ABUSE TRACKER

ROME
New York Times

February 6, 2019

By Jason Horowitz

The sexual abuse of nuns and religious women by Catholic priests and bishops — and the abortions that have sometimes resulted — has for years been overshadowed by other scandals in the Roman Catholic Church.

That seemed to change this week when Pope Francis publicly acknowledged the problem for the first time.

“I was so happy,” said Lucetta Scaraffia, the author of an article denouncing the abuse of nuns and religious lay women by priests that was published this month in a magazine, Women Church World, which is distributed alongside the Vatican’s newspaper.

Speaking from her Rome apartment, which she said had essentially been converted into a television studio full of international reporters, Ms. Scaraffia said, “Finally, now many women will have the courage to come forward and denounce their abusers.”

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VATICAN CITY
New York Times

February 5, 2019

By Jason Horowitz and Elizabeth Dias

Pope Francis said on Tuesday that the Roman Catholic Church had faced a persistent problem of sexual abuse of nuns by priests and even bishops, the first time he has publicly acknowledged the issue.

Catholic nuns have accused clerics of sexual abuse in recent years in India, Africa, Latin America and in Italy, and a Vatican magazine last week mentioned nuns having abortions or giving birth to the children of priests. But Francis has never raised the issue until he was asked to comment during a news conference aboard the papal plane returning to Rome from his trip to the United Arab Emirates.

“It’s true,” Francis said. “There are priests and bishops who have done that.”

The pope’s admission opens a new front in the long-running scandal of sexual abuse by priests, recognizing nuns who have tried for years to call attention to their plight. With the #MeToo movement going strong, and Francis under pressure for neglecting the victims of child abuse, the nuns’ pleas have gained traction.

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VATICAN CITY
Women Church World

February 1, 2019

By Lucetta Scaraffia

Touch – as we are taught on the one hand by the commentaries on the Gospels and on the other by psychoanalysis – which occupies a crucial place in Gospel evangelical teaching is an essential factor of our way of knowing the truth and of communicating with others. It is a hidden but most powerful sense that involves the deepest aspects of the human psyche. The fact that for priests and religious touch has become an impracticable form of contact with children and women for some years now as a result of the abuses scandal not only constitutes a new form of etiquette and a form of elementary prudence to avoid (even unfounded) suspicion but is also a real mutilation of relational life and of the apostolate in the Christian community. At a time in history when the Church is going through a serious crisis regarding her capacity for transmitting the Gospel message, the heart of the Christian message, the impossibility of giving a caress to a child or of shaking the hand of a woman who is grieving or upset is a serious wound. By denying the possibility of using touch as a form of communication it becomes almost impossible to understand the ability of the person involved to face the reciprocity of the relationship and the intimacy and identity of the other person – essentially the profound reality of a human relationship.

It cannot of course be denied that it is a question of a deserved mutilation, but nevertheless it is still a mutilation.

Returning to the freedom to bestow a caress, to take someone by the hand, to put an arm round a shoulder – charity also consists of this – some way out of the abuses scandal needs to be found.

Every gesture has become suspect because the simple, good and affectionate meaning of so many gestures has been used not to reassure or encourage someone but to violate the intimacy of a child or a woman, that is, of someone weak.

Pope Francis has given the strongest and most radical interpretation of this crisis: it is not, he says, a question of falling into the temptations of the flesh, of sexual sins, but rather of an abuse of power, an abuse that is born from a perverted interpretation of the priestly role, arising from an evil which he has called clericalization.

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SHREVEPORT (LA)
Diocese of Shreveport

February 6, 2019

By Peter B. Mangum

[Note: This press release includes the list.]

http://www.dioshpt.org/release-of-names-of-priests-who-served-in-the-former-diocese-of-alexandria-shreveport-removed-for-sexual-abuse-of-minors/

RE: Release of Names of Priests Who Served in the Former Diocese of Alexandria-Shreveport Removed for Sexual Abuse of Minors

The following is a statement from the Very Rev. Peter B. Mangum, Diocesan Administrator, on the public release of names of priests accused of sexual abuse of minors in the Diocese of Alexandria, which, prior to 1986, included what is now the Diocese of Shreveport.

In my press release on November 8, 2018, I explained that the Diocese of Shreveport was established in 1986 when the Diocese of Alexandria-Shreveport was divided by the Vatican. When the Diocese of Shreveport was formed, all historical documents and records, including the files related to priests, living and deceased, remained in Alexandria, as per Church protocol. Thus, all records of priests who served in what is now the Diocese of Shreveport before June 1986 are still located in the Diocese of Alexandria’s files.

I reported then that, since June 1986, no allegations of sexual misconduct of a minor by a bishop, priest or deacon have been received in the Diocese of Shreveport. This review of the files of all priests (living and deceased, diocesan priests and those in religious orders, native and foreign born) who have served in the Diocese of Shreveport since its creation, was conducted by a lay professional and local attorney, without the presence of any clergy or employee of the diocese. (To read the Diocese of Shreveport’s complete press release from November 8, 2018, visit: http://www.dioshpt.org/release-of-names-of-priests-removed-for-sexual-abuse-of-minors/)

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SHREVEPORT (LA)
Shreveport Times

February 6, 2019

By Nick Wooten and Ashley Mott

Seventeen priests who served in north Louisiana were accused of sexually abusing minors before 1986. Nearly all of them had ties to the Shreveport-Bossier City area, according to a report released by the Diocese of Alexandria Wednesday.

Prior to 1986, the Diocese of Alexandria included the Diocese of Shreveport, but all files related to priests, living and deceased, stayed in Alexandria due to church protocol. No allegations of sexual misconduct of a minor by a bishop, priest or deacon was received in the Diocese of Shreveport since June 1986, said Rev. Peter B. Mangum, the Shreveport diocesan administrator.

The Shreveport diocese covers 16 north Louisiana parishes — Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto, East Carroll, Jackson, Lincoln, Morehouse, Ouachita, Red River, Richland, Sabine, Union, Webster and West Carroll.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

February 7, 2019

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh on Thursday said it received an accusation of sexual abuse of a minor against a lay brother teaching at Central Catholic High School who later became a priest.

The allegation against Father John O’Brien, who died in 2004, dates to the mid-1960s.

No details were released about the alleged abuse.

Father O’Brien was a Christian brother known as Brother Firmilian John at the time of the alleged abuse. He was ordained as a priest in 1975.

It’s the first accusation that the diocese or the Christian Brothers have received against Father O’Brien, according to the diocese.

He was not one of the Pittsburgh-area priests whose names were released in last year’s grand jury report about clergy sex abuse in six of Pennsylvania’s eight dioceses.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

February 7, 2019

A diocese in Illinois added names to their list of publicly accused priests in the wake of new disclosures of credibly accused priests from other states and the hard work of journalists in Illinois.

Three priests total were added to the list previously published by the Diocese of Peoria. One of those priests is Fr. Kenneth J. Roberts. The cleric was added after his name was included on the list of abusive priests in Dallas, TX. Fr. Roberts has been accused of abuse in Dallas, St. Louis, Peoria and Belleville. To date, Belleville Bishop Edward Braxton has yet to add Fr. Roberts to the Belleville list.

We know a brave and persistent survivor who reported his abuse by Fr. Roberts years ago, so it is difficult for us to believe that Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky only recently learned of Fr. Roberts’ presence in the Peoria Diocese. It is a shame that bishops continue to minimize allegations and hide information related to abusive priests unless they are faced with continued external pressure.

The other two priests in question – Fr. Ron Roth and Fr. Bernard Tomaszewski – were also added to the list of abusive priests from the Diocese of Peoria this week, but apparently only after having been ‘outed’ by the News Tribune.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

February 7, 2019

Members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, recently wrote to Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley asking her to investigate whether or not the Oakland Diocese reported allegations that Fr. Alex Castillo sexually abused a minor to law enforcement in a timely fashion.

Mandatory reporters in California must make an “immediate” phone call to law enforcement when they learn someone is accused of child sexual abuse. Clergy, such as Oakland Bishop Michael C. Barber, SJ, are among those who are required to make that call. Failure to report is a crime punishable by up to 6 months in jail or a $1000 fine.

From media reports it appears that no one from the Diocese made an “immediate” report to the Oakland Police as required by law. Moreover, the Church may have known about the allegations earlier in the month, or even since last fall.

“We know there was a delay in reporting,” said Dan McNevin, Volunteer Oakland SNAP Leader and a survivor of abuse himself. “What we don’t know is if the delay was a matter of hours, days, weeks or even months. We are hoping that the DA can nail down the timeline, and make a determination as to whether the law has been violated.”

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

February 7, 2019

Our hearts ache for the thousands of nuns who have been sexually abused and harassed by priests, bishops and other Catholic clerics. We are glad their plight is finally attracting attention but feel compelled to stress that when it comes to the Church hierarchy, awareness does not guarantee action.

It is worth noting that, once again, a clergy sex scandal surfaces only because of outside pressure on the Vatican. Sometimes, it is a prosecutor or governmental body or an external study that achieves prompt disclosure. This time, it was investigative journalism. We are grateful for all those individuals and institutions who keep chipping away at this ancient, rigid, male-dominated hierarchy that remains so dreadfully committed to secrecy.

We share the view of Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability who said that she is “bewildered that the pope verifying this should make headlines — it‘s an epidemic problem in certain areas. The Vatican has documentation on likely tens of thousands of cases of sexual violence, and so when a Vatican official or the pope makes a pronouncement as if it’s occurring to them for the first time — as if they’re identifying a problem for the first time — it strikes me as disingenuous.”

Those who have been sexually assaulted by priests, bishops, brothers, seminarians, deacons and yes, nuns, have heard many pledges of reform from Catholic officials over the years, and have witnessed these promises fall short. So we are not in the least encouraged by the pope’s claim that high-ranking church staff has the will to stop this horror.

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SHREVEPORT (LA)
KTBS TV

February 9, 2019

The Catholic church has released the names of 17 priests assigned to churches in North Louisiana who are believed to have sexually abused children before 1986. Thirteen served at churches in Shreveport-Bossier City.

The names were released Wednesday by the Diocese of Alexandria, which oversaw Shreveport until 1986, when Shreveport became a separate diocese. Under church protocol, the files of accused pedophile priests stayed in Alexandria.

The diocese released the names of priests both living and dead, the North Louisiana churches where they served and general allegations against them. The church has paid damages to several of the victims, although it has not disclosed details of the amounts. In each case there were “credible allegations” of sexual abuse of a minor, the diocese said.

The priests identified by the diocese are:
Father Edward Allen; St. Theresa in Shreveport and St. Lucy in Hodge. Allegations of sexual abuse of a boy dating to 1973 was brought before a Permanent Review Board in 2005. Allen resigned from the ministry in 2005 and a settlement with the victim was made in 2012. Allen died in 2018.

Father William Allison; Our Lady of Fatima in Monroe and Christ the King in Bossier City. An allegation of sexual abuse of a boy dating back to 1961 was brought before the review board in 2004. Allison died in 1986.

Father William Bressler; St. Catherine of Siena in Shreveport. Multiple allegations of sexual abuse of boys and girls dating back to the 1960s were brought before the review board in 2004 and 2005. Bressler died in 1990. Settlements were made with victims in 2006 and 2017.

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ALEXANDRIA (LA)
KALB TV

February 7, 2019

By Andrea Finney, Brooke Buford & Allison Bazzle

We are continuing with our coverage of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church involving clergymen within the Diocese of Alexandria. Twenty-seven priests and deacons, both living and dead, are accused of sexual abuse and misconduct. That list was compiled beginning last August.

According to the Diocese of Alexandria, there are five former clergymen still living. And, Thursday morning, with the help of the Rapides Parish Tax Assessor’s Office, we were able to track down one of them – Monsignor Frederick Lyons, who still lives in Alexandria.

He’s accused of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of boys dating back to the 1960s. When those allegations were deemed credible, he was removed from active ministry in 2006. But, according to a press release issued by the diocese in 2013, he was not stripped of his priesthood. Instead, the diocese imposed “a life of prayer and penance” on him.

“When he met with the review board, which he did not have to do, he chose to do it. I was not present, but the report they gave me was that he neither admitted nor denied,” said Bishop Ronald Herzog in 2006. “Of course, that is always someone’s option to listen to what is presented without addressing it beyond that.”

According to information provided in 2013, Lyons served as a priest at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Alexandria, St. John the Baptist in Cloutierville, St. Anthony Padua in Bunkie, and Our Lady of Prompt Succor in Alexandria. He was appointed monsignor in 1962 and retired in 1989.

On Thursday, we visited his home to find out if he would comment on the list and were met at the door by him and a caretaker. He chose not to comment.

News Channel 5 also requested information on the assignments of the priests and deacons on the list, including specific schools and churches where they may have been placed.

The Diocese of Alexandria gave us this statement:

“The members of the Personnel Review Board (PRB) discussed this aspect of their investigation thoroughly.

Along with not wanting to re-victimize any victims, the PRB understood that communities were also affected in the past, where the rumor of a “bad priest” or rumors of untold behaviors or rumors of a child or teen affected by the behavior of a cleric affected the spirit of the community negatively. Communities (parishes, missions) are not to be re-traumatized about a sad portion of their history (with allegations or convictions of abusive priest(s) ), placing an unwanted spotlight on the community of faith today in 2019.

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ARLINGTON (VA)
USA TODAY

Feb. 7, 2019

By Lindsay Schnell

Pope Francis’ acknowledgement aboard the papal plane this week that nuns have suffered sexual abuse by priests and even bishops — including nuns in the U.S. — caught many offguard with his frankness.

But it wasn’t exactly new information, according to U.S. women leaders within the Catholic Church.

In a statement issued Thursday, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the largest association representing nuns in the U.S., said that while this problem is prevalent mostly in developing countries — there have been many cases in Africa, and last year a nun in India accused a priest of repeatedly raping her between 2014 and 2016 — it has gone on in the U.S., too.

The conference specifically referenced a 1996 study from St. Louis University that indicated, “there were sisters in the United States who had suffered some form of sexual trauma by Catholic priests. Often those sisters did not share this information even with their own communities.”

Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability, a website that tracks abusive priests, was both underwhelmed and hopeful after hearing the pope’s comments.

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NEW YORK (NY)
America Magazine

February 7, 2019

By Jim McDermott

Eight years ago, the Irish-born artist Trina McKillen returned to Dublin to discover that her elderly mother no longer wanted to go to Mass—the ongoing revelations of clerical child abuse were just too much.

This was a woman who had nine children “because you have as many children as God gave you,” Ms. McKillen told a gathering of over 200 people at Loyola Marymount University a week ago. Her mother had an image of the Sacred Heart across from her bed; “she used to say, ‘The Sacred Heart is my best friend.’”

“For me, she was the church,” Ms. McKillen told the crowd. “And here she was walking away at the age of 84 from her spiritual home. I felt I had to do something. It’s not right for my mother not to have her refuge.”

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ROME (ITALY)
Associated Press

February 7, 2019

By Nicole Winfield

The largest association of religious sisters in the United States called Thursday for an overhaul of the male-led leadership structure of the Catholic Church, after Pope Francis publicly acknowledged the problem of priests and bishops sexually abusing nuns.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious also appealed in a statement for reporting guidelines to be established so abused nuns “are met with compassion and are offered safety.”

The conference’s statement followed Francis’ acknowledgement this week that clergy abuse of nuns was a problem. The pope said the Vatican was working on it but more needed to be done.

His comments, given in response to a reporter’s question during an in-flight press conference, were the first public acknowledgement by a pope of a long-simmering scandal. Reporting by The Associated Press and other news media, as well as the reckoning demanded by the #MeToo movement, has brought the issue to the fore.

The LCWR, which represents about 80 percent of Catholic sisters in the U.S., said it was grateful Francis had “shed light on a reality that has been largely hidden from the public and we believe his honesty is an important and significant step forward.”

The group also said some religious congregations had been part of the problem and didn’t support sisters in coming forward to report abuse.

“We regret that when we did know of instances of abuse, we did not speak out more forcefully for an end to the culture of secrecy and cover-ups within the Catholic Church that have discouraged victims from coming forward,” the association based in Silver Spring, Maryland, said.

It made two recommendations: the creation of reporting mechanisms and what it called a “refashioning” of the church’s overall leadership structure to involve laity and to reform the clerical culture that affords all power to the clergy.

“The revelations of the extent of abuse indicate clearly that the current structures must change if the church is to regain its moral credibility and have a viable future,” the group said.

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BONN (GERMANY)
Deutsche Welle

February 7, 2019

As the Catholic Church reels from continued reports of sexual abuse by clergyworldwide, Pope Francis has, for the first time, acknowledged the rape of nuns by clergy, saying the Vatican must do more to prevent assault.

In January, the Austrian theologian Hermann Geissler resigned as chief of staff of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican body that investigates reports of assault within the Catholic Church. The priest’s departure comes after a nun’s accounts of repeated rape by him were made public.

German dioceses have invited Reisinger to address assault in the Catholic Church

The former nun Doris Reisinger, a well-known philosopher, theologian, author and activist, told DW that the hierarchies of many religions and faith communities, such as the Catholic Church, subordinate individuals and often provide the ideal conditions for assault by men higher up in the ranks. She also spoke of her own experiences of assault within the Catholic Church.

Reisinger was born in Germany in 1983. At the age of 19, she joined the Catholic religious community Das Werk, which maintains close ties to the Roman Curia. She says she was subjected to various forms of abuse by Catholic clergy, from spiritual manipulation to rape and assault by priests.

In 2011, Reisinger left Das Werk. In 2014, she completed her theology studies in Germany. As Doris Wagner, her birth name, she has written two books about sexual assault by Catholic clergy and her experiences. Reisinger is currently writing her PhD thesis in analytical philosophy. She is married and has a child.

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[Spanish government asks bishops for information on church abuse cases]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

February 7, 2019

By Julio Núñez

La iniciativa del Ejecutivo deja fuera a los casos cometidos dentro de las órdenes religiosas

El Gobierno ha solicitado este jueves a la Conferencia Episcopal Española (CEE) información sobre los casos de pederastia de los que tiene constancia, los que está investigando y los que ha instruido en el pasado con el objetivo de “arrojar luz sobre unos hechos que nuestra sociedad no puede permitirse seguir manteniendo ocultos si desea afrontar el futuro con dignidad”. A través de una carta oficial al presidente de la CEE, el cardenal Ricardo Blázquez, la ministra de Justicia, Dolores Delgado, ha subrayado que los casos de abusos, “sean en el seno de la Iglesia como en cualquier otra institución, no pueden ser ocultados ni considerados como hechos privados”, sino que merecen “la contundente respuesta del ordenamiento jurídico penal”.

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{Archbishop of Tarragona resigns in midst of abuse scandal]

TARRAGONA (SPAIN)
El País

February 7, 2019

By Marc Roviro

Jaume Pujol alega que cesa del cargo por motivos de edad

El arzobispo de Tarragona, Jaume Pujol, presenta ante el Vaticano su renuncia al cargo. La dimisión se produce justo cuando la diócesis de Tarragona está en el punto de mira por una sucesión de escándalos relacionados con abusos sexuales a menores por parte de curas que dependen del Arzobispado. Tras descubrirse las prácticas de los sacerdotes, Pujol compareció este miércoles ante la prensa y calificó los abusos como un “mal momento” por parte de los capellanes. Justificó que no se les expulsara del oficio religioso porque, dijo, no fue un asunto lo suficientemente importante como para alejarles del contacto con los feligreses. “No fue tan grave como para secularizarlos”, dijo Pujol.

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ROM (ITALY)
Crux

February 6, 2019

By Claire Giangravè

Charged with sexually abusing at least six underage girls, the head of a lay Catholic association in southern Italy considered by his devotees to be the incarnation of an archangel, who’s scheduled to go to court Feb. 18 for a preliminary hearing, has asked for an expedited trial.

“Often this is a decision that we can describe as a media strategy,” said Tommaso Tamburino, who represents four of the six alleged victims, in a phone interview with Crux on Feb. 5.

“It’s a decision often made by someone who wants to give the impression to the public opinion to have independently chosen to go to trial,” he said. “It’s a way of saying that [Capuana] himself wants justice and wishes to go to trial quicker.”

Under Italian law, the decision to ask for an expedited trial can only come from the accused party and not from a judge. According to Tamburino, it’s often a way of trying to persuade the public that since an indictment is inevitable, Capuana can act as if the decision to go to trial is his own instead of the judge’s.

Defense sources contacted by Crux said they didn’t want to discuss the case ahead of the trial.

Piero Alfio Capuana, 74, is among the founders of the Catholic Culture and Environment Association (ACCA) near Catania, Sicily, which counts almost 5,000 followers, many of whom consider him to be the reincarnation of the Archangel Michael.

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CORPUS CHRISTI (TX)
Corpus Christi Caller Times

February 7, 2019

By Alexandria Rodriguez

Twenty-six clergy members with ties to the Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi had “credible” claims of sexual abuse to minors

The diocese was among the 15 in Texas that released names of clergy members with “credible” accusations Jan. 31.

Twelve of the clergy members listed were dead and two received criminal convictions. Bishop Michael Mulvey said no one on the list is active in the ministry.

Here’s what we know about the men on the Diocese of Corpus Christi’s list.

More: These Diocese of Corpus Christi priests were accused of sexual abuse

Bishop Michael Mulvey answers questions from the media after Diocese of Corpus Christi released a list of names of priests accused of sexual abuse of minors on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019.Buy Photo
Bishop Michael Mulvey answers questions from the media after Diocese of Corpus Christi released a list of names of priests accused of sexual abuse of minors on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019. (Photo: Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times)

Bishop Joseph Vincent Sullivan
Joseph Vincent Sullivan was ordained in the Diocese of Kansas City in 1946. The Diocese of Corpus Christi said in its list that Sullivan visited the area. He died in 1982.

He was the bishop of Baton Rouge.

In 2009, a Nueces County judge ordered the Catholic dioceses of Baton Rouge and Corpus Christi to hand over records for a civil lawsuit alleging Sullivan abused a boy in Corpus Christi from 1978 to 1982, according to a Caller-Times article.

The man, who was a teenage student in the Baton Rouge minor seminary and the Corpus Christi Minor Seminary, said Sullivan would visit him in Corpus Christi. The lawsuit alleged the dioceses “failed to protect the boy,” the article states.

“The man did not remember the abuse until within two years of the filing of the lawsuit in 2007, according to court documents. Attorney Johnny Garza said memories resurfaced in therapy the man underwent after his second marriage collapsed,” the article reads.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

February 7, 2019

By John L. Allen Jr.

Twice now, and with ascending levels of authority, we’ve been cautioned not to expect too much from the summit on clerical sexual abuse Pope Francis has called for Feb. 21-24 for the presidents of bishops’ conferences around the world.

First came the Vatican’s new editorial director, veteran Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli, who penned a Jan. 10 editorial complaining of media “hype” over the meeting, quipping that it’s being covered as if it were “halfway between a council and a conclave.”

Then on his way home from World Youth Day in Panama in late January, Francis waded into the fray during an in-flight news conference.

“Let me say that I’ve perceived expectations that are a little inflated,” he said. “We need to deflate those expectations.”

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NAIROBI (KENYA)
Catholic News Service

February 7, 2019

By Fredrick Nzwili

When child sexual abuse scandals involving Catholic priests emerge in Africa, they do not draw a frenzied reaction similar to that witnessed in developed countries, but the continent’s church is affected, said Catholic leaders.

While there is a general view that the scandals are a challenge of the church in Europe and America, African officials confirm the incidents, amid reports of some provinces expelling or defrocking priests.

In Africa, clerics view the issue as too delicate and sensitive for the public, and many remained tight-lipped on the subject. At the same time, the church leaders said they were concerned about the abuses and closely follow any such reports, both locally and globally.

“Africa is also affected like any other continent, but to what extent, I am not sure,” Precious Blood Sister Hermenegild Makoro, general secretary of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, told Catholic News Service.

In October, the South African church defrocked three priests over sexual abuse of children in the parishes. Since 2003, 35 cases of abuse involving priests have been reported to the church in South Africa.

Sister Makoro said out of the 35 cases, only seven were being investigated by the police, and one has led to a life sentence.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

February 7, 2019

Leaders from the nation’s oldest and largest advocacy group for victims of clergy and institutional sex abuse delivered a letter today to the papal nuncio, asking for Pope Francis to take five specific actions at his summit in February and requesting a meeting with Pope Francis.

Representatives from SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, delivered the letter today which outlines specific actions that they are asking the Pope to take at the papal abuse summit to be held in Rome from February 21 to 24. They are also asking for a meeting to explain why these requested actions will not only help survivors heal but also protect children by preventing future cases of abuse from happening in the first place.

In their letter, the group calls for Pope Francis to:

Fire any and all bishops or cardinals who have had a hand in clergy sex abuse cover-ups,
Impose “dramatic and punitive consequences” to deter any future cover-ups,
Eliminate any directive for church staff to report abuse to bishops and instead direct all church staff and officials to make reports to law enforcement, and
Compel bishops around the world to turn their files over to law enforcement for independent investigations into their handling of clergy sex abuse cases, and
Order your bishops and other hierarchs to cease lobbying efforts against legislative reform that would benefit survivors.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
BBC

February 7, 2019

A day after Pope Francis publicly admitted for the first time that clerics had sexually abused nuns, promising to tackle the issue that was “still going on” within the Catholic Church, two former female members of the Church have spoken about their experiences with the BBC.

Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour on Thursday morning, the women welcomed the pontiff’s acknowledgement of the scandal, saying that for too long there had been a “culture of silence and secrecy within the hierarchy”.

But the descriptions of their experiences will only serve to exacerbate a scandal that continues to rock the Catholic Church.

Dr Rocio Figueroa says she was “very naive”

Dr Figueroa is a theologian and lecturer in Auckland, New Zealand, and a survivor of abuse she says she suffered at the hands of a priest in Lima, Peru.

She told the BBC that she joined the society of apostolic life within the Catholic Church as a teenager living in a “very poor part of the world” because she “needed to do something”.

“I was 15 years old and the founder asked me to begin a spiritual direction with a vicar, who became my spiritual director.

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ROME (ITALY)
LaCroix International

February 7, 2019

By Anne-Bénédicte Hoffner

The presidents of the world’s episcopal conferences as well as the primates of the Eastern Catholic churches in communion with Rome will take part in the Vatican summit from Feb. 21-24.On Sept. 12, the Holy See announced that the pope had decided to call the summit, which will have an unprecedented format, “to discuss the prevention of abuse of minors and vulnerable adults.”Pope Francis will take part as will representatives of victims and religious communities, several members of relevant congregations of the Rome Curia and finally “men and women lay experts in the field of abuse.”

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PEORIA (IL)
Journal Star

February 7, 2019

By Brett Herrmann

A former priest who once served in a leadership role at a Catholic retreat at St. Bede has been listed as “credibly accused” of sexual abuse by the Catholic Diocese of Peoria.

Kenneth J. Roberts, a priest with sexual abuse allegations made against him in multiple states, was listed with 285 other priests in Texas last week, and this week the Peoria Diocese added him to a list of “Incardinated priests in other dioceses/religious orders removed from ministry due to allegations of abuse of a minor.”

The Illinois Valley has ties to a list of priests with abuse allegations, and the list could get a lot longer
It was last month when Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan unveiled that the Catholic Church in Illinois had received allegations against a…

Roberts spent time in a leadership position during the Diocese of Peoria Emmaus Days Retreats in the 1980s, some of which took place at St. Bede. And it was there that one of his alleged abuses took place. Roberts was accused of sexually abusing a boy at one of the retreats in the early 1980s, according to a 2009 article from the Peoria Journal Star.

Roberts also had accusations made against him during his time in the St. Louis, Dallas and Belleville dioceses.

Roberts was ordained in 1966 and suspended from public ministry by the Diocese of Dallas in 1998. He died in 2018.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service

February 7, 2019

By Rhina Guidos

The laity may be angry over the most recent revelations of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse crisis, but bishops, particularly younger ones, share in that anger and “want to move with real force” toward solutions and it could yield a new season for the church, said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, who is the archbishop of Galveston-Houston, made the comments on Feb. 6 during a day-long conference to address the problem.

The “Healing the Breach of Trust” conference, the second such meeting at The Catholic University of America in Washington, addressed the need of more involvement by lay women and men – one inspired by the teachings of the Second Vatican Council – in building what the cardinal called in the morning part of the conference a new “season” for the church, and one that may not be accidental.

“Think about what the Spirit might be doing in all of this,” Cardinal DiNardo said. “In saying this, I am in no way trying to deny or dodge the issues of the episcopal responsibility and accountability that this crisis has raised,” but added it’s worth it to ponder St. Augustine’s principle “that God can bring good even out of evil.”

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Tablet

February 7, 2019

The Vatican summit which Pope Francis has convened for 21 February could be a watershed moment in the history of the Catholic Church’s response to the scandal of child sexual abuse within its ranks. There is no quick fix available, but there is a deep appreciation within the Church of how profoundly serious the issue really is, and a growing consensus about what needs to be done. The summit, to which presidents of bishops’ conferences throughout the world have been invited, is aimed at solidifying that consensus and drawing into it those parts of the Church not yet fully on board. Bishops’ conferences, of which there are more than a hundred, have been required by the Vatican to implement local guidelines for dealing with safeguarding issues. So far as many as a quarter of them have failed to do so. The religious orders, too, must no longer be allowed to escape the net.

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HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle

February 7, 2019

Regarding “What you need to ask about Catholic scandals” (Outlook, Sunday): Not much frustrates me more than lines such as this one in the opinion piece: “The world has been aware of systemic sexual abuse in the U.S. Catholic Church since 2002, when the Boston Globe […] exposed the breadth of this crime epidemic.”

No! Read Jason Berry’s “Lead Us Not Into Temptation” for details on the early 1970s abuse scandal in Lafayette, La., with charges continuing into the early 1980s, and look at the mid-1980s for Father Tom Doyle’s comprehensive report on priests’ sexual abuse, the early 1990s for abuse charges in Providence, Fall River and Boston, and the late 1990s for abuse lawsuits in Dallas, and then 2001 in Tucson — all before the powerful Boston Globe reporting. Note that this list is not comprehensive, and it includes only cases within the United States.

Catholics and their church must stop wringing their hands and pretending that this is a new aberration that they were somehow unaware of before 2002. That damaging illusion simply continues the abuse.

Sarah Jenkins, The Woodlands

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WAUSAU (WI)
Wausau Daily Herald

February 7, 2019

By Laura Schulte

Nearly nine years after victims first told police that Thomas Ericksen molested them when they were children, the former Wisconsin priest is behind bars as four sexual-assault cases against him make their way through the legal system.

The allegations were initially met with inaction and delays by law enforcement, but there have been many new developments in recent weeks as more victims have come forward.

Here’s what we know so far about Ericksen:

Police knew about Ericksen’s actions in the town of Winter since 1983
Ericksen was ordained in the early 1970s and served as a priest in Eagle River, Merrill, Winter and other parishes. The Sawyer County Sheriff’s Department first investigated the priest in 1983, but ended up releasing him to then-Bishop of Superior George Albert Hammes after Ericksen confessed to investigators that he “had a problem.”

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MUMBAI (India)
Crux

February 7, 2019

By Nirmala Carvalho

Bishops in India’s most Christian state have declared a “zero tolerance” policy for the sexual abuse of children.

The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council issued safe environment guidelines this week, sending them to every Catholic institution in the state.

Kerala has 6.1 million Christians – over 18 percent of the population of the southern state – and 60 percent of them are Catholic, divided into Latin, Syro-Malabar, and Syro-Malankara rite jurisdictions.

Kerala’s Catholic Church is highly influential throughout India, since many priests and religious in other parts of the country come from the state.

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EUREKA (CA)
North Coast Journal

February6, 2019

By Jennifer Fumiko and Thadeus Greenson

While the Roman Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal has been widely known and reported on the North Coast going back 25 years, the Santa Rosa Diocese’s recent release of a list of 39 accused priests illuminates the systemic nature of the problem. These were not the isolated incidents of a few bad actors. As you’ll see in this week’s cover story, this was a case of widespread predation by a significant portion of the diocese’s clergy that its leaders worked to conceal and allowed to continue with horrendous consequences, especially for Humboldt County families.

While we can all hope the days of the diocese turning an indifferent eye to priests molesting children, and then simply moving them to another community when parishioners refused to do the same are over, it’s important to recognize the ripple effect of this abuse continues to sprawl. People’s faith has been broken. Lives have been shattered, consuming families and, in turn, communities. Studies have repeatedly shown that sexual abuse perpetrators are more likely than the general population to have experienced sexual abuse themselves as children, meaning some of the church’s victims have themselves likely grown up to victimize, continuing a devastating cycle.

There is no salve that can heal this wound, nothing that can stop the ripples. The best we as a community — and the Catholics among us, especially — can hope for is atonement.

The Santa Rosa Diocese took a marked step in that direction this week, releasing the list of the accused and devoting much of the January issue of its newspaper to the subject, with a lengthy apology from Bishop Robert Vasa, an urging for additional victims to come forward and an explanation of the diocese’s revised “policy for the protection of children and young people,” which makes clear that clergy should be considered mandated reporters and that anyone who hears an abuse allegation should report it to police. While these are all positive steps, they are also woefully inadequate — and decades late. The idea that in 2019 an institution that asks parents to entrust it with their children should be applauded for making clear it has a zero -tolerance policy toward sexual predators would be laughable if it didn’t expose the horrid depths from which we have come.

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EUREKA (CA)
North Coast Journal

February 7, 2019

By Thadeus Greenson

Earlier this month, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa took an unprecedented step — for the church, anyway — releasing a list naming 39 of its priests who have been accused of sexually abusing minors. While the North Coast began publicly grappling with predatory clergy earlier than most communities — the arrest of Rev. Gary Timmons, a former St. Bernard priest who founded Camp St. Michael in Leggett, on 17 counts of child molestation came more than six years before the nation became aware of the growing crisis in the church. But the diocese’s list — which critics charge is an incomplete effort at damage control — reveals that the extent of such abuses in Humboldt County was far beyond what anyone outside the church likely knew.

Consider this: Of the 39 priests on the diocese’s list, at least 10 worked in Humboldt County, together comprising an almost consistent 45-year stretch when a priest who had been or would face allegations of abuse was working in a local church. Five of them worked at St. Bernard, four at St. Mary’s in Arcata, three at Humboldt State University’s Newman Center. And, coupled with the Santa Rosa bishops’ history of extensive efforts to protect and even enable the accused, that’s led some advocates to draw a very dark conclusion.

“Humboldt County and Eureka, unfortunately, was one of the ‘dumping grounds’ for abusive clergy, and the church is not going to reveal the true depths of depravity that has existed there,” says Joey Piscitelli, who was abused by a priest in the Bay Area and is now a member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). “What I can say without reservation is that the Catholic Church in Northern California was inundated with child rapists, pedophiles and depraved molesters for decades, and depraved bishops who harbored them, shuffled them, shielded them and enabled them without any regard for children’s safety.”

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SANTA FE (NM)
Santa Fe Reporter

February 6, 2019

By Matt Grubs

Jim Field loved going to church.

As a kid, he remembers waking for morning mass.

“The sun might just about be coming up. And I’d get in the bathtub, I’d clean myself up, I’d hop on my bike and ride to Sacred Heart Church in Farmington,” he says. “And I would sit and wait for mass. I just loved being there.”

It was around 1960 and the service, he recalls, was in Latin. He didn’t understand a word, but something about the ceremony—the quiet, the reverence—resonated with him.

He was 8 years old, getting ready to turn 9 in 1961, when the abuse happened. It was summer. Father Conran Runnebaum, a Franciscan priest, had only been a cleric since 1955. Farmington was his second assignment, starting in 1958.

Field is not sure how many times the priest abused him. Once for sure. Maybe three times, he thinks.

“Conran had me pull down my pants and he pulled up his habit, like a cassock,” Field begins. He had no idea what was happening.

“How would I know what was going on? Except, I do remember at one point, enters Miguel … and he’s horrified,” Field says of another priest, Miguel Baca. Horrified—but also the same man who would later expose himself to, and further abuse, Field.

“I have a memory of later, in the bathroom, which you accessed from outside the church in those days … but it was in that bathroom where those …” Field trails off.

It would be 40 years before the memories, in terrifying flashes, started to come back to him. “My knees went weak and I fell to the floor and began to sob and cry. … It was like lava in a volcano coming up through me,” he says.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle

February 6, 2019

By Thomas G. Plante

Catholic bishops from across the globe will meet Feb. 21-24 at the Vatican for a much anticipated conference to discuss global clerical sexual abuse. While clerics might know a lot about theology, church history and church law, they aren’t experts on research and best practices in child protection, child abuse or pedophilia. Those experts aren’t invited to the conference. And it is a shame.

Without experts in attendance and actively involved, we can expect that the most conservative voices in the church will try to blame the clergy sexual abuse crisis on homosexual clerics or liberal approaches to church teachings that began to get traction after Vatican II. The most liberal voices may blame the problem on mandated clerical celibacy or the fact that only men can be priests in the Roman Catholic Church.

Both groups would be wrong. And their views may lead to unproductive or counterproductive directions for interventions and resolutions of this problem that have plagued the institution for too long.

What the experts might say, if invited and allowed to speak, would be that best practices in child protection and screening adults who work with children are readily available and can be enlisted to make the church and other organizations much safer than they are now. Among the most commonsense solutions: incorporate careful screening and training of those who work with children and teens into any plan to protect minors both in and outside of church communities.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
KDKA TV

February 6, 2019

By Brenda Waters

A local priest accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy will stand trial, but his attorney is raising some objections to the way his client was treated on Wednesday.

Once a priest at Saint Therese Catholic Church in Munhall, Father Hugh Lang is now accused of sexual abuse of a child and indecent assault and exposure.

The 88-year-old left his preliminary hearing on Wednesday afternoon after his attorney, Kerry Lewis, told the magistrate judge, Thomas Terkowsky, he objected to the hearing and found his attitude toward him and his client to be disgraceful.

Lewis wanted Terkowsky to recuse himself, and the judge refused.

The 29-year-old accuser, who was 10-years-old at the time of the alleged incident, claims Lang took him away from other boys during alter training, He alleges Lang took him to the basement of the church, had him take off his clothes and took a Polaroid picture and committed a sexual act.

“He is charged with an act that is a pedophile,” Lewis said. “This kind of conduct when he was 72 years old, there’s never been any complaint against him before and there hasn’t been one since. He just didn’t become an abuser, a pedophile, one day in June in 2001.”

The accuser, who now lives in another country, said in court his mother told him about indictments against priests who had abused children and he called the attorney general’s office in August of last year.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KSDK TV

February 6, 2019

By Chris Davis

Pope Francis has acknowledged for the first time that nuns have been sexually abused in the Catholic Church.

The pope admits the abuse at the hands of priests and other clergy has been going on for decades.

Some had even been subjected to sex slavery in a French order.

This comes as the pope prepares to convene a summit of bishops from around the world to address the crisis of sexual abuse in the church.

A local advocate wants even more from the pontiff.

“I was abused from the time I was about 6 until I was 12-13 by my best friends uncle, who was a priest at our parish,” Barbara Dorris said.

Her abuse was constant. Her priest had access to her far beyond the St. Louis parish walls.

“He could call my mother, she’d send me. He could call the nuns at school, they’d send me to his bedroom,” Dorris said.

When the abuse finally ended, she blocked the memories and moved on.

It wasn’t until 1991 while she was teaching at the same parish, that she revisited her own pain by witnessing someone else’s.

“And I caught the associate pastor molesting a child, and that’s what brought me into the movement,” she said.

Ever since, she’s dedicated her life to helping other victims and putting pressure on the church the change their practices.

“It’s not that there are abusive priests, it’s the fact that when they’re caught, they’re protected, enabled and moved to a new parish,” Dorris said.

While Dorris celebrates the pope’s acknowledgment, she fervently believes he must do more.

“Women and girls have been fairly ignored in this process so to finally acknowledge that I believe women are almost equally abused as the men, is important,” she said.

Barbara no longer seeks the church as a place of comfort, but still holds on to her faith.

“I believe in what I was taught as a child, and I try to live by it,” she said.

Her prayer: that the church will finally address this problem head-on.

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AUSTIN (TX)
Austin Chronicle

February 8, 2019

By Mike Clark-Madison and Sarah Marloff

Along with its fellow Roman Catholic dioceses throughout the state, the Diocese of Austin last week published the names and clerical assignments of priests who have been “credibly accused” of committing sexual abuse against minors. A total of 22 ordained religious who had ministered in the diocese, which includes Austin, Waco, Temple/Killeen, Bryan/College Station, and surrounding counties, were identified “with a contrite heart” by Bishop Joe Vásquez, who said he’d commissioned an outside review of 70 years of church archives to compile the list. Half of the men on the list have died; only one is apparently serving as a priest, in Jamaica, the rest having retired or been defrocked.

The bishop’s list gives no indication of whether the “credible” allegations had been substantiated, or when the acts of abuse may have occurred, or to whom, or how many times, or whether those acts constituted criminal offenses, or whether these or other clergy had also been accused of misconduct with adults. The coordinated effort by the Texas bishops, which had been announced last fall, follows the November raid by local and federal agents of the offices of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, who also serves as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in connection with the case of a priest arrested in September on four counts of indecency with a child. “It is my prayer and hope that publishing this list will help to bring healing from the hurt and anger caused by the lack of accountability and transparency on the part of church leadership,” said Vásquez. One of the priests on the list, the now-deceased Fr. Milton Eggerling, was the subject of a 2016 lawsuit regarding alleged abuse in the Seventies of a teen altar boy at St. Louis King of France Catholic Church in North Austin (“Austin Diocese Implicated in Child Abuse Suit,” April 1, 2016).

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KIRKSVILLE (MO)
Kirksville Daily Express

February 6, 2019

An advocacy organization for the victims of abuse by Catholic priests has claimed that a newly accused priest worked in 11 parishes throughout Missouri, including two in Shelby County.

The Diocese of Jefferson City, which covers 38 counties in northeastern and central Missouri, released a list of priests “credibly accused of sexual abuse” which included Fr. Eric A. Schlachter, who the diocese said had been deemed “unsuited for ministry out of concern for the safety of our youth.”

The organization Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said in a press release Monday that the diocese has refused to provide work histories for Schlachter or the other priests and religious brothers publicly accused of misconduct in the diocese; the list currently includes 38 names.

SNAP released a list of parishes where it found Schlachter to have worked in the past, including St. Mary’s in Shelbina and St. Patrick’s in Clarence, as well as parishes in Jefferson City, Hannibal, Boonville, Chamois, Morrison, Pilot Grove, Clear Creek, Kahoka and Wayland.

“The group suspects Fr. Schlachter may have molested kids in some of those places and feels that Catholic officials have a moral and civic duty to warn and alert parents, police, prosecutors, parishioners and the public about him,” SNAP said in a press release.

Helen Osman, director of communications for the diocese, said the diocese does not provide work histories of accused priests in order to protect victims’ privacy, at the request of some victims. She confirmed that Schlachter did work in parishes in Shelby County.

SNAP’s information is drawn from the Official Catholic Directory and the website bishopaccountability.org, which maintains a database of priests accused on abuse and their work assignments.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WGRZ Channel 2

February 6, 2019

By Steve Brown and Dave Harrington

‘Am I the only one?’

For years, Christopher Szuflita wondered.

He didn’t think so. But now, he knows.

He is not the only child in the late 60’s who says they were sexually abused at the hands of Father Joseph Friel.

Szuflita’s encounters with Friel happened after the then-teenager had completed his elementary education at the parish school at Fourteen Holy Helpers in West Seneca.

He returned to attend religious instruction classes. That’s where Friel made his move, pulling Szuflita from class and leading him to the parish rectory.

“We were taught to respect priests and nuns,” says Christopher Szuflita.

“It was in his own room, up the stairs,” recalled Szuflita, “I guess he played some music. I don’t remember if there was alcohol served but I remember smelling alcohol on him… and he tried to kiss me. Sat me on the bed and… and from there things progressed.”

After pausing, Szuflita continued, “And then it happened again.”

…and again.

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
The Advocate

February 6, 2019

By Ramon Antonio Vargas

A Catholic priest allegedly masturbated while lotion was being rubbed on his feet by a New Orleans altar boy — an act which the cleric called “the best hand job” his feet had ever gotten.

Another priest would allegedly fondle the genitals of that same altar boy and other children while play-wrestling with them at that cleric’s family’s summer home in Mississippi.

Both priests, Michael Fraser and Paul Calamari, were named Nov. 2 on a list of Archdiocese of New Orleans clergy who had been stripped of their ministries years earlier after facing credible allegations of sexually abusing minors. And both were named in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Orleans Parish Civil District Court that accuses them of previously unreported sexual molestation that was unrelated to the abuse that landed them on the archdiocese’s list.

The unnamed plaintiff’s lawsuit is the latest legal volley fired at the local Catholic Church involving clerical abuse allegations dating back decades.

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AUSTIN (TX)
American-Statesman

February 6, 2019

The Roman Catholic dioceses’ release last week of roughly 300 names of clergy members across Texas who were credibly accused of abusing children was overdue, unprecedented — and still, sadly, not enough.

Those who endured unspeakable abuse, often decades ago, at the hands of trusted religious leaders deserve more than names. They deserve an explanation.

Seeking to promote healing and rebuild trust amid sexual abuse scandals that have roiled the church for years, Texas dioceses took the exceptional step of opening their files to outside reviewers, then publicly sharing the names of credibly accused clergy.

The Archdiocese of San Antonio made an exemplary effort with its 25-page report, giving a short narrative account of when and where each victim was abused, specifying the number of allegations against each clergy member, and disclosing when supervisors reported incidents to police — or when they failed to take action or alert other parishes.

Such transparency is badly needed. We are dismayed it is lacking in the minimal lists posted by most other Texas dioceses, including the Diocese of Austin, which simply provided the names of credibly accused clergy, their dates of service and a list of their parish assignments — with a disclaimer noting the abuse may not have happened at any of those locations.

Austin Bishop Joe Vásquez told Statesman reporter Asher Price that “out of respect for the victims,” he wouldn’t say how many accusers the diocese knows about or how many cases it had reported to law enforcement. After we pressed the matter, diocese spokesman Christian González told us the review team found the church properly notified law enforcement when credible allegations surfaced against living priests.

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ALEXANDRIA (LA)
Opelousas Daily World

February 6, 2019

By Jeff Matthews

Twenty-seven priests incardinated or serving in the Diocese of Alexandria were found to have credible accusations of sexual abuse against minors in an investigative by the diocese.

The names of the priests were released Wednesday in a letter from Bishop David P. Talley. The cases, which were discovered through a review of hundreds of files of priests who have served in the diocese, date back to the 1940s.

In the letter, Talley calls the accusations an “evil chapter in the life of our diocese.” He said the entire diocese extends “our heartfelt sorrow for all the pain and anguish caused to our children and youth by this evil. Please know that I am ready to meet with any victim in this healing process.”

“In publishing this list, it is not our intent to re-victimize those who have already been so wounded by the actions of some clerics who served in our diocese over the past one hundred sixty-five years,” the letter read. “This evil can only be purged through a vigilant process that is transparent to the public. Our response must demonstrate the highest levels of honesty and scrutiny.”

The Diocesan Permanent Review Board reviewed 535 files of clergy who have served in the diocese since its establishment in 1853. Both clergy and lay people were part of the investigative team.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

February 6, 2019

By Peter Smith

Criminal charges against the Rev. Hugh Lang, an 88-year-old retired Catholic priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, were held for trial at a contentious preliminary hearing Wednesday in Munhall that featured graphic testimony by a 29-year-old man who alleged an episode of sexual abuse in 2001, when he was 11 years old.

The accuser, who now lives overseas, appeared in a dark suit, and answered questions from both prosecutor Thomas Kelly and defense attorney J. Kerrington Lewis readily and without emotion. The young man said that he was punished for a comment he made while in training to be an altar server at St. Therese Parish in Munhall in 2001. He described in detail how, he said, Rev. Lang brought him to a basement room, had him undress, and sexually assaulted him.

During the hearing, Mr. Lewis became frustrated with District Judge Thomas Torkowsky’s rulings on objections and even on the arrangement of the courtroom. Mr. Lewis asked the judge to recuse himself from the case. The judge refused.

Mr. Lewis then said that when the case proceeds to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, he will ask that the assigned judge order a new preliminary hearing.

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GAYLORD (MI)
Petosky News

February 6, 2010

By William T. Perkins

A top-ranking vicar in the Diocese of Gaylord and at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Parish in Petoskey has continued to be active approximately six months after having been accused of sexual harassment against a younger priest.

The Rev. Dennis Stilwell is alleged to have initiated unwanted physical contact with the Rev. Matthew Cowan during the summer of 2015, when Cowan, then 30 years old, was newly assigned to the Diocese of Gaylord. He filed a complaint of the behavior in late August last year.

Stilwell is pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Petoskey.

Candace Neff, spokeswoman for the diocese, said Tuesday that Stilwell had not been suspended from his duties. She said she preferred more time to answer some of the News-Review’s questions and would be following up with additional information over email.

“Following the independent investigation, the Diocesan Review Board (which is also an independent body composed primarily of laity from throughout the diocese) met and concluded that the allegation did not reach the level of credible and substantiated sexual misconduct,” she said in that followup email Wednesday.

A press release Wednesday from Gaylord Diocesan Watch, a newly formed activist group, claimed that Bishop Steven Raica “suspended” Matthew Cowan, the accuser. That group is calling for Cowan to be reinstated. Neff told the News-Review that Cowan had been placed on administrative leave — not suspended — and that his faculties for ministry were withdrawn on Jan. 7, and that the decision was not based on his harassment complaint.

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ALEXANDRIA (LA)
KALB TV

February 6, 2019

The Diocese of Alexandria released a list of clergy members, both living and dead, with credible allegations of sexual abuse on Wednesday afternoon.

A team of eight laypersons and seven clergy members reviewed over 500 files of clergy who served the Diocese of Alexandria since 1853 when it was established.

“I believe, together with all the members of the Permanent Review Board, that we have done what we can to present as truthful and as thorough a record of the alleged instances of sexual abuse by clerics against minors during our long history,” said Bishop David Talley. “I know that this list may be incomplete, not because we have held anything back, but because this kind of evil is perpetrated in secret and out of fear and shame some may not have been able to come forward.”

Talley also encouraged victims to come forward with any information.

“If you are a victim of sexual abuse, please contact your local law enforcement agency,” Talley said. “Sexual abuse is a serious crime and must be treated as such. If you would like more information or are in need of assistance, please contact our Victims’ Assistance Coordinator, Dr. Lee Kneipp, at (318) 542-9805.”

The full document, along with Bishop Talley’s letter, can be found in the Related Documents section of this page.

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

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

February 6, 2019

By Jay Tokasz

A lawyer for the Buffalo Diocese defended retired Bishop Edward U. Kmiec’s handling of a case of alleged clergy sex abuse from Kmiec’s time as bishop of the Nashville Diocese.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests of Tennessee said this week that Kmiec allowed the Rev. James A. Rudisill to retire as a priest in good standing and remain in ministry, despite the priest’s alleged admission in 1994 that he had molested a 12-year-old girl in the 1950s.

But diocesan attorney Lawlor F. Quinlan III said that Kmiec did remove Rudisill from ministry and forbade him from presenting himself as a priest. A lawyer for the Nashville Diocese also notified governmental authorities in Tennessee about the case, Quinlan said in a letter emailed to The News late Tuesday.

“It is unfair and wrong to criticize Bishop Kmiec in this case when he correctly removed the offender from ministry,” said Quinlan.

Quinlan also suggested that The News did not provide the diocese with enough time to respond to the criticisms of Kmiec.

The News called Kmiec last week Friday and he referred the query to Buffalo Diocese spokeswoman Kathy Spangler, who provided no comments. The News also asked Rick Musacchio, spokesman for the Diocese of Nashville, for details about the handling of the Rudisill case and Musacchio said he did not know any additional details.

The News published its story online Monday afternoon and in print editions on Tuesday. No one from the Buffalo Diocese got back to The News to comment until Quinlan’s letter Tuesday evening.

Kmiec was Nashville bishop from 1992 to 2004 and Buffalo bishop from 2004 until his retirement in 2012.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

February 5, 2019

By Claire Giangravè

Just a few weeks before bishops from around the world convene in Rome to discuss the clerical sexual abuse crisis, an Italian victim peacefully protesting in front of the Vatican Feb. 4 was escorted away by police officers.

“Police agents escorted him to the station after he handcuffed himself to a pole,” Carlo Grezio, the victim’s lawyer, told local reporters.

“He was treated with regard and respect. Some agents know his story and expressed solidarity, but regardless, a formal charge will be made against him for wasting police time,” he added.

Arturo Borrelli, 40, claims to have been sexually abused by Father Silverio Mura, who was his religion teacher, about thirty years ago in the peripheries of Naples, Italy.

“I ask for justice and that all victims have justice because it’s essential to heal,” Borrellli told Crux in a phone interview Feb.4. “I will continue my fight until the end.”

The victim said he had informed the Vatican’s Secretary of State that he was coming to Rome to denounce his abuse. He claims that when he arrived Monday morning at the St. Anna entrance of the Vatican, about twenty police officers and journalists were awaiting him.

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SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
Deseret News

February 5, 2019

By Gillian Friedman

From behind the witness stand, Utah Rabbi Avrohom (“Avremi”) Zippel gazes out into the sea of faces and prepares to speak.

It’s a dreary Tuesday morning, and normally, public speaking doesn’t intimidate the 27-year-old. Since he was a child — the precocious and prized eldest son of a prominent rabbi — he has revelled in the attention of a crowd.

But today, sitting in a courtroom in downtown Salt Lake City, the confidence that usually comes so easily evades him.

He fidgets nervously, his fingers playing with his long dark beard, adjusting his black suit and yarmulke, the traditional garb of observant Jewish men.

Time seems to slow to a stop, and all he can hear is the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. But then, one message rings clear in his head, as if from on high: you are doing the right thing.

He clears his throat, and in a voice barely above a whisper, begins to share a story that has haunted him for decades.

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JENKINTOWN (PA)
Dr. Diane Landberg blog

February 5, 2019

Like any other institution churches are susceptible to the twin plagues of the abuse of power and sexual misconduct. How should a church respond when such things are alleged or exposed?

GENERAL PRINCIPLES
We need to acknowledge to ourselves and publicly that the problems of abuse (child sexual abuse, rape, physical abuse and clergy sexual abuse) are not just out there; they are also in here with us.

We need to approach this work carefully and with great humility. Churches often have little to no education about these matters. Most seminaries never speak about abuse. We have not invited victims to tell us their stories and learned from them. We have not been taught about offenders and how they work. We have not developed policies and safeguards for the children under our care. We teach about God, marriage, sex and parenting but we do not usually include the topics of sexual abuse, rape or domestic violence.

We often assume that when sin occurs in a relationship it is always a 50-50 proposition. We have assumed that with rape, domestic violence, verbal abuse and with clergy or counselor sexual abuse. We look for an external cause for sin. “I hit her because she…”

The Bible does not support the assumption of an external cause. Jesus said that it is out of our hearts that evil proceeds. Abuse is an exposure of the abuser’s heart, not the victims.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Gay City News

February 6, 2019 l

By Matt Tracy

By his own admission, Aaron Bianco was a “nobody” until he was discovered by the alt-right.

An out gay former pastoral associate at St. John’s the Evangelist Catholic Church in San Diego, Bianco was long treated with respect in the workplace and largely accepted by parishioners and church leaders alike.

But everything went downhill in June of 2017 when the parish’s priest left, forcing Bianco to assume more responsibilities and play a more visible role in the absence of a permanent replacement pastor.

The alt-right news sites LifeSite News and Church Militant started attacking him, first when Bianco’s role expanded and again in August of last year when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court named at least 300 Catholic priests in an investigation of child sex abuse.

The news articles written about him were followed by a barrage of horrifying events: Bianco started receiving death threats laced with homophobic slurs, found his car’s tires entirely punctured, and saw someone creepily stalking him outside of his house. He arrived at the church one day to find the doors had been lit on fire and “NO FAGS” spray-painted on a wall.

Bianco recalled the time he had to dodge a punch from a man who walked up to him following Mass and demanded to know if he were married. In a fit of rage, the man had to be restrained by others nearby, and a police investigation followed, according to Bianco.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Washington Times

February 6, 2019

By Cheryl K. Chumley

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, SNAP, is holding a summit this week to press Pope Francis into taking stronger action against clergy members who commit acts of sexual abuse.

Well and good. Stronger action is definitely warranted.

But a better course of action would be for the Catholic Church to open its priestly ranks to marriage.

Yes, Jesus was chaste. Yes, Paul, one of the apostles, recommended celibacy as a means of moving closer to God. But Peter, the first pope, was married

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ATLANTA (GA)
CNN

February 6, 2019

By Daniel Burke

A day after Pope Francis created an international uproar by saying Catholics nuns had been subjected to “sexual slavery” by the founder of a French order, the Vatican sought to clarify his remarks.

“When the Holy Father, referring to the dissolution of a Congregation, spoke of ‘sexual slavery,’ he meant ‘manipulation,’ a form of abuse of power which is reflected also in sexual abuse,” said Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti.

The Pope’s shocking comments were the first time he has publicly acknowledged the sexual abuse of nuns by Catholic bishops and priests. To date, much of the clergy abuse scandal has focused on minors, who represent the vast majority of cases.

But many Catholics say abuse of vulnerable adults, including nuns and seminarians, has long been a problem in the church. Some hope the church will address the issue at the upcoming meeting on the abuse crisis to be convened by Pope Francis from February 21 to 24 in Rome.

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WARSAW (POLAND)
Agence France-Presse

February 6, 2019

Polish Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki on Wednesday said he had met with several victims of church sex abuse ahead of a Vatican meeting on the issue later this month.

Pope Francis has called senior bishops from around the world to Rome on February 21-24 to provide them with concrete measures to deal with widespread clergy sex abuse of children and young people.

“A couple of weeks ago… I invited victims of clergy sexual abuse in childhood or youth to meet with me,” Gadecki said in a video message on the episcopate’s website.

“I am grateful to all 28 individuals who accepted the invitation. I have already met with some of them. The rest of the meetings will be scheduled bit by bit.”

It is difficult to pinpoint the extent of sex abuse by clergy in the devout Catholic country of 38 million people.

But Marek Lisinski, head of a Polish foundation for its victims, told AFP that around 700 victims had disclosed clergy abuse to the organisation.

Polish courts have convicted 62 priests of the crime.

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CHANDIGARH (INDIA)
India Tribune

February 6, 2019

Pope Francis’s public admission that priests have used nuns as “sexual slaves”—and may still be doing so—marks a new chapter in the abuse crisis rocking the Catholic Church.

“It is the first time that the pope, but also the church as an institution, has publicly admitted this abuse is taking place, and that’s hugely important,” Lucetta Scaraffia, editor of the Vatican’s women’s magazine, told AFP on Wednesday.

The pontiff on Tuesday said Catholic priests and bishops had been sexually abusing nuns, and that his predecessor Benedict XVI had dissolved a religious order of women because of “sexual slavery on the part of priests and the founder”.

The Church has “suspended several clerics” and the Vatican has been “working (on the issue) for a long time”, he said.

The abuse was “still going on, because it’s not something that just goes away like that. On the contrary”, he added.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
Daily Mail

February 6, 2019

By Sara Malm

The editor of the Vatican’s women’s magazine has accused the Catholic Church of ignoring complaints of rape and sexual abuse made against priests by nuns.

Lucetta Scaraffia is now calling for a commission to be set up by the Vatican to investigate historical and contemporary allegations.

This came after Pope Francis’s public admission that priests have used nuns as ‘sexual slaves’ – and may still be doing so.

‘It is the first time that the pope, but also the church as an institution, has publicly admitted this abuse is taking place, and that’s hugely important,’ Ms Scaraffia, editor of ‘Women Church World’, told AFP.

‘Many complaints have been filed with the Vatican and have not been followed up.

‘I very much hope that a commission will be set up to investigate, and that nuns expert in the issue will be called to take part,’ she told AFP.

‘They could move quickly with trials, and above all raise awareness because silence is what allows rapists to continue to rape,’ she added.

The pontiff on Tuesday said Catholic priests and bishops had been sexually abusing nuns, and that his predecessor Benedict XVI had dissolved a religious order of women because of ‘sexual slavery on the part of priests and the founder’.

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage

February 6, 2019

By William Lindsey

As more and more U.S. Catholic dioceses — but not the diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, which remains “one of the least transparent” dioceses in the nation — release names of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors, I am following those lists to see if I spot names of priests with connections to my diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas. I’m doing this, in part, because I think it’s important that we inform ourselves of what’s happening in our own back yard as we talk about bigger problems that manifest themselves in more than one place in the world. I also want to note that others who are monitoring these lists have been very generous in pointing me to important Arkansas-themed information in them: this is not a project I’m undertaking all on my own, but a collaborative one.

In several lists of credibly accused priests released by dioceses other than the diocese of Little Rock, I do, in fact, see the names of priests with Arkansas ties, all of whom also seem to have had pastoral positions in Arkansas in addition to the ones they had in other states that have resulted in their listing in those states. Spotting these names — not all of which are on the list released by the bishop of Little Rock, Anthony Taylor, last year — makes me recall three things I told you last November as I commented on how more and more dioceses are releasing lists of credibly accused priests, and that I was being told by people with reason to know that some names of credibly accused priests in Arkansas had not been included in the list the Little Rock diocese released in September. I wrote:

1. There appears to be very strong reason — survivors and others tracking the abuse situation in the Catholic church across the U.S. are reporting this all over the place — to conclude that even now, with law enforcement officials breathing down their necks and as they claim to be providing complete information about abusive priests within their dioceses, one bishop after another is hiding information as he discloses names of credibly accused priests.

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DALLAS (TX)
Dallas Morning News

February 6, 2019

For twin sisters raised in Dallas’ historic St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, the release of the names of priests “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of minors only twisted the knife in wounds that the two have lived with for more than 30 years.

Myrna Dartson and Micaela Dartson Hicken were 19-year-old college sophomores in 1986 when, they say, Father Czeslaw “Chester” Domaszewicz began to behave inappropriately toward them. They describe a priest who sexually harassed them, grabbed at their breasts and buttocks, pulled on their bras and made vile, suggestive comments.

Through the Florida diocese where he is now assigned, Domaszewicz has strongly denied the allegations.

But those accusations and others prompted a pastoral council meeting about the priest’s behavior in 1989 or 1990. The diocese’s notes indicate the priest apologized, but don’t say for what.

The Dartsons had hoped to see Domaszewicz’s name on the Dallas diocese’s list of 31 “credibly accused” clergy members since 1950. The list, released last week, likely provided a bit of closure to some victims and Catholics, but the diocese’s transparency effort focused only on victims 18 and younger.

By a mere one year, the Dartson twins missed their chance at justice. And as of now, the Dallas diocese doesn’t plan a formal release of names related to young adults’ cases.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of Abused by Priests

February 6, 2019

West Virginia Catholic officials have taken a small step forward in healing for survivors by removing an accused bishop’s name from a gym named after him.

Former Bishop Michael Bransfield’s name has been taken off Wheeling Central Catholic High School, by the school’s board of directors. Given that Bishop Bransfield has faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment and abuse, we believe that this was the right move by administrators at Central Catholic High School.

The very least church officials can do is remove honors for clerics who commit or conceal sexual wrongdoing. We hope that this step will bring some comfort to those whose abuse happened on Bransfield’s watch and to those who may were hurt by Bransfield.

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[Constantí parish priest resigns after pedophilia investigations]

CONSTANTI (SPAIN)
El País

February 5, 2019

By Marc Rovira

El arzobispado de Tarragona reaccionó al sospechar de la conducta de dos párrocos

El actual cura de Constantí (Tarragona), Francesc Xavier Morell, estuvo apartado del servicio religioso durante dos años mientras el Vaticano investigaba si había incurrido en un delito de pederastia. Morell fue citado a declarar antes en una investigación civil por estar en posesión de pornografía, que fue sobreseída por el juez. A pesar de ello, la Santa Sede abrió diligencias para aclarar la conducta del sacerdote a instancias del Arzobispado de Tarragona, que reaccionó al tener conocimiento de prácticas poco ortodoxas llevadas a cabo por dos curas de la diócesis. En concreto, a Morell se le aisló del oficio religioso mientras se comprobaba si había cometido actos de naturaleza sexual con menores de edad. La investigación religiosa concluyó que el párroco no había incurrido en ningún delito de naturaleza civil.

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[Spain’s government asks Prosecutor’s Office for information about open cases of pedophilia in the Church]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

February 5, 2019

By Julio Núñez

El Ejecutivo no ha solicitado a la Conferencia Episcopal datos sobre denuncias o quejas conocidas o instruidas

El Gobierno ha solicitado este martes a la Fiscalía General del Estado que le informe sobre las diligencias abiertas en los tribunales por casos de pederastia cometidos en el seno de la Iglesia, tanto en las parroquias que dependen de las diócesis como en los colegios de las congregaciones religiosas. La información que remite la Fiscalía nunca será el grueso de estos delitos, porque la mayoría de ellos no llegan a la justicia civil sino que se instruyen en procesos eclesiásticos. Son los obispos y los superiores de las órdenes religiosas los que se han encargado de juzgarlos y, en algunas ocasiones, de dictar indemnizaciones o bien de encubrir lo ocurrido.

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[Trial begins for friar accused of abuse along the Camino pilgrim route]

LUGO (SPAIN)
El País

February 5, 2019

By Pepe Seijo

Ataca en el juicio a la menor a la que supuestamente pagaba tras el sexo: “Era una persona independiente”, “sacaba dinero de estar con otras personas”

El juicio contra un fraile franciscano José Q.A., acusado de supuestos abusos sexuales y elaboración de material pornográfico, por lo que la fiscalía pide 17 años, ha comenzado con la declaración del procesado y, a puerta cerrada, la de sus dos supuestas víctimas, una joven que en el momento de los hechos tenía 16 años y su primo discapacitado. En la sección segunda de la Audiencia Provincial de Lugo, el religioso mantuvo en su declaración que las relaciones fueron consentidas y que en aquella época padecía una “profunda depresión” y perdió “el norte”.

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[Archbishop of Tarragona removes priest of Arbeca and Lleida for abuse of minors]

LLEIDA (SPAIN)
El País

February 6, 2019

Josep Maria Font ha pedido disculpas en una carta publicada en la web del Arzobispado

El arzobispo de Tarragona, Jaume Pujol, ha cesado este miércoles al rector de la parroquia de Arbeca (Lleida) y otras poblaciones leridanas, Josep Maria Font, un día después de apartar de sus funciones al párroco de Constantí (Tarragona), Francesc Xavier Morell, ambos presuntamente involucrados en tocamientos a menores.

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[Archbishop of Tarragona on abuses in his diocese: “It was a bad time”]

SPAIN
El País

February 6, 2019

By Marc Rovira

Jaume Pujol afirma que “todo el mundo puede cometer errores” tras conocerse tres casos de pederastia. El párroco de Arbeca renuncia tras descubrirse su implicación

El goteo de revelaciones sobre abusos sexuales a menores y casos de pederastia presuntamente cometidos por curas del Arzobispado de Tarragona ha provocado un nuevo cese. El sacerdote Josep Maria Font ha confirmado su renuncia y, en un comunicado, pide disculpas “a todas las personas a las que haya podido ofender o decepcionar”. Font oficiaba actualmente en el municipio leridano de Arbeca y en otras pequeñas parroquias de la provincia de Lleida, pero los abusos que han trascendido presuntamente los cometió cuando ejercía en la zona de Tarragona, donde Cambrils fue su último destino. Se da la circunstancia que Font, de 65 años, nació en Constantí, el pueblo donde se destaparon los primeros episodios de esta serie de casos de abusos sexuales a menores. El arzobispo de Tarragona, Jaume Pujol, ha valorado los episodios de pederastia como un “mal momento” por parte de los sacerdotes y niega que los actos descubiertos sean “tan graves” como para forzar su secularización. “Todo el mundo puede cometer errores”, ha añadido.

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WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer

February 6, 2019

By Heather Ziegler

Central Catholic High School’s gymnasium in East Wheeling no longer bears the name of former bishop Michael J. Bransfield, as the school’s board of directors recently voted to have it removed.

Bryan Minor, delegate for administrative affairs for the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, said the decision to remove Bransfield’s name also has the approval of Archbishop William E. Lori, who has been serving as apostolic administrator of the diocese since being appointed by Pope Francis in September.

Lori is overseeing the Wheeling-Charleston diocese after the Vatican appointed him to investigate allegations that Bransfield sexually harassed adults.

Bransfield ended his tenure Sept. 13 after serving the diocese for 13 years. Bransfield, 75, had just turned the age of retirement when canon law dictates bishops must submit their resignations to the Pope. The Pope then decides when to accept the resignation.

Bransfield’s resignation was accepted immediately.

Lori, who is from the Baltimore Diocese, has been overseeing the lay-led investigation into the allegations against Bransfield. Minor said the investigation could be finalized this month.

As for removing Bransfield’s name from Central’s gymnasium, Minor said Lori accepted the board’s decision. The name was placed on the gym last spring.

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GREENVILLE (TX)
Herald Banner

February 6, 2019

By Travis Hairgrove

It began more than a half-century ago: the trail of lawsuits, settlements, internal Catholic Church documents and public reports of sexual abuse allegations against Patrick J. Lynch.

Lynch is one of 31 former Diocese of Dallas priests whose name was released last week on a list of priests with “credible allegations of sexual abuse” against them. The accusations against the priest date back to 1966 and include several lawsuits and settlements, records show.

Now deceased, Lynch was never removed from service; instead, he was reassigned to new parishes at least 12 times over the course of his 36 years in the priesthood.

He retired in 1997, after the Diocese of Dallas “discovered a church memo” dated 1966 in his personnel file revealing the sexual abuse had been known and documented even then.

Since Lynch’s retirement from St. Joseph Catholic Church in Richardson in 1995, the diocese has paid out several settlements to individuals alleging that Lynch sexually abused them as children.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service

February 5, 2019

By Kurt Jensen

Permanent solutions to the church’s sexual abuse crisis are going to require a greater level of lay participation and more legal muscle.

These were conclusions discussed at two events in Washington: a lawyers’ panel at the Catholic Information Center, sponsored by the Thomas More Society Jan. 31, and a media conference Feb. 2 following the Leadership Roundtable’s Catholic Partnership Summit Feb. 1-2.

The summit, which included three cardinals, university and college presidents and canon lawyers representing 43 dioceses, is expected to issue a document with recommendations in a couple of weeks.

The key term at both discussions was “emerging best practices” for identifying abusers and bringing them to justice.

Some of the participants in the summit spoke to the press in a teleconference afterward.

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PLAINIEW (TX)
Plainview Herald

February 5, 2019

By Ellysa Harris

Catholic Diocese throughout the state released lists of clergy accused of sexual abuse of minors on Thursday and a former priest at a Plainview church made the list.

The Lubbock chapter of the Roman Catholic Diocese identified the late Robert Patrick Hoffman, who served at Sacred Heart Catholic Church from 1983 to 1986 as a clergy member with a credible allegation.

Hoffman died in 2005.

According to his obituary, which was published in the March 21, 2005 edition of the Amarillo Globe-News, he was ordained to priesthood on May 25, 1968 and served the Catholic Church until December 2000 when a bout with bone marrow cancer resulted in a request for medical retirement.

Hoffman was assigned to four different parishes, in addition to his stint in Plainview. The Diocese of Lubbock was formed June 17, 1983. Prior to that date, many of the parishes now within its geographic boundaries were a part of the Amarillo Diocese, according to news releases from both the Lubbock and Amarillo Catholic Dioceses. That’s why Hoffman’s name and the five parishes he served are on lists for both of the dioceses.

An official from the Lubbock Diocese told The Herald an allegation was made against Hoffman while he was serving Sacred Heart in Plainview. The church took action and the Lubbock Diocese stepped in and removed Hoffman from the church.

The Lubbock Diocese lists him as removed from the ministry in 1987.

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LAWRENCEVILLE (NJ)
The Rider News

By Lauren Minore

In light of multiple allegations of child sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, a former Rider priest has been recognized as having credible accusations of sexual abuse of a minor against him.

Andrew Dittrich, who served at Rider from 1977 to 1989, was one of 50 clergy members on the list of credibly accused child sex offenders in New Jersey and nearby states. The list was released by the USA Northeast Province of the Jesuits, which represents Roman Catholic priests in parts of New Jersey.

According to the USA Northeast Province of the Jesuits website, the regional organization represents eight states, including New York, northern New Jersey and Connecticut, among others.

The allegations against Dittrich surfaced in 2002 and resurfaced in 2018. According to the report from the organization, Dittrich was accused of sexual abuse of minors between 1966 and 1976 — one year prior to his involvement with the university.

Dittrich also served at Rutgers University from 1970-1977, six years during the time which he was accused of sexual abuse.

In a letter from Fr. John J. Cecero, Provincial of USA Northeast Province, said, “Hoping to contribute to healing from the pain and anger caused by clergy sex abuse and the lack of accountability and transparency on the part of church leadership, I am making public a list of any Jesuit in the USA Northeast Province who has had a credible allegation of abuse against a minor or vulnerable adult since 1950.”

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SAGINAW (MI)
WGSW Radio

February 6, 2019

The Administrator of the Saginaw Catholic Diocese says addressing sexual abuse allegations involving priests will require greater transparency. Bishop Walter Hurley promised that lines of communication will remain open with law enforcement.

Hurley added retired Judge Michael Talbot who had been an intermediary between the Diocese and authorities was dismissed following the recent death of Bishop Joseph Cistone. Hurley explained Cistone had requested Talbot’s assistance while struggling with health issues, but that with Cistone gone, Talbot’s services will no longer be required.

Hurley says he’ll take on Talbot’s responsibilities and pass on any new abuse reports directly to authorities. Hurley says it’s unclear how long it will take to resolve investigations involving the Saginaw County Prosecutor’s Office and Michigan Attorney General.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

February 5, 2019

by Peter Feuerherd

First comes baptism, then comes holy orders, a Boston College report about forming new priests reminds seminary educators and others in a study released in December 2018. The paper, titled “To Serve the People of God: Renewing the Conversation on Priesthood and Ministry,” argues that sacramental doctrine is a starting point in transforming seminary formation.

Priests in today’s church need skills in forming communities and working with all the baptized faithful, particularly women, the study proposes.

It warns against priests placing themselves above laypeople.

“If priesthood becomes a path to power, priests can understand themselves as gatekeepers of ‘discipline, rules and organization,’ rather than as disciples among disciples,” it says. The document, created out of a series of meetings of a dozen religious educators, theologians and church ministers, both men and women, cautions against “a concentration on functions unique to priests” which can “appear to create a gulf” between them and the laity.

For Thomas Groome, professor in theology and religious education at Boston College and a member of the panel who authored the report, the future of seminary formation could be seen in his classroom when a grandmother took a fellow student and Jesuit scholastic under her wing, becoming a spiritual mentor. Priesthood, the study says, is not an excuse to rule over laypeople but should provide an opportunity to be part of collaborative ministry, through which priests and laypeople learn from each other.

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

NORTHHAMPTON (ENGLAND)
Northhampton Chronicle

February 6, 2019

Francis McDermott, a 75-year-old retired Catholic Priest from the Northampton Diocese, has appeared at court accused of sexually assaulting six children in the 1970s.

A complainant, now in his 50s, who alleges he was sexually abused by the defendant, described Father McDermott as having a very high sex drive, saying: “He was sex mad. He was always talking about it.”

In 2004, the witness was contacted by the Priest after the latter had been accused of sexually assaulting a young girl be-known to the witness. She believed the witness had knowledge of her assaults, which also took place in the 1970s.

Before meeting McDermott, the witness purchased a tape recorder and recorded their conversation.

The witness said: “I just wanted to record what he said as I sensed panic. I guessed it was about the sexual abuse.”

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RUTLAND (VT)
Rutland Herald

February 6, 2019

By Gordon Dritschilo

Discussion of abortion and sexual abuse scandals dominated a forum Bishop Christopher Coyne held at Christ the King Church on Tuesday.

The talk, part of a listening tour bringing Coyne to churches around the state, also touched on how the church can win back parishioners it has lost and what the diocese can do for local parishes. Coyne said this was the sixth such meeting, and common themes from the previous ones included sex abuse scandals in the Catholic church, a decision to lower the age of first communion and calls for the ordination of female priests.

Preaching respectful listening, Coyne opened the floor to the roughly 100 in attendance, saying people who came forward would get 2 minutes each for questions or comments. The first came from a man who began by proclaiming his love for the church and his belief in literal transubstantiation.

“I am very angry at the hierarchy of our church,” he said. “I am angry at your brother bishops and the Bishop of Rome.”

The man said when news of sexual abuse coverups broke more than a decade ago, parishioners were assured that reforms had been implemented and such abuse would not happen again. Then the public learned of more abuses last year.

“Now, I realize the bishops did not do what they said they would do, and I am angry about it,” he said.

The man said his anger was compounded because the scandals robbed the bishops of their moral authority, which they need to argue against measures like H.57, the bill that would preserve abortion rights in Vermont. The man said the bill “borders on infanticide,” while later speakers outright called it infanticide.

“There’s a lot there,” Coyne said. “I can only be responsible for myself. … I can’t answer for some of the bishops.”

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New York (NY)
Fordham Ram

February 6, 2019

By Erica Scalise

A number of priests living in Murray-Weigel Hall, a retirement home on campus, have recently been included on lists of priests accused of sexual abuse. The university has claimed that it did not have access to information listing who lives in the retirement homes on campus, operated by the Jesuit Northeast Province.

Bob Howe, director of communications for the university, did not respond to questions on the existence of a list of Jesuits in residence at Fordham.

He said the university “does not generally know the histories” of those living in the Jesuit retirement homes on campus.

A list of Jesuits in residence at Murray-Weigel has been available to anyone with access to Walsh Library, even as allegations against Catholic priests continue to make headlines.

Murray-Weigel said they could not provide The Ram with these lists, and the Northeast Province said they are not available to the public. These catalogs, known as “Curia,” available from the 19th century to 2018, detail the names of Jesuit priests, their dates of birth, when they entered the Society of Jesus and when they left. They also include information on where these priests live, including those accused of sexual abuse.

Bob Howe said the university’s statement from a Jan. 30 article in The Ram remains the same.

“The University has never had control over Murray-Weigel Hall or a regular flow of information concerning its tenants and any allegations of misconduct that may have been made against them,” said Howe.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Crux

February 6, 2019

By Christopher White

Two state attorneys general that have issued reports on the Catholic Church’s handling of clerical sexual abuse cases doubled-down on Monday, defending their efforts and saying the Church cannot be responsible for policing itself.

Former Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Josh Shapiro, Attorney General of Pennsylvania, took part in a panel discussion at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, where Madigan said the Church “failed to react properly, they haven’t put in place the policies, they haven’t put in place procedures, they haven’t admitted what has happened,” when it came to its handling of clerical abuse.

In December, Madigan released a report saying that the state’s six dioceses had not released the names of more than 500 priests accused of abuse. The report was a preliminary look into Illinois’ handling of sex abuse cases that is now being carried on by her successor, Kwame Raoul.

Madigan’s report follows a wave of state investigations into the Catholic Church set off by Shapiro’s August grand jury report, which he described as “the largest scope in this country…maybe in the history of the world.”

On Monday, Shapiro sharply criticized what he described as the Church’s efforts to minimize or hide cases of abuse.

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NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

February 6, 2019

By Jason Horowitz and Elizabeth Dias

Pope Francis has said the Roman Catholic Church has faced a persistent problem of sexual abuse of nuns by priests and even bishops.

This is the first time he has publicly acknowledged the issue.

Catholic nuns have accused clerics of sexual abuse in recent years in India, Africa, Latin America and in Italy, and a Vatican magazine last week mentioned nuns having abortions or giving birth to the children of priests.

But Francis has never raised the issue until he was asked to comment during a news conference aboard the papal plane returning to Rome from his trip to the United Arab Emirates.

“It’s true,” Francis said on Tuesday. “There are priests and bishops who have done that.” The pope’s admission opens a new front in the long-running scandal of sexual abuse by priests, recognising nuns who have tried for years to call attention to their plight. With the #MeToo movement going strong, and Francis under pressure for neglecting the victims of child abuse, the nuns’ pleas have gained traction.

In November, the organisation representing the world’s Catholic women’s religious orders, the International Union of Superiors General, publicly denounced the “culture of silence and secrecy” that contributed to abuse, and urged nuns to report abuse to law enforcement.

A top official in the Vatican office that handles sexual abuse allegations resigned last month after a former nun accused him of making sexual advances during confession. The official, the Rev. Hermann Geissler, chief of staff in the Vatican’s doctrinal office, denied the allegation, the Vatican said.

An article last week in Women Church World, the women’s magazine of Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, blamed the abuse on the outsize power of priests. “The abuse of women results in procreation and so is at the origin of the scandal of imposed abortions and children not recognized by priests,” wrote the article’s author, Lucetta Scaraffia, a feminist intellectual and editor-in-chief of Women Church World.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Newsweek

February 6, 2019

By Kashmira Gander

The former employee of a shelter for immigrant children groped a boy at the facility and tried to ply others with candy for sexual favors, according to police.

Edgar Alexander Campos, 23, is said to have put his hand down a 16-year-old’s shorts on August 2018 and touched his genitals at the St. Michael’s Home for Children, in Houston, Texas, the Houston Chronicle reported, citing an affidavit. The boy had asked Campos if he could use his cell phone to call his family in Guatemala before the incident, according to court documents seen by Click2Houston.

That night, Campos is said to have entered the boy’s bedroom at the Catholic facility at 2900 Louisiana Street, and touched his genitals again while the child was asleep. Surveillance camera footage revealed the worker had entered the boy’s room after hours on at least four occasions.

Campos was arrested on February 1, and booked into Harris County Jail over charges of indecency with a child involving sexual contact, sheriff office records show. His bond was set at $30,000.

The 23-year-old was in charge of supervising around 32 kids at the organization.

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NEW LONDON (CT)
The Day

February 5, 2019

By Joe Wojtas

A group of people who say they were abused by Diocese of Norwich priests but are barred from filing lawsuits due to the statute of limitations are calling on Bishop Michael Cote to meet with them and establish a victims compensation fund.

In an open letter to Cote, John Timothy McGuire of New London said that while Pope Francis recently has instructed bishops to seek out victims, he and the others have not heard from him.

“We need to meet. Not for your ‘understanding’ of what happened to us, or to hear you again say you are sorry for us being abused. We are all aware of your efforts against future abuse within the Norwich diocese, and the zero tolerance policies the diocese has in place now.”

Instead, McGuire said the meeting “is for the diocese to directly address the need for justice and recompense.”

“We will settle for nothing less than a compensation program for us and all victims, not just for being sexually assaulted by its clergy but also for the role the diocese played in enabling the continuance of said crimes,” McGuire wrote, referring to the failure of the diocese to report accused priests under the state’s mandatory reporter law and transferring them to other parishes, where they sexually assaulted more children and teens.

McGuire told Cote that “your priests used the ultimate force to sexually molest children. God.”

The diocese did not respond to a request for comment about McGuire’s letter.

McGuire has alleged that on four occasions when he was an 8-year-old altar boy at St. Joseph’s Church in Noank, the late Rev. James Curry took him into the room next to the altar, where the priest undressed the boy and they fondled each other’s genitals. Afterwards, McGuire said he had to confess to Curry that he tempted the priest. On the fifth occasion, when McGuire told Curry he was not going to do it anymore, Curry allegedly told McGuire, “Then you’re not what God is looking for. You’re never going to be an altar boy.”

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
The Advocate

February 5, 2019

By Andrea Gallo

The list of abusive clergymen the Diocese of Baton Rouge produced last week did not include a Marist priest who was the pastor of St. Joseph Church in Paulina three decades ago and who was later credibly accused of sexual abuse in Arkansas.

Timothy Francis Sugrue is the second Marist priest who served in St. James Parish who was publicly accused of sexual abuse. The other one was included on the Diocese of Baton Rouge’s list of credibly accused clergy, but Sugrue was not. Diocese of Baton Rouge spokesman Dan Borné said Tuesday evening that the diocese was still researching Sugrue’s record and would report back to The Advocate once officials have more definitive information.

The newspaper’s archives show that Sugrue worked in Paulina, on the east bank of the Mississippi River, between 1980 and 1987 and possibly longer, and that he celebrated scores of local weddings and funerals during that span. After Sugrue left the Diocese of Baton Rouge, he and the Marist order faced a lawsuit in 1992 regarding alleged sexual abuse. A woman in Alabama said Sugrue had sexually abused her in 1978, when she was 8 and he was a military chaplain at the now-closed Eaker Air Force Base in Blytheville, Arkansas.

The alleged abuse happened before Sugrue moved south to Louisiana. The attorney who represented the woman who alleged abuse by Sugrue told The Advocate that he believes it’s likely the priest has victims elsewhere.

Morgan “Chip” Welch, now a state judge for the 6th Judicial District Court in Arkansas, said in an interview Tuesday that when he asked Sugrue about abuse in a number of cities, the then-priest alternated between invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and denying that he had abused anyone.

“His pretrial deposition was a game of`Connect the Dots,’” Welch said.

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DALLAS (TX)
CBS DFW Channel 21

February 5, 2019

The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday it has discovered one of the names on the list of priests with credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors since 1950s, was also a service provider/volunteer at the Dallas County Jail.

The Catholic Diocese of Dallas released the list last week.

Robert Crisp was a listed Religious Service Provider representing the Catholic Diocese from 2015 until 2018.

His volunteer duties included accepting confessions from the inmates behind a glass window in a controlled visitation environment. No other services were performed by Crisp.

The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department said it conducts background checks for outstanding warrants and criminal history on all their volunteers. The Sheriff’s Department also conducts a re-check of the information provided every 6-8 months to insure no criminal cases or warrants have been brought against a volunteer.

In a news released, the department said Tuesday, “Due to no criminal history information having been found, Crisp was allowed to volunteer as a religious service provider. His last clearance was in July 2018 where his information was again checked and verified by the jail’s religious services staff. His last visit to the jail was for confessionals with inmates that had requested a visit in September 2018. No complaints were reported to the Sheriff’s Department about Crisp.”

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BETHESDA (MD)
Rewire News

February 5, 2019

By Mary Hunt

Pope Francis’ agenda for the highly anticipated February 21-24, 2019 meeting in Rome with presidents of the national bishops’ conferences around the world is really about branding and market share despite public focus on sexual abuse and coverups. The Roman Catholic brand is in tatters, its market share shrinking by the minute.

The advertised theme of the ill-fated gathering is “The Protection of Minors in the Church,” with the explicit goal “that all of the Bishops clearly understand what they need to do to prevent and combat the worldwide problem of the sexual abuse of minors.” This is a losing proposition from the outset. The meeting is being held at the wrong time with the wrong people about the wrong issues.

Virtually any other global corporate board with such a serious product problem and as profound a public relations disaster would have met months ago. The Pennsylvania Grand Jury report that exposed hundreds of priest abusers and thousands of cases of abuse, and the extraordinary exploits of the alleged serial abuser Cardinal Theodore McCarrick broke in late summer of 2018. High-ranking Vatican official Australian Cardinal George Pell was found guilty of sexually abusing young boys in December of 2018. How long does it take to get a plane ticket to Rome? Why not convene a Zoom meeting to save time, money, and face? Any PR flack knows that step one is to put out the fire ASAP.

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NEW YORK (NY)
America Magazine

February 5, 2019

By Michael J. O’Loughlin

Catholics attending Mass in the Archdiocese of Chicago this weekend heard a recorded message from Cardinal Blase Cupich, updating them on a meeting to be held at the Vatican later this month that is expected to address clergy sexual abuse. The cardinal also apologized to the faithful who have been let down by some of its leaders.

“I know how hard these past few months have been for you,” said the cardinal, who is helping to plan the Feb. 21-24 meeting. “I understand the anger and disappointment many feel as the church suffers from the scandal of clergy sexual abuse, and the mishandling by some church leaders.”

Cardinal Cupich: “I understand the anger and disappointment many feel.”

In September, following months of revelations about the ongoing sexual abuse crisis in the United States and elsewhere, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had summoned the heads of bishops’ conferences in 130 countries to the Vatican for this month’s meeting.

The pope has urged caution from those who hope the meeting will yield new policies and protocols related to preventing abuse. But expectations for the meeting have been heightened, in part by church officials who have long pushed for church leaders to take abuse more seriously.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
BBC Radio

February 5, 2019

Pope Francis has admitted that clerics have sexually abused nuns, and in one case they were kept as sex slaves.

He said in that case his predecessor, Pope Benedict, was forced to shut down an entire congregation of nuns who were being abused by priests.

It is thought to be the first time that Pope Francis has acknowledged the sexual abuse of nuns by the clergy.

He said the Church was attempting to address the problem but said it was “still going on”.

Sex abuse and the Catholic Church
Pope Francis made the comments on Tuesday to reporters while on a historic tour of the Middle East.

He admitted that priests and bishops had abused nuns, but said the Church was aware of the issue and “working on it”.

“It’s a path that we’ve been on,” he said.

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LEAVENWORTH (KS)
Ft. Leavenworth Lamp

February 5, 2019

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation announced Tuesday it has initiated an investigation into reports of sexual abuse by clergy at the four Catholic dioceses of Kansas.

The agency is asking victims to step forward with information about abuse inflicted by clergy members, church employees or church volunteers.

Last month, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas released the names of 22 clergy members who have substantiated claims of sexual abuse involving a minor. An advocacy group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the list is incomplete.

SNAP member David Clohessy said he was grateful for the KBI efforts, and he encouraged witnesses and whistle-blowers to report abuse, as well.

“It’s very tough for abuse victims to trust authority figures, especially victims who’ve been assaulted by clergy and betrayed by bishops,” Clohessy said. “Still, we join the KBI in begging anyone who may have suffered, seen or suspected abuse or coverups to step forward. Children are depending on us to help safeguard them by exposing those who commit and conceal these heinous crimes.”

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, writing in the archdiocese’s publication last month, thanked those who have come forward with allegations “in order to prevent someone else from being victimized, as well as to assist with the progress of their own healing process.”

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CHARLESTON (SC)
Post and Courier

February 5, 2019

By Angie Jackson

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston is delaying its release of names of priests credibly accused of sexually abusing minors in South Carolina dating back to 1950.

The diocese originally planned to make the names public by mid-February, but it now plans to do so by the end of March.

Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone said the delay is due to the time it’s taking time to review priest personnel records from 2007 through today.

“When we release the list of names, we want it to be accurate to the best of our knowledge. We owe that to the victims, the faithful and the public,” Guglielmone said in a news release.

The diocese previously reviewed files dating to 1950 in connection with a class-action settlement. In 2007, the diocese agreed to pay up to $12 million to nearly 150 people — victims born before Aug. 30, 1980, who were sexually abused by priests and diocese employees, and victims’ eligible family members. Those payouts ranged from $13,000 to $425,000 each.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests urged Guglielmone to immediately release the names of priests who have already been deemed credibly accused of abusing children, and then add to that list later. The peer support group said victims continue to suffer when the names of predators remain hidden.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

February 5, 2019

A former Maine Catholic priest was deemed ‘credibly accused’ last week and put on a list of abusive priests by Catholic officials in Texas. Now, Maine church staff should aggressively reach out to anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered his crimes.

Fr. Paul M. Clogan was a Maine diocesan priest who spent two years in Waterville at Holy Spirit parish and in Machias at Holy Name parish and at the University of Maine at Machias.

He was arrested in 2005 in Texas and charged with groping a 16 year old boy in a movie theater. In 2008, his criminal trial ended in a mistrial before a jury was seated. A new trial was to be held in 2008 but never took place.

But last week, the Austin diocese disclosed that he was credibly accused of child sex abuse.

Given this determination, as well as bishops’ pledges to be transparent and put care for survivors first, we believe that Bishop Robert P. Deeley of Portland must seek out anyone who may have been hurt by Fr. Clogan while the priest spent time in the Diocese of Portland. Bishop Deeley should use all tools at his exposure to reach out to potential victims, including parish bulletins, church websites and pulpit announcements.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

February 2, 2019

Knowledgeable church observers and veteran journalists predict that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick will very soon be disciplined by Vatican officials.

We are grateful that McCarrick will soon face justice for the abuse he is alleged to have committed and we hope this long over due move will bring a measure of validation to all the vulnerable boys and young men McCarrick so deeply hurt. At the same time, we believe that every Catholic official who knew of or suspected his crimes and misdeeds should also be exposed and punished. That’s the only way to stop the cover ups.

This case remains a painful reminder of a dangerous reality that persists in the church today: a willingness to act on abuse only when forced to do so by external pressure. Our hearts ache, not only for McCarrick’s victims, but for the thousands of victims of less prominent but equally devastating predators, whose cases languish for years in chancery offices and Vatican bureaucracies.

One example: In November, Jefferson City, MO Bishop Shawn McKnight disclosed that there are 18 pending abuse reports his staff is looking into. Six months have gone by but there’s been no update on those cases. Surely, some of those cases have been substantiated by now and should be disclosed.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

February 5, 2019

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has opened an investigation into cases of clergy sex abuse and cover-up in the state’s four Catholic dioceses.

We are grateful that law enforcement is taking this much-needed step. We know that institutions cannot police themselves and that it is critical for independent professionals to get involved in order to understand the scope of the problem in Kansas and to prevent future cases of abuse and cover-up.

SNAP recognizes that it is very tough for abuse victims to trust authority figures, especially those who have been assaulted by clergy and betrayed by bishops. Still, we encourage all survivors to come forward and make a report to the KBI.

No matter when the abuse occurred, and even if it has been previously reported, anyone who has been hurt by a priest, nun, deacon, brother, bishop or any other church staff or official should make a report by calling 1-800-KS-CRIME or by sending an email to ClergyAbuse@kbi.ks.gov.https://bit.ly/2SwCden

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Religion News Service

February 5, 2019

By Mark Silk

On his flight home from Panama last week, Pope Francis told reporters he wanted to deflate what he perceived to be “inflated expectations” about the summit for presidents of bishops’ conferences on clerical sexual abuse to be held in Rome later this month. As far as I can see, however, the media’s expectations have been anything but inflated.

Back on December 9, for example, Crux’s John Allen wrote a column headlined “A reality check on expectations for February child abuse summit.” Or take my RNS colleague Tom Reese, who stuck in the needle a couple of weeks ago with “Five Reasons the pope’s clergy sex abuse meeting will fail.” Ouch.

Still, I’m sticking with my hopeful scenario. I predict that the meeting will move the Church significantly forward in dealing with the greatest challenge to its moral credibility since the Reformation.

For starters, let’s note how the pope himself explained what he meant by needing to puncture inflated expectations: “Because the problem of abuse will continue. It’s a human problem.”

Well, sure. If anyone imagines that a four-day meeting at the Vatican will put an end to all sexual abuse by priests and others in responsible positions in the church, they need to be disabused.

So what did Francis say will take place at the meeting?

First, the heads of the bishops’ conferences will be given a “catechesis” in child abuse. They will, in other words, be instructed in the nature and consequences of sexual abuse the way the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church lays out church doctrine.

Then they will receive a set of “protocols” for dealing with abuse cases. These will set the terms for “general programs” that each bishops’ conference will develop to address abuse, including “what the bishop must do, what the archbishop who is the metropolitan must do, what the president of the episcopal conference must do.”

“But,” said the pope, “it must be clear in that…that they are—let’s say it in terms [that are] a little juridical—that there are protocols that are clear. This is the main thing.”

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RAPID CITY (SD)
NBC News Center 1

February 5, 2019

By Megan Murat

The Rapid City priest appeared in court Tuesday to change his plea to guilty after reaching an agreement with state prosecutors.

John Praveen, 38, answered, “yes” in his native language to the question of “did you have sexual contact” with a child under the age of 16.

A translator, present via speakerphone, dictated Tuesday’s hearing to Praveen.

Praveen was originally facing two counts of sexual contact with a child under 16 years of age, each offense punishable up to 15 years in jail and/or a $30,000 fine.

In exchange for a plea of guilty, count 1 against Praveen was dropped and count 2 will carry as stands. Praveen may also be ordered to pay restitution if the court finds it appropriate.

Count 1 refers to an offense occurring on Sept. 3 and the count 2 refers to an offense in Sept. 28.

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DENVER (CO)
Crux

February 5, 2019

By Inés San Martín

Pope Francis on Tuesday acknowledged the problem of Catholic nuns being sexually abused by priests and bishops, saying the Church needs to do more to address it. He also said that the killing of those who refuse to convert to Islam, including Christians, is unfortunately “our daily bread.”

The pope spoke to journalists aboard the plane carrying him back to Rome following a Feb. 3-5 visit to the United Arab Emirates, the first-ever papal outing to the Arabian Peninsula.

Francis was asked about a series of articles in the women’s magazine of the Vatican’s newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, objecting to the reality that religious sisters often have no protection from sexually abusive priests who force themselves on them and, if they become pregnant, often compel them to have an abortion.

The matter was raised in Women, Church, World, a monthly supplement. Such reports have circulated at least since the late 1990s, when the National Catholic Reporter published several internal documents from women’s orders detailing the problem, which tends to be especially pronounced in the developing world.

The Vatican article claimed that nuns have been silenced for years by fear of retaliation against themselves or their orders.

“Mistreatment of women is a problem,” Francis said in reply. “I would say that humanity still hasn’t matured. Women are treated as second class. It’s a cultural problem … in some countries, the mistreatment of women goes as far as femicide.”

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STAFFORD (TX)
Ft. Bend Star

February 5, 2019

By Joe Southern

Last week Catholic dioceses across Texas identified 286 priests who were credibly accused of sexually abusing minors, dating as far back as 1941.

That list includes four priests with connections to Fort Bend County. None are currently active and two are deceased.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Galveston-Houston Archdiocese said Texas bishops listed the names to help victims heal and rebuild trust. He issued a statement in which he apologized and urged people to report any abuse.

“The crime of sexual abuse of minors is a grave crisis in the Church,” DiNardo said. “These sins have done great harm to the victims of the abuse and have deeply wounded the body of Christ, the Church. Those victimized by the clergy over the years need and deserve our prayers, outreach, and support.”

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Tablet

February 5, 2019

By Ruth Gledhill

A Catholic priest has been jailed for two years and two months for abusing four boys in front of their parents, one as young as seven.

Father Francis Simpson, now aged 71, and who pleaded not guilty at Bolton Crown Court, was a priest at St Jude’s, Wigan in the 1980s when the abuse took place.

He was brought to justice after a survivor shared what had happened to him on Facebook.

A spokesman for the NSPCC said: “Simpson may have thought he had got away with the shocking abuse of these boys, whose trust in him was so cruelly exploited. But by speaking out they have helped bring him to justice, and have shown that victims do not need to suffer in silence.”

A spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool said: “At the conclusion of a trial at Bolton Crown Court last month Francis William Simpson was found guilty of the charges he was facing and today he has been sentenced for his crimes.

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BUCKINGHAMSHIRE (ENGLAND)
Bucks Free Press

February 5, 2019

By Stephanie Wareham

A Roman Catholic priest accused of sex crimes against six girls and boys was “sex mad”, a jury heard today.

Father Francis McDermott, now 75, had a locked cabinet by his bed at his High Wycombe home that contained pornographic magazines, one of his alleged victims claimed at his trial at Aylesbury Crown Court this week.

The man, who is now in his late 50s, said his family were friends with Francis McDermott when he was training to be a priest in North London in the early 1970s.

He said: “Both my parents were Roman Catholic. My mum was of Irish descent and they both thought a lot of Frank. He was born in Ireland.

“My mother was very honoured that she had a future priest as a close friend of family.

“I adored him. He was my best friend. I think I loved him more than I loved my parents. He had a lot of time for me. He took me to a lot of places.”

The man, who gave evidence behind a screen at the court, said: “He stayed over (at the family home in London) on a regular basis – twice a week.

“He stayed over in my bed. My parents would allow this and I thought it ok. It would be top and tail. One at top and one at bottom of the bed.”

But he told the jury of five women and seven men that Frank sexually abused him on a regular basis. “I was still in primary school. He asked me to touch his penis and said my mother asked him to tell me factors of life,” he said.

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JOHNSTOWN (PA)
Tribune Democrat

February 5, 2019

By Dave Sutor

Two of Pennsylvania’s most prominent voices for victims of child sexual abuse plan to be in Vatican City and Rome when presidents of the Catholic bishops’ conferences of the world meet with Pope Francis later this month.

Shaun Dougherty, a Westmont resident, and state Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, want to use the event as a way to bring attention to the legislator’s proposal to modify commonwealth law by creating a two-year retroactive window for past victims to file claims even if the statute of limitations has already expired.

A version of his bill has previously passed the state House, but failed to get through the state Senate with the Catholic Church and insurance industry in opposition.

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[Trial begins for friar accused of abusing a minor and her disabled cousin on the Camino de Santiago]

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA (SPAIN)
El País

February 5, 2019

By Silvia R. Pontevedra

El fiscal, que pide 17 años para el franciscano, afirma que pagaba a sus víctimas tras las agresiones

El sueño recurrente de Laura y su hermano Luis (nombres ficticios) era el de que una limusina blanca venía a recogerlos a la puerta de su casa, en la pobre, diminuta y apartada aldea del Ayuntamiento de Pedrafita do Cebreiro (Lugo) que habita su familia. El larguísimo vehículo aparecería un buen día de primavera en que ya se hubiera derretido la nieve, maniobraría a duras penas en el estrecho camino y se los llevaría de allí “para siempre”. “Para no volver”, confesaba sus deseos el mayor de los dos hermanos a este diario en 2015. No hacía un mes que todo el municipio se había quedado helado con una noticia que afectaba a Laura, a un primo de esta y al más célebre de los frailes franciscanos del Camino Francés a Santiago. La Guardia Civil se había llevado detenido a José Q. A. del santuario de O Cebreiro acusado de abusar repetidamente de la muchacha, entonces de 16 años, y de su pariente, de 20 y con una discapacidad mental, a cambio supuestamente de sucesivas entregas de dinero que los agentes creían procedente del cepillo de este templo mítico en la ruta jacobea.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

February 5, 2019

Survivors and advocates push Steubenville Diocese on abuse

They want expanded list of ‘credibly accused’ clerics

SNAP: the names of 5 men publicly accused of child sexual abuse missing

Each of them spent time in Steubenville area

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is prodding the Steubenville Diocese to add five names to its list of 16 ‘credibly accused’ childmolesting clerics.

Each of the clerics has been publicly accused elsewhere, but have ties to the Ohio diocese, according to SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“It’s an absolute fact that these potentially dangerous men spent time in the Steubenville area,” said Judy Jones, SNAP Volunteer Midwest Leader. “They may have already hurt Steubenville kids, might live nearby now or might come back to visit former parishioners. Parents, parishioners and the public need to be warned about them.”

“We know that are survivors who are suffering in silence and shame in the Steubenville area, and adding these names are one way that the Stuebenville Diocese can help those survivors,” said Zach Hiner, SNAP’s Executive Director. “When they sees the name of their abuser on the list, they will know that they’re not the only one, that it wasn’t their fault, and will begin to heal. ”

“To the child being raped, it makes no difference who signs a pedophile priest’s paycheck or who ordained him or who transferred him,” concluded Jones. “Adding these names to the list helps survivors who may be suffering alone and in silence, as well as preventing further abuse.”

The publicly accused clerics SNAP says were left off that list are:

— Deacon Rosendo F. “Ross” Decal, a Cuba native and “renaissance man” who worked in the Pittsburgh Diocese and was charged with “child pornography, unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of communications” in April of 2018. In 1960s and ’70s Deacon Decal taught at Steubenville Catholic Central High.

— Fr Carl Anthony Peltz, a Steubenville priest who also worked as a Navy chaplain from 1983-1990 and who was later “incardinated” and worked in theKalamazoo Diocese. In 1985 in Iceland, Fr. Peltz allegedly forced a 12 year old boy to drink whiskey and raped him. A civil suit filed in 1991 in federal court charged that Steubenville Church officials should have known the priest had a drinking problem, yet it certified him as fit for service. That case settled for $25,000 in 1993. Fr. Peltz died in 2015.

— Fr John Patrick Bertolucci, an Albany NY, priest who worked at Steubenville University for at least nine years, from 1979-1988. The priest admitted sexually abusing teenagers in the 1970s. Church officials permanently removed his facilities in 2002. A lawsuit that same year alleged that Fr. Bertolucci told the parents of the alleged victim that “I was very proud of your son the way he repeatedly fought off my sexual advances most of the time.”

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HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Public Media

February 5, 2019

By Eric Stone

On January 31, the Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston released the names of 42 clergymen with “credible accusations” of sexual misconduct with minors, dating back to 1950.

The archdiocese’s website lists the accused clerics’ church assignments over the span of their careers. To make it easier to understand which alleged-abusers served at churches near you, News 88.7 put together an interactive map.

Many of the 42 alleged abusers were shuffled around from parish to parish, serving at over 100 churches in areas spanning from Freeport to Palestine. Some of those named served at college Catholic centers, including at Prairie View A&M, Texas A&M Galveston, and Texas Southern University.

Each entry lists the accused cleric’s name, date of birth, date of death (if not still alive) and their status within the Catholic Church. Bishops can remove clerics from public ministry – stripping priests and deacons of their rights to celebrate Mass, for example – pending the outcome of a Church-led investigation, according to a document from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. If found guilty, a priest may be voluntarily or involuntarily removed from the priesthood as part of a penalty sometimes called laicization.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

February 4, 2019

A new investigation reveals that Jesuit officials are still hiding the names of accused abusers. It’s another reminder that secretive institutions can’t police themselves and that parents and parishioners must stay vigilant and demand change.

Public records obtained recently by the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle show that McQuaid school had received at least three independent accusations against former teacher John J. Tobin, the school eventually admitted to a reporter that it had in fact fired Tobin for what was described as “incidences of inappropriate behavior” during a class trip to Europe, yet Tobin was still omitted from a list of accused clerics and staff recently put out by the the Jesuits.

The newspaper also reports that additional accusations against two other Jesuit teachers at the school had been reported to Brighton police in 2003.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

February 4, 2019

A Catholic priest who teaches at the St. Louis Priory School has been arrested and charged with stalking and resisting arrest. According to reports, Fr. Michael McCusker was allegedly looking into the windows of a fellow Priory teacher. The cleric was reportedly caught hiding in the bushes outside the home.

Given the nature of the allegations against Fr. McCusker, we believe it is possible that there may be others who were victimized by him. We beg anyone who may have experienced, observed or suspected such behavior to contact law enforcement immediately.

All three parties – the Priory School, the Benedictines who run that school, and the archdiocese that oversee the area – should also assist in the police investigation by using student mailings, parish bulletins, church websites and pulpit announcements to reach out to those who might help shed light on these allegations and urging them to call the authorities directly.

Stalking is a serious and traumatic crime. We are grateful that police responded quickly and effectively to the Richmond Heights woman’s call.

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