ABUSE TRACKER

A single incident in the 1970s had an impact on Len Prazych’s life, relationship with family

It happened on a sweltering night in August 1971, in Bayonne, N.J. Len Prazych was 11 years old. It only took 15 seconds but the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his parish priest, who was almost like a second father to him, forever changed his life.

“I came from a strict Catholic upbringing and the messaging in my family is you don’t talk about these things,” said Prazych, who lives in Clifton Park. “You also never say anything against a priest or the church. It’s over 50 years later, and I’m still struggling to understand the motivations of why my parents acted like they didn’t believe me.”

Prazych has recently self-published a memoir “My Fathers: Letters of Healing on a Quest for the Truth.” “I never attempted to find an agent or…

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A Catholic parish and school in the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, has fired an employee who was in charge of background checks and sexual abuse awareness training after he was arrested for possessing materials depicting child pornography and abuse.

The employee, John Denzel, 60, worked as the safe environment coordinator for St. Brigid of Kildare, a parish and pre-K through eighth grade school in Dublin, Ohio.

He was arrested by the Union County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 5, according to a report by the sheriff’s office.

An official with the Union County Court of Ohio told CNA that Denzel was incarcerated for a short time at the Tri-County Regional Jail and has since been released on his own recognizance.

Denzel, who has been employed by St. Brigid of Kildare since 2017 and has held the position of safe environment coordinator since 2022, was indicted on 15 charges related…

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Speaking on Joe Duffy’s Liveline programme last week, Deacon Frank Browne, a permanent deacon attached to Rathfarnham Parish, lamented at what he sees as a common “message that’s continually in the media” surrounding the Church and abuse; a message he believes the Church needs to robustly counter by outlining the successes of its safeguarding systems and the rigorous procedures currently in place.

Addressing misconceptions about the rates of abusers in the Church, Deacon Browne admitted that he gets wound up by some people’s ignorance when it comes to the estimated rates of abuse in the Church and that these misconceptions need to be challenged with facts.

“What really winds me up is when I’m at work and I talk to my younger social work colleagues or at my local GAA pitch and I ask how many priests do you think abused?,” he said. “They never, ever have less than 30%….

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A retired FBI agent will head up the U.S. bishops’ consultative safe environment body, while a clergy abuse survivor, a nursing professor and two clinical social workers are also among the board’s Aug. 1 appointments.

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has appointed James Bogner as the next chair of the National Review Board. A former high-level FBI special agent with more than 35 years of law enforcement experience, Bogner succeeds outgoing chair Suzanne Healy, who recently completed her four-year term, having led the board since 2020.

Three new members have also been appointed to the board: Paulette Adams, a tenured professor emeritus at the University of Louisville School of Nursing; independent business owner Scott Surette, a survivor of clerical abuse; and retired clinical social worker Barbara Thorp of the Archdiocese of Boston.

Reappointed to…

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On August 1, the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph became aware of an accusation of inappropriate sexual contact with a minor between 1982-1984 in the Archdiocese of St. Louis made against Brother Ralph Wehner through a pending lawsuit. An initial investigation was immediately launched by the diocese to determine any potential connection to Deacon Ralph Wehner who is assigned to the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Based on the findings of the initial investigation, Bishop Johnston initiated a preliminary canonical investigation on August 7. Deacon Ralph Wehner has been placed on precautionary suspension from exercising diaconal ministry. Precautionary suspension from ministry should not be viewed as a punishment or as indication of wrongdoing, but rather a protective measure for all persons involved.

The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph takes all allegations of misconduct by church personnel very seriously and works to respond to survivors’ needs with urgency, respect and compassion….

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It is now abundantly clear that historically the Catholic Church has not been a safe place for all and that predators were able commit horrendous crimes in plain sight. Past leaders failed in their duty to protect children and the vulnerable, leaving the reputation of the church in ruin. Much work has been necessary to ensure the failures of the past are acknowledged and do not happen again.

The church has come to understand that keeping children and adults safe and responding compassionately to people who have been harmed must be a major focus of its work, if the church is to move forward with integrity.

Safeguarding the vulnerable in society is not a new concept to the Catholic Church. It has been with us for centuries. However, historically little consideration was given to what this looked like in practice.

Many Biblical passages call us to protect and care for those…

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A Kerry priest feels so strongly about the child sex abuse allegations against former Bishop Eamon Casey that he has ripped up some of his most precious possessions – the 50-year-old photos showing his ordination by Casey, who was then Bishop of Kerry.

Fr Patsy Lynch was ordained by the then Bishop on June 9, 1974, but following the revelations in recent weeks about Eamonn Casey he no longer wants to recall what was once his proudest moment.

“Why would I keep a picture of sexual predator?” he said.

“I know what I have done and I have done the right thing.”

The RTÉ documentary Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets, filmed in conjunction with the Irish Mail, revealed that at least five child sexual abuse allegations were made against Bishop Casey, including one in Kerry.

Among the complainants was his niece Patricia Donovan who made her complaint to Gardaí in the…

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A Minnesota law requiring people in schools, hospitals, psychological or psychiatric practices, social services and other professions to report suspicions that a child is being maltreated has another safeguard for children, thanks to a law passed this year by the Legislature.

The new provisions state in part: “A person who intentionally prevents or attempts to prevent a person mandated … to report under this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor.”

In addition, the law states that businesses, religious and nonprofit organizations, schools and other entities cannot have policies, written or otherwise, that “prevent or discourage a mandatory or voluntary reporter from reporting suspected or alleged maltreatment of a child.”

The Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC) — the public policy voice of the state’s Catholic bishops — backed the bill. The conference brought the Catholic Church’s own struggles with child sexual abuse cases and its desire to prevent maltreatment of children anywhere…

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A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on bankruptcy law will “absolutely” have a significant effect on U.S. Church abuse lawsuits, one legal expert says, with the highest court potentially opening up individual Catholic parishes and schools to legal action. 

In its June 27 decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P., the Supreme Court held that U.S. bankruptcy law “does not authorize a release and injunction that, as part of a plan of reorganization under Chapter 11, effectively seek to discharge claims against a non-debtor without the consent of affected claimants,” according to SCOTUSblog.

Untangling the complexities of that ruling requires some knowledge of U.S. bankruptcy law, says John Czarnetzky, the dean and CEO of Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida. 

“The most ancient type of bankruptcy is liquidation — a debtor files, sells all of its assets in bankruptcy court, and distributes that money to creditors,”…

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 A former Catholic priest who worked in Waco and West who was arrested last month in Florida in two alleged sexual assaults in McLennan County was returned Tuesday to McLennan County.

Father Anthony Odiong, 55, who waived extradition after his arrest in Florida, was booked into the McLennan County Jail Tuesday afternoon, Chief Deputy Cody Blossman confirmed.

Odiong, who is alleged to have taken advantage of women during their weakest times, is being held on a $2.5 million bond.

At least eight women have come forward since his arrest saying he used his position as priest and spiritual adviser to manipulate them and sexually assault them between 2007 and 2023, Waco police officials have said.

Waco attorneys Chris King and Robert Callahan are representing one of Odiong’s alleged victims and said they expect to file a civil lawsuit against Odiong and the Catholic Diocese of Austin.

“I sought spiritual direction…

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The Archdiocese of Seattle faces two new lawsuits for alleged child sexual abuse that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, adding to a growing list of ongoing cases against the institution.

The plaintiffs say they were sexually assaulted as children by a local Catholic school coach as administrators and staff looked the other way. The men named in the lawsuit as perpetrators have died since the alleged abuse occurred.

Attorneys representing the victims, who are only identified in the lawsuits as “John Doe,” say there are likely more lawsuits to come.

The new claims follow a failed effort by the state to subpoena the Seattle Archdiocese for documents related to sexual abuse allegations. Dozens of child sex abuse cases have been brought against the Archdiocese over the years.

RELATED: Sex abuse survivors ask Vatican to investigate Seattle Archdiocese as Washington’s lawsuit fails

The two new lawsuits say…

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The maxim that the sins of the fathers are visited on the sons is true in a particularly grim sense in Ireland where, in the archdiocese of Dublin, there is only one man training for the priesthood, with another entering seminary formation in September.

Others are in the process of discernment but it is a dispiriting prospect for a capital where there are a million Catholics and almost 200 parishes. The vocations director for the archdiocese, Fr Seamus McEntee, observed that the situation was indicative of a broader “crisis of faith”.

By way of illustration of what this means, the historic parish of St Francis Xavier, run by Jesuits, has merged with the Pro-Cathedral. Its parish priest Fr Niall Leahy said, “you can give all the reasons why it makes sense for us no longer to function as a city centre parish, but the hard part is that it’s a community and…

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Following the publication of the Abuse in Care report by the Royal Commission of Inquiry, Frances Tagaloa has watched with painful interest as the news media put a spotlight on the stories of abuse and neglect suffered by countless vulnerable and children in care of state and faith-based institutions in New Zealand.

Tagaloa is one of the many who suffered at the hands of Catholic clergy, sexually abused “multiple times” as a little girl. Her testimony is one of more than two thousand survivor’s accounts that the Inquiry recorded.

Some 200,000 vulnerable children, youth and adults, out of 650,000 in care during the period were abused, and “even more were neglected,” according to the report, which also stated that leaders of faith-based institutions tried to cover up abuse by moving abusers to other locations and denying any involvement. 

They “knew, or should have known about the abuse and neglect…

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Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee Chair Philip Robertson gives his thoughts on the clergy sex abuse problem within the Southern Baptist Convention in this video.

Spoiler: He doesn’t think it’s much of a problem.

Robertson attempts to discredit and sow doubt about the 2019 Abuse of Faith series, which brought national attention to the pervasive sexual abuse and cover-up problem in the SBC, the country’s largest Protestant faith group. 

That six-part investigatory series, jointly published by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News, documented more than 700 people who were sexually abused by Southern Baptist clergy and church staff. Nearly all of them were children at the time of the abuse. This number was widely recognized as “the tip of the iceberg.”

Not only did the series disclose widespread abuse in local churches, but it also implicated top SBC officials and leaders in mishandling abuse reports.

Abuse of Faith was an exposé that should have…

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A former children’s ministry volunteer at Vineyard Anaheim, now the Dwelling Place, has been sentenced to nearly 125 years in prison for molesting girls as young as six years old, according to local authorities.

Todd Hartman, 41, of Newport Beach, was convicted earlier this month of multiple child sex crimes, according to a press release from the District Attorney’s Office in Orange County, California.

These include four felony counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor under the age of 14; two felony counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration of a child 10 years or younger; two felony counts of lewd act upon a child 14 or 15; and one felony count of possession of child pornography, the district attorney’s office said.  

Hartman volunteered at Vineyard Anaheim, now known as the Dwelling Place, in Anaheim, California. Hartman met many of his victims through his work…

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I thought the sexual abuse complaints against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a Catholic holding a very high position in his church’s hierarchy, were limited to Massachusetts, where a man claimed that McCarrick had abused him at a wedding many years ago. I have written about abuse in Massachusetts and other New England states. Massachusetts has a long statute of limitations for people who do not live in that state, meaning McCarrick could be prosecuted even after all these years. His age, however—93 years old—caused the judge to rule McCarrick was not competent to stand trial for assault and battery and dismissed the case. A Wisconsin court made a similar ruling about McCarrick’s incompetence. After all these years, no cases against McCarrick.

The Massachusetts case was part of a long pattern of abuse by McCarrick in New Jersey, where he was Bishop of Metuchen from 1981 to 1986 and Archbishop of Newark from…

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In Part I of this post, I discussed the sexual abuse by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of victims in New Jersey. He was even “Uncle Ted” to one of his victims. I also explained that in 2019 New Jersey opened a window so that more abuse cases could get into court. In this post, I note that many cases were filed before 2019. Some failed because of charitable immunity. Some succeeded. I identify some of the older cases that survived, and look at some current cases that raise new legal issues for the archdiocese and dioceses. This Part will also remind you that bankruptcy often interferes with the prosecution of sexual abuse cases.

Earlier Cases

Charitable immunity protects charities from paying legal damages. Their damages are often restricted or terminated by a policy that says because charities are doing good work, you can’t sue them. New Jersey had a charitable immunity law…

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Days after claiming their former lead pastor resigned over “inappropriate and hurtful” behavior toward current and former staff that was not sexual, elders of Cross Timbers Church in Argyle, Texas, said they discovered that Josiah Anthony engaged in behavior that was sexual in nature and are bracing for more allegations to come.

“After announcing Josiah’s resignation to our congregation, we then learned about additional inappropriate comments he made in text messages and through social media that were sexual in nature,” the elders of the Texas megachurch said in a new statement to congregants published by survivor advocate, Amy Smith on Friday. 

“We want to be very clear; we do not consider any of these instances to be emotional affairs. Because the power dynamic of these interactions were never equal, we do not consider these to be consensual. This behavior will not be tolerated at our church.”

…

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An 81-year-old Regina man was arrested earlier this month in relation to a sexual assault dating back to the 1970s, and police believe there are more survivors who have yet to come forward.

Russell RCMP received a report of a historical assault in March of this year, leading to the arrest of Constantin Turcoane.

A female in her 60s reported being sexually assaulted several times over the span of two years by Turcoane when he was a priest, and she was a parishioner at St. Elijah Romanian Orthodox Church in Lennard, Man. At the time of the assaults, the survivor was 11 and 12 years old. 

The investigation involved locating and taking statements from multiple people, a search of historic church records, and liaising with church-related organizations to find further investigative material.

A warrant of arrest was issued for Turcoane for Rape (1970) and Sexual Intercourse Under 14 (1970). He turned himself into…

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Braintree – Boston’s next archbishop struck a tone of humility Monday as he was formally named the successor to Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, who will retire thisfall after more than 20 years at the helm of the region’s 1.8 million-member Roman Catholic community.

“I am not worthy of this call,” said archbishop-elect Richard G. Henning, who was tapped by Pope Francis for the role, during an introductory press conference at the archdiocese’s pastoral center in Braintree. “I was deeply shocked and surprised by this call.”

The news of O’Malley’s retirement was not unexpected — he turned 80 in June, and can no longer vote in papal elections as a cardinal — but it represents the end of an era in Boston, the two-decade aftermath of the explosion of the sex abuse scandal here and around the world. After years of settlements, policy revisions, church closings, and…

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A pastor of an Archdiocese of Cincinnati parish has resigned from his post following complaints from parishioners over his admitted effort to destroy evidence of a fellow priest’s possession of pornographic images, including material that possibly involved the sexual abuse of children.

In a July 30 letter, Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr of Cincinnati told members of St. Susanna Parish in Mason, Ohio, that he had accepted the resignation of Father Barry Stechschulte. The archbishop appointed retired archdiocesan priest Father Jeff Kemper as temporary administrator of the parish.

Schnurr’s announcement followed a July 27 letter to Stechschulte from “Parents for Action” — a self-described “collective of parishioners and parents of St. Susanna” whose tagline is “protecting our children” — asking the priest to step down amid concerns about his ability to lead the parish, which operates a K-8 school, and to ensure safe environment protocols.

In a July 12 letter, Stechschulte had apologized to…

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The appointment of Providence Bishop Richard Henning as the successor of Cardinal Sean O’Malley as Boston archbishop has reopened wounds for victims of the Boston clergy sex abuse scandal, according to an attorney who represented many victims.

“So many survivors have given up on the Catholic Church,” said attorney Mitchell Garabedian.

Garabedian has represented victims of clergy sex abuse from the Archdiocese of Boston for decades. They say the archbishop-elect has done little to protect and support victims and children.

“It’s a revictimization for survivors,” he said.

Garabedian expressed his frustration over Pope Francis’s decision to appoint Henning to the Archdiocese of Boston.

“The victims see it as more of the same. O’Malley, he tried to smooth things over. Bishop Henning, Archbishop-elect Henning, will try to do the same thing,” Garabedian said.

O’Malley came to Boston in 2002 when the archdiocese was entangled in a scandal, with victims coming forward…

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Around 87,000 Australians have been sexually abused in their childhood in faith-based organisations, with nearly three quarters of those taking place in Catholic settings, according to new research. 

Yet the new study from the Australian Catholic University’s Institute of Child Protection Studies showed a significant decline in the prevalence of abuse in the last five decades, falling from 2.2 per cent of men aged 65 and older, down to 0.2 per cent of men now aged 16-24. 

One in every 250 Australians, or 0.4 per cent of the population, reported being abused by a pastor, member of clergy or other adult in a religious organisation. 

Boys now aged 65 years or older were more likely than girls to be abused in this way, and the most common perpetrator was also male. 

The analysis, led by PhD candidate Gabrielle Hunt, confirmed that the Catholic Church carries a proportionally higher burden of…

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Catholic clergy abuse victims in California strenuously objected when Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris described herself as a top-notch prosecutor who went after sex offenders during her time as San Francisco’s district attorney.

Joey Piscitelli, 69, a clergy sex abuse victim and advocate for survivors of clergy sexual abuse, called Ms. Harris’ depiction of her record as being tough on sex offenders “bulls***.”

“She was handed a room full of cases and boxes of names of sex offenders, and all that in the church right there under her nose,” Mr. Piscitelli told The Washington Times.

“The priest that molested me in ministry with children under her nose in the city. I wrote her a letter and said, ’Hey, what about this guy? He’s a rapist,’” he said. “’He’s with kids right now at the oldest Cathedral in San Francisco, right under your nose. What are you going to do?’ [She did] nothing.”

…

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Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Seán O’Malley as archbishop of Boston on Monday and named the bishop of Providence, Rhode Island, Richard Henning, to replace him as leader of one of the most important Catholic archdioceses in the United States.

The Vatican announcement didn’t mention O’Malley’s other main role as the pope’s main adviser on fighting clergy sexual abuse as head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, suggesting he would remain in that capacity until a new commission leader is named.

St. John Paul II had tapped O’Malley to take over in Boston in 2003 at the height of the clergy sexual abuse scandal that had exploded there following an investigation by The Boston Globe newspaper. Revelations of years of abuse and coverups by the church led to the downfall of then-archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace in December 2002.

“When I arrived it was…

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Pope Francis on Monday named a new leader for the Roman Catholic Church in Boston, succeeding the retiring archbishop, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, one of the pontiff’s key U.S. advisers and a lead Vatican official on clergy sexual abuse issues.

Archbishop-designate Richard Henning, 59, will replace O’Malley and will be formally installed into the role on Oct. 31. Originally from New York, Henning had led the Church in Providence, Rhode Island, only since last summer.

Henning is relatively new among U.S. bishops. He was first appointed as an auxiliary bishop of Rockville Centre, New York, by Francis in 2018 before he was made bishop of Providence, the capital of the smallest U.S. state, in 2023.

Hosffman Ospino, a prominent lay voice in the Boston archdiocese, praised Henning’s appointment.

Ospino, a theologian at Boston College who is originally from Colombia, told Reuters that Henning’s ability to speak Spanish would allow him to…

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Bishop Richard Henning will succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, one of the pope’s most trusted allies, who is retiring.

Pope Francis announced the next leader for the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston on Monday, to succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, one of the pope’s key allies and leader of the Vatican’s office on sexual abuse.

Bishop Richard G. Henning, who currently leads the Diocese of Providence in Rhode Island, will be elevated to the high-profile position in Boston. It is one of the largest and longest-standing seats of American Catholicism, and could put him in line to become a cardinal, with voting power to elect the next pope.

At a news conference Monday morning in Braintree, Mass., Bishop Henning said he was “deeply shocked and surprised” when he got the call from the apostolic nuncio, the pope’s ambassador to the United States, informing him of his new appointment.

By following in…

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A well-known priest, who is also a former school director and former head of a federation of Catholic schools in northern Italy, was arrested last week on charges of sexually abusing an adolescent boy, and is being detained while an investigation continues into the alleged grooming of several others.

The priest, Father Andrea Melis, 60, was arrested Friday, Aug. 2, after being accused of sexually abusing a young boy for more than three years, beginning when the boy was just 12.

According to various Italian media reports, an order for Melis’s arrest stated that he would ask for things such as kisses, cuddles, and other sexual favors in exchange for electronic cigarettes, prepaid cards, name brand clothing, dinners out and videogames, among other gifts.

Melis is currently under house arrest in an undisclosed location. He is also being investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Genoa for child prostitution and…

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President Andrzej Duda has stripped a former priest of one of Poland’s highest honours. Although no official reason was given, media reports indicate that the decision was taken due to the man being convicted of sexually abusing a disabled person.

Krzysztof Kuryłowicz, a former priest from the Society of Christ Fathers religious congregation, which serves Polish Catholic communities abroad, in 2011 received the Order of Polonia Restituta for “his outstanding merits in activities for the Polish community and the propagation of Polishness in Kazakhstan”.

Kuryłowicz arrived in Kazakhstan in 1991. After leaving the Central Asian country, he went on to serve as a chaplain to Poles in Riga, Latvia, reports broadcaster RMF.

Last month, Onet, a leading news website, reported that the council of the Order of Polonia Restituta – a committee responsible for giving its opinion on requests to award and revoke the order – asked Duda to revoke…

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Bishop Richard Henning will succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, one of the pope’s most trusted allies, who is retiring.

Pope Francis announced the next leader for the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston on Monday, to succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, one of the pope’s key allies and leader of the Vatican’s office on sexual abuse.

Bishop Richard G. Henning, who currently leads the Diocese of Providence in Rhode Island, will be elevated to the high-profile position in Boston. It is one of the largest and longest-standing seats of American Catholicism, and could put him in line to become a cardinal, with voting power to elect the next pope.

Cardinal O’Malley, a Capuchin Franciscan friar known for wearing his habit as an expression of humility, turned 80 in late June, five years past the typical age of retirement for Catholic bishops. He is part of Pope Francis’s inner circle of nine cardinal…

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — The Vatican is reportedly planning to name Providence Bishop Richard Henning as the new archbishop of Boston.

NBC News reported that it has confirmed through its Catholic Church sources that Henning will succeed Cardinal Seán O’Malley.

Many Catholics attending a Sunday service at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence told NBC 10 News that they’re happy to hear Henning is expected to be the new archbishop of Boston.

Henning is 60, and he hasn’t been in Providence for too long. He was named coadjutor bishop in 2022 and succeeded Bishop Thomas Tobin just last year.

NBC 10 News has learned that Henning was on Block Island Saturday night delivering a blessing at a social event and that he is expected to head to Montreal on Monday.

It’s unclear who would succeed Henning in the Providence Diocese.

O’Malley turned 80 years old in…

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence Richard Henning is set to be named the new archbishop of Boston, less than two years after he arrived in Rhode Island, 12 News has learned. 

Michael Kieloch, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Providence, declined to confirm or deny the upcoming announcement.

“If there was any announcement coming for any see and on any day, it would be the prerogative of the Holy See and the Nunciature to announce it first,” Kieloch told 12 News. (In Catholic terminology, a see is a bishop’s jurisdiction, while a papal nuncio is the pope’s representative in a country.)

Rocco Palmo, a well-sourced Vatican expert, reported on social media that the announcement will take place in Boston on Monday. 

Henning, 59, will replace Cardinal Sean O’Malley, one of the most prominent prelates in the United States and a close ally of Pope Francis. O’Malley, 80,…

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BOSTON (WHDH) – Cardinal Sean O’Malley is retiring from his position as the archbishop of Boston, according to 7NEWS sources.

A formal announcement is expected Monday. O’Malley, who is at the mandatory retirement age, has served as archbishop for the city for 20 years and is a close personal friend of Pope Francis.

He is expected to be replaced by the current Bishop of Providence, Richard G. Henning.

This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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Bishop Richard Henning of Providence has been selected to succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, who helped lead the Archdiocese of Boston out of the priest sexual abuse scandal that rocked the church more than 20 years ago, according to a person with knowledge ofthe situation.

O’Malley has served more than 20 years as Boston’s archbishop, taking over in the aftermath of the scandal that led to the resignation of his predecessor, Cardinal Bernard Law. O’Malley, 80, has been in the position more than five years past the typical retirement age for bishops.

The person who spoke to the Globe requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the announcement, expected to take place Monday morning.The archdiocese has not announced details about O’Malley’s successor.

Henning, 59, has been in his current role for just over a year. The news that he is expected to be named the next…

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BOSTON — Cardinal Sean O’Malley is retiring after more than 20 years as the leader of the Archdiocese of Boston, sources tell NewsCenter 5.

Bishop Richard Henning of Providence, Rhode Island, will be named the next archbishop of Boston, sources say.

The Vatican is expected to make the official announcement at 6 a.m. Monday, which is noon in Rome.

O’Malley, 80, is the ninth bishop and sixth archbishop in the more than 200-year history of the Archdiocese of Boston.

Pope John Paul II appointed O’Malley the archbishop of Boston on July 1, 2003, after the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law. At the time, the archdiocese was in turmoil, still grappling with the pain and fallout of the clergy sex abuse scandal.

Before Boston, O’Malley served for about 10 years as the bishop of the Fall River Diocese and then briefly as the bishop of the Palm Beach, Florida, diocese.

The…

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Greg Livaudais alleges abuse by Lawrence Hecker in 1974 – and wonders why the retired priest, 92, isn’t already in jail

As the retired Roman Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker awaits trial on rape and kidnapping charges in New Orleans, one of his many alleged victims wonders why Hecker isn’t facing more arrests in jurisdictions across south Louisiana. For years, Greg Livaudais, 66, has seen news coverage of the church abuse scandal – and it has stirred up painful memories of sexual abuse he allegedly suffered at Hecker’s hands in February 1974, when Livaudais was 16.

Those triggers started in 2002, when national news about a widespread cover-up in the Boston archdiocese prompted Livaudais to file a complaint against Hecker with the archdiocese of New Orleans in April of that year, when he was 44.

“He was recruited by [Father] Hecker to help with a retreat for the Boy Scouts. He also visited…

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[See the relevant lawsuit.]

Parishioners of a Kansas City Catholic church are concerned that one of their deacons may be accused of sexually abusing a teenager, and are calling on the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph to publicly address the allegations.

But the diocese hasn’t yet confirmed whether it’s the same man. A lawsuit filed in St. Louis County July 24 names Ralph Wehner as a member of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and accuses him of sexually abusing a teen for three years in the 1980s.

A deacon at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Kansas City is also named Ralph Wehner, with a biography on the staff page saying he originally hails from St. Louis.

“Brother Ralph Wehner sexually abused (victim) between approximately 1982 to 1984, when (the victim) was 13 to 15 years old. The abuse occurred on at least three occasions,” the suit reads.

As of Friday morning, the…

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ROME – Members of a Rome-based artistic center founded by former Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik, who is accused of abusing some 30 adult women, have voiced belief in his innocence and condemned calls to see his artwork removed.

Rupnik, 69, is among the Catholic Church’s most celebrated contemporary artists and muralists, with his works adorning famed chapels and cathedrals around the world, including the Marian shrine in Lourdes and the Vatican’s Redemptoris Mater chapel, sometimes dubbed the “Sistine Chapel” of the late St. John Paul II.

That chapel, situated inside the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, contains a giant mosaic installed by the Aletti Center, founded by Rupnik in 1999.

Currently under investigation by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), Rupnik is accused of sexually abusing at least 30 adult women, many of them nuns belonging to the Loyola Community he helped found in his native Slovenia in the 1980s.

…

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What motivated Fr. John Mattingly to embezzle from his congregation? How did he justify the theft to himself? And how did he commit the embezzlement without detection until after he retired?

On May 1, 2017, disgraced Catholic priest John Mattingly confessed to United States District Court Judge Deborah Chasanow to embezzling $400,000 from the parishioners of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Leonardtown, Maryland, where he had served as pastor from 1992 until his retirement in 2010. Father Mattingly’s court-imposed penance included one day in jail (time served), three years’ probation, and $400,000 in restitution.

This case deserves special attention because, unlike many of the 95 cases of Catholic priest financial fraud adjudicated through the courts, investigated by civil authorities who declined prosecution, or handled internally by Church authorities over the last fifty years, the 70-year-old priest made full…

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The long-running Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was made public after being formally tabled in Parliament on 24 July 2024.

The Royal Commission spent six years holding hearings and investigating events from 1950 until the present day. 

The final report, weighing 14kg, is almost 3000 pages long.

The final report said abuse was ‘unimaginable’ in state and faith-run institutions, explaining at least 200,000 people have been abused in these care facilities over the decades. The report said as many as 42 per cent of those in faith-based care by all denominations were abused.

The Government will formally apologise for the abuse inflicted in care and faith-based institutions at Parliament on 12 November 2024.

Immediately following the tabling of the report and its release to the public, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference and the Congregational Leaders Conference Aotearoa New Zealand said in a statement they welcomed the…

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The priest admitted to law enforcement he should not have torched hard drive containing possible child abuse images

A pastor of an Archdiocese of Cincinnati parish has resigned from his post following complaints from parishioners over his admitted effort to destroy evidence of a fellow priest’s possession of pornographic images, including material that possibly involved the sexual abuse of children.

In a July 30 letter, Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr of Cincinnati told members of St. Susanna Parish in Mason, Ohio, that he had accepted the resignation of Father Barry Stechschulte. The archbishop appointed retired archdiocesan priest Father Jeff Kemper as temporary administrator of the parish.

Archbishop Schnurr’s announcement followed a July 27 letter to Father Stechschulte from “Parents for Action” — a self-described “collective of parishioners and parents of St. Susanna” whose tagline is “protecting our children” — asking the priest to step down amid concerns about his ability to…

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Rosario Gisana, obispo de Piazza Amerina, fue grabado reconociendo que “encubrí el asunto” El obispo de la diócesis siciliana de Piazza Amerina, Rosario Gisana, evitó deliberadamente proteger a las víctimas de su diócesis y en su lugar buscó proteger a un sacerdote acusado durante mucho tiempo de haber abusado de varios menores cuando era seminarista En una conversación telefónica grabada por la policía y presentada ante el tribunal, Gisana le dijo a Rugolo: “Ahora este no es solo tu problema, sino también el mío, porque encubrí el asunto” El tribunal también plantea preguntas sobre si el obispo Gisana fue honesto con el Papa, quien lo había defendido públicamente. Otras grabaciones escuchadas durante el juicio parecieron revelar que Gisana afirmaba tener el apoyo papal porque le había hecho un favor a Francisco

El obispo de la diócesis siciliana de Piazza Amerina, Rosario Gisana, evitó deliberadamente proteger a las víctimas de su diócesis y en su lugar buscó proteger a…

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Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct Tiller’s status at the church. We regret the error.

BOURBON COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56) — A former Kentucky pastor has been charged after being accused of sexually abusing a teenager in Bourbon County.

Dicky Tiller, 53, was arrested on Tuesday in Boyd County by the Bourbon County Sheriff’s Department on July 30 and charged with one count of first-degree sexual abuse.

He formerly served as the pastor at Liberty Baptist Church in Canonsburg, according to his Facebook page, but a member of Liberty Baptist Church told FOX 56 that Tiller hasn’t been at the church for at least four years.

The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office told FOX 56 News that Tiller is a pastor at Spears Mill Baptist Church in Paris.

A citation said that Tiller, “being a person in a position of authority and special trust,”…

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Mounties have charged a former priest living in Regina with sexually assaulting a young girl in Manitoba five decades ago.

Police say they began investigating in 2022 after the complainant, who is now in her 60s, reported being sexually assaulted over two years in the early 1970s.

The alleged assaults happened when she was 11 and 12 and a parishioner at St. Elijah Romanian Orthodox Church in Lennard, near the Saskatchewan boundary.

Police say investigators tracked down multiple people to take statements, searched church records and worked with church-related organizations to gather additional material.

A warrant was issued for 81-year-old Constantin Turcoane, who turned himself in and was later released from custody.

He is to appear in court at a later date on charges of rape and sexual intercourse of a person under 14.

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The pastor of a Middletown church has been accused of collecting images of children being sexually abused.

Claud Talbert “Tab” Greenlee II, 56, was charged on Wednesday in Madison Circuit Court 3 with three counts of child exploitation, a Level 4 felony carrying up to 12 years in prison.

Greenlee, who has been a pastor at Tri-County Christian Church in Middletown, also faces three other felony charges alleging he possessed images of child sexual abuse.

Greenlee — previously listed at a Middletown address but most recently a resident of Anderson — was also employed as a teacher and baseball coach at Anderson’s Liberty Christian School. Officials at the school issued a statement in recent days reflecting that Greenlee, who had earlier been put on administrative leave from his teaching job, no longer works at the school.

More:Henry County youth pastor, coach charged with sexual misconduct with…

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‘The survivor we’re dealing with here has told us there were others’: RCMP

A former priest has been charged with sexually assaulting a pre-teen parishioner more than 50 years ago, in what police say could be just the beginning of a larger case against the now-81-year-old man.

A woman in her 60s told police in March 2022 that she had been sexually assaulted multiple times over the course of two years when she was a parishioner at St. Elijah Romanian Orthodox Church in Lennard, RCMP said in a news release Thursday.

She was 11 and 12 years old at the time.

Constantin Turcoane, 81, of Regina, turned himself into police after a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of rape and sexual intercourse under 14 — charges that existed under those names in the Criminal Code at the time.

He was released from custody and will appear in…

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The founding pastor of a Wichita Falls church accused of committing multiple sex crimes against two preteen girls is once again seeking to have his bonds reduced.

Paul Andrew Coleman, 68, of Wichita Falls, stands accused of one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and one count of indecency with a child by sexual contact.

PREVIOUS STORY: Former church pastor has new child sex crime charges filed

Coleman, the founder and former pastor of Good Samaritan Outreach Ministries on East Carolina Street, has been held in the Wichita County Jail on bonds totaling $425,000 since May 17, 2024.

On Thursday afternoon, August 1, 2024, a motion to reduce his bonds was scheduled to be heard in the 78th District Courtroom with Judge Meredith Kennedy presiding. However, due to scheduling conflicts with multiple witnesses, the defense was planning to…

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Police said a cyber tip led investigators to find the material on the suspect’s phone.

A teacher and pastor in Anderson is accused of possessing, producing and sharing child pornography.

Police said a cybertip led investigators to find the material on Claud Greenlee II phone.

According to Westfield police, investigators found several images on the device. Police say they found multiple chats on his Kik account asking other users for the material. 

“We see the accounts of Kik being used an app where material is traded because they have chat rooms where people with like interests can talk among each other and trade material,” said Kristina Korobov, a senior attorney at Zero Tolerance Project. 

Also in the chats, police say Greenlee stated he was a varsity baseball coach and a high school and middle school teacher.

“Today is the first day of school and I think about a…

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An executive of the embattled International House of Prayer-Kansas City (IHOPKC) is launching a new children’s ministry.

Lenny LaGuardia was IHOPKC’s executive director of the Children’s Equipping Center, one of several ministries IHOPKC has cut as they’ve faced financial and potentially legal troubles. IHOPKC’s founder Mike Bickle is accused of both child sexual abuse and adult clergy sexual abuse.

LaGuardia condemned Bickle’s alleged child abuse in February in a since-deleted account on X, adding that IHOPKC has “always deployed and enforced strict policies and processes which ensure children are safe while in our programs.”

IHOPKC has posted its child protection policy online, in which allegations must be made to the children’s director, the pastor, and then to LaGuardia. But LaGuardia was also on the executive team that some former leaders believed didn’t handle adult clergy sexual abuse allegations against Bickle transparently.

IHOPKC sent out…

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A Detroit pastor has been charged with criminal sexual conduct, according to local court records.

Kenneth Flowers, lead pastor at Greater New Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit, was arraigned last week on two charges, the court records stated. He faces one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with force or coercion and one count of criminal sexual assault with intent to commit sexual penetration.

If convicted, Flowers faces a maximum of 15 years in prison for the criminal sexual conduct charge and 10 years for the assault, according to Michigan law. 

Flowers told the Detroit Free Press, “I deny all those charges, and that is all I have to say.”

The Roys Report reached out to Flowers’ church for further comment but did not hear back prior to publication.

Court records indicate that Flowers stood mute at the arraignment,…

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A former Catholic brother who brazenly abused students on school grounds, including in a classroom, could be released from prison after serving 20 months behind bars.

WARNING: This story contains details of child sexual abuse which may cause distress.

If you or anyone you know needs help:

• Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
• Lifeline on 13 11 14
• Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support line 13YARN on 13 92 76
• Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
• Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636
• Headspace on 1800 650 890
• ReachOut at au.reachout.com
• MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
• QLife 1800 184 527

Frank Terrence Keating committed the offences against five students while he was working as a teacher and then principal at De La Salle College in Scarborough, in south-east Queensland, in the early 1980s.

On Friday, the Brisbane District Court heard Keating also sexually abused a student in his…

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Nearly 150 cases of sexual abuse occurring at juvenile detention centers across the state have been filed within Pennsylvania’s court systems.

On Wednesday, 70 new cases of sexual abuse at 10 juvenile detention facilities across the state of PA were filed, bringing the total number of cases to 148 statewide.

A 55-page lawsuit was filed Wednesday against the Department of Human Services (DHS), where 20 people are alleging they were sexually assaulted as juveniles while staying at state-run juvenile detention centers.

The lawsuit against DHS alleges the department turned a blind eye to the abuse.

Jerome Block, attorney with Levy Konigsberg law, is representing the victims and called the abuse “systematic and institutional.”

“What we’ve seen in these cases is a culture of secrecy, where the adults working in the facility seem intent on protecting each other essentially from getting caught, as opposed to protecting children,” Block said.

Block said…

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THE Catholic Church has apologised for its treatment of a West Belfast priest who was sexually abused as a young adult in the 1980s by a fellow member of the clergy.

Fr Paddy McCafferty, Parish Priest of Corpus Christi in Ballymurphy, suffered years of rape and violent sexual assaults when he was a young student training for the priesthood.

In 2012, James Donaghy was jailed for ten years after being convicted of 23 sex abuse charges. A review into the handling into the cases of Donaghy’s abuse by the late Bishop Patrick Walsh and the diocese, was carried out last year.

On Thursday, Bishop of Down and Connor, Alan McGuckian issued an apology to Fr McCafferty.

“On behalf of the diocese, I apologise to Fr McCafferty most sincerely and I readily acknowledge the toll all of this has taken on him over the years since his initial reporting in 2001.

…

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A two-day trial in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy wrapped up Tuesday.

A decision in that trial is one of the final pieces needed to fall into place before the now nearly five-year old bankruptcy can wrap up. The trial’s end leaves no clear indication of how soon the long-running case might conclude, however.  

The diocese filed the bankruptcy in September 2019, a month after New York’s Child Victims Act took effect. The CVA created a two-year window during which survivors of long-past sexual abuse could pursue molesters who violated them as children but otherwise would have been protected by a statute of limitations.

Four hundred eighty-five survivors filed claims in the diocese case. Several have died while the case has wended its way through the court.

Meanwhile, as of May 31, the diocese has spent $14 million to pay lawyers, accountants and consultant working…

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A pastor and teacher at Liberty Christian School in Anderson, who also serves as the baseball coach, has been arrested after police investigators found child pornography on his phone, according to court documents.

Claud “Tab” Greenlee II, 56, is charged with two counts of child exploitation, a Level 4 felony, along with three counts of possession of child pornography, both Level 5 and Level 6 felonies.

According to court documents, police received a cyber tip on July 10 about possible child porn being shared on the app Kik.

Investigators found the Kik profile and the images that featured child porn and traced the account back to Greenlee.

Central Indiana youth pastor, coach arrested for child solicitation, sexual misconduct

Police learned while investigating Greenlee that he was a pastor in addition to being a middle and high school teacher at Liberty Christian School in Anderson. Greenlee also coaches varsity baseball.

…

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Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, has announced the exit of founding elder Steve Dulin as an independent investigation of child sex abuse allegations made by Cindy Clemishire against founder Robert Morris remains underway.

Dulin’s exit, which continues the snowballing fallout from Clemishire’s allegations against Robert Morris, came in a statement from Gateway Church cited by WFAA.

The announcement also came less than a week after the church revealed that Morris’ son, James, and his wife, Bridgette, also mutually agreed with Gateway leaders to step down from the helm of the church just weeks after he took over in the wake of his father’s resignation. Both Dulin and James Morris, along with two other Gateway Church elders, were asked to take a leave of absence from the church after Haynes & Boone, LLP, the firm doing the independent investigation, recommended the move, according…

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A Lubbock County prosecutor in Texas argued during a hearing on Monday (July 1) that former Southern Baptist youth pastor Luke Cunningham had a history of preying on teenage girls in different churches. The first allegations against him date back to 2013. 

Editor’s note: This article contains information about child sex abuse and assault that some readers might find disturbing and/or triggering.

Cunningham, 41, was arrested at his home on June 20 and remains in custody at the Lubbock County Detention Center. He has been charged with two counts of sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated sexual assault. 

Cunningham’s bond is set at $500,000. While he has requested that his bond be reduced to $100,000 and that he be allowed unsupervised access to his own children, the judge has not yet ruled on the request. 

In Monday’s hearing, Lubbock County Assistant District Attorney Cassie Graham  View Cache

Dear Bishop Johnston:

In a lawsuit that has garnered considerable attention – and is widely available online and in the state’s largest newspaper and other news outlets – a Ralph Wehner stands publicly accused of molesting a child in St. Louis.

 We believe that many are worried and are asking themselves “Is the Ralph Wehner who is now in Kansas City the same Ralph Wehner who reportedly sexually abused a child in St. Louis?”

 Some are members of Our Lady of Good Counsel parish in Westport, where a photo and biographical information is posted on their website about a Ralph Wehner who works there.

 Others are Kansas City area Catholic church members and employees who know, have read or have been told that a Ralph Wehner now works at your chancery office downtown in the archives?

 Some are neighbors who live near a Ralph Wehner who has been in Kansas…

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Kentucky pastor, 53-year-old Dicky Tiller, was arrested in Boyd County by the Bourbon County Sheriff’s Department on July 30 and charged with one count of first-degree sexual abuse.

According to a filed complaint warrant, Tiller is accused of performing sexual acts with a juvenile victim in May 2024. A uniform citation reported that Tiller, “being a person in a position of authority and special trust,” used his role of pastor to abuse the juvenile.

The citation goes on to say that Tiller was the juvenile’s pastor at the time of the abuse.

Tiller is accused of using his cellular device to communicate with and photograph the victim, although “it is unknown if any illegal (photographs) we’re taken,” the citation states.

Tiller was arraigned on July 31 at 1 p.m. in Bourbon County.

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Investigation of the burglary exposes sexual abuse within several monasteries.

Two Italian priests have been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing two men and arranging the theft of their cellphones containing incriminating text exchanges while a Vatican judge is under probe for involvement in the public tenders of the Sicilian mafia.

The two Franciscan priests were among six people arrested in the case that began in April when two men in Afragola, a town near Naples, reported a burglary, said prosecutors in Naples in a statement.

The two perpetrators, carrying clubs and knives, seized the mobile phone from one of the victims and searched in vain for that of the second before fleeing, according to the prosecutor’s office.

The victims immediately made the connection “back to previous relationships with some friars in the Campania region and to sexual abuse and violence suffered,” the statement said.

The ensuing investigation found “substantial evidence”…

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A former Catholic brother convicted of sexually abusing 35 children more than three decades ago has been jailed again.

Frank Terrence Keating was sentenced in the Brisbane District Court today after earlier pleading guilty to indecent treatment and carnal knowledge charges involving children.

He worked as a teacher, then principal at the De La Salle college at Scarborough, north of Brisbane.

The 81-year-old has been convicted previously in Queensland and in Victoria for similar offences committed in that state.

Judge Paul Smith said Keating had committed a total of 63 offences against 35 children over about 20 years.

The offences for which he was sentenced today included offences against boys and a girl.

The court was told Keating had taken steps towards rehabilitation and avoided contact with children while living with his wife of more than 30 years in Victoria.

Keating, who has mobility problems, was brought into the courtroom in a…

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ORO VALLEY, Ariz. (KVOA) – A now former teacher at Casas Christian School in Oro Valley told the News 4 Tucson Investigators that he faced retaliation after reporting sexual misconduct allegations against another teacher.

It was a big story News 4 Tucson’s Chief Investigative Reporter Chorus Nylander broke in 2022. [Play Video]

A now former teacher at Casas Christian School in Oro Valley told the News 4 Tucson Investigators that he faced retaliation after reporting sexual misconduct allegations against another teacher.

The Oro Valley Police Department got involved and investigated the multiple claims from students that they experienced sexual misconduct from a teacher. Police were not able to find enough evidence to bring any charges against the teacher but the school decided to part ways with the teacher.

Durrell Lopez said he was the teacher who reported the student’s claims to school leadership about the other former teacher. 

For…

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Leaders of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer have taken legal action to remain priests in Christchurch. (File photo)
John Bisset / The Timaru Herald

The ousted leaders of a Catholic order in Christchurch who were investigated by the Vatican following abuse allegations say they will fight the Bishop’s decision all the way to the Church’s equivalent of the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Palmerston North Bishop John Adams – a supporter of the conservative theology which the Sons’ is known for – hadn’t ruled out accepting the Sons of The Most Holy Redeemer’s priests into his diocese, should they ask.

The Sons of The Most Holy Redeemer’s leadership allegedly abused and performed unauthorised exorcisms on members of its community, but the group denied any wrongdoing.

Although details of the investigation’s findings were secret, the Vatican’s recommendation to ban the priests from performing mass in the diocese,…

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LEICESTER, United Kingdom – Abuse of a young adult “is of no less magnitude than the abuse of a minor,” a bishop in Northern Ireland admitted in a statement on August 1.

Bishop Alan McGuckian of Down and Connor was speaking about the abuse suffered by Father Paddy McCafferty, who was sexually abused as a young adult in the 1980s by Father James Martin Donaghy, who was jailed in 2012 for 10 years.

Down and Connor is the diocese which includes Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland.

Donaghy was released from prison in 2017 after serving five years of his sentence. He was officially removed from the priesthood in 2015.

A review into the handling of the Donaghy’s abuse accusations by the now-deceased Bishop Patrick Walsh was carried out last year.

In his statement, McGuckian said the diocese received the final report in February.

“One of the victims [of Donaghy]…

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The Bishop of Down and Connor has apologised for the “misjudged and unfair” manner in which it handled the case of a vulnerable young cleric who was abused by predator priest James Donaghy.

It comes almost six months after the diocese received the final report of a review led by Dr Tony McGleenan KC into how the late Bishop Patrick Walsh dealt with a complaint by Fr Paddy McCafferty.

Bishop Alan McGuckian said the protection of children and vulnerable adults “must always be a priority” for the Church, but he acknowledged its focus on child sex abuse had “eclipsed” the cleric’s report of being abused by the paedophile priest as “a vulnerable young adult”.

“Fr McCafferty came forward out of concern for others who could be at risk,” he said.

“He showed courage and leadership in the face of incredulity, disbelief and animosity on the part of many, including clergy…

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August 2, 2024

Press Release – SNAP

Survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests demand more than Catholic Bishop of Palmerston North John Adams’ faith-based assertions that he believes there has been a culture change in the Church.

Survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests demand more than Catholic Bishop of Palmerston North John Adams’ faith-based assertions that he “believes there has been a culture change” in the Church. (Stuff, July 30)

Bishop Adams knows he has currently at least one priest in ministry under church investigation, contradicting his talk of “zero appetite for abuse”.

At least two Palmerston North senior clergyman accused of sexual assault, one of a child and one of a young man, are still in active ministry and being protected today by Bishop Adams.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in Aotearo regards the Bishop’s attempts at marketing a new and improved Catholic…

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Bishop Johan Bonny confirmed on July 25 that he was withdrawing from the high-profile role of key man on abuse, citing an excessive workload that he said was taking a toll on his health.

His departure leaves the Belgian Church scrambling to find a successor before Pope Francis’ September 26-29 visit, which is expected to include a private meeting with abuse survivors.

The 69-year-old bishop decided to step back from the role after he appealed unsuccessfully to Rome for an auxiliary bishop to help him oversee his Diocese of Antwerp, which serves around 1.2 million Catholics.

In a letter published July 1, Bishop Bonny said the Vatican had denied his request partly because it would upset the balance between French-speaking and Flemish-speaking bishops within Belgium’s bishops’ conference.

Bishop Bonny said: “The policy, the media, the negotiations… It’s a very big task and I have to combine that with caring for a large diocese…

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Paul Blancard was charged last September with sexual abuse between May 1967 and October 1970, while he was an assistant pastor at St. Helen’s Parish.

An 84-year-old man has pleaded guilty to sexual abuse during his time as a Catholic priest in Burnaby 57 years ago.

Paul J. Blancard appeared remotely in a Vancouver court Thursday from his home in London, Ont.

He entered a guilty plea to one count of “indecent assault” on a female in Burnaby between May 1, 1967 and Oct. 15, 1970.

The Archdiocese of Vancouver has confirmed Blancard, who was then in his late 20s, was an assistant pastor at St. Helen’s Parish during that time.

The victim’s name is protected by a publication ban.

The police investigation that led to the charge was launched in 2016, but Burnaby RCMP declined to provide further information on the case, including the age of the…

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The Catholic Church has apologised for its treatment of a priest who was sexually abused as a young adult in the 1980s by a fellow member of the clergy.

Fr Paddy McCafferty gave evidence in the trial of former priest James Martin Donaghy, who was jailed in 2012 for 10 years.

In a statement, the Bishop of Down and Connor, Alan McGuckian, said the priest was “not believed and supported by the diocese when he should have been”.

He said he apologised “most sincerely” to Fr McCafferty.

He said of the priest: “He showed courage and leadership in the face of incredulity, disbelief and animosity on the part of many, including clergy of the diocese.”

Donaghy from Lisburn, who is now in his 60s, was jailed for sex crimes against multiple victims.

A review into the handling into the cases of Donaghy’s abuse by the late Bishop Patrick Walsh and…

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(OSV News) — A retired FBI agent will head up the U.S. bishops’ consultative safe environment body, while a clergy abuse survivor, a nursing professor and two clinical social workers are also among the board’s Aug. 1 appointments.

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has appointed James Bogner as the next chair of the National Review Board. A former high-level FBI special agent with more than 35 years of law enforcement experience, Bogner succeeds outgoing chair Suzanne Healy, who recently completed her four-year term, having led the board since 2020.

Three new members have also been appointed to the board: Paulette Adams, a tenured professor emeritus at the University of Louisville School of Nursing; independent business owner Scott Surette, a survivor of clerical abuse; and retired clinical social worker Barbara Thorp of the Archdiocese of…

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Victims in schools with a Church of Ireland (or Protestant) ethos require an opportunity to report what happened to them

If, as reported, the scoping inquiry report into abuse in schools proposes a statutory investigation also confined to Roman Catholic schools, that is disappointing.

Victims in schools with a Church of Ireland (or Protestant) ethos require an opportunity to report what happened to them. Those schools should be subject to the same official investigation as Roman Catholic schools.

I hope, for the sake of secular Irish democracy, that the reports are mistaken about a sectarian limitation on any recommended statutory inquiry.

Abuse of pupils in King’s Hospital, Wilson’s Hospital, and St Patrick’s Cathedral Grammar schools is documented. King’s Hospital School pupils were abused by school swimming pool manager Derry O’Rourke.

In Deep Deception (2010, pp124-7, 136-7), Justine McCarthy detailed examples of such abuse. It included a 1980-81 King’s Hospital boarder…

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Two top officials within the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith will be ordained bishops.

The Vatican announced July 29 that Pope Francis has decided Msgr. John Kennedy, 56, the secretary of the dicastery’s disciplinary section, will be an archbishop and have the “titular see” of Ossero, an ancient diocese in Croatia that ceased functioning in the 19th century.

Msgr. Philippe Curbelié, undersecretary of the dicastery, will be a bishop and have the “titular see” of Utica. The Vatican did not provide a date for their episcopal ordinations.

Archbishop-elect Kennedy was ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland, in 1993. He started working as an official at the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2003. In 2022 Pope Francis named him secretary of the dicastery and head of the disciplinary section, which handles abuse cases.

Bishop-elect Curbelié was born in 1968 in…

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ROME (OSV News) — The artistic community founded by Father Marko Rupnik, the Slovenian priest accused of sexually, psychologically and spiritually abusing multiple women, dismissed calls from survivors to remove the artist’s work, saying such decisions are a symptom of “cancel culture.”

In a statement published July 24, Maria Campatelli, director of the Centro Aletti, said that while the center has remained silent as it awaits the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith’s investigation into the accusations, it viewed calls for the removal of the priest’s artwork as an attack against art and also a “desire for destruction.”

Though the art center has not commented on the Father Rupnik case before, “in the face of growing pressure for the removal of the works of art created by Centro Aletti,” the statement said, “we feel obliged to express our great concern regarding the widespread diffusion of the so-called ‘cancel culture,’ and of…

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Allegations of sexual abuse by more than two dozen women, mostly former nuns, against Father Rupnik continue to be investigated by the Vatican.

As Church leaders and Catholic groups around the world increasingly call for the removal of sacred art created by Father Marko Rupnik, the art institute founded by the disgraced former Jesuit is punching back, saying Father Rupnik’s art is being subjected to “cancel culture.” 

“In the face of growing pressure for the removal of the works of art created by Centro Aletti, we feel obliged to express our great concern regarding the widespread diffusion of the so-called ‘cancel culture’ and of a way of thinking that legitimizes the ‘criminalization’ of art,” Centro Aletti Director Maria Campatelli contends in a letter addressed to friends of the institution.

In the letter, Campatelli says the center continues to face a “time of trial” while the allegations of sexual abuse by more…

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Down and Connor Diocese admits failing to fully acknowledge the damage done to victims even after James Donaghy was convicted and sentenced to 10 years

The bishop of Down and Connor has apologised to a priest who was sexually abused as a young adult by a fellow member of the clergy.

Fr Paddy McCafferty gave evidence in the trial of James Martin Donaghy who was jailed for 10 years in 2012.

Months after a review was commissioned by Down and Connor Diocese, Bishop Alan McGuckian issued a full apology on Thursday.

The Catholic Church failed to show any “demonstrable regret” even after the serial sex abusing priest was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, Bishop McGuckian said.

In an apology to those targeted and abused by Donaghy, Bishop McGuckian said he wanted to “take this opportunity now to apologise sincerely to all the victims in that case…

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NEW YORK – James Bogner, a retired FBI agent with decades of law enforcement experience who currently holds a role in ensuring a safe environment in the Archdiocese of Omaha, has been appointed chair of the board created in 2002 to monitor the implementation of the Dallas Charter.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced Bogner’s appointment to lead the National Review Board on August 1. Bogner has been a member of the board since 2020.

Bogner will replace Suzanne Healy, who concluded her term as chair at the conclusion of the USCCB June plenary assembly. Healy joined the National Review Board in 2017 and served a four-year term as the chair from 2020-2024.

Bogner is a retired senior executive special agent with the FBI. During his career with the bureau, he served as the…

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Mediation in the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s bankruptcy case will “begin as soon as reasonably possible,” a judge has ruled, thrusting the proceeding into its most critical phase.

During the forthcoming negotiations, attorneys and mediators will work together to determine how much money the diocese and its insurers have to contribute to settle hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse committed by Catholic clergy and others in the church’s employ. They also will work toward developing a plan to prevent child sex abuse from occurring again.

Three mediators will facilitate negotiations: Robert J. Faris, chief judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Hawaii; Brian J. Nash, an attorney who specializes in mediation; and a third person to be named by the insurance companies involved in the case. Lawyers for the church and a committee of sex abuse survivors will have an opportunity to object to that person.

During mediation, the archdiocese and…

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Archbishop says accusation are ‘a complete fabrication’

[See lawsuit that includes allegation against Archbishop Lucas.]

Representatives with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests gathered outside of Omaha’s St. Cecilia Cathedral Wednesday, calling for Omaha Archbishop George Lucas to be suspended or voluntarily step down following recent sexual abuse allegations against him.

Lucas was accused of sexually abusing a teenage seminarian in St. Louis in the late 1980s in a lawsuit filed in Missouri. The person, who is identified only by the initials D.S. in the civil lawsuit, accuses Lucas of abuse while Lucas was his teacher at the now-closed St. Louis Preparatory Seminary School.

Lucas, who is originally from St. Louis, has been the Omaha archbishop since 2009. He has repeatedly denied the recent accusations.

“The allegation against me by an anonymous person is a complete fabrication,” he said in a statement released Wednesday. “It never…

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Victims of abuse are calling for the resignation of Archbishop George Lucas who was named in that lawsuit and alleges he sexually abused a child in St Louis.

• Victims of abuse are calling for the resignation of Archbishop George Lucas
• A 74 page lawsuit detailing alleged sexual abuse in St Louis rocked members of the Catholic Church thought the Midwest
• Watch to learn more about the archbishops response to the allegations

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

Last week a 74 page lawsuit detailing alleged sexual abuse in St Louis rocked members of the Catholic Church thought the Midwest. Wednesday at St Cecelia’s Catholic Cathedral victims of abuse are calling for the resignation of Archbishop George Lucas who was named in that lawsuit and alleges he sexually abused a child in St Louis.

Track: Archbishop Lucas was one of 56 PRIESTS in the St. Louis Archdieose accused of SEXUAL ABUSE.

David Clohessy a members of…

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Former Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has told the Irish Mail on Sunday he never had any idea Bishop Eamonn Casey was a child abuser.

Archbishop Martin said yesterday that he did not attend Bishop Casey’s funeral because of the deceased’s affair with Annie Murphy and unofficial reports he’d received that the Kerryman had also had affairs with other women.

‘I heard that there were other allegations against Eamonn Casey, but not concerning child abuse. I had heard that there were problems concerning his relations with other women,’ Dr Martin said. ‘I didn’t go to the funeral but not on the basis I’d heard any specific allegation against him.Advertisement0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0% 

‘I found it hard they could give such a celebratory thing for him in light of [his affair with] Annie Murphy,’ he added.

‘And he knew about Fr Michael…

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Following a review of abuse allegations made in October 2023 against Msgr. Michael Mellone, the pastor of Annunciation Parish in Washington, and Deacon Lawrence Bell of St. Martin of Tours Parish in Gaithersburg, Cardinal Wilton Gregory announced in July 17, 2024 letters to those parish communities that no evidence of misconduct was found, and both men may return to active ministry.

The cardinal explained that after the Maryland Child Victims Act took effect on Oct. 1, 2023, The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington received notice of a lawsuit that included a John Doe plaintiff’s allegations of sexual abuse of a minor made against Msgr. Mellone and Deacon Bell that dated back to the 1990s, when they served together at St. Martin of Tours.

“To be clear, apart from the lawsuit, we have received no prior complaints of any sort of improper conduct made against either Monsignor Mellone or Deacon Bell – at…

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A former altar boy who accused Manchester Bishop Peter A. Libasci of sexual abuse in the 1980s died earlier this month, leaving the status of his civil case against the bishop uncertain.

The 53-year-old man died earlier this month in New York. In 2021, he filed a lawsuit accusing Libasci, now head of the Catholic Diocese of Manchester, of groping him while Libasci was a priest in his early 30s in Rockville Centre, New York.

Christian Curran, the accuser’s attorney, sent the death certificate to the clerk of the Suffolk County (New York) Supreme Court on Tuesday after informing the court of his death last week.

The letter, in part, said, “We respectfully request the action be marked stayed at this time.”

Curran said he did not wish to comment Tuesday. Attempts to reach Libasci’s attorney, Michael J. Connolly, were unsuccessful.

In New York state, there are two ways a…

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Earlier this month a bombshell media report revealed that Father Stechschulte had in 2012 destroyed a hard drive reportedly containing inappropriate pictures of children

A priest in Ohio has resigned from his parish after parishioners demanded his ouster due to his having destroyed a hard drive containing possible child porn. 

Father Barry Stechschulte announced his departure from St. Susanna Catholic Parish in Mason, Ohio, in a message on the church’s website this week.

“[It] has become evident to me, after much prayer and discernment, that, for the good of our parish and school, I should step down as pastor, effective immediately, to be reassigned elsewhere in the archdiocese [of Cincinnati],” the pastor wrote.

Earlier this month a bombshell media report revealed that Father Stechschulte had in 2012 destroyed a hard drive reportedly containing inappropriate pictures of children — and potentially child pornography — and then delayed reporting the incident to…

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An Ohio pastor reportedly resigned from his ministry on Monday after nearly 500 people signed a petition demanding his ouster in 2021 after allegations of destruction of evidence

Father Barry Stechschulte stepped down from his position after a WCPO 9 report that he allegedly ordered the destruction of child pornography and delayed reporting it for six years while he served at another parish, according to the outlet.

Parents for Action expressed concerns in a letter to Stechschulte and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati obtained by the outlet. “The decision you made to destroy evidence instead of reporting it to the proper authorities has severely compromised the confidence many of us have in your leadership,” the organization reportedly wrote. “We believe that for the unity and peace of our parish to be restored, a change in leadership is necessary … we respectfully request your resignation from your position at St….

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A newly released police report detailed the role a Mason priest had in destroying a laptop with alleged pornographic material in 2012.

The Rev. Barry Stechschulte resigned from St. Susanna Catholic Parish on Monday after hundreds of parishioners and parents of students at its school signed a petition calling for his dismissal.

It happened just weeks after he stood before the congregation at Sunday masses and admitted to ordering the destruction of a computer hard drive related to a possible child pornography investigation at another church more than a decade ago and then failing to report it to police for six years.

He apologized and said he was so shocked and disgusted by the images he saw that he wanted to make sure no one else would be subjected to seeing them. He also told the congregation he realizes now that not reporting it to the police for…

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Yesterday brought news of the resignation of Fr. Barry Stechschulte as pastor of St. Susanna’s Church in Mason, Ohio, in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The priest resigned following mounting pressure after it was revealed that in 2012 — shortly after he became pastor of Holy Rosary Church in St. Mary’s, Ohio — he ordered Deacon Marty Brown to destroy a hard drive on an old desktop computer in the parish rectory.

A letter from Archbishop Dennis Schnurr to the parishioners of St. Susanna thanked Stechschulte for his service and announced that a retired priest, Fr Jeff Kemper, will serve as temporary administrator of the parish, effective immediately.

The frequency with which these types of scandals and crimes are revealed suggests that the truth is only shared with the faithful on a need-to-know basis, causing frustrated and disillusioned Catholics to wonder how much more Church leaders are hiding from…

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(7-30-24) The pastor of St. Susanna Church in Mason, Fr. Barry Stechschulte, has resigned after more than 500 people signed a petition calling for change after a recent report showed that he ordered the destruction of alleged child pornography and waited six years to report it to police while at a different parish.

After Father Tony Cutcher left Holy Rosary Church in St. Marys…Stechschulte arrived as the new pastor in July of 2012, he and Church Deacon Marty Brown told police that they had discovered what looked like child pornography while refurbishing an old desktop computer from a storage room, which had been used by Cutcher.

Stechschulte moved from Holy Rosary to become pastor of St. Susanna in Mason.

According to a St. Marys Police 2018 police report —

When Stechschulte, who was raised in Minster, arrived as the new pastor in July 2012, he and Deacon Marty Brown told…

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Archbishop George Lucas says the Catholic Church asked him to continue serving the diocese until successor found since allegation was anonymous

A week after a lawsuit filed in St. Louis accused Omaha Archbishop George Lucas of sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy, the archbishop issued a second statement, noting that he had submitted his resignation prior to the accusation.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha on Wednesday posted a video of the archbishop on its website and issued his full written statement to news media. He called the allegation made by an anonymous person in the lawsuit “a complete fabrication.”

“It never happened. I have never had sexual contact with another person,” the archbishop says, calling the allegation “disturbing.”

“My conscience is clear, and I am at peace before the Lord.”Omaha Archbishop George Lucas

Lucas says he submitted his resignation to Pope Francis on June…

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David Clohessy of Survivors Network of those Abused by Catholic Priests discuss abuse claims against Omaha Archbishop George Lucas

[See video.]

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Pope Francis said of Bishop Rosario Gisana: “He is good, this bishop. He was persecuted, slandered, yet he stood firm, always, just, a just man.”

A Sicilian court said a bishop recently praised by the Pope was “knowingly guilty” of covering up the crimes of a sex abuser priest.

Judges said Bishop Rosario Gisana of Piazza Amerina, in central Sicily, had protected Fr Giuseppe Rugolo, who was sentenced in March to four-and-a-half years in prison for sexual abuse of minors.

Antonio Messina told police the priest had abused him while he was a teenager. In 2020, Messina wrote to Pope Francis about the abuse.

After Messina and his family informed Gisana of the abuse between 2009 to 2013, a Church inquiry concluded that it had taken place while Rugolo was a seminarian. However, Messina said the abuse continued after Rugolo’s ordination.

In a telephone conversation recorded by police and presented…

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A clerical abuse scandal has been brewing in the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, where two priests are accused of having molested three minors almost a decade ago. 

What makes the case different from the many others that affect the Church around the world is that the diocesan bishop at the time the allegations first surfaced was the American Robert Francis Prevost, now a cardinal and prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, who led the diocese from 2014 until last year.

Local Catholics have expressed frustration at the course of the investigation, which began after an alleged victim filed a complaint in 2022, accusing the priests of inappropriate touching when she was a minor. Two years on, questions continue to be raised around the case.

Given Prevost’s role in enforcing Vos estis lux mundi, the papal motu proprio on episcopal negligence in abuse cases, the situation has attracted international scrutiny, with some in Peru…

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[See video.]

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A Diocese of Scranton priest revered for his work with the region’s poor is guilty under church law of sexually abusing two children, the diocese said Tuesday.

Monsignor Joseph P. Kelly is immediately and permanently prohibited from exercising priestly ministry and permanently barred from wearing clerical attire or presenting himself as a priest following the guilty verdict, according to a statement from the diocese.

While guilty under canon law, Kelly has not faced criminal charges.

The Vatican authorized the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, bishop of Scranton, to impose a permanent penalty on Kelly but did not authorize his dismissal as a priest due to his age, according to the diocese. Kelly is 83 years old.

Ordained May 28, 1966, Kelly had 17 assignments throughout his career, including in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties. He received widespread recognition from the community for his work with disadvantaged children and adults, serving as…

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A priest of the Diocese of Scranton has been found guilty under canon law of the sexual abuse of two minors.

According to a media release from the Diocese of Scranton, Monsignor Joseph P. Kelly was found guilty at the conclusion of a disciplinary process.

By Oct. 2020, seven individuals alleged that Kelley sexually abused them as children. Another allegation was received in Jan. 2023, according to the Diocese of Scranton. Five of the eight allegations were deemed credible and were investigated as required by the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church.

Bishop Joseph C. Bambera was authorized to adjudicate the accusations through trial processes. At the end of the trial, Kelly was found guilty under canon law of two of the accusations.

As a result, Kelly was immediately and permanently prohibited from the exercise of priestly ministry and permanently prohibited from wearing clerical attire or presenting himself…

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Strategic collaboration, especially with law enforcement monitoring crimes online, is needed in the fight against human trafficking, according to the head of an international network of religious orders and partners against trafficking.

“New challenges in preventing and combating human trafficking affecting children have emerged,” particularly as traffickers are using the Internet “to advertise and sell children online for sexual exploitation and to distribute child sexual abuse material,” said Maryknoll Sister Abby Avelino, international coordinator for the international network, Talitha Kum.

There is also another worrying trend, according to the Global Slavery Index 2023 report, of “orphanage trafficking,” in which children are recruited to live in private, donor-funded residential care facilities that have little to no government oversight and where they are exploited for profit, she said in an article published in the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, July 29.

July 30 marks the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, sponsored by…

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A former altar boy who accused Manchester Bishop Peter A. Libasci of sexual abuse in the 1980s died earlier this month, leaving the status of his civil case against the bishop uncertain.

The 53-year-old man died earlier this month in New York. In 2021, he filed a lawsuit accusing Libasci, now head of the Catholic Diocese of Manchester, of groping him while Libasci was a priest in his early 30s in Rockville Centre, New York.

Christian Curran, the accuser’s attorney, sent the death certificate to the clerk of the Suffolk County (New York) Supreme Court on Tuesday after informing the court of his death last week.

The letter, in part, said, “We respectfully request the action be marked stayed at this time.”

Curran said he did not wish to comment Tuesday. Attempts to reach Libasci’s attorney, Michael J. Connolly, were unsuccessful.

In New York state, there are two ways a…

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Joey Piscitelli told the Register that during the seven-year period Harris served as San Francisco’s district attorney, she repeatedly declined his requests to release relevant documents and to meet with him.

Kamala Harris is emphasizing her experience as a prosecutor in her campaign for president, which is drawing attention to her decisions as a district attorney two decades ago — including how she handled victims of sex abuse by Catholic clergy.

Some advocates for victims say she didn’t help them when she could have — particularly during a seven-year period when she had control of personnel files of Catholic priests accused of sex crimes.

It’s not a new claim; critics have made it during at least two of Harris’ prior runs for higher office.

Joey Piscitelli, 69, a clergy sex-abuse victim and activist, told the Register that when Harris was San Francisco’s district attorney from 2004 to 2011, he couldn’t…

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The Diocese of Scranton announced Monsignor Joseph P. Kelly, a former priest in the Diocese of Scranton, has been found guilty under canon law of the sexual abuse of two children.

According to a statement issued Tuesday by the Diocese of Scranton, Monsignor Joseph P. Kelly was found guilty under canon law of sexually abusing two children after a four-year canonical process.

As a result, Monsignor Kelly was immediately and permanently prohibited from exercising priestly ministry and was not allowed to wear clerical attire or present himself as a priest, the diocese stated.

The Vatican authorized Bishop Joseph Bambera to impose a permanent penalty on Monsignor Kelly, short of authorizing his dismissal from the clerical state, given his advanced age.

By October 2020, seven people had accused Monsignor Kelly of sexually abusing them as
children, some of who received compensation through the Independent Survivors Compensation Program. At that time,…

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