ABUSE TRACKER

More victims are coming forward after the arrest of a Texas youth pastor on multiple charges related to child molestation, police say.

Police in Mesquite, just east of Dallas, announced Monday they had arrested Conner “Jesse” Penny on accusations he had sexual contact multiple times from 2015-2018 with a girl under 17 years old.

Penny, 32, was youth pastor at Inspiration Church, a Southern Baptist church in Mesquite, at the time of his arrest last Thursday, police stated in a press release. He had also worked for the local schools and in the city of Mesquite’s after-school program, according to police.

He’s being held on felony charges of continuous sexual abuse of a child under age 14, indecency with a child, and aggravated sexual assault of a child, according to Dallas County Jail records. Total bond has been set at $2.5…

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Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, president of the German bishops’ conference, responded Thursday to a letter warning the country’s synodal path could lead to schism by defending the process as a response to abuses in the Church.

“The Synodal Path is our attempt in Germany to confront the systemic causes of the abuse and its cover-up that has caused untold suffering to so many people in and through the Church,” Bishop Bätzing wrote April 14 to Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver. The German bishop’s letter was published April 16 at the German bishops’ conference website.

More than 80 bishops from around the world, including Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, signed an April 11 open letter sent by Archbishop Aquila that warned sweeping changes to church teaching advocated by the synodal path may lead to schism.

The Synodal Path is a process that brings together German lay people and Catholic bishops…

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A welcome and heartfelt apology for Catholics’ role in the country’s abusive residential school system.

Pope Francis has asked for forgiveness for the Roman Catholic involvement with Canada’s residential school system. His heartfelt contrition may bring some reconciliation for the indigenous people affected by this disturbing part of my country’s history and the many Canadians frustrated, saddened and embarrassed by it.

The gesture was long awaited by indigenous leaders and came after an intense week of discussions between Pope Francis and First Nations, Inuit and Métis delegations. Before an audience that included 200 bishops as well as indigenous delegates and their supporters in the Clementine Hall of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, on April 1 the pontiff expressed “sorrow and shame for the role that a number of Catholics, particularly those with educational responsibilities, have had in all these things that wounded you, and the abuses you suffered and the lack…

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“When I live a Eucharist-centered life,” says the Bishop of Crookston, Minnesota, “I can offer my struggles and difficulties in union with Jesus to the Father, and my daily life can be part of the redemption of the world.”

Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens, 53, is the Bishop of Crookston, Minnesota. He grew up in Denver, Colorado, the youngest of three children in a devout Catholic family. His father was an aerospace engineer and his mother a school teacher.

He is a graduate of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. He was active in the pro-life organization Operation Rescue, and was arrested seven times and jailed for two weeks for physically blocking access to abortion clinics. He was also a missionary with NET ministries and is currently chairman of its board of directors. During his time as a missionary, the future…

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[From the Greenwood Commonwealth]

A former Franciscan friar convicted of sexually abusing a Greenwood grade-school student in the 1990s will have no chance at parole, according to the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office.

Paul West, 62, was found guilty by a Leflore County jury Wednesday of one count of sexual battery and one count of gratification of lust for preying on  La Jarvis Love when Love was a student at St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School. West was a teacher and later principal at the school.

“Sexual abuse of a child is a heinous crime that deserves serious punishment,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch in a statement. “Children looked up to this man as a teacher and a priest. They trusted him and he failed them in every way. My Office will always work tirelessly to protect and defend the vulnerable from predators like this.”

West was a Franciscan brother, not a…

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[From the Greenwood Commonwealth]

This is not an uplifting Easter story. It’s more of the Good Friday variety, when mankind’s worst instincts are on display, prompting feelings of anger, betrayal and profound sadness.

Following former Franciscan friar Paul West’s conviction this past week by a Leflore County jury, I received a call from Arthur Baselice Jr., a retired Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, police detective who now lives in New Jersey.

He had been following the case of West, who was convicted and given what amounts to a life sentence for sexually abusing La Jarvis Love in the 1990s, when Love was a student at St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School and West was a teacher and later principal.

Around the same time that West was preying on Love and allegedly two of Love’s cousins, another friar from the same Wisconsin-based Franciscan province was allegedly abusing Baselice’s son and namesake, Arthur Baselice III.

…

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This could be the very last Easter Sunday service in some Roman Catholic churches in Newfoundland, but a local priest is putting this Easter in perspective.

Father Paul Lundrigan of Holy Trinity in Torbay says some parishes, including his, are grappling with the legal obligations to the victims of abuse at Mount Cashel orphanage, while trying to find a way forward in the practice of their faith.

He says it is a time of great reflection, but as COVID and other world events have taught them, there are strengths within the Church family, and the faith can survive without buildings as history has already proven.

The early Christians were ostracized and practiced their faith in homes and other places.

Lundrigan says the faith survived like that for a long time, which sends the message that it’s the gathering that matters, not where it happens.

Lundrigan also draws inspiration from the strength…

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The revelation that a priest’s debts were repaid from a fund to compensate sex abuse victims has prompted outrage in Cologne’s Catholic community.

Catholics in the archdiocese of Cologne on Saturday expressed shock that the church had paid more than €1 million to clear the private debts of a priest.

The news provoked particular outrage as it emerged that the money came from a compensation fund for the victims of sexual abuse, who have so far received only a small fraction of the amount used for the priest’s debt.

What are the revelations?

As far as has become known so far, the diocese initially paid almost €500,000 ($540,000) for the priest to clear his gambling debts.

Since the money was apparently not taxed correctly, a total of €650,000 in income tax, including interest, had to be paid in arrears. The money was said to have been paid from a social fund…

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With the strike of a gavel, Indonesia’s controversial sexual violence bill has been passed into law by parliament.

As legislators took to their feet on Tuesday to applaud the passage of the long-awaited bill, House Speaker Puan Maharani appeared visibly moved.

The legislation was “a gift for all Indonesian women,” she said.

The bill, known as RUU TPKS, has been a long time coming.

First proposed in 2012, it faced stiff opposition from conservative groups who argued over everything from its name to the contents of the law itself, requiring repeated revisions in an effort to ease its passage.

Elizabeth Ghozali, a lecturer in criminal law at Santo Thomas Catholic University in the city of Medan, told Al Jazeera that the bill was a landmark piece of legislation that finally puts the rights of victims first.

“Previously, Indonesian law was only focused on punishment in sexual violence cases. That was seen as…

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Arizona victims of long-ago child sex abuse can proceed with lawsuits against groups like the Boy Scouts of America after the state Supreme Court rejected claims that a state law extending victims’ right to sue was unconstitutional.

Arizona is among many states that have reacted to child sex abuse in recent years by allowing victims of even decades-old abuse to sue groups that didn’t protect them from predators. That has led to lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Church, Scouts and others.

The high court last week rejected appeals by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and its affiliates in central and southern Arizona of lower court rulings that found a 2019 law extending the statute of limitations was constitutional.

The rulings appear to be the first to directly address whether the Arizona law is legal, according to Phoenix attorney Robert Pastor, who represents victims in the two cases the high…

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A former Catholic friar was sentenced to decades in prison after he sexually assaulted multiple students during the 1990s, officials say.

Following a two-day trial, Paul West, 62, from Wisconsin, was convicted of one count of sexual battery and one count of gratification of lust, according to a news release from Mississippi’s Attorney General’s Office.

West was a teacher and principal at the St. Francis of Assisi School in Greenwood, a city about 100 miles north of Jackson, from July 1993 until October 1998, according to a statement from the Catholic Diocese of Jackson.

Investigators said that West molested multiple children during his years at the school. Decades after the assaults, former students came forward and shared testimonies of “the repeated sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of West,” according to the release.

“Children looked up to this man as a teacher and a priest. They…

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Richard Eldridge stood outside of the Diocese of Fall River’s Chancery office Wednesday demanding a “substantial settlement” for abuse he allegedly suffered at the hands of Father Edward J. Byington.

Byington was one of two priests suspended by the diocese in January 2020 due to separate allegations of sexual abuse of a minor going back several decades, The Standard-Times reported.

In a statement posted to its website in December 2021, the diocese announced the allegations against Byington “have been determined to be credible” and he would not return to ministry.

At the time of his suspension, Byington was already retired and not assigned to a parish.

Eldridge, 67, told MassLive that when he was 15 or 16 years old, even though he was protestant, he attended the Roman Catholic ECHO (Encountering Christ in Others) retreat because his friends were going. He…

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A Franciscan brother, Paul West, 62, who was the subject of a major AP News investigation for his abuse of three young boys in Mississippi has been convicted of the 1990s abuse of La Jarvis Love. On Wednesday, April 13, 2022, a jury found him guilty of sexually abusing a student at St. Francis of Assisi School in the 1990s.

The Leflore County jury spent less than an hour deciding West’s fate. The verdict was loud and clear, guilty of one count of sexual battery and one count of gratification of lust, the Greenwood Commonwealth reported. West was accused of sexually abusing La Jarvis Love, now 39. Circuit Judge Ashley Hines sentenced West to 30 years on the first count and 15 years on the second count, to be served consecutively. Love began crying when the verdict was read.

Our hearts go out to La Jarvis Love and his family…

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Paul West was a teacher and principal at St. Francis School in Greenwood, Mississippi from July 1993 until October 1998. The Diocese of Jackson cooperated fully in the State of Mississippi’s recent criminal conviction of Paul West, including providing background testimony at his trial on the diocese’s list of clergy who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors. The list was first provided to the Attorney General in 2002 and then updated and released publicly in March of 2019.

The Diocese reported the initial allegation against Paul West to the Department of Human Services and the Greenwood Police Department in 1998 and reported the subsequent allegations to the Leflore County District Attorney in 2018. West was removed from ministry after the original 1998 complaint.

The Diocese of Jackson is committed to protecting children. Sexual misconduct by Church personnel violates human dignity and the mission of the Church. The…

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[From WLBT]

A former teacher and principal at St. Francis School in Greenwood will face 45 years in prison, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced Thursday.

Paul West, 62, was convicted of sexual battery and gratification of lust following a trial in Leflore County.

The Catholic Diocese says West served as teacher and principal at the school from July 1993 until October 1998, when he first faced an allegation of sexual misconduct. The Diocese says West was reported to Greenwood Police Department after the allegation and subsequently removed from the ministry.

The Diocese released a statement on West’s conviction, which says in part:

The Diocese of Jackson is committed to protecting children. Sexual misconduct by Church personnel violates human dignity and the mission of the Church. The Diocese has dedicated substantial time and resources to ensure that children being served by the Church are not at risk of sexual abuse…

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Early on in my healing work, a friend suggested that I think back to who I was before I was sexually abused.

They wondered if I might find power in remembering characteristics or aspects of myself before the abuse that are still a part of me today. When I first attempted to recall who I was before the abuse, I could not remember specific traits or memories. I was so young when the abuse started, no older than 5, and it felt like trying to recall the memories of someone who wasn’t yet a person.

The abuse occurred during my formative years, when a child’s brain develops into who they will become later in life, from our social lives to our emotions to how we show up relationally. What memories did I form first? Did that memory of learning to tie my shoes at day care come first? Or was it…

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The “ultimate antidote to scandal,” he says, is not found in “structural reforms” or in a “merely cultural Catholicism,” but in “holiness of life.”

Each year, as we draw near to Holy Thursday, the Church asks us to pray for priests, future priests, and the renewal of the priesthood Jesus instituted during the Last Supper.

The celebration of the Chrism Mass, traditionally held the morning of Holy Thursday but often anticipated earlier in Holy Week, features the moving rite in which priests renew before their bishop their dedication to unite themselves closely to Christ and strive to imitate him, to be faithful ministers of his mysteries, to celebrate the Eucharist with sincere devotion, to sacrifice worldly pleasures and ambition joyfully for the good of Christ’s flock, and to teach the Christian faith and share Christ’s peace and love.

The bishop, in turn, asks the faithful to pray for their priests and for…

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As Archbishop Christian Lépine moved through the last days of Lent toward Easter 2022, he acknowledged the worst Cross to bear in his 10 years leading Montreal Roman Catholics has been the scandal of clerical sexual abuse.

“I’m always thinking about it,” Lépine told The Catholic Register in a late March interview. “It goes so much against Jesus Christ Himself. It’s not just about the numbers. It’s about the fact that one case is too many, that priests who were there to witness to Jesus Christ, witness to the love of the Eternal Father (committed) crimes or betrayed trust. Talking specifically about the sexual abuse of minors….”

His voice trails. Even in the context of a phone conversation, it’s palpable that Christ’s help is being called for at the other end of the line. Lépine, whose 10th anniversary as Archbishop of Montreal was on March 20 and who marks 10 years since…

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I have a hot news flash for my brothers and sisters here in the Bible Belt: The individuals you should be concerned about do not include the recently confirmed Supreme Court Justice; rather, they are the people sitting next to you.

I speak as a former editor for two Christianity Today publications and for Moody Monthly, a Christian family magazine. As a young editor fresh out of college, I urged Moody Monthly to do a cover feature on child sexual abuse in the church.

At that time, mid-1980s, no one was talking about this publicly. But I had a hunch predatory sexual abuse was happening far more than we realized, in “good church families,” and that the perpetrators were fathers, uncles, brothers, and others who often held trusted positions of authority in the church—deacons, elders, religious teachers, and pastors.

My hunch proved right. I was editor of the Letters department,…

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A Catholic middle school in Massachusetts is resisting one local bishop’s attempts to have the school take down Pride and Black Lives Matter flags or the school will risk losing its Catholic affiliation.

Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester gave the directive to The Nativity School of Worcester, a Jesuit-run middle schools serving low-income students who are predominantly students of color. In a statement demanding the removal of the flags, McManus insisted that the church teaches “all lives are equal.” He continued:

“[The] flag with the emblem Black Lives Matter has at times been coopted by some factions which also instill broad-brush distrust of police and those entrusted with enforcing our laws. We do not teach that in our schools. And, while we teach that everyone is created in the image and likeness of God, gay pride flags are often used to stand in contrast to consistent Catholic teaching that sacramental marriage…

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A 74-year-old man has become the latest former Dilworth staffer to plead guilty to sexual abuse while employed at the Auckland boarding school.

The teacher, who continues to have interim name suppression, was arrested in 2020 as part of Operation Beverly, a long-running investigation into historical sexual abuse at the boys’ only school.

He was initially charged with four counts involving three men who told police they were indecently assaulted by the defendant between 1980 and 1981. All of the victims were under the age of 16 at the time. More accusers, however, have since come forward.

Appearing via audio-visual feed today in the High Court at Auckland, he pleaded guilty through lawyer Justin Harder to 11 charges – nine counts of indecency between man and boy and two counts of indecent assault on a boy under 12.

The charges carry a maximum possible punishment of either seven or 10…

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[The Field Hospital podcast is sponsored by the Viatorians. In this episode of the podcast, Juan Carlos Cruz discusses the church’s response to the clergy abuse crisis; the episode is an hour and twelve minutes long.]

Editors’ note: This episode speaks on sexual abuse, trauma, and healing, and contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners.

In 2015, Juan Carlos Cruz was one of several abuse survivors to protest Pope Francis’ appointment of Juan Barros as bishop of the diocese of Osorno in Chile. Barros, they said, had witnessed their abuse at the hands of popular priest Fernando Karadima, and helped cover it up. Initially, Pope Francis defended Barros, even going so far as to accuse Juan Carlos and his fellow survivors of calumny. But Juan Carlos continued to speak up and work for justice. Finally, Pope Francis had a change of heart and apologized to the survivors he had…

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The diocese of Oxford has commissioned an independent lessons-learned review of allegations of spiritual abuse connected with St Margaret’s, Tyler’s Green, in High Wycombe, between 1981 and 2000. Its then incumbent, the Revd Michael Hall, was said to “rule congregants with a rod of iron and a flaming temper”.

Hall died in June 2021. The diocesan safeguarding team has been investigating him since January 2020, when a former member of the congregation took their own life. That prompted Hall’s successor, the Revd Mike Bisset, to raise serious concerns about Hall’s behaviour towards other members of the congregation, too.

The allegations relate to spiritual abuse, nakedness, and sexual activity with some adult members of the congregation. The abuse is said to have taken place at St Margaret’s, in the parish rooms, and also in people’s homes, where, according to survivor accounts, it was witnessed by children and young people.

Witness statements and a comprehensive…

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Recently I have seen on social media a certain kind of claim being made. The claim usually goes something like this: Person “X” claims they grew up Christian and now, as an adult, are no longer Christian. Their upbringing, it is usually said, occurred in a “fundamentalist” Christian environment or some type of conservative Protestant, usually Evangelical, church or home.

The claimant then reveals they are now either an atheist or, at most, agnostic about religion. Now, at this point, Person “X’s” story is pretty uninteresting. After all, many people leave their Christian faith as adults, whether it be a conservative Evangelical, Roman Catholic or even liberal Protestant faith. Some, like myself, come back to faith, albeit in a different tradition, while others do not. But this is not the extent of Person “X’s” claim. There is more to it than just this (which, in itself, would not warrant writing…

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There I sat in my clerical collar and black suit, an Anglican priest confident in my political and social awareness and in that of my church. In quiet yet confident tones the Indigenous leader who was speaking that day told a personal story. He loved his grandpa very much, he told us, but never understood why this learned, kind man would never hug him. One day, when grandpa was very elderly and our speaker was an adult, he asked him why. “I could never have told you this before”, said grandpa, “but when I was a child in a residential school, a hug meant only one thing. It meant that I was going to be raped.” Pause. “That’s why I could never hug you, that’s why.” I’m sure I wasn’t alone in feeling tears come to my eyes.

But tears have never been enough, and the obscenity of the residential…

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New committee wants to purchase Holy Rosary parish, but plan has its critics

An influential committee has been formed in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s with the goal of purchasing Holy Rosary Catholic Church, but not everyone agrees, and a dark chapter in Newfoundland and Labrador’s history hangs over the whole process.

A coalition of community groups have thrown their support behind a new arts, wellness and heritage committee in order to prepare a bid on the landmark parish property overlooking Portugal Cove and repurpose the site into a community centre.

The committee has launched a fundraising campaign, wants the town council to designate the church a heritage property, and will host a meeting Thursday evening in a bid to rally public support.

The committee has also asked the town council to write a cheque for up to $12,000 to pay for an appraisal and structural assessment of the church property, with council expected to…

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ETAN expresses shock at conviction, removes donation appeal Patrick Smythe set up on group’s website

An international group advocating human rights in Timor-Leste, of which a UK pedophile priest was a supporter, has taken down an appeal for financial support he had set up for the group following his conviction for child sex abuse last week.

“We are shocked and embarrassed that a member of the international Timor-Leste solidarity movement has committed such crimes,” John Miller, coordinator of East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN), said in an April 12 statement.

“ETAN strongly condemns all forms of sexual abuse and expresses our continuing solidarity with the victims of sexual abuse around the world.”

Father Patrick Smythe, 79, was convicted and jailed for seven and a half years on April 7 by a court in Leeds in the United Kingdom for sex offenses against boys in his care.

He…

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[Note: This public lecture is being streamed live at 7:00 pm Central on April 14, 2022. The Zoom registration link is provided below.]

Please join us for this public lecture by Professor Kevin Lewis O’Neill.

Between 1952 and 1968, a Roman Catholic religious order known as the Servants of the Paraclete sought, bought, and finally sold several small islands in the Caribbean for priests unable to stop “sin[ning] repeatedly with little children.” This talk details the Servants of the Paraclete’s mid-twentieth-century efforts at offshoring sexually abusive priests. It is an historical account that encourages scholars and activists alike to rethink the geography of clerical sexual abuse: though there is a generally agreed upon history that bishops throughout the United States transferred priests between parishes to evade suspicion and at times prosecution, this provides a previously untold account of how the U.S. Church leveraged developments in moral theology, pastoral psychology, and free market…

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In an age of rapid global communication, events in one nation inevitably impact ecclesial life elsewhere. Thus the “Synodal Path” process, as currently pursued by Catholics in Germany, has implications for the Church worldwide. This includes the local Churches which we pastor and the many faithful Catholics for whom we are responsible.

In that light, events in Germany compel us to express our growing concern about the nature of the entire German “Synodal Path” process and the content of its various documents. Our comments here are deliberately brief. They warrant, and we strongly encourage, more elaboration (as, for example, Archbishop Samuel Aquila’s An Open Letter to the Catholic Bishops of the World) from individual bishops. Nonetheless, the urgency of our joint remarks is rooted in Romans 12, and especially Paul’s caution: Do not be conformed to this world. And their seriousness flows from the confusion that the Synodal Path has…

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Over 70 bishops from four continents warn that heterodox German reform efforts risk fracturing Church unity, adversely impacting the Church globally.

Seventy-four Catholic bishops from four continents have signed a “fraternal open letter” to their episcopal counterparts in Germany, expressing concern over the German Church’s controversial “Synodal Path.”

While noting the need for reform in the life of the Church, the letter states that “Christian history is littered with well-intended efforts that lost their grounding in the Word of God, in a faithful encounter with Jesus Christ, in a true listening to the Holy Spirit, and in the submission of our wills to the will of the Father.” The letter states that Germany’s controversial “Synodal Path” — a reform effort, backed by the majority of German bishops, that calls for fundamental changes to the Church’s teaching on sexuality, blessings for same-sex sexual unions, and the priestly ordination of women — “risks…

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For the first time in history the number of people in the United States who identify as belonging to a church, mosque or synagogue is less than those who don’t associate with any established religion. Just 47% of American adults identify with a particular creed, down a prodigious 20% in just two decades.

This decline can be directly attributed to the growth of “nones.” This burgeoning group covers people who declare no religious affiliation. The decline is particularly notable in younger age groups. Only 36% of millennials express any church allegiance while 58% of baby boomers remain loyal to some religious denomination. Overall, 21% fall under the ”nones” umbrella, a larger number than any denomination, except for Protestants.

Among Christians, the decline is particularly noticeable among Catholics where the drop-off is twice the Protestant exit numbers. Non-college graduates showed a more pronounced reduction than college graduates, and among members of…

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The Mesquite Police Department arrested a youth pastor on April 5 after receiving a delayed sexual assault of child report.

Mesquite resident Conner “Jesse” Penny, 32, was arrested after police obtained a warrant for continuous sexual abuse of a child.

For children and adults needing more information and resources regarding child sexual abuse, the Child Information Gateway lists the toll-free crisis hotline number to call as 866-367-5444.

According to a police department news release, an investigation found that Penny had sexual contact with a girl under 17 years of age on multiple occasions between 2015 and 2018. Since his arrest, additional victims have come forward alleging Penny abused them between 2013 and 2021, police said.

Penny was employed as the youth pastor at Inspiration Church, formerly known as Mimosa Lane Baptist Church, in Mesquite. Police said Penny’s previous employers include the Mesquite Independent School District and the…

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The bill was first proposed in 2012 but encountered opposition from more conservative groups in the mostly Muslim country.

Six years after deliberations first began, Indonesia’s parliament has passed a landmark bill to tackle sexual violence, aimed at providing a legal framework for victims to seek justice.

A majority of lawmakers backed the bill at the plenary session in parliament, overcoming opposition from some conservative groups in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country.

“We hope that the implementation of this law will resolve sexual violence cases,” speaker of the house Puan Maharani said.

The bill has been broadly welcomed by activists, though some have objected to its limited scope, with only some sex crimes included and the omission of a specific clause on rape which the government has said will be included in other legislation.

“This is surely a step forward,” said Asfinawati, a law expert at Jentera School of Law,…

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Protecting local Boy Scouts of America councils and troop sponsoring organizations from future liability for child sex abuse claims is critical to the national group’s reorganization plan, BSA attorneys told a Delaware bankruptcy judge Tuesday.

Attorneys opposing the plan countered that liability releases for non-debtor third parties are neither fair nor necessary, and that they infringe on the rights of abuse survivors to seek compensation for their abuse.

The Boy Scouts, based in Irving, Texas, petitioned for bankruptcy protection in February 2020, seeking to halt hundreds of individual lawsuits and create a settlement trust for abuse victims. Although the organization faced about 275 lawsuits at the time, more than 82,000 sexual abuse claims have been filed in the bankruptcy case.

The reorganization plan calls for the Boys Scouts and its 250 local councils, along with settling insurance companies and troop sponsoring organizations, to contribute some $2.6 billion in cash and…

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Since 2002, numerous bills have been introduced in the New York State Legislature to add clergy to the list of mandated reporters for child sexual abuse.

The bills — which have respected the sanctity of the confessional — long have been supported by the New York State Catholic Conference (NYSCC), which represents the state’s bishops in matters of public policy, and by Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of the Diocese of Albany, who has been a national leader in responding to the clergy abuse crisis.

But 20 years since the first bills were introduced — which were spurred on by the sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston that was exposed by the Boston Globe — clergy still are not included in the expansive state list of mandated reporters that includes doctors, social workers, police officers, social service workers and most school officials. A mandated reporter is required…

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Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson wrestled with difficult decisions her whole career. She made sentencing decisions; she wrote briefs; she defended those who committed crimes — because that’s how our justice system works. Regardless of her political leanings and whether one has misgivings about her lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, no one can argue that she hasn’t worn a heavy mantle of decision-making and judgment. Her black garment is a metaphor for the difficult decisions she has made that impact the lives of others.

Sen. Josh Hawley’s decisions also impact the lives of others. His garment, however, should be a lime green leisure suit on a hanger. He attracts a lot of attention; he’s loud; he makes a lot of statements. But he doesn’t do anything. He fist-pumped the insurrectionist mob that attempted a Keystone Kops coup. He derided the decisions that Judge Jackson made on sentencing of criminals….

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A commission investigating child sexual abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church said on Tuesday the nearly 300 testimonies of alleged victims it has collected so far were “just the tip of the iceberg”.

“There have been multiple cases of sexual abuse of children and teenagers in the past,” said the head of the commission, child psychiatrist Pedro Strecht, explaining that more than half of the 290 testimonies indicate “many more victims”.

The abuse allegations have come from people born between 1933 and 2009, from various backgrounds, from every region of the country and also from Portuguese nationals living in other European nations, the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Most of the alleged victims are men, and were sexually abused as early as when they were 2-years-old.

The commission started its work in January after a report by a commission in France revealed last year around 3,000 priests and…

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St. Brendan, one of Dorchester’s great Catholic churches, seems destined to close next month. Parishioners feel like they are paying for the sins of others.

Noreen Kelley always sits in the same pew for Sunday Mass at St. Brendan, halfway up the church, on the right side.

It’s where her mother, Rosemary O’Brien, always sat. It’s where her grandmother, Nonie Sullivan, always sat.

Noreen Kelley’s grandmother was a longtime parishioner at the church that opened in 1933, at the height of the Depression. Her mother was in the first graduating class at St. Brendan School. Her three daughters became the fourth generation of their family to worship at St. Brendan Church.

They will probably be the last. St. Brendan, one of the great Catholic churches of Dorchester, has been designated by its pastor for so-called relegation, which sounds more like the fate of an underperforming soccer team than a neighborhood…

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Families impacted by Canada’s residential school victims need more than just words from the Catholic Church, says Traditional Anishinaabe Grandmother Kim Wheatley.

Pope Francis has issued an apology for abuses by Catholic Church members in the facilities and said he hoped the journey of Reconciliation would continue when he visits Canada this summer.

“That chain [of traditional practices] that passed on knowledge and ways of life and union with the land was broken by a colonization that lacked respect for you, tore many of you from your vital milieu and tried to conform you to another mentality,” said the Pope. “In this way, great harm was done to your identity and your culture. Many families were separated and great numbers of children fell victim to these attempts to impose a uniformity based on the notion that progress occurs through ideological colonization, following programs devised in offices rather than the desire…

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How she drew on a life of private hardship to become one of the greatest actors of her generation.

For a month, Viola Davis had been stuck. In the spring of 2020, in the late nights of lockdown, she set out to write her memoir. She had her routine: Get out of bed in the middle of the night, make herself a cup of tea, start writing in her movie room, fall asleep in one of its leather recliners, wake up, write some more, nod off again. But for weeks, she couldn’t figure out exactly where to begin. Should she start with her life as a celebrity, or the beauty contest she lost when she was a child, or the fact that people always wanted to hug her when they ran into her in public? Nothing worked.

Then one night, a conversation she had years ago with Will Smith on the…

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The Rev. Joseph M. Elko, administrator of St. Martin de Porres Roman Catholic Church, has been placed on administrative leave because of a claim of sexual abuse that allegedly occurred in the 1990s.

In an email Monday, David Elliott, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Hartford, said the news was announced at Masses this weekend. The church is located at 136 Dixwell Ave.

“As a result of the receipt of that claim, pursuant to the Archdiocese’s protocol, Fr. Elko has been placed on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation of the claim,” Elliott said in the statement.

The Rev. Sebastian Kos, administrator of St. Stanislaus Church, has been appointed temporary administrator of St. Martin de Porres, and weekend Masses will continue as scheduled, Elliott said.

Elko answered the phone at the parish Monday morning but said any comment would have to come from his attorney, and that he did…

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A lay committee looking into historic child sex abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church said Tuesday it received witness statements from 290 alleged victims in its first three months of work, with cases involving children as young as two years old.

More than half the reported cases suggest many more victims were involved, said Pedro Strecht, a psychiatrist who heads the Independent Committee for the Study of Child Abuse in the Church.

The six-person committee, which includes psychiatrists, a former Supreme Court judge and a social worker, began its work in January at the behest of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference. It promises anonymity to anyone who comes forward.

Strecht said the committee had come across signs that church officials, including current bishops he did not name, had sought to cover up abuse.

“It was often a case of moving the abuser from place to place, as if at that time…

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A Catholic priest convicted in the UK last week of sexually abusing boys in his care also came into contact with children in Timor-Leste and took them to his hotel room during visits to the country that spanned a decade, it has emerged.

Father Patrick Smythe, 79, who was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison by Leeds Crown Court on April 7, told police during an interview that he had visited Timor-Leste over a period of 10 years “sponsoring people of the country.”

He is also said to have been in contact with children of a similar age to the victims he has been convicted of abusing.

“In the course of that interview, he said he had taken the children back to his hotel room to ‘show them how the other half lives’,” Prosecutor Michael Morley was quoted as saying by the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“This has caused the police and prosecution some…

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The new Bishop-elect for the Catholic Diocese of Columbus will be installed on May 31.

At only 49-years-old, Father Earl Fernandes, currently a parish priest in Cincinnati, has, in many ways, been preparing for his new role for a lifetime.

“It is very exciting to be coming to Columbus, but at the same time, it’s terrifying,” Fernandes said.

Terrifying, and historic. He is the first person of color to be bishop in central Ohio, the first Indian American bishop in the United States. His parents and two older brothers immigrated from India and settled in Toledo.

“They came in 1970 and then, in three more years, had three more boys – (19)71, (19)72 and (19)73, so we are a family of five boys,” Fernandes said. “All boys, so my mother already did her purgatory.”

The mother, who taught them all to pray.

“Pray that you be a…

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Mamet’s remarks are “a repulsive demonization of the very people who have been the lifeline to our kids,” teachers’ union president Randi Weingarten said.

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet dove headfirst into the classroom culture wars by claiming that teachers “are inclined” toward pedophilia and that students are being “groomed” for sexual abuse — while offering no evidence to back up his charges.

Echoing attack lines that Republican politicians have been using of late to push legislation that would ban discussions of sexual orientation or gender identity in classrooms, Mamet insisted “we have to take back control.”

“What we have is kids not only being indoctrinated but groomed, in a very real sense, by people who are, whether they know it or not, sexual predators,” Mamet said Sunday during a FOX News interview. “Are they abusing the kids physically? No, I don’t think so. But they are abusing them mentally…

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The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry is formally extending the scope of its Anglican investigation to include the Methodist, Presbyterian and Salvation Army faiths. 

Now known as the Protestant and Other Faiths Investigation, it will also be seeking evidence from survivors of abuse in three closed community faiths: Gloriavale, Exclusive Brethren (more recently known as Plymouth Brethren Christian Church), and Jehovah’s Witnesses.  

Since the Royal Commission started, we have been gathering evidence of abuse in the care of these faiths as part of our inquiry.  

The scope is being formally extended to recognise increased numbers of survivors from these faiths and their institutions – including schools and care homes – who have disclosed abuse to the Royal Commission.

We continue to ask survivors to come forward. Further evidence gathered will add to our existing evidence base and understanding of abuse in these faiths, and findings about…

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Secretive, closed faiths – including Gloriavale, Exclusive Brethren, and Jehovah’s Witnesses – will be formally investigated by the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care. 

The Commission’s Anglican investigation has also been expanded to include the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Salvation Army faiths. 

A spokesperson for the Commission said expanding the investigation was to recognise the large numbers of people from each organisation willing to pass on information. 

“The scope is being formally extended to recognise increased numbers of survivors from these faiths and their institutions – including schools and care homes – who have disclosed abuse to the Royal Commission.”

Newshub understands up to 60 people who left Gloriavale have engaged with the Commission’s lawyers, completing face-to-face interviews or providing written evidence. 

The Gloriavale Leavers’ Trust manager Liz Gregory said she’s very pleased with the development and the way the Commission had responded to its concerns over the past two years. 

…

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[Includes four-minute audio interview with Presbyterian Church moderator Hamish Galloway.]

The inquiry into abuse in care has extended the scope of what it called its Anglican investigation to include other Protestant churches.

The Royal Commission says it will now include the Methodist and Presbyterian churches, the Salvation Army and three closed community faiths, Gloriavale, Plymouth Brethren and Jehovah’s Witness.

The investigation will now be known as the Protestant and other faiths investigation.

The commission has held already held hearings that focused on the Catholic Church, and also some cases of abuse in the Anglican Church and Salvation Army.

Presbyterian Church moderator Hamish Galloway spoke to Susie Ferguson.

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Payments from the Vatican Secretariat of State to the Australian office of a tech security company could have been used to register a top level domain name, according to an Italian media report. 

But that possibility raises questions about why Cardinal Angelo Becciu previously described payments to the company as “confidential,” and why a key witness in the current Vatican financial trial reportedly told prosecutors that the payments were for the legal defense of Cardinal George Pell.

The payments, described as “classified” by Cardinal Angelo Becciu, have been at the center of years of speculation, since they coincided with the prosecution and trial of Cardinal George Pell.

A report published by the Italian edition of the website Daily Compass claims that payments from the Secretariat of State, totaling more that 2 million Australian dollars, were for the registration of the top level domain “.catholic” by the Pontifical Council for Social Communication. 

…

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The trial of a Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting a Shapiro Developmental Center resident in 2017 is set to begin Monday in Kankakee County Circuit Court.

Formerly a priest at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Goodrich and longtime assistant at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Kankakee, Richard E. Jacklin, 70, is facing three felony charges that could carry a prison term of 12 to 50 years.

He is charged with aggravated sexual assault, six to 30 years; criminal sexual assault, four to 15 years; and sexual misconduct, two to five years.

Court records indicate the 39-year-old victim has an IQ of 47, has been a resident at Shapiro since 2010, and suffers from partial paralysis.

Jacklin is represented by attorneys Edward Jaquays and Frank Astrella.

On Thursday, Jaquays and Kankakee County Assistant State’s Attorney Carol Costello informed Circuit Judge Kathy Bradshaw-Elliott they were ready to go to…

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Despite widespread publicity, some alleged victims of abuse were unaware of Child Victims Act

After years of advocacy and support from lawmakers, the Child Victims Act was passed in Feb. 2019. 

Touted as a momentous piece of legislation that granted what turned into a two-year window for survivors of child sex abuse to file time-barred civil claims, it also increased the statute of limitations for the crime. 

Survivors were able to file suits until the age of 55 and press criminal charges until they were 28. Before the law’s two-year deadline closed in August, more than 10,000 complaints were filed, including claims against the Catholic Church and Boy Scouts of America. 

Still, some individuals were shut out of their day in court, either due to a lack of knowledge about the look-back window, an inability to obtain legal representation, or because their circumstances didn’t allow for them to file a…

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Chris Swartz is a tall, barrel-chested police officer. He’s not exactly the kind of guy who, at first appearance, would be envisioned spending countless hours comforting children in their times of most desperate need.

But as a member of the Johnstown Police Department, he has been providing compassion and justice for young victims of sexual and physical abuse for years.

“With me, I took this position as a juvenile detective because I care about kids,” Swartz said during an interview on April 1, just hours after a 14-month-old Johnstown girl died at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, the victim of a homicide. “God forbid something happened, I want to be that child’s last voice. I want to fight for that kid because, honestly, children are our future. That’s one thing that I tell these kids – I’ll do whatever I can to make their lives easier.

“Obviously, me, I’m a bigger…

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Practical steps for churches to become safer spaces for all.

After speaking at a recent conference about the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse and attempting to destigmatize its presence within the Church, a pastor approached me with concerns for his niece. A child, she had been sexually abused by someone she should have been able to trust, another family member. The abuser, as is common with predators, warned her to keep the abuse a secret. Her boundaries and self-worth were stolen. Feeling as if she had no one to turn to and nothing left to lose, she began to act out and was labeled as “promiscuous.”

Her story is, sadly, not unique. We receive calls regularly that a teenager in the youth group was groomed and abused by a leader, or of a man or woman whose memory is triggered once their child enters youth ministry, and they recall incidents…

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Despite these disclosures, the Truth & Transparency Foundation, an outgrowth of MormonLeaks, didn’t really prompt the Utah-based faith to be more open about its finances.

Ryan McKnight, a former Latter-day Saint in Las Vegas, once had a lofty vision that, by exposing the inner workings of his onetime faith, he would prod it to be more transparent — a dream that now is fading due to a pandemic and a lawsuit.

A little more than five years ago, McKnight imagined a kind of Mormon “WikiLeaks,” an online website where anonymous tipsters — including those who work for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — could post internal papers by and about the Utah-based faith’s programs, policies and policymakers.

And given that his first effort — the publication in 2016 of 15 videos showing church apostles privately discussing issues including LGBTQ rights, politics and piracy — hit Latter-day Saint circles like…

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• Guest Bios
• Show Transcript

Should a woman endure abuse by an unbelieving spouse like a missionary endures persecution? 

Stunningly, this is the advice offered by Dr. John Street, chair of the graduate program of biblical counseling at John MacArthur’s school — The Master’s University and Seminary (TMUS) — and an elder at Grace Community Church (GCC). 

Street also suggests that wife’s failure to “fulfill” her husband can cause the husband to sexually abuse his children! And he says victims should report their abuse to church leaders first, and to police as a last resort.

This advice from the top counseling teacher at The Master’s is appalling. Yet it’s consistent with what our recent exposés have revealed about MacArthur and his institutions. 

In this podcast, Julie plays numerous clips by Street, showing his stunning views on abuse and abuse victims. 

And joining Julie to discuss Street’s views is Dr. Philip…

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• John Bucklin’s jury trial begins for the sexual abuse of three young boys.
• Documents show he met the boys through his Claremore church.
• Claremore police arrested Bucklin in 2018.

A jury trial started this week for a Collinsville man arrested in 2018 for the sexual abuse of three children he was mentoring through his Claremore church.

The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) says they began investigating John Bucklin only to learn of similar crimes in Rogers County as well. Claremore police arrested Bucklin in 2018.

Court documents detail how Bucklin met a 12, 10 and 8-year-old boy through Cedar Point Church in Claremore in 2016. They say how he would take them hiking, to the mall and museums and swimming at the Claremore Rec Center. He would also have the boys spend the night at his home the night before church breakfasts.

The victims told investigators John said things like “this…

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Rev. Hans Zollner delivered this year’s annual Keeley Vatican Lecture Tuesday night at the Eck Visitor Center. The annual lecture seeks to deepen “Notre Dame’s connection to the Holy See by bringing distinguished representatives from the Vatican to Notre Dame to explore questions involving Notre Dame’s Catholic mission.”

The topic of his lecture was the sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church. Zollner is a German Jesuit Priest, a theologian and a licensed psychotherapist who focuses on the prevention and healing of childhood sexual abuse. He’s also a professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

Zollner argued that the problem of sexual abuse is prevalent in the Church, plaguing countries all around the globe. 

“It is so very uncomfortable, but true, because we don’t realize how much of the trauma of victims of abuse is present in our minds,” Zollner said.  

Many people within and outside of the Church are…

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A lawyer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield asked the state’s top court Monday to halt a civil lawsuit brought by the former Chicopee altar boy who suffered sexual assaults decades ago at the hands of former Bishop Christopher J. Weldon.

The high-profile case was elevated from the Appeals Court to the Supreme Judicial Court in December because the high court wanted to consider issues it raises.

They include whether the diocese, which includes all of Berkshire County, is protected by what’s known as charitable immunity, a legal protection that existed under certain circumstances at the time of the assaults in the 1960s. Also, the case tests whether the First Amendment’s protection of church autonomy renders a religious organization beyond the reach of the courts in a case like this.

State courts have so far declined to dismiss the litigation. In an earlier action March 4, Associate…

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Novo Mesto Bishop Andrej Saje, the head of the Slovenian Bishops’ Conference, apologised on Sunday to the victims of sexual abuse by clergy on behalf of the Catholic Church in Slovenia, as he marked the day of prayer for such victims.

Listening and hearing, protecting and providing support, both in an emotional and spiritual sense, are key factors, he said in a statement shared on the Church’s website.

“No victim is to blame for the evil that was done to them and should never have happened. The full responsibility lies with the perpetrator, and I advocate zero tolerance of any abuse. I express my compassion to the victims and their families,” he said.

Saje said he was aware that statements and regulations cannot heal the wounds and pain of individuals, and that unless the perpetrators, or at least those who knew of the abuses, are held accountable, it will be…

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A Catholic theologian writes about why papal apologies can be meaningful, even when some may see them as mere words.

Pope Francis apologized on April 1, 2022, to First Nations, Inuit and Métis delegations, acknowledging the harm done by residential schools in Canada and marking a crucial step in the church admitting its role in the abuse of Indigenous communities and children. Yet this apology, as important as it is, raises questions about what it means when a pope apologizes.

As a Catholic theologian who studies church authority, I’ve observed how previous papal apologies can speak for the entire church and either deny or claim responsibility.

It was once unthinkable for a pope to apologize, for admitting guilt would imply that the church was sinful. However, the Second Vatican Council, a gathering of bishops, cardinals, heads of religious orders and theologians that met from 1962 to 1965 and modernized the…

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Slade McLaughlin, 65, a Philadelphia personal injury attorney who built a stellar career representing clients in legal battles against the likes of Pennsylvania State University and its disgraced former assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky, as well as the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, died by suicide, Sunday, April 3, near his home.

Mr. McLaughlin’s death stunned his family and colleagues in the city’s legal community who remembered him as a “larger-than-life” force who lived to seek justice for his clients, many of whom had been victimized by large, powerful entities.

On Sunday afternoon, he left a note for his wife, Caroline, and drove to a housing development under construction near his Villanova home where he died, said Paul Lauricella, who knew Mr. McLaughlin for 43 years, graduated from law school with him, and was his law partner for the last 11 years.

Mr. McLaughlin had been suffering under the weight of an…

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The Legionaries of Christ received four new allegations of sexual abuse against members of the congregation between March 2021 and March 2022, and new allegations also have been made against priests already undergoing canonical procedures after being named in previous reports.

The Legionaries’ 2021 “Annual Report: Truth, Justice and Healing” was released April 6 with updates to their ongoing effort to “give an account of their commitments to the victims of sexual abuse since the publication three years ago (December 2019) of all cases from their history.”

Since releasing its previous annual report in March 2021, the congregation received four new allegations, it said.

“One is awaiting the conclusion of civil and canonical proceedings. Three are under investigation prior to an eventual canonical trial,” the congregation said on its site, 0abuse.org, which provides updated data on cases and documents.

Concerning the status of allegations received between December 2019 and March…

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There is a reason why the Six Nations-Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) were not invited to Rome to meet the pope and secure an apology for the victims of the residential schools — we don’t want an apology, we want justice. Tens of thousands of Native children suffered abuse by the residential schools administered by the Roman Catholic Church with the compliance of the provincial and federal governments and it may well be proven thousands died either by murder or neglect by the priests. nuns and staff at the schools. I was baptized into the Church as a child at the Akwesasne Mohawk Territory. I was taken against my will to the Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ontario, 600 kilometers (373 miles) from my home and, along with the two dozen other Akwesasronon (people from Akwesasne) endured sexual, mental and physical abuse while being denied adequate food and health care, our bodies marked by open…

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A Evansville priest has been removed from the public ministry after an allegation of sexual misconduct from 20 years ago was reported to the Diocese of Evansville.

According to the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), Father Bernie Etienne served at the Holy Rosary Catholic Church and is currently placed on administrative leave.

The Diocese did not clarify the nature of the allegations against Father Etienne, regarding the age, gender of the victim and where the sexual misconduct took place.

The Director of Communications for the Diocese said, “Civil authorities and the Diocesan Review Board have been notified. Father Bernie strongly denies the claim and, as with all accused, he is accorded the presumption of innocence during the investigation of this allegation.”

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Officials with the Catholic Diocese of Evansville say Father Bernie Etienne has been placed on administrative leave while they investigate an allegation of sexual misconduct.

According to a press release, the incident allegedly happened more than 20 years ago and civil authorities and the Diocesan Review board have been notified.

Officials say Etienne strongly denies the claim.

Mike McDonnell is the Communications Manager of SNAP, which is the ”Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.”

His organization specializes in researching and understanding abuse at the hands of clergy members.

They also understand the process that takes place after an initial accusation.

“The investigation itself is part of a canonical process,” says McDonnell, “So, it’s an internal investigation within the Diocese.”

The investigation is similar to that of a regular police investigation, with a few key differences.

They still have an investigator go out and collect information and talk to people.

…

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Father Bernie Etienne, who worked at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, has been removed from public ministry after the Diocese of Evansville received an accusation of sexual misconduct against the clergyman stemming from 20 years ago. Father Etienne is on administrative leave and is not able to act as a priest while the complaint is investigated. 

The Diocese did not expand on the nature of the accusation — where it occurred or the gender and age of the victim. The Director of Communications for the Diocese simply said, “Civil authorities and the Diocesan Review Board have been notified. Father Bernie strongly denies the claim and, as with all accused, he is accorded the presumption of innocence during the investigation of this allegation.”

However, we know that false allegations of sexual abuse are extremely rare. While it is not entirely clear whether the accusation involves a child or an adult, the fact that it…

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The Diocese of Evansville has received an allegation of sexual misconduct against Father Bernie Etienne, a priest of the diocese, which is alleged to have occurred more than 20 years ago.

Civil authorities and the Diocesan Review Board have been notified.

Father Bernie strongly denies the claim and, as with all accused, he is accorded the presumption of innocence during the investigation of this allegation.

In accord with Church norms, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, and in accord with diocesan policies, Father Bernie is on administrative leave and is not able to perform public ministry while the investigation proceeds. Father Alex Zenthoefer has been appointed temporary administrator of Holy Rosary Parish.

Father Bernie has served in the following parishes: St. Joseph, Jasper; St. Joseph, Princeton; Blessed Sacrament, Oakland City; Holy Rosary, Evansville; and Nativity, Evansville. He also served as…

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The Catholic Diocese of Evansville disclosed Wednesday that one of its priests has been accused of sexual misconduct.

In a news release, the diocese said it received an allegation of sexual misconduct against Father Bernie Etienne, who serves as pastor at Evansville’s Holy Rosary Catholic Church, 1301 S. Green River Road.

The Catholic Diocese of Evansville said it brought the complaint, which Etienne “strongly” denies, to “civil authorities” and the Diocesan Review Board.

Etienne has been placed on administrative leave. The misconduct is alleged to have happened more than 20 years ago, the release states.

From 1996 to 2006, Etienne served as pastor of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Gibson County, according to Courier & Press archives. The C&P contacted the Gibson County Prosecutor’s office, but did not hear back prior to publication. 

Evansville Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Anna Gray said the allegation had not been brought to EPD investigators, and…

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‘This is the most messed up situation regarding a church I’ve been part of, but God can make this new,’ said a reported survivor.

On Tuesday (April 5), a group of self-identified survivors and advocates who attended an Anglican church in Washington, D.C., published an open letter saying diocesan leaders mishandled their allegations of spiritual abuse. The letter asks the leaders to apologize to the reported victims and discipline the accused priest, the Rev. Dan Claire.

“Rev. Claire betrayed pastoral confidences, misused his ecclesial authority to control and manipulate people under his pastoral authority, disclosed and misused mental health histories in order to discredit people, and ostracized and slandered parishioners who attempted to challenge any of his questionable behavior,” the letter on the anti-abuse platform ACNAtoo says. It also cites allegations of “victim blaming and defamation in cases of sexual impropriety.” Claire said he isn’t permitted to speak with Religion News Service…

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In the run-up to the July papal visit, Catholic bishops in the DR-Congo have urged priests who have fathered children to seek laicization and care for their families

Since the beginning of this year nearly a dozen Catholic priests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been dismissed from the clerical state for reasons that have never been made clear.

The press releases announcing the dismissals have attracted attention precisely because of their evasiveness.

In the most recent one, at the end of March, the Diocese of Tshumbe in the center of the country said it had dismissed three priests without giving a reason.

Inquiries were met with a wall of silence.

Now it has been revealed that the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) recently issued a 19-page internal document, dated March 4, that asks priests who have fathered children to give up their priesthood to take care…

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The Catholic bishops of Switzerland have commissioned two academics to scour diocesan archives in preparation for an independent investigation into the sexual abuse of minors

The Catholic bishops of Switzerland have pledged to open up the secret archives of all six of their dioceses in order to shed light on sexual abuse perpetrated by priests.

The Church leaders made the announcement this past Monday, nearly a year after they first committed themselves to carry out an investigation.

“Many acts have been covered up and victims ignored,” admitted Bishop Joseph Bonnemain of Chur, who is chair of the abuse commission in the Swiss Bishops’ Conference (SBC).

Speaking at a press conference, the 73-year-old bishop said the goal is “to make the Church a learning organization, ready to recognize its own mistakes”.

On hand for the announcement were the Roman Catholic Central Conference of Switzerland (RKZ), which is responsible for the material…

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The independent commission that wrote the landmark report on Church-related sex abuse in France still waiting to see the pope, four months after Vatican cancelled initial meeting

Catholics in France are beginning to wonder if Pope Francis is ever going to meet Jean-Marc Sauvé and the members of the independent commission he led in a major investigation into Church-related sex abuse in their country.

It has now been six months since Sauvé’s team – the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) – issued its shocking report. And four months have passed since December 9, the date CIASE members were supposed to have a meeting with the pope, until the Vatican abruptly canceled it.

“They shot themselves in the foot”

Truth be told, forces in the Roman Curia have never endorsed the commission’s work, which was actually contracted and authorized by the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) and the…

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At the conclusion of the Lenten journey of Indigenous representatives to the Vatican, Pope Francis gave the delegation a laetare moment, a time to rejoice. The Pope’s poignant apology for the harm “members of the Catholic Church” did to Indigenous children in residential schools and his promise to visit Canada this summer is a major step toward healing a broken relationship.

The apology at Rome comes amid a $30-million national campaign to raise funds for healing programs for the survivors and families of former students at the schools. I was heartened to at last add our family’s donation to the $3 million our Edmonton Archdiocese has pledged to the campaign. A personal donation is a personal commitment — beyond the corporate commitment — to reconciliation.

The laetare moment came as Catholics make our way to the Cross and Resurrection, the Paschal celebration of salvation through Christ. Where is the Church on this pilgrimage? Is…

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A Catholic priest has been locked up after being found guilty of sexually abusing six boys in his care.

Father Patrick Smythe was locked up for seven and a half years after a jury reached unanimous guilty verdicts after a trial at Leeds Crown Court.

Jurors heard how Smythe, 79, preyed on three of his victims during swimming trips to the former Leeds International Pool.Smythe also targeted boys in his care while on a retreat at a hostel in North Yorkshire.

A judge who sentenced Smythe told the pensioner he had told a “pack of lies” to the court during the trial.Judge Simon Batiste said: “The offences involved six different complainants who were at the time of the offences aged between 12 and 16.

“You are a Catholic priest.

“During the trial you denied any criminal wrongdoing whatsoever.

“You took an oath on the Bible – the book that you…

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Insurance companies challenging the Boy Scouts of America’s bankruptcy plan argued Thursday that it “eviscerates” their defense rights under policies they issued and would mean grossly inflated payments of sexual abuse claims, including tens of thousands otherwise barred by the passage of time.

The arguments came on the second day of closing arguments before a Delaware judge who must decide whether to approve the reorganization plan the BSA has negotiated to compensate tens of thousands of men who say they were sexually abused as children in Scouting, while allowing the Boy Scouts to continue as an ongoing enterprise.

The Boy Scouts, based in Irving, Texas, petitioned for bankruptcy protection in February 2020, seeking to halt hundreds of individual lawsuits and create a settlement trust for abuse victims. Although the organization faced about 275 lawsuits at the time, more than 82,000 sexual abuse claims have been filed in the bankruptcy case.

The…

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 Pope Francis met with the leaders of the Spanish bishops’ conference and was briefed on the independent commission established by the bishops to investigate clerical sexual abuse in the country.

Speaking with journalists outside the Vatican press office April 7, Cardinal Juan José Omella of Barcelona, president of the conference, said the pope encouraged the bishops to continue supporting survivors of abuse.

Pope Francis “encouraged us to walk along that path of accompanying victims because they are at the center of everything, to collaborate in everything and, above all, to prevent these things from happening again,” Omella said.

In January, Omella, who was in Rome with several bishops for their “ad limina” visits, told journalists that the bishops’ conference had no plans to establish a single independent commission as in Germany, France or neighboring Portugal to conduct a nationwide investigation of the handling of cases past and present.

However, the…

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The Catholic bishops of Spain on Thursday presented their plan for an independent commission on the clerical abuse crisis to Pope Francis.

The investigation was announced soon after the Spanish Congress approved a resolution to set up its own independent commission to investigate historical allegations of abuse.

“We want someone to evaluate what we are doing, because maybe we think we are doing very well and it turns out that we are not,” said Cardinal Juan Jose Omella, president of the Spanish bishops’ conference. “That is why we have asked for an external audit, led by the Cremades-Otello law firm. They estimated that it would take them a year to evaluate what we have done so that we can rectify what we are doing wrong.” 

During a 30 minute conversation, the prelate told Crux that he believes it is “important to be humble, recognize the value of what you are doing well, without…

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As parishes throughout the archdiocese began their observances of National Child Abuse Prevention Month on the weekend of April 2-3, Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley joined the community of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Hull to highlight the importance of this month dedicated to awareness and education.

Like many parishes across the archdiocese, the parish used its weekend Masses as an opportunity to pray for victims of sexual abuse, especially children abused by clergy, and share information about available resources for child protection and advocacy.

Accompanying the cardinal at the Mass, celebrated April 3 at St. Ann Church, were Vivian Soper, director of the Office of Pastoral Support and Child Protection, and social worker Kristen Gotter, both of whom were available to speak with parishioners following the Mass.

In addition to April being National Child Abuse Prevention Month, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Charter…

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In late 2021, the Catholic Church in Switzerland instructed two historians to investigate sexual abuse within the organisation. The move followed evidence of sexual abuse on a staggering scale within the organisation in France. On 4 April 2022, a date was announced for the opening of the secret episcopal archives, reported RTS. Work will start on 1 May 2022.

The researchers running the investigation are from the University of Zurich. The organisations requesting the investigation include the Swiss Bishops’ Conference, KOVOS and RKZ, three Catholic associations in Switzerland. The written agreement to proceed with the investigation was signed in November 2021. This is the first time the three organisations have come together on the subject of sexual abuse.

The two historians from Zurich University researching the abuse will be assisted by an independent scientific committee of six others.

The work will begin on 1 May 2022 and the results are…

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Indigenous leaders in Canada say Catholic Church must take concrete action to support survivors and prevent more harm.

Warning: The story below contains details of residential schools that may be upsetting. Canada’s Indian Residential School Survivors and Family Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day at 1-866-925-4419.

Less than a week ago, Pope Francis apologised for the “deplorable” abuses that members of the Roman Catholic Church committed at residential schools that Indigenous children were forced to attend across Canada for decades.

The apology was historic and welcomed by many, but survivors of the forced-assimilation institutions and other Indigenous leaders say tangible action is needed to truly grapple with the Catholic Church’s role in what occurred.

“There is still much work [to be done],” said Gerald Antoine, who led an Assembly of First Nations delegation that travelled to Rome late last month to meet the pope to discuss the…

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Activist and Anglican priest, Reverend June Major, has taken her fight for justice for sexual assault victims to the president’s office.

On Wednesday, Major handed a memorandum to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office in Tuynhuys, Cape Town, calling for a commission of inquiry into historic child sexual offences within churches and other faith-based institutions.

The move comes as the country observes Sexual Assault Awareness Month and against the backdrop of Ramaphosa acknowledging that gender-based violence was a pandemic in the country.

In the memorandum, Major highlighted that in countries such as Ireland, Australia, Canada and Mexico, commissions of inquiry were set up to investigate sexual abuse of minors by priests.

The memorandum called for a “safe space” for victims and survivors, the majority of whom were now adults, to share their experiences.

“I recently assisted a family where a pastor (allegedly) raped a four-year-old child and another 10-year-old. Another pastor (allegedly)…

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The federal government abandoned its 2015 appeal of a court ruling that released the Catholic Church from its financial obligations to residential school survivors because it believed there was a “low likelihood of success,” according to records obtained by The Globe and Mail.

For almost seven years, Indigenous leaders have sought answers to why Ottawa dropped its legal action against the Catholic Church, which was short $21.3-million in a fundraising campaign meant to benefit survivors. Documents released last week by the Department of Justice through an access-to-information request provide some insight into the decision.

In a memorandum to then-justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould dated April 21, 2016 – five months after the appeal was abandoned – Duaine W. Simms, then an assistant general counsel and director of the Aboriginal affairs portfolio at the Department of Justice, wrote that there “would be a low likelihood of success of an appeal…

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A Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing boys told a jury he had carried out an exorcism for one of his alleged victims.

Father Patrick Smythe described how he had been invited to the complaint’s workplace in Leeds years after he is said to have indecently assaulted him.

Smythe, 79, said he had been contacted as there were concerns about a the “presence of a malevolent nature” where he had been working.

The defendant told the court that he “conducted a simple blessing with holy water” at the workplace.

Father Patrick Smythe is on trial at Leeds Crown Court. He pleads not guilty to six counts of indecent assault and one of attempted indecent assault.

As Smythe gave evidence at Leeds Crown Court, his barrister Susannah Proctor asked: “Was (the complainant) part of the process?”

Smythe replied: “Yes he was there. He was happy enough that I had been.”

The defendant…

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Appeal to Ramaphosa for inquiry into sexual misconduct by the clergy

One woman’s campaign to have a commission of inquiry into sexual offences committed by the clergy across all denominations will step up a gear on Wednesday when she hands her appeal to the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Rev June Dolley-Major has been fighting for years to be heard — waging a hunger strike, a 40-day walk and now gathering signatures and letters of support. Now she is hoping for a proper response.

“On Wednesday April 6, God willing, at 12pm, I will be handing over a memorandum to the office of the presidency. This will be done at Tuynhuys, where I will be accompanied by four other people,” she told TimesLIVE.

“It has been a lengthy process and it is going to take many more years,” she said, adding that while she did not expect a face-to-face with…

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The Fort McMurray Catholic School Division has renamed Father Turcotte School after survivors of the Holy Angels Residential School in Fort Chipewyan accused the school’s namesake of sexually abusing children in the 1960s.

The Grade 1-6 school will now be called Our Lady of the Rivers. A statement from the division said the name was chosen to acknowledge the importance of the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers in the region, “as well as the protection that Mary, mother of Jesus, provides for our school community.”

“We wholeheartedly acknowledge the sins of our forebears and will continue moving forward on the path to healing and reconciliation. By renaming the school we pray that this action shows our continual commitment to work in consultation and cooperation with the original peoples of Treaty 8,” said FMCSD board chair Cathie Langmead in a statement.

Father J.A. Turcotte was a Catholic priest who…

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In 2016, a Pennsylvania grand jury report revealed widespread sexual assault by Catholic priests in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese. One of the accounts in that report came from Shaun Dougherty who is from Johnstown, PA and survived sexual abuse by his priest when he was 10 years old.

“I’m here to share my story so it is not repeated again,” Dougherty said to an small audience in the HUB’s Ohio Room. Dougherty came to IUP as part of the University’s Six O’clock Series which are a series of guest lectures open to the public. He does not want his story to be “heavy.” Instead, he wants his story to be an inspiration for others to speak up and act.

Dougherty began his story in 2012 when he was working on building a restaurant in New York City which was one of his childhood dreams. He received a…

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Willy Rice, pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Florida, and a candidate to become the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention, has removed a deacon from leadership, citing the denomination’s ban on individuals who have committed sexual abuse from church leadership roles.

“As pastors of Calvary, we believe in the resolution passed by the 2021 Southern Baptist Convention at its annual meeting that dealt with sexual abuse and said in part ‘resolve that the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention believe that any person who has committed sexual abuse is permanently disqualified from holding the office of pastor and that we recommend that all affiliated churches apply this standard to all [positions] of church leadership,’” Rice said in an April 1 video announcement.

Rice did not identify the deacon in the video. But Religion News Service identified the man as Jeff Ford,…

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While researching some predator priests in Los Angeles, the nation’s largest Archdiocese, we at Horowitz Law stumbled on a few disturbing facts about what is really going on behind the scenes in LA.

Disturbing Fact #1: At least 355 proven, admitted, and credibly accused abusive Catholic clergy are or have been in that one jurisdiction. That’s not a typo, 355. That figure comes from perhaps the nation’s most comprehensive and trusted source of information on the church’s continuing crisis, BishopAccountability.org. The Archdiocese consists of 288 parishes, which means that, on average, every single church in the sprawling area has been ‘served’ by MORE than one child molester.

Disturbing Fact #2: Los Angeles Catholic officials have DELETED their list of predator priests at least twice over the years. They did this for the first time in November 2008. According to BA.org, “This very significant change was apparently not flagged on the archdiocesan website.” In…

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A priest in Baltimore has returned to active ministry following an investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse by the Baltimore Archdiocese.

Last year, the Archdiocese announced father Martin Demek, who was the then-pastor of Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Baltimore’s Bolton Hill neighborhood had been suspended.

The suspension came after the archdiocese learned of allegations of abuse against him from 1989.

The alleged victim, who was about 11 years old then, said the incidents took place at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Manchester.

The archdiocese says it interviewed close to 50 people as part of the investigation and found no evidence to substantiate the claims made by the alleged victim.

The archdiocese’s independent review board approved the decision to return Rev. Demek to the priesthood. They say he has once again taken over as the pastor of Corpus Christi Catholic Church.

Police never filed charges against Martin Demek.

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Assembly of First Nations delegate lead Dene National Chief Gerald Antoine called the scene a “divine moment” in time.

It rained for three days straight in Rome, but on Friday the clouds parted above St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City following the long-awaited apology given by Pope Francis to residential school survivors and their families.

Beams of light shone down on the Indigenous delegates addressing the media in the square. Assembly of First Nations delegate lead Dene National Chief Gerald Antoine called the scene a “divine moment” in time, and indeed it was.

The apology by the head of the Catholic Church took me by surprise. I was viewing a live feed of the Pope speaking to delegates in a private ceremony from the Vatican press office nearby and did a double-take when I heard the translator say, “I am sorry.” Those simple but powerful words had at last been uttered…

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In the two decades since U.S. bishops promised to oust credibly accused predatory priests, we know of only one still-active cleric who has been accused publicly five times without ever having been suspended from his post around kids.

That cleric is Fr. Alex R. Anderson, an active parish priest in the archdiocese of St. Louis.

Despite being accused of molesting at least five boys – none of whom know each other – and being named in at least two pending civil abuse lawsuits, Fr. Anderson has not been suspended for a single day by St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski nor by his predecessors.

We are filing today a formal complaint against Rozanski via ReportBishopAbuse.org, the Catholic church’s official complaint portal.

Two years ago, responding to intense pressure, Pope Francis adopted a policy called Vos Estis. It requires the reporting of any bishop with conduct “consisting of actions or…

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French national Johannes Rivoire, age 93, a former priest in Canada’s residential school system, has been charged in Canada with sexual assault, that allegedly happened decades earlier.

“In September 2021, Nunavut RCMP received a complaint of sexual assault that occurred approximately 47 years ago,” Nunavut Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesperson wrote in an email to Native News Online. “As a result of the investigation, on February 23, 2022, Father Johannes Rivoire, 93, of Lyon, France was charged with sexual assault. A Canada-wide warrant has been issued for the arrest of Father Rivoire.”

Rivoire returned to France in the early 1990s. According to CBC reporting, Rivoire worked in many Nunavut communities in the 1960s and 1970s, before returning to France. France does not extradite its own citizens. 

This isn’t the first time the priest has been charged with sex crimes against children in Nunavut. In 1998, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police issued a…

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Last week two major U.S. Catholic universities hosted conferences that engaged ongoing historical and theological research on clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

The first, a symposium titled “Gender, Sex, and Power: Towards a History of Clergy Sex Abuse in the U.S. Catholic Church,” was hosted March 27-29 by the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame.

The second, a conference titled “‘Our transgressions before you are many, and our sins testify against us’ (Is 59:12a): Re-Imagining Church in Light of Colonization and Catholic Sexual Abuse,” took place at Gonzaga University March 31-April 3.

Although I was out of town and could not attend the Notre Dame event, I was an invited participant in the Gonzaga conference, which was sponsored in part by the “Taking Responsibility” project based at Fordham University. The primary working…

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