ABUSE TRACKER

SAN DIEGO (CA)
Catholic News Agency

December 13, 2018

A trial began Tuesday for the San Diego priest accused of sexually assaulting a seminarian in February. The alleged victim testified Wednesday that the priest groped him in a restaurant bathroom.

The seminarian told the court that he and another seminarian had drinks with Fr. Juan Garcia Castillo at a bar and restaurant on Feb. 3, after an event at St. Patrick’s Parish in Carlsbad, where Castillo served as parochial vicar. He said they had several drinks, and that the priest encouraged him to drink to excess.

The seminarian testified that he went to the bathroom sick after midnight. While he was in the restroom, Castillo allegedly approached him from behind and groped his genitals, twice.

The seminarian said he told the priest to “get away.”

“I walked out of the stall, and I look at myself in the mirror and I said, ‘Oh my God, what has happened to me?’” the seminarian said, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.

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.

PITTSBURGH (PA)
WPXI TV

December 13, 2018

Two new lawsuits have been filed against the Diocese of Pittsburgh and Bishop David Zubik, alleging they knew about and allowed of priests to sexually assault young boys.

Later Thursday, Zubik announced the formation of the diocese’s compensation fund for survivors of clergy abuse.

The first lawsuit claims that Rev. Carl Roemele molested a victim multiple times when he was 13
The unnamed victim and his family were members of the St. Agatha parish in Bridgeville when the alleged attacks occurred.

According to a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Roemele had a close relationship with the victim’s parents and would take him to a cabin in Donegal where assaults are alleged to have occurred.

The second names Rev. Richard Lelonis, then at St. Luke’s in Carnegie, as the abusive priest.

According to the lawsuit, Lelonis sexually assaulted a boy between the time he was 8 and 12 years old in the late ’60s and early ’70s.

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.

YORK (PA)
York Daily Record

December 13, 2018

By Candy Woodall

In 2014, Harrisburg Bishop Ronald Gainer decided prayer and penance was the best punishment for a priest who had confessed to sexually abusing multiple children.

Gainer wrote a letter to the Vatican and told the pope he believed the harm done by the Rev. Joseph Pease was being sufficiently repaired.

Pease was 83 at the time and living with dementia, and Gainer believed he couldn’t defend himself in the church’s disciplinary process.

The bishop asked the Vatican to allow Pease to “live out his remaining years in prayer and penance, without adding further anxiety or suffering to his situation, and without risking public knowledge of his crimes.”

Gainer has now changed his mind.

A week after the York Daily Record published a report showing Pease is the only priest among 72 accused in the Harrisburg diocese who is still on the church’s payroll, the bishop is now seeking laicization for Pease.

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.

IRVING (TX)
CBS News

December 13, 2018

By Kate Gibson

The Boy Scouts of America is exploring a range of options to address it’s increasingly shaky financial situation. Those may include declaring bankruptcy, with the more than century-old organization facing rising legal fees due to lawsuits over its handling of sexual abuse allegations.

In a Dec. 12 letter to employees released by the nonprofit organization, Mike Surbaugh, its chief scout executive, said the nonprofit is “working with experts to explore all options available” to keep the organization’s local and national programs running.

The Boy Scouts has hired law firm Sidley Austin to explore a potential chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, according to The Wall Street Journal. Seeking protection from its debts would stop multiple lawsuits over alleged sexual abuse by Boy Scout workers and volunteers going back decades, while giving the organization space to negotiate with those who sued, according to the newspaper.

The Boy Scouts have a responsibility to “fairly compensate victims who suffered abuse during their time in scouting,” wrote Surbaugh, who added the scouts never knowingly allowed a sexual predator to work with youth.

“We have always taken care of victims – we believe them, we believe in fairly compensating them and we have paid for unlimited counseling, by a provider of their choice, regardless of the amount of time that has passed since an instance of abuse,” he wrote.

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.

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

December 13, 2018

By Peter Smith

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh on Thursday said victims of sexual abuse by priests could apply for compensation as soon as January under a program run by a law firm that has run similar programs for such victims in New York state dioceses.

Bishop David Zubik did not announce a dollar figure for the fund but said the diocese would pay the amounts from proceeds from past and future sales of properties. He said the diocese may sell its Downtown offices on the Boulevard of the Allies, where Thursday’s press conference announcing the fund was held.

Kenneth Feinberg and Camille Biros lead a Washington, D.C.-based team with experience administering similar funds to compensate victims sexual abuse victims in other dioceses as well as at Penn State. That experience also includes handling compensation funds for such things as the 9/11 attacks, mass shootings and the BP oil spill.

They will be representing Pittsburgh and six other Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses that have announced plans for compensation funds for victims, including those who cannot currently sue for damages because the abuse happened too long ago under the statute of limitations.

The funds come the wake of a withering state grand jury report, released in August. It said more than 300 priests, including at least 90 in Pittsburgh, were accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 victims over seven decades in six dioceses.

In Pittsburgh, compensation will be limited to those who were sexually abused by diocesan priests or deacons, not by lay employees or members of religious orders working for the diocese. Also not eligible are victims who have already reached financial settlements with the diocese.

“It is not all about money,” Mr. Feinberg said. But for those who are found eligible and receive settlements, it validates “the legitimacy of the claim, sometimes after decades of waiting.”

The program “is completely voluntary,” Mr. Feinberg said. “No victim, no alleged victim is required to come forward.” But those who have already contacted the diocese will be notified of the plan.

People can be represented by a lawyer or file claims on their own, Mr. Feinberg and Ms. Biros said, and they can meet with the team in person if they want.

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.

TACOMA (WA)
Tacoma News Tribune

December 13, 2018

Bellarmine Preparatory School, a Tacoma institution since 1928, turned a harsh but necessary spotlight on itself last Friday when it shared information on 23 disgraced Catholic priests and non-ordained brothers previously assigned to the Bellarmine community. All were “credibly accused” of sexual abuse at some point in their Jesuit careers.

Publicly identifying these alleged offenders was the right thing to do. In fact, it was long overdue. Silence and secrecy should no longer be an option. As Bellarmine President Robert Modarelli said in a statement, for too long this scandal has been allowed to “fester unchecked.”

The private school just off South Union Avenue took a lesson from its own Jesuit catechism: Covering up sin only invites more of it.

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.

LONDON (ENGLAND)
Catholic News Service

December 13, 2018

By Simon Caldwell

An English cardinal has told an inquiry into child abuse of his shock at learning that a vicar general of his former archdiocese tried to help two pedophile priests escape to the United States.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse revealed for the first time that Msgr. Daniel Leonard, a former vicar general of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, ordered a priest to tip off Father Samuel Penney that he was about to be arrested and to give him cash to flee to the United States.

It also revealed that Msgr. Leonard, who is now deceased, provided Father James Robinson with a good character reference so he could transfer to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, even though the priest was facing allegations of child abuse in the U.K.

Giving evidence to the inquiry, Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster said: “This comes as a shock to me that such a course of action could have been in the mind of the then vicar general.

“It is shocking. If I understand things correctly, it is criminal intent,” said Cardinal Nichols, president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, at the Dec. 13 hearing in London.

The cardinal, who served as archbishop of Birmingham from 2000 to 2009, said Msgr. Leonard was in a nursing home when he took over as archbishop, and he met him only once. Cardinal Nichols said he found a “much-diminished old man who was clearly incapable of remembering much.”

Father Gerard Doyle, a parish priest in Stone, England, said in the early 1990s that he received a call from Msgr. Leonard, who instructed him to dress in plain clothes and visit Father Penney at the Gracewell Institute, Birmingham, where he was undergoing therapy following child abuse allegations.

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.

REDONDO BEACH (CA)
The Beach News

December 11, 2018

By Nathaniel Percy

An internal investigation at a South Bay Catholic school found that two nuns who worked there allegedly misappropriated a “substantial” amount of funds for personal use over a period of years, a letter sent to school families Wednesday said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how much was stolen from St. James Catholic School in Torrance. A specific time period also wasn’t provided by authorities.

One of the sisters had recently retired, according to a church newsletter.

Msgr. Michael Meyers, the pastor at St. James Catholic Church in Redondo Beach, said in the letter that Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, the nuns’ order, is cooperating with the parish and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to determine exactly how much money may have been taken by the pair.

The church in Redondo Beach oversees the operations of the elementary school located 2 miles away in Torrance.

“Our community is concerned and saddened by this situation and regret any injury to our long relationship with the families of the school,” the Order said in a statement. “The Sisters of St. Joseph both desire and intend to make complete restitution to St. James School.”

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.

ROCHESTER (NY)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

December 13, 2018

By David Andreatta

In recently purging another priest from the Diocese of Rochester who was found to have abused children, Bishop Salvatore Matano issued a statement pledging to continue “the many important initiatives we have undertaken” to protect young and vulnerable people.

Among those were the creation of an independent review board to probe sex abuse allegations and advise the diocese; mandatory background checks for clerics and others in the diocese who work with children; and an established code of conduct.

Such initiatives are worthwhile, but they’ve done little to bring justice to victims and even less to restore the shattered confidence in the Catholic Church felt by many of the faithful.

For that, two things need to happen — one plausible, one implausible, and both necessary.

First, the implausible.

There needs to be a public airing of how so many pedophiles got into the priesthood, how so many bishops looked the other way, and how revelations of clerical abuse and cover-ups are still surfacing after journalists peeled back the first layer of the onion 17 years ago.

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.

[Jesuits of Catalonia become first order in Spain to investigate abuses in their institutions]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

December 13, 2018

By Íñigo Domínguez

A raíz de las informaciones de EL PAÍS, admiten que “aún hay una asignatura pendiente en la investigación del pasado” y que la gestión de los casos “ha podido ser deficiente”

Los jesuitas de Cataluña serán la primera orden religiosa en España, y la primera institución de la Iglesia católica en el país, en emprender una investigación interna rigurosa de los posibles abusos sexuales sobre menores cometidos en sus centros. En la línea de las iniciativas realizadas en Francia y Alemania, y mientras la Conferencia Episcopal española se niega todavía a dar ese paso, la Compañía de Jesús y Jesuïtes Educació anuncian en un comunicado que han decidido “emprender una investigación más sistemática de los posibles casos de abusos sobre menores y conductas impropias que en el pasado, remontándonos a los años sesenta, hayan podido suceder en los centros educativos”. La decisión ha sido tomada a raíz de las informaciones publicadas en EL PAÍS que afectan a su orden: “La búsqueda de información sobre algún caso ya conocido nos muestra que necesitamos sistematizar la información que pueda haber”.

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.

LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage

December 12, 2018

By William Lindsey

As I posted my posting two days ago with an assortment of reports about the sexual abuse of vulnerable people in Christian churches, I had decided that I’d do a follow-up posting featuring some valuable commentary from Jamie Manson about Pope Francis’ “worries” about gay priests. In my view, the critique/discussion of comments by top Catholic officials like the ones Francis has made to Father Fernando Prado about homosexuality and gay priests needs to go hand in hand with reports about abuse of vulnerable people in Christian churches. Where a plethora of reports from various churches, including the Catholic church, demonstrates plainly that the vulnerable people being abused by priests and pastors include females…. Demonstrating that the gays-are-the-problem analysis is a red herring if we really want to get to the root of sexual abuse of vulnerable people in faith communities….

Some very important commentary from Jamie Manson regarding Francis’ muddled, bigoted, scientifically ludicrous comments about homosexuality to Father Prado:

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.

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
Crux

December 12, 2018

By Christopher White

Thirty years ago, investigative reporter Jason Berry pioneered new territory by covering clerical sexual abuse in Louisiana. Since then, his name has become synonymous with the crisis that continues to loom over the Catholic Church today.

In his new book, City of a Million Dreams: A History of New Orleans at 300, Berry returns to his roots. In an interview with Crux, he details some of the city’s rich Catholic history, its efforts to confront race relations, and why researching some of the city’s saints proved far more fulfilling than his work in Rome.

Crux: You’ve spent decades uncovering and chronicling the Church’s shameful history of clerical sex abuse and cover-up, yet this new book switches gears to tell the story of a city – your city – New Orleans. What prompted you to write this book?

Berry: In 1985, when I began investigating clergy abuse cases in Lafayette, Louisiana my second book was heading toward publication, Up from the Cradle of Jazz: New Orleans Music Since World War II. After six years on that topic I had become intrigued with jazz funerals, how they arose, what they said about the city. As I gathered documents on clergy predators, the narrative taking shape for Lead Us Not into Temptation (1992) became hugely consuming. I came back from reporting trips, numbed by clerical secrets and crimes, and invariably attended the funeral of a musician. As the mourners danced in the streets, I felt strangely happy. My own church made me sad. The city of my birth was sending rhythms of spiritual hope.

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.

NEW YORK (NY)
The Media Project

December 12, 2018

By Clemente Lisi

The attention of the Catholic world will be on Panama next month when the Central American nation hosts World Youth Day, an event that remains a major part of Saint Pope John Paul II’s legacy.

Started in 1985 and influenced by the “Light-Life Movement” that began in the then-pope’s native Poland two decades earlier, World Youth Day has allowed the church to spread its message directly to young adults who eagerly gather to celebrate as a community. It is that spirit and tradition that accompanies World Youth Day each time it is held somewhere in the world. The five-day event, which starts on Jan. 22, will be a real chance for Pope Francis to try and set things right following a very difficult 2018 for him and the church as a whole.

There is a spiritual hunger around the world by Christians of all denominations. This pope needs to get back to basics and focus on evangelizing like John Paul II did during his 17-year papacy. This Holy Father needs to be less political and more spiritual. He needs to break free from the labels that have been heaped on him by critics and supporters alike. He needs to get back to the universal message of the church that resonates in both industrialized nations and the developing world.

This pope has been a polarizing figure among the faithful. He’s been on the receiving end of much criticism in recent years from conservative Catholics who increasingly believe his mixed messages on homosexuality, birth control and allowing those who have divorced to receive communion runs counter to the catechism.

At the same time, Pope Francis has often demonstrated himself to be a champion of liberal causes and seen by progressive Catholics as someone charting the church on a radically new course more in line with the needs and wants of a modern secular world.

For example, asking “who am I to judge?” in a 2013 news conference when referring to the LGBTQ community has been largely welcomed by non-Catholics and the secular news media. In January 2014, Francis even made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in a piece that praised him and largely attacked his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI.

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.

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
The Advocate

December 12, 2018

By Ramon Antonio Vargas

A Louisiana man claims in a new lawsuit that nearly 40 years ago, the regional leader of a Catholic religious order that founded Archbishop Shaw High School dosed him with what might have been chloroform and raped him.

When he confronted Catholic officials this fall about the episode, they tried to prevent it from becoming public despite treating the claim as credible, the 36-page lawsuit filed Wednesday in Orleans Parish Civil District Court says.

The man, whose identity is not revealed in the suit, demands damages from the Salesians of Don Bosco, the Archdiocese of New Orleans and officials with both organizations, including Archbishop Gregory Aymond.

The suit marks the latest legal salvo against the local Catholic Church involving decades-old allegations of clerical abuse in New Orleans and a movement from victims and their advocates to air the claims publicly.

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

Decmeber 13, 2018

A D.C. Catholic priest charged with sexually assaulting two female members of his parish — a 9-year-old girl and a woman — was ordered held in D.C. jail until his next hearing.

Urbano Vazquez, 46, had been allowed to avoid jail while an investigation continued, after he was charged in…

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.

EVANSVILLE (IN)
Evansville Courier & Press

December 12, 2018

By Noah Stubbs

It’s been nearly three months since Bishop Joseph M. Siegel announced the Catholic Diocese will collect and release the names of priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors over the years.

The diocese said in a news release Wednesday that the inspection of clergy records is still ongoing, and the list will be made public in the early months of 2019.

“When complete, the Diocesan Review Board and Bishop Joseph M. Siegel will review the findings to assure that they are as complete as possible,” the release said.

In September, The Message — the diocese’s community newspaper — reported the names had already been listed in previous editions of the publication through the years.

The September announcement came after an Evansville Diocese priest was put on administrative leave after the diocese received a report of sexual misconduct.

Father David Fleck denies the claim of sexual misconduct that allegedly happened decades ago, according to the statement from the diocese.

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.

CINCINNATI (OH)
WLWT TV

December 12, 2018

By Emily Wood

St. Xavier High School is informing parents, students and alumni about a list of names of alleged sexual abusers.

The list is expected to be released Monday by the U.S. Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus. In an email, St. X wrote, “the Province will release the names of all Jesuit priests, brothers and scholastics under the jurisdiction of the Province who have been the subject of credible allegations of sexual abuse against minors during the period from 1955 until the present.”

The email said St. Xavier is releasing the list “in an effort to be transparent about the past, to precipitate victims who desire assistance and make the intent to protect youth unmistakable.”

The release will include names of Jesuits who were assigned to St. Xavier during their alleged abuse.

Gerry Ahrens is a St. Xavier graduate and a sexual abuse survivor.

He told WLWT Monday will be a great day because victims will finally have acknowledgement of what happened to them by publishing the names of their abusers.

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.

SAN DIEGO (CA)
NBC 7 TV

December 12, 2018

An attorney and former U.S. Naval officer who was studying to become a priest accused a San Diego-area priest of grabbing his genitals after a night of drinking in a Carlsbad restaurant and bar.

Rev. Juan Garcia Castillo, a former associate pastor at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Carlsbad, is accused of misdemeanor sexual battery for the incident that is alleged to have occurred on Feb. 4.

A 34-year-old testified in court Wednesday that he was a seminary student when he joined Castillo, 35, and another seminary student for a beer at BJ’s in Carlsbad.

Surveillance video shows the three men sitting for more than four hours drinking and talking.

After two hours at the restaurant, the accuser estimated he had finished two and was drinking a third Long Island Iced Teas.

“I was drunk but I knew what was happening,” he said from the stand.

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.

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune Review

December 12, 2018

By Rich Cholodofsky

The lawyer for a disgraced Catholic Diocese of Greensburg priest who pleaded guilty to molesting a Lower Burrell school student a quarter-century ago pleaded for mercy for his client before a sentencing hearing next week.

In court documents filed Wednesday, defense attorney Fran Murrman asked for no jail time for the Rev. John Thomas Sweeney.

Murrman said Sweeney, 75, is mentally fragile and, through his impending banishment from the church, understands that he will “never escape the consequences of his action.”

Sweeney pleaded guilty in July to one felony count of indecent assault in connection with what investigators said was a sexual assault against a 10-year-old boy who attended St. Margaret Mary Church school between September 1991 and June 1992.

Prosecutors said Sweeney forced the fourth-grader to perform sex acts in a conference room next to his office at the church.

Sweeney had ordered the boy to the room to be disciplined for being disruptive on a school bus, investigators said.

Afterward, a church secretary brought the boy milk and cookies, according to prosecutors.

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.

MORRISTOWN (TN)
Citizen Tribune

December 12, 2018

By Ken Little

The Diocese of Knoxville has no plans to investigate any allegations of sexual abuse by priests committed within the diocese after 1988, a spokesman said.

The diocese, which includes Greene County, also declined to respond to a request for an investigation by an independent third party of any allegations of sexual misconduct by priests. The request was made by a member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests group, known by the acronym SNAP.

“Should there be a third party investigation begun to get to the whole truth? Survivors and their advocates unanimously promote this as the next step in getting to the truth in Tennessee,” East Tennessee SNAP advocate Susan Vance recently said.

In November, the Diocese of Nashville released a list of 13 alleged pedophile priests and former priests.

Nine of the 13 priests and former priests are dead. Two others are in prison. None are in active ministry, the Diocese of Nashville said in a news release.

All of the alleged sexual abuse was committed before 1988, when the area currently covered by the Diocese of Knoxville was included in the Diocese of Nashville.

Four of the pastors on the list served at Notre Dame Catholic Church.

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.

PENNSYLVANIA
The Pennsylvania Record

December 12, 2018

A priest invites an 8-year-old boy into the rectory and begins to kiss him. He sticks his tongue and hands where they don’t belong after offering alcohol to the child and his friend.

The boy pushes back and escapes the situation, but his friend isn’t able to – the boy watches the priest shut the door with his friend behind it.

Outside, the boy smashes a window on the priest’s car while, inside the church, his friend is sexually abused.

A shut door and a shattered window – symbols of silence and anger.

This story is taken from a Pittsburgh lawsuit against the Catholic Church, which for decades protected more than 300 priests across Pennsylvania accused of committing heinous acts on young boys and girls, according to a grand jury report.

And in that grand jury report are more heartbreaking symbols: Where the names of 19 accused priests are listed, black bars of redaction hide them.

Because of a recent state Supreme Court decision, parishioners in five Pennsylvania dioceses will have to wonder whether the names of their current and former priests are behind those black bars of redaction.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro argued that disclosure of the names was allowed by the Grand Jury Act, but the justices ruled it would be harmful to the reputations of the anonymous accused pedophiles. Ugh.

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)
National Public Radio

December 12, 2018

By Ian Stewart
]
The Vatican announced Wednesday that two cardinals have been let go from a papal council, the day after one of them was reportedly convicted of sexual abuse by an Australian court.

George Pell and Javier Errázuriz both served on the Council of Cardinals, a papal advisory group. Errázuriz had been accused of ignoring sexual abuse by a Chilean priest. Multiple news outlets have reported a jury unanimously found Pell guilty Tuesday of sexually assaulting children in the 1990s, although Australian officials have put a gag order on the trial.

In the announcement, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke, said Pell and Errázuriz had been released in October after “reflection on the work, structure and composition of the Council itself, also taking into account the advanced age of some members.” Pell is 77, and Errázuriz is 85. Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, 79, will also not return to the council.

Burke said Pope Francis thanked the men for their service on his advisory committee at the time; others in the group had called for their departure.

Pell has said before that he is innocent of the abuse charges, which stem from his time as a priest and archbishop in Australia, calling them “relentless character assassination.” He has a reputation for vigorously defending the church against accusations of sexual misconduct.

As NPR has reported, Australia is grappling with the results of a disturbing 2017 report which “found that seven percent of the country’s Catholic priests between 1950 and 2010 allegedly sexually abused children, and identified 1,880 different alleged perpetrators.”

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.

JUNEAU (AK)
KTVA TV

December 12, 2018

By: Chris Klint

The Roman Catholic Church in Juneau is examining its records for any possible links of current or former clergy to a vast series of cases in the Lower 48 which came to light in August.

The Diocese of Juneau announced Wednesday the appointment of a three-member commission by Bishop Andrew Bellisario. According to a decree, the independent panel will “review the personnel files of clergy and religious who have served in the Diocese,” as well as any allegations of sexual abuse by staff or volunteers since the diocese’s founding in 1951.

The commission is set to begin its work Jan. 7, with a final report due by June 1.

A database maintained by the non profit group BishopAccountability.org lists just two known cases of clergy abuse in Juneau, the most recent in 1988.

Dominique Johnson, a spokesman for the diocese, said Wednesday that no new allegations of abuse in Juneau have come to light. The commission was instead prompted, he said, by the massive allegations of Pennsylvania sex abuse involving hundreds of clergy members and more than 1,000 victims.

“We just wanted to review our files to see if any allegations have been reported involving our employees, our past employees, since the establishment of the diocese in 1951,” Johnson said.

The Archdiocese of Anchorage announced a similar review in October of any abuse allegations dating back 50 years. Anchorage’s archbishop, Paul Etienne – who barred a Wyoming bishop from public ministry over alleged abuse when Etienne served there – told KTVA last month that the move was part of a focus on transparency.

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.

SANTA BARBARA (CA)
Santa Barbara Independent

December 13, 2018

by Tyler Hayden

New disclosures by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Catholic Church’s western Jesuit province have identified more than 200 clergymen accused of child molestation, 12 of whom held lengthy postings in the Santa Barbara area dating back to the 1950s.

The names were made public for the first time this week as part of what church officials described as atonement for the revelations of clergy sex abuse that have roiled the Catholic Church the last two decades, including the longtime protection of predator priests by some of the institution’s top leaders. The names were added to a list that was initially published by the Archdiocese in 2004 and hadn’t been updated since 2008.

“We owe it to the victim-survivors to be fully transparent in listing the names of those who perpetrate this abuse,” said L.A. Archbishop José H. Gomez in a prepared statement. “It is inconceivable that someone entrusted with the pastoral care of a child could be capable of something so harmful,” said Rev. Scott Santarosa, the head of the western Jesuit province. “Yet, tragically, this is a part of our Jesuit history, a legacy we cannot ignore.”

Victim advocates, however, called the release a self-serving strategy to shield the church from further scrutiny and potential criminal prosecution after a Pennsylvania grand jury issued a searing report in August that described how bishops in the state covered up child sexual abuse by more than 300 priests over 70 years. It was the most expansive investigation yet by a U.S. government agency of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

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.

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Santiago Times

December 12, 2018

Pope Francis has removed two prominent cardinals from his inner circle months after they were hit by pedophile scandals, the Vatican announced on Wednesday.

Chilean Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz and Australian Cardinal George Pell were both removed from the so-called C9 Council of Cardinals, a powerful council of advisers picked by Pope Francis to guide him on matters critical to the future of the Catholic Church.

The last time the C9 met in September, Errazuriz, who is accused of covering up abuse in Chile, and Pell, who faces charges in Australia related to historical child sexual offenses, were both absent, and the council said it was considering restructuring.

In October, the pope wrote to the cardinals that they will leave the office to thank them for “the work they have achieved for five years,” Vatican press director Greg Burke said.

Despite being removed from the C9, Pell, 77, remains in charge of Vatican finances, the third most powerful position in the Roman Catholic Church.

Errazuriz, the retired archbishop of Santiago, met Francis last month and subsequently announced his “withdrawal” from the C9. “It’s not a resignation. I said goodbye at the end of the period for which I was appointed,” the prelate said in an interview with a Chilean newspaper. Back home, he is accused by victims of sexual abuse of having covered the acts of a pedophile priest, a case that scandalizes the South American country.

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.

CORPUS CHRISTI (TX)
Corpus Christi Caller Times

Dec. 12, 2018

By Alexandria Rodriguez

A Jesuit priest accused of more than one incident of sexual abuse of a minor spent time in Corpus Christi.

The late J. Donald Pearce, who was in Corpus Christi in the 1970s, was included in a list of names of Jesuits, who were members of the U.S. Central and Southern Province, with “credible allegations.”

Jesuits are a Roman Catholic order of priests and brothers.

The men included in the list, released on the Society of Jesuits’ website, fall into one of three categories.

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.

LONDON (CANADA)
London Free Press

December 12, 2018

ByJennifer Bieman

Supporters of clergy sexual abuse survivor Irene Deschenes shouted “shame” and “justice for Irene” at the Catholic diocese office in London Wednesday afternoon, delivering a letter to the bishop demanding the organization abandon a planned appeal of a court ruling that allows her to reopen a settled civil case.

Representatives from London-area women’s groups gathered at the office to denounce the diocese’s move and voice their support for the 57-year-old sex-abuse survivor.

“Irene entered into a legal process because of the wrong that was done to her by the diocese,” said Michelle Schryer, executive director of the Chatham-Kent Sexual Assault Crisis Centre.

On Friday, the Roman Catholic Diocese of London announced its plan to appeal Superior Court Justice David Aston’s Nov. 27 decision to allow Deschenes to reopen the settlement reached in her 1996 lawsuit for abuse involving then-priest Charles Sylvestre.

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.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

December 13, 2018

by David Knight
‘
Editor’s note: Last week, Melinda Henneberger, a public Catholic and writer, described her decision to leave the church amid ongoing revelations of the clergy sex abuse scandal and coverup, and what she was hearing about it.

It was one of the most-read pieces on our website. Among the many responses was the one below from Fr. David Knight. Both are smart and thoughtful (and quite witty) explorations of the “To leave or stay?” question increasingly on the minds of Catholics disgusted with the scandal and the inability of church leaders to deal with it at a depth that begins to restore trust.

We’ve invited NCR members by separate email to continue the discussion, and we’ll report on those opinions at a later date. If you’re not a member and would like to become one and join the discussion, you can do so here. You’ll get an email early next week with instructions on how to send us your thoughts on the issue.

Melinda, I read your article in NCR just when an intellectual friend was disagreeing with my proposition that more people left the church because of boring Masses than because of child abuse. She and her husband, both highly educated, deeply involved Catholics, had both felt inclined to leave the church because of the recurring scandals, although they never would.

My response was, “But you are intellectual people. You couldn’t leave for a reason like that. It is totally illogical!”

You are obviously intellectual, too, but in your article I found no one telling you that you are illogical. So I want to ask how in the world a person with your education could possibly leave the church for such an unreasonable reason. In the kind of people who vote for Donald Trump, it is understandable. Not in you.

Logically, if you leave the church because the priests are sinful and the bishops worse, you are saying you belonged to the church because the priests were holy and the bishops even more so — which would be manifestly insane. (Or it would be clericalism, which is the same thing!)

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.

DENVER (CO)
Crux

December 13, 2018

By Christopher White

In a decision that will undoubtedly create shockwaves around the globe, Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Church official to stand trial for sexual abuse, was found guilty on Tuesday by a Melbourne Court.

In one of the most closely watched trials in modern Catholic Church history, after nearly four full days of deliberations, a jury rendered unanimous guilty verdicts on five charges related to the abuse of two choirboys in 1996.

The trial, which began on November 7, has been subject to a media blackout at the request of the prosecution, and follows a first trial in September ended after a jury failed to reach consensus.

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.

YORK (PA)
York Daily Record

December 12, 2018

By Mike Argento

The grand jury implored everyone to take heed of all they had learned. Here’s how their report shook up the world.

Marcia Hince lived with it all her life.

It’s difficult to explain. It was like a malignant growth, something that resided inside her being, infecting her soul, hoping against hope that ignoring it or suppressing her thoughts about it would make it disappear.

She felt alone, isolated, cut off from the rest of humanity, as if she were an alien being occupying a human body.

“I felt like I was the only person this happened to,” she said, “that I was outside the human race.”

She remained silent about it for years.

Then, in 2002, after the Boston Globe’s groundbreaking expose of child sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the Catholic clergy, she reported what happened to her to the Harrisburg diocese, writing a letter that outlined the abuse she endured and the consequences on her life.

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.

SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
Catholic News Agency

December 12, 2018

By Ed Condon

Cardinal George Pell has been convicted by an Australian court on charges of sexual abuse of minors, according to media reports and CNA sources close to the cardinal.

A judicial gag order has restricted Australian media coverage of the trial since June.

Despite the gag order, a story published Dec. 11 on the Daily Beast website first reported that a unanimous verdict of guilty had been returned by a jury on charges that Pell sexually abused two altar servers in the late 1990s, while he was Archbishop of Melbourne.

The verdict reportedly followed three days of deliberations by the jury – the second to hear the case. An earlier hearing of the case is reported to have ended in early autumn with a mistrial, after jurors were unable to reach a verdict.

In October, two sources close to Cardinal Pell, members of neither his legal team nor the Catholic hierarchy in Australia, told CNA that the first hearing of the case had ended in a mistrial due to a jury stalemate. One source said that jury was deadlocked 10-2 in favor of Pell.

In remarks to CNA Dec. 12, the same sources independently confirmed this week’s report that a guilty verdict had been reached.

The conviction has not yet been confirmed by the Australian judiciary, and the gag order on Australian media could remain in place for several months.

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.

AUSTRALIA
America Magazine

December 12, 2018

By Gerard O’Connell

An Australian jury has found Cardinal George Pell, 77, guilty on five charges of “historical child sexual offenses” that go back decades, according to various media reports and confirmed by America. The 12-member jury gave their unanimous verdict in the County Court of the State of Victoria in Melbourne on Tuesday, Dec. 11.

The judge decided that the sentencing will take place in early February 2019 and released the cardinal on bail.

Little is known about the nature of the charges on which Cardinal Pell has been condemned because the entire trial and a second trial that has yet to take place are covered by a strict suppression order issued by the presiding judge, Peter Kidd. The order prohibits reporting on the case in any of the country’s media until the second trial has taken place to avoid prejudicing his case in both instances. The judge has prohibited the publication of the number of complainants in either of the two trials as well as the number and nature of the charges, except for the fact that the charges relate to “historical child sexual offenses.”

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.

ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
The Associated Press

December 12, 2018

A 44-year-old man has filed a lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America, saying two Catholic priests who served as scout leaders in New Mexico sexually abused him for years starting in the early 1980s.

The lawsuit filed Thursday accuses the organization of negligence — with the victim saying officials knew or had reason to know the priests had abused boys.

The victim, who remains unnamed in the court filing, said he was abused during hiking and camping trips in the state, including at Cochití Lake and Jemez.

The priests accused of abuse in the lawsuit are Ronald Bruckner and Robert Malloy, neither of whom are listed as defendants.

Chris Shelby, the director of the Boy Scouts branch in New Mexico, did not immediately return an Associated Press call requesting comment.

He told KOB-TV on Monday that the organization — which like the Catholic Church has been at the center of sexual abuse scandals in the past — has implemented numerous policies since the 1980s to improve protections for youth.

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.

BURLINGTON (VT)
The Associated Press/WAMC

December 12, 2018

By Pat Bradley

A Texas man who says he was sexually abused as a boy by a Vermont priest is suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington.

The complaint filed Friday alleges negligence, fraud and “outrageous conduct” by the diocese and seeks more than $75,000 in damages.

The Burlington Free Press reports the man says he was altar boy at St. Ann’s Parish in Milton in the late 1970s and 1980s when he was abused by Father Alfred Willis.
Willis was accused of abusing others in several complaints that were settled in the early 2000s. He was eventually dismissed from the priesthood.

Bishop Christopher Coyne wrote in a statement the filing is “further evidence that we still have much to do to bring healing and closure” to survivors of sexual abuse by clergy in the past.

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.

ROCHESTER (NY)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

December 11, 2018

By Sean Lahman

Days after Bishop Salvatore Matano dismissed two priests over allegations of misconduct, victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests say the actions fall short of what is needed to address a dark chapter in the history of the Diocese.

“The removal of these two priests is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Robert M. Hoatson, a former priest and co-founder and president of Road to Recovery Inc., a nonprofit charity based in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families.

On Sunday, the Diocese of Rochester announced that Matano had removed two priests after an investigation into allegations of misconduct.

Fathers Thomas J. Valenti and Erick Viloria are both restricted from engaging in public ministry or presenting themselves publicly as clerics, according to a statement from the Diocese of Rochester.

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.

CALIFORNIA
The Recorder

December 10, 2018

By Ross Todd

The ruling from the Fourth District Court of Appeal leaves in place terminating sanctions issued after the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York Inc. refused to hand over a trove of documents concerning known molesters in the church.

A California appellate court has upheld a $4-plus million judgment against Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York Inc., the top organizational body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, in a case brought by a woman who alleges she was molested as a child by a church elder in 2006.

The ruling from the Fourth District Court of Appeal leaves in place terminating sanctions and a $4,016,152.39 judgment after Watchtower refused to hand over a trove of documents it received in response to a 1997 letter sent to Jehovah’s Witness congregations concerning known molesters in the church.

The underlying case was brought on behalf of J.W., who was molested by Gilbert Simental, with whom she and her family attended the Mountain View Jehovah’s Witness congregation. J.W. contends that her family wouldn’t have allowed her to attend a slumber party at Simental’s house but for his service as an elder in the church, the highest authority at the congregational level of the organization. Simental was found guilty in two criminal cases of molesting J.W. and two other anonymous victims.

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.

FORT WORTH (TX)
The Star-Telegram Editorial Board

December 9, 2018

Revelations of shameless sexual harassment and abuse by powerful men in entertainment, politics and the Roman Catholic Church rocked the nation the past few years.

In truth, such abuse may be just as pronounced, pervasive and pernicious among a loose-knit network of independent fundamental Baptist churches and universities, an eight-month Star-Telegram investigation has found.

The newspaper uncovered over 400 allegations of sexual misconduct in nearly 200 of the churches and affiliated institutions across 40 states and stretching into Canada.

Yet there appears to be even less accountability among these churches than in other areas of society.

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.

ST. LOUIS (MI)
The Associated Press

December 9, 2018

Two Roman Catholic Jesuit provinces that cover nearly half the U.S. released the names Friday of more than 150 priests and other ministry leaders who were found to have “credible allegations” of sexual abuse made against them dating to the 1950s.

One of the names on the list is Segundo Llorente, who served at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Pocatello from 1982 to 1984. He also served at St. Stanislaus Church in Lewiston from 1984 to 1989. He died in 1989, according to the Jesuit’s release. The claims were for 1962-1963, and the mid-1960s, for alleged sexual abuse of a minor.

The Jesuits say many claims were received after accused priests had died. So in those cases thorough investigations could not be undertaken. Deceased individuals are included in the list based on the fact that an accusation was reported.

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.

NASHVILLE (TN)
Nashville Tennessean

December 9, 2018

By Amelia Ferrell Knisely

Pastors in independent fundamental Baptist churches have for the first time admitted they shuffled suspected abusers among churches and universities rather than call law enforcement.

It’s according to an eight-month investigation by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that includes first-hand accounts from former church members.

The report reveals 186 church leaders in the denomination were accused or convicted of committing sexual crimes against children, and at least 45 of the alleged abusers continued in ministry — including in Tennessee — after accusations came to the attention of church authorities or law enforcement.

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.

BROOKSVILLE (FL)
Patheos

December 11, 2018

By Michael Stone

Blaming the victim: Bishop Donald Sanborn claims that the immodest dress of modern women causes sexual assault.

In a recent blog post for In Veritate, Bishop Sanborn offers a critique of the “MeToo” movement by suggesting that women cause their own sexual assault by tempting men with their “immodest dress.”

In his blog post Sanborn makes it clear that victims are at least partially responsible for their own sexual assault, writing:

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.

YORK (PA)
York Daily Record

December 10, 2018

By Brandie Kessler

The program that appeared to be designed to support them left some sexually abused Catholics feeling even worse.

Mary Handler remembers some of the details so vividly that it’s like it happened yesterday instead of decades ago.

She was 5-½ years old, sitting in the backseat of her family’s car.

Family cars in the 1950s were big — and felt exceptionally so to a child. Handler remembers it was dark out, her mother was in the front seat holding a baby and her father was driving.

Handler was wearing a dress. It was summertime.

Next to her sat the priest her family was taking to the bus station.

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.

[Two priests sentenced to jail for child abuse were sent to Peru and Bolivia]

MADRID, SPAIN
El País

December 9, 2018

By Íñigo Domínguez

Dos de las escasas sentencias de los noventa, de un agustino recoleto y un jesuita, terminaron con el agresor en América Latina a los pocos meses

Un jesuita, Luis Tó González, y un agustino recoleto, José Luis Untoria Mahave, recibieron en los noventa dos de las escasas condenas de cárcel por abusos de menores en España en aquellos años, en 1992 y 1997, respectivamente, y los dos tuvieron idéntico destino: enviados de misiones a América Latina, al no ingresar en prisión por ser penas de dos años y no tener antecedentes. Luis Tó, profesor del colegio San Ignacio de Barcelona y condenado por abusar de una menor de ocho años, cuando él tenía 57, fue trasladado a Bolivia a los dos meses de la sentencia. José Luis Untoria, profesor en el colegio Santo Tomás de Villanueva de Salamanca, condenado por abusar de diez alumnos del internado, partió a Perú. Tras el eco mediático de sus condenas, casi nada se supo de destino posterior.

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.

[The sinister face of Father Juanjo, investigated for abusing minors in Benin]

MADRID, SPAIN
El País

December 9, 2018

By Julio Núñez and Íñigo Domínguez

La Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe investiga a un conocido misionero que asiste a niños que viven en la calle en Benín. Dos jóvenes le acusan de violación

El sacerdote Juan José Gómez es un hombre conocido e importante en Benín (África). Su trabajo como misionero sacando a niños pobres de entre 8 y 17 años de las calles de la capital de Porto Novo le ha llevado a salir en varios medios españoles (EL PAÍS, Onda Cero y eldiario.es, entre otros) e incluso en un documental sobre el tráfico de menores en África (No estoy en venta). Frente a esa apariencia, varias denuncias por abusos arrojan sombras sobre su labor solidaria. En 2013, voluntarios denunciaron a Gómez por agredir sexualmente a varios menores a los que daba cobijo con su programa Chicos de la calle. Patrick Yehouenou, de 20 años, es uno de esos jóvenes.

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.

[O’Reilly’s lawyer says expelling him from Chile would be “discriminatory”]

SANTIAGO, CHILE
Emol

December 12, 2018

By Juan Peña

Cristian Muga dijo que un extranjero es “sancionado dos veces” a diferencia de un chileno condenado por el mismo delito. Además, explicó que el arraigo es una de las razones por la que el cura podría pedir quedarse en el país.

El abogado de John O’Reilly, Cristian Muga, calificó como “discriminatoria” la solicitud de expulsión que pesa sobre el sacerdote, quien cumplió su condena de cuatro años de libertad vigilada por abuso sexual contra una menor.

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.

[Juan Carlos Cruz on Errázuriz: “The Pope tossed him for lying and covering up”]

CHILE
La Tercera

December 12, 2018

By Angélica Baeza

Una de las víctimas de Fernando Karadima valoró la decisión del Papa Francisco, de separar del C9 al ex arzobispo de Santiago.

Juan Carlos Cruz, una de las víctimas del ex párroco de El Bosque Fernando Karadima, valoró la decisión comunicada hoy por el Vaticano, de separar del Consejo de Cardenales a Francisco Javier Errázuriz.

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.

[Errázuriz reacts to his separation from the Council of Cardinals: “A few weeks ago I received a letter from the Pope thanking me for my work”]

CHILE
La Tercera

December 12, 2018

By Sergio Rodríguez

El ex arzobispo de Santiago fue separado del C9, por parte del Sumo Pontífice, decisión anunciada hoy por el Vaticano.

El cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz reaccionó ante la decisión comunicada hoy por el Vaticano, de separarlo del Consejo de Cardenales. “Efectivamente hace algunas pocas semanas recibí la carta del Papa en que me agradecía el trabajo”, afirmó el ex arzobispo de Santiago a La Tercera. Errázuriz será citado a declarar en calidad de imputado por un eventual encubrimiento de los delitos sexuales que habría cometido el sacerdote Jorge Laplagne.

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.

[Pope Francis excludes Errázuriz from Council of Cardinals]

CHILE
La Tercera

December 12, 2018

By A. Jara and C. Reyes

La misma medida se aplicó también para los cardenales George Pell, de Australia, y Laurent Monsengwo, de la República Democrática del Congo.

El Vaticano confirmó este miércoles que el arzobispo chileno Francisco Javier Errázuriz -investigado como encubridor de los abusos cometidos por el sacerdote Fernando Karadima- fue apartado del Consejo de Cardenales del Papa Francisco, una instancia conocida como C9 que tiene por objetivo realizar una reforma administrativa a la Santa Sede.

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 D.C.
Catholic News Service

December 11, 2018

By Carol Zimmermann

2018 will no doubt be remembered as a dark time for the U.S. Catholic Church.

Catholics felt betrayed by church leaders accused of sexual misconduct and cover-up revealed this summer and this cloud still hung over the church at the year’s end.

(See a related video.)

In June, allegations were made against then-Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, accused of sexually abusing a minor almost 50 years ago and having sexual contact with seminarians while he was a bishop in New Jersey.

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 D.C.
Associated Press via U.S. News & World Report

December 12, 2018

A Catholic priest in Washington, D.C., charged with sexually abusing a child has been arrested on new abuse allegations.

News outlets report 46-year-old Urbano Vazquez surrendered to authorities Tuesday on charges including sexual assault of a minor. A police report and city U.S. Attorney’s Office release say Vazquez is accused of sexually touching a 9-year-old and a woman.

Vazquez was charged last month with child sexual abuse. Three people accused him of abusing them as teenagers, but prosecutors say the statute of limitations expired on two of the reported assaults.

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.

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

December 12, 2018

By Patrick O’Neil & Michael Bachelard

Why we are unable to report on a case that has generated huge interest online

A very high-profile figure was convicted on Tuesday of a serious crime, but we are unable to report their identity due to a suppression order.

The person, whose case has attracted significant media attention, was convicted on the second attempt, after the jury in an earlier trial was unable to reach a verdict. They will be remanded when they return to court in February for sentencing.

A suppression order issued by the Victorian County Court, which applies in all Australian states and territories, has prevented any publication of the details of the case including the person’s name or the charges. It was imposed after the court accepted that knowledge of the person’s identity in the first trial might prejudice a further trial being held in March.

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.

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune Review

December 11, 2018

By Deb Erdley

As the Pittsburgh Diocese prepares to unveil details of a fund for adult survivors of clergy child sexual abuse, the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese this week revealed it has paid $21.5 million related to such costs over the last 19 years.

In a special message to parishioners dated Monday, Altoona-Johnstown Bishop Mark Bartchak said the church there sold its diocesan center in 2016 and bishop’s residence in 2014 and used those proceeds as well as insurance funds and financial reserves to pay $15.7 million to survivors, $514,422 in counseling and support services, $4.3 million in legal costs and just under $907,389 in support of priests accused of child sexual abuse.

The diocese with a Catholic population of about 84,000 — the smallest in the state— was the subject of a 2016 state grand jury investigation. It concluded about 50 predator priests prowled its small town and rural parishes and schools over decades, often transferred from place to place by their bishops as allegations of sexual abuse surfaced.

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.

ROCHESTER (NY)
WHAM

December 10, 2018

By Antoinette DelBel

The Diocese of Rochester has removed two priests from public ministry following an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct.

Reverend Thomas Valenti and Reverend Erick Viloria are restricted from presenting themselves publicly as clerics.

Father Valenti, who served at Blessed Trinity/St. Patrick’s in Tioga County, was accused in June 2018 of sexually abusing a minor. The alleged abuse occurred in the 1970s.

In June, Boston attorney Mitch Garabedian publicly accused Father Thomas Valenti of that sexual abuse incident when he worked as a deacon at St. Mary’s of the Lake Church in the Town of Ontario in the ‘70s.

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.

AUSTRALIA
SBS News

December 10, 2018

Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard has received this year’s annual Blue Knot Award.

Former prime minister Julia Gillard has received an award for her role in establishing the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

On Monday, the Blue Knot Foundation – National Centre of Excellence for Complex Trauma gave Ms Gillard its annual Blue Knot Award in recognition of her “foresight, determination and courage”.

The organisation, which works with survivors of childhood trauma, presents the award each year to “leaders whose work and efforts inspire communities to unite in support of survivors”.

“The commission was not only a beacon of light and truth but it has been the harbinger of real change,” president Dr Cathy Kezelman said.

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)
Reuters

December 10, 2018

Donald Trump on Monday defended hush money payments reported by his former lawyer, responding a day after Democratic lawmakers said the U.S. president could face impeachment and jail time if the transactions are proven to violate campaign finance laws.

Trump said on Twitter that Democrats were wrongly targeting “a simple private transaction.” Court filings last week drew renewed attention to six-figure payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign by Trump’s personal lawyer to two women so they would not discuss their alleged affairs with the candidate.

U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler, who will lead the Judiciary Committee when Democrats take control of the House of Representatives next month, said on Sunday that if the payments were found to violate campaign finance laws it would be an impeachable offense.

His Democratic counterpart on the Intelligence Committee, Representative Adam Schiff, said Trump could be indicted once he leaves office and could “face the real prospect of jail time.”

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.

LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Los Angeles Times

December 6, 2018

By Laura Newberry

For the first time in a decade, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on Thursday updated its list of clergy accused of molesting children, addressing renewed outcry about how the Catholic Church responds to abuse allegations.

“We owe it to the victim-survivors to be fully transparent in listing the names of those who perpetrate this abuse,” Archbishop Jose H. Gomez said in a statement in releasing the list of 54 names.

For nearly two decades, the archdiocese has been roiled by allegations that onetime church leaders mishandled priest abuse cases, sometimes moving clergy suspected of wrongdoing to other parishes rather than punishing them and informing law enforcement. The L.A. Archdiocese paid a record $740 million in various settlements to victims and had vowed to better protect its church members. Gomez succeeded longtime Cardinal Roger Mahony, who faced strong criticism for his handling of the scandal.

Advocates for abuse victims said the action was largely symbolic and that there was much more the church could be doing to better protect children and help victims. They also noted that the California Catholic Conference spent more than $86,000 to fight a bill — vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown in October — that would have given survivors of childhood sexual assault more time to sue those who failed to stop their abuse.

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.

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
The Advocate

December 11, 2018

By Ramon Antonio Vargas

A volunteer firefighter from North Carolina alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was sexually abused numerous times as a seventh-grader in New Orleans by George Brignac, a former Catholic Church deacon and suspected serial child molester.

Echoing other cases against the disgraced clergyman, Morris Daniels’ suit also contends that he is owed damages because local Catholic officials failed to protect him from Brignac, who was assigned to the plaintiff’s school after being tried — though acquitted — on charges that he abused a child while teaching elsewhere.

The lawsuit comes amid a new focus on decades-old clerical abuse alleged to have occurred in New Orleans and a push by victims to bring the allegations out into the open. It follows the release last month by New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond of a list of 57 credibly-accused clergy — which named Brignac — and the local Jesuit order’s release last week of a similar list.

In the past, victims have often preferred to follow a private mediation process to settle sex abuse claims involving the church, including a number of others who have accused Brignac.

But Daniels is among a growing group of plaintiffs in New Orleans and elsewhere who have taken such claims to the courts in an effort to shed light on alleged abuse and the church’s failure to stop it.

“They could’ve done something about it, but they didn’t,” Daniels said in an interview. “They didn’t take care of us as kids. They just let it happen.”

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.

FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram

December 9, 2018

By Sarah Smith

Joy Evans Ryder was 15 years old when she says her church youth director pinned her to his office floor and raped her.

“It’s OK. It’s OK,” he told her. “You don’t have to be afraid of anything.”

He straddled her with his knees, and she looked off into the corner, crying and thinking, “This isn’t how my mom said it was supposed to be.”

The youth director, Dave Hyles, was the son of the charismatic pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, considered at the time the flagship for thousands of loosely affiliated independent fundamental Baptist churches and universities.

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.

LONDON (ONTARIO, CANADA)
The London Free Press

December 7, 2018

By Jane Sims

When she accepted a civil settlement from the Roman Catholic Church 18 years ago, Irene Deschenes was defeated.

“We are tired, we want closure and are hesitant to believe we can or will get justice from the court process,” she wrote in an email to her lawyer before accepting the terms in 2000.

What Deschenes, the Catholic Diocese of London and disgraced ex-priest Charles Sylvestre wouldn’t know is that settlement would send Deschenes on a determined course to expose the abusive Sylvestre and hold the church accountable.

In a ground-breaking decision, Superior Court Justice David Aston, who quoted Deschenes’ email, granted her motion and allowed the sexual abuse survivor to re-open her settlement after almost two decades.

“My goal here is to hold the Roman Catholic Church accountable for their unspeakable treatment of survivors,” Deschenes said at a news conference here on Thursday. “This is a continuation of my fight for justice, for me, and other known and unknown survivors of sexual abuse by priests and other religions.”

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.

SYRACUSE (NY)
syracuse.com

December 3, 2018

By Julie McMahon

Syracuse Bishop Robert Cunningham’s choice to release a list of abusive priests is part of a “slow awakening” to the seriousness of child sex abuse, he said in an interview today.

The Catholic Diocese of Syracuse today released a list of 57 priests with credible allegations of child sex abuse against them.

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.

SYRACUSE (NY)
syracuse.com

December 3, 2018

By Julie McMahon and Mark Weiner

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse today for the first time released a list of 57 priests with “credible” allegations of child sexual abuse against them.

According to the diocese, 38 of the priests are deceased. The diocese said all living priests named to the list have been removed from ministry and there are no active priests with credible claims against them in the Syracuse diocese.

Claims against at least 16 of the priests named Monday were reported previously.

What follows is information about each priest made public by the diocese and from previous reports in The Post-Standard’s archives.

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.

CINCINNATI (OH)
WLWT & AP

December 6, 2018

By John London

A priest from Cincinnati is under arrest in the Philippines, accused of molesting minors.

Authorities are trying to determine if he might have sexually abused anyone in his home area.

The Rev. Kenneth Bernard Hendricks, 77, was taken into custody two days ago and charged with abusingat least five and maybe as many as 10 boys, ranging in age from 7 to the teens.

According to U.S. Attorney Ben Glassman, Hendricks met the boys through his Catholic missionary work.

“He befriended them,” explained Glassman, who described the behavior as horrifying. “He would invite them to his residence, often to take a bath or a shower. That interaction would then proceed to kissing, and then he would fondle their genitals, masturbate them or masturbate with them and ultimately have oral and anal sex with the victims.”

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.

CINCINNATI (OH)
Cincinnati Enquirer

December 6, 2018

By Dan Horn, Cameron Knight and Sarah Brookbank

The first boy went to police in early November, telling officers in his remote town in the Philippines a harrowing tale about the Catholic priest from Cincinnati he accused of sexually abusing him for years.

Then another boy told a similar story. And another. And another.

Within weeks, Filipino police and U.S. immigration officials had arrested the Rev. Kenneth Bernard Hendricks on charges of sexually assaulting five altar boys in his home and in his church.

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.

[Bilbao diocese denounces priest for sexual abuse]

BILBAO (SPAIN)
El País

December 10, 2018

By Pedro Goropse

La Iglesia abrió una investigación que ha detectado “comportamientos inadecuados contra la libertad sexual”

La fiscalía de Bizkaia investiga a un cura tras la declaración de tres mujeres que le han denunciado por “tocamientos”. Se trata del presbítero responsable de la zona de Mungia, Bizkaia, Egoitz Arruza, técnico especialista en electrónica industrial que se ordenó el año 2005. Ha sido vicario parroquial en Derio, Zamudio, Lezama, Larrabetzu y Goikoelexea, y tanto el Obispado de Bilbao como los “scouts” le han apartado de sus responsabilidades. Los hechos denunciados se produjeron entre los años 2015, 2016 y 2017, cuando las mujeres pertenecían al movimiento de los scouts, del que el cura era responsable. Una de ellas era menor cuando sucedieron los hechos denunciados y le acusan de “comportamientos inadecuados contra la libertad sexual”. La fiscal jefe de Bizkaia, Ana Barrilero Yarnoz, ha confirmado a Efe que el Obispado les comunicó los hechos y “se han abierto diligencias, las cuales se encuentran en fase de inicio de la investigación”.

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.

[Spain’s government restates that the Church must denounce abuses]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

December 10, 2018

By Julio Núñez

En una respuesta parlamentaria a Unidos Podemos, el Ejecutivo rechaza pedir a los obispos datos sobre los casos silenciados

La Iglesia española estaba obligada por ley a comunicar a la justicia ordinaria los casos de abusos sexuales a menores que conoció y silenció en las últimas décadas, según afirmó el Gobierno en una respuesta parlamentaria al grupo de Unidos Podemos a finales de noviembre. El Ejecutivo contesta así a una pregunta sobre si considera que los acuerdos con el Vaticano son un obstáculo legal para que la Iglesia española colabore con los tribunales en los casos de pederastia. En su respuesta, a la que tuvo acceso ayer EL PAÍS, el Gobierno alega que la única posibilidad en la que los clérigos pueden acogerse a los Acuerdos de 1976 para no denunciar los casos que conozcan es si esos delitos se les han revelado “en el ejercicio de su ministerio [por el secreto de confesión]” y no al conocimiento que puedan tener “por otros medios”, en cuyo caso sí estarían obligados a denunciar.

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.

[VIDEO: Marists offered money for silence]

CHILE
T13

December 10, 2018

El investigador canónico de los abusos sexuales en Colegios Maristas determinó la verosimilitud de la mayoría de los casos denunciados y propuso que varios religiosos sean expulsados. Dicha congregación negoció además el pago 50 millones de pesos a la familia de una víctima. Todo a cambio de no interponer ninguna acción en la justicia ni revelar lo sucedido a terceros

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.

[Money in exchange for abuse victims’ silence: new accusation against the Marists]

CHILE
El Mostrador

December 11, 2018

“Esta política de tapar con plata se viene dando y se ha dado mucho, es la costumbre que tenían”, denunció Gonzalo Dezerega, ex alumno del Instituto Alonso de Ercilla y también víctima de abusos por parte de religiosos. De acuerdo a un documento, se ofreció 50 millones a la familia de una víctima a cambio de “renunciar a toda acción judicial o extrajudicial que tuvieran contra el Instituto, la parte sostenedora, o respecto de trabajadores de la Congregación”.

Dinero a cambio del silencio de las víctimas. Esta es una nueva acusación contra las prácticas de la Congregación de los Hermanos Maristas, uno de los grupos religiosos presentes en Chile que ha protagonizado bullados casos de abusos sexuales contra menores.

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.

[O’Reilly, the priest convicted of sexually abusing a girl says: “I’m not a pedophile”]

CHILE
El Mostrador

December 11, 2018

El influyente sacerdote de los Legionarios de Cristo vive horas clave, dado que un decreto de la Subsecretaría del Interior determinó su expulsión de Chile una vez cumplidos los 4 años de sentencia. Su abogado se aferra a una interpretación, mientras el representante de las víctimas sostiene que “no hay ninguna justificación para que se mantenga en el país”.

“Una sola cosa, no soy pedófilo, por más que esté en el recuerdo”. Esa fue la breve declaración a Chilevisión de John O’Reilly, el sacerdote que cumplió condena bajo el régimen de libertad vigilada por el delito de abuso sexual contra una menor de edad del colegio Cumbres y ahora debe abandonar el país de acuerdo a un decreto de la Subsecretaría del Interior.

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.

[O’Reilly’s attorney says the priest is “worried” and evaluating options after serving his sentence]

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Emol

December 10, 2018

By J. Peña

Cristián Muga explicó que el plazo de 72 horas corre desde que se notifica el término de la condena que se cumple hoy, y que están evaluando las acciones a seguir.

“Muy preocupado por su situación”. Con estas palabras el abogado del cura John O’Reilly, Cristián Muga, manifestó el estado en que se encuentra a horas de cumplir su condena a cuatro años de libertad vigilada por abuso sexual reiterado contra una menor, caso por el que fue condenado en 2014.

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.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

December 11, 2018

by Peter Feuerherd

At the door of the studios of Church Militant in this Detroit suburb, visitors face a picture of Michael the Archangel putting the sword to demonic hordes.

Previously a dispenser of catechetical videos, Church Militant has been transformed into a prime player in the Catholic culture wars by president and founder Michael Voris.

Voris, 57, rejects what he calls “the church of nice,” a Catholic belief in deference to church hierarchy and a willingness to incorporate those who sometimes fall short of its teachings, particularly regarding sexual morality.

Claiming three million supporters, Church Militant, with a full-time staff of 34, sends out via the internet for $10 a month per premium subscriber a daily newscast, panel discussion, and various other commentaries, seeking a vision of the church in line with what Voris describes as Catholic “orthodoxy.” A visitor who uses the labels conservative or traditional is quickly corrected.

Two papal flags fly over Church Militant offices located in a light industrial, non-descript set of two buildings. But the flags could be out of place. In some ways, Church Militant considers itself more Catholic than the pope, at least the current Bishop of Rome.

A stairway in the studio building holds a collection of photographs of the popes, dating through the last two centuries. Absent is Pope Francis, although his image adorns other office spaces.

The sex abuse scandal, which Church Militant in its daily newscasts and discussions says is largely a crisis of homosexual priests permitted to harass teenagers and young men, is proof that Francis is not up to his responsibilities.

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.

BURLINGTON (VT)
Burlington Free Press

December 11, 2018

By Elizabeth Murray

A man who says he was sexually abused as a boy by a priest serving at St. Ann Catholic Church in Milton has filed a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington alleging negligence, fraud, and “outrageous conduct.”

The man is asking for in excess of $75,000 in damages, in addition to any other damages deemed appropriate by a jury.

The lawsuit alleges that the Diocese’s actions in the man’s case were “utterly reprehensible, egregious and patently outrageous,” according to the legal complaint filed Friday.

The Diocese said it would respond to the Free Press’s request for comment on Tuesday, but no response had been received as of 8:15 a.m.

The man was an altar boy and parishioner at St. Ann’s Parish in Milton in the late 1970s and early 1980s, according to the complaint.

The man, who now lives in Texas, said he did not discover he had a personal legal action to bring against the Diocese until 2017. His complaint states that he has suffered “pain, emotional distress, embarrassment, humiliation, loss of self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological injuries.”

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.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
KMBZ TV

December 11, 2018

By Bill Grady

The plaintiff is listed as “John Doe” in official court documents, though his real name is Kevin Smith. The 54-year-old claims he was sexually abused by Father Thomas Reardon while he attended St. Gabriel’s school at 4737 N. Cleveland Ave. in Kansas City.

Smith said he was 13 at the time of the abuse. The Catholic parish that includes St. Gabriel is also named in the lawsuit.

“I believe, in my opinion, he’s a threat,” said Smith, who would like to see Reardon go to prison for the rest of his life.

Smith’s lawsuit seeks the release of names of those who have been investigated or reassigned because of sexual abuse allegations.

A large-scale independent investigation, like the one that recently took place in Pennsylvania, would be the best course of action, said Rebecca Randles, Smith’s attorney.

Reardon, who was ordained in 1967, was accused in previous court filings of serving alcohol to teenage boys, allowing them privileges, including driving their cars, and taking part in sexual activity around them.

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.

MOBILE (AL)
AL.com

December 10, 2018

By John Archibald

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.

Sometimes that’s just not enough. Sometimes it’s not complete. Sometimes it’s too little too late, too half-hearted, too forced and weak and watery.

Like tears of a condemned man.

Like the Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile, with its late and lame revelations that dozens of priests and other clergy abused and molested and scarred children for decades in churches and schools across south Alabama. It had the ring of a deathbed confessional.

The Archdiocese last week released 29 names of Catholic priests, deacons and brothers accused of sexually abusing children since 1950. Most of them are dead or dying.

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned, and lied about it, and covered it up while the guilty grew old in their own beds while victims grew up in torment and anger and a guilt they did not earn.

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.

NORTH STRATHFIELD (AUSTRALIA)
Mercator.net

December 11, 2018

By Michael Cook

On May 22 the Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, was found guilty of failing to report allegations of child sexual abuse. He was the most senior Catholic cleric found guilty of concealing abuse and the news was reported around the world.

On July 3, Archbishop Wilson was sentenced to 12 months’ detention, with parole after six months. This eventually became home detention, which he began serving on August 14. This, too, was reported around the world.

Following the conviction in Newcastle Local Court before Magistrate Robert Stone, there were calls for the Archbishop to resign. Even then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a Catholic, stuck his oar in. “The time has come for the Pope to sack him,” he said. “There are many leaders that have called on him to resign, it is clear that he should resign.”

Powerful stuff from powerful people. Although Wilson wanted to stay on officially as Archbishop until his appeal had been heard, he yielded to the pressure and resigned. Pope Francis accepted it on July 30. The historic resignation was reported as far afield as the New York Times.

And then … acquittal

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.

LOS ANGELES (CA)
City Watch

December 10, 2018

By George Cassidy Payne

Theologically I am in total agreement with him that the Christian New Testament speaks of a preferential option for the poor, a radical call to abolish violence, and a moral duty to protect children. From the moment he assumed the pontificate, Francis has appeared to be a shining example of humility, hospitality, and hope.

So, it is with consternation that I listened to his latest comments regarding homosexuality in the clergy. During an interview given to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, the Pope said it is a “serious matter” that “worries” him. Francis described homosexuality as “fashionable”, and urged clergy to observe their vow of celibacy, going on to say that the Church had to be “demanding” in choosing candidates for the priesthood. And those responsible for training priests must make sure candidates are “humanly and emotionally mature” before they are ordained. “For this reason, the Church urges that persons with this rooted tendency not be accepted into ministry or consecrated life.”

Heavy words from the leader of 1.2 billion followers worldwide.

Assuming that part of the Pope’s rational for holding these beliefs is his concern over the child abuse scandal afflicting the Church, it is necessary to analyze his comments further. As reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center, “According to the American Psychological Association, children are not more likely to be molested by LGBT parents or their LGBT friends or acquaintances.

Gregory Herek, a professor at the University of California, Davis, who is one of the nation’s leading researchers on prejudice against sexual minorities, reviewed a series of studies and found no evidence that gay men molest children at higher rates than heterosexual men … Anti-gay activists who make that claim allege that all men who molest male children should be seen as homosexual. But research by A. Nicholas Groth, a pioneer in the field of sexual abuse of children, shows that is not so.

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.

POCATELLO (ID)
KPVI TV

December 11, 2018

By Seth Klamann

The two Jesuit priests who served at St. Stephens Mission and were included on a list last week of Jesuit clergymen who faced credible sexual abuse allegations served in leadership positions at Wyoming and Missouri schools.

The two now-former priests, Paul C. Pilgram and Anthony J. Short, were part of a 42-man list released by the Jesuit U.S. Central and Southern Province on Friday. Both men served at St. Stephens in the 1970s. Another list of credibly accused Jesuits will be released by the Midwest Province, which includes Wyoming, early next week.

Pilgram’s first posting was at St. Stephens, where he served roughly two years. He would next work at St. Louis University High School “during the timeframe of (his) alleged abuse,” according to a statement from the school’s current president.

Two Jesuit priests who served on Wind River Reservation named in report of clergymen accused of sexual abuse

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.

NEW YORK (NY)
CBS News

December 10, 2018

CBS News has identified hundreds of reports of sexual abuse that occurred at children’s camps across the United States. We found reports of more than 500 victims who were allegedly sexually abused at children’s camps over the past 55 years. At least 21 of those cases surfaced this year alone.

Victims’ advocates tell us the real number of abuse cases is likely much higher, since many are never reported.

“After you took a shower, you’d put on your towel, and he didn’t want you to wear underwear under it,” the Texas boy said in a video, telling a psychologist what a camp counselor did to him in 2009. It allegedly happened over the course of 12 days at an overnight summer camp named Camp La Junta.

“He would check all the kids, but under their towel,” he said. “He wouldn’t look under there. He’d just stick his hand up.”

When he returned home, the boy’s mother says she knew something was wrong. “He was a different kid,” said the woman, identified as Jane Doe. “He was not the happy-go-lucky little boy that loved to play outside. He was totally different. He just wanted to lay on the couch.”

It wasn’t until 10 months later that her son revealed a 20-year-old camp counselor named Matthew Bovee had allegedly molested him.

Duncan asked, “And what was your initial reaction?”

“I wanted to throw up,” Jane replied. “I was nauseous. And all I could think of is to tell him I love him.”

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.

HUNTINGTON (WV)
Herald Dispatch

December 11, 2018

By John Patrick Grace

Tomatoes, asparagus, peaches and other vegetables and fruits left in the refrigerator too long will start to spoil. Eating partially corrupted food may sicken, even poison, the human body. Too little attention was being paid to items that had turned rotten. We were too trusting — and never verified.

Take the above as a metaphor for what has been happening in government and in many societal institutions, including the church.

Our processes for vetting those who might rise to positions of authority in colleges and public schools, including coaches and trainers, or in churches, such as priests, pastors and lay leaders, have clearly been inadequate.

The same seems to have been true for holding such individuals accountable for their actions, whether those actions constitute physical, sexual, emotional or financial abuse — or all four together.

Where should blame be assigned? And how can we reform our vetting, monitoring, reporting and disciplinary structures to keep the innocent — especially minors — safe from the threat of abuse?

The question applies equally well to the political sphere of elected and appointed officials as to the ecclesiastical sphere of ordained deacons, priests, pastors and bishops. Extend it even further into the realms of education (at all levels, from universities right down to pre-school), to police forces, the military and corporate America.

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.

MUMBAI (INDIA)
Crux

December 11, 2018

By Nirmala Carvalho

A nun in India accusing a bishop of raping her says she wants “the Church to recognise that I was wronged.”

The nun – whose name has been withheld – accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of raping her 13 times between 2014 and 2016 at her order’s convent in Kuravilangad, in the southern state of Kerala – the heartland of Christianity in India.

She went to the police on June 29 with her accusations and submitted a 72-page statement.

Mulakkal vehemently denies the charges, and claims the nun is retaliating because he initiated an investigation against her for an affair she allegedly had with a married man.

The bishop was arrested on Sept. 21 after a months-long investigation and was released on bail Oct. 15.

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.

Lafayette (LA)
The Acadiana Advocate

December 10, 2018

A St. Landry priest accused of sexually assaulting a teenager has now been formally charged, court records show.

Michael Guidry, who most recently was pastor of St. Peter’s Church in Morrow, was arrested in June after a deacon’s son came forward to allege the priest had given him alcohol and molested him.

A bill of information was filed last week, formally charging Guidry with molestation of a juvenile, court records show.

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)
By Associated Press

December 11, 2018

A Catholic priest in Purcellville is accused of inappropriate contact with a minor and adults, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office says.

The Catholic Diocese of Arlington has placed Father Ronald S. Escalante on leave pending an investigation by the sheriff’s office. The Saint Francis de Sales Church pastor is accused of “boundary violations involving a minor and adults” that go against its clergy code of conduct, according to a press release from the diocese.

Sheriff’s spokesman Kraig Troxell says the diocese reported the possible “inappropriate contact” to authorities.

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.

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WVUE Fox 8 TV

December 10, 2018

By Kimberly Curth

We’re learning new information about the recently released list of Jesuits credibly accused of child sex abuse. An accountability group says it’s incomplete.

Bishopaccountability.org says, “19 Jesuits already known to be accused of abuse” were left of the list released Friday by the Jesuits U.S. Central and Southern Province.

That includes Daniel Ramsey Barfield, a teacher and counselor who was at Jesuit High School from 1969-1975.

Tim Lennon, the president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, says that’s why there needs to be a statewide investigation into church sex abuse here in Louisiana.

“We call on the State Attorney General of Louisiana to, in fact, investigate. There’s sufficient cause to say that this institution is not policing itself, it shouldn’t have that responsibility, law enforcement should, and the Attorney General should take this issue seriously,” said Lennon.

The Jesuit Province released a list Friday of 42 clergy members credibly accused of child sex abuse. Eighteen of the men had connections to New Orleans Jesuit institutions.

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.

HOUSTON (TX)
WHRX TV

December 10, 2018

By Bill Balleza and Debbie Strauss

There is a crisis in the Catholic Church.

Earlier this month, federal, state and local law enforcement officials executed a search warrant inside the offices of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
ed out computers, files and boxes.

Just 24 hours earlier, in those same offices, KPRC2’s Bill Balleza sat down with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo for an exclusive interview about the sex abuse scandal that perhaps foreshadowed the next day’s events.

Balleza: “Has the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston been subpoenaed as part of this investigation?”

Cardinal DiNardo: “No, we have not. We are, of course, ready to cooperate with any investigation.”

The law enforcement search came on the heels of the arrest of the Rev. Manuel La Rosa Lopez, who was accused of abusing children in Conroe in the 1990s and early 2000s.

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.

FARMINGTON (NM)
Farmington Daily Times

December 10, 2018
By Hannah Grover

A former Farmington-area priest has been added to the Diocese of Gallup’s list of priests the diocese states have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

Rev. Eugene Bowski, who served at St. Mary’s Parish in Farmington in the mid-1990s, was added to the list of credibly accused in late November, according to a press release from the diocese.

In a letter included with the press release, Bishop James Wall stated that the diocese has begun publishing the names of priests and church workers who have served in the Diocese of Gallup and have had credible allegations made against them for abuse that occurred outside of the Diocese of Gallup.

The press release states the Diocese of Gallup learned on Nov. 28 that Bowski had been added to the list of credibly accused for the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia. While in West Virginia, he allegedly sexually abused a child in 1982.

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.

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Associated Press

December 10, 2018

By Eva Vergara

An Irish-born priest of the Legion of Christ religious order has finished serving a four-year sentence for sexually abusing a minor and may have to leave the country within days, his lawyer said Monday.

Attorney Cristian Murga said the prison system is expected to certify completion of the sentence “within days,” which would trigger an earlier government decree giving the Rev. John O’Reilly 72 hours to leave Chile.

Murga left open, however, the possibility that O’Reilly could take some unspecified legal action before being expelled.

In 2014, O’Reilly was convicted of sexually abusing a minor while he was a chaplain at a prestigious school operated by the Legion in Santiago. The court also banned him from any job near children and ordered that his genetic data be added to a registry for abusers.

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.

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

December, 10 2018

SNAP wants all accused abusive clerics “outed”

But church officials in both KC MO & KC KS are refusing

Dozens of Catholic officials across the US are now posting such lists

Group also blasts KC MO prelate for letting disgraced Finn to come back

WHAT

Holdings signs at a sidewalk news conference, abuse victims and concerned Catholics will

–call on Catholic officials in both KS & MO to post names of accused priests on their websites, as dozens of US bishops have done recently, and

— blast KC MO’s current bishop for letting his predecessor – who was convicted of failing to report suspected child abuse – back into the KC diocese recently for a church event.

A Nebraska man who was allegedly abused by one of Kansas City’s most prolific abusers, will also speak, using his name publicly for the first time ever.

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.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Kansas City Star

December 10, 2018

By Steve Vockrodt

A Nebraska man took to a sidewalk near the entrance of the Catholic Center in downtown Kansas City on Monday to identify himself as the previously anonymous plaintiff alleging sexual abuse by a former priest of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Kevin Smith, 54, who was accompanied by his lawyer, Rebecca Randles, said the Rev. Thomas Reardon sexually abused him when he was a teenager attending St. Gabriel’s Archangel Catholic Church in Kansas City, North.

Smith was identified as “John SK2 Doe” in a lawsuit filed against Reardon, the diocese and St. Gabriel’s in July.

“I am doing this because I know there are other victims out there that need help,” Smith told reporters. “I want the diocese to join me, to reach out to others that are suffering, to offer more than lip service, symbolic gestures and unfulfilled promises.”

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.

ALTOONA (PA)
Tribune Democrat

December 10, 2018

By Dave Sutor

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown has made what could be considered its most in-depth public statement concerning clerical child sexual abuse within its organization, since the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General issued a grand jury report in 2016 outlining an alleged systemic effort to protect predator priests within its ranks.

A Dec. 10 edition of The Catholic Register, the diocese’s official publication, included multiple stories about the subject, a “special message” from Bishop Mark Bartchak and a chart showing that the expense of the scandal cost the diocese $21,491,052 from July 1, 1999, until Dec. 1, 2018.

The attorney general’s report provided information about how the diocese — then under the guidance of bishops Joseph Adamec and James Hogan — allegedly protected at least 50 religious leaders accused of abuse. Altoona-Johnstown has often declined to comment on subjects concerning clerical abuse, citing a policy of not discussing matters that could deal with ongoing litigation.

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.

SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
Fox 13 News

December 10, 2018

By Taylor Hartman

A Catholic priest that was charged with patronizing a prostitute in Salt Lake City earlier this year will be replaced and reassigned, Catholic Church officials said.

Father Andrezej Pawlel Skrzypiec was arrested Aug. 24 near 200 North 900 West in Salt Lake City during an undercover prostitution sting where police were targeting “johns,” according to a probable cause affidavit filed in 3rd District Court.

Fr. Skrzypiec initially accused the undercover officer as being a “cop,” but eventually agreed to pay $30 for a sex act, the affidavit claimed. He was then arrested.

In a letter sent to the members of the Saint Ambrose Parish and School communities over the weekend, Most Rev. Oscar A. Solis, D.D., Bishop of Salt Lake City, stated that he recommended that Skrzypiec should be reassigned and that Skrzypiec accepted that recommendation.

Solis stated that a new pastor will be appointed for Saint Ambrose Parish and School.

“Over the past several months, many have suffered a great deal following the arrest of your beloved pastor, Father Andrezej Pawlel Skrzypiec for inappropriate behavior,” Solis wrote. “While Father Andrezej has insisted he was not guilty of a crime, his action caused serious scandal for the church.”

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.

LOUISVILLE (KY)
Louisville Courier Journal

December 10, 2018

By Chris Kenning

Former Louisville Roman Catholic priest James Schook, convicted of molesting a teen altar boy in the 1970s, died on Saturday at age 71, the Lousiville Archdiocese said Monday.

Schook was a central character for years in the local Catholic sex abuse crisis that exploded in 2002, which left some deeply critical of how the Louisville archdiocese handled abusive priests.

He was already suffering from end-stage melanoma, a terminal skin cancer, in 2014 when he was sentenced to 15 years in prison on three counts sodomy and one count indecent or immoral practice. He was released on medical parole last year.

More: Sex abuse survivors: Archbishop Kurtz isn’t doing enough to protect his flock

The Archdiocese of Louisville released a statement on Monday extending sympathy to his family. “In praying for the repose of his soul, we also pray for continued healing for his victims and for all victim survivors of childhood sexual abuse,” the statement said.

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.

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

December 10, 2018

At SNAP, we believe that transparency is a critical element to ending the clergy sex abuse crisis, restoring public faith in religious institutions, and helping survivors heal. We are grateful when church officials take steps towards transparency, and even moreso when that transparency is forced by brave whistle-blowers. Today, we were lucky to have experienced the latter.

The below document is a copy of the federal Department of Justice’s letter that was sent to Cardinal Daniel DiNardo and each of his brother bishops in early October, informing bishops that they must preserve any and all records related to clergy sex abuse including personnel files, “secret archives,” and more. This copy was sent to us by an anonymous whistleblower.

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.

BANGOR (ME)
Daily News

December 10, 2018

By Judy Harrison

The Catholic priest who was a spiritual adviser to a Hampden woman allegedly killed by her brother-in-law is taking a leave of absence for “personal reasons,” the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland announced Monday.

The Rev. Anthony Cipolle of Bangor advised Renee Henneberry Clark to keep a spiritual journal that came into the priest’s possession after she died. Superior Court Justice William Anderson ruled last week that he would review the diary to determine which portions of its contents could be admitted as evidence and which could not.

Cipolle’s attorney argued that the judge should not read the journal because it was covered by the religious privilege exemption.

In its announcement of Cipolle’s leave of absence, the diocese noted that it “does not involve a claim of sexual abuse of a minor.” The diocese said the leave of absence is effective immediately.

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.

ROCHESTER (NY)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

December 10, 2018

By Sean Lahman

Bishop Salvatore Matano has removed two priests from public ministry after an investigation into allegations of misconduct.

Fathers Thomas J. Valenti and Erick Viloria are both restricted from engaging in public ministry or presenting themselves publicly as clerics, according to a statement from the Diocese of Rochester.

Valenti, who was serving as parochial administrator of Blessed Trinity/St. Patrick’s in Tioga County, was at Rochester’s Blessed Sacrament from 1977-1979 and at St. Louis in Pittsford from 1984-1989.

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.

UNITED STATES
Law360.com

December 9, 2018

By Daniel Siegal

George Koharchik had a reputation as his Johnstown, Pennsylvania, parish’s “favorite priest” when Shaun Dougherty met him in 1980 at the age of 10, and the time they spent together started out innocently enough.

But Dougherty said those interactions with his religion teacher and peewee basketball coach were just grooming for fondling and other sexual abuse that continued until Dougherty was 13.

While Dougherty tried to put the nightmare behind him as an adult, he was left feeling helpless all over again after Koharchick was defrocked in 2012 and Dougherty came forward to be interviewed by prosecutors. It was then Dougherty discovered it was too late to pursue a criminal or civil case.

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.

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

December 10, 2018

At SNAP, we believe that transparency is a critical element to ending the clergy sex abuse crisis, restoring public faith in religious institutions, and helping survivors heal. We are grateful when church officials take steps towards transparency, and even moreso when that transparency is forced by brave whistle-blowers. Today, we were lucky to have experienced the latter.

The below document is a copy of the federal Department of Justice’s letter that was sent to Cardinal Daniel DiNardo and each of his brother bishops in early October, informing bishops that they must preserve any and all records related to clergy sex abuse including personnel files, “secret archives,” and more. This copy was sent to us by an anonymous whistleblower.

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.

CASPER (WY)
Casper Star-Tribune

December 10, 2018

By Seth Klamann

The Diocese of Cheyenne is compiling a list of priests, bishops and deacons who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse since 1950, Bishop Steven Biegler announced this week, signaling that the Wyoming diocese is joining a wave of public self-examinations by dioceses across the country.

“The Diocese should have a current master list so it can be confident that it has applied the current standards to all living credibly accused offenders — and especially the standards of zero tolerance — in all situations,” Biegler wrote in a column in the December issue of the Wyoming Catholic Register. He added the review will also examine how the six bishops who have served since 1950 — himself included — handled the allegations.

The diocese previously conducted a review in 2002 — the same year that former Bishop Joseph Hart was cleared of abuse allegations by the Natrona County District Attorney’s Office — of clergymen who were working in it at the time. That review “verified that no priest with a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor was serving in the public ministry in any way in the Diocese of Cheyenne,” Biegler wrote.

This latest examination comes as dioceses across the country conduct sweeping reviews of their own troubled histories with clerical sexual abuse. On Thursday, the church named 29 men accused of abuse in southern Alabama, allegations that dated back to 1950. In November, a diocese in Missouri named 33 priests and religious brothers who had been credibly accused. In August, a grand jury in Pennsylvania wrote that more than 300 Catholic priests had molested more than 1,000 children for decades.

The work on this latest review began after mid-September, when the Star-Tribune requested information regarding all credibly accused priests, all settlements and the amount paid in these agreements dating back to 1950, said Rev. Carl Gallinger, the diocese’s vicar general. He said the “commitment” to conducting the review predated the newspaper’s request. He said he had no time estimate on when the review, which will be conducted by an “independent law firm,” would be completed.

Biegler was unavailable to comment Thursday. It’s unclear how much detail will be in the list.

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.

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

December 10, 2018

By Paula Reed Ward

By the time former priest Stephen Jeselnick learned in May that he had been named as an abuser in the Pennsylvania attorney general’s investigation into child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, the two pages of the grand jury report accusing him were already completed.

He wasn’t invited to testify, and though he challenged the accusations before the supervising judge of the grand jury when he learned of them, Mr. Jeselnick was told he and others named had no recourse except to submit a written response that would be appended to the final report.

The summary provided scant detail, alleging the abuse happened in the late 1970s at St. Brigid church in Meadville and that the victims’ mother worked there.

He did not know who was accusing him or why they had never come forward before 2017.

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.

NEW YORK (NY)
Patheos blog

December 10, 2018

By Terry Firma

“My earliest memory of being molested was when I was four years old. It was Sunday school.”

So begins the fourth and final installment of an extraordinary Fort Worth Star-Telegram investigation into child molestation in and around independent Baptist churches. Published yesterday after an eight-month investigation, the story by journalists Sarah Smith, Shelly Yang, and Neil Nakahodo reveals how a network of churches and schools covered up nationwide sexual abuse — and, in an all-too-familiar pattern, helped relocate the evildoers.

Here are a few gut-wrenching passages.

On religious impunity:

Even if criminal charges are brought against a church leader, he might be allowed to continue in ministry. Facing charges that he had sex with a 14-year-old, a pastor left his Indiana church for Miami, where he told his new congregation that the girl was “promiscuous.” Though he pleaded guilty to felony stalking in 2009, he didn’t leave the church until 2014. He maintains his innocence. He’s one of nearly four dozen men who were allowed to continue in their ministry after facing sexual abuse allegations — and even convictions, the Star-Telegram found.

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.

ROCHESTER (NY)
WROC TV

December 10, 2018

By Howard Thompson

The Diocese of Rochester has removed two priests from the ministry as it looks into claims of sex abuse.

Reverend Thomas Valenti, who works at Blessed Trinity/St. Patrick’s in Tioga County, and Reverend Erick Viloria, who served at Our Lady of Peace Parish in Geneva have been removed.

The move comes as the church looks into new accusations of sexual abuse brought this past summer when Attorney Mitchell Garabedian accused eight Rochester priests of sexual misconduct.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

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.

LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage blog

December 10, 2018

By William Lindsey

This is a collection of reports on the abuse situation as it is unfolding in various churches now. These are all recent statements, and not by any means a representative report on all that is happening on the sexual abuse front in religious groups right now. Stories are breaking on that front fast and furious — this is only my own selection of reports that have drawn my attention recently, for reasons that will be apparent as you read:

Sarah Smith, “Hundreds of sex abuse allegations found in fundamental Baptist churches across U.S.”:

For decades, women and children have faced rampant sexual abuse while worshiping at independent fundamental Baptist churches around the country. The network of churches and schools has often covered up the crimes and helped relocate the offenders, an eight-month Star-Telegram investigation has found.
More than 200 people — current or former church members, across generations — shared their stories of rape, assault, humiliation and fear in churches where male leadership cannot be questioned. …
Twenty-one abuse allegations were uncovered exclusively by the Star-Telegram, and others were documented in criminal cases, lawsuits and news reports. But victims said the number of abused is far greater because few victims ever come forward.

Sarah Smith, “These ‘men of God’ sexually abused children. Then they found refuge at other churches”:

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)
National Catholic Register

December 10, 2018
.
By Ed Condon

The recent sex-abuse scandals that have rocked the Church in the United States and beyond have mostly focused on the abuse of minors. At the same time, many recent revelations and allegations, as in the case of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, have involved the sexual abuse or harassment of adults.

How the Church deals with clerical sexual misconduct when it does not involve minors remains a thorny issue, but an increasingly urgent one. Independent investigations are currently underway by local bishops to examine allegations of serious sexual misconduct in seminaries in Boston, Philadelphia and Newark.

In a recent interview, Pope Francis highlighted how a “fashionable” acceptance of homosexual relations had entered the Church. During the recent USCCB assembly in Baltimore, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, made the same point, offering it as the explanation for how McCarrick was serially promoted, despite his sexual behavior apparently being known to the hierarchy.

Also in Baltimore, Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, who heads the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, said that the bishops need to have a “fulsome discussion about adult misconduct and how to deal with that.”

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.