ABUSE TRACKER

Church once was everything to Dorothy Small.

Raised and baptized a Catholic, she viewed Holy Rosary parish in Woodland as a haven. Though her work schedule as a home health nurse was demanding, Small was an active church volunteer, singing as a soloist in the choir, participating in Bible study and immersing herself in ministry.

But in 2014 a new priest joined the church, and he immediately sought her out. He sent her inappropriate text messages, frequently spent time with her and tried to come over to her house alone, she said. Eventually, Small reported him to the church, and he was suspended for a week but allowed to keep his job.

Small agreed to meet with him, an attempt to smooth things over after his suspension — after all, he’s a priest; he’s supposed to be safe. It was a turning point of sorts. She began to open up to…

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A Diocese of Nashville investigation conducted by a former FBI agent led to the discovery of a potential second victim of alleged sexual abuse at the hands of a Franklin priest, according to officials.

The priest, who News 2 is not naming because no charges have been filed, was removed from his position as the associate pastor at the St. Philip Catholic Church and from public ministry in mid-November after a teen reported “improper touching” involving the priest, the Diocese of Nashville wrote in a release.

Rick Musacchio, a Diocese of Nashville spokesperson and the executive director of the Tennessee Catholic Conference, told News 2 the Diocese of Nashville followed its policies after its Safe Environment Office learned of the alleged abuse.

“We immediately reported it to DCS, engaged our outside investigator, the former FBI agent, who evaluated it as well, and that information that he came forward,…

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Twenty-six priests and two deacons associated with the Catholic Diocese of Gaylord are at the center of a report issued by the Department of Attorney General on Monday regarding ongoing allegations of clergy abuse across Michigan’s seven Catholic dioceses.

Of those 28 individuals named by the department, the diocese itself acknowledged 12 of them had already been on its list of individuals “credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors.” Due to a mixture of statute of limitation issues, victims not wanting to move forward with criminal charges or reported actions not rising to the level of a criminal charge, no charges have been brought forward as part of the report.

When speaking to reporters Jan. 8, Attorney General Dana Nessel was quick to clarify the allegations summarized within the report did not mean the agency believed the allegations to be credible or otherwise be…

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Monday announced the release of a report by the AG about allegations of sexual abuse by priests in the Diocese of Gaylord.

The report includes a list of priests from the Diocese of Gaylord for which there were allegations of sexual misconduct against either children or adults since January 1, 1950.

The AG intends to release reports on abuse allegations for each of the Catholic Dioceses in Michigan, the first of which detailed the investigation into the Diocese of Marquette.

“The information is being released to the public as an acknowledgment to the victims of these alleged crimes and as a public accounting of the resources allocated to the Department of Attorney General to investigate and prosecute clergy abuse,” AG Nessel said in a news release Monday. “It is important to note, a criminal charge is merely an…

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel today announced the release of a report by the Department of Attorney General concerning allegations of abuse that took place in the Diocese of Gaylord.

The report was released to acknowledge the reports of abuse from victims, and to report out the Department’s findings. The document is a compilation of the information obtained from the Department of Attorney General tip line, victim interviews, police investigations, open-source media, paper documents seized from the Diocese, and electronic documents found on the Diocesan computers, as well as reports of allegations disclosed by the Diocese.

The list of priests for which there were allegations of sexual misconduct against either children or adults since January 1, 1950, for the Diocese of Gaylord that was established in 1971, is derived from information gleaned from a search warrant that was executed against the Diocese of Gaylord on October 3,…

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The second of seven reports on Catholic clergy sexual abuse allegations in the state of Michigan outlines accusations against 26 priests and two deacons in the Diocese of Gaylord.

The report, released Monday by Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office, outlines the findings of a roughly four-year investigation led by the attorney general’s office into how Michigan’s seven dioceses handled reports of sexual abuse. A report on allegations in the Diocese of Marquette was released in October 2022 and another five reports are expected still on the dioceses of Lansing, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Saginaw and the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Monday’s report includes any and all allegations made by victims against priests living and dead who worked for the Diocese of Gaylord since the diocese was established in 1971. The diocese represents Catholic churches in 21 counties across the northern Lower Peninsula.

None of the cases contained in the report resulted in criminal…

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The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis says the Vatican’s investigation into former Archbishop John Niensedt is complete.

Eight years ago, Nienstedt resigned from his position amid allegations of covering up crimes of a pedophile priest at the church.

Current Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who assumed the role in 2015, released a statement on Friday. Hebda says a Vatican investigation looked into all of the allegations and did not support finding that Nienstedt had committed any crimes. The Holy See deemed the allegations unfounded.   

Hebda says he was told of several instances of “imprudent” actions from Nienstedt that were brought to light. He says the instances “either standing alone or taken together” did not warrant any further investigation or penal sanctions.

However, Pope Francis determined that several administrative actions would be imposed. These include Nienstedt not practicing ministry or living in the Province of Saint…

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The Oakland-based Religious Order Becomes the Fourteenth Roman Catholic Entity Asking for Federal Protection from Child Sexual Abuse Lawsuits.

In response to nearly 100 lawsuits that its Catholic priests and brothers sexually abused children, the Franciscan Friars Province of Santa Barbara filed for Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection late yesterday. By doing so, the California-based religious order joins more than a dozen Roman Catholic entities now in bankruptcy as the result of sexual abuse allegations and lawsuits.  It is the fourth California-based entity to do so, following the Chapter 11 filings of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, the Diocese of Oakland, and the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The Diocese of San Diego has said that it also intends to file for bankruptcy at some point in the near future.

The bankruptcy filing in the Northern District of California Bankruptcy Court comes after California lawmakers opened a temporary window…

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NEW YORK – A Vatican investigation into alleged misconduct by former Saint Paul & Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt has cleared him of committing any canonical crime, but determined that certain “imprudent” actions warranted limitations placed on his ministerial ability.

“After reviewing all of the information gathered, the Dicasteries for Bishops and for the Doctrine of the Faith concluded that the available evidence did not support a finding that Archbishop Nienstedt had committed any canonical delict [crime],” Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Saint Paul & Minneapolis announced on Friday.

“Accordingly, the allegations against Archbishop Nienstedt were deemed unfounded,” said Hebda, who is a former official of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts.

However, Hebda said that while the investigation didn’t find any criminal conduct, “several instances of ‘imprudent’ actions by Nienstedt were brought to light.” These actions don’t warrant further investigation or action, Hebda said, but he added that they led…

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In a recent address to Italian Diocesan Safeguarding Officers on the issue of protecting minors and vulnerable people in the Catholic Church, Pope Francis explained what a culture of abuse-prevention looks like. He cited the Prophet Jeremiah: “‘I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ says the Lord.” (30:17) This verse signalled the meeting’s theme of “wounded beauty” in which Francis expanded on three principles to guide the creation of a new culture free not only of silence and coverup around abuse, but free of abuse itself. Those principles were protection, listening, and caring.

Protection means speaking up

What gave Pope Francis’ directive gravity was the danger of good people remaining silent. Francis underlined how safeguarding requires speaking up: “No silence or concealment can be accepted on the subject of abuse.” The pope was adamant that this is “not a negotiable matter.” He explained that by not speaking up even good people…

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A PRIEST and former President of St. Michael’s College, Enniskillen, accused of indecent assault, is due to be returned to the Crown Court later this year.

Canon Patrick McEntee (69), from Esker Road, Dromore, is char ged with indecently assaulting a complainant between 1980 and 1981.

He is further alleged to have twice indecently assaulted a second complainant on dates between 1988 and 1989.

On his first appearance in Enniskillen Magistrates Court in July, 2023, Canon McEntee spoke only to confirm his identity and that he understood the charges against him.

No details surrounding the circumstances of the alleged offences were disclosed during the short hearing, although it is understood they relate to Canon McEntee’s time in County Fermanagh.

Originally from Monaghan, Canon McEntee joined the staff of St. Michael’s College, Enniskillen in 1997, teaching Religious Studies, and sitting on the Board of Governors.

He was also College President between…

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The adult victim had come forward to the Diocese of Jefferson City, prompting the launch of an administrative and disciplinary process

A Missouri priest is being disciplined after he allegedly solicited sex from an adult during a confession session, church officials said. 

In a news release published last Monday, the Diocese of Jefferson City said Ignazio Medina is now prohibited from serving in any church office, celebrating mass publicly, and holding confessions, after church officials received a report saying he allegedly asked for sex during a confession on April 15, 2022. 

Church officials, upon receiving the report, barred him from hearing confessions and from being alone with people outside his family on the property of Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Lake Ozark, Missouri. 

Medina was found guilty in November 2023 after an exhaustive administrative and disciplinary process in which he secured…

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Catholic bishop in Ivory Coast calls on people to report priests who have “a wife or children,” as well as those suspected of “sexual abuse or economic crimes.”

Bishop Gaspard Béby Gneba has called on the people of his diocese in western Ivory Coast to report priests who secretly have wives and families, as well as those who commit sexual or financial abuse.

“Any lay believer who knows that a priest is not faithful to his celibacy, has a wife or child, or has committed sexual abuse or economic crimes, must have the courage to report it to the bishop, otherwise, they commit a sin of complicity before God, the pope, and the Church,” Bishop Gneba said in an open letter to people of the Diocese of Man, which he read January 4 on diocesan radio.

“The pope speaks of zero tolerance for these priests,” said the 61-year-old bishop, a former…

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Father Ignazio Medina is barred from holding church office and hearing confessions

A Missouri Catholic priest was found guilty by the church of soliciting sex from an adult during a confession, an act the church described as “a sacrilege” and a “grave form of abuse” that cannot be tolerated.

Father Ignazio Medina of the Diocese of Jefferson City is now prohibited from holding office in the church, hearing confessions and celebrating or leading Mass publicly without the explicit permission of his diocesan bishop, the diocese said in a statement.

The diocese received a report on April 15, 2022, through the diocese’s abuse hotline alleging sexual solicitation of an adult on the occasion of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Canon 1385 of the Code of Canon Law says a priest “who in the act, on the occasion, or under the pretext of confession solicits a penitent to sin against the…

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A former police officer, Eddie Gorman, who battled the Church of Ireland over childhood abuse suffered at the hands of a minister, has passed away at the age of 60 after a brief battle with bowel cancer.

Eddie Gorman, an ex-RUC officer, peacefully passed away at his Coleraine home on Thursday.

During the 1970s, Mr. Gorman was sexually abused by Reverend Bill Neely at Mount Merrion Church in east Belfast and also at the scouts, where he volunteered.

He said Neely began to prey on him around 1973 when he joined the Scouts at the church, with the minister regularly making him and another boy perform sex acts on one another.

His landmark case against the Church of Ireland, one of the first of its kind, involved his lawyers issuing a writ for damages against the Diocese of Down and Dromore regarding the handling of abuse claims.

In December, the…

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Father Damian Carlile was sent to Aotearoa after he was accused of sexual abuse in Gabon, Africa. But then allegations about altar boys in Whanganui arose in the early 2000s. Federico Magrin investigates.

A tepid sun shines on the northern bank of the Whanganui River. Inside St Anthony’s Church, two replicas of the holy shroud adorn the inside of a traditionalist church in Gonville, a southeastern suburb of the river town. A priest whispers a mass in Latin.

The Christian church is one of six chapels around Aotearoa that belongs to the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), a conservative and break-away Catholic sect, the existence of which would be unknown to most due to its sectarian approach. SSPX is a global organisation with about 600,000 followers across 72 countries.

In Gonville, not much has changed at the SSPX church since the early 2000s, when Australian priest Father Damian…

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The Diocese of Jefferson City is providing the following information, which impacts the faithful, in a spirit of transparency and accountability. Anyone who has experienced or witnessed abuse in a church setting is encouraged to contact law enforcement and contact us. 

Father Ignazio Medina has been found guilty of sexual solicitation of an adult on the occasion of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This decision is the result of an administrative disciplinary process overseen by the Holy See’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. 

As punishment, Father Medina is permanently deprived of the right to hold any ecclesiastical office (parish or diocesan) and of the faculty to hear confessions. Furthermore, he may not celebrate or concelebrate Mass except with his diocesan bishop’s explicit permission, which will not be granted except for extraordinary circumstances. 

These penalties are effective immediately. 

This process began on April 15, 2022, when the Diocese of Jefferson City received a…

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A Missouri Catholic priest was found guilty by the church of soliciting sex from an adult during a confession, church officials announced.

Father Ignazio Medina, a priest with the Diocese of Jefferson City, is barred from holding any church office, celebrating mass to the public and hearing confessions from parishioners effective immediately after the church tribunal found him guilty.

Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City launched an investigation into Medina after receiving a report through the diocese’s abuse hotline in April 2022, the diocese said.

On Nov. 27, 2023, Medina, a priest at Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Lake Ozark, was found guilty by decree by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome. Medina did not appeal the decision.

“I want to be clear that sexual solicitation during confession is a sacrilege, a crime in our Church, and a grave form of abuse; it…

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FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Catholic priest has been removed from his position at a Franklin church while police investigate reports of child sexual misconduct against himHis name is Rev. Juan Carlos Garcia, and he was serving as the associate pastor at St. Philip Catholic Church, which is on Second Avenue South in Franklin.

The Diocese of Nashville shared that in November, St. Philip officials reported that a teen in the parish said there was improper touching involving Father Garcia.

It was then reported to the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services.

The Diocese also hired a former FBI agent to investigate the report.

The Diocesan Review Board recommended removing Father Garcia from ministry while Franklin Police continue its investigation.

Before joining St. Phillip in 2022, Garcia was the associate pastor at St. Rose of Lima in Murfreesboro after he was ordained to the priesthood in 2020.

The case will be…

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A multiyear investigation overseen by the Catholic Church into Archbishop John Nienstedt, who resigned from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 2015, has ended with the Vatican finding that he acted “imprudently” in several instances but not criminally under canon law, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said in a statement Jan. 5.

“While none of those instances, either standing alone or taken together, were determined to warrant any further investigation or penal sanctions,” Hebda said, “it was determined by Pope Francis that the following administrative actions are justified:

1. “Archbishop Nienstedt may not exercise any public ministries in the Province of St. Paul and Minneapolis (the Province covers all of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota).
2. “He may not reside in the Province of St. Paul and Minneapolis. 
3. “He may not exercise ministry in any way outside of his diocese of residence without the express authorization of the attendant Ordinary and only…

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From Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda

Since I arrived in this Archdiocese in 2015, I have often been asked for clarification on the status of my predecessor, Archbishop John Nienstedt, who had been under investigation for certain decisions made during his tenure as Archbishop and also regarding allegations of inappropriate conduct with both minors and adults. I have made public statements in this regard previously in August 2016 and December 2018, indicating that the questions necessitated a determination by officials of the Holy See. Archbishop Nienstedt himself also stated publicly that he would welcome an investigation to resolve the allegations, which he has denied.    

The promulgation of Vos estis lux mundi (Vos estis) in 2019, reflecting Pope Francis’s desire that reports of misconduct made against bishops around the world be brought to light and thoroughly investigated, created a path forward for a resolution of the Archbishop Nienstedt matter. At…

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David Sliker, a member of the International House of Prayer’s (IHOPKC) executive leadership team (ELT), has resigned effective immediately, the embattled Kansas-City ministry announced on social media yesterday. Sliker also resigned as president of IHOP University.

“After seven years of faithful service, our dear brother in Christ, David Sliker, has decided to step down as President of IHOPU,” the statement says. “David is also stepping down from the IHOPKC’s Executive Leadership Team, effective immediately. This was a mutual decision made in the best interest of the IHOPKC community and David’s family.”

This is the latest resignation following allegations last October that IHOPKC founder Mike Bickle sexually abused multiple women while also pastoring and then leading a prayer movement that spread around the world. IHOPKC’s executive director Stuart Greaves resigned in December.

Greaves, Sliker, and the rest of the ELT have come under fire for mishandling reports of abuse and requests…

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A former Midland youth pastor pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of knowingly accessing images of child pornography with visual depictions of a minor.

Our sister station, NewsWest 9, had a reporter in the courtroom Wednesday afternoon for a status conference/re-arraignment of 33-year-old Corey White.

NewsWest 9’s reporter tried to speak with White’s attorney once court was adjourned, but he said he was not able to comment at this time.

In October 2023, NewsWest 9 reported the charges stemmed from an investigation in Nassau County. New York. The Nassau County Police Department initiated an investigation after receiving 15 National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) cybertips from 2018-2023.  

The tips involved uploading child sexual abuse material (CSAM) videos and images via Skype from an IP address in Seaford, New York. 

After an extensive investigation and seizure of electronic devices from his…

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Keeping kids safe from abuse isn’t about teaching “stranger danger” or “tricky people.” It’s far less simplistic

Warning: The following story contains content that may distress some readers.

If you grew up in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s in Australia, you might recall being warned about “stranger danger.”

Parents, teachers and even the media used the phrase to warn children about talking to unfamiliar adults to reduce the chance of child abduction or abuse. But child protection experts now suggest a different approach to reflect that “strangers” are not the main perpetrators of child abuse.

These days, rather than focusing on stranger danger — or even the concept of “tricky people,” which has been doing the rounds of parenting websites — researchers suggest parents talk to children about body safety and empowerment, and teach them to say “no” to secrets.

Where did “stranger danger” come from?

The widespread…

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Archbishop John Nienstedt, the former archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has asked the Holy See for clarity about the “imprudent” actions he was determined to have committed in a recently-concluded Vos estis investigation.

“I was recently informed that the Vos estis (investigation) by Dicasteries for Bishops and for the Doctrine of the Faith has been completed and that the Holy See determined that the available evidence did not support a finding that I had committed any canonical delict (crime) and deemed the allegations against me unfounded,” Nienstedt said in a Jan. 5 statement.

“I have asked the Holy See, through my canonical advocate, to clarify the ‘imprudent’ actions I allegedly committed while in Minnesota.”

Nienstedt said that he has “fully cooperated” with the canonical investigation and has “answered every question asked of me honestly and to the best of my recollection.”

His statement came a few hours after Archbishop Bernard Hebda announced…

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Vatican & Archdiocese Keep All Documents & Details of Investigations Hidden from Public

Today, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis released a statement regarding internal investigations against former Archbishop John Nienstedt. In the statement, the Archdiocese states that Nienstedt did not commit a canonical delict (crime). The Archdiocese stated that while Nienstedt cannot work in the province of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, he can work in ministry in other locations.

Excerpt from the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis Statement:

While none of these instances, either standing alone or taken together, were determined to warrant any further investigation or penal sanctions, it was determined by Pope Francis that the following administrative actions are justified:  

1. Archbishop Nienstedt may not exercise any public ministries in the Province of Saint Paul and

Minneapolis (the Province covers all of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota).

2. He…

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[VIDEO: Tom Lyden brings us the story of how 40 years ago, as a young priest, Nienstedt failed to protect a child in his own family who was allegedly abused by his best friend, a fellow priest. Nienstedt’s failure to address the sexual abuse allegations in his own family, and his cold and calculated response to the family decades later, would foreshadow his failure to adequately address the sexual abuse crisis in the church. Nienstedt resigned from the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis in June 2015 while it was under criminal investigation and in bankruptcy.]

The Holy See in Rome has concluded John Nienstedt, the ex-Archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, did not commit a crime. Nienstedt resigned in 2015 after charges of a sex abuse coverup rocked the archdiocese. 

“After reviewing all of the information gathered, the Dicasteries for Bishops and for the Doctrine of…

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But the bishop, who resigned in 2015, will not be allowed to live or do church work in Minnesota, North Dakota or South Dakota. 

Nearly nine years after Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt resigned after charges of a sex abuse coverup, the Holy See in Rome concluded its investigation and determined that he did not commit a crime.

Even so, Pope Francis decided that because some of Nienstedt’s conduct was “imprudent,” the former archbishop cannot return to the church’s province of St. Paul and Minneapolis (which includes all of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota) to live or do church work.

“Though the evidence available did not support a finding that any conduct on the part of Archbishop Nienstedt could be judged as a delict, it was communicated to me that several instances of ‘imprudent’ actions were brought to light,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who took over for his predecessor in…

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Since I arrived in this Archdiocese in 2015, I have often been asked for clarification on the status of my predecessor, Archbishop John Nienstedt, who had been under investigation for certain decisions made during his tenure as Archbishop and also regarding allegations of inappropriate conduct with both minors and adults. I have made public statements in this regard previously in August 2016 and December 2018, indicating that the questions necessitated a determination by officials of the Holy See. Archbishop Nienstedt himself also stated publicly that he would welcome an investigation to resolve the allegations, which he has denied.

The promulgation of Vos estis lux mundi (Vos estis) in 2019, reflecting Pope Francis’s desire that reports of misconduct made against bishops around the world be brought to light and thoroughly investigated, created a path forward for a resolution of the Archbishop Nienstedt matter. At the formal request of individuals here in the Archdiocese, including the late Tom…

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A lengthy Vatican investigation into misconduct allegations against Archbishop John Nienstedt, the former leader of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, concluded that he took “imprudent” actions but did not violate church law, the archdiocese announced Friday.

However, the archdiocese also said Pope Francis barred Nienstedt from any public ministry following the investigation.

Nienstedt was one of the first U.S. bishops known to have been forced from office for botching sex abuse investigations. He stepped down in 2015 after Minnesota prosecutors charged the archdiocese with having failed to protect children from harm by a pedophile priest who was later convicted of molesting two boys. Nienstedt was later accused of his own inappropriate sexual behavior involving adult males and minors.

His successor, Archbishop Bernard Hebda, in 2016 forwarded allegations to the Vatican that Nienstedt invited two…

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The Rev. Raymond Goedert was a confidant of cardinals who served as acting head of the Archdiocese of Chicago after Cardinal Joseph Bernardin died in 1996, and later acknowledged his failure to report sexual abuse accusations against priests.

Goedert, 96, died of natural causes on Dec. 9 at his Gold Coast home, said his cousin, John Holden. A longtime Chicago resident, Goedert resided in the residence of Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich on North State Parkway.

Born in Oak Park, Goedert attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary and then earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein.

In 1952, Goedert was ordained to the priesthood, and several years later he was studying in Rome. On his way back to the United States, he was aboard the trans-Atlantic SS Andrea Doria ocean liner off the coast of Massachusetts when it collided with a Swedish passenger liner.

The Andrea…

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Spain’s bishops have disputed the findings of a report which they commissioned almost two years ago on sex abuse in the Spanish Church.

The bishops’ criticisms of the Cremades study – known after Javier Cremades, the partner from the law firm Sotelo who led the investigation – prompted confusion over their position on abuse cases.

After receiving the study on 19 December, they published an updated version of a Church report first issued in May and put a link to the Cremades study on the bishops’ conference website.

The bishops’ report, titled Para Dar Luz (“To Shed Light”), is notably more favourable to the Church than the Cremades report. 

Sex abuse in the Church drew public attention in Spain in October, after the national ombudsman produced a report, commissioned by the Spanish parliament in March 2022, which suggested that 1.13 per cent of people in Spain had suffered sexual abuse in Church spheres.

Precise…

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A settlement has been reached between notable Southern Baptist Convention lay leader Paul Pressler and a man who accused the influential figure of raping him several times decades ago.

Gerald Duane Rollins, Jr.’s lawsuit against the 93-year-old Pressler and other entities within the SBC concluded with a settlement and dismissal filed “with prejudice” by the plaintiff, according to The Baptist Press.

“It appears to the Court that all matters in controversy between Plaintiff and all Defendants have concluded,” stated Judge R.A. Sandill of the 127th Judicial District Court.

“With all claims, counterclaims and controversies now resolved, the Court is therefore of the opinion that the Motion should be granted and the matter dismissed as to all parties.”

The details of the settlement have not been made public.

The special counsel to the SBC and the SBC Executive Committee, both named defendants…

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Aaron Benneweis pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting and sexually assaulting Jennifer Beaudry

Warning: This story contains some details of sexual exploitation 

Jennifer Beaudry has been waiting years for Aaron Benneweis to face consequences for his crimes. 

On Thursday, she watched as he was led away from a Saskatoon courtroom in handcuffs. 

“It’s the first time I’ve seen him take any kind of accountability,” Beaudry said. “I didn’t really think this day was going to come.” 

In October 2023, Benneweis pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting and exploiting Beaudry when she was a teenage student and athlete at the private Christian school formerly called Christian Centre Academy, now known as Legacy Christian Academy. 

A standing-room only crowd of people gathered to support her at the provincial courthouse in Saskatoon on Thursday, during a sentencing hearing for Benneweis, 47.

He was a coach and athletic director at the private Christian school at the time of the offences, which began…

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Aaron Benneweis, former Legacy Christian Academy athletic director, to be sentenced Jan. 18 for sex assaults on a student over four years.

Aaron Travis Benneweis was a 32-year-old teacher, coach and athletic director at a Saskatoon Christian school when he started showing inappropriate sexual attention toward Jennifer Beaudry.

At the time, Beaudry was a 13-year-old student at Christian Centre Academy (since renamed Legacy Christian Academy), and Benneweis was her gym teacher and track and field coach, a Saskatoon provincial courtroom heard during Benneweis’s sentencing hearing on Thursday.

Benneweis would leave her notes, wink at her and bite his lip. He then started singling her out, asking her to meet him in secluded rooms during school hours.

Over the next four years, it progressed to more covert meetups where Benneweis would kiss and grope Beaudry in a van, a drama room, on a public trail by the river and in his…

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“Wealth doesn’t just beget more wealth – it begets more power.” Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor and Professor.

When Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger appeared to be his most likely successor according to reports at the time. Karol Wojtyla had reigned for 27 years. He had appointed Ratzinger prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – the most powerful Vatican position at the time – on November 25, 1981. For 24 years, Ratzinger was one of the pope’s closest advisers, supporting Wojtyla’s ecclesial and political ideologies.

“In the Vatican, the Opus Dei cardinal most active in view of the conclave is Julian Herranz … Ratzinger’s leap to the top of the list of candidates for the papacy is due to him; it took shape at the suppers for cardinals that Herranz organized at Opus Dei’s heavily guarded villa in the…

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NEW ORLEANS (KADN) — The Louisiana Supreme Court will hear arguments on January 23 in a civil case against the Diocese of Lafayette and St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church in St. Martinville.

In the lawsuit, six plaintiffs allege they were molested by Father Kenneth Morvant decades ago when they were between the ages of 8 and 14.

The issue going before the Supreme Court is a 2021 law that created a three-year “lookback” window. The law gives survivors of sexual abuse up until June 14, 2024 to file civil lawsuits, regardless of when the alleged abuse occurred. Previously, survivors had until they turned 28 years old to file such claims.

“The issue before the Louisiana Supreme Court is whether the newly-enacted legislation applies to the cases, and whether it’s constitutional,” said attorney Cle’ Simon, the plaintiffs’ attorney in a December interview with News15. “The church has taken the position, at…

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[Note from BA: This is a three-part series. See also: “The Opus Dei Popes: Part 1- John Paul II” and “The Opus Dei Popes: Part 2 – Benedict XVI.”]

“Wealth doesn’t just beget more wealth – it begets more power.” Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor and Professor.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s path to the Chair of St. Peter is similar to that of Karol Wojtyla. While he was provincial of the Argentine Jesuits during the Dirty War, he showed his ability to be compliant by cooperating with the barbaric military junta.  Later, Bergoglio was appointed by Pope John Paul II as bishop during the administration of a president close to Opus Dei.

THE DIRTY WAR

The Dirty War (1976-1983) shocked the conscience of the world. In the aftermath of a military coup, the junta was “brutal, sadistic, and rapacious,” wrote Marguerite Feitlowitz in her book, A Lexicon of Terror:…

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SHREWSBURY – St. John’s High School is ignoring allegations that a former teacher sexually abused three brothers in the 1960s, two of the men and their lawyer alleged Wednesday. 

“I want some validation from St. John’s,” a man in his 70s who did not give his name said at a press conference called by his lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian. 

Garabedian, who handled seminal cases in Boston’s Catholic priest sexual abuse scandal, told reporters the school has not provided a substantive response to the claims. 

He alleged a former teacher at the school sexually abused two brothers who were a freshman and sophomore in the mid-to-late 1960s, along with their 9-year-old brother. 

Garabedian named the teacher as Richard Doyle, but said he did not know whether he was alive or dead.

The school, in an email sent to alumnus hours after the press conference that it shared with the Telegram & Gazette…

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SHREWSBURY – Three brothers, two of whom attended Saint John’s High School in the mid-1960s, are alleging that Saint John’s religion teacher Richard “Dick” Doyle sexually abused them while they were minors.

On Jan. 3, Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., the co-founder and president of Road to Recovery, Inc. – a New Jersey-based nonprofit that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families – spoke to reporters across the street from Saint John’s. Mitchell Garabedian, who is representing the brothers, joined the press conference virtually. 

“Richard Doyle knew no bounds,” said Garabedian. “Where were the Xaverian Brothers, and why didn’t they protect these innocent children from a sexual predator?”

During the press conference, two of the brothers – who chose to remain anonymous – detailed their experience while at Saint John’s High School. Each brother was sexually abused repeatedly; one brother reported being abused 25-plus times. The children were 16, 15,…

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The Franciscan Friars of California filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy after 94 sex abuse lawsuits were made against the religious organization

A Roman Catholic organization in California that is devoted to serving the poor has filed for bankruptcy as it faces nearly 100 lawsuits related to sex abuse claims stretching as far back as the 1940s.

The Franciscan Friars of California said in a Tuesday statement that it filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on Dec. 31 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Oakland.

The religious organization cited a change in California state law in 2019 as the reason for the move. The law allows abuse survivors to file decades-old complaints that would have otherwise been prohibited because of the expiration of the statute of limitations. 

The Franciscan Friars of California said it was overwhelmed by the number of cases filed, both in terms of the human cost and…

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The Franciscan Friars of California announced this week that they have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy over dozens of sexual abuse allegations filed against the religious order.

The Franciscans of the Province of St. Barbara, founded in 1915 in Oakland, California, said on their website on Tuesday that they had filed a Chapter 11 petition “to address 94 child sexual abuse claims” leveled against the friars. 

Friars from the Province of St. Barbara, one of seven such OFM Franciscan entities in the United States, serve in California, Arizona, Oregon, and Washington, and in a number of Native American nations in the Southwest as well on mission to Mexico, Russia, and the Holy Land.

The order said the dozens of claims came about due to California “state laws that allowed abuse survivors to file decades-old complaints that were otherwise time-barred or expired under the state’s statute of limitations.”

The…

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The committee tasked with representing survivors of clergy sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s bankruptcy case launched a website Wednesday to provide information about the process.

According to the website, survivors can expect to see a news feed with case updates, an overview of the bankruptcy process, a page with “frequently asked questions” and an inventory of resources for survivors.

“Communication is vital,” said Paul Jan Zdunek, chair of the committee of seven survivors tasked with representing the rest, in an email. “As representatives of all survivors, the Creditors Committee wants to make sure there is a flow of information to all survivors during this lengthy and complicated bankruptcy process.”

Describing the website as a “first step in the Committee communication with survivors,” Zdunek added that the committee may put on “town halls or other in-person or virtual meetings.”

The website’s launch comes during a pivotal stage of the…

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The Franciscan Friars of California, a Roman Catholic organization dedicated to serving the needy, has found itself amid a distressing situation.

Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy stems from the weight of approximately one hundred legal cases associated with historical allegations of sexual abuse dating back to the 1940s.

This decision, announced in a statement on Tuesday, arose from a significant alteration in California’s legal landscape in 2019. 

The change allowed survivors of abuse to bring forward complaints from decades past, surpassing the statute of limitations. Overwhelmed by the volume and period of these cases, the organization cited this legal shift as the primary reason for their bankruptcy filing.

The distressing reality revealed in their statement emphasized that all the claims date back at least 27 years, with some stretching as far back as the 1940s. Of the 94 filed claims, the majority were centered in California, involving…

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A CASE in which a local priest is accused of historic sexual abuse against two males, one of which allegedly dates back over 40 years, is to transfer to crown court for trial.

Canon Patrick McEntee (69) from Esker Road, Dromore who requested a leave of absence last year while a serious safeguarding investigation was carried out, is charged with indecently assaulting a complainant between 1980 and 1981.

He is further alleged to have twice indecently assaulted a second complainant on dates between 1988 and 1989.

On first appearing before Enniskillen Magistrates Court Canon McEntee, former president of St Michael’s College, spoke only to confirm his identity and that he understood the charges against him.

No details surrounding the circumstances of the alleged offences were disclosed during the short hearing although it is understood they relate to Canon McEntee’s time in Fermanagh.

At the most recent court sitting a prosecuting lawyer informed…

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A recent investigation in Spain revealed more than 200,000 endured sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy. The 700-page report, ordered by Spain’s Congress, unveils the “devastating impact” on victims, criticizing the Church for its inaction and attempts to conceal or deny the abuse. Is the situation different in Africa? Child Safety Investigator Philip E. Morrison says no.

Morrison has been a missionary in Kenya since 1992. He received training as a child safety investigator with the Child Safety and Protection Network in 2014 and went on to research this topic for his Doctor of Ministry. In 2017, he published For Our Children! For Our Church! Addressing the Issue of Child Safety in the African Church, a book based on his doctoral thesis. He also lectures on Child Safety Awareness (CSA) because he believes implementing proactive child protection policies in places of worship is pivotal.

The focus of Morrison’s research…

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It’s ironic that in a movement built on prophetic dreams where God supposedly reveals the secrets of the world, apparently nobody ever receives a dream about the credible allegations of sexual abuse going on in the church.

Mike Bickle is the latest example of such allegations, following in the steps of his former fellow leaders Paul Cain and Bob Jones in what Matthew Taylor says, “bespeaks a leadership culture where charismatic authority has utterly overtaken institutional or communal accountability.”

Previous leaders of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City — known commonly as IHOPKC — released a statement  Oct. 28 saying they told IHOPKC’s leadership team about “serious allegations spanning several decades concerning its founder, Mike Bickle.” According to their statement, they believed the “allegations of clergy sexual abuse by Mike Bickle to be credible and long-standing” and based “on the collective and corroborating testimony of the experiences of several victims.”

…

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Thank God, Paul Pressler has lived to the ripe old age of 93.

That’s long enough to expose the Southern Baptist Convention’s most malevolent hypocrite to the shame of his reported double life.

Just before the end of the year, the SBC reached a settlement in a lawsuit that claimed Pressler began raping a teenage boy in Houston in 1977 and continued the sexual abuse across decades. It started two years before Pressler, then a Texas appeals court judge, and Paige Patterson, then an academician, launched the “conservative resurgence” that allowed fundamentalists to take control of the SBC.

Duane Rollins filed the lawsuit in 2017, alleging Pressler started raping him when he was a 14-year-old in Pressler’s church youth group. The lawsuit led to an investigation of sexual abuse within the SBC by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News. Those articles resulted in heated internal conflict over reform within the nation’s second-largest religious group.

…

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• Summary

• Catholic charitable order faced 94 lawsuits
• Alleged abuse occurred at least 27 years ago
• Franciscan Friars listed up to $50 million in liabilities

Jan 2 (Reuters) – The Franciscan Friars of California, a Roman Catholic organization devoted to serving the poor, has filed for bankruptcy after facing nearly 100 lawsuits related to decades-old sex abuse claims.

The Oakland, California-based organization said in a Tuesday statement that it was driven to bankruptcy by a change in California state law that allowed sex abuse survivors to file decades-old complaints that were otherwise time-barred under the state’s statute of limitations.

The Franciscan Friars of California joins a growing wave of Roman Catholic organizations that have filed for bankruptcy to address sex abuse lawsuits.

Most of the 94 lawsuits filed against the Franciscan Friars were filed in California, where a 2019 law revived older sex abuse claims and led to the bankruptcies of the…

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The Roman Catholic order of the Franciscans is facing 94 claims involving events that took place between 1940 and 1996. Most of the accused are now dead

The Franciscan Friars of California have joined a long list of religious orders and dioceses to file for bankruptcy to face an avalanche of legal cases involving sex abuse against minors committed decades ago. The Roman Catholic organization filed for Chapter 11 on December 31, in a restructuring that allows the organization to meet its financial obligations in the face of 94 claims of sexual abuse against its friars. The alleged crimes occurred between 1940 and 1996. The Franciscans, who announced the move this Tuesday, stated that most of the accused have died and that only six are still alive.

Provincial minister Father David Gaa, the head of the order in the United States, said the decision to file for bankruptcy…

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Bruxy Cavey was previously charged with sexual assault in June 2022

The former pastor of The Meeting House — an Ontario megachurch — is facing two more sexual assault charges, CBC Hamilton has learned.

Hamilton police Const. Krista-Lee Ernst told CBC Hamilton Bruxy Cavey was charged with two counts of sexual assault on Dec. 22.

Ernst didn’t say what prompted the new charges or provide detail about when the alleged assaults took place, but wrote in an email on Thursday afternoon that Cavey will appear in court in January. 

Cavey, who was the primary teaching pastor at The Meeting House and worked there from 1996 to 2021, was charged with sexual assault in June 2022. He was 57 when he was first charged.

The Meeting House church is headquartered in Oakville, Ont., but has locations throughout the province. It also streams its Sunday service at several cinemas in southern Ontario.

CBC Hamilton contacted Cavey and the church for…

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“This wasn’t just about Epstein. This was also about all those who permitted, profited, and participated in his crimes. It’s time for transparency and exposure.” – Jeff Anderson

(New York, NY) – Tomorrow, over 150 Individuals mentioned in court documents regarding the late financier Jeffrey Epstein will be publicly exposed. We applaud Judge Loretta A. Preska and courageous survivor Virginia Roberts Giuffre for making this valuable disclosure happen.

When these names surface, we hope that every single person who ever turned a blind eye to child sex crimes will pick up the phone, regardless of how long ago the wrongdoing may have happened, and tell the police, prosecutors, and journalists what they believe they know about crimes against children.

“Epstein’s trail of abuse only continued as long as it did because there were so many people in positions of power, money, and influence that participated and permitted it. Transparency about the…

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List could be released as soon as Tuesday after deadline for objections to unsealing of names passes midnight Monday

Nearly 200 names connected to the Jeffrey Epstein-Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking conspiracy could be released by a New York judge as soon as Tuesday, exposing or confirming the identities of dozens of associates of the disgraced financier that until now have only been known as John and Jane Does in court papers.

A deadline for objections to the unsealing of name passes at midnight on Monday, nearly nine years after victim Virginia Giuffre filed a single defamation claim against Maxwell, daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell, in 2015, that in turn produced the names in legal depositions.

A year later, in 2016, US district court judge Robert Sweet rejected Maxwell’s motion to dismiss the case, finding that “the veracity of a contextual world of facts…

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Former President Clinton, Prince Andrew and others are expected to be named.

Hundreds of sealed court filings pertaining to the late sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein are set to be made public this week, and several prominent names — including Britain’s Prince Andrew and former President Bill Clinton — are expected to appear in the documents.

U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ruled earlier this month there was no legal justification for continuing to conceal the ex-president’s name and more than 150 names other “John and Jane Does” mentioned in the records. Preska ordered the unsealing to begin after Jan. 1.

The documents stem from a 2015 civil lawsuit centered on allegations that Epstein’s one-time paramour, Ghislaine Maxwell, facilitated the sexual abuse of Virginia Giuffre, an alleged trafficking victim. Giuffre also accused Epstein and Maxwell of directing her to have sex with Prince Andrew and several other prominent men. Prince Andrew denied the allegations and…

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The nation’s largest Protestant denomination has settled a sexual abuse lawsuit against one of its prominent leaders who had been accused of allegedly molesting young men for decades. Retired Texas Judge Paul Pressler, a Southern Baptist lay leader long considered a hero of the denomination by many, was one of the architects of the rightward shift that took control of the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2017, Pressler’s former assistant, Gareld Duane Rollins Jr., sued the lay leader and conservative activist along with the Southern Baptist Convention and several of its entities, alleging that Pressler had begun abusing him while he was a teenager in a Bible study at a Houston church. The suit accused SBC leaders of knowing about Pressler’s alleged abuse and covering it up.

Earlier this year, former SBC leader Paige Patterson (a close ally of Pressler) and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (which Patterson…

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The Tennessee Church of God has suspended Rick Sentell, a senior pastor at a church in Cleveland, following his indictment by a Bradley County Grand Jury on charges of possessing over 100 images of child sexual abuse on his laptop.

T. Wayne Dority, the Administrative Bishop of the Tennessee Church of God, confirmed the suspension to News Channel 9, which quoted Dority as saying that the church was informed about Sentell’s indictment last week.

Sentell, who served at the now-inactive Cornerstone Church of God in Cleveland, Tennessee, has been suspended from all ministerial activities in line with Church of God policy.

Sentell was found with more than 100 images of child pornography. He was still listed as a senior pastor on the Cornerstone Church of God’s website which was subsequently taken down after his arrest was reported by local media outlets, Channel 9 noted.

The indictment specified…

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The murder of Buffalo Diocese Monsignor Francis J. O’Connor was front-page news across New York State in 1966.

O’Connor, who was the 44-year-old editor of the diocese’s weekly newspaper, was found in Scajaquada Creek drowned, with fractures to the larynx and hyoid bone in his throat and contusions and abrasions to his scalp.

Who killed the monsignor? Exploring the murder of Monsignor Francis J. O’Connor, its investigation and its legacy

Revealed in the 56-year-old reports on the murder of Monsignor Francis J. O’Connor were shocking secrets – a priest and a diocese journalist had been suspects – and a cache of other never-before released details. 

But within two months of the death, Buffalo police suddenly shut down their investigation, without telling O’Connor’s family, friends or the public why.

In 2023, The Buffalo News published stories over 18 consecutive days about the unsolved murder of O’Connor after two reporters and their editor…

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A years-long case continues involving Patrick Stephen Miller, a former First Moore Baptist children’s ministries employee who was alleged to have sexually assaulted two young girls in a different church.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported on the case out of Arkansas that spread into Oklahoma when Miller decided to leave one church job for another.

Miller worked as Associate Children’s Ministry Director for Immanuel Baptist located in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Gazette showed he worked there from 2014 – 2016.

During his time in that position, allegations came about that Miller had played a game of “hide-and-seek” with young kids in his class. He allegedly had them come into a dark closet where the victim response statements say he touched them inappropriately. These events were alleged to have occurred in 2015.

An investigation would eventually be launched on those allegations with at least one victim coming forward at the time.

At…

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Attorney General Josh Stein’s state Justice Department backs the General Assembly in a legal dispute targeting the SAFE Child Act. The state Supreme Court will decide whether the act violated the constitution by reopening a window to file child sexual abuse lawsuits.

Solicitor General Ryan Park of the Justice Department filed a brief Thursday in McKinney v. Goins. In that case, the Gaston County school board is asking the state’s highest court to overturn a ruling from the state Court of Appeals.

Appellate judges upheld the SAFE Child Act’s two-year “revival window” for child sex abuse lawsuits that were otherwise barred by the statute of limitations. Plaintiffs had sued the Gaston school board under the act’s provisions.

“In 2019, every member of the General Assembly voted to pass the SAFE Child Act, a landmark piece of legislation to help protect our state’s children from sexual abuse,” Park and his colleagues wrote….

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Richard Sentell is charged with sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of child pornography. He is out on a $75,000 bond.

Sentell was the lead pastor at Cornerstone Church of God in Cleveland. The church has not responded to our calls and the church’s website was taken down sometime today.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NMEC) helps find missing children and fights child victimization. They received a report of suspicious internet activity at Sentell’s home. Then, the investigation started.

Detective Matt Landolt with the Cleveland Police Department explains their relationship with the nonprofit.

“From there, we do a follow-up investigation. We were able to collect some evidence at the suspect’s home. From there, we do a forensic analysis on that evidence,” he explains.

The department says that led to the discovery of a large amount of images depicting the sexual abuse of children. A Bradley County…

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The new charges are related to a second complainant and are part of a separate investigation.

The former pastor of one of Canada’s largest megachurches is facing two new charges of sexual assault, according to Hamilton police.

Bruxy Cavey, the longtime pastor at The Meeting House, is awaiting trial for sexual assault charges laid last year after a former congregant came forward alleging she was abused.

The new charges, filed Dec. 22 and sworn in on Dec. 28, are related to a second complainant and are part of a separate investigation, according to court documents and Hamilton police. The new charges are related to two alleged assaults of the same person, one in 1997 and another in 2007. 

“It is unfortunate that a new and unrelated allegation has surfaced on the eve of Mr. Cavey’s trial,” said Cavey’s lawyer, Megan Savard.

“Mr. Cavey maintains his innocence and will…

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A former pastor of an Oakville megachurch has been charged with two new counts of sexual assault, according to Hamilton Police.

Timothy Bruce “Bruxey” Cavey, 58, was the lead pastor at The Meeting House, an Anabaptist church in Oakville. The Meeting House flock is among Canada’s largest, with more than 5,000 people attending weekly Sunday mass. It’s based in Oakville but has 22 satellite locations through out the GTA.

Cavey joined the church as a teaching pastor in 1996. However, he resigned from the church in 2022 after a third party investigation concluded, “what became a sexual relationship between Bruxy and the Victim, which lasted over an extended period of time, constituted an abuse of Bruxy’s power and authority as a member of the clergy,” per Meeting House board chair, Maggie Johns.

Police formally charged Cavery with sexual assault on May 31, 2022. Following the charges more allegations of sexual impropriety came…

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The suit prompted a major newspaper investigation into Southern Baptist sexual abuse and seven other men to come forward with allegations against Paul Pressler, an influential conservative activist and former Texas judge.

The Southern Baptist Convention and others have reached a confidential settlement in a high-profile lawsuit that accused a former leader of sexual assault, ending a six-year legal drama that helped prompt a broader reckoning over child sexual abuse in evangelical churches, expanded victims’ rights in Texas and showed that a prominent conservative activist and Texas House candidate repeatedly downplayed abuse allegations.

In 2017, Duane Rollins filed the lawsuit accusing Paul Pressler, a longtime Southern Baptist figure and former Texas judge, of decades of rape beginning when Rollins was a 14-year-old member of Pressler’s church youth group in Houston.

Rollins claimed in court documents that the alleged attacks pushed him into drug and alcohol addictions that kept him in prison…

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A confidential settlement has been reached in the lawsuit accusing prominent Southern Baptist figure Paul Pressler of sexually abusing a teenage member of his Houston church multiple times beginning in 1977, the Texas Tribune reported Dec. 29.

Duane Rollins filed the lawsuit in 2017 accusing Pressler, a former Texas judge and a key architect of the conservative resurgence of the Southern Baptist Convention, of molesting him numerous times beginning when he was 14. Rollins said the sexual assaults included oral and anal sex which began after he enrolled in a Bible study led by Pressler.

Documents uncovered during the six-year court case disclosed that leaders of First Baptist Church of Houston were aware of Pressler’s alleged sexual activity with young men dating back to 2004, the Tribune reported in March.

The publication reported in November that Jared Woodfill, Pressler’s former law partner, also knew of the of the allegations about Pressler without reporting them….

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Bishop T.D. Jakes, senior pastor at the non-denominational megachurch The Potter’s House, denied allegations he engaged in gay sex at wild parties hosted by embattled music producer Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs, aka “Diddy.”

Unconfirmed reports on TikTok and YouTube allege that Jakes had sex with men at Combs’s parties and groomed a former mentee.

The 66-year-old preacher appeared to respond to the claims during the Christmas Eve service at The Potter’s House, calling the accusers “liars,” according to a video of the service posted on the church’s website. Jakes added that even “if everything was true, all I got to do is repent sincerely from my heart.”

Jakes urged his congregation in Dallas not to worry about him because “I’m good.”

“Would y’all please do me a favor and stop worrying about me and give God some praise and honor and glory?” Jakes said in a public livestream which…

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Military sexual assaults and harassment have increased almost every year since 2006, prompting Congress to pass new legislation

Incidents of sexual harassment and assault have been on the rise across the US military for roughly the last 15 years. Now, a new law has been passed that will change how they are dealt with, putting independent lawyers in charge of decisions and sidelining commanders.

“It’s the most important reform to our military justice system since the creation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 1950,” the US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, said in a statement.

Under the new system, which was made effective on 28 December, special counsels will have the power to make prosecution decisions on several offenses such as murder, rape and domestic violence within the military.

These special counsels are in effect legal organizations within each military service and will be spread nationwide. There will be more…

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2023 TOP STORIES: Hundreds of lawsuits filed under New York’s Child Victims Act are hanging in the balance as the parties seek a path to resolve them and pay abuse survivors

Cynthia LaFave, an Albany attorney whose firm is working with Anderson’s firm on the cases, said it’s “a very good thing that it’s moving forward.”

“Everybody needs closure. Everybody needs this to move forward,” LaFave said of the mediation.

It’s unclear whether the mediation will immediately include any claims from the roughly 1,100 former employees of the now-closed St. Clare’s Hospital in Schenectady, whose pension plan was shut down in 2018 with a $50 million shortfall. St. Clare’s closed in 2008 and merged with Ellis Hospital. The former employees’ retirement portfolios were wiped out by the hospital’s depleted pension fund, which they allege was mismanaged by top officials associated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.

The pension plan was…

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This year brought news of revival and tragedy, with ongoing coverage of denminational divides and allegations of abuse in ministry

This past year may be defined for some evangelicals by the bits of duct tape put over the word United on so many United Methodist Church signs. Or the 152 bullets fired at a Christian school in Nashville, killing six people. Or by the
hymns that Tim Keller chose to have sung at his funeral.

There were moments of grace amid a lot of darkness. There was also a lot of darkness. There were tragedies, prayers, votes, big decisions, and little decisions made with great determination, contributing to the ongoing, unfolding shifts in evangelicalism.

As 2023 draws to a close, here are 10 stories that stood out to us as pivotal.

10. New York City Christian College Closures

A number of evangelical colleges saw record enrollment in fall 2023, but…

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The Israel-Hamas war, along with the rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in the U.S. and around the globe, were named the top international and domestic religion stories of 2023 by members of the Religion News Association.

Pope Francis was named the top religion newsmaker of the year. He kept active despite health problems, traveling widely, convening a historic synod, denouncing anti-LGBTQ+ laws, overseeing the Vatican repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery and facing various controversies. This is the fourth time Pope Francis has been voted top newsmaker, having previously been selected 2013, 2014 and 2015. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the runner-up for newsmaker after facing massive protests over a proposed judicial overhaul and criticism over Hamas’s Oct. 7 surprise attack as well as for Israel’s heavy military response. He was followed by U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, whose election as House speaker elated many conservative evangelicals who saw…

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I was born and raised Catholic and, yes, I still practice my faith. Those clergy who committed abuse deserve to be recognized and punished, and the victims most certainly deserve recompense (“Maryland Catholic Church abuse database: Search the list,” Dec. 15).

I am curious when The Baltimore Sun will publish an article that deals with abuse by the clergy in other religious denominations. I cannot imagine these incidents were isolated to Catholic clergy alone, even though your paper would make it seem so.

— Timothy Madgar, Nottingham

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Charges involve seven victims dating back to 2007.

The former pastor of a church in Lancaster, Kentucky, has accepted a plea deal to drop 12 charges related to the sexual abuse of children in exchange for pleading guilty to one charge of sexual abuse of a child.

Thomas Wall, former pastor of Pentecostal Fellowship Church and former head of Fellowship Christian Academy, was arrested on January 30, 2022, on multiple charges of sexual abuse and sodomy of a victim under 12, involving seven different children beginning in 2007.

Wall has maintained his innocence leading up to his guilty plea last week. In the days after his arrest, Wall sent out the following text message, obtained by WHAS 11, to his church members:

“Dear church and school family, As you may have heard, a legal matter has arisen. While I very much look forward to the day when I am fully…

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A Washington County pastor was arrested and indicted for sex crimes, including rape, for alleged incidents that began in 2008.

Seferino Tosie, 46, was indicted by a Washington County grand jury following a 2-month investigation with the Canby Police Department that identified multiple juvenile victims.

Detectives say Tosie’s victims likely attended Missionary Memorial Church in Aurora, where he worked as a pastor.

So far, the cases reported have occurred in Washington, Clackamas and Marion counties between 2008 and 2016, authorities said

Tosie was indicted by a grand jury on 16 charges:

• 3 counts of first-degree rape
• 3 counts of first-degree sexual penetration
• 4 counts of first-degree sex abuse
• 6 counts of first-degree sodomy

However, detectives with the Violent Crimes Unit say they also believe there are other victims yet to come forward, as Tosie has worked in other churches in the area, as well as in Kansas, Minnesota, Hawaii and…

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A 46-year-old former pastor at a church in Aurora was indicted Wednesday on 16 counts of sexual assault, and at least some of the victims were children, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday.

According to deputies, Seferino Tosie’s victims attended Missionary Memorial Church in Aurora where he worked as a pastor. Following his indictment, another victim from the church has come forward.

A Washington County grand jury indicted Tosie on:

• Three counts of first-degree rape.
• Six counts of first-degree sodomy.
• Four counts of first-degree sexual abuse.
• Three counts of first-degree sexual penetration.

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A pastor in Cleveland has been indicted after detectives discovered the man had over 100 images depicting child sex abuse material, NBC affiliate WRCB-TV reports.

A Bradley County Grand Jury indicted Richard Sentell, and he was arrested by the Bradley County Sherriff’s Office on Christmas Day.

An investigation was launched into Sentell after a reported cyber tip, leading to the search of his home and personal laptop, which revealed a large amount of child sex abuse-related images. He was booked the day after his arrest and remains in custody on a $75,000 bond.

Rick Sentell is listed as a senior pastor for Cornerstone Church of God. The church has been contacted for comment.

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Francis has continued to push for changes in the church, braving daunting opposition and several medical scares.

In a year that began with the funeral of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who marked the 10th anniversary of his own election in March, stepped up his reforms of the Catholic Church, and by year’s end he could point to a series of wins in shoring up Vatican finances, reducing corruption and enacting his plan for a more welcoming and inclusive church. He had also marginalized several outspoken critics.

But 2023 also exposed the weaknesses of this pontificate. Under Francis, the church continued to stumble in dealing with sexual abuse, extending the perception the hierarchy still doesn’t take the problem seriously. Despite concerted diplomatic efforts, the pope failed to project real influence over foreign affairs, especially in the major conflicts in Ukraine and the Mideast. His age and his medical scares, meanwhile, had…

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A former teacher and Christian Brother has been charged with 60 counts of indecent assaults at a Dublin school around 50 years ago.

Jack Manning, 87, with an address at a nursing home at Dunsink Lane, Blanchardstown, Dublin, was remanded on bail on Friday.

Mr Manning was charged with indecently assaulting six males on various dates in the mid-1970s. The incidents allegedly occurred at CBS Westland Row, South Cumberland Street, Dublin 2.

The pensioner has nine charges involving one complainant: 12 charges against the second male, 12 against the third, three charges against the fourth, 12 charges against the fifth, and another 12 charges against the sixth alleged injured party.

There was no objection to bail during his hearing before Judge Fiona Brennan at Dublin District Court.

She ordered the accused to appear again on March 15 for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to complete a book of evidence…

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Many bishops issued clarifications following local reaction to the document, but these varied considerably in their explanation of the text.

Bishops across the world have issued responses to last week’s publication of a Vatican document on blessings for couples in “irregular” relationships, Fiducia Supplicans.

Numerous bishops, particularly in Europe and the US, welcomed the document’s “new idea” of blessings, though many emphasised that it did not provide approval for any “irregular” situation, including same-sex couples.

The document’s chief author Cardinal Víctor Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), said that Fiducia Supplicans recognised “the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage”.

Many bishops issued clarifications following local reaction to the document, but these varied considerably in their explanation of the text.

The Archbishop of Salzburg Franz Lackner, who heads…

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COMMENTARY: The pastoral concessions the Vatican’s latest document gives for the blessing of people in same-sex relationships and other irregular marriages is imprudent and does not reflect reality ‘on the ground.’

The great joy of a parish priest is to be with the people of God, elbow deep in the midst of their joys, sorrows and sufferings. The fatherly vocation of the parish priest is to teach, govern and sanctify his parishioners in Christ’s name. This is done by teaching and shepherding, exhorting and consoling, absolving and admonishing, guiding his parishioners to greater conviction in their discipleship, encouraging them, accompanying them, crying and laughing with them, and — in all things Christian — to love them as a reflection of Christ’s own love for the Church.

The corridors of the Vatican dicasteries are very different from the trenches of parish life. Magisterial declarations can be promulgated (perhaps even with good…

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Enormous change for the Catholic Church in the opening of the synod on synodality, and Pope Francis’ appointments and removals of bishops and church officials participating in the culture wars were among the topics that NCR’s opinion, commentary and editorial writers took on in 2023.

These 10 pieces were NCR’s most read — not necessarily the most important — opinion articles and commentaries of the year. They are listed in order by the number of site visitors who read the story, with short summaries of their contents. We posted a separate article about our most read news stories on Dec. 26. 

1. Pope Francis’ new Vatican doctrinal chief signals enormous change for Catholic Church 

Pope Francis’ naming of Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández as the new prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith marks the most consequential curial appointment of this pontificate,…

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Seeing the Vatican’s recent declaration on blessings for (among others) same-sex couples, I remembered a story Pope Francis told back in May. He was sharing a stage with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni at a conference to highlight Italy’s birthrate crisis. He recalled that at the Ash Wednesday general audience a few weeks earlier, he had been approached by a middle-aged woman. “I greet the lady, and she opens a bag, and says, ‘Will you bless my child!’ It was a little dog!” The Pope flipped.

“I lacked patience, and I scolded the lady. ‘Madam, so many children are hungry, and you with this little dog!’” he told her. The lady went away without a blessing.

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith’s December 18 “Declaration on the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings,” Fiducia supplicans, says that blessings “remind us that, even in the use of created things, human beings are invited to…

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The Vatican publishing house announced it will release a book of some 130 homilies given by the late Pope Benedict XVI at private Sunday Masses — 30 given while he was pope and more than 100 given to members of his household once he retired.

The homilies were recorded and transcribed by the consecrated women, members of Memores Domini, who lived with him and ran his household, said Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, president of the board of directors of the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation.

Announcing the publication Dec. 23, the foundation and the Vatican publishing house did not give a date for its release, but they published a homily Benedict had given Dec. 22, 2013, the fourth Sunday of Advent of his first year of retirement.

The homily focused on St. Joseph and the biblical description of him as a “just man,” which, before the birth of Jesus, would…

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When asked to sum up the state of the American priesthood, Catholic University of America sociologist Brandon Vaidyanathan describes it as “fractured,” in that individually priests are doing well, but their assessment of the institutional Church “is not very good.”

What’s more, research conducted by Vaidyanathan and others has found that not only is there a striking deficit in the trust priests feel in their bishop, but there’s also a significant generational mistrust priests have in each other that relates to differing theological and political alignments.

“There’s a mutual distrust of each other that is driven by political differences, and so young priests view older priests with suspicion and vice versa,” Vaidyanathan told Crux. “The younger priests are more conservative, and don’t see the older priests as sort of a part of the same program.”

The insight became apparent to Vaidyanathan and other researchers in an analysis of data compiled for…

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The Vatican this week prompted widespread debate among bishops and other Church leaders, after Monday’s publication of Fiducia supplicans, which offers a framework for clerical blessings of same-sex couples.

While some have praised the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s text, others have raised serious concerns, and some bishops’ conferences have pushed back on the implementation of the document in their countries.

Fiducia supplicans was authored by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, who was appointed to lead the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith earlier this year.

But Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who led the Vatican’s doctrinal office from 2012 until 2017, said in an essay Thursday the text is “self-contradictory” and “requires further clarification.”

Müller sent that essay, with exclusive permission to publish, to The Pillar, and to publications working in Italian, Spanish, and German.

In light of the ongoing debate over Fiducia supplicans, and Müller’s role in the Church, The Pillar publishes his essay below,…

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In his annual Christmas address to members of the Roman Curia, Pope Francis urged the Church’s governing bureaucracy to be open to change and to resist “rigid ideological positions” that prevent them from moving forward.

Speaking to members of the curia during a Dec. 21 audience, Pope Francis stressed the need to “remain vigilant against rigid ideological positions that often, under the guise of good intentions, separate us from reality and prevent us from moving forward.”

“We are called, instead, to set out and journey, like the Magi, following the light that always desires to lead us on, at times along unexplored paths and new roads,” he said.

Referring to something he said was once told to him by a “zealous priest,” the pope said “it is not easy to rekindle the embers under the ashes of the Church. Today we strive to kindle passion in those who have long…

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District Attorney Raymond Tierney offered more details about the Babylon man who taught in Bay Shore schools for years.

Forty-five lawsuits were filed by alleged victims against the Bay Shore school district and retired elementary school teacher Thomas Bernagozzi under the New York State Child Victims Act, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said Thursday.

Bernagozzi, who taught elementary school in Bay Shore for years, was not only a beloved teacher but also is alleged to have run school plays and after-school sports, and would, on his own time, take groups of children to the local beaches, pools, gym, Broadway shows and sporting events, the DA’s office said.

The 76-year-old was arrested Thursday. He faces one count of first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child and one count of first-degree sodomy, both Class B violent felonies.

He is being represented by Eric Besso, Esq. and…

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A New York judge has ruled that the “plain language” of Chubb Insurance policies dictates that the insurer must cover the Archdiocese of New York parishes and schools as they contend with thousands of sex abuse lawsuits.

Chubb has balked at providing coverage for the Archdiocese of New York (ADNY) and sought declaratory judgments relieving it of responsibility. The insurer argued that the alleged incidents of sex abuse did not trigger coverage because they were not accidents or occurrences caused by negligence but were instead the result of intentional, known or expected occurrences and thus fall outside of the policies.

The archdiocese insisted Chubb was obligated to provide coverage, arguing that the insurer’s wholesale denial of coverage is based on prematurely concluding without evidence what the results will be in the underlying claims when 99% are still in discovery.

The lawsuits at issue were filed under the state’s Child Victims…

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Police in Suffolk County have arrested a retired teacher who is accused of sexually abusing students.

According to the Suffolk County DA, 76-year-old Thomas Bernagozzi of Babylon has been named in 45 individual civil lawsuits under the New York State Child Victims Act.

A spokesperson for the DA’s office said the complaints were initially filed against the Bay Shore School District and the district countersued and brought Bernagozzi into the claims.

Robert Hubbard filed one of them. He says he was a student of Bernagozzi’s in 1976.

Hubbard said Bernagozzi would fondle him in the classroom and at baseball games. He said Bernagozzi should be behind bars.

Jenny Rossman with Herman Law represent Hubbard and 42 other men, most of them former students of Bernagozzi, who have filed child victims act complaints.

“Bernagozzi operated with a clear modus operandias a trusted teacher in the lives of these boys. He used…

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A man who said he was abused by a priest at a County Down school will receive £500,000 in damages.

The High Court hearing centred on alleged sexual and physical abuse over a five-year period in the 1980s, when the man was a pupil.

According to court papers, the plaintiff was sexually assaulted in a series of locations.

These included the vestry, priests’ corridor and lounge, the nuns’ chapel and the president’s business office.

A statement of claim said he was targeted and groomed by the priest, who has since died, for the purposes of an abusive sexual, physical and emotional relationship.

The man, who is not being named, sued the diocese and the school’s board of governors.

‘A welcome vindication’

Claire McKeegan, of Phoenix Law, said the settlement is “a welcome vindication” for the man, who was “repeatedly sexually abused”.

Ms McKeegan added that “there was no escape from…

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Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal is the sponsor of the Child Victims Act, which passed in 2019. The law provided a two-year lookback window for those sexually abused as a child to sue their abuser

“We arbitrarily set the age at which you have to go to court to age 55 in a civil trial and 28 in a criminal,” explained Rosenthal.

She has authored a bill to make the legislation permanent by getting rid of the statute of limitations in New York.

“The fact is, you might not be ready to come forward, so why should reaching the age 55 dictate that your chance of justice in the court is eliminated?”

Roughly 11,000 lawsuits were filed under the Child Victims Act.

Michael Polenberg, Safe Horizon Vice President of Government Affairs, supports this legislation saying it can take decades for some victims to process the trauma.

“Survivors need time to be able…

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The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal surrounding a sexual abuse case with priest Richard Lobert who was with the Diocese of Lansing.

The attorney representing Brian McLain says Lobert sexually assaulted him on multiple occasions back in 1999.

McLain says the sexual abuse took place at the WJ Maxey Boys Training School in Livingston County where Lobert was also a priest.

The lawyer representing McClain, Ven Johnson, said the Michigan Supreme Court will now decide if the lawsuit was timely under the state legislature’s 2018 amendment to the statute of limitations.

In 2018 Michigan increased the statute of limitations to 28 years old. This was in response to the conviction of Larry Nassar who abused hundreds of female athletes.

Johnson says because the highest court in the state agreed to hear the appeal to McLain’s case, this will set a legal precedent for future sexual assault…

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Supreme Court will have to decide if 2018 change to statute of limitations applies to this case

The Michigan Supreme Court is set to review a case that could set a precedent for victims of childhood sexual abuse.

Attorney Ven Johnson, with Ven Johnson Law, says his client, Brian McLain, was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest in 1999 when he was a minor attending W.J. Maxey Boys Training School in Whitmore Lake.

Father Richard Lobert, the priest in question, has connections to the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the Archdiocese of Lansing, and Father Gabriel Richard Catholic High School in Ann Arbor.

Local 4 obtained a release dated January 2021, stating that Father Lobert had been removed from all of his priestly duties following an investigation.

The state Supreme Court will have to decide if the 2018 change to the statute of limitations applies in this case.

…

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A Catholic priest who preyed on girls and vulnerable young women for decades has finally been jailed after his international web of abuse and deceit was exposed by The Sunday Post.

Father Joseph Dunne sexually assaulted and harassed a string of young women and girls in Glasgow, Los Angeles and Ireland during the 1980s – but church authorities repeatedly failed to stop him.

Earlier this year he was convicted of sexually assaulting a young woman in Ireland, but received just a four-year suspended sentence. Last week Dunne, 82, was finally jailed for two years after Ireland’s Court of Appeal overturned the earlier sentence.

Dunne’s abuse went unchecked because, despite numerous victims and their families complaining about him to church authorities, he was simply allowed to move to new parishes. And it was only when Dunne, known in his hometown in County Offaly, Ireland, as “Father Joe” was tracked…

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Writing about my Christian faith has always seemed dangerous for some reason. Politics and economics seem less complicated and an easier link to the world around us.

Yet, it seems that the Christian Church has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in areas associated with education, tax reform, immigration and right-wing fringe politics.

When someone in the broader church does something completely counter to the teachings of Jesus, it is quite easy for a reporter to get a negative reaction from the reader. In the news recently, we learned about a pedophile priest and a school that would rather forfeit a football game than play a team with girls on it. The news media seems to perpetuate the belief that any conservative leader who somehow fails…

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When I began writing a column for this newspaper, I was by no means its first Catholic columnist, but I was probably the first representative of conservative Catholicism, a partisan of both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, to write regularly for The Times’s opinion pages. This created an expectation — in my own mind, at least — that when I wrote about my own religion, it would be mostly as a defender of the faith, championing church teaching and papal authority to a readership inclined to a certain skepticism about both.

Instead, the major Catholic story of my early years as a columnist was the sex-abuse crisis, where there were ideological arguments about causes and cures, but far more to lament than to champion or defend. Then in 2013, Pope Benedict resigned, a decision that I firmly believe supernaturally jolted the entire world off its comfortable end-of-history…

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The Vatican’s latest declaration bombshell, authored by one of the most senior clerics in the Roman Curia, has duped the international press and its readers alike into believing that the Catholic Church has softened its position on homosexuality. It hasn’t. 

In describing how sinners, who may be in a same-same relationship, may ask for a “spontaneous blessing” from a priest – a type of blessing that has never been denied to any, nor been given on a discriminatory basis – Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez in “Fiducia Supplicans: On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings” has introduced nothing new.

Same-sex couples, as individual souls, may receive a blessing from a cleric. Their relationship may not. An important distinction.

To clarify the mess and misunderstanding, it must be explained what the endorsed blessings are and aren’t. 

Firstly, those “spontaneous” blessings which have been authorised. This summer, when I was among some 1.6…

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[VIDEO]

Over the past 20 years, religious organisations from the Catholic Church to Jehovah’s Witnesses have had a reckoning with cases of child sexual abuse. Many states have tried to tackle the abuse by making clergy mandatory reporters of abuse to officials, just like doctors, therapists and teachers are. However, more than 30 states in the United States do not require church officials to report knowledge or allegations of child abuse if the information is deemed privileged, specifically coming from confession or counselling. It means that abuse can all too often be hidden – and survivors are left without recourse or justice. Fault Lines investigates how state laws in the US can lead to child sexual abuse in religious communities going unpunished.

Senior Producer: Kavitha Chekuru Correspondent: Natasha Del Toro Director of Photography: Erik Ljung Editor: Leslie Atkins Executive Producer: Laila Al-Arian Production Manager: Anabelle Rojas Fact-checking: Abdulai…

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This isn’t the first time an Arlington Catholic High School staff member has been accused of inappropriate conduct.

A teacher at Arlington Catholic High School has resigned amid allegations of “inappropriate contact” toward students, according to school officials. 

Writing to families and staff Tuesday, school administrators said the allegations came to light last week, according to a copy of the letter obtained by WCVB. 

“On Thursday, December 14, allegations were brought forward before school regarding inappropriate contact from a member of the teaching staff towards students,” the letter read. “The students had reported the activity to a teacher/teachers after school the previous day, and, as mandated reporters, they notified the administration.”

The school alerted Arlington police and the legal department at the Archdiocese of Boston, according to the letter. School leaders also launched an internal investigation, which remains ongoing.

The teacher was placed…

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The pastor of a prominent Little Rock, Arkansas, church is under fire for not telling his congregation about an abusive former staffer, even after the person had been charged by police.

When leaders of Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, found out in 2016 that a former church staffer had been accused of sexually abusing a child, they called the police and reported the information.

Then they went silent for seven years.

An assistant director of children’s ministry, Patrick Stephen Miller was arrested, charged with second-degree sexual assault and later convicted of a lesser offense, Immanuel Baptist pastor Steven Smith and other leaders never informed the congregation.

In early December, Smith finally explained the episode to Immanuel Baptist’s members, but only after the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette had reported on Miller’s attempts to have his court records sealed. Smith apologized for withholding information about the abuse and Miller’s conviction.

“I wish we had…

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The pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, Steven Smith, told his congregation Sunday that he is willing to step down for failing to inform them that a former church official charged with guiding children had been credibly accused of abusing minors at the church.

“If at any point now [or] in the future, this church believes God’s anointing or call upon my service at Immanuel has been lifted, I will not resist the will of the church,” Smith, with his wife, Ashley, by his side, told congregants at the end of the 9 a.m. service in a statement that was not broadcast online by the church, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “Until then, we want to continue to press on in our mission to advance the kingdom.”

Smith told the congregation that a former member of the church staff, Patrick Stephen Miller,…

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