ABUSE TRACKER

Co-Adjutor Archbishop James Checchio, who will lead the Archdiocese of New Orleans out of its five-year bankruptcy and into the next chapter of its 232-year history, testified Friday in the church’s bankruptcy hearing, vowing to uphold new measures to guard against clergy sex abuse “with all my heart and energy I have.”

The measures, part of the proposed settlement plan at issue in the three-week trial, would establish new policies for reporting and handling allegations of clergy sex abuse and create a public database detailing past incidents of abuse.

During his brief time on the witness stand, Checchio also apologized to an abuse survivor, Pat Moody, on behalf of the archdiocese. Moody, who heads the committee that represents more than 650 survivors of clergy sex abuse in the case, had testified moments earlier about her experience and the importance of the new policies that will go into effect…

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On Thursday (Nov. 20), New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond apologized to survivors of clergy sex abuse. But for some of those survivors, the words rang hollow.

Aymond took the witness stand in federal court as part of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ multimillion-dollar bankruptcy case. He testified for about 90 minutes while several survivors of alleged clergy abuse watched from the courtroom.

One of them, Richard Coon, said he was sexually abused for years, beginning when he was 10, by a Catholic school administrator.

“The ripple effect, the way it impacts you, is just astounding,” said Richard Coon.

Coon is among the claimants in the bankruptcy case. He and a handful of others came to court to witness the archbishop’s testimony.

“He has been hiding, or he is a sinister guy,” another survivor said in court.

On the stand, Aymond described the archdiocese’s rationale for declaring bankruptcy.

“The primary reason…

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The Archdiocese of New Orleans bankruptcy trial picked back up Thursday, with key testimony from Archbishop Gregory Aymond.

Aymond and survivors are testifying in the $230 million settlement to resolve hundreds of sexual abuse claims.

It was revealed in court that from 1993 to 2020, 132 survivors were paid about $12 million.

In 2020, the diocese filed for bankruptcy, and currently, there are 626 abuse survivors, with roughly 36% reporting the abuse to the diocese.

An expert said $1.7 billion could have been the total due in this bankruptcy. Survivors approved a plan for $230 million, with parishes and other entities helping fund the deal.

Aymond took the stand at 1:30 p.m. to begin his testimony. His testimony lasted a little over an hour.

During his testimony, Aymond explained why the diocese filed for bankruptcy and the importance of the relationship between the diocese and its parishes.

Aymond said the…

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Archbishop Gregory Aymond took the witness stand Thursday in the federal bankruptcy court, defending his decision five years ago to place the local church under bankruptcy protection and arguing that a $230 million settlement is the fairest way to compensate hundreds of clergy sex abuse survivors.

During more than an hour of testimony, Aymond also vowed to uphold new child protection measures designed to guard against future clergy abuse and apologized to abuse survivors on behalf of the nation’s second-oldest Roman Catholic diocese.

“I know you have been through a lot of pain,” Aymond said. “It is unfortunate and embarrassing for me as a priest to think that someone in a trusted position, like a priest or minister, would take advantage of someone sexually. So, my heartfelt apology to those who have been abused.”

Aymond’s testimony came on the fourth day of a trial, technically a confirmation hearing, that could…

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Court filings show St. Andrew’s set for $1.4M sale as advocates warn parish funds could be used in $272 million abuse settlement.

The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo is moving toward the sale of three additional church properties as it works through bankruptcy and a tentative $272 million settlement with survivors of clergy sexual abuse, according to documents recently submitted in state court.

One filing details an agreement to transfer the former St. Andrew Church site in the Town of Tonawanda to Child and Family Services for $1.4 million. The campus includes multiple buildings once used by the parish.

Elizabeth McPartland, the organization’s president and CEO, said the location would become part of the Stanley G. Falk School system, which serves students with special education needs across more than 50 Western New York districts.

“We are here to serve the western New York community. Our services have changed over the years. They…

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The Archdiocese of New Orleans’ bankruptcy trial officially began Tuesday, and attorneys began discussing the archdiocese’s finances.

Nearly 150 parishes and charities are filing for bankruptcy and will contribute approximately $65 million to a $230 million settlement fund for clergy sex abuse survivors.

Father Patrick Carr, who works on finances for the diocese, was questioned by attorneys in court.

He said the $230 million trust is still building up the needed funds.

It was revealed in court that it costs the diocese $50 million to operate every three months.

Carr said it’s unclear how much each parish will owe.

“Nobody knows exactly how much the parish is putting up,” Carr said.

Carr said it’s also unclear who will make the decision on how much each parish will pay.

Carr, who is also the pastor of St. Rita, said he doesn’t know how much St. Rita will pay but should find…

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Pope Leo XIV sent a message Nov. 17 to participants in the meeting for “Building Communities that Protect Dignity,” promoted by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

The Holy Father said that efforts to build communities where the dignity of minors and the most vulnerable is protected and promoted are a matter that he holds “deep in his heart.”

The pontiff explained that “dignity is a gift from God” and that it is not something obtained through merit or force but rather “a gift that precedes us: It is born from the loving gaze with which God has loved us individually and continues to love us.”

“In every human face, even when marked by weariness or pain, there is a reflection of the Creator’s goodness, a light that no darkness can extinguish,” he affirmed.

The pope thus emphasized that “by taking responsibility for the lives of others, we learn…

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Checchio, who has been in New Orleans for less than a week, took the witness stand in federal court on Friday.

The New Orleans Archdiocese’s complex bankruptcy case continued Friday at federal court, marking a significant moment as incoming Archbishop James Checchio took the stand for the first time.

From Pulpit to Witness Stand

Incoming Archbishop James Checchio has been in New Orleans less than a week. On Tuesday, he was celebrated during a welcome mass at St. Louis Cathedral. Then on Friday, he took the witness stand at federal court. 

Checchio walked into federal court Friday, flanked by Archbishop Gregory Aymond, church staff and attorneys. He testified that he has received a “brief overview” of the Church’s reorganization plan. 

This plan includes a $230 million settlement with survivors and crucial non-monetary remedies. These remedies outline new policies and establish an internal review board to handle any future instances of sexual abuse.

…

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The Archdiocese of New Orleans bankruptcy trial continued Friday with testimony from a survivor and the incoming archbishop.

The survivor, Patricia Moody, was called to the stand to describe her story of abuse through the archdiocese.

Moody testified that she was abused when she was 8 years old by a credibly-accused priest.

When the list was published in November 2018, she learned her abuser was dead and had been excommunicated.

She said she waited for weeks after making her report for the archdiocese to reach back out.

“I waited for my next instructions, and there were none,” Moody testified.

According to Moody, she then took her report of abuse to attorneys. She says her legal team treated her better than the archdiocese did.

Moody has been part of the Survivors Committee and told Judge Meredith Grabill that someone has to protect children. She is hopeful that survivors will be allowed…

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Coadjutor Archbishop James Checchio walked into federal court Friday to testify in the multimillion-dollar bankruptcy case involving the Archdiocese of New Orleans and hundreds of people who filed sex abuse claims against it.

Among the claimants are people like Johnny Krummel, who says he’s still struggling because of the abuse he suffered in the early 1980s as a young boy at the Madonna Manor Orphanage.

“It’s been messed up my whole life. You know, I’m trying to get better, but it’s messed up my whole life, my brothers too, because they were in Hope Haven and Madonna Manor too,” said Johnny Krummel outside the federal courthouse in New Orleans.

Patricia Moody is another claimant. Moody says a priest began abusing her when she was 8 years old.

“Everybody needs validation. They need to be treated with kindness and compassion, empathy,” Patricia Moody said at the courthouse.

Moody says she received…

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Bishop Fafael Zornoza is the first Spanish Catholic bishop known to have been investigated by the Vatican for an abuse allegation.

Pope Leo has accepted the resignation of a bishop in Spain who is being investigated over an alleged abuse case, the Vatican said on Saturday.

Bishop Rafael Zornoza is under investigation over an allegation of sexual abuse of a teenage boy in the 1990s, which he denies.

Zornoza, who had led the Diocese of Cadiz y Ceuta on Spain’s southern coast since 2011, is the first Spanish Catholic bishop publicly known to have been investigated by the Vatican for an allegation of abuse.

Vatican avoids mention of abuse

In a short statement, the Vatican said only that Pope Leo had accepted the resignation of the bishop. It did not mention the allegation.

At the age of 76, Zornoza is a year beyond the traditional retirement age for Catholic bishops.

For…

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Pope Leo XIV on Saturday accepted the resignation of an ailing Spanish bishop who is under church investigation for allegedly sexually abusing a young seminarian in the 1990s, the first known time the new pontiff removed a bishop accused of abuse.

A one-line statement from the Vatican said Leo had accepted the resignation of Cádiz Bishop Rafael Zornoza, 76. It didn’t say why, but Zornoza submitted his resignation to the pope last year when he turned 75, the normal retirement age for bishops.

It hadn’t been accepted though until the El País newspaper reported earlier this month that Zornoza had been recently placed under investigation by a church tribunal. The daily, which since 2018 has exposed decades of abuse and cover-up in the Spanish Catholic Church, said Zornoza was accused of abusing a young former seminarian while he was a young priest and directed the diocesan seminary in Getafe.

The report,…

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Pope Leo has accepted the resignation of a bishop in Spain who is being investigated over an alleged abuse case, the Vatican said on Saturday.

Bishop Rafael Zornoza is under investigation over an allegation of sexual abuse of a teenage boy in the 1990s, which he denies.

Zornoza, who had led the Diocese of Cadiz y Ceuta on Spain’s southern coast since 2011, is the first Spanish Catholic bishop publicly known to have been investigated by the Vatican for an allegation of abuse.

In a short statement, the Vatican said only that Pope Leo had accepted the resignation of the bishop. It did not mention the allegation.

At the age of 76, Zornoza is a year beyond the traditional retirement age for Catholic bishops.

For decades, the 1.4 billion-member Church has been shaken by scandals around the world involving abuse and cover-up, damaging its credibility and costing it .

The…

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The Local Ordinary of Nigeria’s Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja has called for “serious renewal” in the “clerical culture” in which members of the Clergy operate in order to address the allegations of sexual abuse in the Church. 

In his paper on ‘The Abuse of Priestly Powers and Its Impact on the Laity” at the ongoing fourth Diocesan Synod of the Catholic Diocese of Enugu, Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama said the crisis of sexual abuse of minors has not only “undermined” the work of the Church but also “wounded our credibility.”

“The clerical culture in which Bishops and Priests live in many ways requires serious renewal,” Archbishop Kaigama said on Tuesday, November 18, the third day of the seven-day event, which is scheduled to conclude on November 22.

He emphasized the need for “critical self-analysis, examination, and introspection” among the members of the Clergy, saying, “We must look inward and know we really need…

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Advocates in New York state are petitioning a Catholic foundation there to help fund major pension shortages and church preservation efforts as well as to help support victims of clergy sex abuse.

In a Nov. 13 letter to the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation in New York City, representatives of the group Save Our Buffalo Churches, sexual abuse victims, and pensioners of the former St. Clare’s Hospital asked the foundation to help the three communities with the “profound hardship” they are experiencing.

Numerous parishes in Buffalo have been fighting diocesan-mandated closures and mergers over the past year. Hundreds of former workers of St. Clare’s, meanwhile, saw their pensions reduced or eliminated starting in 2018 due to major shortfalls. The hospital itself closed about a decade before.

Abuse victims, meanwhile, have “been locked in a legal morass, denied the long-term healing resources and institutional acknowledgment of the harm…

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Jeffrey Diminico was one of five children brought up in a Catholic familythat attended St. Michael Parish. A former parish priest, Rev. Walter Cuenin, befriended hisfamily, entrenched himself in their lives and holiday celebrations and eventually sexually assaulted Jeffrey when he was a teenager, he said.

“He almost immediately latched on to our family,” said Diminico, who revealed the sexual abuse Thursday in a meeting with his attorney, Mitchell Garabedian of Boston, who has represented thousands of victims of Catholic Church sexual abuse.

Cuenin, coincidentally, once called for the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law over his mishandling of the church abuse scandal.

Now a married, career nursing home administrator who lives in Bridgewater, Diminico said Cuenin sexually abused him in 1972 and 1973 when he was 16 and 17 years old respectively.

The first incident occurred at a priests’ home in Hull, and the second when Cuenin took Diminico to…

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Pope Leo XIV called on the Italian Church to develop a “cultureof prevention” on clerical child sex abuse, after critics saidnothing had changed in 30 years.

But a survivor’s group expressed disappointment that the pontiff did not go further in demanding action from the Italian Bishops Conference, which was holding its general assembly in the town of Assisi.

“I would like to recommend particular attention to the youngest and most vulnerable, so that a culture of prevention of all forms of abuse can develop,” the US pope told the meeting.

He stressed the importance of welcoming and listening to victims, adding: “I thank you for what you have already done and I encourage you to continue your commitment to protecting minors and vulnerable adults.”

Leo did not directly refer to a recent report by the Pontifical Commission forthe Protection of Minors, which criticised the “substantial cultural resistance”in Italy to addressing…

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A lawsuit filed against the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph Tuesday claims the church covered up sexual abuse the plaintiff allegedly experienced as a child at the hands of a priest around 50 years ago.

The lawsuit marks one of several in recent years against the diocese alleging sexual abuse was concealed by the church, and marks one of several allegations against former priest John Tulipana.

The suit alleges the abuse occurred several times between 1976 and 1979 in various locations, including the child’s home, an abandoned warehouse and the church.

The child’s mother reported Tulipana’s conduct to the Rev. James Hart, who reportedly told her the church “was a family” and told her “it would be taken care of,” according to the lawsuit.

The mother also reportedly told the diocese about Tulipana’s conduct after she was “unsatisfied” with Hart’s response, the lawsuit said. Additionally, the child reported the…

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A former Catholic priest abused his position at a church in Epsom to groom and sexually abuse a young boy.

Anthony White, who was known as Father Tony, used his position within St Joseph’s Church and involvement with clubs to select and groom the boy when he was in the first years of secondary school in the late 1980s.

Over the course of several years, White subjected the boy to repeated sexual abuse at his home but manipulated him into silence by blaming him for what had happened.

White, now 67, was jailed for 10 years in 2022 for the sexual abuse and rape of another young boy in the 1990s when he was an assistant priest at a St John the Evangelist Church in Horsham, West Sussex.

The Epsom survivor saw the press coverage of White’s 2022 conviction and found the courage to approach Sussex Police about the…

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Catholic churches across the Archdiocese of Los Angeles recognized parishioners’ commitment to the prevention of child sexual abuse at weekend Masses Nov. 15-16. 

“Stand Up Sunday” was intentionally held a few days before the World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Exploitation, Abuse, and Violence on Nov. 18. The initiative was also promoted in other Catholic dioceses in California, including San Diego, Santa Rosa, Fresno, Orange, and San Jose.

In LA, Auxiliary Bishop Matthew Elshoff celebrated a special Mass at Our Mother of Good Counsel Church in Los Feliz for the occasion on Nov. 16. In his homily, Elshoff emphasized the need for Catholics to care for those in their community — especially those harmed by abuse — while finding the courage to speak up.

“It’s important that we find our prophetic voice in each stage of our lives,” Elshoff said. “And that isn’t always…

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Five men who accused the State of failing to protect them against sexual and physical abuse at a children’s home in Belmont decades ago have filed a lawsuit suing the Roman Catholic Church and the State.

In a lawsuit filed on October 8, the men are suing the St Dominic’s Children’s Home (also referred to as the Belmont Orphanage), the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Port-of-Spain, the Attorney General, the Statutory Authorities Service Commission, and a former employee at the children’s home who was later charged with buggery, attempted buggery and serious indecency.

Guardian Media spoke to one of the five victims, who wished not to be identified because of the nature of the offences.

Asked how he felt about the matter, making strides towards being heard in court, he said, “I feel very good, to be honest. I feel very relaxed right now. I’m going through a lot of problems…

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The challenge of addressing abuse within consecrated life — in all its dimensions: sexual, power, conscience, and also economic — was the focus of an international meeting organized by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors held at the Maffei Marescotti Palace in Rome.

Under the theme “Building Communities that Safeguard Dignity,” representatives of religious institutes from some 20 countries are gathering Nov. 17–19 to share experiences, examine structural shortcomings, and work on the preparation of the third annual report, which will involve 40 communities.

The commission’s president, Archbishop Thibault Verny, thanked the nearly 60 participants from various countries for their presence and emphasized that preventing abuse “is not a local task but a universal commitment of the Church.”

The third report on abuse, the archbishop clarified, “is not intended to add a burden” but rather to be “an opportunity” to promote “attention to the…

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The group fighting to keep Buffalo churches open amidst the Diocese’s bankruptcy is joining forces with groups representing survivors of child abuse and former Hospital employees to free up $1 Billion in funds.

Save Our Buffalo Churches is leading the effort to tap into the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, which holds proceeds from a $3.2 Billion sale of Fidelis Care, to free $1 Billion to help pay the abuse case settlement in Buffalo, among other things across the state.

“There’s well over $3 Billion that’s there,” said Mary Pruski with Save Our Buffalo Churches. “The lawyers looking at the project said this is a very worthy cause. If it’s a bill and it’s passed, they will be forced to hand over what we’re asking for… $1 Billion.”

$120 Million from the fund would be enough to repay all parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo for their contribution to the abuse…

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A new lawsuit claims the Catholic Diocese ignored years of warnings about a now-deceased predatory priest.

Court records filed in Jackson County on Tuesday, Nov. 18, show that an anonymous man has sued the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph.

The suit alleges that the late Father John Tulipana abused a boy in the late 1970s after his family moved to Grandview.

The petition claims that Diocese leaders knew Tulipana violated boundaries with children. Church leaders had received multiple complaints about Tulipana dating back to his seminary days.

Yet, the lawsuit alleges that the Diocese continued to place Tulipana in positions with access to minors.

According to the complaint, Tulipana began to target the boy, identified only as W.J., as he helped his single mother care for her children.

The suit notes that the priest would pick the children up from school and…

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The judge found earlier this year that the university defied a court order.

A state judge is ordering Seton Hall University to turn over a trove of documents connected to a 2019 investigation into clergy abuse, a victory for survivors who’ve spent years in court seeking accountability.

The order by Superior Court Judge Avion Benjamin stems from reporting by POLITICO that Seton Hall’s president, Monsignor Joseph Reilly, did not properly report allegations of sexual misconduct when he was a seminary leader.

Benjamin has been overseeing litigation on about 450 claims of clergy abuse within the Archdiocese of Newark and at Seton Hall but expressed disbelief earlier this year when attorneys for the plaintiffs learned about the 2019 investigation, saying “they had to find out about it in 2025 in POLITICO.” In March, Benjamin determined that Seton Hall violated a previous court order by not disclosing those documents.

Benjamin’s latest order forces Seton Hall to…

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Superior Court judge tells school to hand over files that name priests, details of abuse claims

Seton Hall University is facing new pressure after a state judge ordered the school to hand over long-kept documents from a 2019 clergy abuse investigation. The ruling is considered a major win for survivors who have spent years demanding transparency.

The order from Superior Court Judge Avion Benjamin follows revelations that Seton Hall President Monsignor Joseph Reilly failed to properly report misconduct allegations when he led the school’s seminary. The judge said she was stunned to learn plaintiffs only discovered the 2019 probe through news reporting this year, despite a previous court order requiring disclosure.

Seton Hall now has to turn over files that name roughly a dozen priests and detail findings that Reilly knew of abuse claims but didn’t follow reporting rules. Survivors’ attorneys argue those documents could reveal broader failures in the…

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Some 660 alleged survivors have claims against the New Orleans Archdiocese in its long bankruptcy. Attorneys Frank Lamothe III and Kristi Schubert have 75 clients. Twenty-three of them are prisoners; most allege abuse at two long-shuttered orphanages, Hope Haven and Madonna Manor.

Two of these men had a different path to prison.

Bernard Joseph, 57, and Marcus Hamilton, 65, half-brothers, are serving life terms in Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary, for murdering a priest.

Their stories, revealed here in full for the first time, cite their lawsuits against the New Orleans Archdiocese, voluminous documents in a death penalty appeal, and NCR’s Zoom interviews with each man at an office with attorney Schubert present. Prison officials refused permission for in-person interviews.

This story also involves two Josephite priests. One was murdered. The other has testified that he was trying to help the brothers, who say both religious men abused…

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Bishop Rafael Zornoza said the allegations dating from the 1990s were ‘very serious and furthermore false’.

The Bishop of Cádiz and Ceuta stepped down from his duties pending a Vatican investigation of a claim he abused a 14-year-old in the 1990s.

Four months ago, the alleged victim wrote directly to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF) accusing Bishop Rafael Zornoza of repeatedly abusing him while he was attending a minor seminary in Getafe, a diocese north of Madrid.

The Spanish daily El País reported that his email to the Vatican began: “I write this letter solely with the intention of avoiding another child still having to go through what I went through.”

The abuse allegedly began in 1994, when he was a boy of 14 and Zornoza, rector of the seminary of Getafe. The victim claimed the priest, then aged 45, would enter his bed to “caress” him after he…

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 Pope Leo XIV could soon accept the resignation of an ailing Spanish bishop who is under church investigation for allegedly sexually abusing a young seminarian in the 1990s, the head of the Spanish Catholic bishops conference said Monday.

Archbishop Luis Javier Argüello García told reporters in St. Peter’s Square that the conference hierarchy had discussed the case with Leo during an audience Monday.

Argüello confirmed a report in El País newspaper that a canonical investigation into Cádiz Bishop Rafael Zornoza, 76, had been opened two weeks ago. It is believed to be the first publicly known church investigation of a Spanish bishop accused of abuse since the Spanish church began reckoning in recent years with a decades-long legacy of abuse and cover-up.

The diocese of Cádiz has denied the accusations against Zornoza but confirmed the investigation was being carried out by the church court in Madrid known as the Rota. In…

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Seton Hall University has been ordered to release a massive 20,000-page internal probe it conducted on clergy sex abuse at the Catholic school — a report it spent years hiding from survivors.

The findings accuse current Seton Hall President Monsignor Joseph Reilly of failing to properly investigate claims of sexual abuse by students of the New Jersey school, which technically violates the federal Title IX funding law, based on leaks first reported by Politico.

Essex County Judge Avion Benjamin ruled that the report, compiled by law firm Latham & Watkins in 2019 was not privileged information — and has given the university 30 days to release it.

“There is a legitimate need for the evidence,” Benjamin said. “The evidence is material and relevant.”

Seton Hall had previously fought against its release despite repeated calls to do so.

Survivors claimed victory Monday.

“For far too long, survivors and the public have…

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A new statewide coalition is calling for $1 billion from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation to help settle clergy abuse cases across the Diocese of Buffalo, which continues navigating bankruptcy proceedings.

The diocese is awaiting word on its reorganization settlement plan that calls for $274 million to pay nearly 900 Child Victim Acts cases. While that process unfolds, Save Our Buffalo Churches is leading a coalition seeking help from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, an organization worth $3.6 billion.

“This is across New York state – folks harmed at the hands of the Catholic Church, not taking care of their people,” Mary Pruski with Save Our Buffalo Churches said.

The coalition’s three-pronged effort aims to settle clergy abuse cases in the diocese and its parishes, help pensioners suing the Albany Diocese after a Catholic hospital closed, and pay for the $500 million settlement with abuse victims in New York City.

“So…

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[See also the entire report.]

A Franklin County-based Christian charity that for more than 50 years operated children’s homes in Mexico abruptly shut down last week after a report documented decades of sexual abuse allegations, beginning with the orphanage’s founders and continuing to the present.

Niños de México commissioned the independent investigation into its handling of sexual abuse in response to media scrutiny and mounting pressure from donor churches.

The 256-page report chronicles accusations against 20 employees of the organization, including its Franklin County founders, and says its most recent executive director, Steve Ross, who split his time between Florissant and Mexico, failed to report abuse allegations. According to one witness, Ross even instructed a staff member to destroy documents related to some of the accusations.

“The investigation found that leadership, including multiple Executive Directors, consistently failed to protect children, actively concealed abuse, retaliated against whistleblowers, and…

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The Catholic Diocese of Alexandria, which oversees all Catholic churches in Avoyelles Parish and much of central Louisiana, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization amid mounting financial pressure from clergy sex abuse lawsuits.

Bishop Robert W. Marshall Jr. announced on Oct. 31 that the diocese submitted a Chapter 11 petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, making Alexandria the first Louisiana diocese outside New Orleans and the 41st Catholic diocese in the United States to seek court-supervised bankruptcy protection in the wake of the clergy abuse scandal. The filing is intended to pause numerous pending lawsuits and create a plan to compensate abuse survivors while allowing the Church’s day-to-day ministry to continue uninterrupted.

In a letter to the faithful, Bishop Marshall explained that the decision to seek bankruptcy protection came after extensive consultation and prayer.

“This action is occurring because some past priest-perpetrators sexually abused minors, actions that are evil, sinful, and go against everything the Church and the priesthood represent,” the bishop…

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Pope Leo XIV appealed for persecuted Christians around the globe on Sunday, making specific mention of Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mozambique, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and including in his appeal “other countries from which we frequently hear of attacks on communities and places of worship.”

“God is a merciful father,” the pontiff said, “who desires peace among all His children.”

Leo also expressed his closeness to families in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a rebel group backed by the so-called Islamic State murdered at least 20 civilians in an attack on a church-run hospital.

Conducted by a group called the Allied Democratic Forces, the Friday night attack took place in the village of Byambwe, in the Lubero territory of North Kivu province.

The Associated Press reported mothers of newborn children among the victims.

“Women who were breastfeeding were brutally slaughtered and found with…

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Following an investigation, District Attorney Sim Gill said, “critical corroborating evidence is unavailable.”

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill declined to file criminal charges against Tim Ballard, the anti-child-trafficking celebrity, saying his office believed it lacked the evidence needed to charge Ballard of engaging in sexual assault or misconduct.

In a statement late Friday afternoon, Gill said he commends the courage of those who spoke to investigators and the decision by his office “does not diminish the value of the survivors’ voices or the harm they have experienced,” but prosecutors lacked the evidence needed to “remove every reasonable doubt for a jury.”

“While the survivors have provided important and compelling statements,” Gill said, “critical corroborating evidence is unavailable, and certain necessary elements of the charges cannot be established with the certainty required by the law.”

The decision was conveyed in a letter from county prosecutor Clint Heiner to James…

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The theological eruption caused by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández in early November was entirely predictable and serves to highlight the current sorry state of the office he leads.

It has long appeared to be a practice in Rome that a cleric does not necessarily need to have a natural ability for the role he is brought to the Vatican for. The case of disgraced Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta is a high-profile example. When Zanchetta resigned his see in 2017 in disgrace over the revelations of homosexual predation on seminarians, Pope Francis created a new post for the bishop at the Vatican, defending the bishop for the next two years.

It has also been the case with Father Marko Rupnik, whose art and mosaics have adorned the walls of the great and the good around Rome, whilst reports of his abuse of nuns were downplayed by relevant superiors. Never mind the alleged…

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[A Google translation is followed by the original Spanish text]

Gloria is the voice against the Vatican in Lorena Luciano’s film that arrives in New York

A documentary by Italian filmmakers brings the Marko Rupnik case to New York: “Nuns vs. The Vatican,” directed by Lorena Luciano, gives voice to the nuns who accuse the former Slovenian Jesuit priest of repeated spiritual and sexual abuse over the years.

The film, which will be screened tomorrow at the Doc NYC festival, coinciding with the start of Rupnik’s trial in the Vatican, focuses on the testimonies of Gloria Branciani and Mirjam Kovac, two of the thirty women who accuse the priest of abuse.

“Rupnik was a superstar in the 1990s,” recalls John Allen, an American Vatican expert, interviewed by the filmmakers, “the Michelangelo of John Paul II” for his artistic activity in the Vatican, Lourdes, and other places.

The accusations in the…

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A former Catholic priest has been sentenced for a non-recent sex offence against a child.

Anthony White, 67, was found guilty of indecent assault of a boy under the age of 14 years in the late 1980s, following a trial at Guildford Crown Court. White was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on Tuesday, 4 November.

The survivor, who was in his first few years of secondary school, met White, known as Father Tony, through his local church. White used his position within St Joseph’s Church in Epsom and involvement with clubs as a means of selecting and grooming the child.

Over the course of several years, Father Tony subjected the young boy to repeated abuse at his home. This mistreatment began with leaving the child alone in a room for extended periods. This escalated to Father Tony exposing the boy to explicit material and committing acts of indecent assault. After…

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The ‘Law & Order: SVU’ star’s documentary premiered earlier this year on HBO Max

• Mariska Hargitay is sharing how her film My Mom Jayne impacted her whole family
• The documentary, which premiered earlier this year, looks at the life and legacy of her late mother Jayne Mansfield
• At the DOC NYC Visionaries Tribute Luncheon on Nov. 12, Hargitay told PEOPLE the making of the film was “a very sacred journey with my family”

Mariska Hargitay is reflecting on how My Mom Jayne impacted her family as a whole.  

In her feature film directorial debut, which won Best First Documentary Feature at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards on Nov. 9, Hargitay, 61, looks at the life of her late mother Jayne Mansfield. 

The film not only examines Mansfield’s expansive career in the 1950s and 1960s; it also dives into the legacy she left behind and family secrets later discovered following her tragic death in a…

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Father Antoine Exelmans, a 60-year-old French priest in one of Casablanca’s churches, is under investigation for sexual abuse of migrants and refugees under his care in Morocco, including a minor of 15, authorities said.

Exelmans served in Morocco from 2016 to the summer of 2024 after having been sent from the Diocese of Rennes. Moroccan authorities received a complaint in May 2024. French prosecutors in Saint-Étienne said Exelmans admitted that the acts had occurred between 2020 and 2024 in Rabat and Casablanca, but claimed they were “freely consented to,” according to prosecutor Anne Gaches. Prosecutors are investigating “assaults on minors and adults under his authority due to his position,” she said, Le Parisien reported.

Moroccan news outlet Enass reported that Exelmans allegedly ran a “system of sexual exploitation” targeting migrant and refugee minors. At least six victims, mostly from Guinea and one from Cameroon, are involved.

The Archbishop of Rabat, Cristobal…

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The broadcaster VRT is developing a follow-up documentary to its series “Godvergeten”, a spokesperson confirmed on Sunday.

The original series, aired in September 2023, explored years of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. It sparked significant societal debate and prompted the creation of a parliamentary inquiry.

According to a statement from VRT, much has happened in society regarding church-related abuse over the past two-and-a-half years. The broadcaster’s editorial team has closely monitored these developments and is now working on a standalone documentary to examine the outcomes during this period.

This new production will not be a multi-episode sequel to ‘Godvergeten’; instead, it will be a single-episode documentary focusing on the aftermath of the series.

Details about the documentary’s content have not yet been disclosed, and its broadcast date remains unknown.

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The offender is identified by his initials, EGM, to protect the identity of the victim, who is related by marriage

Warning: this story contains details some readers may find disturbing.

An Edmonton man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for sexually abusing a teenage girl after a judge found he used a position of religious authority to groom and exploit the victim.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Michael Kraus on Wednesday sentenced the 56-year-old for his years-long sexual relationship with the victim, who is 25 years his junior. The offender is identified by his initials, EGM, to protect the identity of the victim, who is related by marriage.

Kraus said EGM’s “exploitation of religious indoctrination” was a “particularly aggravating” factor that merited a significant prison sentence.

“The offender was in a position of trust vis-a-vis the victim because he was her step-uncle and also because he had a…

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The work of the day ahead had already been agreed with the news desk, when an obliquely worded email dropped into my inbox.

It was 8.36am on Wednesday.

It came from the press office of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland – a denomination with congregations on both sides of the border.

There were three short paragraphs.

The first said the church would make a “significant announcement of public importance” that afternoon.

“While we are unable to share specific details beforehand, they will be presented at the news conference, which we hope you…will be able to attend,” it said.

The details of the time and location were all that was added.

It immediately piqued my interest.

A quick phone call did not elicit any additional information, but I got the sense that this was big and that it concerned “safeguarding” – a phrase that has become synonymous with abuse.

I called…

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Lea el artículo en español aquí.

In spring of 1979, a priest living in the East Bay got a call from the Rev. James Corley, the administrator at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Windsor. Corley — essentially an interim pastor — needed someone to fill in while he traveled to Mexico on diocesan business, and then to Rome for an ordination ceremony.

The priest Corley recruited, Stephen Kiesle, accepted the offer and soon notified the Oakland diocese in a letter.

“I hope the experience in Windsor will be a happy one for you,” Oakland Bishop John Cummins wrote back, in a letter reviewed by The Press Democrat.

But Kiesle wasn’t supposed to be there.

Just a year earlier, he was arrested for sexually abusing six boys at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Union City. He pleaded no contest to two of those crimes. At the time…

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A Mobile woman is suing the Archdiocese of Mobile for allegedly failing to follow proper procedure when investigating her alleged sexual abuse by Brother Victor “Vic” Bendillo at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in the 1990s.

Representing Sallie McPhearson Chestang, Montrose attorney Vince Kilborn levied multiple accusations of fraud, deceit with intent to induce injury, intentional infliction of emotional distress and more at south Alabama’s Catholic diocese in connection to an interview Chestang gave to Ginger Koppersmith in November 2023 about the sexual abuse she experienced more than 30 years ago as a high school student. Kilborn filed the complaint in Mobile County Circuit Court Friday morning.

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Four men are suing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the state of Washington, alleging the church reinstated a known pedophile to the position of high priest without warning members, allowing him to continue sexually abusing children as young as 5 years old. 

In a complaint removed to Washington federal court on Monday, the four, suing anonymously as John Roe 1 through 4, say they were each abused by David Herget, who had previously admitted to raping his own 13-year-old daughter in 1993 but then was rebaptized by the church and allowed to rise to a position of authority once again.

According to the complaint, Herget was convicted of raping his daughter but only served 180 days in prison after the church urged leniency. And despite the church excommunicating Herget, he was allowed back into certain church services by 1997 and became a regular presence in the church…

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Dallas County Judge Emily Tobolowsky has rejected a plea by disgraced pastor Robert Morris, founder of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, to have abuse survivor Cindy Clemishire’s lawsuit dismissed on First Amendment grounds.

The judge, who has won her last three four-year-term elections without any opposition, provided no reason for rejecting arguments made by Morris and his wife Deborah. She also denied motions to dismiss the same lawsuit from church elders Tra Willbanks, Kenneth Fambro, Gayland Lawshe and Dane Minor.

Clemishire and her father Jerry Lee Clemishire sued Morris, his wife, Gateway Church and others in June, seeking $1 million in damages.

With the rejection of the dismissal motions, the trial is set to take place next summer, media reports indicate.

In October, Morris pleaded guilty to sexually abusing Cindy Clemishire, then aged 12, in the 1980s. He is serving a six-month jail term in Oklahoma that will be followed by 9.5…

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One day, almost a decade ago, Argentinian filmmaker María Silvia Esteve (“Silvia”) turned on the television and saw a woman talk about her fight for justice against the priest who sexually abused her and many others for years. Her name was Mailin Gobbo. Esteve immediately felt she was someone who could help her tell her story. The two met for coffee, the result of that meeting and eventual friendship becoming IDFA competition title “Mailin.” Watch the exclusive trailer below: see original article for video

Speaking with Variety ahead of the festival, the filmmaker recalls first seeing Mailin crying on television as the interviewer asked her intrusive details about her abuse at the hands of her local priest and family friend Carlos Eduardo José. Mailin was a key witness in the legal case against José, who was cleared of all charges in 2021 because of Argentina’s statute of limitations. 

“I remember she was crying, and I…

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Clergy in the Anglican Church in North America are calling for the denomination’s archbishop, Steve Wood, to be inhibited, or temporarily suspended from ministry, in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and plagiarism against him.

The archbishop announced his paid, voluntary leave of absence Nov. 3, following a series of reports in The Washington Post in which a former church employee and another woman accused Wood of unwelcome advances.

“Given the seriousness of the charges against our Archbishop (sexual harassment and abuse of power), we believe that a voluntary leave of absence is insufficient. Canonically, a voluntary leave of absence allows the Archbishop to return to office when he sees fit,” the letter says. “Instead, we suggest that the Archbishop be inhibited until the conclusion of the trial that will determine his guilt or innocence.”

As of Friday afternoon (Nov. 14), more than 80 clergy in the denomination had…

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Matthew McGinley, formerly a worship pastor at the Ascent Project in Fort Collins, Colorado, has been arrested and charged with felony sexual assault of a minor after confessing to a past sexual relationship with a student.

Court records indicate McGinley, now 30, was 24 at the time of the misconduct, which began while he was a part-time educator at a prominent Northern Colorado Christian school.

Investigators say private flirtatious communications escalated over time, eventually leading to sexual contact in 2020, after he had left the school.

He was arrested and charged with felony sexual assault of a minor.

In an email to the victim’s family, McGinley reportedly expressed remorse, apologizing and attributing his actions to a “quarter-life crisis.” He also wrote that he had repented.

McGinley was a part-time teacher during the 2018–2019 academic year, when his relationship reportedly began with the student, starting with flirtatious texts.

The relationship allegedly…

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A 68-year-old pastor was accused of sexually assaulting a child while he was working at a church in California, according to authorities.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department identified him as Quintilo Sagrero. He was charged with two counts of “lewd acts upon a child.”

Authorities said the alleged incidents occurred on October 7 while Sagrero was serving as the pastor of the Templo Pentecostal El Camino Church in Compton.

Based on the nature of the offenses, detectives believe there may be additional unidentified victims and are seeking the public’s help in identifying any additional victims,” the sheriff’s office said on Thursday in a news release.

Sagrero was arrested on November 6 and he is being held in custody on a $200,000 bail.

The sheriff’s office said anyone who has information about the case — or anyone who believes they may have been a victim — should contact…

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Lindsey Whiteside, the former youth minister of Getwell Church in Hernando, Mississippi, who was set free pending trial for child sex abuse after a recent conviction for a similar crime, is back in jail and will remain there until her trial next year.

Whiteside’s bond was revoked on Wednesday. She was taken back in custody on Thursday by U.S. Marshals pending her federal trial on Feb. 9, WJTV reports. 

Facing the possibility of spending the rest of her life in prison for two counts of transportation of a minor across state lines for illicit sexual purposes and one count of enticement of a child, a federal magistrate judge had ordered Whiteside released on a $60,000 unsecured bond last month.

Her schoolteacher mother, Gale Whiteside, had testified that she was not a danger to society, according to court documents reviewed by The Christian Post….

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Seton Hall University must disclose a litany of documents to attorneys suing the Archdiocese of Newark over its handling of sexual abuse claims, a Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday.

Judge Avion Benjamin’s order will force the university to disclose more than 20,000 pages of documents to opposing counsel, including documents from a 2019 outside probe into abuse allegations at the school’s seminary and whether Monsignor Joseph R. Reilly, the university’s president and a former seminary dean, properly reported them.

“These documents are going to reveal additional examples of systemic behavior within both the archdiocese and Seton Hall where these institutions failed to discipline priests accused of sexual abuse and ratified a culture that turned a blind eye to perpetrators who preyed on these vulnerable children,” said John Baldante, one of the plaintiffs’ lead attorneys.

Benjamin’s order, delivered verbally over about an hour Wednesday, would see the outside…

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No announcement has been made regarding the compensation amount for each victim, according to a statement noting that the compensation committee is currently reviewing the opinions produced by the investigative committees.

During the 212th Plenary Assembly, which started on Monday, the bishops assessed the ongoing financial compensation process and approved the creation of a solidarity fund to finance these compensations.

This fund will be sustained by 50% contributions from CEP, with the remaining 50% shared among all dioceses and religious institutes.

The document emphasizes that this is not a legal process but a gesture of solidarity from the Church in Portugal, expressing communion with the victims’ suffering and aligning with the path undertaken so far.

The bishops reaffirm their commitment to ensuring a safe Church environment, preventing abuse, and express gratitude to national and diocesan structures which support victims, redirect complaints appropriately, and engage in prevention, protection, and care training.

…

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The plaintiff was a resident of the Whitbourne Boys Home, where others have alleged sexual abuse

A man who alleged a priest sexually assaulted him while he was a resident at a Newfoundland and Labrador youth detention center in the 1980s cannot pursue claims against the province through a summary trial, even though the province lacks evidence to contradict his claims, the province’s appellate court has ruled. 

In a Nov. 7 decision, the Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador found that “there is no principled reason why serious or substantial cases that involve historical sexual abuse do not lend themselves to summary trial disposition.”

However, the appellate court said that summary trials – which hinge on written evidence like affidavits rather than oral testimony – are only appropriate in such cases when the issues are “discrete, well defined, and contained, and the judge is confident that the record…

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One day, almost a decade ago, Argentinian filmmaker María Silvia Esteve (“Silvia”) turned on the television and saw a woman talk about her fight for justice against the priest who sexually abused her and many others for years. Her name was Mailin Gobbo. Esteve immediately felt she was someone who could help her tell her story. The two met for coffee, the result of that meeting and eventual friendship becoming IDFA competition title “Mailin.” 

[Watch the exclusive trailer.]

Speaking with Variety ahead of the festival, the filmmaker recalls first seeing Mailin crying on television as the interviewer asked her intrusive details about her abuse at the hands of her local priest and family friend Carlos Eduardo José. Mailin was a key witness in the legal case against José, who was cleared of all charges in 2021 because of Argentina’s statute of limitations. 

“I remember she was crying, and I felt the person…

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Survivors say archbishop’s administration shows ‘lack of empathy’

BRUSSELS 

Belgian survivors of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have formally asked Pope Leo XIV to remove Archbishop Luc Terlinden from his position, Flemish broadcaster VRT News reported on Friday.

“The current administration under Archbishop Terlinden has continuously inflicted harm on victims, the faithful and the Church itself,” read their letter to the pope, according to VRT. “His handling of the abuse crisis is marked by a lack of empathy, a lack of decisiveness and a leadership style focused on protecting the institution rather than addressing the harm done.”

The letter was made public after a 2.5-hour meeting last weekend between 15 survivors and Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, during which they discussed financial compensation and measures to protect victims in the future.

Terlinden currently serves as Belgium’s main point of contact for abuse victims and assists them in communication…

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This week on an interview-only episode of “Jesuitical,” Ashley and Zac speak with Sister Theresa Aletheia and Sister Danielle Victoria, founding members of the Sisters of the Little Way, a private association of the faithful intending to become a religious institute, who live a mission of listening and solidarity with people who have been hurt by the church.

00:00 Introduction

2:18 Starting a new religious community

8:05 When your life breaks down; how the new mission is being received

16:48 Defining “spiritual abuse”

20:57 Health (and unhealthy) applications of power in the Catholic Church

23:45 Sharing personal stories of abuse

25:42 Why the Sisters chose to stay in the church

37:00 How the Sisters understand digital mission today

42:20 Where the Sisters find beauty, truth, and goodness

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To the Clergy, Religious, and Laity of the Archdiocese of New Orleans

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

As I write to you, our team is preparing for the Confirmation Hearing for our Chapter 11 Reorganization. That is set to begin on Monday and continue over the course of several days until December 4. We remain hopeful that with the support of the plan proponents and the overwhelming number of votes in support of the plan from abuse survivors that we will bring these proceedings to a close. As we look ahead, please continue to join me in prayer for the survivors and for the successful resolution of our Chapter 11 Reorganization.

As many of you may have heard from your pastors or read in the media, this week the parishes and several ministerial agencies of the Archdiocese of New Orleans filed for Chapter 11 Reorganization as part of our reorganization plan….

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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops elected conservative Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City as its new president Nov. 11. The move by the American Catholic Church drew both calls for unity from the new leader and a swift and furious condemnation from clergy abuse survivor networks.

During their Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, the bishops selected Coakley to succeed Archbishop Timothy Broglio. In a statement reported by Vatican News, Coakley, 70, said he was “humbled” by the election. He asked for prayers that he “may be a faithful steward and a wise servant of unity and communion with our Holy Father, Pope Leo, and with my brother bishops and priests.”

However, not everyone is buying the calls for unity.

Coakley’s election was immediately met with a damning rebuke from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

In a press release issued moments after the vote, SNAP called Coakley “a known enabler of…

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[Play video.]

Hundreds of child sex abuse victims who said the Catholic Church protected their abusers may be one step closer to some semblance of justice after a settlement was agreed to last month. A lawyer representing one victim said there is still a long road ahead, and the victim said no amount of money will ever be enough.

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It is the first investigation of its kind into the conduct of a serving Spanish bishop.

The Vatican has opened an investigation into alleged sexual abuse of a minor against Bishop Rafael Zornoza of Cádiz, the first probe of its kind against a serving Spanish bishop.

According to Spanish media, Zornoza, 76, is accused of abusing a minor when he served as rector of the seminary of the Diocese of Getafe, south of Madrid, between 1994 and 2001. The alleged victim sent a complaint to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in the summer. Zornoza denies the allegations.

Zornoza was ordained a priest in 1975 in the Archdiocese of Madrid. When the Diocese of Getafe was created from the territory of the Archdiocese of Madrid, Zornoza was incardinated in the new diocese and served as the first bishop’s secretary. He then became rector of the seminary in 1994….

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‘The Presbyterian Church of Ireland is not alone in its safeguarding failures’

A Dromore-based group comprising survivors of clerical sexual abuse from the Diocese of Dromore, and their families has welcomed the decision of the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland to stand down from his role.

The Dromore Group – which aims to raise awareness and understanding of clerical sexual abuse, supports survivors and those in the process of litigation and provides advocacy and advisory inputs to government and other bodies working on clerical sexual abuse – described Rev. Trevor Gribben’s decision to stand down on November 12 as a “first step in ensuring accountability for the safeguarding failures of his Church”.

In a statement provided to Armagh I, the Group said: “The Presbyterian Church of Ireland is not alone in its safeguarding failures.

“A 2023 safeguarding report at the Catholic Diocese of Dromore by the National Board for…

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The study had praised recent diocesan leadership while noting past failings and recommending measures to strengthen prevention of abuse.

German researchers criticised a study of abuse in the Diocese of Augsburg published last month. 

Martina Steber und Dietmar Süß of the University of Augsburg told the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung that the study “suffers from very fundamental methodological flaws”. It failed to seek archival traces or sources other than diocesan documents, nor did it make a systematic evaluation of the experiences of victims.

The study had praised recent diocesan leadership while noting past failings and recommending measures to strengthen prevention of abuse, including training to sensitise priests of cases of abuse and making new abuse cases public in accordance with data protection laws. The Bishop of Augsburg Bertram Meier responded to the report saying the diocese “cannot rest on our laurels”.

Steber and Süß also queried the the independent commission responsible for the report,…

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The head of the Anglican Mother Church did not hesitate to punish his own brother for abusing an underage woman

The release of Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice — a memoir of her abuse by billionaire Jeffrey Epstein — tells the story of how he got away with his crimes with hardly any accountability.

The book, published on Oct. 21, aims to raise awareness about sexual abuse and support other survivors. Giuffre and other young women abused and trafficked by Epstein to his powerful friends around the world were denied their day in court, to tell their abuser how they feel about his abuse of them.

Shortly after he was convicted and condemned to 39 years in prison, Epstein killed himself in his prison cell on Aug. 10, 2019, thus denying his victims an opportunity to confront him, which could have been an…

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A year ago, the High Court handed down a decision that was a blow to survivors of child sexual abuse everywhere.

In a case brought by a man who was abused as a little boy, the Catholic Church’s Diocese of Ballarat argued that it couldn’t be sued for the actions of one of its priests, because priests are employed by God – not by the Church.

The ruling in the Church’s favour left thousands of survivors devastated – but the court said it was up to parliaments to act.

Last week, the ACT government went first, legislating to overrule the High Court decision, in a major win for victim-survivors.

Today, lawyer and advocate Judy Courtin on when the other states will follow – and how the Catholic Church will fight back.

If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at  View Cache

BARCELONA – Following news that the Vatican has opened an investigation into sexual-abuse allegations that he denies, Bishop Rafael Zornoza of Cádiz and Ceuta, has stepped back from his duties to “clarify the facts.”

The Diocese of Cádiz and Ceuta released a statement Nov. 10, responding to news in El País that the Vatican has opened an ecclesiastical investigation into accusations dating back to 1994 that Zornoza sexually abused a young man aged between 14 and 21.

The accusations were sent to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith by mail earlier this summer and are alleged to have begun in 1994 when Zornoza was a 45-year-old priest of the Diocese of Getafe and rector of the seminary.

According to El País, a Spanish newspaper, the complainant said: “It was at night when he came to the room and I suffered the abuse. He got into my bed, caressed me and kissed me….

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Canonistas consultados señalan que es el Tribunal de la Rota quien debe adoptar las medidas cautelares “Monseñor Zornoza debería comunicar a Roma que se aparta, no que renuncia, pero sí apartarse”. Es la opinión de un canonista español, que comparte la sorpresa entre otros muchos colegas que en estas últimas horas refrescan la doctrina vaticana del papa Francisco relativa a cómo actuar cuando quien es objeto de una denuncia por presuntos abusos es un obispo “Las medidas cautelares las impone el investigador, que en este caso es el Tribunal de la Rota, tras activarse el artículo 6 de Vos estis lux mundi, y todo a través de la Nunciatura en España”, indican a Religión Digital, añadiendo que el presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal Española debería estar convenientemente informado

“Monseñor Zornoza debería comunicar a Roma que se aparta, no que renuncia, pero sí apartarse”. Es la opinión de un canonista español, que comparte…

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BALTIMORE (OSV News) — The U.S. bishops’ conference has elected its next president, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City.

Archbishop Coakley was elected by a narrow margin — 54%, or 128 votes out of 237 — in a third-ballot runoff against Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, who subsequently was elected vice president of the conference on the first ballot, a fraction of a percent over the majority.

This was Archbishop Coakley’s fourth time on a ballot for the bishops’ top leadership, with an appearance on each triennial ballot since 2016. At 70, he would have been ineligible to stand for office in three years, as bishops must be able to complete a three-year term ahead of the mandatory retirement age of 75. 

Presidential elections in years past

Since 2007, an archbishop or a cardinal has been elected conference president, and the same for those elected vice president. With the…

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The vast majority of bishops see their priests as potential liabilities, lawsuits waiting to happen, and they treat their priests accordingly.

In this age of the unrelenting back and forth of social media, where people lob insults and accusations like mortars, it is hard to find genuine charitable rebuttals to another person’s work. This article will endeavor, with charity, to rebut the article “Can Fallen Priests Be Restored to Ministry? Yes—Here’s How” recently penned by Mr. Matt Robinson. Until reading his article, Mr. Robinson and his company, The Shepherd Within, were unknown to me. I applaud his efforts, and I have no reason to doubt his sincerity. If you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to read Mr. Robinson’s article first, then return and read this rebuttal.  

Let me start with our principal agreement: the relationship between a bishop and priest is “critical to a flourishing priesthood, and a flourishing priesthood is critical to…

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Theologian Susan Reynolds said the limited awareness surrounding the abuse of women by the clergy is indicative of the broader issue of misogyny within the Catholic Church.

“What is also clear is that the Church ignores the testimony of women and girls at its own peril,” said Reynolds, CSTM ’13 and GMCAS ’18. “There is simply not a credible future for an institution that finds the testimony of women uncredible.”

Reynolds returned to the Heights on Thursday for the second annual Nancy Marzella Lecture on Women and American Catholicism, hosted by the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life. Reynolds is an associate professor of Catholic studies at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. 

The limited visibility of women and girls in the narrative results in a skewed representation of survivors, according to Reynolds. 

“This fractional visibility of women and girls in the story of clergy abuse doesn’t only…

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Bell pleaded guilty to two counts of rape. The other charges were dismissed.

A former Columbus pastor accused of raping a juvenile pleaded guilty and was sentenced to at least 15 years in prison, according to Franklin County Court of Common Pleas documents.

George Bell was indicted last year on four counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition with the alleged crimes reportedly happening between 2021 and 2024. According to the indictment, the victim was under the age of 10.

Bell pleaded guilty to two counts of rape. The other charges were dismissed.

He was sentenced to 15 to 20 years in prison and must register as a Tier III sex offender.

Bell was a pastor at Anchor Baptist Church in Columbus at the time of the incidents.

The church said in a statement last year that Bell had resigned in front of the church…

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Parishes and other charities linked to the Archdiocese of New Orleans will file for bankruptcy this week.

This comes as the Archdiocese is poised to settle its years-long bankruptcy case involving clergy sex abuse.

An estimated 150 parishes and charities will file bankruptcy this week.

The additional bankruptcies will shield future liabilities for past acts of abuse. Once the diocese’s bankruptcy ends, the additional entities’ bankruptcies will also end.

For a list of parishes and charities impacted, click here.

This does not mean that schools are closing or will see major impacts.

Tuition is not going up, according to the Archdiocese.

Some parishes could see money come out of rainy-day funds or investments; however, sources tell WDSU that the school’s operating budgets should not be impacted.

When it comes to churches, the impact is not expected to be major.

While no mergers are planned for parishes as…

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Fort Collins police have arrested Matthew McGinley, 30, accusing the former worship pastor and teacher of sexual assault of a minor by a person in a position of trust. In police and court records obtained by CBS News Colorado, McGinley is accused of having a sexual relationship with a former student that continued for more than one year.

McGinley was a part-time educator at a prominent Northern Colorado Christian school for the 2018-2019 school year, according to the school.

According to police, that is when McGinley met the victim in one of the classes he helped teach. The student was younger than 18 when they met.

Police reported that McGinley, 24 at the time, and the student started off by sending flirtatious late-night texts before the relationship evolved to kissing. Police said the two started having sex at the beginning of 2020. It continued through part of 2020 until the…

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A former member of Chapelstreet Church in Geneva has sued the church, claiming a youth leader sexually abused him after a senior pastor had been informed of a prior allegation against the accused.

The plaintiff, identified in the lawsuit as “John Doe,” names the church, an interim lead pastor and former youth pastor as defendants.

The plaintiff, now 21 and living in British Columbia, Canada, claims in the lawsuit that between 2011 and 2018, the youth leader “repeatedly subjected (John Doe) to sexual abuse.”

Church leaders, including the pastor, have not responded to emails or voicemails seeking comment. Court records do not list attorneys for the defendants.

At the time of the claimed abuse, the plaintiff was a child of missionaries who stayed at the youth leader’s house in Kane County, according to the suit, which was filed Oct. 21 in Kane County court.

The lawsuit alleges that a man…

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A second family has joined a federal lawsuit against Ursuline High School in Youngstown, which had already alleged players on the school’s football team engaged in hazing and sexual abuse of fellow students and that coaches and administrators either allowed the behavior to take place or covered it up.

Cleveland-based civil rights attorney Subodh Chandra and his team filed the amended lawsuit Monday in Northern Ohio U.S. District Court. In addition to the new plaintiffs (listed as “John and Jill Roe, individually and on behalf of their minor son, Son Roe”), the complaint now names athletic director John DeSantis as a defendant. Besides the school itself, prior defendants still include:

• Principal Matthew Sammartino
• Assistant Principal Margaret Damore
• Head football coach Dan Reardon
• Assistant coach Timothy McGlynn
• Assistant coach Christian Syrianoudis
• The Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown
• 11 Ursuline players (only their initials are given since they are minors)

The first lawsuit sent shockwaves through…

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New victim and family join suit; allegations of obstruction of justice and a continuing cover up by school officials

Victims of misconduct within the Ursuline High School football program have filed a Second Amended and Supplemental Complaint in federal court, broadly expanding the original 200-page lawsuit’s scope (the “Ursuline-hazing Complaint”).

The expanded, 290-page complaint adds a second family, Plaintiffs John and Jill Roe and their son, Son Roe (pseudonyms), and incorporates vital new evidence and allegations that detail at least a four-year pattern of systemic abuse, hazing, and official cover-ups by school administrators and coaches.

New allegations and revelations

The amended and supplemental complaint adds these new allegations:

• Multi-year hazing tradition: The Roe family alleges that Son Roe was subject to hazing and threats during the 2024 football-camp trip, a year before the assaults detailed in the “Doe” family’s initial filing. The complaint now includes evidence that the hazing and…

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• Legislation to improve child sexual abuse victims’ prospects in church compensation claims
• Bill addresses High Court ruling which found church not vicariously liable for priest’s assaults
• Cook Government committed to implementing sensible and effective law reform to deliver on its priority to build safe communities

The Cook Government has introduced legislation to close a loophole that can allow churches to avoid liability in civil cases for child sexual abuse committed by their priests.

The legislation comes in response to a 2024 High Court ruling which found a Catholic diocese was not vicariously liable for a priest’s sexual assaults because he was not an employee.

Vicarious liability is where an employer is held liable for the acts or omissions of an employee, despite the employer not being at fault.

The Civil Liability Amendment (Child Sexual Abuse Actions) Bill 2025 will deem religious practitioners to be employees of religious institutions for the purposes of…

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Leadership has to come from the top if the Church wishes to change culture of secrecy at its lower levels

In an address to the National Safeguarding Conference held in the Philippines from Oct. 20-24, Pope Leo stated that “there can be no tolerance for any form of abuse in the Church.”

At the same time, he had a meeting with board members of Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA Global), which has been advocating a “zero tolerance” policy for child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

The pope acknowledged that there was some “resistance in some parts of the world” to zero tolerance. What he did not mention was that most of the resistance comes from his own dicasteries.

The usual meaning of “zero tolerance” is the imposition of the law’s maximum penalty for any breach, irrespective of the circumstances. The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses…

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The Church’s highest trial court reportedly ruled in favor of an American priest who sued over the release his name in a list of “credibly accused” clergy.

The Church’s highest canonical trial court has ruled in favor of an American priest who sued the religious order which released his name in a list of religious “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of minors, according to an Italian media report.

A Nov. 9 report published by La Repubblica said that the unnamed priest had successfully brought a claim for defamation before the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, under the norms of canon 220 of the Code of Canon Law, which bars the “illegitimate harm” of a person’s good reputation — a potentially landmark ruling with sweeping effects for how U.S. dioceses handle accusations of abuse.

The rota functions as the ordinary appellate court for judicial proceedings, and as the court of first…

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A Spanish Catholic bishop is under investigation by the Vatican over an allegation of sexual abuse dating back three decades, his diocese confirmed this week.

Bishop Rafael Zornoza Boy of the Diocese of Cádiz y Ceuta has temporarily stepped back from public duties while the Holy See examines claims that he abused a teenage boy in the 1990s, when he was a priest and rector of a diocesan seminary near Madrid.

The 76-year-old bishop, who has led the southern diocese since 2011, “firmly denies” the allegation, which he described through his office as “false.”

The Spanish newspaper El País first reported the case on Monday, stating that the complaint was submitted this summer to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

According to the report, the alleged victim claimed that the abuse took place over several years while Zornoza was in charge of the major seminary of Getafe. The case, which…

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“We face a growing worldview that is so often at odds with the Gospel mandate to love thy neighbor,” the group said in a letter to Pope Leo.

As the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation campaign continues, and Pope Leo XIV urges support for migrant families, America’s Roman Catholic bishops redoubled their focus on immigration while electing new leaders at their annual meeting on Tuesday.

In a hotel ballroom in Baltimore addressing the first major gathering of American bishops in the Leo pontificate, the outgoing bishops’ conference president opened with pointed remarks. Bible teaching, he noted, is to have “special care for strangers, aliens and sojourners.”

“It is not rocket science, but the Word of God,” Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio said.

The bishops elected Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City to be their next president, to serve for a three-year term. An institutionalist with ties to the church’s right…

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This afternoon, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) selected Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley as their next president. 

“While it is not surprising that the USCCB has once again chosen a leader who has kept known abusers in ministry and misled Catholic families, survivors are furious that the U.S. bishops will take direction from a man with a history of minimizing criminal sexual assault and endangering the public,” said SNAP Board President Shaun Dougherty.

In 2016, SNAP criticized Coakley after he issued a statement justifying his assignment of Father José Davila to a parish, five years after Davila entered a guilty plea for three counts of sexual battery of a 19-year-old woman in his home. San Diego prosecutors charged Davila when the victim alleged he touched her buttocks, put his finger in her vagina, and touched her left breast against her will. 

In his statement,…

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ROUND LAKE, Ill. — The Archdiocese of Chicago has removed a suburban deacon from active ministry following sexual abuse allegations against minors.

In a letter dated Nov. 5, Archbishop Blase Cupich wrote to families of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Round Lake that Deacon Rajan Fernando has been removed from service due to sex abuse allegations against minors.

The archdiocese said the allegations have been reported to authorities.

“I know that this is difficult news, but the welfare of our parishioners is of critical importance to me. The Archdiocese of Chicago takes seriously the obligation to ensure the fitness for ministry of all who serve the People of God,” part of the letter reads.

The church is located at 114 N. Lincoln Ave.

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MELROSE PARK, Ill. (WLS) — A deacon who served at a Chicago-area church is facing an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor, the Archdiocese of Chicago said.

Deacon Rajan Fernando serves at St. Joseph Parish in north suburban Round Lake, Illinois.

Fernando will be stepping away from ministry during an investigation into the accusation, Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, announced.

“I know that this is difficult news, but the welfare of our parishioners is of critical importance to me,” Cupich said.

Civil authorities and the Archdiocese are conducting investigations. According to the Archdiocese, Fernando has denied the allegation.

” We encourage anyone who feels they have been sexually abused by a priest, deacon, religious or lay employee to come forward. You will be received with compassion and respect,” Cupich said in the letter.

The Archdiocese did not provide further details about the abuse allegations.

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November 4, 2025

The Archdiocese of Chicago distributed the following letters to the St. Joseph Parish (Round Lake) community regarding Deacon Rajan Fernando.

Letters to the St. Joseph Parish community (English, Spanish, Polish)

[See BishopAccountability.org’s caches of the letter: English, Spanish, Polish]

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A deacon at a church in Round Lake has been suspended after the Archdiocese announced an investigation into him regarding the sexual abuse of children.

Archbishop of Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich announced the news in a letter to members of St. Joseph Catholic Church, 114 North Lincoln Avenue in Round Lake, on Wednesday.

The Archdiocese received allegations against Deacon Rajan Fernando regarding sexual abuse of minors.

Cupich said he has removed Fernando’s faculties to minister while the allegations are investigated “in keeping with archdiocesan policy.”

The allegations have also been reported to civil authorities and the person bringing the report has been offered the services of the Archdiocese Office of Victim Assistance.

“I know that this is difficult news, but the welfare of our parishioners is of critical importance to me,” Cupich said.

“The Archdiocese of Chicago takes seriously the obligation to ensure the fitness for ministry of all…

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Leo XIV spent close to three hours listening to and praying with 15 Belgians who had survived clerical sexual abuse as children.

“The meeting, held in an atmosphere of closeness with the victims, deep and painful listening and dialogue, lasted nearly three hours and concluded with an intense moment of prayer,” the Vatican press office said in a statement after the meeting late Nov. 8.

September 2024 meeting

CathoBel.be, the news site of French-speaking Belgian Catholics, said the 15 survivors are part of the group of 17 survivors who had met in September 2024 with Pope Francis during his trip to Belgium.

Members of the group, CathoBel said, waited for more than a year for “a new meeting to evaluate the promises that had been made” during their encounter with Pope Francis. “The emotion in the room was palpable. Would the…

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Some participants handed the Pope a letter calling for the resignation of Archbishop Luc Terlinden of Mechelen-Brussels, accusing him of indifference toward victims. For them, his leadership symbolizes an institutional culture more concerned with damage control than repentance.

Pope Leo XIV welcomed fifteen Belgian survivors of clerical sexual abuse on November 8, the meeting was intended to be one of healing. What unfolded over nearly three hours was a moment of painful honesty — an encounter that revealed not only wounds long left open, but also the hopes pinned on a new pontificate.

According to Vatican sources, the Pope prayed with the survivors and listened in what witnesses described as a profoundly human, at times agonizing, conversation.

“The emotion in the room was palpable,” said one participant. “We wondered if the new Pope would be as attentive as his predecessor — or if we would have to start from the…

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 The Catholic church’s plan to use funds intended for feeding the hungry in Acadiana to pay for a clergy sex abuse settlement has been a topic of concern. However, an anonymous donor has stepped in to resolve this financial dilemma. An anonymous benefactor has agreed to cover the $16 million …

NEW ORLEANS (NEWS 15) — The Catholic church’s plan to use funds intended for feeding the hungry in Acadiana to pay for a clergy sex abuse settlement has been a topic of concern. However, an anonymous donor has stepped in to resolve this financial dilemma.

An anonymous benefactor has agreed to cover the $16 million share of the settlement that was expected from Second Harvest. The food bank’s board members had initially resisted paying this portion of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ bankruptcy settlement, leading Archbishop Gregory Aymond to remove board members and change bylaws to dismiss longtime CEO…

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Rafael Zornoza, the Bishop of Cadiz and Ceuta, is accused of sexually abusing a minor between the ages of 14 to 21 in Getafe, near Madrid, in the late 1990s when he was a 45-year-old priest of the Diocese of Getafe and rector of the seminary.

Now aged 76, Zornoza’s case marks the first time a sitting Catholic bishop responsible for overseeing a given region in Spain has been investigated for alleged child sexual abuse.

In a statement, the Diocese of Cadiz and Ceuta said Zornoza had decided to temporarily suspend his public duties to ‘clarify events’ and focus on treatment for cancer.

“The accusations made, referring to events that took place almost thirty years ago, are very serious and also false,” the statement said.

In a letter obtained by Spanish newspaper El País, the alleged victim says Zornoza abused him for years, often entering his room at night to touch…

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La investigación a Rafael Zornoza, acusado de agredir sexualmente a un menor en los noventa, supone la primera prueba para León XIV en su relación con la CEE ante el escándalo de los abusos del clero

El presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal admite la “verosimilitud” de la denuncia contra el prelado Rafael Zornoza

Madrid / Roma – NOV 10, 2025 – 23:30 EST

El Vaticano y la Iglesia española han mantenido durante cuatro meses en el cargo y en contacto con menores al obispo de Cádiz y Ceuta, Rafael Zornoza, investigado canónicamente por abusos a un niño en los años noventa, cuando era sacerdote y dirigía el seminario de Getafe, en Madrid. El caso, ya prescrito en la justicia penal, llegó a comienzos de este verano a la Santa Sede, cuando la víctima envió una denuncia por correo al Dicasterio para la Doctrina de la Fe, que dio credibilidad a los hechos…

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Los obispos no entran a valorar la investigación del Vaticano tras la acusación contra el religioso por abusos sexuales continuados en los años noventa a un menor

Madrid – NOV 10, 2025 – 08:34 ACTUALIZADO:Nov 10, 2025 – 09:26 EST

EL PAÍS puso en marcha en 2018 una investigación de la pederastia en la Iglesia española y tiene una base de datos actualizada con todos los casos conocidos. Si conoce algún caso que no haya visto la luz, nos puede escribir a: abusos@elpais.es. Si es un caso en América Latina, la dirección es: abusosamerica@elpais.es.

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“Confianza en la justicia y respeto al trabajo del Tribunal de la Rota”. Con esta única frase, la Conferencia Episcopal Española (CEE) ha valorado la noticia destapada por EL PAÍS este lunes: el Vaticano abre una investigación por pederastia contra el obispo de Cádiz, Rafael Zornoza, de 76 años. A preguntas de EL PAÍS, la conferencia no ha querido…

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The 88th Academy Awards in 2016 were frontloaded with an eclectic mix of Best Picture nominees, all worthy of the honor. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant appeared to be the likely winner thanks to Leonardo DiCaprio’s outstanding performance. At the same time, Adam McKay’s The Big Short featured a star-studded cast tackling corporate greed, a theme relevant to the times. When Oscar presenter Morgan Freeman announced Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight as the Best Picture winner, however, it was not just a surprise. It was a loud statement made by an emotionally restrained picture.

As a true-life drama dealing with the controversial subject matter of abuse in the Catholic Church, Spotlight held back its quiet rage through a measured depiction of journalistic integrity. Most seminal dramas dealing with the world of investigative journalism, including Frost/Nixon, She Said, and The Post, tend…

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A man who said he was molested as a boy by Chapelstreet Church congregant Don Vanthournout, identified in the lawsuit as a youth leader at the evangelical congregation based in Geneva, said he told interim lead pastor Brian Coffey years ago about the misconduct. But nothing was done, and another child was then sexually abused, the suit says.

A large evangelical congregation in the far western suburbs called Chapelstreet Church is being sued by a man who says he was molested as a boy by a former youth leader there, another sign that child sex abuse by clergy and other religious figures is something faith groups well beyond the Catholic church need to guard against.

Don Vanthournout is also accused in the lawsuit of abusing another boy from a different suburban Protestant church years earlier, though that second alleged victim is not a plaintiff in the suit.

The complaint says…

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El prelado Rafael Zornoza está acusado de agredir sexualmente a un menor en los años noventa mientras dirigía el seminario de Getafe. Es la primera vez en España que se conoce un caso de abusos que afecta al jefe de una diócesis

Madrid / Roma – NOV 09, 2025 – 23:30 EST

EL PAÍS puso en marcha en 2018 una investigación de la pederastia en la Iglesia española y tiene una base de datos actualizada con todos los casos conocidos. Si conoce algún caso que no haya visto la luz, nos puede escribir a: abusos@elpais.es. Si es un caso en América Latina, la dirección es: abusosamerica@elpais.es.

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El Vaticano ha abierto una investigación contra el obispo de Cádiz y Ceuta, Rafael Zornoza, de 76 años, por presuntamente agredir sexualmente a un menor de manera continuada durante los años noventa, cuando el prelado era sacerdote en Getafe y dirigía el seminario de la diócesis….

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A Catholic organization recently returned land to an Ojibwe tribe in northern Wisconsin, marking what officials are calling the first known return of Catholic-owned land to an Indigenous tribe as an act of reparations.

The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration on Oct. 31 formally transferred its Marywood Franciscan Spirituality Center property located on the shores of Trout Lake in Arbor Vitae to the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Nation, which has a reservation about six miles away. Marywood was a retreat for the sisters.

“This return represents more than the restoration of land – it is the restoration of balance, dignity and our sacred connection to the places our ancestors once walked,” Lac du Flambeau Tribal President John Johnson Sr. said in a statement.

“The Franciscan Sisters’ act of generosity and courage stands as an example of what true healing and partnership can look like….

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