ABUSE TRACKER

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

March 23, 2019

Vocero Red de Laicos de Santiago por designación de Aós: “Tomamos con cautela este nombramiento”

[Spokesman for Lay Network of Santiago on Aós appointment: “We take this appointment with caution”]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 23, 2019

By Daniela Silva

Según indicó Osvaldo Aravena, vocero de la organización, el actual administrador apostólico recién nombrado por el Papa Francisco ha sido parte del episcopado chileno, por lo tanto también tiene un grado de responsabilidad en las omisiones y en los errores que ha cometido la iglesia jerarquía en no colaborar con la justicia.

“Creemos que las graves crisis de la iglesia católica no se van a resolver con el cambio de una persona dentro de la jerarquía”, expresó esta mañana Osvaldo Aravena, vocero de Red de laicos de Santiago a 24Horas, luego de que desde la Nunciatura Apostólica en Chile se diera la noticia que el Papa Francisco había aceptado la renuncia del cardenal Ezzati, nombrando como administrador apostólico sede vacante de la arquidiócesis de Santiago de Chile al obispo Celestino Aós Braco.

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

Jesuitas sancionan a cura con prohibición por 10 años de acompañamiento espiritual de personas por “transgresiones de naturaleza sexual”

[Jesuits sanction priest for ten years for “transgressions of a sexual nature”]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 22, 2019

By Angélica Baeza

Esto tras la investigación de dos denuncias de dos mujeres, por hechos acontecidos a comienzo de los años noventa y otro a mediados de la década pasada.

Mediante un comunicado de prensa, el padre provincial de los Jesuitas, Cristián del Campo, informó que se determinó el castigo de prohibición por diez años de acompañamiento espiritual de personas y dirección de retiros espirituales en contra del sacerdote Juan Pablo Cárcamo.

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

Ezzati defiende su gestión: “No basta con decir que uno es encubridor, hay que probarlo”

[Ezzati defends his tenure: “It is not enough to say one is a concealer, you have to prove it”]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 23, 2019

By Angélica Vera

De acuerdo al ex arbozispo de Santiago, su salida de la arquidiócesis de Santiago responde a un “criterio del derecho canónico” relacionado con su edad.

El arzobispo emérito de Santiago, el cardenal Ricardo Ezzati se refirió a su salida de la arquidiócesis de Santiago, oficializada por el Papa Francisco luego de que aceptara su renuncia, y la designación del obispo Celestino Aós como administrador apostólico sede vacante de la arquidiócesis de la capital.

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

Celestino Aós, administrador apostólico de la arquidiócesis de Santiago tras salida de Ezzati: “Esta misión la asumo con tranquilidad”

[Celestino Aós, apostolic administrator of Santiago archdiocese after Ezzati: “This mission I assume with tranquility”]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 23, 2019

By Sergio Rodríguez

El prelado continúa en Copiapó y se comentó a La Tercera que se enteró de su nuevo cargo “un tiempito antes, no anoche, pero también todo ha sido muy rápido”.

Esta mañana el Papa Francisco aceptó la renuncia del cardenal Ricardo Ezzati y designó al obispo Celestino Aós Braco como administrador apostólico de la sede vacante de la arquidiócesis de Santiago. La designación fue dada a conocer cerca de las 8 de la mañana en Chile (mediodía en Roma) por la Nunciatura Apostólica en Chile y según comentó Aós a La Tercera, el prelado también se enteró de su nuevo cargo hace poco. “Esto me toma igual que a ustedes, con sorpresa y como una misión de Dios para su Iglesia”.

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

Viernes amargo para Ezzati: rechazan intento de sobreseerlo en causa por encubrimiento de abusos

[Bitter Friday for Ezzati: court rejects attempt to dismiss him in abuse cover-up case]

CHILE
El Mostrador

March 22, 2019

La Corte de Apelaciones rechazó en decisión unánime el recurso de la defensa del cardenal que está siendo investigado, pero aún no ha sido formalizado, por su posible encubrimiento en los casos del sacerdote Oscar Muñoz, ex canciller del Arzobispado

En votación unánime,la Octava Sala de la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago, integrada por los ministros Juan Cristóbal Mera, Mireya López y Tomás Gray– rechazó la solicitud de sobreseimiento interpuesta por la defensa del cardenal Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, investigado por el Ministerio Público como encubridor en la causa que sigue en contra del excanciller del Arzobispado de Santiago, Óscar Muñoz Toledo, por estupro y abuso sexual.

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

Fiscal Arias admite que la colaboración del Vaticano ha sido nula en las investigaciones de abuso sexual en la Iglesia chilena

[Prosecutor Arias admits Vatican has provided “nothing at all” to help in sexual abuse investigations in Chilean Church]

CHILE
El Mostrador

March 21, 2019

“Nada de nada” fue la respuesta del persecutor frente a la pregunta de si la Santa Sede había respondido a los tres requerimientos de información hecha por la justicia. Además confirmó que existen antecedentes para formalizar al cardenal Ezzati pero que junto a su equipo aún no lo han decidido. Hoy concurrió a declarar el sacerdote Tito Rivera.

El fiscal regional de O’higgins, Emiliano Arias que encabeza las investigaciones por abuso sexual al interior de la Iglesia Católica chilena reconoció lo que a su juicio ha sido la nula cooperación de el Vaticano en cuanto a entregar información que sea útil en las diversas indagatorias en torno a estos delitos. La fiscalía ha hecho tres requerimientos de información a la Santa Sede. En este contexto, Arias fue consultado respecto de si han recibido respuesta. “Nada de nada”, contestó a radio Cooperativa.

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

Survivors of pedophile priest who served in Sudbury subject of documentary

WINDSOR (CANADA)
Windsor Star

March 22, 2019

By Dalson Chen

Over the course of 38 years, William “Hod” Hodgson Marshall — who served as a Basilian priest and Catholic teacher in Sudbury, Toronto and Windsor — sexually abused at least 17 minors.

“I grew up Catholic in Windsor. I was an altar boy at a church in the east end,” recalls filmmaker Matt Gallagher.

“I was a grown man when these things about certain priests started coming out … I haven’t considered myself a Catholic since I was 18 years old. But this film was still very difficult to do.”

“It’s stories of abuse, told by men, kept secret for so long.”

Set for a world premiere next month, Gallagher’s latest documentary project — a TVO production entitled Prey — gets particularly close with one of Marshall’s victims, Rod MacLeod, and his search for justice.

MacLeod was a student at an all-boys high school in Sudbury in the 1960s when he first became subject to Marshall’s attention at the age of 13.

The abuse went on for four years.

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

“Cualquier cosa es mejor que Ezzati”: aplauden salida del cardenal y piden que responda ante la justicia

[Reactions to cardinal’s exit: “Anything is better than Ezzati”]

CHILE
El Mostrador

March 23, 2019

El papa Francisco finalmente aceptó la renuncia del arzobispo de Santiago, imputado por el encubrimiento de casos de abuso sexual al interior de la iglesia. En su reemplazo fue nombrado el obispo Celestino Aós como administrador apostólico. Juan Carlos Cruz, uno de los denunciantes de Karadima, fue uno de los primeros en reaccionar sobre la determinación, deseando lo mejor a la gestión del religioso entrante y haciendo un llamado a que el saliente prelado responda ante la justicia chilena “antes de escapar del país”.

El papa Francisco finalmente aceptó la renuncia presentada -en mayo del año pasado- por el cardenal Ricardo Ezzati. Se supone que los obispos deben presentar sus renuncias al papa una vez cumplen los 75 años de edad, pero la salida de Ezzati, de 77, se produce justo en un momento en el que es investigado por encubrir casos de abusos sexuales a menores por parte de curas.

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

Quién es Celestino Aós, el obispo español que asumirá como administrador apostólico de Santiago tras salida de Ezzati

[Who is Celestino Aós, the Spanish bishop who will assume as apostolic administrator of Santiago after Ezzati’s resignation]

CHILE
Emol

March 23, 2019

By Juan Undurraga

El prelado llegó de forma definitiva a Chile en el año 1983, tras ser nombrado vicario parroquial en Longaví.

Durante esta mañana, la Nunciatura Apostólica en Chile anunció que el Papa Francisco aceptó la renuncia del cardenal Ricardo Ezzati y que en su lugar asumirá quien hasta ayer era obispo de Copiapó, Celestino Aós Braco. El prelado nació en el año 1945 en la ciudad de Navarra, España, país en el que estudió las carreras de filosofía y teología, además de realizar una licenciatura en psicología.

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

Bill would let churches, nonprofits disclose sex abuse allegations

HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle

March 14, 2019

By Robert Downen

Texas nonprofits would be allowed to disclose sexual misconduct allegations against former employees without being sued under a new bill that was filed one month after the Houston Chronicle detailed hundreds of sexual abuses in Southern Baptist churches.

Introduced last week by McKinney Republican Rep. Scott Sanford, House Bill 4345 is the latest in what one expert said is a national wave of similar policies sparked by the #MeToo movement and ongoing religious sexual abuse scandals.

The Texas bill has support from two groups associated with the Southern Baptist Convention, which has been grappling publicly with its own sexual abuse crises since a February investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News found hundreds of Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers have been charged with sex crimes in the last two decades. The newspapers also found dozens of instances in which church leaders apparently failed to disclose concerns about former employees who applied for jobs at other congregations.

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

Papa Francisco acepta renuncia de cardenal Ezzati

[Pope Francis accepts resignation of Cardinal Ezzati]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 23, 2019

By Daniela Silva and Angélica Vera

En su reemplazo nombró al obispo Celestino Aós como administrador apostólico sede vacante de Santiago de Chile.

Esta mañana la Nunciatura Apostólica en Chile comunicó que el papa Francisco ha aceptado la renuncia presentada por el cardenal Ricardo Ezzati y ha nombrado como administrador apostólico sede vacante de la arquidiócesis de Santiago de Chile al obispo Celestino Aós Braco.

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

More from Frédéric Martel’s In the Closet of the Vatican

LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage blog

March 22, 2019

By William Lindsey

As I keep reading Frédéric Martel’s In the Closet of the Vatican, I’d like to say more about the theme of corruption I featured in my last commentary about thiss book. I noted, pointing to several important passages in Martel’s book as documentation, that much of the corruption in the Catholic church right now is rooted in the historical matrix of the papacy of St. John Paul the Great. The corruption is rooted quite specifically in the following: while hiding homosexual secrets, the powerful Vatican courtiers surrounding John Paul chose to mount war against the queer community, combating its rights, scapegoating LGBT people — especially for the abuse crisis in the church — and targeting theologians calling for compassionate outreach to queer people.

As I also added in my previous commentary, it’s the corruption of pretend heterosexuality coupled with abominable treatment of queer people — all engineered by homosexual clerics posturing as heterosexual — that’s the very dark heart of the corruption within the Catholic institution. So much of the corruption — real corruption, as in Vatican financial shenanigans, cover-up of clerical sexual abuse, and policies throwing progressive priests in Latin America to murderous wolves — begins with this dark heart of the story.

More needs to be said about the very specific kind of corruption, combining flagrant hypocrisy on the part of homophobic men acting out in homosexual ways with financial malfeasance with gross abuse of fellow human beings who do not belong to the entitled boys’ club that is the Catholic clerical club. It’s, to my way of thinking, a bit too easy to conclude, “Oh, these are men with homosexual secrets who had no choice except to cover up abuse of minors by fellow clerics, lest they themselves be outed as homosexual.” The corruption Martel is describing runs much deeper than that. Here are some key passages documenting the specific kind of corruption with which we’re dealing, especially in the historical matrix of John Paul’s papacy — a matrix that still has enormous influence in many Catholic circles including the governing circles in the Vatican.

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

WA priest accused of molesting teen girl found dead

MELBOUNRE (AUSTRALIA)
The New Daily

March 23, 2019

A West Australian priest has been found dead after being alerted that he was under investigation over child sex-abuse allegations.

Catholic priest Father Joseph Tran was found dead, with reports in Western Australia saying he died by his own hand.

“Police commenced an investigation relating to an allegation of child sexual abuse by a priest from a Catholic Church located in the southern suburbs,” a WA police spokesman said.

“During the investigation (on Thursday) the priest was located deceased.”

The Catholic Archbishop of Perth released a statement on Saturday addressing the circumstances.

“This news is heartbreaking for everyone involved,” Archbishop Costelloe said.

The dead priest was allegedly confronted by allegations of sexual abuse of a young teenage girl before his sudden death.

Tran spent 15 years in Whitford, about 24 km north of Perth, leaving in early 2018 to become the parish priest in St Francis Xavier, Armadale.

A parish newsletter marking his departure cited his “fondest memory” as leading 170 young people to 2008’s World Youth Day in Sydney event.

“That was really amazing experience. Many fond memories of the parish will go with me,” Fr Tran said.

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

A look at some of the priests and nuns in a new report on clergy child sex abuse in Illinois

CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

March 23, 2019

A new report lists nearly 400 priests and other Catholic Church officials with Illinois ties who have been the subject of child sex abuse claims, according to the group of lawyers who represent victims and released the study.

Many of the names on the so-called Anderson Report have been revealed before through court documents, criminal charges, media reports and church officials themselves. Some, like Daniel McCormack, have become notorious symbols of the abuse scandal in Chicago. Now defrocked, he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing multiple boys, many from St. Agatha’s Parish on Chicago’s West Side. McCormack served prison time and then last year was designated a sexually violent person so he could continue to be held indefnitely in a state facility.

Here’s a look at just a few of the lesser-known cases highlighted in the new report.

Monk convicted of crime against child in ’68 — and then again in ’94
In 1993, the Rev. Augustine Jones, then a Benedictine monk at Marmion Abbey in Aurora, was accused of having had inappropriate contact with a minor.

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

As the abuse crisis deepens, Francis sets his face like flint

ROME (ITALY)
LaCroix International

March 22, 2019

By Robert Mickens

Pope Francis is now in his seventh year as Bishop of Rome and chief pastor of the Universal Church. His pontificate, which began in March 2013 with such promise and hope, now seems to have been struck a mortal blow by an institutional crisis that looks to be spiraling out of control.

While there are still too many men in the Catholic hierarchy who continue to put their heads in the sand, it can no longer be denied that the phenomenon of clerical sex abuse (and its cover-up) is global in scope.The organizers of last month’s abuse “summit” at the Vatican made it their primary goal to convince all the world’s bishops of this fact.

But let’s be honest, is it really possible that prelates from Africa and Asia (and even Italy!) – where the abuse crisis continues to be downplayed or ignored – could be persuaded in the course of only four days of something that it took decades to drill into the heads of their confreres in places like the United States, Germany, Australia and Ireland?

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

Twelve priests with local ties named in sexual misconduct report

QUINCY (IL)
Herald-Whig

Mar. 22, 2019

By Matt Hopf

Twelve priests with local connections have been named in a 182-page report naming 395 Catholic priests and lay people reportedly accused of sexual misconduct in Illinois. Seven of the names already had been released by the Springfield and Peoria dioceses in reports of substantiated claims.

Named in the report are:

º Alvin Campbell, who briefly served at St. John Catholic Church in Quincy in 1952.

º Joseph Cernich, who had been a deacon at St. Mary Catholic Church in Quincy before ordination in 1983.

º Kevin Downey, who worked at Quincy College, now Quincy University, in two different stints from 1983 until 1985 and from 1986 to 1991.

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

A Victim of Catholic Clergy Sexual Assault Speaks Out

DENVER (CO)
National Catholic Register

March 23, 2019

By Krista Keil

Catholic bishops from around the world commenced a meeting last month in Rome to address the issue of clergy sexual abuse of minors. In the days leading up to the conference, another layer in this crisis emerged and was acknowledged by Pope Francis: sexual abuse of nuns in Africa by priests.

As an adult female victim of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest — abuse that occurred across international borders — I want to share my story.

In November 2012, I was 22 years old and headed to Tanzania, Africa, to do missionary work for the Catholic Diocese of Geita. On my second day in the country, a Catholic priest attempted to rape me at a diocesan-run hotel and conference center (known as TEC) in the capital of Dar es Salaam (Dar), where I was temporarily staying. After my perpetrator locked us in my hotel room, he eventually fled the scene after I began yelling and let out cries for help.

While there were three priests I was acquainted with that day who had taken me to experience Tanzanian culture and see the city of Dar, only one priest was responsible for the physical assault.

I was shocked, intimidated, confused, jet-lagged and completely alone in a foreign country. I didn’t speak the local language and had no idea how to report the incident to local authorities.

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

Pope accepts resignation of Chilean cardinal who faces abuse cover-up probe

ROME (ITALY)
Crux

March 23, 2019

By Inés San Martín

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Chilean Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, Archbishop of Santiago, who’s been subpoenaed by a local prosecutor’s office to testify over allegations that he covered up for cases of clerical sexual abuse.

Ezzati’s resignation came on Saturday and was announced by the Vatican’s press office.

To replace him, the pontiff tapped Bishop Celestino Aós Braco, of Copiapó, as Apostolic Administrator “sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis.”

As was the case with the other seven Chilean bishops whose resignations Francis accepted in the past year, the Vatican failed to provide an official explanation for Ezzati’s departure, though it’s widely understood that it has to do not only with his age, as he’s over 75, the mandatory age for bishops to offer their resignation, but also with his role in the country’s massive clerical abuse scandals.

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

Other religious faiths should follow the lead of Catholic Church

VICKSBURG (MS)
Vicksburg Post

March 22, 2019

The Catholic Diocese of Jackson took the bold step last week of identifying 37 former clergy members accused of sexually abusing children.

Eleven priests and one deacon who once served in parishes in Warren County were credibly accused of the sexual abuse. Thirty of the 37 were accused of sexual abuse while serving in Mississippi with the investigated cases happening between 1939 and 1998. The other seven worked in the Mississippi diocese but were accused of abuse in other states.

Bishop Joseph Kopacz publicly apologized at a news conference outside a cathedral in downtown Jackson after the diocese published the list on its website as part of the Catholic Church’s international reckoning.

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

Cardinal De Keser raises issue of child abuse at funeral of Cardinal Danneels

BRUSSELS (BELGIUM)
Brussels Times

March 23, 2019

The funeral took place in Mechelen on Friday of Cardinal Godfried Danneels, who died last week at the age of 85.

The ceremony in the Sint-Rombouts cathedral was attended by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, as well as a number of leading politicians and 175 members of the clergy. The funeral was conducted by Cardinal Jozef De Keser, the current head of the church in Belgium.

Cardinal Danneels was “a good shepherd for many years,” who had guided the church through “a turning point for the church and for society,” Cardinal De Keser said in his homily.

“It was not easy to be guide and shepherd at the same time, but he managed it with courage and authority,” he said.

A letter was read out at the service from Pope Francis, who had been elected by a conclave attended by Danneels.

The end of Danneels’ career as head of the church was marked by the scandal of sexual abuse by clergy, which by then had reached as high as the former bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe. His successor as bishop is now Danneels’ successor as primate – Cardinal De Keser. And he took the opportunity of the service to bring up the subject of the scandal.

“When his biography was presented several years ago, he spoke in public for the last time,” De Kesel said. “At that point the church was sorely confronted by sin and weakness within its own ranks. And he said, ‘Where I fell short, I rely on God’s forgiveness’. That is the prayer today of all of us.”

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

Deadline to file Catholic sex abuse claims set for June 17

TAOS (NM)
Taos News

March 22, 2019

By Cody Hooks

The last day to file a claim against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe related to sexual abuse by its clergy will be June 17.

The announcment appeared in the Legal notices of The Taos News March 21 and was posted to the archdiocese’s website.

The “bar date” is part of the Archdiocese bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for New Mexico.

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in December. It has about $49 million in assets, including about $31.6 million in property, according to the court documents. Under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, the debtor — in this case, the church — comes up with a plan to pay its debts while also continuing to operate.

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

USF prof’s book looks at hierarchy amid sex scandals

FT. WAYNE (IN)
The Journal Gazette

March 23, 2019

By Dave Gong

University of Saint Francis professor Adam DeVille has been writing about sex abuse in the Catholic Church for 27 years.

Now, he’s written a book that examines the structural issues of governance in the church. Specifically, DeVille’s book discusses how current structures, which centralize power with bishops and popes, must be reformed in favor of new structures that put power in the hands of localities.

The book, “Everything Hidden Shall Be Revealed: Ridding the Church of Abuses of Sex and Power,” has been endorsed by various bishops, clergy and theologians in the United States, Europe and Australia, according to a news release from the university.

DeVille’s book was released about a week ago, and so far, he said he’s received some mixed reaction.

DeVille said he anticipates his work will be somewhat controversial.

“I think that it’s going to be a stretch for some people, in some ways, to think about some of these changes, so I expect the reception will be critical in some ways and very controversial,” he said.

“I say, bring it on because we can’t just stick with the status quo.”

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

Diocese Outlines Efforts to Protect Children

WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer

March 23, 2019

By Linda Comins

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston issued a letter Friday to the “faithful of the diocese,” outlining diocesan efforts to ensure a safe environment for children and to deal with any allegations of sexual misconduct.

The letter comes three days after West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a civil suit against the diocese and its retired bishop, the Most Rev. Michael J. Bransfield, for allegedly violating the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act. Morrisey’s 14-page complaint, filed Tuesday in Wood County Circuit Court, seeks to enjoin and restrain the diocese from violating the Consumer Credit and Protection Act and to order Bransfield and the diocese to pay civil penalties for violations of the West Virginia Code.

In the unsigned letter, church officials state, “The diocese will address the litigation in the appropriate forum. However, the diocese strongly and unconditionally rejects the complaint’s assertion that the diocese is not wholly committed to the protection of children, as reflected in its rigorous Safe Environment Program, the foundation of which is a zero tolerance policy for any cleric, employee or volunteer credibly accused of abuse. The program employs mandatory screening, background checks and training for all employees and volunteers who work with children.”

In addition, the officials said, “The diocese also does not believe that the allegations contained in the complaint fairly portray its overall contributions to the education of children in West Virginia nor fairly portray the efforts of its hundreds of employees and clergy who work every day to deliver quality education in West Virginia.”

The “safe environment” mandate was part of a Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People adopted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in June 2002. Church officials said the diocese implemented its own sex abuse policy in the mid-1990s.

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

March 22, 2019

Taking stock of the clergy sexual abuse crisis: Protecting children

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

March 23, 2019

By Thomas Reese

Last month’s summit in Rome on child sex abuse did not break new ground for those, like myself, who have been following this crisis for more than 30 years, but it did made clear — again — that the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has been devastating for the victims of abuse and for the church as a whole.

There are three parts to the crisis, which I plan to deal with in three successive columns.

First, there is the failure to protect children; second, the failure to hold bishops accountable; and third, the lack of transparency in dealing with the crisis.

Protecting children is a fundamental obligation of any adult, even of those who are not parents. Children are vulnerable and abuse is criminal. It is impossible not to be moved when listening to the horrible stories of survivors of abuse, who can be permanently scarred by the experience.

Abuse occurs in other settings, of course, including schools and in families’ homes, but that fact is no excuse for the church’s poor handling of abuse.

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

What is the legacy of Bishop Joseph Adamec?

ALTOONA (PA)
WJAC TV

March 22, 2019

By Crispin Havener

Some are praising the memory of the longest serving bishop in the region’s history for transforming the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. Many others Friday were remembering his record of hiding the child sex abuse scandal inside the church.

It all comes following the death of Bishop Emeritus Joseph Adamec on Wednesday. His “unexpected” death was announced Thursday by the diocese, though no cause was given.

“He was a man at times who would have a focus on something and he was going on it and there were times where he would sit back and say what do you folks think?” said Very Rev. James Crookston, Rector of St. John Gaulbert Cathedral in Johnstown. “He’s been living the life of penance and prayer (since his retirement).”

The diocese’s announcement of his death highlighted what he did to modernize the diocese, through mergers, ministry and bringing everyone together. But he was in charge in 1994 when the Francis Luddy case first cracked the child sex abuse scandal wide open, and has overtaken the diocese, the nation, and the world in the quarter century since.

“My sadness is for the hundreds of child sexual abuse victims of priests, teachers and employees the Diocese Of Altoona-Johnstown, and for their pain and despair, rather than someone in a position of power and respect that enabled and protected child predators,” said Richard Serbin, the lawyer for the victim in the Luddy case who would later bring may cases against the diocese.

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Watchdog Group Lists 24 Sioux Falls Catholic Clergy Accused Of Abuse

SIOUX FALLS (SD)
KELO TV

March 22, 2019

By Angela Kennecke

A day following the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese release of a list of names of 11 priests who abused children, KELOLAND Investigates is looking back at the history of the priest sex abuse problem in Sioux Falls.

Our requests for an interview with current Bishop Paul Swain on the release of this list of priest was denied.

In 2002, more than a dozen new cases of accused sexual misconduct surfaced against former Sioux Falls priests. At that time Bishop Robert Carlson did grant KELOLAND News an interview.

Robert Carlson is now an Archbishop of St. Louis where he has been lauded for his transparency when it comes to the church’s dealings with abusive priests. He’s given Missouri’s attorney general access to the church’s policies and procedures.

He reportedly did the same in South Dakota when he was bishop in Sioux Falls after the 2002 sex-abuse crisis.

“I think with the policies we have in place and those we’re going to add, I think we’ll be on top of it and will be handled in a way people will be happy with and at the same time can trust the good priests who are out there, because obviously the reputation of all of us is on the line,” Bishop Robert Carlson said in a KELOLAND News Interview on May 8, 2002.

The Bishop revealed in 2003 that 38 people had accused 16 different priests of sex abuse over the previous 53 years.

In 2014, Carlson testified in a sexual abuse lawsuit in Minnesota. Carlson admitted he didn’t turn Reverend Thomas Adamson in to police after Adamson admitted to him he had abused a child in 1984.

Attorney Jeff Anderson: Archbishop, you knew it was a crime for an adult to engage in sex with a kid?

Carlson: I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not, I understand today it’s a crime.

Carlson’s statement received national attention.

Carlson later went on to say that his statement from the 2014 Minnesota deposition was taken out of context and that he was responding to a specific point of Minnesota mandatory reporting law, not the act of abuse itself when he said, “I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not. I understand today it’s a crime.”

We’ve told you that the list of abusive priests put out by the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese Thursday had 11 names on it.

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Catholic priest accused of groping Austin woman during last rites

DALLAS (TX)
Dallas News

March 22, 2019

An Austin priest faces an assault charge after allegedly groping a woman while administering her last rites in the fall, authorities say.

The victim, who suffers with complications from diabetes, was in home hospice care when Langsch was called to perform the religious ceremony, which offers absolution of sins before dying.

It was then that Langsch allegedly applied holy water and lotion to the victim’s chest, massaged her breast and asked, “Does that feel good?” according to the affidavit.

Although the incident took place several months ago, an arrest couldn’t be made until the victim was well enough to identify the priest in a lineup, Austin police told Fox.

The arrest came a month after Langsch’s removal from the Diocese of Austin’s active ministry in February.

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Former priest gets 9 years for sexually abusing boys

ONTARIO (CANADA)
Blackburn News

March 22, 2019

By Miranda Chant

A former Anglican priest convicted of sexually abusing four boys on the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation 40 years ago has been sentenced to nine years in prison.

David Norton, 72, was found guilty last November of three counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault. He was sentenced for his crimes at the London courthouse on Friday.

The nine year sentence delivered by Superior Court Justice Lynda Templeton matched the joint sentencing submission provided by the Crown and the defence earlier this week.

“Both the Crown and I recognized that, that sentence was at the higher range of sentencing,” Norton’s defence lawyer Lakin Afolabi said after the sentencing hearing. “The judge stated that she had to send a message of specific deterrence and general deterrence. She had very strong words for [Norton’s] behaviour and she felt that this sentence meets the ends of justice.”

Norton served as the rector of St. Andrews church on the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation in the 1970s and early 1980s. The abuse took place during that time.

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“Nones” Are Statistically Tied for the Largest “Religious” Group in the Country

Patheos blog

March 22, 2019

By Hemant Mehta

According to just released 2018 data from the General Social Survey, “Nones” are now the largest single “religious” demographic in the country (23.1%), statistically tied with Catholics (23.0%) and just above evangelical Christians (22.5%).

While the single data point may not tell you much, look at those trend lines. “No religion” just keeps getting higher and higher, apparently pulling people from mainline Christian denominations and maybe some evangelicals, too.

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Counting On Mystery: What Do The Duggar Men Do For A Living?

LOS ANGELES (CA)
Celebrity Insider

March 22, 2019

By Suzy Kerr

For more than a decade, the Duggars have been one of the most popular families on reality TV thanks to their fundamentalist lifestyle and uber-conservative beliefs. Counting On fans love to watch the Duggar kids as they start courting, get engaged, and then get married – and that all usually happens in less than a year. But what TLC cameras don’t often capture is what the Duggar men do for a living, and fans are wondering how they make their money.

Of course, TLC pays thousands of dollars per episode to feature the Duggar family on their network every week. But, when you split that money up between the family, it doesn’t go very far. So, the Duggars have their own businesses to create more income and to make ends meet.

Family patriarch Jim Bob started in the real estate game before 19 Kids & Counting debuted, and over the years he has made money acquiring different commercial and rental properties and also by flipping houses. He has taught some of his sons the family business, but many of the men in the family are either in school or working random jobs.

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Why is the Vatican’s process for holding bishops accountable still so opaque?

NEW YORK (NY)
America Magazine

March 21, 2019

Since the summer of 2018, the church has seen three cardinals face specific consequences in connection with sexual abuse. Understanding these already complex cases has been made more difficult by unclear canonical procedures, by decisions reserved to Pope Francis himself and—most vexing—by limited communication from the Vatican about what process is being followed on what timeline.

Taken together, these cases illustrate why accountability for bishops has become a focus of the sexual abuse crisis in the church. Both process and communication need to be improved in order to rebuild trust among the people of God that the church is committed to healing and reform.

A quick review of the cases of the three cardinals suggests the challenges the church faces. With allegations of sexual abuse of a minor found to be credible and substantiated by the Archdiocese of New York, former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was restricted from ministry and dismissed from the College of Cardinals (both decisions made under Pope Francis’ personal authority) very quickly. Even though the criminal statute of limitations had passed, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith conducted a canonical process and he was finally dismissed from the priesthood in early 2019, just before the international summit on preventing sexual abuse in the church began.

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Sexual abuse of First Nations boys an ‘abhorrent breach of trust’: London judge sentences ex-priest

TORNOTO (CANADA)
Global News

March 22, 2019

By Liny Lamberink

A disgraced Anglican priest “forever stained the white collar” that he wore, said the London judge in charge of delivering his second sentencing in under a year.

Norton, a 72-year-old man who is already serving a four-year prison term for sexually abusing a young boy in the ’90s, was sentenced to another nine years behind bars for the sexual abuse of four altar boys at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Chippewa of the Thames First Nation decades ago.

Superiour Court Justice Lynda Templeton found Norton guilty on three counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault last November, and on Friday said he was a “man divided.”

“Mr. Norton purported to be a man of God,” she told the courtroom, calling his actions in the ’70s and ’80s, a “profound and abhorrent breach of trust.”

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Publicly accused Jackson clerics who are NOT on the diocesan ‘credibly accused’ list 3/19

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

March 21, 2019

–Fr. Charles Potocki, whose name was included among 17 released by the St. Paul archdiocese in 2014 as part of settlement. The list was of priests with ‘substantiated’ claims of sexual abuse of minors against them. Fr. Potocki worked in Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska and Mississippi. He was ordained in 1970, belonged to a religious order called the Order of Friar Minor also known as Franciscan Province of the Sacred Heart (OFM) and died in 1992

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/diocesan_lists/St_Paul_and_Minneapolis/2014_10_23_Disclosures/2014_10_23_Potocki_Downloaded_2014_10_27.pdf

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

–Br. Robert B. McGovern, who was named in a 2005 lawsuit alleging child sexual abuse in New Jersey at some point after 1975. He was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, attended Iona College and Manhattan College, joined the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1962, and took his final vows in 1969. Fr. McGovern worked at several New York schools (mostly in the Bronx) and at Holy Child School in Mississippi.

In 2011, he was the co-leader of annual Edmund Rice Youth Camp at Brother Rice High School in Chicago. He died in Chicago in 2016.

https://www.andersonadvocates.com/PriestList/382/Father-Robert-B.McGovern.aspx

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2007/07_08/2007_08_17_Abbott_PriestContinues.htm

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/complaints/2006_01_10_Hoatson_v_Egan_Amended_Complaint.htm

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

–Fr. Kenneth M. Brigham was a Chicago priest who spent at least a month in Bay St. Louis MS. He retired to Las Vegas in 2005 and died in 2006. Fr. Brigham’s personnel file is one of 30 files of priests ‘credibly accused’ of sexually abusing minors produced by Chicago archdiocese in 2014 and released by plaintiffs’ counsel Jeff Anderson of St. Paul MN.

https://www.andersonadvocates.com/Documents/priest_files/BRIGHAM.pdf

https://www.andersonadvocates.com/Documents/timelines/Brigham%20Kenneth%20final.pdf

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DC priest rejects plea offer, maintains innocence in sex abuse of parishioners

WASHINGTON (DC)
WTOP TV

March 22, 2019

By Neal Augenstein

Rev. Urbano Vazquez has rejected a plea offer from D.C. prosecutors, maintains his innocence and will fight current charges of sexually abusing two children and an adult female parishioner.

In a status hearing, assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Williams told Superior Court Judge Juliet McKenna that Vazquez has turned down a plea offer that would have him plead guilty to reduced charges of one count of 2nd degree child sexual abuse, one count of misdemeanor sexual abuse of a child with aggravating circumstances, and one count of misdemeanor sexual abuse.

Currently, Vazquez faces a statutory maximum of 30 years, 6 months in prison. With the reduced charges, he could have faced up to 11 years, 3 months behind bars.

McKenna asked Vazquez, who was standing next to defense attorney Robert Bonsib, if he was rejecting the offer — Vazquez said yes.

Outside the courtroom, Vazquez’s attorney said: “He maintains his innocence. He will contest the charges at trial,” which was set to begin Aug. 5.

As WTOP first reported, a 9-year-old girl told police Vazquez had kissed her on the mouth and inappropriately touched her approximately 60 times in 2017.

After Vazquez’s arrest was reported, he was charged with two more crimes, involving another minor, and an adult woman.

Prosecutors have said in addition to the three victims Vazquez has been charged with abusing, three other victims — two minors and an adult — had accused him, but the statute of limitations had expired.

The plea offer extended by prosecutors would have precluded other charges involving the six alleged victims.

It’s unclear whether prosecutors intend to charge Vazquez with assaulting other victims. Williams told the judge he expects Vazquez will be indicted on the current charges by early May.

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State Lawsuit Against Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, Background and Reactions

WHEELING (WV)
West Virginia Public Broadcasting

March 22, 2019

By Glynis Board

West Virginia’s attorney general is suing the state’s Catholic Church. The lawsuit filed this week claims the church knowingly employed pedophiles in schools and camps without informing parents.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says the state is stepping in because the church violated the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act when it failed to disclose important information to families paying for educational services.

“We allege that the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese persisted in covering up and keeping secret the criminal behavior of priests related to sexual abuse of children,” Morrisey said during a press conference.

Investigations into the Catholic Church exist in more than a dozen other states, many suits drawing criminal charges in specific abuse cases.

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Andy Beshear, who campaigns as a child protector, got Boy Scouts abuse cases tossed

LEXINGTON (KY)
Herald Leader

March 22, 2019

By John Cheves and Daniel Desrochers

As attorney general and as a gubernatorial candidate this year, one of Democrat Andy Beshear’s biggest issues has been protecting Kentucky children, particularly from sexual predators. Beshear frequently touts his record of hammering on pedophiles and child-porn offenders.

“Whether it’s been years or whether it’s just been days, let us seek justice for you,” Beshear said as he proposed legislation last year to allow him to convene a statewide grand jury to investigate sexual abuse of children in the Catholic church. “That’s how we stop this activity from occurring again and make sure we try to build the type of commonwealth where no child and no person is ever harmed.”

But Beshear sang a different tune six years earlier in Paducah.

Then, as a lawyer in the firm of Stites & Harbison, Beshear successfully defended the Boy Scouts of America from two lawsuits filed by men who said they were sexually molested by their scoutmaster when they were minors in the 1970s. The men — with some evidence, including a 1979 letter — said Scout officials knew at the time of their scoutmaster’s predatory behavior but failed to stop it.

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Violación en la Catedral: Sacerdote Tito Rivera declara como imputado en Fiscalía de Rancagua

[Rape in the Cathedral: accused priest Tito Rivera testifies in Rancagua]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 22, 2019

By Alberto González, Roberto Rojas, and Jorge Molina Sanhueza

Por cerca de 6 horas declaró en calidad de imputado el sacerdote Tito Rivera, acusado por abuso y violación en la Catedral de Santiago. El religioso llegó este jueves hasta la Fiscalía de Rancagua acompañado de su abogada, María Pinto, en una diligencia que se realizó antes de su formalización programada para el próximo 29 de marzo en Santiago.

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“Fuimos a denunciar los abusos y el director nos echó del despacho”

[“We went to denounce the abuses and the director threw us out of the office”]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

March 22, 2019

By Iñigo Domínguez

Una cuarta víctima en el colegio de los jesuitas en Gijón acusa a un sacerdote en los años noventa, que fue apartado en 2001 por hacer fotos de niñas en el centro

Los jesuitas del colegio la Inmaculada de Gijón apartaron en 2001 a uno de sus profesores religiosos, Cándido Alonso, tras recibir quejas de familias de alumnos por su comportamiento con menores y porque, admiten ahora, ya en los años noventa se había registrado otra protesta similar de una familia. En concreto, ha explicado la orden, tomaba fotografías de las niñas en el patio. Portavoces de la Compañía de Jesús han reconocido que durante una década no se tomaron medidas contra este religioso. Tras hallar esta información “en los archivos”, han confirmado los datos a EL PAÍS, que ha encontrado una mujer que acusa de abusos a este jesuita, fallecido en 2013. Se trata del cuarto caso de presuntos abusos en este colegio, protagonista de un nuevo escándalo desde hace diez días tras varias noticias aparecidas en la prensa local.

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El arzobispo de Toledo aparta a un cura imputado por abusos después de que la víctima escribiera al Papa

[Toledo archbishop dismisses priest accused of abuse more than a year after victim wrote to Pope]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

March 22, 2019

By Julio Núñez

La joven puso una querella judicial en 2017 y la envió al Vaticano. Un año y medio después, la justicia tomará declaración al acusado.

El arzobispado de Toledo ha apartado a un sacerdote imputado por abusar sexualmente de una menor entre 2010 y 2013. Después de denunciar los hechos ante la justicia civil en octubre de 2017, la supuesta víctima escribió una carta al papa Francisco y otra al cardenal Luis Ladaria, prefecto de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, y adjuntó una copia de la querella. El obispado abrió un proceso canónico contra dicho clérigo, José Luis Galán Muñoz, aunque no ha precisado la fecha concreta y cuándo tomó las medidas cautelares. En junio de 2018, el vicario general de la diócesis tomó declaración a la supuesta víctima. La justicia ha tardado dos años y cuatro meses en llamar a declarar a la joven, ahora de 22 años, y espera escuchar al acusado este viernes. Después, la jueza decidirá si abre o no un juicio penal.

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El arzobispo de Toledo aparta a un cura imputado por abusos después de que la víctima escribiera al Papa

[Toledo archbishop dismisses priest accused of abuse more than a year after victim wrote to Pope]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

March 22, 2019

By Julio Núñez

La joven puso una querella judicial en 2017 y la envió al Vaticano. Un año y medio después, la justicia tomará declaración al acusado.

El arzobispado de Toledo ha apartado a un sacerdote imputado por abusar sexualmente de una menor entre 2010 y 2013. Después de denunciar los hechos ante la justicia civil en octubre de 2017, la supuesta víctima escribió una carta al papa Francisco y otra al cardenal Luis Ladaria, prefecto de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, y adjuntó una copia de la querella. El obispado abrió un proceso canónico contra dicho clérigo, José Luis Galán Muñoz, aunque no ha precisado la fecha concreta y cuándo tomó las medidas cautelares. En junio de 2018, el vicario general de la diócesis tomó declaración a la supuesta víctima. La justicia ha tardado dos años y cuatro meses en llamar a declarar a la joven, ahora de 22 años, y espera escuchar al acusado este viernes. Después, la jueza decidirá si abre o no un juicio penal.

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Defrocked Jersey priest who molested boys now teaches kids English in Dominican Republic

PUNTA CANA (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)
NBC News

March 22, 2019

By Evelyn Gruber and Nicole Acevedo and Corky Siemaszko

A former Roman Catholic priest who was defrocked and convicted of molesting two boys in New Jersey has found a new vocation in a new location — teaching children English at a private school in this resort town. The former priest, Hadmels DeFrias, 47, told the NBC News reporter who tracked him down that he is no longer a threat to minors and also claimed to be a bishop in the “progressive Celtic church. “I don’t see the children with those eyes anymore,” DeFrias said in an extensive interview outside the Colegio del Caribe school in Punta Cana, where he watched over dozens of young boys and girls while shielding himself from the sun with an umbrella.”For me they are children and they need to be treated like children because that is what they are,” he said. “I don’t feel the attraction. I am not telling you that maybe someday it won’t be there, because I can’t predict the future.”As a priest, DeFrias, who is originally from the Dominican Republic, was assigned to the St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey, when he was accused of fondling two brothers, both under 14, in 2001 and 2002 while the brothers were working in the church rectory, according to court records and published reports. Charged with criminal sexual contact, DeFrias pleaded guilty in August 2004 and was sentenced to three years of probation, court records show. As part of his sentencing agreement, he was barred indefinitely from any future contact with children under 18 in the state of New Jersey. After being contacted by NBC News, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey issued a statement disapproving of DeFrias’ position working with children.”It is deeply concerning to hear that a defendant prosecuted, convicted and sentenced here for criminal sexual contact with children has resurfaced overseas, apparently with supervisory capacity over children,” the office said. “We would urge anyone in any jurisdiction to be vigilant and immediately report allegations of such conduct to local authorities.”NBC News has reached out to both the Dominican Republic educational officials and the school where DeFrias is employed to find out if they were aware of his criminal past. So far, neither has responded. In the interview, DeFrias expressed regret for assaulting the brothers but insisted that his urges are under control and that he has been in therapy for a decade. He said he told school officials about his criminal past before they hired him, even though he claims he didn’t need to “inform them.”

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Defrocked Jersey priest who molested boys now teaches kids English in Dominican Republic

PUNTA CANA (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)
NBC News

March 22, 2019

By Evelyn Gruber and Nicole Acevedo and Corky Siemaszko

A former Roman Catholic priest who was defrocked and convicted of molesting two boys in New Jersey has found a new vocation in a new location — teaching children English at a private school in this resort town. The former priest, Hadmels DeFrias, 47, told the NBC News reporter who tracked him down that he is no longer a threat to minors and also claimed to be a bishop in the “progressive Celtic church. “I don’t see the children with those eyes anymore,” DeFrias said in an extensive interview outside the Colegio del Caribe school in Punta Cana, where he watched over dozens of young boys and girls while shielding himself from the sun with an umbrella.”For me they are children and they need to be treated like children because that is what they are,” he said. “I don’t feel the attraction. I am not telling you that maybe someday it won’t be there, because I can’t predict the future.”As a priest, DeFrias, who is originally from the Dominican Republic, was assigned to the St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey, when he was accused of fondling two brothers, both under 14, in 2001 and 2002 while the brothers were working in the church rectory, according to court records and published reports. Charged with criminal sexual contact, DeFrias pleaded guilty in August 2004 and was sentenced to three years of probation, court records show. As part of his sentencing agreement, he was barred indefinitely from any future contact with children under 18 in the state of New Jersey. After being contacted by NBC News, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey issued a statement disapproving of DeFrias’ position working with children.”It is deeply concerning to hear that a defendant prosecuted, convicted and sentenced here for criminal sexual contact with children has resurfaced overseas, apparently with supervisory capacity over children,” the office said. “We would urge anyone in any jurisdiction to be vigilant and immediately report allegations of such conduct to local authorities.”NBC News has reached out to both the Dominican Republic educational officials and the school where DeFrias is employed to find out if they were aware of his criminal past. So far, neither has responded. In the interview, DeFrias expressed regret for assaulting the brothers but insisted that his urges are under control and that he has been in therapy for a decade. He said he told school officials about his criminal past before they hired him, even though he claims he didn’t need to “inform them.”

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State Lawsuit Against Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, Background and Reactions

WEST VIRGINIA
WV Public Broadcasting

March 22, 2019

By Glynis Board

West Virginia’s attorney general is suing the state’s Catholic Church. The lawsuit filed this week claims the church knowingly employed pedophiles in schools and camps without informing parents.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says the state is stepping in because the church violated the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act when it failed to disclose important information to families paying for educational services.

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

State Lawsuit Against Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, Background and Reactions

WEST VIRGINIA
WV Public Broadcasting

March 22, 2019

By Glynis Board

West Virginia’s attorney general is suing the state’s Catholic Church. The lawsuit filed this week claims the church knowingly employed pedophiles in schools and camps without informing parents.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says the state is stepping in because the church violated the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act when it failed to disclose important information to families paying for educational services.

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Group says four names were omitted from list of clergy abusers

JACKSON (MS)
WLBT TV

March 22, 2019

By Nick Ducote

On Tuesday March 19th, the Jackson diocese released the names of 37 former priests and church leaders accused of sexually abusing children.

Two days later, local members of the group SNAP, or “Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests,” say that four names were omitted from the list of credibly accused priests.

Mark Belenchia, SNAP Mississippi coordinator, says the four men omitted from that list were publicly accused of abusing children.

“They were in the diocese at some point in some capacity. I’m not sure what those capacities were, some were here longer than others. But they spent time here in Mississippi. Not having a complete list of credibly accused clergy puts children in Mississippi in harms way,” said Belenchia.

Belenchia and a small group of people stood outside the diocese, and the cathedral of St. Peter with a sign with the 4 men’s classification and their last names. When the group looked them up the andersonadvocates.com, the website gives a full brief of the accused priest.

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Group says four names were omitted from list of clergy abusers

JACKSON (MS)
WLBT TV

March 22, 2019

By Nick Ducote

On Tuesday March 19th, the Jackson diocese released the names of 37 former priests and church leaders accused of sexually abusing children.

Two days later, local members of the group SNAP, or “Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests,” say that four names were omitted from the list of credibly accused priests.

Mark Belenchia, SNAP Mississippi coordinator, says the four men omitted from that list were publicly accused of abusing children.

“They were in the diocese at some point in some capacity. I’m not sure what those capacities were, some were here longer than others. But they spent time here in Mississippi. Not having a complete list of credibly accused clergy puts children in Mississippi in harms way,” said Belenchia.

Belenchia and a small group of people stood outside the diocese, and the cathedral of St. Peter with a sign with the 4 men’s classification and their last names. When the group looked them up the andersonadvocates.com, the website gives a full brief of the accused priest.

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Guest View: Sex-abuse victims deserve justice

WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post

March 21, 2019

The all-but-impregnable wall of power and influence that for decades blocked victims of child sex abuse from seeking justice and compensation from pedophiles and their enablers has started to crumble — not a moment too soon. Stunned by revelations in Pennsylvania and elsewhere documenting the scale of abuse by priests given cover by the Catholic Church, state lawmakers are starting to tear up laws that set strict limits on the number of years that victims are given to bring lawsuits.

Until now, the church, along with insurance companies and a few other private organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America, has had the lobbying muscle to impede such measures, especially in states with sizable populations of practicing Catholics. In New York, for instance, people molested as children by pedophiles had until age 23 to press criminal charges or file civil lawsuits against their abusers. Repeated efforts to loosen that law were blocked by Republicans in the state Senate.

The dam of opposition to reform in Albany broke after Democrats took control of the upper house in last fall’s elections. In January, the church dropped its long-standing opposition to a more open system — allowing criminal charges until childhood victims turn 28 and civil suits until they turn 55 — when lawmakers agreed to apply the new law to public schools, as well as private entities such as the church. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the legislation into law last month.

A similar bill has advanced in New Jersey; a push for reform is underway in Pennsylvania.

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

Guest View: Sex-abuse victims deserve justice

WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post

March 21, 2019

The all-but-impregnable wall of power and influence that for decades blocked victims of child sex abuse from seeking justice and compensation from pedophiles and their enablers has started to crumble — not a moment too soon. Stunned by revelations in Pennsylvania and elsewhere documenting the scale of abuse by priests given cover by the Catholic Church, state lawmakers are starting to tear up laws that set strict limits on the number of years that victims are given to bring lawsuits.

Until now, the church, along with insurance companies and a few other private organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America, has had the lobbying muscle to impede such measures, especially in states with sizable populations of practicing Catholics. In New York, for instance, people molested as children by pedophiles had until age 23 to press criminal charges or file civil lawsuits against their abusers. Repeated efforts to loosen that law were blocked by Republicans in the state Senate.

The dam of opposition to reform in Albany broke after Democrats took control of the upper house in last fall’s elections. In January, the church dropped its long-standing opposition to a more open system — allowing criminal charges until childhood victims turn 28 and civil suits until they turn 55 — when lawmakers agreed to apply the new law to public schools, as well as private entities such as the church. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the legislation into law last month.

A similar bill has advanced in New Jersey; a push for reform is underway in Pennsylvania.

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

SNAP shows support for A.G.’s lawsuit against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston

WHEELING (WV)
WTRF TV

March 21, 2019

It has been two days since West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced his suit against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and people are continuing to react.

Thursday afternoon, people from Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) rallied together today in front of the Cathedral in Wheeling in support of the lawsuit.

SNAP leader Judy Jones said that they hope that this lawsuit helps dictate the future of other Diocese investigations in every state.

“We are hoping is that what the Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has done here is going to prod other Attorney Generals in other states to do the same thing,” said Jones.

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SNAP shows support for A.G.’s lawsuit against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston

WHEELING (WV)
WTRF TV

March 21, 2019

It has been two days since West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced his suit against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and people are continuing to react.

Thursday afternoon, people from Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) rallied together today in front of the Cathedral in Wheeling in support of the lawsuit.

SNAP leader Judy Jones said that they hope that this lawsuit helps dictate the future of other Diocese investigations in every state.

“We are hoping is that what the Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has done here is going to prod other Attorney Generals in other states to do the same thing,” said Jones.

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

Lay Catholic group drafts a blueprint for trust

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

March 21, 2019

The Movement to Restore Trust is a panel of influential local Catholics working to suggest reforms to the church in Buffalo in the aftermath of the sexual abuse scandal that opened wounds in the diocese.

The panel, after convening six different work groups that each came up with its own recommendations, this month delivered a report with nine key recommendations for the Buffalo Diocese. They deserve to be implemented.

The nine points urge the diocese to: work with the laity to restore trust; make changes voluntarily; address the needs of survivors for support; provide full transparency into the scale of the sexual abuse; ensure “the faithful” are central to the church’s organizational structures; delegate more authority to consultative bodies in the diocese; schedule periodic reviews of implementation; engage the leadership roundtable and “revive the Spirit of Vatican II.”

Bishop Richard J. Malone would do well to see that all nine are implemented. The Vatican II ideal, according to the Movement to Restore Trust website, is that “the Church is not simply the clergy, it is not simply the hierarchy, and it is not just the Vatican or the Chancery; the Church is the people of God.”

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33 priests who worked in DuPage County accused of child sexual abuse

DUPAGE COUNTY (IL)
Suburban Life

March 20, 2019

By Sherri Dauskurdas

Three hundred ninety-five Catholic members of clergy, publicly accused of childhood sexual abuse, have been named this week in a report that highlights their Illinois service histories, allegations of abuse, history of their subsequent transfers and any disciplinary action taken by both church and authorities.

A Bannockburn-based law firm specializing in cases involving clergy abuse released the list March 20. Within it are the names and photos of the nearly 400 members of clergy who have been publicly accused in the State of Illinois of abusing one or more children. All were either accused in a public forum or a settlement was reached between the church and the victims/families, according to representatives from the firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates.

Names, photos and locations where clergy served through the years of their duties all are included in the report. They are associated or were associated with the Diocese of Chicago, Joliet, Belleville, Peoria, Springfield and Rockford.

The Diocese of Joliet listing includes 43 alleged child abusers, 33 of whom worked for periods of time in DuPage County churches and schools.

Among them are:

Fr. John F. Barret, who served 1960-2011 at St. Peter and Paul in Naperville, Notre Dame in Clarendon Hills, St. Alexander in Villa Park, and Mary Queen of Heaven in Elmhurst.

Fr. Richard L. Bennett who served from 1976-1986 at St. Pius X in Lombard, St. Raphael in Naperville, St. Mary in Downers Grove, Catholic Community of Wheatland, and Holy Spirit Catholic Community Church in Naperville

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Accused Priests Return To Duty

JAMESTOWN (NY)
Post Journal

March 22, 2019

By Eric Tichy

Allegations of child sexual abuse against two priests with ties to Chautauqua County have not been substantiated following an investigation.

According to a statement released Thursday by Bishop Richard J. Malone of the Buffalo Diocese, the Rev. Robert A. Stolinski and the Rev. John J. Sardina are eligible to return to active ministry following an investigation by the Diocesan Review Board. The independent board recently met to consider reports by investigators tasked with reviewing allegations of abuse by priests.

Claims against the Rev. Ronald B. Mierzwa, however, were substantiated and he will remain on administrative leave while the investigation is reviewed by the Vatican in Rome, Malone said.

According to WKBW-TV, Mierzwa was the pastor of Holy Name of Mary Church in Ellicottville.

Stolinski, meanwhile, is a retired priest who served in the Jamestown area, including as chaplain at then-WCA Hospital. He was one of four priests placed on leave in June of last year amid an investigation by the Buffalo Diocese.

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Priest who served at Sacred Heart accused of sexual abuse

JACKSONVILLE (FL)
News 4 Jax

March 21, 2019

By Corley Peel

“Credible allegations” of sexual abuse of a minor were made against Father William Malone, who served at a Jacksonville Catholic church, according to a release Thursday from the Diocese of St. Augustine.

Malone, who served in the Diocese of St. Augustine from January 1982 to March 1992, died in 2003, the release said. The cases of abuse occurred in the early 1980s at Sacred Heart Parish in Jacksonville.

According to the diocese, a thorough review of the claims was conducted by an independent investigator, who determined the accusations were credible.

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Defrocked priest who molested two boys now teaching children in Dominican Republic

PUNTA CANA (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)
NBC News

March 22, 2019

By Evelyn Gruber, Nicole Acevedo and Corky Siemaszko

A former Roman Catholic priest who was defrocked and convicted of molesting two boys in New Jersey has found a new vocation in a new location — teaching children English at a private school in this resort town.

The former priest, Hadmels DeFrias, 47, told the NBC News reporter who tracked him down that he is no longer a threat to minors and also claimed to be a bishop in the “progressive Celtic church.”

“I don’t see the children with those eyes anymore,” DeFrias said in an extensive interview outside the Colegio del Caribe school in Punta Cana, where he watched over dozens of young boys and girls while shielding himself from the sun with an umbrella.

“For me they are children and they need to be treated like children because that is what they are,” he said. “I don’t feel the attraction. I am not telling you that maybe someday it won’t be there, because I can’t predict the future.”

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I-TEAM: Bishop Malone reinstates priest with history of pornography problems

BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW TV

March 21, 2019

By Charlie Specht

Bishop Richard J. Malone on Thursday returned a priest to active ministry despite a history of pornography problems and a looming federal investigation that may involve the priest.

Malone returned Rev. Robert A. Stolinski to “active ministry,” the diocese said in a statement, after abuse allegations against him “have not been substantiated.”

But the bishop’s own records — obtained by the 7 Eyewitness News I-Team — detail a long history of pornography found in rectories where Stolinski was living. The diocese made no mention of those incidences in its public statement Thursday.

Stolinski was sent to a “treatment center” in Canada twice but allegations continued to surface over the past two decades. He is retired but was allowed to hold a position “assisting clergy” at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Niagara Falls until his suspension last year, according to a church bulletin. It is unclear whether he will return to that church now that Malone and his diocesan review board has cleared him.

In 1987, when Father Joseph Bissonnette was murdered on Buffalo’s East Side, Stolinski was living in the same rectory and serving as chaplain at Erie County Medical Center.

“When the police investigated, they found a great deal of pornography (male homosexual pornography not involving children),” reads a passage in Bishop Malone’s “black binder” of diocesan secrets prepared for him by Terrence M. Connors and Lawrence J. Vilardo’s law firm when Malone became bishop in 2012.

“Father Stolinski was counseled,” the passage states, going on to describe financial problems with the priest. “He was then sent to Southdowns [treatment center] for analysis and counseling.”

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Archdiocese of Mexico City seeks to seize initiative in fight against abuse

ROME (ITALY)
Crux

March 22, 2019

By Inés San Martín

Continuing its efforts to fight clerical sexual abuse, the Archdiocese of Mexico City presented on Wednesday an Interdisciplinary Team for Attention to Victims, that involves priests, lay people and survivors, including the director of SNAP-Mexico.

The proposal is a concrete response to the Feb. 21-24 summit on the protection of minors that took place in the Vatican, with the participation of the presidents of bishops’ conferences from all over the world.

Joaquin Aguilar, who represents survivors on the new team, was among those who introduced the initiative to the media on Wednesday. After acknowledging that it hasn’t always been easy for victims of clerical sexual abuse to have paths of communication with the archdiocese, he said that recently it’s the Church that has been reaching out to the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

He also said that the institution has taken the first steps towards an “integral reparation” of the damage done by abuse, such as the sanctioning of those responsible, crime prevention, and victim assistance.

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Using God to sexually abuse children

VIRGINIA
Blue Ridge Muse

March 21, 2019

By Doug Thompson

Wife Amy grew up in a Catholic family in Belleville, Illinois, a moderate-sized city across the Mississippi river from St. Louis.

This week, a report from the Archdiocese of Chicago, identifies 22 priests from the Diocese of Belleville as child sexual predators.

One is Father Garrett Neal Dee, who served in Belleville from 1974-76 and from 1965-68 in Alton, where I lived and worked for 12 years at The Telegraph. He went “absent on leave” while at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Groom, TX, in 2003 and his whereabouts now are “unknown,” the report says.

Another priest, now retired served at St. Bernard’s in Wood River, which lies just East of Alton, from 1958-69. Another was in Alton in the 60s and returned to another church there in 1981. He died in 1983. Same for Father J. Cullen O’Brien. He began his priesthood at SS Peter and Paul’s Catholic Church in Alton in 1943, then two other Catholic Churches in the area before returning to St. Patrick’s in Alton in 1969 but left in 1970 and died eight years later.

Father Frank Westhoff began mass at St. Patrick’s in Alton in 1962, moved to a Springfield church in 1969 and then to Decatur before being listed as “absent on leave” in 1976 and again from 1986-88. He died in 2006

The “Spotllight” Boston Globe investigative team, who discovered widespread sexual abuse by priests in and around Boston and then nationally and worldwide, found that “absent on leave” was the church’s way of saying a priest is receiving treatment for his predatory sexual abuse of children.

When I showed the list, Amy shook her head and “no, that number of too low.” She suggested the number of sexual predators in and around her home down is easily more than double what the report claims.

The report named close to 400 in Illinois. Many are now dead or their whereabouts is “unknown.” Some live in “retirement residences” of the Catholic Church. Many remained priests until they died.

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March 21, 2019

¿Podemos confiar en el equipo interdisciplinar contra los abusos de la arquidiócesis de México?

TLALNEPANTLA DE BAZ (MEXICO)
Religión Digital [Spain]

March 21, 2019

By Guillermo Gazanini Espinoza

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El “grupo interdisciplinar” sería un recurso más punitivo e intimidatorio que instancia medicinal, de reparación y de justicia promotora de la debida confianza entre sacerdotes y laicos.

La presentación del equipo interdisciplinario de la arquidiócesis de México de atención de víctimas fue presentado el 20 de marzo como todo un acto triunfal para “poner manos a la obra” contra los abusos.  

En medio de las cifras, de la falta de precisión e incertidumbre por saber cuántos sacerdotes están bajo proceso por delitos comprobados, el vaivén de justificaciones y aclaraciones al final darían presunta certeza de que sólo seis ministros estarían implicados en la comisión de abusos y los otros 11 “con algún otro tipo de actos” como “revelar el secreto de confesión, el uso de drogas u otras problemáticas”.

La creación de estos equipos interdisciplinarios de atención a víctimas y prevención de abusos ya se venían integrando en otras diócesis conforme a los lineamientos de la CEM además de la creación del Equipo Nacional de Protección al Menor y las líneas de acción  después de la Cumbre de Roma.

El equipo interdisciplinar de la arquidiócesis de México vino a ser, por lo menos, un movimiento  de impacto  levantando más preguntas por quienes lo integran que de expectativa por sus planes y líneas de acción.

Marilú Esponda Sada, directora de comunicación, toma un papel que ha ganado más cuestionamientos que certidumbre en el caminar arquidiocesano. No se sabe cuál es la naturaleza de su encargo que ha rebasado los límites entre lo estrictamente legal y formal como si su oficina fuera cancillería agrietando la confianza con el presbiterio arquidiocesano.

Lo anterior no es nuevo. Cuando el cardenal Norberto Rivera Carrera creó la oficina de comunicación, un laico asociado a los Legionarios de Cristo asumió atribuciones que rebasaron la competencia de su encargo.

En esa época, comunicación social se dio a la consigna para que Rivera Carrera tuviera un posicionamiento nacional aun sobre los obispos de México y hacerse de un monopolio mediático que, a la postre, resultó en la caída del responsable de esa oficina cuando sus errores le costaron el puesto. La historia parece repetirse.

Los erráticos movimientos de Esponda toman derrotero sin importar con quiénes se puede liar y pactar, el objetivo último es posicionar a Carlos Aguiar en el escenario político y eclesiástico internacional bajo la tersa máscara arreglada con el maquillaje de la mediación y conciliación.

Pero eso no es todo, Esponda ahora da la cara como una de las responsables en la lucha contra los abusos cuando no tiene las credenciales necesarias que se exigen este delicado trabajo. En su momento, ni tenía la más remota idea de lo que la Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano viene trabajando en la materia de prevención de abusos sexuales ni de la existencia del CEPROME de la Universidad Pontificia de México. En su contra está también lo que dijo a medios a principios de año al considerar que fieles de la arquidiócesis de México tienen una fe de chocolate.

No es extraño en Esponda Sada. Otros proyectos se le han ido de las manos cuando le han servido de trampolín para su proyección personal y posicionamiento ante los obispos. El naufragio y fracaso de Catholic Voices durante la visita de Benedicto XVI es el mejor ejemplo.

El religioso Manuel Corral es el otro polémico integrante quien presume de sus amplísimas relaciones con las cúpulas políticas. En los hechos es quien hace los trabajos incómodos que podrían lesionar la imagen del cardenal Aguiar. Un ejemplo fue el caso ampliamente documentado en medios que tuvo que ver con las supuestas imputaciones contra un sacerdote, el padre Dagoberto Valle Arriaga de la diócesis de Texcoco, a quien se le acusó de haber asesinado a su hijo que había procreado antes de su ordenación.

El sacerdote habría sido entregado a la justicia bajo falsas acusaciones maquinadas por el mismo Corral Martín. El padre Valle pasó ocho años privado de su libertad y su historia fue documentada en el sitio reporteros en movimiento. La narrativa del caso por Reporteros en Movimiento señala que Corral entregó al sacerdote por una supuesta confesión escrita de la desaparición y asesinato del menor. Ya en prisión, el “padre Dago” fue compelido a renunciar al sacerdocio a cambio de su libertad. De acuerdo con algunos testimonios, Corral habría dicho al imputado que se “declarara loco” para salir de la cárcel.

Después de su excarcelación en 2013, y después de ocho años privado de la libertad, Valle no descartó realizar las denuncias para lograr la reparación del daño por el tiempo en prisión y el daño a su reputación. El más duro testimonio vino de personas relacionadas con el acusado quienes denunciaban el desinterés y abandono del sacerdote señalando especialmente al obispo Carlos Aguiar Retes y el presbítero Corral Martín.

Ante el IV obispo de Texcoco, Mons. Juan Manuel Mancilla Sánchez, en 2013 quienes abogaban por el padre Valle afirmaron que el antecesor de Mancilla Sánchez,  Carlos Aguiar Retes, se lavaría las manos sobre el caso del sacerdote que él mismo ordenó.Un video completo de esa audiencia puede verse aquí. Dicho sea de paso, es admirable cómo Mons. Mancilla asume el caso, escucha a los implicados y hasta complace en sus demandas.

No sólo hay esta situación. Corral, en el puesto creado a modo por Aguiar haciéndolo “secretario” para las relaciones institucionales, nunca ocultó su animadversión contra el actual presidente de México y apoyando al candidato del PRI. Después del debate, el 22 abril de 2018, en su cuenta de tuiter diría de AMLO: “Después de debate habrá muchas opiniones. Para mí el que mejor propuestas hizo fue Meade y le siguió Anaya. AMLO ni siquiera estuvo a la defensiva. Yo esperaba más de él y más propuestas. Me decepcionó…” Esto vulnera la debida neutralidad y equilibrio que se debería guardar en tales encomiendas.

Finalmente está Joaquín Aguilar. Desde la publicación y difusión en medios arquidiocesanos – el 4 de junio de 2018- el supuesto convenio entre la oficina de Comunicación del Arzobispado de México (Marilú Esponda Sada) y la Red de Sobrevivientes de Abusos Sexuales -SNAP México- (Joaquín Aguilar) fue preconizado como una de las movidas más acertadas en el juego de supuestos cambios del arzobispo Aguiar Retes.

Contrario a su objetivo, el acuerdo no tuvo buen recibimiento como sus precursores hubieran querido suscitando duros argumentos rebatidos por una débil defensa bajo escuálidas justificaciones como aquélla que afirmó que se trataba del acercamiento entre “dos instituciones, simplemente, (y) a eso se reduce, no hay para qué ‘rascarle´”. 

En ese momento, la única y mejor conclusión que dieron los apologistas del conocido pacto es que los cuestionamientos eran el tono vociferante de quienes no entendieron “de qué se trata” el convenio Arquidiócesis – SNAP al no darle su lugar como ejemplar y supuestamente coherente con “la misión de la Iglesia” para propiciar el diálogo constructor de puentes.

Pronto se desacreditó el supuesto pacto hecho con su amiga Marilú Esponda cuando el lunes 9 de julio cuando Milenio diario publicó una  entrevista a Joaquín Aguilar. Sus declaraciones, si bien tratan de ofrecer una justificación sobre los supuestos beneficios, en realidad muestran que la firma de esa colaboración no tuvo los efectos presumidos por Esponda Sada y, posteriormente, justificados por el cardenal Aguiar Retes.

El acuerdo fue sólo a la palabra para la elaboración de un manual de prevención, una comisión de víctimas y una campaña. Independientemente de los buenos propósitos trazados por Aguilar, resulta revelador también que SNAP México sea una organización autónoma sin respaldo suficiente de la entidad internacional que le presta sus siglas. (SNAP Estados Unidos).

Con la Arquidiócesis, “no hemos firmado nada” diría de forma contundente. En conclusión, el convenio se trató de una especie de apretón de manos de buena fe entre el señor Joaquín Aguilar y “los representantes arquidiocesanos”, el cual se sobredimensionó y dio vuelo cuando el arzobispo Aguiar Retes quiso legitimar en el exterior, en Roma, lo que no pudo justificar al interior.

En la historia no se puede ocultar la trama de desencuentros y franca guerra que Aguilar emprendió contra el arzobispado. Al punto, honorabilidad y reputación se pusieron en duda cuando armó una campaña de calumnias contra el arzobispo Rivera Carrera demostrándose, además, que el activista habría cometido perjurio ante las autoridades por haber ofrecido hasta seis declaraciones contradictorias sobre su caso.

El 20 de abril de 2010, ante medios, diría: “No descansaré hasta ver caer al Cardenal… queremos la cabeza de Rivera Carrera”. Sobre sus afirmaciones calumniosas, comunicación del arzobispado de México ofreció abundante documentación que se puso a disposición para demostrar la orquestación de maquinaciones e influir en la opinión pública por una campaña de odio.

Recientemente Aguilar dio a conocer que su organización pronto podría integrar una lista con poco más de medio millar de sacerdotes señalados de abusos desde 1970 lo que podría representar una franca confrontación con la Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano.

Las acciones emprendidas por la Iglesia católica mexicana tienen una genuina intención para prevenir y acabar con los abusos. Quizá en el mundo, sea de las pocas instituciones con procesos estructurados que van dando paso a una transparencia contra los abusos que es inédita. No obstante, lo que sucede en la arquidiócesis de México va más por lo mediático echando mano de personajes que no parecen ser los idóneos para este trabajo.

¿Cómo confiar estos delicadísimos procesos cuando la responsable de la comunicación social se mueve más por la imagen, el impacto mediático y no tiene ninguna capacidad y formación que se requieren en estos equipos además de haber dicho que la fe de millones de católicos de la capital del país es de chocolate?

¿Cómo apostar a la confianza cuando hay un clérigo con oscuros antecedentes que vulneraron el derecho humano a la presunción de inocencia de un sacerdote quien pasó ocho años de su vida por un delito que no se demostró?

¿Cómo aplaudir esta iniciativa cuando uno de sus integrantes pidió la cabeza de un arzobispo y, además, armó una presunta campaña de odio, difamación y calumnias contra la Iglesia?

La conferencia de prensa demostró que este mal llamado grupo interdisciplinar de la arquidiócesis de México es un recurso más punitivo e intimidatorio que instancia medicinal, de reparación y de justicia que debería tener por raíces la cultura, la mística y espiritualidad de las acciones para prevenir abusos y recuperar la credibilidad.

En esta mística, los obispos de México han recurrido a procesos certeros de certificación de estos grupos porque no bastan golpes mediáticos ni nombres para decir que se está previniendo y combatiendo los abusos. Se requiere de perfiles discretos, pero bien cimentados y preparados para relacionarse correctamente con los involucrados y respetar su identidad -sean acusados o víctimas- hasta agotar cualquier procedimiento legal siempre bajo la presunción de inocencia y de sus derechos humanos y, ante situaciones concretas y puntuales, enarbolar la serenidad para no reaccionar indebidamente a través de conductas inadecuadas por la superficialidad y negligencia

El arzobispo de México es elemento esencial, pero la ausencia ha sido su constante pastoral. Aunque decida delegar sus responsabilidades en los peritos más eruditos de la Iglesia, existe una cosa de la cual jamás podrá deshacerse: Su deber de ejemplaridad para devolver la credibilidad en la institución. Por su testimonio, los fieles despertarían de nuevo el aprecio y valor del ministerio sacerdotal. El amor genuino por su presbiterio recuperaría el significado de la coherencia personal del padre y pastor en consonancia con la indelegable ética pastoral a la que está obligado. Tristemente la realidad es otra y estamos muy lejos de esos ideales.

¿Podemos entonces confiar en este equipo interdisciplinar de la arquidiócesis de México? La respuesta la tiene el amable lector.

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Former St. Bernard School student accuses teacher of sex abuse

PITTSBURGH (PA)
South Hills Community News

March 21, 2019

By Mike Jones

A former student at St. Bernard School filed a lawsuit last week alleging he was molested by a teacher at the Catholic grade school in Mt. Lebanon in the 2000s.

Pittsburgh-based attorney Robert Peirce III filed the lawsuit March 14 in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas against the unnamed teacher, the school and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh in a case that could test the limits of the special Sex Abuse Victim Compensation fund set up last year by the diocese to help victims abused by predator priests.

The lawsuit claims the unidentified former student was molested at least five times during one school year while being tutored by the teacher, identified only as John Doe, because he was struggling with math. Doe was “abusing his role as a teacher and mentor to a young student breached the duty owed to his students” at the grade school that teaches pre-school students through eighth grade, the lawsuit states.

After the abuse, the lawsuit claims, the student began to abuse drugs and alcohol in high school to “repress the memories” from the alleged abuse. The student began seeing a therapist in December 2010 for behavioral issues, but didn’t tell his parents about the abuse until December 2017.

The Rev. Nicholas Nascov, spokesman for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, said he could not comment on the lawsuit, but that the “acts alleged do not involve anyone currently employed by Saint Bernard School.”

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Postergan Para el jueves el juicio a un cura acusado de abusos a menores en Entre Ríos

[Trial of priest accused of child abuse in Entre Ríos is delayed]

ARGENTINA
GrupoLaProvincia.com

March 20, 2019

El juicio al ex cura payador Marcelino Moya, acusado por abusar de menores en la parroquia de la ciudad de Villaguay entre 1992 y 1997, fue postergado hasta mañana por la renuncia de su abogado defensor, José Ostolaza. Los jueces María Evangelina Bruzzo, Fabián López Moras y Melisa Ríos integrarán el Tribunal de Juicio y Apelaciones de Concepción del Uruguay y juzgarán a Moya mañana y el viernes, en audiencias orales, pero no públicas.

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Victims group wants to see upcoming criminal trial of accused KCK priest play out

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Kansas City Star

March 21, 2019

By Judy L. Thomas

Less than three weeks before the criminal trial of a priest charged with sexually abusing a child is set to begin in Wyandotte County, victims’ advocates on Thursday said they hoped the complete story comes out in court.

David Clohessy, former executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the group wants prosecutors to reject any plea deal for the Rev. Scott Kallal and instead push for a jury trial at which those “who may have concealed or ignored” alleged child sex crimes against Kallal “might also be publicly exposed.”

SNAP also revealed the identities of three more accused priests who had connections to the Kansas City area but have escaped scrutiny.

“We challenge local Catholic officials to disclose the names of all alleged predator priests, along with their photos, whereabouts and full work histories,” Clohessy said.

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kallal was charged in Wyandotte County District Court in 2017 with two felony counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. A jury trial is scheduled to begin April 7.

At Kallal’s preliminary hearing in 2017, a 13-year-old girl testified that when she was 10, Kallal twice tickled her breasts against her wishes. The incidents allegedly occurred in 2015 but the police report was not filed until July, when Kallal was suspended and charged.

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Declaran culpable de abuso sexual a sacerdote veterocatólico en Puerto Montt

[Puerto Montt ‘priest’ found guilty of sexual abuse of minor]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 19, 2019

By Sebastián Asencio and Robinson Cardenas

Este martes declararon culpable de abuso sexual a un sacerdote veterocatólico que dirige una congregación en el sector Pelluhuín y Chamiza en Puerto Montt, región de Los Lagos. Se trata de Luis Felipe Izquierdo, religioso no reconocido por la Iglesia Católica que fue investigado por el Ministerio Público tras ser denunciado por el delito sexual.

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Víctimas chilenas cuestionan al Papa por rechazar dimisión de cardenal francés encubridor de abusos

[Chilean survivors question Pope’s refusal to accept cardinal’s resignation]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 20, 2019

By Ariela Muñoz and Nicole Martínez

Sobrevivientes de abusos eclesiásticos en Chile cuestionaron la decisión del Papa Francisco de rechazar la dimisión del cardenal francés Philippe Barbarin. El sacerdote fue condenado a seis meses de cárcel por encubrir delitos contra menores de edad, de los que tuvo conocimiento entre 2014 y 2015. El Vaticano dejó en manos del purpurado la determinación “que crea más oportuna”, invocando la presunción de inocencia. Todo cuando ya Barbarin decidió retirarse temporalmente del mando del arzobispado de Lyon.

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Arzobispo Fernando Chomalí asegura que están “decididos a terminar con los abusos” en la Iglesia

[Archbishop Fernando Chomalí says they are “determined to end abuses” in the Church]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 20, 2019

By Manuel Stuardo and Carlos Agurto

El arzobispo de Concepción, Fernando Chomalí, aseguró que están “absolutamente decididos a terminar con los abusos” al interior de la Iglesia Católica. Chomalí llegó hasta la comuna de Yumbel para encabezar la festividad religiosa denominada “20 chico”, la que tradicionalmente replica en esta fecha lo que se vive para San Sebastián en enero.

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Tito Rivera asegura que su denunciante: “Parece gozar con las fantasías sexuales que relata”

[Priest Tito Rivera says that his accuser “seems to enjoy the sexual fantasies”]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 18, 2019

By Angélica Baeza

El sacerdote reiteró que la denuncia en su contra es un “montaje” e insistió en que “existe una realidad de pecado que se vive al interior de la Iglesia, y no reconocerlo es taparse los ojos con ambas manos”.

El sacerdote Tito Rivera leyó esta mañana una declaración de prensa, para aclarar sus dichos en una entrevista que fue sumamente cuestionada por sus pares y líderes religiosos. Esto, luego de que se conociera denuncias en su contra de abusos sexuales y violación al interior de la Catedral Metropolitana.

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Corte de Apelaciones dará a conocer fallo por sobreseimiento de Ezzati este 22 de marzo

[Court of Appeals will issue ruling on dismissing case against Ezzati this March 22]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 20, 2019

By Angélica Baeza

El viernes se conocerá si el tribunal sobresee al arzobispo de Santiago de los posibles encubrimientos en abusos realizados por los sacerdotes Óscar Muñoz, Jorge Laplagne y Tito Rivera.

La Octava Sala de la Corte de Apelaciones determinó que el viernes 22 de marzo resolverá si sobresee o no al arzobispo de Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati, por los posibles encubrimientos en abusos realizados por los sacerdotes Óscar Muñoz, Jorge Laplagne y Tito Rivera.

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La diócesis de Guadalajara aparta a un monje condenado por abusos tras recolocarlo como párroco

[Guadalajara monk imprisoned for abuse removed from public ministry after three years]

GUADALAJARA (SPAIN)
El País

March 19, 2019

By EFE (news agency)

El fraile estuvo tres años en prisión en El Escorial. Sus superiores justificaron su nuevo puesto tras salir de la cárcel porque oficiaba en “localidades sin niños”

El obispado de Sigüenza-Guadalajara ha decidido apartar de la misión pública a Celso García, un religioso agustino condenado en 2012 por abusos a menores que, tras salir de la prisión en 2015, fue recolocado como párroco de 24 pequeñas localidades del norte de la provincia de Guadalajara.

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El obispo de Guadalajara recoloca de párroco para 24 pueblos a un fraile tras tres años de cárcel por abusos

[Bishop of Guadalajara places a priest in ministry for 24 villages after three years in prison for abuses]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

March 18, 2019

By Íñigo Domínguez

El monje, denunciado en la escolanía de El Escorial, fue condenado en 2012. “Ya ha cumplido su deuda con la ley y son localidades sin niños”, justifica la orden

Un monje agustino condenado por abuso de menores a tres años de cárcel en 2012, según ha confirmado la orden religiosa a este periódico, ha sido recolocado de nuevo como párroco en 24 localidades del norte de Guadalajara tras salir de prisión en 2015. Celso García fue denunciado en 2010 por tres menores de 11 y 12 años de la escolanía del monasterio de El Escorial, donde era profesor. Solo hubo noticias del caso un año después, cuando lo desveló el diario Público, pero luego nada más se supo del resultado del proceso ni del paradero del acusado. Lo cierto es que tras cumplir su condena, García está ejerciendo como sacerdote en numerosos pueblos, sin ninguna cautela especial, desde octubre de 2015. García reside en una de estas localidades. Un portavoz de los agustinos justifica la decisión porque “ha cumplido su deuda con la ley y la justicia”. Asegura también que “está totalmente fuera del contacto con menores, porque son pueblos muy pequeños solo con población anciana”.

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Los colegios católicos recomiendan “informar” sobre los abusos porque es “más sencillo y adecuado” que denunciar

[Spain’s Catholic schools recommend reporting abuses, create crisis committees]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

March 18, 2019

By Julio Núñez

La patronal crea un comité de crisis para gestionar la pederastia en sus escuelas

Escuelas Católicas, la patronal de los centros concertados religiosos de España, ha publicado un decálogo de actuación contra los abusos sexuales a menores que obliga a informar a las autoridades y a apartar al acusado “independientemente de cuándo se produjeran los hechos”. La nueva norma recomienda a todos los adultos que tengan conocimiento de algún caso de abusos que lo comuniquen a la Fiscalía, la Guardia Civil o la Policía Nacional. “Existen dos posibilidades: denunciar o comunicar; esto último, en muchas ocasiones, es una vía más sencilla y adecuada”, señala el documento.

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Priest accused of sexual abuse arrested trying to leave Costa Rica

COSTA RICO
AFP and The Tico Times

March 21, 2019

A Costa Rican Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse of a minor was arrested Thursday as he tried to leave the country by land to Panama, the prosecutor’s office said.

The priest was arrested at the border post of Paso Canoas, the main border crossing with Panama, when trying to leave the country, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office.

“The Deputy Prosecutor for Gender Affairs confirmed the arrest of a priest with last name Morales Salazar in Paso Canoas, when he was trying to leave the country,” the institution said in a brief statement.

The statement added that “Salazar is being investigated as a suspect in committing an alleged sex crime, so he will be transferred to San José, where a preliminary statement will be taken, and the request for precautionary measures will be assessed later.”

The case of the priest Jorge Arturo Morales Salazar came to light recently when Semanario Universidad published the testimony of Fabian Arguedas, 27, a student who said he had suffered abuses by the priest throughout two years during his adolescence.

His parents submitted a complaint to hierarchy of the Catholic Church, according to the story. On Friday of last week, Arguedas went to the prosecutor’s office to file a criminal complaint against Salazar.

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Victims ‘out’ 8 more accused Steubenville clerics

STEUBENVILLE (OH)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

They are not on diocese’s list of ‘credibly accused’ or admitted abusers
Group blasts Catholic officials on abuse & cover up
It’s “outraged” diocese has a priest answering victims’ calls
“He should be replaced by a non-Catholic licensed therapist,” SNAP says
“The real solution,” group insists, “is prosecution & legislative reform”

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will disclose that 8 publicly accused clerics were left off the Steubenville diocese’s list of ‘credibly accused’ or admitted abusers. Each spent time in southeastern Ohio but has attracted little or no media or public attention before in the state.

And the victims will call on local Catholic officials to
–stop using a priest to field calls from victims,
–post names of ALL publicly accused priests on their diocesan website,
–include details like their work histories, whereabouts and photos, and
–join with victims in pushing for real legislative reform, like repealing Ohio’s “archaic, predator-friendly statute of limitations” so survivors can do what bishops will not do: expose child molesters in court.

WHEN
Thursday, March 21, at 11-am

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Pope won’t let go of cardinal convicted for sex abuse cover-up

PARIS (FRANCE)
Agence France-Presse

March 21, 2019

Pope Francis has rejected the resignation of French cardinal Philippe Barbarin who was handed a six-month suspended jail sentence this month for failing to report sex abuse by a priest under his authority, prompting surprise among Church leaders and condemnation from victims.

The pope’s decision, announced by Barbarin in a statement and confirmed by the Vatican, comes ahead of a judicial appeal of the case.

But it also comes against the background of the Roman Catholic Church’s struggle to restore trust in its efforts to fight child abuse, with the pope saying last month that “no abuse must ever be covered up, as has happened in the past”.

In a statement issued from his see in the French southeastern city of Lyon, Barbarin said: “Monday morning, I handed over my mission to the Holy Father. He spoke of the presumption of innocence and did not accept this resignation.”

Barbarin, the most senior French cleric caught up in the global paedophilia scandal, said he would remain in Lyon pending the court appeal, but added that “for a little while” he would step back from his job, allowing, at the pope’s “suggestion”, the local vicar general Yves Baumgarten to run day-to-day affairs.

“I remain in office but withdraw myself from the running of the diocese,” he told Catholic TV station KTO.

“After this judgement, this condemnation, and even if there had not been this condemnation, I think it is good that a page should be turned,” he added.

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Here’s another example of Pope Francis being weak against priest sex abuse

ALLENTOWN (PA)
Morning Call

March 21, 2019

By Paul Muschick

The Catholic Church continues talking about how it must confront once-and-for-all the evil of priests sexually abusing children. The church’s actions continue to show those words are hollow.

I’m talking this time specifically about Pope Francis.

The pope declined Monday to accept the resignation of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of France, who was convicted March 7 of failing to report a known pedophile priest to police.

Contrast that with what the pope said only a month ago at a worldwide summit he called to address the sex abuse scandal.

“No abuse should ever be covered up (as was often the case in the past) or not taken sufficiently seriously, since the covering up of abuses favors the spread of evil and adds a further level of scandal,” he said.

Pope Francis condemned concealing abuses. Yet he chose to retain someone who was convicted of concealing abuses.

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Polish cardinal, St. John Paul’s aide, defends pontiff’s record on sex abuse

WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service

March 21, 2019

WARSAW, Poland – A close aide to St. John Paul II has vigorously defended the late pope’s handling of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and denied accusations that he ignored the problem during his 27-year pontificate.

“Emerging opinions that John Paul II was sluggish in guiding the church’s response to sexual abuse of minors by some clerics are prejudicial and contrary to historical facts – the pope was shocked and had no intention of tolerating the crime of pedophilia,” said Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was the pontiff’s personal secretary for 39 years.

St. John Paul saw how local churches “dealt with emerging problems and gave help when necessary, often at his own initiative.”

The 79-year-old cardinal, who retired in 2016 after 11 years as archbishop of Krakow, was reacting to media criticisms that the Polish pontiff failed to confront abuse claims when they became widespread in the 1980s.

In a March 20 statement to Poland’s Catholic Information Agency, KAI, he said the pope had concluded “new tools were needed” when the abuse crisis “began to ferment” in the United States.

He added that the saint had given church leaders new powers to combat it, including indults, or special licenses to ensure “a policy of zero tolerance,” for the U.S. and Irish churches in 1994 and 1996.

“These were, for the bishops, an unambiguous indication of the direction in which they should fight,” Cardinal Dziwisz said.

“When it became clear local episcopates and religious superiors were still unable to cope with the problem, and the crisis was spreading to other countries, he recognized it concerned not just the Anglo-Saxon world but had a global character,” the cardinal said.

Criticisms of St John Paul’s record have increased in recent months.

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Taking stock of the clergy sexual abuse crisis: Protecting children

WASHINGTON (DC)
Religion News Service

March 21, 2019

By Thomas Reese, S. J.

Last month’s summit in Rome on child sex abuse did not break new ground for those, like myself, who have been following this crisis for more than 30 years, but it did made clear — again — that the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has been devastating for the victims of abuse and for the church as a whole.

There are three parts to the crisis, which I plan to deal with in three successive columns.

First, there is the failure to protect children; second, the failure to hold bishops accountable; and third, the lack of transparency in dealing with the crisis.

Protecting children is a fundamental obligation of any adult, even of those who are not parents. Children are vulnerable and abuse is criminal. It is impossible not to be moved when listening to the horrible stories of survivors of abuse, who can be permanently scarred by the experience.

Abuse occurs in other settings, of course, including schools and in families’ homes, but that fact is no excuse for the church’s poor handling of abuse.

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Let’s Talk About TV’s Evolving, Complicated Relationship With Sex

NEW YORK (NY)
TV Guide

March 21, 2019

By TV Guide Editors

TV Guide’s Sex Ed Week explores the ways TV is pushing boundaries forward – and the ways it still lets us down

It’s no secret: people love to talk about sex, baby. But what Salt-N-Pepa left out of their groundbreaking, envelope-pushing, hit single was “on television.” As one of the more democratic mediums — and often the one preferred by younger viewers (at least before YouTube and streaming platforms took over) — television has long been a battleground over the ways in which sex, gender, and related issues are portrayed. And while some critics lambast television for how certain shows may negatively influence viewers’ beliefs and behavior, television has also been praised for the ways it can fill in the gaps of understanding, helping to create better informed and healthy relationships with sexuality for its viewers.

Over the past few decades, television has played a key role in shifting the representation of sex away from a restrictive, patriarchal binary to a more open, authentic, and accurate reflection of varying perspectives and experiences. And in recent years, the way television has approached issues surrounding sexuality has expanded at a rapid rate, as writers and producers are interrogating sex in ways they either never had the opportunity to do before or never chose to do before. Thanks to shows like Steven Universe and Sex Education, TV is carving out space to provide viewers of all ages with a progressive education on sexuality and gender that will hopefully further the conversation for this generation and the next.

But while we’ve come a long way since I Love Lucy’s married protagonists slept in twin beds, it’s not as though TV has magically solved issues pertaining to outdated boundaries, biases, and misconceptions surrounding these sensitive issues. For every groundbreaking series like Vida, there’s another that continues to let down their viewers again and again when it comes to its approach to sex (sorry, Game of Thrones, but yes, we are talking about you), and the way sex scenes are filmed still has a long way to go before they’re consistently safe for the performers involved.

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Former Athletic Department Intern Accuses Cal Football Players, Coaches Of Sexual Harassment

BERKELEY (CA)
Deadspin

March 21, 2019

By Lauren Theisen

A former sports medicine intern in the UC Berkeley Athletic Department named Paige Cornelius has accused Cal football coaches and players of sexual harassment, in a public Facebook post written on Wednesday.

Cornelius, whose post can be read in full here, first tells of a “member of the Cal Football Coaching Staff” who said to her, “I will get you fired if you do not have sex with me,” at a practice after sending her persistent texts. Cornelius told ESPN that this man was a volunteer assistant. Here’s what she says about him in her post:

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Consent on campus: ‘We’re building zero tolerance to sexual harassment’

IRELAND
The Irish Times

March 19, 2019

By Carl O’Brien

UCC’s ‘bystander intervention’ is being made available to all 22,000 students

One of the most ambitious attempts to create a “zero tolerance” approach to sexual harassment in Irish third level is unfolding on the campus of University College Cork (UCC).

A few years ago, it began piloting a compulsory series of workshops on “bystander intervention” during the first year of its law, nursing and applied psychology classes.

Students were required to attend at least three of the six hour-long workshops to pass their exams.

Louise Crowley, a senior lecturer in law who leads the initiative, says the vast majority of students attended at least five of the classes.

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Colleges risk losing funding if sexual consent classes not provided

IRELAND
The Irish Times

March 19, 2019

By Carl O’Brien

Report ordered by Minister recommends ‘transparent and accountable’ protocols

All third-level colleges should be obliged to provide classes on sexual consent for students or risk losing State funding, a Government-commissioned report has recommended.

The report follows rising concern over the level of rape and sexual assault on college campuses.

Commissioned by Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor, it outlines a series of steps which third-level colleges should be required to take to help create “safer and more respectful campuses”.

Among its proposals are that:

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Connecticut diocese settles priest abuse lawsuits for $3.5M

BRIDGEPORT (CT)
Associated Press

March 21, 2019

A Roman Catholic diocese in Connecticut has agreed to pay $3.5 million to five men who alleged in lawsuits that they were sexually abused as children by priests.

The settlements involving three priests announced Wednesday by the Diocese of Bridgeport were reached following mediation with the law firm Tremont, Sheldon, Robinson and Mahoney representing the plaintiffs.

Two of the three accused were diocesan priests and have died. The third was a Maronite who worked at a church not overseen by the diocese. The Maronites paid for most of that portion of the settlement.

The suits alleged the abuse occurred from the late 1980s to the early 2000s in Bridgeport, Brookfield, Danbury and Ridgefield.

The diocese in a statement says it hopes the settlements “bring a measure of healing and justice to victims.”

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At least 16 priests with area ties on Illinois list of alleged sex offenders

CHAMPAIGN (IL)
News Gazette

March 21, 2019

By Ben Zigterman

At least 16 priests with area connections are among the nearly 400 Catholic clergy members and church staff in Illinois named in a report — released Wednesday by a Minnesota-based law firm — that accuses them of sexual misconduct.

All had been previously mentioned on lists released by the Joliet, Peoria and Springfield dioceses, but Wednesday’s report by attorney Jeff Anderson is the largest list of accused clergy in Illinois and includes where each priest served.

It comes after a report in December by former Attorney General Lisa Madigan, which found that Illinois dioceses had only publicly identified 185 accused clergy out of the 690 it had been made aware were alleged to have committed sexual abuse.

The new report accuses the Illinois dioceses of “orchestrating an institutional cover-up of enormous magnitude” by transferring and retaining alleged perpetrators.

The Springfield, Peoria and Joliet dioceses all issued statements Wednesday about the report, explaining why some names on the list aren’t on their own publicly available lists, either because they never received allegations or found them to be unsubstantiated or not credible.

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Leading cleric slams gay Irish leader, says Irish church scandals “peripheral”

NEW YORK (NY)
Irish Central

March 21, 2019

By Niall O’Dowd

A leading US Catholic church figure has slammed Irish leader Leo Varadkar for his gay orientation, attacked Irish clergy as weak and said decades of sex abuse scandals in Ireland’s Catholic Church are “peripheral”

A celebrated New York pastor with a worldwide audience on EWTN, the global Catholic network, has slammed Ireland’s leader Leo Varadkar for “publicly living in perverse contempt for the sacrament of holy matrimony.”

When asked about his comments by IrishCentral, Father George Rutler agreed that he was speaking specifically about Vardkar’s sexual orientation and the fact that he may well marry his partner, Matthew Barrett.

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Accused predator priest’s trial approaches

KANSAS CITY (KS)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

Ordained in 2011, the accused cleric is young
Two alleged victims are both in early teens now
SNAP: “It’s your civic & moral duty to speak up”
Group also ‘outs’ 3 more accused Kansas priests
It seeks “victims, witnesses & whistleblowers now!”
“Archbishop: Teach your flock how to act,” SNAP says

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos a at a sidewalk news conference, weeks ahead of a rare criminal accused KC KS priest’s trial, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will
–disclose that a second victim of the alleged offender will testify,
–beg victims, witnesses and whistleblowers with information or suspicions about the accused priest to call law enforcement,
–urge prosecutors to “be tough and stand strong” against a plea deal, and
–prod the KC KS archbishop to educate his flock about the proper way to behave when abuse reports are made public.

They will also
–reveal the identities of 3 accused priests who are/were in Kansas City but have escaped virtually all scrutiny or attention here, and
–challenge local Catholic officials to disclose the names of ALL alleged predator priests, along with their photos, whereabouts and full work histories.

WHEN
TODAY,Thursday, March 21 at 2:00 p.m.

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Victims applaud WV attorney general

WHEELING (WV)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

March 21, 2019

Victims applaud WV attorney general
They prod others with info to ‘step forward’
Group seeks “witnesses & whistleblowers to help AG
SNAP also ‘outs’ 3 accused priests ‘under the radar’ in WV

WHAT

Holding signs and childhood photos a at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will

—praise the WV AG for his recent civil suit on behalf of Catholic families and against the Catholic hierarchy, and

—prod the AG to work harder to bring victims, witnesses and whistleblowers forward, using his bully pulpit and public service announcements.

They will also:

–reveal the identities of 3 accused priests who are/were in WV but have escaped virtually all scrutiny or attention here, and

–challenge local Catholic officials to disclose the names of ALL alleged predator priests, along with their photos, whereabouts and full work histories.

WHEN

Thursday, March 21 at 1:00 p.m.

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Catholic Priest Accused Of Groping Texas Woman During Last Rites

AUSTIN (TX)
Associated Press

March 21, 2019

A Roman Catholic priest has been arrested after being accused of groping a woman while giving her the last rites in Texas.

Reverend Gerold Langsch, 75, allegedly anointed the woman’s chest with holy water, then began to apply lotion, massaging a breast, pinching a nipple and asking ‘does that feel good?’

The woman, who is still alive, added that Langsch, from Austin, then tried to slip his hand inside her diaper but was unable to.

He was arrested today after being accused of assaulting the woman in home hospice care on October 5.

Despite the incident being reported five days later, the arrest was delayed because of the woman’s health problems, reports CBS news.

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Investigation into accused priest continues

BROWNSVILLE (TX)
The Monitor

March 21, 2019

By Mark Reagan

The Cameron County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Wednesday that it is investigating “one or two” former priests who are alive and accused of sexual abuse.

“Although the investigation is still ongoing, it does show that most of the alleged perpetrators are deceased and the alleged acts occurred more than 10 years ago and therefore fall outside the statute of limitations,” District Attorney Luis V. Saenz said. “There are one or two where the perpetrator is alive and the alleged acts are still in the statute of limitations and those are the ones we are focused on.”

The Diocese of Brownsville in late January released a list of 13 priests and a deacon, who were assigned to 42 parishes across the Rio Grande Valley, who the church says are “credibly accused” of child sexual abuse.

After the Diocese released the list, the DA’s Office initiated an investigation.

“I can tell you that up to this point the Diocese through their counsel has been very forthcoming in providing information that I requested,” Saenz said.

Saenz declined to name the suspects and it wasn’t immediately clear whether the suspects were on the list of credibly accused the Diocese of Brownsville released.

However, Saenz did say the one individual his investigators are focusing on that is alive and the allegations fall within the statute of limitations is not in the United States.

“One of the individuals is believed to be outside of the U.S.,” Saenz said. “So … if we do decide that we can charge him, if he does get arrested, it would involve extradition.”

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Pope Francis wants psychological testing to prevent problem priests. But can it really do that?

WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post

March 21, 2019

As the Catholic Church quakes through one sexual abuse scandal after another, Pope Francis recently announced a policy he wants to implement on a worldwide scale: No man should become a priest without a psychological evaluation proving he is suited to a life of chastity.

In the United States, most men seeking to enter a Catholic seminary undergo psychological testing, often a battery of questions that probes their deepest secrets and can last for days.

As Francis elevates the visibility of this type of testing, it raises the question of just how this profiling works and whether any psychologist can truly determine a young man is cut out for a lifelong vow to abstain from sex or is likely to commit sexual crimes. As it stands, there is no single agreed-upon method for conducting these assessments of priests. There is also no reliable way of measuring the tests’ effectiveness at weeding out problem priests.

“Standard psychological testing, it’s not very good in ferreting out sexual difficulties among the general population,” said Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, a Catholic University professor who formerly led St. Luke Institute, a mental health facility for priests. “There isn’t much. We’ve been working hard to figure out what to do, how do we better understand sexuality.”

Outside the church, some scientists think the quest to identify future problem priests through psychology is a fool’s errand – especially when it comes to preventing pedophiles from entering the priesthood.

“From a scientific point of view, it’s useless,” said James Cantor, a Toronto researcher who is a leading expert on pedophilia. “There does not exist a pen-and-pencil test [to diagnose pedophilia]. Just asking someone isn’t going to help.”

But the idea of psychological testing for priests dates back decades; Rossetti said he went through a battery of tests when he entered the seminary in 1979. Other religious denominations routinely ask their clergy candidates to undergo psychological evaluations as well.

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March 20, 2019

South Dakota diocese outs 21 priests accused of sex abuse

Patheos blog

March 21, 2019

By Rick Snedeker

Add my own state of South Dakota to the states in which local Catholic Church authorities have publicly released the names of alleged sex-abusing priests. In this new list, all but one are deceased.

On March 19, the Most Rev. Robert D. Gruss, bishop of Rapid City, the state’s second largest city, published a public statement of contrition and a list of 21 priests of the Diocese of Rapid City “credibly accused of sexual abuse while serving in schools, churches, hospitals and on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud [Indian] reservations from 1951 to 2018.”

“It is important to acknowledge the horrid truth of past abuse in the church so that we can repent of these actions and to recommit ourselves to ensuring that no one is hurt moving forward,” Bishop Gruss wrote in a March 15 letter posted on the diocese website, the Rapid City Journal reported.

Gruss said publishing the list of alleged offenders is “essential in restoring the trust that has been broken as the result of the misconduct of a few.” He explained in his letter that a reasonable cause of abuse was established for each priest on the list after “a process of consultation.” He acknowledged that because allegations were made years or decades after relevant incidents and some might be false, the determination of credibility is not the same as a conviction in court.

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Report shines light on 395 Catholic priests, church staff accused of sex abuse

CHICAGO (IL)
Sun-Times

March 19, 2019

By Nader Issa and Mitch Dudek

A 182-page report released Wednesday compiled information about nearly 400 Catholic clergy members and church staff in Illinois who have been publicly accused of sexual misconduct in the state’s six dioceses, including dozens in Chicago.

Jeff Anderson & Associates, a Minnesota-based law firm, published the report that included names, background information, work histories and photographs of 395 priests and laypeople accused throughout the state.

Though a seminarian, a teacher and several deacons were on the list, the vast majority were priests.

The law firm said, by its count, hundreds of Illinoisans were the victims of child sexual abuse at the hands of people tied to the church.

Clergy abuse investigation: Illinois Catholic Church allegedly failed to investigate 500 priest sex abuse allegations

Predator priests: States ask for assistance to pursue Catholic Church for documents on abuse by priests, Pennsylvania attorney general says

“Those at the top have chosen not to believe so many survivors for so many years who have come forward with reports and have chosen, then, to keep secret not only the identities of those offenders, but [also] those who have been complicit in that concealment at the top,” said Jeff Anderson, the trial attorney who heads the firm that published the report.

List ‘represents the past’
Mary Jane Doerr, the director of the Chicago Archdiocese’s Office for the Protection of Children and Youth, said at a press conference Wednesday that her office’s efforts to protect children from abuse in the church go “beyond a list of names.”

“What’s frustrating to me is the lists represent the past,” Doerr said. “And it was not a good past, but we don’t do that anymore. That’s not what’s going on today. Today, all allegations are taken seriously.”

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Pope Won’t Accept Resignation of Cardinal Convicted of Ignoring Child Sex Abuse

Patheos blog

March 20, 2019

By Hemant Metha

It should’ve been easy for the Catholic Church to rid itself of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin. Earlier this month, he announced he would resign from the Church after a secular court found him guilty of not reporting a pedophile priest who had sexually abused minors.

But Pope Francis said yesterday that he would not accept the resignation.

Cardinal Barbarin, 68, promptly offered to resign, though he is appealing the verdict. He met with Pope Francis on Monday to personally hand in his resignation, but both the cardinal and a Vatican spokesman, Alessandro Gisotti, said on Tuesday that the pope had not accepted it.

Instead, they said, the cardinal, one of the highest-ranking and best-known Roman Catholic officials in France, will step aside for an unspecified length of time.

Cardinal Barbarin said in a statement that the pope had acted “invoking the presumption of innocence.”

It’s hard to act on a presumption of innocence when a secular court has declared you guilty of shielding a predator priest. What the pope is saying is that the courts don’t matter, and the evidence is secondary to forgiveness… which might be inspirational if we weren’t talking about the Catholic Church’s most infamous crime.

The pope just doesn’t think covering up for a molesting priest is that big of a deal. This is his reward for protecting the Church.

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Two more alleged predators were in Columbia

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

March 19, 2019

One, ousted last week, was at MU Newman Center
The other, ‘outed’ last month, was at a local parish
A third priest, just publicly accused, worked nearby
SNAP wants University officials to “do real outreach”
Group also wants mid-MO bishop to update accused list

WHAT
Holding childhood photos and signs at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will disclose
–that a just-ousted publicly accused priest worked in Columbia.
–the name of another publicly accused abusive priest who worked in mid-MO, and
–the name of a third publicly accused abusive priest who worked nearby.
None of them are on the Jefferson City diocese’s list of accused clerics.

They will also prod
–University of Missouri officials to “aggressively reach out to ex-staff and students” who may have been hurt by the just-ousted accused priest, and
–mid-Missouri’s Catholic bishop to do the same.

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Victims accuse diocese of keeping secrets

JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

Another alleged abuser was “quietly ousted”
Church tells flock, but not public, about prie]st
SNAP: “Where’s your promised ‘transparency?'”
Group also ‘outs’ another mid-MO alleged perpetrator
It also reveals workplaces of two others who are accused
SNAP wants church & university officials to “do real outreach”
“Diocese should also update & expand its accused list,” SNAP says

WHAT
Holding childhood photos and signs at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will:
–blast Jeff City’s Catholic bishop for “keeping secrets” about a just-ousted priest,
–disclose that the priest worked in Columbia as well as Jeff City,
–reveal the name of another publicly accused abusive priest who worked in mid-MO, and
–expose a third publicly accused abusive clerict who worked nearby.
(Only one of them is on the Jefferson City diocese’s list of accused clerics.)

They will also prod
–diocesan and University of Missouri officials to “aggressively reach out to ex-staff, members and students” who may have been hurt by the just-ousted accused priest, and
–mid-Missouri’s Catholic bishop to do the same.

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Teens testify Catholic priest sexually assaulted them

SAGINAW (MI)
Michigan Live

Mar 20, 2019

By Cole Waterman

With a jury looking on Wednesday, two teens testified that a Roman Catholic priest had sexually assaulted them.

Testimony in the first of three trials for Robert J. “Father Bob” DeLand began the afternoon of Wednesday, March 20, before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson. DeLand, 72, is a longtime priest who worked in the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw.

After Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa Hoover and defense attorney Alan A. Crawford gave their respective theories on the case via opening statements, Hoover called a now-19-year-old man to the stand.

The teen said he had known DeLand as a greeter at Freeland High School. In that capacity, he said DeLand would often make him uncomfortable.

“He would shake my hand sometimes,” he said. “He would do it very tight, wouldn’t let go. He’d hug me really, really tight and breathe in my ear every now and then. Very uncomfortable.”

On May 14, 2017, the teen said he and his father attended a memorial service at St. Agnes Church for a classmate of his who had died by suicide earlier that day. The service was organized by DeLand.

As his father mingled with other attendees, the teen was called out to by DeLand, who asked him how he was doing with the recent death. The priest then called him into a coatroom where they were alone, he said.

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Survivors say Columbus Diocese list of accused priests is incomplete

COLUMBUS (OH)
ABC 6l News

March 20, 2019

By Tom Bosco

The Catholic Diocese of Columbus released its list of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse earlier this month, but a survivors’ advocacy group said the list is incomplete. The group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said there are at least seven clergy members who should be on the list.

The names have been made public before and include two that have been the subject of news coverage in the last few years.

Joel Wright was in seminary, studying to become a priest in north Columbus when he was arrested in 2016 as he tried to travel to Mexico to have sex with infants. Fr. James Csaszar of New Albany and Perry County before that, killed himself in 2016, a month after he was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a teen.

The other names may be more obscure but have been revealed in the past. Here are their names and where they served in the diocese:

Fr. James Gates, Holy Rosary, 1994-2002;
Fr. John Walsh, SS. Simon and Jude, 1960s;
Fr Fintan Shaffer, Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd, 1980s;
Br. Robert Hayden, Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd, 1980s;
Fr. Walter Horan, Zanesville, 1940s.

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Nearly 400 Catholic Clergy Members Accused of Sexual Misconduct in Illinois

NEW YORK (NY)
Daily Beast

March 20, 2019

Attorneys released a report Wednesday revealing the names of nearly 400 clergy members who have been accused of sexual misconduct, USA Today reports. Law firm Jeff Anderson and Associates reportedly released a 182-page-report providing over 200 additional names of priests and deacons who had not been identified by Catholic officials and were accused of abuse in “legal settlements and news reports.” According to the newspaper, the report includes the names of clergy members in “Archdiocese of Chicago and the dioceses of Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford and Springfield,” and includes photos, background information, and employment history of those listed.

“We’ve chosen to reveal this information, because the Catholic bishops and religious orders who are in charge and have this information . . . have chosen to conceal it,” lawyer Jeff Anderson said. The six Catholic dioceses of Illinois previously released a list of 185 clergy members whom the church deemed credibly accused of sexual abuse. The Rockford Diocese told USA Today that they did not disclose the allegations outlined in the report because they founds the allegations were unsubstantiated or “without merit.” Joliet Diocese also told the newspaper they declined to list the names because they had not been substantiated.

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Austin Catholic priest arrested, accused of sexually assaulting woman during last rites

AUSTIN (TX)
CBS Austin

March 20, 2019

An Austin Catholic priest was arrested after police say he sexually assaulted a woman in hospice care.

75-year-old Rev. Gerold Langsch has been charged with assault by contact, class a misdemeanor.

The incident allegedly happened in October 2018 when a woman was put on hospice care after suffering from several medical conditions.

While on hospice, the victim’s ex husband contacted the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic-based fraternal service organization, to inform them of the victim’s illness.

They offered to send a priest to their home to give the victim her last rites, a religious ceremony to offer absolution of sins prior to dying through anointment.

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22 former Rockford Diocese clergy members accused in report on sexual abuse

ROCKFORD (IL)
WREX TV

March 20, 2019

A scathing new report has been released naming nearly 400 former and current clergy members of the Illinois Catholic Diocese who have been accused of sexual abuse.

The 182-page report was published Wednesday by the Minnesota-based law firm Jeff Anderson and Associates, which has lead the charge and filed the lawsuit demanding the Diocese release a full list of people accused of sexual abuse while working under the diocese.

The 395 men named in that report worked in the Archdiocese of Chicago, Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, Springfield and Rockford. Twenty-two men with ties to the Diocese of Rockford are included in it.

Back in November, the Diocese of Rockford published a report that outlined the history of sexual abuse of minors in the diocese. It disclosed files and said that between 1950 and 2002, allegations of sexual abuse of a minor were substantiated against three priests. The total report included 15 names, something the diocese said Wednesday it stands by.

In a statement, the Rockford Diocese said it did not disclose allegations against many clergy on Anderson’s list “because the accusations either have not been substantiated or are completely without merit.”

Officials with the Rockford Diocese did say one name on Anderson’s list did not appear on their November 2018 report because they were unaware of the accusations. They say the Rev. Ivan Rovira committed sexual abuse after he left northern Illinois in the 1970s.

The Rockford Diocese also said in the statement, “Sexual misconduct by clergy, Church personnel, Church leaders and volunteers is contrary to Christian morals, doctrine and Canon Law. It is never acceptable and Bishop Davis J. Malloy has declared emphatically that ‘one case of abuse is one too many.’”

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Bridgeport Diocese pays out $3.55 million in abuse settlements

BRIDGEPORT (CT)
Connecticut Post

March 20, 2019

By Daniel Tepfer

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport has agreed to pay $3.55 million to five men who claim
in lawsuits they were sexually abused as children by priests.

The claimed abuse occurred from the late 1980s to the early 2000s by three priests, the Rev. Walter Coleman, the Rev. Robert Morrissey and the Rev. Larry Jensen, in Bridgeport, Brookfield, Danbury and Ridgefield.

The settlements were reached following mediation with the law firm, Tremont, Sheldon, Robinson and Mahoney which represented the five plaintiffs.

“As a result of countless hours of effort and hard work over the past 25 years, our law firm has been able to develop a collection of materials and information which we use to get our clients compensation for the abuse they have suffered,” said Douglas Mahoney. “While the money can never take away their pain, we hope that the resolution will allow them to take a small step forward with their healing.”

The settlements come as Pope Francis is being lauded for directing the church to finally take responsibility and make amends for decades of abuse by priests amid reports from around the country and the world of abuse.

“I admire the bravery and tenacity of the survivors. They came forward with the truth and persevered through what had to be a very stressful trial process. The priests who abused them wounded innocent children. These men are lucky that the statute of limitations for prosecution of sex crimes is short. I hope that changes soon,” said Gail Howard, Connecticut co-leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Bridgeport Bishop Frank J. Caggiano has gone to the forefront of a movement by the church to become more transparent revealing in a report last October that the diocese has paid $52.5 million to settle 156 allegations of sexual abuse by priests since 1953. He also appointed a retired judge to look into claims that the diocese covered up priests’ sexual abuse of children for decades.

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Caso Próvolo: pedirían la detención de otros sacerdotes acusados de abuso sexual

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

March 20, 2019

By Julián Maradeo

Read original article

“Te vas a enterar de cosas feas, y muchas son verdad”, le advirtió Robert Frainer, ex superior mundial del Instituto Próvolo, a Gustavo Ariel Chamorro, en ese momento director de la sede platense. Tenía razón.

Desde que estallaron públicamente los abusos a los que curas, monjas y laicos sometían a chicos hipoacúsicos en Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza, y La Plata, se conoció que muchos de los sacerdotes acusados habían sido enviados por el mismo motivo desde Verona, Italia; que elegían a aquellos niños cuyos padres no eran sordos para que no pudiesen contar lo que padecían; que la monja japonesa Kumiko Kosaka primero los golpeaba para notar quiénes resistían y quiénes podían rebelarse; que Nicola Corradi era acusado de vender rifas truchas para quedarse con la plata; que el Papa sabía como mínimo desde octubre de 2015, o sea un año antes de las primeras denuncias en la provincia cuyana; que una fiscalía mendocina había hecho caso omiso a una denuncia en 2008, entre otras tantas revelaciones. Sin embargo, si se presta atención y se entrecruzan los testimonios de las causas que se desarrollan en ambas provincias sigue complejizándose la trama.

Hace alrededor de dos años, cuando estaba en pleno proceso de investigación para “La Trama de los abusos y delitos sexuales en la Iglesia Católica”, accedí al expediente que desarrollaba el ahora ex fiscal platense Fernando Cartasegna. En una de las fojas aparecía una referencia a la colonia de vacaciones que el Próvolo tiene en Valeria del Mar, partido de Pinamar. Situada en Pedro de Mendoza N°2287, esa casa hoy, a raíz del escándalo internacional, se mantiene cerrada y en estado de abandono.

En el caso de La Plata, el que habló sobre esto fue el mencionado Chamorro, quien, en su testimonio, apuntó que el cura italiano Corradi-hoy con prisión preventiva en Mendoza- llevaba a los niños, negando la posibilidad de que fueran acompañados por sus padres, a la casa de Valeria del Mar. Esta punta también apareció en Mendoza, donde una de las madres contó que, durante un viaje a esa delegación costera, en 2015, una de las alumnas relató que vio cómo una de las docentes le llevaba un chico a Horacio Corbacho, hoy detenido y procesado por corrupción agravada de menores.

Pero el relato más duro lo recogió, recientemente, la actual fiscal de la causa en La Plata, Cecilia Corfield. Fue cuando tomó testimonio al sobreviviente Lisandro Borrelli, quien estuvo en el Próvolo entre 1989 y 1993. En la sede de la capital bonaerense, fue atado por horas a un riel que había en el subsuelo de la cocina y, en oportunidades, también lo mantuvieron encerrado en la jaula para los conejos. Un verano fue trasladado a la casa del Próvolo en Valeria del Mar, donde lo obligaban a ocuparse de la limpieza de la misma y lo ataban a un árbol para castigarlo. Un dato en apariencia anecdótico, pero que puede no serlo: cuando lo llevaban a la playa, los curas le prohibían que los identificase como tales.

Si se cruzan los diferentes testimonios, la línea de tiempo se extiende desde comienzos de los noventa hasta 2015. O sea, un cuarto de siglo. La pregunta se cae por sí sola: ¿en Pinamar nadie vio, escucho o supo nada de nada?

Por otro lado, otra punta no desarrollada en ninguna de las causas es la de los testimonios que indicaron que Corradi traía chicos desde la sede que el Próvolo tiene en Asunción, Paraguay. Actualmente, sigue en funcionamiento y está a cargo de la rama femenina del Instituto, que se encuentra bajo el nombre de Fortunata Gressner.

Fuentes autorizadas señalaron que es inminente una nueva serie de pedidos de detención. Uno de ellos recaerá sobre uno de los curas italianos enviados por cometer el mismo delito en Verona. Se trata de Eliseo Primatti, de 82 años, quien reside en la casa madre. Cuando así sea, la decisión de si la extradición es efectiva o no será de Francisco. Su caso es otro ejemplo de la torpe lentitud con la que se maneja la justicia, ya que este prelado estuvo en el país hasta diciembre de 2017, momentos en que la causa estaba absolutamente paralizada.

Primatti aparece en la lista que el comisario apostólico Alberto Bochatey le entregó a Corfield. En ella, también está Giovanni Granuzzo. Aunque muchos lo daban por muerto, se encuentra vivo y en Verona. Granuzzo, nombrado por víctimas italianas como uno de sus agresores sexuales, se hallaba, junto a Corradi y Luiggi Spinelli, entre otros, en el fichero que el sobreviviente italiano Giusseppe Consiglio le entregó el 28 de octubre de 2015, en el aula Paulo VI, a Francisco, para informarle dónde estaba cada uno de los acusados. Sin embargo, el Vaticano no hizo nada hasta que se convirtió en un escándalo mundial.

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