ABUSE TRACKER

Spokane WA – New court filings show several Orthodox churches and a priest are suing the state of Washington and Governor Bob Ferguson over a newly implemented law that requires clergy to report suspected child abuse.

The plaintiffs include Orthodox Church in America, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas, Western American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and Timothy Wilkinson.

They join Catholic bishops who have already sued the state.

In the suit, the churches argue the law violates their religious freedom.

In Orthodox Christianity, confessions made to a priest are confidential, and those priests are not permitted to repeat what they’re told in confession.

The new Washington law makes it a crime for clergy not to report child abuse, including during confession.

The churches agree that abuse should be reported, but only outside of confession.

The argument is that…

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[See also the text of the Supreme Court decision.]

New Jersey can have a grand jury examine allegations of clergy sexually abusing children, the state’s Supreme Court ruled Monday, after a Catholic diocese that had tried for years to block such proceedings recently reversed course.

The Diocese of Camden previously had argued that a court rule prevents the state attorney general from impaneling a grand jury to issue findings in the state’s investigation into decades of allegations against church officials. But the diocese notified the court in early May that it would no longer oppose that. Camden Bishop Joseph Williams, who took over the diocese in March, said he’d met with stakeholders in the diocese and there was unanimous consent to end the church’s opposition to the grand jury.

The seven-member Supreme Court concluded such a grand jury inquiry is allowed.

“Courts cannot presume the outcome of an investigation in…

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[See also the text of the Supreme Court decision.]

Key Points

• New Jersey can go forward with a special grand jury investigation of alleged sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and any potential cover-up.
• The unanimous decision rejected a challenge originally brought by the Diocese of Camden and capped a years-long legal fight.

New Jersey can proceed with a special grand jury investigating alleged sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and whether the state’s dioceses took any steps to cover it up, the state Supreme Court announced Monday.

The court’s unanimous June 16 decision marks the end of a years-long court battle between the Catholic Diocese of Camden and the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, which first proposed the statewide probe seven years ago.

In his ruling, Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said a lower court that sided with the diocese should have followed protocols and allowed the grand jury to proceed, at…

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More than 20 years after claims of child sexual abuse rocked the Catholic Church, states are still figuring out who can be held accountable, and how

Gilmanton Iron Works NH – A half-mile gravel road cuts through the woods that isolate Camp Fatima from the outside world, leading to an idyllic lakefront retreat where Catholic leaders have hosted sleep-away camps for boys each summer for generations.

While some campers have carried fond memories of friendships forged and outdoors explored while staying at the property on Upper Suncook Lake, others have carried emotional scars after clergymen who were supposed to serve as role models instead allegedly subjected them to sexual abuse.

A man who filed a lawsuit in 2023 against the Roman Catholic Bishop of Manchester alleges he was about 8 years old when he was raped by the camp’s director in the mid-1970s. The diocese contends that the plaintiff waited…

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[See also the text of the Supreme Court decision.]

A grand jury can be seated to investigate alleged clergy sex abuse and potential cover-ups in Roman Catholic dioceses across New Jersey, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

Members of that jury also can produce a presentment of its findings, the high court said in a unanimous ruling Monday.

The New Jersey Office of Attorney General proposed creating the special grand jury in 2018, but it’s been blocked by a legal challenge from the Diocese of Camden.

A trial court judge ruled in favor of the diocese, finding state law did not authorize an “anticipated” presentment concerning clergy sex abuse.

The initial ruling said the attorney general’s office “has made no secret as to its intentions” to produce a presentation similar to an 887-page report on Catholic clergy sex abuse previously published by members of a Pennsylvania grand jury.

An…

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The trial for a former Maryland teacher who was accused of sexually abusing students is now in the hands of the jury. Matthew Schlegel, a former third-grade teacher at Severna Park Elementary School in Anne Arundel County, is accused of sexually abusing multiple students between August 2022 and March 2024. 

His trial began on May 19 and is entering its fifth week as the jury prepares to decide the verdict on 33 counts of sexual abuse of a minor and assault. 

Legal expert notes number of charges 

James Tuomey is a criminal defense lawyer in Anne Arundel County. He is not affiliated with the trial. 

He observed the court proceeding last week and said the gallery was full, calling it very serious and somber. 

Tuomey said this type of case is unusual because of the number of charges and evidence presented over the last four weeks. 

“I…

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A Fijian abuse survivor is urging the new head of the Catholic church to adopt a zero tolerance policy for child sex abuse.

Felix Fremlin was seven years old when he was molested by a New Zealand Marist Brother at his primary school in Suva.

Although he had received a written apology and FJD$15,000 (approx US$6,680) in financial compensation from the Marist Brothers Order of New Zealand and the Pacific, Fremlin said it’s not enough.

Speaking to Pacific Waves, Fremlin said culture and faith prevents many people in the Pacific from speaking out.

“It’s a Pacific island thing, everybody looks upon the church as messengers of God, and so for people to talk about it… it’s a taboo thing,” he said.

Seeking mental health support is also a struggle for Fremlin.

“So here, we don’t have any specialists where survivors can go to for counselling. The church here has offered counselling…

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Perrette recounted how he was 16 and attending Pope John Paul II high school in Slidell when Wattigny began texting him privately in about the fall of 2019.

A young man who received inappropriate text messages from his Catholic high school chaplain that ultimately helped send the priest to prison for child molestation says he was “nauseous” watching the clergyman appear at a parole hearing Thursday and try to downplay the nature of the communications as “friendly.”

“There was honestly a moment I thought I was going to vomit,” Rex Perrette said after the hearing, during his first public comments ever about his role in the case that landed Patrick Wattigny behind bars.

Perrette recounted how he was 16 and attending Pope John Paul II High School in Slidell when Wattigny began texting him privately in the fall of 2019. Wattigny, who was denied an early release from prison Thursday,…

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Pope Leo XIV’s June 5 meeting with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors marks a beginning to his response to the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. As calls for accountability grow louder, the Vatican’s next steps could define this pontificate’s approach to safeguarding against all forms of abuse in the church.

One potential step was proposed last November by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. The cardinal’s announcement concerned the potential addition of a delict in the Code of Canon Law to address “spiritual abuse.” This initiative, prompted by the troubling reality of spiritual manipulation for sexual exploitation, rightly acknowledges a grave form of harm. However, while Cardinal Fernández’s proposal is a necessary step, the initiative as currently presented risks obscuring the full reality of spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church.

In a January interview, Cardinal Fernández clarified that the…

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“It’s basically a war on parishes”

Parishes across Western New York continue to learn how much they’re being asked to pay towards the diocese’s $150 million settlement with more than 800 survivors of sexual abuse.

On Monday, the diocese announced parishes would be responsible for paying $80 million of the proposed settlement.

The first vicariate meeting was held on Monday at Immaculate Conception Church in Ransomville for the Niagara-Orleans Vicariate. The second was held on Tuesday at St. Leo the Great Church in Amherst for the Northern Erie Vicariate.

The latest meeting was held at the diocesan offices at the Catholic Center in Downtown Buffalo on Wednesday for the Buffalo Vicariate.

Clergy, parish trustees, financial chairs, business managers and parish council members from 30 city churches filed into the Catholic Center for the meeting.

“It’s basically a war on parishes,” said Craig Speers, a parishioner at St. Michael’s Church.

He is now bracing…

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“This diocese just keeps coming back and putting us into the buzz saw”

Amherst NY – More parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo are learning exactly how much they will have to contribute to help pay for the diocese’s $150 million settlement with more than 800 survivors of sexual abuse.

On Monday, the diocese announced parishes would be responsible for paying $80 million of the proposed settlement.

The first vicariate meeting was held on Monday at Immaculate Conception Church in Ransomville for the Niagara-Orleans Vicariate.

The second vicariate meeting was held on Tuesday at St. Leo the Great Church in Amherst for the Northern Erie Vicariate.

“This diocese just keeps coming back and putting us into the buzz saw and crisis, making us all victims,” Mary Pruski from Save Our Buffalo Churches said.

Pruski spoke to me outside the church as the closed-door meeting was held.

The diocese has only announced publicly…

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We pause our regular “Inside the Vatican” episode this week to pick up where our America subscriber-only Conclave Debrief live Zoom event left off on Monday, June 9. Hosts Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell briefly cover the latest Vatican headlines before inviting their producer, Ricardo da Silva, S.J.—who also participated in the live event—to join the conversation. Together, they tackle the key questions posed by America subscribers, focusing on four areas of concern:

• Inside the Conclave
  What made this conclave different from the 2013 election of Pope Francis? What stood out this time? What was it like covering a conclave live from the Vatican for the first time? And how did secular media in the U.S. respond to the papal transition?
   
• Pope Leo and AI
  What early signals has Pope Leo given about artificial intelligence, deep fakes and the ethical challenges of new technologies? How might these shape the church’s approach to rapidly evolving technology environments?
   
• Ongoing reforms…

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An Ohio pastor, who is accused of sexually abusing two children in his care, is serving at another church where his new congregation believes in his innocence.

Dominic J. Foor, 39, was indicted June 5 in Pickaway County, Ohio, Common Pleas Court with 11 counts of sexual battery, six counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, and six counts of importuning. (Ohio defines importuning as soliciting a child between the age of 13 to 16 for sex.)

Court records show the alleged abuse was from November 2022 to November 2024 and May 2024 through November 2024. The alleged victims are now 16 and 18 years old.

Foor is free on $250,000 bond, ordered to have no contact with the alleged victims, and must stay in the state.

Until December, he was the pastor of the Columbus-based Pathway Apostolic Church, which is part of the United Pentecostal Church…

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NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – A pedophile priest’s Thursday parole hearing revealed his removal from ministry came only after he texted a child a second time, underwent a psychiatric evaluation and admitted to sexual abuse.

Pat Wattigny, the priest convicted of molesting a child in 2023, revealed that Archbishop Gregory Aymond asked him in February 2020 to promise not to inappropriately text a minor while serving as chaplain at Pope John Paul High School in Slidell.

“The archbishop called me in February of 2020 and asked me if I had done this, and I said ‘yes, I had.’ He said ‘do you give me your word you would not do it again.’ I said ‘yes I would.’ I held to that for a little while and then I gave in during the pandemic, and I texted this person again,” Wattigny said during his Thursday hearing.

Wattigny said it was only after…

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Jury deliberations began Friday in the trial of Matthew Schlegel, a former Anne Arundel County school teacher accused of sexually abusing third grade students.

Schlegel faces 21 counts related to allegations of sexually abusing five of his former students behind his desk during class at Severna Park Elementary School. He had 22 of the 55 charges dropped against him in May.

The defense concluded its case by asserting that the accusations were a terrible mistake, arguing that the victims’ testimonies were inconsistent. The prosecution maintained that the girls’ stories were remarkably similar.

“Hopefully the jury can see that this is a terrible mistake that has happened, but our client hasn’t done anything,” defense attorney Patrick Seidel said.

The trial is expected to continue on Monday.

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Pastor resigned in June after allegations surfaced, then sued church for his compensation package

A former Texas megachurch pastor is being sued by a woman who claims he sexually assaulted and abused her when she was 12 years old.

The suit, filed this week in Dallas County District court, accuses Gateway Church founder Robert Morris and others of libel, malice, defamation, slander, failure to report, civil conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and unjust enrichment.

They are seeking more than $1 million in damages.

Cindy Clemishire and her father, Jerry Lee Clemishire, filed the suit less than a year after sharing the allegations with a religious watchdog blog, The Wartburg Watch.

Cindy, 53, claimed she met Morris in 1981 while he was preaching at her church in Oklahoma and their families became close.

She said Morris touched her inappropriately while staying at her house in 1982,…

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Cindy Clemishire, who says Gateway Church founder Robert Morris sexually abused her from the age of 12, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Morris and the Texas megachurch, seeking more than $1 million in damages.

Filed jointly with her father, the lawsuit accuses Morris and Gateway leaders of falsely portraying the abuse as a “relationship with a young lady” rather than a crime against a child.

It also alleges church officials knowingly made misleading statements after the case became public in 2024.

Morris was indicted in March on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, stemming from abuse that reportedly began in December 1982 and continued for over four years while Morris served as a traveling evangelist.

A 2023 internal investigation at Gateway Church revealed multiple elders had prior knowledge of Morris’s conduct but failed to act.

“We now know that there were elders and employees at…

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A historic apology from Spanish Catholic leaders to women abused in Franco-era rehabilitation centres has been met with public outcry and rejection from survivors.

The protesters say the gesture lacked sincerity and failed to fully acknowledge the extent of the abuse.

The ceremony, organised by CONFER, a Catholic group representing over 400 religious congregations, aimed to apologise for the Church’s role in institutions that detained over 40,000 women and girls between the 1940s and 1985, as reported by The Guardian.

Survivors described the centres as places of forced labour, religious indoctrination and brutal punishments, often targeting girls as young as eight.

Survivor Dolores Gómez, who was institutionalised at 13 after reporting her father’s abuse, said: “This is just a facelift. They’re not asking forgiveness for all that happened, only what they’re willing to recognise.”

As CONFER’s leaders read their apology and expressed “deep sorrow”, many in the audience erupted in protest, chanting “Truth,…

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A survivor of sexual abuse at a Catholic school in Victoria has won a claim against his ex-lawyers, after suing the law firm for negligence.

The survivor was abused at Monivae College in Hamilton in the late 1970s by two Catholic brothers and was originally represented in his lawsuit against the Catholic order by Waller Legal in 2015.

He first settled his claim against the Order of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) for $140,000 in February 2017.

He later went on to sue Waller Legal, claiming the firm was negligent and provided inadequate advice when representing him in that claim.

Last week, in a judgement against Waller Legal, Supreme Court Justice Jack Forrest awarded the survivor $263,000.

Rightside Legal partner Michael Magazanik, who represented the survivor in his action against his ex-lawyers, described it as a “landmark” decision.

“It sets out the obligations of a lawyer when representing…

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A $1 million lawsuit just filed in Dallas County District Court alleges Gateway Church, a one-time evangelical megachurch, covered up the rape and sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl by its founder, Robert Morris.

The 63-year-old Morris is under criminal indictment in Oklahoma on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, and is set to stand trial there later this year.  The Roys Report (TRR) this week reported that pastors Brady Boyd and Jimmy Evans knew that Morris’s victim Cindy Clemishire was 12 years old at the time the abuse began.

Neither Boyd nor Evans were named in the lawsuit. Clemishire’s attorney Alex Yaffe, told TRR, “We have sued those most directly responsible based on the evidence currently available. However, our investigation remains active, and we are continuing to assess all possible avenues for accountability—including the potential involvement of Jimmy Evans and Brady Boyd.”*

The action—brought by Cindy Clemishire and her father,…

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Cindy Clemishire, the woman at the center of the child sex abuse case involving Gateway Church founder Robert Morris, and her father have filed a lawsuit against the church founder, his wife and several current and former church leaders.

The suit alleges the defendants knew about Robert Morris’ deceit, hid it and made millions of dollars from his “moral failures and rape of Plaintiff, Cindy Clemishire.”

The lawsuit names Gateway Church, Robert Morris, Robert Morris’ wife Deborah Morris, Thomas H. Miller, Jr., John D. Willbanks III, Kevin Grove, Jeremy Carrasco, Kenneth W. Fambro II, Gayland Lawshe, Dane Minor, Lawrence Swicegood, Steve Dulin and the Robert Morris Evangelistic Association Inc.

“For almost 40 years, Robert Morris and the leadership at Gateway have tried to blame me and put this in a flippant light of a relationship instead of what it was-a brutal crime against a 12-year-old child,” said Cindy Clemishire. “My…

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Authorities arrested a Roman Catholic priest at the capital’s international airport on charges of raping of a minor over a period of years, officials said Thursday.

The Mexico state prosecutor’s office said that Rev. Antonio Cabrera, a member of the Legion of Christ religious order, was arrested Wednesday night on a court order for rape.

Authorities cited incidents in 2004, 2007 and 2011, but the investigation only began in December 2024, after the alleged attacks were reported. The abuse allegedly occurred in Naucalpan, a Mexico City suburb. The prosecutor’s office did not say why Cabrera was at the airport.

The Legion of Christ religious order has been involved in sexual abuse scandals before, including those of its late founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, who was later determined to be a serial pedophile.

The Vatican in 2010 took over the Mexico-based Legion and imposed a process of reform after an investigation showed that…

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COMMENTARY: Three aspects to consider: the process, the personage and the penalty.

In June 2024, the head of the Vatican communications department, Paolo Ruffini, vigorously defended his office’s continued use of the artwork of Father Marko Rupnik on the Vatican website. He argued that it was premature to judge Father Rupnik’s guilt regarding the many charges of sexual abuse of consecrated women he faces, and that “removing, deleting, destroying art … is not a Christian response.”

On Monday, Father Rupnik’s artwork was gone from the Vatican website, without explanation from Ruffini or anyone else. The removal came just days after Pope Leo XIV met with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, so the simplest explanation is that the commission asked the Holy Father to cease using the art and Pope Leo agreed. Cardinal Seán O’Malley, president of the commission, had already made that request publicly last June in response to Ruffini’s…

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The primate of Poland who is an outspoken advocate of abuse victims was dismissed by the country’s bishops from his role as a leader of the team of experts preparing the ground for a much-needed independent commission that would investigate cases of abuse of minors by clergy from the past in the country. 

The decision of the Polish bishops disappointed the victims for whom the move is a sign that the commission — in a new form and with a new leader — will lack teeth. 

Archbishop Wojciech Polak of Gniezno is known for his longtime advocacy for victims of abuse and since 2019 has been a delegate of the bishops’ conference for child protection.

A Surprise Move

In a surprise move during the June 10-12 plenary meeting of the Polish bishops in Katowice — during the last debate for which some of the bishops did not…

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More details have been released after a Greenville County, South Carolina, pastor and his wife were accused of decades of abuse towards children.

On Tuesday, several more charges were filed against Myron and Kathleen Chorbajian.

Myron Chorbajian was a pastor at 1st Southern Methodist Church on Fork Shoals Road, according to the church’s Facebook page.

According to detention center records, Myron is now facing two attempted murder charges and dozens more. Records show he is now facing 63 total charges since his arrest on May 15.

Detention center records show Kathleen is now facing additional charges of abandonment of a minor child. Records show she is now facing 26 total charges.

According to the new arrest warrants released on Thursday, Kathleen is accused of forcing a child to eat deviled eggs until the child vomited and then forced the child to eat their own vomit.

Of these…

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A judge set a $250,000 bond for Dominic Foor when he appeared in court on Tuesday.

A 23-count indictment was filed against a central Ohio pastor who is accused of sexually abusing a teenager.

The indictment filed in the Pickaway County Court of Common Pleas states that 39-year-old Dominic Foor faces the following charges:

• 11 counts of sexual battery
• Six counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor
• Six counts of importuning

According to the indictment, the first incident reportedly happened at a home on Lockbourne Eastern Road in Ashville on Nov. 3, 2022, when the victim was 15 years old. The indictment also states that the incidents lasted through Nov. 26, 2024.

Captain Johnathan Strawser with the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office said the original complaint was brought forward on Nov. 28, 2024, and it has been under investigation since.

Strawser added at the time of the incidents, Foor was a pastor…

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The Louisiana Board of Pardons and Parole denied former Slidell priest Patrick Brian Wattigny’s request for an early release.

Wattigny is currently serving a five year sentence for two counts of molestation of a juvenile. He was sentenced in 2023, and also faces another five years of probation, sex offender registration and notification, and a “no contact” order concerning the victims.

The board heard Wattigny and two supporters speak in favor of the shortened sentence. he said his main reason for seeking parole was to be a caregiver for his parents.

“I know I can be of vital help to them if I’m released early,” he said.

Wattigny said he had an “inappropriate relationship” with a student in 2013 and inappropriately texted a student in 2020. He said Archbishop Gregory Aymond was alerted to the latter.

“The archbishop called me in February 2020 and asked me if I had done this,…

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The Bishop of Clogher has issued a formal apology to victims of sexual abuse perpetuated by Canon Patrick McEntee, the former President of St. Michael’s College, Enniskillen.

The Board of Governors of the school have also apologised to victims “for the hurt they have suffered”.

On Wednesday, June 11, a jury at Dungannon Crown Court found the 70-year-old priest guilty of sexually abusing five boys over an 11-year period during his time as a teacher.

In a statement following the verdict, Bishop Larry Duffy described the abuse as being against “everything that the Gospel proclaims”.

Read More: Priest taught morality in the classroom and violated it behind closed doors

He said: “No words of mine can make up for the suffering caused to these men and their families over the years.

“I want to sincerely apologise to each of them and assure them…

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Patrick Wattigny tells parole board he gave Archbishop Aymond his word he will “not do it again.” He did it again.

NEW ORLEANS — A Catholic priest who admittedly molested two children publicly recounted Thursday for the first time how New Orleans’ archbishop tried to give him a chance to continue his career even after catching the cleric sending inappropriate texts to a minor. 

Patrick Wattigny made the revelation while appearing before Louisiana’s parole board and unsuccessfully requesting an early release from prison.

As Wattigny put it, his downfall began when the mother of a student at a high school where he worked had found unsettling texts between the priest and her son. The woman reported Wattigny – then the chaplain of Pope John Paul II in Slidell – to New Orleans’s archbishop, Gregory Aymond, who summoned him to a meeting in February 2020. As Wattigny put it, at that meeting,…

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A Catholic priest has been charged with the rape a 16-year-old boy in Kerala. He is currently evading capture and the church has intervened to protect him. A campaign has been launched to help him. A First Information Report (FIR) has already been filed and the police are conducting an investigation into the matter.

The case pertained to Kasaragod in Kerala. An official complaint has been launched against Father Paul Thattuparambil, the priest of Saint Paul’s Church in Athirumavu, on a complaint made by the minor boy. The Chittarikkal police have invoked POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act against the perpetrator.

According to the complaint, he reportedly sexually assaulted a student from class 11 by taking him to his home and other locations during the period from 15th May to 13th August of 2024. This issue came to public…

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A poster declaring that “justice delayed is justice denied” is posted on many a courtroom wall as a reminder that delaying justice is crippling the Philippine judicial system. We need judicial reform, not posters. Many family courts are so swamped with child abuse cases that there is an urgent need for a special children’s court. Hopefully, Sen. Risa Hontiveros and her team are working on fulfilling that, as promised.

Fake postponements are an immoral tactic favored by defense lawyers, hoping that the traumatized victim will become tired, lose hope for justice or surrender to pressure from the alleged abuser and his supporters, and settle out of court. As a result, the abuser walks free, and judges who let them go are violating their oaths of office and corrupting themselves.

Several Catholic priests accused of child abuse in the Archdiocese of Cebu had their court cases reduced after plea bargains. They…

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Antonio María Cabrera faces sexual abuse of minors accusations. The Catholic priest, and member of the Legion of Christ will be arraigned in the coming hours. A report was filed back in January; a judge issued an arrest warrant in May. The police arrested the Legion of Christ priest when he was trying to leave Mexico. Cabrera was a member of Marcial Maciel’s inner circle and held key roles at the Legion of Christ’s flagship college in Mexico City.

On Wednesday June 11, around 6 pm, the Mexico City International Airport became the epicenter of the global clergy sexual abuse crisis as officers of the Attorney General’s Office arrested Catholic priest Antonio María Cabrera, a member of the Legion of Christ.

As far as it is possible to know, there has been no official statement from either the Attorney General’s Office (FGR, after its Spanish-language acronym), which originally made…

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Michael Tait, who became a Grammy-winning star in the Christian music world as a member of DC Talk in the ’90s, and continued that hit streak in recent years with a long stint as lead singer for the group Newsboys, has issued a “confession” on social media in which he admits that allegations of unwanted groping of young men and drug use contained in a recent investigative report were largely true.

“Recent reports of my reckless and destructive behavior, including drug and alcohol abuse and sexual activity are sadly, largely true,” Tait wrote in a post on his Instagram account. “For some two decades I used and abused cocaine, consumed far too much alcohol, and, at times, touched men in an unwanted sensual way. I am ashamed of my life choices and actions, and make no excuses for them. I will simply call it what God calls it…

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Amid all the other headlines at this week’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, you might have missed an important internal debate that happened about financial transparency.

To those outside the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, this may not matter. But for anyone who puts money in an offering plate in a Southern Baptist church anywhere, it should matter.

This debate is about how much the person in the pew should be able to know about how their offerings are spent. It’s not a new debate, but it got the clearest hearing ever on Wednesday morning at the SBC annual meeting.

“For anyone who puts money in an offering plate in a Southern Baptist church anywhere, it should matter.”

To set the stage for explaining this, consider your local government or even your state government. Even in the most conservative locales, a certain level of financial transparency is required. It is usually possible, for…

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For many years in the United States, Catholic dioceses have periodically announced major settlements involving victims of Catholic clergy abuse, with the payouts coming as part of bankruptcy proceedings related to abuse claims.

Since 2004, when the Archdiocese of Portland declared bankruptcy, dioceses and archdioceses have used Chapter 11 law to navigate the complex and often financially crushing process of resolving decades of sex abuse claims.

In recent years, many U.S. bishops have announced major nine-figure settlements for abuse victims. Most recently, the Archdiocese of New Orleans last month agreed to pay a massive $180 million to victims of clergy abuse there, bringing an end to years of bankruptcy proceedings in federal court.

Where does the money come from?

Marie Reilly, a professor of law at Penn State University and an expert in bankruptcy litigation,  including Catholic diocesan bankruptcy proceedings, told CNA that the…

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A month into Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate, images of artwork created by the disgraced priest Marko Rupnik began disappearing from the Vatican News website—a departure from the Vatican’s earlier stated policy of keeping the artwork visible on the website until a decision had been made in Rupnik’s trial.

Rupnik, a Slovenian priest and former Jesuit who was accused of sexually and spiritually abusing some 20 women, has thus far not been tried by the Vatican. The investigation into his alleged crimes was reopened in 2023 when Pope Francis lifted the statute of limitations on the allegations. In late March, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, revealed that the Vatican was having difficulty finding judges for the trial.

In a statement responding to the unannounced removal of the artwork, Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of the information resource BishopAccountability.org, said, “Let’s hope this is just the…

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A Slidell priest convicted of molestation has been denied parole.

Patrick Wattigny was in front of a parole board Thursday where he asked for forgiveness he was denied his request.Advertisement

One of his victims, Tim Gioe, was at the hearing where he said Wattigny’s actions were a “deliberate abuse of power.”

Gioe said Wattigny used his spiritual authority to groom and manipulate him.

Wattigny’s parole denial comes just days after Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill into law that would make grooming a crime in the state.

Earlier reports:

Gioe is outraged over the potential early release of convicted priest Pattrick Wattigny from prison. This comes after Wattigny has served just two years of a five-year sentence.

“If Wattigny is let out of prison, will he do this to another person?” Gioe was asked. “Yes, there’s nothing that can convince me otherwise,” Gioe said. View Cache

A Zambian nun is calling out the pervasive sexual abuse of nuns by priests in Africa and drawing attention to the fate of nuns who are expelled from their orders when they become pregnant from it.

Sister Linah Siabana, a mental health specialist, denounced the “systemic abuse” of nuns “particularly at the hands of male clerics” in her May 24 address to the Symposium and Annual General Meeting of the Conference of Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar.

Siabana’s alert follows multiple revelations of the clerical sex abuse of nuns from high-profile religious sisters. At the COMSAM assembly in South Africa, Siabana, a member of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa who serves displaced South Sudanese communities in Uganda’s Arua diocese, narrated harrowing accounts of nuns who have been abused by priests or fellow sisters.

Abused Sisters Getting Pregnant

“At times, we just get to know about that…

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“Disturbing facts have come to light regarding the Olomouc Aletti Center.”

The new head of the Jesuits in the Czech Republic has announced an investigation into a community connected to the country’s Aletti Center, a religious and cultural center linked to the Roman center directed by disgraced artist Fr. Marko Rupnik.

Fr. Pavel Bačo SJ, provincial of the Czech Province of the Society of Jesus, who took office in late May, has dismissed the director of the Olomouc Aletti Center and launched an investigation into the publishing house affiliated with it, according to a June 10 statement from the province.

The statement pointed to “doctrinally dubious texts” based on an alleged mystic, as well as reports of spiritual manipulation and discord stemming from the community. It offered an apology to those who had been harmed by the “false mysticism” surrounding the community.

The Olomouc Aletti Center aims to promote dialogue…

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Actor Ashley Judd mourned Southern Baptist abuse victim Jennifer Lyell this week, praising her bravery in standing up against attempts to downplay the sexual abuse of women in the church.

“Sister Jennifer did a good, true, and honorable thing,” Judd wrote on her social media accounts. “A hard, costly thing.”

Lyell died June 7. She was 47.

While she was working as an executive for Lifeway, the Southern Baptist publishing arm, Lyell accused a Southern Baptist seminary professor of sexual abuse, leading to an investigation into SBC handling of abuse.

Judd said she grew up Southern Baptist also and recounted some of her experiences.

“I attended the Southern Baptist church growing up in Ashland, Kentucky, summer living with Nana and Papaw Judd,” Judd wrote.

“During Sunday School, Uncle Mark drove the little bus and took us to watch the Cincinnati Reds….

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The case against Prevost first emerged during a confrontation with the powerful ultra-Catholic group Sodalitium, with complicity from elements in Rome: ‘He has suffered greatly during the last year because nobody in the Vatican came out to defend him’

Rome / New York / Madrid – The election of Pope Leo XIV on May 8 brought with it renewed accusations against him of having covered up past cases of sexual abuse. These accusations were not new, having circulated for the past year and a half. Vatican sources told this newspaper that they were unfounded, and that actions taken by then-cardinal Robert Prevost were appropriate. They connected the allegations to an ultra-right media campaign. A month after Prevost became the 267th pontiff of the Catholic Church, EL PAÍS has run an analysis that has come to the conclusion that there is no proof that he ever covered up accusations. To the contrary,…

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SÃO PAULO, Brazil – A victim of sexual abuse by a priest over 50 years ago in April created Brazil’s first Network of Survivors of Ecclesiastical Abuse.

The South American country had at least 148 cases of children and teenagers abused by members of the clergy since 2000, according to a recent study, but the numbers could be much higher.

Valdea Caratchuk, a resident in Curitiba in Brazil’s Paraná state, rediscovered what happened to her only 11 years ago, during therapy, after decades hiding it under layers of fear and shame.

“I went back to the memories of my childhood and could perfectly see what the priest did to me 57 years ago at the parish,” she told Crux.

Her mother, a widow, made a living as a seamstress for the parish. Caratchuk, who was the youngest of four siblings, would take the pieces to the church, as her mother had…

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There has been a “significant increase” in the number of new allegations notified to the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI). The organization published its annual report today, which covers the period between April 2024 and March 2025. According to the report, there were 385 child protection notifications against male and female members of the clergy last year. This is an increase of over 50 percent on the 252 allegations notified the previous year.  It is the highest number of any reporting period since the NBSCCCI began publishing the annual figures in 2009. 

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Court documents show a Florida judge dismissed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Dubuque regarding a priest accused of sexually abusing boys.

Father Leo Riley previously served as a pastor at a Dubuque Catholic Church in the 1980s. He was serving as the priest of a church in Florida until last year.

In October 2024, three men filed civil lawsuits against Riley, accusing him of sexual abuse. The lawsuits allege Riley sexually abused the men when they served as altar boys at the Dubuque church.

The Archdiocese was dismissed from the lawsuits because of lack of jurisdiction.

Riley has also asked to be dismissed from the case.

So far, there’s no ruling on Riley’s motion.

The claims in the lawsuits against Riley include assault, battery, and childhood sexual abuse.

A similar case against Riley was dropped in Iowa due to the statute of limitations expiring.

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Recently unsealed documents in a lawsuit against a former priest who taught at Catholic High School in Baton Rouge say he faced allegations of sexual abuse elsewhere as far back as the 1970s, a newspaper reported Monday.

The Advocate said the documents revealed no sexual misconduct allegations at the high school, but that Daniel Lemoine had acknowledged some of the complaints himself. It wasn’t clear whether the recently disclosed incidents were already among credible accusations of abuse detailed by the diocese in 2019.

Last year, a Denham Springs man filed a lawsuit against Lemoine, alleging he had sexually abused him as an altar boy at Immaculate Conception Church from 1984 to 1986. The lawsuit was filed under Louisiana’s “Lookback Window” law which gave purported victims a three-year period in which they could file claims.

The newspaper said the lawsuit includes documents detailing accusations dating to the 1970s. According to the…

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Calls made for better guidelines and legislative review after retired pastor arrested in connection with sexual assault of minor in 1990s

An imbalance of power in churches, a culture of secrecy and the misuse of theology are among the significant barriers victims face in reporting sexual abuse cases, advocates have said, after a retired Hong Kong pastor was arrested in connection with an assault on a minor in the 1990s.

An NGO and a Christian group on Sunday called on religious groups to establish sexual harassment policies, noting that sexually abused children took 13 years on average to seek help.

They also urged authorities to review legislation on sex offences to help encourage more survivors to come forward.https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.701.0_en.html#fid=goog_25993164https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.701.0_en.html#fid=goog_25993165https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.701.0_en.html#fid=goog_25993166

Doris Chong Tsz-wai, executive director of RainLily, said child victims of sexual abuse often took time to report their cases as it was difficult for them to immediately comprehend what had happened, especially…

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Former Downey pastor Jaime Arriaga Pedroza, who allegedly committed multiple felony counts of sexual abuse against a minor, is set to have his preliminary hearing on Monday, Aug. 25.

His attorney and the deputy district attorney agreed to the date during a hearing at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on June 6 so the defense counsel can further prepare.

Pedroza, 41, had served as associate pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Downey since January 2024. He was arrested on April 3, after accusations of sexual abuse to a minor. He now faces six felony charges of sexual abuse from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, according to court documents.

These felony charges include five counts of committing lewd acts upon a child aged 14 or 15, and one count of assault with intent-victim under 18-year-old with the intent to commit rape.

Despite the allegations,…

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A priest has been found guilty of eight counts of historical indecent assault against four boys.

Canon Patrick McEntee, 71, from Esker Road in Dromore, County Tyrone faced a total of nine counts of indecent assault dating back to the late 1970s and involving boys aged between 11 and 17.

McEntee, who was a teacher at St Michael’s College in Enniskillen, had denied all the charges.

The priest took the boys into his private quarters where some of the boys were made to sit on his knee or touched inappropriately.

Canon McEntee was convicted on four counts of indecent assault on one boy between 1988 and 1989.

He was also convicted on a single count of indecently assaulting a second male between 1980 and 1981.

He was convicted on a further three charges of indecent assault involving two boys between 1978 and 1987. He was acquitted on one charge of…

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Images of artwork created by a disgraced celebrity cleric accused of rape have disappeared from official Vatican Media websites without explanation, almost a year after the head of the Vatican’s communications outfit strongly defended his department’s continued use of the images.

The offending images were digital reproductions of works created by Fr Marko Rupnik – a former Jesuit accused of spiritually, psychologically, and sexually abusing dozens of victims over a period of 30 years – mostly while based in Rome.

Most of Rupnik’s alleged victims were women religious, several of whom belonged at one time to a congregation of sisters he had helped to establish in his native Slovenia.

Pope Francis protected Rupnik from prosecution, according to Vatican sources, and even had pictures made by the priest on the walls of his apartment at the Casa Santa Marta.

Rupnik pictures formed part of the artwork on the Vatican Media website…

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While much was done during Pope Francis’ pontificate to tackle the global abuse crisis — a crisis moving at differing speeds in the church, depending on the country — one significant element is still pending and left for Pope Leo XIV to implement. That element is transparency.

Of the three pillars of the February 2019 summit organized by Pope Francis — accountability, responsibility and transparency — Cardinal Seán O’Malley, longtime president of the Pontifical Commission of the Protection of Minors, recently noted the third as a priority in the church today.

Cardinal O’Malley: ‘Victims and their families first’

In an interview with Vatican News June 5, Cardinal O’Malley, who met Pope Leo with his commission hours earlier, said the church’s priorities with regard to the prevention of child abuse “are the same as ever” and that “we’re trying to put the victims and their families first.”

However at the same time…

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A series of meetings this week is detailing how much individual parishes will owe as part of the Diocese of Buffalo’s settlement with sexual abuse victims.

Diocesean officials are meeting with clergy, trustees, business managers, and chairpersons of financial and parish councils.

Parish leaders are being provided an overview of the proposed $150 million settlement, which has been agreed to in principle, the diocese said.

Each parish will receive a detailed statement of its expected contribution to the settlement fund, officials said. It’s based on the parishes’ self-reported and unrestricted assets held as of Aug. 31, 2024.

“As we have maintained throughout this protracted process, the participation of the entire Catholic family is necessary to bring to a close this painful chapter of our Diocese and achieve a level of restitution that is owed to the many who have had to carry the tremendous burden of physical, emotional and spiritual…

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Since last year, there has been a 32% decline in U.S. child abuse allegations against Catholic clergy, according to the 2024 annual report of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection.  

Overall, “902 allegations were reported by 855 victims-survivors of child sexual abuse by clergy,” the report said, compared with 1,308 allegations by 1,254 survivors last year. 

Covering July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, the annual report is based on a survey of 195 U.S. Catholic dioceses and eparchies, drawn from data collected by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University as well as an audit by StoneBridge Business Partners. 

The annual reporting stems from the U.S. bishops’ 2002 creation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which established a framework and protocols related to allegations of sexual abuse of…

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A former longtime teacher at one of San Francisco’s most prestigious private schools filed a lawsuit last week alleging that the school fired him for reporting another teacher’s alleged sexual misconduct.

The plaintiff, Ted Curry, worked at St. Ignatius College Preparatory School in the drama department since 2000 before he was terminated on Feb. 11, the lawsuit states. He is seeking more than $10.5 million in damages, including for emotional and economical distress. 

Curry told SFGATE it’s been difficult to grapple with the firing. 

“My mornings are still melancholy,” Curry said. “I still struggle in the mornings to get up because I don’t have a job, and there’s no jobs rolling in, and there’s no sense of purpose, like, ‘Who am I?’”

Curry said he believes the school retaliated against him because his report of another teacher’s alleged sexual misconduct revealed that the school “covered up” the case. In 2006, Curry…

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When you hear people talk about sexual abuse claims and the Southern Baptist Convention, it’s not the same as talking about the Roman Catholic Church and sexual abuse.

Yes, there are clergy culprits in both religious bodies. And yes, there are religious leaders in both bodies who have covered up and ignored abuse claims and passed along offenders from congregation to congregation. But who’s responsible and who’s liable in these two largest religious bodies in the United States is very different.

Catholicism operates within a hierarchy. The pope appoints archbishops who oversee bishops who oversee priests. There is a clear line of authority from top to bottom, and clergy serving local parishes are placed there by superiors.

Not so among Baptists, who practice one of the most radical forms of autonomy of any Christian body in the United States. As my seminary professors used to drill into us, “The headquarters of…

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‘Prevost died when Pope Leo was born.’

It was barely four months after Cardinal Pablo David of the Philippines became a cardinal that the pontiff, Pope Francis, died after a stroke on Easter Monday.

The newly minted cardinal found himself soon on a plane bound for Rome, where he joined his brother cardinals in burying the late pope, the springtime general congregations, and the conclave that would elect Pope Leo XIV.

During the interregnum, Cardinal David often spoke on social media, asking almost 70,000 followers for feedback on the kind of pope they thought the Church and world needed, and showing his interest in using AI tools for discernment.

David is a well-known figure in the Philippines, where he has received death threats for his outspoken opposition to the Philippines’ deadly “war on drugs” under its ex-president, Rodrigo Duterte.

The bishop rose more to prominence in 2019 when Francis embraced…

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School leaders at Catholic High in Baton Rouge noticed a disturbing pattern with a diocesan priest on the teaching staff in early 1993. It was a red flag that prompted a meeting between school officials and a high-ranking clergyman from the Baton Rouge diocese, according to documents recently unsealed in court.

Even after being warned twice that “he was socializing too much with students” at the all-boys school, the Rev. Daniel Lemoine continued to spend time alone with them, said a report sent to the bishop of the Baton Rouge diocese following the meeting.

One student’s parents complained to Catholic High leaders in December 1992 that Lemoine took their son to Our Lady of the Mercy Church, where the priest lived at the time, and made the boy wait in the rectory alone while he showered and changed his clothes. When school administrators confronted Lemoine about his tendency to fraternize with…

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If nothing changes, most nuns thinking of disclosing will take heed of the punitive consequences of disclosure already in the public domain and will decide that silence is by far the safer option.

If Pope Leo wishes to take up this issue of the clerical sexual abuse of female religious, as his early meeting with the head of the Dicastery for Consecrated Life would suggest he does, he will need to insist on a system of safe disclosure for religious sisters

“For victims, reporting rape is effectively a lottery, and the odds are rarely in your favour,” said Dame Vera Baird as Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales. Only 5 per cent of the 67,125 rapes that were given an outcome by the police in the year ending December 2021 resulted in a charge.

For nuns or religious sisters reporting clerical sexual abuse the numbers of convictions globally…

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BATON ROUGE — Recently unsealed documents in a lawsuit against a former priest who taught at Catholic High School in Baton Rouge say he faced allegations of sexual abuse elsewhere as far back as the 1970s, a newspaper reported Monday.

The Advocate said the documents revealed no sexual misconduct allegations at the high school, but that Daniel Lemoine had acknowledged some of the complaints himself. It wasn’t clear whether the recently disclosed incidents were already among credible accusations of abuse detailed by the diocese in 2019.

Last year, a Denham Springs man filed a lawsuit against Lemoine, alleging he had sexually abused him as an altar boy at Immaculate Conception Church from 1984 to 1986. The lawsuit was filed under Louisiana’s “Lookback Window” law which gave purported victims a three-year period in which they could file claims.

The newspaper said the lawsuit includes documents detailing accusations dating to the 1970s….

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Parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y., are set to pay a total of $80 million into the diocese’s $150 million bankruptcy settlement, with the funds due to be paid into a trust by July 15.

“As we have maintained throughout this protracted process, the participation of the entire Catholic family is necessary to bring to a close this painful chapter of our diocese and achieve a level of restitution that is owed to the many who have had to carry the tremendous burden of physical, emotional and spiritual harm of sexual abuse throughout their lives,” said Bishop Michael W. Fisher, a Baltimore native, in a June 9 statement.

Of that $150 million, the diocese will also directly pay $30 million, with its affiliated Catholic organizations contributing $10 million, and real estate sales covering the remainder, diocesan communications director Joe Martone told OSV News.

Martone said the diocese hopes that…

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The Buffalo Catholic Diocese says parishes will end up paying the majority of the money.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Reaction continues to the lawsuit settlement plans announced by the Buffalo Catholic Diocese on Monday. The Diocese will be looking to its parishes to pay more than half of the $150-million to settle the sex abuse lawsuits.

According to the Buffalo Diocese, the parishes will be responsible for $80-million, with each paying anywhere from 10 to 80 percent of the unrestricted cash they had on hand as of last August. That’s money that wasn’t earmarked for something specific already at the parish.

Parishes that are set to close would be paying higher percentages.

On Tuesday, 2 On Your Side spoke with Philip Gray, he’s a canon lawyer and the President of the Saint Joseph Foundation, a group of lay people who help parishioners navigate church policies and canon law.

…

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Parishes across WNY are hearing directly from the Diocese of Buffalo on how much they will have to contribute to the proposed $150 million bankruptcy settlement.

[See video]

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There has been a significant increase in the number of new allegations notified to the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI).

Last year there were 385 allegations of abuse, up from 252 the previous year.

Its latest annual report, which covers the period between April 2024 and March 2025, shows a rise of over 50% in new allegations.

It is the highest number of any reporting period since the NBSCCCI began publishing the annual figures in 2009.

The increase was predominantly from September of 2024 and coincided with the release of the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools run by Religious Orders.

Along with the subsequent media coverage, this appears to have enabled individuals to come forward.

As has been the pattern in recent years the vast majority of allegations relate to the period from 1960…

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(RNS) — The SBC’s Executive Committee has spent millions defending itself against former leaders accused of abuse.

DALLAS (RNS) — In early April, Jennifer Lyell, a former Christian publishing executive, sat for a deposition in a defamation lawsuit filed by her once mentor and professor David Sills.

There she detailed alleged sexual and spiritual abuse by Sills in graphic detail — and insisted he had coerced her into sexual acts without her consent, and then asked her to join him at family meals afterward.

“But he always knew that I never, ever wanted any instance,” she said in an excerpt from her April 10 deposition. “And I always, always tried to stop it.”

Lyell died Saturday (June 7) after suffering a series of strokes. She was 47. A few weeks before she died, her lawyer filed excerpts of her deposition in a federal court as part of a legal battle…

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The alleged victim’s mother notified police of the 2024 incident earlier last week. The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland says the employee has been placed on leave.

CLEVELAND — An employee at Cleveland’s St. Aloysius Catholic School has been placed on leave following an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor in the Youngstown area.

According to a police report obtained by 3News, the mother of the alleged victim first reported the incident to Cleveland officers, who then relayed the information to Niles police in the suspect’s hometown. The woman told authorities last week that an employee abused her son in March of 2024, when her son was just 15.

The suspect, 33, faces a charge of sexual battery by a school person of authority. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, which oversees operations at St. Aloysius, confirmed the school “immediately” put the employee on leave “pending the results…

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When Pope Leo XIV summoned the leader of Opus Dei to see him last month, in one of his first official audiences, Vatican watchers immediately began to wonder what the meeting meant.

Some said it was a clear olive branch, a peace offering from a new pope who wanted to heal relations with a group they felt had been unduly attacked by Pope Francis.

Others said the urgency of the meeting betrayed the new pope’s frustration over delays to the group’s new statutes — first requested by Francis three years ago — and a signal that reforming Opus Dei was a clear priority.

Opus Dei quickly hailed the “closeness and affection” of the discussion.

Other readouts from the meeting seemed potentially more ominous.

“The Holy Father asked about the current study of the Statutes of the Prelature and listened with great interest to the explanations…

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Three other decisions remain on the pope’s desk which will weigh heavier on his mind.

The Dicastery for Communications removed from Vatican websites artwork by the disgraced former Jesuit Fr. Marko Rupnik over the weekend.

The decision, which has not been officially acknowledged or explained by the dicastery, came as social media users highlighted again how works by the accused serial sexual abuser were displayed on the Vatican’s official website to illustrate upcoming feasts, like Monday’s memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church.

The cycle of outrage over the continued use of Rupnik’s work by official Vatican media had become a regular event, following the disclosure of the extent of allegations against the artist in 2022 — including that he sexually abused women religious as part of his creative process.

The Vatican’s continued use of the images was repeatedly cited by survivors of abuse and their advocates as a harmful…

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In short 

The ACT Greens have announced a bill that would introduce legislation aimed at holding institutions accountable for the actions of their employees. 

It follows a High Court ruling last year that found the church could not be held accountable for the actions of a priest accused of sexual assault.

What’s next? 

The party will introduce the bill later in the month.

The ACT Greens have unveiled a bill aimed at making institutions such as the Catholic Church, Scouts and sporting groups vicariously liable for the actions of those associated with them who have sexually abused children.

This includes priests, Scouts leaders, and sports coaches who may have a relationship with the organisation akin to employment, even though it is not strictly an employment relationship.

Not an employee

The move was prompted by a High Court ruling last year that found a priest, accused of child sex offences, was…

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Canon Patrick McEntee (70) denies sexual offences against five pupils at St Michael’s College, Enniskillen where he taught

The jury has retired to consider its verdict in the trial of a priest accused of historic sex assault charges against teenage schoolboys.

Canon Patrick McEntee (70) from Esker Road, Dromore denies sexual offences against five males who were pupils at St Michael’s College, Enniskillen where he taught.

There are four counts of indecently assaulting one complainant between 1988/89 and a single count of indecently assaulting another between 1980/81.

In addition, there are a further four counts of indecent assault against three males- two against one and single counts against the other two, allegedly between 1978 and 1987.

Dungannon Crown Court heard there were similarities in terms of Canon McEntee taking them to his private quarters.

Classical music was playing and he would have the boys sit on his knee “for…

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The state house of representatives yesterday passed a pair of bills to let survivors of childhood sexual abuse file lawsuits in Pennsylvania beyond the state’s current statute of limitations.

House Bill 462, which passed 122-80, would open a two-year window for survivors to file a civil lawsuit against abusers.  The other, known as House Bill 464, would start the process to amend the state constitution to enact the policy, taking it one step closer to putting it on the ballot for a referendum.  The same pair of proposals received support in the state house over two years ago, but died without action in the state senate.

State Representative Jim Struzzi voted in favor of the bills, but Representative Brian Smith voted against them.  They now head to the Senate for further consideration.

You can report news by emailing us at news@wccsradio.com.

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• The Pennsylvania House approved two measures to allow survivors of child sexual abuse to sue their abusers and involved institutions, even after the statute of limitations has expired.
• One measure is a simple change to state law, while the other is a proposed constitutional amendment requiring a future statewide vote.
• Previous attempts to amend the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse survivors have failed due to bureaucratic errors and partisan disagreements.
• Survivors and advocates have long sought this change, arguing the current laws unfairly deny them justice.

Pennsylvania lawmakers have revived a proposal that would enable survivors of decades-old child sexual abuse to sue the perpetrators, a chance victims say the state’s statute of limitations has unfairly denied them.

A pair of measures approved by the House of Representatives June 9 would open a two-year window allowing these victims to file legal claims against abusers and the institutions that covered up their…

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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Proposals that would let survivors of childhood sexual abuse file lawsuits in Pennsylvania beyond the state’s current statute of limitations passed the state House on Monday, the latest development in a yearslong lobbying campaign.

One of the two bills is a common piece of legislation that now heads to the GOP-controlled Senate for consideration. It passed the House 122-80, with Democrats voting unanimously for it while a majority of Republicans were opposed.

The other piece of legislation moves the state closer to putting a constitutional amendment about the issue before voters, which would require three more legislative votes before the statewide referendum. That bill passed the House 138-64, again with unified Democrats.

“This is about a group of survivors who have been denied access to our court system,” Democratic Rep. Nate Davidson said during debate. “And we have the opportunity to…

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Truett McConnell University has placed its president on leave as the institution investigates allegations of sexual assault against the school’s former vice president. 

In a statement published on Facebook Friday, the Georgia-based Baptist university announced the additional steps it’s taken following the emergence of allegations of sexual assault against former Vice President Bradley Reynolds.

TMU’s Board of Trustees “met out of genuine concern” and “with broken hearts” last Friday as it sought to address the situation. The meeting resulted in the unanimous approval of a third-party investigation into the sexual assault allegations to be conducted by Richard Hyde of Phoenix Research LLC. Additionally, they placed Truett McConnell President Emir Caner on administrative leave until the completion of the investigation and the appointment of John Yarbrough as acting president. 

Truett McConnell requested continued prayers for the campus community as well as “all parties involved.”

The decision by the…

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Images of artwork created by a disgraced celebrity cleric accused of serial sexual and other abuse have disappeared from official Vatican Media websites without explanation, almost a year after the head of the Vatican’s communications outfit strongly defended his department’s continued use of the images even in the face of sustained public outcry.

Victims and advocates received the news with cautious favor, but the development highlights how far the Vatican and the Church have to go toward real reform of safeguarding culture and the ecclesiastical justice system.

“Rape Art”

The offending images were digital reproductions of works created by Father Marko Rupnik – a former Jesuit accused of spiritually, psychologically, and sexually abusing dozens of victims over a period of thirty years – for much of which time Rupnik was based in Rome.

For decades, Rupnik enjoyed the favor of popes, Vatican officials, and his erstwhile superiors in the Society…

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“It was a night of bravery. A night of people finally standing up and saying, ‘Enough,’” shares Mary Caplan, a resident at Coterie Hudson Yards.

It was June of 1969, and Mary stood outside the Stonewall Inn. She was out with friends – a group of people with mixed backgrounds and orientations who often gathered in the neighborhood. After a spat with her boyfriend, she stepped outside for a smoke. That’s when four police wagons rolled up as part of a raid.

“It was like being slammed into a wall. I thought, ‘This can’t be happening.’ Most of the people arrested weren’t even from New York. They were kids from Jersey or Long Island who had come in just to be themselves. They thought they were in a safe place.” The protest that followed would become known as the Stonewall Uprising – a turning point in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights…

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The crisis at Bétharram exposes the fault lines of France’s response to clergy sexual abuse, leading to further politicization of the issue.

The Church’s weak response leaves the survivors of abuse at Bétharram at the mercy of French politics, revictimizing them on a daily basis.

Despite French secularism and prior efforts from the Catholic Bishops to acknowledge the depth of crisis in their country, François Bayrou’s response to the crisis at Bétharram is verbose and inefficient.

Whoever follows French news these days would notice how many stories are associated, one way or the other, to issues of sexual abuse and violence. Last year, France, Europe and the world were in shock after knowing the details of Giséle Pelicot’s quest for justice.

More recently, France experienced a similar collective shock when a trial revealed details of how Joël Le Scouarnec, a surgeon, abused at least 300 of his patients. If that was not…

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In “Medicine River,” Mary Annette Pember examines a national shame — and the trauma it wrought in her own family.

MEDICINE RIVER: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools, by Mary Annette Pember

In 1892, Richard Henry Pratt, the founder of one of the country’s first Native American boarding schools, told an audience, “A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one,” referring to George Armstrong Custer’s bloody massacres. “In a sense, I agree with the sentiment, but only in this: that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.”

Before establishing the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, Pratt participated in the forced removal of tribes from the southern plains while a U.S. calvary officer. The school was another act of genocide: Upon entering, children were given…

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As the Newsboys continue to respond to allegations of drug abuse and inappropriate sexual actions by former lead singer Michael Tait, one band member admitted the mega-popular band wasn’t surprised by the news.

“We have obviously heard rumors over the years and each time something would come up we would try to find the source and no one would tell us,” lead singer Adam Agee wrote in a Facebook group.

“We asked Tait each time something would come up and he would deny it emphatically.”

According to Agee, Tait called a band meeting in January to make the announcement that he was leaving, just days before their first show of 2025.

“He had always said we would be doing this until we were 70 years old, and that’s truth whether you believe it or not,” he said.

After a June 4 story in The Roys Report (TRR) about Tait ricocheted around the world,…

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DEERFIELD — Deerfield Academy has reached a “low six-figure settlement” with another sexual abuse victim of longtime teacher Peter G. Hindle.

The settlement was announced outside the school Tuesday morning by Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston-based attorney representing victims of sexual abuse, after the 63-year-old victim finally came forward in 2024 while meeting with his primary care physician. Hindle taught at Deerfield Academy for more than 40 years and died in 2017.

Hindle, who Garabedian described as a “serial pedophile,” allegedly sexually abused the victim approximately 15 times between 1977 and 1979, when the victim was 15 to 17 years old. Garabedian said Hindle endeared himself to the victim by connecting with him through the school’s soccer team, before the teacher allegedly lured him to the residence and began engaging in sexual abuse.

“The victim is 63 years old, he revealed for the first time in his life that he was…

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Lyell was once one of the highest-ranking women in the Southern Baptist Convention, but her life fell apart after she reported alleged abuse by a former SBC seminary professor.

Jennifer Lyell, an editor and author whose promising career in Christian publishing was derailed when she accused a former Southern Baptist leader of abuse, died Saturday (June 7). She was 47.

“Jennifer passed gently into the arms of her Redeemer, surrounded by loved ones,” said her friend Rachael Denhollander, who said Lyell had suffered “a series of massive strokes, leading to her becoming unconscious sometime Monday afternoon. She was found Thursday evening after missing a medical appointment.”

For much of her adult life, Lyell had been a Southern Baptist success story. She came to faith at 20 at a Billy Graham crusade, went to seminary, dreamed of becoming a missionary, taught the Bible to young women and children and became a vice president…

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In memory of Jennifer Lyell

Jennifer Lyell died yesterday.

Three years ago, she told me she didn’t think she would live.

She had survived alleged sexual abuse at the hands of her seminary professor. For a time, she survived being viciously attacked, over and over again, by those who sought to make her out as the villain, the temptress, the whore. But she told me she didn’t think she could survive what was being done to her much longer.

Yesterday, her body gave out. The stated cause was a series of massive strokes. She was 47.

Her death follows that of SBC survivor Duane Rollins last month. Rollins was the alleged victim of SBC leader and conservative takeover architect Paul Pressler. The SBC is meeting this week in Dallas, Texas, at its annual convention. These deaths ought to cast a pall over the gathering, but if history serves as a…

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In support of the National Day of Prayer for Survivors of Abuse, the Catholic Diocese of Northampton, in collaboration with Churches Together, held a LOUDfence event under the theme “Hope for Survivors – A Journey Towards Healing Where There Has Been Pain”. This important event offered an opportunity for communities to come together in solidarity and compassion for all those affected by abuse, recognising the lasting impact and the need for healing.

LOUDfence is a survivor-led initiative that encourages people to tie colourful ribbons and written messages to a fence, symbolising solidarity and hope for survivors of abuse. It is a simple yet powerful act of public witness, compassion, and commitment to justice.

The Luton LOUDfence – Hope for Survivors event offered a safe, sacred space for survivors to share their stories and find spiritual and emotional support from the lay and clergy volunteers.

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The Catholic bishops of Washington state asked a federal court to block a new law requiring clergy to report child abuse or neglect without exceptions for clergy-penitent privilege.

The bishops on June 5 asked the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Tacoma to issue a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of the law, scheduled to take effect on July 27.

Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of Becket, a religious liberty law firm in Washington, D.C., that is representing the bishops, said in a statement, “Washington state has no business intruding into the confessional — particularly when they give a free pass to lawyers who have legally protected confidential relationships with clients.”

“Punishing priests for following the Catholic Church’s millennia-old faith traditions isn’t just wrong, it’s unconstitutional,” Rienzi said.

The bishops previously filed a lawsuit with the District Court in response to Democratic Gov. View Cache

Pope Leo XIV met with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) on Thursday of last week, in what was arguably the most significant meeting of Leo’s pontificate to date and almost certainly the most sensitive.

Leo met with the Commission for a full hour – twice as much time as had been allotted for the meeting in the pope’s busy Thursday schedule – and pushed back a meeting with the Secretariat of State.

The meeting with the PCPM was behind closed doors. No copy or transcript of the pope’s remarks was circulated. The founding president of the PCPM, Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, emeritus of Boston, gave an interview to Vatican News in which he said there has been evolution in the Commission’s work over the years.

“Our main purpose was to be advisors to the Holy Father in the area of safeguarding,” O’Malley said.

“We have also…

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The Catholic Bishops of Washington on Thursday asked a federal court to block a new state law requiring priests to report instances of child abuse or neglect – even when it’s disclosed in confession – before the law takes effect this summer.

Senate Bill 5375 makes members of the clergy mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect, meaning religious leaders – ministers, priests, rabbis and others – would be required to report suspected child abuse and neglect. That means priests would be required to break the sacred seal of confession or face fines and jail time.

First Liberty Institute is one of the groups representing Archbishop Paul Etienne, Bishop Thomas Daly, and Bishop Joseph Tyson, who filed an initial lawsuit in federal court last week to block the law from taking effect on July 27.

First Liberty Institute Attorney Hiram Sasser told The Center Square that his clients’ focus is on protecting…

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The U.S. Catholic bishops’ latest annual report on child and youth protection shows abuse allegations continue to decline — but authors warned of the dangers of complacency among dioceses and the laity in upholding key aspects of bishops’ safe environment protocols.

In particular, said the report, lack of functioning diocesan review boards to review protocols and allegations, along with an increase in parents opting their children out of safe environment training, could erode progress in addressing and preventing abuse.

On June 6, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection released the “2024 Annual Report — Findings and Recommendations on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”

The 2024 report is the 22nd since the charter was established by the U.S. Catholic bishops in 2002 as a number of clerical abuse scandals emerged. Commonly…

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The Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections (CSWR), part of the University Libraries, has announced the public release of the first portion of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe Institutional Abuse Collection. This important digital archive provides public access to previously sealed legal documents related to clergy sexual abuse cases in New Mexico.

The collection was established as a part of the settlement between the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by its clergy members. This first batch of documents consists of deposition transcripts related to lawsuits against the Archdiocese in the 1900s, 2000s, and 2010s. Overall the collection includes depositions, personnel files, church administrative records, and other legal documents from the settlement. These documents, now available in digital format, serve as a crucial resource for survivors, researchers, journalists, and community members seeking greater transparency and accountability in institutional abuse cases.

“New Mexico was an epicenter…

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Pope Leo XIV is set to face one of his first major tests with a petition addressed to him calling for the removal of Cologne Archbishop Rainer Maria Woelki over concerns about his handling of sexual abuse allegations.

Newsweek has contacted the Vatican via email, for comment.

Why It Matters

As the newly elected pope, people will be watching how Leo handles concerns about sex abuse in the church.

How the Vatican responds to the petition, which has more than 60,000 signatures, could set the tone for Pope Leo’s leadership style and his stance on episcopal accountability worldwide.

What To Know

Woelki has long been a divisive figure in the church amid criticism of his handling of sexual abuse cases in the archdiocese of Cologne.

In September 2021, Pope Francis decided to leave Woelki in office despite massive criticism over his handling of the sexual abuse cases. The pontiff instead gave the cardinal…

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At the time Pope Francis picked Bishop Gregg Caggianelli, then-Cardinal Robert Prevost — now Pope Leo XIV — was running the Vatican office that selects and vets prospective bishops. Cardinal Blase Cupich also is part of that office.

One of Pope Francis’ last U.S. bishop appointments, who appears to be the first American bishop ordained after Pope Leo XIV’s election, was accused in lawsuits more than a decade ago of failing to sideline a volunteer minister at his Catholic parish following a complaint of inappropriate behavior with an altar boy in 2011.

The volunteer minister, Robert F. Little, later molested another boy from the same Fort Myers, Florida, parish, according to the lawsuits, which were filed by parents of the children and accused the Rev. Gregg Caggianelli and other church officials of not doing enough to keep Little away from minors.

Caggianelli, an Air Force officer long part of the Diocese…

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Editor’s Note: This story contains graphic descriptions of sexual violence.

The parents of a 15-year-old who was allegedly sexually assaulted on multiple occasions at Central Catholic High School say the school’s response is “too little, too late.”

In late April, the Garcia family reported that their son was physically and sexually assaulted on multiple occasions by teammates on the soccer team at the prestigious boys school.

Wednesday evening, Central Catholic released a statement saying they had investigated and disciplined five students, including two students who were forced to withdraw from the school.

The school also said they would engage a third party to conduct an independent investigation of Central Catholic and its staff, and shared a link to make anonymous reports online.

The Garcias and their attorney Jesse Guerra…

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When the news broke a year ago that a famous Dallas pastor had sexually abused a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s, church leaders across several states swore they knew nothing about it.

Now it turns out they did.

Just-released court documents show that Bible teacher Jimmy Evans and leaders at a Colorado megachurch knew all along that Gateway Church founder Robert Morris had sexually abused Cindy Clemishire.  

Despite this, Evans said in a statement last year that he was “shocked and devastated” by recent revelations of Clemishire’s abuse.  

And Brady Boyd, pastor of New Life Church—a megachurch in Colorado Springs, which reportedly had been informed of Clemishire’s abuse in 2007—acted like the abuse was news to him when it became public.

Addressing New Life’s congregation in June 2024, Boyd said it had “been a hard week” for him personally. And he urged congregants to pray for Clemishire, “who…

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Archdiocese confirms investigation is ongoing

Bishop Miege High School President Phil Baniewicz is on leave effective June 5 following concerns about his leadership abilities.

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas confirmed the information in a statement Friday morning.

Banewicz has been the subject of past abuse allegations that he has never been charged for.

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese told KSHB 41 News Reporter Sarah Plake that the executive committee of Bishop Miege High School’s Board of Trustees placed Baniewicz on administrative leave.

The decision was effective June 5, according to the Archdiocese spokesperson.

“Due to recent reports concerning his ability to oversee a safe environment for BMHS, a thorough investigation has been initiated,” the spokesperson said.

In March, KSHB 41 reported about the concerns of some parents, including Kelly Kincaid. You can watch that report in the video player below. Please see original article for…

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Archbishop Shawn McKnight has issued the following statement regarding the president of Bishop Miege High School, Phil Baniewicz:

“The executive committee of Bishop Miege High School’s (BMHS) Board of Trustees has placed Phil Baniewicz on administrative leave, effective June 5, 2025. I support this action of the executive committee for the well-being of the school. Due to recent reports concerning his ability to oversee a safe environment for BMHS, a thorough investigation has been initiated. 

“The executive committee of the board of BMHS has appointed Joe Schramp as interim president. 

“As this is a confidential personnel matter, no further information will be provided until the investigation is concluded.

“Our commitment is to make our schools and parishes places where every child feels safe, supported, and valued. This necessitates not only immediate action when concerns arise but also a continuous evaluation of our policies to ensure we are doing everything possible…

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Statement by David Clohessy, Volunteer director of Missouri SNAP

The head of a Kansas City Kansas Catholic school has been suspended because of “recent reports” questioning his ability to “oversee a safe environment” for kids.

It’s pathetic that Catholic officials continue to be so secretive about this man, his recent behavior and the child sex abuse report against him from New Mexico.

While his suspension is welcome, he should never have been hired in the first place.

Kids are safest when abuse allegations and concerns are reported to secular authorities like police and prosecutors, not to church officials. We hope every person who may have seen, suspected or suffered any misconduct by Phil Baniewicz or anyone at Bishop Miege High School will call law enforcement immediately. We also hope Archbishop Shawn McKnight will be more forthcoming soon and will use church resources to aggressively prod anyone with suspicions…

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The bishop has resumed serving his sentence for abusing seminarians under house arrest.

Disgraced Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta is back in his former Diocese of Orán, and will continue serving his four-year prison sentence under house arrest in a local convent, local Argentine media reported Thursday.

One of the bishop’s victims told local media this week that Zanchetta had met with Bishop Luis Scozzina of the local diocese and that Zanchetta would continue to serve his sentence under house arrest.

Zanchetta had previously been in Rome since November receiving “medical treatment.”

The bishop, who was convicted of aggravated sexual abuse of seminarians in 2022, arrived in Rome in November 2024, for cardiac treatment which his lawyers argued he could not receive in his home country, undergoing heart surgery at the Gemelli Hospital.

Under the terms of his permission to travel, issued by an Argentine court last year, Zanchetta was to return…

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The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection has released the 2024 Annual Report – Findings and Recommendations on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

The report is based on the audit findings of StoneBridge Business Partners, a consulting firm which provides forensic, internal, and compliance audit services. A survey regarding allegations of abuse of minors and costs that is annually conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University is also included as a part of the report. 

This is the twenty-second such report since 2002 when the U.S. bishops established and adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, a comprehensive framework of procedures to address allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy and establish protocols to protect children and young people.

The 2024 report covers July…

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LOCAL priest Fr Brian D’Arcy recalls how he “trembled in fear” and felt “ashamed” after he was abused by a religious Brother during his childhood, as he reflects on his life on his 80th birthday.

The Bellanaleck cleric, who celebrated his 80th birthday on Sunday in Croke Park, while Fermanagh beat Wexford in the Tailteann Cup, has spoken about how his abuse ordeal impacted on his life.

“I became his lunchtime recreation. I often trembled in fear. I didn’t understand what happened to me, but I knew I was no longer an innocent boy from Bellanaleck,” he said in the ‘Irish Independent’.

“I should have told my parents, but I was too ashamed. I was hampered by needless guilt.

“When he finished with me, he dismissed me with a pat on the head. He went on to teach his class and I felt dirty, rotten and fearful.

“Even though I did nothing…

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“I’m really not OK with this. I feel like we’re paying for the sins of our church leadership who horribly mishandled this abuse scandal”

The Diocese of Buffalo is preparing to ask parishes and other Catholic affiliates to contribute to help pay a $150 million settlement with more than 800 sexual abuse survivors.

Parishes will be getting invoices next week after a series of vicariate meetings.

“We will find out next Tuesday,” Nandor Forgach told WBEN. He is an active parishioner at St. Benedict’s Church in Eggertsville. “It’s looking like a good portion of money will be coming from each parish. Some are in better standing than others. They’ll be able to survive it. But others will be hurt by it.”

Forgach says nothing is confirmed, but he has heard rumors that it’s
going to be a percentage, north of 50% of parishes’ reserve funds and weekly collections.

“I’m really not…

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Pope Leo XIV today spent an hour meeting with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) at the Vatican.

The commission was established in 2014 by Pope Francis and has been part of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith since 2022.

In a statement about the meeting on 5 June, the commission said it updated Pope Leo on progress in the Memorare Initiative, a capacity-building program designed to support local churches – particularly in the Global South – in their efforts to protect minors and care for victims of abuse.

The Memorare Initiative works through four pillars: establishing safeguarding infrastructure, promoting prevention through education, establishing global collaboration, and creating strategic communication that empowers local churches to communicate effectively and foster transparency.

“The Memorare Initiative is tailored to each ecclesial context. It respects local autonomy while offering essential support to ensure that all churches, regardless of resources,…

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Pope Leo XIV Thursday met with members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors to get an update about their activities, while facing a clear litmus test on just how seriously he will take the abuse issue as pontiff.

The pope met the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, his first official appointment with the safeguarding body, June 5 for a meeting that lasted an hour and was an occasion for the commission to offer the pope an overview of their work and various initiatives.

Among these initiatives, according to a statement from the commission, were the Universal Guidelines Framework for Safeguarding that they are finalizing, as well as the Memorare Initiative aimed at supporting safeguarding efforts in the global south, and its 2024 global report on safeguarding.

The commission in its statement reiterated its “commitment to the unity and collegiality of all its members” and also…

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Archbishop Emeritus George Frendo on Wednesday evening apologised for “inadvertently” suggesting that victims of clerical abuse should forgive their abusers before filing a police report — a statement that has sparked outrage, with the Lisa Maria Foundation calling for him to be “kicked out of the Church”.

Frendo was reacting to a Times of Malta report about his comments on a live television programme where he encouraged victims of clerical abuse to forgive their perpetrators first before going to the police.

In a statement, Frendo insisted that he condemned the clerical abuse of minors “in all its forms”.

He said that forgiveness should not be an alternative to reporting such cases to the authorities.

“I apologise if, even inadvertently, I could have been perceived as conveying an alternative impression,” Frendo said.

The retired bishop was part of a panel of four people – three of them priests – on…

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