ABUSE TRACKER

“Although Pope Francis had good intentions when denouncing clergy sexual abuse he was met with great resistance within the Catholic Church when attempting to effectuate any meaningful change,” attorney Mitchell Garabedian says

A lawyer known for representing clergy sexual abuse victims is speaking out after the death of Pope Francis.

In a statement shared with PEOPLE on Tuesday, April 22, Mitchell Garabedian, who was portrayed by Stanley Tucci in the 2015 Oscar-winning film Spotlight, mourned the loss of the pope and underlined the need for more action to address the “sexual abuse crisis” within the Catholic Church.

“I have been representing clergy sexual abuse victims or survivors worldwide for decades,” Garabedian wrote. “The passing of Pope Francis is understandably sad, unsettling and difficult for many.”

“Although Pope Francis had good intentions when denouncing clergy sexual abuse he was met with great resistance within the Catholic Church when…

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Few could have predicted that a comment Pope Francis made during a 2018 visit to Chile would blow up into the biggest crisis of his papacy, and one that eventually set the Catholic Church on a new path of accountability for clergy sexual abuse.

Francis was asked by a TV reporter about a Chilean bishop who had been accused by victims of having covered up the crimes of Chile’s most notorious pedophile. Francis had been defending the bishop for years and shot back that there was “not one shred of proof against him. It’s all slander. Is that clear?”

His irate response struck a nerve in Chile, which was just beginning to come to terms with a horrific legacy of clergy abuse, and it prompted Francis’ top child protection adviser to sternly rebuke the pope for his harmful words.

But then something remarkable happened: Rather than dig in, Francis commissioned an…

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An Arkansas pastor has been sentenced to 110 years in prison for charges related to the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse materials.

The Pike County Sheriff’s Department announced on Monday that an Arkansas pastor has been sentenced to 110 years in prison. 

The man — James Vincent Henry who worked as a pastor in Delight, Arkansas — pleaded guilty to 11 child sexual abuse material charges. As result, Henry received 10 years per count for a total of 110 years in prison.

Back in October of 2024, Henry was initially arrested for his involvement in the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse materials.

According to reports, on September 25, a search warrant was executed by Arkansas State Police after they received two cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that were made on both Snapchat and Kik.

After reviewing the digital evidence, a…

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After an earthquake devastated Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, the Obama administration allowed families to fast-track adoptions of children from orphanages in the stricken country – and many Americans flew there as quickly as possible.

What one group of parents didn’t know was that some of their children had been sexually abused, allegedly by a missionary, Keith Lashbrook. Lashbrook volunteered at Michael Brown’s FIRE School of Ministry until Brown fired him in 2008. At the same time, Lashbook was overseeing an orphanage in Port de Paix, north Haiti.

Lashbrook, who has never been charged with any wrongdoing, allegedly tried to force one FIRE student, Christy Scott, to accept massages and “daddy-daughter dates.” If she refused, he told her she’d soon kill herself.

Since Lashbrook’s role included mentoring young women at FIRE, Scott said she reported this odd behavior to FIRE leaders the year it happened—2008. She told The Roys Report (TRR) the…

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When Pope Francis took on the challenge of leading the Catholic Church into a new era in 2013, he said that cleaning up a global sexual abuse crisis was high on the agenda.

From parishes in Boston and schools in Australia, to orphanages in Ireland and nunneries in Argentina, the Catholic Church has faced a cascade of sexual abuse allegations.

In many cases, the victims were children. 

The worldwide scandal led to a flurry of criminal cases, civil trials and national inquiries, bringing the institution to its knees, amid claims that offenders were moved from parish to parish to ensure their crimes were “swept under the carpet.”

Under serious pressure from survivors, prosecutors and the faithful, Pope Francis told his staff to take “decisive action” and ensure perpetrators were punished.

In a statement from April 2013, the Holy See press office said Pope Francis told the Vatican watchdog that dealt with sexual…

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 The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has reached a $150 million settlement with more than 800 survivors of sexual abuse.

The settlement involves parishes and schools connected to decades of abuse by clergy, lay employees, religious and volunteers within the eight counties of Western New York. Although the settlement amount still needs creditor vote and court approval, it has been accepted by the Committee, meaning each survivor would receive about $187,000.

“This settlement in principle between the Committee and the Diocese represents an essential milestone on this protracted and arduous journey, and importantly, enables us to finally provide a measure of financial restitution to victim-survivors, which has been our primary objective all along,” explained Bishop Michael W. Fisher. “While indeed a steep sum, no amount of money can undo the tremendous harm and suffering the victim survivors have endured, or eliminate the lingering mental, emotional, and spiritual pain they have been…

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Gardaí have attended a mobile home in Co Donegal owned by child sex offence suspect Fr Edward Gallagher and removed a number of items.

The priest has been suspended from his post in the Derry Diocese after he was charged with attempted sexual communication with a child.

Fr Gallagher appeared before a special sitting of Derry Magistrates Court charged that on dates between April 2nd, 2025, and April 17th, 2025, that he attempted sexual communication with a child.

The 58-year-old is the curate for the Camus, Clonleigh and Leckpatrick parishes, which include St Patrick’s Church in Murlog, Lifford, in Co Donegal where he is the regular celebrant.

His arrest and charge follows an incident involving ‘paedophile hunters’ outside a Derry hotel on Thursday last, which saw a number of allegations put to him.

In that video, various allegations are put to the priest about his alleged sexual activity, and he…

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[Note: In the excellent video of this report, survivor Damian O’Farrell’s five-minute segment describes the meeting that Pope Francis had with him and seven other survivors during the Pope’s visit to Ireland. O’Farrell does say that Francis has been the “best Pope” for survivors, but he also says that more “radical” change is needed. He speaks of the impact of Francis on him and the remarkably detailed and accurate memory Francis had of what each of the survivors had said. O’Farrell was particularly struck by the Pope’s demeanor when the survivors talked about the Magdalen laundries and the industrial schools, as if Francis were understanding that aspect of the Irish crisis for the first time. O’Farrell also speaks of the resistance still shown by Irish religious orders, which need, he says, to be more Christian in dealing with abuse. ]

When Pope Francis visited Ireland in 2018, he…

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“It has been one of the greatest challenges facing the Church of our time,” wrote Pope Francis, who died on April 21 at the age of 88, in a text made public on June 15, 2023. At the time, he had just written a letter to Bolivian president Luis Arce, expressing his “pain and feelings of shame and dismay,” following revelations in the local press of dozens of sexual assaults committed by a priest in the country. Despite the unprecedented nature of the move – a pope writing to a head of state about a sex scandal – the matter caused only a limited stir. In France, for instance, there was hardly any media coverage. At the time, there was an all-too-familiar, sad sense of déjà-vu.

From the United States to Australia, via Germany, France, Ireland, Portugal, Belgium, Chile, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia, Francis saw scandals erupt almost everywhere in the Catholic world…

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While the airwaves have been flooded since Pope Francis’ death on Monday with praise for a transformative and humble leader, the pope’s legacy is a more complicated and troubled one for many focused on the issue of clergy sex abuse.

“My heart goes out to all of those who are deeply affected by [the passing of Pope Francis],” said Myra Russell, a Boston resident.

But for Russell, a survivor of clergy sexual abuse between the ages of 4 and 15 when she lived in Albany, it was hard to hear Pope Francis talking about “world peace” while knowing the inner lives of abuse survivors are anything but peaceful.

“As a survivor, first of all, I can tell you survivors are having a lot of feelings today, lots going on inside them,” said Peter Isely, one of the founders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“This is the…

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Summary

• Late pope met clerical abuse victims on 2018 trip to Ireland
• Francis created Vatican’s first anti-abuse commission
• Survivors say measures fell short of expectations
• Critics call for more decisive actions from next pope

Dublin – When Pope Francis sat with his head in his hands and listened to accounts of clerical sexual abuse for an hour longer than scheduled during a trip to Dublin in 2018, many of those present were deeply moved.

But not all were convinced that Francis, who died on Monday, was doing enough with his papacy to heal the damage done by decades of stark failures by the Church.

“I don’t think anyone can do enough,” said Rev. Paddy McCafferty, who was sexually abused as a young adult in the 1980s by a fellow member of the clergy and was one of eight victims to recount their stories that day.

“I think he did his best,” he said.

…

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The Chilean sexual abuse scandal remains one of the darkest chapters of Pope Francis’ papacy—not simply because of the appalling crimes committed by Christian priests, but because of the way the Vatican treated those crimes: outright dismissal, disbelief, and denial. It is a sobering reminder that the Pope was, after all, a human being for whom institutional loyalty eclipsed moral clarity.

On April 21, Pope Francis, the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, breathed his last after battling a prolonged illness. He was 88 at the time of his death. Born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis was the head of the Roman Catholic Church and the sovereign of the Vatican City State.

Cardinal Farrell announced the news of the Pope’s death, saying, “Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis.” He died at his residence in…

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Around 12 months before he died Pope Francis said much progress had been made on holding people to account for committing sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. But victims say the next Pope needs to take the progress much, much further.

As billions around the world reflect on the legacy of Pope Francis, some are feeling re-traumatised by the Catholic Church and angry at the ways the institution hurt them.

Advocates have argued the next pope must do better than Pope Francis to combat the scourge of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and urged the church’s head to enforce a zero tolerance policy and mandatory reporting to local authorities.

Judy Courtin is a senior lawyer and scholar who has spent decades representing and advocating for victims of sexual abuse within Australian institutions, including the Catholic Church.

She told SBS News that for some victim/survivors of Catholic institutional child sex…

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Over the course of his pontificate, Pope Francis held up two recurring images: the good shepherd who looks for the lost sheep and lays down his life to save them; and the good Samaritan, who did not ignore the wounded traveler, but helped him without asking for anything in return.

“God thinks like the Samaritan” and “God thinks like the shepherd,” the pope said in his first general audience talk March 27, 2013, calling on everyone to enter “more deeply into the logic of God” in their daily lives.

Pope Francis used the same “logic” of God’s love and protection in his attempts to address the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.

One hallmark of the pope’s approach was the way he listened to survivors and understood “how deep the wounds go,” Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a leading safeguarding expert, told Catholic News Service in 2023.

The pope listened to…

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The death of Pope Francis, 88, after a long illness Monday prompted an outpouring of condolences from church and civic leaders across the region, as well as admiration among the Catholic laity for the Argentinian pontiff’s humility, simplicity, and advocacy for the most vulnerable.

From a Natick church service, where Boston Archbishop Richard Henning mourned the pope’s passing, to Boston City Hall and the state’s congressional delegation, Francis was recalled as a cleric who had championed the causes of the impoverished and persecuted, while prodding the secretive bureaucracy of the Roman Catholic Church to discuss reforms more openly.

At the foot of the altar in St. Patrick’s in Natick stood a gold-framed photo of the pontiff, surrounded by arrangements of lilies, hydrangeas, and daffodils laid out for the Easter season. The pope, a Jesuit who was elected to the papacy in 2013, died a day after appearing in a wheelchair…

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Church and world leaders mourn the death of the pontiff

The Catholic Church is in mourning.

Catholics around the world expressed their sadness and non-Catholics sent their condolences upon hearing the news of Pope Francis’ death at age 88 on Easter Monday.

Catholic bishops, priests and religious, intellectuals, activists, organizational leaders, as well as politicians, religious leaders, global organizations and more issued statements and wrote social media posts reflecting on the legacy of the first Jesuit pope who as an Argentine was also the first pontiff from the Americas.

“Pope Francis will long be remembered for his outreach to those on the margins of the Church and of society,” said Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In a prepared statement, Broglio said that Francis, who was elected pope in March 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI’s surprise resignation, “renewed for us the mission…

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Pope Francis died on Easter Monday at the age of 88. Here are the key things to know about the death of the Argentine pontiff, history’s first from Latin America, who presided over the Catholic Church for more than 12 years.

The timing and cause of Pope Francis’ death

Francis died Monday morning at the Domus Santa Marta hotel where he lived at the Vatican. His death came almost a month after he returned to the Vatican after being hospitalized for double pneumonia. The Vatican said that Francis suffered a stroke that led to a coma and caused his heart to fail.

On Tuesday the Vatican released its first images showing him in a wooden casket, in red vestments and his bishop’s miter, with the Vatican secretary of state praying over him in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta. It also announced that the funeral will be held on…

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When Pope Francis took over in 2013, the Catholic Church was embroiled in a global scandal over child sex abuse by priests, and the institution’s attempts to cover it up.

The pontiff sanctioned top clergy and made reporting abuse mandatory, but victims said more can and must be done.

Criticised commission

In December 2014, Pope Francis established an international panel of experts to recommend how to protect minors, but the commission was mired in controversy from the start.

Two members representing abuse survivors resigned in 2017, including Marie Collins, who was raped by a priest in Ireland when she was 13 years old and who decried as “shameful” the lack of cooperation from Vatican officials.

In March 2023, the commission’s last remaining founding member, prominent German Jesuit priest Hans Zollner, resigned expressing concerns over “responsibility, compliance, accountability and transparency”.

Turning point in Chile

Pope Francis’s trip in January 2018 to…

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 It’s frustrating for me to hear Bergoglio described as “the less awful pope”–because awful is still awful. I think I get fixated on ideas of purity, which can be juvenile, but putting that aside, here are some things that Bergoglio could have done and did not. (I’m quoting from a survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of the Church.)

• He could levy the harshest penalty, excommunication, against a dozen or more of the most egregious abuse enabling church officials. (He’s done this to no enablers, or predators for that matter.)
• He could insist that every diocese and religious order turn over every record they have about suspected and known abusers to law enforcement.
• Francis could order every prelate on the planet to post on his diocesan website the names of every proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting cleric. (Imagine how much safer children would be if police, prosecutors, parents…

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Francis, who died yesterday, did more than past popes. But he didn’t do nearly enough, some victims’ advocates say.

TODAY’S STARTING POINT

Pope Francis, who died yesterday at 88, never visited Boston. But he was a presence in the city throughout his 12-year papacy in part because of how he approached the problem of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy — a crisis that rocked the Boston Archdiocese.

In some ways, Francis was an innovator. He apologized to victims and enacted policies meant to catch abusive priests. Yet his limited reforms disappointed many, and he sometimes doubted victims’ stories or sided with the accused.

Francis’s death has left people who hold both perspectives mourning. Some who think he made progress on clerical abuse note that the next pope may not continue it. And those who think he did too little lament his papacy as a missed opportunity to do victims…

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In 2018, Pennsylvania became the epicenter of the Catholic clergy sex abuse crisis with the release of a statewide grand jury report detailing decades-old concealment of the systemic abuse of hundreds of minors at the hands of more than 300 priests.

Scores of survivors of abuse across Pennsylvania looked to Pope Francis, widely considered a church reformist, to bring about transformative and substantive change in the church that could lead to healing and closure for the many broken adults who had suffered at the hands of priests.

For many survivors of clergy sex abuse that day never came.

Pope Francis, 88, died Monday morning, the Vatican announced, after battling multiple health issues that led to his hospitalization for five weeks earlier this year.

On Sunday, the pontiff, despite doctors’ orders, made an Easter Sunday appearance on St. Peter’s…

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The Diocese of Buffalo agreed to pay $150 million to settle over 800 claims of sexual abuse, sources confirmed to WIVB News 4 on Monday. The settlement follows years of efforts to reach an agreement of compensation for victims, and the Diocese’s bankruptcy filing in 2020.

The claims were a large factor in the Diocese’s decision to close and merge churches across Western New York over the past year, along with declining number of priests and parishioners.

According to an update filed to the court by co-mediators on Monday, the agreement consists of “specific and economic terms and various non-economic terms.” The update also said a certain amount of money will be “payable on the effective date” of a confirmed plan and the rest of the funds will be paid afterward on a “tiered interest schedule.” The monetary amount was not specified in the update.

One year after state lawmakers passed…

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On other matters – like church governance, finances and morale – he took prompt and impressive action. On the church’s continuing child sex abuse and cover up crisis, he did not.

Like his two most recent predecessors, while making vague but comforting promises, Francis

• acknowledged the scandal but only in the most vague and often self-serving terms, focusing only on the priests who committed crimes, not bishops who enabled their crimes
• met with a carefully-chosen handful of victims and apologized, again, in vague, often self-serving terms
• used the familiar but largely spurious public relations maneuver of fixating on largely ineffective procedures, protocols, policies and panels, and
• refused, time and time again, to take simple, proven, common sense steps to protect the vulnerable, oust the predators, punish the enablers and expose the cover ups.

Once caught or exposed, a few more bad bishops quietly resigned under this Frances than under his predecessors. But as…

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At 9:45 AM, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, announced the death of Pope Francis, Survivors around the world are mourning what they perceive as the “tragedy” of his papacy—a preventable catastrophe for the children and vulnerable people who were abused during his tenure.

Last month, survivors delivered a final appeal to Pope Francis, warning him against issuing what they describe as a “misleading” papal exhortation on children that fails to mandate binding protections against their abuse under canon law. The letter, drafted by global survivors to be personally delivered by Juan Carlos Cruz — a survivor, papal advisor, and member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors — urged Pope Francis to use his remaining time to implement a true zero-tolerance law that includes independent oversight of bishops.

The next pope must do what Francis refused: enact a universal zero tolerance law for abuse…

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Pope Francis changed a deeply traditional institution more than most observers could have imagined possible in only a dozen years.

As soon as the new pope was announced to the world on March 13, 2013, even before he came out to greet the crowd in St. Peter’s Square, the world knew that it had a very different sort of pontiff. The conclave had elected the first pope from the Americas, the first from the Global South, the first Jesuit, and the first to the take the name Francis.

Then the Pope stepped out onto the loggia in front of the Basilica and the changes began. He declined to don the red mozzetta cape traditional for such an appearance. Later, when the cardinals who had just elected him boarded buses taking them to a celebratory meal, the Pope shunned his private car and got on the bus with them. It was soon announced…

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Pope Francis, a transformative figure who revitalized the hopes of millions of Catholics after decades of scandal, stagnation and increasing social irrelevancy for the global church, died on April 21 after a prolonged battle with double pneumonia, for which he was hospitalized for five weeks before returning to the Vatican on March 23. 

The Vatican said that his time of death was 7:35 a.m, Central European time, on Easter Monday. 

Elected as pope on March 13, 2013, Francis took the helm of the global church after a period of unexpected and seismic change. Pope Benedict XVI, who had reigned for eight years, had not died but become the first pontiff in at least six centuries to resign the papacy.

The new pontiff, born in Argentina in 1936 as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, became the first in history from the Western Hemisphere. 

He was also the first Jesuit pope…

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A major support and advocacy group for survivors of church sexual abuse, the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, marked the death of Pope Francis on Monday, calling his papacy a “preventable catastrophe for the children and vulnerable people who were abused during his tenure.”

The group said it drafted a letter to deliver to Pope Francis last month that urged him “to use his remaining time to implement a true zero-tolerance law that includes independent oversight of bishops.”

“We feel it is important to reach out to you now, even as you continue your physical recovery, which we hope will soon bring you back to us,” the letter said. “We anticipate that some may criticize us for raising this issue while you are still healing. However, when is it ever the right time to discuss the alarming reality of rape and…

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Death of Trailblazing Pope Leaves the Catholic Church at a Crossroads

Pope Francis, history’s first pontiff from the Global South, has died at age 88 following a months-long respiratory illness, setting the stage for a high-stakes secretive election to determine his successor.

“The Bishop of Rome, Francis, has returned to the house of the Father,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced early Monday (April 21) from the chapel of the Vatican guesthouse where Francis resided. “His entire life has been dedicated to the service of the Lord and His Church.”

“He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God,” Farrell said.

Francis died at…

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Pope Francis, the first Jesuit and first Latin American to lead the Catholic Church, died Monday. He was 88.

During his 11-year pontificate, he recorded several other firsts. He was the first pope to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress, the first to call for civil union laws and approve ecclesiastical blessings for same-sex couples, and the first to visit Iraq, the Arabian Peninsula, Mongolia, and Myanmar.

But while the Western media portrayed him as a revolutionary, bringing the Catholic Church hurtling into the 21st century, in practice Pope Francis often took a more evolutionary approach to change.

While critics persistently accused him of seeking to alter Catholic teaching, he seemed to aim above all at changing the Church’s culture, urging Catholics to embody what he believed were the three hallmarks of God’s presence: closeness, compassion, and tenderness. He sought also to counter what he saw as the…

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Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died on Monday. He was 88, and had recently suffered a serious bout of double pneumonia.

Following are reactions to his death:

U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP

“He was a good man, worked hard. He loved the world, and it’s an honor to do that,” Trump said at an Easter event at the White House, referring to his order that flags across the country be flown at half-staff to honor Pope Francis’ memory.

ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER GIORGIA MELONI

Meloni mourned the departure of “a great man, a great shepherd”. “I had the privilege of enjoying his friendship, his advice, his teachings, which never ceased, not even during times of trial and suffering,” she said in a statement.

ARGENTINA’S PRESIDENT JAVIER MILEI

“It is with profound sorrow that I learned this sad morning that Pope Francis, Jorge Bergoglio, passed away…

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A memory of transcendent humanity in Rome

The one time I was to meet Pope Francis, I had to wait. Others, more knowledgeable than me, will write memorials today. I want to share a single detail from one day in Rome, in January 2018.

The site was a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, St. Sophia; the occasion was the conferring of the honors of the Blessed Martyr Omelian Kovch.

The namesake of this distinction was a Greek Catholic priest who rescued Jews during the German occupation, and who himself died inside the Majdanek concentration camp. While in Majdanek, Kovch wrote that he did not wish for anyone to intervene on his behalf, since he wished to minister to the needs of the dying: “They die in different ways, and I help them cross this bridge into eternity. Is this not a blessing? Is this not the most splendid crown that God could…

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Three days after white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel in March 2013, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires greeted the international press inside a cavernous Vatican audience hall. As he rose from a richly upholstered armchair, a pair of well-worn black shoes peeked out from underneath his new papal robes.

The decision by Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, to reject the lavish red slippers of his office was widely interpreted as a small act of rebellion in the tradition-bound Vatican.

The Argentine Jesuit had assumed the mantle of a church dazed by the abdication of Pope Benedict XVI and wounded by revelations of rampant sexual abuse in the priesthood and financial scandal. Now, after the surprise selection of the first non-European pontiff since 741, Francis was demonstrating modestly but unmistakably that he would be a different kind of pope.

Francis, 88, died April…

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Pope Francis, history’s first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, died Monday. He was 88.

Bells tolled in churches from his native Argentina to the Philippines and across Rome as news spread around the world after the announcement, which was read by Cardinal Kevin Farrell from the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta, where Francis lived.

“At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church,” said Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo, who takes charge after a pontiff’s death.

Francis, who suffered from chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted to Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14, 2025, for a respiratory crisis that developed…

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Pope Francis was a beacon of hope to many of the world’s most desperate and marginalized people. But what we most needed from this pope was justice for the Church’s own wounded, the children and adults sexually abused by Catholic clergy. In this realm, where Francis had supreme power, he refused to make the necessary changes. This choice is having devastating consequences for the Church’s most powerless members. It will forever tarnish the legacy of this remarkable man.

We needed Pope Francis to permanently remove abusers from ministry and decisively punish enablers. We needed him to rid canon law of its bias in favor of accused priests. We needed him to follow through on his promises of transparency, by releasing abuse data and the names of offending clergy and complicit bishops. Pope Francis chose to do none of these things. He instead maintained the secrecy of his predecessors and addressed…

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The Diocese of Derry has launched an internal investigation after one of its priests was charged with alleged sex offences.

58 year old Father Edward Gallagher, of Orchard Park, Lifford, County Donegal, appeared before Derry Magistrates’ Court yesterday, accused of attempted sexual communication with a child between April 2nd and 17th 2025.

No bail application was made, and he was remanded in custody to appear in court again on May 1st.

Bishop of Derry, Dónal McKeown has since confirmed Fr. Gallagher has been suspended, adding the diocese “takes such matters very seriously”.

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Brand New RTÉ documentary this Wednesday reveals how jailed abusers were at the heart of their leadership and asset management

RTÉ Investigates examines the Christian Brothers handling of their wealth and assets, as they continue to fail victims of abuse in a brand new documentary to air this Wednesday night on RTÉ One and RTE Player.
 

After last year’s Scoping Inquiry predicted a vast scale of historical child sexual abuse in Irish schools, and recommended redress for victims, the Christian Brothers stood out, with the largest number of schools and the highest number of allegations. Once powerful, the traditional educator of Catholic Irish boys, the Christian Brothers order is still one of the richest. Its aging trustees hold on to an extensive property portfolio and a significant stake in the present, and future, of Irish education.

As a new wave of victims prepare to seek justice for abuse suffered in schools, RTÉ…

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REVIEW: ‘Jesus Wept: Seven Popes and the Battle for the Soul of the Catholic Church’ by Philip Shenon

When a book’s dust jacket describes its author as an “award-winning investigative reporter” and the author begins by describing his work as “an investigative history of the modern Roman Catholic Church,” readers might expect that, by the end of the book, something strikingly new would have been revealed. But in this case (to borrow from Richard M. Nixon) “That would be wrong.” For Philip Shenon gives the game away two sentences later when he defines “the battle for the soul of the church” in these terms: “It pits Catholics desperate for a more tolerant church—one, that in the words of Pope John [XXIII], dispenses the medicine of mercy instead of severity—against those who see that vision as heresy.”

Right.

How Shenon came to that conclusion—the Platonic form of the New York Times’s view of…

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The authors of a book published Thursday said the Vatican knew about sexual abuse allegations against French charity icon Abbe Pierre as early as the 1950s.

The Catholic cleric — who founded the Emmaus charity which is now present in over 40 countries — was widely praised for his work for the poverty-stricken and homeless when he died in 2007 aged 94.

But in recent months more than 30 people have alleged he committed sexual abuse against them, some when they were children, between 1950 and 2000, shattering his saintly image.

Prosecutors in February said no criminal investigation could be opened because the statute of limitations had expired in all cases.

Journalists Laetitia Cherel and Marie-France Etchegoin in their book “Abbe Pierre, the Making of a Saint” allege the Vatican knew about some of the accusations for decades.

“As early as autumn 1955, not only did top French clergy know…

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Jane Doe claims her memory of the abuse when she was 9 years old was repressed until recently.

In March, we introduced you to Elizabeth Carlock Phillips, a Dallas woman working to make Texas and the rest of the country a safer place for kids. Her work is driven by the memory of her late brother, Trey. For years, Trey suffered abuse at the hands of a man named Pete Newman who worked at a Missouri summer camp called Kanakuk. As a result of the trauma Trey experienced and the restrictive NDA he was pressured to sign by Kanakuk attorneys, he ended his life in 2019 at the age of 29. Since his death, Elizabeth has become an advocate for victims of child sexual abuse. She is leading the charge to change state laws in Texas and Missouri to eliminate statutes of limitations on child sexual abuse cases and make…

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Years of meeting minutes from the San Francisco Archdiocese’s Independent Review Board were released Wednesday morning following a bankruptcy’s judge’s order

175 pages of once-secret meeting minutes from the San Francisco Archdiocese’s Independent Review Board (IRB) – the group handpicked by the Archbishop to probe abuse claims against clergy and other staff members – were publicly released Wednesday morning, shining a light on how the church investigates its own. 

Click here to read the meeting minutes yourself.

The disclosure was ordered last month by a judge in the Archdiocese’s ongoing bankruptcy case against the objections of church attorneys, with victims and their attorneys calling the move “unprecedented.”

“This is the first time I can say in a bankruptcy case that an archdiocese had to make these minutes public,” said Brittany Michael, a bankruptcy attorney representing the Archdiocese’s creditors. 

The minutes, which contain numerous redactions, summarize conversations between IRB members and…

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• Alonzo Parker Jr., 60, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for child sex abuse charges.
• Parker abused a minor while in a position of trust at a local church between 1998 and 2002.
• The sentence is the maximum allowed under Parker’s sentencing guidelines.

A Salisbury man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for child sex abuse.

Alonzo Parker Jr., 60, was sentenced on Thursday to 15 years in prison after being convicted of child sex abuse charges in December of 2024. Parker was convicted to sexual abuse of a minor, three counts of third degree sexual offense, four counts of fourth degree sexual offense, and four counts of second degree assault.

The 15-year sentence represented the top of Parker, Jr.’s, sentencing guidelines, which ranged from four to 15 years of incarceration. Should Parker, Jr. be released from prison, he will be under supervised probation with sex offender requirements…

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Survivors of child sexual assault are once again asking Colorado lawmakers to refer a constitutional amendment to the ballot.

If passed by voters, it would allow for civil suits in cases that happened decades earlier.

Right now, survivors of child sexual abuse have six years after they turn 18 to bring a civil suit. But most don’t come forward for decades. By then, the statute of limitations has run out and their left with trauma that often requires a lifetime of treatment.

State Sen. Jessie Danielson and state Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet are bringing a bill, for the third time in four years, to give them a chance to recover damages.

“Once you hear these stories, I don’t know how anybody doesn’t take action,” Danielson said.

She and Michaelson Jenet first took action in 2021. They passed a law that allowed survivors of child sexual assault to sue their abusers and…

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Ketan Badiani, 58, gained girl’s trust and forged inappropriate relationship with her, police allege

A Winnipeg teacher has been charged with sexual assault and exploitation after allegedly luring a teenage student. 

In March, Winnipeg police began investigating an incident involving the luring of a teenage girl, police said in a news release Thursday. 

Investigators allege Ketan Badiani, 58, who was a teacher at St. Maurice Parochial School in Fort Garry, used private messaging on social media to communicate with a student in her mid-teens between October 2024 and March 2025.

Police allege Badiani gained her trust and forged an inappropriate relationship with her.

On April 11, police arrested Badiani. He was charged with sexual assault, sexual exploitation and luring a person under 18 by telecommunication. 

Badiani was released on a court order prohibiting contact with anyone under 18.

Teacher’s contract terminated in March

In a written statement, St. Maurice’s executive director Bryan Doiron confirmed Badiani has worked…

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Two defendants are among some 30 individuals alleged to have conspired in filing false claims against notoriously former priest Daniel McCormack.

The Archdiocese of Chicago is suing to stop payments to individuals it says made false claims of child sexual abuse at a Black Catholic parish to rack up monetary settlements, according to court documents.

The action comes in the form of a countersuit filed on March 24 against two John Does who filed civil complaints concerning alleged abuse perpetrated by Daniel J. McCormack, a 56-year-old former priest defrocked in 2007.

“The point of this action is to protect the interests of legitimate victims,” James Geoly, general counsel for the archdiocese, told Chicago Catholic. 

“This was a very egregious case of very bad behavior. We have a very open, compassionate system, and these people took advantage of that.”

The archdiocese’s filing in Cook County Circuit Court says a…

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A former pastor at a Livingston County church has pleaded guilty to 15 charges after he admitted to placing a hidden camera in a unisex bathroom at the church. 

William Johnson, 38, pleaded guilty on April 14 to one count of child sexually abusive activity, seven counts of using a computer to commit a crime, four counts of surveilling an unclothed person, two counts of possessing child sexually abusive material and one count of tampering with evidence. 

In September 2024, leaders from the 2|42 Community Church in Brighton alerted the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office after church staff found a video recording device in a church bathroom. Johnson, who was the church’s worship pastor director, admitted to church leaders in September 2024 that he placed the camera in the bathroom intending to record people without their knowledge. He was fired from his position with the church. 

Johnson, who worked…

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Gary Thomas “Tom” Keesee, Jr.—the son of Ohio megachurch pastors, Gary and Drenda Keesee—was arrested today and charged with two counts of rape, according to a press release by the Licking County Sheriff’s office.

More charges will be considered by a grand jury on Monday, the release stated.

Until last summer Tom Keesee worked as the chief media officer at the church his parents founded, Faith Life Church in New Albany, Ohio. Tom is also the creator of Faith Life’s musical, “Fire and Ice,” which uses minors as performers, TRR previously reported.

Tom Keesee’s mother, Drenda Keesee, is also a county commissioner in Knox County, Ohio.

The Licking County Sheriff’s Office arrested Keesee, 36, at his home today for two felonies of the first degree, the sheriff’s office stated.

Inmate records show a charge of non-forcible rape of a victim less than 13 years old. Keesee…

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Police ask any parents who think their child might have been a victim to contact authorities right away

The pastor of an East Palatka church is facing a charge of sexual battery of a minor in connection with an ongoing sexual relationship with a teen, the Palatka Police Department announced this week.

Police said 42-year-old Leo Alfonzo Parker was arrested Wednesday and is currently being held on a $100,000 bond in the Putnam County Jail.

Palatka police said officers responded April 10 after they received a call reporting an inappropriate relationship between Parker and a minor child.

Detectives quickly took over the investigation, conducting multiple interviews and collecting physical evidence that backed up the report, police said.

Investigators said the evidence and interviews revealed that Parker, the pastor of a church in East Palatka, had a sexual relationship with a minor child between the ages of 12 and 18.

Police…

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A Palatka pastor was arrested Wednesday following disturbing allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a child. Action News Jax spoke with former members of the pastor’s church, who were shocked by the church leader’s alleged actions.

A pastor is meant to guide others on the right path—but one Palatka congregation is now without its leader after he allegedly strayed from it himself.

42-year-old Pastor Leo Parker was preaching a Sunday service at Emerge Church on April 6th.

But on April 16th, Pastor Parker turned himself in to the Palatka Police Department after detectives issued a warrant for his arrest.

“That is pathetic and pitiful. That is so pitiful,” said Neighbor Doris Clark.

People are reacting after finding out Pastor Parker is now being charged with sexual battery of a child, according to police.

“He had a big congregation going there. My kids went there, my son, my daughter-in-law, they friends, and…

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A former Amarillo and Canyon ISD teacher, accused of child sex crimes, was arrested for a sixth time.

Patrick Kenneth Farmer, 57, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of indecency with a child sexual contact.

According to the criminal complaint, Farmer touched the genitals of a girl under the age of 17.

The alleged incident happened in December 2000.

Arrest Timeline

Farmer was arrested September 11, 2024 for indecency with a child sexual contact. That case is still pending.

In November 2024, Farmer was indicted by a Potter County grand jury on two counts of indecency with a child sexual contact.

According to court records, he was arrested four other times in Randall County on similar charges.

In 2006, Farmer pleaded guilty in Randall County to four counts of indecency with a child sexual contact and was sentenced to six years probation.

All of the alleged incidents happened…

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A Donegal-based priest appeared in court today charged with attempted sexual communication with a child.

Father Edward Gallagher, a curate in the Clonleigh, Camus and Leckpatrick parishes and a former parish priest in Moville, is accused of attempting to contact the child on dates between April 2 and April 17 this year.

The 58-year-old priest, whose address was given as Orchard Park, Lifford, was arrested in Derry on Thursday after being confronted by so-called paedophile hunters.

A video of the incident was widely shared online.

Fr Gallagher appeared this morning before a special sitting of Derry Magistrates Court, which was held in Dungannon courthouse.

He joined the hearing by remote link from Waterside police station in Derry.

When asked if he understood the charge against him, Fr Gallagher, who was dressed in a grey tracksuit, replied: “I do”.

A police constable told the court he believed he could connect the accused to…

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A Catholic priest has been remanded into custody charged with attempted sexual communication with a child.

Edward Gallagher, aged 58, of Orchard Park in Lifford, appeared on Saturday morning at a special hearing of Londonderry Magistrates Court, sitting in Dungannon, by videolink from police custody.

He is accused of attempting to sexually communicate with a person he did not reasonably believe was 16 or over between April 2-17 this year.

A police constable said they believed they could connect the accused to the charge.

A defence lawyer said there would be no bail application at this stage. He requested that the defendant be remanded until May 1 while there is what he described as an “issue over addresses”.

The defendant is currently a curate at the Clonleigh, Camus and Leckpatrick parishes.

He has served in various places including Limavady, Derry / Londonderry, and also in Co Tyrone and Moville in…

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A Catholic priest has been arrested in Londonderry on suspicion of attempted sexual communication with a child.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said a 58-year-old man was arrested on Thursday, and he remains in custody.

The Diocese of Derry said it is aware of a video showing “an incident outside a hotel in the Derry city involving a priest of this diocese”.

“The diocese knows that a video of the incident has been posted online and we understand the PSNI have been involved,” a spokesperson for the diocese said.

The spokesperson added that no further information is available.

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Neil Duhon blames archdiocese for allowing his rapist, Father Lawrence Hecker, to prey on children throughout his career

The clergy abuse survivor who helped prosecutors secure the only conviction against a notorious child rapist and retired Catholic priest in New Orleans is still hoping that authorities file criminal charges against his former high school principal and everyone else who enabled the clergyman.

“Everybody that had any part … needs to be held accountable. Period – period,” Neil Duhon, who was raped 50 years ago by Lawrence Hecker, said in an interview with WWL Louisiana and the Guardian, the first and only time he’s ever revealed his identity to the public.

Referring to the Archdiocese of New Orleans, the institution that employed and protected Hecker for decades and kept doing so even after the priest admitted he had preyed sexually on minors throughout his career, Duhon added: “I hope they…

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The lawsuit joins five others filed this week alleging abuse and cover-up at the private, all-boys Catholic school

A woman who says she was sexually abused as a child at Calvert Hall College High School in May 2000 has filed a lawsuit against the Baltimore County institution, marking the first time a female survivor has brought allegations against the all-boys Catholic school.

The civil complaint, filed Tuesday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, alleges Brother Donald Dimitroff abused the plaintiff when she was “11, turning 12,” during tutoring sessions held on campus.

Dimitroff, who lived and worked at the school from the early ’90s until 2002, allegedly molested the girl under the guise “ensuring that she was not a boy.”

The complaint joins a growing wave of at least five other lawsuits accusing the school of negligence in its hiring and retention of accused abusers. The previous lawsuits, with…

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A Minnesota church community is reeling after learning that a church volunteer, arrested and charged last week with sexually assaulting multiple children, has a decades-long history of similar allegations.

According to a criminal complaint, Joshua Alirio Seeman, 50, has been charged with assaulting four children between the ages of 4 and 6 at King of Kings Lutheran Church and School in Roseville, Minnesota. The alleged assaults occurred this year.

Seeman faces two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with someone under 14 and two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with someone under 14. He is being tried in the Ramsey County District Court.

According to the criminal complaint, police also have reports alleging that Seeman committed sexual assaults in 2001, 2006, 2014, 2015 and 2022. 

However, the complaint states that prosecution on all but one of these cases has been declined…

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Bill proposed in response to InvestigateWest article makes no exemptions for allegations shared during confessions.

After a third consecutive year of raw, emotional debate over religious freedom and child safety, the Washington Legislature has passed one of the nation’s toughest laws requiring clergy to report suspected child abuse or neglect.

Senate Bill 5375, sponsored by Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, passed the House 64-31 on Friday, April 11. It now heads to Gov. Bob Ferguson, who must sign it for it to become law.

The bill makes clergy members mandatory reporters of child abuse or neglect and does not include an exemption for information shared in a confessional. Currently, as InvestigateWest has previously reported, Washington is one of the few states that does not require clergy to report suspected child abuse.

Frame, a survivor of child sexual abuse, hopes the bill will prevent religious institutions from hiding abuse. She…

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Two Virginia sisters have filed separate lawsuits seeking $150 million each against the Southern Baptist Bethany Place Church, the multi-campus Coastal Church and a former youth group assistant for the childhood sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of the youth group worker beginning when they were just 6 and 10 years old.

The sisters, now adults, are identified in their lawsuits as 25-year-old R.T. of Richmond and S.T., 29, of Chesterfield, Virginia.

In addition to Bethany Place Church and Coastal Church, which acquired Bethany Place as one of its campuses two years ago, both lawsuits name the youth group worker, Gerald R. Thomas, as a defendant.

Thomas pled guilty to aggravated sexual battery of both sisters on Aug. 17, 2010. He also pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual battery of a Jane Doe on Nov. 12, 2020.

“Defendant Thomas’s charges and guilty pleas of Aggravated Sexual Battery…

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TONTITOWN, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — An employee at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Tontitown is on administrative leave following an investigation into alleged possession of child sexual abuse material.

Fayetteville resident 39-year-old Paul Scouten, the church’s office manager since August 2016, was arrested on April 10, according to a statement from the Diocese of Little Rock.

The diocese confirmed the arrest in a letter dated April 10, stating that Scouten was taken into custody by Arkansas State Police and faces one count of distributing, possessing or viewing child pornography.

He was booked into the Washington County Detention Center on a $25,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on May 7.

The diocese said that there is no evidence to suggest any children or youth from St. Joseph Parish or Ozark Catholic Academy were involved in the case. The investigation is ongoing, and the letter said that further updates will…

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Jaime Arriaga-Pedroza is facing eight felony counts of sex abuse.

Fr. Jaime Arriaga, 41, was a pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Downey, the LA Archdiocese confirmed. This video was broadcast during the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, 2025.

Investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Wednesday asked additional victims to come forward after a Catholic priest was charged with a sexual abuse of a minor.

Fr. Jaime Arriaga-Pedroza was charged with eight felony counts of sexual abuse in Los Angeles County last week after the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station area began investigating a report of a sexual abuse that happened on March 22.

County jail records showed Arriaga-Pedroza was booked for rape. He’s being held in custody without bail.

Arriaga-Pedroza, who was removed from ministry at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Downey by the Los Angeles archdiocese…

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MUMBAI, India – A case alleging “religious conversion” has been launched against a religious sister serving as the principal of a school in India.

Sister Bincy Joseph, the principal of Holy Cross Nursing College in Kunkuri town in the Jashpur district of the state of Chhattisgarh.

The central Indian state is over 93 percent Hindu and only 1.9 percent Christian.

Chhattisgarh, like India’s national government, is ruled by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has strong links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a militant Hindu nationalist organization.

Since it took over the national government in 2014, religious minorities have complained about increased harassment.

The case against the religious sister was filed based on a complaint from a final-year student of the college, who accused the nun of attempting to convert her. Following the complaint, a non-bailable case was registered against Sister Bincy.

According to the college, the student…

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ROME – An Italian priest has been placed under house arrest on charges of aggravated sexual assault against a minor, while also facing at least five other charges of abuse in other communities said to date from 2011 to 2013.

The arrest came after Father Ciro Panigara, 48, stepped down as the pastor of a small parish in the northern Italian province of Brescia earlier this year. The resignation came after a 15-year-old boy reported what media accounts have described as “inappropriate attention” by Panigara to teachers at a local school.

According to media reports, Panigara had invited the boy to an overnight youth event and then, citing the cold temperature, suggested the boy spend the night with him in his own bed.

The episode comes as activists on behalf of survivors are pressing the Italian Catholic church to engage in the sort of systematic study of its record vis-à-vis…

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A panel that reviews abuse allegations against priests returned more than half of accused clergy to ministerial duties, including a priest who faced five complaints, documents show

A secretive Archdiocese of San Francisco panel tasked with reviewing child sexual abuse allegations against priests has over the past decade returned more than half of accused clergy to their ministerial duties, including a priest who faced five abuse complaints, according to documents ordered released by a federal judge.

The archdiocese has long been one of the most opaque Catholic branches in the country. But the once-confidential Independent Review Board minutes it released provide an unprecedented window into the powerful committee, while raising questions about whether its oversight — designed as a measure to prevent abuse by priests — truly protected its youngest parishioners.

The church turned over the 175 pages of records on Tuesday after a federal bankruptcy judge ordered the release against the wishes…

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The authors of a book published Thursday said the Vatican knew about sexual abuse allegations against French charity icon Abbe Pierre as early as the 1950s.

The Catholic cleric — who founded the Emmaus charity which is now present in over 40 countries — was widely praised for his work for the poverty-stricken and homeless when he died in 2007 aged 94.

But in recent months more than 30 people have alleged he committed sexual abuse against them, some when they were children, between 1950 and 2000, shattering his saintly image.

Prosecutors in February said no criminal investigation could be opened because the statute of limitations had expired in all cases.

Journalists Laetitia Cherel and Marie-France Etchegoin in their book “Abbe Pierre, the Making of a Saint” allege the Vatican knew about some of the accusations for decades.

“As early as autumn 1955, not only did top French clergy know…

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Jody Roy remembers hearing how her aunt was removed from the family home as a child and taken to a Jesuit-run residential school years ago. The girl’s long hair was cut, Native clothing discarded and Ojibwe language banned.

“My mom’s older siblings were all taken, and they experienced abuse on different levels; some were sexually abused, for others it was mental abuse,” said Roy, a member of the Ojibwe Tribe. “For all of them it was horrific.”

This Lent, a new version of an old Catholic devotion seeks to acknowledge the traumas experienced by Native people, including those inflicted by the Catholic Church, and to offer spiritual reflections on both suffering and healing.

“Stations of the Cross: A Native American Catholic Journey of Healing and Reconciliation” was written by a Catholic deacon with Indigenous ancestry and is the first set of stations to incorporate themes from…

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A proposed truth and reconciliation commission aims to uncover the legacy of Catholic-run schools accused of erasing Indigenous cultures in French Guiana — a history long hidden.

The French Institute for Justice and Democracy presented a preliminary report April 10 to the French Senate urging the creation of a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate Catholic-run boarding schools in French Guiana, which were accused of forcibly erasing Indigenous cultures. 

The goal: to shed light on a painful and largely overlooked chapter in France’s colonial history. 

For years, the Paris-based institute — known by its French acronym IFJD — has advocated for a formal investigation into what were known as “homes indiens,” boarding schools operated by religious orders where thousands of Indigenous and Maroon children from the region were forcibly placed. 

Further reading: Vatican investigates retired bishop in French Guiana over abuse allegations 

During the April 10 presentation,…

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Popular author and pastor Andy Stanley is denying an allegation he knew 19 years ago that Orange curriculum founder Reggie Joiner had a pattern of preying on young women but did nothing to stop him.

The allegation comes from an anonymous woman, who published her story last Thursday, detailing years of alleged clergy sexual abuse by Joiner. The woman, whose identity The Roys Report (TRR) has confirmed, published her account on Hagar’s Voice, a platform founded by author and advocate Danielle Strickland.

Last year, Joiner resigned from Orange, a leading Christian youth curriculum, after admitting an “inappropriate relationship” with former Orange CEO Kristen Ivy. Ivy later said the relationship was clergy sexual abuse and added, “I’m not the only one.”

The anonymous woman claimed Joiner began abusing her when she was a teenager, and Joiner was on staff at Atlanta-area North Point Community Church, where Stanley pastors.

She…

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Two sisters are suing a former Southern Baptist church in Virginia for $300 million, claiming church leaders knew their former youth leader had sexually abused them and at least one other youngster.

Named as defendants in lawsuits brought by sisters identified as “R.T.” and “S.T.” is Bethany Place Church in North Chesterfield, Virginia, and the church’s former youth leader, Gerald R. Thomas. Also named is Coastal Church, an independent church, which “began a partnership” with the Bethany congregation in 2023. Bethany Place is now known as Coastal Church—and Bethany and is no longer associated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

The sisters are each seeking $150 million in their separate filings for alleged abuse that took place between 2006 and 2009. Both suits were filed April 7 in the Circuit Court in Richmond, Virginia. The women are now 25 and 29 years old respectively.

They allege that during those years, Thomas fondled…

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On Tuesday the Vatican announced the definitive suppression of all four branches of the Peru-based Sodalitium Christiane Vitae (SCV), including two women’s communities and an ecclesial movement.

On April 15 the Vatican Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life issued a statement, signed by its prefect, Italian Sister Simona Brambilla, saying they had made the decision to suppress all branches at the close of nearly two years of Vatican inquiry.

“At the conclusion of an investigation ordered by the Holy Father Francis July 5, 2023, in order to ascertain the validity of accusations regarding responsibilities of various kinds attributed to Mr. Luis Fernando Figari and numerous other members of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, it was decided to suppress” both the male and female branches of the SCV, as well as a community of nuns and an ecclesial movement sharing the same founder and spirituality.

Brambilla’s statement comes…

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The Superior General of the Sodalitium of Christian Life (SCV), José David Correa González, signs the decree that definitively dissolves the society of apostolic life following accusations of abuse and corruption by the founder and leadership of the group.

As of Monday, the Sodality of Christian Life (S.C.V.), also known as ‘Sodalicio’, no longer exists. The lay society, founded in the 1970s and widespread in Latin America – where it represented one of the most active apostolates – was suppressed by means of a decree signed on 14 April 2025, following the scandal of abuse and corruption alleged against some of its leaders.

The decree of suppression was announced by the S.C.V. itself in a statement on its official website that noted the decree was signed by its superior general, José David Correa, at the headquarters of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life, in the presence of the prefect,…

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Pope Francis has ordered the suppression of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a Peru-based lay movement active across Latin America and the United States, and three related lay movements following decades of abuse allegations and internal investigations.

“At the conclusion of an investigation ordered by Pope Francis on July 5, 2023, it was decided to suppress both the Societies of Apostolic Life of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae and of the Fraternidad Mariana de la Reconciliación (Marian Community of Reconciliation), as well as the Associations of the Faithful Siervas del Plan de Dios (Servants of the Plan of God) and Movimiento de Vida Cristiana (Christian Life Movement),” the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life said in a statement April 15.

The suppression decrees were confirmed by Pope Francis, the dicastery said, and Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu, an official of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, was appointed…

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One accuser, speaking under the name Klara, alleged years of manipulation and coercion masked as spiritual guidance.

A former nun in Slovenia, one of five witnesses in the sex abuse trial of the Rev. Marko Rupnik, an ex-Jesuit priest and artist, recently detailed what she claims was sexual and psychological abuse that Rupnik subjected her to for years.

The woman, who spoke to Religion News Service on the condition that she would be identified as Klara, belonged to the Loyola community of Mengeš, which Rupnik co-founded. The allegations against Rupnik, an influential figure in the church whose artwork is displayed in more than 200 sacred sites around the world, has prompted complaints from Catholics about the continued lack of accountability in the church, as well as the underreporting of sexual, psychological and physical abuse of religious sisters.

While Rupnik’s trial continues at the Vatican, the Jesuit order expelled Rupnik in 2023.

…

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It covers disclosures in confession. Supporters say the bill will protect children, critics decry it as ‘an attack’ on Catholics and other faiths.

Washington is poised to require clergy members to report child abuse or neglect, even when it is disclosed in confession.

Nearly two-thirds of state House members approved a Senate bill on Friday night to make religious leaders mandatory reporters of abuse and neglect, adding them to a list that includes school counselors, police, and nurses. With passage of Senate Bill 5375 on a 64-31 vote, the legislation now goes to Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson for signing.

“It’s long past time for this protection for children,” said Sen. Noel Frame (D), the bill’s sponsor, following the vote. “Members of the clergy play such an important role in the lives of children, like teachers and doctors do, and just like those other trusted adults, clergy should be mandatory reporters.”

More…

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As a canonist, currently pursuing my doctorate in canon law at St. Paul University in Ottawa, Canada, I have had the opportunity to reflect deeply on how trust can be restored in our church. In November 2024, I attended an international conference at the university titled “Shall we talk about trust? How to restore trust in the Catholic Church after its betrayal in the abuse scandals?” 

There, I presented a paper on “The Role of Church Leadership in Building Trust — A Necessity in a Synodal Church.” Taking time to reflect, I realize I do believe we can still talk about trust after the abuse scandals — but only if church leadership puts in place measures to ensure that trust is never again betrayed as it was in the past.

Church leaders have a crucial role and duty in rebuilding trust after the sexual abuse scandals involving clerics and other…

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François Bayrou, French Prime Minister will testify on May 14th, before the commission probing clergy sexual abuse at the Catholic school in Bétharram.

Bayrou’s son was a student; his wife taught religion at the Our Lady of Bétharram Catholic school where 200 now adults claim to be survivors of abuse.

In a development that could reshape the French political landscape and is the most significant development in the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church over this year, French Prime Minister François Bayrou is set to testify before a congressional commission investigating decades of abuse at a Catholic school in Bétharram—where his family had close personal ties.

A former judge, a former policeman, and a former professor allege, during a congressional probe, that they warned Bayrou of the abuse as far back as the 1990s. Bayrou, given the peculiarities of the French political system, is the Prime Minister, the district representative,…

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In a pivotal move that could reshape how crime victims are treated in Louisiana’s criminal justice system, State Representative Mandie Landry has introduced House Bill 479, a sweeping piece of legislation that aims to establish a first-of-its-kind Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights and a comprehensive victim services system across the state.

If passed, the bill will mandate the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to create and oversee a coordinated, statewide system to ensure that victims of crime, along with witnesses and family members, receive consistent support, timely notifications, and clearly defined legal protections throughout the judicial process. The proposed legislation is being hailed by advocates as a potential game-changer for how Louisiana handles victim rights and services.

A New Chapter for Crime Victims in Louisiana

Historically, victims of crime in Louisiana, like in many other states, have often found themselves lost in the complexity of the legal system. While…

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The diocese’s letter states that the employee is currently on administrative leave and will not be allowed to return until a decision is made about his employment status.

Arkansas State Police arrested an employee from St. Joseph Catholic Church in Tontitown, according to a letter from the Diocese of Little Rock.

According to the letter signed by Deacon Matthew A. Glover, Paul Scouten has been an office manager at the church since August 2016. The letter states that ASP found child sexual abuse material on Scouten’s work computer.

“We know that you may have your own questions and concerns about whether the allegations against Mr. Scouten might have anything to do with the children and students on your parish’s campus,” Glover wrote. “At this time, there is nothing to indicate any of the children or youth at your parish or any of the students at Ozark Catholic Academy have been…

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Disturbing details —

New complaints were filed against Calvert Hall College High School on Monday.

Lawyers claim the school failed to protect children from “systemic sexual abuse” by priests, brothers and teachers. They’re accused of grooming and molesting children for decades.

Kit Bateman is one of the plaintiffs coming forward. He said the all-boys Catholic school helped shape him as a person, but that there’s also a dark, painful part of his experience.

“Look at me as a 15-year-old who had his innocence and his Christianity and his faith stolen away from him by a monster, who never has had any accountability — and the institution that allowed it to happen hasn’t either,” said Christopher “Kit” Bateman, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

| READ: Complaint filed against Calvert Hall College High School

Lawyers named five people who were either priests, brothers or teachers. Those named are…

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The announcement in front of Seton Hall on Tuesday included more information about the formal complaints against the cardinals, with a focus on Tobin.

[See video.]

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests announced it has filed of formal complaints against several U.S. cardinals, including Cardinal Joseph Tobin, of Newark.

The announcement in front of Seton Hall on Tuesday included more information about the formal complaints against the cardinals, with a focus on Tobin. SNAP says it is concerned due to the role of U.S. Catholic cardinals in the next papal conclave.

According to SNAP, the complaints are urging the Vatican to investigate the cardinals mishandling of abuse cases. The group says Cardinal Tobin played a central role in what they say is the ongoing suppression of results of an abuse investigation commissioned by the university. They say no American cardinal is qualified to lead the Catholic church…

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Deposition transcripts provided by the ASF were taken as part of legal proceedings against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, The Servants of the Paraclete, their clergy, and occasionally additional entities of the Catholic Church located in states outside of New Mexico. The sub-series also includes a small number of deposition summaries and sworn statements. Case numbers have been redacted to protect the privacy of survivors, therefore the transcripts are organized by deponent/witness and the date of deposition. Names of accused clergy have been indexed when possible. Many depositions, while centered on a specific claim, may include testimony related to additional accused priests.

Records from 2015

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Deposition of Fr. Laurier Labreche 2015, Catholic Church. Archdiocese of Santa Fe (N.M.)

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Deposition of A.W. Richard Sipe 2015, Catholic Church. Archdiocese of Santa Fe (N.M.)

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Deposition…

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SNAP’s report does not suggest any recent instances of wrongdoing; cardinal rebuts accusations

A group representing survivors of clerical abuse has written to the Vatican to accuse six cardinals, including Mario Grech, of covering up sexual abuse cases within the Church.

In a letter sent last month and addressed to Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) accuse Grech of “an abuse of ecclesiastical power, office or function that has harmed the vulnerable and caused scandal”.

SNAP makes similar claims against five other cardinals, namely Péter Erdő, Kevin Farrell, Victor Manuel Fernández, Robert Francis Prevost and Luis Antonio Tagle.

Like Grech, several of the cardinals named in SNAP’s complaint are widely seen to be among the frontrunners for the papacy.

SNAP is an advocacy organisation that works to help people who have experienced abuse at the hands of members of the…

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Bishop Oscar Zanchetta is supposed to be in Argentina. Did he return from Rome?

While a local court ordered his return to Argentina by April 1 after an extended hospital stay in Rome, it is not clear whether Bishop Gustavo Óscar Zanchetta has yet returned from Rome.

The bishop was granted permission by an Argentinian court to be in Rome through March. Two weeks after the deadline, Rome’s Gemelli Hospital says he is not still there — but the Diocese of Nueva Orán, where the bishop is supposed to be serving house arrest, has not confirmed he returned.

The most recent reports indicated that Zanchetta remained last month in Rome.

But where is Bishop Zanchetta now?

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Zanchetta, who was in 2022 convicted of sexual abuse, traveled to Rome last November with the court’s permission, to receive cardiac medical treatment.

The bishop was permitted to go after his attorneys argued there “were…

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The pastor for the church, Richard Jelley, is asking for a second chance after the program erupted in controversy.

MACON, Ga. — A Forsyth daycare where the executive director and two employees were accused of child abuse is trying to get its license back, according to state records.

On April 7, the Department of Early Care and Learning revoked the license for the Forsyth Methodist Church Caring for Kids daycare.

The state agency, also known as DECAL, said it found credible reports that staff had given toddlers Benadryl to make them go to sleep and “routinely” used physical force.

In a two-sentence letter, the church’s pastor Richard Jelley asked last Friday for a second chance.

“In response to your Notice of Revocation, we are writing to appeal your decision. We would like the opportunity to address and correct the rule violations that were identified,” the…

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ALEXANDRIA, La. — Shane Wiggins, pastor of Baldwin Baptist Mission Church, Baldwin, Louisiana, was arrested April 9 on charges of rape and molestation.

Wiggins has been with the Baldwin congregation, a mission of Little Pass Baptist Church in Charenton, La., since March 2015.

According to the police department of Morgan City, La., Wiggins was arrested in Paris, Texas, and faces extradition.

The Morgan City Police Department (MCPD) reported via Facebook April 9 that Wiggins has been under investigation since December of last year when a mother filed a complaint accusing Wiggins of inappropriate behavior with her child. Recently, unable to contact Wiggins at his residence or by phone, MCPD detectives suspected he had left the state. Police did not report why they believed Wiggins was in Paris, Texas, but that was where they focused their search in collaboration with the Lamar County Sheriff’s and Paris Police departments. Wiggins was arrested…

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Four women learned they were sexually assaulted by the same member of an Oklahoma church, but their reports to the pastor never made it to authorities, according to a lawsuit.

Charles Sulivant, a 92-year-old and former member of Shawnee First Church of the Nazarene, was charged in October 2024 with lewd and indecent acts to a child, but the church pastor had known about the man’s conduct for years, the lawsuit and KOTV said.

Now, the four Jane Doe plaintiffs are suing the Shawnee church and The Church of the Nazarene for the accused cover up. They’re seeking at least $75,000 in damages, according to court documents filed March 17.

The local church and the Church of the Nazarene did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment April 15.

It was 2008 when a 15-year-old girl was in a church administrative office getting money from her mom’s purse…

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Civil lawsuit accuses Shawnee’s Church of the Nazarene of covering up child sexual abuse. Charles Sulivant, a former member, faces charges in another criminal case.

OKLAHOMA CITY –

A civil lawsuit filed in Oklahoma County District Court in March claimed the Church of the Nazarene in Shawnee covered up child sexual abuse by a former member. News 9 reported in November that Charles Sulivant, 92, was charged with two counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child under 16 years old. 

Four plaintiffs in this civil suit accuse church leaders of failing to report sexual abuse to authorities. The lawsuit also claimed the church’s policy structure kept sexual abuse survivors silent. 

Criminal charges against a former Shawnee Church of the Nazarene member 

Last November, the Pottawatomie County district attorney’s office officially charged Sulivant with lewd acts with a child under 16 years old. Jane Does shield their names to…

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CHICAGO (WLS) — A priest has been reinstated to Chicago churches after being accused of sexually abusing a minor.

In January, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced that Father Matthew Foley was accused of sexual abuse against a minor while he was assigned to St. Agnes Parish in Lawndale approximately 30 years ago.

On Monday, the Archdiocese said that after an independent investigation they determined that there was no sexual misconduct.

“After receiving the results of the thorough investigation, the IRB today determined that there is no reasonable cause to believe Father Foley sexually abused the person making the accusation. In addition, the IRB recommended that Father Foley be reinstated to ministry and that the file be closed. I have accepted their recommendation effectively immediately,” Cardinal Blase J. Cupich said in a statement.

Foley was reinstated to the ministry at St. Agnes of Bohemia Parish, St. Gall Parish, St. James Parish, Mary…

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Chicago priest Fr. Matthew Foley is being reinstated after he was cleared of allegations he had sexually abused a child 30 years ago, the archdiocese said.

Cardinal Blase Cupich said both police and Chicago Archdiocese’s Independent Review Board investigation allegations of sexual abuse of a minor from when he was assigned to St. Agatha Parish in North Lawndale.

Cupich said the IRB determined there was no reasonable cause to believe Fr. Foley sexually abused the person making the accusation, and recommended he be reinstated to ministry and the file be closed.

“I publicly affirm that Father Foley is a priest in good standing and express sincere appreciation for his many years of service to the People of God,” Cupich wrote.

In addition to his time at St. Agatha, Foley has served at St. Agnes of Bohemia Parish in the Little Village neighborhood; Misión San Juan Diego in Arlington…

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The Brief

• A Chicago priest was cleared of a child sexual abuse allegation and reinstated after an investigation, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced.
• Rev. Matthew Foley had stepped away from the ministry in January as the investigation began.
• The allegation stemmed from when he was assigned to St. Agatha Parish, on Chicago’s West Side, about 30 years ago.

CHICAGO – A Chicago priest was cleared of a child sexual abuse allegation and reinstated to ministry following an investigation, the Archdiocese of Chicago said.

What we know

The investigation into Rev. Matthew Foley was announced in January, stemming from an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor during his assignment at St. Agatha Parish, on Chicago’s West Side, about 30 years ago.

Foley denied the allegation but stepped away from the ministry during an investigation. The archdiocese said he cooperated with that investigation.

The archdiocese’s Independent Review Board (IRB) determined there…

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Claim alleges teacher Raymond Clavin sexually assaulted and raped Grade 7 student at all-boys school in 1987

WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

A retired Catholic school teacher with a record of sexually abusing boys at two Vancouver-area private schools is facing fresh allegations related to his time teaching at St. George’s School for boys almost 40 years ago.

A notice of civil claim filed April 7 in B.C. Supreme Court alleges Raymond Thomas Clavin groomed, sexually assaulted and raped plaintiff N.C. during the 1986-87 school year when N.C. was a Grade 7 student at St. George’s.

The claim also names St. George’s as a defendant, saying the school “knew or ought to have known of the foreseeable risk of child sexual grooming and abuse that Clavin posed to the plaintiff.”

• ‘See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ culture of Catholic Church challenged…

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The Archdiocese of Santa Fe (ASF) Institutional Abuse Collection was created as a part of the 2022 settlement agreement between the ASF and survivors of clerical sexual abuse. The final settlement included approximately 400 claims of abuse taking place between the 1950s and the 2010s. Documents include deposition transcripts, personnel files, meeting minutes, and proofs of claim. These records are online and available to the public with redactions to protect the privacy of claimants and their families.

The collection is separated into two main series. Series 1, Archdiocese of Santa Fe Abuse Records, contains all the documents provided by the ASF for inclusion within the archives. Series 2, Hall and Monagle LLC Records, contains the documents provided by one of the law firms which represented claimants for the Archdiocese’s bankruptcy and settlement case.

Further records are being processed and will be added to the collection on an ongoing basis.

Browse…

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New complaints filed this week allege that over the course of decades, staff at Calvert Hall College High School in Towson “repeatedly ignored credible reports of sexual abuse,” allowed known abusers to have continued access to students and failed to report misconduct to authorities.

The Calvert Hall Lawyers Working Group, a coalition of attorneys representing survivors of alleged sexual abuse at the private, all-boys Catholicschool, said the survivors coming forward Monday “are breaking decades of silence” and “deserve a full, fair chance at justice.”

The group also called on Gov. Wes Moore to veto changes to the Child Victims Act, which would sharply limit how much money survivors of abuse can win in court.

As of Monday afternoon, though, a spokesperson for Moore said the governor intends to sign off on the changes.

Jonathan Schochor, an attorney representing survivors of alleged abuse at Calvert Hall, said he expects…

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South Orange, NJ — On Tuesday, April 15 at 11:00am, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) will hold a press conference in front of Seton Hall University (outside Ward Place Gate at the intersection of Ward Pl. and Seton Dr.) to deliver a critical announcement concerning the role of the U.S. Catholic cardinals in the next papal conclave. 

The event will focus in particular on Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, his central role in the ongoing suppression of results of an abuse investigation commissioned by the university, and SNAP’s conclusion that no American cardinal is qualified to lead the Catholic Church due to their extensive histories of enabling and covering up clergy sexual abuse.

As part of this campaign, SNAP is filing formal complaints with the Vatican under Pope Francis’ decree Vos estis lux mundi against Tobin and six other U.S. cardinals, urging the Vatican to investigate their mishandling of abuse…

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The argument that parishes should not contribute to clergy abuse settlements is a convenient way to absolve the laity of responsibility. It ignores a fundamental truth: The Catholic Church runs on the financial support of its members. As long as Catholics continue tithing without demanding real reform, they are enabling an institution that has protected predators and fought survivors for decades.

The Church is not a collection of independent parishes; it is a hierarchical system where every priest, bishop and layperson operates under its authority. Abuse happened in churches, schools and confessionals — places where Catholics worshipped, donated and trusted Church leaders to protect them. That trust was betrayed.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans, like many others, has fought survivors in court while spending millions on lawyers and bankruptcy proceedings to shield assets. It has not declared bankruptcy out of repentance — it is a legal maneuver to limit financial…

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[See video.]

The parishioners of the church where a Catholic priest has been arrested for sexual misconduct with a minor and removed from his ministry reacted to the case.  Tracey Leong reports for NBC4 at 6 p.m. on April 13, 2025. 

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Three separate complaints were made about one friar

Two friars were suspended last year following “substantiated” allegations of sexual abuse against vulnerable adults.

The details were announced by the Safeguarding Commission, which was set up by the Maltese Church to combat abuse.

In the first case, there were three separate complaints of sexual abuse against a friar, all of which dated back more than 10 years ago. The case was not referred to the authorities because the victims declined to file a police report despite an offer by the Safeguarding Commission to accompany them.

The second case was referred to the police but the victim did not want to proceed with the police investigation. 

While the report only specified that the complaints were against ‘Religious Priests or Nuns’, Times of Malta is informed that they involved two friars.

Substantiated complaints against vulnerable adults – and what action was taken.

In total, the…

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The beloved former pastor of a Catholic church in Arlington Heights has been cleared of sexual abuse allegations, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced Saturday.

In a letter addressed to St. Gail Parish in Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich writes that the archdiocese’s Independent Review Board found “no reasonable cause” to believe the Rev. Matthew Foley sexually abused his accuser.

“In addition, the IRB recommended that Father Foley be reinstated to ministry and that the file be closed,” Cupich wrote in the letter. “I have accepted their recommendation effective immediately.”

Foley served as pastor of St. James Parish in Arlington Heights from July 2013 to June 2021. A year later, St. James School dedicated its STEM center in Foley’s name, at the request of the anonymous donor who funded its renovation.

He stepped away from the ministry in January after the archdiocese opened an investigation into an allegation of sexual abuse involving…

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Warning: This story contains content some may find disturbing.

• The abuse by a serial paedophile who preyed on children at Catholic schools dates back to at least 1960
• Kevin Ronald Waters, who was known as Brother Giles, died in 2011 without facing justice
• A survivor of his abuse, Kevin Lundon, says the Marist Brother raped and violated him when he was a child at Xavier College
• He says Waters has abused dozens of young boys

An abuse survivor says his experience shows a serial paedophile, who taught at Catholic schools, was abusing children for decades.

Kevin Lundon was just a child when he was abused around 1960 by the man he knew as Brother Giles at Christchurch’s Xavier College.

Kevin Ronald Waters ‒ who took the name of Brother Giles after receiving the Habit from the Marist Brothers in the 1940s ‒ spent a decade at Xavier College, in the shadow of…

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COMMENTARY: The laity’s role isn’t about changing doctrine — it’s about promoting holiness and confronting corruption, especially in matters of abuse and financial oversight.

The April 3 death of Theodore McCarrick marks the end of a particularly sad chapter in the recent history of the Catholic Church. 

The former cardinal — who most famously served as the powerful archbishop of Washington, D.C. — became the face of the sexual abuse of minors, leading Pope Francis to remove him from the priesthood and rescind his position in the College of Cardinals. Yet while McCarrick is now gone, the need for reform in the Catholic Church remains.

McCarrick was well-known in Catholic circles from the 1980s onward, but he only became a household name in the late 2010s. That’s when allegations went public that the then-cardinal — who had previously served as a bishop in New…

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Editor’s note: This story is part of Global Sisters Report’s yearlong series “Out of the Shadows: Confronting Violence Against Women,” which will focus on the ways Catholic sisters are responding to or are affected by this global phenomenon.

Catholic nuns in India are conducting a series of training programs as part of enabling women religious to address challenges posed by sexual abuse, poor mental health and suicidal tendencies.  

The Conference of Religious Women India, or CRWI, concluded its 10th training workshop April 1-5 in the western state of Goa. About 50 nuns from across India attended the program, which is conducted in collaboration with the church-run Christ University in Bangalore.

“We have begun strengthening the resilience of the religious sisters to face challenges at work and to foster community support for mental well-being,” said Sr. Molly Mathew, who leads the project.

The organization represents about 103,000 nuns working across India.

The…

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Every state has a mandatory child-abuse reporting law on the books. 

But many pastors and church leaders are unaware of these statutes, let alone their need to comply with them. 

Since April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, now is a smart time for church leaders to familiarize themselves with these laws, how they work, and what to do if the unthinkable—a suspected case of child abuse—ever arises. 

Abuse allegations consistently rank first among the reasons churches go to court each year, so the gravity of the situation alone merits the highest of priorities. 

What Is a Mandatory Abuse-Reporting Law?

Mandatory abuse-reporting laws first emerged in the early 1960s, mainly in response to growing research regarding the immense harm suffered by children through ongoing physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, and neglect. 

Researchers increasingly found that persons in positions of trust often had opportunities…

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