ABUSE TRACKER

CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

March 23, 2019

A new report lists nearly 400 priests and other Catholic Church officials with Illinois ties who have been the subject of child sex abuse claims, according to the group of lawyers who represent victims and released the study.

Many of the names on the so-called Anderson Report have been revealed before through court documents, criminal charges, media reports and church officials themselves. Some, like Daniel McCormack, have become notorious symbols of the abuse scandal in Chicago. Now defrocked, he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing multiple boys, many from St. Agatha’s Parish on Chicago’s West Side. McCormack served prison time and then last year was designated a sexually violent person so he could continue to be held indefnitely in a state facility.

Here’s a look at just a few of the lesser-known cases highlighted in the new report.

Monk convicted of crime against child in ’68 — and then again in ’94
In 1993, the Rev. Augustine Jones, then a Benedictine monk at Marmion Abbey in Aurora, was accused of having had inappropriate contact with a minor.

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ROME (ITALY)
LaCroix International

March 22, 2019

By Robert Mickens

Pope Francis is now in his seventh year as Bishop of Rome and chief pastor of the Universal Church. His pontificate, which began in March 2013 with such promise and hope, now seems to have been struck a mortal blow by an institutional crisis that looks to be spiraling out of control.

While there are still too many men in the Catholic hierarchy who continue to put their heads in the sand, it can no longer be denied that the phenomenon of clerical sex abuse (and its cover-up) is global in scope.The organizers of last month’s abuse “summit” at the Vatican made it their primary goal to convince all the world’s bishops of this fact.

But let’s be honest, is it really possible that prelates from Africa and Asia (and even Italy!) – where the abuse crisis continues to be downplayed or ignored – could be persuaded in the course of only four days of something that it took decades to drill into the heads of their confreres in places like the United States, Germany, Australia and Ireland?

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QUINCY (IL)
Herald-Whig

Mar. 22, 2019

By Matt Hopf

Twelve priests with local connections have been named in a 182-page report naming 395 Catholic priests and lay people reportedly accused of sexual misconduct in Illinois. Seven of the names already had been released by the Springfield and Peoria dioceses in reports of substantiated claims.

Named in the report are:

º Alvin Campbell, who briefly served at St. John Catholic Church in Quincy in 1952.

º Joseph Cernich, who had been a deacon at St. Mary Catholic Church in Quincy before ordination in 1983.

º Kevin Downey, who worked at Quincy College, now Quincy University, in two different stints from 1983 until 1985 and from 1986 to 1991.

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DENVER (CO)
National Catholic Register

March 23, 2019

By Krista Keil

Catholic bishops from around the world commenced a meeting last month in Rome to address the issue of clergy sexual abuse of minors. In the days leading up to the conference, another layer in this crisis emerged and was acknowledged by Pope Francis: sexual abuse of nuns in Africa by priests.

As an adult female victim of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest — abuse that occurred across international borders — I want to share my story.

In November 2012, I was 22 years old and headed to Tanzania, Africa, to do missionary work for the Catholic Diocese of Geita. On my second day in the country, a Catholic priest attempted to rape me at a diocesan-run hotel and conference center (known as TEC) in the capital of Dar es Salaam (Dar), where I was temporarily staying. After my perpetrator locked us in my hotel room, he eventually fled the scene after I began yelling and let out cries for help.

While there were three priests I was acquainted with that day who had taken me to experience Tanzanian culture and see the city of Dar, only one priest was responsible for the physical assault.

I was shocked, intimidated, confused, jet-lagged and completely alone in a foreign country. I didn’t speak the local language and had no idea how to report the incident to local authorities.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

March 23, 2019

By Inés San Martín

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Chilean Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, Archbishop of Santiago, who’s been subpoenaed by a local prosecutor’s office to testify over allegations that he covered up for cases of clerical sexual abuse.

Ezzati’s resignation came on Saturday and was announced by the Vatican’s press office.

To replace him, the pontiff tapped Bishop Celestino Aós Braco, of Copiapó, as Apostolic Administrator “sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis.”

As was the case with the other seven Chilean bishops whose resignations Francis accepted in the past year, the Vatican failed to provide an official explanation for Ezzati’s departure, though it’s widely understood that it has to do not only with his age, as he’s over 75, the mandatory age for bishops to offer their resignation, but also with his role in the country’s massive clerical abuse scandals.

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VICKSBURG (MS)
Vicksburg Post

March 22, 2019

The Catholic Diocese of Jackson took the bold step last week of identifying 37 former clergy members accused of sexually abusing children.

Eleven priests and one deacon who once served in parishes in Warren County were credibly accused of the sexual abuse. Thirty of the 37 were accused of sexual abuse while serving in Mississippi with the investigated cases happening between 1939 and 1998. The other seven worked in the Mississippi diocese but were accused of abuse in other states.

Bishop Joseph Kopacz publicly apologized at a news conference outside a cathedral in downtown Jackson after the diocese published the list on its website as part of the Catholic Church’s international reckoning.

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BRUSSELS (BELGIUM)
Brussels Times

March 23, 2019

The funeral took place in Mechelen on Friday of Cardinal Godfried Danneels, who died last week at the age of 85.

The ceremony in the Sint-Rombouts cathedral was attended by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, as well as a number of leading politicians and 175 members of the clergy. The funeral was conducted by Cardinal Jozef De Keser, the current head of the church in Belgium.

Cardinal Danneels was “a good shepherd for many years,” who had guided the church through “a turning point for the church and for society,” Cardinal De Keser said in his homily.

“It was not easy to be guide and shepherd at the same time, but he managed it with courage and authority,” he said.

A letter was read out at the service from Pope Francis, who had been elected by a conclave attended by Danneels.

The end of Danneels’ career as head of the church was marked by the scandal of sexual abuse by clergy, which by then had reached as high as the former bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe. His successor as bishop is now Danneels’ successor as primate – Cardinal De Keser. And he took the opportunity of the service to bring up the subject of the scandal.

“When his biography was presented several years ago, he spoke in public for the last time,” De Kesel said. “At that point the church was sorely confronted by sin and weakness within its own ranks. And he said, ‘Where I fell short, I rely on God’s forgiveness’. That is the prayer today of all of us.”

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TAOS (NM)
Taos News

March 22, 2019

By Cody Hooks

The last day to file a claim against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe related to sexual abuse by its clergy will be June 17.

The announcment appeared in the Legal notices of The Taos News March 21 and was posted to the archdiocese’s website.

The “bar date” is part of the Archdiocese bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for New Mexico.

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in December. It has about $49 million in assets, including about $31.6 million in property, according to the court documents. Under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, the debtor — in this case, the church — comes up with a plan to pay its debts while also continuing to operate.

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FT. WAYNE (IN)
The Journal Gazette

March 23, 2019

By Dave Gong

University of Saint Francis professor Adam DeVille has been writing about sex abuse in the Catholic Church for 27 years.

Now, he’s written a book that examines the structural issues of governance in the church. Specifically, DeVille’s book discusses how current structures, which centralize power with bishops and popes, must be reformed in favor of new structures that put power in the hands of localities.

The book, “Everything Hidden Shall Be Revealed: Ridding the Church of Abuses of Sex and Power,” has been endorsed by various bishops, clergy and theologians in the United States, Europe and Australia, according to a news release from the university.

DeVille’s book was released about a week ago, and so far, he said he’s received some mixed reaction.

DeVille said he anticipates his work will be somewhat controversial.

“I think that it’s going to be a stretch for some people, in some ways, to think about some of these changes, so I expect the reception will be critical in some ways and very controversial,” he said.

“I say, bring it on because we can’t just stick with the status quo.”

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WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer

March 23, 2019

By Linda Comins

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston issued a letter Friday to the “faithful of the diocese,” outlining diocesan efforts to ensure a safe environment for children and to deal with any allegations of sexual misconduct.

The letter comes three days after West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a civil suit against the diocese and its retired bishop, the Most Rev. Michael J. Bransfield, for allegedly violating the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act. Morrisey’s 14-page complaint, filed Tuesday in Wood County Circuit Court, seeks to enjoin and restrain the diocese from violating the Consumer Credit and Protection Act and to order Bransfield and the diocese to pay civil penalties for violations of the West Virginia Code.

In the unsigned letter, church officials state, “The diocese will address the litigation in the appropriate forum. However, the diocese strongly and unconditionally rejects the complaint’s assertion that the diocese is not wholly committed to the protection of children, as reflected in its rigorous Safe Environment Program, the foundation of which is a zero tolerance policy for any cleric, employee or volunteer credibly accused of abuse. The program employs mandatory screening, background checks and training for all employees and volunteers who work with children.”

In addition, the officials said, “The diocese also does not believe that the allegations contained in the complaint fairly portray its overall contributions to the education of children in West Virginia nor fairly portray the efforts of its hundreds of employees and clergy who work every day to deliver quality education in West Virginia.”

The “safe environment” mandate was part of a Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People adopted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in June 2002. Church officials said the diocese implemented its own sex abuse policy in the mid-1990s.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

March 23, 2019

By Thomas Reese

Last month’s summit in Rome on child sex abuse did not break new ground for those, like myself, who have been following this crisis for more than 30 years, but it did made clear — again — that the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has been devastating for the victims of abuse and for the church as a whole.

There are three parts to the crisis, which I plan to deal with in three successive columns.

First, there is the failure to protect children; second, the failure to hold bishops accountable; and third, the lack of transparency in dealing with the crisis.

Protecting children is a fundamental obligation of any adult, even of those who are not parents. Children are vulnerable and abuse is criminal. It is impossible not to be moved when listening to the horrible stories of survivors of abuse, who can be permanently scarred by the experience.

Abuse occurs in other settings, of course, including schools and in families’ homes, but that fact is no excuse for the church’s poor handling of abuse.

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ALTOONA (PA)
WJAC TV

March 22, 2019

By Crispin Havener

Some are praising the memory of the longest serving bishop in the region’s history for transforming the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. Many others Friday were remembering his record of hiding the child sex abuse scandal inside the church.

It all comes following the death of Bishop Emeritus Joseph Adamec on Wednesday. His “unexpected” death was announced Thursday by the diocese, though no cause was given.

“He was a man at times who would have a focus on something and he was going on it and there were times where he would sit back and say what do you folks think?” said Very Rev. James Crookston, Rector of St. John Gaulbert Cathedral in Johnstown. “He’s been living the life of penance and prayer (since his retirement).”

The diocese’s announcement of his death highlighted what he did to modernize the diocese, through mergers, ministry and bringing everyone together. But he was in charge in 1994 when the Francis Luddy case first cracked the child sex abuse scandal wide open, and has overtaken the diocese, the nation, and the world in the quarter century since.

“My sadness is for the hundreds of child sexual abuse victims of priests, teachers and employees the Diocese Of Altoona-Johnstown, and for their pain and despair, rather than someone in a position of power and respect that enabled and protected child predators,” said Richard Serbin, the lawyer for the victim in the Luddy case who would later bring may cases against the diocese.

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SIOUX FALLS (SD)
KELO TV

March 22, 2019

By Angela Kennecke

A day following the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese release of a list of names of 11 priests who abused children, KELOLAND Investigates is looking back at the history of the priest sex abuse problem in Sioux Falls.

Our requests for an interview with current Bishop Paul Swain on the release of this list of priest was denied.

In 2002, more than a dozen new cases of accused sexual misconduct surfaced against former Sioux Falls priests. At that time Bishop Robert Carlson did grant KELOLAND News an interview.

Robert Carlson is now an Archbishop of St. Louis where he has been lauded for his transparency when it comes to the church’s dealings with abusive priests. He’s given Missouri’s attorney general access to the church’s policies and procedures.

He reportedly did the same in South Dakota when he was bishop in Sioux Falls after the 2002 sex-abuse crisis.

“I think with the policies we have in place and those we’re going to add, I think we’ll be on top of it and will be handled in a way people will be happy with and at the same time can trust the good priests who are out there, because obviously the reputation of all of us is on the line,” Bishop Robert Carlson said in a KELOLAND News Interview on May 8, 2002.

The Bishop revealed in 2003 that 38 people had accused 16 different priests of sex abuse over the previous 53 years.

In 2014, Carlson testified in a sexual abuse lawsuit in Minnesota. Carlson admitted he didn’t turn Reverend Thomas Adamson in to police after Adamson admitted to him he had abused a child in 1984.

Attorney Jeff Anderson: Archbishop, you knew it was a crime for an adult to engage in sex with a kid?

Carlson: I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not, I understand today it’s a crime.

Carlson’s statement received national attention.

Carlson later went on to say that his statement from the 2014 Minnesota deposition was taken out of context and that he was responding to a specific point of Minnesota mandatory reporting law, not the act of abuse itself when he said, “I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not. I understand today it’s a crime.”

We’ve told you that the list of abusive priests put out by the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese Thursday had 11 names on it.

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DALLAS (TX)
Dallas News

March 22, 2019

An Austin priest faces an assault charge after allegedly groping a woman while administering her last rites in the fall, authorities say.

The victim, who suffers with complications from diabetes, was in home hospice care when Langsch was called to perform the religious ceremony, which offers absolution of sins before dying.

It was then that Langsch allegedly applied holy water and lotion to the victim’s chest, massaged her breast and asked, “Does that feel good?” according to the affidavit.

Although the incident took place several months ago, an arrest couldn’t be made until the victim was well enough to identify the priest in a lineup, Austin police told Fox.

The arrest came a month after Langsch’s removal from the Diocese of Austin’s active ministry in February.

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ONTARIO (CANADA)
Blackburn News

March 22, 2019

By Miranda Chant

A former Anglican priest convicted of sexually abusing four boys on the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation 40 years ago has been sentenced to nine years in prison.

David Norton, 72, was found guilty last November of three counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault. He was sentenced for his crimes at the London courthouse on Friday.

The nine year sentence delivered by Superior Court Justice Lynda Templeton matched the joint sentencing submission provided by the Crown and the defence earlier this week.

“Both the Crown and I recognized that, that sentence was at the higher range of sentencing,” Norton’s defence lawyer Lakin Afolabi said after the sentencing hearing. “The judge stated that she had to send a message of specific deterrence and general deterrence. She had very strong words for [Norton’s] behaviour and she felt that this sentence meets the ends of justice.”

Norton served as the rector of St. Andrews church on the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation in the 1970s and early 1980s. The abuse took place during that time.

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Patheos blog

March 22, 2019

By Hemant Mehta

According to just released 2018 data from the General Social Survey, “Nones” are now the largest single “religious” demographic in the country (23.1%), statistically tied with Catholics (23.0%) and just above evangelical Christians (22.5%).

While the single data point may not tell you much, look at those trend lines. “No religion” just keeps getting higher and higher, apparently pulling people from mainline Christian denominations and maybe some evangelicals, too.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Celebrity Insider

March 22, 2019

By Suzy Kerr

For more than a decade, the Duggars have been one of the most popular families on reality TV thanks to their fundamentalist lifestyle and uber-conservative beliefs. Counting On fans love to watch the Duggar kids as they start courting, get engaged, and then get married – and that all usually happens in less than a year. But what TLC cameras don’t often capture is what the Duggar men do for a living, and fans are wondering how they make their money.

Of course, TLC pays thousands of dollars per episode to feature the Duggar family on their network every week. But, when you split that money up between the family, it doesn’t go very far. So, the Duggars have their own businesses to create more income and to make ends meet.

Family patriarch Jim Bob started in the real estate game before 19 Kids & Counting debuted, and over the years he has made money acquiring different commercial and rental properties and also by flipping houses. He has taught some of his sons the family business, but many of the men in the family are either in school or working random jobs.

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NEW YORK (NY)
America Magazine

March 21, 2019

Since the summer of 2018, the church has seen three cardinals face specific consequences in connection with sexual abuse. Understanding these already complex cases has been made more difficult by unclear canonical procedures, by decisions reserved to Pope Francis himself and—most vexing—by limited communication from the Vatican about what process is being followed on what timeline.

Taken together, these cases illustrate why accountability for bishops has become a focus of the sexual abuse crisis in the church. Both process and communication need to be improved in order to rebuild trust among the people of God that the church is committed to healing and reform.

A quick review of the cases of the three cardinals suggests the challenges the church faces. With allegations of sexual abuse of a minor found to be credible and substantiated by the Archdiocese of New York, former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was restricted from ministry and dismissed from the College of Cardinals (both decisions made under Pope Francis’ personal authority) very quickly. Even though the criminal statute of limitations had passed, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith conducted a canonical process and he was finally dismissed from the priesthood in early 2019, just before the international summit on preventing sexual abuse in the church began.

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TORNOTO (CANADA)
Global News

March 22, 2019

By Liny Lamberink

A disgraced Anglican priest “forever stained the white collar” that he wore, said the London judge in charge of delivering his second sentencing in under a year.

Norton, a 72-year-old man who is already serving a four-year prison term for sexually abusing a young boy in the ’90s, was sentenced to another nine years behind bars for the sexual abuse of four altar boys at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Chippewa of the Thames First Nation decades ago.

Superiour Court Justice Lynda Templeton found Norton guilty on three counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault last November, and on Friday said he was a “man divided.”

“Mr. Norton purported to be a man of God,” she told the courtroom, calling his actions in the ’70s and ’80s, a “profound and abhorrent breach of trust.”

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

March 21, 2019

–Fr. Charles Potocki, whose name was included among 17 released by the St. Paul archdiocese in 2014 as part of settlement. The list was of priests with ‘substantiated’ claims of sexual abuse of minors against them. Fr. Potocki worked in Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska and Mississippi. He was ordained in 1970, belonged to a religious order called the Order of Friar Minor also known as Franciscan Province of the Sacred Heart (OFM) and died in 1992

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/diocesan_lists/St_Paul_and_Minneapolis/2014_10_23_Disclosures/2014_10_23_Potocki_Downloaded_2014_10_27.pdf

http://bishop-accountability.org/priestdb/PriestDBbylastName-P.html

–Br. Robert B. McGovern, who was named in a 2005 lawsuit alleging child sexual abuse in New Jersey at some point after 1975. He was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, attended Iona College and Manhattan College, joined the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1962, and took his final vows in 1969. Fr. McGovern worked at several New York schools (mostly in the Bronx) and at Holy Child School in Mississippi.

In 2011, he was the co-leader of annual Edmund Rice Youth Camp at Brother Rice High School in Chicago. He died in Chicago in 2016.

https://www.andersonadvocates.com/PriestList/382/Father-Robert-B.McGovern.aspx

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2007/07_08/2007_08_17_Abbott_PriestContinues.htm

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/complaints/2006_01_10_Hoatson_v_Egan_Amended_Complaint.htm

http://bishop-accountability.org/priestdb/PriestDBbylastName-M.html

–Fr. Kenneth M. Brigham was a Chicago priest who spent at least a month in Bay St. Louis MS. He retired to Las Vegas in 2005 and died in 2006. Fr. Brigham’s personnel file is one of 30 files of priests ‘credibly accused’ of sexually abusing minors produced by Chicago archdiocese in 2014 and released by plaintiffs’ counsel Jeff Anderson of St. Paul MN.

https://www.andersonadvocates.com/Documents/priest_files/BRIGHAM.pdf

https://www.andersonadvocates.com/Documents/timelines/Brigham%20Kenneth%20final.pdf

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WASHINGTON (DC)
WTOP TV

March 22, 2019

By Neal Augenstein

Rev. Urbano Vazquez has rejected a plea offer from D.C. prosecutors, maintains his innocence and will fight current charges of sexually abusing two children and an adult female parishioner.

In a status hearing, assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Williams told Superior Court Judge Juliet McKenna that Vazquez has turned down a plea offer that would have him plead guilty to reduced charges of one count of 2nd degree child sexual abuse, one count of misdemeanor sexual abuse of a child with aggravating circumstances, and one count of misdemeanor sexual abuse.

Currently, Vazquez faces a statutory maximum of 30 years, 6 months in prison. With the reduced charges, he could have faced up to 11 years, 3 months behind bars.

McKenna asked Vazquez, who was standing next to defense attorney Robert Bonsib, if he was rejecting the offer — Vazquez said yes.

Outside the courtroom, Vazquez’s attorney said: “He maintains his innocence. He will contest the charges at trial,” which was set to begin Aug. 5.

As WTOP first reported, a 9-year-old girl told police Vazquez had kissed her on the mouth and inappropriately touched her approximately 60 times in 2017.

After Vazquez’s arrest was reported, he was charged with two more crimes, involving another minor, and an adult woman.

Prosecutors have said in addition to the three victims Vazquez has been charged with abusing, three other victims — two minors and an adult — had accused him, but the statute of limitations had expired.

The plea offer extended by prosecutors would have precluded other charges involving the six alleged victims.

It’s unclear whether prosecutors intend to charge Vazquez with assaulting other victims. Williams told the judge he expects Vazquez will be indicted on the current charges by early May.

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WHEELING (WV)
West Virginia Public Broadcasting

March 22, 2019

By Glynis Board

West Virginia’s attorney general is suing the state’s Catholic Church. The lawsuit filed this week claims the church knowingly employed pedophiles in schools and camps without informing parents.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says the state is stepping in because the church violated the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act when it failed to disclose important information to families paying for educational services.

“We allege that the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese persisted in covering up and keeping secret the criminal behavior of priests related to sexual abuse of children,” Morrisey said during a press conference.

Investigations into the Catholic Church exist in more than a dozen other states, many suits drawing criminal charges in specific abuse cases.

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LEXINGTON (KY)
Herald Leader

March 22, 2019

By John Cheves and Daniel Desrochers

As attorney general and as a gubernatorial candidate this year, one of Democrat Andy Beshear’s biggest issues has been protecting Kentucky children, particularly from sexual predators. Beshear frequently touts his record of hammering on pedophiles and child-porn offenders.

“Whether it’s been years or whether it’s just been days, let us seek justice for you,” Beshear said as he proposed legislation last year to allow him to convene a statewide grand jury to investigate sexual abuse of children in the Catholic church. “That’s how we stop this activity from occurring again and make sure we try to build the type of commonwealth where no child and no person is ever harmed.”

But Beshear sang a different tune six years earlier in Paducah.

Then, as a lawyer in the firm of Stites & Harbison, Beshear successfully defended the Boy Scouts of America from two lawsuits filed by men who said they were sexually molested by their scoutmaster when they were minors in the 1970s. The men — with some evidence, including a 1979 letter — said Scout officials knew at the time of their scoutmaster’s predatory behavior but failed to stop it.

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[Rape in the Cathedral: accused priest Tito Rivera testifies in Rancagua]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 22, 2019

By Alberto González, Roberto Rojas, and Jorge Molina Sanhueza

Por cerca de 6 horas declaró en calidad de imputado el sacerdote Tito Rivera, acusado por abuso y violación en la Catedral de Santiago. El religioso llegó este jueves hasta la Fiscalía de Rancagua acompañado de su abogada, María Pinto, en una diligencia que se realizó antes de su formalización programada para el próximo 29 de marzo en Santiago.

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[“We went to denounce the abuses and the director threw us out of the office”]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

March 22, 2019

By Iñigo Domínguez

Una cuarta víctima en el colegio de los jesuitas en Gijón acusa a un sacerdote en los años noventa, que fue apartado en 2001 por hacer fotos de niñas en el centro

Los jesuitas del colegio la Inmaculada de Gijón apartaron en 2001 a uno de sus profesores religiosos, Cándido Alonso, tras recibir quejas de familias de alumnos por su comportamiento con menores y porque, admiten ahora, ya en los años noventa se había registrado otra protesta similar de una familia. En concreto, ha explicado la orden, tomaba fotografías de las niñas en el patio. Portavoces de la Compañía de Jesús han reconocido que durante una década no se tomaron medidas contra este religioso. Tras hallar esta información “en los archivos”, han confirmado los datos a EL PAÍS, que ha encontrado una mujer que acusa de abusos a este jesuita, fallecido en 2013. Se trata del cuarto caso de presuntos abusos en este colegio, protagonista de un nuevo escándalo desde hace diez días tras varias noticias aparecidas en la prensa local.

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[Toledo archbishop dismisses priest accused of abuse more than a year after victim wrote to Pope]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

March 22, 2019

By Julio Núñez

La joven puso una querella judicial en 2017 y la envió al Vaticano. Un año y medio después, la justicia tomará declaración al acusado.

El arzobispado de Toledo ha apartado a un sacerdote imputado por abusar sexualmente de una menor entre 2010 y 2013. Después de denunciar los hechos ante la justicia civil en octubre de 2017, la supuesta víctima escribió una carta al papa Francisco y otra al cardenal Luis Ladaria, prefecto de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, y adjuntó una copia de la querella. El obispado abrió un proceso canónico contra dicho clérigo, José Luis Galán Muñoz, aunque no ha precisado la fecha concreta y cuándo tomó las medidas cautelares. En junio de 2018, el vicario general de la diócesis tomó declaración a la supuesta víctima. La justicia ha tardado dos años y cuatro meses en llamar a declarar a la joven, ahora de 22 años, y espera escuchar al acusado este viernes. Después, la jueza decidirá si abre o no un juicio penal.

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[Toledo archbishop dismisses priest accused of abuse more than a year after victim wrote to Pope]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

March 22, 2019

By Julio Núñez

La joven puso una querella judicial en 2017 y la envió al Vaticano. Un año y medio después, la justicia tomará declaración al acusado.

El arzobispado de Toledo ha apartado a un sacerdote imputado por abusar sexualmente de una menor entre 2010 y 2013. Después de denunciar los hechos ante la justicia civil en octubre de 2017, la supuesta víctima escribió una carta al papa Francisco y otra al cardenal Luis Ladaria, prefecto de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, y adjuntó una copia de la querella. El obispado abrió un proceso canónico contra dicho clérigo, José Luis Galán Muñoz, aunque no ha precisado la fecha concreta y cuándo tomó las medidas cautelares. En junio de 2018, el vicario general de la diócesis tomó declaración a la supuesta víctima. La justicia ha tardado dos años y cuatro meses en llamar a declarar a la joven, ahora de 22 años, y espera escuchar al acusado este viernes. Después, la jueza decidirá si abre o no un juicio penal.

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PUNTA CANA (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)
NBC News

March 22, 2019

By Evelyn Gruber and Nicole Acevedo and Corky Siemaszko

A former Roman Catholic priest who was defrocked and convicted of molesting two boys in New Jersey has found a new vocation in a new location — teaching children English at a private school in this resort town. The former priest, Hadmels DeFrias, 47, told the NBC News reporter who tracked him down that he is no longer a threat to minors and also claimed to be a bishop in the “progressive Celtic church. “I don’t see the children with those eyes anymore,” DeFrias said in an extensive interview outside the Colegio del Caribe school in Punta Cana, where he watched over dozens of young boys and girls while shielding himself from the sun with an umbrella.”For me they are children and they need to be treated like children because that is what they are,” he said. “I don’t feel the attraction. I am not telling you that maybe someday it won’t be there, because I can’t predict the future.”As a priest, DeFrias, who is originally from the Dominican Republic, was assigned to the St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey, when he was accused of fondling two brothers, both under 14, in 2001 and 2002 while the brothers were working in the church rectory, according to court records and published reports. Charged with criminal sexual contact, DeFrias pleaded guilty in August 2004 and was sentenced to three years of probation, court records show. As part of his sentencing agreement, he was barred indefinitely from any future contact with children under 18 in the state of New Jersey. After being contacted by NBC News, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey issued a statement disapproving of DeFrias’ position working with children.”It is deeply concerning to hear that a defendant prosecuted, convicted and sentenced here for criminal sexual contact with children has resurfaced overseas, apparently with supervisory capacity over children,” the office said. “We would urge anyone in any jurisdiction to be vigilant and immediately report allegations of such conduct to local authorities.”NBC News has reached out to both the Dominican Republic educational officials and the school where DeFrias is employed to find out if they were aware of his criminal past. So far, neither has responded. In the interview, DeFrias expressed regret for assaulting the brothers but insisted that his urges are under control and that he has been in therapy for a decade. He said he told school officials about his criminal past before they hired him, even though he claims he didn’t need to “inform them.”

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PUNTA CANA (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)
NBC News

March 22, 2019

By Evelyn Gruber and Nicole Acevedo and Corky Siemaszko

A former Roman Catholic priest who was defrocked and convicted of molesting two boys in New Jersey has found a new vocation in a new location — teaching children English at a private school in this resort town. The former priest, Hadmels DeFrias, 47, told the NBC News reporter who tracked him down that he is no longer a threat to minors and also claimed to be a bishop in the “progressive Celtic church. “I don’t see the children with those eyes anymore,” DeFrias said in an extensive interview outside the Colegio del Caribe school in Punta Cana, where he watched over dozens of young boys and girls while shielding himself from the sun with an umbrella.”For me they are children and they need to be treated like children because that is what they are,” he said. “I don’t feel the attraction. I am not telling you that maybe someday it won’t be there, because I can’t predict the future.”As a priest, DeFrias, who is originally from the Dominican Republic, was assigned to the St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey, when he was accused of fondling two brothers, both under 14, in 2001 and 2002 while the brothers were working in the church rectory, according to court records and published reports. Charged with criminal sexual contact, DeFrias pleaded guilty in August 2004 and was sentenced to three years of probation, court records show. As part of his sentencing agreement, he was barred indefinitely from any future contact with children under 18 in the state of New Jersey. After being contacted by NBC News, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey issued a statement disapproving of DeFrias’ position working with children.”It is deeply concerning to hear that a defendant prosecuted, convicted and sentenced here for criminal sexual contact with children has resurfaced overseas, apparently with supervisory capacity over children,” the office said. “We would urge anyone in any jurisdiction to be vigilant and immediately report allegations of such conduct to local authorities.”NBC News has reached out to both the Dominican Republic educational officials and the school where DeFrias is employed to find out if they were aware of his criminal past. So far, neither has responded. In the interview, DeFrias expressed regret for assaulting the brothers but insisted that his urges are under control and that he has been in therapy for a decade. He said he told school officials about his criminal past before they hired him, even though he claims he didn’t need to “inform them.”

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WEST VIRGINIA
WV Public Broadcasting

March 22, 2019

By Glynis Board

West Virginia’s attorney general is suing the state’s Catholic Church. The lawsuit filed this week claims the church knowingly employed pedophiles in schools and camps without informing parents.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says the state is stepping in because the church violated the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act when it failed to disclose important information to families paying for educational services.

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WEST VIRGINIA
WV Public Broadcasting

March 22, 2019

By Glynis Board

West Virginia’s attorney general is suing the state’s Catholic Church. The lawsuit filed this week claims the church knowingly employed pedophiles in schools and camps without informing parents.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says the state is stepping in because the church violated the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act when it failed to disclose important information to families paying for educational services.

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JACKSON (MS)
WLBT TV

March 22, 2019

By Nick Ducote

On Tuesday March 19th, the Jackson diocese released the names of 37 former priests and church leaders accused of sexually abusing children.

Two days later, local members of the group SNAP, or “Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests,” say that four names were omitted from the list of credibly accused priests.

Mark Belenchia, SNAP Mississippi coordinator, says the four men omitted from that list were publicly accused of abusing children.

“They were in the diocese at some point in some capacity. I’m not sure what those capacities were, some were here longer than others. But they spent time here in Mississippi. Not having a complete list of credibly accused clergy puts children in Mississippi in harms way,” said Belenchia.

Belenchia and a small group of people stood outside the diocese, and the cathedral of St. Peter with a sign with the 4 men’s classification and their last names. When the group looked them up the andersonadvocates.com, the website gives a full brief of the accused priest.

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JACKSON (MS)
WLBT TV

March 22, 2019

By Nick Ducote

On Tuesday March 19th, the Jackson diocese released the names of 37 former priests and church leaders accused of sexually abusing children.

Two days later, local members of the group SNAP, or “Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests,” say that four names were omitted from the list of credibly accused priests.

Mark Belenchia, SNAP Mississippi coordinator, says the four men omitted from that list were publicly accused of abusing children.

“They were in the diocese at some point in some capacity. I’m not sure what those capacities were, some were here longer than others. But they spent time here in Mississippi. Not having a complete list of credibly accused clergy puts children in Mississippi in harms way,” said Belenchia.

Belenchia and a small group of people stood outside the diocese, and the cathedral of St. Peter with a sign with the 4 men’s classification and their last names. When the group looked them up the andersonadvocates.com, the website gives a full brief of the accused priest.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post

March 21, 2019

The all-but-impregnable wall of power and influence that for decades blocked victims of child sex abuse from seeking justice and compensation from pedophiles and their enablers has started to crumble — not a moment too soon. Stunned by revelations in Pennsylvania and elsewhere documenting the scale of abuse by priests given cover by the Catholic Church, state lawmakers are starting to tear up laws that set strict limits on the number of years that victims are given to bring lawsuits.

Until now, the church, along with insurance companies and a few other private organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America, has had the lobbying muscle to impede such measures, especially in states with sizable populations of practicing Catholics. In New York, for instance, people molested as children by pedophiles had until age 23 to press criminal charges or file civil lawsuits against their abusers. Repeated efforts to loosen that law were blocked by Republicans in the state Senate.

The dam of opposition to reform in Albany broke after Democrats took control of the upper house in last fall’s elections. In January, the church dropped its long-standing opposition to a more open system — allowing criminal charges until childhood victims turn 28 and civil suits until they turn 55 — when lawmakers agreed to apply the new law to public schools, as well as private entities such as the church. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the legislation into law last month.

A similar bill has advanced in New Jersey; a push for reform is underway in Pennsylvania.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post

March 21, 2019

The all-but-impregnable wall of power and influence that for decades blocked victims of child sex abuse from seeking justice and compensation from pedophiles and their enablers has started to crumble — not a moment too soon. Stunned by revelations in Pennsylvania and elsewhere documenting the scale of abuse by priests given cover by the Catholic Church, state lawmakers are starting to tear up laws that set strict limits on the number of years that victims are given to bring lawsuits.

Until now, the church, along with insurance companies and a few other private organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America, has had the lobbying muscle to impede such measures, especially in states with sizable populations of practicing Catholics. In New York, for instance, people molested as children by pedophiles had until age 23 to press criminal charges or file civil lawsuits against their abusers. Repeated efforts to loosen that law were blocked by Republicans in the state Senate.

The dam of opposition to reform in Albany broke after Democrats took control of the upper house in last fall’s elections. In January, the church dropped its long-standing opposition to a more open system — allowing criminal charges until childhood victims turn 28 and civil suits until they turn 55 — when lawmakers agreed to apply the new law to public schools, as well as private entities such as the church. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the legislation into law last month.

A similar bill has advanced in New Jersey; a push for reform is underway in Pennsylvania.

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WHEELING (WV)
WTRF TV

March 21, 2019

It has been two days since West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced his suit against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and people are continuing to react.

Thursday afternoon, people from Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) rallied together today in front of the Cathedral in Wheeling in support of the lawsuit.

SNAP leader Judy Jones said that they hope that this lawsuit helps dictate the future of other Diocese investigations in every state.

“We are hoping is that what the Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has done here is going to prod other Attorney Generals in other states to do the same thing,” said Jones.

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WHEELING (WV)
WTRF TV

March 21, 2019

It has been two days since West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced his suit against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and people are continuing to react.

Thursday afternoon, people from Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) rallied together today in front of the Cathedral in Wheeling in support of the lawsuit.

SNAP leader Judy Jones said that they hope that this lawsuit helps dictate the future of other Diocese investigations in every state.

“We are hoping is that what the Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has done here is going to prod other Attorney Generals in other states to do the same thing,” said Jones.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

March 21, 2019

The Movement to Restore Trust is a panel of influential local Catholics working to suggest reforms to the church in Buffalo in the aftermath of the sexual abuse scandal that opened wounds in the diocese.

The panel, after convening six different work groups that each came up with its own recommendations, this month delivered a report with nine key recommendations for the Buffalo Diocese. They deserve to be implemented.

The nine points urge the diocese to: work with the laity to restore trust; make changes voluntarily; address the needs of survivors for support; provide full transparency into the scale of the sexual abuse; ensure “the faithful” are central to the church’s organizational structures; delegate more authority to consultative bodies in the diocese; schedule periodic reviews of implementation; engage the leadership roundtable and “revive the Spirit of Vatican II.”

Bishop Richard J. Malone would do well to see that all nine are implemented. The Vatican II ideal, according to the Movement to Restore Trust website, is that “the Church is not simply the clergy, it is not simply the hierarchy, and it is not just the Vatican or the Chancery; the Church is the people of God.”

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DUPAGE COUNTY (IL)
Suburban Life

March 20, 2019

By Sherri Dauskurdas

Three hundred ninety-five Catholic members of clergy, publicly accused of childhood sexual abuse, have been named this week in a report that highlights their Illinois service histories, allegations of abuse, history of their subsequent transfers and any disciplinary action taken by both church and authorities.

A Bannockburn-based law firm specializing in cases involving clergy abuse released the list March 20. Within it are the names and photos of the nearly 400 members of clergy who have been publicly accused in the State of Illinois of abusing one or more children. All were either accused in a public forum or a settlement was reached between the church and the victims/families, according to representatives from the firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates.

Names, photos and locations where clergy served through the years of their duties all are included in the report. They are associated or were associated with the Diocese of Chicago, Joliet, Belleville, Peoria, Springfield and Rockford.

The Diocese of Joliet listing includes 43 alleged child abusers, 33 of whom worked for periods of time in DuPage County churches and schools.

Among them are:

Fr. John F. Barret, who served 1960-2011 at St. Peter and Paul in Naperville, Notre Dame in Clarendon Hills, St. Alexander in Villa Park, and Mary Queen of Heaven in Elmhurst.

Fr. Richard L. Bennett who served from 1976-1986 at St. Pius X in Lombard, St. Raphael in Naperville, St. Mary in Downers Grove, Catholic Community of Wheatland, and Holy Spirit Catholic Community Church in Naperville

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JAMESTOWN (NY)
Post Journal

March 22, 2019

By Eric Tichy

Allegations of child sexual abuse against two priests with ties to Chautauqua County have not been substantiated following an investigation.

According to a statement released Thursday by Bishop Richard J. Malone of the Buffalo Diocese, the Rev. Robert A. Stolinski and the Rev. John J. Sardina are eligible to return to active ministry following an investigation by the Diocesan Review Board. The independent board recently met to consider reports by investigators tasked with reviewing allegations of abuse by priests.

Claims against the Rev. Ronald B. Mierzwa, however, were substantiated and he will remain on administrative leave while the investigation is reviewed by the Vatican in Rome, Malone said.

According to WKBW-TV, Mierzwa was the pastor of Holy Name of Mary Church in Ellicottville.

Stolinski, meanwhile, is a retired priest who served in the Jamestown area, including as chaplain at then-WCA Hospital. He was one of four priests placed on leave in June of last year amid an investigation by the Buffalo Diocese.

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JACKSONVILLE (FL)
News 4 Jax

March 21, 2019

By Corley Peel

“Credible allegations” of sexual abuse of a minor were made against Father William Malone, who served at a Jacksonville Catholic church, according to a release Thursday from the Diocese of St. Augustine.

Malone, who served in the Diocese of St. Augustine from January 1982 to March 1992, died in 2003, the release said. The cases of abuse occurred in the early 1980s at Sacred Heart Parish in Jacksonville.

According to the diocese, a thorough review of the claims was conducted by an independent investigator, who determined the accusations were credible.

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PUNTA CANA (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)
NBC News

March 22, 2019

By Evelyn Gruber, Nicole Acevedo and Corky Siemaszko

A former Roman Catholic priest who was defrocked and convicted of molesting two boys in New Jersey has found a new vocation in a new location — teaching children English at a private school in this resort town.

The former priest, Hadmels DeFrias, 47, told the NBC News reporter who tracked him down that he is no longer a threat to minors and also claimed to be a bishop in the “progressive Celtic church.”

“I don’t see the children with those eyes anymore,” DeFrias said in an extensive interview outside the Colegio del Caribe school in Punta Cana, where he watched over dozens of young boys and girls while shielding himself from the sun with an umbrella.

“For me they are children and they need to be treated like children because that is what they are,” he said. “I don’t feel the attraction. I am not telling you that maybe someday it won’t be there, because I can’t predict the future.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW TV

March 21, 2019

By Charlie Specht

Bishop Richard J. Malone on Thursday returned a priest to active ministry despite a history of pornography problems and a looming federal investigation that may involve the priest.

Malone returned Rev. Robert A. Stolinski to “active ministry,” the diocese said in a statement, after abuse allegations against him “have not been substantiated.”

But the bishop’s own records — obtained by the 7 Eyewitness News I-Team — detail a long history of pornography found in rectories where Stolinski was living. The diocese made no mention of those incidences in its public statement Thursday.

Stolinski was sent to a “treatment center” in Canada twice but allegations continued to surface over the past two decades. He is retired but was allowed to hold a position “assisting clergy” at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Niagara Falls until his suspension last year, according to a church bulletin. It is unclear whether he will return to that church now that Malone and his diocesan review board has cleared him.

In 1987, when Father Joseph Bissonnette was murdered on Buffalo’s East Side, Stolinski was living in the same rectory and serving as chaplain at Erie County Medical Center.

“When the police investigated, they found a great deal of pornography (male homosexual pornography not involving children),” reads a passage in Bishop Malone’s “black binder” of diocesan secrets prepared for him by Terrence M. Connors and Lawrence J. Vilardo’s law firm when Malone became bishop in 2012.

“Father Stolinski was counseled,” the passage states, going on to describe financial problems with the priest. “He was then sent to Southdowns [treatment center] for analysis and counseling.”

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

March 22, 2019

By Inés San Martín

Continuing its efforts to fight clerical sexual abuse, the Archdiocese of Mexico City presented on Wednesday an Interdisciplinary Team for Attention to Victims, that involves priests, lay people and survivors, including the director of SNAP-Mexico.

The proposal is a concrete response to the Feb. 21-24 summit on the protection of minors that took place in the Vatican, with the participation of the presidents of bishops’ conferences from all over the world.

Joaquin Aguilar, who represents survivors on the new team, was among those who introduced the initiative to the media on Wednesday. After acknowledging that it hasn’t always been easy for victims of clerical sexual abuse to have paths of communication with the archdiocese, he said that recently it’s the Church that has been reaching out to the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

He also said that the institution has taken the first steps towards an “integral reparation” of the damage done by abuse, such as the sanctioning of those responsible, crime prevention, and victim assistance.

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VIRGINIA
Blue Ridge Muse

March 21, 2019

By Doug Thompson

Wife Amy grew up in a Catholic family in Belleville, Illinois, a moderate-sized city across the Mississippi river from St. Louis.

This week, a report from the Archdiocese of Chicago, identifies 22 priests from the Diocese of Belleville as child sexual predators.

One is Father Garrett Neal Dee, who served in Belleville from 1974-76 and from 1965-68 in Alton, where I lived and worked for 12 years at The Telegraph. He went “absent on leave” while at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Groom, TX, in 2003 and his whereabouts now are “unknown,” the report says.

Another priest, now retired served at St. Bernard’s in Wood River, which lies just East of Alton, from 1958-69. Another was in Alton in the 60s and returned to another church there in 1981. He died in 1983. Same for Father J. Cullen O’Brien. He began his priesthood at SS Peter and Paul’s Catholic Church in Alton in 1943, then two other Catholic Churches in the area before returning to St. Patrick’s in Alton in 1969 but left in 1970 and died eight years later.

Father Frank Westhoff began mass at St. Patrick’s in Alton in 1962, moved to a Springfield church in 1969 and then to Decatur before being listed as “absent on leave” in 1976 and again from 1986-88. He died in 2006

The “Spotllight” Boston Globe investigative team, who discovered widespread sexual abuse by priests in and around Boston and then nationally and worldwide, found that “absent on leave” was the church’s way of saying a priest is receiving treatment for his predatory sexual abuse of children.

When I showed the list, Amy shook her head and “no, that number of too low.” She suggested the number of sexual predators in and around her home down is easily more than double what the report claims.

The report named close to 400 in Illinois. Many are now dead or their whereabouts is “unknown.” Some live in “retirement residences” of the Catholic Church. Many remained priests until they died.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
South Hills Community News

March 21, 2019

By Mike Jones

A former student at St. Bernard School filed a lawsuit last week alleging he was molested by a teacher at the Catholic grade school in Mt. Lebanon in the 2000s.

Pittsburgh-based attorney Robert Peirce III filed the lawsuit March 14 in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas against the unnamed teacher, the school and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh in a case that could test the limits of the special Sex Abuse Victim Compensation fund set up last year by the diocese to help victims abused by predator priests.

The lawsuit claims the unidentified former student was molested at least five times during one school year while being tutored by the teacher, identified only as John Doe, because he was struggling with math. Doe was “abusing his role as a teacher and mentor to a young student breached the duty owed to his students” at the grade school that teaches pre-school students through eighth grade, the lawsuit states.

After the abuse, the lawsuit claims, the student began to abuse drugs and alcohol in high school to “repress the memories” from the alleged abuse. The student began seeing a therapist in December 2010 for behavioral issues, but didn’t tell his parents about the abuse until December 2017.

The Rev. Nicholas Nascov, spokesman for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, said he could not comment on the lawsuit, but that the “acts alleged do not involve anyone currently employed by Saint Bernard School.”

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[Trial of priest accused of child abuse in Entre Ríos is delayed]

ARGENTINA
GrupoLaProvincia.com

March 20, 2019

El juicio al ex cura payador Marcelino Moya, acusado por abusar de menores en la parroquia de la ciudad de Villaguay entre 1992 y 1997, fue postergado hasta mañana por la renuncia de su abogado defensor, José Ostolaza. Los jueces María Evangelina Bruzzo, Fabián López Moras y Melisa Ríos integrarán el Tribunal de Juicio y Apelaciones de Concepción del Uruguay y juzgarán a Moya mañana y el viernes, en audiencias orales, pero no públicas.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Kansas City Star

March 21, 2019

By Judy L. Thomas

Less than three weeks before the criminal trial of a priest charged with sexually abusing a child is set to begin in Wyandotte County, victims’ advocates on Thursday said they hoped the complete story comes out in court.

David Clohessy, former executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the group wants prosecutors to reject any plea deal for the Rev. Scott Kallal and instead push for a jury trial at which those “who may have concealed or ignored” alleged child sex crimes against Kallal “might also be publicly exposed.”

SNAP also revealed the identities of three more accused priests who had connections to the Kansas City area but have escaped scrutiny.

“We challenge local Catholic officials to disclose the names of all alleged predator priests, along with their photos, whereabouts and full work histories,” Clohessy said.

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kallal was charged in Wyandotte County District Court in 2017 with two felony counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. A jury trial is scheduled to begin April 7.

At Kallal’s preliminary hearing in 2017, a 13-year-old girl testified that when she was 10, Kallal twice tickled her breasts against her wishes. The incidents allegedly occurred in 2015 but the police report was not filed until July, when Kallal was suspended and charged.

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[Puerto Montt ‘priest’ found guilty of sexual abuse of minor]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 19, 2019

By Sebastián Asencio and Robinson Cardenas

Este martes declararon culpable de abuso sexual a un sacerdote veterocatólico que dirige una congregación en el sector Pelluhuín y Chamiza en Puerto Montt, región de Los Lagos. Se trata de Luis Felipe Izquierdo, religioso no reconocido por la Iglesia Católica que fue investigado por el Ministerio Público tras ser denunciado por el delito sexual.

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[Chilean survivors question Pope’s refusal to accept cardinal’s resignation]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 20, 2019

By Ariela Muñoz and Nicole Martínez

Sobrevivientes de abusos eclesiásticos en Chile cuestionaron la decisión del Papa Francisco de rechazar la dimisión del cardenal francés Philippe Barbarin. El sacerdote fue condenado a seis meses de cárcel por encubrir delitos contra menores de edad, de los que tuvo conocimiento entre 2014 y 2015. El Vaticano dejó en manos del purpurado la determinación “que crea más oportuna”, invocando la presunción de inocencia. Todo cuando ya Barbarin decidió retirarse temporalmente del mando del arzobispado de Lyon.

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[Archbishop Fernando Chomalí says they are “determined to end abuses” in the Church]

CHILE
BioBioChile

March 20, 2019

By Manuel Stuardo and Carlos Agurto

El arzobispo de Concepción, Fernando Chomalí, aseguró que están “absolutamente decididos a terminar con los abusos” al interior de la Iglesia Católica. Chomalí llegó hasta la comuna de Yumbel para encabezar la festividad religiosa denominada “20 chico”, la que tradicionalmente replica en esta fecha lo que se vive para San Sebastián en enero.

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[Priest Tito Rivera says that his accuser “seems to enjoy the sexual fantasies”]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 18, 2019

By Angélica Baeza

El sacerdote reiteró que la denuncia en su contra es un “montaje” e insistió en que “existe una realidad de pecado que se vive al interior de la Iglesia, y no reconocerlo es taparse los ojos con ambas manos”.

El sacerdote Tito Rivera leyó esta mañana una declaración de prensa, para aclarar sus dichos en una entrevista que fue sumamente cuestionada por sus pares y líderes religiosos. Esto, luego de que se conociera denuncias en su contra de abusos sexuales y violación al interior de la Catedral Metropolitana.

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[Court of Appeals will issue ruling on dismissing case against Ezzati this March 22]

CHILE
La Tercera

March 20, 2019

By Angélica Baeza

El viernes se conocerá si el tribunal sobresee al arzobispo de Santiago de los posibles encubrimientos en abusos realizados por los sacerdotes Óscar Muñoz, Jorge Laplagne y Tito Rivera.

La Octava Sala de la Corte de Apelaciones determinó que el viernes 22 de marzo resolverá si sobresee o no al arzobispo de Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati, por los posibles encubrimientos en abusos realizados por los sacerdotes Óscar Muñoz, Jorge Laplagne y Tito Rivera.

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[Guadalajara monk imprisoned for abuse removed from public ministry after three years]

GUADALAJARA (SPAIN)
El País

March 19, 2019

By EFE (news agency)

El fraile estuvo tres años en prisión en El Escorial. Sus superiores justificaron su nuevo puesto tras salir de la cárcel porque oficiaba en “localidades sin niños”

El obispado de Sigüenza-Guadalajara ha decidido apartar de la misión pública a Celso García, un religioso agustino condenado en 2012 por abusos a menores que, tras salir de la prisión en 2015, fue recolocado como párroco de 24 pequeñas localidades del norte de la provincia de Guadalajara.

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[Bishop of Guadalajara places a priest in ministry for 24 villages after three years in prison for abuses]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

March 18, 2019

By Íñigo Domínguez

El monje, denunciado en la escolanía de El Escorial, fue condenado en 2012. “Ya ha cumplido su deuda con la ley y son localidades sin niños”, justifica la orden

Un monje agustino condenado por abuso de menores a tres años de cárcel en 2012, según ha confirmado la orden religiosa a este periódico, ha sido recolocado de nuevo como párroco en 24 localidades del norte de Guadalajara tras salir de prisión en 2015. Celso García fue denunciado en 2010 por tres menores de 11 y 12 años de la escolanía del monasterio de El Escorial, donde era profesor. Solo hubo noticias del caso un año después, cuando lo desveló el diario Público, pero luego nada más se supo del resultado del proceso ni del paradero del acusado. Lo cierto es que tras cumplir su condena, García está ejerciendo como sacerdote en numerosos pueblos, sin ninguna cautela especial, desde octubre de 2015. García reside en una de estas localidades. Un portavoz de los agustinos justifica la decisión porque “ha cumplido su deuda con la ley y la justicia”. Asegura también que “está totalmente fuera del contacto con menores, porque son pueblos muy pequeños solo con población anciana”.

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[Spain’s Catholic schools recommend reporting abuses, create crisis committees]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

March 18, 2019

By Julio Núñez

La patronal crea un comité de crisis para gestionar la pederastia en sus escuelas

Escuelas Católicas, la patronal de los centros concertados religiosos de España, ha publicado un decálogo de actuación contra los abusos sexuales a menores que obliga a informar a las autoridades y a apartar al acusado “independientemente de cuándo se produjeran los hechos”. La nueva norma recomienda a todos los adultos que tengan conocimiento de algún caso de abusos que lo comuniquen a la Fiscalía, la Guardia Civil o la Policía Nacional. “Existen dos posibilidades: denunciar o comunicar; esto último, en muchas ocasiones, es una vía más sencilla y adecuada”, señala el documento.

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COSTA RICO
AFP and The Tico Times

March 21, 2019

A Costa Rican Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse of a minor was arrested Thursday as he tried to leave the country by land to Panama, the prosecutor’s office said.

The priest was arrested at the border post of Paso Canoas, the main border crossing with Panama, when trying to leave the country, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office.

“The Deputy Prosecutor for Gender Affairs confirmed the arrest of a priest with last name Morales Salazar in Paso Canoas, when he was trying to leave the country,” the institution said in a brief statement.

The statement added that “Salazar is being investigated as a suspect in committing an alleged sex crime, so he will be transferred to San José, where a preliminary statement will be taken, and the request for precautionary measures will be assessed later.”

The case of the priest Jorge Arturo Morales Salazar came to light recently when Semanario Universidad published the testimony of Fabian Arguedas, 27, a student who said he had suffered abuses by the priest throughout two years during his adolescence.

His parents submitted a complaint to hierarchy of the Catholic Church, according to the story. On Friday of last week, Arguedas went to the prosecutor’s office to file a criminal complaint against Salazar.

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STEUBENVILLE (OH)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

They are not on diocese’s list of ‘credibly accused’ or admitted abusers
Group blasts Catholic officials on abuse & cover up
It’s “outraged” diocese has a priest answering victims’ calls
“He should be replaced by a non-Catholic licensed therapist,” SNAP says
“The real solution,” group insists, “is prosecution & legislative reform”

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will disclose that 8 publicly accused clerics were left off the Steubenville diocese’s list of ‘credibly accused’ or admitted abusers. Each spent time in southeastern Ohio but has attracted little or no media or public attention before in the state.

And the victims will call on local Catholic officials to
–stop using a priest to field calls from victims,
–post names of ALL publicly accused priests on their diocesan website,
–include details like their work histories, whereabouts and photos, and
–join with victims in pushing for real legislative reform, like repealing Ohio’s “archaic, predator-friendly statute of limitations” so survivors can do what bishops will not do: expose child molesters in court.

WHEN
Thursday, March 21, at 11-am

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PARIS (FRANCE)
Agence France-Presse

March 21, 2019

Pope Francis has rejected the resignation of French cardinal Philippe Barbarin who was handed a six-month suspended jail sentence this month for failing to report sex abuse by a priest under his authority, prompting surprise among Church leaders and condemnation from victims.

The pope’s decision, announced by Barbarin in a statement and confirmed by the Vatican, comes ahead of a judicial appeal of the case.

But it also comes against the background of the Roman Catholic Church’s struggle to restore trust in its efforts to fight child abuse, with the pope saying last month that “no abuse must ever be covered up, as has happened in the past”.

In a statement issued from his see in the French southeastern city of Lyon, Barbarin said: “Monday morning, I handed over my mission to the Holy Father. He spoke of the presumption of innocence and did not accept this resignation.”

Barbarin, the most senior French cleric caught up in the global paedophilia scandal, said he would remain in Lyon pending the court appeal, but added that “for a little while” he would step back from his job, allowing, at the pope’s “suggestion”, the local vicar general Yves Baumgarten to run day-to-day affairs.

“I remain in office but withdraw myself from the running of the diocese,” he told Catholic TV station KTO.

“After this judgement, this condemnation, and even if there had not been this condemnation, I think it is good that a page should be turned,” he added.

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ALLENTOWN (PA)
Morning Call

March 21, 2019

By Paul Muschick

The Catholic Church continues talking about how it must confront once-and-for-all the evil of priests sexually abusing children. The church’s actions continue to show those words are hollow.

I’m talking this time specifically about Pope Francis.

The pope declined Monday to accept the resignation of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of France, who was convicted March 7 of failing to report a known pedophile priest to police.

Contrast that with what the pope said only a month ago at a worldwide summit he called to address the sex abuse scandal.

“No abuse should ever be covered up (as was often the case in the past) or not taken sufficiently seriously, since the covering up of abuses favors the spread of evil and adds a further level of scandal,” he said.

Pope Francis condemned concealing abuses. Yet he chose to retain someone who was convicted of concealing abuses.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service

March 21, 2019

WARSAW, Poland – A close aide to St. John Paul II has vigorously defended the late pope’s handling of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and denied accusations that he ignored the problem during his 27-year pontificate.

“Emerging opinions that John Paul II was sluggish in guiding the church’s response to sexual abuse of minors by some clerics are prejudicial and contrary to historical facts – the pope was shocked and had no intention of tolerating the crime of pedophilia,” said Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was the pontiff’s personal secretary for 39 years.

St. John Paul saw how local churches “dealt with emerging problems and gave help when necessary, often at his own initiative.”

The 79-year-old cardinal, who retired in 2016 after 11 years as archbishop of Krakow, was reacting to media criticisms that the Polish pontiff failed to confront abuse claims when they became widespread in the 1980s.

In a March 20 statement to Poland’s Catholic Information Agency, KAI, he said the pope had concluded “new tools were needed” when the abuse crisis “began to ferment” in the United States.

He added that the saint had given church leaders new powers to combat it, including indults, or special licenses to ensure “a policy of zero tolerance,” for the U.S. and Irish churches in 1994 and 1996.

“These were, for the bishops, an unambiguous indication of the direction in which they should fight,” Cardinal Dziwisz said.

“When it became clear local episcopates and religious superiors were still unable to cope with the problem, and the crisis was spreading to other countries, he recognized it concerned not just the Anglo-Saxon world but had a global character,” the cardinal said.

Criticisms of St John Paul’s record have increased in recent months.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Religion News Service

March 21, 2019

By Thomas Reese, S. J.

Last month’s summit in Rome on child sex abuse did not break new ground for those, like myself, who have been following this crisis for more than 30 years, but it did made clear — again — that the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has been devastating for the victims of abuse and for the church as a whole.

There are three parts to the crisis, which I plan to deal with in three successive columns.

First, there is the failure to protect children; second, the failure to hold bishops accountable; and third, the lack of transparency in dealing with the crisis.

Protecting children is a fundamental obligation of any adult, even of those who are not parents. Children are vulnerable and abuse is criminal. It is impossible not to be moved when listening to the horrible stories of survivors of abuse, who can be permanently scarred by the experience.

Abuse occurs in other settings, of course, including schools and in families’ homes, but that fact is no excuse for the church’s poor handling of abuse.

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NEW YORK (NY)
TV Guide

March 21, 2019

By TV Guide Editors

TV Guide’s Sex Ed Week explores the ways TV is pushing boundaries forward – and the ways it still lets us down

It’s no secret: people love to talk about sex, baby. But what Salt-N-Pepa left out of their groundbreaking, envelope-pushing, hit single was “on television.” As one of the more democratic mediums — and often the one preferred by younger viewers (at least before YouTube and streaming platforms took over) — television has long been a battleground over the ways in which sex, gender, and related issues are portrayed. And while some critics lambast television for how certain shows may negatively influence viewers’ beliefs and behavior, television has also been praised for the ways it can fill in the gaps of understanding, helping to create better informed and healthy relationships with sexuality for its viewers.

Over the past few decades, television has played a key role in shifting the representation of sex away from a restrictive, patriarchal binary to a more open, authentic, and accurate reflection of varying perspectives and experiences. And in recent years, the way television has approached issues surrounding sexuality has expanded at a rapid rate, as writers and producers are interrogating sex in ways they either never had the opportunity to do before or never chose to do before. Thanks to shows like Steven Universe and Sex Education, TV is carving out space to provide viewers of all ages with a progressive education on sexuality and gender that will hopefully further the conversation for this generation and the next.

But while we’ve come a long way since I Love Lucy’s married protagonists slept in twin beds, it’s not as though TV has magically solved issues pertaining to outdated boundaries, biases, and misconceptions surrounding these sensitive issues. For every groundbreaking series like Vida, there’s another that continues to let down their viewers again and again when it comes to its approach to sex (sorry, Game of Thrones, but yes, we are talking about you), and the way sex scenes are filmed still has a long way to go before they’re consistently safe for the performers involved.

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BERKELEY (CA)
Deadspin

March 21, 2019

By Lauren Theisen

A former sports medicine intern in the UC Berkeley Athletic Department named Paige Cornelius has accused Cal football coaches and players of sexual harassment, in a public Facebook post written on Wednesday.

Cornelius, whose post can be read in full here, first tells of a “member of the Cal Football Coaching Staff” who said to her, “I will get you fired if you do not have sex with me,” at a practice after sending her persistent texts. Cornelius told ESPN that this man was a volunteer assistant. Here’s what she says about him in her post:

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

March 19, 2019

By Carl O’Brien

UCC’s ‘bystander intervention’ is being made available to all 22,000 students

One of the most ambitious attempts to create a “zero tolerance” approach to sexual harassment in Irish third level is unfolding on the campus of University College Cork (UCC).

A few years ago, it began piloting a compulsory series of workshops on “bystander intervention” during the first year of its law, nursing and applied psychology classes.

Students were required to attend at least three of the six hour-long workshops to pass their exams.

Louise Crowley, a senior lecturer in law who leads the initiative, says the vast majority of students attended at least five of the classes.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

March 19, 2019

By Carl O’Brien

Report ordered by Minister recommends ‘transparent and accountable’ protocols

All third-level colleges should be obliged to provide classes on sexual consent for students or risk losing State funding, a Government-commissioned report has recommended.

The report follows rising concern over the level of rape and sexual assault on college campuses.

Commissioned by Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor, it outlines a series of steps which third-level colleges should be required to take to help create “safer and more respectful campuses”.

Among its proposals are that:

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BRIDGEPORT (CT)
Associated Press

March 21, 2019

A Roman Catholic diocese in Connecticut has agreed to pay $3.5 million to five men who alleged in lawsuits that they were sexually abused as children by priests.

The settlements involving three priests announced Wednesday by the Diocese of Bridgeport were reached following mediation with the law firm Tremont, Sheldon, Robinson and Mahoney representing the plaintiffs.

Two of the three accused were diocesan priests and have died. The third was a Maronite who worked at a church not overseen by the diocese. The Maronites paid for most of that portion of the settlement.

The suits alleged the abuse occurred from the late 1980s to the early 2000s in Bridgeport, Brookfield, Danbury and Ridgefield.

The diocese in a statement says it hopes the settlements “bring a measure of healing and justice to victims.”

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CHAMPAIGN (IL)
News Gazette

March 21, 2019

By Ben Zigterman

At least 16 priests with area connections are among the nearly 400 Catholic clergy members and church staff in Illinois named in a report — released Wednesday by a Minnesota-based law firm — that accuses them of sexual misconduct.

All had been previously mentioned on lists released by the Joliet, Peoria and Springfield dioceses, but Wednesday’s report by attorney Jeff Anderson is the largest list of accused clergy in Illinois and includes where each priest served.

It comes after a report in December by former Attorney General Lisa Madigan, which found that Illinois dioceses had only publicly identified 185 accused clergy out of the 690 it had been made aware were alleged to have committed sexual abuse.

The new report accuses the Illinois dioceses of “orchestrating an institutional cover-up of enormous magnitude” by transferring and retaining alleged perpetrators.

The Springfield, Peoria and Joliet dioceses all issued statements Wednesday about the report, explaining why some names on the list aren’t on their own publicly available lists, either because they never received allegations or found them to be unsubstantiated or not credible.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Irish Central

March 21, 2019

By Niall O’Dowd

A leading US Catholic church figure has slammed Irish leader Leo Varadkar for his gay orientation, attacked Irish clergy as weak and said decades of sex abuse scandals in Ireland’s Catholic Church are “peripheral”

A celebrated New York pastor with a worldwide audience on EWTN, the global Catholic network, has slammed Ireland’s leader Leo Varadkar for “publicly living in perverse contempt for the sacrament of holy matrimony.”

When asked about his comments by IrishCentral, Father George Rutler agreed that he was speaking specifically about Vardkar’s sexual orientation and the fact that he may well marry his partner, Matthew Barrett.

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KANSAS CITY (KS)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

Ordained in 2011, the accused cleric is young
Two alleged victims are both in early teens now
SNAP: “It’s your civic & moral duty to speak up”
Group also ‘outs’ 3 more accused Kansas priests
It seeks “victims, witnesses & whistleblowers now!”
“Archbishop: Teach your flock how to act,” SNAP says

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos a at a sidewalk news conference, weeks ahead of a rare criminal accused KC KS priest’s trial, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will
–disclose that a second victim of the alleged offender will testify,
–beg victims, witnesses and whistleblowers with information or suspicions about the accused priest to call law enforcement,
–urge prosecutors to “be tough and stand strong” against a plea deal, and
–prod the KC KS archbishop to educate his flock about the proper way to behave when abuse reports are made public.

They will also
–reveal the identities of 3 accused priests who are/were in Kansas City but have escaped virtually all scrutiny or attention here, and
–challenge local Catholic officials to disclose the names of ALL alleged predator priests, along with their photos, whereabouts and full work histories.

WHEN
TODAY,Thursday, March 21 at 2:00 p.m.

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WHEELING (WV)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

March 21, 2019

Victims applaud WV attorney general
They prod others with info to ‘step forward’
Group seeks “witnesses & whistleblowers to help AG
SNAP also ‘outs’ 3 accused priests ‘under the radar’ in WV

WHAT

Holding signs and childhood photos a at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will

—praise the WV AG for his recent civil suit on behalf of Catholic families and against the Catholic hierarchy, and

—prod the AG to work harder to bring victims, witnesses and whistleblowers forward, using his bully pulpit and public service announcements.

They will also:

–reveal the identities of 3 accused priests who are/were in WV but have escaped virtually all scrutiny or attention here, and

–challenge local Catholic officials to disclose the names of ALL alleged predator priests, along with their photos, whereabouts and full work histories.

WHEN

Thursday, March 21 at 1:00 p.m.

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AUSTIN (TX)
Associated Press

March 21, 2019

A Roman Catholic priest has been arrested after being accused of groping a woman while giving her the last rites in Texas.

Reverend Gerold Langsch, 75, allegedly anointed the woman’s chest with holy water, then began to apply lotion, massaging a breast, pinching a nipple and asking ‘does that feel good?’

The woman, who is still alive, added that Langsch, from Austin, then tried to slip his hand inside her diaper but was unable to.

He was arrested today after being accused of assaulting the woman in home hospice care on October 5.

Despite the incident being reported five days later, the arrest was delayed because of the woman’s health problems, reports CBS news.

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BROWNSVILLE (TX)
The Monitor

March 21, 2019

By Mark Reagan

The Cameron County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Wednesday that it is investigating “one or two” former priests who are alive and accused of sexual abuse.

“Although the investigation is still ongoing, it does show that most of the alleged perpetrators are deceased and the alleged acts occurred more than 10 years ago and therefore fall outside the statute of limitations,” District Attorney Luis V. Saenz said. “There are one or two where the perpetrator is alive and the alleged acts are still in the statute of limitations and those are the ones we are focused on.”

The Diocese of Brownsville in late January released a list of 13 priests and a deacon, who were assigned to 42 parishes across the Rio Grande Valley, who the church says are “credibly accused” of child sexual abuse.

After the Diocese released the list, the DA’s Office initiated an investigation.

“I can tell you that up to this point the Diocese through their counsel has been very forthcoming in providing information that I requested,” Saenz said.

Saenz declined to name the suspects and it wasn’t immediately clear whether the suspects were on the list of credibly accused the Diocese of Brownsville released.

However, Saenz did say the one individual his investigators are focusing on that is alive and the allegations fall within the statute of limitations is not in the United States.

“One of the individuals is believed to be outside of the U.S.,” Saenz said. “So … if we do decide that we can charge him, if he does get arrested, it would involve extradition.”

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post

March 21, 2019

As the Catholic Church quakes through one sexual abuse scandal after another, Pope Francis recently announced a policy he wants to implement on a worldwide scale: No man should become a priest without a psychological evaluation proving he is suited to a life of chastity.

In the United States, most men seeking to enter a Catholic seminary undergo psychological testing, often a battery of questions that probes their deepest secrets and can last for days.

As Francis elevates the visibility of this type of testing, it raises the question of just how this profiling works and whether any psychologist can truly determine a young man is cut out for a lifelong vow to abstain from sex or is likely to commit sexual crimes. As it stands, there is no single agreed-upon method for conducting these assessments of priests. There is also no reliable way of measuring the tests’ effectiveness at weeding out problem priests.

“Standard psychological testing, it’s not very good in ferreting out sexual difficulties among the general population,” said Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, a Catholic University professor who formerly led St. Luke Institute, a mental health facility for priests. “There isn’t much. We’ve been working hard to figure out what to do, how do we better understand sexuality.”

Outside the church, some scientists think the quest to identify future problem priests through psychology is a fool’s errand – especially when it comes to preventing pedophiles from entering the priesthood.

“From a scientific point of view, it’s useless,” said James Cantor, a Toronto researcher who is a leading expert on pedophilia. “There does not exist a pen-and-pencil test [to diagnose pedophilia]. Just asking someone isn’t going to help.”

But the idea of psychological testing for priests dates back decades; Rossetti said he went through a battery of tests when he entered the seminary in 1979. Other religious denominations routinely ask their clergy candidates to undergo psychological evaluations as well.

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Patheos blog

March 21, 2019

By Rick Snedeker

Add my own state of South Dakota to the states in which local Catholic Church authorities have publicly released the names of alleged sex-abusing priests. In this new list, all but one are deceased.

On March 19, the Most Rev. Robert D. Gruss, bishop of Rapid City, the state’s second largest city, published a public statement of contrition and a list of 21 priests of the Diocese of Rapid City “credibly accused of sexual abuse while serving in schools, churches, hospitals and on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud [Indian] reservations from 1951 to 2018.”

“It is important to acknowledge the horrid truth of past abuse in the church so that we can repent of these actions and to recommit ourselves to ensuring that no one is hurt moving forward,” Bishop Gruss wrote in a March 15 letter posted on the diocese website, the Rapid City Journal reported.

Gruss said publishing the list of alleged offenders is “essential in restoring the trust that has been broken as the result of the misconduct of a few.” He explained in his letter that a reasonable cause of abuse was established for each priest on the list after “a process of consultation.” He acknowledged that because allegations were made years or decades after relevant incidents and some might be false, the determination of credibility is not the same as a conviction in court.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Sun-Times

March 19, 2019

By Nader Issa and Mitch Dudek

A 182-page report released Wednesday compiled information about nearly 400 Catholic clergy members and church staff in Illinois who have been publicly accused of sexual misconduct in the state’s six dioceses, including dozens in Chicago.

Jeff Anderson & Associates, a Minnesota-based law firm, published the report that included names, background information, work histories and photographs of 395 priests and laypeople accused throughout the state.

Though a seminarian, a teacher and several deacons were on the list, the vast majority were priests.

The law firm said, by its count, hundreds of Illinoisans were the victims of child sexual abuse at the hands of people tied to the church.

Clergy abuse investigation: Illinois Catholic Church allegedly failed to investigate 500 priest sex abuse allegations

Predator priests: States ask for assistance to pursue Catholic Church for documents on abuse by priests, Pennsylvania attorney general says

“Those at the top have chosen not to believe so many survivors for so many years who have come forward with reports and have chosen, then, to keep secret not only the identities of those offenders, but [also] those who have been complicit in that concealment at the top,” said Jeff Anderson, the trial attorney who heads the firm that published the report.

List ‘represents the past’
Mary Jane Doerr, the director of the Chicago Archdiocese’s Office for the Protection of Children and Youth, said at a press conference Wednesday that her office’s efforts to protect children from abuse in the church go “beyond a list of names.”

“What’s frustrating to me is the lists represent the past,” Doerr said. “And it was not a good past, but we don’t do that anymore. That’s not what’s going on today. Today, all allegations are taken seriously.”

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Patheos blog

March 20, 2019

By Hemant Metha

It should’ve been easy for the Catholic Church to rid itself of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin. Earlier this month, he announced he would resign from the Church after a secular court found him guilty of not reporting a pedophile priest who had sexually abused minors.

But Pope Francis said yesterday that he would not accept the resignation.

Cardinal Barbarin, 68, promptly offered to resign, though he is appealing the verdict. He met with Pope Francis on Monday to personally hand in his resignation, but both the cardinal and a Vatican spokesman, Alessandro Gisotti, said on Tuesday that the pope had not accepted it.

Instead, they said, the cardinal, one of the highest-ranking and best-known Roman Catholic officials in France, will step aside for an unspecified length of time.

Cardinal Barbarin said in a statement that the pope had acted “invoking the presumption of innocence.”

It’s hard to act on a presumption of innocence when a secular court has declared you guilty of shielding a predator priest. What the pope is saying is that the courts don’t matter, and the evidence is secondary to forgiveness… which might be inspirational if we weren’t talking about the Catholic Church’s most infamous crime.

The pope just doesn’t think covering up for a molesting priest is that big of a deal. This is his reward for protecting the Church.

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

March 19, 2019

One, ousted last week, was at MU Newman Center
The other, ‘outed’ last month, was at a local parish
A third priest, just publicly accused, worked nearby
SNAP wants University officials to “do real outreach”
Group also wants mid-MO bishop to update accused list

WHAT
Holding childhood photos and signs at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will disclose
–that a just-ousted publicly accused priest worked in Columbia.
–the name of another publicly accused abusive priest who worked in mid-MO, and
–the name of a third publicly accused abusive priest who worked nearby.
None of them are on the Jefferson City diocese’s list of accused clerics.

They will also prod
–University of Missouri officials to “aggressively reach out to ex-staff and students” who may have been hurt by the just-ousted accused priest, and
–mid-Missouri’s Catholic bishop to do the same.

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JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

Another alleged abuser was “quietly ousted”
Church tells flock, but not public, about prie]st
SNAP: “Where’s your promised ‘transparency?'”
Group also ‘outs’ another mid-MO alleged perpetrator
It also reveals workplaces of two others who are accused
SNAP wants church & university officials to “do real outreach”
“Diocese should also update & expand its accused list,” SNAP says

WHAT
Holding childhood photos and signs at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will:
–blast Jeff City’s Catholic bishop for “keeping secrets” about a just-ousted priest,
–disclose that the priest worked in Columbia as well as Jeff City,
–reveal the name of another publicly accused abusive priest who worked in mid-MO, and
–expose a third publicly accused abusive clerict who worked nearby.
(Only one of them is on the Jefferson City diocese’s list of accused clerics.)

They will also prod
–diocesan and University of Missouri officials to “aggressively reach out to ex-staff, members and students” who may have been hurt by the just-ousted accused priest, and
–mid-Missouri’s Catholic bishop to do the same.

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SAGINAW (MI)
Michigan Live

Mar 20, 2019

By Cole Waterman

With a jury looking on Wednesday, two teens testified that a Roman Catholic priest had sexually assaulted them.

Testimony in the first of three trials for Robert J. “Father Bob” DeLand began the afternoon of Wednesday, March 20, before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson. DeLand, 72, is a longtime priest who worked in the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw.

After Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa Hoover and defense attorney Alan A. Crawford gave their respective theories on the case via opening statements, Hoover called a now-19-year-old man to the stand.

The teen said he had known DeLand as a greeter at Freeland High School. In that capacity, he said DeLand would often make him uncomfortable.

“He would shake my hand sometimes,” he said. “He would do it very tight, wouldn’t let go. He’d hug me really, really tight and breathe in my ear every now and then. Very uncomfortable.”

On May 14, 2017, the teen said he and his father attended a memorial service at St. Agnes Church for a classmate of his who had died by suicide earlier that day. The service was organized by DeLand.

As his father mingled with other attendees, the teen was called out to by DeLand, who asked him how he was doing with the recent death. The priest then called him into a coatroom where they were alone, he said.

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COLUMBUS (OH)
ABC 6l News

March 20, 2019

By Tom Bosco

The Catholic Diocese of Columbus released its list of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse earlier this month, but a survivors’ advocacy group said the list is incomplete. The group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said there are at least seven clergy members who should be on the list.

The names have been made public before and include two that have been the subject of news coverage in the last few years.

Joel Wright was in seminary, studying to become a priest in north Columbus when he was arrested in 2016 as he tried to travel to Mexico to have sex with infants. Fr. James Csaszar of New Albany and Perry County before that, killed himself in 2016, a month after he was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a teen.

The other names may be more obscure but have been revealed in the past. Here are their names and where they served in the diocese:

Fr. James Gates, Holy Rosary, 1994-2002;
Fr. John Walsh, SS. Simon and Jude, 1960s;
Fr Fintan Shaffer, Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd, 1980s;
Br. Robert Hayden, Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd, 1980s;
Fr. Walter Horan, Zanesville, 1940s.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Daily Beast

March 20, 2019

Attorneys released a report Wednesday revealing the names of nearly 400 clergy members who have been accused of sexual misconduct, USA Today reports. Law firm Jeff Anderson and Associates reportedly released a 182-page-report providing over 200 additional names of priests and deacons who had not been identified by Catholic officials and were accused of abuse in “legal settlements and news reports.” According to the newspaper, the report includes the names of clergy members in “Archdiocese of Chicago and the dioceses of Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford and Springfield,” and includes photos, background information, and employment history of those listed.

“We’ve chosen to reveal this information, because the Catholic bishops and religious orders who are in charge and have this information . . . have chosen to conceal it,” lawyer Jeff Anderson said. The six Catholic dioceses of Illinois previously released a list of 185 clergy members whom the church deemed credibly accused of sexual abuse. The Rockford Diocese told USA Today that they did not disclose the allegations outlined in the report because they founds the allegations were unsubstantiated or “without merit.” Joliet Diocese also told the newspaper they declined to list the names because they had not been substantiated.

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AUSTIN (TX)
CBS Austin

March 20, 2019

An Austin Catholic priest was arrested after police say he sexually assaulted a woman in hospice care.

75-year-old Rev. Gerold Langsch has been charged with assault by contact, class a misdemeanor.

The incident allegedly happened in October 2018 when a woman was put on hospice care after suffering from several medical conditions.

While on hospice, the victim’s ex husband contacted the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic-based fraternal service organization, to inform them of the victim’s illness.

They offered to send a priest to their home to give the victim her last rites, a religious ceremony to offer absolution of sins prior to dying through anointment.

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ROCKFORD (IL)
WREX TV

March 20, 2019

A scathing new report has been released naming nearly 400 former and current clergy members of the Illinois Catholic Diocese who have been accused of sexual abuse.

The 182-page report was published Wednesday by the Minnesota-based law firm Jeff Anderson and Associates, which has lead the charge and filed the lawsuit demanding the Diocese release a full list of people accused of sexual abuse while working under the diocese.

The 395 men named in that report worked in the Archdiocese of Chicago, Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, Springfield and Rockford. Twenty-two men with ties to the Diocese of Rockford are included in it.

Back in November, the Diocese of Rockford published a report that outlined the history of sexual abuse of minors in the diocese. It disclosed files and said that between 1950 and 2002, allegations of sexual abuse of a minor were substantiated against three priests. The total report included 15 names, something the diocese said Wednesday it stands by.

In a statement, the Rockford Diocese said it did not disclose allegations against many clergy on Anderson’s list “because the accusations either have not been substantiated or are completely without merit.”

Officials with the Rockford Diocese did say one name on Anderson’s list did not appear on their November 2018 report because they were unaware of the accusations. They say the Rev. Ivan Rovira committed sexual abuse after he left northern Illinois in the 1970s.

The Rockford Diocese also said in the statement, “Sexual misconduct by clergy, Church personnel, Church leaders and volunteers is contrary to Christian morals, doctrine and Canon Law. It is never acceptable and Bishop Davis J. Malloy has declared emphatically that ‘one case of abuse is one too many.’”

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BRIDGEPORT (CT)
Connecticut Post

March 20, 2019

By Daniel Tepfer

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport has agreed to pay $3.55 million to five men who claim
in lawsuits they were sexually abused as children by priests.

The claimed abuse occurred from the late 1980s to the early 2000s by three priests, the Rev. Walter Coleman, the Rev. Robert Morrissey and the Rev. Larry Jensen, in Bridgeport, Brookfield, Danbury and Ridgefield.

The settlements were reached following mediation with the law firm, Tremont, Sheldon, Robinson and Mahoney which represented the five plaintiffs.

“As a result of countless hours of effort and hard work over the past 25 years, our law firm has been able to develop a collection of materials and information which we use to get our clients compensation for the abuse they have suffered,” said Douglas Mahoney. “While the money can never take away their pain, we hope that the resolution will allow them to take a small step forward with their healing.”

The settlements come as Pope Francis is being lauded for directing the church to finally take responsibility and make amends for decades of abuse by priests amid reports from around the country and the world of abuse.

“I admire the bravery and tenacity of the survivors. They came forward with the truth and persevered through what had to be a very stressful trial process. The priests who abused them wounded innocent children. These men are lucky that the statute of limitations for prosecution of sex crimes is short. I hope that changes soon,” said Gail Howard, Connecticut co-leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Bridgeport Bishop Frank J. Caggiano has gone to the forefront of a movement by the church to become more transparent revealing in a report last October that the diocese has paid $52.5 million to settle 156 allegations of sexual abuse by priests since 1953. He also appointed a retired judge to look into claims that the diocese covered up priests’ sexual abuse of children for decades.

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COLUMBUS (OH)
The Columbus Dispatch

March 20, 2019

By Danae King

An advocacy group for survivors says it has identified seven priests who have been accused of abusing children but were not on the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus’ list of “credibly accused” clergy released on March 1.

On Wednesday afternoon, two representatives of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) stood in front of St. Joseph’s Cathedral on East Broad Street Downtown, calling for more action by the church. One of them held a sign with photos of 12 children who they said are survivors of priest abuse.

“We have to remind ourselves these are children,” said Steven Spaner, a volunteer coordinator with SNAP. “They might be grown up adults now, but they were children.”

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WEST VIRGINIA
CNN

March 20, 2019

By Daniel Burke

West Virginia’s attorney general has sued the state’s diocese and former bishop, saying they “knowingly employed pedophiles” while failing to alert parents about potential risks at Catholic schools and other activities.

“Parents who pay and entrust the Wheeling-Charleston diocese and its schools to educate and care for their children deserve full transparency,” Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said in a statement.

“Our investigation reveals a serious need for the diocese to enact policy changes that will better protect children, just as this lawsuit demonstrates our resolve to pursue every avenue to effectuate change as no one is above the law.”

In the lawsuit filed Tuesday, Morrisey said he opened an investigation last fall after a grand jury in Pennsylvania found evidence that more than 300 Catholic priests had abused children in that state since the 1950s. Most of the accusations dated to before 2002, when many Catholic dioceses in the United States instituted new child safety protocols.

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JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
Missourinet

March 20, 2019

By Alisa Nelson

Victims of clergy abuse say the Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City has not gone far enough to tell the public about a priest under investigation for alleged “boundary violations” involving minors. Bishop Shawn McKnight has informed Immaculate Conception School families in Jefferson City about Father Geoffrey Brooke being placed on leave during the review.

Missouri diocese accused of withholding information about priest under investigation

David Clohessy, president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, says Bishop Shawn McKnight did not inform members where Brooke previously served – at the Newman Center on the Mizzou campus in Columbia.

“I honestly think he (McKnight) tried to pull a fast one,” says Clohessy of St. Louis. He really hoped that there would be a chance at least that nobody at the Jefferson City parish would contact anybody in the press and that this could all go under the radar. To hide this information serves no one, except those who commit and those who conceal abuse.”

The Diocese’s website lists priests accused of abuse, but Clohessy says the page should also include every clergy member credibly accused of abuse, all locations the priests served and their whereabouts.

“Bishops disclose the absolute bare minimum, only when they feel like they have to, only under public pressure,” he says. “If Bishop McKnight is going to claim that he’s coming clean on abuse, then for Heaven sakes, come clean. Tell us all the names because that’s what protects kids and tell us where they worked, tell us where they are now.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
USA TODAY

March 20, 2019

By Aamer Madhani

Nearly 400 Catholic clergy members in Illinois have been accused of sexual misconduct, according to attorneys who represented clergy sex abuse victims across the USA.

A 182-page report, published Wednesday by the Minnesota-based law firm Jeff Anderson and Associates, includes the names, background information, photos and assignment histories of each accused clergy member.

“The danger of sexual abuse in Illinois is clearly a problem of today, not just the past,” the report concludes. “This will continue to be a danger until the identities and histories of sexually abusive clerics, religious employees and seminarians are made public.”

Anderson said he hopes the report will push church leaders to publicly identify hundreds more clergy who faced allegations.

The men named in the report worked in the Archdiocese of Chicago and the dioceses of Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford and Springfield.

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RAPID CITY (SD)
Associated Press

March 20, 2019

The Rapid City Diocese has published a list of 21 priests credibly accused of sexual abuse.

The list includes priests who were credibly accused while in schools, churches, hospitals and on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations from 1951 to 2018.

Bishop Robert Gruss wrote in a letter posted on the diocese’s website that publishing the list is “essential in restoring the trust that has been broken as the result of the misconduct of a few.”

The 21 priests include those who were permanently assigned to the diocese as well as those who served in the diocese but fell under control of a different bishop or religious order.

All are dead except for John Praveen, a priest who awaits sentencing after pleading guilty in February to sexually touching a 13-year-old girl.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Staten Island Advance

March 20, 2019

By Anthony J. Raiola and Michelle Simpson Tuegel

For decades, the Catholic Church has turned a blind eye to the child predators in its ranks and refused to be held accountable for the thousands of lives it ruined.

Yet it took less than two days for the Brooklyn Diocese to respond to a joke on Saturday Night Live that compared the Catholic Church to R. Kelly.

There is no greater evidence that the Church refuses to take its child abuse problem seriously. It is clear the priorities lie in feigning outrage, not actually changing the culture of secrecy and abuse that has become the tenet of the modern Catholic Church.

Take, for example, the recent Vatican conference on sexual abuse of minors that was portrayed by many as a positive step forward by the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, the conference failed to establish any real solutions or tangible outcomes for survivors of clergy abuse. The Church has knowingly allowed abuse against minors to go on for decades, working hard to keep the abuse quiet and rotating sexual predators around different communities. Despite a contrite tone, Pope Francis proposed no concrete solutions to deal with the scourge of clergy abuse and failed to promise a zero-tolerance approach from the Church.

Survivors of clergy abuse in New York and beyond deserve more. It is time for Catholic bishops in New York state to make real reforms rather than empty promises, and do what the participants of the Vatican conference refused to do — focus on the survivors and enact concrete changes so that this abuse never happens again.

For example, New York bishops must convene a statewide summit and actually listen to the voices of survivors, not the clergy and institution that allowed this corruption to happen. By failing to prioritize the needs of survivors, the Church is once again choosing its leadership over the people it has failed to protect for decades.

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CINCINNATI (OH)
Xavier Newswirre

March 20, 2019

Headlines of abuse dominated news cycles in August 2018 after the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report released the names of hundreds of priests who had sexually abused children for more than seven decades. Since then, evidence of the global epidemic within the Catholic Church of sexual abuse of the innocent has continued to surface. The Associated Press publishes a new article nearly every week about new investigations, diocese reports, complaints by survivor advocacy groups and continued corruption. This sex abuse does not only mar religious institutions. Since places of worship have acted as the backbone of communities for centuries, this festering wound underlying the fabric of our secular institutions reaches from sea to shining sea.

But the grand jury report was eight months ago, and the public is more numbed than motivated to demand change. The 300 predatory priests’ names that were just released by dioceses in Texas, the confirmation that the Catholic Church has destroyed documents proving they were aware of priests’ predatory behavior and even the confirmation that six Jesuits who worked with Xavier as recently as 2002 were credibly accused of sexual assault read as old news. What is even more stale to read is how states are not stepping in.

Dioceses have conducted their own internal audits to oust sexual predators since the Boston Globe exposed the misdeeds of then-priest James G. Geoghan in 2002. That year, clergy leaders from across the nation committed to a set of policies called the Dallas Charter. These policies seek to prevent child sex abuse as well as make the names of known abusers available to both law authorities and the public for the safety of parishioners.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
Patriot News

March 20, 2019

By Ivey DeJesus

The Diocese of Harrisburg has made a substantial change to eligibility requirements for its victims compensation fund.

On Wednesday, Bishop Ronald Gainer announced he would waive the requirement that survivors of clergy abuse must have identified themselves to the diocese by Feb. 11. Under the revised guidelines, survivors of abuse who had not previously come forward to the diocese are eligible for the program.

Gainer rolled out the change after recently completing a series of meetings with parishioners across the diocese. In a written statement, diocesan officials noted that the bishop had made the change based in part on the feedback from those sessions.

“Our goal is to help as many survivors of clergy sexual abuse as possible and we encourage you to come forward and contact our fund administrators, Commonwealth Mediation & Conciliation, Inc. (CMCI),” Gainer said in the statement. “Again, in my name and on behalf of the Church, we extend our prayers, heartfelt sorrow and apologies to all survivors of clergy sexual abuse.”

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage blog

March 20, 2019

By William Lindsey

Corruption of Pretend Heterosexuality Coupled with Abominable Treatment of Queer People

I have now made my way about halfway through Frédéric Martel’s In the Closet of the Vatican, trans. Shaun Whiteside (London: Bloomsbury, 2019), and am finding the book grim going. It’s, as many commentators have noted, eye-popping, and overwhelming in the detail with which it tells — and documents — its story of corruption. To quote Mary Oliver in her poem “The Chance to Love Everything,” this is for me the dark heart of the story here: it’s a story of incredible corruption running through the governing structures and clerical culture of a major Christian institution, a story that does a very convincing job, I think, of rooting that corruption genetically in the intense homophobia of the governing elite of this institution.

This passage leaps out at me:

It was when I met the cardinals, bishops and priests who worked with him that I discovered the hidden side – the dark side – of his very long pontificate. A pope surrounded by plotters, thugs, a majority of closeted homosexuals, who were homophobes in public, not to mention all those who protected paedophile priests.

“Paul VI had condemned homosexuality, but it was only with the arrival of John Paul II that a veritable war was waged against gays,” I was told by a Curia priest who worked at John Paul II’s ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Irony of history: most of the players in this boundless campaign against homosexuals were homosexual themselves” (p. 194)

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CHICAGO (IL)
CBS TV

March 20, 2019

By Vi Nguyen

A new report out today lists hundreds of names, work histories and background information of Catholic priests in Illinois accused of sexual abuse.

The survivors behind the 185-page report—the most comprehensive to date–hope it pushes bishops to reveal the identities of hundreds of more clergy involved in the cases.

The report was assembled by law firm Jeff Anderson and Associates, which gathered information from survivors, lists of credible allegations and other outlets.

Some of the names mentioned in the report have already been released by the Archdiocese of Chicago.

The report will detail the assignment histories of 395 Catholic clergy who the law firm says worked or continue to work at six dioceses in the state.

Attorneys representing some of the victims want Catholic bishops in the state to release all names and files of Catholic clergy accused of sexual abuse.

They want that information handed over to law enforcement and say this is something the public needs to know.

Last December a report from the Illinois Attorney General found more than 500 priests who have not been publicly named by the Catholic Diocese in Illinois.

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WHEELING (WV)
Herald Star

March 20, 2019

By Linda Comins

The Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston said it “strongly and unconditionally rejects” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s assertion that the diocese is not wholly committed to the protection of children.

On Tuesday, Morrisey filed a civil lawsuit against the diocese and its retired bishop, the Rev. Michael J. Bransfield, for allegedly failing to protect children from sexual abusers.

Diocesan spokesman Tim Bishop released a statement from the diocese late Tuesday.

Church officials stated, “The diocese will address the litigation in the appropriate forum. However, the diocese strongly and unconditionally rejects the complaint’s assertion that the diocese is not wholly committed to the protection of children, as reflected in its rigorous Safe Environment Program, the foundation of which is a zero tolerance policy for any cleric, employee or volunteer credibly accused of abuse.

“The program employs mandatory screening, background checks and training for all employees and volunteers who work with children.”

Bishop said, “The diocese also does not believe that the allegations contained in the complaint fairly portray its overall contributions to the education of children in West Virginia nor fairly portray the efforts of its hundreds of employees and clergy who work every day to deliver quality education in West Virginia.”

Meanwhile, representatives of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests applauded Morrisey’s civil action against the diocese and Bransfield.

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DETROIT (MI)
Metro Times

March 20, 2019

By Michael Betzold

It didn’t look like anyone was living at the home north of Port Huron — no cars in the driveway, no tire tracks in what was left of the snow and ice.

Looking through a screen, I saw two pairs of boots on the floor, the corner of a treadmill, and a chair and table. Just as I was going to leave, he got up from the table, clutching a copy of Inside the Vatican magazine.

Suddenly I was face to face with Archbishop John Nienstedt.

He looked surprised but confirmed who he was — then when I started asking questions, he quickly murmured “no, thank you” and shut the door in my face.

Archbishop John Nienstedt. Named as one of the Catholic Church’s five top offenders in the entire world who most deserve to be expelled from the priesthood.

Archbishop John Nienstedt. Resigned after a legal settlement that bankrupted the archdiocese he ran in Minnesota because of its cover-up of perpetrator priests.

Archbishop John Nienstedt. Hounded out of Battle Creek by angry parishioners.

Archbishop John Nienstedt. Unwelcome to remain even at right-wing California think tank the Napa Institute.

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BECKLEY (WV)
Register-Herald

Mar 19, 2019

By Erin Beck

West Virginia’s attorney general filed a consumer protection lawsuit Tuesday morning against the state’s Catholic diocese – the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston – and its former Bishop Michael Bransfield, alleging that Catholic leaders employed predatory priests while falsely advertising a safe environment at Catholic schools and camps.

The Diocese, meanwhile, issued a statement Tuesday afternoon accusing Morrisey of making errors in his lawsuit, and defending itself as “wholly committed to the protection of children.”

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s office isn’t responsible for criminal prosecutions. That task would fall to county prosecutors.

Instead, Morrisey is arguing the Diocese violated the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act, although he said he has been in touch with some prosecutors.

West Virginia’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act states, “Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are hereby declared unlawful.”

Morrisey’s lawsuit, filed in Wood County circuit court, argues that the Diocese “sells and supplies educational services” and that it “advertised services not delivered” and accuses it of “failure to warn of dangerous services.”

“Now some may ask why are we pursuing a consumer protection action in this matter, but the answer is very straightforward,” Morrisey said, during a press conference at the State Capitol Tuesday. “Every parent who pays a tuition for a service falling under our consumer protection laws deserves to know that their schools that their children are attending are safe.

“Now this is obviously not a common action for our office to file but it is a critical one, as the public relies upon the state attorney general to enforce a variety of laws, especially as they may impact the well-being of children, our most precious resource.”

In August of 2018, a Pennsylvania grand jury issued a report identifying hundreds of predatory priests, including one or more who worked in West Virginia, according to the lawsuit.

Morrisey said his office began their investigation in September of 2018 into whether Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing children had worked in West Virginia.

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NEW YORK (NY)
NBC News

March 19, 2019

By Corky Siemaszko

The West Virginia attorney general filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming that a local Roman Catholic diocese and former bishop failed to protect children from predator priests and teachers — and violated consumer protection laws by not alerting parents there were abusers on the payroll.

The suit takes what appears to be a novel approach by using state consumer protection laws, with parents as “purchasers” of services for their children.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey claims in the suit that former Bishop Michael Bransfield and the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese engaged in “intentional concealment.”

“Omissions of these material facts caused the purchasers of their educational and recreational services to buy inherently dangerous services for their children for many decades,” the court papers state.

The lawsuit, which cites the specific West Virginia code that Bransfield and the diocese allegedly violated, is seeking a permanent court order “blocking the diocese from continuation of any such conduct.”

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PHILADEPHIA (PA)
The Philadelphia Inquirer

March 19, 2019

By Jeremy Roebuck and William Bender

West Virginia authorities on Tuesday accused Michael J. Bransfield, a Philadelphia native and former Roman Catholic bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, W. Va., and his predecessors of “knowingly employing pedophiles” — including some priests cited in last year’s Pennsylvania grand jury report examining decades of clergy sex abuse and cover-up.

In a civil suit, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey alleged that West Virginia’s prelates had endangered children for decades by failing to conduct adequate background checks or disclose abuse accusations against clerics and diocesan employees to parents in the parishes where those people were assigned.

In some cases cited in the filings, child molesters were allowed to stay in parish assignments that brought them in routine contact with minors for years after they had admitted their crimes.

The lawsuit is the latest in a series of high-profile civil actions taken by state authorities across the country in the last year against a church that they say has been too slow to respond to — and in some cases covered-up — a crisis of sex abuse within its ranks.

Mr. Bransfield — the scion of a family of prominent Philadelphia clerics who resigned last year facing his own allegations of sexual misconduct — dismissed Tuesday’s action as little more than a fishing expedition.

“I don’t understand why there is a sudden concern,” he said in an interview with the Inquirer. “Considering the publicity about my own situation, they’re trying to find other things that could have happened. This is all happening because of what’s happening to me.”

A spokesperson from the diocese disputed the suit’s allegations, though he said in a statement that church officials would address the matter in “the appropriate forum.”

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