ABUSE TRACKER

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

December 14, 2020

Spotlight on SPOTLIGHT

Sri Lanka
Daily Mirror

December 14, 2020

By Stephanie Perie

With the recent rise in child abuse in Sri Lanka, I believe it is as good a time as any to put in my two cents regarding the matter. Here’s a side to abuse most of us don’t talk of and some of us don’t know of.

John Joseph Geoghan was born to an Irish Catholic family in 1935 in Boston where he later attended local parochial schools. After graduating from Holy Cross College, he joined Cardinal O’Connell Seminary and was ordained in 1962. In an assessment conducted in 1954, his seniors inferred he had “pronounced immaturity.”

On February 13, 1962, he was appointed assistant pastor at the Blessed Sacrament Parish in Saugus, Massachusetts, where Anthony Benezevich observed and reported to church officials of Geoghan’s habit of escorting boys to his quarters. On September 22, 1966, Geoghan was assigned to St. Bernard’s Parish in Concord before being transferred out seven months later for unaccounted reasons. On April 20, 1967, he was installed at St. Paul’s Parish in Hingham where a man complained to church authorities of catching the priest molesting his son. Following this incident, Geoghan was admitted to Seton Institute in Baltimore, Maryland where he received treatment for pedophilia. On June 4, 1974, Geoghan was sent to St. Andrew’s Parish in Boston’s Jamaica Plain where he was ordered out after he uninhibitedly owned to having molested seven boys of an extended family. But through the intervention of Cardinal Humberto Medeiros, Geoghan was directed toward counseling and underwent both psychoanalysis and psychotherapy instead. On February 25, 1981, he was assigned to St. Bernard’s Parish in Dorchester where he allegedly raped and fondled a boy.

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.

The McCarrick case and some disturbing conclusions

UCAN (Union of Catholic Asian News)

December 13, 2020

By Gianni Criveller

What is evangelical about a church that, in the eyes of many, is nothing but a club only for men who cover for each other?

In a couple of sleepless nights, I read the 449 pages and 1,410 notes (the devil, as they say, is in the detail) of the Vatican report on former US cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

I had anticipated that it would be depressing reading, yet we must read the worst circumstances of the time in which we live and fully carry the weight and feel the responsibility. I write under an interior impulse. I feel that the Catholic Church, starting with its leaders, can no longer wait. Either structural changes are promoted (beyond those at the level of conscience, as is obvious) or this crisis will not be overcome. Already too many have distanced themselves from ecclesial life and the practice of faith.

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 Bishop Directs Springfield Diocese To Expand List Of Clergy Credibly Accused Of Abuse

SPRINGFIELD (MA)
New England Public Media

December 11, 2020

By Nancy Eve Cohen

[AUDIO]

The Springfield Roman Catholic Diocese said it will expand which clergy accused of sexual abuse it lists on its website.

Up until now, the diocese published only the names of clergy it considered credibly accused when they were alive — with one exception, the late Bishop Christopher Weldon.

Early in 2021, the diocese said, the list will include clergy accused after they died.

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.

Influential Polish priest accused of excusing child abuse and violating Covid rules

POLAND
Notes from Poland

December 8, 2020

An influential priest and ally of Poland’s ruling party has said that he is “sorry for causing pain” if anyone “misunderstood” recent remarks on clerical paedophilia.

During a mass on Saturday, Father Tadeusz Rydzyk appeared to suggest that such crimes were the result of priests understandably giving in to “temptation”. He also referred to a bishop accused of covering up abuse as a “modern martyr” who has been victimised by the media.

Meanwhile, the event at which he spoke – marking the 29th birthday of Radio Maryja, the controversial broadcaster founded by Rydzyk – is being investigated by the sanitary authorities for apparent breaches of government coronavirus restrictions. Among those in attendance were the justice and defence ministers.

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.

Clergy sexual misconduct investigation continues

LANSING (MI)
News Release from the Attorney General via WLNS-TV

December 7, 2020

Two of the men previously charged in Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s ongoing clergy abuse investigation appeared in court last week.

Gary Jacobs, a former priest in the Upper Peninsula’s Ontonagon and Dickinson counties, and Gary Berthiaume, a former priest at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, were both back in court for charges related to the Michigan Department of Attorney General’s ongoing clergy abuse investigation.

“The work of our clergy abuse investigation team has been critical in moving these cases forward, bringing us that much closer to justice,” Nessel said. “My office remains committed to carefully reviewing all credible allegations of sexual abuse on behalf of all victims who come forward to tell their story.”

Jacobs, 75, faces a total of 10 criminal sexual conduct charges in five cases. He was arrested in January in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he lived.

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.

Colorado’s review of Catholic Church sex abuse named priests, but not those who covered up their crimes

DENVER (CO)
Colorado Sun

December 14, 2020

By Jesse Paul and Jennifer Brown

The Colorado Attorney General’s Office said time limited the investigation. The Catholic Church says it’s taken responsibility. But victims say the whole story hasn’t been told.

Warning: This story contains explicit descriptions of sexual assault.

Apair of explosive reports on decades of child sex abuse in Colorado’s three Catholic dioceses named 52 priests but kept confidential the identities of numerous church officials — from administrators to bishops — who covered up or ignored allegations of misconduct and transferred known child abusers to work in other parishes.

The Colorado Sun counted 37 priests in the two investigative documents — one released last year and another earlier this month — whose abuse was hidden by the church, either because officials ignored victims’ stories, chose not to investigate or did not report suspected abuse to law enforcement. In many cases, the church allowed an abusive priest to continue working as clergy despite warnings about their behavior.

There were 212 people who were abused by priests as children or teens between 1950 and 2000 who came forward during the independent investigation, which began in February 2019. Of those, 113 were preyed upon by 14 priests after the church had been warned about their behavior, according to the independent investigation.

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.

DOJ probe of Catholic church abuse goes quiet 2 years later

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Associated Press

December 13, 2020

By Mary Claire Dale

Two years ago, the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia joined the long line of ambitious prosecutors investigating the Roman Catholic Church’s handling of priest-abuse complaints.

The Justice Department had never brought a conspiracy case against the church, despite exhaustive reports that showed its long history of burying abuse complaints in secret archives, transferring problem priests to new parishes, silencing accusers and fighting laws to benefit child sex assault victims.

U.S. Attorney William McSwain sent subpoenas to bishops across Pennsylvania asking them to turn over their files and submit to grand jury testimony if asked. The FBI interviewed at least six accused priests, court files show.

But as McSwain’s tenure likely nears its end with President-elect Joe Biden set to take office next month, there’s no sign that any sweeping church indictment is afoot. So far, the case has yielded a single arrest: an 82-year-old defrocked priest, Robert Brennan, charged with lying to FBI agents who showed up at his door.

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.

Oakland diocese settles sex-misconduct suit for $3.5 million

OAKLAND (CA)
Bay Area News Group

December 13, 2020

By George Kelly

Livermore pastor removed from ministry, but church offers no admission of wrongdoing

A civil lawsuit anonymously filed last year against the Diocese of Oakland by a former seminarian over alleged sexual misconduct by an East Bay pastor reached a settlement late last month, authorities said.

In a statement last week, the diocese said the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office did not file charges despite a Livermore police investigation. Church officials added that Father Van Dinh, the former pastor of Livermore’s St. Michael’s Catholic Parish, was not a defendant in last month’s settlement of the suit “which had no finding or admission of liability by Dinh or by the diocese.”

“Bishop Michael Barber, SJ, has removed Dinh from ministry; he is not able to function as a priest in any capacity,” the statement said in part. “He is on leave and receives the normal compensation from the Diocese.”

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.

Priest Exonerated in Lawsuit Settlement

WENATCHEE (WA)
KPQ.com / 560 News Radio

December 13, 2020

By Dave Bernstein

Father Seamus Kerr, a senior priest at Holy Apostles Parish in East Wenatchee and three other Catholic priests have been exonerated in the settlement of a lawsuit filed against the Diocese of Yakima in 2019. The suit was filed by an Ellensburg man who claimed sexual abuse by priests at St. Andrew Catholic Church in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when he was between 10 and 18 years of age.

Rev. Msgr. Robert M. Siler announced the settlement in a news release on Friday after the agreement was reached. Siler provided statements in a letter to Fr. Kerr from the attorneys representing the man identified in court papers as John Doe “On behalf of our client … we acknowledge that the allegations of sexual abuse and improper conduct made against you, including statements in court pleadings and the press, have proven to be false. We hereby withdraw the allegations and express our regret for any harm they may have caused to you and your reputation.”

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.

Post-McCarrick report dialogue zeroes in on ‘hyperclerical culture’

WASHINGTON D.C.
Catholic News Service via Catholic San Francisco

December 13, 2020

By Mark Pattison

One month to the day that the Vatican released its report on since-laicized cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a panel of academics took a close look at what one called a “hyperclerical culture” that allowed McCarrick’s sexual misconduct to go unchecked.

“Silence is dangerous,” said John Carr, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University, a co-sponsor of the Dec 10 dialogue, “The McCarrick Report: Findings, Lessons and Directions,” and who himself had been subject to sexual abuse when he was a seminarian. “Hyperclerical culture can be horrific — and their decisions reflect that.”

“When I read it, I said to myself, no wonder nobody believed me,” said Juan Carlos Cruz, a survivor of clergy sexual abuse in Chile who was later welcomed to the Vatican by Pope Francis to share his experience and recommendations. “The clericalism here, the camaraderie — badly understood camaraderie — the brotherhood of these bishops. It’s appalling, it’s appalling.”

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.

Archdiocese of Vancouver confirms 3 more priests involved in abuse settlements

VANCOUVER (BRITISH COLUMBIA)
CBC.com

December 13, 2020

Three more priests who served in Vancouver parishes are involved in settlements related to sexual abuse, according to a report released by the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

The report, dated Dec. 14, 2020, also confirms 13 more survivors have come forward with stories of sexual abuse.

In 2019, the CBC’s The Fifth Estate reported that the Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver was aware of 36 cases of abuse by clergy under its jurisdiction, including 26 cases involving children.

Five days later, the Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver named nine clergymen who have criminal convictions or lawsuits settled against them related to cases of sexual abuse dating back to the 1950s.

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.

December 13, 2020

In shift, Springfield Diocese will name all credibly accused priests

SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Berkshire Eagle

December 11, 2020

By Larry Parnass

The Springfield Diocese will expand its list of credibly accused priests to include those who died before survivors brought accusations of sexual abuse. The exclusion of such priests long has prevented some victims from seeing their abusers face a public accounting.

The change is a new bishop’s first step in reckoning with a history of clergy abuse in the Catholic diocese that includes Berkshire County. It comes as an independent task force led by a retired Pittsfield judge continues to shape recommendations on how the diocese can improve policies to protect children.

The Rev. William D. Byrne will be installed Monday afternoon as the diocese’s 10th bishop. The move to expand the list of credibly accused clergy, he said, is needed to promote trust and healing.

“We have to wash the wound if we’re ever going to let it heal. And our first responsibility is to victims,” Byrne told The Eagle. “When we talk about victims, we’re not just talking about the individual that experienced the devastation at the hands of somebody who should have been protecting them — a clergy person, or someone who worked for the church. We’re talking about their mom or dad. Their brothers and sisters. Their best friends.”

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.

Springfield’s New ‘Chronically Hopeful’ Bishop Pledges Transparency On Abuse

SPRINGFIELD (MA)
WNPR

December 11, 2020

By Kari Njiiri

On Monday, the Rev. Bill Byrne will be installed as bishop of the Springfield Roman Catholic Diocese. He succeeds Mitchell Rozanski, who left this summer to become archbishop of St. Louis.

Byrne comes to western Massachusetts from Potomac, Maryland, outside of Washington, D.C.

Kari Njiiri, NEPM: Your archbishop in Washington, Wilton Gregory, recently became a cardinal, the first African American cardinal in church history. Can you talk about the meaning of this, especially in a year with such a focus on racial justice?

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.

Sexual abuse lawsuit against Mormon church dropped

SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
Associated Press

December 12, 2020

A Colorado woman has agreed to drop a lawsuit against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints alleging she was sexually assaulted by a former missionary leader in the 1980s.

Court documents filed Thursday show the mutually agreed ending was not a settlement and each side will bear their own court costs.

McKenna Denson of Pueblo, Colorado, accused Phoenix-area resident Joseph L. Bishop of sexually abusing and raping her at the missionary center in 1984. Bishop had served as the president of the Provo Missionary Training Center.

Some of Denson’s claims were dismissed because the statute of limitations had passed, but a judge allowed two counts of fraud to stand because an alleged cover-up was discovered.

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.

Little public record on how new Buffalo bishop dealt with priest misconduct in D.C.

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

December 13, 2020

By Jay Tokasz

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/little-public-record-on-how-new-buffalo-bishop-dealt-with-priest-misconduct-in-d-c/article_912703ac-3c1e-11eb-a28a-735ef4841ed4.html

The Washington, D.C., archdiocese where new Buffalo Diocese Bishop Michael W. Fisher served as a priest for three decades has been embroiled in a scandal of its own involving a cover-up of sexual misconduct by former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick that reached all the way to the Vatican and Pope John Paul II.

Fisher, named last week as the 15th Buffalo bishop, has not been implicated in the McCarrick cover-up.

A 461-page Vatican report on the subject released last month doesn’t mention Fisher, whose rise into the administrative ranks of the church was launched by McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington from 2001 to 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.

‘I’m tired of being quiet’: Child Victims Act suit retraumatizes and empowers Schenectady woman

SCHENECTADY (NY)
Daily Gazette

December 13, 2020

By Zachary Matson

Colleen Garbarini has to make a plan before entering a grocery store: the mask can’t stay on too long. She knows the mask is there to protect her and others, but the feeling of it covering her face stirs deep emotions four decades in the making. At one point, she had to abandon her cart in a store as the oppressive feeling overtook her.

“The longer I had it on the more anxiety I had, which turned into a panic attack,” Garbarni said as she described the feeling. The mask takes her back to when she was a little girl and her abuser tried to quiet her when other people were nearby.

“There were times I was with him, and we could hear voices outside the room, and he would cover my mouth and tell me to be quiet,” she recalled.

Just as other daily minutia throughout her life has, the mask, now a central part of everyone’s day-to-day life, reminds her of still-healing emotional wounds.

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.

Victim advocate charged with distributing child pornography

HARTFORD (CT)
Associated Press

December 11, 2020

A victim advocate for the Connecticut court system was charged Friday with distributing child pornography over a cellphone app.

Federal prosecutors and the FBI said Robert Eccleston, 56, of Canton, used the app Kik in August and September to distribute numerous pictures and videos of child porn, including images depicting the sexual abuse of toddlers and prepubescent children.

Eccleston is a victim services advocate at the state courthouse in Hartford. It was not immediately clear if he has a lawyer who could respond to the allegations. A call to a number listed for him was not picked up.

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.

Church knew of sex‑sadist priest Joseph Quigley years before police

ENGLAND
Sunday Times [of London]

December 13, 2020

By Emily Kent Smith and Catherine Pepinster

Rather than report priest’s abuses, officials sent him to a private clinic for treatment

The report from late 2008, provided to officials at the Catholic Church, was damning. A priest had shown personality traits and behaviour consistent with sexual “sadism” and “voyeurism”, it concluded.

In the weeks before the findings, a man had approached the Archdiocese of Birmingham to speak out about Father Joseph Quigley. He wanted to make the church aware of his relationship with Quigley when he was aged 16 or 17, in the early 1990s. Over several years, the then sixth-former was told to “strip” during meetings and encouraged to perform sex acts in front of the priest.

Officials from the church heard the man’s account before asking Quigley to provide his side of events. It was agreed that Quigley, now 56, would be sent to a clinic in Manchester for treatment.

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.

[Opinion] What happened to Cardinal Pell can happen to any Australian, author warns

AUSTRALIA
Catholic News Service via Catholic Spirit

December 11, 2020

By David Ryan

Australia has entered a new phase that could see any Australian consigned to imprisonment without any evidence for crimes they have not committed, warned the author of a new book on the trial and imprisonment of Cardinal George Pell.

Keith Windschuttle, a former Australian Broadcasting Corp. board member who is also the editor of Quadrant magazine, warned that “within the ideological imperatives that prevail today, any one of us could become a George Pell.”

“It was as if Kafka’s ‘The Trial’ had moved from the Czech Republic and relocated to Melbourne,” Windschuttle said at the launch of his book, “The Persecution of George Pell,” in Sydney Dec. 10.

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.

German nuns accused of enabling child sex abuse by priests

GERMANY
Deutsche Welle

December 13, 2020

Nuns in the city of Speyer “dragged” children to be sexually abused by priests and politicians, a survivor told a German court. His explosive testimony is the latest abuse scandal to rock the German Catholic Church.

The scandal comes as the Archbishop of Cologne faces accusations of covering up allegations of child sexual abuse involving a now-deceased priest

Catholic nuns who ran a former children’s home in the German city of Speyer allegedly aided in the sexual abuse of the children who were under their care, according to a newly-surfaced court decision.

The latest scandal came to light after a victim filed a case to claim compensation from the Catholic church, prompting the Darmstadt Social Welfare Court to investigate.

Although the court ruled on the case in May this year, it was not made public until now.

Protestant news agency EPD and Catholic news agency KNA acquired copies of the court’s decision, which detailed claims of horrific abuse that children suffered at the hands of clergy members in the 1960s and 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.

Prosecutor drops rape charges against defrocked Catholic priest

VICTORIA (AUSTRALIA)
The Age

December 13, 2020

By Richard Baker

Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions has abandoned the prosecution of a former senior Catholic priest charged with raping a disabled female parishioner, bringing to an end a nine-year effort by the woman to seek justice through the courts.

DPP Kerri Judd, QC, made the decision in July to discontinue the prosecution against Thomas Knowles, a former Australian provincial leader of the Order of the Blessed Sacrament, who had a long-running interaction with the woman that was later deemed inappropriate by a church inquiry.

Mr Knowles was charged with two counts of rape in May, a year after the woman contacted Victoria Police about the events of the 1980s.

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.

Chilliwack Catholic church pastor fired for alleged ‘sexual misconduct’

VANCOUVER (BRITISH COLUMBIA)
Surrey Now-Leader

December 11, 2020

By Paul Henderson

Archbishop of Vancouver sent message to parishioners about departure of Father Nelson Santos

Parishioners of St. Mary’s Church in Chilliwack are left with questions after the departure of a long-serving pastor accused of sexual misconduct.

In a letter sent to parishioners of St. Mary’s and Immaculate Conception Parish in Delta on Dec. 4, Archbishop J. Michael Miller said an internal investigation “confirmed that a number of accusations of sexual misconduct with an adult by Father [Nelson] Santos were well-founded, along with related inappropriate behaviour and comments.”

Described as a pastor at St. Mary’s and an assistant pastor at Immaculate Conception, Santos is ordered not to visit Chilliwack or meet with members of any Catholic parish where he served.

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.

Church names Coquitlam priest in historic sexual abuse of 10-year-old boy

VANCOUVER (BRITISH COLUMBIA)
Tri-City News

December 12, 2020

By Stefan Labbé

The Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver has revealed the identity of a sexually abusive Coquitlam priest as part of ongoing revelations of abuse going back decades across B.C.

Ordained as a Franciscan priest in 1945, Armand Frechette served under the archdiocese at Coquitlam’s Our Lady of Lourdes Parish church from 1953 to 1970, according to an upcoming edition of The B.C. Catholic, a weekly paper originally billed as “The Official Organ of the Archdiocese of Vancouver.”

In 1999, a complaint of “improper sexual behaviour” against an unnamed Fransciscan priest led to a settlement, writes the Archdiocese in the weekly, adding “It is now believed that this settlement involved abuse carried out by Fr. Frechette.”

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.

After McCarrick Report, Here’s How to Extend Safe Environment to Adults

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Register

December 12, 2020

By Peter Jesserer Smith

New resources to extend Safe Environment protections to all adults could help stop future McCarricks and break the global clergy abuse crisis.

Ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was finally brought down by credible allegations that he had sexually abused children — but as the McCarrick report reveals Church leaders could have stopped the powerful cleric’s career, and saved the lives of children, seminarians, and young priests, had they acted on allegations McCarrick had abused his power to sexually exploit young men under his pastoral care or authority.

But stopping the present and future McCarricks in the Church’s midst means the People of God need to take proactive steps to educate and inform themselves about adult sexual abuse in the Church, recognizing that every adult can be vulnerable to the abuse of power for sex by clergy and lay leaders, and that protecting adults from abuse in the Church strengthens also the protection of children.

Lea Karen Kivi, president of Angela’s Heart Communications and author of Abuse in the Church: Healing the Body of Christ, is an advocate for survivors of adult sexual abuse by clergy who has helped provide training material and guidance for Canadian religious communities’ sexual abuse policies and procedures. Kivi has developed two new Safe Environment resources for parishes and dioceses could adopt: one is a template document called “Creating a Safe Environment for Adult Care Seekers” that could be posted on a website and provided directly to adults before beginning any pastoral relationship, and give insight into what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior in pastoral care. Another is a basic videoexplaining the topic of clergy sexual abuse of adults and what potential grooming signs look like.

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.

December 12, 2020

St. John Paul II: 1,700 professors respond to ‘wave of accusations’ against Polish pope

Catholic News Agency

December 12, 2020

Hundreds of professors have signed an appeal defending St. John Paul II following criticism of the Polish pope in the wake of the McCarrick Report.

The “unprecedented” appeal was signed by 1,700 professors based at Polish universities and research institutes. The signatories include Hanna Suchocka, Poland’s first female prime minister, former foreign minister Adam Daniel Rotfeld, physicists Andrzej Staruszkiewicz and Krzysztof Meissner, and film director Krzysztof Zanussi.

“An impressive long list of John Paul II’s merits and accomplishments is being challenged and erased today,” the professors said in the appeal.

“For young people, who were born after his death, the deformed, false and belittled image of the pope could become the only one they will know

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.

[Opinion] Let’s not always give wrongdoers the benefit of the doubt

December 11, 2020
adamhorowitzlaw.com (law firm blog)

We at Horowitz Law are grateful to every single attorney who takes on the tough and often risky job of helping a child sex abuse victim expose predators, get closure and safeguard others.

So we’re very reluctant to offer unsolicited advice to our colleague in the trenches of child protection.

But sometimes, we feel we must.

Check out these recent quotes from an attorney representing clergy abuse victims:

“The diocese thought it could fix this, and it was completely unable to fix it.” Diocese officials figured that they could counsel or treat a priest out of criminal conduct, he added. “And so they closed ranks, and that’s the heart of their negligent behavior.”

This well-intentioned lawyer is no doubt trying to sound reasonable. But he’s inadvertently doing what so many – especially church-goers – do in the face of terrible crimes and cover ups. He’s basically giving the benefit of the doubt to officials who are accused of enabling and ignoring this horror.

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.

Catholic church names more sexually abusive priests, more victims come forward

VANCOUVER (BRITISH COLUMBIA)
Vancouver Courier

December 11, 2020

By Jeremy Hainsworth

“I apologize to each of them for the trauma,” archbishop says

More victims of sexual assault by members of the Roman Catholic clergy have come forward in B.C. after the release of a report in 2019 on cases of abuse going back decades.

And the Archdiocese of Vancouver has named three more priests.

“We again want to acknowledge the deep suffering of the victims and their loved ones and I apologize to each of them for the trauma caused by the abuse by a priest,” Archbishop J. Michael Miller said in a new archdiocese publication. “They are in my prayers.”

The latest report, due for publication in The B.C. Catholic Monday, said 13 “previously unknown victims/survivors have come forward and reported their experiences.”

In November 2019, a review of files of Catholic clergy sexual abuse in archdiocese uncovered 36 cases, most involving minors, the Archdiocese of Vancouver said in a report released November 22.

The 2019 report named nine priests.

Now, the church has named three more:

• Fr. John Edward Kilty, who served at Holy Rosary Cathedral, Vancouver, 1945–1946; Stella Maris Missions, 1946–1948; St. Edmund’s, North Vancouver, 1946–1948; and Holy Trinity, North Vancouver, 1948–1982;

• Fr. Johannes Holzapfel, who served at St. Patrick’s, Vancouver, 1955; St. Joseph’s, Powell River, 1955–1956; St. Margaret’s, Ocean Falls, 1958–1960; St. Patrick’s, Vancouver, 1960; Our Lady of Good Hope, Hope, 1960–1963; St. Joseph’s, Squamish, 1963; St. John the Apostle, Vancouver, 1965–1966; St. Margaret’s, Ocean Falls, 1966–1967; St. Mary’s, Vancouver, and at Youville Residence, Vancouver, from 1967; St. Ann’s, Abbotsford 1972–1974 before returning to Germany in 1974, and;

• Fr. Armand Frechette, who served at Our Lady of Lourdes, Coquitlam, 1953–1970.

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.

Lawsuit claiming abuse by Catholic priests dismissed

WENATCHEE (WA)
Wenatchee World

December 11, 2020

By Pete O’Cain

ELLENSBURG — A lawsuit claiming sexual abuse committed by four Catholic priests formerly of an Ellensburg church was dismissed Thursday.

The suit was filed in April 2019 by a man identified only as John Doe against the Catholic Diocese of Yakima and four priests, including Father Seamus Kerr, a senior priest at Holy Apostles Parish in East Wenatchee.

John Doe claimed he was abused in the late 1970s and early 1980s at St. Andrew Catholic Church, when he was between the ages of 10 and 18. The two sides reached a settlement after the allegations were found to be false, the diocese said Friday in a news release.

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.

[Opinion] Time for a reckoning: Church must confront, change old boys’ network exposed in Vatican’s McCarrick report

NEW JERSEY
NorthJersey.com

December 6, 2020

By Rev. Alexander Santora

https://www.nj.com/opinion/2020/12/time-for-a-reckoning-church-must-confront-change-old-boys-network-exposed-in-vaticans-mccarrick-report-faith-matters.html

The report refers to her simply as “Mother 1.”

A Manhattan woman with a large brood of mostly boys and an Irish husband, she had become suspicious of then-New York Monsignor Theodore McCarrick, who snaked his way into her family and had her children call him “Uncle Ted.’’

Her husband thought it an honor to have a clergyman take an interest in his children. Mother 1, not so.

Her antennae went up when she learned McCarrick gave her sons alcohol when he took them on trips. He continued to visit even after moving to New Jersey, and, one day, she came home to find McCarrick sitting on the couch with a son on either side of him and a hand on the thigh of each.

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England is reckoning with a clerical sex abuse crisis. Again.

ENGLAND
America

December 3, 2020

By Ricardo da Silva, S.J.

Editor’s note: This article contains descriptions of child sexual abuse and trauma.

On the night before her confirmation, Sue Cox was sexually abused by a Catholic priest at a convent where she was attending summer school to improve her catechism. She was 10. When she was 13, the same priest again raped her in the bedroom of her own home.

“My mother caught him and told me to pray for him and to offer it up,” Ms. Cox, who is from Warwickshire, England, told America. Listening to the advice her adoptive mother gave after she walked in on the priest, “I felt sacrificial,” she said.

“We were told that he could do no wrong,” and that he had “sacred hands,” said Ms. Cox, an award-winning addiction specialist and acupuncturist. “Worse than that, we were told that priests were next to God—that they were ontologically changed at ordination.”

Ms. Cox, who is 73 years old and today describes herself as an atheist, said that this was the belief that her “fiercely superstitious Catholic family” ingrained in her as a young child. “Well,” she added. “I can tell you that a child is ontologically changed when she is abused at that age.”

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[opinion] Chris Freind: Vatican report shows why sainting Pope JP II was sinful

DELAWARE
December 3, 2020

Who could forget that chilling seen in “Jaws” when Mrs. Kintner, whose young son had just been killed by the shark, slapped Chief Brody?

Sobbing, she said, “I just found out that a girl got killed here last week, and you knew it! You knew there was a shark out there! You knew it was dangerous! But you let people go swimming anyway? But still my boy is dead now, and there’s nothing you can do about it. My boy is dead. I wanted you to know that.”

The mayor turned to Brody and said, “She’s wrong.”

In complete candor, the chief shot back, “No, she’s not.”

Too bad the Catholic Church didn’t heed that powerful lesson. For decades, it too had a “shark” problem, but rather than hunting down the terrorizing threat, it simply threw more bait to the predator.

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Implosion of Pittsburgh Diocese Continues

Church Militant (blog)

December 3, 2020

By Stephen Wynne

Former Catholic stronghold run into the ground

Catholics in the beleaguered diocese of Pittsburgh are bracing for a new round of parish closures — the latest marker in a dramatic implosion connected to decades of sex abuse and cover-up.

In a Nov. 28 statement, Bp. David Zubik announced a series of mergers that will reduce the number of parishes from 107 to 81. The consolidations will be finalized Jan. 4, 2021.

“This is a pivotal time for our diocese as we plan for the future of the Church of Pittsburgh,” Zubik said. “Southwestern Pennsylvania is radically different than it was 100, 50, 20, even 10 years ago, yet the work of the Church and our call from God to bring His love to everyone continues as strong as ever.”

Indicators of Collapse

But some are questioning the bishop’s claim that the work of the Church in Pittsburgh is “as strong as ever,” noting that last week’s announcement is just the latest indicator of collapse.

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[Opinion] The McCarrick Report: Quo Vadis

Patheos (blog)

December 4, 2020

By Gabriel Blanchard

Lost Lambs

Well, we’ve got to go somewhere from here. Here sucks.

Several people I know have left the Church over this. I’m not sure whether any of my acquaintances have left the faith altogether over it, but that wouldn’t surprise me. People have killed themselves over this. If the hypothesis set forth in The Keepers is correct, priests have murdered people over this.

A lot of Catholics say if a person leaves because of sin in the Church, it shows that their faith was in the Church instead of in God. That is an extremely fucked up attitude. Of course people had faith in the Church. She told them to. The Catholic Church claims to be guided by the Holy Ghost, protected from doctrinal error. It’s devastating to find out that anyone told you bald-faced lies to protect the man who raped your child. How the hell do you reconcile that betrayal with those claims to divine authority? How dare we try to shame people for not being able to do it?

When a wolf chases a lamb away from the flock, you don’t blame the lamb. If you find it with a mangled leg, you don’t grab it by that leg. If it bleats in terror, you don’t tell it to shut up and be grateful you found it.

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Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese pays $19.2 million to settle 224 clergy abuse claims

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune-Review

December 3, 2020

By Deb Erdley

Signaling an end to the latest chapter in the Catholic Church’s struggle to heal from scathing revelations of child sexual abuse in a 2018 grand jury report, an independent mediator for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced Thursday that it has completed two years of work and awarded more than $19 million to settle 224 claims of clergy sexual abuse.

The announcement from The Kenneth Feinberg Group marks the conclusion of work begun in January 2019 after the diocese engaged the firm to administer a compensation fund program established in the wake of the grand jury report, which detailed decades of clergy sexual abuse in dioceses across the state.

Bishop David Zubik hailed the mediator’s work and said it is just one aspect of the church’s continuing effort to help abuse victims heal. He noted that the church had settled claims with 34 abuse victims in 2007 and set up counseling programs to help victims.

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December 11, 2020

Child abuse inquiry finishes final public hearing

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

December 11, 2020

An inquiry into claims of child sexual abuse in England and Wales has finished its final public hearing.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse heard evidence from 648 witnesses over four years.

It is investigating claims against local authorities, religious organisations, the armed forces and public and private institutions – as well as people in the public eye.

The inquiry’s final report will be published in 2022.

IICSA was set up in July 2014 after hundreds of people came forward to say Jimmy Savile had abused them as children.

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German cardinal accused of abuse cover-up turns to pope

GERMANY
DW.com

December 11, 2020

The Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, has been accused of not informing the Vatican about sex abuse allegations against a priest. He’s now asked Pope Francis to review his conduct.

Facing accusations of covering up an alleged sexual abuse case, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki asked Pope Francis on Friday to investigate.

“In order to clarify the canonical accusations against me, I am asking the Holy Father [Pope Francis] to examine this matter,” Woelki said in a statement issued by the archdiocese of Cologne.

“The fact remains: failures in dealing with sexual violence must be disclosed, regardless of the person against whom they were made. This also includes me,” the cardinal added.

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Ex-Client Sues Am Law 200 Firm Over Its Catholic Church Representation, Alleging Conflict

NEW MEXICO
Law.com

December 10, 2020

By Justin Henry

A New Mexico woman is suing Phoenix-based Lewis Roca, alleging the firm steered her away from suing a Catholic school she attended.

A New Mexico woman is suing her former lawyers at Phoenix-based law firm Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie for malpractice related to its representation of her in bringing allegations that she was sexually abused by a Catholic school teacher.

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Attorney: Abuse victims want Archdiocese of Santa Fe eliminated

ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Associated Press

December 8, 2020

An attorney for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe is claiming alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse and their lawyers are seeking to eliminate the Roman Catholic organization by forcing it to use all of its assets to settle complaints.

Tom Walker, the archdiocese’s lawyer, made the claim during a court hearing Monday about three lawsuits alleging the archdiocese illegally transferred about $245 million to parishes and their trusts before filing for bankruptcy. The suits accuse the archdiocese of attempting to shield the assets from being used to pay settlements in civil lawsuits claiming sexual abuse by priests.

The alleged victims want to eliminate the physical presence of the Church by forcing it to sell all its property, Walker said.

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MONTCLAIR WOMAN FILES SUIT ALLEGING SEXUAL ABUSE AT IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

NEWARK (NJ)
Montclair Local

December 11, 2020

By Erin Roll

A Montclair woman has filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Newark, Immaculate Conception Church and St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish, alleging sexual assault by a priest and two nuns at Immaculate Conception when she was a young girl.

Mary Joy Morgan filed the lawsuit in Essex County Superior Court on Nov. 24, alleging that the Rev. William Dowd, then the pastor at Immaculate Conception, and Sisters Maria Michael and Alice Bernadette subjected her to sexual abuse and rape over a period of seven years, starting when she was 8 years old.

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New abuse allegations against monks, former headmaster of Delbarton School in latest lawsuits

NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

December 10, 2020

By Rebecca Everett

In the latest round of lawsuits against the order of Catholic monks that runs the prestigious Delbarton School, three plaintiffs are alleging they were sexually abused in the 1980s, including one plaintiff who said he was abused by three monks.

The Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey has faced at least 19 lawsuits since Dec. 1, 2019 when New Jersey extended the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse lawsuits and allowed a two-year window for those who were previously barred from filing suits by time limits.

The three new suits — filed by attorneys Greg Gianforcaro and Jeff Anderson — make allegations of sexual abuse against then-monks Timothy Brennan, Donal Fox, Luke Travers, a monk and former headmaster of the Delbarton School, and Kevin Bray, a monk who worked in an Elizabeth church.

Brennan, Fox and Travers have all been named in lawsuits before and Bray has been accused in one previous lawsuit in 2008, according to Gianforcaro. Brennan, who died last year, remains one of the most-often-accused monks in the state, with lawsuits involving him numbering in the double digits and a criminal conviction back in 1987.

One of the new lawsuits claims the plaintiff was abused by three monks, Brennan, Fox and Travers, on individual occasions at the Delbarton School between 1982 and 1989, starting when he was 14 and ending when he was 21 and no longer a student.

The second plaintiff, Bernard Murphy, has been public for years about his experience with Travers, but the lawsuit also makes new sexual abuse allegations against Brennan.

In a 2011 letter to Delbarton officials, Murphy said Travers would kiss and hug him against his will when he was a student starting in 1982. When Murphy returned to campus as a college student for a 1990 visit, Travers professed his love for him and said he wanted to run away together, Murphy said.

The abbey placed restrictions on Travers in 2011, including that he not have contact with anyone under 25 while they investigated, but he violated them when he went on to work as the administrative head of Mary Mother of the Church Abbey in Richmond, Virginia. A Delbarton spokesman conceded at the time that “mistakes were made” in monitoring Travers.

Travers is the only living monk among those accused in the three suits. He could not be reached for comment and a lawyer who represented him in previous suits did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The plaintiff in the third suit alleges he was abused by Kevin Bray, a teacher and monk of the Order of St. Benedict who also worked at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Elizabeth. The suit says Bray abused him at the church from 1986 to 1987 when the plaintiff was 13 and 14 years old and a student at the parish school.

The four monks have been previously accused of abusing students, but none of their names were included in the Catholic church’s 2019 list of credibly-accused priests because they are monks overseen by a religious order instead of dioceses.

Like the flurry of previous lawsuits, the three civil complaints allege that those in charge at the Delbarton School and St. Mary’s Abbey, as well as the Archdiocese of Newark, knew or should have known abuse was going on.

Gianforcaro said he has settled at least 15 cases on behalf of sexual abuse survivors against the Delbarton School since 2004. In 2018, school officials publicly acknowledged in a letter to the community that 30 individuals had alleged abuse by 13 past or current clergy at the school, and one retired lay faculty member, over the course of three decades.

In a statement this summer, spokesman Anthony S. Cicatiello said the abbey and school condemn any abuse and encourage survivors to report allegations to police. He said he could not comment because of the ongoing litigation.

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McCarrick report shows need to focus on survivors, panel says

NEW YORK (NY)
Crux

December 11, 2020

By John Lavenburg

In the aftermath of the Holy See’s report on laicized ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a clergy sex abuse survivor from Chile wants matters of clergy abuse to focus more on the survivors and less so on the episcopacy itself.

“For me, we’re discussing here how the bishops behave, how we elect them, how we make them better, how they serve us better. Where are the survivors? The men and women survivors have to be the center of our topics,” said Juan Carlos Cruz.

“There are so many questions and we feel that yes, we have a McCarrick report, which is a great step for sure. But the suffering and the horror that is still going for so many people in our church is real and it’s now and we need to address it immediately.”

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Cardinal accuses predecessors of abuse cover-up

GERMANY
The Tablet

November 29, 2020

by Christa Pongratz-Lippitt

The Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, has accused his two predecessors of hushing up sexual abuse. The predecessors were both cardinals: Joseph Höffner (1906-1987, Archbishop of Cologne from 1969-1987, and bishops’ conference president 1976-1987, who was posthumously awarded the honour of Righteous Among Nations by Israel in 2003 for having saved Jewish lives during the Second World War ), and Joachim Meisner (1933-2017, Archbishop of Cologne from 1989 to 2014).

“Serious mistakes were repeatedly made for decades”, Woelki told domradio.deon 19 November. Those responsible had behaved “completely irresponsibly”, and must therefore be “discovered and named”. As the responsible diocesan archbishop, he had had the case investigated and had initiated canonical criminal proceedings in the Vatican. The case was now awaiting assessment from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in Rome.

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Roman Catholic Diocese needs to preach transparency (Letters)

SPRINGFIELD (MA)
MassLive.com

December 10, 2020

Letter to the Editor by Rev. James J. Scahill

As a result of the Velis Report, June 21, 2020, in light of public and media attention former Bishop Rozanski properly posted deceased Bishop Christopher Weldon’s name on the Diocesan Web page of Springfield clergy credibly charged for the abuse of children/minors. Nonetheless, Rozanski is part of a continuum of bishops since Weldon to deliberately withhold full truth and genuine transparency relative to complete disclosure of Springfield Diocesan priests guilty of a heinous crime: The heinous impact upon the lives that they abused physically, emotionally and spiritually.

By a comparison to the listing available at bishopsaccountability.org this lack of truth is abundantly clear. There are some fourteen priests credibly charged not listed on the diocesan web page.

I have personally dealt with a victim of both Rev. J. Roy Jenness and Rev. Thomas O’Connor, and a victim of Msgr. David Welch (Weldon’s executor). For these victims and all victims of abuse, whose violators have not been claimed by the diocese, justice demands this be publicly rectified.

Will the new Bishop of Springfield acquiesce to emancipate truth from a power that continues to believe itself its master?

Fundamentally aggressive efforts for the protection of every child and minor from any kind of abuse by anyone should have been a major campaign decades ago especially from a proclaimed Pro-Life church. Tragically that cause was never undertaken. When legislative initiatives sought to lengthen the Statute of Limitations when any person could come to terms with their molestation, the Catholic Massachusetts Conference of Bishops lobbied against it.

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Mastercard, Visa, dump Pornhub following rape video exposé

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Post

December 10, 2020

By Nicolas Vega

Mastercard and Visa have dumped Pornhub following an exposé that revealed the site was infested with videos of rape and child sex abuse.

Mastercard confirmed “the presence of illegal material” on Pornhub’s website following the publication of a report by the New York Times, which reported that the smut site hosted videos of rape scenes, revenge porn and other footage taken without the knowledge or consent of the participants.

“Our investigation over the past several days has confirmed violations of our standards prohibiting unlawful content on their site,” Mastercard said in a statement. “As a result, and in accordance with our policies, we instructed the financial institutions that connect the site to our network to terminate acceptance. In addition, we continue to investigate potential illegal content on other websites to take the appropriate action.”

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Catholic Bishop of Chicago, IL — Moody’s downgrades Catholic Bishop of Chicago (IL) to Ba1; outlook stable

NEW YORK (NY)
Moody’s via Yahoo Finance

December 9, 2020

Rating Action: Moody’s downgrades Catholic Bishop of Chicago (IL) to Ba1; outlook stable

Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Catholic Bishop of Chicago (CBC or Archdiocese) to Ba1 from Baa1, affecting approximately $130 million of general obligation notes outstanding. The outlook remains stable.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The downgrade to Ba1 is largely driven by our view of escalating core social and business risks across the sector driven in large part by sexual abuse claims leading to an increasing trend of preemptive bankruptcy. This pattern is not correlated with the soundness of financial operations, balance sheets and other credit fundamentals.

The Ba1 is supported by the Archdiocese of Chicago’s financial reserves, scale, and strong management, all providing significant capacity to manage currently known exposures. Management has clearly articulated and well-defined plans for addressing financial risk associated with sexual abuse cases as well as the coronavirus pandemic. The management team’s strong transparency provides management credibility, a credit supportive governance consideration. However, the Archdiocese is one of the subjects of an ongoing investigation by the Illinois attorney general that may contribute to growth in sexual abuse claims. While current projections of sexual misconduct claims, which arise from decades-old alleged incidents, appear to be manageable, their full impact and their implications for defensive filing introduce an element of unpredictability, limiting the rating.

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New facilitators hope to be ‘part of the solution’ to abuse crisis

KANSAS CITY (KS)
The Leaven

December 11, 2020

By Moira Cullings

They’ve spent more than 15 years working to end and prevent child and vulnerable adult abuse in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

Now, Monica Lane and Franchiel Nyakatura are stepping up even more.

The women are “Virtus — Protecting God’s Children” volunteer facilitators.

They lead Virtus sessions at their respective parishes and others throughout the year for people in the archdiocese who teach, volunteer or work with children in some capacity.

These sessions are designed to educate people about the warning signs of abuse and what to do when someone poses a threat to children and vulnerable adults.

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Woman abused by Anglican minister hopes her 15-year battle for redress is finally over

NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

December 11, 2020

By Morgane Solignac

A Blenheim woman who was told the sexual harassment she suffered at the hands of a minister was “pretty low” has called for an independent body to handle abuse claims in New Zealand.

Jacinda Thompson told the Royal Commission, in Auckland, this week about her 15-year battle for redress after being abused by Anglican minister Reverend Michael Van Wijk.

Thompson had turned to Van Wijk, and the Church of the Nativity in Blenheim, in 2005 for support after the death of a child.

Thompson last month applied to the Human Rights Review Tribunal to have her name suppression lifted ahead of giving evidence to the commission’s Abuse in Care Inquiry on Monday.

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Royal Commission into abuse in care: ‘Sexually abusing in the name of Jesus. How disgusting’

NEW ZEALAND
Radio New Zealand

December 11, 2020

By Andrew McRae

A man who was abused in both state and church-based care says pent-up frustration over what happened to him prompted him to stab a convicted paedophile in prison.

Roy Takiaho gave evidence on Friday to the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care about being abused in two boys’ homes and in foster care.

Takiaho, 48, first went into care at the age of two. First with foster families and then to Social Welfare’s Owairaka Boys home.

There was physical violence at Owairaka, between the boys and by staff.

”Sometimes the perpetrators were the older kids, but sometimes it was also the house masters.”

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Keeping Quiet: The downside to “voluntary laicization”

ROME (ITALY)
Catholic Herald

December 11, 2020

By Christopher Altieri

Pope Francis quietly laicized a priest accused of grave immorality and serious canonical crimes in 2017, rather than have him stay in the priesthood long enough to face trial.

The former cleric, Peter Mitchell, was a priest in the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, when he was accused. Before joining the Green Bay diocese, he had been a priest of the Lincoln, Nebraska diocese.

The case of this former cleric is closed, but the way Church authorities dealt with this man bears significant resemblance to the way in which Churchmen attempted to manage priests accused of abusing minors in the days before the crisis of leadership and governance in the Church became a worldwide scandal.

Mr. Mitchell recounted his struggles with priestly life – including serial violations of chastity with adult women – in an essay that widely circulated in 2018.

Interviews with Green Bay officials and with women involved in various ways with Mr. Mitchell, as well as documentary evidence related to the case obtained by the Catholic Herald have revealed that the narrative Mr. Mitchell offered to the public omits significant details.

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December 10, 2020

2 new suits allege sex abuse by brother at Farrell in 1970s; ‘I walked into a trap,’ man says

STATEN ISLAND (NY)
Staten Island Advance

December 7, 2020

By Maura Grunlund

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A religious brother sexually abused two men more than 40 years ago when they were students at Monsignor Farrell High School in Oakwood, lawsuits allege.

Brother Salvatore Anthony Ferro is named in two separate litigations filed recently under the New York State Child Victims Act against the Archdiocese of New York, Monsignor Farrell High School, and various entities of the Congregation of Christian Brothers.

One lawsuit, filed by Thomas McGloin of Emerson Hill, alleges he was “sexually abused by Brother Ferro,” including the brother “instructing Thomas to take off his pants and Brother Ferro fondling Thomas’s genitals.”

McGloin told the Advance/SILive.com that he was abused by Brother Ferro, who was his English teacher and a vice principal, in 1978 inside the Christian Brother’s office, located in a heavily-trafficked area near the principal’s office.

“I walked into a trap because I was sick and wanted to go home and somehow he [Brother Ferro] presented himself as someone who had to do a medical exam,” McGloin said as he recalled what led up to the alleged assault, which he says occurred when he was a 14-year-old freshman.

“I complained of a stomach ache and he spoke of a line of pain, those were his specific words, a line of pain which he traced from the stomach to between my legs, and that I needed to take my pants down and my underwear so that he could investigate that,” he said.

McGloin was “highly, highly distraught” after the alleged incident.

“I remember running out of that office to the train station,” he said. “I lived in Bay Terrace and I’d take the train one stop from Oakwood, and being alone and just having that horrific feeling that you have when something terrible has happened, and in this case you’re just not understanding it.”

SECOND LAWSUIT

A separate lawsuit filed by a Staten Island man who wished only to be identified as Michael levels similar allegations against Brother Ferro at Farrell.

“From approximately 1979 through approximately 1980, Brother Ferro exploited the trust and authority vested in him by the defendants by grooming Michael to gain his trust and to obtain control over him as part of Brother Ferro’s plan to sexually molest and abuse Michael and other children,” the lawsuit alleges.

Michael was sexually abused when he was about 13 to 14 years old in the health office at Farrell, where he went for help with “stomach problems,” according to the lawsuit.

“The sexual abuse occurred numerous times and included, but was not limited to, Brother Ferro touching Michael’s genitals,” according to the lawsuit.

Attorney Michael Pfau said his law firm, Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala PLLC, represents about 75 victims of abuse in the Archdiocese of New York. His clients include McGloin, Michael and several others who alleged abuse by Brother Ferro at Farrell and other settings.

“This a serial abuser,” Pfau said.

Pfau said that Brother Ferro had a modus operandi where he groomed and then took advantage of his youthful victims.

“We have other clients who were abused in the same way,” the attorney said. “He would lure a kid in, talk about things that may be of interest to the kid and then come up with this phony medical excuse as a way to get an already vulnerable kid further compromised.”

KEEPING THE SECRET

As with many child victims of sex abuse, McGloin kept the secret.

“I could just remember this surge of shame after it happened and then kind of burying it, not talking to anybody about it,” he said about the feelings that never left him.

The assault has had a devastating impact on McGloin’s life, the lawsuit alleges:

“By reason of the wrongful acts of each of the defendants as detailed herein, Thomas sustained physical and psychological injuries, including but not limited to, severe emotional and psychological distress, humiliation, fright, dissociation, anger, depression, anxiety, family turmoil and loss of faith, a severe shock to his nervous system, physical pain and mental anguish, and emotional and psychological damage, and, upon information and belief, some or all of these injuries are of a permanent and lasting nature, and Thomas has and/or will become obligated to expend sums of money for treatment.”

Inspired by the Me Too Movement, McGloin decided to sue and go public with his story.

“I saw the benefit to other victims from the people courageous enough to speak out,” McGloin said. “I don’t feel vengeful in any way, but it would satisfy me if the archdiocese knew that people were hurt, including me, and that they were accountable for it, and then separately that other survivors would know they’re not alone.”

McGloin also wants to shatter myths about survivors. He was a good student, popular and played ice hockey — so since the abuse happened to him, any child could unwittingly become a victim of a predator.

McGloin claims the archdiocese should be held responsible to “the degree they knew or should have known that this happened and didn’t take action to protect me and others.”

Priestly abusers typically chose discreet scenarios such as victimizing a lone altar boy at an early-morning Mass or isolating and attacking a child at a religious retreat, the attorney said.

“What’s interesting is having represented hundreds of Catholic abuse victims, it is pretty bold to be using kids in what Tommy has described as a high-traffic area in the high school,” Pfau said.

“This isn’t an example of lonely, disturbed priest or brother who acted on impulse,” Pfau said of Brother Ferro. “This is a guy who had a plan that he knew worked and executed his plan. When there were complaints and nothing was done, it emboldened this abuser to continuing doing what he did, and that’s really at the root of the whole Catholic Church scandal.”

The Advance/SILive.com previously reported other lawsuits against Brother Ferro. Jim Burke, who lives in Manhattan, and John Hynes of Staten Island, maintain that they were abused at Farrell around 40 years ago as students by Brother Ferro.

“The archdiocese takes all allegations of sexual abuse seriously, and responds with compassion and respect,” said Joseph Zwilling, director of communications for the archdiocese. “However, because these are active cases, we cannot comment on the specifics of any of the lawsuits being brought under the CVA.”

An attorney for the Christian Brothers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Thinking about ‘Uncle Ted’ McCarrick: Duin and Abbott say press should keep digging

UNITED STATES
GetReligion.org (blog)

December 9, 2020

By Terry Mattingly

The calendar here at GetReligion — like any cyber-workplace — starts getting complicated as we move through Advent and into the entire whirlwind of Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years Day, etc. That’s even true during a pandemic that has kept us (especially older folks like me) locked up.

Still, Julia Duin is out and about this week. However I saw an interesting “other side of the notebook” piece that I knew would interest her. It was linked to the Vatican’s long-delay report about the fall of former cardinal Theodore “Uncle Ted” McCarrick and why that story — shrouded in rumors for decades — was so hard for many journalists to cover.

The new piece — “My minor role in exposing McCarrick” — was written by Catholic scribe Matt C. Abbott and ran at RenewAmerica.com.

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My minor role in exposing McCarrick

UNITED STATES
RenewAmerica.com (blog)

November 26, 2020

By Matt C. Abbott

To my pleasant surprise, my name and column are mentioned in the Vatican’s recently-released 449-page report on disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick. See pages 234 to 244 and 280 to 283.

McCarrick, who (sadly) was one of the most powerful and politically well-connected prelates in the United States for many years, was laicized in 2019 by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith after being found “guilty of solicitation during the Sacrament of Confession and sins against the Sixth Commandment with minors and adults, with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power.”

The information I wrote about beginning in 2005 pertained to McCarrick’s coercively sharing a bed with seminarians he favored, which constituted an abuse of power. It was, I came to find out, an “open secret” among several people in the Church and in the mainstream media. Yet it wasn’t until the Archdiocese of New York in 2017 deemed as credible and substantiated an allegation made against McCarrick of the sexual abuse of a minor that the dominoes began to fall, so to speak.

It was only then that we began to see stories about McCarrick’s corruption. It was only then that the mainstream media began to turn on him

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Lawyers representing Msgr. Craig Harrison believe he will not be reinstated

BAKERSFIELD (CA)
KERO-TV, Channel 23

December 9, 2020

By Veronica Morley

During a press briefing held by the Law Offices of Kyle J. Humphrey, who represent Monsignor Craig Harrison in multiple civil defamation lawsuits, lawyers representing the priest said they do not think Harrison will be reinstated.

Harrison, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church, has filed three defamation lawsuits relating to statements made about sexual abuse allegations against him. One of those suits was filed against The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno and the Diocese spokeswoman for defamation stemming from statements made against Harrison in a 2019 article in KQED.

“With this current bishop and the attitude that’s been displayed, I would be shocked if there’s any opportunity at all for him to ever return,” Humphrey said.

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[Opinion] After the McCarrick Report, an odd episcopal appointment

UNITED STATES
Catholic Culture

December 9, 2020

By Phil Lawler

What’s wrong with this picture?

Last month the Vatican released the long-awaited McCarrick Report, providing some (but not all) details about the clerical culture that protected the former cardinal, and serial abuser, Theodore McCarrick.

Last week Pope Francis named Bishop Michael Fisher, an auxiliary of the Washington, DC archdiocese, to head the Diocese of Buffalo.

The Buffalo diocese has been battered for months by legal charges involving cover-ups of sexual abuse.

Bishop Fisher comes from the archdiocese that McCarrick once headed, and served on the chancery staff under the disgraced former cardinal. He was ordained as a bishop by Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who resigned after accusations that he had covered up for McCarrick—and covered up for other clerics during a previous assignment as Bishop of Pittsburgh.

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Polish Church defends St John Paul against abuse claims

EUROPE
The Tablet

December 9, 2020

By Jonathan Luxmoore

Poland’s Catholic Church has vigorously defended the record of St John Paul II in handling clerical sex abuse, after a November Vatican report raised questions about his promotion of the disgraced American ex-cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, as hundreds of priests, university professors and public figures also signed petitions upholding his good name.

“In any historical assessment of John Paul II’s attitude, the decisive factor is undoubtedly the knowledge he had or sought, and the decisions he took from the information he had,” said a survey of the case, prepared for the Polish Bishops Conference. “All evidence indicates that John Paul II’s decisions cannot be treated as hasty or reckless, but should be seen as based on carefully weighed information.”

The survey was published in response to attacks on the late pontiff in light of the 460-page report, which relates how John Paul II appointed McCarrick Archbishop of Washington in 2000 and raised him to cardinal a year later, despite past accusations of abuse while he was a bishop and archbishop in New York, New Jersey and Newark.

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Priest worked in schools despite abuse allegations

ENGLAND
The Tablet

December 10, 2020

By Liz Dodd

A Birmingham priest who has now been convicted of multiple counts of child sexual abuse was transferred to the US for therapy and subsequently allowed to visit schools and work as a diocesan school inspector despite the archdiocese knowing of allegations against him.

Joseph Quigley, 56, now of Aston Hall, described on its website as “a delightful home for retired and convalescent priests” in Aston, Staffordshire, was found guilty last week of four charges of sexual activity with a child, two of sexual assault, two of false imprisonment and one of cruelty. He is due to be sentenced in January.

The abuse took place while he was parish priest at St Charles Borromeo RC church in Hampton-on-the-Hill near Warwick, between 2006-2009.

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Archbishop accused of failing to act on abuse appeals to Vatican

GERMANY
The Tablet

December 7, 2020

By Christa Pongratz-Lippitt

Archbishop Stefan Hesse of Hamburg has asked the Congregation for Bishops in Rome to judge whether he is guilty of having hushed up abuse.

Hesse has been accused of covering up abuse and violating canon law by failing to report abuse to the Vatican authorities during his time as head of personnel in the Cologne archdiocese from 2006-2011.

Last week the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, accused his two predecessors, cardinals Joseph Höffner and Joachim Meisner, both deceased, of failing to notify the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the abuse committed by a priest referred to as “Fr A”. The priest, now 87 and living in a care home, was imprisoned in 1972 for “repeated fornication with children and dependants”. When he came out of prison in 1973, “Fr A” was again deployed as a priest in the Diocese of Münster where he reoffended.

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Good Morning, Buffalo: Identities of four priests accused in Attorney General’s report revealed

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

December 6, 2020

https://buffalonews.com/good-morning-buffalo-identities-of-four-priests-accused-in-attorney-generals-report-revealed/article_af82b230-3744-11eb-851b-f328f28a3f44.html

Warnings from teachers, nuns, even a cop, didn’t get Buffalo Diocese to remove priests

Top officials in the Buffalo Diocese failed to heed alarms about clergy misbehaving with minors, even when the warnings came from nuns, Catholic school teachers and other priests.

Diocese officials waited years, and sometimes decades, to separate accused priests from children and discipline them, according to diocese files revealed in a lawsuit filed last week by Attorney General Letitia James.

Such delays happened even when a Buffalo police captain approached diocese officials with concerns about a priest.

The personnel files of the Revs. Dennis A. Fronczak, John P. Hajduk, David W. Bialkowski and Roy K. Ronald were among hundreds of diocese documents subpoenaed by the State Attorney General’s Office in an investigation launched two years ago.

The Attorney General’s report redacted the names of the priests in the lawsuit. The Buffalo News independently verified their identities through other sources.

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‘Father Woody,’ Buffalo native and priest of Denver’s poor, named as child sex abuser

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

December 9, 2020

By Jay Tokasz

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/father-woody-buffalo-native-and-priest-of-denvers-poor-named-as-child-sex-abuser/article_dee5c430-3a3d-11eb-89bc-47f326ee08d4.html

A Buffalo native who served as a priest in the Archdiocese of Denver for 38 years and was revered for his work with the poor is among 25 priests identified in a recent Colorado State Attorney General’s Office report as having substantiated claims of child sex abuse against them.

Monsignor Charles B. Woodrich, a 1941 graduate of Technical High School in Buffalo, is accused of molesting three boys during his time in Denver, where he was hailed for many years as a champion of the poor.

Woodrich founded the Samaritan House homeless shelter in Denver and drew national attention in the 1960s when he persuaded President Lyndon B. Johnson to fund school lunches for the poor. Woodrich was widely known as “Father Woody.” He died in 1991 at age 68.

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Goan-origin Catholic priest accused of sexual misconduct by Archdiocese of Vancouver

GOA (INDIA)
Goa Chronicle

December 9, 2020

By Savio Rodrigues

Vancouver: Goan-origin priest Father Nelson Santos of the Goa Redemptorist Community who was serving as an assistant pastor at the Immaculate Conception Parish in Delta, Vancouver is not permitted to exercise any priestly ministry due to accusations of sexual misconduct.

Archbishop Michael Miller of the Archdiocese of Vancouver in a letter to the parishioners revealed, “A thorough investigation carried out by a lawyer independent of the Archdiocese confirmed that a number of the accusations of sexual misconduct by an adult against Father Nelson Santos were well-founded, along with related inappropriate behavior and comments. As a result, Father Santos is not permitted to exercise any priestly ministry in the Archdiocese, now or in the future. Should he apply for work elsewhere, the local bishop would be informed of our investigations.

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28 years on, verdict in Kerala nun’s murder case on December 22

KERALA (INDIA)
Hindustan Times

December 10, 2020

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday concluded the final hearing in Sister Abhaya’s murder case, a 28-year-old case that witnessed many twists and turns, and said it would announce a verdict on December 22.

The CBI had chargesheeted Catholic priest Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sefi , a nun, in the case. They were charged with murder, destruction of evidence, criminal conspiracy and other charges. Another accused, Father Jose Poothrukayil, was let off by the CBI court last year after it found no evidence to proceed against him.

Sister Abhaya, a Class 12 student, was found dead in the well of the Pious X Convent in Kottayam in 1992. Many witnesses turned hostile during the trial and there were a flurry of petitions in higher courts which delayed proceedings.

According to the CBI charge sheet, Abhaya was killed because she was a witness to some alleged immoral activity involving two priests and a nun. She was attacked with an axe before being dumped in the well, the CBI claimed. Though the case created ripples in the state, the Church stood by the accused, calling them innocent.

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Catholic Church abuse survivors describe ‘horrific’ experiences, trauma to Royal Commission

NEW ZEALAND
Newshub.co.nz

November 30, 2020

By Michael Morrah

Warning: This article discusses sexual abuse.

Survivors of abuse at the hands of Catholic clergymen have spoken of their shame, trauma and the struggle to get redress from New Zealand church leaders.

The first of 25 witnesses told the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care that after making a complaint, she was offered money rather than a meaningful apology – which she rejected.

Frances Tagaloa was abused as a five-year-old Auckland school student and had kept it a secret until Monday’s hearing.

The abuser was Bede Fitton, who worked at Marist Brothers Intermediate school near Tagaloa’s primary school in Ponsonby in the 1970s.

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Sisters raped in foster family: Anglican Church, state and police ‘did nothing’

NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand Herald

December 8, 2020

By Michael Neilson

Warning: This story discusses rape and sexual abuse.

The love between two sisters shone through as one spoke of the horrific abuse they suffered together as children in foster, state and Anglican church care.

Ms M – whose name is legally protected – and her late sister – who came to be known as Janie – were both raped and violently assaulted while in a foster family arranged through Anglican Social Services from 1969 to 1974.

Ms M was again sexually assaulted only years later, aged 16, by a reverend in a family who would go on to legally adopt her.

In both situations, authorities were aware of abuse, but made no efforts to intervene to protect the girls.

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Woman who was sexually abused says she was abandoned by Anglican Church

NEW ZEALAND
Radio New Zealand via Stuff

December 9, 2020

By Andrew McRae of RNZ

This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.

Warning: This story contains distressing details.

A woman sexually abused by her foster father for many years says she was abandoned by Anglican Social Services which placed her in care.

The 58-year-old witness, Ms M, has given evidence to the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care in Auckland.

She was seven when placed in care along with her older sister.

M and her sister were sent to the foster family for a six-week holiday but it ended up lasting much longer.

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Abuse in care: Man seeks apology for historical abuse at Whanganui school

WHANGANUI (NEW ZEALAND)
New Zealand Herald

December 9, 2020

By Logan Tutty

Warning: This story discusses sexual abuse.

A man who was abused at a Catholic school in Whanganui wants a written apology and acknowledgment of the issue of abuse within the Catholic Church, after telling the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care he was sexually assaulted at a Whanganui school.

The man, who gave evidence under the pseudonym Mr G, attended Marist Brothers’ School in Whanganui from the age of 7 to 12.

The inquiry, in Auckland, is hearing from survivors of historical abuse in faith-based care and the redress processes that followed.

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Abuse victim recounts horror of living in Temuka children’s home

NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

December 10, 2020

By Joanne Holden

A Timaru man abused in state care was just four years old when his parents dumped him at The Salvation Army’s Bramwell Booth Home in Temuka and disappeared.

Chatham Islands-born Darrin Timpson recounted the sexual, physical, and psychological abuse he and others endured over his more than 11 years at the children’s home to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care in Auckland on Thursday.

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Church defends ‘modest’ payout to abused altar boy in landmark case appeal

AUSTRALIA
The Age

December 8, 2020

By Tom Cowie

A $32,500 settlement paid by the Catholic Church to a former altar boy after he was repeatedly sexually abused by a priest was adequate and reflected the legal landscape at the time, a court has heard.

The Catholic Church is seeking to overturn a landmark court ruling that paved the way for sex abuse victims to seek more compensation even if they had already signed away their rights to sue.

In October, the Supreme Court overturned a deed of release signed by a former altar boy known as “WCB” in 1996 after he was repeatedly sexually abused by Warragul priest Daniel Hourigan.

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Almost 200 allegations against teachers reported to education regulator

AUSTRALIA
The Age

December 10, 2020

By Tammy Mills

Almost 200 allegations against Victorian teachers, including claims of physical and sexual misconduct, have been referred to the state education regulator over the course of a year.

The new figures also show allegations of child abuse reported to the Commission for Children and Young People doubled in January to March this year, which the commission attributed to publicity of the St Kevin’s College child-grooming case.

Liana Buchanan, the Commissioner for Children and Young People, said the number of allegations reported to her office showed offences against children did not stop with the child abuse royal commission.

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December 9, 2020

More Than 100 Accusers Seek Restitution From Jeffrey Epstein’s Estate

NEW YORK (NY)
The New York Times

December 8, 2020

By Matthew Goldstein

A victim compensation fund has already paid out millions of dollars, with more claims expected to be approved in the coming weeks.

The fund set up to compensate victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual exploitation has already received more than 100 claims and paid out tens of millions of dollars.

The number of claims has already surpassed expectations even though the fund will accept requests until the end of March, said Jordana Feldman, its administrator and a lawyer who worked on the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund for many years.

Ms. Feldman would not say how many claims have been paid. But so far, the fund has paid more than $30 million to accusers, according to a person familiar with the fund, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The fund is poised to reach additional settlements in the coming weeks.

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Cathedral chancellor Paul Overend cleared of indecently assaulting student

WALES
Wales Online

December 3, 2020

By Thomas Deacon

Paul Overend was accused of kissing the woman at a gathering at his home in 1997 but denied the allegation and denied ever meeting the complainant

A priest accused of indecently assaulting a student at a party has been acquitted by a jury.

Former Cardiff University chaplain and priest the Reverend Dr Paul Overend was accused of kissing the woman at a gathering at his home in 1997.

The 54-year-old denied the accusations and stood trial at Newport Crown Court.

After more than an hour and a half of deliberations on Thursday the jury of 12 delivered a not guilty verdict on one count of indecent assault.

The incident was alleged to have happened in 1997 at the chaplaincy in Park Place in Cardiff where he lived at the time.

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Army Finds ‘Major Flaws’ at Fort Hood; 14 Officials Disciplined

DALLAS (TX)
New York Times

December 8, 2020

By Sarah Mervosh and John Ismay

Several officials were fired or suspended after an investigation into the culture at Fort Hood in Texas. Women were “preyed upon” but afraid to report sexual harassment, investigators found.

More than a dozen Army officials have been fired or suspended as part of a sweeping investigation into the climate and culture at Fort Hood, a sprawling military base in Texas that has been rocked by a series of violent deaths, suicides and complaints of sexual harassment.

The investigation released on Tuesday found “major flaws” at Fort Hood and a command climate “that was permissive of sexual harassment and sexual assault,” said Ryan D. McCarthy, the secretary of the Army.

“Unfortunately, a ‘business as usual’ approach was taken by Fort Hood leadership causing female soldiers, particularly, in the combat brigades, to slip into survival mode,” the report said, where they were “vulnerable and preyed upon, but fearful to report and be ostracized and re-victimized.”

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NEW BISHOP IN TROUBLED DIOCESE

BUFFALO (NY)
Church Militant

December 4, 2020

By David Nussman

Bp. Michael Fisher tapped for Buffalo

The diocese of Buffalo is getting a new bishop while facing a lawsuit from the state attorney general.

It was announced Tuesday morning that Pope Francis has named Bp. Michael W. Fisher the next bishop of the Buffalo diocese. Bishop Fisher is currently an auxiliary bishop in the archdiocese of Washington.

This comes after New York’s attorney general filed suit against the Buffalo diocese and three bishops tied to it.

Attorney general Letitia James filed suit Nov. 23 against former Buffalo bishop Richard Malone, former auxiliary bishop Edward M. Grosz and acting diocesan administrator Bp. Edward B. Scharfenberger.

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Prosecutors: Priest collected child porn while overseas

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Associated Press

December 3, 2020

A Roman Catholic priest accused of collecting thousands of child pornography images while serving overseas and then bringing them with him when he returned to the United States is now facing federal charges, authorities announced Thursday.

The Rev. William McCandless, 56, of Wilmington, Delaware, pleaded not guilty to the counts during an initial court appearance in Philadelphia. He is charged with possessing child porn for importation into the Unites States, transporting child porn in interstate and foreign commerce and attempting to access with intent to view child porn.

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Priest indicted, faces federal child pornography charges

WILMINGTON (DE)
WPVI/6abc Digital Staff

December 4, 2020

A Catholic priest from Wilmington, Delaware, who served as an advisor to Monoco’s royal family now faces federal child pornography charges.

Reverend William McCandless is accused of collecting thousands of child pornography images while serving overseas, then returning home with them.

The 56-year-old was placed on home confinement and ordered to surrender his passport.

McCandless also once served as principal of the Salesianum School in Wilmington and held a post at DeSales University.

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Abuse in Care: Anglican Church accused of cover-up over ‘sex addict and pervert’ priest

NEW ZEALAND
NZ Herald

December 8, 2020

By Michael Neilson

A woman who says she was one of dozens sexually assaulted and harassed by an Anglican priest has accused the Church of continuing its battle to silence her.

Louise Deans was sexually assaulted and harassed by a priest during the 1980s and early 1990s while training to become an ordained Minister in the Anglican Church.

Deans would find out at least 35 other women involved with the Church had been abused by this priest.

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Oakland Diocese Settles Sex Abuse Suit From Man Alleging He Was Raped

OAKLAND (CA)
NBC Bay Area

December 8, 2020

By Michael Bott

The priest, Father Van Dinh, remains on paid leave from the Diocese

A former seminarian who accused a Livermore priest of raping him in 2017 has settled a lawsuit against the Diocese of Oakland for $3.5 million.

The plaintiff, who filed his lawsuit as “John Doe,” immigrated to the United States from Mexico with his parents. Last year, he told the Investigative Unit that he was tied up and raped by Father Van Dinh at St. Michael Catholic Church.

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B.C. priest accused of sexual misconduct: Vancouver Archdiocese

VANCOUVER (CANADA)
NEWS 1130

December 8, 2020

By Kathryn Tindale and Tim James

An investigation into a B.C. priest has concluded accusations of sexual misconduct were “well-founded,” according to the Vancouver Archdiocese.

In a letter from Archbishop Michael Miller, he addressed the recent departure of Father Nelson Santos, who had been serving as an assistant pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish in Delta.

Miller writes that a number of accusations of sexual misconduct with an adult by Santos were “well-founded” as were “related inappropriate behaviour and comments.”

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Anti-gay priest accused of assault after he was caught watching gay adult film

NEW YORK (NY)
Metro Weekly

December 7, 2020

By Rhuaridh Marr

New York City’s Father George Rutler allegedly watched a video of two men while a security guard filmed him

A Catholic priest with a long history of opposing gay people has been accused of assaulting a female security guard after she allegedly caught him watching a gay adult film.

Fr. George Rutler, of the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel in New York City, has previously decried “sodomites” and “homosexualists” and claimed that gay people are “[invading] the House of God and [attacking] the Body of Christ.”

But 22-year-old security guard Ashley Gonzalez claims that last month Rutler entered a room where she was working and started watching a video of two men engaging in oral sex, according to the National Catholic Reporter.

Gonzalez, hired to aid the church’s security during November’s elections, said she recorded Rutler watching the video on her cellphone.

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Catholic TV network pulls shows with George Rutler, priest accused of sexual assault

NEW YORK (NY)
RNS

December 7, 2020

By Jack Jenkins

The host of an EWTN show since 1988, Rutler has often spouted anti-LGBTQ invective and has cast doubt on others’ claims of sexual assault by Catholic priests.

The Catholic television network EWTN has pulled programs featuring the Rev. George William Rutler, a prominent conservative New York Catholic priest, while authorities conduct an investigation into allegations that he watched pornography in front of a security guard and sexually assaulted her when she tried to flee.

According to The New York Times, Ashley Gonzalez, 22, said she was working as a security guard in late November at the Church of St. Michael the Archangel in midtown Manhattan, when Rutler, 75, invited her into his office. Rutler then allegedly began watching gay pornography on his computer and masturbating — an act Gonzalez claims she documented in a 19-second video clip recorded with her phone.

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McCarrick’s Brazen Behavior: Vatican’s Report Underscores How He Hid His Abuses in Plain Sight

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

November 19, 2020

By Father Raymond J. de Souza

COMMENTARY: McCarrick never attempted to slink around in the shadows, lest he appear to have something to hide. He was more devilishly clever than that.

Who was the first person to forward written accusations about Theodore McCarrick to the police? Who was the first to pass them on to the apostolic nuncio?

The McCarrick Report gives us this shocking and very illuminating answer: McCarrick himself. And that is the principal explanation why “Uncle Ted” — right down to that very name — got away with so much for so long. He was so brazen in his behavior that it neutralized the reactions of so many.

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Will New Bishop Accountability Reforms Stop the Next McCarrick?

BALTIMORE (MD)
National Catholic Register

November 20, 2020

By Joan Frawley Desmond
The McCarrick Report exposes the Church’s failure to effectively respond to allegations of sexual misconduct against the powerful prelate, but does it also show that new bishop accountability reforms are on the ‘right track’?

Two years after “credible and substantiated” allegations of sexual abuse involving a minor forced Theodore McCarrick’s removal from public ministry and resulted in a slew of bishop accountability reforms, fresh revelations in the Vatican’s McCarrick Report could help Church leaders and experts determine whether the new measures can stop future predators.

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The McCarrick Report: A Timeline

VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Agency

November 22, 2020

Published by the Vatican Nov. 10, the report examines the “institutional knowledge and decision-making” regarding Theodore McCarrick, the former cardinal found guilty of sexual abuse of minors and seminarians in 2019.

The following is a timeline of important dates from the McCarrick Report. Published by the Vatican Nov. 10, the report examines the “institutional knowledge and decision-making” regarding Theodore McCarrick, the former cardinal found guilty of sexual abuse of minors and seminarians in 2019 and laicized after an expedited canonical investigation.

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McCarrick Report’s Silence on Key Issues Raises More Questions Than It Answers

VATICAN
National Catholic Register

November 25, 2020

By Jonathan Liedl

Some see the report on the ex-cardinal as a product of the same type of institutional failure it sought to investigate.

In many ways, the Vatican’s recently released report on the ascent of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick through the ranks of Church leadership is an unprecedented exposition of the inner workings of ecclesial appointments, a process that failed repeatedly and catastrophically in allowing a known sexual abuser to become one of the most powerful clerics in the U.S.

But according to some Catholics, it’s what’s not included in the McCarrick Report’s voluminous contents that speaks the loudest. Those with this perspective say that the report neglects to address several critical questions, raising concerns that Church leadership has not learned its lesson from this shameful saga and that the McCarrick Report itself may be an instance of the type of self-preserving, institutional failure it claims to impartially investigate.

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Marist Regional College: A Ritual of Lament

AUSTRALIA
Marist Regional College

December 4, 2020

In 2018, Marist Regional College was approached and asked whether an acknowledgement of the historical abuse could be made by the College. This request was supported by the College Leadership Team, the College Board and following consultation with the Archbishop of Hobart, endorsed by Julian Porteous in late December 2018.

In 2019, the College formed the “Seek the Truth Committee” led by Dr Trish Hindmarsh, the former Director of Catholic Education Tasmania and a local parishioner. This Committee of key stakeholders worked to respectfully develop an expression of recognition and sorrow for historical sexual abuse that occurred at Marist College and Marist Regional College.

Former Principal, Mr Adrian Drane, was committed to acknowledging the past sexual abuse. Mr Drane’s sudden illness and passing has seen this commitment and responsibility handed to Acting Principals, Mr Peter Douglas (2019) and Mr Gregg Sharman (2020), the Seek the Truth Committee and the College Leadership Team.

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A Lawsuit Against Portsmouth Abbey Shows Abuse Scandal Is Still Thriving and Catholic Officials Are Still Protecting Themselves Instead Of Victims

RHODE ISLAND
SNAP Network

December 8, 2020

A Catholic school in Rhode Island is being sued by a young woman who accuses a teacher of sexually abusing her from 2012 to 2014. This story is yet another example that the abuse scandal continues to be a major problem in the Church, one that requires secular oversight and intervention to solve.

According to the lawsuit, Michael Bowen Smith abused the woman during her sophomore, junior, and senior years at Portsmouth Abbey School, a Benedictine facility in Portsmouth, RI. One of the most disturbing details of this lawsuit is that Smith was allowed to quietly resign from his position after school officials learned of the sexual abuse allegations. Smith was then able to get a teaching job in New York and his victim says in her lawsuit that she was subjected to his cyberstalking and continued abuse for additional years because Portsmouth Abbey officials cared more about protecting their reputations than they did about the victim.

This is yet another example of the abuse playbook that was detailed by Attorney General Josh Shapiro in his 2018 grand jury report. To us, the situation demonstrates that all Catholic institutions are prone to the same kind of minimizing language and quiet cover-up that has allowed the sexual abuse scandal to thrive for so long.

The lawsuit mentions that the girl’s parents were made to feel like “annoyances” for bringing forward concerns about Smith and that they were brushed aside by school administrators. This is unconscionable and any official who was made aware of the allegations against Smith but chose not to act should be fired immediately. When parents try in good faith to protect their children and are rebuffed by school administrators, it is clear that outside law enforcement needs to step in and bring charges. We believe that this case is well within the criminal statute of limitations in RI and we hope that police are pursuing charges against Smith as well as any Portsmouth Abbey official that failed to properly report the abuse.

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Inter-American Human Rights Commission to look into clerical sexual abuse

ARGENTINA
Crux

December 9, 2020

By Inés San Martín

For the first time in its history, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission promised to defend victims of clerical sexual abuse, with cases being reported in at least 19 countries in Latin America.

In a hearing held last Thursday on the issue, the commission’s vice president, Flavia Piovesan, told victims and survivors “you have our firm and absolute commitment to be a part of this cause.”

The Washington, D.C.-based commission is an autonomous part of the Organization of American States and is the main human rights body in the Americas. Thursday’s hearing was held via Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The commission said it was committed to using its power to demand information on cases that are not being resolved by member states.

Adalberto Méndez, the legal coordinator for Ending Clerical Abuse, presented a series of cases to the commission to illustrate the way individual governments have helped cover up the crimes, failed to protect victims or help them get justice.

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Sex abuse claims, secret payments, then a suicide. He battled memories of his past – and the priests at the center of it.

GREEN BAY (WI)
Green Bay Press-Gazette via Yahoo News

December 8, 2020

By Haley BeMiller

The cards arrived every month.

They often had a tranquil photo on the front, a snow-covered scene or a depiction of Jesus in a stained-glass window. The letter’s author wrote in messy cursive as he discussed the Green Bay Packers, family events or his “frozen” Toyota Camry that required a new battery.

The writer, a top clergyman in the Green Bay area, often ended his messages with “God Bless.”

Inside each card, Nate Lindstrom would find a check for $3,500 from the Norbertines of St. Norbert Abbey in De Pere, Wisconsin.

The money provided Lindstrom with another month of financial stability. But it also took him back to his days as a teenager in Green Bay, when Lindstrom said he endured sexual abuse at the hands of three Norbertine priests.

According to interviews and documents, the Norbertines quietly sent Lindstrom monthly checks totaling more than $400,000 over 10 years after his parents complained to the Catholic order’s leaders about the harm their son suffered from being sexually abused by at least one priest in the late 1980s.

Lindstrom spent years in therapy and taking medication, and he eventually settled in suburban Minneapolis with his wife and three children. But in 2018, his life changed when the order’s abbot told him the monthly payments would end.

After that, Lindstrom pushed back and reported additional allegations, but those efforts came up empty. The last check arrived in May 2019. He became increasingly depressed and defeated.

One day this past March, Lindstrom retrieved a case from the trunk of his car. He took out a gun and brought it inside to the basement of his home.

Then he killed himself. He was 45.

While sex abuse allegations in the Catholic church have been well-documented, the case of Nate Lindstrom stands out.

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Sexually abusive priest was reinstated as minister on Cardinal Nichols’s watch

UNITED KINGDOM
The Telegraph via Yahoo News

December 8, 2020

By Gabriella Swerling

A “sado masochistic” priest who abused a boy was sent to the US for “therapy” before being reinstated as a minister on Cardinal Nichols’s watch, it has emerged.

Father Joseph Quigley, 56, a former national education advisor for Roman Catholic schools, sexually and physically abused a boy and locked him in a church crypt.

Quigley, who held various “prestigious” roles, was known as ‘Father Joe’ at the time of the abuse, jurors at Warwick Crown Court heard as he was convicted last week.

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Ex-student alleges sexual abuse by private school teacher

RHODE ISLAND
Associated Press

December 8, 2020

A former student at a private Rhode Island school has sued the school and a former teacher, alleging the teacher sexually abused her and the school did not do enough to protect her.

The former Portsmouth Abbey School student, listed as Jane Doe in court documents, alleges in the federal suit filed earlier this month she was sexually abused by the teacher between 2012 and 2014 starting when she was 15 years old.

The teacher was in his 40s, according to The Newport Daily News.

The Catholic school is a defendant because it “failed to take any measures to investigate and put an end to the misconduct and protect its young student,” the lawsuit says.

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Former student sues Portsmouth Abbey, claiming she was abused by a teacher and duped by the school

RHODE ISLAND
Boston Globe

December 8, 2020

By Zoe Greenberg

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/08/metro/i-trusted-school-former-student-sues-portsmouth-abbey-claiming-she-was-abused-by-teacher-then-duped-by-school/

In the spring, an archaeology professor in New Mexico received a strange note from an unknown e-mail address. The author was Michael Bowen Smith, a former teacher at Portsmouth Abbey, a prestigious Catholic boarding school in Rhode Island.

In the e-mail, which The Boston Globe obtained, Smith said he was writing to discuss a student he had taught in high school a few years earlier.

“[E.] and I were lovers,” he wrote to the professor, his former student’s mentor whom he had never met. “I was a married man with children and an award-winning career. She was a superstar academic yearning for some kind of freedom from her painfully constricted life. We were drawn together as rebel intellectuals . . .”

Smith initiated sexual contact with E. when she was a 15-year-old sophomore at the Abbey, according to two new lawsuits and interviews with her. He was her 48-year-old teacher. They exchanged hundreds of e-mails, some of which the Globe reviewed, and met up across school grounds for the next two years. And as the letter illustrated, even after she broke things off in her freshman year of college, Smith pursued her into adulthood.

But E.’s troubles went far beyond her former teacher, according to the lawsuits, implicating leaders at the wealthy religious school that offered to help when she finally reported what happened. The lawsuits refer to her as “Jane Doe,” and the Globe is identifying her by the first letter of her name. Smith did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

E.’s struggle to get free of Smith and hold her former school accountable spanned five years and multiple states. Her story suggests that even after a recent reckoning in New England private schools over decades of sexual abuse at the hands of faculty, the challenges for a student in her position remain high. Portsmouth Abbey in 2017 apologized for sexual abuse that occurred more than 30 years earlier. But according to the lawsuits, that same year the school dodged legal responsibility for a much more recent allegation of abuse.

Portsmouth Abbey did not respond to requests for comment or to a detailed list of questions.

The lawsuits claim that not only did the Abbey fail to protect E. as a student, but also that the school set her up to receive poor legal advice that benefited them. The school paid for E. to be represented by a law firm in New Mexico that never told her the statute of limitations to bring action against her former boarding school would soon expire. School administrators “wanted to keep the potential scandal contained, and commenced to do so by ‘steering’ Plaintiff to use the School’s outside consultant to ‘help’ her out of this predicament,” the Rhode Island lawsuit says.

“I trusted the school and the people they were connecting me with wanted to help me,” said E., who is now 24 and in graduate school, in an interview. “I wanted to be able to move on with my life.”

A suit against Portsmouth Abbey and Smith was filed last week in federal court in Rhode Island, and a suit against Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie, the law firm that represented E., was filed in New Mexico state court. The law firm strongly disputed the allegations, calling them inaccurate and one-sided in a statement to the Globe.

E. arrived at the Abbey as a bright and shy scholarship student in the fall of 2010. She was 13 when she started ninth grade, thrilled at the prospect of a high school so much like Harry Potter’s Hogwarts.

During her sophomore year, she grew close to Smith, who taught humanities. They had wide-ranging intellectual conversations that increasingly became personal, and she felt he treated her as an equal, she said in an interview.

“Sort of filling a void and giving me some of the praise and support that I was used to getting at home,” E. said. At the end of the year, Smith invited her to his campus apartment, where, she said, he took her to a bedroom, kissed her, and initiated sexual acts. She was 15, below the age of consent in Rhode Island.

Earlier in the year, E.’s mother had become concerned that Smith was crossing boundaries, according to the Rhode Island lawsuit. E. said her mother called a dorm “house parent” to discuss her concerns and that the house parent later mentioned the call to E. but did not do anything else.

When E. returned to campus for her junior year, she and Smith continued to meet up and his acts of sexual abuse “intensified and became more frequent,” according to the lawsuit. She told a classmate at the time that she was sexually involved with Smith, which the classmate, Lily Mercer-Paiva, confirmed in an interview with the Globe.

Throughout the next two years, Smith and E. exchanged hundreds of e-mails, written under aliases. The Globe reviewed some, which were sexually explicit.

The Abbey is a small school, with about 350 students, and soon the strange closeness of Smith and E. was the subject of widespread rumors, according to E. and Mercer-Paiva. Teacher and student could often be seen immersed in private conversations around campus, and multiple classmates, including the son of a faculty member, asked Mercer-Paiva about the nature of therelationship. At one point, Smith and E. emerged from a wooded area and ran into the entire lacrosse team, E. recalled.

But faculty and staff didn’t look into the rumors, the lawsuit says.

“There wasn’t a lot of desire to follow up,” E. said. “People didn’t want to deal with it.”

Once she graduated in 2014 and started college, E. told Smith she no longer wanted to be in touch. She was getting older and her new friends gently suggested that perhaps the situation with her former teacher hadn’t been the love story she thought.

As she processed what had happened, she had trouble sleeping and her academic work suffered. In the spring of 2015, she dropped out, returned home, and told her parents about Smith.

“It was like I never realized that I was as vulnerable as I was. Or that I could be manipulated so easily,” she said. “So admitting that to myself was part of the challenge.”

According to e-mails shared with the Globe, E.’s mother contacted the Abbey, and the school quickly suspended Smith. The school told Smith it planned to investigate the inappropriate relationship that was “alleged to have been sexual in nature.” Later that day, Smith resigned.

It’s not clear who reported the situation to local police. But E. said the police reached out to her in 2015 and she spoke to them briefly. She didn’t want to get involved in a criminal case and did not tell them she had sexual contact with Smith. The Portsmouth Police Department rejected a public records request from the Globe for an incident report on privacy grounds.

The Abbey appeared to consider the issue resolved. In a 2016 letter to the school community, the Abbey said an independent law firm had reviewed a case involving “an inappropriate relationship between a faculty member and a student. The matter was reported at the time to law enforcement, and the teacher was suspended, quickly resigned, and excluded from campus. No new information on this incident was revealed in the course of this review.”

E. said she spoke briefly with the headmaster of the Abbey in 2015 to confirm that she and Smith had written e-mails under aliases. She said she was not contacted during the subsequent independent investigation of sexual abuse on campus.

And for her, the matter was far from over. Smith continued to hound her, sending pleading e-mails to her and others, which the Globe reviewed, mailing cards and money, and threatening to send roses by way of her university department.

When Mercer-Paiva told him to stop contacting her friend, referring to Smith as a predator, he objected.

“Hold on. Predator?! Is that how [E.] describes me after pursuing a relationship with me, begging me to continue with her each time I urged us to quit, and then parting in Jan 2015 as loving friends?” he wrote. He often described him and E. falling in love “under impossible circumstances” and wrote that because she would not speak to him, he feared “for her spiritual health.”

E. blocked his e-mail address; when he wrote from new ones, she blocked those, too.

“It was enormously stressful and painful, as I was trying to process what had happened, and slowly coming to the realization that this wasn’t my fault. And I wasn’t just some kind of freak,” she said.

And so, once again in 2017, E. reached out to her former boarding school for help.

The Abbey connected her with Kathleen McChesney, a crisis consultant and former FBI official who had led efforts within the Catholic Church to prevent child sexual abuse after the 2002 scandal.

McChesney declined to comment, saying in a statement that it would be unethical to confirm the names of her clients or discuss her work with them.

According to e-mails from the time, McChesney helped E. deliver a strongly worded letter to Smith telling him not to contact her. She also connected E. to Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie, telling the law firm that her client needed help with “a small matter, i.e., assisting her in obtaining a restraining order.” McChesney was paid by the Abbey, the lawsuit said.

The law firm often represented the Catholic Church, and had a law partner in charge of defending “religious institutions,” including sexual abuse claims against the church, the lawsuit said. The Abbey pledged to pay E.’s legal bills, according to e-mails the Globe obtained.

The lawsuit says the firm failed to tell E. that she was quickly approaching the statute of limitations, losing the chance to hold her former school responsible. They instead focused on getting a restraining order and did not tell E. of her other legal options.

Rhode Island passed a law in 2019 extending the statute of limitations for civil cases against individual abusers. But partly because of strong lobbying by the Catholic Church, the law is only retroactive for perpetrators and not negligent institutions, according to Timothy Conlon, a Rhode Island attorney acting as local counsel for E. on the case. (Her current case against the school could be thrown out on those grounds).

“What was in it for the school was they basically dodged a very, very significant lawsuit,” said Dave Ring, E.’s primary attorney who is based in Los Angeles.

Professors of legal ethics consulted by the Globe said that while it isn’t uncommon for third parties to pay legal bills, failing to advise a client about an upcoming statute of limitations was problematic.

“If the advice is so basic that a first-year law student would have known that it should have been disclosed to the client, then a reasonable fact finder might infer that the law firm was conflicted,” said Ronald Sullivan, a professor of legal ethics at Harvard Law School. “Statute of limitations are one of the first things that lawyers tend to look at.”

Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie strongly disputed the allegations.

“The written scope of our engagement was narrow, was limited to the protective order issue against Smith, did not involve other parties, and in any event did not and could not have included advice about Rhode Island law,” Kenneth Van Winkle Jr., managing partner of the firm, wrote in a statement to the Globe. “The school is not and has never been a firm client, and [E.’s] arrangement to have the school reimburse her for our fees was made by her or on her behalf before we were contacted and without our involvement.”

The firm said in its statement that E. did not provide the documents necessary to pursue a restraining order and in May 2017, directed the firm in writing not to pursue Smith further. They closed her case about a month after she turned 21, according to e-mails obtained by the Globe. She did not obtain a restraining order.

Now, three years later, Smith continues to contact E. In the spring, he wrote to her current and former professors, and sent Mercer-Paiva explicit e-mails E. had written to him as a teenager. At one point he sent E. a Starbucks gift card and then tracked where it was spent, according to Facebook messages he sent to Mercer-Paiva. (E. says she gave the gift card away.) E. has become increasingly worried about what he might do next.

“The degree of information that he seems to have access to somehow about my life, despite my efforts to try and remain as private as possible, is increasing, to a kind of disturbing and frightening level,” she said recently.

On Thanksgiving, a few days before her lawyer filed suit against the Abbey and her former teacher, Smith wrote once again, according to an e-mail obtained by the Globe.

“Let’s ennoble our holiday by reaching out and making peace,” he wrote. “Kindness is Karma Repair.”

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Judge denies accused priest’s request to throw out confession in sex crimes case

LANSING (MI)
MLive.com

December 8, 2020

By Justine Lofton

A Michigan judge recently denied a request to throw out a confession from a priest accused of sex crimes.

Gary Jacobs, a former Catholic priest in the Upper Peninsula’s Ontonagon and Dickinson counties, is charged with 10 counts of criminal sexual conduct in five cases. His confession will stand in court.

Jacobs, 75, was in court on Friday, Dec. 4, for a Walker Hearing during which the Ontonagon County Circuit Court judge denied Jacobs’ request to throw out his confession.

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Sex abuse victims want archdiocese eliminated, lawyer says

ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Associated Press

December 8, 2020

An attorney for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has claimed that alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse and their lawyers are seeking to eliminate the archdiocese in New Mexico by asking about the church’s holdings.

Tom Walker, the archdiocese’s lawyer, made the claim during a court hearing Monday about three lawsuits alleging the archdiocese illegally transferred about $245 million to parishes and their trusts before the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy.

A lawyer for some victims, James Stang, called the accusations unconstructive and untrue.

The archdiocese’s website lists 79 priests and clergy members who have been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children.

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[Opinion] THE PODIUM | A model approach to address abuse

COLORADO
Colorado Politics

December 9, 2020

By Brittany Vessely

Sexual abuse of children is one of society’s most heinous crimes. The pain experienced by victims and their families is excruciating and is endured for decades. According to the CDC, one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before they turn 18.

Despite the widespread nature of this societal ill, no institution has been more highly scrutinized and criticized than the Catholic Church. Here in Colorado, the spotlight that has been put on the three Catholic dioceses can and should be used as an example of how to help protect all children, and how to compassionately care for survivors.

As Attorney General Phil Weiser said last week, the two-year review and reparations model cooperatively used by the state and the Church was not perfect, but it was a “unique Colorado solution that was collaborative, committed to transparency, and provided survivors with the support that they desperately needed.”

The strength of this approach was that it addressed both the past and the future.

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When a Catholic lawyer fights sexual abuse in Indonesian Church

INDONESIA
UCA News (Union of Catholic Asian News)

December 9, 2020

Almost every Monday since September, Catholic lawyer Azas Tigor Nainggolan accompanies the altar boys who were sexually abused and their families appearing at the Depok District Court in West Java.

He accompanies them against the defendant, Syahril Marbun, former altar boys’ trainer at St Herkulanus parish, Bogor diocese, the first recorded case of sexual abuse in a church brought before a civil court.

In a hearing on Nov. 30, the judge had demanded 11 years in prison to Marbun who was charged with molesting more than 20 altar boys. He was scheduled to submit a defense note on Dec. 14.

“The demand is light and we are disappointed,” he told UCA News. “We hope the punishment will be severe, as it is an important point in cases of sexual abuse in the Indonesian church.”

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[Opinion] McCarrick report shows former cardinal’s character: ambitious, brazen, untouchable

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

December 8, 2020

By Fr. Peter Daly

Seventeen!

That’s the most shocking number in the Vatican’s 449-page report on ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. McCarrick appears to have molested 17 “postpubescent boys or young men” over the course of his career (Page 440). Some victims were as young as 12 years old. Some he molested repeatedly. Many were children in families that he knew well and visited frequently. He was trusted as a “member of the family.”

The Vatican report does not reveal names or discuss the individual cases. However, it does lay out his typical pattern of grooming and molesting his victims. He used his power to gain access to their families. He forged strong relationships with their parents. He insisted that the boys call him “Uncle Ted” and he referred to them as his “nephews,” an easily exposed lie since McCarrick was an only child. He plied his victims with gifts, favors, trips and liquor. Then he took them to bed in isolated places where they had no hope of help or recourse, typically his beach house on the Jersey Shore or an apartment at a hospital in New York.

New lawsuits are still being filed, including one in November in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleging repeated “rape” by McCarrick of a boy beginning at the age of 12. The plaintiff is now 47 years old.

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Former Marist College students sue Catholic Church over historical sexual abuse allegations

TASMANIA
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

December 9, 2020

By Lucy MacDonald

Four former students of a Catholic secondary school in Tasmania’s north-west are suing the church over historical sexual abuse allegations involving a former international cricket umpire convicted for sex offences two decades ago.

Randell was sentenced to four years in prison in 1999 on 15 charges of indecent assault against nine girls between 1981-1982. He served less than three years, being released on parole in May 2002.

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Polish priest apologizes for defense of disgraced priest

POLAND
Associated Press

December 8, 2020

A popular Polish priest apologized Tuesday for a sermon in which he defended a bishop accused of covering up for pedophile priests. His sermon, delivered to a congregation including the justice minister and other top politicians, was later condemned by government officials.

Father Tadeusz Rydzyk insisted that he had not intended to hurt victims or downplay the church’s role in the “sin and crime of pedophilia.”

Rydzyk’s apology came days after he had defended Bishop Henryk Janiak, who was recently removed by Pope Francis amid an investigation into media allegations that he had covered up cases of sexual abuse by priests. Rydzyk called Janiak a “contemporary martyr of the media.”

He said that priests also commit sins, adding: “Who does not have temptations?”

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Catholic radio head defends controversial comments on sex abuse allegations

POLAND
The First News

December 8, 2020

A priest who is the director of an influential religious broadcaster has defended describing a bishop accused of hiding sexual abuse by priests as a “martyr”.

Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, director of Radio Maryja, triggered a storm of controversy for remarks he made last week about Edward Janiak, a former bishop of the Kalisz diocese.

Rydzyk said Janiak, who is facing allegations of covering up sexual abuse committed by priests serving under him, was a modern-day martyr and a victim of the media.

Referring to sexual abuse in the Catholic Church he also said: “That a priest sinned? Well he sinned. And who is not tempted?”

His comments provoked accusations that he was trying to excuse incidents of sexual abuse by members of the clergy.

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Polish archbishop responds to ‘unprecedented attacks’ on St. John Paul II after McCarrick

DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency

December 8, 2020

St. John Paul II’s “highest priority” was combating clerical abuse and protecting young people, a Catholic archbishop said Monday in response to what he called “unprecedented attacks” on the Polish pope.

In a Dec. 7 statement, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, president of the Polish bishops’ conference, defended John Paul II’s legacy in the wake of the McCarrick Report, which unleashed criticism of the pope who appointed McCarrick as archbishop of Washington in 2000 and made him a cardinal a year later.

“On the 100th anniversary of the birth of St. John Paul II, we are witnessing unprecedented attacks on his person. The pretext is the alleged failure of the Pope to disclose and punish the clergy — perpetrators of sexual abuse against minors,” Gądecki said.

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Charleston bishop cleared by Vatican over abuse claim

UNITED STATES
Catholic News Agency

December 8, 2020

The Bishop of Charleston, SC, has been cleared of accusations of sexual abuse by the Vatican, the diocese announced Sunday.

In a release from the Diocese of Charleston Monday, Bishop Robert Guglielmone said that a Vatican investigation had dismissed an allegation made against him dating back to the 1970s.

“As we approach the end of what has been an extremely challenging year, I am very pleased to be able to share some good news. I recently received a letter from the Papal Nuncio stating that the Vatican has determined that the sexual abuse allegation against me has no semblance of truth and is thus unfounded,” Guglielmone said in a letter dated Dec. 6.

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