ABUSE TRACKER

Discussions at the Synod on Synodality this week have focused on issues of poverty, migration, abuse and sexual identity, journalists were told at a Vatican press briefing yesterday. Source: Vatican News.

President of the Commission for Information, Paolo Ruffini and a panel of guests gave journalists an overview of the Synod’s work between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning,

Dr Ruffini said a small ‘working group’ was held at the Pope’s residence at Casa Santa Marta on Tuesday, where some of Rome’s poor were invited to lunch with Francis and Papal Almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski.

Those who took part in the meal were also asked what they expected from the Church. “Their answer was: ‘Love. Only love’,” Dr Ruffini said.

At the press briefing, Oceania Synod member Grace Wrakia expressed gratitude to the Pope for inviting representatives from the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to the Synod.

“For so many years,”…

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Court documents allege the pastor started sexually assaulting the minor when she was 7 years old

The Houston area pastor accused of raping and impregnating one of his underage family members is now in custody and appeared in court on Monday.

KPRC 2 first reported about Robert L. Carter last week when an arrest warrant was issued for the 39-year-old. He has since been charged with sexual assault of a child between the ages of 14 and 17 and continuous sexual abuse of a child.

His bond was set at $100,000.

According to the arrest warrant obtained by KPRC 2 reporter Deven Clarke, Carter started assaulting the child when she was 7 years old in 2008. Court documents showed the assault continued through the child’s late teens, happening more than 600 times.

It stated that Carter would go into the child’s room and make her perform sex acts on him…

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ATTLEBORO — Claude Leboeuf was 8 years old when the Rev. James Porter sodomized him while the now notorious Catholic priest was visiting St. Joseph’s Church.

Now 70 and living in Providence, Leboeuf said during a press conference Wednesday that he buried the memory of the abuse until he was in his mid-60s.

“Part of the reason why I’m speaking out is my voice was taken away from me all those years. My life was ruined,” Leboeuf said on the sidewalk outside the offices of the Diocese of Fall River.

The press conference was held to announce a recent financial out-of-court settlement with the diocese in the “mid-five figures” and to call for the state to change the statute of limitations for sexual abuse claims.

Leboeuf was with Robert M. Hoatson, a former Catholic priest who is now the president of Road to Recovery Inc., a nonprofit charity based in…

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This bankruptcy filing removes the opportunity for survivors to have their day in civil court to hold the church legally accountable, and limits the payout for each victim.

The archdiocese of Baltimore filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 29 to preempt child sexual abuse lawsuits which were expected to be filed once a new Maryland law removing the statute of limitations took effect on Oct. 1. This strategic move means that all claims against the archdiocese must be made as part of bankruptcy proceedings, effectively eliminating the opportunity for survivors to tell their stories in civil court, precluding legal accountability and insulating the archdiocese from scrutiny of its past mistakes.

Maryland lawmakers passed the Child Victims Act of 2023, removing the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases which, under previous law, needed to be filed by the time the survivor turned 38. The legislation also caps liability at $890,000 per claim…

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Man who says he survived James Porter’s abuse speaks out

A survivor of clergy abuse is sharing his story and encouraging others to do the same more than 60 years after claims that he was abused in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River.

The man said at a news conference Wednesday that he was sexually abused at a church in Attleboro about 1960. He said he’s lived with the pain and trauma for years, but finally felt brave enough to share his story.

Claude Leboeuf, 70, who now lives in Providence, said he was sodomized by the Rev. James Porter when he was 8 years old.

Porter was the pedophile priest who pleaded guilty in 1993 to molesting 28 children and was accused of abusing dozens more while working in the diocese in the 1960s and 1970s.

Leboeuf said the experience left him isolated for much of his life,…

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Help victims

Roger Golubski could likely die before he faces justice, but his victims’ trauma, fear, hate, anger and angst will continue perpetually. (Oct. 5, 11A, “With Roger Golubski in hospital, victims fear he’ll die before trial”)

How ironic that, when news broke of Golubski’s hospitalization, several clergy abuse survivors held their monthly get-together to process experiences over the trauma endured decades ago. Discussion centered on credibly accused sexual abuser Bishop Joseph Hart, who died this past August before the courts could deliver justice for his criminal acts.

Whether or not perpetrators live to face trial, the institutions that covered up corruption and enabled criminal behavior must be held accountable. Those who have suffered the consequences of these dastardly acts seek nothing less.

Victims must continue to speak truth to power lest future generations bear the lifelong scars from wounds suffered in the…

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A 70-year-old man who recently reached a settlement with a Roman Catholic diocese in Massachusetts over sexual abuse he suffered at age 8 said Wednesday he is speaking out because “my voice was taken away from me for all those years” and he wants to help others like himself.

“There were a number of details that bring that memory back, painful details,” Claude Leboeuf said at a news conference in Fall River. “I could feel muscle pain, sometimes emotional pain. I can visualize them. I can never know when those memories come flashing back to me. But that’s how it happens. It’s very real to me.”

Several years ago, Leboeuf, of Providence, Rhode Island, contacted Mitchell Garabedian of Boston, a well-known lawyer for clergy and sexual abuse victims. Leboeuf said he was abused in 1960 at a church in Attleboro, Massachusetts, by the Rev. James Porter, who pleaded guilty in…

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Some might think, “Compared to others, what happened to me was almost nothing.”  But so much good happens when child sexual abuse is taken from the shadows and exposed to the light. No one doubts, for example, that laws and practices and public vigilance around abuse have improved dramatically because – at least in part – of the tremendous number of articles, news accounts, stories, blogs, films, and documentaries about clergy sex crimes and cover-ups.

At the same time, however, at least one serious downside is caused by all this attention. Few talk about it or understand it, though we at Horowitz Law do get it. That downside is the sense that many abuse victims have that “well, what happened to me is almost nothing compared to what other kids endured.” In other words, because we’ve all read or heard about many especially egregious cases, what we endured seems like very little. Tragically, that…

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The victim told police that Robert L. Carter began sexually assaulting her when she was only 7 years old and impregnated her when she was 16.

(WARNING: This story contains graphic details that many may find disturbing)

A Houston pastor is accused of raping a family member hundreds of times and eventually impregnating her, according to court documents.

Robert L. Carter, 39, turned himself in to Harris County authorities early Monday morning after a warrant was issued for his arrest last month. He’s charged with continuous sexual assault of a child.

According to court documents, the attacks started when the victim was a little girl. She told police that Carter would tell her, “If you do this for me, I’ll give you candy.”

“The victim in this case alleges that she was sexually abused from the age of 7 and it did not conclude until she was 19,…

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The Catholic church today is deeply polarised. This has created doctrinal fissures that are seemingly unbridgeable.

There are many rumbling contestations on questions of identity, mission, faith and morality. Other questions touch on pastoral life, the nature of marriage and family life, denial of holy communion to divorced and remarried Catholics, clerical celibacy, authority in the church and reproductive rights.

There is also a serious erosion of religious authority. Many church leaders have lost their credibility because of what Pope Francis calls the “leprosy of clerical sexual abuse” and financial scandals.

The church in Africa hasn’t been spared these issues. In parts of the continent, the challenges of ethnocentrism, abuse of religious authority and internal division are hurting the church’s credibility and effectiveness. And some national churches seem silent on rising crises of democracy and leadership across Africa.

There have always been divisions in the church, but its effectiveness and credibility  View Cache

While the doors of the Synod on Synodality, taking place in the Vatican Oct. 4-29, are closed to journalists and the public, a group of survivors of sexual abuse anxiously awaits news on how the assembly addresses the clerical sexual abuse that affected their lives so painfully.

While OSV News sources say abuse has been mentioned a few times in the first synodal week — synodal groups spoke about abuse; none of the individual interventions have so far — it is not clear how and to what extent it will be brought into discussion.

Some abuse survivors expect concrete outcomes regarding abuse policies during the Synod on Synodality. Others say that it’s enough that the universal church learns from churches where good practices have already been established and made a difference.

Teresa Pitt Green of Spirit Fire, a Christian restorative justice initiative founded by two survivors of clergy abuse in…

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Waiting too long for justice is traumatizing for victims, and special children’s courts are urgently needed in the country

What is causing delays in our court and justice system is that the good-hearted, hard-working judges of the family courts are overloaded, underpaid, underfunded, and underappreciated.

Most judges and prosecutors are dedicated and are working hard without fear or favor to cope with the backlog of many child sex abuse cases and deliver speedy justice, but some just cannot cope.

Likewise, the offices of the prosecutors are understaffed and also overloaded with cases. The need for more prosecutors and a special children’s court is clear.

In one court in Cagayan province, northern Philippines, a Catholic priest, Father Karole Israel Ubina is on trial for several alleged counts of rape and sexual assault against a 15-year-old church volunteer. The judge is so overburdened with cases that the court will be…

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When Phyllis Webstad was 6, her grandmother took her to town to buy a new outfit for the first day of school.

“I chose a shiny new orange shirt. It was bright and exciting, just how I felt about going to school for the first time,” she recalled. However, when Webstad, who is Northern Secwepemc (Shuswap) from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation (Canoe Creek Indian Band), arrived at St. Joseph Mission Indian Residential School in Williams Lake, British Columbia, the nuns who ran the school confiscated her new shirt and callously ignored her distress and confusion.

“No matter how much I cried, no one would listen,” she said.

The purpose of boarding schools, like the one Webstad attended, was to assimilate indigenous children into the dominant settler cultures of the United States and Canada by forcibly removing them from their families and communities.

For this reason, Benjamin Jacuk (Dena’ina Athabascan, Sugpiaq),…

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The Vatican’s safeguarding commission has called on the Synod on Synodality to make sexual abuse “an explicit part” of discussions during the October assembly.

The group also condemned “harmful deficiencies in the norms intended to punish abusers” related to recent public cases and a lack of accountability by those responsible for punishing wrongdoing in the Church. 

A copy of the message from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) was shared with every synod participant on Oct. 9. 

The letter was originally published by the commission Sept. 27, three days before a consistory to create 21 new cardinals and one week before the start of the monthlong synod assembly going on now through Oct. 29.https://2c634cbb667a4642b61424f45ed48d04.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

“The reality of sexual abuse in our Church goes to the heart of the synod’s agenda,” the letter says. “It deals with who we are as a community of faith, founded…

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There are those that were never heard at the parish, diocese, or national levels

Several lay people groups from all parts of the world have been congregating in Rome several days before the start of the Synod on Synodality and continue to do so, to try to get their voices heard.

The first was a group of survivors and advocates of Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) in the Catholic Church. A few made a pilgrimage from Montefiascone to Rome carrying a cross with the words, “Zero Tolerance” emblazoned across it.

Their demand to Pope Francis is to implement zero tolerance to end clergy sex abuse as he promised. 

They were joined a week later by several more survivors and advocates from all over the world, especially Latin America, for demonstrations and attempts to contact officials at the Commission on Sex Abuse and the Dicastery of Bishops — to complain about non-compliance…

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CZESTOCHOWA, Poland (AP) — Dominika Gala grew up going to Mass with her grandmother and attending Catholic school in Warsaw. After her grandmother’s death in 2010, she began to drift away from the church.

A decade later, when the Catholic leadership backed a near-total abortion ban in Poland, Gala made her fervent disagreement clear.

She formally left the church in October 2020, just weeks after Poland’s top court closed a major loophole in the country’s abortion laws that were already among the strictest in Europe. She has since helped her mother and several friends leave, and now helps lead a civic initiative to limit religion’s role in public life.

“There’s a strong link between the church and the bad things happening in Polish politics,” Gala, now an atheist, told The Associated Press.

As Law and Justice seeks an unprecedented third-straight term in the Oct. 15 parliamentary election, the conservative, nationalist…

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Counsel for plaintiff says he is ‘very pleased’ with development that means they will be going into mediation ‘effectively with the order’

The congregation of the Christian Brothers has “effectively” agreed to enter into mediation with a victim of historical child sex abuse, the High Court was told on Tuesday.

In a major development in a case where the congregation has, up to now, been refusing to put forward a nominee to represent it for the purposes of the litigation, mediation is set to begin with Frank Buttimer Solicitors acting for the current head of the congregation, Bro David Gibson, as well as 104 other members.

John Gordon SC, for Ken Grace, who is seeking damages for the abuse he suffered while a secondary student in Westland Row CBS in Dublin, told Mr Justice Tony O’Connor of the breakthrough when he sat to hear the latest application in a…

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Restorative justice is an informal process which focuses on the survivor rather than the offender

Efforts by well-known Irish schools to address historical child sex abuse by their teachers and staff have shown the different approaches taken by the religious orders that ran them.

One approach that has come to public attention is restorative justice, a programme chosen by some schools in helping abuse survivors. To date, the Spiritans and Jesuits are the only religious orders in Ireland to provide such programmes for men sexually abused as boys in their schools.

The Spiritans have introduced a programme to help victims abused while attending schools including Blackrock College and Willow Park junior school in Dublin.

The Jesuits introduced such a programme for men abused as boys by Fr Joseph Marmion, who died in 2000, at their Clongowes Wood College, Crescent College Limerick and Belvedere College Dublin.

However, the…

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It is not often that church doctrine rises to the level of broad and obvious public interest, but such is the case today as Catholic bishops from around the world assemble at the Vatican to discuss issues that are highly sensitive, at least within the church. Among them are the ordination of women, marriage among priests and the blessing of gay couples.

None, however, is more important than the ancient church policy demanding celibacy among priests. This is not merely an issue for the church but, based on history and credible research, a matter of compelling public concern. The reason: The requirement helped enable the terrible abuses some clerics committed against children, here in Western New York and around the world.

That was the conclusion of the late Richard Sipe, a former priest, researcher and psychotherapist who became a leading expert on the subject of…

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If you are Catholic, Archbishop, why not Christian?

As a non-Catholic I have had the privilege of serving at two Catholic institutions of higher education in Maryland and Iowa. I worked beside priests and nuns who exemplified Christian ideals for our shared humanity: having kindness, compassion and integrity. A Franciscan sister in Iowa, whom I have not seen in over 20 years, still sends me a beautiful handwritten card each Christmas.

The recent sexual abuse scandal in the Baltimore Archdiocese stands in stark contrast to my experience with Catholicism and all of the decent Catholic men and women I have known who exemplify Christian principles. (“Baltimore archdiocese declares bankruptcy ahead of Child Victims Act becoming law,” Sept. 29.) This juxtaposition of the corrupt with the sacred is disturbing. Through redaction and cover-up, the Baltimore Archdiocese is now trying to protect rogue priests who sexually abused children…

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Revealed: Individuals contacted by agency gave detailed accounts of abusive behavior they allegedly experienced or witnessed in Washington

The FBI has interviewed several individuals who have alleged they were abused by members of the People of Praise (PoP), a secretive Christian sect that counts conservative supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett as a lifelong member, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The individuals were contacted following a years-long effort by a group called PoP Survivors, who have called for the South Bend-based sect to be investigated for leaders’ handling of sexual abuse allegations. The body, which has 54 members, has alleged that abuse claims were routinely mishandled or covered up for decades in order to protect the close-knit faith group.

It is not clear whether the FBI has launched a formal investigation into the PoP.

The Guardian has confirmed that at least five individuals were contacted by…

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Perhaps this small scene in Rome is symbolic of what is currently happening in the Catholic Church. A smiling Nathalie Becquart rides a bike that is too small for her toward St Peter’s Square and the Vatican. The French 54-year-old was named by Pope Francis in early 2021 as undersecretary to the Synod of Bishops and she is the first woman with voting rights at the male-dominated meetings. Becquart is perhaps the most well-known woman in the Vatican.

She warmly greets everyone she meets in these few days before this next phase of the world synod, which begins on October 4. The workshop in Rome, during which about 450 delegates will discuss reforms and new ways of working together in the Catholic Church, will run through October 29. It is scheduled to continue in October 2024.

Difficult topics are up for discussion: The exclusion of women from every ordained ministry of the…

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“Hay material suficiente para que se aplique el motu proprio de Francisco Vos estis lux mundi (VELM) y comience una investigación canónica contra el obispo de Málaga, Jesús Catalá, por no haber cumplido su obligación en el caso del cura de su diócesis que, según la investigación policial, agredió sexualmente a cuatro mujeres tras sedarlas”, señalan las fuentes En caso de iniciarse el procedimiento canónico previsto en VELM, tendría que ser el metropolitano de la provincia eclesiástica en la que está encuadrada la diócesis de Málaga, en este caso José María Gil Tamayo, arzobispo de Granada, quien, de acuerdo con el Dicasterio para la Doctrina de la Fe, incoase el proceso y tuviese que tomar declaración a su hermano en el Episcopado y compañero en la Comisión Ejecutiva de la la Conferencia Episcopal Española “El obispo lo ha hecho fatal. Lo hizo desde el principio, incumpliendo su obligación canónica, primero, y ciudadana,…

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A Vatican report identified four likely victims of Christopher Saunders and a further 67 whom he may have groomed.

The Vatican is investigating allegations of sexual abuse and misuse of Church funds by the former Bishop of Broome, whose diocese covers a vast area of Western Australia’s tropical north and includes a large number of Aboriginal communities.

A 200-page Church-commissioned report alleges 73-year-old Christopher Saunders sexually abused four Aboriginal youths and misused hundreds of thousands of dollars in Church and charity funds attempting to groom dozens more.

The Church investigation, brought under the Vatican’s Vos Estis Lux Mundi inquiry powers, was overseen by the Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge and conducted by experienced former police detectives.

The Vatican report, leaked to 7News network in September, described Saunders as a “sexual predator” who sought to “prey upon vulnerable Aboriginal men and boys”, identifying four likely victims and finding he may have groomed a…

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WHAT is causing delays in our court and justice system is that the good-hearted, hard-working judges of the Family Courts are overloaded, underpaid, underfunded, and underappreciated.

Most judges and prosecutors are dedicated and are working hard without fear or favor to cope with the backlog of many child sex abuse cases and deliver speedy justice, but some just cannot cope.

Likewise, the offices of the prosecutors are understaffed and also overloaded with cases. The need for more prosecutors and a special Children’s Court is clear.

In one court in Cagayan province, a Catholic priest is on trial for several alleged counts of rape and sexual assault against a 15-year-old church volunteer. The judge is so overburdened with many cases that the court will be unable to hear the testimony of the child victim until February 2024.

After pre-trial hearings with the defense and prosecution, the trial is scheduled for three…

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In the High Court at Wellington, lawyers for the church are seeking a declaration that the church is not responsible for the care of children or vulnerable people in New Zealand.

Abuse survivor advocate and former church Elder Shayne Mechen said the church was trying to use a technicality to side-step their inclusion in the inquiry.

“The response from former Jehovah’s Witnesses is they’re basically saying ‘what a bunch of liars’. Because everyone who has been a part of that organisation knows that the Elders are encouraged to look after children, to do things with them.”

Mechen said the move was a “kick in the guts” for those who suffered abuse and those brave enough to relive their experience for the inquiry.

“They had high hopes, those hopes have been smashed,” he said.

“They’ve been re-traumatised and there’s no hope at all for them to get any justice from what…

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The Archdiocese of Baltimore declared bankruptcy days before a Maryland state law could take effect that would expose the organization to numerous sexual abuse claims.

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

Maryland’s Child Victims Act went into effect at the beginning of this month. It abolished the statute of limitations for sexual abuse lawsuits and allowed people who may have been abused decades ago to sue their abusers. One of the main defendants was expected to be the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, except, as WYPR’s Scott Maucione reports, the organization just declared bankruptcy.

SCOTT MAUCIONE, BYLINE: Teresa Lancaster (ph) and other survivors of sexual abuse were in shock.

TERESA LANCASTER: I had survivors calling me into the night, hysterical, asking, what went wrong? What happened?

MAUCIONE: After decades, Lancaster was ready for her day in court to tell her story to the public and to demand compensation for her abuse. It was a…

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Teacher: ‘The Catholic Church is revictimizing kids. They’ve already made kids a victim, and they’re revictimizing them.’

UPDATE (Oct. 7): The Archdiocese of Baltimore sent a statement to 11 News, saying: “In response to the reporting that ‘The church said it’s also planning to create a trust to pay out claims, 55% of which will come from insurance carriers and the rest from the debtor’s parishes, schools and related charities,’ first, the archdiocese has not proposed any plan at this point; such a plan will be developed in consultation with victim-survivors, insurance carriers, and other interested parties in a process that is expected to take two to three years.

“Second, a review of plans approved in other diocesan bankruptcies around the country indicate that on average, about 55% of the trust funds established to compensate victims have come from insurance companies while about 45% of the funds have come from…

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BAR DATE OCTOBER 20 2023

U.S. BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

In re:  The Roman Catholic Bishop of Santa Rosa, Case No. 23-10113

Notice of Deadline for Filing Claims:  October 20, 2023

YOU MAY HAVE A SEXUAL ABUSE CLAIM OR OTHER
CLAIM AGAINST THE DIOCESE OF SANTA ROSA

On March 13, 2023, The Roman Catholic Bishop of Santa Rosa aka Diocese of Santa Rosa, (“Debtor”) filed for protection under Chapter 11 of Bankruptcy Code.

If you were sexually abused by any person connected with the Debtor, you must file a claim so as to be received by October 20, 2023, or otherwise you will be forever barred, estopped, and enjoined from asserting such claim against the Debtor.

Claims based on acts or omissions of the Debtor that occurred before March 13, 2023, must be filed on or before the applicable bar date, even if such claims are not now…

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Claim: Controversial priest Father Marko Rupnik’s artwork is featured prominently by several Catholic institutions — including the website of the ongoing Synod on Synodality.

CNA finds: Art associated with an institute run by Rupnik, and likely created at least in part by him, was indeed featured publicly on the synod’s website.

Breakdown: Former Jesuit priest Father Marko Rupnik has been at the center of controversy over the last several months over what Jesuit leaders described as “highly credible” allegations that he engaged in serial physical, sexual, and psychological abuse of numerous religious sisters. In June he was dismissed from the Society of Jesus for “stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience.”

Beyond the priesthood and those recent controversies, Rupnik is known for his prolific involvement with religious artwork, much of which has been featured publicly in various Church contexts — including, recently, the website of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the…

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Mike Dulak grew up Catholic in Southern California, but by his teen years, he began skipping Mass and driving straight to the shore to play guitar, watch the waves and enjoy the beauty of the morning. “And it felt more spiritual than any time I set foot in a church,” he recalled.

Nothing has changed that view in the ensuing decades.

“Most religions are there to control people and get money from them,” said Dulak, now 76, of Rocheport, Missouri. He also cited sex abuse scandals in Catholic and Southern Baptist churches. “I can’t buy into that,” he said.

As Dulak rejects being part of a religious flock, he has plenty of company. He is a “none” — no, not that kind of nun. The kind that checks “none” when pollsters ask “What’s your religion?”

The decades-long rise of the nones — a diverse,…

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The Catholic Church is an institution with a track record of abusing children.

In recent years, courts across the globe have required the church to pay out millions upon millions of dollars to victims. Some were young women in Ireland and elsewhere held against their will in what were known as “mother and baby homes” in which the mothers and their children were often horrifically abused, many to death. Also in Ireland, more than 10,000 girls and women were confined to Magdalene Laundries between 1922 and 1996. This included sex workers, unmarried mothers, the daughters of unmarried mothers, victims of rape and even some girls who had never had sex but had been deemed promiscuous. At the Magdalene Laundries, the girls and women provided slave labor, were ubiquitously and monstrously abused. Again, many died.

You might be saying, “Ah, but that’s Ireland.”

The sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests during the…

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A Texas pastor, Gerardo Gonzalez, has been arrested on charges of indecent assault and sexual assault. He is accused of groping at least four female attendees during one-on-one prayer sessions at his church, Despertar Ministries, held in the Wyndham Hotel in McAllen.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Gonzalez allegedly positioned himself and the individuals he was praying with behind a podium to conceal their lower bodies from view and touched them inappropriately during prayers. He admitted to moving the podium and placing his hands on attendees’ hands, shoulders, heads, or necks. His wife, who he claimed was present during these prayers, contradicted his account, stating that she was not always by his side and was sometimes distracted by other attendees.

Additional charges of sexual assault stem from incidents at Gonzalez’s home and church. He is currently in custody with a bond set at $400,000. Despertar Ministries did not respond…

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Leaders of one of the Ohio churches linked to a youth pastor accused of sexually molesting minors are finally speaking out about the incident as a manhunt for the missing pastor continues.

Jario Isidro Thomas Sanchez was indicted by a grand jury last week on 14 counts — including gross sexual imposition, unlawful restraint and abduction — according to Butler County Common Pleas Court filings.

Investigators say he molested five young victims, all under the age of 16, while working as a youth pastor at different churches in Butler and Hamilton counties in southwestern Ohio.

Sanchez is believed to have fled the state, or possibly the country. Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones has announced a $5,000 reward for any information that can lead to his arrest.

The abuse allegedly happened at the Church of God of Prophecy, the Church of Life Abundant, and the…

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Arrest warrant stated the girl ‘gave birth to her baby in a closet,’ then the baby was dropped off at a fire station

WARNING: Contents in this article may be disturbing.

A Houston-area pastor is facing serious charges after being accused of raping a child and impregnating her, court documents stated.

According to an arrest warrant, the rape started when the victim was 7 years old and lasted into her late teen years, happening more than 600 times. With Robert L. Carter now charged with a felony, the alleged victim’s father is speaking out.

“She had been around this monster since she was about six years old,” he said.

The father asked not to be identified to protect his daughter’s identity. But that isn’t stopping him from speaking out about 39-year-old Carter who he said was a family member to his daughter.

“He’s (Carter) always been big to her. I…

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Each Sunday, Culver City Presbyterian Church Pastor Frances Wattman Rosenau begins the worship service with these words:

“As we gather for worship this day, we acknowledge that the land on which we gather was for many generations stewarded by the Tongva, Kizh and Chumash people. We recognize the enduring presence of indigenous peoples connected to and on this land.”

Wattman Rosenau first began using a land acknowledgement to open services in 2017, after attending a conference in Canada that also opened sessions with a similar land acknowledgement. She took great care crafting the language for her congregation’s version—especially with one word in particular.

“Stewardship is a very theological word for us,” she says, “because it implies care, and providing, tending—a deep relationship.”

It’s a relationship with the earth Wattman Rosenau says Christians should emulate and a relationship with Native and Indigenous people they should cultivate. She hopes placing these words at…

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Capilla Del Monte — In the pope’s homeland, there’s a woman who believes in angels and calls them aliens. Another proudly identifies as a witch. And there’s a spiritual guru so turned off by the Vatican’s opulence that he left the church to help others connect spiritually outside organized religion.

All three are former Catholics who have joined many other Argentines in the growing ranks of the religiously unaffiliated. Known as the “nones,” they identify as atheists, agnostics, spiritual but not religious, or simply, nothing in particular.

Pablo Robles says a better label for him would be “all,” since he has a rich spiritual life outside religion.

Robles grew up Catholic but became disenchanted while visiting the Vatican during the Great Jubilee of 2000. At a papal Mass, he listened to a sermon on humility — and found himself questioning how the church’s vast wealth…

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WHAT is causing delays in our court and justice system is that the good-hearted, hard-working judges of the Family Courts are overloaded, underpaid, underfunded and underappreciated. Most judges and prosecutors are dedicated and are working hard without fear or favor to cope with the backlog of many child sex abuse cases and deliver speedy justice, but some just cannot cope. Also, the offices of the prosecutors are understaffed and also overloaded with cases. The need for more prosecutors and a special Children’s Court is clear.

In one court in Cagayan province, Northern Philippines, a Catholic priest, Fr. Karole Israel Ubina, is on trial for several alleged counts of rape and sexual assault against a 15-year-old Church volunteer. The judge is so overburdened with many cases that the court will be unable to hear the testimony of the child victim until February 2024. After pre-trial hearings with the defense and prosecution,…

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It has been a very busy week in the Church. Noteworthy events include the consistory creating 21 new cardinals on Saturday, September 30; the publication on Monday of two sets of dubia by Cardinal Raymond Burke and four other cardinals on doctrinal questions in anticipation of the Synod; the release yesterday of Laudate Deum, a new apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis on the climate crisis, expanding on his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’; and, also yesterday, the opening of the October Assembly of the Synod at the Vatican.

Dominic de Souza and I spoke about a few of these topics in this week’s episode of the debrief, so if you want to get caught up (to Tuesday, anyway), our video should help bring you up to speed. Additionally, Nathan Turowsky provided a very helpful “first look” at Laudate Deum, featuring key highlights, themes, and quotes from the exhortation. Because so much is going…

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Despite Pope Francis’s insistence on a media ‘fast’ during this month’s Synod of Bishops, Vatican officials have said that engagement with the press is a personal decision, and participants who choose to give interviews will not be “punished.”

The clarification came after German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, a former head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office and a figure seen as a critical of the synod, gave an Oct. 5 interview to EWTN.

Speaking to journalists during an Oct. 6 press briefing on the second day of the synod, Italian layman Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communications, told journalists that papal indications notwithstanding, “Every member of the synod makes their own discernment” in terms of whether to speak with the media.

Asked about Pope Francis’s insistence on “fasting” from publicity and the decision of some synod participants to grant interviews regardless, Ruffini said the synod is “a time of…

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Catholic cardinal who is a former head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office and a vocal critic of Pope Francis’ ongoing monthlong summit on the future of the church has defied the pontiff’s request that summit members maintain confidentiality about its proceedings.

German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who led the Vatican’s powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 2012-17, appeared Oct. 5 on the Eternal Word Television Network’s nightly news program.

Müller, however, expressed optimism about the start of the high-stakes summit, which is formally known as a Synod of Bishops and is taking place Oct. 4-29.

“I have … a certain form of optimism, but at the end we must wait in what direction it will go and what will be the decisions behind the scenery. That is always the problem,” said Müller, describing the conversations at his table for the synod as “very good.”

Müller’s…

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CNA looked into the claims.

Claim: Controversial priest Father Marko Rupnik’s artwork is featured prominently by several Catholic institutions — including the website of the ongoing Synod on Synodality.

CNA finds: Art associated with an institute run by Father Rupnik, and likely created at least in part by him, was indeed featured publicly on the synod’s website.

Breakdown: Former Jesuit priest Father Rupnik has been at the center of controversy over the last several months over what Jesuit leaders described as “highly credible” allegations that he engaged in serial physical, sexual and psychological abuse of numerous religious sisters. In June he was dismissed from the Society of Jesus for “stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience.”

Beyond the priesthood and those recent controversies, Father Rupnik is known for his prolific involvement with religious artwork, much of which has been featured publicly in various Church contexts — including, recently, the website of the…

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A reader says the Education Minister should allow victims of abuse in Protestant-ethos schools to contact the scoping inquiry

The scoping inquiry into abuse in schools run by religious orders wants to delay its report because of the extensive volume and nature of responses. A reason given for the inquiry’s sectarian basis, which excludes Protestant participation, was the need to complete investigations within a tight time frame. That excuse is unreasonable.

The Minister for Education should now allow victims of abuse from Protestant-ethos schools to contact the inquiry. The media should provide a supportive environment within which Protestants can narrate their experience.

The last point is important. Victims of abuse from a Roman Catholic setting are received positively by media and state. Concerns about reputational damage to the church that once loomed so large in theirs and most Irish people’s lives are ignored. Telling stories of past dark…

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The Francis era in Roman Catholicism is a good example of how the abnormal and even extraordinary can come to feel, with enough repetition, old hat and status quo. The wildness of the last decade is undeniable: the first papal resignation in centuries, the elevation of a new pope who began casting about for the means to alter Catholic teaching, the attempted rebellions by that pope’s own cardinals, the growing threats of schism from both the traditional and progressive wings of the church.

For a long time there was grab-you-by-the-lapels urgency to writing about all this. Wherever the reader stood, Catholic or non-Catholic, it was important to convey the sheer drama enveloping the world’s largest religious institution.

Yet as the latest act unfolds in Rome, with the gathering of bishops and laypeople called “the synod on synodality,” the feeling now is more one of repetition and familiarity.

Once again, as…

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Bishop Rick Stika, the former Bishop of Knoxville, Tennessee, published Tuesday a text he called an “open letter” of support for him and signed, he says, by an “Anonymous Conclave of 10” cardinals.

After the letter attracted attention among Catholics Oct. 3, the bishop told The Pillar that he could not guarantee the text’s authenticity, but that he believed its contents were a fair summation of his experience in the Church.

The letter, which Stika posted on Facebook as a text without accompanying images of the document, said the former Knoxville bishop’s June resignation was a “grave loss, not only for the faithful of the diocese but for the Universal Church.” 

“The solemnity of our message cannot be overstated: Bishop Stika’s pastoral guidance and spiritual leadership in the Diocese of Knoxville have been a beacon of light and hope for countless souls,” the text said, adding praise for the bishop’s “genuine care…

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The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a Catholic priest who previously served in La Vernia and Stockdale, and charged him with aggravated sexual assault, a felony.

Father George Mbugua Ndung’u, known as Father Wanjiru Ndung’u in the parishes where he served, was arrested Sept. 26.

This followed an investigation by the Archdiocese of San Antonio, and further investigation by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.

He is alleged to have sexually assaulted an elderly parishioner several times in the parish where he has most recently been serving, St. Rose of Lima in San Antonio.

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office was alerted Sept. 9, according to Sheriff Javier Salazar, who said a church employee came forward with the allegation that the priest “did something improper with her.”

“I would like to publicly express my gratitude to the survivor for bravely coming forward and helping our Church by sharing this personal and…

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What if you learned, years later, that a dozen credibly accused abusive employees worked at the daycare where you sent your children? Or if you found out that a dozen predatory teachers taught at the elementary school, your youngsters had attended? How about if you learned that there had been a dozen child-molesting coaches on the team where your kids played? Try to put yourself in this dreadful scenario. It’s really hard to imagine, isn’t it?

Though it’s mind-blowing, it’s not theoretical. Hundreds of good parents who attended – and may still attend – St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Catonsville, Maryland, in the Baltimore Archdiocese find themselves in this frightening situation. Twelve proven, admitted, or credibly accused child molesting clerics were employed at this one parish for over a 40-year span from 1964 to 2004. Twelve. At one parish. How do we know this? It’s one of a number of startling revelations…

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A Massachusetts bill that aims to eliminate the time limit of when people can sue for sexual abuse is being met with opposition from the Archdiocese of Boston, an institution that could face numerous legal challenges if the proposed law passes.

Earlier this year, Sen. Joan Lovely, D-Essex, filed a bill to remove the Massachusetts civil statute of limitations requirement. Currently, the Bay State gives survivors up to 35 years to file a civil suit after they’ve been harmed by their abuser.

Lovely, who is a survivor of child sexual abuse, believes there can be no time limit when it comes to speaking up against sexual abuse.

“We want to make sure people have the opportunity to bring action when they are ready to do so,” she told GBH News in June.

But, the Archdiocese of Boston believes the proposal could harm the…

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Victims of clerical abuse are being asked to take part in a review of child safeguarding in the Catholic Church in Ireland.

The review, commissioned from an independent consultancy firm by two church bodies, will focus on the experience of survivors in dealing with the church after the abuse was disclosed.

In particular, information is being sought on how the church responded, what support was offered and what the experience of survivors was like going through those systems.

The review comes amid an upsurge in reports of historical child sexual abuse in the wake of revelations regarding Blackrock College and other fee-paying schools run by religious orders.

It also comes not long after the Christian Brothers were accused in the High Court of adopting a cynical legal strategy aimed at safeguarding assets from abuse victims.

The review is being conducted by accountancy and advisory firm RSM Ireland.

A statement issued…

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The Oct. 1 Metro article “New rights for child sex abuse victims in Md.” reported that Baltimore Archbishop William Lori said of his archdiocese’s Chapter 11 filing that if the archdiocese had not made this filing, the litigation for some child abuse victim settlements would have “exhausted” his church’s insurance funds. But, sir, what is the fate of the Catholic Church’s vast treasury compared with the cost of one person’s destroyed childhood and adult life? Does your institution merit a healthy bank balance after the Catholic Church hid and promoted pedophile priests, moving them from one unsuspecting parish to another, allowing them to prey on still more vulnerable children, decade upon decade?

Nicholas Penning, Arlington

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Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan has dropped criminal charges against Monsignor Francis Strahan, after his accuser declined to testify. Strahan, 90, was scheduled to go on trial on October 2nd.

Strahan was the longtime Pastor of Saint Bridget’s Parish in Framingham, serving there as Parish Priest from 1983 to 2019.

In October of 2019, only a few months after celebrating the 60th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, an allegation of sexual molestation was made against Strahan.

The Archdiocese of Boston immediately removed Strahan as Pastor, deprived him of his faculties, placed him on administrative leave, and barred him from public ministry. It then referred the matter to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

In November of 2022, a Middlesex County Grand Jury indicted Strahan on three counts of indecent assault upon a child and on one count of child rape. The purported incidents, which were said…

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As more states ease path for civil justice, institutions that harbored attackers deploy tactics to limit liability and silence survivors

He knew “luck” wasn’t the right word the moment he said it.

But Nicholas Finio was trying to describe the way everything lined up perfectly for the reckoning he’d spent decades working toward.

He filed a lawsuit in time, he worked with an experienced legal team and a good therapist. He was ready to confront the defrocked priest whose persistent sexual abuse had turned his years as a blond-haired altar boy delighted to be chosen for the solemn duties at Mass into a nightmare. The terror of the abuse lived inside him for 15 years, it followed him through high school and college, into his relationships and his marriage. It even made him think about suicide.

“It was the hardest thing I ever did in my life; it was terrifying,”…

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Derek McCarthy wants public to know that Spiritan priest with ties to two US cities was one of four men who sexually molested him at Irish boarding school

Some in the US cities of Pittsburgh and New Orleans knew Naos McCool as a Roman Catholic priest who worked with college students and first responders, and also officiated his share of weddings.

But Derek McCarthy wants the public to know that McCool, a Spiritan priest, was one of four men who sexually molested him while attending an Irish boarding school – decades before he secured a six-figure settlement from the priest’s religious order.

McCarthy has spoken openly about his abuse at Rockwell College in Tipperary before, making news headlines across Ireland. But a recent interview with the Guardian marked the first time he has publicly named his abusers, including McCool, who is still living and held relatively prominent roles at some American institutions.

“What if…

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The Archdiocese of Boston is opposing a state bill that would eliminate the time limit for filing a civil lawsuit for claims of sexual abuse of children, saying it would put its efforts to assist victims at risk. 

In 2014, the state enacted a bill that extended the statute of limitations to when the plaintiff turns 53 or seven years after the plaintiff “discovered or reasonably should have discovered that an emotional or psychological injury or condition was caused by such act.” 

The current bill being considered by the Legislature would eliminate the time limit and allow lawsuits at any time against a purported perpetrator or against a defendant that “negligently supervised a person who sexually abused a minor” or “caused or contributed to the sexual abuse of a minor by another person.” 

Supporters of the bill say it would help more traumatized victims…

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In a first of its kind gathering, the more than 350 delegates from around the world that are participating in this month’s Synod of Bishops are first meeting outside of Rome for a three-day retreat before returning to the Vatican for a high-stakes summit on the future of the Catholic Church. 

The retreat is being led by a British theologian and former leader of the global Dominican Order, Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, at the personal invitation of Pope Francis. In his first four meditations, Radcliffe, 78, immediately addressed a number of the tensions surrounding the synod, using the Gospel’s story of the transfiguration of Jesus to reflect on themes such as clericalism, the inclusion of LGBTQ Catholics, the role of women in the church and clergy sexual abuse. 

Inside the room are a mix of laypeople and bishops that includes some of the synod’s biggest critics and…

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Cardinal Joseph Zen wrote last month to bishops and cardinals attending the synod on synodality, urging them to petition Pope Francis to change the procedures for the meeting, and to challenge synodal organizers’ program for the sessions.

In a letter dated Sept. 21, a copy of which was obtained by The Pillar, the 91-year old emeritus Bishop of Hong Kong told the bishops and cardinals that he is “confounded” by what he sees as a reinvention of the Biblical concept of synodality by the event’s organizers, in a bid to promote teaching contrary to the faith.

The cardinal urged bishops to champion true “episcopal collegiality” during the synodal process.

“Because of what I am going to say, I can easily be accused of ‘conspiracy theory,’ but I see clearly a whole plan of manipulation,” the cardinal said. 

“They [the synodal organizers] begin by saying we must listen to all. Little by…

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A COMPLAINT brought by survivors of abuse against the secretary-general of the Archbishops’ Council, William Nye, over his management of church safeguarding, has stalled, a letter hosted on the House of Survivors website says.

The open letter to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, published on Tuesday, is signed anonymously by an advocate writing on behalf of a group of survivors of church-related abuse. This was their second letter, following one in June, which pointed to “an extensive catalogue of frequent failings, gross incompetence, misconduct, corruption, deception and cover-ups” in church safeguarding, before making a formal complaint against Mr Nye.

The complaint primarily concerned the sudden disbandment of the Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB) by the Archbishops’ Council this year (News, 21 June), and the chaotic aftermath, including confusion and “silence” over how current and future safeguarding reviews would be handled, and by whom. An independent review of what happened…

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As the Synod on Synodality opened Oct. 4 in Rome, among the most closely watched topics under discussion is the question of whether the Catholic Church can or will extend the permanent diaconate — restored after the Second Vatican Council — to women.

The synod’s working document released June 20 notes that most continental assemblies called for a discussion on the inclusion of women in the diaconate, and asked, “Is it possible to envisage this, and in what way?”

Up to now, the answer to that question is not clear and is debated.

“The key is not whether there were women deacons,” said Deacon Dominic Cerrato, director of the Office of the Diaconate in the Diocese of Joliet, Ill., and editor of The Deacon magazine, published by OSV, which is also the parent company of OSV News.

“Of course there were women deacons. But tradition never called them part of…

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A former Marquette-area Catholic priest has been found guilty of child sexually abusive activity by a Chippewa County jury.

Aaron James Nowicki, 49, a former priest in Marquette, was arrested in 2021 after an undercover operation by the Genessee Human Oppression Strike Team, the Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office, the Sault Ste. Marie Police Department, the Sault Tribe Police Department and TRIDENT.

A press release from Chippewa County Prosecutor Robert Stratton says that the undercover operation saw law enforcement officials using the social media application Grindr to pose as a 15-year-old boy.

Nowicki, along with other several individuals were arrested when arriving at a location where they were expecting sexual intercourse.

The charges against Nowicki comes after he was removed from the Catholic priesthood in 2019 after allegations of sexual misconduct.

In a statement, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette addressed Nowicki’s time in the area.

“Rev. Aaron Nowicki resigned and…

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The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) described as “senseless” a lawsuit filed on Oct. 2 by a group of former students of the John XXIII School in Bolivia against the order’s provincial, Father Bernardo Mercado.

The religious order maintained in an Oct. 3 statement that any crime “that some Jesuits may have committed are entirely their own responsibility” and assured that the Society of Jesus “will be the first to ensure that possible sanctions are applied without any kind of privilege.”

On Oct. 2, alleged victims of sexual abuse by Jesuit priests filed a complaint accusing Mercado of “omission” of responsibilities “by not having prevented these crimes from being committed that the highest authorities of the Society of Jesus of Bolivia knew about.”

In a press release shared with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, by the Association of Alumni of the John XXIII School of the Society of Jesus, it…

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The exodus of the Swiss faithful accelerated further following the sexual abuse scandal. In Fribourg alone, no less than 500 people have left the Catholic Church in the last three weeks. The institution, which depends on ecclesiastical taxes, is worried about its future.

“For personal reasons, I no longer wish to be subject to church tax.” Jérémy Stauffacher, an independent lawyer, no longer wishes to pay for the Catholic Church, which he made known last week in a letter addressed to his parish.

If the lawyer had already been thinking about it for some time, the latest cases of sexual abuse pushed him to give up the services of the institution.

“The letter had been ready for a while, I had typed it on my computer,” he told Swiss public broadcaster RTS. “And ultimately, the events that took place served as a trigger for me, without it necessarily being a vendetta against the Church.”

…

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Victims of clerical abuse have travelled to Geneva to urge the United Nations to force the Vatican to honour its international obligations.

“It’s a pandemic and it has to stop,” Adalberto Mendez, founder of Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA), told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday. “It’s a huge problem, a human rights problem, not just in Europe, but all over the world.”

In Geneva, members of ECA and victims are due to hold talks on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council. The aim is to have a first meeting with representatives of states on how to hold the Vatican accountable for breaches of its international obligations.

Talks are also planned with the Committees on the Rights of the Child and against Torture. ECA wants to know whether the Holy See has officially replied to a request made almost ten years ago in reports by the independent experts of these two…

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A teacher in Fishers has been fired after being preliminarily charged with crimes related to having a relationship with a teenage student at Fishers Christian Academy.

A teacher at Fishers Christian Academy is accused of having a relationship with a 15-year-old student.

The teacher is preliminarily charged with Dissemination of Matter Harmful to Minors, Child Solicitation, Child Seduction, Sexual Misconduct with a Minor, Child Sex Trafficking and Vicarious Sexual Gratification.

All six charges are felonies.

The investigation into the teacher began with an anonymous tip to Fishers PD claiming a teacher at the school had relations with an underage student.

The teacher told law enforcement about communications between he and a 13-year-old on the messaging applications Whisper and Text Now.

The teacher told police the communications were “wrong” and he did it out of “curiosity”.

Law enforcement continued to question the man and soon he admitted to having a relationship…

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Church’s attorneys sought more time, continued access to cash, keep names secret

The Archdiocese of Baltimore on Tuesday appeared in federal bankruptcy court for the first hearing since filing for Chapter 11 protection on Friday.

Baltimore Archbishop William Lori did not attend the hearing in person as the Catholic Church filed eight motions, all of which the judge granted, but only the time extension was granted permanently. Among the motions, the church’s team of private attorneys asked for more time, for continued access to cash and to keep most of the process secret. The other seven motions were granted on an interim basis.

Dozens of victim-survivors watched the proceedings unfold in a packed courtroom gallery. Their lawyers called the church filing “offensive” and its tone “insensitive.”

“They’re in bankruptcy because of what they did, not because the child victims, and that has to be made crystal, crystal clear,” said David Lorenz,…

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The plaintiffs, who suffered abuse between 1973 and 1995 in several schools run by the order, consider that these are crimes against humanity and that there is no statute of limitations on them

A pedophilia scandal is cornering the Society of Jesus in Bolivia. Half a year after the publication of the diary of the late Spanish Jesuit priest Alfonso Pedrajas, in which he admitted to having abused dozens of Bolivian children while his superiors looked the other way — and which triggered a series of accusations against a dozen priests in the Latin American country — a group of victims on Tuesday brought legal action against the Roman Catholic organization for covering up the abuse, for protecting pedophile clerics and for silencing the victims.

The plaintiffs, former students at several Jesuit-run schools who suffered sexual assaults between 1972 and 1995, had already independently brought complaints against their attackers months ago. Now,…

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Fondling, rape, other sexual assaults charged against ‘credibly accused’ clergy

The Archdiocese of Washington is the target of a class-action lawsuit accusing Roman Catholic officials of allowing clergy to sexually abuse children for decades.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in Prince George’s County Circuit Court, a day after Maryland’s Child Victims Act of 2023 took effect by lifting the statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases. The Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for bankruptcy on Friday, before the law was to take effect.

The lawsuit was brought by three survivors of alleged abuse from Maryland counties who were between 9 and 12 years old when they say the abuse occurred. Using the pseudonyms John Doe, Richard Roe and Mark Smith, the survivors say various clergy assaulted them.

Doe, born in 1985, says the Rev. Michael Mellone and Deacon Lawrence Bell abused him at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church and its…

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Victims advocacy groups are asking participants at this month’s Synod on Synodality to enact real change.

As Catholic bishops and lay believers meet in Rome this month for a historic Vatican summit to discuss power structures in the church, sexual abuse survivors and their advocates say their topic will be on everyone’s minds but nobody’s agenda.

The Synod on Synodality, which runs Oct. 4-29, has been called to tackle questions of clergy leadership and accountability, but above all clericalism, which occurs when the ordained claim special privileges or are treated as if they are above reproach. These questions are central to the issue of sexual abuse, itself strongly tied to how power is used and where it is distributed in the church.

Sexual abuse appears 20 times in the 60-page “Instrumentum Laboris,” the working document that will guide discussions at the synod, a frequency survivors point to in voicing concerns…

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The ruling was in response to a request by the Archdiocese of Baltimore, which filed for Chapter 11 on Friday.

A federal bankruptcy court Tuesday temporarily blocked sexual abuse lawsuits against parishes, schools or other entities related to the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Child sexual assault survivors said the ruling further thwarts a new state law intended to give them greater latitude to sue institutions that harbored their abusers.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Michelle M. Harner issued the ruling in response to a request from the archdiocese. Archbishop William Lori filed for Chapter 11 on Friday, two days before the Maryland Child Victims Act took effect. The law eliminates the civil statute of limitations that once required many child victims of sexual assault to have filed lawsuits by their early 20s. The new law affords them the right to file civil lawsuits at any time against their alleged…

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The FBI has reportedly interviewed a number of individuals who alleged they were abused by members of a Christian group that counts Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett as a member.

Barrett’s affiliation with People of Praise, a conservative religious group that elevates the role of men, drew scrutiny ahead of her appointment to the highest court in the nation.

One former member told Newsweek in 2020 that women are expected to be “absolutely obedient” to their husbands and the men in the group and those who aren’t are “shamed, shunned, humiliated.”

At least five individuals have been contacted by the FBI, a spokesperson for a group called PoP Survivors confirmed to Newsweek on Tuesday. The development was first reported by The Guardian.

Newsweek reached out to the FBI and People of Praise for comment via email. Barrett has been contacted through a Supreme Court spokesperson for comment.

PoP Survivors has engaged in a years-long effort…

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When former President Donald Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett for the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020, her critics were disturbed by her association with People of Praise — a far-right Christian group that combines Catholicism with elements of evangelical fundamentalist Protestantism.

Barrett herself is Catholic, as are most members of People of Praise. But the group’s practices are way outside the mainstream of Catholicism.

Now, according to The Guardian’s Stephanie Kirchgaessner, the FBI is interviewing ex-members of the group in response to their sexual abuse allegations.

Kirchgaessner, in a report published on October 3, explains, “The individuals were contacted following a years-long effort by a group called PoP Survivors, who have called for the South Bend-based sect to be investigated for leaders’ handling of sexual abuse allegations. The body, which has 54 members, has alleged that abuse claims were routinely…

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In addition to clergy abuse lawsuits, large numbers of claims have also been filed against Maryland juvenile services, indicating the state failed to protect incarcerated and institutionalized children from sexual predators.

This week, dozens of childhood sex abuse lawsuits have already been brought in Maryland state courts, after a new law took effect on October 1, allowing claims to be filed against sexual abusers and institutions that enabled the conduct, regardless of how long ago it occurred.

The Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023 was enacted in April, and went into effect on Sunday, removing all statute of limitations restrictions on civil claims involving sexual abuse of children in the state.

While the state courts have only been open for two days since the new measure took effect, multiple reports highlight the growing wave of complaints filed so far. Many of the lawsuits target the Baltimore Archdiocese and other churches that…

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The church has characterized its Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a matter of survival. But it comes at the expense of its survivors.

When the morning sun breaks through the restored skylights of the Baltimore Basilica, the entire ceiling glows thanks to the double-shell dome hiding those windows — a feature Thomas Jefferson suggested.

Two massive oil paintings — gifted to the basilica by France’s King Louis XVIII — hang near the marble busts and bronze tributes to archbishops and cardinals who were in charge when a little girl was raped and told she had received “holy communion,” according to a sweeping investigation released in the spring. And when a little boy was given cash and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer after being orally raped and told he would be “damned to hell” if he told anyone. And, investigators found, when a priest who had been accused of raping multiple boys over…

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When a Catholic entity runs to federal court seeking bankruptcy protection, its head often posts a ‘FAQ’ (frequently asked questions) or a ‘Q & A’ section on its website, putting the church hierarchy’s spin on the decision. Usually, these postings are dreadfully disingenuous and dishonest. The Archdiocese of San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s latest posting is perhaps the worst. It’s hard to know where to begin.

• The archbishop claims that a new California law “allow(s) cases to be filed against the archdiocese through 2022.” That is not true. The new law allows child sex abuse and cover-up cases to be filed against ALL employers in the state. He’s trying to suggest that Catholic entities are being unfairly singled out. He’s wrong.

• The archbishop claims that in other dioceses, the Chapter 11 process has taken “between one and three years.” Cordileone conveniently neglects to mention that the  View Cache

Advocates say getting rid of the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse is a matter of moral justice, but the Archdiocese of Boston says the move will hurt its own efforts to help sexual abuse victims.

The Massachusetts Legislature is considering eliminating the civil statute of limitations for adult victims of child sexual abuse. The current law allows victims to file civil lawsuits up to 35 years after the abuse.

The state lawmaker behind the effort, Democratic Sen. Joan Lovely of Salem, said victims still need more time to reckon with the trauma they suffered as children.

Lovely, who says she is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, told WGBH’s “Greater Boston” news show that many victims are unable to come forward until well into adulthood.

“We want to make sure people have the opportunity to bring action when they are ready to do so,” Lovely told…

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As part of the investigation into alleged pedophilia committed by Jesuit priests in Bolivia, the commission of prosecutors in charge of the cases has requested reports from the Vatican.

Mauricio Nava Morales, prosecutor for the Department of Chuquisaca (administrative district), told local media that the information they are requesting are the reports that the provincials of the Society of Jesus would normally send to the Vatican about “irregularities” that occurred in their jurisdictions. 

“The Vatican has all the information from the provincials, who, in any case, were the ones who supervised each city,” the prosecutor explained.

The investigation began following a complaint filed by former Jesuit Pedro Lima with the Chuquisaca prosecutor’s office against the now-deceased priest Antonio Gausset for alleged sexual abuse and Father Ramón Alaix for alleged cover-up. Another of his complaints about incidents that took place in the city of El Alto was dismissed because it belonged…

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One civil complaint, no criminal charges in state attorney general’s investigation of New York’s Catholic dioceses

More than three years ago, the state attorney general’s office announced it was launching an investigation into the handling of child sexual abuse by New York’s Catholic dioceses. Since then, no cases have been pursued by the district attorneys who were encouraged at that time to pursue any related criminal allegations that were uncovered and fell within applicable statutes of limitations.

The lack of any apparent grand jury investigations — which could also produce reports detailing the dioceses’ handling of child sex abuse even if criminal charges were not possible — has occurred despite increasing evidence that church leaders routinely covered up the allegations to protect those priests and their institutions. That practice also led to the additional abuse of children when accused priests were later allowed to return to ministry without bishops or others…

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A man who, at age 9, was shown a gun before being forced to have sex with a priest. A woman who at age 14 was plied with drugs by teachers, sexually assaulted by them, and impregnated. A man who was sodomized by detention-center caretakers at age 15.

Before Sunday, there was little these individuals could do to hold their alleged perpetrators accountable in court in Maryland. Now they’re plaintiffs in some of the first lawsuits to be filed against accused offenders under the Child Victims Act, a new law that removes the statute of limitations on child sex abuse lawsuits.

These cases are some of the first of what is expected to be a flood of suits filed under the act.

After several failed attempts in recent years, state lawmakers passed the law in April on the heels of the release of a Maryland Attorney General’s Office report on…

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The Catholic church is in crisis worldwide. An upcoming synod — a major meeting of bishops — in Rome will feature unusually open dialogue. Could calls for reform tear the church apart?

Perhaps this small scene in Rome is symbolic of what is currently happening in the Catholic Church. A smiling Nathalie Becquart rides a bike that is too small for her toward St Peter’s Square and the Vatican. The French 54-year-old was named by Pope Francis in early 2021 as undersecretary to the Synod of Bishops and she is the first woman with voting rights at the male-dominated meetings. Becquart is perhaps the most well-known woman in the Vatican.

She warmly greets everyone she meets in these few days before this next phase of the world synod, which begins on October 4. The workshop in Rome, during which about 450 delegates will discuss reforms and new ways of working together…

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All of the sexual abuse survivors and supporters we know have been devastated by the news on Friday, Sept. 29, that the Archdiocese of Baltimore (AOB) was filing for bankruptcy protection. Even though this was not unexpected, the timing was certainly a shock. Of note: The new Child Victim’s Act had not even gone into effect. It was scheduled to officially be law Sunday, Oct. 1st. We thought they would at least wait to see how many claims might be filed by church abuse survivors before saying they could not afford to pay them. It is another retraumatizing event and another effort to hurt and gaslight survivors.

Some of us were asked by a reporter at a news conference on Thursday (related to the newly released partially unredacted Attorney General’s report chronicling decades of sexual abuse against hundreds of children) what we would like to say to…

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Clergy sexual abuse survivors have unveiled a proposed new church law calling for the permanent removal of abusive priests and superiors who covered for them

Clergy sexual abuse survivors on Monday unveiled a proposed new church law calling for the permanent removal of abusive priests and superiors who covered for them, as they stepped up their outrage over Pope Francis’ choice to head the Vatican office that investigates sex crimes.

The global advocacy group End Clergy Abuse unveiled the draft law at a press conference following days of protests around the Vatican, and before taking their complaints to the U.N. in Geneva. They are seeking to draw attention to the ongoing scandal in the Catholic Church and the failure of Francis and the hierarchy to make good on years of pledges of “zero tolerance” for abuse.

Specifically, the survivors have expressed astonishment at Francis’ nomination of an old friend and theologian,…

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The Spanish Catholic Church failed to act on allegations made against a priest who reportedly raped several women after drugging them with liquid ecstasy, his ex-girlfriend has claimed.

Francisco Javier Cuenca was detained in Málaga last month and has been remanded in custody on suspicion of raping four women.

According to police sources, the priest took advantage of parties and Church-related trips to spike women’s drinks with liquid ecstasy before performing sex acts on them.

He allegedly stole their underwear as trophies and is suspected of violating the privacy of several of his alleged victims after investigators discovered photographs and videos the priest had taken of them.

A woman who claimed to be his former girlfriend said she had reported “Father Fran”, as he was known by his parishioners, and handed over a hard disk containing some 3,000 photographs and videos of women in sexual poses or being sexually assaulted.

…

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Politicians in Columbus may not agree on much these days, but this week they were united in their desire to help victimized former Boy Scouts get the justice they deserve.

Ohio state senators unanimously passed legislation that voids the state’s civil statute of limitations in bankruptcy cases, in an effort to ensure Ohio victims of Boy Scouts abuse get more compensation. The organization filed for bankruptcy back in 2020, after thousands upon thousands of men across the country brought forth claims they had been sexually abused by their Scout leaders.

In the Buckeye State alone, 2,000 claims have been filed. The bill voids the existing cutoff of 12 years for claims, ensuring any victim filing a claim receives all of the money owed through a settlement.

“Nearly 2,000 survivors of childhood sexual abuse are one step closer to justice today,” said Rep. Jessica Miranda, D-28th Dist. “I see this as…

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 The Rev. Msgr. Francis Strahan, who served more than 60 years as a priest and was pastor at St. Bridget’s Parish in Framingham for 36 years, is no longer facing trial on charges he raped a young boy nearly two decades ago.

An Archdiocese of Boston investigation into the charges, which was put on hold in favor of the criminal investigation, will now resume.

Prosecutors last week filed a nolle prosqui in Middlesex Superior Court in the case against Strahan, 90, meaning they would not prosecute the case. The trial had been scheduled for Oct. 2.

Because of the motion, the case was dismissed.

In court documents, prosecutor Courtney Linnehan said the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, along with Framingham police, had “thoroughly” investigated the rape allegations and were set for trial.

Prosecutors say alleged victim declined to testify

But during a trial preparedness meeting on Sept. 19 with the alleged victim,…

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A former Michigan priest arrested by authorities who posed as a 15-year-old boy on the dating app Grindr has been convicted.

Aaron Nowicki, 49, was convicted of child sexually abusive activity on Thursday, according to a news release from Chippewa County Prosecutor Robert L. Stratton.

A sentencing date for Nowicki has not yet been scheduled.

Nowicki resigned from priestly ministry in Jan. 2019 after it was alleged he had an “improper, but not criminal, relationship with a vulnerable adult,” the Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette said in a statement.

During a 2021 operation, the Genesee Human Oppression Strike Team, or GHOST, collaborated with Upper Peninsula law enforcement agencies in an undercover operation posing as a 15-year-old boy on the dating app Grindr.

During the operation, multiple individuals were arrested after arriving at a location to have sexual intercourse with the 15-year-old.

Prosecutor Stratton said in…

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Rev. Aaron Nowicki resigned and was removed from priestly ministry on Jan. 25, 2019 due to allegations of an improper, but not criminal, relationship with a vulnerable adult. The allegations did not involve misconduct with a minor or a criminal offense. Following his resignation, a canonical (Church law) process regarding these allegations was begun. The allegations were also reported by the Diocese of Marquette to the Michigan Attorney General.

On Aug. 16, 2021, the Chippewa County Sheriff’s Department announced that Nowicki was arrested in connection with a “Ghost” operation conducted at that time concerning child trafficking. The Diocese of Marquette is not providing legal representation nor paying for Nowicki’s defense concerning this alleged offense. Following Nowicki’s arrest, the canonical process concerning the earlier 2019 allegations of misconduct was suspended pending the civil trial.

The diocese respects the Sept. 28, 2023 decision of the civil court.

To those who have been…

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Father Hans Zollner, a German priest and an expert in the fight against sexual abuse in the Church, said in a Sept. 26 interview with Infovaticana that celibacy is not a direct cause of this evil.

The psychologist, who also holds a doctorate in theology, said that “celibacy is not a direct cause of abuse; what can become a risk factor is a ministry poorly lived and not fully accepted.”

“All scientific reports, including those commissioned by non-Church institutions, conclude that celibacy in itself does not lead to abuse. Therefore, it is wrong to say that with the abolition of celibacy there would no longer be cases of abuse in the Catholic Church,” he emphasized.

The former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, from which he resigned in March, said that “sexual abuse arises above all from an abuse of power that someone…

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The independent ‘lessons learnt’ review into the Church of England’s handling of allegations against the late Revd. Trevor Devamanikkam has been published.

Trevor Devamanikkam was due to appear in court in June 2017, charged with six counts of sexual abuse in the 1980s, against a 16-year-old. However, he did not arrive for the hearing and was found dead at his home later that day. An inquest found that he had died by suicide. In 2012 and 2013, the survivor, himself a member of clergy at the time, alleged he made a number of disclosures of non-recent abuse to senior clergy, and they failed to act on them.

The review was commissioned by the National Safeguarding Team, NST, and carried out by Jane Humphreys, a Senior Social Care Consultant, and previous Director of Children’s and Adult’s Services with a career spanning more than 30 years.

Its purpose is to identify both…

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Erin Foerstel was accused of grooming her victim for months

A former school nurse at St. John Vianney High today admitted she performed oral sex on a student in April.

Erin Foerstel, 42, pled guilty to statutory sodomy and sexual contact with a student who was younger than 17. Both charges are felonies. Foerstel was the school nurse at the Catholic high school for boys, and her victim was a student at the time of her crime.

In court today, a family member of the student claimed Foerstel “groomed” the boy for months through texts and FaceTime calls.

“The safety and security of our family was shattered by a predator who preyed on a 16-year-old boy,” the family member said.

To Foerstel, they said, “As a family we are stronger than you and your actions. Your insecurity has damaged our family. This plea brings closure but not peace.”

Foerstel was…

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Wave of lawsuits from victims of child sex abuse expected to hit courthouses Monday as a new law allowing for civil suits from long-ago attacks takes effect

A wave of civil lawsuits is expected to hit Maryland courthouses Monday, as a law takes effect that gives child sex abuse victims expanded rights to sue institutions that harbored their attackers.

Under Maryland’s Child Victims Act, which eliminates previous time constraints on the filing of civil lawsuits, victims may seek up to $1.5 million from private institutions or individuals, and $890,000 from public institutions.

Already, lawyers representing victims brutalized decades ago by Catholic clergy or staff at an Annapolis private school had pledged to digitally file their complaints the moment the law takes effect Sunday.

The act takes effect Oct. 1 along with several others across the region, including tougher gun laws in Maryland and a ban on cashless businesses in the…

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TACLOBAN CITY — Bishop Crispin Varquez of the Borongan Diocese said he did nothing wrong by informing the public about Pope Francis’ decision to dismiss a priest due to alleged sexual abuse of minors.

Through his attorney, Collen Calleja, Varquez responded to Fr. Pio Aclon’s threat to file charges against him for disclosing the dismissal.

Varquez stated that as the chief shepherd of Borongan, he was simply performing his duty when he authorized the posting of “Informationis Causa” on the Diocese of Borongan’s social media on Sept. 17, which announced Aclon’s removal as a priest.

Calleja noted that Varquez never aimed to humiliate Aclon.

“On the matter of the Informationis Causa, there is nothing libelous or slanderous about the notice. It is information to the public on a matter of fact, that the priest in question has been laicized,” Calleja said in a Sept. 25 letter addressed to Aclon.

“Our…

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ROME – On Friday the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) advocacy groups issued a joint statement calling on Pope Francis to remove Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández as head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), and to rescind his elevation as cardinal, over past mishandling of abuse allegations.

Fernández is due to receive his red hat from Pope Francis later today. In their statement SNAP and ECA said that in their view, by tapping Fernández to lead the DDF, “Pope Francis demonstrates not only poor judgment, but also gross disrespect to Catholic victims around the world.”

“Among the responsibilities of the DDF is the handling of sexual abuse accusations brought against clergy. In fact, this responsibility constitutes 80 percent of its work. Yet earlier this year, Archbishop Fernández admitted that he made ‘mistakes’ in handling a 2019 case of…

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The Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization Sept. 29, in response to the new law that goes into effect on Oct. 1. The new law allows civil suits for child sexual abuse against public entities and private institutions and individuals, no matter when the abuse occurred.

The Child Victims Act, passed by the Maryland General Assembly in the spring of 2023, permanently and retroactively eliminates time limits on civil claims for historic cases of child sexual abuse.

The new law pertains to suits for monetary damages; there is no statute of limitations for criminal prosecution of such crimes in Maryland.

In an interview with Catholic Review Media, Archbishop William E. Lori explained that reorganization would help provide equitable settlements to all those who may have been harmed.

“I don’t think we can begin without recognizing the harm that was done to so many victim-survivors and the ongoing…

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The Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a move a lawyer representing dozens of child sexual abuse survivors says is an attempt “to evade accountability.”

The filing comes as a new law is set to take effect in Maryland October 1, lifting the statute of limitations to allow new civil lawsuits over older acts of child sexual abuse.

In April, the Maryland Attorney General released a report alleging 156 Catholic clergy members and others abused at least 600 children over the course of more than six decades.

Because of the new law, “the Archdiocese of Baltimore faces a great number of lawsuits of historic cases of child sexual abuse previously barred by Maryland law,” Archbishop William E. Lori said in a statement Friday.

“After consulting with numerous lay leaders and the clergy of the Archdiocese, I have made the decision I…

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Happy Friday friends,

And a happy feast of the Archangels. 

This weekend is the consistory at which Pope Francis will formally create the slate of new cardinals which he announced back in July. It promises to be a weekend of pomp and pageantry in Rome.

However much it’s now en vogue for cardinals to play down the trappings of their status, it’s my experience that they get pretty into it for their big weekend. A friend of mine in Rome tells me that Gammarelli, the papal tailoring house, has had to put ordinary business on pause for weeks as it tries to fill all the custom-fitted orders in scarlet watered silk.

Good for them, I say. 

I get it that these days they are more or less obliged to drop the “Your Eminence” business and tell people to “just call me cardinal.” But I think if the pope has called you up…

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Pope Francis has elected 21 new cardinals to help reform the Catholic Church, leaning heavily on diversity just days ahead of a meeting where he will outline plans for its future and discuss controversial issues such as LGBTQ+ followers, women’s roles in the church and celibacy.

The new “princes of the church,” including Chicago-born Robert Prevost — were inducted Saturday by the 86-year-old pontiff in St. Peter’s Square.

In his instructions to the new cardinals, Pope Francis said their variety and geographic diversity would serve the church like musicians in an orchestra, who sometimes play solos while performing as part of an ensemble other times.

“Diversity is necessary; it is indispensable. However, each sound must contribute to the common design,” he said.

“This is why mutual listening is essential: each musician must listen to the others.”

Each new cardinal took an oath to obey the pope, remain faithful to Christ…

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Pope Francis on Saturday further cemented his legacy, elevating 21 prelates to the high rank of cardinal and significantly raising the percentage of electors chosen by him who will have the right to vote for his successor.

At a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square known as a consistory, Francis “created” 21 new cardinals, the red-hatted “princes of the Church” who are his closest advisers at the Vatican and around the world.

There are now 137 cardinal electors, about 73 percent of them chosen by Francis. This increases – but does not guarantee – the possibility that the next pope will share his vision of a more progressive, inclusive Church.

Eighteen of the 21 are under the age of 80 and thus eligible under Church law to enter a secret conclave to elect the next pope after Francis’ death or resignation. They are known as cardinal electors. The three 80 or…

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For the first time in Maryland, survivors of childhood sexual abuse can now sue perpetrators and the institutions that protected them without concern for how long ago the abuse happened.

Maryland’s Child Victims Act, which eliminated the statute of limitations for civil sexual abuse claims, officially goes into effect Sunday, Oct. 1, though courthouses are closed until Monday.

The victory for survivors was dampened, however, when the Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday afternoon. Though the Roman Catholic Archdiocese was expected to face a flood of lawsuits over clergy sexual abuse, the bankruptcy will put all litigation on hold and force survivors to pursue compensation in bankruptcy court, rather than through a lawsuit.

Other survivors, however, will still have the chance to file lawsuits under the CVA. People who were victimized at schools or other institutions not connected to the archdiocese are unaffected by…

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Bernard Sonney, the deputy bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg, has temporarily vacated his office after two weeks in the job following allegations of abuse. An investigation is underway against him.

Sonney had decided to take this step “following a report”, journalists were told at a media conference in Fribourg on Friday. The report was taken from a letter sent to the bishop, Charles Morerod, by an alleged victim.

Morerod was not present at the media conference. He is currently recovering from an emergency operation in mid-September after reportedly having a bicycle accident. Morerod’s emergency hospitalisation came a day after the publication of a study by the University of Zurich into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Switzerland. This documented more than 1,000 cases of abuse in the Catholic Church in Switzerland since the middle of the 20th century.

Morerod had been accused in the Sonntagsblick newspaper of having failed to intervene…

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Deanna Hampton wants justice for her son.

She wants the priest accused of sexually abusing her little boy to be brought back to the United States. She wants him to stand trial. She wants her son’s bravery – exemplified when he testified openly before a grand jury in 2014 – to mean something. Trevor died in a tragic accident two years later.

But Deanna Hampton also wants something else. She wants those she believes have played a role in denying her son justice – most notably the Calaveras County District Attorney and the Catholic Church – to be held accountable. She also has questions for the FBI.

The church acknowledges that Father Michael Kelly sexually abused Hampton’s son, Trevor Martin, then an altar boy, and at least two other young boys during his time in the Diocese of Stockton. “The diocese accepts full responsibility for the abuse of…

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