ABUSE TRACKER

HARRISBURG (PA)
Chambersburg Public Opinion

August 7, 2018

By Jim Hook

Child sexual abuse allegations against the Catholic church leadership in Pennsylvania include priests who served in parishes in Franklin County.

The Diocese of Harrisburg recently published a list of present and past clergy with allegations of sexual abuse against them. While the claims were substantiated, according to the diocese, the list does not assess credibility or guilt.

Ten priests were assigned to churches in and near Franklin County during their careers. All are deceased. One’s service dates to 1934.

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FORT WORTH (TX)
The Star-Telegram

August 8, 2018

By Nichole Manna

The attorney for a former Prosper priest who was asked to resign after writing a letter that Bishop Michael Olson deemed intimidating, manipulative and inappropriate says there was no justification for removing the Rev. Richard Kirkham from St. Martin de Porres parish.

Kirkham was also accused by Olson, bishop of the Fort Worth diocese, of not reporting knowledge he had of alleged sexual misconduct and predatory sexual harassment in the workplace regarding a Dallas-area priest.

In June, Olson learned that Kirkham wrote a letter to the Dallas-area priest threatening to turn him in for having an affair with a woman involved in that priest’s parish.

The letter includes explicit details of the priest’s alleged sexual preferences, the woman he was accused of having an affair with and details of the type of sex they reportedly had. The letter also alludes to the priest masturbating at his work desk and having problems with alcoholism.

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MUMBAI (INDIA)
Crux

August 7, 2018

By Nirmala Carvalho

A television news channel in India has revealed that a nun who has accused a bishop of rape wrote two letters to the Vatican representative to India about her complaints.

Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar – in the Indian state of Punjab – was accused in June of repeatedly sexually assaulting the sister belonging to the Punjab-based Missionaries of Jesus religious congregation. The alleged assaults took place on 13 different occasions between 2014-2016 at the nun’s order’s convent in the state of Kerala.

On Tuesday, Mirror Now, an Indian English-language news network, revealed that it had received copies of two letters allegedly sent by the nun to Vatican representatives.

The letters include allegations of threats and intimidation, and said the bishop harassed the nun’s brother (who is a priest) and other members of her family.

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.

NEWINGTON (VA)
St. Raymond of Peñafort Catholic Church

August 6, 2018

By Fr. John De Celles

In today’s second reading, St. Paul writes: “I…urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received…”

Each of us is called in Baptism to live a life of love for God and neighbor, and keeping the commandments. Even so, sadly, all of us, from time to time, fail “to live in a manner worthy of the call [we] have received.”

But some of us have special callings in the Church, and for the Church. In particular, I think of priests, bishops and popes. Each of these are men have a special obligation to strive to live in a manner worthy of their very special calling, for the good of the whole Church. And when they fail, it has wider effects, and hurts the whole Church, which as St. Paul reminds us today is “one body.”

Now all priests will fail in smaller ways, and even larger ways that are not uncommon among men,

ways that may disappoint us, but not cause us to give up on them. But sometimes, some priests fail miserably and in repulsive ways, ways that seem to, as Scripture says, “cry out to God for vengeance.”

In the last few weeks we’ve heard in the news that the former Archbishop of Washington, one of the most powerful Cardinals of the Church, Theodore McCarrick, has been accused of such failures – terrible crimes and reprehensible grave sins. Although the Pope suspended him from public ministry until the investigations are concluded, McCarrick has publicly denied all accusations.

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UNITED STATES
EOnline

August 7, 2018

By Natalie Finn

When you think of a cult, or at least going by what you’ve seen on TV and in movies, you think of poor, lost souls who while at their most vulnerable were invited to join a tight-knit community—a community inevitably led by one charismatic person who claims to have all the answers and, if you abide, is going to share them with you.

Paramount TV’s recent Waco did an engrossing job humanizing the people who fell under David Koresh’s spell in the 1980s (and successfully illustrated how the situation was in no way as simple as “crazy cult vs. law enforcement”), but the series primarily took place once the Branch Davidians were already all living together at their Texas compound in the months leading up to a disastrous 1993 FBI siege in which 76 men, women and children were killed. Much has been written about Koresh and how he was able to convince so many people that his way was the right way, but it was widely concluded that he had preyed on the vulnerable.

And before the tragedy at Waco, no one knew who those people were. The same goes for Charles Manson’s “family,” and the murderous group—ostensibly lost souls under the sway of a magnetic leader—might have been but a blip on the end-of-the-1960s radar if actress Sharon Tate hadn’t been one of their 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.

MECHANICSBURG (PA)
Penn Live

August 8, 2018

Pennsylvania is preparing to release a long-awaited, 900-page grand jury report on hundreds of predatory priests.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had set a deadline of Aug. 7 for petitioners seeking to have their names redacted could appeal to the court. An unspecified number of clergy on Tuesday filed challenges to the latest version of the report, according to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The state now has until Aug. 14 to release the report, per a court order.

According to unsealed excerpts of the grand jury report, more than 300 “predator priests” identified by name are accused of committing criminal or morally reprehensible conduct. The vast majority of those named will be publicly identified in the report.

Victim advocates say it’s the most exhaustive review of clergy sex abuse by a U.S. state. The state’s other dioceses had previously been the subject of grand jury probes.

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.

LEBANON (PA)
Lebanon Daily News

August 7, 2018

By Daniel Walmer

Fourteen priests accused of sexual misconduct served at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lebanon, according to a detailed list of parish assignments provided Monday by the Diocese of Harrisburg.

That is the highest total for any one church on the list.

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.

HELENA (MT)
The Associated Press

August 6, 2018

By Amy Beth Hanson

A Montana legislative panel on Monday advanced a policy prohibiting lawmakers from harassing or discriminating against each other and others participating in the legislative process.

The policy initially approved on a subcommittee’s 4-0 vote calls for mandatory training, encourages prompt reporting, sets a process for investigating complaints and would make information about substantiated complaints available to the public.

It allows for an outside investigator, if necessary, and if an investigation turns up any suspected criminal activity, it must be immediately be reported to law enforcement.

The full Legislative Council will consider the policy on Aug. 23.

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CORVALLIS (OR)
Fox News

August 8, 2018

By Ryan Gaydos

Former Oregon State star pitcher Luke Heimlich, who pleaded guilty at age 15 to sexually abusing his 6-year-old niece, had his new contract with an Asian team disallowed Tuesday.

Heimlich signed a contract with the Lamigo Monkeys of the Chinese Professional Baseball League last week after failing to latch on with a Major League Baseball team.

It would be “truly regrettable if a potential first-round pick player has no place to showcase his talent,” Lamigo general manager Justin Liu said after the signing, according to Focus Taiwan News Channel.

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

WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service

August 8, 2018

By Rhina Guidos

A judge has postponed a mid-August trial for a priest accused of embezzling more than $5 million from a parish in Okemos, in central Michigan, part of the Diocese of Lansing.

Father Jonathan Wehrle was facing an Aug. 13 trial but his attorney in the criminal case told the Lansing State Journal he was withdrawing, prompting the judge in early August to push the trial to January 2019 to give new defense attorneys time to prepare, the newspaper said.

According to the newspaper, the announcement from Wehrle’s attorney came after Michigan State Police said in a news release that investigators from its Special Investigation Section discovered more than $63,000 in cash stashed above the ceiling tiles of the basement of the priest’s home during a July 17 search. A July 18 news release from Michigan State Police says officers found the words “For deposit only – St. Martha Parish and School,” the name of the parish where he served from 1988 until June 2017, on the cash bundles.

The priest faces six felony counts of embezzlement of $100,000 or more.

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UNITED STATES
The Conversation via CBS News

August 7, 2018

By Elizabeth C. Tippett

Elizabeth C. Tippett is an associate professor at the School of Law at the University of Oregon.

If you were worried that the #MeToo movement might fade away, fear not. It has been carved into one of the most immovable objects in human history.

Legal boilerplate.

And not just any boilerplate. But the language in giant merger agreements, used when one company is buying out another company.

Basically, corporate lawyers have been adding a sentence that forces companies to disclose allegations of sexual harassment. On Wall Street, it has come to be known as the “Weinstein clause.”

That’s new. In my years as an employment lawyer, I worked on more than 50 corporate acquisitions. The work somehow managed to be both boring and stressful, as I rapidly sifted through masses of personnel documents to figure out what needed to be disclosed.

Although it was common to disclose ongoing lawsuits or threats of litigation, “allegations” or even internal complaints of harassment were not on anyone’s radar.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Good Morning America

August 8, 2018

By Karma Allen

University of Southern California president steps down amid sex abuse scandal originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

University of Southern California President Max Nikias stepped down on Tuesday, effective immediately, amid criticism over how he handled sexual abuse allegations levied against a former campus doctor.

Nikias agreed to resign in May, after at least 200 faculty members signed a petition calling for him to step down, but he hadn’t relinquished his duties.

He will transition into the role of president emeritus and life trustee of the university, according to a statement released by the school on Tuesday.

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LINCOLN (NE)
LifeSiteNews

August 7, 2018

By Lisa Bourne

Fallout continues from allegations of sexual misconduct leveled recently against clergy in the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska.

Lincoln Bishop James Conley has had to issue a subsequent statement following the diocese’s August 1 acknowledgement of reports of misconduct from the 1990’s against its deceased former vocations director. The statement comes after additional more current allegations surfaced related to a current priest in the Lincoln diocese.

Conley wrote the faithful on August 4 conceding the result of the new abuse stories left many feeling they’d been lied to and asking for forgiveness for “the potential betrayal of the good people of the diocese.”

And following Conley’s second statement Saturday, yet further allegations came to light Monday against another priest in the diocese. All of this is the latest chapter in a component of the Church’s sex abuse crisis illustrating that actively homosexual clergy, sexual abuse, and abuse of power can occur anywhere, even in a diocese known for its orthodoxy and strong vocations numbers.

In his August 4 statement Conley directly named the late Msgr. Leonard Kalin, the diocese’s former vocations director and head of the Newman Center at the University of Nebraska, explaining that the diocese had received just one complaint against him before now, back in 1998.

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LINCOLN (NE)
LifeSiteNews

August 4, 2018

By Lisa Bourne

The Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, has acknowledged reports of misconduct by its deceased former vocations director, after an op-ed published by a former priest alleged the sexual behavior and other scandal involving the director.

The diocese did not address the allegations from Peter Mitchell, posted August 1 at Rod Dreher’s blog on The American Conservative, but said in a statement that the diocese “is aware of past reports of conduct contrary to prudence and moral law by Monsignor Leonard Kalin, deceased in 2008.”

“The diocese addressed these allegations of misconduct directly with Msgr. Kalin during his time in priestly ministry,” the statement said. The diocese added that is not aware that Kalin had broken any civil laws.

“The Diocese of Lincoln is also aware of past reports of conduct contrary to prudence and moral law by former Diocese of Lincoln priest Peter Mitchell,” the statement said further. “The diocese addressed these allegations of misconduct directly with Mitchell during his time of ministry in the Diocese of Lincoln.”

Mitchell was a seminarian in the Lincoln diocese from 1994 to 1999, and eventually transferred to Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin. He was laicized in 2017 for breaking his vow of celibacy on multiple occasions.

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LINCOLN (NE)
The American Conservative

August 6, 2018

By Rod Dreher

Stan Schulte, a 37-year-old chiropractor in Lincoln, Nebraska, comes from a sprawling Catholic family that’s a pillar of its Nebraska diocese. The Diocese of Lincoln has long enjoyed a national reputation for vigorous Catholic orthodoxy. He was raised in Blessed Sacrament parish, where his mother was a secretary. He graduated from Pius X High School. His uncle, Jim Benton, 71, is a veteran priest of the diocese.

Father Benton also molested him as a child, according to Schulte, who is revealing it here publicly for the first time. In an emotional phone conversation late Sunday night, Schulte alleged that on a rectory sleepover in Seward, when he was an adolescent, his uncle attempted to sexually assault him.

“I woke up to him grinding up against me with a vise grip over me, dry-humping me. I didn’t know what was going on,” says Schulte, through tears [UPDATE: Schulte writes to say that he was on the rectory floor, not in his uncle’s bed]. “I was able to throw him off, and I sat in a chair in the room all night, staring at him. I couldn’t sleep. My brother was sleeping next to him. I wanted to get my brother and run out of there, but I was a minor. What was I supposed to do? As a kid, you’re taught not to go against priests. You feel like you’re the bad person.

“I buried that,” Schulte says. “I buried it until this year.”

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IRELAND
The Avondhu

August 8, 2018

By Donal O’Keeffe

The Catholic Church is simply not serious about confronting its shameful history of abuse. That’s why media-savvy Pope Francis isn’t stopping here long enough to engage in any meaningful way with Irish survivors, says Donal O’Keeffe.

Did you watch Spotlight on RTÉ1 last Wednesday? It’s a powerful, deeply intelligent 2015 film, directed and co-written by Tom McCarthy, and featuring a top-notch ensemble cast.

It dramatises the story of the Boston Globe’s 2001-2002 ‘Spotlight’ investigation into clerical child abuse in the Boston archdiocese, something Irish viewers will watch with a sense of déjà vu.

If Spotlight could be said to have a villain, it’s the Catholic Church, personified by the late Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston (played by Len Cariou).

There’s a scene early on in Spotlight in which Boston Globe reporter Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo) meets lawyer Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci). Garabedian is representing several victims of clerical abuse, and alleges that Cardinal Law had known Father John Geoghan was a serial child rapist and had done nothing to stop him. Garabedian is doubtful the Globe can challenge the Catholic Church.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

August 8, 2018

By Daniel Bice

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Matt Flynn has pleaded ignorance about the transfer of pedophile priests during his 15 years as lawyer for the Milwaukee Archdiocese.

“I did not know about it,” Flynn said of priest reassignments on a video produced by his campaign. “I was not involved in it. I was not asked about it. I did not condone it.”

His boss at the time, then-Archbishop Rembert Weakland, went even further, saying no lawyers were involved in the reassignments.

Strong words.

But a 26-year-old case raises serious doubts about each of those claims.

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METUCHEN (NJ)
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

August 8, 2018

By Kelly Heyboer

One of New Jersey’s Catholic dioceses is bringing together a group of senior advisers to consider changing how priests can report sexual misconduct by fellow priests, church officials said Tuesday.

Bishop James Checchio, head of the Diocese of Metuchen, said the recent resignation of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has raised questions about whether his diocese needs to make big changes.

McCarrick is accused of sexual abuse and misconduct with young seminarians and priests, including some who said they feared retaliation if they reported him to church authorities because he was a high-ranking Catholic leader.

One of McCarrick’s alleged victims, a former priest, said last month he endured McCarrick’s sexual advances in part because the Catholic Church lacked the type of human resources departments and anonymous reporting systems that exist in the corporate world for those reporting abuse by co-workers.

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MECHANICSVILLE (PA)
Penn Live

August 7, 2018

By Ivey DeJesus

The worldwide clergy sex abuse crisis is poised to implode anew in this country as Pennsylvania prepares as early as Wednesday to release a long-awaited grand jury report on hundreds of predatory priests.

Members of the clergy had until Tuesday to appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to have their names redacted from the 900-page report. The court had set a deadline of Aug. 7 by which petitioners seeking such a redaction could appeal to the court.

Under the court order, the state can between Wednesday and Aug. 14 release the report. At the time this report was published, it was not clear if any members of the clergy had filed challenges to have their names removed from the report.

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ALLENTOWN (PA)
Morning Call

August 8, 2018

By Paul Muschick

Pope Francis made headlines last week by saying the Catholic Church would work to abolish the death penalty globally. The church should focus on cleaning up its own house before preaching to others how they should dish out punishment.

* * *

But I thought about it again last weekend, after seeing the latest turn in the church’s sex abuse scandal in Pennsylvania. And I concluded the church isn’t in a position to be telling others how to apply justice.

A court filing alleged Pennsylvania church leaders went all out to keep allegations of clergy sexual abuse against children from being investigated by law enforcement authorities or becoming public.

That wasn’t a surprise, either. It still was sickening to see.

“The main thing was not to help children, but to avoid ‘scandal,’’’ the court filing quoted the unreleased grand jury report as saying.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Inquirer

August 7, 2018

By John Baer

[See the 2005 Philadelphia Grand Jury report.]

In anticipation of findings, however redacted, of a statewide grand jury investigation into sex abuse in six Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses, I revisited a 2005 grand jury report on the same topic in Philadelphia.

Thirteen years later, it’s as horrific as it was back then.

Findings included “how dozens of priests (at least 63) sexually abused hundreds of children” and “how Philadelphia Archdiocese officials – including Cardinal Bevilacqua and Cardinal Krol – excused and enabled the abuse.”

Details were sickening.

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[Sebastián Piñera says the Chilean Catholic Church “must never cover a crime”]

CHILE
EFE / The Clinic Online

July 28, 2018

A juicio de Piñera, “es mejor que esto salga a la luz pública para poder corregir esta situación y enfrentarla con más verdad, con más coraje y con más justicia y no seguir barriendo bajo la alfombra”.

El presidente de Chile, Sebastián Piñera, afirmó hoy que la Iglesia católica “jamás debe encubrir un crimen”, en alusión a los abusos sexuales cometidos en el país por miembros del clero y su presunto encubrimiento por parte de la jerarquía eclesiástica.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The American Conservative

August 7, 2018

By Rod Dreher

‘You wouldn’t want to fill a seminary with people who’ve had all kinds of sexual experiences in the past, and unless you were very, very sure that they could be chaste’ said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick to USA Today in 2002. Gay hypocrite was secretly a molester of seminarians (PBS News Hour screenshot)
N., an exceptionally well-informed lay Catholic, tells me that there are two basic tribes of gay bishops and priests.

The first tribe is the Progressives — some sexually active, others not — who believe homosexuality should be normalized by the Catholic Church, and are pushing openly for the Church to change its teachings to reflect that.

The second tribe are Conservatives who live a double life. Outwardly they advocate for traditional Catholic teaching on homosexuality, but they also live homosocially (in the sense of socializing with other gay conservative priests), and some have gay sex. They therefore live in a state of cognitive dissonance.

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

[Vatican sanctions former pastor of Quilpué for abuses of power and conscience]

CHILE
El Mostrador

August 7, 2018

By Tomás Molina J.

El ahora ex presbítero Jaime Da Fonseca fue sancionado por la Santa Sede, luego de una investigación canónica iniciada por el obispo emérito de Valparaíso Gonzalo Duarte. La decisión es inapelable.

Si bien había zafado de la justicia civil, en una causa por delitos sexuales cerrada en 2014, la carrera eclesiástica del sacerdote de la Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Quilpué, Jaime Da Fonseca Hidalgo, llegó definitivamente a su fin. Este martes, el Obispado de Valparaíso comunicó la expulsión de manera inapelable del religioso, después de haber sido investigado por la Congregación para el Clero del Vaticano.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The American Conservative

August 6, 2018

By Rod Dreher

[Note: The link to the schedule no longer functions. See the copy cached by Google.]

An angry Catholic reader writes:

Last week, Timothy Busch, the founder of the Napa Institute put out an article titled, “Our Great Commission: The Call of the Laity to Holiness & Reform in Times of Scandal.”

Busch says that he is “disheartened” by the McCarrick scandal. He invites readers to pray for “the Church hierarchy to find the courage to root out every sin and restore truth, beauty, and goodness to the Church,” and invites ideas for how the Napa Institute can contribute to the reform of the Church.

But look at the Napa Institute’s schedule for the Eighth Annual Napa Institute Conference, held July 11-15, 2018. Disgraced Archbishop John Nienstedt is the celebrant for five of the conference masses.

Archbishop Nienstedt was forced out of office in 2015 for failing to properly handle sex abuse allegations. However, there were also allegations of homosexual activity with adults, including priests and seminarians. Documents released in 2016 revealed that the then-Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, not only quashed an investigation into Nienstedt’s alleged abuse of seminarians and priests, but also ordered investigators to destroy documents.

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[Bishop of Chillán questions the “moral certainty” of abuse complaint against priest]

CHILE
BioBioChile

August 7, 2018

By Manuel Cabrera and Wilson Ponce

A través de una declaración pública, el Obispado de Chillán confirmó que concluyó la investigación preliminar en contra del sacerdote Héctor Bravo Merino, quien fue denunciado por presunto abuso sexual a un menor.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican News

August 8, 2018

By Devin Watkins

In a handwritten letter sent on Sunday, Pope Francis applauds the Chilean bishops’ efforts to reflect on their failure to listen to victims of clerical sex abuse.

Pope Francis has praised the bishops of Chile for their “decisive” efforts against clerical sex abuse following a recent meeting.

In a handwritten letter sent on Sunday, the Pope says Chile’s bishops have come up with “realistic and concrete” measures against the abuse crisis gripping the Catholic Church in the country.

He thanked the President of the Chilean Bishops’ Conference for the “edifying example” of a united Church community. The Pope also expressed his appreciation for the Chilean bishops’ reflections on their failure to respond to a clerical sex abuse crisis.

‘Concrete response’

In his letter released by the Chilean Bishops’ Conference, Pope Francis said he was “impressed by the work of reflection, discernment, and decisions” carried out to produce a document, entitled “Declaration, Decisions, and Commitments of the Chilean Bishops’ Conference” (in Spanish).

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[Vatican dismisses Chilean priest investigated for sexual abuse and harassment]

CHILE
BioBioChile

August 7, 2018

By Yerko Roa and Gonzalo Olguín

La Diócesis de Valparaíso confirmó en un comunicado que el Vaticano hizo oficial una sentencia canónica en contra del expárroco de Quilpué Jaime Da Fonseca, rebajándolo a la condición de laico. El sacerdote fue investigado tras acusaciones de acoso y abuso sexual, además de encubrimiento.

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COLUMBIA (MO)
Religion News Service

August 7, 2018

By Thomas Reese SJ

After a monthlong challenge by a few of those named in the document, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has approved the release of a grand jury’s report on sexual abuse of minors in six Catholic dioceses across the state. The grand jury, convened in 2016, considered the cases of some 300 priests accused of being predators, as well as bishops accused of covering up the crimes.

The report, expected to be released any day, is not going to be an easy read, and at 900 pages will contain more information than many have time to digest.

Here are a few things that journalists and other interested parties should look for.

First, did the grand jury find any new prosecutable offenses?

The answer is probably no. The statute of limitations, which has protected many abusive priests from prosecution, has likely expired on many of the crimes detailed in the report. Nor is it likely that any bishops can be prosecuted for not reporting priests to the authorities, because that was not required by law until recently in most states.

Second, did the report find any priests credibly accused of abuse who are still in ministry or any bishop currently in office who kept a bad priest in ministry?

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YORK (PA)
Fox 43

August 6, 2018

By Jack Eble

https://fox43.com/2018/08/06/fox43-investigates-survivor-details-priest-abuse-accused-priest-shares-his-side-part-one/

One Pennsylvania native, who says he testified for the grand jury report on child sex abuse within the six Roman Catholic Diocese in the commonwealth, worries its contents won’t be available for the public to read.

He wants to make sure he can share his story.

“This is not an easy story to tell,” the source said, choosing to remain anonymous.

He said the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg was a central part of his childhood.

He described himself as “very involved,” and attended church regularly, had his baptism and confirmation there.

He eventually attended St. Patrick School in Carlisle through eighth grade during the 1980s

He achieved something his classmates looked forward to doing: become an alter boy.

“You got to leave and do any sort of funerals that were there. You got a free break from school. Being an alter boy was kind of a good thing.”

At an alter boy retreat in a place outside of Carlisle, he said he met a priest within the Diocese of Harrisburg: Father Herbert Shank.

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YORK (PA)
Fox 43

August 7, 2018

By Jack Eble

https://fox43.com/2018/08/07/fox43-investigates-child-sex-abuse-case-allegedly-turned-over-to-law-enforcement-survivor-alleges-abuse-at-priest-owned-cabin/

One Pennsylvania native, who is choosing to remain anonymous, says he became an “object of abuse” by Herbert Shank, a former priest within the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, when his parents were going through hard times.

He says he was abused at the hands of Shanks for a year and a half, starting when he was 12-years old.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Harrisburg says Herbert Shank’s case was turned over to the York County District Attorney’s Office in February 1995.

When reaching out to the York County District Attorney’s Office, we received the following statement: “As per policy, The Office of the District Attorney does not confirm or deny whether or not there is an investigation until such time charges are, or are not filed.”

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[Opinion: Announcements of the Catholic Church are insufficient measures]

CHILE
La Tercera

August 7, 2018

By Nicolás Espejo Yaksic
Lawyer and Professor, University of Oxford

Este 3 de agosto de 2018, la Asamblea Plenaria Extraordinaria del Episcopado emitió una declaración en la que se reconoce que la Iglesia Católica ha fallado en su deber al no escuchar, creer, atender o acompañar a las víctimas de graves pecados. Junto con pedir perdón a las víctimas y sobrevivientes de abuso sexual, la Conferencia Episcopal anunció una serie de medidas, entre las que destacan colaborar más activamente con la Fiscalía Nacional en las investigaciones penales, la disposición de cada obispo para encontrarse personalmente con las víctimas de abusos cometidos por clérigos, un código de comportamiento para cada ministro ordenado y una revisión estructural de las condiciones que han facilitado el abuso sexual.

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[“You are a crybaby:” The controversial Twitter attack of Senator Ivan Moreira on Karadima victim]

CHILE
La Tercera

August 7, 2018

By Claudia Soto

El parlamentario UDI utilizó la red social para responder a Juan Carlos Cruz, quien previamente había manifestado un reclamo al matinal de Canal 13 por forzar una discusión entre ambos.

Faltaba poco para las seis de la tarde de ayer, cuando el senador de la UDI Iván Moreira decidió utilizar su cuenta en Twitter para responder a Juan Carlos Cruz, víctima del ex párroco de El Bosque Fernando Karadima, quien había utilizado la misma red social previamente para acusarlo de politizar todo.

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[Senate Commission to consider revoking Ezzati’s “nationality by grace”]

CHILE
La Tercera

August 7, 2018

La iniciativa parlamentaria fue ingresada debido a los últimos cuestionamientos que pesan sobre el arzobispo de Santiago, debido a su actuar en los casos de abuso sexual al interior de la Iglesia.

Para mañana está convocada la Comisión de Derechos Humanos, Nacionalidad y Ciudadanía para iniciar el estudio del proyecto de ley, presentado por las senadoras Adriana Muñoz y Ximena Rincón, que busca revocar la nacionalidad por gracia que tiene hoy el cardenal Ricardo Ezzati.

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[A foreigner to replace Ezzati ?: The pros and cons of the new archbishop of Santiago coming from outside]

SANTIAGO, CHILE
Emol

August 7, 2018

By Tomás Molina J.

Restablecer el “prestigio perdido” y “estabilizar lo que se desestabilizó”, son parte de las ventajas, según expertos, que podrían existir en caso de que el eventual nuevo líder de la arquidiócesis no provenga de la Iglesia chilena.

No presidirá Tedeum ecuménico de Fiestas Patrias y delegó sus atribuciones como gran canciller de la Pontificia Universidad Católica. Esas son las dos importantes decisiones que ha tomado el Arzobispo de Santiago, cardenal Ricardo Ezzati, durante los últimos días, en medio de la crisis que atraviesa la iglesia católica nacional.

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[Ezzati delegates his powers as great chancellor of Pontifical Catholic University in the midst of church crisis]

SANTIAGO, CHILE
Emol

August 6, 2018

Las atribuciones del cargo quedaron en mano del sacerdote Tomás Scherz, actual vicecanciller.

El cardenal Ricardo Ezzati delegó sus atribuciones de gran canciller de la Pontificia Universidad Católica en su segundo, el vicecanciller Tomás Scherz. Así lo informó hoy el rector de la PUC, Ignacio Sánchez, a la comunidad, solicitando “comprensión y apoyo a la decisión del gran canciller, así como su plena colaboración a la labor del padre Tomás en estas nuevas responsabilidades”.

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[Chilean prosecutor expresses support for victims of church abuse]

CHILE
Associated Press

August 3, 2018

By Eva Vergara

Durante décadas los abusos de religiosos a menores de edad fueron un secreto a voces en el seno de la Iglesia Católica chilena, pero desde que el escándalo estalló hace unos meses la indignación ha corrido como dinamita y hoy no sólo El Vaticano busca respuestas, sino también la justicia de Chile.

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PERU
Crux

August 6, 2018

By Elise Harris

[Editor’s Note: This is the third installment of a three-part series exploring ties between Cardinal Francisco Errázuriz of Chile, a close papal confidante, and Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari, who’s now accused of sexual abuse and abuses of power and conscience within the prominent lay movement he founded.]

At the beginning of the sexual abuse scandals in Catholicism, the best-known perpetrators were priests whose names quickly became notorious, such as John Geoghan, Lawrence Murphy and Oliver O’Grady, and the burning challenge was establishing detection and disciplinary systems to prevent such predator clergy from going undetected and unpunished.

Two decades later, those goals remain a work in progress, as the recent case of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick illustrates. However, where the new systems for vigilance established in the years since work, they’re considered state of the art, and many child protection experts now regard the Catholic Church as a pacesetter.

Yet Catholicism is not composed entirely of priests and bishops, nor is the Church’s institutional infrastructure entirely defined by clerical organizations, dioceses and religious orders. There’s also a vast galaxy of lay movements and mixed clerical and lay institutes, which, many observers say, haven’t quite reckoned with the implications of the sexual abuse crisis in the same way as other Catholic institutions.

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NEWCASTLE (PA)
New Castle News

August 7, 2018

By Father Frank Almade

Father Frank D. Almade is pastor of the four parishes in New Castle (Mary Mother of Hope, St. Joseph the Worker, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Vitus).

Sometime in the next two weeks Pennsylvania attorney general Josh Shapiro will release a version of the grand jury report investigating clergy child sexual abuse in six Roman Catholic dioceses.

The grand jury was convened in April 2016 to review the incidents of clergy abuse in the dioceses of Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton since 1948. Shapiro wanted to release the results in June, but was blocked by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as it heard objections from some priests and others who claim their constitutional rights to a good reputation and the due process of law are being violated. On July 26, the Supreme Court ordered a “redacted” version of the report to be issued sometime between today and Aug. 14, with the names of those challenging the report deleted.

Any public relations consultant will tell organizations to keep their message short and simple. The response of the Catholic Church to this report is and must be complex. Let me offer three brief points of response to this report.

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FORT WORTH (TX)
The Star-Telegram via The Olympian

August 6, 2018

By Nichole Manna

A priest in the Fort Worth Catholic Diocese has resigned after a letter he wrote to another priest in Dallas was deemed intimidating, manipulative and inappropriate by Bishop Michael Olson.

The Rev. Richard Kirkham, former pastor of St. Martin de Porres in Prosper, is also accused of failing to report knowledge he had of alleged sexual misconduct and predatory sexual harassment in the workplace regarding the Dallas-area priest.

Kirkham submitted his resignation letter on June 4, but later tried to rescind it. Olson said he declined Kirkham’s request.

The Star-Telegram was unable to reach Kirkham for comment.

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LINCOLN (NE)
Catholic News Service

August 6, 2018

Lincoln Bishop James Conley apologized Aug. 4 for failing to be more transparent about a pastor removed from ministry and sent to treatment last year because the priest had developed “an emotionally inappropriate, non-sexual relationship with a 19-year-old male which involved alcohol.”

He sent Fr. Charles Townsend, pastor of St. Peter Parish in Lincoln, to the Shalom Center in Houston for treatment.

“My failure at the time was the lack of transparency with the people of God about this incident,” Conley said in an open letter to Catholics of the diocese.

“Despite reports to the contrary, I did not oblige anyone to keep silent about this matter. Our priests and the parishioners of St. Peter’s were told that he went away for health reasons. I made no effort to ‘cover up’ any element of this situation, and I tried to address it with integrity,” he wrote.

“However, I did not encourage transparency. I did not encourage an open discussion about this situation with our priests, with parishioners, or with those involved,” he continued. “Even though we were not legally obligated to report the incident, it would have been the prudent thing to do.”

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

August 6, 2018

By Patsy McGarry

Mary McAleese called event ‘one of the most devastating moments in my presidency’

Former president Mary McAleese says she refused to discuss an attempt by the Vatican in 2003 to secure an agreement with Ireland that it would not access church documents.

Speaking to The Irish Times, Ms McAleese has revealed what she described as “one of the most devastating moments in my presidency”.

It occurred during a State visit to Italy when she had a private meeting with then Vatican secretary of state Angelo Sodano.

“He indicated that he would like, and the Vatican would like, an agreement with Ireland, a concordat with Ireland. I asked him why and it was very clear it was because he wanted to protect Vatican and diocesan archives. I have to say that I immediately said the conversation had to stop,” Ms McAleese said.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

August 5, 2018

By Patsy McGarry

Organisers of visit ‘found time to go to Knock’ and should find time too to meet survivors

Pope Francis should not only meet survivors of clerical child sexual abuse on his visit to Ireland but “he also has to address what he plans to do for the future”, former president Mary McAleese has said.

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PORTUGAL
Daily Mail

August 6, 2018

By Julian Robinson

– Priest Humberto Gama, 79, was held in the town of Fatima in Sanrarem, Portugal
– He was accused of attacking a 55-year-old woman during exorcism at his home
– Priest denies claims and has been released on condition he does not contact the woman

A priest was arrested over claims he raped a woman while performing an exorcism in Portugal.

Priest Humberto Gama was held in the town of Fatima in the Portuguese district of Sanrarem after being accused of attacking a 55-year-old during a ritual at his home.

The 79-year-old, who denies the claims, allegedly tied up and raped the woman when she was lying on a bed during the exorcism. She later needed hospital treatment, it has been reported.

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SAGINAW COUNTY (MI)
WNEM

August 6, 2018

A local priest facing accusations of sexual misconduct appeared in court Monday morning.

A judge heard several motions on Father Robert DeLand’s case.

DeLand was arrested back in February on claims of assaulting two men – a then 21-year-old who said he was intoxicated when DeLand made sexual advances towards him, and a then 17-year-old who went undercover for police when he claimed assault.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
WHTM

August 6, 2018

By Myles Snyder

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg has named a 38th priest accused of child sexual abuse.

Msgr. Joseph Bradley was accused of sexual abuse after his death, the diocese said Monday.

Bishop Ronald Gainer last week released the names of 37 priests at 34 other members of the church who have had allegations made against them since the 1940’s.

The diocese said it added Bradley’s name to the list after receiving additional information.

Also, a spokesman said additional accusations have been made against church members who were on the initial version of the list.

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BREGENZ (AUSTRIA)
ChurchMilitant.com

August 7, 2018

By Stephen Wynne

In Austria, exhaustion over a decades-old clerical sex abuse scandal has forced an abbot to resign.

Depleted after years of trying to restore the Cistercian Territorial Abbey of Wettingen-Mehrerau to spiritual and financial health, Dom Anselm van der Linde tendered his resignation on July 12 and was officially released from his post by Pope Francis on Aug. 1.

At his 2009 appointment by Pope Benedict XVI, the young Cistercian monk was given charge over 21 Cistercian monasteries spread across Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and the United States.

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AUSTRALIA
National Catholic Register

August 7, 2018

By K.V. Turley

The new Australian law is not so much a way of protecting children from abuse as an assault upon the Church

Earlier this summer, the Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in Canberra passed new laws forcing Catholic priests to break the seal of Confession.

All three political parties in the ACT Legislative Assembly supported the bill to extend a mandatory reporting scheme that would cover churches and include the confessional. The new laws require religious organizations to report to the ACT Ombudsman allegations, offenses, or convictions related to children that have been divulged in Confession, within 30 days so that an investigation can be launched. Needless to say, there are fears that these new laws will be studied by the other States and Territory that make up the Commonwealth of Australia, bringing with it the alarming possibility of their extension nationwide.

Critics of the laws have been quick to claim that the new law is not so much a way of protecting children from abuse as an assault upon the Church. As Archbishop Christopher Prowse of Canberra and Goulburn pointed out: “The government threatens religious freedom by appointing itself an expert on religious practices and by attempting to change the sacrament of Confession while delivering no improvement in the safety of children.”

So this law will be of no use to those whom it is seeking to protect and, yet, manages to criminalize those who are doing nothing illegal – in Australia a priest hearing Confession is not yet a crime.

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ORLANDO (FL)
Orlando Sentinel

August 6, 2018

By Bianca Padró Ocasio

An investigation into abuse and misconduct allegations against a pastor and a school coach reveals a pattern that spans at least two decades of several Orangewood Presbyterian Church and School leaders dismissing the claims, refusing to speak directly with alleged victims and failing to keep appropriate records of employment, according to the report.

“Attempts to discuss this matter over the years have been a twisted, convoluted, and self-aggrandizing attempt to minimize the reality of what actually occurred …,” the 35-page report shows.

One former associate pastor at the Maitland church explained to GRACE in an interview that it handled the claims “by considering it a ‘private sin’ and not a ‘public sin’.”

The accusations against Jeff Jakes — now a senior pastor who denies many of the allegations, according to the report — stem back to 1998 and were made public earlier this year in a post on Facebook by Katherine Snyder, who was 18 when she worked for Jakes. The report validated Snyder’s accusations, adding that Jakes’ assertions that he regrets “confusing” Snyder “marginalizes her dignity and robs her of the honor she deserves in bringing very painful events to light.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

August 6, 2018

By Manya Brachear Pashman

A day after the sudden resignation of its lead teaching pastor, Willow Creek Community Church told members Monday that a council of outside Christian leaders will oversee what the church calls an “independent investigation” of allegations against its founder, Bill Hybels.

“This has been a difficult process because of the public nature of these allegations, but we are working on finalizing this key group of people,” lead pastor Heather Larson wrote to members of the South Barrington megachurch. “This council will have full autonomy and authority to pursue and investigate any and all allegations.”

She added that an anonymous outside donor will fund the cost of the inquiry to ensure that its credibility isn’t called into question. Through a spokesman, the church declined to clarify why another investigation was necessary and whether there were more allegations in addition to those already reported.

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FALL RIVER (MA)
National Catholic Register

August 7, 2018

By Father Roger J. Landry

COMMENTARY: Now is the time to cooperate — and cooperate fully — with God’s cleansing fire for his Church.

The sad revelations about the sins of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, involving the sexual abuse of both male minors and seminarians, have brought the Church in the U.S. and beyond to a second recent phase in the necessary purification of the clergy of the Church. The first phase happened in 2002, after the disclosure that more than 4,000 (out of 110,000) priests had been accused in the U.S. of sexual abuse of minors in the previous half-century.

The U.S. bishops convened in Dallas and adopted what has overall been a heralded systemic response to root out those who have abused minors from the priesthood, protect children and care for survivors.

But there were several major problems with Dallas, however.

First, the phrase “credible accusations” was exceedingly vague and could encompass even accusations that were immediately demonstrably false.

Second, bishops exempted themselves from the policy.

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SANTIAGO (CHILE)
CNA/EWTN News

August 7, 2018

The Holy Father on Friday wrote to the Chilean bishops’ conference to express his approval of their newly adopted plan to prevent future instances of sex abuse within the Church.

Pope Francis Friday wrote to the Chilean bishops’ conference to express his approval of their newly adopted plan to prevent future instances of sex abuse within the Church.

“I was impressed by the work of reflection, discernment, and decisions that you have made,” the Pope wrote in his Aug. 5 letter to Bishop Santiago Jaime Silva Retamales of Chile’s military diocese, who is president of the Chilean bishops’ conference.

“May the Lord repay you abundantly in this communitarian and pastoral effort.”

“The decisions are realistic and concrete,” he said. “I am sure that they will help decidedly in this entire process. But what touched me most was the example of episcopal community united in the pastoral care of the holy, faithful People of God. Thank you for this edifying example … because it ‘builds’ the Church.”

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CHILE
Reuters

August 6, 2018

By Aislinn Laing

Pope Francis recognized on Monday measures that Chile’s bishops said they would take to assist prosecutors investigating allegations of sex abuse that have plagued the Roman Catholic Church in Chile, including that they would work to reach an agreement with prosecutors on an exchange of information.

The pontiff wrote in a letter released to media on Monday by the Chilean Church that the steps taken at a conclave last week were “realistic and concrete” and that he was confident they would make a “decisive” difference.

After a week-long leadership conclave, the bishops asked for forgiveness, saying in a statement on Friday that they had failed to aid and accompany victims who had suffered “grave sins and injustices committed by priests and clergy.”

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HARRISBURG (PA)
York Daily Record

August 6, 2018

By Brandie Kessler, Ed Mahon and Dylan Segelbaum

At least 31 of the 72 priests who have been accused of sexually abusing or inappropriately touching children have made York County parishes their homes.

Some of the county’s dozen or so parishes since the 1940s appear to not have had any of the accused assigned there.

Other parishes were home to several accused priests over the years.

St. Rose of Lima is one such parish, with a total of six.

At least three priests were named by the Harrisburg diocese on Aug. 1, who have been accused of sexually abusing or inappropriately touching children and were assigned there since the 1930s:

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NEW DELHI (INDIA)
UCANews

August 7, 2018

Bishop Prasad Gallela of Cuddapah says allegations are false and he welcomes the chance to prove his innocence

A Catholic bishop in southern India is facing multiple court cases over an accusation that he misappropriated diocesan funds to support his “wife” and teenage son, but the bishop has denied the charges.

Bishop Prasad Gallela of Cuddapah (presently Kadapa) has been served notice to appear on Aug. 18 before Lok Adalat, a government-approved forum, to amicably settle cases pending in courts.

He is accused of misappropriating millions of rupees from diocesan social welfare funds to support his “wife” and 18-year-old son by cheating the church’s administrative systems.

Two lay Catholics, 40-year-old Mesa Ravi Kumar and 65-year-old Byreddy Chinnappa Reddy, jointly moved a criminal complaint against the prelate two months ago.

A court in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh state asked Bishop Gallela to appear before it on Aug. 2 but the bishop’s lawyers pleaded for more time and the case was moved to the last week of August.

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SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
The Salt Lake City Tribune

August 7, 2018

You probably read about a woman who secretly recorded an interview with her former Missionary Training Center president regarding alleged sexual misconduct he committed. Or maybe you heard that Mormon general authorities are paid more than $120,000 a year in salary. Perhaps you wonder about the LDS Church’s vast wealth. You swear you’ve seen that it has at least $32 billion in stock holdings.

Well, if you know those newsy nuggets, it’s probably because of a website called MormonLeaks, which posts documents, recordings and videos secretly provided by church leaders, employees, sources, whistleblowers or other moles from within the Utah-based faith.

So how did MormonLeaks get its start? What is its goal? Which leaks have been the biggest? And how does it navigate often-tricky ethical waters?

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JOPLIN (MO)
The Joplin Globe

August 6, 2018

By Jeff Lehr

More charges expected in alleged molestation of church youth

A Joplin man is being held on charges that he sexually abused three boys he knew through his involvement with a church in Miami, Oklahoma.

Matthew D. Galati, 29, was arrested last week when information first surfaced regarding disclosures made by three male members of a youth group at the New Beginnings Life Church In Miami. Joplin police Capt. Trevor Duncan said interviews of the boys were conducted at the Children’s Center in Joplin, leading to the filing of charges Thursday by the Jasper County prosecutor’s office.

Galati is charged with four counts of statutory sodomy with a child under 12 years old and two counts of second-degree statutory sodomy in connection with acts committed in Jasper County. But additional victims have been identified and more charges are anticipated, according to Duncan.

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ALBANY (NY)
Roman Catholic Diocese of ALbany

August 6, 2018

Statement by Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany:

While I am heartened by my brother bishops proposing ways for our Church to take action in light of recent revelations – and I agree that a national panel should be commissioned, duly approved by the Holy See – I think we have reached a point where bishops alone investigating bishops is not the answer. To have credibility, a panel would have to be separated from any source of power whose trustworthiness might potentially be compromised.

It is time for us, I believe, to call forth the talents and charisms of our lay faithful, by virtue of their baptismal priesthood. Our lay people are not only willing to take on this much-needed role, but they are eager to help us make lasting reforms that will restore a level of trust that has been shattered yet again. In speaking with them, we all hear their passion for our universal Church, their devotion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and their hunger for the truth. They are essential to the solution we seek.

What is needed now is an independent commission led by well-respected, faithful lay leaders who are beyond reproach, people whose role on such a panel will not serve to benefit them financially, politically, or personally. These will be people with a deep understanding of the Catholic faith, but without an axe to grind or an agenda to push. It will not be easy, but it will be worth every ounce of effort, energy, and candor we can muster.

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ROME
Crux

August 4, 2018

By Elise Harris

Although most attention amid the clerical sexual abuse crisis has been on minors, recent cases of priests and bishops who have taken advantage of vulnerable adults or those under their guidance also have come to light.

One such case involves Theodore McCarrick, the 88-year-old retired Archbishop of Washington and Newark who resigned his post in the College of Cardinals following “credible and substantiated” accusations of sexual abuse of minors and multiple accounts of sexual misconduct with seminarians.

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YORK (PA)
York Daily Record

August 6, 2018

By Ed Mahon,Brandie Kessler and Dylan Segelbaum

New information released by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg shows that some parishes had multiple clergy members accused of sexual abuse or inappropriate conduct with children.

At St. Joseph of York, for instance, there were 11 clergy members who served there who had an allegation against them at some point.

The information was released by the diocese on Monday, days after it released the names of more than 70 clergy members with allegations against them. In releasing the names last week, the diocese said it was not making an assessment of guilt. Instead, it says it was releasing a list of everyone with an allegation against them that had not been proven false.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
Diocese of Harrisburg

Updated August 6, 2018

[Note: At the end of this list of clergy and seminarians is a list of assignments sorted by parish.]

The Diocese of Harrisburg publishes the following list of clergy and seminarians who served in the Diocese and who were accused of sexual abuse of a child since the 1940s. The term “accused” is emphasized to note that the list below includes summations of accusations; the list does not include assessments of credibility or guilt. For more information regarding what is included and what is not included in this list, please see Bishop Ronald W. Gainer’s letter of August 1, 2018. Further, the following list does not contain those cases where the accusation was deemed not substantiated, meaning it was an accusation which, after review by law enforcement or Diocesan reviewers, was not supported by sufficient evidence to establish the probability that the accused cleric or seminarian committed sexual abuse of a child.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
Diocese of Harrisburg

August 6, 2018

On August 1, 2018, Bishop Ronald W. Gainer directed that a list of clergy and seminarians accused of sexual abuse of minors be made available at the Diocese’s new website, www.youthprotectionhbg.com. Accordingly, the Diocese published a link to a list of clergy with allegations of abuse. We again emphasize that this is a list of accusations; we did not make assessments of credibility or guilt in creating this list.

The Diocese has received additional information since the list was originally released on August 1. Accordingly, we have added the name of one additional clergy member to the list, bringing the total to 72 names. The name of Joseph Bradley was added to our list under the heading of “Cases Involving Allegations of Indecent Behavior,” for an accusation of sexual abuse of a child. Additional accusations were made involving individuals who were on the previous version of our list. Those additional accusations have been updated.

An additional document outlining years of service and assignments within the Diocese for all individuals on the list has also been posted online. As with all new allegations, each was reported directly to law enforcement immediately.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
Diocese of Harrisburg

August 6, 2018

By Bishop Ronald Gainer

As many of you have read, the Diocese of Harrisburg has released information and policy changes regarding child sex abuse. I wanted to take this opportunity to express my great sadness at the horror that innocent children were the victims of egregious actions committed against them. Many of those victimized as children continue, as survivors, to suffer from the harm they experienced. In my own name, and in the name of the Diocesan Church of Harrisburg, I express our profound sorrow and apologize to the survivors of child sex abuse, the Catholic faithful and the general public for the abuses that took place and for those Church officials who failed to protect children.

As we willingly acknowledge our sinfulness, as we humbly seek the forgiveness of those who have been wronged, we pray that healing will come to the entire Church when we renew our commitment each day to respond to the call to holiness we all share and to the mission of our Church entrusted to us by the Lord Jesus himself.

While we seek forgiveness in the name of our Church, we encourage survivors to come forward so that their healing may begin.

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DENVER (CO)
Crux

August 7, 2018

By Inés San Martín

Rome – “We need for the Church to understand that those of us who come forth are not the enemy. We want to help the Church clean itself, so there are no other Mauricios drugged and raped in the seminary, so there are no other Sebastians forced to massage a bishop so he feels pleasure, so there’re no other Marcelos forced to receive oral sex, and so there’re no other Johns raped by their spiritual directors.”

The stories are real. They belong to Mauricio Pulgar, Marcelo Soto, Sebastian del Rio and a fourth person, who will be described as “John Doe.” He’s asked not be identified because he’s not ready to go public with the allegations, but he represents many others.

Crux spoke with the four victims, and several others, in the past week. All are former seminarians of the Chilean diocese of Valparaiso, some 60 miles from Santiago, the country’s capital. They’ve provided the complaints that they handed to ecclesiastical authorities over a period from 2010 until this June, when a papal representative was in the country to look into Chile’s clerical sexual abuse crisis.

Crux also has obtained a copy of a letter by a Chilean bishop acknowledging that as of 2008, the Holy See had an allegation against a brother bishop. In addition, Crux has also obtained video and audio recordings and an email of one of the priests acknowledging guilt and trying to buy one of his victims’ silence.

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FLINT (MI)
ABC 12 WJRT

August 6, 2018

By Rebecca Trylch

Saginaw – A former Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting three young men appeared in court Monday for a series of legal motions.

Robert DeLand Junior’s attorney, Alan Crawford, was trying to get the cases dismissed using a variety of arguments.

“It’s our position in this matter that the District Court judge abused their discretion in binding this matter over. And the reason that they abused their discretion is because we’re dealing with an alleged victim in this matter who there’s questions as to his memory of what occurred on this particular night,” Crawford said.

Circuit Court Judge Darnell Jackson denied Crawford’s first motion to quash that specific charge.

There were a total of 14 motions between the defense and prosecution.

The Saginaw County Prosecutor’s Office asked Judge Jackson to join the cases moving forward.

Police in Tittabawassee Township and Saginaw Township investigated DeLand’s actions. The prosecutor decided to issues charges in four different cases, involving three young men.

One of the men was 21 when the alleged actions took place, the other two young men were teenagers.

“All considered collectively demonstrate a common single scheme or plan by the defendant to sexually assault young males,” said Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa Hoover. “All of these instances involve a certain level of trust in the defendant, based on him befriending his victims, and we have isolation, we have control, and we ultimately have the culmination of all of these with the sexual assaults that result.”

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SUNBURY (PA)
The Daily Item

August 6, 2018

By Joe Sylvester

http://www.dailyitem.com/news/local_news/area-catholic-priests-offer-apologies-ask-forgiveness-for-child-sexual/article_82ca4813-a53d-5824-8d1e-f27c188a0e10.html

Area Roman Catholic priests relayed their bishop’s apologies to parishioners on Sunday over the child sexual abuse accusations against clergy and seminarians. At least a couple pastors offered apologies of their own.

“I’m so deeply saddened by these terrible sins,” said the Rev. Mark Wilke, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Lewisburg, where three of the accused served at various times.

Wilke offered his comments to his congregation after reading a letter from Harrisburg Diocese Bishop Ronald Gainer at the end of Mass.

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DUBLIN (IRELAND)
Irish Times

August 6, 2018

By Marie Collins

Saying sorry it happened, sorry you were hurt, does not cut it any more

When Pope Francis comes to Ireland in two weeks’ time it will be 39 years since the last visit by a head of the Catholic Church. Since then the status of the church in Ireland has declined dramatically.

Those identifying as Catholic are down by 20 per cent, according to the last census. Mass attendance has fallen away, seminaries and religious houses have closed, and parishes are now often run by a single priest.

The majority of people no longer look to the church for guidance in their everyday lives. When the leadership speaks out on current issues as during the two recent recent referendums many, particularly the young, are antagonistic or indifferent. The church in Ireland has lost respect and credibility.

A main reason for this has been due to actions by the church itself, including the way in which its clerics and religious have abused their power. The guilty are those who destroyed the lives of untold numbers of men, women and children in orphanages, industrial schools, reformatories, Magdalene laundries, mother and baby homes, and through sexually assaulting children in parishes.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
The San Diego Tribune

August 6, 2018

By Peter Rowe

In 2010, a Catholic priest from the San Diego diocese sexually assaulted Rachel Mastrogiacomo.

This story would be all-too-familiar except for one fact: Mastrogiacomo was 24, a grown woman.

For years, the clergy sex scandal has focused on abused children. Now, the #MeToo movement and a growing recognition of the pervasiveness of sexual power plays is encouraging victimized adults to come out of the shadows.

“Finally,” said Esther Miller, who led an adult victims workshop at last month’s national convention of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), “women are coming together and saying no more.”

Going public, though, can mean facing skeptical questioning. Women and men endure many of the same pressures that discourage children — shame, confusion, the unwillingness to confront a spiritual leaders who are admired and even revered.

Another question is posed only to victimized women and men: why are sexual encounters between two apparently “consenting” adults considered crimes? But in many states, including Minnesota where Mastrogiacomo took her abuser to trial, it’s a crime to have with sex with adults who are incapable of voluntary consent “due to a particular vulnerability or due to the special relationship between the actor (perpetrator) and the victim.”

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CHILE
La Croix

August 6, 2018

By Mélinée Le Priol

They also promised to involve greater participation of lay people, particularly women, in the decision-making bodies of the Chilean Church

Concluding their five day extraordinary assembly, Chile’s 32 Catholic bishops apologized for “failing in their duties” in managing sex abuse cases.

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LANCASTER (PA)
Lancaster Online

August 5, 2018

THE ISSUE

Bishop Ronald W. Gainer of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg held a press conference Wednesday to apologize for the sexual abuse of children by priests and others in the church over decades. The Harrisburg diocese also released a list of 71 clergy members and seminarians alleged to have sexually abused children since 1947. LNP reported Friday that the list included the late Monsignor Francis Joseph Taylor, who served as Lancaster Catholic High School’s principal from 1958 to 1975, and the late Rev. Thomas Ronald Haney, who was the assistant to the principal at LCHS from 1961 to 1964 and directed the school’s athletic program. According to LNP records, Haney previously had served three years as assistant pastor at St. Anne Catholic Church in Lancaster; later in his life, he was known to many local Catholics as the executive editor of The Catholic Witness, the diocesan newspaper, and as a spokesman for the diocese.

In April 2014, soon after he was installed as the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Gainer told LNP that the way the Catholic Church had handled child sexual abuse cases in the past was “a disgrace” and “a wound for our church.”

He was right, of course.

Before he took over the Diocese of Harrisburg, Gainer was criticized by SNAP, or the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, for the way he had handled sexual abuse allegations against two priests while leading the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky.

Last week, however, Gainer seemed genuinely intent on reversing the church’s past mistakes.

And he made strides toward that aim when, at his press conference and in a column LNP published on Friday’s front page, he expressed his “great sadness at the horror that innocent children were the victims of egregious actions committed against them.”

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
CBS Cleveland

August 2018

The Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese prepared parishioners Sunday for a scathing grand jury report that’s about to be released about sex abuse in the church; KDKA’s Bob Allen reports.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
The Associated Press

August 5, 2018

Church leaders were more interested in preventing scandal than protecting children. That’s the finding of a grand jury investigating clergy sex abuse in six Pennsylvania Roman Catholic dioceses according to a court filing. The report also says in some cases leaders discouraged victims from going to police, or pressured law enforcement officials to end or avoid investigations.
The grand jury’s full, nearly 900-page, report is expected to be released in the next two weeks.

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CHICAGO (IL)
The Cut

August 5, 2018

By Opheli Garcia Lawler

Bill Hybels, the former pastor of the Willow Creek Evangelical Church, has been accused of sexual harassment by a woman named Pat Baranowski, according to a new New York Times report. Baranowski is not the first woman to accuse Hybels of sexual misconduct, though her allegations are the most severe.

Baranowski, now 65, was hired by Hybels in the 1980s as an assistant at his growing Illinois evangelical church, and invited her to live with him and his family. While his wife and children were away for a trip in 1986, Hybels allegedly asked to give Baranowski a back rub.

According to the Times report, Baranowski then endured two years of unwanted touching, inappropriate comments, and other forms of sexual harassment — including an instance when Hybels asked her to watch porn with him.

Hybels, in a statement to the Times, denied that any of the allegations made by Baranowski are true. “I never had an inappropriate physical or emotional relationship with her before that time, during that time or after that time,” he wrote.

In April, Bill Hybels announced an early retirement from his role as pastor of the church. The announcement came after a Chicago Tribune report that detailed years of complaints and allegations against the pastor for unwanted touching, inappropriate comments, and once, an unwanted kiss.

Hybels denied the allegations, but announced to his congregation that for he would move his retirement date up by six months. He reportedly called the allegations “flat out lies” and said that he “placed myself in situations that would be far wiser to avoid. I was naïve.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

August 5, 2018

By Manya Brachear Pashman

The lead teaching pastor of Willow Creek Community Church announced his resignation from the South Barrington megachurch Sunday, saying he could no longer serve there with integrity.

Steve Carter, who took over as lead teaching pastor in April when Bill Hybels stepped down from the helm of the church he founded 42 years ago, said he was “horrified” by allegations reported Sunday by The New York Times that Hybels had sexually harassed his former executive assistant for two years.

Carter also said he did not agree with the way elders had handled the first reports by the Chicago Tribune in March that revealed allegations of misconduct by Hybels with women — including church employees — spanning decades.

The alleged behavior detailed by the Tribune included suggestive comments, extended hugs, an unwanted kiss and invitations to hotel rooms. It also included an allegation of a prolonged consensual affair with a married woman who later said her claim about the affair was not true, the newspaper found.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Washington Times

August 5, 2018

By Bradford Richardson

Catholics in the District of Columbia are conflicted about how to continue to support the church after the resignation of former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick over reports of sexual abuse.

The former archbishop of Washington stepped down from the College of Cardinals one month after a church panel substantiated a report that, as a priest in New York, he sexually abused a teenage altar boy more than 45 years ago. Pope Francis accepted his resignation on Saturday and ordered him to serve a “life of prayer and penance.”

Scotty O’Connell, who attends the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Northwest Washington, and other members of the diocese are calling for a boycott until Archbishop McCarrick’s enablers are removed from the church. Ms. O’Connell said she had discontinued her weekly offerings at her parish because a percentage of all contributions are given to the archdiocese.

“What I am encouraging people to do is divert their contributions, what they would be giving to their parish, to another charitable organization,” Ms. O’Connell said. “I don’t want any of my dollars, or nickels or dimes, being used by the archdiocese, particularly the Archdiocese of Washington, to settle claims or to get criminals off the hook.”

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STANFORD (CA)
SFGate

August 5, 2018

By Nanette Asimov

After Stanford University concluded that one of its students sexually assaulted a classmate, campus officials imposed what they called a very serious sanction: a suspension of two academic quarters.

The victim said it felt like a second assault.

“Providing my rapist with a gracious invitation back to Stanford pending a brief period of ‘reflection’ disrespects myself and the moral stature of Stanford as an institution,” Sinéad Talley wrote on Dec. 20, 2016, in her unsuccessful appeal. She wanted Stanford to expel the man she said had been her friend until he raped her while she was in a drunken stupor.

Stanford reported the assault in 2016 to campus police, as required by state law. But Talley chose not to pursue the case through the criminal justice system. Instead, like many college students who report sexual assault, she turned to her university’s internal justice system.

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BEIJING (CHINA)
The Associated Press

August 3, 2018

By Gerry Shih

One of China’s highest-ranking Buddhist monks is facing a government investigation over accusations of sexual misconduct, in what is seen by some as an indication the #MeToo movement is gaining traction across the world’s most populous society.

Longquan Monastery abbot Shi Xuecheng is accused of harassing and demanding sexual favors from numerous nuns in a 95-page statement compiled by two fellow monks at the storied center of Buddhist learning in Beijing. The statement including testimony from the alleged victims leaked this week on social media, prompting an outcry and unusual coverage by state media before it was censored.

China’s State Administration of Religious Affairs said Thursday it would investigate the claims. Xuecheng and the monastery denied the accusations, which also included claims of embezzlement.

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BEIJING (CHINA)
The Associated Press

August 3, 2018

One of China’s highest-ranking Buddhist monks is facing a government investigation over accusations of sexual misconduct, in what is seen by some as an indication the #MeToo movement is gaining traction in the world’s most populous nation.

Longquan Monastery abbot Shi Xuecheng is accused of harassing and demanding sexual favors from numerous female nuns in a 95-page statement compiled by two fellow monks at the storied center of Buddhist learning in Beijing. The statement including testimony from the alleged victims leaked this week on social media, prompting an outcry and unusual coverage by state media before it was censored.

China’s State Administration of Religious Affairs said Thursday it would investigate the claims. Xuecheng and the monastery denied the accusations, which also included claims of embezzlement.

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DALLAS (TX)
The Associated Press

August 2, 2018

An elite Texas gymnastics coach was arrested in Indiana after being accused of sexually assaulting three girls at a Fort Worth gym, police said Thursday.

Skipper Glenn Crawley, described as an elite-level team gymnastics coach, is accused of sexually assaulting the victims at Sokol gymnastics in Fort Worth, police said. Authorities arrested him on Wednesday after executing a warrant at an Indianapolis residence. He is being held at an Indiana jail, pending extradition.

Crawley, a former assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma, had been wanted for the continuous sexual abuse of a child, along with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

“The thing was, he was a great coach,” the mother of a victim told TV station WFAA . “And he used that. He’s a very sick man.”

Court records show that the three victims accused Crawley of touching their genitalia, including one who said the coach touched her while he helped her stretch. That victim also reported the coach would make “inappropriate remarks,” commenting that he would want to snuggle or sleep with her, according to an affidavit. She also told authorities Crawley said he wanted to get married and that she was his girlfriend, the affidavit says.

Another victim reported Crawley had inappropriately touched her multiple times and would call her back to his office while other girls were conditioning, according to an affidavit.

The court records say police were notified of the sexual assaults in April.

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CHINA
Business Insider

August 3, 2018

By Sinéad Baker

– Shi Xuecheng, one of China’s highest-ranking Buddist monks, is accused of sexual harassment, including demanding sexual favors from nuns.

– Other monks compiled the document, and one said that he and other whistleblowers had been expelled from the temple since making the accusations.

– But outcry on social media and the launch of a government investigation suggests that the #MeToo movement is gaining traction in the region.

– A whistleblower in the monastery said that Xuecheng, who is a well-known figure in China, had so much power that only the government could protect the nuns.

One of China’s highest-ranking Buddist monks is accused of sexual misconduct including demanding sexual favors from nuns — and the launch of a government investigation shows that the #MeToo movement may be gaining traction in the region.

Shi Xuecheng of the Longquan Monastery in Beijing is accused in a 95-document compiled by his fellow monks.

Both Xuecheng and the monastery denied the claims, but the document, which includes testimony from the alleged victims, leaked onto social media last week, resulting in public outcry and state media coverage before it was censored.

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SANTIAGO (CHILE)
AFP

August 1, 2018

Prosecutors in Chile on Wednesday said they have requested the Vatican files of nine Chilean priests being investigated for sexual abuses.

“The National Prosecutor, Jorge Abbott, today signed an official letter addressed to the Vatican (..), requesting canonical records involving accused persons investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office,” the National Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.

The petition includes three requests for help in criminal cases of nine members of the church.

In July, prosecutors said Chile was investigating 158 members of the country’s embattled Catholic Church — both clergymen and lay people — for perpetrating or concealing the sexual abuse of children and adults.

The cases relate to incidents dating back as far as 1960 and involving 266 victims, including 178 children and adolescents.

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COLUMBUS (OH)
Yahoo Sports

August 1, 2018

By Jack Baer

Two former Ohio State wrestlers say they were personally pushed by former Buckeyes coach Russ Hellickson to backtrack on accusations that Rep. Jim Jordan ignored alleged sexual abuse by a team doctor, according to a report from NBC News.

According to the report, both Dunyasha Yetts and Mike DiSabato received messages and phone calls on July 4, a day after Jordan was hit with the accusations from the two and one more wrestler who requested anonymity. Yetts is the only wrestler of the group to say he directly told Jordan about the abuse from Ohio State doctor Richard Strauss. DiSabato also claimed that Jordan had seen frequent inappropriate behavior in the team’s showers while he was an assistant coach at Ohio State.

Ohio State announced that its independent investigation into the matter revealed more than 100 male student-athletes across 14 different sports with first-hand accounts of Strauss’ sexual misconduct. Strauss committed suicide in 2005.

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UNITED STATES
The Associated Press

August 1, 2018

By Gillian Flaccus

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Wednesday that sex abuse allegations against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick dating back decades raise serious questions about how the claims could stay secret for so long as the retired archbishop from Washington, D.C., rose in prestige and power.

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo said the allegations against his former colleague reveal a “grievous moral failure” and urged anyone who has experienced sexual abuse at the hands of the church to come forward. DiNardo reminded bishops in the United States to take those reports seriously and contact the police when required.

“Both the abuses themselves, and the fact that they have remained undisclosed for decades, have caused great harm to people’s lives and represent grave moral failures of judgment on the part of church leaders,” he said in a statement.

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WILLIAMSTON (MI)
The Associated Press

August 2, 2018

An embezzlement trial for a Roman Catholic priest is being delayed because he’s getting new lawyers after police say they discovered $63,000 hidden above ceiling tiles in his Michigan home.

The search was conducted in mid-July at the Rev. Jonathan Wehrle’s luxury home in Williamston. State police say money was in $2,000 bundles secured with cash bands that said, “For Deposit Only-St. Martha Parish.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC Newcastle

Originally published July 13, 2018

By Giselle Wakatama

Three former Anglican bishops heavily criticised by the Royal Commission have not been referred for prosecution, sparking fury among abuse survivors.

The Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse in December 2017 accused former Newcastle bishops Roger Herft, Alfred Holland and Richard Appleby of having a “do nothing” approach in response to child sexual abuse allegations.

Survivor Steve Smith fought back tears when he was told the men had not been referred to prosecutors at both state and national levels.

“I am absolutely astounded … it is a kick in the guts, I am lost for words,” Mr Smith said.

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AUSTRALIA
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

July 31, 2018

Senior Catholics have rallied to the defence of former Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson, who resigned after being convicted of concealing child sex abuse, saying he did “great good” that should not be forgotten.

“We remember that he is a man who has done so much in child protection areas, that this archdiocese was the first to have a child protection unit, a child protection council, a police check unit, and all at the initiative of Archbishop Wilson,” Port Pirie Bishop Greg O’Kelly, who has been acting as Adelaide’s Archbishop, said.

“We must not forget the great good he has done in those areas.

“So they are the sorts of things and now he has made this decision and we have to sort of listen and try to rebuild.

“Restore trust, restore confidence in people.”

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DULUTH (MN)
Duluth News Tribune

August 5, 2018

By Lisa Kaczke

A Duluth priest suing a man who has accused him of sexual abuse has been added to the Diocese of Duluth’s list of priests it has determined to be “credibly accused.”

The Diocese announced on Sunday that the Rev. William C. Graham, who is arguing in his lawsuit that he has been falsely accused, and the Rev. Roland Antus were found to be credibly accused of sexual abuse following the Diocese’s investigation into the allegations.

Graham was credibly accused of sexually abusing a child in the 1970s at St. Benedict’s Catholic Church in Duluth and Antus was credibly accused of committing the same crime in the 1980s at St. James Catholic Church in Duluth, according to the Diocese’s statement.

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DUBLIN (IRELAND)
The Herald

By Cate McCurry

August 6, 2018

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will express his concerns to the Pope about the Catholic Church’s history of sexual and physical abuse when Francis visits Ireland later this month.

The Taoiseach also said he intends to tell him that Ireland accepts gay parents.

Pope Francis will visit Dublin and Knock on the weekend of August 25 and 26 at the invitation of the World Meeting of Families 2018.

As part of his visit, he will go to the Capuchin Day Centre for the homeless in Dublin and the Knock Shrine.

However, it is not yet clear whether he will meet victims of clerical abuse.

Mr Varadkar said that while his meeting with the Pope could be short, he will express his concerns about issues such as the Church’s involvement in Magdalene Laundries.

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WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Washington Times

August 5, 2018

By Bradford Richardson

Catholics in the District of Columbia are conflicted about how to continue to support the church after the resignation of former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick over reports of sexual abuse.

The former archbishop of Washington stepped down from the College of Cardinals one month after a church panel substantiated a report that, as a priest in New York, he sexually abused a teenage altar boy more than 45 years ago. Pope Francis accepted his resignation on Saturday and ordered him to serve a “life of prayer and penance.”

Scotty O’Connell, who attends the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Northwest Washington, and other members of the diocese are calling for a boycott until Archbishop McCarrick’s enablers are removed from the church. Ms. O’Connell said she had discontinued her weekly offerings at her parish because a percentage of all contributions are given to the archdiocese.

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[Opinion: We must know the Scicluna report]

CHILE
El Mostrador

August 6, 2018

By Felipe Portales

Como toda gran crisis, representa también una gran oportunidad. La reconstrucción de ella no puede ser solo labor de otros obispos que concentren nuevamente todo el poder. Tanto a nivel nacional como mundial tenemos que aprender que una Iglesia efectivamente cristiana y fraternal debe ser construida con un espíritu democrático, y con la participación responsable y solidaria de todos sus miembros. Y para ello es fundamental contar con la información pertinente. En el caso nuestro tenemos, pues, que conocer el Informe Scicluna en toda su extensión, exceptuando, por cierto, la identidad de las víctimas que hayan declarado bajo condición de anonimato.

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[Catholic Church publishes list of priests condemned for sexual abuse of minors]

CHILE
Emol

August 3, 2018

By Bárbara Osses

La difusión del documento es parte de las medidas que la asamblea plenaria extraordinaria del Episcopado tomó para prevenir casos de abuso al interior de la Iglesia y para fortalecer la cooperación con las investigaciones que realiza la fiscalía.

Durante la tarde de este viernes, la Iglesia Católica chilena publicó un documento en el que se revelan los nombres de clérigos con sentencias definitivas civiles y canónicas por abuso de menores de edad, como parte de las medidas que la Institución adoptó con el fin de prevenir casos de abuso al interior de la Iglesia y para fortalecer la cooperación con las investigaciones que realiza la fiscalía.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

August 6, 2018

By Fr. Peter Daly

On July 28, we woke up to front-page news about my former archbishop Theodore McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals. He is the first and only cardinal to resign from the college as a part of the worldwide sexual abuse scandal. While two of McCarrick’s victims were minors, it appears that most were adult males. Most often, they were seminarians and priests under his authority. In McCarrick, the child abuse scandal is joined to the #MeToo movement.

It is painful to the whole church to hear the news about McCarrick. It is especially painful to the people of my own archdiocese, Washington, D.C. I have no desire to add fuel to the fire. I always liked McCarrick and appreciated his leadership on many things, especially on social justice issues. But I do have a few things to say about McCarrick and the related scandal, some of them from my personal experience.

First, we knew, or should have known, about some of McCarrick’s behavior.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

August 6, 2018

By Joshua J. McElwee

Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl has proposed that the national conference of U.S. Catholic bishops create a new high-level panel to receive and evaluate any allegations or rumors of sexual misconduct by one of its member bishops.

In an NCR interview focused on how the American church should address the wider systemic questions raised by the revelations of sexual abuse by his predecessor, now former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Wuerl also suggested that the Vatican could designate one of its offices to act on the proposed panel’s findings.

Although Wuerl said he had not personally been aware of rumors about McCarrick’s alleged abuse of young men during the former cardinal’s time as a priest and bishop, he acknowledged that others have now brought forward earlier existence of such rumors.

“If there were [rumors], and if people heard them, there needs to be some mechanism by which there can be at least an evaluation and review of them,” said Wuerl, speaking in a phone conversation.

“I think it’s very important that we … as bishops enter into that world and say, ‘If there is an accumulation of rumors, ought not something be said?’ ” the cardinal continued.

“Would we have some sort of a panel, a board, of bishops … where we would take it upon ourselves, or a number of bishops would be deputed, to ask about those rumors?” he suggested.

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[Cadem Survey: Catholic Church management reaches a 76% disapproval among Chileans]

CHILE
Emol

August 6, 2018

By Leonardo Núñez

La institución alcanza en Chile los peores registros desde que esta encuesta empezó a medir la crisis que la afecta por los abusos sexuales. Aprobación de Piñera, en tanto, sufre nueva caída significativa y alcanza un 45% de apoyo (39% lo desaprueba).

La crisis que atraviese la Iglesia Católica debido a los casos de abuso sexual repercutió en el apoyo entre los chilenos: un 76% desaprueba la forma en que desarrolla su labor en el país y sólo un 19% la apoya.ml

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[Laity of Osorno on Ezzati: “Te Deum must be done by right people”]

CHILE
BioBioChile

August 4, 2018

By Emilio Lara and Dennys Salazar

Tras conocer que el cardenal Ricardo Ezzati decidió no presidir el Te Deum de Fiestas Patrias, los Laicos de Osorno salieron a mostrar su aprobación de la medida.

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[Ezzati is marginalized from the Tedeum after pressures from the government and the Vatican]

CHILE
La Tercera

August 5, 2018

By Carla Pía Ruiz and Carlos Pérez

La autoridad de la Iglesia Católica en Chile comunicó ayer que no presidirá la tradicional celebración ecuménica. La carta enviada por el Papa Francisco a los obispos chilenos fue clave en su inédito alejamiento.

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[Santiago Silva, president of the Episcopal Conference of Chile: “I greatly value the decision of Cardinal Ezzati, for pastoral reasons”]

CHILE
La Tercera

August 5, 2018

By Sergio Rodríguez Garcés

El prelado aborda no solo lo ocurrido con el tedeum, sino también la crisis de la Iglesia Católica criolla, las diligencias hechas sobre archivos destruidos, el rol de los obispos y las críticas a su liderazgo.

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[Ezzati in the final straight: the secrets of his file that the Pope has in his hands today]

CHILE
CIPER

July 27, 2018

By Pedro Ramírez

Encubrimientos marcan la reunión de la asamblea episcopal en crisis

[Cover-ups mark the meeting of an episcopal assembly in crisis]

Este lunes 30 de julio se inicia una asamblea extraordinaria de obispos, la primera desde que el Papa Francisco recibió la renuncia masiva de los prelados chilenos. La cita estará marcada por las nuevas directrices de Roma sobre los abusos cometidos por clérigos. Las miradas se centran en el cardenal Ricardo Ezzati, sobre quien arrecian las acusaciones de omisión y encubrimiento en casos de abusos sexuales. CIPER reconstruyó su historial de actuaciones cuestionadas que se arrastran desde los años 80, y su alianza con el cardenal Errázuriz para ahogar el caso Karadima y desacreditar a sus víctimas.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

August 4, 2018

[AUDIO: Features interview with Brisbane archbishop Mark Coleridge, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference]

By Sarah Sedghi

The Catholic Church will release its highly anticipated response to the child abuse Royal Commission by the end of the month.

The response has been months in the making and was discussed at a special meeting in Melbourne this week.

Church leaders say it’s a significant step in the reform process.

But they have ruled out accepting one of the Royal Commission’s recommendations: for priests to break the seal of the confessional to report allegations of sexual abuse against children.

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SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Reuters

August 4, 2018

By Dave Sherwood

Archbishop of Santiago Ricardo Ezzati said on Saturday that he would not lead Chile’s Te Deum, an annual religious ceremony attended by the country’s top politicians and clergy, amid a church sex abuse scandal that has sent shockwaves through the conservative Catholic nation.

Ezzati, who has long led the ceremony and is among Chile’s most recognized religious figures, said in a statement he thought it “prudent that he not lead the traditional Te Deum” given the “profound crisis that the Church is undergoing.”

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera praised Ezzati’s decision on social media, saying he “valued the gesture” and that the ceremony should “unite and not divide Chileans.”

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