ABUSE TRACKER

Last week, the Pillar, a subscription-based outfit that does journalism — actual journalism — on the Catholic Church, released a story that the general secretary of the U.S. bishops’ conference, Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill, used Grindr, the gay hookup app, from, well, just about everywhere he physically occupied over a period of years.

Here’s how the Pillar describes Burrill’s position:

Burrill was  elected general secretary of the U.S. bishops’ conference in November 2020 . In that role, Burrill was effectively the highest-ranking American cleric who is not a bishop.

A priest of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, he began to work at the bishops’ conference as associate general secretary in February 2016. In that capacity, the priest was charged with helping to coordinate the U.S. bishops’ response to the Church’s 2018 sexual abuse and coercion scandals.

Needless to say, it was the Pillar’s…

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When there’s an accusation against a priest “an investigation is immediately begun,” a Diocese of Rockville Centre spokesperson said.

Thirteen more Diocese of Rockville Centre clergy members are accused of sexually abusing children, a law firm announced Thursday.

The clergy members were identified in lawsuits filed under the New York Child Victims Act.

“This peril must be known not only by the people in the pews, not only by the people in the parishes, but the public must know about these child molesting clerics,” attorney Jeff Anderson, of Jeff Anderson & Associates, said in a news release. “Survivors of sexual abuse in New York can expose their perpetrators in court, but time is running out.”

The clergy members were identified as:

• Rose Alauddin
• Joseph Boyd
• Jean Ann Burk
• Steven Lawrence Carreras
• Eloy Clarke
• Michael Fleming
• Azarias Gabriel
• Punakateal Ivor
• Richard Kondziolka
• Richard Krauss
• Anthony LaTorre
• Robert Mulligan
• Louis Stanislaus

The Diocese of Rockville Centre continues to monitor all newly filed claims…

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FREEHOLD – Under the cloud of sexual abuse allegations for almost three years, the former longtime pastor of St. Veronica R.C. Church in Howell walked out of the Monmouth County Courthouse Friday after a judge acquitted him of the charges, and said he will continue to pray for his accuser.

After Superior Court Judge Ellen Torregrossa-O’Connor found the 80-year-old priest not guilty of three counts of sexual assault on a child more than two decades ago, the Rev. Henry Brendan Williams said he was “certainly very relieved’’ by the verdict. 

“I continue to pray for the accuser,’’ Williams added, speaking outside the courtroom.

“I feel very compassionate toward her, the difficulties she’s had going on for many years,”  the priest said. “I do keep her in prayer, and her family as well. I just pray for the whole family.’’

“I haven’t had too many clients in my career pray for the people…

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon has released details about nine historical cases involving sexual abuse and misconduct that were investigated as part of the Safer Churches, Safer communities Safeguarding Action Plan.

The March 2020 commitment by the diocese involves reviewing historical cases of serious misconduct reported over the last 60 years in the diocese.

The review released in July only involved complaints for which the investigation of the report had concluded.

Two committees separate from the bishop were tasked with reviewing practices. The review committee was comprised of non-clergy members with a range of experience in legal and police investigative fields.

The diocese declined to speak to reporters after the review was released.

In a video message posted to YouTube, Bishop Mark Hagemoen thanked those involved in the process.

“I again express my profound sorrow and I apologize for what you…

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French Oblate priest Joannis Rivoire was once accused of sexually assaulting Inuit children

An Inuk residential school survivor and activist says he’s encouraged by recent calls to reinvestigate allegations of abuse by a notorious former Nunavut priest.

French Oblate priest Joannis Rivoire was once accused of sexually assaulting Inuit children in Nunavut communities in the 1960s, but the charges against him were stayed four years ago.

Earlier this month, Nunavut MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, backed by the NDP, again shone a spotlight on Rivoire when she called on the federal government to open a criminal probe into residential schools. During the press conference, she held up a photo of the priest and demanded the government investigate his alleged abuse.

Piita Irniq, former Commissioner of Nunavut, went to school at the Sir Joseph Bernier School in Chesterfield Inlet.

Irniq has long advocated for justice for other survivors of abuse and hopes the NDP’s…

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ROME – Easily the most talked-about development in American Catholicism over the past week has been the resignation of Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill as the Secretary General of the US Bishops Conference, after the new Catholic media outlet Pillar obtained data from his phone suggesting Burrill had visited gay bars, private residences for single men and even a notorious sauna in Las Vegas while he was serving the conference.

The episode has generated tremendous controversy, not only about Burrill’s behavior but about data privacy and the ethics of paying for supposedly confidential information on someone and then broadcasting it to the world.

Pillar was at it again yesterday, publishing a new report that the Archdiocese of Newark will be investigating information presented by Pillar indicating the use of hookup apps, both gay and straight, in ten different rectories and clerical residences.

Because the data only establishes location and app use, not sexual activity, and because Pillar so far…

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Organization for survivors of sex abuse victims calls for Manchester bishop’s suspension

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Manchester Diocese Bishop Peter Anthony Libasci is denying that he sexually abused a child in the 1980s, according to a statement released Friday by his attorney.

Libasci is not facing criminal charges. In a lawsuit, he was accused of sexually abusing a child around 12 or 13 years old in 1983 and 1984.

In a statement released Friday evening, Libasci’s attorney, Michael J. Connolly, said the bishop “categorically denies the allegations.”

“The allegation that, almost 40 years ago, Bishop Libasci assaulted an individual while serving as a parish priest in Deer Park, New York, is not true,” Connolly said in the statement. “Bishop Libasci has dedicated over 43 years to serving others as a Roman Catholic priest, during which time he has earned an impeccable reputation for treating all individuals with dignity and respect. While…

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A lawsuit alleging the bishop of Manchester abused an altar boy in the early 1980s is part of a wave of clergy abuse suits in New York, where a law passed in 2019 opened a temporary exemption from the statute of limitations.

The exemption allows survivors of abuse decades ago to come forward with their claims, and seek recompense.

The look-back window will close Aug. 14. Thousands of survivors of abuse in New York have come forward, including more than 200 lawsuits against the Diocese of Rockville Centre, where Bishop Peter A. Libasci served as a priest in the 1980s. The diocese filed for bankruptcy in September 2020

Libasci had not been named in an abuse lawsuit until the complaint filed earlier this month in New York’s Suffolk County Superior Court alleged he groped an altar boy in 1983 and 1984, when the boy was 12 and 13 years old.

…

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MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — The head of the Roman Catholic Church in New Hampshire “categorically denies” recent allegations that he committed sexual abuse while serving as a priest in New York in the 1980s, according to a statement issued by his lawyer on Saturday.

A lawsuit filed July 14 in a New York state court accuses Bishop Peter Libasci of the Diocese of Manchester of abusing a male youth on numerous occasions in 1983 and 1984. The abuse resulted in “physical, psychological and emotional injuries,” the ;awsuit says.

In a statement on behalf of Libasci, attorney Michael Connolly said the allegation is not true.

“Bishop Libasci has dedicated over 43 years to serving others as a Roman Catholic priest, during which time he has earned an impeccable reputation for treating all individuals with dignity and respect,” Connolly wrote. “While Bishop Libasci has great compassion for victims of sexual abuse, he will…

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Whereabouts of many of the 1,700 accused priests are unknown Virtual press event today: statewide investigation reveals lawsuits involving Catholic dioceses and alleged clergy perpetrators in New York

(New York, NY) – Today, over a live moderated virtual press conference, attorney Jeff Anderson will:

• Unveil findings from an investigation into lawsuits filed under the New York Child Victims Act between August 14, 2019, and May 31, 2021, involving all Catholic Dioceses across New York.
• Announce and discuss over 3,300 lawsuits filed under the New York Child Victims Act (CVA).
• Announce and discuss over 1,700 alleged perpetrators identified in lawsuits filed under the New York CVA.
• Reveal 176 newly identified alleged perpetrators that have not been publicly identified before in diocesan lists, religious order lists, or other forms of media.
• Implore the public to aid in identifying which of the newly identified alleged perpetrators are potentially still alive and may have access to children.
• Demand that all…

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As the first of Kevin O’Donnell’s victims to report the paedophile priest to police, he paved a courageous path for other abuse survivors to follow.

Now, he hopes the $1.375 million he will receive from the Catholic Church will stand as a landmark settlement that assists O’Donnell’s other victims who are seeking compensation.

“I never let go of the bone. I just kept fighting it. I thought, ‘this is not right’,” said BTZ, as he is known in legal files.

“The Melbourne archdiocese has known I was a victim for 25 years and it’s only in the past couple of months they were forced into mediation to start the conversation about how much money they had to pay me.”

It is 50 years since BTZ was groomed and abused as an 11-year-old boy in Hastings by his parish priest. O’Donnell’s attacks continued until 1976 and included sexual assaults at the…

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Tamzin Ford wanted for years to share her story about the abuse she suffered at the hands of a man who was supposed to be her carer. Deborah Morris reports.

It was the day Maurice Dagger made a filthy suggestion to her that Tamzin Ford knew she needed to do something.

She had just got home from school, and Dagger was sitting in a chair in the lounge.

The young teenager hated being alone with him and did her best to avoid it. He used to come into her bedroom at night and rub her back, enter the bathroom while she was showering, hold the door to the rumpus room closed to press her up against the door frame and kiss her.

This time he asked to put his hand in her pants and stroke her.

After 18 months of being ‘sexually terrified’ as a young teen, Ford needed out….

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KINGSTON, Jamaica — A call has been made by a lawmaker for Jamaicans to not protect anyone who molests or otherwise abuse the nation’s children.

“We must not lay our girls and boys carelessly exposed to evil elements. It does not matter how much power we think the abuser has,” said Government Senator Natalie Campbell-Rodriques. She made the call on Friday during her contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate. She pleaded with Jamaicans not to shield child abusers because of their status in the society.

“Whether it be a church leader, a politician, a doctor, lawyer or teacher; no one should be allowed to escape the law for abusing our most vulnerable,” Campbell-Rodriques stated.

“Safeguards must be put in place by us as caregivers to shield our children from evil and wickedness,” she added.

The government senator said she has taken note of the debate…

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A pastor of a Rancho Cucamonga church was arrested this week on suspicion of sexually assaulting a child at the church, authorities said.

A 14-year-old girl reported to authorities in April that the pastor of Shiloh Tabernacle Church abused her for several years, starting when she was 9 years old and continued until she was 12, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested the pastor, Puredi Hillary, 67, of Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday evening and he was booked on charges of continuous sexual abuse of a minor, and lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14.

The abuse took place at the church on 8678 Archibald Avenue, the department said.

The church did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.

Hillary founded the Shiloh Tabernacle Church in 2001 and has been meeting in the Inland Empire since 2002, according to the church’s website. The church…

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A Rancho Cucamonga pastor was arrested this week for allegedly sexually abusing a young girl over several years, authorities said.

Puredi Hillary, 67, was taken into custody Thursday on suspicion of continuous sexual abuse of a minor and lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a release. He was being held at West Valley Detention Center in lieu of $350,000 bail, according to jail records.

The crimes are believed to have taken place when the now-14-year-old victim was 9 to 12, the Sheriff’s Department said.

Hillary is pastor of Shiloh Tabernacle Church in Rancho Cucamonga, authorities said. He founded the pentecostal church in 2001 after he saw a vision during a fraternity party that inspired him to repent and stop using drugs, according to an archived copy of the church’s website, which had been removed by Saturday morning. The church…

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RIVERSIDE (CBSLA) — A church youth group leader was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing young girls.

65-year-old Jaime Gonzalez, of Our Lady Guadalupe Shrine in Riverside, is accused of crimes from several years ago.

Detectives say they want to hear from any other potential victims.

This marks the second such incident in the past few days in the Southland regarding church officials accused of sexual abuse.

67-year-old pastor Puredi Hillary, of Shiloh Tabernacle Church in Rancho Cucamonga, was arrested Thursday, following the initial report of sexual abuse by a 14-year-old girl in April.

The girl told police investigators she was 9 years old when the sexual abuse began, and that it continued until she was 12.

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Today Bishop Robert Gruss, Bishop of the Diocese of Saginaw, transferred the name of Ronald [Father Ron] Dombrowski from the diocesan website’s list of clergy with an allegation of child sexual abuse to the list of clergy permanently removed from ministry. Following communication with Ronald Dombrowski, the Diocese of Saginaw has released the following statement.  

Ronald [Father Ron] Dombrowski will live a life of prayer and penance after being removed from public ministry more than three years ago. His name will be listed on the diocesan website among those who have been permanently removed from ministry due to allegations of sexual abuse involving minors.

On February 28, 2018, the Diocese of Saginaw received an allegation of sexual abuse involving a minor against Ronald Dombrowski, a priest of the Diocese of Saginaw, dating from his early years of ministry. Ronald Dombrowski was placed on administrative leave and prohibited…

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SAGINAW, MI — The Catholic Diocese of Saginaw has permanently removed one of its priests from duty, years after the priest was accused of sexual misconduct.

On Friday, July 23, Bishop Robert Gruss removed the Rev. Ronald J. Dombrowski from ministry, the diocese said in a statement.

The diocese had suspended Dombrowski in March 2018 as a “precautionary measure” after someone reported to the agency that Dombrowski sexually abused them as a minor. No criminal charges have been filed against Dombrowski.

After the diocese received the initial allegation against Dombrowski on Feb. 28, 2018, two more people came forward with similar claims against the priest.

The abuse occurred in Dombrowski’s “early years of ministry,” the diocese stated.

“My prayers remain with any and all who have suffered sexual abuse by clergy, especially minors and vulnerable adults,” Gruss said. “As we know, the pain runs deep and the…

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The Archdiocese of Newark says it will investigate the possibility of clerical sexual misconduct, in response to questions from The Pillar about the use of location-based hookup apps at several parish rectories in the archdiocese.

While a spokesperson told The Pillar it is “not acceptable” to use apps “inconsistent with Church teaching,” the archdiocese has also expressed concerns about the “morally suspect” collection of app signal data.

“The inappropriate use of any app or communication tool would pose a concern in any circumstance and for any community. Although the use of such an app, and its use in a specific location, does not provide direct evidence of any specific activity, the Archdiocese of Newark takes seriously all complaints of misconduct or abuse by members of the clergy, religious, lay staff and volunteers of the Archdiocese,” Maria Margiotta, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Newark, told The Pillar on Friday. 

“It is not acceptable for any member of…

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In January, when Ed Condon and JD Flynn broke off from their jobs at a long-standing Catholic news agency, they promised readers of their new newsletter that they would deliver reporting without an agenda, or a foregone conclusion. “We aim to do serious, responsible, sober journalism about the Church, from the Church and for the Church. . . . We want The Pillar to be a different kind of journalism.”

Six months later the Pillar broke the kind of story mainstream news organizations would be unlikely to touch: They said they had obtained commercially available data that included location history from the hookup app Grindr, and used it to track a high-ranking priest from his offices and family lake house to gay nightclubs.

Now Condon and Flynn, two 38-year-old canon lawyers-turned-muckrakers, are at the center of both a global surveillance-ethics story as well as a mud fight among their fellow Catholics over whether…

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When a religious publication used smartphone app data to deduce the sexual orientation of a high-ranking Roman Catholic official, it exposed a problem that goes far beyond a debate over church doctrine and priestly celibacy.

With few U.S. restrictions on what companies can do with the vast amount of data they collect from web page visits, apps and location tracking built into phones, there’s not much to stop similar spying on politicians, celebrities and just about anyone that’s a target of another person’s curiosity — or malice.

Citing allegations of “possible improper behavior,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Tuesday announced the resignation of its top administrative official, Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill, ahead of a report by the Catholic news outlet The Pillar that probed his private romantic life.

The Pillar said it obtained “commercially available” location data from a vendor it didn’t name that it “correlated” to Burrill’s phone…

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On July 20, a Catholic online news commentary site, The Pillar, published a report alleging that Msgr. Jeffrey Burrill of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops “engaged in serial sexual misconduct, while he held a critical oversight role in the Catholic Church’s response to the recent spate of sexual abuse and misconduct scandals.” The Pillar used “commercially available records of app signal data” to track a mobile device correlated to Monsignor Burrill that “suggest he was at the same time engaged in serial and illicit sexual activity.”

Operated by two former editors at E.W.T.N.’s Catholic News Agency, J. D. Flynn and Ed Condon, The Pillar offers news and analysis about the Catholic Church, mostly in the United States. Just before the publication of the story on July 20, the U.S.C.C.B. announced that Monsignor Burrill had resigned in light of “impending media reports alleging possible improper behavior.”

Rare is the story…

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A former altar boy is making shocking claims of sexual and verbal abuse allegedly perpetrated decades ago by a priest at a Roman Catholic church in West Brighton.

The Rev. Thomas Curley is named as the offender in a lawsuit filed under the state’s Child Victims Act recently in Manhattan state Supreme Court.

The Archdiocese of New York and Sacred Heart R.C. Church are listed as defendants.

The suit was filed by the Herman Law Firm on behalf of an anonymous alleged victim, referred to in the litigation as S.T.

S.T. was raised in a “devout Catholic family that worshiped at Sacred Heart,” according to the filing.

The abuse started around 1978 when the plaintiff was about 11 years old and a participant in a class for altar boys taught by Father Curley, who was a parochial vicar at Sacred…

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Media coverage of the Catholic Church can sometimes feel like a bad weather system that settles over my soul.

Those hopeful days in March of 2013, when Pope Francis’ election signaled a season of opportunity and renewal for Catholicism — a “springtime” for the church — can feel as distant a memory as our lives before the pandemic upended any notion of normal.

So many Catholics today are exhausted.

In the past few years, we have watched a beloved cardinal, the former archbishop of Washington, fall from grace, exposed as a sexual predator who used his influence to abuse children and seminarians. A Pennsylvania grand jury report, released in 2018, again chronicled the chilling, institutional scale of the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

Only a few days after that report landed, a former papal nuncio to the United States launched a conspiratorial campaign to bring Francis down with a series of…

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Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon Most Rev. Bishop Mark A. Hagemoen says the historical case review process done by the Historical Case Review and Policy and Operations Review are necessary steps in order to learn from the past mistakes in handling allegations of misconduct and sexual abuse cases.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon Most Rev. Bishop Mark A. Hagemoen says the historical case review process done by the Historical Case Review and Policy and Operations Review are necessary steps in order to learn from the past mistakes in handling allegations of misconduct and sexual abuse cases.

The issue of Catholic-run residential schools, where thousands of Indigenous children were forced to attend, was not included in the historical review since the Diocese did not operate any of the said facilities in Saskatoon and within its boundaries.

“The key goal of our plan was that our Diocese and our churches be places…

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ROCKY MOUNT, Va. (WSET) — It has now been a year since Father Mark White led his parishioners during Catholic Mass.

Bishop Barry Knestout removed Father White from overseeing parishes in Martinsville and Rocky Mount in 2020.

“A lot of us Catholics have lost respect for the upper level of leadership but I don’t think that makes us bad Catholics,” said Father White.

White’s battle with Bishop Knestout started with a blog.

He used it to shine a light on sex allegations against the Cardinal who ordained him.

Knestout ordered White to take down the blog.

“His position is that I have failed in respect towards the hierarchy of the church in what I had to say about the way the sex abuse has been handled,” said Father White.

When that didn’t happen, he was suspended from his priestly duties.

“We love the church and we’re seeing there are things that…

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WINDSOR TERRACE — The former executive director of The Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) in the Diocese of Brooklyn is accused in two civil lawsuits of sexually abusing underage boys when he was a CYO basketball coach at St. Joseph’s Church in Astoria in the 1990s.

The lawsuits, filed in New York State Supreme Court in Queens in May, were made public on July 14.

In response to the lawsuits, The Diocese of Brooklyn released a statement saying the diocese’s Independent Reporting Line received an allegation of inappropriate behavior by Robert Caldera on Oct. 14, 2020, and quickly acted on it.

“This was the first allegation ever made against Caldera to the diocese. As is the policy of the Diocese of Brooklyn for all employees, Caldera had undergone comprehensive and periodic background checks. Immediately, on October 15, 2020, Caldera was placed on suspension from his position and restricted from all areas at CYO and…

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Archbishop Listecki has voiced doubt that the attorney general has the legal authority for the inquiry and said the archdiocese has “legitimate concerns that his inquiry is directly targeting only the Catholic Church.”

MILWAUKEE, Wisc. —The Milwaukee archdiocese said that to its knowledge the Wisconsin attorney general’s inquiry into sexual abuse, which some critics say is singling out the Catholic Church, has so far not resulted in any allegations against current archdiocesan priests.

“We continue to cooperate with any new allegations against a living priest, and have not received any word from the attorney general that any have been received,” Sandra Peterson, communication director with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, told CNA July 22.

The Milwaukee archdiocese has previously said that judges, civil authorities, and an outside firm have already reviewed their documents multiple times and a bankruptcy judge has declared no concern for public safety after reviewing abuse claims. Some…

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In response to the article “Pa. lawmakers threaten university funding over statute of limitations deadlock” (June 18, TribLIVE): First, my heart truly breaks for the suffering the victims of abuse have endured, and I truly hope they find closure. But the issue of the statute of limitations is more complicated than being reported.

I believe the Catholic Church is being targeted because the victims believe there is a big payday waiting for them courtesy of the Vatican. Most of these old cases already have been settled civilly. Many victims are working with trial lawyers who also stand to gain financially.

But what about those who were abused by someone or some entity that didn’t have money to pay out? Are they another class of victims, since they will never see a payday? Additionally, we hear almost nothing about the child abuse that takes place in our school districts,…

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A priest active in Auburn in the 1960s has been accused of sexually abusing children in a new lawsuit.

The Rev. John Merklinger, who was the priest at St. Alphonsus Church on East Genesee Street from July 1962 until his retirement in June 1969, is accused of sexually abusing the plaintiff in the lawsuit when he was 8 years old. The plaintiff filed the complaint anonymously, through the New York Child Victims Act, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in April.

The complaint goes on to accuse Merklinger of abusing “numerous children” during his tenure as a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester.

According to the complaint, Merklinger began abusing the plaintiff in 1967, when he was a student at St. Alphonsus. The abuse continued for about two years. The plaintiff was a “heavier child who had speech issues,” the complaint says,…

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The Vatican has concluded that sexual abuse accusations against a Polish Catholic bishop are “not proven.”

In a July 23 statement, the apostolic nunciature in the Polish capital, Warsaw, disclosed that Bishop Jan Szkodoń was the subject of an administrative penal process after he was accused of sexual abuse of a minor.

“After a thorough analysis of the evidence collected and after hearing the witnesses called, the guilt of Bishop Jan Szkodon was not proven (non constat),” the statement said.

“However, in the course of the proceedings, it was found that Bishop Jan Szkodoń acted imprudently towards the minor, by receiving her in his private apartment without the presence of her parents, who have known the bishop for years.”

Szkodoń, 74, an auxiliary bishop of Kraków archdiocese, was ordered to undertake a three-month closed retreat, “dedicated to reflection and prayer.”

The apostolic nunciature said that Szkodoń had already fulfilled this requirement…

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[Photo above: In this Dec. 8, 2011 file photo, Bishop Peter Libasci, center, arrives at the Cathedral of St. Joseph for his Installation service as the Tenth Bishop of the Diocese of Manchester, in Manchester, N.H. A lawsuit is accusing Libasci of sexually abusing a teenager when he was a priest in New York. JIM COLE/ASSOCIATED PRESS]

The bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of Manchester, N.H., has been accused of sexually abusing an altar boy in the 1980s while working as a parish priest on Long Island, N.Y., according to a lawsuit filed by the alleged victim.

The man alleges in the lawsuit that Bishop Peter Anthony Libasci used his position as a trusted priest and pastor at Saints Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic Church and school in Deer Park, N.Y., to “manipulate, sexually abuse and sexually harass” him when he was a child in 1983 and 1984. The…

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MANCHESTER — Roman Catholic Bishop Peter Libasci is named as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by a New York man who claims Libasci sexually abused him as a child.

The lawsuit, filed in the Suffolk County Supreme Court in New York last week, accused Libasci of abusing the man when the man was a 13-year-old altar boy at Saints Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic Church and Libasci was the pastor. According to the lawsuit, Libasci repeatedly groped the boy over a period of time starting in 1983 and ending sometime in 1984.

The church, as well as the parish school located in Deer Park, New York, and the order of nuns who ran the school, the Sisters of Saint Joseph based in Brentwood, New York, are all named as defendants in the lawsuit. The school is now known as Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic School following…

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Bishop Peter A. Libasci — the New York native who brought calm to the scandal-plagued Catholic diocese of New Hampshire 10 years ago — has been accused of groping an altar boy in Long Island, N.Y., as a young priest.

According to a lawsuit filed last week in Suffolk County, N.Y., Libasci fondled and groped a boy aged 12 or 13 “on numerous occasions” in 1983 and 1984. At the time, Libasci was in his early 30s and had been a priest for about five years.

The lawsuit also hints that Long Island church leaders knew of previous problems with Libasci but believed they had been “fixed and cured.”

Libasci, 69, has been the Bishop of Manchester since 2011. He replaced Bishop John McCormack, who became embroiled in the priest sexual abuse scandal in Boston and committed to reforms to avoid prosecution of the church by New Hampshire authorities.

The…

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[VIDEO]

Mitchell Garabedian says culture of abuse must be stopped

A Boston attorney who has represented clergy sex abuse victims for decades said Thursday the culture of sexual abuse in the clergy has to be stopped.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian’s comments came after Bishop Peter Anthony Libasci, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in New Hampshire, was accused of assaulting a boy in the 1980s. Garabedian is not representing that alleged victim.

Garabedian has represented thousands of sexual abuse victims. He said he’s not surprised by the allegations and is commending anyone who comes forward, regardless of how long ago the alleged abuse took place.

He said it takes a lot of courage for victims to come forward, and they’re to be admired because they’re not only helping themselves, but also helping others.

While the allegations in this case stem from the 1980s, Garabedian said it’s not uncommon…

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[VIDEO]

Status of bishop remains unchanged, diocese officials say

The bishop of the Diocese of Manchester has been named in a civil lawsuit that alleges sexual abuse of a minor in the 1980s in Deer Park, New York.

Bishop Peter Anthony Libasci, the 10th bishop of the Diocese of Manchester, is accused of sexually abusing the alleged victim when the child was around 12 or 13 years old on “numerous occasions” in 1983 and 1984. Libasci allegedly fondled and groped the child’s genitals.

The diocese issued a statement about the lawsuit, telling News 9 that, following standard protocol, the matter has been reported to civil authorities.

During the timeframe of the allegations, Libasci was a priest and pastor at St. Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic Church in Deer Park. The lawsuit accuses Libasci of abusing the boy on one occasion while the boy was preparing the altar for Mass.

The…

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A lawsuit filed earlier this month accuses the head of the Roman Catholic Church in New Hampshire of committing sexual abuse decades ago while he served as a priest in New York.

In a lawsuit filed July 14 in state Supreme Court in Suffolk County, Bishop Peter Libasci of the Diocese of Manchester is accused of abusing a male youth on numerous occasions in 1983 and 1984. The abuse resulted in “physical, psychological and emotional injuries,” the suit says.

The Diocese said in a statement that it was aware of the lawsuit and that the matter had been reported to civil authorities. The status of Libasci remains unchanged, it said.

“Because this is an ongoing matter and out of respect for the individuals involved, the Diocese will not be providing additional information at this time but will provide updates when we are able to do so,” the statement said.

The…

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One of the most egregious barriers to justice for child sex abuse victims is short statutes of limitations.

Last week’s report by the inspector general’s office confirms beyond a doubt that the FBI’s investigation of Dr. Larry Nassar fits squarely into the ever-growing paradigm of failures to prevent child sex abuse.

These survivors, like those abused in the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts, have been traumatized and re-traumatized by three specific plagues our society inflicts on our children – and President Joe Biden and Congress must finally act to right these unconscionable wrongs:

►Systemic failures leave children defenseless. The report confirms that the FBI sits squarely among the long list of institutions that failed to protect these young athletes. From the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and USA Gymnastics, to coaches, gyms and even families, these disciplined, ambitious kids didn’t stand a chance against the likes of Nassar.

At CHILD USA,…

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A brave witness at the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry Pacific Investigation has shared her experience of coming forward to the Catholic Church and police about the abuse her relative suffered by a Catholic priest.

The witness known as Ms CU spoke on behalf of her niece, who was 15-years-old at the time of the abuse.

She explained the Tongan society is very hierarchical, saying that ministers, priests and nuns elevate in both status and authority because of the godly factor.

“They are a representation of God on Earth,” Ms CU said.

It was at Ms CU’s family reunion that took place in New Zealand where the priest met her niece, who had travelled from Tonga for it.

The reunion started with a mass, which was led by Father Sosefo Sateki Raass, and he attended all the programmes that took place.

This was where he had met Ms…

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A First Nations-run education authority in Northern Ontario is facing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit for allegedly failing to protect students who lived at one of its boarding facilities from sexual abuse.

Six men from northwestern Ontario are suing Northern Nishnawbe Education Council (NNEC) for $2-million each for aggravated and punitive damages, including past and future loss of income, as a result of alleged sexual crimes committed against them as young boys in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when they left their homes to attend high school in Sioux Lookout. The plaintiffs are also seeking the costs of culturally appropriate mental-health treatment.

Jack Wicksey was charged with sexual abuse and exploitation in 2018 over alleged offences when he was a student services worker for NNEC, a position that gave him direct access to and authority over students.

According to the claim, Mr. Wicksey had been charged around 1994 with sexual crimes…

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Recent announcements by Canadian First Nation Tribes — Tk’emlups te Secwepemc, Cowessess First Nation, Lower Kootenay Band and the Penelakut Tribe — of unmarked graves on the grounds of former Indian boarding schools where Indigenous children were mistreated understandably grabbed headlines and shocked many.   

Sadly, most Americans are unaware that similar abuses took place across 30 states from 1869 through 1978. Hundreds of thousands of Native American children were removed from their tribal communities and forced to attend government and church-run boarding schools for the purpose of cultural assimilation into U.S. society.  

For over 100 years, these 350-plus institutions tried to replace Native American values, languages and ways of life with Christianity, Western traditions and the English language. At its peak, an estimated 83 percent of American Indian children were attending these boarding schools where…

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Texas minister Brian Keith Pounds allegedly gave a 15-year-old girl meth and sexually assaulted her, according to authorities.

The Vernon Police Department first responded to reports of an underage girl, identified as Jane Doe, with Pounds, 45, at a motel on July 1, police said in a Facebook post Monday explaining the department’s investigation.

Pounds told a Vernon police officer he was a minister at the First Assembly of God Church and was getting a room at the motel for a person in need, according to an affidavit reviewed by Fox News.

Jane Doe’s mother found Jane Doe at a Walmart that same day, north of the motel, and brought her to police, authorities said. Jane Doe then told police she had been having sexual intercourse with Pounds, whom she said had been counseling her and her…

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‘Every time there is a single incident of abuse in the Catholic Church it is a scandal. And I’m glad it is a scandal’ – Cardinal Vincent Nichols’ response to questions on the Catholic Church’s continued association with rape and abuse of children was, in many ways, an understatement. The Catholic Church’s history of paedophilia-related scandals is seemingly common knowledge, and in conversations with friends and family, this topic usually elicits casual jokes. All too often, however, its significance is downplayed by references to the Catholic Church’s involvement in charity. It comes as no surprise, then, that a recent independent report into abuse within the Catholic Church has found Cardinal Nichols to have shown ‘no acknowledgement of any personal responsibility to lead or influence change’, nor any ’compassion towards victims in the recent cases’ examined.

Against this background, the latest changes in canon law on sexual abuse, enacted by Pope Francis,…

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WASHINGTON — Although many Catholics’ memories of the clergy sex abuse scandals that rocked the U.S. church in 2018 have dimmed, a majority of those who recalled the scandals said in a survey they felt more positive about the church’s progress in confronting the issue.

Overall, 76% of respondents in the survey, conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, said sexual abuse of minors by clergy has hurt the church’s reputation “at least somewhat.”

The report, commissioned by America Media, the Jesuit ministry, was released July 19.

Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they pay either “quite a bit” or “a great deal” of attention to clergy sex abuse reports in the media. Another 27% said they’ve paid “some” attention to them.

Only 47% said they can recall hearing about the 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report chronicling abuse allegations against more than 300 priests and other church workers over…

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Court rules window for Rice to file suit has long since passed

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled an Altoona woman cannot sue the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown for sexual abuse she allegedly suffered from a priest beginning in 1974 when she was 8 or 9 years old.

The court said the window to file the suit had long since passed.

Renee Rice contended the allegedabuse by the Rev. Charles F. Bodziak of St. Leo’s Church continued until 1981, but she did not file a lawsuit against the diocese and two of its bishops, James Hogan and Joseph Adamec, both deceased, until after she had read a 2016 Pennsylvania grand jury report. That state investigation alleged hundreds of children had been abused over many decades by diocesan clergy and that the diocese had remained silent despite knowing of the incidents.

Bodziak has denied the abuse occurred.

The lawsuit,…

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Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announced in April a statewide initiative to review reports of clergy and faith leader sexual abuse in Wisconsin. The initiative has begun with a review of the five Catholic dioceses in the state along with a review of some of the Catholic religious orders operating in those dioceses. 

Finally, I thought, we had an independent review that could vindicate the claims of clergy sexual abuse victims/survivors, while also giving the church an opportunity to clear its name and repair its reputation.

Yet in June, Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki cried foul, claiming the attorney general is exceeding his “legal authority to conduct such an investigation” and that the investigation “is directly targeting only the Catholic Church.” 

This unfortunate position of the archbishop notwithstanding, the attorney general must go forward with the review because without the whole…

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Jane Turner, a 25-year FBI veteran who blew the whistle on malfeasance within her agency, says the botched Larry Nassar abuse case is part of a pattern

Last week, the Justice Department’s Inspector General released a scathing report detailing just how badly the FBI botched the major child abuse case involving Larry Nassar, former doctor for the USA Gymnastics national team and Michigan State University accused of abusing dozens of young patients in his care across several states.

The report says the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office did not respond to the claims against Nassar “with the utmost seriousness and urgency that the allegations deserved and required, made numerous and fundamental errors when they did respond to them, and failed to notify state or local authorities of the allegations or take other steps to mitigate the ongoing threat posed by Nassar.”

Among other failings, the report states that the office did not document…

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Is Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill a victim of both the surveillance and morality police? Or a hypocrite who had it coming? The case of the high-ranking Catholic cleric who resigned after allegedly being tracked on the gay dating app Grindr quickly became a Rorschach test Wednesday for Catholics already mired in tension over politics, theology and culture.

Monsignor Jeffrey D. Burrill, a priest of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wis., resigned Tuesday as the general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops amid “impending media reports alleging possible improper behavior.” (Bob Roller/Catholic News Service)

Burrill until Tuesday was the top administrator for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He stepped down after a Catholic newsletter presented conference officials with allegations that cellphone data indicated he had repeatedly used Grindr and visited gay bars.

Catholics reacted with immediate intensity to the Pillar’s report. On Wednesday, some said they…

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The top administrator of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops resigned after a Catholic media site told the conference it had access to cellphone data that appeared to show he was a regular user of Grindr, the queer dating app, and frequented gay bars.

Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill, seen in 2018, resigned July 20 as the general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops amid “impending media reports alleging possible improper behavior.” (Bob Roller/Catholic News Service)

Some privacy experts said that they couldn’t recall other instances of phone data being de-anonymized and reported publicly, but that it’s not illegal and will likely happen more as people come to understand what data is available about others.

Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill has since last fall been the general secretary of the USCCB, a position that coordinates all administrative work and planning for the conference, which is the country’s network for Catholic bishops. As…

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WASHINGTON – On Monday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops became aware of impending media reports alleging possible improper behavior by its general secretary, Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill.

What was shared with us did not include allegations of misconduct with minors. However, in order to avoid becoming a distraction to the operations and ongoing work of the Conference, Monsignor Burrill has resigned, effective immediately.

The Conference takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and will pursue all appropriate steps to address them.

###
Media Contact:
Chieko Noguchi
202-541-3200

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Msgr. Jeffrey D. Burrill, the general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops since November, has resigned from the post after the USCCB “became aware of impending media reports alleging possible improper behavior by Msgr. Burrill,” said Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, USCCB president.

In a July 20 memo to bishops, Archbishop Gomez said he had accepted Msgr. Burrill’s resignation, effective immediately.

“What was shared with us did not include allegations of misconduct with minors. However, in order to avoid becoming a distraction to the operations and ongoing work of the conference, Monsignor has resigned,” the archbishop said.

“The conference takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and will pursue all appropriate steps to address them,” he said.

In a lengthy story posted midday, The Pillar, an online outlet that covers the Catholic Church and provides news and analysis, said Archbishop Gomez’s memo came after it had contacted…

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Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill, former general secretary of the U.S. bishops’ conference, announced his resignation Tuesday, after The Pillar found evidence the priest engaged in serial sexual misconduct, while he held a critical oversight role in the Catholic Church’s response to the recent spate of sexual abuse and misconduct scandals.

“It is with sadness that I inform you that Msgr. Jeffrey Burrill has resigned as General Secretary of the Conference,” Archbishop Jose Gomez wrote July 20 in a memo to U.S. bishops.

“On Monday, we became aware of impending media reports alleging possible improper behavior by Msgr. Burrill. What was shared with us did not include allegations of misconduct with minors. However, in order to avoid becoming a distraction to the operations and ongoing work of the Conference, Monsignor has resigned effective immediately,” Gomez added.

The memo came after the USCCB and Burrill were contacted by The Pillar regarding evidence of a pattern of sexual…

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Patrick Francis Quinn died in 1995. The allegation of abuse was made after his death.

Among the latest names added to the Catholic Diocese of Richmond’s list of clergy with credible sex abuse allegations is a priest whose parish assignments included an Eastern Shore of Virginia church.

The diocese has published the list on its website since February 2019, and there have since been 23 priests named who “have a credible and substantiated allegation of sexual abuse involving a minor.”

Friday’s update to the list included three deceased priests and one who has not served in active ministry since 2006. Patrick Franics Quinn, who was at one point assigned to a Northampton County church, was one of those named.

Quinn was born in 1900, ordained in 1964 and died in 1995, according to the diocese. He was assigned to the following churches throughout…

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Nearly 60 lawsuits have been filed relating to abuse alleged to have occurred at the Mount Saint John Academy in Deep River.

DEEP RIVER, CT — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich announced last week that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Nearly 60 lawsuits have been filed against the diocese relating to abuse claimed to have occurred between 1986 and 2000 at the Mount Saint John School, a former ministry of the diocese and residential school in Deep River.

Bishop Michael R. Cote wrote in a news release on the diocese website that, “The decision to file for bankruptcy relief was difficult and only taken after two years of careful deliberation ….”

The release added, “Our advisors tell me that more than 30 diocesan, archdiocesan, and religious institutions, both large and small have had to take this action in order to fairly compensate victims of abuse ….”

The lawsuits…

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During the Covid summer of 2020 I found respite in Explore Buffalo tours to see the many architectural wonders of our region. But who would think that this would lead me to a greater exploration of my Catholic faith?

On every tour there would be beautiful church buildings and stories about the people of faith who built them with scarce resources and donations of time and talent.

But more than that, I viewed many buildings built by Catholic forebears that established critical foundations of our community. These included schools, hospitals, homes for children and aged, and services to the infirm. It got me thinking about being Catholic and the power of communities of faith.

Like many Catholics, I have a strong grounding in my faith and the teachings of Jesus but had become angered by the child sex abuse, the past behavior of church leaders, and the overall lack of…

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It’s hard to express the feelings I had when I heard about the remains of 215 children that were found at the former Indian Residential School in Kamloops. As a mom, my heart sank as I reflected about those children and their parents and grandparents and communities who grieved their loss. As a therapist, I knew this would expose and deepen the pain for those who already carried the wound. When I visited a memorial of children’s shoes and toys on the steps of the provincial courthouse in Chilliwack, I prayed and felt helpless. As a Catholic I felt guilty by association.

I was aware of the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and how few of the Calls to Action had been completed. I worried how the Canadian bishops would respond to this development. I feared there would be tone-deaf statements or deflection of responsibility. I was pained…

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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Catholic Diocese of Richmond has added four more names to a list of clergy members with “credible and substantiated” allegations of sexual abuse against a minor.

The dioceses announced the additions last week, noting that allegations date back decades. Three of the accused priests are dead and the allegations were made after their deaths. They are are Robert D. Beattie, Leo Creamer, Patrick F. Quinn. The fourth, Joseph Slowik. has not served in active priestly ministry since 2006.

The allegations were reviewed by the Office of Safe Environment and the Diocesan Review Board and civil authorities were notified of the allegations, the diocese said in a release.

Beattie served in Norfolk at St. Joseph and in Richmond at Cathedral of The Sacred Heart and St. Augustine. He died in 1971.

Quinn, who died in 1995, served at Christ the King and Holy Trinity Catholic Church…

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OAKLAND COUNTY, MI – A former Catholic priest will go to trial for sexual abuse against a minor, officials announced today.

An Oakland County judge ruled today, July 21, that there is enough evidence against Gary Berthiaume, 80, to bound him over to circuit court for trial on two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC), a 15-year felony.

The alleged assaults were committed against a 14-year-old boy in 1977 at the rectory of Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington Hills where Berthiaume was a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

“Seeing Mr. Berthiaume bound over for trial is yet another example of my clergy abuse investigation team’s dedication to securing justice for survivors,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. “We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure those who bravely come forward with their stories receive their day in court.”

Last month, Berthiaume…

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Shaun Dougherty’s quest to support victims of child sexual abuse has reached a new level with his appointment as board president for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

The Westmont man is the face of the push for justice on behalf of adult victims in Pennsylvania, and now takes his knowledge, energy and passion to the national and international levels with his SNAP appointment, where his fierce lobbying efforts can have an even greater impact.

We’ve stood with Dougherty on this issue since he stepped into the spotlight following the release of the 2016 grand-jury report on abuse and cover-up within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, and marvel at his relentless efforts – despite often swimming against the tide of politics and public sentiment.

In an interview with reporter Dave Sutor, Dougherty called the SNAP role “an enormous undertaking, an enormous responsibility.”

We are certain he’ll be…

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A state Supreme Court ruling that favors Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown is blow to clergy abuse victims. Ruling benefits Diocese of Erie, others facing prospect of costly lawsuits.

Story Highlights

• Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit against Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown
• Plaintiff had sought to sue over clergy sex abuse despite expiration of statute of limitations
• As many as 30 plaintiffs had sued Catholic Diocese of Erie, hoping that Supreme Court ruling would have allowed their cases to proceed. Those cases are now likely over

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has thrown out a lawsuit that sought to create a way for child sexual assault claimants to sue in old cases, further hindering victims’ search for justice while sparing Roman Catholic dioceses statewide millions of dollars in potential claims involving abusive clergy.

In northwestern Pennsylvania, the ruling in the case, issued Wednesday, severely erodes the legal efforts of as many as 30 sexual abuse claimants who were seeking…

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Pennsylvania’s high court on Wednesday dealt a blow to victims of child sexual abuse, throwing out a lawsuit by a woman whose lower court legal victory had given hope to others with similarly outdated claims who’d sued in the wake of a landmark report that documented decades of child molestation within the Catholic church in Pennsylvania.

The 5-2 decision ended plaintiff Renee Rice’s legal effort to recover damages from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown for allegedly covering up and facilitating sexual abuse she said had been inflicted on her by a priest in the late 1970s.

Rice sued in 2016, but the court majority said that was too late under the Pennsylvania statute of limitations.

A Superior Court panel in 2019 had ruled there were enough facts to let a jury decide if Rice had been prevented from learning about the alleged cover-up of her abuse.

…

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Victims of childhood sexual abuse suffered a setback Wednesday when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s decision that could have allowed dozens of lawsuits over decades-old sexual abuse claims to move forward against the Catholic Church, including the Allentown Diocese.

In a 5-2 decision Wednesday, the court ruled that the state’s 12-year statute of limitations for people abused as children to file civil lawsuits bars a western Pennsylvania woman from suing the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown over abuse by a priest she claims she suffered between 1974 and 1981. Renee Rice claimed in her suit that church officials’ silence amounted to fraudulent concealment.

An appeals court decision that Rice should be allowed to persuade a jury the cover-up prevented her from pursuing her claims revived her case after a county judge dismissed it and buoyed hope for justice for others with similar experiences.

In an opinion overturning that decision,…

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NEW YORK (AP) — Citing allegations of “possible improper behavior,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Tuesday announced the resignation of its top administrative official, Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill, ahead of a media report that probed his private romantic life.

Shortly after the announcement, the Roman Catholic news outlet The Pillar published its article based on data it said was “correlated to Burrill’s mobile device” and indicated he had visited gay bars and private residences using a dating app popular with gay people.

The Pillar alleged “serial sexual misconduct” by Burrill — homosexual activity is considered sinful under Catholic doctrine, and priests are expected to remain celibate.

Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, president of the USCCB, said in a statement that conference officials learned of the allegations of possible improper behavior on Monday.

“What was shared with us did not include allegations of misconduct with minors,” Gomez said. “However, in…

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A longtime economics and political science professor at Christendom College in Virginia has been charged with solicitation of a minor younger than 16 years old and two counts of taking indecent liberties with a child.

William R. Luckey, 72, who taught for about 30 years at the Catholic institution, which touts being one of only 15 colleges recommended by the conservative Cardinal Newman Society, was arrested on June 25 and released on a secured $50,000 bond on July 12.

According to court documents, the criminal complaint alleges that in June, Luckey offered a 10-year-old child $10 in exchange for touching her buttocks. When the child declined, Luckey allegedly made the child lie down on the bed and touched the child’s buttocks underneath their clothes anyway. He then left the money on the bed.

Since his retirement from Christendom in 2015, Luckey has taught…

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A new lawsuit against Liberty University claims the Lynchburg, Virginia-based evangelical Christian school has “intentionally created a campus environment” that makes sexual assaults and rapes more likely to occur.

The complaint points a finger at the “weaponization” of Liberty’s student honor code, known as the Liberty Way, which it claims makes it “difficult or impossible” for students to report sexual violence. It also claims such violence, particularly by male student athletes, was excused while the women who reported it faced retaliation.

In a written statement, Liberty University said it was looking into the allegations, which it called “deeply troubling, if they turn out to be true.”

“Many of the claims are the complete opposite of how the University’s policies and procedures were designed to operate over the years,” according to the statement provided to Religion News Service.

The suit, brought by 12 women who chose to remain anonymous, was filed…

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‘On Monday, we became aware of impending media reports alleging possible improper behavior by Msgr. Burrill,’ read the statement, signed by the president of the bishops’ conference.

Citing “improper behavior,” the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced the resignation of its general secretary, Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill, in a statement released on Tuesday (July 20).

“On Monday, we became aware of impending media reports alleging possible improper behavior by Msgr. Burrill,” read the statement, signed by the president of the bishops’ conference, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles.

The USCCB’s statement said the information the conference received “did not include allegations of misconduct with minors.”

According to the statement, Burrill resigned from his post “effective immediately” to not disrupt the ongoing work of the USCCB. The bishops’ conference said it would “pursue appropriate steps” to address the allegations of misconduct.

The USCCB is currently studying the creation of a…

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The hook on which this story hangs is a long-discredited link between sexual abuse and homosexuality.

Even during a period when the bombs dropping on American Catholics fall with escalating and increasingly destructive frequency, the publication of an “investigation” of Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill, the now-former general secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, blasts a crater worth crawling down into for a forensic examination.

There are reasons to think it heralds a new and even uglier era in American Catholicism.

As Catholics were still reeling from Pope Francis’ abrogation Friday (July 16) of his predecessor’s guidance on the traditional Latin Mass, “Summorum Pontificum” (indeed, while this author was struggling to finish an article about that event), The Pillar, a Catholic publication, released what it called “an investigation” in which data identifying Burrill’s phone seemed to indicate he had frequently used Grindr, a popular dating app in the gay community,…

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Nearly three months into a statewide investigation of clergy abuse, Attorney General Josh Kaul says the effort has received more than 100 reports but declined to say how many of them have generated referrals to law enforcement or for victim services.

Kaul, who faces election next year, also would not go into specifics about whether Wisconsin’s four Catholic dioceses and one archdiocese are cooperating with the investigation, but called their participation so far “uneven.”

He spoke during a press conference Monday at the Dane County Courthouse in Madison, the first of six such events the first-term Democratic plans to conduct around the state to talk about the probe, which he promoted as a “safe and trusted place for survivors to report.”

While the investigation is not specific to any one religious faith, the Catholic Church has been embroiled in investigations of clergy abuse of children by priests for more than…

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The past moral bankruptcy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich has led inevitably to its financial bankruptcy.

Last week the diocese serving the Connecticut counties of New London, Middlesex, Windham and Tolland, as well as Fishers Island, N.Y., filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Code.

Along with Catholic dioceses across the nation and the world, the Norwich Diocese shares a shameful legacy of placing the protection of the church’s reputation above protecting children, above acting lawfully, and above the Great Commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

When scores of priests were found to have molested children — predominately but not exclusively boys — no love was shown to the victims. Instead, the truth was buried and pedophile priests were quietly transferred to other parishes, the families there unaware of the past misconduct. Often the result was new victims. It was evil.

Instead…

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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Twelve women filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Liberty University, accusing the Christian institution of a pattern of mishandling cases of sexual assault and harassment, and fostering an unsafe campus environment.

The federal lawsuit filed in New York made various claims under Title IX, the federal law that protects against sex discrimination in education.

The lawsuit alleged that Liberty’s strict honor code makes it “difficult or impossible” for students to report sexual violence. It said the university had a “tacit policy” of weighting investigations in favor of accused male students, and it said the university retaliated against women who did make such reports.

“Liberty University has intentionally created a campus environment where sexual assaults and rapes are foreseeably more likely to occur than they would in the absence of Liberty’s policies,” the lawsuit said.

The Lynchburg, Virginia, university said in a statement that the allegations were “deeply…

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JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – About five years ago, only a handful of people close to Shaun Dougherty knew he had been sexually abused as a child.

It was a private matter.

Over time, though, the Westmont resident started to share his story – locally, statewide, nationally and ultimately internationally – leading to him becoming one of the most well-known victims advocates in the United States.

His public role recently grew even more when he was elected as the new board president for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, a worldwide nonprofit that provides support group meetings, legal advice and lobbying efforts for victims.

The official transition between former President Tim Lennon and Dougherty occurred last week.

Dougherty, who joined the SNAP board in 2019, said becoming president is “quite a big honor” and “a humbling experience.”

“Luckily, I’ve kind of been stair-stepping to it,” Dougherty said during…

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The Iowa native who’s been president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests — known as “SNAP” — is stepping down from the post. Tim Lennon has been SNAP’s president for the past three years and a part of the group’s board of directors for a decade.

“During that time I’ve seen a dramatic increase in acceptance, acknowledgement of how widespread sexual abuse is within society,” Lennon says. “We have found that even with sacred institutions, like the Catholic Church, that sexual abuse is going on by clergy and that the hierarchy was covering it up.”

Lennon was abused by a parish priest in Sioux City when he was 12 years old. Lennon says after he publicly disclosed the abuse five decades later, 15 of his classmates came forward with similar accounts, “so getting public awareness and knowledge is very, very important to reaching those who are suffering…

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CLEVELAND, Ohio (WJW) – Former Cleveland Catholic Diocese priest Robert McWilliams pleaded guilty Friday to child sex charges.

The 41-year-old pleaded guilty in federal court to the following: two counts of sex trafficking of a minor, three counts of sexual exploitation of a child, and one count each of transportation of child pornography, receipt and distribution of visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possession of child pornography.

He initially entered a not guilty plea, then filed an intent to enter a guilty plea earlier this month.

The Strongsville priest was indicted on 8 counts following his arrest in December of 2019.

The charges include:

• (Count 1) Sex trafficking of a minor
• (Count 2) Sex trafficking of a minor
• (Count 3) Sexual exploitation of children
• (Count 4) Sexual exploitation of children
• (Count 5) Sexual exploitation of children
• (Count 6) Transportation of child pornography
• (Count 7) Receipt and distribution of minors engaged in sexually…

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GALVESTON, Texas – A $10 million lawsuit has been filed against Holy See and the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and its Cardinal, Daniel N. DiNardo, on behalf of the parents of a child they say was sexually abused by Rev. Phi Thanh Nguyen in November 2018, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that Nguyen sexually abused the child when she was 10 years old while attending the Nazareth Academy in Victoria, Texas.

The lawsuit names Holy See because “Nguyen would not have been able to ingratiate himself at Nazareth Academy,” according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit also accuses the Vatican of having a history of burying the criminal behavior of Nguyen and others like him. Houston attorney Felecia Y. Peavy, who is representing the family, stated that the Vatican’s policies protected Nguyen and kept him employed.

“Not only has The Vatican repeatedly placed the reputation of the Church and protection of…

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SISSETON, S.D. (KELO) – It’s a sordid history that’s coming to light in the United States — government and Catholic-run boarding schools for Native American children. Many of those schools are linked to reports of indoctrination and abuse at the hands of those running the schools.

Decades after the Catholic-run Tekakwitha Boarding School and Orphanage closed, members of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate still feel the impact on the tribe.

“You don’t realize how embedded the fear and the pain and the trauma is with some of our tribal members,” Dionne Crawford, Lake Traverse Council Representative said. “And even being able to have a good relationship with the school, sometimes is hindered because school was used to oppress our people. School was used as a reason and excuse to take children from their families.”

Crawford says many people who grew up in the orphanage were taught their Native American culture was…

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SISSETON, S.D. (KELO) – As the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland launches the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative; and the remains of nine Native American children return home to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe from the Carlisle Boarding School — a dark piece of our country’s history comes to light, as reports of indoctrination and abuse at these schools have come to surface.

For more than half a century, the Tekakwitha boarding school and orphanage operated in Sisseton, South Dakota. Native American children attended the school from the 1940s to the 70s.

It wasn’t until about ten years ago that the buildings were demolished and the land was turned into a park.

“Here is where the papoose house was, which is where they kept the babies,” Allison Renville, SWO PIO said. “And connected to the papoose house was a tunnel system that led to this property here, which was…

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A CORONER who investigated the death of a priest who took his own life over unfounded allegations of child sex abuse raised by the diocese of London has warned the Archbishop of Canterbury that more clergy deaths will follow unless action is taken to improve C of E safeguarding procedures.

She also reports that she received submissions from the C of E urging her not to include “concerns that may be taken as a criticism of clerics or staff for not filtering or verifying allegations”, and writes of “the breadth of the systemic and individual failings that have come to light during the course of this inquest”.

The Revd Alan Griffin, of Wapping, London, who was a C of E priest before he converted to Rome in 2012, hanged himself in November 2020 while he was being investigated over false allegations of child abuse. The coroner, Mary Hassell, reports that the allegations were…

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RICHMOND, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) — Four names have been added to a list of members of the clergy against whom credible and substantiated claims of sexual abuse have been made.

The Catholic Dioceses of Richmond says three of the accused priests are deceased and the fourth is suspended.

According to a release, the allegations brought forward by the victim-survivors date back decades, when the victims were minors.

The allegations were reviewed by the diocesan Office of Safe Environment and the Diocesan Review Board.

The release says civil authorities have also been notified of the allegations.

The four priests are Robert D. Beattie (deceased), Leo Creamer (deceased), Patrick F. Quinn (deceased), and Joseph Slowik.

All four are priests in the Diocese of Richmond. Creamer was later incarnated in the Diocese of Arlington.

The release says Slowik has not served in active ministry since 2006.

For more information or to view the full…

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RICHMOND, Va. — The Catholic Diocese of Richmond said they have added the names of four more priests to the long list of those with a “credible and substantiated claim of sexual abuse against a minor.”

Three of those newly-named are deceased, and the priest that is still alive — Joseph Slowik — has not served in active ministry since 2006, the Diocese said.

The priests that have been added are:

• Robert D. Beattie, Priest of the Diocese of Richmond
• Leo Creamer, Priest Ordained in Diocese of Richmond later Incardinated in the Diocese of Arlington
• Patrick F. Quinn, Priest of the Diocese of Richmond
• Joseph Slowik, Priest of the Diocese of Richmond

You can read the full list of priests on the list here.

Authorities were notified, the Diocese said.

Individuals who have been sexually abused by a priest, deacon, religious, lay employee or volunteer of the diocese are encouraged to…

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“We stand with our allies at The Army of Survivors and join them in calling for an investigation by the Department of Justice into the mishandling of abuse allegations by former USA gymnastics physician Larry Nassar,” says Zach Hiner, Executive Director for SNAP. 

(Full Statement from The Army of Survivors below)

Content warning: Mention of abusers’ names and sexual violence.

Okemos, Michigan (July 14, 2021) — Following initial review of Wednesday’s report from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) on its investigation into the FBI’s handling of allegations of sexual abuse by former USA Gymnastics phycisian Larry Nassar, The Army of Survivors has issued the following statement:

The Army of Survivors shares our support, care and concern for the many survivors who were today once again reminded of the trauma they experienced by former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar. Our organization was founded by a…

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Three of the priests have died; the fourth is suspended

RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) – The Catholic Diocese of Richmond has named four additional clergy members accused of sexual abuse involving a minor. Three have ties to Hampton Roads.

Robert Dixon Beattie served at St. Joseph in Norfolk. He died in 1971, and the allegation of abuse was made after his death.

Patrick Francis Quinn served at Christ the King and Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Norfolk and Saint Charles in Cape Charles. Quinn died in 1995.

Joseph Slowik served at St. Mary Star of the Sea in Fort Monroe, Saint Paul in Portsmouth and Church of Saint Therese in Gloucester. Slowik has been suspended. The allegations of abuse made against Slowik came from his time at Saint Paul in the early 1990’s. He has not served in active priestly ministry since 2006.

The fourth newly named priest is…

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Anger describes how Richard Hardy felt when he heard the news of unmarked graves discovered at former residential school sites over the past two months.

“But it wasn’t a surprise. I think everyone has known for a few decades now. My mother went to residential school in Fort Providence in the 1920s. She talked about students dying,” Hardy said over the phone from his home in Nanoose Bay, B.C.

Born and raised in Tulita, Hardy, who is Metis, worked as a lawyer in the NWT from the 1980s until the 2000s. Now retired, he moved to B.C. in 2006 and is working on a book about his traumatic experiences.

He’s also a residential school survivor, having attended Grollier Hall in Inuvik from 1959 until 1963. The school was operated by the Catholic Church.

Though Hardy’s experiences at Grollier Hall were traumatic, they fit into a larger and ominous pattern…

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The Catholic Church still has a trust problem, as shown by the results of a comprehensive survey of U.S. Catholics commissioned by America Media and featured in this issue. (Look for more results in our September issue.) Seventy-six percent of respondents to the survey, conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate in May and June, said that the sexual abuse of minors by clergy has hurt the reputation of the church at least somewhat, and about one-third said they were “embarrassed” to tell others that they were Catholic because of the crisis.

The cloud lingers in part because of misconceptions. Only 33 percent of the respondents in our survey correctly said that instances of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests were more common before 1985 than after. This does not mean we should be talking less about the crisis—it is not surprising that only 21 percent…

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Nearly three years after a searing report issued by a Pennsylvania grand jury detailed the sexual abuse by clergy of thousands of children and the extensive cover-up by church leaders that followed, America asked the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University to survey Catholics nationwide about their understanding of the crisis, its emotional impact and how it has affected their faith.

CARA asked respondents other questions about their faith, including about the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Mass attendance. It also asked about financial contributions to the church, as well as the controversy over whether Catholic politicians who support legal abortion should be denied Communion. In September America will explore these and some of the other issues reviewed in the survey, including the blessing of same-sex relationships, women’s ordination and more.

Fifty-seven percent of the Catholics surveyed by CARA said they pay “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of…

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Last week, the UK government revealed controversial proposals for preventing any further criminal prosecutions and inquests, as well as civil cases and Police Ombudsman investigations, arising from the Troubles in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1998.

An announcement about this in Parliament by the Minister, Brandon Lewis, last Wednesday was accompanied by the publication of a 32-page command paper, citing the “difficulty of securing criminal justice outcomes” and costs to the public purse of legal aid.

The document points out that “over 3,500 people were killed during the Troubles, almost one third of whom were members of the security forces.”

Following the collapse in May of the trial of two former paratroopers for murder on ‘Bloody Sunday’ in January 1972, criminal cases against two other soldiers for killings that year were discontinued earlier this month.

According to Irish Foreign Minister Simon…

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The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services declined to investigate a child abuse complaint against an employee at the Chattanooga shelter housing unaccompanied minors in May, weeks before the state acknowledged alleged abuse at the facility and a month before Chattanooga police charged that employee with sexual battery.

The state, which has the “right, and more importantly the statutory responsibility, to ensure the safety of children,” also did not interview other children who could have been victims of abuse despite a request from the shelter director to do so before children were moved from the facility and placed across the country, according to court documents released Thursday.

The revelation of the state’s knowledge of possible abuse at the facility in May contradicts previous statements from the department, which said the first case of potential abuse was reported during an unannounced site inspection on June 3.

On July 1, the state  View Cache

Sex with a 12-year-old remains legal with ‘consent’ in a country where many pedophiles have gone unpunished

The greatest shame of the Philippines is the fact that it is legal under the 1930 Penal Code for a 50-year-old man to have sex with a pre-pubescent 12-year-old child and get away with it if the man can convince a court that the child “gave consent.”

Soon that will change and justice will be done for thousands of child victims. At present many children, under pressure from parents and abusers, are forced to stay silent when sexually abused or to say to government officials or in court that “He is my boyfriend,” or that “I loved him.” The judge, with grave misgivings, will have no option but to dismiss the charge of rape, the child apparently having given consent.

Some parents force their children to live with an older man who pays…

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Brian Dijkema is vice-president of external affairs at the think tank Cardus.

The horrific discoveries of unmarked graves at a number of former residential schools across Canada has caused legitimate pain and understandable anger. Any abuse of the children was wrong and awful. It was also deeply hypocritical for the Catholic denominations that largely operated the schools – contrary to the teachings of Christ, and opposed to the dignity of the children, their families and their tribes.

But in response, some have resurrected the idea of “taxing churches.” Put more accurately, some want to channel public disgust about the indignities suffered by Indigenous children at residential schools to revive their long-standing grievance with the property-tax exemptions for houses of worship, and with the federal government’s recognition of the “advancement of religion” as a legitimate charitable purpose.

But this push ignores the fact that religion remains overall a public good.

The…

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This post includes discussion of grooming in fiction as well as news reports of sexual abuse. It also contains spoilers for The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough and The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

Romances are often ambiguous and unfairly maligned. According to The Romance Writers of America, a happy ending defines the romance genre. More broadly, though, readers may consider any story a romance as long as it contains a romantic relationship — regardless of genre or ending. Many beloved romances are technically tragedies. Some even make an adult grooming a child for a future sexual relationship central to the “love story.” Although interpretations of books vary, I’ve always viewed The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough and The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger as depicting grooming.

When I first read The Thorn Birds, I thought Father Ralph de Bricassart was grooming Meggie Cleary, although…

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One of the more uncomfortable homilies I can remember included a paean to the “heroic silence” of St Maria Goretti in the face of prolonged sexual harassment by her eventual murderer, Alessandro Serenelli. Maria’s silence, for the homilist, evoked that of Christ during his trials and passion — a connection he meant to be inspiring. It made my skin crawl.

The Gorettis and the Serenellis were poor peasant families sharing a duplex in rural south-central Italy provided by a nobleman for whom both families worked as sharecroppers. Alessandro was a dissolute young man, and Maria was the nearest vulnerable target. For months he harassed her in private with lewd comments and eventually sexual advances, which she rejected but kept secret.

Maria — whose feast day the Church celebrated yesterday — was not quite twelve-years-old when Alessandro, then twenty, finally tried to rape her at knifepoint. Thwarted by her determined resistance,…

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ROME – Some 165 bishops from across Latin America are taking part this week in an on-line seminar on abuse prevention that includes top-level experts from both the region and Rome, based on the premise that although fighting abuse requires various forms of commitment and expertise, as far as the Catholic Church goes, the buck still stops on the bishop’s desk.

“Following the crisis that became public in the Church with regard to abuse, in recent years much emphasis has been placed on the role and responsibility of bishops, not only for the correct treatment of cases that come to their attention, but also with regard to the prevention of these situations,” said Argentine laywoman Maria Ines Franck, a bioethics and canon law expert who helped organize the seminar.

“Although this is an issue that requires the collaboration and work of specialists from various disciplines, the bishop is ultimately responsible…

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Tenía 85 años; se encontraba con prisión domiciliaria en un hogar de ancianos

MENDOZA.- A los 85 años murió Nicola Corradi, el cura condenado por los abusos sexuales de niños sordos en el Instituto Antonio Próvolo. El hombre, de edad avanzada y con varias enfermedades, se encontraba con prisión domiciliaria en un hogar de ancianos y su muerte fue confirmado en las últimas horas por el Ministerio Público Fiscal de la provincia.

Nicola Bruno Corradi Soliman, quien llegó al país desde Italia y luego a Mendoza, desde La Plata, fue el director del establecimiento durante décadas y en el primer juicio, realizado en noviembre de 2019, fue sentenciando a 42 años de cárcel por una veintena de casos de vejámenes y corrupción de menores en tierra cuyana, ocurridos entre 2007 y 2016. En ese proceso, el cura Horacio Corbacho, de 60, recibió la pena de 45 años de cárcel y el jardinero Armando Gómez,…

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Three adults, including a priest, sexually abused him over the course of six years when he lived at the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin at Mount Loretto three decades ago, a former resident alleges in an explosive lawsuit.

His assailants also threatened the plaintiff, who was in his early teens, with physical violence if he revealed what they did to him, alleges a civil complaint against the New York Archdiocese.

Despondent, the boy attempted suicide “numerous” times while at Mount Loretto, yet was never provided mental health care, the complaint alleges.

The suit was recently filed in state Supreme Court, St. George, under the Child Victims Act. The plaintiff seeks unspecified monetary damages.

Enacted in August 2019, the Child Victims Act created a one-year window for plaintiffs of any age to sue alleged abusers regardless of when the abuse occurred.

That window was extended to August…

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A bankruptcy filing by the Norwich Diocese to shield its finances as it faces lawsuits over scores of sexual abuse claims may deny full compensation to the victims, one of their lawyers said Friday.

New London attorney Kelly E. Reardon, who represents six men who accused the church of sexual abuse decades ago, said insurance coverage is “fairly limited” and may not result in full compensation.

However, oversight by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Hartford will require the diocese to fully lay out its finances, providing needed transparency as victims seek justice, she said. In its bankruptcy filing, the diocese claimed liabilities of as much as $100 million and assets of between $10 million and $50 million.

The diocese, facing nearly 60 lawsuits, filed for bankruptcy Thursday. More than two dozen dioceses in the U.S., all outside New England, have filed for bankruptcy, according to the Meneo…

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BANGALORE – Sister Lucy Kalapura of Wayanad district in India’s Kerala state is rarely nervous, but her pulse raced last week as she prepared to give a statement in court.

“I am a nun fighting for justice. Please do not throw me out on the streets,” she told the Kerala High Court last Wednesday (July 14), representing herself after several lawyers declined to take her case.

She was challenging her eviction from a convent, and seeking police protection from alleged harassment by the congregation.

Sister Lucy, 56, has been a nun since she was 17 years old.

She belongs to the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC), an order of the Roman Catholic Church, in Wayanad’s Mananthavady municipality.

In 2019, she was dismissed for wrongdoing that included learning to drive and getting a driving licence, writing a book of poems, giving TV interviews and publishing articles in non-Christian dailies.

“If the reasons…

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Munich (dpa) – During a visit to the Bavarian parish of Garching an der Alz on Saturday, Germany’s Cardinal Reinhard Marx apologized for cases of abuse there and admitted mistakes.

It is now known “that abuse also happened, that the priest who worked here was an abuser,” Marx, who is also archbishop of Munich and Freising, said after talks and a joint prayer session with parish representatives.

“This is a betrayal of the message of Jesus and it is a failure of the institution for which I apologize,” the Catholic prelate said.

A priest convicted of sexual abuse had worked in Garching for around 20 years, although he had previously abused children in another parish and had also been convicted of that.

According to the diocese, he relapsed after his transfer to Garching, which was before Marx was bishop in charge. Three victims had come forward accusing the man of having abused them.

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