ABUSE TRACKER

ENGLAND
Christian Today

March 2, 2020

Christian author and speaker Beth Moore has opened up about the emotional trauma she suffered after being sexually abused as a child.

The evangelist was asked about her experience and her subsequent journey to recovery on a recent episode of Ainsley’s Bible Study on Fox and Friends.

Moore has never named her abuser and, in the show, only described them as someone who should have been a protector in her life.

She spoke candidly about how she fell victim to childhood sexual abuse despite being part of a committed churchgoing family.

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VATICAN CITY
The Tablet/CNS

March 2, 2020

By Carol Glatz

Pope Francis has set up a task force of qualified experts and canon lawyers to help bishops’ conferences and congregations of men and women religious to draw up or revise guidelines for the protection of minors.

The Vatican will also be releasing, at an “imminent” but unspecified date, a handbook or vademecum prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to help bishops and religious superiors clearly understand their responsibilities and the procedures for handling allegations of abuse.

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JACKSONVILLE (FL)
News4Jax

March 2, 2020

Police say sexual abuse on a boy

Officers investigating a report of ongoing sexual abuse of a child went to arrest a 41-year-old man Thursday at his real estate office and he did not go quietly, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

Detectives with the Special Assault Unit had obtained an arrest warrant charging Michael Linkenauger with sexual battery, lewd or lascivious exhibition, and lewd or lascivious conduct involving a child. When they went to his office on Bartram Park Boulevard, he resisted arrest. He was treated at the scene by paramedics before being booked into the Duval County jail.

According to the arrest report, church members had alerted police that Linkenauger had forced sex on the boy numerous times between August 2017 and June 2019. Officers said Linkenauger befriended the boy and his mother at the church and that he had taken the boy out of town on golf trips and invited the victim to spend nights at his home.

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IRELAND
RTÉ

March 2, 2020

Twenty-one years ago, the RTÉ television documentary series States Of Fear, profoundly changed the conversation about residential institutions in Ireland and caused a national outcry.

Now, using the personal testimonies of survivors of residential abuse who sought redress, a new two-part RTÉ series examines the Irish State’s response to those survivors.

Here, reporter Mick Peelo introduces Redress: Breaking The Silence.

I thought I was sensitive to the sufferings of survivors of childhood abuse. I’ve made television documentaries on the subject for years, so when it came to survivors of abuse in residential institutions, I thought we had addressed the mistakes of the past, made amends and helped them find healing and closure as best they could. I thought redress was done and dusted. I was wrong.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WBEN

March 2, 2020

By Mike Baggerman

Bankruptcy will have notable impact on evidence about a case

Victims of clergy sex abuse are concerned that the bankruptcy filing by the Diocese of Buffalo will not give them the right level of justice, despite an expected financial settlement to be determined through the bankruptcy courts.

“It’s very frustrating (not being able) to delve into the files and the particulars of a case,” Gary Astridge said. “Bishop Scharfenberger had put on record that he was going to be transparent and make the files open to survivors. I called January 14 and 15 asking what the process was and just got a voicemail and not a return response. As a survivor, it was extremely insulting not getting any kind of word back.”

Astridge, a victim of sex abuse from the ages of 7 to 11 allegedly by Father Edward Townsend at Cardinal Dougherty High School, said he feels nothing has changed in the process despite new leadership in Buffalo and said Catholics should be screaming to the Vatican over this instance.

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ROME
Crux Now

March 2, 2020

By Elise Ann Allen

When news went public last week that Jean Vanier, the renowned Canadian theologian who transformed the way the world views the disabled, had sexually abused several women seeking his spiritual counsel, the revelations provoked not just shock, but also serious reflection.

Given that the news was so unexpected from a figure such as Vanier, many Catholic experts and admirers pondered deep questions, such as just how widespread this form of manipulative abuse of adults is within the Catholic Church; the speed at which such towering figures as Vanier are popularly declared as saints; as well as the complex intersection of sin and virtue, as Vanier is someone who clearly exhibited both deviance and inspiration.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
York Daily Record

March 2, 2020

By Sam Ruland

As the sun began to go down and the shadows of the church vanished from the sidewalk, Shannon Bailey hustled up the steps of St. Patrick’s Church of York, eager to get a good seat before a recent service started.

A lifelong Catholic, Bailey, 54, attends Mass weekly, praying for everyone she knows — her dozens of nieces and nephews, the neighbors in the house next door, her daughter’s volleyball team, the feral cats that infiltrate her backyard.

She hasn’t let her faith be dissuaded by the sex-abuse crisis that has engulfed the Catholic Church.

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GRAND RAPIDS (MI)
Holland Sentinel

March 1, 2020

By Carolyn Muyskens

Victims of a former youth group leader and middle school lunchroom worker are suing Holland Public Schools, saying a principal and vice principal didn’t follow up on a student’s complaint that the man was molesting her friends.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court, claims a middle school student told school leadership in 2006 about Jonathan Meyer’s alleged abuse, and the school didn’t investigate beyond asking Meyer if the allegations were true. Meyer denied them.

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JOHNSTOWN (PA)
The Tribune Democrat

March 2, 2020

The following editorial appeared in LNP. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tribune-Democrat.

The Catholic prayer known as the “Act of Contrition” is prayed when seeking forgiveness.

The prayer says nothing about shielding oneself from the consequences of one’s sins. It’s a simple and penitential plea, an acceptance of responsibility and a resolution to do better.

If only that had been the guiding principle of the Roman Catholic Church in its handling of priestly sexual abuse of children.

Instead, church officials – in the Diocese of Harrisburg and around the world – sought to cover up the sins of their priests and the horrific harm they had done to vulnerable children.

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COLUMBUS (OH)
Columbus Dispatch

March 2, 2020

By Danae King

Though only county prosecutors in Ohio can call a grand jury, victims advocates say there are things the attorney general could do — actions that officials in several other home rule states have taken to investigate sex abuse cases against Catholic priests.

A year after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus released its list of priests credibly accused of child sexual abuse, some survivors and advocates still are pressing Ohio officials to take action.

The list, one of many released by dioceses across the country, was spurred in part by a state grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania, released in August 2018.

But when asked why Ohio doesn’t investigate the issue, state officials point to a home-rule law stating that county prosecutors must request such an investigation before the attorney general can initiate it.

Home rule isn’t a reason not to investigate the issue on a state level, said Marci Hamilton, founder and CEO of CHILD USA, a Philadelphia-based think tank tracking state efforts on child abuse.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

[Victims of abuse will call on the Pope for the permanent removal of pedophile priests, as well as the bishops who cover up]

ROME (ITALY)
Ellitoral

February 18, 2020

Varias asociaciones de víctimas de abusos en el seno de la Iglesia están en Roma para reclamar al Papa reformas canónicas que permitan la destitución permanente de sacerdotes pederastas y obispos encubridores cuando se cumple año de la Cumbre de Protección de Menores en la Iglesia católica, que reunió en el Vaticano a la mayoría de los episcopados del mundo.

“Lo que más echamos de menos son las reformas canónicas, indispensables para combatir el problema. Una para eliminar permanentemente a los sacerdotes que han cometido abusos y otra para despedir a los obispos o superiores que no han finiquitado a los abusadores”, apunta la directora de Bishopaccountability.org, Anne Barret Doyle, una asociación de EEUU dedicada a denunciar el encubrimiento de la Iglesia católica en ese país.

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MEMPHIS (TN)
The Daily Memphian

February 29, 2020

By Bill Dries

The weekend before he released a list of priests “credibly accused” of child sexual abuse, Catholic Bishop David Talley marked the coming season of Lent with a video on the Diocesan website.

Talley, who became bishop of the Memphis Diocese last April, quoted the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark.

“What we want to do during this holy season of Lent is to focus on that last line of verse 15 — ‘repent and believe in the Gospel,’” Talley said. “It means a conversion of all that you are, turning away from everything that is destructive in yourself, within your family, within society. While turning at the same time toward the light — the light that lightens up your heart, your family, society.”

The Diocesan Review Board report that followed largely repeats the names of priests made public a decade ago when The Daily News filed suit in Circuit Court for more than 6,000 pages of internal church documents and depositions taken of every Diocesan leader at the time.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WBFO radio (NPR affiliate)

March 2, 2020

By Mike Desmond

More fallout about Apostolic Administrator Bishop Edward Schargenberger’s decision to hold a meeting with Catholic Diocese priests, including some suspended as credibly accused of sexual abuse.

The bishop met with most of the diocese’s priests a week ago today in St. Leo the Great Church to talk about probable bankruptcy and participate in Mass. “He doesn’t get it” was the response Sunday from former priest and sexual abuse victim Robert Hoatson. Hoatson is now calling for New York City Cardinal Archbishop Timothy Dolan to remove Scharfenberger as apostolic administrator.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo Times

March 2, 2020

By Jay Tokasz

South Buffalo resident Dennis Archilla filed a childhood sex abuse lawsuit in September to expose the Buffalo Diocese for protecting a pedophile priest.

“I wanted the public to know just how deep the deception is in the Catholic Church,” Archilla said.

Archilla believes that deception continued when the diocese on Friday filed for bankruptcy – effectively bringing his and more than 250 other Child Victims Act lawsuits to a grinding halt.

“It will bury the discovery process,” said Archilla. “I think it’s a strategy on their part not just to protect their resources, but also to not get that information out to the public.”

Archilla, 45, alleges the Rev. William F.J. White molested him in 1987 when he was sixth grade student at Queen of Heaven elementary school in West Seneca.

Despite the bankruptcy, J. Michael Hayes, Archilla’s lawyer, said he thinks Archilla’s case will continue to trial.

That’s because Hayes filed two lawsuits on behalf of Archilla in State Supreme Court.

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BERLIN (GERMANY)
Agence France Presse via France 24

March 2, 2020

German bishops gather for key talks from Monday where they will choose a new leader to help steer the country’s Catholic Church through a controversial reforms process and settle compensation demands from sexual abuse victims.

The four-day episcopal gathering in the western city of Mainz comes at a time of fierce debate about how to modernise Germany’s Catholic Church, pitting conservative bishops against more progressive ones.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, a driving force behind efforts to renew the under-fire Church, last month unexpectedly announced he would not seek another six-year term as head of the German Bishops’ Conference, saying he was too old at 66.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Western New York Catholic

March 1, 2020

“It is clear that my efforts to address the disappointment and anger voiced by some over my decision to allow certain priests of the Diocese of Buffalo who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse to participate last week in a private Mass for priests have not been sufficient.

“First, I wish to reiterate that I deeply regret the pain and further disillusionment that this private gathering of priests – which included those not in good-standing with the Diocese – has caused to victim-survivors who rightly demand justice and accountability for the horrific and lasting harm they have experienced.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW-TV

February 28, 2020

By Charlie Specht

Survivors say bankruptcy hides truth

Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger on Friday first apologized for — and then doubled down on — his support of abusive priests, saying they are still part of what he calls the “family” of the church.

BISHOP SCHARFENBERGER: “I really consider every single person, including our priests who may have abused people, as part of our family that I’m responsible to take care of in some way.”

REPORTER:
“I’m sorry, did you just say that the abusive priests are part of the family, as you call it?”

SCHARFENBERGER: “That’s correct.”

REPORTER: “So why would a survivor want to be a part of a family where the father figure of the family invites child molesters to be part of the family?”

SCHARFENBERGER: “Well, first of all, Charlie, I assume you’re referring to what happened last Monday.”

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MEMPHIS (TN)
LocalMemphis.com

February 28, 2020

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests claim many more names are missing.

By Rebecca Butcher

There are twenty Mid-South priests, most of them no longer alive, that the church now admits had credible claims against them of sexually abusing children.

Although the list is out, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests claim many more names are missing. One victim called a director in tears because their abuser wasn’t named.

David Brown with SNAP claims most of the names were already known, and the list is missing many others.

“To me it was woefully shameful,” said Brown, a SNAP. “It’s lacking names that it should be naming, it’s many, many more.”

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

February 29, 2020

By John L. Allen Jr

Anyone watching the Vatican under Pope Francis try to come to grips with the clerical sexual abuse crisis could be forgiven for feeling themselves trapped in A Tale of Two Cities, constantly oscillating between the best and worst of times.

Friday brought another chapter in that long-running drama, as the Vatican presented a new high-level task force intended to help national and regional bishops’ conferences around the world, as well as religious orders, to develop and update guidelines on child protection and the fight against abuse.

From a glass-half-full perspective, this is a further sign, one year after an historic summit to discuss the abuse crisis with the presidents of all the bishops’ conferences of the world, that Francis is serious about reform. This task force is designed to harness the entire resources of the Roman Curia, and it’s a signal that Francis wants episcopal conferences and religious orders to be in earnest about having policies.

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UNITED STATES
Legal Examiner (law firm blog)

March 1, 2020

By Mike Bryant

The South Dakota Legislature has again had the chance to vote to open the statue of limitation for survivors of child sexual abuse. The politicians again have voted it down, unlike 14 other states in the country.

This is nothing new. They went so far in 2010 as to pass one of the most restrictive laws for survivors in the country. They do this despite examples of ongoing abuse such as at the St Paul’s Mission School. When will the South Dakota Legislature start protecting the children, not the predators?

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

March 1, 2020

Amidst the understandable preoccupation with the novel coronavirus, news related to another virus of sorts — pernicious sexual harassment — has been somewhat overshadowed.

On Friday, the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport signed a memorandum of understanding with The University of the West Indies (UWI) to commence research on sexual harassment in Jamaica.

We welcome this development. The twinned institutions will be the core of a consortium including the Ministry of Labour, Hugh Shearer Labour Studies Institute and The UWI Institute for Gender and Development Studies.

Sexual harassment is, by definition, behaviour characterised by the making of unwelcome and inappropriate sexual remarks or physical advances in a workplace or other professional or social setting. It is widely accepted as a major problem in Jamaica and indeed worldwide.

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WASHINGTON D.C.
Catholic News Service via Crux

March 1, 2020

It is bad enough there are adults who sexually abuse children and minors. What makes it worse is that the abusers take video and still images of the abuse and share them online with their fellow abusers.

Just one case in point: Police in the Maryland suburbs of Washington arrested a 37-year-old man Feb. 20 and charged him with having sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy and taking photos of the incident in January. Using a search warrant of the suspect’s home, they found photos involving the victim among 1,000 exploitative images and videos that date back to September 2016.

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PAKISTAN
Forbes

March 1, 2020

By Ewelina U. Ochab

What qualifies a girl to be ready to marry? According to the High Court of Sindh in Karachi, Pakistan, a girl is ready to marry after she has had her first period. The ruling, which appears to rely entirely on the Court’s restrictive interpretation of Shari’a law, was released on February 3, 2020. The case involved the alleged abduction, forced conversion, forced marriage, enslavement, and ongoing rape and sexual abuse of a Catholic girl, Huma Younus.

It was alleged that Huma Younus was abducted from her parents’ home in Karachi on October 10, 2019, by a man named Abdul Jabbar of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab Province. Younus, born on May 22, 2005, was 14 years of age at the time of the alleged abduction. A text message was allegedly sent to Younus parents stating that she had converted to Islam and had married Jabbar “of her free will.” (Even if true, it is also questionable whether her marriage was conducted in compliance with Islam. Marriage contract in Islam requires (1) a clear proposal, (2) clear acceptance or consent (although silence is just as acceptable), (3) at least two competent witnesses and (4) a marriage gift, little or more, by the bridegroom to the bride.)

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RICHMOND (VA)
Diocese of Richmond

February 14, 2020

A representative of a deceased victim has come forward with a report sharing allegations of child sexual abuse by Rev. Msgr. Raymond Barton. The report identified the victim and described details of the abuse. The incident is alleged to have occurred in the early-1970’s. The Catholic Diocese of Richmond has reported the allegations to civil authorities.

Msgr. Barton, retired since 2011, is not currently serving in ministry. Msgr. Barton will not be permitted to engage in active ministry until the allegations are investigated and resolved.

Msgr. Barton was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Richmond in 1966. He served as an associate pastor at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Richmond, and as a faculty member at St. John Vianney Seminary, Goochland. He was a pastor at the following parishes: Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Norfolk; Saint Nicholas Catholic Church in Virginia Beach; and Holy Comforter Catholic Church in Charlottesville. He also served as a co-pastor for Church of the Holy Apostles in Virginia Beach.

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ALLENTOWN (PA)
Morning Call

March 1, 2020

By Peter Hall, Daniel Patrick Sheehan and Sarah M. Wojcik

In May 2016 a 15-year-old girl told someone that the Rev. Kevin Lonergan had touched her inappropriately.

The allegation triggered investigations by the Northampton County Children, Youth and Families Division, Forks Township police, and the district attorney’s office.

Lonergan was suspended during the investigation, and the Allentown Catholic Diocese said Monday that it reinstated him a few months later because Children and Youth determined the accusation was “unfounded.” But the Northampton County district attorney’s office didn’t classify the case that way. And neither did the diocese’s own private investigator, who called it “unsubstantiated.”

“It was never unfounded,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Tatum Wilson, who investigated the allegation with Forks police, said Thursday.

“It’s not that we made a determination one way or the other whether there was criminal activity,” she said. “It was closed because we didn’t have a victim who would be able to testify about any criminal activity.”

It would be more than two years, and only after a second girl accused Lonergan of inappropriate sexual contact, before the Catholic priest would be charged with a crime.

When Lonergan, 31, was sentenced to one to two years in prison Monday for groping a 17-year-old girl as she helped clean up after a confirmation Mass in 2018, Lehigh County Judge Maria Dantos raised the earlier complaint of “hands-on molestation” and questioned whether the Allentown Diocese was still transferring priests to cover up abuse — a practice for which the church has drawn intense criticism and scrutiny.

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UNITED STATES
Adam Horowitz Law (law firm blog)

February 22, 2020

More bishops are being more open about abuse, right?

Nope. Not really.

Consider these cases from Mississippi, Virginia and Missouri publicized just this week.

—–Case One: Fr. Paul Victor Canonici just died. He’s a credibly accused child molesting cleric who was ‘outed’ by Bishop Joseph Kopacz.

But according to the local newspaper in Jackson:

Over the course of his tenure, Fr. Canonici served as the diocesan superintendent of education, assistant principal and then principal of St. Joseph High School in Madison, as well as the priest for multiple parishes throughout the Jackson metro area.

He retired when he was in his mid 70s. Despite his five decades with the diocese, he’s not listed on the church’s website of retired priests.

What possible reason would Bishop Kopacz have for keeping Fr. Canonici OFF his ‘retired priests’ list?

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

March 1, 2020

By Jay Tokasz

The Buffalo Diocese’s plunge this week into federal bankruptcy court marked a new period of uncertainty for more than 500,000 Western New York Catholics concerned about the future of parishes, schools and diocese employees.

It could take years before it becomes clear what a reorganized Buffalo Diocese will look like but what happened in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in Wisconsin, which has roughly the same number of Catholics as in Buffalo, may provide some insight.

The Milwaukee archdiocese emerged from federal bankruptcy court in 2016 with a deal to pay $21 million to childhood victims of clergy sex abuse. Four years later, it appears to be better off financially than when it first filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011.

Its total revenues in 2019 were $6 million more than in 2011, according to its latest audited financial statements. Its net assets – after dipping to $50 million in the immediate aftermath of the reorganization – climbed back to $71 million last year, surpassing pre-bankruptcy levels.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
Associated Press

February 21, 2020

A Cleveland-area Roman Catholic priest arrested in December was accused of several new charges, including sex trafficking involving a minor, federal prosecutors said Friday.

A criminal complaint filed in federal court also charged the Rev. Robert McWilliams with receiving or distributing child pornography and sexual exploitation of children.

Federal investigators said in a court document that McWilliams, 39, would pretend to be a female on social media and entice boys to send sexually explicit photographs and videos. He also met with a boy on several occasions and paid him for sex, prosecutors said.

A message seeking comment on the new charges was left with his public defender.

Authorities arrested McWilliams in December at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Strongsville, where he was a parochial vicar at the church’s school. The church then placed him on administrative leave.

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UNITED STATES
The Wartburg Watch (blog)

February 24, 2020

“You can recognize survivors of abuse by their courage. When silence is so very inviting, they step forward and share their truth so others know they aren’t alone.” ― Jeanne McElvaney, Healing Insights: Effects of Abuse for Adults Abused as Children

What I am about to present is merely a tiny portion of the pain and suffering that Jandy has suffered at the hands of David, as well as other men who lived with the family or were acquaintances of the family. I mean for this to be an overview. I have left so much of the story out and I feel bad about that. I hope to write more of her story in the coming weeks.

It is a difficult story to tell. Jandy suffered greatly as a child and teenager. However, in the end, there is some justice.

Jandy’s parents: Naiveté born of wanting to help others.
Jandy’s parents were well meaning but naive. They were young when they married and were committed Christians. They believed in caring for those less fortunate than they were. This resulted in allowing men, one who had schizophrenia, to move in with their family. Their unsuspecting nature caused them to overlook the possible danger of such actions. It also caused them to trust neighbors and friends.This would be a major factor in Jandy’s relationship with David.

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KERALA (INDIA)
Opindia.com

March 1, 2020

Pope Francis removes Kerala priest convicted for raping 16-year-old girl from priesthood
Last year, Priest Robin was convicted by the Thalassery POCSO court in February 2019 for raping and impregnating a 16-year-old girl back in 2016.

Father Robin Vadakkumchery of the Mananthavady diocese who was accused of raping and impregnating 16-year old girl three years ago has removed from the priesthood by Pope Francis.

According to the reports, Syro-Malabar Church priest Robin Vadakkumchery, who is currently serving a jail term for impregnating a 16-year-old girl in Mananthavady diocese, has been defrocked and dispensed from the exercise of priestly duties and rights. He has been reduced to the state of a layman, said a church official.

Last year, Priest Robin was convicted by the Thalassery POCSO court in February 2019 for raping and impregnating a 16-year-old girl back in 2016. Robin has been sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment and Rs 3 lakh fine by the court.

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UNITED STATES
USA TODAY

March 1, 2020

By Nancy Armour

Sexual abuse survivors have made it clear they will not accept a settlement offer from USA Gymnastics that releases the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) without it making a significant financial contribution.

They have a powerful ally: The judge overseeing the case.

During a Feb. 10 status call, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robyn Moberly took the USOPC to task, saying it needed to be “actively participating, particularly with their pocketbook.”

“It isn’t news to anybody on this phone call, nor is it news to me, that the U.S. Olympic Committee needs to be an active participant, and I mean beyond just throwing in their insurance coverage in this,” Moberly said, according to a transcript of the call that was obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

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NEW YORK
Catholic Charities of Tompkins/Tioga, Diocese of Rochester

March 1, 2020

On September 12, 2019, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This action was taken in order to ensure that the victims of abuse who are pursuing legal action against the Diocese under the Child Victims Act of NYS receive fair compensation for their pain and suffering, regardless of whether they present their cases earlier or later in the process.

Although we have a close working relationship with the Diocese, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Rochester – of which Catholic Charities of Tompkins/Tioga is a division- is an entirely separate corporation from the Diocese.

We want to reassure you that all financial contributions and grants to Catholic Charities of Tompkins/Tioga go directly to support our agency’s work of serving thousands of low income and vulnerable people each year. Our services to our clients have not and will not be compromised by the bankruptcy.

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BUFFALO (NY)
The New York Times

February 29, 2020

By Jesse McKinley and Liam Stack

The diocese said it was seeking Chapter 11 protection because of old accusations revived under New York’s Child Victims Act.

The Diocese of Buffalo filed for federal bankruptcy on Friday, becoming the latest entity to seek financial protection after a 2019 state law allowed victims of historical childhood sexual assault to sue.

The Catholic diocese, the largest in upstate New York, cited the Child Victims Act in a statement posted on its website, saying that the maneuver was necessary “to continue uninterrupted its mission throughout Western New York, while working to settle claims with existing Diocesan assets and insurance coverages.”

The Child Victims Act was passed last year by the Democratic Legislature in Albany, after years of opposition from religious groups and private schools, among others. It created a so-called look-back window, starting in August and lasting one year, allowing old claims that had passed the statute of limitations to be revived.

Hundreds of lawsuits were filed against the Catholic Church in the days after the look-back window opened, with more than 1,000 complaints brought under the Child Victims Act by Jan. 31, according to victims’ advocates. The sheer volume of claims led to speculation that one or more of the eight dioceses in New York could declare bankruptcy.

In September, the Diocese of Rochester became the first to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a month after the child victims law went into effect, and suggested that it was the best way to serve the growing number of plaintiffs. Buffalo is the second diocese to do so, and observers believe more could follow suit.

“I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see other dioceses in New York file,” said Terence McKiernan, the president of BishopAccountability.org, which tracks claims of wrongdoing in the church. “That’s partly because of the enormous number of legal claims being brought under the Child Victims Act, but also because there is potential there to control various aspects of that process of accountability.”

“This is a way of managing their exposure,” he added.

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ROCHESTER (NY)
Democrat and Chronicle

February 28, 2020

By Sean Lahman and Steve Orr

Rochester diocese says no complaints about Grasso were ever received

He assumed the principal position at Siena at the start of 1998-99 school year

A priest who served as principal at three area Catholic schools and taught at a fourth has been accused of sexually abusing a student in the early 2000s.

A lawsuit initiated late last week alleges that the Rev. Joseph A. Grasso abused the student at Siena Catholic Academy in Brighton and the adjacent St. Thomas More Church.

The male victim, who was not identified by name in court papers, was approximately 12 years old when the alleged abuse began in 2002. Legal papers say the abuse continued into the following year.

No other information about the alleged abusive acts was included in the lawsuit, which was amended Tuesday to correct an error in some of the dates that are cited.

Grasso, 64, told a reporter Friday he was not aware of the litigation or any allegations of abuse.

“I don’t know what this is all about,” said Grasso, who has been chaplain at the Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albany since 2008.

Grasso later engaged a lawyer in Rochester, Michael Wolford, who said this week that his client denies he abused anyone.

“Father Joseph Grasso has had a stellar reputation in this community and other communities where he has worked and we are very disappointed that this unmeritorious lawsuit has been filed by these Buffalo attorneys,” Wolford said. “We intend to vigorously defend Father Grasso and ultimately I am confident he will be vindicated.”

A member of the Congregation of Missionaries of the Precious Blood religious order, Grasso was ordained as a priest in 1992.

Grasso taught in the late 1990’s at Bishop Kearney High School in Irondequoit before assuming the principal’s job at Siena at the start of the 1998-99 school year.

He was at Siena for six years before leaving to be principal at Aquinas Institute and then at DeSales High School in Geneva, though his short tenure at each school raised questions at the time about the reasons for his departure.

He spent less than a year at Aquinas, departing midway through the 2004-05 school session. In a statement at the time, the school said Grasso resigned “to pursue other interests” and Grasso himself told a reporter he left due to “reassignment — we’ll leave it at that.”

Three months after he left Aquinas, Grasso was introduced as principal at DeSales High School in Geneva, which was operated then by the Rochester diocese but has since closed due to declining enrollment.

Grasso would spend just two years there, departing in July 2007 in what appeared to be an unplanned move. He left to “pursue other work in his ministry for the Precious Blood order of priests,” according to a statement that summer from the diocese.

Red flags?

In a brief interview by phone Friday, Grasso acknowledged that his abrupt departures from the two schools were red flags in the context of the Catholic Church’s child sexual abuse scandal, where there is a long history of church leaders shuffling around priests who fall under suspicion.

But Grasso said allegations of abuse had nothing to do with either departure. He said he left Aquinas because he and the school’s board president “didn’t see eye-to-eye,” and he left DeSales because of a “difference of opinion” between himself and diocesan officials about the school’s operation.

A spokesman for the Rochester diocese, Douglas Mandelaro, said that “no complaint of sexual abuse of a minor was ever received by the diocese” against Grasso.

And Aquinas spokesman Joseph B. Knapp said this week that officials at that school had never been made aware of such allegations against Grasso until a reporter called this week about the lawsuit.

David Carapella, Siena’s current principal, said Wednesday that he was not at the school at that time and offered no other comment on the case.

The lawsuit seeks damages only from Grasso, not the school or the diocese.

That is likely due to the fact that the Rochester diocese has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and civil suits against it for past abuse are legally barred. The plaintiff would be free to file a claim against the diocese or its school in the bankruptcy proceeding.

As of earlier this week, Grasso remained in good standing with the Precious Blood province in Toronto, Canada, of which he is a member.

“Joe has always been well-received wherever he was. When he left the schools, it was because of, how should I put it, ideological differences between him and staff or administration.” said the Very Rev. Mario Cafarelli, the order’s provincial director in Toronto. “I’m surprised. He has always been very careful. Knowing him, he would die before doing any of that.”

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[Address of the Holy Father to the participants in the General Chapter of the Legionaries of Christ, and to the General Assemblies of the Consecrated Women and the Consecrated Laity of the Regnum Christi, 29.02.2020]

VATICAN CITY
Vatican

February 29, 2020

Pubblichiamo di seguito il discorso del Santo Padre Francesco trasmesso ai partecipanti al Capitolo Generale dei Legionari di Cristo, e alle Assemblee Generali delle Consacrate e dei Laici Consacrati del Regnum Christi:

Discorso del Santo Padre

Cari fratelli e sorelle,

sono felice di questo incontro con voi alla conclusione di una tappa del cammino che state percorrendo sotto la materna guida della Chiesa. Voi, Legionari di Cristo, avete da poco concluso il Capitolo Generale e voi, Consacrate e Laici Consacrati del Regnum Christi, le vostre Assemblee Generali. Sono stati eventi elettivi dei nuovi governi generali, conclusione di una tappa del cammino che state facendo. Ciò significa che esso non è compiuto, ma deve proseguire.

I comportamenti delittuosi tenuti dal vostro fondatore, il P. Marcial Maciel Degollado, che sono emersi nella loro gravità, hanno prodotto in tutta l’ampia realtà del Regnum Christi una forte crisi tanto istituzionale quanto delle singole persone. Infatti, da una parte non si può negare che egli è stato il fondatore “storico” di tutta la realtà che rappresentate, ma dall’altra non lo potete ritenere come un esempio di santità da imitare. È riuscito a farsi considerare un punto di riferimento, mediante una illusione che era riuscito a creare con la sua doppia vita. Inoltre, il suo lungo governo personalizzato aveva in una qualche misura inquinato il carisma che originariamente lo Spirito aveva donato alla Chiesa; e ciò si rifletteva nelle norme, nonché nella prassi di governo e di obbedienza e nell’impostazione di vita.

[GOOGLE TRANSLATE: We publish below the speech of the Holy Father Francis sent to the participants in the General Chapter of the Legionaries of Christ, and to the General Assemblies of the Consecrated Women and the Lay Consecrated Persons of the Regnum Christi :

Speech of the Holy Father

Dear brothers and sisters,

The criminal behavior of your founder, P. Marcial Maciel Degollado, which emerged in their gravity, produced in the whole wide reality of Regnum Christia strong institutional and individual crisis. In fact, on the one hand it cannot be denied that he was the “historical” founder of all the reality you represent, but on the other you cannot consider it as an example of holiness to imitate. He managed to make himself considered a point of reference, through an illusion that he had managed to create with his double life. Furthermore, his long personalized government had to some extent polluted the charisma that the Spirit originally had given to the Church; and this was reflected in the norms, as well as in the practice of government and obedience and in the way of life.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Agency

February 29, 2020

By Hannah Brockhaus

Pope Francis Saturday told the Legionaries of Christ religious order to look toward the future as they continue to reform themselves, seeking continuous conversion under the guidance of the Church.

The pope’s message was sent to the religious order of priests at the end of the congregation’s 2020 Ordinary General Chapter in Rome, which began Jan. 20, to elect new leadership and to discuss handling of abuse.

The pope told the Legion there is still much that “must be discerned on your part. So the journey must continue, looking forward, not backward. You can look back only to find trust in the support of God, who has never failed.”

“Returning to the past would be dangerous and meaningless,” he said.

The nearly six-week-long meeting took place during a time of widespread public criticism of the Legionaries of Christ, which reported in December 2019 that since its founding in 1941, 33 priests of the congregation have been found to have committed sexual abuse of minors, victimizing 175 children, according to the 2019 report.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican News

February 29, 2020

By Devin Watkins

Pope Francis invites the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi members to continue along the path of discernment to reform the Federation, in remarks prepared for an audience on Saturday.

The Legionaries of Christ recently held their General Chapter in Rome, as the wider Regnum Christi Federation held its General Assemblies.

Pope Francis was scheduled to address the group on Saturday, but had to cancel due to a “slight indisposition”. The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, said the Pope did celebrate Mass and keep his scheduled appointments in the Casa Santa Marta on Saturday morning.

Difficult past

In his prepared remarks which were read out to the group, Pope Francis said the “criminal behavior” of Father Marcial Maciel Degollado generated “a major institutional and personal crisis” within the Regnum Christi Federation.

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VATICAN CITY
Associated Press

February 29, 2020

By Nicole Winfield

Pope Francis told the Legion of Christ religious order Saturday it still has a long road of reform ahead, making clear that 10 years of Vatican-mandated rehabilitation hadn’t purged it of the toxic influences of its pedophile founder.

In a prepared speech, Francis told the Legion’s new superiors a “very vast field” of work was needed to correct the Legion’s problems and create a healthy order. He encouraged them to work “energetically in substance, and softly in the means.”

“A change of mentality requires a lot of time to assimilate in individuals and in an institution, so it’s a continual conversion,” Francis said. “A return to the past would be dangerous and senseless.”

The Vatican took over the Legion in 2010 after revelations that its founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, sexually abused dozens of his seminarians, fathered at least three children and built a secretive, cult-like order to hide his double life.

Even though the Vatican envoy tasked to run and reform the Legion declared the order cleansed and reconciled with its past in 2014, new sexual misconduct scandals have called into question whether his mission was really accomplished.

Victims of other Legion priests have come forward, indicating that a culture of abuse extended far beyond Maciel’s crimes and involved a high-level cover-up by superiors who are still in power.

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MEMPHIS (TENNESSEE)
Commercial Appeal

February 28, 2020

By Katherine Burgess

Months after promising survivors to release a list of clergy credibly accused of child abuse, the Catholic Diocese of Memphis has done so.

Its list includes 20 names. The list is predominantly made up of names already included in lists compiled by other dioceses or religious orders along with clergy named publicly by victims.

The two exceptions appear to be James Gilbert and Floyd Brey, who do not appear in ProPublica’s database compiling the lists released by dioceses and religious orders or on bishopaccountability.org, which lists accused clergy.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Western New York Catholic

February 28, 2020

Chapter 11 filing aims to provide resolution for the most number of individuals who have been harmed by past by sexual abuse while continuing the work of Catholic ministry

The Diocese of Buffalo has formally filed for Chapter 11 reorganization under the U.S. Federal Bankruptcy code with a primary aim of enabling financial resolution for the most number of individuals who have filed claims under the Child Victims Act – a year-long window that opened on August 14, 2019 that suspends the statute of limitations related to allegations of past sexual abuse. A further objective of reorganization is that it allows the Diocese to continue uninterrupted its mission throughout Western New York, while working to settle claims with existing Diocesan assets and insurance coverages.

“We have no more urgent work than to bring about justice and healing for those harmed by the scourge of sexual abuse. The intense emotional, mental and spiritual pain inflicted on these innocent victim-survivors is a heavy burden they are forced to carry throughout their lives,” said Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Buffalo. “Our decision to pursue Chapter 11 reorganization – arrived at after much prayer, discernment and consultation with the College of Consultors and our Diocesan Finance Council – is based on our belief that this approach will enable the most number of victim-survivors of past sexual abuse in achieving fairness and a sense of restorative justice for the harm they have experienced. It will also allow the vital, mission-driven work of faith that is so essential to the residents of Western New York to continue uninterrupted.”

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BUFFALO (NY)
Wall Street Journal

February 28, 2020

By Ian Lovett

Diocese is second in New York to seek bankruptcy protections since state law temporarily lifted civil statute of limitations on child sexual abuse

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y., filed for bankruptcy on Friday, following a number of sexual abuse lawsuits filed against it since August.

Buffalo is the 22nd Catholic diocese to seek bankruptcy protections since 2004, when a wave of sexual abuse allegations against the church began, and the second in New York since a new state law last year temporarily lifted the civil statute of limitations on child sexual abuse. The law, known as the Child Victims Act, allows those who say they were sexually abused as children to sue, no matter when it occurred.

In the bankruptcy filing, the diocese estimated its total assets at between $10 million and $50 million and its liabilities at between $50 million and $100 million. It has at least 200 creditors, according to the filing.

The former bishop of Buffalo resigned late last year following accusations he covered up clergy sex abuse.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

February 28, 2020

By Anthony G. Attrino

A New Jersey woman has filed a lawsuit against the Diocese of Camden accusing a priest of sexually abused her decades ago when she was a child while church officials allowed it to happen.

Patricia Cahill, 67, of Bergen County, claims the Rev. Daniel Francis Marks Millard, sexually abused her from 1957 to 1965, according to the suit, filed Feb. 4 in Camden County Superior Court.

While NJ Advance Media does not typically name victims of sexual abuse, Cahill been speaking publicly about the alleged abuse for years. The lawsuit is another in the flood of litigation against churches and other groups since a two-year window opened on Dec. 1 under a new law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy that expanded the amount of time that victims of sexual assault may bring a lawsuit.

The abuse began when Cahill was age 5 and ended when she was age 13, the suit alleges.
Cahill, who was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family in Ridgewood, participated in youth activities and “developed great admiration, trust, reverence, and respect” for the church and Millard, the suit states.

The diocese placed Millard “in positions where (he) had access to and worked with children as an integral part of his work,” the lawsuit states.

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VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

February 28, 2020

By Cindy Wooden

Organizations, Catholic or not, led by a charismatic leader who is followed uncritically and commands or demands control over members are at risk for cases of physical, sexual and psychological abuse, said Jesuit Father Hans Zollner.

The Vatican office that grants official recognition to international Catholic lay movements and organizations ordered the groups to develop detailed child-protection guidelines and norms for handling allegations of the abuse of minors and vulnerable adults.

The international organizations include hundreds of thousands of Catholics around the world, so “this is an important step,” said Father Zollner, a professor of psychology and president of the Centre for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

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NEW YORK
WRGB-TV, Channel 6

February 28, 2020

According to the filing, the Diocese is claiming 10 to 50-million dollars in assets, and 50 to 100-million dollars in liabilities, saying they need financial help to settle many of the lawsuits.

The Buffalo Diocese officially filing for bankruptcy protection today in the wake of legal action regarding sexual abuse.

The Child Victims Act became law last August, allowing victims of sexual abuse to file lawsuits against their alleged victims.

MORE: Albany Catholic Diocese releases statement following Rochester Diocese filing Chapter 11

According to the filing, the Diocese is claiming 10 to 50-million dollars in assets, and 50 to 100-million dollars in liabilities, saying they need financial help to settle many of the lawsuits.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Associated Press

February 28, 2020

By Carolyn Thompson

The embattled Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo filed for bankruptcy protection Friday, taking another major step in its effort to recover from a clergy misconduct scandal that’s been the basis for hundreds of lawsuits, Vatican intervention and the resignation of its bishop.

With its filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the western New York diocese became the second in the state to file for Chapter 11 reorganization, and one of more than 20 dioceses to seek bankruptcy protection nationwide. Most recently, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, filed Feb. 19.

The Buffalo diocese has faced particular turmoil in recent months, culminating in the Dec. 4 resignation of Bishop Richard Malone following a Vatican-mandated investigation. Malone had faced intense pressure from members of his staff, clergy and the public to step down amid criticism that he withheld the names of dozens of credibly accused priests and mishandled reports of misconduct against others.

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MEMPHIS (TN)
Daily Memphian

February 28, 2020

By Bill Dries

The Catholic Diocese of Memphis has released a list of priests accused of child sexual abuse during their time in Memphis and West Tennessee.

The list of “credibly accused” priests spans more than 50 years and was compiled at the request of Bishop David Talley shortly after he became leader of the Diocese that covers West Tennessee including Memphis.

“Our Diocese of Memphis realizes the extent of damage caused by the sexual abuse of minors perpetrated by Catholic clergy,” Talley wrote in a letter posted on the website of the Diocese Friday, Feb. 28.

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UTAH
KUTV-TV, Channel 2

February 24, 2020

by McKenzie Stauffer

A woman, who accused The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of covering up an alleged sexual assault by the president of its Provo Missionary Training Center, had the last two items of her lawsuit sent to a settlement hearing.

McKenna Denson’s allegations against Joseph Bishop and the Church were dismissed more than a year ago, because of the statute of limitations had passed.

A judge, however, ruled the two counts of fraud still stand because an alleged-cover-up was discovered.

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[GOOGLE TRANSLATE: Archdiocese of Munich commissions an external abuse report]

MUNICH (GERMANY)
Frankenpost.de

February 27, 2020

Der scheidende Vorsitzende der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz ringt im Missbrauchsskandal mit internen wie externen Kritikern. In seinem Münchner Erzbistum will Kardinal Marx nun mit einem neuen externen Gutachten für mehr Aufarbeitung sorgen – auch bis in höchste Ämter.

Google Translate: The outgoing chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference grapples with internal and external critics in the abuse scandal. In his Archdiocese of Munich, Cardinal Marx now wants to provide more work with a new external report – even to the highest offices.

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GERMANY
Correctiv

February 26, 2020

A priest convicted of sexually abusing children says that, on a winter day, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is standing on his doorstep. Now, an investigation conducted by CORRECTIV and Frontal21 reveals the ties of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI with the priest. The stories shared by alleged victims who came forward during the investigation show how the Catholic Church’s prosecution of sexual abuse within its own ranks is insufficient.

In the outskirts of the Bavarian town of Garching, the chapel in Simetsbichl is a whitewashed building with a gabled roof. Benches are lined up inside, where an aureoled Virgin Mary gazes from the apse to an altar with candles, flowers and guest books brimming with personal pleas: for healing, for a new job, to get pregnant. And then, on a yellow notepad in a child’s scrawly handwriting:

There is no date above the entry, so it is impossible to determine when the boy wrote his appeal to the Blessed Mother. Some requests in the books go as far back as the 1990s, but it is also possible to write at the back of an empty book. Maybe the boy wanted to hide his petition behind blank pages until newer prayers could catch up over time.

Today, Stefan’s note points to a time when Priest Peter H., one of the most widely known perpetrators of sexual abuse in the German Catholic Church, led the parish in Garching. Until 2008, the priest also lived and worked just 30 minutes away by foot at the Church of St. Nicholas in Garching. For decades, he abused minor boys at both congregations. In response, the Church simply moved him from parish to parish, allowing his behavior to continue.

In Garching and in Engelsberg, in Essen and in Bottrop, a new investigation by CORRECTIV and Frontal21 reveals how Priest Peter H. abused young boys at congregations throughout Germany.

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ROME
Archangel Foundation

February 25, 2020

Nun and priest sexual abuse survivor Mary Dispenza, who serves as the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests’ Leader on Nun Abuse, talks about the painful realities and statistics of abuse by nuns at the 2020 2nd Annual Survivors’ Summit in Rome.

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RHODE ISLAND
The Associated Press

February 28, 2020

A Rhode Island man alleges that he was molested as a child by a Catholic priest who also trafficked children for sex while church leaders looked the other way, according to a lawsuit filed against the Diocese of Providence.

Robert Houllahan, 51, of Providence, said in the suit filed Thursday that he was sexually abused by the late Father Normand Demers, who received the “protection and affirmative assistance” of the diocese and its leaders, The Providence Journal reported.

The diocese, current Bishop Thomas Tobin and retired Bishop Louis Gelineau are among the defendants named in the suit.

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SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP (OH)
WKRC

February 21, 2020

By Katherine Barrier

A former St. Xavier High School priest has been accused of psychological sexual abuse, according to the school.

Fr. Ed Pigott was part of the St. Xavier community from 1969 to 2018. After the school published a list of Jesuit priests, brothers and scholastics who had established allegations of sexual abuse against minors in 2018, allegations were brought against Pigott. The school said the reported abuse happened between 1992 and 1994.

After the allegations, Pigott was not allowed to have unsupervised access to students and was then removed from his duties at the school on Dec. 19, 2018.

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VATICAN CITY
La Croix International

February 27, 2020

By Robert Mickens

Jean Vanier violated the Second Commandment, not the Sixth

We continue to hear of incidents that more than suggest that Catholics – and, in particular, their bishops – have learned very little from the clergy sex abuse crisis.

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VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

February 27, 2020

By Nicole Winfield

The Legion of Christ religious order is promising accountability and transparency after damaging new revelations of sex abuse and cover-up that have undermined its credibility, a decade after revelations of its pedophile founder disgraced the order.

The Legion vowed to investigate the confirmed cases of past abuse by 33 priests and 71 seminarians. The Mexico-based order said it would reach out to the victims, publish the names of those found guilty of abuse in either a church or a state court, and punish superiors responsible for “gross negligence” in the handling of abuse accusations.

The measures described in a statement late Wednesday were responding to a burgeoning new scandal involving the order. The Vatican took over the Legion 10 years ago following revelations that its late founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, raped his seminarians, fathered at least three children and built a secretive, cultlike order to hide his double life.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

February 28, 2020

By Charlie Specht

Second diocese in New York to file

The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, which is facing nearly 250 lawsuits involving clergy sexual abuse, has declared bankruptcy.

Aside from the obvious financial implications, the diocese’s formal Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing means that many of the victims of clergy sexual abuse may not anytime soon get the answers that have long been hidden in secret diocesan archives regarding pedophile priests.

But there is still a chance that those hidden files could be forced as part of a bankruptcy settlement, as has happened in other dioceses.

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VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

February 28, 2020

By Nicole Winfield

The Vatican is launching a task force of experts to help Catholic dioceses and religious orders develop guidelines to handle cases of sexual abuse by clergy and tend to survivors.

The initiative was proposed last year during Pope Francis’ summit on preventing abuse. It was considered necessary given Catholic leaders in some parts of the world — mostly poor, conflict-marred areas in Africa and Asia — have failed to comply with a 2011 Vatican directive to develop the guidelines.

Task force participants said Friday that the aim is to provide legal expertise and help to dioceses and religious orders that simply don’t have the professional resources or have otherwise neglected to comply with the 2011 directive.

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MISSISSIPPI
The Associated Press

February 27, 2020

A congressman is asking the Department of Justice to investigate settlements to two men who say they were victims of clergy abuse at a Catholic school in Mississippi.

In a letter, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson says Catholic officials “exploited” the young men, The Clarion Ledger reported.

They were paid far less than what others have received through legal settlements with the church, the Mississippi Democrat said.

The request for an investigation comes after The Associated Press made details of the cases public in a story last year.

The two cousins told the AP they were repeatedly abused during the 1990s, as elementary school students at St. Francis of Assisi School in Greenwood, Mississippi. The cousins were each paid $15,000.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
TribLive

February 27, 2020

By Lori Falce

“But why do you have to put it up there in black and white? Why does there have to be a headline? Why can’t you just let it go?”

I‘ve had this conversation before.

“Why do you have to write about Jerry Sandusky? It makes Penn State look bad.”

“Why do you have to write about the grand jury report? It makes the Catholic church look bad.”

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ROME
Crux

February 25, 2020

By Inés San Martín

In a video message sent to an abuse prevention formation center in Mexico, Pope Francis condemned the fact there are people willing to hire a hit man to stop abuse prevention and child protection.

“You will be misunderstood, [some] will tell you are wasting your time,” Francis says in the video sent to the Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Formation for the Protection of Minors (CEPROME), an interdisciplinary center for child protection at the Pontifical University of Mexico. “You will be threatened, because there are those who are threatened. More than one will tell you that they are capable of hiring a hit man to clean up the field.”

“Be prudent,” he adds. “Take care of yourselves, but continue to be brave and work. Preventing the abuse of children, the abuse of those who are at a disadvantage due to their social situation or an illness, is an act of love.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican News

February 28, 2020

The Annual Day of Prayer for Survivors and Victims of Sexual Abuse is being marked in Ireland on 28 February, the first Friday of Lent.

Candles of Atonement will be lit in Cathedrals and Parishes throughout the country.

On this day the Bishops of Ireland are asking people to remember and pray for all those who carry with them life long suffering as a result of abuse.

Speaking about the Day of Prayer, the CEO of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, Teresa Devlin said, “it is one day in the year which is really important”, but she added that, “every day is important and we are consistently reminding Church leaders of the need to communicate their child safeguarding message.”

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ALLENTOWN (PA)
lehighvalleylive.com

February 25, 2020

By Sarah Cassi

A former Allentown priest was sentenced Monday to state prison for the indecent assault of a girl he met through his city parish.

Lehigh County Judge Maria Dantos noted it was a maximum sentence of one to two years in state prison for 31-year-old Kevin Lonergan, who has been free on bail in the case since he was charged.

Lonergan pleaded guilty in November to indecent assault of the girl, who was 17 at the time.

In addition to commending the bravery of the teen girl who came forward, Dantos took note of a prior accusation against Lonergan in another county.

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COLORADO
Colorado Politics

February 27, 2020

By Michael Karlik

For the first time in 14 years, both chambers of the Colorado General Assembly will consider eliminating the civil statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse — and, for that matter, a range of sexual misconduct against children and adults.

House Bill 1296 comes in the wake of an October 2019 report from the attorney general’s office detailing the extent of childhood abuse from Catholic clergy in Colorado and follows other scandals involving the Boy Scouts of America, USA Gymnastics and perpetrators outed through the #MeToo movement. The proposal would allow unlimited time for victims of sexual assault, sex abuse and unlawful sexual contact to sue their perpetrators or the institutions that harbored them, but only for future cases.

Currently, survivors generally have six years to sue their abuser after they turn 18, and two years to sue an institution.

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PROVIDENCE (RI)
Providence Journal

February 27, 2020

By Brian Amaral

And, the suit says, the Diocese actively thwarted efforts to stop the predator priest, instead giving him a new assignment, to St. Martha Church in East Providence.

A priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence trafficked children for sex, using the guise of international charitable work to prey on boys at orphanages in Haiti and rectories in Rhode Island, a lawsuit filed Thursday says.

The diocese and its defenders looked the other way and actively thwarted efforts to stop the predator priest, the suit says. In one instance, a parishioner who later became associated with the diocese’s legal counsel reported leaving a party at a rectory because he was made uncomfortable by the presence of boys, some dressed in diapers, according to the suit.

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JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
WORD&WAY

February 27, 2020

By Brian Kaylor

Groups that advocate for the survivors of clergy sexual abuse called on Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt to investigate clergy in the Missouri Baptist Convention for sexual abuse or misconduct — as he already has done with the Catholic Church. In a Feb. 26 rally outside the MBC’s headquarters in Jefferson City, advocates from two different groups addressed a specific case as they called for more proactive actions to weed out abusers and those who enable abusers.

“Sexual violence happens when those who commit or conceal it escape consequences. We fear that’s what’s happening now, in part, because of the Missouri Baptist Convention,” explained Cheryl Summers, an advocate with “For Such A Time as This Rally” that advocates for abuse victims within the Southern Baptist Convention. “When wrongdoing or alleged wrongdoing is ignored or rewarded, more people are apt to do wrong.”

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

February 27, 2020

By Philip Pullella

The new leader of the disgraced Legionaries of Christ Catholic religious order, whose founder was a serial sexual abuser, has promised to turn a page as the group enacted new norms to protect children.

Father John Conner, 51, an American who was elected this month as superior general, announced the changes on Wednesday night as he wrapped up a general chapter attended by 66 representatives from around the world.

Conner, the order’s first non-Mexican leader, said in a statement the Legionaries wanted a “change of the institutional culture that allowed so much suffering to occur”.

The chapter approved documents outlining commitments for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults and for reckoning with its scandalous past.

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LOUISIANA
NOLA.com

February 27, 2020

By Ramon Antonio Vargas

A religious brother who worked several years at Jesuit High School in New Orleans — and had an endowed scholarship set up in his honor — was among four names added Thursday to a list of members of the Jesuit order suspected of sexual abuse while they worked in a region including Louisiana.

The update to the list marks the first time Jesuit officials have acknowledged they believe Everard J. Booth, who died in 1986, was an abuser.

Booth was the subject of “more than one” credible allegation, the order said. It didn’t specify where the alleged abuse occurred but said the “estimated timeframe” was in the 1960s. In a separate statement, Jesuit High officials said Thursday that the allegations do not involve students or Booth’s work at the school.

Besides Jesuit High and regional administrative offices in New Orleans, Booth was stationed at St. Charles College in Grand Coteau in St. Landry Parish, as well as two colleges in the country now known as Sri Lanka.

Other names newly added to the Jesuit order’s list are priests Jose Angel Borges, James Loeffler and Benjamin Smylie, who are all dead. Of those three, Loeffler was the only one ever stationed in Louisiana, serving a stint at Grand Coteau’s Christ the King Parish.

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UNITED STATES
SNAPNetwork.org

February 26, 2020

We’re here to protect innocent kids and vulnerable adults. We’re not here to punish or persecute anyone. This is about public safety and victims’ healing. When those happen, then it may be time for forgiveness or redemption,which are, in fact, private actions, not public actions. Public actions are what will keep others safe and help others heal.

We start with a simple truth: Sexual violence happens when those who commit or conceal it escape consequences.

We fear that’s what’s happening now, in part, because of the Missouri Baptist Convention.

The Convention has tapped Dr. Mike Roy to be on the board of trustees at Southwest Baptist University.

–This all stems from the case of Shawn Davies, who pled guilty in 2007 to molesting boys at First Baptist Church of Greenwood. Roy was the senior pastor there. Davies was youth and music minister. https://www.snapnetwork.org/news/baptist/baptist_minister_convicted.htm

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PENNSYLVANIA
Patheos: Through a Catholic Lens (blog)

February 27, 2020

By Fr Matthew P. Schneider, LC

A year ago, I reported on how the diocese had dealt well with a priest once child pornography was found on his computer. Fr. Virgil Bradley Tetherow, who also goes by Fr. Gabriel Francis, was quickly suspended and later defrocked. I think the diocese did what they could to deal with the situation and they can’t really do much except warn people once he’s defrocked.

When I wrote the article in January 2019, it looked like Fr. Tetherow was no longer involved in the independent Latin Mass chapel as his name had been scrubbed from their website and Facebook page. (I should have used the Wayback Machine to save this, but I did not think of it at the time and nobody else saved the clergy/pastor page either.) However, his name is back on the St. Michael the Archangel website as the pastor. (See the image on the right.) Also, regular homilies by Tetherow from the past year are posted on the site.

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SPRINGFIELD (MA)
Daily Hampshire Gazette

February 27, 2020

By Michael Connors

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has appointed three people to its newly created team of investigators in its Office of Safe Environment and Victim Assistance.

Retired Springfield Police Capt. C. Lee Bennett, retired Springfield Police Lt. Norman F. Charest and Brenda Burge, an investigator for the state Department of Children and Families, have been named as the new investigators, according to a press release. They will serve as administrative investigators in abuse claims made to the Diocesan Review Board, the release said.

Jeffrey J. Trant, the office’s director, said in the statement released Monday that the hirings were part of a number of changesin how allegations of abuse are handled by the diocese. In 2019, the Berkshire Eagle reported that the Springfield Diocese tried to repress molestation accusations against Bishop Christopher J. Weldon by a former altar boy, who served in the 1960s. Last June, the diocese announced the reorganization of its Office of Safe Environment and Victim Assistance, saying the office will build on abuse awareness training, among other measures, to fulfill its mission.

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SUFFERN (NY)
The Journal News

February 21, 2020

A priest in the Tagaste Monastery and Sacred Heart Church in Suffern sexually assaulted and raped multiple women, Suffern police said.

A woman congregant told a priest in the monastery that she was sexually assaulted by 51-year-old Fidel Hernandez in 2018, according to police.

The clergy member contacted the Archdiocese, which contacted the Rockland District Attorney’s Office.

During the course of a joint investigation by the Suffern police and DA’s office, a second victim came forward, saying she was sexually assaulted by Hernandez too.

Suffern Police Chief Clarke Osborn said, at this time, they don’t know of any other victims, but if there are, he urges them to come forward.

“This is an ongoing investigation and we ask that anyone that feels they were a victim or knows of a potential victim to come forward and contact either the Suffern Police Department or the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office,” Suffern police said in a statement.

The announcment of Hernandez’s arrest was made at last weekend’s masses, Osborn said.
Hernandez was arraigned today in Suffern village court on charges of first-degree rape, first-degree criminal sexual act, first-degree sexual abuse and forcible touching and released on $50,000 bail pending a future court date.

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SUFFERN (NY)
The Journal News

February 27, 2020

By Christopher J. Eberhart

A Suffern priest accused of raping two women faces more charges after he was indicted by a grand jury in Rockland County Court on Wednesday.

Fidel Hernandez, 51, was indicted on charges of first- and third-degree rape as well as three counts of first-degree criminal sexual act and three counts of third-degree criminal sexual act.

He was originally charged with first-degree rape, first-degree criminal sexual act, first-degree sexual abuse and forcible touching.

[ARREST: Suffern monastery priest sexually assaulted at least two congregants: Cops]

“This indictment sends the message that this office will prosecute those whom are to be trusted by their congregants,” Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Walsh said in a statement. “We cannot turn a blind eye to clergy sexual abuse cases. I hope that this indictment encourages others who may have seen, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes to come forward and make a report to their local police or district attorneys.”

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VATICAN CITY
Associated Press

February 27, 2020

By Nicole Winfield

The Legion of Christ religious order is promising accountability and transparency following damaging new revelations of sex abuse and cover-up that have undermined its credibility, a decade after revelations of its pedophile founder disgraced the order.

The Legion vowed to investigate the confirmed cases of past abuse by 33 priests and 71 seminarians. The Mexico-based order said it would reach out to the victims, publish the names of those found guilty of abuse in either a church or a state court, and punish superiors responsible for “gross negligence” in the handling of abuse accusations.

The measures described in a statement late Wednesday were responding to a burgeoning new scandal involving the order. The Vatican took over the Legion 10 years ago following revelations that its late founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, raped his seminarians, fathered at least three children and built a secretive, cult-like order to hide his double life.

Recent revelations have shown the Legion’s abuse problem went far beyond Maciel. Newly public cases exposed generational chains of abuse and high-level cover-up by superiors who are still in power. The cases indicated that the Vatican envoy who was tasked with reforming and purifying the order was part of the cover-up.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

February 28, 2020

By Mike McAndrew

Three former Maryvale School District students have accused their music teacher of sexually abusing them decades ago, according to Child Victims Act lawsuits against the district.

Stanley Bratt, a Maryvale East Elementary School teacher who died in 1980, according to the school district, is accused of abusing a 9- to 12-year-old boy from 1968-1971, a 9- to 10-year-old student from 1970-71 and an 11- to 15-year old student from 1973-1977.

The plaintiffs were not identified in the legal papers.

Attorney Julia Hilliker, who represents the school district, said that the district received no complaints about Bratt abusing children prior to the lawsuits being filed.

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ROCHESTER (NY)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

February 28, 2020

By Steve Orr

Claimants must get their form to Stretto, a bankruptcy-support company based in California hired by the diocese to handle claims.

Aug. 13 deadline has been set as the deadline for filing claims against the Rochester diocese for past sexual abuse of minors by priests and other church ministers.

An order signed by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul Warren on Tuesday also specified the means by which people can file claims and laid out a plan to advertise the process throughout New York state.

Diocesan officials have said they’ve received notice of more than 200 allegations of past abuse by church ministers, though the final number of claims is likely to be higher.

The deadline and other details of the claims process were set as part of the diocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding in which diocesan officials are hoping to raise funds to pay abuse claimants while preserving sufficient assets to continue their ministry.

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UNITED STATES
USA Today

February 28, 2020

Money would help pay victims of sexual abuse

“Norman Rockwell is really an American icon. He hits the heartstrings of people when they see it. His images resonate with nostalgia.” Barbara J. Sussman an accredited member of the American Society of Appraisers

Potentially worth millions, artwork could be at risk of liquidation to satisfy creditors. Buried in the fine print of a document filed as part of the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy last week is a brief mention of a potentially huge asset: “original Rockwell paintings.”

The disclosure that the organization owns works by Norman Rockwell, the American painter and illustrator, is hardly a surprise since the artist and Scouts have been linked for more than a century. But the acknowledgment of those valuable assets, potentially worth millions to creditors, could set off a legal fight over their future.

With the Boy Scouts estimating they’ll face about 1,700 lawsuits over alleged sexual abuse dating back decades, the nonprofit is under pressure to sell off its holdings to pay victims. By filing for bankruptcy, the organization has tried to provide itself a path to carry out that process in an orderly way.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

February 28, 2020

By Jay Tokasz

The Buffalo Diocese, awash with lawsuits alleging child sex abuse by priests, nuns and others, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday, marking another chapter in a scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in Western New York since early 2018.

The Buffalo Diocese already is named as a defendant in 260 cases, more than any other institution in the state, and potentially faces huge losses if the cases go to trial.

The filing puts the lawsuits on hold and stops efforts by debtors to collect from the diocese. It does not mean that the diocese or its parishes are going out of business.

The diocese’s voluntary petition for non-individuals listed assets of $10 to $50 million and liabilities of $50 to $100 million and said the diocese had between 200 and 999 creditors.

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STODDARD COUNTY (MO)
KFVS-TV (Channel 12)

February 19, 2020

By Amber Ruch

A retired Catholic priest in the Heartland was charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse with children.

According to Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver, 76-year-old Frederick Lutz was arrested at his home in Springfield on a Stoddard County warrant for charges of forcible sodomy, two counts of statutory sodomy second degree and felony sexual abuse related to allegations of sex crimes that happened while Lutz served as the priest at St. Joseph Parish in Advance, Mo. His bond was set at $125,000 cash only.

He was taken to the Stoddard County Jail on Wednesday afternoon to be booked.

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ROCHESTER (NY)
WXXI

February 26, 2020

By Alex Crichton

Law firms representing clients in sex abuse lawsuits against the Rochester Catholic Diocese are urging survivors to file their claim before August 13, a deadline handed down by the bankruptcy court presiding over the Diocese’s bankruptcy filing.

Last fall, the Rochester Diocese was the first in New York to seek bankruptcy protection due to numerous lawsuits filed against the diocese under the Child Victims Act. James Marsh, founder of the New York City-based Marsh Law Firm, says the bankruptcy court has issued an August 13 deadline, called a bar date, for survivors to file their claims. After that date, no further claims can be filed.

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MISSISSIPPI
The Clarion-Ledger

February 24, 2020

By Sarah Fowler

Congressman Bennie Thompson has asked the Department of Justice to investigate settlements given to two victims of clergy abuse, saying in a letter that Catholic officials “exploited” the young men.

Last August, cousins La Jarvis Love and Joshua Love told The Associated Press they were repeatedly abused by Brother Paul West during the 1990s, when they were elementary school students at St. Francis of Assisi School in Greenwood, Mississippi.

West’s name is on the list of clergy members credibly accused of sexual abuse released by the Jackson Diocese last March.

In a letter dated Feb. 20, Thompson outlined the abuse inflicted on La Jarvis, Joshua and Raphael Love by West and the $15,000 settlement La Jarvis and Joshua Love each received from the Catholic Church.

Across the United States, settlements have ranged much higher. In 2006, the Catholic Diocese of Jackson, which includes Greenwood, settled lawsuits involving 19 victims — 17 of whom were white — for $5 million, with an average payment of more than $250,000 per victim.

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MISSISSIPPI
Associated Press

February 26, 2020

A congressman is asking the Department of Justice to investigate settlements to two men who say they were victims of clergy abuse at a Catholic school in Mississippi.

In a letter, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson says Catholic officials “exploited” the young men, The Clarion Ledger reported.

They were paid far less than what others have received through legal settlements with the church, the Mississippi Democrat said.

The request for an investigation comes after The Associated Press made details of the cases public in a story last year.

The two cousins told the AP they were repeatedly abused during the 1990s, as elementary school students at St. Francis of Assisi School in Greenwood, Mississippi. The cousins were each paid $15,000.

The settlements, Thompson wrote, were “far less than what many other sex abuse victims have received through legal settlements with the Catholic church.”

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PHOENIX (AZ)
The Republic

February 26, 2020

By Lauren Castle

A former Catholic priest who was indicted on child sex crimes has died before his trial, according to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.

John “Jack” Dallas Spaulding died Tuesday at the age of 75.

He was facing six counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and one count of molestation of a child. The two boys were under the age of 15 during the alleged incidents, which were reported to have occurred in 2003 and 2007.

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CANADA
LaCroix Internationa

February 26, 2020

By Sister Nuala Kenny OC, MD

“See, O Lord, how distressed I am; my stomach churns, my heart is wrung within me (Lamentations 1:20)

‘I pray for this effort to finally address coherently the theologies necessary to reform the cultural and systemic factors operative in the clergy abuse crisis’

As a pediatrician, I know the devastating harms of the physical and sexual abuse of children and youth by family members and trusted others in society.

I have held the shaking and bleeding body of a raped 12-year-old boy and tried to comfort a seven-year-old girl terrified of being touched after assault.

As a religious sister, I have wept often in 30 years of work on sexual abuse by clergy.

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SPRINGFIELD (MO)
Springfield News-Leader

February 25, 2020

By Harrison Keegan

A spokeswoman said the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau was aware in 2002 that one of its priests had been accused of sexually abusing a teen.

But the accused clergyman was allowed to keep working as a priest for the next nine years, until he retired in 2011.

That now-former priest, 76-year-old Frederick Lutz, was arrested at his Springfield home last week on charges of forcible sodomy, statutory sodomy and sexual abuse for acts that allegedly occurred in 2000 in Stoddard County in southeast Missouri.

The criminal charges stem from those same allegations that the diocese says it found out about in 2002, involving a 17-year-old boy.

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MISSOURI
Baptist News Global

February 26, 2020

By Bob Allen

Advocates for survivors of clergy sexual abuse criticized the Missouri Baptist Convention for electing a university trustee accused in 2005 of not cooperating with police in what media at the time described as Missouri’s biggest clergy sex-abuse case to date.

The Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests and the For Such A Time As This Rally announced Wednesday they will urge Missouri’s attorney general to launch a statewide investigation into Baptist child sex crimes and cover ups similar to one conducted last year involving the state’s four Roman Catholic dioceses.

Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, announced Feb. 24 that trustees will launch their own investigation into whether a newly elected trustee “imposed” on the university by the Missouri affiliate of the Southern Baptist Convention mishandled child sexual abuse allegations against one of his staff members in 2005.

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[The Chilean Church two years after the Scicluna mission: what changed and what remained]

CHILE
La Tercera

February 21, 2020

By Juan Paulo Iglesias/Sergio Rodríguez

El 19 de febrero de 2018 el prelado de Malta llegó, enviado por el Papa Francisco, para ver qué pasaba con el obispo Juan Barros. Terminó recibiendo decenas de testimonios de abusos, que detonaron la crisis. Dos entidades laicas analizan lo recorrido

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UNITED STATES
USA TODAY

February 24, 2020

By Kevin McCoy

Raul Diaz envied the kids from his New York City neighborhood who’d joined the Boy Scouts of America during the 1960s. Hoping to go on camping trips, too, he convinced his mother to let him sign up.

The decision led to a half-century-long saga — not of pitching tents, paddling canoes and earning merit badges, but of anguishing over the sexual abuse he suffered.

Diaz, now 60, is among thousands of people who have taken advantage of sweeping legal changes that extend statutes of limitations to allow the abused to sue their attackers.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
York Daily Record

February 25, 2020

By Sam Ruland

As the sun began to go down and the shadows of the church vanished from the sidewalk, Shannon Bailey hustled up the steps of St. Patrick’s Church of York, eager to get a good seat before the service started Sunday.

A lifelong Catholic, Bailey, 54, attends Mass weekly, praying for everyone she knows — her dozens of nieces and nephews, the neighbors in the house next door, her daughter’s volleyball team, the feral cats that infiltrate her back yard. She hasn’t let her faith be dissuaded by the sex abuse crisis that’s engulfed the Catholic Church.

It’s not her place to pass judgment, she said.

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DETROIT (MI)
CNA

February 25, 2020

By JD Flynn

A group of Detroit Catholics has filed a lawsuit claiming that the Archdiocese of Detroit fabricated an allegation of rape against their pastor in order to avoid media criticism about its handling of abuse allegations, and has mishandled the canonical case against him.

The Archdiocese of Detroit said it can not speak on the specifics of the case, but that it takes allegations of clerical abuse very seriously.

The lawsuit alleges that an archdiocesan official “twisted…allegations and fabricated a rape charge against Fr. Perrone in order to force the AOD to remove Fr. Perrone, and, thereby, shield the AOD and [Msgr. Michael] Bugarin from a negative AP story.”

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LIVINGSTON COUNTY (NY)
Livingston County News

February 26, 2020

By Matt Leader

A former Catholic priest who served at churches in Avon and Dansville in the 1980s is named as a defendant in two Child Victims Act lawsuits, filed earlier this month in Livingston County Supreme Court.

Joseph Edward Larrabee, who was ordained in 1980, is accused of sexually abusing two teenagers at least 19 times between 1982 and 1984 by exploiting his position as a priest at St. Agnes Church in Avon.

Larrabee could not be reached for comment. The former priest’s accusers, now in their 50s, brought their civil suits Feb. 4. They’re both represented by Simmons Hanly Conroy, a national firm with offices across the country, and the Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston firm that’s represented victims of the Catholic Church for decades. Larrabee’s accusers are both demanding jury trials.

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UNITED STATES
PBS

February 24, 2020

By Pamela Foohey

The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy to figure out how to fairly compensate thousands of survivors of alleged sexual abuse who accuse the Scouts of neglecting to protect them.

Revelations regarding decades of the abuse of children and long-running institutional failures to stop the abuse are raising questions about the future of the Boy Scouts and what will become of its troops. The Scouts’ initial bankruptcy documents state that 275 lawsuits are pending in state and federal courts across the country, and that attorneys for survivors estimate another 1,400 claims will be filed. The Scouts disclosed that they have spent $150 million on settlements and legal fees between 2017 and 2019.

I’m a legal scholar who has studied the bankruptcy cases filed by hundreds of nonprofits, including religious ones like Catholic dioceses. Based on what I’ve observed, I anticipate that this step may allow the Boy Scouts to continue operating and to establish an effective way to adjudicate and pay sexual abuse survivors.

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NEW YORK (NY)
The New York Times

February 25, 2020

By Neil Vigdor

The oldest school for the deaf in the United States has reported dozens of cases of sexual and physical abuse by nine former staff members that it said took place over more than three decades — including instances in which some students were forced to eat until they vomited or were confined in closets as a form of corporal punishment.

The learning institution, the American School for the Deaf, which was founded in 1817 in Hartford, Connecticut, detailed the pattern of abuse in a report after a yearlong investigation by an outside lawyer hired by the school.

The report, which was released Friday and based on interviews with 81 alumni, former faculty and staff members and other witnesses, said the abuse occurred from the 1950s through the 1980s at the main campus, now in West Hartford, and at the school’s Camp Isola Bella summer facility in Salisbury, Connecticut.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

February 25, 2020

By Jamie Manson

Since the news broke Saturday morning that Jean Vanier had coercive, nonconsensual and abusive sexual encounters with at least six adult women, my social media feeds have been filled with folks trying to make sense of these revelations.

I admit that Vanier was not someone I looked to for spiritual inspiration. Though he was not a priest, my years of experiencing the clericalism of both the clergy and the laity had made me weary and wary of the Catholic tendency towards hero worship, particularly of grand older men.

The fact that I did not have an emotional tie to Vanier may have helped me take an unflinching look at L’Arche’s 10 page report on the abuses that he and his mentor, Dominican Fr. Thomas Philippe, perpetrated against vulnerable women.

L’Arche should be commended for its support of Vanier’s victims and for its fearless transparency about its founder’s misconduct. Tina Bovermann, national leader/executive director of L’Arche USA, has modeled for all church leaders how to deal with abuse with integrity and compassion.

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CHARLESTON (WV)
Associated Press

February 24, 2020

By John Raby

The net assets of West Virginia’s Catholic Diocese dropped by $4.8 million during a fiscal year that coincided with the resignation of its bishop amid allegations of sexual and financial misconduct, an audit shows.

The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston released the audit last week spanning the period from June 30, 2018, to June 30, 2019. Net assets totaled $352.3 million, down from $357 million a year earlier, according to the findings made public by current Bishop Mark E. Brennan. Liabilities totaled $70.3 million, up from $65.2 million.

Brennan’s predecessor, Bishop Michael Bransfield, resigned in September 2018 and has denied wrongdoing.

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CANBERRA (AUSTRALIA)
Catholic News Service

February 24, 2020

Australia’s High Court has released the full set of submissions for Cardinal George Pell’s March 11 and 12 final appeal hearing against historic child sexual abuse crimes.

The first appeal by Pell – who continues to claim he is innocent – was dismissed 2-1 by a panel of judges of the Victorian Supreme Court in August. The documents released in late February show that the High Court requested submissions from Pell’s counsel about the fact that the three judges of the Victorian court decided to view the original video testimony from Pell’s only living victim as they considered his appeal.

As the only living witness to the crime, the victim’s testimony sits at the center of Pell’s conviction. The other victim, one of two 13-year-old choirboys he is convicted of assaulting in 1996 while archbishop of Melbourne, is deceased. The victims’ identities remain secret due to their age at the time of the offenses.

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JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
Word&Way

February 25, 2020

By Brian Kaylor

Leaders of the Missouri Baptist Convention defended a pastor accused by police of not properly handling a case of a staff member sexually abusing boys. However, they did not address the key allegation, and they misrepresented the nature of the claims.

After old allegations against a Baptist pastor resurfaced over the weekend, Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, announced Feb. 22 it would investigate the claims involving Mike Roy, who was elected by the MBC in October to serve as an SBU trustee. Roy was among five trustees chosen by the MBC’s Nominating Committee after that committee rejected nominees by SBU and misled MBC messengers about the nomination process.

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CROOKSTON (MN)
Church Militant

February 25, 2020

By Martina Moyski

Crookston faithful call for prayer, fasting, sacrifice, witnessing

Working to reverse the tide of corruption in their scandal-wracked diocese, laity in the northern Minnesota diocese of Crookston launched a website Feb. 24 to rally the faithful to prayer.

The website, called TruthDOC (Truth Diocese of Crookston), has been designed and is financed entirely by faithful lay people of the diocese “who are committed to praying, fasting, sacrificing and witnessing for truth, purification, conversion and justice.”

The initiative comes amid a series of controversies — chief among them, allegations of clerical sex abuse cover-up by Crookston Bp. Michael Hoeppner, who has the distinction of being the first prelate in the world to be investigated under the new Vatican protocol designed to hold Catholic hierarchy accountable for concealing the crimes of predator priests.

A project organizer told Church Militant that multiple purposes for the website exist, one being to give Catholics a “big picture” of what’s going on in the Church rather than “bits and pieces of incomplete information.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

February 19, 2020

By Kathy Kane

Join CHILD USA and SNAP on Wednesday 2/26 for an exclusive sneak peak of ‘A Peloton of One,’ a documentary following Dave Ohlmuller’s journey across the country to bring awareness to child sex abuse advocacy and statute of limitations reform. As part of the CHILD USA Film Series, the screening will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Professor Marci A. Hamilton, featuring grassroots activist Art Baselice and Executive Producer/Survivor Joe Capozzi, co-directors John Bernardo and Steve Mallorca. Viewers are invited to stay for a complimentary reception afterwards!

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Saxon

February 24, 2020

By Maria Batterbury

Despite the fact that the Catholic Church is determined to deal with cases of sexual abuse of priests on young parishioners, cases of exposure lustful pedophiles in cassocks are constantly growing.

Another scandal, sexual violence occurred recently in the United States, where a Catholic priest from the city of Strongsville (Ohio) charged with possession of child pornography.

In addition, arrested Robert McWilliams also suspected of involvement in a number of other sexual crimes, reports news portal WTRF.

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