ABUSE TRACKER

USA
Domradio

Am letzten Tag seiner USA-Reise ist Papst Franziskus mit Opfern sexuellen Missbrauchs zusammengetroffen. Zudem besuchte er ein Gefängnis und kritisierte den Strafvollzug. Den Abschluss der Reise bildet ein großer Familien-Gottesdienst.

Nach der Begegnung mit drei Männern und zwei Frauen, die als Minderjährige von katholischen Geistlichen missbraucht worden waren, zeigte sich das Kirchenoberhaupt betroffen. “Gott weint”, sagte Franziskus am Sonntag. Als Papst trage er Sorge, dass die Verantwortlichen zur Rechenschaft gezogen und junge Menschen künftig geschützt werden.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor September 27, 2015

PHILADELPHIA – Now that Pope Francis has confirmed that he met with victims of sexual abuse Sunday morning, the question will be asked: Do these sessions make a difference?

This is the seventh time a pope has met victims. Pope Benedict XVI held five such sessions, with the first coming during his own 2008 visit to the United States. Pope Francis held his first meeting with victims in July 2014 in Rome, and he has appointed two victims to his own Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

As a matter of practice, the Vatican does not release much information beyond confirming that the meeting happened. There’s no video or still photos, because organizers don’t want it to look like a publicity stunt. They insist that these are private, pastoral meetings, while leaving the victims free to make their own decisions about what they choose to reveal.

Each time these encounters happen, victims usually come away grateful that they’ve been heard. They often talk about how visibly moved the pope seemed as they told their stories, and they express hope that the Church will take their suffering to heart as it attempts to learn the lessons of the abuse scandals.

Over time, however, opinions about what these meetings accomplish often differ.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Reuters

By Philip Pullella September 28, 2015

Pope Francis dove into some of the United States’ thorniest political debates during his historic visit by urging the world’s wealthiest nation to welcome immigrants, to end homelessness and do more to address climate change.

Sometimes his political messages were blunt, like when he pleaded before the U.S. Congress for Americans to end “hostility” toward immigrants. Other times, they were more subtle, like the climate-conscious pope’s decision to ride around in a tiny Fiat rather than a gas-guzzling SUV.

While Vatican officials said the pope was only re-stating Church social teachings and not making political statements in his first U.S. visit ever, many in the public and across the political landscape saw it differently.

Among them, 42-year-old Gabriela Muñoz of Brooklyn, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, who said the pope’s comments on immigration had given her “a lot of hope and faith.

“Even if it’s a small thing, it has to have touched the heart of congressmen,” she said.

But in an acutely polarized Congress, it was unclear if lawmakers’ minds were changed by Francis’ words in Washington or at the United Nations, where he condemned the “boundless thirst” for wealth and power.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
News 12

PHILADELPHIA – While many appreciated the pope’s recognition of clergy abuse Sunday, victims say that the pontiff’s words were not enough.

Pope Francis met with clergy sex abuse victims in Philadelphia on Sunday, and promised to hold those responsible accountable.

Robert Hoatson, former priest with the Archdiocese of Newark who now counsels victims of abuse, says victims want the pope to hold bishops accountable for allowing priests who have abused to stay in ministry.

“Are you going to fire them because you haven’t fired anybody yet?” Hoatson said. “Are you going to tell the bishops to stop blocking legislation in the United States that will give victim survivors their day in court?”

In June, Pope Francis set up a tribunal to examine bishops of wrongdoing.

Hoatson’s group offered the names Archbishop John Meyers of Newark, former Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, and Cardinal Raymond Burke.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

by Kristine Ward, September 28, 2015

So far, it is a thin tissue that Pope Francis and the Roman Catholic Church have handed to God as a comfort to weeping over the sexual abuse victims.

Pope Francis said on Sunday morning in his unscripted remarks to bishops and seminarians at the Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia following his meeting with five victims of sexual abuse that “God weeps” because of the sexual abuse.

Even to get the tissue, the Church had to be driven to the store by massive media reporting, grand jury investigations by civil authorities and lawsuits brought by survivors.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Portland Press Herald

BY MARC FISHER
THE WASHINGTON POST

With a generous spirit and palpable affection for American values, Pope Francis won the nation’s heart during his six-day visit that ended Sunday. With his commitment to unchanging church doctrine, he disappointed some who yearn for reform.

His message was pastoral, a series of dramatic reminders of man’s obligations toward the needy, the stranger, the other. His gestures were powerful – his tiny Fiat that knocked the papacy down to a human level, his loving embrace of a disabled child, his decision to dine with the homeless directly after addressing Congress.

But as he delivered moving messages of humanity, the Argentine prelate, making his first trip to the United States at age 78, avoided engaging in America’s polarizing culture wars.

The result for many Catholics, liberal and conservative, was a sense of possibility and renewal, tempered by questions about whether welcoming rhetoric is enough to bridge serious divisions as a traditional church struggles to find its place in a fast-paced, disillusioned society.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Peter Smith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PHILADELPHIA — Pope Francis pledged to sexual-abuse survivors Sunday that bishops who fail to protect children from abusive priests, and not just the abusers themselves, “will be held accountable.”

The pontiff did not say what that accountability would entail in his prepared remarks for the private, long-anticipated meeting with five survivors of sexual abuse by priests or family members. He listened to the victims’ stories, prayed with them and pledged “we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead.”

His spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said those details are being worked out but noted that the pope did form a commission to address such cases.

The meeting took place with three women and two men Sunday morning at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, where grand jury reports in 2005 and 2011 contained explosive revelations of systematic cover-ups of abusive priests by past archbishops and their staffs. A former archdiocesan official is currently incarcerated for his role in the cover-up.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

SHANNON DEERY HERALD SUN SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

A FORMER priest accused of molesting a string of young children is facing fresh allegations after two new victims recently made complaints to police.

Robert Claffey is due to stand trial on 14 counts of indecent assault, one count of committing an indecent act on a child under the age of 16, and one count of buggery on a girl.

But the County Court heard today Mr Claffey would face more charges after two new victims had made statements to police.

He is accused of molesting children while stationed in parishes in the Ballarat Diocese in the 1980s.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Time

Elizabeth Dias / Papal Plane @elizabethjdias

The Pontiff touched on sexual abuse, women priests and peace in Colombia

Pope Francis offered his first review of the U.S. at 39,000 feet late Sunday night. Less than an hour after departing Philadelphia, he concluded his nine-day trip to Cuba and the U.S. with a wide-ranging, in-flight press conference that touched on everything from religious liberty debates in the U.S. to the popularity of the American nuns to his own increasing stardom. He addressed journalists for nearly 60 minutes in Italian and Spanish.

Each U.S. city was different, the pontiff said, but the warmth of the country made an impression during his first-ever visit. Washington was very welcoming, but “more formal.” New York, was “stralimitate,” an Italian-Spanish mash-up that evokes overwhelming, exuberant, beyond the limits. Philadelphia was “very demonstrative.” Overall, Pope Francis said he was struck by the piety of the American people. “The church’s challenge is staying close to the people … not being a detached church,” he said. “This is something that the church in America has understood and understood well.”

Pope Francis also underscored that conscientious objection is a human right. He was asked if he supported individuals — including government officials — who say they cannot in good conscience abide by some laws or discharge their duties, for example when issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples. “I can’t have in mind all cases that can exist about conscience objection but yes, I can say [that] conscientious objection is a right that is a part of every human right,” he said. “If a person does not allow others to be a conscientious objector, he denies a right. … Conscientious objection must enter into every judicial structure … Otherwise we would end up in a situation where we select what is a right, saying ‘this right that has merit, this one does not.’”

One of the most poignant moments came when Pope Francis spoke about a mother who cannot forgive her daughter’s sexual abuser. The Lord still welcomes her, Francis said, even if she cannot forgive. “I understand that woman,” he said. “And God who is even better than me understands her. And I’m sure that that woman has been received by God. … I don’t judge someone who can’t forgive.”

He also directly acknowledged that the ugliness of the priestly cover-up of sexual abuse, in addition to the ugliness of the abuse itself. “Those who covered this up are guilty. Even some bishops who covered this up,” he said. “It is a terrible thing.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Huffington Post

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Pope Francis said on Monday government officials have a “human right” to refuse to discharge a duty, such as issuing marriage licenses to homosexuals, if they feel it violates their conscience.

Speaking to reporters as he returned home from a 10-day trip to the United States and Cuba, Francis also repeated his condemnation of priests who had sexually abused children, saying the victims had been “crushed by evil.”

Although the Argentine-born pontiff delved into some of the United States’ thorniest political debates during his visit, he never specifically referred to a controversy over same-sex marriages, which the Church firmly opposes.

On the flight back to Rome, he was asked if he supported individuals, including government officials, who refuse to abide by some laws, such as issuing marriage licenses to gays.

“Conscientious objection must enter into every juridical structure because it is a right,” Francis said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
GlobalPost

By Scott Malone and Philip Pullella

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Pope Francis confronted the sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic clergy on the final day of his first U.S. visit on Sunday, meeting with five adults abused as children and vowing to hold accountable those involved in the crimes and cover-ups.

The pope left the United States on Sunday night, departing from Philadelphia International Airport on an American Airlines flight to Rome. He was seen off by a number of dignitaries, including Vice President Joe Biden.

Wrapping up the six-day U.S. trip, the 78-year-old Argentine pope celebrated Mass outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a neoclassical edifice astride a rocky hill overlooking the Schuylkill River, before the largest crowd of his visit. Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput said the crowd numbered more than a million.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

The New York Times

By JIM YARDLEY
SEPT. 28, 2015

ABOARD THE PAPAL AIRPLANE — Hours after meeting with sexual abuse victims in Philadelphia, Pope Francis on Sunday night again strongly condemned priests who molested children as “sacrilegious” and publicly acknowledged that bishops had covered up abuse cases.

“When a priest abuses, it is very grave because the vocation of the priest is to make that boy, that girl grow toward the love of God,” Francis said. “For this reason, the church is strong on this and one must not cover these things up. Those who covered this up are guilty. Even some bishops who covered this up.”

Francis spoke during a wide-ranging news conference aboard the papal airliner after his trip to Cuba and the United States. He remarked on a variety of topics, including the issue of conscientious objection, the peace talks in Colombia, the so-called Roman Catholic divorce, the construction of border walls to block migrants in Europe — and he also tossed in a grinning endorsement of New York.

After a trip in which huge crowds turned out to see him, Francis on Sunday tried to salve the one major contentious point that erupted during his time in the United States: his comments on sexual abuse. Many victims were infuriated after Francis praised and comforted American bishops in Washington for their handling of the crisis before he met with any victims.

The controversy stewed until Sunday morning in Philadelphia, when Francis met with a group of abuse victims and their family members. Later that morning, Francis condemned the sexual abuse crisis during a meeting with global bishops. On the plane, Francis was asked why he had felt the need to offer bishops comfort and consolation even as feelings about the crisis remained raw in cities like Philadelphia.

“I felt the need to express compassion because something really terrible happened,” the pope replied. “And many of them suffered who did not know of this.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

National Catholic Reporter

Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service | Sep. 28, 2015

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM PHILADELPHIA
As the American Airlines plane taking him to Rome from Philadelphia took off, Pope Francis said he pictured the faces of all the people he met, and he prayed for them.

At the end of his first-ever visit to the United States, the pope told reporters he “was surprised by the warmth of the people” and how they were “so loving. It was beautiful.”

Spending close to 50 minutes with members of the media flying back to Rome with him Sept. 27, the pope said he also was struck by the sincere piety of people at his Masses and prayer services.

Shortly after takeoff, Pope Francis responded to a dozen questions, including why he spoke with such compassion to U.S. bishops in Washington about what they went through in the aftermath of the clerical sex abuse crisis.

“I felt a need to express compassion because what happened was horrible, and many of them suffered a lot,” the pope said. For “men of prayer, good pastors” the crisis was truly a “tribulation.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Athen Banner-Herald

By NICOLE WINFIELD
ASSOCIATED PRESS – published Monday, September 28, 20150

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE | Pope Francis has defended his words of consolation to U.S. bishops over the priest sex abuse scandal but says — for the first time — that those who covered up for abusers are guilty of wrongdoing.

In a wide-ranging press conference en route to Rome from his first-ever visit to the United States, Francis also declared conscience objection a “human right,” explained his love affair with American nuns and discussed his own star-power, which was fully on display during his six-day, three-city tour.

He also invented a new Italian word to describe the exuberant reception he received in New York City: “stralimitata” — roughly, “beyond all limits.”

On his last day in the U.S., Francis on Sunday met with five survivors of sexual abuse and issued a warning to bishops that they would be held accountable if they failed to protect their flocks.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

AUSTRALIA
MuMBRELLA

An editorial published in the Hamilton Spectator suggesting the sentencing of an octogenarian paedophile priest “seemed pointless” has been ruled by the Australian Press Council to be offensive.

The editorial fin the weekly ‘The Spec ‘Blog’ section commented on the case of a former priest who had lost an appeal against a prison sentence for the indecent assault of a nine year old girl and case involving a former Hamilton teacher who was sentenced to imprisonment for 18 months.

The piece, which was published on April 25, opined that the suspended sentence for an 83 year old infirm priest living in a nursing home “seemed pointless” and that he was “obviously not going to re-offend”. The former teacher was said to have “got 18 months gaol for merely touching an U16 girl’s breast and genitals”.

At the time the editorial attracted national criticism, with ABC Media Watch questioning the views expressed by the newspaper’s owner Richard Beks.

In its defence after a complaint to the press council the local South West Victoria paper argued the editorial’s intention was to consider the wide range of impacts that such abuse can have, adding the editorial repeated what a judge had said and it had done all it could to rectify any misunderstandings.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Rome Reports

READ FULL SPEECH:

Mr. Vice-President,
Distinguished Authorities,
My Brother Bishops,
Dear Friends,

My days with you have been brief. But they have been days of great grace for me and, I pray, for you too. Please know that as I prepare to leave, I do so with a heart full of gratitude and hope.

I am grateful to all of you and to the many others who worked so hard to make my visit possible and to prepare for the World Meeting of Families. In a particular way I thank Archbishop Chaput and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the civil authorities, the organizers, and all the many volunteers and benefactors who assisted in ways large and small.

I also thank the families who shared their witness during the Meeting. It is not so easy to speak openly of one’s life journey! But their honesty and humility before the Lord and each of us showed the beauty of family life in all its richness and diversity. I pray that our days of prayer and reflection on the importance of the family for a healthy society will inspire families to continue to strive for holiness and to see the Church as their constant companion, whatever the challenges they may face.

At the end of my visit, I would also like to thank all those who prepared for my stay in the Archdioceses of Washington and New York. It was particularly moving for me to canonize Saint Junípero Serra, who reminds us all of our call to be missionary disciples, and I was also very moved to stand with my brothers and sisters of other religions at Ground Zero, that place which speaks so powerfully of the mystery of evil. Yet we know with certainty that evil never has the last word, and that, in God’s merciful plan, love and peace triumph over all.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Dallas Morning News

PHILADELPHIA — At the start of an otherwise joyous and well-received trip to the United States, Pope Francis hit one seriously sour note: He praised U.S. bishops for their handling of the sexual abuse scandal and told priests he felt their pain — leaving abuse victims stunned and infuriated, asking why he neglected to even acknowledge their anguish.

On the last day of his journey, Francis stepped to a lectern here before hundreds of seminarians and bishops from around the world and tried to salve the open wound. He said that he had met in private with a group of victims and pledged that “all responsible will be held accountable.”

“God weeps” at the sexual abuse of children, he said in an early translation from Spanish of his remarks added to the start of a scripted address in the chapel at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary here on Sunday. “I commit to the careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected.”

His remarks and the meeting, anticipated for weeks and carefully choreographed, were greeted with varying degrees of skepticism by abuse victims who have now seen two popes on U.S. trips meet with victims and make sweeping promises to protect children. They would like to believe that Francis’ words are sincere and pledges are real, but they continue to have serious doubts, in part because of his comments earlier this week, and because of how Sunday’s gathering came together.

Some of the victims who met with the pope had been abused by relatives or educators — not all by Catholic clergy.

The Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said this was done intentionally to show that the church is taking a “larger perspective” on the problem of sexual abuse. He added that the pope waited to make these remarks until Sunday, when he was scheduled to address an international group of bishops because, “we know the problem is a universal problem, in the universal church, and also in society.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

CHICAGO (IL)
CBS Chicago

Nancy Harty

(CBS) — Pope Francis’ pledge to protect children from sexual abuse by priests and to hold accountable those responsible did not win over the head of a local survivors group.

The pope talking with sex abuse victims is nothing new, Barbara Blaine says.

The president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests says the pontiff has held such meetings seven or eight times before and other than providing comfort to those in attendance, it doesn’t do much.

Blaine called the meeting a “photo op” and referred to his comments to U.S. bishops as “timid.”
The pontiff said he commits to careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected and all those responsible will be held accountable.

Blaine says “lofty words” from Pope Francis won’t protect children and he should stop acting like the abuse is over and take steps to prevent it.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NEW YORK
Road to Recovery

Neal E. Gumpel is a clergy sexual abuse victim of Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, a deceased former professor at Fordham University, Bronx, NY, and Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine, where Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, sexually abused Neal Gumpel when he was a minor child

Fordham University and the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), who staff Fordham University and were responsible for Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, for decades until his death, refuse to acknowledge and bear responsibility for the allegations of sexual abuse against Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, in Maine and give any assistance to Neal E. Gumpel, settle and validate his claim, and help him heal

What
A press conference and leafleting alerting the media, Fordham University students and community, and the general public that the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and Fordham University refuse to assist a clergy sexual abuse victim of one of its priests, Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ

When
Monday, September 28, 2015 from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm

Where
Outside the gates of Fordham University on Southern Boulevard near the Bronx Botanical Gardens, Bronx, NY

Who

Neal E. Gumpel; his wife, Helen; survivor and advocate Kevin Waldrip; and Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., co-founder and President of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity based in New Jersey; other supporters

Why
Neal E. Gumpel is a sexual abuse survivor of Jesuit priest Rev. Roy Alan Drake, SJ when he was a teenager. The sexual abuse occurred at Maine Maritime Academy, in Castine, Maine, where Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ was teaching and acting as a priest at all times. Fordham University and the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) have refused to validate Neal E. Gumpel’s allegation, despite the fact that other allegations against Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ have been found credible and settled. Demonstrators will call on Fordham University and the Society of Jesus to do the right thing, validate and settle the claim of Neal E. Gumpel, and help him heal.

Contacts
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Pope’s promise to “end secrecy” means Chaput must act, group says
SNAP: Pontiff’s ‘accountability’ pledge means “enablers” must be punished
Self-help organization wants three recent local abuse cases to be “re-examined”

What:
Holding signs and childhood photos, after Pope Francis has ended his historic US visit, clergy sex abuse victims will urge Philly area Catholics and their church officials to honor and act on the promises he made. Specifically, the victims will urge Archbishop Charles Chaput to
— discipline even a few priests who hid or ignored child sex crimes, and
— disclose more about and “re-visit” three recent clergy sex abuse cases.

When:
Monday, Sept. 28 at 1:30 p.m.

Where:
Outside the Philadelphia Catholic archdiocesan headquarters, 222 North 17th Street (corner of Race) in Philadelphia, PA

Who:
Three-four members of an international support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Missouri woman who is the organization’s long time outreach director

Why:
On Sunday, Pope Francis made strong promises, including that “abuse cannot be kept secret any longer,” “all responsible will be held accountable,” and that church officials will provide “careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected.”

In light of these pledges and others, SNAP is challenging Philly church officials and members to “take tangible steps” to act on these “noble sentiments”.

Regarding secrecy, the group wants Archbishop Charles Chaput to “disclose more about those who concealed – not just those who committed – clergy sex crimes.”

Regarding accountability, the group wants Chaput to “punish priests who protected Philly’s 136 publicly accused predator priests.”

“With almost 140 child molesting clerics, and three detailed grand jury reports, Chaput knows which church staff have hidden or ignored clergy sex crimes, but he won’t punish them,” said SNAP’s Karen Polesir of Ambler.

“He’s breaking the pope’s repeated accountability promises. So Chaput should publicly demote at least one church staffer now.”

SNAP also wants Chaput to revisit and reveal more about three recent “troubling” local abuse cases.

–A year ago, with little explanation, Chaput put Msgr. Joseph Logrip back on the job in a parish. Catholic officials admit he faced allegations of sexually violating “minors.” (Notice the plural.) He is also accused, according to the Philly Inquirer, of knowing of an “attack” on a child by a priest but doing “nothing.”

[BishopAccountability.org]

(Regarding the abuse charges, Chaput only says they are “unsubstantiated.”)

–Last year, Chaput also kept secret for months about child sex abuse reports involving Fr. John P. Paul. Fr. Paul resigned claiming he was “considering a serious road trip for ‘renewal’ purposes.” Chaput let this lie go unchallenged. When Chaput finally did announce that abuse complaints led to Fr. Paul’s suspension, he notified only one parish. (Eventually, Philly church officials told the public and the rest of their flock.)

–In 2012, Chaput “recklessly” put Fr. Joseph DiGregorio back on the job even though the priest “violated behavioral standards.” Chaput justified his decision by claiming that a “clinical evaluation” supposedly says the priest is no threat to children and because “no other complaints were reported.” The church’s 2002 national abuse policy, however, says nothing about a priest being kept in a parish if a therapist says he’s no threat. (Before 2002, dozens of bishops used this same rationale when, with disastrous results, they put hundreds of accused predators back around kids.)

Given Francis’ professed commitment to end secrecy and “always be vigilant to protect children,” SNAP wants Chaput and his abuse review board to “look again at these cases, be more forthcoming and err on the side of caution.

“At best, Chaput does the absolute bare minimum required of him under the church’s vague, weak, decade-old abuse policy. Surely, he’ll do more in light of Francis’ latest promises,” said David Clohessy, director of SNAP. “At worst, Chaput violates that policy by putting accused predators back on the job, by letting suspended predators live unsupervised, and by being secretive in ways that continue to put kids at risk. That too, we’d expect to change, given the pontiff’s clear pledges.”

Contact:
Barbara Dorris (314 503 0003, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org), David Clohessy (314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com), Becky Ianni (703 801 6044,SNAPvirginia@cox.net

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

By Terence McKiernan
President
BishopAccountability.org
September 27, 2015

After the Pope’s remarks regarding bishops and priests, and his meeting with clergy abuse survivors and other abuse survivors together, it’s sadly no surprise that Pope Francis somehow preached on the Gospel passage most relevant to clergy abuse without confronting that issue.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

The Gospel reading on the millstone has been embraced by survivors of clergy abuse. Pope Francis could have acknowledged those survivors by preaching at the closing of the World Meeting of Families on that crucial aspect of today’s Gospel, and by confronting the issue of clergy abuse squarely in his homily. This would have salvaged a visit otherwise tone-deaf on this terrible problem, and would also have corrected the failure of the World Meeting of Families to include clergy abuse on its agenda.

How the Pope might have addressed this difficult Gospel today may be seen in the “shadow homily” that I posted a week ago.

Pope Francis also referred several times in his homily to scandal, a concept with an egregious history in clergy abuse and its discourse. He used the word because in the Gospel passage, the English “causes … to sin” renders the Greek verb skandalizein, which literally means “to cause to trip or err.” Again, Pope Francis failed to confront a crucial aspect of the Gospel reading.

The Pope missed an important opportunity to address clergy abuse at the closing of the World Meeting of Families, and failed to acknowledge obvious links between today’s Gospel and the plight of clergy abuse survivors in the United States and around the world.

Terence McKiernan
President
BishopAccountability.org
508-479-9304 :: cell
@TerryMcKiernan1 :: twitter
Introduction to the Archives

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

MASSACHUSETTS
WCVB

BOSTON —Some victims of clergy sex abuse feel the Pope’s word fell short.

Pope Francis met with survivors and members related to survivors of clerical sex abuse and has promised to hold accountable those responsible.

The Rev. Federico Lombardi says the three women and two men met with the pope for a half hour at the St. Charles Borromeo seminary Sunday. Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston, accompanied the group.

Lombardi says the pope prayed with the survivors, listened to their stories and expressed his closeness in their suffering and his “pain and shame” in the case of those abused by priests.

But some survivors believe the Pope is not fully addressing the issue.

“When a child is abused by a priest, it ruins their spirituality,” said Phil Saviano, a victim’s advocate of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP). Saviano was abused by a priest when he was 12 years old.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
New York Times

Alan Rappeport

Pope Francis met in private on Sunday morning with a group of victims of the sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Roman Catholic Church.

But while he expressed sorrow for the incidents and promised more oversight, for some it was not enough.

“I truly hope that those victims find healing from meeting with him, but what about the rest of the victims?” said Becky Ianni, an abuse victim and spokeswoman for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Speaking to CNN, Ms. Ianni said that the pope’s remarks were expected, but that he has the power to take additional steps to hold bishops accountable for their actions and to create transparency within the church.

“What we really need is for him to do something to protect children,” she said after Francis’ remarks.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
New York Times

Vivian Yee

The five victims of child sexual abuse who met with Pope Francis on Sunday morning included some who had been abused by relatives or educators, not Roman Catholic clergy — a deliberate decision made to show that the church is taking a “larger perspective” on the problem of sexual abuse, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman.

Victims of clergy sex abuse and their advocates saw something less benign at work: a subtle but unmistakable effort by the Vatican to shift the terms of the debate, to show “that it’s not always the church’s fault,” as Marci A. Hamilton, a law professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University who has represented hundreds of victims of clerical sexual abuse, put it.

Church officials have argued that sexual abuse of children is not confined to the Catholic Church, pointing out that it infects other institutions and other religions as well. The pope may not have explicitly said the same, the advocates said, but the meeting’s inclusion of people abused by teachers and relatives as well as priests spoke volumes.

“He almost seems to be trying to deflect attention somewhere else,” said Barbara Blaine, the president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, the country’s most prominent support and advocacy group for victims of clergy sexual abuse. “Of course those who are sexually violated suffer horribly, regardless of who the perpetrator is. But the problem that we see is that we think Pope Francis has both the authority and the responsibility to stop the sexual violence in the church, and he’s failing to do that.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Questions from a Ewe

My last night in China, I stayed up well past bedtime to watch Pope Francis address the U.S. Congress. I noted both what he said and what he didn’t say. He explicitly called for a global end to the death penalty and arms sales. He explicitly called for welcoming immigrants, tending the environment and caring for the poor. He explicitly spoke of the perils of child abuse. He never uttered the words, “abortion,” “birth control,” “Obamacare,” “Planned Parenthood,” or “gay marriage.”

I had to settle for reading the transcript of his homily to U.S. bishops in D.C. in which he congratulated and thanked the bishops for their actions around the clergy sex abuse scandals without offering any encouragement to abuse survivors. Yet, most abuse survivors and many lay people find the bishops’ individual and collective actions on this topic to span between cowardly and dastardly…not even close to the “courageous” description ascribed by Francis.

It seemed the connection between Francis’ child abuse comments to Congress and the lifelong wounds arising from clergy-inflicted child sexual abuse eluded Francis. In declaring the bishops’ response “courageous” and speaking of the issue as though concluded while so many abuse survivors still constantly battle abuse ramifications, Francis displayed appalling insensitivity. He evaded institutional responsibility to walk in healing restitution with survivors every day, every step of their lives.

While reading that homily I was also struck by Francis’ seeming assumption that the bishops and clergy are penultimate experts on and purveyors of gospel messages – and that they just tirelessly need to be gentle until the (clueless, sad, miserable) sheep finally catch on to their wonderful messages. This, would bring about healing in the church, he seemed to say. That and the clergy abuse comments made me wonder about Francis’ institutional self-awareness.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
ABC 27

The following transcript is from Pope Francis’s meeting with sex abuse victims at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, as provided by the Vatican:

My dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, I am grateful for this opportunity to meet you, I am blessed by your presence. Thank you for coming here today.

Words cannot fully express my sorrow for the abuse you suffered. You are precious children of God who should always expect our protection, our care and our love. I am profoundly sorry that your innocence was violated by those who you trusted. In some cases the trust was betrayed by members of your own family, in other cases by priests who carry a sacred responsibility for the care of soul. In all circumstances, the betrayal was a terrible violation of human dignity.

For those who were abused by a member of the clergy, I am deeply sorry for the times when you or your family spoke out, to report the abuse, but you were not heard or believed. Please know that the Holy Father hears you and believes you. I deeply regret that some bishops failed in their responsibility to protect children. It is very disturbing to know that in some cases bishops even were abusers. I pledge to you that we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead. Clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children.

We are gathered here in Philadelphia to celebrate God’s gift of family life. Within our family of faith and our human families, the sins and crimes of sexual abuse of children must no longer be held in secret and in shame. As we anticipate the Jubilee Year of Mercy, your presence, so generously given despite the anger and pain you have experienced, reveals the merciful heart of Christ. Your stories of survival, each unique and compelling, are powerful signs of the hope that comes from the Lord’s promise to be with us always.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
USA Today

[with video]

John Bacon and Aamer Madhani September 27, 2015

PHILADELPHIA — A much-anticipated pronouncement from Pope Francis on Sunday that clergy responsible for sex abuse will be “held accountable” drew disdain from victims advocacy groups but positive reviews from Vatican experts.

At a meeting with about 300 international bishops, Francis said he met privately Sunday with five adults who experienced sexual abuse by clergy, family members or teachers when they were minors. The pontiff promised “zealous vigilance” in protecting young people in the future.

“I remain overwhelmed with shame that men entrusted with the tender care of children violated these little ones and caused grievous harm,” he added. “I am profoundly sorry. God weeps.”

David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said that years ago the church pretended that abuse and coverups were not happening. The church narrative now, he said, is to express regret for past behavior and pretend abuse is not still happening.

“Is a child anywhere on Earth safer now that a pope, for maybe the seventh or eighth time or ninth time, has briefly chatted with abuse victims? No,” Clohessy said after Francis remarks Sunday. “A smart public relations move. That’s what this meeting is. Nothing more.” …

John Thavis, a former Catholic News Service reporter and author of The Vatican Diaries, also said he was encouraged by the pope’s statement.

“The pope promises accountability, which has been the missing element in the Vatican’s approach to sexual abuse,” Thavis said. “He is delivering on this issue, too, having announced the establishment of a tribunal at the Vatican that will judge bishops who have failed to protect children.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

KATHERINE TOWERS
THE AUSTRALIAN
SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

Members of the ultra-orthodox Adass Israel School board face a possible criminal investigation for helping secrete former headmistress and serial sex offender Malka Leifer out of Australia to avoid detection, after a major backflip by Victoria Police.

The Australian revealed last week that board members had potentially breached Victoria’s Crimes Act by arranging for Leifer to flee Australia in the dead of the night in 2008 when they were aware she was facing allegations of sexually abusing more than eight girls.

Despite last Thursday emphatically ruling out a criminal investigation into the actions of individual board members, Victoria Police yesterday changed their stand and revealed it was now under consideration.

“Police will be looking at this as a broader part of the investi­gation to determine whether an offence has been committed,’’ a police spokeswoman said.

Leifer is under house arrest in Israel facing extradition to Australia on dozens of child abuse charges relating to her time at the strictly devout Adass Israel School.

In awarding a former student and abuse victim of Leifer more than $1.2 million compensation earlier this month, Supreme Court judge Jack Rush was scathing of the behaviour of board members in helping the mother of eight flee Australia’s criminal jurisdiction by arranging for her to fly out after she had been sacked.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Sojourners

By David Gibson, Religion News Service 09-27-2015

Pope Francis began the final day of his U.S. visit by meeting privately with five adults abused as children by clergy, teachers, or family members, telling them they should expect the church to look after them and vowing “the zealous vigilance of the church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all,” including bishops.

“For those who were abused by a member of the clergy, I am deeply sorry for the times when you or your family spoke out, to report the abuse, but you were not heard or believed. Please know that the Holy Father hears and believes you,” he told the three women and two men — who he called “survivors” — at the private meeting at a seminary here on Sept. 27.

A leading victims’ advocacy group in the U.S. quickly dismissed the meeting as another “feel good, do nothing” papal meeting with survivors. This is the second time Francis has met with victims; the first was in the Vatican in July last year.

According to the Vatican’s account of the meeting, Francis expressed “deep regret” that some bishops shielded abusive priests, and added: “I pledge to you that we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead. Clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children.”

The pope praised the witness of the victims, who were not identified, and said their presence was “so generously given despite the anger and pain you have experienced.”

In later remarks to a group of bishops, he called the victims “heralds of hope and ministers of mercy” — mercy being a key theme of Francis’ efforts to make the church more open and inclusive. …

David Clohessy, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, had been critical of the proposed meeting and what he heard of Sunday morning’s encounter did not change his mind.

“Is a child anywhere on earth safer now that a pope, for maybe the seventh or eighth time or ninth time, has briefly chatted with abuse victims? No,” Clohessy said in a statement.

“A smart public relations move. That’s what this meeting is. Nothing more.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Record

BY MARINA VILLENEUVE
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD

Minutes after apologizing to survivors of priest sexual abuse survivors on Sunday morning, Pope Francis veered off script and promised a crowd of Catholic bishops and seminarians that he would hold accountable clergy members who sexually abuse children.

“I hold the stories and the suffering and the sorrow of children who were sexually abused by priests deep in my heart,” the pontiff said in Spanish to an audience of bishops, seminarians and seminary staff in St. Martin’s Chapel at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary outside Philadelphia.

“The crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of children must no longer be held in secret,” the pope said. “I pledge the zealous vigilance of the church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all.”

The pope’s words about the sex-abuse scandal that continues to haunt the Church on the last day of his first visit to the United States, where he has spoken about global inequality, immigration and the importance of family to Congress, the United Nations and hundreds of thousands of people at masses and gatherings in New York, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. After his remarks at the seminary, he was headed for Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility to meet with inmates, their families and staff and later the capstone of his visit, an outdoor mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi SJ said that for an hour Sunday morning, Pope Francis met with five adults — three women, two men — who were sexually abused as children by members of clergy, family members or teachers.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
New York Times

Vivian Yee

Before Pope Francis touched down in the United States, Kenneth M. O’Renick, 72, who was six when he was abused by a priest at his parish school in Kansas City, was brimming with optimism about the pope. Then he heard what Francis had said to American bishops in Washington about their courage and generosity in the face of the sexual abuse crisis.

“It just turned us off,” he said on Sunday, after the pope announced that he had met with a group of abuse victims in Philadelphia. “As much good as this pope has done, what he said, we were very disappointed, very disappointed in that. That was a big step back. That was something that hit us right between the eyes.”

His praise for the bishops, Mr. O’Renick said, made his promises to protect youth and hold abusers accountable on Sunday “ring hollow, very hollow, to me.”

Before Francis’ arrival, Mr. O’Renick took the removal of Bishop Robert W. Finn as head of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph as proof that Francis was taking decisive steps toward accountability. By Sunday, he had lost his certainty: “He has not even come close to what needs to be done, in my opinion,” he said. “I hope that it gets better, but I’m certainly not as hopeful as I was in anticipation of him coming.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Washington Post

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Abby Ohlheiser and Terrence McCoy

PHILADELPHIA – Pope Francis told U.S. bishops and seminarians on Sunday that he had met with sex abuse survivors. “God weeps,” he said in remarks ahead of a prepared speech on the family.

Five adults who were abused as minors – three women and two men – were at the meeting along with their families, according to the Vatican’s press office. The survivors were abused by clergy, family members, or their teachers. …

“As with all things related to the Catholic Church, you have to listen to the words and then you have to watch what they do,” said John Salveson, a clergy sex abuse survivor, prominent activist and president of The Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse.

Salveson said the Vatican has been aware of possible solutions “for years, if not decades.” They include releasing the identity of priests who have been defrocked for abusing children; involving civil authorities when there is abuse, particularly in other countries, and extending the statute of limitations on clergy sex abuse, he said.

“The reason this all continued is that these priests don’t get prosecuted and the bishops who hide them don’t get prosecuted because they are protected by the statute of limitations,” he said.

The pope’s outreach is useful to the extent it eases victims’ suffering, said Marie Collins, a member of an advisory commission the pope set up to help him improve the church’s response to abuse.

“If it’s going to help their healing, then it’s a positive experience for them. It’s a very positive experience for them,” said Collins, a clergy abuse survivor from Ireland. But, Collins added, the meeting “really is not connected [to the] work for the future of child protection.”

Instead, she said, the pope’s decision to set up a papal commission advising him on how to handle the issue going forward was “the most positive change to happen” so far.

Robert Hoatson, who held signs in support of victims of abuse in front of Philadelphia’s basilica over the weekend, said on Sunday that he felt the pope’s comments brushed too quickly over the serious issue. “This is getting more bizarre,” said Hoatson, who works with victims. ” It’s going to cause more distress, more traumatization, re-abuse,” he said, “because it seemed like a side note.”

“It was as if he added this to his talk without telling the bishops what he is going to do, including removing some of [the bishops],” Hoatson said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Katholisch

Papst Franziskus ist in den USA mit Missbrauchsopfern zusammengetroffen. Das teilte er bei einer Begegnung mit rund 300 Bischöfen in Philadelphia am Sonntag mit.

Dabei kündigte er auch an, dafür zu sorgen, dass “alle Verantwortlichen zur Rechenschaft gezogen werden”. Im Juni hatte Franziskus ein eigenes vatikanisches Gericht für Bischöfe eingerichtet, die sexuellen Missbrauch von Mitarbeitern vertuschen.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Die Presse

Papst Franziskus hat während seiner USA-Reise in Philadelphia Missbrauchsopfer getroffen und eine harte Strafe für die Schuldigen angekündigt. “Ich verspreche, dass alle Verantwortlichen für sexuellen Missbrauch von Kindern bestraft werden”, sagte der Pontifex am Sonntag bei einem Treffen mit Bischöfen zum Abschluss seiner USA-Reise.

Zuvor hatte Franziskus fünf Missbrauchsopfer empfangen, drei Frauen und zwei Männer, wie der Vatikan mitteilte. Die Opfer berichteten in dem etwa 30 Minuten langen Treffen von ihren Erfahrungen, Franziskus richtete einige Worte an sie, begrüßte dann jeden einzeln und betete mit ihnen. Der Papst sagte anschließend vor den Bischöfen aus aller Welt, er empfinde “tiefe Scham”, dass den Kindern Gewalt angetan worden sei und schwere Leiden verursacht worden seien. “Diese Verbrechen können nicht länger geheim gehalten werden”, sagte er. “Gott weint” angesichts dieser Taten.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Zeit

Philadelphia (AFP) Papst Franziskus ist bei seinem Besuch in den USA mit Opfern von Kindesmissbrauch durch Angehörige der katholischen Kirche zusammengetroffen. “Gott weint über diejenigen, die angegriffen wurden”, sagte er am Sonntag, als er vor Bischöfen in Philadelphia von seinen Begegnungen berichtete. Die Leidtragenden seien “wirkliche Helden der Barmherzigkeit”, fügte er hinzu. Die Täter würden zur Rechenschaft gezogen.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
kath.ch

Philadelphia, 27.9.15 (kath.ch) Papst Franziskus ist bei seiner USA-Reise mit Missbrauchsopfern zusammengetroffen. Nach Angaben von Vatikansprecher Federico Lombardi sprach und betete der Papst bei dem ausserplanmässigen Treffen am Sonntag, 27. September, in Philadelphia mit drei Frauen und zwei Männern, die als Minderjährige von Geistlichen und Kirchenmitarbeitern missbraucht worden waren.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Radio Vatican

Papst Franziskus hat in Philadelphia Überlebende von sexuellem Missbrauch getroffen. Er trage die Lebensgeschichten und das Leiden dieser Minderjährigen im Herzen, sagte der Papst zum Beginn seiner Begegnung mit Bischöfen, die am Weltfamilientreffen teilnehmen. Er empfinde „tiefe Scham, dass Personen, denen diese Kleinen anvertraut waren, ihnen Gewalt antaten“ und schweres Leid verursachten. „Gott weint“ angesichts dieser Verbrechen, sagte Franziskus den Bischöfen aus aller Welt und schärfte ihnen ein: „Die Verbrechen des sexuellen Missbrauchs an Minderjährigen dürfen nicht länger geheim gehalten werden. Ich verspreche, dass alle Verantwortlichen dafür Rechenschaft ablegen werden.“

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor September 27, 2015

PHILADELPHIA – Now that Pope Francis has confirmed that he met with victims of sexual abuse Sunday morning, the question will be asked: Do these sessions make a difference?

This is the seventh time a pope has met victims. Pope Benedict XVI held five such sessions, with the first coming during his own 2008 visit to the United States. Pope Francis held his first meeting with victims in July 2014 in Rome, and he has appointed two victims to his own Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

As a matter of practice, the Vatican does not release much information beyond confirming that the meeting happened. There’s no video or still photos, because organizers don’t want it to look like a publicity stunt. They insist that these are private, pastoral meetings, while leaving the victims free to make their own decisions about what they choose to reveal.

Each time these encounters happen, victims usually come away grateful that they’ve been heard. They often talk about how visibly moved the pope seemed as they told their stories, and they express hope that the Church will take their suffering to heart as it attempts to learn the lessons of the abuse scandals.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC News

[with video]

by HASANI GITTENS

Once again, not enough!

That’s the message from the Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, following Pope Francis’ message Sunday morning that he had met with some victims of clergy sex abuse.

“Is a child anywhere on earth safer now that a pope, for maybe the seventh or eighth time or ninth time, has briefly chatted with abuse victims? No,” said SNAP Director David Clohessy, in a statement.

The comments came after Francis in Philadelphia Sunday morning said he had met with survivors of clerical sex abuse.

The pope said he promised to “zealously” protect young people and that “all those responsible are held accountable.”

But SNAP just dismissed the meeting as a “smart public relations move.”

“To give some perspective, let’s assume that roughly the same percentage of priests molest the same percentage of kids across the globe. In the U.S., in 2012, two church experts estimate 100,000 kids in the U.S.” wrote Clohessy. “The US is about 6 percent of the world’s population. If you do the math, that means there are more than 1.5 million men and women on this planet who have been raped, sodomized or molested by Catholic priests.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

AUSTRALIA
BBC News

By Marie McInerney
Melbourne, Victoria

For decades, Peter Blenkiron remained silent about the abuse he had suffered at age 11 at the hands of his Catholic Christian Brother teacher.

Earlier this year, Mr Blenkiron relived the horror of his school days, telling an inquiry into child abuse about how he would be pressed against the wall at the back of the classroom while his teacher physically and sexually abused him, with the other students ordered to look away.

“If there was no sexual abuse after the belting, then you knew you’d had a good day,” the 53-year-old told a hearing of Australia’s landmark Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Giving testimony from his hometown Ballarat, in regional Victoria, and hearing harrowing stories from other survivors of child abuse brought back the pain, Mr Blenkiron told the BBC.

“I was a mess for about two months,” he says.

But he was determined to shine a light on the abuse that has claimed the lives of many of his peers, through suicide and substance abuse, and that turned him into “a ticking time bomb”.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Sep. 27, 2015

PHILADELPHIA
For only the second time in his two-and-a-half year papacy, Pope Francis has met with survivors of clergy sexual abuse during his trip to the U.S. and has told them he is “profoundly sorry” for their suffering.

The Vatican announced the meeting in a brief press bulletin Sunday, saying Francis had met with five survivors of abuse that morning while staying at the St. Charles Borromeo seminary in Philadelphia.

The pontiff met with the survivors as a group and then one-by-one, praying with them and promising a renewed commitment to prevent abuse and provide accountability for those who covered up crimes, the Vatican said.

“Words cannot express my sorrow for the abuse you suffered,” the pope told the survivors, according a text of his remarks for the meeting released by the U.S. bishops’ conference.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Sunday, Sept. 27

Statement by Becky Ianni of Virginia, SNAP Virginia State leader (703-801-6044 cell, SNAPVirginia@cox.net)

The AP reports that including incest victims in the papal meeting today is an effort to “redirect the discussion.”

[US News]

We hope that’s not true. If true, that’s incredibly cynical. It’s pathetic when wrongdoers claim “someone else is even worse.” It was hurtful to victims and Catholics alike when Francis said this in 2010.

[BishopAccountability.org]

It’s hurtful every time a Catholic official makes this self-serving dodge. Almost always, bishops mention incest to shift the focus onto predators and away from their own continuing complicity.

Regardless, however of church officials’ intent, we feel that every victim needs and deserves all the support and validation possible. Our hearts ache for them.

Sadly, by opposing secular reforms of child safety laws, Catholic officials hurt both clergy abuse victims AND incest victims, denying all of us the chance to protect kids by exposing predators in court.

Finally, this morning in Philadelphia, Francis said “I commit to a careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected and that all responsible will be held accountable.” We are sick and tired of these promises by Catholic officials. We’re heard them literally tens of thousands of times.

From 1969 until 1992, Francis was a priest.

From 1992 until 2001, he was a bishop.

From 2001 until 2013, he was a cardinal.

Is there a single shred of evidence that he took even a single step to protect a single child?

And from 2013 until now, he’s talked, promised and gestured but refuses to take simple, proven steps to protect kids, expose predators, punish enablers and deter wrongdoing.

He set up a church study panel. He says he’ll set up a church tribunal. But he continues to keep secret every file about every predator and every enabler. His bishops across the world are hiding even more evidence. These hundreds of thousands of pages about crimes should be in the hands of law enforcement. But under Francis, as best we can tell, not one page has been voluntarily provided to one police officer or prosecutor or government official anywhere.

Francis continues to conceal thousands of names of proven, admitted and credibly accused predator priests. He continues to tolerate thousands of complicit church officials. And he continues to promote dozens of complicit bishops (like Barros in Chile).

We hope the next time Francis talks about this crisis, it’s to announce tangible prevention steps. And we hope he calls it a continuing crisis, not “difficult moments.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

Pope Francis met with victims of child sexual abuse Sunday on the final day of his U.S. visit and promised to hold accountable those responsible for the scandal in the church, delivering a powerful warning to American bishops accused of covering up for pedophile priests instead of reporting them to police.

In a gesture of reconciliation just hours before he was to return to Rome, the pontiff praised the victims as “true heralds of mercy” who deserve the church’s gratitude for helping to bring the truth to light.

“God weeps, for the sexual abuse of children cannot be maintained in secret, and I commit to a careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected and that all responsible will be held accountable,” Francis said in Spanish while in the City of Brotherly Love for a big festival on the Catholic family.

It was Francis’ second such meeting: He met with sexual abuse victims at the Vatican in July 2014.

But in a move that signaled a new effort by the church to reshape the discussion, the Vatican said not all five of the victims at Sunday’s meeting were abused by members of the clergy; some of the three women and two men had been victimized by family members or educators.

“I was so touched by his statement to the survivors,” said Allentown Bishop John O. Barres, who attended the pope’s visit to St. Charles Borromeo Seminary on Sunday morning and was among the concelebrants of Sunday afternoon’s Mass in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
6 ABC

PHILADELPHIA — Read the full text of Pope Francis’ remarks to Bishops taking part in the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Angelus – The Tidings

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — Pope Francis met with a group of victims of sexual abuse Sept. 27 and later told bishops that he was overwhelmed by a sense of embarrassment and was committed to holding accountable those who harmed children.

In a meeting with cardinals, bishops, priests and seminarians at St. Charles Borromeo, the pope prefaced his address on the importance of the family by saying that he had met with the group as arranged by Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput. The Vatican said the 30-minute meeting, with three women and two men abused by members of the clergy or their families or their teachers, was held at the seminary shortly before the pope addressed the bishops.

“It is engraved in my heart, the stories, suffering and pain of the children abused by priests,” the pope said. “I continue to feel an overwhelming sense of embarrassment because of those who had in their care the little ones and caused them great harm.

“I am deeply sorry. God cries,” he said.

He said that “the crimes and sin of sexual abuse of children can no longer remain secret” and that he “committed the close vigilance of the church to protect the children, and I promise that all responsible will be held accountable.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse (FACSA)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 27, 2015
Contact: John Salveson at 215-870-0680 salveson@abolishsexabuse.org

BRYN MAWR, PA – John Salveson, President of FACSA, (Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse) released the following statement regarding Pope Francis’ comments in a speech to a group of bishops in Philadelphia today regarding the ongoing clergy sex abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church.

“This morning Pope Francis committed to ‘careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected and that all responsible will be held accountable’ when addressing the clergy sex abuse crisis.

The truth is that the survivor community has been asking the church to take several simple steps to protect children and hold perpetrators and enablers accountable for years, but the Church has refused to take these actions. If Pope Francis wishes to take effective action to back up his words he could take these steps immediately:

• Require that every diocese in the world immediately report all past and present allegations of clergy sex abuse to civil authorities when it is suspected or discovered. Today, only the Church in the United States of America has been given this direction.
• Require that every diocese in the world immediately disclose the identities of those who have been accused of child sex abuse so that children can be protected from them.
• Instruct the Vatican to immediately disclose the identities of the hundreds of priests who have been defrocked because of their sexual abuse of children so that children can be protected from them.
• Instruct every diocese and Catholic advocacy organization, such as the Catholic Conferences of every state in America, to immediately drop their relentless lobbying against the reform of criminal and civil statutes of limitations in place today, which protect abusers and enablers at the expense of children.

Most importantly, we implore the U.S. Department of Justice and the Attorneys General of each state in America to investigate the criminal behavior of the Roman Catholic Church in America and take the steps necessary to hold them accountable for their despicable actions.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — While speaking to bishops and archbishops at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Pope Francis touched on a number of topics, including sex abuse within the Catholic Church.

He said, “In my heart, the suffering of those youth that were sexually abused, and it continues to be on my mind. The people who had the responsibility to take care of these tender ones violated that trust and caused them great pain.”

Pope Francis continued, “God weeps for the sexual abuse of children. These cannot be maintained in secret. I commit to a careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected and that all responsible will be held accountable.”

“Those that have survived this abuse have become true heralds of mercy. Humbly, we owe each of them our gratitude for their great value, as they have had to suffer with terrible abuse, sexual abuse, of minors. I say this, I would like to express my gratitude to the archbishop, and I felt it very important that I share this with you today. And I am very happy to share these moments of pastoral reflection with you amid the joyful celebration of this World Meeting of Families.”

“For the church, the family, is not first and foremost a cause for concern, but rather a … of god’s blessing upon the masterpiece of creation. Every day, all over the world, the church can rejoice in the Lord’s gift of so many families, who even amid difficult trials, maintain faithful to their promise and keep the faith.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Daily Beast

Barbie Latza Nadeau

Evidently moved by his meeting with abuse survivors on Sunday, the pope departed from his official script to excoriate American bishops for their failures.

ROME—On the last day of his historic visit to the United States, Pope Francis excoriated American bishops and cardinals with him in Philadelphia for their handling of child sex abuse by clergy, one of the most damaging issues the American Catholic Church has ever faced.

Earlier Sunday morning, Francis had gone to St. Charles Borromeo seminary, where he received five adult survivors—three women and two men—who were sexually abused as minors, and his unscripted remarks to the bishops were fraught with emotion.

“I have in my heart these stories of suffering of those youth who were sexually abused,” he said. “And it continues to be on my mind. The people who had the responsibility to take care of these tender ones violated that trust and caused them great pain. God weeps for the sexual abuse of children.”

While the television cameras did not focus on the faces of any of the bishops in the audience, there were several there, including Cardinal Justin Rigali the retired archbishop of Philadelphia, who retired in 2011 amid accusations about his mishandling of known pedophile priests in his parishes. Also in attendance was Cardinal Roger Mahony, the former archbishop of Los Angeles, who was stripped of his duties in 2013 for his role covering up abuse allegations.

Francis was absolutely steadfast in his criticism of the American clerical crimes. “For the sexual abuse of children,” he said, “these cannot be maintained in secret. And I commit to a careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected and all responsible will be held accountable,” he said. “Those who have survived this abuse have become true heralds of mercy…. we owe each of them our gratitude for their great value.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PENNSYLVANIA
Huffington Post

As released by the Vatican.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Thank you for receiving me and giving me the opportunity to be here with you and to share this time in your lives. It is a difficult time, one full of struggles. I know it is a painful time not only for you, but also for your families and for all of society. Any society, any family, which cannot share or take seriously the pain of its children, and views that pain as something normal or to be expected, is a society “condemned” to remain a hostage to itself, prey to the very things which cause that pain. I am here as a pastor, but above all as a brother, to share your situation and to make it my own. I have come so that we can pray together and offer our God everything that causes us pain, but also everything that gives us hope, so that we can receive from him the power of the resurrection.

I think of the Gospel scene where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper. This was something his disciples found hard to accept. Even Peter refused, and told him: “You will never wash my feet” (Jn 13:8).

In those days, it was the custom to wash someone’s feet when they came to your home. That was how they welcomed people. The roads were not paved, they were covered with dust, and little stones would get stuck in your sandals. Everyone walked those roads, which left their feet dusty, bruised or cut from those stones. That is why we see Jesus washing feet, our feet, the feet of his disciples, then and now.

Life is a journey, along different roads, different paths, which leave their mark on us.

We know in faith that Jesus seeks us out. He wants to heal our wounds, to soothe our feet which hurt from travelling alone, to wash each of us clean of the dust from our journey. He doesn’t ask us where we have been, he doesn’t question us what about we have done. Rather, he tells us: “Unless I wash your feet, you have no share with me” (Jn 13:8). Unless I wash your feet, I will not be able to give you the life which the Father always dreamed of, the life for which he created you. Jesus comes to meet us, so that he can restore our dignity as children of God. He wants to help us to set out again, to resume our journey, to recover our hope, to restore our faith and trust. He wants us to keep walking along the paths of life, to realize that we have a mission, and that confinement is not the same thing as exclusion

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Washington Post

By Emma Brown and Frances Stead Sellers September 27

PHILADELPHIA — On the final day of his visit to the United States, Pope Francis met Sunday morning with five victims of clergy sexual abuse at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary — a much anticipated event in a city still scarred by the scandal.

“God weeps,” Francis told a gathering of bishops afterwards, departing from his prepared speech. “I commit to a careful oversight of the church to ensure that youth are protected, and I promise that all those responsible will be held accountable.”

Pope Francis met later Sunday morning with about 100 inmates at the largest of Philadelphia’s six prisons, telling them “all of us need to be cleansed, to be washed.” He waded into the audience of prisoners clad in light blue uniforms, grasping their hands and touching their heads and hugging at least one.

The two meetings served as a reminder of the great tension that surrounds the U.S. Catholic Church: Its handling of sexual abuse remains one of its most profound failings, but its message of redemption and forgiveness displays its enduring moral power.

“I am profoundly sorry that your innocence was violated by those who you trusted,” Francis told the sex abuse victims, according to his prepared remarks that were released by the Vatican. “We promise to support your continued healing and to always be vigilant to protect the children of today and tomorrow.” …

Kevin Waldrip, 64, who was abused on his 13th birthday by “a priest who was one of the first to be convicted,” was unmoved by the pope’s meeting and by his statement afterwards.

“God may weep,” he said, “but [the pope] certainly doesn’t and the church doesn’t. They’ve proven it again and again.”

The pope’s meeting with sexual abuse victims came hours before he is scheduled to celebrate an outdoor Mass before a crowd that could swell into the hundreds of thousands.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADLEPHIA (PA)
Washington Post

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Abby Ohlheiser and Terrence McCoy September 27

PHILADELPHIA – Pope Francis told U.S. bishops and seminarians on Sunday that he had met with sex abuse survivors. “God weeps,” he said in remarks ahead of a prepared speech on the family.

Five adults who were abused as minors – three women and two men – were at the meeting along with their families, according to the Vatican’s press office. The survivors were abused by clergy, family members, or their teachers.

“I have in my heart, the stories of suffering and pain of the minors who were sexually abused by priests. And, it continues to overwhelm me with shame that the people who were charged with taking care of these tender ones violated that trust and caused them a profound pain. God weeps.” Pope Francis said at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, according to a translation of the Spanish remarks by The Washington Post.

“The crimes and sins of sexual abuse of minors cannot be kept in secret any longer.” he continued.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Wall Street Journal

By DEBORAH BALL and SCOTT CALVERT
Sept. 27, 2015

PHILADELPHIA—The pope met with victims of sex abuse by priests on Sunday morning, expressing his “solidarity” for their suffering and assuring them the guilty will be punished.

The Vatican confirmed that the pope met at 8 a.m. Sunday morning at the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary with five adults—three women and two men—who suffered abuse by priests as minors. The group was accompanied by Boston Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, who is the chair of a papal committee for the protection of minors and has been leading the effort at the Vatican to establish new ways of dealing with the problem.

During a speech to bishops following the meeting, the pope said “God weeps” for abuse victims.

“I hold the stories and the suffering and the sorrow of children who were sexually abused by priests deep in my heart,” he said. “I remain overwhelmed with shame that men entrusted with the tender care of children violated these little ones and caused grievous harm. I am profoundly sorry…. The crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of children must no longer be held in secret. I pledge the zealous vigilance of the church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all.”

The Vatican said the pope listened to each of the victim’s stories, prayed with them and “expressed his solidarity” for their suffering. The pope also expressed “his own pain and shame especially in the case of injury caused them by clergy or church workers,” said a Vatican statement. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Atlantic

MARINA KOREN

Pope Francis addressed the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal on Sunday.

“I hold the stories and the suffering and the sorry of children who were sexually abused by priests deep in my heart. I remain overwhelmed with shame that men entrusted with the tender care of children violated these little ones and caused grievous harm,” he said in unscripted remarks before a speech in Philadelphia. “I am profoundly sorry. God weeps.”

Francis said that “the crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of children must no longer be held in secret,” according to a transcript provided by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“I pledge the zealous vigilance of the church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all,” he said.

This weekend, Francis met privately with three women and two men who suffered sex abuse as minors, according to the Vatican’s English language press representative. They were accompanied by several clergy members, including Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, whom Francis named to a Vatican anti-abuse commission last spring. More on the meeting from the representative:

The Pope spoke with visitors, listening to their stories and offering them a few words together as a group and later listening to each one individually. He then prayed with them and expressed his solidarity in sharing their suffering, as well as his own pain and shame in especially in the case of injury caused them by clergy or church workers.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Star Tribune

By NICOLE WINFIELD and RACHEL ZOLL Associated Press
SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

PHILADELPHIA — Pope Francis met with victims of child sexual abuse Sunday on the final day of his U.S. visit and promised to hold accountable those responsible for the scandal in the church, delivering a powerful warning to American bishops accused of covering up for pedophile priests instead of reporting them to police.

In a gesture of reconciliation just hours before he was to return to Rome, the pontiff praised the victims as “true heralds of mercy” who deserve the church’s gratitude for helping to bring the truth to light.

“God weeps, for the sexual abuse of children cannot be maintained in secret, and I commit to a careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected and that all responsible will be held accountable,” Francis said in Spanish while in the City of Brotherly Love for a big festival on the Catholic family.

It was Francis’ second such meeting: He met with sexual abuse victims at the Vatican in July 2014.

But in a move that signaled a new effort by the church to reshape the discussion, the Vatican said not all five of the victims at Sunday’s meeting were abused by members of the clergy; some of the three women and two men had been victimized by family members or educators.

Later Sunday, Francis visited a Philadelphia jail to give hope and encouragement to about 100 inmates, included suspected killers, rapists and mobsters. He greeted the men one by one, along with their families, telling them to spend their time behind bars getting their lives back on track. …

But in an apparent effort by the church to reshape the discussion, the Vatican said not all five of the victims on Sunday were abused by members of the clergy; some of the three women and two men had been victimized by relatives or educators.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Newsweek

Updated | PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Pope Francis met on Sunday with five adults who were abused by Catholic clergy when they were children and vowed to hold responsible all involved in the crime or cover-ups.

While the pope has met with victims of sexual abuse in Rome, this was his first meeting with them on a foreign tour. Philadelphia has been the most publicly scarred in the U.S. Church abuse scandal out of any of the cities visited by Francis, who ends his six-day U.S. tour later in the day.

“I have in my heart these stories of suffering of those youth that were sexually abused,” Francis told bishops.

“The people who had the responsibility to take care of these tender ones violated that trust and caused them great pain. God weeps for the sexual abuse of children.”

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said that at the morning meeting in Philadelphia’s seminary the pope “expressed participation in their suffering and pain and shame.”

“He renewed the Church’s commitment to listen to victims and treat them with justice, to punish the guilty and that crimes of abuse would be fought with an effective program of prevention in the Church and in society,” the spokesman said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NPR

Updated at 11:40 a.m. ET

Pope Francis, in a previously unannounced stop, met with victims of clergy sex abuse in Philadelphia, as the pontiff is wrapping up a six-day visit to the U.S. that will culminate with a huge Mass this afternoon.

Meeting with 300 bishops, Francis said he had met with the sex abuse survivor group Sunday morning.

“It continues to be on my mind that the people who had the responsibility to take care of these tender ones, violated that trust and caused them great pain,” he said, adding “God weeps.”

The pope added that the abuse “cannot be maintained in secret. And I commit to a careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected.”

The Vatican, in a statement, says Francis met with three women and two men who had been abused as children. It said that each was accompanied by a family member or someone close and that the pope listened and expressed solidarity in sharing in their suffering.

“He renewed the commitment of the Church to the effort that all victims are heard and treated with justice, that the guilty be punished and that the crimes of abuse be combated with an effective prevention activity in the Church and in society,” the statement said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Sunday, Sept. 27

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those abused by Priests (314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

Is a child anywhere on earth safer now that a pope, for maybe the seventh or eighth time or ninth time, has briefly chatted with abuse victims? No.

A smart public relations move. That’s what this meeting is. Nothing more.

It fits church officials’ carefully-crafted narrative. Years ago, prelates pretended the abuse and cover up weren’t happening. That no longer works. So now they pretend it’s not happening NOW, that it’s all “in the past” and only healing remains to be done. They know, however, this is deceptive and dangerous.

To give some perspective, let’s assume that roughly the same percentage of priests molest the same percentage of kids across the globe. In the US, in 2012, two church experts estimate 100,000 kids in the US.

[National Catholic Reporter]

The US is about 6% of the world’s population. If you do the math, that means there are more than 1.5 million men and women on this planet who have been raped, sodomized or molested by Catholic priests.

(And remember, we’re basing this on estimates from church officials which are, of course, notoriously low. More than 20 years ago, sociologist and author Fr. Andrew Greeley made the same estimate – 100,000 US victims of predator priests – in the Jesuit magazine America.)

[BishopAccountability.org]

And literally countless kids are now vulnerable to abuse by clerics today. That’s where Francis should focus: stopping abuse and cover up now and in the future, not conveniently implying that only healing is needed now. He could meet with a thousand victims. But that wouldn’t safeguard a single child.

A doctor’s first rule is to do no harm. That should be a pope’s first rule too. Stop current sexual violence and cover ups now. Prevent future ones. Then worry about ‘healing.’ Symbolic gestures can come years down the road.

We noted before that Bernie McDaid of Boston, a survivor who met with Pope Benedict, now feels deeply disappointed and betrayed. calling the meeting “self-serving.” (see below)

Yesterday, we heard from an abuse survivor who met with Francis last year, Mark Vincent Healy of Ireland. He told us, in an email, that “since my meeting with Francis last July 2014, nothing has been delivered on in any substantive program in response to the life-long suffering and enormous distress which is inflicted mentally, physically, socially and economically.”

The first time Francis met with survivors, his top spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi said “The most important thing the Pope hopes to come out of this occasion, is that the victims themselves felt welcomed and listened to.” Francis is a charming man and superb communicator. He’ll accomplish this in the US too. But let us not forget that by doing so, he helps no children at all.

[CNN]

In Argentina, over the years, some brave victims have stepped forward. They are the ones Francis could have helped most. But he rebuffed them. (As best we can tell, and based on research from BishopAccountability.org, he refused to meet with victims during the entire time he headed the Buenos Aires archdiocese.)

[BishopAccountability.org]

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Washington Post

By Emma Brown,, Julie Zauzmer and Pam Constable September 27

PHILADELPHIA — On the final day of his visit to the United States, Pope Francis told a gathering of bishops that he has met with victims of clergy sexual abuse.

“God weeps for sexual abuse of children,” Francis said. “I commit to a careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected and that all responsible will be held accountable.”

His remarks came Sunday morning at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, hours before he is scheduled to celebrate an outdoor Mass before a crowd that could swell into the hundreds of thousands.

The afternoon Mass is the climax of a historic six-day journey to Washington, New York and Philadelphia that has riveted Americans’ attention, giving Francis a broad audience for his messages about serving the poor, bolstering families, caring for the environment and welcoming newcomers to the country.

“Viva, Papa!” jubilant crowds have shouted everywhere the Argentine pope has gone. “Pray for me” has been his frequent refrain.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Today

PHILADELPHIA – Pope Francis told bishops in Philadelphia that he had met with victims of clerical sexual abuse, adding that “God weeps” for them.

“God weeps for sexual abuse of children,” the 78-year-old pontiff said. “Youth are protected and … all responsible will be held accountable.”

The reports of abuse and the cover-up first became big news in 2002. Victims’ groups say the church has not done enough. As many as 100,000 U.S. children may have been the victims of clerical sex abuse, insurance experts said in a paper presented at a Vatican conference in 2012. REUTERS

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PENNSYLVANIA
New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN and DANIEL J. WAKIN
SEPT. 27, 2015

PHILADELPHIA — Speaking to hundreds of bishops and seminarians, Pope Francis on Sunday said he met in private with a group of victims of sexual abuse and he pledged that “all responsible will be held accountable.”

“God weeps,” he said.

The pope, speaking on the last day of his trip to the United States, delivered his words before his prepared speech. He said abuse survivors “have become true heralds of mercy. Humbly, we owe each of them our gratitude for their value as they have had to suffer terrible abuse.”

His first reference to the scandal, at a prayer service with bishops in Washington on Wednesday, drew criticism from advocates for survivors of abuse for not going far enough. He told the bishops he was “conscious of courage with which you have faced difficult moments in the recent history of the Church in this country without fear of self-criticism and at the cost of mortification and great sacrifice.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PENNSYLVANIA
Lancaster Online

WYNNEWOOD, Pa. (AP) — Latest developments in Pope Francis’ visit to the United States. All times local:

9:15 a.m.

Pope Francis has met with survivors of clerical sex abuse and has promised to hold accountable those responsible.

Francis announced that he had met with a group Sunday, his final day in the United States.

Speaking to U.S. bishops, Francis said sexual abuse can no longer be kept a secret. He says he promised to “zealously” protect young people and that “all those responsible are held accuontable.”

Francis has decided to create a new Vatican tribunal to prosecute bishops who failed to protect their flock by covering up for pedophile priests rather than reporting them to police.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis held a private meeting with victims of clerical sex abuse in Philadelphia on Sunday (27th September) and told bishops afterwards that such crimes “must no longer be held in secret” and promised on behalf of the Church “the accountability of all.” The Pope said he remained “overwhelmed with shame that men entrusted with the tender care of children violated these little ones and caused grievous harm. I am profoundly sorry. God weeps.” He thanked the bishops for all they have down to “shine the light of Christ” on the “evil” of the sexual abuse of children. The Pope’s remarks came during an address with bishops attending the World Meeting of Families on the final day of his pastoral visit to the U.S.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC New York

[with video]

By David Chang, Jim Iovino and Vince Lattanzio

Pope Francis met with victims of clergy sex abuse Sunday morning and vowed “careful oversight” of the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church to ensure “all responsible will be held accountable.”

Francis held a private meeting with survivors of clergy sexual abuse shortly before speaking candidly with hundreds of bishops and seminarians about the issue that has rocked the Catholic Church.

Officials say the meeting happened at the pope’s request and was held on the seminary grounds where he is staying.

“God weeps for the sexual abuse of children,” he said during his speech to about 300 bishops at a Philadelphia-area seminary. “This cannot be maintained in secret, and I commit to a careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected and all responsible will be held accountable.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Guardian (UK)

This was already a packed speech – Francis was expected to speak about the importance of family and the church’s view on marriage – instead, he met with victims of sex abuse this morning and came into the chapel with a message of justice for victims of sex abuse at the hands of priests, and has gone on to speak about the problems with young people putting off marriage.

He’s still going off script and we’re trying to keep up!

21m ago
09:22
Pope Francis appears to have met with victims of sexual abuse this morning.

Father Thomas Rosica, above, is the English-language spokesperson for the Holy See’s press office.

This is a surprise – Vatican spokesperson Father Federico Lombardi said yesterday he could not confirm whether the Holy Father would meet with the victims of abuse, because he said it could not be a “media” event.

27m ago
09:16
Pope Francis in off-script child sex abuse remarks: “God weeps.”

Pope Francis just went off script unexpectedly to address child sex abuse in the church:

[It] continues to be on my mind that people who had the responsibility to take care of these tender ones [children] violated that trust and caused them great pain.

God weeps for the sexual abuse of children. These cannot be maintained in secret, and I commit to a careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected and all responsible will be held accountable.

Those who have survived this abuse have become true heralds of mercy – humbly, we owe each of them our gratitude for their great value as they have had to suffer this terrible abuse sexual abuse of minors.
…

I would like to express my gratitude to the archbishop, and I felt it very important that I shared this message with you today, and I am very happy to be able to share these moments of pastoral reflection with you amid the joyful celebrations of this World Meeting of Families.”

Francis said these remarks before a prepared speech to bishops at the St Charles Borromeo seminary. He went off script in Spanish, this is the translation of the interpreter for the official papal live stream.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 27 September 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Kaga-Bandoro, Central African Republic, presented by Bishop Albert Vanbuel, S.D.B., upon reaching the age limit.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WPTZ

(CNN) — Pope Francis will meet with victims of clergy sexual abuse Sunday, according to two American Catholic leaders.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

DEUTSCHLAND
Wochenblatt

[A week before the family synod begins in Rome, reformed-minded people from Europe, the Americas, Africa and Australia have appealed to Catholic ardinals and bishops for changed in doctrines and pastoral approaches to sexuality. One of the biggest opponents is Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, former bishop of Regensburg.]

Eine Woche vor Beginn der Familiensynode in Rom richten Reforminitiativen aus Europa, Nord- und Südamerika, Afrika und Australien einen Appell an die katholischen Kardinäle und Bischöfe und rufen zu Änderungen der Sexuallehre und Pastoral auf. Einer der größten Gegner ist der frühere Regensburger Bischof Gerhard Ludwig Müller.

In Rom trifft sich ab 4. Oktober die Weltkirche zur außerordentlichen Familiensynode. Für die deutsche Kirche ist beispielsweise der Münchner Kardinal Reinhard Marx mit dabei, der ein Verfechter für eine Öffnung der Kirche in Fragen der strengen Moral ist. Bereits im letzten Jahr hatten sich die Synodenväter getroffen, damals kam es sogar zu einer Kampfabstimmung zwischen Konservativen und Liberalen. Jetzt heißt es im Vorfeld der Synode, die Konservativen hätten den Schock vom letzten Jahr verdaut, den man bekommen hatte, als plötzlich klar war, dass auch Lockerungen etwa im Umgang mit homosexuellen Paaren oder wiederverheirateten Geschiedenen mehrheitsfähig sein könnten.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

DEUTSCHLAND
All-In

[A worldwide network of Catholic lay movements, including the German reform initiative We Are Church has called on the participants of the forthcoming Vatican Synod to liberalize the Church’s sexual teaching.]

Ein weltweites Netzwerk katholischer Laienbewegungen um die deutsche Reforminitiative “Wir sind Kirche” hat die Teilnehmer der bevorstehenden Vatikansynode zu einer Liberalisierung der kirchlichen Sexuallehre aufgerufen.

“Wir sind in großer Sorge über die ständig wachsende Diskrepanz zwischen Glaube und Gewissen bei der großen Mehrheit der Mitglieder der katholischen Kirche einerseits und in der Doktrin und der pastoralen Praxis des kirchlichen Lehramts andererseits”, heißt es in dem internationalen “Appell an die Synodenbischöfe”, der in der kommenden Woche veröffentlicht werden soll. Dem Appell schlossen sich unter anderem die “Wir sind Kirche”-Gruppen aus Deutschland, den USA, Irland, Italien, Schweden, Chile, Südafrika und Großbritannien an. Am 4. Oktober treffen sich rund 400 Kardinäle, Bischöfe, Ordensleute und Laien in Rom, um unter der Leitung von Papst Franziskus über die katholische Familienethik zu beraten. Die Zeit sei reif “für eine stärkere Rückbindung der kirchlichen Lehre an das Evangelium”, schreiben die Verfasser des Appells.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

WASHINGTON (DC)
New York Times

Maureen Dowd

Washington — AFTER attending a canonization Mass at Catholic University with the pope who rails against the excesses of capitalism, I walked off campus to a festival of capitalism.

Vendors were hawking pope bracelets, buttons and T-shirts.

Excited by seeing the humble black Fiat in person and infused with Papa’s warning against the numbing effects of the “culture of prosperity,” I resisted all sales pitches. Until I got to the last guy.

He was selling blue-and-white T-shirts for $10 with the declaration “Coolest Pope Ever.”

Francis is undeniably cool. He once worked as a nightclub bouncer in Buenos Aires. He got a serenade to “Frank, baby,” from his fan Stephen Colbert. He spurred nuns to have a tailgating party at Catholic U. before his Mass, inspired the Internet to erupt in photos of dogs sporting miters and persuaded a blubbering John Boehner that he would never have a day that good again. …

Pope Francis would be the perfect pontiff — if he lived in the 19th century. But how, in 2015, can he continue to condone the idea that women should have no voice in church decisions?

In a scandal that cascaded for decades with abuses and cover-ups, the church was revealed to be monstrously warped in its attitudes about sex and its sense of right and wrong.

Yet shortly after he was elected, Francis flatly rejected the idea that the institution could benefit from opening itself to the hearts and minds of women. Asked about the issue of female priests, he replied, “The church has spoken and says no,” adding, “That door is closed.”

Francis preaches against the elites while keeping the church an elite boys’ club.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
John Thavis

Well, that was interesting.

At the official “religious freedom” event during his U.S. visit, Pope Francis never mentioned the U.S. bishops’ “Fortnight for Freedom” campaigns, nor their battles over alleged religious discrimination on Obamacare provisions and conscience protection issues.

The bishops have certainly made this a priority. Here was Archbishop William E. Lori last June asking the faithful to support their efforts:

“Religious institutions in the United States are in danger of losing their freedom to hire for mission and their freedom to defend the family…. Endangered is the freedom of church ministries to provide employee benefits and to provide adoptions and refugee services in accord with the church’s teaching on faith and morals. It is one thing for others to disagree with the church’s teaching but quite another to discriminate against the rights of believers to practice our faith, not just in word but in the way we conduct our daily life, ministry and business.”

Perhaps a detailed analysis of these matters was never in the cards for Pope Francis. At the White House the other day, he did offer generic backing for the bishops, encouraging the defense of religious freedom from “everything that would threaten or compromise it.” And he made a brief, symbolic stop at the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order that is suing over the Obamacare provisions on contraception coverage.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic Philly

Homily of Pope Francis at Mass with Bishops, Clergy and Religious, Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia

Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015

This morning I learned something about the history of this beautiful Cathedral: the story behind its high walls and windows. I would like to think, though, that the history of the Church in this city and state is really a story not about building walls, but about breaking them down. It is a story about generation after generation of committed Catholics going out to the peripheries, and building communities of worship, education, charity and service to the larger society.

That story is seen in the many shrines which dot this city, and the many parish churches whose towers and steeples speak of God’s presence in the midst of our communities. It is seen in the efforts of all those dedicated priests, religious and laity who for over two centuries have ministered to the spiritual needs of the poor, the immigrant, the sick and those in prison. And it is seen in the hundreds of schools where religious brothers and sisters trained children to read and write, to love God and neighbor, and to contribute as good citizens to the life of American society. All of this is a great legacy which you have received, and which you have been called to enrich and pass on.

Most of you know the story of Saint Katharine Drexel, one of the great saints raised up by this local Church. When she spoke to Pope Leo XIII of the needs of the missions, the Pope – he was a very wise Pope! – asked her pointedly: “What about you? What are you going to do?”. Those words changed Katharine’s life, because they reminded her that, in the end, every Christian man and woman, by virtue of baptism, has received a mission. Each one of us has to respond, as best we can, to the Lord’s call to build up his Body, the Church.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
America Magazine

John A. Coleman

A Still and Quiet Conscience
John A. McCoy
Orbis Books. 288p $26

John McCoy, an excellent writer, tells an insider’s account of the public humiliation of Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen of Seattle. I met Hunthausen on a number of occasions. I always came away with the image of a humble, deeply pastoral and collegial bishop. He was one of my heroes. Bishop William McManus of Fort Wayne told Seattle’s Msgr. Michael Ryan: “Stay with this man and continue to back him. The American hierarchy has produced very few great men. He is one of them!”

McCoy, a former reporter for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and director of public affairs for the Archdiocese of Seattle (in Hunthausen’s last years and also under Hunthausen’s successor), gathered copious interviews and notes on Hunthausen’s pastoral presence as bishop and on the Roman investigation under Cardinal Ratzinger and Archbishop Pio Laghi, the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States. He then let his proposed book on Hunthausen lie fallow in reams of notes on his computer for many years.

Finally, the person of Pope Francis led him to complete his biography. As he says of Francis: “He reminds me in many ways of Hunthausen. He’s humble, kind, compassionate, plain-spoken and unpretentious. He has a Vatican II vision of the church, of a church that is inclusive, loving, transformative, of a church with a heart for the poor and the oppressed.” The Vatican seemed unimpressed that, under Hunthausen’s leadership, Seattle exceeded the national average on Mass attendance, adult conversions to the church and monetary contributions by some 20 percent.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
New York Times

By DANIEL J. WAKIN
SEPT. 27, 2015

The American marathon is nearing its end.

Pope Francis on Sunday has one day left on a journey that began in Cuba on Sept. 19 and took him to Washington, New York and Philadelphia, his 10th foreign trip as pontiff and the first to this country. He will spend it with bishops, prison inmates and hundreds of thousands of followers attending a final Mass.

The trip has been rich with weighty speeches, encounters with world leaders, and kissed babies — a hallmark of this pontiff, who readily receives little ones passed to his open-sided popemobile by security officials.

In the morning, Francis will stop by St. Charles Borromeo Seminary to meet with bishops who had come to the city for the World Meeting of Families, a Vatican-sponsored festival that drew 18,000 people, organizers said. His comments are likely to focus on the nature of family in a modern secular society — a frequent theme of the visit, along with immigration, religious freedom and social justice.

He will then head to the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, mainly an intake jail, which has roughly 2,800 inmates and is one of six jails in Philadelphia’s system. Some of the inmates have made Francis a hand-carved chair.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Pope Francis CON-artist & Vicar of Plutocrats

Paris Arrow

Never accept or believe what Pope Francis says at face-value because there are always some conniving ulterior motives beneath his sugar-coated papal speeches and charismatic papal appearances. Pope Francis is the greatest Jesuit Master of Deceits and with his Vatican Opus Dei Beast PR Deceits Team, Vatican paid mainstream media Pied Pipers, and shrewd Catholic blabbermouth bullies like Bill Donohue in Catholic League, they are all first-class pathological liars. Their conniving manipulation and the-end-justify-the- means Catholic Luciferian means – including the Eucharist – everything they do always lead to one final end, to satiate the Vatican Mammon Evil Beast.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

WASHINGTON (DC)
YouTube

Published on Sep 22, 2015

A man has spent 17 years outside the Vatican’s U.S. embassy protesting the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

SCOTLAND
Scotsman

DANI GARAVELLI
Sunday 27 September 2015

POLICE Scotland’s new national child sex abuse unit has been involved in 65 investigations across the country since it began work in January, it has been revealed.

Its 48 specialist officers, based in Livingston, Inverness, Aberdeen and Dalmarnock, have lent their expertise to inquiries involving abuse carried out in institutions and elsewhere, as well as to operations into child sexual exploitation (CSE). Their work has spanned both historical and recent allegations.

The child sex abuse unit was set up after the report into failings in the investigation of CSE in Rotherham found 1,400 children had been abused between 1997 and 2013.

Its officers – who have specialist training in areas such as interviewing vulnerable witnesses, crime scene management and digital technology – are drafted in to give short-term support to divisional officers involved in complex, protracted or cross-border investigations or those which involve people who are well-known or in positions of trust. Twelve of the 65 inquiries were led by senior investigating officers from the unit.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Mirror

27 SEP 2015
BY JAMES WARD

A Magdalene survivor whose mother is buried in a mass grave had the door slammed in her face on a visit to the Department of Justice.

In July, we revealed Mary Collins’ Traveller mum Angela was snatched from the side of the road and forced into the hated laundries for 27 years, only to die after not receiving proper medical treatment.

She was buried in a mass grave alongside 72 other women, where she remains today.

In her ongoing campaign for justice, Mary arranged for a meeting with the Justice Department to deliver a letter about her family’s plight, only for the doors to be locked upon her arrival.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Los Angeles Times

By ALAN ZAREMBO AND MATT PEARCE

Pope Francis in his first trip to the United States has spoken boldly about the need for change — in the way we treat the environment, immigrants and the poorest among us.

With messages that resonated beyond those of his faith, he seemed well aware that the future of Roman Catholicism may depend less on bringing people to church than on bringing the church to the people.

Societal values in the U.S. and elsewhere are changing rapidly. Public opinion on same-sex marriage, for example, now affirmed in this country as a constitutional right, increasingly splits along generational lines.

Polls indicate that more than half of the 72 million Americans who identify as Catholic now reject church views on same-sex marriage and abortion. The ban on divorce is routinely violated.

The pope’s response has not been to change the rules of the church but to change its focus, embracing a standard more human than saintly. …

Andrea Leon-Grossmann was watching the news one day when a story came on about yet another priest accused of molesting a boy.

The case stood out for her: She recognized this priest. She had taken communion from him.

And the alleged victim was in the Los Angeles juvenile detention center where she volunteered as a mentor.

It was not the only time her faith in church leadership would waver.

Leon-Grossmann was born into Catholicism, with two nuns and a priest in her family tree. Growing up in Mexico City, she hewed closely to its teachings. Even after she moved to Los Angeles in 1993 to study art, she attended church each Sunday.

Her religion’s focus on service spoke to her most forcefully. She started volunteering at the jail and joined demonstrations supporting undocumented immigrants.

Yet she was painfully aware of the ways the church seemed to function in opposition to her vision of Catholicism.

During Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, she said, the Catholic fraternal organization Knights of Columbus came to her church to urge congregants to vote against him — and support Proposition 8, the ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage.

“I couldn’t stand it,” Leon-Grossmann said. “In my faith, God tells me that I need to love everyone.”

She stopped attending church regularly and threw herself into activism.

In 2013, she and other activists brought a petition with more than 10,000 signatures to the residence of Roger Mahony, the L.A. cardinal who had helped conceal sexual abuse by priests. They urged him not to go to Rome to help choose the next pope.

Mahony went. But Leon-Grossmann, a 42-year-old art director, was encouraged by the papal enclave’s outcome.

“Something the pope said that resonated deeply with me this morning: ‘A good Catholic meddles in politics,'” Leon-Grossmann said Thursday. “I completely agree.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Reuters

PHILADELPHIA | BY PHILIP PULLELLA AND SCOTT MALONE

Pope Francis, speaking in America’s birthplace on Saturday, offered stout words of support to Hispanic and other immigrants in the United States, telling them not to be discouraged at a time when some prominent politicians are directing hostility toward them.

The 78-year-old Argentine pontiff toured Independence Hall in Philadelphia before addressing a crowd estimated at more than 40,000 outside the 18th century red brick building where basic American liberties were proclaimed and where independence from Britain was declared.

“Do not be discouraged by whatever challenges and hardships you face,” the pope told the many Hispanics and other recent immigrants to the United States in the crowd, adding that he felt “particular affection” toward them.

During his first visit to the United States, the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics on Thursday had urged Americans in a historic speech to Congress to reject “a mindset of hostility” toward immigrants. He expanded on that issue in his Philadelphia speech, delivered in Spanish.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The New York Times

By JIM YARDLEY and DANIEL J. WAKIN
SEPT. 26, 2015

PHILADELPHIA — Standing near Independence Hall, where America’s founding documents were signed, Pope Francis on Saturday called religious freedom a “fundamental right” and laid out a broad and tolerant vision of what it should be, but also warned about its perversion “as a pretext for hatred and brutality.”

On the final leg of his first trip to the United States, Francis arrived in Philadelphia and went straight to the city’s Roman Catholic basilica, exhorting ordinary Catholics to bolster their role in sustaining the church. After a Mass before 2,400 people and a long midday rest, he traveled to Independence Mall and broadened his canvas: addressing the place of faith in a nation.

Religious freedom means the right to worship God, “as our consciences dictate,” Francis said. And, he went on, the principle goes beyond temples and the private sphere: Religion also serves society, especially as a bulwark “in the face of every claim to absolute power.”

Francis emerged from Independence Hall to the strains of Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.” He stood at the lectern used by Abraham Lincoln to deliver the Gettysburg Address, and in his own address, Francis extolled the principles of the country’s founding fathers embodied by the Declaration of Independence signed in the building behind him.​

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Saturday, September 26, 2015

Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago, SNAP president (312-399-4747, bblaine@snapnetwork.org)

Today, Pope Francis con-celebrated mass with the disgraced former head of the Philadelphia archdiocese, Cardinal Justin Rigali. The other day, Francis brought with him to the White House the disgraced former head of the Los Angeles archdiocese, Cardinal Roger Mahony.

[CBS Los Angeles]

Seen at the papal festivities a few days ago was the disgraced Archbishop John Neinstedt. The St. Paul/Minneapolis archdiocese, which he headed for years, faces criminal prosecution for endangering kids.

The “take away” here is this: No matter how much you enable or hide predator priests, if you’re a bishop, you’ll always be welcome in and by the Catholic hierarchy. Never mind if your visibility rubs salt into deep wounds. Never mind if your grandstanding discourages others from reporting crimes. Once you’ve been let into our esteemed ranks, you’ll always be a part of this exclusive club and enjoy the many benefits such membership confers.

In 2011, nine years after bishops promised to “reform,” Rigali, under pressure, was forced to suspend 21 accused Philly priests on one day. These suspensions took place exactly one month after Rigali wrote his flock assuring them that there were no credibly-accused priests remaining within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. In 2005, Rigali kept silent as his lawyer blasted prosecutors as “anti-Catholic” in the wake of a second scathing report about widespread clergy sex crimes and cover ups in his archdiocese.

At least Bishop Robert Finn, the only US bishop to be convicted of withholding evidence of child sex crimes from police, isn’t jumping on the papal bandwagon. (He’s in Spain now, probably at the urging of church public relations officials.)

Despite this callous behavior, we beg victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to keep speaking up, exposing wrongdoers, protecting kids, calling police, deterring cover ups and getting help.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Fiscal Times

By Sebastien Malo and Philip Pullella and Laila Kearney, Reuters

September 26, 2015

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – In a dense crowd gathered in central Philadelphia waiting for the arrival of Pope Francis on Saturday, lapsed Catholic Becky Ianni stood somberly with an oversized photo of herself at age nine, when she says a priest began sexually abusing her.

The U.S. Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal, which catapulted into public view in 2002, has continued to be an open wound for victims, who say the Church has not made the changes needed to protect children and punish offenders.

“Victims this week are really hurting and they need to know that we’re out here and they’re not alone,” said Ianni, 58, the Washington and Virginia chapter director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

The pontiff’s arrival in Philadelphia came amid suggestions from a high-ranking Church official that Francis could meet with abuse victims while in the city.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said at a news conference that if Francis met with victims, it would be a private encounter to protect victim privacy.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Washington Post

By Karen Heller, Frances Stead Sellers and Michael E. Ruane
September 26

PHILADELPHIA — Pope Francis made his way through a jubilant crowd here Saturday afternoon to the symbolic birthplace of the United States, and challenged the country to rededicate itself to the solemn promises of its past, including its commitment to religious liberty.

After being driven through the throng, with the popemobile stopping several times for Francis to kiss babies, the 78-year-old pontiff arrived at Independence Hall, where the U.S. Consitution and the Declaration of Independence were signed. “It was here,” Francis said, “that the freedoms which define this country were first proclaimed.”

Introduced by Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” the pope stood at a wooden lectern used by Abraham Lincoln for his Gettysbrg Address, and told the crowd assembled on Independence Mall that “history also shows that these or any truths must constantly be reaffirmed, re-appropriated and defended.” …

Yet not everyone shared in the joy of the pope’s presence. The placard outside the basilica about the sex abuse scandal was stenciled by Robert Hoatson, a 63-year-old former priest whose group, Road to Recovery, works with victims of the clergy sexual abuse scandal and who says he is a victim himself.

Hoatson, who lives in West Orange, N.J., said he followed the pope to Washington, New York and now Philadelphia with his message of holding the church “accountable” for the scandal.

It is not clear whether Francis will meet with survivors before he leaves for Rome Sunday. Earlier this week at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in the District, he praised the “courage” and pain” of U.S. bishops in dealing with the scandal. That prompted rebukes from some victims’ advocates, who criticized the pope for offering comfort and symphathy to the bishops, while saying little to address the suffering of clergy sex abuse survivors.

“It’s a tough week to be a victim,” said Barbara Dorris, spokesperson for Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. “They feel like once again they’ve been forgotten.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

By Jason Berry

PHILADELPHIA, WASHINGTON and NEW YORK — Maintaining a tireless pace, Pope Francis kept on point Saturday as he arrived in Philadelphia and celebrated a midday Mass while large, fervent crowds waited outside, entertained by Latin American music and white-clad dancers, before a papal address in the evening at historic Independence Hall.

Anticipation of a different kind was building among people who struggle in the role of church outcasts: victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests.

The Associated Press reported that Francis was expected to “talk privately with abuse victims this weekend.”

The Philadelphia archdiocese has been hit hard with prosecutions, grand jury investigations and civil cases involving more than three dozen alleged clergy perpetrators, and one monsignor who spent time in prison for complicity.

The flood of benevolent media coverage for Francis would seem a form of respite to the beleaguered archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput, who has closed parishes in dealing with deficits from scandal-driven legal bills.

But for David Clohessy, director of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), the prospects of Francis meeting with survivors held scant hope.

“The seven or eight previous meetings between popes [Benedict and Francis] have given short-term comfort for a handful of survivors and long-term feelings of betrayal,” Clohessy told GroundTruth before any confirmation of a meeting.

“It will reinforce the convenient narrative that abuse cover-ups are over and only healing is needed,” he said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Magazine

By Joel Mathis | September 26, 2015

A Vatican spokesman was coy Saturday afternoon when asked if Pope Francis will meet with survivors of clergy sex abuse while in Philadelphia.

The Rev. Federico Lombardi noted that Pope Francis had met with abuse survivors on previous trips abroad, but the meetings had never been pre-publicized. He made the comments during a media briefing Saturday at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

“These meetings have never been announced before,” he said, adding that the pope would seek a “personal encounter” and not a “media sensation” in the event of a meeting with abuse survivors. News of a meeting would emerge afterward, he suggested, but he declined to confirm or deny any such meetings in advance.

There are good reasons to think Pope Francis would seek such a meeting here, however. Vatican observers — including Philadelphia Vatican reporter Rocco Palmo, have suggested this trip to Philadelphia was meant in large part to try to reverse the damage and pain from a decade of sex scandals in the archdiocese.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
USA Today

John Bacon, USA TODAY September 26, 2015

PHILADELPHIA — Pope Francis is expected to hammer home his recurring themes of family and a welcoming church when he meets with bishops from around the globe Sunday at the World Meeting of Families.

That message may not sound too different from his speeches and homilies in Washington and New York this week, but the headline will be “more than selfies,” said Father James Bretzky, a theology professor at Boston College.

“It will be, in a certain sense, a collective reaffirmation of the importance of families,” he said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

by Kristine Ward, September 26, 2015

Today, NSAC feels the need to present more images in a welcoming place that we hope will console the survivors and their families and combat the onslaught of images streaming across television screens of Pope Francis.

We place the images of Judy Jones, Steve Spaner, John Pilmaier, Peter Isley, Joelle Casteix, Sister Maureen Turlish, Becky Ianni, David Lorenz all of whom have taken to the streets in strong and determined witness of the truth. To speak for survivors. To banish the sought after “it’s history” approach of the hierarchy and its pontiff.

There are more images today because we believe there is more need for comfort for the survivors, particularly in light of Pope Francis’ second expansive praising of priests and religious sisters who the Pope said, “have suffered greatly” during the sexual abuse scandal.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Religion News Service

Taylor Nakagawa and Corie Wilkins | September 26, 2015

PHILADELPHIA (RNS) It’s been a frustrating week here for Barbara Dorris and Becky Ianni.

On Friday night (Sept. 25), the two co-directors of SNAP: Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, kept a lonely vigil, trying vainly to attract attention to their cause — recognition for clergy sex-abuse victims — outside the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, the site of Pope Francis’ Mass on Saturday morning.

Yet only a block away, several groups taking to the streets to fight for economic equality, an issue dear to the current pope, were able to bring together at least 300 marchers.

“We are here because it’s going to be a very difficult week for victims,” said Ianni, who was holding a photo taken of her at 9 years old, when she says she was abused by a priest. “Many victims have felt abandoned by their church, and whenever they turn on their TV this weekend they’re gonna see something about the pope.”

Ianni thinks her fight for awareness hasn’t received much attention this week because of Francis’ enormous popularity, both within the Catholic Church and outside of it.

“This pope is so well-liked that we are the negative side of that and it’s hard for people to say they think about abuse when so many people love this pope,” Ianni said.

Standing at Ianni’s side, Dorris said she wants to raise awareness about clergy sex abuse and call attention to what she sees as Francis’ lack of recognition of its victims. Earlier this week, Francis addressed bishops in Washington, D.C., on the issue and generally commended them for their handling of the years-long crisis.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
ABC News

By RACHEL ZOLL, AP RELIGION REPORTER
NEW YORK — Sep 26, 2015

U.S. Catholic bishops have called the scandal over clergy sex abuse the worst crisis ever to hit the church in America.

To restore public trust, church leaders have overhauled how they handled the cases, paid multimillion-dollar settlements to victims and apologized repeatedly for failing to protect children. Still, the scandal persists. A handful of dioceses remain in bankruptcy court, one diocese faces criminal prosecution, and advocates for victims are pressing lawmakers in several states to lift time limits so more people who were molested can be compensated.

Here’s a look at how the abuse scandal played out in the United States:

HISTORY OF SCANDAL: Clergy sex abuse first drew public attention in the 1980s, with the case of a pedophile priest in the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana. Over the next two decades, scandals arose in several dioceses. But it wasn’t until 2002, when The Boston Globe persuaded a judge to unseal personnel files in the Archdiocese of Boston, that a full-blown national crisis erupted. Revelations about bishops moving guilty priests among parishes without warning parents or police caused an uproar so intense that every American diocese was compelled to take an inventory of how they had dealt with abusers and treated victims going back decades.

BISHOPS RESPOND: Under enormous public pressure, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted sweeping reforms in 2002 meant to safeguard children and restore trust in the church. The bishops created a streamlined process for removing any cleric who molested a child. Dioceses conducted background checks on priests and employees, trained teachers and volunteers on identifying abuse and set up programs meant to help victims. The bishops say they have spent tens of millions of dollars on child safety over the last decade. The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, along with other advocates, say bishops often still treat victims as enemies, and note most dioceses have not released the names of perpetrators, which advocates say would help give other victims the courage to come forward.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Nancy Fornasiero

During his high-profile visit to the United States this week, Pope Francis is receiving an overwhelmingly warm welcome — from Catholics and non-Catholics alike. And rightly so. Whether through his views on environmental stewardship, his tough-love critiques of excessively capitalist societies, or his compassion for the poor and marginalized, he has become the darling of liberals of all stripes.

And yet, there is still one extremely large group of “God’s people” who are not on the receiving end of Pope’s insistence for equality and justice. Despite the undeniable facts (half of the world’s Catholics are female; most Sunday pews are occupied by women; the vast majority of North American Catholics support the idea of women’s ordination) Pope Francis’ 2013 assertion that the “door is closed” to women in the priesthood has remained unchanged.

As Lisa Miller, in her thoughtful overview of Pope Francis’s track record on the status Catholic women, puts it: “Francis, for all his forward thinking, entirely supports this professional sidelining of females.”

Case in point: Just this past Saturday, on September 20 2105, Fr. Jack McClure was told by the Archbishop of his diocese that he would no longer be permitted to minister to his parish. Why? During a panel held in Philadelphia, PA at the Women’s Ordination Worldwide Conference he publicly supported the idea that qualified Catholic women should be allowed to be priests.

Roy Bourgeois, a former Catholic priest excommunicated for his refusal to tow the Church’s party line of discrimination against women, is no stranger to the personal sacrifices that accompany following one’s own conscience on this issue. Bourgeois, author of My Journey from Silence to Solidarity, has issued the following respectful yet pointed letter to Pope Francis just in time for his historic visit.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Peter Smith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Hours before the pope’s visit to Independence Mall, people have been steadily streaming along barricades toward the entrances to the event.

There were nuns in habits, children in strollers, visitors in lanyards, a little boy in suit and tie, middle-aged women in shirts that read: “This girl loves Pope Francis.” They walked past metal fencing with signs noting that drones are prohibited, where every so many feet orange-clad volunteers stand giving directions.

Volunteers and siblings Justin and Maryrose Owens arrived at their corner around 6:30 a.m., and said they have seen a steady stream of people since then. Pope Francis himself is scheduled to visit at 4:45 p.m.

“Everybody is in a very good mood,” he said. …

As for the more recent history of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Pope Francis did not speak of the crisis of sexual abuse here. Grand jury reports in 2005 and 2011 revealed numerous cases of abusive priests whose superiors knew of their offenses but kept them in ministry. A priest in the archdiocese’s hierarchy is behind bars for his conviction for keeping a known abuser in a parish setting where he could and did molest again.

Francis has made only brief references to the abuse scandals in the church during his United States visit, telling bishops they had made great progress in reforming their responses and commending priests for enduring “the shame of some of your brothers who harmed and scandalized the Church in the most vulnerable of her members.”

Bishops have said they expect Francis, like Pope Benedict XVI before him, will meet privately with sexual-abuse survivors before the end of his trip on Sunday.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

DAVID MURRAY THE SUNDAY MAIL (QLD) SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

PREDATOR school counsellor Kevin Lynch used a remote control at his desk to lock his office door so he could sexually abuse students in total privacy.

Lynch’s reign of terror at St Paul’s School at Bald Hills and prestigious Brisbane Grammar School from the 1970s to 1990s will be aired at the child sex abuse royal commission.

A nine-day public hearing was announced on Friday, with past and present school principals expected to give evidence about their handling of historic and current abuse.

An appalling cover-up followed Lynch’s abuse, with both schools failing to check on the welfare of students he counselled after becoming aware of serious allegations against the counsellor.

Lynch counselled thousands of boys at Brisbane Grammar from 1972 to 1988 and then at St Paul’s from 1989 until his death in 1997.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
ABC News

Here is the full homily Pope Francis was slated to give at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, as translated by the Holy See:

This morning I learned something about the history of this beautiful Cathedral: the story behind its high walls and windows. I would like to think, though, that the history of the Church in this city and state is really a story not about building walls, but about breaking them down. It is a story about generation after generation of committed Catholics going out to the peripheries, and building communities of worship, education, charity and service to the larger society.

That story is seen in the many shrines which dot this city, and the many parish churches whose towers and steeples speak of God’s presence in the midst of our communities. It is seen in the efforts of all those dedicated priests, religious and laity who for over two centuries have ministered to the spiritual needs of the poor, the immigrant, the sick and those in prison. And it is seen in the hundreds of schools where religious brothers and sisters trained children to read and write, to love God and neighbor, and to contribute as good citizens to the life of American society. All of this is a great legacy which you have received, and which you have been called to enrich and pass on.

Most of you know the story of Saint Katharine Drexel, one of the great saints raised up by this local Church. When she spoke to Pope Leo XIII of the needs of the missions, the Pope – he was a very wise Pope! – asked her pointedly: “What about you? What are you going to do?”. Those words changed Katharine’s life, because they reminded her that, in the end, every Christian man and woman, by virtue of baptism, has received a mission. Each one of us has to respond, as best we can, to the Lord’s call to build up his Body, the Church.

“What about you?” I would like to dwell on two aspects of these words in the context of our particular mission to transmit the joy of the Gospel and to build up the Church, whether as priests, deacons, or members of institutes of consecrated life.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS News

PHILADELPHIA — Pope Francis arrived in the City of Brotherly Love on Saturday for the final leg of his U.S. visit – a festive weekend devoted to celebrating Catholic families – and immediately called for the church to place greater value on women.

The pontiff’s plane touched down at the Philadelphia airport after takeoff from New York, bringing him to a city of blocked-off streets, sidewalks lined with portable potties, and checkpoints manned by police, National Guardsmen and border agents.

After speeches to Congress and the United Nations earlier this week aimed at spurring world leaders toward bold action on immigration and the environment, he is expected to focus more heavily on ordinary Catholics during his two days in Philadelphia.

On Friday night in New York, about 20,000 of the faithful packed into Madison Square Garden to witness the pope’s message about faith in the city, CBS News correspondent Chip Reid reports.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
New York Times

Sep 26, 2015

Jon Hurdle

Pope Francis arrived at the west door of the basilica at 10:17 and was greeted by applause and some cheers by more than 2,000 clergy members and lay Catholics who had been waiting for more than two hours in a side chapel.

He walked in a procession with other church leaders up the nave, as many clergy took photos of him. He raised his hand to greet them.

After briefly moving to a side room, the pope reappeared wearing a mitre and carrying a crucifix, accompanied by bishops.

The pope ascended to the altar and kissed a white-covered table before unsteadily descending several steps, held on both sides by church officials.

Speaking in heavily accented English, Pope Francis gave a blessing, and then delivered his homily in Spanish, pausing regularly for an English interpreter.

He called for a “much more active engagement on the part of the laity.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
New Zealand Herald

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ” Latest developments in Pope Francis’ visit to the United States. All times local:

12:15 p.m.

Pope Francis has finished celebrating a Mass, stopping to bless children in wheelchairs before leaving the cathedral in downtown Philadelphia.

Francis walked through a chapel adjacent to the main room in the cathedral on Saturday to greet ill and disabled parishioners, along with other visitors. He blessed the children and gave them a kiss on the head.

Francis delivered a homily in Spanish in front of about 1,600 people. He says the future of the church depends on an increased role for the laity and valuing the “immense contribution” of women.

He will spend a few hours at a seminary just outside of the city before giving a speech Saturday afternoon on religious freedom and immigration.
___

Noon

The former Archbishop of Philadelphia who retired in 2011 amid a scandal over clergy sex abuse is celebrating Mass with Pope Francis.

Cardinal Justin Rigali joined Francis and other bishops at the Mass Saturday on the pope’s first stop in Philadelphia.

Rigali’s successor, Archbishop Charles Chaput, also was on the altar in front of about 1,600 people at the main cathedral in downtown Philadelphia.

Rigali retired to the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee, months after a grand jury accused the Philadelphia archdiocese of sheltering more than three dozen credibly accused priests and lying about it to victims and others.

Later Saturday, Francis will give a speech on religious freedom and immigration and then join in the final night of the World Meeting of Families.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
PhillyVoice

BY CHRISTINA LOBRUTTO
PhillyVoice Staff

As Pope Francis came to Philadelphia to deliver his message of peace and justice Saturday, Robert M. Hoatson stood in the Ben Franklin Parkway with a message of his own.

A former priest in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, he said he was hoping to get the pope to address prior sexual abuse by members of the clergy. He said he appreciates the pope’s pontifical commission to prevent new abuse, but said he has to address abuse in the past. Hoatson is the co-founder and president of Road to Recovery, a nonprofit in Livingston, New Jersey, that supports survivors of sexual abuse.

In a speech on Wednesday, the pope called America’s cardinals “courageous” in handling sex abuse cases.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor September 26, 2015

PHILADELPHIA – To be sure, Pope Francis did not come to the United States primarily to deliver a political message but to act as a pastor, encouraging Catholics to hold on to their faith and to put it into action. Like a mantra, he has told them over and over, “Go forth!”

Equally surely, however, politics has been part of the mix.

From his remarks on the South Lawn of the White House on Wednesday to his addresses to a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday and the United Nations on Friday, the pope has presented a bushel basket full of policy concerns, ranging from immigration and climate change to arms trafficking and the death penalty.

Francis has already changed the political landscape by apparently giving House Speaker John Boehner, second in the order of succession to the presidency, the interior peace to decide to resign.

As the trip enters the final stretch this weekend in Philadelphia, however, it’s possible that the most important long-term political subtext is still to come.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 26 September 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed:

– Archbishop Paolo Rocco Gualtieri, apostolic nuncio in Madagascar, as apostolic nuncio in the Seychelles.

– Bishop Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., as bishop of Chiclayo (area 15,647, population 1,275,215, Catholics 1,132,202, priests 113, religious 171), Peru. Bishop Prevost is currently apostolic administrator of the same diocese.

– appointed Fr. Zbigniew Zielinski as auxiliary of Gdansk, (area 2,500, population 965,077, Catholics 900,608, priests 748, religious 689), Poland. The bishop-elect was born in Gdansk, Poland in 1965 and was ordained a priest in 1991. He holds a doctorate in pastoral theology from the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University of Warsaw and has served in a number of pastoral and academic roles, pastor of the St. Michael parish and of the Cathedral of Gdansk-Oliwa and lecturer in sociology of religion at the state University of Gdansk. He is currently pastor of the con-Cathedral, lecturer in pastoral theology in the major seminary, and member of the Commission for canonical visits in the parishes, the presbyteral council, and the college of consultors. In 2007 he was named Chaplain of His Holiness.

– appointed Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, metropolitan archbishop of Bologna, and Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, as members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

GERMANY
LifeSite News

REGENSBURG, Germany, September 8, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) — In a move that is making headlines in Germany, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has said German bishops are leading the Church to a schism.

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller is warning that the tendency of German bishops to divide doctrine from pastoral practice is not unlike the abuses surrounding the Protestant split in 1517. One should “be very vigilant and not forget the lesson of Church history,” he said.

Last week, in a speech at the release of the German version of Cardinal Robert Sarah’s new book God or Nothing in Regensburg, Germany, Cardinal Mueller criticized “a climate of the German claim to leadership for the Universal Church.” According to the German newspaper Die Tagespost, Mueller said that he is frequently asked why German bishops claim to be leaders of the Catholic Church — while flouting teachings on marriage and sexuality — despite overseeing dramatic reductions in church attendance, shrinking numbers of seminarians, and a drop in vocations to religious orders.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.