ABUSE TRACKER

CHARLESTON (WV)
Gazette Mail

March 11, 2019

By Rebecca Carballo

A investigation into alleged sexual and financial misconduct by former Catholic bishop Michael J. Bransfield has ended after five months, and the former leader of West Virginia’s Catholics faces more restrictions while waiting for the Vatican to respond.

In a statement issued Monday, Archibishop William E. Lori of Baltimore said the investigation results have been sent to the Holy See. Lori was appointed to temporarily take Bransfield’s place at the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston when Bransfield’s retirement and the investigation were announced in September.

“Pending the assessment of the findings of the Holy See, as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, I have directed that Bishop Bransfield is not authorized to exercise any priestly or episcopal ministry within the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston,” Lori said in Monday’s statement. “I have further directed the Diocese to implement a third-party reporting system for any sexual or financial impropriety on the part of its bishop, clergy, religious and lay employees and volunteers.”

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Order explains transfer of nun who spoke against rape-accused bishop in India

MUVATTUPUZHA (INDIA)
Catholic News Agency

March 11, 2019

Last month a provincial superior of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation explained that the recent transfer of Sister Lissy Vadakkel was unrelated to her acting as a witness in the case against a bishop accused of serially raping another nun.

Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jullundur was accused in June 2018 by a nun of the Missionaries of Jesus of raping her during his May 2014 visit to her convent in Kuravilangad. In a complaint to police she alleged that the bishop sexually abused her more than a dozen times over two years.

Police in Kerala had charged Sister Alphonsa Abraham, superior of the FCC’s Nirmala Province, based in Vijayawada, and three of her deputies, with the wrongful confinement of Sister Lissy, The News Minute reported Feb. 22.

Sr. Alphonsa stated that Sr. Lissy, 53, had been staying in a guest house in Muvattupuzha “for the last 14 years … in her personal capacity and not for any work associated with the Vijayawada Province.”

“During her stay there, she had established a relationship with the nuns of the Kuravilangad convent and gave a statement to the police against Bishop Franco Mulakkal clandestinely,” the provincial superior wrote. Kuravilangad is located about 20 miles south of Muvattupuzha.

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District attorneys bring new muscle to clergy abuse investigations

BERKSHIRE (MA)
The Berkshire Eagle

March 11, 2019

By Larry Parnass

District attorneys say they will probe complaints of clergy sexual abuse in Western Massachusetts, even if the passage of time leaves them unable to bring charges.

“We want to honor and respect what people in our area have gone through,” said Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington. “Prosecution is about standing up for what’s right and wrong — and for morality. Whether you can or cannot win a case.”

Harrington and Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan, who represents Hampshire and Franklin counties, say they feel a moral obligation to aid survivors, amid questions about whether the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has adequately relayed abuse complaints to prosecutors.

“It’s really about the Diocese of Springfield being transparent, disclosing all the allegations of adult and child sexual abuse and then being accountable,” Sullivan said. “It may not be a criminal prosecution, because the statute of limitations may have run on many people.

“But there’s other forms of justice, for people to be acknowledged for the harm that was done to them. That restorative justice that goes on can be outside of the courts,” he said in an interview at his Northampton office.

Separately, Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni last month created a telephone hotline staffed by state police detectives that is accepting complaints of clergy abuse from any time period.

Moves by the three district attorneys — the top law enforcement officers for the four western counties — come as the office of Attorney General Maura Healey fine-tunes a memorandum of understanding related to how Catholic church officials report complaints of abuse. A spokesman for Healey declined to comment on the memorandum, but said the office is working with district attorneys “to make sure the policies and systems we have in place are strong to protect against these crimes, and remain a resource for survivors.”

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LINCOLN (NE)
Lincoln Journal Star

March 11, 2019

By Peter Salter and Riley Johnson

The Catholic church pushed back against state investigators this month, asking a judge to toss the 400 subpoenas the Nebraska attorney general served on churches and schools this week seeking evidence of clergy sex abuse of minors.

Short of that, church officials asked a judge to give them more time to comply, and to force Attorney General Doug Peterson to narrow his requests.

“The attorney general has improperly attempted to use these subpoenas like warrants without a showing of probable cause, by demanding immediate responses, threatening sanctions for failing to comply, and using the element of surprise,” lawyers for the bishops wrote.

On Tuesday, Peterson announced he’d instructed law enforcement officers across the state to serve 400 subpoenas on Catholic churches, schools and other institutions. Specifically, he required all records related to any assault or abuse by those employed or associated with each church or institution, whether previously reported or not, according to his news release.

What the release didn’t say: Peterson was demanding information covering 22 years, according to court documents. He was expecting immediate compliance from the offices of the Diocese of Lincoln and Archdiocese of Omaha. And he was giving churches and schools three days to turn over records.

Attorneys for both sides met privately with Lancaster County District Judge Robert Otte in his chambers March 1 before agreeing in court to delay the fight. Both sides will return to court later this month. Until then, the attorney general’s office has agreed not to enforce the subpoenas.

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Diocese of Brooklyn Responds to Saturday Night Live Skit Attacking Catholic Church

BROOKLYN (NY)
Brooklyn Catholic Diocese

March 11, 2019

The Diocese of Brooklyn is demanding an immediate public apology from “Saturday Night Live” and NBC after Saturday night’s disgraceful and offensive skit in which cast member Pete Davidson, during the Weekend Update segment, said: “If you support the Catholic Church, isn’t that the same thing as being an R. Kelly fan?” The statement clearly shocked the studio audience as gasps could be heard off camera.

Apparently, the only acceptable bias these days is against the Catholic Church. The faithful of our Church are disgusted by the harassment by those in news and entertainment, and this sketch offends millions. The mockery of this difficult time in the Church’s history serves no purpose.

The clergy sex abuse crisis is shameful, and no one should ever get a laugh at the expense of the victims who have suffered irreparably. The Diocese of Brooklyn strives every day to ensure that sexual abuse by clergy never happens again.

For nearly two decades, the Diocese of Brooklyn has taken this crisis seriously and instituted widespread changes mandated by the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

Those changes include a zero-tolerance policy in which any clergy member credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor is permanently removed from ministry. Since 2002, the Diocese of Brooklyn has shared all of its files and allegations against clergy with the District Attorneys of Brooklyn and Queens. In 2004, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio instituted a reporting line that sends reports directly to law enforcement authorities.

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After the Vatican Abuse Summit, What Comes Next?

DENVER (CO)
National Catholic Register

March 11, 2019

By Tim Busch

The time has come for an “all-out battle.”

So said Pope Francis at the conclusion of the Vatican’s first-ever summit on sexual abuse, which brought together the heads of bishops’ conferences from around the world, along with many cardinals. It was a powerful moment at the end of an important gathering, and the Pope deserves praise for convening the meeting and for his strong words.

But the Pope’s exhortation doesn’t just apply to the bishops. It’s also a call to action for lay Catholics. In the wake of the summit, the faithful must support the Pope by prayerfully and respectfully requesting a greater role in the purification of our Church.

For Catholics in the United States, our focus needs to be the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ upcoming assembly in June in Baltimore. We’ve been blessed with many bishops who are committed to reform, accountability and healing. We need to let them know that we support them, which is why the laity should encourage the bishops to use the Baltimore gathering to expand one of the most effective Church reforms in U.S. history — the Dallas Charter.

The Dallas Charter was drafted by the bishops in June 2002 after the Boston abuse scandal hit earlier that year. It instituted many new and long-overdue procedures to crack down on predator priests. One of its most important reforms was the creation of lay review boards.

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NJ moves from the Worst to One of the Best for Statute of Limitation Laws

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

March 11, 2019

Today, New Jersey advances the safety of victims of sexual abuse with the expected approval of reform bills in NJ house and senate.

NJ bill A3648 to be heard this Monday March 11, 2019 before the New Jersey Assembly Judiciary Committee. The hearing will take place at 1 pm in Room 11 on the 4th floor of the NJ State House Annex building.

Many survivors of sexual abuse will be testifying in support of this long overdue legislation, that will modify NJ’s Statute of Limitation (SOL) laws for both child victims and adults. The Bill will create a two-year window for victims regardless of age beginning Dec 1, 2019 thru Dec 1, 2021. After which the SOL will be extended to age 55 or 7 years from discovery whichever is later.

When these bills, Senate S477 and Assembly A3648, pass it will move NJ from having one of the worst SOL laws in the country to one of the best. Since 2002, forty other states have already modified its SOL laws for child sexual abuse. Survivors of sexual abuse, both child victims and adult survivors, will have a fairer opportunity to seek justice in this state.

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Victims of abusive priests won’t likely see justice, experts say

COLUMBUS (OH)
The Columbus Dispatch

March 9, 2019

By Danae King and Marty Schladen

Sixteen years after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus formed a review board to advise the bishop on allegations against priests of child sexual abuse, it released a list of priests that it has deemed “credibly accused.”

But the options for victims of these priests to seek justice are limited.

Systems such as those within the Diocese of Columbus in place to exact justice for victims of childhood priest sexual abuse and in the broader legal system often are stacked against adult survivors, advocates say.

Within the church, their accusations are judged by colleagues or superiors of the priest the victims are accusing; a victim’s advocate who is also high-ranking clergy; and a board made up almost entirely of parishioners.

Outside the church, the Ohio legislature has so far rejected changes in laws that limit damages awarded to victims in civil cases, and prevent civil cases and criminal charges because of a statute of limitations.

“The church is the richest institution in the world, and with that money they buy influence and power,” said Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who has made a career out of representing victims of clergy sexual abuse and was made famous by the 2015 movie “Spotlight.”

The Columbus diocese list, released March 1, named 34 clergy members and said the most recent credible claim of abuse happened in 1992. Though it took six months longer for it to release the list than it did the five other Ohio dioceses, Columbus added two more names March 5, making the total 36. Twenty-two of them are dead and the rest have been removed from ministry, according to the diocese.

The release of the list has brought added attention to the Columbus diocese, which did not see major repercussions after the 2002 Boston Globe investigation that forced other dioceses and archdioceses nationwide to open their files, face courts and offer justice to victims.

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New Jersey may soon give sexual abuse victims more time to sue

TRENTON (NJ)
Politico

March 7, 2019

By Matt Friedman

A bill to expand New Jersey’s statute of limitations on sexual abuse lawsuits appears on its way to passage after being stalled in Trenton for years, thanks in part to the release last year of a Pennsylvania grand jury report into sexual abuse by Catholic clergy.

“Every single day that passes without changing this law is a reminder to [victims] that they don’t matter,” said state Sen. Joe Vitale (D-Middlesex), the bill’s sponsor.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted, 8-1, Thursday to approve the bill, NJ S477 (18R), which allows victims of child sexual abuse up to 37 years after they turn 18 to file a lawsuit against their perpetrators and the institutions that harbored them. Beyond the age of 55, victims would have seven years from the time they realize the abuse has damaged them to file suit.

It’s a massive expansion of New Jersey’s current law, which only allows adult victims just two years from the time they realize the abuse has damaged them to file suit.

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Priest’s rape trial witness charged with perjury

BEEVILLE (TX)
Beeville Bee-Picayune

February 28, 2019

By Gary Kent

One of the witnesses who testified in the 2018 aggravated sexual assault trial of a former Catholic priest was indicted this month on five counts of aggravated perjury.

The defendant, 37-year-old Jose Padron, allegedly gave false information while under oath on March 2, 2016.

Aggravated perjury is a third degree felony. If convicted, Padron could be sentenced to up to 10 years in state prison and fined as much as $10,000 on each count.

According to the indictment, Padron had claimed, under oath, that he called the former priest, Stephen Tarleton Dougherty, on Dec. 16, 2011.

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Incoming bishop to address sexual abuse allegations against founding Memphis bishop

MEMPHIS (TN)
WMCActionNews5

March 9, 2019

The Memphis Catholic Diocese will have a new Bishop next month.

Days after Bishop David Talley was named for the position, a list came out of the Richmond, Virginia Diocese of priests with credible sexual abuse allegations against them.

Memphis Diocese founder Bishop Carol Dozier was on that list.

David Brown is a member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests or SNAP.

Outside the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Midtown, where Dozier’s body rests, Brown called for Talley to tackle allegations of abuse by Dozier head on.

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New sex abuse lawsuit names previously accused Newark Archdiocese priest

NEW JERSEY
North Jersey Record

March 8, 2019

By Svetlana Shkolnikova

A 26-year-old man filed a sexual abuse lawsuit Friday against the Archdiocese of Newark and the Union County Catholic parish where he alleges he was abused by a priest as a minor.

The victim, named under the pseudonym Richard Roe in the complaint, accused the Archdiocese of failing to act on a sexual abuse claim lodged against the Rev. Kevin Gugliotta in 2003 and exposing Roe to abuse by allowing Gugliotta to serve as head of youth ministry at St. Bartholomew the Apostle parish in Scotch Plains.

“Kevin Gugliotta should have never been a part of my client’s life, he should have never had the opportunity to be around my client,” said Greg Gianforcaro, Roe’s attorney, in a press conference announcing the lawsuit. “We warned them about this guy but the Catholic Church just did not get the message.”

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New sex abuse lawsuit will name a Newark Archdiocese priest previously accused

NEW JERSEY
North Jersey Record

March 7, 2019

An attorney representing victims of clergy abuse says he plans to file a “significant childhood sexual abuse” lawsuit Friday against the Archdiocese of Newark and a Union County Catholic parish.

The suit will allege that the Rev. Kevin Gugliotta sexually abused a child while Gugliotta served as the head of youth ministry at St. Bartholomew the Apostle parish in Scotch Plains, a position he retained after the Archdiocese was told that Gugliotta was a predator, according to attorney Greg Gianforcaro.

Gugliotta, who was named on a list of credibly accused priests released by the Newark Archdiocese in February, had been removed from ministry after being charged with possession of child pornography at his vacation home in Pennsylvania. Gugliotta told probation officers that he collected the pornography to get “revenge” on God for his poker losses, according to records.

Even before the child pornography case, Gugliotta had once stepped down from ministry after he was accused of sexually abusing a minor. The accusation, lodged in 2003, involved abuse that was alleged to have occurred in the 1980s, before Gugliotta was ordained as a priest.

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Incoming bishop to address sexual abuse allegations against founding Memphis bishop

MEMPHIS (TN)
WMC TV

March 9, 2019

The Memphis Catholic Diocese will have a new Bishop next month.

Days after Bishop David Talley was named for the position, a list came out of the Richmond, Virginia Diocese of priests with credible sexual abuse allegations against them.

Memphis Diocese founder Bishop Carol Dozier was on that list.

David Brown is a member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests or SNAP.

Outside the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Midtown, where Dozier’s body rests, Brown called for Talley to tackle allegations of abuse by Dozier head on.

“I feel for him. Bishop Talley is going to have his hands full, but he has an immediate need and that’s to reach out to these survivors here in Shelby County and West Tennessee,” said Brown.

According to the list released by the Richmond Diocese, they became aware of allegations against Dozier in 1985. That was 15 years after Dozier became Bishop in Memphis.

“Did he stop abusing when he came down here? We find most of the time pedophiles don’t do that,” said Brown.

In an exclusive interview with Talley, he said he was told about the allegations against Dozier immediately.

He said after he takes his position on April 2, he will get the information from Richmond.

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NJ survivor of alleged sex abuse sues church for letting predatory priest lead youth group

SCOTCH PLAINS (NJ)
WPIX TV

March 11, 2019

Attorney Gregory Gianforcaro said he and his old client, known only as Mr. X, met with the Archdiocese of Newark on October 24, 2003, to detail allegations of sexual abuse by Father Kevin Gugliotta.

Mr. X did not want money. He wanted Father Gugliotta to be kept away from kids.

Instead, Gugliotta was assigned to St. Bartholomew the Apostle in Scotch Plains, less than 2.5 miles from Mr. X’s home.

It took Gugliotta less than one year to meet his next alleged victim.

“I don’t understand what the problem is with this Catholic Church,” exclaimed Gianforcaro. “After the warning — he was made head of youth ministry.”

That’s where he met Richard Roe.

Richard Roe is an alias. His real name has not been disclosed.

Roe was 11 years old in 2004, when he claims Father Gugliotta forced him to participate in oral sex, fondling and masturbation on trips and on church property.

His mother just found out a year ago. Roe is now 26.

“We were just both in shock and dismay of what happened,” she said.

Gugliotta was later transferred to a parish in Mahwah, New Jersey.

“The younger the victim is the much harder it is for them to come forward,” said Mark Crawford, head of New Jersey Survivors of those Abused by Priests.

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Former Catholic priest jailed for repeatedly taking nude photos of young schoolboy

(AUSTRALIA)
news.com.au

March 11, 2019

By Warren Barnsley

A former Catholic priest who took nude photos of a schoolboy while he has a teacher at Brisbane’s Villanova College has been jailed.

Michael Ambrose Endicott, 75, was found guilty last week of three counts of indecently dealing with the child about 40 years ago.

He was handed an 18-month jail sentence on Monday, to be suspended after he serves six months.

Endicott was in charge of religious education at the school during the 1970s, his Brisbane District Court trial heard.

The victim said he was first abused by Endicott on a school hiking trip in 1975. Endicott asked the nine-year-old boy to accompany him to a secluded area in dense bush, where he photographed the student naked.

Endicott told him: “There’s nothing to worry about. It’s okay. You’re doing a good job.”

Three years later, Endicott abused him in the school tower. Again, the boy was photographed naked.

Years later, when the boy was a teenager, Endicott took him into a change room and told him to strip when photos were taken of him in the shower.

“He went along with the defendant’s behaviour … because he was a priest,” crown prosecutor Russell Clutterbuck said.

“He said, ‘at school, priests ruled. They have absolute power over everything’ and he dared not speak out against them.”

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The church protected pedophiles. Now, will lawmakers protect its secrets?

NEWARK (NJ)
Star-Ledger

March 11, 2019

To sum up five hours of absolutely brutal testimony before the New Jersey Senate, some of which will be repeated today for the Assembly: It’s easy to rape a child and get away with it.

We heard this from four sisters abused as girls by the same priest, and two of the Olympic gymnasts assaulted byteam doctorLarry Nassar. We heard it from burly men and grandparents, who cried as they relived their childhood terror.

The problem is, child victims are put on a clock. By law, they have only two years to file a civil suit, from the time they first realize that the abuse damaged them. When a person sexually assaulted at age 7 finally figures this out, and grapples with the trauma, it can be too late. The predator goes unpunished, and so do his enablers.

The bill would expand the two-year statute of limitations in New Jersey, allowing childhood victims of sexual assault more time to file a civil lawsuit.

And without the discovery phase of a civil lawsuit, forcing testimony from church officials, for instance, we may never know why an abuser was moved from parish to parish.

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Joan Isaacs gave evidence against the Catholic Church while struggling after pelvic mesh surgery

NEW SOUTH WALES (AUSTRALIA)
Newcastle Herald

March 11, 2019

By Joanne McCarthy

A CATHOLIC Church child sexual abuse survivor who prayed for death to relieve extreme pain after pelvic mesh surgery has accused key elements of Australia’s health system of acting like the church over the mesh scandal.

“I went to the Catholic Church and there was minimising, inaction and denial. I complained after mesh surgery and the response was the same from the health system. It was just denying, denying, denying there was a problem with mesh for years,” said Joan Isaacs, who was one of the first Catholic survivors to give evidence to the child abuse royal commission in 2013.

“In the past we’ve trusted doctors, just like the church. We put doctors up on a pedestal, just like priests and bishops, and both groups have minimised and denied when vulnerable people have been hurt. There’s not much difference.”

She told the royal commission the church’s Towards Healing process for abuse survivors was “re-abuse”, and wept this week as she talked about similar feelings while dealing with the health system, including the Therapeutic Goods Administration which approved mesh devices for use in Australia.

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FALL RIVER (MA)
WJAR NBC 10 NEWS

March 10, 2019

A Fall River priest was placed on leave after complaints accused him of sending inappropriate communications to several adult parishioners the Fall River Diocese announced on Sunday.

According to the Diocese, the Bishop of Fall River placed Father Mark R. Hession on leave based on complaints received against the priest.

In a statement, the Diocese said Hession was placed on leave due to “conduct inconsistent with standards of ministerial behavior and in direct violation of the Code of Conduct for priests in the Fall River Diocese.”

During his time on leave, Hession will not be permitted to exercise public ministry nor present himself as a priest in public settings said the Diocese.

Hession was previously in the news after spending at his old church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, was called into question.

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Church renewal needs shared clergy-lay leadership, say experts

SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Catholic San Francisco

March 11, 2019

By Nicholas Wolfram Smith

Changing canon law to allow lay people “authentic and honest participation” could encourage renewal in a wounded church, an expert in church law said in a talk to the Catholic student group at UC Berkeley’s law school.

Jennifer Haselberger has a Ph.D. in philosophy and a licentiate in canon law and served as chancellor at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis before resigning in protest in 2013 over concerns about how the archdiocese handled clergy abuse cases. In her Feb. 26 lecture at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall, Haselberger, one of many commentators across the ideological spectrum to emerge in a growing public debate over the roots of the clergy abuse crisis, discussed institutional factors and how they church can respond.

Haselberger said canon law restricts the power to exercise church governance to those who have received sacred orders. But she argued that the practice of the church makes that a “legal fiction.”

In single-judge annulment decisions, for example, the judge must be a cleric. Haselberger said small dioceses often lack a full-time priest for this work and instead use a lay person to author annulment decisions. By adding a digital signature, their work becomes valid in the eyes of the law.

Haselberger said a similar process can happen in parish finance, where the pastor has sole control but can often delegate all significant decisions to an administrator.

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Seminaries, relatively recent in church history, are still evolving

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

March 11, 2019

by Peter Feuerherd

Editor’s note: This is the sixth part of a series focusing on seminaries in the United States. Every priest, including those accused of sexual abuse or those who disagree with Pope Francis, attended seminary. How are priests being formed? Who is teaching them? How are seminaries adapting to the new wave of abuse crises and condemnation of clericalism from the papacy? NCR will attempt to answer these questions and more.

All accused priest sex abusers attended seminary. While that relationship does not constitute a cause, it has not escaped the attention of seminary rectors and scholars.

Seminaries — set apart from the secular world and seen by some as a breeding ground for clericalist attitudes that fostered the sex abuse crisis — have come in for criticism. Yet leaders of Catholic seminaries say that their priestly formation programs have already successfully implemented curricula that can check future sex abuse.

Like other academic institutions, seminaries have varying reputations regarding academic quality. But perhaps even more important is the reputation each institution retains for its philosophy and theology of priestly formation, the term that implies a complete look at a man’s qualifications to be ordained.

Some emphasize the cultic nature of the Catholic priesthood, focusing on setting men apart in the sacramental life of the church, which can include the wearing of elaborate attire, such as cassocks, as everyday wear. Others focus on what Pope Francis has described as nurturing the “smell of the sheep,” educating priests to better relate to the world of lay people. Still others combine elements of both.

Seminary leaders say they have a largely untold success story. Via classes in preventing sex abuse and more careful screening of candidates, public reports of sex abuse among new priests have declined considerably.

Franciscan Sr. Katarina Schuth, a longtime scholarly researcher about seminary life, is professor emerita at the Seminaries of St. Paul, part of St. Thomas University, in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Schuth noted that the perpetrators cited in the Pennsylvania grand jury report graduated from seminaries well before the 1990s. The vast majority of cases detailed in the horrific accounts of that report involve priests who attended seminaries in the last century.

Changes in seminary formation date in part from a document issued by Pope John Paul II in 1992. The apostolic exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis described the need for human formation, including knowledge of psychology and sociology, in the formation of priests. Schuth also cited the 2002 Dallas Charter of the U.S. bishops, ousting any priest from ministry credibly accused of sex abuse, as another landmark document in how seminary formation deals with the issue.

“I think about it every day. We are on the frontlines,” said Sulpician Fr. Phillip Brown, president-rector of St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore.

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March 10, 2019

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Catholic laity present recommendations to Bishop Malone

BUFFALO (NY)
WBFO Radio

March 10, 2019

By Mark Scott

After three months of work by hundreds of Catholic lay volunteers, the Movement to Restore Trust has presented its recommendations to Bishop Richard Malone.

The movement was started by nine organizing members in the wake of clergy sexual abuse revelations in the Buffalo Catholic diocese, but has since grown quickly by thousands. Its mission is to assert the laity’s role to restore trust and confidence in the Church.

“Our very clear sense from everything we’ve seen and read was that there has been a serious erosion of trust in the Diocese of Buffalo arising out of the handling of the sex abuse scandal,” said Canisius College President and MRT organizer John Hurley, “and that there’s a lack of confidence by the laity of the church, in the institutional church and particularly here in Buffalo.”

Hurley said the Bishop is in a position to start the process of change and MRT members want him to be a leader in that.

Facilitator Stephanie Argentine said lay volunteers broke down into six workgroups and came up with nine initial recommendations for the Bishop:

Commit to a partnership with the laity to restore trust
Embrace the opportunity to act voluntarily now
Address the needs of survivors for support and healing
Provide complete transparency into the scale of th4e abuse in both human and financial terms
Ensure the faithful are central within the organizational structures within the church
Voluntarily delegate greater authority to the consultative bodies in the diocese
Establish accountability with periodic review of implementation
Engage the Leadership Roundtable
Revive the spirit of Vatican II
Hurley said an Executive Summary of those recomendations were presented to Malone and discussed during two meetings, which he characterized as “productive.”

“Miracles of miracles, it happened,” Hurley said. “The Bishop said all the right things about affirming our work, believing in our work. He reminded me that he’s a Vatican II priest. He’s firmly committed to Vatican II. He said, ‘I’ll have to study this, but as I look at your foundational recommendations, there’s nothing here jumping off the page that tells me I gotta be worried about.”

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Alleged victims of first Catholic bishop of Memphis speak out

MEMPHIS (TN)
Fox 13 News

March 10, 2019

By Siobhan Riley

The victims abused by priests spoke out Saturday morning about the first Catholic bishop of Memphis who has been named on a list of priests accused of child sexual abuse.

FOX13 spoke with a victim involved in a separate incident who is demanding immediate action from the newly named Bishop for Memphis Catholic Diocese.

“All these buildings, all these facilities, all these awards named after Carroll T. Dozier, I want them taken down,” said David Brown with Survivors Network of those abused by Priests or SNAP.

Victims abused by priests have several questions after recent headlines accusing Bishop Carroll Dozier’s of sexual abuse against a minor.

The Richmond Virginia Diocese released the list accusing Dozier of the allegations. Dozier who led the Memphis Diocese from 1971 to 1983 was the first Catholic Bishop of Memphis.

“Did they report that to the Memphis Diocese, did they tell them then or did they remain silent which begs to question, they maintain what we call canonical files on all these priests, these are what they call the secret files, where are they,” Brown stated.

We spoke with Brown outside of Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Midtown where Dozier was buried.

Last month we reported that there was a list released by Richmond Diocese saying the allegation of abuse against Dozier was made after his death in 1985.

“There may be survivors of him down here that have been so afraid to speak out,” Brown said.

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Advice: Be warned that anyone can be a sexual predator

MCALLEN (TX)
The Monitor

March 10, 2019

By Maria Luisa Salcines

“Leaving Neverland,” HBO’s documentary in which Wade Robson and James Safechuck detail the sexual abuse they say they suffered from Michael Jackson when they were young will turn your stomach. The two men were convincing.

It was heart-wrenching watching these men give explicit detail about what their experiences, and to know that the alleged abuse has affected their lives.
Both men said they are in therapy and working on forgiving their mothers for not protecting them as children.

Their families were allegedly seduced and groomed by Jackson, who was one of the biggest stars in the world. Both respective mothers loved Jackson and never imagined that Jackson would hurt their children.

As a mother, however, it’s difficult for me to comprehend how these women didn’t think it was inappropriate for their sons, who were 7 and 10 at the time, to allegedly sleep in the same bed as Jackson.

Jackson is accused of becoming friends with the parents, fooling them into thinking he was trustworthy. His home was filled with toys and video games. He is portrayed as someone who didn’t have adult friends, but would befriend and hang out with little boys. All of these are red flags.

Oprah Winfrey’s interview with the accusers aired after Part 2 of “Leaving Neverland.”

She began her interview by saying, “This is a moment in time that allows us to see this societal corruption that’s like a scourge on humanity. And it’s happening right now. It’s happening in families — we know it’s happening in churches, and in schools, and sports teams everywhere. So if it gets you, our audience, to see how it happens, then some good would have come of it.”

The innocence of the child and inexperience makes them incapable of understanding that what is happening is wrong.

As we have seen in the news lately with Catholic priests and the Penn State and Syracuse scandals, child abusers hide behind positions of power, using their positions to seduce and manipulate their victims.

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Editorial | Shining a light on the Neverland of child sex abuse

SANTA CRUZ (CA)
Santa Cruz Sentinel

March 9, 2019

It is both harrowing and infinitely sad to see “Leaving Neverland” and “Surviving R. Kelly,” two cable television documentaries about the crime of child sexual abuse, its perpetrators and victims.

R. Kelly currently sits in a Chicago jail cell for failure to pay child support, while at the same time, years of allegations about his sexual abuse of underage girls, have finally caught up with him. The R&B star says he is unfairly accused and that his career has been ruined by the allegations.

“Leaving Neverland” aired last week, profiling two men who say Michael Jackson sexually abused them when they were children.

Jackson died in 2009 and his family has filed a lawsuit against HBO which aired the documentary.

That Kelly and Jackson face these accusations is hardly shocking, considering previous allegations both have faced, but the depravity of the alleged acts described by the victims — who come off eminently believable — is shattering. Much of the same debate has also been heard during the Roman Catholic Church’s repeated scandals of child sex abuse and in the #MeToo movement.

One of the questions asked of the two latest Jackson accusers is why they took so long to come forward and why they first denied they had been repeatedly molested by the pop star.

Both Wade Robson, who testified for Jackson in the singer’s court trial, and James Safechuck still suffer guilt and shame over what happened. Both men say they will spend the rest of their lives trying to come to terms with what happened, and about the feelings they still harbor.

They were groomed — or manipulated — by Jackson when they were little boys and considered him, in their words, like a “god” who turned them against anyone who might want to intrude into their twisted world. Both said they didn’t consider it “abuse” until relatively recently.

Safechuck, in particular, seems to remain traumatized at age 40, three decades after he met Jackson during the filming of a soda commercial. Jackson, in addition to allegedly repeatedly assaulting the child, also bought him a “wedding ring” that Safechuck still possesses.

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lremington March 10, 2019

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

March 8, 2019

By Shaila Dewan

The explosive documentaries “Leaving Neverland” and “Surviving R. Kelly” have reignited a national conversation about child sex abuse.

“Leaving Neverland” profiles two men who say Michael Jackson sexually abused them when they were children. Jackson faced several allegations that he molested young boys dating back to 1993, but was never convicted of any charges.

For more than two decades, R. Kelly has been trailed by a series of allegations of sexual misconduct with minors. Then in February, after “Surviving R. Kelly” aired, the authorities in Chicago charged him with 10 counts of sexual abuse. He denies the charges.

With these developments coming years after the alleged abuse, many are asking why victims can take so long to come forward, why they might at first deny the abuse and whether their parents could have done more. Here are some answers to those difficult questions.

Why do some victims take so long to come forward?

It can take decades for people who are sexually abused as children to come forward, for a multitude of reasons. They may suffer from effects of trauma or believe they are to blame, and it can take years for them to even identify what happened as abuse. In one German study, the average age of disclosure was 52. Despite that, some states in the United States gave victims only two or three years after reaching the age of 18 to seek criminal action.

The Catholic church child abuse scandal in the early 2000s drove most states to change their statute of limitation laws, extending the time those abused as children had to come forward. More recently, a wave of reports like one in Pennsylvania that found more than 1,000 child victims of Catholic priests has renewed a push to allow more time.

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Universidad Católica desconoce fallo de la Corte de Apelaciones y otorga semestre “sabático” a profesor investigado por acoso sexual

[Universidad Católica ignores decision of the Court of Appeals and awards semester “sabbatical” to teaching priest investigated for sexual harassment]

CHILE
The Clinic

March 6, 2019

En un comunicado a la comunidad de la Facultad de Teología de la Pontificia Universidad Católica, firmado por su decano Joaquín Silva, la institución desconoce la parcialidad de la investigación interna llevada a cabo por una denuncia de acoso sexual contra el sacerdote Rodrigo Polanco, que fue corroborada por la Corte de Apelaciones. Así también, informa que el Consejo de Facultad aprobó la solicitud del docente para adelantar el “inicio de las investigaciones que realizaría en el marco del sabático ya aprobado para el segundo semestre de este año”.

El 25 de julio de 2018, la investigadora designada para el sumario contra el profesor Rodrigo Polanco, María Graciela Donoso, propuso a la Secretaría General de la Universidad Católica el sobreseimiento definitivo del proceso de investigación por el acoso sexual que habría cometido el sacerdote contra la alumna K.H.M., alegando que “los hechos denunciados carecen de fundamento plausible”.

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Keith C. Burris: The sins of the fathers

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Post-Gazette

March 9, 2019

By Keith C. Burris

I was painting an attic wall, actually slathering on KILZ before applying paint, and was happy for an interruption. It was from my brother John — a text. Had I read the list of clergy abusers released by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus? It was printed in the Columbus Dispatch. My brother knew a couple of the names. He thought I might know more.

I did.

I attended St. Charles Preparatory School in Columbus, a truly great school then and now and a place for which I have abiding affection. Back in the day, St. Charles also had a college, a minor seminary, in the same building. I knew eight of the names on the list — some because they were what we called then “the collegians” and some because they were faculty members. One, recently accused, and eventually beloved by the St. Charles community, was the supervisor of my dorm. Seeing his name stunned me. We crossed swords many times and he threatened to expel me at least once. But we also had long talks about poetry, writing, and politics. I admired him.

Two people on the list did not surprise me. One was a collegian and one (Fr. X) the onetime assistant pastor of my church. The first was gifted, a charmer, and the last person I would have thought a predator — until I saw something that much later clicked in my head. The latter you would not think a predator either. But a guy with a screw loose, yes. His thing was the Boy Scouts. He was a Boy Scout chaplain.

When I lived in Connecticut, we had a local doctor, another “good guy,” who was heavily into Scouting, and, as it turned out, child porn. He was sentenced to prison. Did he diminish Scouting in Connecticut? Not the idea. But certainly the organization.

Did these priests diminish Catholicism in central and east central Ohio? Not the idea. But certainly the organization.

They operated with impunity, in church after church, for decades. None went to prison.

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Review of sex abuse by Catholic priests will not include one-third of Colorado’s publicly accused clergy

lremington March 10, 2019

DENVER (CO)
Denver Post

March 10, 2019

By Elis Schmelzer

For five years in the late 1960s and early ’70s, a Catholic brother used ether to subdue at least 23 teenage boys at a Catholic high school in Pueblo. He told them he was conducting an “experiment.” Instead, they alleged in a lawsuit, he molested and raped them in the band room.

The Marianist brother, William Mueller, was later transferred to schools in St. Louis, where lawsuits claim he continued to abuse students. Some of the boys later said in lawsuits that they told the Diocese of Pueblo and school leaders at Roncalli High School about the abuse, but nothing was done.

Mueller’s case is one of the most high-profile Catholic clergy abuse cases in Colorado — it resulted in a settlement with the Diocese of Pueblo and Mueller’s religious order for $4 million.

But Mueller’s case and at least eight others like it will not be included in the third-party review announced last month by the state attorney general and the Catholic Church in Colorado because Mueller was supervised by a religious order, not a diocese. His victims will not have access to the recently announced reparations fund or reconciliation services, because he was under the supervision of a religious order and not one of Colorado’s three dioceses.

A spokesman for Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser did not respond to an emailed question about why religious-order priests and brothers were excluded from the review, which was initiated by Weiser’s predecessor and finalized after he took office.

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Ezzati no deja su papel de víctima: niega las últimas denuncias y considera “injusto” que le quieran quitar la nacionalidad

[In interview, Ezzati denies the latest cover-up accusation and considers it “unfair” to remove his nationality]

CHILE
El Mostrador

March 8, 2019

El cuestionado cardenal dio una extensa entrevista como parte de su estrategia comunicacional previa a la decisión que la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago debería adoptar la próxima semana respecto a su solicitud de sobreseimiento. El prelado se concentró en negar al denunciante del cura Tito Rivera, sacerdote acusado de cometer violaciones en la misma Catedral Metropolitana, y menos haberle ofrecido dinero. Incluso, dijo que todos los casos de abusos que han sido denunciados en la Arquidiócesis de Santiago “desde el año 2011 han sido investigados”.

A una semana que la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago se pronuncie respecto a su solicitud de sobresemiento de las acusaciones de encubrimiento de abusos sexuales en el clero que investiga la Fiscalía, el arzobispo de Santiago, cardenal Ricardo Ezzati, decidió romper el silencio y pasar a la ofensiva.

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lremington March 10, 2019

[Church of Chile currently investigating 40 cases of abuse of minors]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 9, 2019

By M. J. Navarrete and G. Peñafiel

La Tercera consultó a las 27 diócesis del país, incluyendo al obispado castrense. En los últimos cinco años han sido condenados canónicamente 21 sacerdotes.

“Los fieles no perdonan la falta de transparencia, porque es una nueva violencia contra las víctimas”. Estas fueron las palabras de la periodista mexicana Valentina Alazraki, quien interpeló a las máximas autoridades del clero católico a fines de febrero, en el encuentro sobre la protección a menores en la Iglesia que se efectuó en el Vaticano. Su intervención fue aplaudida por las víctimas de abuso sexual eclesiástico y valorada por el propio comité organizador del evento.

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March 9, 2019

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Deadline set for abuse claims against church

ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Albuquerque Journal

March 10, 2019

By Colleen Heild

Priest sexual abuse survivors have until June 17 to file a proof of claim in the ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed by the Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

A Friday order by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma approving the deadline for claims tasks the archdiocese with getting the word out to clergy abuse victims, primarily by publishing notices in more than 22 newspapers or other publications in New Mexico and elsewhere.

“The order is the first step in what we hope will be a global resolution to provide fair compensation to all survivors of sex abuse by clergy,” said Archbishop John C. Wester of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in a news release.

Wester said the archdiocese, the largest of New Mexico’s three Catholic dioceses, is working “collaboratively” with a creditor’s committee of sex abuse survivors and “our insurers to maximize the outreach to those who might have claims.”

Claims will be sealed and won’t be available to the public unless the claimant indicates otherwise.

“After the claims filing deadline of June 17, 2019,” Wester stated, “we are hopeful that mediation among the survivors’ committee, insurers, archdiocese and other parties will result in a consensual plan providing an appropriate resolution for each and every claimant.”

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy reorganization in December, citing the financial burden of continuing litigation brought by victims, most of whom allege they were sexually abused by priests decades ago.

“The establishment of a deadline to file claims is critical in this case because it will allow the Debtor and other necessary parties to understand the universe of claims asserted against the Debtor,” stated attorneys for the archdiocese in a Feb. 1 filing.

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Hundreds Sign Useless Petition After Catholic School Bans Child of Gay Parents

Patheos blog

March 9, 2019

By Sarabeth Caplin

After a kindergartner was denied entry into a Catholic school for having same-sex parents, hundreds of people petitioned the school’s leaders hoping to reverse the decision.

The petition is addressed to Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann and school Superintendent Kathy O’Hara, both of whom oversee St. Ann Catholic School.

“Respectfully, we believe that the decision to deny a child of God access to such a wonderful community and education, based on the notion that his or her parent’s union is not in accordance with the Church’s teaching in Sacramental marriage, lacks the compassion and mercy of Christ’s message,” the petition reads.

I guess they didn’t realize they were speaking to leaders in the Catholic Church. Asking for compassion and mercy mean nothing to Church leaders when confronted with the opportunity to denigrate same-sex couples.

Unsurprisingly, Naumanmn and O’Hara refused to budge in their decision, claiming that the Church is firm in its stance about what “real” marriage looks like.

… in a statement to The Star on Wednesday, O’Hara said the “Church’s teaching on marriage is clear and is not altered by the laws of civil society.” Catholic doctrine recognizes marriage “as a sacrament entered into between a man and woman.”

“The Church teaches that individuals with same sex attraction should be treated with dignity,” the statement read. “However, the challenge regarding same sex couples and our Catholic schools is that same sex parents cannot model behaviors and attitudes regarding marriage and sexual morality consistent with essential components of the Church’s teachings.”

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Violación en la Catedral: Fiscalía pide formalizar a Tito Rivera por delitos sexuales

lremington March 9, 2019

[Rape in the cathedral: prosecutor requests formal charges against priest Tito Rivera]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 9, 2019

By Jorge Molina Sanhueza

El fiscal regional de Rancagua, Emiliano Arias, solicitó el 13º Juzgado de Garantía de Santiago fecha para formalizar al presbítero Tito Rivera por el delito de abuso sexual. La decisión del perseguidor penal, que lleva una serie de indagatorias en contra de la Iglesia chilena, se produce a días que la Unidad de de Investigación de Radio Bío Bío, revelara que Rivera violó a “Z” en uno de los dormitorios de la Catedral de Santiago en 2015.

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Víctima de violación en la catedral presenta querella por abusos contra el sacerdote Tito Rivera

lremington March 9, 2019

[Victim of cathedral rape files complaint against priest Tito Rivera]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 9, 2019

By Felipe Díaz and Erik López

Una querella criminal por abuso sexual en contra del sacerdote a quien acusa de violarlo al interior de la Catedral Metropolitana, interpuso Daniel Álvarez, quien además acusa al cardenal Ricardo Ezzati de encubrir estos hechos. Álvarez llegó este sábado hasta el Centro de Justicia capitalino en compañía de su abogado, Alfredo Morgado, para presentar la demanda en contra de Tito Rivera.

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El cardenal francés que fue condenado por crímenes de encubrimiento similares a los de Ezzati

lremington March 9, 2019

[Comparing the French cardinal who was convicted of covering up abuse to Ezzati]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 7, 2019

By Paola Alemán

Si la iglesia católica ya estaba siendo sacudida por los escándalos de abusos sexuales, su cúpula ha recibido una grieta profunda tras el prolongado terremoto que remece la fe en esta institución. Cientos de sacerdotes, y hasta monjas, han sido señalados por hombres y mujeres, que ya como adultos, procesan una realidad en el presente la cual sigue siendo dolorosa.

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SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
Sydney Morning Herald

March 9, 2019

By Anne O’Donovan

As a cradle Catholic, and as a mother and a grandmother, my response to the Cardinal Pell conviction is, as for others like me, deeply complex.

For weeks I have been unable to bring myself to attend Sunday Mass.

Almost daily I wake to a deadening of the heart as yet another story of abuse of children by Catholic clergy emerges, here and internationally. Catholics like me are in grief.

Cardinal Pell is an unsympathetic character, described as having a pathological lack of empathy, and emblematic of a church that is out of touch with its people. And yet he is a prince of the church: the only ranking higher is that of the Pope. How unthinkable that he has been convicted of abusing children.

I see myself as a liberal Catholic – loosely connected to St Carthage’s parish at Melbourne University, where the much-loved Father Michael Elligate ministers to a flock from every corner of Melbourne. When I go to Michael’s Mass, I come away with a thought about how to live my life – an opportunity for meditation on the deeper things.

I abhor the arrogant male exclusivity of elements of the church and long ago relinquished any regard for the dogmatic pronouncements from the Control Tower. And yet, and yet … something keeps me connected.

For me, it is a love of the ritual, something deep in my racial memory, and it’s the goodness of so many clergy and religious, the 93 per cent who are not abusers. Perhaps it’s also the debt we owe to generations of nuns, priests and brothers who gave us a start on what became fulfilling lives as successful professionals. Many in public life operate from principles of social justice imbibed in this system.

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Seven more Jesuit priests accused of abuse had ties to St. Louis

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Post Dispatch

March 9, 2019

By Nassim Benchaabane

Seven more Jesuit priests who worked in St. Louis have been identified as being credibly accused of sexual abuse, according to a list posted months ago by a Jesuit province but not publicized here until a survivors group outed the names on Friday.

Four of the priests were assigned to St. Louis University as recently as the 1970s, according to the Midwest Jesuit Province. One priest worked at Washington University in the late 1960s. Two, including one assigned to SLU, worked at St. Stanislaus Seminary in the 1940s. One of the priests, and a second convicted of abuse in Michigan, were patients at a Catholic treatment center in Dittmer as recently as 2012.

David Clohessy, spokesman for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, which pointed out the new information on Friday, said the Midwest Province should have published the information earlier.

“They tried to pull a fast one,” Clohessy said at a press conference SNAP called on Friday in front of St. Francis Xavier “College” Church on Lindell Boulevard on the SLU campus.

The update brings the total number of credibly accused Jesuit priests with ties to St. Louis to 24. In early December, the St. Louis-based Central and Southern Province published a list that included 17 priests with ties to St. Louis.

The Jesuit provinces were among several Catholic institutions across the country that released lists naming priests credibly accused of sexual abuse in the wake of an explosive Pennsylvania grand jury report that documented decades of abuses and cover-ups involving hundreds of priests.

The seven names were included in the Midwest Province’s original list, published Dec. 17. But it wasn’t until the province updated the list with the priests’ work histories on Dec. 21 that SNAP identified the ties to St. Louis.

The Midwest Province did not respond to multiple requests seeking comment.

Clohessy, an abuse survivor, said the publicization of the names might help families identify past abuse and address current problems.

“That is the first step toward healing,” Clohessy said.

Two of the priests with local ties on the Midwest list were named in a 2003 federal lawsuit alleging abuse of students at church-run Native American boarding schools across the country.

One priest, James F. Gates, was accused by 15 women and one man of abusing them in the late 1960s and early 1970s while they were students at St. Mary’s Mission and boarding school in Omak, Wash.

SPOKANE (WA)
The Inlander

BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald.

March 8, 2019

By Lsia Kashinsky

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley on Friday announced an anonymous third-party system for reporting sexual abuse by cardinals and bishops, but clergy abuse victims and their advocates were quick to question its effectiveness.

The reporting system comes after a widely hyped Vatican summit on clerical sex abuse last month failed to engender substantive reform, producing little more than a guidebook for bishops on handling abuse.

Phil Saviano, a survivor of priest sexual assault, said O’Malley’s latest measure was “a step in the right direction” but urged those looking to report abuse to bypass the church and go straight to law enforcement.

“The cardinal says, ‘Make a report to us and then we’ll report it to civil authorities,’” Saviano said. “But you don’t know if they’re going to edit something out or how quickly they’re going to make the report to civil authorities. Why go through a middle man?”

In a letter to the local Catholic community, O’Malley said he plans to use the confidential EthicsPoint system “exclusively for the reporting of misconduct” by a cardinal, bishop or auxiliary bishop. Archdiocese of Boston spokesman Terrence Donilon said misconduct refers to accusations of sexual abuse against high-ranking officials, or issues with their handling of an abuse situation.

The new system will be run separately from the EthicsPoint system the archdiocese uses for reporting ethics and financial violations. Reports can be made online or through a toll-free hotline, and will be sent to O’Malley’s Independent Review Board, which he said must “immediately notify” law enforcement of abuse claims, as well as the Holy See’s diplomatic representative to the U.S.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, an advocate for victims of sexual abuse by priests, told the Boston Herald that O’Malley “fails to see the Archdiocese of Boston has a poor track record on sexual abuse and this proposal is just another layer in a cover-up of clergy sexual abuse.”

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SAN LUIS OBISPO (CA)
The Tribune

March 8, 2019

Here’s a dirty little secret about California’s school system: In some cases, it allows predatory teachers to quietly walk away from their jobs – only to find employment at another district where they prey on more innocent children.

This is no different from what the Catholic Church has been doing with priests accused of molesting children, yet the level of outrage over what’s happening in schools is not even close to the horrified reaction the church has been getting.

That must change.

Whether it’s a parish or a school district, a leadership that remains silent is complicit in molesting children.

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Springfield Diocese churches open Monday for private prayers for victims of clergy abuse

SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican

March 8, 2019

By Anne-Gerard Flynn

Holy Name Church will have Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, March 11, as part of Bishop Mitchell Rozanski’s Diocesan Day of Prayer for Healing and Reconciliation.

In a Jan. 15 letter to parishes in the Springfield Roman Catholic diocese that covers all four counties of Western Massachusetts, Rozanski asked all churches to remain open on the first Monday in Lent as part of diocesan-wide efforts addressing the clergy sexual abuse crisis through “prayer and dialogue.”

Reminders have run in some parish bulletins and on websites, like that of Holy Name, and the diocese has explained the all-day hours, usually reserved only for observances in most parishes like Good Friday, as enabling “parishioners to come to offer private prayers for victims of clergy abuse, their families and loved ones.”

The healing day is part of other recent efforts the diocesan has undertaken in the wake of national and global events that have highlighted how the Church’s decades old abuse crisis continues to deepen and evolve and have ignited concerns in dioceses that did take early steps to address the issue.

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Is Cardinal Pell a perpetrator or victim? Aussie media keep wavering between the two

Get Religion blog

March 8, 2019

By Julia Duin

Ever since Australia’s Cardinal George Pell was convicted of child abuse, the journalism folks Down Under have been split on if he’s actually guilty or whether he’s the target of a vicious anti-Catholic campaign.

Reaction to his conviction and jailing (the sentencing isn’t until March 13), has rippled across the Pacific, prompting Ethics and Public Policy scholar George Weigel (writing at First Things) to call the Pell affair “our Dreyfus case.”

(Capt. Alfred Dreyfus was a French Jew and a military man who was wrongly pilloried and imprisoned in 1894 on charges of selling secrets to the Germans. He was declared innocent in 1906, but the matter was considered as barbaric anti-Semitism on the part of the French. The conflict tore at the heart of French society.)

I’ll get back to Weigel in a moment but first I want to quote from a piece BBC recently ran on all this.

Cardinal George Pell is awaiting sentencing for sexually abusing two boys in 1996. The verdict, which he is appealing against, has stunned and divided Australia in the past week.

It has sparked strong reactions from the cardinal’s most prominent supporters, some of whom have cast doubt on his conviction in a wider attack on Australia’s legal system.

The largely conservative backlash features some of Australia’s most prominent media figures, a university vice-chancellor and a leading Jesuit academic, among others.

Former prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott also continue to maintain their public support for the ex-Vatican treasurer.

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Giving alms should cover several bases

TAHLEQUAH (OKLAHOMA)
Daily Press

March 8, 2019

For members of Roman Catholic and mainline Christian churches, Lent began March 6 with Ash Wednesday. And this year, it came on with a bit more controversy than usual.

As more news emerges about child molesters among the clergy, church members are increasingly reluctant to “give alms” to bishops who enabled the predatory priests. A Washington Post column appearing in the Daily Press – written by a Catholic – made that point. In his way of thinking, tithes are directly controlled by the bishops, and a number of these men have blood on their hands.

Many people are outraged by how children have been systematically taken advantage of. They argue the mandatory celibacy of priests is a factor, because it attracts candidates who are sexually “disordered.” And although certain church officials may refer to LGBT people that way, it is certainly not the intent in this context. Sexually mature individuals, whether gay or straight, feel compelled to enter into relationships. It takes a special person to commit to permanent celibacy, and as we’ve seen, many priests and bishops in recent history may have indeed been “special,” but not in a good way.

Outside observers may not believe it, but Pope Francis has done more than any pontiff in modern history to acknowledge this scourge. An important element is the willingness of law enforcement agencies and prosecutorial bodies to put pressure on church officials. When children are being harmed, no member of the clergy has a right to hide behind “freedom of religion” to wriggle out of legal ramifications.

There are few these days who believe anyone can be “cured” of pedophilia. Pedophiles are born with their “preference,” and they can no more change that predilection than gay or straight folks. And the suggestion that homosexuality is related in any way to pedophilia is repulsive and ignorant – the kind of ignorance that touts a flat earth or draconian forms of public execution. Also outrageous is the willingness of some Catholics to wear blinders when it comes to pedophilia, while zealously demanding the eradication of abortion. Aren’t the young victims of predators entitled to the protection of pro-life advocates, or do only “pure” fetuses deserve that honor?

But when it comes to denying money to the church in retribution for the horrors committed by an alarming swath of the clergy, other considerations must come into play. For one, the church does exceptional work with the poor, unwed mothers, handicapped individuals and other social justice issues that many Americans consider important. For another, the “church,” regardless of denomination, is actually the people who are members, not the clergy itself.

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The two faces of George Pell

NEW SOUTH WALES (AUSTRALIA)
The Australian

March 9, 2019

By John Ferguson

Chrissie Foster won’t be in court when George Pell is sentenced on Wednesday. Foster could often be found sitting mid-courtroom after Pell was charged, her back straight, while barristers and witnesses fought over the detail of sex acts and intergenerational misery.

Instead of being there to watch the cardinal disappear, ghost-like, into the Victorian prison system, the relentless Foster will be in Canberra at a conference on the $4 billion national abuse redress scheme. “The sentence of Pell is the end of a process,’’ she tells The Weekend Australian. “That’s how I see it, whatever the sentence is. It’s like the job’s done.’’

Foster’s daughters Emma and Katie were in primary school when they were sexually abused by Melbourne priest Kevin O’Donnell between 1988 and 1993. Her children never fully recovered. Emma overdosed on medication and died in 2008, and Katie was hit by a car, suffering brain damage.

Foster and her husband Anthony, who died broken-hearted in 2017, sought help from Pell about the same time the cardinal, a jury has found, had sexually assaulted two choirboys in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne.

The Fosters found Pell to be dismissive and obstructionist.

Chrissie Foster says: “We have been the victim pool for the priesthood.’’

In many ways, Wednesday’s sentencing will be the beginning of the end of the legal debate about Pell. An appeal against the jury’s convictions is to be heard mid-year, two years after Sano taskforce detectives charged the 77-year-old cardinal with multiple offences.

Pell will receive a moderate to heavy sentence from County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd.

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Boston Cardinal Announces Reporting System For Misconduct Claims Against Church Leaders

BOSTON (MA)
WBUR Radio

March 8, 2019

By Laney Ruckstuhl

In the wake of last month’s landmark Vatican summit on clergy sexual abuse, Cardinal Sean O’Malley has announced an anonymous reporting system for misconduct complaints against church leaders of the Archdiocese of Boston.

O’Malley says the archdiocese will utilize the existing web-based and hotline system EthicsPoint, which is currently used for reporting concerns of financial misconduct. The updated system will be “exclusively for the reporting of misconduct by a Cardinal, Bishop or Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston,” O’Malley says.

O’Malley made the announcement in his Lenten letter, noting that this year’s observance is of “particular significance” following the summit, where he served as president of the Pontifical Commission for Protection of Minors.

To conclude the summit, Pope Francis called for an “all-out battle” on clergy sex abuse. But the summit has been criticized by some for its lack of substantive action against sexual abuse. The cardinal says “people are anxious to see concrete results.”

The letter says reports through EthicsPoint will be sent to members of O’Malley’s Independent Review Board, who are required to “immediately notify law enforcement for claims of abuse.”

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More publicly accused Jesuits who were in St. Louis 3/19

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

March 8, 2019

Below is an additional list of Jesuit priests who have been publicly accused of abuse and also spent time at St. Louis UNiversity..

–Fr. David C Bayne was at St. Louis University Law School from 1960 – 1966

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/order_lists/Jesuits_Midwest/2018_12_17_Jesuits_Midwest_Established_Allegations_12_18.pdf

–Fr. James A. Condon was at The Queen’s Work in St. Louis from 1960-1964

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/order_lists/Jesuits_Midwest/2018_12_17_Jesuits_Midwest_Established_Allegations_12_18.pdf

–Fr. Paul Frey was at St. Louis University from 1945-1947. In civil suit(s) filed in 2010, at least two individuals have alleged abuse by Frey at church-run Native American boarding schools in South Dakota.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2011/03_04/2011_04_19_Woodard_SouthDakota.htm

–Fr. James F. Gates was at St. Louis University from 1973-1975 and at Vianney Renewal Center Dittmer, Missouri from 2010 – 2012. Roughly 15 women and one man accused Gates and Fr. John Morse of abuse when they were students at St. Mary’s Mission and School on the Colville Indian Reservation in the1950 and 1960s. He was put on leave and supposedly lives under supervision at a Jesuit residence. In 2008, the Jesuits announced a $4.8 million settlement with the 16 accusers.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2008/01_02/2008_01_04_Stucke_JesuitsSettle.htm

–Fr. James V. O’Connor was at St. Louis University from 1949-1952.

http://jesuitarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/RG-01.07-Records-of-Provincial-John-V.-OConnor-S.J..pdf

–Fr. Anthony Short was at St. Louis University High School from 1965-1968.

http://image.jesuits.org/MIDWESTPROV/media/All_Pastoral_Assignments_of_Jesuits_on_Midwest_Jesuits-12-17-18_List_posted_21_Dec_2018.pdf

–Fr. William J. Spine was at Washington University from (1966–1968), in Peru (1975-1981), at Loyola University in Chicago (1973-1975), in Brooklyn (1981-1983) in Moline, IL (1983-1986), Chicago (1986-1990 and 1991-2001), in Berkeley CA (1990-1991) and in Lexington KY (2001-2006). He is accused of abusing a child in Peru in mid-1970s and was permanently removed from duties in 2006 (several months after diocese learned of allegations). From 2007-2010, he was evidently in In Rome.

http://www.bishopaccountability.org/assign/Spine_William_J_sj.htm

https://www.nytimes.com/1981

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Pope laments ‘pain, unbearable suffering’ of clerical abuse scandals

ROME (ITALY)
Crux

March 8, 2019

By Claire Giangravè

On the same day that a French Cardinal became the latest churchman to be convicted for covering up clerical sexual abuse, Pope Francis on Thursday acknowledged “the pain and unbearable suffering” recent scandals have brought during a yearly Lenten speech to Roman clergy.

“Sin perverts us, and we painfully experience it when we ourselves or one of our brother priests or bishops falls in the bottomless chasm of vice, of corruption, or even worse of crime that destroys the life of others,” the pope said March 7 in off-the-cuff remarks during a closed-door meeting at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.

Later in the day, the Vatican released an official transcript of the pope’s comments.

“We mustn’t lose hope, [because] the Lord is purifying his spouse, he is converting us all to him,” the pope said. “He’s making us face this challenge so we understand that without him we are dust. He is saving us from hypocrisy.”

Francis’s remarks took place after French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin was found guilty by civil courts of failing to report cases of sexual abuse by clergy and given a six-month suspended sentence.

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Speaking on his behalf

MANCHESTER (CT)
Journal Inquirer

March 8, 2019

When I saw Richard Cardarelli listed amongst abusive priests my heart sank. I knew it was untrue. I must speak on his behalf.

I had known Cardarelli since 1983. I shared a close friendship with him — vacationing with him in Las Vegas at the home of his mom Ginger and stepdad Izzie; I danced at his brother Stevie and Jane’s wedding. We confided worries, hopes, and disappointments.

I held him when he wept like a wounded animal having received Vatican papers stripping him of his priestly faculties for perceived disobedience. Bearing witness as a priest and caring for others meant everything to him. In turn, he shared my dark hours.

Cardarelli was unlike any priest I know — except the Great High Priest. He extended an experience of the human Jesus: joyful, patient, loving, forgiving. His favorite Scripture was from John’s Gospel: “No greater love hath a man than to lay down his life for his friends,” And he did that, giving his time, talent, and treasure to any and everyone.

When his father Bud died, Cardarelli surrendered his inheritance to his alma mater’s scholarship fund only to become persona non grata when defrocked and later, like Galileo, excommunicated.

Yet, nothing can separate us from the love of God, St. Paul reminds. Cardarelli, like Jesus, was falsely accused and suffered indignity; his life was a journey toward the cross.

Despite all, Cardarelli loved the Roman Catholic Church. He challenged her to live out the Second Vatican Council’s vision to be a universal/welcoming community engaged in dialogue — the people of God on a journey — rather than a corporate institution

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Clergy sex abuse survivors’ group demands KCPD remove twice-accused chaplain

Pauline Hodgdon March 8, 2019

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Kansas City Star

March 7, 2019

By Glenn E. Rice and Judy L. Thomas

A victims’ advocate group is demanding that a Kansas City Police Department chaplain who once faced sexual abuse allegations be removed.

The Rev. Stan Archie, who is a licensed counselor, has served as a police chaplain for about a decade. In 2014, a Jackson County jury ordered Archie’s church, Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, to pay $350,000 to a former staffer who said Archie took sexual advantage of her.

“We think a twice-accused predator should not be given titles and roles that enable him to win people’s trust,” said David Clohessy, former national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“This is just reckless,” Clohessy said Thursday.

“We would ask the Chief what will it do for confidence in the department if another victim steps forward. Imagine what it would do for public confidence in the department if they are forced to admit down the road after another allegation.”

The Police Department said in a written statement that it was investigating and reviewing the matter internally.

“The Kansas City Missouri Police Department takes accusations of this nature very seriously,” the statement said. “Although chaplains are unpaid volunteers, we acknowledge this chaplain is affiliated with our department. Therefore, any accusations of misconduct are very concerning to us.”

Archie is the senior pastor at the Christian Fellowship Baptist Church at 4509 Troost Avenue.

Reached by phone Thursday, he said the 2014 lawsuit settlement exonerated him of the accusations.

“It is up to the Police Department to do their internal investigation,” he said. “I think responding to false accusations in a submissive way does not support the element of truth.”

Archie said he has been investigated on three separate occasions and has not been criminally charged. “They have all turned up the same,” he said. “At the end of the day, do I want to continue to serve and support people, well that’s what I do.”

Police Department chaplains are not involved in criminal investigations but periodically deliver invocations at department events, police said. Chaplains from different faiths make themselves available to staff members who want spiritual advice and support.

The Police Department has 12 chaplains but plans to expand that number to 18.

Archie resigned as president of the Missouri State Board of Education in January 2013 after two women filed lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct.

A former staffer said Archie had taken sexual advantage of her by abusing his position as a pastoral counselor at the church. Three other women testified at a trial in 2014 that Archie had inappropriate sexual discussions with them.

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Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse is ‘going to have an effect around the world’: Catholic critic

AUSTRALIA
The Newcastle Herald

February 8, 2017

By Joanne McCarthy

ONE of the Catholic Church’s most vocal internal critics has urged the Australian child abuse royal commission to push the church to change because “what you say and what you come up with is going to have an effect around the world”.

“I believe what you are doing is unique in the world. It is historic. It is going to make a mammoth difference in the long run,” said American Dominic priest Dr Tom Doyle during evidence on Tuesday, after more than 33 years of fighting for change from within the church.

“You have taken something on that is mind-boggling and you are going into it in a deeper, more enlightened, more courageous manner than any other body that I have had contact with.”

Dr Doyle said the problem of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church was “not unique in Australia”, but the royal commission was the strongest response from any nation.

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Church knew Pell was at centre of decades-old lurid sex claims

Pauline Hodgdon March 8, 2019

AUSTRALIA
The Sydney Morning Herald

March 7, 2019

By Barney Zwartz

The claims were lurid and unverified so Helen Last, the counsellor hired by the Catholic Church in Melbourne to assist victims of clerical abuse, agonised before reporting them to her superiors.

It was 1996 and the newly appointed archbishop, George Pell, had just set up the Melbourne Response to handle the rising numbers of sex abuse claims received by the archdiocese.

An ex-seminarian known as ‘‘Joe’’ came forward alleging that Pell and several other priests had, 10 to 15 years earlier, been having sex with Mannix College trainee clerics at ‘‘parties … involving young men’’.

Joe was not a strong witness. He wanted $20,000 for compromising photographs that appeared to be of Pell and others engaged in sexual acts, but could not produce the negatives. Despite this, Ms Last felt she could not dismiss Joe’s allegations.

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The Pell Case, the Continuing Vast Gulf Between What Francis Says re: Abuse and What Really Happens

Pauline Hodgdon March 8, 2019

LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage

March 8, 2019

By William Lindsey

Another set of items that have gotten my attention lately, with a theme binding theme together:

Patrick Parkinson, “The Cardinal and Mr Anonymous: George Pell’s defenders mustn’t repeat the mistakes of the past”:

And yet there is something troubling about the one-sidedness of the defence of Cardinal Pell by Catholic commentators; for while we have heard the Cardinal’s angry denials in a police interview, and while so many words have been written in criticism of the verdict by influential friends and supporters, there is one voice that has not been heard: that of his accuser. The criticisms of the verdict are implicitly denunciations of this man as well as of the anonymous jury members who took so long to consider the evidence before handing down their verdict. …

Why do I speak up for him? Because the Christian faith requires me to treat everyone as equal in God’s eyes, whether they are princes of the Church or anonymously ordinary. Because I know how hard it is for victims of sexual crimes to get through the multiple stages of the criminal trial process. Because I know the different ways in which, through intensive and lengthy cross-examination, defence counsel seeks to undermine the victim’s credibility. Because in nearly twenty-five years of engagement with the issue of child sexual abuse in church communities, I know how often men like this complainant have not been listened to. And because I recall how often I have heard from senior Catholic leaders that the scurrilous accusations being made by victims are an attack on the Church; or that complainants are just making up claims in order to get compensation.

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Boston archdiocese to set up reporting system for abuse by top church officials

BOSTON (MA)
The Boston Globe

March 8, 2019

By Martin Finucane

Two weeks after a historic Vatican summit on the problem of clergy sex abuse, the archdiocese of Boston said Friday it will set up a third-party system that will allow people to report misconduct by top church officials.

A “dominant theme” at the summit was “the need for an effective reporting mechanism when a Bishop or Cardinal has failed in his duty to protect children or has himself abused children or vulnerable adults,” Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley said in a Lenten message to the faithful.

O’Malley said he believed the US Conference of Bishops would develop “effective procedures,” but he wanted to immediately address the need for the Boston archdiocese.

“To that end I have decided to implement EthicsPoint, a confidential, anonymous and third-party system, exclusively for the reporting of misconduct by a Cardinal, Bishop or Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston,” O’Malley said.

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Philadelphia priest charged with raping girl, recording their sex acts

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

March 5, 2019

By Jeremy Roebuck

A suspended Catholic priest has been charged with raping a teenage girl at his former Roxborough parish and recording their sexual encounter five years ago.

According to court records, the Rev. Armand Garcia, most recently of St. Martin of Tours Parish in the city’s Summerdale section, surrendered to Philadelphia police Monday — a year after the investigation of his conduct emerged into public view with a police search of his rectory.

Yet a day after his arrest, details of his alleged crimes remained hazy.

A spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the case, and court records detailing the basis for the charges were not available Tuesday afternoon.

Sources familiar with the investigation said the charges stemmed from Garcia’s relationship with an altar girl at Immaculate Heart Parish in Roxborough, with whom investigators believe he had sexual contact starting when she was about 16.

Garcia, now 49, allegedly offered her alcohol or marijuana during encounters over a period of years in the parish rectory, his living quarters, and other locations, said those sources, who were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

The specific count of rape with which Garcia was charged Monday stems from an alleged incident in August 2014, according to court filings. His accuser came forward after he had been transferred to St. Martin of Tours in Summerdale in 2017.

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Former Northeast Phila. pastor arrested for child sex abuse

PHILADELPIHIA (PA)
Philly Catholic

March 5, 2019

By Matthew Gambino

Father Armand D. Garcia, 49, was arrested March 4 on three charges of rape, corruption of a minor and sexual abuse of a minor.

A priest of the Philadelphia Archdiocese ordained in 2005 and a former pastor of St. Martin of Tours Parish in Northeast Philadelphia, Father Garcia is alleged to have committed the crimes on Aug. 1, 2014.

At the time he was parochial vicar at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in the city’s Roxborough section. He was assigned to the parish in 2011 after having taken a voluntary personal leave from ministry the prior year.

The year-long investigation into his conduct by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office spans from 2014 to 2017, when he was pastor of St. Martin of Tours, according to a statement from the archdiocese.

The charges against Father Garcia “are serious and disturbing,” said archdiocesan spokesman Ken Gavin in a statement.

“The archdiocese is cooperating fully with law enforcement regarding this matter and remains fervently committed to preventing child abuse as well as protecting the children and young people entrusted to its care.”

Last March 16, the archdiocese had placed Father Garcia on administrative leave immediately while Philadelphia law enforcement investigated “alleged misconduct with minors on the part of Father Garcia” and executed a search warrant at the St. Martin rectory the same day, Gavin said at that time.

The priest has been living in a private residence since that time and he has not been permitted to exercise public ministry, administer the sacraments or present himself publicly as a priest.

At the time of last year’s investigation, the allegation of misconduct with a minor was the first such report received on Father Garcia, according to the archdiocese. He had cleared criminal background checks and child abuse clearances, and had completed the archdiocese’s mandatory safe environment training courses.

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Editorial: Nelson case will test churches responsibility for their priests

AUKLAND (NEW ZEALAND)
New Zealand Herald

March 9, 2019

Churches have covered up sexual abuse by their priests for probably just one reason, Christianity is a forgiving creed.

Its offending clerics have broken spiritual as well as temporal laws and the offenders’ opportunity for spiritual reconciliation has been more important to the hierarchy than the demands of public justice.

That is obviously no defence in courts of law. Instead, the churches have been running a far less respectable defence which is about to be tested before the Human Rights Review Tribunal in a case we report today.

The Anglican Church is arguing that a priest accused by a parishioner of sexual harassment, was an agent of God not the church and therefore its hierarchy cannot be held accountable for his behaviour.

Lawyers for the complainant insist the priest was an agent of his diocese and the vicar of his parish (in Blenheim) and the bishop of the diocese (Nelson) are “vicariously liable” under the harassment provisions of the Human Rights Act.

It is a pity to see how far the Christian church sometimes go to avoid responsibility for the conduct of some of the men they have made priests and put in positions of great trust.

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Landmark human rights case seeks to make Church responsible for abusive priests

AUKLAND (NEW ZEALAND)
New Zealand Herald

March 9, 2019

By Kirsty Johnston

The Anglican Church is facing a landmark case from a parishioner arguing it should be responsible for abusive priests – one of whom allegedly harassed her in counselling sessions after her baby’s death.

It will be the first time a New Zealand church has been tested as an employer under human rights law, and if successful could prompt wholesale changes in the hiring and training of ministers.

Until now churches accused of abuse have argued clergy are not employees providing a service, but agents of God responding to a “calling”, and therefore church hierarchy cannot be held accountable.

However, in the case currently before the Human Rights Review Tribunal, it is argued the priest was an “agent” of his diocese, and that he abused the woman while carrying out his duties – and therefore both the vicar and the bishop are “vicariously liable” under the sexual harassment provisions in the Human Rights Act.

Similar cases overseas have had mixed results – but in both the UK and Canada recently, courts have found the church is liable for its priests.

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‘Reparation’ Mass: Catholic Bishops, Reeling From Sex Abuse Crisis, Try to Make Amends

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

March 8, 2019

By Rick Rojas

When the Archdiocese of Hartford released a list this year identifying 48 priests accused of sexual abuse, five of them had served at the same church: St. George’s, in the small coastal town of Guilford. One had been a pastor there for more than a decade, baptizing children and hearing confessions.

Some in the large congregation were deeply hurt. Some fumed, saying they held onto Catholic teachings, but saw their faith in the men leading the church disintegrating amid a cascade of allegations.

And so The Most Rev. Leonard P. Blair, the archbishop of Hartford, responded to the crisis with an extraordinary gesture: He held a special Mass of Reparations. He said that he came before the congregation “on my knees as a bishop” in search of forgiveness.

“I ask forgiveness of God, of the wider community and our own Catholic community,” Archbishop Blair said, standing before the packed church in flowing vestments and the red-rose skull cap worn by bishops. “I ask it especially of all the victims of sexual abuse and their families. I ask it for all the church leadership has done or failed to do.”

Bishops across the country are reeling over accusations that they are implicated in a decades-long cover-up to protect priests who had sexually abused children. They are on a campaign of apologizing, often in personal terms, as the Catholic Church wrestles with the fallout of a scandal that has drawn the scrutiny of law enforcement officials and stirred a crisis of confidence among followers.

Some, like Archbishop Blair, have held somber reparations Masses or led worshipers in special rosary prayers. They have offered conciliatory messages in homilies and in letters, like the one from Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, who expressed his “genuine sorrow and regret to the victims who put their trust in a member of the church only to have that trust so profoundly betrayed.”

And last month, Pope Francis decried an “evil that strikes at the very heart of our mission,” as he gathered bishops at the Vatican for a landmark gathering on sexual abuse.

It is a recognition of how the scandal engulfing the church has evolved and spread. “It’s not a clergy abuse scandal anymore,” said David Gibson, the director for the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University. “It’s a bishop accountability scandal now.”

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NEWARK (NJ)
Star Ledger

March 7, 2019

By Susan K. Livio

Bearing photos of themselves as children, six sisters came to a Statehouse hearing in Trenton on Thursday to plead with a panel of state lawmakers to vote in favor of bill allowing child sex assault victims in New Jersey to sue over past abuse.

Five of the Fortney sisters say they were sexually assaulted decade ago by Father Augustine Giella, a priest who was transferred to their parish in western Pennsylvania from the Archdiocese of Newark. They are still seeking answers.

The legislation would expand the state statute of limitations for civil lawsuits in the state, allowing the women to sue and perhaps be able to find out the extent of his horrific acts, they said.

“So much of our story is here in New Jersey,” said Patty Fortney-Julius, one of the five sisters who was sexually abused for nearly 10 years. “We want to know why he was moved from the Newark diocese. … Was he a known pedophile here in New Jersey? Did the Newark Diocese knowingly move our pedophile monster priest to our front door?”

After five hours of emotional testimony, the state Senate Judiciary Committee approved the legislation by a 8-1 vote. The same bill is expected to be voted on Monday in the state Assembly Judiciary Committee, and then voted on by both houses later this month.

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Indiana Attorney General provides forum to report abusive clergy

FT. WAYNE (IN)
News Sentinel

March 7, 2019

Attorney General Curtis Hill’s office is providing an online form enabling individuals to more easily report instances involving alleged abuse by clergy. The form may be found at the his homepage at www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/.

“Recent national and international reports of alleged abuse committed by clergy members have prompted widespread concerns,” Hill said in a statement. “Hoosiers are understandably worried that this kind of criminal activity might go underreported even here in Indiana. As a result, we have decided to make sure citizens have an available means of reporting any potential abuse so that authorities at all levels of government can pursue justice for victims.”

Any forms submitted may be disclosed to appropriate law enforcement agencies in accordance with Indiana law. Anyone submitting a form may be contacted by an investigator.

“Members of the clergy hold positions of great responsibility,” Hill added. “People trust them and look to them for guidance. By providing this service, we help ensure that if ever a religious leader betrays that trust by committing an illegal act of abuse, he or she is more likely to be found out and investigated. Those who violate our laws must be held fully accountable for their actions.”

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The Catholic church and its culture of pedophilia

PASADENA (CA)
PCC Courier

March 6, 2019

Top financial advisor and pedophile Cardinal George Pell faces up to 50 years to life in prison in Melbourne, Australia for molesting two choir boys in the 1990’s. All the while Pope Francis and the Catholic church scramble to cover up the sexual assault of the day until the next molestation scandal makes headlines.

According to USA Today, the news came after Francis held a summit on sex abuse and how to better respond to victims.

“The time has come to find a correct equilibrium of all values in play and to provide uniform directives for the Church,” Francis said during the summit. “Avoiding the two extremes of a ‘justicialism’ provoked by guilt for past errors and media pressure, and a defensiveness that fails to confront the causes and effects of these grave crimes.”

The culture of pedophilia in the Catholic church wasn’t provoked by “justicialism” or media frenzy.

The fact that the Catholic church is now holding annual summits on how to prevent child abuse in the church is ridiculous and ironic. How about not creating any victims to begin with?

The church’s leadership and priest betrayed their followers and violated them physically and emotionally taking advantage of their position in our communities and must be brought to justice without any regard for their position in the church.

Unfortunately, demoting, transferring and protecting pedophiles has been the job of the Catholic church, and its only concern is its future and the loss of followers around the world.

“Last week, Francis defrocked former U.S. cardinal Theodore McCarrick, 88, after Vatican officials found him guilty of sex crimes against minors and adults,” Doug Stanglin wrote in US Today. “McCarrick is the most senior Catholic official to be defrocked for such crimes.”

If the most senior officials are allowed to go without being legally prosecuted, then how serious is the church about rooting out pedophilia among their flock?

Francis doesn’t care for the victims whose lives were affected by the clergy; if he cared for the future of the church and victims of sexual assault, he’d make immediate changes to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

“Since the clergy abuse scandal first exploded onto the scene in the United States in 2002, the Vatican has seen cases emerge in nearly every corner of the world,” The Washington Post reported. “Thousands of priests have been disciplined by the Holy See, but even that figure doesn’t account for the scale of the problem.”

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.

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Costa Rican police raid Church offices after priests accused of sex abuse

DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency

March 7, 2019

The offices of the Archdiocese of San José and the Costa Rican bishops’ conference were raided by police Thursday as part of an investigation of two priests accused of sex abuse.

The Judiciary Investigation Department confiscated computers and files March 7 in search of information regarding Fathers Manuel Antonio Guevara Fonseca and Mauricio Viquez Lizano, and proof of potential cover-up by Archbishop José Rafael Quiros Quiros of San Jose, according to the AP.

Viquez, 54, has been dismissed from the clerical state, the San José archdiocese announced March 4. Nine canonical complaints of sexual abuse of altar boys had been filed against him. He had been teaching at a local university, but he fled Costa Rica Jan. 7, and prosecutors in the country have issued an international arrest warrant.

Guevara, 52, was arrested earlier this month for one allegation of sexual abuse against a minor. He has been released from prison, but has strict regulations to follow and is suspended from his work at Santo Domingo de Heredia parish.

The 52 year-old priest was only kept in prison for one night, but he must check in with civil authorities once a month, cannot change addresses, and has surrendered his passport. He is also forbidden from any form of contact with the victim.

The Costa Rican bishops’ conference issued a statement a day after his arrest, seeking forgiveness for a lack of an appropriate response in other sex abuse cases, according to Q Costa Rica.

“We humbly acknowledge our mistakes and ask forgiveness for the faults that have been painfully committed by some members of our church,” the bishops said.

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Cardinals guilty of sexual misdeeds are facing justice in Vatican courts

ROME (ITALY)
Associated Press

March 7, 2019

By Nicole Winfield

The conviction of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin for failing to report a known pedophile priest to police deepens the crisis confronting an already discredited Catholic Church hierarchy. The verdict handed down by magistrates Thursday shows the church’s once-untouchable “princes” increasingly are judged accountable for priests who abuse children and the superiors who allowed the abuse to continue.

After centuries of impunity, cardinals from Chile to Australia and points in between are facing justice in both the Vatican and government courts for their own sexual misdeeds or for having shielded abusers under their watch.

Here is a look at cases implicating Catholic cardinals, members of the exclusive club of prelates that advises the pope and eventually elects his successor.

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The Pope to the priests of Rome: I carry the pain of the scandals all over the newspapers of the world