ABUSE TRACKER

High profile US pastor Johnny Hunt was restored to ministry despite serious allegations of sexual misconduct. What happened to permanent disqualification, asks Beth Allison Barr. And what does it say to the women in their congregations?

Actions speak louder than words.

Last year, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) approved a resolution to “permanently” disqualify perpetrators of sexual abuse from holding the office of pastor.

“It’s very important for Southern Baptists to speak unequivocally and in a way that everyone can understand”, said Nathan Finn, the vice chair of the 2021 SBC resolutions committee. “We believe that sexual abuse is a disqualifying factor for anyone who would serve in church leadership.”

THE CASE OF JOHNNY HUNT

Yet, less than two weeks ago, four pastors (including two from within the SBC) declared that Johnny Hunt, a well-known speaker, leader, veteran pastor, and former SBC president, as fully qualified to resume his ministry. Last May, Hunt…

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Pastors guilty of sexual abuse never should be restored to ministry, Baylor University professor and author Beth Allison Barr wrote for a news service in the United Kingdom Dec. 9.

The opinion piece published by Premier Christianity addresses the case of Johnny Hunt, the former Georgia pastor and former executive vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board. Six months after Hunt was named as a perpetrator in a public investigation of sexual abuse in the SBC, a group of four male pastors issued a video declaring him “restored” to ministry under their unlicensed care.

That drew a sharp retort from current SBC President Bart Barber, who said if it were up to him he would permanently defrock Hunt, a previous SBC president.

Barr, professor of history at Baylor and author of the bestselling The Making of Biblical Womanhood, noted messengers to the SBC annual meeting last year adopted a resolution…

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Three men claim they were sexually abused by a deceased priest, John Curran.

AUGUSTA, Maine — Three new lawsuits were filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland in Cumberland County Superior Court on Monday. 

Three men claim the Rev. John Curran, a former priest who has since died, sexually abused them between the ages of 11 and 14 in the early 1960s. 

Eleven lawsuits have been filed seeking civil relief under a new law that removed the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse. 

The law that went into effect in 2021 lifted a statute of limitations, allowing Maine survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file a civil claim against their abusers, no matter when the abuse allegedly occurred. 

Previously, claims could only be pursued for cases dating back to 1987.

NEWS CENTER Maine is not identifying two alleged victims, but one of the plaintiffs, Andre Fortin, alleges Curran groomed him….

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Commonwealth of Virginia
Office of the Attorney General

Jason S. Miyares
Attorney General

The Office of the Attorney General successfully prosecuted a 37-year-old Child Sexual Assault case  

RICHMOND, VA — Attorney General Jason Miyares announced that Scott Asalone, 65, a former priest at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Purcellville, Va.,was convicted today in Loudoun County Circuit Court of felony carnal knowledge of a minor between 13 and 15 years of age. The abuse occurred during the summer of 1985 when Asalone was 29 and the victim was a minor.   

Asalone, of Asbury Park, NJ, was indicted by a multi-jurisdiction grand jury in March 2020 following an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General. He was arrested in New Jersey on March 14, 2020, extradited to Virginia, and remained on bond pending trial. Asalone, was removed from public duties in 1993 and dismissed from the Order of Capuchin Friars in 2007.

“Every victim…

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According to a release from the Office of Attorney General Jason Miyares, Scott Asalone was previously the priest at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church.

A 65-year-old former priest of a Purcellville church was convicted Monday for sexually abusing a minor during the summer of 1985 when the former priest was 29 years old. 

According to a release from the Office of Attorney General Jason Miyares, Scott Asalone was previously the priest at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church.

Asalone was arrested in New Jersey on March 14, 2020, and he was extradited to Virginia where he was indicted by a multi-jurisdiction grand jury for felony carnal knowledge of a minor between 13 and 15 years of age. The abuse happened during the summer of 1985 when Asalone was 29 and the victim was a minor.  

“Every victim deserves to be heard. My office is dedicated to…

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Scott A. Asalone, a rector in Purcellville, was removed from his church in 1993, but not arrested until 2020. The victim went on to become a D.C. councilman.

A former Catholic priest from Loudoun County, who was quietly discharged from his parish after abuse allegations in the 1990s, was convicted Monday in Loudoun circuit court of felony carnal knowledge of a minor for abusing a boy who would go on to become a D.C. councilman.

Scott A. Asalone, 66, who worked as a stockbroker and consultant in New Jersey for nearly three decades after leaving his parish, was arrested in March 2020, and released on bond during the pandemic. Jury selection for his trial was scheduled to begin Monday when Asalone decided to enter an “Alford” plea, in which a defendant doesn’t admit guilt but admits the prosecution has enough evidence to convict. Loudoun Circuit Court Judge James E. Plowman…

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Legislation that would give childhood victims of sexual abuse a chance to sue their abusers, regardless of when it happened, has the support of a key Maryland state senator.

Sen. Will Smith, the Democratic chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, told The Baltimore Sun he would support what’s previously been known as the “Hidden Predator Act,” which would create a “look-back window,” where survivors would have two years from the act becoming law to file a lawsuit regardless of when the abuse happened.

Under existing state law, childhood sexual abuse survivors have until their 38th birthday to file a lawsuit or three years after their abuser was convicted in criminal court, whichever is later.

Regularly sponsored by Del. C.T. Wilson, a Charles County Democrat who is a survivor of childhood abuse, the bill has been passed repeatedly by the House of Delegates only to die in Smith’s committee. Wilson said…

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The Rev. Alan J. Martineau, most recently of parishes in Warren, will remain on administrative leave after an investigation sought by the Diocese of Worcester deemed an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor to be credible.

Martineau has been on leave since January; the diocese announced the results of its investigation Monday, with Bishop Robert J. McManus ruling on the case.

Martineau, a former associate pastor at St. Anne’s of Shrewsbury, was most recently the administrator of St. Paul Parish and St. Stanislaus Parish in Warren. He grew up in Spencer and graduated from St. John’s High School, the diocese said in 2018, when Martineau was ordained.

The diocese gave the following account of the case: “In late January of this year Fr. Martineau was scheduled to be transferred to a new parish…

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[VIDEO]

The Aftermath looks into how victims of clergy abuse are dealing with the abuse endured and steps taken by the Catholic Church to prevent such abuse from happening.

The full documentary is 14 minutes long and looks into the perspectives of five subjects.

See trailer.

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Today, the law firms of Jeff Anderson & Associates and Greenberg Gross revealed that 44 Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) employees have been identified in 69 lawsuits filed under the California Child Victims Act and are accused of child sexual abuse. The public data collected is believed to be a small portion of what attorneys and advocates anticipate the final number of cases identifying LAUSD to be.

“Los Angeles Unified School District has a notorious history of hiring, and harboring perpetrators of child sexual abuse,” said Brian Williams of Greenberg Gross. “We hope by exposing perpetrators in lawsuits filed under the California Child Victims Act, children and students who participate in LAUSD will be protected in the present and future.”

Included below is a list of LAUSD employees accused of child sexual abuse and identified in lawsuits available to the public. The current whereabouts of some of these alleged perpetrators and…

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The three-year window established by California’s Child Victims Act – also known as Assembly Bill 218 (AB 218) – which temporarily set aside the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse victims to file claims, will close on December 31, 2022. This “lookback window” opened a three-year window for those of any age to revive past claims that may have been prohibited from being filed as lawsuits because the legal time limit to bring such claims, known as the statute of limitations, had run out.

Since AB-218 was signed into law in 2019 over 1000 victims of sexual abuse have brought lawsuits against large organizations such as the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America. Victims were able to seek recompense in cases dating back decades. According to a list of settlements compiled by the website Bishop Accountability, California Catholic churches have paid among the highest dollar amounts for sex abuse settlements of…

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An advisory body of sexual abuse survivors on Monday called for canonical procedures against the vice president of the German Bishops’ Conference.

Bishop Franz-Josef Bode should be charged under canon law for his handling of abuse cases, the advisory council said in a statement sent to media Dec. 12, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

The advisory body represents those affected by sexual abuse for the metropolitan archdiocese of Hamburg and the dioceses of Hildesheim and Osnabrück.

Under pressure for months to resign following the findings of a study that he has mishandled cases of sexual abuse, Bode has so far refused to step down.

The 71-year-old bishop of Osnabrück in northwestern Germany has been vice president of the German bishops’ conference since 2017. He is also vice president of the German Synodal Way.

On Monday, the victims’ advisory council said it had filed an official complaint and referred to…

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Anzeige Gemäss Kirchenrecht Bei Erzbischof Hesse

[PHOTO: Obwohl ihm eine Studie der Uni Osnabrück Versäumnisse im Umgang mit Missbrauch attestierte, will Bischof Bode nicht zurücktreten. Sein Betroffenenbeirat hat jetzt Anzeige gemäß Kirchenrecht erstattet – nun sind Erzbischof Heße und der Vatikan am Zug.]

Der Betroffenenbeirat der Bistümer Hamburg, Hildesheim und Osnabrück hat gegen den Osnabrücker Bischof Franz-Josef Bode kirchenrechtlich Anzeige wegen seines Umgangs mit sexuellem Missbrauch gestellt. Am Montag teilte der Betroffenenbeirat mit, dass er bereits am Donnerstag Anzeige beim zuständigen Erzbischof von Hamburg, Stefan Heße, erstattet hat. “Bischof Bode hat entgegen klaren päpstlichen Vorgaben gehandelt und bspw. sexualisierte Gewalt gegen Minderjährige noch in diesem Jahr als ‘Beziehung’ deklariert”, heißt es in der Pressemitteilung des Beirats zur Begründung. In der Gesamtschau zeige sich ein klares kirchenrechtliches Fehlverhalten Bodes, “der zum einen die Schilderungen der Betroffenen zum Sachverhalt gänzlich falsch eingeschätzt hat, und zum anderen die Anzeige nach Rom verzögerte,…

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A research team from Xavier University in Cincinnati has created a tool that measures the “moral injury” caused by clergy sexual abuse and its concealment by officials in the Catholic Church.

In a report on the pilot study, released Dec. 12, moral injury is described as persistent psychological and emotional distress, spiritual anguish, moral confusion, social isolation, and distrust for institutions. It results from a betrayal of trust or violation of deeply held moral values.

“When the perpetrator of sexual abuse is a priest — someone ordained in persona Christi — and represents the holy, the sacred or the entire church or even God, the trauma of abuse takes on an added weight,” said Marcus Mescher, a principal investigator for the study and professor of Christian ethics at Jesuit-run Xavier. “I thought the concept of moral injury would be a helpful hermeneutical lens for understanding the many…

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GARDAÍ are unlikely to prosecute any members of the Jesuits over the religious order’s handling of historic allegations of child sexual abuse by one of its priests Fr Joseph Marmion.

Garda sources said that enquires into allegations against Marmion of abusing pupils at Belvedere College, Clongowes Wood College and the former Crescent College in Limerick City have also run cold because Marmion died in 2000 at the age of 75.

In 1977 a number of pupils at Belvedere, where Marmion taught from 1969 to 1978, made disclosures to senior Jesuits of sexual abuse by Marmion.

The Jesuit Order dealt with the matter in-house, and Marmion was never questioned by the civil authorities.

A Garda spokesman told the Limerick Post that “while it is our intention to effectively deal with all complaints and information received, there will be limitations as to the action we can take in some cases due to…

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In 2019, Catholics managed to stop a draft law that would have opened a breach in the confessional privilege. But they left a problem unsolved.

Article 1 of 4.

The confessional privilege is the legal protection of the secret of the confession in the Catholic Church and of similar practices in other religious bodies. A Catholic priest should not reveal to anybody, including law enforcement officers or courts of law, what has been told to him in confession, under penalty of excommunication.

As Bitter Winter reported in a previous series, this privilege has been historically protected by both statutes and common law in most countries, and extended to confessional practices of other religions. In recent years, however, the sad tragedy of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests has induced some jurisdictions, including Ireland, most states and territories of Australia, and some U.S. states, to pass laws introducing…

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A response to Fra Bernard-Marie, a secular Franciscan who has argued that victims of sexual abuse need to forgive their abusers and get on with their lives

The testimony of this brother, which was recently published in La Croix, bothers me – and not just a little. He wrote and published the article to promote his personal decision.

When he says “it is undoubtedly this attitude, both just and merciful, that we should adopt towards our guilty brothers and sisters”, he is indirectly passing an unsympathetic judgment on the victims who denounce and fight against their predator, in spite of all his precautions. In the final analysis, are their struggles neither just nor merciful?

In response to this article, which I believe is symptomatic of the confusion that is often seen in Catholic circles on this subject, I would like to share four conclusions that I have reached after thirteen…

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For those still interested, the erosion of episcopal authority from the clerical sex abuse scandal continues at pace

The views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of La Croix International.

—

Despite the findings from any number of independent inquiries and investigations of the closed and self- referential culture of the institution, the official Catholic Church stance remains defensive and controlling. The Vatican’s history of handling abuse cases has been riddled with a misguided clericalist attitude that accommodated and protected their own. Priest abusers were seldom defrocked, offending bishops were often conveniently furloughed and the curial instinct to resist submission to civil authorities perpetuated.

The Church’s canon law imposes mind numbing time delays and the verdicts of canonical trials seem devoid of any consistent jurisprudence leaving local bishops the unenviable tasks of defending the indefensible.

The French…

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„Prywatny komentarz” dyrektora Radia Maryja o bp. Napierale jako „współczesnym męczenniku” został wygłoszony publicznie w obecności kilkunastu biskupów oraz licznych wiernych – i dlatego domagał się natychmiastowej publicznej reakcji i sprostowania. Takiej reakcji jednak nie było, zresztą nie po raz pierwszy.

Ojciec Tadeusz Rydzyk nie ustaje w swoich wysiłkach wykreowania współczesnego modelu świętości w Kościele w Polsce. Jego najnowsza wypowiedź na ten temat, wygłoszona publicznie podczas uroczystości z okazji 31. rocznicy powstania Radia Maryja, nie pozostawia wątpliwości kogo, zdaniem redemptorysty, należy uważać za świętego.

Nawiązując do osoby bp. Stanisława Napierały i jego nieobecności podczas wspomnianej uroczystości spowodowanej wyraźnym zaleceniem Stolicy Apostolskiej w sprawie nieuczestniczenia w publicznych celebracjach, o. Tadeusz Rydzyk powiedział: „Tak powstają święci. To jest pchanie na ołtarze, tak. Dla mnie to są współcześni męczennicy”.

Dla Kościoła w Polsce nastał czas, kiedy mówienie o tym, co dotąd było oczywiste, stało się problematyczne, a nazywanie rzeczy po imieniu – zdecydowanie…

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A former youth pastor is facing charges in Polk and Story counties for allegedly sexually abusing teens and providing them with alcohol.

Twenty-six-year-old Caleb Toney of Elkhart is charged with two counts of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, one count of assault, three counts of supplying alcohol to persons under the legal age, and one count of permitting minors to consume alcohol.

Cmdr. Dan Walter with the Ames Police Department said the first charges stem from incidents in the fall of 2017 at a residence where Toney lived at the time. Toney is accused of giving a 15-year-old alcohol and once the teen was intoxicated Toney allegedly touched him in an “unwanted, insulting, and offensive” manner. Court documents show he provided alcohol for a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old on multiple occasions and allowed them to drink at his Ames residence.

The other incidents are alleged to have happened…

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A prominent Roman Catholic priest known for his activism has been reinstated as leader of his Chicago parish after being cleared by church officials of allegations that he sexually abused a minor decades ago.

The Chicago Archdiocese released a letter Saturday saying that a review board found “no reason to suspect” that the Rev. Michael Pfleger was guilty of the allegations. Pfleger had stepped away from his duties as pastor of St. Sabina Church in October during the review.

Cardinal Blase Cupich said in the letter that he recognizes the “great toll” Pfleger’s absence had on the parish and said “I am committed to do everything possible to see that his good name is restored.”

In October, a man in his late 40s said through an attorney that Pfleger abused him twice in the late 1980s during choir rehearsals in the St. Sabina rectory. That claim was similar to other  View Cache

A prominent Jesuit priest has been continuing to practise his ministry despite the fact that it was restricted by the Vatican in January 2022 following allegations of sexual misconduct made against him.

According to reports on a number of Italian news sites, 68-year-old Father Marko Ivan Rupnik was in January 2022 ordered to stop practising his ministry following a series of complaints about his conduct going back to 1992.

However, despite the ban, Fr Rupnik received an honorary doctorate from the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná in Brazil on the 30th of November. He has also featured in a regular YouTube slot every Sunday commenting on the Sunday Gospel. The Diocese of Rome also posted a video of Rupnik speaking about Eucharistic adoration in February this year.

Fr Rupnik is a high profile figure in Rome and known as a friend and advisor to Pope Francis. 

…

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NEWS ANALYSIS: Crucial questions remain unanswered with respect to the handling of allegations of physical, sexual and spiritual abuse against the prominent Slovenian Jesuit priest.

Ever since the Society of Jesus acknowledged last week that it had restricted the well-known Jesuit artist Father Marko Ivan Rupnik from ministry following allegations of abuse against religious sisters in Slovenia, questions have arisen about the transparency of both the society and the Vatican.

So what do we know about the case, and how forthright have both the Jesuits and the Vatican been, especially in light of Pope Francis’ recent appeal for greater transparency in all clerical abuse cases?

Father Rupnik, a 68-year-old Slovenian Jesuit best known for designing mosaic artworks for chapels, churches and shrines around the world for 30 years, is close to Pope Francis and influential in his native Slovenia where he is known as “one of the great reformers” and…

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Pfleger, 73, said he would return to lead Mass on Sunday. He has staunchly denied all claims of wrongdoing and was roundly supported by parishioners.

Chicago’s highest-profile and sometimes controversial priest was reinstated to his South Side pulpit Saturday as archdiocese officials dismissed the latest accusation of sexual abuse against the Rev. Michael Pfleger. 

The St. Sabina preacher had been sidelined from the ministry for almost two months after another man came forward saying Pfleger abused him in the rectory of the Auburn Gresham parish in the 1980s — marking the second time in the past two years that Pfleger had been benched due to decades-old accusations. 

In a letter to parishioners Saturday evening, Cardinal Blase Cupich announced the archdiocese’s review board “has concluded that there is no reason to suspect Father Pfleger is guilty of these allegations.”

“I want to recognize that these months have taken a great toll…

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December 10, 2022

Dear members of the Faith Community of St. Sabina,

Thank you for your patience and prayers during the absence of your senior pastor, Father Michael Pfleger. As you know, earlier this year the archdiocese received allegations of child sexual abuse against Father Pfleger. In accordance with our policies for the protection of children and youth, the archdiocese Independent Review Board. assisted by our Office of Child Abuse Investigation and Review and outside investigators conducted a thorough review of the allegations.

The Review Board has concluded that there is no reason to suspect Father Pfleger is guilty of these allegations. Having given careful consideration to their decision, which I fully accept, I now inform you that I am reinstating Father Pfleger to his position of senior pastor of the Faith Community of St. Sabina, effective immediately. I want to recognize that these months have taken a great toll…

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In October, a Chicago attorney confirmed that a client of his had filed a claim with the Archdiocese of Chicago, alleging that Pfleger had sexually abused him when he was a minor in the late 1980s.

Rev. Michael Pfleger has been reinstated as the pastor of Chicago’s Saint Sabina Catholic Church after an Archdiocese of Chicago review board cleared Pfleger of sexual abuse allegations brought forth against him two months ago, according to a letter from Cardinal Blase Cupich.

Cupich wrote a letter to the Saint Sabina parish community Saturday, announcing he was reinstating Pfleger as pastor immediately following a thorough review by the archdiocese’s Independent Review Board and outside investigators. The Review Board, according to the cardinal, concluded “there is no reason to suspect” Pfleger is guilty of the accusations.

“Having given careful consideration to their decision,…

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Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago announced Saturday that an investigation had found no support for the allegations against the well-known priest.

A prominent Roman Catholic priest has been reinstated to his south Chicago parish after an investigation found that abuse charges against him were not credible.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger, longtime pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church was suspended in October after the Archdiocese of Chicago received an allegation of abuse against him.

The archdiocesan Independent Review Board and Office of Child Abuse Investigation and Review, with help from outside investigators, reviewed the allegations against Pfleger, Cardinal Blase Cupich told St. Sabina parishioners in a letter Saturday (Dec. 10).

“The Review Board has concluded that there is no reason to suspect Father Pfleger is guilty of these allegations,” he wrote.

Plefger had been accused of abuse once before and was suspended as the charges were investigated, then reinstated….

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Father Michael Pfleger wasted no time speaking to his congregation after a review board found no evidence the pastor is guilty of sexual abuse.

Cardinal Blasé Cupich announced Saturday that he has reinstated St. Sabina Catholic Church pastor to his senior role, effective immediately.

In a letter to the Saint Sabina parish, Cupich said, “The Review Board has concluded that there is no reason to suspect Father Pfleger is guilty of these allegations.”

Fr. Pfleger shared the reinstatement letter on his Facebook page with the caption: “Like MJ said. ‘I’M BACK.’”

His entrance was met with applause, tears, and relief from St. Sabina parishioners.

“I thank you for believing in me. I thank you for never giving up on me,” Fr. Pfleger said during his first public comments after being reinstated. This has been very painful. It would be twice in a row in, like, two-and-a-half years. But two things, God…

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Chicago Catholic Archdiocese reinstates Father Michael Pfleger, says ‘no reason to suspect he is guilty’

The Chicago Catholic Archdiocese reinstated Father Michael Pfleger on Saturday, saying “there is no reason to suspect Father Pfleger is guilty” of sex abuse.

“I just want to thank you for your love, believing in me,” Pfleger told parishioners on Saturday afternoon. “I apologize for taking you through all this craziness again because of me. I love you. I’ll talk with you soon.”

In October, Pfleger had been accused of abusing a minor more than 30 years ago. During the investigation, he was removed from his post at St. Sabina Church.

In a statement, attorney Eugene Hollander, who represents the latest accuser, said: “”My client is extremely disappointed by today’s finding.  We had overwhelming evidence concerning these sexual abuse allegations….

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Two men who were facing felony charges alleging they abused boys at a private Christian boarding school in southwest Missouri have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, and the case against a third was dropped.

Scott Dumar, 46, the medical coordinator at the Agape Boarding School near Stockton, pleaded guilty Thursday to two misdemeanors and was placed on two years probation. Everett Graves, 40, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor.

The case against Chris McElroy was dropped after the alleged victim did not appear at a preliminary hearing Thursday, The Kansas City Star reported.

They were among five staff members charged in September 2021 with low-level felonies after an investigation into accusations by former and current students of widespread abuse at the school

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office had recommended prosecuting 22 staff members with a total of 65 counts on behalf of 36 students. But Cedar County Prosecutor Ty…

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“See, that’s my problem: too much respect”.

If you speak with Arthur Baselice Jr., you’ll believe it, too. While we talk, the retired Philadelphia detective’s undivided attention is on our conversation with intense, genuine engagement. Arthur’s presence commands respect – not to be confused with demanding it. 

Arthur is sharp, present, no-nonsense, and yet tactful, inviting, level. He invites me to walk with him some time, and, at my request, clarifies where I can get a proper cheesesteak (you should only trust the opinion of a lifelong Philadelphian – even if they now live in South Jersey). When I ask what he’s up to lately, he conveys patient urgency and substantive, ripened anger: 

“These days, we’re waiting and making it happen for as long as we can.”

The loss of Arthur’s only son, Arthur Baselice III, is no secret. Quite the opposite – since losing him, the elder Arthur commits…

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Several senior Church figures have been charged with trying to protect a Catholic priest arrested and remanded in police custody in western India at the weekend.

A bishop, two cardinals and two priests are accused of failing to take action over an alleged assault by the priest on a schoolboy. 

Father Vincent Pereira was arrested late on Nov. 25 in the city of Pune and remanded in police custody a day later after being accused of sexually assaulting the schoolboy.

The arrest of the 55-year-old Catholic priest from Pune diocese followed his conditional release by a court the same day in connection with similar complaints lodged against him.

However, several senior Church figures were also named in the latest complaint, a copy of which was seen by UCA News, and charged with trying to protect the priest.

The accused clergymen were Bishop Thomas Dabre of Pune; Cardinal…

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A prominent church near the campus of the University of North Carolina (UNC) is embroiled in controversy and bleeding members following allegations of spiritual abuse, abuse of power, racism, and sexism.

Chapel Hill Bible Church—a church of about 1,000, including several former and current UNC professors—has reportedly lost about 200 people over the past several years.

The church also has been the target of three investigations. The result of its most recent one, conducted by GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in a Christian Environment), has not been made public despite calls by members to do so.

On Saturday, church elders responded to the growing unrest by telling members that if they don’t trust the leadership, they should leave.

In an email to church members, the elder board stated, “We will no longer refer or respond to the group that identifies as Concerned Members or Concerned Congregants. We…

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At Pope Francis’ meeting with his cardinal advisers this week, Cardinal Sean O’Malley reported on the work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, now within the Roman Curia.

The Holy See press office said on Dec. 7 that the pope met with his council of advisers for a two-day meeting at the current papal residence, the Casa Santa Marta.

The members of the Council of Cardinals discussed the continental phase of the Synod on Synodality and the work of the most recent United Nations Climate Change Conference before listening to O’Malley’s briefing on the protection of minors. 

Earlier this year, Pope Francis made changes to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in his attempt to reform the Roman Curia with the new apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium.

The constitution placed the pontifical council within the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a move that led…

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Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, a well-known Jesuit priest and artist, has been accused of abuse he allegedly committed in the early 1990s against at least nine consecrated women of the Loyola Community, a Slovian community co-founded by Rupnik and Sister Ivanka Hosta.

According to an official statement from the Society of Jesus, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith received a complaint against the Slovenian priest and requested that a preliminary investigation be launched.

The investigation was carried out by a Dominican religious who heard the testimony of several people.

During the preliminary investigation, precautionary measures were taken against Rupnik, such as the prohibition of “exercising the sacrament of confession, spiritual direction, and giving the Spiritual Exercises,” according to the official statement released in Italian by the Society of Jesus on Dec. 2. 

The Provincial of the Jesuits in Slovenia explained that the results of this investigation…

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The canonical trial of Father Ivan Rupnik can be represented with the image of a bottle. The consecrated women of the Loyola Community, where the Slovenian Jesuit was confessor and spiritual director, found themselves victims of a man who was abusive and, at the same time, aware of his power. Indeed, one cannot count the friendships that Rupnik cultivated over the years. Too big to fail, whispers someone, here in the Vatican.

The canonical process

The first courageous women who chose to denounce Mark Ivan Rupnik’s abuse of power were confronted by people who said: ‘No, it cannot be possible‘. This often happens when the perpetrator is powerful and enjoys an aura of sanctity. The human mind cannot accept this being questioned. Yet, psychology teaches us, it is in this very fabric that the worst violence is born.

The complaints, however, became more and more numerous and the canonical investigation became a duty. H.E.R. Msgr. Daniele Libanori, Auxiliary Bishop…

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France’s Catholic bishops have set up what they believe to be the world’s first major national church court, replacing a previous network of local tribunals, although sexual abuse cases involving children will still be referred to the Vatican.

“As a community of believers, the church has developed a comprehensive legal system, which includes the right to sanction behavior by members” who undermine “the church’s spiritual and human values,” the bishops’ conference said in a statement.

“These ecclesial procedures do not conflict with French law. … Like all religions, the Catholic Church is free in its internal organization, and all Catholics, as French citizens, also remain subject to the state law.”

The statement explained the role of the National Canonical Penal Court, set up in Paris Dec. 5.

It said the 20-member court, approved by the Vatican in September, would be tasked with judging “canonical offenses committed by clergy and laity”…

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On a chilly November morning, Derek Lewis sat on a bench in front of a haunted little white building, remembering.

The 34-year-old Hayward man’s psychologist says it’s good to come to this quiet spot in Contra Costa County to confront the past. The structure used to house the office and living area of the head priest at the church that was once next door. Inside the building, as well as inside the church, Lewis said, the priest sexually abused him repeatedly over two years starting when Lewis was about 8 years old, inflicting trauma that set his young life on a tortuous path.

Lewis looked away from the building, hiding tears, as he described what it was like inside: the old brown carpet, the musty smell, the portrait of Jesus looking on as the priest reached to touch him.

“An ugly place,” Lewis said.

After some 25 years of avoiding…

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After a pair of Virginia bishops made an apostolic visitation to the troubled Diocese of Knoxville, what happens next?

Twenty months after priests in East Tennessee first sounded an alarm regarding their bishop’s leadership, they got what they asked for: A pair of Virginia bishops traveled last week down to the Smoky Mountains for an apostolic visitation with the clergy of the Diocese of Knoxville.

The Vatican-ordered inspection came after earlier enquiries by Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, after media coverage of their bishop’s administrative misconduct – on matters both alleged and confirmed – and after a letter last year in which priests asked the apostolic nuncio for “merciful relief” from a diocesan culture they said was demoralizing and dysfunctional.

Priests in Knoxville have alleged that Bishop Rick Stika bullies and threatens to get what he wants, has acted with disregard for the Church’s financial laws, and intervened to cover up, or…

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Three former Servite High School students allege they were repeatedly sexually assaulted by a priest, according to three new lawsuits filed in court, the latest in a series of allegations against a pastor who also acted as a teacher and swim coach at the prestigious school.

A total of eight former students have filed lawsuits against the private school in Anaheim and Father Kevin Fitzpatrick, who, according to the attorney for several of the plaintiffs, worked to gain the trust of young boys at the school and “commanded” a room that was being used to isolate and sexually abuse them.

At one point, Fitzpatrick also brought what looked like an old barber chair that the victims said was used during some of the alleged abuse, according to Mike Reck, one of the lawyers.

Allegations against Fitzpatrick first surfaced in a lawsuit in June, which was followed in September by another…

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Three lawsuits filed this week allege the Diocese failed to keep children safe from clergy members who were known abusers.

Cases are mounting against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, which oversaw priests who are accused of sexually abusing children decades ago.

Lawsuits filed by a former parishioner at St. Joseph Church in Portland, and two brothers who served as altar boys at St. Hyacinth Church in Westbrook, allege the Diocese failed to keep children safe from clergy members who were known abusers. NEWS CENTER Maine is not naming the alleged victims. 

The brothers accuse a priest, Michael Plourde, of sexually abusing them in 1978. Their mother reported the alleged incidents to Plourde’s supervisor, Rev. Antonio Gosselin, but family members never heard back from him about the reported abuse. Michael Bigos of Berman & Simmons represents the alleged victims.

“Two years before, the abuse was reported at St. Hyacinth. That report…

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For the second consecutive year, a lay organization of faithful Catholics has named the Diocese of Scranton as being one of the most financially transparent dioceses in the United States.

For six years, Voice of the Faithful has reviewed all U.S. Catholic dioceses’ online financial transparency. The group’s 2022 report identifies the Diocese of Scranton as one of only five dioceses to receive an overall score of 100% in regards to transparency. This year’s other top-scoring dioceses include Charleston, Lexington, Orlando and Rochester.

The Diocese of Scranton also received an overall score of 100% for financial transparency in 2021.

The Voice of the Faithful’s sixth annual review of all dioceses was conducted between June 1 and Aug. 31 by three independent reviewers and their report, “Measuring and Ranking Diocesan Online Financial Transparency: 2022 Report,” was released on Nov. 28, 2022.

In addition to receiving a perfect score in the report,…

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Most. Rev. James P. Powers, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Superior, last month released the list of abusive clergy who have substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. The list of names is the result of three separate clergy file reviews, including one by a private independent security consulting firm, more than a year of meetings, multiple sessions with the Diocesan Review Board (lay people with various life experiences), and much prayer and discernment.  

Bishop Powers sincerely acknowledges the sinful harms of the past, apologizes on behalf of the local Church, and prays for the healing of all victims-survivors and their affected families and friends. 

“I wish we could go back in time and undo all of the hurt and pain, the sins of the past. But we cannot,” said Bishop Powers.  “What we can do is learn from the past and do everything in our power to never…

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A group of clerical sexual abuse survivors has filed a request with the Baltimore Circuit Court in an attempt to make public a recently sealed attorney general’s report that claims to chronicle hundreds of instances of clerical abuse.

At issue is a 456-page report compiled by the office of Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, which consists of information given by the Archdiocese of Baltimore along with information gathered from interviews, and which claims to identify more than 600 victims of clerical abuse in the archdiocese dating back eight decades. It is currently unclear whether the report will lead to any new criminal charges.

A judge in Baltimore last week ordered all proceedings, filings, and communications related to the release of the report on clerical sexual abuse to be made confidential. Going forward, the legal processes of releasing the full report will not be disclosed to the public because of the confidentiality order….

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News 5’s yearlong investigation getting results

It’s something victims never thought would happen, but now payments are coming to those who experienced severe abuse as kids at a former home for children called the Parmadale Children’s Village of St. Vincent DePaul. It’s restitution that’s starting to help heal those who had no hope in the past.

“I feel better that I did it. I’m still not crazy about being on camera…” said Carolyn Mason about telling her story publicly. She said she feels much better than the first time she sat down with us back in January while wiping away tears. “If I had bruises, which one time she blacked my eye really, really good. So, that Sunday I couldn’t see my grandma and grandpa because it was too bruised and black,” she told us back then.

She had opened up for the first time about the severe abuse she…

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Father Hans Zollner, a Jesuit priest and an expert in the fight against abuse, said the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith “must respond” to questions surrounding the case of Father Marko Rupnik, a member of the Society of Jesus accused of abuse.

Zollner is one of the leading experts in the field of safeguarding from sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. He is a member of the Vatican’s Commission for the Protection of Minors since its creation in 2014 and is the director of the Institute of Anthropology: Interdisciplinary Studies on Human Dignity and Care (IADC) at the Gregorian University in Rome.

In a statement to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language sister news agency, Zollner said that he believes that “it’s obvious that the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith has to respond.”

Zollner’s statement marks another development in the widening controversy surrounding Rupnik, a well-known Jesuit…

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U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has apparently prioritized their anti-LGBT stance rather than addressing their pedophile priest scandal. Here’s a recent example of how this plays out:

Father David Marcotte was suspended from his ministry as an Archdiocese of Indianapolis Catholic priest in February 2019, due to allegations of sexual abuse of a minor in 2016.

In October 2019, Marcotte was arrested and charged with three felony counts: child solicitation (Level 5 felony), vicarious sexual gratification (Level 5 felony), and dissemination of matter harmful to minors (Level 6 felony).

Then on Nov. 9, Marcotte was sentenced to a year of home detention and 18 months probation under a plea agreement for the lesser Level 6 felony. The plea agreement allows Marcotte to avoid prison time and avoid registering as a sex offender. The parents of the young male victim begged the…

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An unprecedented crisis of confidence is shaking a historic center of Catholicism in Germany — the Archdiocese of Cologne. Catholic believers have protested their deeply divisive archbishop and are leaving in droves over allegations that he may have covered up clergy sexual abuse reports.

While Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki’s personal fate is in the hands of Pope Francis, the drama has reverberations nationwide, given that the Cologne archdiocese has more Catholics than any other in Germany — about 1.8 million. Its double-domed cathedral is an iconic tourist attraction and one of the oldest, most important pilgrimage sites of Northern Europe.

And the crisis in Cologne, in which many thousands of Catholics in the region have left the church, is in some ways a microcosm of the issues playing out in the German Catholic Church as a whole as it undergoes a profound and controversial reform process precisely to respond to…

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The Archdiocese of Seattle has paid nearly $2.3 million since August to settle five claims brought by people who alleged they were sexually abused decades ago by clergy and parish school personnel.

The settlements, for allegations of abuse occurring in the 1950s, 1970s, and 1980s, were announced by the archdiocese in November. Three of the five cases involve alleged perpetrators who have since died. They are the only individuals named in an archdiocesan news release.

The settlements, collectively totaling $2,285,000, are the latest of more than 450 cases the archdiocese has paid more than $116 million to settle since the 1980s. 

Attorney Darrell Cochran, whose firm has represented scores of clients who’ve alleged clergy abuse, represented a woman who said she was abused at St. Louise Parish School in Bellevue and settled one of the five cases.

The woman, identified by her initials, J.C. in a complaint for sexual abuse, negligence and…

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Bishop cited an “insurmountable number of claims”

Payouts for childhood sexual abuse claims have taken a financial toll on a host of venerable American institutions that provided youth programs where predators lurked, from the Boy Scouts of America to Penn State, Michigan State and numerous church organizations.

With a three-year window for new claims of decades-old abuse closing at the end of this month, the Diocese of Santa Rosa, one of five Roman Catholic dioceses serving the Bay Area, has announced it will file for bankruptcy protection early next year.

“It is the inevitable result of an insurmountable number of claims,” Bishop Robert F. Vasa wrote in an announcement last Friday that said the diocese is facing more than 130 abuse claims dating back to its establishment in 1962, mostly from the 1970s and 1980s.

The claims are made possible by AB 218, a California law that made it easier…

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The number of people who claim they were abused by Catholic priests when they were children continues to grow, including two brothers who served as altar boys at St. Hyacinth Church in Westbrook.

The lawsuit against the Diocese of Portland alleges two brothers, who were 10 and 12 years old, told their mother that the Rev. Michael Plourde sexually abused them before early morning mass at St. Hyacinth Church in the late 1970s.

The lawsuit said the mother pulled the boys out of church and reported the abuse to church leaders, and never heard another word. The family never returned.

The complaints state that the diocese removed Plourde from ministry in 1994 based on multiple allegations of sex abuse.

Lawyers for the alleged victims said Plourde is still alive and living in Cumberland County. Efforts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.

The third case filed Thursday involves another man who said he…

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If you or someone you know needs resources or support related to sexual violence, contact the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault’s 24/7 hotline at 800-871-7741.

Three men who claim they were sexually abused by priests as children decades ago sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland on Thursday in Cumberland County Superior Court.

And in a separate lawsuit earlier this week, a Portland, Oregon, woman sued the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate Eastern Province in U.S. District Court in Bangor. The woman, now in her 70s, claims she was sexually abused by priests in the 1950s at a seminary the order ran in Bar Harbor and a retreat house in Bucksport.

The lawsuits are the latest legal claims made possible by a 2021 change in state law that lifted a statute of limitations on such claims. Previously, state law effectively prevented people who were abused as children before the late 1980s from…

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One of the Vatican’s leading Jesuit advisers on preventing clergy sexual abuse called Dec. 7 for church authorities to shed more light on the case of a famous Jesuit artist who wasn’t sanctioned by the Holy See after he was accused of spiritually abusing women during confession.

Jesuit Fr. Hans Zollner said the recent statement by the Jesuit order about Fr. Marko Ivan Rupnik “raised questions that, as far as I see, can only be answered by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.”

The Jesuits said in a statement made public this week that the Dicastery, which handles abuse cases, had closed its file on Rupnik, one of the most famous Catholic artists alive today, because the statute of limitations had expired.

The order said precautionary measures imposed on the priest by his Jesuit superior remained in effect, forbidding him from hearing confession or giving spiritual…

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SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is calling for an investigation into what Franciscan University of Steubenville knew about its former priest, Father David Morrier.

Morrier admitted to a single count of sexual battery and was sentenced to five years probation earlier this year for abusing a student he was counseling. He is required to register as a sex offender.

Morrier, while working as a priest at Franciscan University, allegedly convinced a student he was counseling that having sex with him was necessary for mental health treatment purposes.

SNAP says that documents that have recently come to light about the abuse of the the student by the priest are “troubling.”

SNAP said this in a statement:

“We do know that Fr. Morrier is a convicted & registered sex offender who targeted and preyed on an extremely vulnerable student. The published documents detail additional very troubling…

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A brother in the Diocese of Madison had sexual contact and exchanged inappropriate videos with a 17-year-old girl he met in a Bible study he led at a DeForest-based parish, a criminal complaint says.

Rajnal Rehmat, 31, was charged Monday with sexual assault of a child by a person who works or volunteers with children and child enticement, both felonies, for the incidents alleged to have happened between Sept. 5 and Oct. 1. A Dane County court commissioner on Monday set Rehmat’s bail at $5,000 and ordered the Pakistan native to relinquish his passport.

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A complaint against Rehmat, who had been working for the diocese since June, details two instances when Rehmat and the girl kissed and engaged in sexual touching in a vehicle — once near St. Olaf parish in DeForest, where he was living on the weekends, and once at Warner Park…

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For years, the three Roman Catholic dioceses operating parishes in Maryland have successfully lobbied lawmakers to keep sexual abuse survivors from filing lawsuits against the church, a review of lobbying records shows.

Over the past five years, the Maryland Catholic Conference, the church’s public policy arm for the three dioceses, has spent more than $200,000 hiring former lawmakers and government officials and consultants as lobbyists to stop the Maryland General Assembly from expanding the state’s statute of limitations on lawsuits arising from sexual abuse claims.

“This is money that goes into collection,” said Teresa Lancaster, an Edgewater attorney who was abused five decades ago while attending Archbishop Keough High School. “The church is using it to lobby against children.”

Under state law, childhood sexual abuse survivors have until their 38th birthday to file a lawsuit or three years after their abuser was convicted in criminal court, whichever…

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In the two decades since widespread child abuse within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston came to light, every diocese in Massachusetts has released a list of priests credibly accused of sex abuse — except the Diocese of Worcester.

“There is no public precedent for the publishing of lists of the accused — such as those accused in other positions of trust such as medicine, education or law enforcement,” Ray Delisle, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Worcester, said in an email addressing the diocese’s lack of a list.

The diocese publishes and distributes information on each priest who is placed on administrative leave and/or laicized and that information remains public on its website, according to Delisle.

Mitchell Garabedian, who has represented survivors in their claims against the Catholic Church nationally and internationally, told MassLive Friday it is important to have a list of credibly accused…

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Journalists investigating secular and Catholic Church sources in Poland have called into question allegations by a Dutch writer that St. John Paul II “covered up” sexual abuse while still a bishop in Poland.

On Dec. 2, Ekke Overbeek, a journalist from the Netherlands living in Poland, said he had found “concrete cases of priests abusing children in the Archdiocese of Krakow, where the future pope was archbishop. The future pope knew about it and transferred them anyway, which led to new victims.”

Overbeek referred to the case of the priest Eugeniusz Surgent and “many others” whom Karol Wojtyla allegedly “covered up.”

The Dutch publication NOS, in which Overbeek’s statements appeared, reported the journalist spent three years combing “Polish archives.”

“Almost all documents collected directly about Wojtyla have been destroyed. However, in other surviving documents, he is mentioned very often. And if you put them all together, they are…

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Investigators with the Maryland Attorney General’s Office uncovered 80 years’ worth of child sex abuse cases inside the Catholic Church, and alleged victims want to be part of the legal proceedings over whether that report will be made public.

They say they don’t trust the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

“They claim to follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but they turn their back on the lepers of today,” said SNAP Maryland Director David Lorenz.

The Attorney General’s report identifies 600 different alleged victims and advocates want to make sure they no longer remain silenced.

Advocates have retained a pair of catastrophic injury law firms with experience representing systemic sexual abuse to make sure they have a voice in the process.

“We’ll be filing a motion to intervene so that we’ll become parties to the proceedings and then once granted standing in the proceedings, we are going to seek to have the…

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We are unable to authenticate the documents calling into question whether Franciscan University of Steubenville’s statement that they only learned of the sexual assault allegations against Fr. David Morrier in 2015. However, since they have now been published publicly, the university needs to be investigated, preferably by an outside authority, to determine who knew what, when they knew it, and what they did, or did not, do about these serious accusations. Moreover, the process, as well as the results of the probe, need to be completely open and transparent.

We do know that Fr. Morrier is a convicted & registered sex offender who targeted and preyed on an extremely vulnerable student. The published documents detail additional very troubling accusations that call into question the integrity and truthfulness of this Catholic college.

Enough is enough, light needs to be shined into this dark corner. The courageous…

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ALERT: Statute of Limitations is up December 31 for California Child Sex Abuse Survivors  

(Los Angeles, CA) – In a new report, a nationwide Catholic lay group, Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), has analyzed the relative ‘financial transparency’ of every US Catholic diocese or archdiocese. We applaud the study and harshly criticize California’s 12 bishops for being “as reckless and secretive with parishioners’ money as they are with their own child molesting clerics.”

“They hide their assets the same way they hide their offenders,” said attorney Jeff Anderson.

For the sixth year in a row, the Boston-based Voice of the Faithful has issued a 49-page study called “Measuring and Ranking Diocesan Online Financial Transparency”. Over a three-month period (6/1/22 – 8/31/22), independent reviewers weighed ten factors including whether dioceses post audited financial reports, list diocesan finance council members, and use “common sense chain of custody” procedures, like “using at least…

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Thirteen people form a new tribunal that will deal with misconduct in the Roman Catholic Church of France. The National Canon Criminal Court (TPCN) was sworn in on Monday.

The new tribunal will deal with cases in the Church connected to sexual abuse of adults, power abuse, breach of trust and issues of spiritual influence. The Dicastery of the Doctrine of Faith will remain responsible for dealing with cases of sexual abuse of children. That is reported by RCF.

Excommunication

Any Catholic who feels he has suffered wrongdoings in the Church may go to the tribunal. After investigations, the TCPN may decide to sentence the perpetrator to penalties, such as a fine, prohibition of ministry, dismissal from the clerical state or excommunication. The tribunal can also determine that the perpetrator has to pay his or the victim damages, Famille Chretienne writes.

Yet, the TPCN is…

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Survivors of Maryland clergy sex abuse accuse the Catholic Church of turning a blind eye to their pain. Now, they said time’s up.

The group of survivors claims the release of the state attorney general’s investigation is essential for their healing. They shared their demands with the media, even going so far as to call for a change in leadership of the Catholic Church. Survivors pointed the finger at Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, saying he needs to go.

“You turned away, you chose to fall silent and you chose to protect your criminals. We will not go away, sit down or shut up, and most of us think, sir, that you need to resign,” said Gemma Hoskins, an advocate.

Hoskins is a former student at Archbishop Keough High School, where sexual abuse was rampant. She took part in the Netflix documentary “The Keepers,” which focused on the killing of Sister…

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Two Quebec bishops, one deceased and one living, have been named in a sexual abuse class action against the Archdiocese of Quebec.

Bishops Clement Fecteau (1933-2017) and Jean-Pierre Blais, who is Bishop of Baie-Comeau, are among the accused whose names were released by the law firm Arsenault Dufresne Wee Avocats.

Fecteau is accused of abusing a 13-year-old victim in 1987 at the Séminaire de Quebec. He was appointed auxiliary bishop for the Quebec archdiocese in 1989 and would in 1996 be appointed Bishop of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatiere.

Blais is accused of abusing a 12-year-old between 1973 and 1975.

The accusations are civil in nature and not known to involve any criminal charges or investigations. They have not been proven in court.

When abuse allegations are made against a bishop, it is up to an archbishop to notify Vatican authorities as soon as allegations are made known. The Quebec news service Presence left…

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When a religious community raises red flags, where should Catholics go for transparent answers?

When Natalie Schuldt heard this spring that her bishop had invited members of the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE) to establish a presence in their Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska, she was concerned.

“Just a little bit of investigation into their order drew a lot of red flags for me and for others,” she told The Pillar.

The Institute of the Incarnate Word was founded in San Rafael, Argentina in 1984 by Fr. Carlos Miguel Buela.

In 2016, the Vatican confirmed that Buela had been found guilty of sexual misconduct with IVE seminarians.

The priest was banned from being in contact with members of the institute he founded, from making statements or appearing in public, and from participating in the organization’s activities.

The IVE was also close to Theodore McCarrick, the disgraced former cardinal who sexually abused…

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Allegations against a Slovenian Jesuit artist have become a point of scandal in Europe, where Fr. Marko Rupnik, SJ, is accused of serially abusing Slovenian consecrated women, and questions have been raised about the Vatican’s handling of the affair.

While the priest, 68, is prohibited from public ministry, the allegations raised publicly in recent days have again raised questions about public accountability and transparency in the Church’s own criminal justice system — and about a lack of consistency in the Church’s approach to the application of justice.

And newly emerged information confirmed to The Pillar paints an unflattering portrait of the Vatican’s handling of the allegations against Rupnik.

But to Vatican-watchers, the outline of Rupnik’s case has a familiar shape and hue. And alongside similar cases, it contributes to the emerging picture of the Vatican’s continued handling of serious sexual abuse cases involving clerics.

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Fr. Marko Rupnik is more well-known in Italy…

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Reports emerged this week that Slovenian Jesuit Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, a world-famous artist whose murals adorn the walls of churches and chapels throughout the Vatican and beyond, has been accused of sexual misconduct with nuns and has been barred by his order from public ministry.

This makes Rupnik, 68, the latest in a series of high-profile Catholic individuals in recent years to face such allegations, including famed French layman Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arche community that assists intellectually disabled adults, and the late Father Werenfried van Straaten, a Dutch priest who founded the papally-sponsored Catholic charity “Aid to the Church in Need” in 1952 to aid persecuted Christians.

In a statement dated Dec. 2, the Society of Jesus to which Rupnik belongs said that a complaint was made against him in 2021 and sent to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), which deals with…

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The Vatican came under pressure Tuesday to explain why it didn’t prosecute a famous Jesuit artist and merely let his order restrict the priest’s ministry following allegations that he abused his authority over adult women.

The Jesuits, the same order to which Pope Francis belongs, announced in a statement made public this week that the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith had determined the statute of limitations had expired and closed the case against the Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik.

Mosaics by Rupnik, a native of Slovenia who is as close as it gets to an official Vatican artist, decorate the Lourdes basilica, a chapel in the Apostolic Palace and churches around the globe.

In specifying that Rupnik was not accused of sexually abusing minors, the Jesuits indicated that he was accused of sexual-related crimes with adults involving the confessional, since those are the other types of canonical crimes…

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Bishop Robert F. Vasa of Santa Rosa announced Dec. 2 that the diocese expects to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because it faces more than 130 new claims of sex abuse dating from 1962 to the present, with “a vast majority of the cases” dating to the 1970s and 1980s.

The diocesan attorneys are expected to file Chapter 11 after Dec. 31 and before March 1, he said in a statement.

“After months of careful and prayerful consideration” and consultation with the priests of the diocese, the Diocesan Finance Council and professionals retained by the diocese,” Bishop Vasa said, “it has become clear to me that it is necessary” for the diocese to take this action.

“This decision was made necessary due to the overwhelming number of sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the diocese after the statute of limitations was lifted for a three-year ‘window,’” he said.

In 2019,…

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Archdiocese drops its defence that time to take legal action has elapsed

Germany’s Catholic church may face a wave of clerical abuse compensation claims after the Cologne archdiocese dropped its statute of limitations defence in a closely-watched court case.

On Tuesday Cologne district court began hearing the case of a man who has sued the archdiocese for €805,000 in damages.

Mr Georg Menne says he was sexually abused at least 320 times during the 1970s by a Catholic priest, Erich Jansen. Until his death in 2020 the priest remained active in parish work despite being reported to archdiocese authorities at least twice – in 1980 and 2010.

“If they had taken him out of action these acts wouldn’t have happened with me and other children,” said Mr Menne to WDR public television.

His lawyers accuse the archdiocese of violating its duty of care for not investigating the perpetrator and…

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A judge in Baltimore this week ordered all proceedings, filings, and communications related to the release of a major attorney general’s report on clerical sexual abuse to be made confidential. 

Judge Anthony Vittoria of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City issued a confidentiality ruling Dec. 2 in response to a request from an anonymous group of people named in the report but who were not accused of abuse, the Baltimore Sun reported.

At issue is a 456-page report compiled by the office of Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, consisting of information given by the Archdiocese of Baltimore along with information gathered from interviews that claims to identify more than 600 victims of clerical abuse in the archdiocese dating back eight decades. It is currently unclear whether the report will lead to any new criminal charges.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore, which is paying the legal fees for the anonymous…

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The order includes documents that have already been released to the public

A Baltimore Circuit Court judge has sealed all records — including, retroactively,some that are already public — related to Attorney General Brian E. Frosh’s 456-page report into historical clergy sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Circuit Court Judge Anthony Vittoria’s ruling Friday concurs with a request to the court made Nov. 21 by an anonymous group of people who are named in the report but not accused of abuse. The report includes allegations of coverup and mishandling as well as abuse. Lawyers for the group filed a request to keep all filings and proceedings around the release of the report secret, until a judge rules whether the report, which is already under seal, should be released, and to provide their clients a confidential opportunity to address the court before that decision is reached.

“To preserve the secrecy…

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Après le cardinal Marc Ouellet, d’autres hauts dirigeants de l’église catholique du Québec sont dénoncés par des victimes alléguées d’agressions sexuelles. Il s’agit de Mgr Clément Fecteau, ancien évêque de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière et Mgr Jean-Pierre Blais, actuel évêque de Baie-Comeau.

Le cabinet d’avocats Arsenault Dufesne Wee, en charge des actions collectives autorisées contre les diocèses de Québec et de Trois-Rivières, ont déposé au dossier de la cour et rendu public jeudi deux nouveaux tableaux des victimes alléguées. Dans les tableaux, les victimes sont anonymisées. Il y est indiqué les lieux et dates des agressions présumées, l’âge de la victime et le nom du ou des religieux ou laïcs agresseurs.

Selon les avocats, 134 victimes ont affirmé avoir été agressées par plus d’une centaine de prêtres ou de membre du personnel du diocèse de Québec. 

Dans le tableau déposé à la cour, le nom de Mgr Clément Fecteau, décédé en 2018, apparaît…

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Les événements reprochés à monseigneur Jean-Pierre Blais, l’évêque du diocèse de Baie-Comeau se seraient déroulés dans les années 70 dans la région de Québec. 

L’évêque aurait commis des gestes d’attouchements et de masturbation de façon régulière sur une victime âgée à l’époque de 12 à 14 ans dans la paroisse de Charny entre 1973 et 1975.

C’est le cabinet d’avocats Arsenault Dufresne Wee qui a rendu publics hier deux nouveaux tableaux de victimes alléguant avoir été agressées par des prêtres ou des membres du personnel du diocèse de Québec.

Le cabinet est responsable d’un recours collectif contre les diocèses de Québec et de Trois-Rivières.

Le nom de monseigneur Jean-Pierre Blais du diocèse de Baie-Comeau y a été ajouté. Dans un court communiqué transmis aux médias, monseigneur Jean-Pierre Blais nie formellement avoir eu des gestes déplacés sur la présumée victime. Il entend collaborer au processus judiciaire en cours et ne fera…

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The Roman Catholic Jesuit order said it disciplined a prominent priest and artist who reportedly sexually and psychologically abused nuns in his native Slovenia three decades ago.

The Jesuits issued a statement about Father Marko Ivan Rupnik following Italian media reports last week that several nuns had accused him of abuse in the early 1990s when he was their spiritual director at a convent in Slovenia.

Rupnik faces restrictions including not being allowed to hear confessions or preside at spiritual exercises.

The priest is well known in the Church as a mosaics master who designed chapels around the world, including one in the Vatican and in the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C.

The statement from Jesuit headquarters in Rome said the order had carried out an investigation into Rupnik after the Vatican’s doctrinal department received a complaint last year about “the method by which he carried…

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A prominent Jesuit priest and artist had his ministry restricted, reportedly after an investigation by his religious order into allegations of abuse against religious sisters in Slovenia.

The Jesuits said in a statement dated Dec. 2 that the order has barred 68-year-old Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, SJ, from hearing confessions or conducting spiritual direction since the Vatican received a complaint against him in 2021.

The Vatican declined in October to carry out a canonical process due to the statute of limitations, the order said. The complaint did not include minors.

The Jesuit order said the restrictions on Rupnik’s ministry were still in effect and included a ban on leading the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. The priest is also prohibited from engaging in public activities without the permission of his superior.

Rupnik, the director of the Centro Aletti in Rome, was the creator of the official image…

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In the 1980s, Father Brian Cox told an official with Catholic church he had a problem – he was attracted to teenage boys.

The official, according to court papers, brushed him off, telling the Westminster priest not to “worry about it.” Cox, in a taped conversation with one of his victims, said a bishop once told him he was a priest, and priests don’t need help.

It later would be revealed, through court records and newspaper reporting, that Cox had molested children at St. John Catholic School — an extension of the St. John Westminster parish where Cox was a pastor — from 1978 to 1989. He stayed on as an assistant at St. John, but his post formally ended in 1995 when an unnamed “third party” came forward to church officials and accused Cox of sexual abuse.

Cox is one of more than…

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In a setback for efforts towards transparency and justice for clergy abuse survivors in Maryland, a judge today made the decision to seal the ongoing proceedings that will decide whether or not a recently-completed attorney general report into sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore will be publicly released. While we lament this decision, we hope that this does not signal the end of the road for the Maryland report and that it will still be publicly released soon.

“We lost this skirmish but the battle to release the report goes on,” said David Lorenz, leader of SNAP Maryland. “The problem is that we now don’t have insight into what objections are being made and therefore can’t make counter arguments.”

By sealing the proceedings, the public will no longer know who is involved in arguing for or against the report in court. This move comes after Archbishop…

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Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh sought to release results

A group of Maryland clergy abuse survivors is speaking out against a court decision to stop the results of a sexual abuse investigation from being made public. A Baltimore City Circuit Court judge made the decision on Friday to seal all proceedings, filings, and communications during grand jury proceedings.

SNAP (Survivors Network Of Those Abused By Priests) called the court’s decision a setback in transparency and justice for clergy abuse survivors in Maryland. SNAP isn’t giving up hope that the investigation will still be released at some point. However, the Archdiocese maintains that it does not and will not oppose the report’s release.

SNAP’s leader David Lorenz said the problem with not having access to the results of the investigation is that they don’t have insight into what objections are being made and therefore can’t form counter…

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A Baltimore judge is now ruling all proceedings related to the Maryland Attorney General’s report on clergy sex abuse remain confidential.

A distinction: The judge’s order seals the report; however, it does not block its release. A decision whether to do so has not been made.

“To seal the proceedings about this report is very difficult for us survivors,” said David Lorenz, Maryland director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Legal arguments will be held behind closed doors and all documents sealed in the case asking a judge to release the Maryland Attorney General’s 456-page investigation into child sex abuse within the Baltimore archdiocese.

A judge’s ruling is necessary because the probe was conducted through a grand jury and state law keeps grand jury materials confidential without a court order.

Clergy abuse survivors consider Friday’s decision a setback because they will not have an opportunity to be heard.

…

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De nouvelles victimes s’ajoutent aux actions collectives contre le Diocèse de Québec et celui de Trois-Rivières. L’actuel évêque de Baie-Comeau, Jean-Pierre Blais, et un membre de l’Ordre national du Québec, Claude Thompson, font partie des personnes visées par les nouvelles allégations d’agressions sexuelles.

Au total, 134 victimes affirment avoir été agressées par une centaine de prêtres ou de membres du Diocèse de Québec et 43 victimes ont porté plainte contre une vingtaine de prêtres ou de membres du Diocèse de Trois-Rivières.

Lisez « Le Diocèse de Trois-Rivières est visé par une action collective »

Le cabinet Arsenault Dufresne Wee Avocats a déposé, jeudi, une liste anonymisée de ces victimes à la Cour. Elles étaient âgées de 4 à 46 ans au moment où les agressions auraient été commises, mais elles étaient mineures dans la très grande majorité des cas. Les victimes auraient été soumises à des attouchements, des fellations, des pénétrations ou des séances de masturbation, selon…

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Lawyer Stephan Rixen says his initial doubts about the independence and effectiveness of the body have been confirmed

The state-appointed chairman of the commission to investigate abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne has quit, saying he doubted the independence of the commission and wondered whether its main aim was to protect Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki.

The German Catholic news agency KNA reported Stephan Rixen has stepped down as head of the Independent Commission for the Investigation of Abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne and has withdrawn from the body. Rixen told KNA Dec. 5 that his initial doubts about the independence and effectiveness of the committee had been confirmed.

The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia had appointed Rixen, a constitutional lawyer, to the committee made up of representatives of the diocese, scholars and people with practical expertise as well as victims of abuse. Committee members were recruited partly by…

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Freedom From Religion Foundation asks for increasing resources to uncover allegations of clergy abuse

A Madison-based secular group is calling on Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul to escalate a statewide review of clergy sex abuse that launched last year.

The request follows the release of names of nearly two dozen clergy by the Catholic Diocese of Superior, which it says have had credible claims of sexually abusing minors made against them.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates for separation of church and state, sent a Dec. 1 letter to Kaul asking him to increase resources for the investigation after the release of names.

“Given these revelations self-reported by the Superior Diocese, we believe that re-opening an independent investigation would potentially unearth more clergy abuse that has harmed so many, and is in order,” wrote Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker, co-presidents of the foundation.

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A Few Interesting Facts about California:

• Has the most children 
• Has the most homeless kids
• Has the most children of color
• Has the largest Hispanic population of any state

Because these figures show that there are many vulnerable children in California, making it a predator’s paradise. There’s a second part of this potentially dangerous equation. California also has:

• roughly 2800 summer camps
• 1,521 youth service organizations
• the 2nd highest number of churches

This means that there are also many organizations, situations, and locations in which kids are especially vulnerable. In light of this, we at Horowitz Law feel safe in predicting that there are now literally thousands of California men and women who were victimized as children by predators. You may see where this is headed.

At the risk of sounding like a broke…

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Among the many reasons people are leaving institutional churches, there is one that runs deeper than them all.

John MacArthur says  it’s because “they deconstruct the Bible to give room for their pet sins and tolerances.”

The Gospel Coalition says it’s because we have church hurt, because of poor teaching, because we have a desire to sin and want street cred.

And Matt Chandler says it’s because “deconstruction has become some sort of sexy thing to do” for people who understood Christianity only as a moral code.

Let’s assume they are correct and imagine that those of us who have left institutional churches read a Kevin DeYoung article from The Gospel Coalition about Beth Allison Barr and repent. Suddenly, we stop wanting to do sexy things, renounce street cred, end our desire to sin, understand what penal substitutionary atonement really means, forgive the churches that hurt us, and become complementarian, young…

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Legal arguments will continue behind closed doors about whether a Baltimore judge should release a 456-page investigation into child sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Anthony Vittoria ordered the case sealed on Friday. His order means all hearings will be closed to the public and all legal motions will be confidential.

“No party is permitted to share any filing or communication,” Vittoria wrote.

He went further and directed the attorneys to deliver their filings to his chambers and not submit them to the clerk’s office.

The ruling marks a win for attorneys Gregg Bernstein and William Murphy, who wanted the proceedings to be secret. The two attorneys represent some people named in the report, but not accused of sexual abuse. These people have not been publicly identified.

The Maryland Attorney General’s Office tried to keep the continued litigation open to the public.

“This case involves the…

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[Google translation followed by the original Dutch article]

John Paul II knew about child abuse in his diocese long before he became pope in 1978. This is evident from research by Trouw .

The later pope John Paul II, as archbishop of the Polish city of Krakow, knew of several cases of child abuse committed by priests. In 1971 he let a underpriest continue to work after he had abused a boy. Even when this man was convicted of abuse by a court in 1973, the future pope allowed him to continue working as a priest. In another diocese, the man again assaulted boys.

This has emerged from new years of research by Trouw in the archives of the Polish security service. Material from these archives has a controversial status in Poland because of the methods used by the security services under the communist regime. Because it also contains court documents and old testimonies of victims, new evidence can still…

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When Mitchell Rozanski was introduced more than two years ago as the next archbishop of St. Louis, he was an unknown to Roman Catholics here.

He’d grown up in Baltimore and spent his career on the East Coast. First thing he said he wanted to do was walk the land, visit and listen.

In hindsight, he was notably direct about church buildings.

“We have to take a realistic look at working with the people of the parishes,” he told reporters and others gathered at the basilica that day on June 10, 2020. “First of all, I don’t want to see a community that is burdened by buildings. Buildings are important, but buildings are not the church. It is we the people who are the church.”

Rozanski, 64, has hammered that point home as he pushes through a historic restructuring of the archdiocese, which covers the city and 10 surrounding counties….

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The Pope has revealed that his meeting with survivors of clerical abuse during his visit to Ireland in 2018 was ‘one of the most heated situations’ he has ever faced.

During his visit to the Papal Nuncio residence on Dublin’s Navan Road, Pope Francis met with survivors of clerical sex abuse and those who spent time in industrial schools and mother-and-baby homes.

The Pope has revealed that his meeting with survivors of clerical abuse during his visit to Ireland in 2018 was ‘one of the most heated situations’ he has ever faced.

During his visit to the Papal Nuncio residence on Dublin’s Navan Road, Pope Francis met with survivors of clerical sex abuse and those who spent time in industrial schools and mother-and-baby homes.

In an interview with US media in recent days, Pope Francis was challenged on what moves the Vatican is taking to improve…

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The Santa Rosa Catholic Diocese’s decision to file for bankruptcy, Bishop Robert F. Vasa said, is a “necessity” so the bankruptcy court can determine some form of justice for the people who have filed clergy abuse lawsuits. The diocese does not have the resources to “justly compensate” all those who have alleged abuse, he added.

“Perfect justice” is not possible “in this world,” Bishop Robert F. Vasa told parishioners Sunday, in the wake of the Santa Rosa Catholic Diocese’s announcement last week that it will seek bankruptcy protection in anticipation of hundreds of new and potential clergy abuse lawsuits.

“We recognize in this penitential season that perfect justice is still elusive — that we are not capable of achieving it in this lifetime,” he said during a sermon at the Cathedral of St. Eugene in Santa Rosa.

His message was livestreamed across the diocese, which oversees 40 parishes from Petaluma…

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Recently the Jesuit-run America Magazine interviewed Pope Francis on various topical issues, among them the question regarding what he would say to women who are already serving in the church, but who also feel strongly about the call to be a priest in the Catholic Church. 

Pope Francis reinforces the gender binary by pointing to the Petrine principle which means Jesus chose Peter as head of the Church and 12 male apostles because Jesus our high priest was male!

Pope Francis suggests that women have no place in the Petrine principle.

On the other hand, the Marian principle is a mirror of the Church as a woman and as the spouse of Christ. So, he suggests that women have to be content with being the mirror image of the Church which represents the feminine spouse of Christ — what a convoluted explanation to convey to women that we are an important part…

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The diocese agreed earlier this year to pay $87.5 million 

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — South Jersey’s Catholic diocese is one step closer to compensating survivors who were sexually abused by some of the diocese’s priests.

In April, the Diocese of Camden agreed to pay $87.5 million to settle claims for victims of clergy sexual abuse.

Officials from the diocese appeared before Judge Jerrold N. Poslusny, Jr. in New Jersey District Bankruptcy Court for 14 days of testimony to approve the settlement.

The money will go to a trust fund setup over a four-year period from the diocese and related Catholic entities. The settlement also includes maintaining or enhancing protocols to protect children.

A statement from Camden Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan in part asked faithful parishioners to pray for abuse survivors as preparations for Christmas are underway.

“As this most recent step concludes during the season of Advent, I encourage the…

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Abuse victims decry lack of disclosure; San Francisco Archdiocese instead releases list of priests in “good standing”

When Bay Area bishops a few years ago released lists of their clergy found credibly accused of sexually abusing children, they called it a commitment to confronting past failings, a move toward accountability for a colossal scandal that has scarred the Catholic Church for decades.

But the Rev. Elwood Geary’s name wasn’t on any list. Neither was the Rev. Robert Gemmet’s.

The pair of now-deceased priests, who ministered in the South Bay a half-century ago, are now accused of horrific acts in separate lawsuits made possible under a state law that opened a three-year window for abuse claims long after the statute of limitations for such crimes expired. Geary and Gemmet are just two of at least 14 clergy in Northern California – 10 in the Bay Area – who this…

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A negotiated settlement to end the state attorney general’s 2020 lawsuit against the Buffalo Diocese yielded a 30-page court order and additional embarrassing news coverage of the diocese’s handling of child sex abuse allegations.

What the settlement didn’t do, according to some advocates for child sex abuse victims and child abuse prevention experts, was require the diocese to substantially change the way it operates.

Aside from a new monitoring program for offending priests, most of the policies and procedures outlined in the settlement already were being used in the diocese prior to the lawsuit.

“Essentially what was produced was weak tea,” said Marci Hamilton, chief executive officer of Child USA, a national child abuse prevention organization.

Hamilton characterized the agreement as a “deep disappointment,” as well as a missed opportunity for New York to set a new bar in holding accountable large youth-serving organizations like the Catholic…

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Current archbishop of New Orleans denies claims from Lawrence Eghabor that date back to the 1990s

A former student at a New Orleans college that trains Catholic priests has claimed he was racially and sexually harassed there – including by the city’s current archbishop – as he parries counter-allegations that he is merely trying to extort money and a green card from church officials.

Over two decades, the dispute has drawn attention from Catholic officials at the highest levels in the US and worldwide. But it was not publicly known until it surfaced as part of a chapter 11 bankruptcy case the New Orleans archdiocese opened amid a wave of lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by clerics across generations.

Despite never interviewing the ex-seminarian, Lawrence Eghabor, or the archbishop, Gregory Aymond, the global Catholic church’s leadership at the Vatican deemed Egbahor’s claims meritless.

Eghabor said the cursory investigation demonstrated the Catholic church’s…

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Lawmakers may expand the rights of child sex abuse victims in the upcoming legislative session, renewing efforts to pass legislation that would require clergy reporting and remove time limits for lawsuit cases involving child abuse. 

Current state law sets a statute of limitations on filing for damages from childhood sexual abuses. Lawsuits have to be filed within three years of the survivor turning 18 or within three years of discovering an injury or illness caused by the abuse. Many have condemned the rule as unfair and fundamentally misguided.

Sen. Cindy Holscher, D-Overland Park, has worked for the past few years to pass legislation that would remove time limits for filing lawsuits in these cases. Holscher said it sometimes took years for victims to process their feelings and come forward, and the time limit harmed victims who aged out of the given timeframe. 

The latest form of the legislation,  View Cache

As California’s three-year window to file child sex abuse lawsuits past the statute of limitations nears its conclusion, 66 Catholic clergy and religious have been named in 116 lawsuits in Alameda County, which covers the area between San Francisco and San Jose.

Additionally, 14 of the clergy members and religious identified in the lawsuits are named for the first time, the law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates announced Nov. 28. 

The law firm said that the 116 lawsuits may be a small percentage of the total number of suits filed under the California Child Victims Act, which was passed in 2019.

The legislation allowed a three-year period in which victims of child sex abuse could come forward with claims that would have expired under the previous statute of limitations. The window began Jan. 1, 2020, and will expire in less than a month. The bill was…

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For Immediate Release, November 30, 2022

In 2021, the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting adopted a resolution “On Abuse and Pastoral Qualifications.” I was a member of that committee. I contributed significantly to the content of this resolution. It reads, in part, “any person who has committed sexual abuse is permanently disqualified from holding the office of pastor.” This is the sentiment of the Southern Baptist Convention.

At that same meeting, the messengers overwhelmingly insisted that an independent investigation should be conducted about the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee’s response to allegations of sexual abuse. The result of that investigation was the publication of a report in May of this year by Guidepost Solutions. That report disclosed the details of a pastor’s wife’s account of an incident in which Johnny Hunt aggressively approached her for a sexual encounter, including his pulling down her pants, pinning her down,…

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In a highly unusual move, the current president of the Southern Baptist Convention has denounced the “restoration” of a former SBC president to ministry six months after public allegations of sexual abuse.

“The idea that a council of pastors, assembled with the consent of the abusive pastor, possesses some authority to declare a pastor fit for resumed ministry is a conceit that is altogether absent from Baptist polity and from the witness of the New Testament. Indeed, it is repugnant to all that those sources extol and represent,” according to Bart Barber.

As previously reported by BNG, Georgia pastor and denominational leader Johnny Hunt was declared fit to return the ministry by a panel of four male pastor friends who have been counseling him since June. Those four pastors released a video this week explaining the process and outcomes of their unlicensed therapy with the former executive vice president of the SBC…

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The pair raised historic abuse claims after being assaulted at a children’s home in Midlothian in the 1970s.

Two siblings who were abused at a children’s home have been told they can now sue a Catholic order.

The pair – known as ‘B and W’ – raised historic abuse claims against the Sisters of Nazareth over incidents in Lasswade, Midlothian, in the 1970s.

Both legal bids were originally thrown out in January after Sisters of Nazareth claimed it could not get a fair trial due to the passage of time.

But three appeal judges on Friday ruled the cases should not have been dismissed and granted the siblings permission to continue with their claim for six-figure compensation.

Kim Leslie, partner at Digby Brown, the legal firm representing the siblings, said: “We welcome today’s ruling, however as the case is ongoing we cannot comment further.”

Residential institutions run by the Sisters…

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