ABUSE TRACKER

On April 29, “Trey’s Law” passed the Missouri Senate as an amendment to HB-737. The child protection bill, sponsored by Sen. Jamie Burger and authored by Rep. Melissa Schmidt, now awaits Gov. Mike Kehoe’s signature.

Sponsored by Sen. Brad Hudson as SB-590, “Trey’s Law” prohibits the misuse of nondisclosure agreements against child sexual abuse and trafficking victims in civil settlement agreements.

Missouri

The bill passed in the Missouri Senate Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee back in April. Versions of “Trey’s Law” also were championed in the Missouri House by Rep. Brian Seitz and House Judiciary Chair Cameron Parker.

“These are legal mechanisms that were created to protect trade secrets, not trauma secrets,” Seitz said in a recent address on the House floor when his version of “Trey’s Law” was perfected.

Several victims of Kanakuk Kamps, a summer camp ministry based in Seitz’s district and currently under multiple litigations related to serial child sexual…

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As history was made a few hours ago here in Rome, I listened to the church bells and roar of the crowd. I was surprised to hear that the world would have an American born pope, Pope Leo XIV.   I am glad I wasn’t in St Peter’s square in the midst of the revelry.  The adoration for a man I’ve heard mixed reviews about, frankly makes me worry.  There is a sense here of instant elevation to “almost sainthood,” with all practical skepticism abandoned. 

The only advantage that American cardinals have over those in other countries is their familiarity with the expectation of zero tolerance and transparency.  Most American cardinals’ adherence to these ideals is lukewarm at best, but at least they’ve taken a stab at it.  Not so in most of the world!  Unfortunately, Cardinal Prevost was never a bishop or cardinal in the US.  His leadership was mostly…

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One of the most pressing issues facing Pope Leo XIV is tackling sexual abuse by clergy in the Catholic Church — and campaigners say he has a mixed record.

Two victims’ rights groups, SNAP and Bishop Accountability, issued statements following his election as the first pope from the United States on Thursday, questioning the 69-year-old’s commitment to lifting the lid on the scourge.

As head of the Augustinian order worldwide and then as bishop of the Peruvian diocese of Chiclayo between 2015 and 2023, “he released no names of abusers”, Bishop Accountability’s Anne Barrett Doyle alleged.

The same was true of his two years as head of the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, a key Vatican department that advised Pope Francis on the appointment of bishops, she said.

“Prevost oversaw cases filed… against bishops accused of sexual abuse and of cover-up. He maintained the secrecy of that process, releasing no names…

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The remarks, delivered in Italian and Spanish, were made from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Leo XIV delivered his first public remarks since taking over as leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. He urged the world to seek peace and remember those who suffer. The following is a transcript of his speech.

Peace be with you! Dearest brothers and sisters, this was the first greeting of the risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave his life for the flock of God. I, too, would like this greeting of peace to enter your hearts, to reach your families and all people, wherever they are; and all the peoples, and all the earth: Peace be with you.

This is the peace of the risen Christ, a disarming and humble and preserving peace. It comes from God. God, who loves all of…

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[Includes the full text of Pope Leo XIV’s first homily]

Jesus’ question is not insignificant. “It concerns an essential aspect of our ministry, namely, the world in which we live, with its limitations and its potential, its questions and its convictions.”

Beautiful: There’s hardly another word for Pope Leo XIV’s first Mass. The vibrant colors of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel contrasted with the dazzling white vestments of row after row of cardinals, punctuated in places by a brightly-dressed cardinal of the Eastern Churches.

The perfectly intoned melodies of the men and boys of the Sistine Chapel choir and the precise careful movements of the monsignors in charge of papal ceremonies. It is the Church in all her splendor, proud and joyous with her new Successor of Peter.

With the strength of youth (he’s only 69) and a firm voice, the new Pope began the homily … in his native…

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Just over 2,000 of the 10,783 Child Victims Act lawsuits filed from 2019 to 2021 have been settled or disposed of.

Back in 2019, James Manfredonia and some of his former Little League teammates thought they would finally be able to confront the coach who they allege abused them decades ago when they sued him under New York’s Child Victims Act.

Five years later, they have yet to get a trial date, and their lawsuit against Tony Sagona remains in limbo.

The Sagona case is no outlier. For two years, from 2019 to 2021, 10,783 lawsuits were filed under the Child Victims Act in New York on behalf of 14,588 men and women who say teachers, coaches, priests and other authority figures sexually abused them as children decades ago, according to figures provided by the state’s Unified Court System.

Of those cases, 7,632 were assigned to judges,…

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Surprise, hope, excitement and pride were reflected in many of the initial reactions to Cardinal Robert Prevost on May 8 emerging on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as Pope Leo XIV.

Prevost, a 69-year-old Chicago-born Augustinian friar who has spent much of his ecclesial career abroad, is the first pope born in the United States, a development once thought to be near impossible among Vatican experts.

Kansas City, Kansas, Archbishop-elect Shawn McKnight — the last archbishop appointed by Pope Francis — told National Catholic Reporter that he was “floored, stunned and full of hope.”

Dominican Sr. Barbara Reid, president of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where Prevost graduated with a Master of Divinity in 1982, told NBC News Chicago that she was not prepared for the news.

“We are overjoyed that someone who is beloved and known to us is now the beloved leader of…

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We are concerned about the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as pope. His known record on abuse, with one exception, is troubling. He has been accused by victims in his former diocese in Peru of disregarding their allegations against two priests, and he has a history of resisting disclosure of abuse information to the public.

For the last two years, as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Prevost oversaw cases filed under Vos estis against bishops accused of sexual abuse and of cover-up. He maintained the secrecy of that process, releasing no names and no data. Under his watch, no complicit bishop was stripped of his title.  

As Superior General of the Augustinians and then bishop of the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru from 2015 to 2023, he released no names of abusers.

Most disturbing is an allegation from victims in his former diocese in Peru that he never opened…

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Pope Leo XIV, history’s first U.S.-born pontiff, said Friday that his election was both a cross to bear and a blessing as he celebrated his first Mass as the head of the Catholic Church.

Leo spoke off-the-cuff in English in the Sistine Chapel to the cardinals who elected him to follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis, who put a commitment to social justice at the core of his papacy. He acknowledged the great responsibility they had placed on him before delivering a brief but dense homily on the need to joyfully spread Christianity in a world that often mocks it.

“You have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission, and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me as we continue as a church, as a community, as friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the…

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Robert Prevost may have made history Thursday by becoming the first pope from the United States. But in Peru, he is known as the saintly missionary who waded through mud after torrential rains flooded the region, bringing help to needy people, and as the bishop who spearheaded the life-saving purchase of oxygen production plants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“He worked so hard to find help, that there was not only enough for one plant, but for two oxygen plants,” said Janinna Sesa, who met Prevost while she worked for the church’s Caritas nonprofit in Peru.

“He has no problem fixing a broken-down truck until it runs,” she added.

Pope Francis, history’s first Latin American pope, clearly saw something in Prevost early on.

He first sent him to Chiclayo in 2014, then brought him to the Vatican in 2023 as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations, one of…

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How much the experiences of the US Catholic Church will influence the new pope on this issue is unknown.

An American pope was considered a longshot to be selected as a successor to Pope Francis. But now that it has happened, Pope Leo XIV could be the best hope survivors and their advocates have when it comes to getting the Catholic Church to finally address the long-running clergy sexual abuse scandal in a meaningful way.

It may be a slender hope. After all, files on sexual abuse allegations are still kept secret, widespread coverup still exists in the US Catholic Church, and the new pope’s record on this issue is mixed. But as Anne Barrett Doyle, cofounder of BishopAccountability.org, a Waltham-based watchdog group, wrote recently for the National Catholic Reporter, “Thanks largely to the United States’ unique civil justice system and robust free press, bishops here have…

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 Robert Prevost, the Chicago-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and took over the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first pope from the United States in the history of the Catholic Church on Thursday.

Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order, took the name Leo XIV.

In his first words as Pope Francis’ successor, uttered from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, Leo said, “Peace be with you,” and emphasized a message of “a disarmed and disarming peace” dialogue and missionary evangelization. He wore the traditional red cape and trappings of the papacy — a cape that Francis had eschewed on his election in 2013 — suggesting a return to some degree of tradition after Francis’ unorthodox pontificate.

“I would also like to thank all my brother cardinals who have chosen me to be the successor of Peter and to walk together with you…

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As high-profile cardinals urge votes for Prevost, some abuse advocates raise concern

[See also Robert Herguth, Accuser dies at 43.]

As the Church’s College of Cardinals prepare to enter the papal conclave Wednesday, American Cardinal Robert Prevost is reportedly among the prelates most-discussed for election to the papal office.

While Prevost reportedly has high-profile advocates among the cardinals, the prospect of a Prevost papacy is also prompting pushback.

And as cardinals tell The Pillar they’re aiming for a pontiff unsullied by the prospect of scandal, it is not clear whether the allegations and reports about Prevost’s leadership will prove a deterrent to the prospect of his election, or whether cardinals will consider them a kind of weaponized smear campaign against a candidate in the mold of Pope Francis.

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Prevost, 69, is the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a high-profile position that’s made him known to cardinals from around the planet,…

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How the Vatican’s bishop-maker was forged in Chicago and Peru.

When Robert Francis Prevost was growing up in Chicago in the 1960s, a steady stream of priests passed through his family home. They were drawn by the irresistible dishes prepared by his mother, Mildred Martínez, who was of Spanish descent.

Proximity to clergy wasn’t the only reason he considered the priesthood in his youth. There was also the example of his father, Louis Marius Prevost, who had French and Italian roots, and served as a catechist. The youngster also had a positive experience of parish life, serving as an altar boy and attending the parish school.

Once he was convinced of his call to the priesthood, he faced another discernment challenge: should he become a diocesan priest or join a religious order? After wrestling with the decision, he opted to join an Augustinian minor seminary, appreciating the order’s stress on unity,…

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Among 133 cardinals locked in the Sistine chapel, three Filipinos are voting to elect the future pope. While Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is topping the list of “papabili” in the world press, it’s another Filipino that would please advocates and victims of clerical sexual abuse. His name is Cardinal Pablo Virgilio Siongco David of Kalookan.

Survivors and victim-advocates, speaking ahead of the conclave to elect a new pope, said what they expect from the future pope is to continue to listen to victims but also to hold those in power accountable.

Defender of Human Rights

Although considered a “baby cardinal” — only elevated to cardinalate on Dec. 7, 2024, the last consistory that Pope Francis called — Cardinal David made a mark during general congregations that followed Pope Francis’ death and ended May 6, the eve of the conclave.

On May 3, three cardinals told the French Catholic daily La…

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Towards the end of this year’s legislative session, the Washington State Legislature passed a bill (SB5375) making all clergy mandatory reporters of abuse, with no exemptions for the privileged communication between priest and penitent during the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This means that by Washington State Law, Catholic clergy are now required to violate the seal of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, better known to many as confession. On Friday, May 2, 2025, Governor Ferguson signed the bill into law.

This weekend at Mass, the first reading was from the Acts of the Apostles. After the apostles were arrested and thrown into jail for preaching the name of Jesus Christ, St. Peter responds to the Sanhedrin: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). This is our stance now in the face of this new law. Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession – or they will be excommunicated…

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The Catholic bishops in Spokane and Seattle have told parishioners they will not fully comply with a new Washington law that requires clergy to report sexual abuse to police, similar to teachers, police officers and other professionals.

Catholic leaders say that priests who hear confessions are obligated to keep those confessions secret, but that they are supportive of the rule outside of the Catholic sacrament of confession.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced this week that it has opened an investigation into the law, alleging that it “appears on its face to violate the First Amendment.”

In separate statements, Thomas Daly, bishop of Spokane, said “shepherds, bishops and priests, are committed to keeping the seal of confession – even to the point of going to jail,” and Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle said those who break the seal of confession face excommunication from the church.

“All Catholics must know and…

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Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Last week, I promised I would consult local Church officers to reexamine the current legal position of the Diocese of Camden in the case being argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court, in which we have been objecting to the empanelment of a grand jury for the purposes of a presentment on clergy sexual abuse in the State of New Jersey.  Last Thursday, I convened our Diocese’s Board of Trustees, College of Consulters and Finance Council who, with unanimous consent, agreed to withdraw our objection to said empanelment before the Court.

The following day, I went with members of our legal counsel to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office to inform them of our decision. We expressed our desire to be partners with them in this public service, even as we encouraged them to acknowledge the tremendous work being done for the last 23 years by…

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The Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, said this week that it will drop its fight against the state’s efforts to empanel a grand jury to investigate clergy abuse allegations.

Camden Bishop Joseph Williams earlier this month said he intended to “do the right thing” for abuse victims in the diocese, which has been embroiled in a yearslong fight with the state of New Jersey over whether the government can empanel a grand jury to investigate allegations of abuse by priests and other Church officials. 

The New Jersey Supreme Court heard arguments from both the diocese and the state last month on the matter. But in a Monday letter to the high court, Trenton-based law firm Cooper Levenson said that, per Williams, the diocese “will not object to the empanelment of a grand jury” any further. 

The bishop made the decision “in consultation with the diocese’s…

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The Catholic Diocese of Camden has abandoned its attempt to prevent state prosecutors from convening a grand jury to investigate clergy abuse, an unexpected move that comes just a week after the New Jersey Supreme Court heard heated arguments on the matter.

Bishop Joseph A. Williams, in a Tuesday letter to parishioners, said he met last Thursday with the diocese’s trustees and other leaders, and they unanimously agreed to end their seven-year battle to prevent the state Office of the Attorney General from presenting the findings of its clergy abuse task force to a grand jury. State attorneys had hoped grand jurors would issue a presentment, in which they’d publicly condemn abusive priests and church leaders who covered up abuse and recommend reforms to prevent such harms from happening again.

The battle had been waged in secret, since diocesan lawyers years ago successfully persuaded judges to seal all…

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One of Germany’s most senior clerics, part of the conclave gathering to elect a new pope, must pay 26,000 euros ($29,500) to a charity to settle an allegation of perjury linked to a historic case of sexual abuse, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

They added they would end their investigation into the cardinal on condition of the payment being made.

Cardinal Rainer Woelki, the archbishop of Cologne, was under investigation for testimony he gave about abuse committed by a priest who died in 2019.The probe found reasonable suspicion that the cardinal had made false statements on two occasions during his legal dispute with the Bild tabloid in August 2022 and March 2023, the Cologne prosecutor said in a statement.

The false statements were, however, attributed to negligence.

“I am pleased and grateful that we have now come to a conclusion. We can now devote all our energy to the challenging tasks of the…

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As cardinals gather in the Vatican to elect a new pope — with a Filipino among the favourites — the church in Asia’s most Catholic country is grappling with a decline in those with a vocation for the priesthood.

“According to the statistics we have… one priest is catering to around 9,000 Catholics,” John Alfred Rabena, chancellor of UST Central Seminary, one the country’s oldest, said this week.

It is a situation that was leading to “exhaustion” among an overworked clergy, he told AFP during a visit to the seminary’s art deco building on the sprawling University of Santo Tomas campus.

Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is among the favourites to succeed Pope Francis, while another Filipino, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, has emerged as a late dark horse candidate.

While officially cautioned not to campaign for their countrymen, clergymen in the Philippines told AFP they believe a Filipino pope could…

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A psychologist, who worked closely with the late Pope Francis in a task force to end clerical abuse, hoped for a new pope that will continue the former pontiff’s work.

According to a “24 Oras” report by Vicky Morales on Wednesday, Dr. Theresa Tolmie-McGrane acted as the voice of children abused by priests during Francis’ tenure as the Pope.

Tolmie-McGrane herself had gone through clerical abuse at the Catholic orphanage Smyllum Park since she was 8 years of age, and worked her way to college to study Psychology and escape the abuse for the next 10 years of her life.

“When I went to my first day at school, I told my teacher my uncle was doing things to me and I was removed from the school, and taken straight to the orphanage and it was a terrible experience. It was even worse,” she shared.

“A nun walked in when…

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Here’s a brief guide to what to expect in the coming days.

The complex, carefully choreographed process of electing a new pope has entered a decisive phase.

As a papal transition happens only roughly once a decade, even Catholics who have lived through previous interregnums can feel confused about precisely what happens when after the cardinals enter the conclave.

Here’s a brief guide to what to expect in the coming days.

Tuesday, May 6

On Tuesday, 173 cardinals, including 130 of the 133 electors, attended the 12th and final general congregation of the College of Cardinals following the death of Pope Francis.

As at the previous 11 meetings, cardinals addressed the assembly on the qualities they wished to see in the next pope. (Not all of the 26 speeches were laser-focused on the conclave; one apparently tackled the burning issue of “the proximity of the Solemnity of Christ the King and the…

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The chimney on the Sistine Chapel is up, and voting to elect the next pope will begin on Wednesday afternoon, May 7.

There will be 133 cardinals who participate in the conclave and they will elect among themselves Pope Francis’ successor. Eighty-nine is the magic number to pass the two-thirds majority mark required to be elected pope.

While there is no official nominating process — and it is generally perceived to be a wide-open race — here is the National Catholic Reporter’s final roundup of the 12 leading front-runners. (All 12 NCR papal front-runners can also be found here.)

• Could Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu make history as the first African pope in more than 1,500 years?
• One of Francis’ favorite cardinals was Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Pope John XXIII. Might he soon be elected Pope John…

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Some Catholics deride survivors’ calls for change as wealthy donors offer billions in exchange for influence over the Conclave.

With the papal Conclave about to being, deep divisions emerge in the Catholic Church as disillusioned survivors watch from afar.

Hours before the Conclave in Rome, deep cleavages emerge among the faithful. Who should they be worried about? Survivors talking truth to power or wealthy donors willing to buy Peter’s throne?

It is almost impossible to figure out what are the key issues affecting a Conclave’s outcome. The nature of the process, the way the electors are chosen, and a long-standing tradition of uncertainty summarized in the old Italian saying “Chi in conclave entra papa, esce cardinale”, roughly translatable as “who enters a Pope at the Conclave, comes out a Cardinal.”

Over the last week or so, there has been a seemingly endless stream of information in almost any language about…

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THE country’s governing body of Catholic bishops has issued a rare statement on clerical sexual abuse, defending Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on the issue days before the opening of a conclave to elect a new pope.

Watchdog group BishopAccountability.org warned Friday that Tagle and Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin could not be relied on to protect children, with its co-director accusing the church in the Philippines of remaining in the “dark ages”.

Both men are considered frontrunners to replace Pope Francis.

Cardinals from around the world are currently in the Vatican, ahead of a conclave on Wednesday of the eligible ones among them to elect a new pontiff.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) posted a statement to its Facebook page Saturday night saying that “addressing allegations of misconduct by clergy rests with the respective diocesan bishops or religious superiors” and not with Tagle.

“Since his appointment to a…

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With all the pomp, drama and solemnity that the Catholic Church can muster, 133 cardinals began the centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis, celebrating a morning Mass on Wednesday before opening the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith’s 2,000-year history.

The dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, presided over the service, urging the voters to set aside all personal interests and find a pope who prizes unity. The world today needs a leader who can awaken consciences, he said.

From the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, Re prayed that they can agree “on the pope that our time needs” as he offered a final set of marching orders before the cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel later Wednesday to begin the secret voting.

Hailing from 70 countries, the cardinals are being sequestered from the outside world, their cellphones surrendered and airwaves around the Vatican jammed…

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Pope Francis’ former point man on migrants has drawn criticism with comments in the context of the African continent being deeply opposed to the LGBTQ agenda.

Pope Francis’ former point man on migrants has drawn criticism by saying in an article published Sunday that some African cardinals make him “shudder” and that he believes “conservatives” are calling for an African pope to further their agenda. 

Cardinal Michael Czerny, a Jesuit who served as prefect at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in the last years of Pope Francis’ pontificate, made the derisive comments to The New York Times in the context of the African continent being deeply opposed to the LGBTQ agenda.

“I can think of some African cardinals — they make me shudder,” Cardinal Czerny said in the article published May 4. When the newspaper asked whether conservative Catholics were rallying behind an African pope as a “Trojan horse” to…

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Written by John Bellocchio

Editor’s Note: Late last week, we received an email from John Bellocchio, a survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of the late Theodore McCarrick as a young teenager in Hackensack, New Jersey.

He reached out concerning an April 29 column entitled, “The tragedy of Theodore McCarrick,” published by Angelus News, the official news outlet of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The author was Msgr. Richard Antall, a pastor in the Diocese of Cleveland and a prolific writer for various Catholic media outlets including the aforementioned Angelus News and Crisis Magazine. In his article about McCarrick, Antall wrote about the late ex-cardinal’s positive qualities — including his financial skill, organizational talents, and preaching ability — and lamented that McCarrick’s achievements would be overshadowed by scandal. Antall also criticized the Vatican’s McCarrick Report, suggesting…

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Gemma Hickey is in Rome to lobby on the ground

As the College of Cardinals gathers in Vatican City for the secretive process that will elect a new head of the Roman Catholic Church, one activist is cautiously optimistic the next pope will commit to fighting sexual abuse within the church.

On Wednesday, the process known as conclave will commence. Pope Francis died last month at 88 years old.

Ending Clergy Abuse board president Gemma Hickey is currently in Rome to urge the church to shift its policy on clerics accused of sexual abuse, including canon law reform and mandatory reporting.

“We’re asking to prioritize the protection of children and vulnerable people over predators. I mean, it’s as simple as that,” Hickey told CBC Radio’s The St. John’s Morning Show.

Hickey says whoever is elected in the secret vote will “set the tone” going forward.

“I’m optimistic in general. I mean, I…

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 Cardinal Isao Kikuchi says he had no knowledge about a case of a woman who was allegedly sexually abused by a priest.

According to 64-year-old Tokie Tanaka, the abuse began in 2012 after she went to confession with a Chilean priest at a church in the city of Nagasaki. She told the priest she had been sexually assaulted as a child.

The woman filed a civil lawsuit in 2023 against the Society of the Divine Word, saying the priest sexually abused her over a period of 4½ years. The priest had returned to his native Chile.

On Friday she said Kikuchi, who heads the congregation, ignored her repeated pleas to take stricter measures against the priest.

“During that time, Mr. Kikuchi was also affiliated with the same congregation as the priest and at the same time, held the position of Archbishop of Tokyo. Therefore, it is difficult to believe that…

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CatholicVote, the conservative political operation run by President Trump’s pick as ambassador to the Vatican, is in a war of finger-pointing with the Italian media over a fake report seemed aimed to smear a leading candidate to be pope. 

The dispute arises over a false report on the CatholicVote website and elsewhere saying that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state under Pope Francis, had collapsed and required emergency medical attention. 

The original source is unclear. 

The CatholicVote post sourced Italian media. The famously scrappy Italian newspapers pushed back, saying the item first appeared on CatholicVote. All the related websites involved in the spat have been updated, making it difficult to determine who is to blame.

Regardless of the source of the fake news, the controversy comes at a particularly bad time for CatholicVote co-founder Brian Burch, whose nomination to be ambassador to…

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On May 5, as the cardinals were gathering in the General Congregation, a voice against abuse rose from the very heart of the Church: that of Father Marco Contini, asking the cardinals to look for a pope that will end sexual abuse in the Church. 

Also known as “Father Paolo,” Fr. Contini has been a priest for 25 years, is pastor of three communities, and is a university theology lecturer. In a letter to the cardinals, he disclosed having been a victim of sexual abuse as a teenager in the seminary.

The letter was heavily covered by the Italian media but shared mostly in excerpts and partial quotes. CatholicVote approached Fr. Contini, asking him for the full version of the letter and what motivated him to write it.

“I actually had to go to Rome for some interviews on this topic and, before leaving, I had an idea:…

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More than 20 years after the Spotlight scandals set off a wave of investigations and reform efforts in the Catholic Church, sexual abuse continues to be a subject of discussion.

The Vatican press office has said this week that the subject of sexual abuse has been brought up repeatedly in the general congregations that precede the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor.

Fr. Daniel Portillo, member of the Latin American Council of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Training for the Protection of Minors, spoke with The Pillar about the Church’s efforts at reform, and the role of the next pope in moving forward those efforts.

That interview is below. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Sexual abuse in the Church has been widely discussed in the press for many years – sometimes with exaggeration and bias, but at other times with balance and reason. Now, a report has come…

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The Catholic bishop of a New Jersey diocese said he would no longer oppose a state grand jury investigation of clergy sexual abuse that the church has been fighting behind closed doors in court for years.

It’s not clear, however, that the grand jury investigation will go forward because the state Supreme Court is already considering the diocese’s earlier argument against seating one.

In a letter Monday to the state Supreme Court, an attorney for the diocese said Camden Bishop Joseph Williams wished to inform the seven justices that “the Diocese of Camden will not object to the empanelment of a grand jury for the purpose of considering a presentment.”

Williams took over the diocese in March and first said in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer on Monday that the diocese no longer wished to prevent the attorney general’s office from seating a grand jury to investigate allegations…

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‘Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession — or they will be excommunicated from the Church,’ the Archdiocese of Seattle said

The Catholic Church announced that priests will be excommunicated if they follow a new Washington state law requiring clergy to report confessions about child abuse to law enforcement.

“Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession — or they will be excommunicated from the Church,” the Archdiocese of Seattle said in a statement. “All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential and protected by the law of the Church.”

“The Catholic Church agrees with the goal of protecting children and preventing child abuse,” the statement added, noting that it “remains committed to reporting child sexual abuse, working with victim survivors towards healing and protecting all minors and vulnerable people.” 

The new law — signed by Democrat Gov. Bob…

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A new law in the U.S. state of Washington which requires “members of the clergy” to report cases of child abuse or neglect learned in the confessional to police is being looked at by the U.S. Justice Department to see if it violates the First Amendment of the United States.

Senate Bill 5375 passed by margins of 64-31 in the House and 28-20 in the Senate, and was signed by Democratic Governor Bob Ferguson, a Catholic, on Friday.

“Protecting our kids, first, is the most important thing. This bill protects Washingtonians from abuse and harm,” Ferguson said.

The Bill offered no exception for the absolute seal of confidentiality that applies to Catholic priests.

Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle issued a statement referring to the quote of Saint Peter in the Acts of the Apostles: “We must obey God rather than men.”

“This is our stance now in the face…

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If we are going to have a prayer of curbing sexual abuse crimes and cover-up in the Catholic Church, the next pope should be an American.

This might sound not just provincial but preposterous. Conventional wisdom holds that a U.S. cardinal will never be elected pope. That likely is truer than ever now, given the upcoming conclave’s large number of cardinal electors from the Global South.

And even if it were possible, who among the U.S. cardinals would be worthy? None of them stands out as a remarkable protector of children or healer of victims. Cover-up still happens here.

But here’s the stunning reality: Thanks largely to the United States’ unique civil justice system and robust free press, bishops here have been forced to adopt more prudent policies on abuse than bishops in any other country have.

U.S. bishops have become accustomed to two practices in particular…

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In the days leading up to the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor, a bevy of wealthy American business leaders, philanthropists and conservative activists have descended on Rome and Vatican City to meet, fete and dine with cardinals and churchmen in well-heeled settings.

Some cardinals were toasted at pricy venues and $100 bottles of wine were served at gatherings that seemed more akin to American political lobbying events than contemplative prayer services for prelates preparing to pick the next pope, according to media outlets and social media posts reviewed by the National Catholic Reporter. 

The festive atmosphere of the conservative gatherings was not specifically planned for the week after the death of Pope Francis. The events occurred now because the Novemdiales — the traditional nine-day mourning period that follows the death of a pope — coincided with “America Week,” an annual American-led fundraising period for Catholic causes in the Eternal…

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As 133 cardinals meet in Rome to decide the next pope, questions about the legacy of the last one will loom large over their discussions.

For the Catholic Church, no aspect of Pope Francis’ record is more sensitive or contentious than his handling of the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy.

While he’s widely acknowledged to have gone further than his predecessors in acknowledging victims and reforming the Church’s own internal procedures, many survivors do not think he went far enough.

Alexa MacPherson’s abuse by a Catholic priest began around the age of three and continued for six years.

“When I was nine-and-a-half, my father caught him trying to rape me on the living room couch,” she told me when we met on the Boston waterfront.

“For me, it was pretty much an everyday occurrence.”

On discovering the abuse, her father called the police.

A court hearing…

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The alleged rape victim’s lawyer said they met media to present a ‘legal opinion’ to the conclave

Ahead of the papal conclave, a Japanese woman has claimed that Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo was complicit in covering up a Divine Word priest, who repeatedly raped her for more than four years.

Tokie Tanaka, 64, told the media on May 2 in Tokyo that Divine Word Father Vargas Flos Osvaldo Javier, raped her repeatedly from 2012-2017.

Tanaka accused the Divine Word congregation and Kikuchi, a member of the congregation, of inadequate actions. The priest from Chile fled Japan without even apologizing to her, she said.

The allegation against Kikuchi arises while Tanaka’s 2023 civil lawsuit is pending in a Tokyo District Court. It seeks compensation of 30 million yen (US$208,000) from the congregation.

Her lawyer, Kazue Akita, admitted to UCA News that the press conference was an…

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When I enter a Catholic sacred space as a survivor of clerical sexual abuse, I carry more than just my faith. I carry the weight of betrayal, the constant calculation of safety and an acute awareness of how institutions respond to abusers in their midst. The contrasting decisions regarding Marko Rupnik’s artwork at two of the most visited Marian shrines in the Catholic world—to preserve his mosaics at Fátima and to cover his mosaics at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Lourdes—reveal much about the church’s ongoing struggle to keep survivors at the center of attention in its response to abuse.

A former Jesuit and internationally acclaimed mosaic artist, Marko Rupnik was credibly accused of psychologically and sexually abusing at least 20 women, mostly religious sisters within his spiritual community, over three decades. Despite the Vatican’s procedural mishandling of his case—including the initial dismissal of accusations and a briefly…

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Your Eminence,

The task you face this week inspires awe. You have acknowledged in your general meetings that sexual abuse is a major challenge facing the next pope. This crisis will continue to undermine the moral authority and good works of the church for decades if the pope you choose does not dramatically change your laws and practices.

Change is possible. We have seen individual acts of brilliance, of godliness, and true grace by some Catholic prelates – singular instances of a bishop breaking rank in order to protect children and heal the wounded.

The next pope must be capable of such love and bravery.

Consider the list below. These are ten actions that the next pope could take. All could be launched in the first 100 days, and some could be completed in that time. Although just a start, such actions would begin to turn the page on this…

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Activists are fighting a church that wants to put the scandal behind it and a public that may be tiring of it. 

The priests were protected, not the children. 

Is the Catholic Church any different today than it was 20-plus years ago, when the scandal of clergy sexual abuse first engulfed the Archdiocese of Boston and then spread across the country and the world? When it comes to the church policing itself and disclosing its findings, it’s not different enough, according to survivors and their advocates. Which is why, as the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis begins this week, many survivors and their advocates are in Rome, where they are pressing the church, once again, for substantive change. 

But they are up against a church that has been eager to declare the scandal over and a public that may be tired of hearing about it. “I know…

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Members of the Vatican’s child protection body have called on cardinals to make safeguarding a priority, regardless of status or reputation, as they elect the new pope amid a scandal involving the presence at pre-conclave meetings of a cardinal accused of and punished by Pope Francis for abuse.

In a prayer published May 5 in English and Spanish, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) said that as the start of the conclave approaches, “We unite our voices with the People of God in a plea for discernment guided by the Holy Spirit – and shaped by the cries of those harmed by abuse within the Church.”

They prayed that the cardinals “may be guided by courage, humility, and a commitment to safeguarding,” saying, “The Church’s credibility depends on real accountability, transparency, and action rooted in justice.”

“Let no concern of scandal obscure the urgency of truth. Let…

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DOJ alleges Washington state Senate Bill 5375 is ‘anti-Catholic’ and ‘appears on its face to violate the First Amendment’

A law signed by Washington State Gov. Bob Ferguson last week that requires members of the clergy to report confessions of child abuse or neglect is under scrutiny, as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a civil rights investigation into whether the law violates the First Amendment.

The Evergreen State’s new law adds “members of the clergy” to a list of professionals who are required to report information obtained through confessionals that relate to child abuse or neglect, to law enforcement or other state authorities.

The law provides no exception for the absolute seal of confidentiality, which applies to Catholic Priests, according to the DOJ.

The DOJ also said the state’s new law singles out “members of the clergy” as the only “supervisors” who are…

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This is a rebuttal to the thoughts expressed in the April 15 letter by Scott “Alex” Peyton of Opelousas.

Peyton is correct in saying that the Catholic Church runs on the financial support of its members, but beyond that, his logic is completely off base. Churchgoing Catholics do financially support the church, but we, as well as the present-day clergy, have demanded and received real reform from the unfortunate mistakes of the past clergy who have since died or been purged from our church.

The Catholic Church was forced to legally try to protect itself from the actions of the attorneys who represent the unfortunate individuals who have been abused by former clergy. The church has spent just shy of $50 million of savings and from divested assets on attorney fees fighting the greedy attorneys of the abused who made unreal promises to their clients — like they…

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Each day between now and the May 7 conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis, John Allen is offering a profile of a different papabile, the Italian term for a man who could be pope. There’s no scientific way to identity these contenders; it’s mostly a matter of weighing reputations, positions held and influence wielded over the years. There’s also certainly no guarantee one of these candidates will emerge wearing white; as an old bit of Roman wisdom has it, “He who enters a conclave as a pope exits as a cardinal.” These are, however, the leading names drawing buzz in Rome right now, at least ensuring they will get a look. Knowing who these men are also suggests issues and qualities other cardinals see as desirable heading into the election.

Both geographically and historically, the region of Andalusia in Spain is a crossroads of humanity. Bordering both the Atlantic Ocean…

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Each day between now and the May 7 conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis, John Allen is offering a profile of a different papabile, the Italian term for a man who could be pope. There’s no scientific way to identity these contenders; it’s mostly a matter of weighing reputations, positions held and influence wielded over the years. There’s also certainly no guarantee one of these candidates will emerge wearing white; as an old bit of Roman wisdom has it, “He who enters a conclave as a pope exits as a cardinal.” These are, however, the leading names drawing buzz in Rome right now, at least ensuring they will get a look. Knowing who these men are also suggests issues and qualities other cardinals see as desirable heading into the election.

In a conclave in which many cardinals don’t know one another, there’s probably a premium on familiarity – the better…

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Each day between now and the May 7 conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis, John Allen is offering a profile of a different papabile, the Italian term for a man who could be pope. There’s no scientific way to identity these contenders; it’s mostly a matter of weighing reputations, positions held and influence wielded over the years. There’s also certainly no guarantee one of these candidates will emerge wearing white; as an old bit of Roman wisdom has it, “He who enters a conclave as a pope exits as a cardinal.” These are, however, the leading names drawing buzz in Rome right now, at least ensuring they will get a look. Knowing who these men are also suggests issues and qualities other cardinals see as desirable heading into the election.

At times there can be an odd dynamic to a papal election, almost like a tape delay, according to which…

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The house is at the end of the road, nestled behind a playground in Loughrea, an ancient town in County Galway, Ireland. Built of white stone with grey trim, it has lace curtains, a statue of the Virgin Mary and two small bedrooms, one pink, the other blue.

In the living room, a small, fragile woman in a plaid skirt sits in an overstuffed orange chair. She is 93 but lives alone, with an overweight mutt named Rex. Day after day, she busies herself with small tasks – praying the rosary, hanging the washing, letting the dog into the yard – while she waits for the return of the son she never got to hold.

She has been waiting for 76 years.

A home of shame and secrets

As a teenager, Chrissie Tully fell in love with a man in her neighbourhood, and in 1949, she became pregnant.

What happened…

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Allegations of sexual assault at Guardian Angels School raise concerns over handling of incident

It’s a question of not only what happened inside Guardian Angels School in Clawson but also how the allegations of sexual assault against a student were handled.

A lawsuit has been filed against the Catholic school in Clawson. It states that the school administration ignored multiple reports that a student was being sexually assaulted and harassed by his classmates.

The father of the victim, who is not revealing his identity to protect his son, expressed his frustration.

“The biggest complaint with the school was that they just didn’t handle this right,” he said.

His son was a fourth grader at Guardian Angels last year when, according to the lawsuit, he was sexually assaulted by a sixth-grade student in a school bathroom.

“As my son was washing his hands, he reported that a much older, much larger…

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What you need to know:

• Three of the accused remain on remand. The court scheduled the defense hearing for June 12.

The trial of nine youths accused of falsely alleging sodomy against city pastor Robert Kayanja took a dramatic turn on Monday as Mwanga II Magistrates’ Court ordered the arrest of three sureties and heard an emotional testimony from one of the accused.

Grade One Magistrate Adams Byarugaba issued arrest warrants for Tracy Namugga, Patrick Ayebare, and Abdul Kayondo, the sureties for Moses Tumwine, who remains on the run after missing multiple court appearances.

“Despite efforts by police, Tumwine remains untraceable, and his sureties have failed in their legal obligation to produce him in court,” said Magistrate Byarugaba, adding that the trial would proceed in Tumwine’s absence.

Related

• Pastor Kayanja sodomy case: Court issues arrest warrant against suspectNational Apr 26
• State accuses suspects in pastor Kayanja sodomy case…

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Key Points

• Advocates for survivors said religious sexual abuse should be the “deciding issue” when it comes to choosing the next pope.
• The Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, has launched “Conclave Watch,” a database to track the record of Catholic cardinals in their handling of abuse cases.
• The group also called on the next pope to implement a “zero tolerance law” to guide the Catholic Church.

On the heels of his death last month at age 88, Pope Francis has been widely praised for his devotion to social justice and his welcoming attitude toward immigrants, the LGBTQ community and others who felt marginalized.

But when it came to aiding victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, the pontiff leaves a mixed legacy, critics say.

In New Jersey, where the state is battling the church over an investigation into decades of alleged abuse and cover-ups, survivors and their advocates say…

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A Michigan woman has sued a Florida missionary agency, alleging one of its workers sexually assaulted her in Indonesia when she was a child.

The civil complaint filed this week in Seminole County, Florida, accuses Ethnos360 of failing to protect the child and ignoring warnings for years.

Kayla McClain, now 24, claims Nate Horling abused her from 2005 to 2010 while both families served at two Ethnos360, formerly known as New Tribes Mission, posts in Indonesia, NBC News reported. McClain said she first met Horling when she was around 5 years old.

The filing alleges Horling first touched her inappropriately during playdates with his daughter, then escalated to a sexual assault in a closet in 2009. After each episode, he allegedly told the girl not to speak about it and blamed her for what had happened.

Horling, who is not named as a defendant, “absolutely” denied the accusations in a…

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A Palatka pastor is facing serious criminal charges after allegations surfaced of an inappropriate relationship with a child. The case has left the local faith community reeling, with former church members expressing shock and disappointment.

Pastor Arrested Following Allegations of Sexual Battery Involving a Minor

On April 16, Pastor Leo Parker of Emerge Church surrendered to the Palatka Police Department after detectives issued a warrant for his arrest. The investigation began after police received a report earlier this month regarding Parker’s alleged conduct with a minor. Detectives interviewed multiple individuals and collected physical evidence as part of their inquiry.

Allegations Span Several Years

According to authorities, Parker is accused of engaging in sexual acts with a child who was between the ages of 12 and 18 during the alleged incidents. The victim reported that the inappropriate behavior began when she was just 12 or 13 years old and continued for…

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“Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession – or they will be excommunicated from the Church.”

Catholic priests cannot follow a new Washington state law that requires them to violate the seal of confession if abuse of minors is suspected, two bishops in the state reiterated this week.

“While we remain committed to protecting minors and all vulnerable people from abuse, priests cannot comply with this law if the knowledge of abuse is obtained during the Sacrament of Reconciliation,” said Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle in a May 4 statement.

“Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession – or they will be excommunicated from the Church,” he stressed. “All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential and protected by the law of the Church.”

On May 2, Washington Gov. Robert Ferguson signed a law making clergy members mandated reporters, who…

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Bishop Accountability, a U.S. organization that compiles cases of sexual abuse committed by priests and assists victims, accused Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of failing to act on abuse cases.

The US organization, which held a press conference in Rome, stated that “ no church official in the world has played such a central role in keeping hidden information about sexual crimes within the Vatican as Cardinal Parolin .”

In reference to Tagle, who is the current pro-prefect of the Dicastery of Evangelization and former Bishop of Manila, Bishop Accountability added that “despite speaking eloquently about healing the wounds of victims of clerical sexual abuse ,” the Filipino cardinal “ has been ineffective in improving the plight of victims of sexual abuse in the Philippine Church .”

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN: Luis Antonio Tagle, president of Caritas Internationalis, strongly criticizes those who turned a blind eye to pedophiles.

Furthermore, the…

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While Pope Franci s accomplished a lot in his 12-year papacy, he left much unfinished business and many challenges for his successor — from the Vatican’s disastrous finances to the wars raging on multiple continents and discontent among traditionalists about his crackdown on the old Latin Mass.

When the conclave’s cardinals finish casting their ballots under Michelangelo’s frescoed ceilings of the Sistine Chapel, the 267th pope will have to decide whether to continue Francis’ policies, tweak them, or abandon them altogether. Will he prioritize migrants, the environment and the social justice policies that Francis championed, or give precedence to other issues?

Among the challenges facing the new pope:

The role of women

Francis did more to promote women to leadership positions in the Vatican than any pope before him, and his successor will have to decide whether to continue that legacy, accelerate it or back down and change course.

The issue isn’t…

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Pope Francis is credited with addressing the issue more strongly than his predecessors did, but clerical abuse remains a ruinous issue for the Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinals are not the only ones who have arrived in Rome for the conclave to pick Pope Francis’ successor.

Since Francis’ death last month, survivors of sexual abuse and those who monitor the Roman Catholic Church’s handling of abuse cases have also arrived, hoping to persuade cardinals to make the issue a priority when considering who should next be pope.

“I think it’s very important to remind them that we will not go away,” said Matthias Katsch, a Berlin-based board member of Ending Clergy Abuse, an advocacy group that represents survivors from 20 countries.

Matteo Bruni, the Vatican spokesman, said on Friday that during pre-conclave meetings this past week the cardinals had discussed sexual abuse in the church, and considered it a “wound to…

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A pastoral document that Philippine Church leaders say Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle helped craft to address clerical sex abuse was apparently taken down from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website in 2018 because it was deemed “lacking.”

Journalists on Sunday searched for the document —Pastoral Guidelines on Sexual Abuse and Misconduct by the Clergy — after the CBCP on Saturday cited it as proof of Tagle’s early leadership in addressing abuse by members of the clergy.

Tagle is among the few cardinals who, according to foreign and local reports, have a good chance of being chosen as the successor to the recently departed Pope Francis, when the papal conclave opens on 7 May at the Vatican.

A digital backtracking by Daily Tribune found that the pastoral document was last accessible on the CBCP website in May 2018.

A backlink to the original CBCP page provided by the…

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Two leading candidates to become the next pope have been accused by an international watchdog group of failing to protect children from clergy sexual abuse.

As cardinals prepare to gather in Rome on Wednesday to elect a successor to Pope Francis, the US-based group BishopAccountability.org said neither Italy’s Cardinal Pietro Parolin nor the Philippines’ Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle could be trusted to lead the church out of its global abuse crisis.

Both men are considered leading contenders in the conclave, but the group – which has worked closely with survivors and inquiries in Australia and abroad – says their records suggest a continuation of secrecy and inaction.

Anne Barrett Doyle, the organisation’s co-director, alleged Parolin, who had served as the Vatican’s secretary of state and No.2 to the late pope since 2013, was a key figure in obstructing efforts to bring abusive priests to justice by withholding incriminating church records.

…

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A missionary is accused of abusing a girl for years while serving in Indonesia for Ethnos360, a religious nonprofit group.

A Florida-based Christian organization with a history of child sex abuse allegations against it has been hit with a lawsuit claiming one of its missionaries sexually assaulted a minor overseas 15 years ago.  

Ethnos360, a nonprofit formerly known as New Tribes Mission, sends missionaries and their families throughout the globe. In 2019, multiple women told NBC News that they had been sexually abused decades earlier by their “dorm dads” — missionaries who were supposed to care for children at the mission’s boarding schools while their parents served in foreign countries. 

The group settled several suits related to those allegations and issued a public apology to the abuse survivors following the 2019 NBC News report. It also said it had “incorporated significant…

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As we approach the conclave to elect a new pope, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is defending the record of Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, former archbishop of Manila, in fighting sexual abuse by clergymen in this Southeast Asian country.

The CBCP, in a statement on Saturday, said Tagle has pushed for a Church that listens and “acts decisively” to help sex abuse victims.

The bishops’ conference did not explain the context for the 560-word statement, but the Philippine Daily Inquirer said it was “apparently in response to recent foreign media reports which accused Tagle of not being vocal enough about such cases in the country.”
BishopAccountability.org, a watchdog group that monitors cases of clergy sexual abuse, questioned Tagle’s ability to stop abusive priests if he succeeds Pope Francis.

Tagle, 67, is considered a papabile in the conclave to elect the 267th leader of the Catholic Church. The conclave of 133…

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Statement of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) expresses profound sorrow and solidarity with all victims and survivors of sexual abuse, especially those harmed by members of the clergy. We acknowledge the deep wounds inflicted upon
individuals and communities and commit ourselves to the path of healing, justice, and renewal.

Historical Commitment to Safeguarding

Recognizing the gravity of clerical sexual abuse, the CBCP initiated the drafting of the Pastoral Guidelines on Sexual Abuses and Misconduct by the Clergy in the early 2000s. These guidelines, circulated in September 2003, were developed to address allegations and actual cases of sexual abuse and misconduct by clergy in the Philippines. They emphasized pastoral care for victims, the healing of communities, assessment of the accused, and appropriate sanctions for offenders.

In particular, Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, during his tenure as Bishop of Imus and later as…

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Days before the conclave, Manila mounted a subtle pushback for one of its own.

On Saturday afternoon, May 3, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) released a statement plainly titled, “Reaffirming Our Commitment to Safeguarding and Accountability.” It was about addressing cases of sexual abuse.

The CBCP did not state why it released this statement, since there is no recently publicized case of clergy sex abuse in the Philippines. A plausible reason, however, is connected to the conclave that is set to begin on Wednesday, May 7.

The CBCP statement came at a time when Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, one of the three Filipino cardinals in the conclave, was the subject of negative reports ahead of the papal election.

The National Catholic Reporter (NCR) said Tagle “has been the subject of a digital smear campaign developed in conservative social media circles.”

It is, according to Vatican watchers, an indication that Tagle…

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Synodality: “A matter of life or death for the Church founded by Jesus.”

Cardinal Joseph Zen, 93, was among the most outspoken members of the College of Cardinals during the Francis papacy, critiquing especially the pope’s signature Synod on Synodality initiative.

On April 30, Zen gave an address — formally called an intervention — to the Church’s cardinals, gathered for a general congregation meeting.

The address touched on the cardinal’s memories of Pope Francis, and his continuing criticism of the synod on synodality initiative.

The Pillar obtained a copy of the text from which Zen read his intervention. It is printed in full below.

“Intervention at the General Congregation,” Cardinal Joseph Zen

Our Dean, in his letter of invitation, reminded us that we elderly cardinals, who are not electors, are not obliged to attend these sessions. I am an old man of 93 years; recovering from a long, non-serious illness that…

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Next week’s conclave to elect the successor to Pope Francis is a solemn affair steeped in centuries-old traditions.

But far from the Sistine Chapel where cloistered cardinals will cast votes, people are placing bets on who will be the next leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.Article continues after this advertisemen

From cash bets on websites, to online games modeled after fantasy football leagues and casual wagers among friends and families, the popularity of guessing and gambling on the future of the papacy is increasing worldwide, experts and participants say.

It’s even topped the Europa League soccer tournament and Formula One drivers’ championship, said Sam Eaton, Britain’s manager for Oddschecker, a leading online platform analyzing odds across sports, events and other betting markets.

“There’s a huge level of interest globally,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve had a market like this where we’ve had so many countries interested in seeing…

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Since his appointment to a full-time position in the Roman Curia, former Manila Archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle no longer holds “direct authority” over any diocese in the Philippines, particularly those where allegations and actual cases of sexual abuse and misconduct by clergy have been reported.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) pointed this out on Saturday apparently in response to recent foreign media reports which accused Tagle of not being vocal enough about such cases in the country.

“Consequently, he is not involved in the governance or disciplinary matters of Philippine dioceses. The responsibility for addressing allegations of misconduct by clergy rests with the respective diocesan bishops or religious superiors,” CBCP said.

The statement, signed by CBCP secretary general, Msgr. Bernardo Pantin, said that during Tagle’s tenure as bishop of Imus in Cavite and later as Manila archbishop, the cardinal “actively participated in the development and implementation…

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As cardinals file into the Sistine Chapel this week, those who believe they may be in with a shot of becoming the 267th pope, will have considered their priorities as leader.

While much weight is placed on the fact that Pope Francis appointed over 100 cardinals during his pontificate, it does not mean his successor will reflect his pontificate.

Pope Francis’ successor will inherit a Church facing an array of challenges from the outset.

Among those is the legacy of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, which has dominated recent papacies.

Indeed, some would say that for Pope Benedict, it was an issue that he simply could not get on top of and that it contributed to his early retirement.

Many victims of abuse and observers of Pope Francis’s papacy believe that despite his efforts, he failed to grasp and manage the problem adequately.

In his trips around the world,…

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The presiding Bishop of Methodist Church Nigeria, Diocese of Atamunu, Rt. Rev. Otuekong Ukut has dismissed allegation of verbal abuse and physical assault on a priest, Rev. Victor Uloh.

Rev. Oloh, a priest serving under in the diocese had accused the bishop of inhuman treatment and oppression.

Reacting to the allegation in an interview with LEADERSHIP in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, Otuekong said he did not at any time physically assaulted, verbally abused or maltreated the priest who is also a medical student.

Rev Iloh is a 300-level Medicine and Surgery student at the University of Calabar, and a serving priest at the Diocese under the supervision of Bishop Otuekong.

He accused Bishop in a social media post of unfair treatment, and consistently subjecting him to verbal physical attacks.

In response, the Bishop explained that, “I only asked him to kneel down for prayers to be offered to…

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Agence France-Presse

The Philippines’ governing body of Catholic bishops has issued a rare statement on clerical sexual abuse, defending Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on the issue days before the opening of a conclave to elect a new pope.

Watchdog group BishopAccountability.org warned Friday that Tagle and Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin could not be relied on to protect children, with its co-director accusing the church in the Philippines of remaining in the “dark ages.”

Both men are considered frontrunners to replace Pope Francis. Cardinals from around the world are currently in the Vatican, ahead of a conclave on Wednesday of the eligible ones among them to elect a new pontiff.

From the margins to Sistine: What PH cardinals bring to conclave, post-Francis church

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) posted a statement to its Facebook page Saturday night saying that “addressing allegations of misconduct by clergy rests with…

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TANAKA Tokie told a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan she was abused in her childhood and later decided to become a Catholic to try and resolve the trauma she felt from that abuse.

She told her priest about her past but, she says, he started to abuse her as well. He also took videos during the abuse and threatened to show the videos if she didn’t obey him.

In 2018, she consulted the director of the Human Rights Office of the Catholic Church and shared her experience. She was told that the priest would undergo counseling for three years.

However, she found out that the Church gave money to the priest so that he could flee the country to Chile. She later found out that he had returned to Japan and had married a Japanese woman.

Tanaka’s lawyer AKITA Kazue sent a letter to the Vatican…

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Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, on Friday, signed a controversial state law that requires priests to report child abuse to authorities even if they learn of it during the sacrament of confession.

The measure, introduced in the state legislature earlier this year, adds clergy to the list of mandatory abuse reporters in the state, but doesn’t include an exemption for information learned in the confessional.

A 2023 version of the proposal had offered an exemption for abuse allegations learned “solely as a result of a confession.” The latest bill does not contain such a carve-out, and in fact explicitly notes that clergy do not qualify for a “privileged communication” exemption.

Ferguson told reporters that as a Catholic, he was “very familiar” with the sacrament of confession. “[I] felt this was important legislation,” he said on Friday.

Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly, meanwhile,  View Cache

Nuns sexually assaulted by priests are one of the last Catholic taboos, but with reports of abuse rising, it is a scandal that will be difficult for the future pope to ignore.

“In the past, the nuns suffered a lot and couldn’t talk about it to anyone; it was like a secret,” Sister Cristina Schorck told AFP, walking through St Peter’s Square with her parents.

The 41-year-old Brazilian, who works with the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Rome, said Pope Francis, who died last month, opened “a first door” for women to speak out.

After an unprecedented summit at the Vatican on clerical sexual violence in 2019, a series of measures were taken, including lifting the pontifical secret on abuse and an obligation for people to report cases to their superiors.

“It’s both still a taboo and something that has progressed” because “it’s never been talked about as…

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The death of Pope Francis, after a very public diminishment, closes a signal chapter in Catholic history with absolutely no certainty about who or what comes next. Rather than reflexively corralling the cardinals into a Conclave to elect his successor, I propose a wholesale institutional reset to maximize the Roman Catholic Church’s usefulness. 

Francis’ agenda to end war, save the planet, support migrants, and eliminate starvation is crucial. But Catholicism must face its own internal contradictions in order to be credible and accomplish it.

Francis’ legacy reflects his priority on the most needy and marginalized people and parts of the world. Support for prisoners, transgender people, and immigrants, for example, are hallmarks of his generous and rich ministry. His daily pastoral calls to a Catholic parish in Gaza continued until the very last days of his life. The Pope’s good humor and his simple lifestyle (a fuel-efficient car and modest…

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Ahead of a gathering to elect a new pope, survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests have urged cardinals to choose someone with a zero-tolerance policy.

The group End Clergy Abuse (ECA) issued an open letter to the cardinals as they meet informally in Rome this week before the election gets underway.

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), the main US-based group, also identified cardinals who themselves have problematic records.

Speaking in Rome, abuse survivor and SNAP member, Peter Isely, said he was sexually abused by a priest when he was in the 8th grade in southeastern Wisconsin.

“We believe the world and Catholics do not want another pope elected who has been involved in covering up child sex crimes,” he said.

Isely said this “seems like an extraordinarily reasonable and relevant criteria” that should be a priority for those who are going to elect the new leader…

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An advocacy group of survivors of clerical abuse is raising concerns about several cardinals who are buzzed about as papabili, or potential popes.

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests held a press conference Wednesday (April 30) in a hotel next to Pope Francis’ resting place at the Basilica of St. Mary Major to announce new information about prominent cardinals the group accuses of covering up or mishandling sexual abuse cases. In addition to compiling accusations and information for the public, SNAP has filed complaints with the Vatican under Pope Francis’ Vos Estis Lux Mundi (“You are the light of the world”) laws, intended to confront abuse.

Among those named in the group’s complaints are Cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle, Péter Erdő, Robert Prevost and Joseph Tobin. SNAP claimed there is evidence of their ignoring or covering up reports of abuse and seeks full investigations.

“ We’re not saying that these individuals are…

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Rumors about pope frontrunner Pietro Parolin have been published this week on various news sites, and sexual abuse watchdogs have raised concerns about his and others’ records.

Rumors have crashed into the pre-conclave meetings, potentially upsetting a frontrunner for the next pope. 

The Italian daily Il Tempo published an article on Thursday (May 1), reporting papabile favorite Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state under Pope Francis, suffered a sudden drop in blood pressure and was assisted by medics for about an hour, a report the Vatican denied.

“No, it did not happen,” said Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni during a meeting with Vatican journalists on Friday (May 2) in Italian. 

Colombian Cardinal Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal, who is not an elector due to his age, also denied the report, telling RNS and other reporters in Spanish, “I was in a meeting with Parolin yesterday. He was very well.”

Il Tempo mentioned…

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Casey Ashton Phillips, 32, has been charged with two counts of lewd/lascivious battery on a victim under 16 after a woman came forward to say he had coerced her into having sex in 2014 or 2015, when she was 14 or 15 years old; Phillips was 20 or 21 years old at the time of the alleged incidents and was a volunteer at Northwest Baptist Church.

The victim came forward in January 2025 and said Phillips was a volunteer at Northwest Baptist Church (5514 NW 23rd Avenue) when she was a child, and her parents sometimes let him drive her to church for youth group meetings. She said that on one occasion, he parked behind the church and told her he was having problems with a girl who wouldn’t have sex with him because he could not “fit” inside her.

The victim said Phillips used this to coerce her into…

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For eighteen straight years, Southern Baptist membership has declined.

This good news comes from the Southern Baptist Convention’s own data, its annual church profile which was released just a couple days ago.

Though the Southern Baptist Convention is still the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, its membership is now the lowest it’s been in 50 years.

When we consider this continuing decline in conjunction with some other recent numbers from the Pew Religious Landscape Study, we see a picture of an institution that’s on a trajectory toward extinction or irrelevance.

Two-thirds of Southern Baptists are age 50 or older, and only 10 percent are between the ages of 18 and 29.

As one commentator noted:

“That’s a demographic liver punch heading straight for the SBC.”

In other good news, the numbers are also down for the enrollment of children…

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As the 2025 legislative session of the Missouri General Assembly nears the finish line, one bill moving closer to Gov. Mike Kehoe’s desk purports to allow public schools to hire spiritual chaplains.

However, if one reads the text of the legislation, it’s actually just pushing chaplains in name only.

The bill already cleared the Senate and House committees, thus just needing support from the full House. As a Baptist minister and the father of a public school child, I hope lawmakers will recognize the bill remains fundamentally flawed.

A chaplain is not just a pastor or a Sunday School teacher or a street preacher shouting through a bullhorn. This is a unique role, often in a secular setting that requires a chaplain to assist with a variety…

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Camden, New Jersey, Bishop Joseph Williams this week said he will do right by abuse victims in his diocese amid an ongoing legal dispute over a potential grand jury inquiry into clergy abuse there. 

The Camden Diocese has been embroiled in a yearslong fight with the state over whether the government can empanel a grand jury to investigate allegations of abuse by priests and other Church officials. The diocese has argued that the abuse in question would not fall under the purview of a grand jury. 

The state Supreme Court said in March that it would consider whether or not to allow the grand jury to be convened to consider the allegations. 

The high court heard arguments from both the diocese and the state this week, with news outlets reporting that some justices sounded “skeptical” over the diocese’s arguments against a possible grand jury. 

…

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Exactly one year after his apprehension overseas, a former Bradford County youth pastor was recently sentenced on sexual assault charges committed decades ago.

Robert David Fenton, 55, received a sentence of three to six years incarceration on charges related to sexual assault, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. Upon his release, Fenton will serve eight years probation and have to register as a sex offender for life.

The sentencing was held on April 24 inside the Bradford County Courthouse with President Judge Maureen Beirne imposing the penalty.

Fenton pleaded guilty on Jan. 14 to aggravated indecent assault of a person less than 16 years old and statutory sexual assault, both second-degree felonies.

His sentence is part of a plea agreement reached by his defense and prosecutors from the attorney general’s office.

The dismissed charges included involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors, and indecent assault. According to Beirne, the…

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Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson on Friday signed a controversial state law that requires priests to report child abuse to authorities even if they learn of it during the sacrament of confession.

The measure, introduced in the state legislature earlier this year, adds clergy to the list of mandatory abuse reporters in the state, but doesn’t include an exemption for information learned in the confessional.

A 2023 version of the proposal had offered an exemption for abuse allegations learned “solely as a result of a confession.” The latest bill does not contain such a carve-out, and in fact explicitly notes that clergy do not qualify for a “privileged communication” exemption.

Ferguson told reporters that as a Catholic he was “very familiar” with the sacrament of confession. “[I] felt this was important legislation,” he said on Friday.

Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly, meanwhile,  View Cache

Religious leaders in Washington will be required to report child abuse or neglect, even when it is disclosed in confession, under a new law signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson on Friday.

“Protecting our kids, first, is the most important thing. This bill protects Washingtonians from abuse and harm,” Ferguson said, noting Washington is one of five states in which clergy are not currently mandated reporters.

It took Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, three years to get the bill to the governor’s desk. Making sure disclosures during confidential conversations between a penitent and religious leader were not exempt was critical, she said.

“You never put somebody’s conscience above the protection of a child,” she said.

Senate Bill 5375 passed by margins of 64-31 in the House and 28-20 in the Senate. It takes effect July 27. 

It adds clergy members to the state’s list of individuals…

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As cardinals prepare to elect a new pope, campaigners warned Friday that neither of the frontrunners, Pietro Parolin nor Luis Antonio Tagle, would protect children and stamp out clerical sex abuse.

Cardinals gathered at the Vatican ahead of the conclave starting May 7 have identified the scandal of sexual abuse of minors by priests as one of the top challenges facing the Catholic Church today.

But a watchdog group warned Friday that two top papal contenders — cardinals Parolin, who served as secretary of state under the late Pope Francis, and Tagle, the former archbishop of Manila — would fall short.

“If Cardinal Parolin becomes pope we will have a consummate secret-keeper running the Catholic Church and I think any hope of transparency around sex abuse will be dashed completely,” Anne Barrett Doyle, the co-director of BishopAccountability.org, told a press conference just outside the Vatican walls.

“No church official in…

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Heard on All Things Considered

The Vatican says sex abuse is a major topic ahead of the conclave. A survivors network has launched a project to keep the the records of those who’ve sheltered abusive priests in the public eye.

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

In the lead up to conclave, the Vatican says sexual abuse is among the issues cardinals are discussing this week, along with what qualities the new pope will need to face that challenge. NPR religion correspondent Jason DeRose reports from Rome that survivors are shining a spotlight on some cardinals they say have covered up abuse.

JASON DEROSE, BYLINE: When she heard cardinals were talking about how the next pope would need to confront child sexual abuse, Sarah Pearson was heartened.

SARAH PEARSON: That’s evidence that what survivors have been doing is working.

DEROSE: Pearson is with SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Her…

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As Pope Francis’s body lay in state in the Vatican last week, one of the mourners — with eyes downcast and hands clasped — was a disgraced cardinal from Peru.

Juan Luis Cipriani, once the most influential religious figure in Peru as the former archbishop of Lima, stood at the side of the Argentine pontiff’s coffin in St. Peter’s Basilica.

He wore a black cassock, red sash and skullcap and a pectoral cross — the vestments that Francis himself forbade the cardinal to wear in the wake of accusations of sexual abuse against him.

Cipriani, a conservative and the first cardinal from the traditionalist Catholic group Opus Dei, was accused in 2018 of sexually abusing a teenager four decades ago, allegations that he denies.

Francis accepted his resignation as archbishop in January 2019.

The Vatican confirmed in January 2025, in response to media reports, that a “penal injunction” had been…

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Who will be the next pope?

The decision will be made when the College of Cardinals begins meeting in conclave from 16:30 on 7 May in the 15th Century Sistine Chapel.

It will involve 133 cardinals aged under 80, who will debate and then vote for their preferred candidate until a single name secures the support of two-thirds of them.

Their choice could have a profound impact on the Catholic Church and the world’s 1.4 billion baptised Roman Catholics, and it is harder than ever to predict who it will be.

With 80% of the cardinals appointed by Pope Francis himself, most are not only electing a pope for the first time, but will offer a broad global perspective.

For the first time in history, fewer than half of those given a vote will be European.

And although the college may be dominated by his appointments, they were not exclusively…

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Dear SNAP Community,

Hello from Rome!

The SNAP community has been active around the globe, and we have a lot to share.

Conference News:
We’re excited to announce that registration is now open for the SNAP 2025 Conference in Harrisburg! This milestone is thanks to the incredible work of Eduardo Lopez de Casas, Amber Perez, and the entire SNAP Conference Working Group.

Visit our website to:

• Reserve your hotel room
• Register for the conference
• Sign up for space in our 2025 program and ad book

Details about speakers and breakout sessions will be coming soon—stay tuned!

Global Advocacy Update from Rome:

Since the pope’s death, our Global Advocacy team has been on the ground in Rome, sharing SNAP’s demands for:

• Zero tolerance for abuse in the Catholic Church
• The selection of a new pope with no history of covering up abuse

Our efforts…

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At private dinners throughout Rome and at formal gatherings of hundreds of cardinals, talk among church leaders of who will next lead the church has certainly already begun.

The pope has died. Hundreds of cardinals are gathering in Rome. The secret ballot for a successor hasn’t begun. But among church leaders, talk about who will next lead the 2,000-year-old church is already underway, according to experts.

Pope Francis, the first head of the Catholic Church from the Americas and a champion of people on the margins, passed away at age 88 on Easter Monday, leaving vacant his seat at the head of the ancient institution with 1.4 billion followers worldwide. Around 250 cardinals were summoned to Italy for business, including the pope’s funeral and chief among their duties — electing the 267th head of the church.

Yet, the drama of papal selection has already begun. The days before the conclave May 7 at…

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A charismatic Canadian pastor overseeing one of British Columbia’s largest churches has been slammed with two lawsuits alleging that he groomed and sexually abused two girls between 10 to 25 years ago. In 2001, Art Lucier befriended a vulnerable 11-year-old foster child, Jasmine Hall, at a mall parking lot in Kitimat, a small town in western Canada and invited her to church, according to a lawsuit filed this week. He then groomed and sexually abuse her for the next eight years, the suit claims.

Also in 2001, Lucier befriended a 14-year-old foster child, Ayla Thompson, on a camping trip, and invited her to church, a second lawsuit states. Calling her “my baby girl,” Lucier proceeded to sexually abuse Thompson for 14 years, according to the second suit.

The abuse devastated their lives, leading to PTSD, suicide attempts, and loss of trust in religion, stated both similarly…

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Seven years ago, after New Jersey’s top prosecutor vowed to investigate decades of sexual abuse by Catholic priests across the state, hundreds of victims began calling a newly established hotline and sitting with investigators to tell their stories.

Samuel Rivera of Essex County recounted how a priest had abused him as an altar boy beginning in the late1970s, both at his parish and at a summer house in Ocean County.

Todd Kostrub spoke of how a Franciscan brother in Burlington County had sexually assaulted him for more than a decade — beginning when he was just 7 years old.

And Lara McKeever said that a priest had abused her and three of her sisters in the 1980s and 1990s, and that officials in the Newark Archdiocese had helped cover it up.

But in the years since they and more than 500 others…

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Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Earlier this week, I retrieved the morning paper from the driveway of the bishop’s residence and was greeted with the front-page headline, “Diocese stymies clergy abuse investigation,” accompanied by a photo of the “Diocese of Camden” sign that sits in front of our Chancery building on Market Street. I was deeply saddened by this. My sadness turned to perplexity, however, when I read, “Camden Bishop Joseph Andrew Williams declined to comment.” I was completely unaware of any invitation on behalf of the Philadelphia Inquirer to speak about the case currently being presented to the New Jersey Supreme Court, and I thought the journalists had made a mistake. They had not. The mistake was on our end, as I never received the respectful invitation of Chris Palmer to explain our legal position prior to the completion of their reporting. While it is understandable that difficulties…

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 Over the last decade, German Jesuit Fr. Hans Zollner has become recognized as one of the Catholic Church’s leading experts in combatting clergy abuse. 

Zollner, director of the Institute of Anthropology: Interdisciplinary Studies on Human Dignity and Care at the Pontifical Gregorian University, was one of the founding members of Pope Francis’ Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. He also was a lead organizer of Francis’ historic 2019 summit on the Protection of Minors in the Church. His work as a respected psychologist and psychotherapist has taken him around the globe to promote best practices for safeguarding and rooting out clergy abuse. 

In March 2023, Zollner resigned from Francis’ child protection commission and criticized the organization’s leadership, citing what he called a lack of transparency. 

In an interview with the National Catholic Reporter, Zollner reflected on Francis’ efforts to reform church laws on abuse…

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