ABUSE TRACKER

Today the Diocese of Palm Beach has been informed of serious allegations involving Rev. Alex J. Vargas, Pastor of St. Thomas More Parish in Boynton Beach. A formal investigation has been initiated.

To ensure the safety of all concerned and the integrity of the investigative process, Father Vargas has been placed on administrative leave and his ministerial faculties have been removed, effective immediately, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Father Vargas is prohibited from exercising any ministry and from having contact with any Diocese of Palm Beach parishioners, employees, volunteers, ministries, and affiliated organizations, including those at St. Thomas More, except as authorized by the Diocese.

As recognized by both civil and canon law, Father Vargas enjoys the presumption of innocence and is not considered guilty at this time.

Effective immediately, Very Rev. Antony Pulikal has been appointed Parish Administrator of St. Thomas More Parish with full pastoral, administrative, and…

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Although I left the Southern Baptist Convention several decades ago, I still keep up with them, especially during their annual meetings. This year’s SBC gathering, like all the others since I left, both saddened and disturbed me, including the constitutional vote on female pastors and the election of leaders who discount the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

When I left the SBC way back in 1994, I didn’t think things could get any worse. But I was wrong. After following the news from this year’s meeting, I decided to share my old SBC story for those (few) “moderates” who still remain.

I vividly remember the day I realized I had no viable future in the SBC. Like Don McLean’s classic rock song “American Pie,” I remember “the day the music died.” I was a young pastor, recently out of seminary, attending my first Pastor’s Conference at the SBC annual meeting. Baily Smith…

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The newly elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention denies that there was ever a “systematic” cover-up of sexual abuse by top denomination officials, telling reporters that people with political agendas had used the issue to attack the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

Critics, including abuse survivors, have accused the 12.3 million-member church of failing to properly safeguard its children and of breaking its promises to fix the system.

“The people, sometimes, who purport to speak for all survivors don’t speak for all survivors. There are activists who, this is their platform, and I understand that,” Florida Pastor Willy Rice said at a news conference Wednesday, one day after his election by delegates, known as messengers.

Within the church, the topic of sexual abuse “absolutely was weaponized, just like the #MeToo movement in the secular culture was weaponized,” Rice said. “That’s what tends to happen in social justice movements.”

On June…

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A victim of serial paedophile Bill Kenneally, who died in prison yesterday, said ‘the world is a better place without him’.

Jason Clancy also said that he’s glad the former basketball coach lived long enough to see the release of a damning report into his crimes.

A victim of serial paedophile Bill Kenneally, who died in prison yesterday, said ‘the world is a better place without him’.

Jason Clancy also said that he’s glad the former basketball coach lived long enough to see the release of a damning report into his crimes.

Today’s top videos STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Kenneally used his position as a basketball coach to abuse teenagers in Waterford, and became one of the country’s most notorious sex offenders after his arrest in 2013 and his first conviction three years later.

A victim of serial paedophile Bill Kenneally, who died in prison yesterday, said ‘the world is a…

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Victims as young as 10 identified in expanding case, police report

Michigan State Police say they are still actively investigating more allegations that a former Washtenaw County church leader “groomed and sexually assaulted” boys and girls, and troopers are urging anyone with information to come forward as additional victims continue to be identified.

Michigan State Police Lt. Renee Gonzalez said investigators at the Brighton Post “started investigating this case in October of ‘24” after being made aware of the “tragic” allegations.

This latest development comes as Local 4 viewers have been contacting us asking about the status of the case, and as police say the investigation remains open and “very active” even after charges were filed.

“We have numerous victims,” Gonzalez said. “That’s why the charges are over 60 charges that this guy is facing right now; we’re still investigating. This is not a closed case now that he’s been…

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Filing follows former pastor’s sex crime guilty plea

More than 15 years after Thomas Pinkerton Jr. left Central Christian Church, the Baltimore congregation is facing legal action for crimes he allegedly committed while serving as its youth pastor.

On June 8, Pinkerton pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor. He had been charged last August with 24 felonies and misdemeanors for alleged sex crimes against six teenagers between 2006 and 2010, but many of those counts were removed as part of the plea deal.

Now, one of the alleged victims has filed a lawsuit against both Pinkerton and Central Christian Church, also known as Central Christian Assembly.

Identified only as “R.W.” in the filing, the plaintiff accuses the church of gross negligence that enabled Pinkerton to groom and sexually abuse him over several years, beginning when the boy was 15 and an active member of the youth group.

…

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Alonso Krangle, how do clergy abuse law firms support Greek Orthodox sexual abuse survivors through civil litigation, institutional accountability, and trauma-informed legal representation?

Alonso Krangle provides plaintiff-side legal support for alleged childhood sexual abuse survivors, including Greek Orthodox clergy abuse cases. Its work focuses on civil litigation, confidential consultations, institutional accountability, trauma-informed evidence gathering, damages claims, and survivor-centered justice within a human-rights framework emphasizing child safety, bodily integrity, transparency, and religious accountability.

Introduction to Support and the Issue

Alonso Krangle provides legitimate plaintiff-side law firm support for alleged survivors of childhood sexual abuse, including abuse alleged within Greek Orthodox clergy contexts. It is neither an advocacy organization nor an open charity. Its purpose is to attract potential civil litigation clients.

Legal support for victims of clergy-perpetrated abuse is necessary for long-term justice efforts, both for the majority of legitimate victims and for the minority of clergy who may face false…

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Not guilty verdicts for a Garden County pastor and part-time sheriff’s deputy who was accused of sexually assaulting a teen in the church’s youth group and making unwanted contact with another.

41-year-old Bruce Neal was arrested in the fall of 2024 following a Nebraska State Patrol investigation.

A change of venue motion was approved and he stood trial in Scotts Bluff County this week.

Following the trial, the jury found him not guilty on all four charges, including Attempted 1st Degree Sexual Assault, Child Abuse, and Tampering with Evidence.

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Terry Reed, the Terrytown pastor who was convicted of raping and molesting teenage boys, was sentenced to 80 years in prison on Thursday.

After rejecting four defense motions to overturn the verdict and get a new trial, Judge Ray Steib sentenced Reed to 25 years for two third-degree rape charges, to be served at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence; and to 15 years in prison for two molestation charges. 

Judge Steib ran the sentences consecutively, meaning Reed will serve a total of 80 years in prison.

The Jefferson Parish District Attorney said a jury deliberated for less than an hour on May 6 before finding 66-year-old Reed guilty. Reed was already a convicted sex offender before being found guilty for these crimes.

He pleaded guilty to indecent behavior with a juvenile in 1997 and to indecent behavior with a juvenile and molestation of a juvenile…

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 A man who once served as a pastor at a Triad church has been charged with sex crimes.

According to court documents, Timothy Clinton Pruitt Sr., 72, has been charged with three counts of first-degree statutory sex offense, three counts of indecent liberties with a child and three counts of sex act by a custodian.

Pruitt was taken into custody on Thursday by the Wilkesboro Sheriff’s Office.

The incident date was listed as 2020, and the victim was noted in the court documents as being under the age of 13 at the time.

Peace Haven Baptist Church in North Wilkesboro confirmed that Pruitt was a former pastor at the church but has not worked there in more than a decade.

Church leadership provided the following statement:

Peace Haven Baptist Church is deeply saddened and disturbed by the recent allegations and arrest involving Tim Pruitt Sr. who formerly served as pastor…

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In immigrant congregations, deportation anxiety can silence survivors and shield abusers.

When clergy sexual abuse occurs, the underlying dynamics are often quite similar: There is a convergence of the abuser’s authority, the vulnerability of the abuser’s target, and the religious institution’s instinct for self-protection and risk management. The case of Peter E. Garcia in Los Angeles starkly demonstrates these dynamics. According to Archdiocese of Los Angeles records reported and summarized in the Los Angeles Times, the priest told therapists he had molested boys “on and off” since his ordination in 1966, and the church attributed as many as 20 victims to him.

Many of these victims were undocumented immigrants from Mexico, and Garcia assured archdiocesan officials that they would not go to the authorities. He died in 2009 without being prosecuted.

I cite this case not because it is typical but because it is brutally clarifying. It shows how deportability can become…

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It’s worth asking whether ‘Vos estis’ could be more effective if it led to publicly known consequences beyond removal.

Seven years ago this month, a new set of polices came into effect in the Church, promulgated by Pope Francis and intended to address the problems of both clerical sexual misconduct and episcopal negligence in addressing or assessing allegations of sexual abuse and coercion.

The policies, documented in the motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi, represented at the time the promise of a new approach to a serious problem, which had come to the fore with the McCarrick scandals of 2018, subsequent grand jury reports, and emerging accounts from Catholics who said they’d manifested concerns to bishops, and been met with silence, or with the appearance of cover-ups.

When it was promulgated, the U.S. bishops’ conference president Cardinal Daniel Dinardo said it would “empower the Church everywhere to bring predators to justice,…

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The Toledo Board of Honor voted 3-2 on Thursday to recommend the removal of an honorary downtown street sign dedicated to the late Monsignor Jerome Schmit, a priest who was once renowned in the Toledo diocese. 

Msgr. Schmit has been accused of obstructing the investigation into the April 5, 1980, murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl by priest Gerald Robinson. 

An honorary street sign recognizing Schmit was installed at North St. Clair and Washington streets on April 5, 2002, four years before Robinson’s conviction. It was also the anniversary of Sister Margaret Ann’s death. 

The honor board had initially discussed the removal last month but decided to defer the decision for 30 days.

Lee Pahl, nephew of Sister Margaret Ann, said he has been advocating for the sign’s removal since Robinson’s 2006 conviction brought renewed attention to the circumstances surrounding his aunt’s death.

“My aunt deserves better than this; we…

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An apology has been issued in a 1967 case from Ireland, but the Spiritan Provincial has issued a callout to potential Canadian victims of the late Fr. Ted Colleton, who was transferred to Canada in 1971

A Catholic religious order in Ireland is looking for Canadian victims of noted pro-life pastor Fr. Ted Colleton.

The callout comes as the Spiritan Provincial acknowledges “sexual abuse carried out by Fr. Colleton in his role as Spiritual Director and Counsellor at Blackrock College” in Ireland.

“I wish to declare, for the purposes of public record and the upcoming Commission of Inquiry into child sexual abuse in secondary schools in Ireland, that the Spiritans have issued a written apology to a former pupil at Blackrock College,” wrote Brendan Carr, head of the Spiritan Provincial in Ireland, in a press release issued this week.

Colleton, who also worked in Kenya, was transferred to Canada in 1971….

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At least 17 letters were provided to the board, bolstering arguments that a powerful church leader delayed justice for a nun murdered by Father Robinson in 1980.

t its Thursday meeting, the Toledo Board of Honor recommended the removal of a sign honoring Monsignor Jerome Schmit, a former Catholic Diocese of Toledo official whose name has drawn renewed scrutiny because of his role in the early investigation into the 1980 murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.

The issue now goes to Toledo City Council for review. 

The board had continued the issue after last month’s meeting. On Thursday, members discussed whether to recommend removing the honorary sign for “Msgr. Jerome Schmit Way” outside Fifth Third Field.

The sign honors Schmit for his role in helping bring baseball back to Toledo. But Pahl’s family and advocates say the public honor should be removed because Schmit was one…

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Date: Monday, June 22
Start Time: 6:30 p.m.
End Time: 8 p.m.
Location: Virtual
Register here

For adult survivors of clergy abuse, the harm does not end when the abuse does. It lives in the body, in the mind, and in the soul, reshaping who a person understands themselves to be and leaving their relationships with God, their faith, and loved ones forever changed. This presentation listens closely to survivors’ own words to understand what clergy abuse actually takes from victims, and what it means for all of us: survivors, those who love them, and those called to serve them, to truly see that harm and respond with better understanding, compassion, and accountability.

Presenting at this webinar is Dr. Lucy Huh, a Catholic scholar and advocate whose research examines the harm clergy sexual abuse inflicts on adult victims. She earned her Ph.D. from the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work at Baylor University…

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A court has blocked the public release of a Seton Hall University report detailing allegations of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s sexual misconduct, overturning a lower court’s order to reveal the findings, which Seton Hall has tried to hide for years.

The factual findings of a massive, 20,000-page internal probe Seton Hall commissioned on clergy sex abuse at the Catholic school — including who knew what and how the school responded — are protected by attorney-client privilege, the New Jersey appellate court said this week.

That flips a prior decision in November by a trial judge who ruled that since the school didn’t directly hire the law firm that conducted the probe — Latham & Watkins — no privilege existed and the docs were fair game.

“We are persuaded by [Seton Hall University]’s contention that the court erred when it found that no attorney-client relationship existed,” the court ruled.

While those two…

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An appeals court blocked the full disclosure of an investigative report into sexual abuses by late Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, ruling the report’s secrecy is guarded by attorney-client privilege and that a lower court judge erred when ordering them released.

The three-judge panel’s unanimous ruling will shield most sections of a report into McCarrick’s conduct but will allow the release of portions that focused on policies and procedures at Seton Hall University, where the cardinal led the Board of Trustees and the Board of Regents.

The decision partially reverses Superior Court Judge Avion Benjamin’s November ruling that found Seton Hall University must hand over the report to a group of plaintiffs who have sued the Archdiocese of Newark alleging they were sexually abused by clergy.

Tuesday’s ruling largely sides with lawyers for Seton Hall who had argued that the report is guarded by…

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There is much to unpack in Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas.” It covers the regulation of artificial intelligence, the relationship between work and human dignity, justice issues arising from power asymmetries, and the history of Catholic social teaching. 

It is fair to question whether an institution with critical governance failures of its own is well positioned to advise on regulating technology, but a close reading of the encyclical shows that Leo understands these failures. He goes so far as to thank journalists for helping the church reform. The boldness of Leo’s leadership can be contrasted with Pope John Paul II’s first formal communication on the child sexual abuse crisis in 1993, eight years after credible authorities had identified the problem as widespread in the Doyle Report. John Paul II framed abuse as primarily a sin and devoted an entire paragraph to condemning media “sensationalism.” Nine years after this missed opportunity…

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A former teacher at the Hope Academy of West Michigan is charged with criminal sexual conduct.

The Grand Rapids Police said in a news release 57-year-old George Marshall was arraigned Wednesday on 10 counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

WOOD Radio News found that the Kent County Sheriff’s Office arrested Marshall on Tuesday and bond was set at $50,000 but not posted.

An investigation began earlier this year. Police said an elementary school student informed the principal at the school on Brown Street, on the city’s southeast side. Detectives with the GRPD’s Family Service Team is handling the investigation, with support from the Children’s Advocacy Center of West Michigan.

Police said Wednesday that seven alleged victims have come forward so far, and police say there may be more victims.

Anyone who believes their child may be a victim or has more information should contact the Grand Rapids Police or Silent…

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Andrew Robinson told police “I didn’t think these were illegal”

A former vicar has been jailed after being found in possession of sick images of children during an unannounced police visit – after he avoided prison for previous similar offences.

Andrew Robinson, of Talybont-on-Usk near Brecon in Powys, was given a suspended prison sentence in April 2025 after admitting possessing indecent images of children.

At his sentencing last year, the 77-year-old was also added to the sex offenders register, and issued with a sexual harm prevention order.

As a registered sex offender Robinson was subject to close supervision from Dyfed-Powys Police’s offender management unit – which includes unannounced police visits.

The force said that on Tuesday last week (June 9) detectives visited Robinson’s home address to carry out a spot-check review of his digital devices.

A spokesman for the force said: “In a brazen display of complete disregard for his…

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The Diocese of Palm Beach has placed the Rev. Alex J. Vargas, parish priest of St. Thomas More Parish in Boynton Beach, on administrative leave after what it described Thursday as “serious charges” involving the priest.

In a statement posted Thursday afternoon, the diocese said a formal investigation has been launched and that Vargas’ ministerial powers have been withdrawn effective immediately.

“To ensure the safety of all persons involved and to preserve the integrity of the investigative process, Father Vargas has been placed on administrative leave,” the diocese said.

The diocese said Vargas is barred from practicing any ministry and from having contact with parishioners, employees, volunteers, ministries or affiliated organizations of the Diocese of Palm Beach, including St. Thomas More Parish, unless he receives express permission from the diocese.

The diocese did not provide details about the nature of the charges in its announcement. It…

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A barrister has told Derry Magistrates’ Court that any attempt to change the date for a Preliminary Enquiry in relation to a priest facing sex offences would be opposed.

Edward Gallagher (58) of Orchard Park in Lifford, County Donegal had been charged with one count of attempted sexual communication with a child on dates between April 2 and April 17, 2025 and seven further offences including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and causing a child to watch sexual activity on April 17 as well as charges of possessing indecent images of children.

The hearing was told a date for a PE had been fixed for July 16.

A prosecutor said the case was in for a review but he asked for another review as there were ‘some outstanding items’.

Defence counsel Stephen Mooney said this was a ‘long standing case’ and added that any attempt to miss…

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There wasn’t much openness to listening at the U.S. bishops’ June meeting.

At their meeting last week, the U.S. bishops debated proposed revisions to the U.S. church’s guidelines for dealing with sex abuse, the so-called “Dallas Charter.” First promulgated in 2002, the document has been periodically updated, and the bishops were ready to vote on further revisions, including adding language to emphasize the right of accused priests to “the presumption of innocence.” The committee chair insisted there had been sufficient consultation, but other bishops suggested that additional feedback from victims, priests, and diocesan review boards would strengthen the revisions. Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Jose, California, argued that further input could bring more buy-in from local churches, but acknowledged that perhaps many of his brother bishops had become “synodality-weary.”

That weariness of synodality’s inclusive discernment was evident in the final votes: a motion to postpone that would allow more time…

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Our society honors many heroic figures like Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King, Jr. We often dedicate statues, intersections, buildings, and squares to soldiers and police who bravely protected others and were killed in the line of duty.

Why? In large part, because we want to encourage others to emulate their noble, selfless behavior.

So it’s counterproductive — and hurtful — that Toledo officials honor a now-deceased Catholic priest who helped thwart a police investigation into a murder. Later this month, however, those officials can remedy this injustice.

Years ago, Toledo officials posted a street sign to honor a prominent cleric, Msgr. Jerome Schmit, for his fine work with young people. Msgr. Schmit’s name still graces a two block stretch that adjoins Mud Hens stadium in downtown Toledo.

However, it’s become clear that Msgr. Schmit — along with a deputy police chief and an attorney — blocked a…

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Rhode Island Governor Daniel J. McKee has signed into law sweeping legislation that allows survivors of childhood sexual abuse, no matter when the abuse occurred, to sue their abusers and the institutions that enabled or concealed that abuse.

The new law establishes a two-year “revival window” that runs from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028, during which survivors may file lawsuits against alleged perpetrators and institutions, such as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, the Mormon Church and other entities accused of failing to prevent abuse or covering up wrongful conduct. The two-year window, also known as a “lookback window,” temporarily lifts the statute of limitations of previously expired claims. All time-barred claims must be filed by June 30, 2028, or they may be forever barred.

The law was passed after, the Rhode Island Attorney General released a comprehensive report on March 4, 2026, of a…

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Days after a former Baltimore County youth pastor admitted to sexually abusing a child, a new lawsuit alleges church leaders were warned about his behavior years earlier and failed to stop him.

The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, June 16, by Andreozzi + Foote, accuses Central Christian Church in Rossville of ignoring reports about Thomas G. Pinkerton Jr.’s conduct while he allegedly groomed and sexually abused a teenage boy over a four-year period.

Pinkerton pleaded guilty on June 8 in Baltimore County Circuit Court to one count of sexual abuse of a minor and is awaiting sentencing in December.

Now, attorneys representing another alleged victim say the abuse could have been prevented.

According to the complaint, the survivor was an active member of Central Christian’s youth group and just 15 years old when Pinkerton allegedly began targeting him.

Pinkerton singled the teen out through favoritism, private conversations, whispers, unwanted massages, and…

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Created by homeschool lobbyist and parent Rodger Williams, Homeschooling Backgrounder is one of the newest tools deployed by homeschooling leaders and parents to ignore or discredit alumni concerns. Here’s what to know about the astroturfing project.

*****

Child abuse and neglect in homeschooling communities is a serious problem requiring serious solutions. For the last decade and a half, adult homeschool alumni have done everything they can to raise awareness and bring attention to this problem and to advocate for responsible homeschooling. And for each and every one of those years, homeschooling leaders and parents have done everything they can to ignore or discredit the very children they raised or inspired simply because the children refuse to pretend any longer that child abuse and neglect in homeschooling communities is insignificant.

One of the newest tools deployed by…

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His death came in the same week a report into his abuse was published.

Convicted paedophile Bill Kenneally has died aged 75.

One of Ireland’s most notorious sex offenders, Kenneally used his position as a basketball coach to abuse teenagers in Waterford.

Earlier in the year, he had part of his leg amputated and had been receiving palliative care for a number of weeks.

He died in Midlands Prison at 3.30am on Thursday.

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An indicted North Texas pastor can now only lead his congregation remotely on video call after allegedly violating his bond conditions amid his ongoing sexual assault case.  

According to KERA News, Alonzo Diego Fuller, lead pastor of Journey House Fort Worth, was arrested and charged with sexual assault last September. He was released from the Tarrant County jail the next day on a $40,000 surety bond.

Six months later, in March, Fuller was indicted with an additional charge of child grooming.

According to CBS Dallas, the first count alleged Fuller, 40, used his position of spiritual authority to exploit and sexually touch a female without her consent. The second count alleged that Fuller lured a person younger than 18 into a sexual act. He reportedly denied the charges against him during a church service, going as far as putting his mugshot up during the sermon.

Police arrested him again on May…

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Bishops say new structure for safeguarding and victim support services is under review as Church prepares to enter a ‘new phase’

Portugal’s Catholic Church has reaffirmed this Wednesday (June 17) its commitment to a “zero tolerance” approach to sexual abuse and revealed it is reviewing how its national and diocesan safeguarding structures should be organised in the future.

The announcement came after an extraordinary plenary assembly of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP) in Fátima, where bishops discussed the next stage of the Church’s response to abuse cases, most of them involving children.

“Zero tolerance, listening to victims, abuse prevention, training and the promotion of safe environments continue to form part of the priorities and commitments assumed by the Church in Portugal,” the bishops said.

The assembly also examined a proposal concerning the future framework of the diocesan and national bodies responsible for receiving complaints, supporting victims, training personnel and preventing…

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 A Hamilton County family alleges that a local Catholic grade school failed to protect their young son from repeated bullying, assault, sexual harassment and graphic threats.

A lawsuit was filed on Monday in Hamilton County Superior Court against both the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette and several school administrators. The suit claims that a seventh grader at Our Lady of Mount Carmel suffered the abuse at the hands of his fellow students.

Attorneys representing the child’s family describe how the harassment began in 2024 when students began calling the boy “weak,” “ugly” and “gay.” Students allegedly made fun of the boy for being a vegetarian and put meat in his food so he could not eat it.

The boy’s parents claim that the school was notified of the bullying and failed to address it, which resulted in escalation. During the 2025-2026 school year, the lawsuit describes how the harassment “intensified and…

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Law enforcement issued warrants for Jimmy Buena in June 2025

Catholic high school teacher, Jimmy Buena, was arrested at the Edmonton International Airport, on charges for making, accessing, possessing, and transmitting child pornography.

Buena previously worked at St. Oscar Romero Catholic High School in west Edmonton, before the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) issued a warrant for his arrest in June 2025.

An ALERT spokesperson said at the time that it was believed Buena left for the Philippines.

An ALERT spokesperson told CBC News Monday that he was arrested on Apr. 15, 2026, and has since been released from custody.

The spokesperson said Buena isn’t facing any new charges for fleeing, at this time.

• Edmonton teacher facing child pornography charges believed to have left the country

Investigators previously alleged that Buena had distributed child sexual abuse materials using Facebook.

A spokesperson for the Edmonton Catholic School…

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BRISBANE Archdiocese has welcomed the state government’s announcement of the Queensland Protection Commission and its commitment of $250 million to strengthen the protection of children.  

“The protection of children is a shared responsibility. It is also a sacred one,” Brisbane Archbishop Shane Mackinlay said. 

The government will establish the new agency dedicated to strengthening the protection of children from sexual abuse, following a review that identified missed opportunities to stop one of Australia’s most prolific child sex offenders. 

A report by the Child Death Review Board found there were more than 18 occasions where Ashley Paul Griffith’s offending may have been detected, disrupted or prevented earlier.

Griffith was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2024, with a non-parole period of 27 years, after pleading guilty to more than 300 offences committed over nearly two decades at childcare centres in Brisbane and Italy. 

Attorney-General, Minister for Justice and Minister for Integrity Deb Frecklington said the reforms marked a major step forward in strengthening protections for Queensland…

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The archdiocese also warns of an increase in historical abuse claims following a “change in the legal environment.”

The Archdiocese of Chicago won last week a court ruling that will allow it to proceed with a lawsuit against participants in a scheme to make false claims of clerical sexual abuse.

But the archdiocese has also warned that it expects to see an increase in historical abuse claims following a “change in the legal environment.”

In a June 12 statement from Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archdiocese announced that an Illinois judge had ruled against efforts to have the case dismissed.

“We are determined to press ahead with our defense against these false claims and the affront they represent to true survivors,” said the cardinal. “These individuals sought to take advantage of the archdiocese’s pastoral response to claims, which is to trust claimants, settle cases with compassion, and support survivors of abuse…

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Why does the PCPM need new statutes — and what are the main changes?

The document, issued only in Italian on June 13, replaces statutes released in 2015, a year after Pope Francis established the Vatican safeguarding body. The new statutes have been approved for a three-year experimental period, after which they will be amended or made permanent.

Why does the PCPM need new statutes — and what are the main changes?

The Pillar takes a look.

Why new statutes?

A great deal has changed in the world of Catholic safeguarding since 2015. Back then, the PCPM was a small, rather shaky new body created to advise the pope on child protection.

Some Roman curia officials appeared to view the new institution with suspicion or condescension, though it was led by the respected U.S. Cardinal Seán O’Malley. It would be another three years before the Cardinal Theodore McCarrick abuse scandal would rock the Vatican…

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Judges rule attorney-client privilege shields key sections but order disclosure of policy review materials.

Portions of a 2019 Seton Hall University report on former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s conduct will remain confidential after a state appeals court ruled they are protected by attorney-client privilege.

In a published decision issued Monday, June 15, the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division ruled that the first two sections of a report prepared by the law firm Latham & Watkins are protected because the investigation was conducted to help Seton Hall’s lawyers provide legal advice and prepare for potential litigation. But the court also ruled that portions of the report dealing with university policies and procedures should be made public.

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The ruling is part of litigation involving about 450 lawsuits filed under New Jersey’s Child Victims Act, the 2019 law…

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….While it is true that cash settlements with more than 850 victims from the Diocese of Buffalo sexual abuse cases is forthcoming, what the survivors are looking for is something more basic.

An apology.

“All of the victims deserve an apology,” said Ruth MacAlister – one of six abuse survivors committee members who was allowed to meet with meet with the media. “But, I don’t see that coming.”

After more than six years of legal wrangling, a $326 million settlement will be paid to 850 Diocese sex abuse survivors, with the funds expected to be released later this year, or by early 2027, says Buffalo attorney Steve Boyd, who represented a large number of the survivors.

“This has been a long haul for all of the survivors,” Boyd said.

With approval from the U.S. Trustees Office, six of the survivors were allowed to briefly meet and answer questions from the…

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For six years, a committee of abuse survivors has been kept quiet about the Diocese of Buffalo’s bankruptcy case — until now. 

On Monday, volunteer members of the Unsecured Creditors’ Committee spoke publicly about the case for the first time.

“These are the people who have done this amazing work, having served as the longest diocesan bankruptcy committee in U.S. history,” Steve Boyd, an attorney representing members of the committee, said.

The members were selected by the U.S. Trustee to represent more than 850 sexual abuse survivors in the Diocese of Buffalo. Court-ordered mediation previously prevented them from speaking about the case.

Members said their time on the committee involved hours away from work and family, including 76 court hearings and 34 mediation meetings that lasted around eight hours a day.

“We’ve listened to over 100 victim impact statements both in and out of court, often at the detriment to our…

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The honor board will meet Thursday to decide whether to recommend removing a sign honoring Monsignor Jerome Schmit from outside Fifth Third Field.

Key figures in the Father Gerald Robinson case are providing letters to the Toledo Board of Honor, making the case that the Catholic Church interfered in the investigation into Sister Margaret Ann Pahl’s murder and, at one point, publicly misrepresented the Diocese’s involvement in Robinson’s legal representation.

The Board of Honor will meet Thursday to announce whether it will recommend to Toledo City Council that a sign honoring Monsignor Jerome Schmit be removed from outside Fifth Third Field.

Family members of Sister Margaret Ann have long believed and publicly stated that Schmit interfered in getting justice for her after she was murdered by Robinson on April 5, 1980.

Stream ‘Her Name Was Sister Margaret Ann,’ now on WTOL+ 

In the early…

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The committee representing the sexual abuse survivors of the Buffalo Catholic Diocese bankruptcy case spoke publicly for the first time on Monday, saying the end of this case is near.

The members shared that the courts had reached a settlement of $326 million to be spread among the nearly 900 victims of this case, with $150 million of the settlement being paid for by churches and other entities of the diocese.

“We’re just a page away from updated child safety procedures being implemented, and we’re just a page away from a Catholic community that can redirect its focus and its money constructively on a future of positive renewal,” Peter Starks, one of the council committee members, said.

All money beyond $150 million will be paid out by various insurance companies.

The all-volunteer group of six were previously not allowed to speak to the press while their mediation work was underway…

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Key takeaways

• An Indiana family is suing The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana, Inc for allegedly failing to protect their son from months of bullying, sexual harassment, physical assault, and threats of sexual violence by fellow students at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic School in Carmel, Indiana.
• The bullying began in the 2024–2025 school year when the child was in seventh grade, escalated in the 2025–2026 school year, and included sexual threats towards the victim’s 10-year-old sister, leading to a decline in the child’s mental health and diagnosis of anxiety and severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Despite the parents reporting the incidents to the school, law enforcement, and the Department of Child Services, the school allegedly failed to take meaningful intervention, leading to the child being withdrawn from the school without notice and the offending students being allowed to switch schools, prompting the family to file a lawsuit…

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Administrators of a Carmel Catholic school and the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana face a lawsuit from a family that says its son was repeatedly harassed sexually, assaulted and threatened, but nothing was done.

A Noblesville law firm, Metzger Rosta, said a news release that the lawsuit, filed in Hamilton Superior Court 2. does not name the family to protect the identity of the minor child.

In addition to the diocese, the lawsuit was filed against the superintendent of the diocese’s schools, Trudy Schouten Young: the Rev. Richard Doerr, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church and School; the school principal, Tim Fletcher; and the assistant principal, Deanna Cotter.

The release said the harassment against the family’s son began in seventh grade and intensified during his recently finished school year, when it became sexual in nature. The boy has been in the schools from kindergarten to eighth grade,…

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The newly elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention denies that there was ever a “systematic” cover-up of sexual abuse by top denomination officials, telling reporters that people with political agendas had used the issue to attack the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

Critics, including abuse survivors, have accused the 12.3 million-member church of failing to properly safeguard its children and of breaking its promises to fix the system.

“The people, sometimes, who purport to speak for all survivors don’t speak for all survivors. There are activists who, this is their platform, and I understand that,” Florida Pastor Willy Rice said at a news conference Wednesday, one day after his election by delegates, known as messengers.

Within the church, the topic of sexual abuse “absolutely was weaponized, just like the #MeToo movement in the secular culture was weaponized,” Rice said. “That’s what tends to happen in social justice movements.”

On June…

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A San Luis Obispo County Superior Court judge ruled this week that evidence against a former Catholic priest accused of molesting four children is sufficient to move the case forward to trial.

Theodore Edward Gabrielli, 62, was arrested in Los Osos in June 2025. According to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, detectives began investigating Gabrielli after receiving a report of child abuse that first occurred more than 30 years ago. The alleged victims were under the age of 14 at the time and were living in Mexico, where their family befriended the priest.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, the alleged abuse took place between 1991 and 2010 and occurred in six California counties, including San Luis Obispo.

Sheriff’s officials said the family allowed Gabrielli to take the boys with him on trips to California, including to his parents’ home in Los Osos, where the victims claimed Gabrielli…

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An Amarillo pastor was arrested in a prostitution sting.

David Ritchie, 42, is charged with solicitation of prostitution.

He is one of eight men arrested during an undercover operation conducted by DPS on Friday and Saturday.

Ritchie has been the pastor of Redeemer Christian Church since 2011. But his bio was removed from the church’s website.

He was the speaker during the service on June 7.

Ritchie is also a former instructor of religion at WT.

The other seven people arrested in the sting are:

• John Alexander Grado-Vega, 26, of El Paso – solicitation of prostitution
• Braiden Deion Sellers, 34, of Pascagoula, Mississippi – solicitation of prostitution and unlawful carry of a weapon
• William Theodore Bradley, 47, of Amarillo – solicitation of prostitution
• Jorge Luis Lopez-Najera, 24, of Amarillo – solicitation of prostitution
• Jerry Mac Rottenberry, 53, of Amarillo – solicitation of prostitution
• Kody Ray Dick, 37, of…

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The pastor was arrested last year after a teen girl told Mesa police the pastor had inappropriately touched her.

A former pastor from Mesa has been sentenced to prison after he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor, court records show.

Stanley D. Jay, 62, was sentenced last month in Maricopa County Superior Court to seven years in prison for misconduct that apparently took place while the defendant was a pastor at Worship Life Center.

Jay was taken into custody after a teen girl told Mesa police the pastor had inappropriately touched her and asked to see nude pictures of her, records show.

The girl additionally told police about an instance at the pastor’s house that involved the defendant abusing her, records show.

Jay was arrested by Mesa police in July 2025.

Court records show Jay entered into a plea agreement earlier this year. Upon completing his…

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After a four-day preliminary hearing packed with emotional testimony from adults who say they were abused as children, a San Luis Obispo County judge has ordered former Jesuit priest Theodore Edward Gabrielli to stand trial on felony child molestation charges. The 62-year-old remains in custody and is expected to return to court for arraignment next month.

San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow said in a press release that this ruling affirms that there is sufficient evidence for these serious allegations to be fully heard in court, and added that his office is considering additional charges, according to the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office. Judge Jesse Marino heard four days of testimony before concluding that probable cause existed. The release also noted that Gabrielli is scheduled to be arraigned on July 14, 2026, and remains jailed without bail.

Charges And Timeline

Following the hearing,…

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The girl’s mother lodged a police complaint after she confided in her about the abuse.

Police on Sunday arrested a religious preacher in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi on charges of molesting a 12-year-old girl in a church.

A case has been registered in this connection under the relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.

The accused, Arulraj, served as a religious preacher at a CSI church located in the Anandha Nagar area near Thalamuthu Nagar, Thoothukudi.

The victim alleged that he sexually harassed her when she visited the church.

After the victim informed her mother about the preacher’s sexual misconduct, the girl’s mother lodged a complaint against Arulraj at the Thoothukudi All-Women Police Station. Acting on the complaint, the police arrested him and are conducting an investigation.

The arrest of the preacher has caused a stir in Thoothukudi.

Also See:

1. Court Sends…

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The archdiocese also warns of an increase in historical abuse claims following a “change in the legal environment.”

The Archdiocese of Chicago won last week a court ruling that will allow it to proceed with a lawsuit against participants in a scheme to make false claims of clerical sexual abuse.

But the archdiocese has also warned that it expects to see an increase in historical abuse claims following a “change in the legal environment.”

In a June 12 statement from Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archdiocese announced that an Illinois judge had ruled against efforts to have the case dismissed.

“We are determined to press ahead with our defense against these false claims and the affront they represent to true survivors,” said the cardinal. “These individuals sought to take advantage of the archdiocese’s pastoral response to claims, which is to trust claimants, settle cases with compassion, and support survivors of abuse…

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The proposed settlement would pay $250,000 to each of the 1,300 people who have sued the Archdiocese of New York over sexual abuse claims. But for any of them to get the deal, all must agree to take it.

For decades, Anthony Santucci told no one about the sexual abuse he says he endured as a young teenager at his Catholic church in the Bronx.

Distressing flashbacks, omnipresent anxiety and poor sleep hygiene have followed him for nearly 50 years, through his adolescence into adulthood. He blames leaders of his church and the Archdiocese of New York for failing to protect him and other children from priests like the one who he says abused him.

Mr. Santucci, 66, is one of the more than 1,300 people who have sued the archdiocese over sexual abuse claims and will soon face a monumental choice: accept the terms of an $800 million proposed…

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Commentary: A bad priest deeply wounded me, but through the faithfulness and holiness of other priests, I was gradually led back toward hope, healing, truth and renewal.

As Father’s Day approaches, I find myself thinking about my own wonderful dad, as well as my husband, the father of our six children.

The love of good fathers leaves lasting marks on the lives entrusted to them, and their sacrifices matter more than we realize. Thank you, fathers and father figures!

I also find myself thinking about our priests. That may sound strange coming from a survivor of clerical abuse. I was sexually abused by a priest (now laicized) when I was 15. That sort of memory doesn’t just leave you overnight but, by the grace of God, there is life after abuse. His grace shines into even the darkest of places.

Catholic priests have become the subject of countless jokes, memes…

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Key Points

• Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee signed a new law allowing victims of childhood sexual abuse by clergy to sue the Catholic Church.

• The law creates a two-year window, starting July 1, 2026, for victims to file previously time-barred civil lawsuits.

• This legislation applies to the church and any other institution that concealed the abuse.

With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Dan McKee on June 11 signed legislation into law that will allow victims who were sexually abused by clergy as children to sue the Catholic Church.

The new law provides a two-year revival window that opens on July 1, 2026, for victims, who are now in many cases in their 60s and 70s, to file what had been time-barred civil suits against the Church and any other institution that not only failed to protect them from pedophiles but…

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The nation’s Catholic bishops gathered Thursday afternoon in Orlando for a liturgy consecrating the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, drawing on a centuries-old devotion to mark the country’s 250th anniversary.

Organ, brass and choral singing thundered inside a modern Orlando shrine during the service, a centerpiece of the spring assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Just before the liturgy, bishops and other worshippers knelt before relics of the 17th century St. Mary Margaret Alacoque, a French nun whose reports of visions of Jesus led to the modern devotion of the Sacred Heart as embodying the core of Christ’s suffering love. Since then, the devotion has spread worldwide, with many Catholic schools and churches bearing the Sacred Heart name and many homes and businesses displaying images of it.

The service celebrated the nation’s history, alluding to the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation of rights to “life, liberty and…

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American states take different approaches

Atlanta GA – Travel through central Europe and you will eventually come across one of thousands of statues of a man on a bridge with his finger pointing to his tongue. According to lore, John of Nepomuk, a 14th-century clergyman, heard the queen of Bohemia’s confession, only for the jealous king to ask him to divulge his wife’s secrets. When he refused, the king had him drowned. Poor John was martyred for one of Catholicism’s most sacred tenets: the absolute seal of confession.

Six centuries later, tight-lipped priests are once again being tested—this time by state legislatures. State laws govern which adults are required to report child abuse that they learn about on the job. In most places teachers, doctors, therapists and camp counsellors have to tell the police and can face fines or even jail time if they don’t. As part of a reckoning with…

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A San Luis Obispo County judge ruled on Friday that there is sufficient evidence for a former Catholic priest to stand trial on 24 felony counts involving the molestation of four children.

Last June, SLO County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Theodore Edward Gabrielli, 62, in Los Osos. Recently, during a four-day preliminary hearing, Judge Jesse Marino heard testimony from four victims in the case.

The alleged offenses span from 1991 through 2010 and occurred in six California counties, according to the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office.

Gabrielli was accused of bringing children to the Central Coast and committing oral copulation of a child, as well as sodomy of a child, according to court records. 

The former priest worked with churches and schools in San Jose, Los Gatos and Los Angeles, including Most Holy Trinity Parish in San Jose and Social Ministries in Los Gatos. At the time of his…

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Crowley LA – A Catholic priest in Acadia Parish charged with child sex abuse will have his trial overseen by a new judge, necessitating a rescheduling of proceedings.

District Court Judge David Smith recently agreed to recuse himself from the case, in which the Rev. Korey Lavergne faces three counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile.

Lavergne was arrested Jan. 17, and pleaded not guilty to all charges March 20.

The recusal of Smith came during a pre-trial hearing, following a joint motion presented by both the State and the defense. The case will now be transferred to Judge Scott Privat.

According to a court clerk, the next step for the case is a joint reset proceeding. The clerk confirmed that Privat will officially take over the case during the status proceeding.

The pre-trial hearing for Lavergne has yet to be rescheduled.

…

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“The influence of the Providence Diocese is powerful in Rhode Island,” one survivor said. “But they underestimated the survivors’ determination to continue speaking truth to power.”

Dr. Ann Hagan Webb recalled the “intense and terrifying” night in 2018 when she and other survivors came to the State House for the first time to testify about being sexually abused by priests.

“All you heard was the tapping of nervous feet,” she said. “One person panicked and left.”

But survivors of clergy abuse kept come back year after year.

And on Thursday, Webb stood at a podium in the State House as Governor Dan McKee prepared to sign bills into law that will allow victims of sexual abuse to file previously expired claims against institutions such as the Roman Catholic Church.

“The influence of the Providence Diocese is powerful in Rhode Island,” Webb said. “But they underestimated the survivors’…

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The document, also known as “the Dallas Charter,” is a set of procedures originally established in 2002 to address allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy.

The bishops of the United States voted in favor of a revised version of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

The document, also known as “the Dallas Charter,” is a set of procedures originally established in 2002 to address allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy.

The bishops voted on the revised document at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) spring plenary session in Orlando, Florida, on June 11.

The revised charter offers changes and additions but maintains the focus of the original document “to address with transparency and accountability accusations of abuse committed by clergy,” said Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, Virginia, chair of the Committee on the Protection of Children and Young…

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The U.S. Catholic bishops approved several  updates to their landmark document on protection policies for children and minors, seeking to define key terms while balancing care for victim-survivors with accused clergy’s right to a presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.

The revisions, preliminarily introduced June 10 during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ spring plenary assembly in Orlando, passed by a two-thirds vote June 11 after a period of debate.

The changes will keep the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” focused “exclusively” on clergy abuse of minors, with a new document being developed to address abuse involving vulnerable adults, said Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, Virginia, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, in his introductory remarks June 10.

Joining Bishop Knestout on the dais during the presentation that day were Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks of New York, chair…

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During the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops‘ annual spring meeting, held June 10-12 this year in Orlando, OSV News discussed forthcoming revisions of the bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” with Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, Virginia, chair of the USCCB’s Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, and Deacon Bernie Nojadera, executive director of the USCCB’s Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection.

Commonly known as the “Dallas Charter” — instituted by the US Catholic bishops at their 2002 meeting in Dallas, Texas, as the scope of the clerical abuse scandals emerged publicly — it lays out a comprehensive set of procedures for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy. The charter, whose revisions the U.S. bishops approved in a June 11 vote, also includes guidelines for reconciliation, healing, accountability and prevention of abuse.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

…

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Some have questioned whether the bishops are ready to vote on a safeguarding document at all.

When the U.S. bishops’ conference gathered in Dallas in the spring of 2002, they were in a crisis.

The Boston Globe had published reports in the months prior on the extent of clerical sexual abuse of minors in the diocese, and the transfer of abusers and cover-up of allegations which came subsequently.

Those stories set off a firestorm. Indeed, many bishops were shocked by what they read, and all of them felt overwhelming pressure to pass something which would give an indication that they took seriously the scope of the scandal they faced.

The result was a set of moral commitments among the bishops, published as the “Charter for the Protection of Young People,” known as the Dallas Charter, and then in the “Essential Norms,” which set canonical policy in response to those commitments.

…

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As a bankruptcy plan continues to elude the Archdiocese of Baltimore, SNAP urges the federal bankruptcy court to flex its muscle in order to forge a solution that protects survivors.

On Monday, both sides ended an all-day proceeding in federal court with little more than an agreement to continue discussions. As a result, the case remains open for weeks more of complex negotiations that force survivors to continue to wait for resolution. In fact, every day without an agreement means the archdiocese and its insurers keep survivors’ money longer. Those resources should be used for supporting survivors’ healing.

While no amount of money can repair the damage done to hundreds of survivors, SNAP stands in unwavering solidarity with all those harmed in Baltimore and will continue to support their efforts for justice, transparency and accountability. The work these survivors are doing now will protect future generations of children.

“These never-ending…

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Andreozzi + Foote, a nationally recognized law firm representing survivors of sexual abuse, has partnered with Rhode Island attorney Eric B. DiMario, of Kiernan, Plunkett & Redihan, LLP, to represent survivors pursuing claims under Rhode Island’s newly enacted childhood sexual abuse revival-window legislation.

In a landmark victory for survivors, Rhode Island has opened a two-year revival window, that allows victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits that were previously barred by the state’s statute of limitations.

The new law, which takes effect on July 1, 2026, gives eligible survivors until June 30, 2028, to pursue claims against institutions and organizations that knew about, concealed, or failed to prevent sexual abuse. For many Rhode Island survivors of childhood sexual abuse, this may be the first meaningful opportunity in decades to seek accountability through the civil justice system.

The…

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Six months after his arrest on child sex crimes, Fr. Korey Lavergne of St. Edward Catholic Church in Richard is due in court on Friday morning for a pre-trial hearing.

In a social media post that’s since been deleted, St. Edward Catholic Church announced plans for parishioners to gather at the church on Friday morning and pray the rosary for Fr. Lavergne and “all those affected by this difficult situation.”

The church’s post was deleted from social media after about three hours.

“It’s the wrong signal when a church community refuses to pray or mention victims in their prayers,” said Letitia Peyton with TentMakers of Louisiana, a non-profit that supports victims of clergy sex abuse.

Fr. Lavergne was arrested in January on three counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile. He was formally charged in March and entered a written not guilty plea.

As News 15 Investigates exclusively reported, a…

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‘Lookback law’ allowed Pamela Lockridge to seek damages against late stepfather who abused her starting at age four

A north-west Louisiana jury recently awarded a staggering $1.1bn in damages to a woman who sued over childhood sexual molestation at the hands of her late stepfather in the 1960s and 1970s – a verdict that the plaintiff says “sends a message that children are precious” and “deserve protection”.

The outcome in Pamela Elaine Lockridge’s lawsuit caused waves among Louisiana’s legal community, illustrating how much civil juries are willing to award to plaintiffs for cases tried under the state’s so-called “lookback law”.

Passed in 2021 and upheld as constitutional in 2024, that law temporarily eliminated filing deadlines for lawsuits involving child molestation which happened long ago, giving survivors like Lockridge – whose late abuser at one point confirmed that he molested her – an opportunity to pursue damages.

Lockridge’s lead attorney, Ryan Gatti,…

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A complaint was filed by a seven-year-old girl’s mother against Selvaraj, who served as a priest at a church in Vadakkankulam

A special court hearing Protection of Children From Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) cases in Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu on June 11 sentenced a priest to seven years in prison for sexually harassing a seven-year-old girl.

On Thursday, Judge Suresh Kumar sentenced Selvaraj to seven years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000. The Judge also ordered the payment of Rs 1 lakh as compensation to the victim.

Selvaraj (59), an original resident of Valliyoor area in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, served as a priest at a Christian church in Vadakkankulam.

According to the case details, in February 2020, the victim girl visited the church with her parents for prayers, during which the priest subjected her to sexual harassment.

Acting on a complaint filed by the victim’s mother,…

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The U.S. Catholic bishops approved several updates to their landmark document on protection policies for children and minors, seeking to define key terms while balancing care for victim-survivors with accused clergy’s right to a presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.

The revisions, preliminarily introduced June 10 during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ spring plenary assembly in Orlando, passed by a two-thirds vote June 11 after a period of debate.

The changes will keep the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” focused “exclusively” on clergy abuse of minors, with a new document being developed to address abuse involving vulnerable adults, said Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, Virginia, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, in his introductory remarks June 10.

Joining Bishop Knestout on the dais during the presentation that day were Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks of New York, chair…

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After considerable debate, the U.S. Catholic bishops voted June 11 to update their “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” including adding language that emphasizes “the right of an accused to the presumption of innocence.”

During the second day of the bishops’ spring plenary in Orlando, a handful of bishops sought to delay a vote on updating the 2002 document on clergy sexual abuse allegations and prevention.

The revised text includes a new glossary of terms and language on the right of accused clergy, according to Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, Virginia, the chairman of the bishops conference’s Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People.

In a prepared statement, Knestout said the addition of “presumed innocence” draws “from the revisions of Book VI of the Code of Canon Law.”

Other changes that Knestout mentioned in his June 10 presentation…

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It was also announced at the USCCB meeting Thursday that the bishops would keep fighting abortion as their ‘preeminent priority’ in their guidelines to voters ahead of the midterm elections.

United States Catholic bishops approved a new version of their signature document on child sexual abuse on Thursday (June 11), adding language on the “presumption of innocence” for accused priests, despite a push for broader discussion and changes.

Shawn McKnight, archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas, had led an effort to include more expansive changes to the bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, commonly known as the Dallas Charter. Advocates for survivors and sexual abuse reform had also called for broader changes to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ policy commitments, including expanding the document to address the sexual abuse of adults.

After McKnight motioned for the vote to be postponed to the next meeting to allow bishops…

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On the first day of their June 2026 meeting in Orlando, the U.S. bishops offered a message to the Holy Father, heard from the new apostolic nuncio, voiced support for two sainthood causes, and discussed the revision of the Dallas Charter on the sexual abuse of minors.

The Pillar described the new nuncio, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, as a “study in contrast” to his predecessor, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, both in his more irenic tone and in his content, which emphasized continuity with tradition.

Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, the chairman of the Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, offered a presentation on revisions to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, originally adopted in 2002. Bishop Knestout called for a continued focus in the charter on the sexual abuse of minors, with the abuse of adults addressed in a separate document; others called for the revised charter to address the sexual…

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An 81-year-old pastor who sexually assaulted a Moreno Valley girl was sentenced Friday to 10 years to life in state prison.

David Lee Helbling of Moreno Valley pleaded guilty in April to kidnapping to commit rape and lewd acts on a child under 14 years old under an agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his admissions, prosecutors dropped four related charges against Helbling.

During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice Friday, Superior Court Judge Arthur Bocanegra certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense.

According to sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Martinez, deputies were informed at the end of January 2024 of an attack on the victim in the 23000 block of Hemlock Avenue, near Pigeon Pass Road.

The ensuing investigation led to the identification of Helbling, a local minister, as the perpetrator.

Martinez said that…

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A Massachusetts Attorney General’s grand jury investigation into child sexual abuse at three Catholic dioceses in the state has never been made public. The findings of a similar investigation, 23 years-ago, were shared, legally, with the public.

On July 14, 2003 Thomas F. Reilly, the Massachusetts attorney general at the time, published a report on his investigation into crimes against children at the Archdiocese of Boston.

When Gov. Maura Healey was attorney general she launched a similar inquiry. But she looked into the dioceses of Worcester, Springfield and Fall River.

Survivors of abuse, who answered investigators’ questions in the fall of 2021, have been calling on Attorney General Andrea Campbell to release a report on the inquiry started by Healey.

But because it was a grand jury investigation, there’s a legal hold up as Campbell explained on GBH radio a year…

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The bishops rejected a proposal to delay the vote until November.

The U.S. bishops voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to approve revisions to the Charter for the Protection of Young People, after a failed proposal to delay the vote, made in order to seek more feedback from diocesan advisors and abuse victims.

The vote on the Charter text was 176-22, with 6 bishops abstaining.

The bishops voted during their general assembly meeting Thursday morning to adopt some amendments to the document, which deals with preventing and responding to cases of abuse by priests. The text of the amendments was not immediately available to the media or public.

Following the passage of the amendments, Archbishop Shawn McKnight of Kansas City proposed delaying the vote on the revised Charter until the bishops’ November meeting. He said the bishops should have the chance to consult with their diocesan review boards, presbyteral councils, and abuse…

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[For immediate release]

Archbishop William Shawn McKnight’s intervention today at the USCCB plenary after the presentation on the revised Charter was welcome. McKnight correctly points out that, if approved, the revised Charter would be problematic both for abuse survivors who have come forward and for survivors who have not yet done so. To alienate the very people on whose behalf the Charter and Norms were originally adopted would be an unforced error, and also a disastrous move, as McKnight made clear, in the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the bishops’ momentous 2002 meeting in Dallas.

McKnight’s proposal to postpone voting and get more input creates an opportunity that the plenary should embrace on Thursday. The Charter was last revised in 2018, a pivotal year in the ongoing clergy abuse crisis, when the McCarrick case and the Pennsylvania grand jury report together put the U.S. Catholic church back into crisis. In…

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The potential revisions include new language that emphasizes ‘the presumption of innocence’ for accused priests. 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops plans to vote Thursday (June 11) on revisions to its cornerstone document addressing the sexual abuse of minors, including new language that emphasizes “the presumption of innocence” for accused priests. 

But a prominent archbishop pushed back during a Wednesday presentation of the proposed revisions, urging the conference to take more time to consult survivors and priests.

“ I am worried how the language presently in the draft will impact our known victims as well as our unknown victims,” said Archbishop Shawn McKnight of Kansas City, Kansas. “I’m also concerned about how our priests are going to respond.”

The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, commonly known as the Dallas Charter, is a set of policy commitments that the bishops created in 2002 as the church began to…

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The U.S. Catholic bishops are reviewing proposed updates to their landmark document on protection policies for children and minors, seeking to define key terms while balancing care for victim-survivors with accused clergy’s right to a presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.

The potential revisions were preliminarily introduced June 10 during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ spring plenary assembly in Orlando. 

The suggested changes would keep the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” focused “exclusively” on clergy abuse of minors, with a new document being developed to address abuse involving vulnerable adults, said Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, Virginia, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, in his introductory remarks.

Joining Bishop Knestout on the dais were Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks of New York, chair of the USCCB’s Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations; and Bishop Thomas J….

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A recent report accuses a former Kalamazoo-area Catholic priest of inappropriate conduct and sexual abuse in two states.

A new report details allegations against a former Michigan Catholic priest, accused of spraying a former parishioner with holy water before sexually assaulting him and other inappropriate conduct and sexual abuse complaints spanning two states. 

Rev. Thomas King, C.S.C. Fr. King, has allegations dating back to the 1980s while he was working in Indiana, through his time working at a church in Niles, MI, in the Diocese of Kalamazoo. 

The report was made public in late May, after Notre Dame University President Rev. Robert Dowd and Board of Trustee’s chair John Veihmeyer requested the investigation in Sept. 2025 following allegations against King while he was at the university. These concerns dated back to 2018 about the handling of allegations against Fr. King raised by alumni. 

Investigators…

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Most of the allegations received in nine-month period last year referred to incidents said to have occurred between 1960 and 1989

A total of 178 allegations of abuse by clergy was received by the Catholic Church’s National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) in the nine-month period from April to December 2025.

As the NBSC has decided to move to calendar-year reporting, this latest report covers just the last nine months of 2025.

The previous full-year report, from the end of March 2024 to April of last year, said there had been 385 allegations of abuse during that period, meaning the latest report indicated “a small decrease, pro rata”, according to NBSC chief executive Aidan Gordon.

Of the 178 allegations received, 36 were from dioceses, with 141 from religious congregations, and one “other”, covering an 80-year period from the 1940s to the 2020s.

As to the nature of the allegations involved, 154…

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The costs of the clerical abuse scandal in the United States soared 82% in the July 2024—June 2025 reporting year, to $483,534,316, according to the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recently released the annual report mandated by the bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, adopted in 2002. The report found that the total cost of the scandal to American dioceses—including settlements, other payments to victims, support for offenders, attorneys’ fees, and other costs—increased 61% between 2023-24 and 2024-25, from $242,799,401 to $389,961,007 (p. 31). The costs to religious communities soared 297% between 2023-24 and 2024-25, from $23,565,150 to $93,573,309 (p. 42).

The total costs rose 82% between 2023-24 and 2024-25, from $266,364,551 to $483,534,316 (p. 48). The true costs, however, are likely much higher: only 97% of U.S. dioceses (and eparchies) and 61% of men’s religious institutes responded…

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Jose Saez Jr., 30, was a pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Alumbrando El Camino when he targeted children both online and in person.

A Brentwood pastor who told an undercover officer that he had sexually abused an infant and his “sweet spot” was molesting children between 11 and 15 years old was sentenced Tuesday to 17 ½ years in prison, according to federal prosecutors.

Jose Saez Jr., 30, was a pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Alumbrando El Camino when he targeted children both online and in person.

Saez used an encrypted messaging service to engage in sexually explicit conversations with minors and an undercover law enforcement officer, and told the officer he was able to find young victims at church, prosecutors said.

In addition to coercing a 15- and 16-year-old into sending him photos and videos, Saez raped a minor he had arranged to meet in a public restroom in Mount Sinai…

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Charges filed against a retired Greensburg priest are moving forward.

Eighty-four-year-old Robert Byrnes was arrested last month on charges including aggravated indecent assault. Byrnes is accused of committing sex crimes while working as a practicing priest.

Byrnes yesterday waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

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In short: 

An organisation representing survivor-victims of clergy abuse has torn up agreements reached with the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat.

The organisation said it had been working with the diocese towards two permanent memorials at St Patrick’s Cathedral and St Alipius Old Boys School in Ballarat.

Father Marcello Colasante from the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat says he empathises with victim-survivors after the High Court decision in 2024.

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An organisation representing survivor-victims of clergy abuse has torn up agreements reached with the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat and has accused the church of hypocrisy.

Loud Fence and The Ballarat and District Survivors Memorial Committee said they had been working with the diocese towards two permanent memorials at St Patrick’s Cathedral and St Alipius Old Boys School in Ballarat for victims of clergy abuse.

Victim-survivor Gary Sculley said those negotiations and agreements were now null and void.

“We’ve sat down and negotiated…

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In short:

Pope Leo has met with survivors of abuse by Catholic clergy in Spain.

The pontiff listened to proposals to make safeguarding more effective, and told clerics that survivors should see a commitment to safety from the church.

Survivors who were not invited have dismissed the meeting as a photo opportunity.

Pope Leo has met with six survivors of abuse by Catholic clergy in Spain, the Vatican says, as groups of survivors who were not invited criticised the event as a mere photo opportunity.  

The Vatican provided few details of the meeting, which lasted about an hour. But it said Leo had listened to proposals to make church safeguarding more effective, and promised to make it a safe space for all.

Leo, on a week-long visit to Spain, had earlier made his first direct reference to scandals that have shaken the Spanish church’s credibility, telling bishops that they…

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Rome ordered the ‘Vos Estis’ probe after a parishioner alleged Bishop Michael Duca delayed removing a pastor who made sexual advances on him and spoke of prior sexual misconduct involving minors.

Investigators conducted three full days of interviews last week in a probe of Bishop Michael Duca, ordered by the Vatican over the Diocese of Baton Rouge’s handling of a report of sexual abuse by a parish priest, two witnesses told the Register. 

“They’re all about the timing, why it took so long,” the purported victim, a man in his mid-60s, told the Register, on condition of anonymity. “They wanted to connect a lot of dots.” 

The man told the Register he and his wife spoke with the investigators for about 1 hour 45 minutes on Wednesday, June 3. 

The investigators represent the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which is conducting the investigation, but they are lay professionals from out of…

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The Defendant Sexually Abused Minors Both In Person and Online

Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, Jose Saez, Jr., a pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Alumbrando El Camino church located in Brentwood, New York, was sentenced by United States District Judge Joan M. Azrack to 210 months in prison for sexual exploitation of a child.  Saez communicated with minor victims over the internet, coerced them into creating and sending him sexually explicit images and videos of themselves, and coerced a minor to engage in sexual acts with the defendant at a public park on Long Island.  Saez pleaded guilty to the charges in March 2025. 

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and James C. Barnacle, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the sentence. 

“Today’s lengthy sentence holds the defendant accountable for his exploitation…

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Guarding children from abuse entails not only shielding them from danger but also teaching them wisdom and discernment, panelists said at a June 8 breakfast in conjunction with the SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando.

The breakfast, sponsored by the SBC Executive Committee and the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention, convened Christian educators and ministry leaders to introduce the “Safe Guards” school curriculum, designed to equip K-5 students with abuse awareness and prevention skills from a biblical worldview perspective.

“Abuse prevention instruction does not need to be sensationalized,” said “Safe Guards” coauthor Lynne Little, founder of Compass Education. “It does not need to be fear-based. It does not need to be sexually graphic. This is not sex education the way secular humanistic paradigms approach this topic. Instead, abuse prevention instruction can be effectively rooted in a biblical worldview.”

The curriculum is divided into two age levels, one for kindergarten through…

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A few years ago, I found myself helping navigate a situation involving someone close to me who was severely mistreated at a Christian school. Over time, and under new leadership, the school eventually did take appropriate steps to address what had happened and move in a better direction. What pushed me to engage more directly was seeing other situations, similarly mishandled, that had begun circulating in the news. It was not an isolated story. It was familiar.

In the past month, I learned that a Christian school I attended as a child in my hometown has lost over 30 teaching staff in a single year. That kind of turnover is not just a staffing issue. It usually signals deeper cultural and leadership instability.

Over the years, I have helped parents navigate situations at Christian schools across the country. In one case, I supported families as they worked to make sense…

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Rice’s win is a triumph for critics who argue that the nation’s largest Protestant denomination has lost its way in recent years.

A Florida pastor who has argued that the nation’s largest Protestant denomination has become too woke and liberal was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday (June 9).

Willy Rice, senior pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Florida, received 5,217 votes — 57% of the votes cast. His opponent, Josh Powell, lead pastor of Taylors First Baptist Church in South Carolina, received 3,821 votes, or 42%.

Rice’s election is a triumph for critics who claim that the denomination has lost its way in recent years. He has alleged that the SBC’s sexual abuse crisis was more hoax than reality and said that the denomination’s leaders had followed the culture more than the Bible.

RELATED: SBC tries to move on from abuse crisis, will debate women pastors…

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Is it about preventing abuse in the future, or just a monument to scandals of the past?

The bishops of the United States are set to vote this week on updates to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, known as the “Dallas Charter.”

During their spring assembly in Florida this week, the bishops will consider a slate of changes to the document, first issued in 2002 and last updated in 2018, in the last days before the McCarrick scandal broke across the Church in the United States, kicking off a new wave of reckoning with historical allegations of abuse and episcopal negligence.

Since then, the Church has entered a new era of canonical processes, following the 2019 promulgation of Vos estis lux mundi by Pope Francis. Alongside this, a steady stream of investigations and reports from states’ attorneys general have led to state level legislation creating look-back windows,…

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Pope Leo XIV met with victims of clergy sex abuse Monday, June 8, in Madrid, engaging with the Spanish church’s abuse crisis that has loomed large over the first papal visit to Spain in 15 years.

At the residence of the Vatican ambassador where he was staying in the Spanish capital, the pope met for almost an hour with six people who were abused by “members of the clergy and the church in Spain, accompanied by Church personnel involved in supporting the victims,” the Vatican said in a statement.

“Each person present shared their own painful personal experiences and offered the Pope suggestions on how to make the Church’s response to such tragic cases more effective,” it said.

“The Pope listened with affection and attention, assured them of his closeness — and that of the entire Church community — and pledged his commitment to ensuring that the suggestions received serve…

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Pope Leo XIV on Monday denounced the “scourge” of sexual violence by Catholic clergy and called for a “culture of care” in the Church ahead of an expected private meeting with victims in Spain.

“One of the most painful encounters is with those who have been wounded precisely by those who were supposed to care for them, including members of the clergy,” the first U.S.-born pope said, according to the Reuters news service.

“Faced with this scourge, the ecclesial community is called to respond with listening, truth, justice, reparation and an ever more determined commitment to prevention and a culture of care,” the pontiff told a gathering of Spanish bishops.

“Every wounded person must be able to find sincere listening, welcome, protection and real paths to healing,” he said.

Spanish media said the pope would speak later on Monday with victims at the Vatican embassy in Madrid, formally known as…

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Pope Leo XIV met with several survivors of sexual abuse in an hourlong meeting in which he listened to their experiences and their proposals on how the Catholic Church can promote safety and healing for victims, the Vatican said.  

According to a statement released by the Vatican press office June 8, six people who had been abused by members of the clergy, who were “accompanied by Church personnel engaged in working close with victims,” met with the pontiff.

“In the course of the conversation, which lasted nearly an hour, starting from their own painful personal experiences, each of those present offered the pope some proposals to make the Church’s response to such dramatic cases more effective,” the statement read. 

The Vatican said Pope Leo “listened with affection and attention” and renewed his commitment “so that the proposals received may serve as a foundation for further efforts and the Church can…

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Pope Leo closed his whirlwind stay in the capital city of Spain Monday by sending a message to the local Church to overcome division and work as a community to build a society based on justice and love.

“To build something new, beautiful and lasting, we must be willing to tear down walls. In order to set out on the path again, we need spaces that allow us to catch a glimpse of the horizon,” the pope said June 8, in a visit to Madrid’s cathedral.

After speaking to members of Spanish parliament, addressing the country’s bishops, and meeting with a small group of clerical abuse victims, the pontiff on Monday paid a visit to the capital city’s Cathedral of Almudena, consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993 after 90 years of construction.

RELATED: Pope pushes pro-life message in speech to Spanish lawmakers

RELATED: Pope meets abuse…

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Survivor advocates say recent canon law reforms do not go far enough and are calling for a universal requirement that clergy found guilty of child sexual abuse be permanently removed from ministry.

On Oct. 20, 2025, Pope Leo XIV met with representatives of End Child Abuse (ECA), a global advocacy group representing the victims of child sexual abuse. ECA put it to Pope Leo that he should make universal a provision of canon law promulgated in 2002 for the United States that the punishment for even a single case of child sexual abuse should be permanent deprivation of ministry.

The Pontifical Council for the Protection of Minors (PCPM), in its 2024 Universal Guidelines Framework, defined “zero tolerance” as the permanent deprivation of ministry and stated that it should be imposed. Those Guidelines are not canon law, and there is no obligation for bishops and canonical tribunals…

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Pope Leo XIV on Monday promised victims of sexual violence by Catholic clergy that the Church would make “additional efforts” to change during a meeting in Madrid.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics spent an hour with six victims of sexual violence by the clergy on day three of a state visit to Spain where the issue has come up regularly.

Each victim recounted “painful personal experience” and put forward proposals “for making the Church’s response to such tragic cases more effective”, the Vatican said in a statement.

Leo assured them of his “commitment to ensure” that their proposals “become a foundation for additional efforts, so that the Church may truly be a safe and spiritually healthy place”.

Earlier on Monday, Leo told a gathering of Spanish bishops that faced with this “scourge”, the Church should respond “with listening, truth, justice, reparation and an ever more determined commitment…

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On the afternoon of his third day in Spain, June 8, Pope Leo XIV met with six victims of clerical sexual abuse at the Vatican embassy in Madrid, the Vatican said in a statement. 

“During the conversation, which lasted nearly an hour, each person present shared their own painful personal experiences and offered the pope suggestions on how to make the Church’s response to such tragic cases more effective,” the statement said.

It said Pope Leo “listened with affection and attention, assured them of his closeness—and that of the entire Church community—and pledged his commitment to ensuring that the suggestions received serve as a foundation for further efforts, so that the Church may truly be a safe and spiritually healthy place where wounds find comfort and healing.”

It was a small but important gesture in this land where, according to the country’s ombudsman, there have been an estimated 200,000 cases…

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State lawmakers have officially sent legislation designed to deliver accountability for victims of childhood sexual abuse to Gov. Dan McKee’s desk.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee and Sen. Mark McKenney, extends the window in which victims of childhood sexual abuse can sue institutions, organizations and individuals for damages.RELATED: Senate advances amended clergy sex abuse legislation

“It’s been a long and difficult journey to get to this vote,” said Hagan McEntee, whose sister is a survivor of clergy sex abuse. “Too many victims have been denied justice for far too long, and powerful organizations that enabled and covered up this horrific abuse have escaped accountability and reckoning for decades.”

“It’s often said that justice delayed is justice denied,” she continued. “This was true for many years in Rhode Island for childhood victims of sexual assault, but today, these brave survivors were finally given the opportunity to secure…

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More than 11,000 Southern Baptist church representatives will gather in Orlando this week, where they will debate women pastors and send out missionaries.

Over the past decade, members of the Southern Baptist Convention have touted the denomination’s diversity, sought to keep sexual abusers away from churches and passed statements advocating for immigration reform and a path to legal status for those in the country without authorization.

Now, for a vocal group of Southern Baptists, diversity is seen as too woke for the Bible. The two candidates running for SBC president say the SBC does not have an abuse crisis, with one claiming the sexual abuse crisis was a “snipe hunt” that led Baptists astray. And the more than 11,000 local church delegates, known as messengers, gathering at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, this week will debate a resolution that claims compassion should not get in the way…

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