ABUSE TRACKER

The decade of inaction that went by after the first of Smithfield priest Francis C. Santilli’s alleged victims came forward has fueled a renewed drive to hold institutions — including the Catholic Church — legally liable for the sexual abuse of children.

On Tuesday, Rep. Carol McEntee introduced the latest version of a bill to eliminate the time limit on lawsuits by victims of childhood sex abuse.

And not for the first time, McEntee is seeking to remove a barrier to the filing of lawsuits against people and institutions who enabled and protected child sexual abusers by looking the other way or concealing their crimes. 

The battle is personal for McEntee, D-South Kingstown.

She grew up in a devout Catholic home and learned years later that her older sister, Ann, had been sexually molested, repeatedly, by their now-deceased parish priest in West Warwick over seven years that began in 1957, when Ann was 5 years old.

Her…

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A New Zealand inquiry on Wednesday heard harrowing accounts from people who were abused as children while they were under the care of the Catholic Church, one of whom said he was shown a corpse in a hospital morgue by a priest to keep him quiet.

The livestreamed hearings are part of a wider Royal Commission of Inquiry that is looking into abuse in state care and faith-based institutions that is under way in the Pacific island nation.

An interim report on the inquiry released in Dec 2020 revealed that up to a quarter of a million children and young and vulnerable adults were physically and sexually abused in New Zealand’s faith-based and state care institutions from the 1960s to the early 2000s.

Wednesday marked the first of a seven-day hearing into abuse in the care of the Catholic Church, which has been rocked by decades of  View Cache

HISTORICAL sex abuse charges against a priest extradited from the US back to the north to face the accusations have been discontinued.

Sean McCaughley (60) was due to go on trial at Newry Crown Court but prosecuting QC Frank O’Donoghue said that in line with his “continuing duty” to keep cases under review, the evidence has been reviewed and coupled with a document provided by the defence legal team, “a decision has been made that the test [for prosecution] can no longer be met.”

“In that position the Crown say that he cannot receive a fair trial,” said the senior lawyer who applied for the charges “to he left on the books, not to be proceeded with without the leave of this court or the court of appeal.”

McCaughley, who has an address at Delavan Avenue, Newark, New Jersey, had previously entered not guilty pleas to charges including gross indecency…

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Wanting to better help victims of child sexual abuse and assault, state Senator Morgan McGarvey and Representative Lisa Willner filed legislation Tuesday that would end the statute of limitation for civil actions in these cases.

“Many victims of child sex abuse will not speak up due to the fears of being reprimanded or stigmatized,” said Sen. McGarvey of Louisville.  “Being sexually exploited is never an easy topic to discuss, especially at a young age. By removing the statute of limitations on this particular offense, we can offer these victims the necessary time to build up the courage to speak openly and bring their perpetrators to justice.”

“The General Assembly has taken this issue seriously in recent years and given survivors of child sexual abuse more time to bring a case forward, but we need to go further,” said state Rep. Lisa Willner of Louisville.  “Child sexual abuse is a heinous crime…

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73-year-old Father Michael Gutgsell —who is facing up to 20 years in prison accused of stealing $125,000 from St. Joseph Church in Springfield—was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing in Sarpy County Court Tuesday.

A once high-ranking Omaha priest, accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars, was back in court Tuesday—his attorney speaking openly about a possible resolution of one of two criminal cases.

73-year-old Father Michael Gutgsell —who is facing up to 20 years in prison accused of stealing $125,000 from St. Joseph Church in Springfield—was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing in Sarpy County Court Tuesday.

Instead the case was delayed until March 1st, after Gutgsell’s attorney indicated discussions with prosecutors are in the works.

Leaving court the attorney would not comment any further.

At the same time Gutgsell, former Chancellor of the Omaha archdiocese, is awaiting trial in Douglas County in a second theft case, where…

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The march toward greater safety for kids and greater healing for victims continues. Two more states – Nebraska and New Mexico – are considering civil window legislation that would mean more of those who commit and conceal child sex crimes would be exposed and more of those who are suffering because of child sex crimes would be comforted.

https://apnews.com/article/nebraska-statutes-legislature-religion-lawsuits-ce5c21dfe5a1407edc10482d3f61ae79

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/bill-would-remove-statute-of-limitations-for-child-sex-abuse-lawsuits/article_3ae2bd2a-7df3-11ec-b391-435146336a7c.html

And there’s more good news. Some who oppose this progress – often for selfish, financial reasons – are grasping more and more often at straws to fight this trend. And some of these straws are transparently silly.

Take Korby Gilbertson, a lobbyist for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, who talked about this reform measure to Nebraska news media. She made two points that deserve further examination. First, Gilbertson said the window “could lead to lawsuits against organizations under new leadership that wasn’t involved with previous offenses.”  So what?…

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A major Catholic publishing company has been discovered to be selling books written by acknowledged child sex abusers on their website. Now, leaders of SNAP are calling for sales of those books to end and for proceeds from their sale to be donated to the survivors of the abusive authors.

TAN Books currently lists at least two books written by child sex abusers on their website; “My Daily Bread,” written by Fr. Anthony Paone and “My Meditation on the Gospel” by Fr. James E. Sullivan. Both of these men are acknowledged abusers of children and both men were publicly listed as abusers three years ago: Fr. Paone was included on the Jesuit Province list of abusers and Fr. Sullivan was included on the Diocese of Brooklyn list.

SNAP learned of the sale after a concerned customer shared that she had…

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A “clerical aristocracy” in the Church needs to be challenged, said Fr Tom Doyle.

The younger generation of seminarians can be “terrifying” in the extent of their conservatism, a leading canon lawyer has claimed.

Fr Tom Doyle, who has campaigned on behalf of victims of clerical sexual abuse for decades, expressed concern about conservative men coming out of seminaries who are “so doctrinaire” and “completely lacking in real pastoral work”. 

Speaking at a webinar, “Stolen Lives: Abuse and Corruption in the Catholic Church”, hosted by the lay reform groups Root and Branch Reform and Scottish Laity Network, the American priest said: “These ultra conservative young men want to walk around with all the vestments of the 1950s and say the Latin Mass. It is a kind of a romanticism.” He said they “firmly believe in this idea that once they are ordained that they are sacred beings, that they are…

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Joshua Pincoske, 47, was arrested and jailed without bail on multiple counts of sexual assault and related charges

A New Hampshire man who coached men’s basketball at Colby-Sawyer College has been accused of sexually assaulting a girl under age 16 “over a period of time” in 2019 and making multiple child sex abuse photos and videos involving her and other minors, police in Concord said Wednesday.

A police affidavit alleges Joshua Pincoske, 47, “has engaged in a pattern of criminal sexual acts from at least 2015 through 2020 with at least four separate juvenile victims.”

Pincoske, of Concord, was arrested and jailed without bail Tuesday on four counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault; 50 counts of manufacturing child sex abuse images; and one count of possession of a child sexual abuse image, all felonies. He also was charged with one misdemeanor count of sexual assault.

Pincoske was expected to be…

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The Sisters in Solidarity, a national forum of Catholic women in India, on February 6 demanded “absolute transparency and accountability” in the way the Church handles sex abuse cases.

The group, comprising religious and lay women, stresses revising canon law and the “theology of priesthood” to cleanse the Church of “elements that breed clericalism, which is an enabler of clerical sexual abuse.”

Such steps would prevent the recurrence of sexual harassment, abuse and abuse in the Church, asserts the solidarity in a letter sent to the Church hierarchy in the Vatican and India.

The letter is written in the backdrop of the acquittal of Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar in the historic nun rape and the continued victimization of the accuser and her supporters.

The letter, signed by 15 women and endorsed by 1,263 men and women from around the world, expresses their deep concern and shock at the judgement…

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A federal judge will hold a hearing on whether the Archdiocese of Santa Fe must disclose records on insurance coverage expected to pay much of a settlement in a case involving over 400 hundreds of victims of clergy sexual abuse.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma scheduled a hearing Monday on the archdiocese’s request last month to seal the documents because agreements between the archdiocese and insurers indicated they’d be confidential, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

Diocese attorney Thomas Walker said breaching those agreements’ confidentiality provisions could cause them to be voided and lead to expensive and extended litigation of coverage disputes.

Merit Benefit, a lawyer for several victims, objected to confidentiality and sealing of records and told the New Mexican in an interview that secrecy is what led to the tragedy of widespread priest abuse of children in the first place.

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Here is the Vatican’s English translation of the letter retired Pope Benedict XVI published Feb. 8 in response to the independent report on the handling of sexual abuse allegations in the German Archdiocese of Munich and Freising from 1945 to 2019. The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger led the archdiocese from 1977 to 1982.

Dear sisters and brothers,

Following the presentation of the report on abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising on 20 January last, I feel the need to address a personal word to all of you. Even though I served as archbishop of Munich and Freising for a little less than five years, I continue to feel very much a part of the Archdiocese of Munich and to consider it home.

I would like first to offer a word of heartfelt thanks. In these days marked by examination of conscience and reflection, I was able to experience greater friendship…

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The head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors said retired Pope Benedict’s “witness and profound honesty should galvanize all of us to defend survivors of abuse and to protect all those entrusted to our care.”

“In today’s message. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has provided us with an intimate description of the drama of his own conscience fashioned by a life of service to God and to his people,” said Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, commission president. “The evil suffered by victims of child sexual abuse by priests and religious and his handling of such abuse justly and necessarily weighs heavily on (his) conscience.”

Cardinal O’Malley’s statement came after the retired pope published a written response to a major report on how abuse cases were handled in the German Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, which the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger headed from 1977 to 1982.

The retired pope’s statement…

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A report on decades of clergy sexual abuse in Germany that shone an unflattering spotlight on retired Pope Benedict XVI has added to already strong pressure there for the church to reconsider Catholic rules on issues including homosexuality and women’s roles, creating a mounting sense of impatience.

The latest flare-up of the sexual abuse scandal in the German church, one of the world’s richest, comes as a trailblazing reform process launched in 2019 in response to the abuse crisis begins to call for concrete changes.

The “Synodal Path,” which brings together Catholic bishops and lay representatives, approved at an assembly last week calls to allow blessings for same-sex couples, married priests and the ordination of women as deacons. It also called for church labor law to be revised so that gay employees don’t face the risk of being fired.

Many of those reform plans still need formal approval at future…

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A lay committee looking into historic child sex abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church said Thursday that during its first month of work it received allegations from 214 people.

The allegations are from people born between 1933 and 2006 and tell of psychological torment kept secret for decades, the Independent Committee for the Study of Child Abuse in the Church said.

“This suffering is associated with feelings of shame, fear, guilt and self-exclusion, reinforcing the idea of lives where the sensation of ‘standing on the sidelines’ was always present,” the committee said in a statement.

Portuguese church officials said two years ago that authorities had investigated only about a dozen allegations of sexual abuse involving Portuguese priests since 2001. More than half of those cases were dropped because church investigators decided there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue them.

The six-person committee, which includes psychiatrists, a former Supreme Court judge and…

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German survivors of clergy sexual abuse are sharply criticizing retired Pope Benedict XVI’s response to a report that faulted his handling of four abuse cases in the 1970s and ’80s, calling his lack of a direct apology an abdication of personal responsibility.

“The one thing everybody expects from him is to say, ‘I made a mistake. I’m sorry. I should have acted differently back then. And I’m sorry,’ ” said survivor Doris Reisinger.

Reisinger, a German theologian who left religious life after alleging abuse by a priest in her community, said that Benedict’s two-page Feb. 8 letter responding to accusations that he mishandled four cases of abuse during his time as Archbishop of Munich and Freising, was an “embarrassment.”

“It’s such a very public demonstration of how this institution has not really even begun to understand what they did to us,” she told NCR.

The letter,…

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After a five-month delay, Argentine Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, a veteran prelate who has boasted of his friendship with the pope, will be tried in a criminal court Feb. 21.

The sentence, Crux has been able to confirm, might be decided as soon as Feb. 25.

A hearing in the case against the former bishop of Oran, in Argentina’s northern Salta region, was originally scheduled to take place Oct. 12-15 of last year, according to the local public ministry.

“As it was already suspended while waiting for the documents, the judge decided that the hearing should be held,” said the Public Prosecutor’s Office, according to Salta’s daily El Tribuno. 

The documents in question were from the Vatican.

According to a series of norms published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2020, “whenever civil judicial authorities issue a legitimate executive order requiring the surrender of documents regarding cases, or order the judicial…

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By now, there’s a fairly standard playbook for a Catholic bishop accused of mishandling accusations of sexual abuse against clergy for whom he was responsible. More or less, it goes like this.

1. Never engage the substance of the charges against you. However right you may feel yourself to be, inevitably that’s going to look like the old pattern of defensiveness and denial. Restrict yourself to saying something like, “These charges will be investigated by the competent authorities, both civil and ecclesiastical, and I stand ready to accept whatever they decide.”
2. Always lead with sorrow and compassion for survivors of sexual abuse, and then endorse their quest for justice. Again, no matter how wronged you may feel, never make it look like you’re trying to be the victim here.
3. Volunteer your resignation. No matter how innocent you may feel, the pastoral reality is that sometimes the charge itself makes continuing in your present…

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A New Zealand royal commission into abuse in care has heard horrific evidence about a member of a Catholic order who was transferred from his homeland to a boys’ home near Newcastle.

Warning: This story contains graphic descriptions of abuse that readers may find distressing.

Key points:

• St John of God was established in New Zealand in 1955 after starting in Australia eight years earlier
• Survivors say Brother Bernard McGrath used fear to force them to remain silent during his time in Christchurch
• A representative for the church said McGrath’s crimes and the way they were handled internally were “deeply shameful”

The commission comes four years after Australian victims of the St John of God order called on New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden to set up a special inquiry to investigate brothers there.

An Australian royal commission into child abuse heard 40 per cent of St John of God brothers were…

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The Catholic Church’s priority should be to listen to its young people of all ages, and the synodal process has so far failed to do so.  

In a Christmas mass, I sat in a church full of people of all ages, young families, children of all ages and people of all ages. It felt incredible, and it is beyond words to explain the feelings. 

It reminded me of the Catholic churches in India, Nepal, Hong Kong, where I used to live, and Bangladesh, where I was born. I’ve noticed in those countries that Catholic churches are usually filled throughout the holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, and they are seldom as empty as I’ve seen in the United Kingdom.

I was curious as to why those who attended the Christmas service did not return in the same numbers on regular Sundays services. I honestly don’t know each person’s answers and…

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‘Our most grievous fault’

Pope emeritus Benedict XVI released a letter this morning, which addressed criticism he’s faced in Germany, and, more broadly, his thoughts on the clerical sexual abuse crisis.

Benedict is accused of lying about a meeting he attended in January 1980, 42 years ago, at which a priest guilty of abuse was accepted for ministry in the Munich archdiocese, which the former pope then led as archbishop. The priest committed abuse again some years later, after Benedict was no longer leading the archdiocese.

The former pope told investigators last year that he wasn’t at the meeting, but then it was revealed that he was. Benedict has since said he was at the meeting, and that his initial response had been an error — but in subsequent clarifications, Benedict’s legal advisors have said that there was no decision to accept the priest for ministry during the meeting,…

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Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has written a “mea culpa” in a penitential letter, released by the Vatican today, that he calls “a confession” in response to the charges made against him in the report on abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich published on Jan. 20. In it, he takes personal responsibility and asks forgiveness for “the abuses and the errors” that occurred on his watch when he held different positions of great responsibility in the church, not just in Munich but also in Rome.

“Once again, I can only express to all the victims of sexual abuse my profound shame, my deep sorrow and my heartfelt request for forgiveness. I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church,” he wrote in a key paragraph of the two-page letter. “All the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my…

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But Benedict, responding to a report that accused him of mishandling at least four cases of sexual abuse by priests when he was an archbishop in Germany, denied any wrongdoing.

Responding to a report that he had mishandled four cases involving the sexual abuse of minors while he was an archbishop in Germany decades ago, retired Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged on Tuesday that “abuses and errors” had taken place under his watch, and asked for forgiveness, although he denied any misconduct.

“I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church,” Benedict said in a written response to the findings in the report commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church in Munich. “All the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my mandate,” he said in the response made public by the Vatican. “Each individual case of…

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Benedict fights to defend his record after report criticized failings during his time as an archbishop

Retired Pope Benedict XVI replied to charges that he mishandled cases of clerical sexual abuse during his tenure as an archbishop in Germany, but his response seemed unlikely to remove the taint that the allegations have left on his record.

In his response, released by the Vatican on Tuesday, the retired pope asked forgiveness for any “grievous fault” he may have incurred, and expressed “profound shame” for failures that occurred during his long career of leadership in the church. But he didn’t admit wrongdoing.

An accompanying document from his lawyers rebutted specific charges of coverup, perjury and insensitivity to abuse victims made against the 94-year-old Benedict last month in a church-sponsored probe on historical sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising. The probe faulted the then-archbishop in several cases for failing to…

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Retired Pope Benedict XVI asked forgiveness Tuesday for any “grievous faults” in his handling of clergy sex abuse cases, but denied any personal or specific wrongdoing after an independent report criticized his actions in four cases while he was archbishop of Munich, Germany.

Benedict’s lack of a personal apology or admission of guilt immediately riled sex abuse survivors, who said his response reflected the Catholic hierarchy’s “permanent” refusal to accept responsibility for the rape and sodomy of children by priests.

Benedict, 94, was responding to a Jan. 20 report from a German law firm that had been commissioned by the German Catholic Church to look into how cases of sexual abuse were handled in the Munich archdiocese between 1945 and 2019. Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, headed the archdiocese from 1977 to 1982.

The report faulted Benedict’s handling of four cases during his time as archbishop, accusing him of misconduct…

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Retired-pope’s legal team contests German report’s findings

Retired Pope Benedict XVI on Feb. 8 acknowledged past failings of the Catholic Church in confronting clergy sexual abuse under his watch but stopped short of a direct, personal apology after an independent report faulted his handling of four cases of abuse when he was an archbishop in Germany in the 1970s and 80s.

A legal team advising the retired pope has also published an analysis challenging the German report’s findings, arguing that investigators mischaracterized some of Benedict’s actions or knowledge during his time as archbishop.  

“I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church. All the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my mandate,” Benedict wrote in a personal letter published Feb. 8. “Each individual case of sexual abuse is appalling and irreparable. The victims of sexual…

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At the age of 94, retired Pope Benedict XVI said he knows he will soon stand before God’s judgment and he prayed that he would be forgiven for his shortcomings, including in handling allegations of clerical sexual abuse.

“Even though, as I look back on my long life, I can have great reason for fear and trembling, I am nonetheless of good cheer, for I trust firmly that the Lord is not only the just judge, but also the friend and brother who himself has already suffered for my shortcomings, and is thus also my advocate,” he said.

In response Feb. 8 to a recent report on sexual abuse cases in the German Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, Pope Benedict also confirmed that an error in the testimony written on his behalf had been an oversight and “was not intentionally willed and I hope may be excused.”

“To me it…

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COMMENTARY: The issue is not over, but there are many reasons for hope.

Clergy sex abuse in the Catholic Church is not “over.” I mean this in two ways. 

First, some clergy sexual abuse is undoubtedly still taking place. But more importantly, we haven’t really dealt with the situations we already have experienced. Investigating the allegations, sending the guilty to prison, Church officials making amends to the victims, including financial payments — all this is important. But we as the larger Church community need to face the larger fact: A problem like childhood sexual abuse has many layers. Each incident affects numerous people, including family members and the parish or school community. We aren’t “done,” we haven’t “solved” clergy sex abuse, until we deal with all these social, emotional, and spiritual issues, along with the legal and financial issues. 

Before I unpack all that, though, let’s recap some of the…

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To us, Benedict’s letter is admitting to one thing to cover up a thousand. It is the same pattern of abuse, institutional knowledge, and concealment. His apology is faint, especially to a victim population that could care less what Pope Emeritus has to say. Benedict is repeating words of apology that have fallen on deaf ears for decades. To no surprise, Benedict and his advisors wish to recreate a narrative in their favor. The truth is this, it is about protecting the church’s deteriorating image and financial flow to the hierarchy. True apologies are followed by true amends, a concept the church does not seem to be able to grasp.

Despite evidence from secular authorities that Pope Benedict shuffled pedophiles, the former pope cannot do the simple thing and offer full accounting and apology. The opportunity for cleansing the report out of Munich offered has been…

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Glenn Johnson says Wayne Hankey sexually assaulted him on university campus in late ’70s

Glenn Johnson will continue his fight for justice despite the death this weekend of the man he accuses of sexually assaulting him more than 40 years ago.

Wayne John Hankey, a former Anglican priest and longtime professor at the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University, died this weekend after a heart attack. He was 77.

Hankey was one month away from the first of three criminal trials, which involved charges of sexual assault, indecent assault and gross indecency for alleged incidents dating back to the 1970s and 80s.

Johnson has retained Wagners Law Firm to represent him in a civil lawsuit against the University of King’s College, the Anglican Church and possibly others.

He said he is still grappling with the “shocking” news of Hankey’s death.

“I’m really not sure how to feel. I certainly didn’t wish…

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Hankey was scheduled for 3 trials in 2022, the first in March

A former Halifax professor accused of multiple historical sexual offences has died, a month before his first trial was set to begin.

Wayne John Hankey, 77, was charged with sexual assault, gross indecency and indecent assault involving three male complainants for incidents between 1977 and 1988.

Hankey, a longtime professor at the University of King’s College and a former Anglican minister, had pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

In a statement on Sunday, King’s president Bill Lahey said the university had been made aware of Hankey’s death and extended condolences to his family.

“With this news has come some inquiry regarding the independent review process that was established by the university in February 2021. This review, which has always been separate from any criminal justice matters, will proceed,” Lahey said.

“King’s remains committed to learning from the…

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After a recent report into the handling of clerical abuse cases in the Archdiocese of Munich faulted him in four separate cases, retired pope Benedict XVI has denied allegations of wrongdoing, saying he was unaware of the abusive behavior at the time he was making decisions.

On Jan. 20 the Archdiocese of Munich, led by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger from 1977 to 1982, issued a highly anticipated report into its handling of clerical abuse cases, finding that 497 people had been abused in the Munich archdiocese from 1945 to 2019.

The report, conducted by the Westpfahl Spilker Wastl law firm, was commissioned by the archdiocese in February 2020 and identifies some 235 perpetrators of abuse, including 173 priests, 9 deacons, 5 pastoral workers, and 48 individuals in Catholic schools.

Benedict XVI, who briefly led the archdiocese before being named prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,…

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Tuesday expressed his “profound shame” to the victims of clerical abuse, and said he was pained by “errors” that occurred in various places across his career in the church. But he stopped short of acknowledging any specific personal responsibility after a church-commissioned German report accused him of mishandling four cases during his time running the archdiocese of Munich between 1977 and 1982.

“However great my fault may be today, the Lord forgives me, if I sincerely allow myself to be examined by him, and am really prepared to change,” the 94-year-old retired pope wrote.

At the same time Tuesday, a legal and academic team that had assisted Benedict offered a full-throated defense, saying that Benedict — known then as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — was never involved in any “cover-up of acts of abuse.” The canon lawyers and academics said the German investigation was…

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A victims advocate group is demanding that a major Roman Catholic publishing house stop selling two books that were written by priests who were “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, better known as SNAP, said TAN Books is “profiting off of those who have abused children.”

“Is it worth the nearly 12 dollars per item to associate your brand with men who are known to have committed crimes against children?” SNAP asked in a letter dated last Wednesday to the North Carolina-based publisher. “Do you believe that you are better arbiters of the facts of the case than the Church officials and lay review boards who heard the details of the abuse?”

TAN Books, according to its website, was founded in 1967 and acquired by Saint Benedict Press in 2008.

The victims advocate group says the…

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I have, since the 1980s, heard my share of complaints from Catholic readers about news coverage of sexual abuse by clergy.

There are readers who get angry about this coverage, period. They want the topic to go away and see anti-Catholic bias in any coverage of the subject, even when the coverage is accurate and fair-minded.

However, other Catholic readers get mad when they see valid coverage that leaves the impression that sexual abuse is only an issue in the Church of Rome. Many of these readers (on the Catholic left or right) want to see accurate, informed coverage on this hellish topic, which would include some mention of the many, many cases that take place in secular settings (think public schools) and in other religious groups.

That’s the broader context for complaints that I heard about a recent New York Times story that ran with this dramatic double-decker…

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In the News podcast: Munich report finds former pope failed to act to prevent abuse

In January, an in-depth report into the Catholic archdiocese of Munich and Freising – a bulwark of German Catholicism – was published, revealing nearly 500 cases of clerical sexual abuse since 1945.

The report accused the now 94-year-old Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI of failing to stop the clerical child sex abuse. German investigators said it is “overwhelmingly likely” the former pope was aware of at least four abusing and paedophile priests during his time as archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982.

As membership of the Catholic Church in western Europe continues to fall, what will be the consequences of this latest scandal within an increasingly fractured church?

The Vatican already sees western Europe as a “dying market”, The Irish Times Berlin correspondent Derek Scally told In the News. “The idea is, which church should we be catering for? The…

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The temple priest who was arrested in an alleged gang-rape and murder case of a minor Dalit girl has claimed before a court that the victim’s father was present when she was cremated, but he had concealed it when his statement was recorded by police.

According to the chargesheet, she was suffocated to death during the sexual assault by Radhey Shyam and forcefully cremated by him and others. But the priest’s counsel claimed before additional sessions judge Ashutosh Kumar that that there was no evidence of murder, barring extra-judicial confessions.

“As per the postmortem report, the cause of death was electric shock.”

He also claimed that the eyewitnesses were planted. The chargesheet doesn’t have any word on from where they had seen the incident, he pointed out. “The witnesses have a history of criminal cases and are politicians,” he alleged.

He also claimed that the FIR was tampered with…

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‘Experience tells us that these commissions are more of a platform for clashes between political parties than a search for the truth,’ Bishop Luis Javier Argüello Garcia said.

Spain’s lower house, the Congress of Deputies, agreed Feb. 1 to debate the creation of a commission to investigate sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic Church.

The request to create the commission was filed by Podemos, a left-wing party that is part of the governing coalition, as well as the Republican Left of Catalonia and EH Bildu, Catalan and Basque nationist parties that give confidence and supply to the government.

The People’s Party and Vox, which are in the opposition, voted against the commission and made a motion that all cases of the abuse of minors be investigated and not just those that have taken place in areas related to religious institutions. 

However, this motion was vetoed by Podemos and…

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Bishop Oster also raised the question of whether recent attacks on Benedict XVI indicated that the pope emeritus still presents a threat to a specific vision of the Church being advanced in Germany.

Benedict XVI never sought to cover up cases of sex abuse by clergy. That is the conviction of the German Bishop Stefan Oster.

In a reflection published on his website on Jan. 30, the bishop of Passau, southeastern Germany, defended the pope emeritus from accusations that he had deliberately concealed his attendance at a meeting in 1980, where it was agreed that a priest accused of abuse could be transferred to the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, then led by the future German pope.

Bishop Oster also raised the question of whether recent attacks on Benedict XVI indicated that the pope emeritus still presents a threat to a specific vision of the Church being advanced in Germany.

The…

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Over the past week, two leading European cardinals, both of whom enjoy broad favor with Pope Francis, have made public statements calling for a change in the Catholic Church’s current position on the issues of homosexuality and priestly celibacy.

In an interview published in Germany’s Catholic News Agency (KNA) earlier this week, Jesuit Cardinal Jean Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg, voiced his belief that the Church’s position viewing homosexual relationships is wrong.

“I believe that the sociological-scientific foundation of this teaching is no longer correct,” he said, saying the time has come to revise this position, and suggesting that Pope Francis’s own rhetoric on homosexuality could open the door for this change to take place.

Since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis, who has also voiced concern over homosexuality in the priesthood, has taken a softer approach to the issue and has urged the Church to be more welcoming…

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The head of the German Bishops’ Conference expressed doubts Saturday that the planned return of Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki as archbishop of Cologne following a “spiritual timeout” will help the diocese overcome a crisis sparked by the church’s handling of sex abuse allegations.

Georg Baetzing, who chairs the Bishops’ Conference, expressed concerns “whether a real fresh start can happen there.”

“That’s needed to overcome the crisis that occurred there,” he added.

Pope Francis last year granted Woelki leave until early March after criticism over his decision not to publish an independent report into allegations of sexual abuse in the church.

Baetzing spoke at the end of a meeting of the synodal gathering of German Catholics, which also discussed reforms that could lead to women performing sacraments in the future.

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As far back as I can remember, I have been interested in spirituality. In my teenage years I spent a lot of time in various Buddhist and Christian monastic communities across Australia, practising and learning what I could.

But there was something about Jesus that struck me the most. Jesus was a compelling witness to an experience of the sacred that is deeply loving, wise and challenging; and Christians were kind, generous and well-grounded people, all the things I needed at the time.

In my early 20s I was sexually assaulted in a Christian community. My assailant had set themselves up as my spiritual mentor but was in fact grooming me. After numerous assaults, I fell into despair. My ability to trust and to form close, loving relationships was seriously compromised, as was my ability to connect to God from my heart and feelings.

These dark times included suicidal thoughts…

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Maybe those turning away from Quinn’s God are the victims of abuse, their families, friends, work colleagues, counsellors, nurses and doctors. Also the victims’ children, born years after the abuse. Is there anyone left in this country who hasn’t been touched by clerical sex abuse?

Maybe all those are the ones turning away. We’ll find out in the next census.

Caroline O’Toole, Waterford

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David Quinn lets Pope Benedict off very lightly with his criticism (“Scandals rock my faith in church, not Catholicism”, Comment, last week). He says, for example, that the former pope might not have handled German abuse allegations properly, but the accusation is that, as Cardinal Ratzinger, he did all in his power to cover up the scandal.

Quinn then compares Ratzinger with other public figures who have lied. Surely he should be held to a much higher standard than this.

Ratzinger’s diocese deliberately moved paedophile priests around, resulting in innumerable other children being sexually abused.

The harm that he caused is incalculable. Then, with this on his conscience, he allowed his name to be put forward and was elected pope, the moral compass of the Roman Catholic church. The hypocrisy of this leaves me speechless.

Richard Williams, Valentia Island

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Synodal conference also calls for pope to undertake a ‘reassessment of homosexuality’

Germany’s Catholic Church cleared another reform hurdle at the weekend when an overwhelming majority of clerical and lay representatives at a synodal conference backed greater gender equality and more lay involvement in the choice of bishops.

At their third “Synodal Path” meeting in Frankfurt, 215 church and lay delegates also backed a preliminary text calling on Pope Francis to undertake a “doctrinal specification and reassessment of homosexuality”.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx said the gathering had made clear that reform of church teachings was overdue to reflect the times.

“The catechism is not the Koran, it is always being changed,” said Dr Marx, archbishop of Munich.

Ahead of the meeting Dr Irme Stetter-Karp, president of the Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), the largest lay Catholic organisation, warned bishops that “it was time to finally get serious and agree changes”. At…

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Msgr. Philip Dowling ran down the stairs, shoes in hand. A horrified mother had just discovered him half-naked in her young daughter’s bedroom.. That was his first but not last escape from punishment. Years later, the victim and her sister, participated in the first Grand Jury Report into child sex abuse in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. In a disturbing 2005 interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Dowling admits to abusing one sister, denies other allegations, and seems worried the Church will “find out.” Two sisters from another family also reported that Dowling abused them.

Due to the statute of limitations, he escaped the law. And now, even in death, he escapes the shadow his admitted abuse and clerical restrictions should have cast on his legacy.

MISLEADING & TONE-DEAF ANNOUNCEMENT

Dowling passed away last week. As is customary, the Vicar of Clergy, shared his funeral arrangements in an email sent to the priests and…

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Hankey was scheduled for 3 trials in 2022, the first in March

A former Halifax professor accused of multiple historical sexual offences has died, a month before his first trial was set to begin.

Wayne John Hankey, 77, was charged with sexual assault, gross indecency and indecent assault involving three male complainants for incidents between 1977 and 1988.

Hankey, a longtime professor at the University of King’s College and a former Anglican minister, had pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

In a statement on Sunday, King’s president Bill Lahey said the university had been made aware of Hankey’s death and extended condolences to his family.

“With this news has come some inquiry regarding the independent review process that was established by the university in February 2021. This review, which has always been separate from any criminal justice matters, will proceed,” Lahey said.

“King’s remains committed to learning from the…

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[BishopAccountability.org has cached the original PDF of this statement.]

The scale of reported alleged abuse within the Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand has become known for the first time from extensive research undertaken by the Church at the request of the Royal Commission on Abuse in Care.

A total of 1680 reports of abuse were made by 1122 individuals against Catholic clergy, brothers, nuns, sisters and lay people from 1950 to the present, with 592 alleged abusers named. Almost half the reported abuse involved sexual harm. The 1960s and 1970s were the decades with the most abuse reported, with 75 per cent dated before 1990.

The results of this research have been requested by and provided to the Royal Commission. The definition of abuse used is the one used by the commission and includes reports of sexual, physical, emotional, psychological and neglect.

The research was undertaken by Te…

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[BishopAccountability.org has cached the original PDF of this report.]

As part of the process of its Information Gathering Project (IGP) and data requests from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care (Commission), Te Rōpū Tautoko (Tautoko) has consolidated the information provided by Catholic entities into this fact sheet.

The work has involved many people over two years from many organisations.

The Commission has been provided this information and it is expected that they will be creating their own datasets and conclusions from it.

The IGP included three phases:

1. Seeking, in 2019, high level information from Catholic entities on institutions they were involved in, and documents held in relation to the period 1950-1999
2. Collating detailed information from Catholic entities on institutions considered in-scope for the Royal Commission. This work was undertaken in late 2019 and 2020.
3. In 2020 and 2021 requests were made to Catholic entities to provide summaries…

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On Jan. 14, “clergy abuse victims asked the European Court of Human Rights to make a definitive ruling on whether the Vatican can continue to avoid being held liable for sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests by claiming state immunity … immunities afforded to a nation state while escaping the responsibilities that come with being a real nation, they argued,” the Associated Press reported.

“The 24 victims had stated the Vatican was indeed liable for their abuse because of the ‘structurally deficient’ way the Catholic hierarchy had handled cases of priests who raped and molested children for decades, covering up the crimes rather than reporting them,” explained the AP.

A week later, Pope Francis promised to provide justice to victims of clergy sexual abuse. “The Church, with God’s help, is carrying out the commitment with firm determination to do justice to the victims of abuse by its members,” the pope said without offering…

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Notes:

• Witness information and schedule: Information about survivors and other witnesses giving evidence at the hearing and a schedule can be found below this media release.
• COVID-19 hearing protocol: The health and safety of survivors, witnesses and the public are our utmost priority. Members of the public cannot attend the hearing in the current red traffic light setting, under the COVID-19 Protection Framework. The hearing will be livestreamed daily. We encourage the public to watch the livestream from 9 February, which can be found on the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry website.

Survivors abused while in Catholic Church care, many who were disabled children and at-risk young people, will give evidence at an upcoming Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry public hearing.

The six and a half-day hearing begins on Wednesday 9 February in Tāmaki Makaurau.

The hearing will focus on abuse by religious brothers of the Hospitaller Order of St John…

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Rachel Korberg is executive director of the Families and Workers Fund, president of the board at the Stonewall Community Foundation and a sexual abuse survivor.

He was the teacher at my high school everyone had a crush on: handsome, just a smidge too playful. He first approached me when I was 17 and standing in line for a roller coaster on a school field trip. Soon after, he asked me to come to his apartment, initiating several months of sexual contact.

As a teenager, I thought of this teacher as my boyfriend, even when his behavior got creepy, even when he said I shouldn’t tell anyone because it would threaten my career dreams. A permissive school environment contributed to my confusion. He told me that one of his colleagues referred to me as his “girlfriend,” and that he and other teachers talked about which students they would like to have sex…

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For the first time in its history, the New Zealand Catholic Church has released figures showing the scale of abuse committed by its priests and other religious officials.

But despite the 1680 cases of alleged abuse it has admitted to, survivors say the figure represents a “drop in the bucket” of the actual total – and estimate it could be as little as five per cent of the real number.

The data drop comes just a week before the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care begins a week-long hearing into one of the Church’s worst abuse cases, that of Marylands school in Christchurch.

The residential school, run by the Catholic St John of God order, accounts for 14 per cent of all the complaints received, and the three most prolific offenders – all with more than 15 recorded complaints – all worked at Marylands.

But Murray Heasley, spokesman…

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After a string of investigations exposing paedophile priests across the globe, it is time for Catholic-majority Italy to hold its own reckoning, a top advisor to the Vatican told AFP.

Hans Zollner, a German Jesuit priest on Pope Francis’s commission to protect minors, was speaking after the latest such probe, in Germany, accused former pope Benedict XVI of inaction on sexual abuse cases.

“There are cases of sexual abuse against minors in all parts of the world, in all sectors of society and also in the Church,” including in Italy, said Zollner.

“Three to 5% of priests around the world have been accused of abuse in the past 75 years,” he told AFP in a telephone interview late last week.

“We think the figures are comparable in Italy,” said Zollner, who is also director of Rome’s Anthropology Institute, based at the Pontifical Gregorian University, which deals with the prevention of…

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Network wants investigation to ‘determine global extent of cover-ups of clerical abuse’

The Catholic We Are Church International network of groups has called on Pope Francis to establish an independent legal investigation of the files at the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) “to determine the global extent of the cover-ups of clerical sex abuse cases”.

In a statement, it noted how “a decade ago in Ireland State judges investigating clerical abuse cases sought relevant files from the office of the Vatican’s CDF. The CDF refused to supply any files.”

The group referred to the recent “detailed Munich independent legal investigation” which “accused . . . [Emeritus] Pope Benedict XVl with failing to report four cases of clerical abuse [by priests] while he was archbishop of Munich”. It recalled how “in his statement . . . [to] this Munich report . . . [Benedict] did not tell the truth and…

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The Diocese of Camden has announced a plan to distribute $90 million to survivors of clergy sex abuse, well above its original offer of $10 million as part of a bankruptcy action.

But attorneys for sex-abuse survivors promptly rebuffed the proposal.

“It’s just woefully inadequate,” said Jeffrey Prol, an attorney for a committee representing more than 300 people with sex-abuse claims.

The two sides have clashed repeatedly over the amount of funds to be provided to sex-abuse survivors, with attorneys for claimants alleging the diocese has undervalued its assets to reduce its exposure.

The proposed fund, if approved in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, would be used to resolve some 300 claims, the diocese said in a statement Wednesday night.

The diocese would provide “the bulk” of the money, but its parishes “will also contribute a portion,” the statement said. It said the joint payment would total $60 million, but offered no…

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Prosecutors in Waushara County have filed the first criminal charge to result from the attorney general’s statewide investigation into clergy and faith leaders accused of sexual abuse.

Remington Jon Nystrom, 33, was charged with one count of first-degree sexual contact with a child under 13 in connection with an incident that occurred in 2009, according to information from the Department of Justice. 

Nystrom was a counselor at a Mount Morris camp in Waushara County when, police say, he inappropriately touched a sleeping 10-year-old, waking the child. 

Mount Morris is affiliated with the Moravian Church of America.

More: ‘This is criminal evidence’: Advocates deliver boxes of documents regarding clergy abuse to attorney general 

The victim had not previously reported the assault to either church or legal authorities, prior to reporting the abuse to the Attorney General’s Office, according to the Department of Justice.

“This case is possible because of…

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Nearly two-dozen students and their supporters at Mount St. Mary Catholic High School walked out of class Tuesday amid recently publicized allegations of sexual misconduct at the private school and complaints from some parents and alumni that administrators have been vague in their response and lacking in a detailed admission of institutional failures. 

The scandal has unfolded publicly since former Principal Talita DeNegri resigned in late December after an independent investigation revealed the school had failed to take action “consistent with its core beliefs and values” regarding allegations of sexual harassment and assault of a student, according to letters sent to donors, families and alumni by Board of Trustees Chairman Daniel Carsey.

More alleged victims spoke to The Oklahoman for a Jan. 23 article detailing their accusations, which include a male student masturbating in front of a female student, a female student forcibly moved into a…

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The Rev. Francis Santilli won’t exercise public ministry or live on church property pending the outcome of an investigation, the diocese said Thursday. He also resigned as pastor of St. Philip Parish.

Advocates for victims of abuse by priests are accusing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence and Bishop Thomas Tobin of a “cover-up” after a Smithfield priest was placed on administrative leave this week over a child sex abuse allegation dating to 40 years ago.

The Rev. Francis Santilli, pastor of St. Philip Parish in Greenville, won’t exercise public ministry or live on church property pending the outcome of an investigation, the diocese said Thursday. He also resigned as pastor of St. Philip Parish.

But it wasn’t the first time Santilli had been accused of child sexual abuse, according to the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests and BishopAccountability.org. In fact,…

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This week wasn’t the first time that Catholic priest Frank Santilli, removed now as pastor at St. Philip’s Parish in Smithfield, had been accused of sexually abusing a minor. 

No one knows that more than Dennis Laprade, 52, of North Providence. 

In 2014, after learning through the news that another former altar boy like himself had made allegations against Santilli, he contacted the diocese to tell his story. 

He didn’t know how similar their accounts would be. 

In 2012, the other man told a church official that the priest had molested him “approximately 30 times” during the early 1980s.  

More:Smithfield priest on leave after sexual-assault allegation

The molestations allegedly occurred after morning Masses. The priest would put the boy on his lap, ask if he was ticklish and “push up against him with his groin,” according to a diocese letter sent to the Rhode Island State Police in April 2012. 

…

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Members of religious orders and other consecrated men and women take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in the desire to live the Gospel in a more radical way.

It’s a way of life embraced as a path to holiness by helping members configure themselves more closely to Jesus in a stable state of life recognized by the church.

“They are ready to give up everything,” even their lives, and this readiness and dedication to follow Christ is “impressive” and “wonderful,” said Doris Reisinger, a German theologian. But “it’s so easily abused and exploited.”

Reisinger, a survivor of abuse inflicted when she was a consecrated member of Familia Spiritualis Opus, also known as The Spiritual Family “The Work,” is one of several people highlighting the need to protect the rights and dignity of consecrated women and men.

“People who live together, who promise poverty, chastity and obedience under the guidance…

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In a wide-ranging interview with America, Father Hans Zollner, the German Jesuit and one of the church’s top experts in the field of the safeguarding and protection of minors and vulnerable people from abuse, discussed the much-publicized report on how abuse cases were handled in the archdiocese of Munich and Freising, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s response to that report, the situation of the Catholic Church in Germany today, and what more Rome could do to help eliminate this plague from the church.

Father Zollner is the founding president of the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Center for Child Protection, which has now become the university’s Safeguarding Institute (IADC). He has been one of the few people in Rome willing to speak on the record about the Munich report, Benedict XVI and the church in Germany. I spoke with him in the institute’s office, at the Collegio Bellarmino, on Jan. 28.

The Munich Report

…

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The Archdiocese of Baltimore has suspended one of its Catholic priests amid allegations of sexual abuse dating back to the 1970s, while it investigates the claims.

On January 29, the Archdiocese issued a press release announcing that it has launched an investigation into allegations of clergy abuse by Reverend Samuel Lupico. While retired, Lupico has been working as an assistant at St. Mary of the Assumption in Govans, outside of Baltimore, and St. Pius X in Towson, Maryland.

The Archdiocese has suspended Lupico from his duties and suspended him from the ministry, pending the outcome of the investigation, which involve allegations that the priest sexually abused a minor in the 1970s. Lupico has denied the allegations, according to the press release issued by the Archdiocese.

The Archdiocese indicates it has reported the allegations to local law enforcement, and says it will assist in any investigation. But it has also…

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Spain’s parliament agreed to review a proposal by several political parties that have called for the establishment of commission to investigate sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church.

The proposal, which was presented Feb. 1 by the left-wing Podemos party, along with two other parties, could lead to a vote to form a commission to investigate the church’s handling of abuse allegations.

The two major conservative parties in Spain, including the Popular Party, opposed the proposal. According to the newspaper El País, Popular Party members said they do not oppose the formation of a commission but believe it should not limit its investigation solely to the Catholic Church.

The proposal for a commission came one day after the country’s prosecutor ordered its regional offices to compile information on ongoing investigations into clergy sexual abuse.

Although the Spanish bishops’ conference has vowed to investigate sex abuse cases in the country, it…

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The Rev. Canon Paul Wancura led a quiet, privileged life. But after his shocking death, a sexual abuse allegation followed.

Not much happens of note on Shelter Island, all 8,000 bucolic acres of it. Sandwiched between Long Island’s North and South Forks, it’s the kind of place where people seem to know one another, where car doors are often left unlocked and where, for some 20 years, the most bothersome problem has been Lyme disease-carrying blacklegged ticks.

But much of that changed in March 2018, when the Rev. Charles McCarron was asked to check in on another clergyman who had recently been commuting to a town on Long Island as a fill-in priest. He had failed to show up at church that day.

Father McCarron drove to the man’s white house with forest-green shutters in Silver Beach, a quiet Shelter Island neighborhood known for expensive second homes. When he pulled…

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It has been a humiliating week for Southern Baptists.

Earlier this week, as a Clemons Fellow with Baptist News Global, I reported on the release of a memorandum authored by a sexual abuse survivor that details stunning and sweeping allegations that the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee has mishandled specific instances of abuse, resisted meaningful institutional reform, and mistreated and intimidated survivors.

A mere 14 hours after BNG’s report on this memo was published, The Tennessean’s religion reporter, Liam Adams, released a 2,400-word story about SBC entities’ use of non-disclosure agreements. In 2019, one of these entities, International Mission Board, attempted to use an NDA to police the social media posts of an abuse survivor.

Putting aside my reporter hat for a moment, I’d like to tell you more about what’s going on behind the scenes with these stories.

Brown allegations

I am personally grateful to Christa Brown for allowing BNG to help tell…

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A former youth pastor has been arrested for an alleged inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

Sean Patrick Masopust, 32 of Owatonna, was booked into the Steele County Jail on Tuesday and is charged with one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.  Court documents state that Masopust had inappropriate contact with a youth group member at Northridge Church in the summer of 2018 when Masopust was 28 and the victim was 17.

Investigators say the relationship involved social media messages, nude photos, and some physical contact but no sexual intercourse.  The victim told law enforcement Masopust initiated the relationship and she just went along with it.

Court documents state the relationship ended in October 2018 and Masopust sent the victim a text message on her 18th birthday that said “I hope you can find it in the depths of your heart and soul to forgive me.  It was never my intention…

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There will be a trial this spring for one of two lawsuits that claim top officials with the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville protected a priest accused of child sexual assault.

The civil suits were filed about two months after the Diocese in 2019 released its list of priests who had been accused of sexually abusing children. The plaintiffs claim one of the 12 priests on the list, Father Benedicto Ortiz, continuously sexually abused two siblings.

The Brownsville Herald reports the abuse is alleged to have begun in 1982 while Ortiz served at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Brownsville, and continued when the Bishop at the time moved him to Saint Anne Mother of Mary in Pharr. State District Judge Gloria Rincones set May 16th as the date for one of the lawsuits to be heard.

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville will face trial in May for the alleged sexual assault one priest inflicted on two children in the 1980s.

On Thursday, a Cameron County judge set a trial date of May 16 for a lawsuit between two unidentified people against the diocese.

The lawsuit was first filed in March 2019. The plaintiffs claim that Father Benedicto Ortiz sexually assaulted the two children from 1982 to 1985 while he was the priest of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Brownsville and St. Anne Mother of Mary in Pharr.

The victims claim Ortiz had the two children sleep with him five days a week at the rectory where the abuse occurred. The victim’s mother allowed the children to move in because she believed they were in a safe environment, according to the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, Ortiz would provide the children drugs, expose himself to the…

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A Strongsville priest who faced numerous child pornography charges and was sentenced to life in prison last November has died.

Robert D. McWilliams was serving out his sentence at Allenwood Federal Prison in Pennsylvania, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, McWilliams was found unresponsive around 12:50 a.m. and then transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. He had been at the facility since Jan. 31.

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified. No staff or other inmates were injured and at no time was the public in danger,” the FOB said.

Authorities didn’t say how McWilliams died.

In July 2021, McWilliams pleaded guilty to two counts of sex trafficking of a minor, three counts of sexual exploitation of a child, one count each of transportation of child pornography, receipt and distribution of visual depiction of…

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Robert McWilliams was serving a life sentence at the Allenwood federal prison in Pennsylvania. His death is being investigated as a suicide.

The former Cleveland priest sentenced last year on child abuse charges died today, the Union County, Pennsylvania, coroner told 3News Investigates.

Coroner Dominick Adamo said Robert McWilliams died at 2:18 a.m. at Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg, Pa.

McWilliams was serving a life sentence at the Allenwood federal prison. His death is being investigated as a suicide. An autopsy will be performed Saturday.

Prison officials were not available for comment. 

The Diocese of Cleveland released the following statement to 3News: “We learned this afternoon of the passing of Robert McWilliams.  We place this and all difficult situations in the hands of God. We will continue to pray for the those hurt by his actions. May God be the source of their healing.”

The former priest pleaded guilty last year…

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Luca Morini, who allegedly spent church funds on parties and escorts, was exposed by an Italian TV show

An Italian former priest dubbed “Don Euro” by his parishioners because he kept pestering them for money has been jailed for extorting a former bishop.

Luca Morini served as a priest in the Tuscan village of Pontasserchio before being defrocked by the Vatican amid a series of scandals, culminating with a court in Massa Carrara sentencing him on Wednesday to seven and a half years in prison for extortion.

He was also convicted of assuming a false identity after masquerading as a judge when hiring male sex workers but acquitted on charges of extorting a nun, drug dealing and money laundering.

Morini was reportedly considered “a good-natured priest” when he first arrived in Pontasserchio, a village of about 2,600 inhabitants close to Pisa. But he soon earned the nickname Don Euro after…

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A former Mansfield St. Peter’s priest facing multiple federal charges related to sex trafficking has had his plea agreement deadline extended until May 16.

Defense attorneys for the Rev. Michael Zacharias, 53, requested and were granted the extension from a previous Jan. 12 plea deadline by Judge Jack Zouhary of U.S. District Court in Toledo.

Zacharias had served as associate pastor at Mansfield St. Peter’s Church from 2002-2007, according to a spokeswoman for the Toledo Catholic Diocese. 

The priest, who was placed on administrative leave in 2020 by Toledo Bishop Daniel Thomas, originally faced 10 sex-trafficking charges involving minors and adults, but the federal government agreed to dismiss five of those counts in August 2021 due to the alleged criminal acts being beyond the five-year statute of limitations, according to court documents.

Zacharias’ remaining charges include three counts of sex trafficking of a minor and two counts of sex trafficking of an adult.

…

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The third German Synodal Assembly spent hours discussing church issues and, by the end of its first day, adopted two texts that delegates hope will bring change and more democracy to the church. A vote on the election of bishops was delayed until the second day of the Feb. 3-5 meeting in Frankfurt.

All resolutions must be adopted by a two-thirds majority of all delegates present, plus two-thirds of all bishops must approve.

This was the third of five assemblies of the Synodal Path, organized to revitalize the church and restore trust following a September 2018 church-commissioned report that detailed thousands of cases of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy over six decades. Assembly delegates were under pressure to produce change.

During the day’s discussions, an emotional Benedictine Sister Philippa Rath told delegates: “Religious order people call me and ask if they can leave the church and still remain a member…

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Participants in the German Catholic Church’s “Synodal Way” voted on Friday in favor of a text calling for the ordination of women priests.

CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, reported that the text was passed by 174 votes in favor, 30 against, and 6 abstentions on Feb. 4 during a plenary session of the Synodal Way, a controversial multi-year process bringing together the country’s bishops and lay people.

The vote will be seen as a direct challenge to the Vatican, which has underlined that the Church has no power to ordain women as priests.

The document, entitled “Women in Ministries and Offices in the Church,” said: “It is not the participation of women in all Church ministries and offices that requires justification, but the exclusion of women from sacramental office.”

The vote came on the second day of a meeting of…

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The complaints, going back seven decades, attest to the pervasiveness of sexual and other abuse within the Catholic Church and are part of a worldwide reckoning.

Reports of abuse were filed against hundreds of clergy members and others in the Roman Catholic Church in New Zealand dating back to the 1950s, according to figures released this week to a royal commission, which for the first time capture the pervasiveness of abuse accusations in the church there.

Between 1950 and 2021, there were 1,680 allegations of abuse reported against diocesan clergy and members of Catholic religious orders or associations, according to data from Te Ropu Tautoko, a group coordinating between the commission — the highest form of investigation in New Zealand — and the Catholic Church.

The “sobering data” uncovered the scale of abuse within the Catholic Church, Katherine Anderson, a lawyer assisting the commission, said…

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Documents obtained by the ABC reveal the Vatican has ordered a fresh investigation into retired bishop Christopher Saunders under a protocol set up by Pope Francis to deal with sexual abuse cover-ups.

The correspondence, written by a senior manager within a Catholic Church agency, states that Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge has been appointed to conduct the Vos Estis Lux Mundi inquiry.

Pope Francis established the investigative protocol in 2019 to combat sexual abuse and increase the accountability for senior clerics like bishops.

An inquiry can be triggered by allegations of the sexual abuse of children or vulnerable adults, the possession of child abuse material, or the covering-up of sexual abuse allegations.

It is believed to be the first time it has been used in Australia.

‘Significant development’

Bishop Saunders resigned last year after a long police investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct was closed without charges being laid.

The allegations against…

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The French church is beginning to experience a degree of healing weeks after the release of an investigation into seven decades of the abuse of children by clergy. That is the assessment of Patrick Goujon, S.J., a professor at the Centre Sèvres (a Jesuit pre-collegiate school in Paris) and chief editor of Journal Recherches de Sciences Religieuse.

A victim himself of sexual assault by a priest, Father Goujon has been active with France’s conference of major superiors in disseminating the findings of the 2,500-page report, released in October after more than two years of research and investigation by the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church. According to the report, as many as 330,000 children had been abused by priests, religious and laypeople at church institutions in France since the 1950s.

A church in denial

The report landed on French Catholics like a bomb, Father Goujon said. French bishops…

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The bishop of Dodge City, Kansas, remains under criminal and canonical investigation, nearly a year after state authorities began looking into an allegation that the bishop sexually abused a minor. The bishop, who denies the allegation, stepped down from ministry when the allegation was announced. 

Ecclesiastical authorities charged with conducting a Vatican-directed investigation say the Church’s process is moving forward in conformity with canon law.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said Feb. 8, 2021 that the agency was investigating an allegation of abuse made against Bishop John Brungardt, who has been Bishop of Dodge City since 2010, and was before that a priest of the Diocese of Wichita. The agency did not indicate when Brungardt was alleged to have abused a minor.

A Feb. 8 statement from the Dodge City diocese said that Brungardt “denies the allegation and is fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation.”

In an unusual move for…

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A Smithfield priest has been placed on administrative leave as the Diocese of Providence investigates an alleged sexual abuse that reportedly happened four decades ago.

Rev. Francis Santilli was ordained as a priest in 1980 and has been a pastor at St. Philip Parish since July 2010.

The specifics surrounding the alleged sexual assault have not been made public, though the Diocese did confirm that the victim was a minor at the time.

Santilli has been ordered by the Diocese not to “exercise public ministry or reside on church property” pending the outcome of the investigation.

“Allegations of sexual abuse by clergy, even if they occurred decades ago, always must be taken seriously,” Bishop Thomas Tobin said. “I will be praying for all who are involved and affected by this difficult news.”

The Diocese has confirmed that Tobin has accepted Santilli’s resignation as pastor of St. Philip Parish. He has…

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The Diocese of Providence has placed a Smithfield priest on administrative leave following an allegation he sexually abused a minor sometime around 1979 or 1980, said a diocese spokesman Thursday. 

The Rev. Francis C. Santilli, pastor of St. Philip Parish in Greenville, has been banned from exercising public ministry or residing on church property pending the outcome of an investigation, the diocese said. 

The announcement Thursday came about after the diocese received an email complaint on Dec. 29 from a relative of someone claiming to have been abused by a priest in active ministry – without identifying the alleged victim, perpetrator, or circumstances, said diocese spokesman Michael F. Kieloch. 

The diocese opened an investigation and made attempts to contact the complainant, as well as communicated with the Rhode Island State Police.

The state police were able to contact and interview the alleged victim on Tuesday, said Kieloch. 

The diocese learned…

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A priest has been suspended from his duties while the Archdiocese of Baltimore investigates allegations that he sexually abused a minor in the 1970s, the archdiocese announced Sunday.

The archdiocese said Father Samuel Lupico was retired, but had been assisting at St. Mary of the Assumption in Baltimore and St. Pius X in Towson, The Baltimore Sun reported.

The alleged abuse took place in the mid-1970s, while Lupico served at St. Ann’s Catholic Church, the archdiocese said. He served there from 1974 to 1982. Lupico denies the allegations, the archdiocese said. The newspaper’s efforts to reach him were not successful.

The archdiocese said it hasn’t made a determination of credibility, but the announcement was made to solicit relevant information and fulfill its commitment to open communication.

Lupico served at a number of parishes dating back to the early 1970s, including St. Edward Catholic Church, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church and Holy…

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This episode of Speakers Forum centers around three very different experiences of childhood sexual abuse. However, all three guests consider the responsibility of caregivers to prevent abuse and the difficulty of demanding justice decades after the crime.‘I wish I could have told him, scream, and then scream louder, I’m here, and we will bring this to an end.’ JOAN NOCKELS WILSON

Joan Nockels Wilson is a lawyer and writer based in Anchorage, Alaska. Her 2021 memoir, The Book of Timothy: My Brother, The Devil, and Me, recounts her attempt to find justice for her brother Tim Nockels. Tim was abused by a Catholic priest during their childhood in Chicago. Joan writes about their shared childhood, her life in Anchorage, and finally her travels to confront her brother’s abuser in Rome.

Tim Nockels is a financial advisor based in Chicago. He’s worked…

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• Spain carries out a parliamentary investigation into child sex abuse within the country’s church.
• Government spokeswoman Isabel Rodriguez says: “We’re going to do it, and we’re going to do it well.” 
• Victim of sex abuse says that he wishes (all the parties) would agree to do something properly.

Spain on Tuesday took its very first step towards a parliamentary investigation into child sex abuse within the country’s church, with the unprecedented move backed by a range of political parties.

Until now, there has never been an official investigation into alleged abuse by members of the clergy, not by Spain’s government nor by the Spanish church itself.

In 2018, El Pais newspaper began investigating abuse allegations and received details of 1,246 cases.

The Church in Spain, which has only recognised 220 cases over the past 20 years, has never held a comprehensive investigation, saying it has protocols in place to manage abuse allegations.

But…

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Martins Enegbuma was convicted of sexual assaulting the woman, who is in her 20s, after a two-day trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

A Catholic priest has been convicted of sexually assaulting a young parishioner while she visited him with her family on Christmas Day.

Martins Enegbuma carried out the attack on the victim, who is in her 20s, in a house he was living in next door to his Edinburgh church.

The 44-year-old subjected her to unwanted kisses, rubbed her foot, and ran his hands over her body.

The victim, along with her mother and another relative, had visited Enegbuma as they didn’t want him to be alone for Christmas and brought him food.

Enegbuma was living in the house beside Our Lady, Mother of the Church in the city’s Currie area.

He left the woman “distressed” after what was branded a “catalogue of…

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Another try at lifting the statute of limitations in child sexual abuse cases sits in limbo in the Legislature.

A bill introduced by Sen. Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, would remove restrictions on how long a victim of such abuse has to file a lawsuit. Many experts say statutes that narrowly limit the time survivors of child abuse have to sue a perpetrator or an organization are unfair because it takes many victims years to acknowledge or come to terms with the abuse.

“This bill seeks to ensure that the trauma that survivors endure no longer outlives their ability to access the justice they deserve,” Duhigg wrote in an email Tuesday afternoon.

The Legislature’s webpage said the bill, which applies to civil and not criminal cases, has been referred to the Senate Committees Committee. Other efforts to alter the statute of limitations in these cases have been made as recently as 2019…

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Last week on the blog we described two new developments in the Catholic Church, which suggest that officials are beginning to acknowledge sexual abuse of adults by clergy and other church leaders. These include changes to the Code of Canon Law, which now recognizes that adults can be harmed by priests who abuse their authority. Additionally, lay people in leadership positions in the Church can now be punished under canon law for abusing minors or adults. 

The second piece of news is that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted in November to review the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, also known as the Dallas Charter, later this year. This is three years earlier than planned. Before the vote, three bishops went to the microphone to urge the committee reviewing the document to consider protections for adults. 

Curious to know…

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