ABUSE TRACKER

Under a gray sky that threatened rain on Friday morning, survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of the Catholic Church gathered in downtown Baltimore, outside the archdiocese’s Cathedral Street building. There, they promised a fight ahead — one that has already brought together people whose experiences of cruelty and violation extend far beyond the city’s borders.

“We’re here now and we’re not going anywhere,” said Frank Schindler, a Maryland resident who says he was abused by a priest in New York at the age of five.

Two days after the Attorney General’s release of a report that details nearly a century of sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy and church officials acting within Baltimore’s archdiocese, members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, issued a set of demands for more transparency.

David Lorenz, who heads the Maryland branch of SNAP, called for the Archdiocese of Baltimore to…

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Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, called for transparency from the Archdiocese of Baltimore after the release of the Maryland Attorney General’s scathing report into abuses within the church.

The Maryland Attorney General on Tuesday released the 456-page investigation that details 158 clergy, teachers, seminarians and deacons within the Archdiocese of Baltimore who allegedly assaulted more than 600 children going back to the 1940s.

The report also exposed many cases where members of the church and law enforcement colluded to protect priests and others within the Catholic church.  

The report was released with court-ordered redactions, which include the anonymization of 60 individuals referenced in the report by eliminating specific references, as well as the names and identifying information of 37 more individuals. 

Survivors of abuse at the hands of the church called those individuals perpetrators, and…

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More than 150 Catholic priests and others associated with the archdiocese sexually abused over 600 children and often escaped accountability, the investigation found.

While the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore has long touted its transparency in publishing the names of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse, a report released this week by the Maryland attorney general’s office raises questions about the integrity of the church’s list.

Following the report’s long-awaited release Wednesday, victims and advocates called on the Baltimore archbishop to address discrepancies — their latest demand for transparency in a decadeslong fight to expose the church’s coverup tactics.

They also celebrated a major step toward potential legal recourse: state legislation passed Wednesday that would eliminate the existing statute of limitations on civil litigation against institutions like the archdiocese in cases of child sexual abuse. Similar proposals failed in recent years, but the attorney general’s investigation brought renewed attention to the…

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Maryland’s attorney general released Wednesday a detailed report on the history of clerical sexual abuse and cover-up in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. 

The report, some four years in the making, details how, when, and where clerical sexual abuse of minors occurred, and how Church authorities responded. Like similar reports issued in other states, the reading is sobering. 

The Baltimore report was released four-and-a-half years after a similar text was published by a Pennsylvania grand jury. While that report formed part of the whirlwind of ecclesial scandals unfolding in 2018, the Baltimore report is likely to make fewer waves across the country.

But the Baltimore report, the archdiocesan response, and the context in which it was released all give a clear snapshot of the state of the Church’s reform efforts on clerical sexual abuse — and the reason why progress on Church reform over child abuse is an often unheard…

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In a message to members of the Archdiocese of Baltimore April 5 after the release of the Maryland Attorney General’s report on sexual abuse in the archdiocese over the last 80 years, Archbishop William E. Lori noted that the policies and processes have changed since the number of incidents of abuse peaked in the 1960s and 1970s.

“The archdiocese is not the same organization it was when, as the report documents, cases of abuse peaked during the 1960s and 1970s. Instances fell every year and every decade since then, alongside the development of canon and criminal law and Archdiocesan accountability standards and policies designed to protect children,” the archbishop said.

Asked by the Catholic Review at a press conference the day of the release whether the archdiocese was still covering up abuse, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown sidestepped the question.

But a day later, Brown,…

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A Las Vegas pastor and his wife have been indicted on multiple charges of sexual assault, child abuse and other crimes they allegedly committed with multiple underage victims under their leadership 10 years ago.

Pastor Bobby Cornealius Smith and his wife, Lashawn Nicole Smith, of New Beginnings Ministries Church of God in Christ in Las Vegas, Nevada, were both formally charged after one of their alleged victims reported them to police in August 2022, according to 8 News Now.

Bobby Smith was charged with one felony count of attempted sexual assault, nine counts of sexual assault, and one count of child abuse, neglect or endangerment, while Lashawn Smith was charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of child abuse, neglect or endangerment.

No one responded to calls made by The Christian Post to New Beginnings Ministries Church of God in Christ on…

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A student ministry pastor at a California church affiliated with the Acts 29 Network has been arrested on three charges of child sexual assault. 

Michael Sasser, 40, was arrested on March 23, after turning himself in at the Modesto Police Department in central California. He is being held on three charges, including forcible sexual penetration, continual sexual abuse of a child, and lewd and lascivious acts with a child. 

Sasser previously served as pastor-deacon of student ministry at Redeemer Church in Modesto, an evangelical church affiliated with the Acts 29 Network of churches. According to the criminal complaint, Sasser molested a family member in three incidents that occurred last year. The alleged victim was age 14 or younger, according to the charges which were first reported to police on March 8. 

Redeemer Church lead pastor Patrick Nagle told The Roys Report (TRR) that Sasser, co-director of the church’s student ministry,…

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The pastor of a Pentecostal church in Louisiana, who’s already been charged with having sex with a minor, has been re-arrested now that another victim has come forward.

Louisiana State Police say they first arrested Pastor Milton Martin III, 56, on March 8, after a four-month investigation determined that Martin had sexual relations with a juvenile, aged 14-17, multiple times from 2010—2013. At that time, Martin turned himself into police and was charged with felony sexual battery and carnal knowledge of a juvenile.

Since that arrest, police say they were made aware of a second victim. Their continued investigation found that Martin had sexual relations with a 14-year-old in 1991, police said in a statement. After police obtained another arrest warrant, Martin turned himself in again and was booked into the St. Bernard Parish Correctional Center for indecent behavior with juveniles.

The police statement did…

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More than 20 years after revelations of Catholic clergy sex abuse shocked the world, an indelible feature of the scandal — its scope over time and geography and the scale of its horrors — has not lost its capacity to astonish. Each major disclosure adds to the disturbing portrait of the violence that has been perpetrated against children and the church’s systematic coverups.

That was driven home once again by the release of a major report by the Maryland attorney general’s office documenting the abuse of hundreds of children and young adults over nearly six decades in just one of the church’s dominions, the archdiocese of Baltimore, where nearly a half million Catholics live today. Adding judicial insult to clerical injury, the full report was withheld from the public for months on orders from a Maryland judge. A different judge finally authorized its release, with redactions.

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More than 150 Catholic priests and others associated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore sexually abused over 600 children, according to the Maryland Attorney General’s Office. A long-awaited report revealed the horrific scope of abuse and cover-ups spanning some eight decades. Geoff Bennett discussed the findings with Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.

Geoff Bennett: More than 150 Catholic priests and others associated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore sexually abused over 600 children, often escaping accountability. That’s according to a long-awaited report from the Maryland attorney general’s office, revealing the horrific scope of abuse spanning some eight decades. The report accuses church leaders of decades of cover-ups and paints a damning portrait of the archdiocese, which is the oldest Roman Catholic diocese in the country. Anthony Brown is the attorney general of Maryland, and joins us now. Thank you for being with us. Your investigation found that over 600 young people from…

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New York – A report from the Maryland Attorney General detailing the history of child sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore applauds archdiocesan efforts to implement protective measures and respond to allegations over the last two decades, but also notes that its credibly accused list should be expanded, and the structure of its Independent Review Board assessed.

The 454-page report, published April 5, details more than 600 instances of child sex abuse by 156 abusers from the Archdiocese of Baltimore. According to the report, the majority of the abuse took place between the 1940s and 2002 – the year the U.S. Bishops implemented the Dallas Charter, establishing a set of procedures dioceses must follow to address allegations of sexual abuse.

Still, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore said the improvements since 2002 don’t negate what happened in the past, and offered an apology to the victim-survivors.

“Today’s report from the…

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After a year of ever-closer cooperation between Poland and the United States to ensure the flow of Western weapons into Ukraine, the Polish Foreign Ministry last month summoned the U.S. ambassador in Warsaw to discuss an urgent matter: a television documentary about a dead pope, John Paul II.

The documentary, which delved into the Polish-born pontiff’s negligent response to the sexual abuse of children by priests in Poland in the 1960s and 70s, had just been aired by an American-owned Polish-language TV channel, TVN24.

It had no bearing on the war raging next door in Ukraine but it may figure prominently in a matter of great importance to Poland’s right-wing governing party: how to stay in power.

Facing a general election later this year amid soaring inflation and widespread economic pain, the party, Law and Justice, has seized on the documentary and the outrage it caused among many Polish Catholics….

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[Via WRC]

“The report is likely to evoke many emotions: anger, disgust, disillusionment and sadness among them,” Baltimore Archbishop William Lori said in a statement Monday.

More than 150 Catholic priests and others associated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore sexually abused over 600 children and often escaped accountability, according to a long-awaited state report released Wednesday that revealed the scope of abuse spanning 80 years and accused church leaders of decades of coverups.

The report paints a damning picture of the archdiocese, which is the oldest Roman Catholic diocese in the country and spans much of Maryland. Some parishes, schools and congregations had more than one abuser at the same time — including St. Mark Parish in Catonsville, which had 11 abusers living and working there between 1964 and 2004. One deacon admitted to molesting over 100 children. Another priest was allowed to feign hepatitis treatment and make other excuses…

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More than 600 children were sexually abused by over 150 Catholic priests and others associated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore over the last 80 years, a newly released state report has found.

Maryland’s top prosecutor accused church officials of a decades-long cover-up, and a “staggering pervasiveness” of sexual abuse in a long-awaited, 463-page document.

Investigators began their work in 2018 and their report has been met with shock and anger by victims and campaigners.

Baltimore Archbishop William Lori apologised to the victims and vowed that this “reprehensible time in the history of this Archdiocese” would not be ignored or forgotten.

Here are the key takeaways from the report.

The abuse involved hundreds of victims

Hundreds of thousands of documents dating back to the 1940s were examined.

More than 600 children were abused by the 156 people included in this report, wrote Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown. “But the [actual]…

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One name stands out among the rest in the Maryland Attorney General’s report on child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

The name is seen nearly 200 times throughout the over 450-page report — Father Anthony Joseph Maskell. He is not only accused of abuse, but for helping other priests do the same.

No. 87 under the long “List of Abusers” is Maskell. He was one of the primary subjects of the Netflix docuseries “The Keepers,” about a Baltimore Archbishop Seton Keough High School teacher found dead in 1970.

Ordained in 1965, Maskell spent 30 years working for the Catholic Church in Maryland, including as a counselor for students at Catholic schools.

According to the report, at least 39 people have reported that they, or people they know, were sexually abused by him. The archdiocese has been aware of Maskell’s conduct toward…

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The Diocese of Youngstown is responding to a scathing report from Maryland’s Attorney General that implicates a former Youngstown bishop in an alleged cover-up of the sexual abuse of more than 600 children.

The 463-page report, released Wednesday, highlights a multi-year grand jury investigation. The investigation found over 600 children were abused by 156 priests and others associated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the oldest Roman Catholic diocese in the country, but determined the actual number is “likely far higher.”

Many of the accused are now dead and no longer able to be prosecuted. The report focuses mainly on alleged abuse from the 1940s through 2002. The investigators said they hope exposing the issues will bring accountability in the absence of criminal justice.   

The report names 146 abusers — including priests, deacons, sisters and other personnel — and redacted the names of an additional 10.

…

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There should probably be a warning to all those who choose to read the recently-released report by the Maryland Attorney General’s Office chronicling 80 years of child sexual abuse within Baltimore’s Catholic archdiocese. From the sometimes explicit descriptions of rape, torture and molestation to the cover-ups and gross negligence demonstrated by the practice of shipping out known abusers to unsuspecting schools and parishes, it is a stomach-turning read. Never mind that many of these abusers are long dead and buried — as are many of their enablers — the damage done lives on.

And yet there is also an extraordinary comfort in knowing the survivors of these crimes, who pushed hard to get this report written over the last five years, can finally have their stories told. The 456-page investigation covering the actions of 158 church officials, many of them priests, surely provides some modicum of relief to…

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When the Rev. John Mike was an associate pastor at St. Louis Roman Catholic Church four decades ago, he left an impression with his seemingly boundless energy, his outgoing personality and his ability to connect with young people.

But as parishioners gathered Thursday at the Clarksville church for a prayer service, a day after the Maryland Attorney General’s Office released a report on sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, some struggled to fit what they once believed about the Catholic Church with the horrors the document revealed.

Mike is one of four men associated with St. Louis who the document named as abusers. The figure makes the Howard County parish one of a handful of Catholic institutions home to a large number of staff who abused minors over an 80-year span.

“You wouldn’t have known [about the abuse] from normal contact with Mike,” said…

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While only one person has been indicted, advocates and victims’ groups predict it would bring more survivors forward and spark a wave of new civil lawsuits.

Cases of child sex abuse by clergy in the nation’s oldest Catholic archdioceses weren’t unknown.

But on Wednesday, a long-awaited report by the Maryland Attorney General spotlighted the depth of a crisis that spanned decades, finding a “staggering pervasiveness” of child sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore that victimized at least 600 children between the 1940s and 2002.

The report, which listed more than 150 Catholic priests and clergy members accused of “horrific and repeated” abuse – as well as attempts to protect accused clergy by the church hierarchy – came as Maryland’s legislature voted to end a statute of limitations for child sex abuse-related civil lawsuits.

While only one person has been indicted as a result of the investigation, advocates…

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Hours turned into days, turned into years, as the victims of child sexual abuse at the hands of clergy in the Baltimore Catholic Archdiocese slowly came forward, detailing horrific offenses that had been heaped upon them.

Threats with guns, rapes over and again, torture with ropes, chains, handcuffs, paddles and hot wax. Touching, grabbing, groping. God’s name was invoked, victims were blamed, complaints were ignored, childhoods were stolen, all trust was shattered.

In the end, few, if any, in the archdiocesan hierarchy seemed to escape without complicity, turning out predators to act again, moving offenders from parish to parish.

Some of the more egregious offenses came to light in recent years, adjudicated in the public courts when the justice system could no longer turn a blind eye. But with the release of a yearslong investigative report Wednesday, what once seemed extraordinary became horribly ordinary as clergy with names familiar to…

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What is the Response of the Archdiocese to the Attorney General’s Redacted Report?

The Archdiocese profoundly apologizes for the suffering of victims of child sexual abuse at the hands of any and all church personnel.  Archbishop Lori’s statement on the release of the redacted Report and his pastoral letter on child sexual abuse offer his own apology, along with hopes for healing and a commitment to continue effective actions that will address the scourge of child sexual abuse.  We encourage you to read those documents carefully and fully and to join the Archdiocese in prayer for those harmed by child sexual abuse and in a renewed commitment to child protection.

Does the Church agree with the findings in the Attorney General’s Report?

The Attorney General wrote and issued its report; it is a not a report of the Archdiocese.  However, the Archdiocese does appreciate some aspects of the report. We believe, as…

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You can read it now. The Attorney General’s Report on Child Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. It is an incriminating story, based on a Baltimore grand jury investigation, telling the “incontrovertible history . . . one of pervasive and persistent abuse by priests and other Archdiocese personnel. It is also a history of repeated dismissal or cover up of that abuse by the Catholic Church hierarchy.” (p. 1). Abuse of more than 600 victims by 156 persons in the diocese, with an appendix that gives the names of 43 more abusers from Baltimore who committed abuse outside of Maryland.

Everyone should read it. You should know what the victims and survivors of abuse had the courage to report and how that abuse still affects them.

Reading it might also encourage you to support the attorney general’s two recommendations: “amend statute of limitations for civil actions involving child sex…

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A new report identifies more than 150 clergy members in Maryland who abused at least 600 victims over six decades.

The Catholic Church is again at the center of a decades-long child sex abuse scandal, this time in Maryland.

The church has been embroiled in child sex abuse scandals for more than two decades that encompass hundreds of thousands of victims and that span the globe, from Australia to Chile. The Maryland investigation is one of several major US investigations in recent years showing that such abuse and church officials’ cover-ups were widespread, making the case that the clergy is incapable of bringing perpetrators among their own ranks to account.

A 463-page report released by the Maryland Attorney General’s office Wednesday alleges that clergy sexually abused more than 600 children between the 1940s and 2002. The report also asserts that, rather than seeking to protect children from further harm…

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Attorney General Anthony Brown said his office is also investigating two more dioceses, including the Archdiocese of Washington

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown (D) released a report Wednesday detailing decades of alleged sex abuse by clergy within the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

The investigation found that over 600 young people — from preschoolers to young adults — suffered sexual abuse and “physical torture” by more than 150 clergy members from the mid-1940s to 2002. The attorney general’s office had previewed some of its findings in a November court filing, but the report itself brought them to life in visceral and horrifying detail. “Tests of torture” that involved chaining and whipping teenagers. Two sisters abused as grade-schoolers “hundreds of times” by one priest. A deacon who admitted to molesting more than 100 minors over three decades. Clergy who preyed on children they met recovering at hospitals.

“Today in…

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Report alleges 156 people, including priests, abused more than 600 children

Scores of priests and other people affiliated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore sexually abused hundreds of children over more than 60 years, and church officials often protected the perpetrators while keeping their crimes a secret, Maryland’s attorney general said in a new report.

Wednesday’s report from Attorney General Anthony Brown alleges that 156 people—including priests and archdiocese personnel—abused more than 600 youths, causing lasting psychological trauma for survivors.

The release of the long-awaited 456-page report comes shortly after state lawmakers passed new legislation to allow civil lawsuits alleging long-ago child sex abuse—steps that in other states have led Catholic organizations to seek bankruptcy protection.

Maryland’s findings mark the latest effort by officials nationwide to document clerical sexual abuse and systematic efforts by church leaders to hide crimes. In Pennsylvania, a 2018 grand-jury report alleged that Catholic Church officials there covered up…

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Clergy members across the Archdiocese of Baltimore abused hundreds of children and teenagers over the course of six decades, abetted by a church hierarchy that systematically failed to investigate and restrict their access to children, according to a detailed report from the Maryland attorney general released on Wednesday.

It was the latest harrowing installment in the decades-long revelations of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church, this time set in the first Catholic diocese established in the United States.

The 463-page report, which is the result of a four-year investigation by the attorney general’s office, documents what it describes as “pervasive and persistent abuse” by clergy members and others in the archdiocese, as well as dismissals and cover-ups by the church hierarchy.

Widespread abuse within the archdiocese was already well known by victims’ groups and, to some extent, acknowledged by current church leaders before the report was released….

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The Maryland Attorney General’s Office has publicly released a redacted version of an investigative report detailing sex abuse allegations against more than 150 Catholic priests and examining the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s response.

The redacted findings were made public Wednesday afternoon, marking a significant development in an ongoing legal battle over their release and adding to growing evidence from parishes across the country as numerous similar revelations have rocked the Catholic Church in recent years.

Former Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh launched the probe in 2019 and announced its completion in November, saying investigators had reviewed over 100,000 pages of documents dating back to the 1940s and interviewed hundreds of victims and witnesses. The report’s contents weren’t immediately released because they include information obtained from church officials via grand jury subpoenas, which are confidential proceedings in Maryland.

Lawyers for the state asked a court for permission to release the nearly 500-page document, which…

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A report details a “history of widespread abuse” by Baltimore archdiocese priests. More than 600 people were assaulted over many years.

The Maryland Attorney General on Wednesday released a damning 463-page grand jury report detailing allegations of sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the cover-up of that abuse by the leadership of the Catholic Church.

The redacted report, which a judge ordered released in February, details “a long history of widespread abuse and systemic cover-up by clergy,” according to a statement by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.

The report also identifies nearly 160 former and current priests as well as other members of the church that are accused of sexually abusing more than 600 children over eight decades.

“This report illustrates the depraved, systemic failure of the Archdiocese to protect the most vulnerable – the children it was charged to keep safe,” Brown said in a statement. “Time…

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Report lists 156 current or former Catholic clergy, seminarians, deacons, teachers at Catholic schools, others

The Maryland Attorney General’s Office report detailing the investigation into the Archdiocese of Baltimore reveals decades of child sexual abuse and leadership’s efforts to cover it up.

| LIST: Report lists abusers by name
| LINK: Attorney General’s Report: Child Abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore

“Today, certainly in Maryland, is a day of reckoning and a day of accounting,” Attorney General Anthony Brown said at a news conference ahead of the report’s release. “This is a full accounting. There are details of repeated torturous, terrorizing, depraved abuse.”

Brown said more than 300 people contacted the attorney general’s office since its investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse and cover-up efforts began in 2018.

The attorney general’s office said it received hundreds of thousands of documents dating back to the 1940s that included treatment reports,…

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A redacted version made public by court order, the Maryland Attorney General’s report on the history of sexual abuse within the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore is the product of a four-year investigation. It details the rape and torture of hundreds of children and young adults over eight decades, as well as the church’s efforts to cover up the abuse and silence victims.

[ Catholic Church abuse in Maryland: Coverage from The Baltimore Sun ]

Go to original webpage to access redacted Maryland Attorney General report

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Baltimore Archbishop William Lori in a letter to parishioners Monday addressed “the evil of child abuse” ahead of the expected release of a Maryland attorney general report detailing decades of abuse in the archdiocese.

“On behalf of the Archdiocese, I offer my heartfelt apology to the victim-survivors and their families,” wrote Lori. “More than anything, in this moment, though, I want to pause to recognize and validate that the vile and horrifying abuse that is the subject of the Attorney General’s investigation represents a grave betrayal, and that it has had devastating consequences for victim-survivors.” 

The 456-page report compiled by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh will be released this Wednesday, according to the Baltimore Sun. 

Besides detailing victims’ abuse at the hands of clergy members, the report is said to contain the names of over 150 Baltimore priests responsible for abusing over 600 children between the 1940s and…

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The Maryland Senate recently passed Senate Bill 686, also known as “The Child Victims Act of 2023,” which, if enacted, would erase the time limit for childhood sexual abuse survivors to file civil lawsuits. Under Maryland’s current law, there is no statute of limitations on criminal charges of child sex abuse but, since 2017, survivors of child sex abuse have been barred from bringing civil lawsuits if they are older than 38. Before that, only victims age 25 and under could file such claims. The 2017 amendment was not retroactive, however, so it did not apply to victims who were previously abused.

If SB686 becomes law, child abuse victims of any age in Maryland would be able to file a civil lawsuit against their abusers and institutions that were supposed to protect them (i.e., churches, schools, camps, clubs, community centers), even if their claims already expired under…

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Survivors seek vindication and restitution

The Maryland Attorney General’s Office is expected to release a report today exposing decades of sexual abuse allegations within the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

The report names more than 150 priests who have either been charged or accused of sexual abuse over the past 80 years, as well as anyone who may have helped bury these accusations.

There are a lot of different things survivors might want to do with this report, such as find vindication for their pains and suffering or seek restitution and file a lawsuit.

An investigation into accusations of child sex abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore is about to be revealed to the public.

Attorney Rob Jenner who represents the Maryland chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said “lot’s of people are afraid to come forward because they think they’re the only one who has been…

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Why clergy MUST be mandated reporters when they learn of a child being sexually abused, yes, even if learned during the sacrament of confession.

As a young teenager, I was repeatedly sexually, physically, and emotionally abused by my parish priest several times a week for several years.  I eventually learned the same was true for my younger brothers. The priest insisted I go to him for confession, to confess my sins. That insistence was nothing more than a skilled predator ensuring I saw such actions as my complicity in the sexual contact the priest was perpetrating. In other words, the sin was mine, not his.

For a young teenager, these instances of sexual abuse were infused with a perpetrator’s faux love and concern. The priest often willingly lavished me with material gifts I could otherwise never have and took me on many trips away from home.  These acts were torturous, causing mind-bending conflict…

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A mounting debate in Catholicism over whether to remove artwork by sexual abusers from sacred spaces seems destined to be especially difficult to resolve, pitting the weight of tradition against changing cultural sensitivities, not to mention practicalities against new moral imperatives.

The most likely outcome seems that no universal solution will be found, with answers deemed appropriate in one context not working in others.

The question is presented above all by the case of Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik, a celebrated Slovenian artist whose Eastern-themed work adorns churches all over the world, and who now stands accused of spiritual, psychological or sexual abuse of multiple adult women stretching over almost 40 years.

The Diocese of Rome quietly has launched an Apostolic Visit of the Centro Aletti in Rome which served as Rupnik’s base of operations, but it’s unclear if that probe will address the question of what to do about Rupnik’s…

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Landmark decision expected to help countless other survivors achieve more compensation for abuse suffered from clergy

Victoria’s highest court has ruled that the Catholic church is vicariously liable for sexual abuse by a paedophile priest because he was a “servant of the diocese” whose role gave him the “power and intimacy” to access and abuse children.

The decision by the Victorian court of appeal on Monday upholds the original landmark ruling, which, for the first time in Australia, found the church is vicariously liable for the abuse of its priests.

The decision is expected to help countless other survivors achieve more significant compensation for the abuse they suffered at the hands of paedophile clergy.

The case involves a then five-year-old boy, known only as DP, who was abused by Father Bryan Coffey at his parent’s home in Port Fairy during pastoral visits in 1971.

The critical issue in the case…

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Israeli-born former school principal convicted of 18 charges, cleared of 9 others, 15 years after she escaped arrest by fleeing to Israel; to be sentenced at a later date

A former principal at an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Australia was found guilty on Monday of sexually assaulting two sisters there, 15 years after she escaped arrest by fleeing to Israel.

After a seven-week trial and seven days of deliberations, the jury found Malka Leifer guilty of 18 charges, including rape and indecent assault, for sexually assaulting the two students, Dassi Erlich and Elly Sapper, in a series of incidents between 2003 and 2007. It cleared her of nine other charges, including several relating to a third sister, Nicole Meyer.

Leifer, 56, sat motionless and did not react as the verdicts were read. The judge will sentence her at a later date.

While victims of sexual assault are normally not identified…

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LAW firms in Australia are again accusing the Roman Catholic Church of an aggressive approach to claims of sexual abuse by survivors of deceased paedophiles (News, 18 November 2022).

The Church is seeking permanent stays several cases after a decision last year by the New South Wales (NSW) Supreme Court that the Church could not receive a fair trial in a case where the alleged abuser had died. The Supreme Court’’s decision is currently under appeal to the Australian High Court.

In the latest case, the order of Marist Brothers is seeking a permanent stay on a claim by a man who alleges that he was assaulted by a paedophile at a Marist Brothers’ school in 1969 and 1970. The alleged perpetrator, who was sentenced to a long prison term for assaulting 17 victims, died before the recent claim was made in 2021. The order is saying that it cannot receive a…

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[See Judge Robert Taylor’s order.]

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said he will release a redacted version of a long-awaited 456-page grand jury report that details decades of sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore on Wednesday after privately meeting with survivors in the morning.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Robert K. Taylor Jr. on Tuesday approved the release of the report “as the Office of the Attorney General shall see fit.” The attorney general’s office will post the document on its website at 1 p.m., according to an email sent to survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

Archbishop William Lori posted a letter and a video on the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s website calling on Catholics to pray for survivors as holy week begins.

“More than anything, in this moment, though, I want to pause to recognize and validate that the vile and horrifying abuse that…

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Kansas legislators gave final approval Monday to a bill that would make it easier to pursue criminal charges or file lawsuits over childhood sexual abuse years after the abuse occurred.

The House approved the measure, 120-0. It goes to Gov. Laura Kelly because the Senate approved it last week, 40-0.

Abuse survivors and advocates have been pushing for changes in recent years in the wake of reports of abuse by clergy across the U.S.

The bill would eliminate limits on how long prosecutors have to file charges against suspects for any of a dozen violent sexual offenses against children, including indecent liberties, aggravated human trafficking and internet trading in child pornography.

For such crimes, other than rape and aggravated sodomy, prosecutors currently can file criminal charges until the victim turns 28 or up to a year after DNA evidence establishes a suspect, whichever is later.

The deadline for filing a…

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An judge approved the release of a Maryland Attorney General Office’s report on clergy abuse within the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, and the office will release the report to the public Wednesday, a spokesperson said.

The attorney general’s office found during its four-year investigation that 158 Catholic priests and brothers sexually abused or tortured more than 600 children during an 80-year period beginning in the 1940s.

Aleithea Warmack, of the attorney general’s office, said Tuesday the report would be released on Wednesday.

On Monday night, the Most Rev. William E. Lori, the archbishop of Baltimore, told Catholics in Central and Western Maryland that he expected “the Baltimore City Circuit Court will soon authorize the Maryland Office of Attorney General to release its report into child sexual abuse by some ministers of the Church and the Archdiocese’s own past failures in responding to such allegations.”

Lori warned the archdiocese’s half-million Catholics…

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The attack on John Paul II carried out in Poland in recent weeks by two liberal media outlets – TVN television and Agora, the publisher of left-leaning national newspaper “Gazeta Wyborcza” – is based primarily on a broad presentation of manipulatively selected historical material, details of which have previously already been honestly reported by journalists researching the history of the Catholic Church during the communist dictatorship. 

As far as the unfolding of the ongoing “scandal” is concerned, two works are crucial here. The first is a book by Ekke Overbeek, a Dutch journalist working in Poland, entitled “Maxima culpa. John Paul II knew”, and the second is a TV report by Marcin Gutowski entitled “Franciszkańska 3”. 

Both authors, according to their declarations, undertook a pioneering analysis of the actions of Bishop Karol Wojtyla in relation to cases of paedophile priests active during his time as Bishop of Krakow. In reality,…

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The former principal of a girls’ school in Melbourne, Australia, was found guilty Monday on 18 charges of sexually abusing two students more than 15 years ago in a case whose yearslong extradition battle tested relations between Australia and Israel.

The defendant, Malka Leifer, 56 — who faced 27 counts of sexual abuse in all and was acquitted on nine — was on trial for incidents alleged to have taken place between 2003 and 2007, when she was principal of the Adass Israel School, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish institution. She pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

Three sisters — Nicole Meyer, 37, Dassi Erlich, 35, and Elly Sapper, 34 — were named as the victims in the case. Prosecutors said the abuse began when they were students and continued after they became student teachers there. The incidents were alleged to have occurred at the school, at camps organized by the…

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 The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, one of the most famous sites of Marian apparitions worldwide, is facing an important decision: what to do with Father Marko Rupnik’s mosaics that decorate the façade of the Basilica of the Rosary.

The mosaics, installed in 2008 for the 150th anniversary of the apparitions in Lourdes, depict the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. “These mosaics were commissioned from the workshop of a renowned artist: Father Marko Rupnik, a Jesuit of Slovenian origin. Like all works of art, they are appreciated by some, less so by others, but the vast majority of pilgrims and visitors to Lourdes emphasize their beauty,” Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes wrote in a statement March 31.

But now, with the accusations of sexual abuse of adults against Father Rupnik, Bishop Micas stressed that “the question of the status of…

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Most Arctic nations has been affected by assimilating and oppressive boarding school policies. Now indigenous community leaders are looking for healing as they brace for the dark truth of a government-led genocide.

In 2021 more than 1,300 unmarked graves were discovered at the sites of four former residential schools in western Canada. A discovery that shook the nation, unveiling a dark chapter of North American history.

Starting in the 1880’s and for much of the 20th century, more than 150,000 children from hundreds of indigenous communities across Canada were taken from their parents by force and by the government and sent to residential – or boarding – schools.

In Alaska, USA, the boarding school policy of 1879 were instated, removing thousands of Native children from their communities under the motto “kill the Indian, save the man”. In Canada, the slogan was “kill the Indian in the child”.

That says it…

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A jury in Putnam County has awarded a Brewster man $26.5 million for being sexually abused by his stepfather starting in the mid-1970s when he was 8 years old.

The trial last week in state Supreme Court in Carmel featured allegations by the plaintiff that he was physically, sexually and emotionally abused by John “Jack” Lupton at locations in Staten Island where they lived over an eight-year period.

The abuse ended when he was 16. He beat Lupton up and moved in with a friend’s family. It was years before the plaintiff detailed the abuse for relatives, but the friend testified at the trial, confirming the account of his family taking in the plaintiff.

The jury awarded $11 million for past pain and suffering; $2.5 million for future pain and suffering; and $13 million in punitive damages.

The Journal News/lohud is not naming the plaintiff because he was a victim…

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Lawyer calls for changes to Limitations Act to allow survivors a shot at compensation

Lawyer Lynn Moore says the government of Newfoundland and Labrador failed to protect her client — once a child in the care of his abusive father — and that he suffered horribly as a result.

The province agrees the man suffered horrendous abuse, and admits he was extensively involved with the child protection system during the abuse.

But its lawyers won’t be settling.

The reason? The man came forward too late, and rules are rules — even though Moore argues this rule is rare, cruel, and possibly unconstitutional.

“We’re not talking spanking, we’re not talking the strap,” said Moore, a veteran lawyer specializing in cases of child abuse. 

“We’re talking a very high level of abuse involving firearms, involving whipping, involving broken bones. So it was a horrific childhood that my client suffered and the government had a responsibility to intervene and they didn’t and they are now saying…

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[The discussion of Zollner begins at minute 4:30 of this one-hour podcast.]

Fr. Hans Zollner resigns from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, and Pope Francis promulgates updates to Vos Estis Lux Mundi. 

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We’re approaching the zenith of tax season, but while accountants are poring through returns, legislators in Washington State, Vermont, and Delaware are focused on another so-called “loophole”: people’s ability to confess their sins to their priests in confidence.  

Legislators in these states point to an Associated Press report from last fall urging legislatures to “fix the clergy loophole” by making it illegal for clergy to keep penitential communications private. Though many faiths have practices that fall under the clergy-penitent privilege, debates over the privilege center on the Catholic Church, where priests vow never to repeat what they hear in the confessional.

As the AP article notes, since the Boston Globe’s 2002 Spotlight report, dozens of bills have been introduced to try to remove the clergy-penitent privilege in the context of mandatory reporter laws. But none have passed. Last week  View Cache

Indigenous communities have long called on the Vatican rescind the concept, which had been used over the centuries to seize land from people in the Americas, Africa and elsewhere.

The Vatican formally repudiated on Thursday the “Doctrine of Discovery,” a legal concept based on 15th-century papal documents that European colonial powers used to legitimize the seizure and exploitation of Indigenous lands in Africa and the Americas, among other places.

The decision comes after decades of demands from Indigenous people to rescind the doctrine, which was used for centuries to “expropriate Indigenous lands and facilitate their transfer to colonizing or dominating nations,” according to one United Nations forum.

The Roman Catholic Church “repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of Indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political ‘Doctrine of Discovery,’” a joint statement from the Vatican’s development and education offices…

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On March 25, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Osnabrueck Bishop Franz-Josef Bode, vice president of the German bishops’ conference. This came as a surprise not just to the Germans. He is the sixth German prelate in only a few years to offer to resign, but the first one to have his resignation accepted by the pope.

Why do so many German bishops want to leave office? The story goes deeper than you might think.

Five years ago, in September 2018, there was a moment that continues to reverberate in the German church. The bishops presented a nationwide study uncovering at least 3,677 cases of sexual abuse of minors over some seven decades. In the following press conference, journalist Christiane Florin asked if any member of the bishops’ conference had considered resigning over the findings.

The answer of then-president Cardinal Reinhard Marx: “No.” This…

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The Diocese of Rochester took another significant step in its bankruptcy case March 24 by filing — in conjunction with the creditors’ committee representing sexual-abuse claimants — a joint plan of reorganization and disclosure statement in support of the plan.

The reorganization plan follows the framework set in the Restructuring Support Agreement jointly filed Nov. 3, 2022, by the diocese and the Committee of Unsecured Creditors.

But whereas the RSA’s 28 pages sketched the key elements of reorganization, the 193-page plan and disclosure spell out, in great detail, myriad steps and obligations involved in the process. A full 17 pages, for example, are dedicated to the definition and interpretation of terms, ranging from “abuse” to “unimpaired” claims.

Like the RSA, the plan calls for the diocese, its parishes and related Catholic entities — which the plan terms “Participating Parties” — collectively to contribute $55 million to a trust…

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Advocates and legal groups say a landmark “breakthrough” over the Catholic Church’s culpability for the crimes of paedophile priests will lead to better outcomes for victim-survivors.

Key points:

• Victoria’s highest court has upheld a ruling finding the Catholic Church liable for sexual abuse by a paedophile priest
• The ruling brings Australia in line with international law 
• A lawyer says the tide has turned for abuse survivors in Australia

Yesterday Victoria’s highest court upheld a ruling that the Catholic Church is vicariously liable for child sexual abuse by a priest, making it easier for survivors to receive compensation.

Ballarat abuse survivor Paul Auchettl knows too well that for the longest time, clergy abuse was encased in silence. 

He was abused by the notorious paedophile and Christian Brother Robert Best, who was Mr Auchettl’s Year Six teacher at St Alipius primary school. 

His younger brother Peter was also abused and died by suicide more than…

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Since January 2019, Fr. Jim Connell of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has been urging state legislators around the country to repeal clergy-penitent privilege in mandatory reporting laws that exempt Catholic priests from notifying authorities of any sexual abuse they hear about in the confessional.

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki has suspended Connell’s faculties to hear confessions and grant absolution, citing his advocacy “for the removal of the legal protection of the confessional seal, suggesting there are situations where it is permissible to violate it.” Listecki said in a March 22 statement that Connell’s “false assertions” that the seal of confession should not apply in some situations had caused “understandable and widespread unrest” among Catholics.

“Protecting the child is more important than worrying about whether the government is going to tell us how to practice our religion,” Connell, a retired priest and canon lawyer who served as the Milwaukee Archdiocese’s vice chancellor  View Cache

A decision by Victoria’s highest court to uphold a landmark ruling that holds the Catholic church vicariously liable for the abuse of its priests has been hailed as a win for victim-survivors. 

Key points:

• Victoria’s highest court has ruled the Catholic church is vicariously liable for sexual abuse by a priest
• An attempt by the church to appeal the ruling was quashed
• It has been hailed a significant victory for all survivors

An attempt by the church to appeal the ruling was quashed by the Victorian Court of Appeal on Monday. 

The original decision involved the case of a then-five-year-old boy, known as DP, who was abused by Catholic priest Bryan Coffey at his parents’ home in Port Fairy in 1971.

The church had argued Coffey was not a formal employee and therefore it could not be held liable. 

But DP’s lawyers convinced Victoria’s Supreme Court in 2021 that the priest was the servant of the diocese even…

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Depending on who you ask, Pope Francis’ 2019 decree “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” (“You are the Light of the World”), coupled with updates to the policy announced March 25, is either a watershed in the Church’s fight against sexual abuse or a major disappointment — or, perhaps, both at the same time.

Originally issued in the wake of a summit of the heads of bishops’ conferences from around the world to discuss the abuse scandals, “Vos Estis” was designed to promote a culture of accountability, not just for the crime of sexual abuse but also for the cover-up. For the first time, it created a mechanism for investigating and sanctioning bishops and other superiors charged with failing to respond appropriately to claims of abuse against personnel under their authority.

The recent revisions announced by the Vatican include making lay leaders of Vatican-recognized groups subject…

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A landmark study has found nearly two thirds of Australians aged over 16 have reported experiencing childhood maltreatment – abuse, neglect, or exposure to domestic violence.

The five-year study, Australia’s first national prevalence study of all forms of child abuse and neglect was conducted by a team of researchers, including key spokesperson, Professor Daryl Higgins, the director of the Australian Catholic University’s Institute of Child Protection Studies.

Of the 8503 respondents aged 16 or older, 62 per cent indicated experiences of maltreatment in childhood.

Importantly for researchers the study shows that most of those who reported experiencing maltreatment experienced multiple types, and witnessing domestic violence was the most common.

Researchers found the following prevalence rates of individual types of child maltreatment: neglect – 8.9 per cent; sexual abuse – 28.5 per cent; emotional abuse – 30.9 per cent; physical abuse – 32.0 per cent; and exposure to domestic violence – 39.6 per cent. 

“We need to focus…

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For survivors of sex abuse, the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese’s bankruptcy filing is just one more betrayal.

On March 15, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany filed for protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That day I watched in despair as Bishop Edward Scharfenberger justified his decision as “the best way to protect everyone” while acknowledging “it may cause pain and suffering.”

The public has the right to know exactly what that pain and suffering looks like. Not from the loudest attorney or a diocese spokesperson, but from a victim of clergy sexual abuse.

I was one of over 400 plaintiffs under the New York Child Victims Act seeking civil relief from the Albany diocese. As imperfect as it was, the process was providing tangible justice through early releases of documents and depositions. Most notable to me, the 2021 testimony of Bishop Howard Hubbard admitting to sheltering criminal priests: moving them from parish…

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A TV documentary and book allege Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was aware of clerical sexual abuse cases before he became pope in 1978

Huge crowds waving Polish and papal flags marched through Warsaw, Kraków and other cities on Sunday to defend the memory of St John Paul II, 18 years after his death, amid reports he was aware of clerical sexual abuse cases before he became pope in 1978.

Early on Sunday morning in the central city of Lodz, a statue of the Polish pope was smeared with yellow paint on its face and red paint on its hands.

Sprayed on the plinth: “Maxima Culpa”, the title of a controversial book by journalist Ekke Overbeek.

Similar to a separate television documentary, the book argues that Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, as archbishop of Krákow until he became pope in 1978, was aware of at least four cases of abusing priests and reinstated them…

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Hans Zollner, the German Jesuit who has been a leader in the Vatican’s fight against clergy sex abuse, resigns from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors

Father Hans Zollner, one of the most respected experts and pioneers in the Vatican’s developing fight against the clergy sex-abuse crisis, has resigned from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (“Tutela Minorum”) citing disagreements over the way the body is being operated.

“I have noticed issues that need to be urgently addressed and that have made it impossible for me to continue further,” he said Wednesday in a surprisingly candid message published on social media.

The 56-year-old German Jesuit theologian and psychologist had been a member of Tutela Minorum since its establishment in 2014.

The announcement of his resignation was actually made earlier on Wednesday by the commission’s chairman, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston. But the cardinal, who is also…

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Father Conrado Mantac is accused of molesting a 17-year-old choir girl last year

Philippine police have arrested a 62-year-old Catholic priest accused of raping a 17-year-old choir girl a year ago when he was her parish priest.

Father Conrado Mantac was arrested at his residence in Negros Occidental province in the Western Visayas region on March 29, police said.

The arrest came after the girl’s parents complained to police that Mantac molested their daughter last year when he served as parish priest in Sagay City.

A police official said the charge against Mantac is a non-bailable offense, so he must remain behind bars pending trial.

“He did not resist the arrest. Perhaps, he knew it was forthcoming because he was given a chance to dispute the rape allegations at the prosecutor level,” Sergeant Paul Gaspar, a member of the police team that arrested the priest, told UCA News.

Gaspar said the…

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A Dutch journalist says he is the victim of a character assassination because of his book about the late pope

In a Warsaw elevator, Dutch journalist Ekke Overbeek and his publicist are exchanging worried words. It’s four hours until his first public event to promote his new book, Maxima Culpa: John Paul II Knew, claiming that Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, as archbishop of Kraków, protected four paedophile priests before becoming pope in 1978.

The book has rattled Poland’s Catholic church. Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the late pope’s closest aide, accused the book of “aiming to trample on the memory of all that Poland owes to the Holy Pontiff and to destroy his legacy”.

Even more vocal are Poland’s politicians, in particular the ruling national conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party. With an eye on autumn parliamentary election, and the prospect of pulpit endorsements, PiS has organised a Warsaw march on Sunday –…

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Thousands of Poles marched through Warsaw and other cities on Sunday to show their support for the late Pope John Paul II in the face of what they said were false allegations that he concealed child abuse in the Catholic Church.

The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which faces a tough election later this year, and other religious conservatives have said any calls to re-examine his legacy amount to a plot to discredit the nation’s biggest moral authority.

That argument resonates strongly with many older Poles who were inspired by John Paul to stand up to Communism in the 1970s and ’80s, although church attendance has been falling in the decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

“I felt the need to show my connection with (the pope’s) teaching,” said Donata Pronczuk, a retired teacher, who came to Warsaw from the northern city of Koszalin for the march,…

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The Catholic Church in Bangladesh is forming a team to combat the growing number of assaults and other forms of violence against women in their homes, workplaces, and other locations. 

Discussing Abuse Against Women 

According to the UCA News, the convenor of the Women Desk of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh and a social activist, Rita Roselin Costa, stated that the Catholic bishops of Bangladesh have verbally agreed to form the team that will be led by the Women Desk of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh to tackle abuses against women.

Costa said on Wednesday, Mar. 29, that plans are being discussed to establish a team that will take measures as soon as possible, including legal action if any women are subjected to abuse. Their team is anticipated to begin this year but did not provide a specific launch date. She added that the church staff would take immediate…

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Officials at the Catholic shrine in Lourdes have formed a study group to determine the future of a controversial attraction at the sanctuary.

The mosaics on the facade of one of the three basilicas were designed by Jesuit artist Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik in 2008 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Marian apparitions that turned Lourdes into a primary pilgrimage site, visited by approximately 3 million people annually.

Mosaics Made By Jesuit Indicted with Abuse to Be Reviewed

In December last year, it was revealed by the Jesuits that Rupnik had been excommunicated by the Vatican in 2020 for committing a severe crime in church law. According to Associated Press News, he had used the confessional to acquit a woman with whom he had engaged in sexual activity. He had also been accused by nine women of sexual, spiritual, and psychological misconduct in the 1980s. As…

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A 60-year-old pastor from Ouddorp suspected of abusing his children has been temporarily suspended by the Restored Reformed Church. According to the national church board, he has been temporarily barred from all activities related to his ministry, De Stentor reported.

The pastor and his 58-year-old wife are suspected of abusing their children regularly over the past 29 years, according to prosecutors. The couple has eight children, with whom they lived in Arnemuiden, Elspeet, and Nieuwe-Tonge in the meantime. During that time, the children were allegedly exposed to violence in various ways. Among other things, they are said to have been beaten with a vacuum cleaner stick and a frying pan. Furthermore, one of the sons reported that his head was held underwater for long periods of time.

In 2021, six of the eight children, who are now between 20 and 34 years old, decided to report their parents after finding…

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As Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Charles) has done for several years, he stood on the House of Delegates floor Friday morning to implore his colleagues to support legislation on behalf of child sexual abuse survivors.

In past years, efforts to pass similar bills have found success in the House, but stalled in the Senate.

But this year, Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery), chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, ushered legislation through his chamber that passed March 16.

This year’s House vote on House Bill 1 brought an intense feeling of relief for survivors such as Wilson, who hugged House Judiciary Chair Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore City), after a resounding 132-2 vote. The chamber erupted in a standing ovation.

Before Wilson cast his vote in support of the bill labeled The Child Victims Act of 2023, he had a message for survivors.

“I just want these people to understand that…

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Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, expressed his surprise, disappointment and disagreement with statements challenging the commission’s effectiveness made by a prominent safeguarding expert who resigned from the advisory body.

However, “the commission has a plenary meeting scheduled in the next few weeks during which we can address these and other matters more fully as a group,” the cardinal said in an updated statement March 30.

Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a leading expert in the field and member of the commission since it was founded in 2014, stepped down in mid-March but gave the reasons for his departure in a public statement March 29, saying it was due to urgent “structural and practical issues that led me to disassociate myself” from the papal commission.

Father Zollner’s criticisms came just a few hours after his resignation was made public in a…

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When Sen. Cindy Holscher was 5 years old, she did what most young children would do on their family farm: play with animals, spend time with family and enjoy a few blissful months off from school.

But one day, things turned much darker.

A farmhand entered a barn while Holscher was playing with kittens and their conversation began innocently. Quickly, however, the man suggested playing a game “like Simon says” that involved showing private parts.

“Of course, my parents had warned me of stranger danger,” Holscher said. “This wasn’t a stranger. This was someone I knew.”

The man lured her in, Holscher said, saying he played the game with one of her friends. At the decisive moment, however, a screen door slammed, causing the man to flee and saving Holscher from joining the estimated 1 in 10 children who are sexually abused before their 18th birthday.

“If it has taken…

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Statement of Cardinal Sean O’Malley, OFM. Cap., President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors on the publication of the updated motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi.

The Church’s ongoing work of preventing sexual abuse by ministers of the Church received a further boost today with the publication of the definitive version of Pope Francis’s motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi (You are the light of the world).

In May 2019, Pope Francis established new norms regarding the requirement to ensure adequate processing of reports of sexual abuse by priests or members of religious life. Today’s document makes permanent these important protections for those reporting abuse and holds Church leaders accountable for any failures to carry out their responsibilities in this regard.

For many people, the reality of child sexual abuse in the Church was further compounded by the cover up or negligence by bishops and religious superiors in properly…

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Officials at the Catholic shrine in Lourdes announced the creation of a study group Friday to decide what to do with one of the French sanctuary’s most famous but now controversial attractions: mosaics by a Jesuit artist who has been sanctioned by the Vatican and his religious order for sexually, spiritually and psychologically abusing women.

The Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik designed the facade of one of the three basilicas at Lourdes with a series of mosaics in 2008 to mark the 150th anniversary of the Marian apparitions that turned the shrine in southwest France into one of the world’s biggest pilgrimage sites, attracting around 3 million visitors a year.

In December, the Jesuits revealed that Rupnik had been declared excommunicated by the Vatican in 2020 for committing one of the worst crimes in church law — using the confessional to absolve a woman with whom he had engaged in sexual…

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Legal experts like Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston-based attorney who represents victims of clergy sexual abuse, say nondisclosure agreements, like the one at the center of the case against Donald Trump, are often used to silence victims of workplace misconduct on the taxpayer’s dime

The same type of hush money payments Donald Trump is accused of using to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels are currently being investigated in Massachusetts by State Auditor Dianna DiZoglio.

Daniels signed a nondisclosure agreement with Trump’s attorney in October 2016, agreeing to keep their alleged affair quiet in exchange for $130,000. She later broke that agreement by speaking publicly and alleged that Trump’s lawyer used “intimidation and coercive tactics” to get her to sign it.

Legal experts like Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston-based attorney who represents victims of clergy sexual abuse, say nondisclosure agreements are often used to silence victims of workplace misconduct on the taxpayer’s dime.

…

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I want the Maryland Attorney General’s report on clergy sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore released to the public as was promised (”‘A public reckoning’: Baltimore judge orders release of redacted Catholic church abuse report,” Feb. 24). Rich Wolf, an investigator within the Maryland Attorney General’s Office who was involved in the four-year effort once told me last year that the report was being wrapped up and would be out by Thanksgiving, early December at the latest.

Here we are 4 and a half months later with no sign of when this report will be given over to the public and in what condition.

The institutions holding this release up are not deciding what is best for the survivors. They’re figuring out who’s named in the report that they need to protect from getting their feelings hurt, their names brought into this horrible mess, sued…

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Credible claims of child sexual abuse have been filed against 28 Catholic priests who have served in Georgia since the 1940s. However, no current or ongoing allegations can be pursued criminally because either the accused perpetrator has passed away or the applicable statute of limitations has been reached.

Child Sex Abuse Allegations in Georgia

There were 13 credible allegations inside the Archdiocese of Atlanta, seven of which involved archdiocesan priests and six concerning priests in religious orders or linked with other dioceses. The investigation cited 15 additional credible complaints in the Diocese of Savannah, of which seven involved diocesan priests, and eight included members of religious orders.

According to the Catholic News Agency, the Prosecution Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, which issued the study on Mar. 20, noted in a news release that the report contains thorough details of charges of sexual abuse and other sexual misbehavior, including grooming and misuse of…

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We salute the Maryland legislators who approved the passage of the Child Victims Act (CVA) into the Senate. The outdated legislation will undergo much-needed reform as a result of the CVA’s approval. We are very appreciative of Delegate C.T. Wilson for standing up for this truth and prioritizing the needs of the victims. Without the committed survivors and advocates who have worked so hard to create this opportunity for reform, none of this would be possible. We are hoping for a speedy Senate agreement to make this legislation a reality for the victims who have long carried the burden. A Senate companion bill has also been introduced by Sen. William C. Smith Jr.

We know that window legislation is an important step in recognizing the realities of childhood sexual abuse and that delayed disclosure is the norm, not the exception. Amending laws to be more in line with reporting trends…

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Cardinal Sean O’Malley said Thursday he strongly disagrees with a critique of the Vatican’s safeguarding commission by abuse expert and recently resigned member Father Hans Zollner.

In a new statement March 30, O’Malley, who heads the commission, said: “I am surprised, disappointed, and strongly disagree with [Zollner’s] publicly-issued assertions challenging the commission’s effectiveness.”

The 56-year-old Zollner, a founding member of the Vatican’s Commission for the Protection of Minors, said in a statement March 29 that “structural and practical issues” within the commission had led him “to disassociate” from it.

A statement from commission president O’Malley issued a few hours earlier had characterized the Jesuit priest’s departure as an effort to reduce his already significant administrative responsibilities, including “his recent appointment as consultant for safeguarding to the Diocese of Rome.”

The commission issued an updated statement on March 30 in which O’Malley said he was “supplementing” his earlier sentiments regarding Zollner’s…

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COMMENTARY: His public clash with Cardinal Seán O’Malley is an indication of how much the Holy Father’s reform agenda has faltered.

That the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, established in 2014 and one of the flagship reform efforts of Pope Francis, is in deep crisis was manifest this week in how its two most prominent figures clashed.

German Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, an original member of the commission and its most prominent one, resigned on Wednesday. Initially, Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, president of the commission, released a statement saying that Father Zollner had new duties, and thus was resigning, and thanking him for superlative service.

Father Zollner had a different view. He put out his own statement, a blistering denunciation of the commission’s failures in “responsibility, compliance, accountability and transparency,” all of which “have made it impossible for me to continue further.”

Cardinal O’Malley “updated” his statement…

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The president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference (CEE), Cardinal Juan José Omella, has handed over to the people’s ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, a total of six volumes of data on cases of sexual abuse of minors.

In Spain, the role of the ombudsman is to defend the fundamental rights and public liberties of citizens by watching over the activities of local and national governments as well as the administration of justice.

Speaking to Radio Nacional de España, Omella explained that all the data on cases collected by the Spanish dioceses has been turned in.

In total, the ombudsman has received “six volumes of reflection with all the data that we have up to now.” He stressed the Spanish prelates commitment to “put in place all means to eradicate” the abuse of minors.

The cardinal also said that these situations cause “great harm, not only to the Church but [also] to society.”

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On Friday the bishop who oversees a famed Marian shrine in Lourdes said he is considering removing mosaics installed by a prominent Jesuit artist accused of sexual misconduct due to the potential harm their presence could inflict on victims.

In a March 31 statement, Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes said the mosaics were commissioned in 2008, for the 150th anniversary of the Marian apparitions in Lourdes, when the Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared to a young woman named Bernadette Soubirous in 1858.

According to tradition, the Virgin Mary offered a message of penance and asked Bernadette to dig a hole in the ground, forming a spring with waters said to have healing properties. The location of the apparitions is now home to a large shrine, drawing pilgrims and visitors from all over the world, specifically those with disabilities, who are often immersed in large baths whose…

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Mosaic art created by Father Marko Rupnik could be removed from the Basilica of the Sanctuary of Lourdes, France, out of consideration for victims of abuse who come to the sanctuary in search of consolation, the bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes said.

“Lourdes is a place where many victims turn to the Immaculate Conception for comfort and healing. Their anguish is great before the mosaics of Father Rupnik in this very place: We cannot ignore it,” Bishop Jean-Marc Micas said in a statement released Friday.

Rupnik, a Jesuit priest and artist, founded the Aletti Center, an art school in Rome dedicated to religious art. He has been accused of sexually and psychologically abusing consecrated women from the Loyola Community in Slovenia who were associated with the Aletti Center.

As the National Catholic Register reported earlier this year, Rupnik’s art decorates more than 200 churches and…

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The number of child sexual abuse cases filed in Turkey has increased by 33 percent in 2022 compared to 2021, according to official data.

Turkey has experienced a spike in cases of child sexual abuse in 2022, the Justice Ministry’s statistics revealed.

According to the 2022 Justice Statistics, the number of child sexual abuse cases filed in Turkey has increased by 33 percent in 2022 compared to 2021.

Children’s rights advocates have been calling for better sex abuse prevention for years. 

Experts say prevention involves increasing gender equality, educating children on their bodies and sexuality in age-appropriate ways, teaching about sexual abuse through awareness campaigns and training public officials. But under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), talking about sexual issues is still considered taboo.

The annual increase was 41 percent for the fraud cases and 30 percent for the theft cases, the daily Birgün reported on…

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A ministry for homebound victim-survivors of clergy abuse to receive the Eucharist in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is an example of the creativity needed to help abuse survivors find healing, said the executive director of the Secretariat for Child and Youth Protection for the U.S. bishops. 

“It’s the Holy Spirit at work,” said Deacon Bernie Nojadera, who has led the post at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for the past 12 years. He said this new program is “leading the way with its ministry,” noting that it has brought “blessing and grace” to the person receiving the Eucharist and the person bringing it. 

Deacon Nojadera also told The Tablet that this ministry, which he described as bringing “the church to survivor victims,” is the only one of its kind that he is aware of. 

He also described it as planting a seed, adding: “Who knows what…

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A former Tacoma Catholic nun and a priest were added to an official list of clergy and others accused of abuse, the Archdiocese of Seattle announced Friday.

Sister Jerry Lyness and Father Thomas Phelan were added to the official list of “Clergy and Religious Brothers and Sisters for Whom Allegations of Sexual Abuse of a Minor Have Been Admitted, Established or Determined to be Credible.”

Lyness was a teacher at St. Patrick Catholic School from 1976 to 1994 and she served as co-principal there from 1991 to 1994. Phelan served as pastor at St. Ann Parish from 1973 to 1983. Both are dead. St. Ann Parish was recently merged into the new Pope Saint John XXIII Parish.

In December 2022, the Archdiocese settled a case involving allegations of childhood sexual abuse by Phelan which occurred in approximately 1978 at St. Ann.

Also in December 2022, the Archdiocese…

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The Vatican’s prosecuting attorney has leveled additional charges against four of the defendants who have been on trial since July 2021 for their alleged roles in the Vatican’s failed investment in a property in London.

Alessandro Diddi, the prosecutor, announced the new charges March 30 at the end of the trial’s 54th session.

Raffaele Mincione, Gianluigi Torzi and Enrico Crasso were charged with bribery in addition to the original charges that included embezzlement, fraud and money laundering.

A money-laundering charge also was made against Fabrizio Tirabassi, a former official in the Vatican Secretariat of State, who had been accused of corruption, extortion, embezzlement, fraud and abuse of office.

Diddi said the new charges resulted from testimony given at the trial and from new information that arose as the investigations into the 10 defendants continued.

A key issue in the trial is the role the defendants played in convincing the Vatican…

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A popular historian of church architecture and promoter of liturgical aesthetics faces allegations of sexual misconduct against adult seminarians from his time on faculty at Mundelein Seminary in Illinois.

In a March 28 article, The Pillar, an online news outlet that covers the Catholic Church, disclosed that Mundelein’s rector, Father John Kartje, had issued a March 27 letter — a copy of which was obtained by The Pillar — advising the Mundelein community that “we have received reports alleging Dr. Denis McNamara, a former (seminary) faculty member, engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior toward adult seminarians during and after the time he was employed here.”

McNamara most recently had been director of Benedictine College’s Center for Beauty and Culture, which opened in 2019, as well as an instructor in the school’s architecture department, where he taught courses on the intersection of theology, art and architecture in Catholicism. However,…

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Editor’s Note: In support of the sixth strategic action of Vision 2025 adopted by messengers to the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting, Baptist Press will continue to report every instance of sexual abuse related to Southern Baptist churches or leaders of which we are made aware. The original story included a trial date but Baptist Press has learned a trial has not been set.

A Georgia Baptist pastor is awaiting a trial date in a North Carolina Superior Court over abuse charges filed in 2020 that prompted an investigation and his eventual arrest.

According to the SBC Workspace, Jeff McCammon has served as pastor of Mountain View Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, Ga., since May 2019. In December 2020, he was arrested after an investigation by local authorities in Cherokee County, North Carolina.

A grand jury subsequently indicted McCammon with a felony count of indecent liberties with a child. The Cherokee Superior…

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Editor’s Note: In support of the sixth strategic action of Vision 2025 adopted by messengers to the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting, Baptist Press will continue to report every instance of sexual abuse related to Southern Baptist churches, entities, institutions or leaders of which we are made aware.

Former Chalkville pastor Kenneth Daniel was released from one jail and taken to another Feb. 27, where he was charged with four counts of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old.

Daniel was the pastor of First Baptist Church of Chalkville in Jefferson County.

He was arrested in October in Blount County on charges of facilitating solicitation of unlawful sexual conduct with a child.

Daniel remains in the Shelby County jail on $240,000 bond as of March 2. A hearing is set in Shelby County on March 22.

This article originally appeared in The Alabama Baptist. If you are/have been a…

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Philippine police have arrested a 62-year-old Catholic priest accused of raping a 17-year-old choir girl a year ago when he was her parish priest.

Father Conrado Mantac was arrested at his residence in Negros Occidental province in the Western Visayas region on March 29, police said.

The arrest came after the girl’s parents complained to police that Mantac molested their daughter last year when he served as parish priest in Sagay City.

A police official said the charge against Mantac is a non-bailable offense, so he must remain behind bars pending trial.

“He did not resist the arrest. Perhaps, he knew it was forthcoming because he was given a chance to dispute the rape allegations at the prosecutor level,” Sergeant Paul Gaspar, a member of the police team that arrested the priest, told UCA News.

Gaspar said the prosecutor found “probable cause” that Mantac committed rape against the minor in 2022…

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A former student union president at a prominent Christian Bible school in Alberta, Canada, has been arrested and charged with sexual assault of multiple minors, after a two-year investigation. 

Derek Taplin, 43, allegedly abused four underage victims while he was student union president at Prairie Bible Institute, now Prairie College, in Three Hills, Alberta, from 2002 to 2004. Some of the alleged assaults reportedly occurred on campus.

On Wednesday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested Taplin in Winnipeg, Manitoba, after a Canada-wide warrant was issued. They escorted him to Alberta to face charges. He is charged with four counts each of four separate crimes: sexual exploitation of a young person, sexual Interference, sexual assault, and invitation to sexual touching.

The RCMP began an investigation of Taplin in June 2021 following an initial report of sexual assault, according to a release from the Canadian police service. The…

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Pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale is set to plead guilty to more horrific sex crimes.

The latest charge involves a young boy at Horsham in the late 1980s.

The 89-year-old faced the Ballarat magistrates court via videolink yesterday.

He’s currently imprisoned in Ararat, serving a 36-year jail sentence for abusing close to 70 victims.

Ridsdale has been serving concurrent sentences since first being charged in 1993. On 15 August 2017, Ridsdale pleaded guilty to 23 charges, including two counts of rape and one of buggery, for abusing 12 children, 11 boys and 1 girl aged 6 to 13, between 1962 and 1988 in Ballarat and the surrounding area.

He’ll return to court in June.

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There should be zero tolerance when it comes to clergy abuse of congregants. However, we learned years ago of how child sexual abuse by priests has been tolerated within the Roman Catholic Church. Since then, it has become unequivocally clear that clergy sexual abuse is not merely a “Catholic problem,” but one that impacts Christians across the ecclesiastical spectrum. 

As is the case with Catholic leaders, some evangelical and fundamentalist leaders have enabled and covered up clergy sexual abuse. The same could be said of leaders within mainline Protestant denominations. Church leaders often discredit and dismiss survivors. Therefore, they are complicit in their suffering. 

In recent years, details of a scandal involving the Southern Baptist Convention have come to light, largely due to the work of Guidepost Solutions.

Despite last summer’s damning report by Guidepost, some prominent leaders within the SBC would rather focus on excommunicating churches that have women pastors than…

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Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, an internationally renowned expert in protecting children and vulnerable adults from clerical sex abuse, has resigned from his position on the Vatican’s safeguarding commission.

The move was announced by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors on Wednesday.

The 56-year-old Father Zollner, a founding member of the commission, said in a statement March 29 that “structural and practical issues” within the commission had led him “to disassociate” from it.

“The protection of children and vulnerable persons must be at the heart of the Catholic Church’s mission,” he said. “That was the hope I and many others have shared since the commission was first established in 2014. However, in my work with the commission, I have noticed issues that need to be urgently addressed and which have made it impossible for me to continue further.”

In early March, Father Zollner was appointed  View Cache

COMMENTARY: His public clash with Cardinal Seán O’Malley is an indication of how much the Holy Father’s reform agenda has faltered.

That the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, established in 2014 and one of the flagship reform efforts of Pope Francis, is in deep crisis was manifest this week in how its two most prominent figures clashed.

German Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, an original member of the commission and its most prominent one, resigned on Wednesday. Initially, Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, president of the commission, released a statement saying that Father Zollner had new duties, and thus was resigning, and thanking him for superlative service.

Father Zollner had a different view. He put out his own statement, a blistering denunciation of the commission’s failures in “responsibility, compliance, accountability and transparency,” all of which “have made it impossible for me to continue further.”

Cardinal O’Malley “updated” his statement…

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On any other day, the dominant Vatican headline yesterday would have belonged to German Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, whose unexpected resignation from the pope’s chief advisory body on combating sexual abuse left the broader state of Francis’s reform campaign an open question.

It wasn’t just the fact that Zollner resigned which raised eyebrows, but how.

Just moments after Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, had released a statement thanking Zollner for his service and benignly attributing his departure to a new assignment with the Diocese of Rome, Zollner put out his own communique blasting the group for alleged shortcomings in “responsibility, compliance, accountability and transparency.”

Those failures, the 56-year-old Zollner said, “have made it impossible for me to continue further” – indirectly creating the impression that O’Malley and his team were trying to sweep the reality of the situation under the rug.

…

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For 150 years, the United States government financed more than 400 boarding schools across the United States, educating tens of thousands of Native American children but subjecting them to abuse, neglect, cultural oppression, and sometimes even death.

But while the government has a list of every Navy ship the nation has floated, it has never compiled a list of the boarding schools it ran.

“There was no central place where all this information was held,” said Brenna Cussen, who for the last two years has been part of a committee of the Catholic Native Boarding School Accountability and Healing Project, known as the AHP, which is compiling such a list. Cussen is also the religious communities liaison for the Nuns and Nones Land Justice Project.

Almost two dozen people sit on the AHP’s archives committee, most of whom are archivists for religious congregations or…

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The Maryland House of Delegate seemed to collectively hold its breath on Friday, as a years-long, painful journey to help survivors of child sexual abuse culminated in a vote.

Green bulbs lit up on the vote board, row after row, showing delegates in support of the Child Victims Act, which is designed to enable more survivors of child sexual abuse to be able sue institutions that enabled their abusers.

“Has everyone recorded their vote?” House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones asked, and not a soul in the chamber stirred.

With 132 votes in favor and just two opposed, the bill passed and applause rang out in the marble chamber. Delegates rose and, in a show of respect, turned to Del. C.T. Wilson, a survivor of child abuse who has been on a painful and frustrating mission to help fellow survivors.

With that vote, Maryland state lawmakers ensured that they will eliminate…

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, expressed his surprise, disappointment and disagreement with statements challenging the commission’s effectiveness made by a prominent safeguarding expert who resigned from the advisory body.

However, “the commission has a plenary meeting scheduled in the next few weeks during which we can address these and other matters more fully as a group,” the cardinal said in an updated statement March 30.

Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a leading expert in the field and member of the commission since it was founded in 2014, stepped down in mid-March but gave the reasons for his departure in a public statement March 29, saying it was due to urgent “structural and practical issues that led me to disassociate myself” from the papal commission.

Father Zollner’s criticisms came just a few hours after his resignation was…

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The upcoming plenary meeting of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors will address matters that include the entity’s effectiveness. A statement issued by the President of the Commission notes that “the protection of children and vulnerable persons remains at the heart of the Church’s mission.”

After an initial statement issued by Cardinal Sean O’ Malley, President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, announcing the resignation of Father Hans Zollner, he has released another in which he notes the Commission will soon be meeting for its plenary assembly and will discuss issues raised by Fr Zollner’s resignation.

Fr. Hans Zollner, SJ is a renowned child protection expert, and a founding member of the Commission. On Wednesday, 29 March, he asked to be relieved of his duties as a member of the Commission. In a personal statement, he cited “structural and practical issues” within the Commission, which…

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This month, the dioceses of Albany and Oakland publicly acknowledged that they may soon file for bankruptcy protection. Last month, the diocese of Santa Rosa, California, actually took that step. A total of 31 Catholic entities are in or have sought Chapter 11 proceedings. Other large, popular, and powerful groups have done likewise, notably the Boys Scouts of America and USA Gymnastics.

It is a truism to say that the powerful and wealthy are able to carve out legal strategies to benefit themselves. It is a cruel irony, though, that Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Code perversely caters to the institutions that created the conditions for child sex abuse while it sidelines the victims.

Chapter 11 was designed for “honest debtors” to reorganize their businesses so they could leave their debts behind and successfully carry on. It is triage for the poor debtor, who is the “victim” in the bankruptcy…

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Watch the preview here.

The guests on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Sunday “Freethought Matters” TV show have dedicated their lives to helping survivors of clergy child abuse obtain justice.

Peter Isley, an advocate against priest abuse and a survivor of childhood sexual assault by a Wisconsin priest, is a founding member of SNAP: Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School and a psychotherapist in private practice, Isley has established and directed the nation’s only in-patient program for victims of clergy sexual trauma. Sarah Pearson, the deputy director of Nate’s Mission, is likewise a survivor of abuse and a recent grad of Harvard Divinity School. She is the director of a film previewed on the show titled “Manufacturing the Clerical Predator.”

Isley relates how his abuse started at a Catholic boarding school when he was 13, how he confronted the church about…

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