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.

February 20, 2020

Sex Abuse Cases Push Harrisburg Catholic Diocese into Bankruptcy

HARRISBURG (PA)
Bloomberg

February 19, 2020

By Steven Church

– Diocese faces claims from about 200 sex abuse victims
– Victims, church leaders at odds over payment for past abuses

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, facing sex abuse claims it says it may not be able to pay, filed for bankruptcy protection, citing changing laws and an increasing number of victims.

The church “has struggled to remain financially viable while funding compensation for survivors and continued litigation by survivors,” the Pennsylvania diocese said in court papers filed Wednesday.

Early last year, church officials launched a compensation program for victims, giving them 90 days to file claims. The program paid more than $12.5 million to more than 110 victims, according to court papers.

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 Catholic dioceses continue processing abuse claims

DENVER (CO)
Associated Press

February 20, 2020

Colorado’s three Catholic dioceses have paid $1.2 million to 10 victims who were abused by priests as children and program administrators have 77 additional claims to process.

There have been 87 people applications for reparations under the program, which allows victims to seek compensation without filing a public lawsuit, The Denver Post reports.

Victims who accept the money can avoid an adversarial court process, but must agree to not file a lawsuit against the church.

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.

Victims of church-related abuse asked to come forward

ENGLAND
ITV News

February 19, 2020

Victims and survivors of church-related abuse are being asked to come forward as part of a safeguarding review across all 42 dioceses in the Church of England.

In Rochester this is the second time the second time it’s been carried out, to ensure that all concerns about clergy and church staff have been reported, assessed, and acted upon.

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.

Victims of church-related abuse asked to come forward

ENGLAND
ITV News

February 19, 2020

Victims and survivors of church-related abuse are being asked to come forward as part of a safeguarding review across all 42 dioceses in the Church of England.

In Rochester this is the second time the second time it’s been carried out, to ensure that all concerns about clergy and church staff have been reported, assessed, and acted upon.

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

RICHMOND DIOCESE PAYS ABUSE VICTIMS TO NEVER SUE

RICHMOND (VA)
ChurchMilitant.com

February 19, 2020

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

Victims advocate: ‘They’ll lose their right to have their day in court’

The diocese of Richmond, Virginia is agreeing to compensate childhood victims of clergy sexual abuse but only if they agree to never sue the diocese.

On Monday, the diocese headed by Bp. Barry Knestout launched its “Independent Reconciliation Program” (program). A protocol of the program stipulates that a victim or “claimant” in signing the agreement or “release” forever surrenders the right to have the abuse case publically litigated in court.

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

RICHMOND DIOCESE PAYS ABUSE VICTIMS TO NEVER SUE

RICHMOND (VA)
ChurchMilitant.com

February 19, 2020

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

Victims advocate: ‘They’ll lose their right to have their day in court’

The diocese of Richmond, Virginia is agreeing to compensate childhood victims of clergy sexual abuse but only if they agree to never sue the diocese.

On Monday, the diocese headed by Bp. Barry Knestout launched its “Independent Reconciliation Program” (program). A protocol of the program stipulates that a victim or “claimant” in signing the agreement or “release” forever surrenders the right to have the abuse case publically litigated in court.

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.

Maryland lawmakers to weigh whether sexual abuse survivors should have more time to sue

BALTIMORE (MD)
Baltimore Sun

February 20, 2020

By Pamela Wood

As he’s done countless times before, Del. C.T. Wilson will sit at a dark wooden table in an Annapolis hearing room Thursday and plead with his colleagues to give victims of child sexual abuse more time to sue their abusers and the institutions that failed to stop the abuse.

He’s hoping to make Maryland the latest state to relax restrictions on when adults can file lawsuits stemming from abuse endured as children.

He acknowledges that he’s fighting an uphill battle.

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.

Maryland lawmakers to weigh whether sexual abuse survivors should have more time to sue

BALTIMORE (MD)
Baltimore Sun

February 20, 2020

By Pamela Wood

As he’s done countless times before, Del. C.T. Wilson will sit at a dark wooden table in an Annapolis hearing room Thursday and plead with his colleagues to give victims of child sexual abuse more time to sue their abusers and the institutions that failed to stop the abuse.

He’s hoping to make Maryland the latest state to relax restrictions on when adults can file lawsuits stemming from abuse endured as children.

He acknowledges that he’s fighting an uphill battle.

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.

Court to hear arguments on publicizing Saints’ emails to Catholic church

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WWL Radio.com

February 20, 2020

By Chris Miller

Today a New Orleans Civil District Court judge will hear arguments about whether or not emails that the head of public relations for the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans sent to the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, advising them on how to handle the church’s sex abuse scandal, should be made public.

The Associated Press says due to the high profile nature of the Saints and the church, the community should see emails, which may be used as evidence in a court case pending against the church over the sex abuse scandal.

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.

Court to hear arguments on publicizing Saints’ emails to Catholic church

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WWL Radio.com

February 20, 2020

By Chris Miller

Today a New Orleans Civil District Court judge will hear arguments about whether or not emails that the head of public relations for the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans sent to the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, advising them on how to handle the church’s sex abuse scandal, should be made public.

The Associated Press says due to the high profile nature of the Saints and the church, the community should see emails, which may be used as evidence in a court case pending against the church over the sex abuse scandal.

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.

NFL’s Saints Head to Court in Catholic Church Email Dispute

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
The Associated Press

February 20, 2020

The New Orleans Saints headed to court Thursday in a bid to block the release of hundreds of confidential emails detailing the behind-the-scenes public relations work the team did for the area’s Roman Catholic archdiocese amid its sexual abuse crisis.

The request comes amid claims that the NFL team joined the Archdiocese of New Orleans in a “pattern and practice” of concealing sexual abuse — an allegation the Saints have vehemently denied.

Attorneys for some two dozen men suing the church say the emails show team officials had a say in deciding which priests the archdiocese named on a 2018 list of dozens of “credibly accused” clergy members, a roster an Associated Press analysis found was undercounted by at least 20 names.

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.

NFL’s Saints Head to Court in Catholic Church Email Dispute

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
The Associated Press

February 20, 2020

The New Orleans Saints headed to court Thursday in a bid to block the release of hundreds of confidential emails detailing the behind-the-scenes public relations work the team did for the area’s Roman Catholic archdiocese amid its sexual abuse crisis.

The request comes amid claims that the NFL team joined the Archdiocese of New Orleans in a “pattern and practice” of concealing sexual abuse — an allegation the Saints have vehemently denied.

Attorneys for some two dozen men suing the church say the emails show team officials had a say in deciding which priests the archdiocese named on a 2018 list of dozens of “credibly accused” clergy members, a roster an Associated Press analysis found was undercounted by at least 20 names.

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.

Southeast Missouri authorities arrest retired priest in Springfield in sex abuse case

SPRINGFIELD (MO)
KFVS

February 19, 2020

By Frances Watson

Stoddard County, Mo. authorities arrested a retired Catholic priest living in Springfield after prosecutors charged him with multiple counts of sexual abuse.

According to Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver, 76-year-old Frederick Lutz was arrested on a Stoddard County warrant for charges of forcible sodomy, two counts of statutory sodomy second degree and felony sexual abuse related to allegations of sex crimes that happened while Lutz served as the priest at St. Joseph Parish in Advance, Mo. His bond was set at $125,000 cash only.

Prosecuting Attorney Oliver said the offenses are alleged to have happened between January and February 2000.

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.

Southeast Missouri authorities arrest retired priest in Springfield in sex abuse case

SPRINGFIELD (MO)
KFVS

February 19, 2020

By Frances Watson

Stoddard County, Mo. authorities arrested a retired Catholic priest living in Springfield after prosecutors charged him with multiple counts of sexual abuse.

According to Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver, 76-year-old Frederick Lutz was arrested on a Stoddard County warrant for charges of forcible sodomy, two counts of statutory sodomy second degree and felony sexual abuse related to allegations of sex crimes that happened while Lutz served as the priest at St. Joseph Parish in Advance, Mo. His bond was set at $125,000 cash only.

Prosecuting Attorney Oliver said the offenses are alleged to have happened between January and February 2000.

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.

87 people file claims of abuse against Colorado Catholic church

DENVER (CO)
KDVR

February 19, 2020

By Dara Bitler

The Colorado Independent Oversight Committee says 87 victims have filed abuse claims against Catholic priests in the Dioceses of Colorado as of January 31.

The IOC met in January to check the progress of the Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program. According to the IOC, administrators have issued payment to 10 claimants. More than $1,200,000 has been paid to nine victims since the program launched.

“This is a very important program for victims of childhood sexual abuse. I am pleased that through this unique program, we are helping so many victims. The IOC is satisfied with the administration of the program thus far and looks forward to assisting the remaining victims in the program on their path to healing.” said Chair of the IOC, Hank Brown.

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.

87 people file claims of abuse against Colorado Catholic church

DENVER (CO)
KDVR

February 19, 2020

By Dara Bitler

The Colorado Independent Oversight Committee says 87 victims have filed abuse claims against Catholic priests in the Dioceses of Colorado as of January 31.

The IOC met in January to check the progress of the Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program. According to the IOC, administrators have issued payment to 10 claimants. More than $1,200,000 has been paid to nine victims since the program launched.

“This is a very important program for victims of childhood sexual abuse. I am pleased that through this unique program, we are helping so many victims. The IOC is satisfied with the administration of the program thus far and looks forward to assisting the remaining victims in the program on their path to healing.” said Chair of the IOC, Hank Brown.

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.

Notre Dame funds research, raises awareness on sex abuse crisis

SOUTH BEND (IN)
Crux

February 20, 2020

By Jack Lyons

As the US Catholic Church’s “summer of hell” drew to a close in Oct. 2018, where major revelations of abuse toppled some of the most senior clergy in the nation, the president of the University of Notre Dame felt the school needed to do something.

“We must look at Notre Dame’s own history, actions and policies and also look for ways in which it can assist the Church,” Holy Cross Father John Jenkins said in a statement. “We will not single-handedly solve problems, but we can contribute to understanding, healing and constructive change.”

In that same statement, Jenkins established two task forces to produce recommendations on what the University could do.

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.

Notre Dame funds research, raises awareness on sex abuse crisis

SOUTH BEND (IN)
Crux

February 20, 2020

By Jack Lyons

As the US Catholic Church’s “summer of hell” drew to a close in Oct. 2018, where major revelations of abuse toppled some of the most senior clergy in the nation, the president of the University of Notre Dame felt the school needed to do something.

“We must look at Notre Dame’s own history, actions and policies and also look for ways in which it can assist the Church,” Holy Cross Father John Jenkins said in a statement. “We will not single-handedly solve problems, but we can contribute to understanding, healing and constructive change.”

In that same statement, Jenkins established two task forces to produce recommendations on what the University could do.

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.

Pennsylvania Diocese, Facing More Abuse Claims, Files for Bankruptcy

HARRISBURG (PA)
The New York Times

February 19, 2020

By Michael Levenson

The Harrisburg Roman Catholic diocese became the latest to seek Chapter 11 protection. It faces claims from an estimated 200 victims of clergy sexual abuse.

The Diocese of Harrisburg in Pennsylvania filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, becoming the latest Roman Catholic diocese to seek protection from creditors as it faces tens of millions of dollars in outstanding claims from people who were sexually abused by clergy members.

The diocese’s Chapter 11 filing came nearly two years after a devastating state grand jury report found that bishops and other leaders of the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania covered up child sexual abuse by more than 300 priests over a period of 70 years, persuading victims not to report the abuse and law enforcement agencies not to investigate it.

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.

Pennsylvania Diocese, Facing More Abuse Claims, Files for Bankruptcy

HARRISBURG (PA)
The New York Times

February 19, 2020

By Michael Levenson

The Harrisburg Roman Catholic diocese became the latest to seek Chapter 11 protection. It faces claims from an estimated 200 victims of clergy sexual abuse.

The Diocese of Harrisburg in Pennsylvania filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, becoming the latest Roman Catholic diocese to seek protection from creditors as it faces tens of millions of dollars in outstanding claims from people who were sexually abused by clergy members.

The diocese’s Chapter 11 filing came nearly two years after a devastating state grand jury report found that bishops and other leaders of the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania covered up child sexual abuse by more than 300 priests over a period of 70 years, persuading victims not to report the abuse and law enforcement agencies not to investigate it.

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.

Former priest sentenced to 10 days in jail for exposing himself

BAD AXE (MI)
Huron Daily Tribune [Bad Axe MI]

February 20, 2020

By Scott Nunn

Read original article

Must report to jail Feb. 22

Former priest and Port Austin resident Lawrence Ventline, 70, was sentenced to 10 days in jail for exposing himself in an area bakery last year.

Ventline had been charged following a complaint by the business and was scheduled for trial Jan. 28. However, he pleaded no contest to the indecent exposure charge before his trial started.

Prior to sentencing, Huron County Prosecutor Timothy Rutkowski addressed the court and stated that an investigation conducted by the Bad Axe Police Department revealed that Ventline walked around the bakery with his genitals outside his sweatpants for approximately 7-10 minutes.

During a rebuttal by Ventline’s attorney, it was argued that Ventline has an enlarged prostrate which caused him to urinate himself, which led to the exposure. Ventline’s attorney also said his client has devoted his life to helping others and he believed community service was fair.

Ventline, a former Catholic priest with the Archdiocese of Detroit, was temporarily removed from the ministry in 2016.

Prior to that restriction, he had not been assigned to full-time parish ministry for nearly 20 years, having last served in a full-time role from 1996-97 as an administrator at the St. Mark Parish in Harsens Island.

Ventline was previously accused of sexually assaulting a young boy, though he was never criminally charged or found guilty of sexual assault. At the time the attorney general’s office was seeking charges against five catholic priests. The attorney general had dropped the charges against Ventline due to the statute of limitations.

“The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs revoked Ventline’s counseling license in September and fined him $5,000.

Rutkowski argued that Ventline should receive 180 days in jail, because in his opinion the exposure was intentional and Ventline had a previous case involving theft from a business, which was forgiven last year because he had no record.

Ventline was sentenced to one year personal-reporting probation, 10 days in jail and 12 hours community service. He was also ordered to pay a total $855 in fines and costs. While on probation, Ventline must participate in mental health evaluations with Huron Behavioral Mental Health.

Ventline has to report to the Huron County Jail Feb. 22, and he may arrange work program.

After sentencing Ventline to jail, Chief Judge David B. Herrington said he reviewed the investigative reports and he felt the sentence was fair, based on previous sentences delivered by the court on cases of similar nature.

“I did read the police report and there is nothing in the report that led me to believe that it was unintentional,” Herrington said. “I am concluding by the information and discovery material that it is a reasonable inference that Mr. Ventline knew he was exposed.”

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.

Danbury priest accused of sex abuse appears in court without plea

DANBURY (CT)
News Times

February 19, 2020

By Peter Yankowski

A former priest at Our Lady of Guadalupe accused of sexually abusing one boy and groping another over the course of several years made a brief appearance in court Wednesday, but did not enter a plea.

Jaime Marin-Cardona was charged with three counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, three counts of risk of injury to child and three counts of illegal sexual contact after turning himself in to Danbury police on a warrant Jan. 3.

Marin-Cardona was present in Danbury Superior Court Wednesday, where his case was continued to March 13, the clerk’s office said.

Police learned of the abuse last September, after they were contacted by a church official about boundary violations and possible grooming of two children by the priest, according to the warrant for Marin-Cardona’s arrest.

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.

Danbury priest accused of sex abuse appears in court without plea

DANBURY (CT)
News Times

February 19, 2020

By Peter Yankowski

A former priest at Our Lady of Guadalupe accused of sexually abusing one boy and groping another over the course of several years made a brief appearance in court Wednesday, but did not enter a plea.

Jaime Marin-Cardona was charged with three counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, three counts of risk of injury to child and three counts of illegal sexual contact after turning himself in to Danbury police on a warrant Jan. 3.

Marin-Cardona was present in Danbury Superior Court Wednesday, where his case was continued to March 13, the clerk’s office said.

Police learned of the abuse last September, after they were contacted by a church official about boundary violations and possible grooming of two children by the priest, according to the warrant for Marin-Cardona’s arrest.

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.

Paul Canonici, former Catholic priest credibly accused of sexual abuse, dies at 92

JACKSON (MS)
Clarion Ledger

February 19, 2020

By Sarah Fowler

A former priest who was removed from the ministry after being credibly accused of sexual abuse has died.

Paul Victor Canonici, 92, died Saturday, according to his obituary. A cause of death was not listed.

A native of Shaw, Canonici joined the priesthood when he was 30 years old. Over the course of his tenure, he served as the diocesan superintendent of education, assistant principal and then principal of St. Joseph High School in Madison, as well as the priest for multiple parishes throughout the Jackson metro area.

He retired when he was in his mid 70s. Despite his five decades with the diocese, he’s not listed on the church’s website of retired priests.

Canonici was removed from the ministry in 2002. He was on the list of those credibly accused of sexual abuse released by the Diocese of Jackson last spring.

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.

Paul Canonici, former Catholic priest credibly accused of sexual abuse, dies at 92

JACKSON (MS)
Clarion Ledger

February 19, 2020

By Sarah Fowler

A former priest who was removed from the ministry after being credibly accused of sexual abuse has died.

Paul Victor Canonici, 92, died Saturday, according to his obituary. A cause of death was not listed.

A native of Shaw, Canonici joined the priesthood when he was 30 years old. Over the course of his tenure, he served as the diocesan superintendent of education, assistant principal and then principal of St. Joseph High School in Madison, as well as the priest for multiple parishes throughout the Jackson metro area.

He retired when he was in his mid 70s. Despite his five decades with the diocese, he’s not listed on the church’s website of retired priests.

Canonici was removed from the ministry in 2002. He was on the list of those credibly accused of sexual abuse released by the Diocese of Jackson last spring.

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.

87 people file claims of sexual abuse by Colorado catholic priests

DENVER (CO)
9 News

February 19, 2020

By Janet Oravetz

The deadline to file a claim with the Independent Compensation Program was Jan. 31. It came after an independent review found that 43 priests abused 166 children.

Nearly 90 people have filed claims related to sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Colorado, according to the oversight committee, which was assigned to administer the Independent Compensation Program (ICP).

The final deadline to file claims was Jan. 31 and only included abuse by clergy who worked for Colorado dioceses, not members of independent religious orders. A total of 87 victims filed claims with the administrators.

Details of the program to provide compensation and support for victims who were sexually abused as minors by clergy of the Archdiocese of Denver, Diocese of Colorado Springs and Diocese of Pueblo were revealed last October.

It coincided with an independent review of church sex abuse in Colorado that was led by former Colorado U.S. Attorney Robert Troyer, which launched last February and was completed in October.

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.

87 people file claims of sexual abuse by Colorado catholic priests

DENVER (CO)
9 News

February 19, 2020

By Janet Oravetz

The deadline to file a claim with the Independent Compensation Program was Jan. 31. It came after an independent review found that 43 priests abused 166 children.

Nearly 90 people have filed claims related to sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Colorado, according to the oversight committee, which was assigned to administer the Independent Compensation Program (ICP).

The final deadline to file claims was Jan. 31 and only included abuse by clergy who worked for Colorado dioceses, not members of independent religious orders. A total of 87 victims filed claims with the administrators.

Details of the program to provide compensation and support for victims who were sexually abused as minors by clergy of the Archdiocese of Denver, Diocese of Colorado Springs and Diocese of Pueblo were revealed last October.

It coincided with an independent review of church sex abuse in Colorado that was led by former Colorado U.S. Attorney Robert Troyer, which launched last February and was completed in October.

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.

Chilean bishop seeks management training amid abuse crisis cleanup

DENVER (CO)
Crux

February 20, 2020

By Elise Ann Allen

Rome – Living with acute poverty, inequality and the aftermath of what is arguably the Catholic Church’s worst clerical sexual abuse crisis, Chilean Bishop Tomislav Francisco Koljatic Maroevic is seeking what for some seem like a basic: Management training.

The head of the Chilean Diocese of Linares, Koljatic is currently in Rome for a two-week intensive course as part of the Program of Church Management offered by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. And he’s using his vacation to do it.

Speaking to Crux, Koljatic said he decided to enroll in the course because “I will learn important things for my life, for my work, for my duties, and basically to open my mind, to learn new things that are happening in the world now.”

“That’s the most important thing for me, learning new things and improving my work as a leader and as a bishop in Chile,” he said.

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

Chilean bishop seeks management training amid abuse crisis cleanup

DENVER (CO)
Crux

February 20, 2020

By Elise Ann Allen

Rome – Living with acute poverty, inequality and the aftermath of what is arguably the Catholic Church’s worst clerical sexual abuse crisis, Chilean Bishop Tomislav Francisco Koljatic Maroevic is seeking what for some seem like a basic: Management training.

The head of the Chilean Diocese of Linares, Koljatic is currently in Rome for a two-week intensive course as part of the Program of Church Management offered by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. And he’s using his vacation to do it.

Speaking to Crux, Koljatic said he decided to enroll in the course because “I will learn important things for my life, for my work, for my duties, and basically to open my mind, to learn new things that are happening in the world now.”

“That’s the most important thing for me, learning new things and improving my work as a leader and as a bishop in Chile,” he said.

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

Survivors storm Rome to mark anniversary of global abuse summit

DENVER (CO)
Crux

February 20, 2020

By Elise Ann Allen

Rome – This week clerical abuse survivors from around the world have flocked to Rome to mark the one-year anniversary of Pope Francis’s global summit on child protection, which took place at the Vatican in February of last year.

Groups such as Bishops Accountability and Ending Clergy Abuse, two prominent American advocacy organizations, have put together a week of events in Rome and Geneva designed to offer an evaluation of progress made and gaps that still need to be filled.

Things got started with a press conference from Bishops Accountability on Monday, during which survivors and advocates were honest in recognizing progress made since the summit, but largely critical of the follow-up, arguing that enforcement of new procedures is still unclear, and many bishops haven’t implemented them at all.

In Geneva, representatives of these organizations on Monday met with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on Disabilities.

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.

Retired Catholic priest charged in Missouri with sex abuse

NEW YORK (NY)
Associated Press

February 19, 2020

By Heather Hollingsworth

A retired Catholic priest has been charged in Missouri with multiple counts of child sexual abuse stemming from a statewide investigation of abuse by Catholic priests.

Seventy-six-year-old Frederick Lutz, of Springfield, was charged Tuesday with forcible sodomy, sexual abuse and two counts of statutory sodomy. His bond was set at $125,000 cash only. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.

He was among 12 former priests that Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt referred for criminal prosecution following a 13-month investigation.

According to charging documents, Lutz sexually assaulted a 17-year-old in 2000, while he was the priest at the St. Joseph Parish in the 1,350-person southeast Missouri town of Advance. The documents said Lutz called the teen to the rectory, where he was drinking and watching a pornographic movie. The document said the teen was forced to perform sexual acts before he could leave.

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.

February 19, 2020

Another Catholic diocese seeks bankruptcy after abuse deals

HARRISBURG (PA)
Associated Press

February 19, 2020

By Mark Scolforo

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, six months after disclosing it had paid millions of dollars to people sexually abused as children by its clerics.

The diocese joins at least 20 others across the United States in seeking protection from creditors through the federal bankruptcy system, but it is the first diocese in Pennsylvania to take such a step.

In August, the diocese said it paid 106 people a total of just over $12 million to compensate for claims of sexual abuse they suffered as children from its clerics, deacons and seminarians. Six others did not accept payment offers from the diocese.

The filing in Harrisburg federal bankruptcy court said the diocese “faces potentially significant exposure from remaining claimants” and wants Chapter 11 reorganization to provide money for unresolved claims and perform its ministry and other operations.

The diocese told the court it has more than 200 creditors and estimated liabilities between $50 million and $100 million, with assets of less than $10 million. It listed creditors that include a $30 million loan from the Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority and 12 blacked-out names that were represented by lawyers.

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.

Harrisburg Catholic diocese declares bankruptcy, the first to do so in Pa. under weight of clergy sex abuse claims

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

February 19, 2020

By Jeremy Roebuck and Angela Couloumbis

https://www.inquirer.com/news/harrisburg-diocese-bankruptcy-catholic-clergy-sex-abuse-victim-compensation-lawsuits-20200219.html

The Diocese of Harrisburg filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, becoming the first of Pennsylvania’s eight Roman Catholic dioceses to seek protection from financial claims in the aftermath of a scathing 2018 grand jury report that revealed decades of sexual abuse and cover-up by the church’s top leaders.

Diocesan officials are expected to discuss their bankruptcy protection plans at a 3:30 p.m. news conference, two sources familiar with the matter have told The Inquirer and Spotlight PA.

In its petition with the bankruptcy court, the diocese reported having an estimated $1 to $10 million in assets. Among its top 20 creditors, 19 were accusers with unresolved clergy sex abuse lawsuits work their way through the courts.

The move comes six months after the diocese announced it had paid out $12 million to more than 100 victims of decades-old sexual abuse as part of an independently run compensation program similar to those launched by most of the state’s other Catholic dioceses.

Church officials said they hoped the funds would provide compensation to victims whose claims were too old to pursue in court. But victims and their lawyers have viewed the programs with skepticism, saying that while the funds’ payouts are better than nothing, they have allowed the dioceses to limit the crushing financial penalties they might face should Pennsylvania voters approve a proposed “window law” that would allow accusers with expired claims to sue.

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Retired priest who previously worked at Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond accused of child abuse

RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Times-Dispatch

February 14, 2020

By Bridget Balch

https://www.richmond.com/news/local/retired-priest-who-previously-worked-at-sacred-heart-in-richmond/article_1cd42a98-d176-5136-9b9e-7165dfebfa9b.html

The Catholic Diocese of Richmond announced Friday that a retired priest, Raymond Barton, has been accused of child sexual abuse that allegedly occurred in the early 1970s.

A representative of the alleged victim, who is dead, came forward to report details of the abuse to the diocese, which reported the allegations to civil authorities, according to a news release.

The diocese, which could not be reached immediately for comment Friday afternoon, did not identify the victim, the location of the alleged crime or the agency that it notified of the accusation in the release.

Barton, who retired from ministry in 2011, was an associate pastor at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond, a faculty member at St. John Vianney Seminary in Goochland County and a pastor at Sacred Heart in Norfolk, St. Nicholas in Virginia Beach and Holy Comforter in Charlottesville. He was also co-pastor for Church of the Holy Apostles in Virginia Beach.

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Boy Scouts’ bankruptcy filing could yield key evidence in abuse cases, Boston lawyer says

BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

February 18, 2020

By Meghan Sorensen

The Boy Scouts of America’s bankruptcy filing on Tuesday could yield important evidence in the thousands of sexual-abuse cases against the century-old organization, according to a Boston lawyer who has represented dozens of victims.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian said he looks forward to the opportunity to gain access to the information, which he believes will explain what the organization knew about the abuse, when they learned about it, and how it was handled.

“They’re going to have to fairly compensate victims of sexual abuse and hopefully reveal all files in their possession concerning sexual abuse — so there’s going to be a cost here,” Garabedian said.

Since the 1920s, the BSA has kept confidential files about staff and volunteers implicated in sexual abuse. As of January, a court deposition listed 7,819 suspected abusers and 12,254 victims.

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A Denver priest — his dad’s best friend — raped him. The state’s Catholic Church abuse report revealed the secret.

DENVER (CO)
Colorado Sun

February 19, 2020

By Jesse Paul

Neil Elms says he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Lawrence St. Peter, a Colorado priest who rose to high ranks in the Denver Archdiocese. St. Peter wasn’t removed from clergy despite “numerous, reliable, consistent reports” he was abusing boys.

Great Barrington MA – Neil Elms planned to carry his biggest secret to his grave. He thought no one would ever know what he’d kept hidden for 37 years.

Elms never told his mother or father, or any of his six siblings. He concealed it through two marriages, two children, nearly 10 years in the Army and jobs that took him across the globe.

Looking back, Elms says, he never even came close to revealing what happened to him as a young boy at Holy Family School in northwest Denver — not a breath about his father’s best friend, the priest who sexually abused him. Elms’ front was so unbreakable that he attended the funeral Mass for Monsignor Lawrence St. Peter in 2003, sitting with his own grieving family to honor the life of the man who upended his.

“What’s your earliest memory?” Elms asks. That’s how far back the mistreatment goes.

But one day in October, while he was fishing for small-mouth bass near his home in southwestern Massachusetts, his father phoned from Arvada. He had just read a report from Colorado’s attorney general on priest abuse at Catholic churches in the state.

The investigation concluded that there had been at least three credible allegations of child sexual abuse by St. Peter and hinted there were probably many more victims. “Did St. Peter ever lay a hand on you?” his dad wanted to know.

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Catholic Diocese to offer settlements to sexual abuse victims who won’t sue

WILLIAMSBURG (VA)
Virginia Gazette

February 18, 2020

The Catholic Diocese of Richmond says it will offer monetary settlements to sexual abuse victims if they give up the right to sue.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the diocese announced the offer on Monday.

Richmond Bishop Barry Knestout said in a news release that the offer is “the best course for our diocese to reach a just reconciliation with our victim survivors.”

In February 2019, the diocese released a list of 42 clergy with credible allegations of sexual abuse against them, according to Virginia Gazette archives. None of the named clergy were listed as active members. Thirteen were dead. Most were classified as suspended or removed; five were “laicized,” meaning they were removed from ministry.

Previous news reports and information on the diocese website show at least seven have ties to Hampton Roads. Three had ties to Williamsburg.

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Bankruptcy filing probably means less compensation for Scout victims who ‘wanted their day in court,’ attorney says

DALLAS (TX)
Dallas Morning News

February 18, 2020

By LaVendrick Smith and Catherine Marfin

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2020/02/19/bankruptcy-filing-probably-means-less-compensation-for-scout-victims-who-wanted-their-day-in-court-attorney-says/

The Irving-based Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday as it faces a wave of sexual abuse lawsuits.

By Tuesday afternoon, Paul Mones said his inbox had at least 400 new emails, many of them from men who were upset they’ll never see their day in court.

Mones represents hundreds of men nationwide who say they were sexually abused as children in the Boy Scouts of America.

The Irving-based organization filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday as it’s facing a wave of sexual abuse lawsuits. The move puts those clients’ cases on hold and forces victims to seek compensation through a claims system.

“A lot of them are very angry,” Mones said of his clients. “A lot of them are feeling resentful that the Boy Scouts didn’t take care of the problem when they were a viable organization when they could have. And now they’re left to file in a cold and calculated climate.”

The bankruptcy filing comes after years of sexual abuse accusations against BSA and declining membership. The organization said that by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and establishing a trust for payments, it will “ensure that victims of past abuse in Scouting are equitably compensated.”

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How Boy Scouts’ bankruptcy is bad news for sex abuse victims

ALLENTOWN (PA)
Morning Call

February 19, 2020

By Paul Muschick

I never thought anyone would find a way to treat sexual abuse victims worse than the Catholic church, but the Boy Scouts of America has done it.

By filing for bankruptcy Tuesday, the Boy Scouts likely blocked victims from being able to confront their accusers in court and force them to confess their sins and divulge their secrets. That’s because the bankruptcy halts all litigation, nationwide.

There aren’t many lawsuits in Pennsylvania because, unlike in some other states including New Jersey and New York, state lawmakers haven’t opened a window for retroactive lawsuits by people who were abused as children and lost their right to sue because of the statute of limitations.

And that’s at least partly because of the church’s influence.

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Church liable for sex assaults

BRANDON (MANITOBA, CANADA)
Brandon Sun

February 19, 2020

By Erin DeBooy

[The Anglican C]hurch is liable for the sexual assaults a woman experienced more than 50 years ago at the hands of a priest.

“It is clear that the Anglican Church of Canada did not and does not condone the sexual abuse of children by priests acting on their behalf. However, that fact is not determinative in deciding if the Diocese of Brandon should be held vicariously liable for the sexual assaults inflicted on the plaintiff by (Jack) Hopper,” Justice John Menzies wrote in his decision delivered last month.

“The sexual abuse committed by Hopper and the placement of Hopper as priest in the community of Grand Rapids by the Diocese of Brandon are strongly connected. I have little hesitation in finding that the Diocese of Brandon is vicariously liable for the sexual abuse inflicted on the plaintiff by Hopper.”

In the lawsuit against The Anglican Church of Canada, The Diocese of Brandon filed in 2014, the plaintiff, now 63, claimed she was sexually assaulted twice by Hopper, an Anglican priest, in the basement of an Anglican church in Misipawistik Cree Nation (Grand Rapids First Nation).

The woman told the court during a three-day trial for the lawsuit in Brandon Court of Queen’s Bench in September that Hopper assaulted her on two occasions after Sunday school a few months apart.

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Reformers’ ideas gain momentum in German synodal way

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

February 19, 2020

By Donald Snyder

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Germany’s defense minister, agrees with advocates of radical change in the nation’s Roman Catholic Church.

Kramp-Karrenbauer, 57, often known as “AKK” in German media, a member of the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU), told journalists on Feb. 3 that she wished there were many more women in church leadership, beginning with their serving as deacons.

“And I am for the abolition of celibacy. It would help to make more people enthusiastic to serve the church,” she said, adding that the decision to live without a family poses too great an obstacle for those wanting to dedicate their lives to the church.

Kramp-Karrenbauer’s fellow CDU member, Heribert Hirte, said in a telephone interview that AKK entered a political minefield when she called for an end to celibacy in the priesthood. He said the church opposes such political intervention into its internal affairs. Still, he praised Kramp-Karrenbauer for her courage in making a public statement.

*

The original impetus for the dialogue was concern about a massive sexual abuse scandal documented in a 2018 report, which had come under immediate attack from conservatives like the bishop of Regensburg, Rudolf Voderholzer, who charged that the study was unscientific and unprofessional.

“It was an aggressive challenge to the accuracy of the sexual abuse study, and an attempt to destroy the Frankfurt meeting,” said Philipp Gessler, a Berlin resident who was formerly a religion editor at Deutschlandfunk, German public radio. Gessler is the author of three books on religion.

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The Catholic Difference: Beyond Amazonia

HYATTSVILLE (MD)
Catholic Standard – Archdiocese of Washington

February 19, 2020

By George Weigel

The post-synodal apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia [Dear Amazonia] did not accept or endorse the 2019 Amazonian synod’s proposal that viri probati – mature married men – be ordained priests in that region. So until the German Church’s “synodal path” comes up with a similar proposal (which seems more than likely), a period of pause has been created in which some non-hysterical reflection on the priesthood and celibacy can take place throughout the world Church. Several points might be usefully pondered in the course of that conversation.

The first involves celibacy and the Kingdom.

Christians live, or ought to live, in a different time-zone because the Kingdom of God is among us, by the Lord’s own declaration in the gospels. Different vocations in the Church bear radical witness to that truth and remind the rest of us of it. The vocations that live the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience in a consecrated way do that. So should the celibate priesthood.

It was said openly during the Amazonian synod, and it’s often muttered in other contexts, that celibacy makes no sense to many people. Which is quite true – if those people are living in pagan societies that haven’t heard the Gospel or post-Christian societies that have abandoned the Gospel and haven’t been re-evangelized. Celibacy, a total gift of self to God, only makes sense in a Kingdom context. So if celibacy doesn’t make sense in Amazonia or Dusseldorf or Hamburg, that likely has something to do with a failure to preach the Gospel of the inbreaking Kingdom of God in Amazonia, Dusseldorf, and Hamburg.

All of which is to say that the failures of Catholic Lite and Catholic Zero aren’t going to be addressed by lighter Catholic Lite or less-than-zero Catholic Zero.

The second point to ponder involves celibacy and the broader reform of the priesthood.

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This Indiana bill could possibly help victims of priest sex abuse

EVANSVILLE (IN)
Courier & Press

February 19, 2020

By Jon Webb

It’s been more than a year since a former Evansville man stood before the Indiana Senate to share something private and devastating.

On Feb. 13, 2019, Chris Compton told the Judiciary Committee that the late Rev. Raymond Kuper had sexually abused him while Compton was a 9-year-old student at Christ the King.

He was there to advocate for a Senate bill that would have given accusers of childhood sexual abuse more time to pursue civil cases in incidents that had long eclipsed the statute of limitations.

Now, a similar-but-compromised bill is working its way through the legislature.

SB 109 blitzed through the Senate 44-2 earlier this month. And Wednesday morning, it landed in front of the House committee on courts and criminal code, chaired by Evansville-area Rep. Wendy McNamara.

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February 18, 2020

Iglesia de EU financió a curas pederastas de Argentina

SAN RAFAEL (ARGENTINA)
La Razón de México [Ciudad de México, México]

February 18, 2020

By LA_RAZON_ONLINE

Read original article

El veterano excardenal estadounidense, Theodor McCarrik, cuyo prestigio se desplomó en 2018, cuando fue destituido al hallarse evidencia creíble de su conducta sexual con seminaristas y menores de edad durante décadas, volvió al centro del escándalo después de que la Arquidiócesis de Washington revelara que también financió, en secreto, la congregación de un amigo suyo en Argentina, quien, como él, enfrenta señalamientos por pederastia.

De acuerdo con documentos de la contabilidad de la Iglesia estadounidense, obtenidos por The Washington Post, en los años previos a su retiro, McCarrick donó un millón de dólares a la agrupación argentina Instituto del Verbo Encarnado.

Los registros de la Arquidiócesis dan cuenta de cómo el excardenal envió docenas de cheques, algunos de hasta 50 mil dólares, al sacerdote Carlos Miguel Buela —fundador de Verbo Encarnado—, entre 2004 y 2017, desde una cuenta caritativa.

En esos años, Buela desafió las sanciones del Vaticano por su conducta sexual con seminaristas, pues su congregación “obstruyó sistemáticamente” los esfuerzos de Roma para supervisar sus actividades, según un texto citado por el Post.

“Usted ha sido un verdadero padre para nuestra familia religiosa, cuidándonos y guiándonos. Una vez más, Su Eminencia, sinceramente deseo agradecerle”

Instituto Verbo Encarnado

Carta de 2005

Una revisión de autoridades vaticanas descubrió que los lazos financieros entre McCarrick y el grupo de Buela eran mucho más extensos de lo que se conocía.

En diciembre pasado, el diario estadounidense también informó que durante casi dos décadas McCarrick desvió 600 mil dólares del “Fondo Especial del Arzobispo” a clérigos de alto rango, incluidos asesores papales y dos papas (Juan Pablo II y Benedicto XVI), algunos de los destinatarios eran responsables de evaluar las denuncias de abuso sexual en su contra.

En un comunicado, el Vaticano informó que había emitido varias órdenes a Carlos Buela, debido a su “negligencia en el cumplimiento de las disposiciones” impuestas en 2010 por conducta inapropiada con seminaristas adultos, algunos menores de edad. Según el boletín de prensa, el sacerdore argentino fue finalmente trasladado a un monasterio en España.

El Vaticano también indicó que de manera reciente había nombrado a un cardenal para encargarse de investigar “los problemas del Instituto Verbo Encarnado”.

Buela formó el instituto en Argentina, en 1984, con el fin de difundir ideas católicas ultraconservadoras. La congregación creció rápidamente, resultado de intensas campañas para reclutar a jóvenes.

En su sitio de Internet, el Verbo Encarnado afirma que tiene presencia, con sacerdotes, monjes y seminaristas, en 88 diócesis de 38 países.

Desde su fundación, el grupo de Buela fue controvertido por su impulso a ideales radicales de derecha, incluso se le asocia con la dictadura militar en el país sudamericano, que dejó 30 mil desapariciones, asesinatos, torturas, violaciones, apropiación de menores y exilios forzosos.

“El trabajo del Vaticano para examinar a Verbo Encarnado fue obstruido (por Carlos Buela). Se le ordenó vivir bajo estrecha supervisión en un monasterio en España”

Vaticano

Comunicado 2019

Buela también creía que la Iglesia católica estaba “siendo invadida por marxistas”, entre quienes señalaba al actual Papa Francisco, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, quien durante su acción en Argentina se negó a ordenar sacerdotes del Verbo Encarnado, por los señalamientos contra su fundador.

De acuedo con el diario Página 12, a fines de la década de 1990, clérigos de alto rango en Argentina, incluido el Papa Francisco —entonces arzobispo de Buenos Aires— pidieron a Juan Pablo II que cerrara los seminarios del Verbo Encarnado, cuando la congregación ya se expandía en EU, con seguidores de habla hispana.

Exmiembros de estos grupos reconocieron que el excardenal Theodor McCarrick fue instrumental en esa expansión.

En 2005, asignó a la agrupación una propiedad en Maryland, para que fundara un seminario. McCarrick se retiró al año siguiente, pero continuó recaudando dinero para esa causa; documentos revelan generosas contribuciones, con más de 200 mil dólares de 2006 a 2009, un momento en que Buela enfrentaba la creciente presión por irregularidades sexuales.

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Catholic Diocese of Richmond sets up program to help, pay people sexually abused by clergy

NORFOLK (VA)
13 News Now

February 17, 2020

https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/virginia/catholic-diocese-of-richmond-sets-up-program-to-help-pay-people-sexually-abused-by-clergy/291-c24063a9-a4e2-49ca-86f5-3e5addada847

The Independent Reconciliation Program allows people who were abused sexually as children to submit claims. They may be eligible to receive a monetary payment.

Richmond VA – The Catholic Diocese of Richmond said it set up a program to help people who were children when they were abused by clergy members.

The Independent Reconciliation Program is administered independently by BrownGreer PLC, which is based in Richmond. The diocese said the firm specializes in settlement administration.

The program has its own website which allows people to file a claim if they were abused by the Catholic clergy in the diocese. The claims administrator will review the claims and determine any monetary payment the filer should receive. The Richmond Diocese will not reject or change the administrator’s decision in any way.

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Windsor woman calls Pope’s vows a ‘failure,’ one year after sex abuse summit

TORONTO (ONTARIO, CANADA)
CBC News

February 18, 2020

It’s been about one year since Pope Francis vowed to confront sexual abusers in the Catholic church with “the wrath of God,” end the coverups by their superiors and prioritize the victims of this “brazen, aggressive and destructive evil.”

Now, a Windsor, Ont. woman and a group of victims of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy are heading back to Rome to take stock of the promises made at last year’s summit on the issue.

“[Pope Francis] came out strong. He came out hard, with a lot of promises to the world that he was going to put an end to this and put safety measures into place to ensure that there was no more — or to prevent future coverups,” said Brenda Brunelle, who was abused from age 12.

“Speaking as a survivor and an advocate for those abused by priests, I’m afraid to say that my report card — our report — card is a failure.”

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Pope says new Vatican finance laws, norms are working

VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service via National Catholic Reporter

February 17, 2020

By Cindy Wooden

The decade-long process of updating the laws of Vatican City State is part of the Vatican’s support for international commitments to protect people and safeguard vulnerable groups, who are “frequently the victims of new, odious forms of illegality,” Pope Francis said.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have made major changes to Vatican City legislation to strengthen laws against money laundering, tax evasion, child sexual abuse and child pornography.

Meeting officials of the Vatican City State court Feb. 15, Francis repeated his conviction that the latest financial scandal being investigated by the Vatican City police and tribunal is a sign of progress because the report of suspicious activity originated with the Vatican general auditor.

While the investigation continues into the financing of a London real estate investment and while the parties involved have the right to a presumption of innocence, the pope said the flagging of the irregular activity “shows the efficacy and efficiency of the counter-actions as requested by international standards.”

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Will compulsion succeed where conversion has failed on Vatican financial reform?

DENVER (CO)
Crux

February 18, 2020

By John L. Allen Jr.

Rome – When Pope Francis recently addressed the ongoing financial reform of the Vatican, he couched the argument in largely spiritual, pastoral and moral terms.

Financial breakdowns recently brought to light, the pope said, “beyond their possible criminality, are hard to reconcile with the nature and purpose of the Church, and they’ve created confusion and worry within the community of the faithful.” He was speaking to Vatican judges on the occasion of the opening of their judicial year.

Though the pope avoided specifics, the reference almost certainly was to a recent contretemps involving a $220 million land deal in London (mostly financed by collections from Peter’s Pence) in which the Vatican’s Secretariat of State allegedly tried to skirt reporting requirements for a loan intended to buy up the remaining shares of the property. That’s an especially alarming development, given that the Secretariat of State also bears the lion’s share of responsibility for enforcing the Vatican’s own accountability and transparency measures.

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Facing a Wave of Sex-Abuse Claims, Boy Scouts of America Files for Bankruptcy

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

February 18, 2020

By Mike Baker

The nonprofit group, which counts more than two million youth participants, follows Catholic dioceses and U.S.A. Gymnastics in seeking bankruptcy protection amid sex-abuse cases.

The Boy Scouts of America, an iconic presence in the nation’s experience for more than a century, filed for bankruptcy protection early Tuesday, succumbing to financial pressures that included a surge in legal costs over its handling of sexual abuse allegations.

Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts have long maintained internal files at their headquarters in Texas detailing decades of allegations involving nearly 8,000 “perpetrators,” according to an expert hired by the organization. Lawyers have said in recent months that former scouts have come forward to identify hundreds of other abusers not included in those files.

The bankruptcy filing, in Delaware, is expected to disrupt continuing litigation and establish a deadline for when former scouts can pursue claims.

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Boy Scouts of America files for bankruptcy amid hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits

ATLANTA (GA)
CNN

February 18, 2020

By Laura Ly

The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy, according to a court document filed in Delaware bankruptcy court early Tuesday.

The youth organization, which celebrated its 110th anniversary February 8, listed liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million, but $50,000 or less in assets.

The bankruptcy filing comes at a time when the organization faces hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits, thousands of alleged abuse victims and dwindling membership numbers. As a result of the filing, all civil litigation against the organization is suspended.

Paul Mones, a Los Angeles-based attorney representing “hundreds of sexual abuse victims in individual lawsuits,” called the organization’s bankruptcy filing a “tragedy.”

“These young boys took an oath. They pledged to be obedient, pledged to support the Scouts and pledged to be honorable. Many of them are extremely angry that that’s not what happened to them and the Boy Scouts of America did not step up in the way they should have,” Mones said.

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Boy Scouts files Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the face of thousands of child abuse allegations

McLEAN (VA)
USA Today

February 18, 2020

By Cara Kelly, Nathan Bomey, and Lindsay Schnell, and Alexis Arnold

Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy protection early today amid declining membership and a drumbeat of child sexual abuse allegations that have illuminated the depth of the problem within the organization and Scouts’ failure to get a handle on it.

After months of speculation and mounting civil litigation, the Chapter 11 filing by the scouting organization’s national body was unprecedented in both scope and complexity. It was filed in Delaware Bankruptcy Court overnight.

The exact effects on Boy Scouts’ future operations are unknown, leading to speculation about the organization’s odds for survival, the impact on local troops and how bankruptcy could change the dynamic for abuse survivors who have yet to come forward. Some fear that at a minimum it will prevent survivors from naming their abuser in open court.

“They’re going into bankruptcy not because they don’t have the money,” said Tim Kosnoff, who has tried thousands of child abuse cases, including many against the Boy Scouts and Catholic Church. “They’re going into bankruptcy to hide … a Mount Everest in dirty secrets.”

In a statement, the organization said: “The BSA cares deeply about all victims of abuse and sincerely apologizes to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting.”

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Medical Update

GREENCASTLE (IN)
On This Rock

February 13, 2020

By Fr. John Hollowell

As you are aware, a one day trip to the Mayo Clinic this week has turned into a four day trip. I want to begin by saying I have so much gratitude in my heart for the wonderful medical professionals I’ve been able to work with through this entire process…such a great blessing in our country, and the Mayo Clinic is certainly a bright spot in our world. My family doctor, Dr. Keith Landry has been wonderful, as well as my cardiologist, a Roncalli dad, Dr. Michael Barron. I have a nurse, Lauren Alcorn, that has been such a kind help through all that has come up these past 12 months. That care has continued here at Mayo. Each person has played a key role in this process, and I am very thankful and amazed by the state of medicine in the US in 2020.

*
One request: When the scandals of 2018 broke out, most of you know that they have affected me deeply, as they have most of the Church. I prayed in 2018 that if there was some suffering I could undertake on behalf of all the victims, some cross I could carry, I would welcome that. I feel like this is that cross, and I embrace it willingly. I would love to have a list of victims of priestly abuse that I could pray for each day. I would like to dedicate each day of this recovery/chemo/radiation to 5-10 victims, and I would like, if possible, to even write them a note letting them know of my prayers for them. IF YOU KNOW OF A PERSON OR YOU ARE A VICTIM YOURSELF, with the victims permission, please send me the name and, if possible, a mailing address so that I can send them a note, that would be much appreciated. my email address is fatherjohnhollowell at gmail.

Also, I would like to pass this word on to SNAP, so if you know someone that is in leadership for SNAP, please let them know I’m interested in speaking with them to see if there’s some way I could get the names of people to pray for and, if possible, send a note to in the midst of all of this.

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Priest with brain tumor ’embraces it willingly’ for victims of clergy abuse

DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency via Catholic Herald

February 18, 2020

When Fr John Hollowell went to Mayo Clinic for brain scans after what doctors thought was a stroke, he received a shocking diagnosis. The scans revealed that instead of stroke, he had a brain tumor.

While it is a serious diagnosis, Hollowell, a priest of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, said he believes the tumor was an answer to prayer.

“When the scandals of 2018 broke out, most of you know that they have affected me deeply, as they have most of the Church,” he wrote in his blog, On This Rock.

“I prayed in 2018 that if there was some suffering I could undertake on behalf of all the victims, some cross I could carry, I would welcome that. I feel like this is that cross, and I embrace it willingly.”

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McCarrick was a ‘devourer of souls,’ former priest secretary tells parish

DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency

February 15, 2020

Washington D.C. – A priest who was the personal secretary of former cardinal Theodore McCarrick said he is sickened by manipulative fundraising tactics employed while McCarrick was Archbishop of Washington. The priest called McCarrick a “manipulator” and a “devourer of souls.”

“For a portion of my priesthood, I worked directly for the foremost fund-raiser in the Church – in the whole Church, the universal Church.”

“He was a master of the art, and knew every technique and tactic to its finest point. He paired with that an extraordinary, even preternatural sense of people, what they wanted and what they needed,” Monsignor K. Bartholomew Smith wrote Feb. 15 on a blog he maintains for parishioners of St. Bernadette’s parish in Silver Spring, Maryland.

“My stomach churns at the recollection, and not only because of how successful he was at this; but also because of what he obtained by this. He received the gratitude, the affection, and the emotional dependence of untold numbers of people high and low, rich and poor, because he made himself the bestower of the approval that they craved, told them that they were good and God Himself was grateful to them, and delivered them from the authentic demands of Jesus and His Gospel.”

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Priest sexually abused student more than 100 times decades ago at N.J. Catholic school, suit says

NEWARK (NJ)
NJ.com

February 18, 2020

By Anthony G. Attrino

The Diocese of Paterson is facing a lawsuit accusing a priest who taught at the now-shuttered Don Bosco Technical High School of sexual abusing a student more than 100 times in the 1970s.

Former priest Sean Rooney abused the student at various locations including the Paterson school from 1973 to 1975 beginning when the victim was 13 years old, according the suit filed Feb. 7 in Superior Court in Bergen County. The victim, identified only by his initials in the suit, is now a Florida resident.

Rooney is not on the list of 188 priests and deacons deemed “credibly accused” of sexual abuses involving children released last year jointly by New Jersey’s Catholic dioceses. The Diocese of Paterson, which did not return messages seeking comment on the suit Monday, had 28 names on that list.

The website bishop-accountability.org, a group that tracks allegations against priest, includes Rooney and notes he was accused in a 2013 lawsuit of a sexually abusing a 14-year-old seminary student at a retreat house in Massachusetts and at a seminary in New York. The Catholic church has been criticized for leaving hundreds of names off its list of credibly accused priests.

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Priest accused of abuse in New Jersey moved to Alabama

BIRMINGHAM (AL)
AL.com

February 17, 2020

By Greg Garrison

A Catholic priest who was accused of sexually abusing a minor more than 100 times in the 1970′s in New Jersey was later assigned by his religious order to Birmingham, where he lived and worked for 20 years and helped run a youth outreach to the Marks Village housing project.

The Diocese of Paterson, N.J., is facing a lawsuit accusing the priest, who taught at the now-defunct Don Bosco Technical High School, of molesting a student, according to a report by NJ.com.

Sean Rooney was assigned in 1983 by his religious order, the Salesians of Don Bosco, to Birmingham and remained in residence as an administrator through 2003. The Salesians for decades maintained a priest residence in Gate City next to Holy Rosary Catholic Church and ran a youth oratory, an outreach to young people in the nearby housing project. Salesian priests were assigned to oversee both Holy Rosary and St. John Bosco Catholic Church in Woodlawn.

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Court evidence suggests abuse cover-up by high ranking Legionaries of Christ

DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency

February 18, 2020

By Jonah McKeown

Milan, Italy – Evidence to be presented in an upcoming criminal trial suggests an elaborate cover-up of sexual abuse allegations against a former priest of the Legionaries of Christ whom an Italian court has convicted of sexual abuse of a minor.

The case, set to begin in March, names four Legion priests and a Legion lawyer who are accused of attempting to obstruct justice and extort the family of a sex abuse victim, according to reporting by the Associated Press.

The names of the priests and lawyer in question have not been released, and the Legion did not respond to CNA’s request for comment.

The Legion of Christ, a religious congregation consisting of fewer than 1,000 priests worldwide, was long the subject of critical reports and rumors before it was rocked by Vatican acknowledgment that its charismatic founder, Father Marcial Maciel, lived a double life, sexually abused seminarians, and fathered children. Maciel abused at least 60 minors.

In 2006 the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, with the approval of Benedict XVI, removed Maciel from public ministry and ordered him to spend the rest of his life in prayer and penance. The congregation decided not to subject him to a canonical process because of his advanced age, and he died in 2008.

Benedict XVI appointed Cardinal Valasio De Paolis, a highly respected canon lawyer, to lead the religious order in 2010.

De Paolis, who died in 2017, has faced criticism for leaving much of the leadership of the congregation from Maciel’s time in place and failing to investigate claims of cover-up.

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Little progress since Vatican’s sexual abuse summit, say activists

ROME (ITALY)
The Guardian

February 17, 2020

By Angela Giuffrida

Pope yet to implement crucial reforms to canon law one year on from summit

The Vatican has done little to seriously address the problem of clerical sexual abuse one year on from an unprecedented summit at which bishops and cardinals heard the testimony of victims, activists have said.

Pope Francis closed the four-day summit last February promising that the Catholic church would “spare no effort” to bring to justice paedophile priests and the bishops who covered up their crimes, but so far he has failed to implement crucial reforms to canon law that would allow that to happen.

About 190 bishops and cardinals attended the summit, where they heard traumatic testimony from people who had been raped and molested by priests, and about the indifference that the Catholic church’s hierarchy had shown towards them.

Anne Barrett Doyle, a co-founder of Bishop Accountability, which tracks clergy sexual abuse cases, said that while the summit did a tremendous amount of good by raising the profile of the issue, increasing media coverage of cases and encouraging victims to come forward, it had not led to a “zero-tolerance” policy.

“By that I mean ‘one strike and you’re out’ for abusers, at least out of the ministry, and ‘one strike and you’re out’ for enablers,” Doyle said on the sidelines of a press conference in Rome on Monday.

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Survivor advocacy group accuses pope of cherry-picking abuse reforms

ROME (ITALY)
Crux

February 18, 2020

By Elise Ann Allen

As the one-year mark of Pope Francis’s landmark summit on child protection approaches, survivors of clerical abuse are arguing that the pope, while taking positive steps, is inconsistent in his response to the problem.

Survivors have also called for the publication of the report on the Vatican’s lengthy investigation into former cardinal Theodore McCarrick and criticized Francis for apparently backing out of a commitment to a zero-tolerance approach to the issue.

In the past year, zero tolerance has “dropped out of the pope’s lexicon,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of the Bishops Accountability advocacy group, who spoke to journalists Feb. 17.

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Pope Francis has done ‘too little’ on sexual abuse crisis, victims say

ROME (ITALY)
DPAInternational.com

February 17, 2020

Activists representing the victims of predatory priests in the Catholic Church said that Pope Francis and the Vatican had failed to properly address the clergy sex abuse crisis.

Abuse survivors’ groups held a news conference in Rome to pass judgment on the Vatican’s record a year after a global bishops’ summit in which Francis promised bold action.

What has been done since is “too little and too late and still not enough,” said Matthias Katsch, a spokesman for German abuse survivors’ organisation Eckiger Tisch.

“This crisis affects the whole church worldwide. It will not end until all stories have been told and have been heard, all crimes have been solved and all victims have been compensated,” he added.

Phil Saviano, a victim and campaigner from the U.S. who helped uncover the infamous “Spotlight” abuse cover-up scandal in Boston, also addressed reporters.

Speaking on behalf of the Bishop Accountability group, he said that studies in the U.S., Australia and Germany suggest that the percentage of child molesters within the Catholic clergy is at least 5 per cent.

He called it “a highly believable number.”

At the end of last year’s summit, Francis said the Catholic Church would stop covering up the crimes of paedophile priests “as was usual in the past.”

He followed up with two key reforms: He made it compulsory for clergy to report cases of abuse or cover up to their church superiors (but not to police), and abolished Vatican secrecy laws for such cases.

But according to Anne Barrett Doyle, Co-director of Bishop Accountability, church rules are still not strict enough.

“It is entirely possible today, as it was a year ago, for a bishop to knowingly keep an abuser in ministry or return him to ministry and for neither one of them to suffer a consequence under canon law,” she said.

“It is preposterous that a global organisation that cares for millions of children still finds it OK to return a child molester to his job under certain circumstances,” Barrett Doyle said.

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Las víctimas consideran que el Vaticano está a “medio camino” para acabar con los abusos

[Victims believe that the Vatican is “halfway” to end abuses]

ROME (ITALY)
Vida Neuva Digital (Spain)

February 17, 2020

“Sabemos que la Iglesia por sí misma no va a cambiar las cosas, la opinión pública tiene que presionarla”, sostiene Matthias Katsch, de la red ‘Ending Clergy Abuse’

Los responsables de Bishopaccountability.org aplauden los pasos dados un año después de la conferencia sobre protección de menores, aunque consideran que queda mucho por hacer

[We know that the Church itself will not change things, public opinion has to press it,” says Matthias Katsch, of the ‘Ending Clergy Abuse’ network

[Those responsible for Bishopaccountability.org applaud the steps taken a year after the conference on child protection, although they believe that much remains to be done]

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Missbrauchs-Opferverbände vom Vatikan enttäuscht

[Abuse victim associations disappointed by the Vatican]

ROME (ITALY)
Deutsche Welle

February 17, 2020

Auch ein Jahr nach dem Gipfel im Vatikan zum sexuellen Missbrauch tut sich die katholische Kirche bei der Aufklärung schwer. Kardinäle und Bischöfe reagieren oftmals erst auf öffentlichen Druck hin, wie Opfer monieren.

[Even a year after the Vatican Summit on Sexual Abuse, the Catholic Church is struggling to educate. Cardinals and bishops often only respond to public pressure, victims complain.]

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February 17, 2020

Religiosos. Sin castigo por delitos sexuales en México

CHIHUAHUA (MEXICO)
El Universal [Mexico City, Mexico]

February 17, 2020

By Montserrat Peralta

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De 2009 a 2019, hubo 156 carpetas en fiscalías, pero sólo hay registro de seis sentencias

En una comunidad indígena de Oaxaca, uno de los cerca de 50 casos de violencia sexual presuntamente cometidos por el padre católico Gerardo “N” y detectados por un grupo de sacerdotes salió a la luz a principios del siglo XXI. Un traje de monaguillo develó la agresión sexual que sufrió Leonardo —nombre ficticio— cuando cursaba la primaria, y de la que no habló durante años.

Uno de sus familiares narró que cuando fue a la parroquia a entregar la prenda que el niño usaba en misa, se enteró de que él podría estar dentro de las víctimas del religioso: “Hablé con el nuevo sacerdote y me preguntó por el niño. Le platiqué que intentó suicidarse, que tuvo unos cambios de comportamiento muy feos y raros. No dimos con lo que tenía… Así fue como nos platicó que hubo casos de pederastia”.

Entre lágrimas, Leonardo confirmó los hechos. Su familia se sintió traicionada porque le tenía confianza al sacerdote, le abrió las puertas de su casa e incluso comió con él.

Nadie lo consideró un riesgo porque se llevaba bien con los jóvenes: “En ese momento había un paro magisterial aquí en Oaxaca y no estaban yendo a clases, considerábamos que la iglesia era el mejor lugar”, recordó.

Ocho estados castigan la pederastia

A nivel federal y en Baja California, Colima, Chiapas, Durango, Guerrero, Veracruz, Tabasco y en Sonora —que, aunque no lo nombra así, lo reproduce del Código Penal Federal— se contempla la pederastia como un delito.

En el resto del país es considerado un agravante de la pena en algunos delitos de violación, abuso, acoso y hostigamiento sexual, cuando es cometido por una persona que sostiene un vínculo religioso con la víctima, aunque en seis entidades esta relación no se contempla textual, arrojó un análisis de los 32 códigos penales y el federal.

Existen 156 averiguaciones previas y carpetas de investigación por dichos delitos sexuales agravados, pederastia, corrupción de menores y atentados contra el pudor, que pueden contener una o varias víctimas mayores y/o menores de edad de 2009 a 2019.

De los expedientes, 152 son del fuero estatal y cuatro del federal, indican datos de las fiscalías y procuradurías estatales, así como de la Fiscalía General de la República (FGR), obtenidos vía transparencia por EL UNIVERSAL.

Entre los señalados como presuntos agresores sexuales se encuentran sacerdotes, pastores, maestros de catecismo, músicos de las iglesias e integrantes de diversas asociaciones religiosas.

En entrevista, Alfonso Miranda Guardiola, secretario General de la Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano (CEM) y obispo auxiliar de Monterrey, dijo que “los sacerdotes o clérigos que han sido notificados al Ministerio Público en el caso de la CEM son 106”.

Sin embargo, a principios de este año indicó en una conferencia que la cifra ascendía a 271 investigados. Se le buscó nuevamente para hablar de la discrepancia, pero no se obtuvo respuesta.

En cuanto a la colaboración de la Iglesia en estos casos, Alberto Athié, exsacerdote y activista por los derechos de las víctimas de abuso sexual, explicó que ésta siempre argumenta: “Sí voy a contribuir para ver qué hacemos, pero no te voy a decir los nombres, quiénes son, dónde están, qué penas están purgando, qué Ministerio Público les está llevando el asunto. Es más, quieres tú saber de un caso, vete a la diócesis y pregunta allá. Si ellos quieren decirte de quién se trata, ellos verán”.

Cuatro fiscalías y procuradurías indicaron que tienen registro de seis sentencias por los delitos analizados para este reportaje.

“Tenemos un sistema judicial que no es confiable, políticos en general que no quieren tener broncas y así sucesivamente. Entonces, en ese sentido, las víctimas están totalmente desprotegidas”, señaló Elio Masferrer Kan, antropólogo de las religiones.

En 2010, un grupo de sacerdotes envió una carta a Roma, dirigida a la Sagrada Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, en la que pidió intervención por casos de pederastia presuntamente cometidos por el cura Gerardo “N” en las parroquias de Santiago Camotlán y Villa Alta en Oaxaca, documentos a los que este diario tuvo acceso.

Se indicó que desde 2009, los padres advirtieron de la situación a los entonces arzobispo y obispo auxiliar. Asimismo, señalaron que tuvieron conocimiento de que el sacerdote Gerardo “N” les hacía caricias obscenas a los jóvenes y a uno le practicó sexo oral.

En 2011, la conclusión indicó que “de la investigación llevada a cabo no se desprende que el Rev. [Gerardo “N”] haya cometido los delitos que se le imputan”. Decidieron apelar y solicitaron que la investigación se realizara escuchando directamente a las víctimas, a sus familiares y a los pueblos afectados. No obtuvieron respuesta.

La comunidad de Leonardo no tomó a bien que alzaran la voz por la agresión del padre Gerardo “N”, porque pocas personas creyeron lo que sucedió.

“Quedamos en pelear, en tratar de hacer algo para que [el abuso] no se repitiera con otros jóvenes. Por desgracia, el problema a nosotros como familia nos rebasa. Nos estábamos debatiendo con un gigante que era la Iglesia”, dijo un familiar de Leonardo.

Casos insostenibles

En 1976, Fernando “N” figuró en una carta que redactó Juan José Vaca para renunciar a la orden y en la que expuso una serie deabusos sexuales de los que fueron víctimas él y un grupo de jóvenes, perpetrados por el líder de la congregación de los Legionarios de Cristo, Marcial Maciel.

El sacerdote Fernando “N” estuvo en la Ciudad de México, Coahuila y Quintana Roo, pero tras denuncias de violación a menores de edad fue enviado a Salamanca, España.

“Se convierte en abusado, encubridor —promotor para que Maciel abuse de otros— y en victimario”, afirmó en entrevista Fernando Manuel González, sicoanalista.

Fernando “N” pasó más de dos décadas en España y en 2016 se trasladó a Roma, donde —a sus 80 años— se encuentra en una casa religiosa. La única consecuencia por sus actos fue quedarse sin ministerio sacerdotal, lo anterior de acuerdo con un comunicado de los Legionarios de Cristo.

Gerardo “N” fue movido en las comunidades de San Pablo Huitzo, Santiago Camotlán, Villa Alta, San Juan y Santa María Ozolotepec, en Oaxaca, indicó información del Foro Oaxaqueño de la Niñez. En 2017, el padre fue sentenciado a 16 años y seis meses de cárcel por el delito de corrupción de menores, por el caso de dos niños, pero no por el de Leonardo.

Alberto Athié enfatizó que lo que falló en estos casos fue el mecanismo de protección y de encubrimiento, porque, al final, lo que hacen es soltarlos cuando ya ven que no les queda de otra, los entregan a otros grupos de poder, de autoridad o, como en el caso de Maciel, los mandan a su casa sin un castigo.

“Pederastas preparan el escenario”

Ricardo tenía 13 años cuando entró de monaguillo a la parroquia de San Francisco Javier, en Chihuahua. Al sacerdote Juan José “N” ya lo ubicaba de vista porque lo veía los domingos cuando iba a misa con su familia. Con el paso de los días, notó que el hombre lo trataba distinto, le daba privilegios en la misa y le ofrecía llevarlo a su casa.

El primer abuso sexual ocurrió a los pocos meses de conocerlo, durante una función de cine: “Me tocó la pierna y de repente ya tenía su miembro de fuera y puso mi mano ahí”. Al final de la función, el religioso le dijo: “Lo que hiciste está mal, yo soy sacerdote, no lo vuelvas a hacer”. Eso hizo sentir al adolescente culpable y tuvo miedo.

“[Los pederastas] van preparando el escenario, examinando el terreno, conociendo los puntos de vulnerabilidad de su víctima, su familia y sus espacios. Van diseñando cómo van a actuar para tener toda esta libertad, porque si tuviera la claridad de que yo iba a decir algo, que mi familia iba a actuar de alguna manera, te aseguro que no hubiera pasado”, explicó Ricardo.

Las agresiones de Juan José “N” fueron escalando hasta que violó a Ricardo a lo largo de varios años. Él denunció en 2017, pero la Fiscalía General del Estado de Chihuahua determinó el no ejercicio de la acción penal por la prescripción de los delitos. Sin embargo, un año después se integró una nueva denuncia con apego a tratados internacionales que indican que los delitos contra menores no deben prescribir.

La Provincia Mexicana de la Compañía de Jesús señaló en 2018 que Juan José “N” fue suspendido en el oficio de sus ministerios y se notificó a Roma del caso de Ricardo. Posteriormente, el sacerdote salió de la congregación.

“Algo que le ha costado mucho trabajo a la Iglesia ver y se le ha tenido que imponer es que se trata de delitos graves contra niños. No son conductas inmorales o indecentes, eso es otra cosa”, explicó Alberto Athié.

Enfatizó que en otros países se tiene muy clara la diferencia entre delito y pecado. Si se trata del primero, la persona tiene que ser investigada.

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Parroquia Sagrada Familia celebrará aniversario resaltando la labor de la mujer

DURANGO (MEXICO)
Diócesis de Torreón [Torreón, Coahuila]

February 17, 2020

By Unknown

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Cumple 60 años de vida

BUENA NUEVA.- Situada en el poniente de Torreón, la Parroquia Sagrada Familia cumplirá 60 años de haber sido erigida. La comunidad llega a este aniversario resaltando y agradeciendo el papel que ha desempeñado la mujer en cada una de las actividades que se llevan a cabo, y que han permitido que el templo continúe dando un servicio pastoral de calidad a niños, jóvenes y adultos. 

La Parroquia, misma que se sitúa en la Col. La Unión, ha superado diversas pruebas como los periodos de violencia, el desempleo, y la pobreza. Las familias de esa zona se mantienen con la fe y la esperanza de que solo con el amor de Dios se superan las diversas pruebas que  se anteponen en el día a día. 

Historia

La bendición del templo de la Sagrada Familia,  se realizó el 8 de enero de 1956 por parte del señor obispo de Saltillo, don Luis Guízar Barragán, pero fue el 28 de febrero de 1960 que, bajo el pastoreo del primer obispo de la Diócesis de Torreón en la figura de don Fernando Romo Gutiérrez, se erigió cómo parroquia.

En ese entonces la cabecera parroquial era la Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, pero debido al crecimiento poblacional en el sur-poniente de la ciudad, se vio la necesidad de erigir otras parroquias, entre ellas «La Sagrada Familia».

El padre Agustín Cerda Berlanga guiaba esta comunidad realizando actividades en pro de la parroquia. El 20 de mayo de 1960 llega a tomar el lugar de párroco el padre Jesús Genaro Santillán Cuevas, quien es recordado con cariño y respeto por la comunidad, por el arduo trabajo y actividades dentro de su ministerio sacerdotal. 

El padre Santillán permaneció durante 28 años al frente de la parroquia. Durante su estadía fundó el Instituto Unión, en el que se impartía la instrucción primaria y secundaria. Además de la construcción de los templos «Divina Providencia» y «Señor de los Rayos», y los anexos del templo parroquial. De esta forma, continuó su pastoreo y promoción vocacional hasta el año de 1988, fecha en la que fue enviado a la parroquia de Cristo Rey. El padre Santillán fue un gran promotor de vocaciones a la vida consagrada y sacerdotal.

Para el año de 1988 la comunidad recibe como párroco al Pbro. Javier Cisneros, quien sirvió por 2 años a la comunidad. En 1990 se nombra párroco de la Sagrada Familia al Pbro. Xavier Díaz Rivera Rodríguez, el cual es recordado como promotor de  la obra de restauración de los templos, así como obras de asistencia social, unido a su trabajo evangelizador.

En 1992 se nombra párroco al Pbro. Salvador Gómez Domínguez. Él fomentó la catequesis infantil, juvenil y familiar; ofreciendo también un gran apoyo a las Comunidades Eclesiales de Base (CEB´s),  sirviendo a la comunidad por un período de 14 años.

El 29 de octubre de 2006 la Parroquia de la Sagrada Familia recibe a su nuevo pastor en la persona del padre Gerardo Franco Zapata. Realizó obras como el programa de superación «Crece Conmigo», además de trabajar los aspectos espirituales y psicológicos de la comunidad, debido a que durante años el lugar donde trabajó pastoralmente, fue uno de los sectores donde la ola de violencia azotó a la Comarca Lagunera. También llevó a cabo retiros espirituales y kerigmáticos, fiestas patronales y convivencias familiares. El padre Gerardo sirvió por 12 años en la Parroquia.

Finalmente, el 8 de octubre de 2018 llega el Pbro. Eduardo Gerardo Garay Rodríguez, para guiar como pastor a esta iglesia, quien actualmente se encuentra al servicio de la comunidad parroquial. Su trabajo está centrado en la renovación pastoral dentro de la parroquia y la promoción del laicado.

Actividades por el 60 aniversario  

Del 24 al 28 de febrero se impartirán conferencias sobre el papel de la mujer en la vida de Iglesia. Los temas serán presentados por Marilú Rojas Salazar, coordinadora del Departamento de Estudios de Género de la Comunidad Teológica de México, cofundadora del espacio Teólogas e Investigadoras Feministas de México y forma parte del consejo editorial de las revistas Christus y Sofía.

Lunes 24: 18:00 Hrs. «El papel de la mujer en el Antiguo Testamento».

Martes 25: 18:00 Hrs. «Jesús y las mujeres que servían con él».

Miércoles 26: 16:00, 16:30, 17:00, 17:30, 18:00, 18:30, 19:00, 19:30 y 20:00 Hrs. Celebración e imposición de ceniza.

Jueves 27: 18:00 Hrs. «La mujer en la vida de la iglesia».

Viernes 28: 17:00 Hrs. «La mujer y la Familia».

Viernes 28: 18:30 Hrs. Eucaristía presidida por Mons. Luis Martín Barraza Beltran.

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I Have a Story for Pope Francis about Priestly Celibacy

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

February 13, 2020

By Mimi Bull

Who pays the price when a priest breaks his vow?

Want the human story on priestly celibacy? Talk to someone who’s paid the price.

I am bitterly disappointed by the news that Pope Francis will not be relaxing priestly celibacy rules in remote parts of the Amazon. The idea — intended to make it easier to recruit priests in underserved areas — was supported by a Vatican conference in October, but in his papal document, released on Wednesday, Francis ignored their suggestion.

My interest in this isn’t the mild curiosity of a lapsed Catholic. I am the child of a priest who broke his vow of celibacy and left a legacy of secrecy that was devastating to him, to my mother and particularly to me.

To hide my father’s broken vow, I was told that I was adopted. I did not know until I was 35 that my “adoptive mother” was actually my grandmother and my “adoptive sister” was, in reality, my mother. But even then, I wasn’t told the whole truth. At the time, I was told my father had been a businessman from Pennsylvania.

If only I had known that my real father was the beloved young pastor of our local Polish parish in Norwood, Mass. He was a regular guest in our home, and we attended weekly Mass in his church. He died at the end of my freshman year at Smith College. I didn’t find out until the age of 50, on the day of my birth mother’s funeral, that the man I adored as “Pate” — my own nickname, short for the Latin “pater” — and the community knew as “Father Hip” was my father.

I was more fortunate than most children of priests. The man and woman I now know to have been my birth parents, chose to raise me, nurture me and, in the depths of the Depression, give me as normal a life as they could manage within a complex web of secrecy. My father chose to be involved in my life; he referred to himself as my “guardian,” and I found out after my mother died that he had held this title legally.

Nonetheless, all the secrecy took a toll on a sensitive child. I knew I was somehow different. I knew instinctively that there were things I could not mention casually — the frequency with which my mother, Pate and I got together alone, for instance, including trips to Boston for dinner. Secrecy became second nature.

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Bills would give more time to punish pedophiles

SIOUX CITY (IA)
Sioux City Journal

February 17, 2020

By Rod Boshart

Des Moines – Iowa lags behind other states when it comes to aiding childhood victims of sexual abuse by adults — oftentimes family members, teachers, clergy or other close associates, according to experts.

“We would love to see Iowa step forward from being one of the worst in the country to being one of the best,” said Marci Hamilton, chief executive officer and academic director for Child USA, a Philadelphia nonprofit think tank working nationally to end child abuse and neglect.

Iowa ranks among the worst states in terms of its statute of limitation on child abuse laws and is “in the middle of mediocre land” for limits on child abuse civil actions. Meanwhile, it can takes years for abuse survivors to fully understand wrongs that were perpetrated against them, Hamilton said.

Last year saw a flurry of changes spurred by public outrage over a series of high-profile abuse situations. Twelve states eliminated their criminal statutes of limitations and nine — including Iowa — extended their time frames. A number of states extended or eliminated their civil provisions, and nine provided windows for victims to seek redress for alleged abuses that occurred before the period to bring claims had “timed out.”

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The Conspiracy of Catholicism

ALACHUA (FL)
Alachua Today

February 2, 2020

By Robert Wilford

Dear Most Holy Father:

Thank you for attempting to humanize the office of pope.

The majority of Catholics have blindly viewed pontiffs as God-like and incapable of making mistakes because of being infallible.

Your actions, so far, do give me hope. I pray you will lead us toward renewal (retaining the good stuff), reformation (discarding the bad stuff), and rebirth (uncompromising justice and renewed spirituality).

I first contacted John Paul II in 1993, and again in 2002. I contacted Benedict XVI several times during his papacy.

I challenged them to reform an indifferently corrupt and a conspiracy-driven theocracy for the innumerable crimes the hierarchy had committed for centuries.

Mandated priest celibacy, the murder of Joan of Arc, persecution of Martin Luther, imprisonment of Galileo, unjust inquisitions and crusades and the coddling of clergy sexual predators are examples of the church’s abuse of power.

The current crisis is attributable to the disreputable leadership of John Paul and Benedict for not putting the needs of victims first over predator priests.

John Paul and Benedict shamefully elected to shelter sodomizers and the institution of Catholicism itself above all else.

I urge you to stand on your perch at Saint Peter’s this Ash Wednesday and declare:

“We, the popes, cardinals, bishops and priests of the Roman Catholic Church have been grievously and sinfully wrong since the very beginning of the church’s history in protecting predator priests at the expense of the victims of clergy sexual abuse. Humbly, we openly admit our culpability, and, in professing our shame, ask for forgiveness from God and all humanity for the unspeakable crimes we have committed against victimized children and their families for nearly 2,000 years.”

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Menlo Church pastor allowed volunteer attracted to minors to work with children

PALO ALTO (CA)
Daily Post

February 7, 2020

By Emily Mibach

A popular pastor at Menlo Church in downtown Menlo Park was put on leave for two months because he allowed a volunteer who had unwanted thoughts about children to continue volunteering with the youth in the church.

The congregant told pastor John Ortberg in July 2018 that he had “an unwanted thought pattern of attraction to minors,” according to a letter from church Elder Board Chair Beth Seabolt to church members.

The congregant claims to have not acted on this attraction attraction, and was seeking Ortberg’s support, according to the letter. Ortberg prayed with the church member and provided referrals for counseling, the letter says.

“However, John failed to take the required steps to prevent the person from volunteering with minors at the Menlo Park campus and did not consult anyone else at Menlo Church about the situation,” the letter says.

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A Sin or a Crime?

LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage

February 5, 2020

By Ruth Krall

Sentence: 38-76 years of imprisonment: This means that Smucker will likely die in jail. The crime: 20 felony counts for sexually molesting children, i.e., rape, of his grandchildren.

I have been following this case by means of media coverage. Mennonites often idealize the Amish —while not wanting to be Amish. I have never done this kind of idealizing.

I don’t know what my Lutheran father knew but he was quite clear with me that many Amish men and many Mennonite men were not nice men and that, as I began to date, I needed to protect myself. It was an explicit message about not dating and not marrying a Mennonite man.

Even as a very young girl I absorbed the warning and protected myself. As I became a teenager on the cusp of adult life he was much more explicit with me about the need to protect myself when he could no longer do this as my father — because he was not going to be present as I matured into young adult life.

My answer, therefore, to the sin or crime dilemma is that sexual abuse of children and adolescents, i.e., rape, by their grandfather, is a crime and a sin phenomenon. It is a sin problem for the perpetrator’s religious community to manage and it is a crime problem for the perpetrator’s secular community to manage. It is, therefore, simultaneously both a sin and a crime problem. For the victims of child or adolescent sexual abuse, the act of sexual violation is a sin against them and it is also a crime act against them.

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Disgraced religious order tried to get abuse victim to lie

MILAN (ITALY)
Associated Press

February 17, 2020

By Nicole Winfield and María Verza

The cardinal’s response was not what Yolanda Martinez expected – or could abide.

Her son had been sexually abused by one of the priests of the Legion of Christ, a disgraced religious order. And now she was calling Cardinal Valasio De Paolis – the Vatican official appointed by the pope to lead the Legion, and to clean it up – to report the settlement the group was offering, and to express her outrage.

The terms: Martinez’s family would receive 15,000 euros from the order. But in return, her son would have to recant the testimony he gave to Milan prosecutors that the priest had repeatedly assaulted him when he was a 12-year-old student at the order’s youth seminary in northern Italy. He would have to lie.

The cardinal did not seem shocked. He did not share her indignation.

Instead, he chuckled. He said she shouldn’t sign the deal, but should try to work out another agreement without attorneys: “Lawyers complicate things. Even Scripture says that among Christians we should find agreement.”

The conversation between the aggrieved mother and Pope Benedict XVI’s personal envoy was wiretapped. The tape – as well as the six-page settlement proposal – are key pieces of evidence in a criminal trial opening next month in Milan. Prosecutors allege that Legion lawyers and priests tried to obstruct justice, and extort Martinez’s family by offering them money to recant testimony to prosecutors in hopes of quashing a criminal investigation into the abusive priest, Father Vladimir Resendiz Gutierrez.

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West Michigan dioceses refuse to release pedophile priests lists

GRAND RAPIDS (MI)
WOOD TV 8 NBC

February 14, 2020

By Ken Kolker

Kallmazoo MI – n the face of an ongoing Michigan Attorney General’s investigation, most of the state’s Catholic dioceses have released lists of priests credibly accused as pedophiles.

Those lists include 135 names, 85 of which are in the Detroit archdiocese alone.

The only two of the state’s seven dioceses that haven’t released their lists: Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.

Church leaders in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids have refused not only Target 8’s request to release the lists, but the requests of a survivor support group and survivors themselves.

For survivor Ann Phillips Browning, it raises questions:

“Do you care about little kids? Do you really care about us survivors? Do you care that there might be other survivors out there that are living in pain and shame because they think they’re the only one?”

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Boris Johnson sacked him, but Julian Smith is a hero to us, the victims of abuse in church care

LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Guardian

February 15, 2020

By Margaret McGuckin

Ex-Northern Ireland secretary pushed through law promising justice for children abused in orphanages

Regardless of what the prime minister thinks of the minister he swiftly sacked last week as Northern Ireland secretary, for victims of institutional abuse Julian Smith remains our guardian angel.

For those who have been campaigning for justice, Julian’s brief time in Belfast should be remembered for championing our struggle. Julian did more to ensure survivors of sexual and physical abuse in state-funded institutions got recompense and recognition than any other politician over many years.

He had the drive and the decency to single-handedly push the Historical Institutional Abuse (Northern Ireland) Act through the House of Commons in November – only a few months after becoming secretary of state. This will create a redress board that will compensate the victims/survivors of abuse that occurred in places such as orphanages and care homes here.

I have been campaigning for an inquiry into institutional abuse in Northern Ireland since 2008, on hearing about the Ryan report into the serial abuse of children in the Republic of Ireland. No matter how much I tried not to listen or read of the horrific accounts of child sexual and physical abuse, neglect and humiliation, in those harsh and very dark places, in the south of Ireland, something finally took hold of me. I had to face a painful truth: this was what I had endured from the age of three to 11.

I listened to one BBC report from Dublin where a lady talked of being almost drowned in baths of disinfectant, beaten, starved, humiliated, neglected, and horrifically abused in so many ways, as had her brothers, sexually, physically, mentally and emotionally.

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Editorial: One year, six months: Survivors have a closing window to seek justice long-denied

NEW YORK (NY)
Daily News

February 16, 2020

Friday was the one-year anniversary of Gov. Cuomo coming to the Daily News, which led a drumbeat of survivor advocacy over the last few years, to sign the Child Victims Act into law. The statute is bringing a modicum of justice to those sexually abused as minors by extending the statute of limitations for many offenses on both the criminal and civil side.

Friday also marked the midway point of a key CVA provision: a year-long lookback window permitting survivors previously blocked by the statute of limitations to file lawsuits against abusers and the institutions that allowed abuse to happen or subsequently covered it up.

Since the window opened on Aug. 14, there have been 1,547 CVA court filings statewide. Given New York’s population, that’s not an outrageous number. Some supporters already are calling for the lookback extended beyond next August’s end date. So far, it’s a bit premature to make that call.

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NY’s Child Victims Act at the midpoint: Syracuse Diocese sued nearly 40 times so far

SYRACUSE (NY)
Syracuse.com

February 14, 2020

By Julie McMahon

Today marks the halfway point for a “look-back” window in New York’s Child Victims Act, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse already has been sued nearly 40 times.

The Child Victims Act, passed by the state legislature in January 2019, gave child sex abuse victims previously barred by statutes of limitations more time to sue. It also created a one-year window for victims who had previously been barred from suing. The window opened Aug. 14 last year.

Former Boy Scouts, school districts and an elite youth volleyball coach have faced claims here in Onondaga County.

An analysis by Syracuse.com shows the vast majority of Child Victims Act cases filed locally were against the Syracuse Catholic Diocese. Syracuse.com found 45 cases filed under the Child Victims Act, mostly in Onondaga County.

Across the state, the Syracuse diocese was named in 38 cases.

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Few abusers are sued as Child Victims Act lawsuits target institutions

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

February 16, 2020

By Jay Tokasz

Twenty-five years after being sent to prison for sexually abusing his 10-year-old daughter, Thomas D. Skowronski faces more legal fallout over his crimes.

Andrea D’Alimonte, now 35, recently sued Skowronski, her father, under the state’s Child Victims Act. D’Alimonte also named her mother, Patricia L. Saar, as a defendant. D’Alimonte said suing her parents gives her a chance finally to set the record straight about the abuse and its lifelong impact on her.

“I don’t want the pity. I am who I am because of what happened, but I want to be the voice to it,” she said.

D’Alimonte’s case is a rarity.

Halfway into a one-year window under the Child Victims Act that allows victims of childhood sex abuse from decades ago to press their claims in court, more than 95% of the 350 lawsuits filed in Western New York have targeted institutions such as the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, school districts and the Boy Scouts of America.

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February 16, 2020

Update Regarding A Case From The Report 1941-2019: Vladimir Reséndiz

MEXICO CITY (MEXICO)
Legionaries of Christ [Roswell GA]

February 16, 2020

By Unknown

Read original article

The Legionaries of Christ in the North American Territory release the below communications from Italy, originally published in Spanish in 2018, 2019 and 2020, regarding the case of Vladimir Reséndiz Gutiérrez, who studied as a philosopher in Thornwood, New York from October 1997 – June 1998 and October 2002 – July 2003.

Italy, November 16, 2018 

The Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ release the following communication regarding the case of Vladimir Reséndiz Gutiérrez, former member of the Congregation:

1. Vladimir Reséndiz Gutiérrez, a Mexican citizen, entered the novitiate of the Congregation on September 14, 1993. He made his perpetual vows in 2001 and was ordained to the priesthood in 2006.

2. The first accusation of sexual abuse against Vladimir Reséndiz was received by a priest of the Congregation on March 6, 2011. The accusation referred to events which occurred between 2006 and 2008 at the minor seminary of the Congregation in Gozzano, Novara, Italy. Reséndiz was in Venezuela when the accusation was received.

  • 2.1. On March 8, 2011, the news of this accusation reached the General Directorate of the Congregation.
  • 2.2. On March 10, 2011, Vladimir Reséndiz was removed from his ministry in the minor seminary in Venezuela and   from pastoral work with minors.
  • 2.3. On March 18, 2011, he was removed from all active priestly ministry after being questioned by his religious superior. He admitted to also abusing another minor outside of Italy. (1)
  • 2.4. On June 27, 2011, after collecting the necessary information, the Legionaries of Christ presented the case of Vladimir Reséndiz to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

3. In April 2013, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith removed Vladimir Reséndiz from the clerical state, and from that moment he ceased to be a member of the Legionaries of Christ.

4. There are currently two criminal trials in the courts of Novara, Italy. The trials have not yet reached a verdict.

  • 4.1. A criminal trial against Vladimir Reséndiz for child abuse.
  • 4.2. Another trial against several members of the Congregation, and other individuals, for attempted extortion against the family of one of the minors, in which the accused have pleaded not guilty.Once a verdict is issued by the court, an update to this communique will be issued.

5. The Congregation apologizes to those who have suffered abuse and for all the pain caused, knowing that this request for forgiveness will never be enough to heal the deep wounds caused. We recognize that any abuse by a cleric causes great pain to those who have suffered, to their family and also to the Church.

6. Aware of our responsibility as part of the Church and of our institutional history, we firmly commit to continue implementing our safe environment policy against the sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults who have contact with people involved in our apostolic, educational and pastoral activities. For this reason we also take responsibility for accompanying our seminarians in a mature discernment during their formation process that ensures, as far as possible, they live faithfully to their vocation as Catholic priests.

(1) Update March 19th 2021

UPDATE: On March 27, 2019, in a criminal trial of Vladimir Reséndiz Gutiérrez, the judge of the preliminary hearing in Novara, Italy, convicted him in the first degree with a sentence of seven years in prison and payment of reparations. The court has 90 days to publish the sentence.

UPDATE: On January 8, 2020, in the criminal trial of Vladimir Reséndiz Gutiérrez, the Second Chamber of the Court of Appeals of Turin, Italy, confirmed the sentence given in March 2019 in the first trial and reduced the penalty to six years and six months in jail. The trial is not over yet.

UPDATE: On July 23, 2020, on July 23, 2020, the Supreme Court declared inadmissible the appeal filed against the judgement by Second Chamber of the court of appeals. Therefore, the sentence has acquired the force of res iudicata and the criminal judicial process has concluded.

(2) Update October 3rd, 2022

The Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ reports on the conclusion of a process before the Ordinary Court of Milan, Italy involving three priests of the Congregation and two other people.

All of the defendants have been fully acquitted (“con formula piena”) of the crime of attempted extortion because such an attempt did not occur (“il fatto non sussiste”).

(3) Update October 5th, 2022

Regarding the accusation of aiding and abetting (“favoreggiamento”), one defendant has been acquitted for not having committed the offense (“per non aver commesso il fatto”). Additionally, the judge declared that they could not proceed (“non doversi proceede”) in relation to the other four defendants because the statute of limitations (“per intervenutta prescrizione”) had elapsed.

The judge will announce the reasons for the decision within 90 days. The accusations arose in 2013 in the context of a relationship with a family who had denounced the abuse committed by Vladimir Reséndiz Gutiérrez.

We encourage anyone who has been abused by a member of the Legionaries of Christ to contact the appropriate authorities, regardless of when the alleged abuse occurred, and to contact the Legionaries of Christ’s pastoral care advocate for the United States, Abby Saunders.

Abby Saunders, Pastoral Care Advocate
Email: asaunders@arcol.org
Phone: (678) 467-9348

The Congregation has also established a channel for listening to concerns and responding to accusations at 0abuse.org.

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‘I told him about my problems’: Priest’s confession of child abuse used to boost case against Catholic Church

TORONTO (ONTARIO, CANADA)
CBC News

February 15, 2020

By Scott Anderson, Lynette Fortune, Mark Kelley

Questions raised over why police and justice officials haven’t pursued church hierarchy

The confession a Quebec priest made just before he died in prison is being used by his victims to try to hold the Catholic Church accountable for decades of child abuse.

Defrocked priest Paul-André Harvey alleged that over a 20-year period when he served in parishes in the Saguenay region, his direct superiors were not only aware of his crimes against children, but they also enabled his abuse and covered up for him.

“I wish to inform you of the circumstances regarding the multiple charges of sexual assault over a period of 20 years,” Harvey wrote in 2017. “I was a priest in many parishes in the diocese of Chicoutimi. My victims were female minors.”

The lawyer for the archdiocese of Chicoutimi dismissed the confession in La Presse as “the lonely tale of a deceased pedophile who, sadly, will never be cross-examined.”

But an investigation by CBC’s The Fifth Estate and the Radio-Canada program Enquête into Harvey’s years of unchecked child abuse raises wider questions about why police and justice officials have not pursued the church hierarchy in Canada.

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New Jersey dioceses push victims fund deadline to Feb. 29

TRENTON (NJ)
Associated Press

February 14, 2020

By Mike Catalini

New Jersey’s Roman Catholic dioceses have given a two-week extension to childhood victims of sexual assault considering filing for compensation from a fund the church set up, the account’s co-administrator said Friday.

Camille Biros, the co-administrator of the fund covering all five dioceses, including the Archdiocese of Newark, said in a phone interview that so far more than $10 million in 81 different cases has been paid out. The previous deadline for submissions to be filed with the fund was Feb. 15. It is now Feb. 29.

This is the second time the deadline had been extended.

Biros said the reason for the extensions was simple.

“We just wanted to extend it to get as many people into the program,” she said.

According to Biros, 593 claims have been filed are are being reviewed. Eight were deemed not eligible for a variety of reasons, including that the clergy were either not diocesan priests or the victim was not a minor, she said.

The fund does not cover abuses by religious order priests, such as Jesuits, who may serve in parishes or schools but are not ordained by the diocese.

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Father Josh: A married Catholic priest in a celibate world

DALLAS (TX)
Associated Press

February 14, 2020

By Tim Sullivan

The priest wakes up at 4 a.m. on the days he celebrates the early Mass, sipping coffee and enjoying the quiet while his young children sleep in rooms awash in stuffed animals and Sesame Street dolls and pictures of saints. Then he kisses his wife goodbye and drives through the empty suburban streets of north Dallas to the church he oversees.

In a Catholic world where debates over clerical celibacy have flared from Brazil to the Vatican, Joshua Whitfield is that rarest of things: A married Catholic priest.

The Roman Catholic church has demanded celibacy of its priests since the Middle Ages, calling it a “spiritual gift” that enables men to devote themselves fully to the church. But as a shortage of priests becomes a crisis in parts of the world, liberal wings in the church have been arguing that it’s time to reassess that stance. On Wednesday, Pope Francis sidestepped the latest debate on celibacy, releasing an eagerly awaited document that avoided any mention of recommendations by Latin American bishops to consider ordaining married men in the Amazon, where believers can go months without seeing a priest.

Even the most liberal of popes have refused to change the tradition.

It is “the mark of a heroic soul and the imperative call to unique and total love for Christ and His Church,” Pope Paul VI wrote in 1967.

Then there’s Josh Whitfield.

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No Sexual Abuse Charges Against Fresno Priest Despite ‘Credible’ Allegations from 1990s

LOS ANGELES (CA)
KTLA

February 15, 2020

Despite “credible” allegations of sexual abuse against a central California priest, prosecutors said Friday that they are unable to file charges against him because the statute of limitations has expired.

Monsignor Craig Harrison was placed on administrative leave from the Diocese of Fresno last April after an alleged victim, now an adult, claimed the priest molested him when he was a teenage altar boy.

“While the allegations made against Monsignor Harrison appear credible to investigators, they reportedly occurred in the 1990s. These allegations were not reported to law enforcement until April of 2019,” the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

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List of Catholic priests suspected of abuse is incomplete

GRAND FORKS (ND)
Grand Forks Herald

February 15, 2020

By Jim Shaw

Fargo – The Catholic Dioceses of Fargo and Bismarck should be commended for finally releasing the dozens of names of clergy and religious members who have been accused of sexually abusing children. Better late than never. Full disclosure: One of the priests on the list has been a longtime family friend, and co-officiated my wedding.

“I first ask forgiveness for the shameful acts of those clergy who caused harm to young people and abused the trust placed in them by God and the faithful,” Fargo Bishop John Folda said in a statement. “No excuse can be made for these actions, nor does this release of names fully address the pain of victims of abuse.” Folda’s comments are sincere, direct and comforting.

Fargo attorney Tim O’Keeffe represents several victims of sexual abuse committed by area Catholic Church officials. “It’s a good first step,” O’Keeffe said. “We’ve waited a long time for this list.”

Nancy (not her real name) was sexually abused by a North Dakota priest when she was 12-years-old. “It was so scary,” Nancy said. “He told me not to tell anybody.”

Nancy is still receiving therapy for the abuse, and that abuse permanently changed her. “I’m still afraid of people,” Nancy said. “I used to be outgoing, but now I’m introverted. I still feel the horror.”

Seeing the name of the priest who abused her finally publicly identified by the diocese means a lot to Nancy. “I’m not the bad person anymore for accusing him,“ Nancy said. “Now, I feel so relieved. I feel totally vindicated.”

Still, O’Keeffe is not satisfied. He said the dioceses need to release more information, such as the dates of the misconduct, the parish assignments of the offenders, and where they are living. He also said the list is incomplete. “We know of more cases of priests who should be on that list,” O’Keeffe said.

Attorney Mike Bryant agrees. He represents four clients in North Dakota, who are victims of sexual abuse from priests. Bryant said the church is not naming priests involved in fairly recent incidents because the dioceses don’t want any more lawsuits.

“They clearly held names back,” Bryant said. “These are all old offenses. There are no names from the last 30 years. The idea that nothing happened recently is ludicrous.”

Bryant said one of his clients, from Fargo, was abused by a priest whose name was not on the list, and he’s still serving as a priest. “I’m 100% convinced that she was sexually abused,” Bryant said. “I’m convinced because of her story, her emotion, and the way the church has dealt with it.”

In his statement, Folda said he considers the list of clergy “complete for now,” but “not a closed list.” He went on to say, “I am encouraged that there have been very few substantiated cases of abuse in recent decades.”

However, Folda has declined to answer any questions about the list. The issues raised by O’Keeffe and Bryant deserve answers.

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‘Secrets in our culture’: Victims of child sex abuse urge lawmakers to take action

PRATT (KS)
Pratt Tribune

February 15, 2020

By Sherman Smith

Kathryn Robb wanted lawmakers to know about the monsters.

Her voice rising in volume and urgency, Robb delivered a sermon on the evils of child abuse in a legislative hearing Tuesday. She focused fury at coaches, religious leaders, pediatricians and others who have preyed on hundreds of victims apiece.

“Folks who have access to children are abusing children at alarming rates,” Robb said. “So now we’re learning. We’re learning that things were not the way we thought they were — that there are secrets in our culture, there are secrets in our society, there are secrets in our institutions that we’re just now learning about. We are in the midst of a worldwide epidemic.”

She is the executive director of Child USAdvocacy and a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

Robb and others testified in support of legislation that would lift the statute of limitations on civil lawsuits filed in response to child sex abuse. Current law requires lawsuits to be filed within three years after the victim turns 18.

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Editorial: Child crimes should have no statute of limitations

TAHLEQUAH (OK)
Daily Press

February 15, 2020

When the child molestation scandal in the Roman Catholic Church was at its height several years ago, many Americans were mortified to learn that statutes of limitation across the country precluded prosecution of predatory priests. Some states quickly made adjustments in their criminal law to deal with that injustice.

For some reason, Oklahoma lawmakers have only turned a tentative corner in that regard, but not for lack of trying on the part of Carol Bush, R-Tulsa. She introduced legislation in 2017 to remove the statute of limitations on sex crimes against children, as well as prosecution of child-trafficking cases. This year, her repeat bill passed the House Judiciary Committee, but its chances for passage looked good in 2017, too – until revamps on the bill changed the statute of limitation to expire at age 45 for victims.

This time around, maybe the Legislature will see fit to remove all obstacles to punishing those who harm our most precious and vulnerable citizens: our children.

Bush explained what most people already know – that sometimes, because of the nature of these crimes and the trauma they cause, victims often don’t come forward until many years later. In fact, sometimes they block the terrible memories of the abuse. It takes emotional maturity to face the chain of events that lead to prosecution, not to mention the abusers themselves – and that type of maturity takes many years to acquire. In fact, Bush pointed out, the average victim doesn’t report the crime until he or she is 52.

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‘I kept my story quiet.’ They were abused as children, but will Kansas let them sue?

WICHITA (KS)
Wichita Eagle

February 16, 2020

By Jonathan Shorman

One detailed how her father sexually abused her decades ago. Another recalled a priest fondling him as a teenager. And yet another remembered walking directly back to class after a priest raped her in the fourth grade.

One by one, they pleaded with lawmakers. Their main message: Please help us. Please help victims.

Kansas generally gives victims of childhood sexual abuse three years to file lawsuits once they turn 18. The limited window shuts out a vast array of victims, including many struggling well into adulthood.

But legislators are weighing whether to eliminate the time limit. And victims are pushing for a “lookback” window allowing lawsuits to be brought over abuse that occurred decades ago. Researchers are in widespread agreement that child victims frequently don’t disclose their abuse until adulthood.

As more states move to reform their statutes of limitations for child sex abuse lawsuits, victims are watching to see whether Kansas will be next. Can the change they desperately want advance all the way through the legislative process and become law amid the swirl of election-year politics and other issues demanding attention?

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Judge refuses to lower bond for former Dallas priest accused of sexually abusing children

DALLAS (TX)
Fox 4 KDFW

February 16, 2020

A judge refused to reduce the bond of a former Dallas Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting children.

Bond for Richard Thomas Brown is still $100,000.

The arrest affidavit describes psychologist reports from the 1990s in which Brown admitted to abusing several children during his time with the Dallas Catholic Diocese.

Brown was arrested last month in Missouri.

He is among 32 priests the diocese lists as “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children over the past 70-years.

Some of those priests are no longer living.

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Mandatory reporting laws for religious institutions come into effect

MELBURNE (VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA)
The Age

February 16, 2020

By Sumeyya Ilanbey

Laws requiring clergy to report child abuse to authorities — even if it’s heard in the confession box — will come into effect on Monday, ending the “special treatment” for Victoria’s religious institutions.

The seal has now been lifted for the suspected sexual abuse of children, with spiritual and religious leaders required to report the abuse or face up to three years in prison.

“From [Monday], our promise to put the safety of children ahead of the secrecy of the confession is in full effect and there is no excuse for people who fail to report abuse,” said Attorney-General Jill Hennessy.

The changes bring religious and spiritual leaders in line with teachers, police, medical practitioners, nurses, school counsellors, and early childhood and youth justice workers, who are required to report the abuse and mistreatment of children.

The Catholic Church was a staunch critic of requiring priests to break the seal, with Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli publicly declaring he would rather go to jail.

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Former Richmond priest accused of child sex abuse

RICHMOND (VA)
WTVR CBS 6

February 14, 2020

They say the representative of a deceased victim has shared allegations of sexual abuse by reverend Raymond Barton.

The Richmond Catholic Diocese has added another clergyman’s name to their list of priests accused of sexually abusing a minor.

Diocese officials said Friday the representative of a deceased victim has shared allegations of sexual abuse by Rev. Msgr. Raymond Barton.

A representative of the victim came forward with a report detailing allegations of child sex abuse by Barton.

The report claims the abuse happened back in the early 1970s when the victim was a minor.

Church officials say Barton has been a pastor at six catholic churches across Central Virginia and Hampton Roads since 1966.

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Retired priest accused of sexual and physical assaults

LONDON (ENGLAND)
BBC

February 14, 2020

A retired priest has been charged with 18 offences allegedly committed at schools in the Highlands and East Lothian between the 1950s and 1980s.

Robert MacKenzie, 87, from Cupar, Saskatchewan, in Canada, has been accused of sexual and physical assaults.

The offences allegedly took place at Fort Augustus Abbey and a preparatory school in North Berwick.

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February 15, 2020

An abusive priest was ordered not to wear clerical garb or celebrate Mass. He did anyway

LOUISVILLE (KY)
Courier-Journal

February 14, 2020

By Andrew Wolfson

When the Archdiocese of Louisville in 2005 confirmed that the Rev. J. Irvin Mouser had molested five boys — several at drive-in movies — the Vatican ordered him to stop functioning as a priest.

The Holy See commanded Mouser to live a life of “prayer and penance,” meaning he could no longer wear clerical garb, celebrate Mass publicly, administer the sacraments or present himself publicly as a priest.

But Mouser did all of those things, The Courier Journal found.

While the archdiocese listed him in its ministers directory as “retired” and “removed from public ministry,” the Sisters of Loretto, which is south of Bardstown in Marion County, put him to work as the chaplain in its motherhouse.

There, according to photos on its website, while wearing full clerical garb, Mouser gave blessings and celebrated Mass.

“My role is to meet the spiritual needs of this ever-growing community,” he was quoted in the winter 2018 issue of Loretto Magazine.

On Friday, just a few hours after The Courier Journal asked the order why it was allowing Mouser to serve as chaplain — and provided links to photographs of him in clerical robes — a spokeswoman said it was removing him from the community.

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Retired local Catholic priest accused of child sexual abuse

NORFOLK (VA)
WTKR

February 14, 2020

A retired priest for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond who served in Hampton Roads has been accused of child sexual abuse. according to a statement by the Diocese of Richmond.

According to the diocese, a representative for a deceased victim came forward with a report sharing allegations of child sexual abuse by Rev. Msgr. Raymond Barton, who was ordained in 1966. The incident is alleged to have occurred in the early 1970s.

Barton served as an associate pastor at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Richmond, and as a faculty member at St. John Vianney Seminary, Goochland. He was a pastor at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Norfolk; Saint Nicholas Catholic Church in Virginia Beach; and Holy Comforter Catholic Church in Charlottesville.

He also served as a co-pastor for Church of the Holy Apostles in Virginia Beach.

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More suits claim sex abuse by late Orange County priest

MIDDELTOWN (NY)
Times Herald-Record

February 14, 2020

By Chris McKenna

At least 10 people who say they were sexually abused as children by a priest who worked in Orange County for a dozen years in the 1980s and ’90s have now sued the Catholic Church under a recent law that gave them the ability to file those cases.

The latest lawsuit involving Father Edward Pipala, who died in 2013 after serving seven years in prison, was brought by two Orange County men who say he abused them many times while they were parishioners at Sacred Heart Church in Monroe, where Pipala worked from 1981 to 1988 and ran the youth ministry.

One victim says Pipala began abusing him when he was 13 and did so about 150 times over five years.

The other estimates Pipala assaulted him as many as 200 times while the priest was at Sacred Heart and then at St. John the Evangelist in Goshen, which he led as its pastor until 1992.

The assaults took place in the church basement and rectory at Sacred Heart and at a Jersey Shore condo where Pipala used to bring groups of boys for overnight stays, according to a case the two plaintiffs jointly filed on Monday against Sacred Heart and Catholic Archdiocese of New York in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.

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Retired Bishop Clark to be deposed within next 30 days, judge rules

ROCHESTER (NY)
WHAM

February 11, 2020

A federal judge has ruled retired Bishop Matthew Clark will be deposed amid ongoing bankruptcy proceedings against the Diocese of Rochester.

The diocese filed for bankruptcy last year amid the filing of lawsuits under the Child Victims Act.

Attorneys had asked a judge to put the retired bishop on the stand. They say Clark, who presided over the diocese for more than three decades, knows the answers to questions only he can answer related to “his knowledge of sexual abuse”, “transfers of sexual abusers” and how complaints against priests were investigated.

In September, the diocese announced Clark had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The diagnosis was announced less than a month after lawsuits began to be filed under the Child Victims Act, and less than two weeks before the diocese declared it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Attorneys for CVA victims said it was critical Clark answer questions related to their cases “before he is no longer able to testify.”

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St. Rocco’s priest’s legacy is questioned: Sexual abuse victim calls for removal of name from church

GARDEN CITY (NY)
Long Island Herald

February 13, 2020

By Ronny Reyes

The Rev. Eligio Della Rosa served the parish of the Church of St. Rocco for more than 15 years. Although he first arrived in Glen Cove in 1965 for a four-year stay, it wasn’t until he returned in 1975 that he solidified his legacy in the city by reinstating the famous Feast of St. Rocco’s, a five-day festival celebrating the church and the city’s Italian-American heritage.

The annual festival, known locally as the “Best Feast in the East,” attracts hundreds of visitors to the city. For Della Rosa’s work at St. Rocco’s, the church named a parish center after him. Della Rosa died while serving at the church in 1991.

While he is remembered for his service in Glen Cove, an allegation of sexual abuse against him recently resurfaced: The attorney for a man who claims the priest abused him more than 50 years ago, at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Rocky Point, is demanding that the priest’s name be removed from the St. Rocco parish center. The attorney, Mitchell Garabedian — who was portrayed by actor Stanley Tucci in the Oscar-winning film “Spotlight,” about the Boston Globe’s series of stories detailing the abuse allegations against priests in Boston — said he had reached an out-of-court, low-six-figure settlement with the Diocese of Rockville Centre last September for Della Rosa’s alleged abuse of the man when he was a teenager in 1964, a year before Della Rosa came to Glen Cove.

“He asked my client to meet him in the pews of the church, and my client did,” Garabedian said by phone at a news conference outside the Church of St. Rocco on Feb. 5. “And that’s where my client was sexually abused by Father Della Rosa, by Father Della Rosa instructing my client to perform oral sex on Father Della Rosa at the age of 14.”

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Philly’s Catholic archdiocese paid a six-figure clergy sex-abuse settlement

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

February 14, 2020

By Mensah M. Dean and Jeremy Roebuck

https://www.inquirer.com/news/mitchell-garabedian-clergy-sex-abuse-archdiocese-philadelphia-john-bradley-20200215.html

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia last year paid a six-figure settlement to a man who alleged he was abused by the Rev. John J. Bradley at St. Charles Borromeo parish in the 1980s. But the accuser’s lawyer and church officials couldn’t agree Friday on which John J. Bradley was accused.

The issue, a church spokesperson said, is that two priests by that name worked at the Drexel Hill parish — one between 1963 and 1968, the other between 1977 and 1996. The archdiocese maintains that its victim compensation fund settled the case over the alleged conduct of the latter priest, who died more than two decades ago.

But at a news conference outside the archdiocese’s Center City offices Friday, the accuser’s lawyer and an activist blamed the other priest, who is still alive, and criticized the archdiocese for letting him retire quietly to an archdiocesan home in Darby Borough.

Three hours later, they admitted they had accused the wrong man after The Inquirer raised questions about the discrepancies between their account and that of archdiocesan officials.

“I believe that the sexual abuser in this matter was the late Father John J. Bradley and not any other priest, given the recent admission by the representative of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia,” Mitchell Garabedian, the accuser’s attorney, said three hours after the news conference.

Either way, neither Bradley appears on the archdiocese’s public list of credibly accused priests, raising questions over how comprehensive and transparent it is.

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In this time of great scandal, faithful priests need your love more than ever

McLEAN (VA)
USA Today

February 15, 2020

By Tim Busch

In this time of great scandal, faithful priests need your love more than ever

After suffering the anguish of the abuse among their ranks, priests across our nation are battling feelings of profound defeat.

There’s a crisis in the Catholic Church that no one’s talking about. It’s not abuse. It’s not cover-ups. It doesn’t spring from Vatican infighting. It starts much closer to home, with the shepherds who guide the flock. Many good and godly Catholic priests are struggling with their vocation.

I realized this in January after hosting a conference for nearly 200 American priests. At a similar event in 2019, I could tell that morale was low. It hadn’t been that long since the summer of shame, when the Pennsylvania grand jury report peeled back the curtain on terrible abuse mostly during the 20th Century and former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was removed from ministry for abusing children and seminary students. It was a low point for every Catholic, including — or perhaps, especially — priests. I assumed that the mood would improve over the year. It got worse.

Nearly every priest I spoke with in January admitted it’s a tough time. Father John Riccardo, a Midwestern priest whose job includes encouraging his peers, told me “it’s never been this bad.” They’re also beat down by the sins of priests who perpetrated terrible crimes. Most priests already deal daily with struggling and suffering parishioners, so they particularly feel the wounds inflicted on God’s people.

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Federal judge: Archdiocese seeking counsel of Saints PR man on priest abuse list was my idea

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
NOLA.com

February 14, 2020

By Ramon Antonio Vargas

U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey says the PR man — Greg Bensel — is a longtime, trusted personal friend and a skilled practitioner of his craft

A federal judge in New Orleans said Friday that he gave Archbishop Gregory Aymond the idea of bringing in the Saints’ top public relations executive to advise the archdiocese as it prepared to release a list of allegedly abusive clergymen.

Jay Zainey, a devout Catholic who has sat on the U.S. District Court bench in New Orleans since 2002, said he told Aymond before the November 2018 release of the list that Greg Bensel, the NFL team’s vice president of communications and a longtime friend of Zainey, could help manage the latest flare-up in the abuse scandal and ensure that parishioners and the public understood that safety measures were now in place to prevent “sins of the past” from recurring.

Zainey offered the suggestion during a chance encounter with Aymond at a Mass, he said.

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Valley Catholic priest accused of abuse will not face charges

FRESNO (CA)
ABC 30

February 14, 2020

By Corin Hoggard

A Catholic priest accused of abuse by people across the Valley will not face criminal charges in the last active investigation.

The Fresno County district attorney’s office released a statement late Friday afternoon announcing they will not file a sex abuse case against Monsignor Craig Harrison, despite a police report filed by a man in Firebaugh deemed credible by their investigators.

Police in Bakersfield and Merced have previously announced they would not pursue charges against Harrison for abuse reports in their jurisdictions.

Both Fresno County prosecutors and Merced police mentioned the statute of limitations as an issue with their investigations.

The state only allows prosecutors to file most sex abuse cases until the victim turns 40 years old unless there’s DNA evidence or “independent corroborating evidence.”

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Priest accused of abuse won’t face charges in Fresno County

FRESNO (CA)
KMPH

February 14, 2020

The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office has decided it will not file sexual assault charges against Monsignor Craig Harrison, citing the statute of limitations.

Even so, “the allegations made against Monsignor Harrison appear credible to investigators,” a news release from the District Attorney’s office reads.

The office had been investigating sexual misconduct accusations dating back to the 1990’s, while Harrison had been assigned to a church in Firebaugh.

But the allegations were not reported to law enforcement until April of 2019.

“The District Attorney’s decision is based upon the statute of limitations that applies to criminal cases. A different statute of limitations may apply to civil actions,” says a news release.

In November, the Merced County District Attorney decided not to file charges.

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Saskatchewan priest sent back to Scotland to answer for decades old sexual abuse charges

SASKATOON (SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA)
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

February 14, 2020

By Alec Salloum

https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/saskatchewan-priest-sent-back-to-scotland-to-answer-for-decades-old-sexual-abuse-charges/wcm/8862c9bd-ab05-446e-9a5c-6ea86b62ec3a

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina was informed on Thursday afternoon that Robert MacKenzie was extradited.

A Catholic priest who spent decades serving in Saskatchewan has been extradited to Scotland to face a slew of sexual abuse charges.

On Friday the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina confirmed that Robert MacKenzie, 87, had been sent back to the United Kingdom. The BBC has reported he made no plea at a private appearance on the charges.

According to previously reported information, MacKenzie faces allegations spanning 30 years — between the 1950s and 1980s — when he served as a Benedictine monk at two boys’ boarding schools.

Eric Gurash, director of communication for the Archdiocese, said they were told on Thursday afternoon that MacKenzie had left the country.

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February 14, 2020

Former Priest Convicted in Cold-Case Murder Dies in Prison

PASADENA (CA)
Courthouse News

February 13, 2020

By Erik De La Garza

Edinburg TX – John Feit, the former Catholic priest who spent more than five decades shrouded in suspicion for his involvement in the 1960 murder of McAllen schoolteacher Irene Garza, died in prison on Tuesday. He was 87.

Preliminary reports indicate that Feit, who resided in Scottsdale, Arizona, before being extradited to Texas in 2016 to face murder charges for Garza’s Easter weekend suffocation death, died of cardiac arrest, said Robert Hurst, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Hurst said Thursday evening that Feit was pronounced dead at 5:38 a.m. Tuesday at Huntsville Hospital after being found unresponsive just before 5 a.m. in his cell at the Estelle Unit.

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Terence McKiernan, president of the watchdog group BishopsAccountability.org who attended Feit’s trial in Edinburg called Garza a “saintly person” whose life and death inspired activists to bring Feit to justice. Feit preyed upon Garza’s devout Catholic beliefs, and her rape and murder “is especially important and heartbreaking,” McKiernan said.

“This case brings together many essential aspects of the clergy abuse crisis. Despite his crime, Feit was transferred away from McAllen, and he had a second career as an important priest of the Servants of the Paraclete in Jemez Springs, New Mexico,” McKiernan said.

In that role, Feit formulated and implemented a “disastrous” policy allowing pedophile priests in treatment with the Servants to work and reoffend in surrounding communities, according to McKiernan. That policy led to former Catholic priest James Porter’s sexual abuse of dozens of children, for which he was convicted of in the 1990s, with Feit in the center of a new phase in the abuse crisis.

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