ABUSE TRACKER

The Society of Jesus has suspended a prominent Chilean priest as it investigates accusations with a “sexual connotation,” according to the Jesuits.

In a statement May 3, the Jesuit province in Chile said, “a complaint was received April 29 from an adult woman against Jesuit Father Felipe Berríos for acts of sexual connotation. Such events would have occurred when the complainant was a minor.”

The accusations against Father Berríos shocked Chile, where the Jesuit has become a voice for the poor and excluded, including many migrants suffering discrimination. Father Berríos lived in a migrant camp in the northern Chilean city of Antofagasta since 2015, after returning from missionary work in Africa with Jesuit Refugee Service.

The statement said the provincial in Chile, Jesuit Father Gabriel Roblero, ordered the opening of a preliminary canonical investigation May 2 and named a lay lawyer to lead the investigation.

“The Company of Jesus will…

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When I was CEO of World Vision Australia, I met people all over the world – usually women and children – who had suffered all forms of abuse and were being rehabilitated in World Vision programs.

In remote Western Australia, I met Ali*, a six-year-old girl with foetal alcohol syndrome who was struggling at school.

Overseas, I met Htay, who’d been trafficked to China from Myanmar and escaped only to discover that while she was away her disabled daughter was abused by the local priest, and Nasrin* a 16-year-old girl who fled Sudan at night and was raped on the road to freedom and had no choice but to have the child in her Ugandan refugee camp.

The founder of World Vision once said, “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God”. My heart was broken many times over.

In Australia, we have many…

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The Vatican believes Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki and his vicar general, Msgr. Markus Hofmann, did not violate canon law in their funding of investigations and hiring of communications consultants, reported the German Catholic news agency KNA.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, wrote Woelki that after an “in-depth study,” the Vatican determined the financial institutions of the archdiocese did not need to be involved in the decision to spend 2.8 million euros from an episcopal fund. Journalists were given access to the letter May 3.

The decision comes as a relief to the crisis-hit leadership of the archdiocese, KNA reported.

After accusations of the mishandling of priests accused of sex abuse, Woelki took a sabbatical from October 2021 to March 2022. His interim replacement, Bishop Rolf Steinhäuser, asked two church law experts to review the awarding of contracts to lawyers and communications consultants involved in producing reports on the…

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Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier has suspended the proceedings for the sainthood cause of Father Joseph Kentenich, founder of the international Schonstatt movement.

The German Catholic news agency KNA reported Ackermann made the decision in consultation with the Vatican because of allegations of sexual assault and abuse of power by Kentenich. KNA said Ackermann called for further research into Father Kentenich, stating that the diocese would not be involved in it.

The allegations against Kentenich were made during an apostolic visitation in the early 1950s but were not uncovered until a researcher found them in the Vatican archives in 2020. Kentenich’s sainthood cause was opened in 1975 in the Diocese of Trier, Germany, and was in the diocesan phase, which is the first step in a candidate’s cause before it is sent to Rome for further investigation.

The allegations from the Schonstatt Sisters of Mary described a questionable “father cult” and leadership style, as…

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• A prominent figure in the local Catholic community was sentenced to five years’ jail for sexual offences against two teenage boys
• He was charged with carnal intercourse against the order of nature and sexual exploitation of a minor 
• The accused was close to both victims and had even gone out for meals with one of the victim’s family
• The incidents occurred more than a decade ago

After growing close to two teenage boys, a member of the Catholic order here abused his position of spiritual authority, exploited their trust, and performed sex acts on them more than a decade ago, a court heard on Thursday (May 5).

For his crimes, the man, a Singaporean in his mid-60s, was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to two charges of carnal intercourse against the order of nature under the Penal Code, and sexual exploitation of a minor under the Children and Young Persons Act.

Two…

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Catholic Archbishop of Singapore Reverend William Goh apologised on behalf on the Church, saying the incident was a “wake-up call for us all to take our spiritual life seriously”.

A prominent figure in the local Catholic community was jailed for five years on Thursday (May 5) for sexual offences against two teenage boys.

The Singaporean man, a member of a Catholic order, had taken a vow of celibacy and has never married, according to court documents.

The identity of the victims is protected by gag order. The man cannot be named due to gag orders prohibiting the publication of his name, designation, appointment and a school to which he was linked.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of carnal intercourse against the order of nature and one charge of committing an indecent act with a young person.

Two more charges for similar offences were considered for sentencing.

VICTIMS AND OFFENDER…

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The archbishop of Canterbury asked himself one question after hearing stories of abuse from Indigenous survivors of Anglican Church-run residential schools: “How could they have done that?”

Justin Welby, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion, spoke to the Free Press after meeting Indigenous residential school survivors in Prince Albert, Sask. on the weekend.

“I have a huge sense of anger and profound grief about (the abuse),” he said.

After hearing stories from 15 Indigenous people from the nearby James Smith Cree Nation who had experienced abuse at Anglican-run schools, Welby said he lamented their “intolerable suffering” as children.

“For building hell and putting children into it and staffing it, I am more sorry than I could ever, ever begin to express,” he said in his apology.

“I’m ashamed. I asked myself where does that come from? That evil? It has nothing to do with Christ. It…

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A Lawrence-based priest who was suspended last month by the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, following sexual misconduct allegations has been “cleared” through an independent investigation, the church officials said Friday.

In a statement Wednesday, the Denver-based Capuchin Franciscans Province of Mid-America said that an outside investigator was hired by the church to review allegations brought against Father Michael Scully. The investigator and the province’s independent review board found that the claims against Scully were unsubstantiated.

“When an allegation of sexual abuse is brought to our attention, we recognize the pain experienced by the victims and their families, the accused, the entire Church community, and our own community of brothers,” the statement read. “We continue to hold in our prayers all those involved in this case.”

Scully, who most recently worked at Haskell Indian Nations University’s Catholic Camps Center in Lawrence, was accused of sexual misconduct involving a minor. Scully…

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A man who served for years as a deacon at the megachurch of controversial pastor, Doug Wilson, has been indicted by federal authorities for possession of child pornography.

Alex R. Lloyd, a former deacon at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, for the past four years, was indicted Thursday by the U.S. District Court in Idaho on felony charges of possession of child pornography.

Led by prominent Reformed pastor Doug Wilson, Christ Church has an estimated membership of approx. 2,000 people and is a leading voice within the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC).

An investigation led by Moscow Police Department forensic detective Lawrence Mowery found that Lloyd possessed child sex abuse (CSA) images on his iPhone 8 from March 2021 to January of this year, according to court documents. The CSA images “involved a prepubescent minor or a minor who had not attained 12…

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A Lawrence priest has been “cleared” through an independent investigation following an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.

Father Michael Scully, former pastor at Catholic parishes in Lawrence and Eudora and on the Haskell Indian Nations University campus, was suspended from ministry following a Feb. 28 report to the archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas.

The Lawrence Times has not received the statement from the Denver-based Capuchin Franciscans Province of Mid-America, but the Kansas City Star reported on its contents Wednesday. An outside investigator hired by the church to review allegations brought against Scully and the province’s independent review board found that the claims against Scully were unsubstantiated, the Star reported.

“When an allegation of sexual abuse is brought to our attention, we recognize the pain experienced by the victims and their families, the accused, the entire Church community, and our own community of brothers,” the…

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The North Carolina Court of Appeals on Tuesday strengthened the barrier blocking two men from suing the Catholic diocese that they say allowed a former priest to molest them.

Both men filed lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte in 2014, saying that former priest Richard Farwell sexually abused them when they were teenage parishioners in the 1970s and 1980s.

A Charlotte judge dismissed those lawsuits because the men were too old to take the diocese to court. Until a 2019 bill became law, North Carolina only let child sex abuse survivors sue until they turned 21.

Legislators unanimously struck down that rule by passing the SAFE Child Act, which included a two-year period when the statute of limitations didn’t apply. The window removed barriers for dozens of older plaintiffs, who are suing the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, the…

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A report to the Archdiocese of Denver states that an archdiocesan priest inappropriately touched a minor a single time back in 2018.

The inappropriate touching occurred in a public space when the young girl was exiting church immediately after Mass had ended.

According to the Archdiocese of Denver, the church followed its Code of Conduct and the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and immediately reported the allegation to authorities.

The priest has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

“The Archdiocese of Denver is committed to the protection of our most vulnerable, especially our children. The archdiocese takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and has specific protocols in place to make sure they are handled appropriately for all of the parties involved,” said the archdiocese in a statement.

According to the archdiocese, the priest has been a “priest in good standing” and has denied the…

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Edwin Graf says he was sexually abused by a trusted member and employee of his church, St. Patrick’s Parish in Corning, Iowa.

He says the abuse happened almost five decades ago, in the 1970s. He says he was sexually abused at least 12 times, starting when he was 13 and ending when he was 15.

“It’s not a pleasant thing to think about. Being a victim of childhood sexual abuse,” Graf said.

He said the church member and employee, John Ott, was his abuser.

Ott has been behind bars since 2013 after pleading guilty to engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors in Kenya.

“There were people who knew. In particular, my priest that I told what was going on,” Graf said.

He said no action was taken on his behalf and that he suffered in silence.

“I started having severe depression. That has carried with me through my entire…

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The move signalled a further push in the pope’s efforts to restore trust in the Catholic Church over a scourge which has plagued it globally

Pope Francis said Friday changes to an advisory body on preventing sexual abuse represented a fresh start in the fight against pedophile priests, but conceded “much remains to be done.”

The pope in March moved the Commission for the Protection of Minors into the Vatican’s powerful doctrine office, which oversees the church’s investigations of abuse cases, in a bid to give it the institutional power critics said it was lacking.

The reform “marks a new beginning,” the 85-year-old told commission members at the conclusion of their plenary meeting Friday.

It also signalled a further push in the pope’s efforts to restore trust in the Catholic Church over a scourge which has plagued it globally.

He ordered the commission to draw up a “reliable” annual report…

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As a survivor of sexual abuse by a Jesuit priest at age 11, I continue to write and work, apparently in vain, for REAL reform, feeling like a voice crying in the wilderness as my Catholic Church multiplies meaningless meetings, mandates, and commissions, and now proposes “welcome centers” for sexual abuse victims (“Pope issues mandate for sex abuse commission,” April 30). Since mental health professionals often refer to child sexual abuse as soul murder, by way of analogy who would not be outraged if the Russians were to open “welcome centers” to the Ukrainian victims of their atrocities?

It seems clear that the church will never police itself, and there will be no real reform or deterrence, until all states, including Ohio, follow the example of states like New York and New Jersey in extending statutes of limitations and passing anti-grooming laws. Until then, voices of victims will continue to cry in the…

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Many states across the country are eliminating their statute of limitations for civil claims. Iowa should, too.

The game of tag is one of the most classic outdoor childhood games. Although it has many versions, traditionally speaking, one player is “it” and must tag other players to eliminate them. Generally, players cannot be tagged out if they are on the “safe base.”

Kids often complain and holler that the safe base is unfair. They have a point.

There is “safe base” in Iowa, but it is a dangerous one. You see, Iowa law creates a safe zone for the absolute worst – sexual predators. A sexual predator may be out and held accountable in one jurisdiction but cross the state line into Iowa and they are safe. Why? Because Iowa has one of the worst civil statutes of limitations (SOLs) for child sexual abuse. If your child or grandchild is…

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Veteran Italian journalist Massimo Franco has a new book out called The Monastery: Benedict XVI and Nine Years of a Shadow Pope. The core thesis, unobjectionable so far as it goes, is that without Benedict ever desiring it, the Mater Ecclesiae monastery where he resides in the Vatican has become a rival center of power to the Santa Marta residence of Pope Francis.

Without getting into the heart of Franco’s argument, there’s one point in the book that deserves to be unpacked lest it create exactly the wrong impression.

Franco quotes from an interview with German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the Vatican’s former doctrinal czar, who was removed in 2017 by Pope Francis in favor of his fellow Jesuit, Spanish Cardinal Luis Ladaria.

Among other things, Müller comments on the current Vatican trial centering on a failed $400 million London property deal, with Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a former papal chief of…

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A former Missouri Youth Group Leader who was charged with sex crimes against girls in his youth groups has pleaded guilty but has another trial scheduled for similar offenses in a different county.

Benjamin Blake pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual misconduct involving a child under 15 on Monday, May 2, 2022. He was also charged with molestation but only pleaded guilty to the misconduct charge. Blake’s sentencing, in this case, was scheduled for July 5. Those charges were filed in Laclede County.

Blake is facing similar charges in Webster County, two counts of sexual misconduct involving a child under 15. The trial for those charges is scheduled to begin on May 11.

Blake was a youth pastor for a Baptist church in Marshfield. Probable cause statements filed in connection with the case state that Blake developed relationships with the girls and communicated with them through online platforms, flirting…

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When Pope Francis met more than 850 religious sisters attending the International Union of Superiors General plenary meeting in Rome in 2019, the pope insisted that the chair for the body’s then-president, Sr. Carmen Sammut, be seated right next to him.

At the time, both Sammut, a Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa, and those in the room were touched by the pope’s deeply symbolic gesture to level the playing field.

Now, as delegates from around the globe prepare to travel again to Rome for this year’s May 2-6 plenary, a wave of new appointments of sisters inside the Vatican has made it clear that Francis is backing that symbolism up with substantive changes and making room for more women religious to have a permanent seat at the table.

“Change takes time,” said Sr. Patricia Murray, executive secretary of the International Union…

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Several feminist groups are calling for protests Tuesday in support of a community of cloistered nuns who have caused shockwaves by accusing the archbishop of a northern Argentine province and other church officials of gender-based psychological and physical violence.

The pairing of feminists and Carmelite nuns is unusual in a country at the forefront of Latin America’s women’s movement where activists are often at odds with the Roman Catholic Church. The support illustrates how rare it is for this type of dispute to make it to the courts.

A court hearing set for Tuesday was called off Monday when the defense said the archbishop of Salta province, Mario Antonio Cargnello, will be participating in a meeting of the Episcopal Conference of Argentina outside Buenos Aires. A future date for the hearing has not been set.

“It’s historic in the feminist struggle for a bishop and other religious leaders to be…

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Father Bill Van Wagner says he became aware of some allegations in April

Police in Dodgeville are investigating allegations of possible abuse and neglect after a former employee came forward with information in late April. The daycare director at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church is now on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Dodgeville Police Chief David Bauer told NBC15 News that investigators are trying to determine if the allegations rise to the level of abuse or neglect. He noted that the accusations against are not sexual in nature. He says when they received the allegations, their first course of action was to contact the parish.

“Making sure that the children are safe,” said Chief Bauer. “So in this case we contacted the parish to let them know this was brought to our attention and we make sure that we can verify that at least that they are being…

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A former pastor at Catholic parishes in Lawrence and Eudora and on the Haskell Indian Nations University campus has been suspended from ministry following an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.

According to March 25 issue of The Leaven, the official publication of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, the archdiocese learned on Feb. 28 that Father Michael Scully had been accused of sexual abuse. Upon notification, the archdiocese “relieved Father Scully from public exercise of priestly ministry” until an investigation is complete.

Scully served as pastor at Lawrence’s St. John the Evangelist Parish in the 1980s and 1990s. From 1995-2001, Scully served as pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Hays. He then headed a Denver-based order of Capuchins until approximately 2007 before returning to Douglas County where he was pastor of Holy Family Parish in Eudora as recently as June 2021.

Most recently, he was leading services…

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In the March 25 edition of The Leaven, the Archdiocese of Kansas City’s official newspaper, the Archdiocese said it suspended Father Michael Scully pending the results of an official investigation and an independent review of the case.

On Feb. 28, the Archdiocese said it was notified that Scully was accused of the sexual abuse of a child, which stems from his ministry outside the archdiocese.

Upon notification, the Church said it relieved Scully from publicly practicing his priestly ministry pending the outcome of the investigation and a review process.

Scully has served at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Lawrence, Holy Family Parish in Eudora, and most recently at the Haskell Indian Nations University Catholic Campus Center in Lawernce.

The Archdiocese said local law enforcement has been notified and an investigation and evaluation by the Independent Review Board have…

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The Vatican has ruled that the German Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki did not breach canon law when awarding contracts connected to a landmark report on clerical abuse.

The Archdiocese of Cologne announced the Vatican’s decision on May 3, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

During a seven-month “period of spiritual leave” taken by the cardinal, the apostolic administrator of the archdiocese commissioned two independent canon lawyers to study the contracts awarded by Woelki and vicar general Msgr. Markus Hofmann.

The contracts related to the 800-page Gercke Report, released in March 2021. The study, known as the “Independent Investigation into the Handling of Sexualized Violence in the Archdiocese of Cologne,” covered the period from 1975 to 2018.

Bishop Rolf Steinhäuser, the Cologne auxiliary who served as apostolic administrator, called a meeting of the archdiocesan assets council and cathedral chapter at which he “provided information that when contracts were awarded in the context of the independent investigation…

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California Catholic bishops are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider a case challenging the state for permitting victims of childhood sexual abuse to file claims again, after the timeframe for them to pursue legal action has expired twice.

Nine California Catholic dioceses and archdioceses filed a petition for writ of certiorari, or a petition to review a lower court’s decision, in the case — Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland v. Superior Court of California for Los Angeles — on April 15.

The petition outlines their two main concerns: That recent California legislation allows claimants to come forward after the timeframe to do so has expired twice, and it allows claims that impose new punishment not considered the last time.

“This time, defendants’ past conduct is subject not only to claims for compensatory and punitive damages that were previously time-barred twice over, but also to additional penalties…

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A Roman Catholic priest who was accused of sexual abuse of a minor will return to his parish in Topeka after prosecutors decided not to file charges against him, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas announced Friday.

Rev. John Pilcher will return as pastor of Mater Dei Parish immediately, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann said in a news release.

Pilcher was placed on a leave of absence in September after the allegations were made against him. He consistently denied the allegations and cooperated with the investigations, the diocese said.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation investigated and Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced this week that he would not file charges.

The archdiocese also investigated the allegations and Naumann determined Pilcher is able to return to ministry.

The bishop said in the statement he had “full confidence” in Pilcher, who is eager to resume his public ministry.

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The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas suspended a Kansas priest accused of sexually abusing a child.

The archdiocese said it pulled Father Michael Scully from having contact with the public when it learned of the alleged abuse, pending the results of an investigation and an internal review.

His suspension was announced last week in the Kansas City Kansas archdiocesan publication, The Leaven.

The archdiocese notified law enforcement of the report and is providing support to the alleged victim.

Father Scully denies the allegation and is cooperating fully, according to the diocese.

The accusation comes from Scully’s time outside of the Archdiocese.

Scully has served as a high school administrator, youth pastor and priest at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Lawrence, Holy Family Parish in Eudora, and Haskell Indian Nations University Catholic Campus Center in Lawrence.

He also served the Salina, Kansas, diocese, working at St….

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Cypress megachurch SeaCoast and former pastor pay $2.5 million to settle lawsuit.

Back in 1978, Julie Poole Lusk’s home life was, in her words, “kind of a disaster,” with bickering parents distracted by her rebellious older brother. Happily, the 11-year-old found a place to belong – a circle of friends she made at North Long Beach Brethren Church.

Five years later, that camaraderie was shattered. At age 16, Lusk accused the church’s charming youth pastor, Kenneth McCall, then 27, of engaging in a long-time sexual relationship with her.

[PHOTO: Ken McCall, at a 2011 fundraiser for Mustard Seed Ranch, a San Juan Capistrano equestrian center for at-risk children.]

The allegation led to McCall leaving the church. It also prompted anger among some parishioners – at Lusk.

Now 55, Lusk can still remember a woman telling her “You are the Devil.” And at a Lakewood High homecoming football game, during Lusk’s…

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A Catholic priest and youth pastor who served for 20 years in the Lawrence area has been suspended due to an accusation of child sex abuse.

According to a statement from the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, the archdiocese was informed on Feb. 28 that the Capuchin Franciscans Province of Mid-America had recently received an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against Father Michael Scully. Scully has served at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Lawrence, Holy Family Parish in Eudora and most recently at Haskell Indian Nations University Catholic Campus Center in Lawrence.

The allegation stems from Scully’s ministry outside the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, according to the statement, which was published in the March 25 issue of the archdiocese’s publication The Leaven. The statement does not further specify when or where the alleged child sexual abuse occurred.

Joseph Elder, spokesperson for the Capuchin Franciscans Province…

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Priests of the Knoxville diocese asked a papal representative last year for “merciful relief” from the leadership of Bishop Rick Stika. More than six months later, they have received no response to their request, and there has not been any conclusion to a Vatican investigation into Stika’s leadership.

“Our experience of our appointed bishop varies among us, but the undersigned do share a common awareness that the past twelve years of service under Bishop Stika have been, on the whole, detrimental to priestly fraternity and even to our personal well-being.” 

“While we acknowledge the reality of suffering that comes with bearing our daily crosses, our appointed bishop seems determined to increase that suffering for his own purposes, purposes which seem unrelated to the demands of the Gospel,” wrote 11 Knoxville priests in a Sept. 29 letter to Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. 

The priests’ letter came…

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[Includes video]

Catholic priests and clergy accused of sexually abusing children are living under the radar at a Missouri treatment center.

Tucked behind trees in a quiet neighborhood off Eime Road in Dittmer, MO, is a Catholic community shrouded in secrecy.

“There’s some sick people over there,” said Michael Stenzhorn, who lives just across the street.

Signs outside the Vianney Renewal Center don’t say who lives there.

“I believe there are hundreds if not thousands sex offender clergy who have been through that place,” said David Clohessy, the Missouri Volunteer Director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). “I think it’s only a matter of time before another kid gets hurt.”

Stenzhorn says for years his family was in the dark.

“We really didn’t know what was going on, that could have been a retirement home for priests as far as we knew,” Stenzhorn said. “We had…

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The Church of Scientology is facing new allegations from former employees who say they were trafficked as children growing up in what some consider to be a celebrity cult. 

A lawsuit filed last week in a Florida federal court alleges six counts of forced labor against Scientology leader David Miscavige and five Scientology entities in violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.

The Christian Post reached out to the Church of Scientology for comment on the lawsuit. A response was not received.

Gawain Baxter — who filed the complaint along with his wife, Laura, and Valeska Paris —  alleges he was 6 years old when he became a contractor for the Church of Scientology for “1 billion years.”

“From the ages of six to fourteen, Gawain was not permitted to attend any accredited public or private school,” according to the lawsuit. “Instead, schoolwork consisted of two to…

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The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas has suspended a Lawrence-based priest after receiving an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.

The archdiocese was notified of the allegation Feb. 28 against Father Michael Scully, who most recently worked at Haskell Indian Nations University’s Catholic Camps Center in Lawrence.

The accusation stems from Scully’s ministry “outside the archdiocese,” according to a church statement published in March 25’s issue of The Leaven, the archdiocese’s official newspaper.

Scully denies the accusation and is cooperating fully, the statement added.

“Upon notification of the allegation the (Capuchin Franciscans Province of Mid-America) and the archdiocese relieved Father Scully from public exercise of priestly ministry pending the outcome of the investigation and review process,” the archdiocese said.

During his time in the archdiocese, Scully has also served at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Lawrence and Holy Family Parish in Eudora….

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The Vatican permanently removed from priestly ministry a retired priest of the Diocese of Toledo who was accused of multiple allegations of sexually abusing a minor.

Officials at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith determined that the former priest, Nelson Beaver, was guilty of the allegations, the diocese said April 30.

“The Holy See has imposed the penalty of perpetual prohibition from public ministry (‘prayer and penance’),” the diocese said.

“Prayer and penance” is the Church’s terminology for the permanent removal of someone from priestly ministry.

Beaver was placed on administrative leave in October 2018 and retired the next year after the diocese received an abuse allegation dating back more than 25 years, the diocese said. Three other allegations of abuse were later made against Beaver by people in other communities.

Per diocesan policy, the allegations were reported to county prosecutors in Huron, Lucas and Williams counties in…

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Commitment comes after meeting cancelled with survivors at former Mohawk Institute Residential School

The Archbishop of Canterbury says he will ensure any residential school-related records held by the Anglican Church in England are released, following calls from survivors. 

The church is facing demands from survivors who attended the former Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ont., to disclose any records held overseas in hopes they may shed light on the true number of children who died at the residential school and where they are buried.

“Anything in the possession of the archives of the Church of England will be made available,” Justin Welby said at a media scrum on Saturday during a visit to James Smith Cree Nation, about 200 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.

Welby was initially scheduled to visit the old site of the Anglican-run institute, which is now the Woodland Cultural Centre, during his trip through Canada, which runs from April 29 to…

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A Kansas priest who’s been called “a new kind of radio priest” for his efforts to reach the young through rock music, has just been suspended because of a child sex abuse report. We call on six Catholic officials in Kansas and Colorado to immediately reach out – via public announcements, mailings, and other means – to anyone who might have information or suspicions about the cleric.

For four decades, he has been a high school administrator, youth pastor, and parish priest.
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/news-1998-06-05-Allen-Reaching-kids.pdf

Fr. Michael Scully’s suspension was announced on March 25, 2022, in the Kansas City Kansas archdiocesan publication, The Leaven.

https://www.bishop-accountability.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/news-2022-03-25-theleaven-statement-from.pdf

In the Kansas City KS archdiocese, Fr. Scully worked at two parishes – St. John the Evangelist in Lawrence and Holy Family in Eudora. He was also assigned to the Haskell Indian Nations Campus Catholic Center in Lawrence. 
In the Salina diocese, he worked…

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The Archbishop of Canterbury has apologised to survivors of abusive at residential schools in Canada. 

Archbishop Justin Welby made the apology during a meeting with members of the James Smith Cree Nation, Chakastapaysin Band and the Peter Chapman Band in Saskatchewan.

He said he was “horrified” and “ashamed” to hear about the abuse they and other children had endured in the schools, Global News Canada reports.

“I am sorry. I am more sorry than I can say,” Welby said.

“I am ashamed. I am horrified. I ask myself, where does that come from — that evil. It has nothing, nothing to do with Christ.

“It is the lowest, wickedest, most terrible thing to molest a child while you read them the Bible.” 

Survivors have called for actions to match words. 

“Do what you’re saying. Don’t just say something and not do anything because that’s most disheartening,” said…

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The Rochester Catholic Diocese is being accused of acting in bad faith.

Sex abuse survivors are frustrated the diocese bankruptcy case is still not settled. When they joined the case, their civil lawsuits against individual parishes and priests were frozen. After three years without a settlement, they now want to be able to proceed with those lawsuits.

Brian Delafranier, a survivor of the abuse, said him and other victims deserve to be compensated for the abuse they suffered.

“There’s close to 500 of us who want our day in our court,” said Delafranier.

In a hearing in bankruptcy court today, the judge heard oral arguments in the case.

The diocese attorney is trying to block the individual lawsuits, asking the judge today for a temporary injunction. The attorney said the diocese wants four more months to continue mediation in the bankruptcy case. Without it, the diocese argued a wave of…

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The Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of one of world’s largest Christian denominations, told survivors of Prairie residential schools their stories of abuse at the institutions had “opened a window into hell,” as he listened and apologized to them during a historic visit to Saskatchewan.

Travelling in the James Smith Cree Nation and Prince Albert, Sask., over the weekend, Reverend Justin Welby, the senior bishop of the Church of England, said his trip to Canada was meant to allow the church “to repent and atone” in locations where its actions did more harm than good.

But an Ontario leg of the Archbishop’s visit, which will begin on Monday, is not unfolding as originally planned, after survivors of one of the largest Anglican-affiliated residential schools in the country declined to meet with him.

While the Anglican Church ran some of Canada’s federally funded residential schools, many more were run by…

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The 35-year-old Christian priest Father Thomas Parekkulam, a member of Chennai-based SDM minor seminary, was found guilty of sexually abusing four minor boys who were the students of a seminary in Pullamala in the district wherein the accused was serving as a rector.

A Kerala court has sentenced a Catholic priest to 18 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually abusing four minor boys at a seminary in Kollam district five years ago.

According to the reports, the 35-year-old Christian priest Father Thomas Parekkulam, a member of Chennai-based SDM minor seminary, was found guilty of sexually abusing four minor boys who were the students of a seminary in Pullamala in the district wherein the accused was serving as a rector.

A case was registered against the priest in Puthoor under Section 377 (unnatural offences) of the Indian Penal Code and other relevant sections of the Protection…

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Thiruvananthapuram: A Catholic priest was sentenced to 18 years of rigorous imprisonment by a Pocso court in Kollam district on Saturday for sexually abusing minor seminarians. Thomas Parekkulam, 35, of Catholic congregation, Society of St Eugene De Mazendo, is the one who received the sentence.

The sentence was delivered by additional district judge (Pocso) K N Sujith.

 Parekkulam was facing trial in four separate cases of sexual abuse of minor boys. All the victims were aged 16 at the time of the crime and were students of a seminary at Punalur in Kollam district where Parekkulam worked as a parish priest. The cases were reported in 2017.

On Friday, the court had found Parekkulam guilty in all four cases. He was given five years of imprisonment each in three cases and three years of imprisonment in the fourth case.

 The sentences have to be undergone separately, making the total quantum…

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Archbishop William E. Lori sat down with Catholic Review Media for a wide-ranging interview in advance of his 10th anniversary as 16th archbishop of Baltimore and 45th anniversary as a priest. 

The archbishop’s tenure since his installation May 16, 2012, at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen has been marked by changes in demographics of the archdiocese and a renewed focus on parish planning in the context of evangelization. 

He guided the faithful through continued crises surrounding clergy sexual abuse – including revelations about Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop of Washington, and the release of a Pennsylvania Grand Jury report that detailed decades of abuse by clergy.

He addressed issues of violence and racial injustice, especially after riots in 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray Jr. in police custody. Near the one-year anniversary of that unrest, he led an interfaith group to Rome to meet with Pope Francis and to…

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[Google translation followed by the original Italian text.]

We know everything about what has happened in the world, nothing about Italy. Yet in the last 15 years there have been 325 priests reported for pedophilia. Here is the survey for which we ask for the support of readers: SUPPORT ITS REALIZATION ! For every euro paid, we add another one until the goal is reached

They called him Don Mercedes. In Crema the parish priest Mauro Inzoli was a big shot in Communion and Liberation; he liked luxury and beautiful cars, he was often seen in trendy restaurants, a Cuban cigar in the corner of his mouth.

He had important political friendships and little sense of modesty: in January 2015 he applauded together with Roberto Formigoni at the convention on the traditional family organized by the Lombardy Region, yet he had already harassed children for years, as confirmed by the final sentence for…

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[Includes an hour-long audio interview]

In this new episode of Field Hospital, Jeannie Gaffigan and I had the privilege of speaking to Mark Joseph Williams, a survivor of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest who has undergone a long journey of healing and recovery. He now advocates for and accompanies other survivors as they seek the healing and justice they need after suffering the trauma and injustice they have endured.

Professionally, Mark is a management consultant and a forensic social worker from New Jersey. He also serves as special advisor in the Archdiocese of Newark for Cardinal Joseph Tobin. He is the co-founder of the Global Collaborative, a survivor-led organization promoting accountability, justice, and healing.

The issues discussed in this podcast are very heavy. Coming on the heels our previous episode with another survivor, Juan Carlos Cruz, we wanted to discuss in even greater detail the grave harm suffered by…

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Pope Francis on Friday asked for an annual audit evaluating how national Catholic Churches are implementing measures to protect children from clergy sexual abuse, saying that without more transparency the faithful will continue to lose trust.

“Abuse in any form is unacceptable,” Francis told members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which was established in 2014 to promote best practices and a culture of safeguarding worldwide.

The commission had a rocky start, with several members resigning in frustration, complaining that it had no teeth and that they had met internal resistance.

It was given a new lease on life in March, when the Vatican’s updated constitution placed it in the doctrinal department, which rules on abuse cases. read more

Francis said he wanted a yearly “reliable account on what is presently being done and what needs to change” to protect children and vulnerable adults from predator clergy.

…

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Members of Pope Francis’s commission for child protection have praised his decision to incorporate the body into the Roman curia, the Vatican’s central governing bureaucracy, voicing confidence they will maintain full independence while expanding their reach.

Speaking to journalists during a press conference Friday, American Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM), said he’s encouraged by the pope, who for the first time “has placed the importance of child protection as a core of the church’s central government.”

In March, Pope Francis published his long-awaited constitution Praedicate Evangelium, or “Preach the Gospel,” outlining several noteworthy changes to the structure of the Roman curia.

One change was the official incorporation of the PCPM into the curia as an independent entity within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, now called the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), which will continue…

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Less than a year after he strengthened the Code of Canon Law’s section on crimes, Pope Francis has issued an apostolic letter motu proprio (on his own initiative) that alters the wording of one of the canons.

As a result of the change, members of religious institutes who sexually abuse minors and other vulnerable persons, or who commit canonical offenses related to child pornography, will no longer be automatically dismissed from their religious institutes.

In addition, members of religious institutes who “force someone to perform or submit to sexual acts” will no longer be automatically dismissed from their religious institutes.

Canon 695 §1 previously stated (link 1, link 2):

A member must be dismissed for the delicts mentioned in cann. 1397, 1398, and 1395, unless in the delicts mentioned in can. 1395, §2, the superior decides that dismissal is not completely necessary and that correction of the member, restitution of justice, and reparation…

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A legislative effort to create a retroactive window during which childhood sexual abuse victims could file civil claims against alleged perpetrators and enablers, even if Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations has expired, is further along than it has ever been.

The proposal, however, is now stalled at a crucial point in the process.

In March 2021, state Reps. Mark Rozzi and Pamela DeLissio, both Democrats, introduced House Bill 951 that would put into place a two-year look-back period. It passed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives by a vote of 149-52.

The legislation then got out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by an 11-3 vote, with state Sen. Wayne Langerholc, Jr., R-Richland Township, 35th District, siding with the majority.

Countless lawmakers have been involved in trying to enact a plan since a retroactive window was first mentioned 17 years ago, following a 2005 grand jury investigation into abuse within theRoman Catholic Archdiocese…

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[Originally published in the Louisiana Illuminator]

The Louisiana Legislature is looking to fix a law created last year that was supposed to make it easier for abuse victims to sue institutions like the Catholic Church. Instead, it might have imposed unintended restrictions on the very litigation it was designed to help. 

The Louisiana House voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of House Bill 402, by Rep. Jason Hughes, D-New Orleans, which is meant to clarify that victims of childhood abuse  — no matter their current age — should have a chance to sue over their mistreatment until 2024. 

“This bill only seeks to clarify legislative intent. I’m not trying to expand anything. I’m not trying to add anything,” Hughes said. 

Lawmakers and advocates say the legislation has received pushback behind closed doors from insurance companies. Those who issued policies to the Catholic Church, Boy Scouts of America and other institutions may…

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The Rev. John Pilcher will return to his duties as pastor of Topeka’s Mater Dei Catholic Parish after investigations didn’t substantiate sexual abuse claims against him, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas announced Friday.

Pilcher will end a seven-month leave of absence he took to facilitate separate probes conducted by law enforcement and the archdiocese into accusations that he sexually abused a child, said Anita McSorley, media liaison for the archdiocese.

Pilcher, who vigorously denies the allegations, has fully cooperated with both investigations, McSorley said.

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay decided not to file charges against Pilcher after reviewing the results of a probe conducted by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Kagay told The Capital-Journal on Monday.

A lay investigator conducted a separate investigation for the archdiocese and submitted her findings to its Independent Review Board, McSorley said.

That board then recommended Pilcher’s return to the ministry to Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, who concluded he is suitable to…

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Pope Francis warned on Friday that people will further lose trust in the Catholic Church if it does not become more transparent and accountable on abuses against children committed by priests and covered up by religious superiors, AP reports.

Driving the news: Francis told his sex abuse advisory commission to create special survivor welcome centers around the world where victims of sexual abuse can find healing and justice. He also requested an audit of the church’s progress on protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse.

• The meeting with the committee has been seen as an effort to revitalize and expand the commission’s mandate, making it part of the church’s central government.

What they’re saying: “The testimony of the survivors represents an open wound on the body of Christ, which is the church,” Francis told the commission, which he created in 2013 to advise the church on how to prevent…

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The Diocese of Toledo is announcing the final decision regarding Rev. Nelson Beaver, who was placed on administrative leave in October 2018 having received an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor dating back over 25 years. Three other allegations of sexual abuse of a minor from a similar time period were subsequently made against Beaver.

According to diocesan policy, the four allegations were reported to county prosecutors in Huron, Lucas and Williams counties where the alleged abuse took place. Only after all of the prosecutors determined that they would not pursue the allegations (July 2019), was the diocese then free to conduct its own investigation. In October, 2019, the diocese announced that the investigation had been completed, the Diocesan Review Board found all four allegations to be substantiated and voted unanimously that Beaver is not suitable for priestly ministry. Bishop Daniel E. Thomas accepted the Review Board’s recommendation that…

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The Vatican is permanently removing a priest with the Diocese of Toledo from ‘priestly ministry’ after he was accused of sexually abusing children.

Nelson Beaver was placed on administrative leave in October 2018 after he was accused of sexually abusing a minor dating back 25 years. Three other similar allegations also arose.

Prosecutors didn’t pursue charges and the diocese conducted its own investigation in 2019. It substantiated the four allegations and voted unanimously that Beaver is not suitable for priestly ministry.

Vatican officials conducted their own investigation and found Beaver guilty of the allegations, the Diocese announced Saturday.

“‘Prayer and penance’ is the permanent removal from priestly ministry whereby the offender is not permitted to celebrate Mass publicly or to administer the Sacraments,” the Diocese said in a statement. “He may not wear clerical attire or present himself publicly as a priest. The…

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Take it from me, the aftershocks of child sexual abuse last a lifetime. I’m 66, and the sexual violence I experienced at age 13 — a near-death experience, really — can still grip my body and mind when I least expect it.

I thought I’d be released when my abuser died. But that happened 30 years ago. Then I was sure I just needed to find the right meds, the right therapy, the right spiritual practice. No, no and no.

Have I gotten better? Absolutely. I haven’t had night terrors since my 50s. When I get depressed, it rarely lasts more than a day. The chorus of suicidal thinking has quieted dramatically. I’ve got a loving family. I’m the luckiest man in the world. After all, we call ourselves survivors because many of us don’t make it. I’m still here.

Why am I telling you this? Because under Pennsylvania law,…

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Four cases had been registered against Thomas Parekkulam, 35, when he was working as a parish priest in 2017 under the Punalur diocese in Kollam district.

A Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court in Kerala’s Kollam district on Friday sentenced a Catholic priest to 18 years’ imprisonment after he was found guilty of sexually abusing four minor seminarians.

The convicted priest Thomas Parekkulam, 35, belongs to the Catholic congregation Society of St Eugene De Mazendo, based in France. Four cases had been registered against him in 2017 when he was working as a parish priest under the Punalur diocese in Kollam district.

The court of Kollam additional sessions court (Pocso) judge K N Sujith sentenced the priest to five years’ imprisonment each in three cases and in the fourth case he was sentenced to a jail term of three years.

The sentences, according to the verdict, would run…

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Voice of the Faithful has published the first independent, online review of all U.S. Roman Catholic dioceses’ level of compliance with child protection and safe environment guidelines. The average overall score was 67%, with the most frequently achieved score 63.5%. Although some dioceses did well, no diocese achieved 100%, and three dioceses scored in the 20s.

Click here to read the entire report …

The study is the first independent analysis of child protection and safe environment policies in all U.S. dioceses. VOTF operates independently of the Church’s institutional structure, and the study is not an audit like those conducted by the U.S. Bishop’s National Review Board. Called “2022 Report: Measuring Abuse Prevention and Safe Environment Programs as Reported Online in Diocesan Policies and Practices,” the report is being released in April because the month is designated in the United States as National Child Abuse Prevention…

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The former director of the Vatican’s internal financial watchdog said on Wednesday that he acted correctly to investigate a London property deal and had no power to stop it.

He also said that Pope Francis wanted his office to support the Vatican Secretariat of State’s negotiations in the final part of the deal.

Tommaso Di Ruzza was questioned during an April 27 hearing in the ongoing Vatican trial to prosecute 10 people on criminal charges mostly related to the Secretariat of State’s purchase of an investment property in London.

Di Ruzza worked in the Vatican from 2011 and was director of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (AIF) from 2016 to January 2020. The AIF was renamed the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority (ASIF) in December 2020.

Di Ruzza and former AIF president René Brülhart have been charged with abuse of office for…

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The former director of the Vatican’s financial watchdog agency testified Wednesday that Pope Francis asked him to help the Vatican secretariat of state get full control of a London property, once again putting the pope and his top deputies in the spotlight for their roles in the problematic deal.

Tommaso Di Ruzza is one of 10 people accused in the Vatican’s sprawling financial trial, which is centered on the secretariat of state’s 350 million euro investment in a luxury London property. Vatican prosecutors have accused brokers and Vatican officials of fleecing the Holy See of millions of euros in fees, much of it donations from the faithful, and then extorting the Vatican of 15 million euros to get full control of the property.

Di Ruzza, the former director of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority, or AIF, is accused of abuse of office for allegedly failing to block the 15 million…

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IRELAND AND THE MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES: A CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE By Claire McGettrick, Katherine O’Donnell, Maeve O’Rourke, James M. Smith and Mari Steed 304 pages; Bloomsbury $26.95

In June 2018, more than 200 women gathered in Dublin for a special two-day event. Many of the women were elderly and accompanied by family and caregivers. Some were returning to Ireland for the first time since emigrating long ago. The women were welcomed at a reception by Irish President Michael Higgins and attended a formal dinner with the Lord Mayor of Dublin Mícheál MacDonncha. But the highlight was a roundtable listening exercise, in which 146 of the women gave testimonials for a report.

The first words of the report are by a woman known only as Charlotte: “I’m still there.”

“There” is a nursing home on the grounds of a former Magdalene laundry, a convent-run institution where Charlotte…

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A new federal complaint says Visible Music College gave a student a choice: admit to breaking the school’s ban on premarital sex or be expelled.

When Mara Louk told an administrator at Visible Music College, where she was a senior, that a male classmate had choked and raped her last November, she expected that school officials would help her file a police report and arrange a safety plan.

Instead, she said in a federal complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday, administrators at Visible, a Christian college in Memphis, Tennessee, accused her of breaking school rules against premarital sex with a different student, an ex-boyfriend. She denied having sex with him but said the school threatened to expel her unless she signed a confession and finished the school year remotely. 

Visible Music College administrators also told her they would not remove the accused student from her classes…

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An ex-St. Louis archdiocesan official has recently lived with and given substantial money to a seminarian who now

• is being sued for alleged abuse in 2019,
• faces six accusers in three states, and
• attends St. Louis University.

Knoxville Bishop Richard Stika, a St. Louis native who handled child sex abuse cases here for years, has given the accused seminarian (according to newly-disclosed church records)

• $4,000 in cash,
• a $2,000 laptop, and
• $600 – $1,000 monthly stipends.

Stika has also paid his cell phone bill, reimbursed him nearly $30,000 for travel, car repair, “birthday expenses” and took him on a 10-day vacation AFTER he’d been kicked out of an Indiana seminary, according to church documents.
We in SNAP beg St. Louis University and St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski to warn SLU students and staff – and parents, police, prosecutors and the public –  about Wojciech (Wojtek) Sobczuk.

We also urge…

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Spain’s bishops announced Friday that they will not take part in an independent commission into clerical sexual abuse created by the national legislature, alleging, among other things, that it won’t look into all sexual abuse of minors but only those committed by members of the Catholic Church.

“We want to state that to carry out an investigation of abuses only in the Church, when it is clear that out of 15,000 open cases in Spain, only 69 refer to the Church, is a surprising decision,” said Bishop Luis Argüello, spokesman of the Spanish bishops’ conference.

Argüello argued that a different investigation opened by the regional government of Catalonia makes more sense since, despite naming specifically the Church among the institutions being investigated, it will look into all cases of abuse of minors.

He also said the bishops have informed the national government that the congressional inquiry would be carried out…

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Pope Francis has asked the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors to produce an annual report on what the Catholic Church is doing around the world to prevent the abuse of minors and vulnerable adults.

In an audience at the Vatican on April 29, the pope called on the commission to produce the annual audit to promote “transparency and accountability.”

“This might be difficult at the beginning, but I ask you to begin where necessary, in order to furnish a reliable account on what is presently being done and what needs to change, so that the competent authorities can act,” he said.

“This report will be a factor of transparency and accountability and – I hope – will provide a clear audit of our progress in this effort. Without that progress, the faithful will continue to lose trust in their pastors, and preaching and…

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Pope Francis asked his safeguarding commission to provide an annual audit of what the church is doing to protect minors and what needs to change, as well as to urge bishops’ conferences to set up special “centers” where victims can be heard and find accompaniment toward “healing and justice.”

The annual audit “report will be a factor of transparency and accountability and — I hope — will provide a clear audit of our progress in this effort,” he told members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors April 29.

“Without that progress, the faithful will continue to lose trust in their pastors, and preaching and witnessing to the Gospel will become increasingly difficult,” he said.

The pope addressed the commission’s plenary assembly, which focused on how to best continue assisting the pope and the local churches in promoting best practices in safeguarding strategies, implementing guidelines and accompanying survivors.

…

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[Via Catholic World Report]

Cardinal Seán O’Malley defended the independence of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors on Friday as the commission prepares to occupy a new position within the Roman Curia.

“One of the things that people obviously were concerned about and wanted to know about is what’s the independence of the commission now that it becomes part of the Curia,” he said at a press conference near the Vatican on April 29.

The American cardinal, who serves as the president of the safeguarding commission, underlined that Pope Francis “has assured us that … the commission will be independent.”

After the publication of the pope’s new apostolic constitution, Praedicate evangelium, which places the pontifical council within the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), abuse survivor Marie Collins expressed concern that the reform could lead to the body losing its independence.

Collins joined the commission in 2014 but resigned in 2017,…

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Judge to rule next month on whether to extend creditor protection for St. John’s archdiocese

The unprecedented process by which a Catholic archdiocese in St. John’s is selling off its properties in order to compensate abuse victims was back before a judge on Friday, with differing opinions on what should happen next.

Lawyers for the archdiocese and its trustee, Ernst & Young, have asked to have the process transition to the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, commonly known as the CCAA, to allow more time for an orderly liquidation of assets.

Lawyers for the victims are petitioning against the move, however, saying the current process should continue.

After more than two hours of debate, Justice Garrett A. Handrigan of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador ordered that the proposal process under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act remain in place until he can make a ruling in late May.

It’s the…

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Critics of the effort don’t disagree with the need for reform — they disagree that the solutions posed actually address the crisis, raising questions of underlying motives.

In his response to a “fraternal open letter” to the Catholic bishops of Germany warning of their Synodal Path’s “potential for schism in the life of the Church,” Bishop Georg Bätzing wrote that his critics were missing the point.

“The Synodal Path is our attempt in Germany to confront the systemic causes of the abuse and its cover-up that has caused untold suffering to so many people in and through the Church,” wrote Bishop Bätzing, president of the German episcopal conference, in his April 16 response to the fraternal letter, which has now been signed by nearly 100 bishops from six continents. “This occasion and context is particularly important to us, but unfortunately it is not mentioned at all in your letter.”

The bishop…

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The Archdiocese of Seattle said Thursday it will pay $375,000 to settle two separate claims of sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Roman Catholic archdiocese said in a news release that it settled a case involving allegations of childhood sexual abuse in the early to mid-1970s by David Pearson, a volunteer at St. Joseph Parish in Issaquah. Pearson has died.

The archdiocese also said it settled a case involving an allegation of sexual abuse by Father Paul Conn in about 1987 when he served at Queen of Angels Parish in Port Angeles.

Conn served as a parochial vicar at Queen of Angels from 1985 until 1988, the news release said. In 1988, the archdiocese said it learned of sexual abuse allegations and passed the report to police.

Conn later pleaded guilty to six counts of indecent liberties, and served time in prison. From the time of his arrest,…

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The bishops of Spain have asked forgiveness for sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, while defending the Catholic Church’s right to oppose laws which violate Christian teaching.

Addressing an April 25-29 meeting of the Spanish bishops’ conference, Cardinal Juan José Omella of Barcelona, conference president, said “the church expresses its deep pain for crimes committed by our brethren.”

He also said that an independent church-commissioned audit on abuse approved by the bishops in February would cover all known cases and recommend “procedures and good practices” for clergy to follow.

“We hope our audit and its conclusions can serve as an instrument for collaboration with the civil authorities in clarifying the true dimension of these events and establishing more effective prevention. … I want to underline that the victims are our absolute priority,” he said.

He added that a recent report estimated that up to 1.6 million children were “victims of some…

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A survivors group for victims of abuse by priests sent a letter to an East Bay district attorney asking that a defrocked priest, who sexually abused children and is currently charged with vehicular manslaughter, be kept behind bars. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, SNAP, sent the letter to Contra Costa DA Diana Becton regarding Stephen Kiesle, a defrocked priest who served time for sexually abusing children and is currently charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol.

“We believe Mr. Kiesle is both dangerous and a threat, as well as a flight risk,” said the letter from SNAP Survivor Coordinator, Melanie Sakoda. “In addition to the criminal charges referenced above, he is currently named in about fifteen civil lawsuits that target his formal employer, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland, for abuse that Mr. Kiesel perpetrated as a priest,…

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There are multiple layers to this fight.

Last week, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said in an interview that she believed Satan was controlling the Catholic church. It’s not unusual for Greene to make inflammatory comments, but this case was different. Her remark kicked off a fight between her ultra-conservative Catholic allies and other deeply conservative Catholics, complete with name-calling: “grifter,” “craven enabler,” “disgrace,” “whore.”

But there’s more to the story than Greene simply saying something offensive. The controversy revealed something bigger about the American Catholic Church. So what’s happening here?

It started on April 21, when Greene spoke with right-wing Catholic publication Church Militant.  (Church Militant is known to be so extreme that the Detroit Archdiocese where it is based has tried to ban it from using the word “Catholic.”) It was the day before she appeared in court for a lawsuit seeking to disqualify her from re-election because of…

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This morning, the Holy Father Francis received in audience the members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, at the end of the Plenary Assembly, to whom he addressed the following words:

Dear brothers and sisters, good day!  Welcome!

I am pleased to welcome you at the conclusion of your plenary meeting.  I thank Cardinal O’Malley for his words of introduction, and I thank all of you for your commitment to the work of protecting children, both in your professional lives and in your service to the faithful.  Today, thanks also to your efforts, minors and vulnerable persons are safer in the Church.  I would also like to thank Cardinal O’Malley for the tenacity with which he has pursued this cause despite every obstacle.  Thank you!

The service entrusted to you is one that must be carried out with care.  Constant attention is required of the Commission so…

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Pope Francis called on Catholic bishops conferences Friday to create special centers to welcome victims of clergy sexual abuse, warning that the faithful would continue losing trust in the church hierarchy without more transparency and accountability.

Francis urged his sexual abuse advisory commission, which he created in 2013 as an ad hoc body and recently fully integrated into the Vatican structure, to help bishops conferences around the world establish survivor welcome centers where victims could find healing and justice.

And he called for the commission to conduct an annual audit of what is being globally done by the Catholic hierarchy, and what needs to change, to better protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse.

“Without that progress, the faithful will continue to lose trust in their pastors, and preaching and witnessing to the Gospel will become increasingly difficult,” he warned.

It was the latest effort by the Argentine pope to…

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Bishop Rick Stika dismissed as “boundary issues” allegations that a Knoxville seminarian forcibly pinned a fellow student down after subjecting him to a barrage of graphic sexual advances, according to newly obtained records from the Diocese of Knoxville.

Diocesan records suggest that Bishop Rick Stika played down the assault allegations against the seminarian while giving him thousands of dollars in cash, furnishing him with expensive electronics, and paying his cell phone bill.

Former Knoxville seminarian Wojciech Sobczuk was dismissed from St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana in March 2021, after three fellow seminarians accused him of sexual misconduct. 

One seminarian’s report described a 2020 visit to Knoxville which occurred during a school break. The seminarian wrote that Sobczuk had become a friend, and so he willingly accepted an invitation to the diocese.

But during his five-day visit, Sobczuk allegedly sent the seminarian sexually graphic Snapchat messages, frequently discussed the prospect of…

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Three weeks after Pope Francis apologized for Catholic residential school abuses, Ottawa issued a diplomatic immunity certificate for the pope’s ambassador who faced a lawyer’s demand for records in other Catholic school sexual and physical abuse allegations.

“Clearly, that consent is not forthcoming, because the certificate was issued,” Sandra Kovacs, lawyer for complainant Mark O’Neill said.

“This position is not surprising, particularly in light of the frustration also expressed by residential school survivors, who have asked Pope Francis for unfettered access to records with the Vatican’s missionary department, too,” Kovacs said.

Kovacs said O’Neill and another client share those frustrations.

It was April 1 after Francis met with Canadian residential school survivors that he expressed indignation and shame about the church’s role.

“For the deplorable conduct of these members of the Catholic Church, I ask for God’s forgiveness and I want to say to you with all my heart: I…

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Joseph J. Charron, 66, faces eight counts of sex abuse and assault, accused of having nonconsensual sexual contact with the student before and after his graduation.

A monk at Marmion Academy in Aurora has been charged with sexually abusing a former student, according to police.

Joseph J. Charron, 66, faces eight counts of sex abuse and assault for having nonconsensual sexual contact with the student before and after his graduation, Aurora police said.

Charron, a teacher at the school also known as “Brother Andre,” turned himself in to police Wednesday morning, police said.

They began investigating Charron after the former student told police about the alleged incidents in September 2021.

When Marmion Academy learned about the accusations, it placed Charron on administrative leave and barred him from the campus and other ministerial functions, police said.

Marmion Academy and Marmion Abbey cooperated with the investigation and are conducting their own investigation…

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A trailblazing Black priest who was a civil rights hero to many African American Catholics was accused Tuesday of being an alleged sexual abuser of a young boy in an $800,000 settlement reached with the Archdiocese of Chicago, according to a lawyer for the boy.

The Rev. George Clements was the pastor of the Holy Angels Church in Chicago when he allegedly began preying on the then 7-year-old boy in 1974, according to the accuser’s attorney, Mitchell Garabedian.

The alleged abuse, which happened at least 20 times until 1979 when the young man turned 12, took place in the church rectory, in Clements’ car, and while on a camping trip, the lawyer said.

“It was the worst you could imagine,” Garabedian said of the alleged abuse during a news conference in Chicago. “When my client reported the abuse to his mother, [he says] his mother locked him in the closet…

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[Via Crux]

Archdiocesan Catholics who responded to a survey preparing for the 2023 worldwide Synod of Bishops on synodality called for some big changes in the church.

The German Catholic news agency KNA reported that a statement on the archdiocese’s website noted a majority of respondents called for the faithful to be given greater self-determination and demanded major curbs on the power of the church leadership and priests. Offices, ministries and functions should be assigned on a temporary basis, they said. In addition, church members should have a democratic say in matters such as the election of bishops.

The Archdiocese of Cologne has just under 1.9 million Catholics, KNA reported. More than 1,700 people — about .09 percent of archdiocesan Catholics — took part in the nonrepresentative online survey, “Tell the pope — what should the future of the church look like?” They submitted more than 5,400 contributions and 1,200 comments.

The…

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The Archdiocese of Chicago reached an $800,000 settlement against longtime South Side priest the Rev. George Clements and four others, according to an attorney representing the victims.

The settlement, which was completed back in February, alleges the Rev. George Clements, who died in 2019, repeatedly sexually abused a boy from approximately 1974 to 1979 when the boy was 7 to 12 years old.

At the time, Clements was pastor at Holy Angels, where he served in Bronzeville from 1969 to 1991.

Clements was a longtime advocate for civil rights and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Chicago. In 1981, he became the first Chicago area priest to get approval from the Vatican to adopt a child — a 13-year-old boy. He went on to adopt three more teen boys throughout the ’80s.

Clements served in the following parishes after becoming ordained in 1957, according to an archdiocese list…

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In 1987, a made-for-TV movie called “The Father Clements Story” starred Louis Gossett, Junior, in the title role, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner as a youth he was helping.

Now, the Chicago Archdiocese is paying more than a $100,000 to a man who says Rev. George Clements sexually brutalized him.  

Lawyer Mitchell Garabedian says his client was a victim: “He was sexually abused by Father Clements at least 20 times. I’m not going to go into the graphic detail of the sexual abuse. But it’s the worst you could imagine.”

The Boston-based lawyer has a movie connection of his own. Actor Stanley Tucci played Garabedian in “Spotlight,” about clerical sexual abuse in Boston.

The settlement in the Clements case was among five announced Tuesday by Garabedian.  Although each of the sexual abuse allegations was too old to allow the filing of a lawsuit, the Chicago Archdiocese reviewed the complaints…

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Advocates, filmmakers say they have not given up

“The Keepers” premiered on Netflix, on May 19th, 2017, bringing worldwide attention to the sexual abuse of children by priests in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

The series also renewed the investigations into the murders of two women, Sister Cathy Cesnik and Joyce Malecki.

It started with a freelance journalist, Tom Nugent. Nearly 20 years ago, Nugent had been calling many former students from the now-closed Archbishop Keough High School, for a story on Sister Cesnik, who was murdered in 1969. One of those calls went to a retired Baltimore County teacher, Gemma Hoskins.

“I always felt like there was some reason for me to be here and I didn’t know what it was. I think this is it,” Hoskins said, in a recent interview.

The call led Hoskins and Keough graduate, Abbie Schaub, to start their own research…

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Stovall Weems denies report’s findings of embezzlement, ‘narcissistic’ behavior and emotional abuse

Celebration Church, one of the biggest churches in the Jacksonville area, on Monday released findings from an internal investigation into its founding pastor, Stovall Weems.

The church and Weems have been in a civil court battle that includes allegations of financial misconduct and fraud.

“The single word used most frequently to describe Stovall Weems was ‘narcissist.’ Nearly every witness we interviewed used that specific word,” the report stated.

Attorneys for the church said they interviewed more than 20 current and former senior leadership members, staff, former trustees, other advisors and consultants.

The report said one witness detailed, often through tears, instances when Weems personally belittled and humiliated them for minor mistakes or misunderstanding Weems’ “inconsistent and confusing directives.”

RELATED: Celebration Church founding pastor steps down amid legal battle | ‘Your church…

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Police have charged the 76-year-old pastor at a church in Independent Hill with sexual assaulting a 20-year-old parishioner last month.

The victim reported the incidents to police just before 9 a.m. on April 14, saying the pastor twice sexually assaulted her at the Reconciliation Community Church at 14654 Joplin Road, once on March 8 and again on March 10.

The pastor, John Roger Peyton, 76, of Pearson Drive in Dale City, invited the victim into his office for one-on-one counseling sessions, Prince William County Police Master Officer Renee Carr said. In two separate counseling sessions, Peyton is accused of inappropriately touching the victim.

The victim eventually reported the incidents to a family member who contacted the police, Carr said.

On April 15, police charged Peyton with sexual assault and assault and battery, Carr said.

Anyone with information to report regarding the investigation is asked to call the Prince William County…

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As Americans grapple with tragic past, Catholics part of efforts to shed light

The doll is about 6 inches tall, handcrafted of red leather, with a tan belt and headband around its long black hair. It’s a male warrior, holding a bow.

“This is actually me,” D. Richard Wright said of the doll. The parishioner of Gichitwaa Kateri in south Minneapolis made it as part of an effort to process recent findings in Canada of what are believed to be hundreds of graves of children on the sites of former indigenous residential schools. Some Twin Cities American Indians — mostly women — gathered together to make “spirit dolls” representing the children in some of those graves, resulting in an exhibit called “215+” that was on view from November to January at Indigenous Roots in St. Paul.

Wright, 72, is a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. He made…

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A group of alumni from a Massachusetts Catholic college plans to protest outside the Worcester Diocese’s chancery building April 27 over Bishop Robert McManus’ recent criticism of a local Jesuit middle school for flying Black Lives Matter and Pride flags.

“We’re just trying to make a point. … [McManus] should be a leader of his flock, not threatening to punish them. He’s a bully,” said Joseph Twarog, a Massachusetts resident who is helping to organize the protest, which is scheduled for 10 a.m.

Twarog told NCR that he and “a small handful” of other alumni from the College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit college in Worcester, will be looking to challenge McManus for “basically bullying” institutions like Nativity School of Worcester.

“He has to be called to task, quite frankly,” Twarog said.

Earlier this year, McManus asked Nativity to remove its flags or risk losing the right…

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Pope Francis issued an apostolic letter on Tuesday bringing Church law up to date on the rules for dismissal from religious institutes, in light of the updated penal law on sanctions related to clerical sexual abuse and other crimes.

The letter, known as Recognitum librum VI and issued motu proprio (on the pope’s “own impulse”) on April 26, modifies one sentence from canon 695 of the Code of Canon Law.

The pope explained that the modification makes the line consistent with the major revisions made last year to Book VI of the code’s penal law, which classified some crimes differently and introduced new crimes.

The new text of canon 695 §1 says: “A religious must be dismissed from the institute for the delicts mentioned in can. 1395, 1397, and 1398, unless in the delicts mentioned in can. 1395, §2-3 and 1398 §1, the superior…

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With the appointment of two secretaries at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the confirmation of new leaders at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Pope Francis has embarked on a series of personnel changes before the new Vatican constitution comes into effect in June.

Published on March 19, the apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium regulates the tasks and offices of the Roman Curia. Almost nine years in the making, the document will enter into force on June 5.

That day, the Vatican’s departments will change their names and some will take on new competencies, while certain new rules and regulations will formally take effect. For example, priests will no longer be able to serve in the Curia for more than two five-year terms.

The overall reform was, however, anticipated by several decisions taken by Pope Francis. There were two important ones…

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The appointment of Archbishop Laurent Ulrich as the new archbishop of Paris was announced two days after Emmanuel Macron was elected for another five years as the president of France.

The 70-year-old Ulrich is also likely to serve in his new assignment for five years before reaching the normal retirement age for bishops in 2026.

Ulrich, until now the archbishop of Lille, northern France, fills the place left by Archbishop Michel Aupetit, who resigned last December after a controversy surrounding an alleged relationship with a woman before he was archbishop of Paris.

Since Aupetit’s departure, the former Marseille Archbishop Georges Pontier has served as apostolic administrator of the archdiocese. Ulrich will be installed on May 23 at the Church of Saint-Sulpice.

The new archbishop of Paris was born in Dijon, northeastern France, on Sept. 7, 1951. He studied at the…

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It is time for a breakthrough to end childhood sexual violence.

Childhood sexual violence is a silent global scourge. It affects children and adolescents of every country, race, ethnicity, caste, religion, sexual orientation, and gender. The survivor centered Brave Movement knows how to end childhood sexual violence.

The Summit is the first moment in which the Brave Movement will come together, as survivors and allies, to align on our demands to end childhood sexual violence. The time is now for this momentous gathering – in just over two months the G7 nations will meet and the Brave Movement will insist that ending child sexual violence is on the agenda.

The Summit is hosted by international journalist and broadcaster Femi Oke, with contributions from our SAGE members:

• Lawyer, psychologist and human rights advocate, Brisa de Angulo
• Executive Director and CEO of Together for Girls, Daniela Ligiero
• Political scientist and…

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Clements, who died in 2019, was a pastor at Holy Angels and also marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Archdiocese of Chicago has reached an $800,000 settlement over claims of sexual abuse by the late Rev. George Clements, the famed Holy Angels pastor, and four other Chicago-area priests, according to lawyers representing the alleged abuse victims.

An attorney for Clements’ now 54-year-old alleged victim called Tuesday for Cardinal Blase Cupich to place Clements on the archdiocese’s public list of “credibly accused priests.”

“The hiding has to stop. The secrecy has to stop,” Boston-based attorney Mitch Garabedian told reporters.

The settlement — a copy of which was emailed to the Chicago Sun-Times — does not include any admission of wrongdoing on the part of the archdiocese.

The settlement also references Brother Edward C. Courtney, who served at all three Chicago-area Irish Christian Brothers high schools — Brother Rice…

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The Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to pay a combined $800,000 in settlements in five cases involving claims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy, according to attorneys for the accusers.

The settlement involved claims against an Irish Christian brother and four priests, including a renowned activist priest, according to the law offices of attorney Mitchell Garabedian.

Rev. George Clements was the pastor of Saint Ambrose, Saint Dorothy, and at Holy Angels, which he led for 22 years.

Clements also adopted four sons, and was the first American priest to adopt a child.

He went on leave from the ministry in August of 2019 – as the archdiocese investigated a sexual abuse allegation from 1974. He died in December of 2019 after suffering a stroke at the age of 87.

The Archdiocese would not comment on if the investigation into Father Clements is still…

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An Irish priest, Msgr John Kennedy has been put in charge by Pope Francis of leading investigations into child abuse allegations against the Catholic clergy worldwide.

The 53-year-old monsignor is the new secretary of the disciplinary section at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, which has responsibility for dealing with credible allegations against clergy.

He had been serving at the office since being appointed there by Pope Francis in 2017 and his appointment is part of a major shake-up of the Vatican curia being undertaken by Pope Francis.

The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith has two new sections: a doctrinal section and a disciplinary section. Italian priest Msgr Armando Matteo has been appointed secretary at the doctrinal section.

Msgr Kennedy, from Clontarf in Dublin, was born in 1968 and ordained in 1993 for the Dublin archdiocese. He worked in Crumlin and Francis Street parishes before undertaking postgraduate studies in canon…

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[Via the Catholic Register]

Last month the Spanish parliament overwhelmingly approved the creation of an independent commission to investigate alleged sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

During his address opening the Spanish Bishops’ Conference’s Plenary Assembly on Monday, Cardinal Juan José Omella Omella of Barcelona expressed his pain over the sexual abuse committed by members of the Church and his desire to clarify what happened.

“The Church expresses its profound pain and once again asks for forgiveness for the crimes committed by our brothers,” Cardinal Omella, the conference president, said April 25.

He also noted that “in order to address the drama of the abuse and improve the procedures that the different ecclesial entities have put in place, the conference has commissioned the prestigious law firm Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo to carry out an independent audit of the way the cases of sexual abuse that occurred within the Catholic Church in…

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We Refuse to Whisper! Powerstories Theatre is confronting the often-shrouded, controversial topic of abuse in the Catholic Church in Ireland with CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE: THE MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES. For twenty-two years, Powerstories has been driven by giving voice to women. Now, more than ever in our history, we refuse to whisper, defying the stigma of talking about abuse in religion. We are the first in Florida to debut this vastly unknown story based on Ireland’s sordid religious history.

CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE: THE MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES is live at the theatre from April 28 to May 15 and live-streamed on April 30, May 7, May 14 and May 15.

Powerstories Theatre Founder Fran Powers learned about the Magdalene Laundries, also known as the Magdalene Asylums, from a tour guide while visiting Ireland. Named after Mary Magdalene, the laundries were meant to be places of reform and repentance where women could wash away their…

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A New Jersey diocese’s $87.5 million settlement plan prompts calls for more transparency

A Roman Catholic diocese in New Jersey agreed on Tuesday to pay $87.5 million to resolve clergy abuse claims from some 300 alleged victims. The cash settlement signifies one of the largest payouts involving U.S. Catholic churches accused of mishandling clergy sexual abuse allegations.

If the deal is approved by a U.S. bankruptcy judge, the Diocese of Camden will allot money to alleged survivors—up to $290,000 each, according to victims’ attorneys Jay Mascolo and Jason Amala—through a trust over the course of four years.

Abuse advocates and attorneys said the settlement is a positive step. But the Diocese of Camden has avoided transparency by keeping documents sealed that detail the nature of the accusations and how church leaders handled them. Victims’ attorneys said they expect court challenges to continue since the settlement includes an unusual provision allowing claimants…

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Pope Francis has named Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Lille as the new head of the Paris Archdiocese, less than five months after his predecessor resigned under fire following a questionable relationship with a woman.

The appointment was published in the Vatican’s daily bulletin on April 26.

Ulrich has led the northern French diocese of Lille since February 2008 and has been a past vice-president of France’s Catholic bishops. The 70-year-old archbishop has been known to be an vocal advocate for migrants, one of France’s most contentious political issues, and has spoken openly about the church’s failings on clergy sex abuse. 

In a 2015 interview ahead of French regional elections, Ulrich said that while the church does not endorse any political party, it was necessary to reject the “hate speech” and “aggressive vindictiveness” being used by the far-right National Front party to demonize migrants.  

“One cannot be…

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The Diocese of Brooklyn has settled a lawsuit against the late Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez, accused of sexual abuse of a minor when he was a visiting clergy in St. Francis de Sales Church in Belle Harbor in New York in the early 1970s.

According to Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse, Father Gutierrez sexually abused a minor child parishioner of St. Francis de Sales Parish on approximately six occasions from around 1970 until 1971 when the boy was about 11 to 12 years old.

Gutierrez became the bishop of Marbel in Koronadal City in South Cotabato from 1982 to 2018. He was born in Romblon in 1939 and ordained as priest at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral of Roxas City, Capiz in 1962. He passed away in 2019.

“That Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez, a credibly accused sexual abuser, became a leader in the…

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The conference was organised by the State Women & Child Development department and the UNICEF under the aegis of the Orissa High Court.

The Eastern Region Conference on effective implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015 ended at the Odisha Judicial Academy here on Sunday. Chairpersons of the Juvenile Justice Committees of the High Courts of the five states – Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, West Bengal and Odisha participated in the conference.

The conference was organised by the State Women & Child Development department and the UNICEF under the aegis of the Orissa High Court.

With special focus on child protection issues in conflict with law and mental health of children during COVID-19 the conference was inaugurated by chairperson, Juvenile Justice Committee, Supreme Court of India, Justice S Ravindra Bhat on Saturday.

Principal Magistrates of Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs), Presiding Officers of the Children Courts and officials dealing…

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