ABUSE TRACKER

A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.

May 23, 2019

Former Newark priest, accused of abuse, defended by his bishop in Brazil

NEW JERSEY
North Jersey Record

May 23, 2019

By Deena Yellin

Weeks after NorthJersey.com/The Record detailed the alleged abuse of a former Newark altar boy in 1991 by a visiting priest, a Catholic bishop in Brazil is defending the priest, who is now serving in his diocese, according to a report.

Bishop Edmilson Amador Caetano implied that the priest, the Rev. Rene Cavalcanti de Lima, is no longer a threat.

“He is a 74-year-old man who is recovering from prostate cancer. What risk can he be for the children of Guarulhos?” Caetano said in a May 1 article in a Brazilian newspaper, Guarulhos HOJE.

He was responding to an April 4 article by NorthJersey.com about Lima’s alleged abuse of Newark native Johnrocco Sibilia when Sibilia was an altar boy at the Immaculate Conception Church in Newark in 1991.

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.

Dinuba priest on leave after allegations of sexual abuse, but there’s not much to go on, yet

VISALIA (CA)
Visalia Times-Delta

May 22, 2019

By James Ward

A Dinuba priest has been put on leave by The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno after the church learned of an investigation involving allegations of sexual abuse of minors.

But the case may not be so cut and dry.

On May 19, Bishop Joseph V. Brennan notified the parishioners of St. Catherine’s Catholic Church in Dinuba that Rev. Raul Diaz was put on paid administrative leave in a statement.

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.

Clergy Sex Abuse Survivors and Iowa Legislator Call for Changes to Child Sex Abuse Laws

DES MOINES (IA)
WHOtv

May 22, 2019

By Laura Barczewski

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests held a press conference at the Iowa Capitol with Iowa State Senate Minority Leader Janet Petersen on Wednesday to call on legislators and the attorney general to do more for victims of child sexual abuse.

SNAP President Tim Lennon shared his story of being sexually abused when he was 12-years-old by a Catholic priest.

“When I was about 43 I remembered some of the abuse. This priest would molest me in movies, at the park. He would pick me up at home. He was a friend of the family,” Lennon said.

Lennon said he suppressed the memories until they came up again when he was 43 and by then it was too late to pursue any type of justice.

“My viewpoint personally and from the viewpoint of my organization the survivors network of those abused by priests is there should be no statute of limitations.”

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.

Sex abuse by clergy, what if media lead the debate?

DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency

May 22, 2019

By Andrea Gagliarducci

No doubt that the scandal of sex abuse by clergy has shocked the Church. No doubt that the Church is called to put measures in action to eradicate the scandal because even one abuse is too much. There is no doubt, indeed, that the contrary is possible. That is, that media report on alleged abuse taking only the side of those who say have been abused.

There have been many stories of “character assassination” of this kind. The latest one is that of Fr. Herman Geissler. Fr. Geissler resigned by the position of head of office of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on Jan. 28, following allegations of harassment advanced against him by Mrs. Doris Wagner-Reisinger.

Mrs. Reisinger has been a nun, and from 2003 to 2011, she was a member of the Spiritual Family The Work. Also Fr. Geissler is a member of the same Congregation.

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.

James Carroll’s call to ‘Abolish the Priesthood’ is misguided and tiresome

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

May 22, 2019

By Michael Sean Winters

Every sentence of James Carroll’s recent article in The Atlantic, “Abolish the Priesthood,” is theologically inept, historically anachronistic, self-referential, or all three. None of it is a surprise.

Carroll’s embrace of theology is thoroughly opportunistic. At one point, he yearns for the pre-Constantinian church of Jesus’ early followers, but later he states, “When the Catholic imagination, swayed by Augustine, demonized the sexual restlessness built into the human condition, self-denial was put forward as the way to happiness. But sexual renunciation as an ethical standard has collapsed among Catholics, not because of pressures from a hedonistic ‘secular’ modernity but because of its inhumane and irrational weight.” But it is in the Gospels themselves that Jesus advocates self-denial, encourages the unmarried to remain celibate, and tells his followers to take up their cross and follow him. Following Jesus can lead down many different paths, but none of them have to do with sexual liberationism.

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.

What Benedict’s letter on sex abuse gets wrong

ROME
La Croix International

May 22, 2019

By Cathleen Kaveny

This implacable defender of the existence of intrinsically evil acts refuses to call these acts by their most basic moral name: child rape

The debate about Benedict XVI’s recent intervention on the sex abuse crisis has focused on his account of its root causes. To the delight of conservatives and the consternation of progressives, he blames the lax sexual morality of the 1960s rather than the enduring phenomenon of clericalism.

In my view, the problem with Benedict’s letter is far more fundamental. It also transcends the American progressive-conservative divide. He gets the basic moral description of the acts of sex abuse wrong. He frames them as acts of sacrilege rather than grave injustice.

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.

U.S. Protestants’ Views Mixed about Extent of Clergy Sexual Abuse

UNITES STATES
EthicsDaily

May 22, 2019

U.S. Protestants offered mixed views when LifeWay Research inquired about the extent of sexual abuse by clergy in local congregations.

When asked if they “believe many more Protestant pastors have sexually abused children or teens than we have heard about,” 37% somewhat or strongly disagreed, 32% somewhat or strongly agreed and 31% were unsure.

Similar numbers resulted when respondents were asked about clergy sexually abusing adults, with 41% somewhat or strongly disagreeing, 30% unsure and 29% somewhat or strongly agreeing that it happens more than they know about.

Respondents had high views of their church’s ability to respond appropriately to allegations and to help in the healing process of abuse victims.

When asked if church leaders would try to cover up abuse claims, only 7% agreed that they would do so, while 83% disagreed.

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.

La caída del clérigo

GUADALAJARA (MEXICO)
Reporte Indigo [Mexico City, Mexico]

May 23, 2019

By Luis Herrera

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La reciente detención de un sacerdote en el estado de Jalisco, luego de agredir sexualmente a un menor de 13 años, es la primera que se concreta en la entidad derivada de una denuncia presentada por la propia jerarquía católica ante la Fiscalía 

La detención el pasado 7 de mayo en Jalisco de un sacerdote que agredió sexualmente a un menor de 13 años, es la primera que se concreta en el estado a partir de una denuncia presentada por la propia jerarquía católica ante la Fiscalía local, de acuerdo con registros oficiales.

Luego de años de haber permanecido en silencio ante los abusos sexuales que cometían sus sacerdotes, la Iglesia Católica en Jalisco ha comenzado a notificar a las autoridades ministeriales de los casos de esta naturaleza que le son reportados por su feligresía.

Los archivos de la Fiscalía del Estado confirman que dicha aprehensión del sacerdote Leopoldo “N”, en el municipio de Ameca, se deriva de una de las cinco denuncias por agresiones sexuales de curas que han sido promovidas por la misma jerarquía católica de Jalisco en los años 2018 y 2019.

Sobre este caso, el arzobispo de Guadalajara, Francisco Robles Ortega ha dicho que al recibir denuncias han comenzado a actuar de manera inmediata.

“Nosotros tuvimos noticia directa y comenzamos inmediatamente un proceso interno, lo que está mandado al interior de la Iglesia, que fue tomar medidas precautorias en el sentido de retirarlo del ejercicio de su ministerio público, y comenzar una averiguación previa, pero al mismo tiempo dimos el aviso a la Fiscalía, como está ahora mandado (…) y nos manifestamos dispuestos a colaborar en toda la información que ellos requirieran de parte nuestra”

El sacerdote de Ameca que también había sido denunciado por los padres de la víctima, fue finalmente aprehendido por la Fiscalía por el delito de ultrajes a la moral y no por abuso sexual infantil, a pesar de que así figuraba originalmente en sus registros, dada la conducta del religioso.

“Los hechos se registraron en el mes de agosto del 2018 en la casa del sacerdote (…) Al lugar, el ahora detenido invitó al ofendido a ver películas de contenido sexual. Además en varias ocasiones agredió a la víctima haciéndole referencia de tener actos sexuales con él, por lo que el menor contó lo sucedido a sus padres”, describió la dependencia.

Según el arzobispo, la Arquidiócesis de Guadalajara ha denunciado tres casos de agresiones sexuales de sacerdotes, por lo que los otros dos que constan en los registros de la Fiscalía (folio de transparencia 01334319) provienen de las otras diócesis de Jalisco.

“Les había dicho yo de tres que habíamos reportado, y este es del primero por así decir que vemos una acción, una respuesta, no sé en qué paso por parte de las autoridades vayan en las investigaciones, estamos pendientes (…) Yo no las acuso (a las autoridades) de que no le den seguimiento, sino que entiendo que lleva su tiempo que ellos ubiquen a la persona, a la posible víctima, a los posibles testigos, o sea yo siento que lleva eso su tiempo”.

Golpe de timón

La detención del clérigo de Ameca derivada de una denuncia de la jerarquía católica representa un cambio relevante en la política que seguía esa institución ante las agresiones sexuales cometidas por sus sacerdotes, una caracterizada por la complicidad, la indolencia y la impunidad.

Como lo publicó antes Reporte Indigo, los obispos de Jalisco no comenzaron a denunciar a sus curas sino hasta el año 2018, a pesar de que entre 2007 y 2017 se reportaron 21 delitos sexuales perpetrados por sacerdotes con 25 personas victimizadas, incluyendo 20 menores y cinco adultos (

El arzobispo reveló incluso que su Arquidiócesis ha conformado ya un consejo para la atención de los abusos sexuales por clérigos.

“Nosotros ya iniciamos integrando un consejo de laicos y de sacerdotes para prestar atención a los posibles abusos de menores (…) son dos psicólogas -dos personas psicólogas-, un canonista -que conoce de ley canónica, ley interna de la Iglesia- y un sacerdote que hace de enlace con las autoridades civiles para dar parte”

Francisco Robles OrtegaArzobispo de Guadalajara

Sobre la reciente carta apostólica emitida por el Papa Francisco el 7 de mayo, titulada “VOS ESTIS LUX MUNDI”, con nuevas instrucciones a la estructura católica para investigar y sancionar estos hechos, dijo el arzobispo que les impone “exigencias puntuales”

“Facilitar a todos, a todo el pueblo de dios facilitar, el que puedan hacer llegar sus quejas, sus denuncias, cuando se da un tema como estos; que tengan por parte de la Iglesia local, por parte de la diócesis, toda la facilidad para hacerlo; que los que tengan conocimiento puedan denunciar con toda libertad”.

La carta, dijo, es producto “de la reunión que el Papa convocó con los presidentes de las conferencias episcopales de todo el mundo en el mes de febrero”.

La misión del arzobispo

Los obispos metropolitanos o arzobispos como lo es en el caso de Jalisco, José Francisco Robles Ortega, jugarán a partir de ahora un rol fundamental en la investigación y castigo de los abusos sexuales perpetrados por sacerdotes, luego de la emisión de la carta apostólica “VOS ESTIS LUX MUNDI”.

El documento expedido por el Papa pone al frente de las pesquisas de estos abusos sexuales a los arzobispos, con amplias facultades para ello, incluyendo la recolección de los testimonios de la víctima y del inculpado.

En su artículo 12 se señala que el obispo metropolitano es quien “recoge la informaciónrelevante sobre los hechos”, “accede a la información y a los documentos necesarios para la investigación guardados en los archivos de las oficinas eclesiásticas”, y “solicita información a las personas y a las instituciones, incluso civiles, que puedan proporcionar elementos útiles para la investigación”.

Las acciones de la Iglesia Católica en contra de los padres pederastas comenzaron después de que el Papa emitiera una carta con instrucciones a la estructura católica para investigar y sancionar estos hechos

Es también él quien podrá proceder con “la imposición al investigado de prescripciones o de medidas cautelares apropiadas (art. 15)”, si así lo autoriza la Congregación de la jerarquía católica que conozca del caso.

La indagatoria será expedita, pues por normalidad “debe concluirse dentro del plazo de noventa días”, salvo que haya instrucciones particulares del dicasterio a cargo (Art. 14).

El resultado de la investigación se turna por el arzobispo al dicasterio o Congregación competente para tomar una resolución.

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.

May 22, 2019

Se conocieron detalles del horror que padeció una víctima del Instituto Próvolo de La Plata

LA PLATA (ARGENTINA)
Clarín [Buenos Aires, Argentina]

May 22, 2019

By FABIÁN DEBESA

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Los revela la investigación de la fiscal, que pidió la prisión preventiva para un excelador.

Con el avance de la investigación de abusos contra chicos sordos en el instituto Próvolo de La Plata, asoman detalles escalofriantes de los vejámenes presuntamente cometidos por los responsables de ese centro educativo.

Relatos de situaciones de esclavitud, torturas y violaciones reiteradas contra un alumno de diez años figuran en el pedido de prisión preventiva para el profesor de Informática José Angel Britez, quien fue detenido el 29 de abril en Misiones. Este hombre era un celador que en los 90 estuvo en La Plata y trabajó en el establecimiento especializado en niños con hipoacusia, ubicado en 25 y 47, en el barrio La Loma de La Plata.

En el subsuelo de la iglesia que está a dos cuadras del Próvolo aún permanece un riel, entre dos paredes, que usaban los sacerdotes y los auxiliares para “castigar” al estudiante que estaba pupilo en el centro. El testimonio de esa víctima, expuesto hace tiempo ante la fiscal Cecilia Corfield, forma parte central del pedido de prisión contra el excelador.

La fiscalía obtuvo el aporte de un hombre que hace más de 25 años estuvo en este lugar y hace unos meses acompañó a Corfield para un reconocimiento de los sitios que describió en su testimonio. Es un adulto que ahora vive en el Chaco y que estuvo en el Próvolo entre 1989 y 1993.

Por supuesto, la mirada no está puesta sólo en el celador. Los curas Nicolás Corradi —preso en Mendoza por hechos parecidos— y el sacerdote Eliseo Primati —que permanece en un geriátrico de Verona, Italia, donde el Instituto Próvolo tiene su sede central— están procesados con pedido de detención por las revelaciones que se conocieron en la capital bonaerense.

Corfield quiere que Corradi sea trasladado para una indagatoria. Este religioso condujo el Próvolo de La Plata entre 1970 y 1997. La fiscal además planteó ante Cancillería el inicio de un proceso de extradición para que también se presente Primati, de 83 años.

La investigación judicial concluye que “Corradi, Primati y dos religiosas aun no identificadas, pero conocidas como Leticia y Juana, redujeron a la servidumbre [al chico], explotándolo a través de la limpieza del lugar, lavado de ropa de los internos, mantenimiento del jardín del lugar, pintura de las paredes del edificio, arado de la huerta, limpieza de los escalones de rodillas, entre otros trabajos que lo obligaban hacer mediante violencia física o psicológica so pena de prohibirle el acceso a los alimentos y privarlo de su libertad ambulatoria“, escribió Corfield.

La descripción de la Fiscalía aporta que el chico internado era víctima de abusos por parte de Primati, Corradi y Britez, en su habitación. “Entraban a su cama y lo sometían mediante penetración de los dedos en el ano”, se lee en el escrito. Una negativa o un conato de rebelión representaba mayores agresiones.

Según pudo reconstruir la investigadora, como forma de castigo, el chico era trasladado al subsuelo del edificio que está debajo de la cocina y lo obligaban a pararse en un cajón par atarlo de manos en un riel usado para el transporte de los alimentos. Al menor lo dejaban “colgado” durante extensos períodos de tiempo como “penitencia por su mal comportamiento”.

El pedido de prisión preventiva contra Britez fue elevado a la jueza de Garantías, Marcela Garmendia. La acusación es: abuso sexual agravado por la condición de guardador, abuso sexual con acceso carnal reiterado y corrupción de menores.

La fiscalía especializada en abusos y violencia de género a cargo de Corfield inició este proceso a fines de 2016, luego de que se conociera que los sacerdotes Corradi y Horacio Corbacho, detenidos en Mendoza acusados de abusar sexualmente de varios hipoacúsicos del Instituto Próvolo de esa provincia, también habían trabajado en el Próvolo de La Plata.

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.

Arrestan a cura por abuso de menores

ACAPULCO (MEXICO)
La República [Lima, Peru]

May 22, 2019

By Unknown

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Un sacerdote católico fue encarcelado el viernes por supuestamente haber abusado de una menor de edad hace tres años y cometer actos sexuales contra una decena más de jovencitas.

AP. Un sacerdote católico fue encarcelado el viernes por supuestamente haber abusado de una menor de edad hace tres años y cometer actos sexuales contra una decena más de jovencitas.

Hermilo Gerardo Solís Jaimes cometía los abusos en la misma iglesia en la que oficiaba misas en el estado de Guerrero. El sacerdote fue internado en una celda junto a otros dos curas, Ernesto García Rodríguez y Lorenzo Cuellar Vázquez, ambos relacionados con un delito de homicidio ocurrido en el 2006 en las sierras de Guerrero.

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New Guidelines In Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal

BISMARK (ND)
Kxnet

May 21, 2019

By Robert Suhr

In what’s being called a revolutionary and landmark announcement by some, Pope Francis recently announced sweeping changes that hold bishops accountable for sexual abuse or covering it up.

So how does the news impact us here in Bismarck?

With the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal a worldwide problem, reporting abuse claims was often a disorganized mess…now Pope Francis is hoping to change that.

“I’m stunned that any priest or anyone representing the church, would ever do this to a child,” said David Kagan, the Bishop of the Diocese of Bismarck.

Facing perhaps the largest scandal in the church’s history, Pope Francis recently issued what’s called a papal decree, forcing every diocese, worldwide, to create an office within the next year to handle the abuse claims confidentially.

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Brothers sexually assaulted by priest for 3 years sue Vatican because Church did nothing to stop it

ST. PAUL and MINNEAPOLIS (MN)
Brinkwire

May 22, 2019

Three brothers who were sexually abused by a priest from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Vatican.

They claim that the Holy See bears responsibility because the case was mishandled by former Archbishop John Nienstedt and the Vatican’s former ambassador to the United States.

The lawsuit, that includes two other accusers as plaintiffs, attempts to trace a direct line from clergy sex abuse victims to the Vatican, through Minnesota church officials.

Luke, Stephen and Ben Hoffman were abused by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer, roughly between 2009 and 2012. They want the names of agents involved in the cover-up, including priests, revealed and for the Vatican to stop internally reviewing cases.

The new lawsuit seeks monetary damages, but the plaintiffs said truth is the goal.

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.

More than 80 clergy members named in sexual abuse report

ALBANY (NY)
WRGB

May 21, 2019

By Lynzi DeLuccia

A trio of sexual abuse survivors took a stand on Tuesday as lawyers released a report with the names of more than 80 Albany Diocese clergy members accused of sexual abuse.

One woman her story about how she was raped and exploited by a man who was a teacher and a counselor at Notre Dame Bishop Gibbons High School in the 70s. One thing she and the other victims had in common was the feeling that they were alone in their experiences.

“Many of us were told when we were being abused that we were the only one,” Mark Lyman said.

This isn’t the first time Lyman has spoken out about the abuse he says he suffered as a child growing up at his church in Troy.

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.

Minnesota attorney sues Holy See for documentation on clergy offenders

ST. PAUL (MN)
Catholic News Service

May 21, 2019

By Maria Wiering

St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson announced May 14 that he is representing five sexual abuse survivors suing the Holy See for names of clergy sexual abuse offenders worldwide and the names of church leaders who have been involved in abuse cover-up.

The lawsuit’s defendants include Ben, Luke and Stephen Hoffman, brothers abused by then-Fr. Curtis Wehmeyer while he was at Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul from 2006 to 2012. He was removed from ministry in 2012, when the abuse was first reported to civil and church authorities, and then laicized in 2015. He is serving a prison sentence in Wisconsin for his abuse of Ben Hoffman there in 2011.

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.

In the wake of its own child abuse scandal, Poland must break the Church’s grip ǀ View

IRELAND
Euronews

May 21, 2019

By Eoin Drea

I’m one of the Pope’s Children – a generation of Irish children born in the late 1970s and early 1980s – that have come to symbolise Ireland’s deep relationship with the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul’s II visit to Ireland in 1979 saw over 50% of the Irish population attend his events and reaffirm Ireland’s devotion to the Catholic cause. Ireland was poor then, with high unemployment, rampant emigration, a closed and rather isolated society unworried by the issues of immigration or race (we were all white with an excess of people, not jobs). For us, a ‘Protestant’ was exotic and reaching America (or at least England) was, for many, the ultimate objective. Ireland was, as The Economist noted in 1988, “the poorest of the rich.”

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Poland leader slams church pathology, backs sex abuse probe

WARSAW (POLAND)
The Associated Press

May 18, 2019

Poland’s ruling conservative party leader said Friday it does not tolerate “pathology” in the Catholic Church and will back a commission to investigate sex abuse of minors in church but also in other circles.

It was the first reaction by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a practicing Catholic, to a documentary film, “Tell No One,” that contains testimony by men and women that they were molested or raped by priests when they were children. Aired Saturday, it has provoked a heated public debate and soul-searching in the Church, which traditionally enjoys respect in predominantly Catholic Poland.

Also, the pro-church ruling Law and Justice party has rushed through parliament a law toughening punishment for pedophilia.

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Archbishop says Indian Jesuit convicted of rape ‘totally innocent’

MUMBAI (INDIA)
CRUX

May 21, 2019

By Nirmala Carvalho

A Jesuit priest convicted of participating in a gang rape in India is “totally innocent,” according to the local archbishop.

Jesuit Father Alphonse Aind and five other people were sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in the eastern state of Jharkhand on May 17 for raping five women who were part of an NGO advocating for the rights of India’s marginalized Tribal community.

On June 19, 2018, the victims were performing a street play In the remote village of Kochang to spread awareness of human trafficking in the region.

They were from “Asha Kiran” (“Ray of Hope”), a rehabilitation center managed by the Ursuline Sisters, located about 10 miles south of Ranchi, the state capital.

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Brazilian bishop accused of theft, covering up abuse resigns

SAO PAULO (BRAZIL)
Catholic News Service

May 21, 2019

Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Vilson Dias de Oliveira of Limeira.

The bishop is being investigated by authorities for extortion of priests, mismanagement of the diocese’s funds and covering up alleged cases of abuse against minors by area priests. His resignation was announced May 17.

“I request my resignation for the sake of the church of Christ and for the good of this diocese,” said the bishop in a statement read to parishioners.

“I take with me in my heart this learning, in the confidence and assurance that this work is from God, and I place myself at the disposal of the Holy Mother church to serve her no matter the place and ministry entrusted to me by God from now on,” the bishop said.

According to the Sao Paulo state police, Oliveira took $975 from a local parish to build an artesian well in his beach house in Itanhaem. When faced with the accusation, the bishop confessed he obtained a “donation” from the parish and alleged he was facing financial problems.

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Letter alleging Colorado Catholic priest’s abuse found a decade after the author took his own life

DENVER (CO)
9News

May 21, 2019

By Kevin Vaughan

Neil Hewitt, a Catholic priest who was assigned to Leadville’s Church of Annunciation, is accused of sexually abusing at two teenage boys in the 1960s.

Donna Ballentine was sorting through a box of her late mother’s papers when she came upon a two-page, handwritten letter.

She recognized the handwriting immediately – it was that of a cousin, Stuart Saucke, who’d taken his own life a decade earlier.

“Dear Neil,” the letter began. “It’s been 24 years since you sexually molested me. I also have been an alcoholic for 24 years.”

The letter wasn’t dated or signed, but Donna immediately knew it was meant for Neil Hewitt, a Catholic priest who married her and baptized two of her children at Leadville’s Church of the Annunciation.

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.Internal investigation may yield greater sanctions against priests accused of sex abuse

BAKERSFIELD (CA)
The Californian

May 20, 2019

By Jose Gaspar

While separate criminal investigations are carried out by police in Firebaugh and Merced into allegations that Monsignor Craig Harrison sexually molested minors, there’s another internal investigation being done by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno. This one is based on a set of rules adopted by the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops in June 2002 aimed to “repair the breach” with those sexually abused by church ministers.

Article 2 of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People states that “Dioceses are to have policies and procedures in place to respond promptly to any allegations where there is reason to believe that sexual abuse of a minor occurred.” And perhaps the most controversial requirement states, “Any credible allegations (against a priest or deacon) of sexual misconduct with a minor will result in immediate administrative leave” while an internal investigation is completed. Some priests find a problem with that.

“It’s like martial law,” said Monsignor Stephen Frost of Christ the King Church in Oildale. Under this process, Frost says due process goes out the window and the accused is accorded none or very little information about the allegations or who the accuser might be. Further, by removing the priest from his parish leaves the perception the priest is guilty before an investigation is begun.

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Former Midland priest accused of misconduct

SAGINAW (MI)
Midland Daily News

May 21, 2019

By Lori Qualls

A Diocese of Saginaw priest who served several area parishes, including Blessed Sacrament in Midland, has been placed on administrative leave from priestly ministry because of an allegation of misconduct involving a minor that occurred years ago, the diocese announced late Tuesday afternoon.

The Rev. Father Kucharczyk was most recently pastor at St. John XXIII Parish, which includes St. Mary Church in Hemlock, Sacred Heart Church in Merrill and St. Patrick Church in Ryan, according to a diocese press release. He was removed from his post on Sunday by Bishop Walter A. Hurley, apostolic administrator.

The diocese received information from law enforcement regarding an allegation of misconduct involving a minor that allegedly occurred many years ago, the diocese stated in a press release. Based on this information, the diocese said it immediately removed Kucharczyk from active ministry.

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DC Priest Accused of Abusing Girls, Woman Wants Separate Trials

WASHINGTON (DC)
NBC

May 21, 2019

A Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing two children and a woman involved in his D.C. parish wants the cases to be tried separately.

The priest, Urbano Vazquez, was arrested in November and accused of second-degree child sexual abuse. Police say Vazquez was 42 when, in May 2015, he inappropriately touched a 13-year-old female member of his church on two occasions.

Vazquez was arrested again in December on new allegations. A police report and a release from the District’s U.S. Attorney’s Office said Vazquez was accused of sexually touching a 9-year-old and a woman.

A lawyer for Vazquez says a single trial would be unfair, WTOP-FM reports. Attorney Robert Bonsib says that if jurors hear about the alleged child abuse, they may assume his client is guilty of assaulting the woman.

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New D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory Addresses Abuse Scandal, Pledges Honesty

WASHINGTON (DC)
National Catholic Register

May 21, 2019

By Lauretta Brown

In his homily, the successor to Cardinal Donald Wuerl and former cardinal Theodore McCarrick acknowledged that ‘we clerics and hierarchs have irrefutably been the source of the current tempest.’

Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory was installed as the seventh archbishop of Washington Tuesday in a ceremony that comes at a turbulent time for the local Church under the cloud of his predecessors’ sexual abuse and cover-up scandals.

The newly-installed archbishop addressed the issue head-on in his homily, promising those gathered that he would be committed to transparency about his failings.

“I want to be a welcoming shepherd who laughs with you whenever we can, who cries with you whenever we must, and who honestly confesses his faults and failings before you when I commit them, not when they are revealed,” he said to loud applause from those gathered.

Archbishop Gregory’s appointment follows Cardinal Donald Wuerl’s resignation, which was accepted by Pope Francis last year after he came under scrutiny in the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report for his handling of sexual abuse allegations when he served as bishop of Pittsburgh from 1988 to 2006. Wuerl also faced criticism for initially denying that he knew of any sexual abuse claims against his predecessor Theodore McCarrick before later admitting that he had known of McCarrick’s sexual behavior with seminarians.

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True Reform Will Come — If You and I Remain Steadfast

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Register

May 21, 2019

By Msgr. Charles Pope

As the U.S. Bishops’ June meeting draws near, it’s time for faithful Catholics to regain our focus

Bishop Robert Barron recently published Letter to a Suffering Church: A Bishop Speaks on the Sexual Abuse Crisis. It is an excellent book — a meditation, really. It gives a sobering summary of the sexual-abuse crisis and a historical perspective and offers encouragement to believers in the aftermath of the recent and horrific events.

It also comes at an opportune time. I say this because my concerns that the issue would eventually fade from the focus of Catholics have largely come to pass. Mention of the topic is somewhat rare lately, and mentioned more often in passing. This is problematic for at least two reasons.

First, our diverted attention is precisely what the evil one desires and uses. True reform is going to happen only if we remain steadfast and insist upon it. Bishop Barron calls attention to something that I have also suspected — namely, that this crisis is more devious than clerical malfeasance, cover-up and mismanagement. It is far more: It is diabolical. Bishop Barron, an auxiliary of Los Angeles, writes:

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HOMOSEXUAL PREDATOR PRIEST IN ACTION

SAGINAW (MI)
ChurchMilitant.com

May 22, 2019

By Christine Niles, M.St. (Oxon.), J.D.

Fr. Robert DeLand: “To discover that you have some gay tendencies is a fine thing, because then you don’t have to be so confused.”

A predator priest in action.

Fr. Robert DeLand: “I love you so much. I mean what I say, I love you so much.”

The voice of Father Robert DeLand, now in prison, caught on tape grooming a victim for sex abuse.

Fr. Robert DeLand: “We’re gonna get you drunk and you’re gonna cry. Does that sound good?”

The victim, a 17-year-old male, secretly capturing audio of his encounters with the high-ranking Saginaw Michigan priest, who targeted the boy when he was grieving the death of his friend to suicide.

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German bishops’ plan on sex abuse crisis ‘crazy’, ‘false’: former Vatican doctrine chief

GERMANY
LifeSiteNews

May 21, 2019

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

A proposed approach to dealing with the sex abuse crisis outlined by the German bishops in March of this year, which would involve possibly eliminating priestly celibacy and changing Catholic doctrine on sexual morality, is a “crazy” and “absolutely false” one, according to Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect Emeritus of the Vatican’s Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.

Müller also defended Pope Emeritus Benedict’s recently-published analysis of the sex abuse crisis as an accurate one, and blasted its critics as “ideologues.”

Speaking in an interview with the Spanish news service InfoVaticana, Müller said that the German bishops have deeply misunderstood the source of the sex abuse crisis, which stems in part from “moral confusion” in the Church.

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Diocese reopens priest-abuse allegations first raised in 1998

BAKERSFIELD (CA)
Bakersfield.com

May 20, 2019

By John Cox

Decades after the allegations first came to light, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno is revisiting accusations Bakersfield priest Craig Harrison inappropriately touched a teenager while working at St. Joseph Church in Firebaugh in the 1990s.

“It is under review,” diocese spokeswoman Teresa Dominguez said Monday. She declined to elaborate other than to confirm the accuracy of a report by KQED Inc., a Northern California media group, about the case.

The allegations by an unnamed individual were initially reported to the Firebaugh Police Department in 1998. They were brought to the diocese in 2002 and dismissed as unsubstantiated.

Harrison’s attorney, Kyle J. Humphrey, rejected the allegations as opportunistic and false.

“No matter how many times that you try to pretend that the world is flat,” he said, “you’re wrong.”

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Abuse statistics undermine church’s credibility | Faith Matters

NEW JERSEY
Jersey Journal

May 19, 2019

By Rev. Alexander Santora

Eight days this month — May 6 to 13 — may turn out to be the most consequential in the state for the next phase of the long-running clerical sex abuse scandal.

First, Anderson & Associates released a list of 311 clergy and religious accused of abuse in New Jersey. Then, Pope Francis codified changes for the worldwide church to address sex abuse and hold people accountable. Lastly, Gov. Murphy signed into law legislation that ensures a longer period for victims of sexual abuse to sue and he made it retroactive, as well.

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REFILE-Poland’s pro-EU opposition takes big lead after Church abuse scandal – poll

WARSAW (POLAND)
Reuters

May 17, 2019

(Adds dropped word Poland in headline)

Poland’s pro-EU opposition has a 10-point lead over the ruling nationalists ahead of European Parliament elections, a survey showed on Friday, a sharp turnaround that some analysts linked to a film about sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church.

The documentary “Just don’t tell anyone”, which shows victims of child abuse confronting priests who had sexually abused them, has shocked Poles. The powerful Catholic Church has close ties with the governing Law and Justice party (PiS).

The European Coalition, which comprises pro-Europeans from across the political spectrum, would win 43.6% and PiS 32.9% in the May 26 election, according to the poll, conducted on May 14-16 by the Institute for Research into Public Affairs (IBSP) for Newsweek and Radio Zet.

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SBC churchgoers split on existence of more clergy sex abuse

NASHVILLE (TN)
Lifeway Research

May 21, 2019

About one-third of Southern Baptist churchgoers believe more revelations of sexual abuse and misconduct by Protestant ministers remain to be exposed. But few know of specific individuals in their church whose misconduct still is hidden, according to a new LifeWay Research study.

The 2019 Sexual Misconduct and Churchgoers Study by LifeWay Research explored the perceptions and experiences of Southern Baptist and Protestant churchgoers.

“Protecting people from abuse of any kind should be of utmost importance to churches and our convention,” said Brad Waggoner, acting CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. “LifeWay decided to sponsor this research because it’s imperative we make our churches safe places for people to hear the gospel and grow in their walk with Jesus Christ.”

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The Investigator | Controversial Ohio Bishop reinstated following sex abuse allegations

COLUMBUS (OH)
WKYC3

May 21, 2019

By Tom Meyer

The Bishop’s reinstatement comes about 15 months after allegations of sexual misconduct that were first exposed in an exclusive Tom Meyer investigation.

Bishop Joseph White, the founder of a church with worldwide followers, has been reinstated as Bishop of the Church of the Living God International, which is headquartered in Columbus.

The Bishop’s reinstatement comes about 15 months after the church’s board of directors suspended him following allegations of sexual misconduct that were first exposed in an exclusive Tom Meyer investigation.

The board in its letter to church members said, “Through careful consideration and prayer, the CLGI Board of Directors has reinstated Dr. Joseph White.” The letter goes on to say that White established churches all over the world.

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The Catholic Church is tightening rules on reporting sexual abuse – but not swearing off its legal privilege to keep secrets

NEW YORK
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

May 22, 2019

By Christine P. Bartholomew

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Christine P. Bartholomew, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

(THE CONVERSATION) Pope Francis recently changed the Catholic Church law, making it mandatory for clergy to report sexual abuse to church superiors. In the past, such reporting was left to the discretion of a priest or nun.

Pope Francis’ proposal is an effort to address gaps in the regulatory process of the church, which has been accused of shielding clergy sexual abuse. It provides a process to report allegations up the pipeline.

As a scholar of law I worry that it fails to address what the church will do with that information.

To date, religious organizations, such as the Catholic Church, have adopted inconsistent positions on whether, and to what degree, they should share information necessary for legal action.

Clergy across various religions, ranging from Christians to Catholics to Muslims to Jews, are willing to share evidence in cases of violent crimes, such as murders. But when the evidence pertains to clergy misconduct, namely sexual abuse, the tide changes.

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New sex abuse scandal rocks Catholic Church in Poland

POLAND
EuroNews

May 22, 2019

By Joao Vitor Da Silva Marques

A new documentary allegedly exposing child sex abuse by members of the Roman Catholic Church is forcing Poland’s Catholic Church bishops to meet in Warsaw today.

Released over the weekend, the film entitled ‘Tell No One’ reportedly shows how abusive priests ruined the lives of victims and faced no consequences in Poland.

The Catholic Church’s links to the political establishment in the country and its influence over the education system, culture and lawmaking means the scandal is quickly becoming a political issue.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said yesterday that a public inquiry on paedophilia is being launched: “A state committee to examine all paedophilia cases will be set up. I want to stress that Law and Justice government is a guard, a guarantor of physical security of children, of families” He added: “Our party has sought for many years to tighten the penalties for the most bestial, terrible crimes, also for the paedophilia crimes without excluding the Church, without excluding clergy, without excluding all the circles: teachers, artists, everywhere where there is contact with children, carers, coaches.”

But the links between the Law and Justice ruling party and the Roman Catholic Church run deep in Poland. The party has a tight alliance with the clergy and many priests, especially those in smaller towns and villages, often openly backing the party.

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Man entitled to names of others allegedly abused by priest, High Court rules

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

May 21, 2019

By Ann O’Loughlin

A man suing a priest and a religious order over alleged sexual abuse when he was a child is entitled to information about others who made similar allegations, the High Court has ruled.

The man is suing for damages over the alleged abuse by the priest who was his schoolteacher and a member of an order of priests and brothers whose members worked in education.

As part of the pre-trial process, he sought and obtained discovery of documents he said he needed to process his case. He got it, but certain details were blacked out and he then sought orders from the court that this information also be provided.

The information included the names of people who have made complaints to gardaí of personally experiencing or witnessing abuse by the priest or had brought their own civil actions over alleged abuse.

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Confession bill amended, but church leaders say it still targets priests

LOS ANGELES (CA)
Catholic News Service

May 21, 2019

By Pablo Kay

Church officials are urging Catholics to continue to oppose a California bill that would force priests to disclose information about child sexual abuse that they hear in the sacrament of confession.

The call came as the Senate measure, known as S.B. 360, advanced in the Legislature after lawmakers “accepted several of the church’s recommendations to strengthen mandated reporting requirements for clergy,” as Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez noted in a May 20 statement.

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Defrocked Ottawa priest, 85, on trial for historic sex abuse

OTTAWA (CANADA)
Ottawa Citizen

May 22, 2019

By Andrew Duffy

Two men have told court that they were sexually assaulted by a Catholic priest as teenagers in the same bed at a church rectory in Richmond.

Barry McGrory, 85, a former Ottawa priest, faces four charges based on two historic sex abuse complaints dating to the late 1960s.

Charges in connection with a third complainant were withdrawn last year after the man died of cancer.

McGrory, who was officially removed from the priesthood last year by the Vatican, has pleaded not guilty.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin ruled Tuesday that Crown attorney John Semenoff will be allowed to use similar fact evidence as part of the case against McGrory.

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Law Firms Accuse 83 Clerics Of Abuse In The Albany Diocese

ALBANY (NY)
WAMC

May 21, 2019

By Dave Lucas

Today in Albany, sexual abuse survivors joined representatives of two law firms in releasing the names and photographs of more than 80 clergymen in the Diocese of Albany accused of sexual misconduct. The Diocese disputes the report.

The law firms of Jeff Anderson & Associates of New York City and LaFave, Wein & Frament, PLLC, of Guilderland, produced a report they say reveals the identities, histories, photographs and information on the clerics, all accused of child sexual abuse. Jeff Anderson: “The Catholic Bishop in Albany has already released a list of some 47 under some pressure. The number of those we released here today is 83. A large number of names yet to be known are priests in the Diocese of Albany accused, but there’s also a number of priests who are members of religious orders, that have never been disclosed.”

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European elections: sex and religion dominate campaigning in Poland

WARSAW
The Guardian

May 22, 2019

By Christian Davies

War of words over LGBT rights, perceived threats to traditional values and clerical child abuse

Campaigning in Poland for the European elections has descended into a war of words over religion, sex and morality after a documentary on clerical abuse raised questions about the government’s ties to the Catholic church and the ruling party campaign sought to portray LGBT rights supporters as a threat to children.

The release on YouTube earlier this month of the documentary, viewed more than 20m times and featuring several victims confronting their sexual abusers, electrified what had already been a febrile debate over the role of the powerful Roman Catholic church in Polish politics and society, during which homosexuality has regularly been equated with paedophilia.

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Lawyers clash over revealing identity of the woman accusing Warren Jeffs and the FLDS Church of abuse

ST. GEORGE (UT)
FOX13

May 21, 2019

By Ben Winslow

Attorneys clashed in court over whether to publicly reveal the identity of a woman who has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against polygamist leader Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist LDS Church, accusing them of “ritualistic sex abuse.”

In a hearing on Tuesday, lawyers for ex-FLDS leader Wendell Nielsen and the court-controlled United Effort Plan Trust sought to have the alleged child rape victim’s name made public. They argued that it has been difficult to defend against her accusations when they have been bound by a non-disclosure agreement to even utter her name.

But attorneys for “R.H.,” as she’s known in court documents, told the judge that publicly disclosing her name presented significant security concerns.

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Church Volunteer in Rancho Cucamonga Accused of Sexually Abusing Child Over 5-Year Period: Police

LOS ANGELES (CA)
KTLA 5

May 21, 2019

A church volunteer has been arrested in the alleged yearslong sexual abuse of a girl in Rancho Cucamonga, and police on Tuesday said there may be other victims in the case.

Christopher Sjaarda, 38, was taken into custody last Saturday and booked on suspicion of sexual acts against a child, according to a news release from the Rancho Cucamonga Police Department.

An investigation began last month when detectives were notified about possible sexual acts against a child in Rancho Cucamonga, the release read.

Through extensive interviews with the girl, detectives learned she was sexually abused on a number of occasions over the past five years, allegedly by Sjaarda, police said.

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Sacramento Catholic diocese settles priest sex abuse lawsuit involving Woodland woman

SACRAMENTO (CA)
The Sacramento Bee

May 21, 2019

By Michael McGough

A Woodland woman has received a $200,000 settlement from the Sacramento Catholic Diocese and the current pastor of a Woodland church after filing a lawsuit in 2017 accusing a former priest of sexual assault and claiming church officials largely ignored her pleas for help.

Dorothy Small’s lawsuit alleged that she met the Rev. Renerio Sabuga Jr., the then-new assistant priest at Woodland’s Holy Rosary Catholic Church in 2014. Within months, the lawsuit claimed, Sabuga pursued Small romantically until he allegedly “cornered (Small) in her bedroom and sexually assaulted” her Feb. 17, 2015.

The allegations in Small’s lawsuit went on to say officials with the Sacramento diocese, and others at Holy Rosary, including current pastor the Rev. Jonathan Molina, did not do enough to address Small’s requests for help in the months after she took the complaints to church officials at the diocese – which was her preference over taking the matter to police.

Small, her attorney Joseph George and a coordinator with Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) discussed the case and provided a copy of the recent settlement during a Tuesday news conference at George’s office in Sacramento.

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Loud Fence ribbons cut off in ‘disrespectful’ vandalism

AUSTRALIA
The Courier

May 22, 2019

By Jolyon Attwooll

Ribbons were cut off the St Patrick’s Cathedral fence in an act of vandalism described as “disrespectful” and “selfish”.

Maureen Hatcher, who set up the Loud Fence movement in support of victims and survivors of sexual abuse, said the action was very disappointing.

“It seems to happen every so often,” she told The Courier.

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West Virginia AG Strengthens His Lawsuit against WV Catholic Diocese

WEST VIRGINIA
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

May 21, 2019

We are grateful that West Virginia Attorney General Morrisey is keeping the pressure up on the Wheeling-Charleston diocese by bringing new counts and evidence to his lawsuit. Informed communities are safer communities, and the more that is investigated, the more truth gets exposed.

It is especially troubling to learn that church officials at the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston chose not to publicly disclose reports of child sexual abuse by one of their teachers in 2006. Given that this event happened years after the adoption of the “Dallas Charter,” there is no reasonable explanation church officials could use to explain why these allegations remained secret. The same is true for the diocese’s arrogant decision to allow individuals to volunteer at schools without background checks.

These are reckless and dangerous choices that church officials actively made. And until church officials are held accountable for their crimes of enabling and covering up child sex crimes, we fear that church officials will continue this pattern of irresponsible decision-making.

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Catholic monk joins Msgr. Craig Harrison accusers

BAKERSFIELD (CA)
KGET

May 21, 2019

By Olivia LaVoice

It’s been almost a month since Msgr. Craig Harrison was put on leave pending an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.

We’ve seen huge support for Msgr. Harrison, and we’ve seen support from victim advocacy groups for the men who’ve come forward.

In an exclusive interview, we hear from someone still part of the Catholic clergy.

Speaking out against another member of the church is something he says he never imagined he’d do, but after much prayer and many sleepless nights, he says he know this is the right thing.

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May 21, 2019

‘The Church of the abuse scandal is the only Church we know’

UNITED STATES
La Croix International

May 21, 2019

By Massimo Faggioli

University students in the United States offer fresh insights into the clergy sex abuse crisis

St. Augustine is quoted as saying that “one learns by teaching” — docendo discitur. This has never been more true for me than during this past semester when I taught an undergraduate university course on the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.

My class included 30 students aged 21-22, mostly from the United States. There was a mixture of males and females majoring in a variety of fields, from biology to political sciences. Most of them were Catholics, but there was a substantial minority of non-Catholics and even non-Christians. Almost all of them admitted to wrestling with the “God question” as well as the meaning of the Church.

I learned much while preparing my lectures, mainly from reading scholarly materials that integrated and systematized our knowledge of the various aspects of the abuse crisis from a historical and theological point of view.

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On eve of divorce referendum, Irish Church urges more support for marriage

LEICESTER (UK)
CRUX

May 21, 2019

By Charles Collins

Ireland should do more to support marriage, instead of making it easier to get a divorce, says Bishop Denis Nulty.

The bishop of Kildare and Leighlin was speaking ahead of a May 24 referendum in the Republic of Ireland to change the Irish constitution which requires couples to have lived apart for four of the past five years before being able to dissolve their marriage.

The referendum is supported by every major party in Ireland and is expected to pass easily.

For most of its history, divorce was prohibited in the Republic of Ireland. In 1995, the constitutional ban on marriage dissolution was repealed in a referendum with just 50.28 percent of the vote.

The new constitutional language required a waiting period before a divorce, and also regulated which foreign divorces would be recognized by the Irish state.

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Morrisey adds new allegations to sexual abuse lawsuit against diocese

WHEELING (WV)
Charleston-Gazette Mail

May 21, 2019

By Jake Zuckerman

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey amended his lawsuit against the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese of the Catholic Church, submitting new allegations of sexual abuse and subsequent concealment.

Tuesday’s additions to his original suit, filed in Wood County Circuit Court in March, came after calling on victims or former employees of the diocese to come forward.

Among the new allegations:

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1 in 10 Young Protestants Have Left a Church Over Abuse

UNITED STATES
Christianity Today

May 21, 2019

By Kate Shellnutt

As the generation most likely to report experiencing misconduct and least likely to tolerate it, Christians under 35 stand to shape how congregations respond.

Surrounded by revelations of #MeToo and #ChurchToo, younger Christians are more keen to recognize sexual abuse—and less likely to put up with it.

According to a new study sponsored by LifeWay Christian Resources, 10 percent of Protestant churchgoers under 35 have previously left a church because they felt sexual misconduct was not taken seriously. That’s twice as many as the 5 percent of all churchgoers who have done the same.

Among the younger demographic, 9 percent said they have stopped attending a former congregation because they personally did not feel safe from misconduct.

Churchgoers ages 18 to 34 are more likely than older generations to report experiencing sexual harassment—ranging from sexual comments and prolonged glances—at church and to know others at their church who are victims (23%).

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Seeking Compensation After Abuse Allegations in Scranton Diocese

SCRANTON (PA)
WNEP

May 20, 2019

By Dave Bohman

Time may be running out for some victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests because lawmakers are on the verge of killing a plan to give victims more time to sue for sex crimes.

Those men claim they were sexually abused in the 1970s by the same priest in Scranton, but that priest was not listed in a grand jury report released last year.

The three men we spoke with may not have their day in court, and they worry about pinning their hopes for justice on the diocese’s victim’s fund.

It is now Divine Mercy Parish in Scranton’s Minooka neighborhood. It was St. Joseph’s in the 1970s, and Fr. Michael Pulicare was its priest.

“When I was a little kid, he would kind of friend me. He would give me gifts and stuff like that,” said John Patchcoski.

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Poll: 89.3% of US Catholics say church was slow to take action on abuse

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

May 21, 2019

By Maria Benevento

A survey released May 20 by the St. Leo University Polling Institute reveals that 81.3% of Americans in general, and 89.3% of Catholics, believe the Catholic Church was slow to take action on clergy sexual abuse.

The poll also asked respondents how much they agreed that each of a series of reasons had contributed to “slow church action,” and asked them to select “contributing factors” for the abuse crisis.

It found that by far the most commonly identified cause of the church’s slow response — by 74% of Americans and almost 85% of Catholics — was a desire to “preserve and protect the Church’s influence and reputation at all cost.”

The second and third most popular options were “to avoid the financial ramifications” and “to protect the ‘good old boys’ network,’ ” with both statements earning agreement from between 40% and 42% of both Americans overall and Catholics.

On several other options, Americans in general and Catholics diverged by more than 10 percentage points. Americans overall more likely to indicate that church leadership “believed the clergy instead of victims” (37.6% versus 26.4% of Catholics) or believed “clergy were above the law” (34.1% versus 24%).

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Attorneys find no shortage of clients amid clergy abuse reports

PITTSBURGH (PA)
New Castle News

May 20, 2019

By Brent Addleman

Although the widespread impact of clergy sexual abuse in Pennsylvania Catholic churches came to light just last year, veteran Pittsburgh litigator Alan H. Perer has been representing victims for nearly two decades.

Perer, of SPK – the law firm of Swensen & Perer, located in downtown Pittsburgh, has been working cases against the Pittsburgh Diocese dating back to the early 2000s, long before an August 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report detailed an extensive history of sexual abuse committed by clergy members within six dioceses, including Pittsburgh.

“I have been doing this for 17 years,” Perer said. “It has been very rough. A lot of cases earlier, we ran into the statute of limitations. We have been fighting this battle for a long time.

“I am hoping the compensation fund will be a compassionate fund. A lot of these people are really hurting and suffering from being abused as a child. I have many who were 10 to 12 years old, 13 years of age, some earlier in age and some that continued (suffering abuse) long after those ages.”

Perer said the abuse has taken a toll on his clients.

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Arizona House speaker’s bill on child rape is a total joke

AZCentral
Arizona Republic

May 21, 2019

By Laurie Roberts

Opinion: House Speaker Rusty Bowers has magically come up with a bill that does absolutely nothing to help child-rape victims hold their attackers accountable.

A clap of the hands, if you please, for this year’s legislative winner in that coveted category: Most Impressive Sounding Bill That Does Absolutely Nothing.

Naturally, there were a lot of entries in this highly competitive category at the Arizona Capitol. But a latecomer takes top honors – a last-minute bill that would give child victims of sexual assault more time to sue their rapists and the organizations that enable them.

Specifically, until they turn 30, up from 20.

Never mind that the average age that child victims of sexual assault come forward is 52, according to Child USA, a non-profit think tank that works on child abuse issues.

That is, after all, beside the point.

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W.Va. AG Morrisey Says Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston Failed to Report Abuse or Conduct Background Checks

WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer

May 21, 2019

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey sought to add claims Tuesday in his lawsuit against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, including a new count of unfair competition and new evidence of the church’s failure to conduct background checks and report abuse.

The amended complaint details allegations the Diocese chose not to publicly disclose a report of child sexual abuse by a teacher in 2006 and permitted several individuals to work or volunteer at Catholic schools without adequate background checks.

Other priests credibly accused of sexual abuse were also allowed to work in the Diocese without adequate background checks. The Diocese only released its list of credibly accused priests after the State of West Virginia issued its subpoena.

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LA Archbishop says amended confession bill still targets priests, Catholic employees

LOS ANGELES (CA)
Crux

May 21, 2019

By Pablo Kay

Catholic officials are urging Catholics to continue to oppose a California bill that would force priests to disclose information about child sexual abuse that they hear in the sacrament of confession that is advancing in the state legislature.

Current California law requires clergy to report suspected abuse or neglect unless the information about the abuse was obtained during confession.

Senate Bill 360, authored by Bay-area Democrat, Sen. Jerry Hill, seeks to eliminate this so-called “exemption” for “penitential communication.”

On May 16, the Senate Appropriations committee voted 4-2 to send an amended version of Senate Bill 360 for a vote of the full Senate.

As amended, the bill, now protects the seal of the confessional – except in cases where a priest is hearing another priest’s confession or in cases where a priest is hearing the confession of a co-worker.

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AG Morrisey: New evidence in Wheeling-Charleston Diocese lawsuit

WHEELING (WV)
WVNews

May 21, 2019

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey sought to add claims Tuesday in his lawsuit against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, including a new count of unfair competition and new evidence of the church’s failure to conduct background checks and report abuse.

The amended complaint details allegations the Diocese chose not to publicly disclose a report of child sexual abuse by a teacher in 2006 and permitted several individuals to work or volunteer at Catholic schools without adequate background checks.

Other priests credibly accused of sexual abuse were also allowed to work in the Diocese without adequate background checks, the lawsuit asserts. The Diocese only released its list of credibly accused priests after the State of West Virginia issued its subpoena, according to the lawsuit.

“The new information contained within our amended complaint further illustrates how the actions of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese and its policies of cover-up have harmed children. Parents who pay and entrust the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese and its schools to educate and care for their children deserve full transparency,” Morrisey said.

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West Virginia Adds To Complaint Against Catholic Diocese

WEST VIRGINIA
WCBC Radio

May 21, 2019

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced this morning that he seeks to add claims Tuesday in his lawsuit against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, including a new count of unfair competition and new evidence of the church’s failure to conduct background checks and report abuse.

The amended complaint details allegations the Diocese chose not to publicly disclose a report of child sexual abuse by a teacher in 2006 and permitted several individuals to work or volunteer at Catholic schools without adequate background checks. Other priests credibly accused of sexual abuse were also allowed to work in the Diocese without adequate background checks. The Diocese only released its list of credibly accused priests after the State of West Virginia issued its subpoena. “How can anyone reasonably argue that these allegations are old when the Church refused to release its list of credibly accused priests until after the issuance of our subpoena in the fall of 2018?”

Attorney General Morrisey said. “The Church needs to come clean and end the secrecy.” “The new information contained within our amended complaint further illustrates how the actions of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese and its policies of cover-up have harmed children. Parents who pay and entrust the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese and its schools to educate and care for their children deserve full transparency.”

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Former Catholic priest acknowledges ‘I did do things that were wrong’ after 2 accusations of molestation

DENVER (CO)
9 News

May 20, 2019

By Kevin Vaughan

Neil Hewitt was at 5 Colorado churches in the 1960s and ’70s. He answered 9Wants to Know’s questions about his past.

For nearly 50 years, Michael Smilanic told no one about a trip he took to Montreal in 1967 with two other boys and a Catholic priest – told no one about the night in a hotel room in Rochester, N.Y.

He was 14 that summer, and it was there, he told 9Wants to Know, that he was molested by a priest he had previously believed was “really cool,” a priest who drove a Pontiac G.T.O., flew airplanes, and took him skiing.

“He seemed more human, I think, than some of the other priests,” said Smilanic, who grew up attending St. Therese Catholic Church in Aurora.

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SNAP calls for better reporting of clergy abuse

OMAHA (NE)
FOX 42 KPTM

May 20, 2019

By Sydnie Holzfaster

For nearly 50 years Tim Lennon was silent about his allegations of abuse. He said he was raped by a priest when he was only 12 years old.

“At the time I froze. I didn’t say anything, I didn’t do anything, I didn’t tell anyone,”Lennon said.

Now Lennon is the president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP). Monday morning members of SNAP held a demonstration in front of the Archdiocese of Omaha to shared their own personal stories of abuse.

Dee Thompson spoke about her sons accusations of abuse. She said her son was groomed and then sexually abused by a priest while he was serving as an alter boy in their church, but he didn’t tell his family until he was 42 years old.

“He went through a really hard time adjusting to what he was going through and we had no clue that he was being sexualy abused,” Thompson said. “They are destroying lives and it doesn’t just destroy it when they are little boys; it continues.”

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Bishops preach accountability, say victim compensation funds ‘help them now’

ERIE (PA)
Sharon Herald

May 20, 2019

By Melissa Klaric

The Erie Diocese, and the Catholic Church, are taking the priest sex abuse scandal seriously – and are addressing the damage done to victims through openness as well as the compensation fund, Erie’s bishop said.

The Most Rev. Lawrence T. Persico said he does not know how many victims have applied for compensation through the fund set up by the diocese, although he estimated that as many as 100 people could receive payments.

Setting up the fund was the right thing to do, Persico said in an interview with The Herald of Sharon.

“People are grateful that we were doing something to compensate them,” he said. “And just the general public thought that at least we were stepping up to try to help people who had been victims. We don’t know when or what they would be able to receive. So, by creating this fund, we’re trying to help them now.”

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Nationalists abusing Christian symbols ‘greatest threat to EU’

FRANCE
La Croix International

May 20, 2019

By Christa Pongratz-Lippitt

Czech priest warns of increasing xenophobia and populism as European elections loom

An award-winning Czech Catholic priest and intellectual has warned Europeans to be wary of populist politicians who are using Christianity to push their nationalist agendas, saying this is the greatest threat to the European Union.

“We are once again witnessing how God is being confused with the nation and the Christian faith with the dangerous idolatry of xenophobia and populism,” said Monsignor Tomas Halik, the 2014 winner of the Templeton Prize for advances in religion and spirituality.

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Washington’s new archbishop wants to heal ‘anger at the failure of leadership’

HYATTSVILLE (MD)
Catholic News Service

May 20, 2019

By Julie Asher

Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory will have a lot of things on his plate when he becomes the newest leader of the influential archdiocese situated in the nation’s capital: the sexual abuse roiling the Catholic Church, the tense political climate on the Hill and the challenges that come with learning about a new archdiocese.

The newest archbishop of Washington knows what his first priority will be however.

The “first and most important thing” is “getting out in the field and meeting the people,” Archbishop Gregory told Catholic News Service in a May 17 interview.

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Cardinal Sarah Praises Benedict’s ‘Notes’ on Abuse Crisis

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

May 20, 2019

By Edward Pentin

Cardinal Sarah said that he, like the Pope Emeritus, was “deeply convinced” that abuse of minors will increase “if we do not adore the Eucharistic body of our God, if we do not treat him with joyful and reverent fear.”

Cardinal Robert Sarah has praised Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s recent “notes” on the clergy sexual abuse crisis, saying they have “proved to be a true source of light in the night of faith that touches the whole Church.”

The cardinal, who was expected to discuss his new book Le soir approche et déjà le jour baisse at a May 14 event in Rome, instead surprised the audience of invited French intellectuals and Vatican diplomats by dedicating his whole talk entirely to Benedict’s reflections.

Benedict had written the notes to coincide with the Feb. 21-24 Vatican summit of bishops on protection of minors in the Church.

In his talk, published in full in French by veteran Vatican journalist Sandro Magister, Cardinal Sarah said Benedict was a “’martyr’ for the Truth” who sees the crisis “correctly.” His reflections were able to touch the “deepest heart” of the crisis, he said, but reactions to them have “at times bordered on intellectual hysteria” and Cardinal Sarah said he was “struck by the wretchedness and stupidity of several comments.”

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BUFFALO COPS ORDERED NOT TO ARREST CATHOLIC PRIESTS, INSTEAD HAND THEM OVER TO DIOCESE

BUFFALO ((NY)
ChurchMilitant

May 20, 2019

By David Nussman

Unwritten policy of protecting priests after sexual misconduct claims

Retired police officers from Buffalo, New York are confirming they were given marching orders not to arrest Catholic priests after evidence of sexual misconduct, but instead hand them over to the diocese — special treatment they offered to Catholic priests and no one else.

A recent report from Buffalo News sheds light on how the police were ordered to report Catholic clergy’s behavior to the diocese instead of arresting them. Former vice squad detective Martin Harrington said, “The department’s unwritten policy was that Catholic priests did not get arrested.”

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Putting Justice First

NEW YORK (NY)
Commonweal Magazine

May 20, 2019

By Cathleen Kaveny

What Benedict’s Letter on Abuse Gets Wrong

The debate about Benedict XVI’s recent intervention on the sex-abuse crisis has focused on his account of its root causes, which occupies the vast majority of his letter. To the delight of conservatives and the consternation of progressives, he blames the lax sexual morality of the 1960s, rather than the enduring phenomenon of clericalism.

In my view, the problem with Benedict’s letter is far more fundamental. It also transcends the American progressive-conservative divide. He gets the basic moral description of the acts of sex abuse wrong. He frames them as acts of sacrilege, rather than grave injustice.

So what? Benedict clearly thinks these actions are unacceptable—why quibble about details? Because details matter, both theoretically and practically. If we get the description of a misdeed wrong, we fail to grasp the underlying moral reality of the situation. That, in turn, can lead to disastrous strategies for reform.

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SNAP Calls for “Decisive Action” from New D.C. Archbishop

WASHINGTON (DC)
SNAP

May 20, 2019

SNAP CALLS FOR “DECISIVE ACTION” FROM NEW D.C. ARCHBISHOP GROUP LAYS OUT THREE IMMEDIATE STEPS HE CAN TAKE “IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE IN WASHINGTON,” THEY SAY

SNAP Calls for “Decisive Action” from New D.C. Archbishop

Group Lays Out Three Immediate Steps He Can Take

“It’s time for change in Washington,” they say

WHAT:

Leaders from the Washington, DC/Virginia chapter of the nation’s oldest and largest advocacy group for victims of clergy and institutional sex abuse, SNAP, will call on Archbishop Wilton Gregory to take decisive action to protect children and to reach out to survivors. They will also urge parishioners to stay vigilant and to continue to hold the church to their promises of transparency and accountability.

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Former figure skater alleges abuse by former partner, who committed suicide, in Facebook posts

UNITED STATES
Yahoo Sports

May 20, 2019

By Ryan Young

Former figure skater Bridget Namiotka accused her former partner John Coughlin of abuse on Sunday night in multiple Facebook posts, writing that the late figure skater had “sexually abused” her for two years.

Namiotka was partners with Coughlin from 2004-2007, when she was between the ages of 14 to 17 and he was 18 to 21, according to USA Today. They won three medals on the Junior Grand Prix series and finished ninth at the 2007 U.S. national championships.

Coughlin committed suicide earlier this year. He was 33.

Namiotka, 29, wrote four posts on Facebook about Coughlin alleging abuse on Sunday night.

“I’m sorry but John hurt at least 10 people including me,” Namiotka wrote in the first post. “He sexually abused me for two years. Nobody innocent hangs themself.”

Namiotka followed the first post up with three more just minutes later.

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After Ohio State Sex Abuse Report, Governor Calls for End to Statute of Limitations

OHIO
Tribune News Service

May 21, 2019

By Jeremy Pelzer

In the wake of revelations that ex-Ohio State University athletic doctor Richard Strauss sexually abused at least 177 male students between 1979 and 1998, Gov. Mike DeWine on Monday called on Ohio lawmakers to abolish the state’s statute of limitations for sexual assault.

During a Statehouse news conference, the governor also urged legislators to extend the statute of limitations for other sex crimes, take a “hard look” at extending the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits, and toughen penalties for sex crimes committed by authority figures.

Strauss, who killed himself in 2005, likely couldn’t be prosecuted for most of his crimes if he was alive today, DeWine said, because Ohio’s statute of limitations for rape is 20-25 years, depending on the circumstances. The time limit on prosecuting other felony sex crimes is as little as six years, he said. Charges for misdemeanor sex crimes such as groping and fondling must be filed within two years, and civil lawsuits must be filed within 1-2 years.

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Orange County Pastor Accused of Sexually Abusing 7 Children

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Legal Herald

May 2019

By Laurence Banville

Last week, a longtime pastor at several churches in Southern California was arrested a second time on allegations of child sex abuse. 67-year-old John Rodgers McFarland has been charged with seven counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14 years old and four counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor between 14 and 15. There are allegedly seven victims.

McFarland pleaded not guilty during an arraignment on May 13. If convicted on all charges, he could face up to 179 years in prison.

The former pastor was first arrested in December on suspicion of child molestation in Escondido. While police were investigating those allegations, they reportedly discovered evidence that there were multiple victims of sex abuse by McFarland.

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Calling Ohio State abuser Strauss a ‘monster,’ DeWine wants sex crime laws strengthened

COLUMBUS (OH)
The Columbus Dispatch

May 20, 2019

By Randy Ludlow

Citing the Ohio State University sex abuse scandal, Gov. Mike DeWine is calling for eliminating or lengthening statutes of limitations on sex crimes while ordering a new assessment of a decades-old, still-secret state investigation of physician-turned-predator Richard Strauss.

Twice calling the deceased Ohio State doctor a “monster,” DeWine urged lawmakers Monday to eliminate the statute of limitations for rape to allow criminal charges to be filed beyond the current deadline of 20 to 25 years, depending on the circumstances.

DeWine also wants to increase the allowable periods for filing charges for other sexual crimes and to increase the statute of limitations for filing civil lawsuits against state institutions and other organizations beyond the current one- to two-year window if a victim is assaulted while age 18 or older.

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Morrisey to announce new details in Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston lawsuit

WHEELING (WV)
WTRF

May 20, 2019

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey will be in Wheeling Tuesday with a big announcement.

Morrisey will disclose several new developments in his lawsuit against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.

The lawsuit is based on information included in the Diocese’s November 2018 public disclosure of clergy credibly accused of child sexual abuse.

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THE COST OF ABUSE | House-passed abuse bills now in Senate

NEW CASTLE (PA)
New Castle News

May 21, 2019

By Nancy Lowry

Earlier this month, the state House of Representatives approved measures to eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for child sex crimes and to propose a constitutional amendment to open a window for lawsuits in cases where the statute of limitations has already expired.

The measures moved to the Senate, where a group of Democrats also rolled out new legislation yesterday that would take a different approach, by opening a retroactive window to allow lawsuits for any victim of sex crime, regardless of age.

State Rep. Aaron Bernstine and state Rep. Chris Sainato, each of whom represents a portion of Lawrence County, voted to support the House bills.

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DC priest charged with sex abuse of 3 parishioners seeks separate trials

WASHINGTON (DC)
WTOP

May 20, 2019

By Neal Augenstein

The D.C. Catholic priest indicted on seven counts of sexually abusing two children and a woman — all parishioners — wants three separate trials, according to his lawyer.

Urbano Vazquez, who was a priest at Shrine of the Sacred Heart, is charged with sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl, a 13-year-old girl and a 33-year-old woman.

In a motion filed in D.C. Superior Court, defense attorney Robert Bonsib said it would be unfair to his client if prosecutors were allowed to try Vazquez in a single trial.

Bonsib told WTOP Vazquez will plead not guilty when he is arraigned Friday.

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Clergy abuse victim announces settlement

SACRAMENTO (CA)
Law Offices of Joseph C. George, Ph.D.,

May 21, 2019

She warns others about new church pay out program
Assaulted as an adult by her priest, she told Sac diocese
SNAP: “Sexual exploitation of church-goers is next wave in crisis”
Group urges “anyone who was hurt at any time” to “call AG & police now”

WHAT
A Catholic woman who sued and settled with local Catholic officials over the abuse
–describe the suffering she endured from both her perpetrator & his supervisors,
–wants church officials to make people who were abused by adults eligible for this new program, and
–warn others to be skeptical about the new diocesan victim pay-out program.​

And advocates for sexual abuse victims will​
— predict ‘next wave’ of crisis will be those assaulted as adults, and
–blast Sacramento’s bishop for his “callousness” and “hair-splitting.”

WHEN
Tuesday, May 21 at 11:00 a.m.

WHERE
Law Offices of Joseph C. George, Ph.D., 601 University Ave, Suite 230, Sacramento

WHO
The victim, her Sacramento attorney, perhaps one other local victim and Melanie Sakoda, SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) Survivor Support Coordinator.

WHY
1) A still-devout Catholic woman was sexually violated by her Sacramento pastor, told the Sacramento bishop, and ended up suing them both and recently settling her case.

Now she’s speaking up and urging other victims to be wary of trusting church officials, especially with the just-announced diocesan pay-out program.

In 2014, Dorothy Small, a lifelong Catholic, met her new pastor Fr. Renerio Sabuga Jr. (a.k.a. Fr. Jong) at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Woodland. She was a parishioner and choir member; he had just been re-assigned. Within weeks, he began to confide in her with intensely private thoughts.

Later that year, she called and filed a police report because of “continuous sexual harassment” by Fr. Sabuga.

In 2015, he sexually assaulted her in her home, according to her lawsuit.
The following year, Fr. Sabuga was transferred from Woodland to St. Clare Catholic Church in Roseville. Worried that he “might do the same thing with (another) parishioner,” Small reported the crime to Sacramento church officials and later met directly with Bishop Jaime Soto in person.
In 2017, she sued Fr. Sabuga, another priest (who reportedly told her “what man wouldn’t want a piece of a** every now and then?”) and the Sacramento diocese.
Several weeks ago, Small settled her case. (A copy of the settlement agreement will be provided at the news conference.)

Small wants others who were exploited or attacked by clerics to speak up and get healing.
Fr. Sabuga was ordained in 2000 and is believed to still be an active priest in his native Philippines.
Stephen Greene (916 753 1300, sjg@greeneroberts.com) was the defense lawyer for the case.
https://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/living/religion/article150692782.html
https://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/living/religion/article150703947.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4515766/Parishioner-claims-priest-sexually-assaulted-her.html

2) Earlier this month, for the first time ever, Pope Francis adopted a new world-wide abuse policy. “The most eye-catching change was a radical expansion of the definition of ‘vulnerable’ adults, a hotly contested” issue, according to one Catholic news source.

The new policy, which takes effect June 1, defines a vulnerable person very broadly.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/analysis-pope-francis-issues-new-definition-of-vulnerable-adult-74015
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/03/29/pope-francis-issues-decree-protection-minors-and-vulnerable-adults-vatican

In light of this change, Small and other abuse victims are urging those who were hurt as adults by Catholic clerics to come forward, get help, call law enforcement and start healing.” They predict that the ‘next wave of abuse reports to hit the church will be from church employees and members who have been sexually violated or harassed by clerics.

One week after Pope Francis’ announcement, the Sacramento diocese, and five other California dioceses, announced a new victim compensation program.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article230403279.html

Small wants church officials to make people who were abused by adults eligible for this new program. And she’s urging survivors to take caution if they choose to participate.

https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Clergy-parishoner-sex-is-never-consensual-1089390.php

Contact: Dr. Joseph C. George 916 802 7949 cell, 800 700 8613 office, jcg@psyclaw.com email, Melanie Sakoda 925 708 6175 cell, msakoda@snapnetwork.org email, Maricar A. Pascual 707 342 4722 cell, maricar@psyclaw.com

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They Hoped the Catholic Church Would Reveal Their Abusers. They Are Still Waiting.

Janet Cleary Klinger, pictured here as a teenager, said she was sexually abused by a priest in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. She has been pushing for the diocese, on Long Island, to name alleged abusers.

May 21, 2019

By Rick Rojas

She has watched as diocese after diocese has identified Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing children. She saw the victims who, after confronting decades of church silence, could edge toward a sense of closure as bishops apologized and publicly named clergy members who abused them.

Yet for Janet Cleary Klinger, the silence has continued.

She said she had been abused as a teenager by a priest from her family’s parish in the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, which sprawls over the suburbs of Long Island.

But the Rockville Centre diocese — one of the largest in the country with an estimated 1.5 million Catholics — has resisted publishing the names of priests credibly accused of abuse. It is the only diocese in New York that has not released a list. Miami, San Francisco and St. Louis are among the others nationwide.

Church leaders in many dioceses have hailed the release of lists of accused priests as a move toward transparency that will help quell tensions with followers.

But the dioceses that have declined to name priests are calling into question the church’s broader efforts to make amends for the abuse scandals, stirring a growing backlash from victims and their supporters.

They argue that the lack of disclosure creates another impediment toward understanding the church’s handling of the sex abuse epidemic across the nation and makes it more difficult to hold its leaders accountable.

“I, along with a lot of other people, have waited a long time to feel validated, and we continually cannot get that from the Diocese of Rockville Centre,” Ms. Cleary Klinger said. “We get nothing from the Diocese of Rockville Centre.”

Officials in dioceses that have not released names contend that declining to make such a disclosure does little to stand in the way of their pursuing a robust effort to help victims and prevent abuse.

“The Diocese of Rockville Centre, as a longstanding practice, works closely with law enforcement to make certain that all accusations of child sexual abuse against clergy — credible or not — of which the diocese is aware are reported,” Sean P. Dolan, a spokesman for the diocese, said in a statement.

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The Crisis Continues

UNITED STATES
First Things

May 21, 2019

by Philip Lawler

Vos Estis Lux Mundi, the new papal directive for handling sex abuse charges, takes a few steps toward reform within the Catholic Church. But the papal document—a motu proprio, carrying the force of canon law—falls well short of an adequate response to a burgeoning scandal.

Pope Francis’s directive requires that every Catholic diocese and eparchy provide a formal system for reporting and addressing abuse complaints. For Americans, already living under the “Dallas Charter” mechanisms set up more than a decade ago, the new rule will have no major practical effect. But in other countries, where whistle-blowers still face strong resistance, it is an important advance.

The motu proprio also insists that abuse victims, and others lodging complaints, must be treated with respect and compassion and given the spiritual and material help they need. Too often, even after winning lawsuits, victims have been handed a check—without an apology—and sent on their way.

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California confession bill amended, but still would require priests to violate seal

SACRAMENTO (CA)
Catholic News Agency

May 20, 2019

By J. D. Flynn

California’s state senate will vote on a bill that would require priests to violate the seal of confession in certain limited circumstances. An amended text of the bill passed the Senate appropriations’ committee May 16.

The bill, as amended, would require priests to report to law enforcement knowledge or suspicion of child abuse gained from hearing the sacramental confessions of other priests or co-workers.

The bill originally would have required California priests to violate the seal of confession anytime they gained knowledge or suspicion of child abuse from hearing the confession of any penitent.

In a May 20 statement, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles said the bill remains “an unacceptable violation of our religious freedoms that will do nothing to protect children.”

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Retired La Crosse priest accused of sexual assault at library

LA CROSSE (WI)
La Crosse Tribune

May 20, 2019

By Basma Amer

A 94-year-old retired La Crosse priest will appear in court June 3 after accusations of sexual assault.

According to the incident report:

On May 15, the victim told La Crosse Public Library security about an incident that took place on May 11. She said it happened at one of the benches behind the library about 5 p.m.

On May 16, library security reported the incident to La Crosse police.

The victim told police the man said his name was Bill and offered her money for sex. He also took her hand and put it on his genitals, and tried to kiss her.

Library staff was able to identify McGarty from security footage because they recognized him from the news.

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Catholic Diocese of Dallas Is in a Place So Dark It’s Almost Incomprehensible

DALLAS (TX)
Dallas Observer

By Jim Schutze

May 20, 2019

The whole business about the Catholic Diocese of Dallas in January publishing a list of 31 so-called “credibly accused” priests seemed weird at the time. Credibly, who says so? Now as the story grows only darker, we have to wonder how the diocese, which is the regional headquarters of the church, could not have known what terrible mistakes it was making.

Clearly, based on an affidavit supporting a raid on diocesan records last week (see below), the Dallas Police Department doesn’t believe the diocese has ever played straight on these charges. The affidavit is only that — an allegation or claim. It isn’t a verdict. It isn’t even an indictment. The church deserves its say.

But to believe the claim of Bishop Edward Burns last week that cops who made the raid on his locked trove of sex abuse records only wanted to “probe the wounds,” we would have to believe the police are doing an awful lot of very clever, very detailed on-the-record lying. It doesn’t sound like it.

And if they’re not — if the claims of subterfuge and obfuscation that police made in the affidavit are true — then we have to weigh a different painful possibility. That possibility is that Burns’ entire “credibly accused” campaign has been a con job from the beginning at two important levels.

The first level of the con, if it has been a con all along, would be the conning of the public. Much as we might resent an attempt to fool us and see it as especially unbecoming of the clergy, recent events in Washington should have taught us all by now that it’s not against the law to lie to us.

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May 20, 2019

Marching orders kept Buffalo cops from arresting child-molesting priests

BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

May 19, 2019

By Dan Herbeck

Hardly any of the more than 100 Buffalo area priests implicated as child molesters spent so much as one day in jail.

For years, most of their victims were too scared or embarrassed to make complaints.

But Buffalo Police had marching orders not to arrest Catholic priests, according to former vice squad Detective Martin Harrington and other retired officers. Instead they alerted the bishop’s office to any illegal activities.

“The department’s unwritten policy was that Catholic priests did not get arrested,” said Harrington, who investigated vice crimes for 17 years and retired in 1995. “I never had any experience with priests who molested children. I never heard of any priests molesting children. But we had priests we caught with pornography, or masturbating in the city parks, and our orders were to turn them over to the Buffalo Diocese. The diocese would deal with them … but they would not be arrested.”

The policy “only extended to Catholic priests,” Harrington recalled. “If we caught clergy from other religions, we arrested them.”

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How will extending statute of limitations in sex abuse cases affect New Jersey?

NEW JERSEY
North Jersey Record

May 17, 2019

By Deena Yellin

The ink was still wet on the law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy last Monday extending the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse when it was put into use:

A former altar boy announced Tuesday morning that he was filing a lawsuit against the Diocese of Camden and his former parish, alleging he was sexually abused as a child by the late Rev. Brendan Sullivan, a priest at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Ventnor City.

More lawsuits are likely to come. The question is whether there will be a flood or more like a trickle.

New York state passed a similar law in February and is facing a similar unknown.

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Erie Catholic Diocese priest placed on administrative leave

ERIE (PA)
Times-News

May 18, 2019

Monsignor Charles Kaza facing allegations of sexual abuse of a minor while serving at Erie’s St. John the Baptist Parish in 1980s.

The Catholic Diocese of Erie has placed Monsignor Charles Kaza, pastor of St. Tobias Parish in Brockway, on administrative leave pending an investigation into allegations Kaza sexually abused a minor, Erie Catholic Bishop Lawrence Persico announced Saturday.

The abuse is alleged to have taken place while Kaza was serving at St. John the Baptist Parish in Erie in the 1980s, Persico said.

Kaza, who also serves as president of the DuBois Central Catholic School Board, was placed on administrative leave, effective May 13, after the state Attorney General’s Office forwarded the sexual abuse allegation to the Catholic Diocese of Erie and its independent investigators at the K&L Gates law firm.

Kaza is cooperating with the investigation, Persico said in a news release issued Saturday.

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A CA Bill Forcing Catholic Priests to Report Child Sex Abuse Passes First Hurdle

CALIFORNIA
Friendly Atheist

May 20, 2019

By Hemant Mehta

Earlier this year, California State Sen. Jerry Hill filed a bill to remove clergy members from a list of those exempt from reporting child abuse.

As it stands, if someone walks into a confessional booth and admits to molesting a child, the priest doesn’t have to do anything with that information. Just say a couple of Hail Marys and be done with it. Compare that to public school teachers, who are required by law to tell a social worker if they learn about (or suspect) a child being abused.

The Church, of course, doesn’t want to play by those rules. Vatican officials claim the “seal of confession” is sacrosanct. Anything said in a confessional booth must be kept secret no matter what.

That leads to absurd consequences. In Australia, for example, a priest confessed to committing 1,500 instances of molestation (not a typo) to 30 separate priests over 25 years. Because of the sacred seal, though, no one ever reported his crimes, allowing the abuse to continue.

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Former Police Detective: Department Had ‘Marching Orders’ Not to Arrest Catholic Priests

BUFFALO (NY)
Law and Crime

May 20, 2019

By Jerry Lambe

A general view of a mass for a canonization ceremony of Pope Paul VI and the martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican, on October 14, 2018.

A police department received “marching orders” not to arrest Catholic priests but to instead alert the bishop’s office to any potentially illegal activities involving the priests, according to former a Buffalo Police Detective. This policy “only extended to Catholic priests.” “If we caught clergy from other religions, we arrested them,” he said.

Former vice squad Detective Martin Harrington and other retired Buffalo PD officers revealed this an explosive story published Sunday by Buffalo News. The interviews come just months after the Buffalo Diocese publicly identified 80 priests whom it determined were credibly accused of sexual misconduct with a minor, a number that would soon inflate to over 100.

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Liberia: Priest Tells Catholics Allegations of Sexual Harassment are False

MONROVIA
Front Page Africa

May 20, 2019

Report by Tecee Boley, New Narratives Senior Justice Correspondent

One of the priests in the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church in Liberia has blasted parishioners for what he terms as a betrayal of the church. The Administrator of the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Rev. Father Alphonsus Momoh told parishioners in the Sunday service of his church that accusations by Fr. Gabriel Sawyer that Archbishop Lewis Zeigler and Bishop Andrew Karnley had bullied and abused him for more than a decade after he rebuffed their sexual advances, were nothing but an effort to taint the church.

“What you are hearing is because an individual is hurt and decided to smear the image of the church. One day the truth will be told by the one who told the lie. Some believe it, some don’t and some are standing firm. But there are some of you here taking notes and recording on your phones to send the recording to them,” Fr. Momoh said.

This is the first public statement coming out of a Liberian clergy since allegations of sex-based misconduct and abuse of power was made public in the media.

Fr. Momoh, in a further rebuke of Sawyer, claimed that it was a quest for material and financial gains that Sawyer and others are ruining the church. “Because of greed! Everybody wants to get rich. Nobody wants to go through the proper channel. You will go and tarnish the name of the institution (s) you belong to. There is no trust. We find in our midst- pulling down each other.”

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California ‘confession bill’ viewed as violation of religious liberty

LOS ANGELES (CA)
Catholic News Service

May 17, 2019

By Pablo Kay

A bill making its way through the California Legislature would make the state the first since 1999 to require priests to choose between violating the law or violating the seal of the confessional.

At issue is the serious matter of child sexual abuse. Seven states right now require priests to violate the seal to report child abuse based on legislation passed in the 1970s and through the 1990s.

While many states have tried since 2002 to pass laws resembling the California Senate measure, S.B. 360, none have been successful. Instead, lawmakers around the country concluded similar bills would not protect children and would be a violation of religious liberty.

The summer of 2018 — with its Pennsylvania grand jury report on alleged abuse by priests and other church workers (with many claims decades old), the revelations of sexual misdeeds by then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington and investigations by state attorneys general into clergy abuse records — brought the battle against sexual abuse back to the confessional.

In California, priests, along with teachers, social workers, doctors and other professionals, are “mandated reporters.” That means they are required by law to report any case of suspected abuse to authorities. Currently, there is an exemption in the law for any clergy member “who acquires knowledge or a reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect during a penitential communication.”

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Catholic Conference apologizes for Facebook post trolling clergy abuse victim

HARRISBURG (PA)
WHTM

May 16, 2019

By Thomas LeClair

The Catholic Conference, a lobbying division of the church in Pennsylvania, is apologizing after a comment it made on Facebook in response to a victim of clergy abuse.

The conference recently posted on Facebook in support of a proposed limitation to abortion.

Carolyn Fortney is a Dauphin County survivor of clergy sexual abuse. She responded to the post with, “Up next, how about statute of limitations reform?”

The Catholic Conference replied, “Why do you have to troll here Carolyn? Don’t you get enough media attention?”

That surprised Fortney.

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Conroe police picked lock at Houston archdiocese to uncover priest child sex abuse records

HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle

May 16, 2019

By Nicole Hensley

Authorities used a lock pick to open a “bank vault” containing a trove of clergy files that the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston failed to hand over following a subpoena, according to court documents.

The picking tool helped Conroe Police Department investigators access the documents last November during a raid at the church’s Houston headquarters, Detective Joe McGrew said while describing the church’s lack of cooperation with their criminal probe. The agency was looking for evidence in the case against indicted priest Manuel La Rosa-Lopez and other clergy members who may have committed a crime.

A Dallas investigator said he contacted the Conroe Police Department and Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office regarding their search warrants. A sworn statement states that McGrew told his North Texas counterpart, David Clark, that after issuing a subpoena, his agency later “learned the Diocese of Galveston-Houston did not turn over everything” involving the priest in their investigation.

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Archbishop Gregory plans to get ‘out in field’

HYATTSVILLE (MD)
Catholic News Service

May 20, 2019

By Julie Asher

Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory will have a lot of things on his plate when he becomes the newest leader of the influential archdiocese situated in the nation’s capital: the sexual abuse roiling the Catholic Church, the tense political climate on the Hill and the challenges that come with learning about a new archdiocese.

The newest archbishop of Washington knows what his first priority will be however.

The “first and most important thing” is “getting out in the field and meeting the people,” Archbishop Gregory said in a May 17 interview.

He has six listening sessions scheduled with priests of the Washington Archdiocese, and “I’m trying to fill up my calendar right now with moments when I can be in the parishes with the people,” he said. Like “a Sunday supply priest,” he wants to visit local parishes to say Mass and afterward stand at the back of church and greet people.

Archbishop Gregory has “no fancy requirements” for such visits, nor would he expect any “fancy preparation.” He just has “the real desire to be there as a listener,” he said, adding that “it is that casual encounter with people that often proves to be the most fruitful.”

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Amended confession bill still targets priests, Catholic employees

CALIFORNIA
Angelus News

May 20, 2019

By Pablo Kay

Catholic officials are urging Catholics to continue to oppose a California bill that would force priests to disclose information about child sexual abuse that they hear in the sacrament of confession, which is advancing in the state legislature.

Current California law requires clergy to report suspected abuse or neglect unless the information about the abuse was obtained during confession.

Senate Bill 360, authored by Bay Area Democrat Sen. Jerry Hill, seeks to eliminate this so-called “exemption” for “penitential communication.”

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Will India’s ecumenical network beat clergy sex abuse?

INDIA
UCANews

May 20, 2019

By Cynthia Stephen

Rape charges against Jalandhar bishop force Indian Church to face its own demons, vindicate long-silenced nuns and lay women

Early in April, when police in India filed rape charges against Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar, he became the first bishop in history to face court proceedings for raping a Catholic nun.

The charges were filed nine months after the nun complained to police of prolonged sexual abuse from the bishop, who also served as the patron of the diocesan women’s congregation the nun had led for several years.

The nun and her supporters faced severe repression in the convent for going against the bishop. But the nun’s public protest in Kochi, in southern India, last September forced the government, which had dragged its feet for weeks, to act. The bishop was arrested. A special team was constituted to probe the case. And finally, on April 9, a charge-sheet was filed in Pala, Kerala.

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Allegation Against Bakersfield Priest Previously Deemed ‘Unsubstantiated’ Now Under Review By Fresno Diocese

FRESNO (CA)
KQED

May 19, 2019

By Alexandra Hall

More than 20 years after a man first reported he was abused by a Central Valley priest, the Catholic Diocese of Fresno is revisiting the allegation after several other individuals have come forward accusing the same priest. The diocese and Fresno County law enforcement officials had previously said the claim, first raised in 1998, was unsubstantiated.

The man, who has chosen not to disclose his identity, says that Bakersfield priest Monsignor Craig Harrison — who is currently on leave while under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct — inappropriately touched him when he was a teenager in Firebaugh.

According to the man’s attorney, Joseph George, the alleged abuse happened over the course of a year from 1992 to 1993 while the man was living at the rectory of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Firebaugh.

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‘Tell No One’: Poland Is Pushed to Confront Abuse of Children by Priests

NEW YORK (NY)
The New York Times

May 17, 2019

By Marc Santora and Joanna Berendt

WARSAW — Anna Misiewicz was just 7 years old when she was invited into the private chambers of her parish priest, in the small village of Topola in southwest Poland. She thought he wanted her to count church donations.

Instead, she found herself alone with a predator, identified only as Father Jan A. He touched her chest, stroked her body and forced her to use her hands to masturbate him.

Decades later, the smell of milk disgusts her still, she said, “because the priest would drink milk and the taste stayed on his mouth and lingered in mine.”

In a powerful new documentary that is rocking this deeply Roman Catholic nation, Ms. Misiewicz recalls these childhood nightmares, and then goes farther. She summons the courage to knock on the door of her abuser, a feeble old man but still a priest, and pose a simple question: Why?

“I should never have done it,” the priest says quietly in a moment captured on secretly recorded video. It was “some stupid passion,” he says. He then offers an apology and asks to kiss her hand. She can barely contain her disgust.

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Clergy Abuse Victims Caution Against Accepting Church Settlements

SAN DIEGO (CA)
KPBS

May 16, 2019

By John Carroll

Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests cautioned Thursday against accepting a church-sponsored program to financially compensate them.

At a news conference, several victims gathered with their lawyer and said the program does not hold the church accountable. The victims sat at a table with a banner featuring pictures of young victims and the words “stolen souls.”

One victim named Dede said she wanted people to understand the pain victims suffer at the hands of clergy.

“Do you know what it feels like to be terrorized, tormented, abused and knowing that you can’t do anything about it, that nobody believes and nobody’s gonna care?” she said.

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Showdown Looms at Arizona Legislature Over Childhood Sexual Abuse Bills

PHOENIX (AZ)
Phoenix New Times

May 20, 2019

By Elizabeth Whitman

When Annette Schuster was a child, she spent afternoons after school at an uncle’s house. He was kind to her, or so it seemed for a time. She recalled that he made her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, gave her a bed to nap in, and rubbed her back, among other places.

At the age of 12, Schuster informed her mother that she would never return to that uncle’s house, citing the abuse. Schuster’s mother told her never to lie like that again, she said. Schuster closed her mind to what had happened and concentrated on graduating from high school.

In later years, she confronted family members, including the uncle, hoping for answers. She was repeatedly dismissed. The uncle’s ex-wife said he never would have done anything to hurt Schuster. The uncle himself told Schuster that he had done no wrong, that he had done nothing Schuster didn’t want, she remembered.

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Gymnasts Testify; Lawmakers Won’t Name Abuse Bill Lobbyists

AUSTIN (TX)
Claims Journal

May 15, 2019

By Clarice Silber

Former U.S. national team gymnasts backing a Texas bill that would allow victims of sexual abuse more time to sue in civil court on Monday urged the state’s lawmakers to restore a key provision allowing those individuals to sue institutions.

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How will extending statute of limitations in sex abuse cases affect New Jersey?

NEW JERSEY
North Jersey Record

May 17, 2019

By Deena Yellin

The ink was still wet on the law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy last Monday extending the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse when it was put into use:

A former altar boy announced Tuesday morning that he was filing a lawsuit against the Diocese of Camden and his former parish, alleging he was sexually abused as a child by the late Rev. Brendan Sullivan, a priest at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Ventnor City.

More lawsuits are likely to come. The question is whether there will be a flood or more like a trickle.

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Harvard Students Felt Unsafe Under Weinstein Lawyer’s Watch. Now He’s Lost His Dean Post

BOSTON (MA)
WBUR

May 20, 2019

With Meghna Chakrabarti

A Harvard law professor who was part of Harvey Weinstein’s defense team is out as an undergraduate faculty dean after student protests. We look at #MeToo justice and campus culture now.

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Minnesota Lawsuit Aims to Make Vatican Publish Names of Sex Predator Priests

MINNESOTA
Legal Reader

May 17, 2019

By Ryan J. Farrick

Three of the plaintiffs are brothers–and this is their third time suing the Holy See.

Five Minnesota men who claim to have been abused as children by Roman Catholic clergy are suing the Vatican, accusing it of concealing the identities of thousands of sex predator priests.

The lawsuit, filed by three brothers and two other men, was filed in the U.S. District Court in St. Paul. The complaint claims that the Vatican has files on at least 3,400 clergy accused of sexual abuse, including some high-ranking officials.

Reuters notes that the Roman Catholic Church has been embroiled in a global scandal regarding child sex abuse since 2002.

In the past several years alone, dioceses in New York and California—as well as other states and U.S. territories—have paid out billions to settle with victims of abuse.

According to Reuters’ recap, the three brothers claim to have been molested by former Minnesota priest Curtis Wehmeyer for over a half-decade, between 2006 and 2012.

Another plaintiff says they were molested by another priest, Thomas Adamson, in the early 1980s. The remaining man, states the suit, was assaulted by former California clergyman Fidencio Silva-Flores sometime between 1978 and 1984.

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