ABUSE TRACKER

NEW YORK (NY)
ABC News

October 28, 2018

By David Wright

Even for an institution that measures its milestones by the millennium, the Roman Catholic Church is now wrestling with an urgent, some would say epochal, moment of truth.

It’s an existential crisis brought on by two threats from within: the worldwide sexual abuse scandal and deep internal divisions over the core message of the faith. The last time the Vatican faced a crisis this big, according to some respected church scholars, was 500 years ago during the Protestant Reformation.

The battle lines in the church mirror the divisions of Trump’s America. The partisan infighting, just as bitter. And what makes it more than just the standard squabbling among the curia is the larger sexual abuse scandal looming in the background. This is what reformation looks like in the #MeToo era.

The Martin Luther of the new rebellion is the archbishop who dared to call on the pope to resign for turning a blind eye to the sexual misconduct of an American cardinal. Archbishop Carlo Vigano, former papal nuncio to the U.S., has faced serious pushback from the pope’s defenders for calling out Francis over his handling of disgraced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Vigano is in hiding, saying he fears for his life. But he’s not backing down.

Vigano’s new letter denounces what he calls the “scourge of homosexuality” in the clergy which he now flat-out claims is to blame for the broader sexual abuse scandal rocking the church Vigano urges his fellow bishops to back him up.

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NEW YORK (NY)
WNET

October 27, 2018
,
Robert Hoatson, Ph.D, President & Co-Founder, Road to Recovery, and Steve Adubato speak about the unethical actions taking place in the churches, including sexual abuse, and what needs to be done to prevent this from continuing. Hoatson also shares his thoughts on how these incidents may impact the churches and people’s beliefs.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times

October 28, 2018

By Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

A former Catholic priest who was convicted of sexually abusing minors is the subject of a lawsuit filed by two brothers who say he molested them in the early 1990s while he ministered at a church in Riverside.

Carlos Rene Rodriguez was able to abuse the then 7- and 12-year-old boys because the Catholic Church protected the priest and allowed him to continue serving in the church despite knowing his troubled history, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday.

Rodriguez, 62, pleaded guilty in 2004 and was sentenced to eight years in prison for molesting two brothers in Santa Paula a decade earlier. He was released after four years. He now lives in Bakersfield, according to the Megan’s Law website that lists the whereabouts of registered sex offenders.

The lawsuit accuses the Archdiocese of Los Angeles of allowing Rodriguez to continue to minister to families despite admitting to a church official that he molested a boy in 1987. Church officials from the Los Angeles Archdiocese and San Bernardino Diocese failed to keep him away from children, according to the suit.

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NEW YORK (NY)
CBS News

Oct 28, 2018

By Brit McCandless

Siobhan O’Connor was working for the Diocese of Buffalo when she had a revelation.

For three years, she had worked as the executive assistant to Bishop Richard Malone. She maintained his calendar, took care of his correspondence, answered his phone lines and emails. They had such a close working relationship that the southpaw assistant joked she was his “left-hand woman.”

But what she saw in that role infuriated her — and she realized she had to speak up about it.

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[Jesuit Marcelo Gidi: “Ezzati has to clarify his participation in all accusations against him]

CHILE
El Mostrador

October 27, 2018

El sacerdote, una de las voces más influyentes dentro del clero chileno y quien estuvo a cargo de investigar casos de abusos de sacerdotes, como los de Cristián Precht y John O’Really, analizó la situación de la iglesia católica chilena y, en especial, de su cara más visible, Ricardo Ezzati. Para Gidi, es clave que él haga un mea culpa para “salvaguardar efectivamente la institución”, aunque cree que esta versión de la iglesia “debe morir”.

El sacerdote jesuita Marcelo Gidi es una de las voces más influyentes dentro del clero chileno. El religioso, que hasta hace poco estuvo a cargo de investigar casos de abusos de sacerdotes, como los de Cristián Precht y John O’Really, es palabra autorizada para analizar la situación de la iglesia católica del país.

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[The Archdiocese’s responsibility]

CHILE
La Tercera

October 26, 2018

By Carlos Gajardo

Se trata en síntesis de un caso de ceguera voluntaria o “willful blindness” tan desarrollado en el derecho anglosajón. El Arzobispado no quiso ver. Tras detener la investigación por varios años, el hecho propio del Arzobispado cesó el 16 de agosto de 2010 cuando los antecedentes fueron enviados a la Congregación de la Doctrina de la Fe.

José Andrés Aguirre Ovalle, más conocido como “el Cura Tato” ejerció su ministerio en diversas comunidades y como director espiritual en colegios de la zona oriente de Santiago. Cuando comenzaron las primeras denuncias de posibles abusos sexuales, la Iglesia lo envío a Honduras. A su regreso a Chile se hizo cargo de la Vicaría Pastoral de Quilicura donde entre 1998 y 2002 abusó de nueve menores de edad según la sentencia que lo condenó. Mientras se iniciaban las investigaciones fue enviado nuevamente a Honduras, desde donde debió volver para ser detenido en el Aeropuerto.

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[Joaquín García-Huidobro on Catholic Church crisis: “We had figures that made us pay dearly for their prominence”]

CHILE
The Clinic

October 25, 2018

By Joaquín Castillo

El filósofo y académico de la Universidad de los Andes analiza la situación de la Iglesia católica en Chile, a propósito de los abusos sexuales cometidos por sacerdotes. El remezón fue tal que llevó al Papa Francisco a expulsar del estado clerical a Fernando Karadima, Francisco José Cox, Antonio Órdenes y a remover a varios obispos. El subdirector del IES, Joaquín Castillo, conversó con el intelectual, quien sitúa el origen del problema en el “endiosamiento” de los curas.

Hay varias interpretaciones sobre cuál es el origen de la crisis de la Iglesia. ¿Dónde lo sitúas tú?

Tiene muchas causas, pero una es el clericalismo. El sacerdocio es central para la Iglesia católica, pero eso no significa que un cura sea más importante que el resto: al revés, está para servir. Entender el poder como servicio es esencial en el cristianismo. En Chile y en la Iglesia universal algunos se transformaron en señores intocables, que estaban por sobre el bien y el mal. La mentalidad clerical no solo afectó a los sacerdotes; los laicos se acostumbraron a ser menores de edad, sin capacidad reflexiva. Que un sacerdote sea endiosado y que su conducta o palabra puedan derogar los mandamientos significa que algo no se entendió bien.

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[Priest Felipe Berríos asks the government to intervene in the Church, saying “Its hierarchy has no credibility”]

CHILE
The Clinic

October 22, 2018

By Lorena Penjean

La capilla de la Chimba, pintada con murales de la Brigada Ramona Parra, es el escenario desde donde el sacerdote Felipe Berríos llama al Estado a intervenir la Iglesia, sacudida por los casos de abusos sexuales que le han valido su peor crisis en Chile.

“Durante años he alegado que la justicia militar no debe ser la misma que juzgue a los militares. Bueno, eso mismo lo aplico a la Iglesia. Así como se formó una Comisión Rettig o Valech, (pido) que se haga una comisión y que el estado de Chile intervenga, porque la Iglesia jerárquica no tiene ninguna credibilidad y tiene a cargo parroquias y colegios”, sostuvo en exclusiva para The Clinic el cura Felipe Berríos.

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[Ignacio Sánchez, Rector of the PUC says “The Church and its hierarchy have confused what is a crime with what is a sin”]

CHILE
La Tercera

October 26, 2018

By Michel Nahas Bordón

Como parte de la Iglesia Católica, la máxima autoridad de la universidad hace una profunda revisión a las razones de la crisis que se activó tras la visita del Papa.

“No somos propiedad de la Iglesia, pero somos parte”. La precisión de Ignacio Sánchez ubica de alguna manera a la Universidad Católica en el mapa de la crisis que desde hace unos años golpea a la Iglesia chilena. El rector decide abordar por primera vez esta materia a través de una entrevista, convencido de que desde la universidad tienen la misión de contribuir a encontrar los cambios que permitan erradicar para siempre la “cultura de abusos” que ejercieron algunos religiosos.

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[After the expulsion of Cox, Karadima and Precht, now what?]

CHILE
La Tercera

October 27, 2018

En un mes, el Papa Francisco ha expulsado a cuatro sacerdotes, tres de ellos han estado en el centro de la polémica. Nunca más podrán celebrar una misa. Y nunca más podrán recibir apoyo económico de sus diócesis, en teoría.

En silencio y con la mirada perpleja. Así recibió la noticia Francisco José Cox el 13 de octubre. Hasta entonces era arzobispo emérito de La Serena, pero la decisión del Papa era inapelable: lo había dimitido del estado clerical.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Catholic Key

October 26, 2018

By Bishop James V. Johnston

Over the past weeks, I have received many letters from concerned Catholics over the renewed scandal surrounding child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. I am grateful for the time and effort that goes into writing one’s bishop, and grateful for the passion expressed in the desire that our Church be purified and restored, so that it can be that “city on a hill” and the “light of the world” which Jesus intends it to be.

One of the things I also became aware within the letters and of so many local and national comments that many of our members are not aware of the remarkable changes that have occurred in our Church, and specifically our diocese, over the recent years. The latest news events can give the impression that nothing has changed. The Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report which was the catalyst for the latest scandal was a historical review of behavior in several of the Pennsylvania dioceses going back 70 years, with the majority of the abuse in the seventies and eighties. What was somewhat new in the report was a more detailed description of how some bishops responded to those incidents with a lack of transparency and accountability. One can easily get the impression that nothing has changed in any diocese from the 1940s onward.

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ROME
Wall Street Journal

October 27, 2018

By Francis X. Rocca

Pope Francis told a gathering of bishops from around the world that the Catholic Church is being persecuted through accusations—an apparent allusion to clerical sex-abuse scandals that have undermined the credibility of the papacy and church hierarchy over the course of this year.

Addressing the closing session of a synod of bishops at the Vatican on Saturday, the pope repeated warnings he has made in recent weeks against the “Great Accuser,” or the devil, who “in this moment is accusing us strongly, and this accusation becomes persecution,” and who seeks to “soil the church.”

“This is the moment to defend our mother” the church, said the pope, in remarks unlikely to mollify critics who say he has failed to recognize the hierarchy’s responsibility for the abuse crisis. “The accuser is attacking our mother through us, and no one touches our mother.”

The gathering of more than 250 bishops was dedicated to the topic of youth, exploring how the church can better engage young Catholics and help them find roles in the church, whether as priests, nuns or lay members.

In a twist on the usual protocol at such gatherings, more than 30 lay Catholics below the age of 30 years attended the sessions, where they enlivened the atmosphere by clapping and cheering during some of the speeches.

A published agenda for the meeting made only passing reference to sex abuse, but after months of scandals in the U.S., Latin America and Australia—and the claim by a former Vatican diplomat that Pope Francis himself had ignored sexual misconduct by a U.S. cardinal—the subject inevitably loomed over the proceedings.

Bishops frequently addressed clerical sex abuse during the first week of the monthlong synod, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Ireland told reporters on Friday.

The 60-page final document, released late Saturday, devoted two paragraphs to the subject of abuse, calling for “rigorous measures of prevention,” starting with the selection and education of clergy and other church employees. Quoting Pope Francis, the document lays much of the blame for sex abuse on “clericalism,” or an excessive deference to the church’s hierarchy.

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NEW LONDON (CT)
The Day

October 27, 2018

By Joe Wojtas

The Connecticut chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests plans to push the General Assembly to enact legislation in the upcoming session that would not only eliminate the statute of limitations for sexual assault victims to bring criminal charges and file lawsuits but empower state officials to undertake an investigation of how the Catholic Church has handled sexual abuse allegations in Connecticut dioceses.

The state chapter of SNAP, which has chapters in all 50 states and 10 foreign countries, plans to stage a rally in front of Diocese of Norwich’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral at 1 p.m. Nov. 3 to discuss its initiatives which also call for the Norwich diocese to list all priests credibly accused of sexual assault on the diocesan website. The rally will be held in conjunction with the group’s first annual All Survivors Day.

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ROME (ITALY)
CNA/EWTN News

October. 27, 2018

By Hannah Brockhaus

The final report of the fifteenth general session of the Synod of Bishops, held on the topics of young people, faith, and vocational discernment, was released Saturday. The document says the Church must find new ways of presenting its teaching on sexuality and continue to “accompany” and “listen to” people with same-sex attraction.

The final draft of the synod report was presented to members Oct. 27 for voting, which took place in two sessions that day. The draft was passed in its entirety. During the voting process, each paragraph of the document was voted on, requiring 166 or more “yes” votes — a two-thirds majority — to pass and be included in the final report.

Each paragraph passed by a comfortable margin.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

By Elise Harris

October 27, 2018

Prelates from around the world gathered in Rome for this month’s Synod of Bishops said young people can be agents of positive change and can help to heal ecclesial wounds with their zeal for the faith.

In their concluding document for the Oct. 3-28 synod, dedicated to young people, faith and vocational discernment, participants said young people must be protagonists in the Church and that as ecclesial leaders, “we don’t just want to do something ‘for them,’ but to live in communion ‘with them.’”

Participation of young people “is not optional” but “an indispensable element for the life of every community,” the document said, adding that the fatigues and fragilities of young people “help us to be better.”

“Their questions challenge us, their doubts challenge us on the quality of our faith. Even their criticisms are needed, because not infrequently through these we hear the voice of the Lord who asks us for conversion of heart and the renewal of structures,” the text reads.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

October 27, 2018

By John L. Allen Jr.

Meeting against the backdrop of massive clerical sexual abuse scandals in various parts of the world, a month-long summit of Catholic bishops wrapped up Saturday affirming that sexual abuse by Church personnel inflicts “suffering that can last a lifetime” but pulled back from an explicit endorsement of a “zero tolerance” policy.

“Different types of abuse committed by some bishops, priests, religious and laity provoke in those who are victims, including many young people, suffering that can last a lifetime to which no repentance can bring remedy,” the bishops said in a final document adopted Saturday night.

“The synod reaffirms the firm commitment to the adoption of rigorous prevention measures that prevent [abuses] from being repeated, starting from the selection and training of those who will be entrusted with tasks of responsibility and education,” the document says.

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MEDIA (PA)
Delaware County News Network

By Kathleen E. Carey

October 26, 2018

State Sens. Tom McGarrigle, R-26, of Springfield, Tom Killion, R-9, of Middletown and John Rafferty, R-44, Thursday called on their colleagues to reconvene in Harrisburg to vote on a two-year window to allow childhood sexual abuse survivors to file civil suits against their abusers.

Standing before the Delaware County Courthouse, McGarrigle and Rafferty joined state Reps. Alex Charlton, R-165 of Springfield, Chris Quinn R-168, of Middletown and Marguerite Quinn, R-143, of Bucks County, in voicing their support for the measure while a group of survivors stood across the street, shouting, saying the vote should’ve been taken last week before the Senate recessed.

“I’m here today on behalf of the victims,” McGarrigle said, “and to tell the Senate Dems don’t use these victims as political pawns … We’re going to reach out to Sen. (President Pro Tempore Joe) Scarnati, R-25 of Jefferson County, to demand that he call back the Senate … to come and let’s vote on this. Let’s take the vote, send it back and get it signed by the governor and move on. We are demanding a vote.”

Last week, the Senate failed to vote on S.B. 261 after Scarnati removed a provision from the bill so that institutions would not be held liable civilly. The House had passed the measure at the end of September. In addition to the two-year window for older cases, it would also eliminate criminal statutes of limitation for future child sexual abuse cases and extend the deadline for victims to file civil actions to age 50. Under current law victims must file by age 30. Many experts and advocates say it takes much longer for many victims to come to grips with their assaults as children.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

October 27, 2018

By Tom Kertscher and Annysa Johnson

Every Catholic diocese in the country has been asked by a federal prosecutor not to destroy documents related to the handling of child sexual abuse, fueling the hopes of survivors and advocates that a sweeping investigation of the church by the U.S. government may be coming.

“We are extremely encouraged,” said Peter Isely, a survivor and founding member of the advocacy group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “This is something we have been requesting and arguing and pushing for many years.”

The Rev. James Connell, a canon lawyer and former vice chancellor for the 10-county Archdiocese of Milwaukee, also welcomed the news, saying Catholics in the pews have become increasingly disillusioned with the actions of their bishops.

“It’s become clearer and clearer that the church has not told the whole truth, and that’s a great disservice to society,” he said.

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CHARLESTON (SC)
WCIV TV

October 25, 2018

By Anne Emerson

It’s a story we brought you earlier this week, a former Catholic priest from Savannah pleaded guilty to nine counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor in a South Carolina courthouse.

The minors were just 9 and 13 years old at the time.

In an exclusive interview, ABC News4 spoke one on one with one of those victims.

After his abuser went to prison, locked up for 20 years, Allan Ranta decided to speak.

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HAGERSTOWN (VA)
Local DMV.com

October 26, 2018

By Kiona Dyches

Virginia’s Attorney General has announced that the state is joining Maryland and Washington D.C. by opening an investigation into child sexual abuse by clergy within the two Catholic Dioceses in Virginia.

Within the last month, both Maryland and D.C. have opened investigations into clergy abuse. As part of the investigation, Attorney General Mark Herring also launched the Virginia Clergy Hotline, a confidential resource for people to report abuse by clergy.

Bishop Michael Burbidge from the Diocese of Arlington and Bishop Barry Knestout from the Diocese of Richmond released a joint statement that said, “any instance of child sexual abuse is intolerable and gravely immoral. We hope that this process will bring healing for all victims and confirm our commitment to accountability and justice.”

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VATICAN CITY
Associated Press

October 27, 2018

By Nicole Winfield and Luca Mazzanti

Pope Francis wrapped up a monthlong meeting of bishops dedicated to young people by saying Saturday the Catholic Church was being “persecuted” and “dirtied” by accusations from the devil — an apparent reference to claims that he covered up for a sexual predator that have thrown his papacy into turmoil.

The Argentine pope made the comments to about 250 bishops, 30 young people and a handful of nuns who had just approved a 60-page final document at the close of a synod on how the church can better minister to today’s youth.

The sex abuse scandal, as well welcoming gays into the church and giving women a greater say in decision-making, were major topics of debate during the synod and featured in the final document. Those issues were also the ones that received the most contested votes as bishops voted “placet” or “non placet” — yay or nay — on each of the 167 paragraphs.

While every paragraph passed with far more than the two-thirds vote necessary, one referencing “sexual inclinations” and the need to accompany gays received the most no votes, at 65. One calling for women to have a greater recognition and say in the church — and lamenting the “absence” of the female perspective — received 30 no votes.

No woman was allowed to cast a ballot at the meeting.

On abuse, the bishops stopped short of issuing a straight-forward communal apology for the decades of sex abuse and cover-up committed by priests and their superiors. While that section was entitled “Seek Pardon,” the text voted on by bishops said merely that no amount of repentance can heal the trauma caused to victims. Thirty bishops voted against it.

Delegates have said that many bishops, particularly from Africa, rejected the emphasis placed on the abuse issue during the meeting, which unfolded as the Catholic hierarchy in the U.S., Chile and elsewhere is once again under fire for its botched handling of the scandal.

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UNITED STATES
The Open Tabernacle (blog)

October 28, 2018

By Betty Clermont

The institution as we know it today began with a 1929 treaty. Italy created the Vatican as an independent state, meaning the pope and his men are not subject to any regulation or law enforcement except their own. At the same time, it was decided that the financial windfall from the treaty would be handled without moral or ethical restraint. The greatest atrocity of the Church is the centuries-long, world-wide sexual torture of children. However, the corruption resulting from the combination of no legal oversight and amoral finances – evidenced by monetary crimes and malfeasance – were known long before the extent of the cruelties of sex abuse.

Until the middle of the 19th century, the Vatican obtained much of its income from its feudal territories known as the Papal States, a broad swath of land across central Italy. As part of the movement to unify the Italian peninsular into one nation, King Victor Emmanuel’s army seized the Papal States in 1860 and captured Rome in 1870 including the Vatican. Italy was unified a year later.

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VATICAN CITY
The New York Times

October 27, 2018

By Elisabetta Povoledo

After a nearly monthlong global assembly dedicated to youths, Roman Catholic bishops called Saturday for a more inclusive role for women in church decision-making and greater participation of young people.

The appeal was part of a new document that urged bishops to help renew the church through a more participatory approach, making greater use of the energies and capabilities of young lay Catholics.

The document given to Pope Francis for his consideration also called for urgent changes so that women could play a bigger role in church decisions at all levels.

“It is a duty of justice,” it said, adding, “The absence of women’s voices and viewpoint impoverishes discussion and the path of the church.”

The document also acknowledged the church’s shortcomings amid new revelations on clerics’ sexual abuse of minors, a continuing global scandal that has damaged the church’s credibility in recent years and that risks undermining attempts to engage younger generations.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

October 27, 2018

By Patsy McGarry

The decision to carry out a forensic examination has already brought comfort to survivors of the institution

The Government’s decision to undertake a forensic examination of the site at the former mother-and-baby home in Tuam, Co Galway, is significant. The intention is to recover the children’s remains in so far as this is possible, their identification, and their respectful reburial. The decision has already brought comfort to survivors of the institution and to relatives of children believed buried there. It is also an acknowledgment by this State of the inherent right to dignity of those children and to a respect for them in death which it appears was altogether absent in their sad, brief lives.

Some are uneasy with the seemingly open-ended estimate of costs involved, ranging from between €6 million to over double that at €13 million. That can be put into some perspective when it is realised that €17 million has been set aside for a necessary refurbishment of the roof at Pearse railway station in Dublin. One would expect those buried children, their identification, reburial and preservation in memory, is a more worthy aspiration than restoration of a railway station roof.

Less acceptable is the €2.5 million fixed sum committed this week to the Tuam excavation costs by the Bon Secours sisters who ran the home. It was not spontaneous, but followed correspondence from Minister for Children Katherine Zappone. The amount has about it none of the State’s generosity of spirit towards these excavations and it is less than what Zappone sought. This may fit with a business approach that comes of being the largest provider of private healthcare in Ireland, as are the Bon Secours sisters. But it is hardly compatible with their mission of “care for the sick, the dying and their families within a Catholic ethos”.

Such a business approach would also appear less than consistent with a Catholic ethos which emphasises respect for the person from conception to natural death, and in death. It is striking that this would appear so with November on the horizon, a month when people traditionally remember the dead.

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DUBLIN (IRELAND)
The New York Times

October 26, 2018

By Ed O’Loughlin

For 30 years, she struggled with secret memories of beatings and other abuses, as well as most of the classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder: chronic anxiety, social isolation, compulsive behavior, depression, flashbacks, nightmares and suicidal thoughts.

Finally, 20 years ago, convinced the pain would never subside unless she acted, Elizabeth Coppin, now 69, walked into a police station in her native County Kerry, Ireland. She filed a complaint relating to the 12 years she had spent in an Irish “industrial school,” one of a now-defunct network of state-funded orphanages and reformatories run by religious orders on behalf of the state.

Her statement, which the on-duty police officer typed up and signed, was accompanied by two letters that Mrs. Coppin had written in support of her case.

“I need answers,” one of them pleads, adding: “The emotional scars I carry with me today are still very real. Please check out everything, please don’t be put off by the nuns. Check everything, dig deep, especially records.”

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ROME (ITALY)
National Catholic Register

October 27, 2018
By Peter Jesserer Smith

For Catholics looking for the Synod on the Youth to provide answers to the Church’s sex-abuse crisis and the scandalous cover-ups emerging all over the globe, Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, the foremost and most-trusted Vatican investigator of clerical sex-abuse, provided a dose of reality.

He told reporters Oct. 8 the global synod of bishops would discuss how sex abuse affects youth, but the solutions would likely come later. The Maltese archbishop said the upcoming meeting between Pope Francis and the heads of bishops’ conferences in February will be the “the best forum for this question.”

“That is the moment where we need to put on the agenda not only the issue of prevention but also of accountability,” Archbishop Scicluna said.

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PORTLAND (ME)
Portland Catholic Diocese

Oct 27, 2018

The following is the statement Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo released to “60 Minutes” in advance of their upcoming story on the Diocese of Buffalo. We are also releasing it to the public.

I appreciate the invitation to interview with 60 Minutes. Regrettably, I must decline for two reasons.

First, the Church is in the eye of a storm largely as a result of wrong decisions made decades ago and even some made recently, as I have acknowledged. But, our efforts and our focus have always remained steadfast: protect the children and reconcile with the victims.

To that end, we have strengthened our policies and protections against abuse and we plan to extend those protections for adults as well.

We have instituted an Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program to bring some measure of justice to those who have been abused.

We have hired a former Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to monitor our professional responsibilities and obligations.

We continue to reach out to victims, remove clergy with substantiated allegations from ministry and cooperate with Federal and State investigations.

These activities occupy most of my days, but as St. Francis of Assisi instructed us: start by doing what is necessary; then do what is possible; and suddenly you’re doing the impossible.

Second, while 60 Minutes is free to interview whomever they wish for this story, it is clear to me and my staff that your roster of interviews did not include those who are aware of the full extent of the efforts of our Diocese to combat child abuse. Nor does it include those who urge me every day to stay the course and restore the confidence of our faithful.

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UNITED STATES
Axios

October 27, 2018

The Attorney General of Virginia Mark Herring announced Wednesday that his office was launching an “ongoing investigation” into possible sexual abuse and coverups by the Catholic dioceses in the state, the Washington Post reports.

The big picture: Herring is not alone. Since the Pennsylvania grand jury’s bombshell August report of egregious child sex abuse at the hands of Catholic priests, several other allegations of sexual abuse and ignorance on behalf of the Church have come to light. As a result, several other state investigations have followed.

The states investigating
Maryland: Attorney General Brian Frosh informed Archbishop William Lori that his office is conducting “an investigation and thorough review” of records relating to child sex abuse from the Church. (Baltimore Sun)
Vermont: Attorney General T.J. Donovan has appointed a task force to investigate abuses from a Catholic orphanage detailed by a major BuzzFeed News investigation. (CNN)
Michigan: An “independent, thorough, transparent, and prompt” statewide investigation was launched by the Attorney General’s Office. (Detroit Free Press)
New Jersey: A task force was created by Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to investigate allegations of abuse in the dioceses of New Jersey. (NJ.com)

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LANSING (MI)
FOX 47 News

October 26, 2018

Another priest in the Catholic Diocese of Lansing is accused of sexual harassment.

Father Mathew Joseph- who served for one month at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Fenton- was removed and sent back to his order in India back in august.

The diocese says it received several complaints about his ministry, including an allegation of sexual harassment made by an adult female.

East Lansing pastor Mark Inglot resigned earlier this month after he was accused of sexual harassment by an adult co-worker.

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SANTA ROSA (CA)
Press Democrat

October 26, 2018

By Mary Callahan

Santa Rosa Bishop Robert F. Vasa has pledged to release the names of Catholic priests with ties to the diocese who have been accused of sexually abusing children, but said he wants to wait until after the holidays to join other California bishops making similar disclosures.

Vasa, bishop in the sprawling Santa Rosa Diocese for the past seven years, said he expects to reveal about 23 names, many already known to the public because of lawsuits, settlements and other disclosures dating back more than 20 years and costing the diocese more than $29 million.

“I want to say ultimately as I stand before Almighty God, that I protected the names of people presumed to be innocent, and that I was as transparent as I could be for the support of the victims,” he said.

A handful of those clergymen expected to be included will not be familiar to local parishioners, most likely because the priests were accused long after their local service ended or even years after their deaths, Vasa said. The list will include priests whose alleged misconduct occurred outside the Santa Rosa Diocese, he said.

Following others

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SAN ANTONIO (TX)
KENS 5

October 26, 2018

Reverend Edward Pavlicek had served as pastor at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Canyon Lake since July 1. Allegations surfaced in August that he’d sexually assaulted a child in the 1980s.

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MUMBAI (INDIA)
Crux

October 27, 2018

By Nirmala Carvalho

After the death of a witness against an Indian bishop accused of raping a nun, the diocese has called on the government to conduct an autopsy.

Father Kuriakose Kattuthara, 67, was found dead inside his room in Jalandhar Oct. 22, a week after Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar was granted bail by the state court in Kerala and went back to his diocese.

A 43-year-old nun made a formal police complaint against the bishop in June, claiming he raped her 13 times between 2014 and 2016. The nun is a member of the Punjab-based Missionaries of Jesus congregation, but said the attacks happened at one of the order’s convents in the southern state of Kerala.

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

Kattuthara gave testimony against Mulakkal, and his family said they believe he was murdered for his actions, adding that “he was under tremendous pressure” to retract his statements against the bishop.

On Oct. 26, Bishop Agnelo Gracias, whom Pope Francis appointed apostolic administrator of Jalandhar on Sept. 20, issued a statement noting Kattuthara “suffered from a number of health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart ailments.”

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GARDEN CITY (NY)
L.I. Herald

October 25, 2018

More and more survivors of sexual abuse are sharing their horror stories, often decades after they were molested or raped, or both. In the past, their stories were often covered up. Today, however, their pain and suffering are increasingly being recognized, including by the institutions responsible for the abuse.

The Democratic-led State Assembly has drafted and passed legislation, known as the Child Victims Act, which would make it easier for abuse victims to file lawsuits and seek criminal charges against perpetrators. The Republican-led State Senate, though, is yet to pass a companion bill. It should.

Current law gives abuse victims the option to file civil cases or seek criminal charges until age 23. Under the act, victims could file civil suits up to age 50 and seek criminal charges until they are 28. The bill would also allow a one-year window for older victims to file suits for alleged abuse now blocked by the state’s statute of limitations.

The issue has been thrown into the spotlight in recent months, with new cases of sexual abuse by members of the clergy surfacing with increased regularity. The Boston Globe’s series of stories in 2002 detailing the allegations against hundreds of predator priests no longer stands alone as a chronicle of widespread abuse.

The Pennsylvania attorney general released a grand jury report in August that identified more than 300 priests in six Pennsylvania dioceses accused of molesting a thousand children, and detailed a subsequent alleged cover-up by other clergy members.

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AUSTRALIA
Infosurhoy

October 27, 2018

By Marta Subat

A notorious pedophile and defrocked Catholic priest has admitted sexually abusing more boys in Victoria during the 1970s and 80s.

Frank Gerard Klep, 75, appeared via video link in the County Court of Victoria on Friday, when he pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting three boys under 16 between 1976 and 1982.

He is serving a 10-and-a-half-year prison sentence for molesting 15 schoolboys, many of whom were sleeping when he attacked them.

Klep, who was a priest and teacher at Salesian College Rupertswood at Sunbury between 1972 and 1979 and its principal between 1982 to 1986, was convicted in 1994 of sex offences in the 1970s against a student at the school.

In 1998, he was sent to Samoa on a missionary trip while facing further sex charges, but was deported after failing

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ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
KRQE

October 26, 2018

Prosecutors are fighting to keep an accused pedophile priest’s potential punishment under wraps during trail.

Eighty-year-old Arthur Perrault was brought back to the United States last week to face rape charges connected to one of his alleged victims from the 1990s.

He had been on the run for decades and was found hiding in Morocco.

According to a recently filed motion, the prosecution is asking the court to prohibit the defendant from informing the jury of the punishment he faces.

The motion says providing sentencing distracts the jury from their fact-finding responsibility.

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ATTLEBORO (MA)
The Sun Chronicle

October 27, 2019

It started with an ad in this newspaper.

“Do you remember Father Porter?” the ad asked, inviting those who did to a meeting.

Seven people showed up. They not only remembered Father James R. Porter, they were haunted by him.

Porter had been a young priest in the early 1960s at St. Mary’s Church in North Attleboro, He was popular among some children because of his youthful vigor and athletic talents — but others knew a dark secret.

Father Porter was a pedophile.

Among those at the meeting was Frank Fitzpatrick, a private investigator who was tortured by the memories of the sexual abuse he had suffered from Porter.

Using his detective skills, he tracked Porter down in Minnesota and even recorded a vague confession from the former priest over the phone.

Fitzpatrick and other victims went public with their accusations in 1992, setting off a media maelstrom.

Twenty-five years ago this month, Porter pleaded guilty to molesting 28 children and was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. The Diocese of Fall River settled civil lawsuits with scores of other victims.

Many thought Porter was simply a rogue priest and the coverup by the church — Porter was transferred from parish to parish before finally being quietly defrocked — a case of poor judgment.

In reality, it was the tip of the iceberg.

As today’s front-page story by Staff Writer George W. Rhodes explains, studies estimate that more than 4,000 clergy members abused nearly 20,000 people in the United States alone. And coverups, like Porter’s, were not isolated but systemic as church hierarchy chose to protect their institution rather than innocent children.

The scandal has had a seismic impact on Catholicism. Today, only 39 percent of those people who identify themselves as Catholic attended a service in the past seven days; a half century ago, it was nearly twice that number.

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ATTLEBORO (MA)
The Sun Chronicle

October 27, 2018

By Mark Stockwell

Matthew Gill was born into a devout Catholic family in January 1990.

It was the dawn of a new life, a new decade and the eve of a very dark time for the faith held by his devout family.

advertisement
Nineteen-ninety was another in a long string of years that marked a continuing decline in church attendance.

And the number of men entering the priesthood had fallen off sharply.

Ironically, however, it was the year that recorded the greatest number of parishes nationwide, before or after.

That number was 19,620, according to statistics compiled by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University.

There were 34,114 diocesan priests to serve those parishes, in purely mathematical terms, 1.7 priests per parish.

In 1970 there were slightly more than two priests per parish, again in purely mathematical terms, 2.05.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

October 26, 2018

By Lauren Chval

Michael Hoffman is what some call a “cradle Catholic.” Born and raised into the faith, he and his family were extremely involved in their Lake Forest parish throughout his childhood. As a kid, he was an altar server. As an adult, he considers the Catholic community the “fabric” of his life.

From 12 to 16, it was also the source of his sexual abuse.

Hoffman, now 53, kept that to himself for a long time. It wasn’t until 2006 — a decade into his marriage — that he decided to tell his wife. The second person he told? His pastor at St. Mary of the Woods Parish in Chicago.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Associated Press

October 26, 2018

By Nicole Winfield

The umbrella organization of Catholic religious orders in the U.S. is suggesting that its members consider voluntarily identifying priests accused of sexual abuse, opening up what could be a major new chapter in the Catholic Church’s long-running abuse and cover-up saga, The Associated Press has learned.

The invitation to transparency by the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, which represents about a third of the 37,000 Catholic priests in the U.S., is significant because religious orders such as the Franciscans and Benedictines have largely flown under the radar over two decades of a scandal in the U.S. that has focused on abuse by diocesan priests and cover-up by their bishops.

Anticipating that the spotlight will shift amid new investigations in a dozen U.S. states, the conference will formally invite its 120 member orders to consider voluntarily publishing the names of men with an “established allegation” against them, said the Rev. Gerard McGlone, who is responsible for child protection at the conference.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

October 26, 2018

By Peter Isely

Today it was learned that the U.S. Department of Justice has put every US diocese under notice to “not destroy, discard, dispose of, delete, or alter any” documents related to the sexual abuse of children as they investigate “possible violations of federal law.” The letter, addressed to Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, is significant because it covers not only the state of Pennsylvania, where the D.O.J. has officially launched a federal probe, but across the entire U.S.

One Pennsylvania bishop likely at the center of the current federal investigation is Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh. Zubik has a long history in Pittsburgh. According to the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, as Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar of Clergy under Archbishop Daniel Wuerl, Zubik was involved in covering up child sex abuse.

Zubik was promoted to bishop of the Green Bay diocese in 2003. While in Wisconsin, court records show that Zubik systematically destroyed nearly all criminal evidence of abuse and cover up from that diocese relating to at least 51 known sex offenders. In fact, Zubik’s reissued the order for the shredding the day before the Vatican announced he would leave Green Bay and return to run the Pittsburgh diocese in 2007. At the time SNAP issued a letter for a federal investigation of the document destruction.

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WASHINGTON D.C.
The New York Times

October 26, 2018

By Laurie Goodstein

The Department of Justice has sent a sweeping request to every Roman Catholic diocese in the United States not to destroy documents related to the handling of child sexual abuse, a sign that the federal investigation into the church could grow far more extensive.

Catholic bishops have been asked by the federal government to retain their files on a broad array of internal matters, including sexual abuse investigations, and the transfer of priests across state or international borders, or to treatment centers. The request includes documents contained in “secret archives” — the confidential files that are kept by each diocese.

News reports last week revealed that the Justice Department had opened an investigation into all eight Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania, and the diocese of Buffalo in New York. This marked the first time the federal government had undertaken an investigation of the church’s handling of abusive priests, a scandal that surfaced in the United States in the mid-1980s.

But this request to preserve files, first disclosed by Whispers in the Loggia, a site that closely follows the Catholic hierarchy, suggests that federal investigators are throwing a very wide net. The abuse scandal, long fueled by the shocking details in the church’s own personnel documents, may now grow like an uncontrolled wildfire.

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UNITED STATES
York Daily Record

October 26, 2018

By Candy Woodall and Brandie Kessler

The federal investigation into Catholic priest abuse now includes every diocese in the nation.

U.S. Attorney William McSwain has put every archdiocese, diocese and Catholic entity on notice to preserve and not destroy evidence of priest abuse or a cover-up.

An attorney for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops told the York Daily Record Friday the organization is complying with a request from the U.S. Department of Justice.

In a letter sent earlier this month, McSwain directed conference President Daniel DiNardo to notify all Catholic institutions to preserve documents in their current form and condition, “and not be destroyed, discarded, disposed of, deleted, or altered in any way.”

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CHARLOTTE (NC)
WSOC-TV

October 26, 2018

By Allison Latos

Charlotte diocese considering publishing names of priests with sexual abuse allegations

The Catholic Church is where parishioners practice their faith.

However, it’s a place of pain for victims sexually abused by priests.

After the Pennsylvania attorney general’s grand jury investigation revealed allegations against more than 300 priests, prosecutors in several states opened their own investigations.

A man who claims he was abused in the Charlotte diocese in the 1970s sent a letter to North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, urging him to open an investigation.

“I was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a priest,” the letter said. “I’m urging your office to open an investigation.”

Stein told Channel 9 that North Carolina law limits what he can do.

Prosecutors in North Carolina do not have the same investigative grand jury authority they have in Pennsylvania.

Stein said it’s up to local district attorneys to prosecute cases unless they refer them to his office.

He thinks lawmakers should broaden prosecutors’ powers.

“We also need to close a loophole in our law that requires people to report suspected child abuse,” Stein said. “Right now, it is only limited to parents and caregivers. It does not cover people in positions of trust.”

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WASHINGTON D.C.
Washington Post

October 25, 2018

By Petula Dvorak

There’s a honk. And then a thumbs-up.

A wave, another thumbs-up. A flash-flash of headlights. Honk! Honk!

“This is a good day,” declared protester John Wojnowski, who has been a fixture outside the Vatican’s U.S. mission in Northwest Washington for more than two decades.

When he began trying to tell the world about sex abuse in the Catholic Church — and about what he says a priest did to him when he was 15 — there were a lot of bad days. There was silence. And stares.

“And they give me the finger,” said Wojnowski, who is now 75. And many years ago in his 20-year pilgrimage toward redemption, someone walked out of the Holy See’s diplomatic outpost on Massachusetts Avenue and spit in Wojnowski’s face, he said.

Since 1997, Wojnowski has stood outside the Apostolic Nunciature during rush hour explaining his lifetime of pain, depression, anger in a series of giant signs:

“VATICAN hides PEDOPHILES”

“CATHOLICS COWARDS”

“MY LIFE WAS RUINED BY A CATHOLIC PEDOPHILE PRIEST”

He flips and turns the signs for hours so they face incoming and outgoing traffic, delivering his message to the thousands of motorists, joggers and cyclists streaming past. He stares people down to make eye contact. To read the sign. To know his story. He demands they know.

“How many people look away,” he said to the drivers of oncoming cars who looked away, “from the ignorance, the stupidity, the malevolence of the Catholic Church?”

There are plenty of people like him around Washington — the seemingly lost-cause protesters — though few have his stamina. He lives in Maryland and takes a train, Metro and bus to his post, a three-hour journey, almost every day. In the sun, the rain and the cold.

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CHARLOTTE (NC)
WSOC TV

October 26, 2018

By Allison Latos

The Catholic Church is where parishioners practice their faith.

However, it’s a place of pain for victims sexually abused by priests.

After the Pennsylvania attorney general’s grand jury investigation revealed allegations against more than 300 priests, prosecutors in several states opened their own investigations.

Content Continues Below

A man who claims he was abused in the Charlotte diocese in the 1970s sent a letter to North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, urging him to open an investigation.

“I was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a priest,” the letter said. “I’m urging your office to open an investigation.”

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service

October 26, 2018

By Carol Zimmerman

In mid-October when seven Pennsylvania dioceses announced they had been served subpoenas to release confidential files and testimony about allegations of sexual abuse by clergy and other church workers to the federal government, the announcement was big news.

But it was never clear what exactly the government would do with its findings.

On Oct. 23, the eighth diocese, Altoona-Johnstown, also confirmed it had received federal subpoenas, and, like the other Pennsylvania dioceses, said it would cooperate fully with the investigation.

But questions about what this will mean for the Pennsylvania dioceses or if this type of investigation will move to other states remain unanswered since neither the Justice Department nor the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which issued the subpoenas, have spoken about it.

This leaves plenty of room for speculation.

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SWARTHMORE (PA)
Daily Times

October 25, 2018

By Kathleen E. Carey

As a Democrat-funded TV ad released criticized state Sen. Tom McGarrigle, R-26 of Springfield, he is expected to appear today with abuse survivors to continue his support of passing legislation that would allow childhood sexual abuse survivors to pursue criminal and civil justice.

In a 30-second commercial paid for and authorized by the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, McGarrigle’s picture appears alongside eight state senators under the banner, “GOP Senators Too Cowardly to Vote.”

The ad, called “Window,” refers to the state Senate’s inability to pass SB 261 that would create a two-year window for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file a civil suit against their abuser or institutions that covered it up, like the Catholic Church. It would also enable future victims to sue until they were 50 years old. Current law caps that at the age of 30.

The measure passed the state House of Representatives at the end of September by a 173-21 vote. However, despite support from McGarrigle and other senators, it never got a vote after state Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-25 of Jefferson County, crafted legislation that would eliminate institutions from being sued in the two-year window.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Catholic

October 26, 2018

It’s that famous Charles Dickens’ opening line to “A Tale of Two Cities,” his novel of the French Revolution: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …” We’re there right now, right in the middle of both.

The “worst of times” is what gets all the news and what we hear and read about every day. The clergy sexual abuse crisis can’t be hidden, can’t be avoided, can’t be ignored. It needs to be addressed, it needs to be answered, it needs to be overcome.

Always, first and foremost, are the needs of the victims. Healing and hope for those hurt in this tragedy have to be our priority. Whether locally, nationally or internationally, we have to do all in our power to help victims deal with their pain and help them to be whole again.

Let me say once more: if you are a victim of sexual abuse by anyone representing the church — whether here in Pittsburgh or anywhere else — please contact us at 1-888-808-1235.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WIVB TV

October 26, 2018

The clergy sex abuse scandal that is rocking the Roman Catholic Church around the world is sending shockwaves through the Diocese of Buffalo.

Bishop Richard Malone has been the leader of Western New York’s 600,000 Catholics for the past years.

Malone has come under fire after the Diocese released a list of 42 names of accused priests. A new list which includes more names will be released soon.

In an exclusive interview with News 4, Bishop Malone talked to Don Postles about the message he has for all Western New York residents- and the action he’s taking to end the abuse.

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Arkansas Online

October 25, 2018

By Kat Stromquist

The Diocese of Little Rock said it has received 26 more allegations of abuse by priests within the diocese after its September release of a list of clergy members who were “credibly accused” of sexual abuse against minors.

In a letter to church members Tuesday, Bishop Anthony B. Taylor provided an update after the diocese’s initial posting of the list that identified 12 priests accused of abuse who served in Arkansas. Taylor said the church had received more than two dozen additional complaints in recent weeks.

“I had hoped that the release of the names of those priests known to have abused minors might enable any as-yet unknown victims to come forward to share their story and receive help, and this has in fact occurred,” Taylor wrote. “Since Sept. 10 we have received 26 additional allegations, most of which were against priests already listed in last month’s letter, and none of which were against priests who are currently in active ministry in Arkansas.”

All of the new reports concern events that occurred before 2002, he wrote. Taylor said that although the church has “not had the time” to investigate “thoroughly,” those who made allegations have been offered assistance.

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WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer

October 25, 2018

By Matt Saxton

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston is following the trend of neighboring dioceses and releasing the list of names of who it said are priests, deacons and others with “credible” child sexual abuse allegations against them.

Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, who is currently serving as apostolic administrator for the diocese, made the announcement Wednesday. In a statement released from his office, the archbishop said the diocese will release the list going back to 1950. Lori said none of the people listed are currently in active ministry.

Lori appointed Bryan Minor, delegate of administrative affairs for the diocese, to oversee the process of reviewing files. Diocese spokesman Tim Bishop said that process, which is in the hands of the Diocesan Sexual Abuse Review Board, could take several weeks.

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FRANCE
BBC News

October 22, 2018

A French priest has taken his own life in his church after being accused of sexual misconduct, officials say.

Pierre-Yves Fumery hanged himself in his presbytery in the central town of Gien, Catholic authorities said.

Last week he was questioned by police, but not charged, following allegations of sexual assault involving a child under 15, news agency AFP said.

Father Fumery, 38, was the second French priest in a month to take his own life after similar abuse claims.

“It is a moment of suffering and a tragic ordeal,” Orléans Bishop Jacques Blaquart told the media.

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NEW ZEALAND
Stuff.co.nz

October 26 2018

By Tara Shaskey

An accomplished architect who specialises in designing childcare centres has been caught with hundreds of sexual abuse images of young children.

In an international police sting, computers and storage devices owned by Neville Kingsley Saunders were found to have 559 media files and images, mostly depicting young boys who were either naked and posing suggestively, or engaged in sexual activity with another child or adult.

Two videos taken with Saunders’ phone were also found and deemed objectionable.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Commonweal

October 24, 2018

By Paul Moses

As the Justice Department launches an investigation of clergy sexual abuse of minors in Pennsylvania’s Catholic dioceses, it is worth noting that victims have called for such a probe for at least fifteen years. Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, told Attorney General John Ashcroft in a November 2003 letter that the Justice Department was in a “unique position” to plumb the secrets within the church’s organizational structure.

“We believe that senior management within the Church…have not been held institutionally accountable for these practices, and as a non-profit corporation continue to selectively circumvent our Nation’s laws,” their letter said.

SNAP and the Center for Constitutional Rights renewed the long-ignored call for a federal probe in a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein dated August 15, one day after the release of the state grand-jury report alleging a long-term coverup of credible abuse allegations in Pennsylvania. The letter calls for criminal or civil charges, “where appropriate,” against the Catholic hierarchy.

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OMAHA (NE)
KMTV

October 25, 2018

By Shawnte Passmore and Maya Saenz

Thursday night, parishioners at one of Omaha’s largest Catholic churches, St. Wenceslaus, met with Archbishop George Lucas to learn more about the dismissal of Father Francis Nigli.

They wanted to know what took so long for the church to go public and acknowledge that a 21-year-old accused Father Nigli of kissing and groping him on church grounds in May. Hundreds of parishioners packed the room for an emotional meeting.

They told 3 News Now that they shared concerns about lack of transparency and communication to the community.

The Archdiocese of Omaha said the priest was removed from ministering this past summer after it received a report that Nigli had kissed and fondled a man in May. A police investigation “determined the elements of sexual assault were not met.”

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[Indian Cardinal protects cover-up bishops]

GERMANY
katholisch.de

October 26, 2018

Gracias: Missbrauch soll in Synoden-Dokument nur am Rand vorkommen

Hat ein Bischof vor 20 Jahren sexuellen Missbrauch vertuscht, könne man ihn heute nicht dafür beschuldigen, meint Mumbais Kardinal Oswald Gracias. Immerhin habe man früher nicht gewusst, welche Spätfolgen das für die Opfer haben könne.

Der indische Kardinal Oswald Gracias (73) hat sich besorgt darüber gezeigt, dass das Problem des sexuellen Missbrauchs in der katholischen Kirche zu viel Platz im Abschlussdokument der Jugendsynode einnehmen könnte. Vor allem Bischöfe aus westlichen Ländern machten bei der Synode “viel Aufhebens” um den Missbrauch, sagte Gracias am Freitag dem US-amerikanischen Internetportal “Crux”. Um der Synode gerecht zu werden, könne man jedoch nicht sagen, dass dies das wichtigste Thema sei.

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[Abuse? Diocese of Würzburg leaves a priest]

GERMANY
Main Post

October 19, 2018

By Jürgen Haug-Peichl

Wegen „des Verdachts einer sexuellen Grenzverletzung“ wurde ein Pfarrvikar der Diözese Würzburg mit sofortiger Wirkung vorübergehend von seinen priesterlichen Aufgaben beurlaubt. Das teilte das Bistum am Freitagnachmittag mit. Die Entscheidung sei nach Rücksprache mit Bischof Franz Jung gefallen.

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[“Celibacy is not a taboo”: Vatican wants to talk about marriage for priests]

GERMANY
ntv

October 26, 2018

Wie geht die katholische Kirche in Deutschland mit der Pflicht zur sexuellen Enthaltsamkeit für Priester um? Der Botschafter des Papstes in Deutschland deutet einen möglichen Kurswechsel an. Der Vatikan, sagt er, sei zu Gesprächen bereit.

Der akute Priestermangel und die Serie an Missbrauchsskandalen zwingen die katholische Kirche zum Umdenken: Der Vertreter des Vatikans in Deutschland fordert angesichts des bisherigen Umgangs mit Sexualität im Priesterstand eine Debatte um die umstrittene Verpflichtung zur Ehelosigkeit. “Der Zölibat ist kein Tabu”, sagte Erzbischof Nikola Eterovic der Monatszeitschrift “Herder Korrespondenz”. Die Worte des Kirchenvertreters haben Gewicht: Eterovic vertritt als Apostolischer Nuntius den Vatikan in Deutschland.

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[“Prayer in the continuing state of sin is empty blah”]

GERMANY
Die Tagespost

October 26, 2018

Bernhard Meuser nimmt zu den spirituellen Ursache des Missbrauchsskandals Stellung.

In einem Gastbeitrag für die katholische Wochenzeitung „Die Tagespost“ geht Bernhard Meuser, Initiator der globalen Jugendkatechismus-Initiative „Youcat“ und Mitinitiator von „Mission Manifest“, auf eine spirituelle Ursache des Missbrauchsskandal ein – die Vernachlässigung des Beichtsakraments.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Business Insider

October 26, 2018

By Isobel Asher Hamilton

– Android creator Andy Rubin has said The New York Times report about his alleged sexual misconduct at Google is part of a “smear campaign.”
– The Times reported that Rubin coerced a woman, with whom he was having an extramarital affair, into giving him oral sex in a hotel room in 2014.
– The newspaper said Rubin was handed an exit package of $90 million after he was asked to hand in his resignation.
– Rubin said the report contained “numerous inaccuracies” and was designed to “disparage” him during a divorce and custody battle.

Andy Rubin, the man who created Android for Google, has rubbished a New York Times report about his alleged sexual misconduct at the company and his $90 million exit deal.

The Times said Rubin was asked to resign from Google in 2014 after an internal investigation found that he had had an extramarital affair with an employee, and coerced her into performing oral sex in a hotel room in 2013.

The Times also reported that Rubin was given a “hero’s farewell” and an exit package worth $90 million, which was paid in instalments of about $2 million over four years.

Rubin strongly denied the claims in two tweets on Thursday evening. He said they were a smear campaign designed to damage his name as part of a divorce and custody battle with his ex-wife Rie Rubin.

“The New York Times story contains numerous inaccuracies about my employment at Google and wild exaggerations about my compensation. Specifically, I never coerced a woman to have sex in a hotel room,” he wrote.

“These false allegations are part of a smear campaign to disparage me during a divorce and custody battle. Also, I am deeply troubled that anonymous Google executives are commenting about my personnel file and misrepresenting the facts.”

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NEW YORK (NY)
Business Insider

October 26, 2018

By Isobel Asher Hamilton

– An explosive New York Times report has delved into allegations of sexual misconduct at Google.
– Engineer Liz Fong-Jones told the newspaper that Google “covers up harassment,” and tweet stormed more details after the piece was published.
– Fong-Jones said that one of the executives named by the Times was the director she referred to in a #MeToo blog about sexual assault last year.

A Google engineer has savaged the company’s culture of sexual misconduct and harassment following an explosive report in The New York Times.

In a series of tweets, Liz Fong-Jones slammed Google senior managers for their “abuse of power relationships” after Android creator Rubin was accused of resigning with a $90 million exit package after a woman came forward saying he coerced her into oral sex in a hotel room.

“It is not okay to assault people. It is not okay to cheat. It is not okay to sexually harass. What’s salacious about the NYT article is *not* the BDSM or the polyamory,” Fong-Jones tweeted following the publication of the Times report. “It’s the abuse of power relationships in situations where there was no consent, or consent was impossible.”

It built on comments Fong-Jones made to the New York Times as part of its report.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

October 26, 2018

Speaking ahead of the close of a summit of Catholic bishops held against the backdrop of a new wave of the Church’s clerical abuse crisis, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Ireland, said some areas of the world and the ecclesial sphere still haven’t grasped the severity of the issue.

“Sometimes I feel that there are still areas of life in the Church where this has not yet come to the fore, come to the light,” Martin said Oct. 26.

“I think that there are perhaps still some areas in which this area is denied and not given its proper place,” he said, voicing hope that a highly-anticipated February summit of presidents of bishops’ conferences from around the world convoked by Pope Francis on the theme of child protection would help address the issue on a local level.

Martin voiced hope that the February gathering “will help to ensure that more countries will take this issue seriously, and I pray that they do.”

Attending an Oct. 26 press briefing during the final week of the Oct. 3-28 Synod of Bishops on young people, faith and vocational discernment, Martin responded to a question on rumors there was a dispute over how much emphasis to give the abuse crisis in the gathering’s final document, with prelates from Asia and Africa wanting to downplay the issue, arguing that it is only a major issue in Western nations.

Martin admitted that the abuse issue started out as a major topic, drawing ovations for prelates who touched on the issue during their brief speeches. As the month-long meeting went on, discussion turned to other topics, though the abuse crisis was always an underlying theme, he said.

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KOCHI (INDIA)
National Catholic Reporter

October 25, 2018

by Saji Thomas

Five Catholic nuns whose public protest in September led to the judicial custody of an Indian bishop accused of rape now fear for their lives after he recently was released on bail.

Their fear intensified after a priest who testified against the accused, Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar, died Oct. 22 under mysterious circumstances.

“We do not know whether we will be on the face of the earth tomorrow. The bishop can do anything to us,” says Sister Anupama, one of the Missionaries of Jesus nuns who staged a sit-in at a busy intersection in Kochi, the commercial hub of the southern Indian state of Kerala.

After 14 days, they ended their indefinite protest on Sept. 22, a day after the Kerala police arrested Mulakkal. The bishop was accused of repeatedly raping Anupama’s former superior general between 2014 and 2016. The former superior general filed the police complaint in Kerala on June 28.

The bishop has denied the charges, calling them a vendetta by the nun for his disciplinary action against her. The Missionaries of Jesus is a diocesan congregation under the Jalandhar bishop.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

October 26, 2018

By Lauren Chval

Michael Hoffman is what some call a “cradle Catholic.” Born and raised into the faith, he and his family were extremely involved in their Forest Park parish throughout his childhood. As a kid, he was an altar server. As an adult, he considers the Catholic community the “fabric” of his life.
Hoffman, now 53, kept that to himself for a long time. It wasn’t until 2006 — a decade into his marriage — that he decided to tell his wife. The second person he told? His pastor at St. Mary of the Woods Parish in Chicago.
Catholic community the “fabric” of his life.

From 12 to 16, it was also the source of his sexual abuse.

Hoffman, now 53, kept that to himself for a long time. It wasn’t until 2006 — a decade into his marriage — that he decided to tell his wife. The second person he told? His pastor at St. Mary of the Woods Parish in Chicago.

“I was that active at our parish that I felt compelled to tell him. My kids were going to school there. I was on the athletic board,” Hoffman said. “If that experience went poorly — and there’s a 50-50 chance that it could go either way — he might have thought that I was attacking his ministry or attacking his character, which I wasn’t doing. If he didn’t handle it the way he handled it, which was a very good and gracious way, that could have changed my path. But he didn’t. I was just at a moment in my life where I was really wanting help.”

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[Bishop Duarte confesses to culture of concealment “in the church and in many other institutions”]

CHILE
El Mostrador

October 22, 2018

El obispo emérito de Valparaíso, quien aparece mencionado por varias víctimas como parte de una maquinaria de encubrimiento en la Quinta Región, se presentó ante la Fiscalía de Rancagua pero su declaración será reagendada para que pueda estar en conocimiento de la carpeta investigativa. Defendió su inocencia, señalando que “hice todo lo que había que hacer”.

Hasta la Fiscalía de Rancagua llegó el obispo emérito de Valparaíso, Gonzalo Duarte, para prestar declaración en condición de imputado. El religioso –cuya renuncia como jefe de la iglesia de Valparaíso fue aceptada en junio pasado por el Papa Francisco estuvo cerca de una hora en dependencias del Ministerio Público, sin embargo trascendió que no prestó declaración argumentando no conocer la carpeta, por lo que se reagendó la fecha de la citación.

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[Victims of Karadima file complaint accusing Cardinal Errázuriz of perjury and false testimony]

CHILE
Emol

October 25, 2018

By Juan Peña

La acción judicial fue presentada por James Hamilton, José Andrés Murillo y Juan Carlos Cruz. “¡Basta de mentiras y delincuentes!”, señalaron.

Las víctimas del ex sacerdote Fernando Karadima presentaron este jueves una querella por el delito de perjurio y falso testimonio en grado de consumado contra el cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz. En la acción judicial, James Hamilton, José Andrés Murillo y Juan Carlos Cruz apuntan al obispo emérito de Santiago como “autor del delito de falso testimonio, en grado de consumado, previsto y sancionado en el artículo 209 del Código Penal”.

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[Municipality of Iquique strips “illustrious son” title from ex-bishop expelled for sexual abuse]

CHILE
BioBioChile

October 25, 2018

By Sebastián Asencio and Cristián Núñez

Este jueves, la Municipalidad de Iquique determinó quitar la calidad de “hijo ilustre” a Marco Antonio Órdenes; exobispo que fue acusado por abusos sexuales. Lo anterior, luego que el concejo municipal aprobara la solicitud elevada por el concejal Matías Ramírez, quien había pedido quitar este título que poseía el sacerdote.

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[Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz faces complaint for “false testimony”]

CHILE
BioBioChile

October 25, 2018

By Alberto González, Sebastián Cáceres, and Agence France-Presse

Tres víctimas de abusos sexuales del exsacerdote Fernando Karadima se querellaron este jueves por “falso testimonio” en contra del exarzobispo de Santiago, Francisco Javier Errázuriz, a quien acusan de encubrir sus crímenes. La querella se enmarca dentro del proceso civil que las tres víctimas -Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton y José Andrés Murillo- llevan adelante contra la Iglesia de Santiago, en busca de una millonaria indemnización por encubrir los crímenes.

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DENVER (CO)
Crux

October 25, 2018

By Robert Duncan and Anne Condodina

The more than 250 Catholic bishops from around the world meeting at the Vatican in October missed an opportunity to confront the global sex abuse crisis, said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia.

“I wish that we had spent more time not only talking about (the crisis) but apologizing to people for it,” said Chaput, one of the delegates elected by the U.S. bishops to participate in the Synod of Bishops on young people, the faith and vocational discernment.

The “resistance (of) some bishops” meant the abuse crisis was largely absent from the discussions, he told Catholic News Service Oct. 25. “Some say that (sex abuse) really is an issue of the Western world.”

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WASHINGTON (DC)
American Conservative

October 24, 2018

By Rod Drehrer

Big news for Memphis Catholics: Pope Francis has removed Bishop Martin Holley without explanation.

The decision comes from Pope Francis himself, who made clear the forced retirement was owing to Holley’s refusal to resign of his own accord.

Church Militant broke the news in June that the Memphis diocese was the subject of an apostolic visitation, led by Abp. Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, Georgia and Abp. Bernard Hebda of St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The investigation was triggered by specific allegations and grave concerns surrounding Msgr. Clement J. Machado, Vicar General, Moderator of the Curia and Chancellor.

Complaints involved various financial discrepancies as well as purported violations of canon law committed by both Machado and Holley. Among Holley’s actions was the sudden closure of 11 schools as well as the abrupt removal and transfer of more than half the pastors in his diocese, leading to a sharp drop in donations and widespread anger and frustration from Catholics.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Oct 25, 2018

by Thomas C. Fox

I write today from a fourth floor room at NCR’s midtown headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, the very room where I gathered 50 years ago with Robert Hoyt and his fledgling staff. I had just returned from two years in Vietnam, working with war victims and beginning my journalism career as NCR’s “Vietnam correspondent.” My purpose then was to “debrief” the NCR staff after witnessing the brutal war close-up as a volunteer with International Voluntary Services. (That debriefing ended up in the July 24, 1968, issue beneath the headline “Tom Fox Sums Up: How war — and the way we fight it — destroys a people.”)

My purpose now, emerging out of a three-year retirement, is to lead the company, focusing on successfully completing a much-needed $10 million endowment campaign. It’s embarrassingly called “The Tom Fox Fund to Sustain Independent Catholic Journalism.” (Note: All funds go to endowing NCR editorial work.)

Five decades back, a younger version of Fox saw the world very much in disarray. The Vietnam War was at a high point. The Tet Offensive had turned Vietnam on its head, ripping away a pretense the war was being won. A total of 16,592 U.S. soldiers perished in Vietnam in 1968; tens of thousands more Vietnamese were killed; hundreds of thousands more lost their homes and livelihoods. Our nation was bitterly divided. Family members wouldn’t speak to each other because of political differences. Turmoil grew in the wakes of Martin Luther King Jr.’s and Robert Kennedy’s deaths. Days of rioting were breaking out in Washington, Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit and elsewhere.

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BOSTON (MA)
The Heights

October 25, 2018

By Maddie Deye and Danny Flynn News

Four Boston College faculty members discussed reconciling their faith with an issue-laden church in a panel titled “Catholic Belonging in a Time of Scandal,” sponsored by the theology department, Jesuit Institute, C21 Center, and Undergraduate Government of Boston College, on Monday.

Theology professor Stephen J. Pope moderated the panel and introduced the main speakers: associate philosophy professor Marina McCoy, theology professor Richard Gaillardetz, and philosophy professor Kerry Cronin. The group discussed their views on the recent sex abuse scandal within the Catholic Church that was outlined in the 2018 Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report and specifically delved into why and how they have remained Catholic in the wake of church scandal.

McCoy began the event by laying out why she believed the issue had more to do with larger societal questions than questions strictly pertaining to the church.

“For me, it’s a question of how do people belong to the human community, of all different kinds of communities, knowing what humans can be like,” McCoy said. “We live in communities where the people around us are gifted and the people around us are deeply flawed.”

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SANTE FE (NM)
Santa Fe New Mexican

October 25, 2018

By Andrew Oxford

A former student of Holy Cross Catholic School in Santa Cruz says in a new lawsuit that he was raped by a priest in the adjacent church during the 1980s.

The case is just the latest allegation that the Rev. Marvin Archuleta abused children in the area and comes as state Attorney General Hector Balderas investigates a history of sexual misconduct in New Mexico’s Roman Catholic dioceses, where predators were shuffled for decades.

The lawsuit by an unnamed John Doe, now 38, says Archuleta and another priest summoned him and other children from class to the church, ostensibly to talk with them about becoming altar boys. At one point, the other priest ushered children out of the room, leaving the boy with Archuleta, according to the lawsuit. The suit says Archuleta proceeded to rape the elementary school student.

The plaintiff never told anyone about the episode but grew addicted to alcohol and other drugs, the lawsuit says.

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OMAHA (NB)
WOWT

October 26, 2018

By Brian Mastre

A controversy is unfolding over the alleged actions of an Omaha priest and, as a result, Fr. Francis Nigli has been removed from one of the biggest churches in the city.

On Thursday, Archbishop George Lucas was preparing to hold a town hall meeting with the parish at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church.

Fr. Nigli was recently removed from ministry after a 21-year-old male accused him of sexual assault – kissing and fondling over his clothing.

Omaha Police tell 6 News the case did not rise to the level of a crime.

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NEW YORK (NY)
CBS News

October 26, 2018

The former executive assistant to Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo accuses him of withholding the names of dozens of priests with sex abuse accusations against them from a report released last March. Siobhan O’Connor will detail her story for the first time on television to Bill Whitaker on 60 Minutes, Sunday October 28 at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

Hundreds of documents O’Conner secretly copied from the confidential files of the Diocese of Buffalo offer an extraordinary window into Bishop Malone’s decisions about priests accused of abuse. The devout O’Connor professes love for her church and her bishop. But she says she left the diocese last summer after three years because the documents she discovered indicated the bishop had allowed the accused priests to continue in ministry. “The reality of what I saw left me with no other option because at the end of my life, I’m not going to answer to Bishop Malone, I am going to answer to God,” she tells Whitaker.

“I did betray [Bishop Malone], and yet I can’t apologize for that, because there was a greater good to consider,” says O’Connor.

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PARKERSBURG (WV)
News & Sentinel

October 26, 2018

By Jess Mancini

A disclosure by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston of those “credibly accused” of abusing children should have been done years ago, a representative of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said.

Archbishop William E. Lori, the apostolic administrator for the diocese, on Wednesday said the diocese will compile and release the names of all priests, deacons and others who are credibly accused of child sexual abuse since 1950, which is as far back as records exist.

“Releasing of the names of credibly accused priests, etc. should have been done years ago,” Judy Jones, Midwest regional leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said.

Jones, a former resident of Southeast Ohio, joined the network after her brother was abused by a priest, she said. She has said the church is incapable of policing itself.

“Hopefully the West Virginia attorney general is doing an investigation into the Wheeling-Charleston diocese,” she said. “He should subpoena all the ‘secret archives’ of the diocese.”

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

October 25, 2018

By Jay Tokasz

Bishop Richard J. Malone’s former administrative assistant acknowledged Thursday that she was the source of leaked internal Diocese of Buffalo documents showing how Malone and diocesan lawyers handled allegations of clergy sexual misconduct.

Siobhan O’Connor, who worked in the diocesan chancery from 2015 until this past August, said in a statement to WKBW-TV that her conscience compelled her to take action.

“As a faithful Catholic, I could not abide by what I witnessed at the chancery,” she said. “As a whistleblower, my heart is heavy but my soul is at peace.”

Documents she provided to WKBW-TV helped show that Malone had allowed two priests accused of inappropriate conduct to remain in ministry, even as the bishop maintained publicly that he was not covering up for abusive priests.

O’Connor said she also provided documents to 60 Minutes, the CBS news magazine show, which is scheduled to broadcast a story on Sunday focusing on clergy sex abuse in the Buffalo Diocese.

The leaks to WKBW-TV followed many months of media scrutiny of the diocese’s handling of clergy sexual abuse and escalated a growing crisis in the diocese. The scandal erupted after retired Rev. Norbert Orsolits admitted to The Buffalo News in February that he had molested “probably dozens” of boys.

Following Orsolits’ admission, O’Connor fielded many calls to the bishop’s office from childhood victims of clergy abuse, and in May she wrote about her experiences in an opinion column in The Buffalo News. She called it an “immense privilege” to speak with victims and urged “compassionate support” for them.

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EDIA (PA)
Daily Times

October 26, 2018

By Kathleen E. Carey

Sens. Tom McGarrigle, R-26, of Springfield, Tom Killion, R-9, of Middletown and John Rafferty, R-44, Thursday called on their colleagues to reconvene in Harrisburg to vote on a two-year window to allow childhood sexual abuse survivors to file civil suits against their abusers.

Standing before the Delaware County Courthouse, McGarrigle and Rafferty joined state Reps. Alex Charlton, R-165 of Springfield, Chris Quinn R-168, of Middletown and Marguerite Quinn, R-143, of Bucks County, in voicing their support for the measure while a group of survivors stood across the street, shouting, saying the vote should’ve been taken last week before the Senate recessed.

“I’m here today on behalf of the victims,” McGarrigle said, “and to tell the Senate Dems don’t use these victims as political pawns … We’re going to reach out to Sen. (President Pro Tempore Joe) Scarnati, R-25 of Jefferson County, to demand that he call back the Senate … to come and let’s vote on this. Let’s take the vote, send it back and get it signed by the governor and move on. We are demanding a vote.”

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
KPCC Radio

October 25, 2018

By Aaron Schrank

The U.S. Justice Department announced last week it’s investigating allegations of abuse by Catholic priests in Pennsylvania.

The news follows an explosive state grand jury report showing widespread coverup of the cases by church officials. One practice: move pedophile priests from place to place. In Southern California, that’s meant known abusers were routinely reassigned to work in L.A.’s immigrant communities.

After allegations surfaced against Carlos Rene Rodriguez in Los Angeles, he was moved to the farmworker community of Santa Paula, where he was asked to minister to Spanish-speaking families in the Archdiocese of L.A.’s Office of Family Life.

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NEW ZEALAND
Radio New Zealand

October 25, 2018

By Michael Hall

A sexual abuse survivors’ advocate says she can no longer refer people to the Catholic Church’s body for dealing with complaints, saying it is dangerously incapable of dealing with victims.

Annie Hill said the National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS), which manages the Church’s complaints procedure, had been chronically slow responding to emails, was not transparent and had demonstrated a dangerous lack of empathy with very vulnerable people.

Another clerical sex abuse survivor accused a NOPS complaints assessment committee of re-victimising and manipulating him after attempting to broker deals to mitigate a religious order’s financial liability without his consent.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

October 26, 2018

by Michael Sean Winters

All this summer, combating wacky right-wing conspiracy theories felt like an endless game of whack-a-mole. Now, as the cool winds of autumn cause the red and orange leaves to rustle and fall to the ground, the generic has become the specific and discriminating journalists are called upon to play the game of Whack-a-Viganò.

You would have thought that the letter from Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the conservative prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, chastising Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò and characterizing his previous testimonies as a “political frame job” might have caused the ex-nuncio to rethink his stance. Ouellet, appointed to his post by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, had worked closely with Viganò and he was not conspicuous in his support for some of Pope Francis’ reform efforts. His letter must have stung. It should have invited a reassessment by the Vatican’s most famous crybaby. It did not.

Instead, Viganò has come out with a third “testimony” and the third time was not the charm. Viganò begins with his usual self-promotion, explaining that his is the voice of conscience and anti-corruption. He notes he is issuing this third epistle on the feast of the North American Martyrs and he clearly sees himself as the victim of persecution, as he did in the famous Vatileaks memos.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philly Magazine

October 25, 2018

By Liz Goldman

Other than the predator who abused me, I’ve never met anyone who isn’t repulsed by child sexual abuse. I’ve also never met anyone who isn’t outraged by institutional cover-ups of sexual abuse. Nevertheless, the top leaders of the Pennsylvania Senate couldn’t manage to pass a bill last week to reform our archaic statute of limitations, a statute of limitations that prevents victims from seeking justice.

Instead, the legislators chose to protect their own interests. They didn’t even allow the bill to be voted on. These legislators did exactly what the professed men of God and the Catholic Church did: They sided with protecting the Church’s image and not with providing justice for past and future victims. Shame on them.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

October 26, 2018

By John L. Allen Jr. and Ines San Martin

A leading Asian prelate in the 2018 Synod of Bishops has said that some bishops from the developing world have been concerned that, driven mostly by the agenda of their Western colleagues, too much emphasis could be placed in the summit’s final document on clerical sexual abuse.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India, a member of both the drafting committee for the synod’s final synod document and the pope’s “C9” council of cardinal advisers, said his concern was being true to the input coming from participants.

“This was a question for us: You make such a big fuss about sexual abuse, and making it like the number one issue?” Gracias said. “To be fair to the synod, you can’t say that’s the number one thing.”

“[The document] has got to be universally acceptable everywhere, we realize that,” Gracias said. “The statement should answer the needs of the United States, Ireland, Australia, but not just them.”

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Agency

October 25, 2018

By J.D. Flynn

One day after he was removed as head of the Diocese of Memphis, Bishop Martin Holley told CNA that he wants to be transparent about the reasons for his removal.

He says the decision was not about mismanagement, or past allegations of sexual misconduct. Instead, he believes that he was removed at the behest of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, former Archbishop of Washington, who influenced or collaborated with apostolic nuncio Archbishop Christophe Pierre to excise him from episcopal ministry.

Bishop Holley says he has nothing to hide.

The bishop was removed by Pope Francis from the diocese Oct. 24, after a June Vatican investigation into Holley’s leadership in the diocese. That investigation was prompted by criticism of Holley’s 2017 decision to reassign up to two-thirds of the 60 active priests in the diocese, and his appointment of a Canadian priest, Fr. Clement Machado, as vicar general, moderator of the curia, and chancellor of the Diocese of Memphis.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke told reporters Wednesday that the decision to remove Holley was “about management of the diocese.”

Burke added that concerns about Holley were “not abuse-related.” Holley also told CNA that a decades-old allegation of sexual misconduct mentioned in some reports is not the reason for his removal.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

October 25, 2018

By Charlie Specht

The confidential whistleblower in the Buffalo Catholic Diocese sex abuse scandal will be featured this Sunday on the national news magazine “60 Minutes”.

Siobhan O’Connor, the former secretary to embattled Bishop Richard J. Malone, will speak publicly for the first time Sunday about why she worked with the 7 Eyewitness News I-Team to expose the mishandling of sexual abuse claims against multiple priests by Malone.

“It has been a privilege to work with Charlie Specht of WKBW for several months now,” O’Connor said in a prepared statement. “His integrity, faith and tenacity have continued to impress me. As you are now aware, in recent weeks I have also collaborated with the 60 Minutes team, which is renowned for their investigative prowess. I am pleased that Charlie can break this news to my fellow Western New Yorkers. Please know that my conscience compelled me to take action regarding Bishop Malone because of my profound concern for victims, the diocese and our community. As a faithful Catholic, I could not abide by what I witnessed at the Chancery.”

“As the whistleblower, my heart is heavy,” she added, “but my soul is at peace.”

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
WPXI TV

October 25, 2018

Sign urging Bishop David Zubik to resign flown over Pittsburgh

A sign reading “Resign Bishop Zupik” was flown over Pittsburgh on Thursday, which is believed to be referencing Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik.

Zubik has come under fire since a grand jury report outlined an extensive history of sexual abuse in the Catholic dioceses across Pennsylvania, including the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

It’s unclear who was responsible for the sign, or if the misspelling on Zubik’s name was intentional.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
WITF/The York Daily Record

October 25, 2018

By Candy Woodall

Two powerful groups lined the halls of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building on Oct. 17.

One group included people who identify as victims or survivors of Catholic priest sex abuse.

The other group represented the Catholic church and its insurance companies, which could have been on the hook for millions in reparations to such victims.

The victims and survivors argued for a bill that would let people sue the Catholic church over decades of abuses that were covered up.

The lobbyists argued that the bill was unconstitutional, and that the church could be left bankrupt, unable to help the community.

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BUFFALO (NY)
National Catholic Reporter

October 25, 2018

by Peter Feuerherd

The chill descending over the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, this fall is not just the cold winds blowing off Lake Erie.

In this year of tumult for the church, from a damning Pennsylvania grand jury report to a cardinal called out for sexual harassment and abuse of a minor, perhaps no other region in the country is feeling the fallout more than the 721,000 Catholics of the Buffalo Diocese.

Catholics in the diocese were assuaged when their church seemed to weather previous storms, such as the 2002 Boston exposure, relatively unscathed. However, local investigative reporters discovered over the summer a series of sex abuse cases covered up by bishops. The result has been a call for the resignation of the current bishop, Richard Malone, who came to Buffalo from Boston in 2012. The publicity has also tarnished the tenures of Bishops Edward Head, Henry Mansell, and Edward Urban Kmiec, all of whom are now accused of covering up for sex abuse among diocesan clergy dating from the 1970s.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic News Service

October 25, 2018

An open letter to the U.S. bishops asks that at their Nov. 12-14 fall general meeting in Baltimore, they make it mandatory for bishops to become reporters of suspected sexual abuse.

“The nefarious actions of certain bishops surreptitiously transferring sexually abusive priests from parish to parish, and in some cases from diocese to diocese, without notifying civil authorities of the suspected abuse has been one of the most demoralizing elements of this crisis,” said the letter, from the Villanova University Task Force on the Sexual Abuse Crisis in the Church.

“Children being abused by priests is tragic enough, but when our bishops, who are supposed to be our spiritual and moral leaders, not only abandon our children in their time of need but actually become complicit in that abuse by actively covering it up, we must ensure that effective and rigorous standards are instituted so that children will truly be safe,” the letter said. “American bishops should never have the option of looking the other way and remaining silent again.”

The open letter, posted on the university’s website, was signed by 13 members of the task force, and about 140 Villanova faculty members and senior officials.

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

October 25, 2018

According to a recent poll, 89% of Rhode Islanders believe that their attorney general should open an investigation into clergy sex abuse. SNAP believes that whichever candidate for the RI attorney general race wins, they should listen to their constituents and open an investigation following their election.

At this time, 16 attorneys general – from 15 states and Washington D.C. – have opened investigations into dioceses under their purview and have launched hotlines and websites to help survivors share their experiences and aid in the investigations. Regardless of who wins the upcoming election, we believe that the incoming attorney general should move swiftly to add Rhode Island to that list.

According to Bishop-Accountability.org, there are at least 38 priests who worked in Rhode Island who have been accused of abuse. We fear there may be more. We hope that both candidates will seriously consider the importance of this investigation, especially as they enter the final weeks of their campaign.

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

October 25, 2018

The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston has announced that they will release the names of “credibly” accused priests in their diocese. The fact is, releasing of the names of credibly accused clerics should have been done years ago. And will Bishop Bransfield’s name be included on that list?

Hopefully the West Virginia attorney general is doing an investigation into the Wheeling-Charleston diocese. He should subpoena all the “secret archives” of the diocese and set up have a hotline for victims to be able to call, just like was done in the Pennsylvania grand jury. As we have seen in places like Buffalo, church officials cannot be trusted to release all the records they have. Outside law enforcement needs to get involved.

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DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Archdiocese

October 24, 2018

By Ned McGrath

In response to media inquiries concerning Archbishop John Neinstedt, the Archdiocese of Detroit released the following statement:

This summer, Archbishop Nienstedt announced his intention to move back to southeast Michigan to live in a house he owns. At that time, Archbishop Vigneron asked Archbishop Nienstedt – and he agreed – to abstain from public ministry in the Archdiocese of Detroit. That agreement remains in effect.

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LANSING (MI)
WNLS TV 6

October 24, 2018

By Alexandra Ilitch

A woman who reported a sexual harassment complaint against a priest at a church in Fenton says the Diocese of Lansing failed to take her seriously and has refused to be transparent about why he was recently removed from the parish.

She also said the Diocese has refused to explain why the priest has been declared “unfit” to fulfill his duties. The Diocese eventually ordered him to return to his home in India.

The woman is a parishioner at St. John the Evangelist in Fenton, which is about an hour east of Lansing. She says she’s been an active member of the church for several years. 6 News is not naming her because she is a victim of sexual harassment.

She hopes the Michigan Attorney General’s investigation and planned external audit on the Lansing Diocese will explain why her report fell on deaf ears.

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TORONTO (CANADA)
The Catholic Register

By Francis Campbell

October 25, 2018

Nobody goes there anymore … it’s too crowded.

So said Yogi Berra, the late New York Yankees hall of famer. The first part of his comment seems painfully pertinent for the Catholic Church, the second part not so much.

Confronted by a dilemma of dwindling attendance, the archbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth, one of only two dioceses in the province of Nova Scotia, assembled his priests and deacons nearly three weeks ago to discuss parish reorganization. They reviewed declining attendance, fewer priests and a changing culture. The outcome will be a consolidation of the archdiocese’s 65 parishes into 19, with parish administration becoming a shared responsibility. In the past, a single priest handled ministerial duties. Now responsibility will be shared by a team that could include a second priest, a part-time retired priest, a deacon and full-time lay leaders.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to go from 65 buildings down to 19 buildings,” archdiocesan spokesman Fr. James Mallon told the Chronicle Herald newspaper.

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LAFAYETTE (LA)
Lafayette Daily Advertiser

October 9, 2018

By Amanda McElfresh

A high-ranking Diocese of Lafayette official has been removed from his position and placed on administrative leave following allegations of sexual abuse.

Msgr. Robie Robichaux had most recently been the diocese’s judicial vicar and head of the marriage tribunal.

The alleged abuse involved a female between 1979 and 1981, when the female was 16 to 18 years old.

Bishop Douglas Deshotel said he learned of the allegations against Robichaux on Sept. 18. However, the alleged victim first notified the diocese about Robichaux in 1994.

“In 1994, the matter was handled according to the protocols in place at that time, before the adoption of the Charter and the policy of zero tolerance,” Deshotel said at a Monday press conference.

Deshotel said he immediately ordered an investigation when he learned of the allegations. The matter was referred to the Sexual Abuse Review Board made up entirely of laypersons.

Deshotel said this board “unanimously advised me of their belief that the allegation has the semblance of truth.”

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NEW YORK (NY)
Patheos

October 25, 2018

By Barry Duke

Former Catholic priest David Poulson, 64, this week pleaded guilty to sex crimes involving children and could face a lengthy period in prison when he is sentenced.

Poulson, who had been a priest in the Diocese of Erie in Pennsylvania for four decades, pleaded guilty to corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children – third-degree felonies ― on Wednesday in Jefferson County Court of Common Pleas.

Paulson’s victims were eight and 15 years old when authorities say he began abusing them between 2002 and 2010.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said at a press conference that Poulson assaulted one of the boys more than 20 times in church rectories, forcing the child to give him confessionals about the abuse to “seek forgiveness for being sexually assaulted”.

Poulson is one of hundreds of so-called “predator priests” accused of rampant child abuse in the state.

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BETHESDA (MD)
Rewire News

October 22, 2018

By Patricia Miller

I remember the moment when the gravity of the Catholic hierarchy’s long-term cover-up of rampant sexual abuse within the priestly ranks was driven home to me. It was in 2010, and I was conducting an interview for my book Good Catholics with the noted Catholic feminist theologian Mary Hunt. We were discussing her reflections regarding what had, at that point, been a decades-long adversarial relationship with the powers-that-be in the Catholic Church, dating from when Hunt was one of the leaders of an effort in the mid-1980s to assert the validity of a pro-choice position in the face of an increasingly authoritarian Vatican. “We thought there were differences in theology that we were grappling with,” Hunt told me. “We thought we were dealing with people of good will.” But it’s what she said next that sent a chill down my spine. “What we didn’t know then was that we were up against criminal behavior—people participating in criminal behavior and ignoring criminal behavior.”

As last week’s move by the Justice Department to launch an investigation into the abuse of children and young adults by Catholic clergy (and the subsequent cover-up by bishops) makes clear, Hunt was prescient.

Given the ever-widening sexual abuse crisis in the Church, it can be difficult to find an inflection point. The news that former Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had been serially abusing young men and seminarians for decades was eclipsed by the damning Pennsylvania grand jury report that detailed decades of abuse and cover-up in dioceses throughout the state. This in turn prompted the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl as archbishop of Washington—Wuerl helped formulate the Church’s rules for preventing sexual abuse by priests—for his role in shuffling predator priests around the state when he was the head of the Pittsburgh diocese.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
The Associated Press

October 23, 2018

A 76-year-old former Catholic priest who already has served jail time for molesting boys in Maryland was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison in South Carolina for raping boys from a middle school four decades ago.

Wayland Yoder Brown wore his priest collar while attacking the boys, then prayed the rosary with them, Solicitor Duffie Stone said.

“He not only violated the trust of children, but violated their faith. He used the Catholic faith against them,” Stone said in a news conference after Brown’s guilty plea.

Brown already served five years of a 10-year sentence in Maryland for sexually abusing two other boys. Pope John Paul II dismissed him from the priesthood after that 2004 conviction.

Brown’s guilty plea comes as the Roman Catholic Church in the United States is under increased scrutiny for its handling of sex abuse cases. A Pennsylvania grand jury report in August found about 300 Catholic priests had abused more than 1,000 children statewide since the 1940s. Federal investigators are taking a closer look at those cases to see if church leaders covered up for abusive priests.

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ATLANTA (GA)
CNN

October 23, 2018

By Daniel Burke

On Thursday we learned that federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania have taken a step long-sought by survivors of clergy sexual abuse: They launched a federal investigation into the Catholic Church.

As of October 23, all eight of Pennsylvania’s dioceses have told CNN that they have received subpoenas and will cooperate with the probe. Separately, the diocese of Buffalo, New York, also received a subpoena regarding clergy sexual abuse in late May, according to a source familiar with the subpoena.

While the scope of the federal investigation is still unclear, groups like the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which first asked the Department of Justice to launch a probe in 2003, called Thursday’s news unprecedented.

There has never been a federal investigation of this size into the abuse of children by priests and the cover-up of those crimes by Catholic leaders, according to former law enforcement officials and experts on clergy misconduct in the United States.

“It is essential to involve federal resources to fully and finally get to the bottom of a scandal that has been going on for decades, and I say that both as a former federal prosecutor and a Catholic,” said David Hickton, who was US Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania from 2010-2017.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
NBC News

October 23, 2018

By Corky Siemaszko and Alex Johnson

Some were moved to parishes “with direct access to children” even as they were known to be abusers, alleges a lawyer who has sued all California dioceses.

The attorney for a California clergy abuse survivor accused the leaders of three San Francisco Bay Area dioceses on Tuesday of engaging in an “institutional cover-up of an enormous magnitude” and released a list of 263 local priests whom they branded sexual predators.

The priests named in the 66-page report, compiled by the law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates of St. Paul, Minnesota, are from the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the dioceses of Oakland and San Jose.

Anderson has sued all 11 dioceses in California on behalf of Tom Emens, 50, who has said he was 10 years old when a priest who died in 2002 repeatedly molested him. Earlier this month, he released a separate 120-page report on clerical sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles that named more than 300 alleged clerical offenders.

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