ABUSE TRACKER

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WVUE-TV, Fox8

December 13, 2019

By Chris Finch

A criminal court judge set bond at $1 million for former Catholic Church Deacon George Brignac. The 82-year-old entered a not guilty plea on Friday morning (Dec. 13) at Orleans Criminal Court.

He was booked into jail at 12:23 p.m. on a charge of first-degree rape.

Brignac was formally charged by an Orleans grand jury yesterday for the aggravated rape of a child.

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.

CHESAPEAKE (VA)
Associated Press via Virginia Lawyers Weekly

December 14, 2019

Trustees of a Chesapeake church claim city workers defamed the organization when talking about allegations of abuse.

Last year, a Chesapeake social worker determined abuse allegations had been substantiated against five Deep Creek United Methodist Church childcare workers. But court records show the city attorney’s office reversed that ruling weeks later, saying the allegation actually were unsubstantiated, according to The Virginian-Pilot.

The lawsuit against the city’s Department of Human Services and two of its workers says the workers published false statements accusing church workers of abuse, tarnishing the church’s reputation and leading more than half its enrolled children to leave. The church once cared for more than 250 children at its two childcare centers.

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.

TOKYO (JAPAN)
Associated Press

December 14, 2019

By Yuri Kageyama

During Pope Francis’ recent visit to Japan, Harumi Suzuki stood where his motorcade passed by holding a sign that read: “I am a survivor.”

Katsumi Takenaka stood at another spot, on another day, holding up his banner that read, “Catholic child sexual abuse in Japan, too.”

The two are among a handful of people who have gone public as survivors of Catholic clergy sexual abuse in Japan, where values of conformity and harmony have resulted in a strong code of silence.

But as in other parts of the world, from Pennsylvania to Chile, Takenaka and Suzuki are starting to feel less alone as other victims have come forward despite the ostracism they and their family members often face for speaking out.

Their public denunciation is all the more remarkable, given Catholics make up less than 0.5% of Japan’s population. To date, the global abuse scandal has concentrated on heavily Catholic countries, such as Ireland, the U.S. and now, many countries in Latin America.

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.

LINCOLN (NE)
Lincoln Journal-Star

December 13, 2019

By Riley Johnson

Lincoln Bishop James Conley has taken a leave of absence to seek treatment after being diagnosed with depression, anxiety, insomnia and tinnitus, the diocese announced Friday.

“My doctors have directed me to take a leave of absence for medical and psychological treatment, and to get some much-needed rest,” Conley said in a news release.

“After prayer, and seeking the counsel of my spiritual director, my brother bishops, and my family, I have accepted the medical necessity of a temporary leave of absence.”

Conley’s leave is effective immediately, and Pope Francis has appointed Omaha Archbishop George Lucas to handle the administrative duties for the Lincoln diocese in Conley’s absence, according to the release.

Conley, 64, plans to return to his post after undergoing “the best psychological and medical treatment available to me,” the release said.

In a letter to parishioners, Conley said he’d been dealing with the medical issues on his own.

“For months, I’ve tried to work through these issues on my own through spiritual direction, counseling, and prayer,” Conley said. “It has been difficult to accept that my mental health problems are real health problems, and not just a defect of my character, especially during a year of difficulty for our diocese.”

Earlier this year, the diocese had publicly identified nine former priests who had served in the diocese and been credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors.

The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office is investigating allegations of sexual misconduct in the Diocese of Lincoln and Archdiocese of Omaha.

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NEW YORK
Insider.com

December 14, 2019

By Kelly McLaughlin

– Laura Palumbo, communications director for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, told Insider that she’s not surprised by Harvey Weinstein’s tentative $25 million settlement with women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.

– Palumbo said having to settle for less than what is deserved is “just a reality” for many victims of sexual assault.

– In the tentative settlement, Weinstein won’t have to admit any wrongdoing, and the funds will be paid by Weinstein Company insurers.

– More than 30 women — both actresses and Weinstein Company employees —have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct. The settlement would resolve several civil lawsuits that have been filed against him since 2017.

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MEMPHIS (TN)
Associated Press via Lincoln (NE) Journal-Star

December 15, 2019

A Tennessee pastor faces 38 years in prison after being found guilty on 24 counts involving child sex abuse.

News outlets report that 41-year-old Ronnie Gorton received the sentence Friday in Tipton County. He was convicted on charges including sexual battery and statutory rape in August.

Judge Joe Walker said at the sentencing that Gorton used his position of authority as he “groomed minors for his sexual perversion.”

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PORTLAND (ME)
Portland Herald

December 15, 2019

By Eric Russell

The sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church has been exposed in large and loud ways over the years – on the front pages of newspapers across the country detailing massive financial payouts to thousands of abuse survivors and the removal or criminal prosecution of hundreds of priests.

Just this year it was reported that more survivors than ever are coming forward, leading to a dramatic increase in financial settlements and a renewed crisis for the church.

But for one abuse survivor, it played out in a much quieter way – in small claims court in Portland, where the local Catholic diocese successfully avoided paying his psychological counseling bill totaling $875.

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ROME (ITALY)
Catholic News Agency

Dec 13, 2019

A senior official at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has defended clerical celibacy in the wake of the abuse crisis.

In an essay published in a Spanish magazine, Fr. Jordi Bertomeu Farnós said that there is “no evidence” celibacy has any relation to instances of sexual abuse, and warned that priests have been unfairly branded a suspect class.

In the essay, published in Palabra Dec. 10, Fr. Farnós laid out the context of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, noting that the high-profile nature of the scandals has resulted in a number of mistaken presumptions about the causes of abuse.

“Although unfortunately, in all social classes, professions, ethnic groups and, of course, religions, there is the phenomenon of child abuse, Catholic priests are seen or even increasingly treated as ‘suspects’ of having committed this horrible crime.”

Speaking against attempts to link the discipline of celibacy to crimes of sexual abuse, Farnós said that “regardless of other circumstances and arguments that have emerged in the recent Synod for the Amazon,” “this conclusion does not present any logical connection with the problem we are dealing with here: there is no scientific data that demonstrates that a married life would put an end to the deviant behavior of these few priests with this sexual disorder.”

“There is no evidence that priestly celibacy directly causes any deviant sexual addiction, as evidenced by those cases of men or women who, due to life’s circumstances, must live as celibate.”

“In addition,” he added, “celibacy has never been considered as a relevant parameter to identify abusers. Rather, most abusers are married men. Priests, mostly celibate men are… usually characterized precisely for their psychological balance, for their availability and selfless delivery to all, not only to the Catholic faithful.”

Farnós went on to offer a strident defense of the discipline of celibacy which, he said, was often unintelligible to modern society.

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DORCHESTER COUNTY (SC)
WCSC Live 5

Dec. 10, 2019

A jury was selected on Tuesday in the trial of a man accused of sexually assaulting multiple young boys inside a North Charleston church.

Jacop Hazlett’s trial will start Wednesday morning. The trial concerns just six of the 23 charges against him including first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

The trial also only pertains to four of the 15 alleged victims.

It was a long day in court on Tuesday with the jury being selected first.

Pre-trial motions were then made where evidence was presented, without the jury’s presence, to determine which items they will be shown during the trial.

One item prosecutors put forth was a video interview of Hazlett conducted by a police investigator.

In the video, Hazlett can be heard telling the investigator that he touched the private parts of children and took pictures of them as well.

Hazlett says he did this while he was a volunteer at the the Newspring Church.

During this portion of the court hearing, Hazlett was seen crying while watching the interrogation videos.

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NORWALK (CT)
The Hour

Dec. 14, 2019

By Erin Kayata

It was a sighting of the priest allegedly driving a teenage boy alone in his car that prompted a church official to report Rev. Jaime Marin-Cardona.

The report led to an investigation and Marin-Cardona being placed on leave from the church while the state Department of Children and Families and the Danbury Police examine the abuse allegations.

Being alone in a car with a minor violates one of the many policies in the Diocese of Bridgeport’s Safe Environment Handbook.

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PROVIDENCE (RI)
Providencen Journal

Dec. 14, 2019

By Brian Amaral

In a lawsuit filed Friday, John Tormey said his inclusion on the list of clergy who’d been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing minors cost him his job and subjected him to shame, ridicule and disgrace.

A former Rhode Island priest whose name appeared on the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence’s list of clergy who’d been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing minors has sued the diocese and Bishop Thomas Tobin for defamation.

In a lawsuit filed Friday, John Tormey said his inclusion on the list cost him his job and subjected him to shame, ridicule and disgrace. He never sexually abused anyone, he said, and the diocese didn’t give him an opportunity to defend himself before defaming his character.

“My client has been hesitant to take legal action against the institution which he proudly served and has remained faithful to for his entire life, both before, during, and since his service to the ministry,” his lawyer, Christopher T. Millea, said in a written statement. “But his reputation has been irreparably harmed by his inclusion on the list published by the Diocese and Bishop Tobin, and he feels this is his only remedy to such a horrible situation. Mr. Tormey loves his faith and his Church, despite having to take such actions. He looks forward to addressing these claims for the wrongs committed against him by the Diocese and or others in a court of law.”

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HARRISBURG (PA)
Associated Press

Dec. 14, 2019

By Mark Scolforo

A state court system task force wants Pennsylvania to stop issuing grand jury reports, an idea that faces long odds in the Legislature, which would have to pass a new law to halt the practice.

The Supreme Court-appointed task force, consisting of five lawyers and two judges, issued its report last month, just a day or two after lawmakers cast final votes on four bills designed to help victims of child sexual abuse. It was legislation that an investigative grand jury proposed last year, when it found that hundreds of Roman Catholic priests had sexually abused children over seven decades.

The task force’s recommendations are not binding and being forwarded to the high court’s Criminal Procedural Rules Committee. But it will be up to the General Assembly to decide whether to prohibit grand jury reports or, in another recommendation, authorize smaller counties to form regional grand juries.

If the reports are not stopped, the task force majority said, they should at least no longer include information that is critical of people by name if they are not expected to face criminal charges.

A spokesman for the majority Republican caucus in the state House, Mike Straub, said leaders are not inclined to do away with grand jury reports.

“Grand jury reports are one way the courts can communicate with the Legislature,” Straub said, citing the clergy abuse report. “If we dismiss the importance of that work, we are reducing the ability of the three branches of government to effectively communicate and work together in the best interest of Pennsylvanians.”

In the Senate, Republican leaders said they need more time to study the report, while the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Larry Farnese of Philadelphia, said the report was inadequate and wants senators to perform their own review of the grand jury system.

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PUEBLO (CO)
Pueblo Chieftain

Dec. 14, 2019

By Anthony A. Mestas

The Most Rev. Stephen Berg said his hurt is indescribable, knowing that children have been sexually abused by priests in the Pueblo Diocese and throughout the Catholic Church nationwide.

Berg, who grew up in a strong Catholic family and attended Catholic schools, said he wasn’t exposed to anything like this growing up.

“As I became a priest, I was 49 years old. Soon after is really when this stuff started to hit with the Dallas Charter. I was in Fort Worth (Texas), and dealing with these situations has basically been an intrinsic part of my life,” Berg said, thumbing through a notebook containing the Pueblo Diocese’s policies and procedures in dealing with reported abuse.

The diocese has adopted a zero-tolerance policy, removing any priest or minister for any act of sexual misconduct with a minor. And the diocese immediately reports any suspected child abuse to law enforcement and cooperates fully in any investigation.

Since 2002, the church has been designated as mandated reporters. A mandated reporter is a person who, because of his or her profession, is legally required to report any suspicion of child abuse or neglect to the relevant authorities.

Berg says that any reasonable suspicion of sexual misconduct of any kind and any abuse to a child — including physical abuse — is to be immediately reported to the vicar for clergy, the vicar general, the director of human resources and the bishop himself.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

Dec. 14, 2019

By Inés San Martín

He is both one of the quietest Vatican officials, and one of the Roman Curia’s least known personalities. He is a member of the team that handles the allegations of clerical sexual abuse that arrive in Rome, and he played a key role in the shakeup of the Catholic Church in Chile which has been ravaged by a clerical abuse crisis.

This means that on the rare occasions Spanish Father Jordi Bertomeu speaks, his words have weight. He did so at length this week in a 2,800-word essay published by the Spanish magazine Palabra, where he discusses the role the hot button topics of celibacy, the Church’s ban on the ordination of women, and homosexuality have on the abuse of children.

In short, none: He argues being celibate, being a man or being gay does not make a person a sexual abuser.

Last year, the Spaniard was tapped by Pope Francis to head to Chile with Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, another member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), to try to understand the situation regarding clerical sexual abuse in the country. The result was a document thousands of pages long that led to the resignation of the entire episcopate; to date, the pontiff has accepted eight.

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TOKYO (JAPAN)
Associated Press

Dec. 13, 2019

By Yuri Kageyama

During Pope Francis’ recent visit to Japan, Harumi Suzuki stood where his motorcade passed by holding a sign that read: “I am a survivor.”

Katsumi Takenaka stood at another spot, on another day, holding up his banner that read, “Catholic child sexual abuse in Japan, too.”

The two are among a handful of people who have gone public as survivors of Catholic clergy sexual abuse in Japan, where values of conformity and harmony have resulted in a strong code of silence.

But as in other parts of the world, from Pennsylvania to Chile, Takenaka and Suzuki are starting to feel less alone as other victims have come forward despite the ostracism they and their family members often face for speaking out.

Their public denunciation is all the more remarkable, given Catholics make up less than 0.5% of Japan’s population. To date, the global abuse scandal has concentrated on heavily Catholic countries, such as Ireland, the U.S. and now, many countries in Latin America.

All of which could explain why the Catholic hierarchy in Japan has been slow to respond to the scandal, which involves not only children being sexually abused but adults in spiritual direction — an increasingly common phenomenon being denounced in the #MeToo era.

In a recent case, police were investigating allegations by a woman in Nagasaki, the region with the greatest concentration of Catholics in Japan, that a priest touched her inappropriately last year.

Japanese media reports said the woman had been hospitalized for PTSD. Police confirmed an investigation was underway but the church declined to provide details, citing privacy concerns.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan launched a nationwide investigation into sexual abuse of women and children this year, responding to the Vatican’s demand for an urgent response to the global crisis.

The results haven’t been disclosed, and it’s unclear when they might be ready. Similar studies have been carried out by the U.S., German and Dutch churches, with the findings made public, and government-mandated inquiries have devastated the church’s credibility in countries like Australia .

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MIAMI (FL)
WPEC CBS 12

Dec. 13, 2019

By Danielle Waugh

Thousands of survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Florida could soon have a window of time to file civil lawsuits against their abusers, even if their statute of limitations already expired.

Lauren Book, a state senator from Broward County, announced legislation this week that includes a one year look back window for child sex abuse claims.

“I think there is a strong will [to pass this legislation] because of the things we have seen in our state: Jeffrey Epstein, and several other cases,” Sen. Book said.

Sixteen other states and Washington D.C. already have some form of a look back law, according to statute of limitations reform advocacy group CHILD USA.

The thinking behind these pieces of legislation is that it often takes child victims many years to report the abuse they suffered and, in many cases, the statute of limitation expires before they’re ready to come forward.

New York is one of the most recent states to adopt a look back window through the Child Victims Act.

The new law allowed Epstein accuser Jennifer Araoz to sue the convicted predator’s estate.

In an op-ed for the New York Times, Araoz wrote: “For years I felt crushed by the power imbalance between Epstein, with his enablers, and me. The Child Victims Act finally offers a counterweight…I hope more states pass similar laws so that more survivors who endured abuse, assault and rape as a child can know what wrestling back their power feels like.”

Jack Scarola, a West Palm Beach-based attorney who represents multiple Epstein accusers in Florida, believes there are many more women like Araoz in South Florida.

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MIAMI (FL)
Legal News Blog

Dec. 11, 2019

By Attorney Adam Horowitz

EWTN News and RealClear Opinion Research partnered to conduct an in depth survey on Catholic voters’ attitudes prior to the 2020 election. When it came to the clergy sexual abuse scandal, the survey reveals that American Catholics are overwhelmingly displeased with the handling of the scandal by their local Bishops. Only 30% of Catholics approve of the Bishops’ handling of the scandal, compared to 55% who disapprove. Their view of the Pope’s handling of clergy sexual abuse was somewhat better than their ranking of their own local Bishops. 44% of Catholics approve of the Pope’s handling of the crisis, while 41% say they disapprove. This data reflects the vast amount of Amenrican Catholics who are angered by the sexual abuse crisis and the inability of Church leadership to address the problem and the spiritual needs of their parishioners.

As the American Catholic landscape has evolved there has been a sweeping desire for modern reformation in the Church beyond just controlling the rampant sex abuse crisis. According to the poll, the majority of Catholic voters are in favor of allowing priests to marry (64% of all Catholic voters) and for women to be ordained as deacons (69% of all Catholic voters).

“This data poll confirms the differences in ethnicity, age, and ideology within the Catholic community that make it such a pastoral challenge for bishops and such an electoral opportunity for politicians,” said John Carr, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
National Catholic Register

Dec. 13, 2019

By Ed Condon

Senior police officials in the Australian state of Victoria discussed by email the way that their 2014 investigation into Cardinal George Pell could deflect public scrutiny from an emerging corruption scandal in the force.

In a 2014 email exchange, then-Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton and Charlie Morton, assistant director of media and corporate communications for the Victoria police department, discussed how to respond to a high-profile scandal which would hamper the credibility of Victoria police operations.

In an email dated April 1, 2014, Morton advised Ashton not to make a media appearance in response to the “Lawyer X” scandal, because forthcoming announcements about Cardinal Pell could distract media and public attention.

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EDINBURG (TX)
Courthouse News

Dec. 13, 2019

By Erik De La Garza

A former Catholic priest convicted two years ago of murder in the 1960 death of a South Texas schoolteacher is asking a state appellate court for a new trial based largely on hearsay claims from witness testimony.

In a 152-page filing made public on Friday, an attorney for John Feit, 87, urged the 13th Court of Appeals to reverse his conviction, arguing 11 points of error to support the former priest’s decades-old claim that he had nothing to do with the Easter weekend 1960 suffocation death of Irene Garza, an elementary schoolteacher and former Miss South Texas.

Testimony at Feit’s seven-day trial in Edinburg centered around an alleged 57-year-old Catholic Church-led conspiracy blamed for covering up Garza’s murder, one of the nation’s oldest cases brought to trial.

“There were no eye witnesses to corroborate the state’s theory that appellant was responsible,” defense attorney O. Rene Flores wrote in the brief. “There was no physical, scientific, or forensic evidence obtained in the 56 years since the disappearance and murder of Irene Garza that somehow linked appellant to this offense.”

According to Flores, jurors were fed hearsay statements from the onset of the trial and should not have heard testimony from Dale Tacheny, a former monk and key prosecution witness who claimed Feit confessed to murdering a woman – his former parishioner – while the two were at a Trappist monastery in Ava, Missouri in 1963.

On the first day of trial, former TV news reporter turned attorney Darryl Davis testified that Feit escaped justice because prosecutors in the 1960s cut a deal with the Catholic Church: Feit would not be prosecuted for Garza’s murder if he agreed to plead no-contest in a case involving 20-year-old college student Maria America Guerra.

Guerra, who did not testify during trial because of health issues, was attacked by Feit from behind as she knelt to pray in church, prosecutors said. Feit pleaded no-contest in 1962 to a reduced charge of aggravated assault in that case after a trial ended in a hung jury the year before.

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ROME (ITALY)
Catholic News Agency

Dec. 13, 2019

By Courtney Mares

American bishops from the Midwest met with Pope Francis this week with questions about the outcome of the Vatican’s investigation of Theodore McCarrick.

“I did ask about the McCarrick situation. That was something that all of us were very interested in knowing where this was going. And very glad to hear that a report is coming, and not sure when it will be, probably after the beginning of the new year,” Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing told EWTN Dec. 13.

The seventeen bishops from Ohio and Michigan (Region VI of the US bishops) met with the pope for two hours Dec. 10 as a part of their ad limina visit to Rome, and had the opportunity to ask the pope questions.

Bishop Boyea said he asked Pope Francis about the promised McCarrick report, and that the pope described it for them. He said that the bishops also discussed the report with the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Parolin is “a little more nervous about the reception of this in the public,” he added.

The Vatican announced that it would conduct a review of files on McCarrick in October 2018.

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

Dec. 13, 2019

A priest in Kentucky who was convicted of child sexual abuse in 2016 has a parole hearing at 2:00 PM on December 16, 2019 in Frankfort. The hearing is open to the public. We hope that he will be kept behind bars and away from other vulnerable children.

Fr. Joseph Hemmerle was convicted in 2016 for sexually abusing a child at a Meade County summer camp in the 1970s. The cleric subsequently appealed his case to the Kentucky supreme court, arguing that the prosecution had not proven intent. During the trial, Fr. Hemmerle admitted to touching the genitals of not only the victim in this case, but also other children over the 40 years he served as director of Camp Tall Trees. He claims that he was only applying medicine, even though the victim in the case testified that he did not have poison ivy on his genitals. Also, Fr. Hemmerle seems to discount that a 10 year old boy can apply the medicine himself and even their own mother would not touch them in that way at that age. Fortunately, that nonsensical argument was shot down by the justices and Fr. Hemmerle remained in jail.

Now, after serving less than three years of a recommended nine-year sentence from two convictions, the parole board will be reviewing his case on Monday. However, not only has Fr. Hemmerle never expressed any remorse for his actions, but he also argued in this appeal that the court never proved intent.

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

Dec. 13, 2019

According to reports, at least sixteen more victims of clergy abuse in Colorado have come forward since the special master’s report was released earlier this year. One of those survivors is sharing his story publicly in hopes it helps others.

We applaud Daniel Masias for speaking out and are confident that his courage and example will help others in Colorado who are still unsure about coming forward or seeking justice. As he says in his statement, he was not interviewed as part of the Special Master’s report.

There is little doubt that the Colorado report naming only 43 priests is deficient. The most glaring hole in the report is the lack of order clerics who abused. The Capuchins, for example, have headquarters in Denver and one of their own, Archbishop Charles Chaput, previously worked as the Archbishop of Denver. He is currently the Archbishop of Philadelphia. We believe one reason no order priests are named in the report may be because of Archbishop Chaput’s outsized influence. The Capuchins from Denver, known as the Province of St. Conrad, have abusers who have hurt children all over their territory. Surely some were hurt in Colorado.

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ROCHESTER (NY)
National Catholic Reporter

Dec 13, 2019

By Sarah Salvadore

When the Rochester Diocese became the first in New York State to file for bankruptcy in September, it didn’t come as a surprise to legal experts. With the state passing the Child Victims Act in August, extending the statute of limitations for sex abuse victims, the diocese was served with hundreds of lawsuits alleging abuse, dating back decades.

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Reeling under the financial weight of clerical sexual misconduct lawsuits, Rochester joined a list of other dioceses across the country that have also filed for bankruptcy protection.

While not surprising, bankruptcy declarations, say victim advocates and legal scholars, deny victims their day in court, cover up wrongdoings and result in lower settlements.

Financial distress is not always the reason a diocese declares bankruptcy. The procedure can be used for a variety of purposes often beneficial to a diocese that wants to avoid the discovery that might be required in a trial, as a means of financial reorganization, or as a path to dealing in the most efficient way with groups of complainants.

Bankruptcy can be used, experts say, to help push aside litigation. Jeff Anderson — a Minnesota-based attorney who represents survivors of clerical sex abuse against the Catholic church across the U.S. — said bankruptcy cases are often used to accomplish financial reorganization.

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MIDDLETOWN (NY)
Times Herald-Record

Dec. 12, 2019

By Chris McKenna

A former parishioner of St. Patrick’s Church on Grand Street alleges in a new lawsuit that both a bishop and another priest at the church sexually abused him when he was a boy.

The accused clergymen are Bishop Austin Vaughn, who was named pastor of the Newburgh church in 1979, and the Rev. Donald Whelan, who was made administrator at around the same time, according to the St. Patrick’s website. Both men are now deceased; Vaughn died in 2000 and Whelan in 1987.

The lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan on Nov. 26 by Jack Shapiro says the acts occurred on church property between 1979 and 1984, but gives no other details. Shapiro’s Manhattan attorney, Peter Saghir, declined on Thursday to discuss the allegations, and said only that his client lives in New York.

The case, which names St. Patrick’s and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York as defendants, is part of a flood of lawsuits filed in New York since Aug. 14 under the Child Victims Act, a state law that gave people who were sexually abused as children a one-year window to bring civil claims that otherwise would be barred by the statute of limitations.

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WATERFORD (IRELAND)
Munster Express

Dec. 13, 2019

A former Catholic priest has been sent forward for trial accused of possessing child pornography.Oliver O’Grady appeared in Waterford District Court last Tuesday December 3rd. He is accused of possessing a video of an underage girl being sexually abused, found at an address in Waterford in 2015.

Mr O’Grady worked as a Catholic priest in California in the 1970s before returning to Ireland in the early 2000s. Mr O’ Grady appeared in Waterford District Court last Tuesday, December 3rd, before Judge Staunton, who referred his case to the next sitting of Waterford Circuit Court.

Judge Staunton directed Mr O’Grady that if he wishes to rely on alibi evidence for the trial, he must give notice within fourteen days. Barrister for Mr O’ Grady, Andrew Walsh, told the Judge that O’Grady would not be making an application for bail, but he did make a request for legal aid on behalf of his client, with the appointment of Solicitor Tracy Horan and one Junior Council to the case.

Mr Walsh also told the Judge that the Book of Evidence for the case had “parts of pages missing text.” Judge Staunton requested that this matter “be attended to as a matter of extreme urgency.” O’ Grady was remanded in custody to Midlands Prison to await trial. He will appear in Waterford Circuit Court on this matter on January 14th 2020.

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ERIE (PA)
Times News

Dec. 13, 2019

By Ed Palattella

A Pennsylvania Superior Court decision provides an option to sue over claims of clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups.

The legal developments are not over in the clergy sex abuse crisis in Pennsylvania.

A lawyer reminded me of that reality as I was writing Tuesday’s article on how much the Catholic Diocese of Erie has spent on abuse claims and related expenses. The figure is nearly $12 million, including about $6 million in payouts from diocese’s compensation fund for victims.

The state General Assembly likely limited the final amount of the payouts in the Erie diocese and other Roman Catholic dioceses throughout the state. Lawmakers did so by pursuing a constitutional amendment that would suspend the statute of limitations and give victims a two-year window to sue, no matter how old the claims.

Legislation failed that would have made the two-year window immediate. The process to amend the state constitution, including a voter referendum, will take years.

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ASHEVILLE (NC)
Mountain Express

Dec. 13, 2019

By Laura Hackett

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, which represents 46 counties in Western North Carolina and six parishes in the Asheville area, announced in August that it will release a list of clergy who have been the subject of credible accusations of sexual abuse by the end of this year. The process of reviewing personnel files and other historical records, which date to the diocese’s founding in 1972, began last fall.

On Nov. 26, the diocese said in a press release that credible allegations of sexual misconduct had been made toward its former vicar general, Monsignor Mauricio West. Those incidents allegedly date from the late 1980s and early 1990s, when West was a monk at Belmont Abbey. All the allegations involve adult victims; the alleged conduct includes unwanted kissing and, in one instance, unwanted touching. West was removed from ministerial duties beginning in March as the diocese investigated the victims’ claims.

West’s replacement, Vicar General Father Patrick Winslow, met with Xpress on Nov. 13 to discuss the process of reviewing diocesan records. Historical information warranting further inquiry has been passed to an independent lay review board, he said. If the board determines that a clergy member should be removed from his post, the bishop will consider that recommendation and make the final decision.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Sun Times

Dec 13, 2019

By Robert Herguth

One of the more prolific and unrepentant predator priests in the Chicago area has been released from custody after 17 years in prison.

Former Catholic priest Vincent McCaffrey gained his freedom months earlier than his previously scheduled release because of a federal law signed last year by President Donald Trump that cuts inmates an additional break if they behave behind bars.

McCaffrey, who admitted sexually abusing so many boys that he lost count, pleaded guilty in 2002 to receipt and possession of child pornography. He was sentenced by a federal judge in 2003 to 20 years in prison.

Originally slated for release Nov. 18, McCaffrey instead was freed July 19 “in accordance with the revised good-conduct-time provisions provided in the First Step Act,” according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

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DENVER (CO)
Denver Post

Dec. 13, 2019

By Vincent Carroll

When will it end, many Catholics must wearily wonder. And not only Catholics. Anyone who reads or listens to the news must wonder when the Catholic church sex scandals will ever be over.

But in one major sense, the crisis already has passed and what we’re witnessing — and will continue to witness for years — is the aftermath.

To see what I mean, go to Appendix 4 in the report on sexual abuse of minors by clergy in Colorado issued in October by investigators led by former U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer. There’s a bar graph highlighting the “number of victims by decade the abuse or misconduct began.” Towering above all other decades for the archdiocese of Denver is the bar for the 1960s, representing 74 victims. In second place is the 1970s with 25 victims, and the 1950s is third with 14. The 1990s had 11 victims and the 1980s three.

As the report observes, “Roman Catholic clergy child sex abuse in Colorado peaked in the 1960s and appears to have declined since. In fact, the last of the Colorado child sex abuse incidents we saw in the files were 1 in July 1990 and 4 in May 1998.”

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NEW YORK (NY)
America Magazine

Dec. 12, 2019

By Colleen Dulle and James T. Keane

An article published yesterday by the Wall Street Journal, by Francis X. Rocca, had a provocative, even shocking headline: “Vatican Uses Donations for the Poor to Plug Its Budget Deficit.” Focusing on Peter’s Pence, a worldwide collection for the pope’s charitable needs, the article stated that only 10 percent of the yearly collection, which the article estimated at $55 million (though in past years it was higher), goes to charitable works and that two-thirds of the money is used to cover the Vatican’s growing deficit.

Is the Vatican misleading donors to Peter’s Pence? The website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops explains the purpose of the charitable drive, usually held in U.S. parishes on the last weekend in June, as follows: “Today, the Peter’s Pence Collection supports the Pope’s philanthropy by giving the Holy Father the means to provide emergency assistance to those in need because of natural disaster, war, oppression, and disease.”

The Vatican itself is more circumspect in its description of the charitable drive. “It is an offering that each member of the faithful decides to give to the Pope so that he can provide for the needs of the entire Church,” states the Vatican website for Peter’s Pence, “especially in those places where the Church experiences greater difficulties.” Further, the pope’s charitable works “extend to the whole of humanity, at whose service the structures of the Church exist. For this reason, Peter’s Pence also contributes to the support of the Apostolic See and the activities of the Holy See.”

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COLORADO SPRINGS (CO)
Gazette

Dec. 12, 2019

By Debbie Kelley

Sixteen more victims of alleged sexual abuse by priests in Colorado’s three Roman Catholic dioceses have come forward since the Oct. 23 release of an independent report detailing substantiated accounts of at least 166 children who were harmed by 43 priests, according to Colorado Attorney General’s Office spokesman Lawrence Pacheco.

Among those now seeking recompense is an El Paso County resident.

Daniel Masias told The Gazette that from the age of 8 to 14, while he attended the Sacred Heart Cathedral School in Pueblo in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he was fondled and inappropriately touched by several priests working at the Catholic school that closed in 1971.

His account was not among those outlined in the special master’s report, Roman Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse of Children in Colorado from 1950 to 2019, which concluded that at least 127 children were victimized by 22 Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Denver, three children were harmed by two predatory priests in the Diocese of Colorado Springs, and 36 children were sexually abused by 19 priests in the Diocese of Pueblo.

Before Colorado Springs became a separate diocese in 1984, an Archdiocese of Denver priest identified as one of the state’s most prolific offenders, the Rev. Harold White, taught at St. Mary’s High School in Colorado Springs and preyed on five victims at least 15 times from 1963 to 1965, according to the probe.

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RAPID CITY (SD)
KOTA TV

Dec. 11, 2019

By Jeff Voss

A survivor of sexual abuse speaks out on ending sexual abuse against children (KOTA TV)
Center for Prevention of Child Maltreatment and Jolene’s Law has a 10-year plan to end sexual child abuse and maltreatment.

” The goal is to breakdown the styles of work that are happening across the state so we can work together to make a stronger South Dakota.” Carrie Sanderson director center prevention child maltreatment

Jolene’s law was signed by former Governor Dennis Daugaard in 2014 — and named after Jolene Loetscher, a survivor of sexual abuse as a child.

“To know that it was a symbol of putting purpose to my pain and it may be my name but it is the story of 4,000 kids every year in this state.” Loetscher

Jolene’s Law helped put an end to statute of limitations on many rape cases — and with CPCM the new goal is to end abuse altogether.

“We are going to protect our children and our families and we are going to end child abuse, and this a really big huge statement to make,” added Loetscher

The ten-year plan by CPCM will involve the cooperation of 30 agencies throughout the state coming together as one, for one common goal, and for one survivor, a simple message.

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CLARKSTOWN (NY)
Clarkstown Daily Voice

Dec. 12, 2019

By Zak Failla

A former student at an area private school has accused a former nun who later took positions of power at schools in Westchester of sexually abusing her in the 1960s.

Sister Ann Peterson has been accused of groping and molesting Pamela Hayes in Orange County at the Saint Joseph School in Middletown during the 1960s, according to court documents. At the time of the alleged abuse, Hayes was 10 years old.

The new lawsuit, filed this week, accuses Peterson of asking Hayes to stay late after school, then she allegedly kissed, groping and molested her, according to the court documents that were filed this week under the New York Child Victim’s Act. The alleged abuse lasted between 1963 and 1967.

The lawsuit was filed against the Archdiocese of New York, Peterson, the Parish of Saint Joseph, St. Joseph School and the Ursuline Sisters of the Eastern Province, based in New Rochelle.

Court documents say that Peterson abused Hayes by “hugging, kissing, massaging, caressing and touching her breasts and genitals.” It states that Hayes continues to feel “traumatized, ashamed, embarrassed and humiliated.”

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SIOUX FALLS (SD)
Sioux Falls Argus Leader

Dec. 12, 2019

By Trevor J. Mitchell

The eighth and ninth bishops of the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls stood together in the Catholic Pastoral Center on Thursday morning, as Bishop Paul Swain introduced Bishop-elect Donald DeGrood.

DeGrood, who called himself “a farm boy at heart,” most recently served as pastor of St. John the Baptist in Savage, Minnesota, part of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

While admitting he was sad to leave his parishioners in Minnesota, he said he knew God would provide for them and that prayer had let him know that coming to South Dakota was the right path.

DeGrood succeeds Bishop Paul Swain, who submitted his resignation, per canon law, at the age of 75 in September of 2018.

Swain spoke briefly as he introduced DeGrood, saying that he was pleased with the church’s decision to choose him as the next bishop — “and not just because I can retire now,” he said.

He told DeGrood he’d need to learn to appreciate the open plains of South Dakota he’d see during his many drives across the state, as well as learn the important distinction between East River and West River.

“Though shaken by the scandals of the church these days,” Swain said, DeGrood was entering a community of people who are steadfast in their belief, and who care about each other.

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Mish blog

Dec. 12, 2019

Vatican Spends 90% of Donations for the Poor On Itself

By Mike Shedlock

Thinking of donating money to the Vatican to feed the poor? You may wish to reconsider.

Please consider Vatican Uses Donations for the Poor to Plug Its Budget Deficit.

Every year, Catholics around the world donate tens of millions of dollars to the pope. Bishops exhort the faithful to support the weak and suffering through the pope’s main charitable appeal, called Peter’s Pence.

What the church doesn’t advertise is that most of that collection, worth more than €50 million ($55 million) annually, goes toward plugging the hole in the Vatican’s own administrative budget, while as little as 10% is spent on charitable works, according to people familiar with the funds.

The little-publicized breakdown of how the Holy See spends Peter’s Pence, known only among senior Vatican officials, is raising concern among some Catholic Church leaders that the faithful are being misled about the use of their donations, which could further hurt the credibility of the Vatican’s financial management under Pope Francis.

The Vatican is currently embroiled in a scandal over opaque real-estate investments in London, which has triggered a power struggle within the Vatican’s bureaucracy and led to the dismissal of its chief financial regulator. Last month, the Vatican was suspended from an international network of anti-money-laundering watchdogs.

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

Dec. 12, 2019

A grand jury in Louisiana has indicted a former deacon on charges of child rape. We applaud this decision and hope it will bring comfort and healing to his victims.

George Brignac, a former deacon in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, was still working in parishes as late as last year, despite church officials “removing him from ministry” in 1988. We fear that other children may have been hurt by him during the years that he was working around children despite ostensibly having had his ministerial faculties removed. Because of this, church officials in New Orleans must aggressively seek out any others who may have been hurt by him and encourage them to come forward and make a report to local law enforcement.

This case is yet another reminder that children are best protected by secular law enforcement officials, not church officials. We also believe that, had church officials lived up to their promise to be “open and honest” about cases of clergy abuse and posted a list of accused priests, nuns, deacons and other church staff earlier, the communities in which Brignac was working would have been better informed and better able to protect their children.

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
Times Picayune

Dec. 12, 2019

By Ramon Antonio Vargas

An Orleans Parish grand jury on Thursday handed up a child rape charge against George Brignac, the former Roman Catholic deacon who was removed from ministry decades ago amid multiple molestation accusations but still remained involved in a local parish until last year.

Brignac, 84, faces a count of first-degree rape in the newest bid from prosecutors to convict a man who decades ago beat similar allegations.

Thursday’s indictment against Brignac comes more than two months after New Orleans police arrested him on a warrant accusing him of multiple acts of abuse, including rape of an altar boy he met while teaching at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in the late 1970s. He is the first clergyman in the area to be indicted since the church’s long-simmering child molestation crisis boiled over last year, when Brignac and dozens of others were included on New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond’s list of clergy suspected of preying on minors.

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FLUSHING (NY)
Flushing Post

Dec. 8, 2019

By Kristen Torres

A Queens bishop who served as the spiritual leader of a Bayside church has been charged for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy from his congregation, the District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

Bishop Jese Milagrosa, 69, who served at Our Lady of La Salette Church at 46-44 204th St., is accused of sexually assaulting the boy over a three-year period beginning in 2011, according to the District Attorney’s office.

“The defendant is accused of using his position as head of the church to take advantage of an innocent child for his own sexual gratification,” said Acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan in a statement.

Milagrosa was arraigned Thursday night before Queens Criminal Court Judge Karina Alomar on a complaint charging him with predatory sexual assault against a child, first-degree sexual conduct against a child, and first-, second- and third-degree criminal sexual act.

He was ordered held on $250,000 bail and to return to court on Dec. 20, 2019. If convicted, the he faces 10 years to life in prison.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Tablet

Dec. 12, 2019

By Catherine Pepinster

If the Church is to become a safe place for children and vulnerable adults, those who have suffered abuse must be listened to. Three of the victims of abuse by Catholic priests who gave evidence to the IICSA hearings tell their stories to The Tablet

Nolan and Cumberlege. These two names were repeated day after day, by witness after witness, at the various hearings in the inquiry into the extent of failures to protect children from sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales: one of the 15 investigations into a broad range of institutions being conducted by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). They are shorthand for the two inquiries – the first chaired by Lord Nolan in 2001 and the second by Baroness Cumberlege in 2007 – held by the Catholic Church into clerical sexual abuse, whose recommendations have set the template for safeguarding in the Catholic Church for nearly 20 years.

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EDMONTON (CANADA)
Edmonton Sun News

Dec. 12, 2019

By Gary Dimmock

Barry McGrory, the disgraced former Catholic priest who skipped his sentencing in Ottawa court last month for molesting boys, has been arrested and is now in jail.

The now-defrocked McGrory, 85, had been on bail awaiting sentencing but didn’t bother to show up on Nov. 18, so Superior Court Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin issued an arrest warrant for the convicted sex predator, who was arrested in Toronto.

In June, O’Bonsawin found McGrory guilty of sexually abusing two teenage boys in historic crimes dating back to the late 1960s. The boys were molested in a church rectory.

McGrory now faces a new charge of failing to attend court, and is now at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre awaiting his next hearing at the Elgin Street courthouse.

McGrory used his position as a parish priest to exploit vulnerable and naive young men, and used drugs and booze to groom them.

“He infiltrated their families and used their faith in him to take advantage of the complainants,” the judge said in June.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

Dec. 12, 2019

By Travis Andersen

A Catholic priest in New Jersey pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of indecently assaulting three children under 14 in Springfield in the 1980s, about 20 years before his ordination, according to prosecutors and court records.

Rev. Patrick Kuffner, 72, entered his plea in Hampden Superior Court to three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, legal filings show. Bail was set at $50,000, and his lawyer didn’t immediately respond to telephone and e-mail messages seeking comment.

Kuffner was initially arrested Nov. 20 in New Jersey and taken into custody by Massachusetts State Police on Wednesday, officials said.

Prosecutors say Kuffner, who became a priest in 2002, allegedly assaulted the youths while chaperoning a trip to Springfield in the early 1980s. Investigators were initially contacted after one alleged victim recognized Kuffner at a funeral while standing in line to receive communion, Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni’s office said in a statement.

The alleged victim confronted Kuffner and later reported the past incident to law enforcement, prosecutors said.

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NEW YORK (NY)
The New York Times

December 11, 2019

By Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor

After two years of legal wrangling, Harvey Weinstein and the board of his bankrupt film studio have reached a tentative $25 million settlement agreement with dozens of his alleged sexual misconduct victims, a deal that would not require the Hollywood producer to admit wrongdoing or pay anything to his accusers himself, according to lawyers involved in the negotiations.

The proposed global legal settlement has gotten preliminary approval from the major parties involved, according to several of the lawyers. More than 30 actresses and former Weinstein employees, who in lawsuits have accused Mr. Weinstein of offenses ranging from sexual harassment to rape, would share in the payout — along with potential claimants who could join in coming months. The deal would bring to an end nearly every such lawsuit against him and his former company.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
LA Times

December 10, 2019

By Alejandra Reyes-Velard

California prosecutors plan to issue subpoenas to half of the state’s Catholic dioceses as part of a growing investigation into the church’s handling of sex abuse cases, according to several dioceses and the California Catholic Conference.

The move marks another escalation of the California attorney general’s investigation of the church scandal, which already has resulted in massive settlements for accusers and criminal charges against individual priests statewide.

The dioceses in Sacramento, Fresno, Orange, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Francisco received notices sometime last week that they would be issued the subpoenas. The Diocese of Orange and the Diocese of San Jose have been officially served with the subpoena orders.

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NEW YORK (NY)
The New York Post

December 10, 2019

By Chad Pecknold

Speaking before a Chinese Communist body recently, Bishop John Fang Xingyao said: “Love for the homeland must be greater than love for the Church.” That was quite a reversal from the spirit of Saint Thomas More, who declared himself “the king’s good servant but God’s first” — just before Henry VIII had him beheaded in 1535.

Statements like Fang’s are vindicating those who have raised alarm about the Holy See’s 2018 deal with the Beijing regime.

When the Communists took power in China in 1949, they tried to expel Catholics, but many remained. By 1957, the new regime created a state-run “Catholic” church that was loyal to the Communist Party and ­rejected the authority of the Holy See. This drove underground many Catholics, who didn’t want to betray the successor of Saint Peter. Thus, for decades, China has lived with two Catholic churches, one above ground, the other below.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

December 12, 2019
By John Tummino

The communications leader for the Buffalo Diocese has stepped down.

The diocese announced Thursday morning that Kathy Spangler left “to pursue other interests and opportunities.” Her departure comes one week after the resignation of Bishop Richard Malone.

Gregory Tucker, described as a “seasoned strategic communications advisor,” is now working with the diocese until a permanent replacement is named.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Variety

December 11, 2019

By Elizabeth Wagmeister and Gene Maddaus

A judge on Wednesday increased Harvey Weinstein’s bail to $5 million, following repeated violations of his ankle monitor system.

Justice James Burke agreed to the prosecution’s request to hike his bail, which had been set at $1 million. The defense claimed that the lapses in monitoring were due to technical glitches. Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi alleged that Weinstein was “panicking” and had deliberately caused the ankle monitor to malfunction in order to evade detection. She said there had been 57 violations in less than two months.

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UNITED STATES
The Associated Press

December 10, 2019

By Mary Claire Dale

Bill Cosby lost his bid to overturn his sexual assault conviction Tuesday, as an appeals court upheld the verdict in the first celebrity trial of the #MeToo era.

In its ruling, the Superior Court upheld the right of prosecutors to call other accusers to bolster their case — the same issue that was fought over in pretrial hearings before movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault trial.

“This decision is a reminder that no one is above the law,” Andrea Constand, the victim in Cosby’s case, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

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NEW YORK (NY)
The New York Post

December 10, 2019

By Lee Brown

The runner who slapped a TV reporter’s behind is a local youth minister who claims he wants to “correct the situation” — while the journalist on the receiving end of his hand says he “hurt me, both physically and emotionally.”

Tommy Callaway was identified as the Savannah, Ga., 10K racer who slapped WSAV-TV anchor Alex Bozarjian, after online sleuths found him thanks to his race number shown in other photos.

Callaway is a youth group leader at his church, Pittman Park UMC, as well as a Boy Scout leader, according to Heavy, based on social media sites that he quickly took down as he was outed and banned from future races.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WBFO

December 10, 2019

By Kyle S. Mackie

James Faluszczak, a former priest and well-known Buffalo advocate for survivors of clergy abuse, is calling on the new interim administrator of the Diocese of Buffalo to release the Vatican’s full report into its handling of sexual abuse cases.

Bishop Edward Scharfenberger of Albany was named temporary head of the diocese following the Dec. 4 resignation of Bishop Richard Malone. The Vatican accepted Malone’s resignation after widespread outcry and calls for his removal over his handling of sexual abuse allegations within the diocese.

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BROOKLYN (NY)
WIVB

December 10, 2019

By Evan Anstey

James Faluszczak, a former priest who claims to have been sexually abused, spoke in Brooklyn on Tuesday morning.

Faluszczak has been calling for investigations into priests. This past August, he announced lawsuits against the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo on the first day of the Child Victims Act window.

Previously, Faluszczak testified before the 40th Pennsylvania Grand Jury while it investigated six dioceses in that state.

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CHICOPEE (MA)
The Associated Press

December 9, 2019

By David Crary

More than a century ago, waves of Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Poland and Quebec settled in Chicopee and other western Massachusetts mill towns, helping build churches, rectories and schools to accommodate their faith. Today the priests leading those churches are under siege due to stresses, challenges and sex abuse scandals complicating their lives and those of their fellow priests across the United States.

The Rev. Mark Stelzer is among those trying to persevere. He’s a professor at a Roman Catholic college in Chicopee, and its chaplain. He travels frequently to out-of-state events organized by a Catholic addiction-treatment provider, recounting his own recovery from alcoholism.

Last year, his busy schedule got busier. Amid a worsening shortage of priests, the Diocese of Springfield named him administrator of a parish in Holyoke, Chicopee’s northern neighbor, where he lives alone in a mansion-sized rectory while serving as spiritual leader to the 500 families of St. Jerome’s Church.

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

December 7, 2019

By Nellie Bowles and Michael H. Keller

Criminals are making virtual connections with children through gaming and social media platforms. One popular site warns visitors, “Please be careful.”

When Kate’s 13-year-old son took up Minecraft and Fortnite, she did not worry.

The video games were hardly Grand Theft Auto — banned in their home because it was too violent — and he played in a room where she could keep an eye on him.

But about six weeks later, Kate saw something appalling pop up on the screen: a video of bestiality involving a young boy. Horrified, she scrolled through her son’s account on Discord, a platform where gamers can chat while playing. The conversations were filled with graphic language and imagery of sexual acts posted by others, she said.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
The New York Times

December 5, 2019

By Kate Conger

In its first safety report, the ride-hailing company detailed sexual assaults, murders and fatal crashes through its platform.

Uber said on Thursday that it had reports of 3,045 sexual assaults during its rides in the United States in 2018, with nine people murdered and 58 killed in crashes, in its first study detailing unsafe incidents on the ride-hailing platform.

The number of incidents represented a fraction — just 0.0002 percent — of Uber’s 1.3 billion rides in the United States last year, the company said.

There are few comparable figures to judge Uber’s safety record against. The New York Police Department, which keeps a register of sex crimes and rapes that occur on transit systems, counted 533 in 2018.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW TV

Dec. 12, 12019

By Charlie Specht

The secret files on abusive priests in the Diocese of Buffalo sit locked away in a group of beige and green file cabinets at diocesan headquarters on Main Street.

The question is whether a new bishop preaching transparency will release the files to abuse victims and other Catholics.

“Give us the files,” said attorney J. Michael Hayes, who represents two of the victims pushing for the files. “We’re entitled to them under the law.”

Hayes is making a motion in State Supreme Court that could be a potential game-changer for the diocese, and could pry open the secret files on two of its most notorious priests: Fr. William F.J. White and Fr. Norbert Orsolits.

“If there is such a thing as a smoking gun in these cases, my guess is it’s the personnel file of these priests,” Hayes said.

More than a dozen men accuse the two priests of sexual abuse that allegedly occurred decades ago. Hayes is asking Justice Deborah A. Chimes to force the diocese to turn over their files as part of normal court procedure.

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TULSA (OK)
Tulsa World

Dec. 12, 2019

It was very discouraging to see the Rev. Joe Townsend reprieve on the second section of the Tulsa World (“Diocese: Allegation against Tulsa priest found to be unsubstantiated,” Dec. 4).

It was front-page news when word came out about the allegations. Now that he’s been exonerated, it’s no big deal. We are innocent until proven guilty only in the court system it seems.

I feel it should be front page again, so people can see the truth as we know it, just so he can feel truly exonerated.

Evemarie Luce Eklund, Tulsa

Editor’s Note: The newsroom editors choose to publish the story across all columns at the top of the Metro section. The reasons include the front-page breaking news that day of the notification of impeachment filings against President Trump and the Tulsa Public Schools announcement to close four schools and hold meetings on a restructuring plan. The Tulsa World also published the last of a five-part series on statewide criminal justice issues. The decision regarding allegations against Townsend as being unsubstantiated came from an internal diocese investigation, not law enforcement.

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COLUMBUS (OH)
WCBE Radio

Dec. 12, 2019

By Jim Letizia

A Franklin County judge has ordered the Catholic Diocese of Columbus to release files related to priests accused of sexual abuse as part of an ongoing lawsuit.

The judge denied a broad request for files and instead told the Diocese to release documents created before the plaintiff’s complaint about alleged abuse by the late Monsignor Thomas Bennett at St. Charles Preparatory School in Bexley. The judge’s order last week gave officials 30 days to comply.

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COLLEGE STATION (TX)
KBTX TV

Dec. 12, 2019

By Rusty Surette

KBTX has confirmed St. Mary’s Catholic Center in College Station is at the center of an investigation involving a visiting priest.

The Legionaries of Christ on Saturday released a public statement regarding the ongoing investigation into Father Michael Sullivan.

Father Michael Sullivan was well-known among the congregation of mostly A&M students and was in and out of the parish for the last decade.

On Saturday, a Georgia-based group for men studying the priesthood called Legionaries of Christ confirmed its internal investigation of Father Sullivan. They say an adult female visiting St. Mary’s came forward with claims the he “crossed over the emotional physical boundaries of a pastoral relationship with her and others.”

On Wednesday, the Legionaries said a third-party group was actively investigating the latest allegation, and while he may have violated their own code of conduct, they don’t believe any laws were broken.

The organization also said no law enforcement agency has been invited to assist in its on-going fact-finding mission.

This isn’t the first time the Legionaries have had to investigate Sullivan.

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NEWARK (NJ)
By Star-Ledger

Dec. 1, 2019

By Bill Murphy

When the five Catholic dioceses of NJ released the names of priests with credible accusations of sexual abuse, I, like many Catholics, went to review the lists with a feeling of apprehension, hoping that I did not recognize any of the names.

I was devastated to see the name of Father Brendan Williams, a priest I had known and thought the world of since I was a teenager. Next to his name were the words “removed from ministry.” When was he removed from ministry? I wondered. I remembered seeing announcements in the diocesan newspaper announcing his retirement in 2012. Since then, Fr. Williams’ former parish advertised a party in honor of the 50th of his ordination on June 7, 2015 and the parish bulletin also advertised a pilgrimage he was leading in September 2015.

I contacted the Diocese of Trenton multiple times to express my concerns. When exactly was Fr. Williams “removed from ministry,” as they claimed he had been? Was his “retirement” a pretense? If not, when specifically was he removed from ministry and why was no announcement made? What did the diocese know and when did they know it?

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ROCHESTER (NY)
Democrat & Chronicle

Dec. 12, 2019

By Steve Orr

The Vatican conducted a recent investigation into the western New York diocese and Malone’s handling of abuse cases. Matthew Leonard, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Lawsuits filed under the Child Victims Act all date from a five-year period when the convicted abuser was associate pastor in Dansville, NY.

After his time in Dansville, Emo was moved around half-a-dozen postings in 14 years.

When police uncovered more complaints of sexual abuse, statute of limitations made prosecution impossible.

When the Rev. Eugene G. Emo was arrested in 1996 for molesting a developmentally disabled man, some of his parishioners said they weren’t surprised. They had suspected for years that Emo had an unholy attraction to boys and vulnerable men.

But those parishioners accused Rochester diocesan leaders of covering up for Emo for years, transferring him from one church to another after people began to talk.

In one case, salacious photos and a pair of handcuffs had been found in Emo’s quarters, and money was missing from the parish’s till. The diocese’s response was to whisk Emo away with no explanation and, a year later, send him to another church 50 miles away.

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BUFFALO (NY)
West Seneca Bee

Dec. 11, 2019

Just over a week ago, Diocese of Buffalo Bishop Richard Malone resigned under immense pressure. Local Catholics or, frankly, anyone who pays attention to the news in Western New York knows why. Parishioners, local politicians and lay people involved in local Catholic institutions were fed up with Bishop Malone’s lack of action in disciplining or investigating priests who were accused of abuse.

His resignation and whatever looming shakeup happens in the coming years will forever change the structure of the church in a region where Catholicism is especially prominent. Voices that are usually silenced were heard, abusive priests have been punished and massive lawsuits have been launched.

None of this would have happened without quality reporting by multiple local outlets. Of course, Michael Whalen deserves credit for sparking the whole story, after bravely and publicly sharing his story more than 18 months ago of abuse at the hands of a priest.

Whalen’s story led Buffalo News reporter Jay Tokasz to investigate further, leading to a confirmation of the abuse by the perpetrator, Norbert Orsolits. This set off a trend of others sharing their story of abuse, with dozens and eventually hundreds of former or current local priests being accused of some form of abuse.

Later, Malone’s secretary Siobhan O’Connor leaked incriminating documents to WKBW-TV reporter Charlie Specht, adding another layer to the story. It became clear to many that Bishop Malone had not done enough to either curb abuse or to ensure that priests accused of wrongdoing couldn’t harm anyone else.

During the next year, Specht broke several more stories related to the scandal and was at every diocesan news conference, looking to hold Malone accountable. Tokasz and others also provided strong coverage of what may be the biggest WNY news story of the decade.

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JAKARTA (INDONESIA)
UCAN News

Dec.11, 2019

By Ryan Dagur

The Indonesian Church will take serious steps to address claims in a Catholic media report that dozens of people have been abused in Catholic institutions across the country, a bishops’ conference official has said.

At least 56 people were abused within Catholic institutions in Indonesia, according to the report titled “Sexual Abuse in Indonesian Churches: An Iceberg Phenomenon?”

It appeared in Warta Minggu, a weekly magazine published by Tomang Parish in West Jakarta, on Dec. 8.

Indonesian Bishops’ Conference (KWI) seminary commission secretary Father Joseph Kristanto confirmed the claims, telling ucanews that his commission had received reports from sources detailing at least 56 abuse victims.

That number comprised 21 seminarians and brothers, 20 nuns and 15 laypeople, while the perpetrators included 33 priests and 23 non-priests, he said.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Intrnational Business Times

Dec. 12, 2019

By Arthur Villasanta

One of Pope Francis’ major aims at the start of his pontificate was to transform the Catholic Church into a “poor church for the poor.” He now faces the painful reality that Peter’s Pence, which is supposed to be used to support the poor throughout the world, has been spent instead on buying luxury real-estate in London and financing the Holy See’s yawning budget deficit, a report by the Wall Street Journal noted.

The Holy See consists of the central administration of the Catholic Church and the global papal diplomatic network.

The Vatican itself describes Peter’s Pence in glowing terms as “a gesture of charity, a way of supporting the activity of the Pope and the universal Church in favoring especially the poorest and Churches in difficulty. It is also an invitation to pay attention and be near to new forms of poverty and fragility.”

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TORONTO (CANADA)
Catholic Register

Dec. 12, 2019

The call went up to have Archbishop Fulton Sheen declared a saint almost from the day he died 40 years ago. So current disappointment at a Vatican directive to touch the brakes on the popular American’s sainthood cause is no surprise, but the decision is appropriate.

Sheen was to be beatified, the final step before canonization, on Dec. 21 in his hometown of Peoria, Ill. But on Dec. 5, the Vatican took the extraordinary step of postponing the ceremony after the American bishops’ conference relayed possible concerns about some unclear aspects of Sheen’s past.  The Vatican gave no explanation, which only fuelled anxiety.

It was left to the bishop of Peoria, Daniel Jenky, to declare no one has accused Sheen of sexual abuse. That was followed by suggestions that Sheen may have failed to act against an abuser priest when Sheen was Rochester’s bishop in the late 1960s.

So the beatification stutter-step appears to be based on some 50-year-old hearsay which has set off alarm bells, due no doubt to a general unease that hangs these days like a dark cloud over Church leaders.

There has been no specific evidence pointing to any misdeed, nor any allegation from a victim or witness. No, just whispers about something that may or may not have happened a half century ago which, in the current climate, is sufficient reason to transform certainty about Sheen’s saintliness into what if?

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NORTHHAMPTON (ENGLAND)
Northhampton Chronicle

Dec. 12, 2019

A disgraced Northamptonshire rector who downloaded pictures and movie clips of children and babies being raped and fantasised about having sex with a young girl has been jailed.

Christopher Goble had already pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to three charges of making indecent images of children.

Between 2002 and 2008, he served as a priest in an area of the Diocese of Peterborough, as rector of Brington with Whilton, Norton, Church Brampton with Chapel Brampton, Harlestone and East Haddon and Holdenby.

When he returned to the court to be sentenced for those pictures on his phone, the court heard that more images had been discovered on other devices.

The disgraced cleric then pleaded guilty to three amended charges detailing larger numbers of images and to two further charges of possessing extreme pornography and prohibited images.

Goble, 44, of The Rectory, Valenders Lane, Ilmington, at the time, but recently living at The Brambles, Oswestry, was jailed for 20 months and ordered to register as a sex offender for ten years.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WBFO TV

Dec. 12, 2019

By Avery Schnider

The Director of Communications for the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has stepped down after just over a year in the role.

In a written statement Tuesday, Rev. Peter J. Karalus, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese, announced Kathy Spangler had departed her position as Director of Communications for the diocese “in order to pursue other interests in opportunities.”

Spangler became Communications Director in September 2018, amid a scandal over sexual abuse by clergy. Her departure comes just over a week since Bishop Richard J. Malone resigned his post as head of the diocese, and was replaced in the interim by Bishop Edward Scharfenberger as Apostolic Administrator. Scharfenberger, who is the current Bishop of the Diocese of Albany, will maintain the role until a new Bishop is installed in Buffalo.

Writing on behalf of Scharfenberger, Karalus said, “We are enormously grateful to Kathy for her many contributions and for her dedication to supporting the communications of the Diocese over these challenging months. We wish her much success in her future endeavors.”

In Spangler’s absence, Gregory Tucker will be the diocese’s primary contact for media. Karalus described Tucker as “a seasoned strategic communications advisor,” and said Tucker is now working with Scharfenberger and Chancery leadership.

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PARIS (FRANCE)
La Croix International

Dec. 10, 2019

By Massimo Faggioli

If you blinked, you probably missed it. But this past Sunday was the 150th anniversary of the opening of the First Vatican Council.It was on Dec. 8, 1869 that Pope Pius IX convened the council that would come to be known for its declarations on papal primacy and infallibility.

It would be the symbol of an assertive Catholicism that pushed back against liberal modernity.

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ST. PAUL (MN)
Catholic Spirit

Dec. 12, 2019

By Maria Wiering

Pope Francis has named Father Donald DeGrood bishop of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the apostolic nuncio to the United States announced Dec. 12.

A priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Bishop-elect DeGrood, 54, has served as pastor of St. John the Baptist in Savage since 2017.

He was ordained in 1997 by Archbishop Harry Flynn. He has ministered as parochial vicar of All Saints in Lakeville (1997-2000), spiritual director at St. John Vianney College Seminary (2000-2004), pastor of St. Peter in Forest Lake (2004-2013), pastor of Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul (2013-2015) and as the archdiocese’s Vicar for Clergy (2013-2017).

Born Feb. 14, 1965, in rural Faribault, Bishop-elect DeGrood is the fourth of Robert and Joanne DeGrood’s five sons. He grew up on a nearby farm. His father died in 2003, and his mother continues to live on the family farm. He has five nieces and four nephews.

He attended Catholic grade school in Faribault and graduated in 1983 from Bethlehem Academy High School, which is run by the Sinsinawa Dominicans. He attended the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul and spent two of his undergraduate years at St. John Vianney College Seminary discerning his vocation.

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SAN JOSE (CA)
Mercury News

Dec. 11, 2019

By John Woolfolk

The California Attorney General has subpoenaed half of California’s Roman Catholic dioceses including San Jose and San Francisco, signaling what victims of sex abuse by priests say is an important step toward what they hope will be a comprehensive expose of child molestation and coverups in the church.

The archdioceses of San Francisco and Los Angeles and the dioceses of San Jose, Sacramento, Fresno and Orange all have received subpoenas to produce documents, said Kevin Eckery, a spokesman for the California Catholic Conference. Those dioceses already had been providing documents and, along with the other six dioceses, retaining records since the attorney general requested that they do so in May.

Eckery said the subpoenas make it easier for the dioceses to produce records for which privacy concerns pose a barrier to voluntary disclosure.

“In some ways, it can speed the process because sometimes files contain things like medical records or private information that without a subpoena you couldn’t legitimately give up,” Eckery said.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
Dec. 6, 2019

While still a child, he reported the crimes to nuns
A school staffer reportedly cried at the disclosure
But SF Catholic officials didn’t stop the predator
The cleric was just ‘outed’ for the first time in June
SNAP also urges church-goers to ‘boycott’ the archdiocese
It’s one of just 2 dioceses in CA that hasn’t released pedophiles’ names
And it’s one of the few in the US that’s “still dragging its feet”

What:
At a news conference, a local man is publicly revealing his name and face for the first time and disclosing his new child sexual abuse and cover up lawsuit against San Francisco Catholic officials. And an advocate and victim’s attorney will urge the Archdiocese of San Francisco to immediately release its list of clerics accused of sexually abusing children, as most US Catholic dioceses, including nine of the twelve in CA, have done.

When:
Thursday, Dec. 5 at 11:30 a.m.

Where:
Outside the San Francisco archdiocesan headquarters, One Peter Yorke Way in San Francisco

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

Dec. 11, 2019

For years, priest held diocese-wide position
Group blasts relatively new northern California bishop
He held high posts in Fresno and Sacramento dioceses too
His ‘credibly accused predators’ lists is incomplete, SNAP says

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, an attorney and abuse victim will
–reveal that a new civil case is being filed against the Diocese of Stockton and a religious order, thanks to a new state law that takes effect next month, and
They will also demand that the bishops of two northern California dioceses
–add more names to their ‘credibly accused clerics’ list,
–stop hiding abuse reports for months or years and instead, for the safety of kids, disclose them promptly, and
–start doing ‘aggressive outreach’ to find and help others who were victimized by clerics and are still ‘suffering in shame, silence and self-blame.

WHERE
On the sidewalk outside the Stockton diocese headquarters, 212 N. San Joaquin St. (corner of Channel) in Stockton, CA (209 466 0636)

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

Dec. 11, 2019

An Ohio judge is forcing the Catholic Diocese of Columbus to turn over records about clerics who may have seen, suspected or hidden cases of sexual abuse. We applaud this ruling which we believe will lead to safer communities and more transparency about cases of sexual violence.

We are grateful to Judge Jaiza Page for ordering the release of records related to 15 clerics who may have known about sex abuse within the Diocese of Columbus. We believe that Catholic officials in Columbus should have been willing to release this information without a court order. Instead, the diocese remained committed to secrecy and silence about cases of abuse. Examples like this show that it is only through the secular justice system – and not through Church leaders themselves – that we can expect transparency.

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SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican

Dec. 11, 2019

By Anne-Gerard Flynn

A New Jersey-born priest — ordained in 2002 and removed from ministry a year ago — is facing three separate counts of indecent assault and battery of a child under 14 that allegedly occurred in Hampden County more than 35 years ago.

The Rev. Patrick J. Kuffner was arrested in his home state on charges of child sexual abuse Nov. 20 on a fugitive warrant from the Office of Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni, and is being held without bail in Toms River, N.J., DA spokesman James Leydon confirmed Wednesday.

“While the alleged crimes date back to the early 1980s, more than 35 years ago, and involve an incident from before Fr. Kuffner was a priest or even a seminarian, the charges are nevertheless shocking and are being taken seriously by the Diocese of Metuchen,” said Anthony P. Kearns III, spokesperson and chancellor of the Diocese of Metuchen in a statement. “Once we learned of the allegations, we immediately reported them to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, which then conducted an initial investigation and subsequently referred the matter to the Hampden County Prosecutor’s Office in MA.”

The Diocese of Metuchen, where Kuffner was ordained and raised, had removed the 72-year-old from ministry in February 2018 after three people accused him of sexual abusing them as minors more than three decades ago when Kuffner was a layman teaching in the Catholic school system on Staten Island, N.Y.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
KGTV

Dec. 11, 2019

By Jermaine Ong

A lawsuit is being announced Wednesday against the Catholic Diocese of San Diego over a priest accused of sexually abuse more than 100 boys during his career.

The lawsuit names the Catholic Diocese of San Diego and Father Anthony Edward Rodrigue. The legal action is being filed on behalf of several people who claim they were victimized by Rodrigue “but were unable to file a civil lawsuit under California’s previous statute of limitation law.”

Rodrigue spent time at 10 different parishes in San Diego, Imperial and San Bernardino counties during his 29-year priesthood career. Attorneys, citing a 1997 San Bernardino County sheriff’s report, said Rodrigue “admitted to sexually abusing four or five boys each year” during his career.

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MEXICO CITY (MEXICO)
Catholic News Agency

Dec. 11, 2019

The apostolic nuncio in Mexico, Archbishop Franco Coppola, has said that anyone who wants to report sexual abuse by the country’s clergy is free to email him, and he will try to help.

Speaking with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language news partner, Archbishop Coppola explained that “many times the people who have appealed here were victims who hadn’t been listened to by those responsible for the Church and they come to the nunciature motivated by the commitment that Pope Francis has clearly expressed in favor of the victims.”

Archbishop Coppola said the doors of his office are open to receive complaints and accompany victims “in their search for justice.”

The nuncio said that while it is not within the competency of his office “to conduct an investigation or take measures, what I have tried to do is facilitate the victim’s access to the competent Church authority, whether on the level of the diocese, religious superior or the Holy See, accompanying the victim in his search for justice.”

Archbishop Coppola stressed that efforts to prevent and fight sexual abuse by the clergy are “key because abuse is a betrayal of the very mission of the Church.”

“The mission of the Church is to make present a God who saves and these kinds of acts by committed by members of the clergy instead of saving and healing, wound and destroy people’s lives,” he said.

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ALBANY (NY)
Albany Times Union

December 11, 2019

By Cayla Harris

For years, two siblings have claimed that they were sexually abused by a former Greene County priest — but New York’s statute of limitations only allowed one of them to pursue legal action against their alleged abuser.

That changed Monday, when Ivan Morales Jr. sued 82-year-old Jeremiah Nunan under the state’s recently enacted Child Victims Act.

The case, filed in the state Supreme Court in Albany, alleges that Nunan abused Morales from 1989 to 1995, when he was 9 to 15 years old and an altar boy at Sacred Heart Church in Cairo. Morales, now a 39-year-old state trooper, first brought forth the accusations in 2011 after his sister confessed the abuse to their parents. Morales was too old to file either civil or criminal charges.

At the time, New York’s statute of limitations time-barred child sex abuse cases after the survivor reached age 23 — a window Morales had missed by several years. But in August, the Child Victims Act opened a one-year period for survivors of all ages to sue their alleged abusers. So far, more than 1,200 cases statewide have been filed under the law.

Morales’ lawsuit does not include specific allegations: “As a victim of Father Nunan’s sexual abuse, Plaintiff is unable at this time to fully describe all of the details of that abuse and the extent of the harm he suffered as a result,” the complaint reads. Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston attorney who is serving as co-counsel on the case, declined to elaborate on the accusations but said his client “has empowered himself” by coming forward.

“Given that my client was sexually abused from approximately 9 years old to 15 years old … over 100 times, it is difficult for victims of sexual abuse to believe that the supervisors of Father Nunan did not know that he was sexually abusing children in a wholesale fashion,” he said.

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BERLIN (GERMANY)
Deutsche Welle

Dec. 10, 2019

In a Conflict Zone interview in Rome, Father Hans Zollner told DW’s Tim Sebastian: “There are factors that make it difficult to change.”

Zollner is the head of the Centre of Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and was appointed by Pope Francis as a founding member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Why the Catholic Church had become a home “for deceivers, criminal priests or abusers,” Sebastian asked.

“They have not had a home … they have to be taken to accountability and this is what is going to happen.”

Sebastian pressed further asking Zollner if the church had given the predators an opportunity to continue to abuse.

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Get Religion blog

Dec. 10, 2019

By Clemente Lisi

It’s been 17 years since The Boston Globe published its groundbreaking series on clergy sex abuse.

Some two decades later, a political shift in state legislative bodies and fallout from the #MeToo movement have all collided to bring what many warn is a financial reckoning that could cripple the Catholic church in America.

It was more than a year ago — on November 28 to be exact — that I warned in a GetReligion post about how the church would be hit with a blizzard of lawsuits in 2019 and what a massive story it would be.

Here’s an excerpt from that post:

As the scandals — that mostly took place in past — continue to trickle out in the form of grand jury reports and other investigations, look for lawmakers to try and remedy the situation for victims through legislation on the state level.

With very blue New York State voting to put Democrats in control of both the state Assembly and Senate (the GOP had maintained a slight majority), look for lawmakers to pass (and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Catholic, to sign) the Child Victims Act. The Empire State isn’t alone. Other legislatures in Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey and New Mexico are considering similar measures.

The New York legislation would allow victims of abuse suffered under the age of 18 to seek justice years later as adults. Removing the statute of limitations on cases involving private institutions, like the Boy Scouts and Jewish yeshivas, is at the heart of the battle.

New York did indeed pass the law — and may other states followed in its footsteps. In all, 15 states and the District of Columbia have changed their statute of limitations over the past two years in order to allow for lawsuits regarding rape and sexual assault allegations dating back many decades to be brought to court. In many cases, the offender is long dead.

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BALTIMORE (MD)
PR Newswire

Dec. 10, 2019

Two women who allege they were abused and assaulted as teens in homes run by Catholic nuns in the United States tell their stories in a documentary offering a rare look at our own country’s “Magdalene Laundries” premiering at 7:30 p.m., EST, Wednesday, December 11, 2019.

The 15-minute video will be followed by a live discussion on Facebook featuring the women in the documentary and their attorneys Richard M. Serbin and Andrew Janet, of Janet, Janet & Suggs Law Firm, LLC. Funding and support for the documentary was provided by Janet, Janet & Suggs, LLC., Howard A. Janet, Esq–Managing Partner. Viewers can ask questions and make comments via the live stream. The webinar will be recorded and posted on the page for later viewing.

Magdalene Laundries existed in the District of Columbia and the following U.S. cities: Denver, CO; Chicago, IL; Peoria, IL; Indianapolis, IN; Louisville, KY; Newport, KY; New Orleans, LA; Boston, MA; Springfield, MA; Baltimore, MD; Detroit, MI; St. Paul, MN; Kansas City, MO; St. Louis, MO; Helena, MT; Omaha, NE; Newark, NJ; Albany, NY; Brooklyn, NY; Buffalo, NY, New York City, NY; Troy, NY; Carthage, OH; Columbus, OH; Cincinnati, OH; Allegheny, PA; Norristown, PA; Philadelphia, PA; Reading, PA; Scranton, PA, Memphis, TN; Seattle, WA; Wheeling, WV; Green Bay, WI, and Milwaukee, WI.

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ROME (ITALY)
Wall Street Journal

Dec. 11, 2019

By Francis X. Rocca

Every year, Catholics around the world donate tens of millions of dollars to the pope. Bishops exhort the faithful to support the weak and suffering through the pope’s main charitable appeal, called Peter’s Pence.

What the church doesn’t advertise is that most of that collection, worth more than more than €50 million ($55 million) annually, goes toward plugging the hole in the Vatican’s own administrative budget, while as little as 10% is spent directly on charitable works, according to people familiar with the funds.

The little-publicized breakdown of how the Holy See spends Peter’s Pence, known only among senior Vatican officials, is raising concern among some Catholic Church leaders that the faithful are being misled about the use of their donations, which could further hurt the credibility of the Vatican’s financial management under Pope Francis.

The Vatican is currently embroiled in a scandal over opaque real-estate investments in London, which has triggered a power struggle within the Vatican’s bureaucracy and led to the dismissal of its chief financial regulator. Last month, the Vatican was suspended from an international network of anti-money-laundering watchdogs.

Meanwhile, the Holy See is struggling with a growing budget deficit, with the pope warning cardinals of the “grave impact” on the body’s economic future. The Vatican’s continuing financial problems reflect a lack of progress on improving its management and finances, which Pope Francis was elected in 2013 with a mandate to overhaul, following allegations of corruption, waste and incompetence there.

Under church law, Peter’s Pence is available to the pope to use at his discretion in any way that serves his ministry, including the support of his administration. The collection’s website says that, to support the pope’s charitable works, “Peter’s Pence also contributes to the support of the Apostolic See and the activities of the Holy See,” emphasizing activities that help “populations, individuals and families in precarious conditions.”

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

Dec. 11, 2019

Another abusive priest has been recently added to the list of names for the Diocese of Santa Rosa. The name was apparently added after a reporter from another state pointed out that the cleric, who also worked in California, had been included on another list.

On January 31, 2019, Fr. Jose Luis Contreras was named on the list of abusive priests released by the Archdiocese of San Antonio. The Diocese of Santa Rosa had released their list prior to their Texas counterparts, but did not include Fr. Contreras. According to Bishop Robert Vasa, there were no allegations against the cleric in his diocese.

While it can never be too late to expose a perpetrator, it can also never be too soon. Ideally, Fr. Contreras should have been added to the Santa Rosa list as soon as he was identified by San Antonio. It should not be incumbent on reporters or groups like ours to inform a bishop when one of his own is included on another list.

Catholic bishops should either be sending their lists to their brother bishops, or notifying them when a priest who also worked in another diocese is included among their names. We call on the USCCB to take immediate action to address this gap, in the interest of complete transparency. To do anything less is to continue to cover up the transfer of abusive clerics from one diocese to another.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

Dec. 10, 2019

By John L. Allen Jr.

In the argot of sociology, some organizations are “high structure,” meaning they rely on rules and procedures to hold things together, and others are “high culture,” meaning it’s much more about informal relationships and personal trust.

The Vatican, both historically and today, is basically a “high culture” outfit disguised as “high structure.”

There’s a cavalcade of norms governing every aspect of the place’s operations, but everyone knows those are more guidelines than hard-and-fast rules, and that who ends up making what decision is usually a lot more about personal ties than flow charts.

For that reason, personnel is always policy in the Eternal City, which makes Pope Francis’s choice Sunday to name the 62-year-old Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila in the Philippines the new prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples a key move indeed.

Tagle replaces the 73-year-old Italian Cardinal Fernando Filoni, the Vatian’s former ambassador in Iraq who refused to vacate Baghdad in 2003 when American bombs began to fall, and who now moves on to become the grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

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WINDSOR (CANADA)
Windsor Star

Dec. 6, 2019

By Trevor Wilhelm

The London diocese has paid out settlements in some sex abuse lawsuits for “practical reasons,” despite believing the accused priests were not guilty, Bishop Ronald Fabbro said Friday.

Some of those cases were included on the list of “credibly accused” priests published this week by Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), he said.

“It is important to note that reaching a settlement in a civil suit does not necessarily indicate the allegation is credible,” said Fabbro. “When there has been a credible allegation, the diocese has offered settlements to help the victims come to some resolution and continue the process of healing. In other cases, though, some settlements are reached for practical purposes, to avoid the protracted costs of a trial, or to give a pastoral response to a plaintiff who has had difficulties in life.”

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MENDHAM (NJ)
Observer-Tribune

Dec. 9, 2019

By Phil Garber

The first lawsuit alleging clergy sexual abuse under the state’s extended statute of limitations was filed by a former parishioner of St. Joseph Church against two former priests who have admitted to sexually abusing children for decades.

The unidentified victim claims he was a minor when he was sexually abused by the Rev. James Hanley and the Rev. Thomas Rainforth, both previously associated with St. Joseph Church, and by a third priest, the Rev. John Pisarcik.

Pisarcik, now 74, and Hanley, now 83, have previously admitted to sexually abusing many boys in New Jersey over three decades. Rainforth died in 2019.

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COLUMBUS (OH)
WOSU Radio

Dec. 10, 2019

By Steve Brown

A Franklin County judge says the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus must hand over documents on at least 15 clergy members to see if they knew about any alleged sexual abuse.

The order issued Friday comes as part of a 2018 lawsuit filed by a man who says he was molested during the 2002-2003 school year at St. Charles Preparatory Academy by Monsignor Thomas Bennett, who died in 2008.

Judge Jaiza Page granted the request related to 15 clergy members other than Bennett, ruling it was “reasonably likely to lead to the discovery of relevant evidence.”

The clergy members in question were not identified in the order.

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COLUMBUS (OH)
WOSU Radio

Dec. 10, 2019

By Steve Brown

A Franklin County judge says the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus must hand over documents on at least 15 clergy members to see if they knew about any alleged sexual abuse.

The order issued Friday comes as part of a 2018 lawsuit filed by a man who says he was molested during the 2002-2003 school year at St. Charles Preparatory Academy by Monsignor Thomas Bennett, who died in 2008.

Judge Jaiza Page granted the request related to 15 clergy members other than Bennett, ruling it was “reasonably likely to lead to the discovery of relevant evidence.”

The clergy members in question were not identified in the order.

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.

ERIE (PA)
Times News

Dec. 10, 2019

By Ed Palattella

Catholic Diocese of Erie’s compensation fund payouts reach $5.9 million, adding to previous costs of about $6 million.

The Catholic Diocese of Erie’s financial reckoning over the clergy sexual abuse crisis has reached nearly $12 million, rising by about $3 million over the past four months.

The diocese’s newly created victims’ compensation fund has paid out $5.9 million since the fund started accepting claims on Feb. 15.

The $5.9 million includes $3 million in payouts the fund has made since around the time the deadline for filing claims expired in mid-August, Bishop Lawrence Persico said in the most recent update.

The $5.9 million is in addition to more than $6 million that the diocese previously paid to cover abuse claims and associated expenses.

‒ The diocese spent $4 million in legal fees and related costs to investigate and publicize claims of abuse in advance of the release, in August 2018, of the groundbreaking Pennsylvania grand jury report on the abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church statewide.

‒ The diocese also paid about $750,000 to abuse victims, mainly for counseling, before the creation of the compensation fund, which is designed to cover claims in old cases.

‒ And the diocese in March paid $2 million to settle a claim with a victim of David L. Poulson, a former priest in the 13-county Catholic Diocese of Erie. The claim was not part of the compensation fund because the Poulson case was new enough to fall within the statute of limitations for filing civil suits.

Poulson pleaded guilty in October 2018 in Jefferson County to molesting the victim and another man when they were boys and Poulson was serving as a pastor in 2002 and 2010. Poulson, 66, was sentenced to 2½ to 14 years in state prison.

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ERIE (PA)
Times News

Dec. 10, 2019

By Ed Palattella

Catholic Diocese of Erie’s compensation fund payouts reach $5.9 million, adding to previous costs of about $6 million.

The Catholic Diocese of Erie’s financial reckoning over the clergy sexual abuse crisis has reached nearly $12 million, rising by about $3 million over the past four months.

The diocese’s newly created victims’ compensation fund has paid out $5.9 million since the fund started accepting claims on Feb. 15.

The $5.9 million includes $3 million in payouts the fund has made since around the time the deadline for filing claims expired in mid-August, Bishop Lawrence Persico said in the most recent update.

The $5.9 million is in addition to more than $6 million that the diocese previously paid to cover abuse claims and associated expenses.

‒ The diocese spent $4 million in legal fees and related costs to investigate and publicize claims of abuse in advance of the release, in August 2018, of the groundbreaking Pennsylvania grand jury report on the abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church statewide.

‒ The diocese also paid about $750,000 to abuse victims, mainly for counseling, before the creation of the compensation fund, which is designed to cover claims in old cases.

‒ And the diocese in March paid $2 million to settle a claim with a victim of David L. Poulson, a former priest in the 13-county Catholic Diocese of Erie. The claim was not part of the compensation fund because the Poulson case was new enough to fall within the statute of limitations for filing civil suits.

Poulson pleaded guilty in October 2018 in Jefferson County to molesting the victim and another man when they were boys and Poulson was serving as a pastor in 2002 and 2010. Poulson, 66, was sentenced to 2½ to 14 years in state prison.

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Church Militant blog

Dec. 4, 2019

By Kristine Christlieb

A Kentucky layman wants his bishop investigated for allegedly covering up clergy sex abuse.

Michael Montgomery, a life-long Catholic, is calling for Owensboro Bp. William Medley to be investigated for his role in reportedly covering up clerical abuse and moving problem priests to unsuspecting parishes.

Using new clergy accountability guidelines issued by Pope Francis in June, Montgomery is testing the Vatican’s commitment to holding Church administrators accountable for their role in the clergy abuse scandals.

The guidelines address both investigations of clerical abusers as well as administrators whose actions “interfere with or avoid civil investigations or canonical investigations.” In his former role as the director of the Office of Clergy Personnel for the archdiocese of Louisville, Medley was directly involved with all clergy personnel matters, including sex abuse cases.

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Church Militant blog

Dec. 4, 2019

By Kristine Christlieb

A Kentucky layman wants his bishop investigated for allegedly covering up clergy sex abuse.

Michael Montgomery, a life-long Catholic, is calling for Owensboro Bp. William Medley to be investigated for his role in reportedly covering up clerical abuse and moving problem priests to unsuspecting parishes.

Using new clergy accountability guidelines issued by Pope Francis in June, Montgomery is testing the Vatican’s commitment to holding Church administrators accountable for their role in the clergy abuse scandals.

The guidelines address both investigations of clerical abusers as well as administrators whose actions “interfere with or avoid civil investigations or canonical investigations.” In his former role as the director of the Office of Clergy Personnel for the archdiocese of Louisville, Medley was directly involved with all clergy personnel matters, including sex abuse cases.

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.

LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage blog

Dec. 10, 2019

By William Lindsay

As I have noted in previous postings (a bibliography is appended at the end of this posting, covering the past several years), the diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of the last dioceses in the nation to release a list of priests credibly accused of abusing minors in the diocese, though its sister diocese in Raleigh long since published its list. As I’ve also noted (again, please see the bibliography below), Charlotte Bishop Peter Jugis promised this year that he would release a list of credibly accused priests prior to the end of the year.

That list has yet to be released. As many people, survivors, notably, wait for Jugis’ list, Charlotte’s NPR state WFAE has been issuing very valuable pre-list commentary in a multi-part series of podcasts entitled “The List.” Reporter Sarah Delia is overseeing and producing this important project.

As the “About” statement at the link to which I have just pointed you states: The Charlotte Diocese has made a promise to release by the end of the year a list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse. It will be among the last in the country to do so. WFAE looks at what the list represents, the emotional weight and expectations it carries, the resolution it can bring for survivors.

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage blog

Dec. 10, 2019

By William Lindsay

As I have noted in previous postings (a bibliography is appended at the end of this posting, covering the past several years), the diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of the last dioceses in the nation to release a list of priests credibly accused of abusing minors in the diocese, though its sister diocese in Raleigh long since published its list. As I’ve also noted (again, please see the bibliography below), Charlotte Bishop Peter Jugis promised this year that he would release a list of credibly accused priests prior to the end of the year.

That list has yet to be released. As many people, survivors, notably, wait for Jugis’ list, Charlotte’s NPR state WFAE has been issuing very valuable pre-list commentary in a multi-part series of podcasts entitled “The List.” Reporter Sarah Delia is overseeing and producing this important project.

As the “About” statement at the link to which I have just pointed you states: The Charlotte Diocese has made a promise to release by the end of the year a list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse. It will be among the last in the country to do so. WFAE looks at what the list represents, the emotional weight and expectations it carries, the resolution it can bring for survivors.

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

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

Dec. 10, 2019

The attorney general investigation into cases of clergy abuse in California has ratcheted up today as California’s top law enforcement official served the state’s 12 Catholic dioceses with subpoenas. We applaud this move and hope that other attorneys general around the country will look to do the same in their own states.

In subpoenaing all of the dioceses, A.G. Xavier Becerra is using the full power of his office in pursuit of the truth as it relates to the scope of clergy sexual abuse in Catholic California. This is a great step forward that will certainly lead to more transparency, and will also hopefully lead to more protections for children and more justice for survivors.

Data shows that when law enforcement tools are used, the resulting information that is gathered about abuse is more detailed, accurate and trusted.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW TV

Dec. 10, 2019

By Charlie Specht

Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, apostolic administrator for the Diocese of Buffalo, has talked the talk when it comes to transparency on sexual abuse.

“We can’t be afraid of reality,” Scharfenberger said last week. “We have to be able to — with sober eyes — look at the damage that was done.”

The question on the minds of survivors like former priest James Faluszczak is whether the new interim bishop will now walk the walk — and turn those words about transparency into action.

“Will he finally give to the good people of the Diocese of Buffalo a full public account of the number, the nature and the location of clergy sexual abuse in Buffalo?” Faluszczak said at a news conference Tuesday. “And will Bishop Scharfenberger cough up that information that is so needed?”

Scharfenberger’s first big test on transparency involves the issue of personnel files of abusive priests, which former Bishop Richard J. Malone staunchly refused to make public.

“I’ve said before that I will not release personnel files,” Malone told reporters in 2018. “Those are confidential in any organization, including your organizations, I assume.”

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

Dec. 10, 2019

By Jay Tokasz

Readers posed many questions about Bishop Richard J. Malone after the Buffalo Diocese leader resigned under pressure for his handling of a clergy sexual abuse scandal in the diocese.

Buffalo News reporter Jay Tokasz has covered the crisis since it began 22 months ago, when a retired priest, the Rev. Norbert Orsolits, admitted to him that he had sexually abused “probably dozens” of boys during his career.

Below are some readers’ questions following Malone’s resignation on Dec. 4 and Tokasz’s answers to them.

Yvonne Haymes: Shouldn’t get any “retirement” benefits!

Bonnie Pauly Serwacki: He’s taking a early retirement. Big difference. A big retirement package coming his way.

What benefits can Malone expect to receive as bishop emeritus of Buffalo?

Answer: Bishop Emeritus Richard J. Malone will receive at least $1,900 per month in stipend and pension benefits, according to guidelines set forth in 2010 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The actual stipend amount could be more in 2019, because $1,900 per month was to be adjusted annually according to local cost of living increases, the guidelines said. In addition to the stipend, the USCCB guidelines recommend that a bishop emeritus receive “appropriate housing and board” within the diocese where he last served. The housing should include the use of a private chapel and housekeeping assistance, the guidelines recommended. And if the bishop emeritus chooses to live outside of the diocese where he last served, that diocese is still obligated to pay for appropriate housing and board.

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NEW YORK (NY)
NBC News

Dec. 10, 2019

By Corky Siemaszko

A popular North Carolina pastor who has spoken out against sexually abusive priests has been hit with an accusation that he sexually abused a minor 25 years ago before he entered the Catholic clergy.

Father Patrick T. Hoare sent a letter to his flock decrying “terrible crimes that were committed by some members of the clergy” shortly after the release of a scathing Pennsylvania grand jury report last year which detailed decades of child abuse by more than 300 “predator priests.”

But on Monday, Hoare was placed on administrative leave from his position at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Charlotte after he was accused of sexually abusing a minor 25 years ago, before he entered ministry.

The alleged incident happened in Pennsylvania, Bishop Peter Jugis of the Charlotte Diocese said in a statement.

“The alleged victim, now an adult, reported his allegations to the diocese yesterday and said he has been in touch with police and social services,” Jugis wrote. “The Charlotte diocese also has been in touch with police and will cooperate in any investigation.”

Jugis stressed that placing Hoare on administrative leave is “standard procedure” and “does not imply guilt.”

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SACRAMENTO (CA)
Sacramento Bee

Dec. 10, 2019

By Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, along with the other 11 dioceses in California, will be subpoenaed for additional records as the state attorney general continues to investigate whether dioceses complied with mandatory reporting requirements.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced in May he would investigate all of California’s Roman Catholic dioceses to ensure that church officials followed state law and reported sexual misconduct allegations to law enforcement.

The announcement of that investigation came after Becerra’s office began requesting that victims of clergy sex abuse submit complaints to his office last year.

The Sacramento diocese, along with five other dioceses, began voluntarily turning over records to the state agency in May, according to Bishop Jaime Soto in a statement Friday.

“We share the attorney general’s desire to conduct a thorough examination of the practices and procedures that seek to protect the children entrusted to our schools, churches and programs,” Soto stated.

Last week, the attorney general’s office told the Sacramento diocese that it would issue subpoenas for additional records, according to Soto.

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DUNDEE (SCOTLAND)
Evening Telegraph

Dec. 10, 2019

A sexual predator who blamed his child victim after he subjected her to prolonged abuse was jailed for five years and three months.

Anthony Clark, 74, repeatedly preyed on the girl more than three decades ago at a house in Dundee.

A judge told the former Michelin tyre factory worker he had pleaded guilty to a sustained course of “disgusting sexual abuse” committed during a five-year period in the 1980s.

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HARTFORD (CT)
Courant

Dec. 9, 2019

By Zach Murdock

Another Catholic priest in Connecticut has been removed from his parish and prohibited from ministering publicly amid two investigations into allegations he abused a minor.

Reverend Jaime Marin-Cardona was placed on administrative leave from the Diocese of Bridgeport over the weekend after the state Department of Children and Families substantiated allegations of abuse after a months-long investigation, Bishop Frank Caggiano wrote in a letter to parishioners dated Saturday.

The Danbury Police Department also is investigating the reported abuse. The diocese did not specify the exact nature of the allegations but has “fully cooperated” with both agencies, Caggiano said.

Marin-Cardona has been a priest in Connecticut since 2010 and has spent time at Saint Joseph Parish in Norwalk, Saint Charles Borromeo Parish in Bridgeport, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Danbury and most recently at Saint Mary Parish in Bridgeport.

The investigations began when the diocese contacted DCF and Danbury police in September after receiving a letter “indicating that parents were concerned by Father Marin-Cardona’s contact with a family member who is a minor,” Caggiano said.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
Irish Post

Dec. 10, 2019

By Jack Beresford

A Dublin priest described as a “popular and well-known figure in his diocese” has reportedly been accused of searching for “naked boy scouts” on Facebook.

A report from Dublin Live alleges that a retired cleric in his mid 80s searched for “naked boy scouts” and “boy scouts nude” on the social media website.

The accusations stem from a post, believed to be a status update, in which the unnamed suspect wrote “naked boy scouts” alongside a half photo of the suspect and the caption “boys scouts nude”.

Though yet unconfirmed, it is widely believed that the messages were posted in error by the priest who is thought to be unclear on the inner workings of Facebook.

A spokesman for his Religious Order has confirmed to Dublin Live that they are aware of the ongoing situation.

They also confirmed that the matter is being investigated by Gardai.

“As soon as we became aware of the situation our Designated Liaison Person for child safeguarding contacted TUSLA, the NBSCCCI and the Gardaí,” a spokesperson said.

“We followed the procedures for National child- safeguarding as indicated on NBSCCCI website.”

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MIDDLETOWN (NY)
Journal News

Dec. 9, 2019

By Frank Esposito

A nun is accused of sexually abusing a young girl at a Middletown school before moving on to higher positions at schools around Westchester County, according to court documents.

Sister Ann Peterson is accused of groping and molesting then-10-year-old Pamela Hayes at Saint Joseph School in Middletown throughout the mid-1960s, according to court documents.

The lawsuit accused Peterson of asking Hayes to stay after school and then abusing her by kissing and putting her hands under her clothes and fondling her, according to court documents filed under New York’s Child Victims Act.

The order Peterson belongs to — The Ursulines — worked with the now defunct College of New Rochelle, where Peterson was a board member until its closing earlier this year.

Her order also runs two other secondary education facilities in New York, The Ursuline School in New Rochelle — where Peterson served as principal in the 1970s — and the Academy of Mount St. Ursula in the Bronx.

The Ursuline School’s website currently lists Peterson as a member of the board of trustees at the school.

Peterson also served as advisory board member for Senior Care for the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, according to her biography page on the College of New Rochelle’s old website.

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