ABUSE TRACKER

Click here to hear Bishop James Doerfler comments. Click here to read the AG’s report.

Marquette Catholic Diocese Bishop James Doerfler held a news conference Thursday afternoon to respond to the 154-page report issued by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, which detailed alleged sexual abuse within the Diocese.

Doerfler started his remarks by offering a “sincere apology” to those who have been harmed, adding that the work to “stamp out this great evil must continue.”

To the alleged victims, the Bishop said:

“You are, and should have been, our priority. There is no excuse for what happened to you. It is especially grievous if your voice was not heard. Thank you to those who have courageously come forward to bring light into this darkness.”

The Attorney General report summarized allegations of misconduct against 44 different members of the clergy, dating back to 1950. Some of them are now…

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A new report by the Michigan attorney general’s office identifies dozens of abuse allegations against Catholic priests in the Upper Peninsula.

The report is part of an ongoing state investigation into allegations of sexual abuse involving Catholic priests. In this case, the data stems from a search warrant served on the Diocese of Marquette in 2018 and additional tips.

The report identifies 44 priests for which there were allegations of sexual misconduct against either children or adults since January of 1950. 32 of the priests are known or presumed to be dead. Of the 12 others, two are still involved in active ministry.

Bishop John Doerfler apologized to the victims at a news conference Thursday, saying “words fall short.”

“Even though almost all the abuse in our diocese occurred decades ago, the wounds run very deep and many people are still suffering today,” said Doerfler.

Since the state investigation began,…

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LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel today announced the release of a report by the Department of Attorney General concerning allegations of abuse that took place in the Marquette Catholic Diocese. A video providing an overview of the report is included.

The report was released in the interest of the public and to acknowledge the reports of alleged abuse from victims.  The document is a compilation of the information obtained from the Department of Attorney General tip line, victim interviews, police investigations, open-source media, paper documents seized from the Diocese, and electronic documents found on the Diocesan computers, as well as reports of allegations disclosed by the Diocese.

The list of priests for which there were allegations of sexual misconduct against either children or adults since January 1, 1950, is derived from information gleaned from a search warrant that was executed against the Diocese of Marquette on October 3, 2018.  There…

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Once again, thanks to the intrepid work by Michigan’s Attorney General, we now know much more about the issue of clergy abuse within the state of Michigan. We are grateful to  A.G. Dana Nessel and her team for their transparency and for releasing a report that provides parents, parishioners, and the public with far more detail about the extent of clergy abuse in Marquette than had been provided by Catholic officials.

The report released by A.G. Nessel includes the names and details of 44 priests who worked, lived, or spent time in the Diocese of Marquette. Of those men, 38 were trained, ordained, and employed by the Diocese itself. This report flies in the face of supposed transparency and honesty from Church officials from Marquette, where the names of only eight abusive priests had been released. Just like in Illinois and Pennsylvania, the lists released by Catholic…

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Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the release of a report on accused priests in the Diocese of Marquette issued by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel:

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has issued the most vacuous report, “Diocese of Marquette: A Complete Accounting,” on clergy sexual abuse ever written. We know she has been out to get the Catholic Church, but this effort makes her look incompetent, as well as unethical.

The probe of Catholic dioceses searching for instances of clergy sexual abuse began in 2018 under her predecessor, Bill Schuette; she took the reins in 2019. There has been no attempt to investigate the sexual abuse of minors by ministers, rabbis, imams or school teachers. Just Catholic priests.

This amounts to Catholic profiling. Make no mistake, this is no less invidious than a probe of violent crime would be if it only targeted African Americans. Such a selective…

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[To see a PDF of the statement, click here.]

October 27, 2022

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Words fall short when attempting to speak about something as sobering and disturbing as the report released earlier today by the Office of the Michigan Attorney General concerning its investigation into clergy sexual abuse in the Diocese of Marquette. However, something must be said, and our work to stamp out this grave evil must continue.

On behalf of the Church, I offer a sincere apology to anyone who has been abused by clergy in the Catholic Church. You are, and should have been, our priority. There is no excuse for what happened to you. It is especially grievous if your voice was not heard. Thank you to those who have courageously come forward to bring light to this darkness which has brought about so much harm.

If you have suffered abuse…

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Thursday announced the release of a report from her department concerning allegations of abuse that took place in the Catholic Diocese of Marquette.

The report was released in the interest of the public and to acknowledge the reports of alleged abuse from victims, the attorney general’s office said. The document is a compilation of the information obtained from the Department of Attorney General tip line, victim interviews, police investigations, open-source media, paper documents seized from the diocese and electronic documents found on the diocesan computers, and reports of allegations disclosed by the diocese.

The list of priests for which there were allegations of sexual misconduct against either children or adults since Jan. 1, 1950, is derived from information gleaned from a search warrant that was executed against the Diocese of Marquette on Oct. 3, 2018. There are 44 priests on this list; 38 were…

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Michael F. Whalen, whose 2018 news conference began a sexual abuse scandal in the Buffalo Diocese, called the diocese’s settlement with the state attorney general on Tuesday “a step in the right direction.”

He’s a bit worried, though, that the enhanced child protection and priest monitoring plans mandated in Attorney General Letitia James’ settlement won’t go far enough to keep the diocese honest. The court-ordered monitoring program will last for a period of five years. 

“I just don’t think it goes far enough,” Whalen said in an interview with The Buffalo News. “I think it should be permanent.”

In Nov. 2020, James sued the Buffalo Diocese, along with retired Bishop Richard J. Malone and retired Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz, over their handling of clergy sexual abuse cases.

The civil case accused diocese leaders of protecting more than two dozen priests accused of child…

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The Buffalo Diocese in its settlement Tuesday with the State Attorney General’s Office made no admissions about covering up for priests who had molested children, but agreed to implement enhanced measures to prevent future sex abuse in parishes and schools.

The settlement, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, bans two retired bishops linked to a cover-up of sex abuses from serving in any charitable fiduciary roles in New York, and requires the diocese to follow through for five years on such measures as a program to monitor offending priests.

New York’s AG is alleging diocese leaders protected more than two dozen priests accused of child sexual abuse by not referring their cases to the Vatican.

Attorney General Letitia James said the deal ushers in a “much-needed era of independent oversight and accountability” of the diocese.

“For far too long, the Buffalo Diocese and its leaders…

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Roman Catholic diocese failed its most basic duty to guide and protect children, New York Attorney General Letitia James says

An independent auditor will monitor how the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo handles sexual-abuse allegations as part of a settlement filed Tuesday in federal court with New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The diocese, which declared bankruptcy in February of 2020 after a wave of sexual-abuse lawsuits, also agreed to specific time frames for investigating misconduct claims. The auditor, former FBI official Kathleen McChesney, will be in place for five years. The auditor will prepare and publish an annual report on the diocese’s compliance with its procedures regarding abuse claims.

“For far too long, the Buffalo Diocese and its leaders failed their most basic duty to guide and protect our children,” Ms. James, who sued the Buffalo Diocese in November of 2021, said in a statement.

It is the first…

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Some media reports have claimed that the Buffalo diocese has agreed to “submit to government oversight” as part of the settlement.

The Diocese of Buffalo announced a settlement Tuesday in the lawsuit filed by New York’s attorney general, over the diocese’s handling of clerical sexual abuse allegation.

Some media reports have claimed that the Buffalo diocese has agreed to “submit to government oversight” as part of the settlement.

Is that true? What does the settlement actually say?

The Pillar explains.

What’s been going on in Buffalo

The attorney general’s lawsuit was filed against the diocese in 2020, charging a coverup in more than 20 alleged cases of clerical sexual abuse.

The suit came after a protracted public scandal under the tenure of former diocesan bishop Richard Malone, who resigned from office in December of 2019, a year after a former Buffalo chancery employee leaked diocesan documents to local media on the…

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The Diocese of Buffalo and the New York attorney general’s office have reached a settlement in a 2020 civil lawsuit filed by the state regarding the diocese’s handling of clergy sexual abuse allegations.

Under the agreement, filed Oct. 25 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the diocese is required to implement enhanced child protection measures. It also prohibits two retired bishops alleged to have covered up clergy sexual abuse from holding any fiduciary roles within New York.

“The settlement that the diocese and the New York attorney general have agreed to confirms that the rigorous policies and protocols the diocese has put in place over the past several years are the right ones to ensure that all young people and other vulnerable persons are safe and never at risk of abuse of any kind by a member of the clergy, diocesan employee, volunteer, or member…

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A Catholic priest in central Wisconsin has resigned over allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor that happened several decades ago.

The allegation against Monsignor Mark Pierce, who has been a priest for 26 years, surfaced last week, La Crosse Bishop William Callahan said, adding that Pierce was told of the accusation, placed on a leave of absence and relieved from ministerial duties.

No details about the allegation were released, including when and where it occurred, the La Crosse Tribune reported Wednesday.

Pierce led the St. Michael Parish and the Church of the Resurrection in Wausau. His resignation was announced Sunday in a statement read to churchgoers.

“After many years of neglect, I’m being called to face the wrong I have caused someone by behavior inappropriate for a priest. Facing up to what I have done now is what requires that I resign as your pastor,” Pierce’s…

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France has rejected a request to extradite a priest accused of sexually abusing Indigenous children in Canada’s far north decades ago, Canadian authorities said Wednesday.

Johannes Rivoire, who now lives in a retirement home in Lyon, is the subject of an arrest warrant in Canada for allegedly sexually assaulting a child between 1974 and 1979.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) said Wednesday that France refused the request because its law prohibits extradition of its own citizens, and because “too much time has passed between the events and the charges being laid.”

The latter reason also prevents French authorities from prosecuting Rivoire themselves.

Rivoire, 93, left Canada in 1993 after 33 years as a missionary.

The priest, who has dual nationality, was also the subject of an arrest warrant between 1998 and 2017 for the alleged sexual abuse of three minors. It was never acted upon.

The priest denied…

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The Canadian government said Wednesday that France has denied an extradition request for Johannes Rivoire, a former priest accused of crimes against children in the northern territory of Nunavut.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada made the extradition request for Rivoire, who was in Canada from the early 1960s until 1993 but now lives in France.

Rivoire, who has denied any wrongdoing, is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant after being charged in February with one count of indecent assault on a female. The alleged victim was a child at the time of the offence, which occurred between January 1974 and December 1979.

The prosecution service said in a news release that French authorities denied the extradition request because French law prohibits the extradition of its own citizens and too much time has passed between the events and the charges being laid. The latter issue also prevents French authorities from prosecuting…

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Angeblich musste der Bischof von Créteil aus gesundheitlichen Gründen zurücktreten. Jetzt sind die wahren Gründe bekannt – die Bischöfe schwiegen.

Von einem „Schock für die Gläubigen“ spricht der Vorsitzende der französischen Bischofskonferenz, Erzbischof Éric de Moulins-Beaufort. Ein neuer Missbrauchsskandal erschüttert die französische Kirche, während Präsident Emmanuel Macron am Sonntag nach Rom aufgebrochen ist. Er wird an diesem Montag zu einer Audienz von Papst Franziskus empfangen. Doch die Frage des Umgangs mit sexuellem Missbrauch in der Kirche soll laut Élysée-Palast nicht zur Sprache kommen. Dieses Thema sei bereits beim vorangegangenen Besuch Macrons im Vatikan erörtert worden. Im November 2021 sprach Macron mit dem Papst über den kurz zuvor veröffentlichten Abschlussbericht der Unabhängigen Kommission über sexuellen Missbrauch in der Kirche (Ciase) unter Leitung des ehemaligen Verwaltungsgerichtspräsidenten Jean-Marc Sauvé. Der Bericht beschrieb das „systemische Ausmaß“ sexuellen Missbrauchs und leitete eine Debatte über notwendige Veränderungen ein, um Missstände schnell aufklären und die Opfer schützen…

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44 priests accused of abuse, grooming and misuse of authority

Michigan’s Sexual Assault Hotline is free, anonymous and available 24/7 by calling 1-855-864-2374 or texting 1-866-238-1454.

A detailed report has been released by the Michigan attorney general’s office regarding allegations of sexual abuse that took place in the Marquette Catholic Diocese.

The report includes information from the attorney general’s tipline, interviews with survivors, police investigations, open-source media, paper and electronic documents seized from the diocese and reports of allegations disclosed by the diocese.

Nessel said the report was released in the interest of the public and to acknowledge reports of alleged abuse from survivors.

Nessel provided a statement via video, which you can watch below:

(Can’t see the video? Click here)

Abuse allegations date back to 1950; 44 priests on list

There is a list of priests who have faced allegations of sexual…

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The report names 44 priests who ministered in Marquette who have been accused of abuse since the 1940s. Thirty-three of the 44 priests named in the report are known or presumed to be deceased.

MARQUETTE, Mich. — Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel on Thursday released a report compiling allegations of sexual abuse directed at priests in the Diocese of Marquette, stretching back to the 1940s. 

Nessel said the Oct. 27 document is the first of seven from her office on sexual abuse allegations against priests in each of Michigan’s Catholic dioceses. 

“Since the very start of my term, I pledged to use the resources of my department to ensure that every case of sexual abuse and assault is thoroughly reviewed, and that whenever we are able to pursue justice, we do so relentlessly and aggressively,” Nessel, a Democrat who is running for re-election, said in a video statement…

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Catholics want the role and vocation of women to be tackled urgently, according to a new report that has come out of the synodal listening process.

The landmark synod report says that Catholics repeatedly express the desire for a more welcoming, inclusive Church that eradicates the misuse of power. 

The findings are contained in a 45-page document released by the Holy See’s synod office that summarises the results of the unprecedented listening and dialogue process as part of the global synod. 

“Women remain the majority of those who attend liturgy and participate in activities, men a minority; yet most decision-making and governance roles are held by men,” the report states.

“From all continents comes an appeal for Catholic women to be valued first and foremost as baptised and equal members of the People of God. There is almost unanimous affirmation that women love the Church deeply, but many feel sadness because their…

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[Via Vancouver Island Free Daily]

Under French law, too much time had passed between the events and the charges being laid

The federal government says France has denied an extradition request for a priest accused of crimes against children in Nunavut.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada made the extradition request for Johannes Rivoire, who is in his 90s and lives in Lyon, France.

Rivoire is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant issued in February for a charge of sexual assault that stems from a complaint received last year. The accuser was a child at the time of the alleged offence between 1974 and 1979.

“This news is deeply troubling,” said Aluki Kotierk, president of Nunavut Tunnagavik Inc., which organized a delegation to France to call for the extradition earlier this year.

“It’s difficult to fathom why France continues to harbour a fugitive and refuses to allow one of its citizens…

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A newly released Vatican document for the next phase of Pope Francis’ ongoing consultation process for the world’s Catholics reckons with a number of topics once considered taboo in the Catholic Church, including women’s ordination, LGBTQ relationships, children of priests, sexism and clergy sexual abuse. 

The 45-page document, released on Oct. 27, distills a number of the major themes from listening sessions held with millions of Catholics across the globe over the last year. While the document is careful to note that it is not magisterial church teaching, it is arguably the most comprehensive and candid expression of the Catholic Church’s relationship with the modern world yet released by a Vatican office.  

The document will serve as the framework for the continental phase of the church’s ongoing synod process, which will involve ecclessial gatherings on every continent over the next six months, ahead of View Cache

The Catholic Church’s go-to lawyer for child abuse claims, Richard Leder of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, has engaged top silk Allan Myers, KC, as legal action looms over his exit from the firm.

Leder has been negotiating with the Corrs leadership since the firm alerted church leaders in July that it would no longer handle abuse claims for the archdioceses of Melbourne and Sydney.

This gutted Leder’s practice: about 80 per cent of it was work for the church.

It explains why he is playing hardball on an exit package, given the options outlined by Corrs CEO Gavin MacLaren in an interview with The Australian Financial Review do not seem to be on the table.

MacLaren explained that partners in Leder’s position would be given the opportunity to rebuild their practice in other areas with the firm’s support and a guarantee of income protection for up to three years. He called this “the preferred…

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[See the IICSA report, executive summary, and summary.]

The Catholic Church in England and Wales has said it will “carefully study“ the contents of a national report concerning sexual abuse, which recommends that reporting abuse to the police should be made mandatory, even if perpetrators admit to child abuse while confessing to a priest.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) released its report on Oct. 20 after seven years of investigation and evidence-gathering.

The IICSA examined a number of significant organizations and institutions and concluded that “the investigation into the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales revealed a sorry history of child sexual abuse where abusive priests and members of religious orders and institutions preyed on children for prolonged periods of time.”

When outlining a way forward that might mitigate against further abuse, the report states: “Neither the freedom of religion or belief nor the rights of…

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A former priest accused of sexually assaulting one boy and groping another has been ordered to serve one year in jail after pleading guilty to revised charges. 

Jaime Marin-Cardona, 54, was sentenced Monday to 10 years in jail, suspended after one year, plus five years probation for a risk of injury to child charge and one year in jail for a fourth-degree sexual assault charge.

He will serve his one-year jail sentence at the ​​Bridgeport Correctional Center, according to the state Department of Correction. 

Risk of injury to child is a class C felony and fourth-degree sexual assault is a class A misdemeanor.

Marin-Cardona was originally charged with — and pleaded not guilty to — three counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, three counts of risk of injury to child and three counts of illegal sexual contact after turning himself in to Danbury police on a…

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Public Prosecution Service of Canada says there’s still a ‘reasonable’ chance Rivoire can be prosecuted

France will not extradite a priest facing historical sexual assault charges in Nunavut, but there’s still a chance he could be prosecuted in Canada by other means.

A news release Wednesday from the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) says French authorities denied the extradition request for Johannes Rivoire on Oct. 14.

The extradition request was made by the federal Department of Justice on behalf of the PPSC.

French authorities said there are two reasons the request is being denied.

The first relates to French law — France can’t extradite its own citizens. 

“France has determined that at the relevant time Mr. Rivoire was a citizen of France,” the release said.

The second reason, which also falls under French law, is because “too much time” passed between the events and the charges being laid.

That’s also…

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Parole decision reveals church knew decades ago Jean Pilon abused boys during the 1980s, but merely transferred him to another location.

A former Catholic priest who admitted last year that he sexually abused a dozen students at a school in Rigaud has been granted parole.

A written summary of the decision made by the Parole Board of Canada reveals Jean Pilon, 80, was suspected of having abused other people after he was transferred out of Quebec during the 1980s when allegations of his sexual abuse of boys first surfaced at Collège Bourget in Rigaud.

“Although you do not report any hidden criminality, a community assessment produced in September 2021 with your superior indicates that in order to ‘punish’ you (in connection with abuses committed), you were sent away during the 1980s. You came back to Quebec a few years later because it appears that you continued to commit such gestures…

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The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested a priest accused of molestation for the second time.

The sheriff said a second accuser came forward with accusations of molestation against Patrick Wattigny.

In October 2020, Wattigny was arrested on molestation charges after he was accused of sexually abusing a minor in 2013 while serving as pastor of a Slidell-area church.

In August 2022, a second accuser contacted the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office and told the sheriff of sexual abuse by Wattigny.

The accuser, who is an adult now, said that he was abused by Wattigny while he was an elementary student at a Covington-area Catholic school.

An arrest warrant was issued for Wattigny, and he was booked into the St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center for one count of molestation of a juvenile.

“It is deeply disturbing when an individual in a position of authority uses that position to prey on…

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The Arkansas Baptist State Convention will create a Standing Sexual Abuse Response and Resources Team to assist churches dealing with that type of problem.

The Sexual Abuse Task Force, which was established a year ago to study the issue, had recommended that the team be formed in a report released Tuesday morning.

Voting members, known as messengers, unanimously approved the task force’s recommendations in Hot Springs at the convention’s annual meeting.

Convention President Larry D. White, the pastor of Woodland Heights Baptist Church in Conway, said implementing the changes would be one of his top priorities if he is elected to a second term.

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Former Church of the Highlands pastor Micahn Carter has filed a defamation lawsuit against a woman whose 2021 rape allegation against him, he says, resulted in his loss of employment at Highlands and loss of reputation.

Carter, who denies the rape allegation, filed the lawsuit in July in Jefferson County Circuit Court. He’s asking for $500,000 plus general and punitive damages.

“Accusing somebody of rape is devastating,” said Carter’s attorney, William Bright. “It’s hard to calculate all that is involved in that type of accusation and what the damages are to come from it.”

The complaint alleges Carter also lost “publishing contracts and paid speaking engagements,” and that he suffered “mental anguish” and “humiliation and embarrassment.”

The defendant in the suit is Mary E. Jones of Spokane, Washington. In court records she alleges that on April 29, 2019, Carter sexually assaulted her at…

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The Knox County judge who presided over the trial of a pastor convicted of repeatedly raping his adopted daughter has refused to overturn his ruling. The man’s attorney has filed an appeal.

David Richards was convicted in 2019 on charges including rape, incest and sexual battery by an authority figure. The Knox County Criminal Court trial pitted Richards against his adopted daughter Amber, an adult when the trial started. Knox News typically does not identify victims in sexual abuse cases, but Amber Richards agreed to be named after the trial.

Richards, who was sentenced by Judge Steven Sword to 12 years in prison, sought a new trial. But after a multiday hearing, Sword signaled very clearly he had not been swayed from his belief that Amber Richards told the truth.

Sword reaffirmed Richards’ conviction in a 30-page ruling, but attorney Stephen Ross Jenkins wasted no time by filing an appeal…

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his article discusses sexual assault. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can call RAINN’s national sexual assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 for confidential support. 

LA CROSSE, Wis. — After an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor, a Catholic priest in Wausau has resigned, according to the Diocese of La Crosse.

The abuse happened several decades ago, but most parishioners at Wausau Catholic churches learned of the accusation during the Oct. 23 Sunday worship service, per the diocese. 

The accused Rev. Msgr. Mark Pierce took responsibility for the abuse in a prepared statement.

“After many years of neglect, I am being called to face the wrong I caused someone by behavior inappropriate for a priest,” Pierce said in the statement. “Facing up to what I have done now requires that I resign as your pastor.”

Pierce led congregations at St. Michael and Resurrection churches.

Rev. William Callahan said in…

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A former priest has been arrested on an additional charge for molestation after a second victim came forward in St. Tammany Parish.

Recall in October 2020, Patrick Wattigny was arrested on molestation charges after it was alleged he had sexually abused a minor in 2013 while serving as pastor of a Slidell-area church.

In August 2022, a second victim contacted the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office and disclosed sexual abuse at the hands of Wattigny. The victim, who is an adult now, disclosed that he was abused by Wattigny while he was a elementary student at a Covington-area Catholic school.

Following an investigation, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Wattigny.

He was booked Tuesday (October 25) into the St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center for one count of LRS 14:81.2 Molestation of a Juvenile.

“It is deeply disturbing when an individual in a position of authority uses that position…

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A former Wausau area priest has been accused of sexual misconduct.

Reverend Mark Pierce resigned from his position with St. Michael and Church of the Resurrection, collectively known as the Eastside Parishes, after the allegation arose.

A pastor’s letter dated back to May 2017, features a brief bio written by Pierce introducing himself to the parish. He describes his journey to becoming a priest. Stating he was ordained in 1981 and continued to become an associate priest in Chippewa Falls and Stevens Point. Then later became a pastor at the Newman University Parish at UW-Stevens Point, the Roncelli Newman Parish at UW-La Crosse, and now the Parish of Notre Dame in Chippewa Falls.

Details of the allegation have yet to be relieved but the representative with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said the victim needs justice.

“Victims don’t need prayers they…

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Clergy in the state have no obligation to report child abuse

Nearly 20 years ago, in the aftermath of the Catholic sexual abuse scandal, former Washington state Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson wanted to make sure child sexual abuse could not be hidden so easily by church leaders. 

In Washington, clergy — unlike teachers, physicians and law enforcement — were not listed as mandatory reporters of child abuse or neglect. Dickerson, D-Seattle, introduced a bill that would have changed that. 

“I really wanted to have a law that was as strong as possible that would require clergy to report abuse,” Dickerson tells InvestigateWest today. “And I was concerned about children.” 

But each attempt failed. The closest any version came was in 2005, when a bill that would have compelled clergy to report sexual abuse passed the state House unanimously. However, a watered-down version still couldn’t make it out of a state Senate…

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After a St. Cloud priest was recently released from prison after serving more than two years for sexual misconduct with an adult, one of his victims says the Catholic Diocese of St. Cloud needs to do more to ensure that he will never again serve in the priesthood.

The Rev. Anthony Oelrich was released from the state prison in Lino Lakes on Oct. 17 after serving two-thirds of a 41-month sentence.

Oelrich pleaded guilty in 2019 to one felony count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for being a member of the clergy and having ongoing sexual contact with a woman who’d come to him for spiritual advice. That’s prohibited under Minnesota law, and consent is not a defense.

The 56-year-old Oelrich remains a Catholic priest, although his priestly faculties have been suspended since his 2018 arrest. That means he can’t present himself as a priest, celebrate Mass publicly or wear…

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Buffalo Diocese Required to Comply With Independent Oversight, A First for the New York Catholic Church

Priests Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse Must Agree to Monitoring under Newly Created Priest Supervision Program

New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced a landmark settlement with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo (Buffalo Diocese, the Diocese), resolving a lawsuit filed in November 2020 that alleged the Buffalo Diocese persistently failed to address the child sexual abuse crisis and systematically evaded the very reforms it publicly adopted nearly 20 years ago for investigating, reviewing, and responding to abuse complaints. Instead, the Buffalo Diocese protected accused priests from facing the potential consequences of abuse accusations by quietly removing them from ministry.

The settlement ensures that the Buffalo Diocese will address complaints of clergy sexual abuse appropriately through a comprehensive court-ordered compliance program that is mandated for five years. The settlement also establishes…

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has agreed to submit to sweeping government oversight of its operations in a legal settlement reached on Tuesday with the New York attorney general, Letitia James, resolving a lawsuit that accused the church and its officials of a yearslong cover-up of sexual abuse.

The agreement, which is the first of its kind in New York, includes no financial penalties but instead mandates a series of structural reforms within the diocese, particularly regarding its handling of abuse allegations.

Under the deal, priests who have been credibly accused of abuse will be assigned an independent monitor with law enforcement experience to ensure they comply with a list of restrictions, which include a ban on watching pornography, performing priestly duties and having a post office box.

Those monitors will be overseen by Kathleen McChesney, a former high-ranking F.B.I. official who also led the child protection office at…

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New mapping project supports claims that abusers were sent to tribal communities

WARNING: This story includes disturbing details about boarding schools. If you are feeling triggered, here is a resource list for trauma responses from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition in the U.S. The National Indian Residential School Crisis Hotline in Canada can be reached at 1-866-925-4419.

Nearly half the Jesuit priests or brothers found to be credibly accused of sexual abuse in a 10-state region in the western United States spent time working in Indian schools and missions, according to a new database drawn from Catholic data on abuse.

The new database allows users to track how priests moved within the church and supports allegations that the church used rural tribal communities as dumping grounds for “problem priests,” according to researchers Kathleen Holscher and Jack Downey, who compiled the data.

“It helps us visualize…

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The Catholic Project, an initiative at The Catholic University of America, recently conducted the largest study of Catholic priests in over 50 years. What emerges is a picture of a priesthood that is fraught with distrust.

Twenty years after the U.S. Bishops implemented the Dallas Charter, a nationwide policy for handling accusations of clerical abuse, priests still feel the effects. One of the most compelling problems identified in a landmark survey is the sense on the part of priests that they cannot trust their bishops.

The Catholic Project, an initiative at The Catholic University of America, recently conducted the largest study of Catholic priests in over 50 years. A survey was distributed to 10,000 priests, 3,516 of whom responded. Of those, interviewers conducted in-depth interviews with more than 100 priests. In addition, The Catholic Project surveyed U.S. Bishops, and received responses from 131 of them.

What emerges is a picture of…

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Editor’s note: This story contains data related to sexual assault and misconduct toward minors and adults.

A new database reveals many Jesuit priests accused of sexual abuse worked in tribal communities, including dozens in the Mountain West.

Over the past 70 years, 96 priests of the Jesuits West Province of the Society of Jesus have been credibly accused of sexual abuse. Nearly half of them – 47 priests – spent time on tribal lands.

That’s according to a database called “Desolate Country: Mapping Catholic Sex Abuse in Native America,” which a pair of researchers built from the Catholic Church’s own list of “credible claims of sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult” by priests and brothers across much of the West dating back to 1950.

Kathleen Holscher, an associate professor of religious studies and American studies at the University of New Mexico, is one of the researchers who…

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Observers say Cardinal Woelki’s orthodoxy accounts for the much harsher public criticism he has received, even though his documented mistakes were far less serious than those made by Bishop Bode.

The initial furor over a leading German bishop judged last month in a damning report to have gravely mishandled historical abuse cases quickly died down after he refused to resign — in striking contrast to the ongoing criticism directed against Cardinal Rainer Woelki of Cologne over significantly less serious mistakes. 

The muted reaction to Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabrück and the media and episcopal pressure that continues to be heaped on Cardinal Woelki, despite the Vatican clearing him of wrongdoing in handling sexual-abuse cases, seems even more unjustified when the findings of reports about the diocesan handling of abuse in Osnabrück and Cologne are examined in detail.

An interim report, published Sept. 19 on sexual abuse in the Diocese of…

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has agreed to strengthen its oversight of clergy accused of sexual misconduct to settle a lawsuit brought by New York’s attorney general alleging the church mishandled abuse claims and protected predatory priests, authorities said Tuesday.

The settlement requires the diocese to have a formal program to monitor credibly accused priests and submit to an annual compliance audit by a former FBI official with expertise in clergy sexual abuse, Attorney General Letitia James said.

“For far too long, the Buffalo diocese and its leaders failed their most basic duty to guide and protect our children,” James said in a news release. “In choosing to defend the perpetrators of sexual abuse instead of defending the most vulnerable, the Buffalo diocese and its leaders breached parishioners’ trust and caused many a crisis of faith.”

Buffalo Bishop Michael Fisher said the agreement confirms safety and reporting protocols the…

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Bishop Michel Santier resigned in 2021 after accusations of spiritual abuse but said he was stepping down for health reasons.

The Vatican has received a new report containing allegations against French Bishop Michel Santier, who resigned in 2021 following accusations of spiritual abuse but said publicly that he was stepping down for health reasons.

Archbishop Dominique Lebrun, Santier’s metropolitan archbishop, announced on Oct. 20 that “other people” had come forward claiming that the retired bishop had committed acts against them when they were young adults.

“Yesterday, Wednesday, Oct. 19, after having heard directly from one of these victims, I immediately sent a report to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith via the apostolic nunciature,” the archbishop of Rouen said.

“There is no doubt that the dicastery will conduct a new investigation in the face of revelations that accentuate the seriousness of the facts of which Bishop Michel Santier is…

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Survivors of St Anne’s Indian residential school allege government withheld key evidence in determining compensation for victims

Canada’s supreme court has declined to hear an appeal brought by a group of Indigenous residential school survivors, dealing a major blow to their decade-long fight against federal government over thousands of unreleased documents.

Survivors of St Anne’s Indian residential school had hoped the country’s top court would take their case, which alleges Canada’s federal government withheld crucial evidence in determining compensation for victims of abuse at the school in northern Ontario.

The court did not say why it declined to hear the case, as is standard practice.

But the decision was met with sharp criticism and disbelief by prominent Indigenous voices.

“No words for how horrible this is, how justice is continually denied for St Anne’s Indian Residential School survivors, their families,” the writer Tanya Talaga tweeted. “Canada should have done the…

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The pastor of two Wausau area catholic churches has resigned following allegations he had sexual conduct with a minor several decades ago.

Rev. Msgr. Mark Pierce was a pastor at St. Michael and Resurrection Parishes. On Oct. 23, the congregation at St. Anne’s church was notified of the news as their pastor, Father Tom Lindner opened service with a statement from Bishop William Patrick Callahan. Father Linder opened the service and announced he had some very distressing news to share.

He asked the members of St. Anne’s to pray for their neighbors at St. Michael and Resurrection Parishes.

In a statement from Bishop Callahan Father Lindner read:

“It is with great sadness that I share with you this news that an allegation concerning Monsignor Mark Pierce and sexual misconduct with a minor was received this week. While the misconduct occurred several decades ago, our procedures are clear. And we notified…

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A recent survey of American priests shows the perpetual risk of stress and ‘burnout’

For almost every Catholic family of yesteryear, having a son as a priest, or a daughter as a nun was a source of pride. Why is it that vocations to the Catholic priesthood no longer attract as they once did?

It is a complex question with many answers.

Some of the reasons are demographic: families today are smaller, and parents are reluctant to see an only son (or daughter) pursue a celibate vocation in the Church. After all, the desire for physical posterity is strong everywhere.

Besides, today’s employment opportunities are many and far more attractive than in former times. It used to be that the priest was the only educated person in town and his advice was sought on everything that mattered.  No longer. Many others today, both men and women, are far better educated…

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Police are also probing whether Bishop Thomas Dabre of Pune tried to cover up Father Vincent Pereira’s alleged crime

An Indian Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a boy has surrendered before the police as they began a probe against Bishop Thomas Dabre of Pune for allegedly attempting to cover up the crime.

Father Vincent Pereira, 55, of Pune in the western state of Maharashtra presented himself before the police on Oct 23, ending his nearly month-long efforts to evade arrest. He is alleged to have abused a 15-year-old boy at his parents’ home on Dec. 4 last year.

Police said the priest had been in hiding ever since they booked him on Sept. 30 under India’s stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

A local court on Oct. 21 granted the priest anticipatory bail that prevented police from arresting him while…

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A report last month that a priest in suburban Chicago had been accused of sex abuse after a diocesan review board had found “insufficient reason to suspect” misbehavior has raised questions about the efficacy of these special committees set up to review allegations of sex abuse by Catholic clergy.

For me, it also brought to mind an invitation I received last year to join one of those boards.

The call came from a priest who worked for Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik. The bishop wanted a journalist on the board, the priest explained, and I had done good work in Catholic media.

This request to volunteer my services raised a lot of questions. Like most journalists of my generation (I’m 45), I had reported on clergy sex abuse in the Catholic Church, mostly for The Wall Street Journal. In that sense, I was qualified. I’ve interviewed priests,…

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No lawmakers showed up to their news conference

Child sexual abuse survivors begged Ohio lawmakers last week to eliminate the statute of limitations, but no legislators attended their press conference.

Advocacy group Ohioans for Child Protection say many of them never get justice, adding that Ohio’s statute of limitations actually helps prevent their abusers from being held accountable.

From the age of eight to 10, Paul Neyer was repeatedly sexually abused by his Cincinnati music minister. Thirty-two years later, he began to take his life back.

“It was just unreal, the amount of freedom that came from just saying ‘I was raped,’” Neyer said.

Neyer’s testimony helped convict Geoff Drew, who became a priest, of nine counts of rape, to which the pastor pleaded guilty. Neyer was able to help put him behind bars because he was inside Ohio’s statute of limitations.

The average age a child survivor comes forward…

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An ex-Anglican priest convicted of sexually abusing boys in his parishes and the London-region diocese that once employed him face a $4.1-million lawsuit from an abuse survivor.

David Norton, who was sentenced to a total of 13 years in prison for abusing boys at two London-area congregations, and his former employer, the Incorporated Synod of the Diocese of Huron, are being sued by one of the victims from the 2018 trial where the ex-priest was convicted of indecent assault and sexual assault.

The plaintiff, identified only as J.R.C.K. in the statement of claim, is seeking $4.1 million in damages, including $250,000 for mental distress and $1 million in punitive damages, money awarded by the court to punish the defendants and deter similar conduct in the future.

“The relationship that Norton developed with the plaintiff, under the guise of a priest-parishioner relationship, allowed Norton an opportunity to be alone with the…

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The Archdiocese of Tuguegarao on Monday, Oct. 24, said it will cooperate with authorities investigating the case of a priest accused of sexual abuse in Cagayan.

In a statement, the archdiocese said Fr. Karole Reward Israel is currently not allowed to perform his priestly duties.

“Fr. Karole Reward Israel of a parish in Solana town was ‘excused’ from his priestly duties as the probe is ongoing. The archdiocese will fully cooperate with the prosecution service towards the conduct of an unbiased preliminary investigation and will also extend its assistance to our priest,” it added.

National Bureau of Investigation agents arrested the priest on Oct. 18 for allegedly abusing a 16-year-old girl.

Charges of sexual harassment, qualified seduction, violence against women and children, violation of anti-photo and video voyeurism law, and child abuse have been filed against Israel before the Tuguegarao City Prosecutor’s Office.

The archdiocese assured that it will provide…

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Dozens of people rallied Sunday on the steps of St. Sabina Church in support of its pastor, Father Michael Pfleger.

Earlier this month, Pfleger stepped aside from the ministry after a new claim of sexual abuse of a minor that allegedly happened back in the 1980s.

RELATED: St. Sabina parishioners push back against allegation Father Michael Pfleger sexually abused child

Fr. Pfleger released a statement proclaiming his innocence.

Those gathered at the rally, including the Reverend Jesse Jackson, want the Archdiocese of Chicago to expedite its investigation and return Fr. Pfleger to ministry as soon as possible.

READ: Father Pfleger’s Full Statement:

Statement by Fr. Michael Pfleger

READ: Full letter from the Archdiocese of Chicago to St. Sabina Parish

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Nearly half the Jesuit priests or brothers found to be credibly accused of sexual abuse in a 10-state region in the western United States spent time working in Indian schools and missions, according to a new database drawn from Catholic data on abuse.

The new database allows users to track how priests moved within the church and supports allegations that the church used rural tribal communities as dumping grounds for “problem priests,” according to researchers Kathleen Holscher and Jack Downey, who compiled the data.

“It helps us visualize these clusters of abuse,” said Holscher, an associate professor of religious studies and American studies at the University of New Mexico. “We created a database that let us track how each priest moved over the course of his career.”

The database, ”Desolate Country: Mapping Catholic Sex Abuse in Native America,” provides public access to records dating back to 1950 of…

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A victim of child sexual abuse while he was an altar boy says children are still at risk and the Catholic church must do more to protect them.

The individual was abused by Father John Tolkien, a priest in charge of a church in Stoke-on-Trent.

He gave evidence to an independent inquiry which calls for the prosecution of those who work with children who do not report child sexual abuse.

The abuse at 11 years old “completely ruined my life”, he said.

The victim, who wishes to go by the name of Daniel, said he had kept quiet about his abuse for 50 years “which was horrible”.

“It’s getting somebody to believe, that was the first step, and now I want to try and help other people because there are more [victims] out there,” he added.

Father Tolkien, the son of novelist JRR Tolkien, had manipulated him, he said, by…

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The Hadapsar Police booked Father Vincent Pereira for allegedly sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy at the latter’s home on December 4 last year. The First Information Report (FIR) was registered on the basis of a formal complaint lodged by social activist Maruti Bhapkar, and was transferred to the Kondhwa Police.

A priest who worked at a prominent English medium school in Pune and was booked on September 30 under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) for alleged sexual abuse of a minor boy, was granted bail by a Pune court on Friday.

The Hadapsar Police booked Father Vincent Pereira for allegedly sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy at the latter’s home on December 4 last year. The First Information Report (FIR) was registered on the basis of a formal complaint lodged by social activist Maruti Bhapkar, and was transferred to the Kondhwa Police.

The FIR stated that Father…

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Leicester – A new report in the United Kingdom is recommending legislation that will mandate the reporting of child abuse, and specifically says no exemptions should be given for sacramental confession, which could lead to a clash with a central tenet of Catholic teaching.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in England and Wales was announced by the British government in 2014 to examine how the country’s institutions handled their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse.

The final report of the inquiry recommended that people be required to go to the authorities “when they either receive a disclosure of child sexual abuse from a child or perpetrator, or witness a child being sexually abused,” adding that a “failure to report in those circumstances should be a criminal offence.”

Furthermore, it said mandatory reporting “should be an absolute obligation; it should not be subject to exceptions…

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The Archdiocese of Chicago for the first time has posted the names of credibly accused sex-offender priests from multiple Catholic religious orders — with many unexplained omissions.

Several years after Cardinal Blase Cupich began cracking down on religious orders to report their sexually abusive clergy members who preyed on minors, the Archdiocese of Chicago has added dozens of order priests to its online posting of predatory clergy.

But Cupich is still keeping secrets on clergy sex abuse of minors, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found.

Even though the archdiocese instantly nearly doubled the size of its list of clergy deemed to have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children, there are significant gaps in what’s been added.

Those include the omissions of some clergy members whose orders deemed them to have molested children or who were the subject of lawsuits over predatory sexual acts that church officials settled. Among them:

…

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Dr Rocío Figueroa Alvear is an abuse survivor and Catholic theologian who has done extensive research into sexual harm in the Catholic Church.

OPINION: The crisis of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is not just about perpetrators and victims. It’s not a case of a few bad apples preying on the vulnerable.

As a Catholic theologian and abuse survivor who has researched sexual harm within the church, I know it’s much more than that – it’s about an entire structure that has enabled the abuse to continue.

On the one hand, we have the silence, the mishandles, the cover-ups – those in the hierarchy who would prefer to protect perpetrators and the “image” of the church than defend survivors – and on the other, we have an unhealthy culture that has perpetuated the abuse.

The testimonies from survivors at the Royal Commission of Inquiry Into Abuse in Care have revealed that many…

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For seven years, a UK inquiry has examined child sexual abuse and heard from victims. The results should shame us into action

As the report of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) delivers its findings, seven years in the making, the numbers alone are incredibly hard to confront: 79% of the thousands of victims and survivors who gave testimony were under 11 when the sexual abuse started. Children with disabilities and those who were already neglected were exploited disproportionately – a chilling insight into predatory behaviour: how it takes the very quality of vulnerability that should engender empathy and protection, and opportunistically exploits it instead.

Yet it is in hearing the voices of these victims and survivors that you begin to understand the vast and pressing duty this inquiry creates, a duty of root and branch change in how children are perceived, cared for and protected, and alongside that a…

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The findings of a seven and a half year process must lead to rapid action. The price of past mistakes has been huge suffering

Seven and a half years after it began, the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse has delivered its final report. The testimony of victims, said Prof Alexis Jay, was “almost unbearable” to witness. The stories uncovered have been of limitless cruelty, deviousness and negligence. The inquiry’s course has been rough. When she was appointed in 2015, Prof Jay was the fourth person in the job. Some survivors and lawyers withdrew their cooperation from a process they saw as an establishment stitch-up. But a vast amount of evidence was presented, including by 6,200 victims and survivors. The findings must now be confronted.

These include vicious behaviour by many individuals including priests, teachers and foster carers. But the reason why child sexual abuse became the scandal that it did…

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A study of U.S. priests released Oct. 19 details clerics’ “crisis of trust” toward their bishops as well as fear that if they were falsely accused of abuse, prelates would immediately throw them “under the bus” and not help them clear their name.

The study “Well-being, Trust and Policy in a Time of Crisis” by The Catholic Project, written by Brandon Vaidyanathan, Christopher Jacobi and Chelsea Rae Kelly, of The Catholic University of America, paints a portrait of a majority of priests who feel abandoned by the men they are supposed to trust at the helm of their dioceses.

And while the study says priests overwhelmingly support measures to combat sex abuse and enhance child safety, the majority, 82%, also said they regularly fear being falsely accused. Were that to happen, they feel they would face a “de facto policy” of guilty until proven innocent.

The study, unveiled at The…

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Child sex abuse is epidemic in Britain, affecting millions of victims, and those who work with young people should be prosecuted if they fail to report it, a seven-year public inquiry concluded on Thursday.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) said institutions and politicians had prioritised reputations over the welfare of young people, meaning horrific acts were hidden away for decades, while there were still inadequate protection measures in place.

The inquiry, one of the largest and most expensive investigations of its kind ever undertaken in Britain, said the issue was a global crisis, where children would be at risk unless urgent action was taken.

“The nature and scale of the abuse we encountered was shocking and deeply disturbing,” its chair Alexis Jay, a social care expert, told reporters. “This is not just a historical aberration which happened decades ago, it is an ever-increasing problem and a national…

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[See the IICSA report, executive summary, and summary.]

Leicester – A government-established inquiry into sexual abuse says priests should be legally required to report abuse, even if it means violating the seal of confession.

The final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in England and Wales was issued on Oct. 20, after a years-long investigation into abuse in institutional settings.

The IICSA had previously published separate reports on different Catholic institutions, including the Catholic Church as a whole, the country’s Benedictine Congregation and the Archdiocese of Birmingham.

IICSA was not limited to the Catholic Church and also released reports on the Anglican Church and civil institutions.

The 2020 IICSA report on the Catholic Church didn’t make any specific recommendations about mandatory reporting and the seal of confession, saying it would form part of the Inquiry’s final report.

In the final report, the authors recommended that a person…

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[See the IICSA report, executive summary, and summary.]

The Catholic Church in England and Wales has offered an “unreserved apology” to all sexual abuse victims who have suffered in the Church, following the publication of an independent inquiry released Thursday.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published a report on child sex abuse in England and Wales on Oct. 20.

The report scrutinises the handling of abuse cases through a national lens and focuses in detail on several institutions and organizations, including the Catholic Church, concluding that “The investigation into the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales revealed a sorry history of child sexual abuse where abusive priests and members of religious orders and institutions preyed on children for prolonged periods of time.”

The report goes on to note that the Church has failed to support victims, while at the same time taking “positive action” to protect perpetrators…

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Ohio needs laws that do a better job protecting children from sex predators who victimize them, according to activists who traveled to Columbus and held a news conference Thursday inside the statehouse to call out lawmakers.

These activists include Paul Neyer, the man who came forward in 2019 to press charges against a priest in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Father Geoff Drew, and one of his classmates from St. Jude School, where the rapes occurred, Rebecca Surendorff.

This is Neyer’s second trip to our state’s capitol this year to lobby for a state law change to give victims more time to take civil and/or criminal action against their abusers.

Neyer is coming out with his story again and again as he tries to be a part of the change he says is needed to prevent more kids like him from being victimized.

He confronted Drew in court at his sentencing…

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[See the IICSA report, executive summary, and summary.]

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has today (20 October 2022) published its concluding Report,

which requires urgent action to ensure children are better protected from sexual abuse. It contains 20 recommendations to the government and other institutions. Media material including press release, photos and videos can be accessed from our media pack.

The Report comprises two parts. The first, Victims and Survivors’ Voices, reflects the accounts of over 7,000 victims and survivors who participated in the Inquiry’s work. The second part is The Inquiry’s Conclusions and Recommendations for Change.

The publication of this concluding Report follows:

• 325 days of public hearings with 725 witnesses 
• Nearly 2.5 million pages of evidence processed
• publication of the Interim report, 19 investigation reports, 24 research reports and eight engagement reports
• Eight seminars
• Over 6,200 victim and survivor experiences shared with the Truth Project
• 87…

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[See the IICSA report, executive summary, and summary.]

Inquiry publishes final report, concluding its investigation into 15 institutions 

Mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse must be enforced by UK law to protect the 13 million children in England and Wales from the “vile and degrading” abuse found within institutions across the country, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has concluded.

Its final report, which includes 19 other recommendations and covers all 15 of its investigations into institutional child abuse across the UK, was published on Thursday.

The executive summary describes child abuse as a “global crisis” which has been exacerbated in recent decades by the internet — the regulation of which is a key concern in the report. “The devastation and harm caused by sexual abuse cannot be overstated — the impact of child sexual abuse, often lifelong, is such that everyone must do all they can to protect…

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Highlights from the National Study of Catholic Priests

On October 19, 2022, The Catholic Project released highlights from the largest study of Catholic priests in over 50 years. 

This study involved a census of bishops; a survey of 10,000 priests (3516 responses); and in-depth interviews of over 100 priests.

Priests on the whole are doing well, they report significant levels of well-being. However, younger priests display signs of ministry burnout, and diocesan priests are doing less well than those who belong to religious orders. Priests find significant support from their lay friends.

When it comes to trust, there is a broad range of answers to the question, “Do you trust your bishop?” Priests who trust their bishop report higher levels of well-being on all measures, so this is significant.

Priests are supportive of the policies the Church has implemented to combat abuse. However, they are concerned about false allegations and being…

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Eighty-two percent of Catholic priests in the U.S. fear being falsely accused of sex abuse, according to a study released Wednesday by researchers at the Catholic University of America.

The survey, which the university says is the largest of its kind in more than 50 years, also found that only 51% of diocesan priests in the U.S. think their bishops would support them if they were falsely accused of abuse, and only 36% think their diocese would provide them with sufficient resources to defend themselves in court.

Only 24% of all U.S. priests surveyed expressed confidence in the decision-making and leadership of the U.S. bishops in general. 

The study comes 20 years after U.S. bishops adopted a “zero-tolerance” policy in response to sex abuse, requiring permanent removal of a priest from ministry after a single act of sex abuse of a minor. The study found that 40% of priests think…

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The Diocese of Lansing in a statement said that a priest who the Michigan Attorney General declined to prosecute for having sex with a minor was found to have done so during a separate church investigation.

The priest, Shaun Lowery, served at Brighton’s St. Mary Magdalen parish from 2019 to 2021.

In the diocese statement, spokesman for the Diocese of Lansing David Kerr said: “Father Lowery engaged in immoral sexual acts, grievously violated his vow of celibacy, and gave scandal to the young persons involved in this case, as well as to the wider church. We offer prayer and penance for all who have been adversely affected by Father Lowery, especially the young person with whom he engaged in immoral sexual acts.”

According to the Oct. 13 statement, he has requested to be laicized, or removed from the priesthood. Lowery resigned as pastor of St. Mary Magdalen parish in April…

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Prolific paedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale has been sentenced for the sexual abuse of two boys in western Victoria in the 1980s. 

Key points:

• Gerald Francis Ridsdale has been sentenced for the seventh time 
• Ridsdale pleaded guilty to 13 charges relating to the sexual abuse of two boys in the early 1980s
• The 88-year-old has previously admitted to dozens of charges relating to the abuse of 71 individuals

The 88-year-old appeared in the Warrnambool County Court on Wednesday afternoon via video link from Hopkins Correctional Centre in Ararat. 

Ridsdale pleaded guilty in July to 13 charges relating to the sexual abuse of two teenage boys in 1981 and 1982, when they were aged under 16. 

Ridsdale’s offending happened in the town of Mortlake, where he held the office of parish priest at the time.

Prosecution documents showed Ridsdale, then aged in his late 40s, told one of his young victims during a sexual assault…

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A serial pedophile former priest will likely die in prison after his earliest release date was extended to 2027.

Gerald Francis Ridsdale, who has sexually assaulted dozens of child victims, was sentenced in the Victorian County Court on Wednesday for his repeated attacks on two brothers.

Between 1981 and 1982, the then-parish priest attacked one of the brothers at their family home near Mortlake, in western Victoria, urging the teenager not to be a “spoilt brat” and saying he wouldn’t be believed if he told anyone.

On another occasion, Ridsdale told the teenager words to the effect of “look what you made me do”.

The now 88-year-old went on to rape the boy’s brother several times, once while the victim was in a church confessional box.

Ridsdale also assaulted the boy when he stayed overnight at a presbytery.

Years on, both brothers said in victim impact statements that they turned…

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It may sound obvious or easy, but if someone wants to know how good a sports team is, there are ways to define it. One could look at its win-loss record to get a rough sense of how good the team is overall. To narrow that down some, one could then see how good a baseball player might be by looking at his batting average. To get a rough sense of how good a pitcher might be, one could look at his earned run average (basically how many times opposing teams scored when he was on the mound). But when it comes to defining how “good” a Catholic bishop is, specifically when it comes to abuse, how does one evaluate it? There are many factors to consider, but we at Horowitz Law suggest that start by looking at his ‘credibly accused’ clerics list. Bishops have considerable freedom to make…

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Students in religious public schools in Israel are at a higher risk of sexual harassment and assault than any other of the Jewish education streams, a new study examining cases of sexual abuse from the religious Zionist sector by the Ne’emanei Torah Va’avodah movement has found.

“[These results] are a first step in the necessary in-depth discussions that oblige us to fight this phenomenon, recognize it, and to wake up from the illusion that a separated society [of men and women] is a guarantee of preventing harm.” Ne’emanei Torah Va’avodah’s Shmuel Shatach

Researcher Ariel Finkelstein analyzed the scope and profile of sexual abuse victims in Israeli local authorities’ social services departments in 2020, by sector or stream.

In Israel, there are a number of educational streams: Secular public school (Mamlachti), religious public school (Mamlachti Dati) and ultra-Orthodox schools, which are either private or semi-private.

The distribution…

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Nassau County jurors awarded $30 million to a man who claimed he was sexually molested as a child by his fifth-grade teacher in Rockville Centre decades ago. 

We applaud Michael Malvin, the victim who bravely shared his truth for justice. We hope this result brings him some sorely needed and long-overdue comfort and closure. There is no doubt he has inspired others. We also hope this encourages other victims seeking justice to stay the course and hold those responsible, accountable for their grievous actions.

During the trial, Mr. Malvin told the jury that David Savage molested him three times beginning in 1979 when he was ten years old. It lasted until 1983, according to Malvin. Malvin agreed to be recognized by his lawyer.

To us, the resolve, in this case, shows how victims’ voices can stand up against the odds. This case would not be possible if…

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After her mother died when Rosalie Whirlwind Soldier was just four years old, she was put into a Native American boarding school in South Dakota and told her native Lakota language was “devil’s speak.”

She recalls being locked in a basement at St. Francis Indian Mission School for weeks as punishment for breaking the school’s strict rules. Her long braids were shorn in a deliberate effort to stamp out her cultural identify. And when she broke her leg in an accident, Whirlwind Soldier said she received shoddy care leaving her with pain and a limp that still hobbles her decades later.

“I thought there was no God, just torture and hatred,” Whirlwind Soldier testified during a Saturday event on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation led by U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, as the agency confronts the bitter legacy of a boarding school system that operated in the U.S. for more than…

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The grounds of a former Native American boarding school in Kansas will be searched to determined if any Indigenous children were buried there, state officials said.

The Kansas Historical Society, which owns the site in Fairway, is contracting with the University of Kansas Center for Research to conduct a ground-penetrating radar survey of the 12 acres (nearly 5 hectares) to search for unmarked graves, The Kansas City Star reported.

The current Shawnee Indian Mission historical site was one of hundreds of schools run by the government and religious groups in the 1800s and 1900s. Thousands of Native American children were forcibly taken from their homes and placed in such schools, with a goal of assimilating them into white American culture and Christianity.

The U.S. Interior Department announced last year that it was investigating the nation’s treatment of Native American children at the boarding schools. A federal report released…

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Father Michael Pfleger, a popular Chicago priest and outspoken advocate against gun violence, gangs, poverty and racism, has stepped aside from his ministry after the Chicago Archdiocese said it received an allegation that the priest had sexually abused a minor more than 30 years ago.

Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich announced the decision in an Oct. 15 letter to Father Pfleger’s parishioners at the Faith Community of St. Sabina in Chicago.

The 73-year-old priest has led the historically African American parish since 1981 and is currently its senior pastor.

The priest strongly denied the accusation, which comes on the heels of a similar accusation against him in January 2021 where he also temporarily stepped aside from his ministry until an archdiocesan review found “insufficient reason” to suspect the priest was guilty of abuse allegations said to have taken place 40 years ago.

Father Pfleger was reinstated at his parish in…

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Priests in Steubenville have asked Ohio’s bishops to reconsider a plan to merge their diocese.

Bishop Jeff Monforton says a plan to merge the Diocese of Steubenville into its larger neighbor could become a template for the merger of other small, struggling U.S. dioceses.

But more than a dozen priests of the diocese have signed a letter asking Ohio’s bishops to reconsider their support for a plan to merge Steubenville with the Diocese of Columbus. The priests say that Steubenville’s problems are overstated, and won’t be solved by a merger.  

Steubenville priests and a former diocesan employee told The Pillar that the Ohio diocese has been badly mismanaged by Monforton, and needs concrete changes and new leadership, not a merger.

The Pillar has learned that Monforton is facing a Vatican-ordered investigation into his handling of sexual abuse allegations, while some clerics have said the bishop’s management of serious financial and personnel issues…

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Guess what actors Mel Gibson, Spike Lee, John Cusack, and politicians Rudy Guiliani and former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb have in common. This grouping may seem like an odd bunch, but each of these prominent men has publicly defended a credibly accused predator priest. That’s right – they have publicly defended alleged child molesting clerics. Why? In each situation, the accused priest is or has been a friend to the celebrity and/or shares the celebrity’s ideological bent.

They apparently don’t understand that many child molesters:

• are charming and personable
• perform well on the job and in the public arena
• come in all stripes, sizes, and types 
• can’t be ‘detected’ through mere observation or by the naked eye, no matter how smart we think we are or how savvy we believe our ‘gut instincts might be. 

In so many cases of child sex abuse and cover-ups, we seem to let our emotions overtake our knowledge and…

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During an Oct. 16 Mass at St. Sabina Faith Community in Chicago, Father Tom Walsh read a letter to the congregation from Cardinal Blase Cupich. The letter bore the news that Father Michael Pfleger, a social activist and pastor at the parish, had been accused of sexually abusing a minor more than 30 years ago.

As he completed reading the cardinal’s letter, Walsh conspicuously crushed the paper into a wad. 

“Oops, sorry,” he said wryly, to a smattering of cheers and applause.

Walsh then invited Kimberly Lymore, an associate minister at the parish, to read a statement from the accused priest, in which Pfleger complained that “the process of the archdiocese today is that a priest is presumed guilty until proven innocent.” 

The Oct. 15 announcement from the archdiocese marks the second time in two years that Pfleger has faced suspension because of a historic…

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The former administrator of the Clergy Assurance Fund, a nonprofit insurance corporation that has served the families of Episcopal clergy in Pennsylvania for centuries, is under investigation after a forensic audit found he misappropriated more than $1.4 million from the fund.

The allegations against John Miller, who served as executive director and treasurer until March 2022, were first detailed publicly in an Oct. 13 report by The Living Church. Internal documents cited by The Living Church and later obtained by media show that Miller initially drew suspicion when improper credit card charges were found totaling more than $20,000.

When the fund’s Audit Committee chair confronted Miller about the improper charges in March, Miller said he mistakenly thought the charges were allowed by fund policy, and he chose to retire rather than face termination, according to a summary of the case provided to the fund’s board by Vice President…

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Following a recent U.S. preaching tour, disgraced Hillsong founder Brian Houston and his wife, Bobbie, have returned to Australia—and are apparently attempting a comeback.

On November 9, the celebrity ministry couple has planned “An Evening with Bobbie and Brian,” billed as a time of connection, fellowship, preaching from Brian Houston, and prayer. The event will be held at Pioneer Theatre in Sydney—located about three miles from Hillsong’s flagship campus in the city’s Hills District, where the Houstons founded the global megachurch in 1983. 

In a Tuesday social post, Brian Houston announced that “all the tickets were gone in less than 2 hours!” and a second, earlier time has been added. Noting that the event will be live-streamed online, the event summary concludes: “Great things start with small beginnings!” 

A recent Instagram post suggests one purpose of the event. “We miss the congregation at Hillsong Church enormously…

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Although public information on The Lodge Retreat Center has lessened since the public announcement in September 2021, updated photos shared with MinistryWatch show that construction is underway on Alabama’s Church of the Highlands Grants Mill campus.

The Lodge, funded by the church’s Legacy donations, is a $4.5 million retreat center where pastors, leaders, and their families will be, according to an original pamphlet, “mentored, counseled, refreshed, and restored.” The program is the vision of Highlands Senior Pastors Chris Hodges and Dino Rizzo. Both are co-founders of the Association of Related Churches (ARC).

The project sparked concern over how Highlands and ARC reinstate morally-fallen pastors to the pulpit with seemingly minimal consequences. Some questioned whether the goal to extend forgiveness and redemption to fallen leaders would result in The Lodge becoming a “safe place” to harbor and enable unrepentant sin.

A former staff…

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As Agape Boarding School pushes to delay a hearing over abuse allegations until next summer, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in a new court filing that a trial should start next month so no more children are harmed.

“Thirty-seven days have now passed since the State initiated action against Agape,” said the motion, filed Friday in Cedar County Circuit Court. It said the AG’s office would be ready to proceed by Nov. 15. “Yet still the State has not been allowed to present evidence or obtain relief for the children at Agape.

“The children at Agape have been forced to stay 37 days longer than they should have around the Agape staffers who have abused them or their fellow students in the past.”

The state also asked for current students to be interviewed off-site by forensic specialists.

The motion came after Agape’s attorney, John Schultz, proposed that a hearing…

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New revelations that the Vatican quietly sanctioned Bishop Michel Santier to a life of prayer and penance last year have caused a stir in a French Church already in deep crisis

The Catholic Diocese of Créteil (France) has confirmed on Friday October 14 that its former bishop, Michel Santier, had been credibly accused of sexual abuse in late 2019, leading to his retirement more than a year later, in January 2021, at the age of 73. Catholic bishops normally submit their resignations at 75.

The news left people of the diocese, which is located in the southern suburbs of metropolitan Paris, surprised and saddened. A press release from Bishop Dominique Blanchet, Créteil’s current ordinary, was read out at all Masses over the weekend indicating that “two people revealed that in the 1990s they were subjected” by his predecessor “to acts of such a nature as to bring the matter before…

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Evêque de Créteil depuis 2007, Mgr Santier a démissionné en 2021. Il avait reconnu s’être adonné à du voyeurisme sur deux jeunes majeurs dans les années 90.

Le blâme avait été donné en toute discrétion. Parti à la retraite en 2021, l’ancien évêque de Créteil Michel Santier a été sanctionné il y a un an par le Vatican pour des faits de voyeurisme dans les années 1990. Mgr Dominique Blanchet, l’évêque qui lui a succédé l’an dernier, a confirmé dans un communiqué vendredi soir cette information révélée plus tôt par l’hebdomadaire Famille chrétienne : Mgr Santier «a été sanctionné il y a un an par Rome pour des abus spirituels ayant mené à du voyeurisme sur deux hommes majeurs». Autant de faits que le principal intéressé a reconnus.

Ils ont été commis dans le cadre d’un accompagnement spirituel, selon son entourage. Les deux victimes n’ont pas souhaité porter plainte, ajoute cette même source….

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