ABUSE TRACKER

A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.

April 16, 2020

SEX ABUSERS’ PARADISE

HONOLULU (HI)
Church Militant

April 15, 2020

By Rodney Pelletier

New allegations rock diocese of Honolulu

New homosexual clerical abuse claims are being leveled against the diocese of Honolulu, with accusations the Church knew about it and did nothing.

On Tuesday, attorney Mark Gallagher and noted clerical sex abuse law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates issued a press release regarding a new lawsuit filed against the diocese of Honolulu in reference to the sexual predation of Honolulu priest Bartholomew O’Leary and Bp. Joseph Ferrario — both now deceased.

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

Man sues Pittsburgh diocese, alleging sexual abuse by priests decades ago

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune-Review

April 16, 2020

By Natasha Lindstrom

A New Hampshire man is suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh based on allegations that three priests sexually assaulted him in the 1960s and early ’70s, court records show.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court further accuses the diocese and co-defendant Bishop David Zubik of “protecting child sexual abusers” by refusing to provide information that could help identify two of the three accused priests.

The diocese did not return a request for comment late Wednesday.

Now 62, the plaintiff claims he faced years of sexual assault at the hands of priests, starting when he was around 7 or 8 years old as a student at St. Colman’s Catholic School in Turtle Creek, the lawsuit states.

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

Cardinal Pell Ties His Prosecution in Australia to Vatican Financial Corruption

ROME (ITALY)
Breitbart

April 15, 2020

By Thomas D. Williams

Cardinal George Pell said it is widely believed by senior Vatican officials that his prosecution in Australia for historic sex abuse was linked to his fight against financial corruption in the Vatican.

In a nearly hourlong televised interview Tuesday in australia, SkyNews host Andrew Bolt asked the cardinal point blank whether he had ever considered “that the trouble you were causing to corrupt officials in the Vatican was related to the troubles that have since happened to you here?”

“Most of the senior people in Rome who are in any way sympathetic to financial reform believe that they are,” Pell responded, while adding that he does not personally have hard evidence of that.

In March 2019, Vatican journalist Marco Tossati wrote an article titled, “Cannons in Australia with Bullets Made in the Vatican,” saying this was a phrase he had often heard from Vatican insiders who were convinced that accusations against Pell in Australia were instigated by his enemies in Rome.

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

¿Qué reveló el allanamiento de la Fiscalía a la Arquidiócesis de Villavicencio?

[What did the search by the Prosecutor’s Office reveal of the Archdiocese of Villavicencio?]

VILLAVICENCIO (COLOMBIA)
Las2Orillas

April 15, 2020

By Ferney Yesyd Rodríguez Vargas

Por primera vez, la Fiscalía General tiene en su poder los archivos secretos del Arzobispado, una fuente escandalosa de verdades ocultas en la iglesia

En un hecho asombroso y sin precedentes, la Fiscalía General de la Nación inspeccionó de manera sorpresiva la sede de la Arquidiócesis de Villaviciencio en busca de información sobre sacerdotes pederastas.

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION: For the first time, the Attorney General’s Office has in its possession the archives of the archbishopric, a scandalous source of hidden truths in the church

In an amazing and unprecedented event, the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation surprisingly inspected the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Villaviciencio in search of information on pedophile priests.]

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

Sigue escándalo por denuncias de abuso sexual a menores por sacerdotes de Villavicencio

[Scandal continues over allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Villavicencio priests]

VILLACIENCIO (COLOMBIA)
El País

April 14, 2020

Un fiscal adelanta las investigaciones sobre el escándalo que llevó a la suspensión de 19 sacerdotes en Villavicencio.

Un fiscal seccional adelanta las investigaciones sobre el escándalo, conocido antes de la Semana Santa, que llevó a la suspensión de 19 sacerdotes en Villavicencio.

El origen de este escándalo empezó el pasado 14 de febrero, luego de que un hombre mayor de edad interpuso una denuncia en contra de los sacerdotes de la Arquidiócesis de Villavicencio y los acusó de hechos en contra de la moral sexual.

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION: A prosecutor is conducting investigations into the scandal that led to the suspension of 19 priests in Villavicencio.

A sectional prosecutor is carrying out investigations into the scandal, known before Easter, which led to the suspension of 19 priests in Villavicencio.

The origin of this scandal began on February 14, after an elderly man filed a complaint against the priests of the Archdiocese of Villavicencio and accused them of acts against sexual morality.]

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

How child advocates are fighting child abuse during COVID-19 pandemic

NASHVILLE (KY)
Fox 17 TV

April 15, 2020

by Kathleen Jacob

As more people spend time at home, child abuse cases are expected to rise. Plus, with kids being out of school, many of these cases are going unnoticed.

However, there are things people can be doing to protect these kids.

“If we think about the stress of raising young children in an average day and compound that with being isolated from your friends and family, having potential income loss, and not knowing when they’ll potentially have work again, it can compound very quickly.”

Kristen Davis with Prevent Child Abuse TN explains with those extra stressors, child advocates worry even more about kids, especially since they’re not seeing them in person.

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

George Pell won’t be reinstated as Vice Patron, says Richmond

MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA)
The Australian

April 16, 2020

By Remy Varga

The Richmond Football Club will not reinstate Cardinal George Pell in an ambassadorial role despite his conviction for child sex abuse being unanimously overturned by the High Court of Australia.

A spokeswoman confirmed the board’s decision on Thursday, which she said will not be revisited with no further comment to be made.

Cardinal Pell was stripped of the honorary role of club Vice Patron in February 2019 after the Cardinal was convicted of child sex abuse, for which he served 405 days in HM Prison Barwon.

That verdict was quashed by the High Court of Australia on April 7 this year.

Before Pell entered the priesthood, Richmond signed Pell as ruckman in 1959 and he played for the club’s reserves and the Tigers previously stood by Cardinal Pell when he was first charged with child sex offences in 2017.

At the time, CEO Brendan Gale was reported saying he understood the seriousness of the allegations but “in light of Cardinal Pell’s fundamental legal rights to the presumption of innocence and to a fair trial, he will remain a Vice Patron of the Club, pending the outcome of any trial.”

Cardinal Pell became the world’s most senior Catholic to be convicted of child sex abuse in 2018 and he served 13 months for abusing two choir boys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne before the verdict was overturned.

Abuse survivors and victims’ advocacy groups have despaired over the High Court’s decision, raising concerns it could discourage others from coming forward.

The Tigers have several other Vice Patrons, a largely symbolic role adding prestige and credibility to the club.

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

George Pell won’t be reinstated as Vice Patron, says Richmond

MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA)
The Australian

April 16, 2020

By Remy Varga

The Richmond Football Club will not reinstate Cardinal George Pell in an ambassadorial role despite his conviction for child sex abuse being unanimously overturned by the High Court of Australia.

A spokeswoman confirmed the board’s decision on Thursday, which she said will not be revisited with no further comment to be made.

Cardinal Pell was stripped of the honorary role of club Vice Patron in February 2019 after the Cardinal was convicted of child sex abuse, for which he served 405 days in HM Prison Barwon.

That verdict was quashed by the High Court of Australia on April 7 this year.

Before Pell entered the priesthood, Richmond signed Pell as ruckman in 1959 and he played for the club’s reserves and the Tigers previously stood by Cardinal Pell when he was first charged with child sex offences in 2017.

At the time, CEO Brendan Gale was reported saying he understood the seriousness of the allegations but “in light of Cardinal Pell’s fundamental legal rights to the presumption of innocence and to a fair trial, he will remain a Vice Patron of the Club, pending the outcome of any trial.”

Cardinal Pell became the world’s most senior Catholic to be convicted of child sex abuse in 2018 and he served 13 months for abusing two choir boys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne before the verdict was overturned.

Abuse survivors and victims’ advocacy groups have despaired over the High Court’s decision, raising concerns it could discourage others from coming forward.

The Tigers have several other Vice Patrons, a largely symbolic role adding prestige and credibility to the club.

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

Hundreds of claims against Rochester-area Catholic parishes blocked, but at what cost?

ROCHESTER (NY)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

April 16, 2020

By Steve Orr

The parishes that make up the diocese of Rochester, some of them already hobbled by declining attendance and flagging finances, are facing a new threat.

A wave of litigation.

The diocese’s parishes, as well as charitable affiliates like the CYO and Camp Stella Maris, are facing more than 400 legal claims that allege sexual abuse of young people by priests and nuns connected to those organizations.

Some parishes, like Saint Kateri Tekakwitha in Irondequoit and Holy Name in Elmira, have been named in more than two dozen claims. Catholic Charities and the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) have been named 15 times.

If the lawsuits went ahead, the cost of defending them might be enough to put many parishes and affiliates permanently underwater.

But for now, those lawsuits are on hold.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul Warren, convening court remotely as the coronavirus pandemic plays out, has ordered that all of those claims be temporarily frozen.

Warren is overseeing the diocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, which was filed in mid-September.

The bankruptcy filing was driven by the need to cope with a wave of lawsuits filed under New York’s Child Victims Act, which allowed victims of child sexual abuse to bring suit against their abuser, no matter how long ago the act occurred.

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

Hundreds of claims against Rochester-area Catholic parishes blocked, but at what cost?

ROCHESTER (NY)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

April 16, 2020

By Steve Orr

The parishes that make up the diocese of Rochester, some of them already hobbled by declining attendance and flagging finances, are facing a new threat.

A wave of litigation.

The diocese’s parishes, as well as charitable affiliates like the CYO and Camp Stella Maris, are facing more than 400 legal claims that allege sexual abuse of young people by priests and nuns connected to those organizations.

Some parishes, like Saint Kateri Tekakwitha in Irondequoit and Holy Name in Elmira, have been named in more than two dozen claims. Catholic Charities and the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) have been named 15 times.

If the lawsuits went ahead, the cost of defending them might be enough to put many parishes and affiliates permanently underwater.

But for now, those lawsuits are on hold.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul Warren, convening court remotely as the coronavirus pandemic plays out, has ordered that all of those claims be temporarily frozen.

Warren is overseeing the diocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, which was filed in mid-September.

The bankruptcy filing was driven by the need to cope with a wave of lawsuits filed under New York’s Child Victims Act, which allowed victims of child sexual abuse to bring suit against their abuser, no matter how long ago the act occurred.

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

Report: Sexual abuse of minors in dioceses ‘just the tip of iceberg’

JAPAN
The Asahi Shimbun

April 16, 2020

By Maki Okubo

A new internal report by a Catholic bishops organization found that 16 sexual abuse cases against minors since the 1950s in Japan have been reported from the dioceses.

Of these cases spanning seven decades, only four of the clergy have admitted to the abuse and five remain as priests.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan on April 7 released its investigative report on its website after surveying all 16 diocesan bishops in Japan.

A total of 16 cases were reported from the 1950s through the 2010s, it said. The report concluded that the result is “just the tip of the iceberg.”

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

Report: Sexual abuse of minors in dioceses ‘just the tip of iceberg’

JAPAN
The Asahi Shimbun

April 16, 2020

By Maki Okubo

A new internal report by a Catholic bishops organization found that 16 sexual abuse cases against minors since the 1950s in Japan have been reported from the dioceses.

Of these cases spanning seven decades, only four of the clergy have admitted to the abuse and five remain as priests.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan on April 7 released its investigative report on its website after surveying all 16 diocesan bishops in Japan.

A total of 16 cases were reported from the 1950s through the 2010s, it said. The report concluded that the result is “just the tip of the iceberg.”

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

April 15, 2020

Opinion: The tortured road of the falsely accused

AUSTRALIA
The Catholic Weekly

April 14, 2020

By Dr Wanda Skowronska

A vacant chair

At the final Annals lunch held on 29 November 2019 at the monastery of Sacred Heart in Kensington, Sydney , there was a vacant chair for Cardinal Pell.

Right next to this, was another vacant chair for the recently deceased Father Paul Stenhouse, who had ceaselessly called for moral and financial support for the Cardinal at every opportunity. It was not hard to imagine Fr Stenhouse doing the equivalent of an Irish jig way in heaven and, if living on earth, immediately writing up an article on the Cardinal’s vindication by the High Court for the next edition of Annals.

Yet we cannot forget the ordeal of the Cardinal in its true aspect of a Via Crucis which will become more deeply understood as time goes on.

A case that was beyond weak

It is not just that the Cardinal was falsely accused. As George Weigel put it so well, “the Crown prosecutors produced no evidence that the alleged crimes had ever been committed” while the evidence that was produced was inconsistent and flawed, beyond what could be reasonably expected with memory problems over time.

There were no witnesses to corroborate the charges and there were plenty of witnesses to swear he was with them at the very time he was supposed to have committed the alleged crime.

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

Opinion: The tortured road of the falsely accused

AUSTRALIA
The Catholic Weekly

April 14, 2020

By Dr Wanda Skowronska

A vacant chair

At the final Annals lunch held on 29 November 2019 at the monastery of Sacred Heart in Kensington, Sydney , there was a vacant chair for Cardinal Pell.

Right next to this, was another vacant chair for the recently deceased Father Paul Stenhouse, who had ceaselessly called for moral and financial support for the Cardinal at every opportunity. It was not hard to imagine Fr Stenhouse doing the equivalent of an Irish jig way in heaven and, if living on earth, immediately writing up an article on the Cardinal’s vindication by the High Court for the next edition of Annals.

Yet we cannot forget the ordeal of the Cardinal in its true aspect of a Via Crucis which will become more deeply understood as time goes on.

A case that was beyond weak

It is not just that the Cardinal was falsely accused. As George Weigel put it so well, “the Crown prosecutors produced no evidence that the alleged crimes had ever been committed” while the evidence that was produced was inconsistent and flawed, beyond what could be reasonably expected with memory problems over time.

There were no witnesses to corroborate the charges and there were plenty of witnesses to swear he was with them at the very time he was supposed to have committed the alleged crime.

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

[News Release] Fr. Bart O’Leary Named in New Hawaii Child Sexual Abuse Case, Bishop Ferrario’s Legacy of Abuse Continues

HONOLULU (HI)
Jeff Anderson & Associates, Inc. [Plaintiff law firm]

April 14, 2020

Catholic whistleblower Rev. Tom Doyle available for comment on latest accusation in Bishop Ferrario’s legacy of abuse & cover-up

Craig Christiansen v. the Roman Catholic Church in Hawaii, et al, 4.14.20

The Anderson Report: Clerical Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Honolulu

Today Hawaii attorney Mark Gallagher and attorneys from the law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates filed a complaint under Hawaii’s “window” law (closing April 24, 2020) against the Diocese of Honolulu on behalf of clergy sexual abuse survivor Craig Christiansen. Christiansen courageously allowed his name to appear on the lawsuit even though survivors may bring claims confidentially.

The lawsuit publicly identifies for the first time Father Bartholomew “Bart” O’Leary, a globally-celebrated figure in Catholic seminary administration, as a child sexual abuser. The case also names the notorious former Diocese of Honolulu Bishop and child abuser, Bishop Joseph Ferrario.

“The Vatican knew that Ferrario had a history of abuse,” said attorney Jeff Anderson who first sued Bp. Ferrario and the Diocese in 1991. “They knew the peril and they made a conscious and reckless choice to elevate him to Bishop.”

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

Pell’s guilty of many terrible crimes. That’s why right wingers defend him

AUSTRALIA
Redflag

April 14,2020

By Emma Norton

In the eyes of the law, cardinal George Pell is not guilty of the sexual abuse of two choir boys in Melbourne in the 1990s. Without significant new evidence, he never will be. But the cardinal is guilty of many other sins.

To those seeking justice for the systematic abuse perpetrated by the Catholic Church, he is a symbol of the complicity of the church’s highest officers. To Australia’s conservative culture warriors, he is a key ally who must be defended, no matter how much doing so contradicts their apparent obsession with traditional sexual morality and punitive law-and-order politics.

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

Two Men Sue Charlotte Diocese For Abuse By Priests Listed As Credibly Accused

CHARLOTTE (NC)
WFAE

April 14, 2020

By Sarah Delia

This week, two men filed lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. They claimed they were abused when they were minors by priests who worked within the Charlotte Diocese. Both priests were named on a list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse released late last year.

The Diocese of Charlotte issued a statement saying in part, “We disagree that the diocese is liable to the plaintiffs.”

Charlotte attorney Sam McGee hopes his two clients will have their day in court, something he says they never got. Both men previously filed lawsuits regarding the alleged abuse they say occurred when they were minors in the 1970s and ’80s. Both cases were dismissed based on the statute of limitations.

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

New PBS documentary goes behind the scenes of the Vatican

NEW YORK (NY)
Catholic News Service

April 28, 2020

By Joseph McAleer

PBS ‘Inside the Vatican’

A year in the life of what it calls “the Catholic world’s biggest theater of faith” is chronicled in the documentary “Inside the Vatican,” a BBC production premiering on PBS Tuesday, April 28, 9-11 p.m. EDT. Viewers should check local listings, though, since broadcast times may vary.

Over the course of 2018, filmmaker Silvia Sacco and her camera crew followed Pope Francis and many of the 2,600 employees who work inside the world’s smallest sovereign state. From security guards, cleaners and gardeners to diplomats, interpreters, choristers and priests and nuns as well, “Inside the Vatican” goes behind the scenes to witness the ebb and flow from Lent through Christmas.

At the main employee entrance, Pope Francis has placed an icon of the “Virgin of Silence” as a stern reminder that idle gossip should find no foothold inside the workplace. All labor stops at noon every day, so everyone can gather together to pray the Angelus.

The best moments feature those not wearing clerical garb. There are the Sediari, for instance, who once carried the sedia gestatoria, the now-disused portable papal throne, but who now welcome thousands of daily visitors and direct traffic with aplomb.

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

OUTSPOKEN PASTOR FIGHTS BACK

RICHMOND (VA)
ChurchMilitant

April 15, 2020

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

Virginia priest resists removal by McCarrick protégé

A priest who criticized Church leaders for mishandling the sex abuse crisis is resisting his bishop’s attempts to remove him as pastor.

Richmond, Virginia’s Bp. Barry Knestout, who rose to prominence as a personal secretary to serial homosexual predator Theodore McCarrick, is trying to remove Fr. Mark White as pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Rocky Mount and St. Joseph Parish in Martinsville. In his letter sent to both parishes on Monday, Knestout said White’s removal was effective immediately.

But White, whose crime was reactivating a blog that was critical of sex abuse cover-ups involving many prelates including Pope Francis, said on Monday he’s fighting back with canon law.

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

Opinion: We must not accept any more self-serving bluster from the Catholic hierarchy

AUSTRALIA
Liverpool City Champion

April 15, 2020

By Peter Gogarty

On the day the High Court of Australia quashed the conviction of Cardinal George Pell for child sex abuse offences, the Pope asked for prayers for those who suffer unjust sentences because “someone had it in for them” and compared them to Jesus who “was judged ferociously even though he was innocent”.

While not referring directly to Pell, the Pope’s comments were either ill-advised and oblivious to the deep distress they would cause to hundreds of thousands of child abuse survivors across the world, or they were deliberately chosen to be inflammatory and offensive to those same survivors. Of course, the Vatican later confirmed that the safety of children and justice for child abuse victims remained its priority.

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

Charlotte Diocese Faces 2 Suits Over Alleged Priest Abuse

CHARLOTTE (NC)
The Associated Press

April 15, 2020

Two lawsuits have been filed against the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte claiming two boys were sexually abused in separate instances by the two priests they sought out for help with personal problems decades ago.

One of the lawsuits filed Monday in Mecklenburg County Superior Court involves an unidentified Georgia man who was 14 in the 1970s when he sought help from a priest, Joseph Kelleher, to deal with a family move. The lawsuit says the diocese should have known Kelleher, who died in 2014, should have been thoroughly investigated before being allowed to spend time with children.

A second lawsuit was filed on behalf of a North Carolina man who alleges he was abused at age 14 by a different priest, Richard B. Farwell. That lawsuit said the diocese should have known Farwell should also have been investigated before being allowed near children.

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

In Pakistan, Muslim Clerics Habitually Rape Kids. Almost All Get Away With It.

PAKISTAN
Patheos

April 15, 2020

By Terry Firma

Since early 2013, when I began blogging about religion, I’ve written so many posts about child sexual assaults by clergy members that when a new case presents itself, I can’t think of a halfway original opening sentence. Some days, I see a new(s) account of a religious authority’s sex abuse, and guiltily neglect to write about it for this site. Why? Sometimes I’m just too numb, and sometimes too emotionally susceptible to dive in (this stuff will mess up your mood). Shamefully, I’m often just… uninspired by the case — and I hate that.

How fucked up is it that I can read about a priest forcing an altar boy to touch him, a rabbi rubbing up against a young girl from his congregation, an imam caught fondling a frightened child, and nix it as blog material because, number one, we’ve seen worse (oy!), and number two, for my own sanity, I just can’t write another story (and another, and another) on the topic?

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

Man Files Lawsuit Claiming He Was Sexually Abused As A Child By 3 Pittsburgh Catholic Priests

PITTSBURGH (PA)
KDKA

April 15, 2020

A man is suing the Catholic Pittsburgh Diocese, claiming he was abused by three priests as a child — two of them who he knew only as “father.”

A 62-year-old man who lives in New Hampshire filed the suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.

It alleges that the abuse began when he was 7 or 8 and was a student at St. Coleman’s Catholic School in Turtle Creek. He claims the abuse continued through the age of 15 as he was living at the New Castle Youth Development Center.

The only named priest in the suit is Father Edward Maliszewski, who was the assistant pastor of St. Coleman’s Church from 1955 to 1964. He died in 2006.

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

Resignations Just Don’t Cut It Anymore

AdamHorowitzLaw.com (law firm blog)

April 12, 2020

Albert Einstein is widely credited with saying, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.”

Sadly, the popes of the Catholic church seem incapable of learning this lesson.

Last month, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of French Cardinal Phillipe Barbarin who was convicted in early March of refusing to report child sex crimes by a serial predator priest (Fr. Bernard Preynat) to legal authorities.

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2020-03/pope-francis-accepts-resignation-cardinal-barbarin-france.html

And way back in 1997, Australian Bishop Robert Mulkearns submitted his resignation to Pope John Paul after being investigated by police for covering up the crimes of Fr. Gerald Ridsdale, who raped and sexually abused more than 50 kids.

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

I worked hard for survivors: Cardinal Pell

AUSTRALIA
AAP via Canberra Times

April 15, 2020

By Karen Sweeney

Cardinal George Pell has admitted he is ashamed of the Catholic Church’s response to child sexual abuse and says he occasionally wishes he had responded differently.

But a week after being freed from prison after the High Court quashed five abuse convictions, he says it grieves him when people accuse him of being anti-victim or not sufficiently sympathetic.

He said he had devoted a lot of time and energy to get justice, help and compensation for survivors of abuse within the church, including in establishing the Melbourne Archdiocese response in the 1990s and later working with Towards Healing in Sydney.

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

Andrew Bolt and the ABC: did the reporting on George Pell step over a line?

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

April 14, 2020

By Margaret Simons

The polarising case of Cardinal Pell raises questions about media responsibility, holding power to account, and the notion of ‘trial by media’

This week I rang the ABC investigative journalist Sarah Ferguson to ask what she thought of the attacks on Revelation, her television series about sex abuse in the Catholic church.

“Have there been some attacks?” she replied, deadpan.

There certainly have – particularly over the final episode, which detailed allegations against George Pell, which by happenstance screened just days before the high court unanimously found in his favour and threw out his conviction on sex abuse charges.

That final episode is not available now. Ferguson says it is being updated and should be restored to the ABC’s on-demand viewing platform, iView, later this week.

Will there be any changes caused by fear of defamation following Pell’s successful high court appeal?

“We went with material we had complete confidence in,” she said.

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

Stand Up, Speak Up

UNITED STATES
Stand Up, Speak Up (blog)

April 1, 2020

By Tim Lennon

Welcome!

I am starting this blog for several reasons. My work with survivors of rape and sexual abuse generates a fair amount of correspondence and research. Typically, I reply to each survivor on a case by case basis. Here, I want to share some of that information to those who might find it useful.

Also, I want to document the day to day, week to week challenges of the work being done. These challenges evoke responses and commentary that others might find interesting.

I want to have a broad spectrum of information easily accessible in one place. For instance, for those who have be harmed by sexual abuse I want to ensure that you can find resources to help you. See the section on Survivor Support. If you can’t find the help you need, contact me, I will make every effort to help.

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

Victims advocate on George Pell claims of one-sided justice system

AUSTRALIA
ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp.) Radio

April 15, 2020

[AUDIO] On RN Breakfast with Fran Kelly

Cardinal George Pell has given his first sit down interview since being released from prison.

It’s been a week since the High Court overturned his child sexual abuse convictions after finding the jury should have held a reasonable doubt as to his guilt.

News Corp papers have reported that Victoria Police are investigating Cardinal Pell over an alleged incident in the 1970’s — he has always vehemently denied all allegations of sexual abuse against him.

Cardinal Pell has warned of the dangers of a one-sided justice system that treats every accusation as “gospel truth”.

Featured: Judy Courtin, lawyer and advocate representing victims of institutional child abuse

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Lawsuits claim Charlotte diocese should have known priests were child sex predators

CHARLOTTE (NC)
Charlotte Observer

April 14, 2020

By Bruce Henderson

Two lawsuits accuse the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte of negligence in connection with child sexual abuse by two priests.

Two men have sued the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte for their childhood sexual abuse by priests that they claim the diocese knew or should have known were predators.

Both men, who filed their lawsuits without revealing their identities, had previously sued the diocese in 2011 and 2012. Those cases were dismissed in 2014 after the diocese argued that too much time had elapsed since the alleged incidents.

Last November, however, North Carolina legislators opened a two-year window for civil actions over child sexual abuse to be filed regardless of time limitations.

Most victims of child sexual abuse don’t come forward until much later in life, said Sam McGee, the Charlotte attorney representing the two plaintiffs.

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Child Sex Abuse Civil Lawsuits Filed Against Catholic Diocese of Charlotte

CHARLOTTE (NC)
WCCB-TV

April 14, 2020

By Marvin Beach

The Catholic Diocese of Charlotte is facing a pair of civil lawsuits over alleged child sex abuse. Two men argue the diocese didn’t do enough to protect them.

Previously, the statute of limitations in the cases had run out.

But the North Carolina General Assembly has opened up a two-year window for victims to file cases, acknowledging it often takes years for them to come forward.

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New lawsuits filed against Diocese of Charlotte with assault accusations

CHARLOTTE (NC)
WCNC-TV

April 14, 2020

By Nate Morabito

The men, referred to only as John Doe and John Doe 1K, filed the lawsuits in Mecklenburg County on Monday.

Two men who previously accused former Diocese of Charlotte priests of sexual abuse stemming from the 70s and 80s have filed new assault and battery and negligence lawsuits against the diocese.

The men, referred to only as John Doe and John Doe 1K, filed the lawsuits in Mecklenburg County on Monday.

One accuses former priest Joseph Kelleher, now deceased, of sex abuse when he was a teen. The other accuses former priest Richard Farwell of sex abuse when he was a teen.

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Two sex abuse cases filed against Charlotte Diocese

CHARLOTTE (NC)
Fox 46 TV

April 14, 2020

By Morgan Frances

Trouble continues to pour in on the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. They face two new lawsuits accusing two priests of sexual abuse.

“One of the reasons victims don’t come forward until later in life is just because it so hard,” said the accuser’s attorney, Sam McGee.

Because of action by lawmakers, childhood victims of sexual abuse have two years to file lawsuits, even if the statute of limitations has run out

“My clients, between the two of them, have faced multiple suicide attempts, psychiatric hospitalizations homelessness,” McGee told FOX 46. “You know, have really struggled to just have even a somewhat normal life.”

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No son 19, son 36 los sacerdotes involucrados en escándalo sexual

[There are not 19, there are 36 priests involved in sex scandal]

VILLAVICENCIO (COLOMBIA)
Caracol Radio

April 14, 2020

La Fiscalía ya tiene en su poder el archivo secreto de la Arquidiócesis.

[The Prosecutor’s Office already has in its possession the secret archives of the Archdiocese.]

El pasado 3 de abril, el Servicio Informativo de Caracol Radio publicó la noticia de la suspensión de 19 sacerdotes de la Arquidiócesis de Villavicencio, por una investigación sobre presuntos abusos sexuales. En el seguimiento a esta historia encontramos que no son 19 sino 36 los sacerdotes involucrados en esta historia que ha sacudido a la capital del Meta.

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION: On April 3, the Caracol Radio Information Service published the news of the suspension of 19 priests from the Archdiocese of Villavicencio, due to an investigation into alleged sexual abuse . In the follow-up to this story we find that there are not 19 but 36 priests involved in this story that has rocked the capital of Meta.]

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As NY Courts go virtual, alleged abuse victims still unable to file

UTICA (NY)
Observer-Dispatch

April 14, 2020

By H. Rose Schneider

The New York State Unified Court System announced Monday matters deemed nonessential or non-emergency can now be held virtually in court, as essential matters already had.

Nonessential matters were suspended in court nearly a month ago on March 15 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, only allowing matters such as arraignments and orders of protection to continue. Courts transitioned successfully to holding these matters virtually, according to state courts.

Starting Monday, judges can now hold “virtual chambers” and “virtual courts” to discuss nonessential matters using the program Skype for Business, said state Supreme Court Judge Bernadette Clark.

“Everything I need, I have on my computer,” she said.

The state courts have still banned new filings for nonessential cases, however.

Currently, judges are only working on pending cases, said Clark. She said 200 cases were scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in the state’s Fifth Judicial District alone.

Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara said the county’s assistant district attorneys are using Skype for Business on pending criminal cases. County judges began scheduling criminal cases Monday, but the matter has to be one a defendant does not have to be present for, he said.

***

Child Victims Act

The suspension of nonessential court matters reignited a push by some to pass a bill that would extend the one-year window established by the state’s Child Victims Act last year — in which civil actions alleging child sexual abuse could be filed even if the statute of limitations had expired.

This time period is set to end in August.

“It’s kind of slowed down the process for everything,” said attorney Richard Serbin of the law firm Janet, Janet & Suggs. He represents Warren Curtis, who filed a lawsuit in January alleging sexual abuse from clergy from three churches, including St. Matthew’s Temple Church of God in Christ in Utica.

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Father Mark White responds to removal: “I don’t intend to go anywhere”

MARTINSVILLE (VA)
Franklin News-Post

April 14, 2020

By Bill Wyatt

Father Mark White said he is staying in the pulpits in Martinsville and Rocky Mount.

On Monday night, after Bishop of the Diocese of Richmond Barry Knestout had notified him and his parishioners in an emailed letter that White had been removed as pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount, White said he would remain as priest and is seeking legal counsel to defend his right to do so.

White and Knestout have had a monthslong dispute about a popular blog White writes that sometimes includes strong criticism of how the Catholic church has handled cases about sex abuse by priests.

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April 14, 2020

Cardinal George Pell reportedly facing fresh criminal investigation

NSW (AUSTRALIA)
news.com.au

April 14,2020

Police have arrived at the NSW seminary where Cardinal George Pell is living amid reports he is facing fresh criminal investigations.

Four Officers from the Auburn Police Area Command arrived at the premises on Abbotsford Road in Homebush about 2.30pm for what was a prearranged meeting to “discuss security protocols”, a NSW Police spokesperson said.

The meeting followed a story in the Herald Sun this morning claiming Cardinal Pell is being secretly investigated by police over new claims against him.

The accuser is believed to be a male who works in a professional role who made claims about alleged child sex abuse that date back to the 1970s.

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For colleges, insurance against sexual misconduct is becoming harder to get

WASHINGTON (DC)
Education Dive

April 13, 2020

By Lorelei Laird

Even institutions that haven’t experienced massive scandals may find they are paying more for less coverage.

Michigan State University had general liability coverage from the same insurance company for nearly two decades. Then it was revealed that one of its sports doctors had sexually abused hundreds of women and that top administrators knew of and mishandled complaints about his behavior.

After more than $500 million in settlements and fines and a coverage dispute, Michigan State’s longtime insurer declined to include coverage for sexual misconduct related to the sports doctor and another official in the university’s general liability policy, The Wall Street Journal reported. The university ultimately created its own insurance company to get coverage.

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Religions Harm People

UNITED STATES
Verdict Justia

April 14, 2020

By Leslie C. Griffin

It doesn’t matter if you’re from the left or the right. You may not want to hear that religions do a lot of harm. But they do.

We should have learned this already from the terrible child abuse crisis, where clergy harmed children, and then the children’s abuse was hidden and denied by people running the churches. Despite this terrible history, the harm continues.

This harm is apparent in the recent decisions by some churches to hold services even after a state has said it is dangerous for anyone to meet in person. The states passed stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders to keep people safe. Nonetheless, some pastors argue that church is the place where people heal. Others insist that the meeting bans are an attack on religious freedom, and that such meetings are absolutely protected by the First Amendment. “[O]ne of the church congregants said she believed she would not contract coronavirus because she is ‘covered in Jesus’ blood,’ and that she is not concerned she could spread it to anyone else.” Another pastor said “God will shield us from all harm and sickness, . . . We are not afraid. We are called by God to stand against the Antichrist creeping into America’s borders. We will spread the Gospel.”

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The fight for justice for sexual abuse survivors must go on

AUSTRALIA
Al Jazeera

April 13, 2020

By Victor Sande-Aneiros

The overturning of Cardinal Pell’s conviction may feel like a set-back, but there could be a positive impact.

One of the most senior figures of the Catholic Church to be tried and convicted of child sexual abuse is now a free man.

On April 7, Australia’s highest court overturned Cardinal George Pell’s six-year prison sentence for the alleged sexual abuse of two choir boys in 1996 on the basis that the evidence presented in the case had not proven his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The High Court judges unanimously ruled that there was “a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted”.

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2 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse filed against Diocese of Charlotte

CHARLOTTE (NC)
WSOCTV.com News

April 14, 2020

Two people who say priests sexually abused them when they were children are now suing the Charlotte Catholic Diocese.

The civil lawsuits filed in Mecklenburg County claim the Catholic church concealed misconduct and sheltered abusers.

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Police investigating George Pell over fresh child sexual abuse allegation – report

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

April 13, 2020

By Melissa Davey

News Corp says acquitted cardinal faces new claims over alleged incident in the 1970s when he was a priest in Ballarat

Cardinal George Pell is being investigated by police over a new allegation of child sexual abuse, according to News Corp reports.

Pell was released from jail last Tuesday after the high court acquitted him on five historical child sexual abuse charges. Pell, 78, spent more than 400 days in jail after being convicted by a jury in December 2018. The high court acquitted Pell after finding the jury should have held a reasonable doubt as to his guilt.

Pell has given an exclusive interview to his longtime friend and supporter from Sky News, Andrew Bolt, which is due to air on Tuesday night.

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Australian cardinal links corruption to child abuse charges

CANBERRA (AUSTRALIA)
Associated Press

April 14, 2020

By Rod McGuirk

Cardinal George Pell is linking his fight against corruption in the Vatican with his prosecution in Australia for alleged child sex abuse

Cardinal George Pell has linked his fight against corruption in the Vatican with his prosecution in Australia for alleged child sex abuse.

Pell was regarded as the third highest-ranking Vatican official in 2018 when he became the world’s most senior Catholic to be convicted of child sex abuse. He served 13 months in prison before Australia’s High Court last week acquitted him of molesting two choirboys in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne while he was archbishop of Australia’s second-largest city in the 1990s.

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Catholic priest in Va. who criticized church’s handling of sex abuse scandal removed from post

RICHMOND (VA)
Martinsville Bulletin/Associated Press

April 14, 2020

A priest in Virginia has been removed from his post after maintaining a blog critical of the Catholic Church’s handling of the sexual abuse scandal.

News outlets report Rev. Mark White, whose blog reaches more than 1 million readers, was removed on Monday.

He served as the priest of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount.

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A Different Kind of Catholic Church Scandal at a Winchester Parish

BOSTON (MA)
Boston Magazine

April 14, 2020

By Mariya Manzhos

Fistfuls of missing money. An FBI investigation. And a culture of secrecy that tore a suburban parish to shreds: What really happened at St. Mary’s in Winchester?

St. Mary’s Director of Ministries Sal Caraviello was milling around at a lunch service when he got the panicked call. It was a chilly Thursday morning in February 2017, and Caraviello, a longtime fixture at the Winchester parish, had driven two and a half hours southwest to Branford, Connecticut, for a funeral earlier that day before following mourners to an Italian restaurant a few minutes down the road to eat. Charismatic with a youthful face despite being in his early fifties, Caraviello was busy consoling friends when he felt the buzz in his suit pocket. It was Father Richard Beaulieu, the administrator at his church. Not wanting to disrupt the meal, he walked out to the parking lot and took the call.

“Did you hear about the FBI showing up here?” asked Beaulieu, clearly shaken.

Caraviello felt like his heart had skipped a beat. “I haven’t heard a thing,” he said, trying to catch up.

Beaulieu told Caraviello what he knew. At about 10 a.m. that day, FBI agents and uniformed cops had knocked on the doors of four church members: Beaulieu; one of two church business managers, Steven Ultrino, who is also a state representative; the parish money counter, Joseph LoPiccolo (who was Ultrino’s cousin); and the church’s partially retired pastor, Father Dick Messina, who lived in Maine. The authorities hadn’t told the interviewees much, but it was clear that the rectory, where the offering money was counted after church services, was the focus. It didn’t take Hercule Poirot to realize they were likely investigating a theft from the collection plate—and presumably a serious one, given the FBI’s presence.

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George Pell faces fresh child abuse allegations from new accuser just days after cardinal’s convictions were quashed by the High Court and he said he ‘wouldn’t be entirely surprised’ if police came after him again

SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
The Daily Mail

April 13, 2020

By Charlie Coe and Zoe Zaczek

– George Pell reportedly under investigation over allegations by new accuser
– He was released from prison just last week after child sex convictions quashed
– New accusations – which police have not contacted Pell about – date to 1970s
– Man who now works in a professional role understood to have made accusation

Cardinal George Pell is reportedly under police investigation after a new accuser came forward with fresh allegations of child abuse.

A week on from his successful High Court appeal against child sex convictions, reports said Victoria Police had been investigating a separate accusation against Pell, 78.

Police are yet to approach Pell or his legal team over the fresh allegation – which is understood to date back to the 1970s, according to the Herald Sun.

A man who now works in a professional role reportedly made the accusation.

A spokeswoman for the cardinal said on Monday night: ‘In any police matter there should be due process through the proper channels.’

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest the new allegations are true – only that police are reportedly investigating.

Cardinal Pell was not told of the fresh investigation until Monday, the paper reported.

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[Video] Full Cardinal George Pell interview with Andrew Bolt

SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
Sky News TV via YouTube

April 14, 2020

Cardinal George Pell has revealed he is ashamed of the Catholic Church for the way it dealt with the “cancer” of child sex abuse in the past.

In an exclusive world-first televised interview with Sky News Australia presenter Andrew Bolt, Cardinal Pell talks candidly about the scourge of child abuse within his own church and how the many failures to act still haunt him today.

“It was like a cancer … we had to cut it out,” he said.

“I totally condemn these sorts of activities, and the damage that it’s done to people.

“One of the things that aggrieves me is the suggestion that I’m anti-victim, or not sufficiently sympathetic. I devoted a lot of time and energy to try to save them, to get justice, to get help and to get compensation.”

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Sky News interview: George Pell ‘wouldn’t be entirely surprised if police keep trawling for victims’

SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
The Australian

April 14, 2020

By Tessa Akerman and Steve Jackson

Cardinal George Pell has said he “wouldn’t be entirely surprised” if Victoria Police continued to trawl for alleged victims of sexual abuse as reports emerge of an investigation into a fresh allegation dating back to the 1970s.

Cardinal Pell, in a Sky News interview on Tuesday night with Andrew Bolt, said Victoria Police had “advertised” for cases of abuse during their initial investigation and it was “a bit ironic” that he had been made a scapegoat for sexual abuse by clergy when he introduced Melbourne Response in 1996 to provide redress.

“I don’t think the Church has ever got enough credit for the fact that we broke the back of this problem,” he said.

Cardinal George Pell says throughout the case against him on child sexual abuse charges, it was evident “too may people (would) go from possible, to probable, to a fact” when …

“The offending stopped, not completely but almost completely, from the middle 90s.”

The 78-year-old was released from jail last Tuesday after being acquitted in the high court on five charges of historical child sexual abuse.

He spent more than 400 days in prison after being found guilty in December 2018, before the high court overturned the verdict.

“I’m a believing Christian and I have stated my views quite clearly on many cases in many cases,” he said.

He said the ABC was partly funded by Catholic taxpayers and he believed people had the right to free speech on views that differed from his.

“But in a national broadcaster, to have an overwhelming presentation of one view, only one view, I think that’s a betrayal of national interest,” he said.

Despite the evidence of one man being responsible for Cardinal Pell’s imprisonment, Cardinal Pell said he never felt anger towards the complainant, instead “a bit sorry for him”.

Cardinal Pell said he didn’t know the man’s motivation but said it was possible the complainant had mixed up an actual incident of abuse.

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[Opinion] Pell’s acquittal ignites media and publishing firestorm

AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

April 11, 2020

By Andrew Hornery

All eyes will be on Cardinal George Pell’s first exclusive interview fresh from Barwon prison with his most ardent of supporters, conservative commentator Andrew Bolt.

The holy man’s sensational acquittal this week has had many implications across the Australian media and publishing worlds which have followed the Cardinal’s extraordinary story over the past few years, but from a less favourable perspective than Bolt, whose interview will air next Tuesday.

Pell has consistently maintained his innocence and until Tuesday morning had been serving a six-year jail sentence after he was convicted in 2018 of abusing two choir boys in the 1990s while he was the archbishop of Melbourne.

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Pell’s jail diaries detail ‘petty humiliations’, job as roof gardener

AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

April 14, 2020

Cardinal George Pell has released excerpts from his prison diary, which discuss aspects of his life in jail including the attitudes of corrections staff, humiliations he endured and his brief job as a gardener.

The diaries, parts of which were published in The Australian newspaper on Tuesday, detail Cardinal Pell’s thoughts and activities during more than 400 days in prison.

The cardinal was last week acquitted of child sex offences and released from Barwon Prison near Geelong.

He wrote that prison staff were “courteous and decent” during his time at the Melbourne Assessment Prison in West Melbourne and at Barwon, but that he had to sometimes endure “petty humiliations” such as wearing handcuffs and being strip-searched.

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[Opinion] A tale of two Pope Francises

National Catholic Reporter

April 14, 2020

By Jamie Manson

For those of us seeking hope in our world and in our church, last week was the best of times, and it was the worst of times. It was a tale of two Pope Francises.

One Francis was the pope of the pandemic, inspiring hope in word and action. Whether his offerings were small and delightful, like his Skype chats, or grand and powerful, like his standing alone on a stage in a torch-lit, St. Peter’s Square leading the Way of the Cross on Good Friday, his presence touched and comforted millions.

Francis was similarly moving in an interview in Commonweal magazine last week, describing how he is praying more than usual and reflecting on the ways he can be closer to the people of God. He shared his hope that we will embrace the pandemic as a moment of metanoia that will help us “see the poor” and “contemplate the natural world,” moving ahead into a global economy that is more human

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[News Release] UPDATE: Diocesan Review Board Concludes Investigation of Rev. Msgr. Raymond A. Barton, Retired

RICHMOND (VA)
Diocese of Richmond

April 13, 2020

Retired Priest Name Not Added to Diocesan List of Clergy with a Credible and Substantiated Allegation of Child Sexual Abuse

Following a lengthy investigation by the Diocesan Review Board, Bishop Barry C. Knestout of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond has determined that Msgr. Raymond A. Barton, a retired priest of the diocese, will not have his name added to the diocesan list of clergy with a credible and substantiated allegation of child sexual abuse.

On Feb. 14, 2020, the Catholic Diocese of Richmond announced it had received a report of allegations of child sexual abuse against the retired priest. The information was brought to the diocese by a representative of a deceased victim. When notified of the allegations, the diocese reported the information to law enforcement authorities. (Read initial statement.)

In accordance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the diocese conducted an internal investigation of the allegations involving Msgr. Barton. The information gathered was presented to the Diocesan Review Board which reported its findings and recommendation to Bishop Knestout. The bishop concluded that while the allegation was credible, it could not be substantiated.

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[News Release] New Appointment for Pastor of St. Joseph in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount

RICHMOND (VA)
Diocese of Richmond

April 13, 2020

The Most Reverend Barry C. Knestout, Bishop of Richmond, has announced the following clergy appointment:

Reverend Mark White, from pastor of St. Joseph in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount to chaplain to the various prisons, state and federal, within the diocesan bounds. The appointment is effective April 13, 2020.

A new pastor will be named to both parishes in the foreseeable future. During this time of transition, Father Kevin Segerblom, Episcopal Vicar for the Western Vicariate, will oversee the pastoral care and administrative duties of the two parishes.

Previously, Bishop Knestout addressed the faithful of the Martinsville and Rocky Mount parishes in a letter dated March 19, 2020, regarding the concerns and circumstances surrounding Fr. Mark White. The letter was published and can be read here: https://bit.ly/2Rqcen3

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Bishop makes good on threat to remove Father Mark White as priest in Martinsville, Rocky Mount

RICHMOND (VA)
Martinsville

April 13, 2020

By Bill Wyatt

Father Mark White has been removed as pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount, one day after Easter Sunday.

In a letter dated Monday to the parishioners of both churches, Bishop of Richmond Barry Knestout said the matter was done and named a temporary replacement.

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Priest with blog critical of church’s abuse handling removed

RICHMOND (VA)
Associated Press

April 14, 2020

A priest in Virginia was removed from his post after maintaining a blog critical of the Catholic Church’s handling of the sexual abuse scandal.

Rev. Mark White, whose blog reaches more than 1 million readers, was removed on Monday, news outlets reported. He served as the priest of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount.

White has since been reassigned as chaplain to different state and federal prisons within the dioceses, the Catholic Diocese of Richmond said in a news release Monday.

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April 13, 2020

Abusos bajo sotana

GUADALAJARA (MEXICO)
Semanario Zeta [Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico]

April 13, 2020

By Investigaciones ZETA

Read original article

UTORIDADES ECLESIÁSTICAS RECONOCEN EL AUMENTO DEL FENÓMENO DE ABUSOS SEXUALES DE SACERDOTES A MENORES DE EDAD. POR LO MENOS 426 PASTORES CATÓLICOS ESTÁN BAJO SOSPECHA DE LA CONFERENCIA EPISCOPAL MEXICANA DE PARTICIPAR EN CASOS DE PEDERASTIA Y DELITOS CONTRA LA LIBERTAD E INTEGRIDAD SEXUAL DE NIÑAS, NIÑOS Y ADOLESCENTES. POCOS CASOS ANTE AUTORIDADES MINISTERIALES. EN FISCALÍAS, 156 AVERIGUACIONES PREVIAS Y CARPETAS DE INVESTIGACIÓN EN CONTRA DE MINISTROS DE CULTO. CURAS PRÓFUGOS CUENTAN CON ORDEN DE APREHENSIÓN, OTROS ESTÁN EN PRISIÓN PREVENTIVA. DE LOS POCOS SENTENCIADOS, ENFRENTAN PENAS DESDE 16 AÑOS SEIS MESES DE PRISIÓN, HASTA 90 AÑOS SIETE MESES DE CÁRCEL

Eugenio, nombrado así para esta nota, tenía solo 8 años de edad cuando fue víctima de un ataque sexual. Hoy tiene 32 años y, aunque se resiste a hablar de lo que le sucedió, desea que no le ocurra a nadie más.

Fue violado por el sacerdote de su parroquia al Oriente de Guadalajara. Tres de sus amigos también fueron abusados en su integridad e intimidad.

Se trata de uno de los pocos asuntos de pederastia clerical que han encontrado castigo penal. Pero solo un castigo parcial, porque aunque el sacerdote fue condenado, al tiempo un amparo directo le facilitó la salida del penal del afamado Puente Grande. La sentencia dictada en primera instancia fue elevada en apelación, pero de nada sirvió.

La víctima recuerda cómo sus padres se mostraban contentos de que sus niños fueran a recibir las clases de piano del padre Heladio. Iniciaba el segundo semestre de 1996. Los amigos de Eugenio -Lalito, Ambrosio y Martín, de 8, 9 y 10 años, respectivamente- se acompañaban para salir de sus casas e ir al templo de la Transfiguración del Señor.

Durante la instrucción de piano, el sacerdote iba subiendo en sus piernas a los infantes, a quienes les decía cómo maniobrar el largo teclado del piano. Después de una breve sesión les compartía dulces y golosinas, al tiempo que los abrazaba y manoseaba. Un día decidió mostrarles su habitación en una casa contigua al templo. Y a partir de entonces les llevaba allí con frecuencia, a jugar con él sobre los muebles.

En una de las ocasiones, el cura pidió a los niños le esperaran en la sala mientras iba con Eugenio por los dulces. Ese día cambió no solo la vida del menor, sino la de toda su familia. El párroco lo violó. Los niños regresaron a sus casas, y el pequeño Eugenio, lloroso, fue

Reformas legales en México

 Mucho se argumentó en los diversos congresos de los estados, así como en las cámaras de Diputados y de Senadores, la necesidad de incrementar penas y establecer mecanismos para prevenir y frenar los casos de pederastia no solo clerical, también por parte de ciudadanos. Entre las propuestas más aceleradas figuró en -noviembre de 2019- la del diputado local de Guerrero, Marco Cabada Arias, quien presentó una iniciativa para aplicar la castración química para abusadores sexuales.

Por su parte, en el Congreso de la Unión, en vísperas a Navidad, el diputado federal del Partido del Trabajo, Benjamín Robles Montoya, urgió a aplicar la Ley sin distingos contra sacerdotes pederastas y quienes fueron sus cómplices, poniendo como ejemplo el informe en el que los Legionarios de Cristo reconocieron los abusos de 175 menores por 33 sacerdotes en 78 años.

En enero de 2020, el coordinador de la bancada de Movimiento Regeneración Nacional en el Senado de la República, Ricardo Monreal, anunció que presentaría una iniciativa para incrementar al doble las penas a sacerdotes que cometan lenocinio y corrupción contra menores. Propuso reformar el Código Penal Federal ante el incremento de impunidad por delitos sexuales perpetrados por ministros de culto.

Sin embargo, los diputados federales ya tenían su propio anteproyecto y, el 6 de febrero siguiente, el pleno de la Cámara, en el Palacio de San Lázaro, aprobó reformas para hacer imprescriptible el delito de pederastia. La pena aplicable ahora va de nueve años de cárcel la mínima, hasta los 18 años de prisión la máxima, complementada por una multa de 750 a 2 mil 250 días a los autores de ese ilícito.

De igual forma, se determinó también incorporar a la legislación penal que los pederastas sean sujetos a tratamiento médico integral el tiempo que se requiera. Ahora la pelota está en el Senado para su aprobación.

interrogado por su madre, a quien le contó lo sucedido. La mujer se comunicó con las mamás de los otros niños, y a pregunta-respuesta, aceptaron que también fueron tocados por aquel hombre.

El 6 de julio fue, dice Eugenio, “no comprendía bien lo que me había pasado, cuando llegó la Policía y se llevó al padre”. Años tardó el entonces menor en darse cuenta del abuso del que fue objeto. Alarmados por la detención del sacerdote, los vecinos salieron a increpar a los denunciantes, alegando inocencia del que entonces consideraban un “pastor bueno”.

Debido a la agresividad de fieles devotos que durante días hostigaron a los ofendidos para que se retractaran, la familia de Eugenio se tuvo que mudar de casa. Nunca supo qué pasó con aquellos amigos. Sus papás cortaron cualquier nexo con el barrio. Años más tarde, la víctima investigó que al Padre Heladio le condenó el Juzgado Undécimo de lo Criminal a nueve años dos meses de prisión por los delitos de violación en su agravio, y por corrupción de menores en perjuicio de sus amiguitos.

El sacerdote no la pasó muy bien en un principio ante la amenaza de ser atacado sexualmente en el reclusorio, por lo que le tuvieron que segregar en un sitio de mínima seguridad por un tiempo, atado de pies y manos en el suelo. En segunda instancia le elevaron la pena, pero su panorama mejoró en 1999, cuando obtuvo un amparo directo que le devolvió la libertad. La Arquidiócesis de Guadalajara le acogió a su egreso, a los 68 años de edad, restableciendo su ministerio en una parroquia de Tlaquepaque. Hoy debe estar retirado, si aún vive.

LOS OTROS EUGENIOS

El fenómeno de la pederastia clerical es internacional y ocurre en diferentes religiones, como ahora se conoce de señalamientos en contra de ministros de culto de la Iglesia La Luz del Mundo. En México, sin embargo, hay muchos “Eugenios” y otros tantos “Heladios”.

En el caso de la Iglesia Católica, que con el Papa Francisco comenzó a reconocer la existencia de miles de abusos sexuales en el planeta, se ha ofrecido perdón públicamente, se establecieron algunas medidas y parece escucharse a las víctimas, pero sigue pendiente la transparencia y sobre todo las denuncias.

El asunto más emblemático a nivel mundial, que puso a México en el ojo del huracán, es el del fallecido sacerdote Marcial Maciel, fundador de la congregación católica Legionarios de Cristo. A Maciel y 33 de sus más allegados se les responsabiliza del abuso de más de 175 menores de edad en diversos colegios que tenían bajo su administración, pero tan solo a Marcel se le señala en 60 de los casos, según reconocieron los Legionarios al cumplir 78 años de existencia a finales de 2019.

Sin probar encubrimiento del Cardenal Rivera

A mediados de 2017, los ex sacerdotes José Barba y Alberto Athié denunciaron al ex Cardenal Primado de México, Norberto Rivera Carrera, de encubrir a por lo menos quince sacerdotes que supuestamente cometieron abusos sexuales en el país. El señalamiento se formuló ante la entonces Procuraduría General de la República, pues ya antes se habían presentado quejas ante autoridades eclesiásticas sin que los querellantes obtuvieran resultados.

En su denuncia los acusadores manifestaron que, en diciembre de 2016, Rivera reconoció públicamente haber enviado al Vaticano los expedientes de los quince sacerdotes que presuntamente participaron en actos de pederastia en México, pero, aunque los casos fueron procesados canónicamente, el prelado no informó de la noticia criminal ante autoridades ministeriales de este país.

Ante tal acusación, la Arquidiócesis de México notificó a reporteros el domingo 4 de junio de ese año, que el Cardenal Rivera respondería a la denuncia. Por esos días, el jerarca católico, que ya antes había sido llevado a instancias judiciales, cumplía 75 años y renunciaría a su ministerio ante el Papa Francisco por motivos de edad. Rivera salió a la luz pública a través del Semanario Desde la Feel 16 de julio siguiente, asegurando que sus denunciantes solo buscaban venganza y dañar su imagen. Del tema de los sacerdotes señalados de pederastia dijo que, luego de un juicio, el Papa los expulsó.

Al comparecer ante la ex PGR en agosto de 2017, el purpurado declaró ministerialmente que no incurrió en conductas de encubrimiento de sacerdotes por actos de pederastia. Dijo que desde 2010 se enteró de la existencia de seis casos de párrocos acusados de abuso sexual a menores y pidió a los vicarios presentar las denuncias correspondientes ante las autoridades.

Para febrero de 2018, el sucesor de Rivera Carrera, el Arzobispo Primado de México, Carlos Aguiar Retes, expresó que las quince denuncias por abuso sexual de clérigos, interpuestas durante el tiempo de Norberto Rivera, fueron resueltas y pasaron a ser casos cerrados. También lanzó la promesa de que las denuncias presentadas a partir de esa fecha serían puntualmente investigadas.

Inconformes con el silencio de la PGR y el anuncio del Arzobispado capitalino, tanto Athié como Barba presentaron una demanda de amparo ante autoridades judiciales, pero el recurso fue declarado improcedente. En diciembre de 2018, activistas anunciaron que llevarían el caso de Norberto Rivera ante la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, pero a la fecha, nada relevante sucedió.

A partir de la apertura papal, la Conferencia Episcopal Mexicana (CEM) ha ofrecido cifras de los casos en los que los clérigos se han visto involucrados en conductas indignas y en comportamientos considerados delitos en contra de la libertad e integridad sexual de niñas y niños. En febrero de 2019 admitió que 152 sacerdotes católicos fueron separados de sus funciones por esa razón, pero se negó a revelar sus nombres y adscripciones “para no violentar sus derechos humanos”.

Aunque en esa fecha el CEM aseguró no conocer cuántos niños fueron abusados sexualmente por sus sacerdotes, para el mes de mayo siguiente, informó que existían 105 casos de abusos a menores registrados en 63 diócesis, pero que en 97 asuntos estaban relacionados los párrocos y el resto eran personas laicas relacionadas con la Iglesia.

Para enero de 2020, la propia Conferencia aventó nuevos números relacionados con los últimos diez años. El reporte señaló que sumaban 426 sacerdotes católicos investigados por abuso sexual contra menores y otras faltas que no fueron detalladas. Se informó que había 271 casos de agravios sexuales contra menores de edad, más otros 155 procesos canónicos por diversas faltas. De los investigados, a 253 les habían concluido procesos internos y 173 seguían su curso. También se aportó el dato: a 103 curas les dimitieron del estado clerical y 119 son procesados por autoridades civiles.

En efecto hay sacerdotes en la cárcel y otros prófugos, producto de denuncias penales en diferentes latitudes del país. Una investigación realizada por El Universal -en febrero reciente- establece que hay 156 averiguaciones previas y carpetas de investigación en contra de ministros de culto, catequistas y músicos de las iglesias por delitos sexuales como violación, pederastia, atentados al pudor y también corrupción de menores.

También destaca la investigación periodística que solo ocho estados de la República Mexicana tienen el tipo penal de pederastia en su legislación, al igual que se contempla en el Código Penal Federal. Las entidades que cuentan con la tipificación especial a nivel local son Baja California, Colima, Chiapas, Durango, Guerrero, Veracruz, Tabasco y Sonora. Los demás estados solo consideran los abusos sexuales en contra de menores de edad como agravante de conductas como violación, entre otras.

En su última entrevista sobre los avances en el combate a la pederastia clerical, el secretario general de la CEM, Alfonso Miranda, afirmó que en México se ha trabajado “muy fuerte” para contar con protocolos de seguridad que garanticen justicia en caso que se presenten denuncias por algún tipo de abuso contra menores de edad.

LOS CURAS EN FUGA

De los 103 sacerdotes y miembros de la Iglesia supuestamente separados de sus ministerios, algunos se encuentran prófugos de la justicia tras

haber sido denunciados ante el Ministerio Público. Unos desaparecieron mientras se integraba la averiguación previa o carpeta de investigación. Otros se enteraron que ya existía orden de aprehensión en su contra. Algunos más simplemente se encuentran fuera del país, acogidos por casas religiosas.

Así ocurre con el sacerdote Fernando Martínez Suárez, señalado miembro de Legionarios de Cristo que el 13 de enero fue separado del Estado clerical, según comunicado de la propia congregación. Es acusado de abusos sexuales cometidos contra niñas desde 1969 en colegios de Ciudad de México y Cancún, entre otros. Las víctimas denunciaron 50 años después; es decir, apenas el año pasado, aunque cuentan con evidencias que datan de la época de los ataques. Martínez se encuentra en Roma.

Otro “pez gordo” al que vinculan con violación y otros delitos sexuales contra por lo menos 19 menores, es al sacerdote y abogado Eduardo Córdova Bautista, quien hasta antes de que fuese declarado prófugo, en julio de 2014, era representante legal de la Arquidiócesis de San Luis Potosí. Desde entonces existe orden de captura en su contra por delitos de privación ilegal de la libertad, abuso sexual calificado y corrupción de menores. En junio de 2017, la entonces Procuraduría General de la República solicitó a la Interpol, la emisión de una ficha roja para localizar y detener a Córdova en cualquiera de los 190 países miembros de la organización.

También es buscado, sin éxito desde 2006, el cura católico Nicolás Aguilar, que frisa la edad de 80 años en la actualidad. El señalamiento fue por parte de niños que en 1986 aseguraron ser víctimas del entonces párroco de un templo de Tehuacán, Puebla, situación que motivó su traslado en 1987 a una parroquia de Los Ángeles, donde también se le achacó el abuso de 26 menores. Un año después regresó a México y se le reintegró a otro templo donde un monaguillo le señaló de violación.

Fuera del país hay señalamientos contra presbíteros y misioneros mexicanos, como es el caso del jalisciense Juan Huerta Ibarra, que hoy debe tener 66 años. En Mérida, Venezuela, fue denunciado en 2001 de abuso sexual cuando era encargado de la Casa de Formación Reina de los Apóstoles por un ex seminarista local. Leonardo “N”, que hoy tiene 32 años, ha rastreado la pista del clérigo por internet y sabe que ha estado en Estados Unidos, Cuba y Ciudad de México, al amparo de la congregación religiosa Sociedad de San Pablo.

Otros canónigos denunciados son  Manuel Ramírez García, por tocamientos en 2012 en contra de 13 niños del quinto grado de primaria en el Colegio de Guadalupe, de San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León. Carlos Franco Pérez, ex rector de la Catedral de Oaxaca, por violación equiparada de una catequista. Noé Trujillo y Francisco Javier Castillo, párrocos que presuntamente abusaron sexualmente de menores de edad.

Fuera de la CEM, son pocos los titulares de los arzobispados del país que hablan sobre el tema y evitan a los reporteros con los cuestionamientos. Sin embargo, el Cardenal de Guadalajara, Francisco Robles, ha reconocido sin tapujos que en Jalisco existen tres denuncias en contra de igual número de sacerdotes por agresión sexual infantil, denunciados por la propia Iglesia Católica. Por su parte, el Arzobispo de Morelia, Carlos Garfias Merlos, admite tres casos de pederastia de presbíteros contra niñas en la Capital michoacana. La Arquidiócesis Primada de México acepta diez asuntos de esta naturaleza y que solo un sacerdote está preso.

EN PRISIÓN PREVENTIVA

De los 119 sacerdotes que asegura la CEM son procesados por autoridades civiles, pocos son identificables, pues tal vez esa organización se refiera a que están en etapas de averiguación previa y pocos en la cárcel sometidos a causas penales. Sin embargo, las procuradurías estatales han informado los casos en que se ha cumplimentado algún mandamiento judicial contra clérigos.

Tal fue la captura en agosto de 2017 del sacerdote Juan Manuel Riojas, ex rector del Seminario de Piedras Negras, Coahuila. Agentes de la Policía Ministerial le echaron el guante al ejecutar la orden de aprehensión dictada por un juez penal por su probable responsabilidad en la comisión del delito de violación en agravio de un ex seminarista.

Medidas eclesiásticas adoptadas contra la pederastia

Aunque no se advierten acciones sólidas que prevengan la comisión de actos de pederastia por parte de sacerdotes, autoridades clericales han expresado buena voluntad para acotar este flagelo. Lejos quedan aquellas declaraciones en las que la Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano (CEM) calificó a los menores abusados por religiosos como “mártires de nuestra época”.

Tras los pronunciamientos del Papa Francisco en contra de la abominable conducta de algunos pastores de la Iglesia Católica, cambiaron los discursos de la CEM y de algunas representaciones arzobispales en México, al empezarse a afirmar desde 2017 que habrá “tolerancia cero” a los abusos sexuales de canónigos.

En marzo de 2018 se anunciaron reformas a los programas de formación en los seminarios del país, con la finalidad de evitar casos de pederastia. Ahí el Arzobispo Primado de Ciudad de México, Carlos Aguiar Retes, manifestó que muchos de los jóvenes aspirantes al sacerdocio provienen de familias que “no son ejemplares” y planteó la revisión administrativa integral a todas las vicarías.

Cuatro meses más tarde, en el marco de la Jornada de Oración por las Víctimas de Abuso Sexual en la Iglesia de México, Aguilar Retes condenó los ataques sexuales perpetrados por los curas, al considerar que las estructuras eclesiales del pasado estuvieron marcadas por la complicidad, el silencio y por obstaculizar la justicia. En ese evento, el religioso pidió perdón al pueblo mexicano por los casos que manchan a la Iglesia y oró para que no haya impunidad por ese delito.

A finales de noviembre de 2018, la CEM anunció el blindaje de las 93 diócesis del país contra la pederastia clerical, con la implementación de la referida estrategia de “tolerancia cero”. Se mencionó la creación del Equipo Nacional de Protección de Menores del Episcopado, con el diseño de medidas para la actuación y prevención de casos de abuso sexual cometidos por sacerdotes.

En febrero de 2019, la Conferencia empezó a reunirse con autoridades ministeriales federales para llegar hasta las últimas consecuencias en el caso de 150 sacerdotes denunciados por este tipo de delitos, además de colaborar con la información que las fiscalías requieran. Para esos días, el Papa Francisco llamó a la Iglesia Católica a no solo condenar los casos de pederastia clerical, sino a establecer medidas concretas para erradicar este escándalo.

Como medida relevante, la CEM informó que los aspirantes al sacerdocio deberán someterse a pruebas psicométricas para acreditar que no padecen de alguna “psicología riesgosa” (sic) que pudiera afectar a los niños. En voz de su presidente, Rogelio Cabrera López, se estableció que para ingresar al seminario será requisito insalvable que los jóvenes acrediten una serie de exámenes psicológicos para detectar o evitar a tiempo la posibilidad de abusos sexuales.

En marzo de ese año, la Arquidiócesis Primada de México anunció la creación de un grupo interdisciplinario que dará seguimiento e investigará casos de abusos a menores por parte de sacerdotes y brindará apoyo a víctimas en materia legal, psicológica y espiritual. El equipo, se dijo, sería encabezado por Andrés García Jasso, presidente del Tribunal Eclesiástico de la asociación religiosa.

A nivel internacional, a finales de ese mes, el Papa Francisco publicó tres documentos para prevenir, combatir y procesar ante la justicia a quienes cometan abusos sexuales contra menores en instalaciones del Vaticano y otras instituciones de la Iglesia Católica en el mundo. Promulgó un decreto para endurecer las leyes, prevenir y combatir estas conductas cometidas por sacerdotes, además de establecer la obligación de denuncia inmediata cuando se tenga noticia del abuso bajo pena de multa o cárcel y una ampliación de la prescripción de los delitos a 20 años.

Con base en lo anterior, en noviembre del año próximo pasado, la CEM actualizó su Protocolo Jurídico de Atención en Casos de Abuso Sexual a Menores cometidos por Sacerdotes, que establece plazos y medidas para disminuir los riesgos de este tipo de crímenes.

En San Luis Potosí fueron detenidos en distintos momentos y por hechos diversos, los párrocos José de Jesús Cruz y Guillermo Gil Torres. El primero se desempeñaba en el templo de Nuestra Señora de Fátima, cuando fue señalado de abuso sexual en contra de un adolescente; mientras que el cura Gil, acusado penalmente de ultrajes a la moral, habría mostrado fotos de él, desnudo, a un niño, en fechas que ejercía su ministerio en el templo de Santa Rosa de Lima en la entidad potosina.

En febrero de 2018, la Policía detuvo a un sacerdote porque presuntamente abusó sexualmente de una niña de 12 años en una iglesia en la ex delegación y ahora Alcaldía Cuauhtémoc. Los hechos habrían acontecido el 14 del mes, cuando la madre de la menor la llevó al catecismo. El escándalo motivó que la Arquidiócesis de México condenara la conducta del pastor, y en un mensaje dirigido a medios de comunicación, informó que este dejaría de ejercer sus funciones hasta que se resolviera el caso, además de que existía disposición para colaborar con las autoridades.

En Ciudad Juárez fue detenido por actos de pederastia en un centro para niños de entre 4 y 12 años, el sacerdote Aristeo Baca. Del asunto se conoció hasta que la ex diputada del Partido Acción Nacional, Clara Torres, responsable en febrero de 2019 del Programa de Estancias Infantiles, de la Secretaría de Bienestar (antes Sedesol) renunció. Se dijo en desacuerdo con los lineamientos del Gobierno de México, pero también, que le dieron las gracias por su presunta vinculación con el cura.

Para mayo del mismo año, la Policía Investigadora cumplimentó orden de aprehensión en contra del sacerdote Leopoldo “N”, señalado por el delito de ultrajes a la moral, en agravio de un joven de 13 años. Según las pesquisas, el hombre de sotana llevó a su casa en el poblado de Hacienda del Cabezón, municipio de Ameca, a la víctima, a quien puso a ver películas con contenido sexual, además de que en repetidas ocasiones lo amenazó con sostener actos sexuales con él. El adolescente informó a sus padres lo ocurrido, y

estos denunciaron ante la Fiscalía de Jalisco el ilícito. Hoy es procesado en el penal de Puente Grande.

En junio de 2019, otro sacerdote de Guadalajara fue denunciado y detenido por presunto acoso sexual a un muchacho de 16 años. La Arquidiócesis tapatía reconoció que el hecho ocurrió en una parroquia local y que los representantes eclesiásticos colaboraron para la captura con base en el protocolo de prevención e intervención ante la denuncia de este tipo de delitos. El párroco fue liberado mediante el pago de una caución y lleva su proceso en libertad.

En agosto de 2019, en Nuevo León, fue apresado el ex sacerdote originario de Costa Rica, Mauricio Víquez. Se le imputó el abuso sexual de por lo menos un menor de edad. Había otras nueve denuncias ante la Iglesia Católica, que ya le sancionó un año antes expulsándolo de la curia. Fue trasladado al Reclusorio Sur de Ciudad de México para enfrentar su proceso de extradición, sin que hasta la fecha se conozca su situación.

SENTENCIAS SIN FIRMEZA

Además del caso del Padre Heladio, que data de más de dos décadas, existen otras condenas más recientes en contra de clérigos imputados por cometer indescriptibles ilícitos en contra de niñas, niños y adolescentes, solo que son muy pocas sentencias comparadas con el fenómeno y las cifras de asuntos que la propia CEM reconoce. Estas resoluciones tienen la característica de contener penas largas, aún debatibles judicialmente en juicios de amparo directo.

En febrero de 2017 recibió sentencia el sacerdote Gerardo Silvestre Hernández, de la Arquidiócesis de Oaxaca, por su responsabilidad plena en la comisión del delito de corrupción de menores, en la modalidad de inducción de actos sexuales y exposición de filmes pornográficos, en agravio de niños de su comunidad. Recibió pena de 16 años y seis meses de prisión. También se le condenó al pago de la reparación del daño por 46 mil 197 pesos por las terapias psicológicas que deberían recibir las víctimas. Los hechos ocurrieron entre 2009 y 2010, mientras que el inculpado fue aprehendido en 2013. Actualmente se halla recluido en el penal de Tlaxiaco.

Un año después se conoció de la condena del presbítero Carlos López Valdés, de 72 años, señalado de abusar sexualmente de un monaguillo de 11 años de edad en 2007, cuando se desempeñaba en la Parroquia de San Agustín de las Cuevas, en Tlalpan, Ciudad de México. El “Padre Charly” fue detenido después de 2013, cuando la víctima escribió al Papa Francisco y se agilizó la investigación en México.  Por los delitos de violación equiparada y corrupción de menores, el Juzgado 55 de lo Penal de la Capital del país, sentenció al responsable a la pena de 63 años de prisión.

Sin embargo, la definitividad y fiabilidad de los fallos judiciales siempre pende de un hilo, como ocurre con grandes capos del narcotráfico a los que dictan penas muy elevadas y al poco tiempo la sociedad se entera que ya andan libres, como ocurrió con el Padre Heladio en Guadalajara. Por cierto, de la sanción impuesta a Carlos López, solo pueden aplicarse 40 años de cárcel, pues era la pena máxima aplicable en el ex Distrito Federal en la época de la comisión de los delitos.

Para muestra, el caso de Jorge Raúl Villegas Chávez, quien fuera confesor y terapeuta del Colegio Atenas en Irapuato, además de ex vocero de la Arquidiócesis de León, Guanajuato. Acusado de abuso sexual, violación equiparada y corrupción sexual en la modalidad de exhibición sexual en agravio de una niña de secundaria; y de hostigamiento sexual, en perjuicio de otra menor, fue detenido en febrero de 2017 por autoridades ministeriales y llevado a juicio penal. En 2014 enfrentó un proceso familiar cuando un juez le obligó a reconocer la paternidad de una niña, que en esa fecha tenía 9 años de edad.

La sentencia dictada por los abusos sexuales fue inclemente. Una friolera de 90 años siete meses de prisión dictó un juzgador en 2019. La pena fue confirmada en segunda instancia. Sin embargo, la benevolencia de un amparo directo en un Tribunal Colegiado de Guanajuato, ordenó que la condena quedara sin efecto y se repusiera el procedimiento para que se realizara la suplencia de la queja por parte del juez y los magistrados de apelación. En diciembre se volvió a dictar pena de más de 90 años, pero Jorge Raúl nuevamente puede acudir al amparo directo contra la nueva resolución.

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The day George Pell walked free

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

April 8, 2020

The Reckoning podcast

Laura Murphy-Oates speaks to David Marr and Melissa Davey about the high court decision that quashed George Pell’s child sexual abuse convictions

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80-year-old Hearst priest accused of additional historical sex offenses

HEARST (ONTARIO, CANADA)
The Daily Press

April 9, 2020

An 80-year-old priest from Hearst faces additional charges stemming from allegations of a historical sexual assault.

The Ontario Provincial Police say the offenses are alleged to have occurred in Hearst over a period between 1976 and 1985.

As a result of the investigation launched Feb. 26, Fernand Villeneuve was charged with one count of sexual assault, one count of acting with gross indecency and one count of indecent assault on a female.

Villeneuve was also previously charged with multiple sexual offences involving a minor.

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What you need to know about protecting children in your church

WASHINGTON (DC)
The Christian Post

April 13, 2020

By Thom S. Rainer

Is child abuse really a problem in our culture? Absolutely, the problem is real. About 686,000 children were abused in the United States in 2012, and over 1,600 children died from abuse the same year.

Approximately 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men have been sexually abused as a child. From a biblical perspective, we live in a hyper-sexual culture in which children are exposed to a repeated and perverse narrative. Pastors and church leaders who ignore this issue are disregarding one of the most dangerous problems affecting children.

Does child abuse actually occur in the church? Yes. Victims of abuse are in your church. Since approximately 25% of women and 17% of men have suffered abuse at some point in their childhood, abuse victims are coming to your church every week. Though specific statistics concerning the number of cases involving sex abuse in the church are hard to obtain, insurance companies handle hundreds of claims a year in which a pastor, staff person, or volunteer is accused of sexual abuse. The problem is real in the church just as it is in the greater culture.

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Official: NFL’s Saints emails on clergy crisis should stay secret

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
The Associated Press

April 10, 2020

Judge in case involving Archdiocese of New Orleans will make final decision

Hundreds of emails detailing the New Orleans Saints’ efforts to conduct damage control for the area’s Roman Catholic archdiocese amid its clergy sexual abuse crisis should remain shielded from the public, a court official recommended.

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CHURCH OF COWARDS

UNITED STATES
Church Militant

April 12, 2020

By Trey Brock

A negligent bunch

What faithful Catholics see today in their Church seems nothing like what the first 2,000 years looked like.

In 2002, the Boston Globe broke reports on the highly ignored homopredator clerical sex abuse crisis running rampant in the Catholic Church. Since then, the cover-up of abuse cases has gotten worse.

This discrepancy has resulted in millions leaving the Church, and for those who decide to stay, Mass on Christmas and Easter makes up the majority of their contribution.

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NKY teen to be sentenced for rape, sexual abuse

COVINGTON (KY)
FOX19

April 13, 2020

A former Covington Catholic High School student will be sentenced today for rape and sexual abuse.

Joseph Eubank pleaded guilty in January.

Eubank, 17, was charged as an adult for raping a teenage girl and sexually abusing three others.

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Guest Commentary: Stressful Times Can Increase Risks for Child Abuse

FALLS CHURCH (VA)
Falls Church News Press

April 13, 2020

By Nancy Vincent

For the past several years, the City of Falls Church has recognized the month of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month — and 2020 is no different. Over the next several weeks, we’ll continue to remind City residents and neighbors of the many ways they can help protect children from neglect and harm in our community and beyond.

But this year’s Child Abuse Prevention Month is unique, for obvious reasons. Covid-19 has disrupted our ordinary lives. We greet each day with new challenges. All of us have a new sense of fragility — including the parents and families who are now under more stress than ever.

While we celebrate the many homes where children are able to thrive, as individuals, as families, and as a community we should be concerned, supportive, and vigilant about those who may be experiencing difficulties or mistreatment. Even in families that normally have low-stress and a great support network, parents may lash out due to the unusual pressures of these uncertain times.

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Child sex abuse in Pakistan’s religious schools is endemic

PAKISTAN
Associated Press

April 13, 2020

By Kathy Gannon

Muhimman proudly writes his name slowly, carefully, one letter at a time, grinning broadly as he finishes. He’s just 11 years old and was a good student who had dreams of being a doctor.

School frightens him now. Earlier this year, a cleric at the religious school he faithfully attended in the southern Punjab town of Pakpattan took him into a washroom and tried to rape him. Muhimman’s aunt, Shazia, who wanted only her first name used, said she believes the abuse of young children is endemic in Pakistan’s religious schools. She said she has known the cleric, Moeed Shah, since she was a little girl and describes him as an habitual abuser who used to ask little girls to pull up their shirts.

“He has done wrong with boys and also with two or three girls,” Shazia said, recalling one girl the cleric brutalized so badly he broke her back.

An investigation by The Associated Press found dozens of police reports, known here as First Information Reports, alleging sexual harassment, rape and physical abuse by Islamic clerics teaching in madrassas or religious schools throughout Pakistan, where many of the country’s poorest study. The AP also documented cases of abuse through interviews with law enforcement officials, abuse victims and their parents. The alleged victims who spoke for this story did so with the understanding only their first names would be used.

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Why George Pell walked free

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

April 8, 2020

[PODCAST]

In a historic decision, the high court has quashed the child sexual abuse convictions of Cardinal George Pell. The most senior Catholic in the world to have been found guilty of child sexual abuse, has walked free from prison. In this episode of Full Story, David Marr and Melbourne bureau chief Melissa Davey analyse the high court decision

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What’s next for George Pell

AUSTRALIA
The Saturday Paper

April 11-17, 2020

By Rick Morton

While the High Court this week quashed the cardinal’s conviction for child sexual abuse, there remain several fronts on which the legal battle may continue.

Cardinal George Pell left Victoria’s Barwon prison a free man on Tuesday, but there was no great crescendo at the end of the long and bitter legal fight, just a moment of startling grace from the man who accused him of assault.

“I respect the decision of the High Court. I accept the outcome,” read the statement from Witness J, issued at 12.20am on Wednesday.

“… I would like to reassure child sexual abuse survivors that most people recognise the truth when they hear it.

“They know the truth when they look it in the face. I am content with that.”

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ABC skirts public duty to fairly cover Pell, analyse Victorian justice system

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

April 13, 2020

Were it run by a real editor, as its managing director is meant to be, the ABC would have given more prominence to last Tuesday’s High Court rejection of a jury verdict against Cardinal George Pell.

Yet on Tuesday on ABC local radio, News Radio and Radio ­National it was hard until noon to find a mention that the High Court’s verdict was a unanimous 7-0. Coverage on ABC TV news and 7.30 was far from fulsome in acknowledging the failures of the Victorian judicial and law enforcement systems, let alone the corporation’s own missteps. ABC 7.30 ran a once-over-lightly, six-minute item. The 7pm TV bulletin in Melbourne failed to mention the verdict was unanimous.

Managing director David Anderson and head of news Gaven Morris should have made sure in advance that news editors knew they were expected to treat the judgment with appropriate weight. They should have expected the decision from the moment they read the powerful dissenting Victorian Appeals Court decision by Justice Mark Weinberg.

Yet on Twitter that afternoon ABC journalists were insisting the ruling did not make Pell innocent. It most certainly made him innocent of the charges laid by Victoria Police: that the nation’s most senior Catholic cleric, in his first months as archbishop of Melbourne, abused two choirboys in the sacristy of St Patrick’s Cathedral after either his first or second Sunday mass there as archbishop and weeks later in public grabbed the genitals of one of the boys.

The lack of grooming and public nature of the alleged crimes should have raised alarm bells for editors, reporters, book publishers and police investigators. Where was the evidence of the long-term grooming of a child that usually occurs before abuse by a trusted priest? Why would Pell, having just ascended to high office, risk everything with two boys he did not know? Their parents could have been police for all he knew.

Andrew Bolt in the News Corp tabloids on Thursday discussed false allegations against Pell that have fallen over in court. Some were first aired on ABC 7.30 by Louise Milligan as early as 2015. Others were made by people who had simply seen alleged incidents mentioned on 7.30.

In the lead-up to Pell’s acquittal, the ABC ran a three-part series, Revelation, by Sarah Ferguson. Promotion for the series claimed, falsely, that its third episode included many new revelations about Pell. This episode was removed from ABC iview and its website last week to be re-edited.

Guardian Australia media writer Amanda Meade wrote last Thursday: “The broadcaster responded to the decision by the High Court to quash Pell’s convictions by pulling the third episode …” Meade quoted an ABC spokesman saying, “the ABC has temporarily removed episode three of Revelation from its platforms while updating its content”.

“The ABC has — and will continue to — report accurately and without fear or favour on stories that are in the public interest, including this one. We stand by our reporters and our stories.”

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Sexual Abuse Survivors React to Cardinal Pell’s Acquittal

UNITED STATES
Ms. Magazine

April 10, 2020

By Zach Hiner, Executive Director of SNAP

On Monday, justices on Australia’s highest court decided to overturn a unanimous guilty verdict and free a man convicted of sexually abusing two young boys.

The news rocked the survivor community worldwide.

There is no shying away from the fact that the decision to overturn the conviction of Cardinal George Pell was a gut punch for survivors of clergy sexual abuse. The Pell case saw testimony from twelve witnesses, including the lone surviving victim. More accusers came later forward in the press and provided excruciating details of how the Cardinal manipulated them.

The detailed descriptions—like the pretext of chasing twenty cents in the priest’s swimming trunks in a community pool, being forced to fondle him in the process—cannot be fabricated. This is particularly true when more than one accuser reports similar assaults.

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Utah Catholic Bishop Talks About ‘Beyond Wonderful’ Meeting With Pope Francis

SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
KSL TV

April 12, 2020

By Carole Mikita

“Experience the Christ who is alive in their hearts, the Christ who loves, the Christ who saves.” That was the message on Easter Sunday from the Most Rev. Bishop Oscar Solis.

A few months ago, the bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City had an experience he described as “beyond wonderful” — an audience with Pope Francis.

“Excitement may not be a word that can describe my personal experience,” he said.

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West Virginia Sexual Abuse Survivors Now Have More Time to Seek Justice

UNITED STATES
The Legal Examiner (law firm blog)

April 12, 2020

By Joseph H. Saunders

In a growing national trend, West Virginia has become the latest state to pass legislation reducing barriers to justice for victims of sexual assault. West Virginia House Bill 4559 effectively gives those who have been sexually assaulted or abused more time to sue their abuser for damages in a civil lawsuit.

The bill extends the civil statute of limitations (SOL) to sue a perpetrator from age 22 to age 36, or 4 years from discovery of the abuse, whichever is later. The bill also extends the civil SOL against other individuals or organizations who aided, abetted or concealed the abuse from age 20 to age 36. Governor Jim Justice signed the bill into law on March 25, 2020, paving the way for many more survivors to seek the damages to which they may be entitled.

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In Unprecedented Numbers, U.S. Bishops Named in Lawsuits and Why It Matters

UNITED STATES
The Open Tabernacle (blog)

April 7, 2020

By Betty Clermont

(Warning. This report includes graphic language that may trigger bad reactions in those who have been sexually abused.)

Since March 2019, 15 bishops (see below) have been named in lawsuits either as perpetrators of sexual abuse or for covering up the sexual assaults of others. This is important because while “priests were raping boys and girls, the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all. For decades, monsignors, auxiliary bishops, bishops, archbishops, cardinals were protected; many were promoted,” stated a 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report.

Thousands of American priests have been sued but relatively few U.S. bishops have been identified by name in court proceedings. “For true bishop accountability to occur, two things must happen: 1) there must be a full account of the bishops’ responsibility for the sexual abuse crisis and 2) bishops who have caused the abuse of children and vulnerable adults must be held accountable,” leaders of the online database, BishopAccountability.org, concluded.

This is happening under civil law and not by the Church. “Never before have so many states acted in near-unison to lift the restrictions that once shut people out if they didn’t bring claims of childhood sex abuse by a certain age, often their early 20s,” the Associated Press reported.

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Delays Expected In Sex Abuse Lawsuits

JAMESTOWN (PA)
The Post-Journal

April 13, 2020

By John Whittaker

Even without a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding by the Diocese of Buffalo, plaintiffs alleging sexual abuse by priests would be facing at least a two-year wait for courts to hear their cases.

A state Supreme Court Justice in Erie County has ruled that an unnamed man who attended the Holy Apostles Parish should receive a default judgement against Mark M. Friel, the priest who abused the plaintiff as a child. Damages can’t be decided in the case, though, until cases proceed against the Diocese of Buffalo and Holy Apostles Parish because they hired, retained and supervised Friel.

Judge Deborah A. Chimes of state Supreme Court in Erie County, ruled in January that the plaintiff, who filed a Child Victims Act lawsuit LG 1 Doe v. Mark M. Friel et. al against former Catholic priest Mark M. Friel, the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo and Holy Apostles Parish of Jamestown, formerly known as Ss. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church in August, should receive damages for the abuse he suffered. The man alleges that he was molested in the rectory at Ss. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church from Jan. 1, 1985 through Dec. 31, 1986.

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Cardinal Pell speaks of ‘scourge’ of meths in prison

SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
The Tablet

By Mark Bowling

April 13, 2020

Cardinal George Pell has revealed he is ashamed of the Catholic Church for the way it dealt with the “cancer” of child sex abuse in the past.

“There are two levels. One is the crimes itself, … and then treating it so inadequately for so long,” Cardinal Pell has said after his acquittal and release from prison, in an interview to be broadcast worldwide by Sky News tomorrow.

Cardinal Pell has spoken about the scourge of child abuse in the Church and how the many failures to act still haunt him today.

“I totally condemn those sorts of activities, and the damage that it’s done to people,” he said.

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April 12, 2020

Official: Saints emails on clergy crisis should stay secret

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
Associated Press

April 9, 2020

By Jim Mustian

Hundreds of emails detailing the New Orleans Saints’ efforts to conduct damage control for the area’s Roman Catholic archdiocese amid its clergy sexual abuse crisis should remain shielded from the public, a court official recommended Thursday.

The recommendation by a court special master came almost three months after The Associated Press urged the release of the confidential emails as a matter of public interest. Those emails emerged as part of a lawsuit against the church and it will ultimately be up to a judge in that case to make the final decision.

Releasing the messages would only “embarrass or bring under public scrutiny” those who tried to help the Archdiocese of New Orleans as it sought to weather the fallout from the clergy abuse crisis, retired Judge Carolyn Gill-Jefferson wrote in a five-page filing.

She agreed with church leaders and the Saints that the communications were private, writing that “the exchange of information during discovery is to be held within the confines of the pending litigation and outside of public view.”

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Priest convicted of 1980s child rapes in Ipswich dies

SALEM (MA)
The Salem News

April 8, 2020

By Julie Manganis

Ipswich – A retired Catholic priest serving an eight- to 10-year prison term for sexually abusing two boys at an Ipswich summer camp in the 1980s has died, state officials confirmed Wednesday.

Rev. Richard McCormick, 79, was serving his sentence at the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater, where, according to the Department of Corrections, an outbreak of COVID-19 has led to the deaths of three inmates.

One of those inmates has been described as a man in his 70s who was taken to a hospital after suffering a stroke and who tested positive for COVID-19 following his death. A statement released by the DOC said the inmate had been in state custody since 2014 and at the treatment center since 2016.

But a DOC spokesman said that due to the medical privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, he could not confirm the specific identity of the inmate.

McCormick was convicted at trial in 2014 of five counts of child rape involving a boy who attended a summer camp for underprivileged children at the site of the former Sacred Heart Retreat in Ipswich in the early 1980s. He subsequently received a second state prison term after pleading guilty to raping another boy at the same camp in the early 1980s.

The victim, now in his 40s, came forward after realizing that the priest he knew as “Father Dick” was actually McCormick, after seeing his name and photo in an online directory of priests.

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Pandemic, border crackdown hamper Catholics’ aid to migrants

CORTEZ (CO)
Associated Press via The Journal

April 10, 2020

By David Crary

Nogales, Mexico – For years, Catholic-led, U.S.-based nonprofits have been at the forefront of efforts to support migrants and asylum-seekers along the Mexican border. Tough new border policies, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, have drastically changed their work, much of which now takes place in Mexico.

The once heavy flow of undocumented border-crossers has dwindled as the Trump administration enforces a new virus-related ban on top of its Migration Protection Protocols that already had forced thousands of asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico.

*
One of the most prominent Catholic migrant-rights activists along the border is Sister Norma Pimentel, who runs a respite center for beleaguered migrants in McAllen, Texas.

At a time when many Roman Catholic dioceses were distracted by financial problems, school closures and ripple effects of the clergy sex-abuse crisis, she became widely known for her passionate advocacy and often traveled to far-flung speaking engagements.

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A test of faith for beleaguered priest who needs a liver transplant

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

April 11, 2020

By Scott Scanlon

Father John Mack Jr. prefers a certain kind of donor for the liver transplant he needs.

“Somebody who has prayed every day and never drank a drop liquor.”

He also hopes for a living donor, someone willing to give part of a liver that will grow to full size in weeks.

Yet Mack, a man of devout faith, is under no illusions.

Circumstances in just the past few weeks explain why.

The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, in which he has served for 35 years, filed for bankruptcy protection in late February to lighten the financial burden of a priest sex abuse scandal.

Diocesan leaders also announced they will close Christ the King Seminary, where Mack lives and works as chairman of the East Aurora school’s pastoral theology department.

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Survivors ‘in shock’ after High Court quashes George Pell’s sexual abuse convictions

CROWS NEST (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
SBS News

April 7, 2020

By Jarni Blakkarly

Groups representing survivors of childhood sexual abuse and the father of the deceased choirboy at the centre of Cardinal George Pell’s trial have expressed disbelief and frustration at the High Court’s ruling.

National Practice Leader at Shine Lawyers Lisa Flynn, who represented the father of the deceased choirboy said her client was “gutted” by the outcome.

“Our client is currently in shock. He is struggling to comprehend the decision by the High Court of Australia. He says he no longer has faith in our country’s criminal justice system,” Ms Flynn said.

A full bench of the High Court of Australia unanimously decided to quash the conviction of Cardinal George Pell on Tuesday, meaning he will walk free from prison.

The 78-year-old cardinal was serving a six-year prison sentence after being found guilty for abusing two choir boys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in the 1990s when he was Archbishop of Melbourne.

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Easter message: In the suffering, we find redemption

SURRY HILLS (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
The Australian

April 11, 2020

By Cardinal George Pell

Every person suffers. None escapes all the time. Everyone is confronted with a couple of questions. What should I do in this situation? Why is there so much evil and suffering? And why did this happen to me? Why the coronavirus pandemic?

*
The sexual abuse crisis damaged thousands of victims. From many points of view the crisis is also bad for the Catholic Church, but we have painfully cut out a moral cancer and this is good. So too some would see COVID-19 as a bad time for those who claim to believe in a good and rational God, the Supreme Love and Intelligence, the Creator of the universe. And it is a mystery; all suffering, but especially the massive number of deaths through plagues and wars. But Christians can cope with suffering better than the atheists can explain the beauty and happiness of life.

And many, most understand the direction we are heading when it is pointed out that the only Son of God did not have an easy run and suffered more than his share. Jesus redeemed us and we can redeem our suffering by joining it to His and offering it to God.

I have just spent 13 months in jail for a crime I didn’t commit, one disappointment after another. I knew God was with me, but I didn’t know what He was up to, although I realised He has left all of us free. But with every blow it was a consolation to know I could offer it to God for some good purpose like turning the mass of suffering into spiritual energy.

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Pell verdict paves way for inquiry reports

SYDNEY (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
Australian Associated Press via 7 News

April 7, 2020

By Megan Neil

[See also the currently redacted versions of the Ballarat and Melbourne case study reports.]

A royal commission’s findings about Cardinal George Pell’s handling of child sexual abuse complaints won’t be released for weeks.

The High Court’s decision to overturn Cardinal Pell’s criminal convictions paves the way for blacked-out sections of two reports from the child abuse royal commission to be released.

Federal Attorney-General Christian Porter said the reports should be released without redactions where possible.

He said his office first needed to check with Victorian authorities to ensure the information would not prejudice any future investigations or prosecutions.

“That could take a number of weeks,” Mr Porter told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

“But my strong preference is to have as much of the information that has been redacted, tabled with less redaction.

“There is a process now for me to go through with Victorian authorities to determine whether those redactions can be lifted or modified without doing any prejudice to any future proceedings.”

Redacted versions of the royal commission’s reports into the Catholic Church’s handling of child abuse allegations in the Melbourne archdiocese and Ballarat diocese were released in December 2017.

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Montco lawyer, Cosby prosecutor, joins Philadelphia firm to represent sex abuse victims

EXTON (PA)
The Mercury

April 9, 2020

By Carl Hessler Jr.

https://www.pottsmerc.com/news/montco-lawyer-cosby-prosecutor-joins-philadelphia-firm-to-represent-sex-abuse-victims/article_ef406b7e-79bc-11ea-b589-ef46ad55cfb5.html

Philadelphia – Driven by her passion for advocating for crime victims, a former Montgomery County prosecutor who helped put Bill Cosby behind bars has joined a Philadelphia law firm where she will focus on representing sexual abuse survivors in the civil arena.

Kristen M. Feden, of Abington, who was part of the team that successfully prosecuted Cosby on sex assault charges in 2018, has joined the Saltz, Mongeluzzi & Bendesky firm.

“She has the skill and she has the passion for this. This has been a focus of her professional career. Many victims of sexual abuse and sexual assault have had their trust violated and they need an attorney who they can trust, who in a real heartfelt way, is there to support a victim and has the trial skills to be able to litigate the case successfully,” Robert J. Mongeluzzi, president of the firm, said during a recent interview.

Mongeluzzi called Feden “one of America’s most successful and renowned sex crime prosecutors,” adding she “helped kick start the #MeToo movement” with her role in the successful prosecution and conviction of Cosby.

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ABC backs its reporting on George Pell after Andrew Bolt accuses it of a witch-hunt

LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Guardian

April 7, 2020

By Amanda Meade

News Corp columnists and other Pell supporters say the national broadcaster conducted a ‘crusade’ against the cardinal

The ABC has backed its journalists and its reporting on George Pell after the cardinal’s release from jail prompted a spate of attacks on the national broadcaster by Pell supporters.

Minutes after Pell’s conviction was quashed by the high court, the News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt posted a blog saying the cardinal was innocent and pointing the finger at the ABC for allegedly conducting a witch-hunt to have him convicted.

Bolt, who has an exclusive interview with Pell on his Sky News program at a date yet to be announced, said the national broadcaster had “with one voice persecuted him for years with false claims and never once had a presenter express doubt about this crusade to destroy him”.

“Shame on the ABC, our national broadcaster, for hysterically pushing damaging claims against Pell that all turned out to be too absurd to lead to charges, or too flimsy to go to trial, or, now, too weak to survive an appeal,” he wrote in his column in the Herald Sun.

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Why the ABC’s reporting of the George Pell case wasn’t a witch-hunt

ULTIMO (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
ABC

April 10, 2020

By Craig McMurtrie

From the first trial that resulted in a hung jury, to a sweeping suppression order that set the national media and the courts on a collision course, the Pell case has polarised and transfixed the nation, and in light of the High Court ruling there is now opportunity for reflection.

ABC editorial policies make very clear that it is the job of the public broadcaster’s journalists to report “without fear or favour, even when that might be uncomfortable or unpopular”.

Cardinal George Pell himself told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse: “My own position is that you never disbelieve a complaint. But then it has to be assessed to see just whether it is valid and true and plausible. But the starting point must never be that they are disbelieved, that the allegations are taken very seriously and examined.”

That is what ABC journalists have been doing and will continue to do.

The Herald Sun first reported that there was a police investigation into Cardinal Pell, but it was the ABC’s Louise Milligan who met the former choirboy at the centre of the now quashed case against Cardinal Pell and it was Milligan who found and interviewed the family of the second alleged victim, who had died of a heroin overdose.

This was the most senior Catholic figure in Australia, the third most powerful man in the Vatican, in a church already rocked by a staggering number of historic child sexual abuse accusations.

It was unquestionably a legitimate story, one that had to be pursued.

And for Louise, a multi-award-winning journalist, it was the toughest assignment of her career and certainly one of the saddest.

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Why the Vatican might want to send a thank-you note to Australia’s High Court

DENVER (CO)
Crux

April 7, 2020

By John L. Allen Jr.

Rome – Obviously, the primary beneficiary of Tuesday’s decision by Australia’s High Court to overturn the sexual abuse conviction of Cardinal George Pell is Pell himself. The 78-year-old prelate was definitively acquitted and is now a free man after more than 400 days in prison, mostly in solitary confinement.

For all those presently chafing after a few weeks of a coronavirus quarantine, Pell’s forced isolation for a much longer stretch, and in much less pleasant conditions, may help put things in perspective.

A close second in terms of who benefits from the ruling, however, is the Vatican, which effectively got an early Easter present.

Had things gone the other way, the Vatican would have been compelled to launch its own canonical investigation of Pell, which could have led to his being expelled from the clerical state like ex-cardinal and ex-priest Theodore McCarrick. Judges in Rome would have had to examine the evidence, and likely would have reached the same decision as their Australian colleagues, which was that “the jury, acting rationally on the whole of the evidence, ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant’s guilt.”

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Cardinal Pell: In defence of trial by jury

LONDON (ENGLAND)
Spiked

April 10, 2020

By Luke Gittos

Pell is entitled to his innocence. But we should be wary of judges overturning decisions made by juries.

Earlier this week, the Australian High Court quashed the conviction of Cardinal George Pell. Pell was convicted in December 2018 on five charges of sexual assault against two 13-year-old boys. He was sentenced to six years in prison.

The case has a long history. In 2013, police in Victoria launched an investigation into Pell. At that time, there were apparently no accusers. A number of witnesses and allegations later emerged. One witness, who became known as witness J, claimed that Pell abused him and another boy following a Sunday Mass in 1996. The second boy died of a heroin overdose in 2014 and retracted his allegation against Pell shortly before his death. There are a number of other allegations, some of which are proceeding in civil courts, though it was witness J’s evidence that was eventually used to convict Pell.

The assault allegedly occurred at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne. Witness J claimed that he and another boy had trespassed into the sacristy section of the church, which was off-limits to the public. According to J, when Pell found them he proceeded to commit sexual violence against both of them, while still dressed in his vestments.

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April 11, 2020

11 issues the state Legislature could still take up this year

NEW YORK (NY)
City & State New York

April 10, 2020

By Julia Agos

Although the legislative session is in limbo, here’s what state lawmakers want to address.

The New York state legislative session is “effectively over,” at least according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. After passing a $177 billion state budget in early April, lawmakers are doing their jobs remotely due to the spread of the new coronavirus and the rising number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the state.

But state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said that the body could convene as needed, raising the possibility of further legislative activity up through the session’s originally scheduled end date of June 2. Other lawmakers have flatly rejected Cuomo’s suggestion that the session is done, saying it’s not up to the governor. “First of all, we have three branches, bro,” state Sen. Gustavo Rivera said. “We have three. And therefore we get to decide when we go on.”

If the state Senate and Assembly do reconvene, here’s a list of bills and issues that could be at the top of the agenda.

Budget cuts

As part of the budget, state lawmakers authorized Cuomo’s budget director to adjust spending throughout the year in response to projected shortfalls. The Aid to Localities budget bill included language that gives the state budget director, Robert Mujica, the authority to make changes if updated revenue estimates show the budget to be unbalanced – which is likely, given an expected shortfall of $10 billion or more due to a major economic slowdown resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. The budget director could then withhold a certain amount from localities, including school aid. The Legislature would then have 10 days to respond to cuts, should they decide to.

“If revenues are short then we will put together a package of reductions, we’ll send that to the Legislature, they will have 10 days to review it and adopt jointly an alternative proposal,” Mujica told NY1’s Errol Louis earlier this month. “If there is an alternative proposal that works we’ll execute on that proposal or in the absence of the Legislature acting then we will execute on the original proposal.”

Recreational marijuana

State lawmakers failed to reach a deal with the governor before the budget deadline, putting legalized recreational marijuana on hold again. Amid the coronavirus outbreak, pot legalization was “too much, too little time,” according to Cuomo. As City & State reported this month, lawmakers wanted significant tax revenues set aside to reinvest in minority communities disproportionately targeted for marijuana offenses, while the governor wanted more flexibility by avoiding specific earmarks.

Extending the Child Victims Act

Some lawmakers wanted to add a one-year extension to last year’s Child Victums Act, which suspended the statute of limitations for victims of child sex abuse during a one-year window ending in August 2020. When the state court system halted all non-essential proceedings last month, including submissions under the Child Victims Act, supporters said the new extension would be critical. “It’s always been prudent to extend the CVA’s revival window by another year, matching similar policies in progressive states like California, New Jersey and Hawaii,” state Sen. Brad Hoylman, a sponsor of the original law and the proposed exension, said in a statement last month. “Now, the massive unexpected interruption to our judicial system makes the need for extending the CVA more urgent than ever.”

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Alleged victim claims he was sexually abused by a priest at St. Ann Church in Metairie in the 80s

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
Fox 8 WVUE

April 8, 2020

By Kimberly Curth

There are serious allegations against the Archdiocese of New Orleans in a new lawsuit filed in Civil Court this week. An alleged victim claims he was sexually abused by a priest at St. Ann Church in Metairie in the early 1980s.

He says the abuse started when he was just 10 years old while he was an altar boy. The lawsuit identifies his abuser as Father James C. Collery.

According to the filing, during his time at St. Ann, Collery said masses in rotation with now Archbishop Gregory Aymond.

“It reads like a John Grisham novel. It’s got some very sensationalized things and Gregory Aymond, the Archbishop, seems to be a fact witness because he was around at the same time, at the same church, same mass, so very interesting case,” Fox 8 Legal Analyst, Joe Raspanti said.

Attorneys for the alleged victim say Collery started molesting boys at St. Ann almost immediately. But, those attorneys say the Archdiocese should have known that Collery was a danger to children before he sexually abused their client. The lawsuit also claims the Archdiocese didn’t report Collery to the police while he was still alive.

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There are 12 unmentioned victims in the Pell verdict: the jurors

SYDNEY (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
Sydney Morning Herald

April 8, 2020

By Malcolm Knox

Whenever the criminal justice system is able to resume empanelling new juries, the High Court has given potential jurors a new reason for being excused from their duty: that they are wasting their time.

For the best part of 800 years, juries have had a single function in criminal trials that higher courts could not meddle in. The jury was the finder of fact. In Australian law, this began to change in the 1994 case of M v The Queen, when the High Court said an appeal court could ask “whether it thinks that upon the whole of the evidence it was open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the accused was guilty”. Victoria’s Criminal Procedure Act gave statutory back-up to this evolution of the courts’ role in 2009.

In the trial in which George Pell was found guilty, only 12 people saw and heard the 50-plus witnesses questioned, and only those 12 people were qualified to say whether or not Pell committed crimes. All of those 12 decided, beyond reasonable doubt, that he did. And yet their months of service, and their first-hand experience, has been overturned by the High Court not for reasons of law, but because the seven justices would have come to a different conclusion. Those jurors are entitled to ask what, then, was the point of the original trial?

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Need to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt protects us all

DUBLIN (IRELAND)
Irish Times

April 10, 2020

By Breda O’Bren

Quashing of Cardinal Pell conviction underlines need for safeguards

Cardinal George Pell’s trial for the sexual abuse of two choirboys divided Australia into two camps – those who were convinced that Pell was the victim of a witch hunt and those who were convinced that he was not only guilty of these crimes but of others too.

By and large, the fact that the full bench of the high court (Australia’s equivalent of our Supreme Court) found unanimously that his conviction should be quashed has not changed the minds of either camp.

Pell was immediately freed from the notorious Barwon maximum-security prison where he had been incarcerated along with serial killers, drug barons and terrorists. Two days before he was freed, three other inmates were hospitalised after abloody brawl, the latest in a string of attacks by inmates on each other. Pell spent 405 days in prison, not all in Barwon but mostly in solitary confinement.

Nor are his troubles over. There are civil cases pending, which have a much lower burden of proof, and questions still to be answered about the way in which he dealt with historical cases of sexual abuse of children by other clergy.

Nonetheless, no matter whether you like or loathe Pell, beyond reasonable doubt is a vital standard to protect all of us.

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Hoylman, Rosenthal ask colleagues to return to session to extend Child Victims Act

ALBANY (NY)
Legislative Gazette

April 8, 2020

By Erin Hannan

Child abuse victims and their advocates in the Legislature are urging lawmakers to continue to meet in remote sessions to extend the lookback window of the Child Victims Act (CVA) for another year, allowing more time for victims to file legal actions.

The challenges presented by the coronavirus outbreak made it increasingly difficult to file claims and ultimately turned the one-year window to seven months. As New York courts suspended non-essential cases, which include CVA proceedings, advocates and some lawmakers believe extending the window would ensure the rights of survivors.

Although New York health officials and the Governor’s Office are focused on the more than 130,000 positive COVID-19 cases, the Legislature is still technically in session. The Legislature is officially on break until April 20, but when they return, lawmakers are supposed to convene through June 2.

The primary sponsors of the CVA bill, and its extension S.7082/A.9036 – Senator Brad Hoylman, D-Manhattan and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, D-Manhattan, respectively – are asking their fellow lawmakers to return to session digitally after the holiday break to pass an extension on the lookback window that would allow victims to file legal claims against their abusers and their employers until August 14, 2021.

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Cardinal Pell reflects on mystery of suffering in Easter message after release

DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency via Angelus

April 10, 2020

Cardinal George Pell said Friday that suffering can be offered to God for good, and that Christians see Christ in the suffering, and are obliged to help them. His message came days after his release from prison, and amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

“The sexual abuse crisis damaged thousands of victims. From many points of view the crisis is also bad for the Catholic Church, but we have painfully cut out a moral cancer and this is good. So too some would see COVID-19 as a bad time for those who claim to believe in a good and rational God, the Supreme Love and Intelligence, the Creator of the universe,” Pell wrote in an Easter message published by The Australian April 10.

“It is a mystery; all suffering, but especially the massive number of deaths through plagues and wars. But Christians can cope with suffering better than the atheists can explain the beauty and happiness of life,” the cardinal added.

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How do you become, formally, not-a-Catholic? You take the law into your own hands

LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Guardian

April 10, 2020

By Sebastian Tesoriero

The church has tried to make it so it can’t be divorced. Yet people do want to leave. In droves

“Are you a Catholic?”

The question eventually surfaces over dinner or drinks in so many conversations: about the child sex abuse royal commission, marriage equality, religious freedom, legalising abortion and euthanasia. About George Pell.

Many of us baptised Catholic have drifted – through boredom, scepticism, disbelief or outright disgust with the Roman church – from Christmas Catholic to census Catholic to lapsed Catholic. Over the decades I’ve been outside the church I’ve also used ex-Catholic, non-practising Catholic and mis-Catholic.

In his statement after being acquitted of child sexual abuse charges by the high court, Pell said his trial was not a referendum on the church. But when you’ve come to realise you’re not identifiably any sort of Catholic and that the church running the show has made itself contemptible to you, how do you cast your vote? How do you become, formally, not-a-Catholic?

The answer isn’t in the help menu of the Vatican’s website.

In fact, the church has moved to close the few openings by which the disaffected could officially register having renounced the faith. In 2006 the Vatican established rules to accommodate the growing number of defectors – as they call them there. Oddly for such a slow-moving institution, the rules were aborted just three years later. Unlike a state with its citizens or a football club with its members, the Vatican would no longer facilitate the initiated leaving its ranks.

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‘Prayer has been the great source of strength to me’: Cardinal Pell looks forward to Easter

DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency

April 7, 2020

By Ed Condon

After more than 14 months in prison, Cardinal George Pell said he was always hopeful about the High Court decision which acquitted him of all charges and released him from incarceration on April 7.

Shortly after his release from prison, the cardinal told CNA that, while he had kept faith he would be eventually exonerated, he tried not to be “too optimistic.”

On Tuesday morning, the High Court issued its decision, granting Cardinal Pell’s request for special leave to appeal, quashing his convictions for sexual abuse, and ordering that he be acquitted of all charges.

As the decision was announced by the court, several hundred miles away the cardinal watched from his cell in HM Prison Barwon, southwest of Melbourne.

“I was watching the television news in my cell when the news came through,” Pell told CNA, in an exclusive interview shortly after his release on Tuesday.

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Melbourne cathedral vandalized after Cardinal Pell acquittal

DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency

April 8, 2020

St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne was vandalized overnight Wednesday, hours after Cardinal George Pell was acquitted by Australia’s High Court of a sexual abuse conviction and released from prison.

The door to the cathedral was spray-painted with a cartoon image of a devil, along with the message “ROT IN HELL, PELL.” Other doors were daubed with upside-down crosses and the words “NO JUSTICE,” “PAEDO RAPIST,” and: “The law protects the powerful.”

Archbishop Peter Comensoli of Melbourne told Australian media that while he was upset about the vandalism, he was “not entirely surprised.”

“There remains such strong emotions around all of these matters,” Comensoli told Australian news network 3AW.

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April 10, 2020

Cardinal Pell’s acquittal stirs abuse survivor memories in Ballarat hometown

MELBOURNE (VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA)
Reuters

April 9, 2020

By Sonali Paul and Jonathan Barrett

A thick line of black tape obscures Cardinal George Pell’s name on a board lauding ordained alumni of St Patrick’s College in the Australian town of Ballarat as coloured ribbons flutter on doors and mailboxes.

The high school in Pell’s home town has no immediate plans to remove the tape despite the former Vatican treasurer’s acquittal this week of the sexual assault of two choirboys in Melbourne in the 1990s.

The High Court’s decision to overturn a lower court’s ruling and clear 78-year-old Pell, releasing him from jail after serving just over a year of a six-year sentence, has stirred painful memories for child sex abuse survivors in Ballarat.

Belinda Coates, deputy mayor of the town that has the unfortunate distinction of being a hotspot of historic child sex abuse by Catholic clergy in Australia, said the decision was tough for survivors who have long feared the stigma and trauma of going public with allegations.

“There’s been shock and disappointment here at the decision,” Coates told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Pell not only grew up and went to school in the former gold mining town, located some 120 km (75 miles) west of Melbourne, but served there as parish priest from 1973 to 1983.

Hundreds of people have made claims against the Catholic church in the Ballarat diocese, a region covering the town and 51 surrounding parishes, over alleged incidents from the mid-1960s to mid-1990s. At least six priests and members of the Christian Brothers religious order have been jailed.

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New York Lawmakers Decline Chance to Extend ‘Look-Back Window’ in Child Victims Act

WHITE PLAINS (NY)
New York Law Journal via Marsh Law Firm

April 7, 2020

State lawmakers took a pass last week on extending a one-year legal window that allowed survivors of child sex abuse to sue over decades-old allegations.

The Child Victims Act, enacted last year, opened up the time frame for victims of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits over claims that were previously barred from court due to the statute of limitations.

The legal window is set to close in August, but New York’s court system is no longer accepting CVA lawsuits under new restrictions spurred by the deadly coronavirus pandemic. The state’s court system has postponed all “nonessential” services and the CVA lawsuits were not listed as essential under an order from Lawrence Marks, the state’s chief administrative judge.

Those orders have effectively placed a hold on new litigation under the act, but the Legislature did not move to lengthen the so-called look-back window in the state budget, which is the keystone legislative package of the year in Albany and is often used as a vehicle for large non-fiscal policy measures.

The coronavirus crisis has upended normal business at the Capitol, but legislative leaders have said they need to continue their work in some fashion. It remains unclear whether legislators will greenlight an extension to the CVA later on this session.

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Child Victims Act will not be extended in NY

HORSEHEADS (NY)
WENY

April 9, 2020

By Olivia Jaquith

Albany, N.Y. – The window for alleged victims of child sexual abuse to seek legal retribution in New York State will end on August 14, despite talks of a possible extension.

Lawmakers in Albany have declined that extension. Governor Cuomo’s secretary, Melissa DeRosa, said April 4 there was no conversation about an extension to the legal window in budget talks

However, according to the New York Law Journal, the state court system is no longer accepting Child Victims Act lawsuits, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

New York courts postponed all non-essential services, and these lawsuits are not listed as “essential.”

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NY lawmakers decline Child Victims Act extension

BUFFALO (NY)
WGRZ

April 8, 2020

The state’s court system postponed all non-essential services and the Child Victims Act lawsuits were not listed as essential.

New York State lawmakers declined an extension of the Child Victims Act.

The legal window is set to close in August, but right now, New York’s court system is no longer accepting Child Victims Act lawsuits due to the coronavirus pandemic. The state’s court system postponed all non-essential services and the Child Victims Act lawsuits were not listed as essential.

The Child Victims Act allows those who claim to be victims of child sex abuse one year to seek legal retribution in New York State.

Earlier this year, downstate Senator Brad Hoylman proposed a bill that would add another year to that window because of the hundreds of cases that have already been filed.

Hoylman said other states with similar laws gave victims more than a year to file the suits, and he says New York should do the same.

During Governor Cuomo’s daily COVID-19 updates, his secretary, Melissa DeRosa, said last week there was no conversation about an extension to the legal window in budget talks.

Holyman told the New York Law Journal state Senate raised the Child Victims Act extension in budget negotiations and was discussed, but it was rejected at some point.

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April 9, 2020

Court drops rape, other charges against megachurch leader

LOS ANGELES (CA)
Associated Press

April 8, 2020

By Stefanie Dazio

A California appeals court ordered the dismissal of a criminal case Tuesday against a Mexican megachurch leader on charges of child rape and human trafficking on procedural grounds.

Naasón Joaquín García, the self-proclaimed apostle of La Luz del Mundo, has been in custody since June following his arrest on accusations involving three girls and one woman between 2015 and 2018 in Los Angeles County. Additional allegations of the possession of child pornography in 2019 were later added. He has denied wrongdoing.

While being held without bail in Los Angeles, García has remained the spiritual leader of La Luz del Mundo, which is Spanish for “The Light Of The World.” The Guadalajara, Mexico-based evangelical Christian church was founded by his grandfather and claims 5 million followers worldwide.

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Civil claims expected against Cardinal George Pell and Catholic church despite acquittal

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

April 8, 2020

By Ben Smee

Lawyers say the overturning of Pell’s criminal conviction for historical child sexual abuse is unlikely to stop civil lawsuits

The high court acquittal of George Pell is likely to be followed by a string of civil claims against the cardinal and the Catholic church from alleged abuse survivors and their families, lawyers say.

Pell was freed from Victoria’s Barwon prison on Tuesday after the high court allowed his appeal and quashed a conviction for charges related to the alleged sexual assault of two choirboys in 1996. He strenuously denies all allegations.

The father of one of the boys, who has since died, is suing the Catholic church and has said his case will continue despite the high court’s decision to overturn the jury verdict. His lawyer, Lisa Flynn from Shine Lawyers, said such civil cases were not dependent on the outcome of a criminal case.

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It is not possible to divorce George Pell’s acquittal from the Catholic church’s history of child abuse

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

April 8, 2020

By Francis Sullivan

The bishops should end their obsession with Pell and take up their moral responsibility to victims

ardinal George Pell’s acquittal was legally the correct decision. His relief and that of his family and many supporters will be palpable. He – not the Catholic church – was on trial and the high court has seen fit to ensure justice was served.

But it is not possible to divorce the acquittal from the broader context of the Catholic church’s history of child sexual abuse.

With the matter concluded the Catholic bishops should end their obsession with Pell and take up their moral responsibility to the victims of church perpetrators and those who obfuscated and concealed on their behalf.

Context is everything and perspective even more so. The Catholic church has a shameful and confronting history of the sexual abuse of children. The royal commission made that clear.

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