ABUSE TRACKER

NEWTON (MA)
NECN

September 11, 2018

By Michael Rosenfield, Marc Fortier and Melissa Buja

Rev. Christian Ohazulume, an extern priest from Nigeria, has resided at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Brookline and has worked as a chaplain at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center since 2010

The Archdiocese of Boston has removed a Nigerian priest residing at a Massachusetts church from ministry after an allegation that he sexually abused a child in a Randolph home 11 years ago.

Rev. Christian Ohazulume, an extern priest from Nigeria who has resided at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Brookline, pleaded not guilty to three counts of aggravated assault and battery on a child under 14 in Quincy District Court on Tuesday, according to Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey.

The 8-year-old victim’s father says that Ohazulume is his own nephew, and that he helped bring him to the U.S. from Nigeria to study at Boston College.

“I’m sad,” the man said in an exclusive interview with NBC10 Boston. “I’m devastated.”

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ATLANTA (GA)
CNN

September 11, 2018

By Laura Ly

One of his parishioners, then a vulnerable 18-year-old looking for guidance, was given alcohol by a then-church deacon. The deacon later became a priest and sexually abused the boy.

After he found out about the incident years later, Lasch said he reported it to Archbishop of Boston Sean O’Malley, but that his efforts were dismissed.

“He was a vulnerable adult. [The deacon] got him drunk and groomed him into an encounter,” Lasch said. A drunken teenager [who] has been groomed into a relationship is not complicit.”

The man is a priest in Paterson, New Jersey. “It boggles my mind that the priest continues to serve,” Lasch said.

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NASHVILLE (TN)
The Tennessean

September 11, 2018

By Holly Meyer

Donna Harper is the mother of a survivor of priest abuse, but she still has faith in the Catholic Church.

The Nashville native wants to do her part to protect children in her diocese and help other victims and their families overcome some of that animosity she knows well.

So, Harper said yes more than 15 years ago when then-Nashville Bishop Edward Kmiec asked her to join the diocese’s review board. At the time, the church was putting the panels in place at dioceses across the U.S. as part of the Catholic Church’s response to its national clergy sex abuse crisis.

Today, new allegations of abuse and cover-up are once again shaking the global church, putting its measures for child protection and leadership accountability under the microscope.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

September 11, 2018

By Brian MacQuarrie and Travis Andersen

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/09/11/boston-archdiocese-removes-hospital-chaplain-from-ministry-after-sex-abuse-allegation/F42aBBRIQK07XRQFzhJLqL/story.html

Quincy – A Catholic priest who had been working as a Boston hospital chaplain was arraigned Tuesday for the alleged sexual abuse of a young girl in 2006, authorities said.

The Rev. Christian Ohazulume, an extern priest from Nigeria, allegedly assaulted the girl while he was living with a family in Randolph upon his arrival in the United States, officials said. The girl was about 8 years old at the time, prosecutors said.

At his arraignment in Quincy District Court, Ohazulume, 50, pleaded not guilty to three counts of aggravated indecent assault and battery of a child under 14. He allegedly touched the girl’s vaginal area, fondled her breast, and forcibly kissed her, prosecutors said.

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ATLANTA (GA)
CNN

September 12, 2018

By Rosa Flores and Kevin Conlon

[With Video.]

Cheyenne, Wyoming – The Catholic Church is facing a reckoning today in large part due to a damning Pennsylvania grand jury investigation released last month.

But more than a year before that bombshell report dropped, another reckoning was already taking place thousands of miles away.
Joseph Hart, the retired longtime bishop of Cheyenne, is today being investigated for allegedly sexually abusing children when he was the highest ranking Catholic in the state of Wyoming, according to the diocese he has served since 1976.

Should Hart be charged, it will be the first time in US history that a bishop is prosecuted for sexual abuse. And if that happens, it will be because of the man who holds his old job.

“I take no pleasure in that at all,” said Steven Biegler, the Bishop of Cheyenne. “I think we need to do what’s right.”

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BUFFALO (NY)
WGRZ

September 10, 2018

By Claudine Ewing

Before Bishop Richard Malone came to Buffalo, he was the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Portland, Maine from 2004 until 2012.

While there, Malone was criticized for concealing the identity of several priests accused of being predators. Paul Kendrick helped form the Voice of the Faithful group. They are activists for survivors of priest abuse. Kendrick recalled how Bishop Malone handled a situation involving a pastor in South Portland, Maine.

“He had living with him in his rectory, a guy who was a deacon in upstate Maine, who had been convicted of child sexual abuse,” Kendrick said.

Kendrick said it took a while before Malone had the pastor removed from the parish. Years later, Malone allowed the pastor to return to begin saying mass again.

“Advocacy groups raised holy hell,” Kendrick said.

That priest was eventually forced to resign after a Diocesan investigation.

And like we saw in Buffalo earlier this year, when the Bishop revealed a list of priests with allegations of abuse, in 2007, Malone made public statements in Maine about identifying some priests who the Diocese had received credible allegations against.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

September 6, 2018

By Olive Keogh

New fields are benefiting from a dynamic search function that allows for an astonishing level of specific detail

The emerging field of digital humanities is the latest discipline to benefit from big data analysis and in an unusual arts-Stem collaboration, academics at UCD have used it to reveal new insights into the 2009 Ryan report on institutional child abuse.

The cross-disciplinary team behind Industrial Memories are Emilie Pine, associate professor of modern drama at UCD, Prof Mark Keane of UCD’s insight centre for data analytics, and research fellow Susan Leavy who began work on the project in 2015. In Emilie Pine’s view, the Ryan report is “probably the most important publication in the history of the State, yet we’re not reading it. A lot of the material is witness testimony in the form of letters, diaries, memos and record keeping books. To me, it’s the most important part of the report and I wanted to be able to read it and make it accessible to others. However, that’s not so easy with a report that runs to 2,600 pages.”

Digital humanities bring artificial intelligence and text analytics to bear on traditional arts and humanities scholarship. These techniques are already in use in business where big data applications enable companies gain insights into consumer behaviour patterns, for example. But now they are being applied to the humanities and what’s emerging is a new way of probing texts that uncovers things you cannot see or appreciate from a traditional surface read.

In the case of the Ryan report, the techniques enabled Pine to sift forensically through material and to make connections that had remained invisible during normal perusal of the text. For example, she was able to track and tag every interaction between all of those involved. Individually these interactions looked isolated and innocuous, but when they were all drawn together in one place it became clear that there had been deep and widespread awareness of the abuse.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
NEWS 8

September 8, 2018

By Abbie Alford

After the Pennsylvania report named more than 300 Catholic priests accused of sexual misconduct involving hundreds of children dating back decades, San Diego church officials are set to reveal allegations against a number of priests that had not been made public before.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of San Diego said since the Pennsylvania church sex abuse investigation it was receiving a lot of questions so they thought doing its own investigation was the right thing to do.

“I am happy they are doing it. Mostly because it will give some satisfaction to the victims to see their abuser’s name up there. I think this will start a whole wave of more openness coming from the church,” said Marianne Benkert Sipe.

Marianne is a retired therapist and author. Since the 1970’s, she and her late husband, Richard Sipe – a renowned researcher into sex abuse in the Catholic Church, have testified in a grand jury.

Kevin Eckery, who is a spokesperson for the Diocese of San Diego, said the diocese plans to go back 50 years and in its research next week will publish a-half-a-dozen names of priests who were sued or accused of sexually abusing minors.

According to Eckery, many of the priests have passed away or are no longer within local ministry.

“I don’t think that will make any difference in terms of the victims. I think the victims have so much wanted justice and to be acknowledged for their suffering,” said Marianne.

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NORTH AMERICA
Missio Alliance

September 7, 2018

By Joy Craun

A recent Quick to Listen Christianity Today podcast reacted to the latest Hybels accusations as well as the subsequent resignations of the pastoral leadership and the board. The guest, Marshall Shelley, was careful to affirm the good Hybels and Willow Creek have done by altering church culture and structures. Willow Creek sought to encourage a “user friendly” mentality of church in order to communicate in the current cultural language. According to Shelley, Willow Creek’s legacy should continue in that:

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BALTIMORE (MD)
WJZ

September 9, 2018

By Devin Bartolotta

Across the country, and in Baltimore, Catholics are putting pressure on their church leaders to do more to prevent sex abuse.

After Sunday mass and in the pouring rain, a group of progressive Catholics asked leaders of their own faith to step up.

“The people in the pews are demanding to have a say,” Maureen Keck, a Catholic, said.

A national campaign, “Time’s Up: Catholics Demand Truth” is calling for transparency from the church and diversity among decision-makers in the wake of a bombshell grand jury report from Pennsylvania that named 300 predator priests and the leaders who allegedly covered up their crimes.

One of those leaders implicated is the late Cardinal William Keeler.

“We support what Pennsylvania did and we encourage every state to take the leadership that Pennsylvania did, and to work with their diocese and demand open and honest investigation,” said Ryan Sattler with Call to Action Maryland.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

September 10, 2018

By Carol Glatz

Responding quickly and appropriately to the problem of abuse must be a priority for the Catholic Church, said Cardinal Sean O’Malley, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

“Recent events in the church have us all focused on the urgent need for a clear response on the part of the church for the sexual abuse of minors” and vulnerable adults, he told Vatican News Sept. 9.

“Bringing the voice of survivors to leadership of the church is crucial if people are going to have an understanding of how important it is for the church to respond quickly and correctly anytime a situation of abuse may arise,” he said.

The cardinal, who is the archbishop of Boston, spoke at the end of the papal commission’s plenary assembly in Rome Sept. 7-9. Afterward, O’Malley remained in Rome for the meeting Sept. 10-12 of Francis’ international Council of Cardinals.

O’Malley told Vatican News that in cases of abuse “if the church is unable to respond wholeheartedly and make this a priority, all of our other activities of evangelization, works of mercy, education are all going to suffer. This must be the priority that we concentrate on right now.”

The pontifical commission, he explained, is an advisory body set up to make recommendations to the pope and to develop and offer guidelines, best practices and formation to church leaders throughout the world, including bishops’ conferences, religious orders and offices in the Roman Curia.

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NOKESVILLE (VA)
FULCRUM MINISTRIES

August 24, 2018

After two years I am finally using my name. My name is Lauren.

I am not just “the victim” or the young teenager with the orange bow in her hair, as I was labeled by lawyers and the media.

I am Lauren …

And this is my story of sexual abuse by Derrick Trump, the youth director of Greenwich Presbyterian Church in Nokesville, Virginia.

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UNITED STATES
WND

September 9, 2018

By Barbara Simpson

Exclusive: Barbara Simpson slams church which won’t admit its wrongdoing

If I didn’t know better, I’d think the news headlines about the Catholic Church scandals are complete fiction.

Think of it: a state investigation reveals sexual scandals and a massive cover-up involving Church hierarchy – you know, the men in red and white robes wearing those white collars and red hats that are symbols of their position and “sanctity.”

The findings of the investigation in Pennsylvania reveal a sexual cesspool of a magnitude that almost no one can imagine, especially faithful Church members.

There are accusations of sexual predation by priests against young boys and men in the churches and seminaries. It revealed clear homosexuality among many clergy and the fact that those who knew, kept silent.

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SCOTLAND
The Sunday Post

September 9, 2018

By Gordon Blackstock

NUNS who ran Smyllum Park orphanage spent nearly £300,000 on legal fees at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry – more than the maximum amount of compensation its alleged victims could receive for a lifetime of suffering.

The running of two Daughters of Charity children’s homes was examined as part of a case study at the inquiry between November 28, 2017 and January 20 this year.

And newly-released accounts show how the order racked up £287,000 in “professional fees” connected to the Edinburgh hearings.

The organisation has been represented by solicitor advocate Gregor Rolfe, of Glasgow’s Clyde & Co.

Legal insiders say the rate for counsel is negotiable but is normally around £2,000 per day.

The bill only covers costs to the charity in 2017, including nine days of evidence about abuse allegations at Smyllum Park home in Lanark and Bellevue House in Rutherglen.

That equates to almost £32,000 per day.

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ROME
The Associated Press

September 11, 2018

The Latest on the Vatican response to the sex abuse scandal (all times local):

8:15 p.m.

The Vatican says Pope Francis will meet Thursday with the head of the U.S. bishops conference and other top U.S. church officials over the sex abuse and cover-up scandal roiling the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has said he wants Francis to authorize a full-fledged Vatican investigation into the scandal of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was removed as cardinal in July after a credible accusation he groped a teenager.

DiNardo has also said recent claims of cover-up of McCarrick’s misconduct — including against top Vatican officials and the pope himself — deserve answers.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said DiNardo would meet with Francis on Thursday in the Apostolic Palace, along with Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Francis’ top sex abuse adviser. Also involved are two officials from the conference, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez and Monsignor Brian Bransfield.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

September 8, 2018

By Conall Ó Fátharta

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s department has said there are “no plans” to open to the public the McAleese Committee archive on the Magdalene laundries despite repeated calls from campaigners and survivors.

It comes just weeks after Mr Varadkar asked the Pope to use his “office and influence” to ensure “justice and truth and healing” was given to survivors of institutional abuse.

The archive, which contains data from the religious congregations that ran the laundries as well as copies of relevant official records across departments, State agencies, and bodies, has been with the Department of An Taoiseach since 2015.

The department has refused calls to open the archive to the public in the years since.

In a Freedom of Information refusal issued to the Justice For Magdalenes Research (JFMR) group in 2016, the department said it was holding the archive for “safe keeping” and that it was “not held within the control of the department for the purposes of the FOI Act”.

The department has said the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 informed the decision to deposit the archive with the Taoiseach. However, it pointed out that the act “does not apply to the work of the Inter-Departmental [McAleese] Committee or bind it in any way”.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
Andreozzi & Associates, P.C.

September 5, 2018.

By Benjamin D. Andreozzi

In recent weeks there has been much discussion about a compensation fund that would be set up by the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania to pay victims of child sexual abuse. The idea of the fund comes at a time when the church is under fire by the recent statewide grand jury report. In the report, the grand jury recommended a change in the civil statute of limitations that would revive previously expired claims made by victims of child sexual abuse.

The creation of such a fund is not a new idea. It was recently implemented in New York. On it’s face, the fund sounds like a great idea. The settlement fund’s proponents argue that it provides millions of dollars to victims without having to go through the sometimes long and arduous litigation process. While it is true, the fund can be a quick way to resolve a claim, the funds drawbacks outweigh its benefits.

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SAN JOSE (CA)
PJ Media

September 7, 2018

By Debra Heine

In a recent interview, a world-renowned exorcist said the sex abuse scandal currently rocking the Catholic Church is demonic in nature and likely to get worse before it gets better. “We are in for a long storm,” said Father Gary Thomas, the exorcist for the Diocese of San Jose, California.

Fr. Thomas’ training in Rome was the subject of the 2010 book The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist by Matt Baglio. The book was made into a movie starring Anthony Hopkins in 2011.

“It’s only going to get worse,” Father Gary Thomas told the National Catholic Register’s Patti Armstrong. “But as bad as it is, it has to come out. It is unacceptable.”

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WARREN (OH)
Tribune Chronicle

September 9, 2018

By Brenda J. Linert

Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas pointed out a few weeks ago in the Tribune Chronicle that sexual scandals and inappropriate behavior are as old as the Bible.

True, but these days, it’s just the last 70 years on which all eyes are focused. That’s the time frame included in the scathing grand jury report released last month by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro on sexual abuse within Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic Church.

The report outlines evidence that bishops and other church leaders covered up child sex abuse by more than 300 priests dating back to 1947. The report states priests not only abused more than 1,000 children, but then church leaders persuaded victims not to report abuse and law enforcement not to investigate it. It’s baffling that this could go on ignored for so long. Bringing to light the dark seediness of these actions has renewed cynicism and mistrust that exists increasingly in society – even in this very institution we’ve been taught from birth is the one place that is good and pure, where we can turn for spiritual cleansing and in time of need.

I have been a practicing Catholic all my life. I was born and baptized into the Altoona-Johnstown, Pa., Catholic Diocese and attended Mass there regularly. My parents still live and attend church there. I studied, received the sacraments and attended CCD each week through the 12th grade at St. Anthony of Padua Church, a tight-knit Italian Catholic church in Windber, Pa., a small coal-mining town just outside of Johnstown. My husband and I were wed at St. Anthony 23 years ago. The public high school I attended was not far from Johnstown’s Bishop McCort High School.

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UNITED STATES
Patheos

September 8, 2018

By Mary Pezzulo

First of all, pretending that sexual abuse never happens will not stop sexual abuse, nor will pretending that if you ignore it it will go away. That method was used liberally, for decades or centuries, and it led to the current crisis. Pretending sexual abuse never happens makes it more likely to happen.

Moving the abuser to a new venue, such as a new parish, will not stop sexual abuse. A change of scenery won’t cure an abuser because the problem with a person who commits sexual abuse is that person, not his environment.

The Latin Mass, lovely as it is, will not stop sexual abuse. Just look at the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report. Lots of those cases happened before the Second Vatican Council. Going back to a pre-Vatican-II liturgy will not make them go away. A fine and beautiful classical language like Latin is not a cure for predatory and abusive behavior. The ancient Romans spoke Latin every day of their lives and just look at what they did to the early martyrs. They were not a chaste or a gentle people.

A return to mandatory meatless Fridays will not end priestly sexual abuse. There were mandatory meatless Fridays when a lot of those abuses were going on, back before Vatican II when everything was supposedly much better. Fasting and abstinence are good things, all other goods considered, and taken in the right spirit they can help learn to tame other desires. But people who commit sexual abuse don’t do it because they haven’t taken enough fish. They do it because they make a choice to impose their desires on others, when they could choose otherwise.

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BURLINGTON (VT)
NBC5

September 10, 2018

By Renee Wunderlich

Katelin Hoffman said she and other former residents are cautiously hopeful about new task force investigating what happened to them in long-closed orphanage.

The Vermont attorney general’s office is asking for folks to come forward to help investigators piece together what happened in a local building back when it was an orphanage.

For some former residents, this isn’t the first time they’ve shared their stories — it’s just the first time so many have believed them.

“It’s actually so wonderful to be believed,” said Katelin Hoffman, who said she was 13 years old when she was sent to stay at St. Joseph’s Catholic Orphanage in Burlington, a place the state of Vermont is now investigating after allegations resurfaced that nuns there abused and even killed children.

“I don’t know … It was, like, any cruel thing they could do, they did,” she said.

A ward of the state, Hoffman said the nuns would sometimes hit her and that she was sexually abused.

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
The Associated Press/KATVMonday

September 10, 2018

The Catholic Diocese of Little Rock has released a list of 12 clergy who have had assignments at some point in Arkansas who have had “credible” allegations of sexually abusing minors.

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor said the list released Monday was preliminary and the result of an internal review in the wake of a sweeping grand jury report on child sexual abuse by clergy in Pennsylvania. He says the list will be updated following an independent review of its files by an outside consulting firm.

The diocese named eight priests against whom credible allegations have been substantiated, and another four about whom it has received unsubstantiated though credible allegations. The diocese says it has offered or is offering assistance to their known victims.

The list of priests against whom credible allegations have been substantiated was provided by Bishop Taylor and is listed below:

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Arkansas Times

September 10, 2018

By Max Brantley

Catholic Bishop Anthony Taylor today revealed cases of “credible allegations” of sexual abuse by priests in the Diocese of Little Rock, cases involving 12 priests dating back many years, all before the time of the current bishop. Eight are dead

The statement was issued as an outgrowth of recent disclosures in other dioceses in the U.S. and provides more specifics on cases, which, Taylor noted, a previous bishop had referred to generally in a disclosure in 2004. The bishop acknowledges payments have been made to victims and says a full report will eventually be made on the amounts paid.
None of those named work in the priesthood today.

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Arkansas Democrat Gazette

September 10, 2018

By Jaime Dunaway

Catholic leaders in Arkansas said Monday that 12 priests who served in the state have been accused of sexually abusing a minor.

The Diocese of Little Rock, which leads Catholics throughout Arkansas, released a preliminary list after an internal investigation. The list is subject to change pending the results of an independent review that is tentatively scheduled to be shared with the public in December, Bishop Anthony Taylor said in a statement.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Marquette Wire

September 11, 2018

By Morgan Hughes

After admitting to knowledge of sexual abuse allegations against clergy, former Marquette University President Rev. Robert A. Wild requested his name be removed from the university’s new residence hall. Opened to students as Wild Commons a few weeks ago, Marquette’s $108 million new development will now be known only as The Commons.

In a letter to University President Michael Lovell and the Board of Trustees, Wild said accusations were lodged against three members of the Chicago Society of Jesus while he was provincial from 1985 until 1991.

“Looking back, I would have handled certain aspects of those cases rather differently than I did then,” Wild wrote in the letter.

Wild served as Marquette’s president from 1996 to 2011, and on an interim basis from 2013 to 2014 and is the current chancellor for the university.

In an email statement to the university responding to Wild’s letter, Lovell said the Board of Trustees unanimously accepted Wild’s request.

“We are in agreement with Father Wild that this is the right decision for both Marquette and survivors of clergy abuse,” he said in the statement. “Anyone who knows Father Wild understands that he values the Gospel message of love and forgiveness and we move forward together as a Marquette community in that spirit.”

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SYRACUSE (NY)
syracuse.com

September 11, 2018

By Julie McMahon

A sex abuse survivor whose claims against a Catholic priest were found credible by the local diocese has rejected a $300,000 settlement offer.

The victim, Kevin Braney, received the offer from the Catholic Diocese of Syracuse on July 25. He informed the diocese the following day that he would not be accepting the offer, he and his lawyer said.

Another victim, Charles Bailey, said he had also received an offer in August. He declined to say how much it was for. Bailey said he plans to accept.

In February, Bishop Robert Cunningham announced the creation of a program to compensate victims of clergy sexual abuse.

Syracuse diocese spokeswoman Danielle Cummings said the program is expected to be completed in October, at which time the diocese will provide a report of the total cost and number of participants.

Cummings said program administrators had already reviewed most of the claims made by applicants and made determinations as to compensation. Cummings said she could not comment on individual cases.

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LANSDALE (PA)
The Ambler Gazette

September 11, 2018

By State Reps. Thomas P. Murt and Mark Rozzi

Former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo used to ask, rhetorically, “Where is the outrage?” when he encountered injustice in his beloved city.

We asked that question of our colleagues in Harrisburg in the years-long wake of the grand jury reports from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Months ago, we warned the commonwealth that the next grand jury report concerning child sex abuse was coming and that it would be worse than the previous ones.

Well, it is here, and we ask again of our colleagues in Harrisburg, “Where is the outrage”?

Moreover, “What are we going to do about it?”

What are we going to do with the results of the current grand jury report documenting the most vile, repulsive and disgusting acts of child sexual abuse at the hands of many diocesan priests across several dioceses in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania?

The current grand jury report is similar to the previous ones in that it was about Roman Catholic priests who sexually abused children, sometimes for decades. It is also about Roman Catholic Church leadership who covered up the abuse, allowed pedophile priests whom they knew were sexually exploiting children to continue abusing and mistreated victims and their families to coerce them into silence.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Anthracite Unite

September 5, 2018

by Katie Breslin

It was with a pit in my stomach that I opened the grand jury findings from the case against 300 priests in Pennsylvania for child abuse. I scrolled to the section that said Dioceses of Scranton and found a list of the names of priests in the grand jury report. My heart sank lower when I saw letterhead from the church where I was baptized. The grand jury investigation identified 59 priests in the Diocese of Scranton alone in this report. While these revelations were painful, they weren’t shocking – just a continued feeling of disappointment in an institution that had been a big part of my childhood.

Like many others in the anthracite coal region, the Catholic Church was the cornerstone of my upbringing. From the beautiful churches located all over the region to the rich history of Catholic diversity that shaped the region. It’s hard to think about regional history without acknowledging the role the Catholic churches in the area had in building community for newcomers journeying there in search of opportunity. Some of my best childhood memories have to do with potato pancakes and homemade pierogis at church bazaars. I’ve seen firsthand how the Catholic Church in the region helped feed and clothe the most vulnerable in our area. This call to be kind and serve others is what led me into a career advocating for public policies in line with my social justice values.

I was 12 years old when the Boston Globe released the story about a massive sex abuse scandal in that city. Though young, I remembering feelings a sense of powerlessness around safety and accountability for what happened. That scandal certainly shaped my view of Church leadership and their priorities. I became determined to help lift the voices of everyday Catholics to influence the direction of the Church.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

September 7, 2018

By Joelle Casteix

While New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other parts of the country explode with scandal and investigation into clergy sex abuse and cover-up, a little pot of disrepute is simmering in one Southern California Diocese.

Welcome to San Diego
The Diocese of San Diego is well known to readers of this blog.

It’s the home of Jose Alexis Davila, who was allowed to remain a priest in three dioceses after pleading guilty to sex crimes.

It’s the diocese where the priest who admitted to destroying evidence in child sex abuse cases was assigned to answer the sex abuse hotline.

It’s the diocese that kept parishioners in the dark about one of their priests who was criminally charged (and later convicted) of criminal sexual conduct in another state.

But now, something really fishy is going on.

Bishop Robert McElroy is up to something totally different. Yesterday, he announced that they are “conducting an internal review” and will be releasing the names of previously undisclosed credibly accused priests.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KMOV

September 9, 2018

By Nicole Sanders

Catholics heading to Mass at the Cathedral Basilica Sunday were greeted by a small group of demonstrators.

Demonstrators who spoke to News 4 said they are demanding stronger action from the church in light of new allegations of sexual abuse by catholic priests.

“As a father, as a former catholic and as a human being I can not stand by any longer and let this pedophile scandal go on any longer without standing up and saying it is wrong,” said protester Joe Mason.

The protest was organized by members of an online group for St. Louis atheists.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

September 8, 2018

By Nassim Benchaabane

Archbishop Robert Carlson invited Catholics to repent and seek forgiveness for the Roman Catholic Church in the wake of reports of sexual abuse and cover ups by clergy in Pennsylvania.

“The church today around the world and here in the Archdiocese of St. Louis suffers from the wounds of many scandals,” Carlson said Friday at the Cathedral Basilica in his homily at a “Mass of Reparation” for victims of sexual abuse. “The body of Christ experiences the weight of scandal and is in need of divine mercy in order to be healed.”

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BALTIMORE (MD)
Catholic Review

September 7, 2018

The Archdiocese of Baltimore Sept. 5 added 10 names to its list of priests and religious brothers accused of child sexual abuse.

The new names are those of priests mentioned in the Pennsylvania grand jury report released Aug. 14 who served in the Archdiocese of Baltimore or were alleged to have abused minors in Maryland.

The priests from various Pennsylvania dioceses and religious orders were accused of or admitted to child sexual abuse during their time in Pennsylvania, according to the grand jury report.

Sean Caine, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said that after the Pennsylvania report was released, the archdiocese reviewed it for connections to Maryland.

“We decided to include these names as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency and accountability,” he said.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore was not aware of allegations against the 10 named in the Pennsylvania report before it was released, he said.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore was one of the first in the country to release a list of priests and brothers credibly accused of child sexual abuse, with the publication of a list of 57 names in September 2002.

Since that time, 18 additional names were added of priests of the Archdiocese of Baltimore who, after September 2002, were accused of child sexual abuse during their lifetimes.

The 10 priests with Baltimore connections who were named in the Pennsylvania report (and their home diocese or religious order) are:

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LOUISVILLE (KY)
Louisville Courier Journal

September 10, 2018

By Caitlin McGlade

The Kentucky attorney general will seek the Legislature’s permission to form a statewide grand jury to investigate Kentucky’s Catholic dioceses in line with last month’s damning report on Pennsylvania Catholic churches.

That report showed church leaders protected more than 300 “predator priests” for decades in six Pennsylvania dioceses because they were more interested in safeguarding the church and the abusers than in ministering to victims.

Deputy Attorney General J. Michael Brown said his office has been in contact with Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and that his staff will “in the near future” draft legislation to put to lawmakers in Frankfort.

“We are working to secure justice for individual survivors who have reached out to the Attorney General’s office,” Brown said in a statement.

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KENYA
Daily Nation

September 9, 2018

By Dorothy Kweyu

IN SUMMARY
Since 2000 when the big child sex abuse scandals broke out, things have changed in the formation of priests, with more sessions on human sexuality and maturity and development.
Fr Stéphane Joulain is categorical that the church risks bankruptcy from sexual abuse settlements.
Reading current headlines on sex scandals within the Catholic Church, one would be forgiven for believing that the gates of hell have opened wide to swallow the Pope — Peter’s representative on earth — and clergy, if not the entire church.

For centuries, Catholics with grievances against priests have been referred to Psalm 105:15: “Do not touch my anointed ones …”

Therefore, they will not utter anything that might paint their pastors negatively. This is what came to my mind when Canadian priest Roger Tessier abruptly called off our interview.

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ALBANY (NY)
EINPresswire

September 10, 2018

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is protecting countless sexual predators and he is allowing sex offenders to go from prison into group homes for the disabled

The Jonathan Carey Foundation which has a mission to protect vulnerable children and individuals with disabilities is doing everything possible to stop Gov. Cuomo from protecting sexual predators from prosecution and from placing sex offenders in with the disabled. The New York State’s mental health care system is rampant with sexual abuse and there are no significant safety and abuse prevention measures in place to protect our most vulnerable. All emails and meeting requests with the governor for years now have gone ignored as thousands of sex crimes are covered-up internally and these civil and human rights atrocities continue.

Michael Carey, the founder of the Jonathan Carey Foundation who also is a well known and respected civil rights and disability rights advocate has uncovered a pattern of criminal cover-ups and the protection of sexual predators similar to that of the Catholic Church.

This is what is going on within Governor Andrew Cuomo’s mental health agencies;

• Thousands of sexual assaults and rapes annually

• State doctors are fraudulently giving late diagnoses of a disability to sex offenders to make money off them at the expense of the safety of residents with true disabilities

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ROME
Crux

September 10, 2018

By Charles Collins

Members of the Vatican’s commission for protecting young people in the Church have been listening to victims and survivors of abuse in Rome, while also pointing out they have no remit to investigate individual allegations of abuse.

The 9th ordinary plenary assembly of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which was set up by Pope Francis in 2014, took place Sep. 7-9.

“Members began by listening to two testimonies of people who were affected by clerical child sexual abuse, a victim/survivor and the mother of two adult survivors who were abused as children. The Commission thanks them for sharing their stories with us, for the courage of their witness and for contributing to the learning process,” said a communique issued on Sunday.

The statement also said they spoke about the “the recent developments in the global church that have negatively affected so many people including victims/survivors, families and the community of faithful,” most likely referring to the release of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report on clerical abuse which contained allegations of around 1,000 separate cases of abuse committed by over 300 priests over the past 75 years and the case of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who had a “credible and substantiated” allegation of abuse lodged against him, leading to his resignation from the college of cardinals.

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NEW YORK (NY)
New York Daily Names

September 10, 2018

By Megan Cerullo

The night after Pennsylvania authorities released a report on clergy sex abuse last month, Kathryn Robb says her abuser crept into her dreams.

Robb, 58, has accused her eldest brother, George, of sexually abusing her in their family’s Long Island homes for years beginning when she was about 9 years old.

“It was the first time I had a dream about him in a long time,” she told the Daily News. “I dreamed he came into my house and I said, ‘You can’t be here.’ He just walked in and I couldn’t get him to leave,” she recalled.

George, a former Wall Street mogul once married to supermodel Veronica Webb, did not return requests for comment from the Daily News.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Weekly Standard

August 30, 2018

By Philip Luke Jeffery

The Francis pontificate has always emphasized the importance of mercy. How will that come into play in the sex abuse scandal?

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s letter accusing Pope Francis of aiding the cover-up of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s sexual abuse of minors and seminarians has put certain Vatican officials on the defensive, and is sparking some revealing reactions. Earlier this week, Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, dismissed calls to investigate Viganò’s claims in an interview on Chicago’s NBC 5, saying “the pope has a bigger agenda, he’s got to get on with other things, of talking about the environment, and protecting migrants, and carrying on the work of the church. We’re not going to go down a rabbit hole on this.”

To paraphrase the pope’s own response to Viganò, “make your own judgment” on Cupich. Maybe the cardinal, who Viganò names in his letter as one of McCarrick’s favorites, is trying to cover his own rear; maybe he genuinely believes that recycling and border bridges are higher priorities than delivering justice for abuse victims and that “carrying on the work of the church” doesn’t include rooting out sin. Maybe some of both. But what stood out weren’t his political preferences or ideas about the church’s duties. It’s that “rabbit hole” remark.

I don’t know how Cupich spends his free time, but I can guess he doesn’t spend it reading his Dante. He might have chosen a different idiom had he called to mind Canto XIX of the Inferno, in which Dante traverses the circle of unrepentant Simonists–corrupt clergymen who leverage their positions in the Church for personal power and financial gain–and notices a field of fire-lit feet sticking up from the ground. All of history’s corrupt bishops, cardinals, and even popes spend eternity stuffed head-first into rabbit holes.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
PennLive

September 7, 2018

By PennLive Editorial Board

It’s not often that Pennsylvania finds itself in the vanguard of much of anything.

But three weeks after a nearly 900-page grand jury report detailing decades of sexual abuse in Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic dioceses became public, prosecutors in other states are taking notice and launching probes of their own.

On Thursday, attorneys general in New York and New Jersey announced they planned to initiate investigations of clergy sex abuse in their states.

New York is moving forward with a civil investigation to determine if dioceses and other church entities covered up allegations of child sexual abuse. The New York attorney general’s office is also partnering with district attorneys on possible criminal investigations.

“The Pennsylvania grand jury report shined a light on incredibly disturbing and depraved acts by Catholic clergy, assisted by a culture of secrecy and cover ups in the dioceses,” New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood said in a statement. “Victims in New York deserve to be heard as well – and we are going to do everything in our power to bring them the justice they deserve.”

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TORONTO (CANADA)
Church Militant

September 9, 2018

‘I myself saw photos of McCarrick nude on all fours on a seminarian’s bed’

Ex-seminarian Paul Wood wrote this open letter to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, copying a lawyer and addressing it specifically to his ordinary, Toronto archbishop Cdl. Thomas Collins. Collins responded, claiming that the “problem of homosexual immorality was dealt with several decades ago” and what Wood experienced in the past “is definitely not true” in the seminary today. Collins reiterated Church teaching that chastity is required of all and that marriage can only be between a man and a woman, concluding, “This is a long struggle, for we are going against powerful forces in the media and society that oppose the Gospel, but the faith is clear and that is what we proclaim.”

*******

Dear Bishops,

I am writing you requesting to know what steps you are going to finally take about the undeniable rampant homosexual practice and sexual abuse in our parishes, schools and seminaries. By now, and in light of McCarrick, we all know that the Catholic Church since the 60s has been deliberately rocked by homosexuals, rectors and bishops leading gays into the seminaries — hence the unheard-of callous abuse of young people. This is not a mere McCarrick issue; he represents thousands of abusive priests and abused faithful young men. The time has come! The horse is out of the stable.

When I was a seminarian at St. Augustine’s in Toronto in 1980, the rector told us, “If you don’t like it, get out.” This report included ongoing gay activity within the seminary, including the gay orgy in the seminary organized by Fr. John Tulk. The auxiliary bishop in charge of the seminary, Abp. Aloysius Ambrozic at the time, responded to me, “Grow up.” I sent a reverent and fulsome report to Abp. Marcel André Gervais. He sent it back. [The rector was eventually dismissed for being overly accommodating to gays and Tulk was fired from the seminary in the mid-1980s for homosexual misconduct. -ed.]

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AUSTRIA
Life Site News

September 10, 2018

Austrian Cardinal and papal advisor Christoph Schönborn is defending Pope Francis against calls for the pontiff to resign in light of allegations that he covered up for a sexual abuser, according to a report from Katholisch.de, the German bishops’ news website.

Schönborn has also said in a September 7 column in the newspaper Heute (Today) that the Pope has become the target of various “circles” who “wish to get rid of him.”

The Cardinal praised the Pope for being “so convincing” in the way he has so far handled the abuse crisis. In the meantime, only a few German bishops have come to the Pope’s defense.

Francis “has difficult days now because his open way of calling a spade a spade is not always met with sympathy,” according to the prelate. Such opposition is found also in the Vatican itself. Schönborn continued: “I thank God for this shepherd who is so convincing. Thank you, Papa Francesco!”

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
Catholic News Service/OSV Newsweekly

September 7, 2018

On his first day back at work Sept. 4, Bishop George V. Murry of Youngstown spoke happily of his return, but he also addressed the somber subject of the sex abuse crisis now in the news.

In April, he was diagnosed with acute leukemia and admitted to the Cleveland Clinic, where he received aggressive chemotherapy for a month. After his discharge, he received follow-up treatment and spent time resting and recovering.

Speaking to reporters at St. Columba Cathedral Parish Hall, Bishop Murry said he was “100 percent cancer-free” following a bone marrow scan.

He thanked all those who supported him and provided his medical care.

“My energy level is almost back to normal. I look forward to returning to work and reconnecting with the people of the diocese — part time for a short time, then later, full time,” Bishop Murry said.

The next day, he presided at a weekly prayer service for diocesan staff at St. Columba Cathedral that began after his diagnosis, expressing gratitude to all for their prayers.

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ROME
Crux

September 10, 2018

By Inés San Martín

Pope Francis’s silence about allegations by his former ambassador to the United States that he knew of abuses against seminarians by former cardinal Theodore McCarrick is, for some, no more disconcerting than his silence regarding Chile, where three bishops have been subpoenaed by the prosecutor’s office to give testimony about possible abuse cover-ups.

Two of the three bishops are still in charge of their dioceses, despite having presented their resignations to the pope in May. One of them also heads the Chilean bishops’ conference.

The first one to be summoned was Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, scheduled to testify over charges of cover-up in August, but who, after requesting a delay, has now been rescheduled for the first half of October.

The second is Bishop Juan Barros, who recently resigned from Osorno and who was questioned late last week as part of an investigation into abuse allegations against a former Chilean military chaplain. He was summoned by a different prosecutor than the one who called the other two, and, according to the Chilean newspaper La Tercera, this is a sign of a “holy war” among those investigating the Church’s crimes.

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DALLAS (TX)
Catholic Diocese of Dallas

September 2, 2018

On the weekend of August 25-26, Bishop Burns requested that a letter be read in all parishes in the Catholic Diocese of Dallas to address recent issues regarding the current crisis of sexual abuse by clergy, including allegations of sexual abuse by the former pastor of St. Cecilia Catholic Church, Reverend Edmundo Paredes. In that letter, Bishop Burns outlined five separate steps that will be taken in the diocese to create a safer environment, including announcing a Ceremony of Sorrows and Town Hall Meetings.

The dates, times and locations for these events have now been scheduled, and are as follows:

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LOUISVILLE (KY)
WHAS11

September 10, 2018

By Heather Fountaine

A group outside the Cathedral of Assumption wants to send a message to the Louisville Archdiocese.

Crowding the front of the Cathedral of the Assumption, survivors of sex abuse by the Catholic Church are sending a message to the Louisville Archdiocese.

“It’s not that difficult of a thing. You don’t molest and rape children, it’s unaccepted. You don’t put up with it,” Cal Pfeiffer said.

Pfeiffer said he is a victim of abuse and now a local leader with Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. He joined a handful of survivors outside the Cathedral of the Assumption demanding answers and accountability from the Archdiocese of Louisville.

“Now it the time for leadership, not compliance. Now is the time for transparency, not secrecy. Now is the time for accountability, not dodging the issue,” he said.

Frustrated by decades of covered-up sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, these survivors are giving Archbishop Joseph Kurtz until the end of the month to respond to their list of 16 demands: including posting the names of credibly accused priests and firing anyone who knew of any cover-up of those sexually abusive priests.

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NEW YORK (NY)
New York Magazine/The Daily Intelligencer

September 10, 2018

By Nick Tabor

New York State may be sitting on even more undisclosed cases of clergy sex abuse than Pennsylvania. The Catholic population here is the second largest in the nation — behind California’s — and almost no state makes it harder for victims to seek compensation. There’s never been a vast disclosure here, like the Spotlight investigation in Boston or the grand-jury probes in other states.

But now a sweeping disclosure seems to be close at hand. Barbara Underwood, the attorney general, issued civil subpoenas on Thursday to all eight Catholic dioceses in the state, demanding all the records they have on abuse, payments to victims, and potential cover-ups. She’s also created a hotline and a web form for victims who have never come forward to file complaints.

The documents she’s seeking go back decades, and state law only allows abusers to be charged within five years of the offense — so no matter what Underwood finds, there likely won’t be many criminal charges. However, she’s asked district attorneys throughout the state to partner with her and consider empaneling grand juries, depending on what surfaces in the coming months.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

September 10, 2018

By Hannah Buehler

Ask him to resign “for the good of the church”

Catholics throughout Western New York converged on the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo Monday to demand the resignation of Bishop Richard Malone.

“Any man that makes that choice to send predators out in public like that to do it to more kids are not in their right mind,” said one parishioner Paul Ogrobina.

This all comes weeks after a 7 Eyewitness News I-Team investigation citing internal church documents was brought to light. The documents showed the Bishop returned two priests to ministry despite allegations of sexual misconduct.

“The abuse and cover up by leadership…that’s not who the Catholic Church is,” said Jim Havens.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Weekly Standard

September 8, 2018

By Mark Heminway

Conservatives pounce, the media fiddles.

In 2016, after the film Spotlight—which portrayed a group of Boston Globe reporters who uncover a sex-abuse scandal covered-up by the Catholic Church—won the Academy Award for best picture, a cultural commentator praised the movie on the Vatican website. The Globe reporters, wrote Luca Pellegrini, “made themselves examples of their most pure vocation, that of finding the facts, verifying sources, and making themselves—for the good of the community and of a city—paladins of the need for justice.”

Two years later, as a far worse abuse scandal unfolds in the church—a scandal that may involve the pope himself—the Vatican is silent and the paladins of the news media seem eager to ignore the whole thing.

Theodore McCarrick, a former archbishop of Washington, D.C., is alleged to have been for decades a serial sexual abuser of teenage seminarians. On August 25, Carlo Maria Viganò, the former apostolic nuncio (or Vatican ambassador) to the United States, published an 11-page letter alleging that McCarrick’s abuse was known by church authorities from Donald Wuerl, the present archbishop of Washington D.C., to the highest reaches of the Vatican, and, further, that Pope Benedict XVI made attempts to sanction McCarrick by restricting his travel and forbidding him to say Mass in public. Viganò wrote that, after succeeding Benedict, Francis not only overturned this punishment but elevated McCarrick in the church hierarchy.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Sortiwa

September 9, 2018

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, speaks at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington in 2015. (Susan Walsh/Associated Press)
A highly visible member of Washington’s Catholic clergy has made a dramatic declaration calling on Cardinal Donald Wuerl to resign, the latest blow to Washington’s embattled archbishop.

Deacon James Garcia, in his role as the master of ceremony at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in the District, typically stands beside Wuerl during almost every major liturgy of the year. But Garcia wrote in a letter to Wuerl, which the deacon published online Saturday, that he refuses to assist in any Mass led by Wuerl again. Since deacons vow obedience to their bishop, it is a bold gesture.

“The time for cowardice and self-preservation is long past. Victims cry out for justice and the faithful deserve shepherds who are not compromised. Apology and accompaniment are critical. But no amount of apology will suffice unless and until bishops and other complicit clergy are removed or resign,” Garcia wrote in his letter. And he addressed Wuerl directly: “I cannot, in good conscience, continue to assist you personally, whether as an assisting deacon or a master of ceremony.”

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WVUE

September 7, 2018

By Kimberly Curth

The State Attorney General blasts our news partners at Nola.com/The Times Picayune over an article with the headline “AG Jeff Landry says he has no authority to investigate Catholic Church Sex Abuse.”

Landry wrote an opinion editorial in response to the story saying,”to be absolutely clear and accurate: to date, since I have been Attorney General, my office has not received one single complaint against any clergyman of the Catholic Church in the State of Louisiana or any referrals from a local District Attorney which is required under law for my office to initiate a prosecution. As someone who has successfully won court case after court case on the separation of powers, I have no inclination of overstepping my constitutional authority or doing the Legislature’s job.”

We spoke with New Orleans attorney Roger Stetter about the issue. He represents 10 people who claim they were abused by a former Church Deacon.

“I think the Attorney General clearly does have the authority to initiate a statewide civil investigation and I think that is something he should do, he is our chief law enforcement officer,” said Stetter. “What could be more important than the protection of our children? What could be more important than making our houses of worship safe for children?”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
CRUX

September 8, 2018

By Charles C. Camosy

[Editor’s Note: Melinda Henneberger is an editorial writer and columnist for the Kansas City Star and monthly columnist for USA Today. A graduate of Notre Dame, she used to cover Catholic issues for the New York Times from Rome. Earlier this year, she won the prestigious Scripps Howard Award. She spoke to Charles Camosy about her views on Pope Francis and his attempts to reform the Church.]

Camosy: Many Catholics who pay attention to news and politics remember your work from Politics Daily, the Washington Post, and Bloomberg News. But maybe less people know that you used to work for the New York Times covering a lot of Catholic news out of Rome. Given your experience of how things worked then, and having had more than six years of Pope Francis, how do you think his attempts to reform the institutional Church have gone thus far?

Henneberger: Until recently, I would have given a nice mixed answer. But in the current context, the ship is on fire and sinking while the captain chooses this of all moments to stay silent, the crew argues on like nothing has changed and the passengers are jumping into the lifeboats; bye!

I’ve been very supportive of Francis, but doesn’t he have anyone around him who will tell him how serious this crisis is? Bottom line, the last three popes and who knows how many before that have failed to protect children. They haven’t seen how central a failing that’s been, either, or why if the Church can’t get that right, nothing and I mean nothing else matters.

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LATVIA
AFP

September 6, 2018

– Police have arrested 73-year-old priest Pavels Zeila who served in eastern Latvia
– Area to host Pope Francis during his tour of three Baltic states later this month
– Second man was also arrested on suspicion of trafficking in the case, police say

A Catholic priest has been arrested over claims he raped a mentally handicapped victim of human trafficking in Latvia.

The priest, identified as Pavels Zeila, 73, served in the Aglona-Rezekne diocese in eastern Latvia, which is to host Pope Francis during a four-day tour of the three Baltic states later this month.

A second man was also arrested on suspicion of trafficking in the case, which has shocked the Baltic state as it prepares to receive the Pope from September 22.

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SAN ANGELO (TX)
Hornet

September 8, 2018

By Dan Avery

An Air Force chaplain is accused of blaming the Catholic Church’s ongoing sex-abuse crisis on gay priests, according to a woman who attended his service.

U.S. Air Force Capt. Antonio Rigonan; chaplain at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas; reportedly told parishioners on August 19 that many priests who abused children were “homosexuals” and “effeminate.”

The accusation comes from an officer’s wife who walked out of mass with her family after his comments. She is asking for anonymity to protect her husband’s career.

“I’ve had to talk about a lot of serious things with [our children], who didn’t understand why we were upset,” she told Military.com. “It’s at least been a good message on consent and being aware of other people’s intentions.”

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SCRANTON (PA)
The Citizens’ Voice

September 8, 2018

By Terrie Morgan-Besecker

A Diocese of Scranton priest receiving a monthly stipend to help him meet his basic needs is a member of a private golf club, according to a roster of club members.

J. Peter Crynes, 76, of West Pittston, has received a sustenance payment — currently $1,237.50 per month — since he was removed from the ministry in 2006 after five women alleged he molested them when they were teenagers. A sixth woman came forward in 2016.

A roster report at the Fox Hill Country Club in Exeter shows a listing for “Msgr J. Peter Crynes.” An anonymous source mailed a screen shot of the report to The Times-Tribune with a handwritten note: “Scranton Diocese stipends pays for private country club?” A second source confirmed the roster entry is accurate.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Breitbart

September 7, 2018

By Dr. Susan Berry

Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo, New York, is refusing to step down in the wake of leaked documents from the chancery that suggest he mishandled allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct by priests he oversees in his diocese.
“My handling of recent claims from some of our parishioners concerning sexual misconduct with adults unquestionably has fallen short of the standard to which you hold us, and to which we hold ourselves,” Bishop Malone told Catholics of his diocese in a statement posted to the diocese’s website on August 26.

In rejecting the calls for his resignation, Malone said, “The shepherd does not desert the flock at a difficult time.”

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AFRICA
Spotlight Africa

September 10, 2018

By Chris Chatteris SJ

The growing state of crisis in our Church leads Fr Chris Chatteris, a Jesuit priest who has held many positions of leadership in the Order, to critique the Catholic ways of power. He chastises religious superiors, bishops, formators and mentors who have allowed abusive ministers to stay in the system for so long. They desperately need to review the instruments of accountability which have clearly failed.

Every unaccountable system of power will attract abusers – embezzlers, bullies and sexual predators. The thing we are painfully learning about the Catholic system of power, the hierarchy (it means ‘rule by priests’) is that it provides the perfect camouflage for such nefarious activities because the common assumption has been, that the bishop, priest or deacon is a man who is above such things. Indeed, he is called by God into a vocation of selfless service.

It seems that our hierarchical system of government in the Catholic Church has become functionally unaccountable. There is very little oversight. The bishop, whose first job is to care for and oversee (Bishop means ‘overseer’) his priests, sometimes does not do this or is unable to do so.

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ERIE (PA)
Times Observer

September 10, 2018

By Brian Ferry

A priest who formerly served as a pastor in Port Allegany and an administrator in Tidioute has been removed from ministry.

According to a Saturday release from the Diocese of Erie, Father Charles ‘Chuck’ Schmitt has been prohibited from all public ministry as well as from any contact with minors.

The action was taken after “an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor dating back to the 1960s was received through the hotline established by the Diocese of Erie,” according to the release. “The matter has been turned over to the Erie County District Attorney and Bishop (Lawrence T.) Persico has initiated an independent investigation through the K&L Gates law firm.”

Schmitt retired in 2006 as pastor of St. Gabriel Parish in Port Allegany. He had served after that as temporary administrator in Tidioute, Emporium, and Emlenton.

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LOUISVILLE (KY)
WDRB

September 10, 2018

By Lawrence Smith

Survivors of priest sex abuse are accusing the Catholic Church of a cover-up.

Survivors of clergy sexual abuse are calling on Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear to investigate. They also want the Archdiocese of Louisville to do more to root out the problem and help the victims.

The Louisville branch of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, brought their grievances to the Cathedral of the Assumption in downtown Louisville on Monday.

SNAP’s leader, Cal Pfeiffer, said the abuse “is still going on. To what extent, we don’t know.”

He said a Pennsylvania grand jury report into clergy abuse gives him renewed faith that justice can be done. That report revealed more than 300 predator priests and 1,000 victims.

“We would ask Andy Beshear here in the state of Kentucky to do the same here, not just Louisville, but the archdiocese across the whole state,” Pfeiffer said.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Life Site News

September 10, 2018

By Dr. Maike Hickson

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in the following conversation are those of the book’s author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of LifeSiteNews.

September 10, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – In a recent telephone interview, journalist and book author George Neumayr reveals many details about his ongoing investigation into the corruptions of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, but also of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Wuerl’s predecessor.

Neumayr, who is the author of The Political Pope, has been speaking with many insiders from the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. who are dismayed at the conduct of their archbishop.

In this interview, Neumayr shows that he himself has received confirmation from sources close to Cardinal Wuerl that “Cardinal Wuerl had direct knowledge of McCarrick’s preying upon seminarians.”

He also recounts how there are sources claiming that Cardinal Wuerl himself is a homosexual.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
WTAE

September 10, 2018

By Paul Van Osdol

Action News Investigates has learned a former priest accused of molesting boys found a job as a social worker at a counseling center, working near children.

William B. Yockey was a priest at several parishes in the Pittsburgh area before leaving the priesthood in the wake of child sex abuse allegations.

Yockey did not answer questions when Action News Investigates found him at the Community Counseling Center in Ashtabula, Ohio, where he was working as a therapist.

The nonprofit center treats adults and children with mental illness and substance abuse. The center’s director said Yockey was treating only adult patients.

According to the grand jury report, the allegations against Yockey date back to the early 1980s when he was based at St. Bernadette Church in Monroeville. The report says Yockey molested two boys at the church rectory, one of them 16 years old, the other an undetermined age.

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HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle

September 9, 2018

By Ana Goñi-Lessan

About a dozen protesters called on the Catholic Church to address abuse by clergy as they handed out flyers Sunday morning outside the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown.

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests members and supporters held signs that said “Protect our Children!” and “Speak Up, Speak to Police, Speak Out!” as parishioners left 9.a.m. mass.

“What we’re asking for is transparency,” said Michael Norris, leader of the Houston chapter of SNAP and member of the national board of directors.

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POMPTON PLAINS (NJ)
News 12

September 10, 2018

A retired Catholic priest says his concerns about sexual abuse in his diocese were initially ignored.

Father Ken Lasch says he contacted the Boston Diocese several months ago about allegations of sexual abuse in his parish in New Jersey. He contacted Boston because the cardinal there is also the chair of the Papal Commission on Sexual Abuse.

Lasch says that when he initially contacted Cardinal Sean O’Malley, he was told by O’Malley’s secretary that the incident was out of his jurisdiction.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

September 11, 2018

By Mary Markos

Cardinal: My panel not charged to investigate

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, facing renewed scandal about the church’s handling of priest sex abuse cases, has doubled down on his position that his pontifical commission’s priority is preventing, not investigating abuse cases — drawing alarm and even mockery from critics who say that stance is “not credible.”

O’Malley, the president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, said in Rome through a communique that the “commission’s starting point is not to investigate abuses; our starting point is to prevent abuses.”

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ROME (ITALY)
The Associated Press

September 11, 2018

By Nicole Winfield

A top Vatican official said Tuesday the clerical sex abuse scandal is such a game-changing catastrophe for the Catholic Church that he called it the church’s “own 9/11” on the 17th anniversary of the attacks in the U.S.

Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, a top aide to both retired Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, told a book presentation Tuesday that he by no means was comparing the scandal to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.

But he said the years-long scandal, and recent revelations in the Pennsylvania grand jury report, showed just “how many souls have been wounded irrevocably and mortally by priests from the Catholic Church.”

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[Marist Case: Survivors of sexual abuse claim that Church acknowledged complaints as “valid”]

CHILE
The Clinic

September 8, 2018

Exigimos a la Congregación de Hermanos Maristas que entregue todos los antecedentes que dispone sobre denunciados a la justicia chilena. Pero que también ponga en conocimiento de las autoridades judiciales aquellos casos que no han aparecido en los medios de comunicación. Es preocupante lo que se desprende de las declaraciones de los fiscales que intervienen en la investigación referidas a que la ofrecida colaboración de la Congregación es más obstrucción que ayuda. Comunicado oficial íntegro de víctimas en el caso Maristas.

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VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

September 10, 2018

By Nicole Winfield

The Vatican is preparing the “necessary clarifications” about accusations that top Vatican officials including Pope Francis covered up the sexual misconduct of a now-disgraced American ex-cardinal, Francis’ top advisers said Monday.

In a statement, Francis’ nine cardinal advisers expressed their “full solidarity” with the pope over the scandal, which has thrown his papacy into crisis.

The cardinals, who are meeting at the Vatican this week, said they were aware that “the Holy See is working on formulating the potential and necessary clarifications.”

Francis has refused to respond to the 11-page document published Aug. 26 by the retired ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano.

Vigano named more than two dozen current and former Vatican and U.S. officials and accused them of knowing about and covering up for ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who is accused of sexually molesting and harassing minors as well as adults.

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VINCENNES (IN)
WIBC

September 10, 2018

By Chris Davis

The Diocese of Evansville has also called the authorities.

A Catholic priest who serves as a religion teacher at a Vincennes high school, has been suspended by the Diocese of Evansville over a sexual abuse accusation from “decades ago”. Father Dave Fleck is suspended from all ministerial duties while he’s under investigation.

“Father Dave Fleck, a priest of the Diocese of Evansville, has been placed on administrative leave after a report of sexual misconduct that allegedly occurred decades ago was received by the diocese. The diocese has made a report to civil authorities and notified the Diocesan Review Board of the allegation,” said a statement from the Diocese.

Fleck has denied the accusation. Several other priests in Indiana have alkso been accused of decades-old sex crimes.

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POMPTON PLAINS (NJ)
News 12

September 10, 2018

A retired Catholic priest says his concerns about sexual abuse in his diocese were initially ignored.

Father Ken Lasch says he contacted the Boston Diocese several months ago about allegations of sexual abuse in his parish in New Jersey. He contacted Boston because the cardinal there is also the chair of the Papal Commission on Sexual Abuse.

Lasch says that when he initially contacted Cardinal Sean O’Malley, he was told by O’Malley’s secretary that the incident was out of his jurisdiction.

Lasch detailed the abuse in a letter. He says that it stems back to the 1980s. He alleges that a current Paterson priest sexually abused an 18-year-old man who was looking to become a priest.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
The American Conservative

September 6, 2018

By Rod Dreher

Above, a clip from Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis, testifying in a sworn 2014 deposition in a Minnesota case involving a priest accused of molesting a child. Carlson was an auxiliary bishop in Minneapolis-St. Paul before moving to the St. Louis post. In the deposition, the archbishop answers some variation of “I don’t know” several times. Which of these was the question put to him:

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

September 11, 2018

Robert Hoatson, a former priest who founded Road to Recovery to help victims, is himself a survivor of clergy sexual abuse.

He was ordained by the now-notorious Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 1997 through the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., and was also a Christian Brother at Catholic Memorial High School in West Roxbury in the 1980s. He served as headmaster there and was a whistleblower in cases of clergy sexual abuse.

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VATICAN CITY
The American Conservative

September 7, 2018

By Rod Dreher

Excellent reporting by Robert Duncan in the Rome bureau of Catholic News Service produces an explosive story:

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[Felipe Berríos attacks Ezzati, Sodano and Errázuriz: “I resented the secrecy they used and practiced, and the abuse of power”]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 9, 2018

El sacerdote de La Chimba dijo, además, que “entiendo que un sacerdote pueda tener relaciones con una mujer, o si es homosexual, con un hombre, pero es inexplicable que pueda dañar un niño”.

Un profundo análisis de la crisis que vive la Iglesia en Chile realizó el sacerdote jesuita Felipe Berríos. El análisis del religioso que vive en La Chimba es que se debe provocar un cambio profundo en la Iglesia, que la modifiquen por completo.

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Chilean prosecutor Arias tells Spanish media: “The Catholic Church is not a mafia or criminal organization”]

CHILE
El Mostrador

September 9, 2018

El fiscal regional de O’Higgins concedió una entrevista a la agencia EFE, quien lo cataloga como el “encargado de resolver el puzzle de abusos de la Iglesia chilena”.

Un entramado de casos sobre la presunta comisión de delitos de encubrimiento, abuso sexual, pederastia y estupro en el seno de la Iglesia católica de Chile durante décadas es el puzzle que el fiscal regional de O’Higgins, Emiliano Arias, trata de resolver desde hace meses. Un puzzle que comienza a cobrar “un aspecto más propio de lo que podría ser el crimen organizado, por así decirlo, o del delito cometido al interior de una organización”, expresó Arias en una entrevista con Efe.

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[Canonists analyze court decision about priest Precht]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 9, 2018

By Sergio Rodríguez

Abogado vocero de la Fundación Voces Católicas dice que con este recurso de amparo, que fue acogido, el presbítero “desconoce” el vínculo con su obispo y diócesis.

“Algunas personas han dicho que este fallo puede abrir flancos nuevos. Yo creo que al menos es materia de debate, ya que en Chile, en virtud de la Ley de Culto, el Estado reconoce el ordenamiento interno de la Iglesia Católica y de otros credos”, expresó el sacerdote Francisco Walker.

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[Cardinal Errázuriz is not participating in the Pope’s advisory council for “incidental reasons”]

CHILE
La Tercera

September 10, 2018

By Carlos Reyes

Fuentes de la Iglesia confirmaron la inasistencia del obispo emérito en la instancia, la cual comenzó a sesionar hoy en el Vaticano

Esta mañana la oficina de prensa del Vaticano confirmó el inició de la XXVI Reunión del Consejo de Cardenales (C9) que se desarrolla en Roma. Instancia a la cual no acudió el cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz, como confirmaron a La Tercera fuentes de la Iglesia.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

September 7, 2018

The late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua is accused in a new lawsuit of sexual assault. The alleged assault happened in the 1980s while he was a bishop in Pittsburgh.

According to CBS Pittsburgh, the female victim claims then Bishop Bevilacqua visited St. Gabriel’s Church and school, took her behind a partition in the lunchroom and groped her chest.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Trib Live

September 7, 2018

By Megan Guza

One of two civil lawsuits filed Friday against the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh accuses former Bishop Anthony Bevilacqua of sexually assaulting a young girl more than three decades ago.

That lawsuit, filed on behalf of a 45-year-old woman now living in San Diego, alleged that Bevilacqua and two other clergy, the Revs. Lawrence O’Connell and Edward Huff, assaulted her between 1978 and 1985 when she was between the ages of 5 and 13.

Pittsburgh attorney Alan Perer filed the lawsuit, along with a second lawsuit, against the diocese, Bishop David Zubik and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who served as Pittsburgh diocese’s bishop before Zubik.

Bevilacqua served as Pittsburgh’s bishop from 1983 and 1987. He became archbishop of Philadelphia in 1988, was elevated to cardinal in 1991 and retired in 2003. He died in 2012 at 87. He was accused in a 2011 grand jury report of transferring problem priests out of Philadelphia parishes to new ones without warning anyone of prior sexual abuse complaints.

The alleged victim in the first lawsuit and her family met O’Connell at St. Gabriel’s Church and St. Gabriel’s Sorrowful Mother School in Whitehall, where he was a pastor from 1952 to 1983, according to the lawsuit. She alleged that O’Connell began to fondle her through her school uniform when she was between 5 and 7.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Patch

September 7, 2018

By Eric Heyl

Two lawsuits were filed Friday against the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Former Pittsburgh Bishop Anthony Bevilacqua and two priests were accused of sexual abuse in one of two civil lawsuits filed Friday in the aftermath of the recent grand jury report detailing the sex crimes of Pennsylvania predator priests.

Pittsburgh attorney Alan Perer filed the lawsuits against the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Bishop David Zubik and Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C, Zubik’s predecessor as bishop.

The lawsuit in which Bevilacqua and the Revs. Lawrence O’Connell and Edward Huff are named was filed on behalf of Heather Taylor, 45, of San Diego woman. It accuses the trio of allegedly assaulting her from when she was between the ages of 5 and 13 between 1978 and 1985. The incidents occurred at St. Gabriel Church and St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin School in Whitehall.

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CHARLOTTE (NC)
WBTV

September 7, 2018

By Nick Ochsner

Charlotte Bishop Peter Jugis will make remarks addressing the abuse scandal within the Catholic Church during a weekend-long gathering of Catholics that opens Friday night, according to the Catholic News Herald, the official publication of the Charlotte Diocese.

Jugis’ remarks will come in his opening address to the Eucharistic Congress, an annual event hosted by the Charlotte Diocese.

The story published in the Catholic News Herald said Jugis will address the abuse scandal in his opening on Friday night and again in a longer message to the gathering on Saturday.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The American Conservative

September 6, 2018

By Rod Dreher

Hoo boy. Cardinal Wuerl has gone all Moralistic Therapeutic Deist. This cynical cat is branding his own self-rehabilitation. He’s even got a “toolkit” to change the subject from his own failures to the suffering of abuse victims. This takes chutzpah. Here’s the letter he sent to his priests today:

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UNITED STATES
Yahoo Movies UK

September 10, 2018

By Erin Donnelly

Olivia Munn’s co-stars in The Predator are finally addressing her concerns that she’s been ostracised over her insistence that one of the film’s scenes be removed.

Director Shane Black cast friend Steven Wilder Striegel for a role in the upcoming sci-fi action film, without notifying the cast that he is a registered sex offender who has been accused of sexually propositioning a teenager by email. The scene featuring Striegel has since been cut.

Munn, an advocate for #TimesUp and #MeToo movements, has been vocal about her disgust with the situation. She has also called out her male co-stars for giving Black a standing ovation at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and not backing her up.

“I kind of feel like I’m the one going to jail,” Munn told Vanity Fair. “I didn’t go to jail, I didn’t put this guy on our set. I had this scene deleted. Thank God, honestly, that there is social media. It’s the fans and news outlets that’s confirming it to me that what I did was the right thing. If I didn’t have that feedback, I’d kind of go a little crazy thinking, Why am I being treated like this? That’s not OK, to feel like the bad guy.”

According to Munn, co-stars including Boyd Holbrook, Thomas Jane, Trevante Rhodes, and Keegan-Michael Key declined to give public statements addressing the Striegel casting. She also said that one co-star left an interview when the topic came up. The actress has since been promoting the film — which she tweeted she is “contractually obligated” to do — with its youngest cast member, 11-year-old Jacob Tremblay.

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UNITED STATES
The Telegraph

September 10, 2018

Hours before The Predator premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, the studio behind the sci-fi film revealed it had cut a scene featuring Steven Wilder Striegel after learning the actor was a registered sex offender. “Our studio was not aware of Mr Striegel’s background,” Twentieth Century Fox said on Thursday.

But now the actress who brought the matter to Fox’s attention says she has been shunned by fellow cast-members, that her concerns were initially met with silence by the studio, and that she has been made to feel like a criminal.

Olivia Munn, 38, the only cast member to appear on screen with Striegel, made contact with Fox after learning he had served a jail sentence for making sexual advances towards a minor.

“When I called, [Fox] was silent for two days,” she told Variety. “I’m not saying they weren’t working on it behind the scenes… I just didn’t hear anything about it.”

She added: “I did have to reach out again and say I didn’t feel comfortable presenting at the MTV Awards with [Predator co-star Keegan-Michael Key] unless this guy [Striegel] was out of it.”

Fox have said Striegel’s only scene was cut within 24 hours of the studio learning about his criminal record.

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SAN ANGELO (TX)
Military.com

September 7, 2018

By Gina Harkins

The Air Force is looking into comments a Catholic chaplain made at a base chapel in which he allegedly equated child abuse in the church with homosexuality, prompting one officer’s family to walk out of mass.

Capt. Antonio Rigonan, an Air Force chaplain at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas, said during an Aug. 19 service that many priests who’ve abused children were “homosexuals” and “effeminate,” according to a military officer’s spouse who attended that morning.

After Rigonan allegedly repeated the stance several times, the spouse said her family got up and left. The woman, who spoke to Military.com on the condition of anonymity to protect her husband’s career, said she felt “very incapable of fixing” the wrongdoing she felt occurred that day.

“I’ve had to talk about a lot of serious things with [our children], who didn’t understand why we were upset,” she said. “It’s at least been a good message on consent and being aware of other people’s intentions.”

Goodfellow officials said they were not aware of Rigonan’s comments before Military.com inquired about them. There are no recordings of chapel services, base public affairs officials said, but “Goodfellow leadership is looking into what comments were made.”

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BUENOS AIRES (ARGENTINA)
The Associated Press

September 7, 2018

By Luis Andres Henao

Argentine authorities raided a Catholic-run school for youths with hearing disabilities Thursday as part of an investigation into alleged sexual abuse of vulnerable children that has shocked Pope Francis’s homeland.

A police official in Buenos Aires province said officers seized documents from the archives of the Antonio Provolo Institute in the city of La Plata dating back more than 30 years. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case, agreed to give details of the operation only on condition of anonymity.

The raid was ordered by a local prosecutor investigating “possible crimes against sexual integrity,” the official said. The documents cover the 1987-2018 period.

Provolo Institute officials could not be reached despite repeated attempts for comment.

The clerical abuse scandal has also marred other Provolo institutes.

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LINCOLN (NE)
1011 Now

September 6, 2018

By Lianna Prill

The Catholic Diocese of Lincoln is under investigation by the Attorney General and local law enforcement. While the Diocese is cooperating, it’s also causing victims to come forward with their stories of reported abuse.

“For the first time in the last 10 months, I finally feel there’s someone standing up for the victims,” Stan Schulte said.

Stan Schulte said he was abused by a priest in the Lincoln Diocese.

“I don’t know why God put me in this position, but my goal is to do my very best to listen to God, be guided and have courage to stand up,” Schulte said.

He said multiple people have connected with him — all sharing similar stories involving different priests.

“There’s one in particular that stands out to me. And he told me his story and as he’s telling me his story, I get the chills for how disturbing this is. And he told me he told that exact story to the chancery, and one of the first words out of their mouth was, ‘You know you’re not going to get paid for this.'” Schulte said.

The Diocese has confirmed the AG has asked to review records dating back 40 years, and it’s cooperating with this “state-wide investigation of all three Catholic Dioceses in Nebraska.”

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ENHAUT (PA)
Mirror

September 9, 2018

By Chris Kitching

Father Augustine Giella’s sick abuse even happened at the kitchen table, but it was often carried out in ways the girls’ mum and dad “couldn’t see”

Five sisters were sexually abused by the same child predator Catholic priest when one of them was just 18-months-old.

The Fortney sisters said Father Augustine Giella was such a trusted family friend that he was like a grandfather figure, showering them with gifts.

But there was a sinister side to the pastor that went unnoticed by their parents until he was arrested in 1992 for having nude photos of one of the girls.

The sick abuse even happened at the kitchen table in front of their parents, but it was often carried out in ways their mum and dad “couldn’t see”.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

September 10, 2018

By Philip Pullella

The Vatican is preparing a response to bombshell allegations made by an Italian archbishop who asked Pope Francis to step down, accusing him of covering up sexual misconduct by an American cardinal, his top advisers said on Monday.

The statement came at the end of the first day of a three-day meeting of the “C-9”, a group of nine cardinals from around the world who meet with the pope at the Vatican several times a year to advise him on Church matters.

In an 11-page statement published on Aug. 26, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the former Vatican ambassador to Washington, launched an unprecedented broadside by a Church insider against the pope and a long list of Vatican and U.S. Church officials.

The cardinals’ statement said they had expressed their “total solidarity with the pope over events of the last few weeks” and added that the Holy See was preparing “eventual and necessary clarifications”.

Viganò said he had told Francis soon after the pontiff’s election in 2013 that Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington D.C., had engaged in sexual misconduct.

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VATICAN CITY
Associated Press

September 10, 2018

By Nicole Winfield

Two weeks after Pope Francis’ papacy was thrown into crisis by accusations that he covered up sexual misconduct by ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Francis has refused to respond, his accuser has changed his story and a host of new characters have entered the fray.

Cardinals, bishops, priests and ordinary faithful are demanding answers, given that the Vatican knew since at least 2000 about allegations McCarrick had bedded seminarians.

Francis is coming under increasing pressure to respond to claims by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano that he rehabilitated McCarrick from sanctions Pope Benedict XVI had imposed.

Here is a look at the scandal, which has split the U.S. Catholic hierarchy and further tarnished Francis’ record on abuse.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Liberation

September 9, 2018

By Judi Yang

More and more adult survivors of childhood rape are coming out against their abusers and rapists, the very religious leaders of the Catholic Church they trusted. After four decades of inaction, state governments are finally investigating these crimes.

On Aug. 14, the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office released an 884-page report stemming from a two-year investigation from a 23-member grand jury. The report, based on investigations and victims’ testimony, presents evidence that over 300 priests and other clergy had molested, abused and raped more than 1,000 children in towns across Pennsylvania. The abusers had ties all the way up to the Vatican. The report also details a systematic cover-up of sexual predation by church officials. It says that there are “likely to be thousands more” victims.

Since this testimony has been released, the Survivor’s Network of Those Abused By Priests and the Pennsylvania state attorney general’s office have reported that their clergy abuse hotlines have been bombarded with phone calls with hundreds more stories of abuse.

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DETROIT (MI)
Church Militant

September 3, 2018

By Mark Crawford

I, as well as my younger brother, were sexually abused by my parish priest, Fr. Kenneth L. Martin of the archdiocese of Newark when I was 15, but the grooming process began much earlier. I suspect my younger brother was even younger when his sexual abuse began.

I grew up in a large, devout Catholic family who was very much involved in parish life, I aspired to become a priest from an early age and in fact spent two years in a college seminary program at a Salesian College in New Jersey, although I was part of the Franciscan Capuchin Fraternity that attended this college seminary program. What I experienced and witnessed in this seminary is another story, too much of the same.

My parish priest ingratiated himself into our family life beginning when I was in eighth grade. He spent many, many hours at my house several days a week. At first, he was like a father figure to me, directing my studies, giving me responsibilities and duties in the parish as well. He took me on trips throughout the country, but in 1978, on a trip to Colorado, a train trip he arranged almost a year in advance, we had bunk beds in a sleeper car.

Overnight he climbed into my bed and I awoke as he was fondling me. That’s when the sexual abuse began.

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WOODLAND PARK (NJ)
North Jersey Record / NorthJersey.com

September 8, 2018

By Deena Yellin

For a long time, Mark Crawford was afraid to tell anyone he was sexually abused and beaten by his family’s priest when he was a child.

“I feared he would take his own life and mine if I ever disclosed the abuse,” he said, recalling the emotional manipulation and violence that went on for years. “There was constant fear and anxiety. At times, I feared for my life.”

And when he finally summoned the courage to tell church leaders his tale of horror, he said he was dismissed.

Now, a 55-year-old married father of three, Crawford has turned his pain into a positive force as an advocate for other victims of sexual abuse. He’s the New Jersey director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. He has testified before the New Jersey State Senate about sex abuse of minors and appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in a segment about sexual abuse.

The Woodbridge resident is now lobbying for two bills before the New Jersey legislature: S477 in the Senate and A3648 in the Assembly. The bills aim to eliminate the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse and hold institutions accountable for failing to protect children. Current laws demand that civil action be filed within two years after a victim turns 18.

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ALLENTOWN (PA)
Morning Call

September 1, 2018

By Tim Darragh

As he began a blistering presentation of a grand jury report into decades of child sex abuse by priests in Pennsylvania earlier this month, Attorney General Josh Shapiro singled out two groups — the Catholic Church hierarchy and law enforcement — for sometimes working in tandem to keep the accusations from the public.

“The abuse scarred every diocese,” he said. “The cover-up was sophisticated. The church protected the institution at all costs.”

But the findings, identifying 301 predator priests, also showed a “failure of law enforcement,” Shapiro said.

The investigation found that while the church leadership was consistently involved in protecting offenders, it sometimes had assistance from police or district attorneys who looked the other way.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
Associated Press via Scranton Times-Tribune

September 8, 2018

By Marc Levy

Pennsylvania’s sweeping grand jury report on child sexual abuse in Roman Catholic Church dioceses is drawing growing attention from prosecutors elsewhere as a court battle looms that could curtail such investigative reports in the future.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Friday that more than 15 state attorneys general and a senior Justice Department official have contacted him about his office’s two-year investigation, what child advocates have called the biggest of its kind by a state into church cover-ups of abusive clergymen.

Their questions revolve around the “nuts and bolts” of how Pennsylvania conducted its investigation and specific people named in Pennsylvania’s report who ended up in their jurisdiction, Shapiro said. They also asked about the resources necessary to conduct such an investigation, he said.

New York and New Jersey launched new investigations into the Catholic Church’s handling of clergy sex abuse allegations Thursday, while attorneys general in Nebraska, Illinois and Missouri have announced investigations into allegations involving local dioceses.

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SACRAMENTO (CA)
Sacramento Bee

September 9, 2018

By Marcos Bretón

Since he became the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento a decade ago, Jaime Soto has chosen to remove priests accused of pedophilia or misconduct. This is in contrast to shielding them, as other bishops have in now-infamous coverups of child abuse being investigated by law enforcement authorities in several states.

Soto learned. The question is, has the rest of the church?

Mind you, Soto’s approach of hewing to the law over the loyalty to a fraternity of priests and bishops was informed by years when he did the opposite. He acted in a way that showed he cared more about the priests doing the abusing than the children; believed that therapy for pedophiles was the way to go; he would comment on the sexual abuse of priests without really knowing the facts.

He thought that sex abuse by priests needed to be kept secret.

Soto believed in all those falsehoods when he was rising through the ranks of the Diocese of Orange County, his home base before moving to Sacramento at the end of 2007, and he acted on them accordingly. What pains him most now is a letter he wrote to a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge to plead for mercy for a priest who preyed on altar boys.

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JOHNSTOWN (PA)
WJAC

By Liana Daywalt

Erie – A priest who once served in the Diocese of Erie has been prohibited from all public ministry as well as any contact with minors after an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.

According to a news release from the diocese, the allegations against 86-year-old Father Charles Schmitt dates back to the 1960s.

Bishop Lawrence Persico of Erie called the news disheartening saying in part, “this is a very difficult time for the Catholic Church, but we must face the truth. In collaboration with law enforcement, victims are finding their voice and helping us to ensure we are living out the principles we proclaim.”

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COLUMBUS (OH)
Columbus Dispatch

September 9, 2018

By Danae King

In the wake of a Pennsylvania grand jury report that revealed allegations of more than 1,000 children being sexually abused by more than 300 priests, some people want every Roman Catholic diocese in the nation — including those in Ohio — to be investigated.

Perhaps the most public call to action in central Ohio is a sign in front of Downtown’s St. Joseph Cathedral that reads: “Disgust and sorrow on clergy sexual abuse and sexual misconduct. Accountability. Reforms!”

The Rev. Michael Lumpe, who wrote the sign, said investigations like the one in Pennsylvania need to happen everywhere.

“This is not who we are as a church; this is not who we are as priests,” said Lumpe, the rector at St. Joseph’s. “There has been a systemic failure in some corners of the church, and we’re going to find out what happened and why.”

The Pennsylvania investigation, which took about two years and was conducted by a grand jury empaneled by the state attorney general, found widespread sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy members in six dioceses — Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg and Scranton — as well as a “circle of secrecy” around priests hiding the abuse within church structures. Earlier grand jury reports found evidence of abuse in the two other Pennsylvania dioceses, Philadelphia and Altoona-Johnstown.

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SPRINGFIELD (IL)
The State Journal-Register

September 8, 2018

By Steven Spearie

A Petersburg group that long charged a former bishop from the Springfield Catholic Diocese of sexual impropriety is back in business.

A recent press release announced that Roman Catholic Faithful (RCF), fronted by Stephen Brady, is jumping back into the fray, spurred on by last month’s Pennsylvania grand jury report that cited decades of clerical abuse allegations.

“It has become impossible for us to read (the) report and stand idle,” the press release stated.

RCF’s stated mission is “to expose the network of sexual immorality among the Catholic clergy in the United States, and to most especially to expose the bishops and cardinals who have enabled their crimes.”

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BALTIMORE (MD)
Baltimore Sun

September 9, 2018

[See related video.]

By Ian Duncan

As a church bell tolled, about a dozen protesters seeking accountability for sexual abuse by Catholic priests huddled under umbrellas outside the Baltimore Basilica and began to sing “We Shall Overcome.”

The group was part of planned series of demonstrations at major Catholic churches around the country this weekend in the wake of a report by the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office revealing the role senior church leaders played in covering up years of abuse.

Ryan Sattler, leader of the activist organization Call to Action Maryland, told those gathered in Sunday’s rain that the event would be the first of many similar rallies.

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WASHINGTON D.C.
CNN

September 9, 2018

By Eliott C. McLaughlin and Rosa Flores

A Washington deacon has joined the cadre of Catholics who say Cardinal Donald Wuerl should step down amid criticism of his handling of abusive priests.

Writing that “genuine healing” cannot arrive unless Wuerl resigns and that “justice demands nothing less,” Deacon James Garcia wrote that he would no longer be able to attend to the cardinal, who is archbishop of Washington.

“In view of recent developments, I cannot, in good conscience, continue to attend to you personally, whether as an assisting deacon or a master of ceremony,” Garcia wrote in a letter dated Tuesday.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic News Agency

September 9, 2018

By Christine Rousselle

When speaking to their children about sexual abuse scandals in the Church, parents should listen to their children’s concerns and be careful to not to make assumptions, experts told CNA.

When discussing the issue of abuse, “the first step is to be sensitive [to] the age and stage the child’s in,” Dr. Gregory Popcak, founder and executive director of the Pastoral Solutions Institute, told CNA.

“Certainly, a kindergarten age child would not need to know as much as an adolescent would, or even a middle schooler.”

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