ABUSE TRACKER

Indigenous leaders from Canada and survivors of the country’s notorious residential schools met with Pope Francis on Monday and told him of the abuses they suffered at the hands of Catholic priests and school workers. They came hoping to secure a papal apology and a commitment by the church to repair the harm done.

“While the time for acknowledgement, apology and atonement is long overdue, it is never too late to do the right thing,” Cassidy Caron, president of the Metis National Council, told reporters in St. Peter’s Square after the audience.

This week’s meetings, postponed from December because of the pandemic, are part of the Canadian church and government’s efforts to respond to Indigenous demands for justice, reconciliation and reparations — long-standing demands that gained traction last year after the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves outside some of the schools.

More than 150,000 native children in Canada were…

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A key moment in the newly released deposition of Bishop Emeritus Howard Hubbard comes when an attorney asks the retired Catholic leader why he hadn’t called law enforcement after being apprised by a county social services commissioner that David Bentley, a priest under the bishop’s control, had allegedly committed child sexual abuse — and that the cleric had subsequently admitted it to the bishop.

“Bishop,” Jeffrey R. Anderson asks, “why didn’t you, after (Rev. Bentley) admitted to you having committed the felony of child sexual abuse, at his lips to your ears, why didn’t you call up the police and say, ‘I have a priest that just admitted a crime to me’?”

Bishop Emeritus Hubbard’s answer: “Because I was not a mandated reporter. I don’t think the law then or even now requires me to do it.”

You could not ask for a purer distillation of…

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Robert Brennan, a former Catholic priest who lied to the feds in a child sex abuse case, will be sentenced in federal court later this week.

A former Philadelphia Catholic priest who pleaded guilty late last year to lying to federal agents in connection with a child sexual abuse case will learn his fate later this week when he is sentenced by a federal judge.

Robert Brennan, who was charged in a corruption case by the federal government relating to his alleged sexual abuse of a minor child decades ago, is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Anita Brody, according to court records.

According to media reports, Brennan, who had since been defrocked, admitted that he lied to FBI agents when they interviewed him at his Maryland home in 2019, saying that he did not know Sean McIlmail or his family, when, in fact, he had…

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A Buffalo Diocese priest who died in 2021 is accused of molesting a 15-year-old boy less than five years ago.

A claim of “unpermitted sexual contact” by the Rev. Robert M. Yetter in a lawsuit filed last week is the most recent alleged incident of abuse by a diocese priest among several hundred cases that have become public through court filings since 2018.

The vast bulk of accusations against Buffalo area priests involve abuses alleged to have happened at least 30 years ago, and diocese leaders say data shows safeguards tightly curbed abuses since they were put in place in 2002. The News found just one other public allegation of child sex abuse against a priest after 2005.

Victims advocates, however, maintain that the diocese has a spotty record on transparency and victims often don’t report abuse until years later, so it’s difficult to know yet whether…

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A former troop leader has been arraigned on multiple charges stemming from Michigan’s review of child sexual abuse lawsuits against the Boy Scouts of America.

Mark Chapman, 51, appeared Monday in Roseville District Court on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and eight counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Chapman is accused of sexually assaulting two boys at the time he was a scoutmaster in the Detroit suburb, where he also worked in and attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Starting in 2000, one victim was abused at the church — where the troop sometimes met — and other places from the time he was 13 or 14 until he was 17, according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

The second victim was assaulted for years beginning when he was about 11.

The Michigan charges were announced March 9, before Chapman’s parole from a New York…

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The Jesuits of Canada say they will continue to probe allegations of sexual abuse linked to a priest who once worked in the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community of Kahnawake outside Montreal.

The decision follows Kahnawake’s vote on the weekend in favour of exhuming the remains of Rev. Léon Lajoie, who was assigned to the St. Francis Xavier Mission Church in the community from 1961 to 1996.

Members of the community came forward last summer with sexual abuse allegations against Lajoie, who died in 1999, demanding that his remains be moved from the territory in order to start a healing process.

The Jesuits said in a statement Sunday they respect the decision, adding that their next step will be consultations with the community over the transfer of Lajoie’s remains to a Jesuit cemetery in St-Jérôme, Que.

They also said that while an independent investigation they ordered into the alleged…

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A Catholic priest has gone on trial accused of sexually abusing boys at a swimming pool.

Father Patrick Smythe is also accused of committing sex offences against boys in his care while on a retreat at a hostel in North Yorkshire.

Leeds Crown Court heard the offences are alleged to have taken place around 40 years ago.

Smythe, 79, of Manor Square, Otley, pleads not guilty to six counts of indecent assault and one of attempted indecent assault.

Father Smythe denies the allegations.

Michael Morley, prosecuting, told the jury that the charges relate to six boys who were in his care at the time of the alleged offences.

The prosecutor said: “We say this defendant has a sexual interest in male children.

“Not only does he have a sexual interest in children but, we say, he has acted upon that interest and he has abused that position he had in…

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As a young girl, Amanda Brandt suffered repeated sexual abuse at the hands of her best friend’s father.

Roy Pompa drugged and raped girls – ages 6 to 13 – in his home where he also videotaped the crimes. 

The trauma set Brandt on a path of self-destruction as an adult, including heroin addiction, attempted suicide and homelessness, she argues. In 2018, she filed a civil lawsuit against Pompa. The jury said she deserved $134 million for her pain and suffering.

But an Ohio law passed in 2005 limits how much plaintiffs – including survivors of child rape – can be awarded for pain and suffering.

Brandt’s damages for the abuse that happened after the tort reform law took effect were knocked down from $20 million to $250,000. The $14 million in noneconomic damages pre-2005 and the $100 million in punitive damages were unchanged.

Brandt is challenging the law before the Ohio Supreme Court,…

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The Albany Catholic Diocese concealed reports of child sex abuse for decades and failed to report the abuse to police, Albany Bishop Emeritus Howard Hubbard testified last year, according to transcripts of a deposition released Friday.

The more than 600-page transcript details instances in which the former bishop covered up allegations of priests sexually abusing minors during his 37-year tenure, which ended in 2014.

Hubbard provided four days of sworn testimony in April 2021. The deposition was released Friday as a result of a recent decision by the Albany County Supreme Court.

“Bishop Hubbard’s testimony reveals decades of decadence, denial and deception at the peril of so many innocent, trusting children, in his own words,” said Jeff Anderson, an attorney for the survivor who sought the release of the deposition.

Three hundred cases were filed against the Albany Diocese alleging sexual abuse under the Child Victims Act. Ten of those accuse the…

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For the first two decades of my life, there was very little I did that wasn’t touched somehow by evangelical churches. I can still sing a random smattering of Bible verses, thanks to catchy little melodies we played on cassette tapes in the car. If I squeeze my eyes shut hard enough, I can reach down into the primordial dregs of my memory and find some of the pledge to the Christian Flag, bringing up with it the Play-Doh smell of my preschool classroom at a church-adjacent academy in Scottsdale, Ariz. I still remember thefirst time I ever felt so overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit that I wept during a church service — I was 11,and it was during a rendition of “Shout to the Lord,” a beloved praise anthem from none other than Hillsong, the Australia-based global charismatic church network known best at the time for its stirring, internationally…

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The former bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany has acknowledged covering up allegations of sexual abuse against children by priests in part to avoid scandal and protect the reputation of the diocese.

Howard J. Hubbard made the admission during a deposition taken last year as part of a response to dozens of claims filed under New York’s Child Victims Act. A judge ordered the deposition released on Friday.

Hundreds of people have sued the Albany diocese over sexual abuse they say they endured as children, sometimes decades ago.

During the four-day deposition, Hubbard named several priests who had been accused of sexual abuse who were referred to treatment and later returned to ministry, without notification to the public. One, David Bentley, admitted to Hubbard that he had engaged in the behavior alleged.

Hubbard testified he didn’t report the allegations to law enforcement because he didn’t feel he was…

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223 people voted in favour of Rev. Léon Lajoie’s exhumation

The Mohawk community of Kahnawake voted this weekend to move out the remains of a priest facing sexual abuse allegations.

Several Kahnawake residents came forward last summer with allegations that Rev. Léon Lajoie had abused them, and demanded that his remains be removed from the community south of Montreal.

“I feel relieved, I was in shock they had to tell me three times that they voted in favour of his removal,” said Melissa Montour-Lazare, the spokesperson for the group demanding the exhumation. “I’m happy for the survivors and wish them well on their healing journey. They can rest their minds now.”

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake shared the results on Saturday, saying 420 people voted. While two votes were invalid, 223 people voted in favour of Lajoie’s exhumation, while 195 people wanted to keep his remains in the community.

Lajoie, a…

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Analysis: the global church, founded almost 40 years ago in north-west Sydney, has little choice but to launch an independent inquiry

Judgment Day has come for Hillsong – but not in the way its pastors promised.

To recap a damning week for the church, its founder and global senior pastor, Brian Houston, has resigned after an internal investigation found he had breached the church’s code of conduct twice over the past decade by behaving inappropriately towards two women.

The church has further been rocked by the revelation that the former Hillsong Dallas pastor Reed Bogard resigned last year after he was accused of rape. A former Hillsong college student also went public with claims that the church had covered up her sexual assault.

On Thursday Hillsong Atlanta’s lead pastor, Sam Collier, resigned, citing the ongoing scandals and accusations about various members of Hillsong. “A lot of our members were becoming really fatigued with a…

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For five long years, survivors of abuse at the hands of Dunedin clergy have waited to see if a reminder of the city’s dark past would be removed. The news that they had succeeded was greeted with relief, but the handling of the investigation into Bishop John Kavanagh has come under fire. PIJF reporter Daisy Hudson reports.

Murray Heasley was horrified. He was staring at a photo of a convicted paedophile, on display at his old high school.

That man, Magnus Murray, was proven to have committed acts described as “despicable sexual crimes against innocent and vulnerable children”.

It left Dr Heasley and a group of fellow old boys of Dunedin’s Kavanagh College incensed.

Their ire was increased by the knowledge that the school’s namesake, the then Catholic Bishop of Dunedin John Kavanagh, had been aware of abuse at the time and had not reported it to police.

That moment…

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A priest in the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland who has served assignments in Stow, Wadsworth and Medina has been placed on administrative leave due to unspecified allegations of violating the diocese’s standards of conduct for ministry.

The Rev. Michael D. Ausperk was placed on leave this week while an investigation is conducted, according to an announcement that St. Francis Xavier Church in Medina released to its parishioners Saturday.

“These allegations do not allege any sexual abuse of a minor,” the statement said, adding that “the details are confidential, and the diocese has not disclosed them to us.”

“While on administrative leave, Father Ausperk is unable to function in any capacity as a priest anywhere,” the statement said.

In a video posted Saturday afternoon, the Rev. Anthony F. Sejba of St. Francis spoke about the investigation.

“I’ve got some very difficult news to share with you,” Sejba told parishioners.

The pastor said…

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I want to say a couple of things to people who have been spiritually abused in Charismatic settings: particularly to people like me, who are recovering Charismatics that still want to practice religion and find their own ways of talking and listening to God, but might not be sure how to go about doing it. If you were Charismatic for a long time or since childhood, you might not realize the ways healthy boundaries have been violated or what’s normal and what’s not. These are probably are common knowledge to everybody else, but they aren’t always common knowledge to recovering Charismatics. So if none of what I’m about to say seems relevant to you, I’m glad, but people in a certain niche need to hear it.

The first thing you have to know is that, in non-emergency situations, touch is supposed to be consensual. This is sometimes the opposite of…

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The Northern Ireland government issued a formal apology on Friday to people who were abused in orphanages and children’s homes, telling them that “the state let you down.”

Ministers from all five political parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly read out apologies to survivors gathered at the Stormont government buildings near Belfast. Representatives of six institutions where abuse took place also publicly said sorry to those who were harmed.

“We neglected you, rejected you, we made you feel unwanted,” said Education Minister Michelle McIlveen, from the Democratic Unionist Party. “It was not your fault. The state let you down.”

The formal apology came more than five years after it was recommended by the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry. The years-long inquiry found shocking levels of physical, sexual and mental abuse at institutions run by the state, churches and charities between 1922, when Northern Ireland was founded as a state, and 1995.

…

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My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Greetings on this Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare (rejoice) Sunday. We are at the half-way point of Lent, a time to have a joyful anticipation of the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord on Easter Sunday. I also rejoice in my return to ministry as the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City.

This has been a terrible ordeal and it has taken a long time to determine that the accusation against me was not true, but I always trusted that I would be exonerated because I knew that I did not do what I had been accused of. I trusted I would be cleared of the accusation, and I appreciate the intensive efforts of the KBI and Church authorities to investigate the accusation so thoroughly. I believe these findings speak for themselves and I simply want to get back…

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When an Assembly of First Nations delegation traveled to the Vatican in 2009 to meet with then-Pope Benedict XVI, the pontiff told them in a private meeting of his “personal anguish” over abuse suffered by Indigenous children in church-run boarding schools they were forced to attend in Canada.

What at the time was called an expression of deep, heartfelt regret is no longer seen as sufficient after last year’s discovery in British Columbia of about 200 unmarked and previously undocumented graves of children at what was Canada’s largest Indigenous residential school — one of numerous, similar grim sites across the country.

Now Indigenous leaders are expecting nothing less than a public apology from Pope Francis, with government officials up to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lending support to their cause. Set to meet with First Nations, Métis and Inuit survivors at the Vatican next week ahead of a visit to Canada…

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The leader of the national organization representing Inuit people says it will not be a celebratory occasion when he meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican next week as part of an Indigenous delegation.

 Natan Obed has a specific item on his agenda: justice for alleged victims of a Roman Catholic priest accused of crimes against children.

Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, wants the church to hold to account an Oblate priest, Johannes Rivoire, who continues to live free despite multiple allegations of sexual abuse linked to his time in Nunavut.

“He is still alive and has not faced legal prosecution,” Obed said in a recent interview.

Rivoire was in Canada from the early 1960s to 1993, when he returned to France.

A warrant was issued for his arrest in 1998. He faced at least three charges of sexual abuse in the Nunavut communities of Arviat, Rankin Inlet and…

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The long-running bankruptcy reorganization filed by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe to deal with clergy abuse claims has reached a pivotal stage, with all parties’ sides entering what could be a final mediation session this week.

Albuquerque attorney Thomas Walker, who represents the Archdiocese, told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Thuma on Friday that the mediation session beginning Monday involving the archdiocese, Catholic parishes, insurance carriers and attorneys for 374 clergy sex abuse survivors is “more important than any before.”

“The debtor (Archdiocese) remains optimistic that a settlement can be reached. We want to see if we can wrap this up,” said Walker during a hearing in the case.

If all parties can’t reach a settlement, he added,”We might not have another opportunity.”

For months, negotiations in the case have hinged on how much the Archdiocese’s insurance carriers should contribute to the pool of money needed to compensate victims who were…

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The bishop of Dodge City, Kansas has been cleared of an allegation of sexual abuse, the Archdiocese of Kansas City announced Wednesday.

Bishop John Brungardt will return to ministry after a nearly 14-month voluntary leave of absence which began in February 2021, when the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said it was looking into an allegation of abuse against the bishop.

“The allegation was fully investigated by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), following which civil authorities declined prosecution,” the Archdiocese of Kansas City said in a March 23 statement.

“Following the KBI investigation, Church authorities conducted their own separate investigation of the allegation. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican has now determined that the allegation against Bishop Brungardt is not supported by the evidence and the case against him has been dismissed,” the archdiocese added.

Brungardt broke precedent last year by stepping away from ministry…

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Two men who worked in direct care at a western Pennsylvania residential facility inflicted what a grand jury alleges was “violent, demeaning and humiliating” abuse on people with severe physical and mental disabilities, federal prosecutors said Friday in announcing hate crimes criminal charges.

Zachary Lee Dinell, 28, and Tyler James Smith, 31, are accused of abusing people who are not able to speak to report their injuries and lack the capacity to defend themselves.

Their 12-count indictment issued Wednesday describes that from mid-2016 to about September 2017 residents of McGuire Memorial in New Brighton were punched in the face and head, choked, kicked in the face, jumped on, had caustic substances and other liquids rubbed into their eyes and had liquids sprayed and thrown into their mouths.

Thomas King, McGuire Memorial’s general counsel, said the abuse came to light when police investigating Dinell for another matter found texts and videos…

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‘It’s nerve-wracking, but I’m also looking forward to it, to the discussions we’re going to have’

WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

A Dene woman from the Fort Nelson First Nation in northern B.C. is feeling the weight of responsibility as she prepares to travel to the Vatican to represent intergenerational survivors in an audience with the Pope.

Taylor Behn-Tsakoza, 26, is the youth delegate for the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) taking part in the historic meetings set for next week. She is part of a larger group of First Nations peoples, including Inuit and Métis representatives, asking Pope Francis for an apology for the harm done by Roman Catholic-run residential schools. 

“It’s nerve-wracking,” Behn-Tsakoza said. “But I’m also looking forward to it, to the discussions we’re going to have.”

Representing young Indigenous people and her community is a responsibility she doesn’t take lightly. 

As the youth delegate, Behn-Tsakoza will be asking…

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WARNING: This story contains distressing details

The close relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Mi’kmaq in what is now Atlantic Canada — an alliance that dates back more than 400 years — is being sorely tested after recent discoveries of unmarked graves at former residential school sites.

Some have turned away from the church, but others have maintained their faith.

“It’s just sad that what happened in residential schools should never have happened,” said Jeff Ward, general manager of the Membertou Heritage Park in Membertou First Nation, near Sydney, N.S.

“Those that hid behind religion, they have to answer to the Creator. They have to stand before God.

“My mom is a survivor. I’m a son of a survivor, so she told me the stories, and she’s still with us today and she shares those stories with our family and it’s very hard.”

Starting Monday, Inuit, Métis and First Nations representatives…

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Former national chief who revealed abuse he suffered is part of delegation to Vatican

[AUDIO – The Sunday Magazine]

WARNING: This story contains details some readers may find distressing.

When Phil Fontaine spoke decades ago about the sexual and physical abuse he suffered at Manitoba residential schools, he risked shame and shocked Canadians.

Fontaine, an Ojibway and former chief of the Sagkeeng First Nation, was one of the first Indigenous leaders to speak to the public about the physical and psychological abuse at Canada’s residential schools, during a ground-breaking 1990 interview with CBC’s Barbara Frum.

Now, 32 years later, the former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations is part of a 30-member delegation that will be at the Vatican starting on Monday to talk about the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the horrors that played out in Canadian residential schools.

Fontaine said the “time has come” for a full apology from the pontiff.

“It’s…

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After the death of a classmate, it is natural for teachers to listen to their students and be patient and understanding of the ways they grieve. What isn’t a reasonable response is to use the death of the classmate to their advantage.

Carlos Franco-Leon, 44, a former teacher and coach at Morris Catholic High School, did just that when he offered his support to two 15-year-old heartbroken students, one whom he admitted in a plea hearing in October to touching her buttocks in his classroom and another who he had a sexual relationship with for years.

“It absolutely astonishes me the complete lack of understanding or comprehension of the offense and the lack of empathy for the victims,” Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor said of Franco-Leon, who stood before the Morris County judge on Friday for his sentencing.

Taylor sentenced Franco-Leon to nine years in jail: six years for charges…

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One of the lawyers defending victims of a scandal-ridden Peruvian lay group has voiced confidence that the civil case he is leading against several of its members will move forward, and he believes the organization could soon be dissolved.

Speaking to Crux, José Ugaz, a named partner with the Benites, Vargas & Ugaz law firm in Peru, said they are “very interested in the dissolution of this institution, which has had a criminal vocation among the highest ranks of its leadership.”

“We also know that at the level of the church, this is being evaluated and it’s possible that the church will make a decision in the coming months,” he said.

The group in question is the Sodalitium Christinae Vitae (SCV), one of the largest and most prominent Catholic lay groups in Latin America. It was founded by Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari in the 1970s.

Figari, who is accused of physical, psychological,…

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The deposition of former Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany bishop Howard J. Hubbard, who served in that role from 1977 to 2014, is now public after attempts to conceal it by his lawyers.

In his own words, the former bishop says by not reporting sexual abuse claims to law enforcement he was hoping to avoid scandal and retain the “respect for the priesthood”. When asked by an attorney why he did not inform parishioners, specifically parents, about troubled priests, Hubbard said, “by the standards I was using in the 70s and 80s, I didn’t think that was a necessity.”

Hubbard was deposed over a series of several days in April 2021. According to the deposition, between 1977 and 2002, the bishop was made aware of at least 11 priests who had been accused of sexually assaulting children.

During his tenure, Hubbard sent some of those priests away for “treatment” after…

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After a months-long investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against the late father Léon Lajoie, who worked in Kahnawake for over 30 years, the results were shared with community members last Friday.

The executive summary of the report prepared by King International Advisory Group (KIAG), the firm commissioned by the Jesuits of Canada to carry out the investigation, stated that unless more information comes to light, KIAG’s conclusions “do not currently support any allegation of childhood sexual abuse by Father Leon Lajoie, S.J. in Kahnawà:ke during the period between 1956-1990.”

The summary presents a general overview of how the investigation into the former priest of the St. Francis-Xavier Mission Catholic Church was conducted and the findings that resulted, with no identifying information included.

It states that three alleged victims were identified, and two agreed to participate in the investigation.

“We did get a strong outpouring of people from the community…

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In a lengthy article in “La Civiltà Cattolica”, former Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi SJ says bishops showed “great courage” in commissioning independent report

Father Federico Lombardi, the Jesuit priest who served as Vatican spokesman under the last two popes, has praised the Catholic bishops of France for their courageous decision to entrust an independent commission with investigating Church-related sex abuse in their county.

Lombardi, writing in the latest issue of La Civiltà Cattolica (LCC), gave an extensive evaluation of the report that the commission – known as the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) – issued last October.

LCC is a Jesuit journal whose articles are approved by the Holy See’s Secretariat of State, and the former spokesman’s 13-page evaluation is the first study published by a periodical institutionally linked to the Vatican.

Instrumental figure in Vatican’s response to abuse

Lombardi, now 79, has been instrumental…

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Church of Grace and Resurrection church member Juanita Faulkner is suing Rev. Gilberto Hinds for $2 million for emotional distress and financial losses.

A Queens clergyman had an unholy reaction to a member of his flock, accusing her of trying to seduce him and slamming her as “disgusting” and “stupid,” according to a lawsuit.

Juanita Faulkner claims her time at Episcopal Church of Grace and Resurrection became a living hell in 2018, when Rev. Gilberto Hinds began haranguing her.

“You are the most disgusting person that I have ever met,” Hinds allegedly told Faulkner, in front of others.

At another point, the interim priest at the Elmhurst church allegedly told her, “I have developed an aversion towards you” and “Whenever you and I are in the same room, I feel a desperate need to move to the other end,” she claims in a Queens Supreme Court lawsuit against Hinds and…

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The pastor identified as Pondson John, a priest from the Orthodox Church at Koodal, repeatedly sexually abused a 17-year-old minor girl.

On Thursday, an orthodox church priest was arrested for sexually abusing a minor girl in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala.

According to reports, the pastor identified as Pondson John, a priest from the Orthodox Church at Koodal, repeatedly sexually abused a 17-year-old minor girl. The priest sexually abused the 17-year-old girl when she was left in his care for counselling.

The victim’s parents had sought the help of the priest for counselling her, as she was facing academic troubles.

As per the police complaint, the accused misbehaved with her two times at two different locations on March 12 and 13. At first, the priest sexually abused the victim at the church. Following the incident, the girl refused to go to the church the next day. However, the…

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How one organization—our own—got it wrong in responding to sexual harassment. And how we can do better.

I joined Christianity Today as its president and CEO in May of 2019. In August of the same year, it came to my attention that one of our editorial leaders had treated his female reports unprofessionally, engaging in unwanted touch despite repeated communications that such behavior was wrong, unwelcome, and needed to stop. I gathered more information about the history of the issue, and it was clear that earlier incidents with this individual had been addressed primarily through one-on-one conversations.

Without any written warnings in place, our options in August of 2019 were limited. We disciplined him, we documented it, and we warned him that he would be suspended or fired if it should happen again. No further allegations of unwanted touch or other inappropriate conduct arose between then and his retirement.

However,…

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Preserving ‘respect for the priesthood’ was behind efforts to conceal sexual abuse, Hubbard said

Former Albany Bishop Howard J. Hubbard testified under oath last year that the diocese systematically concealed incidents of child sexual abuse, did not alert law enforcement agencies when they discovered it, and that their actions were, in part, intended to avoid scandal and preserve “respect for the priesthood.”

The testimony of Hubbard was made public Friday after a judge recently ordered the release of a lengthy deposition that took place last April. The former bishop was questioned for four days that month by attorneys representing dozens of individuals who filed claims under the state’s Child Victims Act alleging they had been sexually abused by priests or others associated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.

During his deposition, which took place over Zoom, Hubbard was pressed by one attorney about why he didn’t call the police…

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Testimony Lays Bare Bishop’s Lies in August 13, 2021, Op-ed and Reveals Nearly Four Decades of Danger

Bishop Howard Hubbard’s deposition was released publicly today as a result of a recent decision by Albany County Supreme Court.  For months Bishop Hubbard and his attorneys fought vigorously to keep the deposition sealed and out of the public eye.  Jeff Anderson, one of the attorneys for the survivor who sought the release of the deposition had this to say:

“Bishop Hubbard’s testimony reveals decades of decadence, denial and deception at the peril of so many innocent, trusting children, in his own words.“

This is the first time that Bishop Hubbard’s testimony about his more than three-decade-long practice of protecting accused perpetrators instead of children has been revealed.  Hubbard was the Bishop the Diocese of Albany New York for 37 years.  Cynthia LaFave, who also represents the survivor in the case, said:

“The testimony will…

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Spain’s Church said on Friday it had discovered 506 cases of child sex abuse through a complaints procedure launched in 2020, stressing its desire for “truth” as the nation opened its first official investigation

Unlike in many other nations where the government or the Church itself has opened a probe into the scale of such abuses, this has never happened in Spain.

But this week, lawmakers backed the creation of an independent expert committee to investigate the abuses, with the Church on Friday offering a fresh update on case numbers.

“In the past two years… we have received information or complaints about 506 cases,” Luis Arguello, secretary-general of the CEE Episcopal Conference that groups Spain’s leading bishops, told a news conference.

In 2020, Spain opened 202 “child protection and abuse prevention” offices following an order from the Vatican requiring every Catholic diocese around the world have an office or system…

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Hillsong Atlanta’s Lead Pastor Sam Collier has resigned from the global Hillsong church, citing the recent scandals and explaining “it’s become too difficult to lead and grow a young Church in this environment.”

As CBN News reported, Collier and his wife Toni, have led the Hillsong Atlanta church since 2021. 

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Collier, 33, wrote:  “This one hurt my heart deeply. I love @Hillsong, it’s leaders and believe God will pull them through this season.”

“It is with great sadness that I inform you of my departure from Hillsong,” he continued. 

“I have appreciated the Hillsong family and want to thank the Houstons for the love they have shown Toni and me,” Collier wrote. 

“My greatest reason for stepping down as Pastor of Hillsong Atlanta is probably not a secret to any of you. With all of the documentaries, scandals, articles, accusations, and the…

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Australia’s biggest evangelical church said on Wednesday its founder had resigned after acting inappropriately towards two women, another blow to an influential organisation already reeling from charges the leader had covered up sex abuse.

Hillsong Church said an internal investigation into complaints from two women had found that its global senior pastor, Brian Houston, had breached worshippers’ trust.

“We understand there will be much emotion at this news, and we all share these feelings,” Hillsong said in a statement on its website.

“We acknowledge that change is needed. We have committed to an independent review of our governance structure and processes, understanding that this is a time of humble reflection.”

The church said Houston, 68, had sent unacceptable text messages to a female staff member and had entered the hotel room of, and spent time with, another woman who was also involved with the church after an event.

Houston was…

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Attorney says she has reports of abuse from other churches in multi-state network

Some of the women who say they were abused at a north Jacksonville church went back to the church campus Wednesday with their attorney to share their stories. Attorney Cynthia Crawford told News4JAX she is a former member of the church as well, which is why the women trust her.

She joined them at the former site of the Jacksonville Assembly of the Body of Christ Church off Old Kings Road on Wednesday. The pastor of the church and two other members were arrested and charged with capital sexual battery this month.

The women who shared their stories with News4JAX were at the church at different times and described the changes and abuse they witnessed and experienced — spanning over 20 years.

“To think that it’s still standing or maybe they just replaced it, like…

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Spain’s parliament has approved the creation of a commission of inquiry to shed light on the sexual abuse of minors in Catholic-run institutions and churches

Spain’s parliament has voted to create an independent commission of experts to conduct an official investigation into pedocriminality in the Spanish Catholic Church.

The move on Thursday marks a major step in the fight against Church-related abuse in Spain and effectively by-passes the country’s bishops who have long been accused of trying to hide the phenomenon.

The new and unprecedented initiative, which was spearheaded by the ruling Socialists and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), was approved by a wide majority in the Chamber of Deputies.

Two hundred seventy-seven of the 350 elected members voted in favor of setting up the abuse commission.

The vote comes after the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) announced on February 21 that it was launching its own independent audit on sexual…

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German history is instructive in helping us understand the trajectory of the Church’s reckoning with the abuse crisis

In the history of the papacy, Benedict XVI marks a caesura or a break, something quite ironic, given the fact that many traditionalist Catholics identify his pontificate with the “hermeneutics of continuity”.

This caesura is not only tied to his decision in 2013 to voluntarily resign the papal office, but even more so to the fact that he has now been retired longer than he actually served as Bishop of Rome.

This has marked an extraordinary moment in the life of the Church and now Benedict’s recent penitential letter concerning historical cases of sex abuse in the Munich archdiocese he briefly led (1977-1982) must be added to the picture.

The letter was in response to a report on clergy abuse cases between 1945-2019 that said the former pope mishandled at least four…

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 The Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee is considering a bill to eliminate the time limit on sex abuse claims.

On Thursday it heard emotional testimony from sexual abuse survivors.

The civil statute of limitations is currently 35 years, or 7 years after an adult becomes aware of past abuse.

Now, lawmakers are trying to end the time limit on these specific types of cases.

South Kingstown Representative Carol Hagan MacEntee sponsors the bill and wants to strengthen the law, saying it would better protect children and provide support for victims.

Many speakers publicly shared their emotional stories of abuse.

Mary Banks says in the 1970s she was sexually abused by a priest at the age of 16 in Maine.

She kept it a secret until 2020 when she reported it to the Diocese.

Last year, Maine passed legislation to end the statute of limitations on sex abuse claims.

Mary…

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The bankruptcy case of the Catholic Diocese of Rochester could take a potentially significant turn.

A legal stipulation in the case expired at midnight. It allows victims abused by priests to now sue individual parishes.

The bankruptcy case, which is seeking to settle with the victims suing the diocese, is now in its third year. One legal expert tells 13WHAM it could be one of the longest cases on record.

Brian Delafranier is among 500 people who filed lawsuits under New York’s Child Victim’s Act against the diocese.

Facing potentially massive payouts to victims, the diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2019.

The case has dragged on for almost three years and that could prove costly.

A legal stipulation in the bankruptcy case staying the sexual abuse cases from moving forward expired at midnight on March 23, 2022. It had been renewed 11 previous times.

The expiration could potentially take the…

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Nearly five years after her son’s suicide, Patricia Osorio remains in pursuit of the identity of the priest who abused 11-year-old Daniel when he was a student at one of the most prestigious Catholic schools in the Colombian capital.

“I am leaving because I am tired of the life I have … As a boy I was abused at school. They wanted to make me a prostitute,” Daniel – by then a university student – wrote his mother when he swallowed pills in an unsuccessful attempt at suicide.

Looking back, Patricia, herself a teacher by profession, speaks of Daniel’s enrollment at Colegio San Viator as if he fell into the hands of criminals.

Blond and blue-eyed, Daniel “had the face of an angel,” his mother tells Efe while holding a photo album full of images from his youth.

Like many victims of clerical sexual abuse, Daniel was the child of…

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When friends ask Rose-Alma McDonald, “How can you still go to that church?” – and they ask often – the 68-year-old Mohawk from Akwesasne knows exactly what they’re getting at.

For much of last year, the doors of her Catholic church were surrounded by hundreds of baby shoes, reminders of the unmarked graves located around the site of a former Catholic Church-run residential school in Kamloops last June.

“Yeah, it tested my faith,” said Ms. McDonald, a lay minister. “It made me feel bad.”

Like many of Canada’s 11 million Catholics, Ms. McDonald will be watching the developments from an Indigenous delegation’s visit to the Vatican later this month with nervous anticipation. While she hopes the trip, along with a widely anticipated papal apology on Canadian soil, can begin to reverse the church’s troubled relationship with Indigenous people, she knows junkets and regret alone won’t cut it.

“It’s a good…

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The Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community on Montreal’s South Shore is going to the polls this weekend to decide what do to with the remains of Jesuit priest Father Leon Lajoie.

It’s an issue dividing many community members.

Lajoie was buried on the grounds of the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in the community 23 years ago.

Last year, allegations of sexual assault surfaced. Now, the community will decide via referendum whether the priest’s remains will remain on the territory.

“It’s a very important issue so please take the time to make your voice heard,” said Mohawk Council of Kahnawake chief Tonya Perron in a video message on Facebook.

King International Advisory Group identified three complainants who had come forward with allegations, however, KIAG noted that “as many as 20 individuals had come forward to members of a community protest group that had formed following the May 2021 Kamloops discovery [of a…

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The Archdiocese of Agaña and parties working with sex abuse survivors announced they are “inches” close to reaching a settlement amount.

“I would say 30 days ago — even two weeks ago — we were a mile or two apart, and now I would measure the distance apart by inches,” said attorney Edwin Caldie, who’s representing the survivors and creditors in discussions with the Archdiocese.

Following a ruling made by Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood, the parties involved were scheduled to discuss a settlement amount Friday morning.

The ruling made on Feb. 26 allowed the archdiocese to use funds from the Catholic schools and parishes to help pay survivors of sexual abuse.

Settling

Although the set amount was not reached, attorneys on both sides said after productive discussions since the ruling was made, an amount should be settled in the coming months.

“We’re getting to a point where I think the…

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While not coming up with a new specific dollar amount yet to offer survivors of clergy sexual assault, the Archdiocese of Agana and its creditors on Friday announced they are “close” to submitting a “consensual joint plan.”

That plan is about compensating nearly 300 abuse survivors and getting the archdiocese out of bankruptcy without closing any Catholic parish, school and other ministries.

“I’m happy to hear that you made progress from being miles apart to inches apart,” U.S. District Court Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood said Friday morning.

The judge gave parties up to April 8 to present their settlement agreement.

Previously, the archdiocese indicated it could pay up to $34.8 million, while the creditors’ committee has been proposing a payment plan of at least $100 million and real estate assets. The archdiocese’s initial offer was lower.

A key trial in February cleared the way for the archdiocese to include assets of…

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“What every institution needs to do is welcome survivors into their midst, to listen to them and act accordingly.”

Nazir Azfal, chair of the Church’s safeguarding agency, has asked survivors of clerical abuse to contact him directly, warning that “some people still don’t get it”.

In his made the comments in an opinion column for the Birmingham Mail’s BirminghamLive, Afzal asks survivors of clerical abuse to contact him directly through his email, chair@catholicsafeguarding.org.uk, stating that he’d learnt over many years that “the experiences of survivors drive change”. In particular, he requested those interested in participating in a survivors reference panel to get in touch.

“What every institution needs to do is welcome survivors into their midst, to listen to them and act accordingly.” And, Afzal added, “I do not want to hear anyone say that “we haven’t got a problem” because they are deluding themselves and endangering victims.”

Warning that “some…

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The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dodge City will resume his duties after church and civil investigations into a sexual abuse allegation did not support charges against him, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann announced Wednesday.

Bishop John Brungardt, 63, voluntarily stepped away when an allegation of sexual abuse of a child was lodged against him in February 2021, The Kansas City Star reported.

Naumann, who leads the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, said in a statement that the KBI investigated the allegations and prosecutors declined to file charges.

Naumann said church authorities also dismissed the case against Brungardt after their investigation concluded the evidence did not support the allegation.

Naumann said Brungardt “vigorously” denied the allegation and cooperated with both investigations.

The KBI is in its fourth year of investigating reports of sexual abuse in the four Catholic dioceses in Kansas and the…

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Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas today announced that Bishop John Brungardt will be resuming his duties as the Bishop of the Diocese of Dodge City.  Bishop Brungardt does so after a 14 month period during which he stepped aside after an allegation of sexual abuse was made against him.  Bishop Brungardt voluntarily withdrew from public ministry to facilitate the investigation of the allegation.  During that period, the allegation was fully investigated by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), following which civil authorities declined prosecution.

Following the KBI investigation, Church authorities conducted their own separate investigation of the allegation.  The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican has now determined that the allegation against Bishop Brungardt is not supported by the evidence and the case against him has been dismissed.

Bishop Brungardt has vigorously denied the allegation throughout, and he fully…

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The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dodge City who stepped down 14 months ago during an investigation into a sexual abuse allegation is resuming his duties, a church official announced Wednesday.

Bishop John Brungardt will return to his role as bishop after investigations by Kansas’ top law enforcement agency and church authorities, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas said in a statement.

“Bishop Brungardt voluntarily withdrew from public ministry to facilitate the investigation of the allegation,” Naumann said. “During that period, the allegation was fully investigated by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), following which civil authorities declined prosecution.”

Brungardt had stepped down as bishop in February 2021 after the allegation of sexual abuse of a minor was lodged against him.

Naumann said church authorities conducted their own investigation of the allegation after the KBI’s was completed.

“The Congregation for the…

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For immediate release: March 23, 2022

Seminarian accused of rape now at SLU

He recently lived with two former archdiocesan leaders

Bishop bizarrely claims that the alleged victim is really the perp

The same bishop, from St. Louis, also fired an investigator

SNAP to leaflet students warning of 20 SLU accused predators

Group wants SLU to post names of predators who worked here

WHAT: Handing out leaflets and holding signs, clergy abuse victims will warn St. Louis University students and staff about a seminarian who allegedly raped, assaulted, and spread defamatory rumors about a young man in 2019. The accused now attends the university and faces a recently filed civil lawsuit.

Victims will also prod SLU officials to post on their website the names of credibly accused child molesting clerics (like the archdiocese does). Their leaflet will name at least 15 priests who have been publicly accused of abuse and have…

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A survivor of clerical sexual abuse who quit the Vatican’s advisory group on abuse said she believes new reforms of the Roman Curia will further erode the independence of the body.

Marie Collins, whose advocacy led to an Irish government inquiry into the handling of abuse allegations in the Dublin Archdiocese, was one of the founding members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in 2014.

She quit in 2017, warning that “the reluctance of some in the Vatican Curia to implement recommendations or cooperate with the work of a commission, when the purpose is to improve the safety of children and vulnerable adults around the world, is unacceptable.”

Collins told The Irish Catholic newspaper that the Curia reorganization unveiled by Pope Francis March 19, which will see the commission become part of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, will further undermine the work of the…

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Archbishop Georg Gänswein, private secretary of retired Pope Benedict XVI, has defended his boss and criticized the Munich abuse report, which made international headlines when it was released in January.

The report alleges misconduct by Munich Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict, in dealing with four abusers during his time as head of the archdiocese from 1977 to 1982. The lawyers who conducted the investigation on behalf of the archdiocese accused the retired pope of misconduct in four cases. The allegations included the transfer of clerics who had committed criminal offenses and were allowed to continue pastoral care elsewhere.

“Not one of the allegations stood up to scrutiny of the files,” Archbishop Gänswein said in an interview with the newspaper Die Zeit, published March 17. The German Catholic news agency KNA said Archbishop Gänswein told Die Zeit the report was “in reality an indictment.”

Archbishop Gänswein told Die Zeit the…

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The deeply evil abuse of vulnerable children that happened at the Marylands School in Christchurch, and at St Joseph’s Orphanage and the Hebron Trust, was “the darkest chapter of the Catholic Church’s history in New Zealand”.  

That’s what was stated in the closing submission filed by Te Rōpū Tautoko, on behalf of the Bishops and Congregational Leaders of the Catholic Church of New Zealand, on the last day of the case study hearing into Marylands School by the Royal Commission on Abuse in Care. 

Marylands School operated from 1955 to 1984, and was run by the Hospitaller Brothers of St John of God.  

The royal commission hearing, which ran from February 9-17 this year, heard testimony from 22 abuse survivors, as well as from survivor advocates, a Police representative, a Government official, a lawyer, Brother Timothy Graham of the St John of God brothers, and Archbishop Paul Martin, SM, the…

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A Franciscan friar who pleaded guilty to sexual battery earlier this month in Jefferson County has been sent to jail.

David Morrier was sentenced March 11 to stay in a Steubenville residence until his paperwork allows a transfer to Pennsylvania. According to court documents, he couldn’t stay where he originally was to go. With no other residence available, he suggested being held in jail until a place could be found for him.

Judge Joseph Bruzzese agreed.

According to the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular from Loreto, Pa., Morrier is still considered a friar, but is not permitted to engage in public ministry. He was charged with sexual battery in relation to crimes involving a student between 2010 and 2013.

David Morrier was sentenced March 11 to stay in a Steubenville residence until his paperwork allows a transfer to Pennsylvania. According to court documents, he couldn’t stay…

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A December complaint sent through the U.S. bishops’ abuse reporting system alleges that a now-retired Brooklyn auxiliary bishop put minors at risk, by enabling a priest to be in contact with teenage girls despite allegations of grooming behavior.

Bishop Raymond Chappetto retired last month as auxiliary bishop and vicar general in the Brooklyn diocese. He is now the subject of a Vatican-ordered investigation under the terms of Vos estis lux mundi, the 2019 policy promulgated by Pope Francis on investigating abuse or administrative misconduct allegations against bishops.

The complaint, a copy of which was obtained by The Pillar, alleges two instances of administrative misconduct on the part of Chappetto. Both concern a Brooklyn priest, Fr. ​​Uririoghene Okrokoto, who was prohibited from contact with minors in August 2019, after allegations of “boundary violations and grooming” with teenage girls, according to the complaint filed against the bishop.

After he was sent to the St. Luke’s…

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After years of anticipation, Pope Francis issued Saturday a plan to restructure the Roman Curia, the central administrative offices and institutions charged with assisting the pope in leading the Catholic Church, and referred to commonly as the Vatican. 

Pope Francis wrote March 19 that his reforms aim to ensure that curial offices serve the needs of diocesan bishops and the mission of the papacy, and emphasized “transparency and coordinated action” — pointed responses to the pope’s longstanding concern that Vatican offices can seem territorial, opaque, and inflexible. 

The norms themselves, published in the apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium, task the Vatican Secretariat of State with administrative coordination, while overhauling and combining related but long-independent offices. The pope himself took on responsibility for the missionary and evangelization departments of the Roman Curia, while elevating the status of the papal almoner, who coordinates Vatican charitable works. 

The text also states directly that lay people…

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Vatican officials on Monday defended the last-minute rollout of Pope Francis’ reform of the Holy See bureaucracy while also painting it as one of the most consequential moves of his pontificate since it recognizes that any believer, male or female, can head a Vatican office.

The new apostolic constitution “Praedicate Evanglium,” or “Proclaiming the Gospel,” was released Saturday after nine years of work with no advance warning and only in Italian. It replaces the previous 1988 founding blueprint of the Holy See which, among other things, made clear that only ordained priests, bishops and cardinals can head Vatican offices because they alone enjoyed the “power of governance” in the Catholic Church.

While the change potentially impacts just a few Vatican offices, the rationale behind it — as explained by officials at a Vatican press conference Monday — is significant and in keeping with Francis’ efforts to make the church less…

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When you string together all that’s alleged or known about Diocese of Knoxville Bishop Richard Stika and the purported seminarian who is now accused of sexually assaulting a church employee, it paints a pretty damning picture.  

None of these facts or allegations, in isolation, is of course conclusive proof of wrongdoing. But taken together, they sure don’t pass the smell test. 

A young Polish Catholic man moves to the U.S., and no explanation is offered. He joins the Jesuits. He’s apparently kicked out because of sexual misconduct allegations.  

Then, a bishop brings him to Knoxville and presents him as a seminarian even though he’s not yet in seminary.  

When he does attend seminary out of state, he is reportedly ousted for the same reason: sexual misconduct accusations. 

After the alleged crime in Knoxville, Stika reportedly gives the accuser an unexpected and unexplained gift. He sets up a meeting between the accuser and…

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On Monday a Peruvian archbishop who belongs to a scandal-ridden lay group and who has long been investigated by Peruvian media, met with Pope Francis at the Vatican as civil land disputes continue in his archdiocese.

On the list of papal appointments for Monday, March 21, was a meeting with Archbishop José Antonio Eguren Anselmi of Piura, Peru, who is a prominent member of the Sodalitium Christinae Vitae (SCV), founded by Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari in the 1970s.

Figari is accused of physical, psychological, and sexual abuses within the community, including against minors. He was sanctioned by the Vatican in 2017 and prohibited from having further contact with members of the group, and he is currently living in exile.

The Vatican did not publish details about the pope’s meeting with Eguren, which was private, and which marks the second one-on-one meeting the pope has had with him in less than four…

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St. Augustine once said in his Easter Sermon, 227: “If we receive the Eucharist worthily, we become what we receive.” If the Eucharist encompasses all virtues of justice, compassion, care for the oppressed, and commandments of love of God and love of neighbour, the commandments Jesus himself taught his disciples.

Today, the clamour for justice from the parish level — the clamour from the parishioners themselves who make up the church congregation — falls on deaf ears.

This clamour is related to the protection of their interest as parishioners, as the very people that helped put together the church properties that include buildings for worship and related faith activities. It includes as well Family Aid that is meant to assist parishioners and all other people that are in need.

These assets of the church are now for sale. Some of the parishes have been shut, thus depriving the parishioners of…

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Glenn Whiffen’s recent reflection on the Mount Cashel Crimes and the slow grinding of the wheels of justice should be required reading for every Catholic, whether clergy or laity.

Mr. Whiffen reminds us that the victims in this whole miserable failure are the children who were victimized, physically and sexually abused by those who were responsible for their welfare. ‘The Brothers’ went back to Ireland, but we’re still here.

We, parishioners of the St. John’s Archdiocese, may feel that we are unfairly drawn into the case as ‘vicarious defendants’, we who (most of us) never ill-treated a child in our lives. We may feel like victims, and it’s true that some priests have shared that feeling with their parishioners. Mr. Whiffen reminds us that most of us were never used and abused as disgracefully as those children in the Mount Cashel Boys’ Home.

We may experience some…

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Will faith without buildings be all that’s left for the faithful?

I know a lot of people in Newfoundland and Labrador who profess to be Roman Catholic. Many of them good friends, some are former partners, some are work colleagues, some are teammates and some are acquaintances.

Great people. Kind, real.

I’ve also, off and on as a reporter for 30 years, covered the physical and sexual abuse cases of Christian Brothers and priests who destroyed young boys’ lives — right from the Hughes Inquiry to the actual trials of the Mount Cashel Christian Brothers and priests in the early 1990s.

I’ve also met, spoke with and interviewed a number of victims — mostly men, and mostly still young men at the time, with their hearts and lives torn apart. Watched them crumble in front of me.

Some I still speak to from time to time. They are still struggling….

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Canada’s bishops have voiced hope that when delegations of Canadian Indigenous meet with Pope Francis next week, the meetings will be an opportunity to reflect on the tragedies of the past and take steps toward further healing and reconciliation.

Speaking to Crux, Johnathan Lesarge, a spokesman for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), expressed sorrow and remorse for the trauma experienced by Indigenous communities, and for the church’s role in the suffering they endured through the residential school system.

The bishops, Lesarge said, are “honored” that the pope has decided to meet with Indigenous representatives during individual and group audiences at the Vatican, “where they have the opportunities to tell their stories and share their perspectives.”

“We expect that these encounters will allow the Holy Father to meaningfully address both the ongoing trauma and legacy of suffering faced by Indigenous people to this day, as well as the role of…

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Survivors express optimism that senior German cleric grasps scale of issue

Cardinal Reinhard Marx: has yet to address a key accusation in the Munich abuse report, that former pope Benedict, during his time as archbishop of Munich, was aware of abusing priests in his archdiocese. Photograph: Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images 

German cardinal Reinhard Marx has conceded that confronting the legacy of clerical sexual abuse and its cover-up in the Catholic Church can only happen when “systemic questions” are asked of the institution and its hierarchy.

Two months ago a report commissioned by Cardinal Marx, as archbishop of Munich and Freising, documented nearly 500 cases of clerical sexual abuse of children and youths and at least 235 perpetrators in the archdiocese in the postwar decades – with the true number likely to be much higher.

“Through…

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Lawsuit claims church’s culture silences witnesses and whistleblowers while enabling abusers

WARNING: This article contains graphic content and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it. 

A former student who attended a Mission, B.C. seminary in the 1970s has filed a lawsuit against the school, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver, and the estate of a dead monk who he claims sexually assaulted him decades ago.

The alleged victim, who is applying to keep his identity anonymous, was one of three complainants in a 1990s criminal sexual assault trial that ended in the acquittal of Benedictine monk Vincent Harold Sander, known as Father Placidus.

According to a notice of civil claim filed this week in B.C. Supreme Court, the man claims Sander fondled his genitals and penetrated him anally when he was a 13-year-old student at the Seminary of Christ the King.

The lawsuit claims the church…

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Pope Francis released his long-awaited reform program of the Holy See bureaucracy on Saturday that envisages greater decision-making roles for the laity and gives new institutional weight to efforts to fight clerical sex abuse.

The 54-page text, titled “Praedicate Evanglium,” or “Proclaiming the Gospel,” replaces the founding constitution “Pastor Bonus” that was penned by St. John Paul II in 1988.

Francis was elected pope in 2013 in large part on his promise to reform the bulky and inefficient Vatican bureaucracy, which acts as the organ of central governance for the 1.3-billion strong Catholic Church. He named a Cabinet of cardinal advisers who have met periodically since his election to help him draft the changes.

Much of the reform work has been rolled out piecemeal over the years, with offices consolidated and financial reforms issued. But the publication of the new document, for now only in Italian, finalizes the process and…

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Pope Francis has overhauled the Vatican’s central bureaucracy for the first time in over 30 years, dramatically expanding the number of top leadership roles lay men and women can hold and reorganizing Vatican departments under the central priority of evangelization. 

The 54-page text of the new Apostolic Constitution was released on March 19 — 9 years to the day of Francis’ inauguration as pope in 2013 — and fulfills a top priority of the College of Cardinals, who made clear their desire to improve and decentralize church governance when they gathered in Rome to name a successor to the then-recently retired Pope Benedict XVI.  

Under the title of Praedicate Evangelium (“Preach the Gospel”), the new document stresses that evangelization is the central task of the church. 

“The reform of the Roman Curia is also placed in the context of the missionary nature of the church,” states the preamble to the text….

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People often ask SNAP leaders “What specifically can I do to help?” Here are some quick and easy ways you can prevent future abuse, and help already wounded survivors to heal.

Always ask yourself “Does this make it easier for victims to find help and come forward?” because that’s the fundamental question. Kids are safe, abusers are exposed and parents are warned ONLY when victims are able to report their crimes. If victims and witnesses stay silent, nothing changes.

1) Learn about “safe touch.” Make sure your kids know about it. Encourage your school, athletic league, YWCA, and other youth groups to offer such prevention programs.

2) Report suspected abuse, no matter how vague it might seem or how long ago it might have happened.

3) Support legislative reform efforts that make it easier for victims to report crimes and pursue their abusers in court. Especially important are extending/eliminating the civil…

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It wasn’t until Fr David Vard reluctantly took a trip to France to help the sick and vulnerable get a blessing at the Lourdes Baths that the Newbridge native saw another side of Catholicism

Ireland’s youngest priest has opened up on his journey to the priesthood despite the numerous scandals that engulfed the Catholic Church.

The mother and baby homes, the Tuam babies scandal, and the global child abuse revelations were all present as Fr David Vard went through his formative years.

The barrage of “bad news” even forced him out of the church after making his confirmation.

Fr Vard, Ireland’s youngest priest at 30 years of age, told The Tommy Tiernan Show he left the church as a youngster because he “didn’t want anything to do with it”; due to the numerous scandals that engulfed it

It wasn’t until he reluctantly took a trip to France to help the…

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A December complaint sent through the U.S. bishops’ abuse reporting system alleges that a now-retired Brooklyn auxiliary bishop put minors at risk, by enabling a priest to be in contact with teenage girls despite allegations of grooming behavior.

Bishop Raymond Chappetto retired last month as auxiliary bishop and vicar general in the Brooklyn diocese. He is now the subject of a Vatican-ordered investigation under the terms of Vos estis lux mundi, the 2019 policy promulgated by Pope Francis on investigating abuse or administrative misconduct allegations against bishops.

The complaint, a copy of which was obtained by The Pillar, alleges two instances of administrative misconduct on the part of Chappetto. Both concern a Brooklyn priest, Fr. ​​Uririoghene Okrokoto, who was prohibited from contact with minors in August 2019, after allegations of “boundary violations and grooming” with teenage girls, according to the complaint filed against the bishop.

After he was sent to the St. Luke’s…

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Vancouver’s Roman Catholic archbishop, a Mission Catholic seminary and a dead priest have been named as defendants in a lawsuit alleging sexual and physical abuse dating to 1977.

The complainant, known only by his initials, alleges Harold Vincent Sander, also known as Father Placidus, encouraged the 13-year-old seminary student to sketch his profile.

It was in Sander’s private office that the boy’s pants and underwear were lowered to his ankles, according to a notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court on March 14.

The claim said Sander fondled the boy’s genitals and then anally penetrated him.

Named in the suit are the Seminary of Christ the King; Westminster Abbey Ltd.; The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver, a Corporation Sole; and the estate of Harold Vincent Sander a.k.a. Dom Placidus Sander. He died in October 2021.

The suit, filed by lawyer Sandra Kovacs, asserts Sander was in a position of power and trust…

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New efforts come amid the Catholic Church’s groundbreaking investigation.

Florent Varak had been a pastor for nine years in 2001 when a 15-year-old church attendee disclosed that his father had been sexually abusing him.

“I was just stunned,” said Varak, who at the time pastored Église protestante évangélique de Villeurbanne-Cusset (Evangelical Protestant Church of Villeurbanne-Cusset) in Lyon.

Since the attendee was a minor, Varak believed this revelation required immediate legal action. He called the father into his office and explained that the man would either write a letter to the procureur de la République, the district attorney, denouncing himself, or Varak would.

Varak wrote the letter, and the trial took place almost two years after a government investigation revealed that the abuser’s actions were not limited to his son. Varak attended the three-day trial and testified as a key witness. The father was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Two decades…

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Over the past few years, members of the LGBTQ Catholic community around the globe have been watching how Germany’s church leaders, organizations, and laity are leading the way on progressive measures for LGBTQ equality. Inevitably, the question arises: “How is that happening there when in other places we still struggle?” 

Bondings 2.0 editors asked Dr. Michael Brinkschröder, one of the leaders of the Catholic LGBTQ movement in Germany, to provide an analysis of  what has been happening in the church in that nation that has allowed it to move so far forward on LGBTQ issues. Dr. Brinkschröder, a theologian and sociologist, is a member of #OutInChurch and co-chair of the German Catholic LGBT+ Committee. The following is his response. 

Introduction: Waves of Solidarity and Support

In January of this year, 125 LGBTIQ church workers in Germany came out by issuing a statement “#OutInChurch” and by having a documentary “Wie Gott uns schuf”…

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[Via Kilgore News Herald]

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes on Friday issued a much stronger call for the Catholic community to pull together more existing assets to help pay nearly 300 survivors of Guam clergy sexual assault because it’s the “right thing” to do, and it would end the Archdiocese of Agana’s three-year bankruptcy.

Many of these assets must be contributed, he said.

The archdiocese is under a March 25 deadline to offer a revised settlement offer to the creditors’ committee that represents mostly abuse survivors.

Otherwise, the clergy sex abuse cases could go to trial.

The archbishop’s open letter gives a glimpse into the mixed sentiments within the Catholic community on the use of Catholic school, parish, chancery and other archdiocese assets to help pay abuse survivors.

“I acknowledge the many intense emotions of our Catholic faithful during this journey of atonement, reparation and reorganization. You are angry, saddened, frustrated…

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The friendship between then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires and Father Gustavo Zanchetta took root during 2005-2011, when the future pope led the Argentinian Bishops’ Conference and the younger priest served as executive undersecretary of that body. 

And after the election of the Church’s first Latin American pope in 2013, the strength of that bond was clear to all when Pope Francis, in one of his first episcopal appointments, named Father Zanchetta the new bishop of Orán in northern Argentina. 

The announcement prompted protests in the bishop-elect’s former Diocese of Quilmes, where lay leaders accused him of mishandling financial matters. It would be the first of many such complaints against Bishop Zanchetta that appeared to fall on deaf ears. Media reports and comments from Francis himself have documented the close bond between the two men and the fact that the accused remained in ministry for five years after allegations of sexual…

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A committee representing several Catholic entities in the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy has reached a settlement with the BSA and is withdrawing its objections to its proposed reorganization plan, attorneys told a judge Friday.

The announcement came on the fifth day of a trial to determine whether the Delaware judge will approve the BSA’s reorganization plan.

Under the settlement, virtually every Roman Catholic entity nationwide, including parishes, schools, dioceses and archdioceses, that was involved with Scouting would be considered a “participating chartered organization” in the bankruptcy.

That would release them from liability for all Scouting-related child sex abuse claims against them from 1976 to the present, and for all pre-1976 claims subject to coverage by insurance companies that have reached their own settlements in the BSA bankruptcy. They also would be granted 12 months to negotiate financial contributions to a settlement fund for abuse victims in exchange for a…

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Entering the season of Lent can seem like a blessed relief. The harsh mark of ash on the forehead, the stark words of truth, “you are dust,” the stripping away of the distractions and pleasures of our earthly life to stare our mortality square in the face — all these can be received with a bracing joy.

But as Ash Wednesday passes and the Sundays of Lent are one by one ticked off, we begin to feel the full weight and heft of our sin. We embark on Lent thinking it will act like a spiritual cold shower. Before long we are reminded that we are walking the Way of the Cross, and this isn’t some spa treatment we have signed up for.

This year marks 20 years since a group of journalists, part of an investigative team at The Boston Globe dubbed Spotlight, broke the story of the widespread and long-standing…

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Former Franciscan University chaplain Fr. David Morrier was sentenced to five years probation and a lifetime of sex offender registration Friday, after pleading guilty in a Jefferson County, Ohio, courtroom to one count of sexual battery. 

But while the priest’s conviction ends his time in the courtroom, the canonical case against Morrier is only beginning. And questions remain about what university administrators and the priest’s provincial leaders knew about allegations against him, and how they responded.

Morrier was charged in April 2021 with rape and sexual battery against a university student he is alleged to have groomed for years before engaging in serial sexual abuse. He received a plea bargain with the approval of his victim, the Steubenville Herald-Star reported, because she wanted to ensure he would be registered as a sex offender, in order to prevent him from committing new acts of abuse. 

According to a chilling statement from…

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Rome – Gabriel Boric, the charismatic former student activist who swept to the presidency in Chile last December and is now the second-youngest head of state in the world, marked the end of his first week in charge on Friday.

There’s at least one group in Chile clearly put on notice there’s a new sheriff in town – the country’s Catholic bishops, who presided over the most massive clerical abuse crisis anywhere in Latin America.

On Saturday, following his inauguration and in keeping with tradition, Boric took part in an ecumenical prayer service held in Santiago’s cathedral and led by Spanish-born Cardinal Celestino Aos, who’s still relatively new himself.

On Sunday, the president was again in the spotlight for the conclusion of his installation, and the 36-year-old left-leaning politician gave a hint as to what his relationship with the bishops will be during the next four years.

“There is something…

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