ABUSE TRACKER

Legislation that gives victims of child sex abuse more time to sue heads to the Louisiana state capitol.

The session starts on Monday.

It comes as a crucial three year look back window is about to expire. Survivors are waiting on the Louisiana Supreme Court to rule if the law is constitutional.

Survivors fear a massive number of claims could unravel.

“This is all about holding perpetrators of sexual abuse on children responsible,” Sen. Jay Luneau said.

Luneau said the look back window giving victims more time to sue was passed three years ago.

Luneau filed Senate Bill 246 he said it extends the deadline for sex abuse survivors to file from June 14, 2024, to June 14, 2027.

“It affects any institution that is involved with children where there is abuse of children that occurred and most of those times, a blind eye was turned,”…

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Neil Pfeifer was removed from active ministry on Jan. 14, 2023

A former Jamestown priest who was convicted of sexual assault was removed from the priesthood effective Friday, March 8, announced Bishop John Folda with the Diocese of Fargo.

Neil Pfeifer, 49, formerly a priest of the Diocese of Fargo, received a dispensation from the clerical state from Pope Francis.

“When members of the clergy or others representing the Church abuse someone, they violate a sacred trust,” Folda said in a press release. “Please join me in praying for healing for all those hurt in this situation.”

The decision to laicize a priest is determined by the Holy See. Laicization means that Pfeifer has been returned to the lay state and may no longer exercise priestly ministry.

As a result, in accordordance with Canon Law, Pfeifer may no longer celebrate Mass, hear confessions or administer other sacraments. Laicization does not…

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The Archdiocese of New York has declined questions regarding the future of a priest who was convicted last year of stealing several hundred thousand dollars from his suburban New York parish. 

An expert on theft perpetrated by clerics told The Pillar that without clear consequences for priests who steal, the problem of financial malfeasance in the Church is likely to continue.

Father Robert Henry, 75, was sentenced last year to five years probation, after he pled guilty to stealing $270,155 from his parish, St. Matthew & Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which has churches in Hastings on Hudson and Ardsley, New York.

The priest reached a plea deal in the case, leaving little court testimony to indicate the reason for the theft. But charging documents obtained by The Pillar indicate that the priest stole the money during a single week in March 2022, and that the theft was caught during an audit conducted by…

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A significant Maryland law that permits survivors of childhood sexual abuse to sue regardless of how long ago the alleged assault occurred survived a constitutional challenge on Wednesday. We applaud Circuit Judge Robin D. Gill Bright’s ruling today. 

Institutions and the insurance industry have long lobbied against reforms that benefit child victims. We are elated for the many victim-survivors who deserve validation and justice. ‘The challenge to constitutionality alone tells us that the catholic church continues to deny accountability. Never should we trust twice what they have shown us once. I am thrilled survivors have again prevailed.’ Mike McDonnell, SNAP Executive Director

CONTACT: Mike McDonnell, SNAP Executive Director (mmcdonnell@snapnetwork.org, 267-261-0578) David Lorenz, SNAP Maryland leader (glydonct@gmail.com, 301-906-9161) Shaun Dougherty, SNAP Board President (sdougherty@snapnetwork.org, 814-341-8386)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 35 years. We have more than 25,000…

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The status of a federal investigation into a leading Southern Baptist agency’s handling of sexual abuse is unclear.

But this much is clear — survivors of abuse and their advocates remain deeply skeptical of leaders’ intentions to address the scandal in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Recent events have deepened that distrust.

After the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee said Wednesday that the committee was no longer under federal investigation over its handling of sexual abuse in the church, several survivors and advocates say they’ve learned directly from Department of Justice officials that no part of the investigation has finished.

Further clouding the issue was an ambiguous phrase from the denomination’s official news service.

“Legal counsel for the SBC has since confirmed that the investigation into the SBC as a whole remains open and ongoing,” said an article Thursday in Baptist Press.

While it was long known that other SBC…

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A pastor in Butler County who is already facing charges amid accusations of sexually assaulting minors is now facing new charges. 

Herman Rushing Jr. is accused of inappropriately touching two young girls. 

Those new charges were filed on Thursday. 

RELATED: Butler County pastor arrested on charges of inappropriate sexual contact with two young girls

Back in December, Rushing was charged with similar offenses concerning two other young girls. 

The 67-year-old Rushing Jr. is a pastor at By His Grace Christian Ministries off North McKean Street in Butler.

He faces charges, including indecent assault, corruption of minors, and endangering the welfare of children in connection to incidents involving two girls, now ages 13 and 16.  

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Eighteen years in prison — that’s the sentencing fate of a former Olive Branch pastor charged with sex crimes against children.

According to the Desoto County District Attorney’s Office, Daniel Paul Harris, former pastor of Olive Branch Christian Church on New Craft Road, will have to serve this term without the possibility of parole or early release.

“If he’s touching little kids, yes he should be under the jail,” said Veterra Davis of Olive Branch.

FOX13 received strong reaction Wednesday from people who live in a nearby community following Harris’ sentencing.

“It’s really scary though because that’s right around the corner. I won’t have my kids outside,” Davis added. 

“Well he should have got more,” James Thompson told FOX13 about the sentence.

Harris is charged with sexual battery and fondling.

District Attorney Matthew Barton announced this week that Harris pleaded guilty to charges related to sex crimes against children as…

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Abuse in any setting is a profound violation of trust and safety, leaving scars that can last a lifetime. However, there’s a particularly insidious layer to abuse that occurs in parochial schools, making it not only profoundly damaging but also uniquely challenging to bring to light. This discussion aims to unwrap these complexities while offering insight into the difficulties survivors face in reporting abuse and the potentially transformational power of speaking out.

Is there any difference between being abused in a Catholic parish or a Catholic school?

Certainly, the environment in which abuse occurs can fundamentally alter the survivor’s experience and the aftermath of reporting. Parochial schools, with their intimate communities and intertwined relationships, create specific challenges for those who have been victimized within their walls.

The Greater Range of Harm in a School Setting

Abuse in a parochial school involves multiple forms of betrayal. Survivors often grapple with the…

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 Former students of a private boarding school in southeast Missouri are speaking out as we learn new details about the investigation that has the facility shut down and the owners facing felony kidnapping charges.

ABM Ministries covers roughly 250 acres south of Piedmont but on Thursday night, the school is closed and the students who stayed there are back home with their families.

Larry and Carmen Musgrave each face a single felony count of kidnapping.

School employee Caleb Sandoval is charged with felony abuse or neglect of a child.

Sandoval is still in jail, but the Musgraves are out on bond.

The investigation that shut down the school continues, and it’s being fueled in large part by former ABM students across the country who’ve put their faith in a sheriff they say is finally listening to them.

“Um, I feel very validated, right…

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Life moved on, and somehow I missed that two weeks ago the deacons of Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., finally took a vote of confidence in Pastor Steven Smith. According to published reports, 59% of those voting supported the embattled pastor and 41% opposed him — but nearly a third of deacons didn’t vote.

In context, the church in January listed 61 deacons. Only 26 (43% of the total) voted to support the pastor while 18 voted against him and 17 did not vote at all. That’s effectively a 57% vote of no confidence.

Now, if you’re a Baptist pastor or have ever served as a lay leader in a Baptist church, you can read the handwriting on the wall here. A pastor can temporarily survive a bare-majority vote of confidence but no pastor can survive this kind of tepid endorsement for long — unless one other condition happens.

…

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The alleged victim said Father Dennis Peterson began abusing him in 1995 when he and his father were homeless and they sought help at a Catholic church.

A man who says he was sexually abused by a Catholic priest in Houston is coming forward after nearly three decades. He’s filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, claiming they failed to protect him. 

The man, who spoke with us on the condition that we protect his identity, said he wants justice and closure. 

“It basically destroyed my life, it destroyed me in a million ways,” he told us.

The alleged victim said the abuse began in 1995 when he was 8 years old and he and his father were homeless. They went to the Saint Francis Cabrini Catholic Church in southeast Houston where he says Father Dennis Peterson befriended them and offered to help.

…

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This is not the first time Rev. John Stack has been temporarily removed due to an investigation into alleged abuse against minors.

A local Catholic priest has been reinstated by the Diocese of Davenport after allegations of “inappropriate conduct with a minor,” according to a press release. 

The Diocese says it was made aware of the allegations against Fr. John Stack in 2023. The alleged abuse stems from the mid-1990s, the release says.

In compliance with the Memorandum of Understanding between the Diocese and County Attorney, the allegations were reported to the Scott County State’s Attorney and the case was then returned to the Diocese. According to the release, Stack was removed from ministry while the investigation took place.  

Here is a timeline of the investigation, according to the Diocese:

“Following a thorough investigation that was considered by the Diocesan Review Board, the case was sent in October of…

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A private Catholic high school in Seattle is paying more than $2.4 million to a former student claiming she was groomed, harassed and sexually abused by a teacher for years.

The unnamed former student also accused administrators at Seattle Preparatory School of ignoring the abuse throughout her four years there.

“The ongoing abuse I suffered at Seattle Prep has had a devastating impact on my life — then, after, now and will going forward,” she said in a press release. “Seattle Prep leaders did everything possible for years to bury the truth about the abuse and what they knew. They did all they could to destroy me just to protect their reputation.”

The teacher at the center of the settlement is Jeff Pietz, who also served as a coach and athletic director at the school beginning in 1992. According to documents from the Washington Office…

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The church has opened an inquiry into a “distressing” allegation of an historical offence against New Zealand’s emeritus Cardinal Archbishop of Wellington John Dew after a police investigation closed without any charges laid.

Cardinal Dew, 75, strenuously denies the allegation and will remain suspended from ministry during the Vox Estis Lux Mundi investigation.

He is accused of an instance of sexual abuse against a minor during his time as an assistant priest during the 1970s.

New Zealand police concluded their 10-month inquiry after determining the allegation is unsubstantiated.

In a 7 March statement Cardinal Dew said he was informed of the allegation on 6 May 2023, the day after submitting his retirement, and immediately stepped aside from ministry.

“I stated immediately, and state again now, that there have never been any instances of improper or abusive behaviour in my 48 years of priesthood,” he wrote.

The complaint was lodged with the Church’s…

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New Zealand’s Cardinal John Dew will face no charges after police ended a 10-month investigation into an abuse allegation that the retired Archbishop of Wellington firmly denies. 

Dew said March 7 that the police had informed him “that this investigation has now been concluded, their file has been closed, and no charges will be laid against me.”

The cardinal, who at 75 years of age is eligible to vote in a papal conclave, will now face a separate Church investigation.

In a statement, Dew said that he first learned of the abuse allegation on May 6, 2023, the day after his retirement as the Wellington archbishop was announced.

The claim dated back to 1977, when Dew was an assistant priest in Upper Hutt, a city in Greater Wellington. The website CathNews New Zealand said that the allegation related to an orphanage run by the Sisters of Mercy.

“I stated immediately, and…

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My retirement as Archbishop of Wellington was announced on 5th May last year. On Saturday
6th May, I was informed that an allegation of sexual abuse had been made against me which
dated back 46 years to when I was an Assistant Priest in Upper Hutt.

I stated immediately, and state again now, that there have never been any instances of
improper or abusive behaviour in my 48 years of priesthood.

I learned that the complaint made against me had been submitted to the Church’s National
Office for Professional Standards and the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse. I followed
church protocols, and stepped aside from any ministry while the Police were investigating this.
Thirty weeks later I was interviewed by the New Zealand Police in the presence of my lawyer

From the moment, I was told of this alleged behaviour I have strenuously denied that the events
described ever happened.

This has now been thoroughly investigated…

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Pope Francis sought to encourage his child protection board on Thursday to continue helping victims, as new developments outside the Vatican underscored that the Catholic Church’s clergy sex abuse scandal isn’t going away anytime soon.

Francis met with his Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which is expected to soon release the first-ever audit of safeguarding procedures and policies church-wide.

But as that report is being compiled, church officials in Switzerland reported a surge in victims coming forward since the September publication of a bombshell report that found over 1,000 cases of abuse since the mid-20th century in a country with a relatively small Catholic population.

The diocese in northwestern Basel, for example, reported that more than half of the suspected 183 cases in the last 13 years emerged in the last six months. Swiss news agency SDA-Keystone reported at least 70 other cases…

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Pope Francis encouraged the papal commission tasked with combatting clergy abuse to move forward in their efforts to make the Church a safer environment for both minors and vulnerable adults.

Acknowledging that it is easy to feel discouraged when confronting the realities of the sexual abuse crisis, the pope told the the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors on Thursday morning that “our commitment must not wane.”

“Indeed, I encourage you to move forward so that the Church will be, always and everywhere, a place where everyone can feel at home,” Pope Francis said. 

Underscoring the importance of listening “firsthand” to abuse victims, the pope stressed to the body that “we cannot help others to bear their burdens unless we shoulder them ourselves, unless we show genuine closeness and compassion.” 

“In our ecclesial ministry of protecting minors, closeness to victims of abuse is no abstract concept but a very…

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Francis meets members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, encourages them to continue “the work of protection and prevention”

Pope Francis has encouraged members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (“Tutela Minorum”) to continue their “courageous” efforts at helping the Catholic Church fight against sexual abuse within its ranks.

The pope met the group this past Thursday (March 7) at the Vatican where Tutela Minorum was holding a plenary assembly.

Francis tasked the commission back in April 2022 to work on an annual report for safeguarding policies and procedures in the Church. It is expected to be published later this year, probably in October. The document will survey how Catholic institutions worldwide are actively combating sexual abuse against minors. It will also determine how the rules to prevent child sexual abuse, which were drawn up in early the unprecedented Vatican summit Francis called in…

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Cardinal John Dew of New Zealand has been accused in a local news channel of allegedly abusing an underage boy in 1977.

Newshub, on New Zealand’s television channel Three, reported a 54-year-old man says Dew sexually abused him when he was seven years old.

Steve Carvell – who allowed his name to be used – told the television show memories of the alleged sexual abuse surfaced in recent years.

“The reason I’ve decided to share my story and come forward today is in the hope that other victims out there draw some strength from what I’m doing,” he told Newshub.

Carvell also alleges Father Noel Donoghue, another priest who has since died, and a nun also abused him.

The alleged abuse is said to have taken place at an orphanage in the Upper Hutt parish in the Archdiocese of Wellington in 1977.

Police told Newshub they have exhausted all available lines of enquiry…

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The Vatican is launching an investigation into a claim of historical sexual abuse against New Zealand Cardinal John Dew, according to a public letter published by the Archdiocese of Wellington on Thursday.

Addressing the Catholic community of the country in the Pacific Ocean, Archbishop Paul Martin, SM, of Wellington wrote on March 7 that the Church inquiry into allegations against Dew was launched after a police investigation concluded without charges. 

The allegations date back to the 1970s and involve an alleged incident at St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Upper Hutt, roughly 20 miles northeast of Wellington, where Dew, then an assistant priest, is accused of abusing a 7-year-old boy.

Police investigated claims made by a man who alleges Dew sexually abused him — then an assistant priest — at St. Joseph’s Orphanage when he was 7 years old. 

Despite the absence of charges, Dew, who retired as archbishop of…

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Prominent Hungarian Catholics have defended their church’s record on tackling sexual crimes by clergy after a top-level government abuse scandal led to the appointment of a new national president of the country.

“This sin exists here, as everywhere in the world — we don’t see any specific pattern which would distinguish Hungary from other countries,” said Péter Zachar, co-president of the 3,000-member ecumenical Association of Christian Intellectuals, or KÉSZ.

“But our church is doing a lot in this area — with a centralized system initiated from the Vatican, careful handling of reports, and full cooperation with the investigating authorities according to canonical and local standards,” he said.

The lay Catholic made his comments as Tamás Sulyok, Hungary’s Constitutional Court chairman, assumed office as president after being elected by members of parliament Feb. 26 to replace Katalin Novák, who resigned for pardoning a man convicted in a child abuse case.

In…

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Twins are a bonanza for research psychologists. In a field perpetually seeking to tease out the effects of genetics, environment and life experience, they provide a natural controlled experiment as their paths diverge, subtly or dramatically, through adulthood.

Take Dennis and Douglas. In high school, they were so alike that friends told them apart by the cars they drove, they told researchers in a study of twins in Virginia. Most of their childhood experiences were shared — except that Dennis endured an attempted molestation when he was 13.

At 18, Douglas married his high school girlfriend. He raised three children and became deeply religious. Dennis cycled through short-term relationships and was twice divorced, plunging into bouts of despair after each split. By their 50s, Dennis had a history of major depression, and his brother did not.

Why do twins, who share so many genetic and environmental inputs, diverge…

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One of New Zealand’s most senior Catholics has failed in his last-ditch attempt to prevent a media company from detailing sexual abuse allegations against him.

Cardinal John Dew, a former Archbishop of Wellington who was made a Cardinal by Pope Francis in 2015, is the subject of a yet-to-air Newshub story accusing him of sexual abuse.

He sought an injunction against Warner Bros Discovery NZ to prevent Newshub’s story going to air.

He first sought the injunction in the High Court, but failed.

He appealed to the Court of Appeal, again failing, and then took his case to the Supreme Court.

Today the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal.

The judgment says Newshub’s story detailed allegations from Steven and Linda Carvell.

They were aged 7 and 8 in November 1977 when the alleged conduct is said to have occurred at St Joseph’s Orphanage in Upper Hutt.

Cardinal Dew says the alleged…

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The retired Archbishop of Wellington says evidence provided to a police investigation shows allegations against him could never have happened.

The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal against Cardinal John Dew, who was seeking an injunction against Warner Brothers-discovery to prevent a Newshub story being broadcast.

The court judgement says the story alleges the abuse of two children at St Joseph’s Orphanage in Upper Hutt in 1977.

In a statement, Cardinal Dew said the police investigation had been closed and no charges had been laid.

Cardinal Dew said sworn affidavits to the police proved the allegations could never have happened and the police investigated and were not laying charges.

“From the moment, I was told of this alleged behaviour I have strenuously denied that the events described ever happened,” he said in a statement.

He said he did not know the person making the allegation against him and it was…

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• Cardinal John Dew, New Zealand’s top Catholic, has lost a Supreme Court bid to block a Newshub report tying him to sexual abuse allegations.
• Dew went to the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court to try and halt investigative journalist Michael Morrah’s report.
• Court documents say the story will focus on allegations of sexual abuse at a Lower Hutt orphanage in the late 1970s.

New Zealand’s top Catholic, Cardinal John Dew, has lost a long-running fight in the Supreme Court to suppress historic sexual abuse allegations against him.

Dew took action against Discovery New Zealand, owners of Newshub, to try and prevent them publishing a story by their experienced investigations reporter, Michael Morrah, which would report on allegations that Dew was involved in sexual abuse at a Catholic orphanage in the 1970s.

Dew, who was Archbishop of Wellington from 2005 until his retirement in 2023, has strenuously denied the…

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The Catholic Church in Slovakia said Tuesday that it had received 68 abuse complaints since 1990, as it released its first comprehensive safeguarding report.

The 35-page report by the Slovak bishops’ commission for the protection of minors in the Church said that 39 of the 68 complaints had been confirmed and the cases closed.

Of the remaining 29 cases, 17 remained open, 7 were deemed “unresolvable,” and 5 were unconfirmed and the cases closed.

Fifty of the cases were lodged in Slovakia’s Latin Rite dioceses, while 3 were from the country’s Greek Catholic eparchies (dioceses) and 15 were from religious orders.

The highest number of annual cases was in 2019, when 16 complaints were recorded. There were 8 complaints in 2022 and 6 in 2023.

Slovakia, a country bordered by Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic, became an independent state in 1993, following the dissolution of communist Czechoslovakia.

Slovakia’s…

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A Prince George’s County judge found Maryland’s Child Victims Act to be constitutional Wednesday in a case involving the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, setting up what’s expected to be an expedited process to have the state’s highest court hear an appeal.

Circuit Judge Robin D. Gill Bright listened to arguments Wednesday morning and ruled in the afternoon, to the relief of advocates for survivors of abuse.

In a statement, the archdiocese said it would immediately appeal the finding in the class-action child sex abuse lawsuit that is the first to test the new Maryland law.

“The important constitutional principles presented in this case are not unique to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and are at issue in the cases filed against public entities, private schools, and secular and religious organizations across the state,” it said. “The archdiocese will pursue an immediate appeal of today’s decision.”

The Child Victims Act,…

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New Zealand’s highest-ranked Catholic priest has failed in a Supreme Court bid to block Newshub reporting on child sex abuse accusations made against him.

Cardinal John Dew, who delivered the church’s public apology to victims of clergy abuse in 2021, took Newshub’s owner Discovery NZ Ltd to the Supreme Court to stop the broadcast.

The Supreme Court judgement said the story recounts allegations of alleged victim Steven Carvell who was 7-years-old when he stayed at St Joseph’s Orphanage in Upper Hutt in 1977.

Police investigated a complaint made by Steve Carvell but have closed the case and decided not to lay charges. 

Carvell asked a District Court judge to waive his automatic right to name suppression and signed a sworn affidavit so Newshub could tell his story.

Dew, who strenuously denies the allegation, was the leader of the Catholic Church in New Zealand until he retired in May.

Newshub had…

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Six months after the publication of a study by the University of Zurich on abuse in the Catholic Church in Switzerland, more than 160 further alleged victims have come forward to the dioceses and victim support centres.

The diocese of canton Basel published its latest figures on Tuesday. Since September 2023, the diocese has received 92 reports of abuse from church clergy. In other dioceses, the publication of the pilot study did not lead to a similar large number of reports, the Keystone-SDA news agency was told.

In total, four dioceses reported just under 70 victims. This does not include the diocese of Lugano in canton Ticino, which will publish its figures on Wednesday.

The Swiss Bishops’ Conference (SBC) itself did not register any reports, as it is not a reporting centre. However, it has announced a national centre for each Swiss national language. This project that is already underway.

…

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Argentina’s Supreme Court upheld a 45-year prison sentence for Father Horácio Corbacho Blank, one of the priests convicted for numerous acts of sex abuse against minors in an institute for deaf children and teenagers in Mendoza province between 2005-2016.

Corbacho Blank had appealed the 2019 sentence, when another priest who worked at Institute Antonio Provolo, Italian-born Father Nicola Bruno Corradi, was also found guilty and sentenced to 42 years in prison.

The institute, located in the city of Luján de Cuyo, was at the center of one of the major scandals of ecclesiastical abuse in Argentina in 2016 when one of its teachers denounced the “aberrant acts” that occurred there.

Besides Corbacho and Corradi – who was kept in house arrest at a nursing home and died in 2021 – received an 18-year sentence with a gardener named Armando Gómez. Another employee, Jorge Bordón, was sentenced to 10 years.

Nine…

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Victims’ group also passed out fliers in the Piedmont area recently

“Call law enforcement if you see, suspect or suffer any wrongdoing,” survivors urge

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is urging officials at a southern Missouri faith-based boarding school to fire an employee who is accused of abusing children. The owners of the facility, Larry and Carmen Musgraves, were arrested Friday by the local sheriff’s department on charges of first-degree kidnapping and were jailed without bond.

SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, recently wrote to top officials at Lighthouse Christian Academy, a.k.a. ABM Ministries, including the Musgraves. In the letter, the survivors’ group begged them to remove Julio Sandoval from the premises and payroll of its facility just outside Piedmont in Wayne County.

Sandoval previously worked at Agape Boarding School in Stockton, Missouri, for 10 years. View Cache

In light of several serious accusations of abuse against Catholic artist Father Marko Rupnik, the Knights of Columbus told CNA that they “are carefully considering the best course of action” concerning the priest’s mosaics that adorn the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C. 

With the assistance of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and a small, lay staff, the Knights of Columbus own and operate the St. John Paul II National Shrine, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors and pilgrims from across the country and world. 

Calls to remove the priest’s artwork from places of worship have been mounting around the world. Yet, extensive Rupnik artwork in the John Paul II Shrine’s two chapels remains in place. 

CNA emailed the Knights of Columbus about the Rupnik mosaics. In response, the order signaled that it may be open to removing the…

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Debates escalate over Father Marko Rupnik’s mosaics at the St. John Paul II Shrine following abuse allegations. The art’s fate hangs in balance.

Amid several serious accusations of abuse against Catholic artist Father Marko Rupnik, the future of his distinctive mosaics at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C. hangs in balance. The Knights of Columbus, overseeing the shrine, are deliberating on the removal of these artworks following global calls for action against spaces adorned by the priest’s creations. This comes after allegations surfaced against Rupnik, involving physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, casting a shadow over his celebrated works.

Who is Marko Rupnik?

Ordained in 1985, Father Rupnik gained prominence in the Catholic Church through his art, notably featured in significant religious sites worldwide. However, his legacy faces tarnish after accusations and his expulsion from the Jesuits, spotlighting the intertwining of his art with…

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I grew up in a fundamentalist Southern Baptist church in Georgia. I was on the “cradle roll” from the time I was six weeks old, and I was at church “every time the doors were open,” as the saying goes.

What I learned in that church was a perfect setup for sexual abuse for a child who took it all in and believed it all wholeheartedly. I so deeply internalized the church’s messages that no one had to tell me to keep quiet or take responsibility for my own abuse. Oh no. I did it all for myself. I believed every word the church told me, and so I was set up — to be abused, to keep quiet about it, and to blame myself for what happened to me.

God is in control

The God of my Southern Baptist church was in control of everything. Whatever happened was God’s will….

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A 68-year-old active Greek priest and his 61-year-old former associate, have been arrested for allegedly defrauding believers of over €1.3 million.

According to police, the two men convinced their victims to support the priest’s candidacy to become the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki. They did this by falsely claiming that his election was certain and by showing forged letters that appeared to be from religious organisations and government agencies.

The fraud was uncovered after an investigation by the Thessaloniki Organized Crime Squad, which was prompted by complaints from six alleged victims.

In addition to the priest and his former associate, two other people, aged 51 and 34, are also involved in the case. They have been charged with fraud, forgery, and money laundering.

The investigation found that the money was transferred to accounts belonging to the 61-year-old man. It also found that money was transferred to other people, including the two other suspects.

The case has been…

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Opinion. Fourteen years ago this month, the South Dakota legislature passed an eleventh-hour proposal to change the  state’s statute of limitations on child sex offenses. The legislation made it impossible for any victim aged 40 or above to bring civil damages against people or institutions — including churches and schools — that should have known of the sexual abuse.

The 2010 measure was first brought to the legislature by Steven R. Smith, a South Dakota attorney for a Catholic entity that was being sued by dozens of Native Americans who claimed they had been sexually abused over decades at three Indian boarding schools run by the church. 

Then-governor Mike Rounds, a Republican who now serves as South Dakota’s junior U.S. Senator, signed the bill into law in March 2010. With the swipe of his pen, Rounds undid scores of lawsuits for more than 100 Native American boarding school survivors against the Catholic…

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A criminal investigation was launched last month following reports of physical and sexual abuse at a private Catholic boarding school in Betharram, at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains near Lourdes. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, believes and fully supports the former students who have filed dozens of complaints.

The public prosecutor’s office in Pau opened an investigation on February 1st after receiving twenty complaints for acts of violence, as well as sexual assault and rape, from former students of Notre Dame de Betharram. The accusations go back to the 1970s.  The complaints range from brutal treatments of boarders, such as being forced to stand outside almost naked in freezing temperatures, to night-time visits by priests who sexually abused and raped children in their beds. The complaints were primarily related to acts of violence, but some were for sex crimes.

After the…

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Sexual abuse firms investigate the Lord’s Ranch, former Arkansas facility for troubled children

Romanucci & Blandin, LLC and Gillispie Law Firm are conducting an extensive civil litigation investigation into multiple allegations of sexual abuse at the Lord’s Ranch Christian religious camp and treatment facility in Warm Springs, Arkansas. We represent more than a dozen victims from Arkansas, Alaska, Illinois and Indiana, and ask witnesses and anyone with knowledge of what happened at the camp to come forward. This investigation is time-sensitive, as all civil litigation must be filed by the end of January 2024.

Anyone with information about the Lord’s Ranch is encouraged to contact the legal team to provide a witness statement.

What was the Lord’s Ranch?

The Lord’s Ranch opened in 1976 and closed in 2016. The facility was alleged to have focused on providing medical treatments, including mental health services and other residential treatment methods. Owner and wealthy businessman Ted Suhl, whose father Bud Suhl founded Lord’s Ranch, was convicted and given a prison sentence for bribery and fraud for gaming the Medicaid…

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A far-right, unofficial Catholic media website has agreed to pay $500,000 to a New Hampshire priest who sued for defamation over a 2019 article that it now disavows. The website also is planning to shut down soon, the priest’s attorney says.

The apology by Church Militant came after the organization agreed last week to a federal court judgment in favor of the Rev. Georges de Laire, an official with the Diocese of Manchester. This legal setback comes just months after its founder’s resignation over a breach of its morality clause.

“As part of the parties’ resolution, Church Militant has represented that it will be shutting down at the end of April,” attorney Howard Cooper of the Boston law firm Todd & Weld, which represented de Laire, said via email.

St. Michael’s Media, the parent firm for the Michigan-based news site, did not immediately confirm the shutdown plan to…

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Engelbertus Lowa Sada is accused of molesting a 13-year-old student in Catholic-majority Flores Island

A Catholic major seminarian in Indonesia, who has been evading police following allegations of sexually abusing a minor seminarian, has been arrested.

Police in Catholic-majority Flores Island have placed seminarian Engelbertus Lowa Sada under a 20-day probe, police spokesman, Sukandar, told UCA News on March 5

The 27-year-old seminarian was transferred to Ngada regency in the predominantly Christian East Nusa Tenggara province on March 4, following his arrest in North Sumatra province on Feb. 27, said Sukandar, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

He said Sada has been evading arrest since last November, months after the parents of the victim filed a criminal case accusing him of sexually abusing their 13-year-old son twice in 2022.

Sada abused the victim at St. Yohanes Berchmans Mataloko Minor Seminary where he was doing a one-year pastoral…

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One of Japan’s biggest Buddhist sects said on March 5 that it has launched a probe after a nun accused a monk of sexually assaulting her for 14 years and an eminent priest of turning a blind eye.

The woman, reportedly now in her 50s, had previously accused the older monk of rape but authorities dropped her case in 2019, media reports said.

Going by her religious name Eicho, she went public with her allegations in January, telling a news conference that she suffered “sexual violence, intimidation and psychological confinement” at the hands of the monk at a temple in western Japan.

The Tendai sect of Buddhism, headquartered in one of Japan’s most spiritually important monasteries near Kyoto, began an investigation into the allegations on March 4, its spokesman told AFP.

An octogenarian “daisojo” — the highest priest ranking in Japanese Buddhism — left the man’s behavior “unaddressed and even…

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Liberty University has agreed to pay an unprecedented $14 million fine for the Christian school’s failure to disclose information about crimes on its campus and for its treatment of sexual assault survivors, the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday.

The fine is by far the largest ever levied under the Clery Act, a law that requires colleges and universities that receive federal funding to collect data on campus crime and notify students of threats. Schools must disseminate an annual security report that includes crime reports and information on efforts to improve campus safety.

Liberty has marketed itself for years as having one of the nation’s safest campuses, with more than 15,000 students enrolled at the school in Lynchburg. But its police department had a single officer with minimal oversight who was investigating crimes for most of the time period reviewed by federal investigators, 2016 to 2023.

The…

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Liberty University, one of the largest Christian schools in the nation, has agreed to pay an unprecedented $14 million fine for Clery Act violations, according to a press release from the school.

Liberty created a culture of fear for sexual assault victims, failed to maintain accurate crime data, and had “impaired administrative capability” that extended to campus police, according to a 108-page report from the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The large Christian school in Lynchburg had “numerous areas of noncompliance” with the Clery Act, the ED said.

Under the Clery Act, colleges that participate in federal student aid programs must disclose certain information about crime and campus safety. Liberty University, with more than 15,000 students on its Lynchburg, Virginia, campus and 130,000 enrolled worldwide, received $874 million for student loans, The Roys Report (TRR) previously reported.

The ED’s review of Liberty, which examined findings from 2016 to…

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The pastor of a Pentecostal church in Philadelphia has been convicted of sexual assault of three minors, including a former congregant, in incidents dating back two decades.

On Wednesday, a jury in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, found Rev. Mark Hatcher, lead pastor of Holy Ghost Headquarters Revival Center, guilty of 10 counts of sex crimes against minors, according to court records. These included multiple charges of rape, statutory sexual assault, and indecent assault. 

Assistant District Attorney Caroline Goldstein, lead prosecutor in the case, told the jury that Hatcher used his position of authority and trust as a minister to prey on his three victims. In incidents between 2000 and 2008, Hatcher brought one of the victims to his home or to a church-owned property and assaulted them, according to a probable cause affidavit previously reported by The Roys Report (TRR). 

One girl, then age 13, stated that Hatcher brought her to an unoccupied…

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An announcement is expected today by the Archdiocese of Lima in Peru that one member of the Vatican’s top investigating duo, Spanish Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, is back in the country to continue inquiries into a scandal-plagued group.

An official of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Bertomeu last summer traveled to Lima alongside the department’s adjunct secretary, Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna, to interview members of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV).

A “society of apostolic life” under church law, and the largest ecclesial lay movement in Peru, the SCV was founded by Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari in 1971.

RELATED: Vatican’s top abuse investigators begin probe of scandal-plagued Peru group

Shortly after Scicluna and Bertomeu’s visit in late July and early August 2023, allegations of financial wrongdoing arose surrounding another Peru-based community, Pro Ecclesia Sancta (PES), an institute of consecrated life of diocesan rite founded by Spanish Jesuit Father…

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Alonza Jiles has declined to resign from his position on the Arkansas’ Board of Corrections despite being called to do so by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Sanders urged Jiles to resign because he has been named by multiple survivors of child sexual abuse at The Lord’s Ranch Christian residential facility. Civil complaints filed under the Justice for Vulnerable Victims of Sexual Abuse Act tell the stories of 16 plaintiffs who claim they experienced consistent and brutal childhood sexual abuse at the hands of their counselor, Emmett Presley, during their stays at the facility.

Jiles, former senior director of the Lord’s Ranch entities and facilities, is named as a defendant in multiple civil complaints.

Many of these survivors named Jiles as an authority who was aware of the violence but did nothing to stop it and sometimes personally perpetuated it. In fact, Jiles allegedly officiated a wedding in which an adolescent girl was forced to…

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Incident took place last year, allegedly involving a staff member

An Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) principal is facing a charge of sexual assault for an alleged incident involving another staff member that took place last year.

Court documents obtained by CBC News show Martine Mitton, 60, was arrested on Jan. 12 and charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of mischief.

According to court documents, the alleged offences occurred in April 2023. According to the documents, Mitton is not allowed to contact the victim or visit any place they are known to frequent, including their home or workplace. 

No other information was provided in the court documents, which is under a publication ban to protect the identity of the victim. 

Mitton previously worked at St. Clare School in Orléans, according to an OCSB article dated May 2022. She was also principal at St. John Paul II School in Ottawa’s east end, according to that school’s website, which…

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The husband and wife owners of a Missouri boarding school for boys have been jailed and charged with felony crimes after a lengthy investigation by a county sheriff.

Wayne County Sheriff Dean Finch said in a news release that Larry Musgraves Jr., 57, was arrested Friday evening on the ABM Ministries campus in Piedmont, a small town 130 miles (209 kilometers) south of St. Louis. Carmen Musgraves, 64, was arrested around 3 a.m. Saturday when she came to the jail to check on her husband, Finch said.

Both have been charged with first-degree kidnapping and jailed without bond. The Musgraves do not yet have listed attorneys. A phone message was left Monday with ABM Ministries, the latest Christian boarding school in Missouri to face legal scrutiny.

ABM Ministries’ website says its facility, operated as Lighthouse Christian Academy, is a private Christian boarding school for boys ages 10-13, situated…

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In the somber landscape of crimes within the Catholic Church, the case of California’s Fr. Mark Kristy emerges as a distressing emblem of institutional failure. The responses (or lack thereof) from multiple Catholic entities in the wake of Fr. Kristy’s crimes invite stern scrutiny. But among these, who bears the heaviest onus of guilt? This analysis endeavors to untangle the complex web of accountability or lack thereof.

You Be the Judge: The Entities in Question

The narrative of Fr. Mark Kristy is not just a tale of individual malevolence but a reflection on the systemic inadequacies within the Catholic Church. The implicated entities include the Diocese of Sacramento, the Diocese of Santa Rosa, and the Wisconsin-based Discalced Carmelite Friars. Each played a distinct role in this harrowing saga, and together, they constitute a triptych of ecclesiastic negligence.

The Sacramento Diocese: A Delayed…

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The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office said it had been investigating AMB Ministries Lighthouse Christian Academy for several months and is reaching out to former students.

The founder of a Christian boys’ boarding school in rural Missouri and his wife have been charged with first-degree kidnapping following reports of runaways and allegations of abuse at the facility.

Larry Charles Musgraves Jr., 57, and his wife, Carmen Grizel Musgraves, 64, were arrested Friday, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. 

Both worked at ABM Ministries Lighthouse Christian Academy, a private Christian boarding school in Piedmont that serves boys ages 10 to 13, the sheriff’s department said. Musgraves is the founder and pastor of ABM Ministries, according to his LinkedIn page.

The 25,000-square-foot campus sits on 250 acres near the Ozarks, and the academy markets itself as a special campus for troubled or “learning impaired” youths, according…

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I am a retired schoolteacher and a veteran. I also have been a Roman Catholic all my life.

In my two professions, safeguarding children from harm and abuse was a top priority.

However, recently I was shocked to learn that in New York state clergy are not required to be mandated reporters of child and adult abuse.

While all other professionals who are in contact with children in New York state are required by law to report any suspicion when a child or elderly person is being sexually abused, clergy in our state are not required by law to report it.

According to the John Jay Report, 4,392 priests and deacons were facing allegations of sexual abuse of minors or sexual misconduct between 1950 and 2002.

Of the 4,392 clergy members analyzed in the report, 1,021 of the incidents were reported to the police. Of these 1,021 accused clergy members,…

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LDS and Catholic churches did not oppose the measure, but experts are divided over how much difference it will make.

Whether a bill awaiting Gov. Spencer Cox’s signature goes far enough to protect children from abuse remains an ongoing debate as experts split over the issue of mandated reporting for clergy.

HB432 protects Utah faith leaders from civil or criminal liability if they report ongoing child abuse based on information obtained from a perpetrator during a confession, but it stops short of requiring them to do so.

Laurieann Thorpe, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Utah, said her team was “supportive” of its passage but that she ultimately hopes to see reporting required in cases of sexual and physical abuse.

“When the information comes from the perpetrator, then we have 100% knowledge that the crime has taken place,” Thorpe noted. “In order to protect children and to make sure it doesn’t…

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In the latest iteration of SBC abuse “reform,” we now get a proposal to create a purportedly independent nonprofit called the Abuse Response Commission (ARC).

So we add yet another acronym to the list. And I fear that’s all it will be.

It’s a fear that’s well-founded, given how little we’ve seen of any real “reform” for lo these many years.

In 2021, they gave us the Sexual Abuse Task Force (SATF); in 2022 the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force (ARITF); and now in 2024 the Abuse Response Commission (ARC).

(And even before these entities with acronyms, we had the Sexual Abuse Presidential Study Group in 2019 and the Executive Committee Bylaws Workgroup in 2007-08.)

None of these prior groups managed to significantly move the needle on actual “reform.” But each time they were announced, the SBC self-applauded as though they had. They milked each new acronym for self-serving public relations…

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The former pastor of a Des Moines church has been sentenced for indecent exposure.

Jose Artero Flores, 48, was first charged in 2023 with assault with intent to commit sexual abuse and sexual exploitation by a counselor. The sexual exploitation charge was later dismissed.

Artero Flores was the pastor at Palabra Viva Iowa, a church on 23rd Street in Des Moines, when the incident that led to his arrest happened. Sgt. Paul Parizek with the Des Moines Police said he was fired from that position in January of 2023.

Police said Artero Flores showed up at the residence of a 20-year-old female congregation member in November 2022. Court documents claim he exposed his genitals to the woman and fondled them in front of her. The woman tried to get Artero Flores to leave and eventually pushed him out the door.

Artero Flores reached a deal with prosecutors in…

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Former Franklin St. Philip Catholic Church associate pastor Juan Carlos Garcia Mendoza appeared in court on Monday and remains jailed on a $2 million bond.

31-year-old Mendoza appeared in court for what was initially set to be a bond reduction hearing, but his attorney Brent O. Horst pulled that motion, adding that he may seek a reduction at a later date.

As previously reported, the Diocese of Nashville announced the investigation into allegations of “sexual misconduct” by Mendoza, who has now been charged with one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, one count of aggravated sexual battery, four counts of sexual battery by an authority figure and two counts of sexual battery.

Few details have been released about the criminal charges, but according to court documents the alleged crimes occurred between July 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2023, involving five victims, four of whom were children…

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Archbishop Gérald Lacroix has been accused of sexual assault

Pope Francis has tasked retired Quebec judge André Denis to investigate allegations of sexual assault against Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, the Archbishop of Quebec, which could lead to a canonical trial.

The alleged incidents involving Lacroix took place between 1987 and 1988 in Quebec City when the plaintiff was 17. Lacroix is accused of touching her without her consent. The victim’s lawyer, Alain Arsenault, said there was also fellation and penetration.

The allegations surfaced in January and are part of changes to a class-action lawsuit that targets the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec. Lacroix denies the allegations but on Jan. 26, 2024, stepped back from his functions “until the situation is cleared up.”

Denis received the Pope’s mandate on Feb. 8.

Denis said his job will be to determine whether the allegations are substantial enough to warrant a canonical trial, which…

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But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. (James 2:18)

Many churches across the world designated a national day of prayer and penance for victims of abuse and violence. In New Zealand’s Catholic Church, that day was the first Friday of Lent.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors stated that “prayer is a central, important part of the healing process for victims/survivors and for the whole community of believers. Moreover, public prayer is an important way of raising consciousness in the Church.”

Indisputably, prayer is important for believers, a crucial part of any healing process for those of faith affected by abuse. However, when it comes to abuse in churches, especially abuse and violence perpetrated by church leaders themselves, and an appropriate response from the local faith-based community, actions are needed to…

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The issue of abuse within the Catholic Church, accompanied by a cascade of cover-ups, has cast long shadows over faith communities worldwide. While numerous factors are frequently discussed as potential contributors to this crisis, one vital aspect remains largely in the shadows: the palpable fear among church members and staffers of facing retaliation if they dare to report child sexual abuse, whether suspected or actually seen and regardless of whether the perpetrator is a cleric or a lay person. We hope to shed light on this critical yet often-ignored cause, exploring its implications and the urgent need for a more transparent, safe environment within the Church.

The Root of Silence

When considering the depth and breadth of the abuse and cover-up within the Catholic Church, several reasons are often cited: the celibacy requirement, an all-male priesthood and hierarchy, and a monarchical power structure, among others. However, one underlying cause is…

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The Herricks Union Free School District ignored reports of child sex abuse against a school psychologist in the 1980s, exposing students to abuse, attorneys argued during opening statements in a pair of Child Victims Act trials against the district.

The cases, which are both being heard in Nassau County Supreme Court this week, are the first CVA cases against a Long Island school district to go to trial.

“This law is important for a number of reasons,” attorney Jeffrey Herman, of Herman Law Group in Manhattan, said of the 2019 law, which extended the deadline for when sexual abuse lawsuits could be filed. “One of the things that’s happening is that victims are coming forward now, decades later, and they’re exposing the institutions and the predators themselves.”

Under the act, which closed in August 2021, separate lawsuits were filed by 21 former students against the Herricks school district, alleging they were…

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Once again, it is only from the Italian judiciary that convictions for priests accused of sexual abuse come: the court of Enna has set a sentence of 4 years and 6 months for Don Giuseppe Rugolo for the crime of aggravated sexual violence against minors.

This is a Sicilian priest whose scandalous story had also brought to light cover-ups by the bishop, transfers of the pedophile priest from one diocese to another just to calm the waters, payments of money with Caritas funds to silence the victim, and even several threats to journalists who were following the story.

The sentence was issued this afternoon after 8 hours of deliberation. The decision was read by the president of the court, Francesco Pitarresi, during an open-door hearing after the entire trial had been held behind closed doors.

The investigation had started from the complaint of a young man today in his thirties,…

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An Italian priest on Tuesday got four and a half years for sex abuse of minors.

A court in the Sicilian town of Enna convicted Don Giuseppe Rugolo of aggravated sexual violence against minors.

The probe stemmed from a complaint from a man who is now 30, Antonio Messina, who said he had been abused from 2009 to 2013.

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EXPOSÉS of clerical sexual abuse against children around the world – in the United States, Ireland, Australia, Poland, Germany, Austria and the latest in France – are shocking and there are more to come. It is just a matter of time.

The cover up of clerical sexual abuse of children by some church authorities in cahoots with some civil authorities never seems to end. It has brought shame, embarrassment and loss of respect to dedicated, innocent priests and clerics and laypeople.

The institutional church leaders in some places are still striving to prevent shame and embarrassment by hiding away the abusers and the records of their crimes against children. The days are fast approaching when clerical abuse of children cannot be covered up and hidden. The perpetrators where there is credible evidence will have to face trial in civil courts, according to Pope Francis in his various instructions and in his Apostolic…

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UB’s Newman Center Catholic Ministry appeared on a list of 22 properties the bankrupt Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo may sell, as it attempts to raise $100 million to settle nearly 900 claims of child sex abuse.

That list, filed in bankruptcy court, also included Newman Centers on Elmwood Avenue and in Alfred. The diocese is also selling its longtime headquarters, the Catholic Center, at the corner of Main and Goodell Streets in downtown Buffalo.

Besides the Catholic Center and the Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, the diocese doesn’t yet know which properties it will sell, Joe Martone, the diocese’s communication director, said Friday.

“It really depends a lot on how bankruptcy proceedings continue,” Martone said. “In the diocese, we’ve asked our parishes to take a look at their underutilized real estate and see what may be available for potentially being put on the market, to raise funds for the…

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Whether a bill awaiting Gov. Spencer Cox’s signature goes far enough to protect children from abuse remains an ongoing debate as experts split over the issue of mandated reporting for clergy.

HB432 protects Utah faith leaders from civil or criminal liability if they report ongoing child abuse based on information obtained from a perpetrator during a confession, but it stops short of requiring them to do so.

Laurieann Thorpe, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Utah, said her team was “supportive” of its passage but that she ultimately hopes to see reporting required in cases of sexual and physical abuse.

“When the information comes from the perpetrator, then we have 100% knowledge that the crime has taken place,” Thorpe noted. “In order to protect children and to make sure it doesn’t happen again, [the abuse] needs to be brought to light and handled through proper law enforcement channels.”

Utah law…

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Public prayers for abuse victims, though well-intentioned, may appear hypocritical without concrete actions for justice. Victims need acknowledgment, support, and redress, not just prayers. Faith in action speaks louder than words alone.

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. (James 2:18)

Many churches across the world designated a national day of prayer and penance for victims of abuse and violence. In New Zealand’s Catholic Church, that day was the first Friday of Lent.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors stated that “prayer is a central, important part of the healing process for victims/survivors and for the whole community of believers. Moreover, public prayer is an important way of raising consciousness in the Church.”

Indisputably, prayer is important for believers, a crucial part of any healing process for those of faith affected…

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Settlement negotiations remain ongoing

Four years after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy, justice remains elusive for victims of clergy sexual abuse in the Buffalo Diocese.

Then-bishop Edward Scharfenberger declared the filing was “not a stunt” to deflect from Child Victims Act lawsuits filed against the church.

However, nearly a year into mediated settlement negotiations, attorneys representing survivors said in court that the two sides are at an impasse.

In October, the diocese claimed it would offer $100 million to settle the lawsuits. It was a number that upset survivors.

“The diocese has a game plan and that game plan is to weaponize the bankruptcy court and allow time to take its toll on survivors and victims,” said attorney Mitchell Garbedian, who represents dozens of Buffalo area survivors.

In July, the Diocese of Syracuse announced a $100 million settlement with approximately 400 survivors. There are nearly 900 survivors in Buffalo.

At least…

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Debate over the constitutionality of Maryland’s Child Victims Act, long argued in the legislature and, more recently, in legal filings, is set to take place in a courtroom for the first time this week.

The landmark law allows people sexually abused as children to sue those responsible, no matter how much time has passed. It was enacted last spring, with abuse survivors championing the measure as a long-overdue avenue to hold perpetrators accountable on the victims’ timelines.

A flurry of lawsuits followed when the law took effect Oct. 1. Complaints targeted churches, schools, youth correctional facilities and other institutions, with people alleging abuse by priests, teachers, guards and others in positions of authority over children.

Defendants moved to throw out lawsuits in at least eight cases statewide by arguing that the law is unconstitutional. In response, plaintiff survivors have defended the act, and hearings are beginning to be scheduled to…

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The President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop of Perth Timothy Costelloe SDB, was correct in labelling the allegations made against Bishop Christopher Saunders as “very serious and deeply distressing, especially for those making the allegations.” Additionally troubling is that the charges reportedly relate to conduct occurring since 2008 and not in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, like most cases of alleged historical sexual abuse. The relatively recent nature of the allegations serves as a painful and pertinent reminder that the abuse scandal is not necessarily behind us.

As awful as the allegations are, however, I wonder if there is some comfort to be found in knowing that the police’s investigations were greatly assisted by the information gathered as part of the church investigation undertaken at the request of Pope Francis and under the direction of the Archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge. This investigation was conducted according to the…

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Settlement fund could pay hundreds—or hundreds of thousands—for the same abuse

As a Boy Scout victim from Alabama, Gill Gayle is likely to get around $15,000 from a settlement fund compensating child sexual abuse victims, according to estimates. 

But if he had been abused in New York, he would be eligible for more than 10 times that amount.

Gayle is one of more than 82,000 men who have submitted claims to a multibillion-dollar settlement fund set up after the Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy amid an onslaught of child sexual abuse cases. 

Victims are each entitled to up to $2.7 million from the fund, according to court documents, depending on the severity of the abuse they experienced and other factors. 

But the settlement is designed to pay out less to men like Gayle, who grew up in states where their claims would likely be barred because too much time has…

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Survivors of clergy sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church on Long Island will vote on a “final” proposed $200 million settlement the church is offering, though attorneys for survivors say they expect it to be rejected.

That could mean about 600 abuse cases return to state civil court, where the attorneys contend the settlements could be far higher.

Officials for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, the eighth largest in the nation with 1.3 million Catholics, are urging the survivors to accept the plan as the best way to guarantee they will be paid and allow the church to continue functioning.

Survivors started receiving ballots in the mail this week, with a deadline to submit them by March 22.

WHAT TO KNOW

• Clergy sex abuse survivors are voting on a $200 million settlement offer from the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
• The voting, being administered by a court-approved independent firm, has a deadline of March…

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Victims of abuse fear an approaching deadline could prevent many victims of the Catholic Church from coming forward.

Just hours before Maryland’s new law which abolished the statute of limitations for abuse victims was set to take effect, the Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for bankruptcy.

“Staggering legal fees and large settlements of jury awards for a few victim survivors would have depleted our financial resources,” said Archbishop William Lori last September.

The finances of the Archdiocese are now in the hands of a federal bankruptcy court.

The court has imposed a May 31 deadline for survivors to come forward with claims against the church.

“All the good the legislature has done and all the good the report has done for victims has been thwarted by this filing of bankruptcy,” said Attorney Michael Belsky who currently represents dozens of survivors.

After May 31, no other claims from survivors will be accepted…

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Frank T. Cimino Jr., the founder and director of the Maryland State Boychoir, has resigned following his identification as one of the 156 Catholic Church staff named in a Maryland Attorney General’s Office report on child sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Past Sexual Abuse Allegations and Resignation

Cimino, 75, founded the Maryland State Boychoir 36 years ago and served as its president and director emeritus. The allegations against him date back to the 1970s when he was fired from his job as minister of music at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Northeast Baltimore after a man reported being sexually abused by him as a choirboy.

Despite denying the allegations when confronted by Archdiocese officials, the man reported the abuse again in 2020.

Cimino’s Resignation Following Inclusion in Catholic Church Sex Abuse Report

The choir’s board of directors expressed shock at the allegations, stating that there had been…

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Faith-based boarding schools found a welcoming home in Missouri because of a law that allowed them to operate without state oversight. But many former students spoke out about the abuse they say they endured at the schools.

The owners of a secluded southeast Missouri Christian boarding school are behind bars after authorities served arrest warrants Friday night at their facility. Larry and Carmen Musgrave are being held in the Wayne County Jail in Greenville, Missouri, without bond. They are charged with first-degree kidnapping involving a former student. Authorities, who interviewed all the boys at the school Friday night, took Larry Musgrave Jr., 57, into custody at the ABM Ministries campus near Piedmont, according to a news release issued late Saturday afternoon by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department. And Carmen Musgrave, 64, was taken into custody hours later, the release said.

The Musgraves operate the school near Piedmont, a…

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A western North Carolina church that was recently deemed not in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) over issues related to sexual abuse claims has withdrawn from the Carolina Baptist Association (CBA)  just days after the association had called a special meeting to consider its own action against the congregation.

West Hendersonville Baptist Church delivered a letter to the association indicating that the congregation had “voted unanimously on Wednesday, February, 28, 2024 to leave the Carolina Baptist Association and cease affiliation with the CBA of Hendersonville, North Carolina” effective Feb. 29, 2024. The letter was signed by Ronnie Rhodes, who was identified in the letter as chairman of the deacons.

CBA leaders shared a copy of the letter with the Biblical Recorder.

Earlier this week, associational leaders had called a special meeting scheduled for Tuesday, March 12, to consider action against West Hendersonville. The special…

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Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp said he was tired of hearing criticism of the Church when it had introduced more reform than other public bodies.

Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp said the Belgian parliament “must also investigate where it itself has fallen short in the follow-up to the previous committee” on abuse.

Senior Belgian bishops faced a hostile reception at a national commission on abuse in the Church, where federal deputies expressed disbelief at their apologies.

The meeting became so tense that the Bishop of Antwerp Johan Bonny riposted he was tired of hearing so much criticism of the Church when it had introduced far more reforms than public entities.

The session on 23 February was the latest stage in a sharpening debate about abuse since the television mini-series Gotvergeten (“Forgotten by God”) last September shone a critical light on years of cover-ups.

Bishop Bonny joined the Archbishop of Brussels Luc Terlinden and other…

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A student pro-life group who met at the University of Manchester required police intervention due to a hostile crowd of up to 250 people that surrounded the building where the meeting took place.

The student pro-life group, Manchester Pro-Life Society, met for a talk on the evening of 1 March. The harassment began as soon as students tried to access the building hosting the event. Eggs were thrown at windows, while students who arrived to attend the event were subject to “a torrent of verbal abuse and threats”, reports Right to Life UK.

The intimidation escalated to a point where the police arrived in order to enable the pro-life students to enter the building. As students left the event, they had to proceed through a tunnel of protesters held back by police as the air reverberated with chanting: “Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you!” The pro-life students were spat at…

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She was too cruel for school.

A Brooklyn Catholic school teacher allegedly put a 3-year-old student in a cardboard box inside a locked closet, and threatened the terrified child that the “Grinch” was coming for him, The Post has learned.

Alexis Breeden, the lead 3-K teacher at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Academy in Windsor Terrace, was arrested on Feb. 28 and charged with unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child, four weeks after allegedly imposing the twisted timeout, according to a criminal complaint.

“Simply put, there are no imaginable circumstances where this can be called anything but child abuse,” said John Elefterakis of Elefterakis, Elefterakis & Panek, which is working with the family of the child, who have requested anonymity.

“This incident is extremely troubling, and we intend to fully investigate and force accountability,” Elefterakis said.

On Feb. 2, the school nurse witnessed Breeden holding the handle…

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Bishop Pierre-Olivier Tremblay hopes that the actions cited will mark a new beginning for the diocese of Hearst-Moosonee.

• Orphée Moussongo (View profile)Orphée Moussongo

Voice synthesis, based on artificial intelligence, allows the generation of a spoken text from a written text.

The diocese of Hearst-Moosonee recently published an action plan to try to rebuild itself after a report from the show Enquête of Radio-Canada revealed last year that the diocese had until recently protected alleged sexual abusers.

Since the report of the show Investigation,15 alleged victims have come forward to tell their experiences.

The action plan proposed by the diocese is broken down into four main components: repair, prevention, awareness and reconstruction.

Under the components of repair and prevention, certain measures have already been put in place, including psychological assistance for the alleged victims and sanctions for the priests mentioned in the report.

Furthermore, Mgr. Pierre-Olivier Tremblay, the bishop of the…

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On Friday, a jury found Eligio Bishop guilty on all counts, including rape.

Accused cult leader Eligio Bishop, known as “Nature Boy,” received a life sentence without parole after being found guilty on several charges.

As reported by WSB-TV, a jury on Friday found Bishop guilty of rape, false imprisonment and three counts of prohibition on nude or sexually explicit electronic transmissions.

Bishop, 40, was arrested in April 2022 after he was accused of being the alleged leader of a cult known as the “Carbon Nation” group. A former member, who identified herself as his girlfriend, told police he posted revenge porn “because she left him.” She also told law enforcement that she’d joined a “sex cult” in which her boyfriend is the leader.”

In court this week, Assistant District Attorney Michael Coveney reminded jurors of the horrific charges facing Bishop.

“The fact that he’s a cult leader is…

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An NBC Bay Area investigation into a new wave of lawsuits accusing Catholic clergy of sexually abusing children

The Catholic church is once again being buried in child sex abuse accusations across California. More than 4,000 people are suing Catholic institutions across the state, enabled by a recent law that opened a window for survivors to sue their alleged abusers, no matter how far back their accusations go. Hundreds of Northern California priests are being accused for the first time, including some still working in churches and schools today. NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit dug through the new claims, which suggest the decades-long scandal could go far deeper than the public previously knew.

NBC Bay Area investigates into a new wave of lawsuits accusing Catholic clergy of sexually abusing children.

This page is the culmination of more than four years of reporting by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit. You’ll find…

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[To see a PDF of this front-page story, click here.]

ABM Ministries/Lighthouse Christian Academy has operated quietly in Wayne County for over two decades. In recent weeks, the Christian boys’ home has been under the microscope after 5 students have run away.

David Clohessy of St. Louis was in the Piedmont area Sunday passing out fliers related to the school. “We are a confidential support group for anyone who was hurt by anyone in any an institutional setting,” reads the flyer. “We are especially worried about those who are or were at this controversial boarding school in Piedmont.” The flyer referred people to the group’s website SNAPnetwork.org.

Since the holidays, at least five boys have run away from this facility. When the runaways were found, they were returned to their parents.

Last week, the Kansas City Star did an in-depth story on the school and interviewed many area residents. The Star has…

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Former Connecticut State Representative John Metsopoulos reported sexual, psychological, and physical abuse by two Greek Orthodox bishops on the SNAP website in November of 2023. His outcry has apparently produced repercussions for one of the two prelates. We are very happy for John!

John named Metropolitan Athenagoras Aneste (George Angelo Aneste), the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Mexico and Central America, as his primary abuser. A metropolitan is the equivalent of an archbishop or a cardinal. According to the January 24, 2024, issue of Orthodox Times, a new metropolitan was elected for Mexico, and Metropolitan Athenagoras was elected as the new metropolitan of Vize, Turkey. As far as we can tell this is a significant demotion.

According to Pew Research, the Orthodox population of Mexico is 110,000. There are almost no Greek Orthodox faithful in Turkey. Politico noted in 2020 that even the larger city…

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Cody LaKose was sentenced to 45 days in jail, and he will also be required to register as a sex offender.

A former DeWitt high school teacher has been sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor.

According to court records, former Central DeWitt High School teacher Cody LaKose pled guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Two additional counts of the same charges were dropped.

LaKose was sentenced to 45 days in jail on all three counts, with the sentences running concurrently. 

LaKose was employed as a science teacher at Central Dewitt in 2017 when court records say he allegedly groomed an underage female student into a sexual relationship. LaKose resigned from Central DeWitt in 2018.

An investigation was launched into the incident on March 2, 2022, after the victim came to the DeWitt Police Department with…

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One afternoon in mid-December, Pope Francis had a meeting that was not on his official agenda or otherwise recorded, that underscored the utter dysfunction of the Catholic Church’s response to the global clergy sex abuse scandal.

In the main reception room of the Vatican hotel where he lives, Francis met for more than an hour with a Spaniard who as a young seminarian was molested by his spiritual director. The former seminarian was desperate.

He had lodged a complaint with the Toledo, Spain Archdiocese in 2009, and visited Vatican offices multiple times to deposit damning documents and demand action be taken against his abuser and the bishops who allegedly covered for him. But for 15 years, he had received no justice from the church.

While Francis’ decision to hear his story was laudable and pastorally sensitive, it was also evidence that the church’s in-house system to deal with abuse isn’t…

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The law firm for the priest who sued the outlet says Church Militant will cease publication at the end of April.

Church Militant, the far-right Catholic media network, will cease operating at the end of April 2024, according to a press release issued Friday (March 1) by the law firm Todd & Weld LLP.

The law firm announced that Church Militant, operated by St. Michael’s Media, had lost a defamation lawsuit to the Rev. Georges de Laire, a canon lawyer and priest in the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire. Church Militant agreed to pay $500,000 and apologize to de Laire, said the law firm, which represented de Laire.

On Jan. 17, 2019, Church Militant published an anonymously written story titled, “NH Vicar Changes Dogma Into Heresy,” about de Laire. After de Laire sued the outlet for defamation, the author of the article was revealed to be Marc Balestrieri, a canon lawyer…

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A former Anglican priest who is charged with sexually assaulting nearly a dozen male members of his Fresno parish under the guise of spiritual healing has agreed to a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Jesus Antonio Castaneda Serna, 56, has pleaded no contest to nine counts of sexual assault and one count of attempting to prevent a witness from testifying. The remaining 12 counts will be dropped.

Serna, who headed the Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe church in Fresno, was arrested in February 2019 and accused of preying on his male parishioners, many whom were not documented and had sought help with personal problems.

Serna convinced them that by fondling their genitals he was performing a spiritual ritual to help overcome their problems.

He was charged with 22 counts of sexual assault and was facing 26 years and six months in prison.

But the case lagged in the court…

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A former priest of the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, Jesus Antonio Serna, has entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors in Fresno over charges he sexually assaulted members of his parish.

Serna, 56, entered a plea of no contest to nine counts of sexual assault and one count of witness tampering. Twelve other counts of assault will be dismissed. In return for his plea, prosecutors agreed not to seek a possible 26 year sentence, but have agreed to a sentence of no more than ten years in prison.

In February 2019 Serna was arrested by police and charged with 26 counts of sexual assault. He was accused of assaulting male members of his congregation, Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe church in Fresno. He told his victims that by fondling their genitals he was performing a spiritual ritual to drive away evil. 

The Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin relieved Serna of…

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Archdiocese of Baltimore bankruptcy filing has resulted in a deadline of May 31, for individuals who were sexually abused by priests or clergy to present claims

Following the release of a four year-long investigation by the Maryland Attorney General’s Office early last year, which highlighted an extensive history of childhood sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, hundreds of survivors are now coming forward to pursue financial compensation before a May 31, 2024 deadline established by a U.S. bankruptcy court.

While many of these childhood sexual abuse claims were previously barred by the Maryland statute of limitations, since it often takes survivors decades to come forward and address what happened to them as children. Recognizing this injustice, Governor Moore and the state legislature passed the Child Victims Act of 2023 in April, 2023 just days after the findings of the Attorney General were released.

The…

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• In short: Details of sexual abuse allegations against former Bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders have been revealed for the first time after the lifting of a suppression order.
• The 26 charges against him include two counts of sexual penetration without consent, three counts of indecent dealings with a child and 14 counts of unlawful and indecent assault.
• What’s next? Bishop Saunders remains on bail, and is due to face court again in June.

Details of charges against former Bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders can be revealed for the first time, after the retired cleric failed in his bid to prevent their publication.

Bishop Saunders was arrested at his home in Broome on February 21 and charged with 19 sexual offences.

At his first court appearance the following day, his lawyer Seamus Rafferty indicated 74-year-old would plead not guilty to all charges.

He also requested a suppression order restricting coverage of proceedings, telling…

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The pastor of a local congregation who is awaiting trial for child sex crimes is also accused of alarming teachings at his church, according to recently filed court documents.

Ronnie Allen Killingsworth, 78, of Wichita Falls, is charged with six counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact. His trial has been specially set to begin on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in the 78th District Court, with Judge Meredith Kennedy presiding.

THE LATEST: Details of child sex crime charges against Wichita Falls pastor released

On Tuesday, February 27, 2024, officials with the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, tasked with prosecuting the case against Killingsworth, filed a notice filled with multiple alleged bad acts or offenses they intend to introduce into evidence.

In addition to previously unreleased details regarding the allegations against Killingsworth, the prosecution listed several of his teachings in the notice of bad…

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Recently filed court documents reveal more details of the allegations against a local pastor charged with sex crimes against several children.

THE LATEST: Court documents allege cult-like teachings from Ronnie Killingsworth

Ronnie Allen Killingsworth, 78, of Wichita Falls, is charged with six counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact. The indictment alleged Killingsworth committed sex crimes against three different female victims under the age of 17 over the course of eleven years.

On Tuesday, February 27, 2024, officials with the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, tasked with prosecuting the case against Killingsworth, filed a notice filled with multiple alleged bad acts or offenses they intend to introduce into evidence.

New details of Killingsworth’s charges released

The state’s notice filed on Tuesday includes previously unreleased details on the indecency charges pending against Killingsworth, the longtime “Pastor-Teacher” of Rephidim Church, a non-affiliated…

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Senior church officials in Rome decline to act, citing worsening health of French clergyman known as ‘devil priest’

A French clergyman dubbed the “devil priest” who stands accused of sexually abusing Inuit children in Canada’s north will not be dismissed from his congregation after senior church officials in Rome declined to act, citing the nonagenarian’s declining health.

Johannes Rivoire, a priest with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, worked in several Canadian Arctic communities in the 1960s and 70s before returning to France in 1993.

Police laid charges against Rivoire following accusations of sexual assault in the communities of Arviat, Rankin Inlet and Naujaat. But the charges were later stayed, largely due to France’s longstanding policy of not extraditing its citizens to face charges abroad. Rivoire, now in his mid-90s, remains the subject of a Canada-wide arrest warrant.

In 2021, the Inuk elder Peter Irniq told APTN News that his friend Marius Tungilik…

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Calling all whistleblowers. The Vatican wants to hear from you! This comes from the Vatican’s recent push to bring whistleblowers into the holy fold to help the church clean house. It is a big move for an institution historically averse to dealing so openly with misbehavior within its ranks. But there are limits to how far the church seems willing to go with its warm whistleblower embrace.

Most recently is the whistleblower procedure the Vatican implemented on Feb. 1, which provides formal guidelines for the Vatican’s official enlistment of church insiders to help uncover fraud and corruption. According to Vatican News, the new procedure “will facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and the possibility of ‘whistleblowing,’ or raising concerns about potential abuses, in force in the legislation of the Holy See and Vatican City State. This is one of the most effective tools for combating corruption.”

…

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John W. Perry, a seasoned and highly respected mediator of complex litigation in Louisiana, has been tapped to help the parties in the long-running Archdiocese of New Orleans bankruptcy case work towards a settlement — a development that could signal a turning point as the case approaches its fourth anniversary.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Grabill appointed Perry on Wednesday, following an hour-long hearing during which attorneys for the archdiocese, survivors of clergy sex abuse, and trade creditors exhibited a rare moment of solidarity.

“He is the man we all wanted,” said attorney Douglas Draper, who represents the archdiocesan affiliates — parishes, schools and charitable organizations.  “That is unprecedented in the case.”

Perry’s appointment comes nearly four years after the nation’s second-oldest archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection amid mounting claims of child sex abuse by local clergy. Since the May 2020 filing, more than 500 claims have been submitted, many…

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Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp said he was tired of hearing criticism of the Church when it had introduced more reform than other public bodies.

Senior Belgian bishops faced a hostile reception at a national commission on abuse in the Church, where federal deputies expressed disbelief at their apologies.

The meeting became so tense that the Bishop of Antwerp Johan Bonny riposted he was tired of hearing so much criticism of the Church when it had introduced far more reforms than public entities.

The session on 23 February was the latest stage in a sharpening debate about abuse since the television mini-series Gotvergeten (“Forgotten by God”) last September shone a critical light on years of cover-ups.

Bishop Bonny joined the Archbishop of Brussels Luc Terlinden and other prelates to apologise once again for the abuse and tried to explain how the Church responded to the scandal since it broke in 2010.

“We heard that…

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