ABUSE TRACKER

The Bishop of Sheffield has offered an “unreserved apology” to the victims of former priest Chris Brain after he was convicted of 17 counts of indecent assault.

Brain was found guilty of sexually abusing nine female members of the “cult-like” Nine O’Clock Service during his time as leader of the evangelical movement in Sheffield in the 1980s and 90s.

In a statement, the Rt Rev Dr Pete Wilcox said what happened was “an appalling abuse of power and leadership that should never have occurred” and that he had commissioned an independent review of the church’s handling of the matter.

Brain, 68, from Wilmslow in Cheshire, was cleared of a further 15 charges of indecent assault and jurors were unable to reach verdicts on five further charges. He is due to be sentenced later this year.

During the course of his trial, jurors heard how Brain launched the Nine O’Clock Service…

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Monsignor Daniel Mayall was cleared of the allegations by the Archdiocese’s independent review board, which found there was “not a reasonable cause to believe Monsignor Mayall sexually abused the person making the accusation,” Cardinal Blase J. Cupich wrote in a letter Wednesday.

A retired Chicago priest has been reinstated after the Archdiocese of Chicago cleared him of decades-old sexual abuse allegations that emerged half a year ago.

Monsignor Daniel Mayall was cleared of the allegations by the Archdiocese’s independent review board, which found there was “not a reasonable cause to believe Monsignor Mayall sexually abused the person making the accusation,” Cardinal Blase J. Cupich wrote in a letter Wednesday.

The former Holy Name Cathedral rector was accused of assaulting a child nearly 30 years ago while he was assigned at St. Francis Borgia Parish in the Dunning neighborhood, which he served from July 1993 to January 2002. Mayall “strenuously denied…

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Aug. 20, 2025

The Archdiocese of Chicago distributed the following letters regarding the reinstatement of Monsignor Daniel Mayall to ministry. 

St. Francis Borgia Parish  [see cache]

Saints Joseph and Francis Xavier Parish [see cache]

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[See video.]

Retired priest Monsignor Daniel Mayall is being reinstated to the church after being accused of sexually abusing a minor.

CHICAGO (WLS) — A retired priest of the Chicago-area is being reinstated to the church after being accused of sexually abusing a minor.

The allegations against Monsignor Daniel Mayall came in February 2025. At the time, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich announced he would remain out of ministry and school activities during an investigation.

Six months after the letter, Cupich announced that Mayall would be reinstated.

“While he strenuously denied the allegation, he fully complied with my request and cooperated with the investigation,” Cupich said in the letter. “After receiving the results of the thorough investigation, the IRB determined that there is not a reasonable cause to believe Monsignor Mayall sexually abused the person making the accusation. In addition, the IRB recommended that Monsignor Mayall be reinstated to ministry. I…

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New allegation against Ryan Bennett Segura came during detention hearing in which federal judge ordered him to remain jailed

UPDATED: August 20, 2025 at 5:40 AM PDT

A St. Augustine High School teacher arrested last week on suspicion of distributing images of child sexual abuse also admitted to investigators that he took “non-sexual” photographs of his students and later “aroused himself” to those photos and shared them with another man with whom he was engaged in a sexually explicit online relationship, a prosecutor argued to a judge Tuesday in San Diego federal court.

After hearing that allegation and other allegations of troubling online sexual conduct, U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie Torres ordered 27-year-old Ryan Bennett Segura to remain in custody without bail. Segura has been in custody since his Aug. 12 arrest.

Segura’s attorney had argued that his client could safely be released on bail with a GPS tracker to live with…

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“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the young people entrusted to our care,” said Delbarton Headmaster Michael Tidd.

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Delbarton School representatives have responded to concerning allegations of sex abuse within its institution.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) recently demanded transparency from the all-boys school and its affiliates. Specifically, the network called for accountability from school leader Elias R. Lorenzo, who they claim was in charge when several instances of child sexual abuse occurred at Delbarton.

Delbarton School representatives specifically responded to an exclusive report from the New York Post, which states that details of these reported abuses may be made available to the public soon.

Below is a statement from Delbarton School Headmaster Fr. Michael Tidd:

“The New York Post article includes unchallenged statements about Delbarton from past claimants of decades ago…

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A court arraignment concerning the senior pastor of a Mountain Home church, who is accused of human sex trafficking and sexual assault, has been rescheduled to September following a hearing that took place on Monday, August 18.

Gregory W. Jones, who has led the Liberty Christian Fellowship Church in Mountain Home for over 33 years, is set to return to court on September 15 to respond to these allegations.

According to information provided to the Mountain Home News, Jones intends to plead guilty to lesser charges; however, specific details were not disclosed by the time of publication.

During his opening statements at the hearing on Monday at the Elmore County Courthouse, Judge Theodore Fleming remarked that the court would not accept a binding agreement related to this case. It remains unclear whether the judge had declined the terms of the plea agreement during discussions with the prosecuting attorney and Jones’s…

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No prima facie evidence that Bishop Emeritus Thomas Dabre of Poona did not inform police, says judge

A court in the western Indian state of Maharashtra has acquitted a retired bishop, saying it could not find “prima facie evidence” of the bishop’s failure to report the priest’s alleged child abuse in his former diocese.

Retired Bishop Thomas Dabre of Poona (now Pune) was named as a co-accused in the case of violating the provisions of a stringent law — the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The case charged Father Vincent Pereira, the then principal of the diocesan St. Patrick’s High School and Junior College, of abusing a 15-year-old schoolboy.

The Aug. 8 acquittal order of a district court in Pune, made public on Aug. 16, said: “There is no prima facie evidence” to show the bishop violated the provision of the law,…

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One of eight suspects arrested in a sting operation that targeted alleged child sex predators in the Las Vegas Valley earlier this month is a local pastor, according to a church that rented the suspect’s congregation space.

Neal Harrison Creecy, 46, is facing one felony count of luring or attempting to lure a child or mentally ill person with the use of a computer to engage in sexual contact, according to court records.

Creecy, of Redemption Church, was arrested on Aug. 7 and posted after a $10,000 bond the next day before appearing in front of a judge, records show.

The operation also nabbed Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, a 38-year-old senior Israeli government cybersecurity official, who is accused of attempting sexual contact with a decoy who acted like a 15-year-old girl.

The Good Samaritan Lutheran Church and Christian Academy announced Creecy’s arrest in a letter to…

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Michael Voris has alleged that a priest from Indiana’s University of Notre Dame made serious sexual advances towards him in the summer of 1981. He has also further alleged that the university covered up the incident to protect the cleric.

Voris made the comments on a relatively recently established YouTube account called “SoulsAndLiberty” and under the name “Gary Michael Voris”, which describes itself as “devoted Catholics working together to protect our American Constitutional, Democratic Republic”. The account features various videos covering religious and cultural themes.

Speaking on the channel in a video published on 14 August 2025, Voris alleged that during his second year at Notre Dame, “Father John”, then a hall rector, sent him a series of anonymous campus-mail notes. The first, a St Patrick’s Day card signed “Your secret pal”, appeared harmless. Subsequent letters became darker, culminating, he alleges, in explicit sexual comments.

Voris then alleges that after…

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“I decided to reverse my decision”

The Archbishop of Toulouse appointed a new chancellor Saturday, after widespread opposition to his recent appointment of a priest convicted of sexually assaulting a minor.

But while Archbishop Guy de Kerimel said August 16 that he apologized to victims of sexual abuse for causing them harm, he also defended his initial appointment, insisting it was a “sign of hope for abusers.”

“In order not to provoke division among bishops, and not to remain at a standoff between those ‘for’ and ‘against,’ I decided to reverse my decision; this has now been done, with the appointment of a new chancellor,” Archbishop de Kerimel wrote in an Aug 16 statement.

“My decision was interpreted by many people as a snub to the victims of sexual abuse; I ask the victims’ forgiveness. This was obviously not my intention.”

“Others saw it as a sign of hope for…

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Archbishop Guy de Kirimel of Toulouse, France, has reversed his decision to appoint a priest convicted of rape as chancellor of the archdiocese and asked forgiveness of the victims of abuse, whom he had no intention of offending, according to a statement released Aug. 16.

“In order not to cause division among bishops, and not to remain at a standoff between those for and against, I decided to reverse my decision; this has now been done, with the appointment of a new chancellor,” the archbishop said.

The reversal of the appointment of Father Dominique Spina, a priest sentenced in 2006 to five years in prison for raping a 16-year-old boy in 1993, came after the French Bishops’ Conference asked the archbishop on Aug. 11 to “reconsider the decision.”

The French prelates stated at the time that “an appointment of such importance, both canonically and…

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Pour ne pas provoquer de division entre évêques, et pour ne pas en rester à un face à face entre les « pour » et les « contre », j’ai décidé de revenir sur ma décision ; c’est maintenant fait, avec la nomination d’un nouveau chancelier.

Ma décision avait été interprétée par de nombreuses personnes comme un camouflet envers les victimes d’abus sexuel ; j’en demande pardon aux victimes. Ce n’était évidemment pas mon intention. D’autres y voyaient enfin un signe d’espérance pour les auteurs d’abus qui avaient fait leur peine et qui vivent une mort sociale très éprouvante. Là, je dois demander pardon à celui que j’avais nommé et à qui je fais confiance, pour ne pas avoir su trouver la juste place à laquelle il a droit.

Comment trouver l’attitude juste qui n’oblige pas à prendre un parti au détriment de l’autre ? Comment tenir l’attention première aux victimes sans rejeter à…

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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. gymnastics world was only just recovering from a devastating sexual abuse scandal when a promising young coach moved from Mississippi to Iowa to take a job in 2018 at an elite academy known for training Olympic champions.

Liang “Chow” Qiao, the owner of Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, thought highly enough of his new hire, Sean Gardner, to put him in charge of the club’s premier junior event and to coach some of its most promising girls.

But four years later, Gardner was gone from Chow’s with little notice.

USA Gymnastics, the organization rocked by the Larry Nassar sex-abuse crisis that led to the creation of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, had been informed by the watchdog group that Gardner was suspended from all contact with gymnasts.

The reason for Gardner’s removal wasn’t disclosed. But court records obtained exclusively by The…

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Pope Leo Remains Silent Regarding Growing Evidence Linking Him to Peru Cover-Up 

This weekend marked Pope Leo XIV’s first 100 days as head of the Catholic Church, and despite promises of full enforcement of zero tolerance for clerical abuse and cover-up, he has failed remove known offenders from ministry or enact any of the urgent proposals presented to him by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in an exhortation issued on the day of his election.

“On the day of his election, we warned the world that the next pope would almost certainly be implicated in covering up sexual crimes against children,” said Peter Isely, chair of SNAP’s Global Advocacy. “We offered Pope Leo a roadmap for accountability. One hundred days later, known abusers are permitted to remain in ministry, while cover-up and complicity are rewarded with promotion.”

Although Pope Leo voiced support for “a culture of…

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MANILA — Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian says the entire Baptist Church should not be blamed for abuses done in a child care facility in Mexico, Pampanga.

“Ano man ang maging finding ng korte, gusto ko sana tandaan ng tao na ito ay kagagawan ng isang indibidwal o ng dalawang indibidwal,” he said.

(Whatever the court may find is just the act of only one or two individuals.)

“Hindi natin dapat ibaling ito sa buong simbahan, kasi marami ako naririnig na nadadamay na ang Baptist. Hindi po ito buong simbahan ng Baptist,” Gatchalian added.

(We should not blame the entire church as I’ve been hearing a lot of things said about the Baptist church. The Baptist church should not be liable.)

The DSWD rescued 160 children from New Life Baptist Church in Mexico, Pampanga last week over supposed abuses committed inside its facilities.

DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said…

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MANILA: Deputy Minority Leader Senator Risa Hontiveros (pic) has filed a resolution pushing for a Senate investigation of the alleged abuse and maltreatment of 156 rescued children under the custody of a certain Pastor Jeremy Ferguson of the New Life Baptist Church of Mexico Pampanga, Inc. (NLBCMPI).

Hontiveros, the head of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, said in Senate Resolution No. 77 that “the reported incident underscores the necessity [for] a comprehensive review of accreditation, monitoring, and regulation mechanisms for public and private institutions that assume custody of minors to prevent similar cases.”

She cited reports that the children lived under abusive conditions, with some of them allegedly subjected to physical, verbal and psychological abuse while under the custody of the NLBCMPI.

“A complaint filed by two 12-year-old boys, as represented by their guardians and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), alleged…

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NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention’s Office for Abuse Prevention and Response has launched a revamped helpline for those needing assistance with matters related to sexual abuse.

The initiative, a partnership with the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention (ECAP), is designed to deliver “Gospel-focused” support for survivors, ministry leaders and others needing advice on preventing sexual abuse or responding to abuse allegations.

The helpline can be accessed at 833-611-HELP or by visiting https://sbcabuseprevention.com/helpline. The website also features email and chat options.

The SBC Office for Abuse Prevention and Response, a department of the SBC Executive Committee created last September, distributed a press release announcing the new helpline Monday (August 18).  

“Our new helpline suite of services enhances our efforts at providing Southern Baptist churches and ministries the resources they need to prevent sexual abuse or respond to sexual abuse allegations,” said SBC EC President Jeff Iorg in…

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Daniel Floyd took the reins Sunday at scandal-scarred Gateway Church, the multicampus congregation whose founder, Robert Morris, faces a criminal child sexual abuse trial next month.

Floyd pledged a “new chapter” for Gateway, which reportedly lost members and tithe dollars after details of Morris’s alleged crimes became public.

Morris is accused of the rape and sexual abuse of a then-12-year-old girl, Cindy Clemishire, in 1982. In March, Morris was indicted on five counts of lewd or indecent attacks on a child by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. The church founder resigned from Gateway shortly after Clemishire’s allegations became public.

In June, Clemishire and her father Jerry Lee Clemishire, sued Morris, his wife Deborah, Gateway Church, and more than a dozen current former Gateway elders and communications staff as defendants. They allege Gateway covered up Morris’s attack on Cindy Clemishire, even though leaders knew the victim was a child.

The Clemishires are…

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Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, officially installed Daniel Floyd as its new senior pastor around three months after elders selected him to replace the church’s embattled founder, Robert Morris, who resigned last year after child sex abuse allegations emerged.

“It’s a significant day. It’s a day where we turn the page and we begin to write a new story. But it’s also not the day that we erase previous chapters,” Floyd told about 4,000 people gathered for the event at the megachurch’s main campus on Saturday, according to the Fort Worth Report.

“I just want you to know that your prayers aren’t wasted.”

Floyd and his wife, Tammie, founded Lifepoint Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 2005. 

Morris, who founded Gateway in 2000, is currently facing multiple counts of child sex abuse in Osage County, Oklahoma. The charges stem from allegations made by…

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Gateway Church ushered in a new lead pastor on Saturday, marking a new chapter for one of the nation’s largest churches and a hoped-for end to the controversy that has swirled around the congregation since its founding pastor was forced to step down over child sex abuse allegations.

Before a packed auditorium of some 4,000 people at its Southlake campus, Pastor Daniel Floyd and his wife, Tammie, also a pastor, were prayed over by Gateway’s elders and invited guests.

“Today, with full joy and confidence, we appoint Pastor Daniel as a new lead pastor of Gateway Church, and we commission Pastor Tammie and their family into this new chapter of leadership,” lead elder Tra Wilbanks said.

Floyd promises integrity and renewal

The church announced the decision to bring the Floyds to Gateway in May. The two founded Lifepoint Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia, about 20 years ago.

In…

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The Embarrass man allegedly confessed to deputies, saying there was probably “some grooming” and admitting he had prior concerns that he may sexually harm girls.

VIRGINIA — An Embarrass man who has served as a teacher and church leader is accused of sexually assaulting a child.

Ryan Ross Denzer-Johnson, 43, was charged Monday with three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct against a child under the age of 14.

Denzer-Johnson has worked as a math teacher at Mesabi East Schools in Aurora and Northeast Range School in Babbitt in recent years, according to public records, but is no longer employed at either.

Prosecutors said he has also recently served in youth ministry and on the advisory board at an unspecified church.

The alleged victim is known to Denzer-Johnson, and the incidents are unrelated to either his work or volunteer roles.

A criminal complaint says the girl participated in a forensic…

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The letter arrived in late July with the tone of the two before it, the ones that announced the Rev. David Ryan, a longtime Chicago-area priest, had been placed on leave amid allegations of child sexual abuse.

This one, like those previous, came with a sense of the somber, an acknowledgment of the severity of the accusations and a reminder of the presumption of innocence.

The letter was dated July 29, with Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, addressing the St. Francis de Sales parish community in Lake Zurich. It marked at least the third time since 2020 that Cupich had sent such a note acknowledging the accusations that have embroiled Ryan.

The cardinal opened this latest letter with a line that now felt familiar amid controversy that refuses to fade:

“It is with great difficulty that I write to share news about your pastor …”

The archdiocese…

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Iconic Australian singer Jimmy Barnes has performed a special at-home rendition of Working Class Man during a heartfelt memorial to a popular priest.

Youth Off The Streets founder Father Chris Riley was remembered at a public memorial at The William Inglis Hotel in Warwick Farm on Monday.

Fr Riley died on Thursday aged 70 after a period of ill health.

He is best known for establishing the homeless youth charity in NSW and Queensland in 1991 and served as its chief executive for nearly three decades.

Long-time friend and TV presenter Mike Munro told mourners that Fr Riley had made two requests for the service: for there not to be a state funeral and for Jimmy Barnes to perform his blue-collar classic.

Barnes appeared before the service in a prerecorded video in which he performed the 1985 classic with his wife, Jane Mahoney, and two others.

Earlier in the service,…

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Pope Leo XIV returned to the Vatican three weeks ago, after a stay at the papal summer retreat of Castel Gandolfo, but Rome is pretty much a ghost town between August 13 and whatever Tuesday happens to follow.

Romans head for the seaside, the hills outside the city, or pretty much anywhere else for the ancient Roman feragosto (ferragosto in Italian, but the Romans say it with one rolled r).

The holiday is celebrated all throughout Italy, and coincides with the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but it has its origins in pagan antiquity.

Octavian Caesar, better known as the Emperor Augustus, first instituted the holiday as the feriae Augusti in 18 BC. He placed it on the first day of August, and it helped string together a series of older Roman holidays. The Church moved the holiday in Rome to coincide with the solemnity of the Assumption, sometime in late antiquity…

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Representatives of the Catholic Diocese of Fresno recently spent hours answering questions under oath during one of the first public hearings in federal bankruptcy court.

The conversation illuminated some of the reasons for why the diocese’s bankruptcy declaration was delayed for months. And while the diocese’s leaders maintain their commitment to justice for victims of sexual abuse, a few moments of tension foreshadow the challenging process ahead to sort out the scores of abuse claims filed in recent years against the diocese.

Known as a “meeting of creditors,” the virtual hearing held Aug. 11 was an opportunity for Diocese of Fresno Bishop Joseph Brennan and other representatives to speak about the diocese’s finances under oath.

They answered questions from a lawyer for the U.S. Trustees Program, a representative of the creditors committee and attorneys representing those who allege sexual abuse. Creditors are people or entities that claim the diocese owes…

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Ryan Bennett Segura was arrested earlier this week on allegations that he exchanged sexually explicit videos featuring minors with another person last year.

A St. Augustine High School teacher charged by federal prosecutors with distributing child sexual abuse material made his initial court appearance Friday.

Ryan Bennett Segura was arrested earlier this week on allegations that he exchanged sexually explicit videos featuring minors with another person last year.

Segura, who is charged with distribution of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, remains in custody.

During Friday afternoon’s brief court appearance, another hearing was set for next Tuesday to revisit his custodial status. A prosecutor said in court that the government would move to keep Segura in custody based on him presenting a danger to the community, but did not elaborate further.

According to a probable cause statement filed in federal court, the investigation into Segura began with the…

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Morristown NJ – The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is demanding transparency from Delbarton School in Morristown and its affiliates, following troubling allegations of clergy sexual abuse.

SNAP specifically is demanding that Auxiliary Bishop Elias R. Lorenzo, school leader and a potential successor for Cardinal Joseph Tobin in the Archdiocese of Newark, be removed from consideration.

According to advocates, Lorenzo served in several leadership positions at Delbarton School, including Director of Liturgy, Director of Monastic Formation, Prior of St. Mary’s Abbey, and Rector of the Abbey Church. SNAP claims that under his leadership, several instances of child sexual abuse occurred within the all-boys Catholic high school.

SNAP specifically cites that in 2018, school officials disclosed that 13 monks and one lay teacher had been “credibly accused of abusing 30 known victims that courageously came forward.”

SNAP claims these cases of abuse were “quietly settled,” with accused clergymen…

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The voting period for clergy abuse survivors in the New Orleans Catholic archdiocese’s bankruptcy saga is officially underway.

According to The Guardian, survivors have two months to accept or reject the church’s plan to settle following a federal bankruptcy judge’s approval of the plan. The church has been in bankruptcy dating back to 2020.

“This bankruptcy plan is a good outcome for abuse survivors, providing just and prompt compensation,” said Pat Moody, chair of a committee of survivors.

“If survivors vote to approve the Plan, they can expect to start getting payments within 3-4 months after approval. If survivors vote to reject the plan, I fear survivors won’t see any money for another 3-5 years, if ever.”

Up to 200 represented survivors who favor the bankruptcy being dismissed have acknowledged in court that the deal is “dead on arrival”. However, the approval of the plan will depend…

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Police in Brentwood, Tenn., have begun a preliminary investigation into former DC Talk and Newsboys singer Michael Tait, following multiple allegations of sexual assault.

They confirmed the news on Monday after alleged victim Shawn Davis told People magazine he was working with them to build a case against the singer and press charges. Like many of the other victims who have come forward with public allegations, Davis says he was abused by Tait when he was still a minor and believes there could be many more who have yet to come forward.

In June, he told The Guardian he was a “lifelong fan and troubled youth who had immersed himself in Christian music.” He claims Tait introduced him to cocaine and encouraged him to consume alcohol. In 2003, when he was just 17 years old, he says Tait drugged and molested him.

He explained, “I woke up in the closet, and he had my pants…

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A warrant issued for 30-year-old Shelton Burkart alleged that on June 24, 2024, he “knowingly” possessed visual material of children, ages 8 to 12, naked in dressing rooms and engaging in sexual activity.

A Warren County pastor was arrested on felony charges of sexual exploitation of a minor, according to the SBI Computer Crimes Unit. 

A warrant issued for 30-year-old Shelton Burkart alleged that on June 24, 2024, he “knowingly” possessed visual material of children, ages 8 to 12, naked in dressing rooms and engaging in sexual activity. 

While Burkart is living in and charged in Warren County, the warrant was issued from the State Bureau of Investigation Computer Crimes Unit in Raleigh. It is not clear from the warrant how SBI knew to find and charge Burkart.

He’s been charged with five felony counts each of second degree- and third degree sexual exploitation of a minor. 

According to the…

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A Glasgow church pastor is facing a lengthy jail sentence after being convicted of rape and child abuse.

Rev James Haram, who had been with the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), was found guilty of 19 charges of physical and sexual abuse, including raping a woman and beating children.

His crimes took place between 1997 and 2020 at addresses in Glasgow, Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire and in South Ayrshire.

The 51-year-old was remanded in custody at the High Court in Glasgow and will be sentenced next month.

The jury heard Haram raped, attacked and verbally abused the woman.

This included suggesting she should kill herself.

He also tracked her movements and forced her to take part in religious activities.

The victim recalled her “whole body going limp” while being choked by Haram.

Jurors heard the pastor would pressure her into sex while making biblical references.

The victim said she was told…

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A priest accused of various sexual offenses against minors was tried at the cantonal criminal court in Ticino. The man was sentenced to a conditional prison sentence.

No time? blue News summarizes for you

• In Lugano, a priest from Ticino had to stand trial for alleged sexual abuse.
• The 56-year-old was accused of sexually assaulting nine people, four of whom were minors.
• He had suffered from “cognitive distortions”, the accused priest defended himself before the Ticino Cantonal Criminal Court.
• He was sentenced to a conditional prison sentence of 18 months and is banned from working with minors for the rest of his life.

The Ticino Cantonal Criminal Court in Lugano has found a priest guilty of multiple sexual assault and sexual acts with minors. The man was sentenced to a conditional 18-month prison sentence.

The court also imposed a lifelong ban on carrying out professional or non-professional activities involving contact with minors….

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[See also the lawsuits:

• Jane Doe 208 v El Paso Diocese
• Jane Doe 214 v El Paso Diocese
• John Doe 207 v Las Cruces Diocese
• John Doe 209 v El Paso and Las Cruces Dioceses
• John Doe 210 v El Paso Diocese
• John Doe 211 v El Paso Diocese
• John Doe 212 v El Paso Diocese
• John Doe 213 v Las Cruces Diocese]

Two law firms have filed eight civil lawsuits against dioceses in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, alleging that priests sexually abused children between 1956 and 1990.

Levi Monagle, a partner at the law firm Huffman, Wallace & Monagle in Albuquerque, is representing some of the plaintiffs, who were between the ages of 3 and 15 when the alleged abuse occurred. He claims the priests named in the suit had abused children elsewhere and, when they moved to southern New Mexico and western…

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What happens after an Alabama priest is accused of sexual misconduct?

The Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama announced this week that one of its vicar generals has been removed from ministry after being accused of maintaining a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

The Pillar breaks down the allegations against the priest, the current status of the investigation into those allegations, and the response from the diocese.

Who is Fr. Robert Sullivan?

Fr. Sullivan is a priest of the Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama. Until early August, he was vicar general for the diocese and pastor at Our Lady of Sorrows parish.

Sullivan, 61, has been a priest for 32 years. In recent years, he has also served as president of a local Catholic high school and director of its educational foundation.

On Aug. 2, Sullivan announced at Mass that he would be taking a personal leave of absence.

What has Sullivan been…

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Leadership guru John Maxwell publicly praised Bill Hybels at the Global Leadership Summit (GLS) last week, despite credible allegations the disgraced pastor sexually harassed and abused multiple women over several decades.

Hybels founded the GLS in 1995—a leadership conference which once attracted more than 400,000 people worldwide and featured major speakers like Bono and Bill Clinton. But in 2018, Hybels resigned from the GLS and the Chicago-area megachurch he co-founded, Willow Creek Community Church, after several women came forward with stories of his alleged sexual misconduct.

Those allegations were later deemed credible by an independent group of pastors commissioned to investigate the claims.

Yet, last Friday, Maxwell told thousands of GLS attendees at Willow Creek, “I would be incredibly remiss if I would not say that every one of us in this room today are a part of the calling and the heart that (Hybels) had…

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Long-buried secrets of clergy abuse at Delbarton, one of New Jersey’s most prestigious all-boys Catholic schools, may finally spill into public view, the New York Post reports — and a Newark bishop now being considered for cardinal is at the center of it.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is demanding that Church leaders block Auxiliary Bishop Elias R. Lorenzo, O.S.B., from becoming the next Archbishop of Newark, citing his decades of leadership at Delbarton School and St. Mary’s Abbey in Morristown during alleged abuse at the hands of more than a dozen monks and a lay teacher, according to a press release issued earlier this month.

The advocacy group said Delbarton officials previously disclosed that 13 monks and one lay teacher were credibly accused of sexually abusing 30 victims in the 1970s and 1980s. SNAP maintains…

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[See also the letter by Bishop Steven Raica.]

A high-ranking priest in the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama is on leave amid allegations that years ago, he began a relationship with a young woman who was a minor at the time.

Vicar General Father Robert Sullivan, 61, went on a personal leave of absence on Aug. 4, according to an Aug. 13 letter from Bishop Steven Raica obtained by CNA.

In his letter, Raica said that per internal policy, the diocese did not initially provide a public reason for Sullivan’s leave. But the bishop said an Aug. 13 report in the Guardian made it “necessary and appropriate” to clarify why the priest had left his post.

The Guardian report alleged that Sullivan reportedly “traded financial support for ‘private companionship’” with a woman, Heather Jones, now 33, “including sex, beginning when she was 17.”

Raica confirmed that the…

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[See also the lawsuit.]

Nine parishes in Western New York are taking legal action to stop payments toward the Diocese of Buffalo’s proposed $150 million settlement with more than 800 survivors of sexual abuse.

The settlement was announced in April, and the diocese said it would be paid through unrestricted funds of the diocese and individual parishes, as well as contributions from members of Catholic affiliates.

In June, parishes learned how much they’re being asked to pay towards the settlement. The contribution percentages range from 10 to 80 percent of each parish’s unrestricted cash and investments, with the highest percentage applied to parishes scheduled to be closed or merged.

The parishes that are taking legal action are slated to close and merge with other parishes under the Road to Renewal, but received suspensions from the Vatican as their appeals are reviewed.

The lawsuit filed against the diocese is in protest…

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In September 2024, the Diocese of Buffalo announced that churches would be closed or merged as part of its “Road to Renewal” and its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring process.

The diocese declared bankruptcy in 2020 as it faced hundreds of sex abuse lawsuits, and in April, the diocese announced it reached a $150 million settlement with more than 800 survivors of sexual abuse. The diocese said the settlement would be paid through unrestricted funds of the diocese and individual parishes, as well as contributions from members of Catholic affiliates.

In June, parishes learned how much they’re being asked to pay towards the settlement. The contribution percentages range from 10 to 80 percent of each parish’s unrestricted cash and investments, with the highest percentage applied to parishes scheduled to be closed or merged.

Now, in addition to fighting for their churches to stay open, some parishioners are calling on the diocese to…

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The Ticino cantonal criminal court in Lugano has found a priest guilty of multiple sexual assault and sexual offences with minors. The man was sentenced to a conditional 18-month prison term.

On Thursday the court also imposed a lifelong ban on professional or non-professional activities involving contact with minors. The 56-year-old must also undergo outpatient therapy.

The prison sentence is conditional with a probationary period of two years. The priest will be released from prison immediately, the presiding judge explained. He had been in early release since last November and had previously been in custody for three months.

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A plan to resolve the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ years-long bankruptcy case will now go to a vote by sex abuse survivors.

On Tuesday, the disclosure statement submitted by the Archdiocese of New Orleans was approved by the bankruptcy court, officially allowing the voting period to open for the plan.

The proposed plan, which outlines how the archdiocese plans to potentially pay a settlement to an estimated 660 sex abuse survivors who have filed claims in the case, will head to a vote by abuse survivors.

Sex abuse survivors who filed claims should receive a ballot in the mail this month and must return it before Oct. 29 with their vote, according to the proposed plan.

Votes will be tabulated over the course of a week.

If it is approved, the plan could go into effect by the end of the year. If it is rejected, the judge could toss…

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[See also the letter by Bishop Steven Raica.]

A Catholic priest is under investigation for allegedly starting a years-long relationship with a 17-year-old stripper — and paying her hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep quiet about it.

Robert Sullivan, 61, is on leave as pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Homewood, Alabama, after he was publicly accused of initiating a relationship with Heather Jones, now 33, when she was a vulnerable teenager in 2009.

Jones said in a letter to the Diocese of Birmingham — and shared with the Guardian — that she first met Sullivan while she was dancing at a strip club he frequented.

While tipping her, he offered her $273,000 to sign a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for “an ongoing relationship that would include financial support in exchange for private companionship,” Jones alleged, telling the Guardian that the agreement included sex.

Jones, who was…

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[See also the letter by Bishop Steven Raica.]

Bishop Steven Raica, head of the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham, today released a letter to the diocese revealing that a priest is being investigated for a relationship with a woman alleged to have begun when she was 17.

Robert Sullivan, 61, announced Aug. 2 that he was taking personal leave from his duties as pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Homewood beginning Aug. 4, Raica said. Sullivan also served as vicar general of the diocese, Raica said.

Raica said the victim assistance coordinator for the diocese received the allegation in July and the case is being referred to the Vatican for investigation and to the Alabama Department of Human Resources, since the woman reporting the allegation said she was a minor when the relationship began.

“While the Alabama Department of Human Resources determined that the…

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The Vatican has commissioned an investigation into allegations of coverup and financial misconduct made against Cardinal Carlos Castillo, archbishop of Lima, according to senior archdiocesan sources in Peru.

Investigators have in recent weeks summoned priests and archdiocesan employees to answer questions about the financial situation of Caritas Lima, a network of diocesan schools, and multiple alleged coverups of sexual misconduct — including cases previously reported by The Pillar, among them sexual misconduct claims linked to the archdiocesan seminary.

—
Senior archdiocesan sources told The Pillar that a group of Augustinian priests led by Fr. Alexander Lam, OSA, his order’s assistant general for Latin American, had been interviewing clerics and archdiocesan employees virtually about allegations of abuse coverup and financial misconduct by Cardinal Carlos Castillo.

The virtual interviews were ahead of an in-person visit to Lima, with Lam set to arrive in Peru’s capital on Monday, sources said.

While the inquiry has not been described…

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Two thirds of voting sexual abuse survivors must approve the $200M+ settlement or church’s 5-year bankruptcy will be for naught

A federal bankruptcy judge has approved a plan by the Archdiocese of New Orleans, its affiliates and a committee representing 660 survivors of clergy abuse, kicking off a two-month voting period for claimants to accept or reject the plan.

It also begins the time when supporters and opponents of the plan can actively solicit votes. Two-thirds of the voting claimants must approve the plan for the church to end its expensive and contentious five-year-long bankruptcy. Judge Meredith Grabill has stated that if the plan is not approved, she will dismiss the archdiocese’s bankruptcy and the church will have to defend itself against claims individually in state courts.

The deadline for claimants to cast their votes is October 29 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time, although the proponents of the plan can…

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The complaint describes text messages between the Saint Augustine High School teacher and a suspect in Denver, where the two shared sexually explicit videos of minors.

A teacher at a San Diego Catholic high school has been placed on leave and is facing federal charges following an investigation into child sexual abuse materials.

Ryan Bennett Segura, a 27-year-old religious studies teacher at Saint Augustine High School in North Park, is accused of distributing videos across state lines that involved a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, according to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on Tuesday.

According to the complaint, the Federal Bureau of Investigation first became aware of Segura’s possible transgressions through social media messages with a suspect in Denver, whose home was raided in September 2024 for similar charges.

In the social media messages between Segura and the Denver suspect,…

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Dr. Paula Langford on the devastation of Black Catholic Baltimore and how the Church must make amends to truly model a listening Church.

The closing of Black Catholic churches across the United States due to abuse scandals, restructuring programs (e.g., ”Seek the City to Come” in Baltimore), and financial payouts has left a deep wound in the hearts of many African-American Catholics. These closures are not just about the loss of sacred spaces. They represent the culmination of centuries of neglect, abuse, and systemic racism that Black Catholics have endured within the Church. The question must be asked: Have Black Catholics not endured enough?

Black Catholic faith and labor

The history of Black Catholics is marked by profound suffering and resilience. From the brutal enslavement of Africans by Portuguese and other European Catholics to the destruction of African families, cultural traditions, and spiritual practices, the victims were, in far…

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A Canadian court has ruled a Basilian priest can continue his civil suit against fellow Basilian Father Thomas Rosica and the Basilian Fathers of Toronto, with the plaintiff, Father Michael Bechard, seeking damages for alleged sexual abuse by Father Rosica.

Father Bechard has also filed a complaint under “Vos Estis Lux Mundi,” Pope Francis‘ 2019 motu proprio governing the reporting of alleged sexual abuse involving clergy, religious and bishops.

Complaint history

In a September 2024 statement to OSV News, the Diocese of London, Ontario — which is not named in Father Bechard’s lawsuit — stressed that Bishop Ronald Fabbro, to whom Father Bechard had complained in 2015 about the abuse, denied any allegations of failing to act. Instead, said the diocese, Bishop Fabbro had advised Father Bechard that “the correct course of action was to contact the Congregation of St. Basil so they could begin an investigation.”

Father Rosica, who was a…

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Authorities say Jacob Barnett used various social media accounts to solicit sexually explicit material from underage girls across state lines while serving as youth pastor at Catawba Valley Baptist Church, leading to his arrest on Aug. 7.

Barnett, 34, was apprehended by FBI agents Aug. 6 in North Carolina and is being held at the Catawba County Detention Center in North Carolina without bond, according to media reports.

A May 18 tip led the FBI to investigate a TikTok account appearing to beling to a teen boy named “Jodie Johnson.” That individual had contacted a 15-year-old girl in Michigan and, after leading her to exchange phone numbers and days of persistent messaging, convinced her to send a sexually explicit video of herself.

The investigation revealed that the account belonged to Barnett, with phone records confirming he had sent the messages and routinely interacted with minors online. His TikTok account followed…

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In short:

A secret report revealed that James Crisp and his son David were accused of sexually abusing students as part of a suspected paedophile ring at St Teresa’s College in the 1990s.

David Crisp was jailed in May after more than three decades on the run from police but his father was never charged over the allegations.

James Crisp was jailed last month for unrelated child sex offences.Link copiedShare article

A man who was accused of involvement in a paedophile ring with his son at a Queensland Catholic boarding school has been jailed for unrelated child sex offences decades later.

WARNING: This story contains references to sexual abuse that may cause distress.

James Michael Crisp, the former “head of discipline” at St Teresa’s College, was named in a secret church report to police flagging a suspected network of sex predators who worked at the school in the 1990s.

This included…

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The faithful went from the pews to the courtroom Tuesday morning, seeking more time to fork over 80% of their cash on hand.

Several parishes in the Catholic Diocese met Tuesday morning at the State Supreme Court to ask Judge John Delmonte for more time before having to pay a portion of the clergy sex abuse settlement.Parishes in Buffalo to contribute millions of dollars to sexual abuse settlement

“There is no reason for these parishes to become extinct,” prosecutors said in court.

“If a parish ultimately is closed, there is no need for a cash reserve,” the defense argued.

Lawyers representing parishioners said their clients attend “vibrant, strong and healthy” parishes despite being slated to close or merge. Parishes slated to close or merge have to pay 80 percent of their unrestricted funds toward the clergy sex abuse settlement.

“If in fact that were to occur, that would just…

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Survivors of childhood abuse perpetrated by the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore will be able to continue telling their stories during the Church’s bankruptcy proceedings, according to a memo from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michelle Harner.

Insurance companies holding policies with the Baltimore Archdiocese opposed those testimonies because the companies felt they could sway the court.

Century Indemnity Company had formally issued an objection to the court about further testimony.

“The insurance companies were concerned that repeatedly hearing the horrors and the tragedies would somehow skew the court and the media and public opinion would somehow influence how the court might rule on certain matters,” said Robert Jenner, a managing partner at Jenner Law, which represents the victims.

In her memo, Harner acknowledged that the healing process is not just monetary for the victims and involves stating their story publicly.

“Allowing Survivors to participate in a status conference or…

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Victims of child sexual abuse linked to the Roman Catholic Baltimore Archdiocese will have a third chance to be seen and tell their stories.

On Monday, Judge Michelle Harner ordered a two-hour status conference for Oct. 6 at 1 p.m., meant to raise awareness of and understanding for sexual abuse victims of the Baltimore Archdiocese.

In February, a cyberattack on a law firm, Stinson LLP, representing Catholic Church sex abuse survivors, stole confidential data related to the Baltimore Archdiocese’s bankruptcy case and sex abuse survivors. A ransomware attack happened in March that affected a consulting firm for dozens of Catholic Church cases, including the same bankruptcy case.

Both breaches included personal information of sexual abuse victims with claims against the Baltimore Archdiocese. Lawyers with the consulting firm have denied that information from the breach appeared online.

The Baltimore Archdiocese, America’s oldest Catholic archdiocese, filed for bankruptcy in 2023 ahead of the Maryland…

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Following multiple allegations of sexual assault against Michael Tait, police in Brentwood, Tennessee, have confirmed they are conducting a preliminary investigation into the former DC Talk and Newsboys singer.

The news was confirmed on Monday by ChurchLeaders.com, after alleged victim Shawn Davis told People Magazine he was working with the Brentwood Police Department, located 11 miles south of Nashville, to press charges.

“We’re trying to head this and do everything we can in our power to take (Tait) down,” Davis told People.

In his interview with People, Davis stated that Tait may have up to 1,000 victims and was urging them to come forward.

“Ultimately, in the end, the goal is to see him go to prison,” Davis told People. “We need every single victim possible to come forward. They deserve to know that they’re not the only ones, and they deserve to tell their story,” he…

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“Such an appointment to such an important position…can only reopen wounds, reawaken suspicions, and disconcert the people of God.”

“Such an appointment to such an important position, both canonically and symbolically, can only reopen wounds, reawaken suspicions, and disconcert the people of God,” said an Aug. 11 statement from the leadership of the French bishops’ conference.

The statement was signed by Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, president of the bishops’ conference, as well as Archbishop Vincent Jordy of Tours and Bishop Benoit Bertrad of Pontoise, vice presidents of the conference.

“Our Church, for several years, has courageously taken the path of truth in the painful question of abuses committed within it. It is very important to continue this work in all sectors of ecclesial life,” the statement said.

“This shift in perspective… [has] initiated, for our ecclesial institution, a long and demanding work of conversion, which we are determined to continue….

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Vox, the leader of the far-right party in Spain, has accused the Spanish bishops of being neutered by government grants and the fallout from the sexual abuse crisis.

The row erupted following the decision of the city council in Jumilla, Murcia, to pass a motion on July 28 that allows for the banning of Islamic festivities in the town, in particular the collective prayer with which the Muslim community celebrates the end of Ramadan and the “Feast of the Lamb.”

The motion was originally proposed by Vox, but amended by the party in charge of the council, the conservative PP (Popular Party).

On August 8, the Spanish Bishops’ Conference released a statement on the decision, saying that “imposing such restrictions for religious reasons constitutes discrimination that has no place in democratic societies.”

“Limiting these rights violates the fundamental rights of every human being, and it affects not just one religious…

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Clergy sexual abuse is not confined to any one faith, denomination, or country—it is a global crisis rooted in power, secrecy, and institutional self-preservation. In this conversation, survivors, advocates, clergy, legal scholars, and researchers confront the patterns that allow abuse to persist and the systemic enablers who shield perpetrators from accountability. From the misuse of spiritual authority to the failure of church leadership to act, their testimonies reveal both the depth of the harm and the urgent need for reform. Together, they ask the questions that religious institutions have long avoided—and challenge the structures that have turned sacred spaces into sites of betrayal.

Katherine Archer is the co-founder of Prosopon Healing and a graduate student in Theological Studies, soon to begin a Master’s in Counseling Psychology. Her work lies at the intersection of academic research and nonprofit advocacy, focusing on clergy abuse within the Eastern Orthodox Church. Archer champions policy…

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When Germans go to the theatre, they know to expect the expected.

For three decades, directors have specialised in predictable provocation: nudity, sexualised violence and bloody body horror.

Anything goes on the German stage – unless, that is, it’s a play about sexualised violence in the Catholic Church.

Last month, director Lorenz Nolting was in rehearsals with Ödipus Exellenz, his new adaptation of Seneca’s tragedy, when the production was cancelled abruptly.

The work was a collaboration with a German survivor of clerical sexual abuse, examining how the rites and rituals of Catholic faith were a unique enabling element in his ordeal.

“A person might have been raped many hundred times by a priest who told them it was God’s will,” said Nolting. “Only as adults did many survivors realise it was even sexualised violence.”

Nolting says the play was cancelled after falling foul of Ulrich…

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German authorities have discontinued their investigation into sexual abuse allegations against Karnam Dhaman Kumar, the Bishop of the Diocese of Nalgonda in Telangana, since the statute of limitations on the alleged offences has expired. The statute of limitation is the legal time limit within which a person must file a lawsuit or initiate legal proceedings.

The allegation, which a complainant reported to the Diocese of Münster, Germany in March 2025, relates to the years 2005 to 2007. 

Dhaman Kumar was appointed as the Bishop of Nalgonda diocese by Pope Francis in February 2024. Until then, he had been serving as a parish priest in the Diocese of Münster. 

Following the sexual abuse complaint, he was barred from carrying out any priestly duties in the Diocese of Münster. 

“The proceedings have been discontinued because the investigation revealed that any criminal offenses were already statute-barred. Therefore, no further investigations have…

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[Editor’s Note: On Aug. 1, Crux published an article by Elise Ann Allen mentioning a former priest who was laicized in December 2024, which included witness testimony from several anonymous sources describing a history of sexual misconduct and personal differences with Pope Leo XIV on the part of the former priest in question. The former priest in question, Ricardo Coronado, has submitted the following letter, which we are publishing, but which has been edited to exclude elements that include personal insinuations against the author as well as statements and accusations against third parties that Crux does not immediately have the ability to corroborate. For the record, Crux stands by the story.]

Crux Now
Lima-Peru, 6th August 2025

Dear Mrs. Allen,

I write to you in regard to the article published on the Crux website this past Friday (August 1, 2025, with subsequent amended version August 5th, 2025) maliciously and provocatively entitled, Coverup allegations…

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I consider myself something of an insider-outsider in Catholicism, if such a thing exists. I was raised within the stained-glass walls of St. Dominic Parish in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, a sanctuary for newly arrived Cuban refugees like my family. The parish itself was young, founded just three years before the Cuban Revolution would send waves of exiles across the Florida Straits. Those early years were marked by upheaval: Black Americans were in the throes of the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War raged on and the Second Vatican Council had just thrown open the church’s windows to the modern world.

St. Dominic’s felt all of it. The parish was reshaped in those decades, not just by the influx of Cuban families but by the Dominican friars of the Southern Province who took over from the Spanish Dominicans in 1980. That’s the context that formed me. It’s where I first…

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The Rev. Ronald Kondziolka is accused of abusing a child while working at St. Brendan Parish in Englewood. He denies the allegations.

A Chicago priest is accused of sexually abusing a minor in the early 1990s, the Archdiocese of Chicago said.

The Rev. Ronald Kondziolka, who has served in parishes and as a hospital chaplain throughout the Chicago area for decades, allegedly abused a child more than 40 years ago while working at St. Brendan’s Catholic Church. The now closed church once stood at Marquette Road and Racine Avenue in the Englewood neighborhood.

Cardinal Blase Cupich alerted the parishes and health care centers where Kondziolka worked in a letter Saturday. The letter offers no details on the allegations or an exact time frame for when the alleged abuse happened.

Cupich said Kondziolka “strenuously” denies the allegations.

The letters were sent to Souls Parish, Mother of the Americas Parish, Our Lady…

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The Archdiocese of Newark has settled two claims of sexual abuse against retired Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, dating back more than 50 years — when he was a priest in Jersey City — the lawyer for the plaintiffs announced on Aug. 6.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian said the settlements were reached through a mediation process, adding that one plaintiff, Mark Matzek, now 62, received a “mid-six-figure” settlement and that a second plaintiff, Samier Tadros, now 52, received a settlement in the “low six-figures.”

The settlement was reached between the Newark Archdiocese and the plaintiffs. It did not involve  DiMarzio, 81, who retired as head of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, in 2021.

“As I have said from the very beginning, in my 50-plus-year priesthood, I never abused anyone,”  DiMarzio said in a statement after the settlements were announced. “I was the subject of an exhaustive, two-year canonical investigation that cleared me….

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‘This is as valuable a tool as exists in the world to protect children,’ Randy Austin says at FAIR Conference

The abuse helpline for bishops of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and strong clergy privilege laws are the best option for protecting children from abuse, an attorney and a social worker for the church said Thursday.

“Far more abuse gets reported when the bishop calls the helpline than if we didn’t have one‚” said Randy Austin, an attorney for Kirton McConkie who serves as lead outside controversy-and-crisis counsel for the church.

He said clergy privilege laws that exempt bishops from mandatory rules for reporting abuse actually lead to more reporting, not less.

“We learn about more abuse in places where the privilege exists than where it doesn’t,” Austin said.

Coupled together, the increased reporting generated by the help line and clergy privilege protect more children, he said.

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I was still working at Vatican Radio when Pope Benedict XVI announced he was resigning his office, way back in 2013.

It shocked the world – it shocked Vatican staff – and it added something unusual to the chance any impending change in papal leadership offers Catholics, as they reflect on the state of the Church. Big ideas were in the air. I was focused on practicalities.

Before the election of Pope Francis, I wrote something about the issues facing the Vatican and the Church in 2013. As we enter a new “historic period” in 2025 – Pope Leo XIV is the first U.S.-born pontiff – it might be interesting to look back at it.

One of my suggestions was for a sweeping reform of Church law regarding crimes of sexual abuse. “[A]fter consulting both canon and prominent civil lawyers and sexual abuse experts,” I wrote (in a Facebook “note” in…

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The Vatican ruled that Archbishop Hundt did not provide a just cause for closing the parish.

For the second time in 15 months the Vatican overturned a Canadian archbishop’s decision to close a small parish, thus continuing a three-year dispute between parishioners and the archbishop.

Parishioners at Holy Rosary Parish in Portugal Cove-St. Philips, Newfoundland, announced earlier this week that the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy had once again overturned Archbishop Peter Hundt’s decision to close Holy Rosary and merge it with the nearby Holy Trinity parish.

This new decree continues a three-year saga that began after the archdiocese announced it would sell Holy Rosary Church and 17 of the archdiocese’s other 34 parish properties in the midst of ongoing bankruptcy filing and court order to compensate victims of sexual abuse.

Holy Rosary parishioners protested and attempted to purchase the church.

The archdiocese reached an agreement with a group of…

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Degree of Merger revoked for Newfoundland parish

For the second time in 15 months, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy has overturned St. John’s Archbishop Peter Hundt’s 2022 decision to close Holy Rosary Parish in Portugal Cove-St. Philips, Nfld., and merge it with Holy Trinity Parish in Torbay, Nfld.

Ed Martin, the parishioner who served as procurator of this canonical challenge, said he is waiting to learn if Hundt plans to file an appeal within the 60-day window from learning of the decision (Martin received confirmation of the ruling June 7).

Assuming Hundt also opened the letter the same day, the 68-year-old cleric would be obliged to make a move by Aug. 7 (no such move was made by the Register’s press deadline). Two of the potential ways forward is to again challenge the decision and then, once more, state his intention to merge Holy Rosary and Holy Trinity, or…

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THE hope and dream of the late pope Francis was to reform the Catholic Church and make it a synodal church at every level, where everyone — laypeople, priests and bishops — are considered equal before God and Jesus of Nazareth, working together, sharing thoughts, listening and learning from one another, and participating humbly in proclaiming the vision and values of the Gospel through action. This same hope and dream are also what motivates Francis’ successor, Pope Leo XIV. It’s a call for bishops and priests to be humble “washers of feet” and support child victims of clerical abuse, not with more words, but with action toward justice.

Francis began a synodal movement to restore the spirit of the early Church as Jesus began it: a spiritual and social movement with a mission to act on behalf of the poor and downtrodden. Those in the early Church lived the great…

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WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – FactFinder has continued to investigate sexual abuse allegations against Bodie Weiss, a former student ministries director at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Wichita.

Weiss died in 2020.

Last summer, allegations were brought to Eastminster’s Board of Elders accusing Weiss of sexually abusing boys in his youth group during the 1990’s and 2000’s.

In 2024, the church hired Fact Finding Ministry, a third-party investigative group, who determined there to be 23 victims of sexual abuse.

Robert Golden says he is one of those victims and called 12 News investigators to share his story about Weiss and how he tried warning Eastminster about his actions.

Golden says his sexual interaction with Weiss occurred over 40 years ago when they were teenagers attending the same church in Pennsylvania, a decade before Weiss was hired at Eastminster.

Golden told 12 News that Weiss was 18-years-old at the time and attending college,…

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The couple had been members since 1990, but left during the pandemic

MIDLAND COUNTY, Mich. (WJRT) – A Saginaw County couple is speaking out about a sex abuse scandal involving the Living Word Church in Midland.

The scandal continued in court as a pastor from the church faced a pre-trial hearing. Two other individuals associated with the church’s leadership have also been charged.

Dan and Dana Stahl, former members of the Living Word Church, started attending in 1990. They initially helped in the church nursery, believing they were serving God. However, recent events have led them to feel they were misled.

“We loved it, we absolutely loved it,” Dana Stahl said.

The Stahls reduced their involvement after Dan was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. They were disappointed with the church’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which they felt was mishandled.

“The members of the church’s response was that it was tyranny,”…

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Three former Gateway Church elders told a Dallas court they didn’t defame a sexual abuse victim of disgraced church founder, Robert Morris, despite knowing she was only 12 years old when the abuse started.

The court filings involved former Gateway Executive Pastor Thomas Miller, Network Pastor Gayland Lawshe, and Elder Jeremy Carrasco—all removed from church leadership last November. They say they didn’t defame Cindy Clemishire when they said in 2024 that Morris “acknowledged ‘inappropriate sexual behavior’ with a ‘young lady.’”

Morris, who resigned from the megachurch in June 2024, now faces child sex abuse charges in Oklahoma and is expected in court there in September.

As The Roys Report (TRR) reported at the time of Morris’s departure, the then-elders said Morris “had ‘been open and forthright’ about this ‘moral failure’ and had undergone a two-year restoration process.”

But Clemishire, who sued Morris, Gateway Church, the former…

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It’s the latest development in a high-stakes civil case that stems from allegations of sexual abuse and institutional cover-up within Gateway Church in Southlake.

Gateway announced Thursday that Pastor Nic Lesmeister has been named its new executive pastor, marking a new era for the North Texas megachurch.

SOUTHLAKE, Texas — Three former elders of Gateway Church have officially denied defaming Robert Morris’ accuser, Cindy Clemishire, in a series of recent court filings, which stem from allegations of sexual abuse and institutional cover-up with the megachurch founded by Morris.

Former elders, Thomas H. Miller Jr., Gayland Lawshe, and Jeremy Carrasco, denied any wrongdoing in the recent court filings. They were among the elders removed from the church in November after church leaders claimed they had information about Clemishire’s abuse allegations.

Cindy Clemishire is the Oklahoma woman who accused  Morris of sexually abusing her starting when she was 12 in…

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Thomas Pinkerton was arrested and extradited to Maryland to face charges for child sex crimes. He used to be involved with a Comstock Park church.

COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. —

Editor’s note/content warning: This story contains detailed victim testimony of alleged sexual abuse of minors.

A former Michigan youth pastor and traveling evangelist has been charged with multiple counts of child sexual abuse stemming from allegations that he abused at least seven boys while serving at a Maryland church in the late 2010s.

Thomas “Tommy” Pinkerton, who also served as treasurer and associate pastor at a Comstock Park church, was arrested in Georgia last month and extradited to Maryland to face 20 felony charges including child abuse, sexual assault and sexual offense charges related to incidents that allegedly occurred between 2006 and 2010 when he was youth pastor at Central Christian Church in Baltimore County.

13 ON YOUR SIDE first learned…

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Sons of Patriarchy hosts live episode at Moscow theater

MOSCOW — A podcast that has investigated allegations of abuse in Christ Church visited Moscow on Friday to record a live episode.

A crowd of people nearly filled the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre, located just two doors from Christ Church’s downtown office, to watch the Sons of Patriarchy podcast recording.

Sons of Patriarchy host Peter Bell interviewed author and journalist Sarah Stankorb about her work studying female survivors of abuse in churches across the country.

Bell told the Moscow-Pullman Daily News the idea for Sons of Patriarchy started three years ago when a think tank that was examining Christ Church Pastor Doug Wilson reached out to him about starting a podcast on the subject.

Bell has a background in podcasting and theology.

“So I put all that together, got connected with some survivors from the church and said, ‘I think I…

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Coming up in October, hundreds of victims of childhood sexual abuse by clergy will get to vote to approve or reject a settlement with the Archdiocese of New Orleans. But attorneys representing large groups of survivors say the deal is short and will advise clients to reject it.

NEW ORLEANS — Documents filed recently in the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ five-year bankruptcy case provide more clarity on how claims will be doled out to each victim if a proposed settlement is approved. Points will be assigned to each abuse claim based on the severity of the abuse and its impact on each victim’s life, but the records do not offer much clarity on how much actual money those points will be worth.

Claims that a Catholic church employee raped them will be worth twice as much money to abuse survivors as having a priest masturbate in front of them, four…

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In July, a judge temporarily blocked the Washington state law from going into effect while the court case proceeded.

• In summer 2025, a rumor spread online that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration moved to overturn a law requiring Catholic priests to report child abuse. 
• It is true that the Trump administration joined a lawsuit against a Washington state law adding religious clergy to the list of “mandatory reporters,” a group of professions legally required to report suspected child abuse. However, the administration’s issue with the law focused on a provision that would require Catholic priests to report child abuse when they learn the information through confession — a Catholic rite in which a penitent confesses sins to a priest, who vows complete confidentiality. 
• As of this writing, it was not clear whether a ruling in favor of the administration would overturn the entire law or the specific part requiring…

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“In my view, the Plaintiff’s claim is not essentially doctrinal or ecclesiastical in nature,” the judge wrote.

A lawsuit accusing prominent media figure Fr. Thomas Rosica of sexual assault will move forward after a Canadian judge rejected the priest’s petition to dismiss the suit.

Judge Evelyn M. ten Cate of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario on Thursday dismissed a motion by Rosica to toss out the lawsuit in order to allow the allegations against him to be addressed exclusively in a canonical court.

“In my view, the Plaintiff’s claim is not essentially doctrinal or ecclesiastical in nature – it is of interest to all Canadians and goes well beyond the internal matters of the Roman Catholic Church,” she said in her Aug. 7 decision.

“Moreover, the canonical court does not have an adequate internal dispute mechanism meant to cover claims for damages arising from sexual assault cases,” she…

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A U.S. Catholic bishop is sharply criticizing a large payout to his accusers even after the Holy See said it had found no evidence to support allegations of abuse against him.

Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston-based lawyer who has represented numerous Catholic abuse victims, said in a press release this week that two accusers of Brooklyn Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio had received separate six-figure payouts to settle their abuse claims.

The two accusers claimed DiMarzio had abused them in the 1970s and early 1980s when the prelate was then a priest in New Jersey. The men went public with the allegations in 2019 and 2020.

Both accusers filed suits against DiMarzio and the Archdiocese of Newark in 2021. Later that year, what was then the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith found that the allegations did not have “the semblance of truth.”

DiMarzio himself has repeatedly and…

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The Diocese of Buffalo is reportedly dismissing a substantial number of workers at its headquarters as it continues to move through a nine-figure sex abuse bankruptcy payout. 

A leaked email from Bishop Michael Fisher, reported on by local media, said the diocese’s ongoing settlement “require[s] us to make further sacrifices” at the diocesan Catholic Center, located in downtown Buffalo.

The diocese said earlier this year that it would pay a $150 million settlement “to survivors of sexual abuse for acts perpetrated against them by clergy, religious, lay employees, and volunteers.” 

Fisher in the leaked email said the settlement means the diocese needs to “significantly reduce costs” at the Catholic Center. 

“This entails the painful reality of having to [reduce] the number of positions in order to create a leaner, more cost-effective central administration,” the prelate said. 

An Aug. 6 press release from the diocese said…

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The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has announced staff layoffs and other measures to the 75 employees at the downtown Catholic Center. The diocese will lay off 22% of those staff members, or about 17 people. A source confirmed to BTPM NPR that the cuts include the diocese’s entire communications team.

Employees affected will be paid until the end of the month, and those remaining will transition to just four workdays a week. Health benefits to those losing their jobs will continue until the end of September.

The cost cutting measures are part of bankruptcy restructuring, triggered by hundreds of lawsuits in the past six years for claims of sexual abuse by priests. The diocese reached a $150 million settlement in April with around 800 survivors of abuse.

Ryan Zunner
Ryan is the assistant managing editor of BTPM NPR. He first joined the organization in the summer…

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July 27 could have been a landmark day for the survivors of child abuse.

That was the day that Washington state’s new law designating clergy as mandatory reporters — even if the abuse was discovered during confession or spiritual counseling — was set to take effect. Just as teachers, childcare workers, and law enforcement officers must report knowledge of child abuse, Washington became the first state in the nation to mandate that all clergy must do so as well.

But just 72 hours after Washington’s governor signed the law, the Seattle Archdiocese, along with Yakima and Spokane, filed a federal lawsuit to stop it.

Predictably, Donald Trump has now joined the fray. His Department of Justice is backing the Catholic clergy’s lawsuit, falsely claiming that mandatory reporting laws infringe on religious liberty and are inherently “anti-Catholic.” Now, a Federal judge has blocked the law — maintaining a status quo where clergy can…

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A former youth pastor at a Baltimore County church is accused of sexually abusing six people between 2006 and 2010.

Thomas Pinkerton Jr., 52, was working at Central Christian Church in Rossville at the time of the abuse, Baltimore County Police allege. He’s facing 24 charges, including six counts of sexual abuse of a minor and related offenses.

Pinkerton, who now lives in Winder, Georgia, was arrested on July 16 and extradited on Wednesday to Maryland. He’s being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center without bail.

“These are just accusations,” said Justin Hollimon, Pinkerton’s attorney. “Mr. Pinkerton is confident that once a jury of his peers hears this case, he will be exonerated and found not guilty of these charges.”

Detectives talked to six men who reported that the abuse happened in Maryland, and one man who disclosed that it took place in Georgia, police assert. The investigation began…

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Another cyber attack is jeopardizing the personal information of victims of child sex abuse at the hands of the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Stinson LLP, a law firm representing the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the church’s bankruptcy case, announced they were breached by cyber hackers in February.

The attack was not disclosed until June, according to court documents.

Stinson is now taking steps to keep survivors and the court informed about what information may have been leaked.

The firm says it will provide quarterly updates and report any findings of confidential information posted on the internet.

The breach is especially concerning for survivors because many entered into the legal proceedings anonymously due to the nature of the abuse they faced as children.

This is the second cyber breach to impact survivors of childhood abuse at the hands of the Archdiocese.

In May, Berkeley Research Group, a financial advisor…

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Judge who found Bishop Hubert O’Connor guilty says concept of ‘genuine consent’ decided trial

When Bishop Hubert O’Connor stood trial in the 1990s for rape and indecent assault, he was one of the first Catholic clergymen in Canada to be charged with sexual offences committed at a residential school.

Court documents and records in the IJF’s residential schools database show that the case against him was ultimately sunk by legal questions over how to determine consent in the context of young Indigenous students and staff facing sexual advances by a respected religious leader.

O’Connor was found guilty of raping a teenage former student working as a secretary at St. Joseph’s Indian Residential School in B.C. in the 1960s. In his 1996 ruling, then-B.C. Supreme Court Justice Wally Oppal wrote he could not conclude she was able to consent. But that ruling was later overturned by a panel of appeal court justices, who…

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Henry C. Pilliod, a former teacher and coach of Berks Catholic High School, has been arrested and charged for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a student, officials announced.

A former teacher and coach at Berks Catholic High School has been arrested and charged for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a student, officials announced.

According to the Berks County District Attorney’s Office, on March 31, 2025, officials received two childline referrals from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, which alleged a coach with Berks Catholic High School was exchanging inappropriate photos with a student. Based on that information, a criminal investigation was initiated.

Officials said that an investigation found that in November of 2024, Henry C. Pilliod, 22, of Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, and a student, a 17-year-old girl, began to have a inappropriate electronic communications with one another.

In January of 2025, officials said Pilliod and the student began…

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Nearly two years have passed since Mike Bickle, founder of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, was slammed with a stunning series of sexual abuse allegations that brought down his ministry.

But to the horror of multiple victims this past Sunday, his youngest sister, Lisa Bickle Stribling, dismissed the accounts as “exotic trash.”

“There has been a narrative that has surrounded Mike’s situation,” she said. “This narrative is a false narrative. The Lord is retrieving this narrative right now . . . Concerning Mike Bickle, this is the most integrous-filled, righteous man that we know.” 

She said she was speaking “on God’s behalf” at HopeCity, a prayer ministry and church led by Stribling and her husband, Ray.

She was referring to an independent investigation published on Feb. 3 that found Bickle had groomed and sexually abused at least 17 women, including some who were minors at…

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Key Points

• New Cincinnati Archbishop Robert Casey led Casa Jesus in Chicago more than 20 years ago.
• Some priests connected to Casa Jesus later became the subjects of misconduct allegations.
• Casey said he strictly enforced the rules when he was in charge of Casa Jesus, which closed in 2016.

Not long after he became Cincinnati’s new archbishop in February, Robert Casey’s name started popping up in conversations online and among local Catholics about a now-closed program in Chicago called Casa Jesus.

Casey served as director of the program, which recruited Hispanic men for the priesthood, more than two decades ago. Neither Casey, who was then a young priest, nor Casa Jesus, a small project in the Archdiocese of Chicago, got much attention at the time.

But they are getting attention now.

That’s because Casey’s new job in Cincinnati makes him one of the most prominent Catholics in the…

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Archbishop Casey’s resignation would not be an act of disgrace, but of humility and responsibility. A gesture that allows the healing to begin and puts the needs of the people first.

Letters to the editor – Cincinnati Enquirer

Recent events in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati have left many local Catholics disillusioned and heartbroken. Media reports describe disturbing behavior by a priest involving pornographic, violent and occult-themed material. Instead of transparency, the response from Church leadership has been dismissive. Archbishop Robert Casey declared the matter resolved, called the priest “in good standing,” and allowed parishioners who demanded accountability, including a father of young children, to be escorted out of Mass.

This is not the transparency the faithful deserve. This is not the healing we need. And for many of us, this is not the first red flag.

Before he arrived in Cincinnati, Archbishop Casey served…

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ROELAND PARK, Kan. — Bishop Miege High School officials confirmed Wednesday that Phil Baniewicz is no longer serving as the school’s president.

His last day was on Wednesday, the school said in a statement.

The Board of Trustees said the decision followed “careful consideration of the present circumstances.”

”We are grateful for the prayers and support of our families and benefactors. Please continue to pray with us for all impacted by this situation,” stated Holly Bentley, chair of the board of trustees.

“As we move forward, we’re committed to strengthening Bishop Miege High School by reviewing our practices and continuing to ensure a safe environment for our students. At the request of Archbishop McKnight, we’ll work with the archdiocesan Catholic Schools Office and the Office for Protection and Care to create opportunities for the school community to be heard and supported. We’ll share more information as it becomes available.”

…

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Editor’s note: This story is part of Out of the Shadows: Confronting Violence Against Women, a series by Global Sisters Report and Global Sisters Report en español, focusing on how Catholic sisters respond to or are affected by this global phenomenon.

This summer, the subject of various types of abuse of Catholic sisters rose to importance, with two conferences focusing on the issue.

One conference, held in Rome, was sponsored by a collaboration of the U.S.-based Conrad H. Hilton Foundation (a major funder of Global Sisters Report) and the German Missio Foundation.  One in Germany was sponsored by the University of Regensburg and titled “Behind the Veil: Analyzing the Hidden Patterns of Spiritual and Sexual Abuse among Catholic Women Religious.”

Lucy Huh, a doctoral candidate and researcher at Baylor University, was invited to participate in the June 26-29 Regensburg conference, as she is currently conducting a study…

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The Catholic Archdiocese of Newark has agreed to pay out two six-figure settlements to men who said they were sexually abused by Father Nicholas DiMarzio, who spent years as a priest in the North Jersey diocese before rising to serve as bishop in Camden and Brooklyn.

The settlements were announced at an Aug. 6 online news conference by Mitch Garabedian, an attorney who has represented numerous clergy abuse victims around the country.

The accusers — Mark Matzek, now 62, and Samir Tadros, 52 — say DiMarzio abused them in the 1970s when they were young children in two Jersey City parishes. Matzek said the abuse “stopped when the boy told his mother that he wanted to quit being an altar server,” said Garabedian.

DiMarzio, who retired as Brooklyn’s bishop in 2021, has steadfastly maintained his innocence. Both he and the Newark Archdiocese noted that an investigation by the Archdiocese of…

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The parish priest of Wesunile Catholic Parish in Buyende district, eastern Uganda, has been arrested for his alleged role in the torture and death of a 14-year-old boy, Joseph Kiirya.

The suspect, Rev. Fr. Silver Osuna Owori, 33, was apprehended alongside his driver, Robert Gabula, and both are now detained at Buyende central police station. Police say they will face court once investigations are concluded.

Preliminary police investigations indicate that on Friday, August 1, 2025, Fr. Owori discovered that Shs 5 million was missing from his residence. Believing that Kiirya, who had previously been accused of stealing from the priest, was responsible, he reportedly instructed Gabula and another accomplice, only identified as Waiswa, to track down the boy, who had gone into hiding.

The two men reportedly apprehended Kiirya and delivered him to the parish premises. According to investigators, Owori allegedly ordered the boy to be beaten in a bid…

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A Catholic priest, Reverend Father Owori Silver Osuna, 33, and his driver, Robert Gabula, have been remanded to Buyende Government Prison over their alleged involvement in the unlawful detention and death of a 14-year-old boy.

The duo appeared before Kamuli Chief Magistrate Paul Owino at Buyende Magistrate’s Court on Monday for the mention of their case.

Due to the capital nature of the charges, which fall under the jurisdiction of the High Court, they were not allowed to enter a plea.

They were remanded until August 21, 2025, when they will reappear for further proceedings.

According to prosecution, the case arose after Fr Owori reported the disappearance of Shs5 million from his room during his absence.

He suspected Joseph Kirya, a 14-year-old boy from Makanga Ward, Wesunire, Buyende Town Council, of theft.

The priest allegedly enlisted his driver Robert Gabula and another individual known as Waiswa to apprehend Kirya on…

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18 Diocesan staffers losing their jobs

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has announced layoffs and other cost-cutting moves as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring process.

According to the diocese, there will be a 22 percent reduction in personnel of the Catholic Center, which currently numbers 75. The diocese said those impacted will be paid through August 31, 2025, and will receive health benefits through September 30, 2025. After that, they will be eligible for COBRA for health coverage.

7 News Senior Reporter Eileen Buckley learned from two sources late Wednesday morning regarding the layoffs. A spokesman for the diocese said 18 employees are losing their jobs. A source also tells Buckley that the entire communication department has been eliminated, and none of the employees saw this coming.

Buckley also received a copy of a letter sent to employees from Bishop Michael Fisher explaining…

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Woodbridge, NJ – August 5, 2025

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), along with our New Jersey Coordinator Mark Crawford, is calling on Church leaders to fully address the deeply troubling leadership record of Auxiliary Bishop Elias R. Lorenzo, O.S.B. We urge that he be excluded from consideration as a successor to Cardinal Joseph Tobin in the Archdiocese of Newark.

Abbot Lorenzo, a monk of St. Mary’s Abbey in Morristown, held multiple leadership roles at Delbarton School, including Director of Liturgy, Director of Monastic Formation, Prior of St. Mary’s Abbey (1995–2002), and Rector of the Abbey Church (1995–2009). In 2002, he was appointed liaison to the Abbey’s review board when procedures for handling sexual misconduct complaints were implemented.

Numerous monks and teachers affiliated with Delbarton have been accused in civil lawsuits of sexually abusing students in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2018, school officials disclosed…

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It’s been nearly two years since the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for bankruptcy, forcing it to take account of its assets and file insurance claims to eventually pay survivors who were abused as children by clergy and staff.

However, after a series of delays and twists, the survivors have yet to see any payout and many are feeling out of the loop.

One survivor wrote about their frustration to U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Harner last week.

“What started as a positive situation as the rust of a newly enacted law by the Maryland legislature years ago has developed into what one might describe as a circus,” the survivor wrote. Who do the victims believe and what can they believe? Especially when there is almost complete secrecy surrounding this case.”

The survivor expressed further concern that the 12 law firms and financial organizations working the…

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A former priest accused of sexually assaulting 13 women while he was the head of a church group has said consent was the “grounding of everything”.

Chris Brain, 68, denies one count of rape and 36 charges of indecent assault, relating to his time with the Nine O’Clock Service (NOS), an influential evangelical church movement in Sheffield in the 1980s and 1990s.

Prosecutors allege he used his position to abuse a “staggering number” of female members, exerting control over their lives and ostracising them.

Giving evidence at Inner London Crown Court, Mr Brain, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, said he had sex with one of the complainants, but said it “just went too far” but insisted it had been consensual.

He said the Sheffield-based evangelical movement was a “free, open, really caring, very fun environment” and denied claims he had abused anyone.

Discussing one victim, Mr Brain admitted there had been “petting…

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The court dismissed a battery charge stemming from an incident last November.

A court in Illinois has dropped battery charges against Fr. Carlos Martins, a prominent priest accused of inappropriate conduct toward a student during a relic tour at a parish in Joliet last November.

An official with the Will County State’s Attorney confirmed to The Pillar that the battery charges were dismissed this week.

A court order from the “12nd [sic] judicial circuit,” signed Wednesday, dismissed the charge against Martins, noting that “The Court has considered of [sic] all facts known to it regarding the underlying circumstances of this matter.”

The court order said it was issued in response to the state attorney’s motion for deferred prosecution and nolle prosequi – a prosecutor’s decision not to pursue a case.

The court order dismissing the charge said, “The State has confirmed that Fr. Martins has never been charged with a crime, accused of a…

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