ABUSE TRACKER

A new lawsuit accuses a Charleston priest of sexual abuse.

Reverend Father Bryan Babick has been named in a federal lawsuit along with the diocese of Charleston and the Bishop of Charleston brought by a former seminary student.

Babick has been the parish administrator at Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in Folly Beach. The defendant was also a former chaplain at Bishop England High School

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff “John Doe 197,” was a seminary student. He says he was being advised by Babick at the time of the alleged abuse in 2019.

Babick was a priest he says he’s known since his days as a Bishop England student.

While home on a break from his studies, the student says he met Babick for dinner.

The suit alleges that Doe lost consciousness and awoke to Babick performing sex acts on him. Afterward the suit alleges that Babick…

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[This letter refers to the Winter Report. See Gordon A. Winter et al., The Report of the Archdiocesan Commission of Enquiry into the Sexual Abuse of Children by Members of the Clergy (aka “The Winter Report”), Volume 1, Volume 2, and Conclusions and Recommendations, commissioned by Archbishop Alphonsus L. Penney of the Archdiocese of St. John’s, Newfoundland, June 1990]

When will people get it?

I refer to the assertion (since Vatican 2 in the 60s) that “WE are the Church.” Because, to be clear, it is not the building, it’s not the cemetery, it’s not even the parishioners who “chased the ace!” The church refers to the people. Humanity. All faiths. It resides within us.

So when I read about people being upset about the Diocese of the RC church having to sell its property and hand over monies raised for other purposes to the survivors of sexual abuse by…

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In many regards, it was entirely unremarkable: a short and simple memo, detailing some personnel decisions in a sparsely populated diocese far-removed from any significant source of worldly power.

But for the faithful in the beleaguered Diocese of Crookston, Minn., Bishop Andrew Cozzens’ letter of last week was nothing short of a pastoral revolution — and for Catholics more widely, it’s an instance of the kind of clarity the laity are increasingly expecting, though often lacking, from their leaders.

Issued on March 7, Bishop Cozzens’ letter was addressed to both the clergy and lay faithful of Crookston, a diocese that recently suffered through an acrimonious, multi-year investigation of its previous bishop, Michael Hoeppner, who only last April was forced to resign for grossly mishandling allegations of clergy sex abuse. Bishop Cozzens, who was installed to lead Crookston just 3 months ago, clarified in his letter that his predecessor would not be…

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A retired Catholic priest in Perth has been found guilty of sexually abusing a young girl more than 40 years ago.

Key points:

• The charges stem from incidents between 1979 and 1982
• The abuse began when the victim was six
• Doyle will be sentenced in May

Richard Doyle, 85, was found guilty of four charges of indecent dealings with the girl when she was between the ages of six and 10.

The District Court in WA was told the girl’s mother was a devout Catholic with a strong involvement in the church.

She first met Doyle in Bruce Rock where he was a parish priest.

When the family moved to Perth in 1978, Doyle visited their home uninvited.

The court heard Doyle would visit frequently between 1979 and 1982, and would often stay for dinner.

“If you knew my history of growing up, my parents, my grandparents would never turn…

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Dunedin’s Kavanagh College will be renamed after an investigation found its namesake failed to take appropriate action over claims of abuse.

The school will become Trinity Catholic College from 1 January 2023, with the Bishop of Dunedin saying the church had previously let survivors down badly.

An investigation began in 2020 after a number of abuse victims in the Dunedin diocese complained that former Catholic Bishop of Dunedin John Kavanagh had failed to act on claims of sexual abuse by priests.

Bishop Kavanagh died in 1985.

The Catholic Church’s National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS) engaged independent Christchurch senior investigator Micky Earl of the firm Corporate Risks to conduct an investigation into abuse complaints while Bishop Kavanagh was in office from 1957 to 1985.

In a statement, Metropolitan Archbishop of Aotearoa-New Zealand Cardinal John Dew said records showed that seven priests, two brothers and one lay teacher sexually abused children,…

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Vulnerable students at a British boarding school had sex in front of another pupil and others were able to sneak out and drink themselves unconscious because they were so poorly supervised, inspectors have found.

“Serious failures” were identified at Ampleforth college, a Catholic boarding school in North Yorkshire that charges £37,905 a year.

Ofsted inspectors found that arrangements to safeguard vulnerable pupils were ineffective, particularly outside the classroom.

“Some younger pupils, whose vulnerabilities include Send [special educational needs and disability], were able to engage in penetrative sexual activity, observed by another pupil, because levels of staff supervision were not sufficient to protect them,” the Ofsted report says.

The school denies that any sex took place, saying that police investigated and found “no implication of penetration”. It says a witness to the incident, which occurred when the children were getting changed for PE, reported “a three-second incident in which both [students] were…

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[Includes 15-minute video of the press conference announcing the lawsuit.]

On Tuesday, March 15, attorneys Jessica Arbour and Jacques Bezou, Jr. hosted a press conference regarding the filing of what they say is a “new child sexual abuse and coverup lawsuit.”

The suit has been filed on behalf of Larry Polizzi, a man who claims he was sexually abused as a child at Hope Haven, a church-run home for orphans and troubled youth.

Court papers report Polizzi was molested during a court-ordered stay at Hope Haven in 1976. Polizzi was 14 when the allegations happened.

This case follows a 2018 allegation filed against nearly 60 members of the clergy after what the Archdiocese of New Orleans said were ‘credible accusations of sexual abuse.” This included 8 members who worked at Hope Haven.

The 2018 case was filed by 4 men who stayed at Hope Haven as children in…

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A Catholic priest who sexually assaulted a parishioner while she visited him on Christmas Day has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

Father Martins Enegbuma pounced on the woman as she delivered a festive meal for him at his home next door to the Our Lady Mother of the Church in Edinburgh.

Enegbuma, 44, ran his hands over the victim’s body, rubbed her foot and kissed her on the mouth during the attack.

The disgraced priest, originally from Nigeria, denied the sex attack but was found guilty following a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

He was back in the dock for sentencing yesterday where a sheriff described the offence as “a serious breach of trust”.

Following the conviction the Catholic Church issued an apology to the woman and praised her for coming forward to report the assault.

Previously the court heard the woman, who is in her…

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[Note from BishopAccountability.org: The “Disclosure Statement” appended to this article (see below) does not mention that Fr. Llywelyn works in the Jesuits’ West Province, which has released a list of 112 Jesuits credibly accused of sexual abuse. That list is not mentioned in this article, although Fr. Lewellyn does write: “Like those in other Catholic orders, Jesuit priests around the world have been accused of sex abuse. A recent church report in Spain, for example, identified 96 abusers, most of whom had already died.”]

I am a scholar of Catholicism and a priest who belongs to the Society of Jesus (more commonly known as the Jesuits) – often considered one of the Catholic Church’s most influential religious orders.

But the Jesuits are also among the church’s more controversial groups: They have sometimes run afoul of Catholic groups holding different opinions or church authorities, and they also have been accused of conniving in politics….

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[Via Crux]

Hamburg – 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,” Gänswein said in an interview with the newspaper Die Zeit, published March 17. The German Catholic news agency KNA said Gänswein told Die Zeit the report was “in reality an indictment.”

However, he said, the former pope was…

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[Includes a video with excerpts from survivors’ statements and a link to Senate bill 420 and Senate bill 75.]

Survivors of child sexual abuse are urging Kansas lawmakers to pass a bill getting rid of the age limit on when victims can come forward and seek justice.

“As more and more people have realized that from the time the crime happens to the time that a victim is able to talk about it…sometimes years even decades can go past,” Sen. Cindy Holscher, a democrat from Overland Park, said. “It’s called the age of disclosure, which on average, is the age of 52.”

Holscher, along with other democratic lawmakers held a press conference with survivors on Thursday at the Kansas statehouse. Two bills introduced this session would address reform for child sexual abuse victims. One of the proposals, Senate bill 420, would eliminate the deadline for filing civil lawsuits…

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An appeal court in India has overturned the conviction of the Revd Jonathan Robinson, a priest from the UK, for the abuse of a teenage boy (News, 17 August 2018).

A district judge in Tirunelveli, Jacinta Martin, ruled that the court was “highly satisfied that the charge against the accused is not proved and the accused is acquitted”.

The appeal-court decision brings to an end more than a decade of a legal battle by Mr Robinson, who was accused in September 2011 of abusing a pupil at the school run by the charity he founded in India, the Grail Trust.

His legal counsel submitted to the appeal court that there had been a “gross miscarriage of justice” in the original case. The boy at the centre of the case retracted his statements against Mr Robinson during the original trial, saying that he had made them only after coercion from the Child…

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Forgiveness is not an easy choice, for anyone. But forgiveness is a basic component of the Christian story, and the Christian life.

Still, for many people, forgiveness is a confusing subject — when is forgiveness enabling? Are Christians required to forgive? How we do it?

The Pillar’s Charlie Camosy spoke this week with two forgiveness experts: a priest and a psychologist. Fr. Thomas Berg and Dr. Timothy Lock – who work together at St. Joseph Seminary in New York – have co-written “Choosing Forgiveness: Unleash the Power of God’s Grace,” a new book that explores the meaning of forgiveness, and its importance.

Berg and Lock have a lot to say about what forgiveness really means. If you need to forgive – or be forgiven – you might find their remarks worth reading.

Living a Christian life, almost by definition, means making countercultural choices. Yet it seems like the possibility of forgiveness in…

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The head of a Massachusetts parish soup kitchen was placed on administrative leave on March 11 after allegations were made to the diocese that for years he has coerced vulnerable women who use the soup kitchen’s services into sex.

The complaint was made against Billy Riley, who has been the food for the poor coordinator for St. John’s Catholic Church in the Diocese of Worcester since 2013. A spokesperson for the diocese confirmed that the complaint was made on March 11.

“The coordinator is being placed on administrative leave and, given the seriousness of the allegations, an independent third-party investigator will be retained for a thorough investigation about this complaint,” Ray Delisle, the Diocese of Worcester chancellor and director of communications told Crux on March 11.

Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester declined to comment on the allegations citing that the complaint was recently received. Father John Madden, pastor of St. John’s, declined…

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A 14-year-old boy caught skipping school was ordered to attend a church-run facility for orphans and troubled youths outside New Orleans where he said a Catholic priest and nun sexually abused him.

Now he’s suing — roughly 46 years later.

Louisiana lawmakers lifted the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse cases last year, giving survivors a brief window of opportunity to seek justice in the courts against their alleged abusers. Larry Polizzi is among those taking advantage of the law, which expires in 2024.

Polizzi said in court documents that he was abused at the hands of religious leaders during a brief but “nightmarish” stay in 1976 at Hope Haven, a Catholic orphanage and residential youth facility.

“Our client has waited a very long time for the opportunity for justice and accountability for those responsible for him when he was a vulnerable child in their care,” Jessica Arbour with…

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A 35-year-old priest attached with a Syrian Orthodox Church in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala was arrested on Thursday morning, March 17, for allegedly sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl. He has been identified as Pondson John, priest of the Syrian Orthodox Church at Koodal.

According to IANS, the arrest was based on the complaint of the school girl who confided to her friend about the incident. Her friend, in turn, informed the school authorities. Later, after the school authorities informed the local Child Line officials, they got in touch with the local police. The Pathanamthitta Vanitha police, after a preliminary probe, took the priest into custody on Thursday morning.

According to the complaint, the girl was taken for counselling to the residence of the priest, on March 12, by her mother. The child’s mother had sought the help of the priest for counselling her, as she was facing troubles with her…

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This article is part of The Conversation with America Media, offering diverse perspectives on important issues in the life of the church. Read another perspective on social justice movements here.

One of the great difficulties for any thoughtful Catholic is to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff in assessing secular social movements and causes, particularly those whose leaders often make accurate observations about the moral failings of our society. You may find, as I have on occasion, your natural inclination for justice stirred—while at the same time recognizing, or not wanting to recognize, flaws in the way in which those who champion these causes frame their advocacy (or issues attendant to that advocacy).

It is not easy being a conscientious Catholic in an age of political tribalism. I confess that I sometimes find myself drawn to views and positions simply because it seems that the “wrong people” hold the opposite…

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A Boston Archdiocese priest has been accused of sexually abusing a student at least 100 times in the late 1970s at a Catholic school in Everett, one of the many places where he was assigned by the archdiocese, according to the alleged victim’s lawyer and the official Catholic Directory.

The late Rev. Michael J. Regan allegedly abused the girl from approximately 1977 to 1980, when she was about 14 to 17 years old and the priest was a teacher at Pope John XXIII High School, Mitchell Garabedian said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Regan allegedly threatened to prevent her from graduating if she did not comply with his sexual demands, said Garabedian, who has represented hundreds of clergy sex abuse victims worldwide.

“My client was terrified,” he said.

Since she was often called to Regan’s office during the 2-½ years, Garabedian said, it’s probable that the school’s administrators knew…

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Lawyers for victims not so flexible, however, when it comes to church-owned school properties

Uncertainty about the fate of cemeteries in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s has been put to rest following an agreement in principle that excludes the sacred properties from a historic and ongoing liquidation process.

Evelyn Grondin-Bailey, a member of the St. Patrick’s cemetery committee in Burin, said Monday she was “absolutely elated” that the restored cemetery in her community will not be sold.

“We were extremely happy to get that news,” she said.

But lawyers for the dozens of survivors of sexual abuse at the former Mount Cashel orphanage say they won’t be as lenient when it comes to the roughly 35 schools owned by the Catholic Church that were seized by the government after the dismantling of denominational education in the 1990s.

“If churches are being seized and sold to satisfy judgments, what about…

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[Via Catholic World Report]

One of the former seminarians who was the victim of sexual abuse by Argentine Bishop Emeritus Gustavo Zanchetta of Orán says the powerful prelate manipulated young men under his authority with clothing, computers, and other gifts, discriminated against darker-skinned seminarians, and “bragged about being friends” with Pope Francis.

“The truth is that we had a bad time. Although we all entered with the illusion of being priests, of serving people in the name of God, we lived through very hard times, of a lot of discrimination, of a lot of mistreatment and pain because the Church tried to hide everything that happened,” the former seminarian, identified only as “M.C.” told journalist Silvia Noviasky of the newspaper El Tribuno in an exclusive interview.

“M.C.” and another one-time seminarian, identified in court documents as as “G.G.F.L.,” claimed that Zanchetta had made “amorous proposals” and asked them to give…

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Officials are asking for anyone with information to come forward after a Catholic priest in Carmel was suspended following accusations of inappropriate conduct with a minor.

The Catholic Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana said Father James De Oreo, of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, was suspended from public ministry beginning Friday. A preliminary investigation is ongoing, and precautionary measures are in place, said the diocese, which added that the accusations were reported to Indiana Department of Child Protective Services.

The diocese asks that anyone aware of misconduct during Father De Oreo’s ministry as a priest or seminarian report the incident in the following manner:

• Make a report to Child Protective Services by calling 800-800-5556 or local law enforcement.
• Call Jackie Montrie M.A., LMFT, LMHC Victim Assistance Coordinator of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana at (765) 464-4988.

“The safety and wellbeing of our children and young people are of the utmost importance,”…

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 A Wichita priest who was accused of sexual exploitation of a child will return to public ministry after the district attorney said he could not file charges.

Father Michael Schemm, from the Church of the Resurrection, was placed on administrative leave in November 2021 after allegations surfaced. The allegations reportedly occurred between 1993 and 1996, when Schemm was assigned to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Wichita.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or “SNAP” are taking issue with Diocese of Wichita’s decision to reinstate Schemm back into his position. 

“The Diocese is not only putting others at risk by returning Fr. Schemm into ministry,” the network stated in a press release. “But it is also re-traumatizing the brave survivor who came forward, as well as any other victims who may not yet be able to speak out about their abuse.”

The release goes on to say “SNAP supports…

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A woman who says she was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest who taught at her high school in Massachusetts has reached a financial settlement with the church, her lawyer said Tuesday.

The settlement with the Archdiocese of Boston reached late last year “was in the high five figures,” attorney Mitchell Garabedian said at a news conference.

The priest, the late Rev. Michael J. Regan, has not previously appeared on any list of credibly accused clergy, including the archdiocese’s own list, Garabedian said. He died in 2020.

“No substantiated claim of abuse was received while he was living,” the archdiocese said in a statement.

The now 60-year-old woman was sexually abused multiple times from 1977 until 1980 when she was from 14 to 17 years of age and attended the now-closed Pope John XXIII High School in Everett where Regan taught economics, Garabedian said.

Ordained in 1962, he served…

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A former Franciscan University priest was sentenced on Friday for sexual battery.

David R. Morrier, while working as a priest at Franciscan University, allegedly convinced a student he was counseling that having sex with him was necessary for mental health treatment purposes.

The prosecution said a pattern of rape and sexual battery occurred from 2010 to 2013, until Morrier was “transferred” to Texas.

Morrier pleaded guilty to a single count of sexual battery on the victim. According to the Herald-Star Prosecutor Jane Hanlin said the victim agreed to the plea deal because “What she wanted from Day 1 was to be able to prevent him from hurting anyone else.”

Morrier will be on probation for five years and must register every 90 days for life as a sex offender and he will be under house arrest with an ankle monitor until he is registered in his home state.

Franciscan University released…

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The Nassau County District Attorney’s office is investigating an associate pastor at a Levittown church for possible possession of child pornography. The church is under the umbrella of the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

The Rev. Joseph Nohs is being probed and is not permitted to serve as a priest at St. Bernard’s Church in Levittown until the outcome of the investigation is complete.

Requests for comment from the diocese were not returned at press time.

Anyone with information concerning the abuse of a minor can contact law enforcement and the Diocesan Office for the Protection of Children and Young People at (516) 594-9063.

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The Center Harbor school where several boys were reportedly molested by members of the disgraced Roman Catholic religious order, the Legionaires of Christ, is no longer a defendant in the federal lawsuits brought by the survivors.

Five men filed lawsuits against the order and the school last year in the United States District Court of Connecticut accusing the order of negligence for effectively facilitating and covering up the abuse.

Judge Kari Dooley dismissed the Immaculate Conception Apostolic School, or ICAS, from the lawsuit last month based on the argument that it is a separate entity based in New Hampshire. The Legionaries of Christ order is registered as a non-profit in Connecticut and it was headquartered in Connecticut for decades.

“ICAS’s principal place of business is in New Hampshire, where it operated, at the times relevant to the Complaint, a private, Roman Catholic boarding school,” Dooley wrote. “ICAS’s students attended class,…

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I don’t know were to begin.

My head is still spinning with the events of the weekend.

People have told me that it’s narcissistic of me to be traumatized by the Morrier case, and they’re probably right, but I can’t help it.  I was already suffering from religious trauma before I saw the news of his indictment last April, and I am worse off now. The only thing I know how to write about is me: my experiences, my life, my day, the things I am passionate about. I wish I had another person here to show you. But there is only me, one of thousands of victims of the Charismatic Renewal, unable to talk about whatever I should talk about, traumatized when I shouldn’t be, never getting better, never doing what I ought.  And the religious trauma is all I can think of today. I will try to give you…

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A Carmel priest was “suspended from public ministry” after allegations of “inappropriate conduct with a minor.”

Bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana Timothy Doherty announced James De Oreo’s suspension to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church parish at the end of mass on Sunday. De Oreo was an associate pastor at the church. 

Doherty said the suspension by the diocese was effective Friday, March 11.

De Oreo has not been charged with a crime as of 6 p.m. Monday, March 14, according to online court records. 

Doherty and the diocese didn’t provide specific details about the allegations or if there were previous investigations into De Oreo’s conduct.

In addition to the church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel has a K-8 school of about 600 students, according to state data from the 2020-21 school year.

IndyStar’s attempt to reach De Oreo by phone on Monday afternoon was unsuccessful.

“The diocese received allegations of inappropriate conduct…

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Under new laws that opened Louisiana’s window for victims of child sexual abuse to pursue civil claims, a lawsuit has been filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge. The suit has been filed by a man claiming former Baton Rouge and New Orleans priest, the now-deceased Rev. John Anthony Weber, sexually abused him in the 1970s. According to the petition for damages, which was filed in East Baton Rouge Parish District Court, the man claims he was sexually abused by Weber at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Baton Rouge beginning when he was about 13 years old. The church was also named in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit is the first clergy sexual abuse claim that the Diocese of Baton Rouge has faced since releasing a list in 2019 of its clergy members who were credibly accused of sexual abuse and worked in the diocese throughout its six-decade history. Father Weber was…

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Rick Prashaw launching book in April at Twiggs

Former Sudbury priest Rick Prashaw has published a faith memoir full of stories from his childhood, church and other careers.

Titled Father Rick, Roamin’ Catholic, the book covers seven decades of Prashaw’s life and has earned high praise from NDP politicians, faith leaders and fellow scribes.

“The eyes of some friends gloss over at the mention of faith,” noted Prashaw, who served as a priest in the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie from 1980 to 1991, including five years at St. Andrew the Apostle parish in New Sudbury. 

“Then they dive into the stories, enjoying the joy, mischief, irreverence, miracles, good works and good people, alongside the sobering commentary on the troubles plaguing religion.” 

Father Rick, Roamin’ Catholic is “an eye-opening memoir shining a light on faith, religion, and the little-known life of priests,” according to the book’s back cover. 

“My faith…

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Part of worldwide Catholic movement on synodality

Questions to be considered during synod discussions in archdiocese

• What in the church fills me with life? How is the Holy Spirit working in my life to deepen my faith and inspire me to be a better disciple and witness of Christ’s love others?
• As a community of believers, what experiences of the Catholic Church have brought joys or revealed wounds? And how can these experiences help us grow together in faith and offer the hope and healing of Christ to the greater community in which we live?
• As a Catholic community, we are expressly enjoined invite others into a life-giving relationship with Jesus Christ. When we dream about how best to accomplish this, what steps is the Holy Spirit inviting the Church in western Oregon to take?In Catholic parishes around western Oregon, Catholics have gathered over the past six weeks to…

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Cape Town – The Anglican Diocese of Niger has terminated the appointment of one of its priests, Reverend Canon Lumenkriti Ebo, for allegedly getting a woman who came seeking help pregnant, according to Malawian online news publication the Maravi Post.

Deputy Chancellor/Registrar of the Diocese on the Niger, Anglican Communion, Ben Uzuegbu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), stated this during a press conference held at the Secretariat complex of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Anambra State Council, Awka.

While the church accused Ebo of impregnating a lady who went to his adoration ministry by telling her she had to sleep with him to get healing, Ebo also accused the church of taking his legally married wife and accommodating her outside her matrimonial home, according to local media.

According to the church, Reverend Ebo made himself a god contrary to his mandate to be a role model, with the…

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The same forces that stalled a national transformation ended up fueling it.

Early in the pages of We Don’t Know Ourselves, Fintan O’Toole’s masterful “personal history” of modern Ireland, I came upon a moment in O’Toole’s life that intersected unexpectedly with my own. The date was Tuesday, March 8, 1966. In a Dublin bedroom in the chill dark of early morning—1:31 a.m. exactly—O’Toole’s mother, given to premonitions, awoke and exclaimed, “God, what was that?” Then came the sound of a distant explosion.

I, too, heard the explosion. My American family had moved from the United States to Ireland for several years. I was a schoolboy, a little older than O’Toole; our home was a mile or so from his. As everyone soon learned, an IRA splinter group had blown off the top of Nelson’s Pillar, an imposing column in O’Connell Street that some saw as a symbol of British oppression but…

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The platform can be quicker at recommending groups built around child predation than it is to remove them.

While trying to map the extent and impact of place-based Facebook groups where QAnon and allied disinformation spread, I went looking for Facebook groups with names including 10, 11, or 12. This was part of my work with the Pitt Disinformation Lab, and I was thinking of the 10th, 11th, or 12th wards of the city of Pittsburgh. What appeared instead was a group named “Buscando novi@ de 9,10,11,12,13 años.” Looking for a nine-year-old girlfriend? What?

The page’s aesthetic was cartoon cute: oversized eyes with long lashes, hearts and pastels. The posts that made explicit references to photographed genitalia were gamified and spangled with emoticons: “See your age in this list? Type it into the replies and I’ll show ‘it’ to you.”

Most often posts were just doorways to connection, the real danger offstage. “Looking…

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Congress has renewed a 1990s-era law that extends protections to victims of domestic and sexual violence, updating the landmark Violence Against Women Act nearly three years after partisan disagreements caused it to lapse.

It passed this week as part of a $1.5 trillion government funding package and capped years of work by members of the House and Senate. It is certain to win the signature of President Joe Biden, who worked on the law during his days in the Senate.

Passage of the legislation brought a rare moment of bipartisan agreement in the Congress, achieved partly on the strength of the personal connections that lawmakers have to domestic violence and its devastating effects.

For North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer, the connection is his adopted son whose biological mother was murdered by her husband. For Sen. Lisa Murkowski, it’s the need to expand the tribal jurisdiction over non-Indian offenders in her…

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A former Roman Catholic priest and teacher who abused his position and authority to sexually exploit a fearful male pupil at a boarding school, has been jailed at the age of 88.

As Father Anthony Barker, he served as a priest in County Durham until 20 years ago and has been living recently in retirement in Queensway, Hexham, Northumberland.

Durham Crown Court heard that a complaint arose in recent years from another pupil of the defendant who has since died.

While investigating those allegations, police spoke to a schoolboy friend of the original complainant who stated that he had been sexually abused at the hands of the defendant, as a child.

He said the abuse began about 50 years ago, during climbing lessons, when he was 12 or 13 and the defendant would have been in his 30s, and slightly later when Barker took him canoeing, as well as in the shower…

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Retired Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz kept a low profile in the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo since being accused last summer of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 1990.

At least that was the case until Monday, when Grosz was on the altar for the funeral of Bishop Emeritus Donald W. Trautman in St. Peter Cathedral in Erie, Pa.

Grosz’s participation in the funeral Mass alongside several other bishops has sparked outrage on social media among survivors of clergy sexual abuse who thought the church had suspended him from public ministry while it investigated the abuse claim.

“I find it extremely offensive,” said Kevin Brun, who along with other abuse victims called the diocese chancery to complain about it. “You would think out of an abundance of caution they would refrain from allowing Bishop Grosz to be on the altar.”

Grosz, who retired in 2020, has not been suspended from…

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Pope Benedict and Munich’s sex-abuse crisis

What did he know and when did he know it?” That was the famous question asked by Senator Howard Baker fifty years ago at the Watergate hearings. Today that question is being asked about Pope Benedict, who has been accused of mishandling sexual-abuse cases when he was archbishop of Munich between 1977 and 1982. 

Benedict’s involvement in these cases is the subject of a new independent report on child abuse by the Munich law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW). The firm was commissioned by the German Catholic Church in 2020 to conduct an inquiry into allegations of abuse in the Munich Archdiocese between 1945 and 2019. The WSW investigators identified at least 497 victims (mostly teenage boys) and 261 offenders, 205 of whom were priests. Forty-two cases have been forwarded to the public prosecutor.

The 1,900-page report reveals several cases in which abusive priests were…

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Jefferson County OH – Former Franciscan friar David Morrier was sentenced Friday to five years probation and lifetime registration as a sex offender. And the victim’s statement indicated the abuse was reported, but no one intervened.

After hearing the emotional statement from the victim in the case, NEWS9 asked Prosecutor Jane Hanlin if there was more work to be done by investigators.

“One of the most disturbing parts of her statement is how many people should have intervened and should have helped this young woman when she was a student on their campus,” Hanlin said. “And, so, there may be more work to do on this case because it’s certainly clear to us and it was clear through her statement that there were a number of points that this should have stopped.”

In her statement, the victim said while the abuses continued over a period of three years, the university,…

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The Vatican has commissioned an investigation into a recently retired auxiliary bishop, who served as the vicar general in the Diocese of Brooklyn until his retirement Monday. At least one diocesan official has resigned in protest over the handling of the complaint, according to sources in the diocese.

Bishop Raymond Chappetto, 76, whose resignation was announced by the Vatican on March 7, is accused of failing to pass on to the Brooklyn diocesan review board and diocesan officials a memo about a priest who had been accused of misconduct. The Vatican has directed the bishop of a New York diocese to investigate, sources in Brooklyn and the Vatican told The Pillar.

The investigation has raised questions among some in Brooklyn about the decision of Brooklyn’s Bishop Robert Brennan to leave Chappetto in place as vicar general for more than four months after he became aware of complaints to the Vatican about…

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In the COVID-19 era, some pastors have found creative ways to stretch a dollar. One method is to keep churches just warm enough for the congregants, without running the heat all day during the winter.

“Financially, you don’t want to cut corners on the necessities, but you find ways to pinch a penny,” said Carmelite Fr. Nicholas Blackwell, parochial vicar at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Middletown, New York.

Blackwell told NCR that his parish, which operates a main church and two mission sites in the Hudson Valley’s rural and mountain regions, is “still kind of surviving, collection to collection” two years after the novel coronavirus pandemic swept through the world.

But highlighting the uneven economic impacts that COVID-19 has had across society, Catholic parishes elsewhere are faring relatively well. Fr. Satish Joseph, pastor of three parishes in Dayton, Ohio, said his churches never had…

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In case you have not heard, David Morrier, whom I will not call “Father” ever again, has pleaded guilty to sexual battery. Shockingly, he only received probation, but at least he will have to register as a sex offender.

It happened today, a few days ahead of the upcoming trial, which had been put off with continuance after continuance for about a year, just downtown in the Jefferson County courthouse. My long-term readers will remember how closely I’ve been following this case, because Morrier was a priest at Franciscan University and someone I had considered a friend and went to for help in the worst of circumstances. He fooled me completely as he no doubt fooled many others.

I want to draw your attention to the victim’s statement, which has been posted in its entirety on Scribd. Just take time to read that. It’s horrific, but please respect her by…

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Otsego County MI – The Michigan Attorney Generals Office will not file criminal charges against a northern Michigan priest accused of sending inappropriate texts to students.

Late last year, the Diocese of Gaylord referred a complaint to the AG’s Office involving a priest sending messages through text and social media to high school students.

The Attorney General’s Office said the priest involved was Bryan Medlin.

After receiving the report, Medlin became the focus of an investigation coordinated between Michigan State Police and the Michigan Department of Attorney General.

Investigators determined Fr. Medlin had been sending several teens and young men, between 16 and 18, messages that contained sexual content and racially insensitive statements through social media and text messages, according to the report.

The messages were sent to high school students at both St. Mary’s in Lake Leelanau and St. Francis High School in Traverse City, said investigators.

“While the…

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On Dec. 9, 1968, I pulled a stool next to my father in his room at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, the same hospital where so many coronavirus patients succumbed during the Covid-19 pandemic. A nuclear veteran, age 40, with acute leukemia, he lay in a full protective bubble. I had to touch him through a rubber glove that extended from a plastic sleeve. He turned his head and fought a smile. His hollowed eyes reached mine. As a Catholic and an altar boy, I felt like the women at the foot of the cross. Two hours later my father died. I had just turned 12, and I didn’t realize that my darkest days were ahead.

His death left our family shattered. My mother fell prey to her alcoholism, and I fell prey to her escalating physical and mental abuse. Father figures in the community sought me out….

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Former Columbia City priest and chaplain for Bishop Dwenger High School David Huneck was sentenced in Whitley County Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to groping a woman at his home.

A judge accepted the plea deal with prosecutors that called for a 180-day sentence to be served as home detention. Huneck will then be placed on probation for two years and he will be required to complete 80 hours of community service.

Huneck originally faced six charges. As part of the plea, those 6 charges were dropped, the two most serious of the six being child seduction and sexual battery, both Level 6 felonies. He agreed to two new charges of battery with bodily injury.

Huneck’s plea agreement originally called for him to serve 10-90 days concurrently on both charges.

He was accused of groping a woman and exposing himself to a minor at his home on two separate…

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A former priest for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend who was arrested on sex crime charges will spend no time behind bars.

According to Fort Wayne’s NBC, a special judge accepted a plea agreement for David Huneck on Thursday. The agreement calls for Huneck to spend 180 days on home detention and a year and a half on probation.

Huneck was also ordered to complete 80 hours of community service and will have to complete a substance abuse assessment.

Court documents released in the case accuse Huneck of inviting two young women, ages 17 and 19 at the time, to his home and giving them alcohol before assaulting them on two different occasions.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests released a statement on Thursday applauding the victims for coming forward, but it feels that charges of this magnitude deserved a much…

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Columbia City IN – A former northeastern Indiana priest will serve a 180-day sentence on home detention and spend two years on probation after he pleaded guilty Thursday to sexually abusing two teenagers.

David Huneck also will be required to complete 80 hours of community service after pleading guilty in Whitley Superior Court to two counts of battery resulting in moderate injury.

Child seduction and sexual battery charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Huneck had served as a pastor in Columbia City and as a chaplain at Bishop Dwenger High School in Fort Wayne before stepping down.

Court documents said Huneck invited two victims, then 17 and 19, to his Columbia City home and gave them alcohol before assaulting them.

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For immediate release: March 9, 2022

A Catholic priest who spent time in the Diocese of Fargo and was accused of abuse while working there is still on the job in his home diocese in Nigeria. Now, we are calling on Church officials in Fargo, Minnesota, Boston, and the Military Services to use every resource at their disposal to prevent this dangerous cleric from working around children.

Fr. Luke U. Odor not only worked in the Fargo Diocese, he was also assigned to multiple locations in Minnesota in the 1990s, including the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Crookston. He later worked under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Archdiocese for Military Services before his faculties were suspended in 2012 while “personal conduct matters” were investigated.

Despite that suspension and Fr. Odor being named as an abuser by Fargo, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Crookston, the priest appears to still be working as a clergyman….

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Today, Rev. Michael Schemm was reinstated to public ministry in the Catholic Diocese of Wichita.

In October of last year, the diocese received an allegation that Father Schemm, pastor at Church of the Resurrection, sexually abused a minor in the 1990s. Rev. Schemm denied the allegation and was placed on administrative leave of absence pending investigation.

In accordance with our protocols, the diocese notified the district attorney. Ultimately, the district attorney elected not to further pursue the matter based on his conclusion that “the prosecution of any alleged crime in this situation would be time-barred.” The diocese also performed its own investigation of the allegation, which was recently completed and presented to the Charter Review Board (CRB).

The CRB reviewed this entire matter, including investigative materials and other information relating to Rev. Schemm’s 28 years of service to this diocese. The majority of CRB members, which is composed mostly of…

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A Wichita priest who was accused of sexual exploitation of a child will return to public ministry after the district attorney said he could not file charges.

Father Michael Schemm, Church of the Resurrection, was placed on administrative leave in November 2021 after the allegations surfaced. The allegations reportedly occurred between 1993 and 1996, when Schemm was assigned to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Wichita.

The child, who would have been between 12 and 15 at the time, would be 40 this year, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said in late January.

Under state law, the statute of limitations expired in 2009, when the alleged victim turned 28. Bennett said his decision was a legal conclusion and and was making “no commentary or conclusions” on the allegations.

The Catholic Diocese of Wichita said in a release Tuesday that it notified the DA of Father Schemm’s reinstatement to public ministry.

“Ultimately,…

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A Wichita priest who was the subject of child abuse allegations will return to the ministry, according to the Catholic Diocese of Wichita.

In October of 2021, the diocese placed Rev. Michael Schemm on administrative leave following allegations that he had sexually abused a minor in the 1990s while he was serving at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Wichita. He denied the allegations.

The diocese then turned the case over to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

In January, the district attorney’s office announced that too much time had passed to prosecute the case under state law.

On Tuesday, Bishop Carl Kemme said that the diocese performed its own investigation and presented it to the Charter Review Board (CRB) to further review.

“The CRB reviewed this entire matter, including investigative materials and other information relating to Rev. Schemm’s 28 years of service to this diocese. The majority of CRB…

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Lawyers for the Springfield diocese failed to persuade a Supreme Judicial Court justice to delay action on a lawsuit brought by a former altar boy sexually abused decades ago by a bishop.

In a ruling late last week, Associate Justice David A. Lowy denied a motion by lawyers for the diocese and other defendants to halt proceedings in the case, saying the plaintiff “has a right to expeditious resolution of his case.”

Lowy’s decision, which came Friday, follows earlier moves by a Hampden Superior Court judge as well as a single justice of the Appeals Court to allow the case to be tried, even as the diocese’s lawyers prepare to argue, among other things, that the court system lacks jurisdiction due to the First Amendment’s doctrine of church autonomy.

The plaintiff is a Chicopee man around the age of 70 who is identified only as John Doe. He  View Cache

More legal troubles for the Catholic Church in Louisiana.  Several lawsuits alleging abuse are expected to be filed in communities across the state.

BR Proud reports the Diocese of Baton Rouge is accused of covering up abuse cases involving priests.

Attorney Jessica Arbour represents at least one victim who alleges abuse by a priest in the Baton Rouge area back in the 1970’s. The lawsuit claims church leaders knew about problem priests in the the New Orleans area who were routinely moved or “dumped” in Baton Rouge.

Arbour says it is a daily struggle for these victims. She says they deal with this trauma every day and it often takes years for many of the victims to come forward.

Does the Statute of Limitations Not Come into Play in These Cases?

These new claims are coming to light after state lawmakers passed bills to open…

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A man who says that a former Baton Rouge and New Orleans priest, the now-deceased Rev. John Anthony Weber, sexually abused him in the 1970s has filed a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge under new laws that opened Louisiana’s window for victims of child sexual abuse to pursue civil claims.

The lawsuit is the first clergy sexual abuse claim that the Diocese of Baton Rouge has faced since releasing a list in 2019 of 46 clergy members who were credibly accused of sexual abuse and worked in the Diocese of Baton Rouge throughout its six-decade history. Weber was on the credibly accused clergy lists for both the Diocese of Baton Rouge and Archdiocese of New Orleans.

The Weber suit is also the first that the Diocese has faced under new laws that state lawmakers passed last year,  View Cache

A Georgia Supreme Court ruling could mean more alleged sexual abuse victims can have their day in court against the Catholic Church.

A former altar boy claims the Archdiocese of Atlanta turned a blind eye to the abuse for years.

A priest allegedly took altar boys to a lake house on Lake Allatoona in Acworth and sexually abused them in the ‘70s.

The Georgia Supreme Court decision is big because a lower court previously ruled the allegations went beyond the statute of limitations.

“All they’ve ever wanted is to have a shot. A shot at justice. And this decision, that’s exactly what it does,” said attorney Darren Penn, who represents more than a dozen people allegedly abused by the same priest.

The newly released 31-page document from the Georgia Supreme Court shows allegations of a “systematic cover up effort.”

The alleged victim — only known as Philip Doe — said…

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Michigan AG announces first criminal charges in Boy Scouts of America investigation

Michigan’s BSA investigation tip line can be reached at 844-324-3374 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Wednesday announced the first criminal charges in connection with the state’s investigation into the Boy Scouts of American and claims of child sex abuse made against the organization.

Michigan officials are charging New York man Mark Chapman, 51, with 10 counts of criminal sex conduct (CSC) allegedly carried out against two children while he was serving as a leader for the Boy Scouts in Macomb County. Chapman is facing eight counts of second-degree CSC, and two counts of first-degree CSC for allegedly repeatedly abusing two victims starting when they were 13 and 11 years old.

Nessel said Wednesday that Chapman — who was a BSA troop master…

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Wednesday said a New York man is the first person charged in connection with her investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of Michigan residents involved in the Boy Scouts of America.

Mark Chapman, 51, is charged in Macomb County District Court with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and eight counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving two alleged victims, Nessel said at a news conference at the Cadillac Place in Midtown.

Nessel’s office said at a news conference that at the time of the alleged incidents more than 20 years ago, Chapman was involved in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Roseville and the Boy Scouts.

Chapman, who is married, was an employee and scout leader at the church, although he was not a religious leader, Nessel said. He held janitorial-type jobs at the church, Nessel’s office said.

Calls to the Roseville Church of the Latter-Day…

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Michigan authorities on Wednesday announced the first criminal charges stemming from the state’s review of child sexual abuse lawsuits against the Boy Scouts of America, charging a former troop leader before his release from a New York prison on separate crimes.

Mark Chapman, 51, is accused of sexually assaulting two boys at the time he was a scoutmaster in the Detroit suburb of Roseville, 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, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said. The second victim was assaulted for years beginning when he was about 11.

One of the men called a tip line.

“It’s not just important for us to hold the person accountable for…

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Nicholas Harrison’s book, Safe Space, explores how Star Wars taught him coping mechanisms and helped him re-establish his boundaries after years of childhood abuse

Nicholas Harrison hopes his new book, Safe Space: A True Story of Faith, Betrayal, and the Power of the Force, gives other abuse survivors hope, just as the Star Wars film series did for him as a young boy.

Safe Space, which was published in January, is a personal account of the years of sexual and physical abuse that Harrison faced at the hands of Catholic priests as a boy and documents how Star Wars led him on a journey from victim to survivor to his final form as a Jedi.

“It’s part memoir and it’s also part research, using myself as a case study for how popular culture, cosplay, cult cinema and science fiction can actually help someone through traumatic experiences – while not getting lost in it,…

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Catholic bishops in Japan have dedicated the second Friday of Lent as a Day of Prayer and Penance for Victims and Survivors of Sexual Abuse.

Archbishop Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan, has requested Catholics to join in prayers for the victims and survivors of sex abuse on March 18, ucanews.com reported.

Archbishop Kikuchi said that in recent years cases of sexual abuse by clergy have been reported in churches around the world, and investigations reveal that many similar cases existed way back in the past.

“In addition, it has become clear that among these acts by the clergy include sexual abuse committed against minors who should be protected. The church in Japan is no exception,” said the prelate, secretary-general of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.

“Moreover, there have been several reports of cases in which bishops and superiors of religious congregations have…

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A two-year investigation led by the authorities in New Zealand has resulted in the arrests of hundreds of people around the globe on charges of possessing and sharing child sexual abuse material, officials said on Wednesday. Dozens of children were moved out of harm’s way as a result, the authorities said.

The investigation, the largest of its kind led out of New Zealand, found a secret global networks that shared child sexual abuse images on a wide scale. In some cases, the pandemic provided cover for the illegal activity, as lockdowns kept children isolated at home and predators took to the web in search of victims, a British official said.

The investigation, called Operation H, involved 12 countries and began in 2019, after an unnamed online service provider reported that its platform was being used to share horrific images of child sexual abuse. About 90,000 accounts were linked to the…

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The pastor of one of Canada’s largest churches was forced to resign after an independent investigation found evidence of his sexual misconduct.

Bruxy Cavey, who grew The Meeting House into a megachurch with some 5,000 people attending 19 campuses in the larger Toronto metropolitan area, was accused of sexual misconduct by a woman who reported it to the church’s Overseers Board, or board of directors, in December.

“Having carefully reviewed the investigator’s report, our Board unanimously decided to ask Bruxy to resign from his role at The Meeting House effective immediately,” Maggie John, chair of the Overseers Board, wrote in an email to church members Monday (March 7). “Bruxy then submitted his resignation on March 3rd which the Overseers accepted.”

Also on Monday, a teaching pastor at the church, Danielle Strickland, tweeted that she was resigning “in solidarity with the victim of abuse.”

The church plans to hold a town hall…

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Notorious paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale has been charged with a string of additional offences as part of a police investigation into historical allegations of sexual assault.

The 87-year-old is accused of committing 24 offences against two male victims in Mortlake in 1981 and 1982.

Victoria Police did not provide a breakdown of the charges but revealed they included indecent assault and penetration of a person between the ages of 10 and 16.

Ridsdale has been in prison since 1994 for more than 100 counts of sexual abuse against children spanning three decades.

He was due to become eligible for parole in April 2022, but his release date was pushed back to April 2025 in May 2020, after he was sentenced in Melbourne’s County Court for the abuse of four boys in the 1970s.

Ridsdale was ordained as a priest at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Ballarat in 1961 and went on…

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Victorian police have charged Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale with more child sexual abuse offences as part of an investigation into a number of alleged historical assaults.

On Tuesday, detectives from the Sexual Crimes Squad charged the 87-year-old with 24 charges related to sexual offences, including sexual penetration of a person aged between 10-16 and indecent assault.

Police said the charges related to alleged incidents involving two male victims in Mortlake in Victoria’s Western District in 1981 and 1982.

Ridsdale is expected to appear in the Warrnambool Magistrates’ Court on March 28.

He has been in prison since 1994 for the abuse of more than 60 children in Victoria.

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A lawsuit has been filed against the Diocese of Baton Rouge under a new law suspending the statute of limitations in sexual abuse cases in Louisiana.

The lawsuit names Fr. John Weber, who was a priest with the Archdiocese of New Orleans and Diocese of Baton Rouge. Weber died in 2000.

RELATED: 8 clergymen who worked in Baton Rouge area included on list of sex abusers from Archdiocese of New Orleans

According to the petition for damages, which was filed in East Baton Rouge Parish District Court, a man claims he was sexually abused by Weber at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Baton Rouge beginning when he was about 13 years old. The church was also named in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that Weber sexually abused the teen on multiple occasions around 1975 and 1976.

The attorneys for the alleged victim said they believe this is the first…

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The Supreme Court of Georgia has ruled that the victim of alleged sexual abuse by a priest at Marietta’s Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church can sue not only the church, but the archdiocese and archbishop of Atlanta.

The decision overrules a lower court’s ruling that the allegations — by an altar boy who said he was abused by Father J. Douglas Edwards in the 1970s — had exceeded the statute of limitations.

The suit was filed in 2018, a short time after Archbishop of Atlanta Wilton Gregory first acknowledged sexual abuse of children by members of the church. The alleged victim, identified as “Philip Doe,” said the church had systematically covered up abuse by its own priests.

Doe charged Edwards, who died in 1997, took groups of boys to a house on Lake Allatoona, where he charged he was molested about eight to 10 times from at least 1976 through 1978….

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Eleven people contacted the archdiocese in 2021 to report that they experienced sexual violence within the structures of the church.

Specifically, the reports were made by three women and eight men.
 
One of these individuals was over 18 years of age at the time the incident occurred. This means that ten people were minors when they were sexually assaulted. The incidents reportedly took place between 1940 and 2009.
 
Ten different members of the clergy or people who are or were in the service of the church have been accused as the culprits behind the sexual assaults. The vicar general has forwarded all cases to the public prosecutor’s office.
 
Meanwhile, four victims have received damages from the church.
 
The Luxembourg Catholic Church has set up a service for victims who have experienced abuse within church structures. They can reach out either by…

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People who took part in a “pile-on” against Cardinal George Pell are refusing to reconsider the case almost two years after the Australian Church leader’s acquittal, a speaker said on Tuesday.

Gerard Henderson, the author of “Cardinal Pell, The Media Pile-on and Collective Guilt,” told an audience in Sydney, Australia, on March 8 that this amounted to “intellectual cowardice” and, in some cases, “censorship.”

He argued that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia’s national broadcaster, and many of the country’s newspapers had overlooked critical accounts of the Pell trial and its coverage by the media.

“In short, members of the Pell pile-on will not engage in any reconsideration of the Pell case. In my view, that’s intellectual cowardice. In certain circumstances, it’s censorship,” he said.

Henderson was one of three speakers at the event “Lessons From the Pell Case – Two Years After the High Court Decision,” organized by the Sydney Institute, a…

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The head of the German Bishops’ Conference on Monday pressed for a quick decision from Pope Francis on the future of a prominent archbishop who faces strong criticism for his handling of the church’s sexual abuse scandal.

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, the archbishop of Cologne, said that he had offered his resignation to the pontiff after returning from a months-long “spiritual timeout” last week.

The conservative Woelki has become a deeply divisive figure in the German church after triggering a public furor over his handling of reports on how church officials in his archdiocese dealt with abuse cases. In September, the Vatican said that Francis had decided to give him the timeout after he made what it termed “major errors” of communication.

Woelki last week asked for the faithful to “give me — no, us — another chance.”

The head of the German Bishops’ Conference, Limburg Bishop Georg Baetzing, said…

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In a Mar. 7 letter to diocesan faithful, Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens offered clarity regarding the statuses of Msgr. Roger Grundhaus and Bishop Michael J. Hoeppner. According to the letter, Msgr. Grundhaus does not have faculties for public ministry in the Diocese of Crookston. The declaration is in effect for one year and will be reviewed at that time to determine if it should continue.

The letter explains that in August, Bishop Richard E. Pates, while serving as Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Crookston, announced that Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, had determined that the status of Msgr. Grundhaus would remain as it had been since May of 2017 — that he was not permitted to engage in public ministry.

Archbishop Hebda had been delegated to determine the case by the Holy See. At the time, the Diocese of Crookston’s Ministerial Review…

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The Diocese of Crookston could not confirm that Grundhaus had engaged in behavior considered sexual abuse under canon or civil law, but did maintain that he had acted inappropriately with a young man.

The Diocese of Crookston confirmed on Monday, March 7, that former clergy member Monsignor Roger Grundhaus, who was previously accused of sexually abusing a minor , was found by a diocesan review board to have “engaged in inappropriate activity that showed poor judgment and some level of impropriety with a young man.”

In a letter on Monday, Bishop Andrew Cozzens updated clergy and laypeople of the diocese on the statuses of Grundhaus and former Bishop Michael Hoeppner, who resigned in April 2021 at the request Pope Francis following investigations into reports that he had covered up child sex abuse by clergy members in the diocese.

Grundhaus has been barred from engaging…

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The first U.S. bishop to resign after a Vos estis lux mundi investigation will not conduct priestly ministry in his former diocese, the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, announced to priests Monday. The diocese will also make cuts to Bishop Michael Hoeppner’s retirement compensation, and has prohibited a priest accused of sexual abuse from ministry. 

The moves are part of an effort by Bishop Andrew Cozzens, who was installed as Bishop of Crookston in December, to restore trust in the Church among both Crookston priests and local Catholics after their diocese endured lengthy public scandal during Hoeppner’s tenure as diocesan bishop.

“When [Hoeppner] left the diocese last April, he stated that he hoped to return at the invitation of the new bishop. I have spoken with him, and he has agreed not to return to do any ministry in the diocese,” Cozzens wrote in a March 7 letter to Crookston priests, which was…

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I write this letter after much prayer and reflection and with the utmost respect for the complex issue of leadership in the church.

I am not naïve regarding the challenges that bishops and church leaders face in the light of many crises and difficult issues that confront our church today. But I write — as a priest with 50 years of service to the church and a great love for the church — regarding an issue that deeply affects all of us, but especially brother priests.

The issue of sexual abuse on the part of clergy has had profoundly devastating effects on all members of the church — bishops, priests, religious and laity alike. The Dallas Charter, soon to be in effect for 20 years, has created an attitude of distrust resulting in injustices toward priests. The intention of the Charter was to address in a meaningful and credible way the issue of sexual abuse among the…

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The Argentinian Church and the Vatican are reeling after a court in Argentina jailed a Catholic bishop for four and a half years last week for sexual abuse of two former seminarians. It is a major blow to Pope Francis, who knew him well, had appointed him bishop and defended him following initial allegations.

Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, 58, pleaded not guilty to charges but was convicted on 4 March and detained immediately. The court in the north-western town of Orán, where he was bishop from 2013 to 2017, heard two victims report that Zanchetta had made “amorous proposals” and had requested “massages”.  

According to Argentinian newspaper El Tribuno, problems surfaced in 2015 when a church official discovered sexually explicit images that were sent and received on Zanchetta’s mobile phone. The pictures included obscene photographs of the bishop and of young people and authorities were alerted. Pope Francis summoned Zanchetta to Rome and reportedly…

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Sect spotlighted by Marshall fire abuses children, exploits followers and teaches racism, former members say

On a fall day in 1999, 19-year-old John I. Post packed up his birth certificate, Social Security card, state identification, favorite blanket and pictures of his family and prepared to leave the religious cult into which he’d been born and raised.

He’d been taught his whole life that anyone who left the Twelve Tribes would die. He had no money. Agonized over the decision to leave. But he couldn’t stay. He planned to walk into town and call a friend for help.

When he finally stood up to leave the Vermont compound, some 15 cult members blocked his path outside, forming a wall. They prayed and warned there would be consequences if he walked out of God’s protection. He’d probably die. Post shook as he moved by them.

“My heart was just pounding and pounding….

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Former Diocese of Crookston Bishop Michael Hoeppner, who had wanted to continue working in the diocese following his resignation last year, will not be allowed to return.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens made the announcement in a letter to the Diocese Monday.

“When he was departing the Diocese of Crookston last April, Bishop Hoeppner publicly stated that he hoped to return to the diocese at the invitation of the new bishop. I have spoken with him, and he has agreed to not return to do any ministry in the Diocese of Crookston,” Cozzens wrote.

Last year, Pope Francis asked for Hoeppner’s resignation after a Vatican investigation found that Hoeppner interfered with clergy abuse investigations.

According to the Catholic News Agency, Hoeppner is reported to have pressured an alleged victim to drop his allegation of abuse against a priest, failed to follow mandatory reporting laws, and neglected to follow protocols designed to monitor…

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Into Account is honored to have as colleagues, and to advocate for, a number of Plain and Amish people. And we’re especially honored to publish a Plain survivor’s story.

Plain survivors face many barriers, including people from outside their context claiming expertise and making recommendations on how to interact with survivors and their families.

Intro to Fannie Masts’s Story, Dr. Stephanie Krehbiel

In 2021, Child Welfare Journal published an article entitled “Understanding and Partnering with Amish Communities to Keep Children Safe.” The author, Dr. Jeanette Harder, writes, “Due to cultural expectations, the Amish are not often in the practice of critiquing or analyzing their own thoughts or behaviors, or thinking abstractly.”

I read that sentence, and thought of the many formerly Amish and Plain Mennonite survivors I’ve worked with, some of them as fellow advocates and collaborators, for the past four years. Their ability to think critically, to self-reflect, to…

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Oliver* will never forget the day his life changed forever.

It was the day a Catholic priest — a man he saw as God — abused his trust and allegedly set him on a path towards “shame, substance abuse and profound mental illness”, the Supreme Court of Melbourne heard.

“I was dead. He murdered me,” Oliver told the court.

“He murdered that boy, that little boy, that I used to be.”

In 1968, Oliver was sexually assaultedby Desmond Gannon — now known to be a notorious paedophile priest.

Gannon was convicted and sent to jail for Oliver’s abuse in 2009. 

Now Oliver is suing the Archdiocese of Melbourne,  arguing it breached its duty of careand knew — or ought to have known — that Gannon might sexually abuse him.

It is the first time in its 150-year-plus history than an abuse survivor has taken the Archdiocese to trial.

‘I’ve never been the same’

Oliver and his “very religious” family…

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Former residents of the Esther Foundation have alleged they were sexually abused and harassed by an employee at the facility.

This is part 13 in a series. For the rest of the series, go here.

Note: this article contains descriptions of child sexual abuse.

Serious allegations have emerged of the sexual abuse and sexual harassment of teenage girls at the Pentecostal-linked Esther Foundation. The new allegations have emerged in the wake of a weeks-long investigation by Crikey and raise questions about how much, if any, information was passed to police and child protection authorities at the time.

The Morrison government made a $4 million grant to the foundation before the 2019 election, with the prime minister making a personal visit to the Perth-based rehab facility. As a Crikey investigation has revealed, Esther has a history of using extreme religious practices as “treatment” for girls with addiction and mental health problems.

One former resident has given Crikey a…

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Document trying to paint jailed ex-priest Richard Daschbach in favorable light ‘was not meant to be made public’

A Timor-Leste court has acquitted a priest and several of his staff over writing a report in favor of a defrocked priest jailed for sexually abusing young girls.

Father Herminio Fatima Goncalves, former chairman of the Justice and Peace Commission of Dili Archdiocese, and three of his staff were on trial after being accused of authoring the controversial report that made wild and false allegations against police prosecutors, journalists and NGOs involved in the prosecution of Richard Daschbach.

However, Dili District Court acquitted all four on March 4, ruling the report “was only for internal purposes and was not published.”

Judge Evangelinho Belo said they had not violated Article 291 of the country’s Criminal Code on judicial confidentiality, which carries a penalty of up to four years in prison. Prosecutors had…

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The Philippines has raised the age of sexual consent to 16 after amending a near century-old law, a move child rights activists said Monday would help protect youngsters from rape and abuse.

The Catholic-majority nation had one of the lowest ages of consent in the world, allowing adults to have sex with children as young as 12 if they agreed.

Under the revised law signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday and made public Monday, sex with a person under 16 will be illegal and carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in jail.  

Exceptions will be made for teenage couples so long as their age difference does not exceed three years and the sex is consensual.

“Having this law is a very good protective instrument for our children from sexual violence, whether or not it starts online or whether or not it also starts in…

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There is an extraordinary exhibit at the Vermont History Museum, one that I encourage you to visit. It will be there until July 30. It tells the disturbing story of St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Burlington, Vermont, and the children who were abused there.   

When the documented torture and abuse of children was taking place at St. Joseph’s Orphanage from the 1940s until it closed in 1974, most Vermonters were unaware of what was happening within those walls. Many who may have had concerns or suspicions likely felt uncomfortable questioning the Catholic Diocese, an authority that is not easily questioned. 

It was not that long ago when adults did not fully embrace and understand the responsibility that we all share. That responsibility is to protect children. 

The prevailing culture told us that no one charged with and dedicated to the care of orphaned children would ever harm them, and…

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When former Bishop Howard Hubbard penned an Op-ed in the Times Union just as the Child Victims’ Act was about to expire, his former diocese was facing more than 300 lawsuits from survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

His words offered regret for mistakes made in the past and hope for reconciliation and healing, in spite of the fact that Hubbard himself was the target of some of the abuse allegations.

Currently, the Diocese of Albany is fighting the release of internal documents that would surely shed light on how sexual predators were allowed to continue preying on innocent children.  The Times Union reported that “The diocese has quietly waged an aggressive effort in court to conceal records that may reveal more about its handling of sexual abuse cases. . . The diocese, and Hubbard’s defense attorneys, also have sought to prevent victims’ attorneys from obtaining the records of other clergy…

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Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced that a Fayette County priest was sentenced to 2 1/2 to 5 years in state prison for repeatedly assaulting an 11-year-old altar boy starting in 2004 and continuing until the boy was 14.

“The bravery of this survivor helped us hold Andrew Kawecki accountable, and he will now go to prison for his unthinkable crimes,” said AG Shapiro. “My office will continue to seek justice and accountability for those who use their position of power and trust to prey on their communities.”

Andrew Kawecki was charged by the Office of Attorney General in August 2020 after a victim reported to investigators that Kawecki forced sexual encounters with the victim starting when he was 11 years old. The assaults continued for three years in the back room of St. Cyril and Methodius Church in Fairchance where Father Kawecki prepared for services before mass.

Kawecki was…

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Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced that a Fayette County priest was sentenced to 2 1/2 to 5 years in state prison for repeatedly assaulting an 11-year-old altar boy starting in 2004 and continuing until the boy was 14.

“The bravery of this survivor helped us hold Andrew Kawecki accountable, and he will now go to prison for his unthinkable crimes,” said AG Shapiro. “My office will continue to seek justice and accountability for those who use their position of power and trust to prey on their communities.”

Andrew Kawecki was charged by the Office of Attorney General in August 2020 after a victim reported to investigators that Kawecki forced sexual encounters with the victim starting when he was 11 years old. The assaults continued for three years in the back room of St. Cyril and Methodius Church in Fairchance where Father Kawecki prepared for services before mass.

Kawecki was identified following…

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