ABUSE TRACKER

The Douglas County trial is expected to take eight days.

A jury trial for a former Minnesota pastor charged with repeated sexual assault of a child at a cabin in Douglas County is set to start Tuesday, Jan. 6, in Douglas County Circuit Court.

Jeffrey Anthony Charles, 64, of Danbury, Wisconsin, faces one felony count of repeated sexual assault of a child as a persistent repeater. A cash bond of $500,000 was set at his initial hearing on May 18, 2022. Charles was in custody at the Douglas County Jail as of Monday, Jan. 5.

According to the charging documents:

Charles sexually assaulted a victim three or four times at his cabin in the town of Summit over the course of five years. At the time, the victim was between the ages of 3 and 7. Charles served as the pastor of Neighbors to Nations Church in Princeton, Minnesota, and…

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A Pierce County jury has delivered a guilty verdict on 12 of 13 counts of first-degree child molestation against Jordan Henderson, a former elementary school teacher and volunteer worship pastor.

The jury also affirmed that Henderson abused his position of trust in committing these offenses. Sentencing is scheduled for April 10.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Pierce County elementary teacher, pastor charged with 9 counts of child molestation

Henderson, 34, was arrested at his Gig Harbor home by Pierce County Sheriff’s Department deputies in April 2024 after five female students from Evergreen Elementary School reported being assaulted during school hours.

The allegations led to Henderson being placed on administrative leave by the Peninsula School District. He then resigned.

Prosecutors highlighted the breach of trust in their charges, stating, “The defendant used [his] position of trust, confidence, or fiduciary responsibility to facilitate the commission of the current offense, and against…

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A former pastor of a Red Bank church has been arrested and criminally charged with repeatedly engaging in various forms of sexual activity with a juvenile parishioner, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced last week.

Enrique Molina, 50, is charged with two counts of first-degree Aggravated Sexual Assault, four counts of second-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, three counts of second-degree Sexual Assault, two counts of third-degree Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact, one count of third-degree Attempted Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact, one count of third-degree Hindering Apprehension, and three counts of fourth-degree Criminal Sexual Contact.

An investigation into Molina’s activities was recently initiated by a report received by the Red Bank Police Department, which subsequently coordinated with  members of the Eatontown, Neptune Township, and Ocean Township police departments and the Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Bureau. 

The investigation determined that Molina met the victim at his church – Iglesia Pentecostal…

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A jury has returned guilty verdicts on 12 of 13 counts of child molestation against a Key Peninsula teacher, with jurors also finding he abused a position of trust, court officials said.

The verdicts were announced after a trial involving 34-year-old Jordan Henderson, a fifth-grade teacher at Evergreen Elementary School.

Jurors found Henderson guilty on 12 counts of child molestation in the first degree and not guilty on one count.

For each of the guilty counts, jurors answered “yes” to special verdict questions determining that Henderson held a position of trust over the children involved.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 10.

Henderson was arrested in April 2024 by deputies with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.

At the time, prosecutors charged him with multiple counts of sexual molestation involving children younger than 12, alleging the acts occurred inside his classroom over a two-year period.

Court documents previously detailed allegations from several…

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A Mountain Home pastor accused of sexually assaulting women at his church pleaded not guilty on Monday morning in Elmore County Court.

RELATED | Former daycare volunteer speaks out about Mountain Home pastor accused of sex trafficking

Gregory Wayne Jones, who previously served as the pastor of Liberty Christian Fellowship Church, entered his plea as his case moved to district court after a judge determined there was sufficient evidence to proceed.

WATCH: Mountain Home pastor pleads not guilty

The case centers on allegations that Jones exploited his pastoral role during counseling sessions that prosecutors said escalated into sexual abuse over several years.

During a preliminary hearing, an alleged victim provided hours of graphic testimony detailing the accusations against Jones.

Jones’ defense attorney presented text messages in court, arguing the alleged victims’ actions were based on religious belief rather than criminal coercion.

Jones remains out on bond with his next court hearing…

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Brian Boucher came into contact with 1 of his victims, parole board says

Brian Boucher, a former Montreal priest imprisoned for sexually abusing two boys, has been banned from parts of the city after coming into contact with one of his victims on several occasions.

Boucher is serving an eight-year sentence after being found guilty in 2019 of sexually abusing two boys while he was a priest in LaSalle and, later, in the Town of Mount Royal. He was defrocked in 2020.

Boucher was granted statutory release on July 23, 2024. He is serving the remainder of his time in the community under supervision.

Following his release, the victim’s family said Boucher appeared in “their presence on several occasions,” according to a Parole Board of Canada decision dated Dec. 29, 2025. The location of the run-ins are redacted in the decision.

The victim, according to the parole board, expressed discomfort because…

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New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond has announced the schedule for the group meetings for survivors of sexual abuse.

These meetings are open to survivors of child sexual abuse or other adults who may have experienced sexual abuse by a person in the ministry of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

The archdiocese said the purpose of the meetings is for survivors to listen, question, and freely share their experiences and otherwise freely participate in these open visits for survivors.

Here is the list of when the ten group meetings will be held:

Friday, February 6

• Holy Name of Jesus Parish 12:00 Noon, 6367 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana
• St. Peter Claver Parish 7:00 pm, Office – 1910 Ursulines Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana

Saturday, February 7

• St. Philip Neri Parish 3:00 pm, 6500 Kawanee Avenue, Metairie, Louisiana
• St. Charles Borromeo Parish 6:30 pm, 13396 River Road, Destrehan, Louisiana

Sunday,…

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GRETNA, La. (WVUE) – Gregory Aymond, the outgoing Archbishop of New Orleans, is scheduling 10 in-person group meetings with survivors of clergy sex abuse.

The first meeting will take place Feb. 6 at noon at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in New Orleans. The series of meetings is part of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ recent multi-million bankruptcy settlement.

It follows a personal letter of apology from the archbishop that was published Jan. 3 and is circulating through Louisiana and some neighboring states’ media outlets. The apology letter is addressed to “All Child Sexual Abuse Claimants in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.”

New Orleans’ archdiocese issues public apology letter to clergy sex abuse victims

For some claimants, the apology contained in the letter rings hollow.

Ever since Jackie Berthelot joined a wave of lawsuits that led to the recent bankruptcy, he says some people treated him like an outcast…

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SÃO PAULO, Brazil – The Bolivian Network of Church Abuse Survivors says it still hopes that an Uruguayan laicized priest involved in several abuse cases against children in Bolivia will be punished for his crimes, after Uruguay decided not to extradite him to the Andean nation in December.

Former Father Juan José Sant’Anna Trinidad, also known as Padre Juanjo, is accused of abusing at least 30 students of a boarding school in Tapacarí, in the region of Cochabamba, in Bolivia.

The scandal emerged in October of 2007, when the first accusation against Juanjo was brought to the authorities. He used to work at the Monseñor Ángel Gelmi boarding school and was in charge of its male sector. His victims were between 6 and 18 years old.

In November of that year, Juanjo was officially charged by Cochabamba’s Social Management Departmental Service to the District Attorney’s office. Shortly later, he ran…

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Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board claims insurance companies ‘pursued an avenue of denial’ by refusing to pay legal costs for civil suits concerning historical allegations of sexual abuse made by former students

Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board is suing insurance providers for more than $21 million after they allegedly denied coverage for lawsuits linked to historical sexual abuse claims.

It alleges the companies “wrongfully refused to acknowledge and defend the claims” brought forward by three former students in 2024, according to an eight-page statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court last month.

The sexual abuse claims stem from alleged incidents involving teachers and principals at Catholic schools in Sault Ste. Marie between 1964 and 1987, court documents show.

HSCDSB, which provides education services to both the Sault and Algoma District, claims the insurance companies are liable for all costs of defending the civil suits in court and paying any…

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Despite achieving constitutional separation from the Catholic Church after much bloodshed, the French state is still subservient to the Church when it comes to child abuse, says Keith Porteous Wood.

The 120th anniversary of France’s landmark law codifying the separation of Church and state was commemorated last month. The 1905 law’s ideological origin was of course the Revolution of 1789, which sought to end, through the establishment of a republic, the corruption and excessive power of the monarchs, the aristocracy and the Catholic Church.

However, France wasn’t the first jurisdiction to make religious freedom a right and forbid state support for religion – the US state of Virginia was. There, the Anglican Church was established just as it was, and still is, in England. Virginia’s stance formed the template for the first amendment to the US Constitution in 1789, thanks to visionaries James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, the latter of whom…

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Will Pope Leo XIV follow the progressive example of his predecessor or chart a more moderate course? His work in Chicago and Peru may shed light on his approach.

In Peru every August, throngs of Catholics set out on foot from the remote northern town of Motupe, bound for a cliffside chapel that houses the Cross of Chalpon. The cross, made of guayacán wood and ringed with precious metals, stands about eight feet tall and is believed to have been discovered, as if by a miracle, in a nearby cave in 1868. The ascent takes about an hour, and venders along the way sell religious images and replicas of the cross, as well as roasted corn and Inca Kola. A highlight of the pilgrimage comes when a procession bears the cross downhill, to the church of San Julián, in Motupe’s main plaza. The next day, the Bishop of Chiclayo, the…

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That fallen pastor or troubled tradition was never responsible for the truthfulness of the gospel. That is God’s work, and God never fails us.

Imagine a well-known denomination is enjoying a season of prosperity. Attendance is high. Ministry is faithful. Prayers are answered. God feels near. The good times last for years. 

But then, cracks appear. Long-held doctrine comes under doubt. Prominent ministry figures are exposed in corruption or abuse. Questions arise first about the leaders, then about the theology undergirding their ministries. Finally, questions are raised about the tradition itself. Was there ever anything good there? Or was it always rotten?

Sound familiar? If you guessed that I’m thinking of third-century North African Christianity, you’re correct—and that history is far from the pristine vision of unity and holiness we might imagine. Church history may not repeat itself, exactly, but it sure does rhyme. 

Around the year 250, a crisis…

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The letter was made public on Jan. 4 and emphasized that the Archdiocese of New Orleans ‘takes responsibility for the abuse.’

The Archdiocese of New Orleans released a letter written to child sexual abuse claimants apologizing for the “inexcusable harm” they suffered.

“On behalf of the clergy, religious, and laity of the Archdiocese of New Orleans,” Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans expressed in the Dec. 26, 2025, letter his “profound regret over the tragic and inexcusable harm” child abuse survivors suffered.

The letter was made public on Jan. 4 and emphasized that the Archdiocese of New Orleans “takes responsibility for the abuse.” Archbishop Aymond said the archdiocese “pledges to keep children and all vulnerable people safe in our ministry.”

“I sincerely apologize to you for the trauma caused to you and to those close to you as a survivor of sexual abuse perpetrated by a member of the clergy,…

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NEW YORK, New York — An investigation by ICE Homeland Security Investigations has led to the indictment of several leaders of the La Luz del Mundo Church on charges of sexual, financial, and related criminal conduct. The charges allege a racketeering enterprise that facilitated systemic sexual abuse of children and women over decades.

The indictment names Naasón Joaquín García, Rosa Sosa, Azalia Rangel García, Eva García De Joaquín, Joram Núñez Joaquín, and Silem García Peña as defendants. The enterprise allegedly operated for the sexual gratification of Naasón and his late father, Samuel Joaquín Flores, according to a press release from ICE Homeland Security Investigations. “A yearslong investigation that spanned the country and involved the support of dozens of courageous victims culminated with today’s charges,” said HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel.

Naasón Joaquín García was taken into federal custody on September 10 in Chino, California, where…

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The principal of Christ Alone Lutheran School in Thiensville has been charged with failing to report child abuse and is now on administrative leave.

THIENSVILLE, Wis. — The principal of Christ Alone Lutheran School in Thiensville has been charged with failing to report child abuse and is now on administrative leave.

Mike Henning faces a misdemeanor count of failure to disclose child abuse in connection with inappropriate touching by a former teacher at the school. According to court documents, prosecutors allege Henning knew about the abuse for a year before it was reported to authorities.

The case involves former teacher Daniel Rick, who is accused of inappropriately touching students on the buttocks, kissing them on the forehead and pulling a boy’s pants down. Rick was charged in January 2025 and is currently awaiting trial.

Prosecutors allege in their charging documents that Henning was first made aware of the…

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ST. LOUIS – The Archdiocese of St. Louis has asked a judge to dismiss several counts in a lawsuit alleging decades of clergy sexual abuse, arguing the claims do no meet Missouri’s legal standards to proceed.

The lawsuit, filed in July 2024 on behalf of 25 individuals, accuses the Archdiocese of enabling, covering up and concealing the sexual abuse of children by clergy and other employees over several decades.

The 74-page lawsuit lists at least 30 clergy members under the authority of the Archdiocese and the archbishop who have been accused of sexual misconduct. It describes alleged abuse dating back to 1945 and includes reports of alleged abuse as recently as 2021.

The lawsuit states, “the Archdiocese and Archbishop did not act in any manner to protect the young children of its parishes, churches, community, and other organizations within its ambit… Instead of removing the Abusers from their employ and…

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 “I did what I had to do to keep a child predator away from children,” said the attorney, Richard Trahant.

NEW ORLEANS — A New Orleans attorney remained defiant Saturday as another federal court upheld $400,000 in sanctions against him for warning a local high school that a priest with a secret history of abuse allegations was working there.

“I did what I had to do to keep a child predator away from children,” said the attorney, Richard Trahant.

That was Trahant’s response to WWL Louisiana hours after a federal appeals court rejected his years-long bid to overturn a contempt finding and a $400,000 sanction imposed in the Archdiocese of New Orleans bankruptcy case.

Trahant added that he would “go to my grave knowing I didn’t violate the protective order,” insisting his conduct was necessary to protect students after he learned the archdiocese had placed Paul Hart on the Brother…

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Mandatory reporting laws, how they’ve changed, and what falls under clergy-penitence

In a troubling trend, police in Minnesota, Ohio, Florida, Arizona, and Louisiana have arrested a number of church leaders in separate cases for failing to report alleged child abuse.

The wave of cases, which have arisen in the last month, raises questions about church and ministry accountability and their legal and moral obligations to protect children in their care, specifically by alerting civil authorities when leaders suspect abuse.

This basic duty has been a fixture of American law for well over half a century. Since 1967, every state has enacted some form of mandatory child-abuse reporting law.

But in nearly 60 years, there have been changes, and what has changed most is not whether the laws exist, but the scope of those laws: who must…

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[See PDF of complete letter here.]

The Archdiocese of New Orleans has released a public apology to all abuse claimants.

The letter will be printed on Sunday, Jan. 4, in local newspapers and throughout the upcoming days and weeks in the various media markets.

In the letter, Archbishop Aymond expressed, “profound regret over the tragic and inexcusable harm” child sexual abuse survivors suffered writing, “I sincerely apologize to you for the trauma caused to you and to those close to you as a survivor of sexual abuse perpetrated by a member of the clergy, a religious sister or brother, or a lay employee or volunteer working within the Catholic Church.”

Aymond continued on describing sexual abuse as “an inexcusable evil” and expressed shame that survivors were sexually abused by someone working within the Catholic Church.

“Please know that you are not to blame for the abuse perpetrated on you,” writes…

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(*The United Nations Committee Against Torture reviewed the Vatican and issued a report in 2014 stating clerical sexual abuse is a form of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.)

 “We have to do something. We’re losing people,” Vatican officials will say. This is the assessment of Timothy D. Law, a Catholic advocate for survivors and accountability as published on goodmenproject.com on Nov. 23, 2025.

“The Italian-language Vatican Annuario Pontificio (Pontifical Yearbook) 2022 gave the number of Catholics in the world at the end of 2021 at 1.376 billion (the last time they published Catholic demographics). But the World Christian Database  reported 1.272 billion Catholics as of 2024” stated James M. Thunder in the June 28, 2025, edition of newoxfordreview.org.

“Count me skeptical about the Vatican reports on the number of Catholics in the world,” wrote Thunder, an attorney who writes extensively about Catholic issues. 

 “With respect to the numbers from the Annuario Pontificio, the…

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Calling the decades of sexual abuse of children by New Orleans-area clergy members “an inexcusable evil,” New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond issued a written apology to victims as part of the church’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy settlement agreement. 

In the letter dated Dec. 26 and published on its website and online in the Clarion Herald on Saturday, Aymond said the archdiocese takes responsibility for the abuse suffered by victims and “pledges to keep children and all vulnerable people safe in our ministry.”

The letter was issued as part of the $230 million settlement between the Archdiocese of New Orleans and hundreds of survivors of clergy sex abuse, which was approved by a federal judge last month after years of negotiations. 

Aymond apologized on behalf of himself, his predecessors, the clergy, religious and laity of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, expressing “profound regret over the tragic and inexcusable harm you…

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[See PDF of complete letter here.]

NEW ORLEANS, La – Beginning this weekend, throughout Louisiana and beyond, the Archdiocese of New Orleans is releasing a public apology letter from Archbishop Aymond to all claimants of child sexual abuse. This extensive media outreach is part of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’s commitment to the nonmonetary provisions laid out in its Chapter 11 settlement plan. The letter will run in print first on January 4, 2026 and throughout the upcoming days and weeks in the various media markets.
 
In the letter, Archbishop Aymond expresses, “profound regret over the tragic and inexcusable harm” child sexual abuse survivors suffered writing, “I sincerely apologize to you for the trauma caused to you and to those close to you as a survivor of sexual abuse perpetrated by a member of the clergy, a religious sister or brother, or a lay employee or volunteer working within the Catholic…

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NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans and outgoing Archbishop Gregory Aymond on Saturday (Jan. 3) released a public letter of apology to “all claimants of child sexual abuse.”

The public letter, to be printed Sunday in area newspapers and other media outlets, will be distributed in coming days and weeks in various media markets. It is required of the archdiocese as part of its bankruptcy settlement approved by a federal judge on Dec. 8, 2025.

In the letter, Aymond expresses “profound regret over the tragic and inexcusable harm” child sexual abuse survivors suffered.

“I sincerely apologize to you for the trauma caused to you and to those close to you as a survivor of sexual abuse perpetrated by a member of the clergy, a religious sister or brother, or a lay employee or volunteer working within the Catholic Church,” Aymond wrote.

Aymond described the sexual abuse…

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Talks con­tinue on who else should pay abuse vic­tims

The St. John’s Roman Cath­olic arch­diocese has received another exten­sion of its cred­itor pro­tec­tion, as law­yers for clergy abuse sur­viv­ors meet with other organ­iz­a­tions who may also be liable for the his­toric harms.

The Roman Cath­olic Epis­copal Cor­por­a­tion of St. John’s (RCECSJ) has been in cred­itor pro­tec­tion since Decem­ber 2021 as it sells its assets to com­pensate more than 300 sur­viv­ors of his­toric abuse by Chris­tian Broth­ers at Mount Cashel orphan­age and other loc­a­tions.

The courts found the arch­diocese vicari­ously liable for the abuse, and an inde­pend­ent claims adju­dic­a­tion awar­ded the vic­tims $121.3 mil­lion.

So far, the claimants have received just over 30 per cent of what they’re due, and the arch­diocese con­tin­ues its efforts to col­lect the funds needed. It reques­ted and was gran­ted a 60-day exten­sion of its pro­tec­tion against cred­it­ors in the Supreme Court of New­found­land and Lab­rador…

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Stearns County prosecutors plan to seek an aggravated sentence and an additional offense in a case involving a Catholic priest charged with stalking, criminal sexual conduct and violence against a woman.

Joseph Paul Herzing, 61, of Milaca, is charged with one count of stalking, one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of threats of violence, according to court records.

However Assistant Stearns County Attorney Jamie Reinschmidt filed a Dec. 3 motion to offer an additional third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge at trial, saying that Herzing “engaged in numerous instances of sexual penetration and sexual contact from 2014-18 in Hennepin and Stearns counties while being a member of the clergy.” An intent to seek an aggravated sentence was filed on Nov. 26.

Herzing appeared in court virtually on Monday for a bond hearing. Conditions include not leaving the state nor engaging in pastoral duties….

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A 60-year-old Catholic priest from Kerala, India, has been arrested and charged in Canada with sexual offences involving children under the age of 16, prompting his immediate removal from pastoral duties.

Father James Cherickal, a priest of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church hailing from Kozhikode, Kerala, was arrested by the Peel Regional Police on 18 December 2025. He faces one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference, which in Canadian law, refers to sexual crimes committed against children under 16 years of age.

According to a statement issued by the Archdiocese of Toronto on 20 December 2025, the arrest followed an allegation of misconduct against Cherickal, who was serving as the pastor of St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Brampton at the time. The Archdiocese stated it learned of the allegation and subsequently cooperated with the police investigation.

“Following our protocols and procedures relating to allegations of…

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Senior Pastor of the Mountain of Liberation and Miracles Ministries, Chris Okafor, has stepped aside from active pastoral leadership following a wave of sexual misconduct allegations that have sparked widespread debate within Nigeria’s Christian community and renewed scrutiny of clerical accountability.

Okafor’s decision comes amid mounting public outrage and internal pressure from senior Christian leaders after several women, including a Nollywood actress and his former wife, accused him of sexual impropriety, manipulation, and abuse spanning several years.

The cleric had, during a church service last Sunday, publicly apologised to actress Doris Ogala, kneeling on the pulpit and admitting to past “mistakes” while asking for forgiveness. His apology followed days of intense social media backlash triggered by Ogala’s claims that she had been in a secret relationship with the pastor for nearly a decade, during which she alleged he promised marriage but later married another woman.

Okafor married a new bride, identified as…

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“We don’t actually know what Pope Leo is yet,” my friend observed. “Right now, we are seeing the post-Francis era,” he continued, “and I don’t think we are going to see the Leo era until next year.”

My friend – who happens also to be Crux’s managing editor, Charles Collins – made his remarks to the BBC on Christmas Day, ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s first-ever Christmas urbi et orbi blessing.

It struck me as a succinct statement of a keen and penetrating insight, one no other Vatican-watcher has articulated as well as Collins in the nine-ish months since Leo’s election, except Andrea Gagliarducci (especially in his Monday Vatican columns), another dear old friend and veteran observer of Roman affairs.

“The pontificate of Leo XIV hasn’t truly begun yet,” Gagliarducci said in last week’s column – not the first time he has said such or similar – but he also noted how we…

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The Diocese of Joliet only took action against Father Nestor Sanchez, formerly of Holy Family, after Joliet Patch revealed the lawsuit.

JOLIET, IL — As Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet Bishop Ronald Hicks prepares for his upcoming promotion and move to the Big Apple, replacing Cardinal Timothy Dolan as the new archbishop of New York, a sexual harassment lawsuit against the Diocese of Joliet and one of Joliet’s priests is off to a slow and mysterious start.

It has now been two and a half months since Joliet Patch first broke the news, revealing the filing of the sexual harassment lawsuit at the Will County Courthouse against the Diocese of Joliet and Father Nestor Sanchez, a Catholic priest who has served in recent years at Saints Peter and Paul in Naperville and as pastor in small-town parishes including Paxton and Gibson City. The lawsuit was filed in connection with Father…

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A 60-year-old priest from Kerala, Father James Cherickal, has been arrested in Canada over alleged sexual offences involving minors. The Archdiocese of Toronto has suspended him from duties pending the court process.

Toronto: A Malayali priest serving in Canada has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting minors. Father James Cherickal, 60, a native of Kozhikode and a priest belonging to the Syro-Malabar Church, was arrested by Peel Regional Police on December 18.

Police have charged him in connection with alleged sexual offences involving children under the age of 16. Following the arrest, the Archdiocese of Toronto temporarily suspended him from priestly duties.

Father Cherickal is a member of the Thamarassery Diocese in Kerala and has been serving in Canada for nearly three decades. Until his suspension, he was vicar of St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Brampton.

Archdiocese Confirms Allegations and Suspension

In a statement issued on December 20, the Archdiocese of…

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(KNSI) – A Catholic priest who was serving five parishes in central Minnesota appeared in court Monday on charges related to a woman he allegedly abused while providing her spiritual counseling and could face more charges for a second victim.

Father Joseph Paul Herzing faces one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of stalking, and three counts of threats of violence related to a woman he counseled between 2018 and 2022.

Court documents say multiple witnesses reported seeing Herzing at the woman’s home late at night and early in the morning. In February 2022, he choked her and threatened to kill her. Three months later, after she confronted him about another relationship, he choked her again, wrestled her to the ground, pulled her hair, and threatened to kill her. Then in August 2022, during a motorcycle ride, he threatened to crash into a tree and swerved toward an…

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Joseph Paul Herzing, 61, is charged with stalking, third-degree criminal sexual conduct and threats of violence against a woman he had been counseling.

ST. CLOUD — Stearns County prosecutors plan to seek an aggravated sentence and an additional offense in a case regarding a Catholic priest charged with stalking, criminal sexual conduct and violence against a woman.

Joseph Paul Herzing, 61, of Milaca, is charged with one count of stalking, one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of threats of violence, according to court records.

However assistant Stearns County attorney Jamie Reinschmidt filed a Dec. 3 motion to offer an additional third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge at trial, saying that Herzing “engaged in numerous instances of sexual penetration and sexual contact from 2014-18 in Hennepin and Stearns counties while being a member of the clergy.” An intent to seek an aggravated sentence was filed on Nov. 26.

…

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A Catholic priest accused of alleged sexual abuse appeared in court Monday, Dec. 29. The Stearns County District Court hearing took place over Zoom.

The Rev. Joseph Herzing had his charges reviewed and was read his rights, according to court minutes. Stearns County prosecutors on Nov. 26 filed felony charges of stalking, third-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of threats of violence.

On Monday, according to an order for release, Stearns County Judge Matthew Engelking set Herzing’s bail at $0 with the conditions he does not provide pastoral services, surrenders his passport and stays in Minnesota unless the court gives approval.

If Herzing doesn’t agree to those conditions, bail is set at $150,000.

Herzing is accused of reportedly abusing a woman he allegedly provided spiritual guidance to from about May 2018 though October 2022, according to the criminal complaint filed by the Stearns County Attorney’s Office. Stearns County prosecutors…

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A judge has denied the Delbarton School’s request for a new trial, months after a jury unanimously awarded $5 million to a former student who sued the all-boys Catholic school, alleging sexual assault by one of its monks nearly five decades earlier.

In a decision filed Dec. 29, state Superior Court Judge Louis Sceusi denied a motion brought by the Morris County school, ruling that the record fails to establish “clear and convincing evidence” of any miscarriage of justice that would require a legal do-over.

The jury arrived at a “fair and well-reasoned verdict” after its five-week trial this fall, Sceusi wrote.

The unanimous Oct. 8 verdict was a milestone, hailed by clergy abuse victims and advocates. It was the first civil sex abuse lawsuit against the Catholic Church to go to a jury in New Jersey since the state extended its statute of limitations in 2019….

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[Includes a 50-minute audio interview with reporter Dana Hedgpeth.]

On this edition of Your Call, Washington Post reporter Dana Hedgpeth discusses her reporting on the 523 Indian boarding schools established in the US.

Hedgpeth and her colleagues found that 3,104 students died at boarding schools between 1828 and 1970, three times as many deaths as reported by the US Interior Departmentlast year.

Two Native American tribes have filed a class-action lawsuit against the US government for its role in running a system that separated Native children from their families to eradicate their language and culture and force them to assimilate into White society.

Guest:

Dana Hedgpeth, reporter at The Washington Post and enrolled member of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe of North Carolina

Resources:

The Washington Post: Tribes sue U.S. government over deaths, abuse at boarding schools

The Washington Post: View Cache

[See also the complete Greater Grace World Outreach report.]

Independent investigator recommends ousting Greater Grace World Outreach leadership

It couldn’t be proven, he said. Besides, the decision wasn’t his. Also, the family that reported the sexual abuse was having marital problems. Those people, he insisted, were trouble. Even if their story had some truth to it, the victim was partly at fault, anyway. It was, he said, “the way she operated and how she moved about.”

The victim was 8 years old.

This interview with Pastor Steven Scibelli, director of missions for Greater Grace World Outreach (GGWO), was among many similar stories cited in a blistering 172-page report that dropped on Dec. 18, concluding a 14-month investigation into GGWO’s handling of sexual misconduct.

The verdict: GGWO’s approach protected the wolves and harmed the sheep, and the shepherds must go.

“GGWO leaders have been involved, sometimes…

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Today, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the launch of a comprehensive criminal investigation into Native American boarding schools and other institutions that were located throughout the State of Michigan. The Department of Attorney General is seeking to identify, document, investigate, and prosecute instances where criminal acts may have occurred at these institutions.

To support this effort, the Department is asking survivors, witnesses, and individuals with firsthand knowledge to come forward and share information that may assist the investigation.

“This investigation seeks to bring truth and accountability to a painful chapter in our state’s history,” Nessel said. “My office is committed to ensuring that survivors’ voices are heard and that any criminal acts uncovered are thoroughly investigated and, when possible, prosecuted.”

Individuals with information that may assist the Native Boarding Schools investigation can contact the Department of Attorney General via email or by phone at 517-897-7391. Tips can be…

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Friday announced a criminal investigation into Native American boarding schools that operated across the state. Nessel said her department will investigate and prosecute crimes that may have occurred at these sites.

Investigators are asking survivors, witnesses and anyone with information to come forward.

“This investigation seeks to bring truth and accountability to a painful chapter in our state’s history,” Nessel said in a statement. “My office is committed to ensuring that survivors’ voices are heard and that any criminal acts uncovered are thoroughly investigated and, when possible, prosecuted.”Advertisement

Tips can be submitted by email or phone at 517-897-7391 and may be anonymous. More information is available on the investigation’s website.

For more than a century, the federal U.S. government and religious organizations operated Indian boarding schools designed to assimilate Native children by suppressing language, culture and religion. Children’s hair was cut,…

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel launched a criminal investigation into Native American people experienced boarding schools that operated across the state between 1823 and 1983 on Friday, Dec. 19.

Her department wants to “identify, document, investigate and prosecute” criminal acts that may have occurred at these shuttered institutions, per a press release.

Nessel is asking survivors, witnesses and others with firsthand knowledge to share information that may assist in the investigation.

“This investigation seeks to bring truth and accountability to a painful chapter in our state’s history,” Nessel said.

The state has identified eight Indigenous boarding schools and institutions, the last of which closed in 1983:

• Baraga Chippewa Boarding & Day School, Baraga
• Catholic Otchippewa Boarding School, Schoolcraft County
• Holy Childhood, Harbor Springs
• Holy Family Orphanage, Marquette
• Mackinac Mission School, Mackinac Island
• MI Indian Industrial Boarding School, Mt. Pleasant
• New Mission House, Omena
• St. Joseph Orphanage, Assinins

Individuals with information that…

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is launching a criminal investigation into Native American boarding schools and other institutions that previously operated in Michigan. 

Nessel’s office plans to document, investigate and prosecute instances where criminal acts might have taken place at these boarding schools and institutions. 

“This investigation seeks to bring truth and accountability to a painful chapter in our state’s history,” said Nessel in a statement. “My office is committed to ensuring that survivors’ voices are heard and that any criminal acts uncovered are thoroughly investigated and, when possible, prosecuted.” 

Michigan was home to five federally run Native American boarding schools, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, including Holy Childhood of Jesus School in Harbor Springs, which began operation in 1829 and remained open until 1983. 

Other federally run schools in Michigan included the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School, the Mackinac Mission School on Mackinac Island, the Catholic…

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A New York State Supreme Court judge has ruled in favor of Harlem’s historic Abyssinian Baptist Church and its senior pastor, the Rev. Kevin R. Johnson, bringing an end to a yearlong legal battle that challenged the validity of his election.

In a decision issued Dec. 22, Judge James G. Clynes denied a lawsuit filed by four current and former church members who sought to nullify Johnson’s 2024 election and bar him from future consideration as senior pastor. The ruling affirms Johnson’s position as the duly elected leader of one of the nation’s most prominent Black churches, ReligionNews.com reported.

Johnson succeeded the late Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, who led Abyssinian for five decades before his death in 2022. Johnson was formally installed in September 2024 following an election held June 21–23 of that year.

The plaintiffs — Kevin McGruder, Jasmine McFarlane-White,…

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I am proud to be an American Baptist. Our denomination is not perfect; far from it.  But we have been on the right side of history more often than not. On this day, I feel compelled to point out what distinguishes us from Southern Baptists and independent Baptists, who are much in the news for their incidence of clergy sexual abuse and subsequent cover-ups.

American Baptists are Baptists; this means that we believe in congregational autonomy. Autonomy means each church chooses its own pastoral leadership. However, we have accountability within our system that provides a layer of protection for our churches. A system like this has been in place in the American Baptist family for decades.

A pastor who has American Baptist “standing” has completed a number of steps. In my region of Massachusetts, these include a background check, a course on ethical boundaries in ministry and an evaluation at a…

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Pierce County schools pay annually for liability and property coverage from one of two risk management pools in Washington state.

The Puyallup School District has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit that alleged a second-grade teacher abused an 8-year-old student with autism, Pierce County Superior Court records show.

Filed by the student’s parents last year, the lawsuit claimed that a Pope Elementary instructor locked the plaintiffs’ son outside the classroom on multiple occasions, “leaving him alone in the hallway for large stretches of time,” jerked him around by his arm and repeatedly yelled at him during the 2022-23 school year. The teacher had been the subject of a prior complaint for allegedly being aggressive with another student who had behavioral needs, according to the suit.

The district, which was accused of improperly placing the plaintiffs’ son in a general education classroom despite his special needs, failed to take…

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Some women, forced into prostitution by violence, desperation, or false promises, line the streets of Rome and Abruzzo at night — until they see a nun, dressed in a habit, offering them a way out.

“Ten years ago, I felt a calling within a calling,” Sister Carla Venditti told CNA. “I felt that God was calling me to something beautiful. I had to go out onto the streets because he was waiting for me there in the faces of the least among us.”

Venditti, of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, lives in Avezzano, Italy, and is known as the “anti-trafficking nun.” She goes out into the streets, ministering to women and girls who are being trafficked. Along with her fellow sisters and other volunteers, Venditti helps victims rebuild their lives.

Starting anew with love

“I look forward to Friday evenings so I can enter the world of…

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In summary

The law creates an array of measures to educate school staff, beef up reporting requirements and stop teachers credibly accused of abuse from getting jobs at other districts.

Facing a mountain of lawsuits, California K-12 schools will have a system in place beginning this year to prevent teachers and other staff from sexually abusing students.

A new California law creates an array of measures to educate school staff, beef up reporting requirements and stop teachers credibly accused of abuse from getting jobs at other districts.

The law, Senate Bill 848, goes into effect Jan. 1 and schools must have protocols in place by July. The law applies to all schools, including private schools.

“I’m proud to see this bill move forward. It’s been really personal for me,” state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, the bill’s author, told CalMatters after it passed. “For survivors, this is an important step toward…

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Dec. 15 began a most unusual week for the U.S. Catholic Church. A Spanish publication, Religión Digital, reported late on that day that Pope Leo XIV would appoint Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, to succeed Cardinal Timothy Dolan as archbishop of New York. The appointment, the story said, was expected the next day. In fact, two more days would pass before the appointment finally came, as Catholics in the United States speculated wildly.

Bishop appointments rarely leak. Many new bishops are named each month around the world. Confidentiality is kept with remarkable effectiveness, given that for each appointment the process is lengthy and consultative, and a lot of people know which candidates are being vetted. It works in part because everyone’s participation in the process is constrained by what is called a pontifical secret: To leak word is a grave sin for someone, and it can incur penalties under…

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Derwood, Md. — A Maryland church teacher in Derwood was sentenced Monday for sexual abuse charges. 

Ervin Alfaro-Lopez, 34, of Germantown, was sentenced to 20 years behind bars by a Circuit Court judge in Montgomery County. Alfaro-Lopez pleaded guilty in February to one count of sexual abuse of a minor and three counts of third-degree sex offense.

In May of 2023, detectives with the police department’s Special Victims Investigations Division opened an investigation after a victim reported being sexually abused by a teacher at a Derwood church located near the 15700 block of Crabbs Branch Way in Montgomery County.

Pastor Bernal Osorio with the Elim Giathersburg Church confirmed to WUSA9 that the alleged abuse happened in their Derwood location. 

After the first victim came forward in May, police say three more victims came forward between September 2023 and January 2024. All of the victims claimed to…

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A teacher at a church in Derwood, Maryland, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing four minors who were under his care at the church, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Ervin Alfaro-Lopez, 34, of Germantown, pleaded guilty in February to one count of sexual abuse of a minor and three counts of third-degree sexual offense. The charges stem from crimes against four young children during the time span of 2014-18, when the defendant was employed as a teacher at a church located in the 15700 block of Crabbs Branch Way in Derwood.

Charging documents provide detailed accounts from the four victims, stating Alfaro-Lopez was able to get the victims separated from other students to abuse them. In one case, Alfaro-Lopez directed a student to sit on his lap before abusing her while the rest of the kids were watching a movie…

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A prominent Catholic order failed to disclose the sexual misconduct of a key witness during a Supreme Court trial, which has prompted an appeal and is likely to result in a retrial.

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart also failed to provide the court with crucial documents that contained evidence of alleged sexual misconduct concerning former Monivae College teacher Brother John Frith.

Comments made by Court of Appeal Justice David Beach indicated a fresh civil trial was likely because of the serious disclosure breaches, which the appeals court bench ruled had likely skewed the outcome of the original hearing.

“Three other judges of this court could spend two days doing this, or the parties could come to the conclusion that it’s blindingly obvious – their words, not mine – that whatever happens, there has to at least be a retrial,” said Beach at a hearing on November 14.

Lawyer Michael Magazanik…

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Mandatory reporters in Minnesota can be charged with a misdemeanor if they do not report child abuse to authorities. But violators of the statute are rarely convicted, and fines are often similar to traffic tickets.

Co-published with Minnesota Star Tribune

A Minnesota senator wants to strengthen state laws meant to hold adults entrusted with children’s safety accountable for failing to report suspected child abuse, after an investigation by the Minnesota Star Tribune and ProPublica found that the leadership of a church in Duluth for years protected a child sex predator.

Sen. Erin Maye Quade, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party from suburban Minneapolis, said she’s focused on situations where such an adult has concrete knowledge that a specific person is abusing children and nonetheless stays silent, allowing the abuse to continue.

“If you know an adult who is committing child sexual abuse, you need to report that,” she said. “For that,…

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Decades of concealed clergy abuse are coming back to haunt the Archdiocese of New York

In what sounds like a joke, but very much isn’t, the Archdiocese of New York says its insurance company won’t give it the money it needs to pay victims of child sexual abuse because the Catholic group has supposedly allowed “a pattern of abuse to persist for many years.”

You may have seen news article about recent settlements by archdioceses to settle hundreds of lawsuits from survivors of abuse. The Archdiocese of New Orleans, for example, announced earlier this month that it would give about $305 million to roughly 600 survivors of clergy sexual abuse. (That particular group had already filed for bankruptcy as a way to limit their payouts.) \

Where was all this money coming from? The company Travelers, which insured the archdiocese between 1973 and 1989, when much of the abuse occurred.

The situation…

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Can the Church bring back the formerly faithful?

Catholicism is hot right now. The new American pope is popular for speaking his mind on political subjects such as AI and the death penalty. On Instagram and TikTok, Catholic influencers rank local Masses and their favorite Christmas hymns, and priests go viral for DJ’ing raves, while others protest ICE raids. The Catholic Church is at the center of the new Knives Out film, which premiered at No. 1 on Netflix this month. And more and more young people are going to Mass.

Today’s youth aren’t particularly religious. The Pew Research Center reports that 44 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds are unaffiliated with a faith. Yet at the same time, Catholic Gen Z is showing up strong. A new survey from the Catholic Leadership Roundtable found that members of Gen Z are now the most engaged Catholics—attending Mass, confession, and parish functions more frequently than any other generational cohort. (They…

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The Church of England is “learning lessons” and making its processes more rigorous to deal with reports of sexual abuse following recent scandals, a bishop has said.

The Bishop of Oxford, Dr Steven Croft, who will retire from his role in the summer after nearly a decade, said his diocese has improved its safeguarding training.

Dr Croft previously said he had learned from his own “mistakes”, including in the way he dealt with a rape allegation made against a parish priest who later took his own life.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby left the role earlier this year after a review found he “could and should” have reported a prolific child abuser to police in 2013.

Dr Croft currently oversees 800 churches in 609 parishes across Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.

He told the BBC: “Nationally and in all dioceses, I think our processes are better, I think our churches are safer…

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Mother-of-four Mary McCarthy alleges that she was raped twice by a priest in Co Mayo in 1990 – but her case was ultimately investigated by a Detective who was himself sued over an alleged rape

The Garda Commissioner has admitted to a woman who alleges she was raped by a priest that she was not treated properly in the original garda investigation.

Mother-of-four Mary McCarthy alleges that she was raped twice by a priest in Co Mayo in 1990 – but her case was ultimately investigated by a Detective who was himself sued over an alleged rape, and had to be re-investigated years later.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) refused to take her claims to trial in early 2006, and in a subsequent review of the case by gardai in 2022, it once again declined to charge the priest, even though gardai recommended charges – leaving her devastated.

“In…

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A chaplains group facing a legal battle with the Anglican Church in North America has launched a new denomination known as the Anglican Reformed Catholic Church.

Bishops with the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy recently established the ARCC, with it being officially incorporated in Alabama as a new nonprofit organization.

JAFC Bishop Derek Jones will serve as the leader of the new denomination, according to Virtue Online. The group’s leaders are calling ARCC “classic Anglican.”

“We live in the tradition and prayer book expression we have all known and loved in the JAFC for nearly 20 years,” they told Virtue Online.

“It is Reformed and Catholic as Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, Bishop John Jewel, Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, and other Anglican reformers envisioned — ancient in faithfulness to the witness of the Apostles and formulated in the ancient Creeds and Councils.”

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A New York State Supreme Court judge has ruled in favor of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church in a lawsuit brought by current and former church members who challenged senior pastor the Rev. Kevin Johnson’s 2024 election and sought to remove him.

Johnson succeeded the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, who served as a minister at the historically Black church for 50 years and died in 2022. Johnson was installed in September 2024.

In their lawsuit filed in October 2024 in the Civil Branch of the New York Supreme Court, the plaintiffs — Kevin McGruder, Jasmine McFarlane-White, Clarence E. Ball III and Rev. C. Vernon Mason Sr. — claimed Johnson’s election as Abyssinian’s senior pastor didn’t comply with the church’s bylaws. The group sought to nullify his election and render him ineligible in future church elections. 

But Judge James G. Clynes sided with Johnson and his church in…

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At least 13 lawsuits were filed in 2025, one as recently as Dec. 17, against the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette, alleging sexual abuse by priests and other employees against minors across Acadiana, bringing the total pending lawsuits filed since June 2024 to about 50.

The Louisiana Supreme Court in June 2024 upheld a Louisiana law giving abuse survivors a three-year window — until June 14, 2027 — to sue for damages.

The Catholic Diocese of Lafayette had challenged a 2021 “look back” law, arguing in court that it violated due process rights. The Supreme Court disagreed, opening the door for victims to file lawsuits against the diocese, churches and others.

The lawsuits filed in 2025 in the 15th Judicial District, which includes Lafayette, involve allegations of abuse at churches and schools in Church Point in Acadia Parish, Abbeville and Gueydan in Vermilion Parish, East Cameron in Cameron Parish, Grand Prairie…

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As one of his final acts in office, Mayor Adams late on Christmas Eve vetoed a City Council bill that would temporarily allow victims of gender-based violence to sue their perpetrators even if the statute of limitations for their claim has lapsed.

The veto, which Adams issued just a week before he leaves office on Dec. 31, came even though the City Council passed the bill in a unanimous 48-0 vote last month.

The Council has 30 days to override a mayoral veto after it’s formally received by the chamber, a step that won’t happen until January. Three-fourths of the chamber’s 51 members would need to support an override for it to be successful.

The gender-based violence bill’s author, Queens Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers, said in a statement late Wednesday that the chamber “must” next month “override this callous veto and restore survivors’ right to seek accountability.”

“By vetoing Intro 1297 on Christmas…

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A retired New York bishop has filed for personal bankruptcy protection in federal court after a state jury verdict found him, along with other officials, personally liable for the collapse of a Catholic hospital pension fund that left about 1,100 retirees without the lifetime monthly payments they were expecting.

It’s not clear whether a Catholic bishop in the United States has ever previously filed for personal bankruptcy protection.

Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, 77, who served as bishop of Albany from April 2014 until his retirement in October, is seeking protection from creditors for his assets valued at between $100,001 and $500,000, according to a filing Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of New York.

The seven-page filing does not list the bishop’s assets but states that he has between 100 and 199 creditors and debts totaling between $1,000,001 and $10 million.

Last week, a jury found Scharfenberger…

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The Archdiocese of Baltimore has agreed not to assert charitable immunity in its bankruptcy case.

Survivors of sexual abuse and their legal representatives view the decision as a pivotal moment in their pursuit of accountability.

Teresa Lancaster, a survivor and attorney, feels cautiously optimistic following the archdiocese’s Friday filing of a stipulation.

“I was delighted, because we were prepared to go to court today,” Lancaster said.

The stipulation also prevents parishes or schools from filing for bankruptcy unless they waive the legal protection.

Jonathan Schochor, an attorney helping represent the 900 survivors of sexual abuse in the church, emphasized the importance of this development.

“It’s off the table, finally,” Schochor said.

The legal protection could have shielded the church from paying survivors, and going to trial over it would have extended the already two-year-old case.

“I think it’s within the realm of possibility if the…

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Bishop Scharfenberger filed for bankruptcy after a court found him personally liable for the failure of a shuttered Catholic hospital’s pension plan.

Albany’s retired Bishop Edward Scharfenberger filed for bankruptcy this month, shortly after a New York court assigned him personal liability for the failure of a shuttered Catholic hospital’s pension plan.

In a December 12 judgement, Scharfenberger, who led the Albany diocese from 2014 until October of this year, was assigned 10% personal liability in a $54 million judgement for compensatory damages against the former board of St. Clare’s Hospital, which closed in 2008.

The bishop immediately filed for bankruptcy protections, with his personal assets estimated to cover between 2 and 5 percent of his liability for the hospital pensions.

The ruling is unique in that it held personally liable the bishop, as well as his deceased predecessor Howard Hubbard and deceased former diocesan vicar general, but not the…

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Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams issued a Christmas Eve veto of a bill that would have granted sexual abuse victims an 18-month window to sue the alleged perpetrators and facilitating institutions, including against Jeffrey Epstein’s estate.

The “Gender Motivated Violence Act” — unanimously passed by the City Council last month — would create a “look back” window for alleged victims to file lawsuits even if the statute of limitations on their claims was expired.

The mayor’s veto statement claimed the bill amounted to a free $300 million “debit card” for law firm Levy Konigsberg, which reps a large swath of alleged victims bringing such claims, including under previous “look back” legislation like the state’s Adult Survivors Act and the Child Survivors Act. 

In a statement to The Post on Thursday, soon-to-be Speaker Julie Menin vowed that the incoming council would vote to override Adams’ veto in the new year.

“The Mayor’s veto message…

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Nikki Heidenreich felt a swirl of emotions while reading a massive investigative report that examines sexual abuse at her former church, Greater Grace World Outreach: anger, disgust, vindication.

Anger that church leaders had downplayed the allegations of people who were abused as children, including Heidenreich’s sister, according to the report.

Disgust that high-ranking pastors blamed victims, including one who accused Heidenreich’s sister, who was 8 when she said a pastor molested her, of being culpable due to “the way she operated.”

But Heidenreich felt vindicated by the report, which was the culmination of a 14-month investigation by Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, or GRACE, an independent evangelical organization.

“I feel grateful for the fact that this wasn’t a sham investigation,” said Heidenreich. “I think it lays bare what we have known for a long time that these men [church leaders] were callous and malicious rather than simply…

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Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Ronald A. Hicks of Joliet as the next archbishop of New York, marking a decisive shift in leadership style for one of the most visible dioceses in the United States. 

Hicks, 58, succeeds Cardinal Timothy Dolan, whose resignation was accepted after he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 in February. The appointment, announced today (Dec. 18) by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, ends months of speculation and places a bishop with a markedly pastoral and missionary profile at the helm of an archdiocese facing institutional and financial restructuring and deep cultural change.

The appointment is widely seen as a signal from Rome that the center of gravity in U.S. Catholic leadership is continuing to move away from media-driven cultural confrontation and toward a model rooted in listening, social engagement and pastoral proximity — a model closely associated with both…

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A Brampton priest has been removed from pastoral ministry after being charged with sexual assault and sexual interference, the Archdiocese of Toronto says.

Rev. James Cherickal, pastor of St. Jerome’s Catholic Church, has been charged by Peel Regional Police, according to a statement by the Archdiocese of Toronto.

Peel police confirmed he was arrested and charged Dec. 18 with one count each of sexual assault and sexual interference.

A Brampton priest has been removed from pastoral ministry after being charged with sexual assault and sexual interference, the Archdiocese of Toronto says.

Rev. James Cherickal, pastor of St. Jerome’s Catholic Church, has been charged by Peel Regional Police, according to a statement by the Archdiocese of Toronto.

Peel police confirmed he was arrested and charged Dec. 18 with one count each of sexual assault and sexual interference.

“As the matter is now before the courts, and to protect the integrity of the investigation, no further information can be provided…

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Marking the sixtieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s decrees on priestly training and on priestly life and ministry, Pope Leo XIV’s new Apostolic Letter aims at a deeper understanding of the ministry and role of priests.

Fidelity expressed in humble service to every person, in constant dialogue with God and His People through ongoing formation, in the context of fraternity among priests and with the whole Church, in the missionary and synodal spirit that transcends any temptation to self-celebration: these are some of the priorities that Leo XIV wishes to see intensified in priestly life, contained in the Apostolic Letter  Una fedeltà che genera future (“A fidelity that generates the future”) signed on the feast of the Immaculate Conception and released today, 22 December.

The Letter was occasioned by the sixtieth anniversary of the conciliar decrees Optatam totius and Presbyterorum ordinis: documents the Pope said, “that constitute a milestone…

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At a time when so much pressure and so many demands are placed on priests, they should find support, freedom and relief in recognizing the gifts of laypeople and collaborating with them, Pope Leo XIV said.

“The ministry of the priest must move beyond the model of exclusive leadership, which leads to the centralization of pastoral activities and the burden of all responsibilities entrusted to him alone,” the pope wrote in an apostolic letter titled, “A Fidelity that Generates the Future.”

Vatican II decrees on priests

The letter, released Dec. 22, marked the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s decrees on priestly formation and on the life and ministry of priests.

Pope Leo used the letter to express his “gratitude for the witness and dedication of all priests throughout the world who offer their lives in celebrating the sacrifice of Our Lord in the Eucharist, proclaiming the Word and…

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Another former student at Paramus Catholic High School has filed a lawsuit claiming he was sexually assaulted by a gym teacher and a hockey coach at the school more than 30 years ago.

The plaintiff, whose identity is withheld, alleges he was the victim of “unpermitted sexual contact” by two employees identified in the lawsuit as former gym teacher Donn Ernst and former ice hockey coach Bernard Garris.

The alleged violations occurred from 1986 to 1989, when the student was 14 to 17, the lawsuit says.

The teenager came from a “devout Roman Catholic family,” and was vulnerable to the power that adults had over him, the lawsuit says.

“The culture of the Catholic Church over Plaintiff created pressure on Plaintiff not to report the abuse,” the lawsuit says.

The complaint, which was filed on Dec. 17 in Essex County, is the latest in…

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Catholic priest was removed from the ministry after a decision by the Archdiocese of Toronto

A Catholic priest in Brampton, Ont., has been charged with sexual offences and removed from the ministry, the Archdiocese of Toronto says.

It says the man is accused of one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference, an offence that applies when the victim is under 16 years old. 

A statement the archdiocese posted on its website over the weekend says Peel Regional Police laid the charges on Thursday.

Police confirmed Tuesday that “the individual in question was arrested and charged.”

“As the matter is now before the courts, and to protect the integrity of the investigation, no further information can be provided at this time,” Peel police said in a statement 

The archdiocese statement says the priest was most recently attached to St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Brampton, and also served at other parishes across…

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Accused, Fr. James Cherickal, had been serving at St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Brampton since 2024

A priest posted at a Catholic church in Brampton has been removed from pastoral ministry after being charged with sex crimes, the Archdiocese of Toronto said.

The archdiocese announced the charges and the priest’s removal in a statement on its website Saturday, saying that Fr. James Cherickal had been charged by Peel Regional Police last week on one count of sexual assault and another of sexual interference.

For reference, a sexual interference charge pertains to a victim under the age of 16.

Cherickal had been serving at St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Brampton since 2024 when he was charged, the statement said, with the Archdiocese of Toronto saying it learned of the allegations last week.

“Following our protocols and procedures relating to allegations of misconduct, Fr. Cherickal has been removed from pastoral ministry,” the…

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• A lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville has been dismissed at the request of the plaintiff due to health concerns.
• The lawsuit asserted the diocese mishandled a rape accusation against a seminarian and tried to discredit the accuser.
• Former Knoxville Bishop Richard Stika’s resignation in June 2023 followed multiple scandals, including his handling of the alleged rape.

The lawsuit that put an unwelcome spotlight on the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville and ultimately contributed to the departure of former Bishop Richard Stika has been dismissed at the request of the man who filed it.

Filed in 2022, the lawsuit asserted the diocese tried to discredit the man, identified by the pseudonym John Doe, and did not properly investigate his report that he was raped in 2019 by a seminarian who worked for the diocese and who was a favorite of Stika.

John Doe’s attorney, Patrick Thonson, told Knox News on Dec. 19…

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Fifty million people are currently being trafficked around the world, according to the 2023 Global Slavery Index, driving over $236 billion into the hands of criminals, with numbers continuing to rise.

The 2024 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report documented that between 2019 and 2022 the number of identified trafficking victims increased by 25%, forced labor rose by 47%, and the number of child victims rose by 31%, with a dominating 38% increase in girls. 

Earlier this month, the Sovereign Order of Malta, Praeveni Global, the Santa Marta Group, and the Institute of Anthropology of the Pontifical Gregorian University organized an international conference in Rome to discuss prevention efforts, strengthen collaboration, and promote comprehensive action plans. 

Conference panelists included law enforcement, activists, United Nations rapporteurs, and human rights experts as well as appearances from Cardinal Fabio Baggio, the undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development,…

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KRAKOW, Poland (OSV News) — Entering the centuries-old Royal Wawel Cathedral in Kraków on Dec. 20, Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś opened a new chapter of one of the oldest archdioceses in Catholic Poland, telling the faithful that without them he “doesn’t make sense.”

He pledged a more listening, synodal church and signaled openness to an independent diocesan commission on past abuse cases.

Archbishop Antonio Guido Filipazzi, apostolic nuncio to Poland, presented the papal bull of appointment to the faithful during the Mass of installation, attended by Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and dozens of bishops.

Thousands of faithful

Poland’s deputy prime minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, was also in attendance, as well as thousands of the faithful, most of whom did not fit into the 14th-century cathedral that…

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A former Paramus Catholic student has accused two former employees of sexual assault in the mid-1980s.

The unnamed plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Newark, the Brothers of the Christian Schools, District of North America and Paramus Catholic High School earlier Dec. 17.

The former student claimed that between 1986 and 1989, they were sexually abused by two separate teachers at the school − Donn Ernst and Bernard Garris. The suit said the pair were placed in positions where they had access to children “as an integral part” of their work.

Garris served as Paramus Catholic’s hockey coach while Ersnt was a gym teacher. Garris died in 2016, and Ernst died in 2021. The suit did not provide details about the abuse.

“We do not comment on matters in litigation, “said Maria Margiotta, the executive director of communications and public relations for the Archdiocese of Newark.

Garris and…

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The lawsuit had accused the diocese and its former bishop of covering up assault allegations.

A lawsuit accusing a former Knoxville seminarian of sexual assault – and the former Knoxville bishop of covering it up – has been dropped by the plaintiff, with his lawyer citing poor health as the reason for the decision.

“He was not able to continue the litigation because of some serious health concerns,” attorney Patrick Thonson told Knox News Friday on behalf of his client. “Obviously, conducting a case of this type is stressful and retraumatizing.”

The lawsuit argued that the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee and Bishop Rick Stika had mishandled allegations that a seminarian had raped a parish organist in the diocese.

The suit was initially filed in 2022, and then refiled in early 2023, after the diocese argued successfully in court that the former parish organist should not be permitted to file the…

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New York Archbishop-designate Ronald Hicks, who will be installed in early February, will arrive in an archdiocese seeking to raise $300 million to compensate more than 1,000 survivors of clergy sexual abuse while negotiating a universal settlement deal.

A settlement agreement could break years of legal gridlock involving the archdiocese and its longtime insurer Chubb, which has refused to cover abuse claims because, the company argues, the church is responsible for allowing misconduct to occur over several decades.

“Our goal has always been … to resolve expeditiously all meritorious claims, provide the maximum amount of compensation to the greatest number of victim-survivors and help them heal and move forward,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan wrote in a public letter Dec. 8.

The outgoing cardinal, who led New York Catholics for 16 years, noted that the archdiocese has reduced staff, cut its budget and sold its former Manhattan headquarters…

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In a decision promulgated yesterday, Judge Modesto Bahul Jr. of the Regional Trial Court Branch 2 convicted Mark Batolne of three counts of rape, sentencing him to 20 to 40 years in prison for each count.

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — A family court here sentenced a priest to life in prison for the rape of a 16-year-old student-scholar in 2023.

In a decision promulgated yesterday, Judge Modesto Bahul Jr. of the Regional Trial Court Branch 2 convicted Mark Batolne of three counts of rape, sentencing him to 20 to 40 years in prison for each count.

Prosecution lawyer Jose Adrian Bonifacio said the sexual assaults occurred in March 2023 in a room occupied by the student.

The court said the sexual assaults were aggravated by the use of a deadly weapon and its occurrence inside a building within the diocese’s compound.

The victim testified that she was raped six times…

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The Catholic priest was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of raping a 16-year-old student-scholar.

On December 17, the Baguio City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 2 convicted Father Mark Batolne with three counts of rape. Batolne was sentenced to reclusion perpetua for each of the three counts, with each term carrying 20 to 40 years, bringing his total prison sentence up to 120 years.

Presiding Judge Modesto Bahul Jr. ruled that Father Mark Batolne is guilty of raping the victim on three separate occasions.

The cases came from allegations that Batolne raped the 16-year-old student scholar in March 2023 inside the Bishop’s house compound, where she was staying at that time.

The prosecution claimed that the priest used his position as well as other means in two of the cases to take advantage of his victim.

Batolne was also ordered to pay the victim P75,000 as civil damages, P75,000 as…

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A woman alleges she was sexually assaulted as a child at Camp Morice in Fort St. James

Another lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince George, this time from a woman who claimed to have been sexually assaulted as a child at Camp Morice in Fort St. James.

In a notice of civil claim, filed Dec. 4 in BC Supreme Court in Vancouver, Ruby Ann Mortensen alleges that a Diocese-employed priest preyed upon her in 1972 at the camp.

Mortensen accuses Father O’Connor of using his position of authority and trust to molest her and prevent her from telling anyone.

“To facilitate the abuse, the perpetrator engaged in a pattern of behaviour intended to make the plaintiff feel that it was unsafe to report their wrongdoings,” said the lawsuit.

Mortensen accuses the diocese of knowing that O’Connor committed sexual assault, yet it failed to take action and continued to…

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A national movement to “end silence and expose abusers” is gaining momentum, as Alabama legislators filed a bill Wednesday to ban agreements used to coverup sexual abuse.

Alabama State Senator Matt Woods pre-filed a bill to prohibit any non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in civil cases pertaining to sexual abuse, assault or trafficking. Concurrently, Alabama State Representative David Faulkner pre-filed an identical House bill. Both versions must pass for the law to be enacted.

The bill’s text, expected to be debated by lawmakers in the new year, specifies it will be known as “Trey’s Law,” in memory of former abuse victim Trey Carlock. He was abused at a Kanakuk summer camp, a global network of Christian summer camps. He was silenced from telling his story by an NDA related to a settlement and subsequently took his own life in 2019.

Carlock’s sister,…

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[For a PDF of the letter as it appears on the Vatican website, click here.]

1. A fidelity that generates the future is what priests are called to today. Appreciating the value of perseverance in the apostolic mission gives us the opportunity to reflect on the future of our ministry and to help others experience the joy of the priestly vocation. The sixtieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, which occurs in this Jubilee Year, is an occasion for us to contemplate anew the gift of this fruitful fidelity, and to recall the teachings of the Decrees Optatam Totius and Presbyterorum Ordinis, promulgated respectively on 28 October and 7 December 1965. These two texts were born of a single inspiration of the Church, which is called to be a sign and instrument of unity for all peoples and is challenged to renew herself, aware that “the desired renewal of the whole Church…

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The judge rejects the claim of innocence, upholding the 16-year-old girl’s testimony of being molested 3 times within the Bishop’s Residence

BAGUIO CITY — A Catholic priest, who had managed a popular church-run radio station in the summer capital, was convicted of raping one of the church’s teen scholars in 2023.

In promulgation proceedings on Thursday, Baguio City’s Regional Trial Court Judge Modesto Bahul of Branch 2-FC (Family Court) sentenced Fr. Mark Elis Batolne to life imprisonment for molesting the then 16-year-old girl on March 8, March 12 and March 28 in 2023.

The incident marked as a first major scandal to hit the Diocese of Baguio in recent years.

READ: Priest’s rape trial set

The girl, in her testimony, said Batolne had carried a knife when he first assaulted her on March 8 and March 12 at her room in the attic of the Bishop’s Residence, according to court…

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The cases stem from allegations that the priest raped a 16-year-old student scholar in March 2023 inside the Bishop’s house compound in Baguio City, where she was staying at that time

BAGUIO, Philippines – A regional court in Baguio City on Wednesday, December 17, convicted a Roman Catholic priest on three counts of rape and sentenced him to up to 40 years in prison on each count, court documents showed.

The Baguio City Regional Trial Court found Father Mark Batolne guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and ordered his transfer to the national penitentiary. The court also ordered him to pay the victim P75,000 in civil damages, P75,000 in moral damages and P75,000 in exemplary damages for each count, with interest of 6% per year from the time the ruling becomes final until fully paid.

The cases stemmed from allegations that Batolne raped a 16-year-old student scholar in March 2023 inside…

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The PSNI has previously used a policy of Neither Confirm Nor Deny (NCND) to refuse to answer whether deceased Catholic priest Malachy Finegan had been used by the Royal Ulster Constabulary as an agent

PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has received a fresh challenge from a clerical abuse victim to reveal whether a prolific paedophile priest had been a protected RUC informer.

The PSNI has previously used a policy of Neither Confirm Nor Deny (NCND) to refuse to answer whether deceased Catholic priest Malachy Finegan had been used by the RUC as an agent.

However, following the final publication of the Kenova Report into the actions of the British agent known as Stakeknife last week, Mr Boutcher said the report made a “compelling case” for the reform of NCND and that “absolute secrecy cannot be guaranteed for agents who commit serious crimes”.

Depraved priest Finegan was a former president of…

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Vatican City — Pope Leo XIV tapped Bishop Ronald A. Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, to lead the influential Archdiocese of New York, replacing Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who led New York’s 2.8 million Catholics for 16 years.

Dolan, following Vatican rules, had tendered his resignation when he turned 75 in February.

Like Leo, Hicks, 58, is a supporter of Pope Francis’ welcoming and inclusive vision of Catholicism with an eye toward social justice.

Born in Harvey, Illinois, in 1967, Hicks grew up in South Holland, not far from the Chicago suburb where Leo was raised.

Dolan, a towering figure in the U.S. church and a natural fit in New York with his bluff style, sometimes drew ire from the city’s mostly Democratic voters for his apparent support of the Trump administration.

“Hicks’ personality is different from Dolan’s,” said Christopher White, author of Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave…

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Sources close to the Dicastery for Bishops confirmed the appointment to The Pillar.

Pope Leo XIV is expected to appoint Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet as the next Archbishop of New York, The Pillar has confirmed, with an announcement expected as early as Dec. 18.

Rumors about the prospect of a Hicks move to New York began circulating Monday, following a report forecasting the move at the Spanish Religión Digital website. Chicago media figures fueled speculation online about an imminent appointment, with rumors continuing to circulate among ecclesiastical figures and Church-watchers.

Sources close to the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome confirmed the appointment to The Pillar Dec. 16, indicating that the move is likely to be announced Thursday.

Hicks will succeed Cardinal Timothy Dolan, 75, who has served in New York since 2009. The bishop’s appointment will bring to an end months of speculation about Dolan’s successor, with several candidates speculated for the position.

…

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As survivors in New York are confronted with a settlement brokered under Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s leadership, Milwaukee survivors are joining them in condemning a process that forces survivors into prolonged litigation, keeps abuse records and files secret from Catholics and the public, and protects church officials who covered up child sex crimes. Hundreds of survivors in the Milwaukee Archdiocese were forced into a court-supervised bankruptcy settlement under Cardinal Dolan after a grueling five-year legal battle.

“Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s retirement with honor is not a moment for celebration,” said Peter Isely, one of hundreds of survivors in the Milwaukee Archdiocese who were forced into bankruptcy under Dolan’s leadership and a founding member of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “It is a bitter indictment of a Catholic hierarchy that continues to reward men who treated the rape and sexual assault of children and vulnerable people as real-estate transactions…

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New York’s next archbishop is being heralded a “unifier” who will stick firmly to papal doctrine — just don’t expect to see him on talk shows any time soon.

Pope Leo XIV appointed Ronald Hicks Jr., the current bishop of Joliet, Ill., to become the next Archbishop of New York, one of the most important seats in the nation for the church.

Sources claim after the outspoken Cardinal Timothy Dolan, 75, the church is closing ranks and has deliberately chosen someone who will follow the church’s official theological positions closely and quietly.

“I think Hicks will be much more like Pope Leo, more careful what he says. In the first year of being Archbishop he’s going to avoid political issues and emphasize his pastoral role,” Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit priest and senior analyst with Religion News Service, told The Post.

In contrast, “they broke the mold when they made Archbishop…

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The accuser has written a book and screenplay about the case

The presiding judge made key rulings before the partial settlement of a man’s sexual assault lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince George, religious orders and the estates of deceased clergy members.

BC Supreme Court Justice Kevin Loo, in Dec. 8 reasons for judgment on pre-trial applications, allowed plaintiff Dr. Nicholas John Harrison to make amendments to his notice of civil claim.

Harrison accused Brother Leopold and Father Rayner of physically and sexually assaulting him at Sacred Heart Elementary School between 1973 and 1977. He also accused institutions, such as the diocese and Catholic school board, of negligence.

Loo originally notified the parties of his decision in a Nov. 13 memorandum. The trial was scheduled to get underway four days later, but it was adjourned.

One of the amendments Loo allowed involved Harrison’s claim that he was coerced…

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How does Joelle Casteix explain the gendered and spiritual trauma of Catholic clergy abuse and the pathways from victimhood to survivor-led advocacy and recovery?

Joelle Casteix is a leading advocate for survivors of child sexual abuse in faith-based and institutional settings. A survivor of Catholic clergy abuse herself, she has spent decades exposing cover-ups, supporting victims, and explaining the unique spiritual and psychological harms of abuse perpetrated by religious authority figures. Drawing on both personal experience and research, she discusses “soul murder,” complex shame, and long-delayed disclosure, especially among women in patriarchal religious systems. Through writing, public speaking, litigation support, and peer support, Casteix works to transform victimization into agency, encouraging survivors to seek validation, redefine themselves, and, where possible, become powerful advocates for change.

In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Joelle Casteix about the gendered and spiritual dimensions of clergy abuse in Christian and especially Catholic contexts. Casteix explains how…

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Archbishop Ronald Hicks will take over as the 11th archbishop of New York on Feb. 4, 2026.

The timeline that follows is a look at his early and pastoral life to date.

Aug. 4, 1967 

Ronald Aldon Hicks is born in Harvey, Illinois, to Ronald and Roselee Hicks. He has a younger brother, Rick, and grew up in South Holland, Illinois — one suburb over from Dolton, where Pope Leo XIV grew up. 

May 21, 1994 

Archbishop Hicks is ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago.  

1994-1996  

Serves as an associate pastor at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Chicago.  

1996-1999  

Serves as an associate pastor at St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Orland Hills, Illinois. 

1999-2005 

Lives and ministers at St. Joseph College Seminary in Chicago as the dean of formation. 

July 2005  

Moves from Chicago to El Salvador to begin a five-year term as regional…

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[See also the full text of AG Nessel’s report, Diocese of Grand Rapids: A Complete Accounting.]

State Attorney General Dana Nessel on Monday, Dec. 15, released a report detailing allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct at the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids.

The report showed that 51 priests in the Grand Rapids Diocese were accused of sexual misconduct involving children or adults since Jan. 1, 1950.

No criminal charges have been filed related to the Grand Rapids Diocese. In some cases, the statute of limitations has expired. In others, the allegations did not violate state law or the priest has died, Nessel said in a statement.

Charges have been filed in 11 cases across the state, resulting in convictions in nine cases involving 38 survivors, Nessel said.

Of the 11 cases charged criminally, none of the cases were related to priests ministering in the Diocese…

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Federal authorities described the disgraced pastor’s actions as “predatory, measured, and inflicted profound trauma to the victim.”

A disgraced South Carolina pastor was indicted this week and accused of harassing his estranged wife for more than a year before she died by suicide in 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of South Carolina announced Thursday.

“The defendant’s alleged actions were predatory, measured, and inflicted profound trauma to the victim, her family, and loved ones,” FBI Agent in Charge Kevin Moore told local news station WMBF.

John Paul Miller, 46, was indicted on charges of cyberstalking and false statements after federal authorities said he began sending “unwanted and harassing communications” to his wife, Mica Miller, 30, in November 2022 and committed a string of “harassing behavior” up until her suicide on April 27, 2024.

Among the alleged acts John Paul Miller committed were posting a nude photo of…

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