ABUSE TRACKER

Love of neighbor, if genuine, will drive us to be involved and act for justice

The power of real Christian faith in a person is that it motivates the believer in Jesus of Nazareth and his words to take action to help the downtrodden, to protect, empower, strengthen and enlighten the weak, stand with sexually abused children, support them and work for justice.

That faith, empowered by the belief that goodness, the love of justice, service to the poor, and care for the needy, will overcome and defeat evil and wrongdoing, and will bring healing and justice to the victims of sexual abuse.

While all good Christians oppose the crimes against children, they may feel helpless about how they should respond and find the correct action to bring an end to the abuse and find healing for the child victims.

This is where Christian communities must stand together and find…

View Cache

Some changes in the law are better late than never.

In 1978, Congress passed the Bankruptcy Reform Act, which created Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. In short, Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code system was designed for those honest businesses who fell on hard times. It gave them a new day. The law allows a company to continue its day-to-day operations through the reorganization process and ultimately protects the business from the weight of its creditors.

In the past four decades, class action defendants, and their lawyers, have reaped the most benefits. The protections Congress intended have been morphed into the greatest legal shield for bad actors and negligent institutions. They have worn a clear path in their repeated sprint to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Most notably, they include: Purdue Pharma, Boy Scouts of America, USA Gymnastics, and the Catholic Church.

Why should the debtor be given…

View Cache

[Note from BishopAccountability.org: This article states that BishopAccountablity.org listed Fr. John J. Brenkle as a publicly accused priest. This was true on August 22, 2023, when this article was published. However, in November 2025, we reexamined Proven Innocent, by Jesse Duarte, St. Helena Star (September 25, 2008), which states: “The boy, now a grown man, has written two letters — one in 2002 and another this year — unequivocally stating that Brenkle never abused him, and that his father’s accusations against Brenkle were false.” In light of this report, and because we know of no other allegations against Fr. Brenkle, we have removed Brenkle from our Database of Accused.]

The Diocese of Santa Rosa has roughly 167,000 Catholics who support 42 parishes, 15 schools, and 54 priests. Its bishops have included Leo Maher, Mark Hurley, John Steinbock, George Ziemann, Daniel F. Walsh, and Robert F. Vasa. If…

View Cache

A recent investigation by NBC Bay Area confirmed that the culture of covering up sexual abuse within Catholic institutions was not confined to ordained and vowed clerics, but also extended to lay employees. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is extremely disturbed that earlier reports about a teacher at a Jesuit high school in the San Francisco Archdiocese appear to have been ignored.

Peter Devine ran the drama program and taught English at St. Ignatius College Preparatory School in San Francisco for nearly 50 years. Last week, a lawsuit accused the popular teacher of aggressively kissing a freshman student in the school theater in 1996. The complaint said that the student was sent into a tailspin and has struggled with self-medication and self-harm since that time.

When the victim reported the abuse to Church officials in 2022, an outside law firm was hired…

View Cache

The newly reported allegations from 1996 were found to be credible by an outside law firm last year, according to the investigative report obtained by NBC Bay Area. The firm also investigated other allegations involving Peter Devine.

For nearly 50 years, Peter Devine has been a fixture of St. Ignatius College Preparatory School, running the drama program and teaching English at the well-known San Francisco Catholic high school.

He’s been honored by the school, and even received a shoutout at the Tony Awards by a former student.

But earlier this week, a lawsuit accused the popular teacher of kissing a freshman student in the school theater in 1996.

The student, who reported the incident for the first time in 2022, had come to speak with Devine about the drama program, according to the lawsuit. At the end of the meeting, the suit alleges the two hugged. Then, according to the…

View Cache

On the heels of the local SF Catholic Archdiocese declaring bankruptcy over sex-abuse lawsuits, one prestigious prep school affiliated with the archdiocese is facing a lawsuit alleging that a teacher kissed and groped multiple students.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco just declared bankruptcy Monday, and made no secret of the fact they did this for financial protection from the 500-plus child sex abuse lawsuits they are facing. And there are 90 private Catholic schools under the jurisdiction of the archdiocese, though legally, schools and individual parishes are separate entities and not affected by the Chapter 11 bankruptcy declaration. But one those schools, St. Ignatius College Preparatory School, is now facing its own staff sexual misconduct lawsuit, according to the Chronicle.

The teacher in question is Peter Devine, who’d taught English and drama at the school for more than 40 years before “retiring” last year once the lawsuit hit. The above  View Cache

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco announced Aug. 21 the archdiocese has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization “to facilitate settlements” with survivors of clergy abuse. The decision came after much reflection and prayer, and consultation with the archdiocese’s financial and legal advisers, he said in a letter to the faithful.

In an earlier Aug. 4 statement, the archbishop had warned a bankruptcy filing was imminent, and in his new Aug. 20 letter he said the move was necessary due to “the impact of more than 500 civil lawsuits that have been filed against the Archdiocese under state law AB-218, which allowed individuals to bring claims for childhood sexual abuse that otherwise would have been barred due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.”

Some of the claims stretch back decades, he noted, adding the bankruptcy was “the best way to provide a compassionate and equitable solution for…

View Cache

The only California diocese that has refused to post a list of abusers today filed for bankruptcy. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, hopes that the federal judge will examine the case carefully. Although the survivors’ group is certain that the Archdiocese is morally bankrupt, it does not believe that it is as financially strapped as it claims.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has repeatedly declined to divulge names of the perpetrators in his see, despite requests from survivors. SNAP knows that when such lists are published, there are always new perpetrators revealed from information in the “secret files.”  This lack of transparency in San Francisco has kept parishioners and the public unaware of all of the hazards that lurked in the Archdiocese. We believe that the primary impetus for this bankruptcy is to keep information about abusers hidden.

We seriously doubt that…

View Cache

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone on Monday announced that the archdiocese would be submitting a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, a development the prelate had earlier warned might come about as a result of numerous abuse filings against the bishopric.

Cordileone earlier in August had warned that the filing was “very likely” in response to the “more than 500 civil lawsuits” alleging clerical sexual abuse filed against the archdiocese.

A Chapter 11 filing, the archbishop said at the time, would allow the archdiocese to deal with those cases “collectively rather than one at a time,” resulting in both a “faster resolution” of the crisis as well as “fair compensation” for the victims.

In an announcement posted on the archdiocese’s website, Cordileone said that “after much reflection, prayer, and consultation with our financial and legal advisers,” the archdiocese has “filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.”

“We believe the…

View Cache

 Last week disturbing reports revealed that a 30 -year-old Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Mobile fled to Europe with an 18-year-old teen, saying that Jesus told them that they should leave and not return to Alabama. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, wonders why it took so long for the Archbishop to act in this case, and why he had not released more information about the scandal to the faithful and the public.

 McGill-Toolen High School in Mobile admitted that Fr. Alex Crow sat in on classes and took confessions there in 2021, the same year that he was ordained.  Earlier this summer, Fr. Crow traveled to Europe with a just-turned 18-year-old graduate of McGill-Toolen, and Mobile law enforcement released two letters the cleric wrote that suggests that Fr. Crow’s relationship with the teen was inappropriate, including a…

View Cache

San Francisco’s Roman Catholic archdiocese filed for bankruptcy Monday, saying the filing is necessary to manage more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by church officials.

The Chapter 11 protection filing will stop all legal actions against the archdiocese and thus allow it to develop a settlement plan with abuse survivors, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a statement.

“The unfortunate reality is that the Archdiocese has neither the financial means nor the practical ability to litigate all of these abuse claims individually, and therefore, after much consideration, concluded that the bankruptcy process was the best solution for providing fair and equitable compensation to the innocent survivors who have been harmed,” Cordileone said.

The San Francisco Archdiocese is the third Bay Area diocese to file for bankruptcy after facing hundreds of lawsuits brought under a California law approved in 2019 that allowed decades-old claims to be filed by Dec. 31,…

View Cache

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco filed for bankruptcy on Monday, saying a Chapter 11 reorganization will facilitate a settlement of about 500 lawsuits accusing the church of enabling childhood sexual abuse by priests.

The filing in U.S. bankruptcy court in San Francisco will put the lawsuits on hold and buy time for settlement talks, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a statement.

“We believe the bankruptcy process is the best way to provide a compassionate and equitable solution for survivors of abuse while ensuring that we continue the vital ministries to the faithful and to the communities that rely on our services and charity,” Cordileone said.

The “overwhelming majority” of the alleged abuse occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, involving priests who are deceased or no longer in ministry, Cordileone said.

The Archdiocese said in its bankruptcy petition that it has between $100 million and $500 million in assets…

View Cache

Dear Faithful of the Archdiocese of San Francisco:

A few weeks ago, I wrote to you about the impact of more than 500 civil lawsuits that have been filed against the Archdiocese under state law AB-218, which allowed individuals to bring claims for childhood sexual abuse that otherwise would have been barred due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Today, I am informing you that after much reflection, prayer, and consultation with our financial and legal advisors, the Archdiocese of San Francisco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

We believe the bankruptcy process is the best way to provide a compassionate and equitable solution for survivors of abuse while ensuring that we continue the vital ministries to the faithful and to the communities that rely on our services and charity.

The Archdiocese of San Francisco joins a growing list of dioceses in the United States and California that…

View Cache

The only California diocese that has refused to post a list of abusers today filed for bankruptcy. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, hopes that the federal judge will examine the case carefully. Although the survivors’ group is certain that the Archdiocese is morally bankrupt, it does not believe that it is as financially strapped as it claims.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has repeatedly declined to divulge names of the perpetrators in his see, despite requests from survivors. SNAP knows that when such lists are published, there are always new perpetrators revealed from information in the “secret files.”  This lack of transparency in San Francisco has kept parishioners and the public unaware of all of the hazards that lurked in the Archdiocese. We believe that the primary impetus for this bankruptcy is to keep information about abusers hidden.

We seriously doubt that…

View Cache

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco has filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

The church said the filing is necessary to manage the more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse brought against it under California’s revised law that permits decades-old claims to be filed by December 31, 2022. These claims otherwise were previously time barred.

The church maintains that the “overwhelming majority” of the more than 500 claims stem from allegations of sexual abuse that occurred 30 or more years ago involving priests who are no longer active in ministry or are deceased.

The Chapter 11 filing will halt all legal actions against the church while the archdiocese develops a plan of reorganization that is based on assets and insurance coverage available to be used to settle claims with abuse survivors.

“The unfortunate reality is that the Archdiocese has…

View Cache

The San Francisco Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday amid financial troubles stemming from hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits, according to a statement posted on the archdiocese’s website.

In a statement, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said, “The unfortunate reality is that the Archdiocese has neither the financial means nor the practical ability to litigate all of these abuse claims individually, and therefore, after much consideration, concluded that the bankruptcy process was the best solution for providing fair and equitable compensation to the innocent survivors who have been harmed.”

Cordileone said that the occurrence of abuses within the Catholic Church now are “very rare” and said he believed the standard of how to protect children had been set.  

The archdiocese said the filing will allow them to “manage and resolve” more than 500 lawsuits, which were brought forth following the passage of California Assembly Bill 218. In…

View Cache

The San Francisco Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church filed for bankruptcy on Monday as the body grapples with more than 500 outstanding lawsuits arising from sex-abuse allegations.

“The unfortunate reality is that the Archdiocese has neither the financial means nor the practical ability to litigate all of these abuse claims individually, and therefore, after much consideration, concluded that the bankruptcy process was the best solution for providing fair and equitable compensation to the innocent survivors who have been harmed,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a statement following the announcement.

“The overwhelming majority of the more than 500 claims stem from allegations of sexual abuse that occurred 30 or more years ago involving priests who are no longer active in ministry or are deceased.”

The organization is made up of over 88 parishes and oversees Catholic services to nearly 500,000 co-religionists across San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo counties, according…

View Cache

The Archdiocese of San Francisco has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it faces more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse.

“The unfortunate reality is that the Archdiocese has neither the financial means nor the practical ability to litigate all of these abuse claims individually, and therefore, after much consideration, concluded that the bankruptcy process was the best solution for providing fair and equitable compensation to the innocent survivors who have been harmed,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a Monday news release.

Parishes, schools, cemeteries and related organizations and ministries are not included in the filing, according to the release.

“We seriously doubt that the Archdiocese of San Francisco does not have the assets to settle these lawsuits,” the Survivors Network of Abuse by Priests said in a statement. “We find it disturbing that Archbishop Cordileone claimed this is the ‘best…

View Cache

The San Francisco Catholic school St. Ignatius went on the defensive after a former student filed a lawsuit alleging that he was sexually abused by his drama teacher, with the elite educational institution emailing alumni Monday morning to reassure them that the school had taken appropriate action.

In a lawsuit initially filed in December against St. Ignatius College Preparatory, former teacher Peter Devine and the local branch of the Jesuit Order, the former student says that he went to speak with Devine about taking part in theater productions when he was a freshman in 1996.

But after their discussion, Devine forcibly kissed him, an assault that “deeply affected” him, the lawsuit alleges.

When the student was required to take an English class taught by Devine in his senior year, he was “subjected to further touching and physical manipulation” by Devine, according to the suit.

The suit also stated that, roughly…

View Cache

Albany Bishop Emeritus Howard Hubbard, who confessed to covering up clergy abuse, was accused of committing sexual abuse himself, and announced this month that he entered into a civil marriage with a woman, has died from a stroke at the age of 84, according to his publicist.

Hubbard made headlines last year after he announced that he asked the Vatican if he could return to the lay state, claiming he is not able to function publicly as a priest while under investigation for sexual abuse.

He said in an Aug. 1 statement that the Vatican denied his request and that he has “fallen in love with a wonderful woman who has helped and cared for me and who believes in me.”

A statement from the bishop’s publicist identified the woman Saturday as Jennifer Hubbard, whose maiden name is Barrie.

Following Hubbard’s announcement of his civil marriage, Albany Bishop…

View Cache

“He has had a very traumatic journey to get to this point in his life.”

A 51-year-old Co Down man who was abused by the notorious paedophile priest Malachy Finnegan has received a settlement of £400,000, lawyers have said.

Finnegan is alleged to have sexually abused children in the Catholic diocese of Dromore across four decades before his death in 2002.

KRW Law, acting on behalf of the victim who wished to remain anonymous, said he had been abused over a three-year period in the mid 1980s when he was a student at St Colman’s College in Newry.

Owen Winters of KRW Law’s historical abuse redress department said that the details of this case and of “the suffering endured by this man reached a new level of depravity”.

“The repeated abuse by Finnegan included rape during school hours,” he said.

Proceedings were issued in the High Court against the…

View Cache

About a dozen dioceses and archdioceses in the United States are currently in bankruptcy proceedings as a result of multiple lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of children.

The Archdiocese of San Francisco, known for its outspoken conservative leadership, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone announced on Monday. The filing is intended to protect the archdiocese from what Archbishop Cordileone described as more than 500 civil lawsuits filed against it under a state law passed in 2019 that extended the statute of limitations for civil claims in child sexual abuse cases.

“We believe the bankruptcy process is the best way to provide a compassionate and equitable solution for survivors of abuse while ensuring that we continue the vital ministries to the faithful and to the communities that rely on our services and charity,” Archbishop Cordileone said in a letter addressed to Catholics in San Francisco.

…

View Cache

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, saying it is necessary to resolve the more than 500 lawsuits of child sexual abuse dating back decades, prompting victim advocates to call the decision an attempt to deny justice and transparency for survivors.

The petitionwas filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone said Monday, arguing that it was the “best solution for providing fair and equitable compensation to the innocent survivors who have been harmed,” he said on the archdiocese website.

“The unfortunate reality is that the archdiocese has neither the financial means nor the practical ability to litigate all of these abuse claims individually,” he said.

“It is the best way to bring much-needed resolution to survivors while allowing the Archdiocese to continue its sacred mission to the faithful and those in need….

View Cache

How long before the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany informs the sexual abuse survivors (with suits pending) where the bankruptcy process currently stands with regard to a resolution? The Syracuse diocese reached its resolution recently, albeit three years after its initial filing date. Is Syracuse the model for all the dioceses located in New York state with regard to timing and settlement of claims? The survivors have a right to be informed. We strongly urge those who have the power including Albany Bishop Edward Scharfenberger to end the tarrying and move forward. It might restore some credibility to its current policy of care and concern for the survivors.

View Cache

Fort Worth’s bishop said on Saturday that one or more nuns might have incurred on Friday an excommunication, because of a “scandalous and schismatic” statement issued by a Carmelite monastery in Arlington, Texas. 

While the bishop is competent to formally declare the nun excommunicated, he stopped short of that step Saturday, and did not indicate what his next steps might be. 

Instead, Bishop Michael Olson warned Aug. 19 that Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach might be excommunicated, along with several nuns living in the Arlington Carmel.

Olson wrote that on Friday, Gerlach “issued a public statement on the website of the Arlington Carmel by which she publicly rejected my authority as diocesan bishop and Pontifical Commissary.”

“Thus, it is with deep sorrow that I must inform the faithful of the Diocese of Fort Worth, that Mother Teresa Agnes, thereby, may have incurred upon herself latae sententiae ( i.e., by her own schismatic actions) excommunication,”…

View Cache

A community of cloistered Carmelite nuns in Arlington, Texas, said they no longer recognize the authority of Bishop Michael F. Olson of Fort Worth, claiming that he has interfered with and humiliated them since initiating an investigation into their prioress in late April.

“In recent months our Monastery in general and our Mother Prioress in particular have been subjected to unprecedented interference, intimidation, aggression, private and public humiliation and spiritual manipulation as the direct result of the attitudes and ambitions of the current Bishop of Fort Worth in respect of our Reverend Mother Prioress, ourselves and of our property,” the nuns of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity said in an Aug. 18 statement posted to their website’s homepage.

The nuns said that due to the bishop’s alleged treatment of them, they “no longer recognize the authority of, and can have no further relations with, the current…

View Cache

Stephen Bounds said the abuse began in the boarding school dormitory when he was 12

A Kelowna, B.C., man has filed a $6.9-million lawsuit against an Edmonton Catholic school and the religious order that runs it claiming he was sexually abused by a priest beginning when he was 12 years old.

“For 38 years, my memories of the abuse remained hidden deep, within my subconscious: leaking poison into every decision I ever made in life. I never trusted anyone, not even family,” the 52-year-old Stephen Gregory Bounds said.

“The trauma has caused me severe emotional, physical, financial, and health problems – including addiction,” he said. “The trauma has wreaked havoc on all my relationships, whether personal or occupational. I have felt I have been alone in my life, never really understanding what was wrong with me or like I belonged.”

In a statement of claim, filed Aug. 14 in Edmonton’ Court of…

View Cache

Law allows victims of abuse by clerics to file lawsuits for damages regardless of whether deadline had otherwise lapsed

A Louisiana state appeals court has upheld the constitutionality of a law temporarily suspending filing deadlines for people seeking damages over long-ago sexual abuse claims, handing a victory to survivors and a setback to the Roman Catholic diocese opposing them in the case.

The ruling, from a panel of judges with Louisiana’s third circuit court of appeal in Lake Charles, is the first to uphold a 2021 law in the state which opened a three-year window for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file lawsuits for damages regardless of whether the deadline to do so had otherwise lapsed.

The law, authorizing what is legally known as a “lookback window”, is similar to the one in New York that allowed the writer E Jean Carroll to sue Donald Trump…

View Cache

Howard Hubbard, a retired Catholic bishop who admitted to covering up sexual abuse allegations in upstate New York, died Saturday at a hospital in Albany. He was 84.

Hubbard passed away after suffering a massive stroke, according to Mark Behan, a longtime friend and advisor.

It’s unclear when exactly Hubbard was admitted to the hospital, but on Friday, Albany Bishop Edward Scharfenberger asked for prayers for the former bishop.

“I received news that he is currently hospitalized at the Albany Medical Center,” Scharfenberger said in a statement. “Our chaplains have visited him and anointed him.”

Hubbard, who led the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany from 1977 to 2014, was known as a champion of social justice. However, his reputation was tarnished amid a growing number of allegations of sexual abuse within his diocese. He retired in 2014.

While Hubbard denied any sexual accusations…

View Cache

Bishop Howard Hubbard, the controversial retired bishop of Albany, died Saturday after suffering this week from a stroke. Hubbard was 84.

The bishop was hospitalized after suffering a stroke on Thursday, with Albany’s Bishop Edward Scharfenberget asking for prayers in a statement Friday.

In a statement Saturday, Scharfenberger urged prayers, and focused on Hubbard’s identity as a priest, with little remark about the man himself.

“The life of a priest is never about himself but for those whom he serves, to whom he is sent. As we commend our brother, Howard Hubbard, to the God of all mercy, we pray also for all those who, throughout the course of his life, as priest, bishop, and friend, were inspired and encouraged along their own journey, especially those who received the sacraments through his ministry,” Scharfenberger wrote.

“Priests are called to sanctify, to ‘make holy,’ to lift others up to God. As…

View Cache

Former Bishop of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese Howard Hubbard has died.

Hubbard was hospitalized Friday after suffering a stroke. He was 84.

Hubbard was appointed the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Albany in 1977 and served in the role until retiring in 2014 at age 75.

Hubbard denied claims he sexually abused anyone, but acknowledged covering up child sex claims against other clergy while he was under oath in 2021.

In a statement, Bishop Edward Scharfenberger called his predecessor a priest, bishop, and friend, adding in part:

“As all priests are human, broken men, in need of redemption themselves from their own sins, we also pray for those who were in any way hurt or wounded by any priest they may have encountered.”

Hubbard earlier this month announced that he had married a woman in July and asked the Vatican to release him from the priesthood, a request…

View Cache

Career of 1960s “street priest” who became the region’s longest-tenured Catholic leader was shadowed by grave mishandling of sexual abuse cases

Albany Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard, who began his clerical service as a “street priest” in Albany’s most challenged neighborhoods and rose to lead the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany for 37 years, died Saturday afternoon — days after suffering a stroke on Thursday. The 84-year-old had been hospitalized in critical condition and was on a ventilator at Albany Medical Center Hospital, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

His death came less than a month after Hubbard, who retired as bishop in 2014, had married a woman in the wake of the Vatican rejecting his extraordinary request to be removed from the priestly state — a process known as laicization.

That news came after years in which Hubbard’s reputation had been shredded by his own admissions that he and…

View Cache

Howard Hubbard, bishop emeritus of the Albany Catholic Diocese, has died at age 84, days after suffering what the diocesan newspaper called a stroke this week.

Hubbard’s death was confirmed by a representative Saturday afternoon. 

Hubbard served as the Albany diocese’s bishop from 1977-2014, which at the time was the longest tenure of any Albany bishop.

Born Oct. 31, 1938, Howard Hubbard grew up in Lansingburgh, graduating from St. Patrick’s School and LaSalle Institute. Gaining his footing in the priesthood after being ordained in 1963, he became an associate pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Schenectady.

In 1977, at just 38 years of age, Hubbard became the youngest appointed bishop in the United States, appointed by Pope Paul VI. As bishop, he spearheaded the renovation of Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Albany.

His career, though, was not without controversy: The diocese filed for bankruptcy earlier this…

View Cache

Howard Hubbard, a retired Catholic bishop who acknowledged covering up allegations of sexual abuse in his upstate New York diocese and recently married a woman in a civil ceremony, has died after suffering from a massive stroke. He was 84.

Hubbard passed away at Albany Medical Center on Saturday after being hospitalized for the stroke days prior, bishop spokesperson Mark Behan confirmed.

Hubbard was known as a champion of social justice causes during his long tenure leading the Albany, New York-based diocese from 1977 to 2014. But his reputation suffered as the church became engulfed in sexual abuse scandals.

Hubbard had adamantly denied accusations that he abused minors. But he acknowledged in a 2021 deposition that he and the diocese covered up allegations of sexual abuse against children by priests in part to avoid scandal.

Last fall, Hubbard said he wanted to be returned to the lay state…

View Cache

Three survivors stood outside the gates of St. Angela Merici on Wednesday, holding “Aymond Must Go” signs as the archbishop entered for Mass.

A small group of survivors of child sex abuse by Catholic clergy protested outside a special Mass this week, calling on Archbishop Aymond to resign over his handling of the clergy abuse crisis.

Three survivors stood outside the gates of St. Angela Merici on Wednesday, holding “Aymond Must Go” signs as the archbishop entered for Mass on the first day of a three-day Mission to the Holy Spirit.

The archdiocese issued this statement about the 73-year-old Aymond:

“Archbishop Aymond has no intention of resigning or retiring until the age of 75 when it is canonically required of him to submit his retirement letter. He was among the first bishops in the country and the first in the State of Louisiana to voluntarily release the names and assignment…

View Cache

A group of concerned parents, Catholics and advocates for child sexual abuse survivors are asking Attorney General Dave Yost to initiate a statewide investigation into the history of scope of sexual abuse within Ohio’s six Catholic dioceses.

The groups, which include parents from Ohioans for Child Protection, Greater Cincinnati Voice of the Faithful, Concerned Catholics of Cincinnati and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, take inspiration from recent investigations into sexual abuse within the Catholic church completed by attorneys general in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Maryland.

“Failing to investigate systemic failures within Ohio dioceses and parochial schools allows abuse enablers and sexual perpetrators to remain in positions of authority over thousands of vulnerable Ohio children,” they wrote in a letter delivered to Yost on Wednesday.

“Without a robust secular investigation, we fear that the continued cycle of abuse and cover-up will continue unabated.”

Advocates identified 49 clerics with links…

View Cache

James Henry Clarke, a retired pastor from Belfast, will be extradited to Northern Ireland from Canada to face trial for sexually assaulting two children.

James Henry Clarke, an 80-year-old retired pastor who admitted in the 1980s to sexually abusing two children in Northern Ireland, is set to be extradited from Canada.

Clarke’s application for a judicial review of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada’s decision to have him extradited has been dismissed, documents from the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan dated August 9 show.

“He’s decided to not challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision and he’s going to go back to Northern Ireland to face these charges,” Chris Veeman, Clarke’s lawyer, said, according to CBC.

“The Canadian government will arrange transport for him and then hand him over.”

Veeman said this should happen within the next 45 days.

According to the  View Cache

In 2014, Robert “Bobby” Price was convicted of sexually abusing three boys while serving as a youth pastor at King’s Way Church in Concord, North Carolina. In 2018—three years after being released from prison—Price was hired as an associate pastor at Camino Church in nearby Charlotte, where his brother serves as lead pastor. Now, Price is facing 14 new charges that he abused children from 2001 to 2011, while serving at his previous church.

At a press conference this month, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) said the latest investigation began after three men came forward and reported that Price had abused them between the ages 9 and 15. Price, 58, faces 13 counts of indecent liberties with a minor and one count of statutory sexual offense, according to a statement by CMPD.

The revelations have reportedly shocked Camino Church and placed Price’s brother, Camino…

View Cache

An Alabama priest disgraced after abandoning his parish to travel to Italy with an 18-year-old woman described himself as “married” to her in a Valentine’s Day letter.

“I love you, and I thank Jesus for you every day. You have made my life both astronomically more complicated and incredibly better at the same time. You are his gift to me,” Fr. Alex Crow wrote in a letter recently released by the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office. “Now, we are in love and we are married! I’ve never been in love before (and I’ve never been married, obviously!), and I’ve never felt any of the feelings I have for you for anyone ever in my entire life. I promise that I will love you the absolute best I can, every single day.”

The handwritten letter to the 2023 high school graduate indicates that the priest planned for the couple to be in…

View Cache

Alex Crow was previously accused of acting inappropriately with students and remains under orders by archdiocese to return home

A Roman Catholic priest in Alabama who fled to Europe with a recent high school graduate whom he met through his work has drawn scrutiny from law enforcement and been told to stop presenting himself in public as a cleric.

Alex Crow, an expert in the theological study of demons and exorcism, is suspected of having “groomed [multiple] young girls” before going to Italy with an 18-year-old, according to an interview that local sheriff Paul Burch recently gave to Fox Nation’s Nancy Grace. The teen’s family has been trying to convince her to return home.

Burch has publicly released two letters written by Crow, 30, to support that assertion. In one of the letters to the teen, Crow described how he loved her and claimed that they were married. The Pillar, a…

View Cache

The archbishop of Cologne, one of Germany’s most important Catholic dioceses, expressed disappointment Friday that employees used work computers to try to access pornographic websites.

The statement from Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki came after the city’s Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper reported that a list from the archdiocese showed more than 1,000 attempts to access such sites from its computers. It said that dozens of employees, including senior clerics, had made such attempts.

The archdiocese confirmed the existence of a list. It said that its IT service provider routinely checks whether its firewalls fend off attempts to access sites with risky content such as violence, pornography and drugs, and that they are not meant to check individuals’ usage habits.

It said that the check turned up “no indications of criminally relevant behavior.”

It said that the check turned up “no indications of criminally relevant behavior.”

Cologne prosecutors told dpa that…

View Cache

Most of the sites were blocked by the archdiocese’s protective filters

More than a dozen Catholic Church staffers in Cologne, Germany used church-supplied computers to try accessing pornography, local outlet Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger first reported.

The Archdiocese of Cologne discovered in July 2022 that at least 15 employees, including one high-ranking priest, had attempted to view porn on church computers roughly 1,000 times over a single month.

The practice in question is strictly prohibited by the Catholic Church.

There was no indication that anyone had broken the law. Church officials reportedly handed over their findings to authorities in June after a layman who worked for the church was suspected of viewing child sexual abuse material in a separate incident.

The Church discovered while investigating IT and cybersecurity threats. Most of the sites were blocked by the archdiocese’s protective filters.

Germany’s largest archdiocese has been rocked by a series…

View Cache

The Albany diocese’s longest-serving bishop married last month after asking the Vatican to remove him from priesthood

Albany Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard, who recently married after he had asked the Vatican to remove him from the priesthood, is at Albany Medical Center Hospital in critical condition after suffering a massive stroke Thursday morning, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Hubbard, 84, is unconscious and on a ventilator, one of the people said. He became the ninth bishop of Albany in March 1977, at age 38. 

Although he was widely revered for much of his tenure as bishop, his legacy has also been marked with controversy, including his laicization request to the Vatican, his abrupt marriage last month, the Albany diocese’s handling of child sexual abuse cases under his leadership, and a 2004 investigation into him regarding allegations of sexual misconduct.

That investigation, which cost the diocese roughly…

View Cache

A 10-person board of inquiry found there was probable cause to present Ruch for trial for violating denominational bylaws.

Bishop Stewart Ruch, a controversial figure in the Anglican Church in North America, will be brought to a church court trial, according to an announcement published to the denomination’s website on Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 15).

On July 10, a 10-person board of inquiry selected by the denomination’s leader, Archbishop Foley Beach, received a presentment (or list of charges) against Ruch. The board submitted a public declaration on Friday that said at least two-thirds of the board found there was probable cause to present Ruch for trial. Specifically, per the denomination’s bylaws, they found grounds to try Ruch for violation of his ordination vows, for “conduct giving just cause for scandal or offense, including the abuse of ecclesiastical power” and for “disobedience, or willful contravention” of the denominational or diocesan bylaws.

The charges against…

View Cache

A bishop in the Anglican Church in North America is heading toward a church trial as he has been accused of mishandling allegations of sexual abuse and spiritual abuse.

ACNA announced on Tuesday that Bishop Stewart Ruch III of the Anglican Diocese of the Upper Midwest, which is based in Wheaton, Illinois, will face an ecclesiastical trial.

This decision came via a Board of Inquiry that investigated a presentment, or a written document laying out charges filed by multiple clergy, submitted in June. The presentment will next be sent to the Court for the Trial of a Bishop, according to ACNA.

A public declaration Tuesday states that in the judgment of at least two-thirds of the Board of Inquiry, there is probable cause to bring Ruch to trial for violations of Canon IV.2.3, Canon IV.2.4, and Canon IV.2.9. Specifically, he is being tried for violating…

View Cache

A nightmare has haunted WTOP anchor Dan Ronan for decades. The recurring dream has plagued him for most of his life.

“I’m being chased out of the parking lot,” 63-year-old Ronan told WTOP’s DMV Download podcast. “I’m being chased through that parking lot on a dark evening. And he’s chasing me and he’s … screaming at me. And before he would catch me, I would wake up sweating and crying and shaking.”

In 1971, Ronan was sexually assaulted in Chicago, Illinois, by Father Thomas Gannon — a respected priest and professor who went on to teach sociology at Georgetown University between 1983 and 1986. Ronan was in the sixth grade at the time, and didn’t tell a soul about the assault for nearly 50 years.

“I kept it in and I said, ‘Who’s gonna believe an 11-year-old boy?’ If those circumstances happened nowadays? Yeah, with the [2017] #MeToo movement….

View Cache

It’s the first time a higher court in La. has ruled on the constitutionality of the so-called “lookback window,” which gave 3 years for victims to file lawsuits.

BATON ROUGE, La. — In a major victory for sexual abuse survivors, a Louisiana appeals court ruled a state law reviving decades-old claims of abuse is constitutional.

It’s the first time a higher court in Louisiana has ruled on the constitutionality of Louisiana’s so-called “lookback window,” which provided three years, starting in 2021, for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits for damages, regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred.

The Diocese of Lafayette was the latest Catholic Church entity to argue the lookback window was unconstitutional, trying to bar a complaint by a man who alleged he suffered sex abuse by a priest in 1961 or 1962.

In another case that went to the Supreme Court, Holy Cross…

View Cache

The suit alleges the church covered up crimes by ex-priest Joseph Henn

A civil lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix alleging the church helped in covering up abuse is being allowed to go forward after a state appellate court reversed a dismissal by a trial court judge. 

The lawsuit, which was filed in 2020 by an unnamed man identified only as John ND Doe, was one of several lawsuits brought following legislation that extended the statue of limitations on child sexual abuse and opened a temporary two-year window for civil suits that were otherwise time-barred.This story deals with sexual abuse and assault of minors. If you or someone you know has been a victim of this crime call 800-656-HOPE for 24/7 help and support.

In a lawsuit against the diocese for how it handled abuse allegations against Joseph J. Henn, a priest…

View Cache

The bishopric of Basel has admitted that it made procedural errors in its handling of a case of alleged sexual abuse.

“This is a failure that must not be repeated,” said Bishop Felix Gmür on Friday.

The bishopric of Basel, based in Solothurn, was reacting to an article in the current affairs magazine Beobachter which said a Nigerian auxiliary priest working for the diocese of Basel had sexually abused a minor on several occasions between 1995 and 1998.

The victim reported the abuse to the Catholic Church in 2019. A commission of the bishops’ conference recognised the woman as a victim and paid her compensation of CHF15,000 ($17,000). According to Beobachter, however, the abuse had no consequences for the alleged perpetrator.

The bishopric said in a statement on Friday that the article in Beobachter was an opportunity to “recognise the mistakes that have been made, correct them immediately and avoid them in future”. The…

View Cache

WHAT

The parents of Ohioans for Child Protection and local, national survivors of SNAP Network and other concerned members of the community will be holding a press conference to publicly ask Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to conduct a statewide investigation of the history and scope of child sexual abuse, trafficking, child sex abuse enabling and cover up in Ohio’s 6 Dioceses.

–disclose the names of 49 catholic religious, with Ohio ties, named in the Pennsylvania Attorney General Report (2018), Baltimore Attorney General Report (2023), and Illinois Attorney General Report (2023)

–highlight 2 recent Ohio priests convicted of Federal Sex Trafficking

–highlight 3 recent Ohio priests convicted of sexual assault

–National leader and abuse survivor with SNAP Network will share the importance of statewide investigations to provide validation and justice to victims, inform the state’s leaders and the public, prevent further abuse by identifying predators and enablers

–Ohio Catholic Church abuse survivor…

View Cache

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – For the second time in five years, a group of victims of sex abuse by Catholic clergy and their supporters is asking Ohio’s attorney general to investigate all six dioceses in the state.

Local and national survivors and/or their parents who make up SNAP Network (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), Greater Cincinnati Voice of the Faithful and Ohioans for Child Protection want Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to conduct a statewide investigation “of the history and scope of child sexual abuse, trafficking, child sex abuse enabling and cover-up in Ohio’s 6 Dioceses.”

They held a news conference Wednesday morning in the atrium of the statehouse in Columbus.

The group also provided the attorney general’s office with a spreadsheet of nearly 50 clergy with Ohio ties referenced in three recent reports of statewide investigations of church sex abuse by attorney generals in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Maryland.

…

View Cache

Dave Yost told reporters his office doesn’t have the legal authority to investigate “matters like this.”

National, state and local advocacy groups are calling on the Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to investigate possible sex crimes within the state’s six Catholic dioceses.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), Ohioans for Child Protection, and Greater Cincinnati Voice of the Faithful, made the announcement during an Aug. 16 press conference at the Ohio Statehouse.

“No longer should they have a license to prey, P-R-E-Y, on our most vulnerable,” said Claudia Vercellotti with SNAP.

In a letter to Yost’s office, Ohioans for Child Protection points to similar investigations in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Illinois.

Investigations in three nearby states

Pennsylvania’s 2018 Grand Jury Report details 300 priests who were credibly accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 children. In the report, jurors said victims’ fear of coming forward could…

View Cache

The Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama made headlines last month when local media reported that a young priest, Fr. Alex Crow, had fled to Europe with an 18-year-old girl — recently graduated from a Catholic high school — ostensibly for the purpose of performing an illicit exorcism upon her.

The archdiocese announced July 28 that the priest had “abandoned his assignment in the archdiocese,” adding that his “behavior is totally unbecoming of a priest,” and that “he may no longer exercise ministry as a priest, nor tell people he is a priest, nor dress as a priest.”

The archdiocese also announced that it had informed the county prosecutor’s office of the situation, “due to the circumstances of [Crow’s] departure.”

It quickly emerged that Crow had a strong interest in spiritual warfare and exorcisms, and had appeared on several podcasts to discuss demonic possession — though sources have confirmed that Crow wasn’t…

View Cache

Earlier this week, an internet search took me to the web site of the Diocese of Albany, New York, where I happened upon an official profile of retired Bishop Howard Hubbard. The profile is formulaic, listing his various pastoral assignments and committee memberships. Still it is interesting for the facts it does not mention:

• that Bishop Hubbard is the target of several sex-abuse lawsuits;
• That last year Bishop Hubbard asked the Vatican to release him from the clerical state; and
• That this year, after the Vatican turned down his bid for laicization, he announced that he was getting married.

The bishop’s “marriage” is invalid, of course; a cleric is not free to marry. (Even if he had been laicized, the 84-year-old bishop would have needed a dispensation to marry.) So I would not have expected the archdiocese to post a cheerful wedding announcement. Still I was struck by the absence…

View Cache

Some 100 Catholic clergy sex abuse cases on Long Island have been removed from federal bankruptcy proceedings and sent back to state court. An attorney for survivors called the rulings by federal judges a victory Thursday, while the Diocese of Rockville Centre described them as “disappointing.” 

U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown on Aug. 10 ordered 42 cases returned to New York State court because, he indicated, little progress had been made with the federal bankruptcy proceedings. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Joan Azrack sent another 58 back. 

“This is a big step,” said Jordan Merson, a Manhattan-based attorney representing some survivors. “The diocese’s strategy of fighting survivors instead of working with them is failing right before our eyes.”

Sean Dolan, a spokesman for the diocese, said Thursday the rulings were “disappointing” and a mistake, coming as they did amid diocese attempts to reach a consensus on settling 600 cases, nearly three years into bankruptcy proceedings.

“The Diocese continues to believe that a…

View Cache

In the wake of the sexual abuse of minors scandal that broke out in April involving various members of the Society of Jesus in Bolivia, the country’s provincial superior, Father Bernardo Mercado, said that not even if he “were crazy” would he have entered the Jesuit order if he had known the real situation involving those members accused of pederasty.

The priest was interviewed recently by the special commission for the investigation of crimes of sexual abuse taking place in ecclesial environments recently created by the Bolivian Chamber of Senators, ATB Digital media reported. 

Referring to the numerous Jesuits accused of sexual abuse, Mercado said: “Personally, for me they were great missionaries.”

The Jesuit provincial made the comparison to the members of the commission: “It’s as if [growing up] I were looking at you [senators] and one day I wanted to be like you.”

“At no time did I see…

View Cache

BOSTON, Mass., Aug. 16, 2023―Voice of the Faithful joins its affiliate in Cincinnati and other Ohio groups supporting clergy abuse survivors in calling for the state attorney general to investigate Catholic clergy sexual abuse of minors and its cover up throughout the state. Overwhelming evidence of Church malfeasance in the protection of children shown in a score of states attorneys general and grand jury investigations compels VOTF and like-minded Catholics to request such an investigation.

To-date, as many as 20 states across the country have concluded or have ongoing investigations into Catholic clergy abuse. These investigations have shown the necessity of using civil authorities to investigate clergy abuse in the Church. In 2019, this fact already was evident, as several investigations had been completed and others instituted.

“It’s now clear to me that the church hierarchy is not capable of policing itself from within,” said former Illinois Supreme Court Justice…

View Cache

Advocates for survivors of clergy sexual abuse said it’s time for Ohio’s top law enforcement official to investigate the state’s six Catholic dioceses.

Members of Ohio chapters of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, Ohioans for Child Protection and the Greater Cincinnati Voice of the Faithful urged Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in an Aug. 16 letter to follow the examples of abuse investigations that have occurred in other states in recent years.

Daniel Frondorf of SNAP’s Cincinnati chapter told NCR that reports released after investigations in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Maryland included references to 49 priests who had lived, worked or had other ties to Ohio and had been accused of sexually abusing children.

“I think there’s enough compelling evidence in the news media the last 15, 20 years that a larger…

View Cache

[VIDEO]

Ohioans for Child Protection and SNAP have made a formal request to Attorney General Dave Yost asking him to conduct a statewide investigation of the history and scope of child sexual abuse and its covering up by the state’s Catholic dioceses.

View Cache

Several groups that advocate for survivors of sexual abuse on Wednesday called for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to investigate the state’s six Catholic dioceses.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a national nonprofit, as well as two local groups, Ohioans for Child Protection and Greater Cincinnati Voice of the Faithful, announced their demand during a news conference at the Statehouse. The groups are calling on the attorney general to investigate “the history and scope of child sexual abuse, trafficking, child sex abuse enabling and cover up” in the dioceses.  

Teresa Dinwiddie-Herrmann, co-chair of Ohioans for Child Protection, said she is aware of credible cases of abuse in Ohio that have not been investigated.

“We know of other cases where allegations have come forward, with evidence, and there has not been a criminal investigation or for whatever reason, nothing goes beyond a criminal investigation. And…

View Cache

49 accused clergy members named; many have ties to Northeast Ohio

Advocates against child sex abuse have filed a letter to the Ohio attorney general, asking the state to hold accused predators in the Catholic church accountable.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Advocates against child sex abuse have filed a letter to the Ohio attorney general, asking the state to hold accused predators in the Catholic church accountable.

“We are asking Attorney General Yost to simply step up and get on the train of accountability and justice for victims,” said Claudia Vercellotti with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Ohioans for Child Protection SNAP have made a formal request to Attorney General Dave Yost. They are asking him to conduct a statewide investigation of the history and scope of child sexual abuse and its covering up by the state’s Catholic dioceses.

Vercellotti brought forward reports from other states, where…

View Cache

Church claims it cannot get fair trial over alleged abuse by the notorious David Joseph Perrett in legal tactic that has drawn widespread criticism

The Catholic church is seeking to use using the death of a “prolific paedophile” priest to permanently prevent a dying Indigenous man from seeking justice for alleged abuse suffered on camping trips in rural New South Wales.

Two survivors are suing the church’s Armidale diocese for the alleged abuse by notorious priest David Joseph Perrett during camping trips from an Aboriginal mission in the mid-1970s.

Perrett died in 2020 while awaiting criminal trial for more than 100 offences relating to the abuse of almost 40 young children – including the two plaintiffs now suing the church – in areas spanning Armidale, Walcha, Guyra and the broader New England region from the 1960s to the mid-1990s.

At the time the then bishop…

View Cache

THE traditionalist group Forward in Faith, and the Society of which it is part, have formally asked that mandatory reporting of child abuse does not apply to confidentiality given under the seal of confession.

The seal is the priest’s obligation under canon law to hear a person’s confession of sin, or imagined sin, in complete confidence, so that nothing that the priest is told in that context will be repeated or disclosed under any circumstances. This is also the rule of the Roman Catholic Church.

Mandatory reporting — without religious exception — was one of the key recommendations in the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) last year (News, 21 October 2022). The recommendation specifies that this would not apply to situations in which a child is aged between 13 and 16 years old and it is reasonably believed that the relationship is consensual and not…

View Cache

Officials with the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office released a Valentine’s letter from Alex Crow to the former McGill-Toolen High School Student he is with in Italy, in which he claims they are married.

There is an investigation into what type of relationship Crow had with the woman before the two left for Italy. Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch says the relationship did appear to be inappropriate and he believes Crow groomed the young woman. She recently graduated from McGill-Toolen. The school posted to Facebook saying Crow sat in on classes and took confessions there in 2021.

MCSO has redacted the woman’s name.

“Dear ***,
As I write this I’m still experiencing eye dilation, so I apologize if this is hard to
read. I can barely read what I’m writing as I do this. Ha!
First things first: I love you, and I thank Jesus for you every day. You have made
my life both astronomically…

View Cache

A pedophile ex-priest and former Labor party official who preyed on young boys in Asian countries has been barred from practising law in Australia.

Peter Andrew Hansen was jailed in June 2021 for at least 14 years on 31 charges of producing child pornography in Vietnam and the Philippines, distributing child exploitation material and engaging in sexual activity with nine boys.

The chief clerk of the NSW Supreme Court applied in April to have Hansen struck off the law register and barred from practising due to his crimes.

In a joint judgment handed down on Tuesday, Justices Fabian Gleeson, Jeremy Kirk and John Basten declared Hansen was not a fit and proper person to remain on the roll of Australian lawyers and ordered his name be removed.

“It is not appropriate that a practitioner remain on the roll whilst in custody,” they said.

The judges considered Hansen’s physical and mental…

View Cache

A former Catholic priest who served in Laurens and Newberry counties pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to Transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

According to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Columbia, Jamie Adolfo Gonzalez-Farias, 68, who was known to parishioners as “Father Gonzalez,” admitted to transporting the victim from South Carolina to Florida with the intent to “commit lewd and lascivious exhibition and lewd and lascivious molestation in violation of Florida state law.

Gonzalez-Farias was arrested at the Miami International Airport by the FBI and U.S. Marshal’s Service in January and initially entered a plea of not-guilty.

U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis accepted the guilty plea Friday and will sentence Gonzalez-Farias after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.  Transportation of a Minor with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity carries a mandatory minimum…

View Cache

Teenagers plied with alcohol before being touched and fondled, court told

A Hove church leader abused four boys at his home in Hangleton, a court was told today (Tuesday 15 August).

On separate occasions, Daniel Reed, 57, plied the teenagers with drink at his home in Stonecroft Close, before indecently assaulting them.

Jason Sugarman, prosecuting, told a jury that Reed showed them pornographic films and persuaded them to put on silk shorts or boxers before taking advantage of them.

Some he touched and fondled. Reed, known as Danny, persuaded one boy to lie face down on a mattress while he was grinding against him.

Mr Sugarman said: “This case is one of historic sexual child abuse on boys.

“The defendant, who is now 57 years of age, at that time in the late 1980s early 1990s, was a church youth leader in his early twenties at Clarendon Church, in Hove.

…

View Cache

The North Coast diocese emerged early on as a hot spot in the nationwide clergy abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church in the early 2000s.

How to file a claim

Those who want to maintain or preserve the right to seek a settlement in the bankruptcy case for the Santa Rosa Roman Catholic Diocese must submit proofs of claim so they are received by Oct. 20 by Brooklyn-based Donlin, Recano & Company, Inc., which is coordinating the case.

All orders, forms and other claims are available at donlinrecano.com/Clients/rcbsr/Static/SurvivorClaims.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Survivors of clergy abuse involving the Santa Rosa Roman Catholic Diocese have one final chance this fall to come forward to seek a settlement from the church.

A federal bankruptcy judge has set an Oct. 20 deadline for all claims against the embattled diocese — both from those who have lodged lawsuits against the church already and from those who…

View Cache

An Assemblies of God church in Texas is demanding the creator of an online forum exposing alleged abuse within Chi Alpha Student Ministries to retract “defamatory” statements made by commenters at his site. A lawyer representing the creator of the forum is rejecting the demand, citing free speech laws. 

On August 3, an attorney representing North Central Church in Spring, Texas, sent a 52-page cease and desist letter to the creator of the online forum XA & The Lions Den, Ron Bloomingkemper. The letter demanded the forum “remove all the defamatory and disparaging posts about North Central and its leaders” and threatened that a “defamation lawsuit” may be filed. 

The demand letter cited 10 forum posts from anonymous users, which reported or analyzed alleged incidents at North Central Church’s young adult ministry, Kairos. The posts also named two North Central Church leaders who allegedly…

View Cache

Northern District of Ohio | Northeast Ohio Priest Sentenced to Life in Prison for Sex Trafficking Minors, Exploitation and Child Pornography | United States Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs | Jury Convicts Priest of Sex Trafficking Three Victims in Northern Ohio | United States Department of Justice

Rev. David Morrier sentenced to probation for sexual battery | News, Sports, Jobs – The Herald Star (heraldstaronline.com)

Cincinnati priest pleads guilty to raping altar boy, gets 7 years in deal with prosecutors (fox19.com)

Glouster priest sentenced to 12 years in prison for unlawful sex with minor parishioner | Local News | athensnews.com

WHAT

The parents of Ohioans for Child Protection and local, national survivors of SNAP Network and other concerned members of the community will be holding a press conference…

View Cache

Paintings by Louis Ribes were removed from numerous churches last year after his victims protested to the Lyon archdiocese.

French churches around Lyon have begun removing stained-glass windows created by the late Fr Louis Ribes, who was posthumously declared a sexual abuser of minors.  

The two dismantled windows, the first of six planned withdrawals, took place in Dième in the Beaujolais region and further will follow in the autumn as masons become available to do the work.

Paintings by Ribes, who died in 1994 as the reputed “Picasso of churches”, were removed from numerous churches last year after 49 victims protested to the Archdiocese of Lyon.

The victims’ activism came as they saw the extent of his abuse while registering individual complaints following the 2021 Sauvé report. The archdiocese says it has “no doubt about their testimonies”.  

The windows, many in churches owned by the state under France’s policy of laïcité,…

View Cache

Two priests from separate parishes in the area were removed from duties following allegations of sexual misconduct. A survivor of abuse is urging parishes to show grace to those brave enough to come forward.

Zac Zepeda is a deacon with a San Antonio area church and a member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. The network provides emotional support to victims wounded by religious and institutional authorities.

News of two local priests involved in sexual misconduct is disheartening, yet Zepeda applauded the archdiocese’s quick action to remove the priests from duties until the investigations are complete.

“Just because there’s an investigation doesn’t mean these allegations are true or are proven. But the church has previously only done a canonical investigation and not a civil investigation. So I applaud the archbishop for engaging with the civil authorities,” Zepeda said.

He urges parishioners to show grace and comfort to…

View Cache

“I don’t care if I bring the whole temple down,” one interviewee ominously declares in the trailer for the upcoming Netflix documentary Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America. That comment is a reference to a horrifying child sex abuse scandal at the heart of the streamer’s new documentary feature, from director Brian Knappenberger and coming on September 6. “This is an abomination,” the insider adds about what we come to learn are thousands upon thousands of documented claims of abuse.

This latest Netflix documentary looks set to be one of the most shocking and talked about of the year, more so even than recent titles like Waco: American Apocalypse and Take Care of Maya — the latter of which will utterly wreck you and make you never look at the health care industry the same way again.

As for Knappenberger’s forthcoming 94-minute documentary, here’s what Netflix…

View Cache

A friend likes to remind me about the one time I attended an Ashes test in Melbourne, Boxing Day, 1974. The crowd was waiting, excited, to watch the English team, and Dennis Amiss particularly, front up to the wicket. On he came, bravely facing just eight balls. Then he was caught out, having scored a paltry four runs. I cried. How humiliating and soul-shrivelling for him, I thought. But my Australian (male) friends couldn’t understand at all. Crying? For an Englishman!

Review: The Empty Honour Board: a school memoir – Martin Flanagan (Viking)

Then there were all those years growing up with a father who insisted on watching Wide World of Sports every Sunday at lunchtime. The kitchen table would be carried in to the TV and we were made to sit in religious silence, eating our roast, watching grown men hand-balling through a hole in the wall, and rehashing the…

View Cache

• “Disobedient Women,” a new book by journalist Sarah Stankorb centers the voices of women who sounded the alarm on church abuse.
• Book looks at abuse in Christian homeschooling movement, the Southern Baptist Convention, Sovereign Grace Ministries and features the stories of local Nashville figures.

Stories about the exposure of church abuse scandals that are now the subjects of popular Hulu and Amazon Prime docuseries haven’t always centered on the women behind the effort to expose wrongdoing.

First with the help of blogs and now with social media, mostly women sounded the alarm on spiritual and sexual abuse happening within denominations and parachurch organizations.

“I got very irritated that a major piece of this was being ignored,” journalist and author Sarah Stankorb said.

Stankorb has been following these women-led movements for more than a decade through pieces for The Washington Post, The New York Times, Vogue, Marie Claire and others. She’s…

View Cache

Earlier this week, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone revealed that it’s “very likely” that the archdiocese would be filing for bankruptcy due to the hundreds of clerical abuse lawsuits filed against it. If, as expected, the San Francisco Archdiocese soon files for Chapter 11 protection (bankruptcy), almost 1 in 5 of the nation’s largest 50 Catholic dioceses will have taken this route. Rockville Centre is the largest (#8 with 1,428,563 Catholics). Then, San Diego (#13 with 930,379 Catholics), Milwaukee (#21 with 731,516 Catholics), St. Paul-Minneapolis (#22 with 730,989 Catholics), and Buffalo (#23 with 707,981 Catholics). Rounding out the list: New Orleans (#40 with 488,004 Catholics), Camden (#41 with 458,044 Catholics), and Albany (#48 with 400,000 Catholics). By comparison, the San Francisco Archdiocese is the 42nd largest, with 425,210 Catholics.

It should also be noted that at least three Catholic religious orders have also filed for Chapter 11 protection:…

View Cache

$1.5 million dollars in Louisiana tax dollars is going to redevelop Hope Haven in Marrero.

The property is owned by the New Orleans Archdiocese and shut down after sex abuse scandals.

WDSU Investigates uncovered a portion of the $1.5 million could be going back into pockets of the archdiocese. That money could be used to buy property from the embattled and bankrupt nonprofit.

Senator Patrick Connick said this is a chance to bring life back into the property. He is pushing for the archdiocese to use the money to help sex abuse victims find closure.

One alleged sex abuse survivor could not believe it when WDSU told him his tax dollars could be going into the organization that he says destroyed his life.

“It’s a slap in the face,” he said.

The man WDSU is not identifying is one of the hundreds that have filed suit against the Archdiocese of…

View Cache

Survivors of priest sexual abuse honored The Baltimore Banner on Sunday for a series of investigative news stories that identified seven church figures accused of abusing children.

The names of these seven people had been hidden under a court order. Banner reporters used court documents, archdiocesan records, church directories, school yearbooks, census and property records to name the six men and one woman in a series of articles published in May and June.

These people are among more than a dozen whose names are redacted in the Maryland Attorney General’s Report on the history of child sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. More than 600 victims suffered sexual abuse or physical torture at the hands of church figures in the past 80 years, according to the report.

The nonprofit Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, SNAP, the largest survivor organization, honored The…

View Cache

Paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale sentenced to eighth jail term over historic abuse

One of Australia’s most notorious paedophiles, Gerald Ridsdale, has been sentenced for the eighth time over historical sex offences.

Key points:

• Ridsdale will now be eligible for parole in 2028, four years ahead of the expiry of his total prison term
• The court heard that the victim-survivor felt the abuse cost him years of his life
• Ridsdale has been in custody since 1994 and the court was told he may not have long to live

This morning’s sentencing over the 192nd charge faced by Ridsdale related to the former priest’s 72nd known victim-survivor.

In June this year the 89-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault of a minor in the 1980s.

Today Ballarat Magistrates’ Court heard Ridsdale had attempted to soothe the 13-year-old boy by saying, “It’s alright”, before molesting him.

Ridsdale was acting as a counsellor for the…

View Cache

The current Bishop of Albany, Edward Scharfenberger, said that the Church does not recognise the marriage as valid.

The retired Bishop of Albany, New York has been married in a civil ceremony after the Vatican refused his request for laicisation.

Bishop Emeritus Howard Hubbard, 84, was removed from active ministry in 2019 after a man alleged he had been abuse while still a boy by Hubbard, an allegation Hubbard vigorously denies.

“With full and complete confidence, I can say this allegation is false,” Hubbard said at the time. “I have never sexually abused anyone in my life. I have trust in the canonical and civil legal processes and believe my name will be cleared in due course.”

Facing a lengthy investigative process, however, Hubbard decided not to wait.

“I could be 91 or 92 before these legal matters are concluded,” Hubbard said. “In the meantime, I have fallen in love…

View Cache

An Australian ex-priest convicted of sexually abusing children had another 12 months added to his 39-year prison sentence on Tuesday for molesting a 72nd victim.

Gerald Ridsdale, 89, has been in prison since 1994 for a series of convictions for abusing children between 1961 and 1988 while he worked as a Roman Catholic priest in churches and schools across his home state of Victoria.

He was sentenced in the Ballarat Magistrates Court to an additional year after he pleaded guilty in June to indecently assaulting a 13-year-old boy while he worked at a Catholic school in Horsham in 1987.

It was his 193rd conviction for child abuse.

View Cache

The Archdiocese of New Orleans and Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond are pushing back against a newspaper’s investigative report claiming they mishandled several claims of clerical abuse.

The Guardian published an Aug. 8 investigative feature concluding that “the archbishop on six different occasions disregarded findings of credibility” for accused priests, allegedly overriding the archdiocesan review board, a consultative body required for each diocese or eparchy by the U.S. bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” also known as the Dallas Charter.

“We adamantly deny the assertions made in The Guardian that allegations of sexual abuse were mishandled by Archbishop Aymond and the Archdiocese of New Orleans,” Sarah Comiskey McDonald, archdiocesan communications director, told OSV News in an Aug. 8 email.

“Each allegation is complex and unique. A finding of credibility by the Internal Review Board is not a determination of guilt in either canon law or civil law,”…

View Cache

This essay is a Cover Story selection, a weekly feature highlighting the top picks from the editors of America Media.

Philadelphia is a “very Catholic city,” Barbara Daly will tell you. When you meet people in Philadelphia, “they don’t ask you what you do for a living.” Instead, she says, they ask what parish you belong to or what Catholic high school you attended.

This very Catholic city has been hammered in recent years by stories of the abuse of children by Catholic priests recounted in a series of grand jury reports, which culminated in a statewide grand jury investigation and a report released by the attorney general of Pennsylvania in August 2018. These events returned national attention to the church’s abuse scandal and inspired a flurry of similar investigations across the country.

Ms. Daly is the pastoral associate at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Ambler, Pa., outside Philadelphia. Lots of folks…

View Cache

Plaintiffs Robert Rossignol and Glen Witham spoke at a press conference on Monday, August 14 with representing law firm Berman & Simmons.

Monday morning was marked by a sense of heaviness at Berman & Simmons law firm in Portland, as attorneys filed six new lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, alleging childhood sexual abuse. That brings the total number of complaints against the Portland diocese by Berman & Simmons to 30.

These six new cases involve five men and one woman. Most of the plaintiffs chose to remain anonymous Monday, except for two: Robert Rossignol, who currently lives in Apollo Beach, Florida, and Glen Witham, who now lives in Augusta. Both of these men overcame the hesitations survivors often experience and spoke to the news media Monday. 

“It just needs to change. It just needs to change. I will not set foot in a Catholic church ever again in…

View Cache

The word complacency may not sound like a bad thing, but when you are complacent, you are content and do not strive to better yourself or take action. You may as well just bury your head in the sand. Regarding child sexual abuse in the church, Catholic bishops talk a great game about the evils of being complacent. In case any of them are sincere about this, we at Horowitz Law have two simple suggestions: 1- stop using the word ‘historic’ when discussing child sex crimes, and 2- make your employees read the Abuse Tracker every day. Here is why:

1: “Historic: Often, the Catholic hierarchy uses the phrase’ historic abuse’ for all incidents that happened in the past. That could even mean last year. For example, if you search the phrase on BishopAccountability.org, you will get numerous articles, especially by European church officials. In a technical sense, that’s…

View Cache

Ex-parishioners shared their pain and called for accountability Monday, claiming they were sexually abused as children by Roman Catholic clergy stationed throughout Maine.

Attorneys with the law firm Berman and Simmons, along with two childhood abuse survivors, sat down in front of cameras Monday.

“He knew I liked cars, and he had a Trans Am, and you can probably get the gist of what happened,” plaintiff Glen Witham said. “He kind of had that over my head.”

At 14 years old, Witham lived at a boys home in Rumford across the street from the St. Athanasius and St. John Parish.

There, he says he suffered abuse at the hands of Fr. John Harris, starting in 1984.

“I just put everything behind me,” Witham said. “Like 40 years, until I saw this on the news.”

The news was that Maine lifted the statute of limitations in 2021, allowing anyone with a…

View Cache

It is 20 years since the Boston Globe exposed the abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic church world wide.

Two weeks ago The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry’s released its interim report into Marylands School for disabled boys in Christchurch, finding widespread sexual and physical abuse of students between 1955 and 1984.

The Press newspaper in Christchurch began reporting on the horrors at Marylands School in 2002.

Martin Baron was the editor of the Boston Globe, and its award winning Spotlight investigative team which tenaciously uncovered widespread sexual abuse by priests, hushed up by the church paying private settlements to claimants.

The story was adapted for the big screen – Spotlight winning two academy awards.

He joins Susie Ferguson to talk about the impact of the Spotlight team’s work, two decades on.

[AUDIO]

View Cache

The lawsuit by the estate of Isabella Kalua says the state advocated her adoption by her foster parents despite multiple reports of suspicious injuries by doctors and others.

The estate of a 6-year-old Waimanalo girl who died from alleged abuse in perhaps the most notorious child welfare cases in recent Hawaii history is suing her adoptive parents and the state for gross negligence.

The civil lawsuit claims both the Department of Human Services and Catholic Charities Hawaii — a nonprofit that periodically reviews foster homes — failed to investigate and intervene in child abuse allegations that caused Isabella Kalua’s wrongful death.

Her adoptive parents, Isaac and Lehua Kalua, have been charged with murder. They are alleged to have kept Isabella in a dog cage to keep her from seeking food at night because they didn’t feed her enough and covering her mouth with duct tape.

DHS…

View Cache

Two San Antonio-area priests have been stripped of their duties after they were accused of sexually abusing minors, and the allegations against them have been reported to law enforcement, the Archdiocese of San Antonio said.

The congregations at both churches were notified Sunday via letters from Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller that were read aloud.

Father Jesus Eduardo Martinez-Soliz of St. Joseph Church-Honey Creek in Spring Branch is accused of sexual misconduct and grooming a minor, García-Siller said. Grooming refers to the process by which sexual predators build a relationship of trust with children in order to exploit them.

The allegation was reported to a misconduct hotline on July 25, and the archdiocese notified the Comal County Sheriff’s Office.

At St. Monica Catholic Church in Converse, a teenager said that Father Alejandro Ortega had touched them inappropriately, the archbishop said. The minor reported the incident at a Catholic youth retreat…

View Cache

A celebratory profile of Bishop Emeritus Howard Hubbard on the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany’s website concludes by noting that Hubbard’s 37 years as bishop made him the longest serving bishop in the history of the diocese.

But now, Hubbard wants to sever formal ties to the Catholic Church. 

He’s in love with a “wonderful woman.” 

In an Aug. 1 statement, Hubbard declared that in July he was married in a civil ceremony, and now the 84-year-old is really, really hoping the church will come to recognize that marriage and grant his laicization request, which would effectively free him from his priestly obligations.

But in March the Vatican denied that laicization request until seven civil lawsuits against Hubbard alleging sexual misconduct have been resolved, according to Hubbard’s statement. And this month, current Bishop Edward Scharfenberger said Hubbard is still beholden to the rules against marriage, even though the retired bishop cannot…

View Cache

The two men sat side by side, staring at their folded hands, while their attorney introduced them to a room of reporters. It took them years to come forward as victims of childhood sexual abuse.

Robert Rossignol was 12 years old when he said the Rev. John Audibert abused him at St. Catherine Church in Washburn. Now 67, he said his family was so devout, he didn’t feel comfortable discussing the abuse with his parents.

“The sun rose with the priest, in my mother and father’s eyes,” Rossignol said. “So I never said anything to them.”

Glen Witham was 14 when he said the Rev. John Harris began abusing him while he lived at the Rumford Boys’ Home across the street from Harris’ church. Witham, now 52, said Harris was counseling him after his mother died.

Growing up, the men said the Catholic Church was upheld as a resource for…

View Cache

Case of Zhi Alan Cheng, accused of sexual abuse and rape, one of many that speak to institutional failures, advocates say

When prosecutors last week announced a litany of sexual crime charges against the New York City doctor Zhi Alan Cheng, their allegations presented a shocking description of apparent serial predation.

Cheng, a gastroenterologist at New York-Presbyterian-Queens hospital, stands accused of sexually abusing three patients at the medical center – and raping three other women in his apartment.

After that woman came forward, authorities searched his apartment, finding a trove of videos purportedly depicting alleged assaults, prosecutors claim. They also allegedly seized recreational drugs; fentanyl, ketamine, cocaine, LSD and MDMA, in addition to powerful medical sedatives, such as propofol and sevoflurane.

What is even more shocking about Cheng’s arrest is that the charges come in the wake of numerous prosecutions of other prominent doctors in New York…

View Cache

A priest from the St. Monica’s Catholic church was removed from the Parish after sexual abuse allegations with a minor.

According to their Facebook Livestream, it was announced that there were substantiated allegations of sexually inappropriate physical contact with a minor by former father Alejandro Ortega.

The child reported the inappropriate contact on June 24, 2023, during a Teen ACTS Retreat at another Parish at the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

The Parish reported it to the parents and to the Archdiocese.

They informed the Bexar County District Attorney’s Special Crime Division of the allegation on June 29th.

On the recommendation of the Archdiocese and Review Board, they conducted a preliminary investigation. They asked Father Ortega to refrain from all ministries.

The investigation was conducted by a private investigator. They concluded the investigation on July 27th. Following the review of conclusions, there was enough evidence of inappropriate contact with the minor…

View Cache