ABUSE TRACKER

LEICESTER, United Kingdom – A new report says Catholics in England and Wales have been deeply affected by the clergy sexual abuse crisis, with a third of Mass goers saying they reduced attendance to church or even stopped going altogether because of the issue.

Attitudes of Catholics in England and Wales to Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church was published by Durham University’s Center for Catholic Studies on Thursday.

The Catholic population in England and Wales makes up about 8 percent of the country, or just over 3 million people.

In 2016, the British Government set up an independent statutory inquiry known as IICSA: The Independent inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. When looking at the Catholic Church, the inquiry records over 3,000 instances of child sexual abuse connected to the Church between1970 and 2015. It also said abuse is not a “historical problem” since there have been more than 100…

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ROME – A former member of a Peru-based women’s lay consecrated group whose male branch is currently under Vatican investigation has expressed doubt about the group’s long-term future, voicing her belief that there was never any founding “charism” to begin with.

In an open letter published Monday in Spanish-language news platform Religion Digital, Rocio Figueroa, a former member of the Marian Community of Reconciliation (MCR), said the group’s recent effort to distance itself from allegations of abuse coverup are “despicable.”

The MCR is one of four entities founded by Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari, including the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV), the Servants of the Plan of God (SPG), and the Christian Life Movement (CLM).

Figari in August was expelled from the SCV amid an ongoing inquiry by the Vatican’s top investigating duo, Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna, adjunct secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), and Spanish Monsignor Jordi…

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Alexandria diocese plans to file ‘prearranged chapter 11’ after settlement with victims to avoid ‘lengthy delays’

A Roman Catholic diocese in north-west Louisiana appears ready to join 40 other organizations of its kind in the US by filing for federal bankruptcy protection as the church’s worldwide clergy molestation scandal continues reverberating, according to a letter obtained by the Guardian.

But the diocese in question – that of Alexandria, Louisiana – is first aiming to reach a global settlement with those who already have pending clergy abuse claims demanding damages from the institution before it then files what it called a “prearranged chapter 11” financial reorganization. As the letter authored by local attorneys for the Alexandria church put it, the purpose of the strategy is to avoid “the lengthy delays and huge professional fees” incurred by the May 2020 bankruptcy filed by Louisiana’s archdiocese of New Orleans.

It was in September that…

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Roman Catholics have been so traumatised by their church’s clerical abuse scandal that a third of previously regular mass-goers have stopped attending — and many are so ashamed of their church’s track record on abuse that they do not admit to being Catholic.

These are the findings of a survey by Durham University which also shows that the drop in mass attendance means a drop in income from collections — at a time when the Catholic church is spending more money on safeguarding and has also been financially hit by paying compensation to victims of abuse.

The survey, commissioned by the Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University, also found that more than three-quarters of Catholics thought the church needed to make further reforms to prevent more cases of child sexual abuse, while a third of regular mass-goers think the bishops have not handled the crisis well.

The findings come…

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The child sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has contributed to a third of Catholics in England and Wales reducing their attendance of Mass or stopping going altogether, according to a new report by Durham University.

Over 3,000 adults who identify as Roman Catholic – and sampled as representative of the Catholic population in England and Wales – responded to the YouGov survey commissioned by the Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University, as part of a wider research project called “Boundary Breaking” that looked at the implications of the abuse crisis for the Catholic community.

Carried out in June and July 2022, the study aimed to gauge the attitudes and impact of child sexual abuse on so-called “ordinary” Catholics. The sample included “regular” churchgoers (classed as attending at least once a month) and “occasional” (classed as attending less than once a month), as well as those who do not go…

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“There is a conviction that the Church needs to make changes to prevent such abuse happening in the future.”

One in three Catholics who previously went to Mass have reduced their attendance or stopped going altogether as a result of the child sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, according to a new report by Durham University.

There has also been a corresponding fall in the number of financial donations, with a third of Catholics who previously donated no longer giving money to the Church.

The YouGov survey was commissioned by the Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University as part of a wider research project, “Boundary Breaking”, where researchers are looking at the implications of the abuse crisis for the Catholic community.

More than 3,000 adults who identify as Catholic responded to the questionnaire, with 79 per cent saying that the Church needs to change “a great deal” to prevent…

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It was a Mass that seemed meant to brighten our dimming hopes.

On holiday in Portsmouth, U.K., my husband and I found Sunday Mass at the city’s modest Catholic Cathedral of St. John and slipped into an empty pew, expecting nothing beyond what is ordinary in our weary local diocese.

When the pipe organ sounded and the (surprisingly good) choir intoned the entrance hymn, things became very different, indeed. The pews had filled with beautiful young migrant families from Africa and India, and as the congregation sang out in vibrant voice, the diversity of the parish was reflected in the 13 (!) altar servers — children and young adults reflecting the whole color palette of humanity and rendering reverent service to the liturgy.

There were bells and smells — the Novus Ordo with a smattering of Latin in the Gloria and the Agnus Dei. There was a young concelebrant and…

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“Llegó el tiempo de ponerle fin a la estupidez colectiva del Sodalicio” “El Sodalicio es manejado por un grupo de delincuentes y seguido por personas estúpidas que sin tener la intención de hacer daño lo hicieron y encima se perjudicaron a sí mismos” “Humberto de mi alma, no fue por inexperiencia, fue porque tenías lavado el cerebro y te convencieron de que maltratando a los otros los hacías recios y buenos soldados” “Para una víctima, el abuso no es del “pasado”, sigue en el “presente”. Sólo si una víctima es escuchada, creída y validada por la comunidad el trauma puede comenzar a curarse” “Querido Rafael, la ‘cruz’ que sientes como injusticia otra vez es la cruz de la estupidez de no darte cuenta que has encubierto, difamado y seguido a delincuentes”

A los que señalan que lo que está sucediendo al Sodalicio es un acto de venganza por parte de…

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In a highly unusual ruling, the Vatican in September rescinded the laicization of an Argentine priest who had been found guilty of sexual abuse of minors.

But on October 7, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) announced that the September statement was void, and the priest’s laicization remains in effect.

The rare public dispute between Vatican offices puts the DDF in conflict with the Secretariat of State. Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy, the secretary of the DDF, issued a reminder that his office is responsible for disciplinary cases involving priests accused of abuse, and the Secretariat of State is not involved in that process.

The DDF—and in particular the disciplinary section headed by Archbishop Kennedy—has sole authority for the handling of sex-abuse cases. But as sostituto—in effect the Pope’s chief of staff—Archbishop Pena Parra wields enormous influence. So when the Argentine diocese of Rio Cuarto received a message from…

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[Editor’s note: This story contains details of child sexual abuse. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673).]

A man who has said he was sexually assaulted by a priest from Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Humboldt has filed a lawsuit against the church and the Catholic Diocese of Memphis, alleging that the church and diocese actively covered up the priest’s abuse.

The lawsuit comes nearly a year after The Commercial Appeal identified Joel Wiggs as a priest with multiple complaints lodged against him. Despite The CA confirming three of those complaints — one from 2002, 2013 and 2019 — Wiggs was not part of the diocese’s list of “credibly accused” priests as of 2020.

According to the lawsuit, Wiggs was ordained as a priest in 1949 and worked at Sacred Heart in…

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The former director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests held a protest outside of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Alexandria on October 8.

“I cringe at the phrase that’s sometimes used when people say ‘Did you lose your faith,’ and the honest truth is…no, I did not lose my faith. I lose my car keys, but I didn’t lose my faith. My faith was stolen from me,” said David Clohessy.

Clohessy has been a member of SNAP for 30 years now. He grew up in Missouri and said his parish priest abused him during his adolescent years of 12 to 16.

“It was always late at night, just the two of us usually on out-of-town trips, camping or skiing or canoeing,” he said. “I would wake up in the middle of the night and find him on top of me, pushing against me and frankly I was…

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Two victims of sexual abuse by a priest came together in front of St. John Cathedral Catholic Church to call for increased transparency from the Lafayette Diocese regarding priests accused of sexual abuse. Displayed prominently were the names of accused priests, drawing attention to ongoing concerns within the community.

David Clohessy, former national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests and a victim himself, led the effort. He urged the diocese to include three additional names, written on a sheet of paper he held, to a public list of credibly accused abusers.

Clohessy criticized the diocese for its legal maneuvers against victims seeking justice. In June, the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the state’s “look-back” law, which extends the deadline for sexual abuse victims to file lawsuits by three years. Following this ruling, three lawsuits were filed in Lafayette just days later.

The gathering reflects a community’s demand…

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Two victims of priest sex abuse and an activist, during a protest Wednesday on the sidewalk in front of St. John Cathedral in Lafayette, called on Catholics and others to spread the word about a Louisiana law that gives abuse victims three years to sue their abusers and the Catholic Church.

The state Supreme Court in June upheld a Louisiana law, approved in 2021 and amended in 2022, that extended until June 14, 2027, the deadline for sex abuse victims to sue.

The Catholic Diocese of Lafayette had challenged the 2021 “look back” law, arguing in court that it violated due process rights. The Supreme Court disagreed.

Priest abuse victim David Clohessy, former long-time national director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and currently volunteer SNAP Missouri director, called on the public to spread the word about the extended deadline to sue. He especially encouraged Catholics, who sometimes…

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Brother Edward English, who first became know after the Mount Cashel orphanage abuse scandal, is named in another case.

A B.C. man is alleging he was subjected to sexual abuse and physical violence while a boy at a Vancouver Roman Catholic school.

V.C.A.B. (his name has been anonymized) said in an Oct. 7 Supreme Court of B.C. notice of civil claim that he suffered organized and protracted psychological, physical, spiritual and sexualized abuse by various lay and religious teachers and staff when he was a minor and a student at Vancouver College, a private Roman Catholic all-boys school between 1980 and 1984.

Named as defendants are Vancouver College Limited (VCL), the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver A Corporation Sole, Brother Gerard Gabriel McHugh, Brother Edward English, Brother Michael Anthony Maher, Brother Basil Blom, Brother Ronald H. MacKenzie, Brother David B. Burton, Brother Joseph Pascal Rowland, Joseph Burke, John Kavelac and the…

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The Vatican has authorized the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, to remove a priest from the clerical state after an investigation found he sexually assaulted two children years ago.

Martin Boylan “has been dismissed from the clerical state at the conclusion of a disciplinary process authorized by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) at the Holy See,” the Diocese of Scranton said in a press statement on Tuesday.

Boylan, 76, was removed from priestly ministry in 2016 after he was accused of sexual assault of a minor. The diocese would subsequently receive four more allegations against the priest, all of which were investigated and submitted to the DDF.

The Holy See authorized the Scranton Diocese to adjudicate the matter. The priest was ultimately found guilty of two instances of sexual abuse of a minor. The DDF “reviewed the findings and authorized the Diocese of…

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The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith overturned on Monday the Vatican Secretariat of State’s attempt to reinstate a priest laicized for the sexual abuse of minors in Argentina, setting up the most public clash of competence between Vatican departments in years.

According to a statement released by an Argentine diocese, Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy, head of the DDF’s disciplinary section, declared void a September order from the Secretariat of State, which tried to reverse the laicization of Ariel Alberto Príncipi, a former diocesan priest convicted of child sexual abuse.

The DDF’s decision this week directly countermands a September 23 order signed by the sostituto of the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, who serves functionally as the pope’s curial chief of staff.

The unfolding events of the Príncipi case could also indicate that the DDF will insist on its exclusive competence to address cases of clergy abuse…

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The Diocese of Sion has outlined an action plan to deal with sexual abuse. The measures detailed on Tuesday in a press release are designed to put the victim at the centre of any approach.

The Diocese of Sion’s action plan aims to professionalise its counselling system, improve record-keeping and prevention, and enhance collaboration with victims’ associations. In concrete terms, abuse counsellors for the French-speaking part of the diocese will be trained on these aspects at the Institut Catholique de Paris, while a code of good conduct designed to prevent any abuse will be presented to pastoral workers.

A new flyer, entitled “Dare to talk about it”, details the four main places where victims of sexual abuse in the Church can be “listened to, supported or directed”. The document is being distributed to parishes, according to the diocese.

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/swiss-diocese-of-sion-criticised-for-dealings-with-victims-of-sexual-abuse/80433964

These measures follow the publication and presentation in June of the…

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A group representing survivors of clergy sex abuse is pushing for the Diocese of Lake Charles to add additional names to its list of credibly accused clergy members.

Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, commonly known as SNAP, are visiting cities in Louisiana to call for transparency in the Catholic Church.

The push comes after the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld a law giving sex abuse victims more time to file lawsuits against their perpetrators.

SNAP wants Louisiana dioceses to add certain priests to their lists of credibly accused clergy. These priests’ names appear on lists of abusers elsewhere.

SNAP wants four names added to the Diocese of Lake Charles’ list:

• Alfred Dean, who worked at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Welsh in 1989 and 1997, was included on the Baltimore Archdiocese’s credibly accused list in 2003 and the…

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A detained Philippine pastor who is also wanted in the United States for sex trafficking children registered Tuesday to run in next year’s senate elections.

Apollo Quiboloy, an ally of former president Rodrigo Duterte, is a self-proclaimed “Appointed Son of God” whose sect claims millions of followers.

The 74-year-old was arrested last month and is currently detained in Manila and facing charges of child abuse, sexual abuse and human trafficking. One of his lawyers filed his candidacy paperwork.

“He wants to be a part of the solution to the problems of our country. He is running because of God and our beloved Philippines,” lawyer Mark Christopher Tolentino said.

Quiboloy pledges to promote laws that are “God-centred, Philippine-centred and Filipino-centred”, Tolentino told journalists after submitting the candidacy papers to election officials.

The circumstances are not without precedent.

In May 2022, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada won a senate seat while on trial for…

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Former Catholic Priest Facing Additional Charges as Several Women Come Forward

Father Anthony Odiong, a former Catholic priest associated with Waco and West, has been indicted again on multiple sexual assault charges. A McLennan County grand jury returned a four-count indictment on Thursday, September 26, 2024, alleging that Odiong assaulted a woman repeatedly between 2008 and 2011, according to KWTX.

Catholic Priest Facing Serious Sexual Misconduct Charges with Severe Consequences

This latest indictment follows an earlier one on September 12, where Odiong faced three counts of sexual assault involving two separate women. The new charges are classified as first-degree felonies, carrying potential penalties of up to life in prison due to the victim’s marital status at the time of the alleged incidents.

Ongoing Incarceration Amid Multiple Allegations of Sexual Assault

Odiong, 56, is currently held in the McLennan County Jail under bonds totaling $2.5 million. He is also dealing with…

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The 27-year-old was convicted of molesting his juniors at a seminary on Catholic-majority island of Flores

A former major seminarian in Indonesia has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing minors at a seminary.

Engelbertus Lowa Sada, 27, was held guilty of molesting 10 students at the St. John Berchmans Mataloko Minor Seminary on the predominantly Catholic island of Flores.

Judge Theodora Usfunan at the Bajawa District Court in Ngada Regency also imposed a fine of 500 million rupiah (US$30,000). The inability to pay will result in an additional six months in prison for Sada.

The former seminarian was further ordered to pay 24.8 million rupiah as restitution to the minor victims. The Oct. 2 order was made public on Oct. 7.

Azas Tigor Nainggolan, a Catholic lawyer and coordinator of Indonesian bishops’ Advocacy and Human Rights Forum, said Sada got away with a “lighter”…

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A public prosecutor’s office in Switzerland has closed an investigation into alleged inappropriate conduct toward young people by an abbot who serves as a member of the Swiss bishops’ conference.

The Swiss daily newspaper Blick reported Oct. 6 that Beatrice Pilloud, the Attorney General of the Canton of Valais, had confirmed the closure of the case against Abbot Jean Scarcella, the 72-year-old head of the Territorial Abbey of Saint-Maurice.

As a territorial abbot, the canonical equivalent of a diocesan bishop, Scarcella is one of the nine members of the Swiss bishops’ conference. 

The abbot stood aside from office last year, pending the results of a canonical preliminary investigation into the allegations. The results of that investigation are currently being studied in Rome.

The Blick newspaper said the reason for the case’s closure was unclear because Scarcella, a member of the Swiss Congregation of Canons Regular of Saint Maurice of Agaune, had…

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A priest who resigned following a scandal within the Diocese of Greensburg earlier this year will now be reassigned to parishes in Lower Burrell and New Kensington.

The Rev. John Moineau had resigned as pastor of parishes in North Huntingdon and Irwin back in May after he transferred an employee with a lengthy criminal history record to Immaculate Conception Cemetery.

The employee, identified as Shon Harrity, was arrested in May and accused of raping a child under 16. Authorities say Harrity has a history of criminal sexual activity dating back decades.

Harrity’s wife was also charged and accused of being aware of her husband’s crimes.

Police have determined there was no criminal activity in the case but an internal investigation found Moineau and three other parish employees did violate church policy.

Moineau will begin working for four parishes, under supervision, effective on Oct. 23.

The three employees in the investigation…

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A former pastor at 2|42 Community Church has yet to be bound over to circuit court after being arrested on charges of surveilling an unclothed person, using a computer to commit a crime and tampering with evidence.

William Johnson was arrested in September after confessing to church leadership he’d placed a hidden camera in a bathroom meant for staff and volunteers multiple times over the last two years.

More:Police: 2|42 pastor confessed to targeting individuals with bathroom camera for two years

The confession came after a staff member discovered the camera and reported it to church leadership. Johnson was fired and the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office was notified. Johnson’s home was searched and all electronic devices seized.

According to LCSO, all known victims have been identified and notified. In an interview, police said, Johnson admitted to placing the camera “intermittently for the past two years, targeting…

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The Diocese of Scranton has dismissed a priest who served in Stroudsburg and Honesdale, among other assignments, after he was found guilty under canon law of sexually assaulting two minors.

Martin M. Boylan’s dismissal is “the most severe penalty that the Catholic Church can impose on a cleric,” the diocese said in a press release issued Tuesday.

“As a result, Boylan will never again exercise priestly ministry in any capacity. He may no longer celebrate Mass, hear confessions, or administer any of the Church’s sacraments. His relationship with the Diocese of Scranton in any official capacity is now permanently ended,” the diocese said.

Boylan was removed from ministry on April 1, 2016, the diocese said, after an accusation that he had sexually assaulted a minor. Between then and October 2023, the diocese received four more accusations against Boylan of sexually assaulting minors.

The diocese said it investigated all five accusations,…

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[Includes video]

NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. — An attorney known for representing sexual abuse victims in the Boston area during the Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal is questioning the decision to reassign a Westmoreland County priest to a new set of parishes despite the Diocese of Greensburg saying that the priest broke church law.

“Actions speak louder than words, but the catholic church is just using the words,” Mitchell Garabedian told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek.

Bishop Larry Kulick announced the decision to reassign and move Father John Moineau on Monday.

“He didn’t do his job, he should face the consequences of that,” Garabedian said.

Bishop Kulick said Moineau broke church law when he said he personally reviewed the clearances for a man who worked at a church cemetery when they were renewed in 2020 — but didn’t.

That man, Shon Harrity, was accused of sexual assault of a minor…

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Three lawsuits have been filed in Lafayette since June against the Diocese of Lafayette and churches over alleged sexual abuse of minors that occurred decades ago, including an alleged victim of former priest Gilbert Gauthe, who admitted to sexually abusing more than two dozen children in a plea deal in the 1980s.

Gauthe’s is believed to be one of the first publicized cases of priest sex abuse in the country and the first to be criminally indicted, decades before such scandals surfaced elsewhere in the country. He served 10 years of a 20-year sentence in jail. According to news reports from 2019, he was living in San Leon, Texas, not far from Galveston.

The three lawsuits followed a June Supreme Court decision that upheld a state law giving abuse survivors a three-year window to sue for damages. The legislature in 2021 gave abuse victims three years to sue their abusers…

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The Diocese of Scranton defrocked a priest found guilty under church law of sexually abusing children, permanently ending his priesthood with its most severe penalty, the diocese said Tuesday.

Martin M. Boylan, 76, who most recently served at St. Patrick Parish in West Scranton until his removal in April 2016, will never again exercise priestly ministry in any capacity following his dismissal from the clerical state after he was found guilty under canon law for the sexual assault of two minors, according to a statement from the diocese. As a result, Boylan is no longer allowed to celebrate Mass, hear confessions or administer any of the church’s sacraments.

Boylan declined to comment when reached by phone Tuesday afternoon.

The Vatican authorized the disciplinary process through the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Holy See.

Boylan’s dismissal concludes a canonical process launched eight years ago.

He has not…

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SCRANTON – Martin M. Boylan, formerly a priest of the Diocese of Scranton, has been dismissed from the clerical state at the conclusion of a disciplinary process authorized by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Holy See.

Boylan’s involuntarily dismissal from the clerical state was imposed after having been found guilty under canon law of the sexual assault of two minors. As a result, Boylan will never again exercise priestly ministry in any capacity. He may no longer celebrate Mass, hear confessions, or administer any of the Church’s sacraments. His relationship with the Diocese of Scranton in any official capacity is now permanently ended.

This penalty concludes a canonical process that began eight years ago.

On April 1, 2016, then-Father Boylan was removed from priestly ministry following an accusation of the sexual assault of a minor. Using the procedures in canon law and its Policy for…

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Martin Boylan, accused of sexually abusing five children, exhausted his appeals, diocese says

SCRANTON, Pa. — A former priest accused of sexually abusing children Diocese of Scranton has been permanently defrocked, diocesan officials said Tuesday.

The process authorized by Catholic Church’s disciplinary arm concluded against Martin M. Boylan, more than eight years after the church first removed him from priestly ministry.

Boylan, 76, was found guilty under canon law of sexually assaulting two children, but he was credibly accused by five. The diocese referred the allegations to law enforcement, as well. Boylan has not been criminally charged, records show.

Once convicted under canon law, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the arm of the Roman Curia that oversees discipline, reviewed the case and authorized Boylan’s removal from the clerical state, which the diocese said is the most severe penalty the church can impose on…

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Three years after a landmark French clerical sexual abuse report was published, a member of the commission that released it told OSV News the testimonies he heard had a great impact on him and that he remains in touch with those affected, helping them move forward.

Stéphane de Navacelle, 44, a lawyer and member of the New York and Paris bars, was appointed member of the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church, known as CIASE for its French acronym, in 2019. The commission was set up by the French bishops’ conference and the Conference of Religious of France. Chaired by senior civil servant Jean-Marc Sauvé, CIASE submitted its conclusions in Paris on Oct. 5, 2021, after an almost three-year investigation.

The report estimated that 330,000 children in France had been sexually abused since 1950 and provided the country’s first accounting of the crisis. According to Sauvé, Catholic authorities…

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A victim of clergy abuse as a child and member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) was in Lake Charles Tuesday to talk about how healing and validating it can be for victims when church officials admit a priest as credibly. He said a new state law could lead to more abuse victims coming forward. 

“I was abused for about four years in the central Missouri Diocese of Jefferson City by our assistant pastor, Father John Whiteley,” said David Clohessy of SNAP Missouri. “He molested me and my brothers.” 

Clohessy was 11.  One of his brothers went on to become a priest, was placed on the credibly accused list, civilly sued and has been suspended.

 Clohessy and other SNAP members, including a Lake Charles man who started the organization in Boston, are going to Alexandria, Baton Rouge and Lafayette with their message of a tougher approach. 

…

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October 08, 2024

Abuse victims blast Baton Rouge bishop

He’s hiding at least three ‘credibly accused’ abusive priests

Other church officials say allegations against the men are ‘credible’

SNAP: “If church officials are hiding them, what else might they be hiding?”

Support group also alerts child victims to unusual new legal opportunity

New law means that anyone molested at any time by anyone can now sue

‘By coming forward, the wounded can protect the vulnerable,’ victims say

WHAT

Using sidewalk chalk, while holding signs and childhood photos, clergy sex abuse victims will write on a sidewalk the names of three publicly accused child molesting clerics who are NOT on the Baton Rouge Catholic bishop’s ‘credibly accused’ list and thus remain largely ‘under the radar.’

They will also urge 

—Catholics and others to “spread the word” about an unusual new Louisiana law that will make kids safer by enabling victims of childhood sexual…

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October 07, 2024

Victims blast Alexandria bishop on child abuse

They say he’s “concealing four publicly accused priests“

Other church officials admit charges against them are ‘credible’

SNAP: “If church officials are hiding these guys, what else might they be hiding?”

Support group also alerts child victims to unusual new legal opportunity

New law means that anyone molested at any time by anyone can now sue

‘By coming forward, the wounded can protect the vulnerable,’ victims say

WHAT

Holding signs and childhood photos, clergy sexual abuse victims will

—disclose four publicly &/or ‘credibly accused’ priests who were in the Alexandria diocese but are NOT on the local Catholic bishop’s official ‘accused’ list, and

—write their names – and names of other alleged pedophile priests – on the sidewalk with chalk.

The victims will also urge 

—Catholics to “spread the word” about a new Louisiana law that “helps protect kids and expose predators” by enabling “anyone abused…

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On a Sunday morning, the pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, took the stage with his wife to reassure their congregation.

“Lisa is the only woman I’ve ever been with, and I’m the only man she’s ever been with — and I say ‘been with’ in a biblical sense,” said Ed Young, who founded the church in the late 1980s.

About 4,000 people were in the room, with thousands more watching online. The pastor added, “We don’t have to worry about any sexual skeletons in our closet coming from the past.”

In normal circumstances, it was the kind of claim that many churchgoers would hope went without saying. But in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this year, a pastor with a clean reputation is not to be taken for granted.

The Youngs’ joint sermon came in late June, days after Robert Morris, the founder of the nearby Gateway Church, resigned…

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A deep, institutional corruption and a near-total aversion to accountability have condemned church leaders to an endless loop of disrepute.

Whenever Missouri megapreacher Mike Bickle received prophecies from God, he tended to shout the good news from the rooftops. But there was one recurring vision that he only shared with a few people. In the early 1980s, Bickle—who would go on to found International House of Prayer in Kansas City—confided in Tammy Woods, the 14-year-old who was babysitting his children, that his wife Diane would die and “that we could be together,” a prelude to his repeatedly sexually abusing her. The founder of the outrageously successful church certainly felt that God had his back. He had the same vision over a decade later, when he told his 19-year-old female intern that his wife would die and that they would get married.

But maybe…

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The Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, has filed bankruptcy, following several previous rounds of abuse claim settlements over the past 14 years, and is facing more than two dozen additional civil court claims with few resources left to compensate alleged victims.

Bishop John J. McDermott announced the filing “with a heavy heart” in an Oct. 1 video message and letter posted to the diocesan website, saying the decision to file for Chapter 11 protection had been made “following an extensive period of prayer and consultation.”

He stressed that the bankruptcy filing “involves only the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington” and “does not include” the diocese’s 63 parishes “and other associated agencies,” adding that he hoped “the process will have little impact upon our parishes and ministries.”

According to the bishop’s Sept. 30 affidavit to the bankruptcy court, the diocese’s parishes in 2006 were redesignated under Vermont civil law as charitable trusts, having previously been part of the diocese’s “corporate sole structure” since…

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The recent trend of prominent church leaders stepping down for misconduct, abuse and moral failures hasn’t died down.

Arguably one of the biggest stories of the summer in North Texas continues to develop well into the fall, as yet another North Texas church leader has made news for the wrong reasons.

David Scarberry, who serves as a staff “evangelistic outreach leader” at Revival City Church in McKinney according to church watchdog site Watchkeep, was arrested last week and charged with continuous violence against family, a charge he told KERA was the result of “false accusations.”

Scarberry’s story doesn’t end with these latest charges, however. KERA also reported that Scarberry “spent five years in an Oklahoma prison after he was found guilty of using an offensive weapon in a felony and for two additional drug felonies in 2002,” and that “[h]is ex-wife filed for the domestic abuse protective…

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Why Pope Francis singled out the Sodalitium with a Special Mission to probe abuse and violence in that Peruvian organization?

English Edition

Abuse wise, Mexico, Spain, and Argentina, would need similar probes, but on top of abuse, sexual and otherwise, the Sodalitium undermines its own church’s authority. Politicization of religious practice is not new to Peru or Latin America, but at the Sodalitium it goes against the Church’s own interest and future.

What makes the Peruvian Sodalitium a catalog of sorts of the worst features of Roman Catholicism in Latin America? What made Pope Francis willing to act on that organization in ways that he has avoided up until now with the Mexican Legion of Christ, the Spanish Opus Dei, or the Argentine Institute of the Incarnate Word?

Those three organizations are as abusive as the Sodalitium; the Legion, the Opus, the Institute, and the Sodalitium all share a…

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ROME – A former member of a scandal-ridden Peruvian lay group under Vatican investigation has called apparent attempts to discredit the inquiry false and defamatory, and asked those critical of the process to respect both the course of justice and the Vatican officials tasked with carrying it out.

Speaking to Crux, Martin Scheuch, a former member of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV) who has testified as part of the Vatican’s ongoing investigation of the group, rejected assertions of recently expelled members who have claimed the process was unfair.

Such assertions, Scheuch said, are false, because “all the accused were able to defend themselves, and those of us who testified knew that what we said would be analyzed and then presented to the [accused parties] for their defense.”

“They could defend themselves and present their defense, which exposed us a lot,” he said, saying that “Despite this, and because of the trust that Archbishop…

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BRUSSELS – Two Peruvian laypeople who gave testimony as part of an ongoing Vatican inquiry into a scandal-plagued lay movement announced Friday on social media that they have filed a criminal complaint against one of the Vatican’s investigators, and are refusing to withdraw it even facing a papal threat of excommunication.

In a video published on YouTube Sept. 27, laywoman Giuliana Caccia Arana and layman Sebastian Blanco said they received a call from the Vatican’s embassy in Lima on Sept. 26 asking for an urgent meeting. During that meeting with Archbishop Paolo Gualtieri, the Vatican’s envoy in Peru, they said they were given a document “that includes a penal precept, signed by Pope Francis, in which we are given a period of 48 hours to comply with five conditions.”

If those conditions are not met, they said, “we will enter into a process of excommunication ferendae sententiae,” meaning it is not…

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October 1, 2024

FALL RIVER — The Diocese of Fall River announces today that it is updating its list of “Credibly Accused” clergy posted on the Diocesan website.

Two of those who are listed have died recently and the information for each has been updated to reflect this. Father James F. Buckley died on July 7, 2024, and Joseph D. Maguire died on September 11, 2024.

The Diocese has also added the name of Father Thomas Kocik to the listing of “Credibly Accused” clergy.

Following a review of all older files, the Diocese began an investigation into allegations made against Father Kocik involving actions alleged to have occurred in the 1990s. At the outset of the investigation, Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., placed Father Kocik on administrative leave and restricted his priestly faculties. The restrictions, (which continue), include prohibition from exercising public ministry including the celebration of…

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“New Mexico has the sad distinction of being one of the least protective states in the nation when it comes to victims’ rights,” Torrez said

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez unveiled a plan to amend the Crime Victims’ Rights Act on Friday, Oct. 4. Torrez was joined by lawmakers and advocates to announce the plan for the 2025 legislative session. The amended legislation comes after Target 7 Investigations did a report on Patrick Howard. Howard is a former Las Cruces High School teacher who admitted to fondling students. However, a Dona Ana County judge released Howard from his probation years early. His victims were not notified when the judge held a hearing of his release.

According to the New Mexico Department of Justice, New Mexico law establishes protections for victims but lacks enforcement to ensure protections are followed. The bills aim to protect…

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The Diocese of Fall River has announced that it is updating its list of “Credibly Accused” clergy posted on the Diocesan website.

Two of those who are listed have died recently and the information for each has been updated to reflect this. Father James F. Buckley died on July 7, 2024, and Joseph D. Maguire died on September 11, 2024.

The Diocese has also added the name of Father Thomas Kocik to the listing of “Credibly Accused” clergy.

Following a review of all older files, the Diocese began an investigation into allegations made against Father Kocik involving actions alleged to have occurred in the 1990s. At the outset of the investigation, Bishop Edgar da Cunha placed Father Kocik on administrative leave and restricted his priestly faculties. The restrictions, (which continue), include prohibition from exercising public ministry including the celebration of public Mass or of other sacraments. He also…

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The Wisconsin Attorney General’s request to review sealed claims of clergy abuse survivors was blocked earlier this week by a federal bankruptcy judge.

On Thursday, clergy abuse survivors gathered on the steps of the Federal Building and Courthouse in downtown Milwaukee to criticize the judge’s decision to block access to the court documents, which are sealed in a bankruptcy filing by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Under the denied request, Attorney General Josh Kaul and the State Department of Justice (DOJ) would have used information from the documents to investigate hundreds of claims of abuse.

The names are sealed as part of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, which was closed nearly a decade ago, brought on by the financial strain of settling sexual abuse claims.

Advocacy group Nate’s Mission claims the documents contain direct evidence of over 10,000 incidents of abuse by nearly 300 clergy, teachers, and volunteers….

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A Wisconsin judge has denied the Attorney General’s request to unseal abuse records, citing confidentiality concerns for survivors.

A Wisconsin judge denied Attorney General Josh Kaul’s request to unseal abuse records in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, originally filed over 13 years ago.

The Department of Justice in Wisconsin requested access to sealed records of abuse survivors as part of the Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse Initiative, launched in 2021. This initiative aims to conduct a thorough review of historical clergy abuse incidents in Wisconsin.

However, Chief Bankruptcy Judge G. Michael Halfenger ruled against reopening the case, which was closed in 2016.

Halfenger ruled that the attorney general’s request was improper and unrelated to the bankruptcy case. The judge determined that the state’s request lacked sufficient justification and posed significant risks to the confidentiality of 550 abuse survivors who participated in the bankruptcy proceedings with the expectation…

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A federal judge ruled this week against allowing access to court documents sealed nearly a decade ago in a bankruptcy filing by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, denying a request made by the state Department of Justice as part of an investigation into sexual abuse committed by faith leaders in Wisconsin.

Judge G. Michael Halfenger, bankruptcy judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, wrote in his decision that the agency failed to make a valid case for revisiting the bankruptcy decision and did not provide a sufficient plan for notifying clergy abuse victims of its request for access to sealed records.

In a motion filed last year with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Attorney General Josh Kaul requested a confidential review of “sealed claims by survivors, objections to those claims, briefing on such objections, and rulings on the objections.” Kaul argued the…

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Facing potentially millions in sexual abuse settlements, Burlington’s Roman Catholic Diocese says it had no choice but to file for bankruptcy this week.

The diocese filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, an effort to shield itself from more than a dozen ongoing sex abuse claims by establishing a process where remaining funds can be split amongst any possible settlements. It comes after already paying out nearly $40 million since 2006.

Burlington Bishop John McDermott said in a statement Wednesday that the diocese is responsible for the payments. He says he hopes payouts do not include parishes and other associated agencies but that he can’t guarantee that separate entities will not have to contribute.

“While my heart is heavy with the decision to pursue Chapter 11 reorganization, such weight pales in comparison to the pain suffered by victims of abuse. I know that the…

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The ten leading members whom the Pope last week expelled from the scandal-plagued Peruvian movement Sodalicio were responsible for abuse of different kinds: physical, including sadism and violence; of conscience; and spiritual abuse, such as using information obtained in spiritual direction. The sanctions for these are established in canon law and have been used before. But Alejandro Bermúdez, the last in the list, has been expelled for abuse in the exercise of the apostolate of journalism. Canon law in his case has been applied in a new, creative, but entirely legitimate way, one that has implications for those who profess to be Catholic journalists but who act in ways that disgrace their profession and undermine their claim to be witnesses to the Gospel. I know something about his case, because I was one of those who gave evidence to the Vatican.

But first: It will surprise no one who…

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Some Child Victims Act plaintiffs will be allowed to resume their lawsuits against Catholic parishes and schools in the Buffalo Diocese.

Chief Judge Carl L. Bucki of U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York has denied the diocese’s request to keep in place a temporary stay that since 2020 has blocked all lawsuits against parishes and other Catholic entities from moving forward in New York state courts.

The ruling does not impact a separate stay that applies to the Buffalo Diocese, which under Chapter 11 rules is automatically protected from state court litigation as it works through the bankruptcy process.

Bucki previously approved the diocese’s last seven requests for the temporary stay.

The diocese’s lawyers maintained that the stay was necessary so that the diocese would not be distracted in its mediated negotiations for a bankruptcy court settlement with an estimated 900 claimants who accused priests and…

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Mohsin Meghji drew scrutiny for behavior with bankruptcy judges in unrelated case involving drugmaker

Clergy abuse survivors and other parties ensnared in the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans’ expensive and lengthy bankruptcy reorganization are concerned after a nationally recognized business-turnaround expert brought on to assist with resolving the unusually contentious proceeding had some of his actions questioned in an unrelated case.

Judge Meredith Grabill’s chosen expert, Mohsin “Mo” Meghji, was recently the subject of a Wall Street Journal investigation that examined ethical concerns over some of his maneuvering in a pharmaceutical company’s high-stakes bankruptcy reorganization.

None of the clergy abuse claimants – who have spent years fighting for compensation – or their supporters wanted to speak on the record about the Journal’s investigation into Meghji for fear of troubling Grabill after their side and the church each presented to the judge competing settlement plans that are hundreds of millions of dollars…

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Two priests from a Catholic diocese in Poland that has been hit by a series of scandals in recent years have been charged with sexual offences against minors. A third former priest from the same diocese has also been charged with fraud allegedly committed during his time as a clergyman.

The announcement by prosecutors came as the local bishop revealed that the diocese of Sosnowiec is establishing a special commission to investigate the scandals. Those include a drug-fuelled sex party in a church apartment last year that led to a priest being convicted and the resignation of the previous bishop.

The first of the accused is a 63-year-old priest (who, like the other two, has not been named by prosecutors). He has been charged with committing two sexual offences against minors and placed in pretrial detention.

The second suspect, a priest aged 67, was charged with a total of nine “offences…

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A federal judge has denied Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul’s request to review the Milwaukee Archdiocese’s sealed bankruptcy records as part of his investigation into clergy sex abuse.

U.S. District Judge G. Michael Halfenger denied Kaul’s request on Monday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Thursday. Halfenger called the scope of Kaul’s request “staggering” even before considering what it would take to provide abuse survivors notice of the request.

He added that Kaul did not give him any compelling reason to grant the request, calling it a “massive fishing expedition.”

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011 to address unresolved claims by abuse survivors. The case ended with a settlement in 2016 that called for the archdiocese to pay hundreds of survivors $21 million. Hundreds of their claims remain under seal.

Kaul, a Democrat, launched his investigation in April 2021, saying he wanted to develop a full picture…

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Wisconsin’s attorney general sought documents as part of investigation into sexual abuse by clergy

A federal judge won’t let Wisconsin’s attorney general review sealed records from a bankruptcy case involving the state’s largest Catholic diocese.

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul’s office filed a motion last year, asking to confidentially view those records as part of a statewide investigation into sexual abuse by clergy and other faith leaders.

But, in an order this week, U.S. bankruptcy judge G. Michael Halfenger concluded the AG’s office hadn’t given a sufficient legal reason to reopen the case under bankruptcy law.

Milwaukee’s archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in 2011, before reaching a $21 million settlement deal with hundreds of sexual abuse survivors.

In his ruling, Halfenger noted that the case was closed more than seven years ago when since-retired Judge Susan Kelley approved the settlement. And Halfenger questioned why…

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The terms of a recent diocesan bankruptcy settlement, which require parishes to declare an “abbreviated bankruptcy,” are a first for such cases and shows the impact of a Supreme Court ruling in June, a legal scholar told OSV News.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre announced Sept. 26 that it had reached a preliminary $323 million settlement in its long-running — and at points contentious — bankruptcy case, facing a total of some 500 or more sex abuse claims due to two New York State lookback laws.

In its statement, the diocese said that no parishes would be closed — but they would have to enter into “an abbreviated Chapter 11” bankruptcy, expected to “be resolved within 48 hours of filing,” to secure a release from liability.

“The feature of the proposed settlement that has Rockville Centre’s 135 or so parishes filing their own chapter 11 cases is a first in…

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Regrettably, it’s time for another installment of our long-running feature, Catholics Behaving Badly.

First up is the Denver Archdiocese, which issued an unsigned statement regarding the expulsion of various members of Sodalitium Christianae Vitae after a Vatican investigation found what it termed “sadistic” abuses of power at the organization.

“The Archdiocese of Denver is shocked and saddened by the news of expulsions of members from the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, based on decades-old allegations in South America,” the statement began. “While the Archdiocese is actively working to understand the full extent of the Vatican’s investigation, we are unable to comment on specifics. This news is inconsistent with our longstanding experience of the men who have served within the Archdiocese of Denver.”

So, the archdiocese admits it doesn’t understand the “full extent of the Vatican’s investigation” but feels comfortable casting aspersions on it? Saying it is “inconsistent” with…

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A group of members of Dallas-based Gateway Church have filed a proposed class action lawsuit, alleging that the church fraudulently claimed it was giving 15% of members’ tithe to global missions, but did not.

According to the suit, Gateway should have been giving away a minimum of $15 million a year to global missions, since the church had annual revenue around $100 million.

However, the suit claims Gateway hired a “seasoned CPA” to oversee its global ministries in July 2011. And during his tenure, which ended in 2014, “he never observed the Global Ministries fund give away more than $3 million in any year,” the suit states.

Following initial publication of this article, Gateway Church spokesperson Lawrence Swicegood provided a statement.

“We do not comment on pending litigation,” Swicegood told The Roys Report (TRR). “These are serious allegations. Some of these concerns were brought to us recently, and we are actively investigating…

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The Archdiocese of Seattle announced on Friday the final settlements totaling approximately $785,000 for three separate claims related to allegations of sexual abuse by representatives of the Church. The cases, from the 1970s and ’80s, involve individuals who are now deceased.

In a news release, the archdiocese said it has settled:

• Two cases involving allegations of sexual abuse by Father Gerald Moffat in the mid-1980s when he served as pastor at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Snoqualmie. Moffat is deceased.

• A case involving an allegation of sexual abuse by Terry McGrath in approximately 1975 when he was a basketball coach at Holy Family Parish in Kirkland. McGrath is deceased.

Moffat was included on the archdiocese’s List of Clergy and Religious Brothers and Sisters for Whom Allegations of Sexual Abuse of a Minor Have Been Admitted, Establish or Determined to be Credible when the list was…

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Catholic Priest Joseph O’Brien’s disturbing Alton story

This article discusses matters of sexual abuse, which may be distressing for some readers. We aim to approach this subject with sensitivity and accuracy, providing insights into the ongoing issues surrounding this topic. Reader discretion is advised.

I recently learned that a monster once lived in Alton. Not a mythical monster like the Piasa Bird, but a human monster. And he was a Catholic priest.

His name was Joseph Cullen O’Brien, and he served as pastor of the long-defunct St. Patrick’s Church in the Hunterstown neighborhood from 1968 to 1970.

My Catholic childhood was spent at St. Mary’s, but I heard plenty about O’Brien from Joe Dromgoole, my great uncle, who worked for The Telegraph. St. Patrick’s was his lifelong parish, and Uncle Joe believed O’Brien’s abrasiveness was destroying the church.

Uncle Joe told me that he first met O’Brien when he…

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A familiar face will be coming back to the local area soon, with Father Barry Stechshculte being welcomed into the Holy Cross Family of Parishes, replacing Father Ethan Hoying as the parochial vicar for the parish in Coldwater.

The announcement was made on Sept. 29 in a bulletin published by the parish, with his expected start date being said to be on Oct. 14.

Hoying, on the other hand, will be taking the job of parochial vicar in the Wapakoneta and Botkins area in order to replace Father Mike Willig, who is being named the new vocations director for the Archdiocese.

The appointment comes months after Setchshculte was said to have resigned from his previous position from the St. Susanna Parish of Mason, Ohio in July after complaints were made by his parishioners. The complaints stemmed from his admission of destroying evidence possibly connected to the sexual abuse of minors…

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The scandal came to light when the man fainted during the party and the emergency services had to be called to treat him.

Two Polish priests have been detained on child sex abuse charges, prosecutors said Wednesday, the latest development in a southern Poland diocese rocked by a wave of scandals involving its clergy.

Prosecutors said they had launched an investigation into sexual abuse after evidence emerged as they were probing a homicide-suicide case involving two other priests from the diocese of Sosnowiec.

Three men were now detained as part of the investigation into the abuse, among them two Catholic priests from the Sosnowiec diocese.

“The two men have been charged with committing sexual offences against minors,” prosecution spokesman Jakub Seweryn told AFP.

The third man, a former priest, has been charged with fraud.

Prosecutors said they had identified the victims and declined to elaborate on the details of the…

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What are the contexts in abuse and sexual exploitation extant regarding clergy in the Serbian Orthodox Church?

There are many scandals related to the clergy of the Serbian Orthodox Church and their sodomic behavior. No one can deny this. 

Abuse and sexual exploitation is abnormal predatory behavior.

It is rarely talked about that Orthodox churches have the same, and according to information, maybe even worse prevalence of pedophile and homosexual scandals, but unfortunately they do not get the media attention they have in the Catholic Church.

There is very little or no discussion on this issue among Orthodox Christians. 

So, based on the evidence that has been publicly confirmed as true, there is a clear pattern of sexual abuse in the Serbian Orthodox Churches, but without criticism in the media and public inquiries.

One can only wonder what secrets lie within the hierarchy yet to be discovered.

Last year, at…

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Pope Francis also scolded over status of women in Roman Catholic Church

THE Pope has pledged to raise the status of women and prevent the cover-up of sexual abuse in his Church, after facing criticism during a visit to Belgium last week.

“Womanhood speaks to us of fruitful welcome, nurturing, and life-giving dedication — for this reason, a woman is more important than a man,” Pope Francis told listeners at the French-speaking Catholic University of Louvain.

“Let us be more attentive to the many daily expressions of this love, from friendship to the workplace, from studies to the exercise of responsibility in Church and society. . . Let us not forget: the Church is female, not male.”

The Pope spoke after listening to a 2000-word letter from students, praising his work for justice and integral development, but criticising the Roman Catholic Church’s all-male priesthood and “theology of women”.

He said that the “role…

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The penitential liturgy with Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica Oct. 1 opened with testimonies of those who have faced great suffering, among those a survivor of clergy sexual abuse. Laurence Gien, who was 11 when he was sexually abused by a priest in his native South Africa, told OSV News that standing in front of bishops, cardinals and Pope Francis himself, giving testimony about his lifetime trauma, was his way of “just trying to appeal to their better selves.”

The penitential liturgy concluded a two-day retreat for the 368 members of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality, which opened with Mass in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 2 and will run through Oct. 27.

Gien is a successful musician, pursuing his career as a baritone and performing on stages across Europe. Based in Germany, he has sung at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, the National Theater in Prague, the…

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Cindy Clemishire – the woman who accused former Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris of sexually abusing her when she was 12 – turned down a nondisclosure agreement that would have kept the alleged abuse secret, she told lawmakers at a Texas House committee hearing Wednesday.

During the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence meeting, Clemishire said Morris’ lawyers offered her $25,000 in 2007 if she agreed to sign the NDA and take blame for the alleged abuse.

Clemishire declined, she said, because she wanted to tell her story.

“I’m sitting here today because I did not accept that offer and refused to sign an NDA saying I couldn’t speak about my life,” Clemishire said.

Clemishire made the accusations against Morris in June on the Wartburg Watch and the Christian Post, alleging the abuse started Christmas night 1982 and continued through 1987.

Morris later admitted to…

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Chris Reed, former president of MorningStar Ministries, is starting a new church in South Carolina five weeks after resigning from the prophetic ministry and admitting to sexual misconduct with an adult student.

“Coming soon! Very soon. How this came together was/is a miracle,” Reed wrote in a Facebook post, which he’s since deleted. “Do not despise the day of small beginnings . . . (I)t’s been said ‘every move of God starts in a manger and dies in a cathedral.”

Jesus Revolution Church will open in York, South Carolina, on Oct. 13, Reed wrote in a letter to ministry subscribers today.  Reed wrote that Christians need a revolution, so Reed’s church will restore “the Fear of the Lord” and will be a base for people to learn how to heal the sick and cast out demons.

“Some may say, ‘Why the rush? Take your time; this…

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Editor’s note: Warning, this article contains graphic descriptions of images. 

Gabriel Mills, a father of five and husband who recently celebrated 20 years of marriage, was recently fired from his job as guest experience pastor at the Kenosha campus of the multisite Journey Church for allegedly sending himself nude photos of a female congregant from her husband’s cell phone.

Mills, 41, was charged Wednesday with two counts of capturing an intimate representation, which is a felony, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. At a court hearing that same day, his bail was set at $7,500.

The complaint against Mills, shared on Facebook by the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office, said the female congregant, identified as CMB, and her husband, identified as TAB, and an employee of the Racine Police Department, attended a life group meeting at Mills’ home with their children…

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This week, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington filed for bankruptcy protection in an effort to resolve 31 outstanding sex abuse lawsuits.

With assets largely depleted and a lack of insurance coverage, the diocese claims it has no other option if it is to settle with survivors. “The Diocese determined that reorganization under Chapter 11 is the only way to fairly and equitably fulfill the Diocese’s obligations to all survivors of sexual abuse,” Bishop John McDermott stated in the affidavit.

In the wake of groundbreaking reporting by the Boston Globe in the early 2000s that revealed widespread sexual abuse by Catholic priests, as well as a massive conspiracy to cover up the matter, dioceses across the country, including here in Vermont, have reckoned with those sins — and paid dearly for them, both morally and financially. Since 2006, the Burlington Diocese has paid $34 million to settle 67 lawsuits filed…

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Harsh. Uncharitable. Abusive.

Alejandro Bermúdez acknowledges that those are accusations some critics have leveled against him about how he comports himself on social media, especially on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.

But even while acknowledging that he has sometimes been confrontational, Bermúdez told listeners during a Spanish-language video he posted Sept. 26 on Facebook that he had not done anything wrong because he was “telling the truth.”

“I think that behind all this there are people who simply hate my community,” he said in a Sept. 28 thread on X that provided an English translation of his remarks.

Bermúdez, 63, a Peruvian Catholic journalist and combative conservative media influencer, told his side of the story during the 24-minute Facebook video, which he posted a day after Pope Francis expelled him from the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a lay-led Catholic movement based in…

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Here is a compilation of videos of apologies delivered by Pope Francis and six cardinals ahead of the second session of the Synod on Synodality. [The cardinals read their apologies in Italian; the videos provide an English voice-over translation.]

Manila, Philippines – “How can we be credible in mission if we do not acknowledge our mistakes and bend down to heal the wounds we have caused by our sins?”

Emphasizing the need for the Catholic Church to confess its sins, Pope Francis led a penitential service on Tuesday, October 1, on the eve of the second session of the historic Synod on Synodality at the Vatican.

Six cardinals took turns in delivering apologies on behalf of the Catholic Church in a penitential service at Saint Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday. The final message and apology was reserved for the 87-year-old pontiff who, over the past 11 years, has called for a humble…

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Judge Carl Bucki ruled Monday that certain lawsuits that name diocesan entities like schools or parishes could be allowed to proceed.

Survivors of alleged clergy sexual abuse in the Buffalo Catholic Diocese are expressing “tempered hope” after a ruling in federal bankruptcy court this week that could mean their cases might finally be heard.

Judge Carl Bucki ruled Monday that certain lawsuits that name diocesan entities like schools or parishes could be allowed to proceed, denying the diocese’s request to keep them on hold.

The ruling means Judge Bucki will decide on a case-by-case basis which lawsuits can move ahead in state court and which ones won’t while the diocese’s bankruptcy case proceeds.

“This feels like it’s a great step forward,” said Brian Kirst, an abuse survivor.

Kirst is suing St. Patrick’s R.C. Church in East Randolph where he claims he was abused by Father Joseph Friel and Father Louis…

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Author Christa Brown shares her story of abuse and exposes the hypocrisy inherent in the Southern Baptist Convention’s cover-up.

When the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News published the 2019 exposé “Abuse of Faith,” documenting how the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) spent more than 20 years covering up sexual abuse allegations against nearly 400 clergymen, Christa Brown described it as a “hallelujah moment.” In her memoir, Baptistland, Brown recounts her own abuse by a pastor and her healing journey, providing solace for fellow victims.

Brown details the maddeningly minimal progress the country’s largest Protestant denomination has made to protect members after those revelations. Ignoring calls for meaningful action, attendees of the SBC’s 2024 annual meeting instead passed resolutions supporting Israel and opposing in vitro fertilization and voted to oust the First Baptist Church of Alexandria for allowing women pastors.

The biblically bereft boys club in Baptistland mirrors the dynamics of American politics. Through scandals and…

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The Irish Catholic Bishops Conference says “we cannot relent in our vigilance or in continuing to address the traumas of the past.”

Members of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference gathered this week in Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, for their Autumn 2024 General Meeting. 

During the gathering, Bishops discussed the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders, which was published on September 3.

The damning Report said that the Scoping Inquiry, which was set up to examine historical sexual abuse in Ireland’s day and boarding schools run by religious orders, heard of some 2,395 allegations of historical sexual abuse involving 884 alleged abusers in 308 schools across all parts of the country between the years 1927 to 2013.

The Irish Government has accepted the principal recommendation of the Report, which calls for the establishment of a Commission of Investigation.

Meanwhile,…

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A judge will allow the state’s largest religious denomination to keep paying its staff as the church seeks Chapter 11 protection to reorganize finances depleted by past misconduct lawsuits.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge has expressed “interim” approval for the first steps in the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese’s petition to reorganize finances depleted by clergy sex abuse lawsuits.

Judge Heather Cooper, holding an initial hearing Thursday in Burlington, voiced support for the state’s largest religious denomination to temporarily maintain its current staff, bank accounts and bookkeeping procedures as it becomes the nation’s 40th Catholic entity to seek Chapter 11 protection.

“This is an interim order,” Cooper said before scheduling another hearing for Nov. 26.

Under federal law, the diocese must present the court with a tally of its financial assets and liabilities and petition for Chapter 11 help. The judge, in turn, will decide whether to allow church leaders to develop a…

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The terms of a recent diocesan bankruptcy settlement, which require parishes to declare an “abbreviated bankruptcy,” are a first for such cases and shows the impact of a Supreme Court ruling in June, a legal scholar told OSV News.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre announced Sept. 26 that it had reached a preliminary $323 million settlement in its long-running — and at points contentious — bankruptcy case, facing a total of some 500 or more sex abuse claims due to two New York State lookback laws.

In its statement, the diocese said that no parishes would be closed — but they would have to enter into “an abbreviated Chapter 11” bankruptcy, expected to “be resolved within 48 hours of filing,” to secure a release from liability.

“The feature of the proposed settlement that has Rockville Centre’s 135 or so parishes filing their own chapter 11 cases is a first in…

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Two Catholic institutions say the child sex abuse accusations levied against a visiting priest cannot be tied back to the churches.

Eugene OR – A federal judge in Oregon is tasked with determining to what extent two Catholic organizations are responsible for the sexual abuse a priest is accused of having committed against a minor in the church.

U.S. District Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai must decide if the Archdiocese of Portland and the Priests of the Sacred Heart have vicarious liability for the sexual abuse a plaintiff identified by the pseudonym John Doe accuses Father Bryan Benoit of committing against him in 1998 and 1999, or if the matter is best determined by a jury.

Doe claims Benoit, a visiting priest at the Holy Redeemer Church in North Bend, Oregon, during that time, sent sexually explicit emails from his personal Hotmail account that escalated into physical sexual abuse. Because Benoit was…

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In short:

In a landmark NSW court case a judge has found the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle directly and vicariously liable for the childhood sexual abuse of a man known as AA.

The court heard AA was given beer and cigarettes and was sexually assaulted after blacking out in a presbytery.

What’s next?

A directions hearing has been scheduled for next week.

*

A dying man has been awarded more than $500,000 in damages in a landmark case involving the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle was found to be directly and vicariously liable for the man’s abuse at the hands of a priest who taught scripture 55 years ago.

The man, who for legal reasons can only be referred to as AA, alleged he was abused by Father Ron Pickin at Wallsend High School in the Hunter Valley.

Father Pickin died in 2015.

In a judgement published this…

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington has filed for bankruptcy protection after years of financial losses from settlements paid to survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

Vermont’s last remaining diocese joins 39 other U.S Catholic religious organizations that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy which allows entities to continue normal operations while reorganizing finances.

Reorganization “is in the best interests of the Diocese, its creditors, and all parties in interest,” the Burlington Diocese argued in an emergency motion filed alongside its bankruptcy petition on Sept. 30.

VTDigger first reported on the Church’s bankruptcy filing on Monday.

Since the early 2000s, the Burlington Diocese has paid out over $34 million to survivors abused by clergy as far back as the 1950s, and to this day still faces 31 more pending civil lawsuits, according to Bishop John McDermott’s affidavit for the bankruptcy case.

In the process, the diocese has had to sell several properties,…

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The penitential liturgy with Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica Oct. 1 opened with testimonies of those who have faced great suffering, among those a survivor of clergy sexual abuse. Laurence Gien, who was 11 when he was sexually abused by a priest in his native South Africa, told OSV News that standing in front of bishops, cardinals and Pope Francis himself, giving testimony about his lifetime trauma, was his way of “just trying to appeal to their better selves.”

The penitential liturgy concluded a two-day retreat for the 368 members of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality, which opened with Mass in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 2 and will run through Oct. 27.

Gien is a successful musician, pursuing his career as a baritone and performing on stages across Europe. Based in Germany, he has sung at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, the National Theater in Prague, the…

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The Diocese of Burlington filed for bankruptcy on Monday in an attempt to adequately resolve its fourth and largest wave of sex abuse lawsuits filed against it since the clergy sex scandal broke in 2002. 

“While my heart is heavy with the decision to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, such weight pales in comparison to the pain suffered by victims of abuse,” Bishop John McDermott said in a video statement released on Wednesday in which he addressed the decision to file and apologized to victims of clergy abuse. 

“This chapter in the Church’s history is horrific, and the harm it has caused, immeasurable,” McDermott said. “I know that the decision to file for reorganization may be challenging or even triggering for some survivors. For that and for every aspect of dealing with the crimes of these clergy, I sincerely apologize.” 

The diocese currently faces 31 lawsuits — with allegations dating back as far…

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An advocate group for abuse victims says the Catholic Church is failing to follow its own rules to stand down priests accused of wrongdoing.

Assurances were made by Palmerston North Bishop John Adams to the Manawatū Standard, in the wake of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care report in July, that priests accused of abuse would be removed from duty.

But the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests Aotearoa claims the bishop’s remarks are a direct contradiction of how the church handled two recent complaints.

The group’s leader Christopher Longhurst said two priests, who the Standard has chosen not to identify, had allegations of historical sexual misconduct made about them but neither were stood down.

A complaint was made in 2016 about a priest for an incident in Palmerston North in 1986 and a second priest was named in a complaint made in May last year alleging abuse by priests in…

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‘We are only allowed to look down on a person to help them get up,’ Pope Francis told young people at the penitential ceremony.

For the first time, victims of clerical abuse, of war and indifference told their stories Tuesday (Oct. 1) in the marbled nave of St. Peter’s Basilica before Pope Francis, prominent prelates and young people representing the next generation of Catholics.

The penitential ceremony occurred during a vigil that opened the monthlong Vatican summit on the theme of synodality, described by organizers as “a new way of being church,” focused on welcoming and dialogue.

A South African baritone singer, who introduced himself as Laurence, described the lasting trauma he has suffered from being abused by a priest as a child. He spoke about the effects the sexual abuse crisis, and its cover-up, have had on the credibility of the church.

“This moment in time, in all its…

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The Catholic Church cannot be credible in its mission of proclaiming Christ unless it acknowledges its mistakes and bends down “to heal the wounds we have caused by our sins,” Pope Francis said.

In an unusual penitential liturgy Oct. 1, the pope had seven cardinals read requests for forgiveness that he said he wrote himself “because it was necessary to call our main sins by name.”

The sins included abuse, a lack of courage and commitment to peace, lack of respect for every human life, mistreatment of women or failure to acknowledge their talents and contributions, using church teaching as weapons to hurl at others, lack of concern for the poor and a failure to recognize the dignity and role of every baptized person in the church.

The penitential liturgy with Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica concluded a two-day retreat for the 368 members of the Synod of Bishops…

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Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York has announced that the archdiocese has sued its longtime primary insurance company, Chubb, for “attempting to evade their legal and moral contractual obligation to settle covered claims” of sex abuse.

“It has always been our wish to expeditiously settle all meritorious claims,” Dolan said Oct. 1. “However, Chubb, for decades our primary insurance company, even though we have paid them over $2 billion in premium by today’s standards, is now attempting to evade their legal and moral contractual obligation to settle covered claims which would bring peace and healing to victim-survivors.”

In response, Chubb has put the onus on the Archdiocese of New York.

“The Archdiocese of New York tolerated, concealed, and covered up rampant child sexual abuse for decades, and despite having substantial financial resources, they still refuse to compensate their victims,” Chubb said in a company statement to Crux.

“Instead, the Archdiocese is attempting…

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After news broke last week that the Vatican had expelled 10 prominent members of a scandal-plagued Peruvian lay group, including the pastor of a Denver parish, the victim of the priest has spoken out against rumors he says are not only untrue, but revictimizing.

“I felt doubly betrayed, doubly victimized and violated, because I tried to be a good person (but) they don’t care. They care more about their vanity and their name,” Aharon Felipe Cardona, formerly Andrés prior to his conversion to Judaism around two years ago, told Crux.

Cardona is a former member of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV), a men’s lay group founded in Lima in 1971 by Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari, who last month was expelled amid an ongoing Vatican inquiry after previously being sanctioned in 2017 for the physical, psychological, spiritual and sexual abuse of members, including the sexual abuse of minors.

He spoke following a Sept….

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington filed for bankruptcy on Monday in a bid to resolve more than two dozen sexual abuse lawsuits.

The diocese, which currently faces 31 lawsuits, doesn’t have insurance anymore to cover these claims, and has depleted assets, said Bishop John McDermott in an affidavit filed in federal bankruptcy court on Monday. In the filing, McDermott wrote that a large jury settlement in any of these cases would leave the diocese unable to compensate other survivors.

“The Diocese determined that reorganization under Chapter 11 is the only way to fairly and equitably fulfill the Diocese’s obligations to all survivors of sexual abuse,” McDermott said in the affidavit.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy, often called “reorganization” bankruptcy, allows an organization to continue to operate and propose a plan to pay creditors, in this case survivors of sexual abuse, over time.

The Vermont diocese began facing…

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Bishop Christopher Saunders appeared in Australian court Monday to enter a plea of not guilty to 28 criminal charges, including allegations of sexual assault and indecent dealings with a minor.

The former bishop of the Diocese of Broome stands accused of a long slate of alleged crimes of grooming and abusing young Aboriginal men over a period of eight years, beginning in 2008. Saunders, 74, confirmed to the court that he understood the charges and entered a plea of not guilty on all counts.

He is due back in court for the next hearing in the case in January, having last appeared in June as his lawyer argued against a petition to change the bishop’s bail conditions.

The bishop also faces several separate firearms charges, including illegal possession of a weapon. He did not enter a plea on those charges during the Sept. 30 hearing.

Saunders was arrested in…

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Vermont’s Catholic church has filed for bankruptcy protection as it faces more than 30 lawsuits alleging child sex abuse by clergy decades ago, according to a filing in federal bankruptcy court.

Since 2006, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, the state’s only diocese, has settled 67 lawsuits for a total of $34 million, Bishop John McDermott said in the court filing on Monday. Twenty of those were settled after the Legislature in 2019 removed the statue of limitations on when a claim could be made and the diocese faces 31 more, according to McDermott’s affidavit.

A 2019 report released by the diocese found there were “credible and substantiated” allegations of the sexual abuse of minors against 40 priests in the state since 1950. All but one of those allegations occurred prior to 2000, and none of the priests was still in ministry, the report said. Most of the…

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The Vatican’s decision to expel 10 important members from the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a scandal-plagued society of apostolic life founded in Peru in 1971, was received with surprise — and at times shock — by many in Peru.

Once a powerful Catholic institution that gathered members of the Peruvian elite, the Sodalitium saw itself hit by dozens of denouncements of sexual and psychological abuse, physical violence, misappropriation of funds, and other crimes by former members and journalists.

A Vatican inquiry into the organization included a 2023 investigative mission to Peru, formed by Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna, who is the adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Spanish Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu, also a member of that department. They gathered documents and interviewed members of the SCV, its alleged victims and journalists during their trip.

As a result of the investigation, Luis Fernando Figari, the Sodalitium’s founder, was expelled from the…

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New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan this week said the archdiocese’s longtime insurer is “attempting to evade their legal and moral contractual obligation” to pay out financial claims to sex abuse victims, with the archdiocese launching a lawsuit against the insurer in response.

The prelate said in a letter to the faithful on Tuesday that the archdiocese has already settled more than 500 claims of sex abuse “not covered by insurance.” Yet there remain around 1,400 unresolved abuse allegations, Dolan said. 

“It has always been our wish to expeditiously settle all meritorious claims,” the archbishop said. “However, Chubb, for decades our primary insurance company, even though we have paid them over $2 billion in premiums by today’s standards, is now attempting to evade their legal and moral contractual obligation to settle covered claims which would bring peace and healing to victim-survivors.” 

“As a result we have sued them for violating New…

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Giuliana Caccia and Sebastián Blanco pretended to be victims to derail Pope Francis’s probe on abuse and violence at the Peruvian Sodalitium.

In Belgium, Pope Francis calls to bring evil to light. “Let it be known and whether layperson, priest, or bishop: let the abuser be judged.”

In Lima, archbishop Carlos Castillo cited Pope Francis’s call in Belgium and called for a “a deep process of renovation in the Church. We need to raise our voice, honestly, without subterfuges or lies.”

Less than one week after Pope Francis’s decision to expel a total of eleven leaders from the Sodalitium, news of the Pope issuing a decree of excommunication against two far-right activists broke on Sunday.

The Sodalitium, a Roman Catholic order marred by abuse accusations since the late early years of this century, found their “champion” in a couple of far-right activists pretending to be victims of clergy sexual abuse to…

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A Christian organization long plagued by allegations of child sex abuse is now facing a lawsuit that accuses the group of failing to protect a girl from one of her peers at its missionary training center.

Ethnos360, a religious nonprofit group based in Sanford, Florida, that was formerly known as New Tribes Mission, sends missionaries and their families to far-flung corners of the world. In 2019, multiple women told NBC News that they had been sexually abused decades earlier by their “dorm dads” — missionaries tasked with caring for children at New Tribes Mission’s overseas boarding schools while their parents served in the field.

The group issued a public apology to the abuse survivors following the NBC News report and said that it had “incorporated significant child safety training” after an independent party commissioned by New Tribes Mission shared recommendations…

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Pope Francis used his only Mass in Belgium to praise the courage of survivors of abuse at the hands of priests in improvised remarks to a crowd of some 30,000 people at Brussels’ King Baudouin stadium.

He publicly demanded priests who abuse young people be punished, and the church hierarchy stop covering up their crimes.

Belgium has a legacy of abuse and cover-up within the church, including the case of Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe, a very senior member of the clergy who was allowed to quietly retire in 2010 after he admitted to have sexually abused his nephew for 13 years.

Vangheluwe was only defrocked last year by Francis.

“Evil must not be hidden. Evil must be brought out into the open,” Francis said to repeated rounds of applause.

On Friday night, Francis held a meeting with 17 abuse survivors where he heard first hand the trauma they endured and…

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Cardinal Timothy Dolan also announced that the archdiocese will be selling its headquarters on First Avenue in Manhattan, moving into smaller offices elsewhere in 2025.

The Archdiocese of New York filed a lawsuit against its insurance provider for allegedly refusing to pay out victims of sexual abuse cases stemming from years of scandals that plagued the Church.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, said in a letter to church members Monday that the insurance company Chubb claimed it was not obligated to settle claims because the abuse of victims was “expected or intended” by the church.

“Chubb, for decades our primary insurance company, even though we have paid them over $2 billion in premium by today’s standards, is now attempting to evade their legal and moral contractual obligation to settle covered claims which would bring peace and healing to victim-survivors,” Dolan wrote in the letter.

The Archdiocese sued…

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Pope Francis urged Catholic bishops to be more transparent and aggressive in combatting child sex abuse in the Church during his visit to Belgium on Sunday, declaring that “evil must not be hidden” and “must be brought out into the open.”

“Let it be known, as some abuse victims have done, and with courage,” Francis said in Brussels. “Let it be known. And let the abuser be judged. Let the abuser be judged, whether layperson, priest or bishop: Let the abuser be judged.”

The Pope’s remarks came two days after Belgium’s prime minister and king severely criticized him for the Catholic Church’s failure to prevent child sex abuse and make amends with survivors. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called for the Church to take “concrete steps” to adequately address the problem instead of merely paying lip service to solving it. King Philippe agreed.

“It has taken far too…

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[See also Bishop John J. McDermott’s affidavit.]

After decades of sexual abuse cases and dozens of settlements, the Catholic Diocese fears it won’t be able to compensate all the survivors, according to court paperwork.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, Vermont has filed for bankruptcy in federal court. It follows decades of sexual abuse allegations and settlements, according to current Bishop John McDermott, who was just installed in July.

In 2019, an independent committee formed by former Bishop Christopher Coyne published a public report about the abuse allegations.

To date, the Diocese says 40 priests had credible claims against them, for sexual abuse of a minor. Most of the incidents occurred between 1950 and 1980, according to court documents.

According to paperwork filed Monday, the Diocese settled nearly 30 cases in 2006 and 11 cases in 2013.

In 2019, the Vermont legislature removed the limitations period…

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The state’s only Catholic diocese, which has paid out more than $30 million to survivors over the years, still faces 31 lawsuits related to decades-old claims.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, a maneuver through which the church will seek to resolve scores of sex abuse claims and preserve its assets.

The state’s only Catholic diocese, which has paid out more than $30 million to sex abuse survivors in recent decades, still faces 31 pending civil lawsuits related to decades-old abuse claims, according to the petition filed in federal bankruptcy court in Vermont.

Most of the pending lawsuits were triggered by Vermont lawmakers’ 2019 decision to lift the statute of limitations for civil claims related to sexual abuse of children. One of those cases had been scheduled for trial earlier this month but was abruptly canceled without public explanation, VTDigger.org reported.

…

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The state’s largest religious denomination will continue to operate local parishes as it becomes the nation’s 40th church entity to try to reorganize depleting finances in court.

Vermont’s Roman Catholic Diocese has filed for bankruptcy protection in the wake of more costly lawsuits alleging priest misconduct as far back as 1950, according to a filing Monday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Burlington.

The state’s largest religious denomination, reporting 110,000 members, will continue to operate 63 local parishes as it becomes the nation’s 40th Catholic entity (of a total of some 200) to try to reorganize depleting finances in court.

In its initial petition, the diocese didn’t offer specific financial figures but instead estimated its assets at between $10 million to $50 million, its liabilities at between $1 million to $10 million, and its number of creditors at between 100 to 199, with 30 unresolved lawsuits said to be its largest…

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