ABUSE TRACKER

The insidious and chronic nature of church sexual abuse is an outgrowth of patriarchal concepts of the divine that provide theological cover for abusers and shame for their victims, said the authors of a new book on theologies of abuse.

Language depicting God as “father,” “king,” “master,” coupled with an emphasis on the omnipotence and omniscience of God, is problematic because it emanates from patriarchy, said Susan M. Shaw, co-author of Surviving God, A New Vision of God Through the Eyes of Sexual Abuse Survivors.

“These are the characteristics we associate with men, and having a God like that essentially reinforces and justifies men having exclusive power over women, children, feminized men and marginalized other people,” Shaw said during a recent episode of “The State of Belief,” a podcast moderated by Interfaith Alliance President Paul Raushenbush.

“We really wanted to explore the ways those images, that language and those beliefs have…

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Authorities have jailed a Georgia pastor in the Sovereign Grace Churches network on preliminary charges stemming from a child abuse investigation, reports indicate.

Russell Jon Tusing II, 44, is being held without bond in the Troup County Detention Center on a felony charge of child molestation and a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery, according to jail records.

After Tusing’s arrest last Friday, police told the LaGrange Daily News that Tusing pastors Sovereign Grace Church of LaGrange, a small city southwest of Atlanta, along the border with Alabama.

The church is one of more than 130 congregations affiliated with Sovereign Grace Churches. Tusing is no longer listed on the local church’s website, which previously stated he “has faithfully served as the lead pastor” since 2011, cached results on search engines show.

Tusing was appointed the church’s pastor in August 2011 after…

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Leaders at Community Christian Church are speaking out for the first time since the church’s pastor was recently arrested on child sex crime charges.

As we reported, pastor Errol Wright was arrested and charged with Sexual Misconduct with a Minor, Child Seduction, and Child Solicitation after an investigation.

Affidavit details child sex abuse accusations made against Tell City pastor

• Adam Kight

Officials at the church say they waited to release a statement because of how heavily involved Wright’s family is in the church.

The statement also addresses a “misunderstanding,” and says that none of the church’s money went to paying Wright’s bail.

Statement from Community Christian Church concerning arrest of Errol Wright:

“We have felt the same shock and hurt as the community concerning the recent incident involving our previous pastor.  We neglected to release a statement until now because his family is heavily involved in the church, and we wished…

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The Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s temporary suspension of the statute of limitations for child sex abuse is unconstitutional, a 4-3 decision likely to be seen as a win for the state’s Catholic hierarchy.

The three-year “lookback window” was opened in June 2021 and allowed individuals to file abuse lawsuits regardless of when the incidents are alleged to have occurred. The change in law, stemming from a case against the Diocese of Lafayette, had faced various legal challenges and was taken up by the state’s high court in late 2023.

“We are constrained to find the statutory enactment is contrary to the due process protections enshrined in our [state] constitution and must yield to that supreme law,” reads the majority opinion released on March 22.

“Accordingly, we reverse in part, and vacate in part, finding the trial court erred in overruling the…

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There is surprising pushback against a constitutional amendment that would allow child sex assault survivors to bring civil claims no matter how long ago their abuse happened. Republicans in the Colorado Senate are threatening to prevent the measure from making the ballot. 

They’re worried it would lead to lawsuits against churches, schools and other institutions that they say would have no way of defending themselves because the cases happened so long ago.

Under the amendment, survivors could sue both their abusers and those who covered up the abuse. 

The legislature passed a similar law three years ago, but the Colorado Supreme Court struck it down, saying the Constitution prohibits retroactive cases.

While many Republicans helped pass the law, they are now refusing to refer the constitutional amendment to the ballot unless institutions are exempted.

Child sex assault survivors such as Angie Witt say the opposition makes no sense. Witt says…

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Roger Vangheluwe, former bishop of Brugge, was suspended from ministry in 2010 for sex abuse of minors; his dismissal from the clerical state was long awaited in Belgium

Pope Francis has laicized Belgian prelate Roger Vangheluwe, the former bishop of Brugge who was suspended in 2010 after admitting to abusing his young male nephews for over a decade beginning even before his ordination to the episcopacy.

The pope made the decision to permanently remove the 87-year-old Vangheluwe from the clerical state on March 10 and the news was communicated to him this past Wednesday. The move brings an end to a long affair that had dragged on for fourteen years. Belgium’s statute of limitations prevented Vangheluwe from being prosecuted for these crimes.

But the Belgian bishops had been urging the pope to laicize him for the past several years.  A few months ago, his case again became a source of…

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Michael Hobbs, a former priest of the Diocese of Westminster, was sentenced, on 25 March 2024, at the Old Bailey, to 12 years’ imprisonment, following conviction of non-recent sexual abuse.

The Diocese of Westminster is deeply sorry for the hurt that he caused to his victims, their families and the wider community, and acknowledges the gravity of the abuse he inflicted.

The Diocese of Westminster has cooperated with the police and statutory authorities throughout the investigation.

Michael Hobbs was stood down from ministry in 2000, and laicised in 2002.

The Diocese of Westminster is committed to the safeguarding of all children and vulnerable adults in its care. Over the past two decades, in conjunction with the Catholic Church in England and Wales, we have developed robust safeguarding policies and procedures, which have been put in place across parishes, chaplaincies, schools and agencies of the diocese to provide protection for children…

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Reactions have poured in since the Oblates of Mary Immaculate published the Report of the Oblate Safeguarding Commission, authored by retired Superior Court of Quebec Justice André Denis, on March 19. The most consequential revelation of this 57-page report is that Rivoire was guilty, based on the “preponderance of evidence,” of sexually assaulting five minors in Naujaat, Nunavut, between 1968 and 1970, and one in Arviat and Whale Cove, Nunavut, between 1974 and 1979.

Fr. Ken Thorson, OMI, wrote in an email that “many have expressed their gratitude for the comprehensiveness of Justice Denis’ investigation and the clarity of the report.” Others told the provincial superior of OMI Lacombe their hopes that the findings “might offer some validation for those people (victims, families and supporters) who have long advocated for justice in this case.”

Tanya Tungilik, the daughter of the late Marius Tungilik, who accused Rivoire of sexual abuse, told…

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Books by Marko Rupnik, the Jesuit who’s been banned from public ministry for raping nuns, are featured at a prominent book store a few steps from St. Peter’s Square

The “Libreria San Paolo” is the largest bookstore on the Via della Conciliazione, the broad avenue that leads from the Tiber River up to St. Peter’s Basilica. Each day you can find priests, women religious, seminarians and tourists – even bishops and cardinals – browsing through the store’s countless volumes on spirituality, scripture or theology. As they mingle through the shelves, they pass by display tables featuring a broad selection of the latest titles or recommendations from the bookstore’s staff.

And among them are works by Father Marko Rupnik, the world-famous mosaic artist. He’s the Slovenian Jesuit who’s been accused of raping numerous women religious and is at the center of a continuing scandal. The…

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Attorneys involved in the Archdiocese of New Orleans bankruptcy process said Monday they were evaluating how a major ruling by the Louisiana Supreme Court that makes it harder for victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue their accusers will impact the long-running case and the 550 survivors of child sex abuse who claim they were sexually abused by local Roman Catholic clergy.

In a decision that surprised the local legal community and victim advocacy groups nationwide, a split Supreme Court court ruled 4-3 last week that a pair of state laws creating a “lookback window” for survivors of childhood sex abuse to file legal claims was unconstitutional.

The laws had granted child sex abuse survivors a three-year window to sue, regardless of when the alleged abuse took place. But the state’s high court said that the laws violated the due process of alleged perpetrators.

“This is a very, very, serious decision…

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A Louisiana deacon declared excommunicated this month had formally joined an Anglican parish community, before his bishop declared that he had incurred a formal canonical penalty.

Deacon Scott Peyton’s excommunication has garnered national attention, because the deacon’s defection from the Church came after his son was abused by a priest. 

The excommunication itself has been framed in local media reports as a direct response to the deacon’s criticism of diocesan policies and approaches to sexual abuse allegations.

But while that framing does not seem supported by available information, the case raises questions about episcopal decision-making, and transparency, in a gravely difficult pastoral circumstance.

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In 2015, Deacon Scott Peyton’s 16-year-old son was molested by Fr. Michael Guidry, a priest of the Diocese of Lafayette Louisiana, where Deacon Scott is incardinated. 

Guidry was convicted of plying Peyton’s son with alcohol and sexually assaulting him after the boy passed out. During depositions in…

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In 2017, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found that within the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle, priests had perpetuated crimes of abuse for at least 30 years. Serious allegations were mismanaged, misplaced or ignored. Crimes were minimised. “Abusive and predatory” behaviour was wrongly portrayed as “consensual”.

In her new book, Crimes of the Cross, journalist Anne Manne provides an intricate and compelling account of how multiple diocesan clergy and leaders covered up allegations, protected priests who were known perpetrators and failed to care for survivors.

Manne builds on the groundbreaking work of Newcastle Herald journalist Joanne McCarthy, whose investigations, starting in 2006, led to the establishment of the 2012 royal commission. Manne’s writing is informed by a variety of source materials, including interviews with McCarthy and various survivors, and evidence from the royal commission.

On the first page, Manne warns us this story is about a…

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Hostility towards Christianity is now pervasive in every single aspect of our Australian society. There is no exaggeration in stating that we are now both a majority non-Christian nation and openly antagonistic to orthodox Christianity. According to Michael Sexton SC, the Solicitor-General of New South Wales since 1998, “the forces of political correctness” are presently “waging a war” on everything that is regarded as inconsistent with their own secular “articles of faith”. These zealots, Mr Sexton continues, desire to eradicate from the public square anything that is inconsistent with their own radical  and secular worldview. They have developed “a hostility to all forms of Christian religion but especially the Catholic Church”, he says.[1] 

This hostility is neatly illustrated in Supreme Injustice, Guilty Until Proven Not Catholic. This book, authored by Fr John Fleming, a Catholic priest, details his utterly abominable treatment by the Australian court system. The book is an…

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A Louisiana priest was convicted in the sexual abuse of the ex-deacon’s son. What followed was a lawsuit and now the Catholic Church’s highest censure.

A Catholic priest who sexually assaulted an altar boy in Louisiana is in prison, and a diocese has paid a settlement to the victim’s family. Now the diocese’s bishop has punished the victim’s father, a former deacon, with the Church’s highest censure: excommunication.

It was the latest turn in a yearslong battle pitting the former deacon, Scott Peyton, and his family against the Diocese of Lafayette.

The Peytons and the diocese have found themselves on opposing sides of a state law that gave childhood sexual abuse victims more time to file lawsuits.

The law, which was passed in the State Legislature in 2021 but struck down on Friday by the state’s highest court, did not apply exclusively to victims of clergy abuse….

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“Bad timing?” Behar said after Goldberg — who visited Pope Francis in October — glared at her.

Whoopi Goldberg — who famously once gifted Pope Francis with Sister Act merch and also wants to send the Vatican “some bees” — had quite the reaction to cohost Joy Behar‘s confession on The View.

Tuesday’s live broadcast closed with what could’ve been a sweet moment of friends trading stories about Broadway plays, as the table’s Republican seat-holder Alyssa Farah Griffin innocently brought up a recent show she enjoyed in New York City, which seemingly prompted Behar to recall a production she enjoyed as well: “I could recommend one too! I saw Doubt the other day, with Liev Schreiber,” the 81-year-old said, referencing John Patrick Shanley’s popular play about a nun who suspects a priest of abusing a young boy. “Very interesting, about the abuse scandal in the Catholic church!”

The camera then cut to…

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The Roman Catholic Church has finally admitted that some of its Clergy engaged in sexual abuse of minors. Millions have been/are being paid out to victims/survivors. Yet where is their deep dive into the root cause analysis of this ghastly behavior in the first place? Or have I just missed it all these years?

— Christy Bergland, Baltimore 

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A permanent deacon in the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, whose then-teenage son was molested by the priest he once served alongside, is now excommunicated after leaving his ministry, because he formally left the Catholic Church, according to the recent decree written by his bishop.

“I’m very surprised — I assumed at some point that they would possibly laicize me, but excommunication … that thought never crossed my mind,” Deacon Scott Peyton, who was ordained in 2012 and had served until December 2023, told OSV News. He provided OSV News a digital copy of the March 13 letter he had received from Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of Lafayette.

The document — printed on the bishop’s letterhead, signed by both Bishop Deshotel and the diocesan chancellor, and marked with the diocesan seal — acknowledged Deacon Peyton’s Dec. 4, 2023, email stating what the deacon called his intention to resign from the diaconate…

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Appointments, departures, exchanges, and meetings in the 41st year of the clerical sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church In Rome, the only hope for victims is the appointment of Col. Teresa Morris Kettelkamp, a retired Illinois police officer, to the commission to prevent abuses. The new secretary general, the auxiliary bishop of Bogotá, Luis Manuel Alí Herrera, lacks any record that speaks of interest in resolving the sexual abuse crisis.

The most relevant news in March regarding the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church were the appointments, on March 15, the day that used to be called Ides in the ancient Roman calendar, Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, known as Tutela Minorum or simply as Tutela, by its name in Latin.

Although these appointments could be seen as signs of some movement on this matter, the reality is that the solution to the crisis is rather…

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AUGSBURG ‐ Ein heute 39-Jähriger wirft vier Geistlichen Übergriffe vor – darunter der ehemalige Augsburger Bischof Walter Mixa. Nach seiner Anzeige erfolgten Ermittlungen in der Schweiz und Deutschland. Die wurden nun eingestellt. Auch der Grund ist bekannt.

Die Staatsanwaltschaft Augsburg ermittelt nicht mehr gegen den emeritierten Augsburger Bischof Walter Mixa. Gegenüber der “Augsburger Allgemeinen” (Donnerstag) teilte Oberstaatsanwalt Andreas Dobler mit, dass die Ermittlungen wegen eines Verdachts auf Nötigung Anfang März eingestellt wurden. Gegenüber katholisch.de erläuterte Dobler am Donnerstag, dass das Verfahren aufgrund von Verjährung eingestellt wurde. Mixa wurde durch einen heute 39-jährigen beschuldigt, ihn im Jahr 2012 gegen seinen Willen am Kopf umklammert und auf den Mund geküsst zu haben. Der Mann habe in einer eidesstattlichen Versicherung einen Übergriff in der Sakristei einer Hauskapelle am Arbeitsplatz des Mannes geschildert. Die Staatsanwaltschaft hatte ihn als Zeugen einvernommen. Mixa wies die Vorwürfe über eine Anwältin “auf das Schärfste als unwahr” zurück.

Die…

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Third-party investigation into accusations is under way

As Southern Baptists across the country grapple with allegations of sexual abuse dating back decades, leaders of an Oklahoma church are looking into a case of a former minister who was accused of abusing a teenager in 2006.

The current leaders of First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow have been responding to the accusations, in part, because their counterparts in 2006 did not notify police about the allegations. They also are investigating whether church leaders back then ever alerted the congregation at that time.

The church’s investigation into long-ago accusations of sex abuse are part of an ongoing effort by the Southern Baptist Convention to reckon with a decades-long pattern of mishandling or concealing allegations that resulted in the current crisis facing the faith group.

The eastern Oklahoma church, one of the larger Southern Baptist churches in the state, with average weekly attendance of…

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In January, Fr. Jerome Kaywell, a priest at Sacred Heart Punta Gorda, in the Diocese of Venice, Florida, was accused of sexual misconduct dating back to the winter of 2013-2014. The accused, whose name has not been made public, was a minor at the time, but is now an adult. When the diocese learned of the accusations, Kaywell was removed from ministry pending an internal review. The authorities were immediately notified.

On February 13, the diocese received a letter from the law firm representing the alleged victim. The accuser withdrew the charges, apologized and blamed the accusation on a “false memory.” On March 14, the diocesan review board concluded that there was no evidence of wrongdoing, and Fr. Kaywell was allowed to resume his ministry. 

There are a lot of problems with what happened.

• Why do we know the name of the accused but not the accuser?
• Why did it…

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A former Long Island high school girls volleyball coach was arrested Thursday and charged with raping one of his teenage players.

Shock and outrage swept across Sacred Heart Academy after 22-year-old Jason Maser, a former volleyball coach for the all-girls Catholic school, was accused of raping a 15-year-old player while working part-time as her coach at the college prep school in Hempstead.

“It’s scary,” one person said.

“It’s horrible that someone would take advantage of their position,” parent Sheena Falloon said.

The charges against Maser include rape, criminal sexual act and endangering the welfare of a child.

His mother remained silent while walking out of his arraignment Friday, but the family’s lawyer said bail of $75,000 in cash or a $150,000 bond was unfair.

“Obviously the bail set was very high. We’re going to get Jason out, and we’ll deal with the case going…

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The Vatican and the German bishops have announced they will work together to resolve the controversial German Synodal Way.

In a joint press release, the two parties on March 22 said further meetings would “develop concrete forms of synodality in the Church in Germany, which are in accordance with the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, the requirements of canon law, and the results of the world Synod, and which will subsequently be submitted to the Holy See for approval.”

According to the press release by the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) and the Holy See on Friday evening, the meeting lasted “the entire day.” It was characterized by “a positive and constructive atmosphere.”

The press release continued: “It was possible to discuss some of the open theological questions raised in the documents of the Synodal Way of the Catholic Church in Germany,” saying “differences and points of agreement were identified.”

…

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Since the national “reforms” adopted by all U.S. Catholic Bishops in 2002, there have now been four criminal convictions of Toledo Catholic diocesan clergy. Three clerics were convicted in federal court for sexual crimes involving minors and one priest was convicted in state court for murder.

The lineup of felon priests includes most recently Father Michael J. Zacharias, who this week was formally defrocked by the Vatican. Catholic church officials will act as though the bad acts of yet one more Toledo Diocesan cleric is neatly wrapped up with a bow.

Except it’s not.

Many questions remain unanswered, and much work remains to be done to protect kids, expose corruption and heal victims.

Zacharias was convicted in December 2023 by federal authorities on multiple charges of sexual crimes, including human trafficking.

He “manipulated and coerced drug-addicted boys and men into sex” and made a “confession video” in which he performed…

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Pope Francis did not create the crisis of credibility or the failure of leadership culture that precipitated it, but he has not made either any better. In fact, his conduct of the office entrusted to him has made things very much worse.

Pope Francis has defrocked a Belgian bishop, 87-year-old Roger Vangheluwe, who is among the most notorious high-ranking clerics ever to face consequences for his perverse and criminal behavior.

Good, one might say, but the defrocking—more precisely the “reduction to the lay state”—highlights entrenched structural and cultural problems all centered for the moment on the reigning pope, Francis.

The Vangheluwe case in brief

Vangheluwe’s crimes began to come to light fourteen years ago. Benedict XVI let Vangheluwe go into early and honorable retirement, even though he had admitted to the sexual abuse of his own nephew over a…

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The unanimous state legislation has been ruled unconstitutional in a split decision hinging on the due process clause of the Louisiana Constitution.

The Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s temporary suspension of the statute of limitations for child sex abuse is unconstitutional, a 4-3 decision likely to be seen as a win for the state’s Catholic hierarchy.

The three-year “lookback window” was opened in June 2021 and allowed individuals to file abuse lawsuits regardless of when the incidents are alleged to have occurred. The change in law, stemming from a case against the Diocese of Lafayette, had faced various legal challenges and was taken up by the state’s high court in late 2023.

“We are constrained to find the statutory enactment is contrary to the due process protections enshrined in our [state] constitution and must yield to that supreme law,” reads the majority opinion released on…

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The sexual abuse of children by Catholic sisters and nuns has been overshadowed by far more common reports of male clergy abuse.

Women in religious orders have been not only abuse victims but also perpetrators, though few dioceses or religious orders publicly name abusive nuns. Survivors of nun abuse hope to raise awareness of the issue. Each week a support group for them gathers online. Among its members is Gabrielle Longhi, who is suing her alleged abuser’s religious order and her former Catholic school, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, in Bethesda, Maryland. Her case exists because of a new law in Maryland removing the civil statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims.

On Wednesdays, the support group meets over Zoom. The members talk about their lives, their religious families and their old parochial schools. But mostly, they are there to talk about the sexual abuse they…

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• In short: The ribbons will be removed from the fence outside St Patrick’s Cathedral in Ballarat on Saturday. 
• The bishop’s office says the ageing fence needs to be repainted. 
• What’s next? Organisation Loud Fence wants the parish to meaningfully consult with survivors of abuse about the future of the ribbons. 

Thousands of colourful ribbons tied to the fence of a regional Victorian cathedral as a show of support for survivors of child sexual abuse are set to be removed.

The Diocese of Ballarat says it will remove ribbons tied outside St Patrick’s Cathedral on Saturday morning, for the ageing wrought-iron fence to be painted. 

It is unclear at this stage whether the ribbons will be returned to the fence or how they may be stored into the future. 

Bishop Paul Bird’s office says the parish will continue to consult with survivors of sexual abuse and Loud Fence organisers to decide…

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The Catholic Church’s “established, dogmatic models of the theological approach to sexuality have become anachronistic,” a moral theologian told a conference on sexuality and culture at the John Paul II Pontifical Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in Rome.

Developing a new theological ethics of sexuality is “a task for the entire church community,” Salesian Father Ronaldo Zacharias, a professor of moral theology at the Salesian University of São Paulo, told the conference March 21.

“We cannot ignore that in recent decades there has been a remarkable evolution regarding terminologies, concepts and descriptions related to sexuality,” he said, noting the strong influence such developments have had on people’s conceptions of their own sexuality.

The church, therefore, “should not talk about sexuality without considering the understanding we have of it today,” he said, while also keeping in mind potential problems with modern understandings of sexuality.

Citing the Brazilian theologian Augustinian Sister…

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Several German bishops were due to meet with top Vatican officials today, while the two sides are openly at odds over the reform of Church governance

Just hours before the start of Holy Week, several of the highest-ranking officials of the Roman Curia are facing a challenging meeting — the latest round of talks, which was due to take place Friday, with a delegation of Catholic bishops specially convened from Germany.

On the agenda for the March 22 gathering was to be the dialogue, initiated several years ago, between the Holy See and the Church in Germany regarding the German “Synodal Path” and its implications. This initiative, with the Catholic bishops and lay leaders of Germany launched in 2019 in response to the clergy sex abuse crisis, has fueled numerous tensions between the Vatican and the German bishops.Further reading: Why Pope Francis wants no repeat of the German “Synodal Path”

Closed-door…

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The legislation would give those who suffered sexual abuse while in the Boy Scouts the ability to press claims against the organization.

The Alabama House of Representatives Thursday approved a bill that would allow Alabamians who suffered sexual abuse while in the Boys Scouts of America to press claims against the organization.

SB 18, sponsored by Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, and carried in the House by Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, a former Baldwin County child victims prosecutor, would lift the state’s statute of limitations for civil claims on sexual abuse to allow those abused in the Boy Scouts of America to file claims with The Scouting Settlement Trust.

“There was a fund that was created for assets for members with a settlement trust from people in the boy scouts who were affected by sexual abuse. This would allow Alabama citizens to be able to recover…

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Amendment to state constitution concerning statute of limitations is simple but would be substantial in safeguarding children

In November, Colorado voters will have a voice in saving children from sexual predators and those who harbor them. Coloradans will be able to do more than watch stories about the frightening epidemic of child sexual abuse; they can be part of the solution by using their voice at the ballot box to benefit children.

That’s if the General Assembly lets them.

The Child Sexual Abuse Accountability Act (SCR 24-001) will allow voters to make a small and narrow change to Colorado’s Constitution that will give the General Assembly the authority to pass retroactive laws for claims of child sexual abuse. Colorado’s Constitution framers did not know about the epidemic of child sexual abuse. They did not know about the science of trauma or delayed disclosure. They did not…

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Since the national “reforms” adopted by all U.S. Catholic Bishops in 2002, there have now been four criminal convictions of Toledo Catholic diocesan clergy. Three clerics were convicted in federal court for sexual crimes involving minors and one priest was convicted in state court for murder.

The lineup of felon priests includes most recently Father Michael J. Zacharias, who this week was formally defrocked by the Vatican. Catholic church officials will act as though the bad acts of yet one more Toledo Diocesan cleric is neatly wrapped up with a bow.

Except it’s not.

Many questions remain unanswered, and much work remains to be done to protect kids, expose corruption and heal victims.

Zacharias was convicted in December 2023 by federal authorities on multiple charges of sexual crimes, including human trafficking.

He “manipulated and coerced drug-addicted boys and men into sex” and made a “confession video” in which he performed…

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The rape trial of 92-year-old Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker will not start as scheduled Monday in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court because Hecker’s mental competency has not yet been evaluated.

It’s unclear when that evaluation will happen or how long the trial will be delayed.

Hecker admitted in an August interview with WWL Louisiana and the Guardian newspaper that he had sex with at least three underage boys in the 1960s and 70s. But in that same interview, he denied ever having sex with someone against his will.

A week after that interview, Hecker was arrested and charged with aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft for allegedly choking a student unconscious and having sex with him in his church office in 1975 or 1976.

Hecker pled not guilty to those charges last year and his bond was set at more than $800,000. Later, he…

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Belgian ex-bishop and abuser Roger Vangheluwe was found out and admitted to his abuse in 2010. Why was he finally laicized fourteen years later?

Thursday’s news about the defrocking of Roger Vangheluwe has given us an answer to a question raised with some palpable urgency by another high-profile scandal touching the very echelons of power in the Vatican.

The other case is that of Fr. Marko Rupnik, the inveterate creep and serial abuser of mostly religious women, accused but never tried for his alleged crimes, which he committed over three decades, much of which he spent right under the noses of Roman authorities in the Society of Jesus—to which he then belonged—and the Vatican for which he did a lot of work.

Perhaps the past tense of the verb “to do” is not accurate. Rupnik is still listed as a consultant to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the…

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‘Ohio should not be a safe haven for predators’

Rebecca Surendorff became an advocate for victims of childhood sexual abuse after the arrest of Geoff Drew, a former Cincinnati priest who pleaded guilty in 2021 to raping a 10-year-old altar boy.

Drew was Surendorff’s music teacher at St. Jude Catholic School in Bridgetown in the 1980s. The altar boy was her classmate, Paul Neyer. Surendorff’s daughter was baptized by Drew, who was pastor of St. Ignatius Parish in Green Township when her children went to school there — and Drew was arrested — in 2019.

“He basically had a three-decade pattern of behavior of grooming children in Butler, Hamilton and Montgomery counties, and yet he was able to work with children in both school and churches in our state, despite well-written policies and well-trained parents,” said Surendorff, co-chair of Ohioans for Child Protection. “Few people realize that a second victim…

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Nuns Don’t Just Abuse. Some Enable Abuse

The issue of sexual abuse within the ranks of the Catholic Church has been a headline for many years now. However, a recent Associated Press article has brought to light an equally disturbing aspect of this crisis: the role of some nuns not only as perpetrators of abuse but also as enablers. Yes, tragically, some nuns abuse kids. Tragically, some also ignore or hide abuse by others. And tragically, some punish kids who speak up, thereby deepening their wounds and essentially helping their tormentors. This blog post aims to delve deeper into this grim reality, presenting instances of abuse, the enabling of such behavior by some nuns, and the implications thereof.

Instances of Nuns Enabling Abuse

The sexual victimization of boys and girls by Catholic nuns has sadly re-emerged in recent news, painting a grim picture of reality…

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Survivors are calling the latest court order a “win” in the bankruptcy case of the Baltimore Archdiocese.

A judge issued a new order this week giving survivors of clergy sexual abuse the chance to address the court directly.

“It feels like a big win to me,” Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests spokesperson Teresa Lancaster said.

Survivors had requested the opportunity to testify, saying it would give a meaningful voice to victims, humanize the process and deepen understanding of the case.

“Giving your voice in person, and also the people testifying are talking for hundreds of survivors, and that is more valuable than anything,” Lancaster said.

SNAP director David Lorenz said the testimony is akin to a sentencing hearing in a criminal case.

“I believe giving the impact statement will be healing for survivors, similar to victims giving their impact statements in criminal court,” he said.

Catholic Archbishop William…

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Catholic journalist, editor and author Christopher Altieri is asking the question, “So what?” in response to the Vatican’s recent decision to feature the artwork of disgraced Jesuit priest and artist Marko Rupnik, an “inveterate creep and professional pervert,” in its illustration of St Joseph’s feast in its liturgical calendar. 

“Well,” Altieri began in his fiery March 19 op-ed, “Marko Ivan Rupnik […] is a disgraced celebrity artist-priest and sometime retreat leader credibly accused of spiritually, psychologically, and sexually abusing more than two dozen victims—most of them women religious—over the course of three decades, much of it spent right in Rome.”

The Vatican has incurred significant scrutiny in recent years over its perceived support of Rupnik despite continually assuring the public of its concern for victims of clergy abuse.

“It makes good sense,” said Altieri, for the Vatican to reconsider publicly supporting Rupnik’s art, “even if you don’t care a whit about…

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The Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Diocese of Lafayette in an alleged sexual abuse case. 

The lawsuit, originally filed in 2018 against Saint Martin de Tours Catholic Church, alleges that Rev. Kenneth Morvant abused Doug Bienvenu, the only plaintiff named in the suit, and other altar boys various times between 1971 and 1979. The plaintiffs’ ages at the time of the alleged abuse range from 8 to 14. 

This ruling stems from a 2021 amendment that led to a three-year lookback window. 

The judges decided the Louisiana Legislature went above their constitutional power after they gave the opportunity for the lawsuits to be submitted, meaning any sex abuse case involving clergy filed under that lookback window is not to be heard in court.

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“The organizations that enable and protect child molesters are rejoicing over this ruling,” said attorney Kristi Schubert.

In a split ruling that has major implications for hundreds of child sex abuse victims, the Louisiana Supreme Court has struck down a law that allowed victims to file civil lawsuits over abuse that happened decades ago.

Child molestation victims and their advocates were devastated by the 4-3 ruling.

“Once more the victims and survivors of childhood sex abuse have been denied justice,” said Richard Windmann, president of Survivors of Childhood Sex Abuse. “The institutionalized, systematic, and wholesale rape of our children by these organizations is self-evident. Now we move on to the United States Supreme Court. The final stop is to see if we, as human beings, are going to let these atrocities stand and continue to happen.”

“Predators and institutions that protect predators are going to continue with their bad practices,”…

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The Supreme Court of Louisiana has ruled a law that allows victims of child sex abuse to sue their abusers years after the crime as unconstitutional.

Three justices dissented and assigned reasons. To read the entire ruling, including the dissents, scroll down.

At issue is a lawsuit filed in St. Martin Parish that accuses the church of knowing that the late Rev. Monsignor Kenneth Romain Morvant sexually abused children. The alleged abuse took place in the 1970s at a Catholic church and a Catholic school in St. Martin Parish. To read our story about the suit, click here.

Usually, plaintiffs have a year after the incident or injury at issue to file a lawsuit. That time limit is called “prescription.”

But the Louisiana legislature passed a law in 2021, as many states have, that allows sex abuse victims to file suit during a window of time set by the law. It’s…

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Following allegations John MacArthur failed to protect victims of child abuse, publishers have declined to publish MacArthur’s new book, “The War on Children,” an employee at Grace to You (GTY) confirmed with The Roys Report (TRR).

According to a still-available post on Google Books, “The War on Children: Providing Refuge for Your Children in a Hostile World,” was set to be published in 2022 by Thomas Nelson.

However, MacArthur’s broadcast ministry GTY announced last week that the book would be published by the new MacArthur Publishing Group.

In April 2022, TRR received a tip that Thomas Nelson had canceled its release of “The War on Children.” So, TRR emailed Nelson about the planned release of the book but did not receive a response. We have sent additional emails since then, but have still not heard back from the company.

The tip came about a month after TRR published an exclusive story, revealing that…

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A Jefferson City man was charged with promoting and possession of child pornography Thursday as part of an ongoing investigation by the Boone County Sheriff’s Office Cyber Crimes Task Force. 

Melvin Lahr, 77, was arrested Wednesday and is being held without bond at the Cole County Jail, according to online court records. 

According to court documents, investigators found dozens of images of child sexual abuse material on an online account linked to Lahr. 

When a search warrant was served at Lahr’s home Wednesday, he allegedly admitted to viewing images online for approximately 30 years, court documents said.

Lahr also allegedly admitted to taking photos of two 14-year-old girls and engaging in sexual activity with a minor approximately 20 years ago.

Court documents said Lahr detailed his abuse in an unpublished biography that was in the online account and shared the biography with other “like-minded individuals online.”

The Jefferson City Diocese added Lahr…

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The Diocese of Lafayette excommunicated former deacon Scott Peyton after he resigned and told the diocese that sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and the molestation of his son by a priest had “shaken my faith and trust in the institution.”

Priest Michael Guidry pleaded guilty in 2019 to molesting Peyton’s child, who was 16 at the time, four years earlier. Guidry, 78, provided alcohol to Peyton’s son and molested him in his intoxicated state, according to a related lawsuit and a confession by the priest.

Peyton and Guidry served together at St. Peter’s Church in Morrow, a tiny rural town in the northern reaches of St. Landry Parish. 

On Dec. 4, Peyton wrote to Lafayette Diocese Bishop Douglas Deshotel that after “deep reflection” he had chosen to “leave the Catholic Church and the diaconate” and step away from his position at the Cursillo Training…

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Latest claim alleges Alfred Quigley groomed and sexually battered a student at St. Ann’s Academy in Kamloops

A retired British Columbia Catholic high school teacher with ties to the notorious Mount Cashel Orphanage in Newfoundland is now facing a third civil claim from a former student alleging sexual abuse. 

The latest documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court allege Alfred Patrick Quigley groomed and sexually battered a 17-year-old student at St. Ann’s Academy in Kamloops in 2013.

Quigley, 73, is also named in two previous lawsuits alleging he sexually abused students during tenures at St. Thomas More Collegiate in Burnaby in the 1970s, and O’Grady Catholic High School in Prince George in the 1990s. 

None of the allegations have been proven in court. CBC News reached out to Quigley in Newfoundland, where he now lives, but did not receive a response. 

The Kamloops claim also names the Roman Catholic Bishop of Kamloops, the Catholic…

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[See the decision.]

Court rules 4-3 to overturn law that allowed victims to file civil suits over sexual abuse that took place decades ago

In a split ruling that has major implications for hundreds of child sexual abuse victims, the Louisiana state supreme court has struck down a law that allowed victims to file civil lawsuits over molestation that happened decades ago.

Child molestation victims and their advocates were devastated by the 4-3 ruling from a court whose members are elected.

Lawyers Richard Trahant, Soren Giselson and John Denenea, who represented the plaintiffs in the case at the center of Friday’s ruling, said: “Today, four of the seven … justices overruled a law passed by a unanimous Louisiana legislature, signed by then governor [John Bel] Edwards, supported by then attorney general and current governor Jeff Landry and current attorney general Liz Murrill. That’s nearly 200 elected officials who viewed this law…

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The Supreme Court of Louisiana has ruled a law that allows victims of child sex abuse to sue their abusers years after the crime as unconstitutional.

Three justices dissented and assigned reasons. To read the entire ruling, including the dissents, scroll down.

At issue is a lawsuit filed in St. Martin Parish that accuses the church of knowing that the late Rev. Monsignor Kenneth Romain Morvant sexually abused children. The alleged abuse took place in the 1970s at a Catholic church and a Catholic school in St. Martin Parish. To read our story about the suit, click here.

Usually, plaintiffs have a year after the incident or injury at issue to file a lawsuit. That time limit is called “prescription.”

But the Louisiana legislature passed a law in 2021, as many states have, that allows sex abuse victims to file suit during a window of time set by the law. It’s…

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Decades ago, a probation agent allegedly warned a Mormon church in Prince George’s County that a man they brought on as a minister was not allowed to be in the presence of children.

Frederick Edvalson had been convicted twice of sexually abusing minors, and the terms of his probation barred him from being around kids, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.

At the church in Camp Springs, Edvalson befriended a girl, gained her trust and sexually abused her, the federal complaint says. He pleaded guilty to a felony sex offense in 1985, online court records show, and earned the condemnation of Prince George’s top prosecutor at the time, who said Edvalson told the girl “he was giving her special religious training.”

Though the girl got justice in criminal court against Edvalson, who died years ago, “the church itself, who let this known predator hang around kids, has…

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CWR asked several high-ranking officials at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communications whether there have been discussions regarding the use of Rupnik’s artwork, and if so, who has made which decisions.

Victims and advocates are running out of patience with Pope Francis and the Vatican, as official Vatican outfits including the communications dicastery continue to make use of artwork produced by a disgraced former Jesuit, Fr. Marko Rupnik, who is now a priest of Koper diocese in his native Slovenia, though he reportedly resides in Rome.

Vatican Media used a Rupnik studio image to illustrate their brief on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, causing an international uproar.

“It’s so injurious,” Antonia Sobocki of the UK-based LOUDFence survivor advocacy group told CWR on Thursday.

“I cannot think of a less appropriate artist to choose to illustrate this feast day than a serial rapist like Marko Rupnik,” Sobocki—herself a survivor of familial abuse—said March…

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A man who says he was sexually abused as a boy by a priest in New Mexico in the 1960s sued the church and diocese this week, the latest case to surface in the state as the Roman Catholic Church wrestles with the global clergy sex abuse scandal.

The suit filed Tuesday in state district court in Las Cruces seeks unspecified compensation for the unnamed victim. His lawyers say he is now 62 and has been “suffering in silence for over 50 years.”

The complaint names as defendants St. Joseph Parish in Lordsburg and the Catholic Diocese of El Paso, Texas, which oversaw the southern New Mexico parish before the creation of the Las Cruces Diocese in the 1980s.

It details alleged abuse by the Rev. Lawrence Gaynor, who died in 1978 at age 75. Gaynor was included in a list of accused priests that was released…

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Bishop J Douglas Deshotel issued the order after Scott Peyton had resigned from his post, but the abusive priest was not censured

A Louisiana man who resigned as a Roman Catholic deacon after a priest at whose side he served sexually molested his son has been excommunicated from the church by his local diocese, a remarkably harsh punishment that his child’s abuser does not appear to have faced.

Scott Peyton’s excommunication from the Catholic church at the hands of bishop J Douglas Deshotel comes as the latter’s Lafayette diocese has asked Louisiana’s supreme court to strike down a law that retroactively and temporarily eliminated filing deadlines for lawsuits demanding damages for childhood sexual abuse from years ago.

The law which lawyers for the Lafayette diocese targeted wasn’t exclusively for clergy abuse victims, but it prompted many new cases of that nature against Louisiana’s Catholic institutions and clerics who worked for them.

Peyton…

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[See also a PDF of the statement.]

Au cours  des derniers mois, de nouveaux éléments graves concernant le cas de S.E. Mgr Roger Vangheluwe, évêque émérite de Bruges, ont été rapportés au Dicastère pour la Doctrine de la Foi, ce qui a nécessité un réexamen de l’affaire. Suite à une nouvelle enquête, le Dicastère a décidé d’entendre la défense du prélat.

Après avoir examiné la défense susmentionnée, le 8 mars 2024, le Dicastère a présenté la documentation au Saint-Père, proposant son renvoi de l’état clérical, conformément à l’article 26 des normes Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela sur les crimes réservés à la compétence du Dicastère pour la Doctrine de la Foi.

Lors de l’audience accordée à Son Eminence le Card. Préfet du Dicastère, le 11 mars, le Pape François a accédé à la demande, en ordonnant que la peine proposée soit imposée. Le 20 mars 2024, la mesure a été notifiée à l’intéressé qui, prenant acte de…

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Pope Francis has laicized Bishop Roger Vangheluwe, almost 14 years after the Belgian prelate resigned after admitting that he had abused a nephew.

The apostolic nunciature to Belgium said in a March 21 statement that “serious new elements” had emerged in recent months, prompting the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to reopen the case of the former Bishop of Bruges, who stepped down in 2010.

The dicastery, which handles abuse cases, presented a file to Pope Francis March 8, recommending Vangheluwe’s dismissal from the clerical state. 

The nunciature said that the recommendation was made “in accordance with Article 26 of the norms Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela, on crimes reserved to the competence of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.”

During a March 11 meeting with the Vatican’s doctrine chief Víctor Manuel Fernández, Pope Francis “granted the request, ordering that the proposed sentence be imposed.” 

Vangheluwe was informed of the…

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A Belgian former bishop who admitted sexually abusing two of his nephews has been removed from the priesthood by Pope Frances, more than a decade after the case first came to light.

The Vatican said Thursday that Bishop Roger Vangheluwe, 87, had been “dismissed from the clerical state” after “serious new elements” in the case emerged.

Bishop Vangheluwe resigned as bishop of Bruges in 2010 after admitting he had abused one nephew over the course of a number of years.

He later admitted to abusing a second nephew but was not prosecuted due to Belgium’s statute of limitations.

The country’s bishops have repeatedly called for the Vatican to expel Bishop Vangheluwe from the priesthood with the case becoming a symbol of the abuse scandals in the country.

In a statement following the dismissal, the Belgian bishops’ conference said they had always considered it “shameful” that Vangheluwe had been allowed to…

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Pope Francis has dismissed the former bishop of Bruges, Belgium, from the clerical state 14 years after Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation following his admission that he sexually abused his nephew.

Roger Vangheluwe, 87, was informed on March 20 by the apostolic nunciature in Brussels that Pope Francis had ordered his laicization effective March 21 after “serious new elements” in his case led the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to review his file, Vatican News reported.

After a new investigation, which included listening to the Belgian cleric’s defense, the dicastery presented the case to Pope Francis on March 8 with the recommendation that he be removed from the clerical state.

Pope Francis approved the recommendation during an audience on March 11 with Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, dicastery prefect, Vatican News said.

The Belgian Catholic website Kerknet.be reported that the nunciature’s announcement concluded by saying, “The Holy Father once again…

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Pope Francis on Thursday defrocked a notorious Belgian bishop who admitted 14 years ago that he sexually abused his nephew but faced no Vatican punishment.

The case of Roger Vangheluwe, the emeritus bishop of Brugge, long ago became a symbol of the Catholic Church’s hypocrisy and dysfunction in dealing with cases of abuse. Not only was he allowed to quietly retire after the scandal broke in 2010, but the head of the Belgian church at the time, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, was caught on tape asking one of his victims to keep his abuse secret until the bishop left office.

The Vatican announcement that Francis had laicized Vangheluwe came a few months before the pope is due to visit Belgium, where the case would have been an unwelcome and problematic distraction.

Vangheluwe, 87, shot to international infamy in 2010 amid disclosures he had sexually abused his young…

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Roger Vangheluwe, the 87-year-old former bishop of Bruges, has been dismissed from the clerical state after being found guilty of abuse of a minor. Pope Francis approved the sentence following a re-examination of the case in light of “serious new elements” reported to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The decades-long case of 87-year-old Belgian Bishop Roger Vangheluwe, who was found guilty of sexual abuse of minors, has ended with his dismissal from the clerical state.

According to a statement from the Apostolic Nunciature in Brussels, Pope Francis on Thursday, 21 March, imposed the sentence on the former bishop of Bruges, who had resigned as head of the diocese in April 2010 after being accused of historical abuse.

Vangheluwe admitted, in particular, to having abused one of his nephews. The crimes of which he was accused, however, were barred under the statute of limitations.

New elements in the…

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If survivors of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church in Baltimore have the opportunity to testify at two hearings in bankruptcy court about their torment, Archbishop William Lori will be there to listen.

Lori, leader of America’s oldest archdiocese, “will personally attend on both occasions to hear directly from the survivors,” attorneys for the church said in a court filing Wednesday.

The Baltimore Sun first reported on Lori’s agreement with the committee representing survivors in the church’s bankruptcy case to be present in court, if the judge approves the proposal to have survivors testify.

“It’s important for me and for church leaders continually to hear from victim-survivors about what happened in their life and what that brought about in their lives,” Lori told the church-published Catholic Review for an article published Wednesday. “I also think it’s a moment when victim-survivors experience a moment of empowerment and justice. And, I think their…

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A Florida priest and Grammy-winning recording artist has been restored to ministry after accusations of alleged sexual misconduct with a minor were retracted by the accuser.

Father Jerome Kaywell, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Punta Gorda, Florida, “has been returned to ministry, effective immediately” and his “good name … restored,” said Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, in a March 14 letter to parishioners.

Father Kaywell had been placed on administrative leave in January after the diocese had received notice from an unspecified law firm that the popular priest had allegedly engaged in misconduct “with someone who was a minor at the time … in the Winter of 2013/2014.”

Father Kaywell had maintained his innocence throughout the investigation, which in accord with diocesan safe environment policy included notification of the State Attorney’s office and the engagement of an independent investigator.

However, on Feb. 13 the diocese received word…

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Ex-Catholic priest Paul J. Blancard, 84, was charged in September with ‘indecent assault’ on a female in Burnaby between May 1, 1967 and Oct. 15, 1970, when he was working at St. Helen’s Parish in Burnaby.

An ex-priest who has already served a sentence for molesting young girls on Vancouver Island has now been charged with sexual abuse during his time at a Catholic church in Burnaby 57 years ago.

Paul J. Blancard, 84, made a video appearance in B.C. provincial court in Vancouver last week after being charged in September with “indecent assault” on a female in Burnaby between May 1, 1967 and Oct. 15, 1970, according to the court registry.

The Archdiocese of Vancouver confirmed Blancard was an assistant pastor at St. Helen’s Parish in Burnaby during that time.

His next court date is scheduled for April 16.

The victim’s name is protected by a publication ban.

The…

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[Includes video]

A man in New Orleans, Louisiana waited outside of a church for Archbishop Gregory Aymond to arrive so that he could plead for the release of documents surrounding alleged abuse from within the church, which he says he was abused in.

WDSU was there to catch the dramatic footage that shows Aaron Hebert passionately speaking to Archbishop Aymond and you can hear by the tone in his voice that Hebert wants closure.

According to the report, Aaron Hebert was allegedly abused by Lawerence Heckler while as a child and the abuse allegedly happened in the church where he confronted the Archbishop, St. Josephs in Gretna.

Hebert hopes that his story and his voice will prevent others from going through what he went through as a kid, but WDSU reports that he doesn’t have much faith in Archbishop Aymond.

In all, Hebert does not feel confident that documents in…

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Scott Peyton, a former deacon whose son was molested by a priest he served alongside in St. Landry Parish, has been excommunicated by Lafayette Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel.

Peyton served as a deacon in the diocese until December 2023. That’s when he resigned citing “distressing revelations regarding sexual abuse scandals involving members of the clergy.”

“The magnitude of these revelations has deeply shaken my faith and trust in the institution to which I have dedicated a significant portion of my life,” Peyton wrote in his resignation letter to Bishop Deshotel. “This decision is not a rejection of my faith in God or my commitment to living a life guided by Christian principles. Instead, it reflects a conscientious objection to the way the Church has handled cases of sexual abuse, and a desire to distance myself from an institution that, currently, falls short of the values it professes.”

In 2019, Father…

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The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Chapter 11 reorganization case has asked bankruptcy court Judge Michelle M. Harner to allow victims of clergy abuse to present survivor statements at upcoming hearings in April and May. 

Archbishop William E. Lori told the Catholic Review he will attend both court sessions. He said the archdiocese was in favor of the victim-survivors having a chance to present their stories.

“I don’t think that very many of us can really understand the depth of pain suffered by victim-survivors,” the archbishop said. “I think it’s important for me and for church leaders continually to hear from victim-survivors about what happened in their life and what that brought about in their lives. 

“I also think it’s a moment when victim-survivors experience a moment of empowerment and justice. And, I think their testimonies will have a big impact on my mind and…

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The Catholic University of America in Washington announced March 20 that Teresa Pitt Green, a writer and speaker who promotes healing for survivors of abuse and their families in the church, would receive an honorary doctoral degree at its May 11 commencement ceremony.

She thanked Catholic University on X, formerly known as Twitter, and called the news of the honorary doctorate “one of the happiest moments” of her life.

Pitt Green is herself a survivor of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and has been an advocate for survivors for more than 20 years, authoring several books and speaking numerous times to the U.S. bishops on the issue.

She is the co-founder of Spirit Fire, a Christian restorative justice initiative and fellowship of survivors of abuse in the church. She is also vice president of Healing and Recovery Ministries at St. Edmund’s Retreat on Enders Island, Mystic, Connecticut, and she is…

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The title of a new report – “More visibility in unity and more reconciliation in diversity” – reflected a sober approach.

Germany’s Catholic and Protestant Churches published a joint report last week calling for a more realistic approach to ecumenism.

The report admitted that the historic ecumenical goal of a shared Eucharist remains a distant prospect, instead arguing that rather than setting specific targets the Churches should focus on a “process-oriented ecumenism”.

While Christians of both confessions hope for concrete reforms, the report said, “no breakthroughs are to be expected in the near future”.

The title of the report – “More visibility in unity and more reconciliation in diversity” – reflected its sober approach. The text included no further targets, saying it would be better to focus on similarities than differences.

“Despite differences in some individual ethical issues that have become apparent in the Catholic-Protestant dialogue, there is broad…

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A businessman pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring with the leader of an offshoot polygamous sect near the Arizona-Utah border to transport underage girls across state lines, making him the first man to be convicted in what authorities say was a scheme to orchestrate sexual acts involving children.

Moroni Johnson, who faces 10 years to life in prison, acknowledged that he participated in a scheme to transport four girls under the age of 18 for sexual activity. Authorities say the conspiracy between the 53-year-old Johnson and the sect’s leader, self-proclaimed prophet Samuel Bateman, occurred over a three-year period ending in September 2022.

Authorities say Bateman had created a sprawling network spanning at least four states as he tried to start an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which historically has been based in the neighboring communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah. He and his…

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Several prominent lawyers have published stinging academic critiques and legal opinions about the Vatican’s recently concluded “trial of the century,” highlighting violations of basic defense rights and rule of law norms that they warn could have consequences for the Holy See going forward.

The opinions cite Pope Francis’ role in the trial, since he secretly changed Vatican law four times during the investigation to benefit prosecutors. And they call into question the independence and impartiality of the tribunal since its judges swear obedience to Francis, who can hire and fire them at will.

The critiques underscore the growing problems on the international stage for the peculiar microstate that the Holy See calls home: an absolute monarchy where Francis wields supreme legislative, executive and judicial power.

The legal opinions are likely to feature in the appeals within the Vatican court system of the nine people who were convicted in December of several financial crimes…

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An affidavit is shedding more light on charges accusing a Tell City pastor of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Last week, Errol Wright was arrested and charged with multiple counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, child seduction and child solicitation.

Tell City residents “shocked” following arrest of local pastor

Recently released court documents show the incidents allegedly took place over a three-year period. The documents also show Wright was a girls’ soccer coach at Tell City High School and when rumors of an inappropriate relationship with an underage girl surfaced, the school said Wright could not be around the girls unless another adult was present. The documents also show the school reported its suspicions to the Indiana Department of Child Services. It is not known what action the department took. The documents also show the underage female claimed after one of her sexual encounters with Wright,…

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A newly released affidavit has revealed new details after the pastor of Community Christian Church was arrested and accused of sexual misconduct.

In February, detectives say a victim went to the Tell City Police Department accusing 48-year-old Errol Wright of sexually abusing her when she was under the age of 18.

According to the affidavit, the victim claims she and Wright started having sexual intercourse when she was 15-years-old and would have sex up to three times per week for years.

The victim told police that they had intercourse in several different places, including at the Christian Community Church numerous times.

Police say Wright promised the victim he would leave his wife for her, but she says she realized that was a lie and he was using her for sex.

Over a period of several years, the victim reportedly told police she believed Wright had sexual intercourse…

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A priest who led an evangelical movement in the 1980s and 1990s has appeared in court to face multiple allegations of sexual offences against former members of a church congregation.

The Reverend Christopher Brain led the movement called the Nine O’Clock Service in Sheffield between 1986 and 1995.

Brain appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court for a four-minute hearing on Monday where he faced a total of 34 charges in relation to 11 women.

The charges relate to allegations of sexual offences committed against women who had joined the movement, police have said.

Brain, now 66, of Park Road, Wilmslow, Cheshire, is charged with one count of rape and 33 counts of indecent assault, alleged to have been committed between 1981 and 1995.

The Nine O’Clock Service was initially held at St Thomas’s Church, in the Crookes area of Sheffield, before moving to Ponds Forge sport complex in the city centre.

…

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Embattled Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy, the self-appointed “Son of God” and founder of Kingdom of Jesus Christ, was ordered arrested by the Senate on Tuesday, March 19, for snubbing committee hearings.

The Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, chaired by Senator Risa Hontiveros, had summoned Quiboloy to attend its investigation on allegations of human trafficking and sexual abuse, but he defied it.

Senate President Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri signed the arrest order for Quiboloy, who will be detained at the Senate.

Earlier, Hontiveros cited Quiboloy in contempt for his non-appearance during committee hearings on January 23, February 19, and March 5, despite being served with subpoenas, and ordered his arrest.

In a Facebook live, Hontiveros said the arrest order can be enforced anytime and that its issuance is timely as the country observes the National Women’s Month.

Hontiveros thanked Zubiri for signing the arrest order, saying…

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Will also have to pay restitution to victims’ families

A Michigan priest was sentenced to four to 20 years incarceration Monday, March 18.

A jury in Clinton County returned guilty verdicts on the charges against David Rosenberg, 72, of DeWitt, for embezzling or stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from retired priests. He was originally charged in Dec. 2022.

Rosenberg will also have to pay restitution to the victims’ families.

According to authorities, Rosenberg was employed as Director of the Lansing Catholic Diocese’s St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt between 2015 and 2021. He embezzled or stole approximately $780,000 from three priests and gave the stolen funds to his charitable foundation, FaithFirst, formerly the Rosenberg Family Corporation. The 95-acre Retreat Center property includes apartments that house retired priests. The three victims resided at the Retreat Center apartments until their deaths.

In February, he…

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A Michigan priest was sentenced to at least four years in prison Monday, one month after a jury found he stole more than $830,000 from elderly priests for whom he supposedly helped to care.

Fr. David Rosenberg’s prison sentence came after has was convicted Feb. 9 on eight felony counts, including three felony counts of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult of more than $100,000. The priest will also be ordered later this year to make restitution, but the amount has not yet been determined.

While Judge Cori Barkman declined to impose a lengthy sentence requested by prosecutors, she told the priest in court March 18 that his lack of remorse was “egregious and even heinous.”

The priest retains his presbyteral faculties, but has been directed by the Lansing diocese not to engage in public ministry.

Rosenberg, 72, was charged in December 2022 with multiple counts of criminal embezzlement, committed against…

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Father Earl Bierman used to tell people that, in 30 years as a teacher, I was the only student he ever threw out of class. It was because I argued with him about the Vietnam War.

Twenty years later, he tried to kill me.

The failed murder-suicide attempt shocked Greater Cincinnati. A Catholic priest caught on tape threatening to shoot a former student and then kill himself.

Echoes of Father Bierman’s demented voice can still be heard 30 years later in Catholic churches across the United States and beyond.

In 1992, child sexual abuse by priests was a new phenomenon. The blockbuster book Lead Us Not into Temptation by Jason Berry documented 400 cases of sexual abuse by priests in the United States.

The book didn’t surprise me. I knew a priest who had committed hundreds of such crimes all by himself.

Bierman had taught my health and religion classes at Covington…

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Lieve Halsberghe says Oblate Safeguarding Commission report ‘unworthy of a democracy’

A report that reviews a Catholic order’s handling of child sexual abuse allegations against one of its priests in Nunavut is being dismissed as nothing but propaganda by one of its staunchest critics.

“This report is not justice,” says Lieve Halsberghe, a researcher for BishopAccountability.org. “The church permits herself to create a parallel system they call justice, but which it is not.

“It is unworthy of a democracy that the church is allowed to investigate” itself.

The Oblates say the report, released Tuesday, is intended to provide a form of justice not available through the courts. France has refused to extradite Rivoire to face charges in Canada.

The Oblate Safeguarding Commission report commissioned by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate a year ago was released Monday and written by retired Quebec judge Andre Denis.

Denis says he concluded, based on the…

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The allegations of child sexual abuse against former Bay Shore teacher Thomas Bernagozzi are enormous. So are the potential costs for that school district, which will be on the hook for any civil damages his victims may win in the 45 cases filed under the state Child Victims Act.

The legislation enacted in 2019 created a legal window to allow anyone who was abused years ago when they were children to file for compensation. Bay Shore faces more lawsuits under this act than any Long Island school district. The window for filing these lawsuits closed in 2021.

Unsurprisingly, that extraordinary change in the law had consequences that only now are being quantified. It allowed lawsuits that otherwise would have been barred because of time limits to be filed against schools, nonprofit organizations and religious groups like the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, which recently filed for bankruptcy because of…

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While church groups in different nations have been discussing what to do with Father Marko Rupnik‘s works after sex abuse allegations against him came to light, Brazil’s Sanctuary of Our Lady of Aparecida, the major Catholic shrine in the South American country, has apparently decided with no debate it will not halt the installation of giant murals produced by Centro Aletti, where Father Rupnik is still listed as director of spiritual art and theology atelier.

During a program that was aired Feb. 28 by TV Aparecida, owned by the sanctuary, Redemptorist Father Eduardo Catalfo, the shrine’s rector, along with Aparecida’s administrator, Father Fábio Evaristo, announced the basilica’s new south facade will be inaugurated May 11.

That was the second of the temple’s four facades to be covered with Father Rupnik’s mosaics depicting biblical scenes. The north facade — Father Rupnik’s largest work in the whole…

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[See the report.]

Following an exhaustive investigation, retired Superior Court of Quebec Justice André Denis concluded French priest Joannès Rivoire was guilty of sexually assaulting five minors in Naujaat, Nunavut, between 1968 and 1970, and one in Arviat and Whale Cove, Nunavut, between 1974 and 1979.

Denis also found that Rivoire departed Canada on Jan. 16, 1993, “hiding this terrible reality” from his Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) superiors and Churchill-Hudson Bay Bishop Reynald Rouleau. Thus, “the Oblates in Canada and the ecclesiastical authorities in Nunavut neither concealed nor organized Joannès Rivoire’s ‘flight’ from Canada to France in 1993, and they too were victims of his duplicity and prevarication” when Rivoire told his order he needed to return to his home country to care for his ailing parents.

Between Jan. 20 and Feb. 28, 1993, four plaintiffs visited the RCMP detachment in Nunavut to sign a statement accusing Rivoire of…

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At the conclusion of the federal trial and conviction of Michael Zacharias, the Diocese of Toledo, in accord with Canon (Church) Law, had transmitted the case to the Holy See along with the request to the Holy Father to impose the penalty of direct dismissal from the clerical state (returning him to the lay state). The Holy Father alone has the authority to impose this penalty of direct dismissal from the clerical state when the case warrants such an action.

The Diocese was recently informed that the Holy Father has imposed upon Zacharias the perpetual penalty of direct dismissal from the clerical state (returning him to the lay state), for the sexual abuse of minors and other reprehensible immoral behavior.

Bishop Daniel E. Thomas reiterated, “with the imposition of this penalty, it is my hope and prayer that healing for victims may continue and justice be restored, as we remain vigilant…

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Pope Francis has laicized an Ohio priest after the clergyman received a life sentence in prison for the sexual abuse of minors, the Diocese of Toledo said this week. 

Michael Zacharias, 57, was convicted on five counts of sex trafficking by a federal jury in the Northern District of Ohio last May. His crimes, committed between 1999 and 2020, involved three victims, two of whom were minors when Zacharias began abusing them.

Upon his conviction, he faced a minimum of 15 years in prison. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said in November that the then-priest received a life sentence for the crimes. 

In a press release on Monday, the Diocese of Toledo said that following Zacharias’ convection, diocesan officials “had transmitted the case to the Holy See along with the request to the Holy Father to impose the penalty of direct dismissal from…

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A Punta Gorda priest has been cleared and will not be charged after the alleged victim withdrew their claims of child sexual abuse, according to a new statement.

In February, the Rev. Jerome Kaywell, at Sacred Heart Punta Gorda, was accused of sexual misconduct with a minor in the winter of 2013/2014.

Throughout the investigation, the Diocese of Venice stated that Father Kaywell maintained his innocence and denied the allegations.

A new statement claims that the allegations were taken seriously and acted upon in accord with the Diocesan Policy for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults.

Due to the case involving a minor, the State Attorney’s Office was also notified.

On Feb. 13, the Diocese received a letter from the Law firm representing the alleged victim. The letter stated, “The alleged victim withdrew his allegation, and an apology was written by the accuser, declaring it was a false memory.”

…

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Survivors of sexual abuse committed by clergy in the Archdiocese of Baltimore may have an opportunity to describe their suffering in bankruptcy court, and say they struck an agreement with the church to have Archbishop William Lori there to hear them.

The committee assigned to represent all survivors of clergy abuse in the diocese’s bankruptcy case raised the prospect of at least two days of grueling victim testimony in a court filing Friday, saying it would serve as an opportunity to humanize the technical, money-oriented proceedings.

It also would restore to survivors the chance to share their stories in a courtroom, an option lost when the church declared bankruptcy in September, effectively side-stepping a new state law that eliminated time limits for lawsuits stemming from child sex abuse, the committee’s attorneys wrote.

The request for the victims’ testimony needs the approval of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michelle M. Harner, who is presiding…

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Fr. Daniel McCarthy said he was never directly questioned about the details of child sexual abuse allegations leveled against him, and one of the allegations wasn’t investigated for about a year.

By the accused priest’s telling, an Archdiocese of Chicago investigation of child sexual abuse had big problems.

Fr. Daniel McCarthy said that during an Archdiocese investigation of child sexual abuse allegations leveled against him, he was never directly questioned about the specifics of the accusations. And despite its child safety policy to remove a priest from his parish until it completes an investigation, the Archdiocese knew about an abuse accusation against McCarthy for around a year before it removed him from Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity Parish or told the public about the allegations.

Noir could not obtain a document verifying McCarthy’s claims, but sources familiar with the Archdiocese’s investigative process confirmed parts of his recollection. The Archdiocese did not…

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[See the report.]

Canadian Oblates commissioned Andre Denis to investigate handling of allegations against Johannes Rivoire

A retired Quebec Superior Court judge, in a report commissioned by the Canadian Oblates, says he believes allegations made against former Nunavut priest Johannes Rivoire of sexually abusing children in the territory are true. 

The report, written by Andre Denis, also suggests the Catholic church was not aware of the allegations made against Rivoire at the time because the RCMP didn’t notify them. 

“Rivoire did not tell the whole truth to his superiors, to his confrères, to the Inuit for whom he had pastoral responsibility, and he himself denies a reality that has nevertheless been demonstrated,” Denis wrote in a 57-page report released Tuesday. 

Denis’s report is not a legal finding of guilt. His investigation makes conclusions based on a “preponderance of evidence,” and not “proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Rivoire, an Oblate priest…

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[See the report.]

Safeguarding commission concludes Rev. Johannes Rivoire sexually abused 5 Inuit children, should be kicked out of order

Evidence gathered by a retired Quebec judge “overwhelmingly demonstrates” Rev. Johannes Rivoire sexually assaulted five Inuit children between 1968 and 1979.

André Denis, a former Quebec superior court judge, spent 10 months leading the Oblate Safeguarding Commission. It was created by the religious order to investigate allegations against Rivoire and possible coverups by the church and RCMP.

“My conclusion is that Johannes Rivoire was guilty of sexual abuse of Inuit children,” Denis wrote in the safeguarding commission’s report, which was released Tuesday.

“I can affirm that the Oblates in France did everything in their power to convince him to return to Canada and answer for his actions. To no avail.”

The Oblates of Canada commissioned Denis to provide an “independent perspective” on the circumstances of Rivoire’s 1993 departure from Canada…

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[See the report.]

Following a commitment to independently review the congregation’s response to historical allegations of sexual abuse against Joannès Rivoire in present-day Nunavut, including the circumstances under which he left Canada, OMI Lacombe Canada and the Oblates of the Province of France (the “Oblates”) appointed Justice André Denis to lead the Oblate Safeguarding Commission.

The commission aimed to better understand how these allegations were addressed by Oblates, listen to victims and their families, and identify any improvements to Oblate governance, policies and processes that can safeguard children and ensure a high level of accountability. On March 15, 2024, the Oblate Safeguarding Commission issued its final report.

The report found that the allegations made against Joannès Rivoire were well-founded.

“I wish to thank Justice Denis for his thorough, independent report and to apologize to anyone who was harmed by an Oblate,” said Fr. Ken Thorson, Provincial for OMI Lacombe…

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Congregation thanks Justice André Denis for independent review, stands in solidarity with victims and survivors of abuse

The Oblates of Mary Immaculate of OMI Lacombe Canada and the Province of France (the “Oblates”) wish to thank Justice André Denis for completing a thorough, independent review of historical allegations against Joannès Rivoire, including the circumstances under which he left Canada. The commission aimed to better understand how these allegations were addressed by Oblates, listen to victims and their families and identify any improvements to Oblate governance, policies and processes that can safeguard children and ensure a high level of accountability.

Justice Denis concluded that on the ‘preponderance of evidence,’ Joannès Rivoire was guilty of sexually assaulting five minor children in Naujaat, Nunavut, between 1968 and 1970, and one minor child in Arviat and Whale Cove, Nunavut, between 1974 and 1979.

We accept the report’s conclusions with a heavy heart. We wish…

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An independent review of a priest accused of sexually abusing Inuit children in Nunavut says his Catholic order wasn’t aware of the allegations when he returned to France.

Retired Superior Court justice André Denis led the review into 93-year-old Johannes Rivoire.

Denis found the Oblates of Mary Immaculate didn’t know Rivoire was being investigated by Canadian police when he arrived in France in 1993, and the religious order was not contacted by RCMP when charges were laid five years later. 

The review says the Oblates in France learned of the charges through a news report in 2013.

“Rivoire did not tell the whole truth to his superiors, to his confrères, to the Inuit for whom he had pastoral responsibility, and he himself denies a reality that has nevertheless been demonstrated,” Denis says in his final report released Tuesday.

Rivoire refused to return to Canada after an arrest warrant was issued…

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Almost three-and-one-half years after the Catholic Diocese of Camden, New Jersey filed for bankruptcy citing financial effects from the pandemic and sexual abuse settlements, its Chapter 11 reorganization plan has been approved.

The final plan, the ninth amended proposal, establishes an $87.5 million trust to compensate about 324 survivors of sexual abuse within the diocese. The trust will be funded with $87.5 million from the diocese and related Catholic entities. Insurance policies turned over to the diocese will contribute $30 million.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jerrold N. Poslusny, Jr., in Camden, approved the plan that allows the diocese to pay into the trust over five years and keep operating so it can pay creditors.

The settlement also requires the church to maintain and enhance protocols for the protection of children that were first implemented in 2002.

The plan was approved last April by all classes of creditors and 97%…

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Dear Friends in Christ:

Last December I shared with you my decision to file a Chapter 11 petition with the United States Bankruptcy Court on behalf of the administrative offices of the Diocese of Sacramento. I will file that petition on Monday, April 1, 2024.

As I shared in the December announcement, the bankruptcy process is the only respectful, and equitable way to address the substantial number of claims by those who have been abused by clergy and other Church Workers. Bankruptcy is a lengthy process, but it provides supervision and transparency for all the parties involved so that an equitable resolution is offered to the victim-survivors of abuse. The court-supervised reorganization will also allow me to sustain the sanctifying, teaching, and charitable work of the Catholic community in Northern California.

The Diocese is creating an easily accessible Chapter 11 Bankruptcy page on its website. On this page you will…

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Catholic Diocese of Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto said the diocese will petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a filing on April 1.

“As I shared in the December announcement, the bankruptcy process is the only respectful, and equitable way to address the substantial number of claims by those who have been abused by clergy and other Church Workers,” he said in an open letter posted to the diocese website Saturday.

Soto says the bankruptcy will be a lengthy process, but it provides supervision and transparency allowing equitable resolutions for survivors of sexual assault at the hands of clergy.

In 2019, the Diocese of Sacramento published a list of clergy members and church workers credibly accused of sexually assaulting minors and young adults. The list of credibly accused clergy has been updated as of Jan. 31.

Soto says the court-supervised bankruptcy…

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Bishop Jamie Soto of the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento said the diocese would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 1.

The diocese previously announced the plan to file for bankruptcy in December as a result of over 200 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of minors but did not disclose a date.

“…[T]he bankruptcy process is the only respectful, and equitable way to address the substantial number of claims by those who have been abused by clergy and other Church Workers,” Soto said. “Bankruptcy is a lengthy process, but it provides supervision and transparency for all the parties involved so that an equitable resolution is offered to the victim-survivors of abuse. “

The diocese said it would set up a page for news about the bankruptcy proceedings.

“As this journey of atonement continues, join me in prayer for all the victim-survivors of abuse.   May the Lord of mercies also renew us…

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[Includes video.]

A $5.4 million verdict has been awarded to a former Siena Catholic Academy student who alleges he was sexually abused.

The plaintiff testified that he was sexually abused by Father Joseph Grasso, the school’s former principal, for more than a year starting in 2002, when he was just 12 years old. Grasso was the school administrator at the now-closed academy from 1998 to 2004.

In 2019, the New York Child Victims Act extended the statute of limitations for survivors of child sexual abuse to take their cases to court.

“A strong reason I believe the Child Victims Act was passed was to address the fact that many survivors, many victims of childhood sexual assault, do not feel they are able to come forward until adulthood,” says attorney Amy Keller.

Keller says one of those people is her client, referred to as “LG 55 Doe,” who says…

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Father Jerry Kaywell has been on administrative leave since late January when the Diocese first learned of the allegations.

The Diocese of Venice Florida has confirmed that Father Jerry Kaywell of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Punta Gorda, will return to the church following an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Kaywell has been on administrative leave since late January when the Diocese received notice that a sexual misconduct with a minor allegation had been filed against him.

Bishop Frank Dewane wrote a letter to Sacred Heart parishioners informing them of the investigation’s findings. According to Dewane, the “alleged victim withdrew his allegation, and an apology was written by the accuser declaring it was a false memory.”

Initially, on January 26, Dewane wrote a letter to Sacred Heart parishioners informing them of the allegation.

The letter also stated an investigation would be conducted by Diocese leaders and community members.

…

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Number represents 50% increase on victim applications announced last month

So far 12 victims of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Portugal have applied for compensation, Group VITA – the group set up to implement the findings of an independent report on the subject – has announced.

The figure represents a 50% increase on the number announced a month ago.

According to a note sent to the press by Group VITA, “several people are undergoing regular psychological and/or psychiatric follow-up, and 12 are requesting financial compensation” – a matter that will be analysed in April by the plenary assembly of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference (CEP).

The group’s coordinator, psychologist Rute Agulhas, gave her progress update to Lusa in which she said VITA has now been contacted by 84 people in its 10 months of operation – this means another five people have come forward in the space of a month. 

“Fifty-two appointments…

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A priest who led an evangelical movement in the 1980s and 1990s has appeared in court to face multiple allegations of sexual offences against former members of a church congregation.

The Reverend Christopher Brain led the movement called the Nine O’Clock Service in Sheffield between 1986 and 1995.

Brain appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court for a four-minute hearing on Monday where he faced a total of 34 charges in relation to 11 women.

The charges relate to allegations of sexual offences committed against women who had joined the movement, police have said.

Brain, now 66, of Park Road, Wilmslow, Cheshire, is charged with one count of rape and 33 counts of indecent assault, alleged to have been committed between 1981 and 1995.

The Nine O’Clock Service was initially held at St Thomas’s Church, in the Crookes area of Sheffield, before moving to Ponds Forge sport complex in the city centre.

…

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