ABUSE TRACKER

[Catholic Church of Paraíba has to pay R $ 12 million for sexual abuse, says TV]

PARAÍBA (BRAZIL)
Diario de Pernambuco

January 21, 2019

A Justiça do Trabalho condenou Arquidiocese da Paraíba a pagar R$ 12 milhões de indenização por exploração sexual cometida por padres contra crianças e adolescentes, segundo reportagem do programa Fantástico, veiculada na noite deste domingo (20/1), pela TV Globo. Na Justiça, os envolvidos negaram os crimes.

[Google Translation: The Labor Court condemned the Archdiocese of Paraíba to pay R $ 12 million in compensation for sexual exploitation committed by priests against children and adolescents, according to a report on the TV show Fantástico, broadcast on Sunday night (20/1) by TV Globo. In court, those involved denied the crimes.]

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DENVER (CO)
Crux

January 25, 2019

By Charles Collins

When over 180 bishops’ conference presidents and other Church leaders descend on Rome next month for a global summit on clerical sexual abuse, they will hear from some of the victims themselves. Yet a Jan. 16 Vatican communique making this announcement did not mention the names of those who would be giving the presentations.

Likewise, when the organizing committee for the Feb. 21-24 summit was named in November, the statement mentioned that “some victims of abuse by members of the clergy” would be involved in the preparations. When Crux asked who they would be, we were told they might be named at a later date – so far, they haven’t been.

When Irish abuse survivor Marie Collins resigned from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in 2017 – following English survivor Peter Saunders’ exit the previous year – the commission’s president, Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, told Crux: “Perhaps having survivors who were known as survivors was part of the reason they got so much attention.”

The Vatican seems have taken this concern to heart: When new commission members were announced last year, the statement said “the members of the commission include both victims of clerical sexual abuse and parents of victims.” But the announcement also said that none of them wished to be identified as such, with the Vatican explaining it was “defending each person’s right to choose whether or not to disclose their experiences of abuse publicly.”

When La Civilta Cattolica revealed in February 2018 that Pope Francis told Jesuits in Peru that he “regularly” met with abuse survivors on Fridays in his residence, the Vatican spokesman said “the meetings are held with the utmost privacy, in respect of the victims and their suffering.”

In fact, none of the participants of these meetings have ever spoken about it (Crux has independently confirmed that such meetings have taken place.)

It’s important to note that many survivors of sexual abuse don’t want to publicize the fact, and just because someone has chosen not to take up an advocacy role doesn’t mean their voices shouldn’t be heard by the leaders of the Church.

But there was a reason Saunders and Collins, longtime advocates for the victims of clerical sexual abuse, were appointed to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, and it went beyond the ability to relate their personal experiences to members of the Vatican hierarchy – they were in a unique position to hold the Church to account.

During their time on the commission, both survivors were vocal about what they thought needed to be done, both at the commission and within the wider Vatican. And, as O’Malley put it, they got attention.

Most observers said that was the problem.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Guardian

January 24, 2019

Last year investigations around the world showed that historical sexual abuse within the Catholic church had been covered up for decades. India Rakusen talks to two survivors and hears from the Guardian’s religion correspondent Harriet Sherwood on how the church plans to move forward. Plus: the Guardian’s Tom Phillips on Juan Guaidó’s attempted take over in Venezuela

Presented by India Rakusen with Harriet Sherwood and Tom Phillips; produced by Rachel Humphries and Axel Kacoutié; executive producers Nicole Jackson and Phil Maynard

In February, Catholic bishops from around the world will attend a summit at the Vatican to discuss how to tackle child abuse within the church. Last year a series of inquiries shook the church, embroiling Pope Francis in the biggest crisis of his papacy. Investigations found that historical sexual abuse had been covered up for decades, and thousands of victims gave evidence of rape and abuse.

In the UK, the national inquiry into child sexual abuse is examining the extent of any institutional failures to protect children by the Catholic church in Birmingham. Birmingham was chosen as a case study because it is the largest archdiocese in England. India Rakusen hears from two survivors who gave evidence at the inquiry, while the Guardian’s religion correspondent Harriet Sherwood discusses how the church has responded and whether it can recover from this scandal.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

January 25, 2019

By Haidee V Eugenio

A law firm representing dozens of Guam clergy sex abuse plaintiffs is now also reaching out to child sexual abuse survivors in Chuuk and Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia, from the 1950s to the present.

The law firm of Berman O’Connor & Mann is seeking individuals who may have been victims of sex abuse while a minor and while attending Catholic schools and Catholic parishes in Chuuk and Pohnpei.

Public notices have been placed on Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and notices in the FSM may follow, according to Attorney Michael Berman, who represents some three-dozen Guam clergy sex abuse plaintiffs.

At least two priests, now deceased, have been identified by the law firm in potential lawsuits involving cases in Pohnpei and Chuuk.

“The process in the FSM is just beginning,” Berman said.

Pohnpei, Chuuk and other FSM residents have moved to Guam throughout the years, under a compact with the United States.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
Church Times

January 25, 2019

By Hattie Williams

THE Church can “never again be trusted” to protect children and adults from being abused under its care — not unless it relinquishes, at all levels, the unquestioned deference that comes with power, accepts accountability, and has the policies in place to reduce the likelihood of abuse.

This was the view expressed by the first independent chair of the National Safeguarding Panel, Meg Munn, in her first interview since she was appointed at the end of last year (News, 21 September). She took over from the Bishop of Bath & Wells, the Rt Revd Peter Hancock, who is the lead bishop on safeguarding for the Church of England.

Speaking in Church House on Thursday of last week, Ms Munn said that no parent, carer, or friend should ever stop being “vigilant” of safeguarding risks in any organisation, including the Church.

“Unless the Church is getting it right now, unless it has done everything it possibly can in terms of preventative messages — checking people who are being put into positions of authority, holding people to account, and dealing with concerns — then that trust can never be built up.

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DALLAS (TX)
WFAA TV

January 24, 2019

By Mark Smith and Jason Whitely

Childhood photos are difficult for him to look back on.

“Only when you personally have gone through something like this do you understand what it looks like to not want to exist anymore,” said the 33-year-old man, who asked that WFAA not publish his name.

In a lawsuit he filed last year under the name John Doe, he is suing the Catholic Diocese of Dallas alleging that a priest named Timothy J. Heines, “sexually, emotionally, and physically abused” him.

“Ten years of my life were taken by a man that I thought cared for me and loved me in a church that I thought protected me and wanted to shepherd me as a young Christian,” the plaintiff told WFAA.

At age 12, his parents separated, and he said his mother got him involved in a local Catholic parish where he met Father Heines.

The priest soon began taking the young teen to dinner and buying him haircuts and expensive clothes while in high school.

“When we got back to the rectory at nighttime, he would encourage us to try on the clothes in front of him,” he said, “and he’d take out a camera and take pictures.”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

January 25, 2019

By Keegan Kyle

The woman was standing in her Wood County home, physically and emotionally frazzled, when she called 911 in March 2017.

She remembers her heart pounding. She was about to tell police that her neighbor had groped her and tried to pull her into his bedroom.

It took three months of investigation before detectives asked prosecutors to file charges. They believed the man was guilty of fourth-degree sexual assault.

Seven months later, more than 300 days after she called 911, the woman opened the mail to find a letter from prosecutors saying no charges would be filed. The decision itself was painful, but the way she learned about it only added to the sense of isolation she felt from the district attorney’s office, she said.

“You can’t call me up and tell me that?” she said. “Nobody can call me up and tell me we’re finally reviewing your case? You’re just sitting there in the dark.”

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NEW YORK (NY)
Episcopal News Service

January 24, 2019

By Lynette Wilson

Sexual misconduct and harassment includes more than stranger or acquaintance rape and physical abuse. In some instances, inappropriate touching, an unwanted kiss on the cheek, an awkward embrace or a hand placed too low on a woman’s back—all are more obvious forms of sexual harassment.

Other forms are less obvious, more insidious. Commenting on a woman’s appearance, inviting a woman into one’s office on the pretext of a meeting, when really, the intention is of a sexual nature. Referring to women and girls as “baby,” “honey” and “sweetheart.” Talking over women and deferring to men in meetings. The enduring gender pay gap.

Or, common forms women clergy confront in The Episcopal Church. “You’re too young to be a priest.” “You’re too pretty to be a priest.”

In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal that rocked Hollywood and led to the downfall of powerful men across industries and professions, The Episcopal Church began its own examination of ingrained behaviors, practices and policies affecting women in January 2018.

A year and one General Convention later, Resolution D034, establishing a three-year suspension on the statute of limitations for sexual misconduct committed by clergy against an adult, became effective Jan. 1.

“A three-year suspension, that’s huge,” said House of Deputies President the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, in an interview with Episcopal News Service. “We are suspending the statute of limitations because we want to hear your voice.”

Resolution D034 was one of 24 resolutions addressing sexual harassment, abuse, sexism, inequality and discrimination submitted by the Special Committee on Sexual Harassment and Exploitation; a 49-member, female-only committee appointed by Jennings.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

January 25, 2019

By Robert McCabe

A month before the start of a global summit in Rome on the sex abuse crisis, a prominent church historian and theologian said last week that the issue poses the biggest challenge to the church in 500 years.

“This is not like the Protestant Reformation; it’s not,” Massimo Faggioli, a Villanova University professor, said in a talk at Immaculate Conception Church in Hampton, Virginia.”But in my opinion, it’s the most serious crisis in the Catholic Church since the Protestant Reformation.”

In an hour-long presentation, Faggioli set out to show how and why this particular moment in the history of the church has become so critical and what the crisis is telling Catholics about the state of the church. The talk was sponsored by the Bishop Keane Institute, a ministry offered by the parish, which brings prominent Catholic speakers to southeastern Virginia.

While the crisis has gone global, said Faggioli, one strain of it is peculiar to the United States, where it is inseparable from such hot-button issues as sexuality, homosexuality and gender. The scandal in the United States has resulted in a “theological crisis,” he said. The crisis is also being used by some, according to Faggioli, to mount a campaign opposing Pope Francis.

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HOUSTON (TX)
KHOU TV

January 24, 2019

By Jeremy Rogalski

“Houston, we have a problem.”

That is how SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, titled a local meeting Thursday, one week before the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is expected to release a list of all priests credibly accused of sexually abusing a child.

“I believe it won’t be complete,” said Michael Norris, leader of the Houston chapter of SNAP.

Norris cited other cases of abuse underreporting, such as the Diocese of Buffalo and dioceses in Pennsylvania and Illinois, where outside investigations revealed many more priests accused then originally reported by the Church.

He also criticized the handling of Father Manuel LaRosa Lopez, a local priest arrested in September on four counts of indecency with a child. One of his accusers blamed Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, who oversees the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, for not removing LaRosa Lopez from ministry and transferring the priest to another parish.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Post Gazette

January 24, 2019

By Josh Shapiro

The release of a report by a statewide grand jury detailing the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests in Pennsylvania, and an institutional cover-up across six dioceses stretching all the way to the Vatican, has sparked a movement and reckoning across our country.

Since the grand jury released its 884-page report in August, my office’s Clergy Abuse Hotline has received more than 1,450 calls. Our agents return every call, and a number of calls are of interest to us and have sparked new investigations.

While the report identified 301 predator priests, the criminal statute of limitations in Pennsylvania prevented my prosecutors from charging all but two offenders. The two priests we did charge, Father John Sweeney of the Diocese of Westmoreland, and Father David Poulson of the Diocese of Erie, both received significant prison sentences and are behind bars.

While not every victim of clergy abuse received the same sense of closure as Sweeney’s and Poulson’s victims, it has mattered greatly to many survivors that they have been able to share their truths and feel that people finally heard them.

I’ve heard that from victims in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and every corner of our commonwealth.

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

January 24, 2019

Today the Diocese of Biloxi released the names of three clerics that have been “credbily accused” of abuse.

We are grateful that Catholic officials have taken this small and belated step forward by disclosing these names. Some of this information has been kept hidden for years, and its release will provide comfort to victims, or family members of victims, who have been suffering alone and in silence.

However, since the Diocese openly acknowledged that it excluded “alleged abuse reported to have happened outside the Diocese by extern clergy who served in the Diocese, or allegations from before the Diocese was founded in 1977,” the list is incomplete on its face. If Bishop Louis F. Kihneman has information related to other abusers that spent time in the Biloxi Diocese, even if they abused elsewhere, then he should immediately release those names as well. Continued secrecy not only endangers today’s children, it also impedes victims’ healing.

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WAUSAU (WI)
Wausau Daily Herald

January 25, 2019

By Laura Schulte

The Catholic Diocese of Superior says it is cooperating with officials investigating the case of a priest accused of assaulting minors the 1980s.

Dan Blank, the diocese’s director of administrative services, told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin that the diocese was an intermediary in the reporting of a case filed Jan. 11 accusing former priest Thomas Ericksen of sexual assault of an unconscious victim.

Blank said the victim came to the diocese, which immediately recommended contacting law enforcement in Sawyer County.

Ericksen, who is now 71, was arrested on Nov. 16 in Minneapolis. He faces four separate charges stemming from his time at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Winter: two charges of second-degree assault of an unconscious victim, one count of first-degree sexual assault of a child and one count of second-degree sexual assault of a child.

Ericksen was a priest in Rice Lake, Rhinelander and Merrill before he transferred to Winter.

Sawyer County investigators, who had looked into complaints about Ericksen in 1983, renewed their probe in 2010 after learning of more alleged assaults. Police obtained a confession from him in 2016, when he admitted to investigators that he had “fondled” three boys in Winter, as well as two boys in other Wisconsin cities, according to the criminal complaint.

The diocese has received a subpoena for documents, according to online court documents.

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HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle

January 24, 2019

By Nicole Hensley

A former Conroe priest cried in front of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo and one of his accusers while delivering an apology for the sexual abuse with which he has now been charged, the accuser said Thursday.

The woman, who has asked not to be publicly identified, told survivors of priest abuse gathered Thursday night that the meeting took place after Manuel La Rosa-Lopez was allowed to continue his priestly duties.

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La Rosa-Lopez has been charged with four counts of indecency with a child in connection with two accusers, a man and the woman who shared their stories at the Freed-Montrose Neighborhood Library in Montrose.

He is accused of molesting the woman while assigned to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe. She was a teenager when the abuse is said to have taken place.

“I know a lot of people who attend Sacred Heart in Conroe,” she said. “That parish is on fire for justice. That means a lot to me.”

She is among three accusers who claim La Rosa-Lopez inappropriately touched them. The third accuser, who came forward in October, said he was abused as a 12-year-old altar boy at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Houston.

The meeting — hosted by Houston’s Survivors Network of Those Accused by Priests chapter — comes a week before the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is slated to make public a list of priests with credible child sex abuse accusations.

Michael Norris, who heads the Houston chapter, is keeping his expectations low.

“It won’t be complete,” Norris told about two dozen people in the audience.

SNAP President Tim Lennon and researcher Siobhan Fleming said that if the ratio of accused priests in Houston is comparable to what was uncovered in a sweeping Pennsylvania grand jury report in August, there could be 180 to 343 clergy members accused locally. The number is a startling estimate beyond what former Bishop Joseph Fiorenza revealed in 2004.

He said that from 1950 and up until that point, only 22 diocesan and religious order priests, and four deacons, had been accused of molesting children. During that time, the diocese had also distributed $3.6 million in settlements.

The Houston Chronicle has independently identified up to 20 priests who could be on the list, according to court records, police reports and interviews.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
Church Times

January 25, 2019

By Madeleine Davies

When the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, welcomed Pope Francis at Dublin Castle last August, he did not flinch from reciting a catalogue of the “dark aspects” of the Roman Catholic Church’s history (News, 31 August 2018).

“In place of Christian charity, forgiveness, and compassion, far too often there was judgement, severity, and cruelty: in particular, towards women and children and those on the margins,” he pronounced. “Magdalene Laundries, mother-and-baby homes, industrial schools, illegal adoptions, and clerical child abuse are stains on our State, our society, and also the Catholic Church. Wounds are still open.”

Overshadowing the visit, already fraught with fears that the Pope would fail abuse survivors, were fresh revelations from across the Atlantic. A grand jury had concluded that more than 300 priests had abused more than 1000 children in Pennsylvania. It was, Mr Varadkar noted, “a story all too tragically familiar here in Ireland”.

His speech was complimentary towards the Pope himself, fulsome in its acknowledgement of the Church’s gifts — the schools that it had established “in the open air next to hedgerows”, the “brave missionary priests and nuns” — and appreciative of the ties between faith and the fight for independence.

But nobody watching could be left in any doubt about the balance of power. It was time, he told the Pope, for “a more mature relationship” between Church and State: “a new covenant for the 21st century” — one in which “religion is no longer at the centre of our society, but in which it still has an important place”.

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Legal Reader blog

January 24, 2019

By Ryan J. Farrick

Several states, including New Jersey and New York, are contemplating major changes to the way they treat lawsuits filed by victims of child sex abuse.

Decades of lobbying to extend the statute of limitations for victims of child sex abuse are beginning to pay off.

This year, writes the Associated Press, has seen an unprecedented number of state-level breakthroughs. The policy shifts are likely related to widespread and high-profile lawsuits filed against the Roman Catholic Church.

New York, claims the AP, makes a stellar exhibit. A recent takeover of the state legislature by Democrats ‘seems almost certain’ to begin working on legislative fixes to what’s widely regarded as one of the nation’s most restrictive laws.

Changes are also on track in Rhode Island and New Jersey. Pennsylvania has spent months grappling with its statute of limitations; in August, a grandy jury accused at least 300 Catholic priests of abusing more than 1,000 children in the past seven years. Since August, legal extensions and fix-it proposals have been bounced back and forth between the state House and Senate.

Right now, legal recourse for childhood victims of sexual abuse is limited. According to the Associated Press, only a handful of states—including California, Minnesota, Delaware and Hawaii—have “lookback window” laws. Under their purview, victims are entitled to file civil lawsuits against institutions which caused them harm.

California’s one-year window opened in 2003.

Hundreds of civil actions have since been filed, with the Catholic Church alone paying out more than $1 billion in damages. State activists and legislators are attempting to instate another lookback window this year.

St. Anthony Catholic Church in Guam. The Archdiocese of Guam, a U.S. territory, declared bankruptcy last week in an effort to manage financial fallout from a sex abuse scandal of alarming proportions. Image via Wikimedia Commons. Listed as public domain.
Large payouts in California, Delaware and Minnesota have all prompted local dioceses to file bankruptcy. The Catholic Church, insurance agents and the Boy Scouts of America have all lobbied against the creation and updating of lookback windows across the United States

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BILOXI (MS)
WDAM TV

January 24, 2019

By Jayson Burnett

The Catholic Diocese of Biloxi released a list Thursday of priests credibly accused of sexual misconduct against children and teenagers.

The list includes the names of three priests with allegations dating back to 1989. One of the names on the list was Jose Vazquez Morales.

In 2016, Morales pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child in Jones County in 2015 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was originally charged with two counts of sexual battery of a minor. The judge who sentenced Morales also ordered he be deported to Mexico upon his release.

Vazquez worked as a pastor at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Wiggins. He also served as an associate pastor in Laurel, Hattiesburg and Lucedale from 2009 to 2015, which is when the Diocese of Biloxi first became aware of the allegations against him.

The other two names on the list released Thursday are Jerome J. Axton and Vincent the Quang Nguyen. According to the diocese, Axton was accused of sexual misconduct on a teenage girl in 1989 and was prohibited from ministering in 1992. Nguyen was accused of misconduct with female minors and adolescents in 1989 and was prohibited from ministering the same year.

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NEW YORK (NY)
WKBW TV

January 24, 2019

By Charlie Specht

After years of debate, New York State appears on the verge of reforming what advocates have called its outdated laws that bar many victims of child sex abuse from seeking justice in court.

State lawmakers are expected to vote on the proposed Child Victims Act on Monday, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo, which would expand the statutes of limitation for child sex abuse victims. The bill had languished for years in the Republican-controlled State Senate, but Democrats now control the upper chamber and have said passing the law is a major part of their agenda.

“For too long, society has failed these survivors of abuse and their traumas at the hands of authority figures have only been compounded by a justice system that denied them their day in court,” Cuomo said in a statement. “In New York, this ends now. I’m proud to say the time is now to pass this critical legislation to end this heinous injustice once and for all and give these victims their day in court.”

The New York Daily News and The Buffalo News first reported these developments.

The proposed law could have devastating effects on the Buffalo Catholic Diocese, which has been embroiled in a sex abuse scandal since last March. Buffalo Bishop Richard J. Malone has been under intense pressure to resign since confidential church records obtained by 7 Eyewitness News showed he returned a priest to ministry despite allegations of inappropriate contact with a child and allowed another priest to remain in ministry despite multiple allegations of adult sexual misconduct. Records also showed Malone withheld the names of more than 60 accused priests from the public, releasing a list of 42 names in March when an internal list contained more than 100 priests .

New York’s bishops had opposed the law but have reportedly dropped their opposition in the wake of political reality and the agreement by state lawmakers to also allow victims to sue public institutions, as well as private. The State Attorney General’s Office and the FBI are investigating the Buffalo Diocese and other dioceses in New York.

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HOUSTON (TX)
KPRC TV

January 24, 2019

By Sophia Beausoleil

A roundtable discussion just started in Montrose about the sexual abuse scandal swirling around the Catholic Church.

The discussion comes exactly one week before the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is expected to release a list of priests accused of sexual abuse.

A victims’ advocacy group is hosting the discussion.

The leader of the group, Michael Norris, said members question if the archdiocese will be fully transparent. They also want to know what church officials’ definition of credibility is.

“What’s credible? We’ll talk about that tonight. What defines credibility? Because we don’t know what defines credibility for the Catholic Church. I know what credibility means to me. They haven’t shared with us what their rules are about it being credible,” Norris said.

Authorities arrested Rev. Manuel La Rosa-Lopez last September after investigators said a man and woman accused him of abuse when he was at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe in the late 1990s to early 2000s.

Later, authorities executed a search at the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in connection with the case.

After the sexual abuse accusations against La Rosa-Lopez and other priests started to come to light, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston announced it was compiling a list and would make it public.

“Also the fact that they talk about being transparent, we don’t know … who is the investigator looking at all of these files? Who is that individual? What files were given to them?” Norris said.

On Thursday afternoon, KPRC2 spoke with Norris, who is the leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

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ALBANY (NY)
Newsday

January 24, 2019

By Yancey Roy

Continuing their rapid pace, state legislators say they will approve next week a far-ranging package of gun-control measures and a bill to allow victims of long-ago child sex abuse to sue their abusers.

The Senate and the Assembly plan to vote Monday on the “Child Victims Act,” which would suspend the normal statute of limitations for bringing sex-abuse claims to permit individuals up to 55 years old to file civil claims and allow a one-year “look back” period for victims older than 55 to file lawsuits.

On Tuesday, lawmakers plan to focus on gun control. The measures include banning so-called bump stocks and restricting gun ownership rights of those deemed a danger to themselves or others (known as the “red flag” bill), state officials said. Other bills that could be part of the package include strengthening “safe storage” laws and prohibiting the arming of schoolteachers.

The flurry of activity follows the Democrats’ takeover of the Senate, which had been controlled by Republicans for all but a few years over the last five decades.

Controlling both legislative houses now, Democrats have hit the ground running in the first month of the 2019 session, approving sweeping bills to change laws on abortion, voting, campaign financing, college tuition aid and teacher evaluations. They’ve also scheduled hearings on sexual harassment in the workplace.

In almost every instance, Democrats are acting on bills that had been adopted by the Assembly but were stalled by the GOP-controlled Senate.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Commonweal Magazine

January 24, 2019

By Massimo Faggioli

Many symbols of Catholicism have changed, receded, or even disappeared, to be replaced by others. But not the Catholic priest. The church’s presence in education, culture, and social work may not be as visible as it once was, but the priest’s role remains conspicuous. When most people think of Catholicism, they still think of a man in a Roman collar.

A seminar sponsored by Boston College that ran from September 2016 until the summer of 2018 has produced an interesting document on priesthood and ministry, with a noteworthy set of proposals on the formation of future priests. The document, published in the last 2018 issue of Origins, is titled “To Serve the People of God: Renewing the Conversation on Priesthood and Ministry.” The group that produced it includes men and women, lay and ordained Catholics, scholars and pastoral ministers. It was chaired by Richard Gaillardetz of the Boston College theology department and Thomas Groome and Richard Lennan of the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College.

The introduction of the nine-thousand-word document makes clear that the focus is on the formation of diocesan priests, not members of religious orders or new ecclesial movements such as the Neocatechumenal Way. The focus is also on the United States: the authors acknowledge that some of their proposals may not be applicable to other countries.

The document’s first part, “Ministry in the Life of the Church,” addresses the ecclesiological foundations of ministry in the life of the church—the sacramentality of the church and the ecclesial nature of all its ministries. The second part is devoted to “A Profile of the Well-Formed Priest,” presenting the priest in all his aspects: as a preacher, as leader of worship and prayer, as collaborative leader, as public representative of the church, and as practitioner of pastoral charity.

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HOUSTON (TX)
KTRK TV

January 24, 2019

By Christine Dobbyn

Survivors of alleged sexual abuse along with their supporters will gather in Montrose on Thursday night.

The gathering comes just days before a list of credibly-accused priests is released by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

“First of all, I don’t expect them to report them all,” said Michael Norris, who says he is a survivor of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest.

RELATED: Archdiocese accused of withholding documents in priest sex case

He is the leader of the Houston chapter of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“What we’ll find is it will be a low number, that’s what I’m expecting,” Norris said. “They won’t put everyone on that list. There’s a lot of order priests that come through this diocese that won’t be on that list.”

In November, law enforcement took thousands of pages of documents following a search warrant on the Archdiocese offices.

The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office is overseeing the case of Father Manuel La Rosa Lopez. He’s charged with four counts of indecency with a child.

Two victims allege they were sexually abused as children while at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe in the late 1990s to early 2000s. La Rosa Lopez was last assigned to a church in Richmond before being arrested.

It could be next year before La Rosa Lopez goes to trial as thousands of documents are being evaluated.

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BILOXI (MISSISSIPPI)
Sun Herald

January 24, 2019

By Jill Toyoshiba

Three priests in the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi were removed from ministry, and one was incarcerated, because they “were credibly accused of sexual misconduct of minors,” the Diocese announced Thursday.

The Diocese identified them as former priests Jose Vazquez Morales, Jerome J. Axton and Vincent The Quang Nguyen. In all three cases, the Diocese notified the District Attorney’s Office, a news release said.

The list does not include alleged abuse reported to have happened outside the Diocese by extern clergy who served in the Diocese, or allegations from before the Diocese was founded in 1977. Allegations from the latter will be released in the spring by the Diocese of Jackson, the release said.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

January 24, 2019

A Catholic deacon in the Diocese of Pittsburgh has been sentenced for criminal sexual solicitation of a minor.

Rosendo F. “Ross” Dacal was sentenced today to two years of probation for two felony convictions related to sending sexually explicit material to an undercover police officer posing as a teenage boy. The clergyman pleaded guilty to the charges in October.

Deacon Dacal will not be jailed, so we worry that he may still pose a risk to others. As a result, we are begging anyone who may have been abused by the Deacon, or anyone who saw or suspected such abuse, to contact law enforcement. SNAP, or groups like us, are available to assist survivors, witnesses and whistle blowers as they come forward.

Deacon Dacal was arrested in 2018 on charges related to sending and soliciting obscene images from an undercover police officer he thought was a 14-year-old boy. Following his arrest, he was suspended from his assignments at All Saints Parish in Etna and the Allegheny County Jail. We also know the Deacon previously taught

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BELLEVILLE (IL)
News Democrat

January 24, 2019

By Dana Rieck

The Mascoutah priest accused of possessing child pornography and drugs will undergo a mental examination before moving toward a trial after his lawyer filed a motion for an evaluation last week.

On Jan. 9, 2018, Gerald R. Hechenberger, former associate pastor of Holy Childhood Church and School in Mascoutah, was charged with possessing and distributing child pornography and possession of methamphetamine. He was freed on $25,000 cash for bond after a judge lowered his original $2 million bail.

“Since (Hechenberger’s) attorney has reasonable cause to believe that (Hechenberger) may at the present time may be mentally incompetent so as to be able to understand the nature of the proceedings against him, and unable to assist in the preparation of his own defense, (Hechenberger’s) attorney is requesting that the Court order an examination of the defendant to determine his current fitness,” his defense attorney James A. Gomric wrote in the motion.

Gomric did not immediately return calls for comment.

Assistant State’s Attorney Steve Sallerson said now that his defense attorney has raised a bona fide doubt as to Hechenberger’s mental fitness Judge Zina Cruse has ordered Dr. Daniel Cuneo to conduct the examination.

A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 21. This hearing will be to determine where the case will go from here.

As of Thursday, Hechenberger was scheduled to stand trial March 18.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

January 24, 2019

By Tom Precious|

State lawmakers on Monday are poised to OK measures raising the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases, as the Catholic Church is signaling it will drop its long-held opposition if public schools are specifically included with religious and private schools in one major provision of the legislation.

The bill’s Senate sponsor said Thursday afternoon that such a demand is being met in the final bill.

Democrats, now in control of both legislative houses, have vowed since before the November elections that they would push through a series of bills that were blocked when the Republicans were in the Senate majority until this month. They’ve already done so on measures involving abortion, election laws and immigration.

The Child Victims Act, which has been opposed over the years by the Catholic Church and some other organizations, is set to be passed Monday by the Senate and Assembly. It will raise the statute of limitations that victims of child sex abuse can try to bring civil or criminal cases against their abusers and open a one-year “look-back” period – also called a “revival window” – for victims of any age to bring lawsuits over alleged sexual abuse that may have occurred decades ago.

“This is legislation that has been languishing for years under previous Republican majority leadership, and under the current Democratic leadership we recognize how important it is we are finally bringing justice to victims of child sexual abuse,” said Sen. Timothy Kennedy, a Buffalo Democrat.

The New York State Catholic Conference, which has raised concerns about the one year look-back period, among other provisions, on Thursday declined comment until it could see the actual legislation that will be coming to the Senate and Assembly floors on Monday. The group represents the church’s bishops based in New York State.

The Catholic Church has maintained that previous efforts would carve out for the look-back period just private schools, and not the 700 public school districts in New York. The bill goes beyond just schools, whether private or not, to include other settings, including churches, Boy Scouts or other institutions.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune-Review

January 24, 2019

By Natasha Lindstrom

A Roman Catholic deacon from McCandless was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service for convictions related to sending sexually explicit material to an undercover police officer posing online as a teenage boy.

Deacon Rosendo “Ross” Dacal, 74, pleaded guilty in October to felony counts of criminal solicitation of sexual acts via computer files and images and criminal use of a communication facility.

Washington County Common Pleas Judge Gary Gilman sentenced Dacal to two years’ probation for each count, with the sentences to run concurrently. Gilman further ordered Dacal to obtain mental health treatment, court records showed.

Dacal’s attorney, Robert Del Greco Jr., could not immediately be reached.

Following Dacal’s arrest last April on five charges , the Diocese of Pittsburgh placed Dacal on administrative leave. His security clearances at the Allegheny County Jail, where he was a chaplain, were revoked.

Dacal had served the All Saints Parish in Etna since 2011.

“The charges against (Dacal) are disturbing,” Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik said at the time. “We had no previous knowledge of his alleged activities.”

As of Thursday, Dacal remained on leave and cannot function as a deacon, said the Rev. Nicholas Vaskov, spokesman for the diocese.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

January 24, 2019

By Jacqueline Serrato

A popular Chicago priest who formerly served as pastor at Most Blessed Trinity Parish in Waukegan was declared not guilty this week of sexual misconduct with a minor.

The Rev. Gary Graf was the pastor of a parish in Chicago’s Hermosa neighborhood when an underage employee of a sister church accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior in July of last year.

In a bench trial on Wednesday, Cook County Circuit Judge Daniel Gallagher declared the priest not guilty, WGN first reported.

The 17-year-old employee initially said he received a phone call from Graf’s secretary, who told him that Graf was attracted to him. He also said the priest rubbed his shoulders inappropriately and offered him a free car. The minor said he immediately told his parents.

The Archdiocese of Chicago removed Graf from the ministry pending an investigation. The Department of Children and Family Services investigated the matter and ruled the allegations to be “unfounded.”

From the moment the church alerted authorities and criminal charges were pressed, Graf has maintained his innocence.

It is up to the archdiocese to decide when or if Graf will return to San Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio Parish.

The parish is a consolidation of three churches: St. Francis of Assisi on Taylor Street, Philomena in Hermosa, and Maternity BVM in Humboldt Park. Graf was pastor in Waukegan for 14 years before taking another assignment in 2009, and he also served as pastor at St. Gall in Chicago.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

January 23, 2019

By Ted Sherman

A New Jersey priest charged last week with the sexual assault of a teenager nearly three decades ago served as the youth director at St. Ceclia’s Church in Iselin at the time of the alleged incidents, and had sex with the victim in New Jersey, Florida and Washington, D.C., according to criminal complaints filed by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

The teen also performed oral sex on the priest, the Rev. Thomas Ganley, according to the complaints and affidavits of probable cause released in response to a public records request. Ganley was a parochial vicar at St. Philip and St. James Catholic Church in Phillipsburg and a chaplain at St. Luke’s Warren Campus Hospital until his arrest on Wednesday — just two days after the victim in the case, who is now 42, came forward.

The complaints also revealed that the priest was recorded in a “consensual intercept” with the victim, in which he admitted sexual conduct. In a later interview with investigators, he conceded he had sex with the victim on multiple occasions, according to the affidavit that was filed in the matter.

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EAST FALMOUTH (MA)
Cape Cod Times

January 23, 2019

By Wheeler Cowperthwaite

2 plaintiffs each receive $200K in case that argued church negligence.

Two men who filed a lawsuit alleging they were sexually abused for years by a priest in St. Anthony’s Parish have each received $200,000 settlements.

Their attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, announced the October settlements Tuesday as the Archdiocese of Hartford released the names of 48 priests found to have been credibly accused of sexual abuse. Garabedian said the list was a “small step in the direction of healing for clergy sexual abuse survivors,” but said the archdiocese should also release “the names of those who participated in the cover-up.”

The link between the Falmouth case and the Hartford archdiocese is the Most Rev. Daniel Cronin, who served as bishop of the Fall River Diocese, which includes the Cape and Islands, from 1970 until 1991 and then became archbishop in Hartford, Connecticut, until his retirement in 2003. Cronin was named as defendant in the lawsuit because he supervised Monsignor Maurice Souza, who was assigned to St. Anthony’s from 1977 to 1986, and the suit said he “knew or should have known” about the abuse.

“Agents” who worked for Cronin and were supervised by him knew the boys spent the night at the rectory with Souza and went on overnight, out-of-state trips with him, the suit said.

Souza died in 1996 at age 83.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Sojourners Magazine

January 23, 2019

By John Noble

Over the past few decades, sexual abuse survivors, whistleblowers, and journalists have exposed a horrific pattern of sex abuse and cover up in the Roman Catholic Church. As a Catholic millennial, I have never known a church unmarked by the abuse crisis. In the bathrooms at my Catholic high school and my small Midwestern parish, I distinctly remember posters detailing who I should call if I was abused or assaulted by an authority figure. Last year, the Pennsylvania grand jury report and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick revelations made my generation aware of this crisis in a renewed way. Too often, in responses, the voices of survivors themselves are lost.

I recently had the opportunity to discuss the current state of the Roman Catholic Church’s sexual abuse crisis with Tim Lennon, a survivor of clergy sexual abuse. Lennon is the president of the board of directors of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a nonprofit support network for survivors of sexual abuse by religious and institutional authorities. The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.

John Noble, Sojourners: Tell me about the history of SNAP.

Tim Lennon: SNAP was originally founded in 1988 by Barbara Blaine, a survivor of sexual abuse by her parish priest. She found others abused within the Church, started support groups, and that grew and grew. Now SNAP is a network of over 25,000. We’re a peer network. None of us are experts. We’re survivors helping survivors. Our mission is to help survivors, protect children, and do advocacy around laws around exposing predators and those that cover up for predators. Most survivors of abuse, especially child sexual abuse, never come forward. We provide an opportunity for people to tell their story within a community where they are believed and supported.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Wisconsin Public Radio

January 24, 2019

By Mary Kate McCoy

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm is calling for a statewide investigation into the Catholic Church’s response to allegations of child sexual abuse over the past 50 years.

The call comes at a time when dioceses across the country are under heightened pressure to release names of priests with credible accusations of abuse against them.

Just last week the Diocese of Green Bay released the names of 46 priests who are known to have committed sexual offenses against minors dating back to 1906. Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith urged victims of abuse to go directly to law enforcement officials — not the church — Friday.

Chisholm told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he hopes to team up with Attorney General Josh Kaul and district attorneys across the state to review decades of clergy abuse allegations.

Peter Isley, a clergy abuse survivor and founding member of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the likelihood of an investigation is higher than it ever has been.

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UNITED STATES
The Atlantic

March 2019 Issue

By Alex French and Maximillian Potter

The Bohemian Rhapsody director Bryan Singer has been trailed by accusations of sexual misconduct for 20 years. Here, his alleged victims tell their stories.

Over the past two decades, Bryan Singer’s films—The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, Superman Returns, four of the X-Men movies—have earned more than $3 billion at the box office, putting him in the top tier of Hollywood directors. He’s known for taking risks in his storytelling: It was Singer’s idea, for instance, to open the original X-Men movie with a scene at Auschwitz, where a boy uses his superpowers to bend the metal gates that separate him from his parents. Studio executives were skeptical about starting a comic-book movie in a concentration camp, but the film became a blockbuster and launched a hugely profitable franchise for 20th Century Fox.

Singer’s most recent project debuted in November. Critics gave Bohemian Rhapsody—which chronicles the rise of the rock band Queen—only lukewarm reviews, but it earned more than $50 million in its opening weekend. By the end of December, it had brought in more than $700 million, making it one of the year’s biggest hits.

The film’s success should have been a triumph for Singer, proof of his enduring ability to intuit what audiences want. In January it won two Golden Globes, including the award for best drama. But Singer was conspicuously absent from the ceremony—and his name went unmentioned in the acceptance speeches. He had been fired by 20th Century Fox in December 2017, with less than three weeks of filming left. Reports emerged of a production in chaos: Singer was feuding with his cast and crew, and had disappeared from the set for days at a time.

On December 7, 2017, three days after The Hollywood Reporter broke the news of Singer’s firing, a Seattle man named Cesar Sanchez-Guzman filed a lawsuit against the director, alleging that Singer had raped him in 2003, when Sanchez-Guzman was 17. The day after that, Deadline Hollywood published an interview with a former boyfriend of Singer’s, Bret Tyler Skopek, in which Skopek described a lifestyle of drugs and orgies.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service

January 24, 2019

By Carol Glatz

Since the work of child protection must continue after the February meeting at the Vatican on safeguarding, one organizer said they plan on creating a “task force” with teams on every continent.

The task force would be just one of a number of “concrete measures that we want to offer the bishops of the world,” Jesuit Father Hans Zollner told the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano Jan. 24.

“One of our main ideas,” he said, “is that this encounter is another step along a long journey that the church has begun and that will not end with this meeting,” which will bring presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences, the heads of the Eastern Catholic churches and representatives of the leadership groups of men’s and women’s religious orders to the Vatican Feb. 21-24.

A task force made up of child protection experts “will probably be instituted in the various continents where the church is present,” and they will travel from place to place, said Father Zollner, who is a member of the meeting’s four-person organizing committee, president of the Centre for the Protection of Minors at the Pontifical Gregorian University and a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

January 24, 2019

By Phyllis Zagano

The question of women deacons has nothing to do with women priests.

What? And, why?

Well, to begin with, historical documents — canons, liturgical texts, and other writings — speak freely and regularly about women deacons, not priests, “ordained” or “blessed.” Facts are facts.

Fact #1: The terms “ordained” and “blessed” were used interchangeably in both the East and the West. For example, Canon 21 of the Council of Auxerre (561-605), about 100 miles southeast of Paris, places restrictions on a priest “once he has received the benediction.” We see the same for women deacons: some documents call them “ordained,” some call them “blessed.” A few revisionist historians have attacked the evidence. A New York seminary priest-professor insists women were “only” blessed. His authoritative text is a book published in 2000 by a former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Müller. More about that book later.

Fact # 2: Women deacons performed some tasks akin to those performed by men deacons, but women deacons also performed tasks men deacons did not. Women deacons anointed women during baptism; women deacons anointed ill women and brought them the Eucharist; women deacons took charge of women in the assembly; women deacons catechized women and children and they looked after their needs. And, we know of a woman deacon who managed a local church’s finances. Not every woman deacon did all these things in every time and place, but across space and time they regularly performed diaconal duties.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Tablet

January 24, 2019

by Michael Sean Winters

The annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. was more muted this year as the Catholic Church, which supplies the vast majority of the marchers, continues to lick its wounds from the re-emergence of the clergy sexual abuse scandal last year, writes Michael Sean Winters.

The march, held on 18 January, the Friday before the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion, nonetheless drew tens of thousands of participants, including many Catholic school students.

Washington’s Cardinal Donald Wuerl bowed out of the annual Youth Mass in the sports arena, which was instead celebrated by Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Christophe Pierre. Cardinal Wuerl had faced questions about when he first learned about allegations that his predecessor, the former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, had inappropriate relationships with seminarians.

Just two cardinals and 40 bishops attended the Vigil Mass the night before. The event traditionally attracts almost all of the cardinals and about 100 bishops.

Archbishop Joseph Naumann, chair of the bishops’ conference’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, was the principal celebrant at the Vigil Mass, held in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The archbishop, who is considered a leader of the hierarchy’s conservative wing, addressed a range of issues in his homily, including the clergy sexual abuse crisis, immigration, poverty and racism.

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PANAMA CITY (PANAMA)
Catholic News Service

January 24, 2019

By Rhina Guidos

As Pope Francis was arriving in Panama Jan. 23, bishops from the United States wasted no time addressing the sex abuse scandal back home during a popular event aimed at American and other English-speaking World Youth Day pilgrims.

“It’s not easy being Christian, it’s not easy being Catholic … especially today when things in the church are difficult,” said Bishop Edward J. Burns of Dallas, addressing the sex abuse scandal in a room of hundreds of U.S. young adults attending the FIAT Festival for U.S. pilgrims at Panama’s Figali Convention Center. The event was sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Knights of Columbus and FOCUS.

“How often do we hear our friends say to us: I’m done, I’m bowing out. I will have no more of this, ” Bishop Burns said. “My friends, I want you to tell your friends that you’d never separate yourself from Jesus because of Judas. You’d never do that!”

Many in the room applauded.

“Yes, you look at the church today,” he continued, “and there have been some who have betrayed us, some even in church leadership.”

But he told the pilgrims to “stay strong, stayed focused, stay steady.”

The message was well received by those in the room, including Kennedy Horter, 16, of Indiana.

“I don’t let people come between me and God,” said Horter, wrapped in a U.S. flag.

She said she was not going to judge priests and other good people in the church by the actions of men who likely were never priests “spiritually.”

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NORTH SMITHFIELD (RI)
The Valley Breeze

January 23, 2019

In a recent newspaper article, I read where the Vatican is preparing to defrock Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, for sexually abusing children.

Another report indicated that the Illinois district attorney is working to expose the names of 500 priests who have also been charged with sexually abusing kids. It’s disgusting. Where does it end?

The shock of widespread clerical sexual misconduct has been reported on an almost daily basis. No crime is more repulsive than the abuse of a child.

Clerical sexual abuse of children may prove to have cataclysmic results. A church with 2000 years of history is passing through a time of crisis.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
City News Service

January 23, 2019

A young man who alleges he was sexually abused by a pastor at the Catholic church he attended in Covina settled his lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, attorneys told a judge Tuesday.

The plaintiff, identified only as John CJ Doe, alleged child sexual abuse and negligence. The lawyers informed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Holly Kendig that the case was resolved, but no terms were divulged. Kendig heard pretrial motions last week prior to the settlement.

The suit was filed in May 2015 and also named as defendants St. Louise de Marillac Church and the Rev. Chris Cunningham. The plaintiff alleged that Cunningham abused him in 2001 and 2002 when Doe was 12 and 13 years old.

Cunningham served at St. Lawrence Martyr Catholic Church in Redondo Beach from 1998 to 2001 and is accused of abuse there.

The archdiocese issued a statement regarding the Covina settlement.

“The archdiocese did not know of any allegation of sexual misconduct by Father Cunningham until 2015, when the initial claim was filed, and was not aware of the additional claims until recently advised by plaintiffs’ counsel,” the statement read. “Father Cunningham has been inactive and out of ministry since 2005 after the archdiocese received allegations of improper boundary violations concerning Father Cunningham in August 2005.”

The matter was investigated according to archdiocese policy and an announcement concerning the allegations was made at Father Cunningham’s parish informing the parish community, the archdiocese added.

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

January 24, 2019

A former Staten Island priest was named as a “credibly accused” cleric yesterday by Catholic officials in Connecticut.

The clergyman is Fr. Edward Tissera, a native of Sri Lanka, who also worked at St. Clare’s on Staten Island from 1997-2000. The parish had a school with around 700 students and a religious education program with roughly 2000 students. Fr. Tissera also went by the names W. Edward Julian Tissera, Edward J. Tissera, Edward Warnakulasuriya, and Edward Warnakulasooriya.

We implore anyone who may have been abused by Fr. Tissera on Staten Island or elsewhere in NY state, or who witnessed or suspected such abuse, to contact the NYPD immediately. Reports should also be made to the NY’s Attorney General by either filling out the online form or calling 1-800-771-7755. Survivors, witnesses and whistle blowers can also contact groups like ours for help and support as they come forward.

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BELLEVILLE (IL)
Fox 2 News

By Erika Tallan

January 23, 2019

Representatives with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) protested Wednesday in front of the Belleville Archdiocese calling out Belleville Bishop Edward Braxton and his list of “credibly accused” clergy.

SNAP says his list is incomplete because it leaves out 10 names as well as important information like photos, whereabouts, and work histories.

David Clohessy, a SNAP spokesperson, shared a list of 10 names of clergy who have been publicly accused in other communities across the country that he believes should be added to Braxton’s list because they are men who were ordained elsewhere and molested elsewhere but spent time in Belleville and had access to Belleville kids:

Fr. Larry Lorenzoni
Fr. Chester E. Gaiter
Fr. Kenneth J. Roberts
Fr. Fred Lenczycki
Fr. Thomas Gregory Meyer
Fr. Emil Twardochleb
Fr. Michael Charland
Fr. Orville Munie
Fr. Paul Kabat
Fr. James Vincent Fitzgerald
Clohessy said he wanted to publicly reveal the names in the community to prevent any more children from being harmed and to help victims heal.

“We believe very firmly that someone in Belleville area tonight there’s a woman or a man who will drink two bottles of wine or three 6-packs of beer to numb the pain of having being sexually violated by one of these priests and that individual needs and deserves to know that he or she is not alone and it is not their fault and that by making these names public at least some tiny measure of justice and comfort will be brought to them,” said Clohessy.

We attempted to reach the Catholic Diocese of Belleville for comment.

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LAWRENCE (KS)
Lawrence Journal World

January 24, 2019

State Sen. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City, introduced a bill Wednesday to require that church clergy and employees be mandatory reporters of sexual assault.

“Clergy leadership are adults that children must be able to trust to keep them safe,” Holland said during an afternoon news conference at the Capitol in Topeka. “(The bill) mandates that they report suspected abuse or neglect to authorities. It is an extra layer of protection for all Kansas children.”

Holland said the bill would add clergy and employees to already existing laws that require teachers, social workers, firefighters, police, psychologists, therapists and other professionals to relay information of possible sexual assaults to law enforcement.

“Many other states, including Missouri, have laws in place that make clergy mandatory reporters,” he said. “It only makes sense that Kansas add it to our law.”

Holland said he expected support from his colleagues to make the bill law.

Holland introduced the bill alongside a family from Jefferson County who allege that their 10-year-old son was sexually assaulted by teenagers at a rural Lawrence church in 2017. The Journal-World has determined that the case was investigated by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Governing

January 24, 2019

By Elaine S. Povich

When a Virginia 16-year-old told her parents that their church’s youth leader, Jordan Baird, had been sending her sexually suggestive text messages, they immediately confronted their pastor.

Pastor David Baird, the perpetrator’s father, said the church would investigate, but he did not tell law enforcement authorities — and he wasn’t required under Virginia law to report a suspected case of abuse or face criminal charges. The abuse became physical, and later other girls accused Jordan Baird of assaulting them.

Jordan Baird served eight months in prison after being convicted on five felony counts of indecent liberties with a minor. But church members want state law changed to force pastors like David Baird, who still leads the Life Church in Manassas, Virginia, to join the list of professionals specifically required to report such incidents.

They brought their story to Democratic Virginia state Del. Karrie Delaney, who was a sexual assault crisis counselor in Florida before moving to Virginia.

“Their church was really torn up by the allegation and the fact that the young man who was the perpetrator ended up doing the same thing to another person after the first one wasn’t reported,” Delaney said. “When I sat down with them and heard the story I knew this was something I had to do.”

She and others introduced legislation this year that would add clergy to the state’s list of “mandatory reporters,” people who work with children — such as teachers, counselors and athletic coaches — and who are required by law to report suspicions of child abuse to law enforcement authorities.

While most states have broad laws calling on anyone who learns of child abuse to report it, mandatory reporters can be charged with a crime for failing to do so.

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HARTFORD (CT)
WTNH TV

January 23, 2019

On Tuesday, the Hartford Archdiocese released the names of dozens of priests “credibly” accused of sexual abuse.

For survivors of abuse, those names have opened old wounds, and some claim the names on that list are just the tip of the iceberg.

The group known as SNAP, or, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, came out swinging hard on Wednesday.

A spokesperson called the list put out by the Hartford Archdiocese “incomplete,” and said more suspected abusers remain among the ranks of clergy.

SNAP accused the Catholic Church of withholding information on abusive priests, essentially shielding them from accountability.

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CALGARY (CANADA)
The Iron Warrior

January 23, 2019

By Mridu Walia

Allegations have surfaced against a Catholic priest working at St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church in Marlborough, a residential neighbourhood in the city of Calgary, Alberta. The priest, Malcolm Joe D’Souza (age 62) is being accused of sexually assaulting a woman on several occasions in the church about six years ago between September and October 2012.

The victim, an adult woman, reported being sexually touched without consent on several occasions by a priest at the church. Following these allegations, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary also received allegations involving two minors and several adults who were allegedly sexually assaulted by the priest between the years 2010 and 2016, when he was assigned as a pastor at St. Mark’s.

The diocese released an official statement on Saturday, October 27 at 5 PM (MDT) stating, “Bishop McGrattan has removed Fr. Malcolm D’Souza from St. Bernard’s and Assumption parishes and placed him on administrative leave. Fr. D’Souza is currently prohibited from exercising priestly ministry in the Diocese of Calgary”. Fr. D’ Souza was put on administrative leave by the diocese last fall and was arrested on Friday, 11 January 2019. He is next scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, February 21, 2019.
Allegations have surfaced against a Catholic priest working at St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church in Marlborough, a residential neighbourhood in the city of Calgary, Alberta. The priest, Malcolm Joe D’Souza (age 62) is being accused of sexually assaulting a woman on several occasions in the church about six years ago between September and October 2012.

The victim, an adult woman, reported being sexually touched without consent on several occasions by a priest at the church. Following these allegations, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary also received allegations involving two minors and several adults who were allegedly sexually assaulted by the priest between the years 2010 and 2016, when he was assigned as a pastor at St. Mark’s.

The diocese released an official statement on Saturday, October 27 at 5 PM (MDT) stating, “Bishop McGrattan has removed Fr. Malcolm D’Souza from St. Bernard’s and Assumption parishes and placed him on administrative leave. Fr. D’Souza is currently prohibited from exercising priestly ministry in the Diocese of Calgary”. Fr. D’ Souza was put on administrative leave by the diocese last fall and was arrested on Friday, 11 January 2019. He is next scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, February 21, 2019.

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HARTFORD (CT)
Hartford Courant

January 23, 2019

By Dave Altimari

A group representing victims of sexual abuse by priests is questioning why as many as six alleged abusers were left off a list of “credibly accused” priests released by the Archdiocese of Hartford this week.

At a press conference Wednesday afternoon in front of the Archdiocese in Hartford, members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) also called on the church to release more information on the whereabouts of living abusers.

On Tuesday, Archbishop Leonard Blair released the names of 48 priests that either had been sued or were “credibly accused” of sex abuse, but Gail Howard, the director of the local chapter of SNAP, said the list is incomplete. As she stood on the steps of St. Joseph’s Cathedral in the shadow of the archdiocese’s offices she held a sign with the names of six clergy members she claims should have been included – priests Donal Collins, Cornelius T. “Neil” Otero, Enrique Vasquez and Walter A. Vichas, and brothers Thomas Sawyer and Michael Benedict Taylor.

The Hartford Archdiocese has released names of priests accused of sexual abuse. Here’s who they are and where they served. »
“SNAP was able to identify six priests within 24 hours, how many others aren’t on there as well?” Howard said. “Where are the priests who are still alive now? You have child molesters trained and assigned to the Catholic Church they are now saying are no longer their responsibility,” Howard said. She called on the church to release photos of all the accused priests.

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CHICAGO (IL)
WGN Channel 9

January 23, 2019

By Dina Bair

A Chicago priest accused of sexual wrongdoing has been found not guilty.

Rev. Gary Graf was pastor at San Jose Luis Sanchez Del Rio Parish in Hermosa. A church employee, who was a minor, accused him of inappropriate behavior in July.

The teenager said he once received a phone call from the church secretary saying Graf was attracted to him. He said Graf would also rub his shoulders and once offered him a free car. The teen said he immediately told his parents.

The Archdiocese of Chicago removed Graf from ministry pending an investigation. The Department of Children and Family Services looked into the matter and found no wrongdoing.

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St. PAUL (MN)
Pioneer Press

January 16, 2019

By Sarah Norner

A former rabbi at a Jewish learning center in Minneapolis won’t serve jail time for making arrangements online with someone he thought was a child for sex.

Aryeh Cohen, 44, received a stayed 30-day sentence from a Ramsey County district judge at his sentencing hearing Wednesday afternoon.

The St. Louis Park man also was placed on probation for three years, ordered to serve 150 hours of community service, undergo mental health counseling and register as a sex offender.

Cohen was working as a rabbi and director of youth outreach for the Minneapolis Community Kollel when he was arrested last winter as part of a metro-area law enforcement sting aimed at combating online solicitation of sex [https://www.twincities.com/2018/08/02/minneapolis-rabbi-aryeh-cohen-among-those-charged-in-twin-cities-underage-sex-stings] with children. The operation was carried out in advance of Super Bowl LII, which was being held in Minneapolis on Feb. 4.

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HARTFORD (CT)
Fox 61 News

January 23, 2019

By Matt Caron

In the wake of the renewed scandal of clergy sex abuse at the hands of priests, a local victim’s advocacy group is calling out the Hartford archdiocese for what they call a glaring omission. The group revealed six additional names of catholic officials who, they say, have been credibility accused of child sex abuse.

But “credibly” is the key word. It can be interpreted differently. Of these six names, two have been convicted in other countries, and at least two are facing lawsuits. They’ve all been publicly accused.

SNAP is the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. They identified:
-Fr. Donal Collins
-Fr. Cornelius T. “Neil” Otero
-Fr. Enrique Vasquez
-Fr. Walter A. Vichas
-Br. Thomas Sawyer
-Br. Michael Benedict Taylor

SNAP claims these names were left off the list of 48 names released Tuesday by the Hartford Archdiocese. SNAP obtained the names from a database called “Bishop Accountability.” Gail Howard is the Co-Founder of SNAP’s Connecticut Chapter, “The database has been around since the Boston revelations in 2002,” she said.

She called the allegedly incomplete list by the diocese a slap in the face to the 60 survivors in her network and to those who’s alleged abusers were not named. “What about them?” asked Howard. Now they feel even less validated than ever.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service

January 23, 2019

By Mark Pattison

Should the Vatican permit the ordination of women as deacons — a topic that has been studied by a papal commission — a majority of U.S. bishops surveyed said they would expect the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to pave the way to implement it.

There was, though, only a minority of U.S. bishops answering the survey who believe the ordination of women as deacons is theoretically possible.

These were two key findings of a report issued Jan. 22 by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.

Sixty-two percent of U.S. diocesan diaconate directors, who also were included in the survey, said their local bishop would implement the sacramental ordination of women as deacons, but just 54 percent of the bishops themselves said “yes” when asked “if the Holy See authorizes the sacramental ordination of women as deacons, would you consider implementing it in your diocese?”

Pope Francis established a 16-member commission on the diaconate of women in August 2016. Members’ task was to review the theology and history of the office of deacon in Roman Catholicism and the question of whether women might be allowed to become deacons.The group met over a two-year period and submitted its report to the pope in late 2018. The findings have yet to be released.

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LINCOLN (NE)
KLKN TV

January 23, 2019

By Brent BonFleur

A former Lincoln priest has waived his right to a formal arraignment and entered a not guilty plea to the courts, after being cited for giving alcohol to a minor.

A former Lincoln priest who was cited by police for giving alcohol to a minor has entered a not guilty plea to the courts.

Charles Townsend, 57, was cited on January 9 for giving alcohol to a 19-year-old.

Townsend was formerly a priest at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in south Lincoln.

In a written statement, Townsend waived his right to a formal arraignment and entered a not guilty plea.

He is scheduled to be back in court in March.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Associated Press

January 23, 2019

In many states across the U.S., victims of long-ago child sex-abuse have been lobbying for years, often in vain, to change statute of limitation laws that thwart their quest for justice. This year seems sure to produce some breakthroughs, due in part to the midterm election results and recent disclosures about abuse by Roman Catholic priests.

New York state is Exhibit A. The Democrats’ takeover of the formerly Republican-controlled Senate seems almost certain to produce a more victim-friendly policy in place of one of the nation’s most restrictive laws.

Prospects are considered good for similar changes in Rhode Island and New Jersey, and the issue will be raised in Pennsylvania — which became the epicenter of the current abuse crisis in August when a grand jury accused some 300 Catholic priests of abusing more than 1,000 children over seven decades.

Abuse survivors and their allies are once again proposing a two-year window for now-adult victims to sue perpetrators and institutions over claims that would otherwise be barred by time limits. That provision was approved by the Pennsylvania House last year but rejected by the top Republican in the Senate.

Nationwide, only a handful of states — including California, Minnesota, Delaware and Hawaii — have created these “lookback windows” enabling victims to file civil lawsuits against institutions such as churches and youth groups that bore some responsibility for the abuse. California’s one-year window opened in 2003, leading to hundreds of civil actions and more than $1 billion in payouts by the Catholic church; activists and legislators in California hope to create a new lookback window this year.

In California, Minnesota and Delaware, large payouts prompted several dioceses to file for bankruptcy. The Catholic Church, the insurance industry and the Boy Scouts of America have lobbied vigorously against efforts to create lookback windows in other states.

University of Pennsylvania professor Marci Hamilton, an expert on statute-of-limitations reforms, predicts that more states will provide windows despite the vociferous lobbying. She says the Pennsylvania grand jury report has changed the dynamics of the debate, increasing pressure on lawmakers to take victim-friendly actions.

“Before, people were giving the bishops the benefit of the doubt, but this time there was outrage,” said Hamilton, the CEO of Child USA, a think tank focused on preventing child abuse. “Politicians now understand that people are behind the victims.”

In New York, victim advocacy groups and their allies in the Legislature have tried for a dozen years to loosen the statute of limitations.

Last year, the legislature’s Democratic-controlled lower chamber overwhelmingly approved the long-stymied Child Victims Act, which would extend the time frames for pursuing civil and criminal cases in the future, and create a one-year window allowing victims to sue over past abuse claims. Senate Republicans blocked the bill from getting a vote and suggested alternatives that lacked the lookback window.

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SCRANTON (PA)
WNEP Channel 16

January 23 , 2019

By Stacy Lange

The Diocese of Scranton has released the details of how they will pay victims of clergy sexual abuse.

This comes after a few dozen former priests were named as child predators in a statewide grand jury report last summer.

Bishop Joseph Bambera announced this victim’s compensation fund last year, and this week, the diocese laid out how it will all work.

The diocese will be providing the money but how much victims receive will be decided by a law firm from Washington D.C.

People who were sexually abused by priests from the Diocese of Scranton can now apply to receive financial compensation from the diocese.

The diocese appointed a law firm based in Washington D.C. to handle the victims’ compensation fund. Lawyers will determine how much money a victim will receive, and they will answer to an independent local committee which includes former Luzerne County District Attorney Robert Gillespie.

“I think, quite frankly, it helps the church only in that it shows the church is now interested in trying to make sure that this never happens again and that the people that were victims are fairly compensated. It’s not about the church. This is about the victims in this point in time,” said Gillespie.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

January 22, 2019

It looks like it might be the same old game of musical chairs for problem priests — and that’s a problem for Cardinal Sean O’Malley.

Monsignor James P. Moroney , the rector of St. John’s Seminary, was quietly reassigned back to his home diocese in Worcester while an investigation into sexual harassment allegations at the seminary continues. Moroney himself has not been accused of sexual misconduct, but the transfer raises questions about his role in handling the allegations.

“It seems pretty clear that the rector should not have been reassigned before the independent investigation is completed,” said Attorney General Maura Healey. “The public deserves transparency throughout the process.”

In response, Terrence Donilon, a spokesman for O’Malley said: “We agree with the attorney general that the public deserves transparency. We are committed to follow through on the cardinal’s pledge to allow the independent report to be completed and a report made public on the findings along with any recommendations.”

Donilon also said, “we would not draw any conclusions” concerning any connection between the investigation and Moroney’s new assignment.

The probe was launched in August, after two former seminarians made allegations of improper conduct at St. John’s Seminary. The alleged misconduct doesn’t involve minors and doesn’t appear to be criminal in nature, but casts concerns about the church’s internal culture. At that time, Moroney also went on sabbatical leave for the fall semester.

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BELLEVILLE (IL)
News Democrat

January 23, 2019

By Lexi Cortes

A victims group and advocates say Belleville Bishop Edward K. Braxton’s list of priests “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of children is missing 10 names.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests gathered Wednesday afternoon outside the Diocese headquarters to request that Braxton update the list, and that he release work histories, photos and current locations of every accused priest or deacon.

The group, known as S.N.A.P., said releasing more details could help victims identify them.

Braxton didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The Diocese previously published a list of 17 members of the clergy who had been removed from ministry because of allegations of sexual abuse. In a statement from December, the Diocese said most of them were removed in the 1990s, after a diocesan review board was formed to investigate allegations from victims.

According to S.N.A.P., the priests all have ties to Southern Illinois and should be added to the Diocese’s list because they are accused of abusing children in other places.

David Clohessy, of S.N.A.P., said he believes they were left off the list because they either weren’t ordained in the Belleville Diocese or they belonged to a different religious order.

But the group says they worked in Belleville, Alton, Henry, Sparta, Godfrey, Toluca, Mendota, Bethany, Campus and Carbondale at one point.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Catholic

January 23, 2019

By Cardinal Blase Cupich

On Nov. 23, 2018, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis asked Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay and member of the Council of Cardinals; Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, founder and president of the Center for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University and member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors; and Cardinal Cupich to serve on an organizing committee to plan a historic global meeting at the Vatican, scheduled for Feb. 21-24, 2019, on the topic of “The Protection of Minors in the Church.” Victim-survivors of abuse by clergy and members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, including lay women, lay men and clergy, are involved in the planning.

Pope Francis has made it clear that this meeting will be an assembly of pastors, not an academic conference. The aim is to provide clear direction and concrete steps so that when the bishops return to their home countries around the world, they will know exactly what the church expects of them regarding the prevention of abuse, the need to provide care for victim-survivors and the obligation to make sure abuse is not covered up.

Participants have received a questionnaire as a means of gathering information that will establish a common starting point, and they have been asked to meet with victim-survivors in their respective countries. The Holy Father has assured us of his presence throughout the meeting, which will include plenary sessions, working groups, prayer, listening to the testimonies of victims, a penitential liturgy and a closing Mass.

The abuse of minors is a global problem that requires a global response by the church. Those participating in the meeting will be called to take responsibility not just for their particular church and the clergy and religious under their care and supervision, but for the church as a whole.

As Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, who will serve as moderator of the meeting, observed in a Dec. 19, 2018, La Civilta Cattolica article:

“The entire church must choose to live in solidarity, above all with the victims, with their families and with the ecclesial communities wounded by the scandals. As the pope has written, ‘If one member suffers, all the members suffer together’ (1 Cor 12:26), and the commitment to protect minors has to be taken on clearly and effectively by the entire community, starting with those in the highest positions of responsibility.”

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CORPUS CHRISTI (TX)
KRIS TV 6 News

January 23, 2019

By Veronica Flores

The Diocese of Corpus Christi plans to release the names of priests who have been accused of sexually abusing minors at the end of this month.

In October, the Texas Catholic Bishops announced its plan to release the names of priests and clergy members who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

The Diocese of Corpus Christi’s Director of Communications Margie Rivera told KRIS 6 News it plans to release the list at the end of this month.

She also said other dioceses across the state have decided to release their lists at the end of this month as well.

The lists trace abuse back to the 1950s.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post

January 23, 2019

By Fenit Nirappil and Michelle Boorstein

D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D) is proposing legislation to add clergy to the list of mandatory reporters who must tell authorities about suspected child abuse or neglect, the latest fallout from a growing clergy sexual-abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.

Racine’s bill also would require mandatory reporters to attend training on their responsibilities under the law and would increase penalties for failing to report abuse.

Clergy, teachers, health-care workers and others would face up to $2,500 in fines and 180 days in jail upon the first failure to report.

“Teachers, health professionals, and clergy have a special responsibility to protect children, but far too often abuse goes unreported or is covered up,” Racine said in a statement. “To help stop child abuse in the District, this bill requires more adults to report it and trains them on how to spot.”

Clergy are mandatory reporters in 28 states, according to the Children’s Bureau, an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Racine’s office has been meeting with faith groups in the nation’s capital to discuss his proposal. His aides originally considered mandatory reporting of sexual abuse even if accusations were revealed in confession — a sacrament in Catholic doctrine for parishioners to seek forgiveness for their sins.

But the bill has an exception in such circumstances, saying ministers are not required to report abuse if “the basis for their knowledge or belief is the result of a confession or penitential communication made by a penitent directly to the minister.”

Texas, West Virginia and a few other states do not exclude the confessional in mandatory-reporting laws.

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BOONE (NC)
Watauga Democrat

January 23, 2019

By Anna Oakes

The Maryland Province Jesuits and Diocese of Charlotte have said that two Catholic priests who pastored Boone’s St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country in the 1990s are “credibly” accused of sexually abusing minors.

H. Cornell Bradley, who now is 80, is among a list of priests named last month by the Maryland Province Jesuits. Bradley had “multiple allegations of sexual abuse” against him in Ocean City, Md., and Washington, D.C., in the 1970s and 1980s, according to the province, a Roman Catholic order of 17,000 priests and brothers.

“Today, the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus is releasing the names of Jesuits from our province, and other Jesuits who have served the province, who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors since 1950,” said Father Robert Hussey, provincial superior of the Maryland Province, in a statement Dec. 17.

“We are deeply sorry for the harm we have caused to victims and their families. We also apologize for participating in the harm that abuse has done to our church, a church that we love and that preaches God’s care for all, especially the most vulnerable among us,” said Hussey. “The people of God have suffered, and they rightly demand transparency and accountability. We hope that this disclosure of names will contribute to reconciliation and healing.”

The list of names released by the province did not indicate if any of the allegations were reported to law enforcement.

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JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
News Tribune
.
January 11th, 2019

The Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City has received an allegation of inappropriate behavior by the Rev. Mark Porterfield, pastor of St. Martin Catholic Church in St. Martins and judicial vicar for the diocese.

A statement from the diocese provided to parishioners and staff and shared with the News Tribune on Friday reads: “While the allegation does not involve a minor, it does fall within the protocol of the diocese for clergy conduct and requires further consultation and investigation.”

Diocese officials said Porterfield is on administrative leave while the canonical investigation is underway. He is not allowed to function publicly as a priest while on administrative leave.

The Rev. Chris Aubuchon, who serves as chaplain at Helias Catholic High School and diocesan director of vocations, has been appointed temporary pastoral administrator of St. Martin Catholic Church.

Porterfield’s duties as judicial vicar have been re-assigned to various personnel, with Monsignor Gregory Higley continuing in the position of adjutant judicial vicar.

The judicial vicar serves as the chief church lawyer for the diocese, diocese officials explained. He oversees the Tribunal, which is the church court. Most cases before a modern Tribunal deal with marriages — most of which are marriages in which the parties have received a civil divorce for the civil marriage but also need an annulment regarding the sacramental marriage.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Wisconsin Public Radio

January 23, 2019

By Mary Kate McCoy

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm is calling for a statewide investigation into the Catholic Church’s response to allegations of child sexual abuse over the past 50 years.

The call comes at a time when dioceses across the country are under heightened pressure to release names of priests with credible accusations of abuse against them.

Just last week the Diocese of Green Bay released the names of 46 priests who are known to have committed sexual offenses against minors dating back to 1906. Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith urged victims of abuse to go directly to law enforcement officials — not the church — Friday.

Chisholm told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he hopes to team up with Attorney General Josh Kaul and district attorneys across the state to review decades of clergy abuse allegations.

Peter Isley, a clergy abuse survivor and founding member of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the likelihood of an investigation is higher than it ever has been.

We’re really hopeful, victims and survivors and our families in Wisconsin”We’re really hopeful, victims and survivors and our families in Wisconsin,” he said.

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PROVIDENCE (RI)
Providence Journal

January 23, 2019

By Katherine Gregg

Spurred by the molestation of her sister by their parish priest in West Warwick when they were both children, state Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee has lined up more than 50 co-sponsors for her reworked bill to extend the time that child victims have, after reaching adulthood, to lodge civil suits against their abusers.

The Rhode Island Catholic Diocese successfully blocked an earlier version of McEntee’s bill in 2018. The church insisted on limiting the application of the proposed law to “prospective” cases of alleged abuse, which McEntee deemed unacceptable. The bill died in the final hours of last year’s session, after hours-long hearings in both the House and the Senate that drew speaker after speaker to the Rhode Island State House with tales of abuse by their family priests and other trusted elders in positions of authority.

The reworked bill which McEntee, D-South Kingstown, introduced on Tuesday would extend Rhode Island’s seven-year statute of limitations on the filing of civil suits against the perpetrators of sex abuse of children to 35 years, to more closely mirror the law in Massachusetts.

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ALBANY (NY)
New York Daily News

January 22,2 019

By Kenneth Lovett

State lawmakers will soon introduce a revised, tougher bill designed to make it easier for victims of child victims abuse to seek justice as adults, the Daily News has learned.

The latest draft obtained by the Daily News would raise the top age that a child sex abuse survivor can bring a civil lawsuit to 55, up from the current 23.

Gov. Cuomo last week and a previous version of the bill in the Legislature had sought to raise the age to 50.

But with research showing that many survivors don’t begin dealing with what happened to them until later in life, lawmakers ultimately decided giving them even more time to bring a civil lawsuit would be appropriate, Senate bill sponsor Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) explained.

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HARTFORD (CT)
Journal Inquirer

January 23, 2019

By Alex Wood

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford on Tuesday made a major disclosure of information about sexual abuse by clergy, including naming 48 priests it says have been the object of lawsuits or legal settlements — or who have been “credibly accused” of abuse occurring in the archdiocese.

Archbishop Leonard P. Blair took an introspective and penitent tone in a statement he issued about the abuse that has occurred in the archdiocese since its establishment in 1953.

“It is a cause of profound sorrow and of soul-searching for me that we bishops, the church’s pastors, have often failed to grasp the spiritual and moral devastation that results from sexual abuse, either in a misguided attempt to ‘save’ an abuser’s vocation or to shield the church from scandal,” Blair wrote in an open letter to “the Catholic faithful” and other Connecticut residents.

“Whatever institutional worries present themselves to me as a bishop as a result of abuse, it takes only one personal meeting with a victim survivor for me to see that any institutional concerns are insignificant compared to the deep spiritual and psychological wounds and suffering that can and often do result from sexual abuse by a priest,” he continued.

But at the same time, the materials released by the archdiocese make clear its belief that it has made significant strides in dealing with the problem in recent decades.

No Archdiocese of Hartford priest currently serving in the ministry in the archdiocese has “had credible allegations of child sexual abuse asserted” against him, Blair wrote in the open letter.

Elsewhere in the materials released Tuesday, the archdiocese defined a “credible claim” as “one that, under the circumstances known at the time of determination, would cause a prudent person to conclude that there was a significant possibility that the incident occurred.”

The archdiocese went on to say that its public identification of the priests “does not necessarily mean that the accusation has been proven in a court of law or definitively shown to have occurred through a formal process, or has been admitted by the person accused.

“It is also important to keep in mind that the priests who died before any allegation was made against them did not have an opportunity to respond to the allegations,” the archdiocese continued.

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RADNOR (PA)
Patch National

January 14, 2019

By Kara Seymour

A priest who once worked at Archbishop Carroll High School is on administrative leave after new allegations he sexually abused a minor.

A priest who once served at a Radnor Catholic school has been placed on administrative leave following new allegations he sexually abused a minor several decades ago, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced this week.

Reverend Monsignor Joseph L. Logrip, 73, who is now on administrative leave amid the investigation, served at Archbishop Carroll High School in Radnor from 1983 to 1990, according to the Archdiocese.

Law enforcement is now involved in the investigation, and the Archdiocese said it will cooperate fully with authorities.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Digital First Media

January 13, 2019

A Catholic priest who served at Bishop Shanahan in the early 1990s was found to be “not suitable for ministry” following an investigation that he sexually abused a minor in the 1980s, and a Catholic priest who served at Saints Philip and James in Exton has been placed on administrative leave after a new claim that he sexually abused a minor in the 1980s.

A Philadelphia-area priest, Rev. John F. Meyers, 64, was also found to be not suitable for ministry following sexual abuse allegations, the Philadelphia Archdiocese announced Sunday, noting that is referring the allegation to law enforcement.

The Rev. Raymond Smart, 74, was employed at Bishop Shanahan High School from 1991 to 1995, when it was located in West Chester, and the Rev. Monsignor Joseph L. Logrip, 73, served at Saints Philip and James in Exton from 2007 to 2008.

The allegations comes on the heels of a Pennsylvania grand jury report that found Roman Catholic leaders in Pennsylvania had covered up decades of child sex abuse dating back to the 1940s involving hundreds of priests and more than 1,000 victims.

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AUSTRALIA
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

January 21, 2019

By Jack Kerr

A sister of killed exchange student Aiia Maasarwe has taken to social media to express her grief over the death, and her contempt for the manner in which it is alleged to have happened.
“A little girl with BIG dreams, that how Aiia was,” Noor Maasarwe posted on Instagram alongside a painting of the words “Dare to dream”, which was done by her sister in 2014.

“She was living a dream in Melbourne, a dream that ended up being [worse] than a nightmare.”

The body of the 21-year-old Arab-Israeli student was found by passers-by near a tram stop in Bundoora, in Melbourne’s north, shortly after dawn last Wednesday.

Police allege she was raped and murdered on her way home from a comedy club in North Melbourne shortly after midnight. They have charged 20-year-old Codey Herrmann.

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CINCINNNATI (OH)
Xavier Newswire

January 23, 2019

By Trevor McKenzie

A report issued last month by the Midwest Province of Jesuits revealed that no members of the society currently associated with Xavier face allegations of sexual abuse of minors.

The Province’s Dec. 17 report listed all Jesuit priests with established allegations of sexual abuse of minors since 1955 to a nation of believers and non-believers alike wrestling with the consequences of the 60-year scandal.  

Although no one currently associated with the university was named, four individuals who had at one point been assigned to Xavier appeared in the report: Fr. Mark Finan, S.J., (at Xavier 1956-1958), Fr. David McCarthy, S.J., (1956-1961), Fr. Donald Nastold, S.J, (1979-1991) and most notably Fr. Edward O’Brien, S.J., who was associated with Xavier from 1950-1983 and had a scholarship named for him after his death in 1983. The scholarship is no longer offered by the university. 

Of those named in the report, only O’Brien was the subject of allegations for incidents that occurred while serving in a position at Xavier. Those allegations did not arise until 1990, seven years after his death.  

According to a statement released the same day by Fr. Michael Graham, president, two other individuals formerly associated with Xavier — Br. Jerome Pryor, S.J., (at Xavier 1974-2002) and Fr. Louis Bonacci, S.J., (1994-1999) — were also named in allegations of past sexual improprieties.  

Pryor was removed from Xavier in 2002 after reports of improprieties with students. However, allegations involving Pryor did not involve abuse of minors, and he therefore did not appear in the Province’s report. Bonacci was permanently removed from ministry by the Maryland Province in 2011 following allegations of misconduct with a minor in the late 1970s, prior to his time at Xavier. 

The individuals implicated in the report served in multiple capacities at Xavier, such as faculty and ministry roles.

The report was released four months after an 18-month Pennsylvania grand jury report claimed more than 300 clergy had sexually abused more than 1,000 children throughout several decades.  

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Loyolan

Januaary 23, 2019

By Isabella Murillo

Over winter break, Jesuits West Province revealed in a press release the names of priests and brothers who had been accused of sexual assault, 11 of whom had worked at LMU in the past 50 years.

The priests were found to have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of “minors and vulnerable adults,” according to a letter sent to students’ emails from the Office of the President, naming all 11 priests.

The names of the priests and the years they were active at LMU are as follows:

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BUFFALO (NY)
Batavia News

January 23, 2019

By Scott Desmit

A Bethany man who helped form Genesee Justice and whose work with what was known as ‘restorative justice’ earned him national attention has been named to a newly-formed adult sexual abuse and misconduct task force for the Diocese of Buffalo.

Dennis J. Wittman was one of five people named to the task force, which will review and recommend policies and procedures for “assessing and responding to allegations of sexual misconduct with adults by priests, deacons, religious and lay employees,” according to a news statement issued by the Diocese.

“The Task Force will ensure that the diocesan policies for adult abuse and misconduct complement the existing diocesan policy on child abuse,” the statement says. “In addition, the Task Force will review the investigation framework of sexual abuse allegations to ensure compliance with federal and state law, canon law, and the Diocese of Buffalo Code of Conduct to ensure the protection of all of God’s people.”

The Diocese, which includes Catholic churches in Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties, has been under strain as it has dealt with a number of allegations in recent years about priests molesting children. In 2018, the Diocese released a list of 78 priests that had been accused and those where allegations were substantiated.

Wittman, of Francis Road, was serving as town of Bethany supervisor in 1981 when he was asked to help form what is now known as Genesee Justice.

At the time it was known as Community Service/Victim Assistance.

Wittman served for more than 25 years, seeing the program grow and gaining national attention for his efforts at restorative justice, which focuses on rehabilitating offenders through reconciliation with the victims and the community.

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NEW YORK (NY)
The Fordham Ram

January 23, 2019

By Collin Bonnell

On Jan. 15, the Office of the President sent out an email containing a “Joint Message from Fordham’s President and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees,” concerning the list of Jesuits accused of sexually abusing minors released earlier that day by the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus. The email contained the names of nine Jesuits who had ties to Fordham University and Fordham Prep, and the allegations against these priests reveal a pattern of gross negligence by various parties, including Fordham University, Fordham Prep and the Northeast Province of Jesuits, which endangered members of the Fordham community.

Mirroring a larger trend within the Catholic Church, these priests, whose affiliations with Fordham University and Fordham Prep span six decades, were moved around after accusations against them arose and shifted to different positions so as to not draw public attention. The story of one of the accused, Rev. Philip Conroy, S.J., exemplifies this trend.

According to an article by WKBW, Conroy was accused of groping two female minors in the mid-1970s while employed by Fordham University. Conroy left Fordham after the events took place and was sent to Canisius College, where he became Director of Campus Ministry. The Jesuit remained at Canisius until 2002, when the Buffalo Diocese was informed of the allegations and Conroy was then moved to the Jogues Retreat Center near Poughkeepsie, where he is still a priest and, despite the allegations against him, remains in close proximity to the laity.

While the revelations concerning Conroy are troubling, the circumstances surrounding the relationship between Fordham and two other Jesuits on the list, Rev. Roy Drake, S.J. and Rev. Eugene O’Brien, S.J., were sufficiently incriminating to push two activist groups—the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests and BishopAccountability.com—to accuse Fordham Preparatory School of sheltering child molesters in 2008.

The first of these priests, Drake, a former science teacher at Fordham Prep, was accused of raping the friend of a Fordham Prep student while on a ski trip in 1968. That year, Drake left Fordham Prep, but later returned to Fordham as a resident of Murray-Weigel Hall, until he was sent to a “treatment center” for troubled priests in 2006. The church has refused to offer Drake’s accuser an apology.

The other, O’Brien, served as the president of Fordham Prep from 1960 until 1979 and allegedly molested a minor in the early 1970s. O’Brien returned to Fordham in 1986, when he joined the staff of the university, where he would remain until 1991 and during which time he served as vice president for community relations.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
KDKA TV

January 22, 2019

By David Highfield

The Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese program to help sexual abuse victims went live on Tuesday.

There is no limit on how big cash settlements can be but there are some guidelines. Any victims who accept money will give up the right to take the church to court later on.

The Independent Reconciliation Compensation Program, for people who were victims of child sex abuse by clergy is the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese, is now live.

It’s the latest in the diocese response to a scathing grand jury report, which showed sexual abuse by priests. They’ve also held listening sessions, including one last month in Jefferson Hills.

“I do think the Holy Spirit needs to come and clean up this church,” one parishioner said.

Under the compensation program, claims must be submitted by the end of September. New allegations must be registered by the end of July. People who have already settled cannot participate.

Two members of a Washington D.C. law firm will determine eligibility and compensation offers. One of them spoke at a press conference last month.

“There’s no protracted litigation, no roll of the dice in the courtroom, no uncertainty as to whether the claim will be upheld on appeal or anything like that,” settlement attorney Kenneth Feinberg said.

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ROCHESTER (MN)
KIMT 3 TV

January 23, 2019

By Isabella Basco

The Diocese of Winona Rochester is facing 121 claims of child sexual abuse by clergy and while the process for the bankruptcy is still happening, one priest is speaking out about the Church’s scandals.

“Now, they are working towards settlements and towards a final summary of all the claims,” Father Jason Kern, the Vocations Director for the Diocese said.

Kern says now is a time of healing for the Church which has been rocked by child sexual abuse claims.

“The church is broken, it has broken members and leaders like myself who are not perfect and we are all in need of healing,” Kern said.

Kern is upfront about the fact that the claims have also hurt him.

“I suffer with them in this,” Kern said. “It’s been difficult, all of the allegations and working through these things for what feels like way too long.”

Selina Leang is active in the Church and supports the Diocese’s move.

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[Oscar Contardo Column: The saints in court]

CHILE
La Tercera

January 19, 2019

By Óscar Contardo

Los sacerdotes jesuitas dan entrevistas para diagnosticar el estado de las cosas, para criticar a otros sacerdotes, no para dar explicaciones sobre las miserias que guardan puertas adentro.

Nadie nunca supo nada. Nadie habló. A nadie le contó ningún apoderado lo que sucedía cuando el jesuita Jaime Guzmán Astaburuaga invitaba periódicamente a alumnos adolescentes a un fin de semana al Cajón del Maipo. Nadie nunca dijo que hacerlos desnudarse, sacarles fotos y confesarlos en su falda para preguntarles detalles de cómo, cuándo y en qué pensaban mientras se masturbaban podía ser inapropiado. Eso era diversión, era festivo. El cura Guzmán era el encargado de captar vocaciones, director espiritual de aspirantes, seminaristas y exalumnos del Colegio San Ignacio El Bosque. Tenía un apodo entre los estudiantes, un nombre vulgar con el que el sacerdote se refería al pene. Hablaba mucho de genitales.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Tablet

January 23, 2019

By Sarah MacDonald

Best-selling author and conservative thinker Rod Dreher has urged the Irish laity not to passively wait for their bishops to “get their act together” but to speak out and defend the faith themselves.

In an address at University Church in Dublin, hosted by the Iona Institute and the Notre Dame Newman Centre for Faith and Reason, the author of ‘The Benedict Option’ told a crowd of 350 that Catholics in Ireland that he knew “from bitter experience that the institutions of the Catholic Church cannot be relied on to teach, defend, and evangelise for the faith”.

The popular blogger and editor at ‘The American Conservative’, who is author of several books, told The Tablet that it would be “a fatal mistake to sit back and wait for them [the bishops] to get their acts together”.

“Pray that they do but in the meantime faithful Catholics must catechise themselves and their children. They must act themselves to deepen their experience of faith through prayer, the sacraments, Bible reading, and embracing spiritual disciplines.”

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ROME (ITALY)
Zenit

January 22, 2019

Archbishop Eamon Martin, President of the Irish Episcopal Conference, in a letter issued January 22, 2019, has invited the faithful in Ireland to share their thoughts on abuse ahead of a universal Church summit on safeguarding in Rome next month.

As well as consulting with victims and survivors, Archbishop Eamon is also inviting Catholics, in an open letter, to pray, reflect and offer feedback on a number of key questions:

How would you describe the present situation regarding sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church in Ireland?
How would you describe the level of awareness of this topic among the public?
In your opinion, what are the greatest risk factors for the sexual abuse of minors in Ireland?
What are the factors in Ireland that contribute to a lack of adequate response by the Church in dealing with child sexual abuse?
What are the most effective preventive measures that the Catholic Church in Ireland has adopted to protect children from sexual abuse in the Church?
If you had one key message to communicate to the meeting in Rome on this issue, what would it be?

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Kansas City Star

January 22, 2019

By David Clohessy

Under pressure from the attorney general, every bishop in the state released or expanded their lists of priests who are proven, admitted or credibly accused abusers. Some 185 names are now public.

Unfortunately, that state was Illinois, not Missouri.

In Missouri, only two of four bishops have divulged such names, and those bishops run the smallest dioceses. Yet Catholics — and all Missourians — recently learned the names of 35 clerics who have worked in the Jefferson City diocese who have also been credibly accused of molesting children, as reported in The Sedalia Democrat.

And to the south, we recently learned the names of three more similarly-accused clerics who have worked in the Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau, bringing the total there to 12.

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NEW YORK (NY)
America Magazine

January 22, 2019

By Michael J. O’Loughlin

As Pope Francis mulls a report about women deacons in the early church, a new survey reveals that at least when it comes to U.S. bishops, support for ordaining women as deacons remains uneven.

According to a report released by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University on Jan. 22, just 33 percent of bishops in the United States think the church “should” ordain women as deacons.

Late last year, a papal commission wrapped up its work studying whether the early church ordained women as deacons and passed its findings on to Pope Francis. Two of the commission’s 12 members—Phyllis Zagano and Bernard Pottier, S.J.—said in an interview with America last month that their own research supports the idea that women were ordained deacons in the early church.

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Patheos blog

January 23, 2019

By Beth Allison Barr

I am so pleased to welcome guest blogger Leslie Hahner, PhD, to The Anxious Bench today. Leslie is a brilliant thinker, writer, and professor. I know this because we have been in an interdisciplinary writing group together since 2011. She has two recently published books, To Become an American: Immigrants and Americanization Campaigns of the Early Twentieth Century and Make America Meme Again: The Rhetoric of the Alt-right. Her current book project, which she is writing with fellow Baylor professor Scott Varda, focuses on how individuals deny the existence and pervasiveness of sexual assault. Today, Leslie Hahner offers her insights on what the church is called to consider.

In October 2017, actress and activist Alyssa Milano tweeted a note that asked those who had “been sexually harassed or assaulted” to reply “‘me too’” to her tweet. Within one day, the “post received more than 38,000 comments, 13,000 retweets and 27,000 likes.” The responses then spread from Twitter to Facebook and Instagram. The expanse of the problem, as Sophie Gilbert wrote in the New York Times, could be grasped once the public woke “up to a feed dominated by women discussing their experiences of harassment and assault.” Inspired by Tarana Burke, the hashtag had spawned a movement, a public insistence from thousands that sexual violence was pervasive, systematic, and unabated by current measures of justice. Sparked by the vicious actions of Harvey Weinstein and others, the #metoo movement began to demonstrate the expanse of rape within a culture that enabled the perpetuation of sexual violence.

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NIAGRA (NY)
Niagra Gazette

January 23, 2019

By Ed Adamczyk

Local agencies of the Catholic Church regularly reveal lists of priests, many long dead, accused of sexual abuse against the young. While I never hung around with many Catholic priests, one I once knew recently appeared on such a list. No, he never got me; I have no claim against him, any more than anyone I have ever met who pitched his or her own brand of salvation.

The release of lists of suspected abusers using the church to cover their sins is not new, nor is it confined to Western New York. Australia, for example, is currently reeling from revelations about several high-ranking men within the Catholic hierarchy there, and the resulting civil trials. Yes, out there, courts are actively going after suspected sex abusers in the church.

Any large and entrenched organization can, upon investigation, expose irregularities conflicting with its reason for being. Someone once said that employment anywhere for a period of one year qualifies a person to say “You won’t believe what goes on in there.” It goes for General Motors, the U.S. government, any church or school, and notably for families. It goes for any outfit hiding incidents contrary to law or to its mission.

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WATERBURY (CT)
Republican American

January 22, 2019

The following priests were accused of sexual abuse, according to the Archdiocese of Hartford:

Altermatt, Gregory – Ordination 3/27/1976
Assistant Pastor, Incarnation, Wethersfield
Assistant Pastor, St. Timothy, West Hartford
Assistant Pastor, St. Ann, Waterbury
Chaplain, St. Mary Hospital, Waterbury
In residence, Our Lady of Victory, West Haven
Chaplain, St. Raphael Hospital, New Haven
Removed from ministry, 2/3/2012
A civil case is pending

Buckley, Joseph – Ordination 5/21/1932
Assistant Pastor, St. Vincent, East Haven
Assistant Pastor, St. Agnes, Niantic
Pastor, St. Therese, Stony Creek (Branford)
Administrator, St. Mary, Newington
Pastor, St. Mary, Newington
Retired 5/14/1970
Died in 1975 before the single claim against him was received in 2003.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Fordham University Observer

January 22, 2019

By Courtney Brogle

In a statement released on Jan. 15, University President Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Robert Daleo identified nine Jesuit priests credibly accused of sexual assault with connections to the Fordham community.

The statement was prompted by the Northeastern Province of the Society of Jesus, who released a comprehensive list earlier that day of Jesuits with credible allegations of abuse upon minors. Among those listed in the Northeast Province, five Jesuits were assigned by the Province to serve at Fordham University or Fordham Preparatory School.

Additionally, McShane and Daleo disclosed four other Jesuits connected to the university or preparatory school with credible accusations against them. These men were named on lists prepared by the four other American provinces.

The ties between Fordham and the nine men in question date as far back as 1936. Each offender, while employed at Fordham, interacted with students in some capacity: as professors, campus ministry participants and even residents in University housing.

In addition, several men listed by the Northeast Province resided at Murray-Weigel Hall, the Jesuit nursing home located adjacent to Fordham College at Rose Hill property. The Northeast Province owns and operates this facility; at Fordham’s request, Jesuits with known allegations against them that still reside there were removed.

The statement to the Fordham community openly condemned the actions of these Jesuits. “As the sexual abuse scandal that has engulfed the Catholic Church unfolds,” McShane and Daleo’s joint statement read, “it is incumbent on all of us who are leaders at affected institutions to support the survivors and to acknowledge the inalterable harm that was inflicted on these brave survivors and their families.”

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RAPID CITY (SD)
Rapid City Journal

January 22, 2019

By Arielle Zionts

The former Rapid City priest accused of sexually touching a 13-year-old girl is expected to change his not guilty plea next month.

John Praveen, 38, is scheduled for a change of plea hearing 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 5 at the state court in Rapid City, according to court records.

It’s unclear whether he plans to plead guilty, no contest or make some other kind of plea. Messages to Praveen’s lawyer and the Pennington County State’s Attorney were not immediately returned.

Praveen previously pleaded not guilty to two charges of having sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl, a class 3 felony that carries a punishment of up to 15 years in prison on each count.

Before his duties were suspended, Praveen had worked at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Rapid City since June. Before that, he served at churches in Eagle Butte. Praveen joined the diocese for a 10-year assignment in December 2017 after serving in India, where he was born.

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NEW LONDON (CT)
The Day

January 22. 2019

By Joe Wojtas

A third Jesuit priest “credibly accused” of sexually assaulting minors, served for years in the Norwich Diocese.

But when the USA Northeast Jesuit Province released a list last week of 50 Northeast priests “credibly accused” of sexually assaulting minors since 1950, the Rev. Eugene Orteneau was not listed as serving at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Storrs. In 2007, the Norwich Diocese agreed to pay $300,000 of a $1.2 million settlement — the Jesuits paid the remainder — to Joshua Heathcote of Coventry, who claimed Orteneau repeatedly molested him at St. Thomas Aquinas beginning when he 16.

Instead, the Jesuits only listed Orteneau as serving at Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River, Mass., from 1976 to ’78 and at Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine, from 1978 to ’79.

Rev. Robert Pecoraro, the president of Cheverus, posted a message on the school website last week saying Orteneau was among seven accused priests who served at the school. He wrote that Orteneau was accused of sexual assaulting a minor during the time frame of 1992 to ’95.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
WTAE TV

January 22, 2019

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh said its “Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program” for those who suffered child sexual abuse by clergy went live Tuesday.

The program was created in the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sex abuse that was released in August.

“It is about recognizing the harm done by past abuse and continuing our pledge of taking every appropriate action to prevent the occurrence of future abuse,” Bishop David Zubik said in a written statement Tuesday.

“It should be noted that no funds for this program will come from Our Campaign for the Church Alive!, Catholic Charities, parishes, schools, or any other funds designated for a specific use by the donor, nor have such funds been used in the past to compensate victims,” the diocese said.

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Patheos blog

January 22, 2019

By David Russell Mosley

Dearest Readers,
Over the past few months I have been part of a group which existed for the express purpose of creating a public letter to the Catholic Bishops. Before the current news cycle makes us forget other problems within our Church, I want to make sure this message gets out. I did not contribute to any of the text, I won’t try to make that claim, Dr. Holly Taylor Coolman of Providence College has been the chief architect. But I am glad I was a part of this from early on. The idea is to get as many signatures as possible. We want this letter to get national coverage. Not to spread anyone’s name, but to ensure that the Bishops respond.

Below is the text of the letter. I ask that you read it and prayerfully consider signing:

Dear fathers and brothers in Christ,

We write with profoundly heavy hearts. The latest wave of revelations regarding sexual abuse in the Church, and the way in which that abuse was covered up and made possible, has pushed us to a breaking point.

Abuse and the enabling of abuse are not simply individual sins to be forgiven. They are a radical and ongoing affront to the Church’s witness to the Gospel. They communicate contempt for the people of God, and particularly the most vulnerable members.

As bishops, successors to the Apostles, you have the roles of teaching, governing and sanctifying God’s people. The response to many cases of reported abuse represents failure to accomplish these on the most fundamental level. We are asking you now to take responsibility as a pastoral body for this failure.

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

January 22, 2019

Today the Archdiocese of Hartford has released a list of 48 clerics that have been accused of abuse.

It is always helpful for survivors when these lists are posted, especially for those who may be suffering in silence. Seeing that they are not alone helps victims heal and could also compel others who were abused – whether by the same person or in the same place – to come forward.

However, we believe that Archbishop Leonard Blair could have included more information that would be helpful to survivors. In the list released today, the Archbishop omits photos and the current whereabouts of those accused who are still alive. While he does provide a list of assignments in the Archdiocese, he does not include the dates of those assignments. He also neglects to provide information about when the allegations were received, except in those cases where the priest died prior to the victim coming forward.

Where these priests are now is important, as it provides a warning to those nearby about a potential threat to young people. That is the best step the bishop could take to prevent more horrific crimes against more innocent children.

How these clerics looked in the past, and when they worked in a particular parish, is important because that information helps victims identify those who hurt them. It usually takes decades for survivors to come forward. The victim might only recall the priest’s name, what parish he/she attended when the abuse occurred, and a face. Even parents who were long-time parishioners may have trouble remembering a clergyman who only worked in their parish for a short time.

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SCRANTON (PA)
Times Leader

January 22, 2019

By Bill O’Boyle

The Diocese of Scranton on Tuesday launched its Independent Survivors Compensation Program designed to compensate survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

Participation in the program by survivors is voluntary and the program is run independently of the Diocese.

“Our first priorities are to provide support for survivors of child sexual abuse and to take every step necessary to eradicate abuse from the Church altogether,” said the Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L., Bishop of Scranton. “This program helps. While no financial compensation can change the past, it is my hope that this program will help survivors in their healing and recovery process.”

The Diocese’s program includes all victims, whether the abuser was a priest from the Diocese of Scranton, from a religious order, or was a lay employee of the Diocese. The Diocese announced on Nov. 8, that the program would be administered by Kenneth Feinberg and Camille Biros, two leading experts in mediation and alternative dispute resolution who have overseen similar programs started by five Catholic Dioceses in New York. Feinberg and Biros will have absolute autonomy in determining compensation for survivors, and the Diocese of Scranton has agreed to abide by all of their decisions.

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DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency

January 22, 2019

By Andrea Gagliarducci

The moderator of the Vatican’s February summit on child sexual abuse has written an article outlining his take on the Church’s most effective models of response for addressing its sexual abuse crisis.

The article, written by Fr. Federico Lombardi, is published in the Jan. 19 issue of the Jesuit-run bi-monthly magazine La Civiltà Cattolica. Lombardi, a Jesuit and former papal spokesman, will be a central actor in the Feb. 21-24 meeting, which will convene the leaders of bishops’ conferences from around the world to discuss the clerical sexual abuse of minors.

Lombardi has long known in Italy as a key figure in the fight against sex abuse by clergy.

In 2011, Lombardi was part of a significant moment related to combating sexual abuse: A conference, “Toward Healing and Renewal,” organized by the Pontifical Gregorian University. The work of the conference become the basis for the establishment of the Gregorian’s Centre for Child Protection, which partially inspired the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

In 2017, Lombardi was involved in the organization of the conference “Child Dignity in Digital Age,” which drafted and presented to Pope Francis the “Declaration of Rome”, which proposed new approaches needed to countering sexual abuse in the internet era.

Lombardi is also part of the steering committee of the “Child Dignity Alliance.”

The former papal spokesperson has also gained attention as an expert on sexual abuse issues because of his articles on La Civiltà Cattolica. In an essay last month, he retraced step-by-step the history of the clergy sex abuse crisis and of the Church’s response.

In his most recent article, Lombardi listed some “good practices” for an effective response. Those documents will be likely at the center of the discussions in the February meeting.

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CHICAGO (IL)
WLS Radio

January 22, 2019

World Youth Day in Panama is supposed to be about young people, from all over the globe, celebrating their Catholic faith with the Pope. But this year, it’s happening during arguably the greatest crisis of Pope Francis’ pontificate and of the modern-day Catholic Church.

The gathering is taking place January 22-27 in Panama City, with the Pope arriving on the 23rd. Panama is 88% Catholic, according to the Vatican, and despite the shadow of controversy, this is a coming home of sorts for Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff. His 10 speeches will be in his native Spanish, which typically means he might improvise instead of sticking to prepared texts.

According to the Vatican, about 150,000 youth have enrolled so far, a much lower turnout than World Youth Days in 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and in 2016 in Krakow, Poland, which attracted about 3 million each.

The Pope is expected, as he often does, to weave politics into his speeches, particularly issues such as migration, corruption, violence and the role of women, said a Vatican spokesperson.

Will the Pope meet with clergy abuse survivors?

Two clergy abuse survivors from nearby Costa Rica are hoping to meet with Pope Francis in the sidelines of World Youth Day. As is customary, the Vatican has not announced if the pontiff will meet with survivors; but advised reporters the Pope might address the topic.

Survivors Michael Rodriguez and Anthony Venegas, both from Costa Rica, say the Latin American culture of “machismo” justifies the actions of the abusers and revictimizes the victims, making it very difficult for survivors to break their silence.

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PALM SPRINGS (CA)
The Desert Sun

January 22, 2019

By Lou A. Bordisso

Many Catholics and other people of good will are disgusted with the sexual scandal cover-ups, smokescreens and veil of secrecy postulated by bishops and their apologists. The shameless rationalization repetitively advanced by church authorities for being deceptive, deceitful and dishonest is plausible deniability is unacceptable.

My late Irish-Catholic mother often reminded me to “Tell the truth and shame the devil” as I was growing up. Given the enormity of clergy sexual scandals, there is no better time than the present to tell the truth or ever be labeled as a complicit collaborator and/or guilty of the “sin of omission.”

Increasingly, it seems as though not a day goes by without a media story about sexual allegations, charges and convictions against Roman Catholic priests and some bishops. The stories of illicit sexual activity range from the sexual abuse of children by priests to bishops keeping female mistresses or male lovers.

Celibacy research studies among Catholic clergy suggest that gay, straight, and bisexual priests are significantly sexually active, and many priests outright reject mandatory celibate chastity. The largest empirical research to date by Richard Sipe studied 1,500 Catholic priests over the period of 25 years and concluded that fewer than 50 percent of Roman Catholic priests in the United States even attempt celibacy, while only 2 percent achieve total celibate chastity.

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JACKSON (MS)
Metro News

January 22, 2019

By Jimmy McCloskey

A pedophile priest abused a young boy – then blamed the child for making him molest him, and made him confess it as a sin.

Mark Belenchia was abused by the Reverend Bernard Haddican from around 1969, when he was just 12 years old. Haddican would tell the child afterwards that he had committed the sin of ‘self abuse,’ then order him to confess the supposed wrongdoing to the man guilty of perpetrating it.

Recalling how Haddican escalated his campaign of abuse, Belenchia told the Clarion-Ledger: ‘That was my first sexual experience with another person. ‘I don’t know if you can call it a sexual experience – a nightmare.’

Belenchia was abused while living in Shelby, Mississippi, and says Haddican charmed locals by dressing in casual clothes, and acting in a far more personable way than his precedessors. He says Haddican began abusing him six months after he arrived, and would invite children over to watch baseball games, before plying them with liquor.

Haddican continued to groom his victims by hosting ‘sleepovers’ at his rectory, before molesting Belencia. The victim, who is now campaigning for justice said: ‘The actual abuse started off slow. I can’t recall all of it, I just know that I ended up in the bed.

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ROME (ITALY)
Associated Press

January 22, 2019

By Nicole Winfield

The Vatican is insisting that there were no accusations of sexual abuse against an Argentine bishop close to Pope Francis when he resigned suddenly in 2017 and was promoted to a job at the Vatican.

Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti repeated Tuesday that the Vatican only received the first accusations of alleged sexual abuse by Archbishop Gustavo Zanchetta a few months ago.

The former deputy to Archbishop Gustavo Zanchetta, the Rev. Juan Jose Manzano, told The Associated Press last week that he had sent the Vatican information in 2015 and 2017 of alleged inappropriate sexual behavior by Zanchetta that included taking naked selfies and reports that he engaged in harassment and misconduct with adult seminarians.

Manzano told AP those reports didn’t constitute formal canonical accusations of sexual abuse, but were merely reports of behavior that he, another former vicar general and the rector of the seminary in Oran, northern Argentina, considered important to bring to the Vatican’s attention.

He said he didn’t believe there had been any cover-up and that he considered Francis a victim of Zanchetta’s “manipulation.”

In a statement, Gisotti said: “In reference to the articles published recently by several news sources, as well as to some misleading reconstructions, I resolutely repeat what was stated this past 4 January. In addition, I emphasize that the case is being studied and when this process is over, information will be forthcoming regarding the results.”

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HARTFORD (CT)
Fox 61 News

January 22, 2019

By Doug Stewart

The Archdiocese of Hartford released information Tuesday, regarding clerical sexual abuse of minors in the archdiocese.

The archdiocese post the information at Promise.archdioceseofhartford.org The website was very slow to respond when it was first released. The list of clergy is below.

Last week, Jesuits in Northeast posted list of priests accused of abuse and 16 of them had Connecticut connections.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford says it has paid $50.6 million to settle priest sexual abuse claims over the last several decades.

The archdiocese said Tuesday that it has settled 142 claims involving 32 clergy members. The archdiocese paid out $24.5 million from its general reserve fund and insurance recoveries covered the rest of the cost of the settlements.

The archdiocese said 98 percent of the settlements paid were over allegations of abuse of minors that occurred before 1990.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WGRZ TV

January 22, 2019

The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has created a task force to review and recommend policies and procedures in dealing with sexual abuse allegations with adults.

According to the Diocese, the Adult Sexual Abuse and Misconduct Task Force will ensure the diocese’s policies for adult abuse/misconduct complement the policies on child abuse.

The task force, which in consists of five members, will also review investigation framework of sexual abuse and ensure it is in compliance with federal and state law, canon law and the Diocese of Buffalo’s Code of Conduct.

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[Church expert compares potential impact of Renato Poblete and Cristián Precht abuse cases]

CHILE
Emol TV

January 21, 2019

Marcial Sánchez, experto en historia de la iglesia, asegura que “sí va a haber condenas” tras los procesos en Fiscalía. Respecto a la situación del sacerdote Óscar Muñoz Toledo, el experto dijo que sí debiera perder el estado clerical.

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ROME (ITALY)
Catholic News Agency

January 22, 2019

By Ed Condon

As the Church continues to wrestle with the fall-out of last year’s sexual abuse scandals, the Vatican faces a series of crucial decisions in the coming weeks. How they are resolved, and in what order, will likely set the tone for the rest of the year.

One month from today, the heads of the world’s bishops’ conferences will gather in Rome for a special summit to address the abuse crisis. Ahead of that meeting, the Vatican has attempted to lower what it has called “excessive” expectations.

These efforts notwithstanding, the credibility of its discussions and conclusions will likely play a large part in shaping wider assessments of the Church in 2019. But before the three-day meeting begins, two other events could do much to frame how the February session will be seen from the outside.

The first of these events is the replacement of Cardinal Donald Wuerl as Archbishop of Washington, DC. The second is the conclusion of the penal process handling the allegations against Wuerl’s predecessor, Archbishop Theodore McCarrick. Both are expected imminently, and both seem sure to cast a shadow, for good or for ill, on February’s meeting and whatever it produces.

As has been previously reported, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith recently concluded the investigative phase of its handling of the McCarrick case. The CDF also confirmed that, instead of a full canonical trial, McCarrick was facing a penal administrative process – ordinarily reserved for handling cases where the evidence is clear and compelling.

Officials in different Vatican departments, if not the CDF itself, have already begun pointedly referring to the former cardinal as “Mr. McCarrick” in a nod to his likely laicization if he is found guilty of sexual abuse.

While Rome appears intent on ensuring the McCarrick case is resolved – one way or another – before the February meeting, how much detail the CDF makes public about the resolution will be important.

McCarrick is accused of a number of grave crimes, including the sexual abuse of minors and adults. What is done and said about his alleged abuse of adults may prove more significant, even if it represents the lesser charge canonically speaking.

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JACKSON (MS)
Mississippi Clarion Ledger

By January 22, 2019

Sarah Fowler

Mark Belenchia remembers the first time he saw his would-be abuser.

Belenchia was playing third base, wearing a white, wool baseball uniform with green socks pulled up to his knees. A matching green hat covered his mop of dark brown hair. He was 12 years old.

The year was 1968, and the Rev. Bernard Haddican had just arrived in Shelby, a small town nestled in the Mississippi Delta. From his position on the field, Belenchia saw Haddican arrive, mingling with parents and parishioners of St. Mary’s Church, the local Catholic parish. He was in street clothes and was personable. No one in Shelby had ever met a priest like him.

“All of the priests prior to him stayed real close to the church, in the rectory,” Belenchia said. “They didn’t get out in the community and, when they did, they were always dressed in black, with their collar on. That’s the way priests presented themselves.

“He showed up at the Little League baseball game and he wasn’t in a collar. Here he was, this breath of fresh air, coming into our town. He was different. He took up with the youth, he was at a baseball game. It was a moment to be proud and to relish, ‘Here’s our guy.’

“The protestant preachers, their kids were there and they might have been an umpire or a coach or whatever. We just didn’t have that…it knocked down a bunch of shields right there, just because he came and saw a Little League baseball game.”

Six months later, give or take, Belenchia says, Haddican touched his penis for the first time. The abuse would progress. It continued for years.

In hindsight, Belenchia believes he was being groomed by Haddican from the moment the priest met him.

The church announced in November that dioceses in Mississippi and Alabama would be releasing the names of priests who were removed from the ministry after allegations of abuse. Haddican, who has since died, was never removed from the ministry.

Belenchia said by sharing his story with the Clarion Ledger, he’s hoping the Jackson Diocese will feel compelled to go ahead and release the names of priests identified as abusers.

Maureen Smith, communications director for the Jackson Diocese, said the list of names is expected to be released this spring.

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HARTFORD (CT)
Hartford Courant

January 22, 2019

By Dave Altimari

The Archdiocese of Hartford Tuesday released the names of 48 priests “credibly accused” of sexual abuse, leading to the archdiocese paying out $50.6 million to settle more than 140 claims.

The archdiocese also announced it would hire a retired state judge to review priest personnel files in an effort, according to Archbishop Leonard Blair, to remove the “dark cloud” that still hangs over the Catholic Church.

“I have been a bishop now for almost 20 years and most of them have been overshadowed by the sin and scandal of sexual abuse and its devastating effect on the victims survivors and their families, on the morale of our priests and on the faith and even the practice of the faith among the Catholic people,”Blair said in a statement released on the church website.

“The lingering unhealed wounds from past abuse continue to cry out for further actions and answers,” Blair said.

The priests identified Tuesday include:
Gregory Altermatt, Joseph Buckley, Stephen Bzdyra, Herbert Clarkin, Stephen Crowley, Robert Doyle, Ivan Ferguson, Stephen Foley, Thomas Glynn, Paul Gotta, John Graham, Philip Hussey, Edward Hyland, Joseph Lacy, Robert Ladamus, Felix Maguire, Terry Manspeaker, Richard McGann, Daniel McSheffery, Peter Mitchell, Edward Muha, Howard Nash, John T. O’Connor, Raymond Paul, Louis Patrurzo, Arthur Perrault, William Pzrybylo, George Raffaeta, Edward Reardon, Adolph Renkiewicz, Joseph Rozint, Robert E. Shea, Kenneth Shiner, Edward Tissera, Felix Werpechowski and Peter Zizka.

Twelve others were identified from other religious orders or other dioceses related to allegations that happened in the Hartford Archdiocese. The six from other dioceses are Roman Kramek, Lucien Meunier, Edward Franklin, Bruno Primavera, John B. Ramsey and Jose Rivera. The six priests from other religious orders that were on assignment in Hartford are William Izquierdo, Michael Miller, Robert Leo Pelkington, John Pryor, John Rudy and John Szantyr.

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SYDNEY (NOVA SCOTIA)
Cape Breton Post

January 22, 2019

By Robert Coleman

The belief that homosexual priests are the cause of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church is gaining traction. While it is widely acknowledged that we need to understand the roots of the problem so as to effect change, healing and justice, we should be wary of being comforted by simplistic answers.

Think for a moment about the claim that homosexual priests are to blame for the abuse. What that suggests is that the homosexual orientation causes, predisposes and compels a man to engage in sexual predatory behaviour against children. Thus it is a risk factor by its very nature. Such a position, however, is not supported by scientific research as conducted by experts in psychology and behavioural studies. In fact, research has shown that the vast majority of sex offenders who victimize children are actually heterosexual men who most often victimize their own family members.

As a heterosexual man, therefore, I am statistically much more of a threat to sexually abuse a minor. Is that because my heterosexual orientation causes, predisposes and compels me to sexually abuse children? Is it a risk factor by its very nature? I somehow think that most people would recognize the absurdity of that proposition and reject it outright. So why don’t we recognize it as being equally absurd when we make such a claim about a person with a homosexual orientation? Could it be that we view heterosexual orientation as normal and homosexual orientation as abnormal? That would indicate that the homosexual orientation is a mental disorder. Again that is simply not supported by science.

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