ABUSE TRACKER

NEW YORK (NY)
America Magazine

November 12, 2018

By Michael J. O’Loughlin

Catholic bishops from the United States gathered in Baltimore this week for their annual fall meeting had planned to discuss and vote on new protocols aimed at holding bishops accountable for sexual abuse. But in a surprise announcement at the start of the meeting, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo told bishops that the Vatican has asked them to delay the vote until after a February meeting in Rome with the heads of bishops conferences from around the world to discuss sexual abuse.

“Although I am disappointed that we will not be taking these actions tomorrow,” said Cardinal DiNardo, the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, “I remain hopeful this additional consultation will ultimately improve our response to the crisis we face.”

Bishops had been scheduled to vote on three “action items” related to abuse: approving new “Standards of Episcopal Conduct” for bishops, the creation of a new commission to handle allegations of abuse against bishops, and new protocols for bishops who are removed or who resign from office due to sexual misconduct with adults or minors.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

November 12, 2018

By Kevin Flowers

Bishop David Zubik placed a 73-year-old priest on administrative leave Sept. 12 pending investigation of two allegations of sexual abuse of minors, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh said Monday.

The diocese said in a news release that two people had spoken to diocesan officials in early September about alleged incidents involving the Rev. Richard M. Lelonis. One incident allegedly occurred in the early 1970s, and the second is alleged to have occurred about 1980.

The allegations subsequently were reported to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office, the diocese said. Father Lelonis, who has denied the allegations, according to the diocese, was removed from the diocesan tribunal, which he had served full time since 1995.

His suspension is at least the fifth the diocese has announced since the release in August of a statewide grand jury report on accusations of sexual abuse by priests over several decades.

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DENVER (CO)
Crux

November 13, 2018

By John L. Allen Jr.

In the run-up to the U.S. bishop’s fall meeting this week in Baltimore, the expectation – to be clear, the expectation of the bishops themselves – was that they’d be making some important decisions on the clerical sexual abuse crisis that’s rocked the Church for the last six months.

Instead, what unfolded Monday morning basically sucked all the oxygen out of the room, when Cardinal Daniel Dinardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the conference, announced that the Vatican has asked the bishops to delay doing anything until February, when Pope Francis plans to convene a summit of presidents of bishops’ conferences around the world to discuss child protection.

It’s worth noting that the action communicated to the U.S. bishops late Sunday came after Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, and French Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.S., met Pope Francis in Rome on Saturday.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
KDKA TV

November 12, 2018

By Andy Sheehan

Since the release of the grand jury report on clergy sex abuse, Bishop David Zubik has been steadfast that he has never protected predator priests or covered for their actions.

“I think I’ve done an awful lot of good and I can say honestly, absolutely I did not do anything that would be part of a cover-up,” Zubik said in August.

But KDKA-TV News has learned that more than two months ago, two people reported that they had been sexually abused by Fr. Richard Lelonis and that as of Monday, Lelonis was still not listed on the diocesan website as having a credible allegation against him.

A man who did not wish to be identified confirmed to KDKA-TV’s Andy Sheehan that both his uncle and cousin reported to the diocesan clergy abuse line that Lelonis abused them while a pastor at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in the late 1990s, but despite its own policies, the diocese has taken no action.

Sheehan: “The diocese says now when they have a credible allegation, they report it to the District Attorney, they remove the priest from ministry and they make that name public. Have those things happened?”
Victim’s relative: “They have to make it known publicly and then also treat the victims or the accusers pastorally as well and reach out to them and neither of those things have been done.”

KDKA has also learned that Lelonis is one of several dozen priests accused in the past of sexually abusing a minor but who have successfully had their names redacted from the grand jury report.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WBRE/WYOU-TV

November 12, 2018

More fallout from the “Pennsylvania Grand Jury Investigation”.. into sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church. During a news conference in Philadelphia — lawyers announced a new lawsuit aimed at a former priest with ties to our area. The Allentown Morning Call” is reporting “Father Bruno Tucci” — formerly of Nesquehoning in Carbon County — was charged with molesting a boy in 1981. Investigators say it happened in Ocean City, Maryland.

The reports goes on to say Tucci was first investigated here in 2002 — and was later de-frocked and removed from service.

No charges were ever brought in Pennsylvania.. because the statute of limitations had expired.

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WDSU News

November 12, 2018

By Travers Mackel

The WDSU Hot Seat focuses on two big topics in the area.

The first revolving around the Catholic Church sex abuse. A list of 57 priests and clergy members accused of sexual abuse was released by the New Orleans Archdiocese.

The second topic is the unanimous jury verdict that is now state law.

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NEW ZEALAND
Otago Daily News

November 13, 2018

By Chris Morris

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Dunedin says an expanded royal commission into the abuse of children may not go far enough.

Bishop Michael Dooley said yesterday he was “relieved” to hear children abused while in the care of faith-based institutions would now be included.

The decision was announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin yesterday.

But the terms of reference specifically excluded private settings for abuse involving faith-based institutions, and it remained unclear whether others – like a church presbytery or a priest’s car – were included.

That meant the victims of a paedophile priest like Fr Magnus Murray, convicted of abusing four Dunedin boys in family homes, the presbytery and on trips, could yet miss out. Bishop Dooley said if that was so, the inquiry needed to go further.

All parishioners were in the pastoral care of their priest, so any abused by clergy needed to be heard, he believed.

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ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
KUNM

November 12, 2018

By Hannah Colton

Let’s Talk New Mexico 11/15 8a: Survivors of clergy sexual abuse continue to come forward in New Mexico, and many people are calling for the Catholic Church to come clean about what they knew and when. On the show, we’ll explore what accountability could look like for crimes that happened years or decades ago. What are the effects of Church secrecy around clergy abuse? And how can communities heal from these kinds of trauma?

We’d like to hear from you. Email LetsTalk@KUNM.org or call in live during the show, Thursday morning at 8 here on 89.9 KUNM.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

November 8, 2018

By Haidee V. Eugenio

Two priests raped and molested the same Asan altar boy during different times in the 1970s, according to a $10 million clergy sex abuse lawsuit filed on Thursday.

Monsignor Jose Ada Leon Guerrero and Father Raymond Techaira, now both deceased, allegedly sexually abused, molested and raped plaintiff M.C.A. when he was an altar boy at the Nino Perdido y Sagrada Familia Parish in Asan.

M.C.A., in his lawsuit, said Leon Guerrero abused him when he was around 8 years old, on several occasions throughout 1974 in the priest’s upstairs bathroom.

“Guerrero would remind MCA not to tell anybody since MCA was a chosen child,” the lawsuit says. Leon Guerrero was transferred to another parish in 1974.

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NEW ZEALAND
Newstalk ZB

November 13, 2018

A victims advocate says including religious organisations in the inquiry into abuse in state care is a good start.

Following an outpouring of requests, the Government has decided to expand its inquiry to include faith-based institutions, and those who were victims of physical abuse.

Male Survivors Aotearoa chair, Phillip Chapman told Kate Hawkesby they’re just one of the organisations which asked for the inquiry to be expanded.

“We did put in a submission, like many others, and asked for it to be expanded. The Prime Minister said they had heard, so I would be interested how many of those submissions must have said the same thing.”

While the scope of the inquiry has been expanded, Chapman said it’s still not as extensive as he would like.

“Abuse in this country happens in lots of places as we know. This is widespread in this country.”

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READING (PA)
Reading Eagle

November 12, 2018

By Beth Brelje

The 29-year-old claims the priest, who had ties to Berks County churches, abused him at a Carbon County church between 1999 and 2001.

A 29-year-old Schuylkill County man is accusing a former Allentown Diocese priest with ties to six Berks County churches of sexually abusing him at a Carbon County church between 1999 and 2001.

The man, identified in the lawsuit as “John Doe,” claims that when he was 10 to 12 years old, he was abused by the Rev. Bruno M. Tucci at Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish in Nesquehoning.

Tucci served in Berks County between 1971 and 1981.

The July state grand jury report detailing hundreds of abuse cases within the church mentions a victim reporting abuse by Tucci in 1977-78 but does not identify the location.

The suit was filed electronically Monday in Lehigh County Court, attorney Gerald J. Williams said.

The courthouse was closed Monday for Veterans Day, so the filing will not appear docketed until Tuesday.

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NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

November 11, 2018

By Tom Hunt

It started with movies and bowls, but soon Luke Hollis was a young boy performing sexual acts on a Jehovah’s Witness man four-times his age.

To hear Hollis, now 28 and living in Wellington, talk of the ordeal that tormented him for years during his childhood in England, it is remarkable how matter-of-fact he is.

But he is the first to admit he has a vendetta against his former church.

He wants to see Jehovah’s Witnesses held accountable and he wants the church to apologise. But mostly, he wants it to fully shed its “two witness” rule – a policy he argues makes the church a beacon for child sexual predators.

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NEW ZEALAND
NewsHub

November 12, 2018

By Megan Sutherland and Tova O’Brien

A proposed inquiry into the historical abuse of children in state care has been extended to include abuse within faith-based institutions.

The Royal Commission into state care abuse has been in a preliminary process since February, and on Monday Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stated Cabinet agreed to expand the inquiry.

The newly named inquiry will now be known as the Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-Based Institutions, which reflects the wide scope of the inquiry.

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ENGLAND
The Telegraph

November 11, 2018

By Patrick Sawer

England’s most senior Catholic clergyman faces embarrassment this week when he appears before an inquiry to answer claims he ignored child sex abuse allegations against his priests, including the son of JRR Tolkien.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, is to give evidence in person to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which is investigating how a number of key institutions in Britain handled sex abuse claims.

The hearing will examine the Cardinal’s former Archdiocese of Birmingham, where he served as Archbishop from 2000 to 2009.

It will look into the handling of allegations against Father John Tolkien, the son of JRR Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, who was questioned by police in 2002 over an abuse allegation, but was never charged.

Cardinal Nichols faces claims that senior church officials allowed Fr Tolkien, who died in 2003, to carry on working until around the time Cardinal Nichols took over at the Archdiocese, despite senior officials promising an alleged victim years earlier that he would be forced to retire.

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GUAM
Yahoo View

November 7, 2018

Archbishop Michael Byrnes made the announcement at a press conference Wednesday.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Beast

November 12, 2018

A 29-year-old man is suing former Pennsylvania priest Bruno Tucci, along with current and former Catholic Church officials, for alleged sexual abuse he endured between 1999 and 2001. Tucci is among the 301 priests named in a recent Pennsylvania grand-jury report that claims more than 1,000 victims were abused by priests over the past several decades. Unlike the vast majority of these cases, the alleged victim’s case falls within the statute of limitations for prosecution in Pennsylvania. The lawsuit—which also names the Allentown Diocese Bishop Alfred Schlert, former Bishop Edward Cullen, and a treatment center for priests—alleges that Tucci groped the man, identified as “John Doe,” when he was between the ages of 10 and 12 and an altar boy at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Nesquehoning.

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SPAIN
El Pais

November 12, 2018

By Oriol Guell

Manuel Vilar Herrero recounts the assaults he suffered as a child at the hands of a priest who was “worshiped” by his mother and father. The following testimony is one of several making up an EL PAÍS series exposing decades of offenses by the clergy

Artana in the province of Castellón is a deeply religious parish of 2,000 people, but for years it has been hiding a dark secret, one that Manuel Vilar Herrero decided to expose. “I was victimized by the priest,” says Manuel, 50, referring to Antonio Gil Gargallo. “It started with fondling and kisses on the neck. Then he went on to touch my behind and my genitals. You could see him getting excited. He would end up rubbing himself against me, fully dressed, until he came in small convulsions.”

The abuses began in 1982 when Manuel was 14. “We had finished EGB [primary school] and we had to leave the village for BUP [secondary school] in Nules. At that time, the priest chose a number of us to come to his home to speak about morality. They were informal meetings and we would watch a film, and we could smoke and drink a bit of alcohol. It was at these meetings that the abuse started,” he says.

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ALLENTOWN (PA)
Pacific Daily News

November 8, 2018

By Haidee V. Eugenio

A Philadelphia-based law firm announced Monday that it will file a lawsuit against the Diocese of Allentown.

The law firm Williams Cedar will file a civil suit in Lehigh County against the diocese stemming from the alleged sexual abuse by a Catholic priest named in the Pennsylvania grand jury report released this summer, according to a news release.

The defendants will include former priest Bruno Tucci, the Diocese of Allentown, its current and immediate past bishops and the religious order the Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete. The lawsuit alleges that Tucci abused a minor and alleges negligence on behalf of the diocese that allegedly failed to screen priests properly and properly investigate complaints, according to a news release.

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WATERBURY (CT)
The Associated Press

November 8, 2018

A former Connecticut altar boy who says he was sexually abused by a now deceased Roman Catholic priest has sued the Archdiocese of Hartford.

A former Connecticut altar boy who says he was sexually abused by a now deceased Roman Catholic priest has sued the Archdiocese of Hartford.

The Republican American reports that the lawsuit filed Wednesday by 46-year-old Kevin Distasio alleges negligence and reckless and wanton conduct by the archdiocese.

Distasio says in the suit he was abused in 1980 by the Rev. Walter Vichas while an altar boy at Blessed Sacrament Church in Waterbury. Vichas died in 2008.

The suit says the archdiocese failed to supervise Vichas or remove him from his duties. It also says the archdiocese failed to investigate Vichas’ suspicious conduct and failed to develop a policy for reporting clergy sexual abuse.

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NASHVILLE (TN)
Catholic News Service

November 9, 2018

The Diocese of Nashville, as part of its ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability and pastoral care, has published the names of the 13 former priests who served in the diocese who have been accused of sexually abusing a minor.

Of the 13, nine are dead and two are in prison. None are in active ministry.

The Tennessee Register, Nashville’s diocesan newspaper, said the names were being released after consultation with the priests’ council and Diocesan Review Board, which is made up almost entirely of laypeople not employed by the diocese.

The list is posted on the diocese’s website and includes the priests’ assignments based on official diocesan records.

Files on abuse cases were shared with the Davidson County district attorney general’s office nearly 20 years ago.

The names are those of priests against whom an allegation of abuse was made either while an active priest or following his death. Following the report, an investigation was begun, followed by a review of the facts and information obtained.

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SANTA FE (NM)
Santa Fe New Mexican

November 9, 2018

By Phaedra Haywood

Five new lawsuits were filed against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe this week by people who say they suffered lifelong problems after being sexually assaulted as children by Catholic clergy in Central and Northern New Mexico.

Three of the suits involve people who allege they were assaulted by priests in Albuquerque, one involves allegations against an Abiquiú priest and one involves allegations against a priest formerly serving in Ranchos de Taos.

The archdiocese did not respond to a phone message and email seeking comment for this story.

“These men and women in our communities carried the secret of their sexual abuse by the priests around all their lives, having been shamed and warned about telling anyone, living with various levels of inexplicable anxiety or depression, and now for the first time are coming forward and getting professional help,” said Levi Monagle, an attorney in the Law Offices of Brad D. Hall, which filed the complaints Thursday in state District Court in Albuquerque.

The lawsuits allege abuses occurred as long ago as 1950 and as recently as the late 1980s.

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WATERBURY (CT)
Republican-American

November 7, 2018

By Jonathan Shugarts

The Archdiocese of Hartford was sued Wednesday by a former city man who is accusing a deceased priest of sexually abusing him when he was an altar boy in 1980.

Rev. Walter Vichas, who died in 2008 at the age of 83, is named in the suit as the abuser of Kevin Distasio who is now 46.

The suit was filed in Waterbury Superior Court and accuses the archdiocese of negligence and reckless and wanton conduct in connection to Vichas’ alleged sexual exploitation of the boy while Vichas served as a priest at Blessed Sacrament Church on Robbins Street.

The suit claims that Distasio’s parents were devout Catholics who enrolled their son at the Blessed Sacrament School, which was part of the church. Distasio placed “his faith and trust in his church, its clergy, and its priests, which included Rev. Walter A. Vichas, and placed his trust in the same for his moral and spiritual welfare,” the suit alleges.

Vichas heard Distasio’s confessions, according to the filing. Distasio was raised to believe that priests were to be “obeyed without question” and that priests “represented God and that priests were a form of Jesus Christ,” the suit alleges.

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MARIETTA (GA)
East Cobb News

November 9, 2018

By Wendy Parker

A Catholic Church of St. Ann priest has responded to his parish’s membership this week after the Archdiocese of Atlanta published a list priests, deacons, seminarians and other religious workers it says have been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of minors over many decade.

Two of those named in the report were a pastoral aide who was convicted of molesting two boys while working at St. Ann in 1999-2000, and a priest at a Canton parish who may have been at the East Cobb church on occasion in the early 1990s.

Rev. Wilton Gregory, the Atlanta Archbishop, said he was publicly identifying those on the list “in a spirit of transparency and the hope of continued healing for the survivors of abuse.”

On Friday, the Rev. Raymond Cadran, the St. Ann pastor, sent a letter to members of the Roswell Road parish, expressing “my deepest sorrow and anger and hurt over the actions of any LaSalette or anyone associated with our name who has caused hurt and pain to any of God’s precious children, young people and their families.”

He said that “all credible claims were handled in an appropriate and timely manner.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
WITF

November 9, 2018

By Katie Meyer

Seven of Pennsylvania’s eight Catholic dioceses have announced plans to create funds to compensate those abused by priests as children, for whom the statute of limitations has expired.

Some victim advocates said the funds are welcome; others said they give churches an easy out. But both camps agree, this shouldn’t be the end of the reforms.

The announcement of the funds came a few months after a landmark grand jury report documented decades of alleged child sexual abuse by clergy. It included a number of recommendations for dioceses and state lawmakers to fix longstanding problems that led to abuse going unreported.

One of those recommendations was a two-year window for retroactive lawsuits on old, statute-limited abuse cases against negligent institutions. In a bitter legislative battle, top lawmakers balked at passing a bill to create such a window.

They floated compensation funds as part of a replacement proposal. But the whole effort ultimately crashed.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic News Service

November 2018

By Matthew Gambino

Acting on his promise to find new ways to support survivors of clerical sexual abuse, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput announced Nov. 8 that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is creating a new reparations program open to anyone abused by clergy in the archdiocese.

Philadelphia’s archbishop made the announcement in his column on CatholicPhilly.com, explaining the archdiocese will fund the program and “pay the amounts that independent claims administrators deem appropriate.”

The Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program seeks to compensate all victims but especially those whose claims are currently barred from civil lawsuits under Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations.

An effort in the state Legislature to allow a limited-time window on the statute for retroactive lawsuits against the Catholic dioceses in the state failed to come up for a vote in the Senate in October. The issue is thought to be dead because the current legislative session ends in mid-November.

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GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

November 9, 2018

By Mindy Aguon

While the Archdiocese of Agana intends to file bankruptcy to resolve more than 180 sexual abuse lawsuits, another civil suit was filed in the Superior Court of Guam against the archdiocese seeking $10 million in damages.

Attorney David Lujan filed a lawsuit on behalf of his client M.C.A., who used initials to protect his identity.

The suit alleges M.C.A. was sexually abused by two priests when he served as an altar boy at the Niño Perdido y Sagrada Familia Catholic Church in Asan in the 1970s.

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BALTIMORE (MD)
The Worthy Adversary

November 12, 2018

By Joelle Casteix

There is a lot to be said for being lazy.

I was going to write about the proposed Baltimore bishops’ meeting agenda yesterday, but put this blog post off until this morning. Good thing—because our pal Pope Francis made the whole meeting moot.

From the Washington Post:

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WATERBURY (CT)
WTNH

November 9, 2018

By Mario Boone

A lawsuit has been filed against the Archdiocese of Hartford over allegations of sexual abuse by a priest at a Waterbury church.

According to the lawsuit filed by Attorney Thomas McNamara Friday, the late Reverend Walter Vichas sexually assaulted then 10-year-old altar boy Kevin Distasio in 1980 at the Blessed Sacrament Church on Robbins Street in Waterbury.

“The sexual abuse was at the hands of Reverend Walter Vichas,” McNamara told News 8 Friday.

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DETROIT (MI)
The Detroit News

November 11, 2018

By Jennifer Chambers

The Detroit Archdiocese said Sunday it has determined that an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor by a monsignor to be credible and is asking anyone who has been abused to contact police.

Detroit Archdiocese spokesman Ned McGrath issued a statement saying an allegation involving Monsignor Thadddeus Ozog was brought to the archdiocesan review board and “has been deemed credible.”

“The Detroit Archdiocese — as is its practice — shared the complaint against him with civil authorities,” McGrath said in the statement dated Saturday. “The Review Board also commissioned an independent investigation of the allegation. When presented to the Review Board, the findings from that investigation were found to be credible, that is, having a ‘semblance of truth.’ ”

McGrath declined to provide the age of the victim at the time of the alleged abuse, the year it is alleged to have happened, details or the current age of the person, other than to say he now is an adult.

The victim approached the archdiocese three years ago to report the abuse, McGrath said, but was unable to assist in an investigation at the time. The victim again contacted the archdiocese this summer and was able to assist the review board in its investigation, McGrath said.

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BATON ROUGE (LA)
The Advocate

November 9, 2018

By Andrea Gallo

A list of Roman Catholic clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse within his diocese should be released within the next few months, Bishop of Baton Rouge Michael Duca said Friday in offering the greatest details yet of how he’ll disclose information about problem priests.

Duca released his first column Friday for the diocese’s Catholic Commentator newspaper and wrote that “this moment in our lives” demanded reflection on the sexual abuse crisis that has pummeled the church for decades. He will head next week to Baltimore for an assembly of U.S. bishops, in which he and others will vote on a series of reforms to investigate abuse accusations against bishops.

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BATON ROUGE (LA)
The Advocate

November 10, 2018

By Andrea Gallo

Baton Rouge Bishop Michael Duca has hired a law firm and an auditing firm to scrutinize clergy files and to help the Catholic Diocese complete a list of clerics who were credibly accused of sexual abuse, which should become public by the end of January 2019.

Catholic bishops across the state have announced intentions to release names of credibly accused clergy members, but Duca is the only one thus far who has announced a third-party review of files. Duca said in an interview Saturday that he wants the Diocese of Baton Rouge to receive the equivalent of a clean audit once all records have been inspected.

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CARLSBAD (NM)
Carlsbad Current-Argus

November 9, 2018

By Jessica Onsurez

The alleged abuse occurred in the 1950s and 1970s.

Two Carlsbad Catholic priests were among the names of 28 clergy “credibly accused” of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Kerry Guillory and Casilda Pudei served as clergymen in Carlsbad in the 1970s and 1950s, respectively.

The names were released by the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces Thursday, in response to Attorney General Hector Balderas who sought personnel files of priests accused of child abuse.

“By publishing this list, the Diocese of Las Cruces is seeking to be transparent and accountable, and we invite anyone who may have been abused by church personnel to come forward and report that abuse to the proper authorities,” said Bishop Gerald Kicanas, the Apostolic Administrator of the Las Cruces diocese in a news release.

Pudei was noted by the diocese as deceased.

The diocese said Pudei was assigned to St. Edward School from 1956 to 1957.

The abuse allegedly occurred in 1957 and was reported to the diocese in 1993.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Legal Examiner

November 10, 2018

By Eric T. Chaffin

The Philadelphia Archdiocese recently announced the establishment of a new victims’ compensation fund for victims of child sexual abuse. Overseeing the fund is a team of former government officials, including a former Philadelphia district attorney, former Philadelphia judge, and former Senate majority leader. These officials are to make sure the compensation fund runs independently of the Catholic Church.

The fund’s purpose is to help compensate victims who cannot pursue financial compensation through the courts because their claims lay outside the statute of limitations.

So far there has been no indication as to what the maximum potential individual payouts will be, or the total dollar amount available in the fund for distribution. Seven other Roman Catholic dioceses in the state are also taking steps to establish similar funds.

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ALLENTOWN (PA)
69 News

November 12, 2018

Priest sent to New Mexico facility for ‘treatment’

A Lehigh County man alleges he was sexually abused by a Carbon County priest years after the priest was sent to a New Mexico facility, where he was to receive treatment for allegedly assaulting at least one other child.

The Philadelphia-based law firm Williams Cedar on Monday announced that it filed a lawsuit in Lehigh County Court against retired priest Bruno M. Tucci and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown. The victim alleges the abuse occurred between 1999 and 2001 while he served as an altar boy at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish in Nesquehoning, Carbon County.

The suit also names former Bishop Edward Cullen, curent Bishop Alfred Schlert and the Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete.

Tucci, who now lives in Maryland, was a priest in the Allentown Diocese from April 1971 through March 2002 and served at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel from 1986 until his retirement in 2002. The Diocese includes Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton and Schulykill counties.

The lawsuit alleges that Diocese officials were notified in 1991 that Tucci allegedly sexually abused a 14-year-old boy years earlier. During a meeting with a Diocese official, Tucci allegeldy admitted that he had indeed molested the victim as reported, according to court papers. The lawsuit alleges that victim wasn’t Tucci’s only victim.

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BALTIMORE (MD)
CNN

November 12, 2018

By Daniel Burke

The Vatican has told the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to delay voting on measures to hold bishops accountable for failing to protect children from sexual abuse, the president of the conference said in a surprise announcement Monday morning.

In his announcement, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo said he was “disappointed” by the Vatican’s decision, which he said he learned of on Sunday afternoon. Pope Francis met with his ambassador to the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, on Saturday, according to the pope’s public schedule.

Pierre is in Baltimore and addressed the body of bishops on Monday morning, though he did not mention the Vatican’s insistence that the US bishops delay their vote. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops gathers about 200 bishops from around the country twice a year to debate and adopt new policies.

A Vatican spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pope Francis will convene a meeting of bishops from around the world in February to address the sexual abuse crisis, which has roiled the church on several continents, including North America, South America and Australia.

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
WYTV

November 12, 2018

The Diocese of Youngstown is investigating an accusation against Rev. Bouchard

A Vienna pastor has been accused of inappropriate behavior with a minor.

The Diocese of Youngstown is investigating an accusation against Rev. Denis Bouchard, pastor of Queen of the Holy Rosary Parish.

The Diocesan Review Board will determine the allegation’s credibility and substantiation.

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
The Vindicator

November 12, 2018

A priest at a Vienna church has been placed on administrative leave by the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown pending an investigation into a claim that he engaged in inappropriate contact with a minor.

Rev. Denis G. Bouchard, Pastor of Queen of the Holy Rosary Parish will be on leave as the diocese investigates the allegation, a news release said.

The leave comes after the Diocesan Review Board met and made a recommendation to Bishop George V. Murry, that further investigation take place.

The diocese said they will not comment any further because of the ongoing nature of the investigation.

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[Third Episcopal Conference to focus on abuse crisis]

SANTIAGO, CHILE
La Tercera

November 12, 2018

By Tomás Molina J.

El debut de los administradores apostólicos y la situación del obispo Silva, imputado por encubrimiento, marcarán la reunión que se realizará en Santiago y se prolongará hasta el viernes.

Generalmente son dos las asambleas plenarias que organiza la Conferencia Episcopal de Chile año a año, pero en medio de la crisis que afecta a la Iglesia católica chilena por los abusos de sexuales y de poder perpetrados por clérigos, hoy inicia el tercer encuentro entre los obispos nacionales durante este 2018.

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[Management of abuse crisis in Spanish Church worries the Vatican]

SPAIN
El País

November 11, 2018

By Daniel Verdú

Autoridades eclesiales en Roma y España critican el diseño de la comisión creada por la Conferencia Episcopal al considerarla un mero lavado de imagen

La Santa Sede mira desde hace tiempo de reojo hacia España. Los escándalos de abusos surgidos en Alemania, Irlanda o, incluso Francia no han tenido correspondencia hasta ahora en un país donde la Iglesia ha estado involucrada en todos los estamentos educativos desde hace décadas. Han pasado ocho años ya desde que el Vaticano, entonces bajo el mandato de Benedicto XVI, publicó las líneas guía para la prevención y tratamiento de los abusos en España (como en tantos países). Entre otras cosas, se emplazaba a trasladar los casos a la justicia civil, pero en España algunas denuncias no han llegado ni siquiera de mano de los obispos que las conocían. La realidad constatada en Roma es que casi ninguna diócesis española ha hecho nada para aplicar esas normas con seriedad y la comisión creada recientemente no cuenta con elementos para ser tomada en consideración.

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[“The priest who raped me was a predator, a child hunter”]

MADRID, SPAIN
El País

November 12, 2018

By Joaquín Gil

Los claretianos mantuvieron a un sacerdote tras conocer sus agresiones sexuales en una escuela de Madrid entre 1975 y 1978. El religioso pasó por un colegio mayor

El guía turístico Fernando García-Salmones y el profesor Enrique Sacristán arrastran el mismo pasado. Ambos estudiaban en 1975 en el colegio Claret de Madrid. Y ambos fueron violados —según revelan a EL PAÍS— por el mismo sacerdote, J. P. V., un carismático cura que frisaba entonces la cincuentena y que falleció en octubre de 2009 tras recibir un homenaje de sus antiguos alumnos.

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BOSTON (MA)
The Boston Globe

November 11, 2018

If the article “In abuse scandal, spotlight squarely on bishops” (Page A1, Nov. 4) had been published in a Catholic publication, it would be an authentic sign that there has been an institutional conversion of bishops’ accountability. For now, Catholics must rely on the secular media for in-depth investigative journalism of its church’s conduct.

Critics of Catholicism in the United States have charged that the Roman Catholic Church’s highest allegiance is to a foreign power: the pope and the state of Vatican City. This is substantiated in the article when Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore reveals, “I thought if I committed a crime against a young person or in any serious way violated my responsibilities that the Holy See would step in and take me out of office.”

It’s incredible that he would defer to the Holy See to determine whether he had violated any US law. In one sense, he abdicates personal responsibility for his actions. He reveals a deeper mind-set that doesn’t take seriously adherence to the laws of this country.

Critics of Sharia law, fearful of its practice here, are oblivious that the Roman Catholic Church’s canon law has trumped adherence to the American legal system by American Catholic bishops.

The Rev. Emmett Coyne

Ocala, Fla.

The writer is a retired priest with the Diocese of Manchester in New Hampshire.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Legal Intelligencer

November 10, 2018

By Christopher Munley

On Aug. 14, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office released a grand jury report (report) on Catholic clergy sexual abuse after a two-year investigation that revealed that more than 300 priests sexually abused more than 1,000 children over seven decades in six of the state’s eight Roman Catholic dioceses.

The report, which included Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton (Pennsylvania’s two other dioceses, Philadelphia and Altoona-Johnstown had been the subjects of earlier grand jury reports that found similarly damaging information about clergy and bishops in those dioceses), painted a blistering picture of church officials routinely covering up crimes until the perpetrators were too old to prosecute or litigate.
This report has now reignited a debate about whether to eliminate the statute of limitations for future civil and criminal cases involving child sexual abuse as well as how to address the problem for older victims of past crimes. The issue for these sexual abuse victims is how do they seek justice?

Among other policy recommendations in the report, jurors specifically recommended that the state eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for child sexual abuse and give otherwise time-barred victims a “two-year window” to file civil lawsuits. The grand jury said that “no piece of legislation can predict the point at which a victim of child sexual abuse will find the strength to come forward.”

The grand jurors called for the suspension of the statute of limitations for civil suits to allow victims to seek justice because: “We saw victims; they are marked for life, and many of them wind up addicted, or impaired, or dead. Our proposal would open a limited window, offering them a chance, finally, to be heard in court.”

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NEW ZEALAND
Radio NZ

November 12, 2018

By Chris Bramwell

The Government’s inquiry into the abuse of children in state care will be expanded to include the abuse of children in the care of religious institutions.

The Inquiry is to be called the Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-Based Institutions, to reflect its expanded scope.

The Royal Commission was formally established in February to be chaired by the former Govenor-General Sir Anand Satyanand, with the terms of reference, budget and additional inquiry members to be announced after consultation and Cabinet approval.

Its initial scope was to cover circumstances where the state directly ran institutions like child welfare institutions, borstals or psychiatric hospitals, and where the government contracted services out to other institutions, but as of today that will be expanded to include children in the care of faith-based institutions

Religious groups and church abuse survivors have been lobbying to be included in the inquiry since it was announced.

It will begin hearing evidence from January next year with the first interim report, which will be focussed on state care, to be reported back by the end of 2020.

A final report containing the Royal Commission’s findings and recommendations will be submitted to the Governor-General in January 2023.

The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, said it was critical the Government got the Royal Commission right and the scope and purpose of the Inquiry has been carefully considered.

“Today paves the way for us to confront a dark chapter of our national history by acknowledging what happened to people in state care, and in the care of faith-based institutions, and to learn the lessons for the future.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

November 9, 2018

By Leanne Younes

A lawyer, who was one of the first to represent historical sexual abuse victims, has noticed a rise in civil law suits since the National Apology on 22 October 2018 and the start of the Commonwealth Redress Scheme in July.

Angela Sdrinis, of Angela Sdrinis Legal, who was one of the first legal practices to represent historical child sexual abuse clients said her firm and many legal practices had experienced a significant increase in claims.

“We have noticed an increase, and frankly we are all surprised,” she said. “We didn’t really expect it, given the Royal Commission ran for five years … I mean where have these people been?”

“We do know that one of the significant obstacles to coming forward for survivors is the guilt and shame they feel, so perhaps it has taken all of this for these people to finally feel they can.”

“Perhaps with the apology at that level and the establishment of a national redress scheme, they finally feel as if they have permission to come forward.”

Ms Sdrinis said her firm was receiving about 20 new clients a month and the civil law claims were producing results, with the “most common range for civil historical abuse settlements between $200,000 and $500,000.”

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UNITED STATES
Glamour

November 11, 2018

At the 2018 Women of the Year Summit, a group of women who helped take down former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar—accused of years of sexual abuse—came together on stage to discuss the extensive challenges they faced, before the trial and after his sentencing. As Glamour executive editor Wendy Naugle, who moderated the conversation, said in her introduction, “They’ve changed the way we talk about sexual assault and abuse in this country.”

Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of assault, joined Andrea Munford, the detective who led the investigation, and Angela Povilaitis, the assistant Attorney General who led the prosecution. These women reflect but a fraction of the army that came together to bring justice against Nassar: More than 140 people came forward to file civil lawsuits against the disgraced doctor, including Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, alleging sexual abuse under the guise of treatment for injuries. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, who presided over the case, came up after Denhollander, Munford, and Povilaitis left the stage. (Because Nassar has asked permission to repeal his sentencing, Judge Aquilina cannot speak to Denhollander, Munford, or the survivors, hence why they appeared separately.)

After hearing over 150 statements ranging two decades, Judge Aquilina sentenced Nassar to up to 175 years in prison. The response to the ruling was instantly huge, which surprised her at the time: “After it was over, I took a break and went and did four probation violations. I had no idea that the world was exploding,” the judge told Glamour in her WOTY profile. “I just did what I always do.”

In the panel titled The Collective Power of the Sister Army, Denhollander, Munford, and Povilaitis discussed how they banded together, prepared for a historic trial, and support survivors of sexual abuse. Then, Judge Aquilina spoke about why she allowed survivors to speak out in the courtroom. Below, the biggest moments of the panel.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

November 7, 2018

By Joelle Casteix

While there has been no formal announcement of an investigation into clergy sex abuse and cover-up statewide, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra sent this shot across the Twitter bow earlier today:

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SPOKANE (WA)
The Spokesman- Review

November 11, 2018

By Chad Sokol

Light streamed into Bishop Thomas Daly’s office one recent afternoon as he spoke, in sometimes blunt terms, about the widening scandal of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in the United States.

“It’s a moral crisis,” Daly said. “We have degenerate behavior, hypocrisy and now cover-up. My thought is, ‘How much more can the people of God put up with?’ ”

As the leader of the Spokane diocese since 2015, Daly has the final say on some investigations into abuse by clergy. He talked to The Spokesman-Review in late October following a wave of headlines about sexual abuse in all ranks of the Roman Catholic Church.

It began anew in June, when allegations emerged that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, D.C., had sexually abused minors and adult seminarians over the course of decades. Pope Francis accepted McCarrick’s resignation in July. And then in August, the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office released a grand jury report finding that church leaders had covered up the abuse of more than 1,000 people over a 70-year period, prompting investigations in several other states.

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KNOXVILLE (TN)
Knoxville News Sentinel

November 9, 2018

By Amy McRary

Tennessee or federal authorities should investigate allegations of Catholic “pedophile priests” in the state, a leader of a survivors organization said Friday.

Susan Vance, a former nun with Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), also called on Catholic authorities to support abolishing statutes of limitations on child sex abuse crimes.

Vance held a short news conference Friday in drizzling rain on the sidewalk outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville offices on Northshore Drive. A similar news conference was held an hour later in Nashville.

“We would ask the state attorney general to impanel a grand jury or the district attorneys to ask the State Bureau of Investigation to investigate the church files,” Vance said. “An independent investigation is needed, whatever that may be.”

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

November 11, 2018

By Joelle Casteix

Spoiler warning: The US Conference of Catholic Bishops is taking us for a bunch of rubes.

The bishops are relying upon two things: 1) the public’s lack of institutional memory; and 2) Catholics’ reliance upon the bishop’s artificial moral authority.

#1 Lack of Institutional Memory

Let’s start with #1. The best way to do this is to compare compare scandals: 2002 and 2018.

The 2002 Catholic clergy sex abuse and cover-up scandal was prompted by the Boston Globe Spotlight exposé and subsequent cover-up scandals nationwide. The 2018 meeting is prompted by the Pennsylvania AG report and subsequent AG investigation announcements across the country.

The bishops are in crisis, pure and simple.

Your average 30-year-old reporter was fourteen in 2002. And unless they had a family member who was abused, chances are that the story was nowhere near their radar screen. This is all new to them.

So let’s compare stories.

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MARIETTA (GA)
Marietta Daily Journal

November 7, 2018

By Jon Gargis

Three clergy members who served in Catholic churches in Cobb County in years past have been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of a minor, according to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta.

The three were among 15 priests, deacons, seminarians and other religious staff named Tuesday in a release by the diocese who are accused of sexual abuse within the archdiocese or elsewhere “in a spirit of transparency and the hope of continued healing for the survivors of abuse,” Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory wrote in a statement accompanying the list.

Tuesday’s release did not go into specific allegations against any of the named clergy, such as the number of incidents alleged, where they occurred or when, but says that the list covers the period from the establishment of the Diocese of Atlanta in 1956 — it became an archdiocese six years later — to the present.

Among the seven named priests was John Douglas Edwards, whose last listed place of service was St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Kennesaw from 1987 to 1989. Edwards also served in 13 other churches following his 1961 ordination, according to the archdiocese, which lists his year of death as 1997.

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NEW YORK (NY)
The New York Times

November 11, 2018

By Emily Palmer

On Friday evening, inside Our Lady of Refuge church in the Bronx, a man tapped on his phone and then raised it high, so each of the approximately 250 people in attendance could see the screen.

Rushing toward the man with the phone, the crowd shouted out the name of John Jenik, an auxiliary bishop who was barred from the church on Oct. 29, following a recent allegation that he had an inappropriate relationship with a teenage boy in the 1980s.

Bishop Jenik has denied the accusation, but after an investigation by the Archdiocese of New York, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan called the allegation “credible and substantiated.” An independent commission affiliated with the archdiocese is considering the claim for a cash settlement, and the case has moved to the Vatican for a review process that could take years.

Since his banishment, Bishop Jenik, 74, has been living at a rehabilitation center without access to his parish.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Think Progress

November 12, 2018

By Joshua Eaton

The Vatican has delayed a vote by U.S. Catholic bishops this week that would have held church leaders accountable for clergy sex abuse.

At a meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, on Monday, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told the heads of all 196 U.S. dioceses and archdioceses that Pope Francis wanted them to hold off on a vote until after a meeting of worldwide church leaders in Rome in February.

The bishops had planned to vote Wednesday on a code of conduct for bishops and a lay commission to investigate violations.

“At the insistence of the Holy See, we will not be voting on the two action items,” DiNardo, who is archbishop of Galveston-Houston, in Texas, told his fellow bishops, according to The Washington Post.

Advocates for survivors of clergy sexual abuse, who have long accused the church of being unwilling to hold senior leaders accountable, were quick to criticize the move.

“We’re dealing with the crisis, right here, right now,” Becky Ianni, D.C. regional head of the victims’ group SNAP, told The Washington Post. “Yes, it’s a global problem, and they need to discuss it there [in Rome], but the U.S. needs to come up with something right now.”

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PIEDMONT (SD)
Associated Press

November 12, 2018

Some parents in Piedmont are objecting to the possible release of a Rapid City priest accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old child.

A defense attorney for John Praveen has asked a judge to release the defendant to the supervision of Catholic diocese at Casa Maria, a property in Piedmont for retired priests.

KOTA-TV reports parents of children who attend Stagebarn Middle School and two day care centers across from Casa Maria say church officials are overlooking the location in the release plan.

Prosecutors last week objected to the release and asked the judge to continue John Praveen’s $100,000 bond. Seventh Circuit Judge Robert Mandel did not immediately rule on the defense request.

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BALTIMORE (MD)
Associated Press

November 12, 2018

By David Crary

As U.S. Catholic bishops gather for their national assembly this week, the clergy sex abuse crisis dominates their agenda amid calls from critics that church leaders finally bring about meaningful reforms to root out misbehaving priests.

The three-day assembly that starts Monday in Baltimore comes after a series of abuse scandals this year that have been stunning in their magnitude and number.

Bishops have several reforms under consideration to craft a stronger response to the scandals, but some Catholic activists are demanding further steps, including releasing the names of all clergy accused of abuse and giving a greater voice to abuse victims. One coalition of concerned Catholics, the 5 Theses movement, planned to post its proposals for reform on church doors in Baltimore and elsewhere on Sunday.

The abuse crisis is foremost among several challenges confronting Catholic leaders, who face conflicting pressures on the role of women and LGBT people in the church. And even though the Catholic population in the U.S. has been growing, most Catholics attend Mass rarely, and the number of active priests and nuns continues to decline.

Setting the tone for the national assembly, the president of the bishops’ conference, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, asked his fellow bishops to spend the preceding seven days in “intensified” prayer, fasting and reparation.

The bishops will consider new steps to police their own ranks during abuse cases, and will likely approve an investigation by lay law enforcement experts of the handling of the scandal surrounding the former cardinal in Washington, D.C.

“Bishops are under intense scrutiny and pressure to deliver on both of these items,” said the Rev. Thomas Berg, admissions director at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, New York.

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BALTIMORE (MD)
National Catholic Reporter

November 12, 2018

By Michael Sean Winters

Greetings from Baltimore! This morning, we are waiting for the address by the papal nuncio, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, as well as the presidential address of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo. After that, the bishops will be engaged in spiritual discernment for the rest of the day.

One of the main issues the bishops will be discerning is how to respond to the clergy sex abuse mess, which requires diagnosing how they got to this point. While there is general agreement on many aspects of what caused the crisis, there are two meta-narratives about causation that are not complementary. Some argue that the core problem is the spread of homosexuality among the clergy, which has been made possible because of lousy moral theology and weak episcopal leadership.

Proponents of this meta-narrative ignore both expert and common opinion. The 2011 John Jay study indicated homosexuality is not a risk factor. Common sense would tell you that priests had access to the boys’ room and not the girls’ room and that in many of the years surveyed, there were not yet even altar girls. Interestingly, if you consult the news articles published at the time the John Jay study was published in 2011 (for example, this article by Carol Zimmerman published by the bishops’ own news service, CNS), even conservative bishops like Archbishops Robert Carlson, Timothy Dolan and Allen Vigneron affirmed the findings and did not question them. The people complaining about the report were SNAP and other victims’ advocacy groups, and their complaint was not that the report let gays off the hook.

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MEADVILLE (PA)
Meadville Tribune

November 12, 2018

By Bruce Harlan

We live in tough times. Whether you’re watching TV, reading the newspaper or looking at your smart phone, the news is all around us and it’s usually the same thing: more examples of mass shootings and acts of terrorism, more reports of destructive weather, more divisive stories involving politics and more allegations of sexual violence.

In the last 12 months, consider all of the stories about sexual violence making headlines: Bill Cosby’s trial and conviction for three counts of sexual assault; Dr. Larry Nassar’s guilty plea for abusing hundreds of young women who attended sports camps at Michigan State University; the Pennsylvania grand jury’s report on six Catholic dioceses where more than 300 members of the clergy were named in connection to sex crimes against children; and, of course, the #MeToo movement that spread virally on social media to help demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

November 12, 2018

By Charlie Specht

Those payouts will likely cost the diocese millions, and the bishop has since moved to a former convent at St. Stanislaus Church on Buffalo’s East Side.

But internal documents obtained by the 7 Eyewitness News I-Team show parishioners are already footing the bill for costly renovations to the bishop’s new home on Buffalo’s East Side, leading some to question how much of a sacrifice it will really be for the shepherd of Buffalo’s Catholics — and whether he actually plans to live among his flock.

“He’s moving from a very large home to an even larger home that’s being set up to his specific tastes,” said Siobhan O’Connor, the bishop’s former secretary.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary (blog)

November 11, 2018

By Joelle Casteix

Spoiler warning: The US Conference of Catholic Bishops is taking us for a bunch of rubes.

The bishops are relying upon two things: 1) the public’s lack of institutional memory; and 2) Catholics’ reliance upon the bishop’s artificial moral authority.

#1 Lack of Institutional Memory

Let’s start with #1. The best way to do this is to compare compare scandals: 2002 and 2018.

The 2002 Catholic clergy sex abuse and cover-up scandal was prompted by the Boston Globe Spotlight exposé and subsequent cover-up scandals nationwide. The 2018 meeting is prompted by the Pennsylvania AG report and subsequent AG investigation announcements across the country.

The bishops are in crisis, pure and simple.

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.

BOSTON (MA)
Archdiocese of Boston

November 10-11, 2018

My Dear Friends,

The annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which takes place from November 12-15 in Baltimore, will be of particularly great importance. The revelations of this past summer concerning Archbishop McCarrick and the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report make clear that the Catholic Church in the United States, at every level, must do all that is possible to prevent the abuse of children, young people and vulnerable adults in the Church and work to restore the trust lost through this scandal.

Since arriving in Boston in 2003, addressing the sexual abuse crisis has been my highest
priority. Our policies and programs seek to guarantee victim/survivors the means to report
claims of abuse and seek settlement, programs to provide professional care and support, and
our full cooperation with law enforcement in the Commonwealth. In June of 2002 the USCCB
embraced the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which commits all
archdioceses to reporting any allegations of abuse of a minor to civil authorities, zero tolerance for the exercise of ministry by any member of the clergy against whom there is a credible allegation of abuse of a minor, and screenings and trainings for all Church personnel, clergy, lay employees and volunteers, who could have any ministry with a child or young person. Where the Charter has been enforced there have been dramatic improvements in safeguarding. Any bishop or religious superior who does not comply with the Charter should be removed.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

November 8, 2018

By Jay Tokasz

A new Democratic majority in the state Senate means childhood victims of sex abuse might soon be able to sue the Catholic Church in clergy molestation cases that date back decades.

Senate Democrats said Wednesday that passing the Child Victims Act will be a top priority when they assume control in 2019. Democrats on Tuesday won at least 37 seats in the Senate, winning control of the 63-seat chamber for the first time in a decade.

“We’re looking forward to finally getting it passed with this new Democratic majority,” said Sen. Timothy M. Kennedy, D-Buffalo. “We have been calling for passage of the Child Victims Act for years. It has languished under the Republican majority. It is one of several initiatives we’re looking to fast-track.”

New York is among the most restrictive states in the nation when it comes to allowing victims of sexual abuse from years ago to file lawsuits against their alleged perpetrators.

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[The Spanish Church is reluctant to review its past]

MADRID, SPAIN
El País

November 11, 2018

By José Manuel Romero and Julio Núñez

La cúpula eclesiástica rechaza clarificar los abusos como ha hecho Alemania y anuncia Francia. Los jesuitas aseguran que investigarán sus casos de las últimas décadas

La Iglesia en España se resiste a revisar los casos de abusos sexuales del pasado. A diferencia de lo que está ocurriendo en otros países, como Alemania o Francia, la cúpula de la Iglesia española no ha encargado ni ha elaborado ningún informe ni creado ninguna comisión para investigar los abusos sexuales de sacerdotes a menores en las últimas décadas. El papa Francisco ha convocado en febrero a las conferencias episcopales de todo el mundo para tratar el caso de los abusos sexuales a menores en la Iglesia.

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DENVER (CO)
Crux

November 11, 2018

By John L. Allen Jr.

Two potential turning points loom this week in the Catholic Church’s fight against clerical sexual abuse, one in the “gets it” part of the world and another in the “jury’s still out” zone.

One should come from the fall meeting of the U.S. bishops in Baltimore opening Monday, and the other with the release of a long-awaited new set of anti-abuse guidelines from the powerful Episcopal Conference of Italy, known by its Italian acronym CEI.

In the U.S., the bishops are expected to vote to amend norms adopted at the 2002 meeting in Dallas to place bishops under the same protocols as other clergy when it comes to the “zero tolerance” standard, meaning automatic removal from ministry after a credible charge of abuse.

Though the bishops have already announced their intention to do that in some form, they’ll need to work out exactly how. Under canon law the only superior of a bishop is the pope, not the bishops’ conference, so they’ll have to decide if they want to appeal to Rome to amend their norms, voluntarily submit themselves to a lay review group, or some other mechanism.

The bishops are also expected to take up the thornier matter of how to get to the bottom of the scandals surrounding ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, including who facilitated his rise up the ladder despite concerns over sexual misconduct stretching back at least to the 1990s.

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[The counterattack of the “Brotherhood:” two priests resume their parish duties]

CHILE
La Tercera

November 10, 2018

By Leyla Zapata

Dos sacerdotes sobreseídos por la justicia retomaron sus funciones en las parroquias de La Compañía y Pumanque. La Defensoría Penal Pública solicitará la misma acción en favor de otros dos presbíteros imputados.

“Bien, bien, gracias, pero no doy entrevistas!”. Eso fue lo único que dijo el sacerdote Aquiles Correa, antes de cerrar la puerta de la sala en la que lo esperaban los feligreses de La Compañía, en la Región de O’Higgins, para iniciar la reunión de coordinación pastoral.

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SHREVEPORT (LA)
ArkLaTex.com

November 10, 2018

By Nancy Cook

In a statement issued Friday, the Very Rev. Peter Mangum, administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Shreveport, said no allegation of sexual abuse of a minor by a clergy member has been received since the diocese was formed in 1986.

In the statement, Mangum stressed that is consistent with the findings of many dioceses, as most of the accusations nationwide are from incidents that occurred decades ago.

That’s not to say there weren’t area priests accused of sexual misconduct, only that if there were, the accusations came prior to Shreveport becoming a stand-alone diocese.

Prior to 1986, Shreveport and Monroe were part of the Alexandria-Shreveport Catholic Diocese, meaning any local allegations would have been submitted to the bishop in Alexandria.

After the diocese split, many of the priests serving in churches that became part of the Shreveport Diocese became a part of the new diocese.

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ASHTABULA (OH)
Ashtabula Star Beacon

November 11, 2018

Years into the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church, we still see signs that some in the Church’s institutional leadership still don’t get it.

Earlier this month, Bishop George V. Murry of the Youngstown Catholic Diocese released a list of about two dozen priests who have been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of a minor in the Youngstown Diocese. Of those, almost one third spent time in Ashtabula County. But that fact was not known until several days after the names were released, which is an unfortunate microcosm for how the Church as an organization has handled the entire scandal.

Murry seems a genuine, sincere leader. Multiple times during the news conference on the subject he talked about how angry and embarrassed he was this issue had not been resolved. He had harsh words for some of his fellow bishops, saying any who helped in the cover up should be removed and calling out those who still fail to understand the damage sexual assault does to children.

But Church lawyers did him no favors with how they advised Murry and the diocese to handle the release of the names. The news conference took place on a Tuesday and only after a barrage of media members, including the Star Beacon, requested the priest’s assignments did Murry overrule the Church lawyers — who had told Murry to release only the names, whether they were alive or dead and whether they were alive or dead at the time accusations were made against them — and promise to release a full career background for each priest.

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[Church of Chile: 15 new cases of clergy sexual abuse, victims total 245]

CHILE
La Tercera

November 11, 2018

Este lunes comienza una asamblea plenaria de la Conferencia Episcopal de Chile (CECh) que reunirá a sus obispos para analizar las políticas de reparación y prevención que anunciaron hace dos meses ante la oleada de escándalos en los que está inmersa la Iglesia católica del país.

Las causas abiertas por abusos sexuales en el seno de la Iglesia de Chile alcanzan ya las 139, que implican a 245 víctimas y 190 personas son investigadas, según informaron hoy a Efe fuentes fiscales.

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
Youngstown Tribune

November 11, 2018

On Saturday, Diocese of Youngstown Bishop George V. Murry clarified a name on the list of 31 clergy removed from ministry because of a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.

Named on the list was John F. Warner. There are two persons named John F. Warner who served as priests in the Diocese of Youngstown. The John F. (Jack) Warner listed is not the John F. Warner of Louisville, Ohio, who was ordained in 1972 and resigned from ministry in 1978 after service in Kent and at Walsh University.

The John F. Warner mentioned in the list was ordained in 1970 and was from Girard. John F. Warner of Louisville is in complete compliance with the Child Protection Policy of the Diocese of Youngstown.

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STATEN ISLAND (NY)
Staten Island Advance

November 11, 2018

By Maura Grunlund

Sex allegations against a priest are complicated matters that can take several turns.

In some cases, criminal charges are filed. In others, punishments are decided by the church and not prosecutors.

Some priests have admitted guilt. Others have put up fierce legal fights to clear their name.

Some have resulted in settlements. Others have resulted in lawsuits filed against the church or even the accuser.

At least 15 priests with ties to Staten Island have been the subject of sex or pornography-related accusations over the years.

This slideshow highlights some of those cases and their outcomes.

Monsignor Charles Coen is one of four monsignors and a priest “who had an allegation of sexual abuse of minors brought against them in the Archdiocese’s Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program,” according to Catholic New York, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of New York.

A native of Dublin, Ireland, Coen was assigned to St. Joseph-St. Thomas R.C. Parish in Pleasant Plains for about 10 years beginning in 1975. Previously, he served at St. Paul’s R.C. Church in New Brighton, according to Advance records.

Coen taught and conducted Irish music for children during his time on the Island, according to Advance records.

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[Ezzati explains why he did not to testify in cover-up investigation]

CHILE
La Tercera

November 10, 2018

By Javiera Matus

El arzobispo de Santiago, tras una misa en Recoleta, dijo que espera acceder al expediente del caso.

Con una misa a cargo del arzobispo de Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati, y el sacerdote Nicolás Vial, presidente de la Fundación Paternitas, se celebró hoy la reapertura de la emblemática iglesia La Viñita, ubicada en Recoleta, tras su séptimo proceso de reparación. Sus obras de restauración comenzaron en 2017.

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
The Times-Picayune

November 11, 2018

By Mark Lorando

As I write this I am preparing to make one last run through my inbox before making the hourlong drive to Convent, La., where I will park my car, turn off my laptop and cellphone, and attempt to leave the world – and the newsroom – behind.

It’s my annual four-day silent retreat at Manresa, the Jesuit retreat center surrounded by 130 acres of majestic, moss-draped oaks on River Road in St. James Parish. I began making this trek in the fall of 2003 and have more or less scheduled my life around it every November since. Given the high-stress, round-the-clock nature of the news business, my mental, physical and spiritual health pretty much depend on it.

The goal is always to set thoughts of work aside for a few days and re-center body and soul through reflection and prayer. Some years, that’s easier said than done. And it will be particularly difficult this year given the timing of the retreat, one week after the Archdiocese of New Orleans released the names of 55 priests and two deacons it said had been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of minors dating as far back as the 1910s.

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CARTHAGE (NY)
WWNY TV

November 10, 2018

The Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg has decided to release the names of the remaining priests implicated in the long-running sex abuse scandal by members of the Catholic clergy.

In a letter distributed at weekend masses, Bishop Terry LaValley writes “While there are strong arguments for releasing the names and strong arguments for not releasing the names, recent controversies in the Church make it necessary for us to now release the names.

“The recent controversies and scandals have produced righteous anger, discouragement and frustration among the people of God. Increasingly, the faithful have called for the release of the names of those removed from ministry…”

The names will be posted to the Diocese web site, LaValley notes. No names were posted as of early Saturday evening. A report from the diocese in October disclosed that the diocese – which is the Catholic Church in northern New York – has paid out nearly $5.5 million to 37 victims of clergy sex abuse.

Although the names of several priests in the Diocese of Ogdensburg implicated in sex abuse have surfaced over the years, there have always been more names that have not been made public, despite pleas from some victims. It’s not known how many more names there are, but church officials have said no new cases of abuse have surfaced in the last 20 years.

in his letter, Bishop LaValley notes “I know the release of names will cause pain for those on the list, their families, former parishioners and friends. There will be a need for compassion and understanding among all of us. While our main concern is the safety of our your people and helping victims find healing and peace, we must also strive to uphold the dignity of those removed from ministry.”

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ERIE (PA)
GoErie.com

November 11, 2018

By Ed Palattella

Former bishops challenged women’s accounts that they spoke up about a priest and child pornography. Grand jury report supports the women, though wounds run deep.

The grand jury report on the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania, including the Catholic Diocese of Erie, has vindicated victims of child sexual abuse.

The report has also supported three women who once had strong connections to the church.

The women are not abuse victims.

They were, according to the grand jury report, whistleblowers in the Erie diocese.

As the 884-page report, released in August, continues to reverberate — it prompted a response from Pope Francis and calls for changes in state legislation — the experience of the three women offers another example of the report’s wide-reaching effects.

For the victims, the report provides proof that their complaints of abuse by clergy, though unheeded for years, were valid.

“We have heard them,” the grand jurors, in their report, said of the victims.

For the three women — Sally Beres, Ann Caro and Helen Rusnak— the report provides more public affirmation that, nearly 40 years ago, they acted appropriately when they expressed concerns about a priest.

The three said they alerted the Catholic Diocese of Erie to child pornography and other pornography found in the early 1980s in the office of the Rev. Robert F. Bower, of Edinboro — only to have the diocese reject their concerns and later publicly dispute that they had even raised them.

The ramifications were lasting. Beres said she lost her job as a church secretary, and she and Caro and Rusnak said they were ostracized for speaking up about Bower. All three said they remain estranged from the church they embraced for much of their lives.

“I lost my religion,” Beres, 70, said in a recent interview.

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LANCASTER (PA)
Lancaster OnLine

November 11, 2018

Associated Press

As we noted last month, the Pennsylvania Senate so far has failed to act on Senate Bill 261, which would eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for child sexual abuse, and give future victims until age 50 to press civil claims. The House approved a version of Senate Bill 261 in September that included an amendment from Democratic state Rep. Mark Rozzi, which would provide a two-year retroactive window during which victims of past child sexual abuse could seek justice in civil court. But senators, led by Republican Senate Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, balked at passing the bill with that amendment.

The state Senate has just one more scheduled session day this year, and that’s Wednesday.

The final session day generally is reserved for unofficial matters, but Republican state Sen. Ryan Aument, of Landisville, has said he sees no reason why a vote on Senate Bill 261 couldn’t be taken on that day.

And either chamber of the General Assembly can meet before midnight Nov. 30, when the two-year legislative session formally ends.en to voices of reason. They seem utterly lacking in compassion — and any sense of shame.

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JERSEY CITY (NJ)
Jersey Journal

November 11, 2018

By Rev. Alexander Santora

This week, the Catholic bishops of the U.S. will gather in Baltimore for their first semi-annual conference since the summer of sexual abuse allegations, including former Newark Archbishop Theodore McCarrick.

How I wish I could be a fly on the wall of their closed sessions as they will, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, “discuss and vote on a series of concrete measures to respond to the abuse crisis, including … a third-party reporting mechanism, standards of conduct for bishops, and protocols for bishops resigned or removed because of abuse.”

I am too limiting. It should be more than flies allowed into that room if they are truly to engage and enlighten the laity of the church, the major stakeholder in its future.

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BALTIMORE (MD)
WBAL-TV

November 9, 2018

‘We have to be held to the same high standard,’ Archbishop William Lori says

By Barry Simms

Catholic bishops will gather in Baltimore next week for their annual meeting, and because of the sex abuse scandal involving priests and bishops, some consider this an intense moment in crisis for the church.

Baltimore Archbishop William Lori spoke exclusively Friday with the 11 News I-Team on reform efforts and renewing trust. Lori said he and other bishops are deeply horrified by the sex abuse scandal that has plagued the Catholic Church and hurt children and adults.

“I can tell you this resonates very deeply in my mind and heart,” Lori said.

The archbishop said there is a sickness involved on the part of the people who commit abuse, calling it a crime and also a moral crime.

Much attention has been focused on handling priests accused of wrongdoing following the release of an attorney general’s report in Pennsylvania and former Washington Archbishop Theodore McCarrick’s decision to step down because of sexual allegations against him.

“If any bishop has harmed a minor or harassed an adult, that bishop should resign,” Lori said. “We have to be held to the same high standard we hold our priests and lay employees and volunteers to. We should have the same standards and the same consequence.”

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LOUISVILLE (KY)
WLKY-TV

November 9, 2018

By Kevin Trager

A state lawmaker is working with the local archdiocese to promote transparency regarding priests accused of child sex abuse.

Rep. Jim Wayne is sponsoring legislation that would make it easier for the attorney general to investigate sex abuse allegations against priests statewide.

Wayne is a lifelong Catholic who is retiring in January. He is encouraging Louisville Archbishop Joseph Kurtz to endorse the proposed law and future investigation.

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WASHINGTON D.C.
Washington Post

November 9, 2018

By Julie Zauzmer

After months of outcry from American Catholics this year, demanding that bishops — the highest-ranking Catholic leaders in the United States — be held accountable for decades of child abuse by priests, the bishops will meet in person for the first time for a days-long reckoning about how to address the crisis.

In a highly unusual move, the bishops will put aside almost everything else on their agenda for the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops next week to focus solely on rectifying their policies on abuse. The leaders of all 196 U.S. archdioceses and dioceses are invited to attend the Baltimore event.

Many bishops and lay leaders hope they will emerge from the meeting with sweeping new procedures in place, including a lay commission empowered to investigate abuse by bishops, a new code of conduct and a plan for bishops removed from office because of their handling of abuse.

“When we come out of the meeting and are able to communicate what will be different moving forward, it’s my hope that all those who’ve been asking for such concrete steps will recognize: The bishops heard us,” said Bishop Michael Burbidge, who leads Virginia’s Diocese of Arlington. “We hear what you said. And we share those concerns. And we’re doing something about it.”

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WASHINGTON D.C.
Washington Post

November 9, 2018

By Samantha Schmidt , Marisa Iati and Michelle Boorstein

An alleged clergy sex-abuse coverup case unfolding this week at one of the Washington region’s most prominent Latino parishes is putting a spotlight on a segment of the Catholic Church seen as uniquely opaque when it comes to misconduct: religious orders.

Three parish leaders at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart, a bustling, heavily Salvadoran church in Columbia Heights, were removed this week following reports that three teenage girls were groped or kissed by the Rev. Urbano Vazquez, a gregarious and popular priest.

The arrest and child sex-abuse charge against Vazquez and removal of the lead priest and the chief child-protection coordinator have stunned Sacred Heart parishioners, with many circling the church protectively or taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the charges. Sacred Heart is large and central to the area’s Hispanic community, with many ministries — a school, English literacy classes and an immigration resource center, among other services.

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ENGLAND
The Guardian

November 11, 2018

By Harriet Sherwood

Cardinal Vincent Nichols will be first leader of English church to testify under oath

The Roman Catholic church in England will come under intense scrutiny this week over its handling of child sexual abuse and the cover-up of predatory priests by bishops and other senior figures.

Survivors of rape and assault will testify over five days at an independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, along with church leaders, officials and child protection experts in a case study examining the archdiocese of Birmingham.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, will give evidence in person on Tuesday – the first time that the most senior Catholic in England has been cross-examined under oath. He was archbishop of Birmingham from 2000 to 2009. Bernard Longley, the current archbishop of Birmingham, will also be cross-examined. All other earlier archbishops of the diocese have died.

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[Former La Salle priest sentenced to 130 years in prison for abusing minors]

MADRID, SPAIN
El País

November 5, 2018

By Aurora Intxausti

Pedro Ramos Lominchar pide perdón a sus víctimas por su actividad delictiva

Pedro Antonio Ramos Lominchar, exreligioso de La Salle y exprofesor del Colegio Maravillas de Madrid, ha asumido esta mañana la condena de 130 años de prisión al reconocer en el juicio, celebrado en la Audiencia Provincial de Madrid, que abusó de varios menores y de cuatro adultos cuando estaban dormidos, entre 2013 y 2016. El condenado, que en 2016 era coordinador de Educación Infantil y Primaria del citado colegio, pidió perdón a las víctimas, a sus familias, al centro escolar y a la congregación religiosa a la que pertenecía, una vez que asumió que había cometido los delitos de los que le acusaba la fiscalía.

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[“Sexual predator” priest expelled from Miami abused minors for years in Salamanca]

BARCELONA AND SALAMANCA, SPAIN
El País

November 9, 2018

By Oriol Güell and Íñigo Domínguez

El obispado ignoró el aviso de EE UU y destinó al sacerdote a una decena de pueblos de la provincia entre 1981 y 2004, donde EL PAÍS ha localizado a tres víctimas

El obispado de Salamanca ignoró un aviso de la archidiócesis de Miami, que expulsó en 1981 de su jurisdicción a Francisco Carreras tras un caso de abusos a un menor, y mantuvo a este sacerdote durante más de dos décadas, entre 1981 y 2004, al frente de una decena de parroquias rurales de la provincia. En sus nuevos destinos, Carreras dejó un reguero de nuevas agresiones sexuales, según han denunciado ahora tres víctimas a EL PAÍS.

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[For decades, Bishop of Salamanca ignored accusations against priest condemned in 2014]

MADRID, SPAIN
El País

November 1, 2018

By Íñigo Domínguez

El obispo recibió acusaciones al menos desde los noventa sin tomar medidas porque no las consideró “verosímiles”. Todavía en 2011 alegó “la buena fama” del acusado para no actuar

El obispado de Salamanca ignoró durante décadas, sin informar a la policía, las denuncias contra un cura condenado finalmente en el Vaticano por abusos sexuales a menores en 2014, Isidro López Santos, de 77 años. La sentencia canónica solo llegó después de la denuncia en la diócesis de una de sus víctimas, Javier Paz, en 2011, y de que sacara su caso a la luz pública tres años más tarde. Le acusó de abusos entre 1982 y 1992. Después también se sumaron a la denuncia otras dos personas, aunque el obispado lo silenció y nunca mencionó en sus notas de prensa que había más de una víctima. Solo usó un plural genérico, por lo que el de Javier Paz parecía un caso aislado.

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[Recordings of Salamanca Bishop reveal the arguments and tactics to silence abuse complaints]

MADRID, SPAIN
El País

November 8, 2018

By Íñigo Domínguez

Las grabaciones al obispo de Salamanca revelan los argumentos y las tácticas de la jerarquía eclesiástica para acallar a los denunciantes de abusos

Las conversaciones grabadas en 2013 entre el obispo de Salamanca, Carlos López, y una víctima de abusos Javier Paz, a las que ha tenido acceso EL PAÍS, son reveladoras de los argumentos de la Iglesia para silenciar el escándalo y de su falta de empatía con quienes denuncian. Uno de los momentos más llamativos de los audios es cuando el prelado responde a las quejas de su interlocutor sobre la actitud de la Iglesia. El obispo pregunta por otras víctimas que conoce Paz, para saber si se quieren unir a su denuncia contra Isidro López, el cura de Salamanca que fue finalmente condenado por el Vaticano en 2014.

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[Clergy abuse victim: “I feel deeply offended by the Bishop of Salamanca”]

MADRID, SPAIN
El País

November 9, 2018

By Íñigo Domínguez

Una víctima del cura apartado en 2014 replica a los reproches del jefe de la diócesis a los abusados por tardar años en denunciar

Una de las víctimas de abusos de Isidro López Santos, el cura de Salamanca condenado por el Vaticano en 2014, ha salido al paso de las afirmaciones que el obispo de la ciudad, Carlos López, manifiesta en las grabaciones publicadas por EL PAÍS. En ellas, el responsable de la diócesis, reprochaba a las víctimas que la culpa de que los abusos quedaran impunes también era suya, por no haberlo denunciado antes. “Después de escuchar la grabación, me siento profundamente ofendido por el obispo. ¿Cómo pretenden que un chaval de 12 o 14 años, en los años noventa, que no se hablaba de estos temas o al menos yo, que solo pensaba en jugar con mis amigos, quiera que hubiéramos tomado medidas legales? ¡Si yo sólo quería jugar con mis amigos!”, lamenta.

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[Spanish Church official says: “The percentage (of pedophilia in the Church) is irrelevant”]

MADRID, SPAIN
El País

November 10, 2018

By Maribel Marín Yarza and Carmen Morán Breña

El jefe de las finanzas de la Conferencia Episcopal Española lamenta que se ponga el foco solo en la Iglesia cuando se habla de abusos sexuales

Fernando Giménez Barriocanal (Madrid, 50 años), casado y con cinco hijos, es el jefe de finanzas de la Conferencia Episcopal Española y el único de la institución que ha accedido a ser entrevistado por EL PAÍS —tras numerosas peticiones— en un momento en el que la Iglesia española se encuentra en el centro de todas las miradas y no solo por la polémica exhumación de los restos del dictador Franco. En su austero despacho, bajo un retrato del papa Francisco y la atenta mirada de su jefe de prensa —que interviene para frenar preguntas sobre los abusos sexuales de algunos miembros del clero—, Barriocanal, también presidente de la cadena COPE, trata de ceñirse a un guion económico y de eludir los temas más espinosos con un “no sé”, “lo desconozco”. El porcentaje de pederastia en la Iglesia española, dice, “es irrelevante”.

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[Deacon accused of sexually abusing a minor in Linares]

CHILE
BioBioChile

November 9, 2018

By Ariela Muñoz

Este jueves, el Obispado de Linares acogió una denuncia sobre un presunto abuso sexual de un menor, ocurrida hace unos 25 años, en contra del diácono permanente Óscar Villagra. Ante esto, se inició una investigación que durará 60 días, según dicta el protocolo de la Conferencia Episcopal.

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[Ezzati defends decision to remain silent and says he will testify when the prosecution has the correct records]

CHILE
La Tercera

November 10, 2018

By Angélica Vera

De acuerdo al arzobispo de Santiago, el pasado 3 de octubre optó por no hablar debido a que “los antecedentes que habían entregados no eran los míos, habían entregado los antecedentes de la diócesis de Rancagua”.

En el marco de la reinauguración de la iglesia La Viñita en Recoleta, el arzobispo de Santiago Ricardo Ezzati se refirió al silencio que ha guardado cuando fue citado declarar como imputado por presunto encubrimiento de casos de abusos de parte de miembros de la Iglesia Católica, asegurando que cuando fue a la Fiscalía de Rancagua los antecedentes presentados no correspondían a los suyos.

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JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
Jefferson City Tribune

By Phillip Sitter

November 11, 2018

The Diocese of Jefferson City is demanding increased transparency from the religious communities operating within it, and would like increased accountability over clergy in its care who have been removed from ministry over credible allegations of sexual abuse or concern for children’s safety.

The diocese’s Bishop Shawn McKnight announced Thursday a list of 33 non-active clergy men and religious brothers who have worked in the diocese after its establishment in 1956, who one way or another have been removed from service and who more likely than not sexually abused children or were found not fit to work around children. The list includes 14 clergy men or religious brothers who are dead; 15 living who have been permanently removed from ministry; two more who have been essentially defrocked; another one who has been expelled from the diocese; and one who has been criminally convicted and imprisoned.

The full list of names of the credibly accused men and resources for victims will be included at or near the end of this story. McKnight did not know Thursday how many children or then-children had been victimized by the clergy who were named because many alleged perpetrators of abuse had multiple victims, and not all victims have come forward — though McKnight hoped they would with the publication of the names of the accused abusers.

McKnight, who read from a lengthy statement, said Thursday “In the past 12 days, I have participated in six listening sessions across our diocese regarding the sexual abuse crisis in our Church. Consistently, I heard the message: ‘Get it all out and deal with it. Don’t hold any more secrets. We heal better when we all know what the problem is.'”

McKnight said he is doing more.

“In addition, I have contacted the superiors of our religious communities of priest in inform them of my new policy, effective Jan. 1, 2020, that any religious community serving in the Diocese of Jefferson City must commit to the release of names of all their credibly accused members in order to continue serving in our diocese.”

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NEW YORK (NY)
National Review

By Ed Condon

November 10, 2018

This weekend, the Catholic bishops of the United States gather in Baltimore ahead of their three-day annual general assembly, which opens Monday. By coincidence, it will be 16 years exactly since their session in 2002, when they met to amend and adopt two measures, now known as the Dallas Charter and the Essential Norms, in response to the last great eruption of the Church’s sex-abuse crisis in the United States.

On November 13, 2002, Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, and other luminaries took to the microphone to praise the “significant progress” that had been made. “Thank God we are where we are today,” Law told the bishops as they nodded along. “We’ve got to get past this,” McCarrick said. “We can’t have Dallas 2 and Dallas 3 and Dallas 4.”

Thanks in large measure to “Uncle Ted,” Dallas 2 is very much what the bishops are now facing: a comprehensive and codified response to a national moral crisis of credibility. Many Catholics report that, while they continue to trust their local priest, they consider the episcopate suspect.

Many of the country’s senior prelates are looking forward to Baltimore as the moment when they can begin to move past the scandals of the past few months. Many concede that sacrifices will have to be offered, and publicly. A binding code of conduct for bishops has been circulated, as has a detailed proposal for a new independent commission to investigate accusations against bishops.

The bishops will be desperate to leave Baltimore with a tangible result; votes will be cast and measures adopte

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BIRMINGHAM (AL)
ABC 33 News

November 9, 2018

By Brian Pia & Stephen Gallien

The Archdiocese of Mobile says it’ll release a list of clergy removed from the ministry following accusations of child sex abuse.

Those accusations date back to the 1950s.

The Catholic dioceses in Birmingham, Biloxi and Jackson, Mississippi will also release lists of accused clergy.

There’s no word on a timeline.

These local developments come three months after a Pennsylvania grand jury alleged that hundreds of priests molested more than 1,000 children since the 1940s.

At the time, Birmingham Bishop Robert Baker referred to it as “ a gut-wrenching betrayal by those in ordained ministry.”

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OWENSBORO (KY)
Messenger-Inquirer

November 11, 2018

By James Mayse

The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Owensboro said Friday the diocese will work to be more open and transparent about how it handles allegations of sexual abuse by priests.

The Most Rev. William Medley told reporters at a Friday morning news conference he will have former members of the Diocesan Review Board, which investigates reports of sexual abuse, review the list of 27 priests who have been accused of abuse in the Diocese since 1937 to determine if those names should be made public.

Medley called the press conference the day after he held the last of four “listening sessions” across the diocese to hear concerns about reports of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. Medley referenced the Pennsylvania grand jury report released in August where, according to the New York Times, a grand jury found church officials in that state knew of more than 300 priests who had abused more than 1,000 victims over a 70-year period.

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BUFFALO (NY)
CNN

November 10, 2018

By Rosa Flores

In the deeply Catholic Rust Belt community of Buffalo, New York, some parishioners are using the Sunday collection basket to ask embattled Bishop Richard Malone to resign. Instead of giving money, some faithful are leaving handwritten messages giving the church an ultimatum.

“We will resume our weekly offering when the Bishop resigns or is removed,” read one handwritten note that was placed in a Sunday collection basket and shared with CNN.

The source who provided the notes to CNN asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation. In an email, the diocese said it was aware of a few such notes received months ago.

Malone came under fire after his former executive assistant, Siobhan O’Connor, leaked documents to CNN and other media outlets suggesting the bishop did not sanction priests accused of sexual abuse and concealed the identities of alleged predator priests.

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CHICAGO (IL)
The Oracle

November 9, 2018

Chicago Catholic priests are being encouraged to discuss the priest sex abuse crisis this weekend, according to a letter from a high-ranking member of the Chicago Archdiocese obtained by NBC 5.

The latest letter follows one published by Cardinal Blase Cupich last week, expressing his “anger, shock, grief and shame” following the explosive grand jury report that detailed hundreds of “predator priests.”

Vicar General Ron Hicks, a Bishop-elect, sent a second letter to the priests, telling them “I encourage you to publish the Cardinal’s letter in your bulletin and put it on your parish’s website.”

Hicks tells the priests “we should not be afraid to touch these wounds.”

While not every priest addressed the issue last week, it’s now very clear the Archdiocese wants the topic addressed. There are reports that parishioners applauded — and in some cases offered standing ovations — to those priests who did speak last Sunday about the crisis.

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SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican

November 9, 2018

By Anne-Gerard Flynn

Bishop Mitchell Rozanski, who will attend next week’s bishops meeting in Baltimore, said his Springfield diocese has not had any “specific local requests” to reopen investigations here into clergy sex abuse cases.

Rozanski said his diocese, which covers the four counties of Western Massachusetts, has been asked by the U.S. Department of Justice, as all dioceses have in the wake of a Pennsylvania report, to “preserve” its related documents.

“To date while we have not had any specific local requests, like all U.S. dioceses, we have been asked to preserve documents as part of the U.S. Attorney’s investigation focusing on the Pennsylvania dioceses,” Rozanski said.

“I have expanded this request to include all our parishes and schools.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops will gather Monday through Wednesday for its 2018 Fall General Assembly in Baltimore.

Rozanski will be among the attendees who will vote on proposals approved by the USCCB’s administrative committee to address clergy sex abuse issues that continue to impact dioceses around country.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
NBC 7 News

November 9, 2018

By R. Stickney

A San Diego law firm is requesting the California Attorney General investigate a list of priests accused of child abuse and misconduct recently released by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego.

The Diocese recently released a list of more than 50 abusive priests in San Diego and San Bernardino of whom the diocese said it had received a credible allegation involving sexual abuse of a minor.

The reverends on the list served within the diocese for decades. Some served as far back as the 1940s.

Attorney Irwin Zalkin and victims of sexual abuse said Thursday that the list is far from complete.

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PIEDMONT (SD)
KOTA TV

November 9, 2018

By Stewart Huntington

Some Piedmont parents are questioning why Catholic authorities want to house an accused priest at a church residence across the street from a middle school.

Father John Praveen was arrested on Oct. 22 following a joint Rapid City Police and Pennington County Sheriff’s Office investigation. He is accused of having sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl on two occasions. He is being held in the Pennington County Jail pending trial. His bail has been set at $100,000 cash only.

On Tuesday a lawyer for Praveen asked a judge to release Praveen from jail before trial. Attorney John Murphy said the Diocese of Rapid City would put Praveen under its supervision at Casa Maria, a church property in Piedmont for retired priests. “Father John will be monitored,” Murphy said adding that no children are present at Casa Maria.

KOTA Territory News received calls from concerned parents almost immediately.

Casa Maria sits along Sturgis Road in Piedmont and is directly across the street from the Stagebarn Middle School — and two day care centers.

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STORM LAKE (IA)
Storm Lake Times

November 9, 2018

By Randy Evans

David prevailed over Goliath in the famous tale from long ago using an unconventional weapon, his sling and a few stones.

These days, river rocks aren’t a potent weapon. Now, it might just be the spotlight.

And the spotlight was shining brightly last week in Iowa when an Associated Press reporter cracked open 32 years of cover-up by the Roman Catholic Church’s Sioux City Diocese.

The AP report motivated church leaders in Sioux City to do something they had resisted for decades. They admitted that one of their priests was a sexual deviant, although they did not choose that blunt word. Nor did they use the term “criminal,” although he certainly is that.

Until the disclosures by the AP’s Ryan Foley made headlines across the nation, the diocese had successfully concealed from its 100,000 unsuspecting members, from law enforcement officers and from the unsuspecting public the despicable conduct by one of its priests.

Father Jerome Coyle, now 85, admitted to church leaders in 1986 that he was sexually attracted to and had “victimized” about 50 boys over the span of about 20 years. During that time, Coyle had served in 10 Iowa communities.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post

November 9, 2018

By Julie Zauzmer

After months of outcry from American Catholics this year, demanding that bishops be held accountable for decades of child abuse by priests, the bishops will meet in person for the first time for a dayslong reckoning about how to address the crisis.

In a highly unusual move, the bishops will put aside almost everything else on their agenda for the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops next week in order to focus solely on rectifying their policies on abuse. The leaders of all 196 U.S. archdioceses and dioceses are invited to attend the Baltimore event.

Many bishops and lay leaders hope that they will emerge from the meeting with sweeping new procedures in place, including a lay commission empowered to investigate abuse by bishops, a new code of conduct and a plan for bishops removed from office due to their handling of abuse.

“When we come out of the meeting and are able to communicate what will be different moving forward, it’s my hope that all those who’ve been asking for such concrete steps will recognize: The bishops heard us,” said Bishop Michael Burbidge, who leads Virginia’s Diocese of Arlington. “We hear what you said, and we share those concerns. And we’re doing something about it.”

That’s a lot to get done in one meeting. But before the work begins, they will devote almost an entire day of the three-day session in Baltimore purely to prayer.

“All prayer. No agenda items. It’s just a day of prayer from morning until night. I think that shows the importance, that we recognize that we need some divine assistance here,” Burbidge said.

The bishops have been a primary focus of Catholics’ anger this summer and fall, starting with the release of a major grand jury report in Pennsylvania in August. That report, which probed seven decades of church history and found more than 300 priests had abused more than 1,000 children, drew attention to the conduct of bishops in the state’s Catholic dioceses, who sometimes moved an abusive priest to another parish or let him return to his ministry rather than removing him or reporting him to police.

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NASHVILLE (TN)
Fox 13 TV

November 9, 2018

By Siobhan Riley

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests or SNAP is putting pressure on the Catholic diocese to tell the truth about former priests from across the state accused of sexually abusing minors.

FOX13 traveled to Nashville where that group suggested the TBI and other outlets investigate.

SNAP leaders met outside the courthouse in downtown Nashville.

Brown who has Memphis ties showed FOX13 a picture when from his childhood which he said brings back painful memories from 1961.

That’s the year he says he was sexually abused by a priest in Nashville.

“In rural area out there, he would pick me up, take me off in his car, which is out highway 100, quite a ways away and that’s where he raped me,” he explained.

Brown along with other leaders of Survivors Network of those abused by Priests told FOX13 the Diocese of Nashville isn’t capable of handling the investigation

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POLAND
Bloomberg

November 9, 2018

By Dorota Bartyzel

A Polish movie about pedophilia among the clergy has triggered a spike in negative attitude toward the church in one of Europe’s most Catholic nations.

Titled “Kler,” the Polish word for “clergy,” the film has broken box-office records in the country of 38 million people, attracting more than a tenth of the population to watch it in theaters. It explores child abuse, romantic liaisons, corruption, greed and alcoholism among clerics and has drawn condemnation from the nationalist ruling party, which has vowed to “re-Christianize” the European Union.

Since the movie’s debut, the number of Poles who disapprove of the church has jumped to 29 percent, from a consistent 20 percent in the past, according to an October survey by the CBOS pollster.

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