ABUSE TRACKER

NORWICH (CT)
The Day

April 21. 2019

By Joe Wojtas

A General Assembly committee has modified a proposed bill so alleged victims of Catholic clergy abuse will not have a 27-month window to sue the church regardless of their age.

During an April 1 public hearing before the Judiciary Committee, people older than 48 who say they were sexually assaulted by priests urged the committee to support a provision in Senate Bill 3 that would have allowed them to sue the church after that age, which is the current law.

But a substitute bill approved by the committee that now moves on to the legislature for consideration would instead give victims to age 56 to file a lawsuit.

“It’s like another punch in the gut,” said Tim McGuire of New London, who discovered he had missed the filing deadline by three weeks when he decided to come forward 12 years ago.

Now, with the proposed change to age 56, he will miss the filing deadline by four years.

“I was stunned,” said McGuire, who said he heard about the change during a support group meeting late last week with the Connecticut chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

McGuire had broken down when he testified before the Judiciary Committee, telling members how as an 8-year-old altar boy he was sexually assaulted by the late Rev. James Curry at St. Joseph’s Church in Noank and how it has affected his life.

“It may help a few people, but it left me in the dust again,” added McGuire. “Why take away someone’s chance for accountability?”

Gail Howard, one of the co-leaders of the Connecticut chapter of SNAP, said Sunday that of the 20 priest abuse victims who have contacted her since last summer’s release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report on priest sex abuse there, just two to three will benefit from the increase in age to 56. The others are older.

Howard said that while victims told their stories to the committee in public, the Catholic church lobbied to get rid of the change behind the scenes. It is unclear which legislator made the motion to change the proposed bill.

Howard called the change disappointing but said it took a similar effort in New York seven years to be successful.

“This is our first year. We have to make sure this bill passes and then we can go back next year,” she said, about again trying to eliminate the statute of limitations.

Some alleged victims who have waited to reveal the sexual abuse they suffered until later in life have discovered they are unable to file lawsuits because they did not do so by age 48, under the current statute of limitations. They and their supporters say that due to a number of factors, many victims wait until much later in life to reveal the abuse.

According to bill’s original language, a lawsuit to recover damages for personal injury to a minor, including emotional distress, caused by sexual abuse that could not be brought by Sept. 19, 2019, because the legal action would not fall within the current statute of limitations, could be filed on or before Dec. 31, 2021.

The bill also would allow minor victims to bring a legal action at any time in their life if it concerns an incident that took place on or after Oct. 1, 2019, or occurred prior to that date and the applicable statute of limitations had not expired by Sept. 30, 2019.

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.

SONOMA (CA)
Sonoma Valley Sun

April 21, 2019

Current Hanna Boys Center CEO Brian Farragher has addressed but not disputed the charges of molestation made against the facility’s former executive director, details of which were dramatically revealed in an outdoor press conference Wednesday at Sonoma’s St. Francis Solano Catholic Church.

Father John Crews, the executive director until 2013, is newly accused of abusing two residents — one young man who lived at Hanna 1984-85 and another 1999-2001. Crews resigned in 2013 after being accused of sexually abusing a boy in the 1970s.

Sacramento attorney Joseph George said he has filed formal complaints with the state Attorney General’s Office. He was joined at the press conference by representatives of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

In a letter made public by his attorney, one of the alleged victims, David Ortega, called for “anyone else who has been a victim to step forward, let your voice be heard and understand that it is not and was not ever a fault of your own.”

Farragher said he had no advance knowledge of Wednesday’s event.

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.

NASHVILLE (TN)
Baptist News Global

April 18, 2019

By Carra Greer

On Monday, I watched in horror with those all over the world as Notre Dame Cathedral burned and smoke billowed into the Paris sky. One of the oldest and most famous cathedrals in the world, Notre Dame was erected over 800 years ago. Yet it took only a few hours for the great spire to topple like a child’s block tower. As the fire burned unscathed by the water cannons flooding the structure, virtual onlookers began to speculate if the building would be totally consumed or if enough could be saved and rebuilt.

As I stared at the television screen, I felt a visceral reaction coursing through my body. It was a physical manifestation of what I have felt for the last decade. Sounds horribly dramatic, doesn’t it? But, for those who have experienced harassment, rejection, ostracism, judgment, isolation, sexual assault, physical/mental/verbal abuse, manipulation and even rape at the hands of revered clergy, we have been watching our sacred space burn for years, maybe decades.

And, for many of us, we have watched our faith go up in smoke.

“Survivors deserve an opportunity to be restored in their own way and in their own time.”

Those fortunate enough to worship and practice their faith in a safe space with good, honest clergy and congregants without experiencing traumas of any kind have this week seen and experienced a manifestation of what it is like when a person’s sacred space, spiritual center and place of worship is, in essence, set ablaze. Decimated. Obliterated. Many of us (of varying denominations and religious groups) who have experienced the nastiest, most vile parts of the Church have watched in isolation as our sacred spaces go up in smoke, often feeling like we are the arsonists.

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.

En los 12 años recientes, la Fiscalía General del Estado (FGE) abrió 28 carpetas de investigación contra ministros de culto, la mayoría católicos, por delitos que van de abuso sexual infantil hasta atentados al pudor contra menores, pero sólo en una investigación se llegó a condenar al agresor, según datos de la dependencia. 

Las 28 investigaciones corresponden a 33 presuntas víctimas, de las cuales al menos 26 eran menores al momento de ser agredidos, incluida una niña de 4 años por violación equiparada o el caso de tres niños de 8, 9 y 14 años por abuso sexual infantil y maltrato, pero también existe una denuncia de una mujer de 60 años por tentativa de violación. 

En cuanto al estado procesal actual de las 28 averiguaciones, 18 están archivadas, 6 en trámite y 5 fueron consignadas. 

El único caso en que se llegó a una sentencia condenatoria ocurrió en Zapopan, en 2011, donde los familiares de una joven de 15 años acusaron a un sacerdote por violación en grado de tentativa. No parece haber predilección hacia el género de las víctimas, pues 16 casos son contra hombres y 17 a mujeres. 

Además de ministros de culto católicos también hay señalamientos contra un pastor protestante, aunque no se especifica de qué religión; asimismo, otras dos denuncias en 2013 contra un mismo pastor de una iglesia no especificada y una más contra un fraile. Además, en tres casos no se asentó el culto religioso ni el ministerio a cargo del denunciado. 

En Guadalajara, 9 denuncias 

Con nueve casos, Guadalajara concentra la mayoría de denuncias, seguida de Zapopan y Autlán con cuatro en cada municipio, Puerto Vallarta y Ameca con tres denuncias cada uno, mientras con un caso están Ayutla, La Huerta, Mezquitic y Tonalá; además de uno, cuya procedencia no fue anotada en la averiguación. 

Entre los casos que ya fueron consignados ante el juez, pero no recibieron condena, está el de un pastor cristiano de Puerto Vallarta acusado de violación equiparada contra una niña de 4 años, en 2008, y el de un cura acusado de atentados al pudor por una adolescente de 17 años, en 2009, en Guadalajara. 

También fueron consignados ante un juez sin recibir condena un sacerdote católico acusado de atentados al pudor contra una niña de 11 años, en Puerto Vallarta, o el de una de 13 años también por ese delito, en Tonalá, en 2013, aunque se ignora el culto del ministro religioso acusado. 

En 2014 fue consignado ante un juez, pero tampoco recibió condena, un fraile católico en Mezquitic, acusado de abuso sexual infantil contra dos adolescentes de 14 y 15 años. Igual ocurrió en 2015 en La Huerta, luego que un sacerdote fue acusado de abuso sexual infantil equiparado y atentados al pudor, cometido contra una niña de 11 años. 

Entre los casos archivados está la denuncia interpuesta en 2007 en Ayutla contra un sacerdote por atentados al pudor contra una niña de 5 años o la denuncia por tentativa de violación presentada en 2008 por una mujer de 60 años en Guadalajara contra un sacerdote católico; también el de una niña de 10 años en 2010 por tentativa de violación en Guadalajara contra un religioso cuyo culto no fue detallado. 

Otros casos archivados son el de un sacerdote acusado de maltrato a un menor en Zapopan, en 2011, o el de violación contra un adolescente de 16 años también en Zapopan ese mismo año y también contra un integrante de la curia católica; o el de un hombre de 22 años que acusó a un sacerdote por atentados al pudor, en 2012, o una niña de 14 años que denunció abuso sexual infantil contra un cura en 2013. 

La denuncia que abarca el mayor número de presuntas víctimas se refiere a tres niños de 8, 9 y 14 años por abuso sexual y maltrato, ocurrido en 2013 y se encuentra archivada, pero no se detalló el municipio donde presuntamente ocurrió, aunque sí que el señalado es el pastor de una iglesia no especificada. 

Más denuncias archivadas fueron presentadas en 2017 en Ameca contra un cura, por abuso sexual a un adolescente de 16 años; en 2018 fueron interpuestas dos en Autlán también contra un cura local y que fueron archivadas: una contra un menor de 17 años por abuso sexual y otra contra una niña –no se detalló edad– por abuso sexual infantil. Ese mismo año una de 15 años denunció abuso sexual contra otro sacerdote en Puerto Vallarta y el caso quedó archivado. 

En Autlán las denuncias han proliferado en meses recientes y en este 2019 hay dos casos más contra un cura, ambos archivados y presentados por un hombre cuya edad no fue consignada, por atentados al pudor. 

Denuncias en trámite 

En trámite continúa la denuncia que en 2013 presentaron dos mujeres, una de 15 años y otra de 19, por abuso sexual infantil y violación contra un pastor –sin culto especificado– ocurrida en Guadalajara. 

También en trámite está el caso de una niña de 13 años quien fue abusada sexualmente, según la denuncia, por un sacerdote católico de Guadalajara en 2014. 

Otras querellas, en trámite, fueron presentadas en Guadalajara en 2016 por un hombre de 34 años por violación; y en Zapopan un menor dijo haber sido violado. En ambos casos no se especifica el culto religioso y ministerio de los acusados. 

En Ameca, en 2018 un adolescente de 13 años denunció abuso sexual y en ese mismo municipio, pero hace apenas unos meses, se presentó una segunda denuncia también –de uno de 13 años– por corrupción de menores. Ambos casos contra un cura católico y los dos en trámite. 

Bajo el cobijo de Sandoval Iñiguez 

Roberto Castelán, historiador e investigador de la Universidad de Guadalajara, autor de una novela por publicarse sobre abusos sexuales infantiles entre la curia, no dudó en calificar al cardenal emérito de Guadalajara, Juan Sandoval Íñiguez “como el gran protector de pederastas. “La mayoría de casos no terminan en denuncia penal, casi todos los abusados son católicos que prefieren denunciar ante la parroquia, ante los obispos, pero todos los paran y han hecho de eso una labor eficiente. 

Por ejemplo, el obispo de Autlán (Gonzalo Galván Castillo) a quien en 2015 obligaron a renunciar al cargo por las múltiples denuncias de proteger a un cura pederasta (Horacio López)”, dijo Castelán. 

El investigador dijo que por ello son muy raras las denuncias penales y éstas suceden cuando “de plano se les escapa” a los jerarcas católicos. 

Una de las querellas que se le salió de control a la Iglesia fue la de Rocío Cázares Tamayo, quien en 2014 y tras cuatro décadas de haber sido abusada sexualmente –de acuerdo con la denuncia 4421/2014– dio a conocer públicamente que el sacerdote Francisco Narez Fernández, miembro del grupo franciscano que resguarda la basílica de Zapopan, la agredió a ella, a una hermana y hasta a su madre. Cinco años después la denuncia sigue sin resultados. 

Otro caso que causó enfrentamientos verbales entre pobladores de Temacapulín y Tepatitlán, en la conservadora región alteña jalisciense y cuna del movimiento cristero, fue el del sacerdote Rafael Córdova, a quien una familia del primer pueblo acusó de abusar sexualmente de una niña de 11 años que padece síndrome de Down. 

Al cura Córdova los fieles de Temacapulín habían acusado ante la diócesis de San Juan de los Lagos de tener problemas emocionales que afectaban su ministerio, pero sus llamados nunca fueron atendidos, recordó Gabriel Espinoza, ex sacerdote católico muy conocido en el pueblo por ser uno de los principales opositores que lograron detener la inundación de la comunidad por la construcción de la presa El Zapotillo. 

“Cierto o falso, tras las acusaciones se hizo un escándalo, la gente de Tepatitlán, de donde era originario, contra la de Temacapulín, pero no fue la mayoría de la gente de Temaca la que lo denunció como pueblo, sino la familia supuestamente agraviada. A mí no me consta, pero sí hubo un escándalo de tales dimensiones que tras el retiro del padre Córdova el pueblo quedó sin sacerdote cerca de 10 años”, dijo. 

En la arquidiócesis de Guadalajara, su vocero, Antonio Montaño Mercado, dijo que en los 25 años que lleva a cargo de la oficina de prensa conoce alrededor de 12 casos en ese tiempo con “denuncia explícita de parte de familiares contra sacerdotes de aquí de Guadalajara” y sólo uno fue condenado a cárcel. 

Recordó que el cardenal de Guadalajara, Francisco Robles Ortega -quien cumplió siete años en el cargo el pasado febrero–ha presentado tres denuncias ante la fiscalía “porque es la actual orden y compromiso de la Iglesia, aunque el caso sea presunto”, para que sea la autoridad civil la que deslinde responsabilidades. 

“Uno de ellos ya no siguió en el presbiterio y lo más probable es que los otros dos también terminen por declinar o se espere el proceso de Roma, porque simultáneamente a las denuncias ante las autoridades, se presentan los casos en el Vaticano”, dijo. 
 

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CEBU CITY (PHILIPPINES)
Sun Star

April 21, 2019

HELP a child being abused and report the crime to civil authorities.

In an article published in the January 2019 issue of the “World Mission” magazine, Fr. Shay Cullen of the Preda Foundation wrote that, “Every one of us has a solemn duty and responsibility to stop (child abuse).”

Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, the member of the Missionary Society of St. Columban co-founded the People’s Recovery Empowerment Development Assistance (Preda) Foundation, an Olongapo City organization promoting and protecting the rights of women and children.

Cullen singled out what should be the priorities in child advocacy: first, to rescue and provide “protection, care therapy, and support” to “child victims hurt, damaged, and traumatized” by the abusers living “in their own home, in the community and on the internet;” and second, to “(give) justice to the victims, (which) prevents the perpetrators from abusing more children.”

Threatening children are predators in all guises: “The biological fathers, live-in partners and community pedophiles are most frequent offenders but there are clergy too,” wrote Cullen.

Last February 2019, Pope Francis convened the three-day Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church. It was widely anticipated as a “landmark Vatican summit” to get the bishops to take concrete action to address clerical sex abuse.

In his presentation during the Vatican summit, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle admitted that the “lack of response of bishops to victims of clergy sexual abuse inflicts wounds on them,” reported “The Philippine Star” on Feb. 22. The priests abusing minors “inflicted wounds not only on the victims but also on their families, the clergy, the Church, the wider society, the perpetrators themselves and the bishops,” the same report quoted Tagle as saying.

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NEW BEDFORD (MA)
South Coast Today

April 20, 2019

By Michelle Loranger

The clergy sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Roman Catholic Church and the abuse of young women and girls at the highest level of amateur gymnastics have commanded most of the headlines.

But the reality of child sexual abuse most often strikes closer to home. And it happens across all racial and ethnic groups, all income classes, and in each and every state.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention and Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and the reality is that 90 percent of children who suffer sexual abuse do so at the hands of adults they love and trust — often members of their immediate or extended families.

Last year, the Children’s Advocacy Center of Bristol County handled 815 cases — more than two new cases each day — most of which involved the sexual abuse of children. (The number also includes children who were physically abused, were witness to violence or victims of child trafficking). The annual caseload has more than doubled since the program opened its doors in 2007. And while exposure in the news media has helped more children get help than ever before, many cases of child abuse are unreported and untreated for years — if ever.

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DAYTON (OH)
Dayton Daily News

April 20, 2019

By Will Garbe and Josh Sweigart

Former Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School students have been asked to contact authorities if they were abused by an ex-teacher who worked at the school during the late 1970s, according to a letter from the religious order that sponsors the school.

Former Bro. Paul Botty was convicted in 1986 of abusing students at a Cleveland school, according to the April 16 letter mailed to the Chaminade Julienne classes of 1978-1981. The crimes are not connected to his service at the Dayton school.The letter comes as the Marianist Province of the United States reviews its files on those accused of sexual abuse. Following a request from the Dayton Daily News, the order said last month that it is “actively reviewing the decision to release names” of accused members.

An ongoing Dayton Daily News investigation into conduct by Marianist leaders who handled sexual abuse claims over the past several decades will publish in coming weeks.The newspaper asked the Marianists for information about Botty after finding photos of him in a CJ yearbook from the 1977-1978 academic year. Botty became a Marianist two years later.“Current school administration only recently learned from the Marianist Province that the Mr. Botty pictured in the school’s 1978 yearbook was the same person convicted and imprisoned as a Marianist brother for crimes committed more than 35 years ago and not connected to his service at CJ,” said Daniel Meixner, Chaminade Julienne president, in a statement.

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MIDLAND (MICHIGAN)
Midland Daily News

April 20, 2019

Voice of the Faithful will meet from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, April 22, at Blessed Sacrament Church, 3109 Swede Ave, Midland.

There will be a group discussion on an article by Father Tom Doyle in which he describes toxic clericalism as the cause of the abuse and gives specific changes needed to stop the sex abuse in the church. The article, “The Sexual Abuse Crisis is not a Crisis” by Doyle can be found at consciencemag.org/2019/04/03/the-sexual-abuse-crisis-is-not-a-crisis and should be read in advance of the meeting.

Doyle was one of the first to warn of the impending crisis. He is a Dominican priest, canon lawyer, addictions therapist and long-time supporter of justice and compassion for clergy sex abuse victims.

Voice of the Faithful is a group of Catholics that is concerned about the church and its future. Its goals are to support survivors of clergy sex abuse, to support priests of integrity and to shape structural change within the Catholic church.

More information, Norbert Bufka 989-835-2832 or www.votf.org.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Guardian

April 20, 2019

By Peter Stanford

In his pre-Easter address to pilgrims gathering in Rome, Pope Francis highlighted Jesus’s words as he died on the cross on the first Good Friday: “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.” We all, the Argentinian pontiff stressed, need to find the courage to forgive those who have wronged us.

Those remarks sparked speculation about who exactly Francis was struggling to forgive. Top of most lists in Rome this Easter is his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who decided in 2013 to break with 600 years of work-unto-death papal tradition and retire. This opened Catholicism’s door to the breath of fresh air that is Francis. And, for the past six years, as the winds of change have blown through the church, Benedict has by and large kept a respectful silence, ignoring the ever louder pleas of traditionalist Catholics who want the 92-year-old to join them in opposing Francis’s reform agenda.

That changed earlier this month, when Benedict published a 6,000-word article in a German magazine. It made headlines by blaming the clerical abuse scandal on the moral relativism of the 1960s sexual revolution, and the “homosexual cliques” that allowed this “lawlessness” to infect seminaries. It is a line of argument that directly – and, conservative cardinals insist, pointedly – contradicts all Francis’s efforts (including a summit of world bishops in the Vatican in February) to tackle the damage done by paedophile priests by pointing the finger at a dominant culture within the church; a culture that encourages priests and bishops to operate as if they are above the moral guidelines they preach, and regard themselves as beyond the sanction of civil courts.

Neither explanation has convinced some lifelong Catholics who, as a result this Easter, will stay away from church services. The Francis version at least has the virtue of not flying in the face of all contemporary research, which doesn’t conflate sexual attraction between consenting adults of the same gender with the brutal and systematic violation of children.

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STOCKTON (CA)
Stockton Record

April 19, 2019

By Wes Bowers

The Diocese of Stockton said Friday that it will not add any new names to its list of “credibly accused” unless it is contacted by victims and survivors.

The diocese’s statement comes after the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests came to Stockton on Tuesday to urge the organization to add an additional seven names of clergymen who spent parts of their careers in the area and have been publicly accused of abuse in other regions to its list of “credible accused.”

“The Diocese of Stockton’s list is based on information provided to the Diocese by survivors of unlawful sexual misconduct or their representatives,” the Diocese said in a statement. Neither survivors nor their representatives have contacted the Diocese of Stockton regarding any allegation of unlawful sexual conduct by any of the persons named.”

In 2017, the diocese was required to post the names of 14 members accused of abuse on its website.

SNAP, however, found seven more priests accused of abuse who spent time in Stockton but aren’t listed on the diocese’s list of accused.

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FLEMINGTON (NJ)
Tapinto Flemington-Raritan

April 19, 2019

A priest who formerly served in Hunterdon has been permanently removed from the priesthood, according to a press release issued today, Good Friday, by the Diocese of Metuchen.

Mark Dolak, 66, served in various Catholic churches throughout the state, including St. Catherine of Siena in Pittstown. He was ordained in 1979, according to the Diocese.

Dolak “had his priestly faculties removed” more than 20 years ago, the Diocese said.

“He has now been permanently removed from the priesthood by the Holy Father via the laicization process,” today’s press release states. “When a priest is laicized, he is returned to the status of a lay person.”

Dolak was previously identified by the church as “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of a minor.

“Upon receiving the news from the Holy See about the removal from the priesthood of Mark Dolak, my first thought was to pray for the survivors of child sexual abuse,” said Bishop James F. Checchio in a statement. “While his crimes and sins are decades old … they are no less shameful and horrific and their effects sadly remain.

“I asked diocesan staff to let his survivors know of this latest step,” he said. “I pray that this action in at least some small way aids his victims in the healing process.”

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DENVER (CO)
National Catholic Register

April 19, 2019

By Joseph O’Brien

The faithful who entered St. George Church in Guilford, Connecticut, Feb. 16 were met by a scene full of white roses and blue delphiniums filing the church’s interior with their fragrance.

The burst of blooms was a study in contrast to the somber mood of the occasion, as Catholics from around this south-central region of Connecticut were gathering for a “Mass of Reparation” for the victims of sexual abuse.

Picked from the parish’s St. George Healing Garden, which was established by the parish in 2015 for victims of sexual abuse and their families, the church flowers carried a sobering message. As prayer cards handed out for the occasion indicated, white roses symbolize Mary’s sorrow, purity and innocence, while blue delphiniums symbolize protection and a striving for something greater and more important.

On this day, Archbishop Leonard Blair of Hartford came to St. George’s to celebrate the second of three Masses of reparation for victims of clergy sexual abuse. Along with two auxiliary bishops, Archbishop Blair celebrated the three Masses in three distinct locales of the archdiocese: St. Bartholomew Church in Manchester, east of the centrally located diocesan see, Jan. 27; at St. George’s in the south the following month; and, most recently, March 26 in the western part of the archdiocese at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Harwinton (which, with its sister church, Immaculate Conception, in New Hartford, composes Our Lady of Hope parish).

The three Masses were announced in a Jan. 2 letter by Archbishop Blair, almost three weeks before the archdiocese’s Jan. 22 release of the names of 36 archdiocese clergy (23 deceased), six religious order priests and six priests from other dioceses working in the diocese who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor since 1953. Of the priests named, 23 are deceased and none are in active ministry. None of the abuse cases took place during Archbishop Blair’s appointment.

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MUMBAI (INDIA)
Crux

April 19, 2019

By Nirmala Carvalho

Catholics in Mumbai reflected on the abuse scandal facing the Church during a Via Crucis in the city’s historically-Christian Bandra neighborhood.

More than a thousand people attended the event at St. Andrew’s College, which focused on the “Scandals of the Cross.”

Bishop John Rodrigues, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Bombay, led the stations, and said that scandal in the Church is a stumbling block and the opposite of holiness.

“For all abuse victims falling under the heavy burden of anguish too heavy to carry, we pray with them in their pain, fear and confusion, that they may have the endurance and receive the love that enables them to rise again,” read one prayer.

“For our children who have been hurt by their ministers, we pray. For mothers and fathers who have borne the pain of their children’s suffering, we pray. For all our sisters and brothers who are angry, ashamed, saddened and disillusioned by the crimes that have been committed within the Body of Christ, we pray,” it continued.

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RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Cathiloc Diocese

April 11, 2019

The Diocese of Richmond received a complaint from an adult alleging sexual abuse by a former employee when the individual was a minor. In keeping with diocesan policy, the adult individual was encouraged to report the allegation to the Norfolk Police Department. The Diocese of Richmond was recently informed that the accused was arrested and charged by Norfolk Police.

The former employee, Mr. Daniel M. Wolfe, worked for the Diocese of Richmond as a teacher for 11 years in the 1970s to early 1980s. The alleged incident(s) was reported to the diocese as having occurred between 1978-1979 when the victim was a student at what was previously known as Norfolk Catholic High School. Most recently, Mr. Wolfe was a Latin teacher at Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School for part of the 2017-2018 school year.

The diocese is cooperating fully with law enforcement regarding the allegation and will continue to do so. Out of respect for the ongoing investigation, the diocese refrains from any comment until the civil process is complete.

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MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

April 19, 2019

Melbourne’s new Catholic Archbishop has used his Easter message to acknowledge the church seems “shattered” and “wounded” after a year in which Cardinal George Pell was jailed for sexually abusing two choirboys.

Archbishop Peter Comensoli did not mention his predecessor by name, but spoke of how the Melbourne church had been “walking through loss and grief”.

He said the story of Jesus Christ’s resurrection was a reminder of new possibilities.

“Our way ahead with Him does not mean a rejection of our past, but a transfiguration of it. Jesus is our hope of a new path,” Archbishop Comensoli said.

“As shattered and as wounded as our local Church can seem, the Risen Lord, in his gloriously wounded body, is inviting us to share in his life and to walk with him.”

“This Easter, all of us are being invited to taste something of this joy of the Resurrection, to look on Jesus’s resurrected wounds and see hope for ourselves and for the world.”

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.

AUSTRALIA
The Courier

April 19, 2019

By Greg Gliddon

BALLARAT’S Catholic Diocese is donating $300,000 to the Centre Against Sexual Assault (CASA), to help the service work with abuse survivors across the city.

Earlier this month it was announced the Ballarat branch of CASA will receive $700,000 in State Government funding as part of a statewide $5 million commitment over two years.

The church’s commitment will see that funding now lift to $1 million over two years which it hopes will assist hundreds of people living with the stigma of sexual assault.

Diocese business manager Andrew Jirik said the church had been seeking a way to support CASA.

“We’ve been supporting victims through various avenues, but it was opportune two weeks ago when we heard about the funding the state government had given CASA’s throughout Victoria, so it was timely to see if we could top that off,” Mr Jirik said.

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VATICAN
National Catholic Reporter

April 16, 2019

By Joshua J. McElwee

A group of prominent German-speaking theologians has sharply criticized retired Pope Benedict XVI’s recent letter on clergy sexual abuse, saying it “instrumentalized” the Catholic church’s continuing crisis to rehash stale, decades-long theological disputes.

In a blunt two-page letter released April 15, the theologians said the former pontiff ignored scientific research on the causes of abuse, neglected evidence of the centuries-long history of the problem, and did not speak from the perspective of victim-survivors.

“The analysis of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI is based on a number of false assumptions,” said the German Association of Moral Theologians, which represents about 40 prominent academics. “It is assessed by us as a failed and improper contribution to the resolution of the abuse crisis.”

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CANADA
LifeSiteNews

April 17, 2019

Cardinal Gerhard Müller has given several interviews in recent days defending Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s April 10 letter on the roots of the abuse crisis.

The former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith told the German newspaper Die Welt that “in his letter, Benedict has pierced the boil,” and his text “is more intelligent than all the contributions at the Roman ‘Abuse Summit’ and the know-it-all moral experts at the German Bishops’ Conference.”

In a new interview with LifeSiteNews, Cardinal Müller further explains his thoughts and returns to his strong rebuke of the Sex Abuse Summit in Rome. “The nebulous concept of clericalism is the wrong approach,” he explained. “With a false diagnosis, one can never find the right therapy, but, rather, one will only worsen the illness.”

It is about “grave sins against the Sixth Commandment,” Müller points out. He mentions two prelates in Rome who know about the empirical facts: “Cardinal O’Malley and Cardinal Ladaria both know the most concretely about the causes and the conditions of clerical sexual crimes committed against adolescents.”

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CANADA
LifeSiteNews

April 16, 2019

Since the publication of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI’s 10 April letter on the abuse crisis, the German bishops’ news website Katholisch.de has published several harsh rebukes of the former Pope. For example, they accuse the Pope of causing a “schism,” of making “absurd” references to the cultural revolution of the 1960s, and also of “abusing” the very “topic of abuse.”

Cardinal Gerhard Müller has come to Benedict’s defense, rebuking the German moral theologians as “people who neither believe nor think.”

On April 10, Pope Benedict published his 6,000-word-long document, in which he discusses some of the roots of the current sex abuse crisis in the Church, and he thereby points to the moral relativism and laxity that entered the Catholic Church in the wake of the cultural revolution of the 1960s in the West.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WITF

April 16, 2019

By Katie Meyer

By the end of the week, the state House is hoping to pass every proposal included in last year’s grand jury report on decades of child abuse within the Roman Catholic church.

The measures will then await Senate approval. For some of the provisions, that approval isn’t guaranteed.

The grand jury report gave a number of recommendations, all aimed at stemming abuse and keeping institutions from covering it up.

Lawmakers have been working on them since last year. And on Monday, the three final provisions passed out of committee.

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UNITED STATES
Baptist News

April 18, 2019

By Carra Greer

On Monday, I watched in horror with those all over the world as Notre Dame Cathedral burned and smoke billowed into the Paris sky. One of the oldest and most famous cathedrals in the world, Notre Dame was erected over 800 years ago. Yet it took only a few hours for the great spire to topple like a child’s block tower. As the fire burned unscathed by the water cannons flooding the structure, virtual onlookers began to speculate if the building would be totally consumed or if enough could be saved and rebuilt.

As I stared at the television screen, I felt a visceral reaction coursing through my body. It was a physical manifestation of what I have felt for the last decade. Sounds horribly dramatic, doesn’t it? But, for those who have experienced harassment, rejection, ostracism, judgment, isolation, sexual assault, physical/mental/verbal abuse, manipulation and even rape at the hands of revered clergy, we have been watching our sacred space burn for years, maybe decades.

And, for many of us, we have watched our faith go up in smoke.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Washington Post

April 18, 2019

By Michelle Boorstein, Julie Zauzmer and Sarah Pulliam Bailey

When the first Catholic clergy sexual abuse crisis erupted in the early 2000s, Wilton Gregory led hundreds of defensive and divided bishops in passing the most aggressive action on abuse in U.S. church history.

But Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke remembers something else about Gregory, who was selected this month by Pope Francis to head the prestigious District of Columbia Archdiocese.

As one of the laypeople Gregory appointed to serve on an advisory board to the bishops, Burke was struck by an inquiry he made to her one night when they found themselves alone after a meeting. He wanted to know how she’d been able to visit Vatican officials for her research on abuse.

She’d searched “Vatican,” she told him, selected several offices she thought were related to the abuse issue, then faxed letters asking to visit.

“His face was ashen. ‘You what?’ ” she recalls him saying. At 55, that was, she believed, Gregory’s first experience with laypeople who went outside the chain of command.

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KETTERING (OH)
National Catholic Register

April 18, 2019

By Adam DeVille

COMMENTARY: Now is the time for the entire People of God to rise up, roll up their sleeves.

As Catholics around the world continue to reel from seemingly endless revelations of abuses of sex and power, do we want to give the devil another unearned victory?

Instead of finding solutions to the crisis, we Catholics are allowing Satan to play both ends against the middle, getting us to fight amongst ourselves about “clericalism” and “lavender mafias” and so forth, all to his advantage.

But let’s remember that Lent is about driving Satan back into the desert and being purified of our illusions so that we can more clearly see and hear the voice of the Lord.

What is the Lord calling the Church to now? The answer to that question is always the same and ever new. He is calling the Church to purification and perfection — as he always does — but one of the ways to do that in 2019 is to introduce new structures of accountability, some examples of which were recently highlighted by Peter Jesserer Smith’s excellent article for the Register of March 12 (“Laity Mobilize to End the Sex-Abuse Crisis and Reform the Church”).

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NEW YORK (NY)
The Associated Press

April 18, 2019

By David Crary

The percentage of U.S. adults who belong to a church or other religious institution has plunged by 20 percentage points over the past two decades, hitting a low of 50 percent last year, according to a new Gallup poll. Among major demographic groups, the biggest drops were recorded among Democrats and Hispanics.

Gallup said church membership was 70 percent in 1999 – and close to or higher than that figure for most of the 20th century. Since 1999, the figure has fallen steadily, while the percentage of U.S. adults with no religious affiliation has jumped from 8 percent to 19 percent.

Among Americans identifying with a particular religion, there was a sharp drop in church membership among Catholics – dropping from 76 percent to 63 percent over the past two decades as the Church was buffeted by clergy sex-abuse scandals. Membership among Protestants dropped from 73 percent to 67 percent over the same period.

Among Hispanic Americans, church membership dropped from 68 percent to 45 percent since 2000, a much bigger decline than for non-Hispanic white and black Americans.

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CAROL STREAM (IL)
Christianity Today

April 18, 2019

By Kate Shellnutt

The church network pushed back against renewed scrutiny around SGC and former president C. J. Mahaney’s response to abuse claims.

Despite continued calls for an independent, third-party investigation into Sovereign Grace Churches (SGC) and its response to abuse allegations, the network has officially taken the option off the table, calling it “inappropriate, impractical, unjust” and “impossible.”

Controversy has surrounded SGC—previously Sovereign Grace Ministries, or SGM—and its founder C. J. Mahaney since at least 2012, when SGM’s flagship congregation faced a lawsuit alleging a sexual abuse cover-up, which was later dismissed on procedural grounds.

This year, as evangelicals ramp up their response to abuse, top leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention have joined the scrutiny over Mahaney and his current congregation, SGC Louisville, which is also affiliated with the SBC.

In a statement released this week, SGC declared that there hasn’t been enough credible evidence against its leaders or churches to necessitate an investigation and that an outside query would violate the church’s ecclesiastical accountability structure.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

April 18, 2019

By Diarmuid Pepper

Just like Notre Dame, let the Catholic Church rise from the ashes of its controversial and scandalous past, writes Diarmuid Pepper.

Today, Notre Dame is a shadow of its former self. With the spire collapsing amid gasps and tears, it looked as though the famous bell towers might soon follow suit.

But they didn’t. Notre Dame is so badly scarred, injured, maimed and disfigured, but somehow, it’s still standing. Likewise, the Catholic Church still remains standing despite the controversies which have maimed it in recent years.

As we move throughout Holy Week and into Easter, Notre Dame can act as a powerful metaphor; the Church, for many, still stands secure and strong despite its many scandals.

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SACRAMENTO (CA)
The Sacramento Bee

April 18, 2019

By Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks

The sexual abuse victim of a former St. Francis High School softball coach who sued the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento for failing to protect her said Wednesday she is being unfairly made to pay the church’s court fees.

Bailey Boone sued the school and church in 2017 after she was sexually abused as a 16-year-old by her St. Francis softball coach, Michael Martis. Martis pleaded guilty to having sex with minors the same year, and was sentenced to four years in prison.

After she withdrew her lawsuit earlier this year, Boone’s lawyer, Joseph C. George Jr., said attorneys representing the church gave Boone an “extreme” choice: She could promise not to refile and lawyers wouldn’t request roughly $7,330 in a “memorandum of costs” (a court fees bill), or refuse and pay up.

In response, diocese spokesman Kevin Eckery said the church does not want money from Boone and is working to get court costs waived. He said the request for her to pay was made by the attorneys hired by the insurance company defending the diocese.

“We have made this point clear to our insurer and the law firm representing our insurer in this case,” Eckery said. “She’s not going to pay a dime.”

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NEW ZEALAND
Newshub

April 19, 2019

David Tombs for The Conversation

The crisis of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, and the institutional denial and cover up, has left many people of faith shocked by the lack of appropriate response toward survivors.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, the president of the Australian bishops’ conference, has called for a Copernican revolution on sexual abuse in the church and a shift in Catholic culture so that abuse survivors, not clergy, shape the church response.

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ROME
The New York Times

April 18, 2019

By Jason Horowitz

Pope Francis dropped in again this week on his predecessor, Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, wishing him happy birthday “with particular affection” in a now familiar showing of white-cloaked cordiality.

But behind the friendly visit, the talk of conspiracies and competing power centers is swirling inside the Vatican and far beyond. Just last week, Benedict, who turned 92 on Tuesday, released a 6,000-word letter holding forth on his views on the origins of the Roman Catholic Church’s clerical sex abuse crisis — effectively undercutting Francis on a contentious issue that has roiled his papacy.

For many church experts, the letter marked the most recent, and egregious, example of why having two popes — whose homes are separated by a few hundred meters but whose style, substance and visions of the church are vastly apart — can be so confusing to the faithful.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philly.com

April 17, 2019

By Lisa Gartner

Last week, the Pennsylvania agency that oversees the Glen Mills Schools pulled its licenses, closing the nation’s oldest existing reform school amid findings of child abuse and cover-ups by staff and school leaders.

On Tuesday, Glen Mills filed an appeal of the revocations by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) in a bid to keep open the nearly 200-year-old school for court-ordered boys.

In its petition — a copy of the document submitted April 4 to the state appealing an emergency removal order for all boys on campus — Glen Mills leaders again argued that its staff never abused children, and that the school has been scrutinized by too many inspectors to have hidden such violence.

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SANTA ROSA (CA)
The Press Democrat

April 17, 2019

By Mary Callahan and Guy Kovner

Two past residents of the Hanna Boys Center have come forward to accuse former longtime Executive Director John S. Crews of repeatedly abusing them during their stays at the Sonoma Valley facility up to three decades ago.

A press conference Wednesday publicizing their complaints marked the first time Crews, a Catholic priest now living on the East Coast, has been accused publicly of criminal behavior while at the helm of the center for troubled boys. He worked there for 29 years and was relieved of his duties in 2013 after sexual misconduct allegations emerged against him from a former parishioner at St. Sebastian’s Church in Sebastopol.

David Anthony Ortega, a 33-year-old Seattle resident, said he was molested “on several occasions” at Crews’ house and in his van from 1999 to 2001.

In a letter released at the news conference, Ortega said he experienced “acts of abuse that were not only sexual but highly degrading, shameful and nothing that any little boy should have to ever had to live through.”

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ORLANDO (FL)
Relevant Magazine

April 17, 2019

Sovereign Grace Churches will not submit to a third party investigation. Notre Dame truthers are already concocting conspiracy theories about the fire in Paris. And a measles outbreak in the U.S. is the highest in two decades.

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NEW YORK (NY)
New York Daily News

April 17, 2019

By John Gehring

It’s a strange and unhelpful business having more than one pope living at the same time. When Benedict XVI announced he was stepping down in 2013, the first pontiff in six centuries to abdicate his position pledged to “remain hidden to the world.” The humility and grace Benedict showed in making that revolutionary decision to renounce power is now overshadowed by a tone-deaf insistence to weigh in with his opinions, even when those conclusions can be used to undermine Pope Francis.

The “pope emeritus” who still wears white — a title and color that Benedict should stop using to avoid the perception of competing papacies, much as a former police chief or general would take off the uniform when commenting from the sidelines — set off a whirlwind of media coverage and theological head-spinning last week when he weighed in about the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

In a lengthy essay for a German church magazine, published in the United States by conservative Catholic web sites that frequently criticize Francis, Benedict points to the sexual revolution of the 1960s, the absence of God in public life, and even moral theologians who challenged aspects of the church’s teachings as contributing to clerical abuse.

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CHICAGO (IL)
ABC7

April 17, 2019

Father John Smyth, the former head of Maryville Academy who was accused of sexually abusing minors, died Tuesday, multiple sources confirm to ABC7. He was 84.

Earlier this year, the Archdiocese of Chicago had asked Father Smyth to step aside from ministry after the Archdiocese received and began investigating the allegations.

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VERMONT
VT Digger

April 16, 2019

By Kevin O’Connor

The national Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests is supporting a Vermont bill that would eliminate the state’s six-year statute of limitations for filing civil claims of child sex abuse.

“We pay attention to good legislation when it comes up across the country,” SNAP Executive Director Zach Hiner said in advance of his scheduled phone testimony Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “We think this bill is an example of good reform.”

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PHOENIX (AZ)
3TV

Apr 15, 2019

By Nicole Crites

With the #MeToo movement sparking a social awakening, empowering more victims to seek help and justice the Phoenix Catholic Diocese is still trying to right the wrongs of decades of secrecy and cover-up as they investigate new allegations.

Mary O’Day sent a letter to the Pope in October 2017 detailing claims of being sexually abused in her parish as a child, saying nuns were involved.

“My memories are very clear,” O’Day said.

She implored the pontiff to read what happened to her as a tangible act to help with her healing.

Less than a month later, St. Mary’s Basilica in Phoenix sent her a response, saying her story was a “crime of terrible proportions,” they hope it was “reported to law enforcement,” offering “sorrow and support” and prayers.

Anne Vargas-Leveriza, also read O’Day’s letter.

She runs the Office of Child and Youth Protection at the Phoenix Diocese and met with O’Day in November 2017 as well.

“I’ve been in counseling for more than 10 years and they picked up paying for it after my discussion with them,” O’Day said.

So, what happens next with these types of claims, when an adult says they were sexually abused as a child and comes forward decades later asking for help?

“If an allegation comes forward, we address it right away. It doesn’t matter if the statute of limitations has expired,” Vargas-Leveriza explained in an earlier interview.

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HUNTINGTON/CHARLESTON (WV)
WSAZ TV

April 18, 2019

By Leanne Shinkle

According to a new poll, the number of people attending church is on a serious decline across the United States.

The percentage of U.S. adults who belong to a church or other religious institution has plunged by 20 percentage points over the past two decades, hitting a low of 50 percent last year. That’s according to a new Gallup poll released Thursday.

WSAZ spoke to a pastor in Charleston, Jesse Waggoner, who has seen several churches close their doors over the past 30 years.

Waggoner is the senior pastor at Mount Calvary Baptist Church. He started there seven years ago. At that time, the church had about 100 members.

Now in 2019, that number has gone up to 350.

Waggoner says there is no secret formula to building up a church and keeping members, but there are a few key things that help.

He says it is important to preach the same consistent message, but change the way you present the message as times change.

“We have two different styles of worship,” Waggoner said. “We have an early service that is contemporary and informal, we have a traditional service that is more of what many people my age grew up with. And so whatever your choice of style, you’re going to get the same message just delivered in a slightly different package.”

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NORFOLK (VA)
WAVY TV

Apr 18, 2019

A former teacher at Norfolk Catholic High School was recently arrested for allegations dating back decades.

According to a statement on the Catholic Diocese of Richmond’s website, they received a complaint from an adult alleging sexual abuse by Daniel Wolfe when he was employed in the diocese as a teacher.

The alleged incident took place between 1978 and 1979 when the victim was a student at Norfolk Catholic High School. Wolfe was arrested on March 29 and charged with four counts of crimes against nature. A trial date of June 17 has been set.

The diocese says they encouraged the adult to report the allegation to Norfolk Police.

WAVY’s working to find out the exact charges Wolfe’s facing, and more details of the circumstances in the case.

Wolfe most recently taught Latin at Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School in Virginia Beach during the 2017-2018 school year.

Wolfe’s arrest comes after the Richmond Diocese and the Diocese of Arlington released a list of dozens of priests facing child sex abuse allegations. At least nine of the priests on that list had confirmed ties to Hampton Roads.

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LAFAYETTE (LA)
KATC TV

April 18, 2019

By Jim Hummel

When the Diocese of Lafayette released its list of accused priests last week, 11 of the 37 members of clergy had never been publicly accused. Among them is the Rev. John de Leeuw, who made arrangements to defend himself in death.

Shortly after publishing the church’s list, KATC was contacted by a friend of de Leeuw, who shared with us more than 100 pages of documents the late priest kept about his case. The documents feature his personnel file, correspondence from the diocese, and notes about the accusations his friend says were handwritten by de Leeuw.

The documents provide de Leeuw’s side of the story, but they also show how the diocese was concerned about “scandal” and tried to minimize publicity on cases of clergy sex abuse as recently as 2013.

The accusations
In 2011, more than 20 years after his retirement, de Leeuw was removed from active ministry by the diocese following accusations of sexual abuse involving minors. His removal was only made public last week, when the diocese released its list of credibly accused clergy.

In January, concerned about diminishing transparency and openness from the diocese, KATC published its own list of accused priests. De Leeuw was not on our list because up until now, there was no public record of a complaint. Concerned about his absence from our list, Nancy Mouton reached out to tell her family’s story.

“Father John de Leeuw, past pastor of St. Leo the Great, sexually abused me and most of my six siblings in our home for many years,” said Mouton. “He was a regular visitor and dinner guest at our home. It was a very large home where the abuse went undetected.”

Documents provided by de Leeuw’s friend indicate one of Mouton’s older sisters, who is now deceased, was his initial accuser.

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STOCKTON (CA)
The Record

April 18, 2019

By Wes Bowers

A national support network for survivors of abuse is urging the Catholic Diocese of Stockton to add more names to its list of “credibly accused” clergy.

David Clohessy, former executive director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, stood outside the Stockton diocese’s offices at 212 N. San Joaquin St. Tuesday afternoon, holding a sign with a list of seven clergymen who spent parts of their careers in the area, and have been publicly accused of abuse in other regions.

“This is the same self-serving pattern we’ve seen for decades,” Clohessy said. “It’s when bishops under pressure claim to be coming clean, when they’re not.”

In 2017, the diocese was required to post the names of 14 clergy members accused of abuse on its website.

However, Clohessy said he was able to find seven more priests accused of abuse who spent time in Stockton, but aren’t listed on the diocese’s list of accused.

He said it makes some think there are many more priests associated with the Stockton diocese that have not been named.

“If the goal is to protect kids and heal victims and help the church, then be truly honest,” he said. “It endangers the kids, hurts victims and alienates Catholics.”

The former priests Clohessy was able to find include the Rev. Mario Cimmarrusti, who spent time at St. Mary of the Assumption in Stockton between 1982 and 1985; the Rev. Julio Cesar Guarin-Sosa, who was working at St. Anne’s Church in Lodi in 2013; the Rev. William S. Myers, who was at our Lady of Fatima parish in Stockton from 1988 to 1991; the Rev. Raymond A. Devlin, who was at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton from 1995 to 1997; the Rev. Lynn Richard Caffoe, who was working at the United States Mission in Modesto from 1998-2001; the Rev. James Cairns, who has been a part of several churches in Fresno and Los Angeles, and may be living in Modesto now; and the Rev. Theodore Feely, who was at St. George’s Parish in Stockton in 1982.

He said while some of the seven men were not accused in Stockton, they have all been accused and named on other dioceses’ lists of predators.

Clohessy has been traveling throughout Northern California not only urging other dioceses to do the same, but to urge victims of abuse to come forward to get help, protect other victims and expose predators, he said.

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OAKLAND (CA)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

Group also ‘outs’ three publicly accused clerics

Victims urge others to contact Attorney General

What:
Holding signs and childhood pictures at a sidewalk news conference, clergy abuse victims and an attorney will disclose
–that more than 50 women have now reported being molested by an Oakland priest, and
–the names of – and details about – at least three publicly and credibly accused abusive clerics who have been left off the diocese’s official ‘accused clerics.

They will also
–urge others who may be “suffering in silence, to also step forward, and
–push Oakland Catholic officials to do “aggressive outreach” to those who may have be hurt by clerics to report to law enforcement, and
–launch a special outside investigation into who in the church knew of or suspected and ignored or hid Fr. Breen’s crimes.

When:
Thursday, April 18 at 1:00pm

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SEATTLE (WA)
KUOW Radio

April 11, 2019

By Sydney Brownstone and Paige Browning

There will be no statute of limitations for people who survived sexual abuse when they were under 16.

The same bill extends the statute of limitations for adult survivors to 10 or 20 years, depending on the severity of the crime. It also makes a significant change to how rape in the third degree is prosecuted — removing a small but crucial piece of language that advocates say ignored trauma research and prevented cases from being tried in court.

Speaking after the passage of the original Senate bill in February, Mary Ellen Stone, executive director of King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, said the bill was the organization’s biggest win in at least five years.

“I think we all realize attitudes are changing — the culture is changing on this issue.” Stone said. “Everybody knows so many more people who’ve been impacted by sexual assault. And there was a collective recognition that it’s time to make this change.”

Andrea Piper-Wentland of Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs said this means that survivors will have more time to process what happened to them.

She said the law would allow survivors “to get out of a situation that they were in, that was prohibitive for them to report.”

“There’s a myriad of reasons survivors have for delayed reporting,” she said.

Before the bill is signed into law, Washington state’s statute of limitations dictates that childhood survivors of sexual abuse have until their 30th birthdays to pursue a case. Adult survivors of rape must report their rapes to police within a year, after which they have 10 years to prosecute their cases. If adult survivors of rape don’t report the crime to police, they have just a three-year window to bring a case forward.

As of last summer, 15 states had removed statutes of limitations for child sex crimes.

Mary Dispenza of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said she was excited for a change she and fellow survivors had been fighting for since the 1990s.

That said, the bill, once signed into law is not retroactive; it doesn’t apply to cases in which the statute of limitations has already expired.

“Going forward, it will indeed and help survivors of childhood priest abuse,” Dispenza said. “But it won’t do much to allow the thousands in the past who have been harmed by sexual violence on the part of clergy to to have their day in court.”

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EVANSVILLE (IN)
Evansville Courier & Press

April 18, 2019

By Jon Webb

No list of predatory priests can tell the whole story.

Both the Evansville and Owensboro dioceses have unveiled inventories in the last two months of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse against minors. The lists contain names, where the priests served and the number of allegations against them.

But they could never convey the hurt these men unleashed, nor the twisted secrecy that allowed the abuse to metastasize.

A lot of information is left unsaid. And in the case of the list Owensboro released last week, that includes a murder.

Joseph Pilger served as a pastor in slews of parishes across several Kentucky dioceses, including at St. Ann in Morganfield from 1964-65 and at Holy Name in Henderson from 1967-69.

Owensboro lists 13 substantiated allegations against him. At one point, he was wanted on 84 felony counts of sexually abusing minors, stemming from a 1993 case where he abused four children in Union County in the 1960s, the Associated Press reported.

He eventually pleaded guilty. He could have served 30 years in prison, but because of a plea deal, he only got probation.

And on Dec. 5, 2003, at his apartment on the southeast side of Lexington, he was found beaten to death with a pickax.

Police eventually arrested then-26-year-old Jason Anthony Russell – a former Henderson man who at one point had been living with Pilger. He pleaded guilty and was handed 30 years in prison.

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YORK (PA)
York Dispatch

April 17, 2019

By Logan Hullinger

The Catholic Church has spent millions influencing Pennsylvania politics, but the funds perhaps have been the most useful amid reports uncovering widespread child sexual abuse and attempts to cover it up.

That money is again coming into play as two bills raising the statute of limitations on child sexual crimes and opening a two-year retroactive window for victims to file lawsuits once again head to the state Senate.

“(The expenditures) speak to the very issue of protecting their institutional reputation, which is one of the significant causes of this sex abuse crisis to begin with,” said Zach Hiner, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

There have been three grand jury investigations in the past decade that have revealed thousands of child sexual abuse cases by Pennsylvanian Catholic priests and attempts to hide them, all of which were welcomed by significant increases in spending on lobbying by the church.

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NORFOLK (VA)
News 3

April 17, 2019

By Julia Varnier

A former Norfolk Catholic High School teacher has been arrested after reports of sexual abuse of a minor were made to the Diocese of Richmond.

In respects to diocesan policy, the adult individual was encouraged to report the allegation to the Norfolk Police Department. The Diocese of Richmond recently was informed that the accused was arrested and charged by Norfolk Police.

The former employee, Daniel M. Wolfe, worked for the Diocese of Richmond for 11 years as a teacher in the 70s to early 80s. He has been charged with four counts of crimes against nature.

The alleged incident(s) was reported to have occurred between 1978-1979, which was when the victim was a student at what was previously known as Norfolk Catholic High School.

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ORLANDO (FL)
Relevant Magazine.

April 16, 2019

“The demand that we subject our entire denomination to an investigation is neither just nor practically possible.”

Sovereign Grace Churches (formerly “Sovereign Grace Ministries”) has responded to calls for an independent investigation into allegations of decades of sexual abuse and harassment, writing in a statement that such a third party review would be “inappropriate and impractical for a number of important reasons.” SGC leaders wrote that while they “want the truth to be known about these allegations,” they will “not recommend a third-party independent investigation of our denomination.”

The story of the allegations made against the church planting network Sovereign Grace is lengthy and involves numerous accusations of mishandling claims of sexual abuse. Former members of SGC say they were discouraged from telling the authorities about instances of sexual abuse at the hands of church leaders and observed leaders scuttling allegations and declining to warn churches about known predators. This, accusers say, was all a matter of standard church policy. You can find a thorough summary of the accusations here.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
National Public Radio

April 17, 2019

By Francesca Paris

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $8 million to a teenager who was sexually abused and kidnapped by a teacher at her Catholic high school.

The teenager’s attorney, David Ring, said that the settlement — finalized by a court last week — is the largest that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has ever paid to a single victim, The Associated Press reports. Over the past 15 years, the archdiocese has paid more than $740 million in sexual abuse settlements.

Juan Ivan Barajas, then-athletic director and health teacher at San Gabriel Mission High School in San Gabriel, Calif., repeatedly sexually abused the student when she was 15 years old, according to a lawsuit filed in 2017. Barajas then kidnapped her and took her to Las Vegas, according to court documents reported by The Los Angeles Times.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Associated Press

April 17, 2019

Juan Ivan Barajas, a health teacher and athletic director at San Gabriel Mission High School, eventually kidnapped her, according to court documents.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $8 million to a teenager who was sexually abused by the athletic director at her Catholic high school who had continued to work despite prior allegations of misconduct, it was announced Tuesday.

A court finalized the settlement last week of a negligence lawsuit, said David Ring, an attorney for the teenager.

The archdiocese has paid out more than $740 million in sexual abuse settlements over the past 15 years. Ring said the $8 million is the largest payment to a single individual in any of the cases.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
USA TODAY

April 17, 2019

By Ashley May

A teenage girl who was sexually abused by the athletic director of her Catholic high school will be paid $8 million by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, according to a Tuesday announcement.

The archdiocese has paid more than $740 million in sexual abuse settlements over the past 15 years. David Ring, an attorney for the girl, said the $8 million is the largest payment to a single person in any of the cases.

“The archdiocese recognizes that there was serious harm done to the life of the victim-survivor,” the archdiocese said in a statement. “We hope that the settlement will allow her to heal and move forward with her education and lifetime goals. The archdiocese apologizes for the impact that this caused in her life.”

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BALTIMORE (MD)
The Baltimore Sun

April 17, 2019

By David Anderson

The Havre de Grace Police Department and SARC of Harford County are hosting a training session this week for members of the community to learn more about human and sex trafficking and how they can be “active bystanders” to recognize the signs and help prevent it.

The training session is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday in the Havre de Grace Community Center at 100 Lagaret Lane. The class was initially going to be at police headquarters, but it was moved to the community center because an “overwhelming number of people” have said they plan to attend, Police Chief Teresa Walter said during a City Council meeting Monday evening.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

April 17, 2019

By Peter Feuerherd

An author points to the Cincinnati Reds for lessons on building successful parish teams. Hint: Maybe he should have chosen the Boston Red Sox?

The Catholic bishops remind Congress that many of those fearing deportation are vital members of parishes across the country.

A Wisconsin parish twins with a counterpart in Haiti.

The New York Archdiocese Catholic Charities transforms closed Bronx parish properties into much-needed low-income housing.

A parish in a gentrifying Philadelphia neighborhood remembers the poor in its midst.

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UNITED STATES
Paste

April 17, 2019

By Rae Nudson

The Magicians is a sexy show. It has been since its pilot episode, which featured levitating sex between Kady (Jade Tailor) and Penny (Arjun Gupta), two students at the magical school of Brakebills. It’s gone on to feature sex magic, sex with magical creatures, threesomes, and more. In a particularly sexy scene in this season of The Magicians, a different version of Penny (it’s a long story) must anoint his friend and former goddess, Julia (Stella Maeve), with oil to perform a ritual that will help her discover why she currently can’t do magic. Penny slowly rubs Julia’s naked body with oil, starting with her face, moving over her shoulders, and down her back. It’s extremely intimate, and Penny takes delicate care while he touches Julia, asking permission before he touches her breasts and warming up the oil so it’s not too cold for her skin.

But before they start the ritual, as Julia stands naked in front of Penny waiting for him to touch her, Penny asks Julia, a rape survivor, if there’s a less painful way to go about this ritual. She tells him that people heal and she’s not broken. Penny says that he’s still not comfortable with how things are going down. “Well, this isn’t really about you,” Julia replies.
And on The Magicians, she’s right.

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AUSTRALIA/SCOTLAND
BBC

April 16, 2019

By Mark Daly

The Australian government has said a former monk accused of sexually abusing children at a Catholic boarding school in the Scottish Highlands should be surrendered to face trial.

Fr Denis “Chrysostom” Alexander has been contesting his extradition back to Scotland on the grounds of ill health.

He denies the claims and is seeking a judicial review of the latest decision.

The BBC revealed allegations against Fr Alexander and other monks from the Fort Augustus Abbey School six years ago.

The latest development was cautiously welcomed by former Fort Augustus pupil Hugh Kennedy, one of Fr Alexander’s accusers.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Catholic News Service

April 16, 2019

A Buffalo diocesan spokeswoman said April 12 that Bishop Richard J. Malone is “disappointed and dismayed” over the president of St. Bonaventure University’s call for his resignation as head of the diocese.

Dennis DePerro, in several interviews, said he admired the bishop’s “unflinching desire to repair the damage” the abuse crisis has caused. “But sometimes, the most courageous thing a man can do is to step aside and recognize that his voice is no longer being heard and that he stands in the way of creating true resolution.”

“We suspect that Dr. DePerro has not fully studied the carefully developed and well-publicized protocols of the Diocese of Buffalo,” said diocesan spokeswoman Kathy Spangler.

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ARGENTINA
El Diario 24

April 18, 2019

[A priest pleaded guilty to abusing three catechists in San Isidro]

Mario Koessler, de 63 años, fue imputado por abusar de tres mujeres catequistas entre 2014 y 2015 y se declaró culpable.

El cura Mario Koessler, de 63 años, imputado por abuso sexual agravado a tres mujeres catequistas de 75, 63 y 40 años por hechos ocurridos entre 2014 y 2015 en la Parroquia San José, del municipio bonaerense de San Isidro, se declaró culpable en un juicio abreviado que le fijó una pena de tres años en suspenso.

“El juicio oral que iba a comenzar el lunes 22 de abril en el Tribunal Oral Criminal 2 se suspendió por un acuerdo de juicio abreviado al que llegaron la Fiscalía y la defensa, que fijó a Koessler 3 años de pena en suspenso”, dijo hoy a Télam Andrés Bonicalzzi, abogado de las víctimas.

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ARGENTINA
Diario San Rafael

April 18, 2019

[Buenos Aires: “Jesus is told yes,” said a priest before committing abuse]

Tres catequistas fueron abusadas por un cura. El acusado es Mario Koessler de la Parroquia San José de San Isidro en Buenos Aires. Antes de ir a juicio oral, el culpable admitió los hechos y finalmente su pena se definirá en un juicio abreviado.

Las tres mujeres lo denunciaron penalmente en la Unidad Fiscal y el juzgado de Violencia de Género número 1 a cargo del doctor Ricardo Costa, por abuso sexual agravado. Los ataques se dieron entre 2014 y 2015.

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ARGENTINA
PUNTAL

April 18, 2019

Por Redacción PUNTAL

[Uriona said that cases of abuse have affected the faith]

El obispo diocesano estuvo en Buen Día Río Cuarto y aseguró que episodios como el de Carnerillo marcan la nueva línea dipuesta desde el Vaticano. Instó a los políticos a presentar propuestas para salir de la pobreza.

En el marco de la Semana Santa, el obispo Adolfo Uriona estuvo en Buen Día Río Cuarto donde aseguró que los casos de abuso en la Iglesia han afectado a la fe.

Durante la entrevista en vísperas de Pascua, también se refirió a la crisis y la situación de pobreza en medio de la puja electoral prevista para este año.

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ARGENTINA
EXTRADATA

April 17, 2019

[Mario Koessler charged with aggravated sexual abuse]

El cura, de 63 años, fue sentenciado por somter sexualmente a tres mujeres catequistas de 75, 63 y 40 años durente el 2014 y 2015 en la Parroquia San José, del municipio bonaerense de San Isidro. Se declaró culpable en un juicio abreviado que le fijó una pena de tres años en suspenso.

“El juicio oral que iba a comenzar el lunes 22 de abril en el Tribunal Oral Criminal 2 se suspendió por un acuerdo de juicio abreviado al que llegaron la Fiscalía y la defensa, que fijó a Koessler 3 años de pena en suspenso”, dijo Andrés Bonicalzzi, abogado de las víctimas.

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DECATUR (IL)
Associated Press via Herald Review

April 17, 2019

Chicago – A prominent Chicago area Catholic priest who led a suburban home for troubled youths for decades but was removed from ministry this year amid allegations that he sexually abused minors has died.

The Archdiocese of Chicago on Wednesday confirmed that the Rev. John Smyth died late Tuesday, but didn’t immediately provide details.

Smyth became superintendent of Maryville Academy in Des Plaines in 1970 and during more than three decades as its leader he helped turn what was a failing orphanage into a widely praised residential care facility.

But late in his tenure, a state investigation found widespread violence and inadequate supervision and treatment at Maryville and this year the archdiocese said it was removing the by-then retired Smyth from ministry during its investigation of sexual abuse allegations.

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DUBLIN (IRELAND)
Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation

Released April 17, 2019

Summary of Findings

1. The major issues about burials arise in the cases of Bessborough and Tuam. It is not known where the vast majority of the children who died in Bessborough are buried. There is a small burial ground in the grounds of Bessborough. This was opened in 1956 for members of the congregation. It seems to have been assumed by former residents and advocacy groups that this is also where the children who died in Bessborough are buried as there are occasional meetings and commemoration ceremonies held there. The vast majority of children who died in Bessborough are not buried there; it seems that only one child is buried there. More than 900 children died in Bessborough or in hospital after being transferred from Bessborough. Despite very extensive inquiries and searches, the Commission has been able to establish the burial place of only 64 children. The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary who owned and ran Bessborough do not know where the other children are buried.

Sacred Heart Homes

2. The burials of children who died in the three Sacred Heart Homes (Bessborough, Castlepollard and Sean Ross) are not recorded at all. More importantly, there is no certainty about where they are buried.

3. The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary who owned and ran these institutions provided the Commission with an affidavit about burials generally and specifically about the Castlepollard and Sean Ross child burials but very little evidence was provided to support the statements in it. The affidavit was, in many respects, speculative, inaccurate and misleading.

4. The children who died in Castlepollard are likely to be buried in the burial ground there. However, there is no documentary evidence to confirm this.

Bessborough

5. As already stated, the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary do not know where the children who died in Bessborough are buried. The Commission finds this very difficult to comprehend as Bessborough was a mother and baby home for the duration of the period covered by the Commission (1922 – 1998) and the congregation was involved with it for all of this time. The Commission finds it very difficult to understand that no member of the congregation was able to say where the children who died in Bessborough are buried.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
KRON

April 17, 2019

By Sanaz Tahernia

Santa Rosa – The Santa Rosa Dioceses is under fire again after two men filed reports of child sexual abuse out of a social services center in Sonoma.

They say it happened at the St. Francis Solano Roman Catholic Church.

Attorney Joseph George represents two men, David Anthony Ortega and a John Doe, in sexual abuse claims against Father John Crews of the Santa Rosa Dioceses.

In their report to the California Attorney General’s Office, both men allege Father Crews sexually abused them years ago while at the Hanna Boys Center, a residential treatment center for at-risk teens — Crews was the Executive Director there at the time.

John Crews is one of 39 priests identified in a report by the Santa Rosa Dioceses as having committed or were credibly accused of committing child sexual abuse.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KMBC

April 17, 2019

By Micheal Mahoney

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt says investigation still active

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests doubt the 6-month-old priest abuse investigation is going forward.

“It’s gone nowhere and that’s unacceptable,” said Jim McConnell, who heads up the Kansas City chapter of SNAP.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s statement said the investigation is active. They are gathering evidence, talking to witnesses, and hope to finish it in a timely fashion.

“Well, that timely manner should not take six months to get at least some information out,” McConnell said.

McConnell said the attorney general’s office has not answered the group’s offer to help.

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SEATTLE (WA)
Associated Press via KOMO News

April 16, 2019

Spokane, Wash. – Gonzaga University in Spokane will create a commission to study the Jesuit school’s handling of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.

Gonzaga President Thayne McCulloh announced the commission on Monday.

McCulloh noted recent revelations that have thrust the crisis back into the news.

The Spokesman-Review says McCulloh is seeking application letters from those who want to join the commission.

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NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

By Ed O’Loughlin

April 17, 2019

Dublin – For decades, some of Ireland’s church-run “mother and baby homes” gave the bodies of many of the children who died in their care to medical schools for dissection, a government inquiry reported on Wednesday, indicating that the scale of the abuses at the homes for single mothers was greater than previously known.

The Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation, created in 2015 by the Irish government, revealed that in Dublin alone, several of the homes run by the Roman Catholic Church had sent the bodies of 950 children, almost all born to single mothers, to medical schools as anatomical subjects. The practice continued until 1977.

Some other homes also kept few, if any, records of what had been done with the bodies of the children who died in their care, the report found.

At just one of the 13 homes examined, the Bessborough Home in Cork, the inquiry said it could find no information about the burial places of more than 800 children who had died there. It also said that it had received limited cooperation from the religious orders who had run the home.

The Bessborough Home in Cork, where the inquiry could find no information about the burial places of more than 800 children who died there.

The nuns of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, who ran three of the homes in Cork, did not record the burials of any of the children who died in their keeping, and it was unclear what happened to many of the bodies.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

April 17, 2019

by Patricia Lefevere

First priest ever to sue church officials over sex abuse charges remembered as ‘holy disturbance’

In a week when Christians recall Jesus’ passion and death, the homilist at a funeral for Fr. Gary Hayes, a victim of clergy abuse, declared that “Jesus himself was a victim of sexual abuse.”

Fr. John Bambrick was referring to theologian Rocío Figueroa’s recently published study that followed a research project she did with theologian David Tombs called “When Did I See you Naked”?, a work that Hayes would have loved, said the homilist. Hayes died of cancer April 4. He was 66.

Bambrick told assembled mourners that Figueroa had proven in her writing that Jesus had been sexually humiliated during his passion and crucifixion. He noted that three times in Gospel accounts of his ordeal, Jesus is forced to strip naked in front of cohorts of soldiers. Figueroa “makes the point that there are different forms of sexual abuse including sexual humiliation in the form of forced nudity, mockery, stripping, touching, sexual assault and other physical acts.”

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DUBLIN (IRELAND)
The Independent

April 18, 2019

One of the many lessons we have learned historically concerning scandals and the Catholic Church is that the cruellest lies are often told in silence. But what was kept secret or suppressed has repeatedly returned to hound and to haunt.

So it was devastating to hear once more a Government having to plead with religious orders to reveal where babies who died in their care are buried.

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DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency

April 17, 2019

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $8 million to a female teenager who was sexually abused and abducted by a teacher at her high school in 2016.

The victim attended San Gabriel Mission High School, an all-girls school in San Gabriel, Calif., about 10 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The then-15-year-old student was abused over numerous months by Juan Ivan Barajas, her volleyball coach and health teacher.

“The Archdiocese recognizes that there was serious harm done to the life of the victim-survivor,” the archdiocese stated. “We hope that the settlement will allow her to heal and move forward with her education and lifetime goals. The Archdiocese apologizes for the impact that this caused in her life.”

The plaintiff’s main attorney, David Ring, said April 16 that the amount is the largest the archdiocese has paid a single victim.

According to the New York Times, Barajas, 39, had sent her sexually explicit messages and images through his phone. He had abused her in several locations on school grounds beginning in April 2016.

After Barajas’ wife found out about the abuse, he kidnapped the teenager in July, and took her to Las Vegas. The police found the pair living in his car in Henderson, Nev., and Barajas was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

April 17, 2019

By Patricia Lefevere

In a week when Christians recall Jesus’ passion and death, the homilist at a funeral for Fr. Gary Hayes, a victim of clergy abuse, declared that “Jesus himself was a victim of sexual abuse.”

Fr. John Bambrick was referring to theologian Rocío Figueroa’s recently published study that followed a research project she did with theologian David Tombs called “When Did I See you Naked”?, a work that Hayes would have loved, said the homilist. Hayes died of cancer April 4. He was 66.

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Bambrick told assembled mourners that Figueroa had proven in her writing that Jesus had been sexually humiliated during his passion and crucifixion. He noted that three times in Gospel accounts of his ordeal, Jesus is forced to strip naked in front of cohorts of soldiers. Figueroa “makes the point that there are different forms of sexual abuse including sexual humiliation in the form of forced nudity, mockery, stripping, touching, sexual assault and other physical acts.”

The reality is that the Romans crucified people naked, including Jesus. “The problem is that the Church has never faced the reality of sexuality in a healthy way and if they are not able to also see the sexuality of Jesus, the sexuality of human beings, they are not able to see the perversion that is sexual abuse,” the homilist said, quoting Figuerosa.

Bambrick knew this kind of humiliation for a fact. He and Hayes had endured sexual assault as adolescents. The two men shared an unusual bond over decades. Both were priests who had been sexually abused by priests when they were teenagers. They confided to each other the details of their painful past. “My abuse was bad, but Gary’s was horrendous,” Bambrick told his family and friends. The fact that he survived it is a testament to his resiliency and the miracle of his life,” said Bambrick, who is pastor of St. Aloysius Church in Jackson, New Jersey. He is a member of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests and is a founding member of both Jordon’s Crossing and Catholic Whistleblowers. He is a board member of New Jersey Child Assault Prevention, and, in 2002, he testified before the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

When asked years before by reporters how he could become and remain a priest after he had been violated by two Catholic priests, Hayes replied: “God didn’t do this; man did.” Understanding the difference, Bambrick said, helped Hayes become a compassionate listener for the abused and troubled, a whistleblower and advocate for ridding the church of its abusive priests and a founder of support groups for priests who were abused as children by priests. Jordan’s Crossing and Victims of Clergy Abuse Linkup were two of the support networks Hayes and Bambrick worked on together.

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MAYWOOD (IL)
Patch

April17, 2019

By Jonah Meadows

A retired Catholic priest removed from the ministry earlier this year in response to allegations sexual abuse of minors has died. John P. Smyth passed away Tuesday night at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, according to the Chicago Archdiocese. He was 84.

Before his retirement in 2014, Smyth spend more than 30 years as the superintendent of Maryville Academy in Des Plaines, an archdiocese-run home for troubled youth. After stepping down 15 years ago amid state and federal investigations into the facility, he became president of a Catholic high school.

Smyth was a star basketball player at DePaul Academy and the University of Notre Dame. He was drafted into the NBA in 1957 but turned down a career as a professional athlete and instead entered the priesthood. He was ordained and began his career at Maryville Academy in 1962, becoming superintendent in 1970.

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SONOMA (CA)
Index-Tribune

April 17, 2019

A Sacramento attorney who represents the two accusers and a Missouri man who was assaulted by a priest and is the former long time head of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priest, hold a press conference holding signs and childhood photos at St. Francis Solano Catholic church in Sonoma.

April 17, 2019, 1:41PM
Press Conference:

Two former residents of the Hanna Boys Center residential treatment program near Sonoma have come forward as sexual abuse survivors, saying they were repeatedly molested by one-time Executive Director John S. Crews.

Crews was named on a diocese list of clergy accused of child sex abuse. However, the two men said the diocese claimed Crews never molested kids at Hanna.

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priest (SNAP) held a news conference at 11:30 a.m. today in front of St. Francis Solano Catholic Church.

At the press conference was a Sacramento attorney who represents the two accusers and a Missouri man who was assaulted by a priest and is the former long time head of the support group, SNAP.

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NEW YORK (NY)
America Magazine

April 17, 2019

By Michael J. O’Loughlin

Until last year, online search results for the Rev. Gary Graf would include stories about his liver donation to a parishioner, his scaling a border wall so he could understand more intimately the experiences of his immigrant parishioners and a hunger strike he staged to draw attention to the plight of Dreamers.

Today, however, the top results relate to Father Graf’s removal from ministry last August following an accusation that he inappropriately touched a minor. That allegation prompted the Archdiocese of Chicago to remove Father Graf from ministry and contact civil authorities, setting off multiple rounds of investigations—including a criminal trial—that ultimately cleared him of any wrongdoing.

As Holy Week begins, Father Graf is back ministering, but his story illustrates the challenges facing priests who are falsely accused at a time when hundreds of true stories of horrific abuse dominate the news.

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SCOTLAND
The Press and Journal

April 17, 2019

By Alistair Munro

A monk accused of sexually abusing children at a Catholic school in the Highlands could soon face trial in Scotland.

Father Denis Alexander, 83, has been facing extradition from Australia since the allegations against him and other monks who worked at the Fort Augustus boarding school came to light several years ago.

A Crown Office spokeswoman confirmed that a decision has been taken by the Australian Government that he should be surrendered for trial in Scotland.

He has however applied for a judicial review.

Father Alexander denies the claims and has been contesting his extradition back to Scotland on the grounds of ill health.

The allegations of child abuse at Fort Augustus Abbey were made in a BBC documentary six years ago years ago.

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.

LONG ISLAND (NY)
Newsday

April 17, 2019

By Bart Jones

Diocesan policies call for the allegation against the Rev. Steven J. Peterson to be reported to civil authorities, which the diocese did, a spokesman said.

Suffolk County law enforcement will not investigate an allegation that a parish priest molested a minor more than 40 years ago because the statute of limitations has expired, officials said.

The Rev. Steven J. Peterson, 71, a pastor in Nassau County, agreed to step down from ministry while the allegation is investigated, the Diocese of Rockville Centre said this week.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office was informed of the allegation on Saturday, but will not pursue an investigation because the allegation is four decades old, Sheila Kelly, a spokeswoman for the office, said Tuesday.

Under policies adopted nationwide by the Roman Catholic Church and the Diocese of Rockville Centre, “an investigation is begun when an accusation is made,” said diocesan spokesman Sean Dolan. Diocesan policies call for the allegation to be reported to civil authorities, which the diocese did, he said.

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.

[Marists case: plaintiffs to file civil suit against Marists and Alonso Ercilla Institute]

CHILE
La Tercera

April 15, 2019

By María José Navarrete and Sergio Rodríguez

Otras agrupaciones de víctimas evalúan, en conjunto con estudios de abogados, interponer acciones legales respecto de sus casos. Se trata de las primeras acciones tras el fallo de la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago, que condenó a la Iglesia capitalina a pagar $ 300 millones a las víctimas de Fernando Karadima.

Los denunciantes del denominado caso Maristas interpondrán durante los próximos días una demanda civil en contra de la congregación del mismo nombre y el colegio perteneciente a ella, el Instituto Alonso Ercilla, donde habrían ocurrido los eventuales abusos. Esta semana se darán a conocer los detalles de la acción judicial.

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.

[And where is Karadima? Former priest left home where he lived in Lo Barnechea]

CHILE
La Tercera

April 16, 2019

By María José Navarrete and Sergio Rodríguez

El traslado a otro recinto para adultos mayores en Santiago ocurrió a fines de marzo. Sus cercanos no quieren comentar dónde está para evitar funas y presencia mediática. “Sé que él reza mucho”, cuenta su médico, Santiago Soto, quien lo visita cada tres semanas. Se especula sobre un problema económico del exsacerdote, expulsado del estado clerical por el Papa Francisco el 27 de septiembre del año pasado.

En silencio, sin que nadie supiera. Hace poco menos de un mes, a fines del marzo reciente, el exsacerdote Fernando Karadima, de 88 años, dejó el Hogar de Ancianos San José de las Hermanitas de los Ancianos Desamparados, donde vivía desde mayo de 2017. Allí, el sacerdote, quizás el mayor símbolo de la crisis que actualmente vive la Iglesia católica en Chile, estuvo recluido poco menos de dos años, una vez que fue trasladado desde el Convento de las Siervas de Jesús de la Caridad, de Providencia.

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.

[Celestino Aós denies controversial statement in interview abroad: “I’ve never said it”]

CHILE
BioBioChile

April 16, 2019

By Valentina González and Nicole Martínez

El administrador Apostólico de Santiago, Celestino Aós, se refirió al encuentro que sostuvo este martes con el presidente Sebastián Piñera en La Moneda. A la salida del encuentro, Aós negó que en la cita se haya hablado sobre la colaboración que podría prestar la Iglesia Católica con las investigaciones de abusos por parte de sacerdotes, calificando de “impensable” tocar esos temas en un saludo protocolar.

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[Karadima survivors say Celestino Aós asked them “forgiveness for the faults committed by the church”]

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Emol

April 12, 2019

By Fernanda Villalobos D.

Tras llegar de su encuentro con el Papa en Roma, el administrador apostólico de Santiago se dirigió a la Fundación para la Confianza donde se reunió con José Andrés Murillo, Juan Carlos Cruz y James Hamilton.

El administrador apostólico de Santiago, Celestino Aós, se reunió este viernes con los denunciantes de Fernando Karadima, Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton y José Andrés Murillo en la sede de la Fundación para la Confianza, luego de aterrizar en Chile tras su encuentro con el Papa Francisco en Roma para abordar la crisis al interior de la iglesia católica chilena.

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.

[Aós regrets that Chile and the Church have “wounds of abuse, corruption, violence”]

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Emol

April 14, 2019

By Leonardo Vallejos

El administrador apostólico de Santiago celebró misa por Domingo de Ramos y reveló que el papa “me dijo que hacia delante con esperanza y tratando de dar cada uno de nosotros lo mejor”.

Celestino Aós, el administrador apostólico de Santiago, celebró este domingo misa para conmemorar Domingo de Ramos en la Catedral Metropolitana. “La liturgia nos hace pensar hoy en este Chile, en esta Iglesia nuestra con tantas heridas de abuso, de corrupción, de violencia, en definitiva, de pasión y muerte”, comenzó diciendo.

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.

[Archbishop of Santiago asks the priests “radically denounce the scourge” of sexual abuse]

SANTIAGO (SPAIN)
El País

April 17, 2019

Julián Barrio advierte a los sacerdotes de la archidiócesis de que estos casos causan “tristeza y dolor” y generan “perdida de confianza” en el clero

“¡Qué tristeza y dolor están causando los abusos sexuales en la Iglesia, que tanta pérdida de confianza han generado!”, ha clamado esta mañana el arzobispo de Santiago, jefe de la Iglesia gallega, ante las decenas de curas de la archidiócesis congregados para la misa crismal. En la iglesia de San Martiño Pinario, escenario de las grandes celebraciones ahora que la catedral compostelana está sumida en obras, Julián Barrio ha hablado con más claridad que nunca, a sus propios sacerdotes, sobre el escándalo que reiteradamente sale a flote en el seno del catolicismo: Los abusos sexuales “son un pecado ante Dios que hiere profundamente a la persona y contamina la vida eclesial”, ha defendido en su homilía.

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SACRAMENTO (CA)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

He can now seek $7,300 from 22 year old woman

She told police Catholic coach was molesting her

Based on her report & testimony, he ended up in prison

SNAP: But church officials ‘exploit technicalities” & “play hardball”

Their goal, group says, is to “scare other victims into staying silent”

Victims deplore “this mean-spirited tactic” and write to Pope Francis

WHAT

Holding signs and childhood photos, a 22 year old woman who was repeatedly abused as a youngster will

–disclose that Catholic officials are trying to force her to pay $7,300 in costs related to her sexual abuse and cover up lawsuit against them, and

–blast Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto for “trying to shut up victims like me.”

WHEN
Wednesday, April 17 at 3:00 p.m.

WHERE

On the sidewalk outside the Sacramento Catholic diocese headquarters (‘chancery’), 2110 Broadway, (corner of 21st St.) in Sacramento

WHO

The young victim, her Sacramento attorney, perhaps one other local victim and a Missouri man who is also an abuse victim.

WHY

In what’s being called “an outrageous move to silence abuse victims,” lawyers for Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto have won a court order that means they can get $7,300 from a 22 year old woman who was molested by a Catholic school employee when she was 15 years old. The rationale: Her civil abuse lawsuit against school and church officials was voluntarily withdrawn.

But there’s no doubt she was victimized and her one-time coach at a Catholic school is responsible, SNAP says, because it was her report and testimony that landed the perpetrator in prison.

Starting in 2013, Bailey Boone was sexually abused as a sophomore by St. Francis school softball coach Michael Martis. He was 54. She was 15.

In 2016, he was charged with six felonies. The following year, he pled guilty to abusing Bailey and a 15 year old girl. He’s in jail now.

A month later, Bailey filed a civil case against the diocese and St. Francis High School for that abuse and their recklessness.

In January 2019, Bailey dismissed her civil complaint, for technical reasons, though state law entitles her to re-file it any time before she turns 26.

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

April 16, 2019

To ignore warnings and expressions of concern about a child care worker brought forward by one person is bad enough, but for an educator to disregard repeated reports by both parents and teachers is unconscionable.

We have no first hand knowledge about the allegations of “systemic” child sexual abuse at the Edlavitch Tyser Early Childhood Center. However, we know that false allegations of child sexual abuse are extremely rare, so our hearts ache for the children and their families who have filed police reports and are suing the Center. We hope that the boys and girls involved are getting the therapy and support they need.

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

NEW YORK (NY)
Ne York Times

April 16, 2019

By Liam Stack

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has paid $8 million to a teenager who was sexually abused and later kidnapped by a teacher at her Catholic high school in 2016, her lawyer said Tuesday. The case has drawn attention to the problem of sex abuse at Catholic institutions that is committed by church employees who are not clergy members.

Dave Ring, a lawyer for the victim, and advocates for abuse survivors said the settlement was believed to be the largest amount paid to a single victim by the archdiocese, which has paid hundreds of millions of dollars to abuse survivors in recent years.

“I think the archdiocese has tended to settle cases for larger amounts when priests are involved,” Mr. Ring said on Tuesday. “In this particular case, the fact that it is a lay person and a coach and an athletic director, I think they are starting to realize that even lay people who may not hold a super important position in the church can still wreak havoc on a young person’s life, just as much as a priest can.”

Adrian M. Alarcon, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, declined Tuesday to confirm the price of the settlement. But she said that a $660 million settlement reached in 2007 with 508 abuse victims included sizable awards to “certain individuals,” although the church did not decide how that money was distributed.

“The Archdiocese recognizes that there was serious harm done to the life of the victim-survivor,” the archdiocese said in a statement. “We hope that the settlement will allow her to heal and move forward with her education and lifetime goals. The Archdiocese apologizes for the impact that this caused in her life.”

The victim has not been publicly identified. She was 15 years old when she was sexually abused by Ivan Barajas, the athletic director and health teacher at San Gabriel Mission High School in San Gabriel, Calif., a parish school owned and operated by the archdiocese, according to court documents in a lawsuit filed in 2017. He was also her volleyball coach.

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OAKLAND (CA)
KPIX 5

April 16, 2019

A Catholic priest accused of sexual assault in the East Bay also has some serious allegations from his past.

A young former seminarian who does not want to be identified says he was sexually assaulted by a priest he considered a mentor, Father Michael Van Dinh. He says it happened inside the rectory of St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Livermore where he says Van Dinh lured him with the promise of helping him find a job.

“When I got there something didn’t feel right,” said the former seminarian. He says Van Dinh led him into a candlelit room and gave him a gift bag. “In those gifts he had oils and underwear thongs and a shirt and chocolate,” said the former seminarian.

Then he says Van Dinh forced him down onto a mattress. “I couldn’t move, I couldn’t react. And he abused me,” he said. Police later recovered the underwear along with a blindfold, a meth pipe and five rubber rings from Van Dinh’s room.

What the former seminarian didn’t know was that Van Dinh was accused of engaging in inappropriate and unwanted sexual contact in the past, even though charges were never filed against him.

“What it shows is the lack of accountability of the church,” said his attorney, Sandra Ribera. She has now filed a lawsuit against the Diocese of Oakland and Bishop Michael Barber, alleging they knew about prior allegations against Van Dinh.

“It’s our argument that the diocese had knowledge of these previous allegations and they kept him as a priest in the church and allowed this rape of my client to happen,” said Ribera.

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FAIRFIELD (CT)
Fairfield Mirror

April 17, 2019

By Sabina Dirienzo

Throughout the 13th annual Commonweal lecture, speaker Dominic Preziosi reminded the audience that a people is known by the story it tells. Preziosi is the editor of Commonweal, a Catholic opinion magazine run by laypeople. The lecture, titled “The Last Catholic Boyhood?” was held in the Charles F. Dolan School of Business dining room on April 10.

The Commonweal lecture was introduced by Paul Lakeland, Ph.D., the Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J. chair in Catholic studies and professor of religious studies, and Preziosi was then introduced by his predecessor, Paul Baumann.

Preziosi began by telling the audience the story of his first communion day. He asked his mother to play kickball in his white communion pants, and said to the audience, “maybe you can guess what happened.”

He explained that he used this anecdote as a starting point to empathize with fellow Catholic people, and introduced the preceding quote: “a people is known by the stories it tells.” He described his own upbringing as “a wonderful and wonderfully Catholic upbringing.”

Preziosi has two children; while both were raised Catholic, “now neither shows any particular interest in what they dismissively refer to as ‘church.’” Preziosi focused his talk on this idea of his own era of childhood as that last Catholic boyhood; what’s changed?

In his own experience at Fordham University, he found that there were two things which made Catholic religiosity difficult for him: witnessing performative piety, and witnessing the things that are done in the name of Catholicism. Preziosi also read the book “Lead Us Not Into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children,” regarding clerical sexual abuse in Louisiana. This book was released, and Preziosi read it, before the Boston Globe Spotlight reports on the sexual abuse scandal in Massachusetts.

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.

LAFAYETTE (LA)
Lafayette Daily Advertiser

April 17, 2019

By Ashley White

More than 50 years after she was first abused as a little girl in Lafayette by a priest, Nancy told the diocese her story.

She and her six siblings all gave sworn statements to church leaders. Father John deLeeuw, her parish priest, had assaulted her in her family home on Moss Street near St. Leo the Great, she told them. It started when she was in third grade, at about age 7. It didn’t stop until she was in the sixth.

Then, nothing happened. The diocese had promised money, but none came. The church leaders said deLeeuw would be defrocked. She never heard anything.

That was in 2011.

On Friday, Nancy’s younger brother sent her a text. He captured a photo of the list released by the Diocese of Lafayette of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse, and deLeeuw’s name was on it.

She saw his name and she felt finally vindicated.

“When I first saw the text, I said ‘they finally caught the (SOB).’”

Nancy, an accuser of Father John deLeeuw
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this all to come out,” Nancy, now 69, said. “When I first saw the text, I said ‘they finally caught the (SOB).’ ”

Nancy, who asked that her family’s name not be revealed to protect their identity, said it’s unclear if her accusations or others led to deLeeuw being identified by the diocese. The diocese released names of 33 priests and four deacons, but withheld other significant information, like the nature of abuse allegations, when they were accused and how long they served after they were accused.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Daily News

April 17, 2019

By John Gehring

t’s a strange and unhelpful business having more than one pope living at the same time. When Benedict XVI announced he was stepping down in 2013, the first pontiff in six centuries to abdicate his position pledged to “remain hidden to the world.” The humility and grace Benedict showed in making that revolutionary decision to renounce power is now overshadowed by a tone-deaf insistence to weigh in with his opinions, even when those conclusions can be used to undermine Pope Francis.

The “pope emeritus” who still wears white — a title and color that Benedict should stop using to avoid the perception of competing papacies, much as a former police chief or general would take off the uniform when commenting from the sidelines — set off a whirlwind of media coverage and theological head-spinning last week when he weighed in about the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

In a lengthy essay for a German church magazine, published in the United States by conservative Catholic web sites that frequently criticize Francis, Benedict points to the sexual revolution of the 1960s, the absence of God in public life, and even moral theologians who challenged aspects of the church’s teachings as contributing to clerical abuse.

A culture of sexual permissiveness in the 1960s, he argues, accepted pedophilia as “allowed and appropriate.” Sexual education of children and nudity in advertising created a “propensity for violence.” This is why, in one of his more bizarre claims, “sex films were no longer allowed on airplanes” because “violence would break out among the small community of passengers.”

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In Benedict’s narrative, the mix of social protest and changing sexual mores left the church itself a victim. “Homosexual cliques” corrupted seminaries, he writes, an argument taken to its pernicious extreme by some conservative bishops today who continue to blame gay clergy for the abuse crisis despite evidence to the contrary.

[More Opinion] Face it: Recognition technology isn’t close to ready for prime-time »
It’s much easier to point accusing fingers at the secular forces supposedly conspiring against the church or to scapegoat gay clergy than to take a hard look at your own house. In fact, this hunkered-down style of fortress Catholicism — defensive and reactionary — helped shape a mentality that led church leaders to become isolated, privileged and comfortable. Priests and bishops, viewed as a heroic class set apart, were less servants than those who expected to be served, protectors of an institution rather than protectors of children.

Francis, in contrast, has correctly diagnosed the systemic and cultural problems at the heart of clericalism that too often led to abuses of power. “To say ‘no’ to abuse is to say an emphatic ‘no’ to all forms of clericalism,” the pope wrote in a letter to the Catholic faithful last summer.

Benedict is a kind, gentle man with a deep spirituality. He is also hurting the church he loves. It’s sad to watch him unwittingly give credibility to a small but vocal contingent of reactionary Catholic bishops and right-wing Catholic activists who view the reformist Francis papacy as a threat. At a time when transparency, accountability and decisive action are needed to prevent future abuse, the Catholic Church is not well served by a former pope whose vision is blurred by theological and cultural nostalgia.

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.

WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post

April 17, 2019

By Lila Rice Goldenberg

On March 26, the eight editors of Women Church World, the monthly Vatican women’s magazine, resigned. They left in protest over the church’s attempts to silence the all-female staff’s reports of clerical abuse of nuns.

The controversy began in February, when the magazine’s writers claim that they were told not to discuss Pope Francis’s revelations about rampant clerical misconduct toward nuns. The authors refused to give in to Vatican pressure. In response, the Vatican’s newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, started to run articles that contradicted stories in Women Church World. In a statement to the Associated Press, founder Lucetta Scaraffia said, “After the attempts to put us under control, came the indirect attempts to delegitimize us.”

In the #MeToo era, the Vatican’s attempts to discredit those women who speak out against sexual abuse and harassment by members of the clergy may seem like a desperate ploy to preserve its own fast-eroding moral authority. But this pattern of behavior has been the standard for the Catholic Church since the Middle Ages. For more than a thousand years, the church has denigrated religious women when they challenged clerical abusers.

Historically, the church has opposed groups of religious women who have acted against or outside church control, even if they were acting out of religious conviction. In the Middle Ages, the church used similar tactics with the Beguines, a lay religious movement for women popular throughout medieval cities in the Low Countries, France and Germany.

These women lived semi-monastic lives of prayer and work. Inside their houses, called “beguinages,” they prayed and meditated. They also maintained ties with the outside world. They cared for the sick, taught school for girls and young women, and made textiles and other handicrafts to support themselves. They were prayerful, chaste, charitable and industrious.

In other words, beguines were paradigms of female religiosity.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WBFO TV

April 17, 2019

By Marian Hetherlhy

The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo and the Movement to Restore Trust have formed a Joint Implementation Team, facilitated by Leadership Roundtable, to address the clergy sex abuse scandal. Among the first orders of business was to agree to changes in how the diocese handles abuse cases.

Bishop Richard Malone said the team held its first meeting on April 11 and quickly reached agreement on the following initiatives:

Malone will hold Diocesan-wide listening sessions. The first two dates and locations will be announced by the end of April and the first session could be held as early as May.
New Initiatives to Handle Sex Abuse Cases:
Malone will continue meeting with victims and also reserve regular hours on his schedule for individual meetings.
The Diocese’s approach to releasing the names of clergy who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse will be reviewed. The MRT has suggested a more detailed approach, based upon best practices from other U.S. dioceses.
The Diocese’s intake processes for sex abuse claims will be reviewed to insure victims are treated with dignity.
Malone will establish a new process for allegations of sexual abuse or misconduct made against a bishop, modeled after other dioceses, whereby complaints would automatically be referred to the Metropolitan Archdiocesan Review Board. This new process would remain in place until the Vatican or the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops develops a procedure applicable to all dioceses.

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NASHVILLE (TN)
Baptist News Global

April 16, 2019

By Bob Allen

Two months after a series of investigative newspaper stories reported widespread sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention and while denominational leaders ponder solutions, the numbers of Southern Baptist clergy in the criminal system for alleged sex offenses continues to grow.

Last Friday Michael McNeil, former youth pastor at Christ Memorial Church in Wilton, Vermont, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of sexual exploitation of a minor.

McNeil, 29, served as youth pastor at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, before moving to Vermont in 2016 to intern at The New England Training and Sending Center for Church Planting and Revitalization, a group of congregations affiliated with groups including the Southern Baptist Convention, Sovereign Grace Ministries, The Gospel Coalition, 9Marks and ACTS 29.

McNeil admitted to the crime in exchange for a sentence with no jail time that keeps his name off the sex offender registry if he stays out of trouble for five years.

According to the Burlington Free Press, the unnamed girl was older than the age of consent, but Vermont has a law making it a crime for someone at least four years older acting “in a position of power, authority, or supervision” to engage in a sexual act with a minor. If convicted of abusing his position of power to entice the girl McNeil could have received up to five years in prison.

“The breach of trust is unbelievable,” Chittenden County Superior Court Judge Kevin Griffin told McNeil after accepting his guilty plea. “The dignity and the compassion that [the girl’s] parents have shown you far exceeded what you did to them.”

Also on Friday, Jonathan Michael Bailey, 37, was sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl in 2015 during a trip to the Sea Shore United Methodist Retreat Center in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Bailey, former minister of youth at First Baptist Church in New Orleans, was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison for molestation that occurred in Louisiana.

A graduate of Louisiana College and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Bailey reportedly passed a criminal background check before joining the staff at First Baptist in about 2013, but after his arrest a previous church reported to police he had been fired there about a decade earlier over an inappropriate relationship with a juvenile.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
USA TODAY

April 16, 2019

By Joey Garrison

Eight families say a teacher at a Jewish preschool in Washington, D.C., repeatedly sexually abused their children over the past two years – and they contend the school’s top leader and a prominent synagogue did nothing about it despite warnings.

Disturbing claims of sexual abuse against children, between the ages of two and four at the time of the alleged crimes, are outlined in a new civil lawsuit filed late Monday against the Washington Hebrew Congregation, which operates the Edlavitch Tyser Early Childhood Center, and its head of schools, Deborah “DJ” Schneider Jensen.

The suit, filed in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, alleges the defendants enabled sexual abuse of children from the same man – Jordan Silverman, an assistant teacher who arrived at the preschool in 2016 after a long career as a photographer in Vermont.

Attorneys for the parents and children say the abuse, which spanned from March 2016 to August 2018 on the preschool’s campus, included the “most grievous, demeaning and damaging forms of sexual abuse,” and was “systemic and regular.” The victims include both girls and boys, they say.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
KYW Newsradio

April 16, 2019

By Tony Romeo

Two more bills crafted on recommendations from the grand jury that investigated clergy child sexual abuse in Pennsylvania has advanced in the state House.

Legislation intended to reform the statute of limitations on child sex abuse passed the House last week.

Now the House Children and Youth Committee has advanced a bill, sponsored by Montgomery County Republican Todd Stephens, based on a grand jury recommendation to clarify and strengthen penalties for someone who is required to report suspected abuse and fails to do so.

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BILIRAN (THE PHILIPPINES)
UCA News

April 15, 2019

By Ronald O. Reyes

Parishioners of accused American priest say scandal came out of the blue

People in a central Philippine village, where a 77-year-old American priest allegedly molested young boys, are clinging to their faith to overcome the stigma the abuse scandal has brought.

Residents said news about the abuse, which surfaced last year, was “extremely difficult” for the estimated 1,000 people in the sleepy coastal village of Talustosan to come to terms with.

“We’re all hurt,” said 38-year-old Nito Olaguer, a father of four and a former acolyte of accused Father Kenneth Hendricks.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

April 16, 2019

By Jenn Morson

After months of pressure from the right-wing media organization Church Militant and its supporters, many of them parents of current students at Franciscan University of Steubenville as well as alumni of the Ohio school, Franciscan Fr. Sean Sheridan tendered to the Board of Trustees his resignation as president.

His resignation comes in the wake of a challenging academic year for Sheridan and the university. At a Mass opening the academic year, Sheridan delivered a homily that addressed the sexual abuse crisis in the church at large as well as at Franciscan University, where several incidents of abuse were mishandled and where it was revealed later in the year that credible allegations had been made against a well-known friar at the school.

The final straw, however, may have been controversy over assignment of a novel to a high-level literature seminar that conservatives found objectionable and that Church Militant picked up as a cause against Sheridan.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
Altoona Mirror

April 16, 2019

By Robert Swift

Two House committees advanced bills Monday to implement some of the lesser-known recommendations of last year’s state grand jury report on child sex abuse.

The grand jury, which identified more than 300 priests accused of sexually abusing thousands of children over the course of decades, made four recommendations for legislative action. The two proposals concerning Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases have gotten the most public attention so far.

The committees on Monday tackled the jury recommendations dealing with confidentiality agreements for child sex abuse victims and reporting requirements for suspicions of child sex abuse.

The Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to approve House Bill 1171, sponsored by Rep. Tarah Toohill, R-Luzerne, to specify that civil confidentiality agreements with abuse victims that include bans on communicating with law enforcement are “void and unenforceable.” The bill would apply to past and present confidentiality agreements.

The bill is a response to a jury finding that Catholic dioceses used these non-disclosure agreements to silence abuse victims from speaking publicly or cooperating with law enforcement, said Toohill.

Passing the bill will enable law enforcement inform to inform victims that they can speak out, she added.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

April 15, 2019

By Carol Glatz

The clerical sexual abuse crisis is rooted in the “egregious event” of the cultural and sexual revolution in the Western world in the 1960s and a collapse of the existence and authority of absolute truth and God, retired Pope Benedict XVI writes in an article outlining his thoughts on what must be done now.

The retired pope said the primary task at hand is to reassert the joyful truth of God’s existence and of the church as holding the true deposit of faith.

“When thinking about what action is required first and foremost, it is rather obvious that we do not need another church of our own design. Rather, what is required first and foremost is the renewal of the faith in the reality of Jesus Christ given to us in the Blessed Sacrament,” he wrote.

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AUSTRALIA
Mail & Guardian

April 15, 2019

The lawyer defending Australia’s biggest news organisations against contempt charges for their reporting of Cardinal George Pell’s sex crimes conviction denounced on Monday what he called an unprecedented attack on press freedom in the country.

Twenty-three journalists and 13 media companies face fines and prison terms for allegedly breaching a gag order not to report on last year’s trial of Pell for child sex abuse.

Pell, 77, the most senior Catholic cleric convicted of sex crimes, was found guilty in December of abusing two choirboys and is serving a six-year prison term. He has appealed the conviction.
The court had banned all reporting of the case pending a second trial scheduled for this month, but the gag order was lifted in February when that trial was cancelled.

Some foreign media, including The New York Times and the Washington Post, reported Pell’s conviction in December, while local media ran cryptic articles complaining that they were being prevented from reporting a story of major public interest.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WBFO

April 16, 2019

By Marian Hetherly

The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo and the Movement to Restore Trust have formed a Joint Implementation Team, facilitated by Leadership Roundtable, to address the clergy sex abuse scandal. Among the first orders of business was to agree to changes in how the diocese handles abuse cases.

Bishop Richard Malone said the team held its first meeting on April 11 and quickly reached agreement on the following initiatives:

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