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 10, 2019

Keith C. Burris: The sins of the fathers

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Post-Gazette

March 9, 2019

By Keith C. Burris

I was painting an attic wall, actually slathering on KILZ before applying paint, and was happy for an interruption. It was from my brother John — a text. Had I read the list of clergy abusers released by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus? It was printed in the Columbus Dispatch. My brother knew a couple of the names. He thought I might know more.

I did.

I attended St. Charles Preparatory School in Columbus, a truly great school then and now and a place for which I have abiding affection. Back in the day, St. Charles also had a college, a minor seminary, in the same building. I knew eight of the names on the list — some because they were what we called then “the collegians” and some because they were faculty members. One, recently accused, and eventually beloved by the St. Charles community, was the supervisor of my dorm. Seeing his name stunned me. We crossed swords many times and he threatened to expel me at least once. But we also had long talks about poetry, writing, and politics. I admired him.

Two people on the list did not surprise me. One was a collegian and one (Fr. X) the onetime assistant pastor of my church. The first was gifted, a charmer, and the last person I would have thought a predator — until I saw something that much later clicked in my head. The latter you would not think a predator either. But a guy with a screw loose, yes. His thing was the Boy Scouts. He was a Boy Scout chaplain.

When I lived in Connecticut, we had a local doctor, another “good guy,” who was heavily into Scouting, and, as it turned out, child porn. He was sentenced to prison. Did he diminish Scouting in Connecticut? Not the idea. But certainly the organization.

Did these priests diminish Catholicism in central and east central Ohio? Not the idea. But certainly the organization.

They operated with impunity, in church after church, for decades. None went to prison.

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.

Review of sex abuse by Catholic priests will not include one-third of Colorado’s publicly accused clergy

DENVER (CO)
Denver Post

March 10, 2019

By Elis Schmelzer

For five years in the late 1960s and early ’70s, a Catholic brother used ether to subdue at least 23 teenage boys at a Catholic high school in Pueblo. He told them he was conducting an “experiment.” Instead, they alleged in a lawsuit, he molested and raped them in the band room.

The Marianist brother, William Mueller, was later transferred to schools in St. Louis, where lawsuits claim he continued to abuse students. Some of the boys later said in lawsuits that they told the Diocese of Pueblo and school leaders at Roncalli High School about the abuse, but nothing was done.

Mueller’s case is one of the most high-profile Catholic clergy abuse cases in Colorado — it resulted in a settlement with the Diocese of Pueblo and Mueller’s religious order for $4 million.

But Mueller’s case and at least eight others like it will not be included in the third-party review announced last month by the state attorney general and the Catholic Church in Colorado because Mueller was supervised by a religious order, not a diocese. His victims will not have access to the recently announced reparations fund or reconciliation services, because he was under the supervision of a religious order and not one of Colorado’s three dioceses.

A spokesman for Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser did not respond to an emailed question about why religious-order priests and brothers were excluded from the review, which was initiated by Weiser’s predecessor and finalized after he took office.

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 no deja su papel de víctima: niega las últimas denuncias y considera “injusto” que le quieran quitar la nacionalidad

[In interview, Ezzati denies the latest cover-up accusation and considers it “unfair” to remove his nationality]

CHILE
El Mostrador

March 8, 2019

El cuestionado cardenal dio una extensa entrevista como parte de su estrategia comunicacional previa a la decisión que la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago debería adoptar la próxima semana respecto a su solicitud de sobreseimiento. El prelado se concentró en negar al denunciante del cura Tito Rivera, sacerdote acusado de cometer violaciones en la misma Catedral Metropolitana, y menos haberle ofrecido dinero. Incluso, dijo que todos los casos de abusos que han sido denunciados en la Arquidiócesis de Santiago “desde el año 2011 han sido investigados”.

A una semana que la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago se pronuncie respecto a su solicitud de sobresemiento de las acusaciones de encubrimiento de abusos sexuales en el clero que investiga la Fiscalía, el arzobispo de Santiago, cardenal Ricardo Ezzati, decidió romper el silencio y pasar a la ofensiva.

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.

Laicos penquistas valoran citación a Chomali para declarar en causa por encubrimiento de abusos

[Laity of Penquista assess Chomali’s call to testify in abuse cover-ups next week]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 6, 2019

By Manuel Cabrera and Óscar Valenzuela

La próxima semana deberá declarar en calidad de testigo el arzobispo de Concepción, Fernando Chomali, en la causa por eventuales encubrimientos de abusos sexuales en la Iglesia Católica. En ese sentido, abogados y representantes de la comunidad de laicos valoraron la citación del fiscal Emiliano Arias a varios clérigos.

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.

Piñera realiza dura crítica por “encubrimientos” en la Iglesia y asegura sobre Ezzati que “todos tenemos que responder ante la ley”

[Piñera criticizes Church cover-ups and says about Ezzati: “We all have to answer before the law”]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 7, 2019

By Carlos Reyes P.

El Mandatario afirmó que lo ocurrido “nos ha hecho dudar de muchas de las autoridades eclesiásticas” y que “es muy doloroso”. Además, aseguró que “la única forma de enfrentar este problema es con verdad y justicia”.

Un duro análisis de la crisis que enfrenta la iglesia chilena a raíz de las múltiples denuncias por abusos a menores realizó el Presidente Sebastián Piñera.

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.

Abogado del cardenal Ezzati: “Hay una perversa estrategia comunicacional para vulnerar la presunción de inocencia”

[Cardinal Ezzati’s lawyer: “There is a perverse communication strategy to violate the presumption of innocence”]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 7, 2019

By Sergio Rodríguez and María José Navarrete

Hugo Rivera, quien representa al arzobispo de Santiago, levantó suspicacias respecto de que la denuncia sobre una presunta violación del sacerdote Tito Rivera a un hombre adulto, en la Catedral Metropolitana, se conozca la semana anterior a que se vea su sobreseimiento en la Corte de Apelaciones.

“Sin perjuicio de la gravedad de los hechos imputados al señor Tito Rivera, los cuales fueron investigados y aclarados por parte del Arzobispado de Santiago, a través de una investigación canónica que se inició en el año 2015, y que concluyó con la condena del Sr. Rivera, resulta indispensable precisar algunos hechos”.

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: “Estoy dispuesto a declarar, siempre, lo que la justicia quiera investigar”

[Ezzati: “I am willing to testify, always, what justice wants to investigate”]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 7, 2019

By M.J. Navarrete and S. Rodríguez

En entrevista con “Informe Especial”, de TVN, el cardenal también se refirió a la posible revocación de su nacionalidad por gracia en el Senado: “Me duele inmensamente, es injusto”.

“Yo no tengo conciencia de haber confesado, porque no lo conozco, y menos todavía de haber sabido, de haberle dado un abrazo y haberle dicho que un sacerdote le entregaría un dinero a nombre mío. Eso lastimosamente no es así”, señaló, en una entrevista con el programa Informe Especial, de TVN, el arzobispo de Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati. El prelado se refirió así a los dichos del denunciante del sacerdote Tito Rivera, quien aseguró que el cardenal le habría dado un abrazo luego de escuchar su confesión y que, por medio de otro sacerdote, le entregó $ 30 mil.

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.

Las 40 investigaciones de la Iglesia de Chile por abusos a menores que están en curso

[Church of Chile currently investigating 40 cases of abuse of minors]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 9, 2019

By M. J. Navarrete and G. Peñafiel

La Tercera consultó a las 27 diócesis del país, incluyendo al obispado castrense. En los últimos cinco años han sido condenados canónicamente 21 sacerdotes.

“Los fieles no perdonan la falta de transparencia, porque es una nueva violencia contra las víctimas”. Estas fueron las palabras de la periodista mexicana Valentina Alazraki, quien interpeló a las máximas autoridades del clero católico a fines de febrero, en el encuentro sobre la protección a menores en la Iglesia que se efectuó en el Vaticano. Su intervención fue aplaudida por las víctimas de abuso sexual eclesiástico y valorada por el propio comité organizador del evento.

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 9, 2019

JOSE GASPAR: New bishop: A changing of the guard at the Diocese of Fresno

GUADALAJARA (MEXICO)
Bakersfield Californian (Bakersfield.com)

March 9, 2019

By Jose Gaspar For The Californian

Read original article

The Diocese of Fresno failed to do its due diligence investigating a case of alleged sexual abuse of a minor by Father Miguel Flores in 2002, said Bishop Armando Ochoa in an interview with Norma Gaspar of Telemundo Bakersfield earlier this week. Flores was put on paid leave from his pastoral duties at St. Joseph Church in Bakersfield on April 28 while the Diocese revisits the 17-year-old case.

In 2002, Flores was accused of raping and threatening a 16-year-old San Joaquin girl who worked as his office assistant in two churches in Kings County. According to press accounts of the trial, Flores bought the girl a 2002 Ford Mustang GT, a cellular phone, jewelry and clothing as an act of kindness. Flores’ attorney maintained the case was about trying to extort more money from the priest, who comes from a wealthy background. A jury acquitted Flores of three counts of forcible rape, three counts of statutory rape, dissuading a witness and criminal threat charges. Flores was allowed to return to active ministry the next year by then Fresno Bishop John Steinbock.

But while the case was investigated and prosecuted by police, Bishop Ochoa said the Diocese failed to do its own investigation for possible violations of Church canon law.

“He was acquitted, but under canon law something like this is a crime, an abuse of a minor. We need to investigate and speak with the victim,” said Ochoa who added that the Diocese has been in touch with the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

“I wasn’t here at that time, (in 2002) and with all that’s been happening everywhere, we need to search for truth in all cases,” said Ochoa. Perhaps the only man who can answer why the Diocese did not do an internal investigation is the late Bishop John Steinbock who died in 2010.

According to Kings County District Attorney Keith Fagundes, Flores cannot be retried on the charges for which he has already been acquitted as that would constitute double jeopardy. Fagundes said he could neither confirm nor deny his office is investigating Fr. Flores. However, depending on what new evidence may turn up during a new investigation, “There are other possibilities in theory that can be allowed for possible prosecution, ” said Fagundes in a telephone interview.

Even if a new investigation finds no criminal charges to be applicable to Fr. Flores, the church can still take other action. Bishop Ochoa compares it with the case of former US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Just last month, a church tribunal investigation found evidence McCarrick had sexually molested a minor altar boy almost 50-years-ago. He was defrocked and expelled from the priesthood for sex abuse.

“He lost his priesthood precisely because of a church investigation,” said Ochoa. “I’m not saying that is the case here, but we have to investigate it.”

I must admit I was sort of puzzled by the original letter released by the Diocese informing parishioners at St. Joseph church that Fr. Flores was being put on leave. The letter reads in part, “This action follows a report of very serious matters that warrant a formal investigation. The issues being addressed include an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.”

The letter did not mention it was about the 2002 case. Teresa Dominguez, chancellor for the diocese, said there are no new alleged victims coming forward. In an email, Dominguez wrote, “The diocesan investigation was initiated in response to a third party disclosure related to the 2002 case. Law enforcement was contacted immediately and will be informed of the outcome of the diocesan investigation.”

Parishioners at St. Joseph were visibly shaken when given the news about Fr. Flores. “I cried, my heart is in pieces,” said Sylvia Vargas, a 25-year member of St. Joseph. “I love Father Miguel, he’s like a brother to me and my children,” she told me outside St. Joseph church after mass. Vargas said she didn’t know all the facts and would pray for both Flores and the victim.

Flores has been incommunicado since being put on leave. “He’s still in shock, as all of us are,” said Bishop Ochoa. “This actually is a very difficult thing, he’s been a priest for 25 years.” Difficult as it may be, Bishop Ochoa maintains a re-examination of the case is necessary. “The church says, ‘No, this is not right.’ We have to investigate for the well being of all,” he said.

The Rev. Joseph V. Brennan is the new incoming Bishop of the Diocese of Fresno who will take over the reins when Ochoa officially retires on May 2. Brennan acknowledged the sex abuse crisis facing the Catholic church and in the Fresno diocese. “We must encourage people to speak out against abuse (by priests),” he said. “Trust needs to be earned, it’s never really deserved.”

Currently there are four priests in the diocese on administrative leave pending ongoing investigations of sex abuse, including Fr. Miguel Flores.

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 set for abuse claims against church

ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Albuquerque Journal

March 10, 2019

By Colleen Heild

Priest sexual abuse survivors have until June 17 to file a proof of claim in the ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed by the Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

A Friday order by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma approving the deadline for claims tasks the archdiocese with getting the word out to clergy abuse victims, primarily by publishing notices in more than 22 newspapers or other publications in New Mexico and elsewhere.

“The order is the first step in what we hope will be a global resolution to provide fair compensation to all survivors of sex abuse by clergy,” said Archbishop John C. Wester of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in a news release.

Wester said the archdiocese, the largest of New Mexico’s three Catholic dioceses, is working “collaboratively” with a creditor’s committee of sex abuse survivors and “our insurers to maximize the outreach to those who might have claims.”

Claims will be sealed and won’t be available to the public unless the claimant indicates otherwise.

“After the claims filing deadline of June 17, 2019,” Wester stated, “we are hopeful that mediation among the survivors’ committee, insurers, archdiocese and other parties will result in a consensual plan providing an appropriate resolution for each and every claimant.”

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy reorganization in December, citing the financial burden of continuing litigation brought by victims, most of whom allege they were sexually abused by priests decades ago.

“The establishment of a deadline to file claims is critical in this case because it will allow the Debtor and other necessary parties to understand the universe of claims asserted against the Debtor,” stated attorneys for the archdiocese in a Feb. 1 filing.

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.

Hundreds Sign Useless Petition After Catholic School Bans Child of Gay Parents

Patheos blog

March 9, 2019

By Sarabeth Caplin

After a kindergartner was denied entry into a Catholic school for having same-sex parents, hundreds of people petitioned the school’s leaders hoping to reverse the decision.

The petition is addressed to Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann and school Superintendent Kathy O’Hara, both of whom oversee St. Ann Catholic School.

“Respectfully, we believe that the decision to deny a child of God access to such a wonderful community and education, based on the notion that his or her parent’s union is not in accordance with the Church’s teaching in Sacramental marriage, lacks the compassion and mercy of Christ’s message,” the petition reads.

I guess they didn’t realize they were speaking to leaders in the Catholic Church. Asking for compassion and mercy mean nothing to Church leaders when confronted with the opportunity to denigrate same-sex couples.

Unsurprisingly, Naumanmn and O’Hara refused to budge in their decision, claiming that the Church is firm in its stance about what “real” marriage looks like.

… in a statement to The Star on Wednesday, O’Hara said the “Church’s teaching on marriage is clear and is not altered by the laws of civil society.” Catholic doctrine recognizes marriage “as a sacrament entered into between a man and woman.”

“The Church teaches that individuals with same sex attraction should be treated with dignity,” the statement read. “However, the challenge regarding same sex couples and our Catholic schools is that same sex parents cannot model behaviors and attitudes regarding marriage and sexual morality consistent with essential components of the Church’s teachings.”

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.

Violación en la Catedral: Fiscalía pide formalizar a Tito Rivera por delitos sexuales

[Rape in the cathedral: prosecutor requests formal charges against priest Tito Rivera]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 9, 2019

By Jorge Molina Sanhueza

El fiscal regional de Rancagua, Emiliano Arias, solicitó el 13º Juzgado de Garantía de Santiago fecha para formalizar al presbítero Tito Rivera por el delito de abuso sexual. La decisión del perseguidor penal, que lleva una serie de indagatorias en contra de la Iglesia chilena, se produce a días que la Unidad de de Investigación de Radio Bío Bío, revelara que Rivera violó a “Z” en uno de los dormitorios de la Catedral de Santiago en 2015.

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.

Víctima de violación en la catedral presenta querella por abusos contra el sacerdote Tito Rivera

[Victim of cathedral rape files complaint against priest Tito Rivera]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 9, 2019

By Felipe Díaz and Erik López

Una querella criminal por abuso sexual en contra del sacerdote a quien acusa de violarlo al interior de la Catedral Metropolitana, interpuso Daniel Álvarez, quien además acusa al cardenal Ricardo Ezzati de encubrir estos hechos. Álvarez llegó este sábado hasta el Centro de Justicia capitalino en compañía de su abogado, Alfredo Morgado, para presentar la demanda en contra de Tito Rivera.

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.

El cardenal francés que fue condenado por crímenes de encubrimiento similares a los de Ezzati

[Comparing the French cardinal who was convicted of covering up abuse to Ezzati]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 7, 2019

By Paola Alemán

Si la iglesia católica ya estaba siendo sacudida por los escándalos de abusos sexuales, su cúpula ha recibido una grieta profunda tras el prolongado terremoto que remece la fe en esta institución. Cientos de sacerdotes, y hasta monjas, han sido señalados por hombres y mujeres, que ya como adultos, procesan una realidad en el presente la cual sigue siendo dolorosa.

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.

Detienen a sacerdote en San Fernando por manejar en estado de ebriedad

[Priest arrested for drunk driving, suspended from ministry]

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Emol

March 7, 2019

Jorge Vásquez fue “apartado del ejercicio público del ministerio sacerdotal” según informó la Diócesis de Rancagua.

Este miércoles se conoció que el sacerdote Jorge Vásquez, de la parroquia Santa Rita de Casia en San Fernando, región de O’Higgins, fue detenido durante la madrugada del 3 de marzo por manejar en estado de ebriedad. Según el capitán de la Primera Comisaría de San Fernando, Wladimir Fuentes, el auto que conducía el párroco colisionó por detrás a otro vehículo que esperaba que el semáforo cambiara a luz verde.

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.

Ocho obispos y sacerdotes fueron citados a declarar por el fiscal Emiliano Arias

[Eight bishops and priests were summoned to testify by prosecutor Emiliano Arias]

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Emol

March 6, 2019

By Juan Undurraga

Algunos entregarían su testimonio en calidad de testigos mientras que otros como imputados, en el marco de una investigación por presuntos encubrimientos de abusos.

La fiscalía regional de O’Higgins citó a declarar a ocho obispos y sacerdotes por el eventual encubrimiento de abusos, diligencia que quedó programada para el próximo jueves 28 de marzo. Según La Tercera, el fiscal Emiliano Arias notificó al cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz, al arzobispo de Concepción, Fernando Chomalí, al administrador apostólico de Talca, Galo Fernández, y al administrador apostólico de Rancagua, Fernando Ramos, entre otros.

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.

Iglesia de Santiago informa que primeras denuncias contra Tito Rivera las recibió en agosto de 2011

[Archdiocese of Santiago admits it received accusations against Tito Rivera in August 2011]

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Emol

March 5, 2019

By Fernanda Villalobos D.

En un comunicado, agregaron que hace ocho años “no fue posible contactar a la denunciante”. Además, anunciaron que realizarán “una revisión exhaustiva para esclarecer todos los antecedentes”.

El Arzobispado de Santiago reconoció que las primeras denuncias en contra del sacerdote Tito Rigoberto Rivera Muñoz, por eventual abuso sexual de menores, las recibió en agosto del año 2011. Mediante un comunicado, la institución agregó que se iniciará una investigación “exhaustiva para esclarecer todos los antecedentes” del caso.

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.

El Obispado de Bilbao reconoce tres casos de abusos a menores en Bizkaia desde 1950

[Bilbao bishop admits three cases of abuse of minors in Bizkaia since 1950]

VITORIA (SPAIN)
El País

March 7, 2019

By Pedro Gorospe

Estos casos se suman a los denunciados en los Salesianos, y a otro caso conocido también hoy en el colegio de Jesuitas de Indautxu

El Obispado de Bilbao se comprometió con la transparencia en todo lo relacionado con los abusos a menores, y este jueves ha hecho públicas las conclusiones de un estudio interno para aflorar ese tipo de casos. En una nota, la diócesis que dirige Mario Iceta ha reconocido haber conocido el caso de tres sacerdotes que realizaron tocamientos a menores durante el ejercicio del sacerdocio y que ya habrían muerto.

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.

Los marianistas expulsan a Manuel Briñas por abusar de niños durante tres décadas

[Marianists expel Manuel Briñas for abusing children over three decades]

BARCELONA (SPAIN)
El País

March 6, 2019

By Oriol Güell

La compañía toma la decisión contra el que fuera responsable de la cantera del Atlético de Madrid tras “constatar la veracidad” de las denuncias

La orden religiosa Compañía de María, popularmente conocida como los marianistas, ha decidido expulsar al fraile Manuel Briñas tras “constatar la veracidad de los testimonios” de las víctimas que han relatado los abusos sexuales sufridos durante su infancia. La publicación el pasado día 13 por EL PAÍS de un primer caso ha venido seguida en las últimas semanas por una catarata de nuevas denuncias que han permitido descubrir que los abusos se prolongaron durante más de tres décadas —de 1964 a 1997— en dos colegios de Madrid: el Hermanos Amorós, en el barrio de Carabanchel, y el Santa María del Pilar, en el distrito de Retiro.

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.

For weeks I have been unable to bring myself to attend Sunday Mass

SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
Sydney Morning Herald

March 9, 2019

By Anne O’Donovan

As a cradle Catholic, and as a mother and a grandmother, my response to the Cardinal Pell conviction is, as for others like me, deeply complex.

For weeks I have been unable to bring myself to attend Sunday Mass.

Almost daily I wake to a deadening of the heart as yet another story of abuse of children by Catholic clergy emerges, here and internationally. Catholics like me are in grief.

Cardinal Pell is an unsympathetic character, described as having a pathological lack of empathy, and emblematic of a church that is out of touch with its people. And yet he is a prince of the church: the only ranking higher is that of the Pope. How unthinkable that he has been convicted of abusing children.

I see myself as a liberal Catholic – loosely connected to St Carthage’s parish at Melbourne University, where the much-loved Father Michael Elligate ministers to a flock from every corner of Melbourne. When I go to Michael’s Mass, I come away with a thought about how to live my life – an opportunity for meditation on the deeper things.

I abhor the arrogant male exclusivity of elements of the church and long ago relinquished any regard for the dogmatic pronouncements from the Control Tower. And yet, and yet … something keeps me connected.

For me, it is a love of the ritual, something deep in my racial memory, and it’s the goodness of so many clergy and religious, the 93 per cent who are not abusers. Perhaps it’s also the debt we owe to generations of nuns, priests and brothers who gave us a start on what became fulfilling lives as successful professionals. Many in public life operate from principles of social justice imbibed in this system.

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.

Seven more Jesuit priests accused of abuse had ties to St. Louis

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Post Dispatch

March 9, 2019

By Nassim Benchaabane

Seven more Jesuit priests who worked in St. Louis have been identified as being credibly accused of sexual abuse, according to a list posted months ago by a Jesuit province but not publicized here until a survivors group outed the names on Friday.

Four of the priests were assigned to St. Louis University as recently as the 1970s, according to the Midwest Jesuit Province. One priest worked at Washington University in the late 1960s. Two, including one assigned to SLU, worked at St. Stanislaus Seminary in the 1940s. One of the priests, and a second convicted of abuse in Michigan, were patients at a Catholic treatment center in Dittmer as recently as 2012.

David Clohessy, spokesman for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, which pointed out the new information on Friday, said the Midwest Province should have published the information earlier.

“They tried to pull a fast one,” Clohessy said at a press conference SNAP called on Friday in front of St. Francis Xavier “College” Church on Lindell Boulevard on the SLU campus.

The update brings the total number of credibly accused Jesuit priests with ties to St. Louis to 24. In early December, the St. Louis-based Central and Southern Province published a list that included 17 priests with ties to St. Louis.

The Jesuit provinces were among several Catholic institutions across the country that released lists naming priests credibly accused of sexual abuse in the wake of an explosive Pennsylvania grand jury report that documented decades of abuses and cover-ups involving hundreds of priests.

The seven names were included in the Midwest Province’s original list, published Dec. 17. But it wasn’t until the province updated the list with the priests’ work histories on Dec. 21 that SNAP identified the ties to St. Louis.

The Midwest Province did not respond to multiple requests seeking comment.

Clohessy, an abuse survivor, said the publicization of the names might help families identify past abuse and address current problems.

“That is the first step toward healing,” Clohessy said.

Two of the priests with local ties on the Midwest list were named in a 2003 federal lawsuit alleging abuse of students at church-run Native American boarding schools across the country.

One priest, James F. Gates, was accused by 15 women and one man of abusing them in the late 1960s and early 1970s while they were students at St. Mary’s Mission and boarding school in Omak, Wash.

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Catholic leaders knew N.J. priest was accused of abuse. He became a ‘youth minister’ anyway, lawsuit says.

NEWARK (NJ)
Star Ledger

March 9, 2019

By Kelly Heyboer

Catholic Church officials learned in 2003 one of their priests had been accused of sexually abusing a boy years earlier while he was a Boy Scout leader before he joined the clergy, according to a new lawsuit.

But Archdiocese of Newark leaders still assigned the priest to a Union County parish, where he became “head of youth ministry” and began abusing another young boy a year later, according to a civil lawsuit filed this week by the alleged victim.

The Rev. Kevin Gugliotta, a nationally-ranked poker player, pleaded guilty in 2017 to disseminating child pornography in Pennsylvania. He was sentenced to up to 23 1/2 months in jail and has been permanently removed from ministry.

In the new lawsuit, one of his alleged victims, identified by the pseudonym Richard Roe, says the Archdiocese of Newark, then-Archbishop John H. Myers and St. Bartholomew of the Apostle Parish in Scotch Plains should be held responsible for the priest’s alleged abuse at the Union County parish.

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Catholic group urges Buffalo’s bishop to adopt reforms in wake of abuse scandal

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

March 9, 2019

By Jay Tokasz

The Buffalo Diocese must do more to assist clergy sex abuse survivors and to disclose the depth and scale of abuses perpetrated on children and vulnerable adults, according to an organized group of Catholic worshippers.

Those are among nine key recommendations from the group, which has been meeting since December to find ways of rebuilding trust in the diocese in the wake of a clergy sex abuse scandal that has rattled the faithful.

The group calling itself the Movement to Restore Trust urged Bishop Richard J. Malone to offer one-on-one and group listening sessions with sex abuse victims, as well as a full spectrum of “independent, trauma-informed counseling services, treatments and therapies” and a more sensitive and responsive intake program.

The recommendations were released Saturday morning in a five-page executive summary distributed at a symposium in Canisius College’s Montante Center.

The report said a lack confidence in the institutional Catholic church and its leaders has resulted in lay people “feeling disillusioned, frustrated and alienated.” It also called for transforming church culture from one that assigns greater authority to ordained clergy to one where clergy and bishops work in partnership with lay people.

“The embrace and implementation of the recommendations in our report will be an important step in breaking old habits driven by clericalism,” the report said.

The group called upon Malone to commit to a new type of partnership with lay Catholics so that they are not just represented, but are also consulted, heard and engaged.

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Priest not named on credible clergy abuse list even though diocese was warned 18 years ago

RICHMOND (VA)
WRIC TV

March 8, 2019

By Kerri O’Brien

Father Richard Ahern’s name is not on the Diocese of Richmond’s list of credible child sex abusers released last month but victim’s advocates say it should be.

He has since died but he has been named by multiple accusers, was barred from holding confession with kids and was named in a court settlement. 8News has learned the Diocese of Richmond was warned about Father Ahern 18 years ago.

In a letter to the Diocese, the alleged victim writes, “I was seduced and sexually abused by a priest in the parish. Father Ahern is the priest in question.”

That letter was faxed to the Diocese of Richmond’s Bishop at the time, Bishop Walter Francis Sullivan.

The alleged victim stated he was abused by Father Richard Ahern when he an altar boy between 1959 and 1961 at Our Lady of Angels Church in Woodbridge, Virginia.

It’s now part of the Diocese of Arlington but at the time was part of the Diocese of Richmond. This letter and memo were shared with 8News by the group Bishop Accountability. The group maintains an international database of priests accused of abuse.

“We know that that letter was sent to the Bishop of Richmond, Bishop Sullivan,” says Terence McKiernan, President of Bishop Accountability.

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Spokane’s Bishop Daly talks to the Inlander about gay priests, sex abuse and that abortion letter

SPOKANE (WA)
The Inlander

March 8, 2019

By Daniel Walters

There’s a quote that Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly uses a lot that he attributes to his favorite saint, Vincent de Paul, from back when the church was experiencing another crisis of corrupt and abusive priests.

“’If you want to be one of the church’s enemies, be one of her priests’,” Daly said on his Bishop and the Vicars podcast last year. “And, of course, you could say, one of her bishops for that matter.”

It’s one of those quotes that can be read in two ways. You could read it as saying that it’s sometimes the job of priests or bishops to become the righteous enemy of a corrupt institution. Or you could read it as saying that the priests themselves had become one of the biggest problems in the church.

“The very men who are supposed to be the heroes, by their behavior, are the villains,” Daly said. “The very people who are supposed to lead people to Christ are harming it.”

And that’s the stance that Daly took in November at the bishop’s conference in Baltimore, when he stood up on the floor and condemned some of his fellow bishops for their role in the latest series of abuse scandals, arguing some bishops were morally compromised while others were so obsessed with climbing up the “ecclesiastical escalator” that they’d turned a blind eye to evil and degeneracy.

In our latest edition of the Inlander, our cover story focuses on the culture-war divide splitting the Catholic Church, with Daly representing the more conservative, traditional wing, while his predecessor, Cardinal Blase Cupich, representing the more moderate or liberal wing.

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March 8, 2019

The Catholic Church cannot reform itself

SPOKANE (WA)
Spokesman-Review

March 9, 2019

By Kent Roberts

Last Sunday, Pope Francis concluded the Vatican summit on clerical sex abuse. While the four-day summit provided an opportunity for real policy change, the summit was woefully short on specifics. The summit ended with the pope warning clerical abusers to fear the “wrath of God.” A better closing message would have been: If you abuse children, ready yourself for the “wrath of the criminal justice system.”

It would have been a minimalist step in the right direction if the summit supported developing a Vatican policy that required the reporting of alleged sexual abuse to civil authorities (i.e., the police). In the past, clergy accused of sexual abuse were often sent to monasteries or, worse yet, shuffled to other parishes. For example, now former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was accused of sexual abuse, was sent to St. Fidelis Friary in Victoria, Kansas, within a block of Victoria Elementary School, for prayer and reflection (thanks for thinking about the nearby children).

As a victim of sexual abuse by a family member, I know firsthand that recovery is a lifetime journey with many difficult days. Some abuse victims have chosen to stay in the Catholic Church to try to effectuate fundamental changes. Others, like myself, seeing the hopelessness in dealing with the Church, have chosen to leave. Margaret Henneberger, an opinion columnist for USA Today, said “… after a lifetime of stubborn adherence on my part and criminal behavior on yours, your excellencies, you seem to have finally succeeded in driving me away.”

In an article in The Week, Damon Linker, a respected religious journalist, said he was leaving the Catholic Church because it was “a repulsive institution – or at least one permeated by repulsive human beings who reward one another for repulsive acts, all the while deigning to lecture the world about its sin.” To those who believe his comments were overly harsh, read the 884-page Pennsylvania grand jury report (released in August) that concludes there were over 1,000 cases of sexual abuse by more than 300 Catholic clergy. Over a seventy-year period, these sexual clergy abusers were predatory monsters who executed the innocent souls of children. According to the grand jury: “Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all. For decades.”

The New Testament tells us that Jesus loved children and said “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:13-14). How is it that this simple, timeless message has been lost on the Catholic Church clergy for decades, if not longer?

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5 more names of credibly accused clergy highlighted by local SNAP chapter

SAN ANTONIO (TX)
News 4 San Antonio

March 8, 2019

By Jim Lefko

Four more names surfaced today of men who may have abused children while they were living in San Antonio. The former clerics were identified by the local chapter of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, Each had previously been accused of abuse elsewhere.

Four more names surfaced today of clerics who may have abused children while they were living in San Antonio… https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/5-more-names-of-credibly-accused-clergy-highlighted-by-local-snap-chapter …

SNAP also identified a fifth former cleric who has been credibly accused of abuse who is currently living in San Antonio.

“There’s four names that we have found that are credibly accused clergy not on the official list that was released (by the Archdiocese of San Antonio) on Jan. 31 that we feel are a risk to the community,” said Patti Koo, leader of the local SNAP chapter “We know now, the church cannot police itself.”

The four men accused in other cities are Gerald Funcheon, Joseph Gutierrez-Cervantes, Michael Charland and Robert Koerner, who is dead.

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‘Abuse is abuse:’ N.J. bill would expand sex abuse statute of limitations

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Tribune

March 8, 2019

By Joe Hernandez

New Jersey’s Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a bill Thursday evening that would dramatically expand the state’s statute of limitations for sexual assault, allowing survivors to file civil lawsuits against their abusers for conduct that took place years or even decades earlier.

The up vote on a bill that had stalled in the Legislature in previous years came after hours of raw testimony from survivors about the abuse they had endured and the struggles of seeking justice with the state’s two-year limit.

This bill is focused on the statute of limitations on civil suits. In New Jersey, there is no criminal statute of limitations on sexual assault.

“They have been shut down by the court system, by this arbitrary deadline,” said Marci Hamilton, founder and CEO of Child USA. “It’s just a deadline.”

Under the plan, childhood victims of sexual abuse would have until age 55 to file a civil lawsuit — or within seven years of realizing that they were abused. Adult victims would have seven years from realizing their abuse.

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Advocates decry Cardinal Sean O’Malley’s latest step on clergy sex abuse

BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald.

March 8, 2019

By Lsia Kashinsky

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley on Friday announced an anonymous third-party system for reporting sexual abuse by cardinals and bishops, but clergy abuse victims and their advocates were quick to question its effectiveness.

The reporting system comes after a widely hyped Vatican summit on clerical sex abuse last month failed to engender substantive reform, producing little more than a guidebook for bishops on handling abuse.

Phil Saviano, a survivor of priest sexual assault, said O’Malley’s latest measure was “a step in the right direction” but urged those looking to report abuse to bypass the church and go straight to law enforcement.

“The cardinal says, ‘Make a report to us and then we’ll report it to civil authorities,’” Saviano said. “But you don’t know if they’re going to edit something out or how quickly they’re going to make the report to civil authorities. Why go through a middle man?”

In a letter to the local Catholic community, O’Malley said he plans to use the confidential EthicsPoint system “exclusively for the reporting of misconduct” by a cardinal, bishop or auxiliary bishop. Archdiocese of Boston spokesman Terrence Donilon said misconduct refers to accusations of sexual abuse against high-ranking officials, or issues with their handling of an abuse situation.

The new system will be run separately from the EthicsPoint system the archdiocese uses for reporting ethics and financial violations. Reports can be made online or through a toll-free hotline, and will be sent to O’Malley’s Independent Review Board, which he said must “immediately notify” law enforcement of abuse claims, as well as the Holy See’s diplomatic representative to the U.S.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, an advocate for victims of sexual abuse by priests, told the Boston Herald that O’Malley “fails to see the Archdiocese of Boston has a poor track record on sexual abuse and this proposal is just another layer in a cover-up of clergy sexual abuse.”

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Support group for clergy abuse victims applauds Indiana AG’s initiative

INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
CBS 4 TV

March 8, 2019

By Kelly Reinke

Attorney General Curtis Hill’s office introduced a new initiative to help victims of sexual abuse. It is now offering an online form to report abuse by clergy.

Hill says any forms submitted may be disclosed to law enforcement agencies in accordance with Indiana law.

Attorney generals in more than a dozen states said they are investigating or reviewing clergy abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. It’s making Hoosiers wonder how much of a problem it is in Indiana.

“I believe it will help survivors,” said Tim Lennon, President of Board of Directors for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

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SNAP questions list of clergy members named in report on child sexual abuse

SAN ANTONIO (TX)
KSAT TV

March 8, 2019

By Bill Barajas

Patti Koo and Barbara Garcia Boehland stood outside the Archdiocese of San Antonio on Friday to voice their concerns about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

“We’re calling on the Bishop (Gustavo) Garcia-Siller for truth and transparency, for the sake of protecting our children and vulnerable adults for the healing of survivors of clergy abuse,” said Koo, who is the San Antonio chapter leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

Koo believes at least four names are missing from the archdiocese’s list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse.

“The four names that were not on the list (were) credibly accused and spent time in San Antonio. The first one is Father Gerald Funcheon,” Koo said.

The other three names, according to Koo, are Joseph Gutierrez-Cervantes, Robert Koerner and Michael Charland.

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Expulsaron a sacerdote por pederasta en una iglesia de Tijuana

TIJUANA (MEXICO)
PSN Noticias [Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico]

March 8, 2019

By Redacción

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El Pbro. Felipe René Tlayeca Soledad fue expulsado de la Iglesia Príncipe de la Paz tras las acusaciones de pederastía por ordenes del Vaticano de Roma.

La Arquidiócedes Metropolitana de Tijuana lo puso en estado laico, lo cual significa que no podrá ejercer el oficio de sacerdote nuevamente, a pesar de las acusaciones todavía no existe un a orden en contra del padre.

Hay dos curas suspendidos por las mismas acusaciones sin un veredicto de parte de las autoridades, Enrique Tenorio Pérez y Juan Carlos Ackerman, ambos ya tienen denuncias en el ministerio público pero el arzobispo Francisco Moreno, no ha presentado declaraciones al respecto.

Fuente de Agencias

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#Exclusiva: Detrás de la sotana: 7 obispos mexicanos investigados por la Santa Sede

MEXICO CITY (MEXICO)
Noticias en la Mira [Ciudad de México, Mexico]

March 8, 2019

By Redacción

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Uno de los más notorios es el caso de Luis Fletes Santana, denunciado por abuso sexual a menores y amparado por Norberto Rivera

Bajo el denominado “secreto pontificio” se encubrieron por años cientos de casos de pederastia y malas conductas al interior de la iglesia católica mexicana. De estos, en un hecho sin precedentes, el pasado 5 de marzo la Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano (CEM) reconoció que en los últimos nueve años, al menos 157 sacerdotes han sido retirados por cometer abuso sexual contra menores y que hay 101 casos de religiosos a quienes se les sigue un proceso ministerial.

En este halo de secretismo que envuelve a la curia católica, se esconden siete casos de obispos mexicanos, acusados de pederastia o de falta a sus votos y responsabilidades.

Fuentes cercanas al tema afirman que los expedientes que dan cuenta de estos delitos fueron enviados a la Nunciatura Apostólica, quien recibió las denuncias hace varios años sin darles respuesta, por eso llegaron a manos de la Pontificia Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe.

Todos los casos fueron del conocimiento de la administración pasada, donde el encargado de darles seguimiento era el secretario de Gobernación, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, quien no implementó acciones para frenar los abusos.

Gracias a esta inoperancia, ahora el CEM afirma que desconoce el paradero de los 157 sacerdotes que han sido suspendidos de 2010 a la fecha, ya que una vez presentada la denuncia correspondiente, los casos son competencia de las autoridades civiles.

Un pederasta en la Arquidiócesis Primada

Al parecer con la intención de evitar un escándalo, dos de estos casos fueron ignorados por el Vaticano debido a que los jerarcas católicos involucrados, estaban cercanos a cumplir 75 años de edad, y presentarían sus renuncias en menos de un año. Tres casos más se analizan en la Santa Sede y obligaron a visitadores de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe a viajar a México para sostener diversas entrevistas con personas de las arquidiócesis y diócesis involucradas.

Uno de los más notorios es el caso de Luis Fletes Santana, obispo auxiliar de la Ciudad de México, quien fue denunciado ante el entonces todopoderoso cardenal Norberto Rivera, por abuso sexual a menores.

De acuerdo con testimonios anónimos, Rivera se reunió con familiares de los afectados y en un “arreglo de palabra” realizado en una de las subsecretarías del Gobierno, se acordó que se Fletes Santana se iría de México a cambio de no iniciar un juicio penal.

En 2004, Rivera cumplió en parte su promesa, el obispo auxiliar Fletes fue enviado a Roma a un monasterio, según informó la Arquidiócesis de México aunque sin dar a conocer las causas reales del viaje. Dos años después, el cardenal decidió que era hora de que regresara y lo nombró encargado del Secretariado para los Laicos.

Para explicar su ausencia, el semanario del Arzobispado, Desde la Fe, lo entrevistó, y en una nota titulada “De obispo a monje y de monje a obispo”, Fletes afirmó que su salida de México en 2004 fue porque solicitó permiso al cardenal Rivera Carrera para tomar su año sabático.

Yo decía: ’Dios me escogió para ser obispo y también me ofreció un año para acercarme aún más a Él’. Fue como un espaldarazo para seguir trabajando en su nombre”, indicó en su entrevista con el semanario.

En ese entonces (2006), una denuncia contra Rivera Carrera por “conspiración a la pederastia”, presentada en la Corte Superior de California por el joven Joaquín Aguilar, -quien acusó al sacerdote Nicolás Aguilar de abuso sexual cuando tenía solo 12 años-, revivió el temor de una demanda pública de las víctimas de Fletes.

Ante esto se le habría aconsejado al purpurado que lo más prudente era retirar un tiempo a Luis Fletes de la Arquidiócesis. La recomendación fue aceptada, y lo alejaron de la Iglesia mexicana, quien se limitó a informar por medio del Secretariado, que el aludido se había retirado a la vida de meditación en un monasterio, retirado y por ende había dejado de ser obispo auxiliar.

Así dejó de pertenecer al alto clero de la Arquidiócesis de México.

José Fernández Arteaga

“Autoritarismo enfermo basado en la obsesión del poder, no en el servicio, ni en la corresponsabilidad”, así denunciaron sacerdotes el carácter de José Fernández Arteaga, actual arzobispo emérito de Chihuahua.

Este es otro de los casos que investiga la Santa Sede, el de Arteaga, quien cuenta con 85 años actualmente y aunque las denuncias sobre su descuido pastoral se conocen desde 1997, nunca se actuó en su contra.

Los errores del arzobispo se detallan en el libro JFA elaborado por un grupo de sacerdotes en 2002. Criticaban su falta de espiritualidad, así como de humildad, de servicialidad y de pobreza evangélica, pues, sostenían que “su estilo de vida fastuoso y su inclinación a los que tienen el poder político y económico hacen que se le perciba alejado del pueblo”.

El 13 de julio de 1998 una comisión integrada por cinco sacerdotes le entregaron una carta al entonces nuncio apostólico Justo Mullor, en la Ciudad de México, reiterando la misiva dos años después, sin recibir respuesta.

Se fue Mullor en 2000 y así llegó Leonardo Sandri, y después Giuseppe Bertello. En vano fue el nuevo intento de denunciar las anomalías que observaban en la diócesis, al pedir que se revisaran los expedientes, y fueron ignorados una vez más.

Al no tener respuesta, el grupo de sacerdotes decidieron asesorarse y enviar el expediente integrado por diversos testimonios al Vaticano, a la Santa Sede.

Diversos medios locales documentaron las acusaciones contra Fernández Arteaga tras entrevistas a sacerdotes locales: Protección a curas pederastas y a los que violan los votos del celibato; administración de millones de pesos provenientes de diezmos y limosnas sin rendir cuentas; proselitismo entusiasta a favor de los candidatos del PRI, y trato despótico a la feligresía, así se las gastaba el protegido del cardenal Girolamo Prigione.

En 2008, Fernández Arteaga presentó su renuncia al entonces encargado del Vaticano, el Papa Benedicto XVI, y se convirtió en arzobispo emérito, cargo que ostenta hasta la actualidad.

El caso Tulancingo

Un tercer caso es el de Pedro Arandadíaz Muñoz, el primer hombre que dirigió la Arquidiócesis de Tulancingo y que falleció en noviembre pasado a la edad de 85 años. Fue conocido por su estrecha relación con los gobiernos priistas.

En 2007, el arzobispo cumplía tres años con problemas digestivos que habían afectado su riñón, una situación que lo obligó a encargar el trabajo pastoral a otros sacerdotes.

De acuerdo con las denuncias, las investigación de la Santa Sede en su contra se iniciaron por falta de gobernabilidad en la entonces diócesis de Tulancingo, elevada a arquidiócesis en noviembre de 2006.

“Mal comportamiento moral”

Otro escándalo al interior de la iglesia que habría sido encubierto por el “secreto pontificio” fue el del obispo de Celaya, Jesús Humberto Velásquez Garay, quien en el 2003, a sus 63 años de edad, fue retirado de la diócesis, 12 años antes de la edad de jubilación.

Las denuncias por su “mal comportamiento moral” (homosexualidad) habrían llegado a oídos de la Santa Sede, y aunque fue integrado un expediente y se le hizo un llamamiento desde la nunciatura para corregir su vida personal.

Finalmente en julio de 2003 el papa Juan Pablo II recibió su dimisión al gobierno pastoral de la diócesis de Celaya; falleció diez años después.

En diciembre de 2006, al obispo de Zamora, Carlos Suárez Cázares le fue solicitada su renuncia por el Papa Benedicto XVI.

Dicha dimisión fue en conformidad con el canon 401 apartado 2 del Código de Derecho Canónico que a la letra establece: “Se ruega encarecidamente al obispo diocesano que presente la renuncia de su oficio si por enfermedad u otra causa grave quedase disminuida su capacidad para desempeñarlo”.

La causa fue que el tenía una mujer con sus hijos, según reportó la prensa en aquella época.

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Victim says Jesuits are being ‘deceitful’

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

March 8, 2019

Officials give out some accused abusers’ names
Then later, they quietly disclose clerics’ assignments
New info shows 50% more alleged predators were here
SNAP ‘outs’ eight more publicly accused priest offenders
Total number of reported molesters at SLU now stands at 15

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will disclose the names of and details about 8 more publicly accused abusive local priests.

They will also
–charge local Jesuit officials with ‘misleading the public’ about the extent of the abuse here and
–call on Catholic staffers to disclose which child molesting clerics live or have lived or worked on at St. Louis University.

WHEN
Friday, March 8 at 1:30 p.m.

WHERE
Outside St. Francis Xavier Church, corner of Grand & Lindell, across from St. Louis University in St. Louis MO

WHO
Three or four members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org)

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Predatory teachers are moving from one school to another. Californians should be outraged

SAN LUIS OBISPO (CA)
The Tribune

March 8, 2019

Here’s a dirty little secret about California’s school system: In some cases, it allows predatory teachers to quietly walk away from their jobs – only to find employment at another district where they prey on more innocent children.

This is no different from what the Catholic Church has been doing with priests accused of molesting children, yet the level of outrage over what’s happening in schools is not even close to the horrified reaction the church has been getting.

That must change.

Whether it’s a parish or a school district, a leadership that remains silent is complicit in molesting children.

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Springfield Diocese churches open Monday for private prayers for victims of clergy abuse

SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican

March 8, 2019

By Anne-Gerard Flynn

Holy Name Church will have Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, March 11, as part of Bishop Mitchell Rozanski’s Diocesan Day of Prayer for Healing and Reconciliation.

In a Jan. 15 letter to parishes in the Springfield Roman Catholic diocese that covers all four counties of Western Massachusetts, Rozanski asked all churches to remain open on the first Monday in Lent as part of diocesan-wide efforts addressing the clergy sexual abuse crisis through “prayer and dialogue.”

Reminders have run in some parish bulletins and on websites, like that of Holy Name, and the diocese has explained the all-day hours, usually reserved only for observances in most parishes like Good Friday, as enabling “parishioners to come to offer private prayers for victims of clergy abuse, their families and loved ones.”

The healing day is part of other recent efforts the diocesan has undertaken in the wake of national and global events that have highlighted how the Church’s decades old abuse crisis continues to deepen and evolve and have ignited concerns in dioceses that did take early steps to address the issue.

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Is Cardinal Pell a perpetrator or victim? Aussie media keep wavering between the two

Get Religion blog

March 8, 2019

By Julia Duin

Ever since Australia’s Cardinal George Pell was convicted of child abuse, the journalism folks Down Under have been split on if he’s actually guilty or whether he’s the target of a vicious anti-Catholic campaign.

Reaction to his conviction and jailing (the sentencing isn’t until March 13), has rippled across the Pacific, prompting Ethics and Public Policy scholar George Weigel (writing at First Things) to call the Pell affair “our Dreyfus case.”

(Capt. Alfred Dreyfus was a French Jew and a military man who was wrongly pilloried and imprisoned in 1894 on charges of selling secrets to the Germans. He was declared innocent in 1906, but the matter was considered as barbaric anti-Semitism on the part of the French. The conflict tore at the heart of French society.)

I’ll get back to Weigel in a moment but first I want to quote from a piece BBC recently ran on all this.

Cardinal George Pell is awaiting sentencing for sexually abusing two boys in 1996. The verdict, which he is appealing against, has stunned and divided Australia in the past week.

It has sparked strong reactions from the cardinal’s most prominent supporters, some of whom have cast doubt on his conviction in a wider attack on Australia’s legal system.

The largely conservative backlash features some of Australia’s most prominent media figures, a university vice-chancellor and a leading Jesuit academic, among others.

Former prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott also continue to maintain their public support for the ex-Vatican treasurer.

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Giving alms should cover several bases

TAHLEQUAH (OKLAHOMA)
Daily Press

March 8, 2019

For members of Roman Catholic and mainline Christian churches, Lent began March 6 with Ash Wednesday. And this year, it came on with a bit more controversy than usual.

As more news emerges about child molesters among the clergy, church members are increasingly reluctant to “give alms” to bishops who enabled the predatory priests. A Washington Post column appearing in the Daily Press – written by a Catholic – made that point. In his way of thinking, tithes are directly controlled by the bishops, and a number of these men have blood on their hands.

Many people are outraged by how children have been systematically taken advantage of. They argue the mandatory celibacy of priests is a factor, because it attracts candidates who are sexually “disordered.” And although certain church officials may refer to LGBT people that way, it is certainly not the intent in this context. Sexually mature individuals, whether gay or straight, feel compelled to enter into relationships. It takes a special person to commit to permanent celibacy, and as we’ve seen, many priests and bishops in recent history may have indeed been “special,” but not in a good way.

Outside observers may not believe it, but Pope Francis has done more than any pontiff in modern history to acknowledge this scourge. An important element is the willingness of law enforcement agencies and prosecutorial bodies to put pressure on church officials. When children are being harmed, no member of the clergy has a right to hide behind “freedom of religion” to wriggle out of legal ramifications.

There are few these days who believe anyone can be “cured” of pedophilia. Pedophiles are born with their “preference,” and they can no more change that predilection than gay or straight folks. And the suggestion that homosexuality is related in any way to pedophilia is repulsive and ignorant – the kind of ignorance that touts a flat earth or draconian forms of public execution. Also outrageous is the willingness of some Catholics to wear blinders when it comes to pedophilia, while zealously demanding the eradication of abortion. Aren’t the young victims of predators entitled to the protection of pro-life advocates, or do only “pure” fetuses deserve that honor?

But when it comes to denying money to the church in retribution for the horrors committed by an alarming swath of the clergy, other considerations must come into play. For one, the church does exceptional work with the poor, unwed mothers, handicapped individuals and other social justice issues that many Americans consider important. For another, the “church,” regardless of denomination, is actually the people who are members, not the clergy itself.

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The two faces of George Pell

NEW SOUTH WALES (AUSTRALIA)
The Australian

March 9, 2019

By John Ferguson

Chrissie Foster won’t be in court when ­George Pell is sentenced on Wednesday. Foster could often be found sitting mid-courtroom after Pell was charged, her back straight, while barristers and witnesses fought over the detail of sex acts and ­intergenerational misery.

Instead of being there to watch the cardinal disappear, ghost-like, into the Victorian prison system, the relentless Foster will be in Canberra at a conference on the $4 billion national abuse redress scheme. “The sentence of Pell is the end of a process,’’ she tells The Weekend Australian. “That’s how I see it, whatever the sentence is. It’s like the job’s done.’’

Foster’s daughters Emma and Katie were in primary school when they were sexually abused by Melbourne priest Kevin O’Donnell between 1988 and 1993. Her children never fully recovered. Emma overdosed on medication and died in 2008, and Katie was hit by a car, suffering brain damage.

Foster and her husband ­Anthony, who died broken-hearted in 2017, sought help from Pell about the same time the cardinal, a jury has found, had sexually assaulted two choirboys in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne.

The Fosters found Pell to be dismissive and obstructionist.

Chrissie Foster says: “We have been the victim pool for the ­priesthood.’’

In many ways, Wednesday’s sentencing will be the beginning of the end of the legal debate about Pell. An appeal against the jury’s convictions is to be heard mid-year, two years after Sano taskforce detectives charged the 77-year-old cardinal with multiple offences.

Pell will receive a moderate to heavy sentence from County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd.

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Boston Cardinal Announces Reporting System For Misconduct Claims Against Church Leaders

BOSTON (MA)
WBUR Radio

March 8, 2019

By Laney Ruckstuhl

In the wake of last month’s landmark Vatican summit on clergy sexual abuse, Cardinal Sean O’Malley has announced an anonymous reporting system for misconduct complaints against church leaders of the Archdiocese of Boston.

O’Malley says the archdiocese will utilize the existing web-based and hotline system EthicsPoint, which is currently used for reporting concerns of financial misconduct. The updated system will be “exclusively for the reporting of misconduct by a Cardinal, Bishop or Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston,” O’Malley says.

O’Malley made the announcement in his Lenten letter, noting that this year’s observance is of “particular significance” following the summit, where he served as president of the Pontifical Commission for Protection of Minors.

To conclude the summit, Pope Francis called for an “all-out battle” on clergy sex abuse. But the summit has been criticized by some for its lack of substantive action against sexual abuse. The cardinal says “people are anxious to see concrete results.”

The letter says reports through EthicsPoint will be sent to members of O’Malley’s Independent Review Board, who are required to “immediately notify law enforcement for claims of abuse.”

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More publicly accused Jesuits who were in St. Louis 3/19

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

March 8, 2019

Below is an additional list of Jesuit priests who have been publicly accused of abuse and also spent time at St. Louis UNiversity..

–Fr. David C Bayne was at St. Louis University Law School from 1960 – 1966

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/order_lists/Jesuits_Midwest/2018_12_17_Jesuits_Midwest_Established_Allegations_12_18.pdf

–Fr. James A. Condon was at The Queen’s Work in St. Louis from 1960-1964

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/order_lists/Jesuits_Midwest/2018_12_17_Jesuits_Midwest_Established_Allegations_12_18.pdf

–Fr. Paul Frey was at St. Louis University from 1945-1947. In civil suit(s) filed in 2010, at least two individuals have alleged abuse by Frey at church-run Native American boarding schools in South Dakota.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2011/03_04/2011_04_19_Woodard_SouthDakota.htm

–Fr. James F. Gates was at St. Louis University from 1973-1975 and at Vianney Renewal Center Dittmer, Missouri from 2010 – 2012. Roughly 15 women and one man accused Gates and Fr. John Morse of abuse when they were students at St. Mary’s Mission and School on the Colville Indian Reservation in the1950 and 1960s. He was put on leave and supposedly lives under supervision at a Jesuit residence. In 2008, the Jesuits announced a $4.8 million settlement with the 16 accusers.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2008/01_02/2008_01_04_Stucke_JesuitsSettle.htm

–Fr. James V. O’Connor was at St. Louis University from 1949-1952.

http://jesuitarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/RG-01.07-Records-of-Provincial-John-V.-OConnor-S.J..pdf

–Fr. Anthony Short was at St. Louis University High School from 1965-1968.

http://image.jesuits.org/MIDWESTPROV/media/All_Pastoral_Assignments_of_Jesuits_on_Midwest_Jesuits-12-17-18_List_posted_21_Dec_2018.pdf

–Fr. William J. Spine was at Washington University from (1966–1968), in Peru (1975-1981), at Loyola University in Chicago (1973-1975), in Brooklyn (1981-1983) in Moline, IL (1983-1986), Chicago (1986-1990 and 1991-2001), in Berkeley CA (1990-1991) and in Lexington KY (2001-2006). He is accused of abusing a child in Peru in mid-1970s and was permanently removed from duties in 2006 (several months after diocese learned of allegations). From 2007-2010, he was evidently in In Rome.

http://www.bishopaccountability.org/assign/Spine_William_J_sj.htm

https://www.nytimes.com/1981

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Pope laments ‘pain, unbearable suffering’ of clerical abuse scandals

ROME (ITALY)
Crux

March 8, 2019

By Claire Giangravè

On the same day that a French Cardinal became the latest churchman to be convicted for covering up clerical sexual abuse, Pope Francis on Thursday acknowledged “the pain and unbearable suffering” recent scandals have brought during a yearly Lenten speech to Roman clergy.

“Sin perverts us, and we painfully experience it when we ourselves or one of our brother priests or bishops falls in the bottomless chasm of vice, of corruption, or even worse of crime that destroys the life of others,” the pope said March 7 in off-the-cuff remarks during a closed-door meeting at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.

Later in the day, the Vatican released an official transcript of the pope’s comments.

“We mustn’t lose hope, [because] the Lord is purifying his spouse, he is converting us all to him,” the pope said. “He’s making us face this challenge so we understand that without him we are dust. He is saving us from hypocrisy.”

Francis’s remarks took place after French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin was found guilty by civil courts of failing to report cases of sexual abuse by clergy and given a six-month suspended sentence.

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Speaking on his behalf

MANCHESTER (CT)
Journal Inquirer

March 8, 2019

When I saw Richard Cardarelli listed amongst abusive priests my heart sank. I knew it was untrue. I must speak on his behalf.

I had known Cardarelli since 1983. I shared a close friendship with him — vacationing with him in Las Vegas at the home of his mom Ginger and stepdad Izzie; I danced at his brother Stevie and Jane’s wedding. We confided worries, hopes, and disappointments.

I held him when he wept like a wounded animal having received Vatican papers stripping him of his priestly faculties for perceived disobedience. Bearing witness as a priest and caring for others meant everything to him. In turn, he shared my dark hours.

Cardarelli was unlike any priest I know — except the Great High Priest. He extended an experience of the human Jesus: joyful, patient, loving, forgiving. His favorite Scripture was from John’s Gospel: “No greater love hath a man than to lay down his life for his friends,” And he did that, giving his time, talent, and treasure to any and everyone.

When his father Bud died, Cardarelli surrendered his inheritance to his alma mater’s scholarship fund only to become persona non grata when defrocked and later, like Galileo, excommunicated.

Yet, nothing can separate us from the love of God, St. Paul reminds. Cardarelli, like Jesus, was falsely accused and suffered indignity; his life was a journey toward the cross.

Despite all, Cardarelli loved the Roman Catholic Church. He challenged her to live out the Second Vatican Council’s vision to be a universal/welcoming community engaged in dialogue — the people of God on a journey — rather than a corporate institution

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Clergy sex abuse survivors’ group demands KCPD remove twice-accused chaplain

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Kansas City Star

March 7, 2019

By Glenn E. Rice and Judy L. Thomas

A victims’ advocate group is demanding that a Kansas City Police Department chaplain who once faced sexual abuse allegations be removed.

The Rev. Stan Archie, who is a licensed counselor, has served as a police chaplain for about a decade. In 2014, a Jackson County jury ordered Archie’s church, Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, to pay $350,000 to a former staffer who said Archie took sexual advantage of her.

“We think a twice-accused predator should not be given titles and roles that enable him to win people’s trust,” said David Clohessy, former national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“This is just reckless,” Clohessy said Thursday.

“We would ask the Chief what will it do for confidence in the department if another victim steps forward. Imagine what it would do for public confidence in the department if they are forced to admit down the road after another allegation.”

The Police Department said in a written statement that it was investigating and reviewing the matter internally.

“The Kansas City Missouri Police Department takes accusations of this nature very seriously,” the statement said. “Although chaplains are unpaid volunteers, we acknowledge this chaplain is affiliated with our department. Therefore, any accusations of misconduct are very concerning to us.”

Archie is the senior pastor at the Christian Fellowship Baptist Church at 4509 Troost Avenue.

Reached by phone Thursday, he said the 2014 lawsuit settlement exonerated him of the accusations.

“It is up to the Police Department to do their internal investigation,” he said. “I think responding to false accusations in a submissive way does not support the element of truth.”

Archie said he has been investigated on three separate occasions and has not been criminally charged. “They have all turned up the same,” he said. “At the end of the day, do I want to continue to serve and support people, well that’s what I do.”

Police Department chaplains are not involved in criminal investigations but periodically deliver invocations at department events, police said. Chaplains from different faiths make themselves available to staff members who want spiritual advice and support.

The Police Department has 12 chaplains but plans to expand that number to 18.

Archie resigned as president of the Missouri State Board of Education in January 2013 after two women filed lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct.

A former staffer said Archie had taken sexual advantage of her by abusing his position as a pastoral counselor at the church. Three other women testified at a trial in 2014 that Archie had inappropriate sexual discussions with them.

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Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse is ‘going to have an effect around the world’: Catholic critic

AUSTRALIA
The Newcastle Herald

February 8, 2017

By Joanne McCarthy

ONE of the Catholic Church’s most vocal internal critics has urged the Australian child abuse royal commission to push the church to change because “what you say and what you come up with is going to have an effect around the world”.

“I believe what you are doing is unique in the world. It is historic. It is going to make a mammoth difference in the long run,” said American Dominic priest Dr Tom Doyle during evidence on Tuesday, after more than 33 years of fighting for change from within the church.

“You have taken something on that is mind-boggling and you are going into it in a deeper, more enlightened, more courageous manner than any other body that I have had contact with.”

Dr Doyle said the problem of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church was “not unique in Australia”, but the royal commission was the strongest response from any nation.

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Church knew Pell was at centre of decades-old lurid sex claims

AUSTRALIA
The Sydney Morning Herald

March 7, 2019

By Barney Zwartz

The claims were lurid and unverified so Helen Last, the counsellor hired by the Catholic Church in Melbourne to assist victims of clerical abuse, agonised before reporting them to her superiors.

It was 1996 and the newly appointed archbishop, George Pell, had just set up the Melbourne Response to handle the rising numbers of sex abuse claims received by the archdiocese.

An ex-seminarian known as ‘‘Joe’’ came forward alleging that Pell and several other priests had, 10 to 15 years earlier, been having sex with Mannix College trainee clerics at ‘‘parties … involving young men’’.

Joe was not a strong witness. He wanted $20,000 for compromising photographs that appeared to be of Pell and others engaged in sexual acts, but could not produce the negatives. Despite this, Ms Last felt she could not dismiss Joe’s allegations.

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The Pell Case, the Continuing Vast Gulf Between What Francis Says re: Abuse and What Really Happens

LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage

March 8, 2019

By William Lindsey

Another set of items that have gotten my attention lately, with a theme binding theme together:

Patrick Parkinson, “The Cardinal and Mr Anonymous: George Pell’s defenders mustn’t repeat the mistakes of the past”:

And yet there is something troubling about the one-sidedness of the defence of Cardinal Pell by Catholic commentators; for while we have heard the Cardinal’s angry denials in a police interview, and while so many words have been written in criticism of the verdict by influential friends and supporters, there is one voice that has not been heard: that of his accuser. The criticisms of the verdict are implicitly denunciations of this man as well as of the anonymous jury members who took so long to consider the evidence before handing down their verdict. …

Why do I speak up for him? Because the Christian faith requires me to treat everyone as equal in God’s eyes, whether they are princes of the Church or anonymously ordinary. Because I know how hard it is for victims of sexual crimes to get through the multiple stages of the criminal trial process. Because I know the different ways in which, through intensive and lengthy cross-examination, defence counsel seeks to undermine the victim’s credibility. Because in nearly twenty-five years of engagement with the issue of child sexual abuse in church communities, I know how often men like this complainant have not been listened to. And because I recall how often I have heard from senior Catholic leaders that the scurrilous accusations being made by victims are an attack on the Church; or that complainants are just making up claims in order to get compensation.

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Boston archdiocese to set up reporting system for abuse by top church officials

BOSTON (MA)
The Boston Globe

March 8, 2019

By Martin Finucane

Two weeks after a historic Vatican summit on the problem of clergy sex abuse, the archdiocese of Boston said Friday it will set up a third-party system that will allow people to report misconduct by top church officials.

A “dominant theme” at the summit was “the need for an effective reporting mechanism when a Bishop or Cardinal has failed in his duty to protect children or has himself abused children or vulnerable adults,” Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley said in a Lenten message to the faithful.

O’Malley said he believed the US Conference of Bishops would develop “effective procedures,” but he wanted to immediately address the need for the Boston archdiocese.

“To that end I have decided to implement EthicsPoint, a confidential, anonymous and third-party system, exclusively for the reporting of misconduct by a Cardinal, Bishop or Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston,” O’Malley said.

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Philadelphia priest charged with raping girl, recording their sex acts

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

March 5, 2019

By Jeremy Roebuck

A suspended Catholic priest has been charged with raping a teenage girl at his former Roxborough parish and recording their sexual encounter five years ago.

According to court records, the Rev. Armand Garcia, most recently of St. Martin of Tours Parish in the city’s Summerdale section, surrendered to Philadelphia police Monday — a year after the investigation of his conduct emerged into public view with a police search of his rectory.

Yet a day after his arrest, details of his alleged crimes remained hazy.

A spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the case, and court records detailing the basis for the charges were not available Tuesday afternoon.

Sources familiar with the investigation said the charges stemmed from Garcia’s relationship with an altar girl at Immaculate Heart Parish in Roxborough, with whom investigators believe he had sexual contact starting when she was about 16.

Garcia, now 49, allegedly offered her alcohol or marijuana during encounters over a period of years in the parish rectory, his living quarters, and other locations, said those sources, who were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

The specific count of rape with which Garcia was charged Monday stems from an alleged incident in August 2014, according to court filings. His accuser came forward after he had been transferred to St. Martin of Tours in Summerdale in 2017.

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Former Northeast Phila. pastor arrested for child sex abuse

PHILADELPIHIA (PA)
Philly Catholic

March 5, 2019

By Matthew Gambino

Father Armand D. Garcia, 49, was arrested March 4 on three charges of rape, corruption of a minor and sexual abuse of a minor.

A priest of the Philadelphia Archdiocese ordained in 2005 and a former pastor of St. Martin of Tours Parish in Northeast Philadelphia, Father Garcia is alleged to have committed the crimes on Aug. 1, 2014.

At the time he was parochial vicar at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in the city’s Roxborough section. He was assigned to the parish in 2011 after having taken a voluntary personal leave from ministry the prior year.

The year-long investigation into his conduct by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office spans from 2014 to 2017, when he was pastor of St. Martin of Tours, according to a statement from the archdiocese.

The charges against Father Garcia “are serious and disturbing,” said archdiocesan spokesman Ken Gavin in a statement.

“The archdiocese is cooperating fully with law enforcement regarding this matter and remains fervently committed to preventing child abuse as well as protecting the children and young people entrusted to its care.”

Last March 16, the archdiocese had placed Father Garcia on administrative leave immediately while Philadelphia law enforcement investigated “alleged misconduct with minors on the part of Father Garcia” and executed a search warrant at the St. Martin rectory the same day, Gavin said at that time.

The priest has been living in a private residence since that time and he has not been permitted to exercise public ministry, administer the sacraments or present himself publicly as a priest.

At the time of last year’s investigation, the allegation of misconduct with a minor was the first such report received on Father Garcia, according to the archdiocese. He had cleared criminal background checks and child abuse clearances, and had completed the archdiocese’s mandatory safe environment training courses.

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Editorial: Nelson case will test churches responsibility for their priests

AUKLAND (NEW ZEALAND)
New Zealand Herald

March 9, 2019

Churches have covered up sexual abuse by their priests for probably just one reason, Christianity is a forgiving creed.

Its offending clerics have broken spiritual as well as temporal laws and the offenders’ opportunity for spiritual reconciliation has been more important to the hierarchy than the demands of public justice.

That is obviously no defence in courts of law. Instead, the churches have been running a far less respectable defence which is about to be tested before the Human Rights Review Tribunal in a case we report today.

The Anglican Church is arguing that a priest accused by a parishioner of sexual harassment, was an agent of God not the church and therefore its hierarchy cannot be held accountable for his behaviour.

Lawyers for the complainant insist the priest was an agent of his diocese and the vicar of his parish (in Blenheim) and the bishop of the diocese (Nelson) are “vicariously liable” under the harassment provisions of the Human Rights Act.

It is a pity to see how far the Christian church sometimes go to avoid responsibility for the conduct of some of the men they have made priests and put in positions of great trust.

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Landmark human rights case seeks to make Church responsible for abusive priests

AUKLAND (NEW ZEALAND)
New Zealand Herald

March 9, 2019

By Kirsty Johnston

The Anglican Church is facing a landmark case from a parishioner arguing it should be responsible for abusive priests – one of whom allegedly harassed her in counselling sessions after her baby’s death.

It will be the first time a New Zealand church has been tested as an employer under human rights law, and if successful could prompt wholesale changes in the hiring and training of ministers.

Until now churches accused of abuse have argued clergy are not employees providing a service, but agents of God responding to a “calling”, and therefore church hierarchy cannot be held accountable.

However, in the case currently before the Human Rights Review Tribunal, it is argued the priest was an “agent” of his diocese, and that he abused the woman while carrying out his duties – and therefore both the vicar and the bishop are “vicariously liable” under the sexual harassment provisions in the Human Rights Act.

Similar cases overseas have had mixed results – but in both the UK and Canada recently, courts have found the church is liable for its priests.

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‘Reparation’ Mass: Catholic Bishops, Reeling From Sex Abuse Crisis, Try to Make Amends

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

March 8, 2019

By Rick Rojas

When the Archdiocese of Hartford released a list this year identifying 48 priests accused of sexual abuse, five of them had served at the same church: St. George’s, in the small coastal town of Guilford. One had been a pastor there for more than a decade, baptizing children and hearing confessions.

Some in the large congregation were deeply hurt. Some fumed, saying they held onto Catholic teachings, but saw their faith in the men leading the church disintegrating amid a cascade of allegations.

And so The Most Rev. Leonard P. Blair, the archbishop of Hartford, responded to the crisis with an extraordinary gesture: He held a special Mass of Reparations. He said that he came before the congregation “on my knees as a bishop” in search of forgiveness.

“I ask forgiveness of God, of the wider community and our own Catholic community,” Archbishop Blair said, standing before the packed church in flowing vestments and the red-rose skull cap worn by bishops. “I ask it especially of all the victims of sexual abuse and their families. I ask it for all the church leadership has done or failed to do.”

Bishops across the country are reeling over accusations that they are implicated in a decades-long cover-up to protect priests who had sexually abused children. They are on a campaign of apologizing, often in personal terms, as the Catholic Church wrestles with the fallout of a scandal that has drawn the scrutiny of law enforcement officials and stirred a crisis of confidence among followers.

Some, like Archbishop Blair, have held somber reparations Masses or led worshipers in special rosary prayers. They have offered conciliatory messages in homilies and in letters, like the one from Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, who expressed his “genuine sorrow and regret to the victims who put their trust in a member of the church only to have that trust so profoundly betrayed.”

And last month, Pope Francis decried an “evil that strikes at the very heart of our mission,” as he gathered bishops at the Vatican for a landmark gathering on sexual abuse.

It is a recognition of how the scandal engulfing the church has evolved and spread. “It’s not a clergy abuse scandal anymore,” said David Gibson, the director for the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University. “It’s a bishop accountability scandal now.”

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Investigation Of Sexual Abuse In Catholic Church Could Drive Out Darkness

HONOLULU (HI)
Honolulu Civil Beat

March 8, 2019

By Michael Golojuch Jr. .

Senate Concurrent Resolution 8 is making its way through the Hawaii Legislature. This resolution asks Hawaii’s attorney general to conduct a statewide investigation of sexual abuse of minors by clergy of the Diocese of Honolulu. This study would be similar to an investigation done in Pennsylvania which brought out more that 300 predator priests and a minimum of 1,000 victims.

Diocese of Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva’s testimony against the resolution contained “shock” that it received a hearing, pointed fingers at family members as a greater source of sexual assault of keiki, and — the biggest misstep of his testimony — implied that the Roman Catholic Church has cleaned up its act when it came to its historic systemic sexual assault of keiki.

Silva stated that SCR 8 wasn’t needed since they have paid the survivors that came forward during the periods the statute of limitations was lifted for those that were sexual assaulted as children.

The Diocese of Honolulu has never turned over a single priest to the authorities for prosecution. It has offered counseling provided by the same pool of priests tainted by sexual predators. It has shown little to no remorse for the damage that the sexual assault of keiki by its priests has caused the survivors, their families and the community.

The main reason why SCR 8 is needed is the 2018 report by Jeff Anderson & Associates, “Clerical Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Honolulu.”

It detailed the accused clergy in the Diocese of Honolulu from 1959 to present. It showed the methodical way the Diocese of Honolulu protected the rapists, putting thousands of keiki at risk over the decades and in the process allowing the systematic raping of untold number of survivors.

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What’s wrong with the proposed sexual abuse amendment to the SBC constitution

Baptist News Global

March 8, 2019

By Christa Brown

The Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee has proposed an amendment to the SBC constitution that would allow for churches to be disfellowshipped when they are determined to have “evidenced indifference in addressing sexual abuse.”

Sounds good, right?

But take a closer look.

The amendment sets forth four examples of conduct the committee can consider as evidence of church indifference:

(a) employing a convicted sex offender,
(b) allowing a convicted sex offender to work as a volunteer in contact with minors,
(c) continuing to employ a person who unlawfully concealed from law enforcement information regarding the sexual abuse of any person by an employee or volunteer of the church, or
(d) willfully disregarding compliance with mandatory child abuse reporting laws.

All four focus on determinations of criminal conduct. This is troubling because sexual abuse cases that encounter the criminal justice system are just the tip of the iceberg.

Further, when one examines how the committee has recently applied these standards, what was troubling on its face becomes even more grievously flawed in the application. While the amendment’s language suggests there could be “other things” that would trigger a determination of “indifference,” in application the committee treated these four as being the only standards.

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New name for Mundelein retreat center where priests accused of abuse were sent

CHICAGO (IL)
Sun Times

March 8, 2019

By Robert Herguth

While serving as a priest in the Chicago area in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, James M. Ray engaged in disturbing conduct, according to allegations contained in church records, from having children sit on his lap while he had an erection to grabbing a boy’s penis and helping a disabled man masturbate in an airport bathroom.

The Catholic church didn’t kick him out of the priesthood but in the 1990s moved him into a supervised setting to live away from children — at the Cardinal Stritch Retreat House adjacent to the Mundelein Seminary where, in 1975, Ray had been ordained.

He wasn’t alone in living at the north suburban retreat center, which the Archdiocese of Chicago for years used to house troubled priests, as well as for spiritual gatherings for prelates and the public. Church records show Ray and eight others were staying there in 2008, a year before he left and quit the clergy.

The last of the priests accused of sexual abuse there were moved in 2013. But the stigma lasted.

The archdiocese — the Catholic church’s arm in Cook and Lake counties, overseen by Cardinal Blase Cupich — recently changed the name of the Cardinal Stritch Retreat House. It’s now called the Joseph and Mary Retreat House.

The church’s explanation for the change, outlined on the retreat center’s Facebook page, says: “We want the name to reflect a more inclusive retreatant, moms, dads, young adults, grandparents as well as maintaining a spiritual renewal place for priests” and deacons.

“We feel that the name Joseph and Mary” — Jesus’ stepfather and mother, according to the Christian Bible — “reflects that new mission of inclusive spiritual renewal. We have made many new improvements to reflect the needs of our retreatants.”

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‘Give victims a taste of justice.’ Sexual assault survivors plead for more time to file suit over past abuse in N.J.

NEWARK (NJ)
Star Ledger

March 7, 2019

By Susan K. Livio

Bearing photos of themselves as children, six sisters came to a Statehouse hearing in Trenton on Thursday to plead with a panel of state lawmakers to vote in favor of bill allowing child sex assault victims in New Jersey to sue over past abuse.

Five of the Fortney sisters say they were sexually assaulted decade ago by Father Augustine Giella, a priest who was transferred to their parish in western Pennsylvania from the Archdiocese of Newark. They are still seeking answers.

The legislation would expand the state statute of limitations for civil lawsuits in the state, allowing the women to sue and perhaps be able to find out the extent of his horrific acts, they said.

“So much of our story is here in New Jersey,” said Patty Fortney-Julius, one of the five sisters who was sexually abused for nearly 10 years. “We want to know why he was moved from the Newark diocese. … Was he a known pedophile here in New Jersey? Did the Newark Diocese knowingly move our pedophile monster priest to our front door?”

After five hours of emotional testimony, the state Senate Judiciary Committee approved the legislation by a 8-1 vote. The same bill is expected to be voted on Monday in the state Assembly Judiciary Committee, and then voted on by both houses later this month.

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Indiana Attorney General provides forum to report abusive clergy

FT. WAYNE (IN)
News Sentinel

March 7, 2019

Attorney General Curtis Hill’s office is providing an online form enabling individuals to more easily report instances involving alleged abuse by clergy. The form may be found at the his homepage at www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/.

“Recent national and international reports of alleged abuse committed by clergy members have prompted widespread concerns,” Hill said in a statement. “Hoosiers are understandably worried that this kind of criminal activity might go underreported even here in Indiana. As a result, we have decided to make sure citizens have an available means of reporting any potential abuse so that authorities at all levels of government can pursue justice for victims.”

Any forms submitted may be disclosed to appropriate law enforcement agencies in accordance with Indiana law. Anyone submitting a form may be contacted by an investigator.

“Members of the clergy hold positions of great responsibility,” Hill added. “People trust them and look to them for guidance. By providing this service, we help ensure that if ever a religious leader betrays that trust by committing an illegal act of abuse, he or she is more likely to be found out and investigated. Those who violate our laws must be held fully accountable for their actions.”

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The Catholic church and its culture of pedophilia

PASADENA (CA)
PCC Courier

March 6, 2019

Top financial advisor and pedophile Cardinal George Pell faces up to 50 years to life in prison in Melbourne, Australia for molesting two choir boys in the 1990’s. All the while Pope Francis and the Catholic church scramble to cover up the sexual assault of the day until the next molestation scandal makes headlines.

According to USA Today, the news came after Francis held a summit on sex abuse and how to better respond to victims.

“The time has come to find a correct equilibrium of all values in play and to provide uniform directives for the Church,” Francis said during the summit. “Avoiding the two extremes of a ‘justicialism’ provoked by guilt for past errors and media pressure, and a defensiveness that fails to confront the causes and effects of these grave crimes.”

The culture of pedophilia in the Catholic church wasn’t provoked by “justicialism” or media frenzy.

The fact that the Catholic church is now holding annual summits on how to prevent child abuse in the church is ridiculous and ironic. How about not creating any victims to begin with?

The church’s leadership and priest betrayed their followers and violated them physically and emotionally taking advantage of their position in our communities and must be brought to justice without any regard for their position in the church.

Unfortunately, demoting, transferring and protecting pedophiles has been the job of the Catholic church, and its only concern is its future and the loss of followers around the world.

“Last week, Francis defrocked former U.S. cardinal Theodore McCarrick, 88, after Vatican officials found him guilty of sex crimes against minors and adults,” Doug Stanglin wrote in US Today. “McCarrick is the most senior Catholic official to be defrocked for such crimes.”

If the most senior officials are allowed to go without being legally prosecuted, then how serious is the church about rooting out pedophilia among their flock?

Francis doesn’t care for the victims whose lives were affected by the clergy; if he cared for the future of the church and victims of sexual assault, he’d make immediate changes to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

“Since the clergy abuse scandal first exploded onto the scene in the United States in 2002, the Vatican has seen cases emerge in nearly every corner of the world,” The Washington Post reported. “Thousands of priests have been disciplined by the Holy See, but even that figure doesn’t account for the scale of the problem.”

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Costa Rican police raid Church offices after priests accused of sex abuse

DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency

March 7, 2019

The offices of the Archdiocese of San José and the Costa Rican bishops’ conference were raided by police Thursday as part of an investigation of two priests accused of sex abuse.

The Judiciary Investigation Department confiscated computers and files March 7 in search of information regarding Fathers Manuel Antonio Guevara Fonseca and Mauricio Viquez Lizano, and proof of potential cover-up by Archbishop José Rafael Quiros Quiros of San Jose, according to the AP.

Viquez, 54, has been dismissed from the clerical state, the San José archdiocese announced March 4. Nine canonical complaints of sexual abuse of altar boys had been filed against him. He had been teaching at a local university, but he fled Costa Rica Jan. 7, and prosecutors in the country have issued an international arrest warrant.

Guevara, 52, was arrested earlier this month for one allegation of sexual abuse against a minor. He has been released from prison, but has strict regulations to follow and is suspended from his work at Santo Domingo de Heredia parish.

The 52 year-old priest was only kept in prison for one night, but he must check in with civil authorities once a month, cannot change addresses, and has surrendered his passport. He is also forbidden from any form of contact with the victim.

The Costa Rican bishops’ conference issued a statement a day after his arrest, seeking forgiveness for a lack of an appropriate response in other sex abuse cases, according to Q Costa Rica.

“We humbly acknowledge our mistakes and ask forgiveness for the faults that have been painfully committed by some members of our church,” the bishops said.

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Cardinals guilty of sexual misdeeds are facing justice in Vatican courts

ROME (ITALY)
Associated Press

March 7, 2019

By Nicole Winfield

The conviction of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin for failing to report a known pedophile priest to police deepens the crisis confronting an already discredited Catholic Church hierarchy. The verdict handed down by magistrates Thursday shows the church’s once-untouchable “princes” increasingly are judged accountable for priests who abuse children and the superiors who allowed the abuse to continue.

After centuries of impunity, cardinals from Chile to Australia and points in between are facing justice in both the Vatican and government courts for their own sexual misdeeds or for having shielded abusers under their watch.

Here is a look at cases implicating Catholic cardinals, members of the exclusive club of prelates that advises the pope and eventually elects his successor.

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The Pope to the priests of Rome: I carry the pain of the scandals all over the newspapers of the world

ROME (ITALY)
Vatican Insider

March 7, 2019

“I share with you the pain and unbearable punishment that the wave of scandals of which the newspapers of the whole world are now full, is causing in the whole ecclesial body “. “Let us not be discouraged, the Lord is purifying his Bride” and “is saving us from hypocrisy”. These grieving words were uttered by the Pope to the priests of the Diocese of Rome, all gathered this morning in the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano for the traditional meeting at the beginning of Lent.

A sincere dialogue, behind closed doors, during which Bergoglio, flanked by Vicar Angelo De Donatis, did not answer questions as in previous meetings, but spoke for about half an hour following a written speech interspersed with several impromptu sentences. Before that, the Pontiff personally confessed numerous priests.

Then he decides to confess to the priests of “his” diocese, his own state of mind burdened by the recent scandals of abuse, rekindled by the condemnation at the end of February of the Australian Cardinal George Pell and that of a few hours ago of the Archbishop of Lyons, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, without forgetting the various cases in Chile, in the United States and in various European countries.

“It is evident that the true meaning of what is happening is to be sought in the spirit of evil, in the enemy who acts with the pretence of being master of the world”, said the Pope according to what was reported to Vatican Insider by some present in the Basilica. “Yet let us not be discouraged, the Lord is purifying His Bride, He is converting us all to Himself, He is putting us to the test for we to understand that without Him we are dust, He is saving us from hypocrisy, from the spirituality of appearances. He is blowing his Spirit to restore beauty to his Bride, surprised in flagrant adultery.

“Sin disfigures us and with sorrow we live the humiliating experience when we ourselves or one of our brother priests or bishops falls into the bottomless abyss of vice, corruption, or even worse of the crime that destroys the lives of others,” said Francis.

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March 7, 2019

EXPULSAN A SACERDOTE DE IGLESIA DE TIJUANA POR PEDERASTIA

TIJUANA (MEXICO)
En Línea BC [Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico]

March 7, 2019

By Sergio Anzures-Chavarin

Read original article

AJEDREZ POLÍTICO

*EXPULSAN A SACERDOTE DE IGLESIA DE TIJUANA POR PEDERASTIA

*SIGUEN DOS CURAS SUSPENDIDOS

Por acusaciones de pederastia en la iglesia de Tijuana, hay un sacerdote que fue reducido a estado laical; es decir, jamás podrá ejercer el presbiterio, en tanto, siguen suspendidos temporalmente dos curas, mientras se decide su situación por parte de la Arquidiócesis Local.


René Tlayeca fue párroco de la iglesia Príncipe de la Paz de esta ciudad, a quien se le acusó de pederastia, por lo que hace más de un año, por orden del Vaticano en Roma, la Arquidiócesis Metropolitana de Tijuana lo redujo a estado laico, quitándole sus derechos para ejercer el sacerdocio.


A pesar de las pruebas en su contra, el arzobispo de Tijuana, Francisco Moreno Barron, no presentó denuncia penal en contra del ex sacerdote René Tlayeca.


Enrique Tenorio Pérez, ex párroco de la iglesia de La Asunción en la colonia Las Huertas, primero sección, y de la parroquia San Martín Caballero en Las Villas, tiene cuatro años suspendido en espera que la Santa Sede o la Arquidiócesis decida su situación.


Si lo exoneran o se le suspenden sus derechos, jamás podrá ejercer el sacerdocio; al padre Enrique Tenorio se le interpuso una denuncia penal en la Procuraduría de Justicia del Estado, pero se asegura que el expediente fue archivada por petición de la Arquidiócesis de Tijuana.


Enrique Tenorio fue acusado en el 2012 junto con otros padres de Tijuana de pederastia, por el ex rector del Seminario Mayor, Eduardo Ortiz. En el 2014 el Vaticano ordenó la investigación y separación de los sacerdotes.
Entre ellos, el italiano Danilo Pietro Zanini, de la parroquia San José, y el alemán Jeffrey David Newell Lambert de la Iglesia Nuestra Señora de La Encarnación, de Camino Verde, así como Benigno Medrano, de la iglesia Medalla Milagrosa, de la colonia Buena Vista.


A principios del 2016, Jeffrey David Newell y Benigno Medrano fueron exonerados por el entonces arzobispo Rafael Romo Muñoz; regresaron al sacerdocio.


El italiano Danilo Pietro Zanini fue exonerado por el actual arzobispo Francisco Moreno Barron.
A Moreno Barron le tocó suspender desde el año pasado al sacerdote Juan Carlos Ackerman Ayon, para investigación por señalamientos de pederastia.


Muchos sacerdotes se preguntan: ¿por qué Ackerman Ayon se presenta en programas de televisión como sacerdote si se encuentra suspendido? Por lo que aseguran que eso mancha más a la iglesia católica de Tijuana.
Las fuentes sacerdotales de la Arquidiócesis de Tijuana manifiestan que es momento de que el arzobispo Francisco Moreno, en las reuniones del consejo prebisterial, explique la situación de los dos sacerdotes suspendidos: los amigos Enrique Tenorio y Juan Carlos Ackerman.

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Investigation underway after KCPD police chaplain accused of abuse

KANSAS CITY (MO)
KCTV Channel 5

March 7, 2019

By Chris Oberholtz, Angie Ricono

The Kansas City Police Department is investigating after one of their chaplains has been accused of abuse.

Local advocacy group SNAP, which keeps track of priests and ministers accused of sexual abuse, revealed the information that they say the department should have known.

Kansas City attorney Rebecca Randles, who has represented hundreds of clergy sex abuse victims, identified the chaplain as Baptist minister Stan Archie, who has been part of the department’s program for about 10 years, police said.

Archie has been sued twice. Randles said one filing was resolved out of court which involved a 15-year-old girl who claimed Archie encouraged her to go out have sex with men and then call him so they could talk about it. He would then masturbate to her phone calls, Randles said.

Another was a civil case that went to court. It was more of a split verdict where a woman accused Archie of sexually inappropriate behavior in a counseling relationship.

The jury did not convict him of that but did find his church guilty of fraud for trying to cover-up and conceal the allegations, Randles said. Three other women testified at the trial that Archie had abused them.

The accuser was awarded $350,000 by a jury.

She released a statement that said, “I was a member of Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, Stan Archie was my Pastor. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I became his prey. He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Please, please stop him from hurting anyone else and stop these nightmares.”

“We’re very worried frankly,” said David G. Clohessy with SNAP. “Typically people who prey on the vulnerable seek out positions of power and prestige or access and they exploit that.”

“We aren’t saying that Reverend Stan Archie should be hungry or homeless, but we don’t think he should be a police chaplain or have any role in a taxpayer institution,” Clohessy said.

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Editorial: Transparency on clergy abuse is best approach for Yakima diocese

YAKIMA (WA)
Herald-Republic

March 7, 2019

For too long in too many dioceses, the identities of Catholic clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse have remained hidden under the hem of a secretive clerical cassock – out of sight to the public at large but forever haunting the lives of victims.

This past year, however, extraordinary strides have been made in the Catholic church to bring the truth out of the shadows and hold priests accountable. It is a long overdue reckoning that has reached the highest Diocesan levels — the Vatican, via the crimes of defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, among others — on down to the smallest local parishes in towns far and near.

And, yes, that includes Yakima.

The Catholic Diocese of Yakima’s Diocesan Lay Advisory Board this month will consider whether the Diocese should post on its website the names of alleged abusive priests who have served here. The panel, comprised among others, of a psychologist, a member with a background in law enforcement, a physician and a pastor, will make a recommendation to Bishop Joseph Tyson, who is expected to decide soon after Easter.

This editorial board sincerely hopes the advisory board and the bishop opt for the light of public disclosure, the cleansing qualities of transparency, over continued secrecy and evasion. It’s fitting that the decision will come around Easter, a time for redemption and resurrection; the church’s reputation surely is in need of both.

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KCPD chaplain under investigation for abuse allegations tells FOX4 he hopes to clear his name

KANSAS CITY (MO)
WDAF Fox 4

March 7, 2019

By Kera Mashek and Tanya Anderson

Members of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests gathered outside the Kansas City Police Department downtown on Thursday morning to protest against a KCPD chaplain.

Protesters alleged the chaplain sexually abused young girls at a church where he was a pastor. The protesters held signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference and demanded that the police department carefully vet future candidates for positions. FOX4 spoke with the chaplain in question.

“Hopefully we can put this behind us and I can continue to serve,” said Reverend Stanley Archie.

The pastor, therapist and police chaplain is defending himself as decade-old allegations of sexual misconduct led to the new calls for his removal.

Rev. Archie leads an inner-city Baptist church and has worked alongside Kansas City police officers as a chaplain the past 10 years.

The SNAP activists hope to see the reverend removed from two public posts.

“Essentially having Stan Archie as a police chaplain is going to deter victims of rape or sexual misconduct from picking up the phone or calling 911 and ultimately that makes everyone less safe,” said David Clohessy, St. Louis volunteer for SNAP.

During FOX4’s “Working for Blue” campaign, we introduced you to KCPD chaplains, including Rev. Archie.

As the department acknowledges, chaplains are unpaid volunteers, who work alongside officers to provide moral and spiritual support, and don’t participate in investigations.

Still, KCPD spokesperson Jake Becchina said, “the Kansas City Missouri Police Department takes accusations of this nature very seriously. We are now reviewing the matter and investigating internally. This chaplain has been part of KCPD’s program for approximately 10 years.”

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French Cardinal Offers to Resign After Cover-up Conviction

Patheos blog

March 7, 2019

By Deacon Greg Kandra

From The New York Times:

A Catholic cardinal offered his resignation on Thursday after being found guilty by a French court of covering up decades-old sexual abuse by a priest in his diocese, a surprise victory for the priest’s accusers, who had forced the case to trial after it was dropped by prosecutors.

The conviction of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, was the first in France against such a high-profile clergyman, adding to a long list of sexual abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church just weeks after a landmark meeting at the Vatican ended without a concrete plan to tackle the issue.

Cardinal Barbarin, 68, was found guilty of failing to report child abuse by the Rev. Bernard Preynat to the authorities from 2014 to 2015, after parishioners accused the priest of sexually abusing dozens of Boy Scouts in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

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French Cardinal Receives Six Month Suspended Sentence for Not Reporting Child Sexual Abuse

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

March 7, 2019

Today, a French Cardinal has been sentenced to a six-month suspended prison sentence for ignoring allegations of sexual abuse against a priest in his diocese.

We wish that Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the current Archbishop of Lyon, would have received a jail sentence, but are at least glad that he has been found guilty on charges that he refused to call police about abuse reports against Fr. Bernard Preynat. By ignoring allegations and refusing to inform police, Cardinal Barbarin put children in his community at risk.

We believe Cardinal Barbarin should have been given jail time because he endangered more young lives with this decision. That is how you stop cover ups – by harshly punishing those who engage in them.

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As Southern Baptists Weigh a Predator Database, a Look At How They Work

WASHINGTON (DC)
Sojourners Magazine

March 7, 2019

By Liam Adams

It’s the latest report amid #ChurchToo era: Hundreds of pastors and other leaders in Southern Baptist Convention churches sexually abused lay members and a number of them were still allowed to work at churches, even after being accused or convicted. These revelations, most recently documented by the Houston Chronicle and San-Antonio Express-News, have been known by those within the SBC for a while now.

For over a decade, activists have pushed for the creation of a database in the SBC that would list credibly accused predators. They argue that, using such a database, a church’s hiring committee could check candidates against the list, thus preventing some of the shuffling of predators that the SBC and other denominations have seen. The SBC has yet to adopt the idea, however, arguing they can’t exercise authority over local, autonomous churches and make them report abuse. Survivors and activists say that shouldn’t stop the SBC from trying.

After being intensely scrutinized in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse against SBC pastors over the past year, some SBC leaders are vocalizing their hope for change in the convention. Among these hopes is the implementation a database, which President J.D. Greear emphasized in his “10 calls to action” last month.

As many in the SBC eagerly await a decision on a database, Sojourners sought to better understand how databases for other denominations work and more importantly, the impact they have.

Years after being abused by a rabbi at the yeshiva he was attending, Eric Aiken looked up his abuser online and found a litany of other cases connected to the rabbi. He also stumbled upon reports of other Orthodox Jewish rabbis abusing children.

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Top French cardinal sentenced in ‘historic’ case for not reporting child abuse by priest

NEW YORK (NY)
Fox News

March 7, 2019

By Lukas Mikelionis

France’s most senior cardinal was found guilty on Thursday of failing to report allegations of sexual abuse of minors by a priest to authorities.

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin was given a six-month suspended prison sentence for providing cover for the Rev. Bernard Preynat by not going to authorities about the alleged abuse between July 2014 and June 2015.

Nine alleged abuse victims claim that Barbarin and the clergy covered up crimes committed by Preynat for years, though the statute of limitations had expired on some allegations and thought that the court would actually acquit the cardinal.

Five other defendants were acquitted.

Barbarin’s lawyer Jean-Felix Luciani said they will appeal the ruling.

“This is a decision that is not fair at the juridical level,” the lawyer said. “We hope that at the next step, justice will be done.”

Preynat previously admitted to abusing Boy Scouts in the 1970s and 1980s and will be tried in a separate case.

“This is a victory that sends a strong signal to lots of victims and a signal to the church as well,” said Francois Devaux, who is the president of “La Parole Liberee” (Lift the Burden of Silence). “We see that no one is above the law. We have been heard by the court. This is the end of a long path.”

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Nationally-recognized Attorney Launches Comprehensive Database of Clergy Accused of Sexual Misconduct in the Diocese of Greensburg

GREENSBURG (PA)
Horowitz Law

March 7, 2019

Adam Horowitz, a nationally-recognized advocate for survivors of clergy sexual abuse, announces the launch of a new database of clergy and lay employees accused of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Greensburg. The database, which includes 23 priests as of today, is believed to be the most comprehensive list of accused offenders in the Diocese of Greensburg available.

For the benefit of survivors and journalists alike, Horowitz and his team have painstakingly prepared individual profiles on more than 500 accused offenders in Pennsylvania to consolidate available information about their backgrounds, alleged crimes, and, in the case of offenders who are still alive, their current locations. Many of these profiles include photographs that are not available anywhere else.

The list was compiled using the names identified in the 2018 Grand Jury report, the Diocese of Greensburg’s list of credibly accused individuals, media reports, and court records.

The Greensburg database also includes priests who belong to religious orders, such as the Jesuits and the Oblates. The Diocese of Greensburg fund is one of very few funds that will compensate those victimized by religious Order priests, such as the Benedictines. Similar funds in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and across New York State specifically and arbitrarily excluded claims made by anyone abused by non-diocesan priests, nuns, and lay employees.

However, the Diocese of Greensburg recently and unexpectedly announced that it will exclude the claims of anyone who had not reported their abuse to the Diocese of Greensburg before the day the fund opened. The Bishop offered no explanation was offered for this arbitrary exclusion, which does not exist in the overwhelming majority of claims funds in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

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Police hunted for secret church archives during probe of abuse allegations at St. Anne’s residential school

CANADA
CBC News

March 4, 2019

By Jorge Barrera and Lynette Fortune

Former principal denied existence but experts say records of sensitive information about priests were kept

When OPP Det. Greg Delguidice was preparing to look into widespread allegations of physical and sexual abuse by priests, nuns and staff at St. Anne’s Indian Residential School in northern Ontario, he did some homework first.

As part of the investigation 25 years ago, Delguidice studied up on the Roman Catholic Church’s canon law and learned of archives held by dioceses that contain records of sensitive information about priests.

“I know that the Catholic Church also keeps a secret archive, and matters of temporal affairs, as they’re so-called, are supposed to be kept secret and hidden away,” Delguidice said in an interview with The Fifth Estate’s Gillian Findlay.

“Any allegations that would have been made would have been, in my view, probably kept in secret archives somewhere.”

But when Delguidice confronted Bishop Emeritus Jules Leguerrier, who had been St. Anne’s principal from 1944 to 1975, about the “secret archives,” he got nowhere.

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Thought for the day: is it time to silence BBC preachers who keep women down?

LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Guardian

March 7, 2019

By Catherine Bennett

And welcome to the amoral maze, where our dilemma of the week is: just how insufferable does a spiritual leader have to be before he or she becomes unqualified to preach at the general public? Or to put it another way, why should the church have a monopoly on excommunication?

The question is not, emphatically, restricted to the case of the ubiquitous prelate, blogger and speaker, Giles Fraser, although with his recent blog – chastising women who fail to stay near home for the future convenience of incontinent fathers – he has done more than most to focus attention on the sort of qualities that should, ideally, distinguish a Thought for the Day contributor from, say, Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Actually, since the latter Brexit supporter is hardly less ostentatiously devout, is yet more ostentatiously fertile, is also hired by the BBC to troll its audience and believes – conclusive indicator of divine approbation – that women are designed for bottom-wiping, it seems almost unfair that he is not, like Fraser, invited to provide “reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news”.

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In times of crisis, church returns to basics of faith, Bishop Barron says

WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service

By Cindy Wooden

March 7, 2019

In times of crisis, the Catholic Church and its faithful must return to the basics of the Christian faith, said Auxiliary Bishop Robert E. Barron of Los Angeles.

Bishop Barron, who was ordained to the priesthood in 1986, told reporters in Rome March 7 that he has lived most of his priesthood in the context of the church’s sexual abuse crisis and is convinced that the only way forward is to focus on what it really means to be Christian.

The Franciscans, Dominicans and other religious orders were formed at “times of real crisis,” he said. “That’s when great figures like St. Dominic said, ‘Back to the basics, which for him meant poverty, trust in God’s providence, preaching the Gospel.”

The bishop had just received an honorary doctorate in theology from the Dominican-run Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, commonly called the Angelicum.

Bishop Barron’s “Word on Fire” multimedia ministry, his famous video series on the church and his other outreach work, he said, responded to a desire “to tell the story of Catholicism again; let’s tell the story of the great saints again.”

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Woman alleging sex abuse by priest wants search of Kamloops diocese offices

KAMLOOPS (BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA)
Glacier Media

March 6, 2019

Bishop told woman alleging assaults by Kamloops ‘playboy’ priest to leave diocese

A B.C. woman alleging she was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest over several months 43 years ago while she was a parish school teacher wants Diocese of Kamloops offices searched for files it may have on her case and other similar ones, court documents say.

Now, in a notice of application filed with BC Supreme Court Feb. 27, Rosemary Anderson is prepared to go to court to see if a judge will authorize a search of the Kamloops premises to find documents relevant to her case. She has suggested secret archives exist — a suggestion the church denies.

Anderson alleges in a Dec. 22, 2016, notice of civil claim the sexual abuse at the hands of Father Erlindo “Lindo” Molon, now 86, starting at age 26 when she sought solace after her father’s death. She names Molon and the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Kamloops, A Corporation Sole in the claim.

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Greater Boston Full Show: 03/06/19

BOSTON (MA)
WGBH/Greater Boston

March 6, 2019

The Michael Jackson Allegations: Separating The Art From The Artist

It’s not the first-time Michael Jackson has been accused of sexually assaulting young boys, but the allegations in the new HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland” — the first against Jackson in the #MeToo era — are getting wide traction.

In the film, Wade Robson and James Safechuck share detailed and often graphic accounts of years of abuse by the singer. Jackson’s family has denied all claims of abuse. In light of the documentary, many are questioning: Is it possible to separate the art from the alleged abuser?

To discuss, Jim Braude is joined by Boston Globe columnist Renée Graham, attorney Mitchell Garabedian — who’s represented thousands of victims of sexual abuse at the hands of the Catholic Church — and Phil Saviano, a church abuse survivor and founder of the New England chapter of Survivors Network of Those Abused.

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Mario Batali Exits His Restaurants

NEW YORK (NY)
The New York Times

March 6, 2019

By Julia Moskin

A year after reports that the celebrity chef sexually assaulted and harassed women, the Bastianich family and Mr. Batali’s other partners have bought out his stake and regrouped.
The 20-year partnership between the celebrity chef Mario Batali and the Bastianich family of restaurateurs was formally dissolved on Wednesday, more than a year after several women accused Mr. Batali of sexual harassment and assault.

Mr. Batali “will no longer profit from the restaurants in any way, shape or form,” said Tanya Bastianich Manuali, who will head day-to-day operations at a new company, as yet unnamed, created to replace the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group.

The new company will operate the group’s remaining 16 restaurants under a new management and financial structure. Mrs. Bastianich Manuali and her brother, Joe Bastianich, have bought Mr. Batali’s shares in all the restaurants. They would not discuss the terms of the buyout.

Mr. Batali is also selling his shares in Eataly, the fast-growing global chain of luxury Italian supermarkets. “Eataly is in the process of acquiring Mr. Batali’s minority interest in Eataly USA,” said Chris Giglio, a spokesman for that company.

Several famous chefs and restaurateurs have recently been accused of sexual harassment, but Mr. Batali is the first to surrender all his restaurants.

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SNAP Applauds Reform as Clergy Abuse Survivors to Testify in New Jersey Senate

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

March 7, 2019

Today in New Jersey, survivors of sexual violence will have their chance to tell their stories and affect change. We applaud the sponsors of Senate Bill S477 and look forward to this much-needed reform being adopted in law.

The New Jersey Senate Judiciary committee will hear testimony from survivors of child sexual abuse in support of the bill – sponsored by Senator Joseph Vitale (D-19) – which expands the civil statute of limitations for both children and adults. If passed, S477 would give victims of child sexual abuse either until age 55 or 7 years after discovery of the abuse, whichever is later. Additionally, the bill would create a two-year “window,” or suspension of all SOL restrictions, giving those who were previously barred by these archaic laws an opportunity to seek justice.

Sexual violence is one of the nation’s most underreported crimes, with estimates ranging from 75% to 85% of victims never coming forward to make a report. And because of the trauma they have experienced and the resulting feelings of shame or fear of disbelief, most survivors don’t come forward until much later in life; the average age of disclosure is 52.

In light of these facts, forty states have amended their statutes of limitations since 2002. With this hearing today, New Jersey becomes that much closer to becoming the 41st state to take the steps to reform these laws and go from a state with one of the shortest filing windows in the country to one of the longest.

This bill is a monumental step forward and brings much-needed reform to the archaic laws that prevent survivors from coming forward and allow abusers to escape justice and hurt more children and vulnerable adults. We are grateful to not only Sen. Vitale and his colleagues in the legislature, but the dedicated survivors and advocates who have worked for decades to create this opportunity for reform.

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Accused minister is now police chaplain

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

March 7, 2019

Clergyman was sued twice for alleged crimes
He’s also on KC MO city planning commission
Victims’ group wants him “ousted immediately”
And it wants “more careful vetting” of other candidates
SNAP: “His KCPD presence may deter others from reporting crimes”

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and advocates will blast the KC MO
— Police Department for having a chaplain who was accused of abuse,
— Planning Commission for having him on their panel,

They will also
— demand that his titles and roles be revoked, and
— ask both bodies to apologize and more carefully vet future candidates for positions

WHEN
Thursday, March 7 at 11:15 a.m.

WHERE
On the sidewalk outside the Kansas City MO Police Department, 1125 Locust in downtown KC MO

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Abusive Evansville priests had ties to children’s summer camp

EVANSVILLE (IN)
Evansville Courier & Press

March 7, 2019

By Jon Webb

The Outpost was a popular summer camp.

Run by the Evansville Diocese, it drew hordes of Catholic kids in fifth to eighth grades who wanted to go boating or fishing or hiking on 33 lush acres outside Lincoln State Park in Spencer County.

But it also attracted predator priests.

On Feb. 22, the diocese released the names of clergy who have been “credibly accused” of sexual misconduct against minors. There were 12 names in all. Two of them – John Breidenbach and Mark Kurzendoerfer – worked with the camp, while a third – Michael Allen – reportedly had sexual encounters with an under-aged boy there.

The Rev. David Fleck coordinated some aspects of the camp in his post as vocations director. He’s also been accused of misconduct, but his case is still winding through the diocese. He’s denied the charges.

Breidenbach served as co-director of The Outpost in 1992, according to archives of diocese newspaper The Message. That year drew a record 340 campers.

In a July 10, 1992, story, Breidenbach said it was his job as director to make sure every child was taking part in camp activities. He sought out loners, he said. “Someone with a problem or in pain.”

He worked there at least two other summers, according to The Message. He would sometimes go to diocese schools to recruit campers.

Breidenbach admitted to sexually abusing minors “prior to his ordination as a deacon,” the Feb. 22 release stated. He was removed from public ministry in 2014.

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Mexican bishops present five objectives for action on clergy abuse

MEXICO CITY (MEXICO)
Catholic News Service

March 7, 2019

By David Agren

The Mexican bishops’ conference has presented an action plan for protecting minors from sexual abuse by clergy and pastoral agents.

The plan, presented March 5 in Mexico City, outlines five objectives: Diagnosis, prevention, justice and response, supporting victims and promoting respect for the law.

The plan includes overhauling priests’ training, establishing diocesan and/or provincial commissions and specifying norms for seminarians, religious and priests who switch diocese or congregations. It also calls for establishing “listening centers … composed of prepared persons and experts, which can carry out a first discernment of the case of presumed victims.”

“Asking forgiveness means putting the victim first, listening to them, understanding them, accompanying them and committing ourselves to the process of their healing,” the bishops said.

The bishops also called for “promoting respect for the law,” which includes “the call of the church to combat clericalism,” along with putting “the rights of the victim … over the rights abusers.” The action plan also called for properly “caring for the socio-ecclesiastical climate” surrounding priests “so they don’t live in panic, rather securely and so they can adequately and fully fulfill their vocation.”

Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera Lopez of Monterrey, conference president, said, “The paradigm change is (that) society and the church are aware of the primacy of the victim, and all other issues stem from that.”

“Previously, I think that the model was to review what had happened and see what you do with the priest,” Cabrera continued. “Now, the first thing is attending to the victim and … the priest who committed the crime is judged by the authorities.”

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Le Moyne expert: Pope Francis is caught between crisis and collegiality

SYRACUSE (NY)
Post Standard

March 7, 2019

By Rev. David McCallum

When the founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius of Loyola, was asked, “what is a Jesuit?” he responded, “It is to know that one is a sinner loved by God.” For many people, it is a challenge to accept that two, seemingly contradictory statements such as this could be true at the same time; for them, reality is perceived in black and white terms. Either I am a sinner and, therefore, lost, or loved by God, and saved. However, the capacity for holding paradoxical truths is at the very heart of Christianity, which espouses the belief that Jesus was both human and divine, that faith and reason complement, rather than cancel out one another, and that mercy and justice go hand in hand.

This “both/and” way of thinking, relating and acting is constantly on display in another Jesuit, Pope Francis. But at this juncture in the Catholic Church’s history, it must be exercised even more rigorously in the way he leads the church through the twin crises: clergy sexual abuse and the subsequent mismanagement and cover-up by some church leaders. At the moment, most U.S. Catholics demand more urgent and bold action than Pope Francis is currently demonstrating.

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French Cardinal convicted for failing to report abuse

DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency

March 7, 2019

French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, archbishop of Lyon, was found guilty Thursday of failing to report to authorities the alleged sexual abuse of a priest in his diocese. He was given a six-month suspended prison sentence.

French tribunal president Brigitte Vernay declared Barbarin guilty March 7 “of non-denunciation of ill-treatment” of a minor, according to AFP. Barbarin was not present in court for the verdict.

Five other archdiocesan officials on trial with Barbarin were acquitted March 7. Barbarin was also expected to be acquitted after even the prosecutor of the case argued there was no proof of the cardinal’s legal wrongdoing and therefore no grounds for conviction, the Associated Press reports.

The cardinal will appeal the verdict, according to AP. Barbarin’s lawyer, Jean-Felix Luciani, said Thursday about the conviction that “this is a decision that is not fair at the juridical level.” Implying hope in the success of an appeal, he stated: “We hope that at the next step, justice will be done.”

The trial against Barbarin began in January on charges he did not report facts of abuse to judicial authorities between July 2014 and June 2015, in a case involving Fr. Bernard Preynat, who has been accused of abusing dozens of minors in the 1980s and early ’90s.

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Reflections on resignations: God is still good

LONDON (ENGLAND)
Christian Today

March 7, 2019

By Archie Catchpole

Resignations seem to be all the rage in the Christian world these days. Just recently I was reading an article about one such resignation and the ‘you may also like’ section read almost like an obituary of half the world’s church leaders. I most certainly did not ‘also like’. It is a difficult and disconcerting issue which is as much unavoidable as it is uncomfortable.

Even if our insatiable desire for gossip finds this infuriating, a lot of the time we don’t know many details about these incidents. Nor do we necessarily need to. (A Christian version of Hello! magazine is one of the last things we need – and besides, we all know that if it is gossip we want then we need only ask anyone’s prayer requests.) Speculation in these scenarios is almost certainly misguided, morally questionable, and definitely not helpful.

When a leader fails, how should believers handle it?

However it may be just as misguided to simply sweep these kinds of situations under the carpet as if nothing ever happened. News of scandals and resignations is not unimportant. These stories are embarrassing, yes, but they are also sobering, sombre and incredibly significant. In the light of this, I seek to offer some short reflections which could bear some general relevance. I hope my words do not come with any judgment or insensitivity. Rather, I hope that they can be honest, maybe a little bit insightful, and possibly even edifying.

People sometimes say that it is encouraging when church leaders fail. Although it definitely cannot be stressed enough that our leaders are only human, I still struggle to get on board with this. Whether by a leader or not, sin is still sin, and it is never encouraging – it is sad. It is also scary. It is scary because (on the whole) we respect our leaders. Therefore whenever I read of a fresh scandal or resignation, my mind goes into overdrive: ‘If someone so highly-esteemed as [insert name here] can be ensnared in such a way, then how much more might I?!’ This is of course flawed thinking, because regard does not reflect discipleship any more than Christian fame indicates faithfulness. Nonetheless, when these kinds of stories surface, they hand us sad but timely reminders to check our own lives; to remain in Christ and continue to follow hard after him with humility, reverence and integrity.

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Sexism has long been part of the culture of Southern Baptists

BOCA RATON (FL)
United Press International

March 7, 2019

By Susan M. Shaw

Recent media reports have revealed decades of abuse by Southern Baptist pastors.

Denominational leaders are offering apologies and calling the sexual abuse “evil,” “unjust” and a “barbarity of unrestrained sinful patterns.” Many Southern Baptist leaders are considering action.

As a scholar who has written a book on Southern Baptist women and the church, I’d argue that this scandal has its origins in how Southern Baptists have long and purposefully pushed back against women’s progress.

Since the Southern Baptist Convention’s founding in 1845, Southern Baptists have had a complicated history with women.

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French court finds Cardinal Barbarin guilty of not reporting abuser priest

NEW YORK (NY)
America Magazine

March 7, 2019

By Gerard O’Connell

A French court today condemned Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, 68, the Archbishop of Lyons, for not reporting a priest in his diocese to the civil authorities for the sexual abuse of minors. The court imposed a six-month suspended prison sentence on him, meaning he will not have to spend time in prison.

Cardinal Barbarin told journalists after the verdict: “I have decided to go to the Holy Father to hand in my resignation. He will receive me in a few days.” He said he “took note of the decision of the tribunal, and independent of my personal fate, I wish to reaffirm all my compassion for the victims.” The Vatican has yet to comment on the verdict.

French media reported that the victims were overjoyed when the judge announced that he found the cardinal “guilty,” they said it was more than they had hoped.

Cardinal Barbarin told journalists after the verdict: “I have decided to go to the Holy Father to hand in my resignation. He will receive me in a few days.”
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On March 6, Ms. Charlotte Trabut, the deputy-prosecutor, told the court in Lyons that she would not ask for a conviction of any of those on trial because the statute of limitations had expired. Besides the cardinal, five other clerics from his diocese were on trial in relation to their involvement in the case.

The cardinal’s lawyers, however, were clearly disappointed and announced that they will appeal the case.

Cardinal Barbarin, who was not present in court, is the third member of the college of cardinals to be publicly linked to the abuse scandal in the church. The others were Theodore McCarrick and George Pell. He and Cardinal Pell are still cardinal electors with a right to vote in a conclave.

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Catholic leaders say they support priest abuse bill. Behind closed doors, they are fighting it fiercely, lawmaker says.

NEWARK (NJ)
Star Ledger

March 7, 2019

By Kelly Heyboer

The heads of New Jersey’s five Catholic dioceses released a lengthy joint statement expressing support earlier this week for a proposed law that would lift the statute of limitations on when alleged victims of sex abuse can file civil lawsuits against priests and the church.

But behind the scenes there is a fight brewing over the bill that could open New Jersey’s Catholic dioceses and Catholic schools up to a flood of civil lawsuits amid the widening priest sex abuse scandal.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, head of the Archdiocese of Newark, and the bishops and auxiliary bishops of the state’s other dioceses released a rare joint statement Tuesday saying they want to work with lawmakers to eliminate the statute of limitations that would allow abuse victims to file lawsuits decades after they were abused.

“Now is not a time for just more analysis and study. This is a time for action to prevent any future abuse anywhere it might occur. The Catholic Bishops of New Jersey stand ready, as we have for the past two decades,” the Catholic bishops’ statement said.

Victims advocates have argued for years that New Jersey’s current law, which limits civil lawsuits to two years after the alleged sexual abuse, is too narrow and unfair.

Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, the bill’s lead sponsor in the state Senate, fired back at Catholic leaders, saying the church has been fighting the statute of limitations legislation, called S477, behind closed doors in Trenton.

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Questions remain as Richmond bishop promises transparency surrounding sex abuse crisis

RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Times-Dispatch

March 7, 2019

By Bridget Balch

On Ash Wednesday, the first day of the 40-day Lenten season of penitence, Richmond Bishop Barry Knestout preached about the dangers of “virtue signaling,” urging people to avoid doing good for the “optics” rather than out of sincerity.

“Today there is temptation to make sure things look good, even if they’re less than perfect,” he said.

And in September, Knestout, leader of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, responded to the latest public revelations of the extent of the church’s clergy sex abuse crisis with a nine-page letter expressing sorrow for the pain church leadership had caused, a commitment to protecting children and a promise of transparency.

“Leadership is best practiced in a transparent way which includes accountability,” Knestout wrote.

While a number of Catholics interviewed leaving Ash Wednesday services said they felt that Knestout and the Catholic Church have responded well to the clergy sex abuse crisis and are now being transparent, noting last month’s release of a list naming 43 priests who were credibly accused of abuse, the Diocese of Richmond has not directly answered a number of questions from the Richmond Times-Dispatch and refused to release some details that the other Virginia diocese and the national Catholic Church have published.

Knestout also has declined to be interviewed by The Times-Dispatch at least four times since August.

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In the battle over the Catholic Church’s soul, Spokane’s current and former bishops fight on different sides

SPOKANE (WA)
The Inlander

March 7, 2019

By Daniel Walters

The so-called Summer of Shame had set the stage for November’s meeting of U.S. bishops. There was a lot to answer for.

In July, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had become the highest-ranking Catholic leader ever to resign in a sex-abuse scandal in the United States. In August, a grand jury report charged that over 1,000 children had been victimized by more than 300 priests across the state of Pennsylvania.

So by November, when nearly 200 Catholic leaders — including Spokane’s bishop, Thomas Daly, and his predecessor, Blase Cupich — gathered for the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the pressure to directly address the scandals was intense.

Outside the Baltimore conference hall, a dozen protesters waved signs with demands like “Reform” and “Repent Resign.”

But as soon as the conference began, the bishops learned that the Vatican had barred them from holding votes on two proposals until after a February summit on sex abuse. Even before the announcement of the Vatican’s dictate concluded, Cardinal Cupich was at the microphone to address the group.

In just six years, Cupich had risen from the bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, to the bishop of Spokane, to archbishop of Chicago. Today, he’s a cardinal and one of the highest-profile champions of Pope Francis’s vision for a more inclusive church.

“It is clear that the Holy See is taking seriously the abuse crisis,” Cupich proclaimed. He argued the delay would put even more focus on such an important issue, and he called for the bishops to reconvene immediately after the February summit.

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Catholic Church at a ‘turning point’

LONG ISLAND (NY)
Newsday

March 7, 2019

By Bart Jones and Craig Schneider

Clergy sex abuse has brought the Roman Catholic Church to a pivotal moment — one that demands fundamental changes, from removing complicit bishops and ending the secrecy to ordaining women, say church analysts and a sampling of Long Island’s faithful.

Still, both the religious scholars and the parishioners are hopeful about the church’s future. And the Long Island members are clear that they are steadfastly committed to their faith.

“Yes, the church is in crisis and we’re at a turning point, but … I’m a Roman Catholic. It’s who I am,” said James Morgo, 74, who attends Our Lady of the Snow Roman Catholic Church in Blue Point.

“The really horrendous acts were committed by flawed and sick men — not by the church,” Morgo said.

How quickly, and forcefully, Pope Francis addresses the scandal will determine what the church will look like, the parishioners said. For some of the faithful, the pontiff has sent encouraging signs. Others are more skeptical.

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Cardinal Philippe Barbarin convicted in France of Catholic Church sex abuse cover-up

LYON (FRANCE)
CBS News

March 7, 2019

In a surprise decision in France’s most important church sex abuse trial, a court on Thursday found top Catholic official Cardinal Philippe Barbarin guilty of failing to report to law enforcement accusations against a pedophile priest. The Lyon court handed Barbarin a six-month suspended prison sentence for not reporting the facts in the period between July 2014 and June 2015.

The Rev. Bernard Preynat’s alleged victims said Barbarin and other church officials covered up for him for years, but the statute of limitations had expired on some charges and even the victims had expected that the cardinal would be acquitted.

The prosecutor had also argued against convicting, saying there were no grounds to prove legal wrongdoing.

The priest has confessed to abusing Boy Scouts in the 1970s and 80s and will be tried separately.

Barbarin, 68, testified that he was unjustly accused, saying, “I don’t see what I am guilty of.”

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March 6, 2019

El ex cura y hoy periodista en contra del aborto legal embarazó a una joven

SALTA (ARGENTINA)
Cuarto Poder Salta [Salta, Argentina]

March 6, 2019

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VIDEO/ Se trata del salteño Martín Paz, una de los integrantes de “Periodistas por la vida” una red de comunicadores a nivel nacional que se oponen a la ESI y a la Interrupción Voluntaria del Embarazo. Era sacerdote de La Merced y fue separado de la iglesia.
Aparecieron luego del histórico debate en el Congreso por el aborto legal, se constituyeron solamente como oposición a la búsqueda de derechos de niñas y mujeres y personas con capacidad de gestar, se niegan a que el Estado se haga responsable de los abortos que se realizan en todo el país y como si faltara más para dejar en evidencia su doble moral se supo que uno de los integrantes salteños de esta red de periodistas a nivel nacional fue cura y dejó embarazada a una joven en La Merced. Incluso se informó que Martín Paz indujo a la adolescente a abortar.
Nada nuevo en la Salta cristiana de doble moral. El ex cura hoy devenido en periodista cursó sus estudios de comunicaciones en la Universidad Nacional de Salta donde ya se difundía su oscuro pasado. Fue el sacerdote de La Merced cuando dejó embarazada a una joven. El hecho terminó en escándalo, fue acusado de abuso y luego expulsado de la iglesia por ello.
Hoy Paz forma parte junto a Andrea Lazarte, Eva Avila, Emilce Aramayo, Julieta Pedrozo, Lorena Pérez, Elio Rodríguez, y Pablo Martearena, de una “red de periodistas por la vida”.
Según lo publicado por el diario de mayor tirada de la provincia que le hizo mucha publicidad a esta red ya fijaron criterios y la agenda de trabajo para el resto del año. Detallaron que ante las últimas noticias a nivel nacional sobre la posibilidad del tratamiento de la legalización del aborto en el Congreso de la Nación y la implementación de la ESI en las escuelas, se realiza la agenda de trabajo para actuar en consecuencia y fortalecer a los sectores antiderechos.
La conformación de esta red de periodistas fue en octubre de 2018 durante el 1º Congreso de Hombres y Mujeres Pro Vida denominado “Protagonistas de la vida, constructores de la historia”, organizado por el grupo del Movimiento “Argentinos en Acción”. Tiene como objetivo tergiversar la información a conveniencia de sectores católicos y evangélicos y de proclamar una moral que ni ellos aplican. ¿Sabrán las periodistas mujeres que lo acompañan del oscuro pasado de Paz? Todo indica que sí y que mucho no les importa.
Tal como se aprecia en el video, en aquel entonces los pobladores de La Merced salieron por las calles del pueblo a pedir «Que se vaya ese degenerado».

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No comfort until predator priests are behind bars

JERSEY CITY (NJ)
Jersey Journal

March 7, 2019

The Catholic church’s release of the names of 188 New Jersey priests with credible accusations of child sexual abuse against them, the defrocking of former Cardinal McCarrick and the summit at the Vatican on a range of sex abuse scandals should give us comfort that the church is heading in a good direction.

But, it’s not. Instead, we’re left feeling hollow and jaded.

Maybe it’s because every day we could go to the Hudson County courts and see biological fathers, uncles, family friends, former teachers and others in prison jumpsuits, handcuffs and shackles being sentenced for the most vile of crimes against the innocents in their care. Yet, it is excruciatingly rare to see a priest in that position.

The New Jersey list – like the Pennsylvania one before it and the Brooklyn one after it — only confirms suspicions that the church has long dealt with what should have been civil matters in-house, and it did so poorly at that.

Beyond that, telling us that scores of dead men were predators is no comfort. And telling us about living predators for whom the statute of limitations on many crimes has run out is cruel. Not telling us about other predator priests because they are involved in active litigation cuts the most deep.

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En Casación la defensa de Ilarraz busca revertir la sentencia condenatoria

PARANá (ARGENTINA)
Diario UNO de Entre Ríos [Paraná, Argentina]

March 6, 2019

By Unknown

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El cura fue condenado a la pena de 25 años de cárcel por abuso de menores en el Seminario. Su defensa insiste con el pedido de prescripción del delito. La querella solicitará que se ratifique el fallo.

La defensa del cura Justo José Ilarraz trata este jueves de revertir la sentencia que lo declaró culpable de abusos sexuales a un grupo de seminaristas –menores de edad– que lo denunciaron por hechos ocurridos a fines de la década del 80 y principios de la década del 90 en el Seminario de Paraná. Un tribunal resolvió en forma unánime condenarlo a 25 años de prisión, pero con la salvedad de que la pena debía ser cumplida bajo la modalidad del arresto domiciliario hasta que la sentencia quede firme. 

El primer paso de esta estrategia se desarrolla este jueves en la audiencia de apelación ante la Cámara de Casación Penal solicitada por el abogado del imputado, Jorge Muñoz. Es muy probable que el tucumano que reemplazó a Juan Ángel Fornerón en la defensa del cura recurra a los mismos argumentos que su colega expuso en la etapa preliminar de la causa: la prescripción del delito por el paso del tiempo será uno de los ejes de la presentación.

La audiencia se lleva a cabo en el salón María Oyhampé, ubicado en el primer piso de los Tribunales de Paraná.

El tribunal está presidido por el juez de juicio Alejandro Cánepa, quien intervendrá junto a Cristina Lía Van Dembroucke (jueza del Tribunal de Juicios y Apelaciones de Paraná con asiento en La Paz) y Dardo Tórtul, (vocal del Tribunal de Juicios y Apelaciones de Gualeguay).
En tanto el Ministerio Público Fiscal está representado por los fiscales Álvaro Piérola y Juan Francisco Ramírez Montrull.
Desde el 21 de mayo de 2018 el cura cumple con el arresto domiciliario en un departamento de calle Corrientes, en la capital entrerriana. Al igual que otras personas condenadas pero sin sentencia firme, el sacerdote tiene colocada una tobillera electrónica que es controlada mediante un sistema de monitoreo.
Hasta noviembre de 2018 no se habían registrado inconvenientes con el mecanismo de seguimiento que tiene a su cargo el Servicio Penitenciario de Entre Ríos. Aquella vez se detectó una anomalía en el funcionamiento de la tobillera que tiene colocada el cura acusado de pedofilia. Según pudo saber UNO, el imputado había salido del departamento o estaba fuera del alcance del control de monitoreo. Dos minutos después personal del 911 llegó hasta el lugar y comprobó que Ilarraz se encontraba dentro, con la tobillera colocada como correspondía.
Piden confirmar la penaUno de los abogados querellantes de las víctimas planteó que los argumentos esgrimidos por la defensa “no son atendibles” y recordó entre ellos al pedido de la extinción del delito. “El recurso hace ciertas objeciones mínimas de contradicciones, que no son atendibles. Además se plantea que la pena es muy alta y se cuestiona la prisión preventiva, atento a que no existe el peligro de fuga”, describió a UNO el abogado Santiago Halle. 
Para el letrado el escrito ataca las “contradicciones” de los testimonios de algunas de las víctimas sobre la situaciones ocurridas en los pabellones del Seminario. “Son cuestiones irrelevantes para lo que son los hechos”, interpretó.
Halle consideró que la sentencia debe ser ratificada porque “está sustentada en mucha prueba documental, testimonial, pericial”, y entendió que “es muy clara, muy concisa, detalla hecho por hecho. Respecto de la pena hace un análisis de todas las circunstancias agravantes que tuvo Ilarraz al momento de cometer el delito. Esas cuestiones sirvieron para que la pena sea bastante alta, sin mayor atenuante que no haber cometido un delito previo”. 
Karlic y Puiggari en el ojo de la tormentaLas denuncias a Justo Ilarraz, primero, y la tramitación de la causa que luego llegó a la instancia de juicio oral y público provocaron un verdadero temblor en la jerarquía eclesiástica de Paraná. Desde el arzobispo Juan Puiggari hasta el prelado Estanislao Karlic debieron comparecer como testigos e incluso durante el debate fueron señalados por varias de las víctimas como responsables por no haber evitado los actos aberrantes que cometía Ilarraz. Fabián Schunk, uno de los primeros denunciantes, todavía no puede comprender cómo el cura sigue ejerciendo el sacerdocio, pese a que todas las acusaciones en su contra fueron comprobadas por la Justicia entrerriana.
El de Ilarraz fue uno de los casos que trascendió las fronteras del país, ya que una producción cinematográfica norteamericana sobre abusos en la Iglesia de Boston lo mencionó en una larga lista de curas acusados de pedofilia en todo el mundo.
La condena a 25 años de cárcel no es el primer antecedente judicial en Entre Ríos, pero sí la pena más alta junto a la que recibió el colombiano Juan Diego Escobar Gaviria. El Cura sanador había sido condenado el 6 de septiembre de 2017, siendo el primer miembro de la Iglesia Católica de la Diócesis de Paraná en recibir una condena efectiva. Lo hallaron culpable por tres hechos de corrupción de menores y un hecho de abuso sexual simple, cometidos cuando estuvo al frente de la parroquia San Lucas Evangelista, de la localidad de Lucas González. 
Actualmente está preso en la Unidad Penal de Victoria, y deberá enfrentar un segundo juicio este año por la denuncia de una quinta víctima.

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On Ash Wednesday, Bishop lights candle for victims of sex abuse

BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW TV

March 6, 2019

By Hannah Buehler

On this Ash Wednesday, Bishop Richard Malone lit a candle for victims of sex abuse at the hands of a Catholic Priest.

In a statement, the Bishop’s office says, “This March the Diocese of Buffalo begins a special Year of Prayer for the healing of victims of clergy sexual abuse.”

It goes on to say, “Lent is a time of prayer, mercy, forgiveness and renewal.”

Parishioners all over Western New York received ashes at mass Wednesday.

It’s been a difficult year for parishioners in the Catholic Church amid sweeping sex abuse scandals and cover-ups. Some tell 7 Eyewitness News this Lenten season is as important as ever.

“Some of the beliefs that we have are a little shaken but on the other hand if you’re a believer you believe in the message not so much the messenger,” said Bob McDonnell, a parishioner at St. Bernadette in Orchard Park.

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Clergy Abuse Survivor Calls for Full Transparency as Lent Begins

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

March 6, 2019

For Catholics, Lent is a season of reflection and sacrifice. For some survivors, Lent is a trigger.

“I was abused in the vestry of the church after my abuser pulled me out of school to administer ashes,” said Becky Ianni, SNAP Board Member and leader in the Virginia and D.C. area. “So during the Lent season I am urging churches to reflect on the clergy abuse crisis and make changes and take steps that will protect children.”

One action that church officials can make, Ianni says, is to release all the information they have on abusive clerics to the public. While Catholic dioceses in Virginia and Washington D.C. have released lists that include some names, Ianni contends those lists are incomplete.

“Church officials should be fully transparent about all aspects of the abuse crisis. Lists should not just include names, but also the full work histories and photos of perpetrators, information on when the diocese first received allegations against each perpetrator, the total number of allegations each perpetrator received, and what steps were taken in response to those allegations,” Ianni said. “Only when information like this is made public will communities be fully informed and children be most protected.”

Survivors and advocates were hoping for clear steps towards prevention and healing to be laid out following the Pope’s global summit at the end of February. Instead, church officials met and talked and prayed, but did not make any serious changes.

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Cardinal O’Malley says Vatican meeting was ‘a huge step forward’

BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

March 6, 2019

By Martin Finucane

Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley says the recently concluded meeting at the Vatican was a “huge step forward” that educated many of the bishops attending about the clergy sex abuse problem that has plagued the Roman Catholic church.

“For many of the bishops, I think the conference was a very transformative experience. For many of them, it was the first time that they were listening to victim/survivors; it was the first time they were hearing about the challenges of safeguarding and the responsibility of the bishops,” O’Malley said in a post on his blog on Friday.

O’Malley said the meeting drew the leaders of over a billion Catholics worldwide.

He said they “realized that this is something the whole Church must work to address to ensure the safety of children. We may not have resolved all the issues that we face in the United States around the accountability of bishops and so forth, but for the Universal Church I think it was a huge step forward.”

O’Malley also said, “Obviously, we are looking for concrete measures to come out of this meeeting,” noting that Vatican officials have promised to disseminate a handbook “to help people to know, every step of the way, what the response needs to be in individual dioceses.”

O’Malley said that in many parts of the world the clergy sex abuse problem is “dismissed as an American or Western phenomenon. So, the conference was designed particularly to underscore the universal nature of the problem and to demonstrate to bishops all over the world that the leadership in the Church must own the problem and commit to making safeguarding their priority.”

The pope ended the meeting last month with a call for “for an all-out battle against the abuse of minors,” but the speech did not offer concrete policies. Church officials have hinted that policy changes were on the horizon. In the past year or so, clergy sex abuse has been in the headlines both in America and abroad.

O’Malley said the commission he leads, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, would meet to continue working on an auditing process that will allow for “an independent evaluation of the implementation of child protection policies in each bishops’ conference.” A bishops’ conference is the group of bishops responsible for a given country or territory.

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College reflects on abuse allegation against campus priest

ITHACA (NY)
The Ithacan

March 6, 2019

By Madison Fernandez

Rev. Carsten Martensen, Catholic chaplain and director of campus ministry, has stepped down from all current assignments after being accused of sexually abusing a minor in the 1970s.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester informed Ithaca College that an allegation had been made claiming that Martensen had sexually abused a minor in the 1970s, according to an Intercom announcement made March 3 by Hierald Osorto, director of religious and spiritual life. The USA Northeast Province of the Jesuits are conducting an investigation, and Martensen will not be serving in his positions at the college or Cornell University campus ministries, nor any public ministry, while it is being pursued.

Martensen has been working in campus ministries at both the college and Cornell University since 2007. The Diocese of Rochester stated that it has not received an accusation against Martensen during his time serving at the colleges.

In an email obtained by The Ithacan sent Feb. 25 by campus minister John Morton to the Ithaca College Catholic Community, he stated that Martensen was taking time off for personal reasons and to recuperate.

“He has been experiencing fatigue, and this has not been helped by the workload of pastoring two campuses,” the email said. “He is with his Jesuit brothers in Massachusetts.”

John J. Cecero, provincial of the USA Northeast Province of Jesuits, sent a letter to the broader Catholic community Feb. 26 informing them of the allegations.

“Again, these procedures in no way confirm or deny the claim we have received, but as the Jesuits and the Church strive to serve the People of God with greater transparency and accountability, we will always proceed with every precaution to safeguard those who have put their trust in us,” he wrote in the letter.

Michael Gabriele, director of communications of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, said it is policy to remove a priest from any public ministry until the review board presents its findings. He said the independent review committee consists of mental health, law enforcement and legal professionals. Gabriele said the turnaround for an investigation like this is variable and includes looking into timelines and speaking with the victim and others involved.

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SNAP Calls for the Renaming of Endowment in Utah that Honors an Abusive Priest

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

March 6, 2019

According to reports, a permanent endowment for a Catholic church in Utah is still named for a credibly accused predator priest. We believe that Utah’s archbishop must rescind and rename the endowment today.

Monsignor George Davich, after whom the endowment is named, was ordered by the Vatican to stop presenting himself in public as a priest and to live a “life of prayer and penance” after an abuse allegation against him was deemed credible in 2002.

Yet for 17 years, Utah Catholic officials – especially Fr. John Norman, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul’s parish and now deceased Utah Bishop George A. Niederauer – have quietly let this travesty stand. Fr. Norman told the media he “does not necessarily see a problem with keeping an accused abuser’s name on the fund.” We wonder if he understands how this makes not only Fr. Davich’s victim or victims feel, but all survivors of sexual violence?

This inaction only sends the message that the Church would rather honor abusers than punish them.

Honoring perpetrators endangers children because it deters victims, witnesses and whistle blowers from speaking up and exposing molesters. It also rubs more salt into the already deep and still fresh wounds of not only thousands of suffering victims, but also of millions of betrayed Catholics.

Actions matter, not words. Bishop Oscar Solis, the current head of the diocese, should take steps to immediately rename the endowment. If the bishop cares about victims, as he professes, then he must must do something to remedy the situation.

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Cardinal Cupich’s Sex-Abuse Plan Faces Tough Road With US Bishops

DENVER (CO)
National Catholic Register

March 6, 2019

By Joan Frawley Desmond

Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago received a respectful hearing from Church leaders at the Vatican summit as he outlined his updated plan for deploying metropolitan bishops to investigate bishops accused of sexual abuse and negligence.

Back home, however, there are strong indications that his proposal faces a hard sell, as Church leaders and lay experts weigh reforms designed to restore the bishops’ credibility in the wake of the McCarrick scandal.

“There are still questions about ‘who knew what’ regarding McCarrick,” Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, told the Register.

“And now there is simply a lack of trust about a system involving metropolitans.”

Bishop Paprocki, a canon lawyer, expressed his preference for another proposal before the consideration of the U.S. bishops that was tabled until the completion of the summit: an independent national commission presented at the USCCB meeting in November.

“I am in favor of a national commission that would be consistent” in its approach to allegations against bishops, he said.

Francesco Cesareo, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ National Review Board and the president of Assumption College, was equally skeptical about a plan he described as “bishops policing bishops.”

“What confidence do we have that this proposal, even if it is obligatory, will be effective?” asked Cesareo, who also cited McCarrick’s role as a metropolitan.

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