ABUSE TRACKER

WASHINGTON (DC)
Channel 4 News

May 11, 2019

By Christina Bravo and Melissa Adan

A San Diego woman who says she was abused by a clergy member as a girl is urging other local sexual abuse victims to file reports with the state so religious leaders may be held accountable.

Cynthia Ann Doe is speaking out for the first time about what she says Monsignor Gregory Sheridan did to her when she was five years old and a parishoner at St. Jude’s Shrine of the West in the 60s.

Sheridan was named last November by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego among a list of more than 50 abusive priests in San Diego and San Bernardino of whom the diocese said it had received a credible allegation involving sexual abuse of a minor.

During a press conference outside the church’s doors, Doe did not publicly detail the priest’s acts but urged other victims to come forward so that Sheridan and the Diocese of San Diego could be investigated by the California Attorney General’s office.

“Release yourself from the burden of the anger and the shame of what happened to you as an innocent child, it is not your fault and it is not too late,” Doe said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Patheos blog
May 10, 2019

By Michael Stone

Moral failure: Pope Francis issues new church law that sexual abuse must be reported to church officials, but not the police, not the state, not the secular authorities.

The BBC reports:

Pope Francis has made it mandatory for Roman Catholic clergy to report cases of clerical sexual abuse and cover-ups to the Church.

Many in the mainstream media are praising the new law as “groundbreaking.” And to be fair, it is a slight improvement. Previously church officials were not mandated to report sexual abuse, or suspected sexual abuse, to anyone. The new church law changes that. The BBC notes:

For the first time, clerics and other Church officials will be obliged to disclose any allegations they may have heard. Previously, this had been left to each individual’s discretion.

Yet the new law mandates that reports be made to church superiors, not the police, not the state, not the secular authorities. Reporting on the story The Guardian notes:

However, the church law does not require police to be notified. The Vatican has said that different countries’ legal systems make a universal reporting law impossible, and that imposing one could endanger the church in places where Catholics are a persecuted minority.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

GUAM
Pacific News Center

May 13, 2019

By Jolene Toves

An individual filed a complaint at the Superior Court of Guam, adding another case to the list of sexual abuse lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Agana.

Wishing to remain anonymous, the victim identified by the initials Z.S. had served as an altar boy at the Church of St. Jude in Sinajana since he was about seven years old.

When the victim reached the age of 15, he said Father David Anderson allegedly began touching, snuggling and groping him when he slept overnight in the convent.

According to the complaint, Father David would touch the victim inappropriately and would lay on top of the victim while he slept. The priest allegedly rubbed his genitals on the victim’s body causing “great shame and embarrassment to Z.S.

While he told his parents about what Father Anderson did to him, they did not believe him. He said the sexual abuse continued until he stopped serving as an altar boy.

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CHARLOTTE (NC)
WBTV

May 13, 2019

Peter J. Jugis, the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, announced on Monday that the Diocese welcomed new procedures for handling child sexual abuse cases recommended last week by Pope Francis.

These new procedures include new approaches to handling investigations and protecting the victims and whistleblowers involved in these situations.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

ROME
Crux

May 13, 2019

By John L. Allen Jr.

It’s now been almost a year since the latest wave of the clerical sexual abuse scandals in Catholicism erupted with news that the Vatican had removed then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick from ministry following allegations deemed credible by a review board in the Archdiocese of New York.

How bad have things become over that year?

Well, one measure is this: Arguably the most prominent Catholic bishop in America, and by consensus the most talented natural communicator and evangelist among the current crop of U.S. prelates, felt compelled to bring out a new book today in which he urges, almost begs, rank-and-file Catholics not to just walk away.

“I have written this book for my fellow Catholics who feel, understandably, demoralized, scandalized, angry beyond words, and ready to quit,” writes Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles, known to millions of Catholics in America and around the world through his Word on Fire ministry and his “Catholicism” TV series.

“What I finally urge my brothers and sisters in the Church to do is to stay and fight-and to do so on behalf of themselves and their families, but especially on behalf of those who have suffered so grievously at the hands of wicked men,” Barron writes.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

WARSAW (POLAND)
The Associated Press

May 13, 2019

A new documentary revealing cases of sexual abuse by priests has deeply shaken Poland, one of Europe’s most Roman Catholic societies, eliciting an apology from the church hierarchy and prompting one cleric to leave priestly life.

“Tell No One,” a film financed through a crowdfunding campaign, was released on YouTube on Saturday. By Monday, the documentary had more than 8 million views.

It triggered soul searching in a country where there is no higher authority than the Catholic Church and its clergy.

“Why do priests commit such crimes? Why did the bishops not react as they should? Why, for years, did a conspiracy of silence prevail among the clergy?” journalist Andrzej Gajcy asked Monday on the news site Onet, voicing some of the uncomfortable questions confronting many Poles.

The primate of Poland has thanked the brothers who made the film, Tomasz and Marek Sekielski, for their “courage.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
County Gazette

May 13, 2019

By Phil Hill

PRINCE Charles was “deceived” into supporting a paedophile bishop, it is claimed.

Peter Ball, who retired to Aller, near Langport, and is now in is late 80s, may have preyed on more than 100 boys and young men over decades.

A report concludes that the Church of England responded with “secrecy” to child abuse allegations against Ball, who was Bishop of Lewes, East Sussex, from 1977 to 1992 and Bishop of Gloucester in 1992.

He then resigned through ill health after accepting a caution – an admission of guilt – for one count of gross indecency.

The Prince of Wales was described as “misguided” for speaking in support of Ball to the Archbishop of Canterbury, while the Duchy of Cornwall was criticised for buying a property to rent to the disgraced priest.

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VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

May 12, 2019

By Frances D’Emilio

Pope Francis has given the church 19 new priests, ordaining the men in an elaborate ceremony Sunday in St. Peter’s Basilica, as the credibility of the Vatican and many of its clergy is threatened by widespread scandals of pedophile priests and systematic efforts at cover-ups.

Fifteen of the seminarians ordained by Francis are Italian; the others are from Croatia, Peru, Haiti and Japan. The seminarians’ ages range from mid-20s to 46.

Wearing white robes, the seminarians stood in three rows before the central altar after replying, “Here I am,” as their names were called one by one. Francis, reciting a ritual formula, asked if they were worthy to become priests. Later in the ceremony, the seminarians prostrated themselves in a sign of obedience to church authority and to God, on a carpet in front of the altar.

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ROME
Crux

May 12, 2019

By John L. Allen Jr.

Now that the dust has settled a bit on Vos Estis Lux Mundi, a new set of papal norms governing both reporting and investigation into accusations of clerical sexual abuse and its cover-up released by the Vatican on Thursday, the overall reaction seems reasonably clear.

For most people, it can be expressed this way: So far as they go, these rules seem promising, but we need to see them applied in practice – because experience has shown that in the Catholic Church, as in virtually any other context, a law’s only as important as the will to enforce it.

Since that’s an “only time will tell” situation, here are three other quick thoughts on Vos Estis to chew on while the jury remains out.

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SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Crux

May 13, 2019

By Inés San Martín

Though arguably it’s not easy being a Catholic bishop anywhere in the world these days, few prelates probably have ever stepped into an inferno quite the way Bishop Celestino Aós Braco of Chile did in March.

Since 2014, Aós had been serving as the bishop of Copiapó, a relatively sleepy diocese in the northern part of the country. Two months ago, however, Francis tapped him to become the apostolic administrator of Santiago, the national capital, which has been ripped apart by clerical abuse scandals and accusations of inaction against the last two archbishops, Cardinals Francisco Errázuriz and Ricardo Ezzati.

Aós, a 74-year-old Capuchin, hasn’t been on the job long, and there’s no guarantee he’ll keep it – as apostolic administrator, in theory he’s only keeping the seat warm until a new archbishop is named.

He may have few of the benefits of the post, but he certainly has all its headaches. Early on, critics pounced on his record as the Promoter of Justice in the Diocese of Valparaíso, Chile, where in 2007 he found “implausible” a complaint of sexual abuse made by a former seminarian against a former rector of a seminary now regarded as having been one of the epicenters of Chile’s abuse crisis.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

HARRISBURG (PA)
CBS 21 News

May 12, 2019

Monday is the last day for sex abuse survivors to file any claims for a victim compensation fund through the Harrisburg Diocese.

The fund was launched back in February. It gave survivors four months to file any claims.

The church has put aside millions of dollars for victims who want a settlement.

Monday is the last day any victim who was involved with the diocese can make a claim.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

[Three priests investigated for sexual abuse in Michoacán]

MEXICO
Informador.Mx

May 9, 2019

Autoridades eclesiásticas señalan que se le da seguimiento puntual a estos casos, y prometen tolerancia cero

El arzobispo de Morelia, Carlos Garfias Merlos, señaló que en Michoacán se investigan tres casos de presunto abuso de sacerdotes a niñas.

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CAPE TOWN
Eyewitness News

May 13, 2019

By Monique Mortlock

The father of a girl who was harassed by a church elder says the Seventh Day Adventist Church in George failed to adhere to church policy on reporting sexual abuse cases.

A George man said he was dissatisfied with a response by his church following a South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) complaint over the handling of a sexual assault matter involving his child.

The father said he’d lost trust in the church’s leadership and opened a civil case against the institution.

He claimed the Seventh Day Adventist Church in George failed to adhere to church policy on reporting sexual abuse cases after his daughter and another young girl were harassed by a church elder a few years ago.

“They basically said the pastor reported the case, but they’ve never supplied a case number to verify that the pastor did report the case,” the father said.

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ROSARIO (ARGENTINA)
Crux

May 12, 2019

By Inés San Martín

A group of Argentine bishops currently in Rome to meet their countryman Pope Francis have acknowledged that “abuses of power as well as sexual abuses” have caused distrust in the Church, but also expressed concern over what they called the “continuous attacks on the pope” associated with the abuse crisis.

The bishops also said that the terms of a national debate over the legalization of abortion “did us Argentines a lot of wrong,” expressing surprise at the level of anger they encountered.

The words belong to Bishop Oscar Ojea, president of the Argentine bishops’ conference, and they were expressed in a letter the bishops of the Buenos Aires region gave to Francis on Friday during their ad limina visit to Rome.

Ojea wrote that with the passing of the years, it’s become evident to the bishops that they still have a “long way to go” to be able to live up to the responsibility of being a conference to which the pope once belonged, and which he once led.

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[Victims of abusive priests protest in front of clergy home in Flores]

ARGENTINA
TN

May 2, 2019

By Miriam Lewin

Son parte de una organización mundial. Denunciaron a los obispos argentinos que protegieron a curas pedófilos en sus diócesis.

La elección del lugar para dar una conferencia de prensa en plena calle es simbólica. Por eso, Ending Clergy Abuse, la ONG que busca terminar con el abuso del clero (de ahí su nombre), la eligió para enunciar un desafío al Papa Francisco junto a otros sobrevivientes de lo que el pontífice llamó” flagelo”.

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VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

May 10, 2019

By Nicole Winfield

Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking new church law Thursday requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups by their superiors to church authorities, in a new effort to hold the Catholic hierarchy accountable for failing to protect their flocks.

The law provides whistleblower protections for anyone making a report and requires all dioceses to have a system in place to receive the claims confidentially. And it outlines internal procedures for conducting preliminary investigations when the accused is a bishop, cardinal or religious superior.

Abuse victims and their advocates said the law was a step forward, but not enough since it doesn’t require the crimes to be reported to police and essentially tasks discredited bishops who have mishandled abuse for decades with policing their own.

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ROME
The Atlantic

May 12, 2019

By Emma Green

The leader of the Catholic Church has issued rules creating worldwide accountability for reporting allegations of abuse. But he still faces deep cynicism from the body faithful.

Before this week, the Roman Catholic Church had no global policy requiring priests and bishops to report and investigate allegations of sexual abuse. No formal measure held bishops accountable for misconduct and cover-ups, despite a number of high-profile, horrific cases of wrongdoing by the Church’s top leaders. With story after story exposing new abuses around the world, Catholics have grown cynical about the Vatican’s willingness to face the global sickness of sexual abuse, and many have abandoned the Church entirely.

On Thursday, Pope Francis took a significant step toward changing that.

The pope’s moto proprio, which will take effect in June and remain in place as an experiment for three years, is a definitive and concrete step forward for the Church, demonstrating that Pope Francis is taking sexual abuse seriously. The new law is not a panacea, however: It does not detail specific punishments for Church leaders who violate these norms, and it does not mandate the involvement of authorities outside the Church. After years of paralysis on this issue, the Church must grapple with the crisis of confidence among the faithful, along with skeptics who believe the Catholic Church is not capable of policing itself against abuses of power.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

SAN DIEGO (CA)
NBC Bay Area

May 10, 2019

By Christina Bravo and Melissa Adan

The Priest was named last November by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego among a list of more than 50 abusive priests in San Diego and San Bernardino of whom the diocese said it had received a credible allegation involving sexual abuse of a minor

A San Diego woman who says she was abused by a clergy member as a girl is urging other local sexual abuse victims to file reports with the state so religious leaders may be held accountable.

Cynthia Ann Doe is speaking out for the first time about what she says Monsignor Gregory Sheridan did to her when she was five years old and a parishoner at St. Jude’s Shrine of the West in the 60s.

Sheridan was named last November by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego among a list of more than 50 abusive priests in San Diego and San Bernardino of whom the diocese said it had received a credible allegation involving sexual abuse of a minor.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

[New cases of sexual abuse shake Catholic Church – VIDEO]

CHILE
TVN

May 8, 2019

Conocimos la historia de Mario Montenegro, quien asegura haber sido abusado por un sacerdote en el Colegio Calasanz cuando él era un niño. Además, Isaac Givovich relató que fue violado en un colegio de los hermanos maristas cuando pequeño y que hasta el día de hoy ha afectado su vida.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

[How the Pope’s new rules affect Chile: priest do not have to report abuse to prosecutors]

CHILE
La Tercera

May 9, 2019

By María José Navarrete

El escrito tipica y penaliza canónicamente, por primera vez, los actos de encubrimiento, da un plazo de 90 días para las investigaciones y ja cómo abordar denuncias contra obispos.

“Los delitos de abuso sexual ofenden a nuestro Señor, causan daños físicos, psicológicos y espirituales a las víctimas, y perjudican a la comunidad”. Así comienza el documento, en forma de motu proprio, que hoy dio a conocer el Papa Francisco y que establece nuevas normas para enfrentar los casos de abusos en la Iglesia Católica.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

[Priest accused of harassing 5 students during confessions]

ARGENTINA
TN

May 9, 2019

Las víctimas tienen entre 12 y 15 años y asisten a un colegio de Dock Sud.

Un inesperado escándalo por acoso sexual estalló en el colegio Sagrado Corazón de Dock Sud. El acusado es un cura de unos 60 años que se habría amparado en la intimidad del momento de la confesión para abusar de por lo menos cinco alumnos. Una estudiante de 12 años fue la que sacó a la luz la conducta del religioso. Según su relato, estaba en plena clase cuando la llamaron para confesarse, aunque ella no lo había pedido. “Se sentó al lado de él y el hombre le tomó las manos, acercó su silla y comenzó a acariciarle las piernas. Las caricias no paraban, el cura le apretó las rodillas y comenzó a decirle que era muy linda y hermosa”, contó Mónica, su mamá, a Crónica.

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[The crisis of the Spanish Church has only just begun]

SPAIN
El País

May 12, 2019

By Frédéric Martel

Con el encubrimiento de los abusos y la negación de la sexualidad de los curas, la institución no va a encontrar nuevas vocaciones

La Iglesia católica española ha entrado en un final de ciclo, como ocurre en otros países. Ante la crisis de vocaciones, la Conferencia Episcopal ha lanzado una campaña que pretende atraer a futuros sacerdotes. Por su parte, el papa Francisco ha anunciado un endurecimiento de las normas a aplicar en caso de abusos sexuales, y a partir de ahora los sacerdotes y obispos de todo el mundo tendrán que ser más duros en su denuncia de los culpables. Son dos medidas que encajan en un mismo marco. Y ambas están condenadas de antemano a fracasar debido a que parten de un error inicial en su análisis de los problemas.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

May 13, 2019

By Haidee V. Eugenio

The Archdiocese of Agana is seeking more time to present its reorganization plan under the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, after all clergy sex abuse claims are filed by Aug. 15 and mediation is completed to settle those claims.

At the same time, the archdiocese revised its proposed sale price for the former Accion Hotel from the initial $5.4 million to $5.35 million.

Sale proceeds from the former hotel and seminary in Yona, as well as other property, will go toward paying more than 200 Guam clergy sex abuse claims against the archdiocese.

Archdiocese attorneys asked the federal bankruptcy court to give the church until Sept. 16 to file a plan for reorganization and disclosure statement, and until Nov. 18 to obtain acceptance of the plan.

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POLAND
Crux

May 11, 2019

By Paulina Guzik

When a 39-year-old Polish woman confronted the Catholic priest who she said sexually abused her, using a hidden camera, her first question was: “You destroyed my life … do you know that?”

That moment is also the opening scene of “Just Don’t Tell Anyone,” a 2-hour Polish documentary just released online.

“I just knew there were other victims, I knew it!”, says the traumatized victim after meeting the priest who abused her. She never reported the crime to anyone, instead keeping the secret for 32 years as the priest had asked her to do.

The documentary’s director, Tomasz Sekielski, depicts what is rarely seen in the media – victims confronting their predators. The result is a powerful portrait of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Poland, following the model laid out by Pope Francis – focusing on the victims, their wounds and their pain.

Stirring people up is precisely what the director wants.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Catholic New York

May 10, 2019

New papal norms on preventing clergy sexual abuse are “a blessing that will empower the Church everywhere to bring predators to justice, no matter what rank they hold in the Church,” said Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The new juridical instrument “calls for the establishment of easily accessible reporting systems, clear standards for the pastoral support of victims and their families, timeliness and thoroughness of investigations, whistleblower protection for those making allegations, and active involvement of the laity,” Cardinal DiNardo said May 9.

The new document, given “motu proprio,” on the pope’s own initiative, was titled “Vos estis lux mundi” (“You are the light of the world”). Cardinal DiNardo praised it for leaving latitude for national bishops’ conferences, such as the USCCB, to specify still more to account for their local circumstances.

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[“It was necessary to react:” echoes of Abbott’s decision to move clergy abuse cases from O’Higgins prosecutor’s office]

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Emol

May 10, 2019

By Tomás Molina J.

El jefe del Ministerio Público determinó derivar las investigaciones referentes a los abusos en la Iglesia y listas de espera -lideradas por Emiliano Arias- a Santiago.

Fue ayer, tras su regreso anticipado de Colombia por los problemas que están aquejando al Ministerio Público, que el fiscal Nacional, Jorge Abbott, llevó a cabo una intervención inédita en una región: sacó las investigaciones por abusos en la Iglesia y por las lista de espera de la fiscalía de O’Higgins, derivándolas a Santiago.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic News Service

May 12, 2019

By Matthew Gambino

The clergy sex abuse crisis that engulfed the U.S. Church – and has since spread globally – requires understanding it as context for what is happening in the Church and society, according to journalist Peter Steinfels.

The global nature of the crisis means each new instance of abuse in any country becomes part of a single narrative for the Catholic Church everywhere – unlike any other institution, said Steinfels in an April 25 talk at Villanova University’s law school.

In the United States, the case of the disgraced former cardinal and now-defrocked Theodore McCarrick has intensified long-simmering divisions of conservative and liberal factions in the Church, each offering their own agendas for reform, said Steinfels, a former New York Times reporter, retired editor of Commonweal magazine and a retired professor at Fordham University in New York.

The crisis has also become part of “a civil war over the papacy of Pope Francis,” Steinfels said.

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TWIN CITIES (MN)
The Catholic Spirit

May 10, 2019

By Maria Wiering

Archbishop Bernard Hebda praised Pope Francis’ May 9 legislation on clergy sex abuse, saying the pope’s actions “reflect the urgent need to take concrete steps and provide clear direction for reporting and investigating allegations of sexual abuse of minors and adults by all clergy, including bishops.”

“This scourge of abusive acts — and the lack of clear procedures to respond effectively to them — as well as the failure of some bishops and other Church leaders to respond appropriately to reports of abuse, has profoundly harmed far too many,” Archbishop Hebda said in a May 9 statement. “Inadequate responses in the past, moreover, have also weakened the credibility of the Church as she strives to give witness to the good news of Jesus.”

Pope Francis released the legislation, known in canon law as a “motu proprio,” to address clergy sexual abuse in the Church worldwide. The document, titled “Vox estis lux mundi,” or “You Are the Light of the World,” followed an international meeting of bishops in Rome in February to address clergy sexual abuse.

Although the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops began to address clergy sexual abuse in the 1980s, it enacted the first binding national policies on it in 2002, following the Boston Globe’s investigation of the issue in the Archdiocese of Boston. That year, the U.S. bishops released “The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” and the corresponding “Essential Norms,” often together referred to as the Dallas Charter, which established procedures for preventing and reporting sexual abuse in U.S. Catholic dioceses.

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ROCHESTER (NY)
WXXI/WSKG News

May 10, 2019

Pope Francis issued new church regulations this week that will change the way that the Catholic Church handles sexual abuse claims internally. The papal law has many requirements including mandating all church leaders to report sex abuse and cover-ups to other church leaders. It also requires the adoption of a new anonymous reporting system to be available at all dioceses.

Tim Thibodeau is a professor of history at Nazareth College. He studies the Catholic Church in depth. His reading of the document said that civil and criminal laws apply once the instances are reported to church leadership.

“As far as the investigation of a credible claim, I do think this has some teeth, but in the end this is not the criminal justice system. You’re not talking about going to the DA’s office. You’re going to a bishop’s office or archbishop’s office,” said Thibodeau. “I think it’s a remarkable document in the sense that it’s been four years in the making. And I think it’s been a long awaited and much needed solution to a huge problem.”

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POLAND
Emerging Europe

May 13, 2019

Father Franciszek Cybula, the former chaplain of president Lech Wałęsa, and Father Eugieniusz M, the custodian of the Shrine of our Lady of Sorrows and of the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń, are among a number of priests who molested children, according to Just Don’t Tell Anyone, a documentary by Tomasz Sekielski.

“He told me to come to his room, and when I got there, he was standing there with his trousers down and with an erected penis. He said ‘what should I do? It won’t go down,” says a young man who was 12 at the time and now, as an adult pays, a visit to the old priest.

“This didn’t exceed any boundaries… there was no ejaculation. There was a moment of petting,” Father Cybula admits. He later suggests financial compensation. The 79-year-old priest, who was Wałęsa’s confessor back in the 1980s, dies while the documentary is being produced. During his funeral the Metropolitan Archbishop of Gdańsk Sławoj Leszek Głódź delivers a sermon remembering Father’s Cybula’s good deeds.

“I reported the case to the Curia, so Głódź must have known about it and yet he didn’t even mention it,” the victim says.

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CINCINNATI (OH)
WCPO

May 13, 2019

By Corey Rangel

Becky Ianni is still haunted by years of sexual abuse that happened at the hands of her priest when she was a young child.

“I had buried my head, because he told me I’d go to Hell if I told on him,” Ianni said about the priest. “This was my darkest secret.”

After coming forward, it took a year-and-a-half for church leaders to agree to a settlement, she said.

Last week, Pope Francis issued a new church law that requires all Catholic priests and nuns to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups to church authorities. Churches have until mid-2020 to comply with setting up a reporting system.

The new law does not require them to report to police, as victims such as Becky have demanded. Previously, such reporting was left up to the conscience of individual priests and nuns.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

CANADA
Montreal Gazette

May 13, 2019

By Andy Riga

Thirteen years later, the “reasonable accommodation” debate about religion’s place in Quebec society rages on.

As the debate continues over Premier François Legault’s proposed religious symbols ban, the Montreal Gazette is publishing a timeline that looks at the history of religion and religious controversies in Quebec, and how the perception of religions has changed over time.

The chronology is in two parts.

The first instalment, published Saturday, focused on the period from before the French colonization of Quebec to the early 2000s.

Today’s second part examines more recent history, starting in 2006, when “reasonable accommodations” suddenly became an issue in the news media, sparking a debate that continues to make headlines 13 years later.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

TRENTON (NJ)
Anderson Advocates

May 13, 2019

Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors Given More Time to Seek Justice, Healing
Two-Year Window Allows Survivors of Any Age to File Lawsuits

(Trenton, NJ) – New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy today signed historic legislation that gives child sexual abuse survivors more time to seek justice and healing.

“This is a great day for survivors and New Jersey,” said attorney Greg Gianforcaro of Gianforcaro Law in Phillipsburg, NJ, who represents childhood sexual abuse survivors. “We thank Sen. Joseph Vitale and the other New Jersey state legislators who have supported survivors of sexual abuse and worked hard for decades to make this happen.”

Under the new law, which goes into effect December 1, 2019 in New Jersey, child sexual abuse survivors will be able to file sexual abuse lawsuits until age 55, or seven years from the date they discover the cause of their injuries, whichever is later. And there will be a two-year window for child sexual abuse victims of any age to bring lawsuits for sexual abuse in cases that were previously barred by the statute of limitations.

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PHOENIX(AZ)
Arizona Republic

May 13, 2019

By Laurie Roberts

Opinion: When it comes to childhood victims of sexual assault wanting to sue their attackers, Arizona is one of the most generous states – for the child rapists, that is.

It doesn’t seem as if Sen. Paul Boyer is asking for much.

He wants to give victims who were sexually assaulted as children more time to hold their rapists accountable. More time to do what they can to ensure that other children, today’s children, are protected.

Only in Arizona would such a thing be controversial.

Controversial enough, in fact, that Senate President Karen Fann refuses to put the bill up for a vote.

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WHEELING (WV)
The Weirton Daily Times

May 12, 2019

By Joselyn King

The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston has filed a motion to dismiss a sexual harassment suit against former Bishop Michael Bransfield.

The civil court action filed Thursday in Ohio County Circuit Court denies accusations set forth in a complaint filed March 22 by a former altar server and secretary to Bransfield, identified only as “J.E.” in court documents. The plaintiff alleges he was sexually assaulted by Bransfield in 2014 and was a victim of sexual harassment by him for years prior to that.

The motion filed Thursday by the Diocese asks that all counts be dropped, in that the statute for all tort claims under state law is two years. The diocese also denies most of the complaint’s allegations in its request for dismissal.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

May 13, 2019

By Susan K. Livio

Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday signed a law sought by victims in the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal for two decades that will grant them greater freedom in New Jersey to sue their abusers and the nonprofits employers.

In his signing statement, Murphy acknowledged the legislation was the subject of a lengthy and emotional battle between victims and religious leaders.

“I recognize that this issue has evoked strong passions on both sides, as supporters of the bill rightly note that it greatly increases the ability of victims of sexual abuse to pursue justice through the court system,” Murphy said in his statement.

“Opponents argue that by exposing religious and nonprofit organizations to potentially massive financial liabilities, the bill may have the unintended effect of inhibiting these organizations from providing the services that many vulnerable New Jerseyans rely on,” the Democratic governor added.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
NBC San Diego

May 10, 2019

By Christina Bravo and Melissa Adan

The Priest was named last November by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego among a list of more than 50 abusive priests in San Diego and San Bernardino of whom the diocese said it had received a credible allegation involving sexual abuse of a minor

A San Diego woman who says she was abused by a clergy member as a girl is urging other local sexual abuse victims to file reports with the state so religious leaders may be held accountable.

Cynthia Ann Doe is speaking out for the first time about what she says Monsignor Gregory Sheridan did to her when she was five years old and a parishoner at St. Jude’s Shrine of the West in the 60s.

Sheridan was named last November by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego among a list of more than 50 abusive priests in San Diego and San Bernardino of whom the diocese said it had received a credible allegation involving sexual abuse of a minor.

During a press conference outside the church’s doors, Doe did not publicly detail the priest’s acts but urged other victims to come forward so that Sheridan and the Diocese of San Diego could be investigated by the California Attorney General’s office.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Washington Post

May 12, 2019

By Marisa Iati

He was a 24-year-old seminarian from a blue-collar family. She was an idealistic 19-year-old psychology student. He wanted to teach. She wanted to be a missionary. They hung out at the Rathskeller, a now-defunct bar at Mount St. Mary’s College, to drink draft beer and eat soft pretzels.

When Theresa Engelhardt became pregnant with their son 15 years later, she ended her relationship with the Rev. Robert Dreisbach for the seventh — or was it the eighth? — and final time.

During the years that followed, the Diocese of Allentown in Pennsylvania offered her regular child-support payments, she said, in exchange for her silence and a promise that neither she nor her son, John, would contact Dreisbach.

Now 62, Engelhardt said she has a different perspective on her relationship with Dreisbach than she did as a love-struck student. Although she realizes that she was an adult who made her own decisions in the relationship, she says Dreisbach emotionally abused her by pressuring her to stay silent about their relationship to protect his career. And Engelhardt feels even more abused by the church, which she said treated her as unworthy when she became pregnant.

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WARSAW (POLAND)
Reuters

May 13, 2019

Polish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa has urged the Catholic Church to prevent further sexual abuse of children by members of its clergy after a new documentary film showed his priest to be one of the accused.

The film “Just don’t tell anyone”, which shows people confronting priests with accusations that they abused them as children, has attracted nearly 7 million views since it was posted on YouTube on Saturday. It presents allegations that known pedophiles were shifted between parishes.

One of the clergymen featured was Franciszek Cybula, who served as Walesa’s priest for 15 years – from 1980 when he co-founded the trade union Solidarnosc which helped bring about the fall of Communism, through to his becoming Poland’s first democratically elected president in 1990 and until his term ended in 1995.

“It is sad for me that I found out that my chaplain, my confessor, was behaving so badly,” Walesa was quoted as saying by Polska The Times daily on Monday.

Poland is one of Europe’s most devout countries and Catholic priests enjoy a high level of social prestige. Nearly 85 percent of Poland’s 38 million-strong population identify as Roman Catholics and around 12 million attend mass every Sunday.

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CALIFORNIA
The Mercury News

May 13, 2019

By John Woolfolk

California dioceses could face new legal woes but abuse may fall outside statute of limitations

The California Attorney General’s recent inquiry into how the state’s Roman Catholic dioceses complied with laws requiring them to report child sex abuse threatens new legal woes for a church still struggling to confront its sex abuse scandal.

But experts warn, if Pennsylvania’s groundbreaking grand jury report on church abuse is any guide, new revelations from the California probe may be too old to bring criminal charges.

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NEW JERSEY
NBC Philadelphia

May 13, 2019

By Mike Catalini

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Monday to ease restrictions on when childhood sexual abuse victims can seek damages in court.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Monday to ease restrictions on when childhood sexual abuse victims can seek damages in court, an action that comes after a wave of details last year about the abuse of minors in the Roman Catholic Church.

Murphy said in a statement that he recognized opponents’ worries that the expanded statute, which allows victims to sue institutions, will expose organizations to financial liability. But that is outweighed by concern over victims, the first-term Democrat said.

“I cannot deny victims the ability to seek redress in court for sexual abuse that often leaves trauma lasting a lifetime,” he said in a statement accompanying his signature.

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WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer

May 11, 2019

By Joselyn King

The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston has filed a motion to dismiss a sexual harassment suit against former Bishop Michael Bransfield.

The civil court action filed Thursday in Ohio County Circuit Court denies accusations set forth in a complaint filed March 22 by a former altar server and secretary to Bransfield, identified only as “J.E.” in court documents. The plaintiff alleges he was sexually assaulted by Bransfield in 2014 and was a victim of sexual harassment by him for years prior to that.

The motion filed Thursday by the Diocese asks that all counts be dropped, in that the statute for all tort claims under state law is two years. The diocese also denies most of the complaint’s allegations in its request for dismissal.

“(The) plaintiff had two years from May 2014 to file his complaint,” states the motion, filed on behalf of the Diocese by attorney James Gardill of Wheeling. “Plaintiff did not file his complaint until March 22, 2019 nearly five years after the alleged event.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Post-Gazette

May 13, 2019

By Peter Smith

A priest with the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has been placed on administrative leave while the church investigates accusations of “inappropriate contact with adult women,” according to a letter by Bishop David A. Zubik to parishioners.

The letter, dated May 4, was distributed this weekend in the bulletins to the congregations of Saint Ferdinand in Cranberry, Saint Gregory in Zelienople and Holy Redeemer in Ellwood City.

In it, Bishop Zubik said the church is investigating accusations made against the Rev. James Young. The removal is not an implication of guilt, Bishop Zubik said, but will “safeguard the course of justice while preserving the rights of everyone involved.”

While on leave, Father Young is “not allowed to engage in public ministry at your parish or any place else. He cannot administer the sacraments, dress in clerical attire or identify himself as a priest,” Bishop Zubik wrote to parishioners.

Those restrictions will become permanent if the church finds that Father Young “did what he is

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NEW JERSEY
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

May 11, 2019

By Susan K. Livio

Gov. Phil Murphy will sign the broadest law in the nation Monday that will vastly expand the amount of time victims of sexual assault will be allowed to bring a lawsuit against predators and the nonprofit organizations that employed them.

Murphy has hinted he generally supports expanding New Jersey’s two-year statute of limitations for civil lawsuits, but had not said affirmatively he would sign the bill the state Legislature approved in March.

State Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, the bill’s prime sponsor, said he received confirmation Murphy was signing the bill on Monday, the last day he had to act before the law took effect automatically.

When Vitale said he learned there would be no signing ceremony, as major pieces of legislation often receive, he decided to host his own event on Monday afternoon.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KTVI – St. Louis

May 10, 2019

An alleged abuser and his victim met face to face after 45 years. The former SLU High School student`s journey started with a message from the Catholic Church.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

May 13, 2019

By Peter Feuerherd

David Spotanski wrote the kind of candid memo to his boss in February 2002 that some underlings compose, think better of, and then delete.

It was no ordinary missive from a chancery bureaucrat. The then-vice chancellor for the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois, felt the memo was so important that he went to then-Bishop Wilton Gregory’s house and personally read it aloud. The memo reflected rage, frustration and disgust about sex abuse in the church. In shockingly undiplomatic language, it didn’t mince words.

“Too many nights I wake up and wonder if an institution that can be this insensitive to the physical, spiritual and emotional wellbeing of its most precious members — its very future — is even worthy of my three children’s innocent faith,” wrote Spotanski.

Spotanski continued, stating he wanted “to share clearly with the President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops a perception to which he cannot relate. I can speak as a parent.”

He urged his boss to push for reforms that would require bishops to be fully transparent on sex abusers and to dismiss offenders. In particular, he wanted Gregory to push back hard on foot draggers among his fellow bishops.

At the time, then Boston Cardinal Bernard Law was coming under fire for revelations exposed by the Boston Globe for allowing abusive priests to continue in ministry. In the memo, Spotanski said, “Wilton, it could have been my eleven-year-old Jonathan those bastards sodomized under Law’s watchful eye.”

Some bishops and church leaders were putting the blame on the media for sensationalizing cases in Boston and other dioceses. Spotanski would have none of it.

“I personally don’t want the media to back off until I’m confident there are no more dirty little secrets buried amidst the Mysteries of our Faith,” he wrote.

After Spotanski shared the note with friends and coworkers, the memo went viral. Some who read it considered it a miracle that Spotanski wasn’t fired on the spot.

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimmage blog

May 8, 2019

By William Lindsey

The emeritus pope recently published a statement about the abuse horror show in the Catholic church which makes absolutely no mention at all of the roots of this horror show in clericalism, and which takes no responsibility, on the part of the clerical governing sector of the church, for this horror show and the cover-up of clerical abuse for years. The emeritus pope’s statements blaming the Catholic abuse horrors on the 1960s, not clericalism, were followed by a statement by the emeritus prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Müller, affirming the emeritus pope’s analysis and suggesting that the clericalism explanation of the abuse situation in the church is “ideological.”

Here’s a recent statement by one of the people who knows more than anyone else about the Catholic abuse story, Thomas Doyle. This is the opening part of an essay entitled “The Sexual Abuse Crisis is Not a Crisis” that I’d like to recommend to you in its entirety:

The clerical leadership of the Catholic church has been aware of sexual violation of minors and vulnerable adults for centuries. This tragic reality is a critical problem, even though it has been buried in secrecy. The secrecy ended in the mid-80s, when the media exposed the church’s cover-up of a prolific priest-perpetrator in Louisiana. Often referred to as a “crisis,” it is, in truth, not a crisis. It is something much worse. It is a worldwide manifestation of a complex, systemic and self-destructive condition in the church. It is giving us a view of today’s version of the Dark Side of the institutional church.

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DUNEDIN (NEW ZEALAND)
Otego Times

May 11, 2019

By Chris Morris

Russell Butler is in a race against time.

The 63-year-old South Dunedin resident and practising Catholic has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and recently received the Last Rites from a priest.

Now he spends his days in his small Melbourne St flat, surrounded by medication and family photos, facing the inevitable.

But, before he dies, Mr Butler has a story he wants to tell.

He wants people to know about the savage beating he says he received as a 10-year-old boy at the hands of a nun from the Sisters of Mercy.

And he wants his story put on record by the pending Royal Commission of Inquiry into historic abuse in state and faith-based care.

Mr Butler told ODT Insight the beating occurred in 1966, when he was a pupil at St Mary’s Primary School in Mosgiel.

At the time, most of the lessons at the Catholic school were still delivered by nuns from the Sisters
of Mercy religious order.

And, more than 50 years on, Mr Butler says he can still recall every detail of a lesson handed down one day by Sister Mary James.

That day, Mr Butler, a self-confessed “cheeky little Catholic boy”, had become embroiled in a playground fight.

Afterwards, he fled – running home to his parents’ house, before returning to school later in the day.

Upon his return, he was punished by the school’s head nun.

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STATEN ISLAND (NY)
Staten Island Advance

May 10, 2019

By Stephen Weiss

Re: How will church handle legacies of legendary Staten Island priests on sex abuse settlement list?

We shouldn’t be so worried about the legacies or reputations of the 30 Staten Island priests who have sexually abused children. We should be worried about the impact of that abuse on those that had to endure it and, equally as important – what the Church is doing to ensure it never happens again.

The Church has yet to implement meaningful policies to end the cycle of abuse they have allowed to continue – and have covered up – for decades. At the very least, the Church should implement a zero-tolerance policy of abusive clergy members and the priests and bishops who protect them.

The Child Victims Act is an important opportunity for those who have been abused to file claims against their abuser and the Church. I’ve spoken to dozens of sexual abuse survivors who are planning to take this step – what they care about most is truth, transparency and holding the Church accountable. That’s what we should all care about.

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LAFAYETTE (LA)
Acadiana Advocate

May 10, 2019

By Ben Myers

A Lafayette Diocese priest was accused of molesting minors during a monthslong State Police investigation in 2015 and 2016. Two alleged victims told authorities that former Rev. Albert Nunez had either sexually abused or attempted to abuse them in the 1970s, but the investigation was closed because the alleged victims did not press charges, according to a State Police report.

Nunez is not included in the diocese’s list of 37 clergymen “credibly accused” of sexual abuse against minors and vulnerable adults. The Lafayette Diocese last month became the last in Louisiana to release such a list, following months of public outcry.

One of Nunez’s alleged victims, who told authorities that Nunez had succeeded in abusing him, also told State Police that his late brother had confided in family members that he too was abused by Nunez. The victim, who had not initiated contact with investigators, told police he had reached a point of healing, but the investigation had reopened his wounds.

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BAKERSFIELD (CA)
Bakersfield Californian

May 11, 2019

By Stacey Shepard

In front of TV cameras and reporters, they said five people have called or emailed them in the past week claiming sex abuse by Monsignor Craig Harrison, a well-known and highly regarded Bakersfield priest. They castigated the bishop for his handling of the situation and passed out a list of nearly two dozen clergy the group claimed had been accused of sex abuse and had some past or present affiliation with the diocese.

This was, for many, an introduction to the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, as the group is known. While the group has been around 30 years and has nine chapters in California, none exist between Los Angeles and Sacramento.

The group’s sudden arrival on the scene in the wake of allegations against Harrison has come with the organization’s trademark brand of in-your-face, watchdog activism.

According to its website, the organization is considered a loose network of volunteers who provide peer support to victims of clergy and other institutional abuse, share their stories and empower others to “confront the truth.” The site says the group also engages in advocacy for laws to protect children from abuse, and “exposes predators.”

SNAP got its start in 1989 by founder Barbara Blaine, who had recently gone public with her story of abuse as a teen by a priest in Toledo, Ohio. She put an ad in the National Catholic Reporter looking for other victims of clergy sex abuse to start a support group, according to her obituary in the New York Times. Today, the organization is a nonprofit with chapters throughout the country and around the world.

“We’re not an anti-Catholic organization. We’re not anti-priest. All we are is anti-child molester,” said Joey Piscitelli, a SNAP volunteer leader in Northern California who was at the diocese in Fresno last week.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post

May 11, 2019

THE ESSENTIAL problem that gave rise to decades of clergy sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church was that bishops, whose authority over their domains is all but absolute, were too often complicit in enabling pedophile priests, covering up their crimes, and looking the other way as countless young victims were raped, molested, harassed and left scarred for life. Now Pope Francis, grappling with successive waves of scandals and revelations, has decreed elaborate new policies and procedures designed to beat back a scourge that has partly defined his papacy.

Unfortunately, as with so much the pope has said and done to contain the crisis, the laws he handed down, saying that sexual abuse must “never happen again,” are half-measures. The laws outline procedures mandating that priests and nuns report suspected abuse and coverup to their superiors, provide protections for whistleblowers, accelerate investigations and require that victims be informed of investigative outcomes if they desire.

However, even as he reshaped church law, the pope left its most fundamental features intact — bishops remain in charge, policing themselves and the church, and procedures for removing and punishing them remain uncertain. That was a bitter disappointment to victims of clerical sexual abuse, and it is likely to disappoint many of the church’s faithful, already disillusioned by a scandal that exploded nearly two decades ago.

The new protocols are not toothless — among other things, they apply retroactively, meaning priests and nuns will be expected to report old cases of abuse. And in announcing them Thursday, Francis acknowledged the suffering of victims and years of failure by his two predecessors to come to terms with the crisis. The church, he said, “must continue to learn from the bitter lessons of the past.”

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SAN JOSE (COSTA RICO)
Costa Rico Star

May 10, 2019

By Carol Vaughn

Alejandro “Alex” Castillo is on the lamb from the US after being accused of sexual misconduct with minors – something for which he already served one year in prison in 2012 – yet the church welcomed him back, even promoting him to Diocese’s Director of Department of Faith Formation and Evangelization for Oakland, California. He has now been placed on administrative leave while he skips around, one step ahead of the police. Lawyers in the US are preparing a strong case against Castillo on behalf of three of the boys Castillo allegedly abused. First they have to find him.

The Catholic Church has a relentless problem with child abuse, according to Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). Pope Francis, leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics attended a conference on sexual abuse in February, and called for “an all-out battle against a crime that should be erased from the face of the earth.”

Father Castillo personifies the problem of sexual misconduct, and how it is dealt with by the Catholic Church. He had a 20-year history of known and unreported predatory behavior. In the US he was intentionally placed in poor, Spanish speaking communities where children are less likely to report abuse. The recent lawsuit against him states, “Castilllo used his position as a priest to have unlimited access to the children. San Bernadino Church officials have known for years about Castillo’s predatory behavior, yet let him work in a parish with a school.”

Castillo, 65 years old, began his career in San Jose, working at a software development company, before hearing “the call”, and joining the seminary. He came to the US in 2008, and completed his theological studies at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park. He was ordained in 2010. He is completely bilingual, and that skill enabled him to organize missionaries in both Costa Rica and USA. Bishop Barber called Castillo “inspiring”. He said “Father Castillo’s deep commitment to our faith and to the people of God in our diocese is inspiring. I know he will lead our work in faith formation and evangelization with integrity and fidelity.” Unfortunately, that seems to not be the case at all.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Associated Press

May 11, 2019

By David Crary

It has been a wrenching season for three of America’s largest religious denominations, as sex-abuse scandals and a schism over LGBT inclusion fuel anguish and anger within the Roman Catholic, Southern Baptist and United Methodist churches. There’s rising concern that the crises will boost the ranks of young people disillusioned by organized religion.

“Every denomination is tremendously worried about retaining or attracting young people,” said Stephen Schneck, a political science professor at Catholic University. “The sex-abuse scandals will have a spillover effect on attitudes toward religion in general. I don’t think any denomination is going to not take a hit.”

For the U.S. Catholic church, the clergy sex-abuse scandal that has unfolded over two decades expanded dramatically in recent months. Many dioceses have become targets of investigations since a Pennsylvania grand jury report in August detailed hundreds of cases of alleged abuse. In mid-February, former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was expelled from the priesthood for sexually abusing minors and seminarians.

The Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination, confronted its own sex-abuse crisis three weeks ago in the form of an investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News. The newspapers reported that hundreds of Southern Baptist clergy and staff had been accused of sexual misconduct over the past 20 years, including dozens who returned to church duties, while leaving more than 700 victims with little in the way of justice or apologies.

For both denominations, allegations of cover-ups and insufficient sympathy for victims have been as damaging in the public eye as the abuse itself.

The United Methodist Church, the largest mainline Protestant denomination, ended a pivotal conference Tuesday in a seemingly irreconcilable split over same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBT clergy. About 53 percent of the delegates voted to maintain bans on those practices and strengthen enforcement, dismaying centrists and liberals who favored LGBT inclusion and now are faced with the choice of leaving the UMC or considering acts of defiance from within.

The Rev. Adam Hamilton, whose Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan., is the nation’s largest UMC congregation, said the outcome would push youthful pastors and other young adults away.

“Three out of four of millennials who live in the U.S. support same-sex marriage and do not want to be a part of a church that makes their friends feel like second-class Christians,” he told the conference. “Many of you have children and grandchildren who cannot imagine that we’re voting this way today. They wonder, have these people lost their minds?”

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FRESNO (CA)
Your Central Valley

May 10, 2019

Bishop Joseph Brennan of the Diocese of Fresno issued a statement May 10, 2019 regarding victims of abuse by the clergy.

Earlier this week, a protest was held in Fresno by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which is also known as SNAP.

It’s demanding that the bishop release a list of priests and clergy accused of sexual abuse.

The group says the bishop’s statement “falls short” of showing compassion for victims.

In response to Brennan’s statement Friday, SNAP says:
“Although Bishop Brennan’s comment is a good start it still falls short of showing compassion for crime victims of the Catholic Church. Bishop Brennan ought to be mandating that all the secret files be released for credibly accused clerics. Further, he ought to be mandating that anyone who is employed by the church, or is a volunteer lay leader, to report what they know to local law enforcement, Fresno District Attorney and finally California Attorney General Becerra.”

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BAKERSFIELD (CA)
KGET

May 09, 2019

By Jason Kotowski

A Sacramento attorney and clinical psychologist says he is representing two men from Merced and one from Bakersfield who allege Msgr. Craig Harrison sexually abused them when they were minors.

Joseph George said each man has filed a report with local law enforcement agencies as well as the state attorney general’s office regarding their allegations against the popular Bakersfield priest.

The attorney said he can’t file a lawsuit on behalf of the men because the civil statute of limitations is up. He said he’s representing them pro bono to guide them through the legal process and help ensure law enforcement does a thorough investigation.

Bakersfield police Thursday refused to confirm they have a current investigation involving Harrison. Last week the department said it did not have any open investigations involving the priest.

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BAKERSFIELD (CA)
The Bakersfield Californian

May 7, 2019

Eight priests with connections to Kern County have been accused of sexual abuse, according to a list released by the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

The advocacy group released a list on Tuesday of 23 priests who have worked in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno who the group says has had accusations of sexual abuse lodged against them. One name was later removed from the list.

The names came from the website bishopaccountability.org, an online archive that tracks accusations of sexual misconduct by Catholic clergy.

Here’s a look at the priests listed with local ties:

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NEW JERSEY
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

May 6, 2019

By Kelly Heyboer and Sophie Nieto-Munoz

More than 300 New Jersey priests, nuns, monks and other clergy accused of sexual misconduct — including many not included in the Catholic Church’s official list — were named in a report released Monday by lawyers representing an alleged victim suing the state’s dioceses.

The report by a Minnesota-based law firm is related to a lawsuit filed by Edward Hanratty, a sexual abuse victim from New Jersey that says New Jersey’s five Catholic dioceses created a “public hazard” by not naming all clergy members accused of sexually abusing children.

The 311 names in the report come from lawsuits, legal settlements, news reports and other public accounts of alleged abuse, the attorneys said.

In February, the Archdiocese of Newark and the state’s four other dioceses — Camden, Metuchen, Trenton and Paterson — released the names of 188 priests and deacons “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of children.

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COVINGTON (KY)
Cincinnati Enquirer

May 8, 2019

By Max Londberg

The Roman Catholic Church Diocese of Covington filed a lawsuit Tuesday in which it demands Facebook remove a page bearing the diocese’s name, citing federal copyright law.

The page, “Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington,” is not affiliated with the diocese. It has 372 likes as of Wednesday evening, and some of its posts are critical of the diocese and its schools.

One person wrote on the page that the diocese is a “breeding grounds for white privilege.”

The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Kentucky.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
KGO – San Francisco

May 9, 2019

Pope Francis has issued a new law requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups by their superiors to church authorities.

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SYRACUSE (NY)
The Associated Press

May 2, 2019

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse has paid nearly $11 million to settle claims of clergy sexual abuse with 79 people, who are now prohibited from suing.

The Post-Standard reports 85 of the 88 people who had applied to the Independent Reconciliation Compensation Program received offers.

Those who accepted signed releases that prohibit them from filing lawsuits. Kevin Braney declined compensation and recently sued the diocese after New York’s Legislature expanded the statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases in January.

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BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

May 10, 2019

By Jay Tokasz

Ronald C. Williams has served prison sentences in three states for child sex abuse felony convictions over the past 28 years.

But Williams’ penchant for sexually abusing children goes back to when he was a K-9 patrolman on the Buffalo police force and volunteered with the Boy Scouts, according to Bob O’Donnell of the Town of Boston.

O’Donnell said Williams, who had been his Cub Scout leader, abused him at least 10 times in the mid-1970s, when O’Donnell was 13 or 14 and Williams took him canoeing and camping on Eighteen Mile Creek.

“The guy pretty much raped me, more than once, by giving me enough alcohol so that I didn’t even realize what was going on,” said O’Donnell, who is now 54.

Williams is among the more than two dozen Western New York-area Boy Scout leaders since the 1950s who have been accused of molesting children or of sex-related offenses. Nineteen were charged with crimes.

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POINT PLEASANT (NJ)
Patch National

May 8, 2019

By Tom Davis

The names of more than 100 additional priests, clergy with NJ ties who have been accused of sexual abuse were released in a new disclosure.

The names of more than 100 additional priests and members of the clergy were released in a new disclosure this week made by attorneys who believe the state’s Catholic dioceses need to be more forthcoming about what they know. One of them reportedly served in the Point Pleasant area.

The law firms of Jeff Anderson & Associates released a report containing the names and histories of more than 300 people accused of sexual misconduct in the Archdiocese of Newark, Diocese of Camden, Diocese of Metuchen, Diocese of Paterson and Diocese of Trenton. Read more: Another 100 NJ Priests, Clergy Accused Of Sex Abuse In Disclosure

The same law firm released the names of 52 Boy Scout leaders allegedly named in the organization’s “perversion files” last month. Read more: 52 NJ Boy Scout Leaders Accused Of Sexual Abuse Named

Patch has identified only those who were formally accused of sexual abuse by law enforcement, Jesuits or the Catholic church. Patch also only listed names not previously disclosed.

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HILLSBOROUGH (NJ)
Patch

May 7, 2019

By Alexis Tarrazi

The man was among 100 more priests and clergy with New Jersey ties whose names were released in a new disclosure recently.

The name of a priest who served in Hillsborough was included in a list of more than 100 clergy who have been accused of sexual abuse.

Fr. Eugene M. O’Sullivan was assigned to St. Joseph’s in North Plainfield from 1985 to 1987 and Mary Mother of God in Hillsborough from 1990 to 1991.

Other priests with Somerset County ties include:

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INDIA
UCANews

May 10, 2019

Vice-principal of Jharkhand school accused of unlawful beating of student who forgot handbook

A Catholic school in India’s Jharkhand state has removed its priest vice-principal after he allegedly used corporal punishment on a student.

Father Prem James Tigga of Bishop Hartmann Academy, a high school in state capital Ranchi, was accused of beating a Grade 6 student on April 8 for allegedly not paying the previous month’s fees and not bringing his school handbook to the class.

Ranchi Archdiocese spokesman Father Anand David Xalxo said the Capuchin-run school has “admitted the mistake and has removed the priest from his office with immediate effect.”

“The school does not encourage corporal punishment for students,” he told ucanews.com.

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ASHLAND (WI)
CBS3

May 6, 2019

A former Winter priest accused of sexual misconduct says he doesn’t want a jury trial.

According to the Ashland Daily Press, Thomas Ericksen, 71, made that request during a court hearing last week.

The 71-year-old former Catholic priest is accused of sexually assaulting children while serving as a priest in Winter decades ago.

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NEW YORK (NY)
The New York Times

May 7, 2019

By Corina Knoll

An arbitrator ruled last month that Joseph DeShan can remain in the classroom, igniting a debate between parents determined to oust him and those who defend the longtime teacher.

It began last fall, when students new to Cinnaminson Middle School in New Jersey brought home rumors of a “rapist” at the school.

Eventually, their alarmed parents discovered that a teacher, Joseph DeShan, had a past life as a Roman Catholic priest in Bridgeport, Conn.: In the late ’80s, when then-Father DeShan was about 30 years old, he began a sexual relationship with a girl half his age, with whom he had a child.

This information was not a secret. The teacher’s past had first surfaced in 2002, when he was briefly removed from the classroom but was allowed to return by the superintendent at the time. The small community of 16,000 seemed to accept his past.

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BOSTON (MA)
WBSM

May 8, 2019

By Taylor Cormier

A Catholic priest with religious roots in New Bedford is one of eight priests named in new sexual assault allegations.

During a press conference in Boston Tuesday hosted by renowned attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Nadine Tifft, 37, of Indiana, accused Fr. John Sweeney of sexually assaulting her nearly 20 years ago.

Tifft, a teenager living in Vermont at the time, says in 2000 she attended a leadership retreat through her church. The retreat featured visiting church leaders from around New England. Tifft says one of the visiting priests, Fr. Sweeney, encouraged the young people to attend confession. After confession, Fr. Sweeney is alleged to have told several of the teenagers that they were possessed and he would perform exorcisms on them.

Tifft says that the sexual abuse of herself and others occurred during the “exorcisms” performed by Fr. Sweeney.

“We were teenagers who trusted that priest,” she said.

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AUSTIN(TX)
Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas

May 1, 2019

By Paola Nalvarte/TM

A senior representative of the Peruvian Catholic Church who accused an investigative journalist of defamation withdrew his lawsuit against her. Days prior, the Archbishop did the same with another journalist, who had just been sentenced criminally for the case against him.

Through a press release, the Archbishop of Piura, José Antonio Eguren, of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SVC), desisted from continuing with the criminal complaint for aggravated defamation that he made against Peruvian journalist Paola Ugaz. Among his reasons, he stated that in his decision to refuse to defend his honor, he seeks the unity of the Peruvian Catholic Church.

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HOUSTON (TX)
KHOU11

May 9, 2019

A longtime Catholic priest accused of child sex abuse has submitted his resignation, according to an e-mail sent Wednesday to parishioners of the Prince of Peace Catholic Community.

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VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

May 10, 2019

Pope Francis vowed Friday to combat the sexual abuse of nuns and urged religious sisters to just say no when clergy want to use them as maids.

Francis told 850 superiors of religious orders gathered for the triennial assembly of the International Union of Superiors General, the main umbrella group of nuns, that theirs is a vocation of service, not servitude.

The union’s president, Maltese Sister Carmen Sammut, told Francis that clergy abuse of sisters was “diffuse in many parts of the world,” and included sexual abuse, spiritual abuse, as well as taking of their property. She added that there were also cases of nuns abusing other nuns.

Francis said sexual abuse of sisters was “a serious, grave problem” of which he was well aware.

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NEW YORK (NY)
May 9, 2019

CBS2 News At 5

Vatican Announces Landmark Law Aimed At Ending Clergy Sex Abuse

Pope Francis is taking new steps to combat sex abuse in the Catholic Church and hold leaders accountable. CBS2’s Dick Brennan reports.

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ENGLAND
The Telegraph

May 8, 2019

By Gabriella Swerling

The Church of England is ignoring abuse victims, survivors claim, following a report which said that clergy should report sex abuse confessions to police.

The seal of the confessional is a priest’s obligation under canon law to hear a person’s confession of sin, or imagined sin, in complete confidence.

Under these rules, nothing that a priest is told during will be repeated or disclosed under any circumstances. This is also the rule of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 2015 the House of Bishops and the Archbishop’s Council commissioned a working party to assess this law in relation to safeguarding and protecting victims from sexual abuse.

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LOMPOC (CA)
KEYT

May 9, 2019

By Nathalie Vera

Clergy now exempt from mandatory reporting laws

A California bill advancing in the state Senate would require clergymen to report child abuse, even if they learn of it in confession.

Leaders of the Catholic Church claim the legislation would violate their freedom of religion.

Father Joy Lawrence Santos, of the Queen of Angels Church in Lompoc, says confession is one of the most sacred sacraments of the church.

“It’s all about God’s love, God’s mercy and forgiveness.”

Lawrence Santos says when a parishioner opens up to him about their sins, it stays between them and God.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service

May 9, 2019

New papal norms on preventing clergy sexual abuse are “a blessing that will empower the church everywhere to bring predators to justice, no matter what rank they hold in the church,” said Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The new juridical instrument “calls for the establishment of easily accessible reporting systems, clear standards for the pastoral support of victims and their families, timeliness and thoroughness of investigations, whistleblower protection for those making allegations, and active involvement of the laity,” Cardinal DiNardo said May 9.

The new document, given “motu proprio,” on the pope’s own initiative, was titled “Vos estis lux mundi” (“You are the light of the world”). Cardinal DiNardo praised it for leaving latitude for national bishops’ conferences, such as the USCCB, to specify still more to account for their local circumstances.

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MONTREAL (CANADA)
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

May 9, 2019

The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected an attempt by triple-murderer Jesse Iemson to appeal a lower court decision that called into question claims that childhood sexual abuse contributed to his lethal behaviour as an adult.

Imeson was found guilty of killing three people in Southwestern Ontario in the summer of 2007.

On July 19, he strangled 25-year-old Carlos Rivera, a Windsor bartender. Four days later the bodies of Bill and Helene Regier, who had been shot to death, were found in their farmhouse near Grand Bend, northwest of London.

In October 2008, Imeson, then 23, pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

While in prison in 2009, Imeson alleged that he had been sexually assaulted by Tony “Doe”, a former child and youth worker with Maryvale Adolescent and Family Services in Windsor.

In 1996-1997, Imeson spent a few months at the residential institution, which cares for troubled youth.

He also alleged that about a year after leaving Maryvale and while in foster care, he was sexually abused by Father Howarth, a now deceased priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of London.

In September, 2016, a jury found Maryvale vicariously liable for sexual assaults allegedly committed against Imeson by “Doe”.

Chronology leading to SCC decision

The jury did not accept Imeson’s claim that he was also sexually abused by the deceased priest, and the action against the Roman Catholic Diocese of London was dismissed.

During that trial, Imeson sought to call Dr. Kerry Smith, a mental health clinician employed in the British Columbia prison system who had seen and counselled Imeson over a long series of therapeutic sessions.

Lawyers for Maryvale tried to block Dr. Smith’s evidence on the grounds that he lacked the necessary training and expertise to give an opinion on childhood sexual abuse. But the trial judge ruled Smith was qualified to provide “expert opinion with respect to certain issues.”

The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in 2018 that Smith’s opinions did not qualify as expert evidence and that the trial judge erred by allowing it to be heard.

As a result, the court ordered a new civil trial between Imeson and Maryvale.

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COLUMBIA (MO)
KOMU TV

May 9, 2019

By Monica Madden

Pope Francis issued new rules Thursday requiring all priests and nuns to report clergy sexual abuse and instances of cover-up to address global abuse.

This comes in response to the long-running issue of widespread sexual misconduct and cover-ups within the Catholic church.

A local member of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said although this is progress for the church, it doesn’t fully address the problem.

“It is movement in a positive direction but it doesn’t sound to me like it has any teeth,” survivor Don Asbee said. “If it were a superintendent shuffling around a pedophile teacher from school to school, he would be arrested, plain and simple.”

The Pope’s new law mandates that all priests and nuns are required to inform church authorities when they learn or have reasons to believe that a cleric or sister has engaged in sexual abuse of a minor, sexual misconduct with an adult, possession of child pornography — or that a superior has covered up any of those crimes.

Asbee said he doesn’t think abuse should be handled internally, but by the state or outside law enforcement agencies.

“It is a crime to abuse children or cover it up. You have to recognize that it’s not just a sin it’s against the law, it’s a criminal offense,” he said.

Asbee was raised Catholic and was nine years old when he said he was first groomed and abused by his priest.

He said several other “vulnerable” boys in his church were also deemed “special” by the priests and later assaulted.

“I never understood fully what was going on. I knew something was wrong but I didn’t put it together until I was 50,” he said. “And it was pretty much just stated to me by the priests that you kind of brought this upon yourself. The guilt was all mine to bear.”

Asbee said he was one of the thousands of children in Pennsylvania who experienced this and is now a vocal member of SNAP in an effort to end the cycle.

Father Rich Litzau, a priest at the St. Thomas More Newman Center in Columbia, said he recognizes the church has made its mistakes.

“I think it’s time that those kind of things be pretty well legitimized and formulated so that it makes it very clear that the church’s intention is the make sure that the problems that have existed in the past are resolved,” he said.

Litzau said he thinks Pope Francis’ new decree makes this set of rules and procedures standardized across the globe and is a step in the right direction.

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BOSTON(MA)
Boston Globe

May 9, 2019

By Laura Crimaldi

Mitchell Garabedian, the Boston attorney who pulled back the curtain on clergy sex abuse in the Catholic church, finds himself in an unusual position in federal court in Philadelphia: He’s being sued by a boarding school teacher who claims Garabedian and his client falsely accused him of being a child molester.

The lawsuit alleging defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress was filed on April 10 against Garabedian and one of his clients, a 40-year-old man who lives in Milwaukee. The teacher, a resident of Ohio, filed the complaint under the pseudonym John Doe, citing a fear of “severe harm.”

Philadelphia magazine first reported on the lawsuit on May 3. The 13-page complaint alleges Garabedian, acting on behalf of his client, falsely accused the teacher of child molestation in an April 2018 letter addressed to the headmaster of The Hill School in Pottstown, Pa., where the teacher has worked for more than 25 years.

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COLUMBUS (OH)
Channel 10 News

May 9, 2019

By Glenn McEntyre

Carol Zamonski represents the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

When she learned the Pope had issued new rules governing reporting of sex abuse, her expectations were low. After reading the church’s new guidelines, so is her assessment.

“This is not satisfactory. It’s not going to solve the problem. It doesn’t indicate to me that there’s a will to actually solve the problem. This is just a great PR move,” Zamonski said.

Among the changes:

Each diocese is to establish systems for the public to confidentially report abuse and cover-up within a year.
All clerics and church officials are obligated to report abuse and cover-up, and there can be no retaliation against whistle-blowers.
Archbishops or clerics must immediately inform the Vatican of an accusation, and the Vatican has 30 days to respond.
But the rules do not require law enforcement to be involved.

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NEW YORK (NY)
America Magazine

May 9, 2019

By Michael J. O’Loughlin

Catholic leaders greeted the news on May 9 that the Vatican will require all bishops to adopt procedures aimed at holding church leaders accountable for reporting sexual abuse with optimism. Victim advocacy groups appear more cautious, however, saying the new measure is only a first step.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago who in November floated an idea for bishop accountability similar to the outline released by the Vatican, called the new measure “revolutionary” and said it “closes a loop” when it comes to holding church leaders accountable.

“What’s quite extraordinary about this is that if in fact there is a mishandling by a bishop who’s responsible for an investigation, then he is liable to be investigated for any cover-up,” he said in an interview with America.

Under the decree, bishops will have just over a year to establish a system available to the public to report the sexual abuse of minors or adults, the use of violence to coerce adults into sex, and the creation, possession or distribution of child pornography. The new measure also addresses bishops or religious superiors who cover up any of those crimes.

Anne Barrett Doyle, a co-director of BishopAccountability.org, said in a statement that the new law is “a step forward,” specifically for protecting whistleblowers, prohibiting a requirement of secrecy for those making allegations and requiring bishops to adopt procedures for reporting allegations.

“Yet it’s not nearly enough,” she continued, pointing out that the church law does not include language relating to penalties. “[I]t’s still entirely possible for a bishop to punish a child-molesting priest with a slap on the wrist and to keep his name hidden from the public. The new law does nothing to enact zero tolerance for child sexual abuse or for cover-up.”

The Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests also offered some praise, saying in a statement that “mandated reporting is a good thing” and highlighting that the new law applies to both children and “vulnerable adults.” While the new law requires bishops to comply with local civil law with respect to reporting abuse, it does not require all bishops to report claims to police. SNAP said it is concerned by the possibility of keeping some investigations within the church.

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NEW YORK (NY)
NBC News

May 9, 2019

By Corky Siemaszko

Victim advocates said Thursday that the fatal flaw in Pope Francis’ new mandate that priests and nuns report clerical sex abuse is that it requires the church to police itself, instead of notifying law enforcement.

They say it’s not enough that Francis has required whistle-blowers to report any abuse or cover-ups to their superiors.

“We’re already seeing this ‘new’ church plan described as ‘groundbreaking’ and ‘sweeping,’ but that’s irresponsible,” said David Clohessy, director of Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). ”These are promises, plain and simple. They might lead to change. They might not. But children need concrete action, not more pledges from a complicit church hierarchy.”

Popes, said Clohessy, “have always had the power to defrock, demote and discipline bad bishops.”

“They just refuse to do so,” he said. “And that’s why clergy sex crimes keep happening. What’s needed is courage, not policies. Until heads roll, until a few dozen bishops are fired for hiding predators, little will change.”

“We’re disappointed that the pope still refuses to simply tell church employees they must call the police. Any policy or pledge that still largely enables the Catholic hierarchy to handle crimes internally is doomed to continue both abuse and cover-up.”

Clohessy said the silver lining in Francis’ latest effort to tackle the sex abuse scandal, which some say has wrecked the credibility of the Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchy — and resulted in the church’s paying millions of dollars to settle lawsuits — is that priests and nuns are required to report even decades-old abuse allegations.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

May 9, 2019

By Jeremy Roebuck

Pope Francis on Thursday issued a sweeping set of new Catholic Church laws aimed at better policing how the hierarchy investigates claims of clergy sex abuse and cover-up, marking his most concrete effort to date to respond to a crisis that has threatened to overwhelm his papacy. Here are some of the highlights:

1. Mandatory reporting

The new policies, outlined in what is known within the Church as a motu propio, require for the first time that all of the world’s 415,000 Catholic priests and 660,000 religious sisters inform Church authorities of all reports of abuse.

But the directive stops short of requiring them to go to police or other civil authorities — a nod to the Vatican’s long-held concern that doing so could endanger clerics in parts of the world where Catholics are a persecuted minority.

Bishops in the United States adopted a similar but tougher policy in the early 2000s, amid the first wave of the clergy sex abuse crisis here. The U.S. version requires dioceses to report suspected abuse to police.

2. Making it easier for victims to come forward

The Church also will require every diocese to create a public, easily accessible, confidential system to field complaints of sexual abuse and cover-up.

Most dioceses in the United States already have established protocols that meet this minimum requirement, but there have been calls for further reform.

For instance, after complaints that seminarians and priests feared repercussions if they came forward to accuse their superiors, bishops here launched a confidential third-party hotline last fall for reporting abuse.

The rules issued Thursday by the Vatican establish whistleblower protections, saying that those reporting misconduct from within the Church may not suffer “prejudice, retaliation, or discrimination.” It also requires that victims be notified of the outcome of any investigation.

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GALVESTON (TX)
Baptist Press

May 9, 2019

By Art Toalston

A San Antonio church has been removed from the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention for retaining a pastor listed on the Texas Public Sex Offender Registry.

The action involving New Spirit Baptist Church was taken by the SBTC’s Executive Board during an April 22-23 meeting in Galveston, the Southern Baptist TEXAN reported May 2.

The TEXAN reported that representatives of the convention’s credentials committee had met with the church, which subsequently chose to retain the pastor, Erbey Valdez.

“The board reported that due to the church’s position, it was in violation of the Baptist Faith & Message,” the TEXAN reported, referencing the Southern Baptist Convention’s doctrinal statement, which has also been adopted by other Baptist bodies.

New Spirit Baptist Church reported on the SBC Annual Church Profile a weekly average attendance of 24 in 2018.

Valdez, 47, a former middle school principal, was charged in a case dated July, 8, 2010, involving a 17-year-old and Texas Penal Code 43.25 (d), “Sexual Performance by a Child,” a second-degree felony.

The section states in part, “A person commits an offense if, knowing the character and content thereof, he employs, authorizes, or induces a child younger than 18 years of age to engage in sexual conduct or a sexual performance.”

The Texas registry states that Valdez is on probation/community supervision in that case.

Valdez was arrested in February 2010, the San Angelo Standard-Times reported on Feb. 15 of that year, for what the newspaper described as “indecency with a child.” Valdez posted a $25,000 bond.

He had been indicted in January 2010, the Standard-Times reported, by a grand jury in Sutton County on “two felony counts of allegedly having sex with a high school student.” He had been placed on administrative leave from the school district after an October 2009 arrest on a charge described by the Standard-Times as “an improper relationship between an educator and a then-17-year-old student.”

The bylaws workgroup of the SBC’s Executive Committee became aware of the situation, and of action taken by the SBTC, soon after the TEXAN article was published, said D. August Boto. Boto, the EC’s interim president and executive vice president, told Baptist Press, “I have spoken with the chairman of that workgroup, who has said that the matter will be considered fully in the regular course of the workgroup’s work.”

Boto went on to say that because the workgroup, and the entire Executive Committee, is composed of committed and involved laypersons, ministers and pastors, “Southern Baptists can be confident that its review will be handled in a thoughtful and responsible way, and its ultimate recommendation or determination will reflect the values held by the vast majority of the Convention’s congregations.”

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Religion News Service

May 9, 2019

By Thomas Reese

Learning from what he calls “the bitter lessons of the past,” Pope Francis has issued the most comprehensive response of his papacy to the sex abuse crisis.

The new document requires bishops, priests and religious to report sexual abuse and cover-ups to church officials and sets up new procedures for investigating bishops.

It also tells bishops to follow local laws governing reporting of abuse to civil authorities.

This is a major step forward for the Vatican. In dealing with not only abuse but also cover-ups, the pope has responded to demands that bishops be held accountable for not protecting children from abusive priests. It also responds to those who complained that the February sex abuse summit in Rome, to which the pope called leading bishops from all over the world, was all talk and no action. Now Francis has acted.

The new norms apply not only to abuse of minors (those under 18) but also to abuse of other vulnerable people, as well as anyone forced “by violence or threat or through abuse of authority, to perform or submit to sexual acts.” This includes adult seminarians, novices and women religious.

The May 9 document, “Vos estis lux mundi” (“You are the light of the world”), applies to all bishops, priests and religious throughout the world. It also encourages lay people to report abuse or cover-up. Those reporting must be protected from any “prejudice, retaliation or discrimination.” Nor can accusers or victims be required to keep silent about their accusations. And if the victims request it, they must be informed of the results of the investigation.

Bishops are required to set up procedures for reporting and investigating accusations against priests by June 1, 2020. U.S. dioceses already have such procedures, but they are lacking in many dioceses in the Global South. In the U.S. the procedures currently apply only to priests, not bishops.

Under the new norms, accusations of abuse or cover-up against a bishop are to be reported to his archbishop, also called a metropolitan, or to the Vatican. The metropolitan reports the accusations to Rome, which then empowers him to investigate. If an archbishop or cardinal is accused, it is reported to Rome, which will assign a prelate to investigate him.

Status reports on any investigation must be sent by the archbishop to Rome every 30 days, with the final report within 90 days, although extensions can be granted when needed.

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MANHASSET (NY)
Manhasset Press

May 9, 2019

By Marco Schaden

In front of the St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre, Janet Klinger of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) called on the Rockville Centre Diocese to release a list of sexual abuse accused clergy.

The Rockville Centre Diocese is the largest diocese in the nation that has not come out with a list of names of clergy accused of sexual abuse.

“Every day that a predator’s name is hidden, kids are at risk of horrific abuse,” said Klinger standing alongside members of SNAP and sexual abuse survivors. “[Bishop John O.] Barres must post credibly accused clerics’ names immediately. It’s never premature to warn the public about potentially dangerous men.”

In January, the USA Northeast Province Jesuits released a list of accused Jesuits—four of whom were in Manhasset during their time as part of the clergy. SNAP brought attention to these priests as evidence that there has been maligned behavior in the diocese. According to the report from the Jesuits:

Father Joseph Towle was accused of sexual abuse in 1971 and was based at Inisfada, a Jesuit retreat house in Manhasset that was sold to developers in 2013, from 1968 to 1971. Father Edward D. Horgan was accused of sexual abuse in 1966 while he was at Regis High School and also stayed at Inisfada from 1983 to 1994. Father John Garvey was accused of abuse in 1978-79 and was based at Inisfada from 1978 to 1987. Father Joseph Fitzpatrick was accused of abuse in the 1980s and from 1971 to 1983 he was at St. Mary’s parish in Manhasset. His whereabouts from 1984 to 1986 are unknown, but he started to work again in 1987 at St. Mary Church in Marlboro, New York.

“At the very least, Barres should tell us those alleged predators who are alive and may pose threats to children right now,” said Klinger.

However, Bishop Barres has been involved in covering up sexual abuse cases going back to his time as Bishop of Allentown from 2009 to 2016.

A grand jury report by the Pennsylvania Attorney General published in 2018 revealed that Bishop Barres failed to remove Father Michael S. Lawrence after he abused two minors, ages 12 and 13. In 2014, Bishop Barres wrote a letter to the Vatican stating that Lawrence would “remain under this supervised way of life,” and not be removed from the church.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

May 9, 2019

A lack of policies or procedures has never been the main problem in the clergy sex abuse scandal. Rather, it has been a lack of accountability for hierarchs who conceal sex crimes and a deficit of courage and willingness to take immediate, decisive action on those who have enabled those crimes to occur.

Mandated reporting is a good thing. Yet while this new law will compel priests and nuns to report abuse, it requires them to do so internally, to the very Church structures and offices that have been receiving and routing allegations of abuse for years. We would have been far more impressed if this new law required church officials to report to police and prosecutors instead. Oversight from external, secular authorities will better protect children and deter cover-ups.

It is notable that this new law contains whistleblower protections for those who come forward. But we can only wonder if Church officials will simply be able to retaliate against whistleblowers in different ways, as we have seen in the recent case of Fr. John Gallagher.

While we remain skeptical of this new law, we recognize some good things within it. For example, we are glad that the Vatican is specifically recognizing the plight of vulnerable adults by acknowledging “the abuse of authority,” regardless of a victim’s age. We are also glad that the Vatican has pledged to move quickly on internal investigations.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

May 9, 2019

We are very sad that any law enforcement officer would face threats for doing his or her job and we are distressed that the Michigan attorney general has suffered in this way. We hope Michigan’s bishops quickly and harshly condemn this hatred. Violence is never the answer.

For decades, police and prosecutors who pursued clerics who commit and conceal child sex crimes have been stonewalled, and Church officials have contributed to the unhealthy atmosphere that leads to threats of violence. While the Church hierarchy often postures as being the victims of governmental overreach, the reality is that they were often treated with too much deference in the past.

AG Nessel has been steadfast and strong in pursuit of the truth in Michigan. Such dedication should be met with thanks, not threats.

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BAKERSFIELD (CA)
ABC 23 News

May 8, 2019

By Kelly Broderick

An attorney representing a Bakersfield man who says he was inappropriately touched by Monsignor Craig Harrison says he has been trying to file a police report for the past week with Bakersfield Police on behalf of his client, but has received mixed messages of where to file the report.

According to Dr. Joseph George, a clinical psychologist and attorney out of Sacramento, his office got in touch with the head of the BPD Special Victims Unit, and will be filing a report on Wednesday, May 8.

George said his client was 13 to 14 years old when he became involved with Monsignor Harrison in Bakersfield. According to George, the alleged victim met Harrison prior to him becoming an Assistant Pastor in 1989.

The man says he attended St. Francis Elementary and was always around prior to Harrison relocating to Mojave. The man says he was an altar server, serving mass daily for years, five days a week.

The alleged victim admits he idolized Harrison, coming from a less fortunate family. At one point, the alleged victim said Harrison asked his mother if he could adopt him and the mother told Harrison he could not.

According to the man, the Monsignor gave groceries to his family and would give gifts to his friends.

The alleged victim said the sexual contact began through wrestling with Harrison, then grabbing and feeling through clothing.

Between 1989 and 1992, he says he would spend the night at Harrison’s rectory. According to the attorney, his client would sleep on the couch and he said several of his friends would sleep on the bed with the Monsignor.

According to the alleged victim, between the ages of 13 and 16, there were 8 to 12 instances of sexual contact.

The attorney said his client still holds Monsignor Harrison in high esteem, saying “I still love him and I hate him.”

The alleged victim said the contact was never skin on skin, but wrestling, where Harrison would pin him against the wall and grind on him with an erection.

The attorney said he is also representing an alleged victim from Merced, who reported lewd and lascivious conduct with the Monsignor.

Monsignor Harrison has been on administrative leave since late April, pending investigations surrounding sexual misconduct allegations with minors.

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ROME (ITALY)
National Catholic Reporter

May 9, 2019

By Joshua J. McElwee

Pope Francis issued sweeping new laws for the Catholic Church on the investigation of clergy sexual abuse May 9, mandating for the first time that all priests and members of religious orders worldwide are obligated to report any suspicions of abuse or its cover-up.

The pontiff has also established a new global system for the evaluation of reports of abuse or cover-up by bishops, which foresees the empowering of archbishops to conduct investigations of prelates in their local regions with the help of Vatican authorities.

The new norms, contained in a brief apostolic letter titled Vos estis lux mundi (“You are the light of the world”), are exhaustive in scope, applying in some way to every ordained or vowed member of the 1.3 billion-person church. They also encourage lay people to make reports of abuse, and provide for involvement of lay experts in investigations.

In his introduction to the document, which goes into effect June 1, Francis says he has created the new laws so the church will “continue to learn from the bitter lessons of the past, looking with hope towards the future.”

“The crimes of sexual abuse offend Our Lord, cause physical, psychological and spiritual damage to the victims and harm the community of the faithful,” the pope states. “In order that these phenomena, in all their forms, never happen again, a continuous and profound conversion of hearts is needed, attested by concrete and effective actions that involve everyone in the Church.”

The norms are the second set of laws Francis has issued on abuse in the three months since he held a global summit on the issue with the presidents of bishops’ conferences in February. They follow release of a new child-protection policy for Vatican City and for the church’s global ambassadors.

The new investigatory process could be a significant achievement for the pope, who has struggled for four years to implement an effective and transparent procedure of accountability for bishops who abuse or cover-up.

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LONG ISLAND (NY)
Newsday

May 9, 2019

By Bart Jones

Advocates for clergy sex abuse victims on Thursday dismissed Pope Francis’ new rules on reporting allegations as an empty gesture that will perpetuate a culture of secrecy and cover-up.

The new church laws require all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sex abuse and cover-ups involving superiors, with whistleblower protections and no retroactive limits. They are required to report allegations to church officials and not police, and there are no church sanctions laid out for violators.

“It’s all cut from the same cloth of, ‘We can fix this problem ourselves,’ ” said John Salveson, who says he was abused by a priest at St. Dominic’s parish in Oyster Bay for seven years starting in 1969.

“We are talking about criminal activity. Criminal activity should be reported to criminal justice agencies — to the police, to the district attorneys, to the FBI,” he said. Often, church higher-ups “are the enablers.”

Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston-based attorney who also represents victims in New York, said the new laws “continue the secrecy which has enabled clergy sexual abuse to exist, allows the Catholic Church to continue to ineffectively self-police and basically discourages victims from just calling the police.

“History has taught us that the Vatican, with it’s with self-proclaimed laws and procedures, is incapable of protecting innocent children from being sexually abused,” said Garabedian, who was portrayed in the film “Spotlight” about the clergy sex abuse scandal in Boston.

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[Sexual abuse in the Church: “If the situation does not change in Argentina, it will not change anywhere in the world”]

ARGENTINA
TN

May 2, 2019

By Miriam Lewin

Víctimas de delitos sexuales por parte de sacerdotes visitan Buenos Aires e interpelan a Francisco. Le exigen que venga a su país a tomar medidas concretas.

En el bar de un hotel de la zona de Congreso, los tres viajeros toman café y planifican sus actividades para los próximos días. Vuelos accidentados por paros y falta de conexiones no les impiden hablar con entusiasmo de su primera visita a Buenos Aires, varias veces postergada. Peter Isley, psicoterapista, es fundador de una organización internacional contra el abuso sexual en la Iglesia Católica, Ending Clergy Abuse (Terminar con el abuso del clero), activismo que comparte con Denise Buchanan, una psiconeuróloga jamaiquina residente en Los Angeles. Ambos fueron víctimas de delitos sexuales en su infancia y adolescencia. Anne Barrett Doyle vive en Boston, desde donde maneja la mayor base de datos sobre crímenes sexuales cometidos por religiosos del mundo, Bishop Accountability (Responsabilidad de los Obispos).

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[If Pope Francis does not come to see them, Argentine survivors of clergy abuse will travel to Vatican]

ARGENTINA
TN

May 7, 2019

Decididos a conseguir que el Papa los reciba, un grupo de sobrevivientes de abuso sexual por parte de religiosos se presentarán en la Santa Sede. Se manifestaron en Mendoza y en La Plata.

Después de que el Papa Francisco comunicara a los obispos argentinos que no viajará al país, organizaciones de víctimas de abuso sexual por parte de sacerdotes decidieron enviar una delegación a Roma. El grupo estará encabezado por exalumnos del Instituto Próvolo de Mendoza y de La Plata, y la organización estará a cargo de una nueva asociación, Iglesias sin Abusos.

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[Archbishop of Paraná accused of covering up abuse]

ARGENTINA
TN

May 4, 2019

En una protesta, lo señalaron por haber protegido al sacerdote Justo Ilarraz, condenado por abuso sexual en el Seminario Menor, cuando él dirigía la institución. Una de las víctimas adhirió con una dura carta abierta.

Frente al Hogar Sacerdotal Monseñor Espinosa, el pasado jueves, un grupo de víctimas de varios países enarboló un retrato de monseñor Juan Alberto Puiggari, arzobispo de Paraná, y lo denunció por haber encubierto al sacerdote condenado por abuso sexual en el Seminario Menor, Justo José Ilarraz.

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[Filmmaker Almodóvar talks about clergy abuse in his school: “At least 20 children were harassed. They also tried with me”]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

May 8, 2019

“En el dormitorio, por la noche, nos contábamos nuestras experiencias. Teníamos miedo”, ha contado el cineasta en una entrevista

El cineasta Pedro Almodóvar ha recordado cómo en el colegio, cuando él tenía 10 años, “al menos 20 niños” fueron acosados y también lo intentaron con él. “Pero siempre logré escapar. Había un sacerdote que siempre me daba la mano en el patio para besarla, pero nunca lo hacía, siempre huía y cuando estaba solo, no caminaba sino que corría”, ha añadido.

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[Prosecutor presents accusation against priest who could face 41 years in prison]

CHILE
BioBioChile

May 8, 2019

By Felipe Díaz and Nicole Martínez

La Fiscalía Regional de O’Higgins presentó la acusación en contra del excanciller del Arzobispado de Santiago, Óscar Muñoz Toledo, por delitos de abuso sexual, estupro y violación.

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[O’Higgins prosecutor requests 41 years in prison for former chancellor of Santiago Archdiocese]

CHILE
Emol

May 9, 2019

El Ministerio Público señaló que el sacerdote Óscar Muñoz “valiéndose de su ordenación sacerdotal, además de nexo de parentesco con algunas de las víctimas, ganó la confianza de los padres”.

La Fiscalía de O’Higgins presentó la primera acusación contra el sacerdote y ex canciller del Arzobispado de Santiago, Óscar Muñoz, solicitando una pena de 26 años y dos días por cuatro víctimas de abuso sexual reiterado y otros 15 años por la violación de uno de ellas, sumando 41 años de cárcel. La acusación del Ministerio Público describe que el imputado valiéndose de su ordenación sacerdotal, además del nexo de parentesco con algunas de las víctimas -una de ellas es su sobrino- ganó la confianza de los padres de los menores de edad afectados”.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
USA TODAY

May 9, 2019

By Lindsay Schnell

Peter Isley has been disappointed by the Catholic Church so many times, he’s lost count.

Isley, a survivor of sexual abuse and one of the founding members of Ending Clergy Abuse, read Thursday’s news from the Vatican, and felt another wave of frustration. The Catholic Church, Isley said, just doesn’t get it.

On Thursday, Pope Francis issued a new law that requires all Catholic priests and nuns to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-up by their superiors to church authorities. Described by some media outlets as a “groundbreaking” new law, advocates who have pushed for more transparency from the Catholic Church say this is just more of the same.

The problem, according to Isley and other advocates, is that the church doesn’t need to get itself any more involved – it needs outside input. Specifically, it needs local law enforcement to be part of the reporting process.

“Bishops reporting to themselves, that’s been the problem from the beginning,” Isley said. “All they did was add another layer of bureaucracy; this doesn’t require civil authorities. What we need are police and prosecutors.

“Let’s get the bishop to the crime scene first? Geez, that is not the guy you want. They need to watch ‘Law & Order’ to understand how this should work.”

The new law provides whistle-blower protections for anyone making a report. It also states that dioceses around the world must have a system in place to receive allegations confidentially. And it outlines procedures for conducting preliminary investigations when the accused is a bishop, cardinal or religious superior.

But as Zach Hiner, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), points out, most clergy have no background in conducting investigations. That should be left to the experts.

“If the church was truly listening to the pulse of the public and of survivors, they would know that they should be mandating priests and nuns report everything to outside, secular authorities,” Hiner said.

“I get the argument that in some places of the world Catholics are discriminated against. However, for most of the world, that’s not the case. In most of the world we have police and prosecutors who care about local communities and want to keep them safe, and that’s who we charge to get to the bottom of things like this,” he said.

The new law is the latest effort from Francis to respond to the global eruption of the sex abuse and cover-up scandal that has devastated the credibility of the Catholic hierarchy for the past few decades. It also provides a new legal framework for U.S. bishops to use as they prepare to adopt accountability measures of their own next month.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Tablet

May 9, 2019

The new law issued by Pope Francis to combat clerical sexual abuse is a significant milestone in the Church’s long battle to tackle a scandal that has posed the greatest crisis to Catholicism’s credibility in 500 years.

Finally, after years of wrangling and resistance, the Church has a universal set of norms for how to handle abuse allegations, giving everyone responsibility in tackling the scourge be they a Cardinal Archbishop or ordinary Catholic.

The laws widen the scope of abuse to include “abuses of authority” whereby seminarians or religious are manipulated into sexual activity by superiors and sets out how bishops will be investigated for both allegations of abuse and cover-ups.

These are welcome developments. The lack of accountability for Church leaders was brutally exposed by the case of Theodore McCarrick, a former cardinal and priest found to have abused both minors and seminarians. Despite concerns being raised about his behaviour he was able to rise up the cleric ranks to become Archbishop of Washington DC in 2000.

But the crucial shift in the new legislation is the obligation for everyone in the Church, ordained or not, to report abuse to superiors. What was in the past left up to the conscience of individual priests and nuns is now set out in law.

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