ABUSE TRACKER

SYDNEY (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
Catholic Weekly – Archdiocese of Sydney

April 22, 2020

By Monica Doumit

High Court decision was vital to more than one person

In light of the quashing of the conviction of Cardinal George Pell by a unanimous decision of the High Court of Australia, I was approached by a certain national broadcaster for an interview. They wanted me to provide some commentary on what the decision meant for Catholics in Australia.

The interview didn’t end up going ahead, but I still had the opportunity to reflect on the question. Without wanting to be rude, the conclusion I came to is that the final ruling of the High Court wasn’t nearly as significant for Catholics as I had expected.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Cardinal Pell. I am thrilled that the High Court saw what so many others did: that the allegations against him were simply implausible given the ample unchallenged evidence in his favour, that the judges wrote a decisive, joint decision that confirmed that a jury – acting rationally – ought to have doubted his guilt, and that they ordered his immediate release. And I am grateful he is now free.

But as I reflected on what the decision meant for Catholics in Australia, I don’t think it meant that much at all. Whatever the outcome of the case, the position of Catholics in Australia was always going to remain the same.

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
WKBN 27

April 11, 2020

Ernest “Ernie” Formichelli, 67, passed away Saturday, April 11, 2020, following a one-year battle with cancer.

Ernie was born August 22, 1952, in Youngstown, the son of Peter and Irene Leone Formichelli.

He was a 1970 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School and in 1976, he graduated from Youngstown State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education.

“Mr. Form” began his career as an educator in 1976 at Cardinal Mooney High School, where he was the chairman of the History Department. During his 36 years at Cardinal Mooney, “Form” coached freshman football and tennis. A countless number of those student athletes earned local and state honors during his tenure. Coach Formichelli was instrumental in the growth of the tennis program at Cardinal Mooney. After many years of utilizing Mill Creek MetroParks tennis facilities as a home court, “Coach Form” served as the driving force in raising private funds for the construction of the school’s own tennis facilities.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

April 20, 2020

By Javonte Anderson

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-catholic-church-camp-abuse-settlement-20200420-46wf43egifcq7hs65omkx36txy-story.html

The Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to pay a $2.1 million settlement in a lawsuit that alleged a 7-year-old girl was sexually assaulted at a Catholic church camp in 2015, according to a news release from the law firm representing the girl.

The law firm, Romanucci & Blandin, did not name the camp where the abuse occurred, but a spokesman said it happened at a church in suburban Cook County.

The girl, who is now 12, was repeatedly abused by a camp counselor at the church, playground and in a classroom, according to Antonio Romanucci, one of the girl’s attorneys.

The girl told a teacher about what happened, and the teacher notified the girl’s father, according to the release.

“When the father confronted the priest and church leaders, they discouraged the father from calling police, saying the allegations would ruin the girl’s reputation and negatively impact attendance at the church,” Romanucci said in the release.

The archdiocese declined to comment.

The counselor who the girl said abused her had a “suspected history” of mental health concerns, according to the release.

“The church leaders involved had knowledge that this man should not be responsible for young girls, and chose to look the other way,” said Martin Gould, another of the girl’s attorneys.

The settlement comes as the archdiocese is facing financial pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Associated Press

April 21, 2020

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has settled a lawsuit that alleged a 7-year-old girl was sexually assaulted at a church camp in 2015, an attorney for the girl announced Monday.

Attorney Antonio Romanucci in a news release release did not name the camp where the alleged assault took place. However, he said the girl, now 12, was repeatedly abused by a camp counselor in multiple locations at a suburban Chicago church.

The girl told a teacher about the assault, who notified the girl’s father. According to Romanucci, the archdiocese discouraged the father from calling police, contending the allegations would ruin the girl’s reputation and hurt attendance at the church.

A spokesperson for the archdiocese declined to comment on the case.

Romanucci asserted the unidentified counselor who the girl accused of abusing her had aroused suspicions about his mental health. It wasn’t immediately known if charges were filed in the case.

“The church leaders involved had knowledge that this man should not be responsible for young girls,” said Martin Gould, another attorney representing the girl.

Romanucci said the case reflected “continued negligence by church leaders.”

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BRIDGEPORT (CT)
Connecticut Post

April 20, 2020

By Kendra Baker

Danbury – The pre-trial hearing of the former local priest accused of sexually assaulting two boys has been rescheduled from April 24 to June 19.

Jaime Marin-Cardona, 51, is charged with three counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, three counts of risk of injury to child and three counts of illegal sexual contact. He pleaded not guilty to all nine charges.

The warrant for Marin-Cardona’s arrest alleges that he groomed two boys over the course of four years, and sexually abused one of them over the same period of time.

The alleged abuse began in 2014 — the same year Marin-Cardona became a priest at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on Golden Hill Road.

He was placed on administrative leave Dec. 11, after the Diocese of Bridgeport’s Sexual Misconduct Review Board learned that the state Department of Children and Families had substantiated allegations of abuse against him.

The Columbia native’s most recent service was at Saint Mary Parish in Bridgeport, according to Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of the Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport.

Marin-Cardona was released on $500,000 bond, with conditions, last month. The conditions of his release include wearing a tracking device and comply with protective orders.

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BOULDER (CO)
University of Colorado

April 16, 2020

What happens when communities lack law enforcement?

For many of us, this may seem like a theoretical question. But through reporting based on hundreds of public records requests and interviews, Anchorage Daily News Special Projects Editor Kyle Hopkins found that one in three Alaskan communities have no law enforcement of any kind.

(Loren Holmes / Anchorage Daily News)Hopkins’ three-part investigative series “Lawless”––produced in a partnership between the Daily News and ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network––is the winner of this year’s Al Nakkula Award for police reporting, co-sponsored by the Denver Press Club and the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Media, Communication and Information.

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In addition, the judges give special mention to a collaboration with Marquette University’s Public Service Journalism O’Brien Fellowship and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that produced the series, “Unsolved: The Devil You Know.” Through both a podcast and written series, Journal Sentinel Criminal Justice Reporter Gina Barton investigated the cold case of Father Alfred Kunz, who was murdered in a rural Wisconsin town in 1998.

“Like the ProPublica assistance, such partnerships, similar to the one that produced last year’s Nakkula winner, help illustrate how outside groups with a desire to help local journalists play an increasingly important role in doing important work for local communities during these challenging times for local newsrooms,” Plunkett says.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican News

April 20, 2020

The Holy Father has appointed as deputy prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library the distinguished Dr. Timothy James Janz, scriptor graecus and director of the Printed Books Department of the Vatican Apostolic Library.

Dr. Timothy James Janz was born in Basle on 1 April 1966. He carried out his classical studies at the University of Laval, Québec, Canada, and was subsequently awarded a degree in classic Greek literature from the La Sorbonne University of Paris and a doctorate in classics from the University of Oxford.

He entered the Vatican Apostolic Library as deputy assistant, and has published numerous articles, monographs, contributions and reviews both on the Greek tradition of the Bible, the Septuagint, and on classic Greek texts and the catalogue of Greek manuscripts of the Vatican Apostolic Library.

In addition, he has collaborated on various projects in the same Library, and was gradually promoted until he was appointed as Scriptor graecus in 2011, and director of the Printed Books Department in 2016.

He is a member of the Board of the Library.

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DENVER (CO)
Crux

April 20, 2020

By John L. Allen Jr.

Rome – Recently Inés San Martín of Crux brought to my attention a notice in PC Gamer about a Polish software developer who’s announced a new computer game called “Pope Simulator.” Apparently it opens with a conclave in which the player is elected pope, and then presents various scenarios that require decisions.

“Our idea assumes the possibility to use, among others, the pope’s so-called ‘soft power,’ and consequently influence the fate of the world and interfere in international politics,” Ultimate Games CEO Mateusz Zawadzki said announcing the game.

A spokesman for Ultimate Games told me they’ve spent about $72,000 developing the game and that they haven’t set a price yet for it, which is projected to launch in 2021 for PCs and later on consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation, but probably the price tag will be in the range of $9 to $19.

I got a laugh, because my experience over more than 20 years is that a free version of “Pope Simulator” – admittedly without a slick graphics interface – is already the favorite indoor sport of the Catholic Church, and has been ever since I can remember.

Almost every Catholic, it seems, has an opinion about what the pope should do or not do. Especially in the social media age, folks also have ready platforms for expressing those opinions. In addition to reporting on the actual pope, a lot of our time on the Vatican beat is spent covering potential “Pope Simulator” adepts with a following and a cause.

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DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency

April 17, 2020

Los Angeles – The Archdiocese of Los Angeles will lead nine days of prayer and reflection for healing from sexual abuse, from April 18-26.

“This novena is offered for those directly harmed by sexual abuse, both in and outside the church,” Heather Banis, Victims Assistance Ministry Coordinator for the archdiocese, said April 17.

“Together we will pray for healing of our Church and communities, as we struggle to understand, atone, restore and re-imagine our church, our schools, and our neighborhoods, in the wake of the scandals that dominate the news, particularly as Catholics.”

April is marked as Child Abuse Prevention Month in the United States. With much of the world under lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, domestic violence advocates and other groups are warning that lockdowns may make those vulnerable to abuse even more vulnerable.

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WOODLAND PARK (NJ)
NorthJersey.com

April 15, 2020

By Abbott Koloff and Alex Nussbaum

A Brooklyn priest set to become the Diocese of Paterson’s new bishop said Wednesday that he wants to reach out to people who feel estranged from the church and that he is eager to get started in his new job — though the coronavirus pandemic has pushed back his installation indefinitely.

Bishop-elect Kevin Sweeney was introduced during a video press conference Wednesday morning after the Vatican announced that it had accepted the resignation of the current bishop, Arthur J. Serratelli, who at 75 had reached the age of retirement.

Pope Francis has been promoting priests who reflect his views to positions of power in the church. Asked for his own thoughts on reaching out to gay Catholics and allowing Communion for people who have been divorced or don’t accept all of the church’s teachings, Sweeney, 51, didn’t offer specifics. But he laid out a broad desire for a welcoming church.

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Serratelli took over the diocese after Bishop Frank Rodimer’s retirement in 2004 — a time of turmoil for the church in the aftermath of a child sex abuse scandal related to allegations of some church leaders covering up wrongdoing by priests.

Serratelli gained a reputation for upholding traditional Catholic values and called on those who didn’t believe in all of the church’s teachings to refrain from receiving Communion. That mirrored the leadership of former Archbishop John Myers in the Newark Archdiocese, where Serratelli served before moving to Paterson.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, who was selected by Francis to take over from Myers in Newark, has made a point to reach out to people who have been on the margins of the church community, holding a meeting with gay Catholics shortly after he was installed.

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BROOKLYN (NY)
The Tablet – Diocese of Brooklyn

April 15, 2020

By Christopher White

Pope Francis has named a Brooklyn priest, Father Kevin Sweeney, as the next bishop of Paterson, New Jersey.

Bishop-elect Sweeney, who is 50 years old, currently serves as the pastor of St. Michael’s parish in Sunset Park. He will become the eighth bishop of Paterson, succeeding Bishop Arthur Serratelli, who sent his resignation to Pope Francis last year when he reached the retirement age of 75.

The announcement of Father Sweeney’s new post was made by the Vatican and the apostolic nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, on April 15.

Father Sweeney is a native of Queens, New York where he grew up in the Whitestone neighborhood and was a member of St. Luke’s parish. From 1984-1988, he attended Cathedral Prep where he was an all-star player on the baseball team.

In 1997, Bishop Thomas Daily ordained Father Sweeney a priest for the Diocese of Brooklyn. He was assigned as parochial vicar to the parish of St. Nicholas of Tolentine in Jamaica, Queens and then to Our Lady of Sorrows in Corona, Queens.

In 2004, Bishop DiMarzio named Father Sweeney the Vocations Director of the Diocese of Brooklyn.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholc News Service

April 15, 2020

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson, New Jersey, and named Father Kevin J. Sweeney, a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, as his successor.

Bishop Serratelli is 75, the age at which canon requires bishops to turn in their resignation to the pope. Bishop-designate Sweeney, 50, will be the eighth bishop of Paterson.

The resignation and appointment were announced in Washington April 15 by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio issued a congratulatory statement about Bishop-designate Sullivan’s appointment, saying, “I could not think of a better choice.”

As a priest, he has served the diocese for 22 years, Bishop DiMarzio said, “and is an outstanding example of a parish priest. I know he is a man of prayer and is a zealous advocate of vocations to the priesthood.”

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TOLEDO (OH)
Toldeo Blade

April 18, 2020

A nationwide third-party reporting system is in place for sexual abuse-related complaints against bishops in the Catholic Church. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops authorized the development of Catholic Bishop Abuse Reporting System in June, in response to Pope Francis’ May Apostolic Letter Vos estis lux mundi addressing sexual abuse and bishop accountability.

The new reporting system is operated by Convercent, Inc., described as an independent, third-party entity responsible for transmitting confidential reports both to the Holy See and to the local metropolitan archbishop responsible for initially assessing reports. Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr presides over Ohio, including the Diocese of Toledo.

The new system does not replace existing protocols for reporting complaints against priests, deacons religious or laity. Confidential report regarding a bishop can be submitted online at ReportBishopAbuse.org or by calling 800- 276-1562.

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NEW YORK (NY)
First Things

April 15, 2020

By George Weigel

The unanimous decision by Australia’s High Court to quash Cardinal George Pell’s convictions on charges of “historic sexual abuse” and acquit him of those crimes was entirely welcome. Truth and justice were served. An innocent man was freed from imprisonment. The criminal justice system in the State of Victoria was informed by Australia’s supreme judicial authority that it had gotten things badly wrong. The anti-Pell haters in the Australian media were reminded that their power has limits.

Yet there remains a lot to be reckoned with in the aftermath of this case, which bore all the tawdry hallmarks of a witch hunt.

Did the government-funded Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) collude with a corrupt Victoria police department in a sleazy attempt to dig up alleged crimes where none had been previously reported? Why did so weak a case ever come to trial, given compelling evidence that what was said to have happened simply could not have happened in the timeframe and circumstances alleged by the complainant? Why was the jury never informed that the complainant had a history of psychological problems? What effect did the lynch mob atmosphere in Victoria have on the hung jury in the cardinal’s first trial, and on the incomprehensible guilty verdict rendered by the jury in the retrial? Why was the cardinal forbidden to say Mass for over 400 days, even when in solitary confinement?

These are questions proper to Australia and should be examined by the public authorities there; a parliamentary inquiry into the behavior of ABC and the Victoria police seems the least that ought to be done. The Pell affair also has implications for other countries and for the world Church, as public officials and Catholic leaders continue to grapple with the societal-wide plague of the sexual abuse of the young.

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SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
Catholic Weekly – Archdiocese of Sydney

April 20, 2020

By Fr Frank Brennan

Cardinal George Pell has been acquitted of all charges of child sexual abuse by Australia’s highest court – the High Court of Australia. In criminal cases, they usually sit only a bench of five judges. In Pell’s case, the full bench of seven sat. They knew the world was watching. They often write separate opinions. But in the case of Cardinal Pell they all put their name to one judgment. They unanimously upheld his appeal and in almost record time.

At the appeal, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for the State of Victoria where Pell was charged appeared in person. She submitted to the court that if the judges were minded to uphold the appeal, they should at least refer the matter back to the Victorian state court for final determination. All seven High Court judges described that submission with one word: ‘specious’. This highlights why the Pell trial needs some background legal context to be readily understood by readers who have not been closely following parliamentary inquiries, court cases and royal commissions in Victoria.

Readers need to understand that all is not well with the system of criminal justice in Victoria. Cardinal Pell has been a major casualty in this clash and decline of institutions. The unsuspecting complainant who brought the case against him has had to suffer untold additional trauma because of the shortcomings of the Victoria Police and the office of Public Prosecutions.

Some background is needed. In Victoria, there is a long running royal commission investigating how the Victoria Police came to enlist a defence barrister as a human source to inform on her own clients. In the area of criminal justice, the abuse of process does not get much worse. It’s estimated that this gross abuse by the Victoria police brings into question about 1300 convictions, including some of the most awful criminals in the state. One of the key persons with involvement in this perverse police operation was Graham Ashton who is now the Victorian Police Commissioner.

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SURRY HILLS (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
The Australian

April 20, 2020

By Chris Mitchell

The police and media campaign against him was part of the culture wars, Cardinal George Pell told Sky News’s Andrew Bolt last Tuesday. He is correct.

Policing and journalism were once dominated by Catholics, partly because both were open to people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. That has changed as more women with excellent university results have joined the media and editors have hired specialist reporters from the law, finance and accounting fields.

Jack The Insider, this digital site’s Peter Hoysted, has written here and in his book, Unholy Trinity: The hunt for pedophile priest Monsignor John Day, about the history of Victoria Police protecting pedophile priests. The Age’s crime-writing doyen, John Silvester, has made the same point.

Discussing the High Court’s 7-0 quashing of Pell’s conviction, Silvester wrote on April 7: “The police record on these cases is ­lamentable. For many years, ­rather than do their job, there was a key group of senior police who ­actively sabotaged prosecutions against priests.”

In the media, there was a long tradition of ignoring such stories. Last week, this column discussed a seven-year series about pedophilia by priests, brothers and politicians published by Brisbane’s The ­Courier-Mail from the mid-1990s. These stories culminated in lengthy jail sentences for abusers, and school and church payouts to victims upwards of $100m.

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SURRY HILLS (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
The Australian

April 18, 2020

By Angela Shanahan

Only a week after being exonerated by the High Court, Cardinal George Pell is now, we are told, the subject of yet another historic sexual assault accusation by a new accuser. This “news” was leaked to the Herald Sun, pre-empting Andrew Bolt’s revealing interview with the cardinal that finally made clear to the public, who were not aware of proceedings at the trial, that despite many witnesses providing contrary evidence, the cardinal was condemned by the word of just one accuser.

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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews reiterated the “we believe you” mantra. Child protection campaigner Hetty Johnston made it clear in an interview with Chris Kenny on the day of the High Court verdict that in child sexual assault cases, campaigners want the onus of proof shifted so that we begin from a point of belief in the “victim”. Children don’t lie, she says. But Pell’s was an adult accuser. He might have been sexually molested at some stage in his life, or he might not.

There is another recent case against a high-ranking prelate that illustrates this point. Max Davis is the Catholic Bishop of the Australian Defence Force. He has had a long, distinguished career and is well thought of by ordinary soldiers, particularly as he has been to various areas of deployment, including the base at Tarin Kowt in Afghanistan.

However, in June 2014, Davis was charged with having indecently assaulted a 13-year-old boy in 1969. The one com­plain­ant was followed by more and eventually there were six counts related to the period between December 1968 and October 1972. Davis had been a young teacher and a dorm master at St Benedict’s College New Norcia, for some of that time. The charging of Davis was sensational as, until Pell, he was the highest ranking prelate charged with this offence.

But what happened next well illustrates the problem of shifting the onus of proof. All the victims swore that their abuser was Davis, that he was one of the brothers, even to describing the famous Benedictine habit. However, contrary to that testimony, Davis was a lay person — he was not ordained until 1971 and he was never in the Benedictine order. Davis left the school in the late 1960s, went into the seminary and was ordained in 1971. While he was at the school he was not “Brother Max”, as was claimed, he was simply Mr Davis. The trial became a fiasco when it became clear the police had not checked the enrolment records at the school at the same time as Davis was there. One of the accusers was not enrolled.

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ANN ARBOR (MI)
M Live

April 19, 2020

By Steve Marowski

Attorneys from across the country have filed lawsuits against the University of Michigan on behalf of clients who say they were abused by late athletic doctor Robert Anderson, but some law firms that haven’t yet taken legal action are trying to find other avenues of justice for their clients.

Anderson was a doctor at the University of Michigan from 1968 to 2003. He served as the director of health services until 1980, when he was moved to the athletic department. Anderson died in 2008.

Ten years later, former UM wrestler Tad Deluca wrote a letter to Athletic Director Warde Manuel, detailing abuse he says he endured at the hands of Anderson. A police investigation followed and UM opened a hotline Feb. 19 for abuse victims to report their experiences. The university has since received at least 229 unique complaints against Anderson.

Dozens of former UM students have reported instances of genital fondling and anal penetration during unnecessary hernia and prostate exams. Some report more overt sexual acts.

With scores of victims coming forward to report abuse, a plethora of law firms have begun taking action against the university.

Each firm has taken a different path to seeking justice for their clients. Some have met with UM and its lawyers, some have demanded responses from the university and for Attorney General Dana Nessel to investigate, and others have filed lawsuits, including individual and class-action complaints, against UM and its Board of Regents.

Here’s what those firms are doing and how they’re approaching cases for their clients.

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DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Free Press

April 16, 2020

By David Jesse

University of Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel did not follow university policy when he forwarded a letter alleging sexual assault by a former football team doctor to the university’s lawyers instead of the school’s Title IX investigators.

Because lawyers got to see the letter before any investigator, they got an early warning of potential liability to the school.

There are about 40 lawsuits pending in federal court against U-M alleging the university covered up Robert Anderson’s sexual assaults of student athletes for decades. There could be many more lawsuits to come — at least three other prominent lawyers have said they each have dozens of potential victims, none of whom have filed suit yet.

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MONTROUGE (FRANCE)
La Croix

April 14, 2020

By Massimo Faggioli

Massimo Faggioli dissects the theological and institutional limits of Francis’ pontificate

There is a serious risk that Pope Francis is losing the support of the people who want to see him succeed and keep the Church from falling into the hands of those who have set their face against change.

This is an important moment, because the 83-year-old is showing few signs that he understands that many of the strongest believers in his efforts at Church reform are becoming disillusioned.

The seventh anniversary of his election as Bishop of Rome, on March 13, coincided with the peak in awareness of the coronavirus pandemic. It was impossible at that moment to delve into complex analysis of his pontificate.

But living in lockdown in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 has now become the new normal, and it will be for some time in many countries. It provides an opportunity to try and take a more careful look at what has happened to Francis’ pontificate in the last few months.

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MONTROUGE (FRANCE)
La Croix

By Massimo Faggioli

April 15, 2020

Massimo Faggioli dissects the theological and institutional limits of Francis’ pontificate

Supporters of Pope Francis and his efforts to reform the Catholic Church are concerned that the dynamism of his pontificate has begun to wane.His very important spiritual insights lack a clear systematic structure that can be placed in a theological framework and an institutional order.

Recent events – such as his decision to ignore a suggestion by the Amazon bishops to ordain married priests, and his establishment of a new study commission on the female diaconate that does not appear in favor of ordaining women deacons – suggest to reform-minded Catholics that his pontificate is in crisis.What is the current situation telling us?

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

April 20, 2020

By Michael Sean Winters

When Massimo Faggioli offers a critique of this pontificate, as he did last week at La Croix in a two-part essay, here and here, everyone should take notice. Not only is Faggioli one of the leading ecclesiologists in the universal church, but he has been strongly supportive of Pope Francis.

The first thing to note is how Faggioli engages the topic: He is deeply respectful, expressing concern not scorn, his analysis does not lead him down a rabbit hole in which the conversation is suddenly devoid of the ecclesial set forth at Vatican II. His concerns about ecclesial structures were acquired by careful readings of Yves Congar, not from an MBA program or political campaign. Faggioli’s language is always ecclesial language, never some bizarre extrapolation of Foucaultian ideas about the relationship of power and sexuality nor an ecclesiological variation of game theory. He knows that the church is a gift, not Silly Putty, and there are limits as well as possibilities baked into the constitution of the church.

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UNITED STATES
Celebrity Insider

April 16, 2020

By Charisse Van Horn

Child USA CEO Marci Hamilton and Child USA Ambassador Corey Feldman have released a movie viewing guide for sexual abuse survivors before the return of the documentary (My) Truth: The Rape Of 2 Coreys. The movie carefully lays out an alleged pedophile network that actor Corey Feldman says not only abused him but sexually abused Corey Haim as well. Due to the intense subject matter and some graphic detail regarding sexual abuse, Marci Hamilton and Corey Feldman have released the guide to offer suggestions to help survivors deal with any triggers that may arise from watching the movie. Tickets go on sale on April 18, 2020, and the movie will begin streaming on-demand beginning April 22, 2020. The only legitimate place to purchase tickets and view the movie is the official website at www.mytruthdoc.com.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

April 19, 2020

By Goya Dmytryshchak

Victorian private schools, religious entities and other organisations who don’t sign up to a redress scheme for child sex abuse survivors may lose funding, the state government will announce on Sunday.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended a national redress scheme to provide survivors with support such as compensation.

Victoria’s Attorney-General Jill Hennessy said 49 non-government organisations operating in the state had not signed up to the scheme, which has a June 30 deadline.

They include private schools, religious entities, sport and recreation groups, and community, youth and family services.

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COLUMBUS (OH)
Associated Press

April 17, 2020

A federal judge on Friday partly unpaused litigation against Ohio State University over decades-old sexual abuse by a team doctor, while making clear that mediation toward possible settlements should continue as the lawsuits proceed.

More than 350 former athletes and other men alleging mistreatment by the late Richard Strauss sued the school for failing to stop the doctor despite concerns raised during his tenure, but much of the legal action has been on hold as the cases were in mediation.

Ohio State announced last month that it reached a settlement with nearly half the men; details weren’t disclosed. Some of the other accusers had asked the judge to let them resume litigation.

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ST. ALBERT (ALBERTA, CANADA)
St. Albert Gazette

April 18, 2020

By Scott Hayes

Séan McCann’s appearance on the Arden Theatre stage might be delayed till the fall but you can prepare for his talk – a fundraiser for the St. Albert Community Foundation – with his new memoir just released this week.

DETAILS: One Good Reason / Written by Séan McCann with Andrea Aragon / 240 pages / $29.95 / Nimbus Publishing

These are the days to find the good stories to read – the important stories, real ones, the ones that come from the heart and speak to making the best of bad, horrible situations.

On that note, Séan McCann just released his memoir One Good Reason this week. Co-written with his wife Andrea Aragon, it’s a deep dive into the Great Big Sea singer/songwriter’s lifetime of mental anguish caused by sexual abuse by a Catholic priest when he was just a teenager in a small town in Newfoundland. That torment and the secrecy he kept about it resulted in his alcoholism, which spurred on his own misbehaviours. Creative and celebrated though he was (and still is), he spent much of his life in a bottle and that, we all know, never comes without its own new miseries springing forth.

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GRAND RAPIDS (MI)
MLive.com

April 18, 2020

By Melissa Frick

The Michigan Supreme Court shot down a young man’s appeal in a negligence lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids that was previously dismissed in Kent County Circuit Court, the Associated Press reports.

The lawsuit accuses the diocese and three Catholic school employees of negligence in the sexual abuse of a Catholic school teen who was assaulted by a tutor. The victim, who was 15 at the time of the abuse, accuses the defendants of failing to prevent Abigail Simon, a former Catholic school tutor, from abusing him.

The teen filed the lawsuit in 2015 against the diocese, Grand Rapids Catholic Secondary School and three administrators, claiming not enough was done to prevent high school tutor Abigail Simon from abusing the teen.

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GRAND RAPIDS (MI)
Associated Press

April 17, 2020

The Michigan Supreme Court has turned down an appeal from a young man who accused the Grand Rapids Catholic Diocese of negligence for failing to prevent a sexual relationship with a high school tutor.

It wasn’t unanimous. Three justices — Bridget McCormack, Richard Bernstein and Megan Cavanagh — said Friday they wanted to hear the case.

The state appeals court in 2018 agreed with a Kent County judge who had dismissed a lawsuit against the diocese and school officials. They said they were unaware of the relationship between Abigail Simon and a teenager at Catholic Central High School in 2013.

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VIRGINIA
Crux

April 18, 2020

By Inés San Martín

In Oct. 2008, Father Mark White started a blog under his name in the hopes that his preaching would reach those who don’t go to church. Ever since, he’s written about God, Kobe Bryant, and being pro-life, as well as sharing his homilies.

But he’s also been critical of the way some within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church addressed the clerical sex abuse crisis. The targets of his criticism have included Pope Francis and his own Diocese of Richmond in Virginia, which he’s called “opaque.”

White closed his blog in November 2019, after his bishop ordered him to do so. But after the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of Masses with the faithful, he decided to resume blogging, as a way to stay in communication with his parishioners.

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National Catholic Register

April 17, 2020

By Father Raymond J. de Souza

COMMENTARY: The Australian cardinal addressed key issues associated with his wrongful conviction and imprisonment, including the incendiary claim that it might have been desired by corrupt officials in Rome.

For the first time since July 2017, Cardinal George Pell spoke at length. In a television interview taped on Holy Saturday at a seminary in Sydney, he answered questions for nearly an hour about his ordeal, which ended with a thumping acquittal by Australia’s High Court the previous Tuesday. In the course of his answers, Cardinal Pell made four important points and addressed the incendiary claim that his wrongful conviction in Melbourne might have been desired by corrupt officials in Rome.

Suffering of the Innocent

Asked about how he endured the charges, the public defamation, the trials and the incarceration, Cardinal Pell insisted that his inner peace was not disturbed because he knew that he was innocent. The only time during the interview that he appeared annoyed was when he was asked if he had considered suicide.

“I am a Christian!” he replied, incredulous that the possibility would be raised.

Cardinal Pell’s answer clarified what is true for Christians, above all during Holy Week. The suffering, even death, of the innocent is not a theological problem for Christians. If Jesus, innocent of all sin, could be falsely condemned to death, then the suffering of the innocent does not pose a challenge to the faith on a theological level.

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AUSTRALIA
Australian Associated Press via 7 News

April 16, 2020

By Karen Sweeney

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has been blasted for his “inappropriate” comments about judges after Cardinal George Pell’s High Court acquittal.

Mr Kennett called for the resignation of Victorian Chief Justice Anne Ferguson and Court of Appeal President Chris Maxwell after their decision on Cardinal Pell’s earlier appeal was overturned.

A jury convicted the cardinal on five child sexual abuse charges in December 2018 and the judges ruled the verdict should stand after a two-day appeal hearing last August.

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AUSTRALIA
Mama Mia (blog)

April 16, 2020

This post deals with child sex abuse and might be triggering for some readers.

The past couple of weeks have been fraught for our family. Not only are we all home-bound due to coronavirus, but we have been following the media surrounding Cardinal George Pell almost hypnotically. We are invested.

You see, my husband is a survivor of Catholic sexual abuse.

It occurred in the 1980s, when he was a boarder at a well-known school for boys. The signs were there but I did not put it all together until over a decade into our relationship and two children later.

He would latch on to any media stories about paedophiles. He would watch certain movies over and over, most notably ‘Spotlight’ (about an American Newspaper that uncovered multiple instances of abuse) and ‘Sleepers’, a story of four boys who were abused in jail and seek revenge.

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Catholic World Report

April 6, 2020

By George Weigel

It is imperative for the future of the Australian criminal justice system, and indeed for the future of Australian democracy, that a serious examination of conscience followed by a serious public reckoning take place.

The unanimous decision by Australia’s High Court to quash a guilty verdict and enter a verdict of “acquitted” in the case of Pell vs. The Queen reverses both the incomprehensible trial conviction of Cardinal George Pell on a charge of “historic sexual abuse” and the equally baffling decision to uphold that false verdict by two of the three members of an appellate court in the State of Victoria last August. The High Court’s decision frees an innocent man from the unjust imprisonment to which he has been subjected, restores him to his family and friends, and enables him to resume his important work in and for the Catholic Church. The decision also begins the process of rebuilding international confidence in Australia’s criminal justice system, which has been badly damaged by the Pell case—although there is much more remedial work to be done on that front, especially in the State of Victoria, Ground Zero of the Pell witch hunt that raged for years and that culminated in this tawdry affair.

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AUSTRALIA
Catholic News Agency

April 8, 2020

The High Court of Australia this week overturned Cardinal George Pell’s conviction for five alleged counts of sexual abuse, and despite his release from prison, Pell is likely to face several civil lawsuits from alleged abuse victims and their families.

The High Court on April 7 overturned Pell’s 2018 conviction for alleged abuse of two choir boys. The father of one of the alleged victims in the criminal case— who has since died— is suing the Catholic Church, claiming Pell’s alleged abuse was the reason for his son’s “sudden turmoil” in 1996, according to his lawyer Lisa Flynn.

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KOTTAYAM (INDIA)
Global Sisters Report

[Note: This is an old article]

February 25, 2020

By Saji Thomas

Defense attorneys petitioned court to ban media coverage, social media discussion

The rape case against Bishop Franco Mulakkal took a new turn over the weekend when a new allegation of sexual misconduct against the prelate emerged a day before he was to appear in court in Kerala, India. The second accuser, a member of the same congregation as the first, is already a witness in the pending trial against the bishop.

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WINSTON-SALEM (NC)
Winston-Salem Journal

By Michael Hewlett

April 17, 2020

Sex abuse allegations made against Children’s Home house parents. Accuser says abuse occurred in the 1970s.

A lawsuit filed Thursday alleges that a husband and wife serving as house parents at the Children’s Home repeatedly molested an orphaned Winston-Salem boy in the early 1970s, as well as other children. The suit claims officials were negligent and failed to report abuse to local authorities.

The lawsuit says the house parents were eventually fired over the allegations but were never charged with a crime. The accuser is now a 59-year-old still living somewhere in North Carolina. His attorneys filed the lawsuit in Mecklenburg Superior Court against the Children’s Home and the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, which ran the Children’s Home at the time of the alleged abuse. The Western North Carolina Conference is headquartered in Huntersville in Mecklenburg County. The Conference now contributes revenue and volunteers for what is known as Crossnore School & Children’s Home.

Richard Serbin, one of the accuser’s attorneys, said North Carolina’s Safe Child Act of 2019 paved the way for the lawsuit, providing a two-year window for child sexual-abuse claims to be brought. The statute of limitations is eliminated during that two-year window.

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GREENSBURG (PA)
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

April 16, 2020

By Natasha Lindstrom

A New Hampshire man is suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh based on allegations that three priests sexually assaulted him in the 1960s and early ’70s, court records show.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court further accuses the diocese and co-defendant Bishop David Zubik of “protecting child sexual abusers” by refusing to provide information that could help identify two of the three accused priests.

The diocese did not return a request for comment late Wednesday.

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LAS VEGAS (NV)
KSNV

April 16, 2020

By Peter Valencia

A new round-the-clock hotline is now available for targeted for LGBTQ+ victims of crime in Southern Nevada.

The Center, located near Maryland Parkway and Lewis Avenue, said it will staff more than 125 volunteer advocates to point victims to the right services.

“It has been a long-term goal of The Center to launch a victim hotline to serve our community,” said Holly Reese, Community Engagement Manager for The Center.

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PENNSYLVANIA
TribLive.com

April 16, 2020

By Josh Shapiro

We’re working overtime right now in the Office of Attorney General — protecting your financial security and stopping price gouging during the public health emergency — and still meeting our core responsibilities to public safety. In fact, we just won two major victories that will protect Pennsylvanians from the most dangerous sexually violent predators.

Survivors of sexual assault inspire our office with their strength and resilience. The emotional trauma and physical abuse they’ve endured is heartbreaking and drives our fight against the devastating impacts of sexual violence in our commonwealth. Preventing these crimes and supporting survivors is a critical obligation of the Office of Attorney General.

Thanks to our efforts, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court just overturned a decision that would have undermined public safety and torn away a key protection for all Pennsylvanians. In this case, the court agreed that the commonwealth can continue to notify parents, neighbors, schools and child care centers every time an especially dangerous sexually violent predator moves into their community. The people on this list were convicted of abusing someone already, and a judge found they had a disorder that compels them to commit sexually violent offenses. There are currently 2,269 people in Pennsylvania on this list and, thanks to our office, you’ll know if one of them lives in your neighborhood.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

April 16, 2020

Four lawsuits have been filed this month against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh — two of them also naming Holy Family Institute in Emsworth — by plaintiffs alleging that as minors they were were sexually abused by priests or other employees decades ago.

The lawsuits were filed in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and allege, among other things, that the defendants engaged in fraud and conspiracy.

They are the latest in a line of lawsuits based on a legal theory that is now before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in a test case. Abuse claims from long ago would normally be barred under the statute of limitations. But the plaintiffs argue they were victims of a conspiracy of coverup that continued right up to the release of a 2018 statewide grand jury report into sexual abuse in Pittsburgh’s and five other dioceses. The plaintiffs allege this brings the cause of action to within the statute of limitations.

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VATICAN CITY
Church Militant (blog)

April 7, 2020

by Bradley Eli, M.Div., Ma.Th.

Pope Francis is praying for those who are persecuted by an unjust sentence. He did so shortly after news broke that Australia’s High Court acquitted Cdl. George Pell of sex abuse.

Without mentioning Pell’s name in his homily at Casa Santa Marta on Tuesday Francis said, “I would like to pray today for all the people who suffer an unjust sentence because of aggressive persistence [against them].”

A Vatican press release the same day was more specific: “The Holy See, which has always expressed confidence in the Australian judicial authority, welcomes the High Court’s unanimous decision concerning Cdl. George Pell, acquitting him of the accusations of abuse of minors and overturning his sentence.”

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BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

April 16, 2020

By Phil Fairbanks

The Buffalo Diocese is spending a lot of money defending itself.

Hundreds of clergy sexual abuse lawsuits. A landmark bankruptcy case.

The result is a legal bill totaling more than $2 million the past year alone.

And the meter is running.

More than half of the money paid out by the diocese – $1.4 million – went to Connors LLP, the Buffalo law firm handling more than 260 Child Victims Act lawsuits against the diocese.

Headed by Terrence M. Connors, one of the state’s preeminent defense attorneys, the firm has represented the diocese for years and is seen as one of its primary defenders, both in court and in public.

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AUSTRALIA
Lawyers Weekly

April 16, 2020

By Naomi Neilson

It is “legally wrong” to assume that the merit of future cases brought in the criminal or civil jurisdictions for assault by a priest is weakened by the George Pell decision.

A law professor with La Trobe University conceded that the High Court of Australia’s ruling left a “trail of devastation” from victims of sexual abuse by priests of the Catholic Church, but the decision will have little to no effect on the future of similar cases.

Gideon Boas said each future case will be determined by reference to the particular facts and evidence and, beyond the fact that all historic sex abuse cases suffer from difficulties associated with the delay of trial, the Pell decision will not ultimately be the drawcard.

“It would be unfortunate and legally wrong if the message in the community was that the High Court’s ruling has weakened the strength of, or point in, bringing such cases to court or making properly founded allegations,” Professor Boas said. “The risk of this messaging is that victims will give up or not bother coming forward.”

Importantly, the allegation that concerned the High Court’s ruling is “the beginning of the real analysis of Pell’s involvement and complicity in child sex abuse in the Catholic Church and, in particular the Ballarat [diocese]”. As such, it is predicted that Cardinal Pell will face other civil proceedings concerning allegations of cover-ups in the churc

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ROCHESTER (NY)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

April 16, 2020

By Gary Craig

The Roman Catholic Dioceses of Rochester and Buffalo have sued the federal Small Business Administration for refusing to allow the dioceses to seek emergency loans to offset the loss of money during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The refusal of the Small Business Administration, or SBA, has nothing to do with the fact that the dioceses are religious institutions; faith-based and nonprofit organizations can seek the loans.

However, the SBA is not providing financial help to businesses in bankruptcy proceedings. Both the Diocese of Rochester and the Diocese of Buffalo are seeking bankruptcy protection in the wake of hundreds of claims of sex abuse by priests and nuns.

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HAMILTON (ONTARIO, CANADA)
Catholic Register

April 19, 2020

I am always perplexed by others who are appalled at the sexual abuse cases within the Catholic Church and, more recently, the allegations of sexual, emotional and spiritual abuse by Jean Vanier. Most become incensed and wonder why abuse victims wait so long to tell their tale.

Dr. Nuala Kenny gives insight in her book Still Unhealed. It takes males at least 25 years and females at least 18 years before they can even acknowledge the abuse. Why? Because the profound shock and shame — physically, emotionally, psychologically — is like being hit by a truck. The rebound takes years, if ever it can occur.

Children carry all this pain and secrecy to adulthood at great consequence to their quality of living, trust in relationships and sexual expression with partners. They carry an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

Dr. Kenny certainly has pegged the problem in our Catholic homes and communities and in the Church at large.

Rose Galbraith,

Hamilton, Ont.

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CANADA
Toronto Star

April 16, 2020

By Marcia Kaye

Michelle Good never went to a residential school. But as the daughter and granddaughter of people who did, the long-time advocate for residential school survivors says a certain question often comes up. As she explains in a note to reviewers of her new book, it’s a question that those who never attended such schools — the last of which closed almost a quarter-century ago — have for those who did: Why can’t they just get over it and move on?

“I choose to believe that this response arises from a lack of awareness,” she wrote. And as one who straddles both worlds — she didn’t go to such a school but her life has been surrounded by survivors — she’s well positioned to heighten that awareness. To that end, Good, a member of Saskatchewan’s Red Pheasant Cree Nation, has written the novel “Five Little Indians.”

Despite its glib title — a nod to the classic Agatha Christie mystery “Ten Little Indians,” whose title in turn comes from an offensive 19th-century minstrel-show ditty — the novel is an intense depiction of how life unfolds for five likeable young people once they’re out of residential school.

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RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Times-Dispatch

April 16, 2020

A Catholic priest in Virginia says he’ll continue to serve two parishes despite the Richmond Diocese’s order to remove him over a blog that’s been critical of the church. Rev. Mark White told the Richmond Times-Dispatch earlier this week that he would remain as priest and is seeking legal counsel to defend his position. He said the canonical process must run its full course. White maintained a well-known blog that was critical of the church’s handling of the sexual abuse scandal. He served as the priest of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount.

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HONOLULU (HI)
Church Militant

April 15, 2020

By Rodney Pelletier

New allegations rock diocese of Honolulu

New homosexual clerical abuse claims are being leveled against the diocese of Honolulu, with accusations the Church knew about it and did nothing.

On Tuesday, attorney Mark Gallagher and noted clerical sex abuse law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates issued a press release regarding a new lawsuit filed against the diocese of Honolulu in reference to the sexual predation of Honolulu priest Bartholomew O’Leary and Bp. Joseph Ferrario — both now deceased.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune-Review

April 16, 2020

By Natasha Lindstrom

A New Hampshire man is suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh based on allegations that three priests sexually assaulted him in the 1960s and early ’70s, court records show.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court further accuses the diocese and co-defendant Bishop David Zubik of “protecting child sexual abusers” by refusing to provide information that could help identify two of the three accused priests.

The diocese did not return a request for comment late Wednesday.

Now 62, the plaintiff claims he faced years of sexual assault at the hands of priests, starting when he was around 7 or 8 years old as a student at St. Colman’s Catholic School in Turtle Creek, the lawsuit states.

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ROME (ITALY)
Breitbart

April 15, 2020

By Thomas D. Williams

Cardinal George Pell said it is widely believed by senior Vatican officials that his prosecution in Australia for historic sex abuse was linked to his fight against financial corruption in the Vatican.

In a nearly hourlong televised interview Tuesday in australia, SkyNews host Andrew Bolt asked the cardinal point blank whether he had ever considered “that the trouble you were causing to corrupt officials in the Vatican was related to the troubles that have since happened to you here?”

“Most of the senior people in Rome who are in any way sympathetic to financial reform believe that they are,” Pell responded, while adding that he does not personally have hard evidence of that.

In March 2019, Vatican journalist Marco Tossati wrote an article titled, “Cannons in Australia with Bullets Made in the Vatican,” saying this was a phrase he had often heard from Vatican insiders who were convinced that accusations against Pell in Australia were instigated by his enemies in Rome.

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[What did the search by the Prosecutor’s Office reveal of the Archdiocese of Villavicencio?]

VILLAVICENCIO (COLOMBIA)
Las2Orillas

April 15, 2020

By Ferney Yesyd Rodríguez Vargas

Por primera vez, la Fiscalía General tiene en su poder los archivos secretos del Arzobispado, una fuente escandalosa de verdades ocultas en la iglesia

En un hecho asombroso y sin precedentes, la Fiscalía General de la Nación inspeccionó de manera sorpresiva la sede de la Arquidiócesis de Villaviciencio en busca de información sobre sacerdotes pederastas.

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION: For the first time, the Attorney General’s Office has in its possession the archives of the archbishopric, a scandalous source of hidden truths in the church

In an amazing and unprecedented event, the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation surprisingly inspected the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Villaviciencio in search of information on pedophile priests.]

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.

[Scandal continues over allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Villavicencio priests]

VILLACIENCIO (COLOMBIA)
El País

April 14, 2020

Un fiscal adelanta las investigaciones sobre el escándalo que llevó a la suspensión de 19 sacerdotes en Villavicencio.

Un fiscal seccional adelanta las investigaciones sobre el escándalo, conocido antes de la Semana Santa, que llevó a la suspensión de 19 sacerdotes en Villavicencio.

El origen de este escándalo empezó el pasado 14 de febrero, luego de que un hombre mayor de edad interpuso una denuncia en contra de los sacerdotes de la Arquidiócesis de Villavicencio y los acusó de hechos en contra de la moral sexual.

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION: A prosecutor is conducting investigations into the scandal that led to the suspension of 19 priests in Villavicencio.

A sectional prosecutor is carrying out investigations into the scandal, known before Easter, which led to the suspension of 19 priests in Villavicencio.

The origin of this scandal began on February 14, after an elderly man filed a complaint against the priests of the Archdiocese of Villavicencio and accused them of acts against sexual morality.]

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NASHVILLE (KY)
Fox 17 TV

April 15, 2020

by Kathleen Jacob

As more people spend time at home, child abuse cases are expected to rise. Plus, with kids being out of school, many of these cases are going unnoticed.

However, there are things people can be doing to protect these kids.

“If we think about the stress of raising young children in an average day and compound that with being isolated from your friends and family, having potential income loss, and not knowing when they’ll potentially have work again, it can compound very quickly.”

Kristen Davis with Prevent Child Abuse TN explains with those extra stressors, child advocates worry even more about kids, especially since they’re not seeing them in person.

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MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA)
The Australian

April 16, 2020

By Remy Varga

The Richmond Football Club will not reinstate Cardinal George Pell in an ambassadorial role despite his conviction for child sex abuse being unanimously overturned by the High Court of Australia.

A spokeswoman confirmed the board’s decision on Thursday, which she said will not be revisited with no further comment to be made.

Cardinal Pell was stripped of the honorary role of club Vice Patron in February 2019 after the Cardinal was convicted of child sex abuse, for which he served 405 days in HM Prison Barwon.

That verdict was quashed by the High Court of Australia on April 7 this year.

Before Pell entered the priesthood, Richmond signed Pell as ruckman in 1959 and he played for the club’s reserves and the Tigers previously stood by Cardinal Pell when he was first charged with child sex offences in 2017.

At the time, CEO Brendan Gale was reported saying he understood the seriousness of the allegations but “in light of Cardinal Pell’s fundamental legal rights to the presumption of innocence and to a fair trial, he will remain a Vice Patron of the Club, pending the outcome of any trial.”

Cardinal Pell became the world’s most senior Catholic to be convicted of child sex abuse in 2018 and he served 13 months for abusing two choir boys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne before the verdict was overturned.

Abuse survivors and victims’ advocacy groups have despaired over the High Court’s decision, raising concerns it could discourage others from coming forward.

The Tigers have several other Vice Patrons, a largely symbolic role adding prestige and credibility to the club.

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MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA)
The Australian

April 16, 2020

By Remy Varga

The Richmond Football Club will not reinstate Cardinal George Pell in an ambassadorial role despite his conviction for child sex abuse being unanimously overturned by the High Court of Australia.

A spokeswoman confirmed the board’s decision on Thursday, which she said will not be revisited with no further comment to be made.

Cardinal Pell was stripped of the honorary role of club Vice Patron in February 2019 after the Cardinal was convicted of child sex abuse, for which he served 405 days in HM Prison Barwon.

That verdict was quashed by the High Court of Australia on April 7 this year.

Before Pell entered the priesthood, Richmond signed Pell as ruckman in 1959 and he played for the club’s reserves and the Tigers previously stood by Cardinal Pell when he was first charged with child sex offences in 2017.

At the time, CEO Brendan Gale was reported saying he understood the seriousness of the allegations but “in light of Cardinal Pell’s fundamental legal rights to the presumption of innocence and to a fair trial, he will remain a Vice Patron of the Club, pending the outcome of any trial.”

Cardinal Pell became the world’s most senior Catholic to be convicted of child sex abuse in 2018 and he served 13 months for abusing two choir boys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne before the verdict was overturned.

Abuse survivors and victims’ advocacy groups have despaired over the High Court’s decision, raising concerns it could discourage others from coming forward.

The Tigers have several other Vice Patrons, a largely symbolic role adding prestige and credibility to the club.

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.

ROCHESTER (NY)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

April 16, 2020

By Steve Orr

The parishes that make up the diocese of Rochester, some of them already hobbled by declining attendance and flagging finances, are facing a new threat.

A wave of litigation.

The diocese’s parishes, as well as charitable affiliates like the CYO and Camp Stella Maris, are facing more than 400 legal claims that allege sexual abuse of young people by priests and nuns connected to those organizations.

Some parishes, like Saint Kateri Tekakwitha in Irondequoit and Holy Name in Elmira, have been named in more than two dozen claims. Catholic Charities and the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) have been named 15 times.

If the lawsuits went ahead, the cost of defending them might be enough to put many parishes and affiliates permanently underwater.

But for now, those lawsuits are on hold.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul Warren, convening court remotely as the coronavirus pandemic plays out, has ordered that all of those claims be temporarily frozen.

Warren is overseeing the diocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, which was filed in mid-September.

The bankruptcy filing was driven by the need to cope with a wave of lawsuits filed under New York’s Child Victims Act, which allowed victims of child sexual abuse to bring suit against their abuser, no matter how long ago the act occurred.

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.

ROCHESTER (NY)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

April 16, 2020

By Steve Orr

The parishes that make up the diocese of Rochester, some of them already hobbled by declining attendance and flagging finances, are facing a new threat.

A wave of litigation.

The diocese’s parishes, as well as charitable affiliates like the CYO and Camp Stella Maris, are facing more than 400 legal claims that allege sexual abuse of young people by priests and nuns connected to those organizations.

Some parishes, like Saint Kateri Tekakwitha in Irondequoit and Holy Name in Elmira, have been named in more than two dozen claims. Catholic Charities and the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) have been named 15 times.

If the lawsuits went ahead, the cost of defending them might be enough to put many parishes and affiliates permanently underwater.

But for now, those lawsuits are on hold.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul Warren, convening court remotely as the coronavirus pandemic plays out, has ordered that all of those claims be temporarily frozen.

Warren is overseeing the diocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, which was filed in mid-September.

The bankruptcy filing was driven by the need to cope with a wave of lawsuits filed under New York’s Child Victims Act, which allowed victims of child sexual abuse to bring suit against their abuser, no matter how long ago the act occurred.

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.

JAPAN
The Asahi Shimbun

April 16, 2020

By Maki Okubo

A new internal report by a Catholic bishops organization found that 16 sexual abuse cases against minors since the 1950s in Japan have been reported from the dioceses.

Of these cases spanning seven decades, only four of the clergy have admitted to the abuse and five remain as priests.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan on April 7 released its investigative report on its website after surveying all 16 diocesan bishops in Japan.

A total of 16 cases were reported from the 1950s through the 2010s, it said. The report concluded that the result is “just the tip of the iceberg.”

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.

JAPAN
The Asahi Shimbun

April 16, 2020

By Maki Okubo

A new internal report by a Catholic bishops organization found that 16 sexual abuse cases against minors since the 1950s in Japan have been reported from the dioceses.

Of these cases spanning seven decades, only four of the clergy have admitted to the abuse and five remain as priests.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan on April 7 released its investigative report on its website after surveying all 16 diocesan bishops in Japan.

A total of 16 cases were reported from the 1950s through the 2010s, it said. The report concluded that the result is “just the tip of the iceberg.”

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

AUSTRALIA
The Catholic Weekly

April 14, 2020

By Dr Wanda Skowronska

A vacant chair

At the final Annals lunch held on 29 November 2019 at the monastery of Sacred Heart in Kensington, Sydney , there was a vacant chair for Cardinal Pell.

Right next to this, was another vacant chair for the recently deceased Father Paul Stenhouse, who had ceaselessly called for moral and financial support for the Cardinal at every opportunity. It was not hard to imagine Fr Stenhouse doing the equivalent of an Irish jig way in heaven and, if living on earth, immediately writing up an article on the Cardinal’s vindication by the High Court for the next edition of Annals.

Yet we cannot forget the ordeal of the Cardinal in its true aspect of a Via Crucis which will become more deeply understood as time goes on.

A case that was beyond weak

It is not just that the Cardinal was falsely accused. As George Weigel put it so well, “the Crown prosecutors produced no evidence that the alleged crimes had ever been committed” while the evidence that was produced was inconsistent and flawed, beyond what could be reasonably expected with memory problems over time.

There were no witnesses to corroborate the charges and there were plenty of witnesses to swear he was with them at the very time he was supposed to have committed the alleged crime.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Catholic Weekly

April 14, 2020

By Dr Wanda Skowronska

A vacant chair

At the final Annals lunch held on 29 November 2019 at the monastery of Sacred Heart in Kensington, Sydney , there was a vacant chair for Cardinal Pell.

Right next to this, was another vacant chair for the recently deceased Father Paul Stenhouse, who had ceaselessly called for moral and financial support for the Cardinal at every opportunity. It was not hard to imagine Fr Stenhouse doing the equivalent of an Irish jig way in heaven and, if living on earth, immediately writing up an article on the Cardinal’s vindication by the High Court for the next edition of Annals.

Yet we cannot forget the ordeal of the Cardinal in its true aspect of a Via Crucis which will become more deeply understood as time goes on.

A case that was beyond weak

It is not just that the Cardinal was falsely accused. As George Weigel put it so well, “the Crown prosecutors produced no evidence that the alleged crimes had ever been committed” while the evidence that was produced was inconsistent and flawed, beyond what could be reasonably expected with memory problems over time.

There were no witnesses to corroborate the charges and there were plenty of witnesses to swear he was with them at the very time he was supposed to have committed the alleged crime.

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.

HONOLULU (HI)
Jeff Anderson & Associates, Inc. [Plaintiff law firm]

April 14, 2020

Catholic whistleblower Rev. Tom Doyle available for comment on latest accusation in Bishop Ferrario’s legacy of abuse & cover-up

Craig Christiansen v. the Roman Catholic Church in Hawaii, et al, 4.14.20

The Anderson Report: Clerical Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Honolulu

Today Hawaii attorney Mark Gallagher and attorneys from the law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates filed a complaint under Hawaii’s “window” law (closing April 24, 2020) against the Diocese of Honolulu on behalf of clergy sexual abuse survivor Craig Christiansen. Christiansen courageously allowed his name to appear on the lawsuit even though survivors may bring claims confidentially.

The lawsuit publicly identifies for the first time Father Bartholomew “Bart” O’Leary, a globally-celebrated figure in Catholic seminary administration, as a child sexual abuser. The case also names the notorious former Diocese of Honolulu Bishop and child abuser, Bishop Joseph Ferrario.

“The Vatican knew that Ferrario had a history of abuse,” said attorney Jeff Anderson who first sued Bp. Ferrario and the Diocese in 1991. “They knew the peril and they made a conscious and reckless choice to elevate him to Bishop.”

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

AUSTRALIA
Redflag

April 14,2020

By Emma Norton

In the eyes of the law, cardinal George Pell is not guilty of the sexual abuse of two choir boys in Melbourne in the 1990s. Without significant new evidence, he never will be. But the cardinal is guilty of many other sins.

To those seeking justice for the systematic abuse perpetrated by the Catholic Church, he is a symbol of the complicity of the church’s highest officers. To Australia’s conservative culture warriors, he is a key ally who must be defended, no matter how much doing so contradicts their apparent obsession with traditional sexual morality and punitive law-and-order politics.

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.

CHARLOTTE (NC)
WFAE

April 14, 2020

By Sarah Delia

This week, two men filed lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. They claimed they were abused when they were minors by priests who worked within the Charlotte Diocese. Both priests were named on a list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse released late last year.

The Diocese of Charlotte issued a statement saying in part, “We disagree that the diocese is liable to the plaintiffs.”

Charlotte attorney Sam McGee hopes his two clients will have their day in court, something he says they never got. Both men previously filed lawsuits regarding the alleged abuse they say occurred when they were minors in the 1970s and ’80s. Both cases were dismissed based on the statute of limitations.

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

NEW YORK (NY)
Catholic News Service

April 28, 2020

By Joseph McAleer

PBS ‘Inside the Vatican’

A year in the life of what it calls “the Catholic world’s biggest theater of faith” is chronicled in the documentary “Inside the Vatican,” a BBC production premiering on PBS Tuesday, April 28, 9-11 p.m. EDT. Viewers should check local listings, though, since broadcast times may vary.

Over the course of 2018, filmmaker Silvia Sacco and her camera crew followed Pope Francis and many of the 2,600 employees who work inside the world’s smallest sovereign state. From security guards, cleaners and gardeners to diplomats, interpreters, choristers and priests and nuns as well, “Inside the Vatican” goes behind the scenes to witness the ebb and flow from Lent through Christmas.

At the main employee entrance, Pope Francis has placed an icon of the “Virgin of Silence” as a stern reminder that idle gossip should find no foothold inside the workplace. All labor stops at noon every day, so everyone can gather together to pray the Angelus.

The best moments feature those not wearing clerical garb. There are the Sediari, for instance, who once carried the sedia gestatoria, the now-disused portable papal throne, but who now welcome thousands of daily visitors and direct traffic with aplomb.

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.

RICHMOND (VA)
ChurchMilitant

April 15, 2020

By Bradley Eli, M.Div., Ma.Th.

Virginia priest resists removal by McCarrick protégé

A priest who criticized Church leaders for mishandling the sex abuse crisis is resisting his bishop’s attempts to remove him as pastor.

Richmond, Virginia’s Bp. Barry Knestout, who rose to prominence as a personal secretary to serial homosexual predator Theodore McCarrick, is trying to remove Fr. Mark White as pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Rocky Mount and St. Joseph Parish in Martinsville. In his letter sent to both parishes on Monday, Knestout said White’s removal was effective immediately.

But White, whose crime was reactivating a blog that was critical of sex abuse cover-ups involving many prelates including Pope Francis, said on Monday he’s fighting back with canon law.

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

AUSTRALIA
Liverpool City Champion

April 15, 2020

By Peter Gogarty

On the day the High Court of Australia quashed the conviction of Cardinal George Pell for child sex abuse offences, the Pope asked for prayers for those who suffer unjust sentences because “someone had it in for them” and compared them to Jesus who “was judged ferociously even though he was innocent”.

While not referring directly to Pell, the Pope’s comments were either ill-advised and oblivious to the deep distress they would cause to hundreds of thousands of child abuse survivors across the world, or they were deliberately chosen to be inflammatory and offensive to those same survivors. Of course, the Vatican later confirmed that the safety of children and justice for child abuse victims remained its priority.

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.

CHARLOTTE (NC)
The Associated Press

April 15, 2020

Two lawsuits have been filed against the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte claiming two boys were sexually abused in separate instances by the two priests they sought out for help with personal problems decades ago.

One of the lawsuits filed Monday in Mecklenburg County Superior Court involves an unidentified Georgia man who was 14 in the 1970s when he sought help from a priest, Joseph Kelleher, to deal with a family move. The lawsuit says the diocese should have known Kelleher, who died in 2014, should have been thoroughly investigated before being allowed to spend time with children.

A second lawsuit was filed on behalf of a North Carolina man who alleges he was abused at age 14 by a different priest, Richard B. Farwell. That lawsuit said the diocese should have known Farwell should also have been investigated before being allowed near children.

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.

PAKISTAN
Patheos

April 15, 2020

By Terry Firma

Since early 2013, when I began blogging about religion, I’ve written so many posts about child sexual assaults by clergy members that when a new case presents itself, I can’t think of a halfway original opening sentence. Some days, I see a new(s) account of a religious authority’s sex abuse, and guiltily neglect to write about it for this site. Why? Sometimes I’m just too numb, and sometimes too emotionally susceptible to dive in (this stuff will mess up your mood). Shamefully, I’m often just… uninspired by the case — and I hate that.

How fucked up is it that I can read about a priest forcing an altar boy to touch him, a rabbi rubbing up against a young girl from his congregation, an imam caught fondling a frightened child, and nix it as blog material because, number one, we’ve seen worse (oy!), and number two, for my own sanity, I just can’t write another story (and another, and another) on the topic?

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.

PITTSBURGH (PA)
KDKA

April 15, 2020

A man is suing the Catholic Pittsburgh Diocese, claiming he was abused by three priests as a child — two of them who he knew only as “father.”

A 62-year-old man who lives in New Hampshire filed the suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.

It alleges that the abuse began when he was 7 or 8 and was a student at St. Coleman’s Catholic School in Turtle Creek. He claims the abuse continued through the age of 15 as he was living at the New Castle Youth Development Center.

The only named priest in the suit is Father Edward Maliszewski, who was the assistant pastor of St. Coleman’s Church from 1955 to 1964. He died in 2006.

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.

AdamHorowitzLaw.com (law firm blog)

April 12, 2020

Albert Einstein is widely credited with saying, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.”

Sadly, the popes of the Catholic church seem incapable of learning this lesson.

Last month, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of French Cardinal Phillipe Barbarin who was convicted in early March of refusing to report child sex crimes by a serial predator priest (Fr. Bernard Preynat) to legal authorities.

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2020-03/pope-francis-accepts-resignation-cardinal-barbarin-france.html

And way back in 1997, Australian Bishop Robert Mulkearns submitted his resignation to Pope John Paul after being investigated by police for covering up the crimes of Fr. Gerald Ridsdale, who raped and sexually abused more than 50 kids.

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

AUSTRALIA
AAP via Canberra Times

April 15, 2020

By Karen Sweeney

Cardinal George Pell has admitted he is ashamed of the Catholic Church’s response to child sexual abuse and says he occasionally wishes he had responded differently.

But a week after being freed from prison after the High Court quashed five abuse convictions, he says it grieves him when people accuse him of being anti-victim or not sufficiently sympathetic.

He said he had devoted a lot of time and energy to get justice, help and compensation for survivors of abuse within the church, including in establishing the Melbourne Archdiocese response in the 1990s and later working with Towards Healing in Sydney.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

April 14, 2020

By Margaret Simons

The polarising case of Cardinal Pell raises questions about media responsibility, holding power to account, and the notion of ‘trial by media’

This week I rang the ABC investigative journalist Sarah Ferguson to ask what she thought of the attacks on Revelation, her television series about sex abuse in the Catholic church.

“Have there been some attacks?” she replied, deadpan.

There certainly have – particularly over the final episode, which detailed allegations against George Pell, which by happenstance screened just days before the high court unanimously found in his favour and threw out his conviction on sex abuse charges.

That final episode is not available now. Ferguson says it is being updated and should be restored to the ABC’s on-demand viewing platform, iView, later this week.

Will there be any changes caused by fear of defamation following Pell’s successful high court appeal?

“We went with material we had complete confidence in,” she said.

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

UNITED STATES
Stand Up, Speak Up (blog)

April 1, 2020

By Tim Lennon

Welcome!

I am starting this blog for several reasons. My work with survivors of rape and sexual abuse generates a fair amount of correspondence and research. Typically, I reply to each survivor on a case by case basis. Here, I want to share some of that information to those who might find it useful.

Also, I want to document the day to day, week to week challenges of the work being done. These challenges evoke responses and commentary that others might find interesting.

I want to have a broad spectrum of information easily accessible in one place. For instance, for those who have be harmed by sexual abuse I want to ensure that you can find resources to help you. See the section on Survivor Support. If you can’t find the help you need, contact me, I will make every effort to help.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp.) Radio

April 15, 2020

[AUDIO] On RN Breakfast with Fran Kelly

Cardinal George Pell has given his first sit down interview since being released from prison.

It’s been a week since the High Court overturned his child sexual abuse convictions after finding the jury should have held a reasonable doubt as to his guilt.

News Corp papers have reported that Victoria Police are investigating Cardinal Pell over an alleged incident in the 1970’s — he has always vehemently denied all allegations of sexual abuse against him.

Cardinal Pell has warned of the dangers of a one-sided justice system that treats every accusation as “gospel truth”.

Featured: Judy Courtin, lawyer and advocate representing victims of institutional child abuse

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

CHARLOTTE (NC)
Charlotte Observer

April 14, 2020

By Bruce Henderson

Two lawsuits accuse the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte of negligence in connection with child sexual abuse by two priests.

Two men have sued the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte for their childhood sexual abuse by priests that they claim the diocese knew or should have known were predators.

Both men, who filed their lawsuits without revealing their identities, had previously sued the diocese in 2011 and 2012. Those cases were dismissed in 2014 after the diocese argued that too much time had elapsed since the alleged incidents.

Last November, however, North Carolina legislators opened a two-year window for civil actions over child sexual abuse to be filed regardless of time limitations.

Most victims of child sexual abuse don’t come forward until much later in life, said Sam McGee, the Charlotte attorney representing the two plaintiffs.

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.

CHARLOTTE (NC)
WCCB-TV

April 14, 2020

By Marvin Beach

The Catholic Diocese of Charlotte is facing a pair of civil lawsuits over alleged child sex abuse. Two men argue the diocese didn’t do enough to protect them.

Previously, the statute of limitations in the cases had run out.

But the North Carolina General Assembly has opened up a two-year window for victims to file cases, acknowledging it often takes years for them to come forward.

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.

CHARLOTTE (NC)
WCNC-TV

April 14, 2020

By Nate Morabito

The men, referred to only as John Doe and John Doe 1K, filed the lawsuits in Mecklenburg County on Monday.

Two men who previously accused former Diocese of Charlotte priests of sexual abuse stemming from the 70s and 80s have filed new assault and battery and negligence lawsuits against the diocese.

The men, referred to only as John Doe and John Doe 1K, filed the lawsuits in Mecklenburg County on Monday.

One accuses former priest Joseph Kelleher, now deceased, of sex abuse when he was a teen. The other accuses former priest Richard Farwell of sex abuse when he was a teen.

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.

CHARLOTTE (NC)
Fox 46 TV

April 14, 2020

By Morgan Frances

Trouble continues to pour in on the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. They face two new lawsuits accusing two priests of sexual abuse.

“One of the reasons victims don’t come forward until later in life is just because it so hard,” said the accuser’s attorney, Sam McGee.

Because of action by lawmakers, childhood victims of sexual abuse have two years to file lawsuits, even if the statute of limitations has run out

“My clients, between the two of them, have faced multiple suicide attempts, psychiatric hospitalizations homelessness,” McGee told FOX 46. “You know, have really struggled to just have even a somewhat normal life.”

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.

[There are not 19, there are 36 priests involved in sex scandal]

VILLAVICENCIO (COLOMBIA)
Caracol Radio

April 14, 2020

La Fiscalía ya tiene en su poder el archivo secreto de la Arquidiócesis.

[The Prosecutor’s Office already has in its possession the secret archives of the Archdiocese.]

El pasado 3 de abril, el Servicio Informativo de Caracol Radio publicó la noticia de la suspensión de 19 sacerdotes de la Arquidiócesis de Villavicencio, por una investigación sobre presuntos abusos sexuales. En el seguimiento a esta historia encontramos que no son 19 sino 36 los sacerdotes involucrados en esta historia que ha sacudido a la capital del Meta.

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION: On April 3, the Caracol Radio Information Service published the news of the suspension of 19 priests from the Archdiocese of Villavicencio, due to an investigation into alleged sexual abuse . In the follow-up to this story we find that there are not 19 but 36 priests involved in this story that has rocked the capital of Meta.]

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.

UTICA (NY)
Observer-Dispatch

April 14, 2020

By H. Rose Schneider

The New York State Unified Court System announced Monday matters deemed nonessential or non-emergency can now be held virtually in court, as essential matters already had.

Nonessential matters were suspended in court nearly a month ago on March 15 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, only allowing matters such as arraignments and orders of protection to continue. Courts transitioned successfully to holding these matters virtually, according to state courts.

Starting Monday, judges can now hold “virtual chambers” and “virtual courts” to discuss nonessential matters using the program Skype for Business, said state Supreme Court Judge Bernadette Clark.

“Everything I need, I have on my computer,” she said.

The state courts have still banned new filings for nonessential cases, however.

Currently, judges are only working on pending cases, said Clark. She said 200 cases were scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in the state’s Fifth Judicial District alone.

Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara said the county’s assistant district attorneys are using Skype for Business on pending criminal cases. County judges began scheduling criminal cases Monday, but the matter has to be one a defendant does not have to be present for, he said.

***

Child Victims Act

The suspension of nonessential court matters reignited a push by some to pass a bill that would extend the one-year window established by the state’s Child Victims Act last year — in which civil actions alleging child sexual abuse could be filed even if the statute of limitations had expired.

This time period is set to end in August.

“It’s kind of slowed down the process for everything,” said attorney Richard Serbin of the law firm Janet, Janet & Suggs. He represents Warren Curtis, who filed a lawsuit in January alleging sexual abuse from clergy from three churches, including St. Matthew’s Temple Church of God in Christ in Utica.

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.

MARTINSVILLE (VA)
Franklin News-Post

April 14, 2020

By Bill Wyatt

Father Mark White said he is staying in the pulpits in Martinsville and Rocky Mount.

On Monday night, after Bishop of the Diocese of Richmond Barry Knestout had notified him and his parishioners in an emailed letter that White had been removed as pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount, White said he would remain as priest and is seeking legal counsel to defend his right to do so.

White and Knestout have had a monthslong dispute about a popular blog White writes that sometimes includes strong criticism of how the Catholic church has handled cases about sex abuse by priests.

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.

NSW (AUSTRALIA)
news.com.au

April 14,2020

Police have arrived at the NSW seminary where Cardinal George Pell is living amid reports he is facing fresh criminal investigations.

Four Officers from the Auburn Police Area Command arrived at the premises on Abbotsford Road in Homebush about 2.30pm for what was a prearranged meeting to “discuss security protocols”, a NSW Police spokesperson said.

The meeting followed a story in the Herald Sun this morning claiming Cardinal Pell is being secretly investigated by police over new claims against him.

The accuser is believed to be a male who works in a professional role who made claims about alleged child sex abuse that date back to the 1970s.

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

WASHINGTON (DC)
Education Dive

April 13, 2020

By Lorelei Laird

Even institutions that haven’t experienced massive scandals may find they are paying more for less coverage.

Michigan State University had general liability coverage from the same insurance company for nearly two decades. Then it was revealed that one of its sports doctors had sexually abused hundreds of women and that top administrators knew of and mishandled complaints about his behavior.

After more than $500 million in settlements and fines and a coverage dispute, Michigan State’s longtime insurer declined to include coverage for sexual misconduct related to the sports doctor and another official in the university’s general liability policy, The Wall Street Journal reported. The university ultimately created its own insurance company to get coverage.

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.

UNITED STATES
Verdict Justia

April 14, 2020

By Leslie C. Griffin

It doesn’t matter if you’re from the left or the right. You may not want to hear that religions do a lot of harm. But they do.

We should have learned this already from the terrible child abuse crisis, where clergy harmed children, and then the children’s abuse was hidden and denied by people running the churches. Despite this terrible history, the harm continues.

This harm is apparent in the recent decisions by some churches to hold services even after a state has said it is dangerous for anyone to meet in person. The states passed stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders to keep people safe. Nonetheless, some pastors argue that church is the place where people heal. Others insist that the meeting bans are an attack on religious freedom, and that such meetings are absolutely protected by the First Amendment. “[O]ne of the church congregants said she believed she would not contract coronavirus because she is ‘covered in Jesus’ blood,’ and that she is not concerned she could spread it to anyone else.” Another pastor said “God will shield us from all harm and sickness, . . . We are not afraid. We are called by God to stand against the Antichrist creeping into America’s borders. We will spread the Gospel.”

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

AUSTRALIA
Al Jazeera

April 13, 2020

By Victor Sande-Aneiros

The overturning of Cardinal Pell’s conviction may feel like a set-back, but there could be a positive impact.

One of the most senior figures of the Catholic Church to be tried and convicted of child sexual abuse is now a free man.

On April 7, Australia’s highest court overturned Cardinal George Pell’s six-year prison sentence for the alleged sexual abuse of two choir boys in 1996 on the basis that the evidence presented in the case had not proven his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The High Court judges unanimously ruled that there was “a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted”.

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.

CHARLOTTE (NC)
WSOCTV.com News

April 14, 2020

Two people who say priests sexually abused them when they were children are now suing the Charlotte Catholic Diocese.

The civil lawsuits filed in Mecklenburg County claim the Catholic church concealed misconduct and sheltered abusers.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

April 13, 2020

By Melissa Davey

News Corp says acquitted cardinal faces new claims over alleged incident in the 1970s when he was a priest in Ballarat

Cardinal George Pell is being investigated by police over a new allegation of child sexual abuse, according to News Corp reports.

Pell was released from jail last Tuesday after the high court acquitted him on five historical child sexual abuse charges. Pell, 78, spent more than 400 days in jail after being convicted by a jury in December 2018. The high court acquitted Pell after finding the jury should have held a reasonable doubt as to his guilt.

Pell has given an exclusive interview to his longtime friend and supporter from Sky News, Andrew Bolt, which is due to air on Tuesday night.

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.

CANBERRA (AUSTRALIA)
Associated Press

April 14, 2020

By Rod McGuirk

Cardinal George Pell is linking his fight against corruption in the Vatican with his prosecution in Australia for alleged child sex abuse

Cardinal George Pell has linked his fight against corruption in the Vatican with his prosecution in Australia for alleged child sex abuse.

Pell was regarded as the third highest-ranking Vatican official in 2018 when he became the world’s most senior Catholic to be convicted of child sex abuse. He served 13 months in prison before Australia’s High Court last week acquitted him of molesting two choirboys in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne while he was archbishop of Australia’s second-largest city in the 1990s.

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RICHMOND (VA)
Martinsville Bulletin/Associated Press

April 14, 2020

A priest in Virginia has been removed from his post after maintaining a blog critical of the Catholic Church’s handling of the sexual abuse scandal.

News outlets report Rev. Mark White, whose blog reaches more than 1 million readers, was removed on Monday.

He served as the priest of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Magazine

April 14, 2020

By Mariya Manzhos

Fistfuls of missing money. An FBI investigation. And a culture of secrecy that tore a suburban parish to shreds: What really happened at St. Mary’s in Winchester?

St. Mary’s Director of Ministries Sal Caraviello was milling around at a lunch service when he got the panicked call. It was a chilly Thursday morning in February 2017, and Caraviello, a longtime fixture at the Winchester parish, had driven two and a half hours southwest to Branford, Connecticut, for a funeral earlier that day before following mourners to an Italian restaurant a few minutes down the road to eat. Charismatic with a youthful face despite being in his early fifties, Caraviello was busy consoling friends when he felt the buzz in his suit pocket. It was Father Richard Beaulieu, the administrator at his church. Not wanting to disrupt the meal, he walked out to the parking lot and took the call.

“Did you hear about the FBI showing up here?” asked Beaulieu, clearly shaken.

Caraviello felt like his heart had skipped a beat. “I haven’t heard a thing,” he said, trying to catch up.

Beaulieu told Caraviello what he knew. At about 10 a.m. that day, FBI agents and uniformed cops had knocked on the doors of four church members: Beaulieu; one of two church business managers, Steven Ultrino, who is also a state representative; the parish money counter, Joseph LoPiccolo (who was Ultrino’s cousin); and the church’s partially retired pastor, Father Dick Messina, who lived in Maine. The authorities hadn’t told the interviewees much, but it was clear that the rectory, where the offering money was counted after church services, was the focus. It didn’t take Hercule Poirot to realize they were likely investigating a theft from the collection plate—and presumably a serious one, given the FBI’s presence.

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SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
The Daily Mail

April 13, 2020

By Charlie Coe and Zoe Zaczek

– George Pell reportedly under investigation over allegations by new accuser
– He was released from prison just last week after child sex convictions quashed
– New accusations – which police have not contacted Pell about – date to 1970s
– Man who now works in a professional role understood to have made accusation

Cardinal George Pell is reportedly under police investigation after a new accuser came forward with fresh allegations of child abuse.

A week on from his successful High Court appeal against child sex convictions, reports said Victoria Police had been investigating a separate accusation against Pell, 78.

Police are yet to approach Pell or his legal team over the fresh allegation – which is understood to date back to the 1970s, according to the Herald Sun.

A man who now works in a professional role reportedly made the accusation.

A spokeswoman for the cardinal said on Monday night: ‘In any police matter there should be due process through the proper channels.’

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest the new allegations are true – only that police are reportedly investigating.

Cardinal Pell was not told of the fresh investigation until Monday, the paper reported.

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SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
Sky News TV via YouTube

April 14, 2020

Cardinal George Pell has revealed he is ashamed of the Catholic Church for the way it dealt with the “cancer” of child sex abuse in the past.

In an exclusive world-first televised interview with Sky News Australia presenter Andrew Bolt, Cardinal Pell talks candidly about the scourge of child abuse within his own church and how the many failures to act still haunt him today.

“It was like a cancer … we had to cut it out,” he said.

“I totally condemn these sorts of activities, and the damage that it’s done to people.

“One of the things that aggrieves me is the suggestion that I’m anti-victim, or not sufficiently sympathetic. I devoted a lot of time and energy to try to save them, to get justice, to get help and to get compensation.”

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SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
The Australian

April 14, 2020

By Tessa Akerman and Steve Jackson

Cardinal George Pell has said he “wouldn’t be entirely surprised” if Victoria Police continued to trawl for alleged victims of sexual abuse as reports emerge of an investigation into a fresh allegation dating back to the 1970s.

Cardinal Pell, in a Sky News interview on Tuesday night with Andrew Bolt, said Victoria Police had “advertised” for cases of abuse during their initial investigation and it was “a bit ironic” that he had been made a scapegoat for sexual abuse by clergy when he introduced Melbourne Response in 1996 to provide redress.

“I don’t think the Church has ever got enough credit for the fact that we broke the back of this problem,” he said.

Cardinal George Pell says throughout the case against him on child sexual abuse charges, it was evident “too may people (would) go from possible, to probable, to a fact” when …

“The offending stopped, not completely but almost completely, from the middle 90s.”

The 78-year-old was released from jail last Tuesday after being acquitted in the high court on five charges of historical child sexual abuse.

He spent more than 400 days in prison after being found guilty in December 2018, before the high court overturned the verdict.

“I’m a believing Christian and I have stated my views quite clearly on many cases in many cases,” he said.

He said the ABC was partly funded by Catholic taxpayers and he believed people had the right to free speech on views that differed from his.

“But in a national broadcaster, to have an overwhelming presentation of one view, only one view, I think that’s a betrayal of national interest,” he said.

Despite the evidence of one man being responsible for Cardinal Pell’s imprisonment, Cardinal Pell said he never felt anger towards the complainant, instead “a bit sorry for him”.

Cardinal Pell said he didn’t know the man’s motivation but said it was possible the complainant had mixed up an actual incident of abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

April 11, 2020

By Andrew Hornery

All eyes will be on Cardinal George Pell’s first exclusive interview fresh from Barwon prison with his most ardent of supporters, conservative commentator Andrew Bolt.

The holy man’s sensational acquittal this week has had many implications across the Australian media and publishing worlds which have followed the Cardinal’s extraordinary story over the past few years, but from a less favourable perspective than Bolt, whose interview will air next Tuesday.

Pell has consistently maintained his innocence and until Tuesday morning had been serving a six-year jail sentence after he was convicted in 2018 of abusing two choir boys in the 1990s while he was the archbishop of Melbourne.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

April 14, 2020

Cardinal George Pell has released excerpts from his prison diary, which discuss aspects of his life in jail including the attitudes of corrections staff, humiliations he endured and his brief job as a gardener.

The diaries, parts of which were published in The Australian newspaper on Tuesday, detail Cardinal Pell’s thoughts and activities during more than 400 days in prison.

The cardinal was last week acquitted of child sex offences and released from Barwon Prison near Geelong.

He wrote that prison staff were “courteous and decent” during his time at the Melbourne Assessment Prison in West Melbourne and at Barwon, but that he had to sometimes endure “petty humiliations” such as wearing handcuffs and being strip-searched.

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National Catholic Reporter

April 14, 2020

By Jamie Manson

For those of us seeking hope in our world and in our church, last week was the best of times, and it was the worst of times. It was a tale of two Pope Francises.

One Francis was the pope of the pandemic, inspiring hope in word and action. Whether his offerings were small and delightful, like his Skype chats, or grand and powerful, like his standing alone on a stage in a torch-lit, St. Peter’s Square leading the Way of the Cross on Good Friday, his presence touched and comforted millions.

Francis was similarly moving in an interview in Commonweal magazine last week, describing how he is praying more than usual and reflecting on the ways he can be closer to the people of God. He shared his hope that we will embrace the pandemic as a moment of metanoia that will help us “see the poor” and “contemplate the natural world,” moving ahead into a global economy that is more human

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RICHMOND (VA)
Diocese of Richmond

April 13, 2020

Retired Priest Name Not Added to Diocesan List of Clergy with a Credible and Substantiated Allegation of Child Sexual Abuse

Following a lengthy investigation by the Diocesan Review Board, Bishop Barry C. Knestout of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond has determined that Msgr. Raymond A. Barton, a retired priest of the diocese, will not have his name added to the diocesan list of clergy with a credible and substantiated allegation of child sexual abuse.

On Feb. 14, 2020, the Catholic Diocese of Richmond announced it had received a report of allegations of child sexual abuse against the retired priest. The information was brought to the diocese by a representative of a deceased victim. When notified of the allegations, the diocese reported the information to law enforcement authorities. (Read initial statement.)

In accordance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the diocese conducted an internal investigation of the allegations involving Msgr. Barton. The information gathered was presented to the Diocesan Review Board which reported its findings and recommendation to Bishop Knestout. The bishop concluded that while the allegation was credible, it could not be substantiated.

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RICHMOND (VA)
Diocese of Richmond

April 13, 2020

The Most Reverend Barry C. Knestout, Bishop of Richmond, has announced the following clergy appointment:

Reverend Mark White, from pastor of St. Joseph in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount to chaplain to the various prisons, state and federal, within the diocesan bounds. The appointment is effective April 13, 2020.

A new pastor will be named to both parishes in the foreseeable future. During this time of transition, Father Kevin Segerblom, Episcopal Vicar for the Western Vicariate, will oversee the pastoral care and administrative duties of the two parishes.

Previously, Bishop Knestout addressed the faithful of the Martinsville and Rocky Mount parishes in a letter dated March 19, 2020, regarding the concerns and circumstances surrounding Fr. Mark White. The letter was published and can be read here: https://bit.ly/2Rqcen3

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RICHMOND (VA)
Martinsville

April 13, 2020

By Bill Wyatt

Father Mark White has been removed as pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount, one day after Easter Sunday.

In a letter dated Monday to the parishioners of both churches, Bishop of Richmond Barry Knestout said the matter was done and named a temporary replacement.

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