ABUSE TRACKER

COLUMBUS (OH)
Columbus Dispatch

March 1, 2019

By Danae King

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus released a list Friday of 34 clergy members who were “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children. The latest abuse case on the list occurred more than 25 years ago.

The diocese said that it reviewed files on almost 2,000 clergy members who served in the diocese since it was founded in 1868.

“I share with the faithful of our diocese sorrow, sadness, and anger over such behavior,” Columbus Bishop Frederick Campbell, said in a letter posted on the diocese website with the list. “I apologize to all victims for the abuse suffered, and hope that these disclosures will help bring healing to all victims and their families.”

The diocese’s list does not include when the accusations were made, when the alleged abuse occurred or where the clergy members served in the diocese. Of the 34 clergymen, 21 were listed as deceased.

None of the abuse cases involving clergy who are still living happened within Ohio’s statute of limitations for prosecution, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said in a statement.

In response to the list’s release, six victim advocates said it likely wasn’t comprehensive and pointed to media reports, which show at least two more recent cases.

“I’m aware of priests who have abused who aren’t on the list,” said Carol Zamonski, leader of the Central Ohio Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Columbus is just the latest of 112 dioceses nationwide that have released similar lists, said Terry McKiernan, co-president of Bishop Accountability, an organization that works to track allegations of abuse by Catholic officials.

An increase in releases began soon after an August grand jury report released by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro detailed widespread child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in that state.

Ohio lawmakers have said in the past that the state’s home-rule laws put sexual-abuse investigations in the hands of county prosecutors. Joe Grace, Shapiro’s spokesman, said 15 other state attorneys general have publicly acknowledged investigations into clergy abuse and the U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a nationwide investigation.

“This is a matter of concern and discussion between me and my senior staff,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said of the fact that his office has no jurisdiction over clergy sexual-abuse cases. “Speaking as a voice for victims, the lack of information does nothing to bring closure to people who may have been abused by a trusted authority figure,” he said.

O’Brien said in a statement that the Columbus Diocese has regularly reported allegations to police, children services agencies and the prosecutor’s office since 2002.

George Jones, spokesman for the diocese, said the list had not been cross-checked with lists released by other Ohio dioceses, but the diocese plans to do so.

Campbell, who declined to speak with The Dispatch on Friday, said in the letter that he hoped the release of the information would “restore the confidence of all faithful in the church and in its clergy.”

Bishop Accountability co-president Anne Barrett Doyle said releasing lists of perpetrators is helpful to victims.

“Transparency is the ultimate act of compassion,” she said. “When you release a name of an accused priest, even if we already know the name, it provides instant validation to the victims and families.”

Still, the lists are almost never complete.

“Almost every time a bishop releases a list of those credibly accused there are omissions,” said Donna Doucette, executive director of Voice of the Faithful, a Boston-based organization that supports victims of priest sexual abuse. ”… It’s just been too many years with too many people to ever say it’s complete.”

SNAP Midwest Regional Leader Judy Jones said in a statement that the release is an important first step in protecting children, preventing future cases of abuse and healing survivors, but more information needs to be included.

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

EVANSVILLE (IN)
Evansville Courier & Press

March 2, 2019

By Jon Webb

The rules were specific.

Last week, when the Evansville Diocese released the names of clergy who had been “credibly accused” of sexual misconduct against minors, it made it clear that each name had to meet narrow criteria.

The accusations must be deemed “credible”: a term defined by the Diocesan Review Board and Bishop Joseph Siegel. Either that or the accused had to admit to the crime.

The abuses had to be committed against minors or someone who “habitually has only the imperfect use of reason,” (i.e. the mentally handicapped).

The report didn’t state this outright, but apparently the accused had to be directly – not just closely – tied the diocese.

But any Google search of abusive priests in Evansville will turn up names that didn’t make the Feb. 22 release.

In 2003, the diocese itself said 15 priests had been accused of misconduct. Sixteen years later, that number had somehow winnowed to 12.

The list didn’t include two priests – David Fleck and the late Raymond Kuper – whose cases are still winding through the diocese. It also omitted multiple priests who were cleared only through diocesan review – not by law enforcement.

That includes a now-dead clergyman who, when he was still living, had two women level accusations against him in 2002. In the first case, a board selected by then-Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger believed the abuse did happen, but that it was committed by a different priest. That shadowy person’s identity was never revealed.

As for the second allegation, the board refused to consider it. The accuser was 18 at the time of the reported abuse. They only investigated claims involving minors, they said at the time.

Some cases weren’t as ambiguous. Here are two examples.

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

OWENSBORO (KY)
KPR TV

March 2, 2019

By Lisa Autry

The Catholic Diocese of Owensboro has temporarily suspended a priest while he’s being investigated on child sexual abuse allegations.

Fr. Joseph Edward Bradley was suspended as the volunteer chaplain at Owensboro Catholic High School after a complaint was received on Tuesday. The allegation refers to sexual abuse by Fr. Bradley in the 1980s while he was principal at Owensboro Catholic High School.

A statement from the diocese says the allegation was immediately reported to the local Commonwealth Attorney’s Office and the Diocesan Review Board which removed Fr. Bradley from his volunteer role until the investigation is complete.

Fr. Bradley, who was ordained a priest of the diocese in 1975, became a staff member at Owensboro Catholic High School in 1976 and served as principal from 1980-1985. He pastored five parishes in the Diocese of Owensboro before retiring from public ministry in 2011. That’s when he began his role as volunteer chaplain at Owensboro Catholic High School.

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

Brent Detwiler’s blog

February 28, 2019

I hope you will read the entire article in order to fully grasp why the action taken by Al Mohler in cutting all ties to C.J. Mahaney and Sovereign Grace Churches, Inc. was so necessary. It has taken me three weeks to write this documentary account. It preserves a historical record but more importantly it illustrates what I consider to be the greatest problem in the evangelical church. Elders, pastors, overseers are not held accountable to the qualifications of Scripture found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. The examples are endless and it has done extraordinary harm to the gospel.

Evangelical leaders must resolve to act without partiality and favoritism when dealing with fellow leaders who are not above reproach (1 Tim. 5:19-22). Witnesses must be heard, evidence examined, and corrective action taken. This has not been the case with C.J. Mahaney or the leaders of Sovereign Grace Churches over the past 8 years. Tragically, so many of our top Bible teachers, authors, bloggers, professors, seminary presidents, parachurch leaders, and church planting experts have shown no discernment and refused to study the evidence. The good ole’ boy network has covered up for one its own. And yet, no one is fessing up to it.

In the providence of God, Al Mohler was forced to reveal his severing of ties but there is much more for him to do. Here are some highlights from my article followed by the full length article. I hope you take the time to read it all.

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

GREEN BAY (WI)
Press-Gazette

March 1, 2019

By Haley BeMiller

The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay has removed a former bishop’s name from a cathedral center because of the bishop’s reported mishandling of clergy complaints.

The Bishop Wycislo Center, an addition to the St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, will now be called the Cathedral Center.

In a Feb. 23 letter that the Press-Gazette obtained, Bishop David Ricken explained to parishioners of St. Francis why former Bishop Aloysius Wycislo’s name would no longer be on the cathedral center.

Ricken said Wycislo was never accused of sexual misconduct. Still, he said, removing Wycislo’s name allows community members with concerns about how he handled complaints to “move forward on a path to healing.”

“With the release of the disclosure list it is clear that a majority of the problems and challenges in the Diocese of Green Bay occurred during the 1960s and ’70s,” Ricken wrote.

Wycislo was bishop from 1968 to 1983.

The diocese last month released a list of 46 priests with substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors against them, 15 of whom are still alive. Ten of those priests were accused after they died.

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

SPRINGFIELD (MA)
WGGB/WSHM TV

March 1, 2019

Just days after the Hampden County District Attorney’s office launched a hotline to make it easier for victims of clergy sex abuse to report, calls are coming in.

D.A. Anthony Gulluni said that he can’t elaborate on just how many calls they have been receiving since announcing the hotline on Tuesday, but that they are coming in and, as promised, are being handled by troopers with the state police.

Gulluni told Western Mass News that the hotline is operating indefinitely and for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He wants to encourage everyone to continue to use it.

The reason it was launched was because of recent disclosures by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.

There is a statue of limitation of 20 years of when the crime was allegedly committed, but Gulluni said that there is a nuance when it comes to these cases.

“We still have the capacity to work with vicitms, provide them with services, point them in right direction in terms of counseling and all the resources that might be there. Certainly, collaboratively with the diocese in making sure the victims are dealt with appropriately and given their opportunity to certainly be heard and respected,” Gulluni explained.

Gullini said that they have a responsibility to victims of all kinds, so although there is a focus on clergy sex abuse with this hotline, anyone can use it.

Meanwhile, Diocese spokesperson Mark Dupont said that they support this effort by the D.A.’s office, but “would advocate that it beJust days after the Hampden County District Attorney’s office launched a hotline to make it easier for victims of clergy sex abuse to report, calls are coming in.

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

OAKLAND (CA)
The Catholic Voice

March 1, 2019

By Michele Jurich

Five representatives of SNAP — Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests — stood on the Harrison Street sidewalk, with the Cathedral of Christ the Light behind them, on Feb. 22 to present their response to the Diocese of Oakland’s release earlier that week of the names of 20 diocesan priests and 25 religious deacons and priests and priests from other dioceses who served here who, the diocese said, have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor.

“It’s not 45; it’s 132,” said Dan McNevin, representative for SNAP, in introducing the list compiled by SNAP.

“The diocese put out a list of 45 names. It was surprising to us, and disappointing. What surprised us was that there were 13 new names to us, five of those names are brand new to the world. They were priests who served in Oakland and never been revealed.

“That troubles us because survivors need to know that the abuse they went through has been noticed,” McNevin said. “In the case of those five, they were kept hidden from view, which means those survivors didn’t have that advantage.”

Those priests, he said, were “under the cover of darkness” and could have abused others.

“We want priests who have been credibly accused to be stripped of their ministry,” said McNevin, who is a survivor of clergy sex abuse in Fremont.

SNAP leaders read a litany of priests’ names, many from religious orders, who remain in active ministry. They also named two diocesan priests; the diocese does not list them among the credibly accused. The SNAP list included lay teachers at Catholic high schools in the diocese.

SNAP’s list was held aloft at the press conference by Joey Piscitelli, who was awarded $600,000 by a civil court jury in Contra Costa County in 2006 for sexual abuse while he was a student at Salesian High School in Richmond, three decades earlier.

Piscitelli noted the sources on SNAP’s list include the bishopsaccountability.org website, a list provided at the press conference by Minneapolis attorney Jeff Anderson last October, newspaper articles and the Official Catholic Directory.

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

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

March 1, 2019

Today, Bishop David Ricken of the Green Bay diocese announced he is removing the name of former Bishop Aloysius Wycislow from the cathedral center for “failure to adequately handle sex abuse cases”. In other words, covering up child sex crimes, not reporting predators to the police, transferring offenders to new parishes where they abused more children, and misleading Catholics.

While this gesture is welcome, it raises a lot of questions. What exactly did Bishop Wycislow do that his name is being removed? What specific cases did he cover up or mismanage? Where is the documentation and evidence? These facts can only come from the abuse files of the Green Bay diocese. But the diocese says they mostly destroyed these files under former Bishop David Zubik. That document destruction, admitted under oath in a civil case, has yet to be investigated by a single law enforcement official in Wisconsin.

Interestingly, if Ricken had a building named after him in his former diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming, they would have to remove his name. He himself “mismanaged” the case of Cheyenne former bishop, Robert Hart. Several victims had come forward and filed lawsuits against Hart by 2005. One of their demands was that Hart’s name be removed from a building at St. Joseph’s Children’s Home in Torrington. Ricken said no name change would occur since “none of the accusations against Bishop Hart have been deemed credible.” Yet, the new bishop of Cheyenne, Stephen Biegler, last year removed Hart from ministry because the allegations against Hart were, in fact, credible–the same allegations that Ricken said were not. Along with removing Hart from ministry, Biegler removed his name from the building.

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

NEW JERSEY
North Jersey Record

March 1, 2019

By Mike Kelly

When she talks about the Catholic church, you can hear the sound of Phyllis Hanratty’s breaking heart.

Hanratty’s son, Edward Jr., was abused by a Catholic priest for several years in the late 1980s when the family lived in Ridgefield Park and were loyal members of St. Francis of Assisi parish.

Edward Jr., now 42 and living in West Milford with his wife, kept his secret to himself until last summer. And when he finally told his parents — and the world, in an NBC news interview — Phyllis felt her faith crumble.

“My church lied to me,” she said in a recent interview at the apartment in Lyndhurst that she shares with her husband. “I’ve been robbed of my faith in the Catholic church.”

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

ROME/VATICAN CITY
La Croix International

March 1, 2019

By Robert Mickens

Bishops make more promises to get it right this time as the Church continues to implode
Organizers of the recent Vatican “summit” on the protection of minors, and a number of the bishops who attended it, are trying to assure the world that the four-day meeting brought about a “change of heart” in the Church’s leaders, especially those who — up to now — have underestimated the clergy sex abuse crisis.

In fact, before the Feb. 21-24 meeting even got started its chief planners indicated that a main goal would be to convince all the bishops in the world that the abuse of minors was not just a “Western” problem.

When it was all done and over, one those organizers, Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, said the highly-publicized event marked a “quantitative and qualitative leap” in the global Church’s response to abuse. He called it an important new step on the slow and painful journey of “turning things around.

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

UNIONTOWN (PA)
Christian Chronicle

March 1, 2019

By Bobby Ross Jr.

After a longtime youth minister’s recent conviction on corruption of minors and indecent exposure charges, a judge in this western Pennsylvania community did what the Uniontown Church of Christ’s elders refused to do.

The judge told Clyde E. Brothers Jr. to stay away from church services.

Brothers, 70, served for many years as the volunteer youth minister for the 100-member Uniontown congregation. Since at least the 1980s, he also interacted with hundreds of children as a founding board member for Camp Concern — a Bible camp directed and sponsored by members of Churches of Christ.

Generations of parents entrusted Brothers with instilling Christian faith and values in their children in this city of 10,000 that originally grew with the development of coal mines and the steel industry.

Victims’ relatives point to a problem that they say plagues not just the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention — both embroiled in major sex abuse scandals — but also the nation’s 12,000 autonomous Churches of Christ.

“It truly is an epidemic, such sickness,” said one victim’s mother, a former Uniontown church member whose name is being withheld to protect her son’s identity.

The allegations that Brothers used his volunteer church and camp positions to prey on young boys were traumatic enough, several current and former Uniontown church members told The Christian Chronicle.

But church leaders’ decision to allow Brothers to keep worshiping with the congregation made it worse, they said.

“I was told I had hatred in my heart, and I needed to forgive,” said member Debbie Williams, a former youth group sponsor who had traveled with Brothers and church teens to numerous Bible bowls and youth rallies.

Another longtime member said her son, now in his 30s, was one of four victims whom Brothers identified by name to the Pennsylvania State Police.

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

SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
10 Daily

February 27, 2019

Monica Hingston, 78, is shortlisted in the Faith category at this Friday’s Australian LGBTI awards. She’s flying from Melbourne to Sydney for the ceremony, along with nine friends and family members.

Her story isn’t as well known as her cousin’s, because Monica is an intensely private person. She was a nun for 27 years. Humility has been a guiding principle of her life. But her story, which I persuaded her to tell me last year in a magazine feature, deserves to be known.

It deserves to be known because it’s one full of juxtaposition and irony and it’s the ultimate example of love winning, despite all obstacles.

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

BALTIMORE (MD)

WBAL TV

February 28, 2019

Maryland delegates are mulling a bill concerning child sex abuse and the time limit for victims to file civil litigation.

The bill concerns civil cases, not criminal matters. Supporters said they have been trying to get the legislation passed for two decades.

Survivors of child sex abuse spoke out Thursday on Lawyer’s Mall, including David Lorenz, who held a photo of his 16-year-old self. He said he was abused by a priest at his parochial school.

“I always remembered it. I never forgot about it. (I) wrestled with it, had insomnia about it, had anxiety about it, never told anybody,” Lorenz said.

House Bill 687 would eliminate the statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims to file civil claims. The current cutoff is age 38.

“It takes years and years for victims of abuse to identify their experience,” said Pat Cronin, executive director of The Family Tree.

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ONEONTA (NY)
State Times

March 1, 2019

By Tara O’Leary

Trigger Warning: This Article Contains Sensitive Materials, Sexually Violent and Abusive in Nature

The Catholic Church has faced scandal in the past as reports of priests targeting children for sexual abuse have run rampant. More recently, it has come to the public’s attention that minors are not the only victims; nuns have been targeted over the years as well.

Pope Francis publicly acknowledged this for the first time within the past month. He admitted to the issue during a news conference while returning to Rome from the United Arab Emirates. “It is true,” said Francis. “It’s not that everyone does this, but there have been priests and bishops who have.” His response came just two weeks before hosting a gathering of bishops, intended to build a global response to the issues of priests targeting children. It also comes before Francis is expected to decide the fate of ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was accused of abuse. “I think it is still going on because something does not stop just because you have become aware of it,” the Pope stated. “Should we do something more? Yes. Is there the will? Yes. But it’s a path that we have already begun.”

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

QUEENS (NY)
Queens Daily Eagle

March 1, 2019

By David Brand

With the Child Victims Act now law in New York State, advocates and attorneys for survivors of clergy sexual abuse are stepping up demands for accountability through court settlements and a statewide forum where survivors can face church leaders.

Starting in August, the new law will open a one-year window that enables survivors of sexual abuse to take civil action, even if the statute of limitations has expired. Days after the conclusion of a sexual abuse summit at the Vatican, survivors’ advocates have also called for New York Catholic church leaders to host their own summit and announce concrete policy actions here in the state.

“They miss the boat when they do not take into account and ignore the voices of survivors, and don’t make them the focus of change. That’s what the summit would be about,” said attorney Michelle Simpson-Tuegel, who has represented 70 survivors of clergy sexual abuse, as well as survivors of U.S. Gymnastics physician Larry Nasser. “There are so many survivors impacted in the state of New York and they can discuss it among themselves, but [a forum with the church] is where it’s really going to create change.”

Pope Francis told attendees at the Vatican conference that victims deserve “concrete and efficient” actions.

“Faced with the scourge of sexual abuse committed by men of the church against minors, I wanted to reach out to you,” he said.

The Vatican summit was criticized for not arriving at any tangible actions, however.

Simpson-Tuegel said dioceses in New York should enact a stronger zero tolerance policy and automatically dismiss anyone credibly accused of abusing a child. She said churches and Catholic schools should more proactively address abuse and educate parishioners.

Manhattan resident Rafael Mendoza, 37, grew up in Queens and said he was abused by a guidance counselor, who was also a priest, at his Catholic high school.

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FRESNO (CA)
Fresno Bee

March 1, 2019

By Andrew Fiala

We too easily accommodate evil and corruption. We adapt to it. We laugh it off. We shrug our shoulders and tell ourselves that there is nothing we can do. It is often easier to be flexible. And sometimes it is wise to ignore things over which we have no control.

But when evil is left alone it festers. If it is not confronted, it becomes habitual. If it is not extirpated, it metastasizes and weaves its way into everything.

This is the lesson of the events unfolding in Washington, Rome, Florida, and elsewhere. Michael Cohen has been testifying about corruption in the Trump organization, including the Stormy Daniels affair. The Vatican has been discussing the plague of priests who rape children. And billionaires have been busted in Florida for soliciting prostitution

It is the systematic nature of these problems that is outrageous. Religious folks might say that the second sin is worse than the first. In non-Biblical language, we say the cover-up is worse than the crime. The original sin might be explained as a violent, spontaneous, stupid, or ignorant act. But those who cover up know what’s going on. They make conscious choices that accommodate evil.

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

ROCHIESTER (NY)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

March 1, 2019

David Andreatta

Christina Grana can’t forget the principal she and her classmates at St. Margaret Mary School in Irondequoit called “Hawk.”

“She was the monster in my dreams,” Grana recalled the other day. “She was the monster in my closet. She was monster under my bed.”

She was Sister Janice Nadeau, a nun described by those who worked and lived with her as a “harsh,” “stern,” “aggressive,” and “heavy-handed” school administrator who was known to “pick on” children.

To Grana, she was a “predator” who forever altered the trajectory of Grana’s life with an outburst that culminated in a violent sexual assault in February 1977, when Grana was 12 years old and in the seventh grade.

“That single incident defined who I am as a person,” said Grana, now 54 and a mother of two living in Webster.

The alleged assault could not be corroborated by an investigator commissioned by the Diocese of Rochester, whose 33-page report on the matter Grana provided to the Democrat and Chronicle.

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RICHMOND (VA)
WRIC

February 22, 2019

By Kerri O’Brien

A group that documents abuse in the Catholic Church says names are missing from a list of accused sex abusers recently released by the Diocese of Richmond.

8News has been combing over the Diocese of Richmond list and comparing it to an online group’s that has been tracking abuse allegations for years.

“It is really important not to let names fall through the cracks,” said Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org.

McKiernan spoke to 8News over Skype from Massachusetts about BishopAccountability.org, a website which maintains a database of priests and nuns accused of abuse.

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

NANTUCKET (MA)
USA TODAY

February 28, 2019

By Maria Puente

Ahead of a first preliminary hearing Monday in his sex-crime case, Kevin Spacey’s legal team filed a series of motions seeking access to documents and other potential evidence, including the cellphones of his accuser, a then-teenage busboy in a Nantucket Island restaurant bar.

The motions, filed Wednesday, are part of the discovery process in a criminal trial, in which defense lawyers and prosecutors exchange information and the defense seeks any evidence that might show the defendant as not guilty or aid in his defense.

Spacey has pleaded not guilty to a felony sexual-assault charge, denying that he groped anyone in a crowded island bar in the summer of 2016.

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VATICAN CITY
CBS NEWS

February 25, 2019

Three clergy abuse survivors all want to know why the Catholic Church still has not laid out concrete steps to stop child sex abuse. “CBS This Morning” has followed their fight for justice since last year, all the way from the U.S. to Rome, where they attended a summit with church leaders and called for a zero-tolerance policy for abuse.

On Sunday Pope Francis addressed the crowd in St. Peter’s Square, promising to confront abusers with “the wrath of God,” end the cover-ups by church officials, and prioritize the victims of what he termed “brazen, aggressive and destructive evil.”

But the survivors told CBS News correspondent Nikki Battiste they all want to know why the Catholic Church still has not laid out concrete steps to stop child sex abuse.

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VATICAN CITY
PBS

February 25, 2019

The unprecedented Vatican summit focused on clerical sexual abuse concluded over the weekend, with Pope Francis insisting the Catholic Church must end its long history of covering up child sexual abuse. The pope called for an “all-out battle” but didn’t offer many specifics, prompting criticism from survivors. Judy Woodruff talks to Becky Ianni of the victim support group SNAP for her reaction.

Read the Full Transcript

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DENVER (CO)
FOX 31 Denver

February 19, 2019

By Joe St. George

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced Tuesday there will be a third-party review of Colorado’s Catholic Dioceses and their handling of child sex abuse.

Weiser’s actions are the latest move by attorneys general nationwide after a Pennsylvania grand jury investigation into the church’s handling of abuse.

The review will be led by former U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer.

“This is the process we will be going through to get to the bottom of the pain,” Weiser said.

Weiser made clear during a news conference on Tuesday that state law does not allow him to convene a grand jury under these circumstances.

However, any criminal negligence found will be open to possible criminal prosecution, he said.

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BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

February 6, 2019

By Jay Tokasz

Retired Buffalo Bishop Edward U. Kmiec is being criticized for his handling of a clergy sex abuse allegation during his time as bishop of the Nashville Diocese.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests of Tennessee said that Kmiec allowed the Rev. James A. Rudisill to retire as a priest in good standing and remain in ministry, despite the priest’s alleged admission in 1994 that he had molested a 12-year-old girl in the 1950s.

Kmiec was Nashville bishop from 1992 to 2004, and Buffalo bishop from 2004 until his retirement in 2012. He is now bishop emeritus of Buffalo and resides in the area.

A call to his residence was referred to Buffalo Diocese spokeswoman Kathy Spangler, who did not comment on the criticism of Kmiec.

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

March1, 2019

Today, the Diocese of Columbus publicly named 34 priests that have been removed from their duties due to “credible” allegations of sexual abuse.

We’re glad that Bishop Frederick Campbell and Columbus church officials have taken this first step towards transparency. The releasing of names is an important step for the protection of children, prevention of future cases of abuse and the healing of survivors today. Still, it is only the first step.

First, Bishop Campbell and other church officials should amend their list by adding critical information that has currently been left off the list. Most importantly, church officials should include information on when the allegation against each priest was first received, what action was taken upon receiving the allegation, and when the priest was finally removed. Similarly, church officials should include on this list the work history of each cleric and aggressively seek out victims, witnesses, or whistleblowers in each location staffed by these abusive men.

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COSTA RICO
The Tico Times

March 1, 2019

By Agence France Presse

A Costa Rican priest was arrested Thursday a day after the Catholic Church had removed him from his parochial office for a complaint of “improper behavior toward a minor,” the prosecutor’s office said.

Priest Manuel Guevara Fonseca was arrested in the early hours of Thursday morning in front of a house in the city of Heredia, 8 km north of San José, the prosecution stated in a statement.

“He is being investigated as a suspect in the alleged crime of sexual abuse against a minor,” the prosecution’s statement read.

The prosecution authorities will take a statement from Guevara and will consider the possibility of requesting precautionary measures against him.

The Archdiocese of San José announced Wednesday night that Guevara had been removed from his position as priest in the district of Santo Domingo, north of the capital, while the church resolves a canonical complaint “for improper behavior against a minor.”

The case of Guevara occurred after the Vatican expelled Costa Rican priest Mauricio Víquez from the clergy last Monday. He faces nine complaints of sexual abuse of minors when he served as parish priest in different districts near the capital.

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KINGSTON (JAMAICA)
Jamaica Observer

March 1, 2019

While acknowledging that the Catholic community has been hurt by the sex scandals that have rocked the Church globally, Archbishop of Kingston Most Rev Kenneth Richards says the Jamaican priest fingered by one alleged victim has said their relationship was consensual.

In fact, the archbishop, in a letter to the Jamaica Observer, said that the priest, whom he identified as Father Paul Collier, has since submitted a letter of resignation from the priesthood and asked pardon for all the hurt or scandal caused by him.

Jamaican Denise Buchanan, now 57 years old and an academic who is a leading member of the international organisation, Ending Clerical Abuse — which is trying to pressure Pope Francis to take a tougher line on child abuse by clerics — told Agence France Presse ( AFP) recently that she was 17 when she was raped by the then novitiate, who continued to abuse her when he became a priest.

Buchanan, who now teaches at a university in Los Angeles and works as a psychiatric neurologist, said she was living in Kingston when her sister introduced her and her family to the future priest, then known as Brother Paul, a theology student and a member of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ.

She told AFP that one day he invited her into the rectory and “showed (her) to his bedroom”, where he sexually assaulted her.

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COLUMBUS (OH)
WBNS Channel 10

March 1, 2019

The Catholic Diocese of Columbus has released the names of clergy who have served in the Diocese who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor.

Click here for the list of names

Letter from Most Reverend Frederick F. Campbell:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

I am releasing today a list of the names of clergy who have served in the Diocese of Columbus, and who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor. I share with the faithful of our diocese sorrow, sadness, and anger over such behavior.I apologize to all victims for the abuse suffered, and hope that these disclosures will help bring healing to all victims and their families. The Diocese of Columbus is committed to maintaining a safe environment for all children and youth, and I am hopeful that the release of this information will help restore the confidence of all faithful in the Church and in its clergy. I urge anyone with claims of abuse by clergy or Church personnel to contact law enforcement immediately and also our Victim’s Assistance Coordinator at 614-224-2251, 866-448-0217, or helpisavailable@columbuscatholic.org.

In compiling this list, Diocesan staff reviewed the files of nearly 2,000 clergy who served in the Diocese of Columbus since its beginning in 1868. The list is organized into five sections:

The first section contains the names of clergy incardinated in the Diocese of Columbus (officially a member of the Diocese’s clergy) against whom a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor was made and investigated while the cleric was living.
The second section contains the names of clergy incardinated in the Diocese of Columbus against whom a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor was made after the cleric’s death. This distinction recognizes that an allegation

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SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
Morning Herald

February 28, 2019

By Simone Fox Koob

Defence barrister Robert Richter, QC, has apologised for describing acts of sexual abuse carried out by Cardinal George Pell against two choirboys as “no more than a plain vanilla sexual penetration case”.

The prominent Melbourne-based barrister was heavily criticised after he made the comments during a pre-sentencing hearing on Wednesday for Pell, who has been convicted of sexually abusing two boys in a sacristy after Sunday Mass in 1996.

“After spending a sleepless night reflecting upon the terrible choice of phrase I used in court during the course of a long and stressful process, I offer my sincerest apologies to all who were hurt or offended by it,” Mr Richter said in a statement released on Thursday evening.

“No offence was intended. It was not intended to evade the seriousness of what had been done. The seriousness of the crime was acknowledged at the outset by the concession that merited imprisonment.

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DES MOINES (IA)
KWIT Radio

February 27, 2019

By Mary Hartnett

The Catholic Diocese of Sioux City releases a list of priests who were credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors. However, some victims of abuse by Catholic priests say it may be too little, too late.

Also, as we celebrate Mardi Gras, a look at the 300-year history of New Orleans.

That and more coming up on The Exchange, Wednesday at noon and Friday at 9:00 at SPM>

This is The Exchange on SPM; I’m Mary Hartnett. This week was a major turning point for the Roman Catholic Church as Pope Francis ended a Vatican meeting on clerical sexual abuse by calling “for an all-out battle against the abuse of minors” and insisting that the church needed to protect children “from ravenous wolves.”

Despite the Pope’s vow “to combat this evil that strikes at the very heart of our mission,” many critics say the speech was short on the sort of detailed battle plan demanded by many Catholics around the world. Pope Francis had barely finished speaking before some abuse victims, and other frustrated faithful began expressing outrage and disappointment at his failure to outline immediate and concrete steps to address the problem.

The Diocese of Sioux City named 28 priests who have been “credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors from 1948 to 1995. Most of those priests are now deceased. A diocesan board reviewed all allegations of sexual abuse of minors, and Bishop Nicklaus accepted all recommendations. At a press conference today Bishop R. Walker Nicklaus added that no one on the list was allowed to work with young people and their names have been submitted to the authorities, although they have not necessarily been charged or convicted in a criminal case. “Accusations of sexual abuse deemed to be within the realm of possibility, the. Most expansive definitions used by any diocese were included.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

March 1, 2018

By Meredith Colias-Pete

As Pope Francis called bishops worldwide to Rome last weekend for the Vatican’s first summit on clerical sex abuse, local reactions varied on what it accomplished.

Francis closed out his extraordinary summit on preventing clergy sex abuse by vowing to confront abusers with “the wrath of God” felt by the faithful, end the cover-ups by their superiors and prioritize the victims of this “brazen, aggressive and destructive evil.”

But his failure to offer a concrete action plan to hold bishops accountable when they failed to protect their flocks from predators disappointed survivors, who had expected more from the first-ever global Catholic summit of its kind.

Clear action is needed to ensure transparency and accountability, said Larry Antonsen, 72, a leader in the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests’ Chicago chapter, who said an Augustinian order priest abused him at 15.

“They had a chance in Rome to do something monumental to get their credibility back,” he said. “They did nothing. They did nothing to help themselves.”

Francis delivered his remarks at the end of Mass before 190 Catholic bishops and religious superiors who were summoned to Rome after more abuse scandals sparked a credibility crisis in the Catholic hierarchy and in Francis’ own leadership.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
Daily Mail

March 1, 2019

By Miranda Aldersley

France called on the Vatican to take action on Friday and revoke the diplomatic immunity of its envoy to Paris after sex abuse charges were filed against him.

French judicial sources said in mid-February that they were investigating 74-year-old papal ambassador Luigi Ventura for allegedly molesting employees at the Paris mayor’s office.

Italian-born Ventura has been based in Paris since 2009 and serves as a diplomat for Pope Francis.

From 2001 to 2009 he served as the Vatican envoy to Canada, where he is also being investigated for alleged sexual assault.

‘I am waiting for the Holy See to assume its responsibilities,’ French European Minister Nathalie Loiseau told CNEWS television when asked if Ventura should see his diplomatic immunity lifted.

‘At this stage he (Ventura) has diplomatic immunity, but the Holy See obviously knows about the serious charges against the nuncio, and I have no doubt the Vatican will take the right decision,’ Loiseau said.

Ventura is accused of molesting a man at the town hall in Paris on January 17 when Mayor Anne Hidalgo gave a New Year’s address to diplomats, religious leaders and civil society figures.

‘During the ceremony, a city employee was repeatedly groped on the backside, in three instances, once in front of a witness,’ a town hall source said.

‘It was quickly decided to report the matter to the public prosecutor,’ said Patrick Klugman, deputy mayor responsible for international relations.

Prosecutors launched a probe into the alleged ‘sexual aggression’ on January 25 – a day after the mayor’s office filed a complaint.

The investigation is being conducted by Paris police, according to a judicial source not authorised to speak publicly because the investigation is ongoing.

A similar complaint has also been filed by a former Paris city employee for a case that allegedly took place a year ago, city hall officials said.

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DUBLIN (IRELAND)
Irish Times

February 28, 2019

By Maeve Lewis

It is more than 30 years since the scandal of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church began to emerge across the English-speaking world.

At first a few isolated survivors told their stories, soon followed by an avalanche of revelations. Regardless of the location, the same patterns appear: disclosures followed by cover-ups, priests relocated to abuse again. The church’s response has been abysmal, and it is only through investigations by the civil authorities that we now know the full truth. In Ireland, the Ferns, Ryan, Murphy and Cloyne reports each revealed the same dismal pattern: children were recklessly endangered to protect the status of the church.

While bishops’ conferences in some countries have put in place good child safeguarding procedures, both they and the Vatican have struggled to develop an adequate response to the bishops and cardinals who were part of the cover-up. The recent long-delayed defrocking of American cardinal Theodore McCarrick and the conviction of Australian cardinal George Pell for sexual offences show that sexual predators exist in the highest echelons of the church, but there has been little effort to hold accountable those leaders who concealed sexual crimes by priests under their authority.

When Pope Francis was elected, many survivors hoped for a fresh and vigorous approach to child protection. From putting in place a Vatican Commission for the Protection of Minors in 2014 to calling a Vatican Summit on Child Protection last week, hopes were high that an era of zero tolerance had begun.

Sadly, the reality has been different, from failing to implement the recommendations of his own commission to calling Chilean survivors liars. The Pope has refused to create a Vatican tribunal to try bishops who ignore or cover up abuse. In November the Pope forbade the American bishops’ conference from holding a vote on the introduction of penalties for senior churchmen.

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CHICAGO (IL)
CBS TV

February 28, 2019

A new report on sexual misconduct allegations against former suburban megachurch pastor Bill Hybels finds that the allegations were true.

Willow Creek Community Church commissioned the report by an independent panel to investigate the allegations that led to Hybels’ resignation.

The report concludes “Bill Hybels verbally and emotionally intimidated both female and male employees.”

It reads, “Allegations of sexually inappropriate words and actions by Bill Hybels… are credible.”

The Willow Creek founder stepped down in April 2018.

The report shows allegations started surfacing back in 2014. It claims Hybels initiated mentoring relationships with staffers who later accused him of sexual misconduct.

And male staffers claimed Hybels verbally abused them during power trips.

The independent panel investigating was made up of four evangelical leaders from churches across the country.

They say they tried to access church emails connected to the scandal but were not able to recover any.

The panel says the church board was not prepared to handle the scandal.

They recommend the church pay for counseling for alleged victims and that Hybels seek counseling himself.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Spectator

March 1, 2019

By Theo Hobson

I have heard surprisingly few Catholic responses to this week’s news of the conviction of Cardinal George Pell. I guess those who are not in denial are in shock. Let me interrupt the stunned silence with an outsider’s perspective.

This is not just another paedophile priest story – Pell was a key figure in the Vatican under the last three popes – and a major public face of the church’s moral conservatism. So will his fall bring a new level of Catholic soul-searching, a new critique of the Church’s entire moral culture?

Pope Francis himself often seems to call for such critique. Last week he warned against the potential dangers of moral rigidity, while speaking about the child sex abuse scandal in general. ‘Behind rigidity something always lies hidden’ he said. ‘In many cases, a double life’. It’s a line he has used repeatedly in the last few years – while upholding the Church’s moral teachings, he has urged priests to interpret them in a flexible, humane way.

Some people will reply to this with annoyed bafflement – if the pope sees moral rigidity as dubious, shouldn’t he be in a different job? For surely priestly celibacy is a form of rigidity that has served as a cover for paedophilia? It’s a bit like his oddly detached response when asked for his view on homosexuality: ‘Who am I to judge?’

To liberal Christians like me, it’s a bit dubious for the pope to play ‘good cop’ so charmingly. Roman Catholicism seems wedded to a flawed moral conservatism, and an excessive emphasis on rules. Surely Christianity emerged in opposition to rigid moral laws, we protest.

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[Abuse of children by Manuel Briñas spanned three decades and two schools]

BARCELONA (SPAIN)
El País

By Oriol Güell

February 28, 2019

La orden de los marianistas recibe también denuncias de exalumnos del Santa María del Pilar de Madrid

La publicación el pasado día 13 por EL PAÍS de un caso de abusos cometido por el marianista Manuel Briñas ha acabado por destapar lo que durante más de tres décadas fue una rutina de agresiones sexuales a niños en dos colegios de Madrid: el Hermanos Amorós, en el barrio de Carabanchel, y el Santa María del Pilar, en el distrito de Retiro. Este diario ha recabado más de una docena de testimonios de exalumnos que detallan cómo entre 1964 y 1997 y cuando tenían entre 7 y 13 años sufrieron desde “tocamientos y caricias” a “masturbaciones y felaciones” por quien también fue durante 20 años responsable de la cantera del Atlético de Madrid.

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SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
Morning Herald

March 1, 2019

By Wendy Tuohy

There is water cooler talk, and then there’s water cooler rage, and the emotions expressed by parents following the revelation Cardinal George Pell was convicted of five counts of child sexual abuse are firmly in the second category.

At the school gate, on the sidelines at sport training and around workplace coffee machines, parents have bonded over the shock, pain and fury produced by the knowledge that someone in whom so much faith and trust was invested was found guilty of sexually molesting children.

That is not to say only parents experienced these responses, but for many mothers and fathers to whom I have spoken and listened, the emotional clout of the verdict was unexpectedly sharp.

You cannot help but personalise such a finding.

The first response is primal: were that my child, and had I discovered this happened, I don’t know how I could restrain myself. It can be confronting to discover the extent to which such a base crime plays to your most-base, protective instincts.

Just as powerful is the sense of empathy for, and immense anger on behalf of, the children upon whom a crime with the potential to detonate their safe journey to adulthood has been committed.

As senior public health specialists explained this week, of all the childhood abuses with potential to alter the course of a person’s life, sexual abuse is the worst.

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AUSTIN (TX)
KXAN TV

February 28, 2019

By Russell Falcon

After a list of Austin Diocese Catholic priests accused of sexual abusing children was released in late January, it appears essentially zero investigations have resulted from the claims.

In the weeks since the release, KXAN’s Investiagtive Team has continued checking in with local law enforcement agencies to find out what has come of the revelations.

According to law enforcement, depsite the fact that at least 22 priests who are or were in the Austin Diocese were named on the list, APD says there has been no progress with investigations and the Child Sex Crimes Unit has not moved forward yet.

Additionally, police have confirmed that no new victims have come forward as a result of the revelations.

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DENVER (CO)
Crux

March 1, 2019

By Charles Collins

After the conclusion of the unprecedented Vatican summit on child abuse last week, one issue that was repeated was “accountability.” However, despite this mantra, the problem of what to do with bishops who have themselves been accused of abuse remains.

Right now, bishops can be judged by the pope alone. Although a special tribunal to handle accusations against bishops was authorized by Pope Francis, he later backtracked and decided to use specially constituted bodies in cases against bishops.

The U.S. bishops had proposed a plan to constitute a special lay review panel to receive and investigate complaints against bishops, but the Vatican squashed the idea, saying there was not enough time to review it in Rome and overcome the difficulties of reconciling the plan with Church law.

However, a plan by one U.S. archbishop to give more power to archbishops in dealing with accusations against members of the hierarchy looks like it is gaining favor in Rome.

The so-called “metropolitan model” was first suggested by Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago during the USCCB meeting in November, after the vote on the original plan of a national lay review board was stopped by the Vatican.

Cupich gave more details of the proposal on Feb. 22, during a press conference at the Vatican summit.

Basically, the metropolitan archbishop – now a largely symbolic role – would be in charge of investigating abuse complaints against the bishops in his territory, called a province.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Journal Sentinel

March 1, 2019

By Steven Martinez

Prosecutors on Feb. 18 asked a Waukesha County Circuit judge to bar a Pewaukee priest accused of sexually assaulting a teenage congregant and his attorneys from making “extrajudicial” statements about the case.

The motion, commonly referred to as a “gag order,” argues that statements made by the priest, Chuck Hanel, and his attorney, Jerome Buting, could unfairly prejudice the case or “disseminate otherwise inadmissable or irrelevant information.”

Hanel was charged in September with second-degree sexual assault of a child about five months after a teenage girl told police Hanel groped her in a confessional at Queen of Apostles Church. After the charge was filed, both Hanel and Buting told various media outlets that Hanel, in 35 years in ministry, had never engaged in any inappropriate behavior with a minor.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Thurston argued in the motion that such statements “are absolutely irrelevant for purposes of whether (Hanel) sexually assaulted the victim (in December 2017).”

Buting argued in his response that the state mischaracterized the remarks, which were made “in response to the inflammatory prejudicial nature of the state’s one-sided criminal complaint and preliminary hearing testimony.”

Buting said his and his client’s statements “neatly fit” within the “safe harbor exception,” which allows an attorney to make statements that they believe will protect their client from the “substantial likelihood of undue prejudicial effect.”

According to court records, no date has been set for Judge Michael Maxwell to rule on the motion.

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Get Religion blog

March 1, 2019

By Julia Duin

I hadn’t been following the child abuse charges against Australian Cardinal Pell all that much because I assumed, based on the evidence, that they were somewhat plimsy and would never stick.

But they did — in a series of trials that are as odd as they come. At the heart of the proceedings there was a single witness and what appeared to be “recovered memories” of abuse.

The end result? A cardinal is now in jail and a bunch of journalists have been handed the Aussie equivalent of contempt-of-court charges.

This is a complex story that I’ll do my best to break down, starting with what CruxNow ran in December:

NEW YORK — In a decision that will undoubtedly create shockwaves around the globe, Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Church official to stand trial for sexual abuse, was found guilty on Tuesday by a Melbourne court.

In one of the most closely watched trials in modern Catholic Church history, after nearly four full days of deliberations, a jury rendered unanimous guilty verdicts on five charges related to the abuse of two choirboys in 1996.

The trial, which began on November 7, has been subject to a media blackout at the request of the prosecution, and follows a first trial in September ended after a jury failed to reach consensus.

Pell, who is 77 years old, is currently on a leave of absence from his post as the Vatican’s Secretary for the Economy.

In June 2017, Pell was charged by Australian police with “historical sexual assault offences,” forcing him to leave Rome and return home vowing to “clear his name.”

Technically, CruxNow wasn’t supposed to run that story because of this media blackout, aka a suppression order, that media around the world were supposed to follow. Of course, lots of news sources outside of Australia’s borders refused to go along.

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DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency

February 28, 2019

By Carl Bunderson

The Archdiocese of Omaha and the Diocese of Lincoln intend to ask a Nebraska court to suspend subpoenas compelling the Catholic institutions of the state to provide all records related to child sex abuse, CNA learned on Thursday.

The state attorney general’s office issued subpoenas Feb. 26 to more than 400 Catholic churches and institutions, seeking any records related to child sexual assault or abuse.

Last year, the office had requested that the state’s three dioceses voluntarily provide information on sexual abuse and other misconduct committed since 1978. Each of the dioceses have indicated their cooperation with that request.

An official of the Omaha archdiocese told CNA Feb. 28 that that archdiocese, along with the Lincoln diocese, are preparing to apply for injunctive relief from the subpoenas, in part to clarify their scope.

The attorney’s general office announced Tuesday that “The Nebraska Department of Justice has appreciated the voluntary cooperation demonstrated by the churches. However, the Department believes that subpoenas are necessary in order to ensure all reports of impropriety have been submitted to the appropriate authorities.”

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ANN ARBOR (MI)
The Michigan Dailly

February 28, 2019

On Sunday, Pope Francis concluded an unprecedented global summit addressing the widespread issue of clerical sex abuse in the Catholic Church. The Church has been at the center of a massive scandal involving sexual misconduct, implicating members of the Church from local priests to the highest-ranking cardinals. It has also become clear that clerical sex abuse was something of an open secret among members of the clergy, creating a culture of cover-ups and protection of offending priests. Though Pope Francis delivered strong words against perpetrators of abuse in his closing remarks, declaring an “all-out battle”against sexual predators, many were left unsatisfied by what seemed to be a speech devoid of tangible solutions.

As an editorial board, we express our solidarity with victims of clerical abuse and urge serious ramifications and judicial impositions on members of the Catholic Church on both local and national levels, so as to encourage true change within the institution.

Pope Francis will soon issue a document motu proprio — a rescript initiated and issued by the pope of his own accord and apart from the advice of others, as defined by Merriam Webster — which shows his commitment to offering some concrete proposals. But how realistic is it to believe that the same institution that sponsored this abuse will now root it out? Defrocking priests who engage in sexual abuse should have been a consistent policy of the Catholic Church. Instead, we know that the opposite occurred.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Slate

March 1, 2019

By Mary Harris

For years now, survivors of Catholic clergy sexual abuse have sought accountability at the local level, taking claims to their parish or bishop. But the Roman Catholic Church is a global institution, and experts say its cover-up of child abuse reaches the upper echelons of church leadership. What would it take to go after the Vatican?

Guest: Marci Hamilton, founder of CHILD USA.

This episode first aired on Nov. 14, 2018.

Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to whatnext@slate.com.

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