ABUSE TRACKER

Thiruvananthapuram: A Catholic priest was sentenced to 18 years of rigorous imprisonment by a Pocso court in Kollam district on Saturday for sexually abusing minor seminarians. Thomas Parekkulam, 35, of Catholic congregation, Society of St Eugene De Mazendo, is the one who received the sentence.

The sentence was delivered by additional district judge (Pocso) K N Sujith.

 Parekkulam was facing trial in four separate cases of sexual abuse of minor boys. All the victims were aged 16 at the time of the crime and were students of a seminary at Punalur in Kollam district where Parekkulam worked as a parish priest. The cases were reported in 2017.

On Friday, the court had found Parekkulam guilty in all four cases. He was given five years of imprisonment each in three cases and three years of imprisonment in the fourth case.

 The sentences have to be undergone separately, making the total quantum…

Archbishop William E. Lori sat down with Catholic Review Media for a wide-ranging interview in advance of his 10th anniversary as 16th archbishop of Baltimore and 45th anniversary as a priest. 

The archbishop’s tenure since his installation May 16, 2012, at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen has been marked by changes in demographics of the archdiocese and a renewed focus on parish planning in the context of evangelization. 

He guided the faithful through continued crises surrounding clergy sexual abuse – including revelations about Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop of Washington, and the release of a Pennsylvania Grand Jury report that detailed decades of abuse by clergy.

He addressed issues of violence and racial injustice, especially after riots in 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray Jr. in police custody. Near the one-year anniversary of that unrest, he led an interfaith group to Rome to meet with Pope Francis and to…

[Google translation followed by the original Italian text.]

We know everything about what has happened in the world, nothing about Italy. Yet in the last 15 years there have been 325 priests reported for pedophilia. Here is the survey for which we ask for the support of readers: SUPPORT ITS REALIZATION ! For every euro paid, we add another one until the goal is reached

They called him Don Mercedes. In Crema the parish priest Mauro Inzoli was a big shot in Communion and Liberation; he liked luxury and beautiful cars, he was often seen in trendy restaurants, a Cuban cigar in the corner of his mouth.

He had important political friendships and little sense of modesty: in January 2015 he applauded together with Roberto Formigoni at the convention on the traditional family organized by the Lombardy Region, yet he had already harassed children for years, as confirmed by the final sentence for…

[Includes an hour-long audio interview]

In this new episode of Field Hospital, Jeannie Gaffigan and I had the privilege of speaking to Mark Joseph Williams, a survivor of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest who has undergone a long journey of healing and recovery. He now advocates for and accompanies other survivors as they seek the healing and justice they need after suffering the trauma and injustice they have endured.

Professionally, Mark is a management consultant and a forensic social worker from New Jersey. He also serves as special advisor in the Archdiocese of Newark for Cardinal Joseph Tobin. He is the co-founder of the Global Collaborative, a survivor-led organization promoting accountability, justice, and healing.

The issues discussed in this podcast are very heavy. Coming on the heels our previous episode with another survivor, Juan Carlos Cruz, we wanted to discuss in even greater detail the grave harm suffered by…

Pope Francis on Friday asked for an annual audit evaluating how national Catholic Churches are implementing measures to protect children from clergy sexual abuse, saying that without more transparency the faithful will continue to lose trust.

“Abuse in any form is unacceptable,” Francis told members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which was established in 2014 to promote best practices and a culture of safeguarding worldwide.

The commission had a rocky start, with several members resigning in frustration, complaining that it had no teeth and that they had met internal resistance.

It was given a new lease on life in March, when the Vatican’s updated constitution placed it in the doctrinal department, which rules on abuse cases. read more

Francis said he wanted a yearly “reliable account on what is presently being done and what needs to change” to protect children and vulnerable adults from predator clergy.

…

Members of Pope Francis’s commission for child protection have praised his decision to incorporate the body into the Roman curia, the Vatican’s central governing bureaucracy, voicing confidence they will maintain full independence while expanding their reach.

Speaking to journalists during a press conference Friday, American Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM), said he’s encouraged by the pope, who for the first time “has placed the importance of child protection as a core of the church’s central government.”

In March, Pope Francis published his long-awaited constitution Praedicate Evangelium, or “Preach the Gospel,” outlining several noteworthy changes to the structure of the Roman curia.

One change was the official incorporation of the PCPM into the curia as an independent entity within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, now called the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), which will continue…

Less than a year after he strengthened the Code of Canon Law’s section on crimes, Pope Francis has issued an apostolic letter motu proprio (on his own initiative) that alters the wording of one of the canons.

As a result of the change, members of religious institutes who sexually abuse minors and other vulnerable persons, or who commit canonical offenses related to child pornography, will no longer be automatically dismissed from their religious institutes.

In addition, members of religious institutes who “force someone to perform or submit to sexual acts” will no longer be automatically dismissed from their religious institutes.

Canon 695 §1 previously stated (link 1, link 2):

A member must be dismissed for the delicts mentioned in cann. 1397, 1398, and 1395, unless in the delicts mentioned in can. 1395, §2, the superior decides that dismissal is not completely necessary and that correction of the member, restitution of justice, and reparation…

A legislative effort to create a retroactive window during which childhood sexual abuse victims could file civil claims against alleged perpetrators and enablers, even if Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations has expired, is further along than it has ever been.

The proposal, however, is now stalled at a crucial point in the process.

In March 2021, state Reps. Mark Rozzi and Pamela DeLissio, both Democrats, introduced House Bill 951 that would put into place a two-year look-back period. It passed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives by a vote of 149-52.

The legislation then got out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by an 11-3 vote, with state Sen. Wayne Langerholc, Jr., R-Richland Township, 35th District, siding with the majority.

Countless lawmakers have been involved in trying to enact a plan since a retroactive window was first mentioned 17 years ago, following a 2005 grand jury investigation into abuse within theRoman Catholic Archdiocese…

[Originally published in the Louisiana Illuminator]

The Louisiana Legislature is looking to fix a law created last year that was supposed to make it easier for abuse victims to sue institutions like the Catholic Church. Instead, it might have imposed unintended restrictions on the very litigation it was designed to help. 

The Louisiana House voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of House Bill 402, by Rep. Jason Hughes, D-New Orleans, which is meant to clarify that victims of childhood abuse  — no matter their current age — should have a chance to sue over their mistreatment until 2024. 

“This bill only seeks to clarify legislative intent. I’m not trying to expand anything. I’m not trying to add anything,” Hughes said. 

Lawmakers and advocates say the legislation has received pushback behind closed doors from insurance companies. Those who issued policies to the Catholic Church, Boy Scouts of America and other institutions may…

The Rev. John Pilcher will return to his duties as pastor of Topeka’s Mater Dei Catholic Parish after investigations didn’t substantiate sexual abuse claims against him, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas announced Friday.

Pilcher will end a seven-month leave of absence he took to facilitate separate probes conducted by law enforcement and the archdiocese into accusations that he sexually abused a child, said Anita McSorley, media liaison for the archdiocese.

Pilcher, who vigorously denies the allegations, has fully cooperated with both investigations, McSorley said.

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay decided not to file charges against Pilcher after reviewing the results of a probe conducted by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Kagay told The Capital-Journal on Monday.

A lay investigator conducted a separate investigation for the archdiocese and submitted her findings to its Independent Review Board, McSorley said.

That board then recommended Pilcher’s return to the ministry to Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, who concluded he is suitable to…

Pope Francis warned on Friday that people will further lose trust in the Catholic Church if it does not become more transparent and accountable on abuses against children committed by priests and covered up by religious superiors, AP reports.

Driving the news: Francis told his sex abuse advisory commission to create special survivor welcome centers around the world where victims of sexual abuse can find healing and justice. He also requested an audit of the church’s progress on protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse.

• The meeting with the committee has been seen as an effort to revitalize and expand the commission’s mandate, making it part of the church’s central government.

What they’re saying: “The testimony of the survivors represents an open wound on the body of Christ, which is the church,” Francis told the commission, which he created in 2013 to advise the church on how to prevent…

The Diocese of Toledo is announcing the final decision regarding Rev. Nelson Beaver, who was placed on administrative leave in October 2018 having received an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor dating back over 25 years. Three other allegations of sexual abuse of a minor from a similar time period were subsequently made against Beaver.

According to diocesan policy, the four allegations were reported to county prosecutors in Huron, Lucas and Williams counties where the alleged abuse took place. Only after all of the prosecutors determined that they would not pursue the allegations (July 2019), was the diocese then free to conduct its own investigation. In October, 2019, the diocese announced that the investigation had been completed, the Diocesan Review Board found all four allegations to be substantiated and voted unanimously that Beaver is not suitable for priestly ministry. Bishop Daniel E. Thomas accepted the Review Board’s recommendation that…

The Vatican is permanently removing a priest with the Diocese of Toledo from ‘priestly ministry’ after he was accused of sexually abusing children.

Nelson Beaver was placed on administrative leave in October 2018 after he was accused of sexually abusing a minor dating back 25 years. Three other similar allegations also arose.

Prosecutors didn’t pursue charges and the diocese conducted its own investigation in 2019. It substantiated the four allegations and voted unanimously that Beaver is not suitable for priestly ministry.

Vatican officials conducted their own investigation and found Beaver guilty of the allegations, the Diocese announced Saturday.

“‘Prayer and penance’ is the permanent removal from priestly ministry whereby the offender is not permitted to celebrate Mass publicly or to administer the Sacraments,” the Diocese said in a statement. “He may not wear clerical attire or present himself publicly as a priest. The…

Take it from me, the aftershocks of child sexual abuse last a lifetime. I’m 66, and the sexual violence I experienced at age 13 — a near-death experience, really — can still grip my body and mind when I least expect it.

I thought I’d be released when my abuser died. But that happened 30 years ago. Then I was sure I just needed to find the right meds, the right therapy, the right spiritual practice. No, no and no.

Have I gotten better? Absolutely. I haven’t had night terrors since my 50s. When I get depressed, it rarely lasts more than a day. The chorus of suicidal thinking has quieted dramatically. I’ve got a loving family. I’m the luckiest man in the world. After all, we call ourselves survivors because many of us don’t make it. I’m still here.

Why am I telling you this? Because under Pennsylvania law,…

Four cases had been registered against Thomas Parekkulam, 35, when he was working as a parish priest in 2017 under the Punalur diocese in Kollam district.

A Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court in Kerala’s Kollam district on Friday sentenced a Catholic priest to 18 years’ imprisonment after he was found guilty of sexually abusing four minor seminarians.

The convicted priest Thomas Parekkulam, 35, belongs to the Catholic congregation Society of St Eugene De Mazendo, based in France. Four cases had been registered against him in 2017 when he was working as a parish priest under the Punalur diocese in Kollam district.

The court of Kollam additional sessions court (Pocso) judge K N Sujith sentenced the priest to five years’ imprisonment each in three cases and in the fourth case he was sentenced to a jail term of three years.

The sentences, according to the verdict, would run…

Voice of the Faithful has published the first independent, online review of all U.S. Roman Catholic dioceses’ level of compliance with child protection and safe environment guidelines. The average overall score was 67%, with the most frequently achieved score 63.5%. Although some dioceses did well, no diocese achieved 100%, and three dioceses scored in the 20s.

Click here to read the entire report …

The study is the first independent analysis of child protection and safe environment policies in all U.S. dioceses. VOTF operates independently of the Church’s institutional structure, and the study is not an audit like those conducted by the U.S. Bishop’s National Review Board. Called “2022 Report: Measuring Abuse Prevention and Safe Environment Programs as Reported Online in Diocesan Policies and Practices,” the report is being released in April because the month is designated in the United States as National Child Abuse Prevention…

The former director of the Vatican’s internal financial watchdog said on Wednesday that he acted correctly to investigate a London property deal and had no power to stop it.

He also said that Pope Francis wanted his office to support the Vatican Secretariat of State’s negotiations in the final part of the deal.

Tommaso Di Ruzza was questioned during an April 27 hearing in the ongoing Vatican trial to prosecute 10 people on criminal charges mostly related to the Secretariat of State’s purchase of an investment property in London.

Di Ruzza worked in the Vatican from 2011 and was director of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (AIF) from 2016 to January 2020. The AIF was renamed the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority (ASIF) in December 2020.

Di Ruzza and former AIF president René Brülhart have been charged with abuse of office for…

The former director of the Vatican’s financial watchdog agency testified Wednesday that Pope Francis asked him to help the Vatican secretariat of state get full control of a London property, once again putting the pope and his top deputies in the spotlight for their roles in the problematic deal.

Tommaso Di Ruzza is one of 10 people accused in the Vatican’s sprawling financial trial, which is centered on the secretariat of state’s 350 million euro investment in a luxury London property. Vatican prosecutors have accused brokers and Vatican officials of fleecing the Holy See of millions of euros in fees, much of it donations from the faithful, and then extorting the Vatican of 15 million euros to get full control of the property.

Di Ruzza, the former director of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority, or AIF, is accused of abuse of office for allegedly failing to block the 15 million…

IRELAND AND THE MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES: A CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE By Claire McGettrick, Katherine O’Donnell, Maeve O’Rourke, James M. Smith and Mari Steed 304 pages; Bloomsbury $26.95

In June 2018, more than 200 women gathered in Dublin for a special two-day event. Many of the women were elderly and accompanied by family and caregivers. Some were returning to Ireland for the first time since emigrating long ago. The women were welcomed at a reception by Irish President Michael Higgins and attended a formal dinner with the Lord Mayor of Dublin Mícheál MacDonncha. But the highlight was a roundtable listening exercise, in which 146 of the women gave testimonials for a report.

The first words of the report are by a woman known only as Charlotte: “I’m still there.”

“There” is a nursing home on the grounds of a former Magdalene laundry, a convent-run institution where Charlotte…

A new federal complaint says Visible Music College gave a student a choice: admit to breaking the school’s ban on premarital sex or be expelled.

When Mara Louk told an administrator at Visible Music College, where she was a senior, that a male classmate had choked and raped her last November, she expected that school officials would help her file a police report and arrange a safety plan.

Instead, she said in a federal complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday, administrators at Visible, a Christian college in Memphis, Tennessee, accused her of breaking school rules against premarital sex with a different student, an ex-boyfriend. She denied having sex with him but said the school threatened to expel her unless she signed a confession and finished the school year remotely. 

Visible Music College administrators also told her they would not remove the accused student from her classes…

An ex-St. Louis archdiocesan official has recently lived with and given substantial money to a seminarian who now

• is being sued for alleged abuse in 2019,
• faces six accusers in three states, and
• attends St. Louis University.

Knoxville Bishop Richard Stika, a St. Louis native who handled child sex abuse cases here for years, has given the accused seminarian (according to newly-disclosed church records)

• $4,000 in cash,
• a $2,000 laptop, and
• $600 – $1,000 monthly stipends.

Stika has also paid his cell phone bill, reimbursed him nearly $30,000 for travel, car repair, “birthday expenses” and took him on a 10-day vacation AFTER he’d been kicked out of an Indiana seminary, according to church documents.
We in SNAP beg St. Louis University and St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski to warn SLU students and staff – and parents, police, prosecutors and the public –  about Wojciech (Wojtek) Sobczuk.

We also urge…

Spain’s bishops announced Friday that they will not take part in an independent commission into clerical sexual abuse created by the national legislature, alleging, among other things, that it won’t look into all sexual abuse of minors but only those committed by members of the Catholic Church.

“We want to state that to carry out an investigation of abuses only in the Church, when it is clear that out of 15,000 open cases in Spain, only 69 refer to the Church, is a surprising decision,” said Bishop Luis Argüello, spokesman of the Spanish bishops’ conference.

Argüello argued that a different investigation opened by the regional government of Catalonia makes more sense since, despite naming specifically the Church among the institutions being investigated, it will look into all cases of abuse of minors.

He also said the bishops have informed the national government that the congressional inquiry would be carried out…

Pope Francis has asked the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors to produce an annual report on what the Catholic Church is doing around the world to prevent the abuse of minors and vulnerable adults.

In an audience at the Vatican on April 29, the pope called on the commission to produce the annual audit to promote “transparency and accountability.”

“This might be difficult at the beginning, but I ask you to begin where necessary, in order to furnish a reliable account on what is presently being done and what needs to change, so that the competent authorities can act,” he said.

“This report will be a factor of transparency and accountability and – I hope – will provide a clear audit of our progress in this effort. Without that progress, the faithful will continue to lose trust in their pastors, and preaching and…

Pope Francis asked his safeguarding commission to provide an annual audit of what the church is doing to protect minors and what needs to change, as well as to urge bishops’ conferences to set up special “centers” where victims can be heard and find accompaniment toward “healing and justice.”

The annual audit “report will be a factor of transparency and accountability and — I hope — will provide a clear audit of our progress in this effort,” he told members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors April 29.

“Without that progress, the faithful will continue to lose trust in their pastors, and preaching and witnessing to the Gospel will become increasingly difficult,” he said.

The pope addressed the commission’s plenary assembly, which focused on how to best continue assisting the pope and the local churches in promoting best practices in safeguarding strategies, implementing guidelines and accompanying survivors.

…

[Via Catholic World Report]

Cardinal Seán O’Malley defended the independence of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors on Friday as the commission prepares to occupy a new position within the Roman Curia.

“One of the things that people obviously were concerned about and wanted to know about is what’s the independence of the commission now that it becomes part of the Curia,” he said at a press conference near the Vatican on April 29.

The American cardinal, who serves as the president of the safeguarding commission, underlined that Pope Francis “has assured us that … the commission will be independent.”

After the publication of the pope’s new apostolic constitution, Praedicate evangelium, which places the pontifical council within the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), abuse survivor Marie Collins expressed concern that the reform could lead to the body losing its independence.

Collins joined the commission in 2014 but resigned in 2017,…

Judge to rule next month on whether to extend creditor protection for St. John’s archdiocese

The unprecedented process by which a Catholic archdiocese in St. John’s is selling off its properties in order to compensate abuse victims was back before a judge on Friday, with differing opinions on what should happen next.

Lawyers for the archdiocese and its trustee, Ernst & Young, have asked to have the process transition to the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, commonly known as the CCAA, to allow more time for an orderly liquidation of assets.

Lawyers for the victims are petitioning against the move, however, saying the current process should continue.

After more than two hours of debate, Justice Garrett A. Handrigan of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador ordered that the proposal process under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act remain in place until he can make a ruling in late May.

It’s the…

Critics of the effort don’t disagree with the need for reform — they disagree that the solutions posed actually address the crisis, raising questions of underlying motives.

In his response to a “fraternal open letter” to the Catholic bishops of Germany warning of their Synodal Path’s “potential for schism in the life of the Church,” Bishop Georg Bätzing wrote that his critics were missing the point.

“The Synodal Path is our attempt in Germany to confront the systemic causes of the abuse and its cover-up that has caused untold suffering to so many people in and through the Church,” wrote Bishop Bätzing, president of the German episcopal conference, in his April 16 response to the fraternal letter, which has now been signed by nearly 100 bishops from six continents. “This occasion and context is particularly important to us, but unfortunately it is not mentioned at all in your letter.”

The bishop…

The Archdiocese of Seattle said Thursday it will pay $375,000 to settle two separate claims of sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Roman Catholic archdiocese said in a news release that it settled a case involving allegations of childhood sexual abuse in the early to mid-1970s by David Pearson, a volunteer at St. Joseph Parish in Issaquah. Pearson has died.

The archdiocese also said it settled a case involving an allegation of sexual abuse by Father Paul Conn in about 1987 when he served at Queen of Angels Parish in Port Angeles.

Conn served as a parochial vicar at Queen of Angels from 1985 until 1988, the news release said. In 1988, the archdiocese said it learned of sexual abuse allegations and passed the report to police.

Conn later pleaded guilty to six counts of indecent liberties, and served time in prison. From the time of his arrest,…

The bishops of Spain have asked forgiveness for sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, while defending the Catholic Church’s right to oppose laws which violate Christian teaching.

Addressing an April 25-29 meeting of the Spanish bishops’ conference, Cardinal Juan José Omella of Barcelona, conference president, said “the church expresses its deep pain for crimes committed by our brethren.”

He also said that an independent church-commissioned audit on abuse approved by the bishops in February would cover all known cases and recommend “procedures and good practices” for clergy to follow.

“We hope our audit and its conclusions can serve as an instrument for collaboration with the civil authorities in clarifying the true dimension of these events and establishing more effective prevention. … I want to underline that the victims are our absolute priority,” he said.

He added that a recent report estimated that up to 1.6 million children were “victims of some…

A survivors group for victims of abuse by priests sent a letter to an East Bay district attorney asking that a defrocked priest, who sexually abused children and is currently charged with vehicular manslaughter, be kept behind bars. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, SNAP, sent the letter to Contra Costa DA Diana Becton regarding Stephen Kiesle, a defrocked priest who served time for sexually abusing children and is currently charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol.

“We believe Mr. Kiesle is both dangerous and a threat, as well as a flight risk,” said the letter from SNAP Survivor Coordinator, Melanie Sakoda. “In addition to the criminal charges referenced above, he is currently named in about fifteen civil lawsuits that target his formal employer, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland, for abuse that Mr. Kiesel perpetrated as a priest,…

There are multiple layers to this fight.

Last week, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said in an interview that she believed Satan was controlling the Catholic church. It’s not unusual for Greene to make inflammatory comments, but this case was different. Her remark kicked off a fight between her ultra-conservative Catholic allies and other deeply conservative Catholics, complete with name-calling: “grifter,” “craven enabler,” “disgrace,” “whore.”

But there’s more to the story than Greene simply saying something offensive. The controversy revealed something bigger about the American Catholic Church. So what’s happening here?

It started on April 21, when Greene spoke with right-wing Catholic publication Church Militant.  (Church Militant is known to be so extreme that the Detroit Archdiocese where it is based has tried to ban it from using the word “Catholic.”) It was the day before she appeared in court for a lawsuit seeking to disqualify her from re-election because of…

This morning, the Holy Father Francis received in audience the members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, at the end of the Plenary Assembly, to whom he addressed the following words:

Dear brothers and sisters, good day!  Welcome!

I am pleased to welcome you at the conclusion of your plenary meeting.  I thank Cardinal O’Malley for his words of introduction, and I thank all of you for your commitment to the work of protecting children, both in your professional lives and in your service to the faithful.  Today, thanks also to your efforts, minors and vulnerable persons are safer in the Church.  I would also like to thank Cardinal O’Malley for the tenacity with which he has pursued this cause despite every obstacle.  Thank you!

The service entrusted to you is one that must be carried out with care.  Constant attention is required of the Commission so…

Pope Francis called on Catholic bishops conferences Friday to create special centers to welcome victims of clergy sexual abuse, warning that the faithful would continue losing trust in the church hierarchy without more transparency and accountability.

Francis urged his sexual abuse advisory commission, which he created in 2013 as an ad hoc body and recently fully integrated into the Vatican structure, to help bishops conferences around the world establish survivor welcome centers where victims could find healing and justice.

And he called for the commission to conduct an annual audit of what is being globally done by the Catholic hierarchy, and what needs to change, to better protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse.

“Without that progress, the faithful will continue to lose trust in their pastors, and preaching and witnessing to the Gospel will become increasingly difficult,” he warned.

It was the latest effort by the Argentine pope to…

Bishop Rick Stika dismissed as “boundary issues” allegations that a Knoxville seminarian forcibly pinned a fellow student down after subjecting him to a barrage of graphic sexual advances, according to newly obtained records from the Diocese of Knoxville.

Diocesan records suggest that Bishop Rick Stika played down the assault allegations against the seminarian while giving him thousands of dollars in cash, furnishing him with expensive electronics, and paying his cell phone bill.

Former Knoxville seminarian Wojciech Sobczuk was dismissed from St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana in March 2021, after three fellow seminarians accused him of sexual misconduct. 

One seminarian’s report described a 2020 visit to Knoxville which occurred during a school break. The seminarian wrote that Sobczuk had become a friend, and so he willingly accepted an invitation to the diocese.

But during his five-day visit, Sobczuk allegedly sent the seminarian sexually graphic Snapchat messages, frequently discussed the prospect of…

Three weeks after Pope Francis apologized for Catholic residential school abuses, Ottawa issued a diplomatic immunity certificate for the pope’s ambassador who faced a lawyer’s demand for records in other Catholic school sexual and physical abuse allegations.

“Clearly, that consent is not forthcoming, because the certificate was issued,” Sandra Kovacs, lawyer for complainant Mark O’Neill said.

“This position is not surprising, particularly in light of the frustration also expressed by residential school survivors, who have asked Pope Francis for unfettered access to records with the Vatican’s missionary department, too,” Kovacs said.

Kovacs said O’Neill and another client share those frustrations.

It was April 1 after Francis met with Canadian residential school survivors that he expressed indignation and shame about the church’s role.

“For the deplorable conduct of these members of the Catholic Church, I ask for God’s forgiveness and I want to say to you with all my heart: I…

Joseph J. Charron, 66, faces eight counts of sex abuse and assault, accused of having nonconsensual sexual contact with the student before and after his graduation.

A monk at Marmion Academy in Aurora has been charged with sexually abusing a former student, according to police.

Joseph J. Charron, 66, faces eight counts of sex abuse and assault for having nonconsensual sexual contact with the student before and after his graduation, Aurora police said.

Charron, a teacher at the school also known as “Brother Andre,” turned himself in to police Wednesday morning, police said.

They began investigating Charron after the former student told police about the alleged incidents in September 2021.

When Marmion Academy learned about the accusations, it placed Charron on administrative leave and barred him from the campus and other ministerial functions, police said.

Marmion Academy and Marmion Abbey cooperated with the investigation and are conducting their own investigation…

A trailblazing Black priest who was a civil rights hero to many African American Catholics was accused Tuesday of being an alleged sexual abuser of a young boy in an $800,000 settlement reached with the Archdiocese of Chicago, according to a lawyer for the boy.

The Rev. George Clements was the pastor of the Holy Angels Church in Chicago when he allegedly began preying on the then 7-year-old boy in 1974, according to the accuser’s attorney, Mitchell Garabedian.

The alleged abuse, which happened at least 20 times until 1979 when the young man turned 12, took place in the church rectory, in Clements’ car, and while on a camping trip, the lawyer said.

“It was the worst you could imagine,” Garabedian said of the alleged abuse during a news conference in Chicago. “When my client reported the abuse to his mother, [he says] his mother locked him in the closet…

[Via Crux]

Archdiocesan Catholics who responded to a survey preparing for the 2023 worldwide Synod of Bishops on synodality called for some big changes in the church.

The German Catholic news agency KNA reported that a statement on the archdiocese’s website noted a majority of respondents called for the faithful to be given greater self-determination and demanded major curbs on the power of the church leadership and priests. Offices, ministries and functions should be assigned on a temporary basis, they said. In addition, church members should have a democratic say in matters such as the election of bishops.

The Archdiocese of Cologne has just under 1.9 million Catholics, KNA reported. More than 1,700 people — about .09 percent of archdiocesan Catholics — took part in the nonrepresentative online survey, “Tell the pope — what should the future of the church look like?” They submitted more than 5,400 contributions and 1,200 comments.

The…

The Archdiocese of Chicago reached an $800,000 settlement against longtime South Side priest the Rev. George Clements and four others, according to an attorney representing the victims.

The settlement, which was completed back in February, alleges the Rev. George Clements, who died in 2019, repeatedly sexually abused a boy from approximately 1974 to 1979 when the boy was 7 to 12 years old.

At the time, Clements was pastor at Holy Angels, where he served in Bronzeville from 1969 to 1991.

Clements was a longtime advocate for civil rights and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Chicago. In 1981, he became the first Chicago area priest to get approval from the Vatican to adopt a child — a 13-year-old boy. He went on to adopt three more teen boys throughout the ’80s.

Clements served in the following parishes after becoming ordained in 1957, according to an archdiocese list…

In 1987, a made-for-TV movie called “The Father Clements Story” starred Louis Gossett, Junior, in the title role, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner as a youth he was helping.

Now, the Chicago Archdiocese is paying more than a $100,000 to a man who says Rev. George Clements sexually brutalized him.  

Lawyer Mitchell Garabedian says his client was a victim: “He was sexually abused by Father Clements at least 20 times. I’m not going to go into the graphic detail of the sexual abuse. But it’s the worst you could imagine.”

The Boston-based lawyer has a movie connection of his own. Actor Stanley Tucci played Garabedian in “Spotlight,” about clerical sexual abuse in Boston.

The settlement in the Clements case was among five announced Tuesday by Garabedian.  Although each of the sexual abuse allegations was too old to allow the filing of a lawsuit, the Chicago Archdiocese reviewed the complaints…

Advocates, filmmakers say they have not given up

“The Keepers” premiered on Netflix, on May 19th, 2017, bringing worldwide attention to the sexual abuse of children by priests in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

The series also renewed the investigations into the murders of two women, Sister Cathy Cesnik and Joyce Malecki.

It started with a freelance journalist, Tom Nugent. Nearly 20 years ago, Nugent had been calling many former students from the now-closed Archbishop Keough High School, for a story on Sister Cesnik, who was murdered in 1969. One of those calls went to a retired Baltimore County teacher, Gemma Hoskins.

“I always felt like there was some reason for me to be here and I didn’t know what it was. I think this is it,” Hoskins said, in a recent interview.

The call led Hoskins and Keough graduate, Abbie Schaub, to start their own research…

Stovall Weems denies report’s findings of embezzlement, ‘narcissistic’ behavior and emotional abuse

Celebration Church, one of the biggest churches in the Jacksonville area, on Monday released findings from an internal investigation into its founding pastor, Stovall Weems.

The church and Weems have been in a civil court battle that includes allegations of financial misconduct and fraud.

“The single word used most frequently to describe Stovall Weems was ‘narcissist.’ Nearly every witness we interviewed used that specific word,” the report stated.

Attorneys for the church said they interviewed more than 20 current and former senior leadership members, staff, former trustees, other advisors and consultants.

The report said one witness detailed, often through tears, instances when Weems personally belittled and humiliated them for minor mistakes or misunderstanding Weems’ “inconsistent and confusing directives.”

RELATED: Celebration Church founding pastor steps down amid legal battle | ‘Your church…

Police have charged the 76-year-old pastor at a church in Independent Hill with sexual assaulting a 20-year-old parishioner last month.

The victim reported the incidents to police just before 9 a.m. on April 14, saying the pastor twice sexually assaulted her at the Reconciliation Community Church at 14654 Joplin Road, once on March 8 and again on March 10.

The pastor, John Roger Peyton, 76, of Pearson Drive in Dale City, invited the victim into his office for one-on-one counseling sessions, Prince William County Police Master Officer Renee Carr said. In two separate counseling sessions, Peyton is accused of inappropriately touching the victim.

The victim eventually reported the incidents to a family member who contacted the police, Carr said.

On April 15, police charged Peyton with sexual assault and assault and battery, Carr said.

Anyone with information to report regarding the investigation is asked to call the Prince William County…

As Americans grapple with tragic past, Catholics part of efforts to shed light

The doll is about 6 inches tall, handcrafted of red leather, with a tan belt and headband around its long black hair. It’s a male warrior, holding a bow.

“This is actually me,” D. Richard Wright said of the doll. The parishioner of Gichitwaa Kateri in south Minneapolis made it as part of an effort to process recent findings in Canada of what are believed to be hundreds of graves of children on the sites of former indigenous residential schools. Some Twin Cities American Indians — mostly women — gathered together to make “spirit dolls” representing the children in some of those graves, resulting in an exhibit called “215+” that was on view from November to January at Indigenous Roots in St. Paul.

Wright, 72, is a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. He made…

A group of alumni from a Massachusetts Catholic college plans to protest outside the Worcester Diocese’s chancery building April 27 over Bishop Robert McManus’ recent criticism of a local Jesuit middle school for flying Black Lives Matter and Pride flags.

“We’re just trying to make a point. … [McManus] should be a leader of his flock, not threatening to punish them. He’s a bully,” said Joseph Twarog, a Massachusetts resident who is helping to organize the protest, which is scheduled for 10 a.m.

Twarog told NCR that he and “a small handful” of other alumni from the College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit college in Worcester, will be looking to challenge McManus for “basically bullying” institutions like Nativity School of Worcester.

“He has to be called to task, quite frankly,” Twarog said.

Earlier this year, McManus asked Nativity to remove its flags or risk losing the right…

Pope Francis issued an apostolic letter on Tuesday bringing Church law up to date on the rules for dismissal from religious institutes, in light of the updated penal law on sanctions related to clerical sexual abuse and other crimes.

The letter, known as Recognitum librum VI and issued motu proprio (on the pope’s “own impulse”) on April 26, modifies one sentence from canon 695 of the Code of Canon Law.

The pope explained that the modification makes the line consistent with the major revisions made last year to Book VI of the code’s penal law, which classified some crimes differently and introduced new crimes.

The new text of canon 695 §1 says: “A religious must be dismissed from the institute for the delicts mentioned in can. 1395, 1397, and 1398, unless in the delicts mentioned in can. 1395, §2-3 and 1398 §1, the superior…

With the appointment of two secretaries at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the confirmation of new leaders at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Pope Francis has embarked on a series of personnel changes before the new Vatican constitution comes into effect in June.

Published on March 19, the apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium regulates the tasks and offices of the Roman Curia. Almost nine years in the making, the document will enter into force on June 5.

That day, the Vatican’s departments will change their names and some will take on new competencies, while certain new rules and regulations will formally take effect. For example, priests will no longer be able to serve in the Curia for more than two five-year terms.

The overall reform was, however, anticipated by several decisions taken by Pope Francis. There were two important ones…

The appointment of Archbishop Laurent Ulrich as the new archbishop of Paris was announced two days after Emmanuel Macron was elected for another five years as the president of France.

The 70-year-old Ulrich is also likely to serve in his new assignment for five years before reaching the normal retirement age for bishops in 2026.

Ulrich, until now the archbishop of Lille, northern France, fills the place left by Archbishop Michel Aupetit, who resigned last December after a controversy surrounding an alleged relationship with a woman before he was archbishop of Paris.

Since Aupetit’s departure, the former Marseille Archbishop Georges Pontier has served as apostolic administrator of the archdiocese. Ulrich will be installed on May 23 at the Church of Saint-Sulpice.

The new archbishop of Paris was born in Dijon, northeastern France, on Sept. 7, 1951. He studied at the…

It is time for a breakthrough to end childhood sexual violence.

Childhood sexual violence is a silent global scourge. It affects children and adolescents of every country, race, ethnicity, caste, religion, sexual orientation, and gender. The survivor centered Brave Movement knows how to end childhood sexual violence.

The Summit is the first moment in which the Brave Movement will come together, as survivors and allies, to align on our demands to end childhood sexual violence. The time is now for this momentous gathering – in just over two months the G7 nations will meet and the Brave Movement will insist that ending child sexual violence is on the agenda.

The Summit is hosted by international journalist and broadcaster Femi Oke, with contributions from our SAGE members:

• Lawyer, psychologist and human rights advocate, Brisa de Angulo
• Executive Director and CEO of Together for Girls, Daniela Ligiero
• Political scientist and…

Clements, who died in 2019, was a pastor at Holy Angels and also marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Archdiocese of Chicago has reached an $800,000 settlement over claims of sexual abuse by the late Rev. George Clements, the famed Holy Angels pastor, and four other Chicago-area priests, according to lawyers representing the alleged abuse victims.

An attorney for Clements’ now 54-year-old alleged victim called Tuesday for Cardinal Blase Cupich to place Clements on the archdiocese’s public list of “credibly accused priests.”

“The hiding has to stop. The secrecy has to stop,” Boston-based attorney Mitch Garabedian told reporters.

The settlement — a copy of which was emailed to the Chicago Sun-Times — does not include any admission of wrongdoing on the part of the archdiocese.

The settlement also references Brother Edward C. Courtney, who served at all three Chicago-area Irish Christian Brothers high schools — Brother Rice…

The Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to pay a combined $800,000 in settlements in five cases involving claims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy, according to attorneys for the accusers.

The settlement involved claims against an Irish Christian brother and four priests, including a renowned activist priest, according to the law offices of attorney Mitchell Garabedian.

Rev. George Clements was the pastor of Saint Ambrose, Saint Dorothy, and at Holy Angels, which he led for 22 years.

Clements also adopted four sons, and was the first American priest to adopt a child.

He went on leave from the ministry in August of 2019 – as the archdiocese investigated a sexual abuse allegation from 1974. He died in December of 2019 after suffering a stroke at the age of 87.

The Archdiocese would not comment on if the investigation into Father Clements is still…

An Irish priest, Msgr John Kennedy has been put in charge by Pope Francis of leading investigations into child abuse allegations against the Catholic clergy worldwide.

The 53-year-old monsignor is the new secretary of the disciplinary section at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, which has responsibility for dealing with credible allegations against clergy.

He had been serving at the office since being appointed there by Pope Francis in 2017 and his appointment is part of a major shake-up of the Vatican curia being undertaken by Pope Francis.

The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith has two new sections: a doctrinal section and a disciplinary section. Italian priest Msgr Armando Matteo has been appointed secretary at the doctrinal section.

Msgr Kennedy, from Clontarf in Dublin, was born in 1968 and ordained in 1993 for the Dublin archdiocese. He worked in Crumlin and Francis Street parishes before undertaking postgraduate studies in canon…

[Via the Catholic Register]

Last month the Spanish parliament overwhelmingly approved the creation of an independent commission to investigate alleged sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

During his address opening the Spanish Bishops’ Conference’s Plenary Assembly on Monday, Cardinal Juan José Omella Omella of Barcelona expressed his pain over the sexual abuse committed by members of the Church and his desire to clarify what happened.

“The Church expresses its profound pain and once again asks for forgiveness for the crimes committed by our brothers,” Cardinal Omella, the conference president, said April 25.

He also noted that “in order to address the drama of the abuse and improve the procedures that the different ecclesial entities have put in place, the conference has commissioned the prestigious law firm Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo to carry out an independent audit of the way the cases of sexual abuse that occurred within the Catholic Church in…

We Refuse to Whisper! Powerstories Theatre is confronting the often-shrouded, controversial topic of abuse in the Catholic Church in Ireland with CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE: THE MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES. For twenty-two years, Powerstories has been driven by giving voice to women. Now, more than ever in our history, we refuse to whisper, defying the stigma of talking about abuse in religion. We are the first in Florida to debut this vastly unknown story based on Ireland’s sordid religious history.

CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE: THE MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES is live at the theatre from April 28 to May 15 and live-streamed on April 30, May 7, May 14 and May 15.

Powerstories Theatre Founder Fran Powers learned about the Magdalene Laundries, also known as the Magdalene Asylums, from a tour guide while visiting Ireland. Named after Mary Magdalene, the laundries were meant to be places of reform and repentance where women could wash away their…

A New Jersey diocese’s $87.5 million settlement plan prompts calls for more transparency

A Roman Catholic diocese in New Jersey agreed on Tuesday to pay $87.5 million to resolve clergy abuse claims from some 300 alleged victims. The cash settlement signifies one of the largest payouts involving U.S. Catholic churches accused of mishandling clergy sexual abuse allegations.

If the deal is approved by a U.S. bankruptcy judge, the Diocese of Camden will allot money to alleged survivors—up to $290,000 each, according to victims’ attorneys Jay Mascolo and Jason Amala—through a trust over the course of four years.

Abuse advocates and attorneys said the settlement is a positive step. But the Diocese of Camden has avoided transparency by keeping documents sealed that detail the nature of the accusations and how church leaders handled them. Victims’ attorneys said they expect court challenges to continue since the settlement includes an unusual provision allowing claimants…

Pope Francis has named Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Lille as the new head of the Paris Archdiocese, less than five months after his predecessor resigned under fire following a questionable relationship with a woman.

The appointment was published in the Vatican’s daily bulletin on April 26.

Ulrich has led the northern French diocese of Lille since February 2008 and has been a past vice-president of France’s Catholic bishops. The 70-year-old archbishop has been known to be an vocal advocate for migrants, one of France’s most contentious political issues, and has spoken openly about the church’s failings on clergy sex abuse. 

In a 2015 interview ahead of French regional elections, Ulrich said that while the church does not endorse any political party, it was necessary to reject the “hate speech” and “aggressive vindictiveness” being used by the far-right National Front party to demonize migrants.  

“One cannot be…

The Diocese of Brooklyn has settled a lawsuit against the late Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez, accused of sexual abuse of a minor when he was a visiting clergy in St. Francis de Sales Church in Belle Harbor in New York in the early 1970s.

According to Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse, Father Gutierrez sexually abused a minor child parishioner of St. Francis de Sales Parish on approximately six occasions from around 1970 until 1971 when the boy was about 11 to 12 years old.

Gutierrez became the bishop of Marbel in Koronadal City in South Cotabato from 1982 to 2018. He was born in Romblon in 1939 and ordained as priest at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral of Roxas City, Capiz in 1962. He passed away in 2019.

“That Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez, a credibly accused sexual abuser, became a leader in the…

The conference was organised by the State Women & Child Development department and the UNICEF under the aegis of the Orissa High Court.

The Eastern Region Conference on effective implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015 ended at the Odisha Judicial Academy here on Sunday. Chairpersons of the Juvenile Justice Committees of the High Courts of the five states – Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, West Bengal and Odisha participated in the conference.

The conference was organised by the State Women & Child Development department and the UNICEF under the aegis of the Orissa High Court.

With special focus on child protection issues in conflict with law and mental health of children during COVID-19 the conference was inaugurated by chairperson, Juvenile Justice Committee, Supreme Court of India, Justice S Ravindra Bhat on Saturday.

Principal Magistrates of Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs), Presiding Officers of the Children Courts and officials dealing…

The U.S. Catholic bishops will gather for a retreatlike special assembly this summer in San Diego to focus on episcopal unity after a tense year and a half in which deep divisions surfaced among prelates over the issue of denying Communion to pro-choice Catholic politicians — including President Joe Biden.

There will be no public session for the June 2022 meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops because the normal assembly business of committee reports and presentations are being set aside for prayer, reflection and episcopal fraternity, a spokeswoman for the conference told NCR.

Instead, the June 13-17 special assembly will feature spiritual talks given by Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney, Australia, with time for private and communal prayer, Mass, social outings and “fraternal dialogue,” according to a memo sent to the bishops.

“As I mentioned to Archbishop Fisher, although this is not a formal retreat, it is a…

Pope Francis has appointed an Irish priest to the number two position in the Vatican’s oldest and most high-profile department, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was formerly known as the Inquisition for its role in defending the Church from heresy.

Monsignor John Kennedy (53) from Dublin has worked for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) since 2003. He was appointed head of the Disciplinary Section of the CDF, which deals with serious canonical crimes and clerical abuse cases, in 2017.

In his new role as secretary of the CDF, he is now second in command to Spanish Cardinal Luis Ladaria who is due to retire in July as prefect.

Speaking to the Irish Independent from Rome, the priest who was ordained for the Archdiocese of Dublin in 1993, said he was, “very glad” to “play my part in making the Church a better place for…

Only one new priest is being ordained in the Diocese this year and nine priests are retiring effective July 1, 2022.

Members of two Catholic Parishes in the Youngstown Diocese learned this past weekend where they’ll be attending mass starting this June.

Bishop David Bonnar has confirmed that St. James Church will be the worship site for Warren’s St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish Church, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Ashtabula will be the worship site for members of Our Lady of Peace Parish.

Parishes throughout the Diocese have been working together to adjust their Mass schedule because there are fewer priests.

Only one new priest is being ordained in the Diocese this year and nine priests are retiring effective July 1, 2022.

According to church law, each priest is not permitted to celebrate more than three Masses on the weekend.

With a shared pastor, Blessed Sacrament Parish…

More than two years after the Boy Scouts of America sought bankruptcy protection to stave off a flood of lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by Scout leaders and volunteers, a Delaware judge is weighing whether to confirm the BSA’s reorganization plan.

After a three-week evidentiary hearing and nearly a week of closing arguments, the judge is expected to rule within the next few weeks. The issues facing Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein are controversial and complex. No matter how she rules, the case will head next to a federal district court, with appeals likely to follow. Here is a brief look at bankruptcy case.

THE PLAN

The reorganization plan calls for the BSA and its 250 local councils, along with settling insurance companies and troop sponsoring organizations, to contribute some $2.6 billion in cash and property to a fund for abuse victims.

In return for those contributions, those entities would be…

Could potentially affect thousands of child abuse lawsuits pending in New York

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany’s effort to keep secret the psychological treatment records of suspected pedophile priests was rejected Thursday by a state appellate court in a ruling that could affect thousands of Child Victims Act cases in New York.

The appellate panel also upheld state Supreme Court Justice L. Michael Mackey’s decision ordering the diocese to turn over the personnel records of at least 48 priests whom the church determined had been credibly accused of child sexual abuse over a period stretching from 1946 to 1999.

The appellate panel also upheld state Supreme Court Justice L. Michael Mackey’s decision ordering the diocese to turn over the personnel records of at least 48 priests whom the church determined had been credibly accused of child sexual abuse over a period stretching from 1946 to 1999.

The ruling will…

A recent court ruling has opened the door to the release of psychological treatment records of priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany accused of child sexual abuse.

The Albany Times-Union reported the ruling came in a lawsuit by an alleged abuse victim from the 1980s who sought records detailing the treatment received by the Rev. Edward Pratt and other priests.

The diocese had argued that the records were subject to patient-physician privilege, but the appeals court wrote last Thursday that the privilege was waived because the priests’ records had been shared with then-Bishop Howard J. Hubbard.

The appellate court also upheld a lower court judge’s decision that ordered the diocese to turn over personnel records of dozens of priests determined to have been credibly accused of child sexual abuse from the 1940s through the 1990s, as well as notes of investigators hired by the diocese…

Victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy say they are still waiting for the state to fulfill its promise of a decades-long lookback investigating allegations of predators in the church. 

Todd Kostrub has been awaiting a reckoning for nearly four years.

New Jersey officials raised his hopes in September 2018, when they announced the creation of a special task force to investigate decades-old allegations of sexual abuse by members of the clergy that had long been kept secret.

Sparked by a Pennsylvania grand jury report that had graphically detailed the abuse by priests who had preyed upon children in that state for decades, then-New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal named former acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino to head the investigation. The task force would be given subpoena power through a grand jury to compel testimony and demand the production of documents from the…

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City could be held responsible for the sexual abuse a child endured in Shawnee County, according to the Kansas Supreme Court.

A lawsuit seeking damages from a priest and the archdiocese that employed the priest from 1980 to 1984 went before the judges, who remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings. A man, only known as John Doe H.B. from Shawnee County, filed the lawsuit seeking damages from abuse that happened when he was nine to 12 years old, from 1980 to 1984. The man said he repressed the memories of his abuse until media reports about abuse started showing up in the news in 2015.

Before the parties went to trial, defendants the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City and St. Matthew Parish in Topeka filed motions saying the claims were time-barred by an eight-year deadline. The district court denied…

A former top aide to Pope John Paul II has been cleared by the Vatican of charges that he mishandled sex abuse cases in Poland, with a papal investigation concluding that his actions were “correct” and, as a result, “the Holy See decided not to proceed further.”

Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz served as John Paul II’s priest-secretary and, later, as Archbishop of Krakow between 2005 and 2016.

The reason for the Vatican investigation of Dziwisz, 82, has never been officially stated, but it’s widely understood that it concerned accusations of negligence in handling abuse cases. The inquiry was led by Italian Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, a former president of the Italian bishops’ conference.

“I think that the Polish society has never believed these accusations,” Dziwisz told Crux. “I am glad and relieved that the statement is final and closes the matter, and that we will not come back to it anymore.”

“I feel…

Podejrzany o pedofilię ksiądz, po tym jak dostał zarzuty w prokuraturze, popełnił samobójstwo na plebanii. Dlatego prokuratura umorzyła sprawę, ale teraz, po 10 latach, wraca do niej archidiecezja warmińska. Po zawiadomieniu jednego z wiernych sprawdza, czy ówczesny biskup elbląski Jan Styrna tuszował sprawę księdza. — Na pierwszy rzut oka niczego sobie nie przypominam — stwierdził w rozmowie z Onetem biskup senior.

• Skandal wybuchł 10 lat temu. Jak informowały wówczas media, w lutym 2012 r. matka ministranta z parafii w Nowym Stawie pod Malborkiem zawiadomiła biskupa Styrnę, że jeden z księży skrzywdził jej syna. Mimo to ksiądz wikary jeszcze przez trzy miesiące normalnie pracował
• Nie widząc reakcji biskupa Styrny, matka 9-letniego ministranta poszła do prokuratury. Po trzech miesiącach, w maju 2012 r., ksiądz wikary dostał zarzuty molestowania seksualnego. Wtedy, bez informowania parafian o szczegółach, duchowny został zawieszony przez biskupa
• — O szczegółach tej historii dowiedziałem się niedawno. Zawiadomiłem prymasa Polski, bo biskup…

A powerful sect facing allegations of abuse is also under scrutiny for its close political ties, including to the country’s president – whose signature is needed to make a ban on child marriage a legal reality.

When Anna Machaya died while giving birth at the shrine of one of Zimbabwe’s most secretive religious sects, there was outcry across the country.

Anna was only a child, having turned 15 years old a mere 10 days before her July 15, 2021 death. She was carrying the baby of Hatirarami Momberume, her 26-year-old husband. It’s unclear when they married, but it was with the consent of her parents, who belong to the Johane Marange Apostolic Church, a conservative religious sect that has been accused of marrying underage girls to older men. When their daughter died, the parents tried to cover it up, police say.

“The parents openly lied to the police,” says a…

The Archdiocese of Agana has been encouraging Catholic parishioners throughout the island to wear blue in support of National Child Abuse Prevention Month while participating in special “Blue Novenas” and “Blue Sunday” healing masses.

“Especially with the news now, you’ll always hear something about a child being abused or neglected going on in our islands,” said Tricia Tenorio, the Archdiocese of Agana’s Safe Environment Coordinator. “We pray for those families experiencing that and we all just have to work together and prevent child abuse in our churches, our homes and our island.”

Throughout the month of April, the Archdiocese has been working to raise awareness among Catholic youth with activities done within the 13 Catholic schools and 26 parishes.

Students at some Catholic schools have created art projects that are on display throughout their campuses and churches in a show of support, while other schools had students lead special prayers…

A lawsuit says the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville mishandled a report about allegations that a priest sexually abused a parishioner.

The lawsuit filed in Sevier County says Father Antony D. Punnackal locked an adult female plaintiff in a room on Feb. 17, 2020, and fondled her, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported. Police allegedly informed the diocese about the allegations against Punnackal before he was indicted by a grand jury, but no action was taken until the indictment, the complaint states.

The woman “rebuffed Punnackal but he continued his assault,” until he unlocked the door, according to the complaint filed in March, but sealed until recently.

Punnackal was suspended from his role as pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Gatlinburg after being indicted in January on charges of sexual battery and sexual battery by an authority figure, according to records included with the lawsuit.

The diocese declined…

When it comes to addressing the clerical sexual abuse, the role of the laity is central, according to experts.

However, according to one of the Colombian lay women at the center of the country’s bishops’ response, too many people avoid addressing it, because they don’t think it is a problem that affects them.

Ilva Myriam Hoyos, former Colombian attorney general for children, adolescents and family, is the head of the bishops’ working group for the protection of minors.

“We are obliged to act when we have knowledge of violence against a minor, but the reality is that there is still a certain indifference, an attitude of leaving the problem to someone else because the issue ‘does not touch me directly’,” she told Crux.

Crux spoke with Hoyos about what the church in Colombia is doing to address the clerical abuse crisis, including the errors made by the bishops, the laity, and the…

The Shawnee Co. District Attorney said he will not file charges against a Topeka priest who had been accused of child sex crimes.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says it has completed its investigation in the case against Father John Pilcher for alleged sexual abuse of a minor and has submitted the findings to the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office.

The findings were given to District Attorney Mike Kagay’s Office in February, however, the office made the decision to not file charges in April.

The DA said after a complete review of the investigation’s findings, his office decided not to charge Pilcher.

Pilcher was suspended from his post at Mater Dei Parish in late September after charges were filed pending the results of the investigation.

Copyright 2022 WIBW. All rights reserved.

A dispute in central Massachusetts between a bishop and a Jesuit school that is flying the “Black Lives Matter” flag and a rainbow flag is an example of how dioceses would benefit from developing and publicizing detailed policies about what Catholic institutions can and can’t do, an expert on Catholic education said.

“I try to look at these issues from both sides. And I think the only way we’re going to resolve the growing distance between our Catholic culture and what the Church believes is if our Catholic schools are much more clear as to what the beliefs are that they should hold to and what the policies are that they should follow,” said Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, a Virginia-based organization that promotes and defends what it calls “faithful Catholic education.”

Reilly told the Register people who run and work at Catholic institutions need to know…

Pope Francis’ reforms raise the question of reviving the tradition of lay cardinals with women in the mix.  

Pope Francis is reorganizing the Vatican Curia — the church’s administrators and his senior staff — and may name new cardinals in June. 

Francis’ new apostolic constitution, “Praedicate Evangelium” (“Preach the Gospel”), issued last month, noted that the heads of dicasteries and other offices that manage the church need not be ordained. This highlighted Francis’ stated aim to give “more space” to women in the church.  

Most of the important dicasteries are as a matter of fact headed by cardinals. But if any Catholic can head a curial office, the question becomes, does the title come with the job? More importantly, is the title needed to do the job?

If the main duty of a cardinal is to be an adviser to the pope, and there is no ordination…

Following complaints by survivors of sexual abuse, a German diocese has announced it will no longer cooperate with a Planned Parenthood-affiliated organization, given accusations of “spreading pedophile-friendly views” in previous decades.

As CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, reported, the Diocese of Würzburg announced on Wednesday it would cease its cooperation with the abortion-supporting organization that calls itself Pro Familia as “soon as possible.”

Bishop Franz Jung had announced this affiliation in March 2022, saying his diocese had asked the organization to “offer a first point of contact outside church structures for those affected [by sexual abuse] and their relatives.”

In a statement released April 20, the diocese cited concerns raised by the abuse survivors’ council, or Betroffenenbeirat. The body had pointed out that Pro Familia not only has a pro-abortion stance, but also stood accused of pushing for a “decriminalization of pedosexuality” in previous decades.

The German newspaper Tagesspiegel, in…

When Nathan Lam was installed as the new cantor of Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts last month, he framed the move as an unexpected interruption of his retirement. It had, after all, been only a few months since Lam, 75, said publicly that he was anticipating “a long sabbatical” after leaving his high-profile posts as dean of a local seminary’s cantorial program and senior cantor at Stephen Wise Temple.

It turns out that Lam, who rose to prominence as a celebrity voice coach, had in fact left those posts under pressure following an accusation of sexual misconduct by a female rabbi and cantor who was once his student. Yet Temple of the Arts, an independent congregation with ties to billionaire Haim Saban, hired him despite knowing of investigations that found he’d violated the policies of both Wise Temple and the seminary, the Academy for Jewish Religion California.

…

The timeline of alleged abuse by a Topeka priest at St. Matthew’s parish in the 1980s could have a significant impact on an ongoing child sexual abuse case.

In the matter of Appeal No. 121,768: John Doe H.B., an individual v. M.J., Individually and in His Capacity as a Priest at St. Matthew Parish, and The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas, a Kansas Not for Profit Corporation,the Kansas Supreme Court says it will try the archdiocese in the case but denied a motion for summary judgment by the defendant. Further, it said it would need the discovery to establish a timeline of the crimes which would decide what crimes could be tried due to Kansas law.

Court records indicate H.B. filed a lawsuit in August 2017 which alleged a priest – M.J. – sexually abused him in Shawnee County when he was a child – over 30 years…

A Vatican investigation into allegations that the former top aide to St. John Paul II was negligent in handling sex abuse claims in his native Poland has cleared him of wrongdoing, the Vatican’s embassy in Poland said Friday.

A statement from the embassy, or nunciature, said the investigation conducted by a Holy See envoy determined that Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz’s actions were “correct, and therefore, the Holy See decided not to proceed any further.”

The Vatican sent Italian Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco to Poland in June 2021 to gather evidence and documentation into allegations of negligence while Dziwisz was archbishop of Krakow, Poland, from 2005 to 2016. A priest had said he gave Dziwisz a letter detailing allegations of abuse against another priest, and the presumed victim said he never heard back about what came of the case.

Bagnasco’s investigation did not consider Dziwisz’s tenure while he was at the Vatican and…

The Vatican has wrapped up its own investigation and dismissed allegations that Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz had covered up cases of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy in his archdiocese.

In a written statement released April 22, the Apostolic Nunciature in Poland said the Vatican found the cardinal had been “correct” in his actions after it examined the findings of an investigation led by Italian Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco.

Following a request by the Vatican, Cardinal Bagnasco, the retired archbishop of Genoa, was in Poland June 17-26, 2021, “to verify certain cases related to the actions of Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz” while he was archbishop of Krakow from 2005 until his retirement in 2016, the statement said.

“The analysis of the collected documentation made it possible to assess these actions of Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz as correct and, therefore, the Holy See decided not to proceed any further,” it said.

In his…

Bishop Christopher Coyne –– The Mouthpiece for Boston’s Cardinal Law. Shouldn’t We Expect More From Him?

For three tumultuous years (2002-2005), Fr. Christopher Coyne was Boston Cardinal Bernard Law’s hand-picked spokesman. Cardinal Law, in case memories have faded, has been the most notoriously corrupt and complicit Catholic official in the US, responsible for ignoring or hiding the crimes of hundreds of predatory clerics.

In that role, Coyne talked with hundreds – perhaps thousands – of journalists about clergy sex crimes and cover-ups. Surely, one would expect, Coyne would have learned painful lessons about how crucial it is to be open about these horrors. But sadly, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Because now, Fr. Coyne is Bishop Coyne, head of the Diocese of Burlington Vermont.

And in that role, like most of his brother bishops, Coyne is being less than fully transparent about child-molesting priests, nuns, seminarians, brothers, and…

“Everyone was spied on in the Vatican,” Ignazio Ingrao, Panorama magazine’s Vatican expert, declared in a telegraph.co.uk report dated March 1, 2013. He said the efforts “seemed eerily like a Vatican Big Brother,” a reference to the motto “Big Brother is watching you” in George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984.  

Recent testimonies in a Vatican financial crimes investigation and trial indicate the spying is ongoing.  

Msgr. Mauro Carlino gave his testimony in a Vatican courtroom this past March. As a former official in the Secretariat of State, he said he passed the Vatican Bank director’s phone number to a security expert hired by a Secretariat official “suggesting the phone was subsequently hacked,” The Pillar wrote.

Carlino said the Secretariat’s second highest official “authorized the action” because the bank director denied a loan to the Secretariat to cover their losses in the purchase of a London property, The Pillar reported on March 30.

Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra,…

The Department of Politics hosted a presentation April 4 to bring awareness to abuse found in faith-based higher education in Africa.

Lady Ajayi, visiting assistant professor in the Department of Politics and a 2021–22 American Association of University Women International Fellow, created the presentation from research she conducted centered around faith-based abuse in Nigeria. About 15 people attended the event, including professors and students.

Ajayi said her research process has consisted of observing and monitoring the progress of institutions she and her colleagues work in. Ajayi said that interviewing survivors is the next phase of her research and that she recognizes that may be difficult. 

1-in-3 women globally will experience sexual or physical violence from an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner, according to a 2021 World Health Organization study. The study also found that by the time women are 24, 1-in-4 who have already been in a relationship will have experienced violence…

Mark MacDonald, Canada’s first national indigenous Anglican archbishop, resigned from his post over “acknowledged sexual misconduct,” the church announced Wednesday.

In a statement providing few details of the misconduct committed by MacDonald, the Anglican Church of Canada said the 68-year-old married father of three, who assumed the post of bishop in 2007 before he was promoted to archbishop in 2019, “formally relinquished the exercise of the ordained ministry pursuant to Canon XIX, effective April 20, 2022.”

“Archbishop Mark MacDonald has resigned as National Indigenous Anglican Archbishop and has relinquished the exercise of ministry due to acknowledged sexual misconduct,” The Most Rev. Linda Nicholls, archbishop and primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, wrote in an open letter.

“This is devastating news. The sense of betrayal is deep and profound when leaders fail to live up to the standards we expect and the boundaries…

An archbishop in the Anglican Church of Canada has resigned due to “acknowledged sexual misconduct,” according to a letter from the denomination’s top official.

“With regret and sorrow, the Church announces receipt of allegations of sexual misconduct concerning Archbishop Mark MacDonald,” the April 20 announcement said, noting his resignation was effective immediately.

“This is devastating news,” the letter said. “The sense of betrayal is deep and profound when leaders fail to live up to the standards we expect and the boundaries we set.”

MacDonald had been national Indigenous Anglican archbishop of the ACC since 2019. He became the denomination’s first national Indigenous Anglican bishop in 2007, giving him oversight of Indigenous members of the denomination. He was previously bishop of Alaska in the Episcopal Church, from 1997-2007, and is known for his climate justice advocacy.

In March, MacDonald was awarded a Cross of St. Augustine by…

The Vatican has ended an investigation into allegations that Polish Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz failed to investigate claims of clerical sex abuse when he was archbishop of Krakow, saying his actions were “correct.”

“The analysis of the collected documentation made it possible to assess these actions of Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz as correct and, therefore, the Holy See decided not to proceed any further,” the apostolic nunciature in Poland announced on Friday.

Dziwisz, 82, was archbishop of Krakow from 2005-2016, after more than three decades as the personal secretary of St. Pope John Paul II. 

According to the nunciature’s statement, Italian Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop emeritus of Genoa, visited Poland from June 17-26, 2021, to carry out an investigation on behalf of the Holy See.

Dziwisz, in his own statement on April 22, said he is “grateful to the Apostolic See for having judged the case fairly.”

Bagnasco, he said, “made every effort…

As the Catholic Church continues to engage Canada’s Indigenous people and questions of historical abuse, Pope Francis met with a delegation of Metis people from Manitoba on Thursday.

The April 21 meeting with the pope was “a touching moment for many” and “tears were shed,” said David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Métis Federation, the National Government of the Red River Métis.

He told CBC News that the delegation spoke about “the importance of hope and revitalization,” the need for churches to be a living part of their communities, the need for more priests, and the need for Catholic churches still to play a role.

A victim of clergy sexual abuse also spoke to the pope.

“That was very touching. I think everybody shed a tear,” Chartrand told CBC News. “The pope was very attentive. He watched very carefully. You could see the emotion in his face.”

Thursday’s visit was…

A Sevier County lawsuit alleges the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville mishandled a report about a priest sexually assaulting a parishioner two years ago.

Father Antony D. Punnackal, the priest who is also a defendant in the suit, is on suspension from his role as pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Gatlinburg after a grand jury indicted him in January on charges related to the same incident. 

The lawsuit is the third ongoing civil case in the state against the Catholic Church for abuse related incidents. The other two are against the Knoxville diocese and the Diocese of Nashville for incidents in Knoxville and Murfreesboro, respectively. 

Plaintiffs in all three cases are unnamed. 

A spokesperson for the diocese declined to comment on the substance of the lawsuit.

“It would be inappropriate for the diocese to comment on allegations raised in an ongoing civil lawsuit,” spokesperson Jim Wogan said. 

Second lawsuit against Knoxville diocese: