ABUSE TRACKER

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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