ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Carol Glatz

In Caravaggio’s painting of Matthew, the sinful tax collector being called by Jesus to “Follow me,” Pope Francis sees the same unexpected, grace-filled moment found in his own call to the priesthood.

A 17-year-old Argentine student headed to a school picnic on Sept. 21, 1953, the feast of St. Matthew, Jorge Bergoglio felt compelled to first stop by his parish of San Jose de Flores.

It was there, speaking with a priest he had never seen before and receiving the sacrament of reconciliation, he was suddenly struck by “the loving presence of God,” who, like his episcopal motto describes, saw him through eyes of mercy and chose him, despite his human imperfections and flaws.

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NEW YORK
CBS News

December 8, 2019

[VIDEO]

Last year, 60 Minutes’ Bill Whitaker reported on leaked records of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, New York. On Wednesday, Pope Francis accepted Bishop Malone’s resignation.

Last year, Bill Whitaker reported on leaked records of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, New York. They showed Bishop Richard Malone concealed allegations against dozens of priests accused of abuse and allowed some to remain in ministry.

The whistleblower was Bishop Malone’s own executive assistant Siobhan O’Connor.

“The reality of what I saw really left me with no other option because, at the end of my life, I`m not going to answer to Bishop Malone. I`m going to answer to God,” O’Connor said.

On Wednesday, Pope Francis accepted Bishop Malone’s resignation.

Watch the full report, “Inside the Secret Archive,” below.

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INDIA
Reuters via the Huffington Global

December 6, 2019

Indian police shot dead four men on Friday who were suspected of raping and killing a 27-year-old veterinarian in the city of Hyderabad, a police official told Reuters, drawing applause from her family and citizens outraged over crimes against women.

More than 32,500 cases of rape were registered with the police in 2017, about 90 a day, according to the most recent government data.

Indian courts disposed of only about 18,300 cases related to rape that year, leaving more than 127,800 cases pending at the end of 2017.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
WOWK-TV

December 7, 2019

A Cleveland-area Roman Catholic priest who is accused of having child pornography is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday.

Authorities arrested the Rev. Robert McWilliams on Thursday at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Strongsville. He’s charged with possessing child pornography and possessing criminal tools.

The Cleveland diocese says investigators took a cellphone, iPad and laptop that belonged to McWilliams during a raid of the priest’s office and where he lived. McWilliams is being held in jail and hasn’t made any statements since his arrest.

Court records don’t indicate whether he has any attorney.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Crux

December 8, 2019

By John L. Allen Jr.

Now that we know why the scheduled Dec. 21 beatification ceremony for the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen has been postponed, it raises broader questions about how we evaluate not only potential candidates for sainthood, but those who’ve already crossed the finish line, vis-à-vis the clerical sexual abuse scandals.

After being initially reported that the Vatican had postponed the beatification at the request of a “few U.S. bishops,” the Diocese of Rochester, where Sheen served as an auxiliary bishop from 1959 to 1966 and as the bishop until his retirement in 1969, acknowledged in a statement that it had requested the delay “to allow for further review of his role in priests’ assignments.”

To be clear, there’s no suggestion of any personal misconduct by Sheen. An official in Sheen’s home diocese of Peoria, Illinois, which spearheaded the beatification cause, told reporters the concerns focus on a particular Rochester priest accused of sexual misconduct during Sheen’s years as a bishop, but insisted that the case had been thoroughly investigated and no mishandling by Sheen was discovered.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Archdiocese of Philadelphia

December 8, 2019

Reverend Monsignor Joseph L. Logrip was placed on administrative leave and his priestly faculties were restricted in January 2019 following an allegation that he sexually abused a minor in the early 1980s. That allegation has been substantiated and he has been found unsuitable for ministry.

Contextual Background Regarding Reverend Monsignor Joseph L. Logrip

Previous Administrative Leave Case (2011)

Reverend Monsignor Joseph L. Logrip was previously placed on administrative leave and his priestly faculties were restricted by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia following the March 2011 Philadelphia Grand Jury Report. That action was taken based on an allegation that he had sexually abused a minor over two decades before that time.

The allegation was referred to law enforcement and public announcements were made to the media as well as the parish communities where Monsignor Logrip had been serving at that time.

The required canonical (church) investigation of Monsignor Logrip was launched after law enforcement declined to press charges in that matter. The Archdiocesan Office of Investigations (AOI) undertook that canonical process.

The AOI is responsible for conducting internal and canonical investigations following the conclusion of work performed by civil authorities. At the time it investigated Monsignor Logrip the AOI was headed by a former Deputy District Attorney for the City and County of Philadelphia. Currently, the office is led by a former First Assistant District Attorney for the City and County of Philadelphia. The AOI also performs investigations in matters that center on alleged activity that is not illegal in nature, but that may violate The Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries established by the Archdiocese.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Associated Press via PennLive.com

December 8, 2019

Catholic authorities in Philadelphia say a priest formerly returned to ministry following an allegation of sexual abuse has been found unsuitable for ministry following a new allegation.

Seventy-four-year-old Reverend Monsignor Joseph Logrip had been placed on administrative leave in January following the new allegation of abuse in the early 1980s.

The archdiocese of Philadelphia said Sunday that the new allegation “has been substantiated” and Logrip “has been found unsuitable for ministry.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

December 8, 2019

by Mensah M. Dean

A Philadelphia Catholic priest who was placed on administrative leave in January after being accused of sexually abusing a minor in the 1980s, has been found to be “unsuitable for ministry,” the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced Sunday.

Monsignor Joseph L. Logrip, 74, who had last worked as a chaplain at Camilla Hall, a retirement home for women in Malvern, Chester County, and as a weekend assistant at St. Peter Parish in West Brandywine, Chester County, was ruled to be unfit to serve as a priest after an investigation by the Archdiocesan Office of Investigation.

The results of the investigation were then forwarded to the Archdiocesan Professional Responsibilities Review Board, which recommended that Logrip be declared unsuitable, the church said in a statement. Archbishop Charles Chaput accepted that recommendation, and the case will now be sent to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, the statement said.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

December 7, 2019

By Inés San Martín

[Editor’s note: This is part two of a Crux interview with Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore. Part one can be found here.]

Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore says the Church must “make darn sure” any bishop of the Catholic Church who served from the 1960s to 1980s, now understood to be the statistical peak of the clerical sexual abuse crisis, didn’t mishandle an abuse allegation – a test, he said, that must apply even “for someone as good as Fulton Sheen.”

Lori spoke one day after the diocese of Peoria announced the Vatican had decided to postpone the Dec. 21 beatification of the late American archbishop, who was once a nationally known figure and Emmy-award winning pioneer of radio and television evangelization.

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BRIDGEPORT (CT)
Diocese of Bridgeport

December 6, 2019

By Bishop Frank J. Caggiano

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I am writing to inform you that I have placed Reverend Jaime Marin-Cardona on Administrative Leave after being informed by state Department of Children and Families (DCF) that it has substantiated allegations of abuse after a lengthy investigation.

The Diocese of Bridgeport has fully cooperated with the investigation by DCF and with a parallel ongoing investigation underway by the Danbury Police Department.

The diocesan Sexual Misconduct Review Board has also met and accepted the determination of credibility reached by DCF. As a result, I have removed Father Marin-Cardona’s priestly faculties and prohibited him from engaging in public ministry.

Father Marin-Cardona has been a priest of the Diocese of Bridgeport since 2010, with assignments at Saint Joseph Parish in Norwalk, Saint Charles Borromeo Parish in Bridgeport, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Danbury and, most recently, at Saint Mary Parish in Bridgeport.

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STAMFORD (CT)
Stamford Advocate

December 8, 2019

By Peter Yankowski

The Diocese of Bridgeport has stripped a reverend of his job following allegations of abuse made to the state and as part of a parallel “ongoing investigation” by Danbury police.

The Reverend Jaime Marin-Cardona has been removed from his priestly duties and is prohibited from “engaging in public ministry,” Bishop Frank J. Caggiano said in a statement Friday, after the clergy’s Sexual Misconduct Review Board learned the state found the accusations credible.

The allegations against Marin-Cardona came to light in September, after the diocese received a letter indicating that “parents were concerned by Father Marin-Cardona’s contact with a family member who is a minor,” the bishop said.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

December 7, 2019

By Jay Tokasz

The news that Bishop Richard J. Malone resigned as leader of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, with Albany Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger becoming the diocese’s temporary administrator, meant almost nothing to John A. Polvino.

About 18 months ago, Polvino publicly accused the Rev. Donald W. Becker of molesting him in 1975 when he was 13. Polvino became a vocal critic of how diocese leaders handled abuse cases, but he was so infuriated by the situation that he stopped paying any attention to them.

“I’ve had to, for my own safe mental health,” he said. “The new guy, quite frankly, I wasn’t even interested enough to read about. I honestly don’t believe this is going to change anything, whether (Malone) is here or not.”

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PEORIA (IL)
Catholic News Agency

December 7, 2019

After the Diocese of Rochester last week confirmed it had requested that the beatification of Venerable Fulton Sheen be delayed, a longtime Peoria diocese official is accusing the Rochester diocese of repeatedly “sabotaging” Sheen’s sainthood cause.

“Under the veneer of the Rochester diocese’s call for caution, more than an overwhelming majority of people would conclude that it is an unexplainable act of sabotage — a sabotage that simply hurts the faithful,” Monsignor James Kruse, an official in the Diocese of Peoria involved in advancing Sheen’s cause, wrote in a lengthy Dec. 7 op-ed.

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NEWARK (NJ)
NorthJersey.com via Asbury Park Press

December 8, 2019

John Bellocchio was an altar boy at St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church in Hackensack when Cardinal Theodore McCarrick abused him during a visit to the parish, the businessman told reporters on Monday.

Bellocchio, a 14-year-old at the time, who had grown up in a devout Roman Catholic family, initially felt “honored” to be in the presence of the leader of the Newark Archdiocese, he said at a Newark news conference.

But then McCarrick, one of the most influential Catholic prelates in the U.S., assaulted him in the vestibule of the church, Bellocchio alleged in a lawsuit filed this weekend. Now 37, Bellocchio said he has suffered from anxiety ever since, including panic attacks that sometimes demand medical intervention.

His lawsuit was one of at least eight filed against the Newark Archdiocese or the neighboring Paterson Diocese as of Monday, the day after a new state law temporarily lifted New Jersey’s statute of limitations on sex abuse complaints. Hundreds more are expected against the state’s five Catholic dioceses, the Boy Scouts of America and other institutions long accused of covering up such cases.

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MONTREAL (QUEBEC, CANADA)
Montreal Gazette

December 5, 2019

By Damien Meyer

The suit names 26 FSC schools across Quebec and names 25 priests suspected of sexually assaulting children between the 1940s and 1980s

The Frères du Sacré-Cœur (FSC) will have to defend itself against a second class-action lawsuit in Quebec that claims its priests molested children in their care.

In a ruling published Thursday, Superior Court Judge Christian Immer wrote that claims of widespread abuse within the religious order were credible enough to warrant a class-action lawsuit. The suit names 26 FSC schools across Quebec and names 25 priests suspected of sexually assaulting children between the 1940s and 1980s.

One of the main plaintiffs — given the alias “F” in the lawsuit — claims that, as a teenager, he was repeatedly abused by Brother Léon Maurice Tremblay while attending an FSC summer camp. This would have taken place in 1978 or 1979.

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NEW YORK AND DUBLIN
Irish Central

December 6, 2019

By Jean Farrell

There has been much written about how influential broadcaster Gay Byrne was in changing attitudes here in Ireland.

Indeed he was, as were other factors in the 1960s and 70s. We forget how very different things were in the 1950s and in the preceding decades.

What brought this to mind are old prayer books I came across lately. They give a great insight into the type of religion that was taught in the past.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Associated Press via Alton Telegraph

December 5, 2019

A former priest has sued the Archdiocese of St. Louis, alleging it libeled and slandered him by including him on a list of clerics credibly accused of abusing children.

Michael Toohey, 77, of Creve Coeur, claims in the lawsuit filed last month in St. Louis County Circuit Court that the archdiocese intentionally damaged his reputation, refused to provide more details of any allegation against him and denied his challenge of the claim, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

At issue is a list the archdiocese released this summer that included the names of 63 men with substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. Twenty-six of those men, including Toohey, had never been named publicly as facing such allegations.

In an interview with the Post-Dispatch in September, Toohey denied sexually abusing anyone and said the archdiocese never told him he had been accused of sex abuse of a minor until the list was released. He said he and an attorney met with the archdiocese after the list was released but that church officials refused to discuss information about his case.

Toohey, who served as a priest at three St. Louis-area parishes from 1967 until 1970, has said that he left left the priesthood of his own volition in 1970 because he felt the church had become too permissive on issues including contraception and divorce. He later worked for trade groups in St. Louis, including the Home Builders Association of St. Louis, and in Georgia.

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LONDON (ONTARIO, CANADA)
Diocese of London

December 5, 2019

As a Diocese, we wish to express our utmost regret for the suffering that has been incurred as a result of clergy sexual abuse. As we review the list published by SNAP, we can confirm that it appears to be substantially correct. We cannot confirm its accuracy in its entirety. Certain cases, for instance, were resolved by the Religious Orders themselves. We can confirm, however, that there are four other priests against whom allegations involving minors have been made. None of the priests continues to work within the Diocese or elsewhere in the Church.

We are sorry for the pain that clergy sexual abuse has caused, and we are committed to vigilantly protecting those who are vulnerable, to supporting survivors, and to swiftly addressing allegations. Bishop Fabbro has met with many survivors and their families. As a result of lessons learned within these conversations, we believe that there is no one way for survivors to respond and to heal from abuse. Only survivors of abuse, therefore, have the right to determine whether to publicly disclose their stories or not. We work with survivors to respond to their individual needs.

As part of a commitment to supporting survivors and allowing them to determine whether or not to reveal information about their experiences, Bishop Fabbro waived confidentiality requirements from all settlements in our Diocese. That way, those who wish to tell their story may do so, and those who are concerned about being inadvertently identified can choose to remain protected by confidentiality.

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MONTREAL (QUEBEC, CANADA)
Radio Canada International

December 6, 2019

By Terry Haig

The Roman Catholic Diocese in London, Ontario says a list of known pedophile priests published Wednesday by an abuse survivors group “appears to be essentially correct.”

In a written statement Thursday, the diocese issued an apology to victims and added the names of four priests not on the original list.

“We wish to express our utmost regret for the suffering that has been incurred as a result of clergy sexual abuse,” the diocese said.

The apology came after the diocese initially refused to confirm the names of 36 priests published by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), which said the abuse began 50 to 60 years ago.

The list included 20 priests who worked in the Windsor region, nine from the London area and others from towns across Southwestern Ontario, including Chatham and Sarnia.

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TORONTO (ONTARIO, CANADA)
CBC

December 7, 2019

London Bishop claims survivors don’t want priests named and fear revictimization

London, Ont. – A London lawyer says he has “a hard time stomaching” why the local diocese would keep the names of four priests facing sexual abuse allegations against minors a secret.

“The vast majority want the name of their perpetrator out there. They want to protect society. They want accountability,” said Rob Talach, who has represented more 1,000 survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of the clergy in more than 400 court battles against the Catholic Church.

Talach’s comments came on Friday, the same day London Bishop Ronald Fabbro appeared on CBC Radio One’s London Morning.

Fabbro told host Rebecca Zandbergen that the list of 36 clergy members accused of sexual abuse published Wednesday by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) was “substantially correct.”

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TAMPA (FL)
Legal Examiner – Saunders and Walker

December 6, 2019

By Joseph H. Saunders

Five years ago, such a thing would have been unimaginable. I have been an abuse survivor advocate and attorney for the past twenty years and the rapid change in state laws and the public’s perception of childhood sexual abuse has forced the Catholic Church to offer compensation funds in all the dioceses of New York, some in Pennsylvania and California in order to stave off civil lawsuits.

New York was the first state this year to provide a “look back” window for a period of one year which ends August 15, 2020. The “look back” provision of the Child Victims Act allows all survivors to file a lawsuit against the offending institution such as the Catholic Church in spite of the statute of limitations. On December 1, 2019, New Jersey opened a “look back” period of two years while California will offer a three year “look back” beginning in January 2020. Vermont completely abolished the statute of limitations for childhood abuse cases.

In total, eight states have opened “look back” windows, which allow adult victims of sex abuse to come forward with allegations from their childhoods, even if they have passed the statute of limitations. Seven more states have significantly relaxed their statutes of limitations, allowing victims to come forward much later in life than previous laws had allowed.

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ROCHESTER (NY)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle via Peoria Journal Star

December 6, 2019

By Steve Orr

The Rochester Catholic Diocese prompted a delay in the beatification of its former bishop, the Most Rev. Fulton J. Sheen, by raising questions with the Vatican about his administration of multiple priests who had been accused of misconduct.

The delay had nothing to do with any allegations of sexual abuse by Sheen himself — and nothing to do with the supposed animus that some claim the current leaders of the Rochester diocese harbor toward their late bishop.

Sheen, once a nationally known figure and Emmy-winner pioneer of radio and television evangelism, had been scheduled to be beatified by Pope Francis on Dec. 21. But the Vatican earlier this week said it was delaying the action, leading some to assert that current Rochester Bishop Salvatore Matano was behind the delay.

That assertion has some truth behind it, the diocese indicated to the Democrat and the Chronicle on Thursday: Matano and other bishops have argued that the church must investigate more fully to determine if Sheen helped cover up sexual abuse by priests in Rochester during his time here some 40 years ago.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
WKYC

December 6, 2019

By Tyler Carey and Mark Naymik

https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/crime/devastating-and-heart-wrenching-cleveland-bishop-nelson-j-perez-releases-statement-after-strongsville-priests-arrest/95-14c900fa-6478-430e-b313-975806ccdc5c

The Rev. Bob McWilliams is facing charges related to child pornography.

One day after the arrest of a priest in the diocese, Roman Catholic Bishop of Cleveland Nelson J. Perez has released a statement on the matter.

Perez, who is currently in Rome meeting with Pope Francis, called the accusations against the Rev. Bob McWilliams “devastating and heart-wrenching for the entire Catholic community in Northeast Ohio.” The bishop also pledged to fully cooperate with investigators in the name of “the safety and well-being of our children.”

“All of us feel tremendous emotions of shock, disappointment and confusion,” Perez wrote. “I ask you to join me in prayerful solidarity for healing asking for God’s grace and guidance in this painful situation.”

McWilliams was taken into custody Thursday after authorities searched St. Joseph Catholic Church in Strongsville. He has currently been booked on a charge of pandering obscenity related to an accusation of inappropriately texting a teenager in Newbury, and sources tell 3News that multiple images of child pornography were found at the St. Joseph rectory where McWilliams lives.

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WASHINGTON (PA)
Observer-Reporter

December 7, 2019

By Scott Beveridge

https://observer-reporter.com/news/localnews/north-franklin-township-man-files-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-against-pittsburgh/article_0afaaf32-1856-11ea-a6f0-37935fd6eaa2.html

A North Franklin Township man Friday sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh seeking damages from alleged sexual abuse by a priest assigned to a Washington church in the 1970s.

The six-count lawsuit filed in Washington County Court of Common Pleas accuses the diocese of fraud and negligence for allowing the abuse by Thomas McKenna when he served at Immaculate Conception, court records show.

The victim’s attorney, Paul A. Tershel of Washington, said in court documents the injuries the victim suffered were “so severe that no reasonable person could be expected to tolerate them.”

The victim claims he was first sexually assaulted by the priest when he was around the ages of 11 or 12 between 1973 and 1975 when he was an altar boy and worked at the church cemetery, the court record indicates.

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ALLENTOWN (PA)
The Morning Call

December 6, 2019

By Emily Opilo

The Allentown Diocese has settled a lawsuit with an unnamed former altar boy who alleged he was sexually molested by a diocesan priest between the ages of 10 and 12.

The lawsuit, which was filed in 2018 and named as defendants the diocese, former Priest Bruno M. Tucci, former Bishop Edward Cullen, Bishop Alfred Schlert and Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete, was settled last week, according to a motion to withdraw the suit filed in Lehigh County court.

The case was settled via mediation. The terms of the settlement were not outlined in the filing.

Matt Kerr, spokesman for the Allentown Diocese, said the terms of the deal will remain confidential at the request of the plaintiff. John Fioravanti Jr., attorney for the plaintiff, could not be reached for comment.

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COLONIA (NJ)
The Patch

December 6, 2019

By Carly Baldwin

The man says Romano Ferraro molested him when he was 11. The priest worked at Our Lady of Mount Virgin, St. John Vianney and St. James.

A defrocked Catholic priest who is currently in prison for raping a 7-year-old boy has now been hit this week with yet a new lawsuit, by a New Jersey man accusing the priest of sexually molesting him multiple times when he was an altar boy in Middlesex borough.

The accused priest is Romano Ferraro, and the alleged abuse started in 1984, according to the lawsuit, which was obtained by Patch. At the time, Ferraro was stationed at both St. James in Woodbridge and St. John Vianney in Colonia, as well as at Our Lady of Mount Virgin in Middlesex borough.

The victim said he was 11 to 14 at the time, and was an altar boy at Our Lady of Mount Virgin.

The man who filed it is now 46 and still lives in New Jersey. He says that Ferraro started molesting him when he was about 11 years old. In the suit, he is identified only by his initials, B.D.S. He said he was raised in a devout Catholic family and he attended Our Lady of Mount Virgin School in Middlesex.

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CHARLOTTE (NC)
WFAE

December 3, 2019

By Sarah Delia

[The first episode in this podcast was blogged previously in Abuse Tracker. See The List – Episode 1: The Who and the What. Also blogged previously were a conversation with the author, Sarah Delia, expert Tom Doyle, and the survivor “Anthony”; and an interview with Delia.]

In this episode of “The List,” we learn more about the child sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church and why dioceses across the country have been releasing lists of credibly accused clergy. We also learn more about the history of the Charlotte Diocese — which as of Dec. 1, 2019, still hadn’t released a list despite plans to do so by the end of the year. And we hear from a survivor of abuse at the hands of a former priest who once served in Charlotte — and the attorney who represented him in a lawsuit against the diocese.

The following includes descriptions about sexual violence. Please be advised.

SARAH DELIA: I told you I’ve been thinking a lot about lists. How do you decide what’s important to remember? And how do you decide what’s not? And when it comes to creating a list like the one the Charlotte Diocese has committed to release by the end of the year, one that includes the names of credibly accused clergy who at some point served at the Charlotte Diocese, how do you begin that process? How do you know when it’s complete?

TOM DOYLE: In our justice system, if you’re credibly accused of murder, people know about it. You know, your name is put in the newspaper. It’s not kept secret. The people in North Carolina have just as much a right as anybody else to know what priests who’ve been employed by that diocese have been known to have sexually violated children, minors or vulnerable adults.

DELIA: That’s Tom Doyle. Some describe him as one of the original whistleblowers of the child abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Doyle is an expert in Catholic law and a former priest. He walked away from the Catholic Church and the priesthood about 15 years ago, largely in part because of the abuse and the coverup he saw.  

DOYLE: When the bishop assigns them to a parish as a pastor, as an assistant pastor, when he assigns them to work in a high school, he’s telling those people that this man is morally and spiritually fit for this position and you can trust him and you can count on the fact that he’s there for your spiritual and moral guidance.

DELIA: He’s dedicated the last 35 years of his career to helping hold the church accountable. He’s routinely used as a court expert in lawsuits. He also uses his skills in other ways. For example, the Capuchin Province of St. Joseph hired Doyle to audit personnel records. He dug through archives and documents to see what the organization’s response to sexual abuse accusations and inappropriate behavior was. The audit went all the way back to the 1880s. It was published in 2013. [A revised version of the report was published soon after.]

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CHARLOTTE (NC)
WFAE

December 4, 2019

By Sarah Delia

In this episode of “The List,” we learn about why survivors of abuse in the Catholic Church and proponents of accountability push for the release of lists of credibly accused clergy. We also hear some theories as to why certain people might push back against the release of such lists. And we hear from a local deacon about why he thinks the church should talk about the crisis openly. There’s another why we learn about, too — why some people in power abuse children in the first place.
The following includes descriptions about sexual violence. Please be advised.

SARAH DELIA: If you can remember something that happened to you, why is it important to have a written record? Why do you need other people to know? And why would you want them to? 

In the case of sexual abuse survivors who are waiting for the Charlotte Diocese to release a list of credibly accused clergy, it comes down to one word: acknowledgment.

ROBBY PRICE: One of the main things that we struggle with is feeling like this was an isolated incident, and we want to know that we’re validated, and we want to know that we’re heard. And, so, having a list that says, “OK, yes that man did something that he shouldn’t have done to me,“ it validates the survivors of sexual abuse to make them feel like they’re not the only one.

DELIA: That’s 35-year-old Robby Price. We heard his story in our last episode. Remember, when Price was 14 years old, he was sexually abused by Robert Yurgel, who served as a priest at St. Matthew in Charlotte. Price grew up in Charlotte and now lives in Florida. I reached him via Skype.

And Price has some theories as to why the list hasn’t been released yet. For one, he says, he believes there are more names on the list than the public realizes.

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CHARLOTTE (NC)
WFAE

December 5, 2019

By Sarah Delia

In Episode 4 of “The List,” we explore what might happen when the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte releases a list of clergy members credibly accused of sexual misconduct and abuse. The diocese says it plans to release names by the end of 2019. We hear from an advocate with personal experience who’s there to listen to other survivors of abuse and from North Carolina’s attorney general. And we hear how the crisis has shaped survivors’ views on not just the Catholic Church but faith in general.

The following includes descriptions about sexual violence. Please be advised.

SARAH DELIA: When the independent investigative firm U.S. ISS Agency has completed its historical review of files of the Charlotte Diocese, what will its findings say? When the review board for the diocese has looked at all the facts and findings presented to them, what will its recommendations to Bishop Peter Jugis be? And when Bishop Jugis reviews those recommendations, what will the result look like?

When the list of credibly accused clergy is released, what and who will be on it, and will it be complete?

Survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests hope the end result will be a comprehensive list with their abuser’s name printed on it for all to see — to acknowledge what happened to them, but also to warn others. One of those survivors is Robby Price, who was sexually abused by Robert Yurgel in 1999. Yurgel was a priest at St. Matthew in Charlotte. Price spoke to me via Skype.

ROBBY PRICE: You need to help abuse survivors. You need to ensure that all those that you’re supposedly looking out for that are part of your flock in Charlotte are safe. Release the list.

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TORONTO (CANADA)
CBC News

Dec. 9, 2019

For more than two decades, parishioners repeatedly warned Montreal church leaders about the troubling behaviour of Brian Boucher, a priest who was given an eight-year prison sentence last March for sexually abusing two young boys.

A months-long investigation by CBC Montreal has revealed the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal was told on multiple occasions that Boucher was divisive, bullying and had worrisome relationships with young boys.

But the archdiocese took little action against Boucher until a police investigation in 2015.

CBC spoke to nearly 50 parishioners, church staff and priests who oversaw Boucher’s work.

Many of the parishioners still have deep ties to the church and were reluctant to criticize it publicly. Others feared Boucher would track them down after his release.

For this reason, CBC has agreed not to reveal the identity of a number of its sources.

In these interviews, parishioners expressed frustration and dismay at how church leaders dealt with Boucher.

“They heard, but they didn’t listen,” said a parishioner at the last church where Boucher served before his arrest.

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Catholics 4 Change blog

Dec. 5, 2019

By Kathy Kane

When the two year window opened in New Jersey on December 1st for residents who had been previously time barred from filing lawsuits for the sexual abuse they suffered, it also allowed for some Pennsylvania survivors to file suit because their abuse occurred in the state of New Jersey

Two cases that were filed against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia involved abuse of minors who were taken to popular New Jersey shore destinations. The shore destinations are less than a two hour drive from Philadelphia and in decades past when sex abuse crimes perpetrated by clergy were not known to most parents, it was considered almost an honor for a kid to be chosen to take trip with a priest. What could be safer?

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Whistleblowers blog

Dec. 6, 2019

By Tinker Ready

“I should really tackle that vacuum closet,” Siobhan O’Connor told herself when her boss, Buffalo Bishop Richard Malone, was out of town.

HIdden inside, she found a thick binder. It included documents from pending litigation charging priests with sexual assault. Many were still in their jobs. Last summer, she leaked the list to a local television station.

It took not one, but two whistleblowers to oust Malone, who resigned on Wednesday after evidence emerged that he was covering up for abusive priests.

O’Conner shared her story on NPR this morning.

I’ve been a Catholic all my life…I remember thinking that I was certain this was necessary. This truth had to come out for the good of our Catholic community. But I did struggle with the knowledge that I would be betraying my bishop.

She also knew her actions would impact her life.

But I remember thinking that, if I don’t do something, it will it change my life in a far graver way. I could never move past this if I were to be aware of this and walked away without doing something. I’m so grateful I did because I have had this lasting peace ever since then.

She has also shared her story with 60 Minutes.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

Dec 6, 2019

By Inés San Martín

Having met with the pontiff for three hours Tuesday, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore came away convinced the perception that Pope Francis doesn’t really like Americans very much is not only untrue, but that it’s being used both by the extreme right and left to sow division.

Lori is currently in Rome taking part in his ad limina visit, an every-five-year pilgrimage by bishops from around the world to the Eternal City where they encounter the pontiff and visit different Vatican departments.

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MONTREAL (CANADA)
Canadian Press

Dec. 6, 2019

Quebec’s Superior Court has authorized a second class-action lawsuit against the Frères du Sacré-Cœur on behalf of all victims who claim they were sexually assaulted by a member of the religious order.

The lawsuit was granted this week by Superior Court Judge Christian Immer in a 22-page judgment. The application was first submitted to the courts last winter.

The class action alleges that sexual assaults were perpetrated for decades, across several institutions in Quebec, by 25 religious members of the Frères du Sacré-Cœur.

There are 26 institutions listed, most notably in Montreal, the Montérégie region, Quebec City, Bois-Francs, the Eastern Townships, Charlevoix, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie.

Montreal law firm Kugler Kandestin, which represents the alleged victims, said it will claim compensatory damages for each of them, as well as punitive damages to the amount of $15 million.

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REGINA (CANADA)
Leader Post

Dec. 4, 2019

By Heather Polischuk

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has reserved its decision in an extradition case involving a Catholic priest facing physical and sexual abuse charges in Scotland.

Now 87, Father Robert MacKenzie used a walker to get into and out of court on Wednesday, when his lawyer Alan McIntyre and the lawyer for the federal government made representations on an application for judicial review of a government-issued surrender order under the Extradition Act. Details of evidence and submissions heard in court can’t be reported because of a court-imposed publication ban.

As is usual for the Court of Appeal, a date for the return of its decision has not been set.

According to previously reported information, MacKenzie faces allegations spanning 30 years — between the 1950s and 1980s — when he served as a Benedictine monk at two boys’ boarding schools.

McIntyre previously stated MacKenzie, “categorically denies now, and he has denied under oath to the minister of justice, that he was involved in any sexual impropriety.”

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service

Dec. 6, 2019

The clergy sexual abuse crisis continued to command a large amount of attention and action from the U.S. bishops throughout 2019.

The year was headlined by actions during the bishops’ spring general assembly during which they approved a plan to implement Pope Francis’ “motu proprio” on addressing abuse.

The pope issued his document, “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” (“You are the light of the world”), in May to help the Catholic Church safeguard its members from abuse and hold its leaders accountable.

The “motu proprio” was one of the measures that came out of a February Vatican summit on clergy sexual abuse attended by the presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences.

The U.S. bishops’ implementation plan passed 281-1 with two abstentions.

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ANN ARBOR (MI)
Ann Arbor News

Dec. 6, 2019

By Nathan Clark

A religious volunteer at the Washtenaw County Jail has been found guilty of inappropriately touching inmates during prayer sessions.

After a four-day trial, a jury found Robert Roleke guilty Thursday, Dec. 5, of two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct through force or coercion, court records show.

Roleke, 82, of Whitmore Lake, was charged in 2018, six years after an inmate told officers Roleke grabbed his genitals during a “fake” prayer session in 2012, records show.

Roleke has maintained his innocence throughout the case, and his attorney, James Fifelski, questioned the motivation of the inmate, citing his criminal history and drug use.

Fifelski also stated there could be anti-religious sentiment in the case, due to an onslaught of sexual assault charges against Catholic priests in recent years.

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NAIROBI (KENYA)
Associated Press

Dec. 6, 2019

Steven Lacchin grew up a fatherless boy, but he knew some very basic facts about the man who was his father.

He knew Lacchin, the name on his Kenyan birth certificate, was his dad’s name. He knew that Mario Lacchin abandoned him and his mother.

When he was oder, he learned that his father was an Italian missionary priest – and that in leaving, he had chosen the church over his child.

What he did not know is that less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) away, another man was on a quest to prove that Mario Lacchin was his father, too.

These two men would find each other thanks to an Associated Press story that appeared on the front page of Kenya’s main newspaper. All agreed that they bore a marked resemblance, but they underwent genetic testing to be certain.

Were they indeed half-brothers, sons of the same Father?

The Vatican only publicly admitted this year that it had a problem: Priests were fathering children. And it only acknowledged the problem by revealing that it had crafted internal guidelines to deal with it.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

Dec. 5, 2019

By Lou Michel

Albany Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger has listened to clergy sexual abuse survivors in that Catholic diocese and is capable of promoting healing in the Buffalo Diocese, according to two Albany area advocates for the victims.

Scharfenberger was appointed the temporary administrator of the Buffalo Diocese by Pope Francis on Wednesday, the same day Buffalo Bishop Richard J. Malone retired early after facing intense criticism over his handling of the clergy abuse scandal here.

“He has done a lot of work toward transparency,” said Nancy Fratianni, leader of the Albany chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP. “We believe he can bring about healing in the Buffalo Diocese through promoting transparency, turning over all records of abuse to the police and keeping the public informed of all issues, more than Bishop Malone was.”

“I have nothing negative to say about him as far as that goes,” Fratianni said of Scharfenberger.

In 2018, Scharfenberger won her respect when he called for creation of a commission of lay people to investigate bishops accused of sexual misconduct. Bishops investigating accused bishops was not the answer, he said.

“That was very brave of Bishop Scharfenberger to say that,” Fratianni said.

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

Dec. 5, 2019

The following individuals were Roman Catholic priests who were either incardinated priests of the Roman Catholic Diocese of London (Ontario) or committed the offences noted while serving within the geographical and ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of London.

If the individual belonged to another Religious Order of Diocese at the time, it is noted in parentheses. These 36 individuals were criminally convicted, and/or criminally charged by more than one complainant and/or sued in a civil lawsuit which resolved for more than $50,000. These categories are the basis of their “credibly accused” status. The time period of offences contained within this list is 1952 to 2005, being a period of 54 years inclusive. The events take place in numerous communities throughout the Diocese of London and in some cases also elsewhere. The individuals in this List are limited to those who offended with young people, being minor males or females, under the age of 18. Members on this list are both deceased and living, with a ꝉ symbol noting those who are now deceased.

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

Dec. 5, 2019

Church officials in Peoria have chosen to delay the beatification of a former Archbishop until law enforcement in NY completes their investigation into clergy sex abuse.

We applaud the move to delay the beatification of former Rochester Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Hundreds of lawsuits are being filed in New York and at least two government offices – one in New York and another in Illinois – are investigating Catholic officials in states where Archbishop Sheen spent time.

Given the revelations that have come out through these secular investigations, it makes sense to delay this beatification instead of risking that another prematurely praised Catholic figure is later exposed to be complicit in clergy sex crimes and cover ups. As there are already questions about whether or not Archbishop Sheen reassigned a cleric accused of sexual misconduct, this decision is sensible and can help from further hurting abuse survivors.

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BERGEN (NJ)
Bergen Record

Dec. 6, 2019

By Abbott Koloff

Timothy Brennan, a former Delbarton School teacher and priest who has been the subject of at least 10 sex abuse settlements, died Wednesday at a Missouri treatment center for clerics, where he had been living for years, according to authorities.

Police responded to a call Wednesday morning about a “deceased person” at the center, which is in the community of Dittmer in the eastern part of the state, said Capt. Charles Subke of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

Brennan, 79, died of “natural causes,” he said.

The priest was sentenced to probation in 1987 after pleading guilty to aggravated sexual contact with a 15-year-old Delbarton student. St. Mary’s Abbey and the Order of St. Benedict in New Jersey, which runs the Morris Township school, paid more than $1 million to settle a claim by the student’s family.

Over the past few years, the order has settled nine lawsuits related to additional claims against Brennan, according to court records. Details of the settlements have not been disclosed.

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BRIDGEWATER (NJ)
Courier News

Dec. 6, 2019

ByNic k Muscavage

A former Metuchen Diocese priest who’s serving a life sentence in a Massachusetts prison for sex crimes against a child has been sued by a man who claims the priest sexually abused him when he was about 11 years old.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday in Superior Court in Middlesex County, details allegations against the now-defrocked Romano Ferraro while he was a priest at Our Lady of Mount Virgin in Middlesex and St. John Vianney in the Colonia section of Woodbridge.

In his lawsuit, the plaintiff, who lives in New Jersey and is identified only by his initials B.D.S., said he was raised in a devout Catholic family and attended Our Lady of Mount Virgin School.

He recalls Ferraro was brought to the school around 1984 or 1985 when B.D.S. was 11 or 12 years old. He was introduced to Ferraro by the priest of Our Lady of Mount Virgin, according to the lawsuit. Ferraro “took an interest” in B.D.S. and “gave him special treatment.”

Ferraro “groomed” B.D.S.’s family “to gain their trust,” according to the lawsuit. B.D.S. remembers Ferraro appearing at his family’s door around this time with snacks and staying into the evening to watch television and socialize with his family.

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STOCKTON (CA)
Recordnet.com

December 5, 2019

A civil lawsuit has been filed against the Diocese of Stockton and the Franciscan Order on behalf of an unidentified Northern California man who claims to have been sexually molested decades ago by a priest who once worked for the diocese.

The suit filed Wednesday in San Joaquin County Superior Court by attorney Joseph C. George of Sacramento claims that in 1979, the Rev. Ferdinand Villalobos sexually molested the then-16-year-old plaintiff at his residence while he was at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in downtown Stockton and at a church retreat in San Juan Bautista.

Villalobos was at St. Mary’s Church from 1979-80 and was the Episcopal Vicar for Hispanics for the Diocese of Stockton from 1980-85. Villalobos died in 1985.

The Diocese of Stockton reserved comment until it collects more information.

Villalobos was named on two Catholic Church credibly accused abusive clerics lists: one published by the Stockton diocese in 2014 and another by the Santa Barbara Province Franciscans in May 2019.

In 2003, a man who said he was molested by Villalobos between 1980 and 1983 when he was 12 to 15 years old sued the diocese and its former leader, now-retired Cardinal Roger Mahony. The suit claimed Mahony and others in the Stockton diocese engaged in a pattern of conspiracy to cover up the sexual abuse of children by clergy, violating federal anti-racketeering laws.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
KRON TV

Dec. 5, 2019

By Dan Kerman

“I’m now longer hiding anymore, that’s over,” said Genaro Licea

For the first time the 52-year-old is revealing his identity and is now suing the Archdiocese of San Francisco for knowing about his abuse at the hands of Father John Kavanaugh and doing nothing about it, even though he reported it at the time

“The nuns covered it up, when I was a child and reported it I told them what he was doing to me and they sent me back to class and made me feel like I was at fault,” Licea said.

The lawsuit alleges that for a two year period beginning at the age of 9, Kavanaugh would call him out of class and sexually abuse him in the St. Finn Bar School rectory.

To make matters worse, in 2004 Licea says he reported it again to catholic officials in San Francisco but Kavanaugh, who’s now dead, was never reported to police and went on to work at St. Patrick’s in San Francisco, Serra High School, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Redwood City

“Many shrinks believe you can’t deter sick adults from preying on kids, but what you can do is deter their colleagues and supervisors from hiding it and that’s why this lawsuit can help do,” said David Clohessy, former head of the Survivor’s Network.

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Patheos blog

Dec. 5, 2019

By David Gee

A Catholic bishop with an anti-gay history has resigned from his post following several controversies involving him covering up for priests who were credibly abused of sexually abusing young children.

Bishop Richard J. Malone, who raised money through the Church to fight against same-sex marriage laws in 2009, got into trouble last year when he released a list of abusive priests that included 42 names. That’s because the actual went as high as 324, according to some reports.

A year later, in September, someone leaked a recording of Malone talking about how he wasn’t going to act on harassment involving another priest, whom he called a “sick puppy.” It’s a pretty troubling pattern.

All that scandal finally resulted in his resignation, as noted by the New York Times.

On Wednesday, after months of pressure from priests and lay leaders, the Vatican said in a statement that it had accepted the resignation of Bishop Malone, effective immediately. Since the Vatican did not specify the reasons behind the resignation, it was unclear whether Bishop Malone had been forced to quit.

Bishop Malone, in a statement, described his resignation as an early retirement that had been accepted by Pope Francis. He said he had made the decision to step down “freely and voluntarily” after being made aware of the conclusions of a recent Vatican investigation into the crisis in his diocese, which has been in turmoil over his handling of clergy abuse cases.

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QUINCY (MA)
Patriot Ledger

Dec. 5, 2019

A former Catholic priest convicted of raping a Waltham altar boy will remain on probation after a judge denied his request to have his sentence cut short.

Robert Gale, a 78-year-old registered sex offender who was assistant pastor at St. Joseph’s Church in Quincy in the 1970s, had asked the court to release him early from a 25-year probation stemming from his 2004 guilty pleas on four counts of child rape. Gale had also been sentenced to 4 to 5 years in state prison. He was released from the Massachusetts Treatment Center for the Sexually Dangerous in May 2009.

Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone denied his request after hearing Thursday from Gale and the former altar boy he abused, saying it was too soon for Gale to be relieved of his sentence.

The former altar boy, Marty Crowley, testified that no sentence could be long enough for what Gale did to him. Crowley said he celebrated when Gale pleaded guilty in 2004 because it meant his abuser would pay for his crimes, spending 25 years on probation and 4 to 5 years in prison. He thought the guilty plea would bring closure.

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STRONGSVILLE (OH)
Cleveland Plain Dealer

Dec. 5, 2019

By Adam Ferrise

Investigators took St. Joseph Catholic Church Rev. Robert McWilliams into custody Thursday at the church. He is charged with four counts of possessing child pornography and one count of possessing criminal tools.

The criminal complaint was filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. McWilliams, 39, is being held in the Cuyahoga County Jail on $100,000 bond. He is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday.

Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force members raided McWilliams’ living space and office Thursday at St. Joseph Church, according to a statement from the Cleveland Catholic Diocese. The diocese said the officers were searching for “possible crimes committed in Geauga County.

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ABERDEEN (ENGLAND)
Evening Express

Dec. 5, 2019

A child abuse victim who was sent to Australia from Aberdeen believing he was an orphan has told of sexual abuse and “brutal beatings” at the hands of paedophile priests.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry witness, known as Harry, left care in Aberdeen and sailed to Australia in the 1950s, growing up in two orphanages where the boys were subjected to public floggings and years of sexual abuse.

Harry told the hearing, chaired by Lady Smith, about his experience in the care of Christian Brothers and how he was forced to perform sex acts by three of the men in the boys’ dormitory.

Speaking via video link from Australia, the 75-year-old witness said the sexual abuse at Clontarf in Western Australia lasted “four or five years, on and off”, with the threat of punishment if he did not go along with it.

Recalling the abusive Christian Brothers, he said they should have been “shot and hung”.

“If you in Scotland knew what happened in Australia, you would have started a Third World War,” he said.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

December 5, 2019

By Joe Atmonavage

Disgraced Cardinal Theodore McCarrick sexually abused a New Jersey child for 20 years into adulthood, even after that the victim personally told Pope John Paul II during a visit to the Vatican about the abuse, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

It is the second complaint filed against McCarrick in the last week under a new law that gives more time to people to sue their alleged abusers and the institutions who protected them.

Both lawsuits include allegations of sexual abuse and claim that church officials were aware of McCarrick’s alleged misconduct.

According to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Esssex County Superior Court, McCarrick began sexually abusing 11-year-old James Christopher Grein in 1969 when McCarrick was a priest in the Archdiocese of New York. (Grein filed a lawsuit last year against the Archdiocese of New York, alleging they were negligent in their supervision of McCarrick.)

As McCarrick moved to New Jersey and became the the bishop of Metuchen in 1981, he continued to allegedly engage in “unlawful sexual contact” with Grein, who was then an adult, in the rectory of St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral in Metuchen from 1982 to 1986, according to the lawsuit.

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PEORIA (IL)
Catholic News Agency

December 5, 2019

By JD Flynn and Ed Condon

The Diocese of Rochester confirmed on Thursday that it had requested a delay of the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, which had been scheduled for Dec. 21 until it was postponed indefinitely earlier this week.

But an official in the Diocese of Peoria said the Rochester diocese has not disclosed all of its interventions to delay the beatification.

“A person’s cause for beatification must entail a review of the person’s entire life. In this regard, the Diocese of Rochester has considered the tenure of Archbishop Sheen as the Bishop of Rochester,” the diocese said in a statement Dec. 5.

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NEWARK (NJ)
The Wall Street Journal

December 5, 2019

Defrocked priest accused in two suits since New Jersey’s new law went into effect

Two men have filed lawsuits accusing former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of sexual abuse since a New Jersey law went into effect that gives people a new opportunity to sue their alleged assailants.

James Grein of Sterling, Va., filed a lawsuit in New Jersey state court late Wednesday, claiming Mr. McCarrick repeatedly sexually abused him from 1969, when he was 11 years old, to 1989. During that time period, Mr. McCarrick served as bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen and as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark.

Mr. Grein said Mr. McCarrick baptized him in 1958 and established a close relationship with his family that lasted decades. The abuse took place in the state of New Jersey and other states, he said.

“He disgraces Jesus Christ,” Mr. Grein said at a news conference Thursday. “He is not my pathway to Jesus Christ.”

An attorney for Mr. McCarrick declined to comment.

Mr. McCarrick was dismissed from the priesthood in February after being found guilty by the Vatican of sexual abuse of minors and sexual misconduct with adults, becoming the first-ever U.S. cardinal to be defrocked. He previously resigned from the College of Cardinals in 2018.

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NEWARK (NJ)
Associated Press

December 5, 2019

By David Porter

A man claims in a lawsuit filed under a recently enacted New Jersey law that he told Pope John Paul II in 1988 about being sexually abused as a child by the priest who would become Cardinal Theodore McCarrick but that the Vatican did nothing — claims he also made in a lawsuit this summer in New York.

James Grein alleged Thursday that McCarrick, a family friend, abused him for two decades starting when he was 11 in the late 1960s when McCarrick was serving in New Jersey. Some of the abuse allegedly occurred on trips he took with McCarrick to other U.S. states and to the Vatican.

On a trip to Rome, Grein alleges, he waited until McCarrick was out of the room to tell the pope — in the presence of other Vatican officials — about the abuse. The Vatican took no action, Grein says.

McCarrick, who is 89, was defrocked in February after a church investigation concluded he had committed acts against children and adults.

Grein’s suit is the second filed against McCarrick in New Jersey since the state’s two-year window for filing previously time-barred sex abuse lawsuits went into effect Sunday.

The suit names the Diocese of Metuchen and the Archdiocese of Newark as defendants, alleging gross negligence. It also accuses McCarrick of assault, battery and infliction of emotional distress, and seeks unspecified damages.

A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Newark said in an email that it is reviewing the lawsuit and that it will “continue to do all we can to promote the healing of victims, to enact structures of accountability, and to provide greater transparency into the activities of the Archdiocese of Newark.”

Barry Coburn, an attorney for McCarrick, said in an email Thursday that he would be unable to comment until he learned more about the case. In the past, McCarrick has denied Grein’s allegations.

The New York lawsuit, filed in August, named the Archdiocese of New York but not McCarrick directly.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian said Thursday he was seeking to add the Vatican as a defendant. The Vatican had no immediate comment, but the current pope, Francis, has urged abuse victims to come forward and said abusive clerics should turn themselves in.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Philadelphia Inquirer

December 4, 2019

By Mike Newall

You couldn’t call it a happy day in New Jersey. But it was a long-awaited one.

On Monday, victims of past sexual abuse by priests began to file civil lawsuits against the Catholic Church — suits long barred by the statute of limitations.

Fifty lawsuits, the first wave of what are expected to be hundreds during a two-year window in which any victims of sexual abuse can file civil claims against their abusers, regardless of when the abuse happened. The window is one advocates fought hard to pry open. And one the church and its insurance agencies have long tried to hold shut.

A chance at some measure of justice, finally.

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BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

December 4, 2019

By Sean Kirst

Michael Whalen was getting ready to go to a Buffalo Sabres game Monday when his phone started buzzing. A friend and ally, Siobhan O’Connor, told him of an impending shakeup in the Diocese of Buffalo unlike anything this community had seen before.

After more than a year of rejecting calls for his resignation, Bishop Richard Malone would take early retirement, a decision confirmed Wednesday by the Vatican.

For a moment, Whalen, 54, felt the whole thing wash across him. His account of childhood abuse by a priest, finally spoken out loud not quite two years ago, touched off shock waves still buffeting the diocese.

He describes himself as an everyday guy from South Buffalo, with all of this happening at a moment when Whalen and his wife, Maria, feel particularly grateful. While Whalen does not attend Mass, he still considers himself Catholic, and he said his blessing for this Advent season is a new granddaughter, Jasmine. Born seven weeks early at 3.6 pounds, she is now a smiling infant of more than twice that weight.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Examiner

Dec. 5, 2019

By Laura Waxmann

A survivor of child sexual abuse by a former priest at St. Finn Barr School is suing the Archdiocese of San Francisco in an effort to force the release of a long-promised list of names of clergy accused of sexual misconduct.

The lawsuit, filed by now 53-year-old Genaro Licea in San Francisco Superior Court on November 27, is also seeking damages for negligent supervision of a minor, among other things.

Standing on a sidewalk outside of The City’s archdiocese headquarters on Thursday, Licea said he was molested for a three-year period starting at age 7 by a now-deceased former priest at St. Finn Barr, Father John Kavanaugh. He decided to come forward to “speak out for those who cannot speak out for themselves right now.”

“I have been struggling with this for a long time. And I don’t want to be hidden anymore,” said Licea. “I want to make sure that my molester is on that list. They should release the list. They should not be hiding it.”

Licea alleges that two nuns and his teacher, to whom he reported Kavanaugh’s misconduct while he was still a student at the school, failed to intervene.

“That church protected him and left me out,” said Licea, adding that there are likely many others who have survived Kavanaugh’s abuse but have yet to step forward.

Licea’s attorney, Joseph George of the Law Offices of Joseph C. George, PH.D., said that apart from monetary compensation for Licea, the lawsuit is seeking to uncover evidence of additional misconduct and subsequent cover up by church officials, as well as a list of names of “credibly accused perpetrators” within the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

The San Francisco Examiner reported previously that the Archdiocese of San Francisco is named in a separate lawsuit that could force church officials to release the names of alleged abusers and provide documents on clerical offenders.

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TORONTO (CANADA)
CBC News

Dec. 5, 2019

By Laura Clementson and Gillian Findlay ·

Starting at the age of 10, Miriam MacCormack says she was sexually abused by a Catholic priest for two years.

After five decades of struggle — including suicide attempts — MacCormack will see her abuser’s name made public. But not by the southwestern Ontario diocese of London, where the abuse occurred.

MacCormack’s abuser, Father Ron Reeves, now dead, is among the names of 36 accused clergy compiled and published by a group of sexual abuse survivors.

MacCormack said the list is important as validation of what happened to her.

“If you sit down and you look at the list, it’s hard to deny that this has happened.”

The list includes names of priests in the London diocese who were charged, convicted or linked to victims that made allegations and successfully sued or settled with the church for amounts of more than $50,000 — and only those who preyed on minors.

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ROME (ITALY)
Catholic News Agency

Dec. 5, 2019

By JD Flynn and Ed Condon

The beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen was delayed at the request of Bishop Salvatore Matano of Rochester, an official in the Peoria diocese and other Church officials have confirmed.

“They did not agree with the fact the beatification date was set and announced and asked the further consideration be done,” Msgr. James Kruse, Director of Canonical Affairs in the Diocese of Peoria, told CNA Dec. 4.

Kruse is also a member of the Sheen Foundation, and has worked for years on Sheen’s cause for canonization.

Several other sources close to the beatification also told CNA that Matano requested the beatification be delayed.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Post-Dispatch

Dec. 5, 2019

By Nassim Benchaabane

A former priest has sued the Archdiocese of St. Louis for libel, claiming church officials falsely said he was credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor.

In a lawsuit filed Nov. 3 in St. Louis County Circuit Court, Michael W. Toohey, 77, of Creve Coeur accused the archdiocese of intentionally damaging his reputation by falsely naming him as an alleged abuser, refusing to provide more details of any allegation against him and denying his challenge of the claim.

Toohey, who served as a priest at three St. Louis-area parishes from 1967 until 1970, is one of 63 men the archdiocese, in July and August, said have substantiated allegations against them of sexual abuse of a minor. He is one of 26 men — seven still living — against whom allegations were never before publicly revealed.

The archdiocese has declined to release more details about the cases or the clergy’s parish assignments, citing concerns about the alleged victims’ privacy and the impact on the faith community, but it maintains on its website a list of the accused clergy as well as the names of three former clergy who had possessed child pornography.

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PARKERSBURG (WV)
News and Sentinel

Dec. 4, 2019

A man’s allegation he was sexually molested as a child by former Roman Catholic bishop Michael Bransfield should be investigated again, by both church and law enforcement authorities.

Bransfield, who headed the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston for 13 years, dismisses the story as coming from “a wack job.” Church officials point out it was investigated twice previously. Evidence to support the allegation was lacking, they say.

But one fact argues strongly in favor of taking another look into the matter: Bransfield got away with so much, for so long, while he was bishop. Is the old child sex abuse accusation part of his record?

A Washington Post story lays out the new/old accusation. It stems from Bransfield’s time as chaplain at Lansdale Catholic High School, in Philadelphia, during the 1970s.

In 2007, a former student called church authorities, telling them that Bransfield on several occasions touched him inappropriately. A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia told the Post, “I can say with certainty that this matter was not only investigated internally. It was reviewed by law enforcement on two occasions and no criminal charges were filed.”

Church officials dismissed the complaint because of inconsistencies in the man’s story. The former student said law enforcement investigations were hindered and ultimately dropped because he could not be guaranteed his identity would be kept secret. The first church investigation concluded in 2009, in a report that was kept confidential. It was looked into a second time in 2012, with similar results.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Commonweal

Dec. 4, 2019

By John J. Hurley

The resignation of Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo has been greeted with a mix of emotions. There is sadness, of course, at the events that have brought the venerable Diocese of Buffalo to this place: reports of clergy sex abuse long covered up by the diocese, the mishandling of current cases of abuse and misconduct by Bishop Malone and the realization that this is the first time in the 172-year history of the diocese that a bishop has been pressured to leave office.

There is unresolved anger as well, among victims whose reports of sex abuse were ignored or handled poorly and now find themselves as plaintiffs in lawsuits with a long road ahead; Catholics who have made Bishop Malone the lightning rod for everything that has happened; priests who have felt alienated from the chancery and their bishop; and Catholics who have watched parish life around them disintegrate as people have marched out the door in response to the scandal.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

Dec. 4, 2019

The resignation of Bishop Richard J. Malone gives the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo a chance to move forward from the sexual abuse scandal that has tarnished the church here for months.

Malone’s retirement is not the end of the story, but a beginning. There is a long way to go in winning back the trust of Western New York Catholics who lost faith in an institution that was interwoven into many of their lives.

The diocese’s new interim leader, Albany Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, gave every indication Wednesday that he can play an important role in the healing and reconciliation that must take place.

“We are all family,” Scharfenberger said at his introductory news conference. “The survivors of sexual abuse are our family. I want everyone to know that they will be treated with respect. … I’ll meet with any and all survivors.”

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PORTLAND (ME)
WGME TV

Dec. 4, 2019

A former Bishop of the Portland Diocese, accused of shielding predator pedophile priests, has stepped down from his post in New York.

Bishop Richard Malone is currently under a criminal investigation in Buffalo for allegedly diverting charitable donations into a fund for bishops.

Paul Kendrick is a graduate of Cheverus High School who co-founded a group to help Maine victims molested by pedophile priests.

He says more than a decade ago, his group asked then-Portland Bishop Richard Malone to post the names of priests credibly accused of abuse, and to embrace victims with compassion and get them the help they need.

But instead, he says Bishop Malone did just the opposite.

“Bishop Malone just treated the mother of one of the victims in such a horrible way that advocates demonstrated against him all the way from Boston,” Kendrick said.

Kendrick says they’ve urged the Maine Attorney General to open investigation of the Portland Diocese, like the one now being conducted in Buffalo that led to Bishop Malone’s resignation.

“This is a $50-million-a-year organization that has been hiding felony sex crimes against children for years,” Kendrick said.

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TORONTO (CANADA)
CBC Radio

Dec. 4, 2019

The resignation of a prominent New York bishop at the heart of the diocese’s sex abuse crisis is “not a victory,” says whistleblower Siobhan O’Connor.

Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, who has been accused of covering up or mishandling the abuse of dozens of minors by priests in his diocese, admitted no wrongdoing when he stepped down voluntarily on Wednesday, two years before his scheduled retirement.

The Vatican said in a statement that Pope Francis has accepted Malone’s request for an “early retirement.”

“It’s really not a victory. It feels more like a necessity,” O’Connor told As It Happens host Carol Off. “It’s disappointing that he chose to exit in that way, but I must say it’s not surprising,”

From ‘right-hand girl’ to whistleblower
O’Connor used to be Malone’s executive assistant, until she turned whistleblower in an explosive 2018 interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes.

“I used to be Bishop Malone’s right-hand girl and I initially was a huge fan of his. I certainly respected him and even admired him,” she told Off.

“But I began to recognize that he wasn’t the man I thought he was and that what he was saying publicly did not match what he was doing internally.”

The turning point for O’Connor came when Malone publicly released a list of 42 priests facing credible allegations of sexual assault, many of them dating back decades.

But O’Connor had a copy of his original draft list, which was 17 pages long and contained more than 100 names.

Two of the accused priests Malone chose not to name were still active in the church, she said. One of them, she says, got a ringing endorsement from Malone, despite being accused of molesting a young boy.

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CASPER (WY)
Star Tribune

Dec. 4, 2019

By Seth Klamann

Gov. Mark Gordon said he would talk with Wyoming Attorney General Bridget Hill about investigating sexual abuse by priests in the Equality State, in the wake of other states launching their own inquiries into the history of abuse by Catholic clergymen.

“My sense is I probably will, now that you bring it up, probably ask Attorney General Hill her point of view of where the state’s role should be,” Gordon said during a wide-ranging interview with the Star-Tribune on Tuesday. “Those are horrific cases. Horrific cases.”

Gordon added that he was “hesitant to say we’re going to storm in” without knowing more of the details of abuse by priests in Wyoming and without consulting with Hill.

The comments come as one of the state’s top prosecutors, Natrona County’s Dan Itzen, continues to review a sexual abuse case involving two men, including retired Wyoming bishop Joseph Hart. Hart has been accused by at least 16 men in Wyoming and in Missouri, where he was a priest for 20 years before moving here. He has been the subject of a months-long criminal investigation that started with Cheyenne Police and is now in the hands of Itzen, whose own work on the case has lasted more than 100 days.

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NEW BRUNSWICK (CANADA)
CBC News

Dec. 4, 2019

​​​​​​The Diocese of Bathurst has received the cheque from its insurance company, Aviva, in relation to sexual abuse scandals from decades ago.

The two engaged in a lengthy court battle that ended last spring over who should pay victims of Catholic priests who were seeking compensation.

The church had been arguing the insurance policy at the time of the abuse included coverage for “bodily injury caused intentionally by … the archdiocese.”

But the insurers claimed the church failed in its obligation to disclose information about the abuse, and the coverage was therefore void.

In May, the Supreme Court refused hearing the case, thereby ordering Aviva to pay $3.4 million, as New Brunswick’s court of appeal had ruled.

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

Dec. 4, 2019

Allegations of abuse against a retired priest from the Diocese of Columbus have been found “credible.” We call on Catholic officials to do outreach to other potential victims and to explain why the allegation was not found “credible” when it was first reported, despite the fact that the cleric was “retired” and barred from ministry.

Fr. David Schilder was first accused of abuse in 2004, but Church officials from the Dicoese of Columbus did not find the allegations “credible.” Making matters worse, they turned the allegations over to local children services instead of law enforcement officials. Interestingly, when another allegation was reported to the diocese in September, Catholic officials this time properly routed the allegations to the police.

Reporting allegations to the wrong agency is something that Catholic officials have done elsewhere. The practice conveniently lets them say that they “immediately reported the allegations,” despite the fact that the information went to an agency that is designed to investigate currently ongoing claims of abuse, not historical ones.

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CHARLOTTE (NC)
WFAE Radio

Dec. 5, 2019

By Erin Keever

By the end of the year the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte is expected to release its list of priests “credibly accused” of sexual abuse. A look at what happens then.

Across the country, Catholic Dioceses have been releasing lists of names of clergy who have been accused of sexually abusing minors. The Catholic Diocese of Charlotte has yet to do so but they promise to release the names of priests they deem to be “credibly accused” by the end of this year.

With that date fast approaching, WFAE’s Sarah Delia has been exploring the history of this scandal, the church’s response, what victims hope to gain from the release of these names and what happens after their identity is known in a four-part podcast simply titled, The List. She and others join us to talk about that and more.

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BERGEN (NJ)
Bergen Record

Dec. 4, 2019

By Abbott Koloff

At least two new accusers came forward this week to file sex abuse lawsuits naming a now-defrocked Paterson Diocese priest, James T. Hanley, who has admitted to abusing children and was at the center of the 2002 Catholic Church scandal in New Jersey related to an alleged cover-up of sex abuse by some bishops.

One man said in court papers that he was abused by Hanley and two other priests — a former assistant to Hanley at a Mendham church decades ago and a former Catholic school administrator who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two boys more than 25 years ago.

Another said Hanley abused him as a minor at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Pequannock in the late 1960s.

The accusations were among dozens of lawsuits filed since Sunday when a state law took effect that gives people more time to file civil complaints alleging sex abuse.

Hanley has admitted in prior court papers to abusing at least a dozen children, many of them at St. Joseph’s parish in Mendham. Numerous men who attended St. Joseph’s as children gathered in 2002 amid a growing church scandal for a meeting to discuss being abused by Hanley. The priest also was the central figure in a lawsuit that led to a $5 million settlement in 2005.

One of the new Hanley accusers alleged that the priest sexually abused him when he was between 11 and 13 years old, starting in 1974 when he attended St. Joseph’s parish. He is not identified in court papers.

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HACKENSACK (NJ)
Union Daily Voice

Dec. 4, 2019

By Paul Milo

A priest who died decades ago has been accused of sexually abusing a boy while serving in a Westfield parish, TAPintoWestfield reported.

A lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Newark filed Sunday claims the Rev. John Flanagan abused the boy — who is now 75 and living in Canada — over the course of a decade while serving at Holy Trinity church in the 1950s and ’60s. The church is also a defendant in the suit.

The lawsuit was filed following passage of a state law creating a two-year window during which plaintiffs can sue regardless of when the abuse is alleged to have taken place.

The lawsuit claims Flanagan sexually abused Dennis Thome beginning when he was seven years old. Flanagan, who died in 1975, also abused other children but all the instances were covered up, the lawsuit also states.

Flanagan also served as pastor of Our Lady of All Souls in East Orange. He also taught at St. Peter’s Prep and served at St. Francis Hospital, both in Jersey City.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WBFO NEWS

Dec.4, 2019

By Beth Adams

Nazareth College history professor Timothy Thibodeau, who studies the Catholic Church, says it’s hard to know what long-term effects the resignation of Bishop Richard Malone will have on the Buffalo Catholic Diocese.

The Vatican ended weeks of speculation Wednesday when it announced that Pope Francis had accepted Malone’s resignation after widespread criticism from the former bishop’s staff, priests, and the public over how he handled allegations of clergy sexual abuse.

“It’s not a surprise,” Thibodeau said of the resignation. “I think what’s surprising to me is why it took so long.”

Pressure on Malone to step down was intense.

In the past year, two key members of Malone’s staff went public with concerns about his leadership, including his former secretary, the Rev. Ryszard Biernat, who secretly recorded Malone calling a then-active priest “a sick puppy,” but taking no immediate action to remove him.

Earlier, his executive assistant, Siobhan O’Connor, had leaked internal church documents after becoming concerned that Malone had intentionally omitted dozens of names from a publicly released list of priests with credible allegations of abuse.

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CAMDEN (NJ)
Press of Atlantic City

Dec. 4, 2019

By Molly Bilinski

Former Roman Catholic Brother Walter Hicks sexually abused a boy while the boy was in second and third grade in the late 1970s at Pleasantville’s St. Peter’s school, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Camden County Superior Court.

“I went to Catholic school for three years, and two of these years were torture,” said [Redacted], who is identified as John Doe in the lawsuit but spoke at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. “When I would tell my family that I didn’t want to go to school and I was afraid of my abuser — I didn’t know the words to say, ‘I am being sexually violated by an adult.’ … Those words, a child doesn’t know.”

Hicks “engaged in unpermitted sexual contact” with [Redacted], according to the suit, and officials in the Diocese of Camden should have known Hicks was not “fit to work with children” or should have learned of his “propensity to commit sexual abuse.”

At least three civil suits have been filed claiming members of the Roman Catholic Church abused minors in South Jersey and alleging negligence on the part of church leaders since Sunday, when a state law took effect allowing sex abuse victims to sue until they turn 55, or within seven years of their first realization the abuse caused them harm.

The previous limit was two years. More than a dozen lawsuits have been filed against the Diocese of Camden and the Archdioceses of Philadelphia and Newark so far.

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ROCHESTER (NY)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Dec. 4, 2019

By Steve Orr

The Buffalo diocese of Buffalo, like its neighboring diocese of Rochester, has now felt the full effect of the Catholic Church’s roiling child sexual abuse scandal.

Buffalo Bishop Richard J. Malone, who was beset by public criticism, internal leaks and outside investigations, is leaving his post early, the Vatican announced early Wednesday.

Malone’s departure, coming just three weeks after a meeting with Pope Francis, was widely seen as a rebuke of his handling of abuse allegations.

He becomes the the sixth American bishop or cardinal in four years to leave office under the cloud of the church’s on-going child sexual abuse scandal.

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MUMBAI (INDIA)
Crux

Dec. 3, 2019

By Nirmala Carvalho

Nearly a month after a Catholic bishop facing fire from his own priests for corruption and fathering a child as well as being accused of intimidating a survivor of sexual harassment, police last Friday registered what amounts to an initial complaint against Bishop Kannikadass William Antony of the diocese of Mysuru in southwestern India.

William, 54, has been accused of kidnapping, criminal intimidation and “outraging the modesty of a woman,” but has yet to be formally indicted or arrested.

On November 5, a charge was filed against the bishop by Robert Rosario, representing the Association of Concerned Catholics (AOCC), a citizen’s group. It came after a video of a woman surfaced last March alleging that Antony had threatened her after she accused another priest of sexual harassment.

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BUFFALO (NY)
The New York Times

December 4, 2019

By Sharon Otterman

Bishop Richard J. Malone “had become the lightning rod for all that was wrong,” a lay leader said.

First, a whistle-blower revealed that Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo had kept files about abusive priests that he hid from the public. Then leaked recordings showed that he was reluctant to remove a parish priest whom he called a “sick puppy.”

On Wednesday, after months of pressure from priests and lay leaders, the Vatican said in a statement that it had accepted the resignation of Bishop Malone, effective immediately. Since the Vatican did not specify the reasons behind the resignation, it was unclear whether Bishop Malone had been forced to quit.

Bishop Malone, in a statement, described his resignation as an early retirement that had been accepted by Pope Francis. He said he had made the decision to step down “freely and voluntarily” after being made aware of the conclusions of a recent Vatican investigation into the crisis in his diocese, which has been in turmoil over his handling of clergy abuse cases.

“I have concluded, after much prayer and discernment, that the people of Buffalo will be better served by a new bishop who perhaps is better able to bring about the reconciliation, healing and renewal that is so needed,” he wrote.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Diocese of Buffalo

December 4, 2019

By The Most Reverend Richard J. Malone, bishop emeritus of Buffalo

My Sisters and Brothers in Christ –

Just this past Sunday, we entered into the Season of Advent – a season of hope, of expectation and fulfillment, and the promise of new beginning. It is in the spirit of this Holy Season now upon us that I wish to address the future of our Diocese and my own fervent hope for a new beginning.

As you are well aware, we have faced tremendous turmoil over the past year and a half. Some have attributed this to my own shortcomings, but the turmoil also reflects the culmination of systemic failings over many years in the worldwide handling of sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy. The crisis our Church is facing relates not only to the immoral and criminal acts of those who committed unconscionable offenses toward the most vulnerable, but also to the failure to regard these violations as grave offenses that warranted the full weight of civil and ecclesiastical justice. As you know, major reforms were undertaken in this country in 2002 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and in the implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. But, of course, the injury caused by past abuse continues to bring immense suffering around the world and here in our Diocese.

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WASHINGTON D.C.
Apostolic Nunciature

December 4, 2019

The Holy See mandated an Apostolic Visitation for the Diocese of Buffalo and appointed the Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio to evaluate the situation of this local Church. The final report was sent to the Holy See.

Bishop Richard Malone was made aware of the results, and subsequently asked the Holy Father Pope Francis to grant him an early retirement. This request was made during the ‘Ad Limina’ visit with the Bishops of New York.

The Holy Father has granted his request and has appointed as the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Buffalo the Most Reverend Edward Scharfenberger, Bishop of Albany, to serve until the appointment of a new bishop, effective immediately.

This resignation and appointment were announced today.

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BUFFALO (NY)
CNN

December 4, 2019

By Daniel Burke, CNN Religion Editor

For more than a year, thousands of Catholics in Buffalo pleaded, protested and prayed for Bishop Richard Malone to resign. They circulated petitions, held placards at prayer vigils, even tried to meet Malone’s plane at the airport.

On Wednesday, these Buffalo Catholics finally got their wish, when the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had accepted Malone’s resignation.

Malone followed with his own statement, attributing his early retirement to turmoil caused by the Catholic Church’s clergy sexual abuse crisis, and discord over his response to it.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, New York, who has been at the center of a sex abuse crisis in his diocese, the Vatican said on Wednesday.

The Vatican said Francis had appointed the bishop of Albany, Edward B. Scharfenberger, to administer the Buffalo diocese until a new bishop can be appointed.

Malone, 73, who has been under pressure to resign for years, is stepping down two years before the normal retirement date for bishops.

Malone, who met with the pope last month, has been accused of covering up or mishandling the abuse of dozens of minors by priests in his diocese.
He has denied the accusations and until recently said he would not be stepping down early.

In September, a poll by the local newspaper, The Buffalo News, showed that about 85 percent of Catholics or lapsed Catholics in the area said he should resign.

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VATICAN CITY
Holy See Press Office

– Resignation of bishop of Buffalo, U.S.A., and appointment of apostolic administrator sede vacante of the same diocese

– Appointment of auxiliary of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Resignation of bishop of Buffalo, U.S.A., and appointment of apostolic administrator sede vacante of the same diocese

The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Buffalo, United States of America, presented by Bishop Richard J. Malone, and has appointed Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of Albany as apostolic administrator of the same diocese.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Tablet

Dec. 4, 2019

By Christopher Lamb

A bishop in the United States who came under intense criticism for his handling of abuse cases and governance of his diocese has resigned.

Pope Francis today accepted the resignation of the Bishop of Buffalo, Richard Malone, who has become a symbol of egregious failures among the Church hierarchy to clean up the abuse crisis.

It also reveals the weakness in a clerical governance system where a bishop can cling on in post despite having lost the confidence of his flock and even the Holy See. I was the first to reveal that the bishop would be stepping down on 13 November, after sources told me that the apostolic nuncio to the United States had agreed with Bishop Malone for him to step down. In response, the bishop, through a spokeswoman, said: “The Lamb tweet is false.” It was clear he was reluctant to go.

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CHARLESTON (WV)
WV Public Broadcasting

Dec. 3, 2019

By Glynis Board

The Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston released a “list of amends” last week for the former bishop Michael Bransfield to consider. That list comes in the wake of multiple investigations revealing sexual and financial misconduct. The diocese wants Bransfield to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars and to apologize.

Former seminarian, Wheeling resident and Morgantown native Vincent DeGeorge has spoken out about abuse, saying he was among those targeted by Bransfield. He offered these thoughts on the Diocese’s list.

Board: What was your overall reaction to that list?

DeGeorge: On the whole, I’m pleased that the Catholic Church in West Virginia is trying to make amends. And in this plan, this list proposed by Bishop Brennan is an attempt, and effort, to do that. I’m pleased. However, there are significant and concerning aspects lacking to this amends plan.

I saw the list as soon as it came out, and I read the letter and was honestly stunned. I was surprised by emotions that I didn’t realize were still there. I was surprised by how much hope I still had in the diocese without realizing it. I was really counting on these events to make a difference in a positive direction. And as I read the amends, that hope gave way to disappointment. I didn’t think I would or could let myself continue to be disappointed by the diocese.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
WGAL News 8

Dec. 3, 2019

By Anne Shannon

A Susquehanna Valley family is suing the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg.

The Fortney sisters, Patty and Lara, say the church should have done more to protect them from a predator priest.

“Today is a momentous day for our family because we can finally move forward in our pursuit for justice,” Patty Fortney said.

Fortney and her family made an announcement Tuesday about the filing of a civil lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Newark and the Harrisburg diocese.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW TV

Dec. 3, 2019

By Charlie Specht

If the expected resignation of Bishop Richard J. Malone will bring healing to the Diocese of Buffalo, nowhere will that healing be more personal than in the heart of Kyle Gorlick.

“There is hope that I can begin to heal,” Gorlick said Tuesday. “I hope that this is the period of renewal for the diocese. I hope that this is the time that we can all heal.”

Gorlick first came forward 15 months ago to describe inappropriate sexual advances by his parish priest, Fr. Robert Yetter of St. Mary’s of Swormville.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

Dec. 3, 2019

There is a lot of press and news stories about Bishop Richard Malone’s resignation. I’m a victim of pedophile Father Joseph Friel. I’ve seen about eight other victims in the media regarding Friel as the predator. Well if 10 came forward then there are 20 that didn’t. Until about a year ago I was one of that 20, my sexual abuse took place 58 years ago when I was 10.

Now I am only speaking for myself. Malone is the last in probably 100 years of bishops in the Buffalo Diocese guilty of the cover up. There are tons of non-pedophile priests, and lay people also guilty regarding the cover up.

Life is often paradoxical which means truth and its exact opposite are correct. The entire clerical body of priests needs to come on bended knee to the victims, confess their sins and receive absolution from God, through the intercession of the victims. Of course, that would only occur in a perfect world.

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SCHENECTADY (NY)
Daily Gazette

Dec. 3, 2019

By Jeff Wilkin

Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, the spiritual leader of Albany’s Roman Catholic Diocese, may soon be tabbed to temporarily oversee the Buffalo diocese.

While there has been no official word, Vatican journalist Rocco Palmo wrote this week in his “Whispers in the Loggia” blog that his sources say Scharfenberger soon will be named apostolic administrator.

Albany’s bishop would take over for Bishop Richard Malone, who Palmo said is expected to resign the Buffalo diocese position in the wake of several scandals involving priests accused of sexual abuse.

According to the New York Times, the 73-year-old Malone, installed as the 14th bishop of Buffalo in 2012, has been criticized for the way he has handled incidents involving accused priests. Local Catholics told the newspaper that Malone promised transparency, but in several cases, appeared to be shielding priests accused of abuse.

Hundreds have filed sexual abuse claims against clergy with the Buffalo diocese, or lawsuits under New York’s new Child Victims Act, which allows lawsuits in old alleged incidents to be filed in state Supreme Court. Investigations by the FBI and state Attorney General’s Office are under way.

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EXTON (PA)
The Mercury

Dec. 3, 2019

The clock struck midnight, and thanks to a new law a slew of lawsuits against the Catholic Church have popped up in New Jersey.

That includes a case targeting the Allentown Diocese. A woman says she was repeatedly abused by a priest for more than a decade.

According to the lawsuit, a 13 year old girl started being sexually abused by later-defrocked priest Joseph Rock in 1974. It allegedly continued for 11 years.

Rock allegedly took photos and videos and threatened to share them if she ever told anyone.

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CAMDEN (NJ)
Cherry Hill Courier-Post

Dec. 3, 2019

By Jim Walsh

A former altar boy has sued the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in federal court here, alleging a parish priest sexually abused him during summer trips to the Jersey Shore.

The suit, brought by a 51-year-old Arizona man, was filed under a new law that extends the statute of limitations for civil claims alleging childhood sex abuse.

The plaintiff, identified only as John Doe, contends he was sexually assaulted “hundreds of times from 1978 to 1982” by the Rev. James Brzyski, a Pennsylvania priest who faced similar accusations from multiple accusers before his death in 2017.

The lawsuit contends the Archdiocese of Philadelphia failed to protect Doe and other children from abusers in the clergy.

The suit says Brzyski’s “sexual grooming” began when he helped the boy, then 10, change his altar boy garments at St. John the Evangelist Church in Lower Makefield, Bucks County.

It says Brzyski initially massaged the boy, then moved on to molesting him.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
NBC 4 TV

Dec. 3, 2019

By Jodie Fleischer

A new accuser has come forward alleging sexual abuse by former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who once led the Catholic Church here in Washington and beyond.

The New Jersey man spoke out for the first time Monday as the state opened a window giving sex abuse victims of any age the right to sue, regardless of the statute of limitations.

John Bellocchio, now 37, said the abuse happened around 1995 in Hackensack, New Jersey, when he was just 14 years old. McCarrick was the archbishop of Newark at the time and visiting the local parish.

Bellocchio’s lawsuit against McCarrick and the Archdiocese of Newark alleges the latter “knew or should have known that McCarrick was a danger to children before McCarrick sexually assaulted Plaintiff.”

“I want there to be real, effective change from the top down,” Bellocchio said.

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COLUMBUS (OH)
WOSU Radio

Dec. 3, 2019

By Adora Namigadde

The Catholic Diocese of Columbus announced it added a retired priest to its list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor.

In an email, the diocese says it first received a report of abuse by Father David Schilder in 2004. The diocese says the report did not provide details, so it could not determine whether the allegation was credible. The alleged abuse happened in 1968.

The diocese says it reported the allegation to Franklin County Children Services. Schilder then retired, and the diocese barred him from engaging in public ministry as a priest.

This September, the diocese received a second accusation of Schilder sexually abusing a minor. The time period for this accusation was 1981-1983. The diocese contacted Columbus Police and commissioned a third-party investigation of the incident.

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FORT COLLINS (CO)
Associated Press

Dec. 3, 2019

A former Roman Catholic priest imprisoned for sexually assaulting a teen in Colorado is up for possible parole.

The Coloradoan reports that 57-year-old Timothy Evans told the parole board Monday that he is “absolutely” guilty of abuse but has learned to identify his triggers for abusive behavior and has created a risk management plan through the treatment he’s received in prison. If paroled, he said he would be closely watched because his case is high profile.

It was the third parole hearing for Evans since he was sentenced to 14 years to life in prison in 2007 for sexually assaulting a boy who worked at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Fort Collins, where he was the pastor.

The full parole board would have to agree to release Evans. A decision is expected to take several weeks.

Evans was one of 40 priests named last month in a report released by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office into an investigation of child sex abuse in the state’s three catholic dioceses. It found at least 166 victims.

The report said that Evans abused three children between 1995 and 1999 at Spirit of Christ Parish in Arvada, Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Lakewood and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Fort Collins. He was laicized on May 3, 2013.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Commonweal

December 3, 2019

By Paul Baumann

Speaking about the church’s sex-abuse scandal at a September conference on the “Catholic Imagination” at Loyola University in Chicago, the essayist Richard Rodriguez said a very brave thing. “What do we know about these priests? We know nothing about the burden of these fallen priests,” Rodriguez said, according to articles in the National Catholic Reporter. “We don’t know their stories. What do they think they were doing?…. We have no idea who they were, or what they suffered…. Our imaginations have gone dull.”

Evidently Rodriguez’s remarks were prompted to some extent by the 2016 death of his friend, the Notre Dame theologian Virgilio Elizondo. Elizondo had been accused of abusing a minor, and appears to have committed suicide. He had denied the charges.

Rodriguez was criticized by some for showing concern and even sympathy for priests most people regard as monsters deserving nothing but condemnation and social oblivion. Such priests, and the bishops who hid their crimes, remain exhibit Number 1 in the case against a corrupt, hopelessly patriarchal, and arrogant institution. Who, after all, wants to be seen expressing interest in such people, let alone offering them comfort? Doesn’t doing so just retraumatize victims?

The wishes, well-being, and confidentiality of victims need to be placed first and foremost. But does that mean we have nothing to learn from the offending priests about the causes and consequences of the crisis? Criticism of Rodriguez seems misplaced to me. It took real courage for Jason Berry to break the sexual-abuse story in Louisiana in 1985. Early on, Thomas Doyle, OP, showed the same fearless determination in demanding that the hierarchy stop turning a blind eye to the victims and the crisis.

In 2002, the Boston Globe took risks in exposing the grotesque failure of Cardinal Bernard Law and the Boston archdiocese. But at this late date, simply damning the church is too easy, especially in light of the well-documented steps the church has since taken to protect children. Rodriguez makes an important point. Is it possible to understand the sexual abuse if the stories of priest-abusers are regarded as untouchable and irrelevant? Will such ignorance help us prevent future abuse? Don’t journalists have an obligation to pursue such stories, no matter how unpalatable?

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

Dec. 3, 2019

According to a report, Buffalo’s Catholic bishop is set to resign on Wednesday after more than a year of scandals, mostly of his own making, have plagued the diocese. We hope that this resignation will lead to true change in this see, not simply a change in personnel.

The well-respected Catholic blogger Rocco Palmo says that Bishop Richard Malone will resign this week. For the past year plus, Bishop Malone has faced scandal after scandal, from his lying about the extent of abuse in his diocese, to his being the subject of secret recordings, to his failing to remove an accused priest from ministry while allegations were investigated. Now, the Bishop of Albany, Edward Scharfenberger, will apparently be left to pick up the pieces from these months of deceit.

When the new bishop for Buffalo is selected, we hope that he will be a prelate who learns from Bishop Malone. That is, we hope that this new bishop will take the opposite action from his predecessor at every opportunity, will truly be transparent instead of secretive, and will welcome the truth with open arms instead of attempting to silence it. Parishioners in Buffalo deserve no less.

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

Dec. 3, 2019

A now-disgraced cardinal who has been accused of abuse at least a dozen times has been named in a newly filed lawsuit in New Jersey. We applaud the survivor in this case for coming forward and hope that his example will encourage other survivors to come forward and get the help and support that they need.

The now-defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been named as an abuser again, this time by a New Jersey man named John Bellocchio who alleges that McCarrick abused him while McCarrick was on a visit to his parish in the 1990s. Our hearts ache for this victim and we hope that this new allegation will lead to renewed outreach to victims by church officials in both Newark – where McCarrick was working as Archbishop at the time of the allegations – and every other diocese where McCarrick worked.

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NEWARK (NJ)
Associated Press

December 3, 2019

Former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick abused a teenage boy in the 1990s when he was leader of the Archdiocese of Newark, according to a lawsuit filed under a newly enacted New Jersey law that gives accusers more time to make legal claims.

Another lawsuit filed by two of six sisters alleges that a now-deceased priest who had previously worked for the archdiocese abused them and their siblings for nearly 10 years after he was transferred to Pennsylvania.

“This is a momentous day for our family because we can finally move forward in our search for justice,” one of the sisters, Patty Fortney-Julius, said at a news conference Monday.

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NEWARK (NJ)
The Philadelphia Inquirer

December 2, 2019

By Jeremy Roebuck

Dozens of new allegations of sexual abuse against priests and scoutmasters have surfaced after New Jersey opened a two-year window granting victims a second chance to pursue court claims that had been barred by time limits.

New lawsuits filed Sunday and Monday include allegations against six priests in the Camden Diocese as well as previously undisclosed claims involving the now-defrocked cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop of Newark.

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NEW YORK (NY)
The Associated Press

December 3, 2019

At the end of another long day trying to sign up new clients accusing the Roman Catholic Church of sexual abuse, lawyer Adam Slater gazes out the window of his high-rise Manhattan office at one of the great symbols of the church, St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

“I wonder how much that’s worth?” he muses.

Across the country, attorneys like Slater are scrambling to file a new wave of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by clergy, thanks to rules enacted in 15 states that extend or suspend the statute of limitations to allow claims stretching back decades. Associated Press reporting found the deluge of suits could surpass anything the nation’s clergy sexual abuse crisis has seen before, with potentially more than 5,000 new cases and payouts topping $4 billion.

It’s a financial reckoning playing out in such populous Catholic strongholds as New York, California and New Jersey, among the eight states that go the furthest with “lookback windows” that allow sex abuse claims no matter how old. Never before have so many states acted in near-unison to lift the restrictions that once shut people out if they didn’t bring claims of childhood sex abuse by a certain age, often their early 20s.

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ALLENTOWN (PA)
The Morning Call

December 2, 2019

By Emily Opilo

A woman has sued the Allentown Diocese over what she alleges was 16 years of sexual abuse by diocesan priest Joseph A. Rock, one of 300 Pennsylvania priests named in a 2018 grand jury report and the subject of numerous complaints made to the diocese.

The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court of Atlantic County, New Jersey, alleges that Rock, a priest who worked at churches in Lehigh, Northampton, Berks and Schuylkill counties between 1972 and 2001, abused the unnamed woman beginning when she was 13. She’s 58 now and living in North Carolina.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified punitive damages, was one of at least two filed Monday in New Jersey courts that involved Pennsylvania dioceses. A New Jersey law that took effect Sunday allows victims of child sex abuse to sue until they turn 55, or within seven years of their first realization the abuse caused them harm. The previous limit was two years.

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NEW JERSEY
WHYY

December 2, 2019

By Nicholas Pugliese

Lara Fortney-McKeever fought back tears on Monday as she and her sister announced a long-awaited lawsuit against the Newark Archdiocese and Harrisburg Diocese. They allege officials there protected a now-deceased priest that sexually abused them and three of their siblings in the 1980s and ‘90s.

“Who knew he was a pedophile and aided in helping to cover it up?” she asked. “Were we silenced so that certain individuals could step on our backs to rise to power?”

About an hour later, a man announced a separate lawsuit alleging that former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick abused him as a teenager when McCarrick led the Newark Archdiocese in the 1990s. It also says Vatican officials were aware of McCarrick’s behavior, yet continued to promote him to higher positions.

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