ABUSE TRACKER

South Carolina’s Supreme Court is considering whether the Catholic Diocese of Charleston is exempt from paying damages resulting from lawsuits after an anonymous man accused the diocese of covering up his sexual abuse at the hands of two teachers in the 1970s. 

The case stems from a lawsuit filed in 2018 against the diocese and the local bishop by an unnamed man from Charleston.

According to the filing, the “John Doe” alleges that two teachers sexually assaulted him in 1970 while he was a student at what was then called Sacred Heart Catholic School.

In his lawsuit, the man asserted claims for relief based on the alleged sexual abuse at the school operated by the respondents named in the complaint. 

The diocese has claimed charitable immunity, arguing that under this legal doctrine, it is exempt from having to pay damages based on the conduct of its staff members. 

…

View Cache

The alleged abuse took place when the child was between 10 and 12 years old, and got to know the priest through church youth activities.

A man claims that a Catholic priest sexually abused him at a Wayne church more than 30 years ago, in a lawsuit against the church and the Diocese of Paterson.

The plaintiff was 10 to 12 years old at the time and is suing Our Lady of the Valley Church for negligence, according to a northjersey.com report.

He alleges that Father Raymond J. Conlin had “unpermitted sexual contact” with him between the years of 1988 and 1991, while he was participating in youth activities at the church.

The lawsuit, which also lists five unnamed church employees, claimed the plaintiff was pressured to stay silent and that church leaders did not do enough to prevent the abuse. It also claims that the…

View Cache

Several clergy abuse victims confronted the Diocese of Oakland’s bishop in a U.S. bankruptcy courtroom on Friday, describing in searing detail how they were groomed, raped and “terrorized” for decades by Catholic priests across the East Bay.

The testimonials capped a two-day hearing for 15 clergy sexual assault victims to air their allegations in court while the Diocese of Oakland seeks to settle roughly 350 lawsuits filed against it in recent years. Last month, the diocese’s proposed paying at least $117 million into a trust for those victims over the next several years — an offer the victims’ attorneys roundly panned as “a scam and a sham.”

On Friday, several abuse victims stared directly at Bishop Michael C. Barber — sitting mere feet away — while imploring the diocese to do right by the hundreds of victims suing the church. Some of them had not yet…

View Cache

It’s not often we get some good news in the realm of sexual abuse. But recently, there have been a few developments in the often-grim world we address in this blog: the sexual exploitation and assault of others. The very notion that, in this arena of awfulness, there can actually be such a thing as ‘good news, may seem laughable at first. But no matter how depressed you might usually feel when you hear or read about sex crimes against the innocent and vulnerable, in the ‘big picture,’ there are always a few signs of progress.

We at Horowitz Law often find that taking note of those signs of progress can go a long way toward boosting our morale and motivation. We hope you find that to be the case as well:

• Fr. Lawrence Hecker: A 93-year-old New Orleans predator priest is going to jail. Fr. Lawrence Hecker pleaded guilty to…

View Cache

[Includes a 35-minute audio interview with Amanda Householder and David Clohessy.]

The closure of three Christian boarding schools in Missouri since 2020 is only a start, says Amanda Householder, whose parents ran the now-closed Circle of Hope Girls Ranch. Householder reflects on her upbringing at her parents’ unregulated boarding school, what happened after she escaped, and her feelings as her mother, Stephanie Householder, faces numerous charges of child abuse. We also hear from David Clohessy, the former national director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Clohessy shares insights from a career of advocating for abuse victims, and why he is calling on Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to do more to expose other abuse situations in the state’s boarding schools.

Machine-generated transcript:

0:00

support comes from St Louis Public Library Foundation helping the library serve children and their families with

0:06

programs and services needed to…

View Cache

Anthony Odiong to appear Monday in court over charges he abused his position to pursue sex with congregants

A Roman Catholic priest who served under the command of church officials in Texas’s capital and Louisiana’s most famous city is tentatively scheduled to plead guilty Monday in connection to charges that he allegedly abused his position of clerical authority to pursue sex with spiritually vulnerable women whom he encountered during his work, according to criminal court records online.

Attorneys on both sides of the case pending against Anthony Odiong – who was understood to be mulling a plea deal in recent weeks – emphasized the tentative nature of the hearing set for Monday.

Details about exactly what Odiong would plead guilty to if the hearing actually took place – or what his sentence may be – were unavailable on Friday.

A statement from the Waco, Texas, district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting Odiong,…

View Cache

The Archbishop of Cardiff-Menevia has apologised to people who were sexually abused by monks on Caldey Island.

Archbishop Mark O’Toole expressed his regret on behalf of the Catholic Church following the publication of The Caldey Abbey Review into allegations of non-recent childhood sexual abuse within the monastic community of Caldey Abbey, Pembrokeshire.

The archbishop said: “This report is heart-breaking but that heartbreak is nothing compared to the pain, suffering and trauma experienced by the victims/survivors.

“To you, I say how profoundly sorry I am for the abuse you suffered, especially that this happened within the Church and that the Church failed you in its response over so many years.

“I hope that having this opportunity to share your story, and to have it recorded, even after all this time, helps you personally, and especially to know that your anguished cries are finally being heard.

Archbishop O’Toole added: “You are very much in…

View Cache

Monsignor John B. Hagerty headed Prep in 1984-89 and died in 2013. During investigation of allegations, ‘several victims came forward to share their stories of abuse,’ Catholic Diocese of Erie says.

Key Points

• The Catholic Diocese of Erie has updated Monsignor John B. Hagerty’s name on its Public Disclosure List of priests and laypeople to state that he has been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse
• Hagerty, who died 11 years ago at 83, served in other roles in diocese in addition to leading Cathedral Prep
• Hagerty’s family says they have “zero doubt Monsignor is resting peacefully in God’s loving arms”

Nearly a year after it opened an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against a former headmaster of Cathedral Preparatory School, the Catholic Diocese of Erie has determined the claims to be credible.

The diocese has placed the name of Monsignor John B. Hagerty, who led…

View Cache

An internal investigation report commissioned by the Paris Foreign Missions Society revealed 63 allegations of sexual violence perpetrated by the congregation’s priests between 1950 and 2024. However, the number is most likely greater.

An internal investigation report commissioned by the Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP) yielded an initial yet incomplete assessment of how sexual abuse was addressed within the  missionary organization.

Published December 12 by the MEP, the report was conducted by GCPS Consulting, an independent British firm specializing in safeguarding against sexual abuse. It highlighted the urgent need for concrete measures to prevent sexual violence within the MEP.

Founded in 1658, the Paris Foreign Missions Society is a Catholic organization comprised of priests and laypople dedicated to missionary work abroad. The MEP has primarily evangelized in Asia for nearly four centuries.

The study covered 63 allegations from 1950 to the present, including eight substantiated cases involving 46 priests—representing 3% of the 1,491…

View Cache

Those are the regions where the Catholic church is growing fastest

In the shadow of the giant pillars that encircle St Peter’s Square, Nancy Samai sells visitors tickets to the Vatican Museums. A Roman Catholic, Ms Samai arrived in Italy 22 years ago after fleeing the civil war in her native Sierra Leone. As she works, she can see the very window from which Pope Francis greets pilgrims on a Sunday. Like many of them, she wonders whether one day the face that emerges from that window might be black. “If America can have Barack Obama as its president, then surely the next pope can be African,” she says. “That’s my dream. That’s what I’m praying for.”

Similar thoughts may occur to the 21 prelates whom Pope Francis will appoint as cardinals on December 8th. Those still below the age of 80 when he dies or retires will be eligible…

View Cache

Saint Ann’s School hired Winston Nguyen knowing he had been imprisoned for fraud. Then someone began soliciting graphic sexual images from its students.

Less than a month into Winston Nguyen’s teaching career at Saint Ann’s, an elite private school in Brooklyn, his eighth-grade students discovered that he was a felon.

While leading an algebra lesson, Mr. Nguyen had shown the class a TikTok video, which led the students, inevitably, to search for him on the internet.

What they found was a startling torrent of headlines from about four years before, when Mr. Nguyen had been charged with siphoning hundreds of thousands of dollars from an older couple he worked for in Manhattan.

That evening, in October 2021, Vincent Tompkins, the head of Saint Ann’s School at the time, emailed class members’ parents, acknowledging the teacher’s criminal conviction and saying they had nothing to worry about.

“I can assure you that…

View Cache

The elite Brooklyn school commissioned an investigation after the arrest of Winston Nguyen, who is now accused of soliciting lewd photographs from students.

Top administrators at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn knowingly hired a felon to teach math and then “shamed” teachers, students and parents who expressed discomfort with his conduct “as racist or not progressive,” according to a scathing report released on Tuesday.

The teacher, Winston Nguyen, is now accused of soliciting lewd images from students and faces 11 felony charges, including using a child in a sexual performance, promoting a sexual performance by a child and disseminating indecent material to a minor.

But the report said that while its students were facing a barrage of online requests for naked pictures and videos, the school was treating Mr. Nguyen as a valued employee whose unusual behavior was ignored or explained away.

“In some instances,” the report…

View Cache

The founder of a Maine youth theater and former Catholic school teacher faces another 30 years behind bars for sexually abusing children.

Henry Eichman, 64, of Tophsam pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland to sexually exploiting children, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

That comes after a Brunswick landscaping business employee discovered two laptops and several hard drives hidden under a kayak on the company’s property in August 2022. The worker opened the devices and discovered files depicting the sexual abuse of children, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

The worker recognized Eichman, a former employee of the company, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

A subsequent review of the devices found more than 500 images and videos of child sexual abuse, including videos showing Eichman setting up recording devices and sexually abusing four children between 2014 and 2016, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Eichman was already…

View Cache

The Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to pay $950,000 to another person who said they were abused by the Rev. Daniel McCormack.

A lawsuit filed by attorney Lyndsay Markley claimed that in 2004, the plaintiff in this case was sexually abused several times by McCormack while participating in the SAFE, or St. Agatha’s Family Empowerment Program, at St. Agatha Church, 3147 W. Douglas Blvd.

Markley wrote that she has secured more than $9 million in settlements against the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Catholic Bishop of Chicago just for people claiming abuse by McCormack.

“This one individual left unchecked, harmed this man, and so many others.  It’s unconscionable,” Markley said in a news release, “and I anticipate additional cases against McCormack to come.”

The Archdiocese declined to comment on the $950,000 settlement announced Wednesday.

McCormack is alleged to have molested at least 25 boys. He spent two years in prison, and…

View Cache

A Catholic priest who was convicted of child sexual abuse has been stripped of his clerical status.

Dennis Finbow, of Martlesham, near Ipswich, Suffolk, was jailed in March 2023 for six and a half years for abusing a young girl in the 1980s while he worked in Dogsthorpe, Peterborough.

Following the conviction, Pope Francis has removed Finbow’s clerical status and rights as a Catholic priest

Andrew Lord, a solicitor from Leigh Day who represents survivors of abuse, said: “While no action can fully erase the harm Finbow caused, we are encouraged that the Catholic Church is taking measures to hold him accountable.”

Prioritise safeguarding

Finbow, who had also served in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, had retired and not been in active ministry since 2001.

After a trial at Huntingdon Crown Court in January 2023, he was told he would be on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Bishop Peter Collins, from…

View Cache

If the Archdiocese of Milwaukee embraced the same level of transparency over child sex abuse as other large Catholic institutions, the number of names on its public list of religious figures with abuse allegations deemed credible would nearly triple, a review by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Chicago Sun-Times found.

The archdiocese’s list of “restricted priests” – or those no longer in ministry and, dead or alive, who have credible allegations of abuse – is among the least comprehensive of the 31 archdioceses in the United States that maintain a public accounting of the abuse crisis, the review by the news organizations found. 

On its website, the Milwaukee Archdiocese lists only priests who were ordained through the archdiocese, saying it can’t adequately verify or rely upon lists compiled by others. That means its list excludes religious order priests and brothers, as well as priests ordained in other dioceses…

View Cache

The Abbot of Caldey Abbey, a remote Welsh island monastery, has issued an apology following an independent review into historical child sex abuse by a late monk.

Father Jan Rossey apologised for the “great suffering” endured by children who were sexually abused by Father Thaddeus Kotik, who died in 1992 and the “culture of secrecy and cover-up” that kept it hidden.

The review, led by Jan Pickles, a former assistant police and crime commissioner, investigated allegations of abuse from the late 1960s to 1992. Victims included both boys and girls, many pre-pubescent, who either lived on or visited the island as children.

The investigation found Kotik used tactics such as offering treats and babysitting to groom children and their parents, enabling years of abuse, some of which persisted as families returned to the island.

The report highlighted repeated failures by the abbey’s leadership to report allegations to authorities, despite victims…

View Cache

South Carolina’s highest court is evaluating whether a long-defunct state law protecting charities from lawsuits exempts the Catholic Diocese of Charleston from paying damages in a decades-old sexual abuse case at the former Sacred Heart Catholic School in the early-1970s.

The case, filed in 2018 in the wake of a massive class action settlement against the diocese in the 2000s and 2010s, weighs whether the diocese was negligent and subsequently sought to cover up sexual abuse claims by a pre-teenaged John Doe while attending classes at Sacred Heart between 1969 and 1971. 

Both teachers involved, an attorney for the plaintiff said Dec. 10, died long ago, leaving the John Doe in question to seek compensation from the church itself.

Cardinal Newman student sexually assaulted by football team, called racial slurs, lawsuit claims

The church is claiming immunity under an obscure and long-defunct legal change exempting charitable organizations from liability beyond claims based…

View Cache

A former priest has been sentenced to a year in jail and 10 years on the sex offender registry after he pleaded no contest to possessing child pornography.

Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara, 39, pleaded guilty in October to a felony count of child sexual abuse material, as well as several special allegations, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release:

• Aggravated possession of child pornography, containing more than 600 images
• The crime involved a large quantity of contraband
• Victim was vulnerable
• The manner in which the crime was carried out indicates planning, sophistication or professionalism

In addition to his sentence of 365 days in jail, two years of formal probation and 10 years on the sex offender registry, Martinez-Guevara was given a suspended two-year prison sentence to serve if he violates probation. Catholic priest charged with possession of child porn

Martinez-Guevara, a Roman Catholic priest who served in…

View Cache

By the time Barbara Jo Jones went away to a missionary boarding school at age six, she could speak two languages. But as a missionary kid born and raised in Nigeria, she didn’t have the words to describe the ordeal of a school employee sexually abusing her. And if she did tell someone, she knew she would get in trouble and risk her parents’ ministry. 

So she stayed silent.

Now, 60 years later, that silence around the abuse at Hillcrest School in Jos, Nigeria, may be finally, fully broken. Eight Christian organizations have agreed to fund a third-party investigation of all the allegations against the school from its founding in 1942 to the present. Victor Vieth of the Minnesota-based Zero Abuse Project will lead the inquiry.

“It feels hopeful,” Jones said. “It’s in the open. There’s no pretending that it didn’t happen.”

Former Hillcrest students spent three years pushing for…

View Cache

A polygamist religious leader who claimed more than 20 spiritual “wives” including 10 underage girls was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Monday for coercing girls as young as 9 years old to submit to criminal sex acts with him and other adults, and for scheming to kidnap them from protective custody.

Samuel Bateman, whose small group was an offshoot of the sect once led by Warren Jeffs, had pleaded guilty to a yearslong scheme to transport girls across state lines for his sex crimes, and later to kidnap some of them from protective custody.

Under the agreement, Bateman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit transportation of a minor for sexual activity, which carries a sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment, and one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, which is punishable by up to life imprisonment. He was sentenced to 50 years on each count, to…

View Cache

A church with deep roots in West Michigan and congregations around the world turned 100 this year. Instead of celebrating its centennial, the Protestant Reformed Churches in America is struggling with what it has called the “private sin” of child sexual abuse and decades of covering up for abusers, including church leaders and school teachers.

A recently released report obtained by Target 8 found dozens of cases of child sexual abuse within the Protestant Reformed Church, or PRC, and accused the church of violating state laws that require clergy and educators to report child abuse.

A police report obtained by Target 8 shows that even recently, leaders in a PRC church in Ottawa County encouraged members not to notify authorities to report physical or sexual abuse within the church or among families of the church. That church’s pastor was convicted in 2022 of assault after teenage girls accused him of…

View Cache

Following allegations of sexual misconduct, Messianic Jewish scholar Michael Brown is taking time off from his public ministry, according to Brown’s ministry, The Line of Fire.

“We have strongly encouraged Mike that he does no public ministry,” said Scott Volk, board member for The Line of Fire in a statement to The Roys Report (TRR). “He’s cancelled speaking engagements for the months of November and December. And from my understanding, he normally writes numerous articles a week. He’s not doing that.”

Brown’s board said it did not know if Brown would also take a break from his radio and podcast ministry.

TRR reported Monday that a woman, using the pseudonym “Erin,” said in 2002, when she was 21 and Brown was in his 40s, Brown crossed several physical boundaries with her.

On multiple occasions, Brown held her hand, smacked her bottom with his hand, and kissed her on the lips, she said….

View Cache

Please see original article for videos

A local priest has been removed from public ministry after News 5 Investigators started asking questions and parents of a local Catholic school raised red flags about his past.

The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland said the priest was investigated “by law enforcement and church authorities” for “alleged conduct” with an 18-year-old, and there have been published reports on that since 2002.

The priest got his job back in 2012, but now we’ve been getting calls from parents upset because they had no idea of his past.

He hasn’t been charged with a crime, so we’re not naming him. However, the diocese did take action recently after concerns came to light.

PRIEST SAID MASSES, HEARD CONFESSIONS FOR TEENS

The Lyceum is a Catholic school in South Euclid for 7th through 12th graders. We saw students coming off a bus last month and going into the…

View Cache

Denis Nolan (71) formerly of The Presbytery, Rathnew, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of oral rape and 36 counts of sexual assault

A former priest who was sentenced to an additional five years for the “predatory” rape and abuse of a schoolboy over 20 years ago – having previously been jailed for 19 years for similar offences relating to three other victims – has had his most recent jail term halved on appeal.

Denis Nolan (71) formerly of The Presbytery, Rathnew, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of oral rape and 36 counts of sexual assault on dates between 1994 and 2000 at locations in Dublin and Wicklow.

Nolan was aged between 42 and 48 at the time of the offending, while the victim was between 11 and 17 years old.

The court heard the abuse included inappropriate touching,…

View Cache

A former Roman Catholic priest who served in Ventura and Los Angeles County churches has been sentenced to 365 days in jail after he pled no contest to possession of child sexual abuse materials.

Ventura County prosecutors say Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara had more than 600 images in his possession when he was arrested in 2023. He became the focus of an investigation after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received multiple reports that he had some of the sexually explicit images.

Martinez-Guevara was a priest in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. One of the churches he served at was in Oxnard.

In addition to the year jail sentence, the 39-year-old man was sentenced to two years probation and will be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

View Cache

The criminal statute for failing to report suspected abuse — a misdemeanor — expires after one year. This means school officials who enable abuse by remaining silent face virtually no accountability.

The disturbing investigation published in The Courier Journal reveals an alarming pattern that parallels what I uncovered in 2002 when representing 243 survivors of clergy sexual abuse against the Archdiocese of Louisville. Twenty years later, our institutions continue enabling predators while our laws leave survivors without recourse.

The article documents at least 80 cases of alleged sexual misconduct by Kentucky school coaches in 15 years. Like the Catholic Church cases, we see the same institutional failures: turning a blind eye to warning signs, allowing abusers to quietly resign and move to new schools, and using non-disclosure agreements to maintain silence.

As I wrote last December, the science is clear — most survivors are…

View Cache

Update–A Catholic priest was sentenced Monday in Ventura County to one year in the Ventura County Jail and then two years of formal probation for being convicted of possession of child sexual abuse material.

     The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office says that 39-year-old Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara was convicted by the court after pleading no contest to the charge in October.

     Because of credit for time already served in jail, Martinez-Guevara will serve far less than the one year sentence.

     He will begin his jail sentence on January 13th.

     The judge also ordered him to register as a sex offender for ten years.

     If Martinez-Guevara violates any terms of his probation he could find himself back behind bars doing even more time.

     Martinez-Guevara was a member of the Archdioceses of Los Angeles and was associated with several churches including Our Lady of Guadalupe in Oxnard during…

View Cache

Victims of child sexual abuse were treated in a heartless, hostile and cruel way by monks on a remote island, a safeguarding review has found.

One survivor said the way she had been treated since her time on Caldey Island, off Pembrokeshire, has made the effects of the abuse “a million times worse”.

The review said frequent allegations of abuse had been made but not followed up on or reported to police, and the lack of challenge had enabled a monk to abuse children over four decades “in plain sight”.

Caldey Abbey commissioned the report, and its new abbot apologised for the pain and suffering caused.

Rebecca lived on Caldey Island for the first five and a half years of her life.

Between the late 1960s until 1992, a resident monk, Father Thaddeus Kotik, sexually abused children who lived and visited the island, a review said.

Rebecca…

View Cache

More than 50 children who visited a remote holy island off the coast of Wales were raped or subjected to vile sex abuse by paedophile monks, a leaked report reveals.

Children as young as three were allegedly groomed and attacked in ‘plain sight’ on Caldey Island, a picturesque tourist spot off the Pembrokeshire coast.

For more than 100 years, the island has been home to Caldey Abbey and a small community of Trappist monks. It receives up to 60,000 visitors a year.

In April, an independent review was launched after several people came forward to report allegations of historic sex abuse, dating back more than 60 years. 

The review found that monks, and men with criminal records who claimed to be monks, were able to join the monastery without checks.

They hid behind their ‘chosen’ religious names to carry out the horrific attacks, which took place while children were on…

View Cache

The funeral of Bishop Richard Sklba in Milwaukee was marked by a protest from abuse survivors, who accused him of relocating abusive priests.

[Click here for video.]

Funeral services were held on Wednesday for Bishop Richard Sklba, a longtime bishop in Milwaukee.

Bishop Sklba, who died last month, was a Racine native and served as the auxiliary bishop in Milwaukee from 1979. He worked under at least three archbishops.

Before the funeral Mass, survivors of clergy sexual abuse organized a protest outside the church. The group accused Bishop Sklba of relocating priests who had abused children from one parish to another. They distributed pamphlets to attendees outlining their accusations against the late bishop.

Peter Isley, a clergy sex abuse survivor, voiced his concerns at the protest, stating, “You cannot put the devastation, the horror, and the misery that unfortunately this man was responsible for and bury it in a…

View Cache

In his first public speech since announcing his resignation, the archbishop of Canterbury struck a “frivolous tone” that left childhood abuse victims “dismayed” and “disgusted.”

“Whether one is personally responsible or not,” a head had to roll, said the archbishop, Justin Welby, on Dec. 5. He added that “there is only, in this case, one head that rolls well enough.”

An independent report, the Makin Review, found Archbishop Justin Welby should have reported serial child abuser John Smyth to the police in 2013. But despite reports of “abhorrent” abuse, Welby failed to take sufficient action.

So, yes, according to the report, Welby bore responsibility, as did other leaders in the Church of England.

Before his death in 2018, Smyth is believed to have inflicted physical, sexual and psychological abuse on more than 100 boys and young men in England, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The report described Smyth’s abuses as “prolific,…

View Cache

In a year of wretched public apologies, Justin Welby beats even Gregg Wallace

Is a crap apology worse than no apology at all? Gregg Wallace, until Friday a strong contender for the worst public apology of the year, is not of course unusual in his struggle to act convincingly remorseful. Justin Welby, the outgoing archbishop of Canterbury – despite being one of the great institutional apologisers of all time – now seems likely to take the British title; internationally the clear winner is South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol. Even Wallace could tell him that when you’ve carelessly imposed martial law, it’s important to apologise to everyone, not just “the people who were very surprised”.

Plainly, there are differences in style. The Wallace apology, the only one the 60-year-old has yet supplied for insulting “middle-class women of a certain age”, not only made the elementary mistake of apologising “for any offence…

View Cache

[See video.]

WDSU Investigates has uncovered new court records linked to convicted rapist Lawrence Hecker.
Warning: the details in the records are graphic.

According to the records, one victim said he met Lawrence Hecker at a seminary pool and was later raped.

Records show extensive evidence from 1996 to 2012 in the court file.

The documents outline the graphic abuse of about a dozen people, all with similar stories, according to court records.

The records state in 2022, the victim was interviewed by the FBI. The victim indicated that while attending Saint John Vianney Prep School (“St. John Prep”), he began working next door at St. Theresa of the Little Flower Church (“St. Theresa”) in New Orleans.

The victim stated that when he was not working at St. Theresa, he often hung out and worked out in the converted workout room in preparation for trying out for sports teams. He…

View Cache

NEW ORLEANS — WDSU Investigates has obtained documents sealed in a case involving New Orleans clergy sex abuse.

The documents paint the picture of abuse from about a dozen victims of a former New Orleans priest, Lawrence Hecker.

After his historic guilty plea this week, one of Hecker’s accusers is speaking up to let sex abuse survivors know there is hope. The man WDSU spoke with did not want his identity revealed.

Warning: The details in this story are graphic.

“Passed around like meat, and we all suffered,” the victim said. “It is impossible to describe.”

WDSU asked what his reaction was to Hecker pleading guilty.

“It brought a great deal of resolution to what we have been dealing with,” he said.

The victim shared his most vivid memory from almost 60 years ago when he says Hecker took him to a local pool to swim naked.

“He came up…

View Cache

The resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury has returned the spotlight to the permacrisis of abuse in religious communities. Welby resigned after an independent review found the Church of England had covered up serial abuse by John Smyth QC.

The review described Smyth’s abuse of more than 100 young boys as “prolific, brutal and horrific. His victims were subjected to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks.” The report found that this was not just a case of Smyth as a “bad apple”, but of systemic institutional failings in the church. Similar themes were found in a 2020 report into safeguarding in the Anglican Church.

As noted by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, this problem is not limited just to the Church of England but affects other religious institutions in the UK, and beyond.

The church can be seen as a form of “closed community”. These take on different…

View Cache

Robert Levins felt a sense of relief at word that hundreds of Catholic clergy sex abuse survivors on Long Island, himself included, had finally reached a court settlement with the Diocese of Rockville Centre. 

The agreement, approved Wednesday by a federal bankruptcy judge, closed a four-year court battle pitting 600 survivors against the diocese, the nation’s eighth largest. Payments from the $323 million settlement will likely start going out to survivors early next year.

Whatever money, or sense of empowerment, eventually comes to Levins, it won’t match the emotional price exacted since a trusted family friend, a Franciscan brother based in Port Jefferson, sexually molested him and his two brothers in the mid-1970s.

“This entire process in a way has also revictimized myself and probably others because we had to relive this so many times,” Levins, 63, told Newsday.

WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND

• A $323 million settlement between 600 clergy sex abuse survivors and the Diocese of Rockville Centre has…

View Cache

As faithful members mourn the closure of their Catholic churches (Saying goodbye to a Catholic Church — and a link to my family’s past, Nov. 21, 2024), others view them through the lens of the longstanding failure and mistrust of leadership.

St. Stanislaus in Fells Point was my family’s church. Founded in the 1800s as a cornerstone of Polish immigrant life, the church of my maternal and paternal grandparents was a place of daily worship, life celebrations and the funerals of beloved family members. St. Stan’s closed in 2000 due to dwindling attendance. Its closure was painful to Baltimore’s Polish community, many of whom had dispersed beyond Fells Point.

For all the fond memories, there was also a dark side to the church. The 2023 Maryland Office of the Attorney General report on sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore noted clergy sexual abuse at St. Stanislaus…

View Cache

Sexual assault and rape survivors and those who support them came forward last week to urge lawmakers to pass a bill that would criminalize “grooming,” which they said could have saved lives had it existed years ago.

House Bill 322 creates the crime of “grooming” in Ohio, which would be charged as a first or second degree misdemeanor, except in circumstances where the victim is younger than 13 and other offenses are also committed, such as supplying alcohol or drugs to the victim or having a previous sexually oriented offense conviction. The combination of the crimes would result in felony charges, according to the bill.

Under the bill, grooming could be charged when an adult engages in a “pattern of conduct” with a minor that “would cause a reasonable adult”…

View Cache

The Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest, led by Cardinal Péter Erdő, has announced that well-known priest András Pajor has been barred from all clerical activities following serious allegations. This marks the second high-profile case involving church figures with close ties to the government in recent weeks.

In its statement, the Archdiocese explained that a complaint had been filed with its Child and Youth Protection Service, leading to a preliminary investigation. Pending its outcome, Pajor was suspended and later requested to be relieved of his duties due to his age and health.

According to Válasz Online’s report, he has since been retired, although the investigation and restrictions remain in place. Additionally, the matter has been reported to the police.

Known for his political allegiances: Fidesz, Russia András Pajor, a parish priest from Zugló, has been a controversial figure in Hungary, openly campaigning for Fidesz, criticizing opposition parties, and promoting anti-migrant and pro-Putin conspiracy…

View Cache

“By imposing a Litany of Lament recognizing sins of sex abuse on an unprepared audience, NZ bishops made all churchgoers complicit in the sex crimes of priests and their own coverups of those crimes”, the author of this column denounced.

The failure of New Zealand’s Catholic bishops to be “accountable or transparent to their congregations and the broader community about the nature and extent of abuse,” as reported by the nation’s Abuse in Care Inquiry (Whanaketia 7, 8:698), reached an unprecedented level recently. 

Nationwide, at the end of Sunday Mass, November 17, the celebrant intoned: “We lament the crimes and sins of sexual, physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse perpetrated by clergy against children, young people, and vulnerable adults.” The people had to respond: “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.” Thus, by crafting a Litany of Lament and imposing it on an unprepared audience, the…

View Cache

ROME – Among the twenty new Princes of the Church who received their red hats yesterday from Pope Francis was Cardinal Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio, who’s been the Archbishop of Lima in Peru since 2019.

To suggest the 74-year-old Castillo may face the stiffest immediate challenge of any of the new cardinals is, I’ll concede, a bold claim. After all, his fellow inductees include Cardinal Ladislav Nemet, the first cardinal in the history of Serbia, an overwhelmingly Orthodox nation where locals traditionally haven’t exactly been wild about “the Church of Rome,” and Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu of Tehran, Iran … ’nuff said.

Yet when Castillo gets back to Peru, he will find waiting a criminal case against a Vatican official with implications for diplomatic immunity and Vatican sovereignty, religious freedom, the Vatican’s capacity to manage scandal and misconduct, and the willingness of Catholic clerics everywhere to answer the bell when…

View Cache

The funeral of Bishop Richard Sklba in Milwaukee was marked by a protest from abuse survivors, who accused him of relocating abusive priests.

[See video here.]

Funeral services were held on Wednesday for Bishop Richard Sklba, a longtime bishop in Milwaukee.

Bishop Sklba, who died last month, was a Racine native and served as the auxiliary bishop in Milwaukee from 1979. He worked under at least three archbishops.

Before the funeral Mass, survivors of clergy sexual abuse organized a protest outside the church. The group accused Bishop Sklba of relocating priests who had abused children from one parish to another. They distributed pamphlets to attendees outlining their accusations against the late bishop.

Peter Isley, a clergy sex abuse survivor, voiced his concerns at the protest, stating, “You cannot put the devastation, the horror, and the misery that unfortunately this man was responsible for and bury it in a hole…

View Cache

An elderly priest’s guilty plea exposes the church’s history of shielding predators in its midst for decades

In the case of serial child molester and retired Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker, the cover-up failed.

But it wasn’t for lack of trying by a coalition of high-ranking church officials and sympathetic judges, who prioritized the predator’s comfort above justice for his innumerable victims until the evidence against him was so overwhelming that – rather than stand the humiliation of a public trial – he pleaded guilty last Tuesday.

The 93-year-old’s decision not only saddled him with an automatic life sentence. It also exposed how Catholic bureaucrats in Hecker’s home town of New Orleans, one of the church’s strongholds in the US, repeated the same sins that produced an eerily similar scandal in Boston two decades earlier – events later immortalized in the Oscar-winning film Spotlight.

This is the only conclusion to draw from years of…

View Cache

Increased attention to sexual violence within the Catholic Church has led to a rise in the number of reports, according to a KU Leuven study released on Saturday.

The study, which surveyed 97 victims, found that just over half (53%) experienced violence between 2020 and 2024.

This rise is attributed to improved reporting mechanisms and media coverage, which have encouraged past victims to come forward. Most of the reported incidents (86%) occurred between 1950 and 1989, with a peak in the 1960s. However, four recent cases have been reported since 2020, according to Professor Wim Vandewiele’s report.

More than 10% of the victims reported experiencing sexual violence before 2012, especially between 2000 and 2012 when the Halsberghe and Adriaenssens commissions and the 2010 Special Parliamentary Commission were active.

One-fifth of the reports concern the period between 2012 and 2020, when ten reception points and the Arbitration Centre were operational.

Additionally,…

View Cache

The Archdiocese of Agaña has published a list of 48 known church associates who have been accused of child sexual abuse in lawsuits filed with Guam courts.

Archbishops, a bishop, priests, lay persons and nuns are among those compiled in the list, which is posted online at: archagana.org/disclosures.

“We treasure our young ones. We nurture and protect them and want them to have confidence that the adults around them will look after their welfare,” Archbishop Ryan Jimenez said in a Friday afternoon statement announcing the list’s posting.

Names were derived from 331 separate lawsuits filed in Superior Court of Guam and District Court of Guam, based on a list compiled by law firm Razzano Walsh & Torres for the archdiocese.

Publication of the list is a requirement of the archdiocese’s settlement of nearly 300 sex abuse lawsuits brought, according to a memo attached to the list.

Any…

View Cache

The Archbishop of Canterbury has been condemned by victims of the Church of England abuse scandal for a speech they say made light of serious safeguarding failures.

In his first public speech since announcing his resignation last month, Justin Welby told the House of Lords a head had had to roll after a review criticised failings in the handling of the scandal.

Abuse victims say they were “dismayed” and “disgusted” by the speech, saying it made no mention of remorse for survivors and struck too “frivolous” a tone with jokes.

The Makin review found Mr Welby “could and should” have reported prolific child abuser John Smyth to the police in 2013 and criticised the Church for not doing enough to prevent further abuse until he died.

Speaking in the Lords on Thursday, the archbishop said: “The reality is that there comes a time if you are technically leading a particular…

View Cache

Raymond Zwiefelhofer was convicted of possessing child sexual abuse material.

Former elder of secretive 2×2 Christian sect sentenced to 120 years in prison

An ABC News investigation into the 2×2 Church, a Christian sect so secretive most people have never heard of it, has uncovered allegations of child sexual abuse and coverups.

An ABC News yearlong investigation into the 2×2 Church, a Christian sect so secretive most people have never heard of it, has uncovered allegations of widespread child sexual abuse and subsequent coverups.

During the investigation, ABC News spoke with dozens of alleged victims of child sexual abuse across more than 30 states.

As part of the ongoing investigation by law enforcement, Raymond Zwiefelhofer was convicted of 10 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material and was sentenced to 120 years in prison last month.

“In total, there were 87 files that were determined to be child sexual abuse…

View Cache

Reader advisory: Some accounts of sexual assault in this story contain explicit details and strong language that some may find upsetting or objectionable.

Since this story first published in 2020, Jesús Antonio Castañeda Serna pleaded no contest to nine counts of sexual battery and one count of attempt to dissuade a witness. The rest of the charges were dropped.

At a hearing in Fresno County Superior Court in April, he apologized to the survivors and the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin.

“I ask that they forgive me for what I did,” Castañeda said through a translator. “I did not know of the impact that it was to them, because of everything that I caused them, emotionally, humanly and as a Christian.”

A judge had ordered the priest be sent to prison for up to 90 days for an evaluation to determine whether he should be given probation or…

View Cache

A former priest who was raped as a teenager by a vicar has called for the Archbishop of York to resign.

Matthew Ineson was abused in the 1980s by Trevor Devamanikkam, who was a priest at St Aidan’s Church in Bradford at the time.

Mr Ineson told senior clergy, including the then Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, about his experiences in 2013, but the Church of England’s own review later found it had failed to act on his claims and Lord Sentamu was removed from ministry last year.

Current archbishop Stephen Cottrell, who, in October, called for Lord Sentamu to be re-admitted, told the BBC he took his “commitment” to survivors of child sexual abuse “very seriously”.

Devamanikkam was charged with six sex offences after Mr Ineson told the police the vicar had raped him as a 16-year-old, but took his own life in June 2017 before the case reached…

View Cache

Case seeks compensation for victims of Father Angus McRae

A class-action lawsuit attempting to hold the federal government responsible for sexual abuse suffered by children at the hands of a military priest at an Edmonton army base has been certified in the Alberta courts.

The case alleges that the federal government allowed a Canadian Armed Forces chaplain, Capt. Angus McRae, to sexually abuse children who were living on armed forces bases with their families. McRae, who died in 2011, served at bases across Canada before he was convicted of sexual crimes against children. 

The representative plaintiff, Bobby Bees of Vancouver, wants to hold the federal government accountable for failing to stop the abuse, the dark memories of which torment him daily.  

“I went through so much hell,” said Bees, 52, in an interview with CBC. “My entire childhood after that was just torn apart.” 

The $60-million claim seeks to hold…

View Cache

Investigation into the 38-year-old man began when a missionary couple reported finding spy cameras inside their mobile home, police say.

An associate minister in Grapevine has been arrested by police, who are accusing him of possessing child pornography and using spy cameras in a home, officials said.

Arturo Alarcon, the 38-year-old associate minister at 121 Community Church in Grapevine, was charged with possession of child pornography and invasive visual recording, according to police.

Investigation began, police say, when a missionary couple reported finding spy cameras inside their mobile home, which is used by the church to house families in need.

According to the arrest affidavit, the family staying there found two alarm clocks and two wall plugs labeled “Bug Control” containing hidden cameras inside the devices. Another associate minister with the church, Elvis Gallegos, reportedly told police these items weren’t provided by the church and he wasn’t sure who put…

View Cache

There is a need for impactful revision and action on clerical sexual abuse under canon law

In 2021, the Vatican announced revisions to the Code of Canon Law’s Penal Sanctions in the Church — which includes clerical sexual abuse (CSA) and other crimes — considered the most profound, following much deliberation and earlier patchy reforms.

The reforms seek to restore justice, reform offenders, and repair scandals. They stem primarily from survivors, backed by rights-based movements, media and national justice systems demanding decisive Church action.

Church experts, too, have been canvassing more substantive changes to earlier reforms.

However, three years after the last revisions, CSA continues with impunity, especially in the Global South. Theologically, sexual abuse is defined as a sin against God and humans (moral failing), and not a crime committed in a society (legal concept).

Sin is a matter of conscience that compromises the relationship with God. It can…

View Cache

Daniel Mayfield still facing over 160 charges across multiple counties in SC

Daniel Kellan Mayfield, a former youth pastor at First Baptist Church Gowensville in South Carolina, this week pleaded guilty to federal charges for possessing illegal child sexual abuse images.

The 36-year-old pleaded guilty on November 21 to one count of possession of illegal child sexual abuse images, according to reporting by The Christian Post. The crime carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Mayfield is also facing over 160 charges across multiple counties in South Carolina.

In the summer of 2023, Mayfield was arrested for voyeurism for filming a victim while she was showering in her mother’s home. The victim noticed a light shining outside the window, and when she stepped outside to investigate, she saw Mayfield in the yard.

The victim’s sister arrived in…

View Cache

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Diocese of Jefferson City on Thursday due a lack of action by the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit, filed in September by five Missouri adults, accused Jefferson City-area Catholic priests of sexual abuse. Four of the plaintiffs claim they were abused as children, and the fifth said they were abused as an adult.

The lawsuit named the diocese and Bishop Shawn McKnight as defendants. After it was filed, McKnight sent a statement saying none of the priests in question are were active in the diocese at the time of filing.

In a ruling Thursday, Judge Douglas Harpool said the plaintiffs had not met deadlines set by another judge for serving the defendants with court papers. They also did not meet a deadline for responding to an order to show cause.

For those reasons, Harpool dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice, meaning…

View Cache

One man among a group suing the Archdiocese of St. Louis for allegations of sexual abuse, and its cover-up, has dismissed his claim that a man alleged to now be a Kansas City deacon abused him in the 1980s, online court records show.

However, Ralph Wehner, a Kansas City deacon, remains suspended from ministry while church officials investigate the claim, a Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese spokesperson said. A man identified as W.C. in court documents dismissed his claim of abuse by Wehner on Nov. 21.

The lawsuit, filed July 24, accuses St. Louis church officials of covering up abuse by clergy and staff for decades. Dozens of plaintiffs are listed on the suit.

One plaintiff, W.C., alleged that “Brother Ralph Wehner” had groped and fondled him at least three times when W.C. was a teenager.

The plaintiff’s attorney, Todd Mathews, said in an email that W.C. voluntarily dismissed…

View Cache

In 2012, Boz Tchividjian, grandson of famed evangelist Billy Graham, drove to the Lynchburg, Virginia, airport in his family minivan to pick up Stephen Jones, great-grandson of fundamentalist Bob Jones Sr.

The meeting, though planned, was highly improbable.

Known for banning interracial dating into the 21st century and having rules too rigid even for Graham, a former student who left after one semester, Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, is typically wary of outsiders. So it was a shock when Stephen Jones, then president of Bob Jones, invited Tchividjian’s nonprofit Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, known by its acronym GRACE, to examine the university’s handing of sexual abuse allegations.

The invitation came in the wake of the 2011 Penn State sex abuse scandal and amid nationwide conversations about institutional cover-up of sexual abuse. While BJU never stated a specific reason for…

View Cache

The B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit alleges the plaintiff was abused by a clergyman and Scout leader in Bella Bella.

A B.C. man is alleging a priest and Scout master sexually abused him as a child in Bella Bella.

Bertram Wayne Brown names the United Church of Canada and Scouts Canada in a Nov. 18 B.C. Supreme Court notice of civil claim signed by Preszler Law lawyer Christopher McDougall.

The claim alleges Father Tom York, also allegedly a Scout leader, abused Brown at Darby Memorial Church in Bella Bella, 500 km northeast of Vancouver.

It alleges York abused Brown between the ages of seven and nine at the church and while on Scout outings “on a repeated basis, increasing in frequency, nature and intensity as time progressed.”

“The perpetrator’s behaviour constituted sexual abuse, sexual battery, and sexual assault,” the claim said. “The institutional defendants are vicariously liable for the wrongful actions of the…

View Cache

The good news is that a number of the most prolific and problematic San Diego predator priests are dead. The bad news, though, is that they’ve left in their wake countless deeply wounded and very likely still struggling victims. One of those predator priests is Fr. Gregory Sierra Sheridan, a native of Spain.

Most child molesters gravitate towards a specific gender. Sometimes, an abusive priest who targets girls is caught and is then transferred to an all-boys school, for example, in the naïve hope that maybe his sexual compulsions will be magically cured or at least held in check (because the gender he seems to prefer is less available). History has shown that this approach rarely works, of course.

But Fr. Sheridan seems to be among a smaller group of abusers: the ones who are more indiscriminate and assault both boys and girls in similar numbers.
That means…

View Cache

A court has approved a Roman Catholic diocese’s settlement with sexual abuse survivors, which is the largest such payment in New York state history. 

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, based on Long Island, New York, published a statement Wednesday noting that it had reached a $323 million settlement with survivors of sexual abuse: “We are grateful to God that on December 4th, the court confirmed the Plan that resolves and ends the Bankruptcy Case for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, all our parishes, and related ministries.” 

“For the sake of abuse survivors and the [Catholic] Church’s mission on Long Island, we pray that the Plan brings some measure of healing to survivors and allows the [Catholic] Church to carry on the saving mission of Jesus Christ,” a spokesperson for the diocese added. “Victim survivors of child abuse deserve our respect, our prayers, and our pastoral support….

View Cache

The Diocese of Rockville Centre on Wednesday said a bankruptcy court had approved its record abuse settlement of $323 million, which officials said will bring “some measure of healing to survivors” of clergy abuse.

The New York diocese announced in September that it had reached the massive settlement for abuse victims after a four-year-long process that included an earlier offer that the survivors had rejected.

On Wednesday U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn approved the settlement, greenlighting the payout that includes contributions from insurers and diocesan churches.

The Rockville Centre Diocese said in a statement that it was “grateful to God” for the approval.

“For the sake of abuse survivors and the Church’s mission on Long Island, we pray that the plan brings some measure of healing to survivors and allows the Church to carry on the saving mission of Jesus Christ,” the statement said.

“Victim survivors of child abuse deserve…

View Cache

A Catholic diocese on New York’s Long Island has seen its long-running bankruptcy filing finally concluded, enabling hundreds of sexual abuse claims to be settled.

“We are grateful to God that on December 4th, the court confirmed the Plan that resolves and ends the Bankruptcy Case for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, all our parishes, and related ministries,” said the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, in a statement.

Chief Judge Martin Glenn of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York signed off on the settlement, preliminarily announced in September and said by the diocese to total “just over $323 million.”

That amount includes “insurance contributions, Diocesan assets and sale proceeds from Diocesan property, and contributions from parishes and other related entities,” said the diocese in its statement. “The Diocese, parishes and other related entities contributed a total of $234.8 million. Insurance companies contributed a total…

View Cache

Jesuit Father Hans Zollner — the founder and director of the Institute of Anthropology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and a former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors — joined several safeguarding experts in releasing a joint proposal in Rome Nov. 18 advocating a change in church law on the handling of sexual abuse cases.

Specifically, the proposal — co-written by members of the institute and the Seattle-based Ending Clergy Abuse human rights organization — called for a global extension of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ protocol of permanently removing from ministry credibly accused priests or deacons.

That norm, established in 2002 alongside the USCCB’s “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” with the Vatican’s permission, at present only applies to the Catholic Church in the U.S.

In a Dec. 3 email to OSV News, Father Zollner shared his insights regarding the challenges…

View Cache

Richard Tollner says he was sexually abused by a priest at the age of 15 back in 1975. Almost half a century later, he says he is happy to see victims finally getting compensation.

Back in 2019, the New York Child Victims Act allowed abuse victims to temporarily file lawsuits – even if the statute of limitations had expired.

Richard Tollner says he was sexually abused by a priest at the age of 15 back in 1975.

Almost half a century later, he says he is happy to see victims finally getting compensation.“A little bit of bittersweet justice, it has taken four years to get to today, but at this point enough victims have waited for justice have achieved the justice,” says Tollner.

The $323 million settlement effects roughly 600 alleged sexual abuse victims in the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

View Cache

The Leon County Sheriff’s Office arrested a church employee for allegedly assaulting a teenager who attended the church he served at.

Hunter Eubanks, 30, was arrested Wednesday on charges of sexual assault of a minor, cruelty toward a child, aggravated battery on a child, use of a computer to lure a child, obscene communication and travel to meet after using a computer to lure a child. He is being held in the Leon County Detention Facility.

According to a LCSO news release, Eubanks committed “multiple sexual acts” on a 16-year-old, which occurred on church grounds between July and October.

Detectives have been investigating since Oct. 9 before issuing a warrant for his arrest.

As of Thursday, mentions of Eubanks were scrubbed from Morningside Church’s leadership page on the church’s website.

While LCSO originally referred to Eubanks as a “youth pastor,” the church’s website from November listed him as “a worship…

View Cache

The archbishop of Banterbury could have used his speech to express remorse to victims of abuse. But then there wouldn’t have been any room for lolz

I imagine the outgoing archbishop of Canterbury doesn’t have a tattoo. But if he did, he’d have that one beloved of so many insouciant people: “ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME.” As it goes, people with this tattoo frequently appear in court. In fact, sentencing guidelines for people with auto-satirical body art is one of only about three subjects that Justin Welby didn’t make some public comment about in his tenure as the archbishop of Canterbury.

But the great pontificator is now turning in his badge and mitre, and yesterday could be found delivering a quite staggeringly tone-deaf final speech as the archbishop of Canterbury in the House of Lords. As a reminder, Welby’s resignation was called for because he definitely knew about victims of John Smyth,…

View Cache

Three years ago, James McDowell, a former principal at the Hillcrest School in Jos, Nigeria, used a post in a Facebook group for the school’s alumni to confess to molesting two students. That led to more allegations of abuse and calls from former students at Hillcrest for an independent investigation.

On Sunday, an alumni group representing survivors announced that eight Christian organizations have agreed to help fund an investigation into the allegations. Founded in 1942 by Church of the Brethren missionaries, Hillcrest educated both the children of missionaries, Nigerian students, and international students with the help of other denominations. 

The Hillcrest alumni group has identified about 50 cases of alleged sexual abuse at the school.

The former students negotiated with 15 different faith groups that sent missionaries and students to Hillcrest over the years, coming to agreement with funders from the North American Baptist Conference; the…

View Cache

The clergyman oversaw the Diocese of Oakland for 26 years and served on several national committees

UPDATED: December 4, 2024 at 2:02 PM PST

OAKLAND – John S. Cummins, the second and longest-serving bishop of Oakland, died Tuesday. He was 96.

The Diocese of Oakland confirmed Cummins’ death, writing in a statement that the retired bishop emeritus “leaves a legacy of service to God through his priesthood and episcopacy.”

“Our diocese has lost a father, grandfather, shepherd and true priest of Jesus Christ,” Bishop Michael C. Barber said. “May Christ the Good Shepherd welcome Bishop John into the eternal reward prepared for him who served the flock of Oakland so well.”

Cummins was born on March 3, 1928, and raised in Berkeley. After receiving a Master of Divinity degree from St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, he was ordained on Jan. 24, 1953, at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the…

View Cache

The settlement between the Diocese of Rockville Centre and sexual abuse survivors brings an end to a bankruptcy process that lasted more than four years. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost

A four-year court battle pitting hundreds of clergy sex abuse survivors against the Catholic Church on Long Island came to an end Wednesday in federal bankruptcy court as both sides officially signed off on a $323 million settlement.

The deal between the Diocese of Rockville Centre and about 600 survivors is one of the largest in the United States for Catholic dioceses in bankruptcy because of the clergy sex abuse scandal, officials said. Nearly 99% of survivors who cast votes on the deal approved it, according a lawyer who represented them.

Some survivors said they hope it marks the start of a new chapter in lives left traumatized by abuse at the hands of priests.

“It’s a good day for survivors. They waited many years for this justice,” said…

View Cache

A years-long legal battle between Long Island’s Catholic diocese and hundreds of alleged sex abuse victims came to an end Wednesday, with a bankruptcy judge in Manhattan approving a plan that finalizes a $323 million settlement.

As part of the settlement, the Diocese of Rockville Centre will begin making payments next year to nearly 600 victims of child sex abuse in the church.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Martin Glenn said he was “extremely pleased” with the deal, according to Newsday.

“The true heroes are the survivors who have persisted through decades of trauma, hardship and immeasurable resilience,” said Jeff Anderson, an attorney for the victims. “Today’s ruling provides momentum towards a resolution that is long overdue.”

Diocese leaders had originally offered a $200 million settlement, while the victims had sought $450 million. The approved plan marks the largest Catholic…

View Cache

The new Bridge Dialogues program in Milwaukee utilizes a restorative justice style initiative for abuse survivorsBy 

Two years ago, Sally dropped a letter in the mail, never expecting a response. 

Three pages long and handwritten, it was addressed to a leader in the Catholic church who had sexually abused her from when she was 17 until 19. When she sent the letter, she was 56 years old and had never spoken about the abuse to anyone. Not even her husband. 

In the letter, Sally described the burden she had been carrying for decades.  

Stay informed on the latest news

Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter.Email

One week later, she received a response. The abuser asked to apologize in person. 

“​​Those words of, ‘Will you meet me so I can look at you in the eyes?’ just put a fire in me,” Sally told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”…

View Cache

A former headteacher has been charged with alleged child sexual abuse against a previous student at a catholic school.

James Edwin Rouse, 48, has been charged following allegations of child sexual abuse against former pupils at St. Anne’s Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Southampton, in 2006.

Rouse, of Lowford Hill Close in Southampton, will appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on January 13, 2025, has been charged with abuse of position of trust: sexual activity with a child.

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary’s specialist Operation Marmion team conducted a ‘robust’ and ‘thorough’ investigation.

A spokesperson for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said: “We would encourage anyone who has been a victim of child sexual abuse to contact police on 101 where you can speak with a police officer in confidence referencing Op Stonecrop.”

You can also submit information online…

View Cache

A former head teacher has been charged with non-recent child sexual abuse offences at a city school.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary said the charges against James Rouse, 48, followed allegations of child sexual abuse, by those in a position of trust, against former pupils at St Anne’s Catholic School and Sixth Form College in Southampton, in 2006.

Four former teachers currently remain under investigation following similar reports of non-recent child sexual abuse at the school.

Mr Rouse, of Lowford Hill Close in Southampton, will appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on 13 January.

‘Deeply disturbing’

“We are deeply saddened and shocked by the allegations of historic sexual abuse linked to former members of our staff body,” a spokesperson for St Anne’s Catholic School and Sixth Form College said.

“This is clearly deeply disturbing news for all of our community.

“We have only ever wanted St Anne’s to be a…

View Cache

ST. LOUIS — One of the dozens of people suing the Catholic church here over allegations of sexual abuse has dismissed his claim that a man believed to be a Kansas City deacon abused him at a St. Louis-area church in the 1980s.

Kansas City church officials, however, said Tuesday that the deacon, Ralph Wehner, remains suspended from ministry amid an investigation into the claim.

The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph put Wehner on a “precautionary suspension” in August after an advocacy group raised concerns he was the same “Ralph Wehner” accused of abuse here in a lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese of St. Louis days earlier.

The lawsuit was one of five against the archdiocese accusing church officials of covering up abuse by dozens of clergy and staff from the 1940s to as recently as 2015. One plaintiff alleged a “Brother Ralph Wehner” groped and fondled him while he…

View Cache

Sklba once characterized secretly returning abusers to ministry as an “experiment”

Group wants incoming archbishop to remove Sklba’s name from yearly church award given to middle school children

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12-3-2024

Survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their advocates will gather for a press conference at 11:30am before the funeral of Bishop Richard Sklba, a figure deeply implicated in decades of child sexual abuse and cover-up within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Over 10,000 court-ordered released internal church documents, dozens of depositions, and scores of victim testimonies revealed Sklba’s central role in managing and concealing well over 50 cases of abusive priests in Southeastern Wisconsin spanning over three decades. 

WHEN: Wednesday, December 4th, 11:30am

WHERE: Outside the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, 812 N Jackson St, Milwaukee, WI

WHO: Survivors of clergy abuse and advocates

WHAT: Survivors and advocates will hold an 11:30am press conference outside the Downtown Milwaukee…

View Cache

New revelations expose decades of sexual abuse by a Piarist priest in Senegal, shocking communities. Victims’ testimonies highlight abuse of power, while the Order of the Pious Schools acknowledged the crimes, pledging accountability and support for survivors.

The Catholic commission defending minors sexually abused in the Catholic Church in Senegal Church has revealed new cases of sexual abuse committed by a member of the Piarist religious order. In the Diocese of Ziguinchor, where the accused operated for more than a decade, the faithful and local populations remain in shock.

“We feel almost guilty for having lacked vigilance as parents,” said André Manga, reeling from the revelations of sexual abuse committed by Piarist clergy in Mlomp, his village in southern Senegal. “It is shocking to learn that such things happened here, right under our noses, without us suspecting anything,” lamented the Sacred Heart parishioner.

Between 1992 and 2005, several Senegalese children…

View Cache

A disgraced 93-year-old New Orleans priest pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges involving the sexual assault of a teenage boy in 1975.

Lawrence Hecker, who left the ministry in 2002, had been scheduled to stand trial Tuesday. Hecker’s eyes were focused on the ground as a sheriff’s deputy pushed him toward Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Nandi Campbell’s courtroom, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.

Hecker entered his plea to aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature, first-degree rape and theft before Campbell, moments before jury selection was scheduled to begin, multiple news outlets reported. Sentencing was set for Dec. 18. He faces life in prison.

The trial had been delayed for months over concerns about Hecker’s mental competency and because District Judge Ben Willard recused himself from the case, citing a conflict with prosecutors. The case was reassigned to Campbell, who ordered Hecker to undergo routine physical and psychological evaluations…

View Cache

A former student who suffered severe injuries at Asbury University in Kentucky last year has filed a lawsuit for negligence, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Isabella Willingham was found unconscious in her room in November 2023 with cuts, bruises and other injuries. Even her acrylic nails had been ripped off. She stopped breathing on her own for 23 minutes, according to a Lex18 report.

The lawsuit, filed in state court in Kentucky, states that Willingham enrolled as a student at Asbury in August 2023 and was required to live in an on-campus dormitory.

During a phone call with Willingham on Nov. 27, 2023, her mother said Willingham began to lose focus and said that her head was hurting, for which her roommate had given her medication, ostensibly ibuprofen.

Not long after, the phone call ended abruptly and the mobile location services associated…

View Cache

During Thanksgiving week, I watched two movies: Wicked and Gladiator II. Both movies reminded me of evangelicals up to their television satellites and steeples in secular politics.

I watched the citizens of Oz pour into the streets, singing, “The wicked old witch is dead.” When Galinda the “good witch” tried to temper the frivolous bacchanal, the citizen chorus belted out, “No one mourns the wicked.”

I couldn’t stop thinking of the evangelical treatment of Kamala Harris.

Evangelical preachers and MAGA partisans knew no bounds for their descriptions of Kamala Harris. Her skin isn’t green, but she is biracial. Sexist and racist epitaphs were hurled at her. She was called a “commie,” “Joe’s boss,” “Nasty,” “Kneepads,” “Madam Swallow,” “Heels Up,” and “The San Francisco Treat.” Colorado televangelist Lance Wallnau said Harris had “the Jezebel spirit.” Steve Swofford, pastor of First Baptist Church in Rockwall, Texas, asked in a sermon, “Jezebel Harris? Isn’t that her name?”

…

View Cache

Lawrence Hecker, who was indicted last year on charges related to a sexual assault in the 1970s, pleaded guilty on Tuesday just before jury selection for his trial was set to begin.

A retired Roman Catholic priest who was indicted last year in Louisiana on charges related to the sexual assault of a teenage boy in the 1970s pleaded guilty to the crimes on Tuesday, his lawyer said, just before jury selection for the trial was set to begin.

The retired priest, Lawrence Hecker, 93, pleaded guilty to state charges of first-degree rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature, and theft over $500, said his lawyer, Bobby Hjortsberg. The charges came after allegations surfaced last year that the Archdiocese of New Orleans had known about accusations against Mr. Hecker for decades.

“Him ultimately taking responsibility for it was the right thing to do, and the necessary thing to do at…

View Cache

A former New Orleans priest accused of rape and kidnapping entered a guilty plea ahead of his expected trial Tuesday.

Lawrence Hecker entered his plea just moments before jury selection was slated to begin in his trial.

[Play Video]

He pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature, first-degree rape, and theft.

Hecker’s sentencing will be Dec. 18, and he faces life in prison.

The trial had been delayed for months over concerns of Hecker’s mental competency as well as the case being moved to Section G of court after Judge Ben Willard recused himself.

A doctor confirmed that Hecker does have Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, but Hecker was found competent to stand trial, according to his attorney Bobby Hjortsberg.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued the following statement regarding Hecker’s guilty plea:

“It is our hope and prayer that today’s court proceedings bring healing and peace to…

View Cache

Hecker, 93, had instead been scheduled to stand trial on Tuesday.

Lawrence Hecker, the geriatric former priest accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy nearly 50 years ago, pleaded guilty as charged Tuesday, abruptly ending a case boondoggled for months by the defendant’s declining health and a judge’s unusual recusal.

A grand jury indicted 93-year-old Hecker last year following an investigation that revealed the clergyman had confessed to molesting multiple juveniles over his decades of service with the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

The charges brought against him, however, stemmed from a single incident. Prosecutors alleged that Hecker choked, then raped a boy sometime between 1975 and 1976.

Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams’ office charged Hecker with first-degree rape, aggravated crime against nature, aggravated kidnapping and theft. He faces life in prison.

Hecker had been scheduled to stand trial beginning on Tuesday before he entered his guilty plea in front…

View Cache

“Erin” was one of millions of believers whose faith in God was so transformed by the Brownsville Revival of the mid-1990s that she accepted a secretarial job at the revival’s ministry school in Pensacola, Florida. But in 2002, the 21-year-old suddenly cleared her desk, quietly left the state, and has struggled with her faith ever since.

Erin told The Roys Report (TRR) she left because she felt trapped when revival leader and FIRE School of Ministry founder Michael Brown—a man she called “Dad”—would frequently cross physical boundaries. He’d hold her hand, kiss her on the lips, and slap her bottom, she said.

“He was supposed to be a spiritual father,” Erin said. “He was supposed to look after me.”

TRR keeps alleged victims of sexual harassment and clergy sexual abuse anonymous, so Erin is a pseudonym. However, we confirmed her identity with former FIRE staff Kris Bennett and former FIRE missionary…

View Cache

Investigation into boarding school abuse is set

Church agencies reach funding deal with survivors

Both liberal and evangelical Protestant groups are involved

Survivors set precedent, command seat at the table

For almost four years, dozens of adults have lobbied over 15 church agencies to investigate the sexual, physical, racial, psychological and spiritual abuse they say they suffered as kids at a Christian boarding school in Africa.

Now, finally, their efforts seem to be paying off. Eight religious groups that sent missionaries to Hillcrest have agreed to fund and cooperate with an independent probe into the alleged abuse at the school from its founding in 1942 until the present.

“This hard-won commitment means that decades of crimes and cover ups by church staff, volunteers and supervisors will be fully and finally examined and exposed – not by biased church insiders but by credible outside investigators,” said Letta Cartlidge of Colorado, who…

View Cache

Pope Francis has once again demonstrated his commitment to reform within the Catholic Church by addressing a deeply sensitive and controversial issue: the potential recognition of “spiritual abuse” as a formal crime under Church law. This proposed move seeks to address instances where clergy exploit their spiritual authority, often invoking mystical or supernatural experiences, to manipulate, control, or harm others. Such behaviour, while not new, has long remained outside the purview of formal ecclesiastical accountability, leaving many victims without recourse and perpetuating cycles of abuse cloaked in religious guidance.

Last week, Cardinal Victor Fernandez, head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, met with Pope Francis to discuss the matter, signalling the Vatican’s intent to delve into the complexities of spiritual abuse. For Pope Francis, who has prioritised addressing various forms of clerical misconduct during his papacy, this step is consistent with his broader vision of a…

View Cache

The Belgian state has been found guilty of crimes against humanity for the forced removal of five mixed-race children from their mothers in colonial Congo.

In a long-awaited ruling issued on Monday, Belgium’s court of appeal said that five women, born in the Belgian Congo and now in their 70s, had been victims of “systematic kidnapping” by the state when they were removed from their mothers as small children and sent to Catholic institutions because of their mixed-race origins.

“This is a victory and a historic judgment,” Michèle Hirsch, one of the lawyers for the women, told local media. “It is the first time in Belgium and probably in Europe that a court has condemned the Belgian colonial state for crimes against humanity.”

Monique Bitu Bingi, who was removed from her mother aged three, told the Guardian that justice had been done. “I am relieved,” she said. “The judges have recognised that…

View Cache

Among the many horrors perpetrated by the Belgians on their African colony Congo, was the abduction of children born to black African mothers and white Belgian fathers.

The Brussels Court of Appeal on Monday held the state accountable for the systematic
abduction of “metis” children, those of mixed European and African heritage, from their mothers during the colonial era in Belgian Congo.

The case was brought by five women who were forcibly separated from their mothers in the Belgian Congo before the age of seven. The court found that their abductions were part of a deliberate and systematic plan orchestrated by the Belgian state to remove children born to black mothers and white fathers from their families.

“Their abduction is an inhumane and persecutory act constituting a crime against humanity under the principles of international law,” the court said in a press statement.

The Belgian state was ordered by the court to compensate…

View Cache

ROME – Former members of the women’s branch of the Peru-based Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV) say that among the other consequences of the abuse they suffered is a loss of careers and income, and they’re asking for compensation.

Most of the roughly 30 former members of the Marian Community of Reconciliation (MCR) with whom Crux has spoken said they were either prevented from studying, or their studies were drawn out to the point that when they left, sometimes after decades in the group, they still had not completed degrees, leaving them with no financial means of support.

Most of the women agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity, using pseudonyms.

One former member named “Gianna,” who spent 18 years in the MCR without completing her studies, said that many women in the group “never worked in anything formal [that was] paid, after repeatedly, explicitly asking to do so, but at the same time…

View Cache

A bishop who called for Justin Welby to resign over the Church of England’s worst child abuse scandal has said she has been ‘frozen out’ over her comments.

The Bishop of Newcastle broke ranks to call for the Archbishop of Canterbury to step aside over failures that meant serial abuser John Smyth was never brought to justice.

Helen-Ann Hartley said she has been ‘frozen out’ by the Church and has been ‘isolated’ by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York since speaking out.

She also criticised other senior clergy for staying silent over the Church’s safeguarding failures due to ‘careerism’ and a desire to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

And she called for the CofE to be placed in ‘special measures’ over its safeguarding provision, with an independent review of failures taken out of the Church’s hands.

Dr Hartley was the only bishop to publicly call for Dr Welby to resign…

View Cache

Belfast court jails 89-year-old in sexual abuse cases after long PSNI investigation

PAUL DUNLEAVY, a Christian Brother and former school principal, was sentenced in Belfast last week to 10 years imprisonment, after being found guilty of 36 non-recent sexual abuse offences relating to nine victims. The sentence will begin in May 2026 at the conclusion of his current sentence for similar offences.

Dunleavy, now 89, has been convicted for a total of 72 non-recent sexual abuse offences from 1964-1991 involving 18 victims who were aged between seven and 14 years old at the time.

Offences include indecent assault, attempted buggery and gross indecency with or towards a child.

Head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Public Protection Branch, Detective Chief Superintendent Lindsay Fisher said: “Dunleavy was a teaching Christian Brother of the Catholic Church. He taught in four different primary and secondary schools in Belfast, Newry and Armagh from…

View Cache

Kelly-Anne Jennings, 40, rearrested on Oct. 24 for allegedly breaching bail conditions

An Ontario school teacher accused of multiple sexual offences involving students has been again released on bail after she was rearrested for allegedly breaching her bail conditions, CBC News has learned.

Kelly-Anne Jennings is on unpaid leave from her job as a Grade 8 teacher at St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School in Port Hope, Ont., as she faces 18 sex crime charges, including sexual assault on a boy under 14.

Jennings, 40, is accused of both making child pornography and distributing sexually explicit material to a minor, according to court records seen by CBC. All offences are alleged to have occurred between June 2022 and April 2024 in Port Hope, part of Northumberland County, east of Toronto.

Port Hope police Insp. Katie Andrews told CBC that Jennings spent five days in custody following her most recent arrest on Oct. 24 on charges…

View Cache

Decades of clergy sex abuse scandals are an “existential threat” to the Catholic Church and can only be remedied through transparency and prioritizing survivors, according to the outgoing Australian ambassador to the Vatican.

“Clerical abuse has resulted in lost credibility, a mounting devotional crisis and, it would not be hyperbolic to say, a real existential threat for the Catholic Church,” said Ambassador Chiara Porro.

The ambassador gave her remarks in a Nov. 21 lecture at the Pontifical Gregorian University. The event offered the Australian diplomat an occasion to offer public reflections on the theme of safeguarding, which had been one of her top priorities during her four-year posting here.

“Talking about child sexual abuse can be confronting and challenging. But as I have often said, it is absolutely indispensable, because child sexual abuse thrives on silence,” she said. “Breaking that silence is a vital step to drive the society-wide effort…

View Cache

A Church of England bishop has accused fellow bishops of “careerism” over their failure to condemn a church cover-up of abuse, claiming they have stayed silent because they want to be the new archbishop of Canterbury.

After the publication of the Makin review last month into the church’s failure to stop the serial abuser John Smyth, the Right Rev Helen-Ann Hartley, the bishop of Newcastle, called for Justin Welby to quit over the scandal days before he did so.

Since then, Hartley said, she has been frozen out by fellow bishops. “Some are certainly silent I think because they do see themselves, sadly, as potentially taking over from Archbishop Justin,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme. “There is definitely some careerism.”

Hartley said the church’s failure to stop Smyth, who abused 130 boys and young men in three countries over several decades, showed it should be put under special measures…

View Cache

**

Spanish bishops rejected a call from the national ombudsman for the Church to contribute to a state compensation fund for abuse victims. Ángel Gabilondo, who published a report in October 2023 estimating that 200,000 adults may have been abused by priests or religious in Spain, told a congressional committee that the Church should pay into a central fund which would compensate victims of abuse in all settings. 

Speaking at the bishops’ conference plenary meeting last week, its secretary general Bishop César García Magán, an auxiliary in the Archdiocese of Toledo, insisted the Church would maintain its own scheme despite criticisms. “We have come a long way,” he said. “We may have made a slow start, but we have made progress when others have not even begun.” The bishop argued that “the issue of the abuse of minors is a social problem” and called for “renewal in all areas of social…

View Cache

La mayoría de los grupos parlamentarios acogen la recomendación de reparar a los afectados, aunque discrepan si debería ser la jerarquía eclesial la que deba pagar la factura millonaria de los abusos

EL PAÍS puso en marcha en 2018 una investigación de la pederastia en la Iglesia española y tiene una base de datos actualizada con todos los casos conocidos. Si conoce algún caso que no haya visto la luz, nos puede escribir a: abusos@elpais.es. Si es un caso en América Latina, la dirección es: abusosamerica@elpais.es.

───────────

La tribuna del Congreso de los Diputados se ha llenado este jueves de víctimas de pederastia de la Iglesia católica, durante años invisibilizadas, para escuchar, por primera vez en la historia de la democracia española, un debate parlamentario sobre el escándalo de los abusos relacionados con el clero. Un año después de terminar su Informe sobre abusos sexuales en el ámbito de la Iglesia católica…

View Cache

A Saskatoon priest accused of sexual assault says he meant to encourage and reassure a young girl when he hugged and kissed her during an encounter in 2023. He recounted the incident in his testimony at Saskatoon Provincial Court Friday.

As the only defence witness, Janko Kolosnjaji, 71, used a walker to approach the testimony stand two weeks after having hip surgery Friday during the trial which resumed after two months of delays and adjournments.

Kolosnjaji is accused of hugging and kissing a then 13-year-old, who can’t be named because of a publication ban, in a supply room at St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral on March 11, 2023. He was charged on April 19, 2023, and placed on leave shortly afterwards.

During his testimony, Kolosnjaji detailed various religious ceremonies and traditions where the “kiss of peace” is customary to show support and appreciation in Greek Catholic religion, like kissing a…

View Cache

Proposals have been announced to demolish a County Down parochial house in which the late priest Fr Malachy Finegan was accused of carrying out multiple sexual assaults.

The building on the Castlewellan Road in Hilltown is currently vacant and is partially boarded up, having been damaged in an arson attack in 2023.

The building’s future has been uncertain since 2018, when Hilltown man Sean Faloon told the BBC that Fr Finegan had abused him on a regular basis from the age of 10 and that some of the sex assaults took place in the parochial house.

Several years prior to the 2023 arson attack, an anonymous threat was issued warning that it would be burned down.

‘Time to reflect’

The current parish priest of Clonduff, Fr Charlie Byrne, revealed the demolition proposal during mass in St John the Evangelist Church Ballymaghery in Hilltown on Saturday evening.

“The last two years has…

View Cache

A former school chaplain and rector has pleaded guilty to making indecent images of a child.

Samuel Erlandson, 36, from Ruabon, Wrexham, admitted two charges at Mold magistrates’ court on 23 November.

He has since been dismissed as chaplain of St David’s College – a boarding school in Llandudno, Conwy county. It is understood the charges do not involve pupils at the school.

Erlandson is due to appear at Llandudno Magistrates’ Court for sentencing on 30 December.

Erlandson had also been rector of St Hilary’s Church Llanrhos and St Paul’s in Llandudno.

St. David’s College said it was “deeply shocked and distressed by the news”

“When we were told about his arrest we immediately took steps to ensure he had no further engagement with the school community, and as soon as we heard he had pleaded guilty we dismissed him from his role.”

View Cache