ABUSE TRACKER

A new Catholic school president has been hired in the Kansas City Kansas Archdiocese despite his having been sued as an abuser in Arizona.

Is it possible he’s innocent? Yes. Is it likely he’s innocent? Doubtful. Has his selection and appointment been handled appropriately? Clearly not.

Phil Baniewicz is the new head of Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park KS. Archbishop Joseph Naumann and his staff have not been honest with parents and the public about the serious allegations against Baniewicz. And tragically, this type of continuing secrecy is what hurts victims, demoralizes Catholics and enables sex crimes against kids to keep happening.

Here’s the crux of this troubling situation: A priest and his colleague (Baniewicz) reportedly molested and threatened a boy. Another priest reportedly gave the boy liquor, watched the abuse and threatened him. A lawsuit against all 3 settled for six figures. The two priests were convicted and defrocked. But the Catholic lay…

View Cache

Pope Francis has arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, where he will address one of the country’s most devastating issues: sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. The gravity of the situation was palpable as senior bishops listened to heart-wrenching stories shared by victims during a panel discussion last February.

In a shocking revelation, specialists recently disclosed on live television that a staggering 4,815 boys and girls, primarily aged between 10 and 14, have been victims of sexual assault by ordained, professed, and employed religious of the Portuguese Catholic Church since 1950. This announcement contradicted previous claims by high-ranking members of the church, who downplayed the extent of the abuse.

The response from the Portuguese Catholic Church has been criticized as inadequate and lacking urgency. Their slow and hesitant reaction prompted survivors to form Portugal’s first advocacy group, demanding financial compensation on behalf of the victims. This further tarnished the church’s reputation, which…

View Cache

The Archdiocese of San Francisco announced Friday that it will “very likely” file for bankruptcy as it faces more than 500 child sex abuse lawsuits.

In an open letter, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said he was “deeply saddened” by the abuse of children and added “the vast majority of the alleged abuse occurred” decades ago.

But recent reporting by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has uncovered new accusations against multiple San Francisco priests still in ministry.

The Catholic Church across California is being hammered by a wave of new lawsuits made possible by a recent state law. The Oakland and Santa Rosa dioceses have already filed for bankruptcy protection.

Victim advocates with the victims’ support group SNAP blasted Friday’s announcement, saying the wave of diocese declaring bankruptcy is about protecting secrets and reducing payments to abuse victims.

View Cache

The Archdiocese of San Francisco could soon declare bankruptcy, after more than 500 lawsuits have been filed against it in the last three years. 

In an Aug. 4 letter obtained by The Pillar before its publication, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone told Catholics that “a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization is very likely” for the archdiocese.

The filing would “allow the Archdiocese to achieve two very important goals. First, Chapter 11 is a process that brings all parties together in one place to resolve difficult claims fairly and equitably under the supervision of the bankruptcy court, allowing the Archdiocese to deal with the hundreds of cases collectively rather than one at a time,” the archbishop wrote.

“That could result in a faster resolution for hundreds of survivors, providing them with fair compensation and finally, hopefully, some peace and closure. Secondly, Chapter 11 would allow the Archdiocese to reorganize its financial affairs to continue its vital…

View Cache

On the occasion of World Youth Day in Lisbon from August 1st to 6th, 2023, 333 child figures were be placed in front of the imposing Cologne Cathedral. The small figures are draped in white-purple barrier tape, symbolizing the colors of innocence and the curia.

With outstretched hands, they point towards Cologne Cathedral, drawing attention to the church’s disastrous handling of victims and perpetrators of sexual abuse. Through the installation “Shattered Souls in a Sea of Silence,” artist Dennis Josef Meseg aims to “give more visibility and a voice to the victims.”

However, the installation doesn’t solely focus on the victims, but also casts a critical light on the perpetrators and accomplices. His intention is that they can no longer continue their wrongdoing under the church’s protection.

The decision to choose Cologne as the location and the timing during this year’s World Youth Day in Lisbon as the occasion for the installation is deliberate. It aims to…

View Cache

The billboard in Algés attesting to child sex abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church and hastily covered up ahead of the Pope’s cavalcade passing has been allowed to return today – the municipality of Oeiras admitting the subject is too important to hide. It is not in exactly the same place, but there is only 200 metres difference. According to SIC television news today, the municipality “backed down following public indignation”. The official reason for covering the billboard up is that it had not been licensed by the municipality.

View Cache

Survivors of childhood sexual abuse must continue waiting for their day in court after the Pennsylvania General Assembly failed to meet the deadline to get a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

This failure continues nearly two decades of idleness, intrigues, and slip-ups that have blocked a measure that would give thousands of survivors a two-year window to seek monetary damages against their abusers and the institutions that shielded the accused. The window is necessary because the statute of limitations for those individuals to file suit expired.

The effort has taken different forms and has received various levels of attention in that time. But despite bipartisan support among current state lawmakers for the measure, disputes between the Democratic and Republican caucuses over whether to bundle the proposal with other amendments — including one that would expand voter ID requirements — sank its chances this year.

“I want to see…

View Cache

A fellow ran down to the courthouse this week and got hitched, which, in itself, isn’t any sort of a headline. This groom, however, happens to be Howard Hubbard, the former Catholic bishop of Albany – the capital diocese in the U.S.State of New York – who is still a cleric and a bishop even in retirement, and that makes his nuptials more than a little news story.

That Hubbard got married even though the Vatican had told him “No,” after he asked to be released from the clerical state and be permitted to contract marriage … well, that makes this an even bigger news story.

The reason the Vatican denied Hubbard’s request is that Hubbard has admitted under oath to keeping abuse allegations against priests away from police and under wraps, and is currently facing no fewer than seven separate civil lawsuits alleging he personally abused people sexually both…

View Cache

A Des Moines man is accused of sexually abusing a child inside a church.

Huy Nguyen was arrested Thursday on second-degree sex abuse charges.

A criminal complaint says Nguyen inappropriately touched an 8-year-old girl at Christ the King Catholic Church in July. Documents show the abuse happened while the two were seated on a piano bench.

In a statement to KCCI, a spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines said Nguyen “is neither an employee nor a volunteer at the parish.” The church’s pastor was notified and contacted law enforcement, according to the statement.

View Cache

Bruxy Cavey is a mess. That’s how Canada’s disgraced former megachurch pastor refers to himself on two new websites he said he started to be his therapy. Donations, however, are welcome.

“Hello friends, welcome to my therapy,” he wrote for the site named The Ghost of 1820. “My name is Bruxy . . . and I’m a mess. But I am also discovering that suffering, especially from self-inflicted wounds, can be a good teacher, and I am learning so much.”

Cavey was arguably Canada’s most well-known evangelical pastor. With his casual style and inclusive nature, Cavey grew Canada’s The Meeting House to 5,000 people across 19 locations.

However, last March, the church asked him to resign amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Two months later, police in the Canadian city of Hamilton charged him with one count of sexual assault. Then last August, The Meeting House’s independent investigation substantiated…

View Cache

30-year-old Kyle Robinson, who was an associate pastor at First Baptist Church of Indialantic was arrested July 28th on 2 felony counts of child molestation charges. He’s currently out on $30,000 bond.

According to his LinkedIn account, Kyle is a graduate of the Christian-based Liberty University with a Bachelor’s of Christian Ministry. He also lists himself as the Director of Operations for Sani Effect Environmental.

According to the arrest affidavit, the molestation had been going on for years with over 100 acts of abuse. The unidentified male in the report, described graphic details of the alleged abuse, and even began keeping a digital log of the events that often happened while visiting other cities on trips with Kyle.

The boy described that while traveling, Kyle would book hotel rooms with only one bed, forcing them to sleep together, where the abuse allegedly would take place. He states that Kyle would force…

View Cache

A convicted sex offender who is also a pastor at a local church has been arrested again for more counts of sexual crimes against children, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say.

Robert “Bobby” Price was arrested Friday morning and faces new charges for incidents between 2001-2011. Police said the victims met Price through the former King’s Way Baptist Church in Concord, where Price was a youth pastor.

He is now charged with 13 counts of indecent liberties with a child and one count of statutory sexual offense with children between the ages of 9 and 15 years old at the time of the incidents.

Police alleged Price committed the incidents in his car while driving the victims to and from the church, as well as at his home.

King’s Way Baptist Church in Concord is now closed, according to police.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE ON PRICE:

• Court documents indicate former…

View Cache

A former teacher at a K-12 school affiliated with Liberty University has been charged with sexual misconduct with a minor—which was finally disclosed to students’ families last week, three months after the fact. But multiple parents say the school is minimizing the potential harm, and some details from administrators are in conflict.

Braxton Wyatt Carter, 29, faces charges in Campbell County, Virginia, of two counts of consensual sex with a child age 15 years or older. The charges stem from an alleged incident in 2019, case information shows. Records indicate Carter was jailed April 7 and bonded out the same day.

Carter taught at Liberty Christian Academy (LCA) in Lynchburg from 2017-2019. The school is partnered with Liberty University (LU), one of the nation’s largest Christian colleges, and reportedly has about 2,000 students. 

On July 28, LCA Head of School Dr. Mark Hine wrote in an email to…

View Cache

One of three huge billboards erected by activists to raise awareness of sexual abuse by clergy has been removed following the arrival in Portugal of Pope Francis, campaign group This Is Our Memorial said on Wednesday.

Francis arrived in Lisbon to attend the World Youth Day event, an event devised by the late Pope John Paul II for Catholics in their teens or early 20s and held every two or three years in a different city.

The event comes less than six months after a report by a Portuguese commission said at least 4,815 minors were sexually abused by clergy – mostly priests – over seven decades. The commission in charge said that was just the “tip of the iceberg”.

One of the three billboards was put up on the Almirante Reis avenue, one of Lisbon’s longest and busiest streets, and reads: “4,800+ children abused by the Catholic Church in Portugal”….

View Cache

Catholic dioceses across the United States are considering or already taking steps toward declaring bankruptcy (Chapter 11), partly in response to a flood of sexual abuse lawsuits filed after states adopted laws that eliminate or pause statutes of limitations. According to one researcher, 32 Catholic dioceses and religious orders have sought or emerged from bankruptcy since 2001, when the extent of the clergy sexual abuse crisis became more widely known. It’s like there’s some secret public relations playbook passed to every US Catholic official. And under the tab titled “Seeking bankruptcy protection,” the first bit of advice (i.e., ‘spin’) is something like: “Always claim – and relentlessly repeat – that you’re doing this to be FAIR to the victims.”

Look at what Ogdensburg, New York Bishop said when he filed paperwork just two weeks ago to seek Chapter 11 protection: “The diocesan bankruptcy establishes a process for…

View Cache

When an institution or employer is hit with a report of suspected child sexual assault, generally speaking, you can tell a lot about that institution by what its leadership does in its first response. Whether it’s a verbal or written report, direct or indirect, or criminal or civil case, here’s the rule of thumb you can use to at least initially decide whether the institution or employer cares about finding the truth or protecting itself. It’s very simple: Do they ask others for help? Or do they ask others for nothing?

If they ask you to do something, that’s a good sign. If they don’t, that’s a bad sign. When confronted with known or suspected child sex crimes, institutions and employers have a straightforward choice. They can beg their employees and the public to act. Or they can try to lull them into complacency. All too often, they chose the latter course.

The…

View Cache

Attorneys for survivors of Catholic clergy sexual abuse on Long Island say they are outraged the church in Syracuse has reached a settlement for $100 million while negotiations locally have dragged on for nearly three years. 

The Diocese of Rockville Centre says it’s “grateful” for the upstate settlement, but at home, any deal between the Catholic Church and survivors will have to be fair toward victims while also allowing the diocese to remain financially viable.

Either way, reaching a similar agreement anytime soon appears a long shot, according to attorneys on the case.

“Syracuse made a decision that they weren’t going to spend their money fighting survivors and the Diocese of Rockville Centre has apparently made the opposite decision,” said Jordan Merson, a Manhattan-based attorney who represents some of the survivors on Long Island.

Church officials denied that, and said they are still working toward a solution.

“We are grateful that the Diocese of Syracuse has…

View Cache

A year after the Massachusetts attorney general’s office told advocates that a report on clergy sex abuse was nearly complete, the investigation has still not been published as activists push for the “disappearing report” to come to light.

The advocates have been in the dark since last August, when then-AG Maura Healey’s office reportedly promised that the investigation into the Worcester, Springfield and Fall River dioceses had wrapped up — and that the report was about to cross the goal line.

But Healey’s office never released the report before she became governor, and new AG Andrea Campbell’s office has not published the report.

“It’s become this kind of disappearing report,” Terry McKiernan, president of Bishop Accountability, recently told the Herald.

“These reports are incredibly important and validating for survivors,” he later added. “And when you sit down with survivors to talk about these terrible things, I think you have a…

View Cache

Key points:

• Child abuse survivors are re-telling their stories to a WA parliamentary inquiry
• It is examining the experience of survivors as they seek justice
• Victims and advocates say they are being “re-traumatised” by the process

“Gutted. Betrayed. Used. Re-traumatised.”

That is how 70-year-old Gordon Batty felt when his civil court case against the Uniting Church over his alleged sexual abuse in the 1960s was permanently stopped.

Following the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, he had been encouraged to pursue justice over his claims of abuse in several state institutions and Perth’s Methodist Homes for Children.

“I didn’t ask for any of this. We were invited,” he remembered of the decision to take legal action.

“I’d go as far as to say, we were virtually begged to let our demons out of the closet.”

But the proceedings came to a sudden halt when the church successfully applied for…

View Cache

Pope Francis met with 13 survivors of clerical sex abuse on his first day in Portugal and urged the Church to listen to “the anguished cry of the victims.”

The emotional private meeting at Lisbon’s apostolic nunciature, or Vatican embassy, on Wednesday night was a moment of “intense listening” by the pope and lasted more than an hour, according to the Vatican. Representatives from Catholic institutions working for the protection of minors in Portugal accompanied the victims.

In a speech to Portuguese clergy immediately before the pope’s encounter with the abuse survivors, Francis acknowledged the “anger with which some people view the Church” due to “the scandals that have marred her face.”

Pope Francis called for “a humble, ongoing purification, starting with the anguished cry of the victims, who must always be accepted and listened to.”

The clerical abuse watchdog BishopAccountability.org issued a statement following the…

View Cache

A fellow ran down to the courthouse this week and got hitched, which, in itself, isn’t any sort of a headline. This groom, however, happens to be Howard Hubbard, the former Catholic bishop of Albany – the capital diocese in the U.S.State of New York – who is still a cleric and a bishop even in retirement, and that makes his nuptials more than a little news story.

That Hubbard got married even though the Vatican had told him “No,” after he asked to be released from the clerical state and be permitted to contract marriage … well, that makes this an even bigger news story.

The reason the Vatican denied Hubbard’s request is that Hubbard has admitted under oath to keeping abuse allegations against priests away from police and under wraps, and is currently facing no fewer than seven separate civil lawsuits alleging he personally abused people sexually both…

View Cache

Vatican turned down his request to be laicized; Bishop Scharfenberger calls the news ‘unexpected‘

After his request to be laicized was turned down by the Vatican earlier this year, Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard of the Diocese of Albany announced in a statement Aug. 1 that he was married in a civil ceremony.

“Last fall, after prayerful consideration and consultation, I applied to the Vatican to be returned to the lay state and to be relieved of my clerical obligations. In March, I received notice from the Vatican that my request had been denied,” Bishop Hubbard said in the statement titled, ‘A Letter to My Dear Colleagues and Friends.’ “I was encouraged to wait patiently and prayerfully and to continue to abstain from public ministry until seven civil lawsuits against me alleging sexual misconduct had been adjudicated.

“Shortly thereafter, the Diocese of Albany declared bankruptcy, as have six of the…

View Cache

Summary

• Pope in Portugal for global Catholic youth festival
• Francis meets victims of Portugal clerical abuse
• At least 4,815 minors were sexually abused by clergy

Pope Francis on Wednesday said the Catholic Church needs a “humble and ongoing purification” to deal with the “anguished cries” of victims of clerical sexual abuse, who he met privately on the first day of his visit to Portugal.

Francis was speaking in Lisbon at the start of a five-day visit to the country in which he hopes to energize young Catholics during World Youth Day, the world’s largest Catholic festival.Advertisement · Scroll to continueReport this ad

Six months ago, a report by a Portuguese commission said at least 4,815 minors were sexually abused by clergy – mostly priests – over seven decades.

The crisis “calls us to a humble and ongoing purification, starting with the anguished cry of the victims, who must always be accepted and…

View Cache

Pope Francis holds a private audience with a group of 13 victims of clerical sexual abuse in Portugal, according to the Holy See Press Office.

Pope Francis met privately with victims of clerical sexual abuse in Portugal, Matteo Bruni, Director of the Holy See Press Office, confirmed in a brief statement to accredited journalists.

The encounter, on Wednesday, the first day of the Pope’s Apostolic Visit to Portugal to celebrate World Youth Day 2023, took place at the Apostolic Nunciature in a private context.

A statement by the Holy See Press Office Director said: “This evening, after concluding his institutional and ecclesial encounters, Pope Francis received in the Nunciature a group of 13 victims of abuse by members of the clergy who were accompanied by several Church organizations committed to the protection of minors.”

Mr. Bruni specified the meeting took place “in an atmosphere of intense listening and lasted over an…

View Cache

The Mississippi Court of Appeals has affirmed the 2022 conviction of a former Franciscan friar in the 1990s sexual abuse of a student at a Catholic school.

In a split decision Tuesday, a majority of the court found “no reversible error” in the conviction of Paul West, 63, who is Central Mississippi Correctional Facility.

Leflore County jurors in April 2022 found West guilty of one count of sexual battery and one count of gratification of lust. A judge sentenced him to 30 years on the first count and 15 years on the second count, to be served at the same time.

As first reported by The Associated Press in 2019, La Jarvis Love and his cousin, Joshua Love, had accused West of numerous instances of sexual abuse while they were students at St. Francis of Assisi School in Greenwood. The AP usually does not identify victims of sexual…

View Cache

Emeritus Bishop Howard Hubbard of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, N.Y., said he had married a woman after the Vatican declined his request to leave the clergy.

A retired Roman Catholic bishop in upstate New York who is a defendant in several sexual misconduct lawsuits said on Tuesday that he had recently married a woman after the Vatican denied his request to leave the clergy.

The retired bishop, Howard J. Hubbard, led the Albany, N.Y., diocese from 1977 until his retirement in 2014 and holds the title of emeritus bishop. He said in a statement issued by a public relations firm and addressed to his “dear colleagues and friends” that he and the woman had married in a civil ceremony last month.

“I have fallen in love with a wonderful woman who has helped and cared for me and who believes in me,” Bishop Hubbard, 84, said in…

View Cache

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Officials at Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park are defending the hiring of the school’s new president following concerns by the school community over the president’s involvement in a sexual abuse civil lawsuit in 2005.

The hiring and subsequent questions by parents about the process prompted KSHB 41 I-Team’s Sarah Plake to learn more about his past and why parents at the school felt uncomfortable.

In a June 30 letter to the Bishop Miege community, the Catholic high school announced it had hired Phil Baniewicz as its new president.

The letter provided background on Baniewicz’s past. He was most recently President at Maur Hill-Mount Academy in Atchison, Kansas.

“Phil Baniewicz has been an exceptional leader for Maur Hill-Mount Academy. Mr. Baniewicz is a man with a deep love for Jesus and his church,” Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann said in the letter. “I…

View Cache

The church counselors couldn’t even help their own priests. Why would Coyne think those counselors could help the priests’ victims?

Commentaries are opinion pieces contributed by readers and newsmakers. VTDigger strives to publish a variety of views from a broad range of Vermonters. Commentaries give voice to community members and do not represent VTDigger’s views. To submit a commentary, follow the instructions here.

This commentary is by Maura Labelle of Colchester, a former resident of St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Burlington.

Without question, Bishop Christopher Coyne of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington earned his promotion to coadjutor archbishop of the Diocese of Hartford, and promotion to simply archbishop in 2024.

The position was earned on the backs of clergy abuse victims in Vermont, who were largely ignored during his tenure here.

In an interview on the WCAX program “You Can Quote Me,” which aired on July 2, Coyne again showed…

View Cache

The pope will preside over a gathering of young people from around the world, mindful that the changes he has initiated in the Roman Catholic Church will depend on them.

Pope Francis, deep into his 80s, slowed by illness and aware that his window for bringing lasting change to the Roman Catholic Church is closing, arrived in Portugal on Wednesday for a weeklong meeting of the world’s young Catholics, in whose hands will rest the ultimate success or failure of his vision for a more pastoral and inclusive faith.

“I am happy to have come to Lisbon, this city of encounter, which embraces many peoples and cultures, and which, in these days, is even more global,” Francis told the country’s leaders in a speech on Wednesday morning in the Presidential Palace, adding that it had become “in a certain sense” a world capital, but also “the capital of the…

View Cache

Lisbon, Portugal — Pope Francis is in Portugal this week for what’s been called the “Catholic Woodstock” — the church’s “World Youth Day” festival. Hundreds of thousands of young people are taking part, and while the festival is a celebration, the pontiff started his visit by confronting the dark legacy of clergy sexual abuse in Portugal.

Francis wasted no time in addressing the biggest stain on today’s Catholic Church, meeting with sex abuse survivors behind closed doors on the first day of the summit. 

Arriving in Lisbon for the international celebration of faith, the pope quickly addressed the elephant in the room: A report issued earlier this year saying that nearly 5,000 minors had been sexually abused by Portuguese clergy since the 1950s.

Addressing a group of bishops, Francis blasted them for the “scandals that have marred” the church, and called for “ongoing purification,” demanding…

View Cache

LISBON, Portugal (CNS) — A Catholic Church that has grown weary in countries shaken by the clerical sexual abuse crisis and cultural trends toward secularism must look anew to Jesus to revive their “restless” enthusiasm for sharing the Gospel, Pope Francis said.

“Now is the God-given time of grace to sail boldly into the sea of evangelization and of mission,” the pope told Portuguese bishops, priests, religious and pastoral workers after praying vespers at the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon Aug. 2, the first day of his trip to Portugal.

Using a wheelchair, the pope entered the 16th-century monastery to great applause, and the cheers that erupted when he stood to greet those present resembled those echoing from the pop concert taking place across the street for World Youth Day.

Pope Francis was greeted by Bishop José Ornelas Carvalho of Leiria-Fátima, president of the country’s bishops’ conference, before leading the prayer….

View Cache

Pontiff uses first speech to stress how scandal has “disfigured” the face of the Church

Pope Francis’ first speech yesterday on arrival in Portugal for World Youth Day left tough messages for priests, bishops and politicians. With large billboards strategically sited along his route into the capital – alluding to the horrors of historic child sex abuse within the Catholic Church – being hurriedly papered over, presumably to try and save the pontiff from discomfort, the 86-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church showed he had no illusions: the first evening here saw him meeting 13 victims of abuse at the hands of Portuguese clergy, “to ask for their forgiveness”, writes tabloid Correio da Manhã.

A brief statement issued by the Holy See said “the meeting took place in an atmosphere of intense listening and lasted more than an hour”.

The victims were accompanied by representatives of Church institutions, as well as…

View Cache

Pope Francis on Aug. 2 capped off his first day in Portugal by meeting with 13 clergy abuse survivors, tackling head on an issue that was expected to loom large over his five-day visit here. 

The meeting comes after an independent commission released a report earlier this year chronicling how Catholic clergy members in Portugal had abused more than 4,800 children since 1950. The report sent shock waves through the country and survivors blasted the sluggish response of the Portuguese hierarchy following the report’s release.  

In a brief statement the Vatican said that the private meeting, which was held at the Vatican’s Portuguese embassy, lasted over an hour and was a time of “intense listening.” 

Earlier in the day, during an address to the country’s priests and bishops, the pope alluded to the country’s abuse crisis where he lamented “our poor witness and the scandals that…

View Cache

Pope Francis meets with clergy sex abuse victims in Portugal – Response from Anne Barrett Doyle, Co-Director, BishopAccountability.org 

When Pope Francis travels to a country where the clergy sex abuse crisis has erupted, he meets with victims, expresses shame and sorrow, and promises change. He did this during his 2015 visit to the United States, his visit to Chile in January 2018, his visit to Ireland in August 2018, and his visit to Canada in 2022. 

But when the Pope visits a country where the bishops are not reckoning with headlines about abuse, he does not meet with victims. He did not hold such meetings in Hungary, the Congo, Romania, or Panama, even though the church’s victims in each of those countries surely also number in the thousands.  

The Pope’s meetings with victims are about public relations, not change. And at this point in his papacy, the tactic is not…

View Cache

On the first day of an August 2-6 trip to Portugal, a country which recently has been embroiled in a clerical sexual abuse crisis, Pope Francis met a group of abuse survivors.

In a statement following the Aug. 2 meeting, the Vatican said the pope met with the group after his formal program for the day had concluded, and that 13 people participated in the meeting, which was held at the Vatican’s nunciature, meaning its embassy in Portugal.

Some representatives of church institutions charged with safeguarding efforts in Portugal also participated in the meeting, which according to the Vatican “took place in an atmosphere of intense listening” and which lasted roughly an hour, ending at 8:15 p.m. local time.

The meeting capped a busy first day for Pope Francis in Portugal, where he is attending the international World Youth Day event from Aug. 2-6, making stops in Lisbon and in…

View Cache

Pope Francis met with survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Portugal on Wednesday and blasted members of the country’s Catholic hierarchy for their response to the long-ignored scandal, which he said had marred the Catholic Church and helped drive the faithful away.

Francis dove head-on into the crisis roiling the Portuguese church on the first day of a five-day visit to Lisbon for the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day festival. His trip comes at a delicate moment for the Portuguese church; a panel of experts hired by Portugal’s bishops reported in February that priests and other church personnel may have abuse at least 4,815 boys and girls since 1950.

The Vatican said Francis met with 13 abuse victims for more than an hour at the Vatican Embassy and characterized the pope’s role in the meeting as…

View Cache

Pope Francis has held a private meeting with victims of clerical sexual abuse during a five-day visit to Portugal.

In a statement, the Vatican said the gathering had been held on Wednesday in an “atmosphere of intense listening”.

A report this year concluded that at least 4,815 children had been abused in Portugal and that the Church had sought “systematically” to conceal the issue.

At an evening service in Lisbon, the Pope said the Church must listen to “the anguished cry of the victims”.

He added that the scandal “calls us to a humble and ongoing purification” and that widespread anger over it had contributed to a “growing detachment from the practice of the faith”.

The meeting, held at the Holy See’s diplomatic mission in Portugal, included 13 abuse victims and lasted more than an hour, the Vatican said.

Officials of the Portuguese Church responsible for the protection of minors were…

View Cache

Pope Francis has arrived in Portugal for a major youth festival. But Portugal’s investigations into past abuse of minors overshadowed his visit. He told clergy a “humble and ongoing purification” was needed.

The head of the Catholic Church landed in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon on Wednesday to take part in the first World Youth Day event since the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 1 million young people from over 200 countries were expected to show up to the global Catholic gathering.

The five-day-long event was launched by Pope Francis‘ predecessor to bring together young Catholics — teenagers and those in their early 20s — every two to three years. The last one took place in 2019.

Francis landed at the Figo Madura military air base on Wednesday morning, before heading to a welcoming ceremony hosted by Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

The 86-year-old pontiff’s visit to Portugal is his first trip…

View Cache

An 84-year-old retired bishop of Albany, who has been accused of sexual abuse and has unsuccessfully sought to be removed from the priesthood, said Tuesday he recently married a woman in a civil ceremony.

Emeritus Bishop Howard Hubbard made the surprise announcement during a tumultuous time for the Albany diocese. It filed for bankruptcy this year after a surge of lawsuits from people who say they endured sexual abuse as children, sometimes decades ago.

The current bishop of the upstate New York diocese said it did not consider Hubbard’s marriage to be valid.

Hubbard, who retired in 2014, has acknowledged covering up allegations of abuse by priests, in part to avoid scandal. He has adamantly denied accusations that he abused minors.OTHER NEWS

Hubbard last fall said he wanted to be laicized, or returned to the lay state, because he could no longer function as a…

View Cache

Filipa Almeida was 17 when she was sexually abused by a priest. She stayed silent for years but eventually found the strength to speak out and hopes a visit by Pope Francis to her native Portugal this week will remind the world of thousands of similar crimes.

“I lived with this secret for 22 years,” the 43-year-old told Reuters of her ordeal, which she said occurred during a religious training course. “It’s not easy to live with these experiences.”

She is one of at least 4,815 people who were sexually abused by clergy – mostly priests – in Portugal over 70 years, according to an investigation published in February. The commission in charge said that was just the “tip of the iceberg” and that more than 100 priests suspected of child sexual abuse remained active in church roles.

Speaking ahead of the pope’s arrival, scheduled for Wednesday morning, Lisbon Patriarch Manuel Clemente…

View Cache

Pope Francis arrived in Lisbon, Portugal on Wednesday for World Youth Day. The event, which is expected to see around 1 million people attend, is a festive gathering for young Catholics held every three years to encourage deeper connection with the faith.

Approximately 85% of Portugal’s population identifies as Catholic and the church is generally held in high esteem in Portuguese society. But the Pope’s trip comes as the church in Portugal is under fire over a 500-page report published in February investigating decades of sexual abuse by clergy members involving at least 4,815 children.

The report’s publication has caused shock in the Catholic county. “There was indignation,” says António Costa Pinto, a professor of political science at the University of Lisbon. “Even the President, who comes from the center-right and is Catholic, had a reaction of indignation.”

In a sign of lingering anger over the report’s findings, a giant billboard was put…

View Cache

A huge billboard raising awareness of sexual abuse by clergymen was put up overnight in Lisbon, just hours before Pope Francis was due to arrive in the Portuguese capital for the world’s largest gathering of young Catholics.

The World Youth Day event was devised by the late Pope John Paul II for Catholics in their teens or early 20s and is held every two or three years in a different city.

The event comes less than six months after a report by a Portuguese commission said at least 4,815 minors were sexually abused by clergy – mostly priests – over seven decades. The commission in charge said that was just the “tip of the iceberg”.

Francis, who will be in Portugal until Aug. 6, is expected to meet privately with abuse victims.

The billboard was put up on the Almirante Reis avenue – one of Lisbon’s longest and busiest streets –…

View Cache

Maryland may have paved the way or at least lit a fire under law enforcement officials across the US. In 24 US states, the highest ranking law enforcement officials (usually the Attorney General) have conducted or are conducting investigations and reports within Dioceses nationwide regarding child sex crimes. 

Downside: These have produced very few criminal prosecutions, almost without exception (see Michigan).

Upside: Most of them (except Kansas) have resulted in reports that shed sorely-needed light on how Catholic officials have dealt with and still deal with clergy sex crimes and cover-ups.

Downside: Some (perhaps most) are primarily based on church records, meaning that much about the crimes and cover-ups remain covered. Does anyone really think that most abuse cases reported to church figures had properly written notes by church officials, who then made written reports, and for years or decades, most of those reports were objectively written, carefully preserved, thoroughly organized,…

View Cache

A priest whose parishioners rallied around him when he was convicted of spying on people in a men’s toilet has resigned nearly 20 years after the offence took place.

Fr Patrick McGarvey, aged in his 50s, has hung up his clerical collar, to the shock of his community in Fanad, Co Donegal, saying: ‘I have nothing more to give’.

At a service last week, Fr McGarvey told his parishioners: ‘I am finished in Fanad.

‘I’ve nothing more left to give. The spark has gone.

‘It’s been a tough few years; it’s been a lonesome time. I need a good rest. I’ve discussed it with the bishop and my own family.

‘Where the future goes, I do not know,’ he added.

Local media reported that the news has left his parishioners ‘reeling’ as the priest was highly regarded throughout the Donegal peninsula.

He was equally admired in his former parish of…

View Cache

Pope Francis arrived in Portugal on Wednesday to open the first edition of World Youth Day since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of large gatherings, as he hopes to inspire the next generation of Catholics while coping with the church’s ongoing clergy sexual abuse scandal.

More than 1 million young people from around the world were expected to attend the gathering in Lisbon, which takes place over several days.

Francis’ plane arrived on a dull, warm day in the Portuguese capital, though the skies were forecast to clear and temperatures were expected to hit 35 C (95 F) by the weekend’s final papal Mass. The pontiff, in a wheelchair, was met on the tarmac by Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa accompanied by two young children.

Busloads of pilgrims started arriving before Tuesday and braced for the high summer temperatures at the open-air events.

…

View Cache

They are soldiers fighting a war they did not choose. They are heroes.

Welcome

As August begins, it is good to be able to start the month with a new post for all my subscribers.

In particular, I wanted to start this month with a positive, affirming message. So this post is about why domestic violence and abuse victims and survivors deserve all our respect and support.

Societies and communities often make victims and survivors feel bad about what happened — as though it was somehow their fault, that they made the wrong choices, and that they did something to cause the abuse. This is exactly how the perpetrator made the victim-survivor feel too. Hearing the perpetrator’s narratives spoken by other people is particularly cruel and harmful.

This blog is going to show why the idea that victims and survivors are to blame is the furthest thing from the truth.

…

View Cache

A young Alabama Catholic priest placed under restriction by the Archdiocese of Mobile July 26 has been located in Italy, along with an 18-year-old woman with whom he had fled the country days earlier.

The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office announced in a July 29 statement that 30-year-old Father Alex Crow and his companion had been tracked down by “a family member” of the young woman.

According to the sheriff’s office, “the young woman stated she went with him on her own free will.”

“It appeared that they were staying in separate bedrooms and the young woman insisted that there was no intimate relationship,” said Sheriff Paul Burch in the statement. “The investigation is still open and we are still checking into a few matters, however, there does not appear to be any criminal charges.”

The sheriff’s office also said that Father Crow, who had been a parochial vicar at Corpus Christi Parish in…

View Cache

The Mobile County District Attorney’s office is asking the public for information about a young Alabama Catholic priest who was publicly placed under restriction by the Mobile Archdiocese for walking away from his parish and reportedly leaving the country with a recent Catholic high school graduate for an exorcism.

The Archdiocese of Mobile issued a July 26 statement announcing that Fr. Alex Crow, 30, who had been parochial vicar at Corpus Christi Parish in Mobile, “abandoned his assignment in the diocese” and exhibited behavior “totally unbecoming of a priest.”

According to the statement, Mobile Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi told Crow that “he may no longer exercise ministry as a priest, nor to tell people he is a priest, nor to dress as a priest.”

The archdiocese also said that “due to the circumstances of his departure, we have reported this to the district attorney.”

Mobile County District Attorney communications director…

View Cache

A Baptist pastor at a small congregation in Madison has continued in active ministry around children as police investigated him for sexual abuse, a case that has led to law enforcement recommending charges to prosecutors of first-degree child sexual assault.

The investigation findings, concluded at the end of June, were enough for the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families to permanently revoke Bob Stine’s license to operate Midvale Baptist Church’s former Kid’s Best child care, citing child safety.

In their letter of revocation, the DCF cited the sexual assault police investigation findings, and substantiated allegations that threatened the health, safety, and welfare of the children at the facility. 

 Kid’s Best Child Care Notice of Revocation

State regulators and Madison police were tipped off in April that Stine was suspected of inappropriately touching children in his care while operating the church’s child care which was also…

View Cache

The Rev. Bob Stine, former president of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention, will be required to answer questions in court in September after police in Madison, Wisconsin, recommended he be charged with sexual assault.

The Dane County district attorney’s office said the case involving Stine, pastor of Midvale Baptist Church in Madison, is under review. No charges have been filed.

“The DA’s Office has received the referral from Madison Police Dept,” the DA’s office said in an email about Stine. “He is scheduled to appear for an Initial Appearance on 9/7/23 at 8:30 AM.”

Police have investigated allegations that Stine inappropriately touched children during a group visit to a state park in 2021, according to television station WISC in Madison. That investigation led the state’s Department of Children and Families to revoke the license for Kid’s Best Child Care, a day care run by Midvale Baptist, in…

View Cache

One woman is reflecting on a painful past. Now she hopes justice will be served for the Henning Pastor she says sexually abused her for years.

Last week Gary Arivett was arrested and is facing three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a family member under the age of 18. He has since been released after posting a $100,000 dollar bail.

The survivor says Arivett has been a pastor at Shiloh Apostolic Church in Henning for nearly 30 years. For her privacy, she does not want to be named, but says she and her sisters were abused for years.Teenager arrested in weekend Danville shooting investigation

“I would like him to not have access to children anymore in any capacity,” said the survivor.

She says the abuse first started for her at age 11, her younger sister was 6 years old.

“I just tried to move forward with my…

View Cache

As part of their ongoing probe into a scandal-plagued lay group in Peru, the Vatican’s top investigating duo has met with a Peruvian archbishop accused of land trafficking, as well as a group of peasants his community is alleged to have harassed.

Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Spanish Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu are currently in Lima, Peru, conducting an investigation into the Sodalitium Christinae Vitae (SCV), a society of apostolic life founded by Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari in the 1970s.

Though allegations were made several years prior, scandals involving the SCV exploded in 2015, when Peruvian journalists Pedro Salinas and Paola Ugaz published their book Half Monks, Half Soldiers detailing years of alleged sexual, physical and psychological abuse by members of the SCV.

Figari himself was accused of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse within the community, including against minors. He was sanctioned by the Vatican in 2017 and prohibited from having further contact with…

View Cache

A deeply tangled tale must be followed by systemic reform and effective oversight.

For Americans, making sense of the Vatican trial of 10 defendants charged with financial crimes is nearly impossible.

The charges are a tangle of alleged corruption and misconduct. At the heart of the trial is a London luxury property investment that lost the Vatican almost $200 million. Then there are payments to a woman who was supposed to help free some nuns from kidnappers but allegedly spent the money on luxury goods, holidays and other extravagancies.

Finally, there were loans and other payments made to a charity run by a cardinal’s brother. Investigators found forged invoices and receipts introducing doubt as to whether the money was used for charitable purposes.

RELATED:Vatican prosecutors request a total of 73 years in prison for defendants in corruption trial

Next, there is the legal process…

View Cache

The Colorado Supreme Court in June struck down a 2021 law that sought to get around a state constitutional prohibition on reviving civil claims for which the statute of limitations has run out

Victims of child sex abuse in Colorado for whom the statute of limitations to file a lawsuit has run out would get another chance to have their day in court under a proposed change to the state constitution.

Voters would have to approve the amendment, which comes in response to a Colorado Supreme Court ruling in June striking down a provision in a 2021 law that gave victims of child sex assault dating back to the 1960s a three-year window to sue their abusers and the institutions that allowed their abuse. 

The court ruled the law, Senate Bill 88, violated a provision in the constitution prohibiting the General Assembly from reviving a claim for which the statute of…

View Cache

Bishop Emeritus Howard Hubbard — who continues to defend himself against multiple abuse allegations from his time leading the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany from 1997 through 2014 — says he got married to a woman in July in a civil ceremony and continues to ask the Vatican to release him from the priesthood.

The 84-year-old Hubbard released a public letter Tuesday, reiterating his request to the Vatican to be relieved of clerical obligations, a request that was denied in March. Hubbard says he married a woman “who has helped and cared for me and who believes in me” and wants the marriage to be recognized by the church.

Hubbard says he is now a retired citizen and asks for privacy in his new phase of life, while acknowledging it could be years before the legal matters are concluded.

Hubbard faces lawsuits accusing him of sexual abuse and protecting other…

View Cache

Albany’s bishop emeritus asks media outlets to “respect our privacy as a couple”

ALBANY — The Vatican has rejected the laicization request made last year by Albany Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard, who served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany for 37 years and has seen his legacy tainted by the organization’s handling of child sexual abuse cases.

Hubbard, in an open letter provided to the Times Union on Tuesday, confirmed that he had “fallen in love with a wonderful woman who has helped and cared for me and who believes in me,” adding that they were married last month.

His personal relationship with the unidentified woman was apparently a factor in his decision last year to request to be laicized, a move that came eight years after 84-year-old Hubbard had retired as the longest-serving bishop for the 14-county diocese. He has also faced his own allegations of…

View Cache

The Buffalo Diocese faces more pressure to make a deal with child sex abuse survivors after Catholic dioceses in Rochester and Syracuse recently took major steps toward exiting their Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, according to legal experts.

The Syracuse Diocese announced Thursday it will pay abuse victims at least $100 million, and possibly more, through insurance funds, while Rochester last week negotiated a new deal with victims that now includes some insurance money, and would pay at least $126 million toward a settlement.

Five years later, despite promises to do right by abuse victims, the diocese has not paid a penny in damages to an estimated 900 people who filed claims alleging they were sexually abused by priests or other diocese employees.

The proposed deals in Rochester and Syracuse still must be approved by a vote of victim creditors and confirmed by a federal bankruptcy judge, but they provide the…

View Cache

In an in-depth interview, we look at the life and legacy of the groundbreaking musician Sinéad O’Connor, who converted to Islam and also started using the name Shuhada’ Sadaqat in 2018. O’Connor died last week at the age of 56 and was known for her music as much as for her outspoken activism. In 1992, she performed Bob Marley’s “War” on Saturday Night Live, then proceeded to rip up a photo of Pope John Paul II on live TV to protest systemic child abuse in the Catholic Church, of which she was a survivor. The move provoked widespread uproar. O’Connor was also an ally to LGBTQ communities, an opponent of police brutality on some of her earliest records, a staunch supporter of Palestinian rights, and marched for abortion rights decades before it was legalized in Ireland. We are joined by Jamie Manson, president of advocacy group Catholics for Choice, and Allyson McCabe, music…

View Cache

Although at least 4,815 people were sexually abused by clergy – mostly priests – in Portugal over 70 years, no reparations are plannedPope Francis due in nation Wednesday, but while expected to meet some victims, over 100 suspect priests are said to still be active in church roles

Filipa Almeida was 17 when she was sexually abused by a priest. She stayed silent for years but eventually found the strength to speak out, and hopes a visit by Pope Francis to her native Portugal this week will remind the world of thousands of similar crimes.

“I lived with this secret for 22 years,” the 43-year-old said of her ordeal, which she said occurred during a religious training course. “It’s not easy to live with these experiences.”

She is one of at least 4,815 people who were sexually abused by clergy – mostly priests – in Portugal over 70 years, according…

View Cache

The world’s largest gathering of young Catholics kicked off on Tuesday in Lisbon, with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from around the globe flocking to the Portuguese capital for the event’s highlight, Pope Francis, who will arrive on Wednesday.

Pilgrims have been arriving to attend World Youth Day over the last few days and will stay in schools, gyms, fire stations and with families, with many planning to sleep in the open before the closing Mass on the riverside Parque Tejo on Aug 6.

The cross-cultural festival, which actually runs for nearly a week, is held every two to three years and was initiated by the late Pope John Paul.

The celebrations will take place against the backdrop of a sexual abuse scandal in the Portuguese Church, in which at least 4,815 were found to have been abused, largely by priests, over the past 70 years. Francis is expected to…

View Cache

Maryland may have paved the way or at least lit a fire under law enforcement officials across the US. In 24 US states, the highest ranking law enforcement officials (usually the Attorney General) have conducted or are conducting investigations and reports within Dioceses nationwide regarding child sex crimes. 

Downside: These have produced very few criminal prosecutions, almost without exception (see Michigan).

Upside: Most of them (except Kansas) have resulted in reports that shed sorely-needed light on how Catholic officials have dealt with and still deal with clergy sex crimes and cover-ups.

Downside: Some (perhaps most) are primarily based on church records, meaning that much about the crimes and cover-ups remain covered. Does anyone really think that most abuse cases reported to church figures had properly written notes by church officials, who then made written reports, and for years or decades, most of those reports were objectively written, carefully preserved, thoroughly organized,…

View Cache

The Syracuse Catholic Diocese will pay $100 million to hundreds of survivors of sexual abuse, as part of a bankruptcy case that began three years ago.

The announcement was released jointly last Thursday by the Roman Catholic Diocese and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, a group of seven survivors appointed by the federal government to act as fiduciaries for the 375 involved, about one-third of whom are in Syracuse and represented by several attorneys, including Cynthia LaFave of Albany.

LaFave called the settlement incredibly significant “for all of the survivors of sexual abuse all across the United States.” And particularly important here, where “not only has the Syracuse diocese admitted what has happened in that diocese,” it’s also paying out the second largest settlement in the nation by a bankrupt Roman Catholic institution.

Minnesota-based attorney Taylor Stippel called it “monumental” for her Syracuse clients, most though not all of…

View Cache

The world’s largest Catholic gathering, a week-long religious festival known as World Youth Day, kicks off in Lisbon on Tuesday, a day before Pope Francis arrives on his first foreign trip since recent surgery.

Around 300,000 people are expected to attend the opening mass at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) at the hillside Eduardo VII park, which offers sweeping views of the Portuguese capital and the Tagus river.

Pilgrims roamed around Lisbon ahead of the mass, waving national flags in the air and singing Catholic anthems from their home countries.

“It’s going to be extraordinary, all this Christian youth coming together,” said Gabriel Forestier, a 28-year-old engineer from Amiens in northern France.

Francis is set to arrive in Lisbon on Wednesday morning to celebrate World Youth Day, which is actually a week of religious, cultural and festive events held about every three years in a different city.

The 86-year-old pontiff is…

View Cache

In 2010, when Pope Benedict XVI issued a pastoral letter apologizing for hundreds of years of sex abuse by clergy in Ireland, he also failed to offer any suggestion that the church’s policy toward abusive clergy would change. This did not sit well with Sinéad O’Connor, whose career had been permanently damaged 18 years earlier when she tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live.” 

In an opinion essay for The Washington Post in response to Benedict’s letter, she was blunt. Irish Catholics, she wrote, “are in a dysfunctional relationship with an abusive organization.”

Today, when many Catholics around the world feel the same way, we can more easily understand that in her willingness to sacrifice her career for the sake of the truth, she was prophetic. But like so many other women throughout history, she suffered greatly for…

View Cache

ROME – It was Oct. 27, 2007, when police in Lima gathered at the city’s famed Plaza San Martin after receiving a tip saying a fair-looking man was hanging around the area talking to minors and then taking them to a hotel.  According to the tip, the man would give the minors money to undress, be photographed, and then be groped and/or engage in sexual activity.

That man eventually was identified as Daniel Bernardo Murguía Ward, a member of the Sodalitium Christinae Vitae (SCV), a society of apostolic life founded by Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari in the 1970s.

Murguía was detained that day after enticing a minor to join him at a nearby hotel, where police burst into the room he had rented and found the child half naked with their pants down while Murguía was holding a digital camera, which contained explicit photos of the minor as well as two…

View Cache

LISBON — After Portugal was picked to host Pope Francis and hundreds of thousands of young Catholics for a World Youth Day gathering that opens here this week, local bishops scrambled to demonstrate they were instep with what Francis has proclaimed as a new era of accountability for sexual abuse within the church.

“It was like cleaning the house before the visitor arrived,” said the Rev. António Pedro Monteiro, a Catholic chaplain.

The bishops financed an independent commission to examine a long-evaded question: How many people in Portugal had been victims of church predators? The result was a nearly 500-page report released in February — similar to audits elsewhere in Europe and the Americas — that determined at least 4,815 children had been abused since 1950. The bishops commended “this difficult and dramatic work” and expressed hope that it “marks a new beginning.”

Critics say that commitment was…

View Cache

SÃO PAULO (OSV News) — The visit of Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta and Spanish Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu to Peru to investigate the lay organization Sodalitium Christianae Vitae is being received with confidence by many of the group’s victims, who hope it will be finally dissolved. Some, however, say, they lost hope that the case will be resolved.

Once a powerful lay institution with massive membership not only in Peru, but in several other countries, the Sodalitium was accused of promoting systemic spiritual, physical and sexual abuse against dozens of members for decades, as well as financial corruption.

The Sodalitium was founded by lay Catholic Luis Fernando Figari in 1971 and was acknowledged as a society of apostolic life, approved by Pope John Paul II in 1997. With a reputation of being a conservative and elitist organization, it has male and female branches, besides lay movements.

Despite church interventions on…

View Cache

The women spent hours recounting painful memories to investigators with the Maryland Office of the Attorney General. They told of the priests who pulled them out of class at Archbishop Keough High School 50 years ago, then brutally raped and sexually assaulted them.

But when the attorney general’s office released its massive report on sex abuse in Baltimore’s Catholic archdiocese in April, the two women were shocked. Their stories were there on page 258, but a key detail was missing: the name of one of the men who they say raped them.

The report names more than 150 clergy and archdiocesan personnel accused of perpetrating or covering up abuse, with 15 names redacted. But this man’s name was not in the report. He was described only as “the Jesuit intern.”

The women, who asked to remain anonymous, shared their story with The Baltimore Banner. They allege that the young Jesuit is…

View Cache

The Diocese of Syracuse, New York, announced on Thursday that it will pay $100 million to a victims’ trust fund for survivors of clergy sexual abuse, just over three years after it had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The diocese will contribute $50 million to the trust, while parishes will contribute $45 million. Five million dollars will be contributed by other diocesan entities.

The agreement of the dollar amount was made with a group representing all victims who brought suits against the diocese called the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which is entirely made up of victims who as children were sexually abused by clergy or employees in the Diocese of Syracuse.

In a joint statement with the diocese and the committee, Dr. Kevin Braney, the committee’s chairman, said: “This settlement is a significant step forward in the healing process for over 400 victims in this case.”

The statement said…

View Cache

Catholic churches and schools across Central New York will have to make hard decisions about how to pay the bill for decades of sexual abuse and coverups at the hands of priests.

Under a new settlement reached between the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, the parishes and schools are responsible for half of the $100 million that will be paid out to victims and their families. The rest — $50 million — will be paid by the diocese.

“It’s not going to be easy, but it’s doable,” said Danielle L. Cummings, a spokeswoman for the diocese.

The 116 parishes will be responsible for $45 million; the 21 schools, 10 missions and Catholic Charities will have to pay $5 million, Cummings said.

The money cannot come from the Hope Appeal, an amount each parish is required to raise for the diocese each year.

…

View Cache

NEW YORK – Roughly three years after the Diocese of Syracuse, New York, filed for bankruptcy following a wave of clergy sex abuse lawsuits, it has reached a $100 million settlement with survivors.

Announcing the news to the Diocese of Syracuse faithful, Bishop Douglas Lucia offered an apology to the clergy sex abuse survivors for what they endured, and a commitment to further strengthen the diocese’s safe environment protocols so that “the past does not repeat itself.”

“I can tell you as shocking as the settlement amount may seem to leaders of our own parishes and other Catholic entities, more appalling and heart-rending to me is the pain and mistreatment experienced by the survivors of child and adult sexual abuse at the hands of those they thought they could trust,” Lucia said.

“As the present leader of the Roman Catholic Church of Syracuse, I cannot apologize enough for the abuse…

View Cache

A former Bishop of Oxford said it had proved impossible to ‘lance the boil’ of a vicar who organised ‘naked sauna’ sessions with his parishioners and who in a new report is said to have ‘spiritually abused’ his congregation.

Lord Harries’ comments came as a safeguarding report by the Diocese of Oxford concluded that Rev Michael Hall was a manipulative bully who abused his parishioners at St Margaret’s Church in Tylers Green, near High Wycombe.

Rev Hall, who died in 2021, was the priest in charge of the Buckinghamshire parish church for two decades until his retirement in 2000.

Although Church of England officials had received a number of complaints about Rev Hall’s behaviour going back decades, it was only after the suicide of one of Rev Hall’s former parishioners in 2020 that the Diocese of Oxford commissioned a safeguarding review.

The young man had lived with the vicar after Hall ‘alienated…

View Cache

Note: This story has been updated to better detail Gooden’s background.

A former bishop with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, boy scout leader and lawyer from central Pennsylvania is facing several charges including the rape of a person less than 13 years old.

Pennsylvania State Police say Shawn Gooden sexually abused a 12-year-old while on a camping trip in Pennsylvania with the victim and the victim’s brother in 2000.

Last week Gooden pleaded guilty to charges in Virginia for assaulting a child in the 1990s and early 2000, according to abc27.

Records show that a camping reservation was made for Shawn Gooden at French Creek State Park in April 2000.

In a 2023 interview with state police, the victim said the sexual abuse started as a game of truth or dare. State police say at some point,…

View Cache

The former Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, has been banned from preaching in Newcastle.

The Bishop of Newcastle said she made the decision because of his rejection of a report on child sex abuse allegations concerning a former priest.

The Right Reverend Dr Helen-Ann Hartley said it had been “inconsistent” with the safeguarding “tone and culture” she expected.

Lord Sentamu and his office have been approached for comment.

The report in question relates to former priest Trevor Devamanikkam, who was accused of raping a teenager in the 1980s.

Matt Ineson, who has waived his legal right to anonymity, claimed church leaders did not act when he reported the alleged abuse nearly 30 years later.

Mr Devamanikkam took his own life a day before he was due to appear in court in 2017 on sex assault charges.

The Church of England’s report into the allegations and the church’s response – the Learning Lessons Review…

View Cache

A Catholic priest has appeared in court in Enniskillen on sex abuse charges.

Canon Patrick McEntee, 69, with an address at Esker Road, Dromore, Co Tyrone, is accused of sexual assaulting two males on separate dates in the late 1980s and 1990s.

He spoke only briefly during the short court appearance to confirm that he understood the charges.

A detective constable told the court she believed she could connect him to the charges.

A prosecutor told the court the file was at an early stage.

The accused was released on his own bail of £500 and ordered to reside at an address provided to court.

He was also told not to have any contact with either complainant, either directly or indirectly, or with any person under the age of 16.

Canon McEntee is a former president of St Michael’s College in Enniskillen, where he was a long-standing staff member.

Most recently…

View Cache

A County Tyrone priest has appeared in court charged with indecent assault against two males.

Canon Patrick McEntee, 69, from Esker Road in Dromore, is a former teacher, governor and college president at St Michael’s College in Enniskillen.

He is charged with indecently assaulting one male between 1980 and 1981.

He is further accused of indecently assaulting a second male between 1988 and 1989.

Canon McEntee appeared at Enniskillen Magistrates Court where he was asked if he understood the charges and he replied: “I do, yes.”

A police officer confirmed she could connect him to the charges.

The court was told that the prosecution file is at an early stage.

Canon McEntee was released on his own bail of £500.

Taught religious studies

The district judge told him that he must have no contact directly or indirectly with the injured parties.

He was also told not to have contact with…

View Cache

A Co Tyrone priest who requested a leave of absence earlier this year while a serious safeguarding investigation was carried out has appeared in court on historic sexual offences against two males.

Canon Patrick McEntee (69) from Esker Road, Dromore is charged with indecently assaulting a complainant between 1980 and 1981.

He is further alleged to have twice indecently assaulted a second complainant on dates between 1988 and 1989.

A police officer aware of the facts of the case told Enniskillen Magistrates Court the charges could be connected.

Canon McEntee spoke only to confirm his identity and that he understood the charges against him.

No details surrounding the circumstances of the alleged offences were disclosed during the short hearing.

Deputy District Judge Austin Kennedy remanded the accused on continuing bail of £500 and ordered Canon McEntee to reside only at his current address.

He is also banned from all contact…

View Cache

A priest has appeared in court accused of three sexual assaults on males in the 1980s.

Canon Patrick MacEntee, 69, from Esker Road in Dromore, County Tyrone, was brought before a district judge at Enniskillen Court.

He’s accused of indecently assaulting a male between 1980 and 1981.

He’s further accused of two indecent assaults on a second male on dates between 1988 and 1989.

It is believed the alleged offences relate to the priest’s time in County Fermanagh.

In court, he spoke only to confirm he understood the charges against him.

A detective told the court police believe they can connect the accused to the charges.

Canon MacEntee was released on his own bail of £500 and ordered not to contact the alleged injured parties, nor to have any contact with under-16s.

Canon MacEntee – who hails from County Monaghan – is a senior cleric within the Catholic Diocese of…

View Cache

A proposed $200 million state fund meant to help public schools and voluntary foster care agencies cover the costs of resolving Child Victims Act lawsuits remains stalled in the State Legislature, more than a year after the bill was introduced.

Some school districts and their advocates have called for New York to set aside money to at least partially reimburse their expenses in these legal settlements. They argue students today shouldn’t be penalized for purported sexual misconduct by teachers and other school employees from decades ago.

“Justice should have been delivered at the time, and that’s the real problem here,” said Assembly Member Bill Conrad, a Town of Tonawanda Democrat and longtime teacher who backs the fund.

Skeptics agree with the general idea, but say setting aside a pool of state money now could take the districts’ insurance carriers off the hook or unduly influence the outcome of settlement negotiations….

View Cache

Parishioners at Santa María de la Paz Catholic Community in south Santa Fe cried while others sat in stunned silence when Archbishop John C. Wester delivered the devastating news at the start of each Sunday Mass a year ago.

The head of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe informed churchgoers the Rev. Daniel Balizan, a charismatic pastor and their shepherd for the past decade, had been removed from his post amid an investigation into alleged misconduct.

“Our mouths dropped. People were crying. We were like, ‘What in the world?’ ” recalled Stephanie Roybal, director of the lector ministry and a parishioner since 2001.

“We were just like in shock,” she said. “It was extremely hard.”

Parishioners’ feelings of sadness and shock resurfaced late last month when federal authorities announced the arrest of the 61-year-old priest, accused of using text messages to coerce and entice a minor to engage in sex —…

View Cache

Pope Francis heads to Portugal next week for a global gathering of young Catholics as the country grapples with a report into decades of sexual abuse of children by members of the Church.

The 86-year-old pontiff arrives in Lisbon on Wednesday and is expected to meet in private with victims of clergy abuse during his five-day visit to attend World Youth Day.

Organisers expect up to one million people will take part in the event which is being held for the first time since 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It comes after an independent commission published a report in February that found “at least” 4,815 children were sexually abused by clergy members in the country — mostly priests — since 1950.

The inquiry, based on testimony from more than 500 victims, concluded Portugal’s Church hierarchy “systematically” tried to conceal the abuse.

The results of the inquiry, commissioned by the…

View Cache

[Includes videos]

More than three decades after the singer ripped up a picture of the pope to protest child abuse, history has proven her right

IN 1992, AFTER Sinéad O’Connor ripped apart a photo of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live in protest of the Catholic church ignoring child abuse, Frank Sinatra called her “one stupid broad” and said he would “kick her ass if she were a guy.” The following week’s SNL host, Joe Pesci, who was in full GoodFellas mode, pasted the photo back together and said if he’d been on her episode, “I woulda gave her such a smack.” He held up the back of his hand to the audience’s audible delight. Even Madonna, who was trying to shock the world at the time with her Sex book and Erotica album, criticized O’Connor for “ripping up an image that means a lot to other people.” 

But for abuse survivors within the…

View Cache

A village in Tamil Nadu has outcast a Christian man and his family for helping a sexual abuse victim file complaint. The victim, a minor boy, was sexually abused by the local church priest. The man helped him file a complaint through Childline and since then he has reportedly been receiving threats and lost business.

Arul Francis, a native of Sanarpatti in the Dindigul district, filed a petition with the district collector seeking action against those who outcast his family. Francis had helped a 7th-grade boy in his neighbourhood file a complaint against Adaikala Raj, the parish priest of Arogya Annai church. As per details mentioned in his petition, the boy serves as an altar boy in the local church and the priest sexually assaulted him while in an intoxicated state.

The priest threatened him not to reveal it to anyone saying that even if he goes to…

View Cache

The Vatican is set to decide if they’ll kick out a pervert Scots priest, we can reveal.

Officials in Rome will rule on beast Father Neil McGarrity, 59, who was convicted six months ago of molesting four girls.

He remains suspended after the leader of Catholics in Glasgow, Archbishop William Nolan, referred his case to his bosses.

A source told The Scottish Sun on Sunday: “McGarrity’s conduct was investigated by church authorities here.

“It’s almost certain he will never say Mass again, wear vestments or call himself Father.

“But it’s the Vatican that has the final say on officially expelling him from the priesthood.

“McGarrity can cut that process short by applying himself to be ‘laicised’.

“It would mean he’d leave the priesthood voluntarily.

“Given the evidence against him, he should do that.”

The disgraced clergyman faces being defrocked once proceedings are concluded.

But he is still listed as a…

View Cache

Dapper, ripped and very cool Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz ultimately was not disgraced by his deceptions, sexual affairs and banishment from the pulpit of the megawatt Pentecostal church: He was re-graced.

And if the entire Christian church, far too often caught up in a spirituality that is not as transforming as we may think (and that in fact may keep us from confronting difficult questions about ourselves), watched Lentz’s interviews in “The Secrets of Hillsong,” it could start to become re-graced too.

The FX/Vanity Fair documentary series, released in May, follows the rise of Hillsong from a small Australian church affiliated with the Assemblies of God to a multi-country megachurch whose signature appeal is impassioned, relatable preaching and Grammy-winning praise and worship music. At its peak Hillsong had churches in 30 cities worldwide with an average attendance of 150,000 people weekly.

Writing for America, Michael Charboneau described a Hillsong service as filled with pulsing…

View Cache

A Thompson Township pastor was sentenced to two years in prison Friday morning for sexually abusing his daughters.

Dennis Laferty plead guilty to two counts of gross sexual imposition and one count of sexual imposition June 22.

Laferty, 37, was indicted following an investigation by detectives into allegations of sexual abuse involving minors between Nov. 30 2019 and Jan. 30.

Laferty was the pastor at the Thompson United Methodist Church. The church now has a new name and pastor

According to the Thompson United Methodist Church Admin Council, Laferty has since been suspended as pastor.

Laferty will register as a Tier II sex offender.

View Cache

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has requested about $1.2 million to hire lawyers and investigators who will help the office prosecute police killings and respond to allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church.

The Board of Public Works, which comprises the governor, comptroller and treasurer and approves state spending, is expected to vote Wednesday on the attorney general’s request.

It’s not yet clear how the three board members will vote, but funding is available for the eight positions, according to the Department of Budget and Management.

A spokesperson for Treasurer Dereck Davis wrote in an email that Davis “doesn’t typically share his voting intentions prior to the meeting.”

Gov. Wes Moore and Comptroller Brooke Lierman also declined through spokespeople to say how they intend to vote.

Brown has requested about $606,000 for two attorneys, an investigator and a paralegal/evidence analyst to bulk up a division that, beginning Oct. 1,  View Cache

The president of the archdiocese’s fundraising board said he’s worried about how the archdiocese can survive such a long, costly bankruptcy.

High-priced lawyers on both sides of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ bankruptcy case have created interminable delays and run up “utterly ridiculous” fees, according to a clergy abuse survivor who was a key part of court proceedings that have dragged on for three-and-a-half years with no end in sight.

James Adams is a banker and devout Catholic, who served as president of the archdiocese’s fundraising board, Catholic Community Foundation. He said he’s worried about how the archdiocese can survive such a long, costly bankruptcy.

But he’s also a victim of child sexual abuse who alleges Father James Collery molested him at St. Ann School in Metairie in 1980, when he was 10. Adams was selected to lead a committee of claimants into negotiations with the archdiocese after it filed…

View Cache

35-year limitations period not retroactive for cases brought vs. ‘non-perpetrators’

The Rhode Island Supreme Court has found that lawsuits brought by three men accusing officials of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence of protecting priests who abused them as children were barred by the three-year statute of limitations for personal injury.

The plaintiffs, who all allege that they were abused by priests in the 1970s and early 1980s, claim the bishop at the time, Louis Gelineau, and other authorities and entities within the diocese knew the priests were pedophiles and, among other things, declined to warn families while moving offending priests to new parishes.

A Superior Court judge dismissed their claims as time-barred, finding that  G.L.§9-1-51, which created a 35-year statute of limitations for child sex-abuse lawsuits, did not apply retroactively to lawsuits brought against “non-perpetrator” defendants who did not engage in or aid and abet the actual abuse.

The…

View Cache

A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA for short) is a legal covenant that binds its parties to not disclose particular information covered under the terms of the agreement.

They originated during the tech boom of the 1970s and 1980s as a way to protect intellectual property (trade secrets, proprietary information etc.) from getting into the wrong hands. But they have increasingly been used—even at times by churches and Christian organizations—in situations where there are allegations of serious power abuse, such as bullying, discrimination, harassment, sexual abuse, or assault. Such “Abuse NDAs”, as I’m labelling them here, are used to silence complainants and cover up incriminating information.

Abuse NDAs are an offense to God, and an assault on the dignity of his image bearers. Here are ten reasons why.

1. They silence victims

Abuse NDAs silence victims. They are used to stop victims of abuse from speaking about what has happened to them. 

…

View Cache

The Society of Jesus on Monday released a letter on the case of Fr. Marko Rupnik, the disgraced religious artist and priest who was expelled from the order earlier this year, after dozens of accusations of sexual abuse of religious sisters came to light against him.

The letter, signed by Fr. Johan Verschueren, S.J., the Jesuits’ superior for the society’s international houses in Rome, explained that since the legal window for appeal has now closed, Rupnik is now definitively expelled from the society. 

The artist does, however, remain a priest — albeit without faculties to minister until, and unless, he can find a benevolent bishop or religious order to take him in. 

That Rupnik has not been laicized remains a point of scandal for many Catholics, given the decades of serious allegations he faces, as Verschueren acknowledged. 

“Many have asked us why a process that could lead to the…

View Cache

The Vatican City’s promoter of justice asked judges Wednesday to sentence Cardinal Angelo Becciu to more than 7 years in prison, as he made closing arguments in the landmark financial crimes trial. 

But do prosecutors really have a case against Becciu? 

In his argument July 26, Alessandro Diddi spent the day focused on Becciu, the former sostituto of the secretariat, whose defense Diddi described as “masterpieces of falsification and mystification of reality.” 

The cardinal, in turn, has declared his “absolute innocence” and himself to be “a faithful servant of the Church” who has “suffered in silence” throughout a process he’s called a witch hunt and media smear campaign. 

Away from the courtroom hyperbole, though, there is perhaps one thing on which Becciu and Diddi would agree: The case is complicated.

According to the official charge sheet, he is accused of embezzlement and abuse of office, conspiracy, as well as the…

View Cache

A Catholic priest working in Peterborough, Ont., faces charges of sexual offences involving a youth following an investigation by police.

According to the Peterborough Police Service, the investigation led to the arrest of a man on Wednesday.

Neil Pereira, 33, of Peterborough, was charged with sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference.

Police note sexual interference is when a person, for a sexual purpose, touches, directly or indirectly, with a part of the body or with an object, any part of the body of a person under the age of 16 years.

His name was released as police stated “the nature of the offences lead us to concerns there may be other victims.”

Pereira is ordained with the Roman Catholic Church and has been working in the city of Peterborough since late 2022.

“Investigators are in contact with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peterborough, who are cooperating with investigators,” police stated…

View Cache

Independent prosecutor will now decide whether to prosecute such offenses.

U.S. President Joe Biden signed a “historic” executive order on Friday that will change how the military handles sexual assault cases, the White House said.

Biden, in a Twitter post, called the action an “important step forward.”

“Gender-based violence is an affront to our shared humanity. And sexual assault in the military shreds the unity essential to national defense,” Biden said. He added, “Keeping our country safe starts with prioritizing the safety of those who serve.”

The executive order amends the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) by transferring key decision-making powers from commanders to specialized, independent military prosecutors in cases of sexual assault, domestic violence, murder, child abuse and other serious offenses. The changes, which implement reforms passed by Congress last year, mark “the most significant transformation” of the U.S. military justice system since the UCMJ was established in…

View Cache

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse on Thursday announced a $100 million settlement with people who say they were sexual abuse victims as part of its bankruptcy proceedings.

Catholic dioceses around the state are dealing with a surge of lawsuits dating to when New York temporarily suspended the statute of limitations to give people who say they were victims of childhood sexual abuse the ability to pursue decades-old allegations.

“I can tell you as shocking as the settlement amount may seem to leaders of our own parishes and other Catholic entities, more appalling and heart-rending to me is the pain and mistreatment experienced by the survivors of child and adult sexual abuse at the hands of those they thought they could trust,” Bishop Douglas Lucia wrote in an open letter Thursday.

The Syracuse diocese, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020, said there are 411 claims involving 387 people, with some…

View Cache