ABUSE TRACKER

[Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz faces complaint for “false testimony”]

CHILE
BioBioChile

October 25, 2018

By Alberto González, Sebastián Cáceres, and Agence France-Presse

Tres víctimas de abusos sexuales del exsacerdote Fernando Karadima se querellaron este jueves por “falso testimonio” en contra del exarzobispo de Santiago, Francisco Javier Errázuriz, a quien acusan de encubrir sus crímenes. La querella se enmarca dentro del proceso civil que las tres víctimas -Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton y José Andrés Murillo- llevan adelante contra la Iglesia de Santiago, en busca de una millonaria indemnización por encubrir los crímenes.

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.

DENVER (CO)
Crux

October 25, 2018

By Robert Duncan and Anne Condodina

The more than 250 Catholic bishops from around the world meeting at the Vatican in October missed an opportunity to confront the global sex abuse crisis, said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia.

“I wish that we had spent more time not only talking about (the crisis) but apologizing to people for it,” said Chaput, one of the delegates elected by the U.S. bishops to participate in the Synod of Bishops on young people, the faith and vocational discernment.

The “resistance (of) some bishops” meant the abuse crisis was largely absent from the discussions, he told Catholic News Service Oct. 25. “Some say that (sex abuse) really is an issue of the Western world.”

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)
American Conservative

October 24, 2018

By Rod Drehrer

Big news for Memphis Catholics: Pope Francis has removed Bishop Martin Holley without explanation.

The decision comes from Pope Francis himself, who made clear the forced retirement was owing to Holley’s refusal to resign of his own accord.

Church Militant broke the news in June that the Memphis diocese was the subject of an apostolic visitation, led by Abp. Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, Georgia and Abp. Bernard Hebda of St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The investigation was triggered by specific allegations and grave concerns surrounding Msgr. Clement J. Machado, Vicar General, Moderator of the Curia and Chancellor.

Complaints involved various financial discrepancies as well as purported violations of canon law committed by both Machado and Holley. Among Holley’s actions was the sudden closure of 11 schools as well as the abrupt removal and transfer of more than half the pastors in his diocese, leading to a sharp drop in donations and widespread anger and frustration from Catholics.

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.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Oct 25, 2018

by Thomas C. Fox

I write today from a fourth floor room at NCR’s midtown headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, the very room where I gathered 50 years ago with Robert Hoyt and his fledgling staff. I had just returned from two years in Vietnam, working with war victims and beginning my journalism career as NCR’s “Vietnam correspondent.” My purpose then was to “debrief” the NCR staff after witnessing the brutal war close-up as a volunteer with International Voluntary Services. (That debriefing ended up in the July 24, 1968, issue beneath the headline “Tom Fox Sums Up: How war — and the way we fight it — destroys a people.”)

My purpose now, emerging out of a three-year retirement, is to lead the company, focusing on successfully completing a much-needed $10 million endowment campaign. It’s embarrassingly called “The Tom Fox Fund to Sustain Independent Catholic Journalism.” (Note: All funds go to endowing NCR editorial work.)

Five decades back, a younger version of Fox saw the world very much in disarray. The Vietnam War was at a high point. The Tet Offensive had turned Vietnam on its head, ripping away a pretense the war was being won. A total of 16,592 U.S. soldiers perished in Vietnam in 1968; tens of thousands more Vietnamese were killed; hundreds of thousands more lost their homes and livelihoods. Our nation was bitterly divided. Family members wouldn’t speak to each other because of political differences. Turmoil grew in the wakes of Martin Luther King Jr.’s and Robert Kennedy’s deaths. Days of rioting were breaking out in Washington, Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit and elsewhere.

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.

BOSTON (MA)
The Heights

October 25, 2018

By Maddie Deye and Danny Flynn News

Four Boston College faculty members discussed reconciling their faith with an issue-laden church in a panel titled “Catholic Belonging in a Time of Scandal,” sponsored by the theology department, Jesuit Institute, C21 Center, and Undergraduate Government of Boston College, on Monday.

Theology professor Stephen J. Pope moderated the panel and introduced the main speakers: associate philosophy professor Marina McCoy, theology professor Richard Gaillardetz, and philosophy professor Kerry Cronin. The group discussed their views on the recent sex abuse scandal within the Catholic Church that was outlined in the 2018 Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report and specifically delved into why and how they have remained Catholic in the wake of church scandal.

McCoy began the event by laying out why she believed the issue had more to do with larger societal questions than questions strictly pertaining to the church.

“For me, it’s a question of how do people belong to the human community, of all different kinds of communities, knowing what humans can be like,” McCoy said. “We live in communities where the people around us are gifted and the people around us are deeply flawed.”

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.

SANTE FE (NM)
Santa Fe New Mexican

October 25, 2018

By Andrew Oxford

A former student of Holy Cross Catholic School in Santa Cruz says in a new lawsuit that he was raped by a priest in the adjacent church during the 1980s.

The case is just the latest allegation that the Rev. Marvin Archuleta abused children in the area and comes as state Attorney General Hector Balderas investigates a history of sexual misconduct in New Mexico’s Roman Catholic dioceses, where predators were shuffled for decades.

The lawsuit by an unnamed John Doe, now 38, says Archuleta and another priest summoned him and other children from class to the church, ostensibly to talk with them about becoming altar boys. At one point, the other priest ushered children out of the room, leaving the boy with Archuleta, according to the lawsuit. The suit says Archuleta proceeded to rape the elementary school student.

The plaintiff never told anyone about the episode but grew addicted to alcohol and other drugs, the lawsuit says.

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.

OMAHA (NB)
WOWT

October 26, 2018

By Brian Mastre

A controversy is unfolding over the alleged actions of an Omaha priest and, as a result, Fr. Francis Nigli has been removed from one of the biggest churches in the city.

On Thursday, Archbishop George Lucas was preparing to hold a town hall meeting with the parish at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church.

Fr. Nigli was recently removed from ministry after a 21-year-old male accused him of sexual assault – kissing and fondling over his clothing.

Omaha Police tell 6 News the case did not rise to the level of a crime.

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 (NY)
CBS News

October 26, 2018

The former executive assistant to Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo accuses him of withholding the names of dozens of priests with sex abuse accusations against them from a report released last March. Siobhan O’Connor will detail her story for the first time on television to Bill Whitaker on 60 Minutes, Sunday October 28 at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

Hundreds of documents O’Conner secretly copied from the confidential files of the Diocese of Buffalo offer an extraordinary window into Bishop Malone’s decisions about priests accused of abuse. The devout O’Connor professes love for her church and her bishop. But she says she left the diocese last summer after three years because the documents she discovered indicated the bishop had allowed the accused priests to continue in ministry. “The reality of what I saw left me with no other option because at the end of my life, I’m not going to answer to Bishop Malone, I am going to answer to God,” she tells Whitaker.

“I did betray [Bishop Malone], and yet I can’t apologize for that, because there was a greater good to consider,” says O’Connor.

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.

PARKERSBURG (WV)
News & Sentinel

October 26, 2018

By Jess Mancini

A disclosure by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston of those “credibly accused” of abusing children should have been done years ago, a representative of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said.

Archbishop William E. Lori, the apostolic administrator for the diocese, on Wednesday said the diocese will compile and release the names of all priests, deacons and others who are credibly accused of child sexual abuse since 1950, which is as far back as records exist.

“Releasing of the names of credibly accused priests, etc. should have been done years ago,” Judy Jones, Midwest regional leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said.

Jones, a former resident of Southeast Ohio, joined the network after her brother was abused by a priest, she said. She has said the church is incapable of policing itself.

“Hopefully the West Virginia attorney general is doing an investigation into the Wheeling-Charleston diocese,” she said. “He should subpoena all the ‘secret archives’ of the diocese.”

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.

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

October 25, 2018

By Jay Tokasz

Bishop Richard J. Malone’s former administrative assistant acknowledged Thursday that she was the source of leaked internal Diocese of Buffalo documents showing how Malone and diocesan lawyers handled allegations of clergy sexual misconduct.

Siobhan O’Connor, who worked in the diocesan chancery from 2015 until this past August, said in a statement to WKBW-TV that her conscience compelled her to take action.

“As a faithful Catholic, I could not abide by what I witnessed at the chancery,” she said. “As a whistleblower, my heart is heavy but my soul is at peace.”

Documents she provided to WKBW-TV helped show that Malone had allowed two priests accused of inappropriate conduct to remain in ministry, even as the bishop maintained publicly that he was not covering up for abusive priests.

O’Connor said she also provided documents to 60 Minutes, the CBS news magazine show, which is scheduled to broadcast a story on Sunday focusing on clergy sex abuse in the Buffalo Diocese.

The leaks to WKBW-TV followed many months of media scrutiny of the diocese’s handling of clergy sexual abuse and escalated a growing crisis in the diocese. The scandal erupted after retired Rev. Norbert Orsolits admitted to The Buffalo News in February that he had molested “probably dozens” of boys.

Following Orsolits’ admission, O’Connor fielded many calls to the bishop’s office from childhood victims of clergy abuse, and in May she wrote about her experiences in an opinion column in The Buffalo News. She called it an “immense privilege” to speak with victims and urged “compassionate support” for them.

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.

EDIA (PA)
Daily Times

October 26, 2018

By Kathleen E. Carey

Sens. Tom McGarrigle, R-26, of Springfield, Tom Killion, R-9, of Middletown and John Rafferty, R-44, Thursday called on their colleagues to reconvene in Harrisburg to vote on a two-year window to allow childhood sexual abuse survivors to file civil suits against their abusers.

Standing before the Delaware County Courthouse, McGarrigle and Rafferty joined state Reps. Alex Charlton, R-165 of Springfield, Chris Quinn R-168, of Middletown and Marguerite Quinn, R-143, of Bucks County, in voicing their support for the measure while a group of survivors stood across the street, shouting, saying the vote should’ve been taken last week before the Senate recessed.

“I’m here today on behalf of the victims,” McGarrigle said, “and to tell the Senate Dems don’t use these victims as political pawns … We’re going to reach out to Sen. (President Pro Tempore Joe) Scarnati, R-25 of Jefferson County, to demand that he call back the Senate … to come and let’s vote on this. Let’s take the vote, send it back and get it signed by the governor and move on. We are demanding a vote.”

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.

LOS ANGELES (CA)
KPCC Radio

October 25, 2018

By Aaron Schrank

The U.S. Justice Department announced last week it’s investigating allegations of abuse by Catholic priests in Pennsylvania.

The news follows an explosive state grand jury report showing widespread coverup of the cases by church officials. One practice: move pedophile priests from place to place. In Southern California, that’s meant known abusers were routinely reassigned to work in L.A.’s immigrant communities.

After allegations surfaced against Carlos Rene Rodriguez in Los Angeles, he was moved to the farmworker community of Santa Paula, where he was asked to minister to Spanish-speaking families in the Archdiocese of L.A.’s Office of Family 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.

NEW ZEALAND
Radio New Zealand

October 25, 2018

By Michael Hall

A sexual abuse survivors’ advocate says she can no longer refer people to the Catholic Church’s body for dealing with complaints, saying it is dangerously incapable of dealing with victims.

Annie Hill said the National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS), which manages the Church’s complaints procedure, had been chronically slow responding to emails, was not transparent and had demonstrated a dangerous lack of empathy with very vulnerable people.

Another clerical sex abuse survivor accused a NOPS complaints assessment committee of re-victimising and manipulating him after attempting to broker deals to mitigate a religious order’s financial liability without his consent.

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.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

October 26, 2018

by Michael Sean Winters

All this summer, combating wacky right-wing conspiracy theories felt like an endless game of whack-a-mole. Now, as the cool winds of autumn cause the red and orange leaves to rustle and fall to the ground, the generic has become the specific and discriminating journalists are called upon to play the game of Whack-a-Viganò.

You would have thought that the letter from Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the conservative prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, chastising Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò and characterizing his previous testimonies as a “political frame job” might have caused the ex-nuncio to rethink his stance. Ouellet, appointed to his post by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, had worked closely with Viganò and he was not conspicuous in his support for some of Pope Francis’ reform efforts. His letter must have stung. It should have invited a reassessment by the Vatican’s most famous crybaby. It did not.

Instead, Viganò has come out with a third “testimony” and the third time was not the charm. Viganò begins with his usual self-promotion, explaining that his is the voice of conscience and anti-corruption. He notes he is issuing this third epistle on the feast of the North American Martyrs and he clearly sees himself as the victim of persecution, as he did in the famous Vatileaks memos.

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)
Philly Magazine

October 25, 2018

By Liz Goldman

Other than the predator who abused me, I’ve never met anyone who isn’t repulsed by child sexual abuse. I’ve also never met anyone who isn’t outraged by institutional cover-ups of sexual abuse. Nevertheless, the top leaders of the Pennsylvania Senate couldn’t manage to pass a bill last week to reform our archaic statute of limitations, a statute of limitations that prevents victims from seeking justice.

Instead, the legislators chose to protect their own interests. They didn’t even allow the bill to be voted on. These legislators did exactly what the professed men of God and the Catholic Church did: They sided with protecting the Church’s image and not with providing justice for past and future victims. Shame on them.

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.

ROME (ITALY)
Crux

October 26, 2018

By John L. Allen Jr. and Ines San Martin

A leading Asian prelate in the 2018 Synod of Bishops has said that some bishops from the developing world have been concerned that, driven mostly by the agenda of their Western colleagues, too much emphasis could be placed in the summit’s final document on clerical sexual abuse.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India, a member of both the drafting committee for the synod’s final synod document and the pope’s “C9” council of cardinal advisers, said his concern was being true to the input coming from participants.

“This was a question for us: You make such a big fuss about sexual abuse, and making it like the number one issue?” Gracias said. “To be fair to the synod, you can’t say that’s the number one thing.”

“[The document] has got to be universally acceptable everywhere, we realize that,” Gracias said. “The statement should answer the needs of the United States, Ireland, Australia, but not just them.”

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)
Catholic News Agency

October 25, 2018

By J.D. Flynn

One day after he was removed as head of the Diocese of Memphis, Bishop Martin Holley told CNA that he wants to be transparent about the reasons for his removal.

He says the decision was not about mismanagement, or past allegations of sexual misconduct. Instead, he believes that he was removed at the behest of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, former Archbishop of Washington, who influenced or collaborated with apostolic nuncio Archbishop Christophe Pierre to excise him from episcopal ministry.

Bishop Holley says he has nothing to hide.

The bishop was removed by Pope Francis from the diocese Oct. 24, after a June Vatican investigation into Holley’s leadership in the diocese. That investigation was prompted by criticism of Holley’s 2017 decision to reassign up to two-thirds of the 60 active priests in the diocese, and his appointment of a Canadian priest, Fr. Clement Machado, as vicar general, moderator of the curia, and chancellor of the Diocese of Memphis.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke told reporters Wednesday that the decision to remove Holley was “about management of the diocese.”

Burke added that concerns about Holley were “not abuse-related.” Holley also told CNA that a decades-old allegation of sexual misconduct mentioned in some reports is not the reason for his removal.

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.

BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

October 25, 2018

By Charlie Specht

The confidential whistleblower in the Buffalo Catholic Diocese sex abuse scandal will be featured this Sunday on the national news magazine “60 Minutes”.

Siobhan O’Connor, the former secretary to embattled Bishop Richard J. Malone, will speak publicly for the first time Sunday about why she worked with the 7 Eyewitness News I-Team to expose the mishandling of sexual abuse claims against multiple priests by Malone.

“It has been a privilege to work with Charlie Specht of WKBW for several months now,” O’Connor said in a prepared statement. “His integrity, faith and tenacity have continued to impress me. As you are now aware, in recent weeks I have also collaborated with the 60 Minutes team, which is renowned for their investigative prowess. I am pleased that Charlie can break this news to my fellow Western New Yorkers. Please know that my conscience compelled me to take action regarding Bishop Malone because of my profound concern for victims, the diocese and our community. As a faithful Catholic, I could not abide by what I witnessed at the Chancery.”

“As the whistleblower, my heart is heavy,” she added, “but my soul is at peace.”

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.

PITTSBURGH (PA)
WPXI TV

October 25, 2018

Sign urging Bishop David Zubik to resign flown over Pittsburgh

A sign reading “Resign Bishop Zupik” was flown over Pittsburgh on Thursday, which is believed to be referencing Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik.

Zubik has come under fire since a grand jury report outlined an extensive history of sexual abuse in the Catholic dioceses across Pennsylvania, including the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

It’s unclear who was responsible for the sign, or if the misspelling on Zubik’s name was intentional.

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.

HARRISBURG (PA)
WITF/The York Daily Record

October 25, 2018

By Candy Woodall

Two powerful groups lined the halls of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building on Oct. 17.

One group included people who identify as victims or survivors of Catholic priest sex abuse.

The other group represented the Catholic church and its insurance companies, which could have been on the hook for millions in reparations to such victims.

The victims and survivors argued for a bill that would let people sue the Catholic church over decades of abuses that were covered up.

The lobbyists argued that the bill was unconstitutional, and that the church could be left bankrupt, unable to help the community.

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.

BUFFALO (NY)
National Catholic Reporter

October 25, 2018

by Peter Feuerherd

The chill descending over the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, this fall is not just the cold winds blowing off Lake Erie.

In this year of tumult for the church, from a damning Pennsylvania grand jury report to a cardinal called out for sexual harassment and abuse of a minor, perhaps no other region in the country is feeling the fallout more than the 721,000 Catholics of the Buffalo Diocese.

Catholics in the diocese were assuaged when their church seemed to weather previous storms, such as the 2002 Boston exposure, relatively unscathed. However, local investigative reporters discovered over the summer a series of sex abuse cases covered up by bishops. The result has been a call for the resignation of the current bishop, Richard Malone, who came to Buffalo from Boston in 2012. The publicity has also tarnished the tenures of Bishops Edward Head, Henry Mansell, and Edward Urban Kmiec, all of whom are now accused of covering up for sex abuse among diocesan clergy dating from the 1970s.

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 News Service

October 25, 2018

An open letter to the U.S. bishops asks that at their Nov. 12-14 fall general meeting in Baltimore, they make it mandatory for bishops to become reporters of suspected sexual abuse.

“The nefarious actions of certain bishops surreptitiously transferring sexually abusive priests from parish to parish, and in some cases from diocese to diocese, without notifying civil authorities of the suspected abuse has been one of the most demoralizing elements of this crisis,” said the letter, from the Villanova University Task Force on the Sexual Abuse Crisis in the Church.

“Children being abused by priests is tragic enough, but when our bishops, who are supposed to be our spiritual and moral leaders, not only abandon our children in their time of need but actually become complicit in that abuse by actively covering it up, we must ensure that effective and rigorous standards are instituted so that children will truly be safe,” the letter said. “American bishops should never have the option of looking the other way and remaining silent again.”

The open letter, posted on the university’s website, was signed by 13 members of the task force, and about 140 Villanova faculty members and senior officials.

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.

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

October 25, 2018

According to a recent poll, 89% of Rhode Islanders believe that their attorney general should open an investigation into clergy sex abuse. SNAP believes that whichever candidate for the RI attorney general race wins, they should listen to their constituents and open an investigation following their election.

At this time, 16 attorneys general – from 15 states and Washington D.C. – have opened investigations into dioceses under their purview and have launched hotlines and websites to help survivors share their experiences and aid in the investigations. Regardless of who wins the upcoming election, we believe that the incoming attorney general should move swiftly to add Rhode Island to that list.

According to Bishop-Accountability.org, there are at least 38 priests who worked in Rhode Island who have been accused of abuse. We fear there may be more. We hope that both candidates will seriously consider the importance of this investigation, especially as they enter the final weeks of their campaign.

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.

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

October 25, 2018

The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston has announced that they will release the names of “credibly” accused priests in their diocese. The fact is, releasing of the names of credibly accused clerics should have been done years ago. And will Bishop Bransfield’s name be included on that list?

Hopefully the West Virginia attorney general is doing an investigation into the Wheeling-Charleston diocese. He should subpoena all the “secret archives” of the diocese and set up have a hotline for victims to be able to call, just like was done in the Pennsylvania grand jury. As we have seen in places like Buffalo, church officials cannot be trusted to release all the records they have. Outside law enforcement needs to get involved.

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.

DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Archdiocese

October 24, 2018

By Ned McGrath

In response to media inquiries concerning Archbishop John Neinstedt, the Archdiocese of Detroit released the following statement:

This summer, Archbishop Nienstedt announced his intention to move back to southeast Michigan to live in a house he owns. At that time, Archbishop Vigneron asked Archbishop Nienstedt – and he agreed – to abstain from public ministry in the Archdiocese of Detroit. That agreement remains in effect.

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.

LANSING (MI)
WNLS TV 6

October 24, 2018

By Alexandra Ilitch

A woman who reported a sexual harassment complaint against a priest at a church in Fenton says the Diocese of Lansing failed to take her seriously and has refused to be transparent about why he was recently removed from the parish.

She also said the Diocese has refused to explain why the priest has been declared “unfit” to fulfill his duties. The Diocese eventually ordered him to return to his home in India.

The woman is a parishioner at St. John the Evangelist in Fenton, which is about an hour east of Lansing. She says she’s been an active member of the church for several years. 6 News is not naming her because she is a victim of sexual harassment.

She hopes the Michigan Attorney General’s investigation and planned external audit on the Lansing Diocese will explain why her report fell on deaf ears.

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.

TORONTO (CANADA)
The Catholic Register

By Francis Campbell

October 25, 2018

Nobody goes there anymore … it’s too crowded.

So said Yogi Berra, the late New York Yankees hall of famer. The first part of his comment seems painfully pertinent for the Catholic Church, the second part not so much.

Confronted by a dilemma of dwindling attendance, the archbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth, one of only two dioceses in the province of Nova Scotia, assembled his priests and deacons nearly three weeks ago to discuss parish reorganization. They reviewed declining attendance, fewer priests and a changing culture. The outcome will be a consolidation of the archdiocese’s 65 parishes into 19, with parish administration becoming a shared responsibility. In the past, a single priest handled ministerial duties. Now responsibility will be shared by a team that could include a second priest, a part-time retired priest, a deacon and full-time lay leaders.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to go from 65 buildings down to 19 buildings,” archdiocesan spokesman Fr. James Mallon told the Chronicle Herald newspaper.

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.

LAFAYETTE (LA)
Lafayette Daily Advertiser

October 9, 2018

By Amanda McElfresh

A high-ranking Diocese of Lafayette official has been removed from his position and placed on administrative leave following allegations of sexual abuse.

Msgr. Robie Robichaux had most recently been the diocese’s judicial vicar and head of the marriage tribunal.

The alleged abuse involved a female between 1979 and 1981, when the female was 16 to 18 years old.

Bishop Douglas Deshotel said he learned of the allegations against Robichaux on Sept. 18. However, the alleged victim first notified the diocese about Robichaux in 1994.

“In 1994, the matter was handled according to the protocols in place at that time, before the adoption of the Charter and the policy of zero tolerance,” Deshotel said at a Monday press conference.

Deshotel said he immediately ordered an investigation when he learned of the allegations. The matter was referred to the Sexual Abuse Review Board made up entirely of laypersons.

Deshotel said this board “unanimously advised me of their belief that the allegation has the semblance of truth.”

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 (NY)
Patheos

October 25, 2018

By Barry Duke

Former Catholic priest David Poulson, 64, this week pleaded guilty to sex crimes involving children and could face a lengthy period in prison when he is sentenced.

Poulson, who had been a priest in the Diocese of Erie in Pennsylvania for four decades, pleaded guilty to corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children – third-degree felonies ― on Wednesday in Jefferson County Court of Common Pleas.

Paulson’s victims were eight and 15 years old when authorities say he began abusing them between 2002 and 2010.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said at a press conference that Poulson assaulted one of the boys more than 20 times in church rectories, forcing the child to give him confessionals about the abuse to “seek forgiveness for being sexually assaulted”.

Poulson is one of hundreds of so-called “predator priests” accused of rampant child abuse in the state.

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.

BETHESDA (MD)
Rewire News

October 22, 2018

By Patricia Miller

I remember the moment when the gravity of the Catholic hierarchy’s long-term cover-up of rampant sexual abuse within the priestly ranks was driven home to me. It was in 2010, and I was conducting an interview for my book Good Catholics with the noted Catholic feminist theologian Mary Hunt. We were discussing her reflections regarding what had, at that point, been a decades-long adversarial relationship with the powers-that-be in the Catholic Church, dating from when Hunt was one of the leaders of an effort in the mid-1980s to assert the validity of a pro-choice position in the face of an increasingly authoritarian Vatican. “We thought there were differences in theology that we were grappling with,” Hunt told me. “We thought we were dealing with people of good will.” But it’s what she said next that sent a chill down my spine. “What we didn’t know then was that we were up against criminal behavior—people participating in criminal behavior and ignoring criminal behavior.”

As last week’s move by the Justice Department to launch an investigation into the abuse of children and young adults by Catholic clergy (and the subsequent cover-up by bishops) makes clear, Hunt was prescient.

Given the ever-widening sexual abuse crisis in the Church, it can be difficult to find an inflection point. The news that former Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had been serially abusing young men and seminarians for decades was eclipsed by the damning Pennsylvania grand jury report that detailed decades of abuse and cover-up in dioceses throughout the state. This in turn prompted the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl as archbishop of Washington—Wuerl helped formulate the Church’s rules for preventing sexual abuse by priests—for his role in shuffling predator priests around the state when he was the head of the Pittsburgh diocese.

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.

SOUTH CAROLINA
The Associated Press

October 23, 2018

A 76-year-old former Catholic priest who already has served jail time for molesting boys in Maryland was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison in South Carolina for raping boys from a middle school four decades ago.

Wayland Yoder Brown wore his priest collar while attacking the boys, then prayed the rosary with them, Solicitor Duffie Stone said.

“He not only violated the trust of children, but violated their faith. He used the Catholic faith against them,” Stone said in a news conference after Brown’s guilty plea.

Brown already served five years of a 10-year sentence in Maryland for sexually abusing two other boys. Pope John Paul II dismissed him from the priesthood after that 2004 conviction.

Brown’s guilty plea comes as the Roman Catholic Church in the United States is under increased scrutiny for its handling of sex abuse cases. A Pennsylvania grand jury report in August found about 300 Catholic priests had abused more than 1,000 children statewide since the 1940s. Federal investigators are taking a closer look at those cases to see if church leaders covered up for abusive 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.

ATLANTA (GA)
CNN

October 23, 2018

By Daniel Burke

On Thursday we learned that federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania have taken a step long-sought by survivors of clergy sexual abuse: They launched a federal investigation into the Catholic Church.

As of October 23, all eight of Pennsylvania’s dioceses have told CNN that they have received subpoenas and will cooperate with the probe. Separately, the diocese of Buffalo, New York, also received a subpoena regarding clergy sexual abuse in late May, according to a source familiar with the subpoena.

While the scope of the federal investigation is still unclear, groups like the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which first asked the Department of Justice to launch a probe in 2003, called Thursday’s news unprecedented.

There has never been a federal investigation of this size into the abuse of children by priests and the cover-up of those crimes by Catholic leaders, according to former law enforcement officials and experts on clergy misconduct in the United States.

“It is essential to involve federal resources to fully and finally get to the bottom of a scandal that has been going on for decades, and I say that both as a former federal prosecutor and a Catholic,” said David Hickton, who was US Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania from 2010-2017.

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.

SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
NBC News

October 23, 2018

By Corky Siemaszko and Alex Johnson

Some were moved to parishes “with direct access to children” even as they were known to be abusers, alleges a lawyer who has sued all California dioceses.

The attorney for a California clergy abuse survivor accused the leaders of three San Francisco Bay Area dioceses on Tuesday of engaging in an “institutional cover-up of an enormous magnitude” and released a list of 263 local priests whom they branded sexual predators.

The priests named in the 66-page report, compiled by the law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates of St. Paul, Minnesota, are from the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the dioceses of Oakland and San Jose.

Anderson has sued all 11 dioceses in California on behalf of Tom Emens, 50, who has said he was 10 years old when a priest who died in 2002 repeatedly molested him. Earlier this month, he released a separate 120-page report on clerical sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles that named more than 300 alleged clerical offenders.

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.

RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Times-Dispatch

October 24, 2018

By Patrick Wilson and Bridget Balch

Attorney General Mark Herring on Wednesday said his office and Virginia State Police are investigating sexual abuse within the two Catholic dioceses in Virginia, and whether people in authority covered up abuse.

Herring announced the ongoing investigation at a news conference at his office, saying his review began after a grand jury in Pennsylvania issued a report in August about sexual abuse and cover-ups in the Catholic Church there.

“Like so many Americans I read the grand jury report on child sexual abuse by clergy in Pennsylvania’s Catholic dioceses, and I felt sick. It broke my heart to see the extent of the damage done, the efforts to cover it up, and the complicity and enabling that went on by powerful people who should have known better and should have done more to protect children,” Herring said.

“If there has been abuse or cover-up in Virginia as there was in Pennsylvania, I want to know about it, I want to root it out, and I want survivors to get justice and get on to a path of healing.”

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.

SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
KTVU

October 23, 2018

By: Lisa Fernandez, Cristina Rendon

As dioceses around the country are disclosing names of priests accused of misconduct, a law firm on Tuesday released a report containing the names of 212 Catholic Clergy members accused of sexual misconduct in the Bay Area.

The report, compiled by lawyers from Jeff Anderson and Associates based in St. Paul, Minn., accuses 135 offenders from the Archdiocese of San Francisco, 95 from the Diocese of Oakland and 33 from the Diocese of San Jose. A total of 111 of these priests are dead or thought to be dead.

It was initially reported that there were 263 names on the list but 51 of those names were duplicates, because some of the priests served in multiple diocese.

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.

WHEELING (WV)
Intelligencer

October 25, 2018

Roman Catholic church officials are doing the right thing in preparing to release a list of names of priests and deacons “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children in West Virginia. It is a good start toward repairing the church’s damaged relationship with its flock in the Mountain State.

It is unfortunate that the decision regarding West Virginia had to come after the release this past summer of a Pennsylvania grand jury report alleging that hundreds of “predator priests” victimized children in that state. Some may wonder whether that was the catalyst that convinced church officials to act in our state.

It also is troubling that the action came only after the former head of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, ex-Bishop Michael Bransfield, retired from his post. Church officials have said allegations that Bransfield sexually harassed adults are being investigated.

After Bransfield’s departure, the diocese was placed under the supervision of Archbishop William E. Lori, of Baltimore. It was he who made the announcement Wednesday. “The trust of the people has been badly damaged. Disclosing the names of all those credibly accused of abuse is a critical step toward repairing that broken trust,” Lori said.

According to the diocese, it will release the names of priests and deacons “credibly accused of child sexual abuse” since 1950, which is as far back as church records go. Diocese officials noted the list will not include the names of any priests currently in the ministry.

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.

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

October 24, 2018

In 2010, a Vatican priest considered to be the ‘papal preacher’ made international headlines when he likened accusations of abuse and cover up against Catholic officials to “a collective violence suffered by the Jews.”

Now, the pope is sending this same prelate to meet with all US bishops. We call on Pope Francis to change his mind.

The Associated Press reported that Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa’s precise quote was the current “violent and concentric attacks” on the church and then Pope Benedict were “reminiscent of the most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism.”

According to the Irish Times, “the incident sparked off a series of indignant replies from Jews worldwide.” Ironically, just a day before Fr. Cantalamessa’s comments, another high ranking Vatican official said that the Catholic faithful will not be swayed by “petty gossip” about child sex-abuse allegations.

Given this pattern of downplaying the abuse suffered by survivors across the world, we believe that Pope Francis could do far better in sending a different official who hasn’t repeatedly demeaned victims and survivors (of both sexual abuse and the holocaust). If Pope Francis really wants to show that he is taking this crisis seriously, he should send someone else to the U.S. in January.

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.

SANTIAGO, CHILE
Reuters

October 24, 2018

By Natalia A. Ramos Miranda

Santiago’s Archbishop and three men who allege they were sexually abused by Chilean priest Fernando Karadima must appear at a mediation hearing called by Chile’s Court of Appeal.

In a statement posted on its website on Wednesday, the court instructed the two parties to meet with the possibility of an agreement between them. The hearing has been set for Nov. 20.

Claimants James Hamilton, Jose Andres Murillo and Juan Carlos Cruz filed an appeal for “moral damages” against the Church earlier this year, accusing it of covering up abuse crimes. The case was previously rejected by a lower court for lack of evidence.

They were invited to Rome earlier this year to tell the Pope about their alleged abuse. They have accused Karadima, who worked for the Santiago Archbishopric as a parish priest in a Santiago suburb, of abusing them and the Church of covering up that abuse.

A decision in favor of the men could pave the way for a flood of civil lawsuits seeking monetary damages from Chile’s Roman Catholic 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.

[In the Laplagne investigation, Hasbún’s testimony will be kept secret for now]

CHILE
El Mostrador

October 24, 2018

La medida busca que el resto de los imputados no sepan cuáles fueron los antecedentes que entregó Hasbún, lo que impediría futuras diligencias.

El fiscal Emiliano Arias decidió decretar, por 40 días, el secreto de la investigación por abusos sexuales contra Jorge Laplagne, luego que el sacerdote Raúl Hasbún declarara en calidad de imputado por encubrimiento y entregara al OS-9 de Carabineros antecedentes considerados valiosos por la Fiscalía.

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.

[Within Episcopal Conference, division over victims’ compensation is a ‘cross’ for the Catholic Church]

CHILE
El Mostrador

October 25, 2018

By Alejandra Carmona López

El tema se instaló con mayor fuerza desde la última visita del enviado papal a Chile, Charles Scicluna. Hay obispos que están empujando la idea de que la situación ya no da para más y que es necesario trazar un plan de reparaciones económicas para las víctimas, más allá del caso Karadima. El secretario general de la CECh, Fernando Ramos, también se une a las voces a favor de ese objetivo: “El principal interés de los obispos de Chile es que esta reparación sea integral”, afirmó.

Mientras la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago resuelve la demanda presentada por las víctimas de Fernando Karadima, en el seno de la Conferencia Episcopal de Chile (CECh) se ha instalado una soterrada pugna interna, dos fuerzas que chocan entre los obispos sobre la forma en que deben enfrentar la necesaria reparación a los que sufrieron abusos sexuales de sacerdotes. “¿Se van a sentar a negociar con las personas que fueron abusadas?”, comentan –ya hastiados y con la cabeza agarrada a dos manos– importantes personajes del clero.

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.

[Victims of Karadima reject mediation with Archdiocese in abuse and cover-up case]

CHILE
BioBioChile

October 25, 2018

By Alberto González and Nicole Martínez

La Corte de Apelaciones citó a conciliación a las víctimas de Fernando Karadima y el Arzobispado de Santiago, en el marco de la demanda civil por encubrimiento. Los denunciantes le cerraron la puerta a la posibilidad y su abogado ingresó un recurso de reposición que pide dejar sin efecto la conciliación y fallar en breve plazo. Se trata de la cuarta vez que las partes son convocadas a una conciliación, y en donde todas han fracasado debido a que no ha habido acuerdo respecto al fondo, si existe o no encubrimiento.

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.

[Appeals courts sets mediation hearing in Karadima case for November 20]

SANTIAGO, CHILE
Emol

October 24, 2018

By Tamara Cerna

La Novena Sala no dio a lugar a la solicitud de exhorto realizada por el Arzobispado, ni consideró los antecedentes presentados por la defensa de los denunciantes del ex párroco, incluyendo la carta de Errázuriz.

En medio de las polémicas por la filtración de un supuesto fallo sobre la indemnización demandada por encubrimiento a los abusos cometidos por el ex párroco de El Bosque, Fernando Karadima, la Novela Sala de la Corte de Apelaciones llamó oficialmente a la conciliación.

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.

[Victims of Karadima lash out and ask to cancel mediation hearing]

SANTIAGO, CHILE
Emol

October 24, 2018

By Tomás Molina and Juan Peña

El abogado que los representa, Juan Pablo Hermosilla, presentó un recurso contra la resolución de la Corte de Apelaciones. “La única posibilidad de acuerdo se configuraría mediante el reconocimiento de la existencia de encubrimiento”, advirtió.

Las víctimas del ex sacerdote Fernando Karadima reaccionaron a la citación para una audiencia de conciliación que hizo la Corte de Apelaciones, en el marco de la demanda por encubrimiento que presentaron contra el Arzobispado de Santiago. El abogado Juan Pablo Hermosilla, quien representa a Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton y José Andrés Murillo, presentó un recurso de reposición contra la resolución del tribunal de alzada.

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 prosecutor Jorge Abbott says “We hope to have genuine collaboration from the Church”]

CHILE
La Tercera

October 24, 2018

By S. Vedoya

El fiscal nacional hizo este llamado en su discurso, en que conmemoró los 19 años de la institución.

El fiscal nacional, Jorge Abbott, conmemoró ayer el 19° aniversario del Ministerio Público. En la actividad hizo un llamado a las autoridades de la Iglesia Católica, algunas de las cuales están siendo investigadas por presuntos encubrimientos de abusos sexuales por parte de religiosos contra menores de edad.

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 TV 2

October 24, 2018

By Audrina Bigos

A Northwest Indiana priest failed to adhere to (at least) one of the Catholic Church’s ’10 Commandments’–‘Thou Shalt Not Lie’–after accusations surfaced that he made up a story about being attacked at the altar in August.

Father Basil Hutsko of Saint Michael Byzantine, a Catholic church in Merrillville, has been placed on administrative leave following allegations that he lied about being the victim of a hate crime.

The parish discredited his claims that he was beaten while he was praying at the altar last summer.

Father Hutsko, who has since been accused of sexual abuse, claimed he was attacked on the same day Pope Francis issued a letter to Catholics around the world condemning priestly sexual abuse and cover-ups in response to a grand jury report that publicly named more than 300 “predator priests” who allegedly molested more than 1,000 children in six Pennsylvania dioceses.

Since news of his alleged abuse made headlines, an attorney representing the church says it has known since 2004 about allegations that Father Hutsko sexually abused a 35-year-old woman.

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.

ROME (ITALY)
Crux

October 25, 2018

By Elise Harris

When it comes to Vatican scandals, a few names tend to surface every time a new crisis comes to light. At the top of most lists would be Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano, easily among the most influential Vatican officials over the past three decades.

From the Chilean abuse crisis to the scandals surrounding Legionaries of Christ founder Father Marcial Maciel and even abuse allegations in Germany, Sodano’s name has emerged in each case, usually attached to accusations that he either defended the abuser or tried to cushion their fall.

When Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, a former Vatican ambassador to the U.S., published a statement Aug. 25 making allegations against some 32 Vatican officials, including Pope Francis, Sodano’s name again emerged as a figure accused of covering up the sexual misconduct of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick

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)
Sun Times

October 25, 2018

By Michael Sneed

Pope Francis has called it.

Watch for a weeklong spiritual retreat for U.S. Catholic bishops to be held at Mundelein Seminary in early January as the church hierarchy prepares for a plan to consider its role in the latest scandal involving the U.S. clergy sex abuse crisis.

“They better pray,” said Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, interim head of the lay board chosen by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to address the priest pedophile scandal in 2004. She has been critical of the way the church hierarchy subsequently ignored their advice, and believes a lay board should conduct the investigation.

“They should have followed our charter in the first place,” said Burke, who chatted with Sneed via phone before her speech at Georgetown University on Wednesday addressing the church’s 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.

ST. PAUL (MN)
Minnesota Public Radio

October 24, 2018

By Martin Moylan

St. Paul Attorney Jeff Anderson is suing the Vatican.

He says the suit — filed in federal court in California — targets the Vatican because it has been at the root of the widespread sexual abuse of children within the Catholic Church. He is seeking all records the Vatican has about abusive clergy.

“We are taking a direct shot at the Vatican for their decisions to continue a serious hazard and deploy the protocols of absolute secrecy,” Anderson said.

Anderson says the abuse of children has continued because the Vatican and the Pope keep the identifies of abusers secret and take no truly serious steps to protect children.

Anderson said he’s filed two prior lawsuits against the Vatican. They did not advance.

A Twin Cities abuse victim is a lead plaintiff in the latest lawsuit.

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)
KYW Radio

October 18, 2018

By Steve Tawa

Word of the federal grand jury subpoenas issued to dioceses across Pennsylvania has spread quickly among those impacted by the Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal.

Michael McDonnell, a survivor of sex abuse by two priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, said up until now, victims and advocates have been blocked by “a systemic cover-up by the Roman Catholic Church.”

“It’s been extremely difficult to get them to accept responsibility and to be held accountable. It’s a monumental occurrence,” he said.

McDonnell alluded to the structure of the Catholic Church itself, wherein the upper hierarchy had served at one point of time or another in various dioceses across the commonwealth.

“No one knew more, and no one did less than these bishops, auxiliary bishops and archbishops,” he added.

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.

HARRISBURG (PA)
Associated Press

October 24, 2018

By Mark Scolforo

Survivors of child sexual abuse and others sought Wednesday to ramp up pressure on Pennsylvania’s Republican senators to vote on a bill that would give victims a two-year window to file lawsuits that would otherwise be outdated.

More than 100 people rallied at the state Capitol, nearly a week after the Senate’s GOP majority decided to leave Harrisburg without voting on the legislation.

Several speakers focused their frustration on the Senate’s top-ranking Republican, President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati of Jefferson County.

“The problem is that only one person has the power to pick up that phone and call them back,” said state victim advocate Jennifer Storm, referring to Scarnati. “It’s one vote, it’s one day.”

Scarnati issued a statement that said Democrats have been “touting this as a campaign commercial just as predicted.”

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.

DENVER (CO)
Crux

October 24, 2018

By Jeffrey Collins

A 76-year-old former Catholic priest who already has served jail time for molesting boys in Maryland was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison in South Carolina for raping boys from a middle school four decades ago.

Wayland Yoder Brown wore his priest collar while attacking the boys, then prayed the rosary with them, Solicitor Duffie Stone said.

“He not only violated the trust of children, but violated their faith. He used the Catholic faith against them,” Stone said in a news conference after Brown’s guilty plea.

Brown already served five years of a 10-year sentence in Maryland for sexually abusing two other boys. Pope John Paul II dismissed him from the priesthood after that 2004 conviction.

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.

ALTOONA (PA)
Altoona Mirror

October 25, 2018

By Russ O’Reilly

Tommy Williams, 15, of Altoona, stood in front of a crowd on the steps of the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg. He was the youngest speaker by far at the rally Wednesday organized by Pennsylvania Victim Advocate Jennifer Storm.

About 80 people including survivors of sexual assault implored the Senate to return to session and vote on a bill that would create a two-year window to allow child sexual abuse victims to file civil suits despite the statue of limitations.

The person who abused Williams was not a Catholic priest. But Williams spoke for many now-adult victims who might have been too afraid to speak up as children when they were abused. Now time has gone by and they are prohibited as adults from suing their alleged abuser or the church that allegedly covered up the abuse.

In July, Attorney General Josh Shapiro released a grand jury report that outlined abuse of more than 1,000 children by hundreds of priests in six Pennsylvania dioceses since the 1950s. Separate investigations into the dioceses of Altoona-Johnstown and Philadelphia had been completed earlier.

Current state law allows a child sex abuse victim until they are 30 years old to file civil lawsuits or 50 years old to file criminal charges.

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.

ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Albuquerque Journal

October 24, 2018

By Marjorie Crow

Thank you for the Journal’s continuing coverage of the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, most recently by Journal reporter Colleen Heild on (Oct. 14). Thank you also to Attorney General Hector Balderas and KOB TV reporter Chris Ramirez for their continuing investigations and coverage of this story.

The hypocrisy of the Catholic Church is appalling on this issue. The Church continues to press its onerous control of the sex lives of lay Catholics: no pre-marital sex, no birth control, no homosexual sex, no masturbation, no abortion, no anything other than sex within marriage to make children. While none of the forbidden behaviors are crimes outside of the Church, the rampant child sexual abuses inside the Church ARE crimes. Even the “punishments” of defrocking or excommunication are not in any way comparable to years in prison for lay child abusers.

The child abuse by priests issue has festered in this country and the world since its widespread exposure in the 1990s and is finally being addressed, although most of the abuse took place many years ago, they say. Why should anyone believe it is only in the past? There was a letter to the Journal a short time ago that argued that most priests are very good and holy people, and that the abusers are “a small minority.” Are 74 priests in New Mexico and 300 in Pennsylvania, multiplied by every state and every country in the world, a small minority? This was the position of most Catholics many years ago when it became a national and worldwide issue: that it’s only a few misguided people. Then the whole thing was swept under the rug.

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.

ALASKA
ABC News

October 24, 2018

By Pete Madden

The Alaska Department of Law will assist in an investigation of allegations of sexual misconduct reported to the Archdiocese of Anchorage, ABC News has learned.

On Wednesday, Archbishop Paul Etienne announced the formation of an independent commission comprised of former law enforcement officials “to review all personnel files of clerics and religious men and women” who have served the archdiocese since its formation in 1966.

The commission is expected to deliver a report on its findings, identifying individuals who have either had credible allegations made against them or have failed to report credible allegations made against others.

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.

RICHMOND (VIRGINIA)
Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of Virginia

October 24, 2018

~ Hotline will assist in an ongoing investigation into whether Virginia Catholic clergy may have engaged in criminal sexual abuse of children or efforts to cover up any such crimes ~

Attorney General Mark R. Herring today launched the Virginia Clergy Abuse Hotline and www.VirginiaClergyHotline.com as part of an ongoing investigation into whether criminal sexual abuse of children may have occurred in Virginia’s Catholic dioceses, and whether leadership in the dioceses may have covered up or abetted any such crimes. The hotline and online reporting form are being launched in the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury report that documented decades of sexual abuse and cover-up by Catholic clergy in Pennsylvania.

“Like so many Americans, I read the grand jury report on clergy abuse in the Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania, and I felt sick. It made me sick to see the extent of the damage done, the efforts to cover it up, and the complicity and enabling that went on by powerful people who should have known better and should have done more to protect vulnerable children,” said Attorney General Herring. “We shouldn’t assume the behavior and the problems are limited just to Pennsylvania or to one diocese. If there has been abuse or cover-up in Virginia like there was in Pennsylvania I want to know about it, I want to root it out, and I want to help survivors get justice and get on a path to healing.”

The Virginia Clergy Abuse Hotline and www.VirginiaClergyHotline.com will be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to receive reports of abuse by clergy or faith leaders. The toll-free hotline will allow for anonymous reporting and will be staffed by Virginia State Police investigators during regular business hours.

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
LifeSiteNews

October 24, 2018

By Maike Hickson

On October 19, prominent Catholic laywoman and lawyer Donna Bethell launched a petition asking the papal nuncio of the United States “not to support the appointment of Cardinal Tobin” as the next Archbishop of Washington, D.C. This petition, initiated by a single person, has already gained over 2,400 signatures since its inception.

As LifeSiteNews recently reported, Cardinal Joseph Tobin is “a front-runner among the candidates for appointment as the next Archbishop of Washington, D.C.,” according to rumors in Rome. Commenting on this matter, Sohrab Ahmari in a New York Post column called this possible Tobin nomination “a slap in the face, if that happens.”

Mrs. Donna Bethell – who was until a month ago the Chairman of Christendom College’s Board of Directors and who was the Under Secretary in the U.S. Department of Energy from 1988 to 1989 – responded in a similar fashion to the rumors about Cardinal Tobin, a close confidant of former Cardinal McCarrick. Tobin is currently the Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, McCarrick’s See before he came to the nation’s capital.

According to the testimony of Archbishop Carlo Viganò, the former U.S. apostolic nuncio, McCarrick was directly involved with Tobin’s appointment to Newark (emphasis in original): “The appointments of Blase Cupich to Chicago and Joseph W. Tobin to Newark were orchestrated by [Cardinals] McCarrick, Maradiaga and Wuerl, united by a wicked pact of abuses by the first, and at least of coverup of abuses by the other two. Their names were not among those presented by the Nunciature for Chicago and Newark.”

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.

SANTIAGO (Chile)
Reuters

October 24, 2018

By Natalia A. Ramos Miranda

Santiago’s Archbishop and three men who allege they were sexually abused by Chilean priest Fernando Karadima must appear at a mediation hearing called by Chile’s Court of Appeal.

In a statement posted on its website on Wednesday, the court instructed the two parties to meet with the possibility of an agreement between them. The hearing has been set for Nov. 20.

Claimants James Hamilton, Jose Andres Murillo and Juan Carlos Cruz filed an appeal for “moral damages” against the Church earlier this year, accusing it of covering up abuse crimes. The case was previously rejected by a lower court for lack of evidence.

They were invited to Rome earlier this year to tell the Pope about their alleged abuse. They have accused Karadima, who worked for the Santiago Archbishopric as a parish priest in a Santiago suburb, of abusing them and the Church of covering up that abuse.

A decision in favour of the men could pave the way for a flood of civil lawsuits seeking monetary damages from Chile’s Roman Catholic 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.

WASHINGTON (DC)
American Conservative

October 23, 2018

By Rod Drehrer

Without a doubt the most searing document on the Catholic sex abuse scandal I’ve ever read — much more agonizing than this past summer’s Pennsylvania grand jury report, for example — is Leon Podles’s 2008 book Sacrilege, which is out of print and very hard to find now. Here’s a link to Lee’s web page for Sacrilege. Lee is a Catholic, an abuse victim, and a professional investigator who put his skills to work to try to get to the bottom of what happened in the Catholic Church.

I started reading the book in galley form, and couldn’t get past the first couple of chapters. It’s not that it was a bad book — not at all! It’s that the stone-cold realities Lee wrote about — based on police reports, documents, and interviews — were overwhelming to me. Admittedly, I was at a very weak place, having just left the Catholic Church over the scandal. Still, the book was raw. Because Lee is a friend, I knew how much work he had put into it, and how he suffered while writing it.

But it was true, and important.

Now, in Touchstone, S.M. Hutchens talks about how Lee Podles has been vindicated by this year’s terrible revelations of abuse and sexual corruption in the Catholic Church. Hutchens recalls a 2008 post from a Catholic site called “Fringe Watcher” that dismisses Podles as a crazy ranter who was aiding and abetting anti-Catholics. In a First Things item in that same year, Richard John Neuhaus said:

Very different is Leon Podles’ Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church (Crossland). It is a rambling essay of more than five hundred pages on a potpourri of items picked up from the public media and the blogosphere, including, along with the kitchen sink, stomach-turning details of abuse, mainly with boys, and a scathing, if familiar, indictment from a conservative perspective of liberal depredations that brought things to this sorry pass. Regrettably, the tone is shrill, and even righteous anger does not justify the author’s suspension of caution and charity in attributing motives. Among the repercussions of the crisis is a publishing stream that goes on and on, which is inevitable.

Ah, Neuhaus. He never could bring himself to see clearly what was right in front of his face.

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.

HARRISBURG –(PA)
Johnstown Tribune Democrat

October 24, 2018

By John Finnerty

About 50 childhood sex abuse victims and their supporters came to the Capitol on Wednesday to call on the state Senate to return and vote on legislation that would allow for civil lawsuits in cases in which the statute of limitations has expired.

“Where are they?” asked Jennifer Storm, the Pennsylvania’s victim advocate. “They’re at home campaigning for your vote and we’re here.”

The General Assembly ended its fall voting session last week without the Senate taking up a version of Senate Bill 261 that had been amended in the House to include a two-year window for lawsuits against child molesters and institutions, like the Catholic Church, that had covered-up their crimes.

The issue emerged as the dominant political issue at the Capitol after a statewide grand jury report found that 300 predator priests had molested at least 1,000 victims over decades. That report included a number of recommendations for legislative change, including the move to open a two-year window.

Senate Republicans, led by Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati, have opposed the move to open that lawsuit window, saying it would be unconstitutional.

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 (NY)
WIBV TV

October 24, 2018

By Jenn Schanz

News 4 has learned that at least 54 local clergy sex abuse victims are still waiting on a substantive response from the Buffalo Diocese regarding their claims for compensation through the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, or IRCP.

The program was announced several months ago, after the Buffalo Diocese released the names of 42 priests accused of child sexual abuse.

The list was published after a South Buffalo man, Michael Whalen, went public with his story of alleged abuse as a child at the hands of Fr. Norbert F. Orsolits.

Since then, several other victims have come forward and News 4 has reported on at least a dozen additional priests being put on administrative leave following accusations of abuse.

The Diocese has said a new, updated list will be released in the near future, but has not said when exactly it will be released, or how many names will be on 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.

MALIBU (CA)
Pepperdine Univerity Graphic

October 24, 2018

By Madison Nichols

The Lord’s prayer asks Christians to forgive those who trespass against them. Though, when a congregation applauds for a pastor who confesses to sexually assaulting a teen in his youth ministry, many question whether there are limits to Christian forgiveness.

Highpoint Church Teaching Pastor Andy Savage of Memphis told his congregation during a service Jan. 7 that he was involved in what he called a “sexual incident” with the then 17-year-old and member of Savage’s youth group Jules Woodson 20 years ago.

In a personal interview March 18, Woodson said she wants the church to recognize that sexual abuse within the church is a real issue.

“The reason I am coming forward is to gain healing and closure for myself because this is something I have carried around for 20 years,” Woodson said. “No. 2, I want other victims to know that they are not alone. And No. 3, I want to create change.”

Savage’s public confession was in response to a blog post on Wartburg Watch Dog that Woodson posted Jan. 5, which exploded on social media.

“I was, and remain, very remorseful for the incident and deeply regret the pain I caused her and her family,” Savage said in a live broadcast that aired on the Highpoint Church’s Facebook page, which can now only be seen on the New York Times.

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.

CHILE
National Catholic Reporter

October 22, 2018

by Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News Service

Survivors of abuse in Chile believed they had won a major victory when they heard a Chilean court recognized that the Archdiocese of Santiago prevented a thorough investigation into sexual abuses committed by a former priest, Fernando Karadima.

The lawsuit brought by survivors Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and José Andrés Murillo was first dismissed five years ago.

A report by the Chilean newspaper La Tercera said the Chilean court of appeals overturned the lawsuit’s dismissal Oct.18 after new evidence obtained from raids conducted on the archdiocesan chancery proved that Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz, the retired archbishop of Santiago, closed an investigation into Karadima. The court was said to have awarded 450 million pesos ($661,000) in compensation for damages to Karadima’s victims.

After a verdict was reported, Cruz, Hamilton and Murillo released a statement saying that although the path to the verdict was long and full of difficulties, “it was worth it.”

“The strategies of the Chilean church, especially Cardinals (Riccardo) Ezzati and Errazuriz in covering up abuses, protecting abusers and silencing victims has received a strong response from Chilean courts,” the survivors said.

However, in an Oct. 22 interview with Chilean news site El Mercurio, Miguel Vázquez, president of the court of appeals, said the entire matter was still under study, no verdict had been reached and the archdiocese had not been fined.

Vázquez did not explain why the court waited four days to deny La Tercera’s report about the survivors winning the lawsuit.

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.

[Abuses in the Church: Prosecutor Moya says that precedents would not allow Ezzati to be dismissed, labels moves “obstructionist”]

SANTIAGO, CHILE
Emol

October 23, 2018

By Tamara Cerna

El persecutor de O’Higgins criticó al Obispado de Valparaíso, tildando el recurso que tuvo la causa paralizada durante 20 días como “una medida obstruccionista”, y señaló que la “agenda de indagaciones está bastante copada”.

Una dura crítica al Obispado de Valparaíso realizó esta tarde el fiscal jefe de la unidad de Alta Complejidad de O’Higgins, Sergio Moya, luego que la Corte de Apelaciones de Rancagua dejara sin efecto la orden que mantuvo estancada por casi 20 días la causa por abusos y encubrimientos ligados a la Iglesia.

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.

[Ivo Scapolo on cover-up accusations: “There are people who make judgments without knowing how things have been”]

CHILE
El Mostrador

October 23, 2018

El religioso sostuvo además que es “una situación de mejorar siempre más su trabajo, siempre en una actitud de conversión, purificación, santificación. Esa es la actitud que todos los cristianos tienen que tener siempre”.

El nuncio apostólico Ivo Scapolo habló sobre las acusaciones que pesan en su contra por encubrimiento de abusos sexuales en la Iglesia Católica. Al respecto, señaló que “hay personas que emiten juicios” sin saber qué pasó. Sus declaraciones se dieron luego de participar como público en un Congreso Social organizado por la Universidad Católica (UC), informó Cooperativa.

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.

[Appeals Court gives green light to investigate abuses and cover-up in Valparaíso church]

CHILE
El Mostrador

October 23, 2018

La Corte de Apelaciones de Rancagua rechazó el recurso de protección presentado por el Obispado y levantó la orden de no innovar que tenía paralizadas algunas diligencias. Fiscal Sergio Moya acusó que la jugada judicial de la iglesia “no fue más que una medida obstruccionista con el fin de estorbar”.

Vía libre al Ministerio Público para continuar con la investigación por delitos sexuales y encubrimiento al interior de la Iglesia Católica, dio la Corte de Apelaciones de Rancagua al rechazar el recurso de protección presentado por el Obispado de Valparaíso.

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.

[Karadima case: Juan Carlos Cruz criticizes Cardinal Errázuriz for not taking responsibility in abuse cases]

CHILE
El Mostrador

October 24, 2018

El cardenal Errázuriz envió una carta al director para insistir en su versión de los hechos asegurando que fue él quien inició la investigación contra Karadima y lo hizo para “proteger” a los sacerdotes diocesanos formados por el religioso. En respuesta, Cruz dijo que “el delincuente cardenal Errázuriz es como esas moscas (…) que se queda pegada, volando sin parar de molestar”.

Me sorprende que los denunciantes pretendan acusarme de encubridor”. Estas palabras del ex arzobispo de Santiago, cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz, plasmadas en una carta al director en “El Mercurio” definitivamente irritaron a las víctimas de Fernando Karadima.

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.

[“They wanted to turn me into a prostitute:” shocking letter from young Colombian who committed suicide denouncing clergy abuse]

COLOMBIA
Publimetro

October 23, 2018

By Nathaly Lepe

Un año y medio después de su suicidio, su madre encontró la carta en que el joven confesaba las razones por las que se quitó la vida.

“Me querían convertir en una prostituta”, escribió Daniel Osorio, el joven colombiano que se suicidó tras ser violado por los curas de su colegio. Los motivos de su muerte no se habían conocido hasta ahora, que su madre encontró una carta en la que confesaba porqué había tomado tan drástica decisión.

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.

[Priest Hasbún would have delivered relevant evidence in child abuse cover-up case]

CHILE
BioBioChile

October 23, 2018

By Alberto González and Nicole Martínez

El sacerdote Raúl Hasbún habría entregado pruebas relevantes en la documentación que entregó esta semana a la Fiscalía, días después de su declaración como imputado por eventual encubrimiento. Por otro lado, el Ministerio Público desestimó que existan antecedentes para un sobreseimiento definitivo del cardenal Ricardo Ezzati y celebró el rechazo del recurso de protección del Obispado de Valparaíso.

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.

[Diocese of Calama gives prosecutor information on alleged sexual abuse of minors]

CHILE
BioBioChile

October 24, 2018

By Ariela Muñoz with information from Agence France-Presse

Este martes, la diócesis de Calama entregó antecedentes a la Fiscalía sobre los supuestos abusos sexuales a un menor, cometidos por un presbítero, en un nuevo escándalo que golpea a la Iglesia Católica. En julio pasado, la diócesis de Calama inició una investigación sobre las denuncias en contra del sacerdote Jordi Jorba Navarro, quien habría abusado de un menor en 2003, cuando tenía a su cargo la Parroquia Asunción de la Virgen de esa ciudad, según indicó un comunicado de la iglesia.

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
Decider TV

October 22, 2018

By Sarah Ferguson

The ABC has commissioned the team behind award winning documentary’s The Killing Season and Hitting Home to produce a compelling new documentary series focused on the Catholic Church.

The three-part documentary series Revelation will see 4 Corners host Sarah Ferguson investigate the forces behind child abuse inside the Catholic Church and the extraordinary cover-up that took place.

After years of resistance, The Royal Commission finally broke the silence of the Catholic Church and unveiled the legacy of abuse of those in its care. In Revelation, Sarah Ferguson will piece together the forces at play in one of the most profound stories in Australia’s history and the extraordinary drama that brought it to light.

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.

[Court seeks reconciliation in case of Karadima’s victims and the archdiocese, dismissed latest records]

CHILE
BioBioChile

October 24, 2018

By María José Villarroel and Nicole Martínez

Los magistrados de la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago tomaron una determinación sobre la causa civil que están llevando adelante los denunciantes del exsacerdote Fernando Karadima: Juan Carlos Cruz, Juan Andrés Murillo y James Hamilton en la Corte de Apelaciones. La decisión que tomó la justicia con respecto a la apelación que fue presentada por las víctimas de Karadima, es que se llame a conciliación de las partes.

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 New Daily

October 22, 2018

By Lucie Morris-Marr

Her harrowing family story made Prime Minister Scott Morrison cry live on TV across the nation. But for leading child abuse advocate Chrissie Foster, tears are not enough. It’s not over yet.

Mr Morrison was visibly upset as he told how Mrs Foster’s family was torn apart by abuse as he made the most important speech of his career so far.

He spoke compassionately during the National Apology in Parliament to thousands of Australians whose childhoods were ruined and destroyed in institutions by perpetrators including priests, teachers and carers.

Referencing Mrs Foster in particular he said; “As a father of two daughters I can’t comprehend what she has faced,” 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.

[Errázuriz says he is surprised that victims of Karadima accuse him of cover-up]

CHILE
La Tercera

October 24, 2018

By Angélica Baeza

El cardenal asegura que su intención era proteger a sacerdotes ordenados por el ex párroco de El Bosque.

En una carta al director enviada a El Mercurio, el ex arzobispo de Santiago Francisco Javier Errázuriz, manifestó estar sorprendido de que las víctimas de Fernando Karadima lo acusen de encubridor y además aseguró que su intención además era proteger a los sacerdotes ordenados por el ex párroco de El Bosque.

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
Ballarat Courier

October 21, 2018

By Peter Gogarty

ON Monday we get another apology – this one from our newest Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

By “we” I mean the tens of thousands of Australians who were sexually abused in hundreds of trusted institutions over the past 70 years while other people looked on. They looked on because they looked after themselves rather than the vulnerable children in their care.

“We” also means the family and friends of those survivors. It means the hundreds of thousands of people in the community who were lured into providing these (mostly religious) institutions with tax exemptions and extraordinary influence over our lives.

Much of this apparently disgusting, appalling and often criminal behaviour was carried out in the name of Jesus Christ and the various forms of his church.

Monday’s apology in our federal parliament building, after more than five years of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, is a bit different to others we have seen over recent years. This time our national parliament is saying sorry for not doing enough to keep the institutions which pledged to care for children, often on behalf of governments, safe, transparent and 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.

[On the way with the man who wants to unite Europe’s rights]

GERMANY
Spiegel

October 19, 2018

By Christoph Scheuermann

Exklusiv für Abonnenten

Stephen Bannon, einst Chefstratege von Donald Trump, galt als Vordenker der Rechten. Jetzt versucht er sein Glück in Europa.

Früh am Morgen, ehe er seine drei Mobiltelefone zur Hand nimmt, setzt sich Stephen Bannon in seinem Schlafzimmer auf einen Sessel aus braunem Leder, um zu meditieren. 20 Minuten Stille, dann eine Betrachtung des bevorstehenden Tages, gefolgt von Erbauungslektüre. Im Moment studiert er die Geschichte der katholischen Kirche. Er sagt, die Übung helfe ihm dabei, nicht komplett durchzudrehen. “Ohne Meditation wäre ich noch irrer als jetzt.”

Er sinkt in den Ledersessel neben dem Bett wie ein müder Gorilla. Graue Bartstoppeln, strähnige Haare, rote Nase, weite Poren. Man könnte denken, er habe abends zu viel Rioja getrunken, aber es waren nur ein paar Leute aus dem Weißen Haus zu Gast bei ihm, bis in die Nacht. Zwei, drei Stunden hat er geschlafen, dann riss ihn eine Idee, eine Nachricht, ein Gedanke aus dem Bett, wie so oft. Bannon trinkt keinen Alkohol, nur Wasser, Kaffee und Red Bull.

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.

[Appeals court suspends agreement, sets new date for victims of Karadima]

CHILE
La Tercera

October 24, 2018

By Angelica Baeza

En tanto, la carta del cardenal Errázuriz que presentó la defensa de las víctimas, en la que queda de manifiesto el cierre de la investigación contra Karadima sin diligencias, no se incorpora a la causa.

Para el 20 de noviembre a las 13.00 quedó fijada la audiencia de comparendo entre las partes – víctimas de Fernando Karadima y Arzobispado- en la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago, suspendiendo así un posible acuerdo.

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.

[Burger: “How can we still continue as a church?”]

GERMANY
Kath.net

October 22, 2018

Freiburger Erzbischof Stephan Burger wirft seinen Vorgängern Versagen bei Missbrauch vor – Er sagt: Es wurde vertuscht, der Schutz der Institution Kirche wurde über den Schutz der Betroffenen gestellt, es wurde keine Verantwortung übernommen

Oberharmersbach / Freiburg (kath.net/pef) Erzbischof Stephan Burger hat sich in Oberharmersbach für „das Verhalten seiner Vorgänger und der Verantwortlichen in der Bistumsleitung“ im Umgang mit Missbrauch in der katholischen Kirche entschuldigt und Missbrauchsopfern ein persönliches Gespräch angeboten. Bei der Feier des Patroziniums in St. Gallus, Oberharmersbach, bekannte er am Sonntag (21.10.): „Hier, an diesem Ort und an vielen weiteren kirchlichen Orten“ seien in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten Kinder und Jugendliche durch Kleriker missbraucht worden: „Mitbrüder haben die Botschaft Jesu durch ihre Vergehen an Kindern und Jugendlichen pervertiert und verunstaltet.“ Sie hätten damit die Botschaft Jesu bei den Betroffenen und deren Angehörigen verdunkelt und Glaube und Vertrauen zerstört. „Das, was hier angerichtet wurde, kann nicht wieder gut gemacht werden. Missbrauch pervertiert die Botschaft Christi!“

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.

[Commentary on the Catholic Church Only pressure helps to “fidelity to tradition”]

GERMANY
Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger

October 22, 2018

By Joachim Frank

Weiter so! Das hat die katholische Kirche seit Jahrhunderten eingeübt. Um nichts verändern zu müssen, bemüht sie die „Treue zur Tradition“ oder – noch steiler – den „Gehorsam gegenüber dem göttlichen Gesetz“. Kirchenreformer geraten so notorisch in den Ruch destruktiver Störenfriede.

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.

[Abuse of abuse in the Vatican]

GERMANY
HPD

October 23, 2018

By Wolfgang Klosterhalfen

Während etlichen Kardinälen, Erzbischöfen und Bischöfen der römisch-katholischen Kirche öffentlich sexuelle Missbrauchshandlungen vorgeworfen worden sind, und zum Teil kirchliche und/oder gesetzliche Strafen verhängt wurden, ist derartiges in Hinblick auf die letzten drei Päpste nicht bekannt geworden. Alle drei “Stellvertreter Jesu” werden aber stark dadurch belastet, dass sie sich in Hinblick auf Missbrauchsfälle nicht um betroffene und um zukünftig gefährdete Kinder und Jugendliche, sondern in erster Linie um das Ansehen ihrer Kirche und um die klerikalen Täter gesorgt haben.

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.

[Priests and witness found dead in the case of the rape of a nun]

NEW DELHI (INDIA)
CNA Deutsch/EWTN News

October 23, 2018

Ein Priester, der Hauptzeuge im Vergewaltigungsfall gegen Bischof Franco Mulakkal von Jullundur (Indien) gewesen war, ist tot. Die Umstände seines Todes sind nun Gegenstand polizeilicher Ermittlungen.

Pfarrer Kuriakose Kattuthara wurde am gestrigen 22. Oktober in seinem Zimmer in der St Mary’s Church in Dasuya in Punjab, Indien, bewusstlos aufgefunden. Er wies keine sichtbaren Anzeichen von Verletzungen auf.

Der 62 Jahre alte Priester wurde für tot erklärt, nachdem er in ein örtliches Krankenhaus gebracht worden war.

Kattutaras Bruder, José Kurian, äußerte Zweifel an Polizei-Aussagen, dass der Priester plötzlich einem Herzstillstand erlegen sein könnte.

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.

[Child abuse and gambling of millions of church money: Bishop laments lack of reform will the church]

GERMANY
Epoch Times

October 23, 2018

Der Bischof von Eichstätt hat in den Skandalen seiner Diözese eigene Fehler eingeräumt und zugleich Reformgegner im Apparat der katholischen Kirche kritisiert.

In der Affäre um Millionenverluste von Kirchengeld durch Finanzspekulationen hat der Bischof von Eichstätt eigene Fehler eingeräumt und zugleich Reformgegner im Apparat der katholischen Kirche kritisiert.

Gregor Maria Hanke, seit 2006 Bischof der Diözese, sagte der „Süddeutschen Zeitung“ (Dienstagsausgabe) und dem WDR, dass er mit der Aufsicht über das Finanzgebaren schlicht überfordert gewesen sei: „Wenn Sie als Mönch in ein solches System geschickt werden, haben Sie nicht die erforderlichen Möglichkeiten, dieses Dickicht zu durchdringen. Ich jedenfalls hatte sie nicht.“

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 second French priest commits suicide]

GERMANY
Kath.net

October 23, 2018

Nachdem der Verdacht auf sexuellen Missbrauch aufgekommen war, beendeten zwei Priester ihr Leben.

Paris (kath.net) Ein 38-jähriger Pfarrer beging tragischerweise am Samstag in seinem Pfarrhaus in Gien, Loiret (Bistum Orléans), Selbstmord. Gegen den Geistlichen war zuvor wegen unangemessenem Verhaltens gegenüber Teenagern Anklage erhoben worden. Das berichteten der „Figaro“ und weitere französische Medien. Nach Darstellung des „Figaro“ habe sich der Priester möglicherweise einem Mädchen unangemessen genähert, das zur Tatzeit 13 oder 14 Jahre alt gewesen war. Er habe sie mehrmals umarmt. Gegenüber dem Bischof von Orléans, Jacques Blaquart, hatte der Priester zugesichert, sich künftig zurückzuhalten und eine Weile von seiner Pfarrei fernzubleiben. Mit Zustimmung des Bischofs kehrte er nach wenigen Wochen wieder in die Pfarrei zurück, nahm aber seine Tätigkeit noch nicht wieder auf. Am 15. September wurde der Priester von der Staatsanwaltschaft wegen Verdachts auf sexuelle Übergriffe auf Minderjährige unter 15 Jahren verhört.

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.

BALLARAT (AUSTRALIA)
ABC Ballarat

October 21, 2018

By Charlotte King

Survivors of institutional child sexual abuse in Ballarat have dismissed the Prime Minister’s national apology in Canberra on Monday as “hollow” in the face of inconsistent reporting laws.

It took 536 pages for lawyers working for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to summarise the extent of child abuse committed within Catholic institutions across the Ballarat diocese.

It was the first time the inquiry had focused on an entire community, and what they found was a “catastrophic failure of leadership” that put the reputation of the church before children, and caused irreparable harm for the entire community.

“I want people to be serious,” said Paul Tatchell, a 59-year-old city councillor who was assaulted by the former Christian Brother, Edward Dowlan, as a teenager.

“I stood up, I paid a price for it, and I need someone out there to do the same.”

Mr Tatchell was one of the first child abuse victims to successfully pursue Dowlan’s criminal prosecution in the 1990s.

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.

CHARLESTON (WV)
WHSV TV

Oct 24, 2018

By John Raby

A Roman Catholic archdiocese in West Virginia announced Wednesday it plans to release the names of all priests and deacons who have been “credibly accused” of child sexual abuse since 1950.

None of the individuals who will be listed are in active ministry, Archbishop William Lori of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston said in a news release.

No timetable was given on when the list would be released. Lori said the list will include the accused priests’ assignments in the diocese, whose records only go back to 1950.

“The trust of the people has been badly damaged,” Lori said. “Disclosing the names of all those credibly accused of abuse is a critical step toward repairing that broken trust. I pray this will lead toward healing and demonstrate the Diocese’s firm commitment to transparency and accountability.”

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.

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

October 24, 2018

Virginia’s top law enforcement official has announced that he is opening an investigation into clergy sex abuse and cover-ups in Virginia.

We are thrilled to hear that the Virginia Attorney General’s office has launched a statewide criminal investigation regarding sexual abuse by priests. We know that institutions cannot police themselves, so fully independent investigations like these are the best way to get to the truth when it comes to clergy sex abuse and cover-ups. We applaud A.G. Mark Herring for this move.

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 (NY)
Commonweal

By Paul Moses

October 24, 2018

As the Justice Department launches an investigation of clergy sexual abuse of minors in Pennsylvania’s Catholic dioceses, it is worth noting that victims have called for such a probe for at least fifteen years. Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, told Attorney General John Ashcroft in a November 2003 letter that the Justice Department was in a “unique position” to plumb the secrets within the church’s organizational structure.

“We believe that senior management within the Church…have not been held institutionally accountable for these practices, and as a non-profit corporation continue to selectively circumvent our Nation’s laws,” their letter said.

SNAP and the Center for Constitutional Rights renewed the long-ignored call for a federal probe in a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein dated August 15, one day after the release of the state grand-jury report alleging a long-term coverup of credible abuse allegations in Pennsylvania. The letter calls for criminal or civil charges, “where appropriate,” against the Catholic hierarchy.

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
National Caatholic Reporter

October 24, 2018
By David Gibson

The Catholic bishops of the U.S. announced Oct. 23 that at the behest of Pope Francis they will meet for a weeklong retreat in Chicago in January.

The unprecedented move reflects the depth of the crisis they are facing with the sexual abuse scandal and the long-standing divisions within their ranks over the broader direction of American Catholicism.

The pope is even sending an elderly and revered Franciscan priest, the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, who holds the title of Preacher of the Papal Household, to lead the retreat — just as he does each year at Lent for the pontiff and the Roman Curia.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement thanking Francis for sending Cantalamessa, who is 84 and rarely travels abroad, “to serve as the retreat director as we come together to pray on the intense matters before us.”

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
Pennsylvania Cable Network

October 24, 2018

Victims’ rights advocate Jennifer Storm was disappointed with the outcome in the Pennsylvania Senate on October 17. At stake was the elimination of the statute of limitations for future child victims of sexual abuse. A divisive component of the bill involved opening a two-year window for past victims to sue their abusers. The Senate decided to not vote on the bill. Ms. Storm wants to bring the Senate back to the capitol to get closure on behalf of abuse victims statewide.

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.

HARRISBURG )PA)
Patriot News

October 24, 2018

By John L. Micek

With at least a half-dozen seats in play in the Nov. 6 elections, the Pennsylvania Senate Democrats’ re-election wing is out with a new ad hitting the GOP majority over last week’s breakdown of a bill that would have handed some relief to the survivors of sexual abuse.

The new ad, “Window,” put out by the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, will air in the Philadelphia-area, where Democrats are contending for several GOP Republican seats. The GOP currently has a 33-16 majority, with one vacancy, in the 50-member chamber.

The bill makes note that the legislation, which would have opened a narrow, two-year retroactive window for civil lawsuits, overwhelmingly passed the state House. But it was never called for a vote in the Senate, where President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, offered an alternative proposal that would have allowed survivors to sue individual perpetrators, but not the institutions that enabled or covered up abuse.

That was widely viewed as a move to inoculate Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic diocese against any costly civil litigation. It outraged survivors, who accused the GOP of putting the interests of the church above theirs.

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.

CHILLICOTHE (IL)
Chillicothe Times Bulletin

October 23, 2018

By Bill Knight

Fortunately, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke are initiating actions to disclose facts about sexual abuse of children apparently covered up by high officials in the Catholic Church. Madigan has demanded that the Church must open its “secret files” for independent review, and Burke – who served on the investigative board of laypeople appointed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops – is calling for its renewal.

The latest: four people on Oct. 18 filed suit in Chicago against all six Catholic dioceses in Illinois, months after a Pennsylvania grand jury said more than 1,000 child victims were abused by about 300 priests over 70 years in six dioceses, which concealed the truth there. Also on Oct. 18, the U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation on whether clergy committed federal crimes.

This column is no defense of pedophilia, abuse of authority or institutional coverup, of course. But it’s difficult to weigh in on such wickedness without being so accused.

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 ZEALAND
Radio New Zealand

October 14, 2018

A lawsuit filed on Guam has accused another Catholic priest of child sex abuse in the 1970s.

The 5-million dollar lawsuit alleges that Father George Maddock abused the 9-year-old altar boy while swimming.

This is the first lawsuit against Father Maddock, who died recently in New York.

But several other priests on Guam – including former Archbishop Anothony Apuron – face nearly 200 lawsuits alleging abuse and a subsequent cover-up.

The latest lawsuit says the church hierarchy knew of Father Maddock’s abuse but did nothing.

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.

KHASI (INDIA)
India Today

October 24, 2018

Manogya Loiwal

A woman from the Khasi community has accused two Christian priests of sexually abusing her decades ago, when she was a minor. The woman, who is 44, made the allegations in a social media post, and a Catholic group has said it will begin an internal probe.

The woman accused one of the clergymen of showing her his penis — and asking her to touch it — when she was five years old. When she told a family member, she said, she was slapped and told “never to make up such stories”.

The abuse continued, she said, but she gathered the courage to refuse to meet with or talk to the priest when she reached childbearing age, partly because she “was terrified of getting pregnant”. The man is now in West Bengal, she 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.

WASHINGTON (DC)
The Federalist

October 23, 2018

By Casey Chalk

In my almost ten years of experience of ecumenical dialogue that began as a dyed-in-the-wool Calvinist seminarian and resulted in a conversion to Catholicism several years later, I periodically read some theological reflection that both provokes and puzzles. Sometimes that leads to a deeper understanding of some theological idea, or perhaps even a change in my opinion.

Other times, despite my best attempts at a charitable reading, I have to conclude that the author has misunderstood things so badly it causes confusion and detracts from the ecumenical project. The latter, unfortunately, is my reading of Korey Maas’s reflection in The Federalist on frustrated Catholics choosing to remain Catholic despite the many recent scandals rocking the church.

Maas reads the writings of several Catholics who have written in the wake of the latest clerical sex scandal–namely, George Weigel, Robert George, and Matthew Petrusek–and argues that “what each of these authors suggests, without stating it explicitly, is that the essential teaching and belief of the Roman Catholic Church is no different from that of any other Christian Church.” Maas comes to this conclusion because each of these authors urges his fellow Catholics to keep their eyes on faith in Christ, in whom they should place their ultimate trust.

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.

MARIN COUNTY (CA)
Marin County Independent

October 23, 2018

By Matthias Gafni, Julia Prodis Sulek, John Woolfolk and David Debolt

As Bay Area Catholic leaders are increasingly under pressure to name priests accused of abusing children, a Minnesota law firm published a report Tuesday identifying 212 priests in the San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco dioceses accused of sexual misconduct involving kids.

The report names 135 accused offenders in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, 95 in the Oakland diocese and 33 in the San Jose diocese, though 51 names are duplicates because some of the priests worked in more than one Bay Area diocese. Earlier this month, the San Jose diocese released its own list of credibly accused priests that had only 15 names, which this report calls “deficient.”

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.

ROME (ITALY)
Crux

October 24, 2018

By Christopher White

When Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, a former papal envoy to the U.S., accused Pope Francis of mishandling sexual abuse, one of the few conservative Catholic leaders to rally to the pope’s defense was Jim Towey.

Towey, president of Ave Maria University (AMU) in Florida, lamented the “rift” between conservative members of the U.S. hierarchy and Francis, arguing that in this moment, fidelity toward the pope and the Church is needed more than ever. Towey’s stance drew a sharp rebuke from a group of AMU alumni, who accused him of not taking the clergy sexual abuse crisis seriously.

Towey, whose career has spanned from working inside the White House under President George W. Bush as the Director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, to nearly two decades in academia, recently announced he would be departing AMU at the end of next academic year.

Now, two months after speaking out on the pope’s behalf, as a further step in what he believes is a crucial time for the Church to finally grasp the scourge of the sexual abuse crisis, he’s telling his own story for the first time.

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.

HARRISBURG (PA)
Post Gazette

October 23, 2018

By Angela Couloumbis

The emotionally charged debate in the state capital over a bill to help victims of alleged clergy sex abuse has officially become a campaign issue.

Democrats on Wednesday will begin airing the first television ad knocking moderate Republican senators from the Philadelphia suburbs — several facing tough reelection battles — for the GOP-controlled chamber’s failure last week to vote on a measure endorsed by Gov. Wolf, top law enforcement officials, the House of Representatives, and victims’ advocates.

Among other changes, the legislation would have temporarily allowed older victims of clergy abuse to sue their alleged abusers and the institutions that may have covered up the crimes.

“They call it a window to justice,” a woman’s voice intones on the ad, paid for by the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, the election arm of Senate Democrats. “But Republicans in the Senate? They just walked away. No vote. No debate. No justice..

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.

MARIN COUNTY (CA)
Bohemian

October 23, 2018

By Tom Gogola

A report released this week by the law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates has identified 17 members of the Roman Catholic clergy assigned to serve the church in Marin County who had demonstrable child sexual-abuse histories that in some cases dated back to the 1960’s.

The findings from the law firm lists more than 200 clergy members who served in either the Oakland, San Francisco or San Jose Catholic dioceses and who have been alleged to have committed sexual offenses against minors.

A review of the law firm’s thumbnail sketches of the clergymen gives insight into what Spotlight highlighted—that for decades, the Catholic Church dealt with its pedophilia problems by shuffling sex-abusing clergy from one diocese to another. And it indicates that numerous California Catholic clergy sex abusers got away with their crimes because of a 2003 Supreme Court ruling that rejected a California attempt to retroactively eliminate statutes of limitations for certain sex crimes, including those perpetrated against minors.

Here are the 17 clergy members of the Roman Catholic church who at one time or another were assigned to schools and churches in Marin County, and who are alleged to have committed sexual assault against children, according to Anderson & Associates, which specializes in clergy sex crimes:

• Msgr. Peter Gomez Armstrong, according to the law firm’s report, has been accused of sexually abusing at least one child. He worked at the St. Vincent School for Boys in San Rafael between 1975-79 and died in 2009.

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.

QUEZON CITY (PHILIPPINES)
ABS-CBN News

October 24 2018

The Roman Catholic Church continues to grapple against allegations of widespread sexual abuse on children in several dioceses in the United States.

The latest to have emerged is a report published by law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates, which revealed 263 Catholic clergy in San Francisco Bay Area accused of sexual misconduct.

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.

PARMA (OH)
Catholic News Agency

October 23, 2018

By CNA/EWTN News

The Ruthenian Eparchy of Parma has announced that a priest who was reportedly attacked in August has been placed on administrative leave due to a credible accusation of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Fr. Basil Hutsko is accused of misconduct alleged to have occurred 35 years ago (or in 1983), the eparchy stated.

“Though Father Basil Hutsko denies the accusation, Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, having heard from the priest, the Review Board, and the Promotor [sic] of Justice, has found the accusation to be credible,” the eparchy said. “A finding that the accusation is credible is not a finding of guilt,” it added.

In August, Hutsko had been reported to have been attacked at his parish. The eparchy’s statement said that attack did not take take place.

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.