INDIANA
CNN

June 21, 2019

By Daniel Burke

A Jesuit high school in Indiana can no longer call itself “Catholic” because it employs a teacher engaged in a same-sex marriage, the Archbishop of Indianapolis says.

Archbishop Charles Thompson’s decree, dated June 21, means that Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis will no longer be recognized or identified as a Catholic institution within the archdiocese.

Thompson said the church considers Catholic school teachers to be “ministers” of the faith.

“To effectively bear witness to Christ, whether they teach religion or not, all ministers in their professional and private lives must convey and be supportive of Catholic Church teaching,” the Archdiocese of Indiana said in a statement on Thursday.

The Archdiocese said they tried but failed to reach an agreement with the Jesuit school.

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MANCHESTER (ENGLAND)
Catholic News Service

June 21, 2019

By Simon Caldwell

An English church official “deliberately misled” a U.S. archdiocese into harboring a pedophile priest and helping him to escape justice for a quarter of a century, said a report from a child abuse inquiry.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles was persuaded to shelter Father James Robinson, who during the 1970s and 1980s had raped several boys, after officials gave false information about his sexual history.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse concluded in a report published June 21 that the deception meant that Father Robinson “was able to remain in America and avoid prosecution for nearly 25 years.”

It said Msgr. Daniel Leonard, former vicar general of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, England, where Father Robinson was trained, ordained and served as a priest, “deliberately misled the Archdiocese of Los Angeles about the nature of the allegations faced by Robinson.”

The Irish-born Father Robinson was ordained in 1971, but the report said he was abusing boys before he entered seminary, during his formation and after he was ordained.

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ERIE (PA)
Erie News Now

June 21, 2019

A man who has spoken out about alleged clergy abuse to Erie News Now in the past called for transparency and action against former Erie Bishop Donald Trautman, who is accused of not doing enough to stop the abuse, during a news conference in Buffalo late Friday morning.

James Faluszcazk, a former priest who said he was sexually abused by a priest, claims Trautman is being protected by the church and has not faced any sanctions or investigations against him.

He told Erie News Now that Bishop Persico has the authority to take action within his own Diocese and withdraw Trautman’s faculties.

During a news conference in western New York on Tuesday, attorneys announced Trautman will be sued by a man who says he was the victim of abuse by a priest.

James Bottlinger, 50, said as a high school student, he was abused by Father Michael Freeman in the 1980s, and Donald Trautman saw him in the priest’s private quarters.

He said Trautman, who was chancellor of the Buffalo Diocese at the time, knew what was going on, and the church knew of victims before him and did not stop the abuse.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Independent

June 21, 2019

By Chris Baynes

Birmingham’s Catholic church protected paedophile priests and allowed child sex abuse to continue in order to preserve its own reputation, a damning inquiry has found.

The Archdiocese of Birmingham “repeatedly failed” to alert police to allegations against its clergy and in doing so let perpetrators carry on abusing victims for years, the report concluded.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) examined more than 130 allegations of abuse against 78 people associated with the archdiocese since the 1930s. But it said the true scale of offending was likely to be far higher.

Thirteen abusers have been convicted and three other individuals received cautions over offences involving 53 children. Many other victims have since died, meaning their allegations cannot not be fully investigated.

Professor Alexis Jay, who is chairing the inquiry, said: “I am truly shocked by the scale of child sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Birmingham. The number of perpetrators and abused children is likely to be far higher than the figures suggest.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Daily Caller

June 21, 2019

By Mary Margaret Olohan

Plaintiff Jane Roe filed a suit against the former president of a Baptist Seminary claiming that he covered up her alleged rape and sought to “break her down.”

Jane Roe was a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, who reported “multiple violent sexual assaults” by a fellow student who was also an employee at the seminary.

Defendant Leighton Paige Patterson was President of SWBTS at the time and reportedly sought to prevent Roe’s accusations from coming to light, according to the suit.

Email records included in the lawsuit reveal that Patterson asked campus security at the seminary if he could privately meet with Roe so he could “break her down.”

SWBTS Chief of Campus Security wrote in an email to Patterson that he would like to be present when Patterson interviewed Roe.

Patterson replied in an email, “We will see. I have to break her down and may need no official types there but let me see.”

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MONTREAL (CANADA)
CBC News

June 20, 2019

By Leah Hendry

Montreal archdiocese’s internal investigation held in building where man had been abused by priest as a child

A.B. says he had no idea what he was walking into when he was asked by the auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal to attend a meeting with church officials in late 2016.

He’d recently come forward to make a police complaint about the years of sexual abuse he’d endured as a child at the hands of a Montreal priest.

He was told the Church now needed to do its own internal investigation of the matter.

“It seemed like it was just going to be a normal day, to go talk to people,” the man said in an exclusive interview with CBC/Radio-Canada. He is known by the initials A.B., as his identity is protected under a court publication ban.

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage blog

June 20, 2019

By William Lindsey

This essay is the third in a series Ruth Krall has written with the title “Recapitulation: Affinity Sexual Violence in a Religious Voice.” The first essay in the series was published in two parts (here and here), and was followed by another two-part essay (here and here). As Ruth notes below, “In the first two essays, I utilized the language of public health to explore issues of prevention, containment and treatment. In this essay I have raised questions about how we begin to study these issues. I have raised the question of our research language as essential.”

As she further states, “Vis-à-vis the current clergy sexual abuse issue in multiple world religions, we need, I believe, an enhanced vocabulary. We need this enhanced and more precise vocabulary in order to comprehend the complex institutional forces at work in today’s religious communities as they experience and/or demonstrate the affinity sexual violence phenomena.” Here’s Ruth’s valuable essay:

Religious Leader Sexual Abuse — What Language Shall We Use?

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NASHVILLE (TN)
Baptist News Global

June 21, 2019

By Bob Allen

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is paying heed to a major sexual abuse crisis engulfing its estranged sibling, the Southern Baptist Convention, an official said June 20 during a report of the CBF Governing Board.

“Like last year, our General Assembly coincides with the Southern Baptist Convention, who were here in this very space this time last week,” past moderator Shauw Chin Capps said during a business session of the 2019 CBF General Assembly in Birmingham, Alabama.

“In light of what has transpired in the SBC as they find themselves in the spotlight dealing with the aftermath of decades of sexual abuse and coverup involving 700 victims and over 200 sexual abusers, I would be remiss not to say a few words about this.”

Capps, former CEO of a non-profit organization serving victims of child abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault, said there are two lessons the 1,800-church group that separated from the SBC in the 1990s over issues including women’s equality can learn from recent newspaper reports documenting widespread sexual abuse in the nation’s second-largest faith group behind Roman Catholics.

“Number one, we are not immune to the problem of sexual abuse in our churches and organizations,” said Capps, now a consultant for an executive search firm. “I know this firsthand, so we do not gloat and pretend that this is not happening within CBF life. We acknowledge our brokenness and the need for repentance and for increased efforts at all levels to prevent sexual abuse of children and adults.”

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MONROVIA (LIBERIA)
Radio France Internationale

June 21, 2019

By William Niba

Allegations of sexual harassment and abuse in Liberia’s Catholic Church continue to traumatise the lives of spiritual workers, after two top clerics were named in a major sex and office abuse scandal.

The most damaging scandal to hit the faith in decades broke out in August last year when estranged Reverend Father Gabriel Sawyer sent an email message to the Pope.

He accuses the Archbishop of Monrovia and another top prelate of persecuting him and other subordinates who refused to have sex with him.

Sawyer, who has since resigned, claims that the psychological and mental molestations he suffered in the hands of Monsignor Lewis Zeigler were too much for him to continue with his spiritual mission.

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NEW SOUTH WALES (AUSTRALIA)
The Weekend Australian

June 22, 2019

By Gerard Windsor

In late 1900 a former Australian Test cricketer, Arthur Coningham, brought divorce proceedings, on the grounds of adultery, against his wife, Alice. He named as co-respondent Father Denis Francis O’Haran, secretary to Cardinal Patrick Francis Moran and dean of St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney. The “criminal conversation” (as legal systems once termed it) was said to have taken place in the cathedral grounds.

There ensued a very divisive public donnybrook — on one side the Catholic Church, on the other hardliners of various Christian denominations, notably Presbyterians and the Loyal Orange Lodge. A priest was suborned, a Catholic postmaster-general interfered with the mails. Eventually O’Haran was pronounced not to be a guilty party.

Much exultation in Catholic circles, much gnashing of teeth by the other parties. Recent scholarly opinion is that O’Haran had indeed sinned.

Who the Hell is Hamish?
Bitter tribalism set in, ready to be inflamed further by the conscription referendums 15 years later and the role of a Melbourne archbishop, Daniel Mannix.

When, 118 years later, in December last year a former archbishop of Melbourne was found guilty of sexual abuse of minors, there was the same eruption of glee and dismay. This time the roles were reversed. Catholics generally, and some non-Catholics, were horrified and their opponents were in seventh heaven.

Catholic horror this time was of two kinds. Rejectors of the verdict were outraged that their senior representative should be so hounded. Acceptors felt scandalised and ashamed. My suspicion is the first group, even among non-practising Catholics, was the larger one. My tribe right or wrong.

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BARNSTABLE (MA)
Barnstable Patriot

June 20, 2019

Seventeen years ago, a series of stories by The Boston Globe ripped away the cloak of mystery surrounding the Boston Archdiocese, exposing a coordinated effort to help pedophile priests avoid detection, allowing them to abuse and molest hundreds of boys and girls across the commonwealth. In the intervening years, it has become horrifically apparent that Boston was not some anomaly, as states began taking a closer look at long-dormant reports of similar stories in their communities. What few wanted to think about then was that the Catholic Church, although unique in its hierarchy, was not unique in its unpardonable desire to protect its own, even at the cost of those it had sworn to protect.

The fallout from the Globe’s Spotlight team investigation continues to reverberate today. Teams from more than 20 state and federal offices are actively investigating wrongdoing in the American Catholic Church, examining not only the criminal conduct of individual priests, but also that of the church’s hierarchy, examining whether it engaged in a coordinated cover-up that may result in anti-racketeering charges being leveled against high-ranking Catholic officials.

Although disturbing in terms of the apparent scope of efforts to hide the information from the public, the Catholic Church is hardly alone in terms of abuse. Earlier this year, the Southern Baptist Convention acknowledged reports that hundreds of ranking church leaders had allegedly abused hundreds of children over the years, and that some church leaders, much like their Catholic counterparts, had covered up the incidents and moved the abusive leaders to new congregations, where some re-offended.

Secular groups have seen their share of allegations as well. In 2012, a secret file kept by the Boy Scouts of America came to light, detailing allegations of abuse by nearly 8,000 Boy Scout leaders dating back to the 1940s that involved more than 12,000 alleged victims, but it was not until this past April that an investigator revealed the full scope of the information. In a press statement, the organization claimed that it had turned over all of the information to law enforcement authorities and had provided counseling for the victims. Some speculate, however, that although abusive leaders may have been removed from the Scouts, their actions remained hidden from public, potentially leaving them to offend again.

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SPRINGFIELD (MA).
The Republican

June 21, 2019

By Anne-Gerard Flynn

Following a meeting Thursday with a man who claims he was sexually abused decades ago by the late Bishop Christopher J. Weldon and two priests, Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski filed a report with the Hampden District Attorney’s Office and is weighing what other steps the diocese may take.

The alleged victim told The Republican in a statement that he was “thankful I was able to tell my story to Bishop Rozanski today and reiterate the sexual abuse I continually suffered at the hands of (Rev. Clarence) Forand, (Rev. Edward) Authier and Bishop Weldon.”

“I was clear and I was heard,” the man stated. “My impression was that the bishop ‘got it.’ I want to tell all survivors out there that you don’t have to be silent anymore, you are not going to be hurt again. There are safe allies who want to help you. You do not have to carry the secrets of your abusers’ anymore.”

Diocesan spokesman Mark Dupont confirmed the alleged victim made the accusation against Weldon in response to a question by Rozanski. It was documented and an “initial report has been filed with the Hampden County District Attorney,” he said.

The meeting was requested by the alleged victim, who had testified before the diocesan Review Board in June 2018. However, his testimony of making direct accusations against the diocese’s fourth bishop was disputed by the board, which found his accusations against two other deceased priests credible.

The alleged victim issued his statement to The Republican through Patricia Martin, a licensed clinical psychologist and former Review Board member. She attended the two-hour meeting at an undisclosed location with him and three other support people.

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PARIS (FRANCE)
La Croix International

June 21, 2019

A Vatican official heading a department charged with reviewing clergy sexual abuse allegations has told Catholic journalists in the United Sates that they share the same goal of protecting minors.

Father John Kennedy, who since 2017 has headed the discipline section for the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, also described the personal toll on the 17 people in his office.

While bound by rules of confidentiality, the Vatican investigators, like journalists, had a desire to speak about the truth for the common good, the priest told the gathering of Catholic journalists in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The purpose of journalism was to provide information citizens need to make the best possible decisions about their lives and society.Meanwhile, the church’s legal processes and mission was to “deliver justice” for victims of abuse.Father Kennedy told the Catholic journalists that his Vatican team faced an ever-growing tide of cases.

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Patheos blog

June 21, 2019

By Deacon Greg Kandra

I am in St. Petersburg this week for the Catholic Media Conference, and heard Msgr. Kennedy give this address. It was, to say the least, sobering.

Details, from CNS:
In a remarkably frank and detailed speech, the Vatican official heading the department charged with reviewing clergy sexual abuse allegations told an assembly of Catholic journalists that his investigators and the press “share the same goal, which is the protection of minors, and we have the same wish to leave the world a little better than how we found it.”

Msgr. John Kennedy, who since 2017 has headed the discipline section for the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, described the personal toll on the 17 people in his office as they have reviewed an ever-growing tide of cases involving clergy sexual abuse or related crimes.

“I can honestly tell you that, when reading cases involving sexual abuse by clerics, you never get used to it, and you can feel your heart and soul hurting,” Kennedy said. “There are times when I am pouring over cases that I want to get up and scream, that I want to pack up my things and leave the office and not come back.”

The Irish-born priest has worked and studied in Rome since 1998. Speaking with a soft Irish brogue and an even tone, he gave a humane and at times anguished assessment of his job reviewing the horrors of sexual abuse and its cover-up.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Hollywood Gossip

June 21, 2019

By Tyler Johnson

It’s been just over 4 years since the Josh Duggar sex scandals shocked the nation and very nearly brought down his family’s multi-million dollar media empire.

But while the public didn’t learn of Josh’s crimes until 2015, his parents and his community had been helping him keep the secret for quite a long time.

Josh allegedly molested five young girls in multiple incidents that occurred between 2002 and 2003.

While his parents helped the then-teenager avoid legal fallout, it seems Josh didn’t escape punishment entirely.

According to a shocking new report from Radar Online, Josh was “disciplined” by his church in bizarre fashion after elders learned of his transgressions.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
American Conservative

June 11, 2019

By Rod Dereher

How do you keep rising high in the Catholic Church after you get into a world of trouble? It helps to have a friend in the highest place. Here’s the latest from Buenos Aires:

Bishop Gustavo Oscar Zanchetta, one of Pope Francis’ first episcopal appointments, has been formally charged with alleged sexual abuse of two seminarians in the Diocese of Oran in northern Argentina.

According to the prosecutor’s office in Oran, Zanchetta was charged with “aggravated continuous sexual abuse committed by a minister of a religious organization.” He has been forbidden to have contact with the seminarians in question or their family members.

In 2015, Zanchetta was accused of engaging in “strange behavior” when a diocesan official discovered pornographic images on the archbishop’s cellphone. Pornographic images of men were found, allegedly sent to unknown parties, as well as Zanchetta’s nude selfies. Reportedly, there were no images of children found.

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PORTLAND (OR)
The Oregonian

June 21, 2019

By Steve Duin

That the case of Michael Sperou has turned, once again, on the word “victim” is the cruelest of ironies.

To be labeled “victim” at North Clackamas Bible Community, where Sperou was high priest and pedophile, was to be derided and shamed.

Whenever you showed emotion or voiced complaint, you were mocked for playing the victim. “The word is used as a weapon in the church in the most condescending way,” says Jennifer Olajuyin, who escaped the personality cult 15 years ago. “It’s a word they use to make fun of people.”

And for the Oregon Supreme Court, it’s the damning word that justifies a new trial for Sperou, four years into a 20-year sentence for unlawful sexual penetration.

Two weeks ago, the state’s high court called foul on the trial court judge and the Court of the Appeals regarding testimony leading to Sperou’s 2015 conviction.

For years, seven women accused Sperou of sexually abusing them. The Supreme Court says Multnomah County Circuit Judge Cheryl Albrecht did not err when she allowed the prosecutor, Chris Mascal, to describe those women as victims.

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NASHVILLE (TN)
Baptist Press

June 20, 2019

By Diana Chandler

A former Southern Baptist pastor is jailed in Lake Charles, La., after allegedly raping and molesting a pre-teen girl for two years, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office (CPSO) reported June 17

Bellview Baptist Church in Westlake, La., fired 45-year-old John Michael Ward after his arrest, the church said in a statement released yesterday (June 19) by the Carey Baptist Association of Lake Charles.

“Bellview Baptist Church leaders are cooperating fully with the sheriff’s office in the investigation,” the church said in the statement released by Bruce Baker, Carey missions director. “The deacons, in consultation with Carey Baptist Association, unanimously voted to immediately terminate Ward’s employment with the congregation because of his sexual immorality and failure to maintain the high standard of integrity for the office of pastor outlined in the Bible.” Ward had pastored the church since 2012.

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

June 20, 2019

The Aotearoa-New Zealand chapter is founded by Dr Christopher Longhurst, a survivor of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and brothers at two Catholic schools in New Zealand in the 1980s. Chris recently discovered that others abused by priests and religious started support groups within the SNAP network, and this grew worldwide. Chris is now the peer-support facilitator for the Aotearoa-New Zealand SNAP chapter.

“At SNAP Aotearoa-New Zealand, we know that sometimes all it takes to heal is a little support. We are determined to make an impact. The core of our efforts will be to bring together survivors of abuse by priests and religious across Aotearoa-New Zealand. None of our members are experts. We’re just survivors helping survivors. Our mission is to support each other, protect children, do advocacy around laws reporting abuse, and speak out against abusers and those who have covered up for them. Through all of our endeavours, we hope to achieve the conviction behind our belief that together we can heal.”

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

June 20, 2019

Another Detroit priest is accused of child sexual abuse. We call on officials at the Archdiocese of Detroit to do more than the bare minimum in their outreach.

Fr. Joseph “Jack” Baker has been suspended from ministry by the Archdiocese. However, instead of announcing this news at a press conference and including a direct, personal appeal to victims, witnesses, and whistleblowers, the Archdiocese opted for a terse news release and did not even include needed information in it.

Informed communities are safer communities and we believe that the Archdiocese should do its part in creating these communities by being open and honest about when and where Fr. Baker’s alleged crimes occurred, where Fr. Baker is now, and who is monitoring him.

Archbishop Allen Henry Vigneron should also personally visit each parish where Fr. Baker worked and actively seek out others with information about the allegations. At the very least, the Archbishop should make sure that there are pulpit announcements, bulletin notices and website notifications about Fr. Baker in every parish this weekend.

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FT. WORTH (TX)
Ft. Worth Telegram

June 20, 2019

By Cynthia M. Allen

At a time when the Catholic Church in the U.S. is undergoing a serious but deserved crisis of confidence over its handling of sexual abuse within its ranks, Bishop Michael Olson is the face of the faith in Fort Worth, charged with leading his flock through ominous times.

Olson and his contemporaries across the country are bearing the burden of the Church’s sins, with consequences ranging from dwindling mass attendance to investigations by secular authorities and a constant stream of public approbation. Again, much of that is deserved.

Olson’s response to the crisis has been unequivocal, in word — his condemnation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick at a meeting of the U.S. Catholic Bishops was among the strongest of his rank — and in deed.

“When anyone reports anything to me — grooming, harassment, stalking, assault — I act on it immediately,” Olson assured me in February.

True to his word, Olson has been quick to remove several clergy suspected of or complicit in alleged sexual misconduct.

That’s to be commended, especially when many of his fellow bishops have responded to the sexual abuse crisis with reluctance and ambiguity.

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Patheos blog

June 19, 2019

By William Droel

There are prophets of peace and builders of peace. There are protesters and institutional reformers. There are outsiders and insiders. The distinction is fluid. A person might be a prophetic outsider on one topic and an expert insider on another.

Newspapers and textbooks often present the outsider as a model for social justice. The outsider is concerned with social change but not overly concerned with how to implement reform. The insider gets less attention. They are the ones who speak institutional jargon. They can be dull. They know tax tables and zoning laws; they know about international protocols and about pipeline treaties. These insiders resist the first answer that occurs to them because they have heard the world’s complexities reduced to slogans. They take confidence in their faith but they do not believe that God is on their side or that God is opposed to their opponents. Insiders regularly wonder if they are right. They readily acknowledge to themselves that in this or that situation they are only 75% right.

The outsider is necessary for momentum but eventually the insider makes social change. Without inside reformers there are only passing reactions to grievances. Are there any bridges between the vociferous outsider and the stodgy insider?

The term ginger group is sometimes used in England and elsewhere. It refers to a conscience within a broader social reform movement or organization. A ginger group is loyal but it also dissents from an organization’s leaders. For example, Labor Notes (www.labornotes.org) with offices in Detroit and Brooklyn is loyal to unions. But it champions those workers that reform a workplace without waiting for clearance from an international union headquarters. Voice of the Faithful (www.votf.org), to mention a second example, has headquarters in suburban Boston. Its members have not left Roman Catholicism in disgust over bishops’ malfeasance nor have they challenged Catholic dogma. Instead they are a controversial ginger group that presses for reform.

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MEXICO CITY (MEXICO)
Catholic News Service

June 20, 2019

By David Agren

A priest in Mexico City has been arrested for murder barely a week after he celebrated a funeral
Mass for the victim.

Father Francisco Javier Bautista was arrested June 19 by Mexico City judicial officials. He was charged with the murder of Hugo Leonardo Avendano Chavez, 29, who had recently graduated with a master’s degree from a Catholic university, worked with Father Bautista at Christ the Savior Parish and had aspirations of entering the priesthood.

The priest, who also served as an exorcist, was ordered held pending trial.

Motives for the slaying were not revealed by Mexico City investigators, though local prosecutor Ernestina Godoy told reporters the case was not a kidnapping, as originally reported.

Avendano was found murdered June 13 in southern Mexico City. Family say he had gone to the Christ the Savior Parish, where he worked, late June 11 and saw Father Bautista.

The two men were spotted together outside the parish, according to footage from surveillance cameras.

The Archdiocese of Mexico City issued a statement June 19, saying it was watching events closely — without naming the priest — and adding it was cooperating with investigators.

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FT. MYERS (FL)
NBC 2 TV

June 11, 2019

Roman Catholic Bishops were in Baltimore on Tuesday to confront the reignited sex abuse crisis. They’re looking at increasing their accountability when it comes to sex abuse cases.

Several Attorneys General, including Florida’s, launched state investigations after a Pennsylvania Grand Jury report in August detailed hundreds of cases of alleged abuse.

More than half of all the dioceses around the country have released lists with the names of Catholic clergy who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

Just last month, the Archdiocese of New York, the second-largest diocese in the nation, identified 120 priests and deacons accused of sexually abusing a child or having child pornography.

This all comes one year after a report released by a grand jury in Pennsylvania accused more than 300 priests of sexually abusing children.

The NBC2 Investigators asked the seven dioceses in Florida to send us a list of clergy who had been credibly accused of sexually abusing children, but only one of the seven, the Diocese of St. Petersburg, sent the NBC2 Investigators a list.

“Even if years have passed, we want to hear from you,” said former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, last October.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi made the announcement last October, that all seven of Florida’s catholic dioceses were part of a statewide investigation into clergy abuse.

When the NBC2 Investigators asked current AG Ashley Moody’s office where that investigation stands, spokesperson Kylie Mason said, “As this investigation is ongoing, we cannot comment further at this time.”

When the NBC2 Investigators asked the Diocese of Venice, which covers all six counties in our viewing area, for a list of clergy who had been credibly accused, spokesperson Bob Reddy said, “Out of respect for the statewide prosecutor’s declared practice of not commenting regarding ongoing investigations, the Diocese is doing the same and does not foresee making any further statements on this issue.”

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Independent

June 20, 2019

By Chris Riotta

A woman who said she was raised as a Scientologist and served as a personal steward to the leader of the religion has sued the church, accusing it of human trafficking, forced labour and child abuse, among other damning allegations.

The woman, listed in court records as “Jane Doe,” said she was put in an isolation programme known as “the Hole” after learning about marital issues between the leader of the church, David Miscavige, and his wife.

She said she eventually escaped when she was assigned to help shoot promotional videos for the church with an actor who was not a Scientologist. The woman hid in the trunk of the actor’s car and fled the church in 2016, according to the complaint.

The Church of Scientology International has disputed the accusations in a statement to NBC News, saying “the lawsuit comprises nothing more than unfounded allegations as to all defendants” and adding it was “littered with anti-religious slurs culled from the tabloids and accusations that have been dis-proven in courts decades ago.”

Jane Doe went on to work for actress Leah Remini, a former Scientologist who has documented her experiences with leaving the church in a series titled “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.”

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DENVER (CO)
Denver Catholic

June 20, 2019

Jesus tells the disciples in St. John’s Gospel, “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep,” contrasting his goodness with the thieves who come only to steal and destroy. This past week my fellow U.S. bishops and I sought to act as good shepherds by approving three measures to increase our vigilance and prevention of the evil of sexual abuse by bishops, shepherds who have betrayed the flock entrusted to them.

This last weekend we celebrated Father’s Day, which should remind biological and spiritual fathers of their great responsibility of protecting and raising up new life. This mission is further emphasized by the Rite for the Ordination of a Bishop, which says, “In the Church entrusted to you, be a faithful steward, moderator and guardian of the mysteries of Christ. Since you are chosen by the Father to rule over his family, be mindful always of the Good Shepherd, who knows his sheep and is known by them, and who did not hesitate to lay down his life for them.” This is the model for all bishops.

But the scandals of Theodore McCarrick, Bishop Bransfield and others have made it clear that our vigilance has not been adequate. To quote from the just-issued “Affirming Our Episcopal Commitment” statement, “We, the bishops of the United States, have heard the anger expressed by so many within and outside of the Church over these failures. The anger is justified; it has humbled us, prompting us into self-examination, repentance, and a desire to do better.” This sentiment was clear in my interactions with my fellow bishops in Baltimore this past week.

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CORPUS CHRISTI (TX)
Corpus Christi Caller Times

June 20, 2019

By Eleanor Dearman

A third priest who was named in a list of clergy members who were “credibly accused” of sexual misconduct is suing Bishop Michael Mulvey and the Diocese of Corpus Christi.

Msgr. Jesús García Hernando is the latest to claim the diocese and bishop made a “false” statement in claiming he was “credibly accused” of sexually assaulting a minor.

“Defendants knew the statement was false and acted with reckless disregard for the truth,” the lawsuit states. “The publication of the statement was made with malice.”

While Hernando was indicted and sued in the 1990s over molestation allegations he was never convicted of a crime.

The lawsuit was filed on Hernando’s behalf by Corpus Christi Attorney Andrew Greenwell. Greenwell is also representing John Feminelli and Michael Heras in similar lawsuits that were filed earlier this year.

Feminelli is a retired priest. Heras was removed from the ministry in 2014. Hernando is still a priest in Spain, Greenwell said.

The three priests were among more than 20 Diocese of Corpus Christi clergy members whose names were included in the list. The diocese released those names in January, which coincided with the release of similar lists by dioceses across the nation.

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NIAGARA FALLS (NY)
Niagara-Gazette

June 18, 2019

By Rick Pfeiffer

RECKONING: Survivor claims high ranking diocese official ignored pedophile priest.

BUFFALO — James Bottlinger said he was prepared to take his secret to the grave.

But watching others speak out about the Catholic Church’s handling of its child sexual abuse scandal gave him his “voice.”

Bottlinger rejected what is reportedly the largest compensation settlement ever offered by the Diocese of Buffalo, $650,000, because he says he wants answers instead regarding why church leaders repeatedly exposed children to a priest that they knew was a pedophile.

“There is truth that needs to be told and facts that need to be revealed,” said Jeff Anderson, one of Bottlinger’s attorneys. “(Bottlinger) found his voice and chose to take powerful action. He wants other survivors to come forward and he wants the Catholic Diocese and (Bishop Richard Malone) to come clean.”

In a mid-day news conference Tuesday, Bottlinger said he was abused as a teen by Father Michael R. Freeman, one of 176 diocesan priests, order priests, former priests or deceased priests who were removed from ministry, were retired, or left ministry after credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor were made against them.

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UNITED STATES
USA TODAY

June 20, 2019

By Scott Gleeson

Former Olympic track athlete Conrad Mainwaring was arrested on one felony count of sexual battery on Wednesday amidst an ESPN investigation that reported more than 30 men were molested by the 67-year-old Los Angeles-based high school track and field coach.

The ESPN Outside The Lines report claims the abuse spanned over the course of 44 years, with the youngest alleged victim claiming abuse at age 14.

Los Angeles Police Department detective Sharlene Johnson said the alleged victim claimed Mainwaring molested him in 2016 by masquerading it as massage treatment in which he’d also touch his genitals. The LAPD only filed one charge against Mainwaring, and Johnson said that could be a result of the statute of limitations expiring on alleged victims from the ESPN report.

The 67-year-old Mainwaring competed for Antigua during the 1976 Olympics in the 100-meter hurdles and would use his status as an established track coach to coerce athletes. One alleged victim told ESPN that Mainwaring’s manipulation for treatment began with incentives like, “you can be an Olympian, too.” Victims in the ESPN story also claimed Mainwaring would convince them that control over their erections would affect their testosterone levels and improve their athletic performance.

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RALEIGH (NC)
WSOC TV

June 20, 2019

North Carolina House members have backed overwhelmingly a longer period of time for victims of child sexual abuse to sue perpetrators for damages as adults.

The measure now heading to the Senate following Wednesday’s vote of 104-10 extends the statute of limitations for a victim from 21 years of age to 38. The bill also would give older adults outside the proposed age cap a two-year window to file lawsuits.

The legislation comes with increased awareness nationally about sex abuse cases, such as those within the Roman Catholic Church and in youth organizations.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Huffington Post

June 20, 2019

By Carol Kuruvilla

A former Scientologist is suing the church and its leader David Miscavige, alleging years of abuse — and lawyers are hoping it will inspire more to come forward.

An ex-Scientologist filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on Tuesday against the Church of Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige ― alleging the church put her through years of “heinous abuse, human trafficking, and intimidation.”

The legal challenge seeks to force the church, which has long been battling abuse allegations, into the new era of accountability brought about by the Me Too movement, according to Marci Hamilton, an expert on child abuse prevention and one of the lawyers involved in the case.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
ESPN

June 19, 2019

By Mike Kessler and Mark Fainaru-Wada

Police on Wednesday arrested a onetime Olympian and longtime track coach on charges of molesting a former athlete — one of nearly three dozen men who told Outside the Lines the coach sexually abused them over the past 44 years.

Conrad Avondale Mainwaring, 67, has been charged with one felony count of sexual battery by fraud, which is punishable by up to four years in prison. His bail was set at $1 million. When approached by Outside the Lines recently at a Los Angeles-area track, Mainwaring declined to answer questions about the men’s allegations. He also did not respond to several other interview requests.

An ongoing Outside the Lines investigation has uncovered a pattern of allegations against Mainwaring dating from the mid-1970s to as recently as 2016. Some of the earliest reported victims were teenagers — the youngest was 14 — at a New England summer camp. Others attended universities in at least three other states, including, most recently, California.

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REEDLEY (CA)
ChurchMilitant.com

June 18, 2019

By Anita Carey

Multiple women are accusing Msgr. John Esquivel of sexual and verbal abuse

Amid calls for the diocese of Fresno, California to release the names of those credibly accused of molestation, an eighth priest is accused of sexually and verbally abusing a teen girl.

At a press conference on Monday with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), Silvia Gomez Ray alleged Msgr. John Esquivel groped, open-mouth kissed and verbally abused her 30 years ago when she was 17–18 years old and working as a secretary at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Bakersfield, California.

SNAP representatives claimed they have been contacted by three additional women who are claiming he abused them. Two of the women were minors at the time of the abuse.

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NEW YORK (NY)
The Associated Press

June 20, 2019

By David Crary

Under financial pressure from sex-abuse litigation, the Boy Scouts of America are seeking to bolster their abuse-prevention efforts with a new awareness program featuring cartoon-style videos that will be provided to more than 1.2 million Cub Scouts across the nation.
Targeted at children from kindergarten to sixth grade, the series of six videos aims to teach children how to recognize potentially abusive behavior and what to do if confronted by it.
The initiative, being announced Thursday, comes as the Boy Scouts face a potentially huge wave of abuse-related lawsuits after several states enacted laws this year making it easier for victims of long-ago abuse to file claims. The Boy Scouts acknowledge that the litigation poses a financial threat and have not ruled out seeking bankruptcy protection.

The bulk of the newly surfacing abuse cases date to the 1960s, ’70s and ‘80s; the BSA says there were only five known abuse victims in 2018 out of 2.2 million youth members. The BSA credits the change to an array of prevention policies adopted since the mid-1980s, including mandatory criminal background checks and abuse-prevention training for all staff and volunteers, and a rule that two or more adult leaders be present with youth at all times during scouting activities.

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HOUSTON (TX)
The Associated Press

June 16, 2019

A former Southern Baptist pastor who supported legislation in Texas that would have criminalized abortions has been arrested on charges of child sex abuse, accused of repeatedly molesting a teenage relative over the course of two years.

Stephen Bratton is accused of subjecting the relative to inappropriate touching that escalated to “sexual intercourse multiple times a day or several times a week” from 2013 to 2015, according to Thomas Gilliland, a spokesman with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Court records show Bratton, 43, posted a $50,000 bond Saturday, The Houston Chronicle reported .

Bratton told his wife about the abuse in May, and admitted to his co-pastors at Grace Family Baptist Church that same day that he had “sinned in grievous ways,” according to court documents.

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Starts at 60 blog
June 20, 2019

By Peter Keogh

Every day I’m inspired by my husband, Sacha. He suffered the most heinous abuse at an orphanage as a child and he was a part of the recent Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Despite that heartbreaking start to his life, he’s survived and at 78 works in our local performing arts centre, entertaining the over-60s.

To a much lesser degree I also experienced incidences of abuse growing up. It was with a lot of support, I was able to become the man I am today, yet I still occasionally suffer from quite debilitating panic attacks and am often anxious. At 74, I’m fortunate to be still working and have the most loving and compassionate friends.

Recently I became aware of the incredible number of people who are still suffering abuse in all kinds of situations. What was brought to my attention was the prevalence of gay people who have either not been able to come out or who have come out and lost families and friendships, as well as those who are suffering abuse for their sexuality on social media. I was saddened to hear that when compared to the general population, members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex (LGBTI) community who have experienced abuse and harassment are up to 11 times more likely to attempt suicide in their lifetime. I grew up gay in much different times, but I hope that in sharing a bit about my story there is someone who can see there is light at the end of the tunnel.

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NEW YORK (NY)
The Associated Press

June 19, 2019

By Tom Hayes

The guru of a cult-like self-improvement group that attracted heiresses and Hollywood actresses was convicted Wednesday of turning his female devotees into his sex slaves through such means as shame, punishment and nude blackmail photos.

A jury in federal court in Brooklyn took less than five hours to find 58-year-old Keith Raniere guilty on all counts of sex-trafficking and coercing women into sex.

“Raniere was truly a modern-day Svengali,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said outside court, calling him a lying manipulator who “ruined marriages, careers, fortunes and lives.”

Raniere, a short, bespectacled figure who wore pullover sweaters in court, listened attentively but showed no reaction as he learned the verdict. His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said Raniere plans to appeal. He could get 15 years to life in prison at sentencing Sept. 25.

“It’s a very sad day for him,” Agnifilo said. “I think he’s not surprised, but he maintains that he didn’t mean to do anything wrong.”

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TUCSON (AZ)
Arizona Daily Star

June 17, 2019

By Carol Ann Alaimo

Five Franciscan friars who once staffed churches on the Tohono O’odham reservation near Tucson have been named to a new list of Roman Catholic clergy “credibly accused” of child molestation during their careers.

The five, all now deceased, were members of the California-based Franciscan Friars of the Province of St. Barbara. Four of the five were assigned at various times to the historic San Xavier Mission, the religious order recently disclosed on its website.

The list, which covers the last 50 or so years, does not say precisely when and where the alleged incidents occurred or whether any of the complaints the religious order has received came from local tribal members.

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NEW YORK (NY)
New York Post

June 19, 2019

By Emily Saul and Lia Eustachewich

Nxivm founder Keith Raniere has been found guilty on all counts for running the upstate sex cult in which women were branded like cattle and forced to have sex with him.

Jurors in Brooklyn federal court reached the verdict Wednesday after less than five hours of deliberations — convicting him of racketeering, a charge that could put him away for life, and other counts.

Raniere mumbled under his breath as the foreperson read aloud the guilty verdicts on all seven counts against him but otherwise showed no emotion. He did not shake his attorneys’ hands before being handcuffed and led out of the courtroom.

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VISALIA (CA)
The Sun Gazette

June 19, 2019

By Reggie Ellis

A Visalia priest has been placed on paid administrative leave in the wake of a new report chronicling a history of sexual abuse within the Fresno Diocese of the Catholic church.

In a letter addressed to the “People of God,” Most Reverend Joseph V. Brennan, bishop of the Diocese of Fresno, announced that Father Eric Swearingen, pastor of the Good Shepherd Parish in Visalia, had been placed on paid leave as of June 5. The letter was read during both Sunday and Saturday mass at the parish’s four congregations at St. Charles Borromoeo, Holy Family, and St. Mary’s in Visalia, and St. Thomas The Apostle in Goshen. The parish also oversees George McCann Memorial, a kindergarten through eighth grade Catholic school, and the Bethlehem Center, a thrift store and food pantry.

“This action was necessary in light of detailed information associated with a civil case dating back to 2006 that was brought to my attention following a file review,” Most Rev. Brennan stated in the letter. “I am not able to offer further details.”

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Telegraph

June 20, 2019

By Gabriella Swerling

The most senior Catholic in the UK stands accused of being more concerned with protecting the Church’s reputation than historic victims of child sex abuse in a government inquiry report.

An official report published yesterday concluded that children could have been saved in the Archdiocese of Birmingham had the Catholic Church not “repeatedly failed” to alert police to allegations.

Since the mid 1930s, there have been more than 130 allegations of child sexual abuse made against 78 people associated with the Archdiocese. At least 13 of them have been convicted in criminal courts and three others have been cautioned.

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NEW JERSEY
New Jersey 101.5

June 19, 2019

By Dan Alexander

Four members of the Linden Presbyterian Church say in a lawsuit that they were molested and sexually assaulted by a minister who claimed to have used “Native American exorcism” that was nothing more than nonconsensual oral sex and masturbation.

Jared Staunton, Alan Meeker Jr., William Weist and a woman identified only as “H.C.” accuse the Rev. William “Bill” Weaver of the sexual assaults during separate therapy sessions.

The complaint outlines why each of the plaintiffs came to Weaver, a minister at the church for nearly 40 years. The lawsuit also names the local church, the Presbytery of Elizabeth and the Presbyterian Church USA as defendants.

Staunton was dealing with the death of his father in February 2014 followed three months later by the death of his partner of 11 years.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

June 20, 2019

By Kelly Heyboer

Four parishioners say they went separately to the Rev. Dr. William Weaver at Linden Presbyterian Church for counseling over the years to ask the veteran minister for help for various problems, including marriage difficulties and depression.

Weaver listened to their troubles in his office and eventually suggested the same solution to all of them — an “exorcism” ritual he said was taught to him by Native Americans, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this week.

The elaborate exorcism, which involved the minister waving feathers and placing gem stones and metal strips on their bodies, led to sexual abuse, according to the three men and one woman who jointly filed the lawsuit.

“The Rev. Dr. William Weaver, who spent nearly 40 years as the pastor of Linden Presbyterian Church, allegedly performed masturbation and oral sex on the male plaintiffs as part of a ritual he said would free them from evil spirits,” the Fuggi law firm, which is representing all of the parishioners in the lawsuit, said in a statement.

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ERIE (PA)
Erie News Now

June 18, 2019

Bottlinger recently rejected a $680,000 compensation fund payment from the Buffalo Diocese. He is filing suit because, in his own words, “it is the right thing to do.”

A victim who claims he was sexually abused by a priest in the Buffalo Diocese is moving forward with a lawsuit against the diocese and Erie Bishop Emeritus Donald Trautman for not doing enough to stop the abuse, attorneys announced Tuesday afternoon.

The victim – James Bottlinger, 50 – spoke publicly for the first time Tuesday. Bottlinger said he was abused while in high school in the 1980s by Father Michael Freeman at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Lancaster, NY. Freeman is now deceased.

Bottlinger recently rejected a $680,000 compensation fund payment from the Buffalo Diocese. He is filing suit because, in his own words, “it is the right thing to do.”

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Reading the Pictures blog

June 20, 2019

Since the Catholic sex abuse scandal that traumatized a generation of churchgoers and disillusioned many more, faith groups are tempted more than ever to cover up their own cases of sexual abuse, however isolated they may be. This is especially true for minority groups like Muslims and Jews, who are disproportionately subject to fear mongering from right-wing reactionaries, but it’s also true for less populous groups that don’t want sexual abuse to dominate what already is a limited public conversation around them.

For conservative Anabaptists including the Amish and Old Order Mennonites in particular, the wider cultural reckoning activated by #MeToo is beginning to pull some communities out of their cultural separatism and into media pathways cleared by sex-offending megastars like Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and Bill Cosby.

As it happens, visual depictions of Amish and conservative Mennonite communities already share some traits with those of Hollywood celebrities. Many of their photographs in the press look like they were taken by paparazzi: shot from discrete angles, from the side or behind, often with long telephoto lenses. Because they hold a conviction that posing for a photograph can be interpreted as a form of pride, or as an affront to the biblical commandment against graven images, conservative Anabaptists usually resist being photographed. Faraway, detached images, then, are what inform much of the public’s visual vocabulary of Plain church communities. Those who see them at all are used to seeing them from a distance.

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FORT WORTH (TX)
Star Telegram

June 20, 2019

By Nichole Manna

Fort Worth municipal prosecutors have filed a motion to drop the case against a Fort Worth priest who was accused of groping a man in a park near his church in the fall.

Father Genaro Mayorga Reyes told officers he did not touch the 43-year-old man at Marine Park on the morning of Sept. 25, according to police reports.

Bishop Michael F. Olson requested that Reyes be recalled to Mexico after learning of the alleged incident, according to a statement released by the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth in November to members of All Saints Catholic Church, where Reyes was the priest.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

June 20, 2019

By Jay Tokasz

The second-in-command of the Buffalo Diocese in the early 1980s allegedly blamed a teenage boy who accused the Rev. Michael R. Freeman of sexually abusing him.

Monsignor Donald W. Trautman told the boy in a meeting at diocese headquarters that he should have avoided Freeman, who was assigned to St. Christopher Church in the Town of Tonawanda at the time, according to local attorney Steve Boyd.

“Trautman told the teenager: ‘You should have never put yourself in that position,’ ” said Boyd.

Boyd represents James Bottlinger, who rejected the diocese’s $650,000 offer to settle his complaint that Freeman abused him as a teen after the priest was removed from St. Christopher and sent to St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Lancaster in 1984.

The diocese in December offered Bottlinger its largest settlement award in its recently concluded $17.5 million program compensating childhood victims of clergy sex abuse.

Bottlinger, 50, called the offer “insignificant” in the face of the abuse he endured, and said he plans to sue the diocese, preferring a full accounting of how and why the diocese allowed Freeman to continue in ministry for so long.

Boyd said he’s spoken with three other men who went to the diocese in the early 1980s with complaints about Freeman and sexual abuse.

One of them is Niagara Falls attorney Paul Barr, who rejected a $45,000 compensation offer from the diocese and already has filed a lawsuit over an alleged molestation in the rectory of Sacred Heart Church in Niagara Falls in 1980. Barr said he reported the abuse in person at the diocese chancery around 1982.

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DETROIT (MI)
Detroit News

June 20, 2019

By Beth LeBlanc

An Archdiocese of Detroit priest has been restricted from all public ministry following an allegation that he sexually abused a minor.

The Rev. Joseph “Jack” Baker, the pastor of St. Perpetua in Waterford Township, was removed Wednesday pending “the outcome of the canonical process” because of an allegation dating back to his early years of ministry, according to a statement from the archdiocese

The archdiocese said it reported the recent allegation to state Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office, which authorized the diocese to move forward with its review and removal process.

As part of his restrictions, Baker, 57, cannot present himself as a priest, exercise any church ministry or wear clerical clothing. The diocese will monitor Baker to ensure he complies.

The Rev. Gerard Battersby, an auxiliary bishop for the archdiocese, will take over leadership at St. Perpetua Parish as a temporary administrator.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
The Legal Examiner

June 18, 2019

By Eric T. Chaffin

A recent decision by the Pennsylvania State Superior Court may soon open the door for previously time-barred Catholic Church clergy sexual abuse lawsuits to proceed.

On June 11, 2019, a three-judge panel agreed to reinstate a lawsuit filed by a plaintiff who claims she was sexually abused by clergy in the 1970s and 1980s. She filed the lawsuit in 2016, but it was dismissed by the trial court because the statute of limitations had expired.

The plaintiff appealed, and the appellate court reversed the order granting judgment and remanded the case to proceed in the trial court.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Associated Press

June 20, 2019

Under financial pressure from sex-abuse litigation, the Boy Scouts of America are seeking to bolster their abuse-prevention efforts with a new awareness program featuring cartoon-style videos that will be provided to more than 1.2 million Cub Scouts across the nation.

Targeted at children from kindergarten to sixth grade, the series of six videos aims to teach children how to recognize potentially abusive behavior and what to do if confronted by it.

The initiative, being announced Thursday, comes as the Boy Scouts face a potentially huge wave of abuse-related lawsuits after several states enacted laws this year making it easier for victims of long-ago abuse to file claims. The Boy Scouts acknowledge that the litigation poses a financial threat and have not ruled out seeking bankruptcy protection.

The bulk of the newly surfacing abuse cases date to the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s; the BSA says there were only five known abuse victims in 2018 out of 2.2 million youth members. The BSA credits the change to an array of prevention policies adopted since the mid-1980s, including mandatory criminal background checks and abuse-prevention training for all staff and volunteers, and a rule that two or more adult leaders be present with youth at all times during scouting activities.

The Boy Scouts’ youth protection director, former police investigator Mike Johnson, decided to add the videos to the prevention program after vetting them with parents of Cub Scout-age children and with children themselves.

“Parents told me they’re having these conversations with their kids, and they felt the videos would help them have a better, richer conversation,” Johnson said. “The kids are engaged. … There’s some heavy topics discussed in a child-specific way.”

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
Daily Mail

June 20, 2019

By Joel Adams

A ‘sexually promiscuous’ minister was sacked from the Church of Scotland after having an affair with a married woman and touching himself in front of a colleague.

Rev Dr Elijah Wade Smith, 32, was emotionally abusive to his girlfriend and humiliated her in public as well as cheating on her with a 19-year-old, according to a Presbyterial Commission report.

His shocking behaviour was described as ‘contrary to the Word of God’ by church officials who also said ‘he abused [his] duty of trust’, and told him he ‘failed to maintain a proper line between your pastoral duties and your friendship’.

The Church of Scotland set up a commission to review the behaviour of the Glasgow minister following allegations of misconduct against ‘several women’. The report outlined 11 ‘charges’ between 2015 and last year.

Dr Smith came from California to join the church and was ordained as minister of Queen’s Park Govanhill Parish Church, in Glasgow’s south side, in January 2015, becoming the Scottish Kirk’s second-youngest minister.

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TAOS (NM)
Taos News

June 20, 2019

By Rebecca Moss

The window is now closed for survivors of alleged sexual abuse by New Mexico’s Roman Catholic clergy to seek a financial settlement against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

According to court records, 340 people filed claims against the church as of the 5 p.m. Monday (June 17) deadline. Although most claims are sealed, attorneys say the overwhelming majority relate to allegations of sexual molestation and assault by priest and deacons who worked in the archdiocese. At least 78 clergy members have been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children, according to a list released by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe last year.

In December 2018, the archdiocese said the number of abuse claims against the church could be financially devastating and required it to seek bankruptcy protection. The deadline marks the beginning of a negotiation process between the archdiocese and a creditors’ committee to agree on a remedy for those who have filed claims and a plan moving forward. The bankruptcy process could also reveal other perpetrators not yet named by the archdiocese, but that is at the discretion of the court.

“The numbers are really high, but there is only proof when people come forward,” Diana Abeyta, a Santa Fe advocate said prior to the deadline. “In the last several months, it has been just sadness, lots of disappointment.”

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
Catholic Herald

June 20, 2019

By Michael Warren Davis

From 2004 until his retirement last year, Michael J Bransfield served as Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston. It’s the perfect posting for a prelate who wants all the perks of the office without the distractions of being a pastor. The diocese in poverty-stricken West Virginia allegedly brings in $15 million from oil fields it owns in Texas, which goes to serve just 100,000 Catholics. Bransfield allegedly spent $1,000 on alcohol a month and $100 on fresh flowers every day – paid for, of course, from the diocesan treasury. Several younger priests have also reported him for sexual harassment. (He denies the allegations.)

The Bransfield disclosures came just before the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) convened in Baltimore for its spring plenary session, which continued to address the sex abuse crisis. From the bishops’ perspective, this is also a crisis of trust. Survey after survey shows that American Catholics’ confidence in their leaders has plummeted since the McCarrick revelations last year. And yet, with these new accusations of Bransfield, hopes of restoring trust may already have been dashed.

Reporters from the Washington Post also discovered that Bransfield gave substantial gifts to other clergy. Far from denying the Post’s claim, a few of the bishops promised to return the gifts. It also seems that Bransfield gave more than $1,000 to his cousin Mgr Brian Bransfield, the USCCB’s general secretary.

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NASHVILLE (TN)
Southern Baptist Conference

June 20, 2019

The Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders (SBCAL) and the Officers of the
SBC Fellowship of State Executive Directors join together to make a statement in support
of the prevention of sexual abuse and for the protection of minors. As organizations, we
recognize our respective entities have no authority over any Baptist body. However, our
intention is to offer encouragement to associations, state conventions, and churches to
diligently guard those whom God has given to us for the purpose of ministry.

PREVENTION/PROTECTION
1. We encourage associations and state conventionsto practice the regular reviewing,
updating, or creating worker policies and guidelines for all staff,
association/convention/church leaders, and youth/children volunteer workers.
2. We encourage associations and state conventions to take the initiative and
advocate for comprehensive screening processes for all staff,
association/convention/church leaders, and youth/children volunteer workers to
address such things as:
• Understanding the need for a written application.
• Discovering when and how to check references.
• Researching prior church membership and volunteer work, especially with
minors.
• Conducting internet research for potential news stories containing allegations
of sexual misconduct for any potential staff member or volunteer.
• Calling for background checks.
• Linking to and utilizing the U. S. Department of Justice National Sex Offender
Public Website posted on the Sexual Abuse Prevention page on SBC.net and to
viable public databases of sexual offenders in a church or ministry setting as they
may be developed.
• Conducting personal interviews with applicants.
• Implementing at least a six-month rule of association.

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

NEW YORK (NY)
Catholic New York

June 19, 2019

The U.S. bishops’ newly approved plan establishing procedures to report complaints of clergy sexual abuse and to hold its leaders accountable is an important step in the ongoing struggle to move beyond the crisis.

We pray that it works as hoped, and that the Church will in time fully recover the dedication and trust of the faithful.

The plan implements the “motu proprio” issued by Pope Francis in May following a Vatican summit in February on sexual abuse. The bishops were poised to take up a similar plan last fall, but they deferred action at the Vatican’s request until after the February summit.

Essentially, the bishops’ plan calls for using a national third-party reporting system to receive reports of abuse and forward them to the proper Church authority, utilizes proven lay experts as advisers, gives oversight responsibility to the metropolitan (an archbishop or bishop of a province with more than one diocese) throughout the investigative process, and other measures.

The third-party reporting system will allow people to make reports via a toll-free telephone number as well as online.

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

TRAVERSE CITY (MI)
Associated Press

June 20, 2019

A pastor of a church in northern Michigan who is facing charges after five men accused him of sexual assault is heading to trial on charges tied to two of the accusers.

The Traverse City Record-Eagle reports four charges were dropped before the case was sent this week to trial court.

Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg says Cox is scheduled to appear June 28 on charges including first-degree criminal sexual conduct, methamphetamine possession and child pornography.

His attorney Paul Jarbo says Cox maintains his innocence on the charges and they plan to start preparing for trial.

Cox is pastor of Long Lake Church in Traverse City. The case began after two men told investigators Cox gave them methamphetamine and sexually assaulted them once they became drunk or inebriated.

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

WASHINGTON (DC)
National Review

June 18, 2019

By Declan Leary

More than 200 men in black suits sit in a conference hall in a Baltimore hotel. On folding tables in front of them hundreds of pieces of paper are scattered and pitchers of water are placed at regular intervals. Two tables raised in the front are lined with people apparently in charge, each with a microphone. Everyone has a name tag, hung around his neck on a green lanyard. At a glance, you might think it’s a regional gathering of some professional association of paper salesmen, hotel managers, maybe even low-caliber lawyers. Only a careful look at their collars will show that these men are the apostolic shepherds, more or less, of the Catholic Church in the United States.

One steps up to a portable podium and offers a brief opening prayer. There is a pull-down projector screen behind him lit up with an image of the crucified Christ; one can’t help but think that a better setting might have some permanent reminders of why these men are here — or permanent anything, for that matter. Folding tables, a moving podium, a temporary stage (though why a stage is necessary at all in a gathering of bishops is beyond me), all in a neutral (not to mention, thoroughly secular) location, every exit neatly marked by red-lit signs — the bishops look ready to pick up and run at the first hint of trouble. Call it a sign of the times.

A woman begins to bang out a hymn on one of those plug-in electric keyboards. Another impermanence tic. It’s turning into a compulsion, a reflex against that hideous horror, tradition — or, worse, aesthetics. As the keyboard jumps and jolts along and the bishops sing (each out of tune in his own way), you can’t help but feel nostalgic for the grand organs that once made music worthy of the Church and for the simple, ancient chant that even Blase Cupich could sing without sounding like a character out of VeggieTales.

When morning prayer is ended, though not before one more grating hymn is scraped out, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, reminds them of the reason for this assembly: “To further the sacred work of rooting the evil of sexual abuse from our Church.”

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

NASHVILLE (TN)
Baptist Press

June 19, 2019

By Tobin Perry

The Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders (SBCAL) voted unanimously during their meeting, June 9, to approve broad recommendations to Southern Baptist associations, state conventions and churches about how to prevent the abuse of minors.

The document, entitled “Encouragements to Associations, State Conventions, and Churches Regarding the Prevention of Abuse of Minors” outlines a series of 10 recommendations around prevention/protection, awareness/education and ministry care/healing. The meeting was held in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) annual meeting in Birmingham, Ala.

“As you read through these recommendations, some of you – no doubt – are saying, ‘We’re already doing that.’ I applaud you for that,” said Kevin Carrothers, associational mission strategist (AMS) with the South Salem Baptist Association of Mt. Vernon, Ill. “You are on the proactive side so this serves as a reminder to you to continue to safeguard the vulnerable in your churches. For some of you, these are new. These are encouragements to you. That’s how we want you to take these. Not prescriptive, but certainly some areas for you to consider in your association but also in your churches.”

Carrothers led a three-member task force in drafting the document. According to the group’s executive director, Ray Gentry, this year’s 250-plus registrants marked the highest total in years.

The recommendations approved by SBCAL do not bind Southern Baptist associations but serve as a guide for associational mission strategists throughout the SBC. SBCAL leaders also described the document as a work in progress.

“It’s our heart that we’re going to certainly be responsive,” said David Stokes, the chairman of the group’s executive team and the executive director of the Central Kentucky Network of Baptists, based in Lexington.

“This is not us making a statement and saying we’re never going to talk about this again. This is the beginning of a path to address this.”

The associational leaders unanimously voted to amend the title of the previously released document, adding the words “the prevention of” to the title in order to emphasize the desire of SBCAL to provide proactive support on the issue.

For the full text of the statement, visit sbcassociations.org/vote.

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

TAMPA (FL)
Tampa Bay Times

June 20, 2019

By Tracey McManus

A team of eight victims’ rights attorneys on Tuesday filed the first of what they promise will be a series of lawsuits against the Church of Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige, on behalf of defectors who say they suffered a range of exploitation from child abuse, human trafficking and forced labor to revenge tactics related to the church’s Fair Game policy.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of an unnamed Jane Doe born in 1979, outlines her lifetime of alleged suffering in Scientology where she was subjected as a child at the Clearwater headquarters to abuse inherent to auditing, Scientology’s spiritual counseling that can more resemble interrogation.

It states she joined the church’s clergy-like Sea Org in California at 15, where people worked 100 hours a week for $46. She was at times held against her will. When she officially left Scientology in 2017, Doe was followed by private investigators and terrorized by the church as it published “a hate website” falsely stating she was an alcoholic dismissed from the sect for promiscuity, according to the complaint.

“This isn’t going to be the last of the lawsuits being filed,” Philadelphia-based attorney Brian Kent told the Tampa Bay Times, declining to say how many more are forthcoming. “We’ve seen what can happen when there is truth exposed in terms of child abuse within organizations. You’ve seen it with the Catholic Church, you’re seeing it with the Southern Baptist Convention now. We’re hoping for meaningful change.”

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

Get Religion blog

June 19, 2019

By Terry Mattingly

I think that it’s safe to say that Jerry Falwell, Jr., has had a rough year or two.

I don’t say that as a cheap shot. I say that as someone who has followed the adventures of the Falwell family and Liberty University with great interest since the early 1980s, when elite newsrooms — The New Yorker came first, methinks — started paying serious attention to the late Rev. Jerry Falwell.

Of course, there is a good reason for political reporters and others to dig into Falwell, Jr., affairs. His early decision to endorse Donald Trump, instead of Sen. Ted Cruz, helped create the loud minority of white evangelicals who backed The Donald in early primaries. Without them, including Falwell, Trump doesn’t become the nominee and then, in a lesser-of-two-evils ace with Hillary Clinton, squeak into the White House.

So that leads us to a rather interesting — on several levels — piece of neo-tabloid journalism at the New York Times, with this headline: “The Evangelical, the ‘Pool Boy,’ the Comedian and Michael Cohen.” The “evangelical,” of course, is Falwell.

Everything begins and ends with politics, of course, even in a story packed with all kinds of sexy whispers and innuendo about personal scandals. Thus, here is the big summary statement:

Mr. Falwell — who is not a minister and spent years as a lawyer and real estate developer — said his endorsement was based on Mr. Trump’s business experience and leadership qualities. A person close to Mr. Falwell said he made his decision after “consultation with other individuals whose opinions he respects.” But a far more complicated narrative is emerging about the behind-the-scenes maneuvering in the months before that important endorsement.

That backstory, in true Trump-tabloid fashion, features the friendship between Mr. Falwell, his wife and a former pool attendant at the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach; the family’s investment in a gay-friendly youth hostel; purported sexually revealing photographs involving the Falwells; and an attempted hush-money arrangement engineered by the president’s former fixer, Michael Cohen.

The revelations have arisen from a lawsuit filed against the Falwells in Florida; the investigation into Mr. Cohen by federal prosecutors in New York; and the gonzo-style tactics of the comedian and actor Tom Arnold.

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

HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle

June 19, 2019

By Michael Norris

After decades of broken promises to clean up the Roman Catholic Church’s sexual-abuse scandal, American bishops made another attempt at reform last week. Unfortunately, the new measures adopted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops once again reinforce the idea that the church can investigate itself. These are not the reforms that survivors and advocates wanted.

Can we trust an institution to police itself, especially when it has systematically allowed the molestation of our children and the subsequent protection of the perpetrators?

For example, within the past year in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, several priests have been allowed to continue in their ministries for months with unfettered access to children despite church officials’ knowledge of multiple accusations of abuse. Critically, these men were kept in ministry without the knowledge of children’s parents in those parishes. This irresponsible act shows that Houston church officials care more about protecting their reputation than protecting the children studying and worshiping within their diocese.

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

LONDON (ENGLAND)
Catholic Herald

June 20, 2019

By J. D. Flynn

Exactly one year after revelations about the sexual abuse of then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick were made public, the Church in the U.S. remains in a state of serious scandal, and Catholics remain angry and discouraged. But what’s next for the Church – what happens after McCarrick – depends as much on the decisions of ordinary Catholics as it does on the policy decisions of the U.S. bishops.

McCarrick told the Washington Post in 2002 that to address the scourge of clerical sexual abuse uncovered that year, “everybody has to have a plan, everybody has to have a procedure, everybody has to have a policy.”

His fellow bishops needed to begin “really tackling this in a more comprehensive way,” McCarrick told reporters.

In the months that followed those remarks, McCarrick would become an architect, and a tireless promoter, of the U.S. bishops’ plans and policies to address clerical sexual abuse.

“I think we have to somehow make sure that our people know what we’re doing, that the people know that the bishops are taking this seriously.”

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

ROME (ITALY)
Crux

June 20, 2019

By John L. Allen Jr.

One year ago today, Theodore McCarrick woke up as a cardinal of the Catholic Church, a busy informal diplomatic trouble-shooter on behalf of the Vatican and someone perceived as a friend of the reigning pope, Francis. By the time he went to bed he’d been removed from public ministry, starting a cascade of abuse allegations that led to his being expelled from the College of Cardinals and, eventually, from the priesthood.

McCarrick, who’ll turn 89 on July 7, now lives in disgrace in a small Capuchin friary on the plains of Western Kansas.

As we reach the one-year milestone of the McCarrick saga, it’s a good time to examine where things stand. In essence, it’s a tale typical of the Catholic Church, full of both lights and shadows, hope aroused and business left undone.

On the one hand, Pope Francis came into office vowing there would be no “daddy’s boys” on his watch, meaning clergy so senior or sheltered by powerful patrons as to be beyond reach should they commit a crime. McCarrick certainly proved he meant business, since this was not only a Prince of the Church but someone who, by multiple accounts, campaigned actively for the election of then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina in 2013 and was instrumental in delivering some share of votes to the new pontiff.

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

MONTREAL (CANADA)
CBC News

June 20, 2019

By Leah Hendry

A.B. says he had no idea what he was walking into when he was asked by the auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal to attend a meeting with church officials in late 2016.

He’d recently come forward to make a police complaint about the years of sexual abuse he’d endured as a child at the hands of a Montreal priest.

He was told the Church now needed to do its own internal investigation of the matter.

“It seemed like it was just going to be a normal day, to go talk to people,” the man said in an exclusive interview with CBC/Radio-Canada. He is known by the initials A.B., as his identity is protected under a court publication ban.

However, when he arrived at an archdiocese building that houses a priests’ residence and meeting rooms, tucked behind Mary Queen of the World Cathedral on René-Lévesque Boulevard, he was met by nine members of the clergy, some robed in their red and purple vestments.

He says he was grilled for hours, as some of the priests tried to poke holes in his story, looking for inconsistencies.

It felt to him like he was on trial.

“In the moment, you feel like you’re trying to win a war,” he said.

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

MUMBAI (INDIA)
Crux

June 20, 2019

By Nirmala Carvalho

A government-backed arts group in Kerala, India, has refused to rescind an award for a political cartoon depicting Bishop Franco Mulakkal after a complaint from the state’s Catholic bishops.

Mulakkal, the bishop of the Punjabi city of Jalandhar is charged with raping a nun on multiple occasions at a convent in Kerala, an accusation he denies. Cartoonist Subhash KK drew a political cartoon depicting the bishop as a rooster being propped up by a local politician who has supported him in his legal battle, while a group of nuns run away.

The cartoon won an annual award from the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi, an autonomous cultural organization of the Government of Kerala which supports the visual arts.

The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council called the cartoon “incendiary and objectionable” and said it insulted religious symbols.

“In the name of condemning Bishop Franco, the cartoonist has insulted Christianity by drawing an objectionable picture on the Good Shepherd symbol. The Left government in Kerala has honored such a dis

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

WARSAW (POLAND)
National Catholic Reporter

June 20, 2019

By Jonathan Luxmoore

When Polish Catholics marked 40 years since Pope John Paul II’s first home pilgrimage in early June, it was a moment to look back on their church’s legacy of much-lauded struggles for justice and human rights.

Today, with that legacy tarnished by a spate of controversies and scandals, some Catholics fear its authority and prestige face serious erosion, whereas others insist the church has come through disasters before, including those of its own making.

“The church has asked people to pray, reflect and do penance — it doesn’t really know how to react to failures and never tackles the root causes,” Malgorzata Glabisz-Pniewska, a senior Catholic presenter with Polish Radio, told NCR. “It senses it’s too well rooted in Polish society and culture to be seriously damaged by negative publicity. This time, things could be different, though it’ll clearly have to respond effectively.”

In 1979, the newly elected John Paul II preached 32 homilies before 13 million enthusiastic people in the space of a week, in what was to be the first of nine visits to his Polish homeland.

The pilgrimage included his famous invocation of the Holy Spirit in Warsaw’s Victory Square, and was widely credited with inspiring the Solidarity union’s uprising against communist rule in August 1980. It marked the start of great epoch for the Polish church, which led on to the peaceful restoration of democracy, pluralism and the rule of law a decade later.

Solidarity’s victory in semi-free elections, whose 30th anniversary was also marked in early June, was followed by years of bitter struggle over the church’s place in the new post-communist Poland, and over the values the country would live by as it gained in stability and prosperity.

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

WASHINGTON (DC)
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

June 19, 2019

By Bethany Mandel

In May, Pope Francis issued a detailed ruling on how officials in the Roman Catholic Church must handle cases of clerical sexual abuse, the first official codification of the church’s global policy.

Though abuse survivors have criticized the pope’s ruling as not strong enough and for being approved only “ad experimentum for three years,” his statement is thorough about how abuse allegations should be handled and powerful given the backing of the head of the Catholic Church.

Yet the news-making statement reflects not a change in priorities, but a move toward further public accountability in the Church’s decades-long grappling with allegations of abuse.

There is no equivalent to a pope in the Jewish world, no centralized body that can make sweeping pronouncements about how sexual abuse and harassment should be handled. But there is much Jewish professionals and all religious professionals working on improving our communal response to sexual abuse can learn from how the pope’s recent decision transpired.

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

CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Daily Herald

June 19, 2019

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has formally closed its investigation into former Maryville Academy leader the Rev. John Smyth.

The move is expected to trigger the Archdiocese of Chicago to reopen its internal probe into sex abuse claims against the now deceased priest.

DCFS began its inquiry after the archdiocese provided notification that two men claimed Smyth molested them in the early 2000s when they were 13 and 14 years old. The archdiocese made those accusations public in January.

Under DCFS policy, the agency looks into whether someone accused of abuse at any time in the past may be a risk to children today. The probe didn’t specifically examine the accusations of the two men.

“Reports of prior abuse from adults plays an important role in determining if an alleged perpetrator is still a risk to children today. The mission of DCFS is to keep children safe today,” said DCFS spokeswoman Deborah Lopez. “In the investigation of Father Smyth, his hospitalization and death means he would no longer pose a potential risk to children.”

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

ERIE (PA)
Erie Times

June 19, 2019

The Diocese of Erie is now speaking out after a new allegation of priest abuse charges former Erie Bishop Donald w. Trautman with knowing about it and doing nothing.

Tuesday, Buffalo man, James Bottlinger accused Father Michael Freeman of sexually abusing him when he was a minor. This set off ripples in Erie after he pointed to Bishop Emeritus Trautman for allegedly knowing about it.

50-year-old Bottlinger says Bishop Emeritus Trautman was told about the abuse from Freeman. This coming as a surprise to the Dioceses of Erie saying this is the first time they have heard about these allegations.

“It’s always painful when there are any allegations. We had some recently with another priest. Whether it’s with a Bishop or Priest, nobody wants to see allegations come forward. It is difficult to look at the past. We want to get to the truth in every situation and that is what we’ll be aiming to do,” said Anna Marie Welsh, on behalf of the Diocese of Erie.

As for the most recent allegations against Bishop Emeritus Trautman, the Diocese says it far too early for them to comment on the matter.

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

ROME (ITALY)
LifeSiteNews

June 14, 2019

In the wake of two recent pieces in the Washington Post relating to Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, an article and an extended interview (the first the archbishop has granted since his initial allegations concerning Pope Francis), renewed insinuations and smears have been directed at the former diplomat of the Holy See.

In his June 10 interview, the archbishop claims that the actions so far taken against McCarrick are chiefly inspired by a desire to prevent a trial of the former cardinal, which might expose the complicity of other churchmen in his actions and the ensuing coverup.

This, Archbishop Viganò alleges, is why the Pope’s actions against McCarrick (removal from the sacred college and laicization) are all administrative and therefore without appeal. In other words, if a judicial process concluded that McCarrick was guilty of the accusations made against him, any appeal by McCarrick (who continues to protest his innocence) would inevitably expose the guilt of other senior prelates. By moving straight to the penalty without the trial, Pope Francis is able to avoid this potentially devastating development.

Archbishop Viganò further insists that, above all other considerations, the present scandals engulfing the Church relate to homosexuality and self-protecting networks of clerical homosexuals, and the Vatican response to these scandals is directed towards protecting these networks at all costs.

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

Get Religion blog

June 15, 2019

By Terry Mattingly

I have talked to quite a few Catholics in the past year — laypeople and journalists, mainly — and I have read quite a bit of commentary by Catholic clergy and other insiders.

There are two questions that I keep running into over and over. Both are relevant in light of the vote by U.S. Catholic bishops to create a third-party anonymous hotline that will handle accusations of misconduct by bishops, archbishops and cardinals. Here is a Crux summary of that:

The reporting system will be managed by an independent body that will receive complaints that will be reported to the metropolitan (or regional) archbishop who, in accordance with Pope Francis’s new ‘motu proprio’, Vos estis lux mundi (“You are the light of the world”), is responsible for investigating claims against bishops.

Vos estis requires that local bishops’ conferences must establish a “public, stable and easily accessible” system for submitting abuse claims and also that the reports are sent to the metropolitans (or their senior suffragans if the report is against the metropolitan). In the United States, there are 32 territorial archdioceses (or metropolitans).

Here is the lede on the Washington Post story about that vote, which includes a blunt paraphrase of one possible implications of this decision, in terms of enforcement:

The U.S. Catholic bishops voted … to create the first national hotline for reporting sexual abuse committed by or mishandled by bishops. But they specified that the hotline send reports directly to other bishops, essentially demanding that the leaders of the scandal-plagued church police themselves instead of turning toward outside authorities.

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

Get Religion blog

June 19, 2019

By Clemente Lisi

Not long after I broke into the journalism business over 20 years ago did my mother ask me a very interesting question: “Where do you get all that news that ends up in the newspaper?”

It was a question any news consumer should ask. I gave a simple — although in hindsight — a somewhat unhelpful answer.

“It’s complicated,” I replied.

I went on to explain how reporters use interviews, documents, press releases and news conferences to put together the news.

It really isn’t that complicated. Journalists have made it a practice for years to make their jobs sound like (me included) as if they were doing brain surgery. As one editor would always tell me when things got hard at work: “We’re not saving lives here.”

Maybe not, but being a reporter is a massive responsibility. Never has the process of journalism — and what it is that reporters and editors actually do — come under the microscope as it has the past few years. I suppose that’s a result of Donald Trump getting elected president and the allegation that fake news helped him get elected.

Whether it did or not, that’s not the point. What is the point is that citizens — the people we reporters call “readers” — have become more aware of the process. At least they want transparency from news organizations when it comes to how and why we report on stories.

This takes me to my point. As we near the one-year anniversary of the revelations that exposed the past misdeeds of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the story doesn’t look like it is subsiding anytime soon. In a recent post, I highlighted the importance of the papal news conference and how American media outlets were potentially being manipulated by the Vatican press office. Also, tmatt offered this post on a related topic: “Big journalism question: Would new U.S. bishops hotline have nabbed ‘Uncle Ted’ McCarrick?”

Like with everything in life (and journalism), it’s complicated.

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SCOTLAND
BBC News

June 15, 2019

The Catholic Church in Scotland needs to revamp its measures for protecting young and vulnerable people, an independent review has concluded.

The review said a better resourced and independent safeguarding service was a “crucial step to promote transparency and restore credibility”.

Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke, who led the review, said a “a good start has been made” by the Catholic Church.

But she said cultural change was still needed within the organisation.

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MARTINSBURG (WEST VIRGINIA)
THE WASHINGTON POST

June 19, 2019

By Julie Zauzmer

Nancy Ostrowski knows this state. And she thought she knew her bishop.

Her family has been attending St. Joseph Catholic Church since the Romanesque Revival building was dedicated in 1860, just before West Virginia broke away from Virginia to support the Union. Her ancestors saw the heady years of Martinsburg’s heyday, when the mills running day and night here supplied clothing to the world, and the heavy decades of struggle when those mills closed down.

Ostrowski knows West Virginia’s isolated Appalachian crannies, pockets of desperate poverty where people like her, people who’ve kept their Catholic faith for generations, might drive all the way across their county to attend the one shrinking Catholic church around.

She thought Bishop Michael Bransfield, who led the statewide Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston from 2005 until his abrupt retirement under church investigation last year, held those places in his heart. He visited those mountain hamlets. He wrote about their needs in the diocesan newsletter that she always read.

“He seemed to have a real sense of duty and caring to the people of the state. That made it doubly shocking,” Ostrowski said on Sunday, as she left Mass at that brick Romanesque temple her forefathers helped build. “For all intents and purposes, he seemed to be a very good bishop. But he was leading a double life.”

Rumors had circulated for years about Bransfield. But Ostrowski and many fellow parishioners first learned that he was suspected of misconduct when he retired suddenly last fall, and Pope Francis asked Baltimore’s Archbishop William Lori to conduct an investigation. Details were elusive, until a Washington Post investigation earlier this month.

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NEW YORK (NY)
America Magazine

June 19, 2019

By Francis X. Clooney, S.J.

Several months ago I participated in a small campus conversation about the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. A Protestant speaker diverted our attention for a few minutes by offering a set-piece critique of celibacy as essentially wrong and absolutely intolerable. He listed its many flaws and vices, pointed to its inhumanity and de facto impossibility and called for its abolition. I was caught off guard; I should have spoken up, at least to point out (as the speaker should have known) that I have tried to hold all this together for over 50 years as a Jesuit, over 40 as a priest, all of that time as a celibate. But no one picked up on his theme, and the conversation quickly returned to the conversation’s main concern.

The event, small as it was, is hardly singular. This year has been another dismal one for revelations about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church—painful for victims and their families, painful for all of us who care about the Catholic Church and especially dismal for the Catholic hierarchy that covered up so much of the abuse for so many decades. Analyses of this tragedy are unsurprisingly many, denunciations fiery, proposed remedies innumerable. Some essayists and opinion-makers with Catholic connections are now getting fiercer, proposing more radical solutions, and so the Catholic priesthood itself is now a common target of outrage. Abolish it!

Some essayists and opinion-makers with Catholic connections are now getting fiercer, proposing more radical solutions, and so the Catholic priesthood itself is now a common target of outrage.

Unsurprisingly, too, here in Boston where I live critiques of the priesthood itself have been fiery. The year began with Garry Wills’s January 2019 op-ed in The Boston Globe, “Celibacy isn’t the cause of the church sex-abuse crisis; the priesthood is,” an adequate recap of his caustic 2013 book Why Priests? His minimalist point: What we can’t find in the New Testament is illegitimate, and this includes much of the sacramental and hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church; the priesthood was never intended by Christ and cannot be saved: “I don’t think it should work again. The priesthood is itself an affront to the Gospel.”

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REEDLEY (CA)
Reedley Exponent

June 19, 2019

By Jon Earnest

A woman has accused Monsignor John Esquivel of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Reedley of sexual misconduct; claiming she was sexually abused when Esquivel was serving as priest at the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Bakersfield in the 1980s.

In a June 17 news conference in Bakersfield, 52-year-old Sylvia Gomez Ray said she was sexually abused by Esquivel in the four months she worked as a secretary at the church in the mid 1980s. Gomez Ray said she was 17 or 18 at the time when the incidents occurred, and her attorney said they recently filed allegations on her behalf with the state Attorney General’s office as well as with police in Bakersfield and Reedley.

The Diocese of Fresno put out a June 17 news release saying that it planned to follow procedures and report to the Bakersfield Police Department. The diocese has a policy to report all allegations of sexual abuse of a minor, no matter how long ago the alleged abuse occurred.

Esquivel did not comment on the allegations. He has served a dozen years leading St. Anthony’s, and was the first priest ordained by the Diocese of Fresno in 1968. He was honored April 27, 2018 during a Mass of Thanksgiving at the new St. Anthony Church on Frankwood Avenue.

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VISALIA (CA)
Sun Gazette

June 19, 2019

A Visalia priest has been placed on paid administrative leave in the wake of a new report chronicling a history of sexual abuse within the Fresno Diocese of the Catholic church.

In a letter addressed to the “People of God,” Most Reverend Joseph V. Brennan, bishop of the Diocese of Fresno, announced that Father Eric Swearingen, pastor of the Good Shepherd Parish in Visalia, had been placed on paid leave as of June 5. The letter was read during both Sunday and Saturday mass at the parish’s four congregations at St. Charles Borromoeo, Holy Family, and St. Mary’s in Visalia, and St. Thomas The Apostle in Goshen. The parish also oversees George McCann Memorial, a kindergarten through eighth grade Catholic school, and the Bethlehem Center, a thrift store and food pantry.

“This action was necessary in light of detailed information associated with a civil case dating back to 2006 that was brought to my attention following a file review,” Most Rev. Brennan stated in the letter. “I am not able to offer further details.”

The civil case mentioned was a high profile lawsuit involving former altar boy Juan Rocha who accused Fr. Swearingen of sexually abusing him from 1989 to 1993 during the priest’s first assignment at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Bakersfield, Calif. The jury found Fr. Swearingen guilty of child sexual abuse in a 9-3 vote but fell short of the nine votes required to find the Diocese of Fresno guilty of wrongdoing resulting in a mistrial. Instead of a retrial, Fr. Swearingen and Rocha entered a binding arbitration to settle the lawsuit, the terms of which remain undisclosed.

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For Such aTime as This blog

June 19, 2019

Cheryl Summers is the founder of For Such A Time As This Rally. Cheryl is a domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor. She has spent most of her life as a Southern Baptist, and while she continues to be a person of deep faith, she left the Southern Baptist Convention five years ago due to concerns about abuse of all types within the denomination. Here are her remarks delivered at the 2019 For Such A Time As This Rally.

It seems like the Southern Baptists may have finally realized that the issue of abuse must be addressed, right? That’s what we’re hearing about what is taking place at the annual meeting. So, why are we out here today? Is this even necessary?

I want to read you a few lines from an SBC annual meeting resolution:

“RESOLVED, That we renounce individuals, churches, or other religious bodies that cover up, ignore, or otherwise contribute to or condone the abuse of children; and be it

“RESOLVED, That we … intercede on behalf of victimized children, asking God to … stop the cycle of abuse from repeating itself in another generation.”
(Full text of the resolution – including the reference to Lifeway training curriculum similar to the new Church Cares curriculum can be read at: http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/search/resolution.asp?ID=1173)

Sounds like those words were probably written recently, right? They weren’t.

These words are part of a resolution on abuse passed at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention held in San Antonio, TX.

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NEW YORK (NY)
NBC News

June 16, 2019

By Tim Stelloh

An ex-Southern Baptist pastor who promoted a strict anti-abortion bill in Texas has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a teenage relative for five years, authorities said Sunday.

Stephen Bratton, a former pastor at Grace Family Baptist Church in Houston, was arrested Friday on a count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, church and law enforcement officials said.

Bratton, 44, allegedly began abusing the girl in 2013 when she was 13 years old, including sexually assaulting her multiple times a day, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. They did not say how the two were related.

Church officials said they learned of the alleged assaults last month when Bratton confessed to two other pastors. They filed a police report May 16 and excommunicated Bratton a week later, they said in a statement Saturday.

“The elders have called upon Stephen Bratton to accept the full responsibility for his actions and to place himself at the mercy of the criminal justice system,” the statement said.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Bratton has a lawyer.

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NASHVILLE (TN)
Baptist News Global

June 17, 2019

By Bob Allen

LifeWay Christian Resources revealed in a statement June 14 the arrest of a summer staff worker accused of molesting two children attending a church camp in Arizona.

Noah John Paradis, 19, is listed as an inmate at the Navajo County Detention Center in Holbrook, Arizona.

CentriKid, a five-day, four-night camp for third through sixth graders staffed by college and seminary students, operates from mid-June until early August at numerous conference centers and Baptist college campuses across the country.

LifeWay said Paradis’ involvement was limited to the June 10-14 camp in Arizona, and as soon as the company learned of charges he was fired.

“We are grieved that someone representing LifeWay would behave in this manner and abuse their position of authority with a child,” Waggoner said. “LifeWay is working with local law enforcement as the investigation is ongoing and will continue to follow their lead in the case.”

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BERGEN (NJ)
North Jersey Record

June 19, 2019

By Deena Yellin

Bruce Novozinsky was a 16-year-old seminary student when his longtime parish priest, The Rev. Gerry Brown of St. Mary of the Lake in Lakewood, New Jersey, abused him and attempted to rape him.

“It cost me part of my youth, my trust in those who I was taught to trust and decades of my life…” Novozinsky, an Upper Freehold resident, said.

Years later, he discovered that he was not the only victim of the priest, who died in 2013.

Brown’s name recently showed up on a list of credibly accused priests of the Trenton Diocese.

Novozinsky, who authored a book, “Purple Reign: Sexual Abuse and Abuse of Power in the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey” in 2012, is convinced that the church hierarchy knew that Brown was a predator but neglected to act.

He is now calling for the Trenton Diocese to release the personnel records of his abuser and other accused priests so that he and his attorneys can review any reports of abuse that the church received and any actions taken, or not taken, by church officials.

“For decades, the Catholic church covered up an insidious culture of predatory child abuse, doing everything in its power to protect abusers and silence and intimidate victims and their families. Details of the abuse were held under lock and key in ‘secret files’ hidden from public view. It’s past time for those secret files to be made public,” Novozinsky wrote in a letter to Bishop David M. O’Connell of the Diocese of Trenton.

O’Connell has not responded.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

June 19, 2019

By Inés San Martín

According to Italian Archbishop Franco Coppola, the pope’s ambassador in Mexico, the local Catholic Church still has a long way to go when it comes to addressing clerical sexual abuse, even if much has been done in recent years.

“The attention given to us by the media is very positive, as it forces us to cleanse our Church and our hearts,” he told Crux on Saturday. “We need to cleanse the Church of sexual abuse, as well as abuses of power and conscience, of thinking that it’s OK to take advantage of one’s position to commit a crime that has nothing to do with the faith, the Gospel or the Church.”

“It’s a necessary, even if painful purification,” Coppola said.

The archbishop was in Rome last week taking part in a June 13-15 summit of nuncios called by Pope Francis. He was appointed as papal representative to Mexico less than three years ago, taking over the job from Archbishop Christophe Pierre, currently the nuncio to the United States.

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DES MOINES (IA)
Des Moines Register

June 14, 2019

By Tim Busch

Rarely do Americans pay attention to the biannual assemblies of the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops, but the gathering that starts on Tuesday in Baltimore will be different.

Millions of people, Catholic and not, are asking the same question: What new steps will the bishops take to clean up — or clean out — the church after years of sex abuse scandals?

This is a question the bishops take seriously. At its meeting last November, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) was ready to vote on measures that would increase accountability for church leaders. While the Vatican intervened at the 11th hour, it did so because it was preparing to release reforms of its own, which were unveiled in May.

The Vatican’s new policy is a big step in the right direction. Rome has also been working much closer with the U.S. church to penalize bad actors. But America’s bishops should see it as a starting point, not the final word. Building on Pope Francis’ good actions, the USCCB should pass long overdue reforms that give regular Catholics — known as “lay Catholics” — a greater role in keeping bishops and priests accountable.

Regular Catholics have historically been held at arm’s length by the bishops, even though the church has called for our role to be expanded in recent years. Yet regular Catholics are especially well-suited to holding the church’s leaders accountable. We have no institutional incentive to cover up sins and crimes, and we want the church to be healthy and holy.

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PARIS (FRANCE)
LaCroix International

June 19, 2019

By Father William Grimm MM

When I was a boy, I watched a narrow clamshell bucket dipping into a sewer up the street from our home to clear muck.

I was still too young and too inexperienced in the ways of the Church to be aware of the irony of it, but I found it amusing that the muck-filled bucket looked vaguely like an upside-down version of the hat I had recently seen filled by the head of a bishop who came to our parish for Confirmations.

Several years later, I learned to use a post hole digger, and noticed the similarity between it and an upside-down miter. That similarity points to something in Dante’s Inferno (hell).

In the 19th canto of that 14th-century poem, Dante on his tour of hell encounters bishops and other church leaders who have been turned upside-down and placed in post holes while their feet burn.

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PHOENIX (AZ)
Arizona Republic

June 15, 2019

By Lauren Castle

Two Catholic religious orders recently released lists naming 65 clergy accused of sexual abuse against minors dating back decades; 27 of the men served in Arizona.

The newly released information comes as American bishops met this week in Baltimore for a conference that focused on how to respond to the church’s sex-abuse crisis, which has increasingly caught the attention of state prosecutors across the U.S.

The Franciscan Friars of the Province of Saint Barbara, based in Oakland, California, released its list of credible abuse claims in late May. The claims stretch as far back as the 1930s, and the most recent claim is from the 1980s. More than two dozen on the list had assignments in Arizona, from St. Mary’s in Phoenix to St. Xavier del Bac near Tucson. Most of the accused have long since died.

In a letter, Father David Gaa, provincial minister for the Franciscan Friars of Saint Barbara, said the list is a commitment to transparency and accountability. “The victims, their families, and the People of God deserve transparency,” the letter says.

A Catholic religious order that founded University of Notre Dame and Holy Cross College in Indiana released a list of credible sex abuse claims involving minors on Wednesday. The Congregation of Holy Cross’ list dates back to the 1940s.

Two of the accused clergy served in Phoenix.

“Over the last two decades, but particularly in the last year, we have all become more aware of the problem of sexual abuse of children within the Catholic Church and its mishandling,” Rev. William Lies, the provincial superior of the order, said in a letter published with the list.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Associated Press

June 18, 2019

Charitable giving by individual Americans in 2018 suffered its biggest drop since the Great Recession of 2008-09, in part because of Republican-backed changes in tax policy, according to the latest comprehensive report on Americans’ giving patterns.

The Giving USA report, released Tuesday, said individual giving fell by 1.1%, from $295 billion in 2017 to $292 billion last year. It ended a four-year streak of increases, and was the largest decline since a 6.1% drop in 2009.

Experts involved with the report said 2018 was a complex year for charitable giving, with a relatively strong economy overall and a volatile stock market. Giving by corporations and foundations increased, so that total giving — including donations from individuals — edged up by 0.7 percent to $427.7 billion.

Among various factors affecting charitable giving was a federal tax policy change that doubled the standard deduction. More than 45 million households itemized deductions in 2016, according to Giving USA, and that number likely dropped sharply in 2018, reducing an incentive for charitable giving.

“Whenever there’s a major tax policy change like that, it has an effect.” said Rick Dunham, chair of Giving USA Foundation, which publishes the annual report. It is researched and written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Dunham and other experts said it will likely take another year of analysis, with the help of additional data, to reach a more precise estimate of the tax change’s impact.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

June 19, 2019

By Marta Petrosillo – Katholiek Nieuwsblad

“The Vatican is rich!” “All these assets they have … why don’t they sell them to give the money to the poor?” These are just two of the statements that we frequently hear when talking about the wealth of the Holy See or in general of the whole Church. But is it really so? This is what Mimmo Muolo, Vatican correspondent for Avvenire – the newspaper of the Italian Bishops’ conference – tries to find out in his new book The Church’s Money: Fabulous richness and evangelical poverty.

The book dispels many stereotypes and sheds light on the many inaccuracies that, more or less in good faith, go around when people talk about the Church and money. Katholiek Nieuwsblad spoke with Muolo to understand where all the confusion comes from and what the truth actually is about the wealth of the Church.

Katholiek Nieuwsblad: When did you get the idea to write this book?

Muolo: It was last September, at a time when the Church was attacked on many fronts concerning its assets. For example, the eternal question was raised again why the Church in Italy is not obliged to pay taxes on its properties. At that time people were also discussing the fact that, by welcoming migrants, the Church benefited from the €35 [around $40] offered by the Italian state for each migrant. I noticed a lot of confusion going around in the media and online, and also the spread of fake news absolutely not corresponding to reality.

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Patheos blog

June 18, 2019

By Captain Cassidy

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) just finished its big Annual Meeting. About 8100 Messengers showed up to what sounds like one of the worst three-ring-circuses the SBC has ever had. One of the primary agendas for the meeting–sorta–involved the denomination’s sex-abuse scandal. It’s hard to tell which is worse: the scandal as it is, or the SBC’s lack of interest in addressing that scandal in any meaningful way. Today, let me show you how the SBC treated the victims of that scandal at their 2019 Annual Meeting, and what that treatment shows about their priorities–and their future.

I focus on the SBC because, firstly, they represent the biggest clutch of white evangelicals around. Trends come to them a bit late sometimes, but they cling to them a bit longer. Where the SBC goes, therefore, the rest of the gaggle follows.

Secondly, they make (some) of their metrics and statistics available to the public. You can 100% bet your last dollar that, say, the United Pentecostal Church, International (UPCI) suffers from the exact same problems, infighting, and of course the same scandals. They simply don’t tend to release figures or have giant denominational meetings like the SBC does.

Thirdly, the SBC represents one of the most politicized groups around, with leaders who stand as some of the most deeply-embedded in our current president’s regime out of all their end of Christianity. Thus, keeping an eye on their antics seems like basic common sense to me.

(Fourthly, their willful ignorance, total and willful lack of self-awareness, and absolute and willful hypocrisy–and their evolution from the 1980s to now–kinda fascinates me. How could it not?)

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SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican

June 18, 2019

By Anne-Gerard Flynn

During a press conference called to highlight new efforts in addressing clergy sex abuse allegations, Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski apologized for “past failures” and said his diocese is committed to investigating allegations of decades old clergy abuse of minors.

“Let me be clear on how deeply sorry I am for the past failures of our church to respond to the needs of victims and to protect them from our abuse,” Rozanski said. “Our goal now is to deal compassionately and justly with those who come forward.”

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NEW LONDON (CT)
The Day

June 18. 2019

By Joe Wojtas

Gov. Ned Lamont signed a sweeping sexual harassment bill Tuesday that establishes a commission to look into whether the state should extend the statute of limitations for filing lawsuits in sexual-assault cases.

The Connecticut chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and people who say they were sexually assaulted as minors by priests in the state’s Catholic dioceses and who are now barred from filing lawsuits because they are older than 48 had pushed for passage of Senate Bill 3.

The law extends the age to file a lawsuit to 51, five years less than the age of 56 called for in a previous amendment. The original bill called for a 27-month window in which victims could sue regardless of age and called for the elimination of the statute of limitations for anyone now under 48 for incidents that occur after Oct. 1, 2019.

The law also establishes a nine-member task force that will study whether the current statute of limitations should be amended and report its findings and recommendations to the legislature’s Judiciary Committee by Jan. 15, 2020, just before the start of the next legislative session.

The task force must look at the statute of limitations in Connecticut and other states and review claims that are barred from proceeding due to the current statute of limitations.

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NEW BRUNSWICK (NJ)
Bridgewater Courier News

June 18, 2019

By Nick Muscavage

Four people — three men and one woman — have filed a lawsuit against a longtime Presbyterian minister, claiming he indulged in sexual behavior to exorcise evil spirits from them.

The Rev. Dr. William Weaver, the former minister of Linden Presbyterian Church for 39 years, is accused of sexual assault, aggravated assault, sexual battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress, misrepresentation and gross negligence, in the 105-page lawsuit filed Tuesday by Toms River attorney Robert Fuggi in Middlesex County Superior Court.

The lawsuit also names as defendants the Linden Presbyterian Church, the Presbytery of Elizabeth and the Presbyterian Church (USA).

No criminal charges have been filed against Weaver. The Union County Prosecutor’s Office could neither deny or confirm any information relating to Weaver

Fuggi said in an email that Weaver used his abilities and position “for evil.” He also said that although Weaver was a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary — one of the leading Presbyterian seminaries in the country — he broke all tenets of the faith “by using his position of pastoral authority to harm and manipulate these victims for his own twisted desires.”

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ERIE (PA)
Erie Times

June 18, 2019

By Ed Palattella

Man claims retired Erie Catholic bishop failed to address concerns over abusive priest when he was at Buffalo diocese.

Retired Erie Catholic Bishop Donald W. Trautman was accused Tuesday of mishandling complaints that a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo was abusing teenagers when Trautman was chancellor in that diocese more than 30 years ago.

Flanked by lawyers at a news conference in Buffalo, the accuser, James Bottlinger, 50, said that he was in high school when the Rev. Michael Freeman molested him when Freeman was at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Lancaster, New York.

Bottlinger said Trautman and others knew of previous complaints about Freeman, but that Freeman was moved around in the diocese and eventually abused Bottlinger.

“He’s got a lot of answering to do,” Bottlinger said of Trautman.

The lawyers said Bottlinger intends to sue the Diocese of Buffalo over the abuse after he recently rejected a $650,000 settlement that the diocese offered him as part of its $17.5 million program to compensate victims who, as children, suffered clergy sexual abuse.

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SPRINGFIELD (MA)
Daily Hampshire Gazette

June 18, 2019

By Jacquelyn Voghel

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has announced the launch of a “newly reorganized” Safe Environment & Victim Assistance Office in the wake of a report that the diocese attempted to cover up molestation accusations leveled by a former altar boy against a longtime bishop.

The office’s responsibilities will include “building on a system” that includes measures such as CORI checks; abuse awareness training for clergy members, religious and lay employees, and all church volunteers; and other church education and awareness programs, Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski said at a press conference at the diocesan pastoral center Tuesday afternoon.

Jeffrey Trant, a social worker whose background focuses on children and vulnerable adults affected by trauma, will lead the office.

The diocese already undergoes annual audits to check its compliance with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, Rozanski said, but he added, “We know we can do better.”

There are “aspects of our response that clearly need improving,” Rozanski said.

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

June 18, 2019

The below resource was created by our friends from the For Such a Time as This rally. This resources contains information and frequently asked questions on the topics of clergy/minister abuse, different types of abuse, best practices in responding to abuse, information on how to report, and more.

Click here to view and read this valuable resource, and thanks again to the leaders and organizers at the For Such a Time a This rally for sharing!

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Sojourners Magazine

June 18, 2019

By Greg Williams

“Come, Holy Spirit. Give us the strength to humbly match the courageous witness of those abuse survivors with a boldness of reform for the Church in the United States. This week we continue a journey that will not end until there is not one instance of sexual abuse within our Church.”

With those words, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, the current president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, opened their 2019 General Assembly this week. The most recent revelations about systemic sexual abuse and harassment have lent particular urgency to this attempt to standardize and apply the same standards to bishops as to priests: Theodore McCarrick, former Archbishop of Washington, D.C., was defrocked after credible allegations of abuse and misconduct surfaced, and Michael J. Bransfield, former Bishop of West Virginia, was forced to step down in the fall while under investigation for systemic sexual harassment and corruption, as revealed by the Washington Post.

The new rules the bishops passed did not, despite strong encouragement from advocates inside and outside the Church, mandate independent lay involvement in investigations of bishops. The Conference did overwhelmingly approve a policy stating that laity should be involved in the process of investigations.

Last November, Catholic bishops gathered in Baltimore determined to act on problems raised by gaps in the 2002 “Dallas Charter” for the Protection of Children and Young Adults – most notably that it did not explicitly extend to bishops. Then, as their deliberations were about to begin, they abruptly stopped on the request of the Vatican. There was going to be an international consultation and a new set of rulings from Pope Francis to help the whole Church deal with the sex abuse crisis – even in jurisdictions outside the U.S. where a wave of accusations has not yet hit the Church.

That hope was realized in part with a February gathering in Rome and a motu propio last month from Pope Francis, which spells out new global policies on clergy abuse and cover up. This week, the bishops met in Baltimore again, to set up more stable and better procedures for dealing with abuse from a bishop.

Pope Francis’ motu propio states simply that investigations of bishops may involve lay experts, rather than declaring that they must involve lay experts. The responsibility to investigate lies in the hands of the metropolitan bishop, the head of the local region of bishops (or his assistant bishop in cases of accusations against the metropolitan).

Many activists are skeptical of this model. As Bob Hoatson, president of Road to Recovery and an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse puts it, “I think the Church is inherently incapable of policing itself. It’s only since the attorneys general of the United States have gotten involved in the investigations that we’ve made progress.”

Even lay members of the institutional apparatus of the Church are calling for expanded lay involvement. Dr. Francesco Cesareo, the head of the National Review Board (NRB), which investigates the Church’s compliance with its commitments to fight sexual abuse, puts it this way in his report to the USCCB’s General Assembly: “The NRB remains uncomfortable with allowing bishops to review allegations against other bishops as this essentially means bishops policing bishops. The metropolitan will gain greater credibility if a lay commission is established when allegations come forward to assist in the process as has been the case with lay review boards on the local level.”

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BUFFALO (NY)
WJET TV

Jun 18, 2019

A man in Buffalo New York speaks openly for the first time about sexual abuse suffered at the hands of a priest, also naming Erie’s Bishop Emeritus Donald Trautman.

During today’s news conference, James Botlinger alleged Father Michael Freeman sexually
abused him as a minor from 1983 to 1987, while a member of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

During that news conference, Bishop Donald Trautman was mentioned as someone who had
been told at least two times about Father Freeman’s abusive behavior.

Botlinger also mentioned that he had met Trautman in the personal residence of Freeman, after being alerted about his behavior.

Botlinger’s lawyer saying that the compensation fund offered him 650 thousand dollars, but Botlinger turned it down to bring his case to the courts.

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