ABUSE TRACKER

An official with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has denied the organization directed Santo Niño Regional Catholic School Principal Robin Chavez not to report to law enforcement a concern of possible child sexual abuse by a school employee.

In a statement Saturday, the archdiocese said, “At no time did we, nor would we ever, tell a school not to contact the authorities. That is a direct violation of our Policy of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe Abuse Awareness Training for Adults Relating to Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Harassment.”

In a late April interview with a New Mexico State Police officer, Chavez said officials with the archdiocese had informed her an incident involving 30-year-old Robert Apodaca and a student “did not yet rise to that level of notification” to law enforcement or the state child welfare agency, a state police report says.

“As of the time of my interview no contact…

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — The Diocese of Fresno has remained mostly quiet about the allegations of abuse at parishes in Firebaugh and Bakersfield made against former Monsignor Craig Harrison.

“I’ve been asked by our bishop to read this letter to you this morning,” said a clergy member at St. Francis Church in Bakersfield.

A letter from Bishop Joseph Brennan was read during Sunday mass, directly addressing the accusations first made public against the former monsignor in April of 2019.

“The Diocese of Fresno did receive allegations of misconduct involving seven minors against Craig Harrison,” the letter read.

After an internal investigation, the letter explains the Diocesan Review Board looked over each allegation and found them to be credible. Those findings led to a case being opened within the Vatican.

According to Bishop Brennan, a judicial tribunal was scheduled to hear the matter the same week that Harrison submitted his resignation…

A Spanish bishop resigned from his post to settle down with a writer of erotic novels, according to reports.

Xavier Novell, 52, started a new chapter of his life when he suddenly resigned from his position at the diocese of Solsona last August for “personal reasons” in order to have a relationship with an erotic novel writer.

The woman, who Spanish newspaper El Pais named only as “SC,” from Barcelona, has published several erotic novels.

Among the titles reportedly attributed to her are the “Amnesia Trilogy” and “Hell in Gabriel’s Lust.”

According to the publication, she will not comment on speculation “nor will she grant interviews.”

El Pais reported Pope Francis, the most senior figure in the Catholic Church, had accepted Novell’s resignation from his position.

Still according to El Pais, Novell will also ask for the Pope’s permission for a dispensation from the vow of celibacy and obedience that all Catholic bishops take…

Child sexual abuse has been found to take place in most major UK religions, according to the latest report by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. Some religious organisations were found to have no child protection policies in place at all. 

IICSA found “blatant hypocrisy” and “shocking failings” among religious organisations purporting to teach right from wrong and yet failing to prevent or respond to child sexual abuse.

The Child protection in religious organisations and settings report examines evidence received from 38 religious organisations in England and Wales. The investigation followed on from those into the Anglican and Catholic Churches already conducted by the inquiry

The report recommends that all religious organisations should have a child protection policy and that the government should legislate to amend the definition of full-time education, to bring any setting that is the pupil’s primary place of education within the scope of a registered school, and…

How one woman faces the shock and scandal of clerical sex abuse in the diocese where she grew up.

On a beautiful day in the early summer of 2018, I was puttering around my apartment and getting ready for a parish visit. I was content in my work at an archdiocese, had recently returned from a stint at the Pre-Synod on Young People at the Vatican, and was knee-deep in wedding planning. To sound cheesy, I was loving church life.

Out of the blue, as I was getting ready to leave for another day of the ministry work I loved, I received a call from a friend: “Nicole, we didn’t want you to find out elsewhere: Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been accused of sexual abuse and the accusations were found credible. The story is about to break everywhere.”

I found myself gripping the back of my sofa, totally knocked off…

NEW YORK – Soon after ex-cardinal and ex-priest Theodore McCarrick was arraigned in a Massachusetts criminal court Sept. 3 on assault and battery charges, attorneys and activists alike stood on the five steps leading up to the Dedham District Court courthouse and tried to capture the day’s significance.

“Today marks a new phase in the global struggle to hold bishops accountable,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of bishop-accountability.org, into microphones set up by various news outlets. “The world is witnessing what was unimaginable 20 years ago, a powerful (former) cardinal forced to answer child sex abuse charges in a suburban courtroom.”

Moments before, attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represents the plaintiff and sat near McCarrick during the proceedings, told reporters outside of the courthouse that this was a “very emotional day” for his client, who has “been waiting for this day for decades,” and is “riding an emotional roller coaster right…

The University Commission on Gonzaga’s response to Catholic Sexual Abuse Crisis released its 18-month report on Wednesday with recommendations for GU President Thayne McCulloh on how the university can progress as a Jesuit institution given its specific historical and geographic context. 

The report stops short of issuing a formal apology or putting particular parties at fault for the presence of priests with a history of sexual abuse on the university’s premises, but offers future strategies to the president for how to ameliorate the situation going forward. 

“The commission actually made recommendations that operationalize some of this,” McCulloh said. “For example, by recommending that we memorialize these events publicly, on the campus, then we acknowledge that harm was done and that people have suffered.”

The commission advises that a working group be assembled to plan the construction of a permanent “labyrinth” near the Jundt Art Museum. That memorial, as…

BARNSTABLE — The trial for the Catholic priest with Cape ties charged with rape is still set to take place at the beginning of October. 

Fairhaven resident Mark Hession, charged with two counts of rape, indecent assault and battery on a child 14 and under and intimidating a witness, will face a jury trial starting Oct. 5.

Hession pleaded not guilty in January to the charges. Hession served at 12 institutions in the Cape Cod and Fall River areas, including as parish priest from 2000 to 2014 at Our Lady of Victory Church in Centerville.

In a pretrial conference Aug. 30 in Barnstable Superior Court, Cape and Islands Assistant District Attorney Sharon Thibeault told Judge Mark Gildea that prosecutors were ready for the trial date. She said she is waiting for data obtained from the victim’s phone as well as contact information for all witnesses on the witness list. 

A final pretrial hearing…

There’s been another knock for Mark and Adam James, in their 41-year quest for answers as to who murdered their mother, Maria James.

Key points:

• A coronial inquiry into the death of Maria James, set up in the wake of the ABC podcast Trace, has begun
• The counsel assisting the coroner, Sharon Lacy, says a recently found bloodied quilt has not yielded usable DNA evidence
• The inquest is set to continue for three weeks

The 38-year-old single mother was killed in a frenzied stabbing attack in her Thornbury bookshop in 1980.

Maria’s bed quilt, a police exhibit that had been missing for decades, showed up recently.

But DNA testing has failed to find any clues pointing to her killer.

Counsel Assisting the coroner Sharon Lacy broke the news to the Victorian Coroners Court today.

“In June 2021, remarkably, the continental quilt was found. Unfortunately, DNA analysis since then has failed to produce any results that are useful in…

Today, the Archdiocese of Chicago distributed the following announcements on Fr. Pedro Campos, Fr. Orlando Flores Orea and Fr. René Mena Beltrán.

Fr. Orlando Flores Orea

Letter to Parishioners of Ss. Genevieve and Stanislaus (English | Español)

Letter to Parishioners of St. Paul Parish (English | Español)

Fr. Pedro Campos

Letter to Parishioners of  Ascension and St. Suzanna-St. John Baptist-St. Gerard Majella (English | Español)

Letter to Parishioners of Our Lady of Nazareth (English | Español)

Letter to Parishioners of St. Kevin Parish (English | Español)

Fr. René Mena Beltrán

Letter to Parishioners of St. Gall and St. Simon Parish (English | Español)

Three priests have been removed by the Archdiocese of Chicago pending investigations into inappropriate conduct. None of the incidents involving the priests under investigation involved children.

Fr. Orlando Flores Orea of Ss. Genevieve, Stanislaus Bishop, St. Agnes, St. Kieran and St. Paul Parish was asked to step aside from ministry while the Archdiocese investigates a relationship Flores Orea had with an adult woman.

Fr. Pedro Campos of St. Gerard Majella, St. John the Baptist and Ascension-St. Susana Parish is under investigation for an inappropriate relationship with an adult man while he was a pastor at St. Kevin Parish.

While the investigation is ongoing, Fr. Gary Graf of St. Agnes, St. Kieran and St. Paul in Chicago Heights will serve as the parish administrator.

Fr. René Mena Beltrán of St. Gall and St. Simon Parish is under investigation for inappropriate behavior involving an adult man. While Beltrán is under investigation, Fr….

The law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates has filed two new civil sexual battery lawsuits against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and the Archdiocese of Newark, according to a Sept. 2 press release from the firm.

The lawsuit filed by JA DOE 60, a former employee of the Archdiocese of Newark, alleges that, in approximately 1991, McCarrick engaged in unpermitted sexual contact with the plaintiff and that the abuse allegedly occurred at the Archdiocese of Newark cathedral in Newark. McCarrick, who is 91 and currently living in Missouri, was ordained in 1958 and defrocked in 2019.

The second lawsuit, filed by Father Lauro Sedlmayer, alleges that Sedlmayer, a former N.J. priest who came to America from Brazil to expand his ministry, was sexually assaulted by his then-boss McCarrick and repeatedly reported the abuse. The suit also alleges that, on multiple occasions in approximately 1991, McCarrick engaged in unpermitted sexual contact…

Will Catholic women lag behind their Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi sisters in challenging patriarchal traditions?

I recently watched a debate at the Oxford Union on why Arab men hate women. Egyptian feminist Mona Eltahawy, who was the main speaker, brought forward numerous instances of women’s oppression in the Muslim Arab world. 

These were not unique to Islam, she emphasized. They occur with variations wherever patriarchy holds sway.

The truth is that similar attitudes of patriarchy dominate the Catholic world as women themselves have reiterated for decades.

A recent report commissioned by the Conference of Religious Women in India, “It’s High Time, Women Religious speak up on Gender Justice in the Indian Church,” edited by Hazel D’Lima, Cletus Zuzarte and Pallavi Xalxo, brings this out sharply.

The hierarchy of the Church, the report says, is steeped in patriarchy. This contributes in no small way to its oppression of all women —…

As disgraced 91-year-old cardinal Theodore McCarrick stood in an American court last week, charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a minor, the spectre of the late Scottish cardinal, Keith O’Brien, hovered silently over proceedings. Two elderly men, who once donned scarlet robes and mitres, who reached the pinnacle of Catholic church power, stripped to civvies. McCarrick pleaded not guilty to the charges.

O’Brien, the UK’s then most senior Catholic cleric, and a vocal opponent of gay rights, resigned in 2013 after the Observer revealed details of his sexually inappropriate behaviour with priests in his diocese.

For ex-priest Brian Devlin, one of the four whistleblowers who testified against O’Brien back in 2013, the two cases are clearly linked. “If we hadn’t gone to the Observer back then, the church would have dealt with McCarrick quite differently. Without O’Brien, there would be no church process.”

Devlin has written a book, Cardinal Sin, outlining his experiences…

The creator of the violent comic-book lawman drew dark inspiration from his Catholic upbringing. Now he too is seeking justice

For more than 40 years a rampaging, ultra-violent lawman called Judge Dredd has stalked the pages of British comics, as well as featuring in films, novels and video games. A television series is even in the pipeline.

Yet behind the blood-spattered fiction of a ruthless enforcer lies a very different story: that of a vulnerable schoolboy who has never forgotten the abuse he says he suffered at the hands of the Roman Catholic monks who ran his school.

The man whose childhood misery inspired him to create the Judge Dredd character is now fighting for a public reckoning of his own.

As a boy, Pat Mills, a writer and publisher often described as the “godfather of British comics”, attended St Joseph’s, a private school in Ipswich that at the time was…

A former priest who says he was abused by shamed Cardinal O’Brien has called for a secret Vatican report into the allegations to be released.

Brian Devlin, 61, was one of four priests who accused the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh of sexual misconduct in 2013.

The scandal saw the disgraced cardinal – one of the most senior Catholic clerics in the UK – quit and apologise.

In the aftermath, the Vatican ordered its own internal probe, carried out by Bishop Charles Scicluna.

The bishop – who has gone on to become the Archbishop of Malta – was one of the Vatican’s best known sex abuse investigators.

His team travelled to Scotland in 2014 and carried out interviews as part of their 12-month long investigation into O’Brien’s conduct.

But details of the secret probe – which is believed to have been shown to the Pope – have never been revealed.

Brian, who…

A change in law in New York has allowed for the filing of more than 9,000 child abuse claims – including cases against Prince Andrew, Bob Dylan and high-profile Catholic priests – previously blocked by the state’s statute of limitations.

Warning: The following content may be upsetting to some readers.

Tom Andriola was 25, standing on the edge of Bryce Canyon in Utah, and an impulse to jump kept flashing through his mind.

It had been 14 years since Mr Andriola’s adopted older brother sexually abused him, but the memory was still raw. There, on the edge of the canyon, in the seclusion of the park, his wife became the first person he told.

“I truly thought if I spoke anything about this, that he was going to come and kill me,” Mr Andriola recalled.

A few weeks earlier, that same brother had paid them a visit and stayed an…

[Includes audio with clips of statements by Bob Hoatson and Anne Barrett Doyle]

Former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing a boy nearly 50 years ago. Ousted from the priesthood, he’s the only U.S. Cardinal to face such charges.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick pleaded not guilty today to three counts of sexual assault on a teenager. He’s the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic Church official to be charged with a sex crime, and his undoing has renewed calls for the Catholic Church to identify sex offenders in its ranks. Meg Woolhouse of member station GBH was at his arraignment near Boston and is on the line now.

Meg, tell us what the scene was like at the courthouse today.

MEG WOOLHOUSE, BYLINE: Well, McCarrick is 91, and he looked pretty frail. And it was all kind of painful to watch. Going in and out…

James Grein, who authored this open letter to encourage abuse victims to come forward, was sexually abused for almost two decades by ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who is being arraigned Sept. 3 for a sexual crime against another victim. Grein’s testimony in New Jersey and New York has highlighted the crisis of homosexual pederasty in the Catholic Church.

[Includes a video of James Grein’s speech in Baltimore on November 17, 2018]

Sept. 3, 2021

The district attorney of Norfolk County, Massachusetts has found solid, credible evidence of sexual abuse by Theodore McCarrick, the once-chief power broker of the U.S. Catholic Church who is also the highest-ranking Catholic prelate ever to be charged for sex abuse. 

Today he comes one step closer to accountability for his crimes — but sadly, just one. And  View Cache

[Includes video of attorney Mitchell Garabedian speaking about the victim in the case and an excerpt from Anne Barrett Doyle’s statement at the BishopAccountabiity.org press conference.]

Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick allegedly immersed himself into “the fabric of the victim’s family,” and then used confession to isolate and sexually assault him, the Massachusetts prosecutor said.

Bail was set at $5,000 for defrocked former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who is charged with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy at Wellesley College in the 1970s.

A not-guilty plea was entered on McCarrick’s behalf during his arraignment in Dedham District Court Friday, where he remained silent.

Wellesley police charged McCarrick, now 91 and living in Missouri, more than a month ago with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14. Advocates for victims of clergy abuse protested outside of the courthouse before his 9 a.m. arraignment Friday.

Bail was set with the conditions…

Theodore McCarrick is the first former or current U.S. cardinal to be charged with sex crimes

Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who as archbishop of Washington, D.C. was one of the most powerful leaders of the U.S. Catholic Church, appeared in a Massachusetts court on Friday to face charges of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy in 1974.

Mr. McCarrick is the first current or former U.S. cardinal to be charged with sex crimes. In a hearing on Friday morning, prosecutors at District Court in Dedham, Mass., charged Mr. McCarrick with three counts of indecent assault and battery. He pleaded not guilty on all counts.

“His appearance in court marks the victory of accountability over impunity, and of the rule of civil law over the Vatican’s failed strategy of coverup,” said a statement from BishopAccountability.org, a Boston-based group that tracks clerical sex-abuse cases.

The Vatican and a lawyer for Mr….

[Includes a video of the prosecutor briefly describing McCarrick’s alleged crimes.]

Former U.S. Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy during a wedding reception in Massachusetts nearly 50 years ago.

The 91-year-old McCarrick was heckled by a protester as he arrived but said nothing during a brief appearance in suburban Boston’s Dedham District Court.

McCarrick is the only current or former U.S. Catholic cardinal to ever be criminally charged with child sex crimes. An attorney for McCarrick says they are “looking forward to addressing the allegations in court” and would have no other immediate comment.

Pope Francis defrocked McCarrick in 2019 after a Vatican investigation.

[See also a PDF of the Washington Post front page.]

Disgraced ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick, 91, in street clothes, stooped and using a walker, was arraigned Friday in a suburban Boston courtroom on three counts of criminal child sex abuse.

It was the first time the former Catholic archbishop of Washington had appeared in public since 2018, when his fall began amid a wave of sex abuse allegations. Some in the crowd outside, including survivors of other assaults, screamed at the former global power-broker: “Shame on you! Prince of the church!”

Inside, McCarrick was charged with sexually assaulting a teen in the 1970s, the first time a U.S. cardinal has faced a criminal charge of abuse. He pleaded not guilty during the hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes. Judge Michael J. Pomarole ordered McCarrick to give up his passport and to stay away from people under the age of…

[Includes video summarizing McCarrick’s career, the allegations against him, and the actions the church eventually took.]

Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked by The Vatican in 2019 over sex abuse allegations, pleaded not guilty to three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older at an arraignment in Dedham District Court in Massachusetts Friday.

A judge set a $5000 cash bail, ordering McCarrick to have no contact with the alleged victim or any minors under the age of 18.

A Norfolk County prosecutor told the judge that McCarrick “immersed himself into the fabric of the victim’s family, and then used his status as a priest to access and prey upon the victim.”

“He specifically used the act of confession to get the victim away from his parents and from his siblings and then would sexually assault the victim during that time frame,” she…

Dedham, Mass. – Former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges he molested a 16-year-old boy in 1974, a case that makes him the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic official to be prosecuted for sexually abusing a minor.

McCarrick, 91, a former archbishop of Washington, D.C., wore a face mask and hunched over a walker as he entered the courthouse in Dedham, Massachusetts, walking past TV cameras and a demonstrator yelling “shame on you.”

He said nothing as the court entered a not guilty plea on his behalf to three counts of indecent assault and battery filed in July. Each charge carries up to five years in prison.

Bail was set at $5,000, and McCarrick, who now lives in Dittmer, Missouri, was ordered not to contact his alleged victim or children. His lawyer declined to comment. McCarrick has said he had no recollection of committing child abuse.

…

[Via Catholic Review of the Archdiocese of Baltimore]

While financial reforms in the Vatican are progressing steadily, cases involving corruption and malfeasance in the Eternal City are “a disease that we relapse into,” Pope Francis said.

In a wide-ranging interview broadcast Sept. 1 by COPE, the Spanish radio station owned by the Spanish bishops’ conference, Pope Francis said changes made in the Vatican’s financial laws have allowed prosecutors to “become more independent” in their investigations.

“Let’s hope that these steps we are taking … will help to make these events happen less and less,” he said.

During the interview, the pope was asked about the Vatican trial against 10 individuals and entities, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu, former prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, on charges ranging from embezzlement to money laundering and abuse of office.

The charges stemmed from a Vatican investigation into how the Secretariat of State used…

Lawsuit alleges priests ‘misrepresented … sexual assaults and battery as acceptable to God.’

Vancouver’s Roman Catholic Archdiocese and a church order of priests have denied any involvement in or liability for alleged sexual abuse of a youth by three priests.

Ronald Wayne Petruk, 76, filed suit against The Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Vancouver (RCAV), a Corporation Sole and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

In the suit, Petruk describes multiple assaults by three named and other priests, one in a church at Easter. He alleges he was forced to watch priests having sex with each other.

A dead former B.C. Roman Catholic bishop, convicted in 1997 of rape and indecent assault against residential school students, is among priests were named in a notice of civil claim, filed in BC Supreme Court June 18.

The suit names the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Vancouver,…

A Gonzaga University commission has released its recommendations for the university to adopt in light of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests.

In 2019, the university came under scrutiny for housing Jesuit priests accused of sexual abuse.

Those priests lived in the Cardinal Bea House, a Jesuit-owned building on Gonzaga’s campus.

Specifically, the university referenced the “horrifying, predatory sexual abuse of Alaska Native girls and women by James Poole, a Jesuit priest who worked at the time in Nome, Alaska.” The Society Of Jesus knowingly reassigned priests like Poole and others to new locations where they had access to children, women and vulnerable adults. Some of them continued their abuse before being assigned to the Cardinal Bea retirement house on the Gonzaga campus.

As that information came to light, Gonzaga President Thayne McCulloh appointed the commission to “identify, discuss, and make recommendations” regarding a “set of formal actions…

Theodore McCarrick, 91, is scheduled to appear in public — in a Massachusetts courtroom — on Friday for the first time since 2018, when the former Catholic cardinal and global power-broker began his fall amid a wave of sex abuse allegations. He will be arraigned on three counts of sexually assaulting a teen in the 1970s, the first U.S. cardinal to face criminal charges of abuse.

Now in his early 60s, the accuser plans to be with supporters in the courtroom, the first time McCarrick will publicly face one of the more than a dozen people who say the once-powerful cleric sexually abused or harassed them as boys or young seminarians or clerics. Prosecutors say McCarrick abused the man when he was 16, in a coat room at the man’s brother’s wedding in Wellesley, Mass.

The sight of McCarrick, who now lives at a suburban Missouri treatment center, in regular…

Manchester’s Bishop Peter Libasci is asking a judge to dismiss the sex abuse lawsuit against him, saying in a response filed on Tuesday that none of the allegations are true.

Libasci was named in the lawsuit filed in July, accused of abusing an altar boy during the 1980s when Libasci was a parish priest in the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

Libasci has maintained his innocence since NH Reporter first broke news of the lawsuit, filed in the Suffolk County Supreme Court in New York. The answer to the lawsuit, written by Boston attorneys Michael Connolly and Stephen Rosemarino, with the law firm of Hinckley, Allen & Snyder, denies all of the allegations and demands that the case be dismissed. Libasci is also seeking to recover attorney fees from his accuser.

The legal response to the allegations offered by Libasci’s lawyers does not give…

[Via Herald-Standard, Unionville PA]

The Vatican has concluded that allegations of sexual abuse dating back a half century against the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brooklyn do not “have the semblance of truth,” but an attorney for the accusers said they would press forward with their civil cases.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, said Wednesday that the Vatican has closed its investigation into allegations made separately by two men, who accused the bishop, Nicholas DiMarzio, of abusing them a half century ago when he was a priest in New Jersey.

DiMarzio denied the accusations made by his accusers, both of whom have filed civil claims against him.

“I repeat what I have said from the beginning. There is no truth to these allegations. Throughout my more than 50-year ministry as a priest, I have never abused anyone,” DiMarzio said in a statement. He said he “fully cooperated” with…

Brooklyn bishop Nicholas DiMarzio was  first accused of child sexual abuse in November 2019. A second alleged victim came forward in June 2020. Today, 21 months after the first complainant came forward, we learned that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith found the allegations “not to have the semblance of truth” and so not worthy of a full canonical trial.

This sweeping dismissal of the alleged victims reflects the skepticism that Cardinal Timothy Dolan expressed at the outset of the Church’s probe, which was conducted under the Pope’s 2019 law, Vos Estis Lux Mundi.

We question the objectivity of the Church’s process. Four aspects of it were troubling: 1) Cardinal Dolan’s public comments in support of DiMarzio, 2) the lack of independence of the so-called independent investigators, 3) the Pope’s approval of DiMarzio’s staying in office while under investigation, and 4) the Church’s lack of transparency. 

…

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio still faces two lawsuits based on the allegations, which date to his time as a young priest in Jersey City.

The Archdiocese of New York said on Wednesday that an investigation authorized by the Vatican had cleared Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, the leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, of allegations made against him by two men who said they were abused as children.

The accusations, which date to the bishop’s time as a young priest in Jersey City in the 1970s, were found by the Vatican’s powerful doctrinal office “not to have the semblance of truth,” the archdiocese said in a statement.

The findings likely mean Bishop DiMarzio, who has led the Brooklyn diocese since 2003, will face no disciplinary action from church officials, regardless of what happens with two civil lawsuits based on the allegations that continue to wind their way through the courts in…

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn has been exonerated of sexual abuse allegations that date back nearly a half-century. 

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced on Sept. 1 that it found the allegations “not to have the semblance of truth” after a year-plus-long independent investigation.

“I repeat what I have said from the beginning. There is no truth to these allegations,” Bishop DiMarzio said in a statement on Sept. 1. “Throughout my more than 50-year ministry as a priest, I have never abused anyone.” 

Given this finding, the Vatican will not authorize any further canonical process to address the allegations. The investigation will not affect the status of the two civil lawsuits that claim Bishop DiMarzio abused two minors while he was a young priest in the Archdiocese of Newark. 

The lawsuits were possible because of New York’s Child Victims Act.​​ The law, which went into effect…

An audit conducted in July found the Diocese of Honolulu in full compliance with the U.S. bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” the set of procedures the bishops established in 2002 for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy.

A letter dated Aug. 11 to Bishop Larry Silva from StoneBridge Business Partners Inc., the independent third-party organization contracted by the U.S. bishops to conduct diocesan audits, stated that “the Diocese has been found compliant with all audited Articles within the ‘Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People’ for the audit period of July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2021.”

The Charter, which has been revised several times, includes guidelines for creating safe environments for children and young people, reconciling victims, responding promptly to allegations, cooperating with civil authorities, disciplining offenders and preventing future acts of abuse.

An audit is done every…

The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Rochester has submitted his resignation to the head of the Church.

In a letter to the church community, Rev. Salvatore Matano says canon law requires him to step down when he reaches 75, which he does this month.

The resignation requires approval by Pope Francis, who also determines when it becomes effective.

In his letter, Matano noted that other diocesan bishops in the country have served past the age of 75 until their successor has been appointed.

The potential change in leadership comes at a pivotal time for local Catholics. Nearly two years ago, the diocese filed for bankruptcy – becoming the first in the state to do so.

In his letter, Matano says COVID-19 has impacted the proceedings. Seven mediation sessions have been held, but they did not lead to a settlement agreement. Mediation is continuing through Sept. 2.

The…

[Via The Dialog of the Diocese of Wilmington]

The Diocese of Rockville Centre has ended publication of The Long Island Catholic magazine and Fe Fuerza Vida, its Spanish-language newspaper.

Sean Dolan, associate publisher and director of communications for the diocese, announced the changes in an Aug. 27 news release, saying they were taking place immediately.

He told Catholic News Service Aug. 31 that the decision to close the publications marked “a sad day” for the diocese.

The moved resulted in the loss of 2.5 positions at the diocese, including the magazine’s advertising sales representative and the newspaper’s editor, Dolan said.

“We were subsidizing both the paper and the magazine for some time,” Dolan explained. “We were one of the only publications that had to generate advertising revenue and subscription income to justify that existence.”

The diocese also is “straining” financially from its October 2020 filing of a petition for reorganization…

At least 150 child sex abuse lawsuits were filed against Jewish institutions in New York over the past two years under a special law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations barring old claims, according to an analysis of the New York court system by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.  

This look-back window for reviving allegations was created by the Child Victims Act of 2019 and it led to a dramatic wave of lawsuits that peaked just ahead of the Aug. 14 deadline. Survivors took advantage of the CVA window to file nearly 11,000 civil suits against individuals and institutions, according to data provided by the New York’s Office of Court Administration. 

Only a small fraction of the total involve Jewish institutions, but the number is high enough to reflect a widespread desire among Jewish survivors to hold officials accountable and expose policies and practices that allegedly enabled the abuse.

The…

September 2021

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

On September 12th of this year it will be two years since the Diocese filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in order to address in the best and fairest manner possible the now approximately 475 claims (this is the number of claims, not the number of persons accused) brought against the Diocese by the survivors of childhood sexual abuse by clergy, religious and laity.

Over these past two years, all parties concerned have been seriously affected, certainly the survivors, our priests and others in diocesan ministries who have had no part in these egregious acts, but who daily continue to serve the faithful, and truly, my sisters and brothers, all of you rightly scandalized and your faith shaken by those who violated a sacred trust and betrayed their promise to serve faithfully Our Lord and…

Deep disappointment with the church used to reveal deep love. Father Bryan Massingale says something has changed.

My ministry focuses on speaking and writing about race and sexuality. Lately, in discussions after online lectures or webinars, I hear the following questions and comments with increasing frequency: “How can I remain a member of the church?” “I don’t know how long I can stay.” “Why should I stay in the church?” “My kids/friends/relatives have left, and I don’t know what to tell them.” “Why would a gay or lesbian person stay Catholic?” “If the church doesn’t value or care about Black Catholics, why stay?”

Before going further, I know that a column like this will generate responses from Catholic apologists along the lines of: “You stay because we’re the one true church.” “Because we have Jesus and the sacraments.” “We have the Truth.” “If people can’t accept the truth of the…

[Via ABC News. See the indictment.]

A federal grand jury has indicted a defrocked American priest on charges of having sex with minors while running a children’s shelter in a remote part of East Timor

A federal grand jury has indicted a defrocked American priest on charges of having sex with minors while running a children’s shelter in a remote part of East Timor.

Richard Daschbach, 84, faces seven counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct at the Topu Honis shelter that he founded decades ago in the mountains of the predominantly Catholic island country south of Indonesia. A Department of Justice spokesperson said Monday she could not comment on whether there are plans to extradite the former priest who is currently on trial in East Timor for the same allegations.

If convicted in the U.S., Daschbach could receive up to 30 years in prison for each count, according…

A WINDOW CLOSED. AN ISLAND CHANGED. This story is the third piece in a four-part series examining the impact of the Child Victims Act.

Part 1:These 5 Staten Island institutions, figures may never be the same again | Part 2:What’s next for the Catholic church? Devoted parishioners, veteran priest share thoughts after Child Victims Act.

—

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Child Victims Act, a historic open window that allowed sex-abuse survivors to file civil suits against alleged abusers without statute of limitations restrictions, sent seismic waves across Staten Island that undermined the confidence in beloved institutions and cast a pall over numerous influential and revered figures on the borough.

Thousands of cases later, the window officially closed on Aug. 14, 2021 and set eyes forward on an extraordinary fallout that could have significant financial implications and leave victims waiting for closure.

Experts and lawyers…

[Includes video of testimony by Patty Fortney-Julius and others on March 7, 2019 about abuse by Fr. Augustine Giella and SOL reform.]

Two former students in the West Essex Regional School District are claiming that a teacher, now deceased, sexually abused them when they were in middle school in the late 1970s.

Scott Reynolds and Peter Bonastia filed separate lawsuits against the school district in Superior Court on Aug. 19. The men said Michael Petrucelli, a history and photography teacher at West Essex Middle School, sexually assaulted them multiple times in 1978.

John Baldante, lawyer for both men, said a third victim has also come forward and is expected to file his own lawsuit within the next week or two.

Bonastia, a former Fairfield resident, said in his lawsuit that Petrucelli assaulted him on at least four occasions while Reynolds, a former North Caldwell resident, said he was assaulted at least once. Both men said they believe…

[Via The News International]

A priest and three other men have been charged with the gang rape and murder of a low-caste nine-year-old girl, Indian police said, in a case that sparked days of protests in New Delhi.

The girl was allegedly assaulted by the priest, 53, and three workers on August 1 after she had gone to a crematorium to fetch water. The four men, who have been in custody since they were detained in early August, face the death penalty.

The girl’s mother earlier told police the men called her to the crematorium and claimed her daughter was electrocuted. They told her that if she reported the incident to police, doctors conducting an autopsy would remove her child’s organs and sell them. Her daughter’s body was then cremated, before some locals intervened and pulled some charred remains from the pyre.

The 400-page charge sheet from Delhi Police cited…

In light of allegations of sexual abuse that were first reported in a Child Victims Act (CVA) case, Father John “Jack” Varno, a retired priest in the Diocese of Albany who serves as a sacramental minister in several parishes, has voluntarily withdrawn from public ministry while the case moves forward. The decision is effective immediately. While on leave, Father Varno will not publicly officiate at sacraments, wear clerical garb, or present himself as a priest.

Father Varno maintains his innocence but has made the decision for the good of the parishes he serves and the Diocese. Out of an abundance of caution and sensitivity to all concerned, Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger has accepted Father Varno’s decision, and asks for prayers for all involved.

Father Varno had been serving as a sacramental minister at Our Lady of Grace in Ballston Lake, Immaculate Conception in Glenville, and St. Joseph’s in Scotia. The…

In a better world, Jeremy J.* would be making documentaries about pets.

But the planet we live on has far more urgent and pressing stories to tell than those of kittens and puppies. Children and adults are being sexually abused, and far too little is being done to hear their stories, protect them, and prevent abuse, says Jeremy.

That’s why this first-time filmmaker has created a 13.5-hour documentary including victims/survivors opening up about abuse they have endured, experts weighing in on preventative justice, and even an interview with a self-professed pedophile.

It’s called The Cost of Silence. Unlike other public offerings on the subject, Jeremy’s project focuses on male victims of sexual abuse.

Listening to all abuse victims

“I want to push us to a point to having a meaningful discussion,” he told The B.C. Catholic in an interview in June. “We can never have the meaningful conversations we need to…

Situated in the slender, triangular slice of land known as Bienville Place park in the French Quarter, the 26-foot statue of the man commonly known as the founder and father of New Orleans stands as a monument to the historical narrative established more than 300 years ago by white European colonizers and subsequently embellished, glorified and practically sanctified by successive generations of white Christians in what is now Louisiana.

Indeed, the imposing statue of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville explicitly links the historically ballyhooed and supposedly righteous white-man’s development of the American state with the growth and omnipresent influence of Catholicism and other Christian sects in the halls of political and socioeconomic power by also featuring a small bronze figure of a pious, Bible-reading Catholic priest accompanying and symbolically blessing the statue of Bienville, a white European colonizer.

However, often overlooked or outright ignored is a third figure sitting below…

The Boston archbishop has launched a church investigation into allegations that New Hampshire Bishop Peter Libasci groped an altar boy decades ago, the archdiocese signaled last week.

In an email, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston said the matter has been referred to the Washington-based apostolic nuncio, which is the point of contact between American dioceses and the Vatican.

The referral follows a 2019 change in church law that governs how claims of abuse against bishops are handled, according to Terrance Dillon, a spokesman for the archdiocese.

The 2019 change to Church law calls for an archbishop to investigate allegations of abuse by a bishop. The archbishop is supposed to make regular updates to the Vatican, and then render a final report and recommendations.

It was unclear from Dillon’s email how far the process has gone.

Libasci’s attorney, Michael J. Connolly of Boston, said the bishop has not been…

The court rejects the argument that publicity about the lawsuit might taint jury pool, and “has imposed a deep emotional burden upon [church’s] current members, imposes a possibility of some clients of the church’s weekly meal, food pantry, counseling programs, or other services withdrawing their participation [and] imposes a possibility of loss of donors.”

An interesting decision from two months ago, now on appeal—Barker v. Victorious Life Christian Church, from New York Albany County trial court Judge Michael Mackey:

In this action brought pursuant to the New York Child Victims Act, CPLR § 214-g [which extended the statute of limitations on cases involving minor sex victims -EV], defendant Victorious Life Christian Church … and defendant Dominick Brignola … separately move for a “gag” order restraining plaintiff Abigail Barker and her counsel from “communicating with representatives of the media, or with any person or entity whom plaintiff or [her] attorney…

The Women and Children’s Ministries of the Upper East Ghana Mission of the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church in Bolgatanga has called for the protection of women and children against all forms of abuse.

According to them, society was seemingly forgetting that abuses against children and women existed and noted that children who were the future leaders of Ghana, suffered various forms of abuses which affected their proper growth and development.

Members of the Ministries in the company of leadership of the Church held placards, sung and danced in procession on major streets within the Bolgatanga Township to draw the attention of the public to various abuses on women and children.

Some of the placards had inscriptions such as “Report any form of abuse to the law enforcement agency,” “Implement laws and policies that promote gender equality,” “Verbal abuse can affect children psychologically,” “Kill violence before violence kills you,” among others.

…

When someone who is a registered sex offender shows up at church and wants to participate — even in such a simple way as attending worship — what should church leaders do?

There is a five-step process pastors and lay leaders should follow, according to two panelists at a workshop titled “Grace vs. Law: Should Churches Welcome Known Sex Offenders?” The Aug. 26 workshop was part of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s 2021 virtual general assembly.

While there are some possible ways to allow participation by some registered sex offenders in some circumstances, the number of successes will be extremely low, according to Jay Kieve, CBF’s global abuse prevention and response advocate, and Carrie Nettles, an Alliance of Baptists-endorsed chaplain at the Julie Valentine Center in Greenville, S.C.

They acknowledged the desire of most churches to welcome all people to worship as a good impulse. However, they warned that protecting congregants — and…

A coalition of women’s rights groups are drafting an agenda to present to Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul on her first day in office as governor — and a bill strengthening sexual assault survivor protections that has languished in Albany for nearly two years is at the top of the list.

The Adult Survivors Act would grant sexual assault survivors the chance to sue their abuser after the statute of limitations has passed. The collapse of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration amid a litany of harassment allegations is both giving new urgency to the bill and clearing a potential hurdle for its ultimate adoption.

The legislation, which could be signed by New York’s first female governor, is modeled after the Child Victims Act, a law signed by Cuomo in 2019 that has helped nearly 9,000 people file claims long after the statute of limitations has passed. But the new legislation, which gives…

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Probationary sentences have ended early for two Franciscian friars who supervised a suspected child predator and rendered no contest pleas in 2018 to child endangerment charges.

Blair County Senior Judge Jolene G. Kopriva signed the orders in court Thursday for Robert J. D’Aversa, 74, and Anthony Criscitelli, 67, both of Hollidaysburg, ending their probationary sentences after nearly three years and four months of compliance.

The option for early termination was part of the five-year probation sentence Kopriva imposed on May 9, 2018, when the friars of the Third Order Regular rendered pleas to first-degree misdemeanors.

The pleas allowed them to avoid a jury trial on child endangerment and conspiracy charges.

“This case was unique,” Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Daniel Dye said Thursday.

D’Aversa and Criscitelli were prosecuted not because they abused children but because they held supervisory roles in their order, between 1994 and 2010, when fellow friar…

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WEAU) – The State of Wisconsin is pushing forward with its investigation into reports of clergy and faith leader abuse.

Attorney General Josh Kaul says the Department of Justice (DOJ) has received more than 100 reports since launching a statewide inquiry in April.

“Many of the reports relate to clergy and faith leaders who are part of the Catholic Church, but some of the reports relate to other religious organizations, clergy, and faith leaders, and some reports don’t relate to any religious institution at all,” Kaul detailed.

While Kaul isn’t disclosing where exactly the reports are coming from at this time, he does say all corners of the state are represented.

“We have received reports from within each of the diocese,” Kaul explained. “There are five diocese in Wisconsin and there’ve been reports from within each of those areas.”

The DOJ is…

Pope Francis has replaced an Australian bishop who stepped down amid a Vatican investigation into reported allegations of sexual misconduct.

The Vatican said Francis accepted Bishop Christopher Alan Saunders’ resignation as head of the Broome diocese in Western Australia’s remote Kimberley region and appointed Geraldton Bishop Michael Henry Morrissey to administer the sprawling Catholic diocese.

News police were investigating allegations of sexual misconduct against Bishop Saunders, one of Australia’s longest-serving bishops, first broke in March 2020.

The 18-month investigation was kicked off by allegations from a man in his 20s, who according to the ABC, confided in his local priest and agreed to report the information to police.

Bishop Saunders, who is well-known for his interest in Indigenous affairs and involvement in Aboriginal study groups, voluntarily stepped down from the role and has strongly denied the allegations.

In May, the ABC reported police and prosecutors had decided not to file criminal charges against the bishop,…

The Vatican has accepted the resignation of one of Australia’s longest-serving Catholic Bishops, leaving the future of its investigation into his conduct unclear.

Key points:

• Bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders resigns after 26 years
• Bishop Saunders had voluntarily stood aside in March last year
• Allegations of sexual misconduct were made public and he was the subject of separate WA Police and Vatican inquiries

In a statement released overnight, the Vatican Press Office confirmed Pope Francis had accepted the resignation of Bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders.

Bishop of Geraldton Michael Morrissey will administer the Broome Diocese until a new Bishop is appointed.

The 71-year-old Bishop’s final 18 months in office have been marred by controversy and questions over his conduct.

He voluntarily stood aside in March last year, after Kimberley Priest John Purnell went public with his concerns over the Church’s lack of action on allegations of sexual misconduct against Bishop Saunders.

Bishop Saunders strenuously denied any wrongdoing, and…

Resignation of bishop of Broome, Australia, and appointment of apostolic administrator sede vacante

Appointment of apostolic administrator of the eparchy Saint John Chrysostom of Gurgaon of the Syro-Malankars, India

Resignation of bishop of Broome, Australia, and appointment of apostolic administrator sede vacante

The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Broome, Australia, presented by Bishop Christopher Alan Saunders, and has appointed Bishop Michael Henry Morrissey, bishop of Geraldton, as apostolic administrator sede vacante of the same diocese.

Appointment of apostolic administrator of the eparchy Saint John Chrysostom of Gurgaon of the Syro-Malankars, India

The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr Varghese Vinayanand, O.I.C., as apostolic administrator of the Syro-Malankara eparchy Saint John Chrysostom of Gurgaon, India.

Ermineskin Cree Nation, Kapawe’no First Nation launch investigations

WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

Two First Nations in northern Alberta have begun investigations of former residential school grounds.

In separate news releases this month, Ermineskin Cree Nation and Kapawe’no First Nation said ground-penetrating radar would be used to search areas around Ermineskin Indian Residential School and Grouard Indian Residential School for unmarked graves.

Ermineskin Cree Nation is about 100 kilometres south of Edmonton and Kapawe’no First Nation is nearly 400 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

“This will be an incredibly difficult time for our Nation members, and others who had loved ones attend the Grouard Mission,” Kapawe’no First Nation Chief Sydney Halcrow said in a news release.

“However, we must unearth the truth and bring our people home.”

According to a news release from Ermineskin Cree Nation, a team of engineers from SNC Lavalin — under the…

A specially commissioned report aimed at paving the way for an independent investigation into Northern Ireland’s mother and baby homes scandal will be presented to the Executive next month.

Human rights experts Phil Scraton and Dr Maeve O’Rourke, along with senior social worker Deirdre Mahon, were appointed earlier this year to establish the terms of reference for the victim-centred probe.

The delivery of their report is likely to be a further boost to the victims’ campaign for a full public inquiry into systematic abuse at homes and Magdalene laundries between 1922 and 1990.

It follows the publication of a damning study carried out by Queen’s and Ulster University.

Speaking on behalf of Birth Mothers and Their Children for Justice, the largest group of birth mothers here, solicitor Claire McKeegan said it was time for an inquiry.

“The campaign for truth and justice for these women and their children has been…

According to the New York state electronic filing system, a lawsuit was filed in October of 2019 by Victor Petit-Phare against the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, St. Jerome’s School and Church, and Bishop Guy A. Sansaricq. The complaint accused Bishop Sansaricq of child sexual abuse while he was a priest at St. Jerome’s in the early 1990s.  As best we can tell, the Diocese never uttered a single word about the allegations against the Bishop.

We know that false allegations of child sexual abuse are extremely rare, and we stand with Victor. It is wrong for Catholic officials, who the whole world now knows have shielded abusive clerics in the past, to withhold information that would help other victims to find the courage to come forward rather than to sit alone and in the silence.  Child sex abuse accusations should be made public as quickly…

Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger has asked the independent Diocesan Review Board to offer advisement on the following clergy, each of whom has an allegation of child sexual abuse filed against him through the Child Victims Act. None of the clergy serve in public ministry due to illness or age, and all of them maintain their innocence.

Father James Daley was ordained in 1954. He has served at St. Patrick in Troy; Catholic Central High School in Troy; Mater Christi Seminary in Albany; and St. Thomas the Apostle in Delmar, where was pastor from 1970-2002, when he retired.

Father Dennis Murphy was ordained in 1975. He has served at St. John in Greenville; Vincentian Institute in Albany, with residence at Sacred Heart in Albany; St. Ambrose in Latham; St. Cecilia in Warrensburg; St. Peter in Saratoga Springs; St. Margaret of Cortona in Rotterdam Junction; St. John the…

Diocese says it “remains committed to protecting children,” but won’t comment on claims against Father Edward Rupp.

CLEVELAND — To a 13-year-old Catholic boy, it was a high honor. Especially for the wide-eyed boy named Jim Shackleton.

Standing at the St. Ignatius of Antioch Catholic Parish altar alongside the priest, Jim finally felt special– chest out, chin up, and dressed in his black robe and white smock.

Looking back, he forgot his earlier struggles of life. Growing up poor on Cleveland’s west side, looking for acceptance.

Finally, he said, he made his God-fearing family beam.

“My grandfather was proud of me being an altar boy…my mom was proud. And I felt proud about it,” he said.

This was the late 1970s and at the altar alongside Jim was Father Edward Rupp, a respected community leader, a pillar of the church, ordained 20 years earlier.

Jim and Father Rupp shared more than…

Two years ago on the floor of the state Assembly, I bared my soul about being a sex abuse survivor to help the Legislature to pass the Child Victims Act. I had no inkling that our governor, who signed the bill into law, would himself be exposed as a perpetrator of sexual harassment and accused of unlawfully touching an aide.

During this historical reckoning, we must not forget that this reported sexual misconduct happened in New York’s highest office, under a governor who cast himself as a champion for women’s rights. The calls for reform will fall flat if we don’t enact systemic legal change.

Before Cuomo steps down, thousands of survivors of sexual abuse are going to lose their chance to seek justice, with the Child Victims Act’s one-year lookback window (which was extended to a second year during COVID) expiring this weekend.

For survivors of sex abuse, it…

A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., returned an indictment yesterday charging a U.S. citizen and resident of Timor Leste with seven counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place. 

According to court documents, Richard Jude Daschbach, 84, is a former priest who is alleged to have engaged in illicit sexual conduct with minor victims in Timor Leste starting in at least 2013. As alleged, Daschbach operated a “shelter home” for children in Timor Leste. Victims disclosed that Daschbach sexually abused them when they were children and resided in the shelter home. Daschbach was defrocked by the Catholic church after some of the victims disclosed the abuse to the church. Daschbach is currently facing related child sexual exploitation charges in Timor Leste. In addition, in 2019, a grand jury in the Northern District of California returned an indictment against Daschbach for wire fraud in connection with his…

According to an analysis by The Buffalo News, Child Victims Act lawsuits accused 230 local Catholic clergy of sexually abusing vulnerable and unsuspecting children over the past 75 years. The complaints covered nearly every parish in the Diocese. Since 1950, more than 2,300 priests have been assigned to the Buffalo Diocese. By our accounting, that indicates that about 10% of the ordained in the Diocese were abusive. That is nearly double what the Catholic Church acknowledged in 2004. 

Any child sexual abuse in any institution is bad. However, it seems to us that the Diocese of Buffalo clearly was following the Catholic Church’s “playbook” for concealing these crimes: transferring known perpetrators, minimizing the allegations, and more likely than not, silencing brave victims who came forward. Bishop Richard Malone initially named 42 priests who were removed from ministry after “allegations of…

DELMAR — Rev. James Daley, a longtime pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle parish and who oversaw the renovations of the church that stands in the middle of town, was named in a summons of complaint filed in state Supreme Court in Albany County for alleged sexual abuse.

Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger announced today that he has asked the independent Diocesan Review Board to offer advisement on the following clergy, each of whom has an allegation of child sexual abuse filed against him through the Child Victims Act.

Scharfenberger identified Daley along with Rev. Dennis Murphy and Rev. Nellis Tremblay in his announcement. None of the three serve in public ministry due to illness or age.

Scharfenberger said all of them maintain their innocence.

A summons was filed with the state Supreme Court in Albany County naming the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany as a defendant on Monday, July 26 in…

Father John Varno was accused of abuse in a January lawsuit. He continued to serve parishoners in 3 local churches for seven months

ALBANY — Late on Friday afternoon, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany announced that the Rev. John Varno had “voluntarily withdrawn” from ministry after being accused of sexual abuse in a Child Victims Act lawsuit. 

There’s more to the story than that. You see, some parishioners at Our Lady of Grace in Ballston Lake, one of three parishes where Varno had been serving as a sacramental minister, demanded he be removed after learning about an accusation that the diocese hadn’t mentioned to them. 

“We didn’t want him to have access to our children until this is worked out,” said John McIntyre, who is one of the parishioners. “They’ve got to protect our kids.”

McIntyre is the publisher of Spotlight Newspapers. He had discovered Varno’s name in a database of…

This is the CVA lawsuit filed on January 15, 2021 by a man who alleges that he was abused by John J Varno in the late 1980’s. The actual summons and complaint is below. The Case number is 900383-21.

All the Cases and updates on this one may be searched via this link

Below is the link to the full Summons and Complaint PDF document:

https://spotlightnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/900383_21_KEVIN_SEEBALD_v_KEVIN_SEEBALD_SUMMONS___COMPLAINT_1.pdf

The arrest of Varno and reinstatement are described in a Times Union Article here

A retired Catholic priest who most recently served two Delaware County congregations was removed from public ministry last week following allegations of child sexual abuse in a claim filed under the Child Victims Act.

Father Gregory Weider was placed on administrative leave by Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany effective Saturday, Aug. 14. 

Weider, 84, who retired from the priesthood in 2010, has been serving as sacramental minister at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Margaretville and its mission, St. Anne’s in Andes, according to diocesan officials.

Representatives from both congregations did not respond to an email request for comment by press time Thursday, Aug. 26.

Under the terms of his leave, Weider is not permitted to publicly officiate at sacraments, wear clerical garb or present himself as a priest, according to Mary DeTurris Poust, director of communications for the Albany diocese and associate publisher of…

A former priest accused of sexually abusing boys more than 40 years ago waived his right to a preliminary exam in Southfield’s 50th District Court on Thursday, which sends the case to Oakland County Court for possible trial.

Gary Berthiaume, 80, who served at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Parish in Farmington and elsewhere,  is charged with two counts of gross indecency between males – committing/procuring. He also faces charges of second-degree criminal sexual conduct that allegedly happened in Farmington. Berthiaume waived his right to a preliminary exam for those charges last month.

All charges involve alleged victims between the ages of 13 and 15, for crimes that allegedly happened in the 1970s.

Berthiaume was arrested last September at his home in Warrendale, Illinois following an investigation by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. He’s one of 11 individuals with connections to the Catholic Church who have been charged with crimes…

In February 2019, Pope Francis invited the presidents of every episcopal conference to the Vatican for a Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church to address the issue of the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy. A similar meeting focusing on the region of Central and Eastern Europe will take place in Warsaw from September 19-22. In this article, Fr Federico Lombardi puts this regional meeting into the context of the Church journey thus far.

The Church must confront the challenges present in today’s world, the most fundamental being the faith and the proclamation of the God of Jesus Christ, with all the grandiose cultural and anthropological transformations present. There are also specific challenges, however, that profoundly influence the life of the Church and its evangelizing mission. One of the most critical challenges that has emerged in the last few decades, is that of the…

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — After more than 15 years of silence, a Rockford woman is speaking out against a local church, claiming a deacon sexually abused her as a teen and the church covered it up.

At just 15-years-old, “Sarah” says she was sexually abused at North Love Baptist Church, 5301 E Riverside Blvd.

Now, she’s suing the church and a man by the name of John Neese, who she claims was behind it all.

“I would just tell myself over and over again, as a little girl, this didn’t happen.. this didn’t happen. And I would just wake up the next morning and go to school, and this would happen all over again,” she said.

“Sarah” said it all began in 2004 at a Sunday night service, where she first met Neese.

“He would tell me, constantly, that I couldn’t tell my parents because they wouldn’t believe me,” she…

OSNABRÜCK, Germany (CNS) ─ A German bishop who co-chairs the Synodal Path’s forum on priests said he is “skeptical” about exempting Catholic priests from celibacy.

Bishop Felix Genn of Münster said he accepted that people were deciding not to become priests because they did not feel called to celibacy, adding: “Perhaps they will then choose another profession in the church.”

The bishop spoke in an interview with the Bistumspresse publishing group in Osnabrück. His remarks were then reported by the German Catholic news agency KNA.

“As a bishop, I also see my responsibility to the universal church,” Bishop Genn said in the interview.

He also expressed doubts about whether the forum would come to a clear position on celibacy. He said there was likely to be disagreement on whether it should be voluntary or compulsory.

The bishop called for a change in the status of priests, saying that they must, under…

Editor’s Note: This article contains descriptions of sexual abuse.

A woman is claiming that top executives in the Southern Baptist Convention defamed her and conspired against her as she was speaking out about her father sexually abusing her in a suit filed earlier this month in Franklin Circuit Court.

Hannah-Kate Williams filed the suit on Aug. 16, naming her father, James Williams, of Frankfort; the Southern Baptist Convention; the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville; and several leaders involved with both organizations.

The Southern Baptist Convention is one of the largest Christian denominations in the country, claiming affiliation with over 47,000 churches and touting more than 14 million members in the U.S. 

In the suit, Hannah-Kate Williams described in detail the abuse, sexual and otherwise, she allegedly endured at the hands of her father beginning at age 8 and continuing in an “ongoing and regular fashion” well into her teenage…

The New York Times’ recent documentary on the courageous investigative journalism of Jason Berry has once again fixed our gaze on the enduring tragedy of the sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church.

In addition to chronicling Berry’s decade-long crusade to expose the U.S. hierarchy’s role in protecting sexually predatory priests, the film includes Berry’s searing testimony about the great emotional, spiritual and financial costs of his truth-telling in the church.

Listening to Berry recount his decision to step away from the perilous fight for justice to focus on his family and mental well-being is heart-wrenching. One cannot help but to weep for him and all who have dared to document and protest the church’s devastating sin histories of abuse and violence in the face of silence, indifference and enmity.

This is especially true of the church’s Black victims of sexual abuse.

Earlier this year, a panel of Black…

Two men who were abused by a paedophile priest in regional Victoria in the 1960s have reached landmark settlement agreements with the Catholic Church.

Key points:

• Coffey, who died in 2013, was convicted of child sex abuse in 1999
• The settlements were not part of the 1999 prosecution against Coffey
• The two men who have received compensation say the money won’t erase the scars of his “sadistic, domineering” abuse

The two abuse survivors were abused by Father Bryan Coffey between 1965 and 1968 while he served as assistant priest in Port Fairy, in south-west Victoria.

The ABC understands the settlements are the first to be made in relation to Coffey, but about a dozen other victims have begun legal proceedings to seek compensation for his actions.

Coffey, who died in 2013, was convicted in 1999 of sexually abusing children, with the charges including abuse perpetrated while he was in Port…

Brian Devlin’s experience of Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s abuse of power is prompting his calls for reform and renewal in the Church, writes Jason Osborne

Faithful Catholics today are weary and browbeaten following the revelations in recent years of the deep rot of abuse that took place at the heart of parishes and dioceses around the world. Compounding and exacerbating these cases were the widespread efforts to cover up the abuse, as Church officials sought to save face and avoid scandal in a number of instances.

Church

No one is more frustrated with the abuses or the attempted cover-ups than those who endured them, though, and Brian Devlin is one such man. Author of a new book, Cardinal Sin: Challenging power abuse in the Catholic Church, Mr Devlin is seeking to take to task the institutional structures in the Church that allowed such abuses to be carried out – and power…

Directive comes as Boy Scouts of America faces lawsuits and bankruptcy after allegations of sex abuse by former troop leaders

The bishop of the Iowa Area of the United Methodist Church is asking the organization’s churches in the state to stop chartering Boy Scout troops because of sex abuse lawsuits by former scouts.

Bishop Laurie Haller told church leaders in a message this week they should not renew chartering agreements with troops at least until the Boy Scouts of America emerges from federal bankruptcy proceedings.

Breaking ties is intended to protect the churches from further liability, now that the United Methodist Church has learned Boy Scouts of America doesn’t have enough insurance to cover sponsoring churches, the letter states.

“The local churches are at risk of having to pay significant sums to victims to compensate them for the damages they suffered at the hands of some scout leaders,” Haller wrote….

ALBANY – A woman is suing the Grace Baptist Church in Lansingburgh, alleging its leadership ignored her daily sexual abuse as a child at the hands of a youth pastor – then claimed that she had “led him on.”

A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Broadway alleged Larry Hallock, the church’s former youth pastor, sexually abused the victim “on a daily basis” between 2000 and 2002 in the church located at 612 Fourth Avenue. The girl was between 15 and 17 at the time, her lawyer said.

At the time of the abuse, the lawsuit said, Hallock’s wife sent the child several letters acknowledging that she had informed the leadership of Grace Baptist Church of Hallock’s involvement with the child.

“Rather than inquire as to why (the child) was receiving letters from the Pastor Larry Hallock’s wife, the church leadership did nothing,” the lawsuit said. “Later when the…

Three months after Russell Moore left the helm of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission under pressure, his interim successor has announced his impending departure.

In a news brief, Baptist Press reported Aug. 24 that Daniel Patterson, acting president of the ERLC, has been recommended to serve as executive pastor of Central Church in Bryan-College Station, Texas. The senior pastor of that congregation is Phillip Bethancourt, who until April 2020 served as executive vice president of the ERLC before Patterson succeeded him.

Bethancourt was the whistleblower who just days before this year’s annual meeting of the SBC released audio recordings of conversations between Moore and Mike Stone and Ronnie Floyd. Stone is a Georgia pastor who was a candidate for SBC president. Floyd serves as president of the SBC Executive Committee. Both had been accused by Moore of not responding to or attempting to downplay allegations of sexual abuse in SBC…

Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick was criminally charged in Massachusetts last month with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old during a 1974 wedding reception at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

McCarrick was initially summoned to appear in court this week, on Thursday, August 26. But his first court date — called an arraignment — has been rescheduled to next week; the hearing will take place on Sept. 3.

Here’s what an arraignment is, and what to expect at McCarrick’s.

The allegations

According to court filings obtained by the Boston Globe, McCarrick is alleged to have sexually molested the 16-year-old-boy, a family friend, during his brother’s wedding reception — including groping the teenager sexually within the sacrament of confession.

The alleged molestation was not reported as a singular occurrence. Rather, the alleged victim, who has not been named, claims McCarrick molested him frequently, on family trips to several states.

The alleged victim claims that McCarrick…

A retired vicar jailed for sexually abusing children was allowed to work in churches for 25 years despite an earlier conviction for a similar crime.

David Beater, 80, was jailed for more than four years on Monday for assaulting two boys in the 1980s.

The BBC has found he was able to work in churches until 2010, despite a previous conviction in 1985 for abusing a 14-year-old boy in Kent.

The Church of England said the case raises “concerning questions”.

Beater was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court after pleading guilty to offences against two boys, aged eight and 13, between 1982 and 1985.

His Honour Judge Philip Statman told Beater he was guilty of a “profound and grave breach of trust”, adding that it was “noteworthy that some of the offences took place within the vicarage”.

One victim now in his mid-40s, who was eight at the time, told the…

HERMITAGE — A former youth pastor at Grace Chapel Community Church is accused of possessing child pornography and sexually assaulting children during his time at the church.

Mark Willian Heotzler, 29, of 1480 Hollywell Ave., Chambersburg, Franklin County, was charged with a total of 53 counts of sex crimes against minors. State police said in a criminal complaint filed Tuesday that Heotzler had 10 victims, all younger than 18.

Criminal documents associated with the case do not list an attorney for Heotzler.

Heotzler’s LinkedIn page indicates that he has worked at Grace Chapel Community Church since 2014. He is not listed on the church’s website as a current staff member.

Grace Chapel Community Church Lead Pastor Aaron Lego submitted a statement in response to an inquiry by The Herald:

“Grace Chapel Community Church is and has been cooperating fully with an active and ongoing criminal investigation with state law enforcement….

A priest caught by two children having sex with their mother decades ago is facing trial in Brisbane accused of indecent treatment of a six-year-old boy.

The boy and his sister confronted their mother – who died more than 20 years ago – and Terence Thomas Keliher from the doorway of the bedroom in about 1976, crown prosecutor Elizabeth Kelso said in her opening address to the jury on Monday.

“You’ll hear (during the trial) the defendant didn’t stop quite immediately,” she told the District Court jury.

The jury would hear the naked man stood up, faced the children and started masturbating before ejaculating onto the boy’s chest, Ms Kelso added.

She said the six-year-old crawled under the bed from where he heard his sister shouting and his mother telling her to shut up.

“When he came out from underneath the bed the defendant was still standing there … undressed,”…

No one’s data is ‘private.’

There is a narc in your pocket. It ratted out Msgr. Jeffrey Burrill, the general secretary of the U.S. bishops’ conference, and he had to step down. According to The Pillar, Burrill “visited gay bars and private residences while using a location-based hookup app in numerous cities from 2018 to 2020.” While pundits and activists might see an opportunity to opine about Catholic hypocrisy, what we should all be asking ourselves is what kind of a dirty turncoat would be in possession of, and then share, that kind of information about a person.

Per The Pillar: “According to commercially available records of app signal data obtained by The Pillar, a mobile device correlated to Burrill emitted app data signals from the location-based hookup app Grindr on a near-daily basis.” So the rat was Burrill’s cell phone (or maybe a tablet)—and for two years it was keeping daily tabs on…

If similar imaging was to be undertaken in Australia as to what has been used in the residential schools in Canada, there is a possibility similar horrors would be uncovered

Across the Pacific Ocean, in Canada or ‘Turtle Island’ as it is also known by many of its Indigenous inhabitants, a horror has been unfolding.

It started at a former residential school in Kamloops, British Colombia where, via the use of ground penetrating radar technology, the remains of at least 215 Native Canadian children were found buried in mass unmarked gravesites.

 This school ran for 85 years, was part of compulsory government programs to forcibly assimilate these children, and was administered by the Catholic Church.

Not long after this first discovery, the bodies of another 751 children were found using the same technology at the former Marieval Indian Residential School, this time in Saskatchewan.

There was an outpouring of grief…

The Church of England has admitted it made mistakes in its handling of unsubstantiated allegations of child abuse against a former Anglican priest who took his own life.

The C of E expressed “deep regret and sorrow” over Father Alan Griffin’s death and said it took responsibility for failings that “led to unreasonable pressures” on him.

Lambeth Palace, the headquarters of the archbishop of Canterbury, and the diocese of London were responding to a highly critical coroner’s report issued last month into Griffin’s death in November 2020.

The report said that Griffin, 76, had killed himself “because he could not cope with an investigation into his conduct, the detail of and the source for which he had never been told”.

It added: “Father Griffin did not abuse children. He did not have sex with young people under the age of 18. He did not visit prostitutes. He did not endanger the…

My friend Kevin Young, who has died of cancer aged 62, was a former businessman and prominent campaigner for the rights of victims of child sex abuse, whose civil action against his own abusers led to an important change in the law, enabling others to seek compensation many years after suffering abuse.

Born in Newcastle, to Margaret (nee Loveley) and John Young, Kevin was taken into care in 1961 suffering from neglect and malnutrition. His parents were convicted of his wilful neglect.

At the age of eight he was placed at the Catholic St Thomas More’s school in Devon. The sexual abuse inflicted on him by the school gardener was the first in a series of encounters with paedophiles. Aged 14 he was taken to St Camillus, a residential school in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, run by the Catholic Diocese of Leeds, where he was sexually assaulted by the headteacher, James…