ABUSE TRACKER

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Maltese priest Rob Galea delivered an impassioned homily in Australia last Sunday, condemning the sexual abuse that has gripped the Church and apologising on behalf of them.

Galea was giving an online sermon about the Cleansing of the Temple, the time Jesus angrily drove merchants out of the Temple, and interpreting it as the wrath of Christ upon discovering that a place of refuge had become a place of exploitation.

Here, he proceeded to draw parallels with the Church, and the several sexual abuse cases that have plagued it over the years.

“It breaks my heart; I became a priest to give hope and dignity to people and the Church exploited the vulnerable,” he said. 

“I know it will do everything to protect the vulnerable now, but we didn’t, and as a result many souls were lost and that’s an eternal ramification, and I dont know what to say.”

…

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A class action by dozens of Nova Scotians who say they were sexually abused by Roman Catholic priests dating back to 1960 “is proceeding,” says the lawyer representing the plaintiffs.

“The court is going to advise us about potential trial dates,” said John McKiggan of McKiggan-Hebert law firm in Halifax, which filed the class action with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in August 2018.

The class action was filed on behalf of Douglas Champagne and other sexual abuse survivors.

Champagne, according to the court filing, suffered lasting and permanent effects from sexual abuse at the hands of Father George Epoch while Epoch worked as a priest at the Canadian Martyrs Church in Halifax.

The class action says priests employed by the Halifax-Yarmouth archdiocese, which amalgamated the former dioceses of Halifax and Yarmouth in 2011, had for decades “sexually assaulted and battered Catholic worshippers who attended their parishes.”

Responsible for the…

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On March 13, 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected to the Chair of St. Peter. He is the first Jesuit, the first Latin-American Pope, and the first with the name Francis. These eight years of his Pontificate have been marked by initiatives and reforms to engage all Christians in a new missionary impetus with the goal of bringing the love of Jesus to all humanity.

Closeness, synodality and missionary impetus: these are the cornerstones of the Pontificate of Pope Francis, who was elected eight years ago to the Chair of St. Peter. The perspective of his Pontificate starts from below, from the attention paid to those existential and geographical “peripheries” that act as a counterpoint to his being and acting. Inviting all to recover “the original freshness of the Gospel,” he urges the faithful to take up a new fervor and dynamism so that the love of Jesus can truly…

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The Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans has been in the news for a variety of reasons lately. First was their stance against taking the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine saying that it was “morally compromised” for using stem cells coming from aborted fetal tissue.

Currently, the Church appears to be skirting its responsibilities regarding its abominable record of child molestations, having filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; this, despite having assets worth over half a billion dollars.

Referring to that bankruptcy filing, Richard Windmann, the president of Survivors of Childhood Sex Abuse, says, “I thought it was a cowardly act. Greg Aymond has been dodging depositions in state civil cases for a long time.” Gregory Michael Aymond is the 14th Archbishop of the Diocese of New Orleans. “A judge finally ordered him to attend the deposition, and they filed bankruptcy two days later. It is nothing…

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The Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh shared a letter regarding a child sex abuse complaint against a former priest that died.

Posted online, the letter encouraged “those with information” to “come forward for confidential conversation.”

Here is the letter in full:

March 12, 2021

Dear Friends in Christ,

I am writing to share some difficult news with you.

My office has received a complaint of child sexual abuse against Charles Appel, who was once a priest in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. The man who has made the complaint reports that the alleged abuse occurred when he was a minor in the late 1970s and early 1980s and while he was at Sheldon Calvary Camp, the camp in Conneaut, Ohio, that is affiliated with our diocese.

Mr. Appel renounced his priesthood in the Episcopal Church in 2001, after charges were brought against him under the Church’s clergy disciplinary system….

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The Senate judiciary committee is scheduled to vote Monday on whether to ask voters to approve an emergency change to the state constitution to open a window for lawsuits by adult survivors of childhood sex abuse.

“At this late point in a debate that has been ongoing for over two decades, the emergency constitutional amendment is the most timely and viable option for affording thousands of abuse victims their long-sought access to justice,” state Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne County said. “By getting the question on the ballot, we give voters the chance to end the delay and say ‘yes’ to the type of justice that all Pennsylvanians deserve.”

Senate Democrats earlier on Friday called for the passage of a bill that would immediately open a window for adult survivors of child abuse to sue their abusers and organizations, such as the Catholic Church, which covered up for predators.

State Sen….

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The Episcopal Diocese is encouraging anyone with information to come forward for a confidential conversation.

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh is disclosing a report of sex abuse against a priest who died in 2019.

The late Charles Appel was a priest in Pittsburgh until the church disciplined him in 2001.

Bishop McConnell says the alleged abuse occurred against a child while Appel was at Sheldon Calvary Camp in Conneaut, Ohio in the late 70s and early 80.

Appel spent five years in prison for child porn before his death. Anyone with reports about appel is being asked to contact the Episcopal Diocese.

Bishop McConnell’s letter about the abuse can be found here.

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WINDSOR TERRACE — Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio is denying claims in a lawsuit that he sexually abused an altar boy in a New Jersey church in the 1970s.  

The accuser, Mark Matzek, 57, who is represented by attorney Mitchell Garabedian, filed in Superior Court of New Jersey, Essex County, on March 9. Matzek first went public with his accusations against Bishop DiMarzio in November of 2019. 

In a statement, Bishop DiMarzio said, “These false accusations are an attempt to smear my 50-year ministry as a priest. This lawsuit contains the same false allegations made 16 months ago with a demand for $20 million. There is no merit to any of these claims. The priesthood has been my life. I have faith in the Lord that truth will prevail.”

Joseph A. Hayden, Jr., the lawyer representing Bishop DiMarzio, said his client would never settle the case “because he is innocent and looks…

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• Former priest, now 70, has been charged with historic sexual assault of two boys
• Police will allege the man abused the boys – then aged between 11 and 17  
• Alleged abuse took place over five years while they were in his care, police say 

A former priest has been charged with the historic sexual assault of two young boys in Sydney’s west and on the NSW South Coast.

Detectives in August began investigating the allegations said to have taken place between 1986 and 1991.

The ex-priest will face Penrith Courthouse on Thursday facing 13 counts of sexual assault 

A 70-year-old man was issued with a court attendance notice in January at a facility at Malabar, for multiple charges.

These included indecently assaulting a person under 16, sexual intercourse with a person aged 10-16, homosexual intercourse with a male aged 10-18 and inciting a person under 16 to an act of indecency.

The…

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A Staten Island priest has been accused of grooming a recently divorced and depressed parishioner who sought counseling from him for years to eventually sexually abuse her, new court papers say.

Father Basil Akut in 2015 offered weekly counseling to the woman “in order to isolate, manipulate, and groom her for sexual abuse,” her Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit from Friday alleges.

The victim — who is not named in the court papers — also went to weekly confession with Akut and attended all of his masses at Our Lady Star of the Sea on Staten Island, the court papers say.

From 2016 to 2018, Akut would shower the woman with compliments about her personality and appearance, would text and call her and spend “an inordinate amount of time” with her, the court documents claim.

Things escalated in January 2018 when Akut confessed he was in love with the woman and by…

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A former altar boy is suing St. Mary’s College Preparatory Catholic high school in Manhasset over allegations that he was raped in the early 1980s by a religious brother employed as a guidance counselor.

Steven Gormley, now 53, alleges that in September 1981 Brother Robert Ryan began pulling the then-13-year-old out of class at least twice a week, “taking him to his office, and sexually assaulting him,” molestation that continued during “recess periods, study hall periods, or after school was completed for the day,” and went on for years, according to the 38-page lawsuit, filed March 10.

Years ago, Gormley said, he had raised the allegations with school leadership and was given settlements that included $55,000 in exchange for waiving his legal rights, but he is now seeking to void those agreements on the basis of what he claims is fraud.

The suit, filed by lawyers Kevin T. Mulhearn and…

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A Michigan teen is suing the Archdiocese of Detroit and a Catholic school in Lapeer County amid allegations he was sexually assaulted by a priest more than a decade ago.

The youth was an 8-year-old second grader at Bishop Kelley Catholic School in Lapeer 2010 when he attended a “spiritual formation” session with the priest, Aloysius “Father Al” Volskis, during school, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District in Detroit.

While in a teacher’s lounge, the priest noticed the boy had a cold and offered two blue pills believed to be medicine; he swallowed them then “fell into a semi-sedated state of consciousness,” the filing said. 

The youth was unable to move but aware of his surroundings, asserting in the lawsuit that the priest “raped and molested plaintiff in the teachers’ lounge.” The boy claims he heard Volskis  “moaning and uttering prayers or chants…

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A civil complaint filed Thursday in Albuquerque alleges a former Las Cruces Catholic priest sexually abused a teenage girl in the 1970s. 

Fr. Jesus Goni was a pastor at St. Genevieve’s Catholic Church at the time of the alleged incident.

The plaintiff, who is identified as Jane Doe 43 in the lawsuit, accuses Goni of ordering her into his office in approximately May 1970 and inappropriately touching her. She was about 14 years old at the time. She was brought up to obey priests and did not think she would be believed if she told anyone what had been done to her, the lawsuit stated, and kept the incident secret “for many years.”

This is believed to be the first accusation of sexual abuse against Goni. According to St. Genevieve’s website, Goni became an assistant pastor in 1965 and head pastor in 1970. It appears that he left the church by 1974. 

The plaintiff is…

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A third of all German Catholics are considering leaving the Church, according to a new survey published on Thursday.

The representative study, unveiled March 11, was conducted by the Erfurt-based opinion research institute INSA Consulere on behalf of the Catholic weekly newspaper Die Tagespost and the Protestant news agency Idea. It confirms a previous survey’s findings that indicated similar numbers.

Of those surveyed who belong to the Catholic Church, 33% are considering leaving the church because of the ongoing scandals over the handling of clerical sex abuse cases, while 44% said that they were not going to turn their back on the Church. A further 14% of respondents indicated that they “didn’t know.” Nine percent of those involved in the survey did not specify an answer.

CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, reported that the new survey also found that one in four members of the Protestant regional churches in Germany…

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Poland’s Catholic bishops strengthened their child protection system on Thursday with an agreement with the country’s male religious orders.

During the bishops’ plenary meeting in Warsaw on March 11, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki and Fr. Janusz Sok, C.Ss.R., signed a declaration committing men’s religious orders to cooperation with the St. Joseph Foundation, which the bishops established in 2019 to support abuse survivors.

Gądecki is the president of the Polish bishops’ conference and Sok is chairman of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men’s Orders in Poland

During the plenary assembly, the bishops were updated on the Church’s safeguarding efforts by Archbishop Wojciech Polak, their delegate for the protection of children and youth.

A March 11 statement on the bishops’ conference website said: “The development and strengthening of this system are to be served by the declaration adopted by the plenary assembly on cooperation between the Polish bishops’ conference and the Conference of Major Superiors…

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Plaintiffs’ attorney Jeff Anderson said he believes 400 claims is relatively low for the church in New Orleans.

Roughly 400 people who allege that they were sexually preyed upon by local priests and deacons went to bankruptcy court and sought compensation from the Archdiocese of New Orleans before last week’s deadline for victims of clerical abuse to file such claims, church officials said Thursday. 

The announcement provides some clarity about the number and potential value of remaining clerical abuse cases that the archdiocese will have to settle or litigate before it can reorganize its finances, a process that started when the church filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last May.

March 1 was the final day a sexual abuse claim could be filed in the case, which is the only avenue for compensation for anyone who alleged sexual abuse by clergy or other church officials that took place prior to the…

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Sara Larson is executive director of a Milwaukee-based Catholic nonprofit called Awake Milwaukee, whose mission “is to awaken our community to the full reality of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and work for transformation and healing.”

How is Awake different from any number of similar movements?

“Many people believe that there are only two options: get angry and leave the Church, or bury your head in the sand and pretend the abuse isn’t happening. Awake tries to fill that gap. We recognize the brokenness of the Church and we also still love our Church.”

They try to support all survivors, including the person who loves the Church in spite of everything and stays, but is hemorrhaging silently and in exile, suffering his or her terrible wound alone.

“We don’t need to duplicate the work done by the many other wonderful organizations, support groups, and diocesan-sponsored initiatives across the…

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A Catholic couple in Peoria, Illinois, is asking for the intercession of hometown hero Ven. Fulton Sheen to save the life of their unborn son.

Royce and Elise Hood, parents of six children including one in utero, recently discovered that their unborn son Fulton Joseph had Potter syndrome. It is a rare condition where, due to a lack of amniotic fluid, the baby’s kidneys and lungs might not develop fully or at all.

At the Hood’s 20-week ultrasound appointment, their doctor informed them of the news and said there was a 95% chance their baby would not survive after birth.

Three days later, the family went and prayed at Sheen’s tomb in Peoria, asking for a miracle.

Sheen was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria at age 24 before being appointed auxiliary bishop of New York in 1951 and Bishop of Rochester, New York, in 1966. He was…

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Prosecutors have been given the green light to press ahead with an appeal in the case of a priest who was acquitted of child sex abuse charges.

Father Stephen Motroni, a former priest at St Mary’s RC church in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, was accused of sexually abusing two young brothers after plying them with drink and playing strip poker.

He faced two historic charges of lewd and libidinous conduct against the children, aged between five and 13, in Scotland and on holiday in Italy.

However, after hearing several days of evidence at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last year, Sheriff Michael Hanlon decided he did not have jurisdiction to hear the Italian charges and acquitted Mr Motroni of all other offences.about:blank

Sheriff Hanlon claimed that the Crown had not proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The procurator fiscal in the summary trial sought an appeal by way of a process known as a…

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Months after a bureaucratic SNAFU upended SOL reforms aimed at preventing future cases of child sexual abuse and providing justice and healing to survivors in Pennsylvania, an emergency constitutional amendment is set to be proposed again in Pennsylvania.

HB 14 would provide the same remedy to the archaic statute of limitations laws as the previous reform, and currently House Republicans and Democrats are working to get a Constitutional amendment back on the May ballot. In order to do so, there will need to be a 2/3 majority in both houses for the bill to be declared an emergency.  Mike McDonnell, SNAP Philadelphia, and Mary McHale, SNAP Reading, joined other advocates in a conference call today, March 10th, along with CHILD USA advocates and legal scholars Marci Hamilton, Esq. and Kathryn Robb, Esq. The call highlighted the continued need to contact state legislators and urge them to support HB14.

The fact is…

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 Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier has ordered a reexamination of abuse allegations against Fr. Joseph Kentenich, the founder of the international Schonstatt movement, from his time in exile in the U.S.

The German Catholic news agency KNA reported Ackermann referred to allegations made by an American man who accused Kentenich of sexually abusing him between 1958 and 1962. The bishop told the diocesan newspaper Paulinus that the accusations had been examined at the time, but that such suspected cases were treated differently today.

The allegations against Kentenich were known to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee since 1994, and they had been investigated there, Ackermann said. KNA reported that the church court of the archdiocese had “taken the view that there was no reason to pursue the matter further at that time,” said Ackermann.

The Milwaukee documents were made available to the Diocese of Trier. The bishop now wants an examination of…

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Religious bodies especially Churches must develop “Child Protection Policy,” which will ensure that they take-up the responsibility to protect children against all forms of abuses in their institutions.

The Reverend Ebenezer Tetteh Kpalam, Clinical Psychologist and Pastor at the Church of Pentecost, Tema told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that Religious Child Protection Policy would ensure that children are protected.

He said such a policy would also feed into the general national ambition to reduce incidents of child abuse in Ghana.

Rev Kpalam who is also the author of the “Our Children, the place of child protection in the church’s ministry” said it is a biblical and civic responsibility for religious bodies to protect children against abuses such as physical, emotional, sexual and neglect.

He noted that such child protection policies in the church must define what constitute abuse, how to identify one, how to handle issues of…

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The Methodist Church in Fiji has asked the Superintendent of Dilkusha Home to provide an explanation on the allegations that children living in the orphanage in Nausori have been subjected to verbal and physical abuse and neglect.

Assistant Secretary for Christian Citizenship and Social Services, Noa Tokavou says they will now wait for the outcome of the investigations carried out by Police and the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission before they decide their next step.

He says none of the staff have been removed from the Home as they do not want to interfere in police investigations.

Tokavou says all children at Dilkusha Home are healthy and attending school.

He also confirms the staff of Dilkusha Home had earlier raised concerns in regards to how the institution was managed and while the church was carrying out its review, these allegations reached police.

The Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission Director, Ashwin…

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The Fiji Police Force is yet to release an update on investigations relating to the alleged sexual abuse of 14 young boys by a clergy of the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma.

Queries on the investigation sent to Police spokesperson Savaira Tabua on March 8 remained unanswered.

However, she said that they would respond after this newspaper sent in another request for an update.

On February 25, according to police, the alleged incidents happened from 2018 to this year when the clergyman was serving on an outer island in the Southern Division.

Police said the victims were all juveniles.

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A second lawsuit has been filed against Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, this one accusing him of sexually abusing an altar boy at St. Nicholas parish in Jersey City in the 1970s, an allegation made public more than a year ago.

The new lawsuit, filed late Tuesday afternoon, alleges DiMarzio abused an altar boy from 1973 through 1976 when the accuser was between 10 and 12 years old. It also accuses another priest, Albert Mark, who is now deceased, of abusing the plaintiff, also at St. Nicholas parish.

The accuser, Mark Matzek, who lives in Monmouth County, went public with his accusations in December of 2019.

An initial lawsuit, filed last month, alleged that DiMarzio sexually abused a 6-year-old boy at a different Catholic parish — Holy Rosary, also in in Jersey City — in 1979 and 1980. The plaintiff, who now lives in Florida, went public with the accusation last year.

DiMarzio, 76, the leader…

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By their sometimes enthusiastic, sometimes tacit, support of Trump’s carnage, this episcopate has shown themselves to be devoid of morals and decency. For over three decades, American bishops have been an adjunct of the GOP. Abortion is their code word for “vote Republican.” But given the magnitude of the clerical sex abuse, they have shown their contempt for children. (See appendix if further explanation is needed.)

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, Archbishop of Washington, D.C, was interviewed on NBC’s “Today” broadcast Feb. 15. Co-host Al Roker cited the Jan. 20 statement by Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, on Joe Biden’s inauguration.

“Biden has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender,” wrote Gomez, elected president by his confreres. “For the nation’s bishops, the continued…

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A teacher on biblical topics, she cited the “staggering” disorientation of seeing denominational leaders support Donald J. Trump, among other issues.

From the outside, the marriage of convenience between white conservative Christians and Donald J. Trump looked like a devoted one: White evangelicals voted for Mr. Trump overwhelmingly in 2016 and stuck with him in 2020, brushing aside perpetual lies and sexual impropriety to support a man they saw as their protector.

However, not everyone was content.

Now, one of the most prominent white evangelical women in the United States is breaking with her longtime denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, citing the “staggering” disorientation of seeing its leaders support Mr. Trump, and the cultural and spiritual fallout from that support.

“There comes a time when you have to say, this is not who I am,” Beth Moore, told Religion News Service in an interview published on Tuesday. “I…

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Rev. Richard Peddicord, OP, president of Fenwick High School, wrote last week about the important role that Catholic social teaching can play in healing the divides in our nation.  

He wrote that “The guiding principle of Catholic social teaching is the inviolable dignity of the human person. Every human being is a unique and beloved creation of God. As such, every human person deserves respect, care, love.” 

The search for common ground

The problem is that this high-minded language does not apply to the Dominicans and their failure to release the facts they know about sexual abuse by Dominican priests at Fenwick and at parishes in Chicagoland, including River Forest.  

In January 2019, Wednesday Journal reported on extensive sexual abuse by a priest, Fr. William Farrell, OP, at Fenwick in the ’60s and until 1970:

Victims of former Fenwick priest tell their stories

Fr. Marchionda, the head of…

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The more we learn about abuse, the better we’ll be able to stop it.

But relax, we’re not going to recommend that you read a book on the subject.  From first-hand knowledge, we know that can be hard. The topic is grim and reading detailed descriptions of what depraved adults do to children spelled out in black and white is almost more anyone can bear.

We at Horowitz Law recommend another way to educate yourself – films.

If you’ve read much of this blog, you know we’re big fans of the movie Spotlight, which stars Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Stanley Tucci, Billy Crudup and Len Cariou (as Boston’s disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law).

In some ways, this award-winning film (Academy Award for Best Picture, 2016) is less about predators and victims and more about the dogged journalists whose investigations brought world-wide attention to crimes and corruption enabled by…

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(UPDATE): Days after releasing a call for victims and plans for a name change, Ravi Zacharias’s organization announces plans for a dramatic shift in ministry.

Update (March 10): Once the largest apologetics ministry in the world, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) will stop doing apologetics work this year.

CEO Sarah Davis announced to staff Wednesday morning that over the next six months, the downsized ministry will remake itself as a grant-making charity. It plans to give money to organizations fulfilling its original purpose of defending the truth of the gospel as well as organizations that care for victims of sexual abuse.

“RZIM cannot and should not continue to operate as an organization in its present form. Nor do we believe we can only rename the organization and move forward with ‘business as usual,’” said Davis, who is Zacharias’s daughter and has led the ministry since his death in May 2020.

…

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Photo above: Mailin Gobbo reacts as she leaves the courtroom after hearing a judge acquit former Catholic Priest Carlos Eduardo Jose, who she says sexually abused her for years when she was an adolescent, in San Martin, Argentina, Tuesday, March 9, 2021. The court acquitted the 62-year-old, citing the statute of limitations had run out. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A court on Tuesday cleared a retired priest of sexual abuse charges on grounds the statute of limitations on the alleged crimes had expired.

Former priest Carlos Eduardo José, 62, had spent more than a year in custody during the legal process and the ruling by a three-judge panel in the city of San Martin means he can go free.

Attorneys for his accuser, Mailin Gobbo, said they would appeal.

Gobbo, now 33, accused José of “grave sexual abuse” from 1999 to 2008 when she was a student at a parochial school…

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Court in Buenos Aires Province controversially clears retired priest Carlos Eduardo José of sexual abuse charges, ruling that the statue of limitations on the case had expired.

A court in Buenos Aires Province on Tuesday cleared a retired priest of sexual abuse charges, ruling that the statue of limitations on the case had expired.

The decision from the three-judge panel overseeing the court sparked anger from his accuser, 33-year-old Mailín Gobbo, who accused the courts of “covering up for a paedophile” and vowed to appeal.

The former priest, 62-year-old Carlos Eduardo José, was accused in court of “seriously outrageous sexual abuse,” which was “aggravated by holding an ecclesiastical position.” 

José was accused of multiple counts of rape and sexual abuse against Gobbo, who alleged the abuse took place between 1999 and 2008 at the Instituto San José Obrero, in Caseros, Buenos Aires Province, and other locations, when she was aged…

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A bankruptcy judge ruled this month that the Diocese of Buffalo has “no obligation” to retain a law firm on behalf of two retired bishops, whom the state attorney general is suing for alleged cover-up of sexual abuse. 

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Carl Bucki ruled Feb. 23 that the two bishops, Emeritus Richard Malone and retired auxiliary Bishop Edward Grosz, must pay their own legal fees, but may still have the right to seek reimbursement from the diocese’s insurers for their legal costs, the Buffalo News reported. 

The diocese is required under bankruptcy rules to have expenses such as the hiring of lawyers approved by a court. The diocese had argued that it was obligated under its bylaws to pay the bishops’ legal fees, but the judge disagreed. 

The bankruptcy judge did allow the diocese itself to hire Jones Day, a large law firm, as its own special counsel against the…

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New campaign aims to break the taboo about talking about sexual abuse in the Catholic-majority country

Images and short videos of people holding posters containing statements against sexual abuse adorn the timeline of a new Facebook campaign page.

The campaign is called “Hapára Abuzu Seksuál hasoru Labarik,” which means “Stop sexual abuse against children” in Timor-Leste’s Tetun language.

Created on March 3, it aims to strengthen public awareness of sexual abuse amid the trial of ex-priest Richard Daschbach, according to Ariel Mota Alves, one of its administrators.

“Given the sensitivity of the case, the campaign is very generalized. People’s messages are just around rights and children’s protection,” he said.

The 25-year-old student, who is doing a master’s degree at the University of Hawaii in the US, said the page’s administrators have received more than 200 statements of support and expect many more.

“Those who have shown support come from various…

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Yet another Catholic staffer has been arrested in New Orleans on charges of child sexual abuse. We applaud the investigators for believing the victim and filing these charges and we hope that this news will encourage others who were hurt in New Orleans to come forward, find help, and start healing.

Virgil Maxey “V.M.” Wheeler III is a Catholic deacon from Metairie, LA, a suburb of New Orleans, where he was arrested on charges of abusing a pre-teen boy in the early 2000s. Prior to becoming a deacon, he worked as a prominent local attorney and volunteered for numerous other Church causes, likely giving him access to other vulnerable children. Given how abusers tend to flock to positions that provide them access to their victims, we suspect there may be other survivors that have yet to come forward.

Catholic officials in New Orleans have already suspended Deacon…

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The Department of Social Welfare is liaising with the Methodist Church of Fiji in relation to the allegation of abuse on children at the Dilkusha Home.

Director Rupeni Fatiaki confirms they are working with the Methodist Church.

The Police Force also says they are still investigating the matter however they haven’t confirmed whether they have interviewed anyone in relation to this.

Methodist Church President, Reverand Ili Vunisuwai, earlier confirmed that they have interviewed the Deaconess and the children at the Home.

Reverend Vunisuwai has denied the allegation however FBC News understands there is photographic evidence of the alleged assault.

He says they are waiting for the investigation report and if there is any evidence of alleged abuse then they will take action.

The matter was first lodged at the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission who have referred the matter to the Police.

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France faces a hard-hitting report on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church this autumn after the head of an independent inquiry into such crimes since 1950 said it could reach a total of at least 10,000 cases. 

The commission, headed by retired judge Jean-Marc Sauvé, has been analysing self-reported cases and combing through diocesan archives for the past two years and expects to issue its report in October.

Speaking to journalists on 2 March, Sauvé indirectly confirmed media reports  of a potential total of 10,000 cases. His office later clarified that “it is very possible that the number of victims reaches 10,000. Work now in progress will allow us to give a more precise number”.

Part of the problem was that only some victims had contacted the commission. “What percentage of victims did this (inquiry) reach?” Sauvé asked, speculating that 25 per cent or fewer might have come forward.

The…

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Brandon Tovar, 36,was a volunteer children’s worker at Heartland Community Church in Decatur.

According to police, a child alerted their mother to Tovar sleeping alone and cuddling with her friend, who is under 13 years old. The child found sexual messages between Tovar and the victim that happened on Snapchat, according to a sworn statement. 

Police received copies of the messages and an apology Tovar had sent to the mother after the Snapchat conversation was reported. 

Tovar told police the church pastor had confronted him on accusations that he held hands with a minor, texted a female under 16 years old and took pictures of boys in their underwear at the church. 

Tovar faces charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, predatory criminal sexual assault and battery. 

Heartland officials said in an October 2020 statement to WAND News they had removed Tovar from contact with children when they learned of any…

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In a move that is outrageous to survivors of clergy abuse and current Catholics alike, Church officials in Washington D.C. have seen fit to give millions of dollars to a prelate who enabled and covered-up cases of sexual abuse. It seems to us that Catholics in the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. should stop donating to the archdiocese if they are going to waste millions on a disgraced cleric instead of using those funds to improve the safety and conditions of parishes within their borders.

According to The Pillar, a little more than $2 million has been earmarked for “continuing ministry” for disgraced Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the man who turned a blind eye to the crimes of men like Theodore McCarrick and whose participation in the cover-up of child sexual abuse was exposed in the 2018 Pennsylvania Grand Jury report. Making matters worse is the fact that…

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Another former Paramus Catholic student has sued the high school over alleged sexual abuse by former ice hockey coach Bernard Garris, with the latest complaint adding the most explicit accusations yet.

The former player, identified only by his initials in the lawsuit, says Garris groomed him as a student and sexually assaulted him in the school, in the coach’s car and at hotels while they were traveling for competitions. 

Since August, 11 former students have sued Paramus Catholic, saying the high school and the Archdiocese of Newark knew of Garris’ abuse for years but did nothing to stop it. Garris, who has since died, was also accused of abuse in a 2011 lawsuit that was later settled for an undisclosed amount. 

The suits filed last year accused Garris of groping and inappropriate touching. The latest complaint goes farther, alleging that the ex-coach forced the student to perform oral sex and engage in sodomy. Garris also took “pornographic” pictures…

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Editor’s note: This story includes discussions of sexual abuse and violence. A list of sexual assault reporting options and on-campus resources can be found on the Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross websites.

The chair of theology at Boston College has been accused of sexually assaulting a former classmate in 1987 while the two were theology doctoral students at Notre Dame.

Boston College is currently investigating allegations against Richard Gaillardetz ‘91, after theologian Laura Grimes ‘04 alleged he assaulted her on two separate occasions in a series of YouTube videos she released Jan. 23 and last week.

Grimes said Gaillardetz assaulted her for the first time on Halloween night 1987 in his apartment, and then again in early December in her apartment, in the former O’Hara-Grace residences.

“It was absolutely nonconsensual because consent was never asked,” Grimes said in an interview with The Observer.

Gaillardetz has denied the allegations and voluntarily stepped away…

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I watched the documentary, “Sipe: Sex, Lies, and the Priesthood,” with a mix of very powerful emotions: profound admiration and gratitude for all that A.W. Richard Sipe had done and all that he continues to do, and very painful sadness. Richard and I go back to the earliest years of the clergy abuse phenomenon. From the day we first met something clicked between us, and our collaboration grew into a deep and loving bond that the word “friendship” can’t really capture.

The documentary accurately showed Richard as a loving and gentle person who attracted people to him, especially people who were troubled, precisely because the empathy he shared was real, and because it was real it transcended the barriers of fear so many have when they seek help. He connected with people in a way I have never seen in anyone else.

The only people he…

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A man claims a Knights of Columbus member who worked as a youth basketball coach for the organization sexually abused him as a child in the Bronx.

The Knights of Columbus has 1.9 million members across the U.S. It was initially formed to help those in need as a Catholic fraternal benefit society.

Jeffrey Davis claims Kenneth McLaughlin abused him as a boy and claims the organization did not stop or prevent the abuse from happening.

Documents from Davis’ attorneys show he is one of four victims in this suit making claims against members. The other victims are staying anonymous.

“He’s taken away a lot of self-esteem in my life but I don’t want him to take my name away. I still have my name,” said Davis.

The claim says, “The sexual abuse occurred numerous times and included, but was not limited to, McLaughlin forcing Jeffrey to undress and…

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There are so many answers to refute the claim that the rule of law prevents an inquiry into rape allegations against Attorney-General Christian Porter that it’s difficult to know where to start.

Last night on ABC’s Four Corners, eminent Sydney silk, Arthur Moses QC, sounded a warning that “the floodgates” would open if an inquiry into rape allegations against Christian Porter were to be held after the NSW police had declared that it would not proceed with a criminal investigation. Moses argued that such an approach would be “unprecedented”.

In fact, royal commissions, including the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse, can and do make adverse findings of criminal conduct against an individual after police have decided not to proceed with an investigation or prosecution. Indeed, a 1997 report prepared for the Catholic Church after an investigation by its commissioner into sexual abuse, Peter O’Calloghan QC, found that Catholic priest Peter…

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Ampleforth College, the Catholic school that is banned from taking new pupils after a child sex abuse scandal, has failed another Ofsted inspection.

The school said that the latest findings related to “procedural” issues rather than “horrific abuse”.

Ampleforth initially challenged the findings of an inspection in September before dropping its appeal. In November Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, ordered the North Yorkshire school not to take new pupils.

It was reinspected last month but a report published yesterday said that it still did not meet safeguarding standards, despite much improvement.

Ofsted said that inspectors agreed with two recent audits commissioned by the school that found weaknesses. One of the organisations that conducted the audit is giving daily support to the school, the report said.

Safeguarding arrangements were confusing and overly complex, held in too many places and left vulnerable pupils at risk, the report added. Senior leaders did not share…

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File to be sent to DPP over alleged abuse by former scout leader in 1970s and 80s

A former scout leader has been arrested in relation to alleged child sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s, with a file to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The man, who is now in his 70s, was arrested on Saturday morning by investigating gardaí. He was released without charge on Sunday, with a file to be prepared for the DPP, who will decide on whether to pursue a criminal case.

A Garda spokeswoman said the arrest “arises as a result of allegations of indecent assault in the 1970s and 1980s” and investigations are ongoing.

The Garda investigation into the alleged historical abuse by the man has been ongoing for nearly a year and a half, and it is understood there are multiple alleged victims in the case.

Inquiries

An…

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[See video interview of Mitchell Garabedian, Esq.]

The Legal Edition has released programming on child sexual abuse by clergy in the Catholic Church entitled, ‘Clandestine Clergy: Politics and Policies on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church.‘ Program guest is noted Boston attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, who brought the first Archdiocese of Boston pedophile priest cases to justice. He and his work were featured as the subject of two award-winning movies: ‘Spotlight’ and ‘Our Fathers.’ Since that case in the 1990’s, Garabedian has continuously worked as an attorney advocate for the victims who bravely come forward after decades of repressing their pain, many turning to drugs and alcohol – others to suicide.

A Lifetime of Pain

Many of the victims of clergy sexual abuse, suffer a lifetime of emotional pain as a result of their childhood abuse. Most wait decades to come forward, many until their final decade of life. The…

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There are many answers to this seemingly simple question about why it takes decades for many sexual abuse victims to come forward to tell their truth. Today, we want to explain just one of them.

Just recently, we at Horowitz Law drew attention here to the two child sex abuse reports against a high-profile Illinois priest, Fr. Michael Pfleger.

Now, that cleric faces a third accuser.

Unlike the first two accusers, this new one involves what was then an 18 year old, not a child under the applicable state law.

And unlike the first two accusers, this new one isn’t seeking a nickel.

Listen to what prompted the third accuser to speak up now, some 40 years after Fr. Michael Pfleger reportedly gave him marijuana and liquor beginning when he was 15 years old.

Fr. Pfleger was suspended by Chicago archdiocesan officials in January. Butfor the last few weeks, his…

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Germany’s Catholic bishops embarked on a series of conversations in 2018 aimed at reforming church teachings. It was an ambitious, if not audacious, effort addressing everything from homosexuality, priestly celibacy and the ordination of women.

As always, the word “reform” — in this context — means modernizing ancient church doctrines.

Conservative Catholics across the world decried the prospect. The tensions that arose at that time — and still simmering today — even caused some to warn that a permanent split could occur.

Indeed, the dreaded “s-word” — schism — can be used to describe the current moment. It was just last year that a high-ranking prelate argued that pushing such changes could lead to a “German national church.”

That’s a big news story — period. Over the past three years, the bishops in Germany haven’t been shy about making headlines — in Catholic-market publications. The question is when…

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The Archdiocese of Washington has seen fit to set aside millions of dollars for a man known for wasting egregious sums and for perpetuating sexual abuse.

Most Catholics would probably agree that a priest caught lying to the public and who was an instrumental figure in the sexual abuse crisis within the Catholic Church probably shouldn’t be receiving millions of dollars a year in church donations. But that’s what is happening in the Archdiocese of Washington.

Investigative journalists at The Pillar revealed that the archdiocese set aside more than $2 million in donations from the Catholic faithful to retired and disgraced Cardinal Donald Wuerl, former archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, for undisclosed “continuing ministry activities.”

Upon review of the archdiocese’s financial statements, The Pillar noted that the $2,012,639 allocated to support Wuerl in the 2020 fiscal year was “a 35% increase from the $1,488,059 allocated to Wuerl’s ministry in the…

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The Archdiocese of Washington on Thursday said that more than $2 million allocated for the “continuing ministry activities” of emeritus archbishop Cardinal Donald Wuerl was given by donors to cover Wuerl’s living and travel expenses, and to allow the cardinal to give charitable gifts at his discretion.

But while the archdiocese now says the money was given by donors for the express purpose of funding Wuerl’s “expenses and ministerial needs,” its audited financial statements tell a different story, stating the archdiocese designated $2 million of its own “net assets without donor restrictions” for Wuerl’s use.

“The funds in our Continuing Ministry Activities account are donations made by persons who want to cover Cardinal Wuerl’s expenses and ministerial needs, including living expenses, prior travel for business in Rome, as well as for charitable requests asked of the archbishop emeritus,” the Washington archdiocese said in its March 4 statement.

“These donations have…

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[Photo above: Retired Buffalo Diocese Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz, left, and retired Bishop Richard J. Malone have to hire their own lawyers to defend themselves against a lawsuit filed by the New York State Attorney General’s Office. -Derek Gee]

Two retired bishops from the Buffalo Diocese will have to pay for their own defense against a state Attorney General’s Office lawsuit that accuses them of protecting priests accused of child sex abuse.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Carl L. Bucki rejected the diocese’s request to retain a Buffalo law firm to represent retired Bishop Richard J. Malone and retired Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz, both of whom are individually named, along with the diocese, in a lawsuit brought by Attorney General Letitia James in November.

In a ruling late Tuesday, Bucki said the diocese has “no obligation” to retain the Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman law firm on behalf of…

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The case against two Xagħra priests charged with sexually abusing an altar boy will be heard behind closed doors, a Gozitan court ruled on Monday.  

Magistrate Bridgette Sultana issued a decree ordering the proceedings to be held behind closed doors “in the interest of full justice”. 

She also barred the press from further reporting on the alleged perpetrators before the proceedings end.  

The priests, aged 70, and 84, have both denied sexual abuse charges. 

The priests, both of Xagħra, are alleged to have defiled the minor and held him against his will between 2003 and 2005. The 70-year-old also stands accused of raping the boy, who was around eight years old at the time. 

Testifying from a private room via videoconferencing in January, the priests’ alleged victim, who is now in his mid-20s, recounted how the 70-year-old’s abuse had started when the priest lured him to his house and…

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Family and friends of the late Nate Lindstrom also want Rt. Rev. Dane Radecki of St. Norbert Abbey to either resign or support victims

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Marking nearly a year since his death, friends and family of Nathan Lindstrom were in front of Notre Dame Academy calling for an investigation into clergy sexual abuse.

“What we need and have always needed is a state-wide investigation and inquiry into the decades long abuse of children and cover up of those crimes. And that’s what Nate wanted,” Peter Isley, a founding member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said on Sunday.

The father of three died by suicide last March in Ramsey, Minnesota a month before turning 46. Lindstrom claimed he was sexually abused by a Norbertine priest as a student at Notre Dame.

“It’s up to us to carry on Nate’s mission. Don’t let it happen to your…

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Hi and welcome back! Not long ago, we talked about the recent scandals erupting at Hillsong. Between Carl Lentz and his constant affairs and Bobbie Houston’s use of a slur in her creepy marriage-advice thing and even some expensive lawsuits looming, this megachurch struggles these days. Worse, a lot of accusations are coming out lately about the church’s mistreatment of volunteers and misuse of donations. Hillsong is a deeply and irrevocably broken system that does exactly and precisely what pastor Brian Houston designed it to do. Recently, he even went on record to tell us so. 

Brian Houston Joins the Family Business.

According to the font of all knowledge, Brian Houston began his career as a pastor after a few years of Bible college. Bible colleges function as low-rent seminaries in…

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The largest Anglican diocese in western New South Wales is suffering from a crippling shortage of ministers as it struggles to pay back the church’s victims of child sexual abuse.

Key points:

• Anglican churches in regional NSW are struggling to recruit ministers to the bush and owe millions of dollars to victims of child sexual abuse
• More than half of the parishes in a third of the state are without a full-time minister
• Historical churches are being put up for sale to cover debt

The Anglican Diocese of Bathurst, which covers a third of the state, is also selling churches to fulfil its reparations commitments under the National Redress Scheme.

In a bid to balance its books, the church is also asking new ministers to raise up to $30,000 to help run their churches before relocating out west.

Bishop Mark Calder said the church was at a crossroads…

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A former Colorado Springs church volunteer and haunted house owner is accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl for about four years starting in the mid-2000s, according to arrest papers.

Vincent Stites, 49, was arrested Wednesday on charges of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust. Stites previously acted as a volunteer youth pastor at Friendship Assembly of God Church, according to police. His wife at the time was employed as a children’s minister at the church.

Stites was also a part owner of Hellscream Entertainment, which runs several popular haunted attractions in the Colorado Springs area. According to his LinkedIn page, Stites began that role in January 2009. He stepped down after the arrest, according to Hellscream’s co-owners.Haunted house owner arrested on child sex assault charges in Colorado Springs

According to arrest papers, the victim called police in September to report that she had…

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The head of the German Bishops’ Conference said Thursday that the country’s Roman Catholic church is suffering from a “scandalous image” amid mounting anger over the Cologne archbishop’s handling of a report on past sexual abuse by clergy, but he defended its overall record in addressing the issue.

The Cologne archbishop, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, faces discontent after keeping under wraps for months a study he commissioned on how local church officials reacted when priests were accused of sexual abuse.

Woelki has cited legal concerns about publishing the study conducted by a law firm. He has commissioned a new report, which is supposed to be published March 18.

There has been criticism within the German church of Woelki. The head of the German Bishops’ Conference, Limburg Bishop Georg Baetzing, has described the crisis management in Cologne as a “disaster” but said earlier this week that the conference has no “sovereignty”…

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An independent commission investigating sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in France since 1950 should find “at least 10,000 cases” by the time it finishes its work this autumn, its head said.

Jean-Marc Sauvé, a respected retired judge who heads the commission, gave the projected total during a news conference on Tuesday. The projection, which had been reported in the media in recent days, was a jump from his announcement last June of “at least 3,000” cases. Sauvé confirmed this was his estimate but said researchers still had more archives to work through. He disclosed his latest findings shortly after France’s bishops held an extraordinary plenary assembly by video conference last month to ponder their moral responsibility in the sexual abuse crisis.

Participants said it helped them better understand the abuse scandal and examine what obligation they had for crimes committed decades ago. Church leaders have said victims deserved some financial reparation from…

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It is a paradox of “social movements” that they rely on lone voices, sharing stories of impact and pain. Whether chanting “Me Too” or “Black Lives Matter,” it is easy to stand in a crowd and demand change and much harder to stand alone, as one Bowie resident did last month, when he shared with strangers the most horrifying and vulnerable experience of his life in a recorded Zoom session for the Maryland General Assembly.

The legislators tuning into the hearing had been given a 200-page stack of testimony from survivors of childhood sexual abuse, all of it urging them to strengthen a law called the Hidden Predator Act that had passed with great fanfare in 2017. The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee would spend almost two hours going back and forth with a lobbyist sent to oppose the bill, also known as SB134.

But, because of COVID…

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“I can acknowledge it and I accept the ramification. But I won’t accept that I was a 10, 11-year-old boy and I was walking into an ambush. It shouldn’t have happened.”

There are small moments around which our lives turn. A chance encounter, a diagnosis, a shared connection.

The defining moment in Tony Daly’s life happened when he was just 11.

The man who he claims sexually abused him was a Catholic brother at his new boarding school.

He’d just been sent to St Joseph’s in Sydney — better known as Joeys — one of Australia’s biggest and most prestigious Catholic boys’ schools, a virtual rugby union factory, famous for pumping out future Wallabies.

Tony Daly was one of them. He reached the highest of highs, achieving a lifelong ambition to represent his country.

He played 41 Tests and scored the winning and only try in Australia’s 1991 World Cup…

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• Tony Daly represented Australia in the Wallabies from the late 1980s’ to 1990s 
• The footballer lead the team to its first World Cup victory over England in 1991
• He was dropped from the team in 1995 – and his life then spiralled out of control
• The child sex abuse he suffered bubbled to the surface, after being suppressed 
• Daly was sexually abused from age 11 over two years at St Joseph’s Boys School
• After leaving sport, he started drinking, gambling, and committing petty crime 
• He has come to terms with his experience and has opened up to share his story

In front of the cameras, Tony Daly was a prized national treasure – leading the Wallabies to successive victories. 

He enjoyed an illustrious career playing 41 tests from the late 1980s to the ’90s,  scoring the only try in Australia’s 1991 World Cup final victory over England.

But behind closed doors, he was harbouring an…

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Gozo’s Bishop Anton Teuma has asked for forgiveness from the many people who have suffered some sort of abuse, physical or sexual, from members of the clergy.

This comes after two Gozitan priests, Joseph Cini and Joseph Sultana, were charged with raping and abusing a young boy.

In a video, Teuma said that without getting into the merits of the case, the allegations have left anger, pain, and uncertainty within the Gozitan diocese.

He reiterated the abuse can never be tolerated within the church or society as a whole. He has even sought advice from Pope Francis on the issue.

“I sincerely apologize to those of you who have at one time or another suffered abuses of all kinds in the context of the Church, to themselves and to their families,” Teuma said.

The issue erupted after Cini and Sultana were charged with sexually abusing an…

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The leader of megachurch Hillsong has apologized — but will congregants forgive him? 

Five months since the firing of adulterous NYC superstar pastor Carl Lentz — which exposed rifts across the church, fraud accusations and congregant allegations of abuse — Hillsong’s senior pastor and co-founder Brian Houston has for the first time publicly said that he’s sorry for it.

His apology was made in conjunction with the release of changes the Australia-based institution plans to make at its East Coast branches following an independent investigation, launched after news of Lentz’s affair broke in November. 

“We know that Hillsong East Coast has failed to be the kind of church it should be,” Houston, 67, wrote in an internal email addressed “Dear Church,” which The Post obtained. “On behalf of the Global Board and as Global Senior Pastor, I accept responsibility for these failings and apologize unreservedly.”

The March email coincided with an announcement of changes…

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The Jehovah’s Witnesses will finally join an Australian program meant to make amends for child sexual abuse… but only because they would have lost their tax exempt status if they didn’t.

They may not care about the children, but they care about their bank account, apparently.

Here’s the backstory: In 2013, the Australian government set up the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to look into the very serious issue. Rabbis were implicated alongside Catholic priests. Secular organizations weren’t immune from wrongdoing.

One of the recommendations from that Commission was the creation of the National Redress Scheme, a formal way to literally pay back victims of child sex abuse for all they had suffered. It’s not a perfect system by any means — could anything be? — but the idea behind it was that victims could fill out paperwork explaining what they went through, officials would calculate what that trauma is worth, and…

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Movements are not trending topics. They’re not celebrity scandals that excite the mediasphere like brush fires. They are paradigm shifts, and they do their work through legislation, court proceedings, disciplinary measures and the evolution of social hierarchies, political power and the allocation of capital.

In 2006, when Twitter hashtags didn’t exist, the activist Tarana Burke coined Me Too to promote solidarity among survivors of sexual violence, especially women of color. Her term succinctly described a formidable campaign far more powerfully than “fight the patriarchy” does. Patriarchy describes the rigid top of a power structure; Me Too describes a dynamic grass-roots threat to it.

The central tenet of Burke’s political philosophy? That sexual violence is so widespread in America as to represent its own sociology. That sociology establishes brutal power relations, with rituals of sexual subjugation, exploitation and humiliation. It comes with specific practices of witness intimidation and silencing. Institutions such…

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A perfect storm of institutional crises, the polarization of perceived winners and losers and an influx of evangelicals has made Catholicism fertile ground for conspiracy theories.

If it’s true that all roads lead to Rome, it’s also true that in one way or another, all conspiracy theories lead to the Vatican.

Be it the illuminati, aliens or even a time machine buried in its hidden archives, the Vatican has been a favored subject for conspirators thanks to its penchant for secrecy and a talent for smoke and mirrors.

But a new wave of conspiratorial thinking, especially among Catholic conservatives, is changing the face of the Catholic Church today, experts say.

A perfect storm of institutional crises, the polarization of perceived winners and losers under Pope Francis’ pontificate and the migration of evangelicals into the church has created a fertile ground for conspiracy theories, especially about papal authority.

“In recent…

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The Diocese of Scranton announced that an independent audit determined full compliance with child sex abuse prevention policies set by the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops.

A media release noted the local diocese has passed such audits of its procedures every year since the policy was adopted by the USCCB in 2002. The latest audit was done by StoneBridge Business Partners base in New York, contracted to conduct such work in all 195 U.S. Dioceses.

“The findings are a result of a review of data collected for the 2019/2020 Charter audit period,” according to a media release issued Friday. “The annual audit evaluates each diocese’s efforts to ensure the protection of children, including criminal background checks and educational awareness programs on recognizing and preventing abuse.”

The diocese provided information to the auditors, including:

• A total 11,526 students currently enrolled in Catholic schools in the diocese or in parish…

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[VIDEO]

Ampleforth College is one of the most prominent Catholic private schools in the country. But in 2018, an independent inquiry found that a number of children there had suffered appalling sexual abuse  over decades, involving monks at Ampleforth Abbey.

In November the school was banned by the government from accepting new pupils, after it failed to show inspectors that it could keep them safe.

Now this programme has seen a letter to the government from a solicitor for victims of historic abuse at the school, alleging it has not fully separated itself from the Abbey, as it had been told to. The school’s leaders deny the claims.

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We didn’t learn about alcohol and consent, because we didn’t learn about consent at all. We learned about sin and shame and how avoiding sexual assault was a female responsibility

When a petition recently went viral, documenting over 3,000 cases of sexual assault by boys at Sydney private schools, I was saddened and sickened – but not surprised – to find a testimonial from a female student at my former high school. I was also struck – but not surprised – by the then-16-year-old girl saying that she was ashamed to tell anyone about her sexual assault.

I understood her shame. It was a feeling I learned through the 13 years I spent at a private girls’ school in Sydney, run by an ultra-conservative faction of the Catholic church.

Perhaps, like me, the student was first introduced to the concept of consent with the story of St Maria Goretti. When…

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Oliver O’Grady had been jailed for 22 months last October for possessing ‘child pornography’ – his ninth conviction.

FORMER priest and infamous paedophile Oliver O’Grady has been released from prison this week after serving his latest sentence for a sex-offence.

Now 75-years-old, O’Grady had been jailed for 22 months last October for possessing ‘child pornography’, his ninth conviction.

He had served time in California for the abuse of two boys where he served as a Catholic priest before being deported back to Ireland in the 1990s.

His sexual crimes were the subject of an Academy Award-nominated documentary in 2006 called ‘Deliver Us From Evil.’

O’Grady had been extradited from Portugal in 2019 to face the charge of possessing a video of an underage girl being sexually abused.

He left the Midlands Prison this week in Portlaoise where he had served his time.

His recent conviction came as a result of…

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Former pupils at one of Scotland’s most prestigious schools are considering a private prosecution after the Crown Office decided not to extradite a teacher who they say abused them.

Two men have spoken to the Edinburgh Evening News about being physically and sexually abused at Fettes College junior school in the mid 1970s.

One victim said he was taken into a changing room and beaten to the extent of “blacking out” and ended up in a school sanatorium for medical treatment for ten days.

Both men said the teacher, who now lives in South Africa, would fondle them at his desk when they went up to receive feedback on their work, and that he would be “openly violent” to pupils during class.

A spokesperson for Fettes College says the school wants to apologise to anyone who suffered abuse there, and stressed they take historic abuse claims “extremely seriously” and will…

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NSW Police have met with senior stakeholders in the education sector after a new petition that gathered more than 3000 testimonies of alleged sexual assault committed by high school students went viral.

The petition, which called for more thorough and earlier education about consent, was started by Chanel Contos, a former student of Sydney’s Kambala School.

She is hoping to draw attention to how frequently girls experience sexual assault from all-boys’ school students in the city.

In a statement, NSW Police said they addressed the concerns at a meeting with the NSW Department of Education, Association of Independent Schools and Catholic Schools NSW on Friday.

“A commitment was made to establish a statement of intent to address the issue of sexual violence within NSW schools,” NSW Police said.

“Some of the key elements that will be considered during this process include but are not limited to: consent education, protocols on…

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The Stormont Executive has appointed a team of experts who will work in partnership with victims and survivors of mother and baby homes here – to establish terms of reference for a fully independent investigation.

They include academics, human rights experts and a community worker, and will report back to ministers in Northern Ireland within six months on drawing up terms of reference.

The appointments follow the executive’s announcement in January of its intention – to establish a victim centred independent probe – into historical institutions between 1922 and 1990.

More than 10,000 women and girls, from the age of 12, went through the doors of homes run by Catholic orders and Protestant clergy.

A recently published report disclosed claims of inappropriate labour and an ethos of shame at homes for those born out of wedlock.

Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster said: “The many women and children who were victims…

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The Church can never afford to forget how it failed to protect children from sexual abuse, a leading bishop has vowed.

Priests and figures of all levels have been receiving training in how to spot abuse while initiatives have been set up to fund counselling for victims, according to the Bishop of Huddersfield the Rt Rev Jonathan Gibbs.

In an exclusive interview with The Yorkshire Post, Rev Gibbs – who is the country’s leading priest for safeguarding – said the Church was working on “creating a safe space” for victims of historic and recent abuse, but that it “could never afford to be complacent” when it came to its past mistakes.

A damning report published by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) last Autumn revealed how the Anglican Church spent “decades” covering up allegations, preferring to “protect its own reputation” instead of young people.

The Inquiry also heard…

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Hillsong Church’s Global Senior Pastor Brian Houston apologized and accepted responsibility for “failings” that triggered multiple scandals at Hillsong East Coast and presented a raft of “sweeping changes” expected to correct “the issues and misalignment of the culture and practices” of the branch.

“We know that Hillsong East Coast has failed to be the kind of church it should be. On behalf of the Global Board and as Global Senior Pastor, I accept responsibility for these failings and apologize unreservedly,” Houston wrote in a Thursday email to members that was also published on the denomination’s website.

“As the events of last year unfolded, there was a lot we didn’t know. Now, thanks to the courage and honesty of many of you, we have a much clearer understanding of the state of Hillsong East Coast. Thank you to all of you who have enabled us to reach this place,”…

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[Includes audio]

The Fiji Council of Churches says it’s a severe violation and inhumane act for pastors to sexually abuse Church members.

Some pastors are convicted of rape while some are still under investigation and the Fiji Council of Churches President Archbishop, Peter Loy Chong, says this is embarrassing.

Archbishop Chong says they are working with the Pacific Conference of Churches on a policy to help address the issue.

“It pains my heart to hear that young children and little girls and women are abused and it’s embarrassing as a church leader to hear this happen amongst church leaders.”

Archbishop Chong says they hope to prevent this issue from happening again.

“We’ve awakened to this as we have developed our own safeguarding policies to prevent and minimize or almost if we can eradicate this inhumane behaviour in the church.”

The Fiji Council of Churches is calling for a holistic approach…

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Colorado’s Senate has unanimously passed legislation that eliminates a statute of limitations for victims of child sexual assault to file civil lawsuits seeing damages from perpetrators.

Supporters argued the six-year time period currently given victims to pursue claims effectively denied them the chance to seek justice after undergoing years of trauma and possible recovery.

Democratic Sen. Jessie Danielson, who co-sponsored the bill with Republican Sen. Don Coram, noted that 10 other U.S. states have eliminated statutes of limitations for civil suits.

Under current law, survivors must file any civil lawsuit against abusers by the age of 24 — and by age 20 against employers or organizations harboring abusers.

The bill would remove several restrictions on filing damage claims. It also would make persons and organizations that didn’t directly participate in abuse potentially liable.

Tuesday’s 33-0 vote sends the legislation to the House.

Colorado has no statute of limitations for criminal…

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According to financial records of the Archdiocese of Washington, $2,012,639 was designated for “continuing ministry activities for [the] Archbishop Emeritus” during the 2020 fiscal year.

The amount is a 35% increase from the $1,488,059 designated for Wuerl’s ministry in the 2019 fiscal year reports.

According to audited financial statements from the archdiocese, the funds for Wuerl’s continuing ministry were allocated from “net assets without donor restrictions.” That means the money was not given to the archdiocese explicitly for Wuerl’s use, and could have been deployed for other purposes at the discretion of the archdiocese. 

The archdiocesan 2020 financial statement includes an unfunded priest retirement liability of at least $35 million, which has grown from $23.5 million since 2015. 

The statement also includes a 30% drop in funds earmarked for “Archdiocesan charitable giving” in the 2020 fiscal year, which decreased to $401,136, from $651,136 in fiscal year 2019. 

The amount allocated…

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The South Carolina court of appeals has backed up a 2017 lower court ruling that the diocese and the attorneys who sued in a class-action sex-abuse case needn’t answer to victims who weren’t formally included in the lawsuit.

In court filings, anonymous plaintiffs argued that Mount Pleasant attorney Larry Richter had neglected to include them in a class-action lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, effectively barring them from receiving proceeds of the case alongside fellow sex-abuse victims.

The diocese includes churches across the Palmetto State.

Both parties were accused of “shopping” for a judge who would allow a settlement that provided known victims a maximum payout at the expense of out-of-state survivors who hadn’t formally joined the lawsuit.

“We knew all along, in terms of a legal position, that this guy had made one up,” Richter told The Post and Courier. “But it’s a resounding victory, now we’re over…

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Lawmakers looking at two bills on topic, one dealing with statute of limitations and another would hold organizations more accountable

For decades, survivors of childhood sexual abuse and their advocates have urged states to let them hold abusers accountable in civil court, no matter how long it’s been since the abuse. A bipartisan bill in the Colorado Legislature to do just that so far appears to have widespread approval, but it’s not without opposition from the Colorado Catholic Conference — a church embroiled in a sex abuse scandal in Colorado, the U.S. and around the world.

There is no expiration date in Colorado to bring criminal charges against a person accused of child sex abuse, but the statute of limitations to sue an individual is only six years after a victim turns 18. Last year’s effort to change the latter failed.

The renewed push to eliminate the statute of limitations for lawsuits…

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For a decade, advocates have argued commanders should be removed from deciding the fate of those accused of sexual assault in the U.S. military. But military victim advocates now say they too should be removed from the chain of command. Nick Schifrin talks to four military victim advocates about the widespread and longstanding problem of sexual assault in the military, and possible solutions.

Read the Full Transcript

• Judy Woodruff:The Pentagon has named a new commission that has 90 days to recommend solutions to the longstanding and widespread issue of sexual assault in the military. Nick Schifrin speaks to advocates for survivors about some proposed changes.
• Nick Schifrin:When service members report a sexual assault, by law, they’re assigned a victim advocate.And as you will hear from four victim advocates, the new commission must tackle fundamental problems.Over the past decade, the number of reported sexual assaults has doubled from 3,327 in 2010…

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A committee investigating sexual abuse and cover-up committed by Catholic clergy in France speculated that as many as 10,000 children and vulnerable adults may have been abused by priests since 1950, a staggering number that shows the clear need for immediate reform within the French Church.

So far, more than 3,000 victims have testified to the French Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church. Similarly, according to a report released last fall in the UK, there were 3000 instances of child sexual abuse reported to the Catholic Church in that country between 1970-2015. Based on SNAP’s internal analysis, we believe that there are likely as many as 37,000 victims in France and we hope that this initial news will remind those survivors that they are not alone and that there are people who will believe them and support them.

Recent revelations into…

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Yet another victim has come forward to allege that he was the victim of inappropriate sexual contact at the hands of a popular Chicago priest. We hope that this latest accusation will cause parishioners at the cleric’s church to stop their intimidation campaign against the survivors who have come forward and to refrain from trying to influence or expedite the investigation into the alleged abuse.

One of the main reasons that the first two accusers against Fr. Michael Pfleger were dismissed and disbelieved is because they had filed a lawsuit and had previously sought compensation for the trauma they had suffered. This third accuser, however, has said he has no plans to file a claim, so the attacks levied against the first two accusers cannot be used against this man. We hope that rather than consider new ways to discredit this victim, that the supporters of…

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A Juárez Catholic priest convicted of sexually assaulting an altar server girl was sentenced by a Mexican court this week to more than 34 years in prison.

The Rev. Aristeo Trinidad Baca, 76, was found guilty Feb. 22 on charges of rape and aggravated sexual abuse, the Chihuahua attorney general’s office said.

Baca was convicted of sexually abusing a girl who was an altar server while Baca was pastor at Santa María de la Montaña parish near the mountains in southwestern Juárez.

Baca was convicted of sexually assaulting the girl on at least three occasions at the church between 2015 and 2018 starting when the girl was 8 years old.

An investigation began after the girl made an outcry to her family in 2019.

In addition to the prison sentence, Baca was ordered to pay reparations of more than 59,000 pesos (about $2,000 in U.S. dollars) to the victim.

In a statement, Juárez Bishop Jose Guadalupe…

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A Vatican City criminal court heard two days of frequently gruesome testimony last week, in the trial of two clerics: 28-year-old Fr. Gabriele Martinelli and 71-year-old Fr. Enrico Radice. Martinelli, a former student at the St. Pius X minor seminary in the Vatican, is charged with sexual abuse of a junior boy when Martinelli was a senior pupil at the school. Radice is charged with enabling Martinelli – allegedly one of Radice’s favorites – and covering for him.

The criminal trial will turn on questions of fact, and possibly on questions of law: Can prosecutors prove to judges that Martinelli did the things he is alleged to have done, and did Fr. Radice enable the abusive behavior and/or cover for the abuser? If the court finds that Martinelli did the things, were the things he did crimes at Vatican City law when he did them?

It’s crazy to think that an…

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Do you wonder why many Catholics have grown cynical about their bishops?

The Pillar news site reports that this year’s budget for the Archdiocese of Washington includes $2 million for the “continuing ministry” of Cardinal Donald Wuerl— who resigned from active ministry nearly two years ago amid what polite people call questions about his role in the McCarrick scandal.

Two million dollars. $2,000,000.00. That comes out to almost $5,500 every day to support the retired cardinal in doing… what? The archdiocesan budget does not specify what the “continuing ministry” involves.

Sadly, the Washington archdiocese was forced to cut its “archdiocesan charitable giving” by 30% this year, Pillar reports. Charitable giving is allocated just a bit over $400,000, or one-fifth of the Wuerl-maintenance allotment. Which, by the way, is up 35% from the previous fiscal year.

Another new Catholic-news source, Exaudi, boasts an exclusive interview with Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, who…

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Harvard University and the Vatican organize a public, interfaith symposium to address the health and spiritual wellbeing of victims of childhood sexual abuse

The Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science, in partnership with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, will convene public health professionals, religious leaders, and abuse survivors from across the world for a free, public, interfaith symposium to improve the health and spiritual wellbeing of victims of childhood sexual abuse, trafficking, and exploitation.

“Informed care is essential to healing for those who experienced child sexual abuse, otherwise we run the risk of doing more harm than good.” – Jennifer Wortham, Dr.PH

“From a public health perspective, religious leaders are increasingly seen as a powerful force for shaping behaviors and perceptions,” said Jennifer Wortham, Research Associate at the Human Flourishing Program, and Executive Director of the Initiative on Health, Religion, and Spirituality,…

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