ABUSE TRACKER

[After raids on church offices, Catholic administrator asks that confidentiality be respected]

CHILE
Publimetro

September 13, 2018

By Daniela Pinto

Pedro Ossandón, administrador de la diócesis de Valparaíso, estuvo presente durante el procedimiento.

“Lo que cabe aquí es recordar dos principios fundamentales. Uno es el principio de colaboración con la justicia. Estamos comprometidos con la verdad y la justicia, y lo que más nos interesa es avanzar en esa materia. Y lo segundo es el principio de confidencialidad, o sea que hay una confianza que han hecho muchas personas, como testigos, como denunciantes y, si es el caso, como víctima, en los tribunales eclesiásticos. Entonces, la mayoría de esas personas piden confidencialidad”.

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BERLIN (GERMANY)
Catholic News Agency via Catholic World

September 12, 2018

A study commissioned by the German bishops’ conference reports the sexual abuse of thousands of children in that country over a period of 70 years. The report was scheduled to be released later this month, but was leaked Wednesday to German media.

The report was commissioned by the German bishops’ conference and scheduled to be presented on Sept. 25 at the autumn plenary session of the German bishops, as CNA Deutsch reported.

Its methodology is substantially different from that of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report.

The study documents sexual offenses against “3677 predominantly male minors” between 1946 and 2014, Der Spiegel reported

“1670 clerics are accused of the deeds,” the German magazine reported, saying researchers had “examined and evaluated more than 38,000 personnel and other files from 27 German dioceses.”

Der Spiegel reported that in many cases evidence was found by researchers to have have been “destroyed or manipulated.”

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service via National Catholic Reporter

September 14, 2018

By Junno Arocho Esteves

Chilean prosecutors raided four dioceses in the country as they continue a nationwide investigation into cases of clerical sexual abuse.

Lead prosecutor Emiliano Arias ordered search-and-seizure operations Sept. 13 of the diocesan offices of Osorno, Valparaiso, Concepcion and Chillan. This was the third raid authorized by Arias.

After the raid, a spokesman for Arias told the Reuters news agency that information collected from previous raids conducted in Santiago and Rancagua in June led to the search operations in the other dioceses.

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FAIRBANKS (AL)
Daily News-Miner

September 14, 2018

By Robin Barrett

I recently heard a hauntingly beautiful song that I hadn’t heard in years. It was the song “Africa,” by the group Toto, recorded in the early 1980s. As some songs do, it kept playing in my mind long after I listened to it. Coincidentally, the night after I heard it, I saw several references to the song on Twitter. This made me more interested in the song, so I watched the group sing it in a 35th anniversary live concert on YouTube. It is really a magnificent song, and has been meaningful to later generations from all over the world who weren’t even born when it was first recorded.

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[Police have raided 16 Catholic Church buildings during 2018]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 13, 2018

By K. Hillmann and B. Velásquez

Fiscal Emiliano Arias ordenó este jueves incautaciones simultáneas, por casos de eventuales abusos, en diócesis de Valparaíso, Concepción, Osorno y Chillán.

Pasadas las 11 horas de este jueves, el fiscal Sergio Moya junto a personal de OS-9 de Carabineros llegaron hasta el Arzobispado de Concepción, en la Región del Biobío, para allanar las dependencias gracias a una orden de entrada y registro dispuesta por el Tribunal de Garantía de Rancagua, en marco de la investigación que lleva el Ministerio Público en contra de sacerdotes producto de delitos de presuntos abusos.

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[Bishop of San Felipe on investigation against him: “Anybody can say what he wants”]

CHILE
La Tercera

By J. Matus and S. Rodríguez

Cristián Contreras Molina es uno de los siete prelados indagados por hechos ligados a supuestos abusos. Sería parte de la tercera aceptación de renuncias del Papa.

“Lo primero que debo decir es que la información que tengo es por el diario La Tercera. Punto dos, no tengo ninguna noticia de parte de la Fiscalía de San Felipe ni de Rancagua”. Así se refirió el obispo de San Felipe, Cristián Contreras Molina, a la investigación que el Ministerio Público lleva en su contra, luego de que L.A.C.C., de 56 años, lo acusara de un eventual delito de connotación sexual.

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[Tribunal upholds preventive detention for former chancellor of the Archdiocese of Santiago]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 14, 2018

By C. Soto and L. Zapata

El Tribunal de Rancagua se encuentra revisando la prisión preventiva de Óscar Muñoz, quien está siendo investigado por los delitos de abuso sexual reiterado y estupro.

A las 9.00 de esta mañana, el Juzgado de Garantía de Rancagua comenzó a revisar las medidas cautelares en contra del sacerdote Oscar Muñoz, ex canciller del arzobispado, que se encuentra imputado por haber cometido presuntos delitos sexuales en contra de menores de edad.

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[Two priests in Puerto Montt are the focus of sex abuse investigations]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 14, 2018

By Carlos Reyes

Se dispuso, en ambos casos, la suspensión de todas las tareas pastorales, así como la celebración pública de oficios religiosos. Uno de los denunciados actualmente está fuera de Chile por “motivos familiares”.

El obispado de Puerto Montt informó esta jornada el inicio de dos investigaciones previas contra religiosos de la diócesis. El primer caso se trata de una denuncia recibida el 31 de agosto contra el presbítero Darío Nicolás Serrano por presuntos abusos sexuales contra menores de edad. “Se ha iniciado una investigación previa para determinar la verosimilitud de los hechos denunciados, que habrían ocurrido en la década de los 90”, dijeron mediante un comunicado.

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[Two priests of Puerto Montt accused of sexual abuse]

CHILE
Publimetro

September 14, 2018

By Aton (news agency)

El propio arzobispado informó de las investigaciones.

El administrador apostólico de la Arquidiócesis de Puerto Montt, Ricardo Morales Galindo, informó a través de una declaración pública del inicio de dos investigaciones previas, a raíz de denuncias por presunto abuso sexual a menores de edad, por parte de religiosos de la capital regional de Los Lagos.

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[The clash of dual investigations into clergy sex abuse in the military]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 14, 2018

By Ivonne Toro

La duplicación de funciones y el enfrentamiento entre Guzmán y Arias –que es reconocido como tal por cercanos a los dos persecutores- podría, afirman fuentes consultadas por La Tercera PM, perjudicar el curso de las investigaciones. El problema es que ambos consideran que han sido mandatados directamente por Abbott para indagar en los archivos militares.

El lunes los fiscales regionales de la zona metropolitana Sur, Raúl Guzmán, y de O’Higgins, Emiliano Arias, entregaron a la Fiscalía Nacional el informe que debían elaborar acerca de sus respectivas investigaciones eclesiásticas luego de que ambos chocaran en pesquisas al exobispo Juan Barros, quien es indagado por Arias en cuanto a su responsabilidad como eventual encubridor de delitos sexuales ocurridos en el obispado castrense y en Osorno cuando se desempeñó en esta región. Y por Guzmán, por razones similares. Este último lo interrogó hace una semana.

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[Bishop Pablo Lizama testifies in case of Pedro Quiroz, former military chaplain]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 13, 2018

By Carlos Reyes

La citación fue realizada en calidad de imputado, por su presunta responsabilidad en el encubrimiento de los abusos sexuales que habrían sido cometidos por el ex capellán castrense, Pedro Quiroz.

Hasta dependencias de la Brigada Investigadora de Delitos Sexuales (Brisexme) de la PDI llegó esta tarde el obispo emérito de Antofagasta Pablo Lizama, para declarar en calidad de imputado, por su presunta responsabilidad en el encubrimiento de los abusos sexuales que habrían sido cometidos por el ex capellán castrense, Pedro Quiroz.

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[The sins of the cardinal: focus on Errázuriz intensifies]

CHILE
El Mostrador

September 14, 2018

By Alejandra Carmona López

Después de casi dos meses de investigación, el Arzobispado de Santiago debería enviar en los próximos días a Roma el resultado de su indagatoria sobre la denuncia en contra del presbítero Jorge Laplagne Aguirre, que –según fuentes de El Mostrador– ya fue calificada como verosímil. De ser así, no solo el sacerdote acusado tendrá que enfrentarse a la justicia eclesiástica, además de la civil, sino también el círculo que ignoró sus denuncias, donde está lo más alto de la jerarquía católica chilena.

El 13 de julio pasado, el Arzobispado de Santiago instruyó una investigación previa en contra del presbítero Jorge Laplagne Aguirre. La solicitud venía de una esperanza antigua de justicia. Javier Molina Huerta, quien antes de cumplir 18años fue cercano a Laplagne e incluso se convirtió en su acólito, había denunciado por segunda vez los abusos que sufrió.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (U.S.)
The Hill

September 14, 2018

By Mike Lillis

Pelosi calls for ‘complete change’ in Catholic Church after widespread abuse

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday called for a complete overhaul in the way the Catholic Church confronts sexual abuse.

Pelosi became the latest prominent Catholic lawmaker to condemn the Vatican’s response amid reports of rampant sexual misconduct by clergy in the United States and beyond.

But Pelosi, who like Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is a devout Catholic, said she’s hopeful that Pope Francis and other church leaders will fix the problems from within, deflecting the notion that Congress should play any kind of oversight role.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

September 12, 2018

For Michael Bland, as for many victims of clerical sexual misconduct, this summer’s relentless news of abuse and cover-up in the U.S. church has reopened painful wounds.

And while many Catholics are demanding to know “who knew what and when” about retired Washington archbishop Theodore McCarrick, Bland says church officials do know this: His abuser continues to teach canon law at a pontifical university.

John Huels has maintained his position as a full professor at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Canada, even after reports in 2002 that he had — at least temporarily — left his position and would seek laicization.

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ROME (ITALY)
The Wall Street Journal

September 14, 2018

Under agreement, Beijing would recognize pope as head of China’s Catholics in return for Vatican recognition of excommunicated Chinese bishops

China and the Vatican are set to sign a landmark agreement later this month ending a long struggle between Beijing’s Communist rulers and the pope over who controls Catholicism in the world’s most populous country, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Reactions to the deal, which gives both sides a say in appointing the church’s bishops in China, are likely to be sharply divided, with some hailing a diplomatic coup by the Vatican that draws China closer to the West and others warning of an important defeat for the principle of religious freedom.

The controversial deal would include the first official recognition by Beijing that the pope is the head of the Catholic Church in China. In return, Pope Francis would formally recognize seven excommunicated Chinese bishops who were appointed by the Communist government without Vatican approval.

“It is a baby step by China toward recognizing some of the framework of the Western world,” said Francesco Sisci, an Italian who teaches international relations at China Renmin University in Beijing. “It doesn’t go as far as recognizing what we in the West call religious freedom but it is a degree of religious autonomy.”

Others, including some U.S. diplomats, are concerned the pope is conceding a strong influence over church leadership to an avowedly atheist authoritarian regime.

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A priest set to be elevated to an auxiliary bishop by Cardinal Blase Cupich was investigated a decade ago over an allegation of sexual misconduct with a child that state authorities deemed “unfounded,” the Archdiocese of Chicago revealed on Friday.

The archdiocese made the unusual disclosure about Rev. Robert Casey Friday evening “for the sake of transparency” ahead of Monday’s Ordination Mass at Holy Name Cathedral, where he and two other priests will become Cupich’s auxiliary bishops, according to archdiocese spokeswoman Anne Maselli.

Casey, 50, was removed from the ministry for about four weeks in 2008 as the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services investigated a complaint about an incident alleged to have occurred that year, Maselli said. State investigators determined the claim was “unfounded,” the archdiocese said.

“According to a letter from DCFS communicating this decision, ‘this means that credible evidence does not exist to support the allegation made,’ ” the archdiocese said in their Friday statement. “Given this determination, Bishop-elect Casey was returned to ministry.”

Neither Casey nor a DCFS spokesman could be reached for comment Friday night.

Casey was the pastor of Our Lady of Tepeyac Parish in the Little Village at the time the complaint surfaced, according to a church biography. The next year, he moved to become pastor of St. Barbara Parish in Brookfield and again in 2016 to St. Bede the Venerable Parish on the Southwest Side. That’s where he has served up to the July 3 announcement that he had been appointed an auxiliary bishop by Pope Francis.

Casey also serves on the archdiocese’s Placement Board, assisting with the assignment process of priests to parishes.

The announcement came a night before Cupich is scheduled to celebrate a special Mass Saturday night at Holy Name in response to the Catholic Church’s ongoing clergy sexual abuse crisis. The cardinal has caught flak over the last two weeks for saying the Church has “a bigger agenda than to be distracted by all of this” — comments deemed “tone-deaf” by seminarians struggling with the scandal.

The archdiocese on Friday noted that Rev. Mark Bartosic and Rev. Ronald Hicks, who will also be ordained auxiliary bishops on Monday, were also “vetted in accordance with regular procedure” and “[n]one has a substantiated allegation of sexual misconduct.”

“The bishops-elect were seminary classmates and share a fluency and interest in Hispanic language and culture so vital in serving our parishioners,” Cupich said in a July statement announcing the new auxiliary bishops. “Each of them has distinguished himself through dedication, service and a life-long witness to the Gospel. We welcome their ideas and energy as we renew the Church.”

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WASHINGTON D.C.
USA TODAY

September 13, 2018

By Nicole Gaudiano

House Speaker Paul Ryan, a prominent Catholic, on Thursday called for transparency and accountability as the church examines a wave of clergy sex scandals and cover-up allegations.

“This needs to be elevated to truth and justice,” the Wisconsin Republican said, responding to a reporter’s question. “That means cleanse the problem with total transparency and total accountability so that the healing can begin, and so that the church can renew itself.”

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UNITED STATES
TheHumanist.com

September 13, 2018

By Luis Granados

Hardly a day has gone by the past month without some major new development in the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal. First it was the demise of Cardinal McCarrick, followed by the stunning revelations of the Pennsylvania grand jury report and some at least moderately plausible allegations against the pope himself, including while he served as an archbishop in Argentina. (The pope is blaming Satan for his troubles.) Now law enforcement officials in seven other states are at different stages of launching Pennsylvania-style investigations into the organized criminal activity and cover-up perpetrated by the Catholic Church.

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BOSTON (MA)
Radio Boston, WBUR Radio

September 13, 2018

By Eve Zuckoff, Jill Kaufman and Chris Citork

[AUDIO]

Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley and other U.S. Catholic officials met with Pope Francis in Rome Thursday to address growing public pressure on the Church to deal more proactively with its continuing sexual abuse scandal.

U.S. bishops requested the meeting after allegations surfaced against former Archbishop Theodore McCarrick. The accusations against McCarrick, who has since resigned, are tied to his time as a bishop in New York.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, former Vatican ambassador to the U.S., has accused church leadership, including Pope Francis, of being aware of the allegations against McCarrick, but helping him to climb the ranks of the church anyway.

The controversy has engulfed Cardinal O’Malley, who apologized for how his office mishandled a 2015 letter from a priest with concerns about McCarrick.

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VATICAN CITY
Associated Press

September 13, 2018

The latest on the sex abuse and cover-up scandal rocking the Vatican (all times local):

11:45 p.m.

West Virginia’s attorney general says allegations that a U.S. Roman Catholic bishop sexually harassed adults warrant “a close review” by the state.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey issued a statement Thursday after Pope Francis accepted Bishop Michael Bransfield’s resignation and authorized Baltimore Archbishop William Lori to conduct an investigation into allegations against Bransfield.

Bransfield was the bishop for the West Virginia diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Morrisey calls the allegations “disturbing.” He says a review is warranted “to determine how best we can protect West Virginians who might have been victims.”

The Republican Morrisey is seeking to unseat incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin in November’s election.

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CONROE (TX)
San Antonio Express-News

September 13, 2018

By Massarah Mikati and Robert Downen

Two people who say they were sexually abused by a former Conroe priest nearly two decades ago say the Houston region’s highest-ranking Catholic official failed to properly investigate their alleged assaults.

The accusations against Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, who has led the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston since 2006, come just weeks after DiNardo called for more transparency into the church’s handling of sexual abuse allegations and as he prepares to meet with Pope Francis and two other prelates on Thursday to discuss the controversy.

But a man and a woman who allege they were abused by the priest, Father Manuel La Rosa-Lopez, said in interviews that their claims were not taken seriously by DiNardo.

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UNITED STATES
Snopes.com

September 14, 2018

A disreputable web site chose to over-simplify and sensationalize a real homily delivered by the pope in September 2018.

CLAIM
In September 2018, Pope Francis said, in effect, that exposing pedophile priests is Satan’s work.

WHAT’S TRUE
In September 2018, Pope Francis said in a homily that “the Great Accuser” (a Biblical name for Satan) was working to “attack bishops” and “uncover their sins” so as to “scandalize the people.” Francis delivered the homily at a time when the Vatican hierarchy (including he himself) is facing multiple allegations of covering up sexual abuse.

WHAT’S FALSE
Pope Francis did not make a general pronouncement about efforts to expose child sexual abuse, but rather a much more ambiguous and enigmatic statement which left itself open to multiple interpretations.

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UNITED STATES
The Weekly Standard

September 14, 2018

By Jonathan V. Last

Consider what we know, and what has been alleged, about Pope Francis, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, and disgraced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

For several decades, Father, Bishop, Archbishop, and eventually Cardinal McCarrick preyed sexually on the priests and seminarians serving under his authority. There are credible allegations he abused boys as young as 11. To the extent that this behavior was a secret within the American church, it was very badly kept. Between 2005 and 2007, three dioceses in New Jersey paid out large cash settlements to keep allegations of abuse by McCarrick quiet. As Bishop Steven Lopes told First Things, “I was a seminarian when Theodore McCarrick was named archbishop of Newark. And he would visit the seminary often, and we all knew.”

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BUFFALO (NY)
WIVB.com

September 13, 2018

By Daniel Telvock

Diocese of Buffalo says it plans to release more names of priests

The Diocese of Buffalo has placed a retired priest on administrative leave for an allegation of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl.

Mitchell Garabedian, the Boston-based attorney for the accuser, told News 4 Investigates that his client was abused in the late 1960s, while The Rev. John J. Sardina served at the Coronation of Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Buffalo.

Sardina, 86, now lives at the Msgr. Coniff Residence in Depew with other retired priests. He has been a priest for 68 years.

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BOSTON (MA)
Greater Boston, WGBH-TV

September 13, 2018

[See video]

Earlier today, Pope Francis met in Rome with leaders of the American Catholic Church on the issue of sexual abuse among their own ranks. Speaking after the meeting, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo said the church leaders “prayed together for God’s mercy and strength” and that they “look forward to actively continuing [their] discernment together identifying the most effective next steps.”

Unfortunately, the Catholic Church has been trying to identify those next steps for years now — and it seems like every day, disturbing new information comes out. Just today, the Pope authorized an investigation into claims that a West Virginia bishop — whose retirement Pope Francis just happened to accept today as well — sexually harassed adults.This comes in the wake of a Pennsylvania grand jury report documenting the sexual abuse and assaults of more than 1,000 children by hundreds of Catholic priests.

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MONTREAL (CANADA)
Catholic Register

September 12, 2018

In response to the sexual abuse crisis embroiling the universal Church, Montreal’s archbishop has pledged that crimes committed in his diocese will never be covered up.

Writing in the Montreal Gazette on Sept. 8, Archbishop Christian Lépine promised that, in addition to accompanying victims, “we must unequivocally send out a clear message that we will never accept that such crimes could be committed and remain concealed.”

He promised to always “get to the bottom of things in search for the truth” and to ensure that sexual predators never use the Church to “operate secretly.”

Lépine referred to Pope Francis’ “Letter to the People of God” in which he called for all clergy and laypersons to made every effort to prevent abuse and also ensure abuse is not covered up.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
NPR

September 13, 2018

By Amy Held

As Pope Francis sat down at the Vatican Thursday with a delegation of U.S. bishops and cardinals to discuss how to gain ground in the sexual abuse crisis engulfing the Catholic Church, fresh scandals emerged on both sides of the Atlantic.

In Germany, a first-of-its kind study leaked to German news outlets found that over the past seven decades, at least 3,677 children have been sexually abused by clergy members there.

Researchers who spent four years studying records and conducting new interviews found that 1,670 priests and other religious leaders were suspected of engaging in abuse — 4.4 percent of the total number of clergy in the country.

And yet researchers repeatedly emphasized throughout the 350-page report that the actual numbers are likely “significantly higher,” German newspaper Die Zeit reports.

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SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Reuters

September 13, 2018

Chilean prosecutors and police launched raids on the offices of four bishoprics on Thursday as they continued an investigation into cases of sexual abuse of minors by members of the Roman Catholic Church, the lead prosecutor’s spokesman said.

Chilean prosecutor Emiliano Arias ordered the simultaneous raids in the coastal city of Valparaiso and the southern cities of Concepcion, Chillan and Osorno.

The raids were prompted by information law enforcement officials uncovered in previous searches, said Diego Alcaino, a spokesman for Arias, by text message. He said the information relates to Oscar Munoz, a top aide to Santiago’s archbishop, who faces charges over accusations of sexual abuse of at least five minors.

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NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

September 13, 2018

It’s long past time for penitence and promises on clerical pedophilia. Pope Francis must act.

Pope Francis has summoned senior bishops from around the world for the first global gathering of Roman Catholic leaders to address the crisis of clerical pedophilia. The action is long overdue, and the outcome cannot be yet more apologies and pledges of better behavior. The unending revelations of clerical sexual abuse and cover-ups demand radical, public, convincing systemic change.

The latest barrage of revelations and developments — including a gut-wrenching report by a grand jury in Pennsylvania detailing seven decades of sexual abuse of at least 1,000 children, and probably thousands more, by more than 300 Catholic priests — has left no question that Pope Francis’ legacy will be decided by how he confronts this crisis. It is devouring the Roman church — erasing trust in its hierarchs, dismaying the faithful and blackening its image. To be meaningful, any further response must include openly addressing allegations that the pope was himself party to a cover-up.

The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, met with the pope on Thursday to demand a full investigation into how the former archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick, rose to high rank despite a long and apparently well-known history of sexual predation. As if to underscore the importance of the meeting, it coincided with an announcement that Pope Francis had accepted the resignation of a bishop in West Virginia, Michael Bransfield, and ordered an investigation into allegations that he had sexually harassed adults.

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NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

September 14, 2018

By Matt Stevens

A leading American cardinal who met with Pope Francis on Thursday to discuss the sex abuse crisis that has engulfed the Roman Catholic Church is facing criticism over his management of a priest who was arrested this week on charges of indecency with children.

The cardinal, Daniel N. DiNardo, of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, has been accused of knowing about at least two episodes of sexual abuse by a priest, who was allowed to remain in ministry for years.

During the course of more than a decade as pastor of a Texas church, the priest, Manuel La Rosa-Lopez, was also appointed by Cardinal DiNardo to a leadership role in the archdiocese as episcopal vicar for Hispanics.

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CHCIAGO (IL)
WLS 7 ABC

September 12, 2018

By John Garcia, Stacey Baca and Megan Hickey

The Catholic Church is under fire over the handling of sex abuse scandals involving priests. Cardinal Blase Cupich met privately Wednesday with all priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

The closed-door meeting was held at 7 p.m. at Mundelein Seminary. Cardinal Cupich wanted to hear concerns from priests discuss the sex abuse scandal that is rocking the Roman Catholic Church worldwide.

It comes one day before the Pope meets with top church leaders about the crisis.

Mundelein Police guarded the seminary as Cardinal Cupich met with priests Wednesday night.

“He’s not inviting the public or the media in. He’s keeping it secret, which is exactly what the problem has been for the last five to six decades,” said Marc Pearlman, who represents abuse survivors.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

September 12, 2018

By Jay Tokasz

A Buffalo Diocese priest who serves as the bishop’s secretary told parishioners at a Mass this past weekend that he was a victim of sexual abuse by a priest, according to one worshiper.

The Rev. Ryszard S. Biernat confirmed to The Buffalo News that he revealed to the congregation of St. John the Baptist Church in the Town of Tonawanda that he had been abused.

But he declined to comment further about what happened to him.

Biernat, 37, has told other people in the diocese that a veteran Buffalo priest sexually harassed and abused him when Biernat was in seminary studying for the priesthood.

Biernat did not name the priest in his remarks at St. John the Baptist Church. The News has learned that the priest was suspended from ministry and is not active in a parish.

Biernat gave his brief remarks at the end of the Mass after the Rev. Michael J. Parker, pastor of St. John the Baptist parish, read a statement to the congregation from Bishop Richard J. Malone that apologized for the bishop’s failures in adequately addressing the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Buffalo Diocese.

Biernat, expressing empathy for victims of clergy sex abuse, encouraged victims of abuse to talk with him.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
San Diego Union-Tribune

September 13, 2018

By Peter Rowe and Kristina Davis

The clerical sexual abuse scandal rocking the Roman Catholic Church hit home Thursday, as the Diocese of San Diego added eight priests to the list of those believed to have molested children.

“This is a response to the terrible moment we are in,” said Bishop Robert McElroy, citing a recent Pennsylvania grand jury report that found 1,000 children had been molested by Pittsburgh area priests there, and the resignation of Theodore McCarrick, who is accused of sexually assaulting altar boys, seminarians and priests.

“The cascade of emotions that this causes the survivors of the abuse as well as other people in the pews, has caused a tumult of anger, grief, upset, incomprehension, disillusionment,” McElroy said.

The new names — the Revs. Jose Chavarin, Raymond Etienne, J. Patrick Foley, Michael French, Richard Houck, George Lally and Paolino Montagna, plus Monsignor Mark Medaer — were released in piecemeal fashion, with critical details missing.

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SAN JOSE (CA)
Mercury News

September 13, 2018

By John Woofolk

The Diocese of San Jose said Thursday it will launch an independent investigation into clergy sexual abuse and name priests credibly accused of abusing children as part of a diocesan effort to confront a scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic church around the world.

The extraordinary announcement — the first pledge to go public from a Bay Area diocese — came in a statement to parishioners from Bishop Patrick J. McGrath, who also said the diocese had hired a former FBI official to review how church leaders have handled past abuse complaints.

“Recent revelations of the horrific and heartbreaking crime of the sexual abuse of minors by priests — and the systematic cover-up by bishops – have fueled a crisis, unprecedented in modern times, in the Catholic Church,” McGrath said in the statement. “There is a need for reform; there is a need for transparency in the way the Church responds to allegations of the sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults, even as we continue our efforts of preventing abuse and fostering a safe environment for all.”

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SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
Salt Lake Tribune

September 13, 2018

By Jessica Miller

[Includes a link to Bishop Solis’s report. See also Bishop Niederaurer’s 2004 report of 13 accused. The BishopAccountability.org database contains 5 publicly known accused priests in the Diocese of Salt Lake City.]

In the past three decades, the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City has received “credible allegations” of sexual abuse involving 16 priests.

Two of those allegations were received just this year — with one case revealed publicly for the first time Thursday in a letter to Catholics from Bishop Oscar A. Solis.

The letter, called “Report to the People of God of the Diocese of Salt Lake City,” is likely the first time Utah Catholics have received this type of accounting of sex abuse allegations against priests, said diocese spokeswoman Jean Hill.

It also marks the first time the diocese acknowledged outside the parishes where he served that a second priest has been put on leave this year in connection to a sexual abuse allegation.

That allegation involved Father Jorge Martinez-Gomez, who was put on leave in early July after an “allegation of misconduct” involving a man. Parishioners at St. Francis of Assisi in Orem were told about the allegations involving the parochial vicar that month.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW 7 ABC

September 13, 2018

By Charlie Specht

A retired Buffalo priest has been suspended pending an abuse complaint.

“After receiving an abuse complaint against Father John J. Sardina, Bishop Richard J. Malone has placed Father Sardina on administrative leave as an investigation continues,” the Diocese of Buffalo said in a statement on its website. “This administrative leave is for the purpose of investigation and does not imply any determination as to the truth or falsity of the complaint.”

Sardina was ordained in 1960, diocesan directories show, and served in the following assignments: Unknown (1961), Nativity in Buffalo (1962-64), Our Lady of Pompeii in Lancaster (1965-67), Holy Cross in Buffalo (1968), Coronation in Buffalo (1969-77), Holy Cross in Buffalo (1978-80) and St. Anthony in Fredonia (1981-86).

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

September 13, 2018

By Jay Tokasz

Buffalo Diocese Bishop Richard J. Malone has suspended another retired priest from ministry due to a sexual abuse complaint.

The diocese announced Thursday on its website that the Rev. John J. Sardina, 86, has been placed on administrative leave as the complaint is investigated.

Sardina lives in a residence for retired priests in Depew. He could not be reached Thursday afternoon to comment.

The diocese provided no details about when the abuse was alleged to have happened or where Sardina was assigned at the time.

The diocese statement said that the leave was “for the purpose of investigation and does not imply any determination as to the truth or falsity of the complaint.”

Sardina was ordained to the priesthood in 1960, and early in his vocation served at St. Jude missionary apostolate parish in Sardinia; Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Buffalo; Our Lady of Pompeii Church in Lancaster; and Holy Cross Church in Buffalo.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Diocese of Buffalo

September 13, 2018

After receiving an abuse complaint against Father John J. Sardina, Bishop Richard J. Malone has placed Father Sardina on administrative leave as an investigation continues. This administrative leave is for the purpose of investigation and does not imply any determination as to the truth or falsity of the complaint.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
BBC World Service

September 13, 2018

By Linda Pressly

Santiago – In Chile, more than 100 Catholic clergy are being investigated over alleged sex crimes and attempts to cover them up. It’s a scandal that haunts the reign of Pope Francis and has tipped the Chilean church into crisis. But it began decades ago with one man – Father Fernando Karadima, a parish priest in Santiago, who became Chile’s most notorious sexual predator.

“He offered you the vision of being called by the Lord. He showed you a very wonderful world,” remembers Dr James Hamilton, a gastric surgeon now in his 50s.

“He always told us he had a special gift – a kind of miracle gift – that he could see in every young person, if they had been called by God. He was almost a kind of saint.”

Father Fernando Karadima offered the adolescent James Hamilton refuge in the early 1980s. Chile had been under the dictatorship of Gen Augusto Pinochet for a decade. And in those troubled years of killings and disappearances, the church community created by this charismatic priest in the upmarket Santiago parish of El Bosque provided welcome reassurance.

“For a young person, it was like the bee and the honey – it was sweet in a world of difficulties, when you were struggling with your family,” says James Hamilton.

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NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

September 13, 2018

By Laurie Goodstein

Pope Francis has ordered an investigation into allegations that West Virginia’s bishop, Michael J. Bransfield, sexually harassed adults, and has accepted the bishop’s immediate resignation.

The pope has assigned the Archbishop of Baltimore, William E. Lori, to handle the investigation and to take temporary charge of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, the church’s only diocese in West Virginia. The diocese is a small one, with about 75,000 Catholics.

In an announcement posted on the diocese’s website, Archbishop Lori said he would meet with clergy and lay leaders on Thursday and Friday, and that he had opened a hotline for tips.

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ATLANTA (GA)
CNN

September 13, 2018

By Daniel Burke and Delia Gallagher, CNN

Rome – Struggling to contain one of the most serious crises of his papacy, Pope Francis met Thursday in Rome with leaders of the American Catholic Church, the epicenter of a rapidly escalating clergy sex abuse scandal.

“We shared with Pope Francis our situation in the United States — how the Body of Christ is lacerated by the evil of sexual abuse. He listened very deeply from the heart. It was a lengthy, fruitful, and good exchange,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“As we departed the audience, we prayed the Angelus together for God’s mercy and strength as we work to heal the wounds. We look forward to actively continuing our discernment together identifying the most effective next steps.”

Also attending the meeting were Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors; Archbishop Jose Gomez, vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; and Monsignor Brian Bransfield, the conference’s general secretary.

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[Simultaneous raids on church offices in Concepción, Valparaíso, Osorno and Chillán]

CHILE
BioBioChile

September 13, 2018

By Yerko Roa, Eduardo Macias, and Tania Lavado

Fiscalía y Carabineros allanaron simultáneamente las oficinas de la Iglesia de Católica en Concepción, Valparaíso, Chillán y Osorno, por las investigaciones de delitos sexuales contra menores de edad. Los procedimientos comenzaron cerca de las 11:15 horas de este jueves en los obispados de Valparaíso, Chillán y Osorno, y también en el Arzobispado de Concepción. Los funcionarios del OS9 de la policía uniformada llegaron hasta las distintas sedes liderados por el Ministerio Público.

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[Church abuse case include accusations against seven bishops and a ‘culture of concealment’]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 13, 2018

By Ivonne Toro

En calidad de imputados se investiga a los obispos Ricardo Ezzati, Juan Barros y Gonzalo Duarte, entre otros. La tesis en la Fiscalía es que sus acciones u omisiones acreditan la existencia de una cultura de encubrimiento por parte de altos dignatarios de la iglesia.

Modificó la fecha de su declaración, fijada inicialmente para el 21 de agosto, y canceló su participación en el Tedeum Ecuménico este 18 de septiembre, pero el arzobispo de Santiago Ricardo Ezzati, aún no sale del radar del fiscal regional de Rancagua, Emiliano Arias. Ni lo hará.

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[Vatican says Cardinal Errázuriz will stay on Pope’s advisory council]

SANTIAGO, CHILE
Emol

September 13, 2018

“No ha habido ningún cambio en la composición del C-9”, aseguró la Santa Sede, añadiendo que “todos sus miembros tienen ya en agenda la convocatoria del próximo encuentro, los días 10-11-12 de diciembre”.

La versión ronda hace meses en torno al Vaticano: el Papa Francisco expulsó al arzobispo emérito de Santiago, Francisco Javier Errázuriz, del Consejo de Cardenales (C-9), grupo asesor creado por el Sumo Pontífice en 2013. Así lo publicó -el pasado 16 de agosto- el sitio web español eldiario.es. Así lo reiteró el martes el periódico italiano Corriere della Sera para explicar la ausencia del purpurado chileno de la reunión sostenida desde el lunes y hasta ayer por el Santo Padre y el cuerpo de asesores en Roma.

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[Details of the simultaneous raids in the Archdiocese of Valparaíso, Chillán, Concepción and Osorno]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 13, 2018

By Belén Velásquez, Karin Hillmann and Carlos Reyes

Pasadas las 11.00 el fiscal Emiliano Arias dio inició en Chillán a un allanamiento simultáneo de los obispados de Valparaíso, Chillán, Concepción y Osorno. Para ello dispuso que el grupo de fiscales que trabajan junto con él en las indagatorias por presunto abuso sexual contra menores en la iglesia se movilizaran a dichas ciudades para concretar las diligencias.

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[Prosecutor’s office investigates Bishop of San Felipe for sex crimes]

By J. Matus and L. Zapata

Sacerdote Cristián Contreras es uno de los siete prelados investigados por el Ministerio Público. El caso se reasignó hace una semana al fiscal regional de Rancagua, Emiliano Arias

En el último catastro de la Fiscalía Nacional sobre casos de presuntos delitos referidos a abuso sexual en la Iglesia Católica, del 31 de agosto pasado, se informó que eran siete los obispos investigados por casos vinculados a este ilícito. Uno de ellos es el arzobispo de Santiago, cardenal Ricardo Ezzati, imputado por supuesto encubrimiento en el marco de la investigación contra el excanciller del Arzobispado de Santiago, Óscar Muñoz, formalizado por abuso sexual de menores.

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[Sexual abuse in Chile: “How I escaped from Fernando Karadima, the priest who abused me for decades”]

SANTIAGO, CHILE
BBC World via Publimetro

September 13, 2018

By Linda Pressly

La crisis que vive hoy la iglesia católica chilena se inició gracias a la denuncia de un hombre: James Hamilton, a quien después se le sumaron otras víctimas de abusos sexuales. Este es el testimonio del hombre que desenmascaró a Fernando Karadima. ¿Y qué piensa de la respuesta de la iglesia y el papa Francisco?

En Chile, más de 100 clérigos católicos están siendo investigados por presuntos delitos sexuales y por intentar encubrirlos, en un escándalo que atormenta el reinado del papa Francisco y tiene en crisis a la iglesia chilena. Pero todo comenzó hace décadas con un hombre: el padre Fernando Karadima, párroco de Santiago, quien se convirtió en el depredador sexual más famoso de Chile.

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[Prosecutor investigates bishops of San Felipe and Aysén for crimes of sexual nature]

CHILE
El Mostrador

September 13, 2018

Cabe destacar que la investigación se le asignó al fiscal de San Felipe, Alejandro Bustos, para luego, el 6 de septiembre, ser remitido el caso al fiscal regional de Rancagua, Emiliano Arias, facultado para indagar casos contra sacerdotes que no necesariamente sean de su región.

En el marco de las investigaciones que lleva adelante el Ministerio Público, son siete los obispos indagados por delitos referidos a abuso sexual en la Iglesia Católica. Entre ellos se encuentra el obispo de San Felipe, Cristián Enrique Contreras Molina.

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HOUSTON (TX)
Associated Press

September 12, 2018

By Nomaan Merchant

As U.S. Catholic leaders head to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis about a growing church abuse crisis, the cardinal leading the delegation has been accused by two people of not doing enough to stop a priest who was arrested this week on sexual abuse charges.

The two people told The Associated Press that they reported the priest and met with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. One of them says she was promised in a meeting with DiNardo, several years after she first reported abuse, that the priest would be removed from any contact with children, only to discover that the priest remained in active ministry at another parish 70 miles away.

The priest, Manuel LaRosa-Lopez, was arrested Tuesday by police in Conroe, Texas. Both people who spoke to the AP are cooperating with police.

The priest’s arrest and allegations that DiNardo kept an abusive priest around children cast a shadow over a Thursday summit at the Vatican between Pope Francis and American bishops and cardinals. DiNardo is leading the delegation, putting him in the position of having to fend off abuse allegations in his own diocese while at the same time calling on the pope to get tougher on clergy abuse.

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ALLENTOWN (PA)
Morning Call

September 12, 2018

By Tim Darragh

Asexual abuse allegation against the Rev. David C. Gillis, a Catholic priest who was suspended from ministry last month, is false, Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams said Wednesday.

The Allentown Diocese said Gillis’ suspension was lifted and that he is being returned as a priest in good standing.

Gillis, an Allentown diocesan priest serving in Cocoa Beach, Fla., had been suspended for what the Rev. John Giel, chancellor for canonical affairs for the Orlando Diocese, referred to as an allegation with “at least a semblance of truth.”

It was made Aug. 24 through ChildLine, Pennsylvania’s child abuse hotline, by the father of a woman who said she was sexually abused as a child.

The woman later told investigators she was not abused by Gillis and detectives could find no evidence to substantiate the allegation, Adams said in a news release.

“The father did not have any basis to name Rev. David C. Gillis, but mentioned him because he was a priest at St. John the Baptist de La Salle School in Shillington, Berks County,” Adams said.

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CONROE (TX)
Click2Houston

September 12, 2018

A Catholic priest turned himself in to police Tuesday after accusations that he abused at least two children while assigned to a Conroe church, police said.

According to Conroe police, Manuel La Rosa-Lopez was charged with four counts of indecency with a child in connection with an investigation that was launched last month.

“They did make outcrys to church officials at that time, and that information was not relayed, it’s our understanding at this time, that information was not relayed to law enforcement in any capacity,” Assistant Montgomery County District Attorney Tyler Dunman said Wednesday.

Police said the allegations of abuse span from the late ’90s to the early 2000s and accuse La Rosa-Lopez of abusing a girl and a boy while he was assigned to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

Investigators said La Rosa-Lopez surrendered to authorities at the Montgomery County Jail on Tuesday.

La Rosa-Lopez, 60, is currently a priest at St. John Fisher Catholic Church in Richmond.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
The Incline

September 11, 2018

Victims would have a choice, one advocate said.

By MJ Slaby

When people first come to the Center for Victims in the South Side to seek counseling or therapy, they usually aren’t there because of the legal system, Clinical Director Cindy Snyder said. They’re there because they’re struggling with what happened to them.

For people who were sexually abused by priests as children, that means physical, emotional and spiritual violations of trust, she said.

“Child victims have no idea that these [statutes of limitations] are even out there. It’s not until adulthood that they say, ‘I should report this,’” said Kristen Houser, chief public affairs officer for Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape. Victims of child sexual abuse in Pennsylvania can file criminal charges against their abuser until they are 50 years old, or they have until they are 30 to pursue a civil case.

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UNITED STATES
Center for Inquiry

September 11, 2018

By Leslie C. Griffin

The stories of sexual abuse are seemingly unending. A Pennsylvania grand jury gave us horrible details of seventy years of sexual abuse in six Roman Catholic dioceses. The report revealed that over 1,000 children were harmed by over 300 clergy. The grand jury tells us, for example, that

One of these priests ejaculated in the mouth of a seven-year-old. Some were manipulated with alcohol or pornography. Some were made to masturbate their assailants, or were groped by them. Some were raped orally, some vaginally, some anally. But all of them were brushed aside, in every part of the state, by church leaders who preferred to protect the abusers and their institution above all.

Their bishops covered the abuse up instead of doing anything to help children. There are probably thousands more victims, unreported or dead.

Some people named in the report argued in court that the report shouldn’t even be published. As usual, they were focused on the perpetrators’ needs instead of the victims’ rights. To date, their names are blocked out in the released report.

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UNITED STATES
SimchaFisher.com (blog)

August 11, 2018

The Catholic sex abuse scandal has two parts. The first part is the abuse itself. The second part is the institutional efforts to cover it up.

And now we are in the process of slowly, painfully uncovering these decades and centuries of crime.

This process is not part of the scandal.

The uncovering is dreadful. It is agonizing. It is, to use one of Francis’ favored words, messy. It’s always horrifying to witness the uncovering of hidden sin. But the uncovering is not part of the scandal. It is the remedy for the scandal, if there can be a remedy.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican News

September 11, 2018

At Mass in the Casa Santa Marta on Tuesday, Pope Francis invites bishops to overcome the “Great Accuser”, who seeks to create scandal, through prayer, humility, and nearness to God’s people.

In his homily at Mass on Tuesday morning, Pope Francis said it seems the “Great Accuser” is attacking the bishops of the Catholic Church to create scandal.

The Pope invited the bishops to remember three things in these troubled times: their strength lies in being men of prayer; they should have the humility to remember they are chosen by God; and they need to remain close to the people.

He reflected on the day’s Gospel (Lk 6:12-19), in which Jesus spends the night in prayer before choosing the Twelve Apostles, whom the Pope called “the first bishops”.

Men of prayer

Pope Francis said bishops must first of all be men of prayer. Prayer, he said, “is a bishop’s consolation in difficult times,” since they know that “Jesus is praying for me and for all bishops.”

The Pope said this will bring consolation and strength to bishops, who are then called to pray for themselves and the people of God. This, the Holy Father said, is a bishop’s first duty.

Humility of being chosen by God

Next, Pope Francis invited bishops to be humble, because they are chosen by God.

“The bishop who loves Jesus is not trying to climb a ladder, advancing his vocation as if it were a mere task or seeking a better placement or promotion. No. A bishop feels chosen, and has the certainty of being chosen. This drives him to speak with the Lord: ‘You chose me, of little importance, a sinner.’ He is humble, because he feels chosen and feels Jesus’ gaze upon his whole being. This gives him strength.”

Remain close to the people

Lastly, Pope Francis said bishops are called to be close to the people of God, and not shut up in an ivory tower.

“The bishop cannot remain distant from the people; he cannot have attitudes that take him away from them… He doesn’t try to find refuge with the powerful or elite. No. The ‘elites’ criticize bishops, while the people has an attitude of love towards the bishop. This is almost a special unction that confirms the bishop in his vocation.”

‘Great Accuser’ seeks to scandalize

Finally, Pope Francis said bishops need these three attitudes to face the scandal whipped up by the “Great Accuser”.

“In these times, it seems like the ‘Great Accuser’ has been unchained and is attacking bishops. True, we are all sinners, we bishops. He tries to uncover the sins, so they are visible in order to scandalize the people. The ‘Great Accuser’, as he himself says to God in the first chapter of the Book of Job, ‘roams the earth looking for someone to accuse’. A bishop’s strength against the ‘Great Accuser’ is prayer, that of Jesus and his own, and the humility of being chosen and remaining close to the people of God, without seeking an aristocratic life that removes this unction. Let us pray, today, for our bishops: for me, for those who are here, and for all the bishops throughout the world.”

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[Archbishop of Concepción announced series of measures to combat abuse]

CHILE
Soy Chile

September 8, 2018

Fernando Chomalí reflexionó respecto al momento de la Iglesia y propuso la creación de comisiones y más transparencia en los procesos canónicos, entre otros.

A través de una carta dirigida a la comunidad católica, el arzobispo de Concepción, Fernando Chomalí, anunció una serie de medidas para combatir los casos de abuso. Entre las propuestas, se encuentra la reubicación de la Oficina Pastoral de Denuncia y la Comisión de Prevención de Abusos, además de la creación de una política de recepción y acogida de denuncias de abuso, mejorar la transparencia de los procesos canónicos y la creación de otras comisiones de apoyo y acompañamiento a las víctimas.

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[Italian press reports that the Pope removed Errázuriz from his council of advisers]

SANTIAGO, CHILE
Emol

September 11, 2018

By Juan Peña

Según se señala, la acusaciones en su contra por presunto encubrimiento de los abusos de Karadima, sería una de las causas. El ex arzobispo de Santiago no participó en la reunión del C-9 en Roma.

El papa Francisco resolvió sacar de su consejo de asesores (C-9) al cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz (85 años), según informa este martes la prensa italiana. De acuerdo al diario Corriere della Sera, la acusaciones en su contra por presunto encubrimiento de los abusos de Karadima y su avanzada edad, serían las causas de la decisión.

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[Without Barros, lay people from Osorno will again participate in traditional Te Deum]

CHILE
BioBioChile

September 11, 2018

By Yessenia Márquez and Eric Paredes

Los laicos organizados de Osorno en la región de Los Lagos, dieron a conocer que participarán del tradicional Te Deum a realizarse en Fiestas Patrias. Sin embargo, en esta oportunidad lo harán como un acto de reconciliación con la Iglesia Católica.

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BOSTON (MA)
New Boston Post

September 12, 2018

By Kevin Thomas

I attended a Catholic seminary from 1978 to 1980 and …

No, I don’t have any lurid stories to share.

I believe I’m in the majority among seminarians but, obviously, there are problems … in seminaries and parishes. Another wave of sexual abuse scandals is rocking the Catholic Church in the United States. From Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s predator past being exposed, to a Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing hundreds of clerical abusers, to the latest accusations of a papal cover-up.

What is a Catholic to do? I mean, besides becoming saddened, frustrated, and angrier than words can describe.

For a practicing Catholic, leaving the Church is never been an option. This is not a club. We did not sign on because of fallible men, but because of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. We believe God’s presence is in our churches. If not, why would we bother?

Modern Catholic writer Eve Tushnet, who often delivers sincerity and clarity in her works, writes:

“There are times when words fail, when prayers don’t come, when you have no idea how to live in gratitude for a life which seems consumed by confusion, injustice, or suffering. In those times, the silence of the Eucharist can be great solace. Simply being present with Him is enough.”

There are times, like when I read again of evil in our church, I must simply sit in a chapel, before the tabernacle. A great solace, indeed.

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VATICAN CITY
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

September 11, 2018

By Jessica Remo

In the wake of a Pennsylvania grand jury report alleging decades of sexual abuse of children by priests and sophisticated cover-ups by bishops, people have been hanging on the pope’s every word.

So, wait? What, exactly, did his Holiness mean when he referenced a “Great Accuser” attacking bishops in a homily today?

Weeks after the Pennsylvania allegations (which included four priests with ties to N.J.) — and after a cardinal accused the pope of covering up other alleged sexual abuses by former Newark Archbishop Theodore McCarrick — Pope Francis preached the following, according to Vatican News:

“In these times, it seems like the ‘Great Accuser’ has been unchained and is attacking bishops. True, we are all sinners, we bishops. He tries to uncover the sins, so they are visible in order to scandalize the people. The ‘Great Accuser’, as he himself says to God in the first chapter of the Book of Job, ‘roams the earth looking for someone to accuse’. A bishop’s strength against the ‘Great Accuser’ is prayer, that of Jesus and his own, and the humility of being chosen and remaining close to the people of God, without seeking an aristocratic life that removes this unction. Let us pray, today, for our bishops: for me, for those who are here, and for all the bishops throughout the world.”

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CONROE (TX)
KTRK

September 12, 2018

A possible sex abuse scandal involving a local priest is unfolding.

Two people have come forward, saying that Father Manuel La Rosa-Lopez sexually abused children while working at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe in the late 1990s to early 2000s.

La Rosa-Lopez is charged with four counts of indecency with a child. He turned himself in to authorities at the Montgomery County Jail on Tuesday.

La Rosa-Lopez currently is assigned to a church in Richmond.

According to court documents, the two alleged victims are not linked, but each came forward recently after seeing news coverage of sex abuse by priests.

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VATICAN CITY
Townhall

September 12, 2018

By Guy Benson

The Catholic Church is embroiled in another scandal of systemic sexual abuse, and some of the institution’s top leaders are responding shockingly poorly. Having been credibly accused of looking the other way on a former Cardinal’s rampant misconduct and abuse, and even rehabilitating his standing by reducing previously-imposed sanctions against him, Pope Francis has pointedly declined to comment:

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UNITED STATES
Rewire News

September 12, 2018

By Joelle Casteix

The cover-up has nothing to do with politics. It’s about saving face, protecting priestly friends, and saving the Church from scandal.

Americans love intrigue. So when Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano recently issued a public letter alleging a wide-scale cover-up of child sexual abuse—one which reaches all the way to Pope Francis himself—the media and public were sucked right into the conspiracy.

Vigano’s letter opened the doors to the inner workings of the Vatican political and culture war—one culminating with accusations of liberal vs. conservative, gay vs. straight priests, and the power struggles between Popes Francis, Pope Emeritus Benedict, and the Roman Curia.

The problem? None of this has to do with the causes of the sexual abuse of children. By muddying the waters and shifting focus from the crimes and onto politics and the Vatican culture war, Vigano’s letter feeds into old stereotypes that silence victims, minimize abuse, and encourage the continued cover-up.

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LAFAYETTE (LA)
Queerty

September 12, 2018

By Graham Gremore

There’s been a lot of renewed chatter in recent weeks about sex abuse happening within the Catholic church after more than 300 priests from Pennsylvania were accused of sexually assaulting countless victims, many of whom were young boys.

Last week, Louisiana’s “family values” Attorney General Jeff Landry weighed in on the matter when he said his office couldn’t possibly investigate the Catholic church for sex abuse crimes because, well, he just couldn’t. OK?

Landry, who doesn’t want anyone to know he has a gay brother, released a statement on Friday saying he totally supports going after child molesters. But, also, he’s a Catholic. So what’s a guy to do, right?

“As a practicing Catholic, I wholeheartedly support efforts to root out pedophile priests and end the horrific misconduct by Church authorities,” he said. “Those who sexually abused children and those who covered up their despicable acts should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

He just doesn’t want anything to do with it. Even though he’s the state’s Attorney General.

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MOBILE (AL)
Lagniappe Mobile

September 12, 2018

By Gabriel Tynes

As a wave of new revelations concerning sexual abuse by priests in other parts of the country has come to light, questions about the Archdiocese of Mobile’s past remain mostly in the shadows. Whether churchwide calls for openness and even confession will be heeded here remains to be seen, but there is little doubt there is newfound interest worldwide in how the Catholic Church has handled sexual abuse over the years.

It’s been 16 years since reports of child sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston peeled back the curtains on a much broader problem in the Catholic Church, exposing abusive priests and complicit senior church officials nationwide. In response, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) adopted the 2002 Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which, among other things, recommends immediately removing any accused priest from ministry pending an investigation and reporting all allegations of abuse involving clergy to civil authorities.

Subsequent reports commissioned by the same organization determined allegations of abuse in the church have fallen since peaking in the early 1970s. Its most recent numbers implicate 6,721 church officials in allegations of abuse from 1950-2016, representing at least 18,565 victims.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
The York Daily Record

September 7, 2018

By Ed Mahon

Bishop Ronald W. Gainer has talked about “the healing touch of transparency.”

But a review of his record as the head of the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, diocese offers a complicated portrait.

Terry McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, said recent revelations and actions show that Gainer isn’t living up to his promises of transparency as the leader of the Harrisburg diocese.

For instance:

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Buffalo News

September 12, 2018

By Jerry Zremski

The holy man’s words cut through the crowd at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Falls Church, Va., not like a prayer, but like an insult.

“Reporters are trying to destroy the church,” the priest said in the most ad hominem homily I ever heard. “Lawyers are trying to destroy the church.”

I heard those words a decade ago, six years after the Boston Globe delivered its Pulitzer Prize-winning series on pedophile priests in the Diocese of Boston and back when we were gulled into believing that such things never, ever happened to the same degree in Buffalo or Washington.

Still, those words made me seethe because they were both wrong and stupid. So, of course, I felt compelled to speak with the priest after Mass.

“Father, reporters aren’t trying to destroy the church,” I told him. “Reporters at the Boston Globe uncovered grave sins that the church ignored.”

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SAN MATEO (CA)
The San Mateo Daily Journal

September 12, 2018

By Dorothy Dimitre

“All power is a trust and we are accountable for its exercise.” — Disraeli.

It’s the patriarch thing — still predominant in many institutions of our society. From many families, to the church, to government, men obsessed with authority and power mostly run things, people often revere them, and no matter how corrupt the patriarchs, there are enough people that cling to the father figure tenaciously and further their cause.

In spite of the advances of the women’s movement, in many areas patriarchy has managed to remain alive and kicking — and its destructive ramifications are often evident in the news. This is not only about the priest child-molesters, but the church hierarchy’s cavalier cover-up — patriarchal authoritarian mindset turned catastrophic. Add those who allow them all that power.

Many questions come to mind. Why were so many of the children who were sexually abused by the priests unable to talk about what happened? Why were the few parents who were told about it in such denial that they couldn’t comprehend? What kind of arrogance imbued the hierarchy who went to such great lengths to cover it up? Why was it more important for those in charge to protect the perpetrator than to protect innocent children? Do these priests and the hierarchy feel at all sinful because they betrayed people who trusted them as examples of morality, integrity and compassion? How desperate are they to protect their position of unquestioned authority? A clue: The Dean of the College of Cardinals dismissed the accusations as “petty gossip.”

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Penn Record

September 12, 2018

By Nicholas Malfitano

In the wake of the recent release of a state grand jury report on the subject of child sexual abuse at the hands of clergy in Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh-area man and two former area residents have launched legal action against the Diocese of Pittsburgh, claiming it fraudulently concealed their abuse and that of other victims.

James A. Saitta of Bethel Park, David M. Rebholz of Hope, R.I. and Heather L. Taylor of San Diego filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Sept. 6 and 7 versus The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, its Bishop David A. Zubik and Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, all of Pittsburgh.

Plaintiffs’ Individual Allegations of Abuse

In his lawsuit, Saitta, now 51 years old, claims he was the victim of more than five years of sexual abuse at the hands of Rev. John S. Hoehl, spanning 1979 to 1985 and beginning when he was 12 years old. Hoehl was then serving at St. Francis Church on Pittsburgh’s North Side and became acquainted with the plaintiff and his family, who asked Hoehl to counsel Saitta prior to his entry to high school.

“Hoehl performed this counseling session with plaintiff alone his summer cabin in Somerset, Pennsylvania. Starting at this time, Hoehl began sexually abusing plaintiff, which included the following acts: Kissing, fondling and engaging in oral sex with plaintiff. This abuse continued on numerous occasions from 1979 until plaintiff graduated from Kiski Prep High School in 1985. The abuse occurred both at Hoehl’s summer cabin and at the rectory in Quigley Catholic High School,” Saitta’s suit states.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Press Office

September 12, 2018

The Holy Father Francis, after hearing the Council of Cardinals, has decided to convene a meeting with the presidents of the Episcopal Conferences of the Catholic Church on the theme of the “protection of minors”.

The meeting with the Pope will be held in the Vatican from 21 to 24 February 2019.

During the 26th meeting, which took place from 10 to 12 of this month, the Council reflected extensively together with the Holy Father on the theme of abuse, issuing the Communiqué published by the Holy See Press Office on 10 September.

As it proceeds in the work of the reform of the Roman Curia, the Council has concluded its rereading of the texts already prepared; the pastoral care of the staff who work there has also been a cause of attention.

Vatican City, 12 September 2018

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HONOLULU (HAWAII)
HawaiiNewsNow

September 10, 2018

A Honolulu man who says he was sexually abused by a priest 37 years ago is suing the Catholic church and the order of the deceased priest.

The lawsuit filed anonymously says the man was a child at Makiki’s Sacred Heart church in 1980 and 1981 when he was repeated sexually abused by Father James Jackson. The lawsuit says church officials knew of Jackson’s pedophilia, but did nothing to protect young parishioners.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Weekly Standard

September 12, 2018

By Sophia Buono

“The question is, ‘Who can you trust?’”

One morning, Robert Altier entered a store in Minnesota, expecting a normal round of shopping. But what he encountered was anything but normal.

“There was a small child who was there with his mom,” says Altier. “And I [saw] this absolutely horrified look on the woman’s face, and she pulled him back.”

What provoked the reaction? Altier, a Catholic priest, was simply wearing his clerical attire—the black button-down and pants, complete with the white collar. But that outfit was enough to frighten a small child.

After a slew of disturbing reports regarding sexual abuse allegations against priests and cover-ups from bishops, the incident (which happened to Fr. Altier “years ago,” in the midst of Minnesota’s own abuse scandals) demonstrates one of the repercussions that abuse scandals have had on the life and work of Catholic priests in America today.

The infamous Pennsylvania grand jury report and indictments against ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick have revealed church leaders’ failures to reprimand and remove perpetrators. This allowed the number of abuses to rise to painfully high levels. The Pennsylvania report alone identified 301 priests from six Pennsylvania dioceses who abused at least 1,000 children and adolescents between the 1940s and the 2010s.

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LANSING (MI)
NBC Chicago

September 11, 2018

“While the protocols and procedures mentioned in this lawsuit do not reflect how sexual assault claims are handled at MSU, we are taking the allegations very seriously and looking into the situation,” Michigan State spokeswoman Emily Guerrant said

A woman has filed a lawsuit against Michigan State University, saying she became pregnant after she was drugged and raped by Larry Nassar when he was a medical student in 1992 but that campus police refused to investigate.

The lawsuit was among dozens filed to meet a Monday deadline for legal claims against Michigan State, although the complaint might be too old to qualify for a share of $75 million set aside by the university for victims who aren’t part of a larger $425 million settlement.

Nassar, 55, became a sports doctor at MSU and for elite U.S. gymnasts but now is in prison for child pornography crimes and molesting female athletes with his hands.

The woman said she had a knee injury as a 17-year-old field hockey player and was encouraged to go to Nassar in 1992 because he was conducting a study about flexibility through the College of Osteopathic Medicine. The lawsuit alleges that Nassar drugged her, raped her and videotaped the assault.

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BOSTON (MA)
WGBH

September 11, 2018

By Maggie Penman

The Archdiocese of Boston announced Tuesday that a Catholic priest has been removed from the ministry over allegations that he abused a child in 2007.

Christian Ohazulume pled not guilty to three counts of aggravated assault and battery on a child under the age of 14 in Quincy District Court. The court set bail at $5,000 cash, with the conditions that should he make bail, Ohazulume will not be allowed to travel outside of Massachusetts and will have no contact with the victim or her family. He is also barred from unsupervised contact with minors.

The Archdiocese of Boston received the allegation against Ohazalume on August 31st, and immediately informed law enforcement. The alleged abuse is said to have occurred in 2007, while Ohazalume was staying with a family upon his arrival in the United States from Nigeria.

Ohazulume had been working as a chaplain at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center since 2010. The hospital gave a statement to WGBH News, saying that he was immediately placed on unpaid leave when they became aware of the accusation, and was terminated shortly thereafter. The hospital spokesperson also noticed that BIDMC does not have a pediatric service.

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
KATV

September 11, 2018

By Nick Popham

Twelve former Arkansas clergy have been listed by the Diocese of Little Rock as having credible allegations of sexually abusing minors against them.

More than half of the clergy on this list are no longer alive, but the bishop of the Diocese of Little Rock felt that it was necessary to share all 12 of these names.

Bill Lindsey’s first reaction came slightly from relief.

“At last, they have taken that step,” the volunteer with the Survivor’s Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said.

At last, according to Lindsey, the Diocese of Little Rock has formally released a list of 12 former clergy with credible allegations that they sexually abused minors.

It comes in the wake of a sweeping grand jury report on clergy abusing children in Pennsylvania.

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NEW YORK (NY)
VICE

September 12 2018

By Alex Norcia

“I think we’re going to look back on this as a Martin Luther moment, where someone’s nailing the theses to the door.”

Last week, in the wake of a grand jury report that concluded at least 300 priests had preyed on some 1,000 children across Pennsylvania since the 1940s, attorneys general in New York and New Jersey announced investigations into Catholic Church sexual abuse. Missouri, Nebraska, and Illinois have launched state-level probes as well—and more are likely to follow. New York went so far as to issue civil subpoenas in all eight of its dioceses—New Jersey has created a special criminal task force to look into seven—calling for the production of internal Church documents that relate to the handling of abuse cases. The dioceses, for their part, have pledged transparency in working with investigators.

The wave of official scrutiny comes on the heels of what can only be described as a disastrously scandal-ridden summer for the Catholic Church. In addition to the outrageous findings in Pennsylvania, Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, DC, was removed from the ministry and resigned from the College of Cardinals after being accused of sexually abusing a teenager, other minors, and adult seminarians. Pope Francis has yet to officially weigh in on the saga, but has been rocked by accusations from a rival archbishop who claimed the pontiff knew of McCarrick’s behavior and went so far as to demand he resign from the papacy.

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GERMANY
Sputnik

September 12, 2018

A series of sex scandals has hit the church recently, with cases of the sexual abuse of thousands of minors and clerical cover-up emerging in the US, Australia, and Chile. The Pontiff himself has been accused of knowing about a disgraced US cardinal’s sexual misconduct and doing nothing with it.

The Catholic Church is now facing a series of sex scandals, this time in Germany. Der Spiegel magazine said on Wednesday that thousands of children had been sexually abused by the German Catholic clergy over a 70-year period.

The study, conducted by the universities of Giessen, Heidelberg and Mannheim, detailed 3,677 cases of child sexual abuse between 1946 and 2014, perpetrated by 1,670 clerics and priests. The victims were predominantly boys, and more than half of them were aged 13 or younger. In many cases, pieces of records were destroyed or manipulated, the study added.

Der Spiegel quoted the study as saying that the Church had often moved clerics accused of sexual abuse to new communities, without notifying them about the perpetrations. Moreover, the culprits tended to escape punishment: only one third of those accused faced legal proceedings through the church, while 4 percent of identified perpetrators were still working. The study insisted that it is not yet time to say that the sexual abuse of minors is entirely in the past, as it continued until the end of the investigation period.

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ARGENTINA
PJ Media

September 11, 2018

By Debra Heine

Pope Francis faced accusations of covering up priestly abuse while he was the archbishop and cardinal in Buenos Aires, a 2017 French documentary reveals. A segment of the documentary, “Sex Abuse in the Church: The Code of Silence,” investigates the pope’s assertion that sexual abuse never happened in his diocese.

Investigative journalist Martin Boudot traveled to Buenos Aires to find out if the pope was telling the truth. Contradicting the pope’s assertion, a group of victims claimed they were sexually abused while Bergoglio [now Pope Francis] was archbishop and told Boudot their cries for justice were ignored.

“Regarding pedophile priests, in his book Pope Francis says there were no cases in his diocese,” said Boudot, prompting derisive laughter from the group.

“He wants people to believe that, but it’s a lie,” said one of the victims. They said they all tried to contact the archbishop after they were abused, but their cries fell on deaf ears.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

September 12, 2018

By Philip Pullella

Pope Francis has summoned senior Catholic bishops from around the world to the Vatican to discuss the protection of minors, in his latest attempt to come to grips with a spreading sexual abuse crisis.

The heads of the national Catholic bishops’ conferences will meet with Francis from Feb. 21-24, a Vatican spokeswoman said.

The announcement came at the end of a three-day meeting of the “C-9”, a group of nine cardinals from around the world who members meet about four times a year to advise the pope.

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NEW YORK (NY)
The Independent

September 12, 2018

By Mythili Sampathkumar

The theme of the meeting will be ‘protection of minors’, the Vatican says

Pope Francis has taken the unprecedented step of calling the Catholic Church’s top officials to a meeting to discuss the increasing number of sexual abuse scandals involving clergy members.

The summit with the presidents of all the bishops around the world is set to take place at the Vatican in February next year.

It will be the first meeting of its kind, with more than 100 bishop conferences attending.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
ABC News

September 12, 2018

By Karma Allen

The archbishop of Washington plans to meet with the pope in Rome to discuss the possibility of resigning as he confronts accusations that he mismanaged and concealed alleged sex abuse within the church, he wrote to local priests.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl said in a letter Tuesday that Pope Francis has asked him too “discern the best course of action” toward helping the church move forward in the wake of the allegations against him, which surfaced last month after a Pennsylvania grand jury accused more than 300 priests of child sex abuse.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times

September 12, 2018

By Gustavo Arellano

California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra has gained a reputation for going after anyone or anything that he feels threatens our Golden State. He’s filed 35 lawsuits just against the Trump administration. He’s prosecuted landlords who gouged renters after the devastating Tubbs fire last year. He has stood with “Dreamers” and against gun manufacturers.

So far, however, Becerra’s office has stayed mum on one of California’s biggest criminal outrages: sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

This decades-long scandal flared up again last month with the release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report. It detailed how 300 priests molested at least 1,000 children and groomed them for abuse over the last 70 years. But the equally horrific crime, Pennsylvania Atty. Gen. Josh Shapiro correctly argued, was that church hierarchy and law enforcement officials largely ignored victims and let offenders continue their depravities.

That was the case in California, too. Many of the still-alive monsignors, bishops and cardinals involved in California’s part of the pedophile priest problem have never faced appropriate consequences for their inaction. In New Jersey and New York, the attorneys general have launched new investigations. Becerra should do the same here.

I’ve covered the scandal in the Diocese of Orange since 2003, and even then it was evident to me that this wasn’t just a problem of a few bad padres.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

September 12, 2018

By Charlie Specht

Editor’s Note: This is Part Three of an ongoing investigation into Buffalo Bishop Richard J. Malone’s handling of sexually abusive priests.
Read Part One Here
Read Part Two Here

When the Diocese of Buffalo in March released a list of 42 priests “who were removed from ministry, were retired, or left ministry after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor,” Bishop Richard J. Malone billed it as a historic coming-clean of decades worth of secrets.

But new evidence obtained by 7 Eyewitness News from inside the diocese’s secret archives shows the true scope of abuse was much larger than Malone publicly let on — with a total of 106 total priests on the original draft list of accused priests.

A second internal document shows that may be understating the problem.

That document — a database of diocesan employees “who have been accused of criminal, abusive or inappropriate behavior, or who have been the victims of such behavior” — reveals 324 names, mostly priests but also deacons, nuns and lay employees.

Diocesan officials, according to internal church records obtained by the I-Team, made a series of exceptions that excluded the majority of accused priests from the final list and resulted in a much lower number for the public to digest.

The exceptions also allowed Malone, who signed off on the final changes, to publicly state that no priest accused of sexual abuse was still in active ministry — even though in multiple cases, that was not true.

“This is a cowardly way of handling this, and the Catholic Church should not be in the same sentence as a cowardly organization, but they are,” said Barry N. Covert, a criminal defense attorney who represents one of the victims. “The Catholic Diocese is not being transparent. They are hiding, they are deflecting. They are preventing the public, their parishioners, law enforcement, from learning about potentially criminal conduct against children.”

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LAFAYETTE (LA)
Lafayette Daily Advertiser

August 28, 2018

By Claire Taylor

Allegations of child sex abuse have been raised against a deceased priest from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette.

Diocesan spokeswoman Blue Rolfes, in a written statement released Tuesday, said the diocese was made aware of allegations of sexual abuse of minors by the late Rev. Kenneth Morvant.

“There is no evidence of Father Morvant being implicated in the abuse of minors,” Rolfes wrote. “These allegations, however, are being given appropriate consideration. Father Kenneth Morvant, though deceased, maintains the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.”

The alleged incidents, she wrote, occurred 35 to 40 years ago, which would have been between 1978 and 1983.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Trib Live

September 11, 2018

By Wes Venteicher

Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh clergy will undergo periodic fasting and prayer for a year “in light of the scandal of child sexual abuse,” Bishop David Zubik announced Tuesday.

The announcement comes a month after a grand jury detailed decades of allegations of sexual abuse and cover-up by clergy in six of the church’s dioceses in Pennsylvania. The report included allegations against 99 Pittsburgh priests.

Zubik has said the church didn’t cover up the abuse and that the church has instituted internal reforms to address abuse by clergy.

“Faced with the sinful actions of the members of our own ranks of the clergy, who are called to manifest the example of Christ, we feel both shame and sorrow, and are reminded of our own sinfulness and the need for mercy,” Zubik wrote in a letter to clergy, according to the announcement.

His announcement invited all Catholics to join in a “year of repentance,” which will include four three-day fasting periods over the year in which clergy will abstain from meat and dedicate a special hour of prayer each day.

Zubik will inaugurate the year Sunday, Sept. 23, and will lead a related prayer that afternoon.

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RIDGEWOOD (NJ)
Northern Valley Daily Voice

August 22, 2018

By Jerry DeMarco

It was the summer before 8th grade when Ridgefield Park native Ed Hanratty said the worst sexual abuse he’d endured from a local priest happened – in his own backyard.

Before then, the Rev. Gerald Sudol of St. Francis of Assisi Church had kissed him and other boys on the mouth, Hanratty said. But instead of telling their parents, the boys made jokes about his sexuality.

“None of us ever thought to complain to anyone. Not our parents. Not our teachers….Nobody,” Hanratty, 41, wrote in a reverbpress.news column that has begun attracting widespread attention since it was published on Sunday.

“On Wednesday night we’d be making jokes about him loving men (because we considered ourselves men, not boys) and on Thursday morning he’d be kissing us on the lips after the 7:00 mass,” he added.

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VATICAN CITY
Church Militant

September 11, 2018

By Gene Thomas Gomulka

If Pope Francis was lax with sex abuse in Argentina, he’d have reasons to downplay it in Rome

American attorney Robert S. Bennett, a former member of the U.S. Bishops’ National Review Board, was interviewed on Sept. 6, 2018 by Raymond Arroyo on The World Over. Bennett said he wrote to Cdl. Daniel DiNardo, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), offering to return to the National Review Board to help undertake a forensic investigation into failure on the part of U.S. Catholic bishops to deal with clerical sexual abuse in a responsible manner. Bennett strongly believes that only a lay organization like the National Review Board is capable of undertaking such a study.

His remarks echo those of Bp. Edward Scharfenberger of Albany, who rejected Cdl. Donald Wuerl’s call for the USCCB to form a special committee to study the problem. Scharfenberger feels that the USCCB has lost all credibility on the issue and that “bishops alone investigating bishops is not the answer” (Lawler).

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NOTRE DAME (IN)
Sycamore Trust

September 10, 2018

By William Dempsey

Once again @NotreDame ducks, this time during the most important crisis the Church has faced in a long time, the sexual abuse calamity. #GoCatholicND

As it becomes ever clearer that the McCarrick episode is at the epicenter of the sexual assault tumult, Father Jenkins’s decision to leave in place the Archbishop’s honorary degree until some distant proceeding in Rome, should it ever occur, becomes ever more perplexing and disturbing.

As we have shown, the revocation of Bill Cosby’s honorary degree upon conviction and before appeal is compelling precedent for revoking Archbishop McCarrick’s honorary degree right now. Father Jenkins’s assertion that, instead, the Cosby precedent supports his action is so transparently baseless that one must wonder what the real reason could be.

In our previous bulletin, we said that a special reason for Notre Dame’s following Catholic University, Fordham University, and Portland University in rescinding McCarrick’s honorary degree is to avoid the inference that Notre Dame is holding back because of its long relationship with McCarrick.

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BALTIMORE (MD)
WBAL

August 26, 2018

By Jason Newton

A report out of Pennsylvania implicated Catholic priests in an abuse and subsequent cover-up scandal. The accusation put the number of child victims into the thousands, following a 2-year investigation. Before the Grand Jury report was released, the Roman Catholic Diocese released the names of 71 priests and clergy members, who had been accused of child sex-abuse since the 1970s, and the church vows to holding accountable all the bishops who have led the diocese over the past 70 years, which includes the late William Cardinal Keeler. He was the bishop in Harrisburg before serving as the archbishop of Baltimore. The report also prompted an apology from Archbishop William Lori who says, “It’s clear, they can no longer expect the faithful to trust the structured leadership alone. Try as we have, recent revelations have not only proven that there is more work to be done, but also have resulted in the loss of the precious trust of many of those we are called to serve.” Abuse survivor Gloria Larkin talks about her experience.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
WTAE

September 12, 2018

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the current Washington archbishop and former Pittsburgh bishop who came under heavy criticism in a Pennsylvania grand jury report for his handling of sexual abuse cases, says he will soon meet with Pope Francis about his resignation.

Wuerl intends “in the very near future” to travel to Rome for a meeting “about the resignation I presented nearly three years ago, November 12, 2015,” he wrote in a letter to priests in the Washington archdiocese Tuesday.

Bishops in the Roman Catholic Church submit their resignations at the traditional retirement age of 75. The pope decides when to accept a resignation, and can allow a bishop to continue serving for years past that age.

Wuerl, 77, did not say in his letter whether he will ask the pope to accept his resignation.

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UNITED STATES
The Hollywood Reporter

September 12, 2018

By Linda Bloodworth Thomason

Linda Bloodworth Thomason, one of CBS’ biggest hitmakers, reveals the disgraced mogul kept her shows off the air for seven years: “People asked me for years, ‘What happened to you?’ Les Moonves happened to me.”
This is not the article you might be expecting about Les Moonves. It’s not going to be wise or inspiring. It’s going to be petty and punishing. In spite of my proper Southern mother’s admonition to always be gracious, I am all out of grace when it comes to Mr. Moonves. In fact, like a lot of women in Hollywood, I am happy to dance on his professional grave. And not just any dance — this will be the Macarena, the rumba, the cha-cha and the Moonwalk. You get the idea.

I was never sexually harassed or attacked by Les Moonves. My encounters were much more subtle, engendering a different kind of destruction. In 1992, I was given the largest writing and producing contact in the history of CBS. It was for $50 million, involving five new series with hefty penalties for each pilot not picked up.

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UNITED STATES
Deadline

September 11, 2018

By Dino-Ray Ramos

Les Moonves Admits To Forcefully Kissing Doctor; Ex CBS Boss Accused Of More Sexual Misconduct
Deadline
Dino-Ray Ramos
DeadlineSeptember 11, 2018

More sexual misconduct accusations and inappropriate behavior have surfaced for Les Moonves — and the disgraced CBS CEO has owned up to one of the claims.

Shortly after Ronan Farrow’s first New Yorker piece exposing Moonves’ allegations was published, an article in the Annals of Internal Medicine from Dr. Anne L. Peters surfaced. According to Vanity Fair, the article was published in May and was titled “A Physician’s Place in the #MeToo Movement.” In it, Peters wrote about an encounter between her an anonymous V.I.P. patient from the past.

She wrote that the patient came in before business hours and after an initial consultation and interview, they moved to the examination table.”He grabbed me as I stepped forward,” said Peters. “He pulled himself against me and tried to force himself on me. He did this twice; when I rebuffed him, he stood beside the examination table and satisfied himself. After he finished, he reassembled himself and left.”

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IRELAND
Extra

September 11, 2018

By Alison O’Reilly

Leo Varadkar made a private visit to the site of the Tuam babies’ grave on his way home from the recent Fine Gael think-in, Extra.ie can reveal.

The Taoiseach visited the grave in a ‘personal capacity’ before travelling back from Galway to Dublin last Friday – and was said to have been ‘moved’ by the experience.

It is believed he wanted to visit the site before the decision on the future of the children’s grave is decided following the outcome of the Commission of Inquiry’s report next year.

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ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Albuquerque Journal

August 26, 2018

By Mike Gallagher

Roman Catholic bishops in Pennsylvania used a treatment center in Jemez Springs for decades as a “laundry” to recycle priests who abused more than 1,000 children so they could return to their parishes in their diocese back home, according to a Pennsylvania grand jury report released this month.

Only one of the more than 300 priests mentioned in the grand jury report stayed in New Mexico, briefly, after being sent for treatment at the Servants of the Paraclete foundation in Jemez Springs that operated from 1947 until it closed in the 1990s.

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
Rawstory

September 10, 2018

By Noor Al-Sibai

In a strongly-worded op-ed, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry accused the New Orleans Times-Picayune of “religious bigotry” after the newspaper published an article about him not investigating the Catholic church sex abuse scandal.

On September 6, the Times-Picayune published an article noting that Landry claimed his office is not authorized to investigate the scandal until local law enforcement refers it up to him. The article was titled “AG Jeff Landry says he has no authority to investigate Catholic church sex abuse” — a headline that apparently affronted the attorney general.

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VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

September 12, 2018

By Nicole Winfield

Pope Francis is summoning the presidents of every bishops conference around the world for a February summit to discuss preventing clergy sex abuse and protecting children — evidence that he realizes the scandal is global and that inaction threatens to undermine his legacy.

Francis’ key cardinal advisers announced the decision Wednesday, a day before Francis meets with U.S. church leaders who have been discredited anew by the latest accusations in the Catholic Church’s decades-long sex abuse and cover-up scandal.

The Feb. 21-24 meeting of the presidents of the more than 100 bishops conferences is believed to be the first of its kind, and signals a realization at the highest levels of the church that clergy sex abuse is a global problem and not restricted to the Anglo-Saxon world, as many church leaders have long tried to insist.

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NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

September 12, 2018

By Jason Horowitz

Vatican City – Pope Francis has summoned to Rome bishops from around the world for an unprecedented meeting focused on protecting minors, the Vatican announced on Wednesday, as the pontiff wrestles with a global clerical sexual abuse crisis and explosive accusations of a cover-up that have shaken his papacy and the entire Roman Catholic Church.

The pope called the presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences to gather from Feb. 21 to 24, according to the Vatican, which added that he had “amply reflected” on the issue with his top council of cardinal advisers during three days of meetings that ended on Wednesday. It would be the first global gathering of church leaders to discuss the crisis.

The announcement came on the eve of a meeting in the Vatican on Thursday between the pope and a group of American bishops, including Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, Francis’ leading adviser on the issue of sexual abuse. The Americans are coming in search of answers from the pope and a full investigation into why one of their most prominent colleagues was allowed to ascend to a top position in the American church, despite allegations that he had sexually abused seminarians.

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CHICAGO (IL)
NBC 5 Chicago

September 11, 2018

By Mary Ann Ahern

[Video includes full text of the letter.]

The meeting comes as Pope Francis plans to sit down Thursday with key American bishops who have requested a meeting on the sex abuse crisis

Cardinal Blase Cupich has scheduled a closed-door meeting with Chicago priests this week, NBC 5 has learned, to discuss the current crisis facing the church.

The invitation for the meeting, planned for Wednesday evening, was sent to all priests in the Chicago Archdiocese. It will take place a day before Pope Francis plans to sit down Thursday with key American bishops who have requested a meeting on the sex abuse crisis.

Though Cupich’s meeting isn’t mandatory, a second email was forwarded on Tuesday instructing attendees to print out the invitation and bring it with them, as the meeting is considered a private conversation with the Cardinal.

“One of my major concerns in this moment of suffering for many in the church is you,” Cupich’s letter to Chicago priests read in part.

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HENDERSON (KY)
WEHT Local | Local 7 WTVW

September 11, 2018

By Jake Boswell

The Diocese of Owensboro confirms two people have alleged sexual abuse by priests that are now deceased.

Diocese officials said the two alleged victims came forward with their claims in August, shortly after the diocese released a statement pertaining to separate church allegations in Pennsylvania.

The diocese said one of the victims claims the abuse happened some time between 1944-1947.

The other said they were abused in 1962.

Officials would not name the priests accused or where the alleged abuse took place.

The Daviess Commonwealth Attorney’s Office told us there is no investigation as the office does not prosecute deceased people.

As part of the statement in August, the Diocese of Owensboro offered to help any victims who come forward.

On September 9, the Diocese of Evansville says there are reports of sexual misconduct by Father Dave Fleck, a priest within the Diocese.

The Diocese says the misconduct happened decades ago and Fleck denies it.

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