ABUSE TRACKER

A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.

December 11, 2018

Cincinnati priest accused of abusing altar boys in the Philippines

CINCINNATI (OH)
WLWT & AP

December 6, 2018

By John London

A priest from Cincinnati is under arrest in the Philippines, accused of molesting minors.

Authorities are trying to determine if he might have sexually abused anyone in his home area.

The Rev. Kenneth Bernard Hendricks, 77, was taken into custody two days ago and charged with abusingat least five and maybe as many as 10 boys, ranging in age from 7 to the teens.

According to U.S. Attorney Ben Glassman, Hendricks met the boys through his Catholic missionary work.

“He befriended them,” explained Glassman, who described the behavior as horrifying. “He would invite them to his residence, often to take a bath or a shower. That interaction would then proceed to kissing, and then he would fondle their genitals, masturbate them or masturbate with them and ultimately have oral and anal sex with the victims.”

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 from Cincinnati accused of abusing ‘multiple young boys’ in the Philippines

CINCINNATI (OH)
Cincinnati Enquirer

December 6, 2018

By Dan Horn, Cameron Knight and Sarah Brookbank

The first boy went to police in early November, telling officers in his remote town in the Philippines a harrowing tale about the Catholic priest from Cincinnati he accused of sexually abusing him for years.

Then another boy told a similar story. And another. And another.

Within weeks, Filipino police and U.S. immigration officials had arrested the Rev. Kenneth Bernard Hendricks on charges of sexually assaulting five altar boys in his home and in his 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.

El Obispado de Bilbao denuncia a un sacerdote por abusos sexuales

[Bilbao diocese denounces priest for sexual abuse]

BILBAO (SPAIN)
El País

December 10, 2018

By Pedro Goropse

La Iglesia abrió una investigación que ha detectado “comportamientos inadecuados contra la libertad sexual”

La fiscalía de Bizkaia investiga a un cura tras la declaración de tres mujeres que le han denunciado por “tocamientos”. Se trata del presbítero responsable de la zona de Mungia, Bizkaia, Egoitz Arruza, técnico especialista en electrónica industrial que se ordenó el año 2005. Ha sido vicario parroquial en Derio, Zamudio, Lezama, Larrabetzu y Goikoelexea, y tanto el Obispado de Bilbao como los “scouts” le han apartado de sus responsabilidades. Los hechos denunciados se produjeron entre los años 2015, 2016 y 2017, cuando las mujeres pertenecían al movimiento de los scouts, del que el cura era responsable. Una de ellas era menor cuando sucedieron los hechos denunciados y le acusan de “comportamientos inadecuados contra la libertad sexual”. La fiscal jefe de Bizkaia, Ana Barrilero Yarnoz, ha confirmado a Efe que el Obispado les comunicó los hechos y “se han abierto diligencias, las cuales se encuentran en fase de inicio de la investigación”.

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.

El Gobierno recuerda que la Iglesia debe denunciar los abusos

[Spain’s government restates that the Church must denounce abuses]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

December 10, 2018

By Julio Núñez

En una respuesta parlamentaria a Unidos Podemos, el Ejecutivo rechaza pedir a los obispos datos sobre los casos silenciados

La Iglesia española estaba obligada por ley a comunicar a la justicia ordinaria los casos de abusos sexuales a menores que conoció y silenció en las últimas décadas, según afirmó el Gobierno en una respuesta parlamentaria al grupo de Unidos Podemos a finales de noviembre. El Ejecutivo contesta así a una pregunta sobre si considera que los acuerdos con el Vaticano son un obstáculo legal para que la Iglesia española colabore con los tribunales en los casos de pederastia. En su respuesta, a la que tuvo acceso ayer EL PAÍS, el Gobierno alega que la única posibilidad en la que los clérigos pueden acogerse a los Acuerdos de 1976 para no denunciar los casos que conozcan es si esos delitos se les han revelado “en el ejercicio de su ministerio [por el secreto de confesión]” y no al conocimiento que puedan tener “por otros medios”, en cuyo caso sí estarían obligados a denunciar.

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.

[VIDEO] Maristas ofrecían dinero por silencio

[VIDEO: Marists offered money for silence]

CHILE
T13

December 10, 2018

El investigador canónico de los abusos sexuales en Colegios Maristas determinó la verosimilitud de la mayoría de los casos denunciados y propuso que varios religiosos sean expulsados. Dicha congregación negoció además el pago 50 millones de pesos a la familia de una víctima. Todo a cambio de no interponer ninguna acción en la justicia ni revelar lo sucedido a terceros

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.

Dinero a cambio del silencio de las víctimas de abusos sexuales: la nueva denuncia contra los maristas

[Money in exchange for abuse victims’ silence: new accusation against the Marists]

CHILE
El Mostrador

December 11, 2018

“Esta política de tapar con plata se viene dando y se ha dado mucho, es la costumbre que tenían”, denunció Gonzalo Dezerega, ex alumno del Instituto Alonso de Ercilla y también víctima de abusos por parte de religiosos. De acuerdo a un documento, se ofreció 50 millones a la familia de una víctima a cambio de “renunciar a toda acción judicial o extrajudicial que tuvieran contra el Instituto, la parte sostenedora, o respecto de trabajadores de la Congregación”.

Dinero a cambio del silencio de las víctimas. Esta es una nueva acusación contra las prácticas de la Congregación de los Hermanos Maristas, uno de los grupos religiosos presentes en Chile que ha protagonizado bullados casos de abusos sexuales contra menores.

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.

O’Reilly, el sacerdote condenado por abusar sexualmente de una niña: “No soy pedófilo”

[O’Reilly, the priest convicted of sexually abusing a girl says: “I’m not a pedophile”]

CHILE
El Mostrador

December 11, 2018

El influyente sacerdote de los Legionarios de Cristo vive horas clave, dado que un decreto de la Subsecretaría del Interior determinó su expulsión de Chile una vez cumplidos los 4 años de sentencia. Su abogado se aferra a una interpretación, mientras el representante de las víctimas sostiene que “no hay ninguna justificación para que se mantenga en el país”.

“Una sola cosa, no soy pedófilo, por más que esté en el recuerdo”. Esa fue la breve declaración a Chilevisión de John O’Reilly, el sacerdote que cumplió condena bajo el régimen de libertad vigilada por el delito de abuso sexual contra una menor de edad del colegio Cumbres y ahora debe abandonar el país de acuerdo a un decreto de la Subsecretaría del Interior.

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.

Abogado de O’Reilly dice que cura está “preocupado” y detalla opciones tras cumplimiento de condena

[O’Reilly’s attorney says the priest is “worried” and evaluating options after serving his sentence]

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Emol

December 10, 2018

By J. Peña

Cristián Muga explicó que el plazo de 72 horas corre desde que se notifica el término de la condena que se cumple hoy, y que están evaluando las acciones a seguir.

“Muy preocupado por su situación”. Con estas palabras el abogado del cura John O’Reilly, Cristián Muga, manifestó el estado en que se encuentra a horas de cumplir su condena a cuatro años de libertad vigilada por abuso sexual reiterado contra una menor, caso por el que fue condenado en 2014.

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.

No ‘church of nice’ for Church Militant

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

December 11, 2018

by Peter Feuerherd

At the door of the studios of Church Militant in this Detroit suburb, visitors face a picture of Michael the Archangel putting the sword to demonic hordes.

Previously a dispenser of catechetical videos, Church Militant has been transformed into a prime player in the Catholic culture wars by president and founder Michael Voris.

Voris, 57, rejects what he calls “the church of nice,” a Catholic belief in deference to church hierarchy and a willingness to incorporate those who sometimes fall short of its teachings, particularly regarding sexual morality.

Claiming three million supporters, Church Militant, with a full-time staff of 34, sends out via the internet for $10 a month per premium subscriber a daily newscast, panel discussion, and various other commentaries, seeking a vision of the church in line with what Voris describes as Catholic “orthodoxy.” A visitor who uses the labels conservative or traditional is quickly corrected.

Two papal flags fly over Church Militant offices located in a light industrial, non-descript set of two buildings. But the flags could be out of place. In some ways, Church Militant considers itself more Catholic than the pope, at least the current Bishop of Rome.

A stairway in the studio building holds a collection of photographs of the popes, dating through the last two centuries. Absent is Pope Francis, although his image adorns other office spaces.

The sex abuse scandal, which Church Militant in its daily newscasts and discussions says is largely a crisis of homosexual priests permitted to harass teenagers and young men, is proof that Francis is not up to his responsibilities.

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.

Burlington Roman Catholic Diocese target of lawsuit accusing ex-priest of sexual abuse

BURLINGTON (VT)
Burlington Free Press

December 11, 2018

By Elizabeth Murray

A man who says he was sexually abused as a boy by a priest serving at St. Ann Catholic Church in Milton has filed a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington alleging negligence, fraud, and “outrageous conduct.”

The man is asking for in excess of $75,000 in damages, in addition to any other damages deemed appropriate by a jury.

The lawsuit alleges that the Diocese’s actions in the man’s case were “utterly reprehensible, egregious and patently outrageous,” according to the legal complaint filed Friday.

The Diocese said it would respond to the Free Press’s request for comment on Tuesday, but no response had been received as of 8:15 a.m.

The man was an altar boy and parishioner at St. Ann’s Parish in Milton in the late 1970s and early 1980s, according to the complaint.

The man, who now lives in Texas, said he did not discover he had a personal legal action to bring against the Diocese until 2017. His complaint states that he has suffered “pain, emotional distress, embarrassment, humiliation, loss of self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological injuries.”

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.

Lawsuit seeks names of Kansas City-St. Joseph priests accused of sexual abuse

KANSAS CITY (MO)
KMBZ TV

December 11, 2018

By Bill Grady

The plaintiff is listed as “John Doe” in official court documents, though his real name is Kevin Smith. The 54-year-old claims he was sexually abused by Father Thomas Reardon while he attended St. Gabriel’s school at 4737 N. Cleveland Ave. in Kansas City.

Smith said he was 13 at the time of the abuse. The Catholic parish that includes St. Gabriel is also named in the lawsuit.

“I believe, in my opinion, he’s a threat,” said Smith, who would like to see Reardon go to prison for the rest of his life.

Smith’s lawsuit seeks the release of names of those who have been investigated or reassigned because of sexual abuse allegations.

A large-scale independent investigation, like the one that recently took place in Pennsylvania, would be the best course of action, said Rebecca Randles, Smith’s attorney.

Reardon, who was ordained in 1967, was accused in previous court filings of serving alcohol to teenage boys, allowing them privileges, including driving their cars, and taking part in sexual activity around 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.

Prosecute Mobile abusers, for God’s sake

MOBILE (AL)
AL.com

December 10, 2018

By John Archibald

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.

Sometimes that’s just not enough. Sometimes it’s not complete. Sometimes it’s too little too late, too half-hearted, too forced and weak and watery.

Like tears of a condemned man.

Like the Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile, with its late and lame revelations that dozens of priests and other clergy abused and molested and scarred children for decades in churches and schools across south Alabama. It had the ring of a deathbed confessional.

The Archdiocese last week released 29 names of Catholic priests, deacons and brothers accused of sexually abusing children since 1950. Most of them are dead or dying.

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned, and lied about it, and covered it up while the guilty grew old in their own beds while victims grew up in torment and anger and a guilt they did not earn.

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.

An innocent bishop acquitted. Did anyone notice?

NORTH STRATHFIELD (AUSTRALIA)
Mercator.net

December 11, 2018

By Michael Cook

On May 22 the Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, was found guilty of failing to report allegations of child sexual abuse. He was the most senior Catholic cleric found guilty of concealing abuse and the news was reported around the world.

On July 3, Archbishop Wilson was sentenced to 12 months’ detention, with parole after six months. This eventually became home detention, which he began serving on August 14. This, too, was reported around the world.

Following the conviction in Newcastle Local Court before Magistrate Robert Stone, there were calls for the Archbishop to resign. Even then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a Catholic, stuck his oar in. “The time has come for the Pope to sack him,” he said. “There are many leaders that have called on him to resign, it is clear that he should resign.”

Powerful stuff from powerful people. Although Wilson wanted to stay on officially as Archbishop until his appeal had been heard, he yielded to the pressure and resigned. Pope Francis accepted it on July 30. The historic resignation was reported as far afield as the New York Times.

And then … acquittal

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.

Pope Should Ban Priesthood, Not Homosexuals

LOS ANGELES (CA)
City Watch

December 10, 2018

By George Cassidy Payne

Theologically I am in total agreement with him that the Christian New Testament speaks of a preferential option for the poor, a radical call to abolish violence, and a moral duty to protect children. From the moment he assumed the pontificate, Francis has appeared to be a shining example of humility, hospitality, and hope.

So, it is with consternation that I listened to his latest comments regarding homosexuality in the clergy. During an interview given to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, the Pope said it is a “serious matter” that “worries” him. Francis described homosexuality as “fashionable”, and urged clergy to observe their vow of celibacy, going on to say that the Church had to be “demanding” in choosing candidates for the priesthood. And those responsible for training priests must make sure candidates are “humanly and emotionally mature” before they are ordained. “For this reason, the Church urges that persons with this rooted tendency not be accepted into ministry or consecrated life.”

Heavy words from the leader of 1.2 billion followers worldwide.

Assuming that part of the Pope’s rational for holding these beliefs is his concern over the child abuse scandal afflicting the Church, it is necessary to analyze his comments further. As reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center, “According to the American Psychological Association, children are not more likely to be molested by LGBT parents or their LGBT friends or acquaintances.

Gregory Herek, a professor at the University of California, Davis, who is one of the nation’s leading researchers on prejudice against sexual minorities, reviewed a series of studies and found no evidence that gay men molest children at higher rates than heterosexual men … Anti-gay activists who make that claim allege that all men who molest male children should be seen as homosexual. But research by A. Nicholas Groth, a pioneer in the field of sexual abuse of children, shows that is not so.

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.

Two accused priests with ties to St. Stephens served in leadership at Missouri, Wyoming schools

POCATELLO (ID)
KPVI TV

December 11, 2018

By Seth Klamann

The two Jesuit priests who served at St. Stephens Mission and were included on a list last week of Jesuit clergymen who faced credible sexual abuse allegations served in leadership positions at Wyoming and Missouri schools.

The two now-former priests, Paul C. Pilgram and Anthony J. Short, were part of a 42-man list released by the Jesuit U.S. Central and Southern Province on Friday. Both men served at St. Stephens in the 1970s. Another list of credibly accused Jesuits will be released by the Midwest Province, which includes Wyoming, early next week.

Pilgram’s first posting was at St. Stephens, where he served roughly two years. He would next work at St. Louis University High School “during the timeframe of (his) alleged abuse,” according to a statement from the school’s current president.

Two Jesuit priests who served on Wind River Reservation named in report of clergymen accused of sexual abuse

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.

Hundreds of sexual abuse cases reported at children’s camps across U.S.

NEW YORK (NY)
CBS News

December 10, 2018

CBS News has identified hundreds of reports of sexual abuse that occurred at children’s camps across the United States. We found reports of more than 500 victims who were allegedly sexually abused at children’s camps over the past 55 years. At least 21 of those cases surfaced this year alone.

Victims’ advocates tell us the real number of abuse cases is likely much higher, since many are never reported.

“After you took a shower, you’d put on your towel, and he didn’t want you to wear underwear under it,” the Texas boy said in a video, telling a psychologist what a camp counselor did to him in 2009. It allegedly happened over the course of 12 days at an overnight summer camp named Camp La Junta.

“He would check all the kids, but under their towel,” he said. “He wouldn’t look under there. He’d just stick his hand up.”

When he returned home, the boy’s mother says she knew something was wrong. “He was a different kid,” said the woman, identified as Jane Doe. “He was not the happy-go-lucky little boy that loved to play outside. He was totally different. He just wanted to lay on the couch.”

It wasn’t until 10 months later that her son revealed a 20-year-old camp counselor named Matthew Bovee had allegedly molested him.

Duncan asked, “And what was your initial reaction?”

“I wanted to throw up,” Jane replied. “I was nauseous. And all I could think of is to tell him I love him.”

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

Toxic abuse and corruption must be rooted out

HUNTINGTON (WV)
Herald Dispatch

December 11, 2018

By John Patrick Grace

Tomatoes, asparagus, peaches and other vegetables and fruits left in the refrigerator too long will start to spoil. Eating partially corrupted food may sicken, even poison, the human body. Too little attention was being paid to items that had turned rotten. We were too trusting — and never verified.

Take the above as a metaphor for what has been happening in government and in many societal institutions, including the church.

Our processes for vetting those who might rise to positions of authority in colleges and public schools, including coaches and trainers, or in churches, such as priests, pastors and lay leaders, have clearly been inadequate.

The same seems to have been true for holding such individuals accountable for their actions, whether those actions constitute physical, sexual, emotional or financial abuse — or all four together.

Where should blame be assigned? And how can we reform our vetting, monitoring, reporting and disciplinary structures to keep the innocent — especially minors — safe from the threat of abuse?

The question applies equally well to the political sphere of elected and appointed officials as to the ecclesiastical sphere of ordained deacons, priests, pastors and bishops. Extend it even further into the realms of education (at all levels, from universities right down to pre-school), to police forces, the military and corporate America.

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.

Religious sister accusing bishop of rape: ‘No nun should have to go through this’

MUMBAI (INDIA)
Crux

December 11, 2018

By Nirmala Carvalho

A nun in India accusing a bishop of raping her says she wants “the Church to recognise that I was wronged.”

The nun – whose name has been withheld – accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of raping her 13 times between 2014 and 2016 at her order’s convent in Kuravilangad, in the southern state of Kerala – the heartland of Christianity in India.

She went to the police on June 29 with her accusations and submitted a 72-page statement.

Mulakkal vehemently denies the charges, and claims the nun is retaliating because he initiated an investigation against her for an affair she allegedly had with a married man.

The bishop was arrested on Sept. 21 after a months-long investigation and was released on bail Oct. 15.

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. Landry priest formally charged with molestation of a juvenile

Lafayette (LA)
The Acadiana Advocate

December 10, 2018

A St. Landry priest accused of sexually assaulting a teenager has now been formally charged, court records show.

Michael Guidry, who most recently was pastor of St. Peter’s Church in Morrow, was arrested in June after a deacon’s son came forward to allege the priest had given him alcohol and molested him.

A bill of information was filed last week, formally charging Guidry with molestation of a juvenile, court records show.

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 Accused of ‘Inappropriate Contact’ With Minor, Adults

WASHINGTON (DC)
By Associated Press

December 11, 2018

A Catholic priest in Purcellville is accused of inappropriate contact with a minor and adults, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office says.

The Catholic Diocese of Arlington has placed Father Ronald S. Escalante on leave pending an investigation by the sheriff’s office. The Saint Francis de Sales Church pastor is accused of “boundary violations involving a minor and adults” that go against its clergy code of conduct, according to a press release from the diocese.

Sheriff’s spokesman Kraig Troxell says the diocese reported the possible “inappropriate contact” to authorities.

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.

Accountability group says 19 clergy members accused of sex abuse were not on recently released list

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WVUE Fox 8 TV

December 10, 2018

By Kimberly Curth

We’re learning new information about the recently released list of Jesuits credibly accused of child sex abuse. An accountability group says it’s incomplete.

Bishopaccountability.org says, “19 Jesuits already known to be accused of abuse” were left of the list released Friday by the Jesuits U.S. Central and Southern Province.

That includes Daniel Ramsey Barfield, a teacher and counselor who was at Jesuit High School from 1969-1975.

Tim Lennon, the president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, says that’s why there needs to be a statewide investigation into church sex abuse here in Louisiana.

“We call on the State Attorney General of Louisiana to, in fact, investigate. There’s sufficient cause to say that this institution is not policing itself, it shouldn’t have that responsibility, law enforcement should, and the Attorney General should take this issue seriously,” said Lennon.

The Jesuit Province released a list Friday of 42 clergy members credibly accused of child sex abuse. Eighteen of the men had connections to New Orleans Jesuit institutions.

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.

Crisis in Catholic Church: One-on-one with Cardinal DiNardo

HOUSTON (TX)
WHRX TV

December 10, 2018

By Bill Balleza and Debbie Strauss

There is a crisis in the Catholic Church.

Earlier this month, federal, state and local law enforcement officials executed a search warrant inside the offices of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
ed out computers, files and boxes.

Just 24 hours earlier, in those same offices, KPRC2’s Bill Balleza sat down with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo for an exclusive interview about the sex abuse scandal that perhaps foreshadowed the next day’s events.

Balleza: “Has the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston been subpoenaed as part of this investigation?”

Cardinal DiNardo: “No, we have not. We are, of course, ready to cooperate with any investigation.”

The law enforcement search came on the heels of the arrest of the Rev. Manuel La Rosa Lopez, who was accused of abusing children in Conroe in the 1990s and early 2000s.

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.

December 10, 2018

Diocese of Gallup adds former St. Mary’s priest to list of credibly accused

FARMINGTON (NM)
Farmington Daily Times

December 10, 2018
By Hannah Grover

A former Farmington-area priest has been added to the Diocese of Gallup’s list of priests the diocese states have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

Rev. Eugene Bowski, who served at St. Mary’s Parish in Farmington in the mid-1990s, was added to the list of credibly accused in late November, according to a press release from the diocese.

In a letter included with the press release, Bishop James Wall stated that the diocese has begun publishing the names of priests and church workers who have served in the Diocese of Gallup and have had credible allegations made against them for abuse that occurred outside of the Diocese of Gallup.

The press release states the Diocese of Gallup learned on Nov. 28 that Bowski had been added to the list of credibly accused for the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia. While in West Virginia, he allegedly sexually abused a child in 1982.

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.

Lawyer: Irish priest O’Reilly has finished Chile sentence

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Associated Press

December 10, 2018

By Eva Vergara

An Irish-born priest of the Legion of Christ religious order has finished serving a four-year sentence for sexually abusing a minor and may have to leave the country within days, his lawyer said Monday.

Attorney Cristian Murga said the prison system is expected to certify completion of the sentence “within days,” which would trigger an earlier government decree giving the Rev. John O’Reilly 72 hours to leave Chile.

Murga left open, however, the possibility that O’Reilly could take some unspecified legal action before being expelled.

In 2014, O’Reilly was convicted of sexually abusing a minor while he was a chaplain at a prestigious school operated by the Legion in Santiago. The court also banned him from any job near children and ordered that his genetic data be added to a registry for abusers.

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.

Victim of notorious priest speaks for first time

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

December, 10 2018

SNAP wants all accused abusive clerics “outed”

But church officials in both KC MO & KC KS are refusing

Dozens of Catholic officials across the US are now posting such lists

Group also blasts KC MO prelate for letting disgraced Finn to come back

WHAT

Holdings signs at a sidewalk news conference, abuse victims and concerned Catholics will

–call on Catholic officials in both KS & MO to post names of accused priests on their websites, as dozens of US bishops have done recently, and

— blast KC MO’s current bishop for letting his predecessor – who was convicted of failing to report suspected child abuse – back into the KC diocese recently for a church event.

A Nebraska man who was allegedly abused by one of Kansas City’s most prolific abusers, will also speak, using his name publicly for the first time ever.

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.

Anonymous plaintiff in Kansas City Catholic sex abuse case reveals his name

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Kansas City Star

December 10, 2018

By Steve Vockrodt

A Nebraska man took to a sidewalk near the entrance of the Catholic Center in downtown Kansas City on Monday to identify himself as the previously anonymous plaintiff alleging sexual abuse by a former priest of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Kevin Smith, 54, who was accompanied by his lawyer, Rebecca Randles, said the Rev. Thomas Reardon sexually abused him when he was a teenager attending St. Gabriel’s Archangel Catholic Church in Kansas City, North.

Smith was identified as “John SK2 Doe” in a lawsuit filed against Reardon, the diocese and St. Gabriel’s in July.

“I am doing this because I know there are other victims out there that need help,” Smith told reporters. “I want the diocese to join me, to reach out to others that are suffering, to offer more than lip service, symbolic gestures and unfulfilled promises.”

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 scandal has cost Altoona-Johnstown diocese $21.5 million, bishop says

ALTOONA (PA)
Tribune Democrat

December 10, 2018

By Dave Sutor

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown has made what could be considered its most in-depth public statement concerning clerical child sexual abuse within its organization, since the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General issued a grand jury report in 2016 outlining an alleged systemic effort to protect predator priests within its ranks.

A Dec. 10 edition of The Catholic Register, the diocese’s official publication, included multiple stories about the subject, a “special message” from Bishop Mark Bartchak and a chart showing that the expense of the scandal cost the diocese $21,491,052 from July 1, 1999, until Dec. 1, 2018.

The attorney general’s report provided information about how the diocese — then under the guidance of bishops Joseph Adamec and James Hogan — allegedly protected at least 50 religious leaders accused of abuse. Altoona-Johnstown has often declined to comment on subjects concerning clerical abuse, citing a policy of not discussing matters that could deal with ongoing litigation.

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Catholic priest charged with patronizing a prostitute in SLC to be reassigned

SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
Fox 13 News

December 10, 2018

By Taylor Hartman

A Catholic priest that was charged with patronizing a prostitute in Salt Lake City earlier this year will be replaced and reassigned, Catholic Church officials said.

Father Andrezej Pawlel Skrzypiec was arrested Aug. 24 near 200 North 900 West in Salt Lake City during an undercover prostitution sting where police were targeting “johns,” according to a probable cause affidavit filed in 3rd District Court.

Fr. Skrzypiec initially accused the undercover officer as being a “cop,” but eventually agreed to pay $30 for a sex act, the affidavit claimed. He was then arrested.

In a letter sent to the members of the Saint Ambrose Parish and School communities over the weekend, Most Rev. Oscar A. Solis, D.D., Bishop of Salt Lake City, stated that he recommended that Skrzypiec should be reassigned and that Skrzypiec accepted that recommendation.

Solis stated that a new pastor will be appointed for Saint Ambrose Parish and School.

“Over the past several months, many have suffered a great deal following the arrest of your beloved pastor, Father Andrezej Pawlel Skrzypiec for inappropriate behavior,” Solis wrote. “While Father Andrezej has insisted he was not guilty of a crime, his action caused serious scandal for the church.”

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Louisville priest James Schook, who sexually abused altar boy, has died

LOUISVILLE (KY)
Louisville Courier Journal

December 10, 2018

By Chris Kenning

Former Louisville Roman Catholic priest James Schook, convicted of molesting a teen altar boy in the 1970s, died on Saturday at age 71, the Lousiville Archdiocese said Monday.

Schook was a central character for years in the local Catholic sex abuse crisis that exploded in 2002, which left some deeply critical of how the Louisville archdiocese handled abusive priests.

He was already suffering from end-stage melanoma, a terminal skin cancer, in 2014 when he was sentenced to 15 years in prison on three counts sodomy and one count indecent or immoral practice. He was released on medical parole last year.

More: Sex abuse survivors: Archbishop Kurtz isn’t doing enough to protect his flock

The Archdiocese of Louisville released a statement on Monday extending sympathy to his family. “In praying for the repose of his soul, we also pray for continued healing for his victims and for all victim survivors of childhood sexual abuse,” the statement said.

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A Copy of the DOJ’s Request to Preserve Documents

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

December 10, 2018

At SNAP, we believe that transparency is a critical element to ending the clergy sex abuse crisis, restoring public faith in religious institutions, and helping survivors heal. We are grateful when church officials take steps towards transparency, and even moreso when that transparency is forced by brave whistle-blowers. Today, we were lucky to have experienced the latter.

The below document is a copy of the federal Department of Justice’s letter that was sent to Cardinal Daniel DiNardo and each of his brother bishops in early October, informing bishops that they must preserve any and all records related to clergy sex abuse including personnel files, “secret archives,” and more. This copy was sent to us by an anonymous whistleblower.

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Catholic priest who knew Hampden murder victim takes leave of absence

BANGOR (ME)
Daily News

December 10, 2018

By Judy Harrison

The Catholic priest who was a spiritual adviser to a Hampden woman allegedly killed by her brother-in-law is taking a leave of absence for “personal reasons,” the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland announced Monday.

The Rev. Anthony Cipolle of Bangor advised Renee Henneberry Clark to keep a spiritual journal that came into the priest’s possession after she died. Superior Court Justice William Anderson ruled last week that he would review the diary to determine which portions of its contents could be admitted as evidence and which could not.

Cipolle’s attorney argued that the judge should not read the journal because it was covered by the religious privilege exemption.

In its announcement of Cipolle’s leave of absence, the diocese noted that it “does not involve a claim of sexual abuse of a minor.” The diocese said the leave of absence is effective immediately.

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Two Rochester-area priests dismissed after investigation of misconduct

ROCHESTER (NY)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

December 10, 2018

By Sean Lahman

Bishop Salvatore Matano has removed two priests from public ministry after an investigation into allegations of misconduct.

Fathers Thomas J. Valenti and Erick Viloria are both restricted from engaging in public ministry or presenting themselves publicly as clerics, according to a statement from the Diocese of Rochester.

Valenti, who was serving as parochial administrator of Blessed Trinity/St. Patrick’s in Tioga County, was at Rochester’s Blessed Sacrament from 1977-1979 and at St. Louis in Pittsford from 1984-1989.

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Clergy Victims Press States To Open Window On Abuse Suits

UNITED STATES
Law360.com

December 9, 2018

By Daniel Siegal

George Koharchik had a reputation as his Johnstown, Pennsylvania, parish’s “favorite priest” when Shaun Dougherty met him in 1980 at the age of 10, and the time they spent together started out innocently enough.

But Dougherty said those interactions with his religion teacher and peewee basketball coach were just grooming for fondling and other sexual abuse that continued until Dougherty was 13.

While Dougherty tried to put the nightmare behind him as an adult, he was left feeling helpless all over again after Koharchick was defrocked in 2012 and Dougherty came forward to be interviewed by prosecutors. It was then Dougherty discovered it was too late to pursue a criminal or civil case.

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A Copy of the DOJ’s Request to Preserve Documents

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

December 10, 2018

At SNAP, we believe that transparency is a critical element to ending the clergy sex abuse crisis, restoring public faith in religious institutions, and helping survivors heal. We are grateful when church officials take steps towards transparency, and even moreso when that transparency is forced by brave whistle-blowers. Today, we were lucky to have experienced the latter.

The below document is a copy of the federal Department of Justice’s letter that was sent to Cardinal Daniel DiNardo and each of his brother bishops in early October, informing bishops that they must preserve any and all records related to clergy sex abuse including personnel files, “secret archives,” and more. This copy was sent to us by an anonymous whistleblower.

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 to release list of clergy accused of abuse

CASPER (WY)
Casper Star-Tribune

December 10, 2018

By Seth Klamann

The Diocese of Cheyenne is compiling a list of priests, bishops and deacons who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse since 1950, Bishop Steven Biegler announced this week, signaling that the Wyoming diocese is joining a wave of public self-examinations by dioceses across the country.

“The Diocese should have a current master list so it can be confident that it has applied the current standards to all living credibly accused offenders — and especially the standards of zero tolerance — in all situations,” Biegler wrote in a column in the December issue of the Wyoming Catholic Register. He added the review will also examine how the six bishops who have served since 1950 — himself included — handled the allegations.

The diocese previously conducted a review in 2002 — the same year that former Bishop Joseph Hart was cleared of abuse allegations by the Natrona County District Attorney’s Office — of clergymen who were working in it at the time. That review “verified that no priest with a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor was serving in the public ministry in any way in the Diocese of Cheyenne,” Biegler wrote.

This latest examination comes as dioceses across the country conduct sweeping reviews of their own troubled histories with clerical sexual abuse. On Thursday, the church named 29 men accused of abuse in southern Alabama, allegations that dated back to 1950. In November, a diocese in Missouri named 33 priests and religious brothers who had been credibly accused. In August, a grand jury in Pennsylvania wrote that more than 300 Catholic priests had molested more than 1,000 children for decades.

The work on this latest review began after mid-September, when the Star-Tribune requested information regarding all credibly accused priests, all settlements and the amount paid in these agreements dating back to 1950, said Rev. Carl Gallinger, the diocese’s vicar general. He said the “commitment” to conducting the review predated the newspaper’s request. He said he had no time estimate on when the review, which will be conducted by an “independent law firm,” would be completed.

Biegler was unavailable to comment Thursday. It’s unclear how much detail will be in the list.

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Ex-priest accused in Pa. grand jury report denies allegations, assails process

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

December 10, 2018

By Paula Reed Ward

By the time former priest Stephen Jeselnick learned in May that he had been named as an abuser in the Pennsylvania attorney general’s investigation into child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, the two pages of the grand jury report accusing him were already completed.

He wasn’t invited to testify, and though he challenged the accusations before the supervising judge of the grand jury when he learned of them, Mr. Jeselnick was told he and others named had no recourse except to submit a written response that would be appended to the final report.

The summary provided scant detail, alleging the abuse happened in the late 1970s at St. Brigid church in Meadville and that the victims’ mother worked there.

He did not know who was accusing him or why they had never come forward before 2017.

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Exposé Reveals Network of Baptist Institutions That Shielded Child Molesters

NEW YORK (NY)
Patheos blog

December 10, 2018

By Terry Firma

“My earliest memory of being molested was when I was four years old. It was Sunday school.”

So begins the fourth and final installment of an extraordinary Fort Worth Star-Telegram investigation into child molestation in and around independent Baptist churches. Published yesterday after an eight-month investigation, the story by journalists Sarah Smith, Shelly Yang, and Neil Nakahodo reveals how a network of churches and schools covered up nationwide sexual abuse — and, in an all-too-familiar pattern, helped relocate the evildoers.

Here are a few gut-wrenching passages.

On religious impunity:

Even if criminal charges are brought against a church leader, he might be allowed to continue in ministry. Facing charges that he had sex with a 14-year-old, a pastor left his Indiana church for Miami, where he told his new congregation that the girl was “promiscuous.” Though he pleaded guilty to felony stalking in 2009, he didn’t leave the church until 2014. He maintains his innocence. He’s one of nearly four dozen men who were allowed to continue in their ministry after facing sexual abuse allegations — and even convictions, the Star-Telegram found.

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Diocese of Rochester removes two priest during sex abuse investigation

ROCHESTER (NY)
WROC TV

December 10, 2018

By Howard Thompson

The Diocese of Rochester has removed two priests from the ministry as it looks into claims of sex abuse.

Reverend Thomas Valenti, who works at Blessed Trinity/St. Patrick’s in Tioga County, and Reverend Erick Viloria, who served at Our Lady of Peace Parish in Geneva have been removed.

The move comes as the church looks into new accusations of sexual abuse brought this past summer when Attorney Mitchell Garabedian accused eight Rochester priests of sexual misconduct.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

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Abuse of Vulnerable People and Churches: Recent Reports

LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage blog

December 10, 2018

By William Lindsey

This is a collection of reports on the abuse situation as it is unfolding in various churches now. These are all recent statements, and not by any means a representative report on all that is happening on the sexual abuse front in religious groups right now. Stories are breaking on that front fast and furious — this is only my own selection of reports that have drawn my attention recently, for reasons that will be apparent as you read:

Sarah Smith, “Hundreds of sex abuse allegations found in fundamental Baptist churches across U.S.”:

For decades, women and children have faced rampant sexual abuse while worshiping at independent fundamental Baptist churches around the country. The network of churches and schools has often covered up the crimes and helped relocate the offenders, an eight-month Star-Telegram investigation has found.
More than 200 people — current or former church members, across generations — shared their stories of rape, assault, humiliation and fear in churches where male leadership cannot be questioned. …
Twenty-one abuse allegations were uncovered exclusively by the Star-Telegram, and others were documented in criminal cases, lawsuits and news reports. But victims said the number of abused is far greater because few victims ever come forward.

Sarah Smith, “These ‘men of God’ sexually abused children. Then they found refuge at other churches”:

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Options Emerge for Handling the ‘Other Sexual-Abuse Crisis’

WASHINGTON (DC)
National Catholic Register

December 10, 2018
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By Ed Condon

The recent sex-abuse scandals that have rocked the Church in the United States and beyond have mostly focused on the abuse of minors. At the same time, many recent revelations and allegations, as in the case of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, have involved the sexual abuse or harassment of adults.

How the Church deals with clerical sexual misconduct when it does not involve minors remains a thorny issue, but an increasingly urgent one. Independent investigations are currently underway by local bishops to examine allegations of serious sexual misconduct in seminaries in Boston, Philadelphia and Newark.

In a recent interview, Pope Francis highlighted how a “fashionable” acceptance of homosexual relations had entered the Church. During the recent USCCB assembly in Baltimore, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, made the same point, offering it as the explanation for how McCarrick was serially promoted, despite his sexual behavior apparently being known to the hierarchy.

Also in Baltimore, Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, who heads the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, said that the bishops need to have a “fulsome discussion about adult misconduct and how to deal with that.”

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Se la acabó el plazo: cura O’Reilly cumple su condena y tiene 72 horas para irse de Chile

[His sentence served, priest John O’Reilly has 72 hours to leave Chile]

CHILE
El Mostrador

December 10, 2018

El sacerdote favorito de la élite política y empresarial termina este lunes los 4 años que pasó en libertad vigilada por abusar de una menor de edad del exclusivo colegio Cumbres. Ahora, debe abandonar el país luego que la justicia desechara un recurso de protección presentado por su defensa para evitar su expulsión. En paralelo a su situación judicial, aún está pendiente la definición de su caso a nivel de la justicia eclesiástica, donde todo indica que correrá el mismo destino de otros curas abusadores expulsados del sacerdocio.

Este lunes, el sacerdote John O’Reilly cumple sus cuatro años de condena bajo el régimen de libertad vigilada por el delito de abuso sexual contra una menor de edad del colegio Cumbres.

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Fieles agreden a administrador apostólico en celebración de la Inmaculada Concepción en Puerto Montt

[The faithful protest apostolic administrator after Immaculate Conception celebration in Puerto Montt]

CHILE
BioBioChile

December 9, 2018

By Ariela Muñoz and Carlos Arismendi

Adherentes a curas investigados piden la salida del administrador apostólico de Puerto Montt. El representante del Papa salió escoltado por Carabineros, tras la celebración de la Inmaculada Concepción. Los fieles acusan a Ricardo Morales de dividir a la iglesia en Puerto Montt, tras las denuncias que realizó en la Fiscalía contra de los sacerdotes Tulio Soto y Darío Nicolás, por apropiación indebida de dineros y tráfico de estupefacientes.

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Ex-priest worked in Liverpool middle school for 25 years after teen reported sex abuse

SYRACUSE (NY)
Syracuse.com

December 10, 2018

By Chris Baker

A Catholic priest who resigned following allegations of sexual abuse was able to go on to a 25-year career as a guidance counselor at a Liverpool middle school. He resigned only after the district learned of the allegations in 2003 and threatened to fire him. He died shortly after.

Donald J. Crosby remained in a position to have daily interaction with children after a teen-aged girl reported instances of sexual abuse to his superior, Monsignor H. Charles Sewall, at a Catholic school in 1974.

The victim came forward again, decades later, amid a national reckoning for abusive priests. She was outraged to learn Crosby was no longer a priest but was instead working in a school.

A diocesan spokeswoman said last week the church had no record of the victim’s first report, or any records of inappropriate behavior by Crosby. Sewall, it seems, never filed a report, and the school district didn’t learn of the allegations until 2003.

Crosby was one of 57 priests with credible allegations of sexual abuse against them who were identified by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse last week. Sewall was also on the list. Both are now dead.

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Piden que renuncie el administrador apostólico de Puerto Montt

[There is pressure on Puerto Montt’s apostolic administrator to resign]

CHILE
Soy Chile

December 8, 2018

Al finalizar misa de celebración de la Inmaculada Concepción, fieles elevaron carteles y lanzaron gritos en su contra. Carabineros intervino para resguardar su seguridad.

Custodiado por efectivos de Carabineros y bajo gritos que pedían su renuncia, el administrador apostólico de Puerto Montt, Ricardo Morales, abandonó esta tarde el campo de oración, a los pies de la Casa Nazaret, donde tuvo lugar la tradicional celebración de la Fiesta de la Inmaculada Concepción.

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Archbishop Scicluna and his recent appointment at the Vatican

MALTA
Malta Independent

December 10, 2018

By Simon Mercieca

A few days ago, I was invited to preside over the launch of a book by Antonio Ureta about Pope Francis. I shall be reviewing this book next week. What I wish to share is an interesting conversation that I had with one of those present during the coffee break. This gentleman is a person who follows thoroughly the church and attends even Catholic congresses abroad. What he told me was that not all the clergy, whom he met ata Congress in Rome were in tune with the positions that Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna has taken regarding the implementation of the encyclical Amoris Laetitia.

It is a fact that archbishop Scicluna was one of the first archbishops, if not the first, to have endorsed the encyclical Amoris Laetitia and put it into practice. I am here referring to stands taken by the Church in support of communion to divorced Catholics. I am not a theologian, therefore I will not be analyzing this fact from a theological point of view. But I am a historian and a commentator of current affairs. Hence, I shall be analyzing this from a political stance.

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Norfolk priest on leave, accused of violating code of conduct

NORFOLK (VA)
WVEC

December 10, 2018

By Amanda Johncola

A well-known Norfolk priest was placed on leave after he was accused of violating a code of conduct.

Father Joseph Metzger, the pastor at Blessed Sacrament in Norfolk, was placed on leave after nonsexual misconduct accusations were made against him.

On Sunday, a letter from Most. Rev. Barry C. Knestout, Bishop of Richmond, was read to the parish community at Blessed Sacrament in Norfolk.

The letter stated that Father Metzger agreed to take a leave of absence as pastor from the parish due to complaints received by the Safe Environment Office concerning his interactions with young people.

Bishop Knestout made it clear that no allegations of child sexual abuse have been made, but the interactions complained of were not in keeping with the Code of Conduct with Minors in the Diocesan Safe Environment Regulations.

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S.C. Catholics outline plan to release names of priests credibly accused of child sexual abuse

CHARLESTON (SC)
WLTX TV

December 9, 2018

By Mike Ellis

The Catholic church in South Carolina plans to release in early 2019 the names of priests credibly accused of sexually abusing minors since 1950.

The state’s diocese, the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, said in a statement Friday evening that files are now being reviewed before the release.

Newer accusations, those made since a class action settlement was reached in 2007, are now being reviewed to be added to the list, according to the diocese.

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The Public Pulse: Not safe even in church

OMAHA (NE)
World Herald

December 01, 2018

Regarding the article “Some churches address abuse allegations” (Dec. 3 Omaha World-Herald), it is crazy to think how even in a church, you cannot feel safe. It is literally the house of God, a place where you should feel welcome and, most importantly, feel at home.

Where has the world gone to? What sickens me is the fact that there are allegations made toward 34 priests and four deacons, and only a few of the accused have faced criminal charges or civil lawsuits. There are roughly 230,000 Catholics in Omaha. It has been more than three decades that the Catholic Church has been rocked by the sex abuse situation.

In Pennsylvania, within six Catholic dioceses more than 300 “predator priests” had been accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 child victims. Is this situation not important enough to have more people charged with a crime, let alone the damage that has been done?

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New Birth’s new pastor promises church’s rebirth

ATLANTA (GA)
Journal Constitution

December 10, 2018

By Shelia M. Poole, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Jamal Bryant, the new senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, had a few words for doubters about the future of the DeKalb megachurch.

“New Birth has resilient people,” he said to a packed church in which nearly every seat on the lower level was filled.

“I feel almost like I need to take my shoes off, I’m standing on holy ground,” he said. “There are 100,00 angels circling this church.”

Bryant drew inspiration from Acts 28:1-6 for his message about recovering from difficulty.

After the death of Bishop Eddie L. Long and, later, the resignation of his successor, many people expected New Birth would die, but he said promised a “rebirth. … We are New Birth.”

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What the Pennsylvania priests’ case reveals about the ‘right’ to reputation

LONDON (ENGLAND)
Spear’s Magazine

December 10, 2018

To what extent do we have a right to reputation? And to what extent does that right fall away when an accusation is made of criminal conduct, asks reputation lawyer Jennifer Agate

In a recent decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court determined that the names of eleven priests accused of sexual abuse in a grand jury report should remain permanently redacted. A necessary measure, the court said, to ‘protect their constitutional right to reputation’.

The allegations were of the utmost seriousness, the report described by the Pennsylvania Attorney General as the ‘largest, most comprehensive report into child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church ever produced in the United States’. While the names of 270 priests had already been made public, eleven were redacted. Those priests argued that they had not had the chance to respond to the serious allegations made against them, citing examples of serious factual errors in the evidence presented to the Grand Jury which, they said, could be easily rebutted. The court agreed.

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Pope fiddles as faith goes up in flames

TRENTON (NJ)
The Trentonian

December 9 , 2018

By Dave Neese

Not to tell the Holy Father how to do his job, but aren’t there more troublesome issues facing the Church than, say, climate change and Trump’s wall? Just asking.

Francis himself has said, “I like it when someone tells me ‘I don’t agree.’ There is a true collaborator.” Taking the Pontiff at his word then, let us dare to proceed.

Pope Francis has declaimed on various worldly topics, sometimes at great length. Meanwhile, the lawsuits and indictments stirring up a ruckus over clergy sexual abuse proliferate, even as the number of worshippers in the sanctuaries dwindles.

Declining attendance at worship applies to the Christian flock generally, including Protestants, and to Jews as well.

Only 39 percent of U.S. Catholics attend Mass weekly, according to the Pew Research Foundation’s polling.

Only 33 percent of Protestants show up for their churches’ weekly services. And a scant 19 percent of Jews can be found in the temple on a regular basis.

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December 9, 2018

Denuncian que congregación La Salle protege a abusador

DURANGO (MEXICO)
La Jornada [Mexico City, Mexico]

December 9, 2018

By Sanjuana Martínez

Read original article

Fue trasladado a una casa en Monterrey

Ofreció terapia a voluntarias, durante la cual las indujo a desnudarse, acusan víctimas 

Cuando las seis alumnas denunciaron los abusos sexuales que habían sufrido por parte del hermano lasallista Alejandro Gaxiola Parra, la congregación, en lugar de ponerlo a disposición de las autoridades, prefirió esconderlo para protegerlo y lo trasladó a una casa en la colonia Contry, de Monterrey.

Así lo informa Sofía Vázquez, una de las víctimas que desde mayo pasado dio a conocer lo sucedido ante la congregación de La Salle. Y luego interpuso, en octubre pasado, una denuncia ante la vicefiscalía de Lerdo, Durango, por el delito de violación en grado de tentativa, con el número de carpeta 6746/18: Por su forma de actuar ya perdí la fe en los lasallistas. Nos dijeron que no se podía hacer nada contra él hasta que se presentara la denuncia. La presenté y lo trasladaron a Monterrey para esconderlo y seguirlo protegiendo.

En entrevista con La Jornada, afirma que mientras el agresor sexual lasallista vive tranquilo, sus víctimas padecen las secuelas de los abusos: En mi caso, sigo un tratamiento para la depresión con ansiolíticos, tengo trastorno del sueño y tomo medicamento todos los días.

A pesar de la denuncia penal, el llamado fuero eclesiástico lo protege, porque las autoridades judiciales tampoco han molestado al religioso lasallista, por el contrario, la carpeta de investigación no tiene avances: Queremos que dejen de protegerlo. Queremos justicia. Y es para que él no pueda dañar a nadie más. Estoy sufriendo todos los días por esto que me hizo y no quisiera que nadie más llegara a sufrir de esta forma, señala.

Las seudoterapias

La historia de abusos sexuales del hermano lasallista Alejandro Gaxiola Parra, de 46 años, inicia en El Salto, Durango, donde era el encargado del voluntariado de esta congregación católica. Ahí elegía a sus víctimas desde la vulnerabilidad, chicas de entre 17 y 18 años que sufrían miedos o baja autoestima.

Les ofrecía terapia, la cual consistía en pedirles por separado quitarse la ropa, caminar semidesnudas por los pasillos y después pedirles que permitieran los tocamientos, hasta llegar a distintos y variados niveles de abuso sexual.

Sofía cuenta que sus hermanas ya habían sido voluntarias y le llamó la atención continuar con esa tradición familiar de solidaridad en 2016: Tenía 18 años y él me asegura que me va a ayudar con mis miedos; me empieza a citar después de la oración, a las 11 de la noche, en el centro comunitario, y la primera noche de la terapia me pregunta que cuánta confianza le tengo y yo le digo que el 100 por ciento, porque era como mi papá. Y en esa primera noche me pide que me quite la blusa.

Como encargado del voluntariado lasallista, el hermano Gaxiola Parra ofrecía las terapias para atender, por ejemplo, el miedo a la oscuridad: “Mi miedo a la oscuridad era mucho y me dijo que tenía que caminar yo sola sin la blusa por un largo pasillo. Yo estaba paralizada, no podía moverme, hasta que pude y me pidió que caminara por encima de unos colchones donde dormíamos. Haz de cuenta que estás modelando, me dijo.

Añade: En las siguientes sesiones cada vez me fue pidiendo que me quitara más ropa. En una ocasión me encerró en un cuarto, yo estaba sólo con ropa interior y me dice que cuente hasta 60 y que él se iba a esconder; yo debía ir a buscarlo. Yo tenía mucho miedo y mi único alivio era encontrarlo a él. Así me fue trabajando. Durante el día, si estábamos solos, me daba una nalgada.

Cuenta que en una ocasión fue a la comunidad La Campana, en El Salto, Durango, y él la seguía a todas las comunidades donde ofrecían los servicios del voluntariado: Se quedó a dormir con nosotros y se durmió al lado de mí, y empezó a acariciarme la espalda y luego mis partes íntimas y mis pechos.

Sofía afirma que los abusos fueron constantes durante seis meses. En ese periodo sufrió depresión y ansiedad: Los abusos fueron subiendo de nivel. Cada vez era más y no lo podía hablar con nadie. Hasta que me animé a escribirle para mi mamá. Ahora me cuesta recordar, pero me siento más fuerte gracias a la ayuda sicológica y siquiátrica que estoy recibiendo.

El modus operandi

En un comunicado fechado el 6 de diciembre, la congregación La Salle distrito México Norte, anunció que el hermano lasallista Alejandro Gaxiola Parra fue separado de su cargo para iniciar una investigación, pero la misma orden católica se niega a dar información sobre su paradero.

Ana Lucía estudió en el Instituto Regiomontano Chepevera La Salle y también estuvo un año ofreciendo sus servicios en el voluntariado de El Salto, Durango.

En entrevista con La Jornadacuenta que el hermano lasallista utilizó el mismo modus operandi con todas sus víctimas. A todas les decía que se trataba de una terapia especial y única: “Nos pedía que nos entregáramos. Siempre nos decía que teníamos que salir de nuestra área de confort. Me dijo que yo tenía muchas inseguridades y que por eso no me podía dar a los pueblos, que mi trabajo era mediocre. Me sentía frustrada y recuerdo que una noche estábamos en la capilla y me dijo que necesitaba una terapia ‘privada’”.

El hermano Alejandro Gaxiola Parra le advirtió entonces que no contara a nadie el tipo de terapia que le estaba dando porque si hablaba iba a contar a los demás sus problemas: “‘Tú te tienes que desnudar’, me dijo. Él utilizaba esa frase, pero nunca pensé que se refiriera a quitarme la ropa. Una noche fuimos a la biblioteca y me dijo que dijera mis virtudes y defectos. Luego me pidió que subiéramos el nivel de la terapia”.

Explica que el método consistía que cada vez que dijera un defecto se tenía que quitar una prenda de la ropa: Yo no me sentía cómoda. Me sentí muy vulnerable y accedí. Me hizo que me subiera a una mesa y me pidió que caminara de un lado a otro como si estuviera modelando. Me iba pidiendo que me quitara todo, hasta que me quedé en ropa interior. Luego me pidió que me quitara el brasier. Al final me llevó a la casa de niñas y me dio un beso en la frente, algo que me dio mucho asco y me lavé la cara.

Añadió: Él me dijo: esto no lo hago por morbo, soy religioso e hice mis votos de castidad; a todas las considero mis hijas. Mira todo lo que te quiero que hago esto por ti.

Ana Lucía cuenta que al día siguiente la buscó preocupado y le preguntó si eran realmente amigos y le confesó que tuvo un sueño donde se veía tras las rejas: “Me dijo: ‘¿Verdad que yo no hice nada sin que tú quisieras?’ Le dije que no. Y me volvió a preguntar: ‘¿Yo me tengo que preocupar por este sueño?’ Y le contesté que no. Recuerdo que después me insistió para la segunda sesión, pero yo no quise”.

Cuenta que no pudo decirle a nadie, hasta que el último día de la misión se enteró de que otra de sus compañeras había sufrido lo mismo: Me quedé impactada porque me dí cuenta de que no fui la única. Y apenas hace tres meses hablé con mis papás.

El hermano lasallista Alejandro Gaxiola Parra ha atendido a cuatro generaciones de alumnas, por lo que creen debe haber decenas de víctimas. Ana Lucía interpondrá una denuncia penal mañana lunes: Lo primero que pedimos es que lo destituyan del cargo. La congregación no lo hizo, solamente lo quitó de El Salto, pero lo movieron a Monterrey donde él seguía conviviendo con jóvenes, incluso también en Tamaulipas. Lo que queremos es que lo detengan para que no siga haciendo daño, pero la congregación no dice dónde está.

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.

Denuncian que congregación La Salle protege a abusador

DURANGO (MEXICO)
La Jornada [Mexico City, Mexico]

December 9, 2018

By Sanjuana Martínez

Read original article

Una segunda mujer acusa de abuso sexual a Alejandro “N” ante la fiscalía estatal

Cuando las seis alumnas denunciaron los abusos sexuales que habían sufrido por parte del hermano lasallista Alejandro Gaxiola Parra, la congregación, en lugar de ponerlo a disposición de las autoridades, prefirió esconderlo para protegerlo y lo trasladó a una casa en la colonia Contry, de Monterrey.

Así lo informa Sofía Vázquez, una de las víctimas que desde mayo pasado dio a conocer lo sucedido ante la congregación de La Salle. Y luego interpuso, en octubre pasado, una denuncia ante la vicefiscalía de Lerdo, Durango, por el delito de violación en grado de tentativa, con el número de carpeta 6746/18: Por su forma de actuar ya perdí la fe en los lasallistas. Nos dijeron que no se podía hacer nada contra él hasta que se presentara la denuncia. La presenté y lo trasladaron a Monterrey para esconderlo y seguirlo protegiendo.

En entrevista con La Jornada, afirma que mientras el agresor sexual lasallista vive tranquilo, sus víctimas padecen las secuelas de los abusos: En mi caso, sigo un tratamiento para la depresión con ansiolíticos, tengo trastorno del sueño y tomo medicamento todos los días.

A pesar de la denuncia penal, el llamado fuero eclesiástico lo protege, porque las autoridades judiciales tampoco han molestado al religioso lasallista, por el contrario, la carpeta de investigación no tiene avances: Queremos que dejen de protegerlo. Queremos justicia. Y es para que él no pueda dañar a nadie más. Estoy sufriendo todos los días por esto que me hizo y no quisiera que nadie más llegara a sufrir de esta forma, señala.

Las seudoterapias

La historia de abusos sexuales del hermano lasallista Alejandro Gaxiola Parra, de 46 años, inicia en El Salto, Durango, donde era el encargado del voluntariado de esta congregación católica. Ahí elegía a sus víctimas desde la vulnerabilidad, chicas de entre 17 y 18 años que sufrían miedos o baja autoestima.

Les ofrecía terapia, la cual consistía en pedirles por separado quitarse la ropa, caminar semidesnudas por los pasillos y después pedirles que permitieran los tocamientos, hasta llegar a distintos y variados niveles de abuso sexual.

Sofía cuenta que sus hermanas ya habían sido voluntarias y le llamó la atención continuar con esa tradición familiar de solidaridad en 2016: Tenía 18 años y él me asegura que me va a ayudar con mis miedos; me empieza a citar después de la oración, a las 11 de la noche, en el centro comunitario, y la primera noche de la terapia me pregunta que cuánta confianza le tengo y yo le digo que el 100 por ciento, porque era como mi papá. Y en esa primera noche me pide que me quite la blusa.

Como encargado del voluntariado lasallista, el hermano Gaxiola Parra ofrecía las terapias para atender, por ejemplo, el miedo a la oscuridad: “Mi miedo a la oscuridad era mucho y me dijo que tenía que caminar yo sola sin la blusa por un largo pasillo. Yo estaba paralizada, no podía moverme, hasta que pude y me pidió que caminara por encima de unos colchones donde dormíamos. Haz de cuenta que estás modelando, me dijo.

Añade: En las siguientes sesiones cada vez me fue pidiendo que me quitara más ropa. En una ocasión me encerró en un cuarto, yo estaba sólo con ropa interior y me dice que cuente hasta 60 y que él se iba a esconder; yo debía ir a buscarlo. Yo tenía mucho miedo y mi único alivio era encontrarlo a él. Así me fue trabajando. Durante el día, si estábamos solos, me daba una nalgada.

Cuenta que en una ocasión fue a la comunidad La Campana, en El Salto, Durango, y él la seguía a todas las comunidades donde ofrecían los servicios del voluntariado: Se quedó a dormir con nosotros y se durmió al lado de mí, y empezó a acariciarme la espalda y luego mis partes íntimas y mis pechos.

Sofía afirma que los abusos fueron constantes durante seis meses. En ese periodo sufrió depresión y ansiedad: Los abusos fueron subiendo de nivel. Cada vez era más y no lo podía hablar con nadie. Hasta que me animé a escribirle para mi mamá. Ahora me cuesta recordar, pero me siento más fuerte gracias a la ayuda sicológica y siquiátrica que estoy recibiendo.

El modus operandi

En un comunicado fechado el 6 de diciembre, la congregación La Salle distrito México Norte, anunció que el hermano lasallista Alejandro Gaxiola Parra fue separado de su cargo para iniciar una investigación, pero la misma orden católica se niega a dar información sobre su paradero.

Ana Lucía estudió en el Instituto Regiomontano Chepevera La Salle y también estuvo un año ofreciendo sus servicios en el voluntariado de El Salto, Durango.

En entrevista con La Jornadacuenta que el hermano lasallista utilizó el mismo modus operandi con todas sus víctimas. A todas les decía que se trataba de una terapia especial y única: “Nos pedía que nos entregáramos. Siempre nos decía que teníamos que salir de nuestra área de confort. Me dijo que yo tenía muchas inseguridades y que por eso no me podía dar a los pueblos, que mi trabajo era mediocre. Me sentía frustrada y recuerdo que una noche estábamos en la capilla y me dijo que necesitaba una terapia ‘privada’”.

El hermano Alejandro Gaxiola Parra le advirtió entonces que no contara a nadie el tipo de terapia que le estaba dando porque si hablaba iba a contar a los demás sus problemas: “‘Tú te tienes que desnudar’, me dijo. Él utilizaba esa frase, pero nunca pensé que se refiriera a quitarme la ropa. Una noche fuimos a la biblioteca y me dijo que dijera mis virtudes y defectos. Luego me pidió que subiéramos el nivel de la terapia”.

Explica que el método consistía que cada vez que dijera un defecto se tenía que quitar una prenda de la ropa: Yo no me sentía cómoda. Me sentí muy vulnerable y accedí. Me hizo que me subiera a una mesa y me pidió que caminara de un lado a otro como si estuviera modelando. Me iba pidiendo que me quitara todo, hasta que me quedé en ropa interior. Luego me pidió que me quitara el brasier. Al final me llevó a la casa de niñas y me dio un beso en la frente, algo que me dio mucho asco y me lavé la cara.

Añadió: Él me dijo: esto no lo hago por morbo, soy religioso e hice mis votos de castidad; a todas las considero mis hijas. Mira todo lo que te quiero que hago esto por ti.

Ana Lucía cuenta que al día siguiente la buscó preocupado y le preguntó si eran realmente amigos y le confesó que tuvo un sueño donde se veía tras las rejas: “Me dijo: ‘¿Verdad que yo no hice nada sin que tú quisieras?’ Le dije que no. Y me volvió a preguntar: ‘¿Yo me tengo que preocupar por este sueño?’ Y le contesté que no. Recuerdo que después me insistió para la segunda sesión, pero yo no quise”.

Cuenta que no pudo decirle a nadie, hasta que el último día de la misión se enteró de que otra de sus compañeras había sufrido lo mismo: Me quedé impactada porque me dí cuenta de que no fui la única. Y apenas hace tres meses hablé con mis papás.

El hermano lasallista Alejandro Gaxiola Parra ha atendido a cuatro generaciones de alumnas, por lo que creen debe haber decenas de víctimas. Ana Lucía interpondrá una denuncia penal mañana lunes: Lo primero que pedimos es que lo destituyan del cargo. La congregación no lo hizo, solamente lo quitó de El Salto, pero lo movieron a Monterrey donde él seguía conviviendo con jóvenes, incluso también en Tamaulipas. Lo que queremos es que lo detengan para que no siga haciendo daño, pero la congregación no dice dónde está.

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 Victims Still Don’t Get Justice

NEW YORK (NY)
Verdict

December 10, 2018

By Leslie C. Griffin

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently decided to permanently redact the names of eleven priests from the Fortieth Grand Jury’s report on sexual misconduct by the clergy in six Pennsylvania Roman Catholic dioceses. The court ruled that the priests’ interest in their reputations was one of the “inherent rights of mankind” that the court needed to protect by taking the priests’ names out of the report. Redaction was the only path they thought they could find to protect the priests’ due process.

This conclusion was counter to the release of the complete report, which CHILD USA and BishopAccountability advocated in our amicus brief, which I wrote along with Marci Hamilton, Founder and CEO of CHILD USA. The court’s decision neglects the history of child abuse, which is a constant story of individuals who are terribly and repeatedly abused, and then never get justice.

The facts of child abuse are terrible and the stories about them constant. The Miami Herald recently told the story of more than 50 girls who were abused by rich Palm Beach businessman Jeffrey Epstein. Instead of having their interests protected, the girls were never told of Epstein’s “deal of a lifetime” with then-prosecutor and now Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta. The victims’ stories were kept quiet, and Epstein got a laughably short sentence. Epstein’s victims are still looking for justice.

Along with thousands of others. As many times as we read and re-read the statistics, they remain shocking. According to the American Society for the Positive Care of Children’s Sexual Abuse Statistics:

1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18 years old.
Over 58,000 children were sexually abused last year.
8.3% of reported child abuse cases were sexual abuse.
34% of people who sexually abuse a child are family members.
12.3% of girls were age 10 or younger at the time of their first rape/victimization, and 30% of girls were between the ages of 11 and 17.
27.8% of boys were age 10 or younger at the time of their first rape/victimization.
96% of people who sexually abuse children are male, and 76.8% of people who sexually abuse children are adults.
325,000 children are at risk of becoming victims of commercial child sexual exploitation each year.
Caregiver alcohol or drug abuse is a child abuse risk factor putting kids at much higher risk for being abused.
The average age at which girls first become victims of prostitution is 12 to 14 years old, and the average age for boys is 11 to 13 years old.

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

Pedophilia victims deserve justice

PROVIDENCE (RI)
Providence Journal

December 9, 2018

By Mary Ann Sorrentino

In a quarter-page advertisement in this newspaper on Nov. 29, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence encouraged alleged priest pedophilia victims to come forward. Those ongoing scandals underscore widespread disgust for historically unpunished, unspeakable crimes against children. Adult survivors of rectory or home seductions — sometimes with parents nearby, unaware of the horrors their children suffered — deserve justice, and courts need laws to dispense it.

Warwick Attorney Carl DeLuca estimates about 450 victims sought his help: his office alone settled at least 65 civil cases against the Diocese of Providence.

With blackmail used to bury dark secrets, victims are warned of grave harm and told no one will believe them (as is too often the case). By the time survivors reach adulthood and clear recall, the limit for civil relief often has expired.

Rhode Island Bishop Thomas Tobin came from Pennsylvania, hotbed of an immense, ignored sex scandal. Grand jury reports estimate 300 priests participated in sexual crimes against more than 1,000 boys and girls. Charges include beatings, forced oral/anal sex, and the rape of a young girl later forced to abort.

As auxiliary bishop, and later as bishop, Tobin was surrounded by coverups and settlements during that scandal. He offers no explanation about what he knew, or did, to stop violence against Pennsylvania’s children, unbelievably claiming it was not his responsibility.

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.

Taking Pen in Hand

DALLAS (TX)
VanishingPredators.com

December 2, 2018

By Dan Carlson

Question: What happens to predator priests after they have been laicized?

Answer: In most instances … nothing.

Though harsh, this is the cruel reality clergy sex abuse victims confront upon learning that, in the overwhelming majority of cases, their abuser will avoid prosecution because the statute of limitations has expired on the crimes for which he would have otherwise been charged. For the Catholic Church, of course, this is a good deal … it means they can simply cut the malefactor loose and remove him of his priestly vows. In other words, they can wash their hands of him.

By way of explanation, statutes of limitations are rules that prohibit prosecutors from charging someone with a crime committed more than a specified number of years earlier, and it is worth noting that the Catholic Church has spent millions of dollars lobbying in opposition to bills that would extend statutes of limitations for child sex abuse cases.

But back to that predator priest who has been defrocked and expelled from ministry … what comes next for him? Where does he go? Sadly, the answer is that nobody really knows for, in many cases, he just drops out of sight. Had he been convicted of a sex offense, he would have to register as a sex offender and thereafter comply with limits on his contact with children, living arrangements and employment. But absent a conviction, he can quietly take up residence in any unsuspecting neighborhood he chooses.

Think about that for a moment … a known child predator can reside, anonymously and without restrictions, in close proximity to children … and the position of the Church is: “Not my problem.”

There are three things the Catholic Church must do to correct this outrageous situation:

1. Create a national data base naming all clergy removed after credible allegations of child sexual abuse. This information should appear publicly in two places: on the website of any Diocese where the disgraced cleric served, and on a master list maintained by the United States Council of Catholic Bishops.

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.

Only on 10: Bishop Tobin addresses sex abuse scandal in Catholic Church

PROVIDENCE (RI)
WJAR Channel 10

December 7, 2018

By Katie Davis

Bishop Thomas Tobin spoke with NBC 10’s Gene Valicenti about the Catholic Church’s ongoing sex abuse scandal during a taping of 10 News Conference Friday.

Before coming to the Diocese of Providence, Tobin had previously worked in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. A grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania revealed decades of child sexual abuse by priests there, with hundreds of victims.

“When [allegations of sexual abuse] were reported, they were dealt with very quickly and very responsibly,” Tobin said of his time in Pennsylvania. “So, it’s not as if I didn’t care. It’s not as if those things were being ignored or covered up…but they were being handled by different people and different offices. And that’s why my name was not involved in the grand jury report, because I didn’t deal with those issues.”

A similar grand jury investigation in Rhode Island would require changing state law, something the incoming Attorney General told NBC 10 he supports.

“What allegations have been made? You let people know that you’re willing to listen to any allegations that are out there. Then, you review them and decide how to proceed,” said Attorney General Elect Peter Neronha.

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.

Houston, we have a problem

LONDON (ENGLAND)
Catholic Herald

December 6, 2018

By Jordan Bloom

On November 28, District Attorney Brett Ligon of Montgomery County, Texas, led the raid on the chancery of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Houston-Galveston, the president of the US bishops’ conference, alongside Texas Rangers, the Conroe Police Department and an unnamed federal agency. The search warrant in Houston was issued to obtain evidence against Fr Manuel La Rosa-Lopez, who allegedly abused minors in Conroe, Texas. (He denies the allegations.)

The “main focus” of the raid was to gather information on Fr La Rosa-Lopez, but Tyler Dunman, a spokesman for the Montgomery County DA, told the Catholic Herald that if evidence of more crimes were uncovered in the raid, it could be used for more prosecutions.

“With any search warrant, if you uncover additional criminal evidence or evidence of wrongdoing then you can arrest it at that time,” he said.

When asked whether, if such evidence were found, they would pursue it, he said: “Sure, yes.”

Dunman confirmed that “we do have federal authorities who are working with us”, but declined to say what agency they came from.

In Monday’s Houston Chronicle, Cardinal DiNardo wrote: “This archdiocese takes every allegation of wrongdoing brought to our attention seriously, and is fully cooperating – and will cooperate – with any and all investigations related to the clergy abuse of minors.”

Yet Dunman struck a critical note. He said that “we have received certain items” when asked specifically, but added that investigators had not been given any kind of blanket access to diocesan records.

“Frankly, we knew that there were a ton more that we had not received,” he said. “Cooperation for us means that when you have a priest who’s arrested for child molestation, you would turn over everything voluntarily as soon as possible to the authorities. That would be cooperation in our mind, and that hasn’t happened.”

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.

When It Comes to the Clergy Abuse Scandals, the Laity Are Not Going to Save Us

NEW YORK (NY)
Patheos blog

December 8, 2018

By Rebecca Bratten Weiss

In recent months, as revelations about the depth and breadth of the clerical sex abuse and institutional cover-ups continue to unfold, we Catholics return ever and again to the same question: what can be done about it? What changes are needed in the church, in order to prevent this atrocity ever from happening again, at least on so vast a scale?

For some, only a complete stripping down, overhaul, and reformation will suffice. Others have gone even further, to the point at which they no longer view the church, once their home, as authentic or valid. This is understandable, of course – but even many of us who understand and sympathize feel we must remain and work for change. But what change? What will make a difference. Clearly, greater transparency is needed. It seems obvious that the concentration of power in the hands of a few men – and only men – creates a breeding ground for abuse, on many levels. The church’s failures to deal directly with complex issues about sexuality need to be remedied. And yes, the laity need to be involved – much more involved.

However, simply dissipating the power of the clergy and distributing it among lay-persons is no automatic fix. This is evident in the extent to which lay women and men are themselves complicit in covering up sex abuse, both within the church, in its vicinities, and without.

Take, for instance, the many men who knew about Weinstein’s assaults on women, and kept their mouth shut. Consider the men – including Donald Trump, and Bill Clinton – who turned a blind eye to Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal exploits with underage girls – or even worked to cover them up, leaving his many young victims abandoned without justice.

Or consider the case of the superstar feminist professor Avital Ronell, accused of repeatedly assaulting a student. Did her fellow feminists call her out? Did #MeToo mean being consistent, even when it was a “friend in the field”? Regretfully, it did not. Even Judith Butler, who should have known better, came to the rescue of Ronell.

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.

Catholic Church’s redress backflip angers survivors

AUSTRALIA
The World Today

December 7, 2018

By Samantha Donovan

Abuse survivors and their lawyers are furious the Catholic Church has changed its approach to the National Redress Scheme and will now have its dioceses and other entities join up individually rather than as a single national body.

They say the decision adds to the trauma of victims and will leave many wondering if they will ever get redress.

Duration: 3min 17sec

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.

Only on 10: Bishop Tobin addresses sex abuse scandal in Catholic Church

PROVIDENCE (RI)
WJAR Channel 10

December 7, 2018

By Katie Davis

Bishop Thomas Tobin spoke with NBC 10’s Gene Valicenti about the Catholic Church’s ongoing sex abuse scandal during a taping of 10 News Conference Friday.

Before coming to the Diocese of Providence, Tobin had previously worked in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. A grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania revealed decades of child sexual abuse by priests there, with hundreds of victims.

“When [allegations of sexual abuse] were reported, they were dealt with very quickly and very responsibly,” Tobin said of his time in Pennsylvania. “So, it’s not as if I didn’t care. It’s not as if those things were being ignored or covered up…but they were being handled by different people and different offices. And that’s why my name was not involved in the grand jury report, because I didn’t deal with those issues.”

A similar grand jury investigation in Rhode Island would require changing state law, something the incoming Attorney General told NBC 10 he supports.

“What allegations have been made? You let people know that you’re willing to listen to any allegations that are out there. Then, you review them and decide how to proceed,” said Attorney General Elect Peter Neronha.

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.

Long Island nuns push for change amid growing ‘#ChurchToo’ movement

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Post

December 8, 2018

By Melissa Klein

Two Long Island nuns have become defiant “#ChurchToo” activists, posting public messages to end abuse in “faith communities” at the same time their convent supervisor, a priest accused of sexual misconduct, was allowed to return to his Brooklyn church.

The Greek Orthodox sisters, shown in their habits, began their Instagram and Facebook campaigns in October as Rev. Gerasimos Makris was reinstated to the pulpit at Holy Cross Church in Bay Ridge.

Makris — an imperious figure who insists on his parishioners kissing his hand — confessed to “inappropriate interactions with two adult women” and an archdiocese “spiritual court” recommended he be banned. But church higher-ups put him back anyway.

The scandal is the latest black eye for the Greek Orthodox church and the Holy Cross parish, whose former leader, the Rev. George Passias, was defrocked after The Post revealed his affair with the married parochial school principal, whom he impregnated, and their kinky “cake crushing” fetish.

On Oct. 10, just as Makris was returning, the nuns began advocating for change, posting powerful photos of themselves holding signs with messages that read: “believe survivors,” “silence isn’t spiritual,” “end rape culture” and “take a stand.”

In a November post, they wrote “Sexual abuse is real. It happens in our families, our local communities + even our faith communities, in every Christian denomination including the Orthodox 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.

Catholic church abuse scandals not over yet

MARTINSBURG (WV)
Martinsburg Journal

December 9, 2018

By Mike Myer

Among the tragedies of the sexual abuse scandal that continues to rock the Roman Catholic Church is that trust in the institution can be restored only by adding names to the lists of predator priests being released all across the country. Undoubtedly, some of the clergy responsible for wrongdoing, sometimes decades ago, have not yet been named.

If they remain secret, some of the church’s critics, including many Catholics, will wonder whether the abuse did continue but was not punished.

Veteran newspaper journalists tend to be champion skeptics. We don’t really trust anyone unless they give us good reason to do so.

So take this as my professional opinion: I believe many in the Catholic Church, perhaps because laypeople have relatively new power, are as sickened as anyone else about the long, sordid record of abuse. It’s my impression attitudes really have changed.

Expect evidence of whether I’m right within the next year or so.

Last Thursday, the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston released a list of clergy “credibly accused” of abusing minors sexually. It included 31 names, of which 18 allegedly sinned while working at Catholic institutions in West Virginia. The other 13 served here, but were not accused of wrongdoing until they went to other states.

The mere announcement on Oct. 24 that the church would compile and release such a list seems to have been the catalyst for at least one new complaint. A report of abuse was made to the diocese on Oct. 26.

Church officials say they hope their action will prompt other victims of clergy abuse to come forward. Again, there is reason to believe many who were targeted by predator priests have kept their silence for many, many years. The Oct. 26 report involved alleged abuse in 1982 or 1983. Someone waited that long before deciding church officials ought to be told.

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Raid of archdiocese office puts local priest back in spotlight

BAYTOWN (TX)
Baytown Sun

December 9, 2018

By Matt Hollis

Several files seized in a raid by law enforcement agencies at a Catholic archdiocese office in Montgomery County also included ones for a Baytown priest, who was cleared of sexual abuse allegations by the church years ago.

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Priest in dock who used to teach in Wigan on child sex charges

MANCHESTER (ENGLAND)
Wigan Observer Post

December 9, 2018

A Catholic priest who used to teach in Wigan has appeared before a judge accused of a series of historical child sex crimes.

Fr Michael Higginbottom is charged with a total of six indecent assaults, two counts of buggery, a rape and a further count of gross indecency. All the counts concern complainants who were boys at the time and date back several decades.

Higginbottom, now 75, taught physics at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic seminary at Roby Mill, Up Holland, in the 1970s.

Vince Latterly he has been a resident of West Farm Road in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He did not enter any pleas during a brief hearing at Preston Crown Court. This may take place on December 19. A provisional trial date, should he deny the charges, was set for June 19 at the same court next year and Higginbottom was released on bail.

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Late Pocatello priest on list of alleged abusers

POCATELLO (ID)
Idaho State Journal

December 9, 2018

Two Roman Catholic Jesuit provinces that cover nearly half the U.S. released the names Friday of more than 150 priests and other ministry leaders who were found to have “credible allegations” of sexual abuse made against them dating to the 1950s.

One of the names on the list is Segundo Llorente, who served at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Pocatello from 1982 to 1984. He also served at St. Stanislaus Church in Lewiston from 1984 to 1989. He died in 1989, according to the Jesuit’s release. The claims were for 1962-1963, and the mid-1960s, for alleged sexual abuse of a minor.

The Jesuits say many claims were received after accused priests had died. So in those cases thorough investigations could not be undertaken. Deceased individuals are included in the list based on the fact that an accusation was reported.

Jesuits West, which covers 10 western states, said its internal investigation found credible allegations against 111 priests, brothers or priests in training who were connected to it dating back to 1950. No one on the list is involved in public ministry any longer, it said.

Earlier, the Jesuits U.S. Central and Southern Province, which covers 13 states along with Puerto Rico and the Central American country of Belize, released the names of 42 men who had ties to the province going back to 1955. It said four are still members of the province but are not active in ministry and live in supervised housing.

Many of the men on the two lists have died, and others have been dismissed of ordination, officials said. Most of the men on the lists were priests.

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Catholic Church has work ahead to rebuild trust

SNTA FE (NM)
The New Mexican

December 9, 2018

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe’s decision to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is the latest twist in a long and often sordid story of individual abuse against children, protected by one of the most powerful institutions in New Mexico.

That the bankruptcy announcement came just before Advent, the beginning of the church liturgical year — the countdown to the birth of a savior, the light of the world — brings an ironic touch to the whole proceeding.

In New Mexico, the ugly scandal of decades of abuse by predatory priests, the institutional church’s role in covering up crime and sin and the long suffering of thousands of victims is a lingering, open wound.

While this is a scandal across the U.S. church, indeed the world, New Mexico first faced it as a state back in the 1990s. We are facing it still. Even now, the future of the worldwide Catholic Church will be diminished if leaders do not correct the sins of the past. Patience is fast running out.

In the ’90s, the faithful and others watched with horror as numerous stories of pedophile priests surfaced, lawsuits were filed and settled and a new archbishop, Michael J. Sheehan, was brought in to clean up the mess. At least on the surface, it appeared that the zero-tolerance policy for dealing with offenses worked, that the church was setting things right with victims and that — blessedly — few new claims of abuse came to light.

The local church seemed determined to put the safety of the people in the pews ahead of its reputation. Finally.

Over the past several years, however, it has become apparent that the rot in the church was more entrenched than realized. More lawsuits were filed. Again, they were from incidents decades in the past, but it still meant more crimes against children had to be set right. The breadth and depth of the abuse would mean more millions in settlements; this is after 300 claims already resolved, with the archdiocese paying out millions. The bankruptcy will protect church assets, setting up a process to handle claims equitably.

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Believing the unbelievable: How an Altoona lawyer took on the Catholic church over clergy sex abuse

ALTOONA (PA)
Pittsburgh Tribune Review

December 9, 2018

By Deb Erdley

Mary Hutchison was desperate.

It was 1987 when the devout Catholic mother of three knocked on the door of Richard Serbin’s Altoona law office.

Hutchison had learned her troubled son Michael, then 19 and locked in a forensic psychiatric ward, had been raped repeatedly over seven of his then 19 years of life. The perpetrator: Father Francis Luddy, their beloved parish priest at St. Therese’s Catholic Church. The priest abused him between the time he was 11 and 17.

Two years later, he had become a male prostitute and petty criminal. He suffered addiction. He attempted suicide.

The desperate mother’s pleas for the church to help her son slammed headlong into a brick wall.

Serbin was Hutchison’s last hope. Michael was fast approaching his 2oth birthday, and the statute of limitations for civil cases was about to expire.

A Pittsburgh native, Serbin, who is Jewish, was the only personal injury lawyer in town who might take such a case, Hutchison was told. He agreed to interview Michael.

That interview launched a 20-year legal battle that pierced a veil of secrecy that protected predator priests for decades. It set down a trail of bread crumbs that eventually led to a statewide grand jury investigation and damning report. The odyssey took 30 years.

Details of that first meeting have not been dimmed by the decades that have passed.

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New legal troubles for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe

ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Albuquerque Journal

December 9, 2018

By Colleen Heild

Former priest John Feit, center, appeared in a Hidalgo County, Texas, courtroom on Dec. 7, 2017, where a jury found him guilty of the 1960 murder of Irene Garza, a parishioner and schoolteacher. A new lawsuit filed in Albuquerque says Feit became a leader at the Servants of the Paraclete treatment center in Jemez Springs after the crime. (Nathan Lambrecht/The Monitor/AP)

Seven years after he murdered a female parishioner in Texas in 1960, Father John Feit found refuge in Jemez Springs, where he was a supervisor at the Servants of the Paraclete center for Catholic priests with psychosexual problems.

According to a new lawsuit, Feit documented an agreement with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1967 to supply pedophile priests to New Mexico parishes without telling parishioners or other working priests in the archdiocese about the potential danger to local children.

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Editorial: Archdiocese bankruptcy won’t hide ugly truth

ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Albuquerque Journal

December 9, 2018

In announcing that the Archdiocese of Santa Fe would seek bankruptcy protection, Archbishop John Wester said the action would help ensure fair compensation for sex-abuse victims. His office went on to proclaim in a diocesan letter distributed to the faithful at Mass last Sunday that “for over 25 years, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has been a leader among its peers in addressing sexual abuse of children by clergy.”

Wester is correct on the first point, given the number of potential cases pending and others not yet filed. Victims will be represented and have their days in court. They may do so confidentially if they wish, but in general these proceedings will be public. And bankruptcy protection will allow the Archdiocese to continue to provide valuable services through parishes and schools even as lawyers and the court sort through financial questions like what the Archdiocese’s assets really are and determine the status of assets transferred to parishes by the Archdiocese in recent years.

No surprise here. Bankruptcy proceedings are about money, property and who gets what.

But the statement about being a national leader in the clergy sex-abuse area gives new meaning to the proposition that everything is relative, and that what happened here should NOT be judged alone but in context of what has happened in other states like Pennsylvania – where the church was rocked by the results of an investigation by that state’s attorney general.

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These ‘men of God’ sexually abused children. Then they found refuge at other churches

FT. WORTH (TX)
Star Telegram

December 9, 2018

By Sarah Smith

Pastor Bruce Goddard acted immediately when he learned the principal at Faith Baptist Church’s school in Wildomar, California, had been intimately involved with a 17-year-old student.

He rented the 35-year-old principal a U-Haul and shipped him out of state. He did not call the police.

The accused wound up at First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, a church affiliated with Goddard’s alma mater, working again with teenagers. The abused girl was later told that church officials in Indiana were aware of his involvement with her when he arrived.

An eight-month investigation by the Star-Telegram shows that what happened at Faith Baptist is just one example in a nationwide pattern of cover-ups and shuffling of suspected abusers among churches and universities that, like Faith Baptist, are part of the independent fundamental Baptist movement.

The cover-ups are reminiscent of the scandals of the Roman Catholic Church, but distinctly different.

Decisions in the Catholic Church are made within a hierarchical structure that governs all churches. Independent fundamental Baptist churches operate with no oversight or structure outside their own walls.

One thing does bind the churches that face abuse accusations: a culture that uses fear to control and gives men in power the role of unquestioned and ultimate authority. In that environment, abuse has visited scores of fundamental Baptist churches.

And many abusers have escaped consequence-free, often with the help of the pastor in charge.

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Victims of clergy abuse call for action against those accused in church lists

WESTWEGO (LA)
WWL TV

December 8, 2018

By Jacqueline Quynh

As more clergy accused of abuse are being named, victims say they’re tired of hearing about names. They want action.

“At first glance, it seems like a really good thing, but then you look a little bit closer,” Ashley Berry Allen said.

Berry is still working through the abuse she says happened at the hands of a priest when she attended Our Lady of Prompt Succor School in Westwego.

“But then you look a little bit closer and you see that these names are mostly coming from the 70s and 80s and back,” she said.

Just a month ago, she shared with Eyewitness News her difficult story after the New Orleans Archdiocese released a list of clergy members with credible accusations against them. Her alleged abuser wasn’t on the list and she says her case happened in the early 2000s. We contacted the Archdiocese then for comment, but it would not comment specifically on her case, only affirming it takes all accusations seriously and would add names as necessary following investigations.

“They could have released the names 5 years ago they could have released it 10 years, and they’re only doing it now because they’re forced to because they’ve been exposed by the grand jury in Pennsylvania,” Tim Lennon said.

Lennon is a victim’s advocate, and heads the Survivor’s Network of Those Abused by Priests. He’s critical of the new list.

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December 8, 2018

Sexual assault survivors react to allegations against Jesuits in Colorado

AURORA (CO)
Fox 31 News

December 8, 2018

BY Evab Kruegel

Catholic Jesuit provinces covering much of the United States have begun releasing names of hundreds of Jesuits who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse dating back to the 1940s.

The list includes 13 Jesuits who worked in Colorado, including 8 at Regis Jesuit High School, now located in Aurora.

“What we’re looking at now is the tip of an iceberg,” says Jeb Barrett the Denver leader of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests).

Barrett says it’s not uncommon for victim-survivors to wait years to share their stories. In fact, he says he waited years himself.

“I didn’t touch on my own abuse until I was 63 years old,” he says. “I never even told my parents.”

Barrett says he was abused by a number of people in power he trusted, including a priest in Montana.

“That freaked me out. A supposed man of God was doing those things and it involved me, and I lived with that shame for a long time.”

Barrett moved to Colorado in 2004 and has spent the past 14 years counseling victims of similar assaults.

In a letter to the Regis Jesuit community, President David Card said two Jesuits on the list, Mark A. Clark, SJ and Paul C. Pilgram, SJ, had allegations related to Regis Jesuit students.

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Chilean prosecutors look at rural Catholic diocese for evidence in abuse case

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Los Angeles Times

By Jorge Poblete and Chris Kraul

The offices of the Roman Catholic diocese in Chillan, a small agricultural city in southern Chile, recently had some unusual and unexpected visitors: Chilean prosecutor Emiliano Arias and 10 armed police officers.

Arias walked briskly past the receptionist and climbed the stairs to the third floor, entering a green walled room dominated by a large framed photo of a smiling Pope John Paul II, who visited Chile in 1987.

After exchanging a few words with nervous church staff members and explaining his mission, Arias and police immediately began going over personnel records stored in file cabinets along one wall in the next office.

Currently, more than 190 people across Chile are being investigated for alleged sexual abuse and cover-ups linked to the Roman Catholic Church, including 113 priests and nine bishops, according to the Chilean national prosecutor’s office.

Of 251 victims, at least 109 were minors as young as 5 years old when they were abused, dating back to the 1940s. The number of cases under investigation has risen from a year ago when 83 people were being investigated in the alleged abuse of 162 people between 2000 and 2017.

Arias and his team were looking for evidence in the cases of eight priests from the Chillan diocese, including now removed Bishop Carlos Pellegrin, suspected of participating in or covering up the abuse of a dozen youths since the 1970s. While Arias pored over files in the town 250 miles south of Santiago, the capital, three other teams made similar raids on diocesan offices in Valparaiso, Concepcion and Osorno.

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A reality check on expectations for February child abuse summit

ROME (ITALY)
Crux

December 9, 2018

By John L. Allen Jr.

Under any circumstances, the announcement in September that Pope Francis plans to convene a summit Feb. 21-24 for all the presidents of bishops’ conferences around the world, along with the Vatican’s senior leadership, to discuss the clerical sexual abuse scandals in the Church would have been big news.

After the Vatican invoked that summit in November in instructing the U.S. bishops to stand down in adopting new accountability measures, however, telling them they need to wait until after February, it was foreordained that American analysts will treat February like Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta – a high-stakes, history-making exercise.

Before expectations spiral completely out of control, however, it’s important to say this out loud: For all kinds of reasons, this is not going to be Yalta on sex abuse, and to hope that it will be is a fool’s errand.

Let’s lay out the reasons why, and then touch on what would actually count as success.

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Some California priests accused of misconduct named. Fresno Diocese still investigating

FRESNO (CA)
Fresno Bee

December 08, 2018

By Yesenia Amaro and Victor Patton

Officials at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno — which covers 87 Valley parishes — on Friday said they are continuing to investigate what information they may release regarding area priests accused of sexual misconduct, including the possibility of publicly identifying those priests by name.

Back in October the diocese acknowledged three of its priests were being investigated due to complaints.

A Friday news release from the diocese said it’s continuing to “survey how other dioceses are responding to the demand for an online posting of all accused priests, past and present, in addition to coming to a better understanding of any legal ramifications if due process of law has not been pursued according to Constitutional Rights.”

“Bishop (Armando X.) Ochoa will continue to engage a variety of professional opinions on this matter, both within the faith community and outside sources to ensure objectivity,” the release continued.

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Jesuits name accused priests, including 20 who worked in Oregon

PORTLAND (OR)
Oregonian

December 8, 2018

By Jeff Manning

An organization overseeing Jesuit operations in 10 states released the names Friday of 111 Jesuit priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse against minors. Twenty of the priests worked in Oregon at least part of their careers.

The alleged cases of abuse date back to 1950. Eighty-three of the 111 accused are dead.

Nine of the 111 spent time at Jesuit High School, the exclusive westside private school.

“We did this out of a desire for transparency,” said Tracey Primrose, director of communications for Jesuits West, which is based in Portland. “We hope this will allow the victims to heal.”

The Jesuits are an influential order of priests numbering more than 16,000 worldwide. Jesuits also operate several high schools and universities, including St. Louis University and Marquette University.

The Jesuits have previously settled lawsuits across the country, including a $166 million settlement involving about 500 abuse claims in Oregon in 2011, which was one of the largest settlements involving clergy abuse allegations.

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Former East St. Louis priest named on list of Jesuits accused of sexually abusing children

BELLEVILLE (IL)
Belleville News Democrat

December 8, 2018

BY Kelsey Landis

A priest with ties to a parish in East St. Louis has been named on a list of Jesuits accused of sexually abusing children.

Chester E. Gaiter died in August 2010 at the age of 70, but was assigned to five schools and parishes in the St. Louis area, including at St. Joseph’s Parish in East St. Louis.

The Jesuits U.S. Central and Southern Province released the names of dozens of priests with ties to the St. Louis area.

Gaiter served at St. Joseph’s Church for a year beginning in 1993, according to a previous report by the Belleville News-Democrat.

The Jesuits estimate Gaiter abused children between the 1970s and 1980s. He was never removed from the ministry. At the time the allegations were made, Gaiter was mentally incapacitated.

In 2007, a man accused Gaiter and three other priests of molesting him, according to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from the time. Gaiter had already retired when he was accused of the abuse. Three of the priests, including Gaiter, were teachers at Cardinal Ritter High School in St. Louis.

The archdiocese settled that case settlement with payments totaling $140,000 and a written apology to the victim and his family from the archdiocese.

St. Joseph Church in East St. Louis closed in 2006, according to the Belleville Diocese.

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22 Jesuit clergy who served in Idaho mentioned in list of accused abusers

BOISE (ID)
East Idaho News

December 8, 2018

By Rett Nelson

More than 150 clergy are tied to “credible claims of sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult, dating back to 1950,” according to a report from a Roman Cahtolic Jesuit province.

Twenty-two of the names on the list have ties to Idaho. The Associated Press reports most of the men on the list were priests and served at a parish somewhere in the state.

One of the men on the list is Peter O’Grady, who served at the Sacred Heart Church in Boise from 1980-1986. No one on the list is involved in public ministry any longer, reports the AP.

The Jesuits West Province of the Society of Jesus, the group who compiled the list says inclusion in the list does not imply that the claims are true and correct or that the accused individual has been found guilty of a crime or liable for civil claims. They also say many claims were received after an accused priest was deceased.

“While we attempted to be as thorough and accurate as possible in compiling the list, Jesuits West will undergo a review of our files in the spring of 2019,” their report states.

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El arzobispado de Barcelona ayudó a huir a un cura pederasta en 1990

[Archdiocese of Barcelona helped accused priest flee in 1990]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

December 8, 2018

By Íñigo Domínguez, Daniel Verdú and Oriol Güell

EL PAÍS localiza en Ecuador al sacerdote, que fue enviado de misiones para evitar un juicio por abusos y ha estado 28 años oculto. La archidiócesis sabía de su paradero.

Jordi Ignasi Senabre, párroco de Polinyá, en Barcelona, desapareció tras ser acusado de abusar de un menor de 13 años en 1988, con una petición fiscal de cinco años de cárcel y nunca más se ha vuelto a saber de él. La Audiencia de la capital catalana le llamó a declarar en octubre de 1991 y no se presentó. El arzobispado de Barcelona argumentó que había salido del país “de misiones”, pero no aclaró nada más. No hubo más noticias de su paradero hasta que Senabre fue arrestado en enero de 1994 en Uruguay, donde había entrado con un visado turístico. España pidió su extradición el 4 de marzo de ese año, pero fue denegada en junio. El país sudamericano no llegó ni a contestar, según confirma el ministerio de Justicia. El cura quedó libre y se perdió su pista. Hasta hoy. EL PAÍS le ha localizado en la diócesis de Santo Domingo de los Colorados, en Ecuador. Siempre estuvo allí, y el arzobispado de Barcelona siempre lo supo: lo mandó la propia diócesis en 1990 tras enviar una solicitud por carta, según confirma el vicario general de Santo Domingo, Galo Robalino. Contactado por este periódico, Sanabre ha colgado al saber que se trataba de un periodista español: “Se equivoca usted”.

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Los sacerdotes acusados de abusos que la Iglesia envió a las misiones

[Church sent accused priests on overseas missions]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

December 8, 2018

By Íñigo Domínguez and Daniel Verdú

EL PAÍS reconstruye la historia de 18 religiosos trasladados a América Latina y a África. Algunos fueron descubiertos en España; otros, arrestados en esos destinos

La Iglesia española no solo ha utilizado el sistema de cambiar a sacerdotes de parroquia, o destino dentro de una orden, tras ser acusados de abusos de menores. Otro patrón de conducta de las últimas décadas ha sido trasladarlos al extranjero. Así lo confirman fuentes de los organismos vaticanos de Tutela de Menores, que reconocen que ha sido una táctica común en España y otros países. EL PAÍS ha documentado hasta 18 casos de curas denunciados o condenados por abusos que han recalado en otros países o han sido acusados o detenidos en el extranjero. En Chile, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, Venezuela, Honduras, Estados Unidos, Benín y Kenia.

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Abusos en la Iglesia: Corte de Rancagua deja investigación en Santiago

[Rancagua Appeals Court leave clergy sex investigation to court in Santiago]

CHILE
BioBioChile

December 7, 2018

By Felipe Díaz and Erik López

La Corte de Apelaciones de Rancagua dejó en mano de tribunales capitalinos la tramitación de las causas que digan relación con sacerdotes de la Iglesia Católica que hubieran cometido abusos sexuales u otros delitos del mismo carácter.

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Obispado de San Felipe ratifica en su puesto a cura condenado por abusos

[San Felipe diocese returns priest convicted of abuse to ministry]

CHILE
La Tercera

December 6, 2018

By María José Navarrete

El sacerdote Juan Carlos Orellana había sido apartado de sus funciones en agosto de este año. Exobispo Cristián Contreras le había “aconsejado” pedirle al Papa Francisco su dimisión del estado clerical.

El pasado martes 27 de noviembre, el administrador apostólico de la diócesis de San Felipe, Jaime Ortiz de Lazcano, informó a la comunidad los cambios de párrocos que se iban a implementar dentro del obispado. El objetivo era que los sacerdotes puedan “cumplir la misión de evangelizar entre el pueblo”.

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Diocesan diddlers

SPRINGFIELD (IL)
Illinois Times

December 6, 2018

By Bruce Rushton

I wonder about Virginia Galloway.

In 2004, she sued the Diocese of Springfield, alleging an awful thing. In the late 1960s, when she was 10 years old, she said that the Rev. Richard Niebrugge took her under his care as a foster child and began sexually abusing her. A decade later, she said in her lawsuit, she gave birth to his child.

In 1983, five years after Galloway had a baby, Niebrugge died. But enablers remained, according to the lawsuit that named as defendants the Rev. Herman Niebrugge, the priest’s brother who died in 2004, and the Rev. Theodore Baumann, who retired in 2008 after a career spent as a holy man – last year, he was reported to be living at a retirement home for priests in Belleville. Both Herman Niebrugge and Baumann, Galloway said in her lawsuit, knew that she was being abused but didn’t report it and did nothing to stop it.

Courts ruled that Galloway didn’t sue soon enough, and her case was dismissed without being considered on its merits. Galloway had issues, her own lawyer acknowledged when she sued. Psychological problems included a multiple personality disorder brought on, at least in part, by being sexually abused by a priest, attorney Rex Carr said more than a decade ago. No DNA testing had been performed prior to filing suit, Carr told the media, but there were “millions of factual statements that connect him to her” and he expected that science would confirm claims made in court.

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Expelled priest continues fight to be reinstated after sexual abuse allegations

BUFFALO (NY)
WIVB TV

December 8, 2018

By Daniel Telvock

Civil attorneys who defend priests accused of sexual abuse do not have any standing in the legal proceedings run by the Catholic Church.

That is the instruction local attorney Mike Taheri received from the Archbishop of Boston.

Taheri is the attorney for The Rev. Samuel Venne, who has denied allegations of sexually abusing minors decades ago.

Venne, 76, is on administrative leave after the Diocese in June “substantiated” the allegations against him. The diocese has refused to give Venne a copy of the allegations made against him, but a church official met with him in the spring to go over the complaints.

Taheri’s July 30 letter to Cardinal Sean O’Malley raised objections to the process employed by the Diocese of Buffalo for investigating allegations of sexual assault. He said the Diocese of Buffalo is violating basic due process rights of clergy.

“In the spirit of advancing these notions of basic fairness,” Taheri offered four proposals for church leaders to consider for improving the diocesan legal process, including opportunities for priests to offer evidence during preliminary investigations and giving accused clergy copies of the written allegations made by the accuser.

O’Malley responded Sept. 14 that the concerns he raised are matters of canon law, a set of laws and principles enforced by authorities of the Catholic Church. O’Malley is the chief confidant of Pope Francis on setting rules that protect minors from sexual abuse.

“The grave matter of a cleric’s dismissal from the clerical state is deliberated and adjudicated under canon law, it is not considered by civil law and the final determination regarding the process is reserved exclusively to the Holy See,” O’Malley wrote.

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Vatican investigating reports of Chilean priests abusing nuns

ROME (ITALY)
PBS Newshour

December 7, 2018

The Vatican has launched an investigation into a small Chilean religious order of nuns after some sisters denounced sexual abuse at the hands of priests and mistreatment by their superiors, a turning point that shows the Holy See is now willing to investigate allegations of sexual violence against nuns.

The scandal at the Institute of the Good Samaritan was revealed publicly in an investigative report by Chilean national television earlier this year at the height of outrage over how Chilean Catholic hierarchy covered up decades of sexual abuse of children by priests.

In the report, a half-dozen current and former nuns said sisters were thrown out of the order after they denounced the abuse to their superiors. The report followed the sisters as they testified before two Vatican investigators sent to Chile by Pope Francis to get to the bottom of the church-wide scandal there.

In the report, a half-dozen current and former nuns said sisters were thrown out of the order after they denounced the abuse to their superiors.

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Jesuits release names of clergy accused of sex abuse who served in Shreveport

SHREVEPORT (LA )
WTAL TV

December 8, 2018

By Nancy Cook

The Catholic Diocese of Shreveport learned the names of the Jesuit priests and brothers who were accused of sexual abuse of minors and either served at then Jesuit High School (now Loyola College Prep) or St. John’s Parish/Co-Cathedral, when Shreveport was part of the Alexandria/Shreveport Catholic Diocese, prior to June 1986.

Jesuit priests, or members of the “Society of Jesus” order, are separate from secular priests who serve in the particular diocese to which they are assigned.

That list, which will come from the Catholic Diocese of Alexandria, has not, as yet, been released.

The names released today came from the Jesuit superiors of U.S. Central and Southern Province, which includes Louisiana.

In releasing the names of these offenders, the local diocese emphasized does not mean the allegations stemmed from their assignment here, only that these men once served here.

If there are or were any credible allegations of sexual abuse in Shreveport, the Diocese of Shreveport will be notified when the names of offenders from the Diocese of Alexandria are released.

Below are the names, the years served in Shreveport, and the resolution of their cases, and in the case of those already deceased, the year of their death:

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Bishop Zubik criticized during final listening session on abuse

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune Review

December 7, 2018

By Jamie Martines

For healing to take place, a wound must be opened and inspected, according to Bishop David Zubik.

“And I think that happened tonight,” he said Thursday following the fourth and final listening session held by the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Not everyone agreed.

“The bishop is sitting there expressionless and emotionless, and I don’t think he’s listening,” said Christine Saitta of Bethel Park, as she called for him to resign.

The meeting at St. Ferdinand Church in Cranberry Township was preceded by three other sessions held in Aliquippa, Jefferson Hills and Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood over the past week. They were an open forum for members of the Catholic community to share comments, reflections and questions about the Pennsylvania grand jury report on sexual abuse, released in August, directly with Zubik.

Similar listening sessions were held throughout the Greensburg Diocese in recent weeks.

As he did three times before, Zubik sat in a chair in front of the altar, shifting his body to face speakers lined up along the pews on either side of St. Ferdinand Church. Over about three hours, at least 30 people took to the microphone.

Some shared personal stories of abuse at the hands of clergy or other adults working in Catholic churches, schools or other facilities. Others thanked Zubik for his service to the church and urged him to continue supporting victims of abuse, while several criticized the bishop and implored him to resign.

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Diocese of Arlington priest, serving in Purcellville, placed on leave

ARLINGTON (VA)
Diocese of Arlington

December 7, 2018

Bishop Michael F. Burbidge has placed Father Ronald S. Escalante, Pastor of Saint Francis de Sales Church, Purcellville, on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation of alleged boundary violations involving a minor and adults which transgress the Code of Conduct for Clergy in the Diocese of Arlington. In accord with diocesan policy, these allegations were reported to local law enforcement and considered by the Diocesan Review Board. Father Escalante denies the accusations, and he has stated that he is cooperating fully with the investigation.

(Code of Conduct for Clergy: https://www.arlingtondiocese.org/Child-Protection/bgc-code-of-conduct-clergy.pdf)

While Father Escalante remains the Pastor of Saint Francis de Sales Church, Bishop Burbidge will appoint a Parochial Administrator for the parish as the Diocese continues this investigation.

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72 Diocese of Orange priests accused of sexual misconduct in law firm report

ORANGE COUNTY (CA)
Orange County Register

December 6, 2018

By Scott Schwebke

A Los Angeles law firm on Thursday released the names of 72 priests it claims are associated with the Catholic Diocese of Orange and are suspected of sexual assault.

The priests’ identities, detailed in a 60-page report, have never been disclosed by the diocese and are kept hidden from public view in a “secret archive” maintained by the church, Mike Reck, an attorney for Jeff Anderson & Associates, said during a news conference.

“We are doing this because the Diocese of Orange has not,” Reck said. “It’s important because the release of these identities sends a message to survivors of abuse that they are not alone, that this matters and that healing can begin.”

On the same day, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles released an updated list of 54 priests accused of sexual abuse of minors since 2008, with the archbishop issuing a public apology to victims of clergy sex abuse.

The Register is not releasing the names of the priests on this list because they have not been criminally charged.

Although the Diocese of Orange has released two lists, one in 2004 naming 16 priests and another in 2016 naming 14 priests suspected of sexual abuse, those disclosures are contradictory, incomplete and inadequate, Reck insisted.

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Eleven who worked at Jesuit College Prep in Dallas are on list of clergy ‘credibly accused’ of sexually abusing minors

DALLAS (TX)
Dallas Morning News

December 7, 2018

By David Tarrant

Eleven men who previously worked at a Dallas high school were included on a list released Friday of clergy members “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of a minor.

None of the 42 priests and religious brothers on the list — published online by Jesuits of the USA Central and Southern Province — currently serves in the public ministry, according to a statement accompanying the list. Many served in the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s.

Of the 11 clergy members who worked at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, eight are now dead. And many on the list had already been accused publicly.

“These allegations involve heinous acts committed many years ago,” said Michael Earsing, Jesuit Dallas president, in a written statement. “I personally know of no credible reports of sexual misconduct with a minor occurring here in more than 20 years.”

The list’s release comes as the Catholic Church worldwide continues to deal with its sex abuse crisis and allegations of cover-ups. As part of an effort toward more transparency, many dioceses and religious orders have published similar lists of “credibly accused” priests.

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Encino priest won’t be charged with sexual assault, but career in ministry is over

LOS ANGELES (CA)
LA Daily News

December 7, 2018

By Brian Rokos

The priest at an Encino parish who was placed on leave after allegations of sexually abusing minors will not be charged with crimes related to those six accusers, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Friday, Dec. 7.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles in January placed Father Juan Cano, an associate pastor at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, on administrative leave in January after reports of “inappropriate contact” involving “several females” in the parish. The Los Angeles Police Department and an archdiocese internal review board investigated the allegations.

Then Thursday, Cano was included in an updated list of 54 priests accused of sexual abuse of minors since 2008 that the archdiocese released.

But Friday, the District Attorney’s Office released documents explaining why Cano would not be charged in each of six cases. The accuser was victimized while Cano served at Our Lady of Grace in five instances; the sixth accuser was a parishioner at St. James Parish in Redondo Beach, where Cano was a visiting priest.

Although Cano will not be charged in these cases and new accusers could come forward, the Catholic Church is removing Cano from the ministry, said Adrian Marquez, the archdiocese’s director of media relations. The process will go through the Vatican. Cano has no right of appeal, she said.

“It’s not his choice. He is not going to be allowed to be a priest anymore,” Marquez said.

One accuser said Cano inappropriately touched her several times when she was a student and altar server; there was insufficient evidence to prosecute a felony or misdemeanor, the document said. A second accuser said Cano touched her inappropriately; the DA declined to prosecute when the accuser said she would not testify.

A third accuser said she and Cano befriended each other and he inappropriately touched her; the DA stated that it could not prove a crime had occurred. A fourth accuser said Cano committed two crimes against her; the DA said it could not prove that a crime happened in one instance and that the statute of limitations had expired in another.

A fifth accuser said Cano inappropriately touched her twice; the DA said it couldn’t prove that a crime occurred. The sixth accuser said she was a victim of lewd acts and sexual battery; the DA said the statute of limitations had run out on both crimes.

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Priests who worked in Yakima County over decades listed as potential abusers

YAKIMA (WA)
Yakima Herald

December 8, 2018

By Tammy Ayer

Several priests who served at Catholic churches in Yakima County appear on a list released Friday of Jesuits with credible claims of sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable adults.

The list includes Jesuits who are or were members of Jesuits West Province, the former California and the former Oregon Provinces, against whom a credible claim of sexual abuse of someone under age 18 or a vulnerable adult has been made, according to a news release. Jesuits West takes in Arizona, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

“This list of Jesuits with credible claims of sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult, dating to 1950, is being published as part of our province’s ongoing commitment to transparency and accountability,” the news release said.

“Inclusion on this list does not imply that the claims are true or correct or that the accused individual has been found guilty of a crime or liable for civil claims,” it said.

“In many instances, the claims were made several years or decades after the alleged events and were not capable of an investigation and determination.”

Jesuits with credible claims of abuse who served in the Yakima Valley are:

• Arnold R. Beezer, accused of sexual abuse of a minor in the 1970s. Beezer served at St. Joseph Church in Yakima from 1980-87. Beezer has been removed from ministry and lives at a retirement home for clergy in California.

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Jesuit list of credibly accused priests includes three who worked in Grand Coteau

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
The Advocate

December 7, 2018

By Ramon Vargas, John Simerman and Ben Myers

In a move aimed at restoring trust with parishioners amid a clergy abuse scandal that has engulfed the Catholic Church worldwide, the Jesuit order on Friday revealed the names of 42 clergy members — mostly priests — suspected of sexually molesting children while they worked in a region that includes Louisiana.

Three of the former priests on the list released Friday had worked in Grand Coteau and one of those also worked at a Jesuit-run parish in north Baton Rouge. Friday’s disclosure also resurrected disclosures about the Manresa Retreat House in Convent in St. James Parish. Its former director, the Rev. Thomas Naughton of the old New Orleans Province of the Jesuits, was stripped of his duties in California in 2002 after accusations he had molested a boy in 1978 in Dallas.

The Jesuits’ disclosure Friday listed only where the men had served. It did not say where any of the alleged abuse occurred.

One of the priests who worked at Grand Coteau was Norman J. Rogge, who was twice convicted of sex crimes against minors but continued working for the church, according to previous news accounts and bishopaccountability.org, a website dedicated to tracking abuse by clergy.

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Forgotten victims of priest sexual abuse. They were not children but could they consent?

SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
Sydney Morning Herald

December 8, 2018

By Farrah Tomazin

Christine James* was 17 when she met the man who would spend years treating her like his dirty little secret.

At first, she was flattered by the attention of a Catholic priest: confused yet elated that such a figure could be drawn to her.

Now, she realises she was his perfect prey: young and vulnerable, from a strict religious family where male authority was to be respected and feared. And in the hierarchy of her small-town church, there was no greater authority than Father Martin.*

Christine was barely an adult when the priest’s attention switched from pastoral to sexual. With that, Father Martin – 11 years her senior – became far more controlling.

He’d ask her to bring him breakfast after Mass, then got her to lie down so he could rub himself against her. He got her pregnant during university, and then enlisted two fellow priests to help him convince her to have an abortion.

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Dozens of Montana priests accused of sex abuse were moved to new posts, report shows

BILLINGS (MT)
Billings Gazette

December 8, 2018

By Matt Hoffman

A new report outlining abuse accusations against Jesuit priests includes dozens of priests who worked in Montana churches, missions and schools — and shows that at least 11 priests were accused while working in the state.

Many of the accusations are against priests already identified in bankruptcy reports for the Great Falls/Billings and Helena dioceses. But the Jesuit Order report includes dates of alleged abuse and new “credible claims” against priests. It also includes work history information that confirms priests were frequently shuffled between postings, including after alleged abuse.

“The People of God demand and deserve transparency,” Scott Santarosa, the leader of a Jesuit Order province covering 10 western states including Montana, wrote in an online open letter. “We hope that this act of accountability will help victims and their families in the healing process.”

Friday’s report shows the results of an internal investigation. Santarosa’s letter said the province will have a consultant and former FBI executive review files in 2019, and any priests with new credible allegations will be identified. The Jesuit Order is a branch of the Roman Catholic Church with about 17,000 priests and brothers.

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Dozens of Montana priests accused of sex abuse were moved to new posts, report shows

BILLINGS (MT)
Billings Gazette

December 8, 2018

By Matt Hoffman

A new report outlining abuse accusations against Jesuit priests includes dozens of priests who worked in Montana churches, missions and schools — and shows that at least 11 priests were accused while working in the state.

Many of the accusations are against priests already identified in bankruptcy reports for the Great Falls/Billings and Helena dioceses. But the Jesuit Order report includes dates of alleged abuse and new “credible claims” against priests. It also includes work history information that confirms priests were frequently shuffled between postings, including after alleged abuse.

“The People of God demand and deserve transparency,” Scott Santarosa, the leader of a Jesuit Order province covering 10 western states including Montana, wrote in an online open letter. “We hope that this act of accountability will help victims and their families in the healing process.”

Friday’s report shows the results of an internal investigation. Santarosa’s letter said the province will have a consultant and former FBI executive review files in 2019, and any priests with new credible allegations will be identified. The Jesuit Order is a branch of the Roman Catholic Church with about 17,000 priests and brothers.

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17 Jesuit priests with ties to St. Louis named on sexual abuse list

ST. LOUIS (MO)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
December 8, 2018

By Nassim Benchaabane

A regional Jesuit province based here became on Friday the latest in a number of Catholic institutions across the country to release lists naming priests credibly accused of sexual abuse.

The Jesuits U.S. Central and Southern Province, which includes Missouri and Southern Illinois, released a list of 42 priests and other ministry officials. They said the abuse allegations went back to 1955.

“The storm that the Church experiences today calls forth from us an unprecedented and yet needed response,” Provincial Ronald Mercier said in a prepared statement. “Silence in the face of the events of recent months cannot be an option.”

Seventeen of those named worked in the St. Louis area, according to the list. Twelve of them worked at St. Louis University High School during their ministry.

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Re-opened sex abuse case against Catholic church ‘continuation of my fight’: survivor

REGINA (CANADA)
Regina Leader Post

December 7, 2018

By Jane Sims

When she accepted a civil settlement from the Roman Catholic Church 18 years ago, Irene Deschenes was defeated.

“We are tired, we want closure and are hesitant to believe we can or will get justice from the court process,” she wrote in an email to her lawyer before accepting the terms in 2000.

What Deschenes, the Catholic Diocese of London and disgraced ex-priest Charles Sylvestre wouldn’t know is that settlement would send Deschenes on a determined course to expose the abusive Sylvestre and hold the church accountable.

In a ground-breaking decision, Superior Court Justice David Aston, who quoted Deschenes’ email, granted her motion and allowed the sexual abuse survivor to re-open her settlement after almost two decades.

“My goal here is to hold the Roman Catholic Church accountable for their unspeakable treatment of survivors,” Deschenes said at a news conference here on Thursday. “This is a continuation of my fight for justice, for me, and other known and unknown survivors of sexual abuse by priests and other religions.”

When Deschenes, abused between 1970 and 1973 when she attended St. Ursula’s Church in Chatham, and another survivor filed a civil suit against the diocese, Sylvestre hadn’t been convicted of 47 counts of indecent assault of little girls across the region and the church hadn’t been swamped with civil claims.

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Bankruptcy just latest shield for rapist priests

ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Albuquerque Journal

December 7, 2018

By Martin J. Chavez, former Albuquerque mayor

Faced with civil and possible criminal litigation from victims of the horrific rapes of children by area priests, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has announced its intent to declare bankruptcy. Archbishop John C. Wester disingenuously says this is to assist the “pursuit of justice for all victims.” The Chapter 11 filing is simply a way of avoiding responsibility and is just one part of a continuing cover-up by the Archdiocese.

Contemplate for a moment the horror of a child raped by a priest and the impact of that rape on the child as he or she grows into adulthood. The trauma doesn’t go away. I’m lucky to have spent eight years in parochial school – St. Charles and Holy Ghost – the latter years as an altar boy, and was never a victim. But some of my friends weren’t so fortunate, and I write this for them.

We now know that the Archdiocese was substantially aware for years that its priests were raping children and that it did little or nothing to rectify it. Most of what it did was cover it up and shield itself from the justice afforded victims through the courts. Here are just a few of the ways:

• To avoid liability, the Archdiocese began incorporating each parish separately to shield the individual parishes from the conduct of its rapist priests. Instead of moving priests from parish to parish, they moved assets from parish to parish.

• It then formed a trust to keep real estate away from victims. And as each victim comes forward, the church’s attorneys have grilled them as they would liars, questioning their integrity and their pain, as any insurance defense lawyer might in an auto accident case. They threaten to subpoena parents, children and siblings of victims. Most New Mexico Catholics don’t appreciate that our “one holy and apostolic church” is actually hundreds of separate corporate entities and that the place where Mass is held is held in a trust, primarily to keep it out of reach of rape victims.

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