under his watch. These patterns are not unique to Pope Leo XIV, but emblematic of a broader crisis that has plagued the Catholic Church for generations, a crisis where the protection of the institution has often taken precedence over justice for survivors.

In New Orleans, where Prevost’s Creole roots and local ties have generated pride among many Catholics, his ascension to the papacy has been widely celebrated as a historic moment for the city’s Catholic community. Yet for survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their advocates, those hometown connections only sharpen the sting. What makes Pope Leo XIV’s rise particularly troubling for many…

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Three Irish-born senior figures in the Roman Curia look set to remain in prominent roles under the new pontiff

The hurly-burly is almost done. Pope Leo XIV’s Mass of inauguration in St Peter’s Square takes place tomorrow and then the new papacy begins properly.

As the first US pontiff becomes the 267th occupant of the Throne of St Peter, it would not be unreasonable to consider the likely fate of those Irishmen working at the Vatican, particularly given the high profile that at least one of them took in the run-up to the conclave where Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected pope in a surprise vote.

For now, all officials there stay in place, as announced by the new pope last week. They include prominent Irish figures: Dublin-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who as Camerlengo effectively ran the Vatican between the two popes; Archbishop John Kennedy, secretary for discipline at the Dicastery…

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In its 2017 Final Report, the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended changes to canon law, the most important of which was the abolition of the pontifical secret over child sexual abuse by clergy.

The pontifical secret prevented bishops from reporting allegations of child sexual abuse to civil authorities unless there were civil reporting laws. Most countries do not have adequate reporting laws. In 2019, the late Pope Francis abolished the pontifical secret over child sexual abuse thus ending the cover-up written into canon law by Pope Pius XI in 1922.

Another consequence of the pontifical secret was the Church’s failure to develop case law jurisprudence over child sexual abuse, as it had done for marriage annulment cases. Quite apart from issues of transparency, case law jurisprudence is an essential tool for both civil and canon lawyers to know how courts will apply the law…

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Washington state Senator Noel Frame has rejected the Catholic Church’s claim that it would have to excommunicate priests who comply with her new child abuse reporting law.

During an interview with NRP’s Dave Miller, she said: “There’s nothing to say they cannot change their rules.”

Newsweek contacted state Senator Frame for comment via online inquiry form on Friday outside of regular office hours.

Why It Matters

The debate highlights the tension that can exist between what religious groups claim are theological requirements and secular legislation.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon told the New York Post that the new law “demands that Catholic Priests violate their deeply held faith in order to obey the law, a violation of the Constitution and a breach of the free exercise of religion” showing the Trump administration is placing itself firmly on the side of religious authority.

What to Know

Washington state Governor Bob…

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A Washington state lawmaker has called on the Catholic Church to change its centuries-old confessional policy so that priests can comply with a new child abuse reporting law.

Democratic state Sen. Noel Frame said the Catholic Church has the ability to alter its internal rules to meet the requirements of Senate Bill 5375, which takes effect in late July.

The new law removes an exemption that had previously shielded Catholic clergy from having to report suspected child abuse or neglect if they learned of it during confession.

Once in force, priests — along with other members of the clergy — will be legally required to report such cases to law enforcement or the state’s Department of Children, Youth and Families within 48 hours.

Frame, a sponsor of the bill and a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, said she discovered that clergy were not already mandatory reporters while researching abuse allegations…

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By Karin Brulliard, Samantha Schmidt, Jonathan Edwards and Jonathan O’Connell

Even as Pope Leo XIV’s profile as a humble champion of the disenfranchisedtakes shape,a looming question ishow he will approach the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse crisis while leading a global institution that has maintained secrecy and silence around its handling of claims against clergy.

Leo has assumed his role a dozen years after Pope Francis inherited a church roiled by clergy abuse scandals and then went on to devote more attention to the issue than his predecessors. But survivors and scholars say the new pontiff must urgently improve on Francis’s complicated legacy, pushing where he didn’t by robustly committing to transparency and accountabilityin investigations of harm.

“He’s a man of justice and a man who has cared for those who are marginalized, and certainly victims should be at the top of that list,” said Daniel Griffith, a Minneapolis priest and founding…

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I wanted to root for the new pope who grew up just a few miles from me in Illinois. But his role in the Catholic hierarchy’s century-long campaign of organized crime against children made me hesitate.

While the rest of the country watched excitedly as white smoke heralded the election of a new pope, and then rejoiced after learning that Robert Francis Prevost from Chicago had been installed as Pope Leo XIV and the first American pontiff in history, I remained wary.

I wanted to root for the new pope who grew up just a few miles from where I lived in Blue Island, Illinois, and slightly farther from where I taught English at St. Francis De Sales High School in southeast Chicago. But his role in the Catholic hierarchy’s century-long campaign of organized crime against children made me hesitate. 

Testimony by tens…

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As a missionary and bishop in Peru, the future Pope Leo came face-to-face with one of the most serious and far-reaching scandals in the church in Latin America.

For years, there were allegations of abuse within the hugely influential Catholic society Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV), which had deep ties to Peru’s powerful and wealthy.

The scandal came to a head in 2015, the year after Leo, then known as Robert Prevost, was appointed bishop in the northern city of Chiclayo. A book written by one of the victims, Pedro Salinas, with journalist Paola Ugaz, “Half Monks, Half Soldiers,” described alleged beatings, humiliation and sexual assault in stark detail from 30 anonymous victims that enflamed the country.

Several survivors in Peru, Ugaz and a Vatican source closely involved in the case told CNN that Leo’s eventual intervention – after a key meeting in 2019 and a crucial promotion in Rome –…

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Survivors say Pope Leo must commit to transparency in investigations of priests accused of sexual abuse. His record on doing so in past years has some worried.

Even as Pope Leo XIV’s profile as a humble champion of the disenfranchised takes shape, a looming question is how he will approach the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse crisis while leading a global institution that has maintained secrecy and silence around its handling of claims against clergy.

Leo has assumed his role a dozen years after Pope Francis inherited a church roiled by clergy abuse scandals and then went on to devote more attention to the issue than his predecessors. But survivors and scholars say the new pontiff must urgently improve on Francis’s complicated legacy, pushing where he didn’t by robustly committing to transparency and accountability in investigations of harm.

“He’s a man of justice and a man who has cared for those…

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Special to The Seattle Times

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an inquiry into a new Washington law, signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 2, that adds clergy to the list of professionals required to report child abuse or neglect to law enforcement. It does not protect what is said in Confession. “It is anti-Catholic,” the administration says.

I say the law is not anti-Catholic. Anti-Catholic behavior would be allowing actions that harm children. Reporting crimes against children is the best of Catholic behavior. The Catholic Church is not being singled out or persecuted — the law includes all faiths and spiritual institutions that argue they do not have a duty to report sexual abuse against children.

The fact that the DOJ is investigating the validity of our constitutional right to put forward a bill and pass it strikes me as ludicrous.

As a survivor of clergy abuse…

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Projects will help in preparing ‘advice and recommendations’ for ministers on the way forward for clerical abuse victims

Draft recommendations from three research projects into historical clerical abuse are to be presented to victims at an upcoming summit in Belfast.

The studies were commissioned earlier this year to examine the “extent and systemic nature of historical child abuse in faith settings in Northern Ireland”.

The aim is to “best address the needs of those affected by historical clerical child abuse”, Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said in January when the studies were announced.

The research is being overseen by the Interdepartmental Working Group (IDWG) formed to develop recommendations over historical clerical child abuse and in respect of mother and baby institutions and Magdalene laundries – areas not covered by the north’s Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry.

In January, victims of faith-based…

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In an order issued on May 12, Judge William L. Campbell Jr. announced that the jury trial in the lawsuit brought by Johnny Hunt against the Southern Baptist Convention and others has been canceled. The trial was set to begin June 17.

Campbell, who presides over the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, wrote that his decision was “due to the parties’ pending motions to reconsider.”

The judge issued a summary judgment last month dismissing all but one count in the lawsuit. That lone count concerned a 2022 social media post by then-SBC President Bart Barber about the allegations against Hunt.

Hunt, a former SBC president, prominent Georgia pastor and North American Mission Board vice president, was seeking more than $100 million, claiming lost salary and speaking engagements, reputational harm and emotional distress.

The case stemmed from Guidepost Solutions’  View Cache

Anglican Watch, the unofficial watchdog organization for the Episcopal Church, today called on Episcopalians opposed to child sexual abuse to withhold donations from the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts until the Diocese complies with state mandatory child abuse reporting laws.

The move comes after the Diocese refused to hold clergy accountable for failing to report historical child sex abuse allegations involving Episcopal priest Richard Losch, who is accused of taking boys across state lines in the 1970s in order to rape them, to state law enforcement.

Under Massachusetts law, clergy are mandated reporters unless the disclosure is made as part of a confession. Historical incidents also must be reported, which is essential, as other victims frequently come forward when a case becomes public.

Additionally, taking a child across state lines for an illicit purpose is a federal felony and not subject to a statute of limitation.

Anglican Watch filed a formal…

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A priest who was accused multiple times of sex abuse, including possession of child pornography, has been dismissed from the Order of St. Augustine reportedly after a lengthy “disagreement” with the order.

Father Richard McGrath was allegedly barred from the order “following a prolonged period of disagreement with his direct superior,” according to Michael Airdo, an attorney who has represented the Augustinians in the past. 

The dismissal reportedly happened in December 2024, according to Airdo. The Chicago Sun-Times reported on the controversy on Thursday.

The Sun-Times did not say what prompted its Thursday report if the dismissal happened in December. The Midwest Augustinians did not respond to a request for comment on Friday, including whether or not they knew the whereabouts of McGrath. Airdo also did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. 

McGrath was previously accused of sexual abuse by Robert Krankvich,…

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A gym teacher from a Catholic school in Burbank faces five felony counts related to the alleged sexual abuse of one of his students. 

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office alleged that Dimitri Altobar, 33, committed the lewd acts between March 1 and April 28. Prosecutors added an allegation that he used his position at St. Francis Xavier School to take advantage of the trust and confidence he developed with students. 

The Burbank Police Department arrested Altobar on May 14, following a weeks-long investigation. St. Francis Xavier School officials placed him on leave after reporting the allegations to police earlier this month. 

In a letter sent to parents on May 14, the school said Altobar “will not be returning to serve at our school.”

“If you believe your child may have experienced any misconduct, please contact the Burbank Police Department and the Office of Victims Assistance at (213) 637-7650,”…

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‘Pope Leo XIV has been the most responsive to these cases in the Peruvian Church, and he has listened to us. He has allowed us to achieve justice.’

The Bishop of Chiclayo refuted claims that Pope Leo XIV mishandled allegations of abuse by clergy in his Peruvian diocese.

Bishop Edinson Farfán, who replaced Robert Prevost as Bishop of Chiclayo in 2024, described the claims as a “lie”, saying his predecessor had “listened” and “respected the processes” of handling accusations.

He added: “This process is still ongoing … believe me, I am the most interested person in justice being served and, above all, in being able to help the victims.”

Farfán referred to claims that Prevost had failed to open a proper canonical inquiry into a priest accused of sexual assault.

Three sisters reported Fr Eleutorio Vásquez for sexual harassment to Prevost in April 2022. The alleged events occurred while they were…

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Whether or not a man who claims he was sexually abused as a child by a Roman Catholic priest is allowed to bring a lawsuit against the Diocese of Manchester is about to get decided by the state Supreme Court.

The Justices will have to decide if the statute of limitations for bringing a civil lawsuit in a child sex abuse complaint applies after the legislature removed the limits in 2020.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who helped bring the sexual abuse scandal in the Boston Archdiocese to light in 2002, told InDepthNH.org there are competing legal issues at play.

“Much of the court’s decision will hinge on the facts of the case before it when applying the applicable law,” Garabedian said.

Garabedian is not connected to the case, but agreed to comment on it as an analyst. He said there’s an argument to be made for both sides when the case…

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• Clergy abuse survivors and their advocates praised Camden Bishop Joseph Williams for ending the diocese’s legal challenge to a proposed grand jury investigation.
• Bishop Joseph Williams said the reversal was a message to victims and a step to “restore their faith.”
• The New Jersey Supreme Court is still considering the diocese’s arguments over the validity of the grand jury and could still rule against the Attorney General’s Office.

Michael Troiano’s eyes widened in disbelief as he read the message from his bishop.

Joseph A. Williams, recently appointed leader of the Catholic Diocese of Camden, said on May 7 that the diocese would drop its four-year-old legal fight against a statewide investigation of clergy sexual abuse. Williams said he’d informed the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office of “our desire to be partners with them in this public service.”

It was a startling reversal coming just days after diocese lawyers argued before the state…

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Diocese begins meeting with pastors to determine amounts

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Diocese of Buffalo is now deciding where it will get the money to fund a recently announced settlement with more than 900 survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests. 

The diocese confirmed in a news release Thursday that some of the $150 million settlement will come from individual parishes. The pastors of those churches are now being called downtown to learn just how much that will be. 

Other sources include “available funds of the diocese, from individual parishes from their available funds, and contributions from Catholic-affiliated entities,” according to a news release from diocese spokesperson Joe Martone on Thursday.

“In the next several weeks, meetings with lay leadership from all parishes will be held to discuss information on the progress made in reaching an agreement, and the expectations on parishes as we together work to fulfill…

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“Today, as an adult, I am still working on the side effects,” said one former altar boy at a Wednesday hearing on past clergy misconduct in the state’s largest religious denomination.

BURLINGTON — Two decades after news broke of a nationwide Catholic priest misconduct scandal, seven Vermont child sex abuse claimants spoke in court Wednesday about the lingering impact.

“He molested me in my own house, in my own bed,” a 61-year-old man identified as Speaker 5 recalled of being an altar boy a half-century ago. “I froze and never said a word. Today, as an adult, I am still working on the side effects.”

Leaders of Vermont’s Roman Catholic Diocese have heard many such comments over the years as they’ve paid out $34.5 million to settle 67 civil lawsuits alleging clerical improprieties dating as far back as 1950.

But Wednesday saw officials in a different venue: U.S. Bankruptcy Court…

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I wanted to root for the new pope who grew up just a few miles from me in Illinois. But his role in the Catholic hierarchy’s century-long campaign of organized crime against children made me hesitate.

While the rest of the country watched excitedly as white smoke heralded the election of a new pope, and then rejoiced after learning that Robert Francis Prevost from Chicago had been installed as Pope Leo XIV and the first American pontiff in history, I remained wary.

I wanted to root for the new pope who grew up just a few miles from where I lived in Blue Island, Illinois, and slightly farther from where I taught English at St. Francis De Sales High School in southeast Chicago. But his role in the Catholic hierarchy’s century-long campaign of organized crime against children made me hesitate. 

Testimony by tens…

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In testimony to a parliamentary committee hearing, French Prime Minister François Bayrou continued to deny he knew of sexual abuse allegations at a Catholic school in the Pyrenees when he served as education minister in the 1990s.

Bayrou said he only learned of the alleged abuse at Notre-Dame de Bétharram through media reports, and insisted he had not received any official information when he was Education Minister from 1993 to 1997.

“I had nothing to hide,” he told the committee Wednesday, indicating he was ready to cooperate with the inquiry into allegations of widespread abuse for many decades at the Catholic boarding school near the town of Pau, where he has been mayor since 2014.

Around 200 legal complaints have been filed since February last year accusing priests and staff of physical or sexual abuse from 1957 to 2004 at the school where Bayrou sent many of his children, and where his…

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Pope Leo XIV, the new leader of 1.4billion Roman Catholics, has been accused of ‘looking the other way’ of child sex abuse allegations.

A survivors’ group claims that Robert Prevost failed to act upon accusations of abuse while one of Chicago’s top officials in 2000 and two decades later, while in Peru.

Prevost, then prior provincial of the Order of St. Augustine’s Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel, allowed Augustinian priest James Ray to transfer to St. John Stone Friary.

Ray had faced allegations that he posed a risk to children nine years before and was not allowed to minister to the public, the Chicago Sun-Times reported in 2021.

The friary was only a block away from an elementary school. Ray was later removed from the friary two years later under laws to keep those accused of abuse far from schools.

Prevost did not inform the St Thomas the Apostle Catholic school…

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The Rev. Richard J. McGrath was a longtime leader of Providence Catholic High School, run by the Augustinians, whose Midwest province, and ultimately the order worldwide, were led by now-Pope Leo XIV. McGrath wasn’t expelled over the misconduct allegations but had refused to obey his superiors about where to live after the accusations surfaced.

A Chicago-area priest who was a longtime member of the Augustinian religious order formerly led by Pope Leo XIV has been kicked out of the group.

The Rev. Richard J. McGrath had been accused of molesting a student at Providence Catholic High School in the 1990s and of having child pornography on his phone in 2017.

But McGrath apparently still remains a Catholic priest.

And his expulsion from the Augustinians wasn’t over the allegations of sexual misconduct.

That’s according to a Chicago lawyer representing the Midwest province of the Augustinians — the international order’s Chicago-based arm…

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BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Survivors of clergy abuse by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington were given the chance Wednesday to share their stories in federal court as part of the church’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. There are more than 100 new sexual misconduct claims against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington.

Seven survivors spoke about the years of suffering they endured at the hands of the church. Cameras were not allowed in court, but reporter Cam Smith spoke with one of the victims.

“I really meant it when I said, where was the diocese during all of this?” said Michael Veitch, who says he was just 15 years old when he was sexually abused at his church in Weston.

Now in his 70s, Veitch says he suffered from PTSD and alcohol addiction. “It’s a bizarre reunion to be in that courtroom, and they’re all bonded by something that should have…

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The submissions come after 67 previous child sex abuse lawsuits prompted the state’s largest religious denomination to pay out $34.5 million in settlements and push for bankruptcy protection.

Vermont’s Roman Catholic Diocese, now seeking to reorganize its depleting finances in U.S. Bankruptcy Court after settling 67 priest misconduct lawsuits, is bracing for a new wave of child sex abuse claims.

The state’s largest religious denomination paid out $34.5 million to survivors in the two decades between when news of a nationwide scandal broke in 2002 and its filing for Chapter 11 protection last fall.

As part of the bankruptcy process, all pending and future lawsuits have been placed on hold, with Judge Heather Cooper inviting accusers who haven’t reported abuse before to join the case as potential creditors.

As a result, 118 people have submitted confidential claims, records show — almost double the number of previously settled lawsuits.

The bankruptcy court…

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The current bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, Edinson Farfán, is publicly defending the actions of his predecessor, Bishop Robert Prevost — now Pope Leo XIV — in the face of accusations that he covered up sexual abuse in the diocese.

Responding to a question at a press conference about the issue, Farfán stated: “That’s a lie. He has listened, he has respected the processes, and this process is still ongoing… believe me, I am the most interested person in justice being served and, above all, in being able to help the victims.”

The bishop of Chiclayo was referring to the allegations of three sisters who met with Prevost in 2022 to report that they had been abused by a priest years earlier when they were minors. They allege that the then-bishop did not open an effective canonical investigation and that the accused continued to celebrate Mass.

Farfán said he has accompanied the…

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This week, the world’s cardinals elected the first ever American pope – Robert Prevost, a 69-year-old Chicagoan who will be known by the papal name Leo XIV. He has been, it seems, lauded the world over in recent days. The Guardian called him “moderate” and “good humoured”. People in his Diocese referred to him as a “hard-working leader”. Another profile referred to him as a “deft leader and administrator”. 

But what these articles don’t mention – what nobody, somehow, seems to be mentioning, is that Prevost is allegedly implicated in one of the greatest and, by now, most well documented and sprawling crimes in modern history – the Catholic Church’s cover up of the sexual abuse of children.

In Chicago in 1999, as provincial of the Augustinians, Prevost oversaw a priest named Father James Ray – who, by the year 2000, had been accused of abusing minors over the course of nine…

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The Catholic religious order said Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, has always sought “to protect the innocent and offer healing to victims, while removing offenders from ministry.” But the order still won’t answer questions.

Facing nagging questions about how he handled the sexual abuse crisis while a leader of his Catholic religious order in Chicago and internationally, the group released a statement Friday defending Robert Prevost, elected a day earlier to lead the worldwide church as Pope Leo XIV.

“He has taken steps to protect minors and vulnerable adults in numerous countries, always seeking to protect the innocent and offer healing to victims, while removing offenders from ministry,” according to the statement released by attorney Michael Airdo, who represents the Augustinians’ Chicago-based Midwest Province.

Prevost was the “prior provincial” of the Midwest Province from 1999 to 2001, during which time his group allowed an accused pedophile priest named James…

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[Click here to see video.]

As the first American pope addressed the faithful from St. Peter’s Basilica last week, he called for peace and unity, but what Pope Leo XIV did not address has some concerned. Investigative Reporter Tracee Wilkins explains what clergy sex abuse survivors say they want to hear from Pope Leo now that he’s the leader of the Church.

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French Prime Minister François Bayrou will take questions on Wednesday from a parliamentary committee investigating claims of decades of abuse at a Catholic school in southwest France. Critics claim that, as education minister in the 1990s, Bayrou knew about widespread physical and sexual abuse at the school, which several of his children attended.

French Prime Minister François Bayrou on Wednesday faces one of the most delicate moments of his five months in office as he responds to questions from a parliamentary committee investigating claims of decades of sexual abuse at a Catholic school.

Bayrou has faced accusations from the opposition that, as education minister in the mid-1990s, he knew of the widespread physical and sexual abuse allegations at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram school in southwestern France.

The 73-year-old politician, who served as France’s education minister between 1993 and 1997, has denied any wrongdoing and denounced what he called a campaign to “destroy” him. 

On Monday, the father…

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The seal of the confessional is one of the first things Catholic children learn as they are preparing for their first confession. At first, it comes as a shock to many children, prompting questions to test the limits of total confidentiality: What if I said I killed someone? Father won’t even tell my parents?

The answer to all of these questions is a firm answer, “No, under no circumstances will a priest repeat anything you say in confession.” This is because when someone confesses a sin, they are not really confessing it to their priest but to God himself; the priest does not forgive their sins, God does. To maintain the integrity of the sacrament, absolute confidence is required.

This fundamental principle to the sacrament of confession is being called into question more and more as governments work to limit child abuse, and especially in light of the child sex…

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Catholic priests are pushing back against a new Washington state law that requires clergy to report child abuse to law enforcement.

VANCOUVER Wash. (KPTV) – Catholic priests are pushing back against a new Washington state law that requires clergy to report child abuse to law enforcement, even if the information was obtained in the privacy of a confession booth.

Senate Bill 5375 was signed into law by Washington Governor Bob Ferguson on Friday.

On top of the Archdiocese of Seattle announcing they will excommunicate priests if they break the seal of confession, pastors in Vancouver say they will not follow the law because they believe it goes against their religious freedom, and they do not think it’s enforceable.

At the Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, Father Thomas Nathe walks into the confessional booth located in the back of his church’s sanctuary.

“The red means someone is in here on…

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington filed for bankruptcy in October 2024, with at least 30 unsettled cases of abuse.

A hearing has been scheduled for abuse survivors to deliver victim impact statements against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, Vermont. It’s the second of two hearings scheduled by a bankruptcy judge after the diocese filed for Chapter 11 back in October 2024.

The latest court records were filed on Monday. According to the Diocese, 118 additional survivors have come forward with claims of abuse as of April 4. That was the deadline the court had set for survivors to file proofs of claim after Chapter 11 was filed.

In April, a judge granted a request to schedule two opportunities for survivors to present impact statements. To date, more than 60 cases have been settled against the Diocese. By the time the church filed for…

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In short:

• Two Victorian sisters abused by a paedophile priest in the 1970s are speaking out against a legal decision they say has halted their quest for compensation.
• The High Court last year ruled the same priest was not an employee of the Catholic Church, so the church could not be held vicariously liable for his abuse.

What’s next?

• A private member’s bill is before Victoria’s upper house seeking to change the law, but the state government says it would prefer a national solution.

“You don’t sleep afterwards like a normal human sleeps. You’re never carefree again,” Bernie said.

To sleep soundly, the sisters need to know no-one can come through their bedroom doors, so their husbands made them special wooden jams to lock them in place.

“You can have happy days, and you can do things, but you’re not that innocent,” Bernie said.

“You never, ever become that carefree kid.”

…

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A new law signed by Washington Go. Bob Ferguson requires all members of the clergy to report cases of child abuse or neglect regardless of the source of the details, including the confessional.

The law goes into effect this July.

The Archdiocese of Seattle has responded by threatening excommunication for any Catholic clergy who follow the new law.  Archbishop Paul D. Etienne says the Church already has a policy of mandatory reporting in place for priests but it does not apply to information received during the rite of confession.

Etienne cited Acts 5:29 in a statement responding the law  “We must obey God rather than men”.  His May 4th statement titled Clergy: Responsible to God or State was clear on the Catholic Church’s response

“This is our stance now in the face of this new law. Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession – or they will…

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Survivors of abuse by clergy members are defending a new Washington law against accusations from the U.S. Department of Justice that it is “anti-Catholic” and worthy of a federal investigation.

Signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 2, the new provision adds clergy to the list of professions required to report child abuse or neglect to law enforcement. It does not protect what people say in confession.

The Catholic Church has long sought an exception for what priests hear in a confessional and say without it the law puts them at risk of excommunication. The DOJ says the law violates the First Amendment protection given to religious expression, referring to it as “anti-Catholic.” But those who were abused by clergy members are pushing back.

“As people of many faiths, we are deeply disappointed that the DOJ and the Catholic Church see this as ‘anti-Catholic.’ It is not,” said…

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Governor Bob Ferguson of Washington State recently signed into law legislation obligating Catholic clergy to disclose reports of child abuse heard during sacramental confessions, adding “members of the clergy” to a list of other professionals who are mandatory reporters on child abuse.

The new law, signed on May 2, has been denounced by local Catholic leaders as an infringement of Catholic religious freedom, forcing priests to choose between ecclesial and secular authority, as Washington’s bishops say that priests who violate the seal of confession will incur an automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication. Similar laws have been defeated in other U.S. states over the past several years.

Washington is not the first state to enact or introduce legislation on this matter. New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia all already require clergy to disclose information about sexual abuse obtained in the context of a confession. In 2023 a flurry of legislation was introduced…

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A Chicago-based group filed complaints about him with Vatican officials, claiming Cardinal Robert Prevost fell short in his responses to allegations of abuse in there and in Peru

An advocate for victims of clergy abuse said Saturday they are holding on to cautious hope about Pope Leo XIV, but keeping a close eye on recently surfaced allegations that he previously sheltered those accused of abuse.Article content

Newfoundlander Gemma Hickey, the board president of Ending Clergy Abuse, was in Rome this week to push for the church to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for clergy abuse. They said Saturday that survivors have mixed reviews about Leo, which is the name taken by Cardinal Robert Prevost upon his election Thursday.

“It’s only been two days now to his papacy,” Hickey said in an interview. “I am being cautiously optimistic based on what I have heard.”

The bottom line, however, is that the church…

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Archbishop Ryan Jimenez has said that although plaintiffs have asked that civil sexual abuse cases be dismissed against former Archbishop Anthony Apuron, a church investigation found that Apuron was guilty of abusing minors, and nothing has changed that determination.

On May 7, documents were filed by plaintiffs in the District Court of Guam asking to drop eight cases of alleged sexual abuse and one case of defamation against Apuron. The former archbishop responded with a statement and a video saying the dismissal requests, which originated with the plaintiffs, are proof of his innocence.

Apuron said he remains a bishop, the only bishop or priest ever allowed to retain the designation after being found guilty of sex crimes, which proves his innocence.

Apuron spoke of one day returning to Guam, and that he prays for Jimenez to receive the “courage to seek the truth and to do what’s right.”

On Friday,…

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(This story has been updated to include a statement from the plaintiffs’ attorney.)

Former Archbishop Anthony Apuron on Wednesday broke his years of silence in a video message, maintaining he’s innocent of the clergy sex abuse allegations against him.

He issued a video message after plaintiffs initiated proceedings that sought dismissal of cases, according to his attorney. Apuron is required to agree to the dismissal, his counsel said.

He did, and the parties filed a motion that dismisses with prejudice eight clergy sex abuse cases and one defamation case against him.

Delia Lujan Wolff, attorney for the plaintiffs, on Wednesday night said dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims against Apuron “is not evidence that Apuron did not sexually abuse or defame them.”

“To be clear, Apuron has not been vindicated by the dismissals and they do not affirm his innocence. While our clients have dismissed their claims against Apuron,…

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The U.S. Department of Justice says a recent data breach of a California consulting firm exposed data of Catholic clergy abuse survivors in nearly a dozen bankruptcy lawsuits.

In a May 6 letter addressed to attorneys at law firm Proskauer Rose LLP, the Justice Department’s Nan Eitel, the associate general counsel for Chapter 11 practice in the Executive Office for United States Trustees, said that late last month multiple government trustees received notice of a data breach at Berkeley Research Group (BRG).

The Emeryville, California-based BRG offers corporate finance and economic consulting, including to Catholic dioceses in bankruptcy proceedings. The government’s letter said the data breach had occurred on March 2 but that trustees were only first informed on April 28.

The breach “affected multiple Chapter 11 cases … and the security of data maintained by BRG in its role as a financial adviser to official committees…

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We have a new pope, but the challenges he faces are not.

Pope Francis fashioned himself as a reformer, starting with his name — taken in part from St. Francis of Assisi, who was tasked by God himself to “rebuild my church.”

The reforms most urgently needed when Francis assumed the papacy were a church in financial shambles and ongoing fallout from the sexual abuse crisis.

While he certainly made progress in some areas, no one denies that his work on both fronts was left incomplete.

The Catholic Church’s financial deficit only grew under Francis, and mere months before he died, Francis warned in a letter that the Vatican’s pension fund was in serious trouble and would require “difficult decisions.” One Vatican expert described it as a “five alarm fire.” Shortly before he died, one of the banks managing Vatican funds cut…

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Pope Leo XIV—born Robert Francis Prevost—is the first American Pope. His election on May 8 signals a shift in the world order of the Church—a shift that many people did not believe would happen anytime soon. But as the once improbable has become reality, Leo must now choose how he will lead the Church—and the some 1.4 billion Catholics across the globe—and how to build on Pope Francis’s legacy.

Read More: ‘Peace Be With You’: Pope Leo XIV Steps Onto the World Stage

Francis, who died on April 21 at 88 years-old, was known for prioritizing inclusivity—if an imperfect inclusivity—and his push to globalize the Catholic Church. He accomplished much during his 12-year tenure, including making the College of Cardinals more global, making the Catholic Church more inclusive, and centralizing the Vatican on climate emergencies.

Yet, that does not mean his challenges were not plentiful. The new Pope is left with…

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The Catholic Church and federal government reacted vehemently to new legislation in Washington state that requires priests to report child abuse or neglect to law enforcement after learning about the crime through confessions. 

Gov. Mike Ferguson signed the controversial bill into law last week, making it mandatory for all clergy to report child abuse, without exemptions for information disclosed during confession. Confessions were previously considered privileged.

The Archdiocese of Seattle — which was made up of 160 priests and 90 permanent deacons as of 2024 — said it will excommunicate priests who comply with the legislation. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice called the law “anti-Catholic” in a statement announcing a probe into the policy, just days before the Vatican selected the first pope from the United States.

The Seattle Archdiocese in a statement, warned that breaking the confidence…

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The state law, in Washington, applies to all religions but has outraged Catholics in particular. The Justice Department is investigating.

The secrecy of the confessional in the Roman Catholic Church is so sacrosanct that any priest who violates it is automatically excommunicated.

In Washington State, a new law requiring clergy to break the seal when child abuse has been revealed has kindled a heated battle involving the state, the Roman Catholic Church and the Justice Department.

The legislation, signed into law last week by Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, requires members of the clergy to report child abuse or neglect to authorities, even if that knowledge arises during the sacrament of confession. It has outraged many Catholics in the state, and across the country.

“This law is a clear intrusion into the practice of our Catholic faith,” said Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle. “The state is now intruding…

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JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – There was some shock – both positive and negative – expressed locally Thursday when the College of Cardinals selected the first U.S.-born pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, a Chicago native, ascended to the papacy, taking the name Leo XIV, following Pope Francis, from Argentina, who died April 21.

The Rev. Matthew Baum, rector of St. John Gualbert Cathedral in Johnstown, became “very excited to see the white smoke” coming from the Vatican on television, indicating a new pope had been picked.

“I don’t think any of us expected there to be a North American pope,” Baum said. “We certainly had Pope Francis who was the first pope from South America, but no one expected us to have a North American pope. It’s very exciting to think that our new holy father was born in Chicago and went to school…

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He has been described as a peace-seeking bridge builder but he opposes female ordination and abuse survivors are wary

What is the position of Pope Leo XIV on the issues that face him and the Roman Catholic church?

Church unity

Within hours of his election as the 267th pontiff, Leo was being talked about as a bridge builder, a pope that would continue in Francis’s footsteps but without alienating traditionalists in the way his predecessor sometimes did. He is “known for solid judgment and a keen capacity to listen, and someone who doesn’t need to pound his chest to be heard”, according to a recent profile on Crux, a Catholic news website. He is “more pragmatic, cautious and discreet than the late pope”, it added.

In his first appearance on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, he wore traditional papal attire, signalling that his style will be more formal than Francis’s,…

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Then-Robert Prevost did not take action quickly enough after alleged abuse committed by Father Richard McGrath: SNAP

CHICAGO (WLS) — While Chicago is celebrating the election of a new pope from the South Side, not everyone’s cheering. Some are hoping this could be a moment when it comes to how the Catholic Church addresses child abuse by its priests.

The Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) told the ABC7 Chicago I-Team that the newly elected Pope Leo XIV, or Cardinal Robert Prevost, didn’t act quickly enough or transparently in response to local cases of child sex abuse by priests.

Peter Isley of SNAP said he is sounding the alarm.

“We cannot have another pope that’s covered up sex crimes,” Isley told the I-Team from Rome. “The last three have; we cannot have another one. We can’t drag this into another papacy.”

SNAP said when then-Robert Prevost was head…

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Pope faced questions about his handling of clerical sexual abuse cases earlier in his career after a survivors group filed a complaint

Groups supporting clergy-molestation survivors say they are gravely concerned and insulted by the election of Pope Leo XIV after he overcame questions about his handling of clerical sexual abuse cases earlier in his career to become the Roman Catholic church’s first-ever US-born leader.

Before Robert Prevost’s ascent to the papacy at age 69, he was leading a chapter of the Augustinian religious order in his home town of Chicago when allegations surfaced that a priest and Catholic high school principal under his jurisdiction had molested at least one student as well as kept child-abuse imagery.

Prevost reportedly allowed that cleric to continue in his role despite the allegations, though the Augustinian order later paid a multimillion-dollar settlement to the abuse survivor and in December booted the priest from the order.

…

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When Greg Thompson became the bishop of Newcastle, he refused to turn a blind eye to the decades-long child sex abuse scandals in the diocese.

For him, it was personal. He was himself a sexual abuse survivor.

But speaking out came at huge personal cost — and left Greg wondering where he fits in the Anglican Church.

Warning: This story contains themes which may be upsetting for some readers.

For a man who made the decision to become a priest at the age of 16, it’s been a devastating experience.

“I was seen as an outsider and they were telling me I’m an outsider,” Greg told ABC TV’s Compass.

“I am a cynic now of the Anglican institution because of what I’ve seen and experienced.

“But I look back and think, ‘I’ve invested my life in people, and the institution was the framework for me to do that.’”

Where it…

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The new pope, Leo XIV, elected Thursday under the birth name of Cardinal Robert Prevost, is already facing calls from victims’ groups for a thorough review of his handling of sexual abuse cases in his former jurisdictions, notably in Chicago and Peru. Although he has not been accused of any acts of abuse, some denounce a lack of transparency and an insufficient response to cases reported under his authority.

“It is up to Pope Leo XIV to earn the trust of the victims and their families,” said Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability.org, which advocates for transparency in abuse cases. The organization criticizes Prevost for never publishing the list of accused priests in the dioceses he led, unlike other Church officials. It also accuses him of maintaining a certain opacity in the disciplinary treatment of bishops under his authority at the Vatican.

In March, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by…

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In case you hadn’t heard, the cardinals elected Pope Leo XIV to succeed Pope Francis to the See of Peter.

Born Robert Francis Prevost, the Augustinian missionary priest who served as prior general of his Augustinian order in Rome and was bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, came late to the Vatican – in 2023 – when the recently departed Pope Francis made him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and gave him the red hat.

There is little without precedent in the Catholic Church, but it is fair to say nothing exactly like this has happened before and safe to say it took Church watchers quite by surprise.

Hard power, soft power

Conventional wisdom had it that cardinals would not pick a fellow from the United States because it would combine the “soft power” of the papal office with the “hard power” of US political (economic, military, and cultural) clout…

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The new pope, Leo XIV, has this in common with many of his peers in the Catholic hierarchy: He’s been in positions of authority when accusations of sexual abuse have arisen against priests under his supervision.

Now some advocates for victims say there needs to be an accounting of how Leo — the name taken by Cardinal Robert Prevost upon his election Thursday — handled such cases when he held positions of church authority in Chicago and Peru. And they hope that as pope, he will crack down on other bishops who they say are mishandling similar cases.

“Some might advise giving the new pontiff the benefit of the doubt. We disagree. It is on Pope Leo XIV to win the trust of victims and their families,” Anne Barrett Doyle of the advocacy group BishopAccountability.org said in a statement.

In its statement, BishopAccountability.org contended that unlike many dioceses and religious…

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Survivor groups call election ‘an insult’, cite past inaction and failed oversight; Vatican maintains no wrongdoing.

Groups supporting survivors of clergy sexual abuse have expressed outrage over the election of Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, citing his past handling of molestation cases and describing his elevation as a grave insult.

Prevost, 69, who became the first-ever US-born pontiff after a short conclave at the Vatican on Thursday, had previously faced scrutiny for decisions made during his tenure as head of the Augustinian order in Chicago and later as bishop in Peru.

As The Guardian reported, while leading the Augustinians in Chicago, Prevost faced allegations against Richard McGrath, an Augustinian priest and principal of Providence Catholic High School, accused of molesting a student and possessing child abuse imagery. Despite these allegations, McGrath remained in his post. Though McGrath retired in 2017, the order only expelled him in December 2023 — a…

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An advocate for victims of clergy abuse said Saturday they are holding on to cautious hope about Pope Leo XIV, but keeping a close eye on recently surfaced allegations that he previously sheltered those accused of abuse.

Newfoundlander Gemma Hickey, the board president of Ending Clergy Abuse, was in Rome this week to push for the church to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for clergy abuse. They said Saturday that survivors have mixed reviews about Leo, which is the name taken by Cardinal Robert Prevost upon his election Thursday.

“It’s only been two days now to his papacy,” Hickey said in an interview. “I am being cautiously optimistic based on what I have heard.”

The bottom line, however, is that the church must change, they added.

“You can’t be married and be a priest,” Hickey said. “But you can be a child rapist and be a priest. There’s something wrong with…

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A new state law in Washington is set to take effect this summer, but members of the Catholic clergy are refusing to comply based on the Church’s own laws.

A new Washington state law is set to take effect on July 27 which will require clergy members to report suspected child abuse – including with information obtained during confessions. Following this law would violate the Catholic Church’s traditional confidentiality protections.

How the Catholic Church has responded to new Washington law

Although the law is put in place to protect children from abuse, the Archdiocese of Seattle has warned its priests that if they comply with this law, they would face automatic excommunication from the Church for violating the canon law and breaking the seal of confession. They also argue that the law itself crosses constitutional lines.

“All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential and protected by…

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The new pope, Leo XIV, has this in common with many of his peers in the Catholic hierarchy: He’s been in positions of authority when accusations of sexual abuse have arisen against priests under his supervision.

Now some advocates for victims say there needs to be an accounting of how Leo — the name taken by Cardinal Robert Prevost upon his election Thursday — handled such cases when he held positions of church authority in Chicago and Peru. And they hope that as pope, he will crack down on other bishops who they say are mishandling similar cases.

“Some might advise giving the new pontiff the benefit of the doubt. We disagree. It is on Pope Leo XIV to win the trust of victims and their families,” Anne Barrett Doyle of the advocacy group BishopAccountability.org said in a statement.

Some advocates, however, credit Prevost with supporting survivors of an abusive,…

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After Pope Leo XIV’s first day as the pontiff, a local attorney says he and his clients aren’t thrilled about the decision from the Vatican.

Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston-based attorney, has represented thousands of victims and survivors over decades of alleged clergy sexual abuse.

He told Boston 25 News on Friday he was disappointed to see Pope Leo XIV was appointed.

“There’s a track record here that doesn’t give many survivors or victims hope,” said Garabedian. “He doesn’t send a message he’s going to protect children or help survivors heal.”

He pointed towards two incidents over the last 25 years.

Garabedian said in 2000, as head of the Augustinian Order in Chicago, Prevost allegedly housed a priest near a school facing accusations of sexual abuse.

Garabedian explained, “That priest was a pedophile, and those children were susceptible.”

He also pointed to an incident while Pope Leo XIV was serving in…

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Robert Prevost was elected as Pope Francis’ successor on Thursday, May 8, concluding a two-day papal conclave. Hailing from Chicago, Prevost—who has chosen the name Pope Leo XIV—is the first American Pope. But his service in the Catholic Church stretches beyond the U.S., as Leo holds both U.S. and Peruvian citizenship, and has dedicated many years of his life to missionary work in South America.

Leo was appointed a cardinal in September 2023 by Pope Francis, and also served as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops from January 2023 until Pope Francis’ death on April 21.

In an unearthed interview from 2023, Leo spoke to the BBC about his appointment to Prefect, during which he mentioned his American roots and how that might aid him in helping with the challenges faced by the Catholic Church in the United States.

”It’s not coincidental that Pope Francis chose me. I’ve been…

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Survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests are calling for Pope Leo XIV to institute a zero-tolerance policy and for the church to investigate his handling of prior sexual abuse allegations. “He needs to be transparent. He needs to be honest,” says Peter Isely, a survivor of sexual assault by a Catholic priest and a co-founder of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. “Wait and see,” says James V. Grimaldi, executive editor of National Catholic Reporter. “Don’t listen to what they say. Watch what they do.” We are also joined by Father Bryan Massingale, professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University.

Guests

• Peter Iselysurvivor of sexual assault by a Catholic priest, global affairs chief of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
• James Grimaldiexecutive editor of National Catholic Reporter.
• Bryan Massingaleprofessor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University in New York. He identifies as a Black, gay…

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Less than a day after Pope Leo XIV assumed his role as the head of the Catholic Church, a national organization claimed he mishandled abuse allegations in the past.

“We find ourselves with Pope Leo now who, in his past, had turned his back on some sexual abuse charges that he knew of, and that concerns us very much,” said Eduardo Lopez De Casas, national vice president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Before Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost became Pope Leo XIV, he served as a provincial of the Augustinians in his hometown Chicago. SNAP claims during his time there, Prevost allowed Father James Ray, a priest accused of abusing a minor, to reside at the Augustinians’ St. John Stone Friary — which was close to a Catholic elementary school.

“That is something that was very, very concerning to…

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As the world celebrates a new pope, the largest group for survivors of clerical abuse in the U.S. – SNAP – is calling for a zero tolerance policy, but there’s more to the story in the Chicago area.

The longtime leader of SNAP’s Chicago office knows Pope Leo XIV’s family. So, while he echoes the group’s call for change with this new pope, his main message is one of hope.

SNAP stands for Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. Larry Antonsen does more than lead the group in Chicago, he’s a survivor himself, and has been involved in the organization for more than 20 years.

“He seems like a pretty normal guy, from what I’ve heard and seen,” he said of Pope Leo XIV, whose Chicago connection goes back a long way. “His mom and dad were at our wedding, so we go back kind of a long way.”

…

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America’s first pontiff will grapple with the church’s decline in Europe and rise in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and will need to confront the decadeslong sexual abuse scandal.

Pope Leo XIV has inherited a raging battle for not only the soul of the Catholic Church, but also its place in the geopolitical world.

The new pope will have to decide whether his global pulpit will continue Pope Francis’ broadly progressive legacy, or revert to a more conservative approach. The first American pontiff will grapple with the spiritual decline in the church’s European power base, coupled with its rise in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America. And he will be forced to confront the legacy of the decadeslong sexual abuse scandal.

“Usually the most important thing that the pope has to take care of is the Catholic Church…

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Richard McGrath is no longer part of the Augustinian Order under which he served as priest, Patch has learned.

Richard McGrath, the embattled priest and former president of Providence Catholic High School, has been dismissed from the religious order under which he served, its leadership has confirmed to Patch.

The factors behind his dismissal were not disclosed in the Augustinian Order’s statement. It was also not clear if McGrath is dismissed from solely the Order, or clerical state entirely. Patch is seeking to verify.

Both McGrath and the Order which runs the school were previously sued by former student Robert Krankvich, who alleged in 2017 that he had been raped by McGrath as a teen. The lawsuit was settled in 2023, with the school and Order paying Krankvich $2 million.

Krankvich died in April 2025, at the age of 43. His death, attorney Marc Pearlman said, was…

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Catholic bishops in Washington state are rejecting a new law that requires clergy to report child sexual abuse revealed during the sacrament of confession—setting up a constitutional clash between church doctrine and state law.

The law requires clergy of all faiths and traditions throughout Washington to come forward about child abuse, including priests who are told about abuse during confession.

However, a priest who reveals anything told to him during confession will be excommunicated from the Church, even when it comes to a crime being committed within their congregation.

Why It Matters

The law raises significant First Amendment questions and could reshape how religious confidentiality is handled across the U.S. While clergy are mandated reporters in most states, the majority still protect confessions as privileged communication. Washington is set to become one of the few states to explicitly deny such an exemption.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched a civil…

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Robert Morris, the founding pastor of Southlake-based megachurch Gateway Church, is set to make his first court appearance in front of an Oklahoma judge Friday at 10 a.m. as he faces five different counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child dating back to the 1980s.

Here’s everything you need to known about Morris’ case and what his initial hearing could mean for him.

The accusations

Morris first faced accusations nearly a year ago from Cindy Clemishire, who told religious blog The Wartburg Watch Morris abused her when she was 12 years old in 1982. The abuse lasted for more than four years when Clemishire resided in Oklahoma, she said.

Morris, 63, resigned last June after admitting to “sexual inappropriate behavior” with a child in a statement to The Christian Post.

“When I was in my early twenties, I was involved in inappropriate sexual…

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Pastor Landon Schott and his Mercy Culture Church gave Michael Brown a hero’s welcome with confetti and applause, as he returned to ministry this week, following sex abuse allegations.

In an Instagram post, Schott said he refuses to participate in “cancel culture,” claiming Brown has “only made me want to be a better man, a better leader, and a better Christian.”

Schott added, “Though all the noise and accusations, Jesus said, ‘You will know them by their fruit’ . . . I’m a part of the fruit of Dr. Brown.”

Last December, a former secretary of Brown’s accused the acclaimed apologist of grooming her in the early 2000s and sexually abusing her, as first reported by The Roys Report (TRR). The woman, who later identified herself on social media as Sarah Erin Monk, claimed Brown had a pattern of holding her hand, kissing her on the lips, and slapping her on…

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As many celebrate Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost‘s historic selection as pope, the world’s largest organization for clergy sexual abuse victims is worried about the pontiff’s past handling of sexual abuse cases and called on him to take a tougher stance on the issue that has long plagued the Roman Catholic Church.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a network that says it represents more than 25,000 victims and supporters worldwide, released a statement on the day of Pope Leo XIV’s selection expressing “grave concern” and urging him to “enact a truly universal zero tolerance law for sexual abuse and cover-up.”

The Chicago-born pontiff was chosen to lead the Vatican on May 8, just one day after the conclave to pick a successor to the late Pope Francis began. Prevost, 69, was born and raised in Chicago but went on to spend most of his career in Peru, first as a…

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Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, is facing backlash just hours into his papacy after disturbing allegations resurfaced from his time in the United States and Peru.

Survivors and advocacy groups claim the newly elected pontiff failed to act on serious child sexual abuse reports under his leadership.

The growing controversy is raising urgent questions about accountability, transparency, and the future of reform within the Catholic Church.

Pope Leo XIV Faces Allegations Over Ignoring Sexual Abuse Reports

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and other advocacy organizations have expressed deep concern over Pope Leo XIV’s past handling of abuse cases.

In a chat with the Daily Mail, Lopez de Casas, a victim of clergy abuse and national vice president of SNAP, accused the newly elected pope of failing to address abuse allegations, which Casas said were relayed to…

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A former Jacksonville pastor who was arrested in 2022 as part of a yearslong investigation into allegations of sexual and physical abuse of minors at a church spanning over 30 years will avoid prison time, a Duval County judge ruled Thursday.

Paul Dyal, 81, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a child, a third-degree felony, after the state dropped two counts of first-degree capital sexual battery against him.

Dyal was one of three pastors arrested in a 2022 raid at the Jacksonville Assembly of the Body of Christ church on Old Kings Road over accusations of child sexual abuse at the church between 1976 and 2001. Dyal was the church’s founder.

A disposition obtained by First Coast News states that the victim in Dyal’s case had reported the allegations decades prior, but no follow-up was conducted. As renewed allegations came to light,…

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A Sanford pastor had been arrested following allegations of inappropriate conduct, and sexually touching and assaulting two underage females.

Yersson David Solarte Basto, 34, is charged with sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation.

On April 10. police received a report of an inappropriate relationship between Solarte and two juvenile victims.

According to a news release, investigators learned that Solarte “did create or attempt to create an inappropriate relationship with the victims, did inappropriately touch the victims, and sexually assaulted one of the victims.”

During the investigation, it was revealed that the incidents occurred at Ipul Pentecostal Church in Sanford, where Solarte was the Pastor and both victims were members.

Police said that following the allegations, Solarte was removed from his role as Pastor and a warrant was issued for Solarte’s arrest.

Sanford Police Investigators coordinated with local and out-of-state agencies to arrest Solarte, who was believed to be out…

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Former megachurch pastor Robert Morris stands before an Osage County judge, facing allegations of child sexual abuse stemming from the 1980s.

The founder of one of the nation’s largest churches is set to appear before a judge today in Pawhuska.

Robert Morris is accused of sexually abusing an Oklahoma child in the 1980s. Authorities said Cindy Clemishire was 12 when the alleged abuse began.

RELATED: Robert Morris charged by grand jury with sexually abusing a child in the 1980s

Clemishire and Morris are expected to attend Friday’s hearing, however, Clemishire is not required to be there.

Clemishire said the time has come to hold Morris accountable.

“Justice. I mean, it’s just the first step to justice is having the indictment,” Clemishire said. “I really hope that it makes a statement to everyone out there that it’s not okay.”

Morris was indicted on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with…

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The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is urging the new pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, to create a “universal zero tolerance law for sexual abuse and cover-up”

• SNAP, a national advocacy group for survivors of clergy sexual abuse, issued a statement expressing “grave concern” about the election of Pope Leo XIV
• The group cited his handling of an abuse case in Chicago, where Leo was the provincial supervisor of the Augustinian
• “You can end the abuse crisis — the only question is, will you?” SNAP’s statement said.

Survivor groups are expressing concern about Pope Leo XIV’s past handling of sexual abuse allegations against Catholic priests.

On Thursday, May 8, shortly before the Vatican announced the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, of Chicago as the 267th pontiff,  the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP),  released a lengthy exhortation calling on the new leader of the Roman Catholic…

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Cardinal Robert Prevost joins the conclave Wednesday to pick Pope Francis’ successor. His rise in the faith began at a South Side church. “Even as a young teenager, he knew what he wanted to do and where he wanted to go,” a schoolmate says.

To people who grew up in the old St. Mary of the Assumption parish on 137th Street, it’s no surprise that one of their own, Cardinal Robert Prevost, will be part of the conclave that will gather starting Wednesday in the Sistine Chapel to choose the next pope.

Prevost, 69, was elevated to cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023 and now leads the influential Vatican office that selects and manages bishops.

“It was pretty apparent back then that was going to be his route,” John Doughney, a fellow St. Mary’s grade school graduate from 1969, says of Prevost’s path to the priesthood. “Some of us had…

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Survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests are calling on Pope Leo XIV to institute a zero-tolerance policy while demanding an investigation into his handling of prior misconduct allegations.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which has 25,000 members worldwide, released a statement Thursday acknowledging the “gravity of the role” Cardinal Robert Prevost assumed as the first American pope in the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year history.

“With the title comes a grave reckoning,” the group, known as SNAP, said in a statement.

Hours earlier, prior to the 69-year-old Prevost being elected to lead roughly 1.4 billion Catholics around the world, SNAP released a 6-page open letter calling on the new pontiff to instill a “truly universal zero tolerance law for sexual abuse and cover-up” by clergy.

“Now that he’s the pope, we’re gravely concerned,” SNAP spokesperson Sarah Pearson told Newsweek. “These are serious allegations by three women and…

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Resurfaced allegations state that the new pope failed to act against accused priests in Illinois and Peru, raising questions about how he will address clergy sexual abuse.

Cardinal Robert  Francis Prevost, the American prelate elected on Thursday to succeed Francis as Pope Leo XIV, was hailed in St. Peter’s Square for becoming the first US‑born pontiff.

Yet survivor‑advocacy groups and Catholic media quickly resurfaced allegations that he failed to act decisively against accused priests during earlier assignments in Illinois and Peru, raising questions about how the new pope will address clergy sexual abuse going forward. 

Prevost, 69, led the Augustinians’ Midwest province in Chicago from 1998 to 2010 and was later the order’s worldwide head. During that span, Rev. Richard McGrath remained president of Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox despite long‑standing complaints that he had abused at least one student and kept child pornography images on…

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Survivors respond to Pope Leo XIV’s election with grave concern about his record managing abuse cases

As white smoke rises, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) extends its acknowledgment to Pope Leo XIV on the gravity of the role he now assumes. With the title comes a grave reckoning.

“We were once the children of the church,” began an open letter released by SNAP earlier this afternoon. “The sex offender in the collar commits two crimes: one against the body, and one against the voice. The grand pageantry around your election reminds us: survivors do not carry the same weight in this world as you do.”

This letter is not the first of its kind. Survivors wrote to Pope Francis before his death after he announced plans to write an apostolic exhortation to children. He never replied. “Now that task falls upon you,” SNAP wrote to…

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May 8 Written By David Clohessy

Statement by David Clohessy of SNAP (former national director) 314 566 9790

Two years ago, SNAP and ECA filed a formal complaint to the Vatican about how then-Fr. Prevost – and other Catholic officials – were (and still are) acting recklessly, callously and secretively with a Chicago predator, Fr. Richard McGrath. We’ve still received no response from the Vatican. 

Frankly, it shows an alarming contempt for suffering abuse victims and betrayed Catholic parishioners that the church hierarchy has promoted a cleric who is accused of acting irresponsibly in child sex cases on two continents (North & South America).

We beg anyone who knows about or suspects abuse cover ups by the new pontiff or other Augustinian officials – in the US, Peru or elsewhere – to come forward now. It’s crucial for the safety of kids that Prevost’s full record on this most crucial matter.

…

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Newly elected Pope Leo XIV concelebrates Mass with the College of Cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican the day after his election as 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP)

The new pope, Leo XIV, has this in common with many of his peers in the Catholic hierarchy: He’s been in positions of authority when accusations of sexual abuse have arisen against priests under his supervision.

Now some advocates for victims say there needs to be an accounting of how Leo — the name taken by Cardinal Robert Prevost upon his election Thursday — handled such cases when he held positions of church authority in Chicago and Peru. And they hope that as pope, he will crack down on other bishops who they say are mishandling similar cases.

“Some might advise giving the new pontiff the benefit of the doubt. We disagree….

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Sexual abuse is “the rotten fruit of the Sexual Revolution,” says Jeff Dalrymple, director of the Southern Baptist Convention’s newly created Sexual Abuse Prevention and Response department, which operates under SBC Executive Committee.

In two Baptist Press columns published May 5 and May 6, Dalrymple set forth his view that abuse is part of “the rotten fruit Western culture has borne over the last several decades” and blamed “the counterculture movements of the 1960s.”

This is deeply disheartening and undercuts any thought that Dalrymple might make a difference in propelling the SBC toward meaningful action to address its clergy sex abuse crisis.

Framing the SBC’s widespread sexual abuse scandal as stemming from “the Sexual Revolution” is a reach too far. It’s also a tactic of obfuscation that already has been tried and rejected in the Catholic context — and of all people, Dalrymple should have known that.

Clergy sex abuse is a…

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On April 29, “Trey’s Law” passed the Missouri Senate as an amendment to HB-737. The child protection bill, sponsored by Sen. Jamie Burger and authored by Rep. Melissa Schmidt, now awaits Gov. Mike Kehoe’s signature.

Sponsored by Sen. Brad Hudson as SB-590, “Trey’s Law” prohibits the misuse of nondisclosure agreements against child sexual abuse and trafficking victims in civil settlement agreements.

Missouri

The bill passed in the Missouri Senate Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee back in April. Versions of “Trey’s Law” also were championed in the Missouri House by Rep. Brian Seitz and House Judiciary Chair Cameron Parker.

“These are legal mechanisms that were created to protect trade secrets, not trauma secrets,” Seitz said in a recent address on the House floor when his version of “Trey’s Law” was perfected.

Several victims of Kanakuk Kamps, a summer camp ministry based in Seitz’s district and currently under multiple litigations related to serial child sexual…

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As history was made a few hours ago here in Rome, I listened to the church bells and roar of the crowd. I was surprised to hear that the world would have an American born pope, Pope Leo XIV.   I am glad I wasn’t in St Peter’s square in the midst of the revelry.  The adoration for a man I’ve heard mixed reviews about, frankly makes me worry.  There is a sense here of instant elevation to “almost sainthood,” with all practical skepticism abandoned. 

The only advantage that American cardinals have over those in other countries is their familiarity with the expectation of zero tolerance and transparency.  Most American cardinals’ adherence to these ideals is lukewarm at best, but at least they’ve taken a stab at it.  Not so in most of the world!  Unfortunately, Cardinal Prevost was never a bishop or cardinal in the US.  His leadership was mostly…

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One of the most pressing issues facing Pope Leo XIV is tackling sexual abuse by clergy in the Catholic Church — and campaigners say he has a mixed record.

Two victims’ rights groups, SNAP and Bishop Accountability, issued statements following his election as the first pope from the United States on Thursday, questioning the 69-year-old’s commitment to lifting the lid on the scourge.

As head of the Augustinian order worldwide and then as bishop of the Peruvian diocese of Chiclayo between 2015 and 2023, “he released no names of abusers”, Bishop Accountability’s Anne Barrett Doyle alleged.

The same was true of his two years as head of the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, a key Vatican department that advised Pope Francis on the appointment of bishops, she said.

“Prevost oversaw cases filed… against bishops accused of sexual abuse and of cover-up. He maintained the secrecy of that process, releasing no names…

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The remarks, delivered in Italian and Spanish, were made from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Leo XIV delivered his first public remarks since taking over as leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. He urged the world to seek peace and remember those who suffer. The following is a transcript of his speech.

Peace be with you! Dearest brothers and sisters, this was the first greeting of the risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave his life for the flock of God. I, too, would like this greeting of peace to enter your hearts, to reach your families and all people, wherever they are; and all the peoples, and all the earth: Peace be with you.

This is the peace of the risen Christ, a disarming and humble and preserving peace. It comes from God. God, who loves all of…

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[Includes the full text of Pope Leo XIV’s first homily]

Jesus’ question is not insignificant. “It concerns an essential aspect of our ministry, namely, the world in which we live, with its limitations and its potential, its questions and its convictions.”

Beautiful: There’s hardly another word for Pope Leo XIV’s first Mass. The vibrant colors of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel contrasted with the dazzling white vestments of row after row of cardinals, punctuated in places by a brightly-dressed cardinal of the Eastern Churches.

The perfectly intoned melodies of the men and boys of the Sistine Chapel choir and the precise careful movements of the monsignors in charge of papal ceremonies. It is the Church in all her splendor, proud and joyous with her new Successor of Peter.

With the strength of youth (he’s only 69) and a firm voice, the new Pope began the homily … in his native…

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Just over 2,000 of the 10,783 Child Victims Act lawsuits filed from 2019 to 2021 have been settled or disposed of.

Back in 2019, James Manfredonia and some of his former Little League teammates thought they would finally be able to confront the coach who they allege abused them decades ago when they sued him under New York’s Child Victims Act.

Five years later, they have yet to get a trial date, and their lawsuit against Tony Sagona remains in limbo.

The Sagona case is no outlier. For two years, from 2019 to 2021, 10,783 lawsuits were filed under the Child Victims Act in New York on behalf of 14,588 men and women who say teachers, coaches, priests and other authority figures sexually abused them as children decades ago, according to figures provided by the state’s Unified Court System.

Of those cases, 7,632 were assigned to judges,…

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Surprise, hope, excitement and pride were reflected in many of the initial reactions to Cardinal Robert Prevost on May 8 emerging on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as Pope Leo XIV.

Prevost, a 69-year-old Chicago-born Augustinian friar who has spent much of his ecclesial career abroad, is the first pope born in the United States, a development once thought to be near impossible among Vatican experts.

Kansas City, Kansas, Archbishop-elect Shawn McKnight — the last archbishop appointed by Pope Francis — told National Catholic Reporter that he was “floored, stunned and full of hope.”

Dominican Sr. Barbara Reid, president of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where Prevost graduated with a Master of Divinity in 1982, told NBC News Chicago that she was not prepared for the news.

“We are overjoyed that someone who is beloved and known to us is now the beloved leader of…

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We are concerned about the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as pope. His known record on abuse, with one exception, is troubling. He has been accused by victims in his former diocese in Peru of disregarding their allegations against two priests, and he has a history of resisting disclosure of abuse information to the public.

For the last two years, as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Prevost oversaw cases filed under Vos estis against bishops accused of sexual abuse and of cover-up. He maintained the secrecy of that process, releasing no names and no data. Under his watch, no complicit bishop was stripped of his title.  

As Superior General of the Augustinians and then bishop of the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru from 2015 to 2023, he released no names of abusers.

Most disturbing is an allegation from victims in his former diocese in Peru that he never opened…

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