ABUSE TRACKER

The world’s largest Catholic gathering, a week-long religious festival known as World Youth Day, kicks off in Lisbon on Tuesday, a day before Pope Francis arrives on his first foreign trip since recent surgery.

Around 300,000 people are expected to attend the opening mass at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) at the hillside Eduardo VII park, which offers sweeping views of the Portuguese capital and the Tagus river.

Pilgrims roamed around Lisbon ahead of the mass, waving national flags in the air and singing Catholic anthems from their home countries.

“It’s going to be extraordinary, all this Christian youth coming together,” said Gabriel Forestier, a 28-year-old engineer from Amiens in northern France.

Francis is set to arrive in Lisbon on Wednesday morning to celebrate World Youth Day, which is actually a week of religious, cultural and festive events held about every three years in a different city.

The 86-year-old pontiff is…

In 2010, when Pope Benedict XVI issued a pastoral letter apologizing for hundreds of years of sex abuse by clergy in Ireland, he also failed to offer any suggestion that the church’s policy toward abusive clergy would change. This did not sit well with Sinéad O’Connor, whose career had been permanently damaged 18 years earlier when she tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live.” 

In an opinion essay for The Washington Post in response to Benedict’s letter, she was blunt. Irish Catholics, she wrote, “are in a dysfunctional relationship with an abusive organization.”

Today, when many Catholics around the world feel the same way, we can more easily understand that in her willingness to sacrifice her career for the sake of the truth, she was prophetic. But like so many other women throughout history, she suffered greatly for…

ROME – It was Oct. 27, 2007, when police in Lima gathered at the city’s famed Plaza San Martin after receiving a tip saying a fair-looking man was hanging around the area talking to minors and then taking them to a hotel.  According to the tip, the man would give the minors money to undress, be photographed, and then be groped and/or engage in sexual activity.

That man eventually was identified as Daniel Bernardo Murguía Ward, a member of the Sodalitium Christinae Vitae (SCV), a society of apostolic life founded by Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari in the 1970s.

Murguía was detained that day after enticing a minor to join him at a nearby hotel, where police burst into the room he had rented and found the child half naked with their pants down while Murguía was holding a digital camera, which contained explicit photos of the minor as well as two…

LISBON — After Portugal was picked to host Pope Francis and hundreds of thousands of young Catholics for a World Youth Day gathering that opens here this week, local bishops scrambled to demonstrate they were instep with what Francis has proclaimed as a new era of accountability for sexual abuse within the church.

“It was like cleaning the house before the visitor arrived,” said the Rev. António Pedro Monteiro, a Catholic chaplain.

The bishops financed an independent commission to examine a long-evaded question: How many people in Portugal had been victims of church predators? The result was a nearly 500-page report released in February — similar to audits elsewhere in Europe and the Americas — that determined at least 4,815 children had been abused since 1950. The bishops commended “this difficult and dramatic work” and expressed hope that it “marks a new beginning.”

Critics say that commitment was…

SÃO PAULO (OSV News) — The visit of Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta and Spanish Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu to Peru to investigate the lay organization Sodalitium Christianae Vitae is being received with confidence by many of the group’s victims, who hope it will be finally dissolved. Some, however, say, they lost hope that the case will be resolved.

Once a powerful lay institution with massive membership not only in Peru, but in several other countries, the Sodalitium was accused of promoting systemic spiritual, physical and sexual abuse against dozens of members for decades, as well as financial corruption.

The Sodalitium was founded by lay Catholic Luis Fernando Figari in 1971 and was acknowledged as a society of apostolic life, approved by Pope John Paul II in 1997. With a reputation of being a conservative and elitist organization, it has male and female branches, besides lay movements.

Despite church interventions on…

The women spent hours recounting painful memories to investigators with the Maryland Office of the Attorney General. They told of the priests who pulled them out of class at Archbishop Keough High School 50 years ago, then brutally raped and sexually assaulted them.

But when the attorney general’s office released its massive report on sex abuse in Baltimore’s Catholic archdiocese in April, the two women were shocked. Their stories were there on page 258, but a key detail was missing: the name of one of the men who they say raped them.

The report names more than 150 clergy and archdiocesan personnel accused of perpetrating or covering up abuse, with 15 names redacted. But this man’s name was not in the report. He was described only as “the Jesuit intern.”

The women, who asked to remain anonymous, shared their story with The Baltimore Banner. They allege that the young Jesuit is…

The Diocese of Syracuse, New York, announced on Thursday that it will pay $100 million to a victims’ trust fund for survivors of clergy sexual abuse, just over three years after it had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The diocese will contribute $50 million to the trust, while parishes will contribute $45 million. Five million dollars will be contributed by other diocesan entities.

The agreement of the dollar amount was made with a group representing all victims who brought suits against the diocese called the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which is entirely made up of victims who as children were sexually abused by clergy or employees in the Diocese of Syracuse.

In a joint statement with the diocese and the committee, Dr. Kevin Braney, the committee’s chairman, said: “This settlement is a significant step forward in the healing process for over 400 victims in this case.”

The statement said…

Catholic churches and schools across Central New York will have to make hard decisions about how to pay the bill for decades of sexual abuse and coverups at the hands of priests.

Under a new settlement reached between the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, the parishes and schools are responsible for half of the $100 million that will be paid out to victims and their families. The rest — $50 million — will be paid by the diocese.

“It’s not going to be easy, but it’s doable,” said Danielle L. Cummings, a spokeswoman for the diocese.

The 116 parishes will be responsible for $45 million; the 21 schools, 10 missions and Catholic Charities will have to pay $5 million, Cummings said.

The money cannot come from the Hope Appeal, an amount each parish is required to raise for the diocese each year.

…

NEW YORK – Roughly three years after the Diocese of Syracuse, New York, filed for bankruptcy following a wave of clergy sex abuse lawsuits, it has reached a $100 million settlement with survivors.

Announcing the news to the Diocese of Syracuse faithful, Bishop Douglas Lucia offered an apology to the clergy sex abuse survivors for what they endured, and a commitment to further strengthen the diocese’s safe environment protocols so that “the past does not repeat itself.”

“I can tell you as shocking as the settlement amount may seem to leaders of our own parishes and other Catholic entities, more appalling and heart-rending to me is the pain and mistreatment experienced by the survivors of child and adult sexual abuse at the hands of those they thought they could trust,” Lucia said.

“As the present leader of the Roman Catholic Church of Syracuse, I cannot apologize enough for the abuse…

A former Bishop of Oxford said it had proved impossible to ‘lance the boil’ of a vicar who organised ‘naked sauna’ sessions with his parishioners and who in a new report is said to have ‘spiritually abused’ his congregation.

Lord Harries’ comments came as a safeguarding report by the Diocese of Oxford concluded that Rev Michael Hall was a manipulative bully who abused his parishioners at St Margaret’s Church in Tylers Green, near High Wycombe.

Rev Hall, who died in 2021, was the priest in charge of the Buckinghamshire parish church for two decades until his retirement in 2000.

Although Church of England officials had received a number of complaints about Rev Hall’s behaviour going back decades, it was only after the suicide of one of Rev Hall’s former parishioners in 2020 that the Diocese of Oxford commissioned a safeguarding review.

The young man had lived with the vicar after Hall ‘alienated…

Note: This story has been updated to better detail Gooden’s background.

A former bishop with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, boy scout leader and lawyer from central Pennsylvania is facing several charges including the rape of a person less than 13 years old.

Pennsylvania State Police say Shawn Gooden sexually abused a 12-year-old while on a camping trip in Pennsylvania with the victim and the victim’s brother in 2000.

Last week Gooden pleaded guilty to charges in Virginia for assaulting a child in the 1990s and early 2000, according to abc27.

Records show that a camping reservation was made for Shawn Gooden at French Creek State Park in April 2000.

In a 2023 interview with state police, the victim said the sexual abuse started as a game of truth or dare. State police say at some point,…

The former Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, has been banned from preaching in Newcastle.

The Bishop of Newcastle said she made the decision because of his rejection of a report on child sex abuse allegations concerning a former priest.

The Right Reverend Dr Helen-Ann Hartley said it had been “inconsistent” with the safeguarding “tone and culture” she expected.

Lord Sentamu and his office have been approached for comment.

The report in question relates to former priest Trevor Devamanikkam, who was accused of raping a teenager in the 1980s.

Matt Ineson, who has waived his legal right to anonymity, claimed church leaders did not act when he reported the alleged abuse nearly 30 years later.

Mr Devamanikkam took his own life a day before he was due to appear in court in 2017 on sex assault charges.

The Church of England’s report into the allegations and the church’s response – the Learning Lessons Review…

A Catholic priest has appeared in court in Enniskillen on sex abuse charges.

Canon Patrick McEntee, 69, with an address at Esker Road, Dromore, Co Tyrone, is accused of sexual assaulting two males on separate dates in the late 1980s and 1990s.

He spoke only briefly during the short court appearance to confirm that he understood the charges.

A detective constable told the court she believed she could connect him to the charges.

A prosecutor told the court the file was at an early stage.

The accused was released on his own bail of £500 and ordered to reside at an address provided to court.

He was also told not to have any contact with either complainant, either directly or indirectly, or with any person under the age of 16.

Canon McEntee is a former president of St Michael’s College in Enniskillen, where he was a long-standing staff member.

Most recently…

A County Tyrone priest has appeared in court charged with indecent assault against two males.

Canon Patrick McEntee, 69, from Esker Road in Dromore, is a former teacher, governor and college president at St Michael’s College in Enniskillen.

He is charged with indecently assaulting one male between 1980 and 1981.

He is further accused of indecently assaulting a second male between 1988 and 1989.

Canon McEntee appeared at Enniskillen Magistrates Court where he was asked if he understood the charges and he replied: “I do, yes.”

A police officer confirmed she could connect him to the charges.

The court was told that the prosecution file is at an early stage.

Canon McEntee was released on his own bail of £500.

Taught religious studies

The district judge told him that he must have no contact directly or indirectly with the injured parties.

He was also told not to have contact with…

A Co Tyrone priest who requested a leave of absence earlier this year while a serious safeguarding investigation was carried out has appeared in court on historic sexual offences against two males.

Canon Patrick McEntee (69) from Esker Road, Dromore is charged with indecently assaulting a complainant between 1980 and 1981.

He is further alleged to have twice indecently assaulted a second complainant on dates between 1988 and 1989.

A police officer aware of the facts of the case told Enniskillen Magistrates Court the charges could be connected.

Canon McEntee spoke only to confirm his identity and that he understood the charges against him.

No details surrounding the circumstances of the alleged offences were disclosed during the short hearing.

Deputy District Judge Austin Kennedy remanded the accused on continuing bail of £500 and ordered Canon McEntee to reside only at his current address.

He is also banned from all contact…

A priest has appeared in court accused of three sexual assaults on males in the 1980s.

Canon Patrick MacEntee, 69, from Esker Road in Dromore, County Tyrone, was brought before a district judge at Enniskillen Court.

He’s accused of indecently assaulting a male between 1980 and 1981.

He’s further accused of two indecent assaults on a second male on dates between 1988 and 1989.

It is believed the alleged offences relate to the priest’s time in County Fermanagh.

In court, he spoke only to confirm he understood the charges against him.

A detective told the court police believe they can connect the accused to the charges.

Canon MacEntee was released on his own bail of £500 and ordered not to contact the alleged injured parties, nor to have any contact with under-16s.

Canon MacEntee – who hails from County Monaghan – is a senior cleric within the Catholic Diocese of…

A proposed $200 million state fund meant to help public schools and voluntary foster care agencies cover the costs of resolving Child Victims Act lawsuits remains stalled in the State Legislature, more than a year after the bill was introduced.

Some school districts and their advocates have called for New York to set aside money to at least partially reimburse their expenses in these legal settlements. They argue students today shouldn’t be penalized for purported sexual misconduct by teachers and other school employees from decades ago.

“Justice should have been delivered at the time, and that’s the real problem here,” said Assembly Member Bill Conrad, a Town of Tonawanda Democrat and longtime teacher who backs the fund.

Skeptics agree with the general idea, but say setting aside a pool of state money now could take the districts’ insurance carriers off the hook or unduly influence the outcome of settlement negotiations….

Parishioners at Santa María de la Paz Catholic Community in south Santa Fe cried while others sat in stunned silence when Archbishop John C. Wester delivered the devastating news at the start of each Sunday Mass a year ago.

The head of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe informed churchgoers the Rev. Daniel Balizan, a charismatic pastor and their shepherd for the past decade, had been removed from his post amid an investigation into alleged misconduct.

“Our mouths dropped. People were crying. We were like, ‘What in the world?’ ” recalled Stephanie Roybal, director of the lector ministry and a parishioner since 2001.

“We were just like in shock,” she said. “It was extremely hard.”

Parishioners’ feelings of sadness and shock resurfaced late last month when federal authorities announced the arrest of the 61-year-old priest, accused of using text messages to coerce and entice a minor to engage in sex —…

Pope Francis heads to Portugal next week for a global gathering of young Catholics as the country grapples with a report into decades of sexual abuse of children by members of the Church.

The 86-year-old pontiff arrives in Lisbon on Wednesday and is expected to meet in private with victims of clergy abuse during his five-day visit to attend World Youth Day.

Organisers expect up to one million people will take part in the event which is being held for the first time since 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It comes after an independent commission published a report in February that found “at least” 4,815 children were sexually abused by clergy members in the country — mostly priests — since 1950.

The inquiry, based on testimony from more than 500 victims, concluded Portugal’s Church hierarchy “systematically” tried to conceal the abuse.

The results of the inquiry, commissioned by the…

[Includes videos]

More than three decades after the singer ripped up a picture of the pope to protest child abuse, history has proven her right

IN 1992, AFTER Sinéad O’Connor ripped apart a photo of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live in protest of the Catholic church ignoring child abuse, Frank Sinatra called her “one stupid broad” and said he would “kick her ass if she were a guy.” The following week’s SNL host, Joe Pesci, who was in full GoodFellas mode, pasted the photo back together and said if he’d been on her episode, “I woulda gave her such a smack.” He held up the back of his hand to the audience’s audible delight. Even Madonna, who was trying to shock the world at the time with her Sex book and Erotica album, criticized O’Connor for “ripping up an image that means a lot to other people.” 

But for abuse survivors within the…

A village in Tamil Nadu has outcast a Christian man and his family for helping a sexual abuse victim file complaint. The victim, a minor boy, was sexually abused by the local church priest. The man helped him file a complaint through Childline and since then he has reportedly been receiving threats and lost business.

Arul Francis, a native of Sanarpatti in the Dindigul district, filed a petition with the district collector seeking action against those who outcast his family. Francis had helped a 7th-grade boy in his neighbourhood file a complaint against Adaikala Raj, the parish priest of Arogya Annai church. As per details mentioned in his petition, the boy serves as an altar boy in the local church and the priest sexually assaulted him while in an intoxicated state.

The priest threatened him not to reveal it to anyone saying that even if he goes to…

The Vatican is set to decide if they’ll kick out a pervert Scots priest, we can reveal.

Officials in Rome will rule on beast Father Neil McGarrity, 59, who was convicted six months ago of molesting four girls.

He remains suspended after the leader of Catholics in Glasgow, Archbishop William Nolan, referred his case to his bosses.

A source told The Scottish Sun on Sunday: “McGarrity’s conduct was investigated by church authorities here.

“It’s almost certain he will never say Mass again, wear vestments or call himself Father.

“But it’s the Vatican that has the final say on officially expelling him from the priesthood.

“McGarrity can cut that process short by applying himself to be ‘laicised’.

“It would mean he’d leave the priesthood voluntarily.

“Given the evidence against him, he should do that.”

The disgraced clergyman faces being defrocked once proceedings are concluded.

But he is still listed as a…

Dapper, ripped and very cool Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz ultimately was not disgraced by his deceptions, sexual affairs and banishment from the pulpit of the megawatt Pentecostal church: He was re-graced.

And if the entire Christian church, far too often caught up in a spirituality that is not as transforming as we may think (and that in fact may keep us from confronting difficult questions about ourselves), watched Lentz’s interviews in “The Secrets of Hillsong,” it could start to become re-graced too.

The FX/Vanity Fair documentary series, released in May, follows the rise of Hillsong from a small Australian church affiliated with the Assemblies of God to a multi-country megachurch whose signature appeal is impassioned, relatable preaching and Grammy-winning praise and worship music. At its peak Hillsong had churches in 30 cities worldwide with an average attendance of 150,000 people weekly.

Writing for America, Michael Charboneau described a Hillsong service as filled with pulsing…

A Thompson Township pastor was sentenced to two years in prison Friday morning for sexually abusing his daughters.

Dennis Laferty plead guilty to two counts of gross sexual imposition and one count of sexual imposition June 22.

Laferty, 37, was indicted following an investigation by detectives into allegations of sexual abuse involving minors between Nov. 30 2019 and Jan. 30.

Laferty was the pastor at the Thompson United Methodist Church. The church now has a new name and pastor

According to the Thompson United Methodist Church Admin Council, Laferty has since been suspended as pastor.

Laferty will register as a Tier II sex offender.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has requested about $1.2 million to hire lawyers and investigators who will help the office prosecute police killings and respond to allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church.

The Board of Public Works, which comprises the governor, comptroller and treasurer and approves state spending, is expected to vote Wednesday on the attorney general’s request.

It’s not yet clear how the three board members will vote, but funding is available for the eight positions, according to the Department of Budget and Management.

A spokesperson for Treasurer Dereck Davis wrote in an email that Davis “doesn’t typically share his voting intentions prior to the meeting.”

Gov. Wes Moore and Comptroller Brooke Lierman also declined through spokespeople to say how they intend to vote.

Brown has requested about $606,000 for two attorneys, an investigator and a paralegal/evidence analyst to bulk up a division that, beginning Oct. 1,  View Cache

The president of the archdiocese’s fundraising board said he’s worried about how the archdiocese can survive such a long, costly bankruptcy.

High-priced lawyers on both sides of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ bankruptcy case have created interminable delays and run up “utterly ridiculous” fees, according to a clergy abuse survivor who was a key part of court proceedings that have dragged on for three-and-a-half years with no end in sight.

James Adams is a banker and devout Catholic, who served as president of the archdiocese’s fundraising board, Catholic Community Foundation. He said he’s worried about how the archdiocese can survive such a long, costly bankruptcy.

But he’s also a victim of child sexual abuse who alleges Father James Collery molested him at St. Ann School in Metairie in 1980, when he was 10. Adams was selected to lead a committee of claimants into negotiations with the archdiocese after it filed…

35-year limitations period not retroactive for cases brought vs. ‘non-perpetrators’

The Rhode Island Supreme Court has found that lawsuits brought by three men accusing officials of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence of protecting priests who abused them as children were barred by the three-year statute of limitations for personal injury.

The plaintiffs, who all allege that they were abused by priests in the 1970s and early 1980s, claim the bishop at the time, Louis Gelineau, and other authorities and entities within the diocese knew the priests were pedophiles and, among other things, declined to warn families while moving offending priests to new parishes.

A Superior Court judge dismissed their claims as time-barred, finding that  G.L.§9-1-51, which created a 35-year statute of limitations for child sex-abuse lawsuits, did not apply retroactively to lawsuits brought against “non-perpetrator” defendants who did not engage in or aid and abet the actual abuse.

The…

A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA for short) is a legal covenant that binds its parties to not disclose particular information covered under the terms of the agreement.

They originated during the tech boom of the 1970s and 1980s as a way to protect intellectual property (trade secrets, proprietary information etc.) from getting into the wrong hands. But they have increasingly been used—even at times by churches and Christian organizations—in situations where there are allegations of serious power abuse, such as bullying, discrimination, harassment, sexual abuse, or assault. Such “Abuse NDAs”, as I’m labelling them here, are used to silence complainants and cover up incriminating information.

Abuse NDAs are an offense to God, and an assault on the dignity of his image bearers. Here are ten reasons why.

1. They silence victims

Abuse NDAs silence victims. They are used to stop victims of abuse from speaking about what has happened to them. 

…

The Society of Jesus on Monday released a letter on the case of Fr. Marko Rupnik, the disgraced religious artist and priest who was expelled from the order earlier this year, after dozens of accusations of sexual abuse of religious sisters came to light against him.

The letter, signed by Fr. Johan Verschueren, S.J., the Jesuits’ superior for the society’s international houses in Rome, explained that since the legal window for appeal has now closed, Rupnik is now definitively expelled from the society. 

The artist does, however, remain a priest — albeit without faculties to minister until, and unless, he can find a benevolent bishop or religious order to take him in. 

That Rupnik has not been laicized remains a point of scandal for many Catholics, given the decades of serious allegations he faces, as Verschueren acknowledged. 

“Many have asked us why a process that could lead to the…

The Vatican City’s promoter of justice asked judges Wednesday to sentence Cardinal Angelo Becciu to more than 7 years in prison, as he made closing arguments in the landmark financial crimes trial. 

But do prosecutors really have a case against Becciu? 

In his argument July 26, Alessandro Diddi spent the day focused on Becciu, the former sostituto of the secretariat, whose defense Diddi described as “masterpieces of falsification and mystification of reality.” 

The cardinal, in turn, has declared his “absolute innocence” and himself to be “a faithful servant of the Church” who has “suffered in silence” throughout a process he’s called a witch hunt and media smear campaign. 

Away from the courtroom hyperbole, though, there is perhaps one thing on which Becciu and Diddi would agree: The case is complicated.

According to the official charge sheet, he is accused of embezzlement and abuse of office, conspiracy, as well as the…

A Catholic priest working in Peterborough, Ont., faces charges of sexual offences involving a youth following an investigation by police.

According to the Peterborough Police Service, the investigation led to the arrest of a man on Wednesday.

Neil Pereira, 33, of Peterborough, was charged with sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference.

Police note sexual interference is when a person, for a sexual purpose, touches, directly or indirectly, with a part of the body or with an object, any part of the body of a person under the age of 16 years.

His name was released as police stated “the nature of the offences lead us to concerns there may be other victims.”

Pereira is ordained with the Roman Catholic Church and has been working in the city of Peterborough since late 2022.

“Investigators are in contact with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peterborough, who are cooperating with investigators,” police stated…

Independent prosecutor will now decide whether to prosecute such offenses.

U.S. President Joe Biden signed a “historic” executive order on Friday that will change how the military handles sexual assault cases, the White House said.

Biden, in a Twitter post, called the action an “important step forward.”

“Gender-based violence is an affront to our shared humanity. And sexual assault in the military shreds the unity essential to national defense,” Biden said. He added, “Keeping our country safe starts with prioritizing the safety of those who serve.”

The executive order amends the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) by transferring key decision-making powers from commanders to specialized, independent military prosecutors in cases of sexual assault, domestic violence, murder, child abuse and other serious offenses. The changes, which implement reforms passed by Congress last year, mark “the most significant transformation” of the U.S. military justice system since the UCMJ was established in…

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse on Thursday announced a $100 million settlement with people who say they were sexual abuse victims as part of its bankruptcy proceedings.

Catholic dioceses around the state are dealing with a surge of lawsuits dating to when New York temporarily suspended the statute of limitations to give people who say they were victims of childhood sexual abuse the ability to pursue decades-old allegations.

“I can tell you as shocking as the settlement amount may seem to leaders of our own parishes and other Catholic entities, more appalling and heart-rending to me is the pain and mistreatment experienced by the survivors of child and adult sexual abuse at the hands of those they thought they could trust,” Bishop Douglas Lucia wrote in an open letter Thursday.

The Syracuse diocese, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020, said there are 411 claims involving 387 people, with some…

In 1992, Sinéad O’Connor destroyed a photo of Pope John Paul II on U.S. national television. The pushback was swift, turning the late Irish singer-songwriter’s protest of sex abuse in the Catholic Church into a career-altering flashpoint.

More than 30 years later, her “Saturday Night Live” performance and its stark collision of popular culture and religious statement is remembered by some as an offensive act of desecration. But for others — including survivors of clergy sex abuse — O’Connor’s protest was prophetic, forecasting the global denomination’s public reckoning that was, at that point, yet to come. O’Connor, 56, died Wednesday.

The SNL moment stunned David Clohessy, a key early member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. In his 30s at the time, he had only recently recalled the repressed memories of the abuse he suffered. He found O’Connor’s act deeply moving. It was…

A U.S.-based group issued a list Thursday of 16 Mexican bishops and high-ranking clerics who allegedly covered up for priests accused of sexual abuse.

Massachusetts-based BishopAccountability is a non-profit organization that keeps track of how the Catholic hierarchy deals with allegations of sexual abuse by clergy.

The group said Thursday that the Roman Catholic Church officials, some now retired, had “covered up for” abusers.

“We have now identified some leaders of the Catholic Church who appear to have covered, covered up for, abusers and discarded their victims,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, of BishopAccountability.org.

The list included Cardinals Norberto Rivera Carrera and Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, and Archbishops José Martín Rábago, Fabio Martínez Castilla, Felipe Aguirre Franco, Luis Morales Reyes, and Rafael Romo Muñoz.

A representative of the Mexican Council of Bishops said the claims were based on news reports without formal complaints or legal cases.

Archbishops Franco Coppola, a former papal…

In Ireland, Ms. O’Connor spoke out about abuse and the complicity of religious institutions. When she came to the United States, many were not ready to hear her — yet.

Americans began to grapple with a nationwide epidemic of child abuse in Catholic parishes and other religious organizations in 2002, after a landmark Boston Globe investigation revealed a pattern of misdeeds and cover-ups in Boston that went back decades.

Ten years earlier, Sinead O’Connor became a pop culture pariah in the United States for an on-air protest intended to raise awareness of the same problem.

The backlash to her actions — tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live” and then shouting “Fight the real enemy!” — was swift.

Prominent Americans, including celebrities like Madonna and Joe Pesci, denounced her. Protesters brought a 30-ton steamroller to crush her cassettes in Rockefeller Center. Catholic…

Assets transferred to the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation have remained out of reach in N.Y. claims involving Catholic church sexual abuse victims.

Attorneys representing the interests of more than 1,100 former employees of the now-closed St. Clare’s Hospital in Schenectady have asked a federal bankruptcy judge for authority to subpoena documents and testimony regarding the Catholic church’s sale of a lucrative insurance business that had been controlled by New York’s bishops.

The 2018 sale of the Fidelis Care insurance company took place months before New York’s Child Victims Act passed, allowing alleged survivors of childhood sexual assault to sue their abusers or the institutions that may have harbored them. Attorneys for some of those plaintiffs have questioned the timing of the sale and whether it was done to shield billions of dollars in assets before New York’s eight dioceses faced an avalanche of litigation.

Six of New York’s eight Catholic…

Police in the southwestern Indian state of Karnataka have arrested a Catholic priest for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenager at a church-run school where he serves as principal, though his local bishop is defending the cleric as a “very reliable, committed and upright man.”

Father Francis Fernandes, the principal of the Sacred Heart Pre-University, located in the Diocese of Shimoga in Karnataka, was arrested July 21 after allegations of sexual harassment were presented by a minor whose identity has been withheld.

A case under India’s “Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act” was filed by police against the priest, as well as charge of “caste abuse” under a 2016 “Prevention of Atrocities Act,” reflecting the fact that the minor girl who made the accusations is a member of the Banjara community, a traditionally nomadic group with a strong presence in the region.

Members of the Banjara community gathered outside the…

While the Catholic Church in the U.S., Australia and some other countries began coming to terms with their clergy sexual abuse legacies years ago and set up mechanisms to compensate victims, the hierarchy in Portugal has only recently offered an account and bungled its initial response to victims.

Pope Francis will meet with abuse survivors during his upcoming trip to Lisbon for World Youth Day, and will likely hear complaints that the Portuguese hierarchy initially refused to entertain compensation options for victims outside court.

Here’s a look at the countries that have articulated plans for providing financial reparations to victims beyond legal judgments or settlements.

GERMANY

The German church has been making voluntary payments to abuse survivors for over a decade, though the amounts offered haven’t satisfied groups representing victims. A system that took effect in 2021 provided for payments of up to 50,000 euros ($55.400) per…

She broke out with the single “Nothing Compares 2 U,” then caused an uproar a few years later by ripping up a photo of Pope John Paul II on “S.N.L.”

Sinead O’Connor, the outspoken Irish singer-songwriter known for her powerful, evocative voice, as showcased on her biggest hit, a breathtaking rendition of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” and for her political provocations onstage and off, has died. She was 56.

Her longtime friend Bob Geldof, the Irish musician and activist, confirmed her death, as did her family in a statement, according to the BBC and the Irish public broadcaster RTE.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinead,” the statement said. “Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.”

On Thursday, the police in London said that Ms. O’Connor’s body had been found on Wednesday at a…

Singer who shot to global superstardom with a song by Prince, Nothing Compares 2 U, one of the biggest-selling singles of 1990

By her own account, the childhood of the musician Sinéad O’Connor, who has died aged 56, was more than usually difficult: her parents split when she was young and, against her wishes, she was sent to live with her mother, who she said physically abused her and encouraged her to shoplift. The stealing led to the 14-year-old Sinéad spending 18 months at a training centre that had previously been one of Dublin’s notorious church-affiliated Magdalene laundries.

Although she was unhappy, O’Connor credited it with saving her life. It was there that she received her first guitar and a “punk-rock parka”, gifts from a sympathetic nun. This basic kit instilled the idea of music as a career; a decade later, O’Connor topped charts around the world with the single…

When a panel of experts read aloud some of the harrowing accounts they had collected from recently discovered victims of child sex abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church, the country’s senior bishops squirmed in the auditorium’s front-row seats.

During a live television broadcast, the experts reported in February that at least 4,815 boys and girls had been abused since 1950, most aged 10-14.

Before the stunning findings, senior Portuguese church officials had maintained there had been only a handful of cases of clergy sex abuse. They lost even more credibility with a response so clumsy and hesitant that victims were inspired to form Portugal’s first survivor advocacy group to press for compensation.

Pope Francis will wade into the quagmire of Portugal’s reckoning with its legacy of clergy abuse and cover-up when he arrives in Lisbon next Wednesday to participate in World Youth Day,…

On June 1, the Vatican accepted the resignation of Indian Bishop Franco Mulakkal, almost five years after police arrested him on charges of raping a nun. 

The Vatican “requested” his resignation, said a statement from the apostolic nunciature in India, adding that this action should not be seen as a “disciplinary measure imposed upon” the bishop.

The Mulakkal case has once again revived the demand for speedy and transparent action into allegations of clerical abuse in India as delays can lead to embarrassment for  Christians, who make up 2.3 percent in the Hindu majority nation of 1.4 billion people.

The Vatican’s move in the Mulakkal case came 18 months after a lower court acquitted him, and when an appeal against the acquittal is pending in a higher court.

Mulakkal is the fourth Catholic bishop to resign over allegations of sexual abuse in India — all in the…

In a recent podcast, Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of Tyler, Texas, denied any wrongdoing related to the Vatican inquiry into his conduct and that of his diocese and said the recent apostolic visitation was “not fun.” 

The Vatican’s delegates were “looking at everything,” Strickland told a prerecorded show of the “Bishop Strickland Hour,” scheduled to be broadcast by Virgin Most Powerful Internet Radio on July 25.

“There have been some administrative issues, and I’m sure people are concerned,” the bishop said. “I’m sure there are people saying that there must be something really bad, and something’s really gone wrong for this apostolic visitation [to happen].”

“I’ve got nothing to hide,” he said in a show excerpt posted to YouTube.

Strickland said the apostolic visitation was “not fun” and compared it to “being called to the principal’s office.”

An apostolic visitation is a specific form of canonical visitation…

A court in Vatican City has set a date for hearing the lawsuit filed by the former auditor general Libero Milone, and set a deadline for lawyers to make written submissions before judges hear their oral arguments.

Milone, the first-ever person to hold the office of auditor general for the Holy See, has argued he was forced from office by senior Vatican officials because he found evidence of widespread corruption, including among serving cardinals. He was originally joined in the suit by his former deputy, Ferrucio Panicco, who died last month of cancer, after blaming Vatican officials for seizing personal medical records which delayed his treatment. 

The eventual day in court could prove pivotal: Milone has submitted to the court hundreds of pages of documents he claims prove financial corruption by senior cardinals, which he has threatened to release publicly in the event he determines he cannot get a fair…

Cardinal Angelo Becciu insisted again Tuesday that he was innocent of all charges as the Vatican’s long-running finance trial continued to draw to a close. 

“I am innocent and I will not tire of repeating it,” he said in a July 25 statement. “I am innocent not only because I never stole a penny nor did I enrich myself or my family members. The investigators’ thorough checks on our bank accounts have proven it.”

The cardinal, who is accused of fraud, embezzlement, abuse of office, conspiracy, and attempting to pervert the course of justice, issued the statement as Alessandro Diddi, the Vatican City State’s promoter of justice, renewed his summing up the case against the trial’s 10 defendants. 

The court case revolves around a luxury property deal in London, England, which the prosecutor said had lost the Vatican up to 189 million euros (around $212 million).

After two weeks of…

The U.S. Center for SafeSport said it is willing to work with the U.S. Soccer Athletes Council to address concerns about the organization tasked with protecting athletes from abuse.

The U.S. Soccer Athletes Council sent a letter to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives this week signed by more than 100 current and former national team players, including the entire U.S. team playing in the Women’s World Cup.

“As athletes, we want to take a lead in collaborating with Congress and National Governing Bodies of Sport in order to create a safe and supportive environment that allows soccer players — and all other athletes in the Olympic movement — to thrive both on and off the field. We are committed to working with you and other stakeholders to make the necessary changes to ensure that players are safe and protected from abuse. And that means that…

The athletic director of Kolbe Cathedral High School has been charged with sexually assaulting one of his former female students, police said.

Roderick Ricketts, 44, who has also served as a physical education teacher and coach at the Roman Catholic high school since 2003, was charged by Stratford police with fourth-degree sexual assault.

He was released after posting $50,000 bond pending arraignment on Monday in Superior Court. Ricketts’ lawyer, John R. Gulash, declined comment.

Police said a 19-year-old woman complained that Ricketts molested her on June 7 while she was babysitting his children at his Stratford home.

“The diocese has been made aware that Mr. Rod Ricketts, athletic director at Kolbe High School, has turned himself in to Stratford Police relating to a charge of 4th degree sexual assault,” diocese spokesperson Brian Wallace said. “He has denied the allegation and has fully cooperated with police. Mr. Ricketts, a 20-year employee of Kolbe…

Editor’s Note: In support of the sixth strategic action of Vision 2025 adopted by messengers to the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting, Baptist Press will continue to report every instance of sexual abuse related to Southern Baptist churches, entities, institutions or leaders of which we are made aware.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP) – A school volunteer in Missouri was arrested earlier this month on sex-related charges. Jennifer Cecil was a volunteer at a local Christian school and a member of Concord Baptist Church in Jefferson City. The school, Lighthouse Preparatory Academy, is not affiliated with Concord Baptist Church.

Cecil was charged with first-degree sexual abuse, sexual contact with a student, second-degree statutory rape and second-degree statutory sodomy, according to local media reports. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges and posted $15,000 bond.

Concord Baptist released a statement after learning of the alleged abuse. One of the church’s pastors received a…

Sabrina Bittencourt, a Brazillian activist whose investigation led to John’s arrest, had stated that her organization has spoken to couples on 3 different continents who have claimed that they bought babies from John for as much as $50,000.

On a fateful day, July 10, 2023, the courtroom was filled with a mix of anticipation and despair as the notorious Brazilian faith healer, João Teixeira de Faria, commonly known as ‘John of God,’ received an additional sentence of 99 years for his heinous sexual crimes. The air was heavy with the weight of justice as the judge declared him guilty of the ‘rape of vulnerable persons’ and ‘sexual violation through fraud’ against eight victims who sought his spiritual help between 2010 and 2018.

The sentence brought his total prison time to an unprecedented 370 years, 9 months, and 15 days. Additionally, he has been ordered to pay R$ 100…

Healing cannot begin without transformative and restorative justice, hundreds of Catholics involved in Native American ministry were told.

Nearly 400 people gathered for four days starting July 19 for the Tekakwitha Conference, which aims to be the “voice, presence and identity” of indigenous Catholics of North America and is named for St. Kateri Tekakwitha.

The theme of this year’s conference was “gathering for healing through living waters,” but keynote speaker Samuel Torres, deputy chief executive officer of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, said healing cannot take place until there is justice. Torres is Nahua, who are indigenous to Mexico.

“Truth and justice have to be where we begin for that healing to be realized,” Torres said. “It is going to require generations of care and attention to attain restoration and perhaps reconciliation. But it is worthy of our…

An 83-year-old former pastor has been charged with the kidnapping and murder of a neighboring pastor’s daughter in 1975, Pennsylvania officials announced Monday.

The suspect, David Zandstra, was arrested on July 17 in Cobb County, Georgia, where investigators say he confessed to killing 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington nearly five decades ago when he was a pastor in Marple Township, Pennsylvania, according to the Delaware County District Attorney’s office in Pennsylvania.

His confession came after investigators presented him with new evidence gathered early this year, which came from an interview with a confidential informant and a diary entry the informant wrote in 1975 when she was a 10-year-old girl, the district attorney’s office said in a news release.

Zandstra has been charged with criminal homicide, murder, kidnapping of a minor and the possession of an instrument of crime, the release said.

“Justice has been a long time coming, but…

We’re doing something a bit different today. Much of this blog exposes what the Catholic hierarchy does wrong regarding child sex crimes and cover-ups. Today, however, we highlight a handful of church officials taking small but perhaps significant steps in the right direction. As noted, most Catholic bishops disclose the bare minimum of information about their child-molesting clerics. But a few precious bishops provide the public with more than the bare minimum. These men deserve mention. 

1: Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento stands out in at least three ways regarding his ‘credibly accused’ list. He includes a category called “last known location.” (This helps prevent future child sex crimes.) He lists not only the year of birth for each predator but also where he was born. (This helps minimize the chance of a non-predator being confused with a predator.) He also provides the most details about a clerics’…

A bishop who was forced out of office because he covered up clergy sex abuse wants to minister in St. Louis. Catholic officials should not let this happen.

Bishop Richard Stika just resigned, in part, because of considerable controversy over how he dealt with two recent predatory clerics in his Knoxville diocese.*

Stika has publicly said that he plans to move home and do some church work in his native St. Louis (where, for years, he played a prominent role in dealing with predator priests).

If this happens, it will be a reckless and callous move. St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski should immediately and public prohibit Stika from working here. If he refuses, Pope Francis should do this.

Here’s why: Those who commit abuse largely CANNOT be deterred. They are driven by a deeply-rooted, extraordinarily strong compulsion that overpowers their capability to think rationally. But those who conceal abuse CAN be deterred. But only…

The Jesuits on July 24 said that a famous artist priest is definitively expelled from the religious order for sexually, spiritually and psychologically abusing women, and lamented they couldn’t prosecute him more vigorously under the Vatican’s internal procedures.

The priest and artist Father Marko Rupnik, accused of the physical and psychological abuse of numerous religious sisters, was dismissed from the Jesuits last month according to the religious order. In a June 15 statement from the Society of Jesus, Rupnik was expelled due to his “stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience.”

In response to complaints that Rupnik is still a priest, Father Johan Verschueren, Communication Officer Jesuit Curia (Rome) stated that the Vatican’s current laws “precluded an investigation that could have led to a harsher penalty,” according to the AP. In June 2021, the Vatican updated its regulations to make clergy abuse of…

In June of 2023, the Diocese of Oakland tried to use the federal bankruptcy court to conceal the names of priests accused of sexual abuse—even those still working with children and posing a public safety threat.

According to NBCBayArea:

“Attorneys representing the Diocese of Oakland in its ongoing bankruptcy case are seeking to seal the names of priests and other church employees accused of sexually abusing children or aiding in alleged cover-ups.”

“The Diocese’s attorneys declined an interview request from NBC Bay Area at a hearing Tuesday but argued in a recent motion that confidentiality will protect accused clergy against the disclosure of a ‘scandalous’ and deeply personal matter in publicly filed court documents.”

Oakland’s Threat to Public Safety

Keeping the names of predators accused in our civil justice system is a public safety threat. Need proof? Two days after the diocese attempted to seal names, NBCBayArea reported that two…