ABUSE TRACKER

STATEN ISLAND (NY)
silive.com

April 2, 2019

By Maura Grunlund

Victims with ties to Staten Island are among those preparing to file lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Church alleging priestly sex abuse when a special one-year window of opportunity opens in August in New York State, the Advance has learned.

Events and other outreach intended to bring attention to the victims already are being done in anticipation of what some experts believe is going to be a controversial summer of filings starting in mid-August.

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NEW MEXICO
KUNM NEWS

March 29, 2019

Officials Say Flood Of Immigrants Prompting Quick Release – Associated Press

The Border Patrol says the number of immigrant families traveling to the U.S. is now so high that the agency is immediately letting some go instead of transferring them to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for release.

The situation has forced local governments to help coordinate housing, meals and travel for the immigrants.

The direct release of border crossers by the Border Patrol also means fewer people will have ankle monitors to help ensure they show up to court hearings.

Yuma, Arizona Mayor Douglas Nicholls said the city is working with various non-governmental organizations to make sure the families have temporary housing, food, medical care and help with travel to their intended destinations.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

March 28, 2019

By Haidee V. Eugenio

A Catholic nun turned a boy into her sex slave for two years in the late 1950s, according to a $5 million lawsuit filed in federal court on Thursday.

The lawsuit identifies the Sisters of Mercy nun only as “DE,” who at the time was assigned to the Santa Barbara Catholic Church and Santa Barbara Catholic School in Dededo under the Archdiocese of Agana.

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ROCHESTER (NY)
Catholic Courier

April 1, 2019

By Karen M. Franz

Diocesan policy requires law enforcement to be notified whenever officials find that someone is abusing a child. But Father Daniel J. Condon hasn’t made a call leading police to arrest anyone since 2006.

That’s because sexual abuse by clergy — always perpetrated by a very small minority of priests — has become even more rare in the years since the U.S. bishops adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

“In 2002, we removed from ministry six (priests) one May 5 morning” and have had numbers of others arrested, said Father Condon, chancellor. He noted that the last three arrests of diocesan priests for crimes related to minors occurred after he called the police.

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ST. CLOUD (MN)
SC Times

April 1, 2019

The Diocese of St. Cloud is among the defendants in a civil lawsuit accusing a Catholic priest of sexual misconduct with a former female pastoral assistant, according to a civil lawsuit filed recently in Stearns County District Court.

The lawsuit was filed March 21 by Theodosia Orlando, 32, who was a pastoral associate employed by the diocese from August to January, according to the complaint. Orlando claims she was subjected to “unwelcome, offensive and ongoing verbal and physical sexual harassment” by her supervisor, the Rev. Joseph Backowski.

Backowski, 36, is pastor of St. Mary of the Presentation Church in Breckenridge and St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Kent. According to a statement from the diocese on Friday, Backowski has been on administrative leave since early January because of “personal health concerns.”

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BUFFALO (NY)
WBFO 88.7

March 31, 2019

By Mark Scott

A new book by a St. Bonaventure University priest and professor explores options for the Church as it tries to recover from the ongoing clergy abuse scandal. Fr. David Couturier is a theology professor who is also director of the Franciscan Institute. His book is titled “The Voice of the Victims, The Voice of the Crucified.”

Fr. Couturier takes up the difficult discussion of how the church that understands itself as “the community of the Beloved of God” became — in one generation — a “culture of cruelty and corruption” against its parishioners, especially the youngest among them.

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CHICAGO (IL)
LifeSiteNews

April 1, 2019

By Lisa Bourne

The Archdiocese of Chicago is using proceeds from its cemetery system to help pay down its sizable settlement debt from clergy sexual abuse, a new report says.

The Chicago archdiocese currently owes roughly $200 million from sex abuse settlements and other related costs, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, and for years it has used loans or sold property to meet those costs.

But the archdiocese, led by Cardinal Blase Cupich, has been redirecting some $8 million a year from its cemetery system to pay the sex abuse–related debt down, and the rerouting of funds has been conducted without being disclosed to the public, the report said.

The information came from a source with knowledge of Archdiocese of Chicago operations, it said.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Catholic News Service

March 28, 2019

By Beth Griffin

The clergy abuse crisis will not be over in our lifetime, particularly in countries where it is just being acknowledged, according to Jesuit Father Hans Zollner.

However, a growing understanding of the issue among church leadership and commitment to concrete measures that include lay participation will help dispel anger and eventually restore trust, he said.

Father Zollner is a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and president of the Center for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was a lead organizer of the Vatican’s February summit on abuse.

Father Zollner delivered the Russo Family Lecture March 26 at Jesuit-run Fordham University. It was preceded by a presentation by Margaret Leland Smith and Karen Terry, researchers at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and authors of two seminal reports on the scope and causes of abuse by clergy.

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CHICAGO (IL)
ChurchMilitant

April 1, 2019

By Martina Moyski

Proceeds from sale of Holy Name Cathedral parking lot also going toward paying down abuse debt

The archdiocese of Chicago is using cemetery funds to help pay off more than $200 million in sex abuse payouts, keeping it quiet in order not to draw attention.

The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Cdl. Blase Cupich is using cemetery cash to pay for priest sex abuse legal fees and settlements — a fact previously unknown to the public.

Until now, the Catholic Church in Chicago has publicly maintained that it enlists two revenue sources to pay for settlements and other costs related to priest sex abuse cases: loans and the sale of property.

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ERIE (PA)
GoErie

April 1, 2019

By Ed Palattella

A $2 million settlement involving David L. Poulson leads to more statements about Erie diocese’s actions.

A lawyer and an advocate for victims are trying to use an abuse victim’s $2 million settlement with the Catholic Diocese of Erie to revisit how the diocese handled the case.

Much of what they are raising, however, has already been the subject of extensive reports, including information connected to the grand jury report on the clergy sex abuse crisis that Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro issued in August.

The $2 million settlement, which nationally known Boston lawyer Mitchell Garabedian announced on Tuesday, concerns a victim of David L. Poulson, 65. He is the former priest in the Erie diocese who was sentenced in January to 2 ½ to 14 years in state prison for molesting two boys while he was a pastor between 2002 and 2010. He pleaded guilty in October.

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HOUSTON (TX)
SNAP

April 1, 2019

In a step forward for child protection, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston today suspended one of their priests who allegedly abused children in his native Colombia before coming to the United States. The media report says that this abuse may have resulted in the birth of children.

We are grateful to Church officials at the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston for responding quickly to the allegations against Fr. Jesus Suarez. The Archdiocese was informed of the allegations against Fr. Suarez last week and took action to remove him from ministry on Friday.

While we remain perplexed as to how Fr. Suarez was able transfer to Texas in 1994 without any apparent background checks, we are happy that he has been removed from ministry now. The most pressing questions at this time is whether Fr. Suarez hurt any children during his time in the United States.

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SPRINGFIELD (MO)
SNAP

April 1, 2019

We are disappointed that Springfield MO Catholic officials are just now posting names of credibly accused abusive clerics that we publicly exposed months ago. We are also frustrated that Bishop Edward Rice refuses to give photos, whereabouts and full work histories of these men, helpful information that would better protect children.

There’s one key question that we would like answered: how long have church officials in the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau kept these names hidden? These decisions only keep communities in the dark and needlessly put children and vulnerable adults at risk.

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

April 2, 2019

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims has found three priests who have been publicly accused of molesting kids but are not on the Charleston Catholic diocese’s just-released list of abusers.

For “the safety of kids and the healing of victims,” SNAP wants the Charleston diocese to “include ALL proven, admitted and credibly accused clerics – priests, nuns, bishops, brothers, deacons, seminarians and lay employees – and provide their photos, whereabouts and full work histories.”

The three names missing from the list are:

–Fr. Cletus Altermatt, who was ordained in Great Falls Montana but was at Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner South Carolina in the 1950s. In 2016 and again in 2018, church officials in three states put him on their lists of credibly accused abusers.

Fr. Altermatt also worked in Kentucky (Louisville), Minnesota (Ivanhoe and Lucan) and Ohio (Steubenville, Bloomingdale and Buchtel). He died in 1978.

https://www.andersonadvocates.com/Documents/Assignment_history/Altermatt,%20Cletus%20-%20New%20Ulm%20Assignments.pdf

http://bishop-accountability.org/priestdb/PriestDBbylastName-A.html

https://www.andersonadvocates.com/Posts/News-or-Event/2086/Video-Diocese-of-New-Ulms-List-of-Credibly-Accused-Priests-to-be-Released-Today.aspx

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/diocesan_lists/Great_Falls_Billings/2018_08_21_Great_Falls_Billings_Accused.pdf

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/diocesan_lists/Steubenville/2018_10_31_Priests_Accused_of_Abuse_Steubenville.pdf

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JOPLIN (MO)
Joplin Globe

April 1, 2019

By Andy Ostmeyer

The names of additional priests accused of sexually abusing minors while assigned to the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau were released by the diocese today.

The latest list brings to 23 the total number of priests named in allegations that occurred in the diocese since it was founded in 1956. There are 11 other priests who were assigned to the diocese at some point, and who were accused of abuse while assigned elsewhere.

Since its founding, 424 priests — diocesan and religious order — have been assigned to the diocese, which covers 39 counties in southern Missouri and includes Joplin, Carthage, Webb City, Neosho, Lamar and many other area communities.

The oldest allegations of abuse date to the 1950s; the most recent were from 2006.

Diocesan priests are those assigned to a specific diocese; religious are those priests affiliated with specific orders, such as the Benedictines, who were assigned to the diocese at the time of the alleged incident. Many of the reports naming diocesan priests have previously been made public, but the names of those who were assigned to religious orders are new.

Several of the priests were assigned to parishes in Southwest Missouri, either before or after the alleged assault took place. Some were assigned to area parishes when the alleged abuse occurred.

The diocese also said it settled and paid eight claims for $355,000, using unrestricted cash reserves. There were three claims paid by the diocesan insurer at a cost of $92,500, bringing the total to $447,500. Additionally, the diocese offered victim assistance for prescription costs ($35,836), counseling ($28,425) and future funeral expenses ($7,011), for a total of $70,448. Legal fees so far have come to nearly $190,000, the diocese reported.

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HOUSTON (TX)
Click 2 Houston TV

April 1, 2019

A Houston priest, with ties to the same Conroe church in which a former priest is facing charges, is accused of sexual abusing minors.

Father Jesus Suarez, pastor at St. Philip of Jesus Catholic Church in Houston, was removed from public ministry, officials said.

The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston this weekend sent a letter to parishioners at churches where Suarez served, including St. Philip of Jesus and Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe.

The letter said Suarez is accused of sexually abusing minors, and possibly fathered children, in Colombia before he came to the United States in 1994.

St. Philip of Jesus Catholic Church told KPRC2, “We are in shock.”

The Archdiocese sent a statement to KPRC2 that read:

“The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston has removed Father Jesus Suarez from public ministry while it investigates an allegation that he sexually abused minors, which may have resulted in the birth of children. The abuse allegedly occurred in Colombia, before he came to the United States in 1994.

“The Archdiocese was just recently made aware of this allegation and it has received no other allegations of sexual abuse of minors against him.

“A letter regarding this was read to parishioners at all churches in the Archdiocese where Father Suarez has previously served. Most recently, Fr. Suarez was serving as Pastor of St. Philip of Jesus Parish in Houston.

“The Houston Police Department has been notified of this allegation.”

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

They allegedly abuse elsewhere but were in NC too

None have attracted attention in the Charlotte area

Group says Charlotte’s bishop is “reckless & secretive’

He ‘puts kids at risk;’ won’t reveal names of predator priests

WHAT
Holding signs at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will disclose the names of five publicly accused child molesting clerics who are or were in the Charlotte area but have received virtually no public or media attention in North Carolina. They will also
–blast Charlotte Catholic officials for not revealing predator priests’ names,
–prod them to do join most other dioceses by doing so “immediately,”and
–beg anyone ‘who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups’ to call law enforcement and their support group

WHEN
Tuesday, April 2 at 1:00 p.m

WHERE
Outside the Charlotte diocese headquarters (“chancery office”), 1123 S. Church St. (corner of W. Palmer St., 704 370 6299) in Charlotte NC

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SALINA (KS)
KWCH TV

March 29, 2019

The Catholic Diocese of Salina says an investigation has found 14 clergy members with “substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor.”

Last September, Bishop Gerald Vincke hired the independent outside counsel of Cottonwood Law LLC. of Hillsboro to conduct a thorough review of clergy personnel files and identify any potential cases of clergy misconduct with minors.

The report found 14 cases of diocesan clergy abuse of a minor. None of the 14 priests are in active ministry today and all but two have died.

At this time, the Diocese of Salina is only releasing the names of clerics with substantiated allegations of abuse of a minor. Any cleric with an allegation of abuse of a minor that is unsubstantiated has been excluded from the list.

The KBI began it’s own investigation into reports of clergy sexual abuse at the beginning of February. The Catholic Diocese of Salina is one of four dioceses in Kansas that the special KBI task force is investigating.

The names of the 14 priests were released on the Diocese website.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Commonweal

April 1, 2019

By C. Colt Anderson & Christopher M. Bellitto

As former seminary professors, we have looked upon the last several months of revelations about clergy sex abuse, cover-ups, and institutional infighting with the same disgust and sadness as our sisters and brothers—but we are not surprised. Though we honor and support the many good people who work and study in seminaries, we know that seminaries have played a significant role in the church’s current crisis. It is essential to understand how priests and thus, ultimately, bishops are formed, especially the way they are enculturated into clericalism from their first days in seminary. It is the air they breathe there.

Clericalism in seminary formation is explicitly singled out as a problem in the Synod on Youth’s final document, approved in late October 2018, and it affects everyone in the church—it is a systemic and widespread problem. While not new in church history, of course, it is a particularly pressing concern during this time of scandal. Pope Francis has repeatedly targeted clericalism as the great enemy of ordained ministry today. You can easily see the career-climbers he warns about in seminaries. If you want to learn how to work your way into the clerical caste, watch these men. They are learning Italian, wearing cufflinks and cassocks, and don’t at all mind being called “Father,” even though they are still in studies. Along with our colleagues in other formation programs, we have easily singled out seminarians with scarlet fever: while there may be few vocations to the priesthood, there are plenty of ambitious young men aiming for a bishop’s miter.

Clericalism can be thought of as a type of exceptionalism. Seminarians soon learn that the rules and standards, such as mastery of course material, do not really apply to them. As lay faculty members we have both been told, “You don’t vote on our advancement or ordination,” which falls just short of saying “so you don’t matter.” We have had discussions with seminarians who struggle with drinking or drugs and sexual activity that they commit or observe around them. Some are sexually harassed in the seminary, a problem that the case of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has brought to much needed attention. There are few consequences for any of this.

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JACKSON (MS)
Mississippi Public Radio

April 1, 2019

By Jasmine Ellis

A survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of a Catholic priest in Mississippi is speaking out about what he experienced. Recently, the Catholic Diocese of Jackson released the names of 37 clergy members accused of sexual abuse. MPB’s Jasmine Ellis has more.

Mark Belenchia of Jackson is 63-years-old. He says he was abused by a Catholic priest from the time he was 12-years-old to 15.

“I was an altar boy server and the next thing you know a group of us would be invited over to the rectory and overnight stays,” said Belenchia. “And this was a process over months. And then the next thing you know we’re in the bed and he started touching me. And then the next thing you know there was a lot of other activity going on.”

Belenchia says his mother reported the abuse around 1971 and he reported it in 1985 but he says nothing was done about it. Belenchia says he is no longer a part of the Catholic Church, but he is working to help victims of abuse. He’s the Mississippi coordinator for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests or SNAP.

“I’d say in the last two and a half, three years, I have not been depressed,” said Belenchia. “My goal in life now is to tell people that you’ll never get over it. You’ll learn to deal with it. For me, the stronger I get and the more I can be vocal the better I become.”

The abuse allegations that have come to light are extremely damaging to the victims says Nick Adam. He is a priest at St. Richard Catholic Church in Jackson. He says to read the reports and to see the allegations is heart wrenching.

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ROME (ITALY)
Associated Press

March 31, 2019

Pope Francis defended his decision to reject French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin’s resignation after he was convicted of covering up for a predator priest, saying Sunday that the appeals process must run its course before a final decision is made.

Francis also explained why he rejected proposals by U.S. bishops to respond to the sex abuse scandal there, saying they neglected the spiritual dimension required for a true reform.

The pope referred to both cases during an in-flight news conference en route home Sunday from Morocco.

Francis’ papacy has been thrown into turmoil by the eruption of the scandal on multiple continents and his own handling of cases at the Vatican. Currently, two of his cardinals — Barbarin and Australian Cardinal George Pell — have criminal abuse-related convictions hanging over them, though both are appealing.

Asked Sunday about Barbarin, Francis said the archbishop of Lyon was entitled to the presumption of innocence as long as the case remained open.

“He has appealed, so the case is open. After the second tribunal decides, we’ll see what happens,” he said.

Francis said that presumption of innocence was necessary to guard against a “superficial media condemnation.”

Barbarin offered his resignation to Francis this month after a court in Lyon gave him a six-month suspended sentence for failing to report the Rev. Bernard Preynat to civil authorities when he learned of his abuse. Preynat, who is scheduled to be tried on sexual violence charges next year, confessed to abusing Boy Scouts in the 1970s and 1980s. His victims accuse Barbarin and other church authorities of covering up for him for years.

After Francis declined to accept the resignation, Barbarin decided to take a leave and turned over the day-to-day management of the archdiocese to his deputy.

In the news conference, Francis also defended his tendency to blame the devil for the abuse scandal, saying the crisis is of such magnitude and scale of filth that it cannot be understood without referencing the “mystery of evil.”

“It’s not washing your hands [of the problem] to say the devil did it,” Francis said. “We have to do battle with the devil. Just as we have to battle human things.”

Francis explained that it was precisely the spiritual dimension of the scandal that he asked U.S. bishops to reflect on when he sent them on spiritual retreats at the beginning of the year. The U.S. church hierarchy has suffered a credibility crisis over its repeated failures to protect children from predator priests, as evidenced by the Pennsylvania grand jury report and the scandal over ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, found guilty by the Vatican of sexually abusing minors and adults.

At their November general meeting, the U.S. bishops had planned to vote on proposals to hold themselves accountable for sexual misconduct or negligence in handling abuse cases. But the Vatican blocked them from taking up the measures, which included a third-party confidential reporting system and a code of conduct.

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NEW YORK (NY)
International Business Times

April 1, 2019

By Pritha Paul

An Australian priest was sentenced to 10 years in prison, Monday, after being convicted of raping the 12-year-old son of his dying friend.

Paul Pavlou, 59, who was studying to become a priest in 2003 when the incidents occurred, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16. He had initially claimed he could not recall committing the crimes when the victim reported Pavlou’s actions to the police 13 years later, the Age reported.

When his best friend was dying of cancer and his wife was working three jobs to support their six children, Pavlou offered “respite” to the family. While his offer seemed generous initially, he soon used the opportunity to rape his friend’s 12-year-old son on three occasions.

During his trial, the Victorian county court heard that Pavlou would frequently stay over at his friend’s family home as well as invite the boy over to his house. Every time he sexually molested the victim, he called the latter a “special child” and a “child of God.”

The victim, who was now an adult, told the court via videoconferencing recently that the priest’s actions destroyed his childhood as he cried himself to sleep for years after the incidents. “To betray your dying best friend [and his partner] … by raping their young son is one of the most evil acts I’ve ever heard of … even worse than murder,” the unidentified man told the court during the trial.

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AUSTRALIA
Independent Australia

March 30, 2019

By Tess Lawrence

Church and State discount price for rape/sexual abuse of children. Contributing editor-at-large Tess Lawrence calls them out.

CARDINAL PELL, how much would you pay for your “ plain vanilla ” rape of a child ? Oh, $150,000 max. That’s all?

And Prime Minister Scott Morrison, what would you agree to pay out in the case of non-penetrative sexual assault of a minor, you know, just your double cream plain vanilla masturbation, fondling of genitals, that sort of thing. Government computer says, $50,000 max.

Offensive, ain’t it. You bet!

The National Redress Scheme for victims and survivors of institutional child sex abuse not only gives the finger to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse, but also demeans the long term impact, suffering and the life shattering consequences, mental and physical impairment endured by victims of sexual assault in the wider community.

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AUSTRALIA
The New Daily

March 29, 2019

Georgie Burg is a child sex abuse survivor who last year jailed pedophile Anglican priest John Philip Aitchison.

She hoped to deliver this speech on Thursday when she attended a government roundtable on the National Redress Scheme, attended by Social Services Minister Paul Fletcher.

Despite not being eligible, she had called the Redress hotline to see how it functions for survivors. What she found, she says, was not acceptable and she aims to improve the process.
On the day of George Pell’s sentencing, I sat in a similar meeting room – this time for the National Office of Child Safety, discussing the implementation of the recommendations from the royal commission. I was missing my daughter’s 18th birthday to be there, on a day we know was loaded with meaning for survivors like me.

I was glad then and proud too, about what I did over Christmas last year, putting together a list of questions that I think a survivor would want to know about the National Redress Scheme. I’m not eligible for redress, I’m not a paid employee or affiliated with anyone. It’s too late for my family and me. There is nothing for me to gain.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS News

March 31, 2019

A man abused by a Christian brother has called on the federal government to change the national redress scheme while at a rally in Melbourne.

A man who was sexually abused as a child has stood on the steps of parliament to call for an overhaul to the national redress scheme.

Stephen Bisinella, 54, was eight years old when his school teacher started to abuse him, and didn’t stop for about six years and almost 500 incidents.

“Like other survivors, every area of my life has been impacted. My marriage, my family, my education. There has been unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, self-harming and suicide attempts,” Mr Bisinella told the rally.

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

April 1, 2019

A priest from the Diocese of Oakland was arrested on Friday by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office on 30 counts of child sexual abuse.

Fr. David Mendoza-Vela, a native of El Salvador, was working at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Fremont at the time of his arrest, but the allegations arise from an 18 month period beginning in 2016 when the cleric was assigned to St. John’s Catholic Church in San Lorenzo.

We are concerned because we know that while 70% of child sex offenders have between one and 9 victims, 20% have 10 to 40 victims. We also know that Hispanic communities are less likely to report rape/sexual assault, possibly due to language barriers and concerns about immigrant status.

However, the sooner victims come forward, the sooner they can begin healing.

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EVANSVILLE (IN)
Courier & Press

April 1, 2019

By Jon Webb

“Happy Birthday!”

“Father Joseph Clauss, a retired priest of the Diocese of Evansville, celebrates his birthday Sept. 27. He resides at Guadeloupe Retreat Center.”

That was one of several upbeat messages appearing in diocesan newspaper The Message all through the 1990s. The paper consistently marked Clauss’ birthday and the anniversary of his ordination.

But it never mentioned the reason for his “retirement.” Or why he lived at a complex in Southern California.

In 2002, the truth finally came out: Clauss was an “incurable pedophile.”

This February, the diocese released the names of 12 priests who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors. Clauss, who died in 2003, was one of them.

There were 10 substantiated allegations against him – the second-most of anyone on the list. He admitted to one.

The details of those accusations have never been made public. And for 12 years, the diocese shielded churchgoers from the truth about a man who once taught their children and worshiped alongside them for decades.

Pastor and teacher
Clauss was ordained as a priest in 1956.

He went on to serve as pastor or associate pastor at six churches throughout the diocese. That doesn’t include residencies or administrative work at four other churches, nor does it scrape his varied career in the Catholic school system.

He served as a teacher at Memorial High School before becoming superintendent at Loogootee’s St. John High School in 1967 and Washington Catholic High School in 1969.

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ALBUQUERQUE ((NM)
KRQE

April 1, 2019

Jury selection begins for a former Albuquerque priest facing federal sex abuse charges Monday.

Arthur Perrault is accused of assaulting an 11-year-old boy at the Santa Fe National Cemetery and Kirtland Air Force Base, where he served as a military chaplain in the 90s.

Court documents say Perrault had as many as eight other victims. He returned to the United States back in September after his arrest in Morocco. Perrault who is 80 has pleaded not guilty.

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EVANSVILLE (IN)
Evansville Courier & Press

April 1, 2019

By Jon Webb

“Happy Birthday!”

“Father Joseph Clauss, a retired priest of the Diocese of Evansville, celebrates his birthday Sept. 27. He resides at Guadeloupe Retreat Center.”

That was one of several upbeat messages appearing in diocesan newspaper The Message all through the 1990s. The paper consistently marked Clauss’ birthday and the anniversary of his ordination.

But it never mentioned the reason for his “retirement.” Or why he lived at a complex in Southern California.

In 2002, the truth finally came out: Clauss was an “incurable pedophile.”

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ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
The Associated Press

April 1, 2019

By Mary Hudetz

A priest who was captured in Morocco after fleeing the U.S. decades ago is facing a federal trial on charges that he sexually abused a New Mexico boy in the early 1990s at an Air Force base and veterans’ cemetery.

The trial of 80-year-old Arthur Perrault is set to begin Monday in Santa Fe with jury selection. Prosecutors are expected to call dozens of witnesses, including a former deacon, parents and former military members who knew Perrault in the early 1990s.

Federal authorities have said in court documents that Perrault may have had as many as eight other victims. But the charges against him only involve an 11-year-old altar boy.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Washington Post

March 31, 2019

By Erin Cox and Justin Wm. Moyer

Two years ago, Maryland lawmakers made it easier for adults sexually abused as children to sue institutions that harbored predators.

They may have also irreversibly granted some immunity to the Catholic Church.

A provision tucked into a 2017 law now stands in the way of Maryland joining a nationwide effort to bring justice to victims who come to terms with childhood abuse when they reach middle age and, for decades, have had no recourse in civil courts.

The language was pushed by lobbyists for the Catholic Church two years ago as part of a compromise to extend Maryland’s civil statute of limitations from age 25 to 38. Because it forbids the state from raising the maximum age above 38, it effectively inoculates the church and other organizations from costly lawsuits that could reveal whether they sheltered abusers decades ago.

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HOLMDEL (NJ)
Asbury Park Press

March 31, 2019

By Kala Kachmar and Erik Larsen

A longtime St. Catharine’s parishioner said he was “shocked” when he learned one of the church’s priests was removed abruptly after the Diocese of Trenton announced a “credible” allegation of child sex abuse against him on Saturday.

“It’s all coming out now,” said John Revolinsky, of Holmdel, who was on his way to the 8 a.m. service at the church. “He was new, but he seemed alright.”

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ROME
CNN

March 29, 2019

By Delia Gallagher

The Vatican issued tougher, comprehensive laws Friday governing the sexual abuse of minors within the Vatican City State, Vatican offices and its diplomatic embassies abroad.

Pope Francis personally signed off on the new legislation that includes mandatory reporting of potential sexual abuse cases to Vatican authorities and the automatic dismissal of any employee found guilty of sexual abuse against minors.

The new laws also raise the statute of limitations for reporting a crime to 20 years following the 18th birthday of an alleged victim. The previous law was four years from the date of the alleged crime.

The move comes in the wake of the Vatican’s unprecedented summit last month in Rome to confront the Catholic Church’s clergy abuse scandal.

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CHARLESTON (WV)
WCHS/WVAH

March 27, 2019

By Jessi Starkey

Former West Virginia Bishop Michael Bransfield is facing new sexual assault allegations after an alleged victim came forward to say he endured years of abuse by Bransfield.

A lawsuit was filed by the alleged victim against the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese, former Bishop Michael Bransfield and 20 unknown men in the church.

In a 21-page lawsuit the alleged victim identified as J.E. claims he was sexually assaulted by Bransfield, who is now banned from any leadership position in the church. His attorney Bobby Warner told Eyewitness News his client was pursuing his dream of joining the clergy. The lawsuit says J.E. was in seminary school when he encountered the abuse. The alleged sexual assault caused J.E. to drop out of seminary school, and he stated he feared coming forward to talk about the alleged abuse.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters Videos

March 29, 2019

Pope Francis has enacted new legislation aimed at preventing child sexual abuse on Vatican property. Previously the Roman Catholic Church headquarters was governed by a myriad of guidelines, some ad hoc. Matthew Larotonda reports.

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UNITED STATES
CNN

March 29, 2019

Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles opened up about how she coped with sexual abuse at the hands of former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nasser during an interview with actress Priyanka Chopra.

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DENVER (CO)
Hays Post

March 28, 2019

The Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Conrad today released a list of names of friars with credible accusations of the sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult. The list includes the names of 13 members or former members.

Of the 13, two are deceased and five have since left the order. None are in active ministry.

Of the 13, 12 had pastoral assignments in Hays or Victoria.

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DENVER (CO)
Capuchin Franciscans

March 28, 2019

The Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Conrad today released a list of names of friars with credible accusations of the sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult. The list includes the names of 13 members or former members.

Of the 13, two are deceased and five have since left the order. None are in active ministry.

Provincial Minister, Fr. Christopher Popravak, O.F.M.Cap, who commissioned the release, stated, “As friars and followers of St. Francis of Assisi, our vocation is to serve as lesser brothers. Therefore, the abuse of a minor by someone in such a sacred position of trust is all the more egregious. I have personally met with numerous victims and can attest to the devastation wreaked upon their lives and those of their families. Though the words may ring hollow as many other Church leaders are voicing similar sentiments, I can only say that I am sorry from the depths of my heart. I have asked the friars of our Province to commit to serious penance and reparation on behalf of the misdeeds of our brothers and for the healing of victims. The results of the audit we are releasing today is only the first step in a new age of transparency. We are striving to be vigilant and have taken serious steps in the last fifteen years to ensure the careful and diligent screening of candidates to our way of life. We must persevere in our efforts to ensure that such a scandalous series of violations never occurs again.”

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VATICAN CITY
Associated Press

March 29, 2019

Pope Francis on Friday issued sweeping new sex abuse legislation for Vatican personnel and Holy See diplomats that requires the immediate reporting of abuse allegations to Vatican prosecutors, a policy shift aimed at being a model for the Catholic Church worldwide.

The mandatory reporting provision of the legislation marks the first time the Vatican has put into law requirements for Catholic officials to report allegations of sex crimes to police or face fines and possible jail time.

Francis also issued child protection guidelines for Vatican City State and its youth seminary, acting after the global sex abuse scandal exploded anew last year and The Associated Press reported that the headquarters of the Catholic Church had no policy to protect children from predator priests.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

March 29, 2019

By Philip Pullella

Pope Francis on Friday made it compulsory in law to report the sexual abuse of children within the Vatican and in its diplomatic missions worldwide.

Although the city state within Rome is tiny, and very few children live there, the sweeping legal changes reflect a desire to show that the Catholic Church is finally acting against clerical child abuse after decades of scandals around the world.

The changes signed by the pope – who is Vatican head of state as well as head of the Church – make it obligatory for superiors and co-workers to report abuse allegations; punish failure to report with dismissal, fines or jail; and offer assistance to victims and families.

There are also provisions to protect vulnerable adults.

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VATICAN CITY
AFP

March 29, 2019

Pope Francis issued stringent child abuse legislation for Vatican City employees on Friday, as part of the Church’s bid to address a wave of sex abuse allegations against priests.

The legislation requires officials and employees in the Vatican City State as well the Roman Curia, the central administration of the Catholic Church, to immediately report any abuse against minors and vulnerable people or face fines or a prison sentence.

Anyone convicted of abuse must be “removed from office” under the new rules, which set a statute of limitations for such crimes at 20 years from the date victims turn 18.

Francis said in a letter released with his “motu proprio” decree that it was the duty of everyone “to generously welcome children and vulnerable persons, and to create a safe environment for them”.

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UNITED STATES
Complicit Clergy

March 31, 2019

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput had strong words for the church’s top leadership this week, declaring that many bishops are upset with Rome for its failure to address the crisis of homoclericalism.

Many bishops are frustrated with Rome “for its unwillingness to acknowledge the real nature and scope of the abuse problem,” Chaput said in a meeting with seminarians in Ohio. “Not naming the real problem for what it is, a pattern of predatory homosexuality and a failure to weed that out from Church life, is an act of self-delusion.”

“Clerical privilege is not the problem,” the archbishop insisted. “Clericalism may be a factor in the sexual abuse of minors, but no parent I know – and I hear from a lot of them – sees that as the main issue.”

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ROME (ITALY)
Associated Press

March 31, 2019

Pope Francis defended his decision to reject French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin’s resignation after he was convicted of covering up for a predator priest, saying Sunday that the appeals process must run its course before a final decision is made.

Francis also explained why he rejected proposals by U.S. bishops to respond to the sex abuse scandal there, saying they neglected the spiritual dimension required for a true reform.

The pope referred to both cases during an in-flight news conference en route home Sunday from Morocco.

Francis’ papacy has been thrown into turmoil by the eruption of the scandal on multiple continents and his own handling of cases at the Vatican. Currently, two of his cardinals — Barbarin and Australian Cardinal George Pell — have criminal abuse-related convictions hanging over them, though both are appealing.

Asked Sunday about Barbarin, Francis said the archbishop of Lyon was entitled to the presumption of innocence as long as the case remained open.

“He has appealed, so the case is open. After the second tribunal decides, we’ll see what happens,” he said.

Francis said that presumption of innocence was necessary to guard against a “superficial media condemnation.”

Barbarin offered his resignation to Francis this month after a court in Lyon gave him a six-month suspended sentence for failing to report the Rev. Bernard Preynat to civil authorities when he learned of his abuse. Preynat, who is scheduled to be tried on sexual violence charges next year, confessed to abusing Boy Scouts in the 1970s and 1980s. His victims accuse Barbarin and other church authorities of covering up for him for years.

After Francis declined to accept the resignation, Barbarin decided to take a leave and turned over the day-to-day management of the archdiocese to his deputy.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle

March 31, 2019

By Kimberly Veklerov

The head priest of the Corpus Christi Parish in Fremont has been arrested on suspicion of 30 counts of child sex abuse, officials said Sunday.

Father Hector David Mendoza-Vela, 42, was arrested Thursday and booked into Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, where he is awaiting an arraignment in Alameda County Superior Court. His bail was set at $900,000.

The abuse happened over an 18-month period in 2016 and 2017 and involved a child who was 14 and 15 at the time, according to Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated the case.

The victim’s family “met Father Vela through his work as their Catholic priest and became friends of his like a lot of people do with leaders in the community,” Kelly said.

The abuse, described only as “lewd and lascivious acts,” happened at the victim’s Hayward home and in other locations, Kelly said. He did not provide further details on the victim or the acts.

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TORONTO (CANADA)
National Post

March 29, 2019

By Douglas Quan

One evening in March 1977, Adam Exner, then bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese in Kamloops, B.C., sought to put a lid on what he saw as a brewing scandal involving allegations that a “playboy” priest was having “inappropriate relationships” with women.

Appearing before parishioners assembled at Our Lady of Perpetual Help church, Exner kept things vague, according to his speaking notes from the time. He told them he had removed Rev. Erlindo Molon from the diocese because of a “personal” and “ongoing” problem that put Molon’s future as a priest at stake.

“In some situations, time and distance are the best remedy,” he wrote.

Some four decades later, a civil action in B.C. Supreme Court has brought fresh scrutiny upon the priest’s behaviour and the church’s response to it. Rosemary Anderson, then a young teacher at the adjoining Catholic elementary school, has sued Molon, alleging that he exploited and sexually assaulted her over several months starting in September 1976.

The lawsuit, filed in December 2016, also names the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Kamloops as a defendant, alleging that Exner, despite being aware of a pattern of alleged sexual misconduct involving Molon, was negligent and failed to adequately protect her and other parishioners.

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ILLIWARRA (AUSTRALIA)
Illawarra Mercury

March 30, 2019

By Shannon Tonkin

The former Catholic priest passed away on January 24. A private funeral has already been held.

Comensoli was born in March 1939 and educated at Catholic schools in the Illawarra before being ordained as a priest in July 1965, at the age of 26, to minister in parishes in the Wollongong dioceses.

In 1993, the Mercury exposed Comensoli’s sexual abuse of altar boys in the early 1980s, leading to him being stood down from all forms of ministry and charged by police.

The trauma and pain endured by victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and their families is real and is acknowledged.

The then-55-year-old pleaded guilty to the offences the following year and was sentenced to two years’ jail, with a non-parole period of 18 months, in Sydney District Court.

Despite his conviction, Comensoli retained the title of reverend until he was formally defrocked in 2015, a year after being charged with further historical sexual offences stemming from crimes committed against three boys between 1966 and 1968.

He was convicted in 2016 but avoided a jail sentence due to his advanced age and lack of reoffending since 1994.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune-Review

March 30, 2019

“If only there were more bureaucracy.”

File that under things no one has ever said.

On Thursday, Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik announced a new department to address sexual abuse claims and recovery. The Secretariat for the Protection of Children, Youth and Vulnerable Adults is open for business as of Monday.

For the moment, let’s ignore the decades of bishops in Pennsylvania obscuring reported abuse and shuttling offending priests from parish to parish. Let’s just appreciate that things are actually getting done to address the very serious problem going forward.

According to Zubik, the new department brings together people who have worked with abuse victims within the diocese before but puts them all under a single umbrella to get the job done more effectively.

It’s not a new idea. It’s basically the same thing President George W. Bush did after the 9-11 terror attacks when he shuffled the decks in a number of departments, pulling out an agency here and a bureau there to create the Department of Homeland Security. Today, DHS is the third largest department in the federal government and has an annual budget of about $40 billion.

There is no question at all that the diocese and the church as a whole must take the damage already done seriously and must take steps to prevent children from being victimized going forward. Those things must happen. Full stop.

But now it has to be on all of us to keep it from happening again.

Let’s go back and remember why it is necessary. It isn’t just because there was horrifying abuse of children going back 70 years and across the entire state, as detailed in Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s grand jury report in August.

It’s that it was institutional.

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[Argentine survivors of clergy abuse: “If the Pope wanted to change something, he would have to throw them out”]

ARGENTINA
Clarín

February 23, 2019

By Mariana Iglesias

Mientras la Iglesia discute en Roma, la Red de Sobrevivientes de Abuso Eclesiástico en la Argentina tiene confirmados 40 casos. Creen que hay por lo menos 100 curas abusadores en el país.

Mailin llora. Todavía llora. Tiene 31 años. El cura la abusó mucho tiempo atrás. Se acuerda escenas, algunas claras, otras borrosas. Hay días que le aparecen situaciones nuevas, cualquier cosa las trae a su cabeza. Aún no sanó. Se pregunta si llegará el día en que eso ocurra.

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[“Telling the judges what trash he was, it was liberating,” says victim of accused “payador” priest]

ARGENTINA
Clarín

March 30, 2019

By Mariana Iglesias

A Pablo Huck le llevó 22 años denunciar a Marcelino Moya, quien lo atacó cuando era adolescente. Este jueves comenzó el juicio.

A Pablo Huck le llevó 22 años denunciar al cura que lo había abusado durante casi dos años en su adolescencia. Este jueves empezó el juicio contra el sacerdote y él lo tuvo ahí, bien cerca. Ante los jueces, pudo decir que Marcelino Moya, así se llama el acusado, era “un hijo de puta”, “una mierda de persona”, “un delincuente”. Pablo lo dijo con voz temblorosa, pero la frente bien alta. El cura no levantó la mirada del piso.

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[Cardinal Errázuriz defends himself: “It is clear I never covered up for Karadima”]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 29, 2019

By Matías Vega and Nicole Martínez

Por más de seis horas declaró como imputado el cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz en la Fiscalía Centro Norte, por encubrimiento y falso testimonio. Fue en esta segunda jornada en la que el religioso defendió su inocencia, descartando encubrimiento de su parte en el caso Karadima. Son 10 casos por lo que fue consultado en esta arista. Estos incluyen cargos por falso testimonio, al asegurar que no había cerrado la indagatoria del caso Karadima, cuando una carta al nuncio Giuseppe Pinto decía lo contrario.

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[Los Ángeles bishop on Karadima compensation: We hope that the case will be closed]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 30, 2019

By Matías Vega and Esteban Sepúlveda

El obispo de Los Ángeles, Felipe Bacarreza, deslizó dudas de que la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago haya tenido todos los antecedentes para ordenar el pago de $100 millones de pesos a las víctimas del sacerdote Fernando Karadima. El prelado catalogó, sin embargo, como un crimen los casos de abuso sexual por los que fue acusado el exsacerdote de El Bosque.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Sun Times

March 29, 2019

By Robert Herguth

For years, the Catholic Church in Chicago has said it enlists two revenue sources to pay for settlements and other costs related to priest sex abuse cases: loans and the sale of property.

But a Chicago Sun-Times examination found the church has been using money from its cemetery system to help pay down nagging debt related to sex misconduct — which at last count was more than $200 million — without telling the public.

A source with knowledge of the operations of the Archdiocese of Chicago, the arm of the church for Cook and Lake counties overseen by Cardinal Blase Cupich, said about $8 million a year has been shifted from the cemetery system to pay down that debt.

Neither Betsy Bohlen, chief operating officer of the archdiocese, nor Cupich would comment. But church spokeswoman Paula Waters said in a statement:

“Investment earnings on cemeteries assets are used to help fund annual debt payments. These investment earnings are over and above what is needed for the proper care of our cemeteries. We take all of our obligations seriously and discharge them responsibly.”

Waters wouldn’t answer questions about the church’s debt and whether the church has been less than straightforward by failing to disclose this revenue stream until now.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Agency

March 29, 2019

By Ed Condon

Pope Francis issued a new set of canonical norms Friday strengthening existing laws on sexual abuse for the Vatican City State and the Roman Curia.

The new norms introduce a mandatory reporting requirement for curial officials and employees who become aware of – or even suspect – a case of sexual abuse. But the most eye-catching change made by the pope was a redefinition of who can be a victim of sexual abuse.

Canon and Vatican City law obviously focus on the sexual abuse of minors. But in that same legal category is the abuse of “vulnerable” adults. How “vulnerable” adults are defined in law has been hotly contested in recent discussions of scandal and reform in the Church.

The new laws define a vulnerable person very broadly, including anyone “in an infirm state, of physical or mental deficiency, or deprivation of personal freedom, that in fact, even occasionally, limits their capacity to intend or to want or in any way to resist the offense.”

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BRIDGEPORT (CT)
Connecticut Post

March 31, 2019

By Julia Perkins

One of the Connecticut priests accused of sexual abuse was also sentenced to prison for helping a teen build a pipe bomb.

Father Paul Gotta, who pleaded guilty in 2016 on explosives and firearms charges, was one of the 36 priests the Archdiocese of Hartford named earlier this year as being credibly accused of abuse since 1953. Most of these accusations involved children.

Gotta served in New Haven, Hamden, East Windsor and several other Connecticut towns, the Republican-American reported. He was a sacramental minister at Southern Connecticut State University and a part-time chaplain at Sacred Heart High School in Waterbury, among other positions in the Catholic church, according to the Republican-American.

He was suspended from the priesthood in 2013 after he was accused of sexually assaulting a minor, according to the Associated Press.

The arrest warrant accused Gotta of telling the teenage boy who did odd jobs at East Windsor’s St. Philip Church and St. Catherine Church that he would not get paid unless the boy stripped naked, according to the Journal Inquirer. Gotta also performed sexual acts on the teen and forced him to illegally purchase a gun, the outlet reported the arrest warrant as saying. The abuse occurred between January 2012 and February 2013.

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WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer

March 31, 2019

By H. John Rogers

It is a very dangerous thing when the government seeks to regulate or control religion for any reason. The First Amendment has long been construed by the courts to require “a wall of separation” between church and state.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has sued the Catholic Church in West Virginia over the past conduct of its priests and hierarchy. The basic charge in that the church knowingly hired pedophiles and did not conduct background checks on employees for schools and camps operated by the diocese. In the past!

For all practical purposes, the diocese has admitted these allegations. To the extent that they are crimes, the attorney general has absolutely no authority to deal with them. The power to initiate criminal proceedings is vested exclusively in the 55 local county prosecuting attorneys. The attorney general cannot even suggest a course of action to a local prosecuting attorney. Since there is absolutely nothing that the attorney general can do about even admitted criminal conduct in the past, this suit must be an attempt enjoin criminal conduct in the future.

The problem is that the civil law will not normally countenance an attempt to proscribe criminal conduct in the future. For example, the state cannot sue someone to prevent that person from robbing a bank or selling drugs, even if it is established as an absolute certainty that the crime will occur.

The asserted statutory basis for the suit here is the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act. If a totally unqualified person were made head of West Virginia University, would an aggrieved student (or parent) have standing to sue? More importantly, could the attorney general bring a class action law suit on behalf of all the parents who paid good money for their children to attend a school and later discovered that the school had an incompetent president? Isn’t this precisely what the attorney general is trying to do here?

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

Mar 31, 2019

By John L. Allen Jr.

Having just returned from an 18-day swing through the U.S. that took us to Boston, Denver, South Bend, Anaheim, Simi Valley, Whittier and Detroit, here’s probably the most common question I got along the way from American Catholics vis-à-vis the home office in Rome: “Do those guys over there get it?”

The “it” refers to the clerical sexual abuse crisis, and, more specifically, the gravity and depth of the situation as experienced by American Catholics over the last several months, and thus the perceived need for urgent and dramatic action.

Obviously, it would have been great if my answer could have been, “Yeah, absolutely, of course.” That would have been reassuring to the people we met, and also would have made the lives of the pastors, parish ministers and bishops we encountered infinitely easier.

Alas, recent experience dictates a more complicated response. To grasp why, let’s consider developments in just the last few days.

To begin, last week a Vatican-backed investigation commenced in the Argentine diocese of Oran regarding accusations of both sexual and financial misconduct against its former shepherd, Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, who’s now the number two official in the Vatican’s Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, meaning its main financial administration center.

Archbishop Carlos Alberto Sánchez of neighboring Tucumán has been assigned to conduct the probe, which apparently will involve interviewing seminarians who’ve claimed to be victims of abuse by Zanchetta.

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PROVIDENCE (RI)
WJLA TV

March 26, 2019

By Katie Davis

Across the country, thousands of people have been identified as victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests when they were children. Yet many of these survivors never got their day in court because it’s too late for criminal charges and civil statutes of limitations didn’t allow them to file a lawsuit.

Psychologist Ann Hagan Webb, herself a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, now counsels other victims.

“I have never met a survivor who wanted change for themselves. They just don’t want it to happen to other children,” she said.

Webb is advocating for changes to state laws that would give adult survivors more time to take legal action, in part because many people don’t remember or acknowledge childhood sexual abuse until decades later. She said she started to recall the abuse she endured only when she was in her 40s, after having her own children. It’s something she’s also heard from many of her patients.

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WICHITA (KS)
KWCH TV

March 30, 2019

Decades after losing her son to suicide, Janet Patterson wants to make sure parents are talking with their children about sexual abuse.

“The main thing is if you’re free to talk about what’s going on, they’ll feel more free to bring it up if there’s a problem,” Patterson said.

Sharilyn Ray is the founder and CEO of Restoration Family Services. She has years of experience working with sexually abused children.

Ray says parents should start the conversation at a young age.

“I think as early as they are able to comprehend body parts,” Ray said. “We’re working with our young ones on ear, nose, mouth eyes, but also teaching them names for their private parts. It is during that time they can recognize what areas are their own personal space.”

Ray says use the technical names – not nicknames or slang terms. She says anything that’s covered with a swimsuit should be taught as a private area.

As children get older, parents need to continue to have that conversation. Rays says the majority of abuse happens by someone kids know and trust. So anytime they spend time away, ask them if anything happened. If anyone touched them where they shouldn’t

“Did someone make you feel uncomfortable in any way? Even asking “do you feel like someone invaded your bubble space?” Just to get them used to having that conversation with you and that door to be open,” Ray said.

She says it’s a conversation you should have often and don’t let your kids believe it’s a taboo topic.

“This is a picture of Eric when he was in high school and he had that detached look on his face. You see your child like this and you see them happy the next day and when you try to find out, they’re just naturally not going to say anything so its hard,” Patterson said.

“You have to work through the nonverbal stuff to get to the verbal,” Say said. “Sometimes a simple hug goes a long way, and silence goes a long way. Sometimes you have to build up to that comfortable place to where your kid can just word vomit to you.”

Rays says parents need to make sure to keep the guilt off their child.

“If you’re a victim, you’re a victim. You do not have control over someone’s actions. If you say no or you’re not inviting that, then it shouldn’t happen have,” Ray said.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
Patriot News

March 28, 2019

By Ivey DeJesus and Jan Murphy

After years of failed efforts to reform Pennsylvania’s child sex crime laws, a pair of House lawmakers this week served up the latest attempt at addressing remedies for thousands of adults who were sexually abused as children – and are looking for quick action on it.

Historically, victims of abuse have been among the most strident supporters of such efforts. This time, however, the proposals are engendering mixed reactions among victims, including outrage.

On Wednesday afternoon, state House Representatives Mark Rozzi (D-Berks) and Jim Gregory, (R-Blair) introduced House bills 962 and 963 respectively. Leaders ushered the bills swiftly into the House Judiciary Committee without seeking co-sponsors or holding a press conference.

Rozzi’s bill, House Bill 962, would eliminate the criminal statute of limitations on child sex crimes going forward; victims now must pursue criminal complaints by age 50. The bill would also raise the age limit for filing a civil claim arising out of child sexual abuse to 55, from the current age of 30.

However, Rozzi’s bill does not include what he and victims have long demanded: a retroactive window for victims to file civil suits even if they are beyond the statute of limitations.

Gregory’s House Bill 963 calls for a constitutional amendment to the remedies clause, which would pave the way for a retroactive window for victims who have timed out of the court system. The measure is designed to address concerns that such retroactive windows are unconstitutional, an argument that has been the main sticking point of detractors in efforts to reform child sex abuse laws.

Both bills are scheduled for consideration by the judiciary committee on April 8, which could tee them up for a possible vote by the full House as soon as April 10.

“I’ve been working closely with House leadership and the prime sponsors to make sure that we expeditiously address the issue for the victims in Pennsylvania, looking at the best way to address the grand jury report,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rob Kauffman, R-Franklin County. “This is the way we fashioned to move forward obviously to get the best product and move it in a speedy fashion.”

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HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle

March 29, 2019

By Lise Olsen

For the past few months, pastor Steve Swofford of First Baptist Church in Rockwall has led a national search committee tasked with finding a leader to guide the Southern Baptist Convention through a national sex abuse crisis.

That six-member committee is expected to name a new president of the SBC Executive Committee on April 2 — weeks after the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News published an investigation into sexual abuse in Southern Baptist churches. In response to the series, “Abuse of Faith,” other SBC leaders already have promised to probe churches whose leaders knowingly harbored child abusers.

But Swofford has never spoken publicly about a scandal closer to home: allegations that a former youth pastor and the youth pastor’s assistant each molested prepubescent boys from his own church in the 1990s, according to interviews and information the Chronicle obtained from civil lawsuits and Harris County criminal records.

Swofford has been pastor of the church east of Dallas since 1989, according to the church’s web site. Though allegations made by one former youth group member received publicity after his family filed suit in 2015, most of what was alleged about the two men’s sexual abuse of minors in Swofford’s church in the late 1980s and early 1990s has not before been reported.

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ASBURY PARK (NJ)
Asbury Park Press

March 30, 2019

By Erik Larsen

A recent and “credible” allegation of sexual abuse of a child from decades ago has been made against the Rev. Gregory D. Vaughan, who has served as pastor of the Church of St. Catharine in Holmdel since 2013, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton announced Saturday night.

“The alleged abuse dates back to the late 1970s and early 1980s when Monsignor Vaughan was a parochial vicar in St. Ann Parish, Keansburg,” the prepared statement from the Trenton diocese read. “In the interest of protecting the victim’s privacy, the diocese will not disclose further details of the alleged abuse. This is the first and only allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against Monsignor Vaughan reported to the diocese.”

The allegation was reported to the diocese on March 17, according to the statement.

After the allegation was received, the diocese immediately reported the matter to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the statement read.

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ALTOONA (PA)
Altoona Mirror

March 31, 2019

The fact that retired Altoona-Johnstown Bishop Joseph V. Adamec was laid to rest on Tuesday will not end reflection on his 24-year-long diocesan leadership role.

Unfortunately, but deservedly, much of that reflection will focus on his failures tied to the diocese’s clergy sex-abuse scandal, the scope of which remained unknown until about five years after he retired in 2011.

It was in early 2016 that the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General released a state investigatory grand jury report detailing decades of abuse inflicted on young people by predator priests.

Beyond that, the report focused on a cover-up by the diocese that allowed those predator priests to continue to serve and gave them the opportunity to victimize more young people.

The report placed much of the responsibility for that sordid, unconscionable situation on Adamec and his predecessor, Bishop James J. Hogan.

Adamec was presumed to be well prepared for priestly responsibilities at the time of his ordination in 1960, and he also was deemed well-prepared for much broader responsibilities when he was named Hogan’s successor in 1987.

Unfortunately, he proved himself ill prepared for dealing correctly with the terrible abuse scandal that will be linked forever to his and Hogan’s names — for their inaction rather than actions.

Adamec knew that his ordination as a bishop didn’t make him infallible, but that didn’t excuse him from being a leader at addressing a despicable situation that was destined — rightly — not to remain under wraps forever.

By trying to protect the Catholic Church from the logical fallout that he knew would be forthcoming if the abuse ever became public knowledge, he exacerbated the negative fallout instead.

An article in last Sunday’s Mirror reported a quote indicating that in death Adamec “is only facing one judge.”

For believers in God and an afterlife, that is the accepted assumption.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
Pennsylvania Capital Star

March 29, 2019

By John L. Micek

Eight months after his office released a landmark grand jury report that detailed decades of sexual abuse by hundreds of Roman Catholic priests and a subsequent cover-up, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is still searching for justice for the victims.

“I continue to be optimistic,” Shapiro said Wednesday during a wide-ranging interview with the Capital-Star in his Harrisburg office. “And I know that this has to get done.”

The “this” that Shapiro is talking about are the four recommendations included in the 884-page grand jury report that lays out, in graphic detail, the abuse committed against thousands of children by priests who were shuttled from diocese to diocese, where they were allowed to abuse again.

Those recommendations include eliminating the criminal statute of limitations and the creation of a “civil window” that would allow older victims to sue in civil court.

A push for those changes fell apart last fall, on the final day of the 2018 legislative session, when the Republican-controlled state Senate failed to reach a consensus on a plan offered by President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati. Under the proposal, victims would have been able to sue individual perpetrators, but not such institutions as the Catholic Church, which hid the abuse, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported at the time.

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NEW JERSEY
New Jersey Law Journal

March 24, 2019

By Suzette Parmley

Monday’s scheduled vote in the Assembly on a bill to remove the civil statute of limitations on certain offenses of child sexual abuse caps a milestone.

Advocates and attorneys who represent victims call it historic, saying lawmakers were finally listening and responding to survivors.

“It’s long overdue,” said plaintiff attorney Gregory Gianforcaro of Phillipsburg, who by his own count has settled more than 200 cases of childhood sexual abuse by clerics within the Catholic Church. “Legislators are finally understanding that the playing field has to be leveled—that there has to be a level field between the victim and the entity that was complicit in regards to the abuse.

“What this bill does, this is the legislators saying, ‘We hear your cries.’ We understand your arguments, and we acknowledge that it does take decades to come out. The average age of a victim of sexual abuse, when they are … courageous enough to disclose the abuse, is 53.”

S-477 was approved by the full Senate by a 32-1 vote on March 14. Its counterpart, A-3648, is expected to pass the Assembly in similar fashion, and Gov. Murphy is expected to sign it.

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[Archbishop Fernandez celebrated mass with Lorenzo, priest accused of abuse]

ARGENTINA
Pulso Noticias

March 26, 2019

By Estefanía Velo

Fue este domingo 24 de marzo en la iglesia Inmaculada Madre de Dios de Gonnet, donde está a cargo el párroco Eduardo Lorenzo acusado de abusar a un menor. En el mismo día del aniversario del golpe cívico-militar-eclesiástico en nuestro país, ninguno de los curas hizo mención a dicho suceso

Este domingo 24 por la noche la iglesia de la comunidad de Gonnet tuvo un invitado especial: el arzobispo platense Víctor Manuel “Tucho” Fernández quien acompañó en su misa dominical al encargado de la parroquia: Eduardo Lorenzo.

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[Uriona: “We are going to investigate the abuses and help Justice”]

ARGENTINA
Puntal

March 26, 2019

El obispo señaló que están dispuestos a aportar datos en las causas en las que se acusa a sacerdotes de la ciudad y la zona. Rechazó el aborto en los casos de niñas violadas.

El obispo de la Diócesis de Río Cuarto, monseñor Adolfo Uriona, sostuvo que la Iglesia investigará las denuncias de abuso sexual que involucran a sacerdotes y que están dispuestos a colaborar con la Justicia para esclarecer esos casos. En tal sentido, insistió en que el sacerdote Maffini no había sido denunciado anteriormente y que actuaron ni bien tomaron conocimiento de la acusación en su contra en Carnerillo. En otro orden de cosas, indicó que las niñas violadas en Jujuy y Tucumán debieron seguir cursando el embarazo porque “hay que salvar las dos vidas”, pese a que la ley vigente indica lo contrario.

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PHILADELPHIA (NJ)
Philadelphia Inquirer

March 29, 2019

By Liz Navratil

When Pennsylvania resident Patty Fortney-Julius took to the microphone at a New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee meeting in early March, she had a clear request: Pass a bill that allows more child sex-abuse victims to sue, a step she and her sisters said is crucial for finding justice.

“It’s heartbreaking to us that the state of Pennsylvania has gotten it all wrong as they continue to put pedophiles and the institutions that cover it up before the victims,” Fortney-Julius said. “We implore you, as representatives of the great state of New Jersey, to not make the same mistake and to get this right today.”

As she and her sisters have done so many times in their home state, Fortney-Julius told their story. She told the committee of her family’s excitement in 1982, when they learned that a priest from New Jersey, the Rev. Augustine Giella, had been selected to run their church, St. John the Evangelist in Enhaut, part of the Harrisburg Diocese.

And then, her voice beginning to tremble, she recounted the time Giella took her and her siblings to a motel in Wildwood, and how he abused one of her younger sisters. The trip, she said, “will haunt us forever.”

On Monday, New Jersey passed a bill that will allow the Fortney sisters and others like them to sue. New York also passed a measure, and similar changes to statutes of limitation are up for consideration in Maryland. Democrats have majorities in all three states.

In Pennsylvania, where Republicans control the agenda, the legislature has been paralyzed.

“This is not a political decision,” Carolyn Fortney, Patty’s sister, who also testified in New Jersey, said during an interview Friday. “I think it’s so disheartening when we hear people say, ‘We need a blue wave movement to do this.’ ”

“This should be a bipartisan issue,” she added, noting that her family includes Democrats, Republicans, and independents.

Like their counterparts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey lawmakers had jockeyed for years over whether to change the statute of limitations.

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[Victim of sexual abuse by ex-priest Moya says “Justice must set an example”]

ARGENTINA
Télam

March 29, 2019

Pablo Huck, uno de los hombres que denunció por abuso sexual al ex sacerdote Marcelino Ricardo Moya, espera la sentencia que se conocerá la semana próxima en Entre Ríos.

Pablo Huck aseguró que espera que en la sentencia “la Justicia dé el ejemplo para prevenir” y para que “se sepa que si se denuncia, hay condena y pena”. Así lo señaló Huck, quien es médico y estudia psiquiatría, en diálogo con Télam respecto del juicio en el que ya declaró contra el ex sacerdote Moya, sobre quien pesa un pedido de 20 años de prisión efectiva por abuso sexual y corrupción de menores.

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ALTOONA (PA)
Tribune-Democrat

March 30, 2019

By Josh Shapirao

Something extraordinary happened last Monday in Courtroom 3 in the Cambria County Courthouse in Ebensburg.

Over three hours, the statements of 18 victims who were sexually assaulted as young children by a powerful man in Johnstown – Dr. Johnnie Barto, a local pediatrician – were read aloud into the court record.

The collective voices of these brave survivors, describing Barto’s assaults and how it impacted them, were heard – many for the first time in their lives.

“Some may inquire why I hadn’t come forward sooner,” wrote one survivor, who was 5 years old when Dr. Barto assaulted her in his doctor’s office. “The answer is simple – I wasn’t strong enough. But I prayed for the opportunity to use my voice. Finally, my opportunity has come.”

Once every victim’s statement was read aloud, justice was delivered: Cambria County Judge Patrick Kiniry powerfully imposed a sentence of 79 years to 158 years in prison on Dr. Barto for his sexual assaults committed against 31 victims over many years.

After the sentencing, I met with Dr. Barto’s victims and their families in the courthouse.

This is some of what I shared with them.

A reckoning is underway in Pennsylvania and across the United States. From Hollywood to the news industry, from universities to the Catholic church, the time of protecting powerful institutions over people is ending. After a lifetime of not being believed, victims and survivors are being heard – and real action is happening as a result.

In Pennsylvania, a grand jury investigated the rampant sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests in six dioceses, took testimony from many victims, and released a groundbreaking report last August that identified 301 predator priests, more than 1,000 victims, and an institutional cover-up running all the way to the Vatican. My office led that investigation.

Across the United States, 16 other state attorneys general have publicly acknowledged opening investigations into sexual abuse by clergy, and more than 1,000 predator priests have been identified in credible allegations. I have spoken personally with 45 attorneys general on how we conducted our probe.

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[Sexual abuse: “The Church has privileges not to cooperate with Justice”]

ARGENTINA
El Acople

March 26, 2019

Así lo dijo en El Acople el abogado de víctimas de abuso sexual del sacerdote Emilio Lamas, Luis Segovia. “La causa fue elevada a juicio; se está en el procedimiento para ofrecer pruebas y se fijará una audiencia de debate. Fue una investigación vertiginosa con muchísimos actos procesales”, indicó Segovia y estimó que el juicio contra el sacerdote comenzará “antes de la mitad de año”.

En este sentido, el letrado manifestó su satisfacción porque “al menos se llegará a juicio en una causa con muchísima impunidad de por medio”. “En lo que respecta a la causa y en el procedimiento eclesiástico, Lamas apeló la sentencia del tribunal metropolitano, pero no quedó firme, por lo cual en la segunda instancia revisarán sus pruebas por el derecho canónico. No perdió su estado clerical”, indicó el letrado y continuó: “tiene que haber un avance de criterios políticos con el trato con la Iglesia, porque jurídicamente entiendo que la Iglesia con los privilegios que tiene, tiene derecho a no colaborar con la justicia”.

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[Confessor of Grassi denounced for abuse: victim’s godparents detail accusation’s against chaplain]

ARGENTINA
TN

March 27, 2019

By Miriam Lewin

Los Frutos son profundamente católicos y respaldaron desde el comienzo la denuncia del chico que quiso suicidarse después del asedio del cura. Aseguran que el acusado es un “peso pesado” y confirman que amenazó de muerte al adolescente para que no hablara.

Adriana y Julio Frutos se consideran los padres de León, el denunciante por abuso sexual del capellán mayor del Servicio Penitenciario Bonaerense Eduardo Lorenzo. Lo conocieron cuando vivía en la calle, en Gonnet, a los 12 años, y desde entonces lo apoyaron y protegieron. En diálogo con TN.com.ar, la víctima dio detalles del calvario que vivió.

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[Errázuriz testified for almost 12 hours in two days]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 29, 2019

By E. L. Chekh and J. M. Ojeda

La fiscalía interrogó al cardenal por más de 10 causas distintas. La diligencia concluyó este viernes por la tarde.

“Yo nunca encubrí a Karadima y eso se estableció cuando vino la sentencia de la Corte de Apelaciones. No usa la palabra encubrimiento, porque no es cierto”, dijo el arzobispo emérito de Santiago, Francisco Javier Errázuriz, cuando llegó este viernes por la mañana a la Fiscalía Centro Norte, para declarar en calidad de imputado en la indagatoria por un presunto encubrimiento de casos de abusos del clero. “Vengo a colaborar con la investigación”, destacó el prelado.

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[Prosecutor will investigate new background on Ezzati after Tito Rivera testifies]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 29, 2019

By Juan Manuel Ojeda G.

El sacerdote fue formalizado por un presunto abuso sexual. Según la fiscalía, su relato sería clave en la investigación contra el cardenal por eventual encubrimiento.

Un interrogatorio de más de seis horas fue el que, hace una semana, prestó el sacerdote Tito Rivera ante la fiscalía de Alta Complejidad de Rancagua. Según conocedores de esa diligencia, su testimonio marcó un nuevo hito en las investigaciones por encubrimiento que lleva adelante el fiscal Emiliano Arias.

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[Due to abuse accusations, Marist brothers of Instituto Alonso de Ercilla separate residence from school]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 29, 2019

By Angelica Baeza

Los religiosos confirmaron a La Tercera debido a las “situaciones de denuncias por abusos de menores” se “ha determinado que para la tranquilidad de las comunidades educativas, y en atención a la Política de Prevención y Protección que la institución se ha dado, es conveniente separar las residencias de los religiosos, de las instalaciones de los colegios”.

Debido a la serie de denuncias de abuso sexual cometido por sacerdotes que se han dado a conocer en el último y que son investigadas por la fiscalía, la Congregación de Hermanos Maristas confirmó a La Tercera que decidió reubicar la casa de los religiosos del Instituto Alonso de Ercilla hacia una residencia al exterior.

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[Senate Vice President wants to accelerate efforts to remove clergy privileges and mandate reporting of abuse]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 29, 2019

By Angélica Baeza

Alfonso de Urresti pedirá acelerar el proyecto que busca eliminar privilegios procesales en favor de autoridades eclesiásticas. En la Cámara, en tanto, una iniciativa apunta a que autoridades eclesiásticas estén obligadas a denunciar los delitos cometidos en contra de niños, niñas o adolescentes.

A raíz de la cantidad de denuncias de abusos sexuales al interior de la Iglesia, y de todos los procesos investigativos que se están llevando a cabo, parlamentarios han ingresado al Congreso proyectos de ley que buscan generar la obligación de denunciar por parte de la Iglesia y que serían puestos en tabla para acelerar su despacho.

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[Percival Cowley, Moneda chaplain: “The hierarchy of the Church chose to defend the institution at all costs”]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 30, 2019

By María José Navarrete and María José Ahumada

El excapellán de La Moneda -cuyo testimonio fue clave para que la justicia ordenara a la Iglesia la indemnización de las víctimas del sacerdote Fernando Karadima- señala que la sentencia de la Corte de Apelaciones marca una nueva etapa. “La institución, no cabe duda, es necesaria e importante, pero no es primera, es segunda. La institución es para la persona”, afirma.

“Usted está destruyendo a la Iglesia”. El excapellán de La Moneda Percival Cowley no olvida la frase del excardenal Ricardo Ezzati. Se la dijo por teléfono luego de conocer algunas de sus declaraciones en las que pedía la salida de cuatro obispos provenientes de El Bosque, la parroquia dirigida por Fernando Karadima.

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[The “Karadima style” still haunts the Church]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 30, 2019

By M. J. Navarrete

El expárroco ya ni siquiera es sacerdote, pero, para algunos, las esquirlas de esa “mentalidad pastoral” todavía se asoman.

“No olvidemos que la cruz no es el final, que viene la resurrección. Que el pecado, el odio y la maldad no son el final”, afirmó Celestino Aós, administrador apostólico del Arzobispado de Santiago, en su homilía del pasado jueves, en la parroquia de El Bosque. Allí, donde durante décadas reinó Fernando Karadima, se reunió con Sergio Cobo, Eugenio de la Fuente y Alejandro Vial, todos sacerdotes que fueron víctimas de abusos y que pertenecieron a la Pía Unión Sacerdotal, controlada por el expárroco. Para algunos, su influencia y “estilo” -autoritario y abusivo- sigue presente sigilosamente en el clero, a veces incluso de forma inconsciente.

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ALTOONA (PA)
Tribune Democrat

March 30, 2019

By Dave Sutor

When Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro talked with U.S. Attorney General William Barr recently at the White House, he brought up only one subject – child sexual abuse.

The Johnstown area and commonwealth as a whole have been rocked by that issue in recent years.

Locally, in 2016, the state office of attorney general released a report that provided details about abuse and cover-up within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, an investigation that was initiated when accusations arose about Brother Stephen Baker sexually abusing children when working as a trainer at what was then called Bishop McCort High School.

Two years later, another grand jury released a report in which 301 priests were accused of abusing thousands of children throughout six other dioceses – Allentown, Erie, Pittsburgh, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Greensburg and Harrisburg.

That report, released by Shapiro, led to federal prosecutors opening an investigation last October into child sexual abuse committed by Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania. All eight dioceses in the commonwealth, including the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, have been subpoenaed by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Then, earlier this month, Dr. Johnnie “Jack” Barto, a Johnstown area pediatrician, was sentenced to no less than 79 years and up to 158 years in prison for charges related to 31 victims – patients or family members – he sexually abused.

“It was the only issue I raised with him because it’s the most important issue, I think, for the feds to confront at this time,” Shapiro said during a telephone interview on Friday. “I thought it was important that, as the new attorney general, he knew how important I thought it was and knew of my commitment to work with him and his colleagues on it.”

Shapiro had previously discussed the subject with former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

He did not provide details about his meeting with Barr, but characterized it “as a very positive and productive conversation.”

During the interview with The Tribune-Democrat, Shapiro mentioned three similarities between Barto and the dioceses, first saying “just the courage and strength of the survivors and their willingness to come forward and share their truth” was a key takeaway.

He also pointed to how the abusers held roles in the community that provided them protection. “In both the clergy case and the Barto case, it’s an example of the powerful institution – whether it’s the church or this pediatrician, school board, director, church leader – getting his way over the survivors because of their power in the community,” Shapiro said.

Also, in both cases, charges could not be brought by many alleged victims because of Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations, which is reached when an individual turns 30 for civil cases and 50 for criminal.

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ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Associated Press

March 30, 2019

By Mary Hudetz

A priest who was captured in Morocco after fleeing the U.S. decades ago is facing a federal trial on charges that he sexually abused a New Mexico boy in the early 1990s at an Air Force base and veterans’ cemetery.

The trial of 80-year-old Arthur Perrault is set to begin Monday in Santa Fe with jury selection. Prosecutors are expected to call dozens of witnesses, including a former deacon, parents and former military members who knew Perrault in the early 1990s.

Federal authorities have said in court documents that Perrault may have had as many as eight other victims. But the charges against him only involve an 11-year-old altar boy.

The church sent Perrault to New Mexico in the 1960s for treatment at a center for pedophile priests. He was arrested in 2017 in Tangier, where authorities say he had been teaching at an English-language school for children.

Perrault’s case marks a rare federal criminal prosecution of a former Catholic priest in the state where dozens of clergy abuse victims have won more than $50 million in settlements from the Santa Fe Archdiocese, which has filed for bankruptcy protection as a result of the lawsuits.

“It’s great he’s finally being held accountable for what he did,” Michael Norris, a spokesman for the group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said about Perrault. “But I’m also disappointed that some of the bishops that allowed him to be shuffled around aren’t being held accountable.”

Perrault returned to the U.S. in September to face charges of aggravated sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact. He has pleaded not guilty.

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BELFAST (NORTHERN IRELAND)
Belfast Telegraph

March 30, 2019

For decades he was the Catholic Church’s most charismatic figure in Ireland. He highlighted homelessness and poverty. He drove fast cars and stopped to sing songs with the public as he went about his merry way. That was the public face of Bishop Eamonn Casey.

In his work as chairman of the development agency Trocaire, he was not afraid to put the wind up various Irish cabinet ministers and attack American foreign policy towards poor countries such as El Salvador.

But even at the height of his powers, before his life became mired in scandal, there were those who questioned whether the slogan of Trocaire – ‘Live simply so others may simply live’ – was entirely suitable for a man like Eamonn Casey.

Bishop Casey’s life was anything but simple. He liked to eat in fancy restaurants and drive sports cars at alarming speed. He boasted to his lover, Annie Murphy, that he could dance like Fred Astaire.

By the mid-1980s, his celebrity had reached such celestial heights that RTE offered him a slot for one night hosting the Saturday Live chatshow. He regaled his audience with ‘come-all-ye’ songs and boasted that he knew 400 ballads off by heart.

Like his friend Fr Michael Cleary, who joined him as the warm-up act at the Papal Mass in Galway in 1979, Casey was the bridge between the fusty and reserved old world of the hierarchy, stuck in the 1950s, and the modern media world of soundbites, chat shows and talk radio.

Casey and Cleary, with their populist touch and crowd-pleasing manner, were seen at the time as standard-bearers for the more youthful Church of the future. But this was to unravel in spectacular fashion when news emerged much later of their sons and lovers.

The story of Casey’s affair with American Annie Murphy and how he fathered a son, Peter, helped to shatter the Church’s reputation as the ultimate arbiter of moral values. More recently, in the years before and since his death, Bishop Casey has enjoyed something of a rehabilitation.

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

March 29, 2019

We are grateful any time state legislators work to pass legislation that will protect children, and so we are glad that this new mandatory reporting bill was passed in Virginia.

At the same time, we are concerned about a loophole present within the bill that makes the reporting requirement not as mandatory as it may seem.

Providing an exemption for communications according to religious definitions of “confidentiality,” means that not all allegations of abuse will be forwarded to law enforcement, something that this law was ostensibly drafted to ensure.

We hope that legislators in Virginia will close this loophole to require that all allegations are reported to authorities, not just some. We also hope that Virginia will continue to pass laws that help protect children and support survivors, such as statutes of limitation reform and the opening of civil windows.

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STATEN ISLAND (NY)
Staten Island Advance

March 30, 2019

By Kyle Lawson and Maura Grunlund

A former Staten Island priest who resigned three years ago amid accusations of paying a “sex-master” with church funds has now officially been suspended and asked to step away permanently.

According to the March 28 print edition of Catholic New York, Rev. Peter Miqueli is prohibited from mass and administering church sacraments after he allegedly violated a 2016 order mandating he “avoid any and all persons or situations that could endanger (his) obligation to perpetual continence or any and all conduct that might cause scandal to the faithful or that would receive publicity in the media…”

Cardinal Timothy Dolan also recommended Miqueli seek voluntary dismissal from the clerical state, according to the article, which did not provide details as to how Miqueli violated the order.

The article was placed on page 16 of the newspaper, and could not be found online. A spokesperson for the Archdiocese did not immediately respond Saturday to a request for comment.

Miqueli resigned at the end of 2015, following a lawsuit that accused him of stealing at least $1 million from parishioners at two churches, including his current parish, St. Frances de Chantal in Throggs Neck, N.Y.

Several worshippers claimed Miqueli, 55, used their money to fuel BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism, masochism) sex romps with his “sex master,” Keith Crist, according to the suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.

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NORTH ANDOVER (MA)
Eagle Tribune

March 30, 2019

By Mike LaBella

Sentencing planned for Friday for former Haverhill priest Ronald Paquin has been postponed.

According to officials with the York County Superior Court in Maine, sentencing originally scheduled for March 5 was continued to March 29 for a status conference, but Paquin’s defense lawyer requested another continuance, which was granted by Superior Court Justice Wayne Douglas.

Another status conference date is expected to be scheduled in about a week, court officials said.

Paquin continues to be held without bail, they said.

Last November, Paquin was found guilty of sexually abusing a boy from his Haverhill parish during trips to Maine in the 1980s.

Paquin, 76, was convicted of 11 of 24 counts of gross sexual misconduct. He was found not guilty of similar charges related to a second boy. Now grown men, both accusers testified in sometimes graphic detail during the three-day trial. The York County jury deliberated for nearly five fours over a two-day period.

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CHENNAI (INDIA)
New Indian Express

March 30, 2019

An Indian former Roman Catholic priest has been sentenced to six years in prison for sexually abusing a teenage girl in the US, according to a media report.

John Praveen, 38, pleaded guilty in February to sexually touching a 13-year-old girl in the Rapid City church, South Dakota over her clothes last year, Rapid City Journal newspaper reported.

Judge Steven Mandel handed down the sentence on Friday after prosecutors asked for the maximum of one year in prison. Mandel said that was “not adequate” for Praveen’s crime, the report said.

He sentenced Praveen to six years in prison, minus 178 days of time served, and said he would be eligible for parole after three years.

The sentencing came after Praveen pleaded guilty to one count of having sexual contact with a child under the age of 16, a crime that carries a maximum 15-year punishment, the report said.

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CHARLESTON (SC)
Post and Courier

March 29, 2019

The Catholic Diocese of Charleston on Friday released the names of 42 priests it says are credibly accused of child sexual abuse. But it will take more than a list of names for the church to regain the trust of the faithful.

The church must take meaningful action to ensure that children entrusted to its priests are safe. And it must make sure than anyone who preys upon children answers to the judicial process, as would any other citizen in our country.

In announcing the names, the diocese took a welcome step in that direction by encouraging abuse victims to first go to law enforcement before contacting the diocese.

At least 14 other dioceses have released lists of accused priests since a Pennsylvania grand jury last July reported more than 1,000 youths were abused by over 300 priests in that state. It was a shocking revelation made worse by the fact that the church for years covered up for criminals, which allowed the abuse to continue.

At the time, Pope Francis acknowledged the church’s failure to deal with these crimes, the cover-up and its role in perpetuating the abuse.

“We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them,” Francis wrote in a 2,000-word letter addressed to the “People of God.”

It is important to point out that the list released Friday represents a minority of the priests who have ably and honorably served the Diocese of Charleston. But that is little solace to victims and their families who live with the terrible pain inflicted by sexual abuse.

The scope of the allegations across the country points to a deeper cultural problem that the church must address. They have damaged the integrity and authority of the church, which has struggled to come to terms with this great moral stain.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

March 30, 2019

By Inés San Martín

Bishop Celestino Aós, the temporary administrator of the Archdiocese of Santiago in Chile, has an uphill battle ahead of him.

On Thursday, his predecessor Cardinal Javier Errazuriz, went before a local prosecutor to testify as a defendant as part of an investigation into the country’s sprawling sex abuse and cover-up scandal.

A civil court just ordered the archdiocese to pay $450,000 to the survivors of the abuse of one priest, after allegedly covering up the crime; Aós has decided not to appeal.

In addition, he doesn’t have a completely clean track record himself when it comes to handling cases of clerical sexual abuse: When he was the promoter of justice in the diocese of Valparaiso, he allegedly mishandled abuse allegations presented by ex-seminarians against five priests in 2012. He single-handedly investigated the allegations against all of them in three months, and deemed the accusations not credible.

Today, one of the priests is out of the priesthood, and some of the others are being re-investigated.

Mauricio Pulgar, a victim of abuse in the seminary of Valparaiso, told Crux last Saturday that when he had to deal with Aós in 2012, the bishop’s treatment was “inhumane,” and claimed that the prelate helped Bishop Gonzalo Duarte cover up the misconduct.

Yet there are some who are open to giving Aós an opportunity to prove himself as a bishop.

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CHARLESTON (SC)
Associated Press

March 30, 2019

By Jeffrey Collins

The Catholic diocese in South Carolina on Friday released a list of 42 priests with ties to the state who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

All but 11 of the priests on the list released by the Charleston Diocese have died. The list doesn’t specify the parishes or institutions where the priests served.

The list was broken into four parts. Twenty-one priests served in South Carolina. Others were named in a class-action settlement over abuse, had abuse claims from a diocese outside South Carolina or were a visiting priest to the state.

Bishop Robert Guglielmone said he was releasing the list with a heavy heart, but also wanting to assure accountability and transparency.

“It is my fervent hope and prayer that publishing this list will help bring healing to the victims and their families who have been so grievously harmed by the betrayal of priests and Church leadership,” Guglielmone wrote in a note released with the list.

The list was compiled from a review of priest records and the names were reviewed by the Church’s Sexual Abuse Advisory Board. Being included on the list isn’t a finding of guilt, but does mean the allegation either seems to be true or has reasonable grounds to be believed, Guglielmone said.

The release of the names is part of the Catholic Church’s international reckoning with allegations of sex abuse that have proliferated around the world.

“In order to experience a resurgence of holiness, we in the Church must continue to strengthen the protections provided to our children and young people in our parishes and schools. I urge you, the faithful of our Diocese, to participate in this resurgence,” Guglielmone wrote.

The Charleston Diocese covers all of South Carolina, where it estimates about 500,000 people practice the Catholic faith.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

March 29, 2019

By Lisa Kashinsky

Clergy sex abuse survivors and advocates said new legislation from Pope Francis requiring Vatican officials and diplomats to immediately report abuse allegations to Vatican prosecutors was a step in the right direction, but faulted the Holy See for keeping his mandate within the confines of the city-state.

The legislation, dated March 26 and made public Friday, requires Catholic Church officials to report accusations of abuse “without delay.” Those who don’t could face fines of up to 5,000 euros or six months’ jail time. It was accompanied by guidelines for protecting children and “vulnerable people,” which Pope Francis wrote was “an integral part of the gospel message that the Church and all its members are called to spread throughout the world.”

The new rules came a month after a Vatican summit on clerical sex abuse left many underwhelmed when it concluded with just a handbook and promises of more work to be done. While this week’s legislation represents a significant step forward in tackling the decades-old issue — and is poised to be a model for the global church — survivors and advocates derided the pope for failing to involve outside law enforcement in his crackdown.

“Laws that make even one child safer should be applauded,” said Anne Barrett Doyle of Waltham-based BishopAccountability. But the Holy See’s approach still fails to “effect change or require the reporting of a child sex crime by clergy to secular law enforcement.”

“It’s a baby step in the right direction,” Doyle said. “However, it falls short of the bold reforms Pope Francis could enact if he chose to do so. He has the power to change universal canon law. He could choose to protect tens of millions of children instead of just a few dozen.”

Zach Hiner, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said, “It just seems like it is more of the same, where this is decades of cases that have shown that the church is incapable of policing itself. If we really want to see change, we should see reports being required to go to independent and secular law enforcement officials.”

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, an advocate for victims of sexual abuse by priests, said the pope’s legislation “should state that if child abuse is suspected then the secular or civil police should immediately be called.”

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JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
KRCG TV

March 29, 2019

By Kyreon Lee

On Friday, Pope Francis issued new sex abuse legislation for Vatican personnel and Holy See diplomats that requires the immediate reporting of abuse allegations to Vatican prosecutors, a policy shift aimed at being a model for the Catholic Church worldwide.

The mandatory reporting provision marks the first time the Vatican has put into law requirements for Catholic officials to report allegations of sex crimes to police or face fines and possible jail time.

Don Asbee is a representative of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, who said the abuse by his former priest started for him at the age of 9. He said the law shouldn’t just be a model for the Catholic Church and only apply to the Vatican City, but be applied to every Catholic Church across the board.

“This should apply to any of the people in positions of the church. If it’s not universal, then it doesn’t have teeth,” Asbee said.

He said if it doesn’t create a system to punish the people in the church abusing, then it isn’t effective.

“The whole cycle of abuse and cover up has got to stop because it’s not a sin, it’s beyond a sin, it’s a crime and it has to be treated accordingly,” Asbee said.

Catholic Church member Kelsie Backues said she thinks this is a step forward for the Catholic Church.

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CHARLESTON (SC)
Post and Courier

March 29, 2019

By Robert Behre, Gregory Yee and Rickey Dennis

The Roman Catholic Church late Friday released its list of 42 South Carolina priests who have a credible allegation of child sexual misconduct — 10 more than it reported five years ago.

Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone said the list was released “in the spirit of transparency and accountability.”

He said he hopes publishing the names of the priests will help bring healing to the victims and their families who have been “grievously harmed by the betrayal of priests and church leadership.”

“The victims of sexual abuse and their families have suffered much pain and are understandably hurt and angry,” he said. “We must continue to pray and care for our brothers and sisters who have experienced this trauma inflicted by priests they trusted.

“We also need to honor the courage of those who have come forward to share the most intimate and painful experiences of their entire lives,” he added. “My heart hurts for the victims and the damage this has caused to them and to their families.”

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AUSTIN (TX)
KXAN TV

March 29, 2019

By Brittany Glas

Two months after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin released the names of 22 clergy “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children, victim advocates are calling for reform at the local and state levels.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, is fighting for all statute of limitations to be lifted in Texas for child sexual assault cases and encouraging victims to speak out, regardless of how long ago the alleged abuse happened.

According to current Texas law, it no longer matters when victims of child sexual assault report their abuse to law enforcement for potential prosecution. The case can be prosecuted now or 20 years from now — after the report is made. Since Sept. 1, 2007, there is no longer a statute of limitations on these crimes.

“Looking backwards, we still have limited windows for childhood survivors that were abused in the past,” said Carol Midboe, the Austin support group leader for SNAP.

Midboe traveled to Rome last month for the papal clergy abuse summit.

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BRIDGEWATER (NJ)
Bridgewater Courier News

March 29, 2019

By Nick Muscavage

Clergy abuse victim advocates claim the Diocese of Metuchen failed to name eight more priests, in addition to one they named previously, accused of child sexual abuse in its list of credibly accused clergy it released last month.

According to Mark Crawford, New Jersey director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), at least two priests alleged to have sexually abused children, in addition to the Rev. Romano Ferraro who they previously named, were also assigned to St. John Vianney Church in the Colonia section.

The namings by Crawford come on the heels of advocates meeting outside the church Thursday to release documents depicting how the Metuchen Diocese accepted Ferraro, who allegedly abused boys in New York, into its parishes from the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Ferraro, who later was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in Massachusetts for raping a 7-year-old boy there, came to Metuchen in the 1980s under the watch of then-Bishop Theodore McCarrick. McCarrick was defrocked by the Vatican last month after claims of sexual abuse of a child and young adult men were found credible by the church.

The Rev. Edward M. DePaoli
Edward M. DePaoli, who was a priest with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, served at St. John Vianney between 1988 and 1991, according to a write-up of his allegations and criminal history on the website of Horowitz Law.

DePaoli was convicted in 1986 of receiving child pornography through the mail, according to a 2005 grand jury report cited on www.adamhorowitzlaw.com. DePaoli went for treatment in 1986 after his arrest, which proved unsuccessful, according to the post.

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DAYTON (OH)
Daily News

March 29, 2019

By Thomas Gnau

A new directive requiring Vatican City personnel and diplomats to immediately report abuse allegations may represent a step toward lifting a “culture of secrecy” at the independent city-state that anchors the Catholic Church worldwide, said Dennis Doyle, a Catholic theologian and professor at the University of Dayton.

“It’s almost similar to what you find in police departments,” Doyle said Friday. “Some people are corrupt; some people are not. But people are reluctant to turn in other people.

The mandatory reporting provision, while limited in scope, marks the first time the Vatican has put into law requirements for Catholic officials to report allegations of sex crimes to police or face fines and possible jail time, the Associated Press reported.

Added Doyle: “This makes it actually a crime not to report incidents of sex abuse. And it specifies whom this has to be reported to, which are the Vatican prosecutors, who are going to be trained to rise above the culture of secrecy.”

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[Aós announces visit to Rome: He will meet Pope Francis next week]

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Emol

March 29, 2019

By Consuelo Ferrer

El nuevo administrador apostólico de Santiago anunció a los trabajadores del arzobispado que sostendrá un encuentro con el Pontífice.

“Mis prioridades en la Iglesia de Santiago son claras: el evangelio. Ese es mi manual de instrucciones”. Fueron las palabras emitidas por nuevo administrador apostólico de Santiago, el obispo Celestino Aós Braco, durante su primer saludo a los trabajadores del Arzobispado de Santiago.

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[Lawyer for Karadmina whistleblowers says Archdiocese should also compensate victims of “priest Tato”]

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Emol

March 29, 2019

By Tomás Molina J.

Juan Pablo Hermosilla afirmó que la Iglesia tiene esa “obligación ética” y dijo que sería un “gesto increíble”. Respecto del reciente fallo de la Corte de Apelaciones, afirmó que este podría ser “el primero que establece una separación real entre la Iglesia y el Estado”.

El abogado de los denunciantes del ex sacerdote Fernando Karadima, Juan Pablo Hermosilla, analizó esta mañana los alcances del reciente fallo de la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago, el cual determinó que el Arzobispado capitalino debe pagar $300 millones a sus representados, resolución a la que la arquidiócesis decidió no apelar.

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[Aós responds to questions: Affirms he sent an accused priest to Spain for “health problems”]

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Emol

March 29, 2019

By Ignacio Guerra

El nuevo administrador apostólico de Santiago aseguró que Antonio Vargas viajó a Europa porque en Chile “no podía atenderse”, justo cuando lo habían acusado de “actitudes inapropiadas”.

Celestino Aós salió a responder los primeros cuestionamientos que surgieron en su contra como nuevo administrador apostólico de Santiago, que apuntan a que envió a España al párroco Antonio Vargas cuando era acusado de “actitudes inapropiadas” con mujeres y menores, en septiembre del año pasado. Luego de sostener una reunión con sacerdotes que sufrieron abusos por parte de Fernando Karadima este jueves, el ex obispo de Copiapó aseguró que su decisión se debió a que Vargas se encontraba enfermo, y no a una maniobra de encubrimiento.

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[Tito Rivera goes to court for abuse, nighttime house arrest set]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 29, 2019

By Felipe Delgado and Nicole Martínez

El religioso Tito Rivera fue formalizado este viernes en el 13° Juzgado de Garantía de Santiago por la acusación de un presunto abuso sexual ocurrido al interior de la Catedral Metropolitana. En un comienzo se habló del delito de violación, pero hoy se presentaron los hechos como abusos sexuales que incluyen sexo oral y tocaciones.

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PERTH (AUSTRALIA)
The West Australian

March 29, 2019

By Gabrielle Knowles

Angry supporters of suspected paedophile priest Father Joseph Tran have been urged to stop a witch-hunt for the alleged child victim and her family.

A “number” of mothers and daughters have allegedly been accused by other Catholics of being the ones who made the sex abuse complaint about the hugely popular priest.

The 49-year-old is suspected of taking his own life last Thursday after being confronted by the mother of his alleged victim.

Father Ted Miller said yesterday no one should “hound” a person or their mother for making a complaint to police and pleaded for anyone who was angry to stay calm.

A parishioner, in a post on a Facebook page created as a tribute to Father Tran, said it was understandable people were angry, upset, defensive and wanted “clarification”.

But she also urged people to respect the privacy of the family involved and said the confrontations were “traumatising” for people being falsely accused.

Police are continuing to investigate allegations that Father Tran sexually abused a girl, now aged 13, over several years.

Inquiries include searching the 49-year-old’s parish home at Armadale’s St Francis Xavier, checking his electronic devices and interviewing the alleged victim and any witnesses.

Police are keen to talk to anyone who has information that can assist their investigation.

They have refused to say if anyone else has come forward with allegations of abuse at the hands of the priest, who moved to Armadale a year ago after 15 years at Whitfords parish.

The findings of the child abuse squad investigation will form part of the report being prepared for the Coroner into Father Tran’s death and will be revealed only through an inquest.

It is believed Father Tran, who worked as a chaplain at several Catholic Perth schools, died of a self-inflicted wound.

His death came the same day the police investigation was launched.

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BELLEVILLE (IL)
News Democrat

March 29, 2019

By Lexi Cortes

Former Belleville Bishop Wilton Gregory could soon become one of the most influential Churchmen in the nation, according to a report from a Catholic news outlet.

The Catholic News Agency reported Thursday that Gregory, 71, has been asked to serve as the next archbishop of Washington, D.C.

It wasn’t clear whether he accepted Pope Francis’ appointment as of Friday. Gregory did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Belleville News-Democrat or CNA.

Gregory came to the Diocese of Belleville from his hometown of Chicago in 1994. He served as Belleville’s bishop until 2005, when he became the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

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SALINA (KS)
KWCH TV

March 29, 2019

The Catholic Diocese of Salina says an investigation has found 14 clergy members with “substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor.”

Last September, Bishop Gerald Vincke hired the independent outside counsel of Cottonwood Law LLC. of Hillsboro to conduct a thorough review of clergy personnel files and identify any potential cases of clergy misconduct with minors.

The report found 14 cases of diocesan clergy abuse of a minor. None of the 14 priests are in active ministry today.

At this time, the Diocese of Salina is only releasing the names of clerics with substantiated allegations of abuse of a minor. Any cleric with an allegation of abuse of a minor that is unsubstantiated has been excluded from the list.

The KBI began it’s own investigation into reports of clergy sexual abuse at the beginning of February. The Catholic Diocese of Salina is one of four dioceses in Kansas that the special KBI task force is investigating.

The names of the 14 priests were released on the Diocese website.

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MANHATTAN (KS)
The Mercury

March 29, 2019

By Megan Moser

Three men have alleged that the Catholic priest who was superintendent of Seven Dolors Grade School and Luckey High School in the 1950s and 1960s sexually abused them while they were students there.

In an anonymous account, the three men wrote that Monsignor William Merchant, who died in 1975, molested and sexually assaulted them and other boys at the school.

The Catholic Diocese of Salina on Friday released a list of 14 clergy members within the diocese against whom there have been substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. The report listed Merchant and two other priests (more information below) who had served in Manhattan since the 1950s, and several more who served at other area churches.

The account by the men Merchant abused while they were students and altar boys was included with the report.

“Merchant was a pedophile and sexual predator who ruthlessly exploited grade school and high school children over an extended period of time,” they wrote. “In our collective opinion, Msgr. Merchant’s avocation was masquerading as a Catholic priest while pursuing his true vocation as an aggressive sexual predator. His position as the superintendent of schools offered him a replenishable supply of victims to satisfy his perversity.”

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