ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

September 10, 2018

By Nicole Winfield

The Vatican is preparing the “necessary clarifications” about accusations that top Vatican officials including Pope Francis covered up the sexual misconduct of a now-disgraced American ex-cardinal, Francis’ top advisers said Monday.

In a statement, Francis’ nine cardinal advisers expressed their “full solidarity” with the pope over the scandal, which has thrown his papacy into crisis.

The cardinals, who are meeting at the Vatican this week, said they were aware that “the Holy See is working on formulating the potential and necessary clarifications.”

Francis has refused to respond to the 11-page document published Aug. 26 by the retired ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano.

Vigano named more than two dozen current and former Vatican and U.S. officials and accused them of knowing about and covering up for ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who is accused of sexually molesting and harassing minors as well as adults.

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VINCENNES (IN)
WIBC

September 10, 2018

By Chris Davis

The Diocese of Evansville has also called the authorities.

A Catholic priest who serves as a religion teacher at a Vincennes high school, has been suspended by the Diocese of Evansville over a sexual abuse accusation from “decades ago”. Father Dave Fleck is suspended from all ministerial duties while he’s under investigation.

“Father Dave Fleck, a priest of the Diocese of Evansville, has been placed on administrative leave after a report of sexual misconduct that allegedly occurred decades ago was received by the diocese. The diocese has made a report to civil authorities and notified the Diocesan Review Board of the allegation,” said a statement from the Diocese.

Fleck has denied the accusation. Several other priests in Indiana have alkso been accused of decades-old sex crimes.

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POMPTON PLAINS (NJ)
News 12

September 10, 2018

A retired Catholic priest says his concerns about sexual abuse in his diocese were initially ignored.

Father Ken Lasch says he contacted the Boston Diocese several months ago about allegations of sexual abuse in his parish in New Jersey. He contacted Boston because the cardinal there is also the chair of the Papal Commission on Sexual Abuse.

Lasch says that when he initially contacted Cardinal Sean O’Malley, he was told by O’Malley’s secretary that the incident was out of his jurisdiction.

Lasch detailed the abuse in a letter. He says that it stems back to the 1980s. He alleges that a current Paterson priest sexually abused an 18-year-old man who was looking to become a priest.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
The American Conservative

September 6, 2018

By Rod Dreher

Above, a clip from Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis, testifying in a sworn 2014 deposition in a Minnesota case involving a priest accused of molesting a child. Carlson was an auxiliary bishop in Minneapolis-St. Paul before moving to the St. Louis post. In the deposition, the archbishop answers some variation of “I don’t know” several times. Which of these was the question put to him:

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

September 11, 2018

Robert Hoatson, a former priest who founded Road to Recovery to help victims, is himself a survivor of clergy sexual abuse.

He was ordained by the now-notorious Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 1997 through the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., and was also a Christian Brother at Catholic Memorial High School in West Roxbury in the 1980s. He served as headmaster there and was a whistleblower in cases of clergy sexual abuse.

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VATICAN CITY
The American Conservative

September 7, 2018

By Rod Dreher

Excellent reporting by Robert Duncan in the Rome bureau of Catholic News Service produces an explosive story:

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[Felipe Berríos attacks Ezzati, Sodano and Errázuriz: “I resented the secrecy they used and practiced, and the abuse of power”]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 9, 2018

El sacerdote de La Chimba dijo, además, que “entiendo que un sacerdote pueda tener relaciones con una mujer, o si es homosexual, con un hombre, pero es inexplicable que pueda dañar un niño”.

Un profundo análisis de la crisis que vive la Iglesia en Chile realizó el sacerdote jesuita Felipe Berríos. El análisis del religioso que vive en La Chimba es que se debe provocar un cambio profundo en la Iglesia, que la modifiquen por completo.

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Chilean prosecutor Arias tells Spanish media: “The Catholic Church is not a mafia or criminal organization”]

CHILE
El Mostrador

September 9, 2018

El fiscal regional de O’Higgins concedió una entrevista a la agencia EFE, quien lo cataloga como el “encargado de resolver el puzzle de abusos de la Iglesia chilena”.

Un entramado de casos sobre la presunta comisión de delitos de encubrimiento, abuso sexual, pederastia y estupro en el seno de la Iglesia católica de Chile durante décadas es el puzzle que el fiscal regional de O’Higgins, Emiliano Arias, trata de resolver desde hace meses. Un puzzle que comienza a cobrar “un aspecto más propio de lo que podría ser el crimen organizado, por así decirlo, o del delito cometido al interior de una organización”, expresó Arias en una entrevista con Efe.

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[Canonists analyze court decision about priest Precht]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 9, 2018

By Sergio Rodríguez

Abogado vocero de la Fundación Voces Católicas dice que con este recurso de amparo, que fue acogido, el presbítero “desconoce” el vínculo con su obispo y diócesis.

“Algunas personas han dicho que este fallo puede abrir flancos nuevos. Yo creo que al menos es materia de debate, ya que en Chile, en virtud de la Ley de Culto, el Estado reconoce el ordenamiento interno de la Iglesia Católica y de otros credos”, expresó el sacerdote Francisco Walker.

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[Cardinal Errázuriz is not participating in the Pope’s advisory council for “incidental reasons”]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 10, 2018

By Carlos Reyes

Fuentes de la Iglesia confirmaron la inasistencia del obispo emérito en la instancia, la cual comenzó a sesionar hoy en el Vaticano

Esta mañana la oficina de prensa del Vaticano confirmó el inició de la XXVI Reunión del Consejo de Cardenales (C9) que se desarrolla en Roma. Instancia a la cual no acudió el cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz, como confirmaron a La Tercera fuentes de la Iglesia.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

September 7, 2018

The late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua is accused in a new lawsuit of sexual assault. The alleged assault happened in the 1980s while he was a bishop in Pittsburgh.

According to CBS Pittsburgh, the female victim claims then Bishop Bevilacqua visited St. Gabriel’s Church and school, took her behind a partition in the lunchroom and groped her chest.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Trib Live

September 7, 2018

By Megan Guza

One of two civil lawsuits filed Friday against the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh accuses former Bishop Anthony Bevilacqua of sexually assaulting a young girl more than three decades ago.

That lawsuit, filed on behalf of a 45-year-old woman now living in San Diego, alleged that Bevilacqua and two other clergy, the Revs. Lawrence O’Connell and Edward Huff, assaulted her between 1978 and 1985 when she was between the ages of 5 and 13.

Pittsburgh attorney Alan Perer filed the lawsuit, along with a second lawsuit, against the diocese, Bishop David Zubik and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who served as Pittsburgh diocese’s bishop before Zubik.

Bevilacqua served as Pittsburgh’s bishop from 1983 and 1987. He became archbishop of Philadelphia in 1988, was elevated to cardinal in 1991 and retired in 2003. He died in 2012 at 87. He was accused in a 2011 grand jury report of transferring problem priests out of Philadelphia parishes to new ones without warning anyone of prior sexual abuse complaints.

The alleged victim in the first lawsuit and her family met O’Connell at St. Gabriel’s Church and St. Gabriel’s Sorrowful Mother School in Whitehall, where he was a pastor from 1952 to 1983, according to the lawsuit. She alleged that O’Connell began to fondle her through her school uniform when she was between 5 and 7.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Patch

September 7, 2018

By Eric Heyl

Two lawsuits were filed Friday against the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Former Pittsburgh Bishop Anthony Bevilacqua and two priests were accused of sexual abuse in one of two civil lawsuits filed Friday in the aftermath of the recent grand jury report detailing the sex crimes of Pennsylvania predator priests.

Pittsburgh attorney Alan Perer filed the lawsuits against the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Bishop David Zubik and Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C, Zubik’s predecessor as bishop.

The lawsuit in which Bevilacqua and the Revs. Lawrence O’Connell and Edward Huff are named was filed on behalf of Heather Taylor, 45, of San Diego woman. It accuses the trio of allegedly assaulting her from when she was between the ages of 5 and 13 between 1978 and 1985. The incidents occurred at St. Gabriel Church and St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin School in Whitehall.

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CHARLOTTE (NC)
WBTV

September 7, 2018

By Nick Ochsner

Charlotte Bishop Peter Jugis will make remarks addressing the abuse scandal within the Catholic Church during a weekend-long gathering of Catholics that opens Friday night, according to the Catholic News Herald, the official publication of the Charlotte Diocese.

Jugis’ remarks will come in his opening address to the Eucharistic Congress, an annual event hosted by the Charlotte Diocese.

The story published in the Catholic News Herald said Jugis will address the abuse scandal in his opening on Friday night and again in a longer message to the gathering on Saturday.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The American Conservative

September 6, 2018

By Rod Dreher

Hoo boy. Cardinal Wuerl has gone all Moralistic Therapeutic Deist. This cynical cat is branding his own self-rehabilitation. He’s even got a “toolkit” to change the subject from his own failures to the suffering of abuse victims. This takes chutzpah. Here’s the letter he sent to his priests today:

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UNITED STATES
Yahoo Movies UK

September 10, 2018

By Erin Donnelly

Olivia Munn’s co-stars in The Predator are finally addressing her concerns that she’s been ostracised over her insistence that one of the film’s scenes be removed.

Director Shane Black cast friend Steven Wilder Striegel for a role in the upcoming sci-fi action film, without notifying the cast that he is a registered sex offender who has been accused of sexually propositioning a teenager by email. The scene featuring Striegel has since been cut.

Munn, an advocate for #TimesUp and #MeToo movements, has been vocal about her disgust with the situation. She has also called out her male co-stars for giving Black a standing ovation at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and not backing her up.

“I kind of feel like I’m the one going to jail,” Munn told Vanity Fair. “I didn’t go to jail, I didn’t put this guy on our set. I had this scene deleted. Thank God, honestly, that there is social media. It’s the fans and news outlets that’s confirming it to me that what I did was the right thing. If I didn’t have that feedback, I’d kind of go a little crazy thinking, Why am I being treated like this? That’s not OK, to feel like the bad guy.”

According to Munn, co-stars including Boyd Holbrook, Thomas Jane, Trevante Rhodes, and Keegan-Michael Key declined to give public statements addressing the Striegel casting. She also said that one co-star left an interview when the topic came up. The actress has since been promoting the film — which she tweeted she is “contractually obligated” to do — with its youngest cast member, 11-year-old Jacob Tremblay.

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UNITED STATES
The Telegraph

September 10, 2018

Hours before The Predator premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, the studio behind the sci-fi film revealed it had cut a scene featuring Steven Wilder Striegel after learning the actor was a registered sex offender. “Our studio was not aware of Mr Striegel’s background,” Twentieth Century Fox said on Thursday.

But now the actress who brought the matter to Fox’s attention says she has been shunned by fellow cast-members, that her concerns were initially met with silence by the studio, and that she has been made to feel like a criminal.

Olivia Munn, 38, the only cast member to appear on screen with Striegel, made contact with Fox after learning he had served a jail sentence for making sexual advances towards a minor.

“When I called, [Fox] was silent for two days,” she told Variety. “I’m not saying they weren’t working on it behind the scenes… I just didn’t hear anything about it.”

She added: “I did have to reach out again and say I didn’t feel comfortable presenting at the MTV Awards with [Predator co-star Keegan-Michael Key] unless this guy [Striegel] was out of it.”

Fox have said Striegel’s only scene was cut within 24 hours of the studio learning about his criminal record.

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SAN ANGELO (TX)
Military.com

September 7, 2018

By Gina Harkins

The Air Force is looking into comments a Catholic chaplain made at a base chapel in which he allegedly equated child abuse in the church with homosexuality, prompting one officer’s family to walk out of mass.

Capt. Antonio Rigonan, an Air Force chaplain at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas, said during an Aug. 19 service that many priests who’ve abused children were “homosexuals” and “effeminate,” according to a military officer’s spouse who attended that morning.

After Rigonan allegedly repeated the stance several times, the spouse said her family got up and left. The woman, who spoke to Military.com on the condition of anonymity to protect her husband’s career, said she felt “very incapable of fixing” the wrongdoing she felt occurred that day.

“I’ve had to talk about a lot of serious things with [our children], who didn’t understand why we were upset,” she said. “It’s at least been a good message on consent and being aware of other people’s intentions.”

Goodfellow officials said they were not aware of Rigonan’s comments before Military.com inquired about them. There are no recordings of chapel services, base public affairs officials said, but “Goodfellow leadership is looking into what comments were made.”

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BUENOS AIRES (ARGENTINA)
The Associated Press

September 7, 2018

By Luis Andres Henao

Argentine authorities raided a Catholic-run school for youths with hearing disabilities Thursday as part of an investigation into alleged sexual abuse of vulnerable children that has shocked Pope Francis’s homeland.

A police official in Buenos Aires province said officers seized documents from the archives of the Antonio Provolo Institute in the city of La Plata dating back more than 30 years. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case, agreed to give details of the operation only on condition of anonymity.

The raid was ordered by a local prosecutor investigating “possible crimes against sexual integrity,” the official said. The documents cover the 1987-2018 period.

Provolo Institute officials could not be reached despite repeated attempts for comment.

The clerical abuse scandal has also marred other Provolo institutes.

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LINCOLN (NE)
1011 Now

September 6, 2018

By Lianna Prill

The Catholic Diocese of Lincoln is under investigation by the Attorney General and local law enforcement. While the Diocese is cooperating, it’s also causing victims to come forward with their stories of reported abuse.

“For the first time in the last 10 months, I finally feel there’s someone standing up for the victims,” Stan Schulte said.

Stan Schulte said he was abused by a priest in the Lincoln Diocese.

“I don’t know why God put me in this position, but my goal is to do my very best to listen to God, be guided and have courage to stand up,” Schulte said.

He said multiple people have connected with him — all sharing similar stories involving different priests.

“There’s one in particular that stands out to me. And he told me his story and as he’s telling me his story, I get the chills for how disturbing this is. And he told me he told that exact story to the chancery, and one of the first words out of their mouth was, ‘You know you’re not going to get paid for this.'” Schulte said.

The Diocese has confirmed the AG has asked to review records dating back 40 years, and it’s cooperating with this “state-wide investigation of all three Catholic Dioceses in Nebraska.”

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ENHAUT (PA)
Mirror

September 9, 2018

By Chris Kitching

Father Augustine Giella’s sick abuse even happened at the kitchen table, but it was often carried out in ways the girls’ mum and dad “couldn’t see”

Five sisters were sexually abused by the same child predator Catholic priest when one of them was just 18-months-old.

The Fortney sisters said Father Augustine Giella was such a trusted family friend that he was like a grandfather figure, showering them with gifts.

But there was a sinister side to the pastor that went unnoticed by their parents until he was arrested in 1992 for having nude photos of one of the girls.

The sick abuse even happened at the kitchen table in front of their parents, but it was often carried out in ways their mum and dad “couldn’t see”.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

September 10, 2018

By Philip Pullella

The Vatican is preparing a response to bombshell allegations made by an Italian archbishop who asked Pope Francis to step down, accusing him of covering up sexual misconduct by an American cardinal, his top advisers said on Monday.

The statement came at the end of the first day of a three-day meeting of the “C-9”, a group of nine cardinals from around the world who meet with the pope at the Vatican several times a year to advise him on Church matters.

In an 11-page statement published on Aug. 26, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the former Vatican ambassador to Washington, launched an unprecedented broadside by a Church insider against the pope and a long list of Vatican and U.S. Church officials.

The cardinals’ statement said they had expressed their “total solidarity with the pope over events of the last few weeks” and added that the Holy See was preparing “eventual and necessary clarifications”.

Viganò said he had told Francis soon after the pontiff’s election in 2013 that Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington D.C., had engaged in sexual misconduct.

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VATICAN CITY
Associated Press

September 10, 2018

By Nicole Winfield

Two weeks after Pope Francis’ papacy was thrown into crisis by accusations that he covered up sexual misconduct by ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Francis has refused to respond, his accuser has changed his story and a host of new characters have entered the fray.

Cardinals, bishops, priests and ordinary faithful are demanding answers, given that the Vatican knew since at least 2000 about allegations McCarrick had bedded seminarians.

Francis is coming under increasing pressure to respond to claims by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano that he rehabilitated McCarrick from sanctions Pope Benedict XVI had imposed.

Here is a look at the scandal, which has split the U.S. Catholic hierarchy and further tarnished Francis’ record on abuse.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Liberation

September 9, 2018

By Judi Yang

More and more adult survivors of childhood rape are coming out against their abusers and rapists, the very religious leaders of the Catholic Church they trusted. After four decades of inaction, state governments are finally investigating these crimes.

On Aug. 14, the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office released an 884-page report stemming from a two-year investigation from a 23-member grand jury. The report, based on investigations and victims’ testimony, presents evidence that over 300 priests and other clergy had molested, abused and raped more than 1,000 children in towns across Pennsylvania. The abusers had ties all the way up to the Vatican. The report also details a systematic cover-up of sexual predation by church officials. It says that there are “likely to be thousands more” victims.

Since this testimony has been released, the Survivor’s Network of Those Abused By Priests and the Pennsylvania state attorney general’s office have reported that their clergy abuse hotlines have been bombarded with phone calls with hundreds more stories of abuse.

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DETROIT (MI)
Church Militant

September 3, 2018

By Mark Crawford

I, as well as my younger brother, were sexually abused by my parish priest, Fr. Kenneth L. Martin of the archdiocese of Newark when I was 15, but the grooming process began much earlier. I suspect my younger brother was even younger when his sexual abuse began.

I grew up in a large, devout Catholic family who was very much involved in parish life, I aspired to become a priest from an early age and in fact spent two years in a college seminary program at a Salesian College in New Jersey, although I was part of the Franciscan Capuchin Fraternity that attended this college seminary program. What I experienced and witnessed in this seminary is another story, too much of the same.

My parish priest ingratiated himself into our family life beginning when I was in eighth grade. He spent many, many hours at my house several days a week. At first, he was like a father figure to me, directing my studies, giving me responsibilities and duties in the parish as well. He took me on trips throughout the country, but in 1978, on a trip to Colorado, a train trip he arranged almost a year in advance, we had bunk beds in a sleeper car.

Overnight he climbed into my bed and I awoke as he was fondling me. That’s when the sexual abuse began.

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WOODLAND PARK (NJ)
North Jersey Record / NorthJersey.com

September 8, 2018

By Deena Yellin

For a long time, Mark Crawford was afraid to tell anyone he was sexually abused and beaten by his family’s priest when he was a child.

“I feared he would take his own life and mine if I ever disclosed the abuse,” he said, recalling the emotional manipulation and violence that went on for years. “There was constant fear and anxiety. At times, I feared for my life.”

And when he finally summoned the courage to tell church leaders his tale of horror, he said he was dismissed.

Now, a 55-year-old married father of three, Crawford has turned his pain into a positive force as an advocate for other victims of sexual abuse. He’s the New Jersey director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. He has testified before the New Jersey State Senate about sex abuse of minors and appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in a segment about sexual abuse.

The Woodbridge resident is now lobbying for two bills before the New Jersey legislature: S477 in the Senate and A3648 in the Assembly. The bills aim to eliminate the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse and hold institutions accountable for failing to protect children. Current laws demand that civil action be filed within two years after a victim turns 18.

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ALLENTOWN (PA)
Morning Call

September 1, 2018

By Tim Darragh

As he began a blistering presentation of a grand jury report into decades of child sex abuse by priests in Pennsylvania earlier this month, Attorney General Josh Shapiro singled out two groups — the Catholic Church hierarchy and law enforcement — for sometimes working in tandem to keep the accusations from the public.

“The abuse scarred every diocese,” he said. “The cover-up was sophisticated. The church protected the institution at all costs.”

But the findings, identifying 301 predator priests, also showed a “failure of law enforcement,” Shapiro said.

The investigation found that while the church leadership was consistently involved in protecting offenders, it sometimes had assistance from police or district attorneys who looked the other way.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
Associated Press via Scranton Times-Tribune

September 8, 2018

By Marc Levy

Pennsylvania’s sweeping grand jury report on child sexual abuse in Roman Catholic Church dioceses is drawing growing attention from prosecutors elsewhere as a court battle looms that could curtail such investigative reports in the future.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Friday that more than 15 state attorneys general and a senior Justice Department official have contacted him about his office’s two-year investigation, what child advocates have called the biggest of its kind by a state into church cover-ups of abusive clergymen.

Their questions revolve around the “nuts and bolts” of how Pennsylvania conducted its investigation and specific people named in Pennsylvania’s report who ended up in their jurisdiction, Shapiro said. They also asked about the resources necessary to conduct such an investigation, he said.

New York and New Jersey launched new investigations into the Catholic Church’s handling of clergy sex abuse allegations Thursday, while attorneys general in Nebraska, Illinois and Missouri have announced investigations into allegations involving local dioceses.

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SACRAMENTO (CA)
Sacramento Bee

September 9, 2018

By Marcos Bretón

Since he became the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento a decade ago, Jaime Soto has chosen to remove priests accused of pedophilia or misconduct. This is in contrast to shielding them, as other bishops have in now-infamous coverups of child abuse being investigated by law enforcement authorities in several states.

Soto learned. The question is, has the rest of the church?

Mind you, Soto’s approach of hewing to the law over the loyalty to a fraternity of priests and bishops was informed by years when he did the opposite. He acted in a way that showed he cared more about the priests doing the abusing than the children; believed that therapy for pedophiles was the way to go; he would comment on the sexual abuse of priests without really knowing the facts.

He thought that sex abuse by priests needed to be kept secret.

Soto believed in all those falsehoods when he was rising through the ranks of the Diocese of Orange County, his home base before moving to Sacramento at the end of 2007, and he acted on them accordingly. What pains him most now is a letter he wrote to a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge to plead for mercy for a priest who preyed on altar boys.

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JOHNSTOWN (PA)
WJAC

By Liana Daywalt

Erie – A priest who once served in the Diocese of Erie has been prohibited from all public ministry as well as any contact with minors after an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.

According to a news release from the diocese, the allegations against 86-year-old Father Charles Schmitt dates back to the 1960s.

Bishop Lawrence Persico of Erie called the news disheartening saying in part, “this is a very difficult time for the Catholic Church, but we must face the truth. In collaboration with law enforcement, victims are finding their voice and helping us to ensure we are living out the principles we proclaim.”

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COLUMBUS (OH)
Columbus Dispatch

September 9, 2018

By Danae King

In the wake of a Pennsylvania grand jury report that revealed allegations of more than 1,000 children being sexually abused by more than 300 priests, some people want every Roman Catholic diocese in the nation — including those in Ohio — to be investigated.

Perhaps the most public call to action in central Ohio is a sign in front of Downtown’s St. Joseph Cathedral that reads: “Disgust and sorrow on clergy sexual abuse and sexual misconduct. Accountability. Reforms!”

The Rev. Michael Lumpe, who wrote the sign, said investigations like the one in Pennsylvania need to happen everywhere.

“This is not who we are as a church; this is not who we are as priests,” said Lumpe, the rector at St. Joseph’s. “There has been a systemic failure in some corners of the church, and we’re going to find out what happened and why.”

The Pennsylvania investigation, which took about two years and was conducted by a grand jury empaneled by the state attorney general, found widespread sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy members in six dioceses — Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg and Scranton — as well as a “circle of secrecy” around priests hiding the abuse within church structures. Earlier grand jury reports found evidence of abuse in the two other Pennsylvania dioceses, Philadelphia and Altoona-Johnstown.

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SPRINGFIELD (IL)
The State Journal-Register

September 8, 2018

By Steven Spearie

A Petersburg group that long charged a former bishop from the Springfield Catholic Diocese of sexual impropriety is back in business.

A recent press release announced that Roman Catholic Faithful (RCF), fronted by Stephen Brady, is jumping back into the fray, spurred on by last month’s Pennsylvania grand jury report that cited decades of clerical abuse allegations.

“It has become impossible for us to read (the) report and stand idle,” the press release stated.

RCF’s stated mission is “to expose the network of sexual immorality among the Catholic clergy in the United States, and to most especially to expose the bishops and cardinals who have enabled their crimes.”

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BALTIMORE (MD)
Baltimore Sun

September 9, 2018

[See related video.]

By Ian Duncan

As a church bell tolled, about a dozen protesters seeking accountability for sexual abuse by Catholic priests huddled under umbrellas outside the Baltimore Basilica and began to sing “We Shall Overcome.”

The group was part of planned series of demonstrations at major Catholic churches around the country this weekend in the wake of a report by the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office revealing the role senior church leaders played in covering up years of abuse.

Ryan Sattler, leader of the activist organization Call to Action Maryland, told those gathered in Sunday’s rain that the event would be the first of many similar rallies.

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WASHINGTON D.C.
CNN

September 9, 2018

By Eliott C. McLaughlin and Rosa Flores

A Washington deacon has joined the cadre of Catholics who say Cardinal Donald Wuerl should step down amid criticism of his handling of abusive priests.

Writing that “genuine healing” cannot arrive unless Wuerl resigns and that “justice demands nothing less,” Deacon James Garcia wrote that he would no longer be able to attend to the cardinal, who is archbishop of Washington.

“In view of recent developments, I cannot, in good conscience, continue to attend to you personally, whether as an assisting deacon or a master of ceremony,” Garcia wrote in a letter dated Tuesday.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic News Agency

September 9, 2018

By Christine Rousselle

When speaking to their children about sexual abuse scandals in the Church, parents should listen to their children’s concerns and be careful to not to make assumptions, experts told CNA.

When discussing the issue of abuse, “the first step is to be sensitive [to] the age and stage the child’s in,” Dr. Gregory Popcak, founder and executive director of the Pastoral Solutions Institute, told CNA.

“Certainly, a kindergarten age child would not need to know as much as an adolescent would, or even a middle schooler.”

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ERIE (PA)
Erie News Now

September 8, 2018

By Lisa Adams

Father Charles “Chuck” Schmitt, 86, has been removed from ministry in Diocese of Erie after allegation of abuse of a minor dating back to the 1960s.

The Diocese of Erie has announced that Father Charles R. (Chuck) Schmitt, an 86-year-old retired priest, is prohibited from all public ministry, as well as any contact with minors effective immediately.

According to a news release issued by the office of communications, an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor dating back to the 1960s was received through the hotline established by the Diocese of Erie. The matter has been turned over to the Erie County District Attorney, and Bishop Lawrence Persico has initiated an independent investigation through the K&L Gates law firm.

Bishop Persico called the news disheartening. “This is a very difficult time for the Catholic Church, but we must face the truth.” Persico added that in collaboration with law enforcement, “victims are finding their voice and helping us to ensure we are living out the principles we proclaim.”

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CINCINNATI (oh)
Dayton Daily News

September 9, 2018

By Will Garbe

Nearly 15 years since the Archdiocese of Cincinnati became the first Catholic diocese in the U.S. to be criminally charged for failing to report sexual abuse of children by priests, the scandal’s emotional and financial tolls continue to compound.

A Dayton Daily News analysis of archdiocesan records found the local church spent at least $17 million since 2003 on the allegations against priests and efforts to protect children. In the last two fiscal years, the church spent nearly a half-million dollars on the allegations — including life-long counseling for around 20 victims — and child protection expenses, the records show. Since 1950, the cost is nearly $20 million.

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[We at BishopAccountability.org note with sadness the passing of our dear friend Carolyn Disco of New Hampshire. Carolyn was one of a kind: a person of tremendous compassion, a determined activist, and a meticulous and brilliant researcher. Her informed advocacy helped persuade the office of the NH Attorney General to make public the files of its investigation and audit of the Manchester diocese. Her strong but measured voice will be deeply missed. Rest in peace, dear Carolyn.

Please note that the obituary below contains details about visiting hours on September 9 and the Funeral Mass on Monday, September 10, at 10am in Merrimack NH. ]

MERRIMACK NH
September 9, 2018

Carolyn Ann (Brown) Disco passed away surrounded by her loving family at Community Hospice House in Merrimack on September 5th, 2018. Born in Detroit Michigan on November 5, 1940, the daughter of the late Alexander H. Brown Jr. and Edith (Pyne) Brown. She graduated from The MacDuffie School formerly in Springfield, Mass, in 1958 and from Barnard College in 1962.

She married Nelson R. Disco on October 12, 1963 in Corpus Christi Church in Manhattan. The couple resided in Great Neck, NY and Hingham, MA before settling in Merrimack in 1967. Here Carolyn edited the weekly Spectrum News and later became owner and editor for the weekly The Merrimack News (1988-89). She was long active in Town politics and served on the Merrimack School Board for six years. She worked for Energy North/Manchester Gas for five years, preparing their Annual Reports and publicity documents. In later years she became involved with the Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), and BishopAccountability.org, organizations dedicated to expose sexual abuse of children by members of the Catholic Church clergy and its cover-up. She received the St. Catherine of Siena Distinguished Lay Person Award from VOTF in 2007 for her work in this organization. She received the Layperson of the Year Award from SNAP in 2011. She was the Survivor Support Chairman for New Hampshire Voice of the Faithful.

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WASHINGTON D.C.
Catholic News Service via Crux

September 9, 2018

By Mark Pattison

A pair of open letters to Pope Francis asking him for answers to charges of cover-ups by him and others over abuse allegations against retired Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington were sponsored by the Catholic Women’s Forum, a project of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank.

The prologue to one of the letters declares, “This letter reflects the personal initiative of the individual Catholic women signing this letter, and is not sponsored by any group or organization.” The letter and invitations to sign it, though, are posted on the Catholic Women’s Forum’s website.

The first letter, titled “Letter to Pope Francis from Catholic Women,” is dated Aug. 30, four days after publication of an 11-page letter by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former Vatican nuncio to the United States, making charges against Francis and other Church leaders.

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KNOXVILLE (TN)
KnoxNews

September 8, 2018

By Terry Mattingly

After a week of headlines and dissent, Pope Francis delivered a sermon that — once again — offered silence as his strategic response to critics.

The “father of lies, the accuser, the devil” is trying to divide Catholics, said the pope. When faced with “people who do not have good will, with people who seek only scandal, who seek only division, who seek only destruction, even within families,” the proper response is “silence, and prayer.”

This echoed earlier remarks when, asked about a scathing epistle by the Vatican’s former U.S. ambassador, Pope Francis said, “I will not say a single word on this.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
CBS

September 9, 2018

In light of ongoing revelations about sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, several masses are being held Sunday to pray for the victims.

Mary Seat of Wisdom parish in Park Ridge will have a novena mass Sunday evening at 7:00.

It’s one of nine special masses taking place across the Chicago archdiocese. They include prayers for healing, justice and hope.

Cardinal Blase Cupich will hold the final novena mass next Saturday night at Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral.

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NEW JERSEY
North Jersey Record

September 9, 2018

By Richard Cowen and Monsy Alvarado

For Catholics, it’s the scandal that won’t go away.

First, there was the resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Newark, after allegations that he sexually abused minors and adult seminarians decades ago. Pope Francis ordered McCarrick to a “life of prayer and penance” while he awaits a canonical trial to examine the allegations.

Then there was the explosive report from a grand jury in Pennsylvania that detailed rampant sexual abuse by 300 priests over decades, with more than 1,000 children as their victims. And, as the grand jury found, there was a rampant cover-up in Pennsylvania, as Catholic bishops frequently shuttled abusive priests from parish to parish, instead of calling the cops.

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BURLINGTON (VT)
Burlington Free Press

September 9, 2018

[See also: VIDEO: Burlington bishop reveals approach to Catholic orphanage abuse investigation, Burlington Free Press, September 9, 2018.]

By Nicole Higgins DeSmet

The Diocese of Burlington will cooperate fully with a joint state-local investigation into possible criminality stemming from the stories of abuse told by former residents of St. Joseph’s Orphanage, Bishop Christopher Coyne said Sunday morning.

Coynetold parishioners during Mass at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, and then reporters at a rare press conference, that the church erred in the past with its legalistic approach to allegations of abuse by clergy. Both survivors and the faithful deserve a more compassionate response, he said.

“As someone who loves the church, I’m filled with shame and sorrow,” said the bishop, who was appointed to his position in 2014, not only of the abuse allegations in Burlington, but of what he called “scandals” from all across the country, most recently in Pennsylvania.

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UNITED STATES
The Daily Beast

September 8, 2018

By Paul Moses

The author of the leading study on the topic warned that clergy sexual abuse of women “is much more pervasive” than that of children. And the Church still hasn’t reckoned with it.

In a brief aside in its stunning report on clergy sexual abuse of some thousand children, a Pennsylvania grand jury noted finding “numerous other cases” of Catholic priests’ misconduct, but with adults. That was outside the scope of its investigation, but it’s a problem some experts say may be more pervasive than the abuse of children.

For women like Rachel Mastrogiacomo, it can be just as devastating. At age 23 and filled with religious zeal, she studied Catholic spirituality in Rome, where she met a deacon studying for the priesthood in 2009. After he was ordained a priest in the Diocese of San Diego, she invited him to meet her family in Wisconsin and Minnesota, where, authorities said, the priest violated her when they were alone during two private masses.

“In plain terms, Father Jacob Bertrand sexually injured me in humiliating and degrading ways during the central liturgical ritual of the Catholic Church, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,” she said at the priest’s May 7 sentencing for criminal sexual conduct.

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WASHINGTON D.C.
Washington Post

September 8, 2018

By Michelle Boorstein and Susan Svrluga

Facing criticism and questions about his handling of clergy sex abuse issues, Washington’s Catholic archbishop, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, has announced plans to launch a six-week-long “Season of Healing” beginning Friday.

Wuerl relayed the plan, for the region’s 139 parishes holding special prayer services, in a letter to his priests on Thursday. It was distributed via an Internet mailing list for priests of the archdiocese, and someone close to a priest provided a copy to The Washington Post.

Catholics are closely watching Wuerl’s actions and words after the release of an explosive grand jury report in Pennsylvania that alleges that over seven decades more than 1,000 children had been abused by priests in six dioceses, including the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Wuerl led that diocese for 18 years before coming to Washington in 2006. The report shows that in some instances Wuerl went well beyond the norm in trying to push out predators but that in others he allowed an abuser to remain in ministry.

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CANADA
Sunday Edition, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

September 9, 2018

[AUDIO]

Things were supposed to be different under Pope Francis.

Under the conservative reigns of his predecessors — John Paul II and Benedict XVI — the Roman Catholic Church resisted the tug of modernity.

It tuned out calls for reform in the face of ever-widening allegations and revelations of sexual abuse by priests and coverups by bishops.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

September 8, 2018

By Michelle Merlin and Carol Thompson

Bills to strengthen Pennsylvania child sex abuse laws are introduced in the Legislature with almost religious regularity.

The Morning Call reviewed 28 filed since 2013 — 15 in the 2015-2016 session alone.

But none has gained traction, despite the outcry over child sex abuse scandals in the state’s Catholic diocese and the Penn State University football program during the Jerry Sandusky era, which broke in 2011.

Just two of those 28 bills came up for a vote; politicians in the state House and Senate have been unable or unwilling to act on the others.

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NEW YORK
Associated Press via News10 TV

September 8, 2018

The New York attorney general’s new investigation into clergy sex abuse allegations in the Roman Catholic Church could be sweeping, delving into confidential church files in a state where hundreds of people have already made claims through programs run by the church itself.

But few criminal cases or lawsuits may come out of the inquiry, whatever its findings. New York has some of the nation’s strictest time limits on taking child sex abuse claims to civil or criminal courts. A yearslong campaign to extend the timeframe has stalled in the Legislature.

And even if it succeeds, at least 375 people who have settled abuse claims through church-run compensation programs waived any right to sue.

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TRENTON (NJ)
Office of Attorney General of New Jersey

September 6, 2018

Former Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino will lead the task force

New NJ Clergy Abuse Hotline: 855-363-6548

Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal today announced that he is forming a task force to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by members of the clergy within the Catholic dioceses of New Jersey, as well as any efforts to cover up such abuse.

Attorney General Grewal has appointed former Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino to head the task force. An experienced sex crimes prosecutor, Laurino will oversee a team of detectives and prosecutors from across the state’s County Prosecutor’s Offices and the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ), and will report directly to DCJ Director Veronica Allende. Attorney General Grewal has authorized the task force to present evidence to a state grand jury, including through the use of subpoenas to compel testimony and the production of documents, in addition to other investigative tools.

To help identify potential victims, Attorney General Grewal also has established a new dedicated hotline to report allegations of sexual abuse by members of the clergy. The hotline will be staffed by trained professionals and operate on a 24/7 basis. The toll-free number is 855-363-6548.

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WASHINGTON D.C.
Archdiocese of Washington D.C.

September 6, 2018

By Cardinal Donald Wuerl

Dear Brother Priest,

Thank you for your participation in the time of prayer and discernment on Monday, September 3, Labor Day, prior to the gathering for the annual cookout.

In that hour and a half long session, I clearly heard and saw expressed your support for survivors, the people of this archdiocese, and for me personally.

However, the purpose of that meeting was to discern how best I can serve this Church.

Among the many observations was that the archdiocese would be well served by new leadership to help move beyond the current confusion, disappointment and disunity.

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WASHINGTON D.C.
NBC News

September 7, 2018

By Matthew Vann

Cardinal Wuerl clings to power in D.C. weeks after stinging grand jury report on abuse

In a letter, Wuerl acknowledged the calls for “new leadership” but said he “also heard voices calling for the beginning of healing.”

He’s the pope’s top cleric in Washington. But Cardinal Donald Wuerl has also become the face of the Roman Catholic Church’s renewed sexual abuse crisis in the fallout of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, with mounting calls from priests, Catholic university presidents and parishioners for his removal as Washington’s archbishop.

At 77, Wuerl is one of the world’s most influential bishops. He’s a close, trusted adviser of Pope Francis and played a direct role in the selection of several U.S. bishops. Wuerl is also a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — the Vatican watchdog of church theology.

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NEW YORK
Office of Attorney General of New York

September 6, 2018

Victims and Anyone with Information are Encouraged to Call Hotline at 1-800-771-7755 or File Complaint Online at ag.ny.gov/ClergyAbuse

AG Launched Civil Investigation into How Catholic Church Reviewed and Potentially Covered Up Sexual Abuse; AG Also Seeking to Partner with District Attorneys on Viable Criminal Prosecutions

AG Reiterates Call for State Legislature to Pass Child Victims Act

Today, New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood announced a clergy abuse hotline and online complaint form through which victims and anyone with information can provide information – part of the Attorney General’s ongoing investigation into sexual abuse of children within the New York dioceses of the Catholic Church.

Victims and anyone with information about abuse can call the hotline at 1-800-771-7755 or file a complaint online at ag.ny.gov/ClergyAbuse. An investigator will review all allegations; the Attorney General and our law enforcement partners will seek to protect victims’ and witnesses’ identities.

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ALBANY (NY)
CBS News

September 6, 2018

New York and New Jersey launched new investigations into the Roman Catholic Church’s handling of clergy sex abuse allegations Thursday as the number of similar inquiries around the country continues to grow. In New York, the state’s attorney general issued subpoenas to all eight of the state’s Catholic diocese seeking any and all documents pertaining to allegations, findings from internal church investigations and payments to victims, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation but not authorized to speak publicly.

Church leaders confirmed receipt of the subpoenas and vowed to work with Attorney General Barbara Underwood‘s civil investigation — as well as any potential criminal investigations to come. The subpoenas were issued to the Archdiocese of New York in New York City as well as the dioceses of Albany, Brooklyn, Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, Ogdensburg and Rockville Centre.

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NEW MEXICO
CBS News

September 6, 2018

[VIDEO]

In the latest inquiry into clergy sexual abuse allegations, New Mexico’s attorney general is launching an investigation and asking all three Catholic dioceses in his state for any material related to allegations of abuse by priests. It follows the scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report last month that revealed more than 300 Catholic priests in that state sexually abused more than 1,000 children over seven decades. The same report found a Pennsylvania bishop sent accused priests to New Mexico for treatment.

Attorney General Hector Balderas called his state a “dumping ground” for abusers.

“There are numerous, numerous families that are demanding justice. And so what I’m hoping for is that the church understand that they also have an obligation to seek justice by reconciling, providing information to a law enforcement agency,” Balderas told CBS News.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

September 7, 2018

By Noel Debien

Amid international media hype and confusing reporting, Australia’s Catholic leaders delivered their official response to the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Sexual Abuse last week.

So, has the Australian Catholic Church “rejected mandatory reporting”, as Al Jazeera published?

Or did The Hindu get it right with their headline: “Australian Catholic leaders vow to end abuse cover-up”?

The devil is, as always, in the detail. And there is a lot of detail.

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BOSTON (MA)
Archdiocese of Boston

September 9, 2018

The Cardinal receives correspondence from around the world on a variety of issues, requests for prayer intentions, invitations, commentary on the Church among others and at times confidential matters. With regard to inquiries addressed to the Cardinal in his role as Chair of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Children and received at the Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Center, the process has been for his priest secretary to review the correspondence and respond on matters that fell outside the mandate of the Commission.

Recently, the Cardinal has revised the protocol for receipt of Commission related matters. He will now personally review all letters that come to his office related to the commission or are abuse related, even if they address matters outside his authority. He has made a commitment to refer those requiring attention to the Nuncio to the United States and/or the Vatican.

It is important to understand what the Commission’s role is in regard to the issue of sexual abuse. It is not a body that has the authority to review and adjudicate individual cases. There are other bodies in the Vatican, such as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith or the Congregation for Bishops, that review, investigate and adjudicate cases involving sexual abuse. The Commission is an advisory panel whose mission is clear and focused on three main areas and share them now with all Episcopal Conferences and the laity: Healing and Care, Guidelines and Education. More information is available here at http://www.protectionofminors.va/content/tuteladeiminori/en.html.

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BOSTON (MA)
The Boston Globe

September 8, 2018

By Brian MacQuarrie

A retired Roman Catholic monsignor says that his efforts to report accusations of clergy sexual misconduct to Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley were rebuffed by the prelate’s secretary, the second reported instance of such allegations running into a dead end in the cardinal’s office.

Monsignor Kenneth Lasch of Pompton Plains, N.J., told the Globe that the Rev. Robert Kickham, the cardinal’s secretary, “dismissed” his written concerns in January that a current priest in the Diocese of Paterson, N.J., allegedly had seduced an 18-year-old man from Lasch’s parish in the mid-1980s.

“The first letter I received back from Father Kickham was dismissive,” said Lasch, who has advocated for victims of clerical sexual abuse for more than 30 years. “I think the secretary should have made an appointment for me with the cardinal.”

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[Juan Barros after testifying for alleged cover-up of abuses: “I brought what I could contribute”]

CHILE
T13

September 6, 2018

La citación al obispo emérito responde a la investigación que la Fiscalía realiza por denuncias de abuso sexual a menores que pesan en contra del ex capellán de la FACH, Pedro Quiroz. Ministerio Público no descarta nuevas diligencias.

El obispo emérito de Osorno, Juan Barros, declaró durante la tarde de este jueves ante el Ministerio Público en la Brigada de Delitos Sexuales de la PDI. El religioso fue citado a las 17 horas para entregar testimonio como imputado ante el fiscal de la Fiscalía Metropolitana Sur, Guillermo Adasme, por presunto encubrimiento en relación a las denuncias de abuso sexual a menores que pesan en contra del ex capellán de la FACH, Pedro Quiroz.

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[Marists close canonical investigation for sexual abuse and ask for the maximum sanction for priests involved]

CHILE
El Mostrador

September 8, 2018

Las víctimas expresaron sus sospechas sobre la forma en que ha actuado la Congregación respecto de los sacerdotes investigados y la información incompleta entregada a la fiscalía en la indagatoria judicial. Ahora los antecedentes llegarán a Roma donde se decidirá la posible expulsión de los involucrados.

Hace ocho meses la Congregación de los Hermanos Maristas instruyó una investigación canónica contra siete sacerdotes que habrían cometido una serie de abusos sexuales en los colegios de la congregación contra menores de edad a partir de los años 70 hasta la década del 2000. Los hechos se revelaron a partir de la propia confesión del sacerdote Abel Pérez, que reconoció haber abusado de alumnos del Instituto Alonso de Ercilla y el colegio Marcelino Champagnat.

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[As preliminary Marist abuse investigation wraps up, survivors want more information]

SANTIAGO, CHILE
Emol

September 8, 2018

By C. Fernández

A través de un comunicado, los denominados “sobrevivientes” solicitaron que se esclarecieran ciertos aspectos de la indagatoria.

Este sábado se informó sobre el fin de la investigación canónica preliminar realizada por los casos de abuso sexual que involucran a miembros de la Congregación de los Hermanos Maristas, indagatoria tras la cual se reconoció la veracidad de las denuncias. Frente a esta noticia, los denominados “sobrevivientes” del Caso Marista emitieron un comunicado en el que expresan su sentir a raíz de este informe y manifiestan sus dudas con respecto a ciertos antecedentes que, por el momento, no han sido esclarecidos.

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[Marist Case: Preliminary canonical investigation ends, conclusions sent to Vatican]

SANTIAGO, CHILE
Emol

September 8, 2018

By Carla Fernández

Este sábado se informó sobre el fin de esta indagatoria, cuyas conclusiones serán enviadas a Roma para establecer las eventuales sanciones.

Este sábado se anunció el fin de la investigación canónica preliminar que se realizó en el marco de los casos de abusos sexuales que involucran a miembros de la Congregación de los Hermanos Maristas. Tras la indagatoria, que comenzó el pasado mes de enero, se reconoce la veracidad las denuncias que fueron realizadas en contra de los integrantes de esta institución.

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VATICAN CITY
Associated Press

September 9, 2018

By Nicole Winfield

Two weeks after Pope Francis’ papacy was thrown into crisis by accusations that he covered-up sexual misconduct by ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Francis has refused to respond, his accuser has changed his story and a host of new characters have entered the fray.

Cardinals, bishops, priests and ordinary faithful, meanwhile, are demanding answers, given that the Vatican knew about it as early as 2000.

Increasingly, Francis is coming under pressure to respond to claims by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano that he rehabilitated McCarrick from sanctions Pope Benedict XVI had imposed.

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ROME (ITALY)
Reuters

September 9, 2018

By Crispian Balmer

Pope Francis should not resign over allegations he mishandled a sexual abuse scandal, said Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump’s former political strategist who is close to prominent Catholic conservatives.

However, Bannon told Reuters he was working on setting up an independent, non-partisan tribunal to investigate decades of scandals within the U.S. Church, warning that dioceses across the country faced financial ruin because of the wrongdoing.

In a statement that stunned the church, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano said last month that Pope Francis should stand down for allegedly covering up for a former U.S. cardinal who was accused of sexually molesting children and adult seminarians.

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ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Albuquerque Journal

September 8, 2018

By Diane Dimond

Pope Francis has called for silence and prayer from those who criticize the Catholic Church’s attempts to root out and punish sex-abusing priests. But it is clear the time for silence has long passed.

Priests who prey on children are criminals, not souls to be saved for the sake of an institution.

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CHICAGO (IL)
CNN

September 8, 2018

By Marlena Baldacci and Dakin Andone, CNN

A bishop who admitted he never reported suspicions of child sexual abuse by priests is currently living in a historic mansion owned by the Archdiocese of Chicago.

In a 2007 deposition, Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Goedert told lawyers he never alerted law enforcement to allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy before providing the lawyers with the names of 25 clergy members who he knew had been accused of such behavior.

Today, 90-year-old Goedert is living at the Archbishop’s Residence, an historic three-story building made of “smooth red brick” with 19 chimneys, three of which are in use, according to the archdiocese’s website, which calls it “perhaps the largest and best-preserved building of its type in the Chicago area.”

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NEW JERSEY
NPR

September 7, 2018

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The New Jersey attorney general has announced the creation of a special task force that will investigate clergy sexual abuse in that state’s Catholic diocese. The task force will also look at any efforts to cover up abuse. The announcement came just hours after news broke that the New York attorney general’s office had issued subpoenas to every Catholic diocese in the state. And at least three other states also have investigations underway. Gurbir Grewal is the New Jersey attorney general. He joins us now. Welcome to the program.

GURBIR GREWAL: Good afternoon. Thanks for having me.

CORNISH: So was your move essentially inspired by what happened in Pennsylvania?

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post via San Antonio Express-News

August 28, 2018

By Marc A. Thiessen

Pope Francis’ letter to the Catholic faithful last week was remarkable in that the Holy Father apologized not only for the sexual abuses carried out by Catholic priests but also for the cover-up of that abuse carried out by Catholic bishops.

“The heart-wrenching pain of these victims, which cries out to heaven, was long ignored, kept quiet or silenced,” Francis wrote. “To acknowledge the truth of what has happened, in itself this is not enough” he added, promising to make “all those who perpetrate or cover up these crimes accountable” and expressing deep regret that “we have delayed in applying these actions and sanctions that are so necessary.”

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WASHINGTON D.C.
The Worthy Adversary blog

September 8, 2018

By Joelle Casteix

One of my dearest friends is a married deacon in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. In his position, he attended to Cardinal Wuerl.

But after the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, he decided: No more.

After James wrote and delivered the letter attached below, we talked. He told me that telling Cardinal Wuerl was one thing. But the statement meant little if he didn’t let the survivors know how he felt.

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ALLENTOWN (PA)
The Morning Call

August 21, 2018

This list includes priests named in a Pennsylvania grand jury report on sex abuse, or released by the Allentown Diocese, as well as those named in court cases. It includes summaries of their cases and their status with the diocese.

* The Rev. John S. Baruch retired in 1984 and died in 1995. The diocese says it received allegations against Baruch after his death. The diocese reported the allegations to law enforcement.

* The Rev. Thomas Bender, former pastor of Most Blessed Sacrament in Bally, was sentenced to seven years’ probation in 1988 for molesting a teenage Pottsville boy in the 1980s. A civil case with the boy and his family was settled by the diocese out of court. Bender was laicised, or defrocked.

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CHARLOTTE (NC)
WSOC-TV

September 8, 2018

By Briana Harper

Thousands of Catholics from all over North Carolina are counting this weekend’s Eucharistic Congress as a chance to renew their religion.

“Jesus, he’s the reason I come and to just learn more about my faith,” Catholic Joyce Ziolkowski said.

Within the Catholic faith, a dark cloud hovers regarding reports of sexual abuse .of children by priests.

For the first time, Diocese of Charlotte Bishop Peter Jugis spoke out publicly about the allegations, which include recent reports of sexual misconduct of a retired Washington, D.C., archbishop, and a bombshell grand jury report detailing decades of child abuse in Pennsylvania.

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BURLINGTON (VT)
Burlington Free Press

By Elizabeth Murray

September 7, 2018

Local and state authorities plan to investigate the criminality of abuse against children at St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Burlington that occurred decades ago.

A joint state-local task force is to be announced 10 a.m. Monday at the Burlington Police Department, Vermont State Attorney General T.J. Donovan said Friday.

The probe, first reported by Seven Days, is planned in the wake of last week’s massive Buzzfeed News article by reporter Christine Kenneally about child abuse at Roman Catholic orphanages during the 20th century.

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MONTPELIER (VT)
Valley News

September 7, 2018

By Colin Meyn of Vermont Digger

Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan will open an investigation into abuse within Vermont’s Catholic Church, including at the St. Joseph’s orphanage.

The announcement comes days after BuzzFeed published a lengthy investigation into horrifying abuses at the Catholic-run facility in Burlington.

“We’ll do an investigation,” Donovan said in an interview on Friday. “Certainly it will be about the allegations specifically about St. Joseph’s, but my sense is we will also look at some larger issues involved here.”

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FORT WORTH (TX)
Dallas News

September 8, 2018

By Richard Mathews

The Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth is attacking the evil of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults with increased rigor and intensity.

Organizations and institutions, including religious organizations, have historically focused on protecting children in their care from sexual victimization on the basis of “external threats,” such as “stranger danger,” breaches of facility security, and intercepting children traveling to or from locations or supervised activities. Yet, as we consider the increasing revelations of abuse among youth-serving organizations and religious institutions over the past two decades, attention must also turn necessarily to the victimization of children by those working inside, or affiliated with, these organizations.

In 2002 the Diocese of Fort Worth created its Office of Safe Environment to take specific action in response to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (commonly referred to as the Dallas Charter). The Dallas Charter addressed the church’s commitment to deal appropriately and effectively with cases of sexual abuse of minors by priests and deacons. The diocese extended that commitment for accountability to include all other church personnel, employees and volunteers, including the bishop.

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ILLINOIS
NPR Illinois

September 7, 2018

By Sam Dunklau

[AUDIO]

NPR Illinois’ Sam Dunklau sat down with Bishop Paprocki of Springfield this week. He says he regrets the child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy that happened in the past, and calls on the Church to heal together.

For millions of Catholics across the US, the issue of child sexual abuse has cut deep for decades.

The release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing hundreds of such cases last month opened those wounds afresh, prompting renewed scrutiny of Catholic clergy and even calls for Pope Francis to step down.

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VATICAN CITY
Associated Press via ABC News

September 8, 2018

By Nicole Winfield

Pope Francis told newly ordained bishops Saturday that they must reject all forms of abuse and work in communion to fight the clerical culture that has fueled the sex abuse and cover-up scandal rocking his papacy.

Francis cited his recent letter about combatting abuse during an audience with 74 new bishops from 34 developing countries. The bishops were in Rome for training this week.

Their seminar took place during a crisis for the pope: a lone archbishop has alleged Francis covered up for a now-former U.S. cardinal who was accused of sexually molesting children and adult seminarians.

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UNITED STATES
National Review

September 8, 2018

By J. J. McCullough

As turmoil dominates recent headlines, a sense of disillusionment and betrayal pervades much of the commentary from conservative Catholics in the U.S.

A critical component of modern conservative thought in the United States has been the outsized role played by Catholic men and women, particularly those who converted to Catholicism as adults. Even as white Evangelicals constitute the Republican party’s most loyal faction of religious voters, Catholics remain prominent among conservative public figures. It’s an impressive cast that includes everyone from leading journalists and academics to presidential candidates and Supreme Court justices.

There is what might be called an attractively “Tory” quality to this: a conservative elite committed to an old-world church, bound both in internal organization and in the public imagination to ideals of tradition, hierarchy, and historic continuity.

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WICHITA (KS)
Wichita Eagle

September 8, 2018

By David P. Rundle

Father Richard Jaclin, a Catholic priest now removed from ministry, allegedly molested a man with intellectual disabilities in an Illinois institution last November. If true, the case involves the ongoing sex abuse scandal which has rocked my church for nearly 20 years and shows no signs of ending. It also points out the vulnerability of people with disabilities to such abuse. As a Catholic with cerebral palsy and epilepsy, I not only have a unique perspective to address both issues but a moral obligation to.

First, the disability matter. NPR reported in January that the Justice Department concluded that people with intellectual disabilities are seven times more likely to be sexually assaulted than the general population. I myself was never abused, but I have known several women who said they were, and not one went to court.

The case of a woman I’ll call Peg shows how this abuse happens and shows the stupid unwillingness of others to believe it does. Peg has since died, but others who knew her might object if I used her real name — and she night have as well. God knows she was betrayed enough while alive.

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MINNEAPOLIS (MN)
Associated Press via KDKA-TV (CBS affiliate)

September 8, 2018

The day after a grand jury report revealed that Roman Catholic clergy in Pennsylvania molested more than 1,000 children over decades, Adrienne Alexander went to Mass at a Chicago church and waited for the priest to say something about the situation.

He didn’t. And that left Alexander fuming. So she went on Facebook to vent — then organized a prayer vigil in Chicago that became the catalyst for similar laity-led vigils in Boston, Philadelphia and other cities nationwide.

Alexander is among countless Catholics in the U.S. who are raising their voices in prayer and protest to demand change amid new revelations of sex abuse by priests and allegations of widespread cover-ups. They are doing letter-writing campaigns and holding prayer vigils and listening sessions in an effort to bring about change from the pews, realizing it’s up to them to confront the problem and save the church they love after years of empty promises from leadership.

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[The “holy war” in the Prosecutor’s Office over Church abuse]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 7, 2018

By Leslie Ayala C.

Diligencias cruzadas de interrogatorios a sacerdotes y allanamientos en la Iglesia, entre los fiscales regionales de la zona Sur, Raúl Guzmán, y O’Higgins, Emiliano Arias, han generado más de un roce entre quienes investigan las principales líneas de eventuales delitos cometidos por altas autoridades del clero chileno.

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[The uncertain scenario after Supreme Court ruling on Precht]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 6, 2018

By Sergio Rodríguez

Máximo tribunal aceptó recurso de amparo del sacerdote en contra del Arzobispado de Santiago por medidas cautelares que había impuesto la institución religiosa en contra de Precht.

“Se declara que se acoge el recurso de amparo interpuesto a favor de Christian Precht Bañados, y se dispone que la recurrida elimine de inmediato la comunicación aludida y cese en cualquier acto que afecte ilegalmente la libertad personal del amparado”.

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[O’Higgins prosecutor plans to have Ezzati and Santiago Silva testify in abuse investigation]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 7, 2018

By Leyla Zapata

Declaración del cardenal, en octubre, se suma a la que prestará, también como imputado, el presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal.

El Ministerio Público de O’Higgins, encabezado por el fiscal Emiliano Arias, fijó para la primera quincena de octubre la declaración, en calidad de imputado, del arzobispo de Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati, luego de que la diligencia -programada para el 21 de agosto pasado- fuera suspendida a petición de la defensa del cardenal. Esta última argumentó que no contaba con la totalidad de los antecedentes que le imputará el persecutor, que investiga los abusos cometidos por miembros de la Iglesia Católica, y que la fiscalía aún no procesaba toda su información.

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SANTIAGO, CHILE
Reuters

September 7, 2018

By Aislinn Laing

A former Chilean bishop staunchly defended by Pope Francis after being accused of helping to conceal sexual abuse has been named a suspect in two criminal investigations into alleged cover-ups, a prosecutor and another legal source said on Friday.

Juan Barros, whose resignation as bishop of Osorno was accepted by the Pope in June alongside those of four other bishops, was interrogated as a suspect for more than three hours on Thursday in Santiago, city prosecutor Raul Guzman said.

Separately, prosecutor Emiliano Arias has named Barros as a suspect in the cover-up of several sex abuse cases in Rancagua, a city just south of the Chilean capital, the legal source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

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[Barros testifies in abuse case against former chaplain Quiroz: “I told the prosecutor what I knew or didn’t know”]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 6, 2018

“Aporté lo que yo podía aportar”, agregó.

“Le manifesté al señor fiscal lo que yo había podido conocer o desconocer”, dijo el obispo Juan Barros tras declarar ante el fiscal Guillermo Adasme, por la causa contra el excapellán Pedro Quiroz. Barros declaró en calidad de imputado ante la Fiscalía Sur, en la investigación por el eventual encubrimiento de abusos sexuales cometidos por el excapellán castrense Pedro Quiroz.

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[Karadima case: Through appeals court, Archbishop asks Vatican to provide any evidence of cover-up]

CHILE
El Mostrador

September 6, 2018

Por medio de un comunicado, el Arzobispado de Santiago solicitó a la Corte de Apelaciones enviar un exhorto a la Secretaría de Estado del Vaticano para entregar todos los antecedentes referentes al encubrimiento a Fernando Karadima. La declaración señala que “considerando las recientes comunicaciones del Papa Francisco a los obispos (…) es indispensable que se pueda aportar a esta causa cualquier nuevo antecedente” que esté en poder del Vaticano para determinar si existió encubrimiento.

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DENVER (CO)
Denver Post

September 7, 2018

By Sam Tabachnik

Stephen Edward Jeselnick, 67, was among hundreds of clergymen accused of child sexual abuse by a Pennsylvania grand jury last month

A former priest implicated in the explosive Pennsylvania child sex abuse report served at multiple Colorado churches in the early 1980s, just a few years after allegedly engaging in repeated sexual assault of three brothers in Pennsylvania.

Stephen Edward Jeselnick, 67, was among hundreds of clergymen accused of child sexual abuse by a Pennsylvania grand jury last month. The two-year investigation revealed that leaders within six Catholic dioceses worked to hide the sexual abuse of more than 1,000 children over 70 years.

Jeselnick, who currently lives in Colorado Springs, served in the Archdiocese of Denver for nearly seven months from December 1982 to June 1983 on a trial assignment, according to the Archdiocese. Just a few years prior, in the late 1970s, he allegedly engaged in repeated sexual assault of three brothers in Meadeville, Pa., according to the grand jury report. The Pennsylvania brothers, now adults, told the grand jury that Jeselnick’s abuse included genital fondling, oral sex and anal sex, the report states. Jeselnick allegedly abused them in their home and at church, where their mother worked, the report continues.

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NEW YORK (NY)
NBC

September 6.2018

by Alex Johnson

In addition to New York and New Jersey, state inquiries are under way or are in the works in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska and New Mexico.

New York and New Jersey on Thursday raised to seven the number of states whose attorneys general have said they are reviewing Roman Catholic dioceses for cases of sexual misconduct by clergy — and several other states could join that growing list.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Thursday that since the release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report last month — which accused more than 300 priests of having abused more than 1,000 children over 70 years — “more than a dozen attorneys general and a senior official at the Department of Justice have reached out to me.”

Shapiro didn’t identify those officials, and tracking down all of the states that have begun formal investigations is nearly impossible. Many states don’t confirm, deny or comment on active investigations or grand jury proceedings, and in others, the attorney general’s authority is limited to pursuing only cases that originate with local prosecutors.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

September 7, 2018

By Mark Pattison

Washington – A pair of open letters to Pope Francis asking him for answers to charges of cover-ups by him and others over abuse allegations against retired Archbishop Theodore McCarrick of Washington were sponsored by the Catholic Women’s Forum, a project of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank.

Support independent Catholic journalism. Become an NCR Forward member for $5 a month.

The prologue to one of the letters declares, “This letter reflects the personal initiative of the individual Catholic women signing this letter, and is not sponsored by any group or organization.” The letter and invitations to sign it, though, are posted on the Catholic Women’s Forum’s website.

The first letter, titled “Letter to Pope Francis from Catholic Women,” is dated Aug. 30, four days after publication of an 11-page letter by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former Vatican nuncio to the United States, making charges against Francis and other church leaders.

The second letter, from a group called Catholic Men United for Christ, is dated Sept. 5. “Specifically,” the second letter said, “we request that you answer the questions posed by our sisters in their letter to you.”

The questions posed in the women’s letter include, “What did Archbishop Vigano convey to you in June 2013 about then-Cardinal McCarrick? When did you learn of any allegations of sexual abuse or sexual misconduct with adults by then-Cardinal McCarrick? When did you learn of Pope Benedict’s restrictions on then-Cardinal McCarrick? And did you release then-Cardinal McCarrick from any of Pope Benedict’s restrictions?”

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KNOXVILLE (TN)
Knoxville News Sentinel

September 7, 2018

By Amy McRary

Sevierville – John Delaney was a quiet, skinny altar boy of 11 when a priest in his Philadelphia parish began sexually abusing him.

Father James Brzyski abused him more than 100 times in the early 1980s, Delaney said. The abuse — from groping to rape — went on until Delaney was 16.

He tried fighting back. “I was a skinny little kid, but I was throwing punches at the priest. He got violent when I tried to get him to stop.”

Delaney almost never talked about what was happening to him and what he knew was happening to other boys. When he did, he was called a liar and slapped. But for the last 15 years the Philadelphia native who’s lived in East Tennessee 12 years has been speaking up.

“This abuse doesn’t define who I am. This is just a fraction of who I am.”

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GUAM
Radio NZ

September 6, 2018

Guam’s archbishop has written a letter acknowledging a debt of justice has to be paid, as the church plans to enter mediation talks with lawyers representing children sexually abused by priests.

Lawyers for nearly 200 people who say they were sexually abused at the hands of the Catholic Church over several decades will meet with the church in two weeks to begin the process.

The mediation is being pursued to try and settle the cases outside of court and to avoid what would most likely be lengthy trials.

In a letter, Archbishop Michael Byrnes said the mediation is a tangible sign that the church knows “a wrong has been done” and that it wants meaningful action.

He said more is needed with respect to investigations, processes and procedures.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
NPQ/Washington Post

September 7, 2018

By Jim Schaffer

Last week, NPQ reported on the controversy surrounding a former Vatican ambassador releasing an unprecedented public letter that alleged Popes Francis and Benedict and other top clerics knew about the sexual misconduct by former Washington DC archbishop Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and then protected him. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who replaced McCarrick, was one of the top embattled clerics named in the seditious letter. Wuerl was also named in the grand jury report on sexual abuse by priests in six Pennsylvania dioceses for allegedly being involved in the cover-up while serving as bishop in Pittsburgh. Pope Francis reportedly advised Wuerl during a personal meeting in Rome last Thursday to return to the US and consult with his priests for advice and guidance.

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BURLINGTON (VT)
Burlington Free Press

September 4, 2018

The Roman Catholic bishop of Burlington outlined steps in a blog post Tuesday to address the damage caused by new revelations of sex abuse committed by priests and even bishops.

Here are three takeaways:

1. There is no denying the obvious anymore.

Bishop Christopher Coyne minced no words in his blog.

“Over the last six weeks, new revelations of scandalous and even criminal activity by bishops and priests have deeply angered and shaken all of us,” Coyne wrote.

Strong words. And here’s why. In just the past month:

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UNITED STATES
CNN

September 7, 2018

The Catholic Church has been rocked by allegations of sexual abuse and the Pope has come forward and acknowledged the institution’s failures.

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YORK (PA)
York Daily Record

September 6, 2018

By Candy Woodall

A Pennsylvania grand jury report that identified 301 predator priests has renewed an international wave of reports on the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.

President Donald Trump, who is embroiled in an ongoing political scandal, said the crisis in the Catholic Church is “so sad to watch.”

Trump talked about the issue in an exclusive Oval Office interview with The Daily Caller, a conservative publication.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service

September 7, 2018

By Rhina Guidos

The New York State Office of the Attorney General is the latest to announce that it is launching an investigation of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic Church clergy, sending out subpoenas on Sept. 6 seeking documents from the state’s eight dioceses.

In a press release, the agency said it was seeking “a civil investigation into how the dioceses and other church entities — which are nonprofit institutions — reviewed and potentially covered up allegations of extensive sexual abuse of minors.” Of New York’s eight dioceses, which include Albany, Buffalo, New York, Brooklyn, Ogdensburg, Rochester, Rockville Centre and Syracuse, four have confirmed to Catholic News Service they received subpoenas

In conjunction, the state’s Attorney General, Barbara D. Underwood, announced a hotline, specifically for those who may have been abused by clergy in New York.

Joseph Zwilling, director of communications for the Archdiocese of New York, said in a Sept. 6 email to Catholic News Service that “while we have just received a subpoena, it is not a surprise to us that the Attorney General would look to begin a civil investigation, and she will find the Archdiocese of New York, and the other seven dioceses in the state, ready and eager to work together with her in the investigation.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
NBC Chicago

September 6, 2018

By Mary Ann Ahern

In the wake of the latest round of sex abuse allegations against the Catholic Church, a group of Catholic women are stepping up pressure on Pope Francis to take on a leadership role in dealing with the crisis.

The American group Legatus announced Thursday that it would withhold $1 million in donations in the midst of the controversy, saying that they want clarity on how the Church is going to proceed in investigating the abuse allegations.

“I certainly would support a very prudent study, and that’s why we really need the Holy Father’s answers,” Mary Fiorito of the Ethics and Public Policy Center said.

Legatus, a group of Catholic business leaders, has given the Vatican $18 million annually since 1987, and they’re using the donation as a wake-up call to the Church to address the crisis more forcefully.

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SINGAPORE
Channel News Asia

September 6, 2018

The Catholic Church in Singapore on Thursday (Sep 6) revealed in greater detail the processes it has put in place to deal with any allegations of child abuse and its commitment to promote a safe environment.

The details, posted online on the church’s news platform The Catholic News, come five days after the Archbishop of Singapore Most Reverend William Goh revealed in a pastoral message that there were “a handful” of allegations of abuse involving the Church in Singapore.

Those cases were handed over to the Professional Standards Office (PSO) of the Archdiocese for investigation and later judged to be inconclusive, he added in the post on Sep 1.

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ALBANY (NY)
The Daily Gazette

September 6, 2018

By Stephen Williams

Letter asks Albany DA David Soares to review records

Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese has invited Albany District Attorney David Soares to review the diocese’s records on sex abuse cases.

Scharfenberger announced the invitation in an open letter Thursday, calling the decision a necessary one that “ultimately will result in much good but one that is likely to be difficult and incredibly challenging for us for the foreseeable future.”

The letter from Scharfenberger came out on the same day state Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood announced her office has established a hotline and online complaint form as part of the state’s ongoing investigation into clergy sex abuse in all eight New York state dioceses.

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IRELAND
The Times

August 31 2018

By Gary Gannon

The Pope professed to be shocked when he heard details of Irish mother and baby homes, and he had no idea what a Magdalene laundry was, according to survivors of clerical abuse who met him last weekend. “It ended up with me giving him a three or four-minute crash course through his translator,” Paul Redmond said.

This was all the more surprising considering that the Pope had met Philomena Lee, the adoption rights campaigner, in 2014. But he is not alone in claiming ignorance of the religious institutional abuse that has existed since the state was founded. Discourse about our identity fails to address the effects this abuse and incarceration had on many families.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times

September 7, 2018

ByRobert Herguth

When word began to spread in 1989 that Vincent McCaffrey, a Chicago-area Catholic priest, had been accused of molesting children, a top church official expressed concern — about word getting out.

“Unfortunately, one of the key parishioners . . . received an anonymous phone call which made reference by name to Vince and alleged misconduct on his part with young boys,” the Rev. Raymond Goedert wrote to then-Cardinal Joseph Bernardin.

“We all agreed that the best thing would be for Vince to move,” Goedert wrote, according to documents released as part of a court settlement. “We don’t know if the anonymous caller will strike again.”

In 2003, McCaffrey was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for possession and receipt of child pornography. Though never charged with sexually abusing kids, McCaffrey admitted during the court case that he had molested so many he couldn’t remember the exact number.

Goedert, promoted to auxiliary bishop in 1991, retired in 2003.

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CANADA
Global News

September 7, 2018

On this week’s episode of the Global News original podcast This is Why, we hear part two of our two-part series on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Last week, podcast host Niki Reitmayer sat down with abuse survivor Leona Huggins, as she recalled her traumatic experience at the hands of a pedophile priest and the Catholic Church’s attempts to cover it up.

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