By the time Barbara Jo Jones went away to a missionary boarding school at age six, she could speak two languages. But as a missionary kid born and raised in Nigeria, she didn’t have the words to describe the ordeal of a school employee sexually abusing her. And if she did tell someone, she knew she would get in trouble and risk her parents’ ministry. 

So she stayed silent.

Now, 60 years later, that silence around the abuse at Hillcrest School in Jos, Nigeria, may be finally, fully broken. Eight Christian organizations have agreed to fund a third-party investigation of all the allegations against the school from its founding in 1942 to the present. Victor Vieth of the Minnesota-based Zero Abuse Project will lead the inquiry.

“It feels hopeful,” Jones said. “It’s in the open. There’s no pretending that it didn’t happen.”

Former Hillcrest students spent three years pushing for…

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A polygamist religious leader who claimed more than 20 spiritual “wives” including 10 underage girls was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Monday for coercing girls as young as 9 years old to submit to criminal sex acts with him and other adults, and for scheming to kidnap them from protective custody.

Samuel Bateman, whose small group was an offshoot of the sect once led by Warren Jeffs, had pleaded guilty to a yearslong scheme to transport girls across state lines for his sex crimes, and later to kidnap some of them from protective custody.

Under the agreement, Bateman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit transportation of a minor for sexual activity, which carries a sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment, and one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, which is punishable by up to life imprisonment. He was sentenced to 50 years on each count, to…

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A church with deep roots in West Michigan and congregations around the world turned 100 this year. Instead of celebrating its centennial, the Protestant Reformed Churches in America is struggling with what it has called the “private sin” of child sexual abuse and decades of covering up for abusers, including church leaders and school teachers.

A recently released report obtained by Target 8 found dozens of cases of child sexual abuse within the Protestant Reformed Church, or PRC, and accused the church of violating state laws that require clergy and educators to report child abuse.

A police report obtained by Target 8 shows that even recently, leaders in a PRC church in Ottawa County encouraged members not to notify authorities to report physical or sexual abuse within the church or among families of the church. That church’s pastor was convicted in 2022 of assault after teenage girls accused him of…

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Following allegations of sexual misconduct, Messianic Jewish scholar Michael Brown is taking time off from his public ministry, according to Brown’s ministry, The Line of Fire.

“We have strongly encouraged Mike that he does no public ministry,” said Scott Volk, board member for The Line of Fire in a statement to The Roys Report (TRR). “He’s cancelled speaking engagements for the months of November and December. And from my understanding, he normally writes numerous articles a week. He’s not doing that.”

Brown’s board said it did not know if Brown would also take a break from his radio and podcast ministry.

TRR reported Monday that a woman, using the pseudonym “Erin,” said in 2002, when she was 21 and Brown was in his 40s, Brown crossed several physical boundaries with her.

On multiple occasions, Brown held her hand, smacked her bottom with his hand, and kissed her on the lips, she said….

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A local priest has been removed from public ministry after News 5 Investigators started asking questions and parents of a local Catholic school raised red flags about his past.

The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland said the priest was investigated “by law enforcement and church authorities” for “alleged conduct” with an 18-year-old, and there have been published reports on that since 2002.

The priest got his job back in 2012, but now we’ve been getting calls from parents upset because they had no idea of his past.

He hasn’t been charged with a crime, so we’re not naming him. However, the diocese did take action recently after concerns came to light.

PRIEST SAID MASSES, HEARD CONFESSIONS FOR TEENS

The Lyceum is a Catholic school in South Euclid for 7th through 12th graders. We saw students coming off a bus last month and going into the…

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Denis Nolan (71) formerly of The Presbytery, Rathnew, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of oral rape and 36 counts of sexual assault

A former priest who was sentenced to an additional five years for the “predatory” rape and abuse of a schoolboy over 20 years ago – having previously been jailed for 19 years for similar offences relating to three other victims – has had his most recent jail term halved on appeal.

Denis Nolan (71) formerly of The Presbytery, Rathnew, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of oral rape and 36 counts of sexual assault on dates between 1994 and 2000 at locations in Dublin and Wicklow.

Nolan was aged between 42 and 48 at the time of the offending, while the victim was between 11 and 17 years old.

The court heard the abuse included inappropriate touching,…

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A former Roman Catholic priest who served in Ventura and Los Angeles County churches has been sentenced to 365 days in jail after he pled no contest to possession of child sexual abuse materials.

Ventura County prosecutors say Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara had more than 600 images in his possession when he was arrested in 2023. He became the focus of an investigation after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received multiple reports that he had some of the sexually explicit images.

Martinez-Guevara was a priest in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. One of the churches he served at was in Oxnard.

In addition to the year jail sentence, the 39-year-old man was sentenced to two years probation and will be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

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The criminal statute for failing to report suspected abuse — a misdemeanor — expires after one year. This means school officials who enable abuse by remaining silent face virtually no accountability.

The disturbing investigation published in The Courier Journal reveals an alarming pattern that parallels what I uncovered in 2002 when representing 243 survivors of clergy sexual abuse against the Archdiocese of Louisville. Twenty years later, our institutions continue enabling predators while our laws leave survivors without recourse.

The article documents at least 80 cases of alleged sexual misconduct by Kentucky school coaches in 15 years. Like the Catholic Church cases, we see the same institutional failures: turning a blind eye to warning signs, allowing abusers to quietly resign and move to new schools, and using non-disclosure agreements to maintain silence.

As I wrote last December, the science is clear — most survivors are…

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Update–A Catholic priest was sentenced Monday in Ventura County to one year in the Ventura County Jail and then two years of formal probation for being convicted of possession of child sexual abuse material.

     The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office says that 39-year-old Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara was convicted by the court after pleading no contest to the charge in October.

     Because of credit for time already served in jail, Martinez-Guevara will serve far less than the one year sentence.

     He will begin his jail sentence on January 13th.

     The judge also ordered him to register as a sex offender for ten years.

     If Martinez-Guevara violates any terms of his probation he could find himself back behind bars doing even more time.

     Martinez-Guevara was a member of the Archdioceses of Los Angeles and was associated with several churches including Our Lady of Guadalupe in Oxnard during…

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Victims of child sexual abuse were treated in a heartless, hostile and cruel way by monks on a remote island, a safeguarding review has found.

One survivor said the way she had been treated since her time on Caldey Island, off Pembrokeshire, has made the effects of the abuse “a million times worse”.

The review said frequent allegations of abuse had been made but not followed up on or reported to police, and the lack of challenge had enabled a monk to abuse children over four decades “in plain sight”.

Caldey Abbey commissioned the report, and its new abbot apologised for the pain and suffering caused.

Rebecca lived on Caldey Island for the first five and a half years of her life.

Between the late 1960s until 1992, a resident monk, Father Thaddeus Kotik, sexually abused children who lived and visited the island, a review said.

Rebecca…

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More than 50 children who visited a remote holy island off the coast of Wales were raped or subjected to vile sex abuse by paedophile monks, a leaked report reveals.

Children as young as three were allegedly groomed and attacked in ‘plain sight’ on Caldey Island, a picturesque tourist spot off the Pembrokeshire coast.

For more than 100 years, the island has been home to Caldey Abbey and a small community of Trappist monks. It receives up to 60,000 visitors a year.

In April, an independent review was launched after several people came forward to report allegations of historic sex abuse, dating back more than 60 years. 

The review found that monks, and men with criminal records who claimed to be monks, were able to join the monastery without checks.

They hid behind their ‘chosen’ religious names to carry out the horrific attacks, which took place while children were on…

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The funeral of Bishop Richard Sklba in Milwaukee was marked by a protest from abuse survivors, who accused him of relocating abusive priests.

[Click here for video.]

Funeral services were held on Wednesday for Bishop Richard Sklba, a longtime bishop in Milwaukee.

Bishop Sklba, who died last month, was a Racine native and served as the auxiliary bishop in Milwaukee from 1979. He worked under at least three archbishops.

Before the funeral Mass, survivors of clergy sexual abuse organized a protest outside the church. The group accused Bishop Sklba of relocating priests who had abused children from one parish to another. They distributed pamphlets to attendees outlining their accusations against the late bishop.

Peter Isley, a clergy sex abuse survivor, voiced his concerns at the protest, stating, “You cannot put the devastation, the horror, and the misery that unfortunately this man was responsible for and bury it in a…

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In his first public speech since announcing his resignation, the archbishop of Canterbury struck a “frivolous tone” that left childhood abuse victims “dismayed” and “disgusted.”

“Whether one is personally responsible or not,” a head had to roll, said the archbishop, Justin Welby, on Dec. 5. He added that “there is only, in this case, one head that rolls well enough.”

An independent report, the Makin Review, found Archbishop Justin Welby should have reported serial child abuser John Smyth to the police in 2013. But despite reports of “abhorrent” abuse, Welby failed to take sufficient action.

So, yes, according to the report, Welby bore responsibility, as did other leaders in the Church of England.

Before his death in 2018, Smyth is believed to have inflicted physical, sexual and psychological abuse on more than 100 boys and young men in England, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The report described Smyth’s abuses as “prolific,…

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In a year of wretched public apologies, Justin Welby beats even Gregg Wallace

Is a crap apology worse than no apology at all? Gregg Wallace, until Friday a strong contender for the worst public apology of the year, is not of course unusual in his struggle to act convincingly remorseful. Justin Welby, the outgoing archbishop of Canterbury – despite being one of the great institutional apologisers of all time – now seems likely to take the British title; internationally the clear winner is South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol. Even Wallace could tell him that when you’ve carelessly imposed martial law, it’s important to apologise to everyone, not just “the people who were very surprised”.

Plainly, there are differences in style. The Wallace apology, the only one the 60-year-old has yet supplied for insulting “middle-class women of a certain age”, not only made the elementary mistake of apologising “for any offence…

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[See video.]

WDSU Investigates has uncovered new court records linked to convicted rapist Lawrence Hecker.
Warning: the details in the records are graphic.

According to the records, one victim said he met Lawrence Hecker at a seminary pool and was later raped.

Records show extensive evidence from 1996 to 2012 in the court file.

The documents outline the graphic abuse of about a dozen people, all with similar stories, according to court records.

The records state in 2022, the victim was interviewed by the FBI. The victim indicated that while attending Saint John Vianney Prep School (“St. John Prep”), he began working next door at St. Theresa of the Little Flower Church (“St. Theresa”) in New Orleans.

The victim stated that when he was not working at St. Theresa, he often hung out and worked out in the converted workout room in preparation for trying out for sports teams. He…

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NEW ORLEANS — WDSU Investigates has obtained documents sealed in a case involving New Orleans clergy sex abuse.

The documents paint the picture of abuse from about a dozen victims of a former New Orleans priest, Lawrence Hecker.

After his historic guilty plea this week, one of Hecker’s accusers is speaking up to let sex abuse survivors know there is hope. The man WDSU spoke with did not want his identity revealed.

Warning: The details in this story are graphic.

“Passed around like meat, and we all suffered,” the victim said. “It is impossible to describe.”

WDSU asked what his reaction was to Hecker pleading guilty.

“It brought a great deal of resolution to what we have been dealing with,” he said.

The victim shared his most vivid memory from almost 60 years ago when he says Hecker took him to a local pool to swim naked.

“He came up…

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The resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury has returned the spotlight to the permacrisis of abuse in religious communities. Welby resigned after an independent review found the Church of England had covered up serial abuse by John Smyth QC.

The review described Smyth’s abuse of more than 100 young boys as “prolific, brutal and horrific. His victims were subjected to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks.” The report found that this was not just a case of Smyth as a “bad apple”, but of systemic institutional failings in the church. Similar themes were found in a 2020 report into safeguarding in the Anglican Church.

As noted by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, this problem is not limited just to the Church of England but affects other religious institutions in the UK, and beyond.

The church can be seen as a form of “closed community”. These take on different…

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Robert Levins felt a sense of relief at word that hundreds of Catholic clergy sex abuse survivors on Long Island, himself included, had finally reached a court settlement with the Diocese of Rockville Centre. 

The agreement, approved Wednesday by a federal bankruptcy judge, closed a four-year court battle pitting 600 survivors against the diocese, the nation’s eighth largest. Payments from the $323 million settlement will likely start going out to survivors early next year.

Whatever money, or sense of empowerment, eventually comes to Levins, it won’t match the emotional price exacted since a trusted family friend, a Franciscan brother based in Port Jefferson, sexually molested him and his two brothers in the mid-1970s.

“This entire process in a way has also revictimized myself and probably others because we had to relive this so many times,” Levins, 63, told Newsday.

WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND

• A $323 million settlement between 600 clergy sex abuse survivors and the Diocese of Rockville Centre has…

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As faithful members mourn the closure of their Catholic churches (Saying goodbye to a Catholic Church — and a link to my family’s past, Nov. 21, 2024), others view them through the lens of the longstanding failure and mistrust of leadership.

St. Stanislaus in Fells Point was my family’s church. Founded in the 1800s as a cornerstone of Polish immigrant life, the church of my maternal and paternal grandparents was a place of daily worship, life celebrations and the funerals of beloved family members. St. Stan’s closed in 2000 due to dwindling attendance. Its closure was painful to Baltimore’s Polish community, many of whom had dispersed beyond Fells Point.

For all the fond memories, there was also a dark side to the church. The 2023 Maryland Office of the Attorney General report on sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore noted clergy sexual abuse at St. Stanislaus…

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Sexual assault and rape survivors and those who support them came forward last week to urge lawmakers to pass a bill that would criminalize “grooming,” which they said could have saved lives had it existed years ago.

House Bill 322 creates the crime of “grooming” in Ohio, which would be charged as a first or second degree misdemeanor, except in circumstances where the victim is younger than 13 and other offenses are also committed, such as supplying alcohol or drugs to the victim or having a previous sexually oriented offense conviction. The combination of the crimes would result in felony charges, according to the bill.

Under the bill, grooming could be charged when an adult engages in a “pattern of conduct” with a minor that “would cause a reasonable adult”…

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The Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest, led by Cardinal Péter Erdő, has announced that well-known priest András Pajor has been barred from all clerical activities following serious allegations. This marks the second high-profile case involving church figures with close ties to the government in recent weeks.

In its statement, the Archdiocese explained that a complaint had been filed with its Child and Youth Protection Service, leading to a preliminary investigation. Pending its outcome, Pajor was suspended and later requested to be relieved of his duties due to his age and health.

According to Válasz Online’s report, he has since been retired, although the investigation and restrictions remain in place. Additionally, the matter has been reported to the police.

Known for his political allegiances: Fidesz, Russia András Pajor, a parish priest from Zugló, has been a controversial figure in Hungary, openly campaigning for Fidesz, criticizing opposition parties, and promoting anti-migrant and pro-Putin conspiracy…

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“By imposing a Litany of Lament recognizing sins of sex abuse on an unprepared audience, NZ bishops made all churchgoers complicit in the sex crimes of priests and their own coverups of those crimes”, the author of this column denounced.

The failure of New Zealand’s Catholic bishops to be “accountable or transparent to their congregations and the broader community about the nature and extent of abuse,” as reported by the nation’s Abuse in Care Inquiry (Whanaketia 7, 8:698), reached an unprecedented level recently. 

Nationwide, at the end of Sunday Mass, November 17, the celebrant intoned: “We lament the crimes and sins of sexual, physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse perpetrated by clergy against children, young people, and vulnerable adults.” The people had to respond: “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.” Thus, by crafting a Litany of Lament and imposing it on an unprepared audience, the…

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ROME – Among the twenty new Princes of the Church who received their red hats yesterday from Pope Francis was Cardinal Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio, who’s been the Archbishop of Lima in Peru since 2019.

To suggest the 74-year-old Castillo may face the stiffest immediate challenge of any of the new cardinals is, I’ll concede, a bold claim. After all, his fellow inductees include Cardinal Ladislav Nemet, the first cardinal in the history of Serbia, an overwhelmingly Orthodox nation where locals traditionally haven’t exactly been wild about “the Church of Rome,” and Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu of Tehran, Iran … ’nuff said.

Yet when Castillo gets back to Peru, he will find waiting a criminal case against a Vatican official with implications for diplomatic immunity and Vatican sovereignty, religious freedom, the Vatican’s capacity to manage scandal and misconduct, and the willingness of Catholic clerics everywhere to answer the bell when…

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The funeral of Bishop Richard Sklba in Milwaukee was marked by a protest from abuse survivors, who accused him of relocating abusive priests.

[See video here.]

Funeral services were held on Wednesday for Bishop Richard Sklba, a longtime bishop in Milwaukee.

Bishop Sklba, who died last month, was a Racine native and served as the auxiliary bishop in Milwaukee from 1979. He worked under at least three archbishops.

Before the funeral Mass, survivors of clergy sexual abuse organized a protest outside the church. The group accused Bishop Sklba of relocating priests who had abused children from one parish to another. They distributed pamphlets to attendees outlining their accusations against the late bishop.

Peter Isley, a clergy sex abuse survivor, voiced his concerns at the protest, stating, “You cannot put the devastation, the horror, and the misery that unfortunately this man was responsible for and bury it in a hole…

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An elderly priest’s guilty plea exposes the church’s history of shielding predators in its midst for decades

In the case of serial child molester and retired Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker, the cover-up failed.

But it wasn’t for lack of trying by a coalition of high-ranking church officials and sympathetic judges, who prioritized the predator’s comfort above justice for his innumerable victims until the evidence against him was so overwhelming that – rather than stand the humiliation of a public trial – he pleaded guilty last Tuesday.

The 93-year-old’s decision not only saddled him with an automatic life sentence. It also exposed how Catholic bureaucrats in Hecker’s home town of New Orleans, one of the church’s strongholds in the US, repeated the same sins that produced an eerily similar scandal in Boston two decades earlier – events later immortalized in the Oscar-winning film Spotlight.

This is the only conclusion to draw from years of…

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Increased attention to sexual violence within the Catholic Church has led to a rise in the number of reports, according to a KU Leuven study released on Saturday.

The study, which surveyed 97 victims, found that just over half (53%) experienced violence between 2020 and 2024.

This rise is attributed to improved reporting mechanisms and media coverage, which have encouraged past victims to come forward. Most of the reported incidents (86%) occurred between 1950 and 1989, with a peak in the 1960s. However, four recent cases have been reported since 2020, according to Professor Wim Vandewiele’s report.

More than 10% of the victims reported experiencing sexual violence before 2012, especially between 2000 and 2012 when the Halsberghe and Adriaenssens commissions and the 2010 Special Parliamentary Commission were active.

One-fifth of the reports concern the period between 2012 and 2020, when ten reception points and the Arbitration Centre were operational.

Additionally,…

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The Archdiocese of Agaña has published a list of 48 known church associates who have been accused of child sexual abuse in lawsuits filed with Guam courts.

Archbishops, a bishop, priests, lay persons and nuns are among those compiled in the list, which is posted online at: archagana.org/disclosures.

“We treasure our young ones. We nurture and protect them and want them to have confidence that the adults around them will look after their welfare,” Archbishop Ryan Jimenez said in a Friday afternoon statement announcing the list’s posting.

Names were derived from 331 separate lawsuits filed in Superior Court of Guam and District Court of Guam, based on a list compiled by law firm Razzano Walsh & Torres for the archdiocese.

Publication of the list is a requirement of the archdiocese’s settlement of nearly 300 sex abuse lawsuits brought, according to a memo attached to the list.

Any…

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The Archbishop of Canterbury has been condemned by victims of the Church of England abuse scandal for a speech they say made light of serious safeguarding failures.

In his first public speech since announcing his resignation last month, Justin Welby told the House of Lords a head had had to roll after a review criticised failings in the handling of the scandal.

Abuse victims say they were “dismayed” and “disgusted” by the speech, saying it made no mention of remorse for survivors and struck too “frivolous” a tone with jokes.

The Makin review found Mr Welby “could and should” have reported prolific child abuser John Smyth to the police in 2013 and criticised the Church for not doing enough to prevent further abuse until he died.

Speaking in the Lords on Thursday, the archbishop said: “The reality is that there comes a time if you are technically leading a particular…

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Raymond Zwiefelhofer was convicted of possessing child sexual abuse material.

Former elder of secretive 2×2 Christian sect sentenced to 120 years in prison

An ABC News investigation into the 2×2 Church, a Christian sect so secretive most people have never heard of it, has uncovered allegations of child sexual abuse and coverups.

An ABC News yearlong investigation into the 2×2 Church, a Christian sect so secretive most people have never heard of it, has uncovered allegations of widespread child sexual abuse and subsequent coverups.

During the investigation, ABC News spoke with dozens of alleged victims of child sexual abuse across more than 30 states.

As part of the ongoing investigation by law enforcement, Raymond Zwiefelhofer was convicted of 10 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material and was sentenced to 120 years in prison last month.

“In total, there were 87 files that were determined to be child sexual abuse…

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Reader advisory: Some accounts of sexual assault in this story contain explicit details and strong language that some may find upsetting or objectionable.

Since this story first published in 2020, Jesús Antonio Castañeda Serna pleaded no contest to nine counts of sexual battery and one count of attempt to dissuade a witness. The rest of the charges were dropped.

At a hearing in Fresno County Superior Court in April, he apologized to the survivors and the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin.

“I ask that they forgive me for what I did,” Castañeda said through a translator. “I did not know of the impact that it was to them, because of everything that I caused them, emotionally, humanly and as a Christian.”

A judge had ordered the priest be sent to prison for up to 90 days for an evaluation to determine whether he should be given probation or…

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A former priest who was raped as a teenager by a vicar has called for the Archbishop of York to resign.

Matthew Ineson was abused in the 1980s by Trevor Devamanikkam, who was a priest at St Aidan’s Church in Bradford at the time.

Mr Ineson told senior clergy, including the then Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, about his experiences in 2013, but the Church of England’s own review later found it had failed to act on his claims and Lord Sentamu was removed from ministry last year.

Current archbishop Stephen Cottrell, who, in October, called for Lord Sentamu to be re-admitted, told the BBC he took his “commitment” to survivors of child sexual abuse “very seriously”.

Devamanikkam was charged with six sex offences after Mr Ineson told the police the vicar had raped him as a 16-year-old, but took his own life in June 2017 before the case reached…

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Case seeks compensation for victims of Father Angus McRae

A class-action lawsuit attempting to hold the federal government responsible for sexual abuse suffered by children at the hands of a military priest at an Edmonton army base has been certified in the Alberta courts.

The case alleges that the federal government allowed a Canadian Armed Forces chaplain, Capt. Angus McRae, to sexually abuse children who were living on armed forces bases with their families. McRae, who died in 2011, served at bases across Canada before he was convicted of sexual crimes against children. 

The representative plaintiff, Bobby Bees of Vancouver, wants to hold the federal government accountable for failing to stop the abuse, the dark memories of which torment him daily.  

“I went through so much hell,” said Bees, 52, in an interview with CBC. “My entire childhood after that was just torn apart.” 

The $60-million claim seeks to hold…

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Investigation into the 38-year-old man began when a missionary couple reported finding spy cameras inside their mobile home, police say.

An associate minister in Grapevine has been arrested by police, who are accusing him of possessing child pornography and using spy cameras in a home, officials said.

Arturo Alarcon, the 38-year-old associate minister at 121 Community Church in Grapevine, was charged with possession of child pornography and invasive visual recording, according to police.

Investigation began, police say, when a missionary couple reported finding spy cameras inside their mobile home, which is used by the church to house families in need.

According to the arrest affidavit, the family staying there found two alarm clocks and two wall plugs labeled “Bug Control” containing hidden cameras inside the devices. Another associate minister with the church, Elvis Gallegos, reportedly told police these items weren’t provided by the church and he wasn’t sure who put…

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There is a need for impactful revision and action on clerical sexual abuse under canon law

In 2021, the Vatican announced revisions to the Code of Canon Law’s Penal Sanctions in the Church — which includes clerical sexual abuse (CSA) and other crimes — considered the most profound, following much deliberation and earlier patchy reforms.

The reforms seek to restore justice, reform offenders, and repair scandals. They stem primarily from survivors, backed by rights-based movements, media and national justice systems demanding decisive Church action.

Church experts, too, have been canvassing more substantive changes to earlier reforms.

However, three years after the last revisions, CSA continues with impunity, especially in the Global South. Theologically, sexual abuse is defined as a sin against God and humans (moral failing), and not a crime committed in a society (legal concept).

Sin is a matter of conscience that compromises the relationship with God. It can…

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Daniel Mayfield still facing over 160 charges across multiple counties in SC

Daniel Kellan Mayfield, a former youth pastor at First Baptist Church Gowensville in South Carolina, this week pleaded guilty to federal charges for possessing illegal child sexual abuse images.

The 36-year-old pleaded guilty on November 21 to one count of possession of illegal child sexual abuse images, according to reporting by The Christian Post. The crime carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Mayfield is also facing over 160 charges across multiple counties in South Carolina.

In the summer of 2023, Mayfield was arrested for voyeurism for filming a victim while she was showering in her mother’s home. The victim noticed a light shining outside the window, and when she stepped outside to investigate, she saw Mayfield in the yard.

The victim’s sister arrived in…

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A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Diocese of Jefferson City on Thursday due a lack of action by the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit, filed in September by five Missouri adults, accused Jefferson City-area Catholic priests of sexual abuse. Four of the plaintiffs claim they were abused as children, and the fifth said they were abused as an adult.

The lawsuit named the diocese and Bishop Shawn McKnight as defendants. After it was filed, McKnight sent a statement saying none of the priests in question are were active in the diocese at the time of filing.

In a ruling Thursday, Judge Douglas Harpool said the plaintiffs had not met deadlines set by another judge for serving the defendants with court papers. They also did not meet a deadline for responding to an order to show cause.

For those reasons, Harpool dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice, meaning…

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One man among a group suing the Archdiocese of St. Louis for allegations of sexual abuse, and its cover-up, has dismissed his claim that a man alleged to now be a Kansas City deacon abused him in the 1980s, online court records show.

However, Ralph Wehner, a Kansas City deacon, remains suspended from ministry while church officials investigate the claim, a Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese spokesperson said. A man identified as W.C. in court documents dismissed his claim of abuse by Wehner on Nov. 21.

The lawsuit, filed July 24, accuses St. Louis church officials of covering up abuse by clergy and staff for decades. Dozens of plaintiffs are listed on the suit.

One plaintiff, W.C., alleged that “Brother Ralph Wehner” had groped and fondled him at least three times when W.C. was a teenager.

The plaintiff’s attorney, Todd Mathews, said in an email that W.C. voluntarily dismissed…

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In 2012, Boz Tchividjian, grandson of famed evangelist Billy Graham, drove to the Lynchburg, Virginia, airport in his family minivan to pick up Stephen Jones, great-grandson of fundamentalist Bob Jones Sr.

The meeting, though planned, was highly improbable.

Known for banning interracial dating into the 21st century and having rules too rigid even for Graham, a former student who left after one semester, Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, is typically wary of outsiders. So it was a shock when Stephen Jones, then president of Bob Jones, invited Tchividjian’s nonprofit Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, known by its acronym GRACE, to examine the university’s handing of sexual abuse allegations.

The invitation came in the wake of the 2011 Penn State sex abuse scandal and amid nationwide conversations about institutional cover-up of sexual abuse. While BJU never stated a specific reason for…

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The B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit alleges the plaintiff was abused by a clergyman and Scout leader in Bella Bella.

A B.C. man is alleging a priest and Scout master sexually abused him as a child in Bella Bella.

Bertram Wayne Brown names the United Church of Canada and Scouts Canada in a Nov. 18 B.C. Supreme Court notice of civil claim signed by Preszler Law lawyer Christopher McDougall.

The claim alleges Father Tom York, also allegedly a Scout leader, abused Brown at Darby Memorial Church in Bella Bella, 500 km northeast of Vancouver.

It alleges York abused Brown between the ages of seven and nine at the church and while on Scout outings “on a repeated basis, increasing in frequency, nature and intensity as time progressed.”

“The perpetrator’s behaviour constituted sexual abuse, sexual battery, and sexual assault,” the claim said. “The institutional defendants are vicariously liable for the wrongful actions of the…

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The good news is that a number of the most prolific and problematic San Diego predator priests are dead. The bad news, though, is that they’ve left in their wake countless deeply wounded and very likely still struggling victims. One of those predator priests is Fr. Gregory Sierra Sheridan, a native of Spain.

Most child molesters gravitate towards a specific gender. Sometimes, an abusive priest who targets girls is caught and is then transferred to an all-boys school, for example, in the naïve hope that maybe his sexual compulsions will be magically cured or at least held in check (because the gender he seems to prefer is less available). History has shown that this approach rarely works, of course.

But Fr. Sheridan seems to be among a smaller group of abusers: the ones who are more indiscriminate and assault both boys and girls in similar numbers.
That means…

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A court has approved a Roman Catholic diocese’s settlement with sexual abuse survivors, which is the largest such payment in New York state history. 

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, based on Long Island, New York, published a statement Wednesday noting that it had reached a $323 million settlement with survivors of sexual abuse: “We are grateful to God that on December 4th, the court confirmed the Plan that resolves and ends the Bankruptcy Case for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, all our parishes, and related ministries.” 

“For the sake of abuse survivors and the [Catholic] Church’s mission on Long Island, we pray that the Plan brings some measure of healing to survivors and allows the [Catholic] Church to carry on the saving mission of Jesus Christ,” a spokesperson for the diocese added. “Victim survivors of child abuse deserve our respect, our prayers, and our pastoral support….

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The Diocese of Rockville Centre on Wednesday said a bankruptcy court had approved its record abuse settlement of $323 million, which officials said will bring “some measure of healing to survivors” of clergy abuse.

The New York diocese announced in September that it had reached the massive settlement for abuse victims after a four-year-long process that included an earlier offer that the survivors had rejected.

On Wednesday U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn approved the settlement, greenlighting the payout that includes contributions from insurers and diocesan churches.

The Rockville Centre Diocese said in a statement that it was “grateful to God” for the approval.

“For the sake of abuse survivors and the Church’s mission on Long Island, we pray that the plan brings some measure of healing to survivors and allows the Church to carry on the saving mission of Jesus Christ,” the statement said.

“Victim survivors of child abuse deserve…

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A Catholic diocese on New York’s Long Island has seen its long-running bankruptcy filing finally concluded, enabling hundreds of sexual abuse claims to be settled.

“We are grateful to God that on December 4th, the court confirmed the Plan that resolves and ends the Bankruptcy Case for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, all our parishes, and related ministries,” said the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, in a statement.

Chief Judge Martin Glenn of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York signed off on the settlement, preliminarily announced in September and said by the diocese to total “just over $323 million.”

That amount includes “insurance contributions, Diocesan assets and sale proceeds from Diocesan property, and contributions from parishes and other related entities,” said the diocese in its statement. “The Diocese, parishes and other related entities contributed a total of $234.8 million. Insurance companies contributed a total…

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Jesuit Father Hans Zollner — the founder and director of the Institute of Anthropology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and a former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors — joined several safeguarding experts in releasing a joint proposal in Rome Nov. 18 advocating a change in church law on the handling of sexual abuse cases.

Specifically, the proposal — co-written by members of the institute and the Seattle-based Ending Clergy Abuse human rights organization — called for a global extension of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ protocol of permanently removing from ministry credibly accused priests or deacons.

That norm, established in 2002 alongside the USCCB’s “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” with the Vatican’s permission, at present only applies to the Catholic Church in the U.S.

In a Dec. 3 email to OSV News, Father Zollner shared his insights regarding the challenges…

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Richard Tollner says he was sexually abused by a priest at the age of 15 back in 1975. Almost half a century later, he says he is happy to see victims finally getting compensation.

Back in 2019, the New York Child Victims Act allowed abuse victims to temporarily file lawsuits – even if the statute of limitations had expired.

Richard Tollner says he was sexually abused by a priest at the age of 15 back in 1975.

Almost half a century later, he says he is happy to see victims finally getting compensation.“A little bit of bittersweet justice, it has taken four years to get to today, but at this point enough victims have waited for justice have achieved the justice,” says Tollner.

The $323 million settlement effects roughly 600 alleged sexual abuse victims in the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

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The Leon County Sheriff’s Office arrested a church employee for allegedly assaulting a teenager who attended the church he served at.

Hunter Eubanks, 30, was arrested Wednesday on charges of sexual assault of a minor, cruelty toward a child, aggravated battery on a child, use of a computer to lure a child, obscene communication and travel to meet after using a computer to lure a child. He is being held in the Leon County Detention Facility.

According to a LCSO news release, Eubanks committed “multiple sexual acts” on a 16-year-old, which occurred on church grounds between July and October.

Detectives have been investigating since Oct. 9 before issuing a warrant for his arrest.

As of Thursday, mentions of Eubanks were scrubbed from Morningside Church’s leadership page on the church’s website.

While LCSO originally referred to Eubanks as a “youth pastor,” the church’s website from November listed him as “a worship…

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The archbishop of Banterbury could have used his speech to express remorse to victims of abuse. But then there wouldn’t have been any room for lolz

I imagine the outgoing archbishop of Canterbury doesn’t have a tattoo. But if he did, he’d have that one beloved of so many insouciant people: “ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME.” As it goes, people with this tattoo frequently appear in court. In fact, sentencing guidelines for people with auto-satirical body art is one of only about three subjects that Justin Welby didn’t make some public comment about in his tenure as the archbishop of Canterbury.

But the great pontificator is now turning in his badge and mitre, and yesterday could be found delivering a quite staggeringly tone-deaf final speech as the archbishop of Canterbury in the House of Lords. As a reminder, Welby’s resignation was called for because he definitely knew about victims of John Smyth,…

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Three years ago, James McDowell, a former principal at the Hillcrest School in Jos, Nigeria, used a post in a Facebook group for the school’s alumni to confess to molesting two students. That led to more allegations of abuse and calls from former students at Hillcrest for an independent investigation.

On Sunday, an alumni group representing survivors announced that eight Christian organizations have agreed to help fund an investigation into the allegations. Founded in 1942 by Church of the Brethren missionaries, Hillcrest educated both the children of missionaries, Nigerian students, and international students with the help of other denominations. 

The Hillcrest alumni group has identified about 50 cases of alleged sexual abuse at the school.

The former students negotiated with 15 different faith groups that sent missionaries and students to Hillcrest over the years, coming to agreement with funders from the North American Baptist Conference; the…

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The clergyman oversaw the Diocese of Oakland for 26 years and served on several national committees

UPDATED: December 4, 2024 at 2:02 PM PST

OAKLAND – John S. Cummins, the second and longest-serving bishop of Oakland, died Tuesday. He was 96.

The Diocese of Oakland confirmed Cummins’ death, writing in a statement that the retired bishop emeritus “leaves a legacy of service to God through his priesthood and episcopacy.”

“Our diocese has lost a father, grandfather, shepherd and true priest of Jesus Christ,” Bishop Michael C. Barber said. “May Christ the Good Shepherd welcome Bishop John into the eternal reward prepared for him who served the flock of Oakland so well.”

Cummins was born on March 3, 1928, and raised in Berkeley. After receiving a Master of Divinity degree from St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, he was ordained on Jan. 24, 1953, at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the…

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The settlement between the Diocese of Rockville Centre and sexual abuse survivors brings an end to a bankruptcy process that lasted more than four years. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost

A four-year court battle pitting hundreds of clergy sex abuse survivors against the Catholic Church on Long Island came to an end Wednesday in federal bankruptcy court as both sides officially signed off on a $323 million settlement.

The deal between the Diocese of Rockville Centre and about 600 survivors is one of the largest in the United States for Catholic dioceses in bankruptcy because of the clergy sex abuse scandal, officials said. Nearly 99% of survivors who cast votes on the deal approved it, according a lawyer who represented them.

Some survivors said they hope it marks the start of a new chapter in lives left traumatized by abuse at the hands of priests.

“It’s a good day for survivors. They waited many years for this justice,” said…

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A years-long legal battle between Long Island’s Catholic diocese and hundreds of alleged sex abuse victims came to an end Wednesday, with a bankruptcy judge in Manhattan approving a plan that finalizes a $323 million settlement.

As part of the settlement, the Diocese of Rockville Centre will begin making payments next year to nearly 600 victims of child sex abuse in the church.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Martin Glenn said he was “extremely pleased” with the deal, according to Newsday.

“The true heroes are the survivors who have persisted through decades of trauma, hardship and immeasurable resilience,” said Jeff Anderson, an attorney for the victims. “Today’s ruling provides momentum towards a resolution that is long overdue.”

Diocese leaders had originally offered a $200 million settlement, while the victims had sought $450 million. The approved plan marks the largest Catholic…

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The new Bridge Dialogues program in Milwaukee utilizes a restorative justice style initiative for abuse survivorsBy 

Two years ago, Sally dropped a letter in the mail, never expecting a response. 

Three pages long and handwritten, it was addressed to a leader in the Catholic church who had sexually abused her from when she was 17 until 19. When she sent the letter, she was 56 years old and had never spoken about the abuse to anyone. Not even her husband. 

In the letter, Sally described the burden she had been carrying for decades.  

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One week later, she received a response. The abuser asked to apologize in person. 

“​​Those words of, ‘Will you meet me so I can look at you in the eyes?’ just put a fire in me,” Sally told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”…

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A former headteacher has been charged with alleged child sexual abuse against a previous student at a catholic school.

James Edwin Rouse, 48, has been charged following allegations of child sexual abuse against former pupils at St. Anne’s Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Southampton, in 2006.

Rouse, of Lowford Hill Close in Southampton, will appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on January 13, 2025, has been charged with abuse of position of trust: sexual activity with a child.

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary’s specialist Operation Marmion team conducted a ‘robust’ and ‘thorough’ investigation.

A spokesperson for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said: “We would encourage anyone who has been a victim of child sexual abuse to contact police on 101 where you can speak with a police officer in confidence referencing Op Stonecrop.”

You can also submit information online…

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A former head teacher has been charged with non-recent child sexual abuse offences at a city school.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary said the charges against James Rouse, 48, followed allegations of child sexual abuse, by those in a position of trust, against former pupils at St Anne’s Catholic School and Sixth Form College in Southampton, in 2006.

Four former teachers currently remain under investigation following similar reports of non-recent child sexual abuse at the school.

Mr Rouse, of Lowford Hill Close in Southampton, will appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on 13 January.

‘Deeply disturbing’

“We are deeply saddened and shocked by the allegations of historic sexual abuse linked to former members of our staff body,” a spokesperson for St Anne’s Catholic School and Sixth Form College said.

“This is clearly deeply disturbing news for all of our community.

“We have only ever wanted St Anne’s to be a…

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ST. LOUIS — One of the dozens of people suing the Catholic church here over allegations of sexual abuse has dismissed his claim that a man believed to be a Kansas City deacon abused him at a St. Louis-area church in the 1980s.

Kansas City church officials, however, said Tuesday that the deacon, Ralph Wehner, remains suspended from ministry amid an investigation into the claim.

The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph put Wehner on a “precautionary suspension” in August after an advocacy group raised concerns he was the same “Ralph Wehner” accused of abuse here in a lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese of St. Louis days earlier.

The lawsuit was one of five against the archdiocese accusing church officials of covering up abuse by dozens of clergy and staff from the 1940s to as recently as 2015. One plaintiff alleged a “Brother Ralph Wehner” groped and fondled him while he…

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Sklba once characterized secretly returning abusers to ministry as an “experiment”

Group wants incoming archbishop to remove Sklba’s name from yearly church award given to middle school children

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12-3-2024

Survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their advocates will gather for a press conference at 11:30am before the funeral of Bishop Richard Sklba, a figure deeply implicated in decades of child sexual abuse and cover-up within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Over 10,000 court-ordered released internal church documents, dozens of depositions, and scores of victim testimonies revealed Sklba’s central role in managing and concealing well over 50 cases of abusive priests in Southeastern Wisconsin spanning over three decades. 

WHEN: Wednesday, December 4th, 11:30am

WHERE: Outside the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, 812 N Jackson St, Milwaukee, WI

WHO: Survivors of clergy abuse and advocates

WHAT: Survivors and advocates will hold an 11:30am press conference outside the Downtown Milwaukee…

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New revelations expose decades of sexual abuse by a Piarist priest in Senegal, shocking communities. Victims’ testimonies highlight abuse of power, while the Order of the Pious Schools acknowledged the crimes, pledging accountability and support for survivors.

The Catholic commission defending minors sexually abused in the Catholic Church in Senegal Church has revealed new cases of sexual abuse committed by a member of the Piarist religious order. In the Diocese of Ziguinchor, where the accused operated for more than a decade, the faithful and local populations remain in shock.

“We feel almost guilty for having lacked vigilance as parents,” said André Manga, reeling from the revelations of sexual abuse committed by Piarist clergy in Mlomp, his village in southern Senegal. “It is shocking to learn that such things happened here, right under our noses, without us suspecting anything,” lamented the Sacred Heart parishioner.

Between 1992 and 2005, several Senegalese children…

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A disgraced 93-year-old New Orleans priest pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges involving the sexual assault of a teenage boy in 1975.

Lawrence Hecker, who left the ministry in 2002, had been scheduled to stand trial Tuesday. Hecker’s eyes were focused on the ground as a sheriff’s deputy pushed him toward Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Nandi Campbell’s courtroom, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.

Hecker entered his plea to aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature, first-degree rape and theft before Campbell, moments before jury selection was scheduled to begin, multiple news outlets reported. Sentencing was set for Dec. 18. He faces life in prison.

The trial had been delayed for months over concerns about Hecker’s mental competency and because District Judge Ben Willard recused himself from the case, citing a conflict with prosecutors. The case was reassigned to Campbell, who ordered Hecker to undergo routine physical and psychological evaluations…

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A former student who suffered severe injuries at Asbury University in Kentucky last year has filed a lawsuit for negligence, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Isabella Willingham was found unconscious in her room in November 2023 with cuts, bruises and other injuries. Even her acrylic nails had been ripped off. She stopped breathing on her own for 23 minutes, according to a Lex18 report.

The lawsuit, filed in state court in Kentucky, states that Willingham enrolled as a student at Asbury in August 2023 and was required to live in an on-campus dormitory.

During a phone call with Willingham on Nov. 27, 2023, her mother said Willingham began to lose focus and said that her head was hurting, for which her roommate had given her medication, ostensibly ibuprofen.

Not long after, the phone call ended abruptly and the mobile location services associated…

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During Thanksgiving week, I watched two movies: Wicked and Gladiator II. Both movies reminded me of evangelicals up to their television satellites and steeples in secular politics.

I watched the citizens of Oz pour into the streets, singing, “The wicked old witch is dead.” When Galinda the “good witch” tried to temper the frivolous bacchanal, the citizen chorus belted out, “No one mourns the wicked.”

I couldn’t stop thinking of the evangelical treatment of Kamala Harris.

Evangelical preachers and MAGA partisans knew no bounds for their descriptions of Kamala Harris. Her skin isn’t green, but she is biracial. Sexist and racist epitaphs were hurled at her. She was called a “commie,” “Joe’s boss,” “Nasty,” “Kneepads,” “Madam Swallow,” “Heels Up,” and “The San Francisco Treat.” Colorado televangelist Lance Wallnau said Harris had “the Jezebel spirit.” Steve Swofford, pastor of First Baptist Church in Rockwall, Texas, asked in a sermon, “Jezebel Harris? Isn’t that her name?”

…

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Lawrence Hecker, who was indicted last year on charges related to a sexual assault in the 1970s, pleaded guilty on Tuesday just before jury selection for his trial was set to begin.

A retired Roman Catholic priest who was indicted last year in Louisiana on charges related to the sexual assault of a teenage boy in the 1970s pleaded guilty to the crimes on Tuesday, his lawyer said, just before jury selection for the trial was set to begin.

The retired priest, Lawrence Hecker, 93, pleaded guilty to state charges of first-degree rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature, and theft over $500, said his lawyer, Bobby Hjortsberg. The charges came after allegations surfaced last year that the Archdiocese of New Orleans had known about accusations against Mr. Hecker for decades.

“Him ultimately taking responsibility for it was the right thing to do, and the necessary thing to do at…

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A former New Orleans priest accused of rape and kidnapping entered a guilty plea ahead of his expected trial Tuesday.

Lawrence Hecker entered his plea just moments before jury selection was slated to begin in his trial.

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He pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature, first-degree rape, and theft.

Hecker’s sentencing will be Dec. 18, and he faces life in prison.

The trial had been delayed for months over concerns of Hecker’s mental competency as well as the case being moved to Section G of court after Judge Ben Willard recused himself.

A doctor confirmed that Hecker does have Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, but Hecker was found competent to stand trial, according to his attorney Bobby Hjortsberg.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued the following statement regarding Hecker’s guilty plea:

“It is our hope and prayer that today’s court proceedings bring healing and peace to…

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Hecker, 93, had instead been scheduled to stand trial on Tuesday.

Lawrence Hecker, the geriatric former priest accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy nearly 50 years ago, pleaded guilty as charged Tuesday, abruptly ending a case boondoggled for months by the defendant’s declining health and a judge’s unusual recusal.

A grand jury indicted 93-year-old Hecker last year following an investigation that revealed the clergyman had confessed to molesting multiple juveniles over his decades of service with the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

The charges brought against him, however, stemmed from a single incident. Prosecutors alleged that Hecker choked, then raped a boy sometime between 1975 and 1976.

Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams’ office charged Hecker with first-degree rape, aggravated crime against nature, aggravated kidnapping and theft. He faces life in prison.

Hecker had been scheduled to stand trial beginning on Tuesday before he entered his guilty plea in front…

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“Erin” was one of millions of believers whose faith in God was so transformed by the Brownsville Revival of the mid-1990s that she accepted a secretarial job at the revival’s ministry school in Pensacola, Florida. But in 2002, the 21-year-old suddenly cleared her desk, quietly left the state, and has struggled with her faith ever since.

Erin told The Roys Report (TRR) she left because she felt trapped when revival leader and FIRE School of Ministry founder Michael Brown—a man she called “Dad”—would frequently cross physical boundaries. He’d hold her hand, kiss her on the lips, and slap her bottom, she said.

“He was supposed to be a spiritual father,” Erin said. “He was supposed to look after me.”

TRR keeps alleged victims of sexual harassment and clergy sexual abuse anonymous, so Erin is a pseudonym. However, we confirmed her identity with former FIRE staff Kris Bennett and former FIRE missionary…

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Investigation into boarding school abuse is set

Church agencies reach funding deal with survivors

Both liberal and evangelical Protestant groups are involved

Survivors set precedent, command seat at the table

For almost four years, dozens of adults have lobbied over 15 church agencies to investigate the sexual, physical, racial, psychological and spiritual abuse they say they suffered as kids at a Christian boarding school in Africa.

Now, finally, their efforts seem to be paying off. Eight religious groups that sent missionaries to Hillcrest have agreed to fund and cooperate with an independent probe into the alleged abuse at the school from its founding in 1942 until the present.

“This hard-won commitment means that decades of crimes and cover ups by church staff, volunteers and supervisors will be fully and finally examined and exposed – not by biased church insiders but by credible outside investigators,” said Letta Cartlidge of Colorado, who…

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Pope Francis has once again demonstrated his commitment to reform within the Catholic Church by addressing a deeply sensitive and controversial issue: the potential recognition of “spiritual abuse” as a formal crime under Church law. This proposed move seeks to address instances where clergy exploit their spiritual authority, often invoking mystical or supernatural experiences, to manipulate, control, or harm others. Such behaviour, while not new, has long remained outside the purview of formal ecclesiastical accountability, leaving many victims without recourse and perpetuating cycles of abuse cloaked in religious guidance.

Last week, Cardinal Victor Fernandez, head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, met with Pope Francis to discuss the matter, signalling the Vatican’s intent to delve into the complexities of spiritual abuse. For Pope Francis, who has prioritised addressing various forms of clerical misconduct during his papacy, this step is consistent with his broader vision of a…

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The Belgian state has been found guilty of crimes against humanity for the forced removal of five mixed-race children from their mothers in colonial Congo.

In a long-awaited ruling issued on Monday, Belgium’s court of appeal said that five women, born in the Belgian Congo and now in their 70s, had been victims of “systematic kidnapping” by the state when they were removed from their mothers as small children and sent to Catholic institutions because of their mixed-race origins.

“This is a victory and a historic judgment,” Michèle Hirsch, one of the lawyers for the women, told local media. “It is the first time in Belgium and probably in Europe that a court has condemned the Belgian colonial state for crimes against humanity.”

Monique Bitu Bingi, who was removed from her mother aged three, told the Guardian that justice had been done. “I am relieved,” she said. “The judges have recognised that…

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Among the many horrors perpetrated by the Belgians on their African colony Congo, was the abduction of children born to black African mothers and white Belgian fathers.

The Brussels Court of Appeal on Monday held the state accountable for the systematic
abduction of “metis” children, those of mixed European and African heritage, from their mothers during the colonial era in Belgian Congo.

The case was brought by five women who were forcibly separated from their mothers in the Belgian Congo before the age of seven. The court found that their abductions were part of a deliberate and systematic plan orchestrated by the Belgian state to remove children born to black mothers and white fathers from their families.

“Their abduction is an inhumane and persecutory act constituting a crime against humanity under the principles of international law,” the court said in a press statement.

The Belgian state was ordered by the court to compensate…

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ROME – Former members of the women’s branch of the Peru-based Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV) say that among the other consequences of the abuse they suffered is a loss of careers and income, and they’re asking for compensation.

Most of the roughly 30 former members of the Marian Community of Reconciliation (MCR) with whom Crux has spoken said they were either prevented from studying, or their studies were drawn out to the point that when they left, sometimes after decades in the group, they still had not completed degrees, leaving them with no financial means of support.

Most of the women agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity, using pseudonyms.

One former member named “Gianna,” who spent 18 years in the MCR without completing her studies, said that many women in the group “never worked in anything formal [that was] paid, after repeatedly, explicitly asking to do so, but at the same time…

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A bishop who called for Justin Welby to resign over the Church of England’s worst child abuse scandal has said she has been ‘frozen out’ over her comments.

The Bishop of Newcastle broke ranks to call for the Archbishop of Canterbury to step aside over failures that meant serial abuser John Smyth was never brought to justice.

Helen-Ann Hartley said she has been ‘frozen out’ by the Church and has been ‘isolated’ by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York since speaking out.

She also criticised other senior clergy for staying silent over the Church’s safeguarding failures due to ‘careerism’ and a desire to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

And she called for the CofE to be placed in ‘special measures’ over its safeguarding provision, with an independent review of failures taken out of the Church’s hands.

Dr Hartley was the only bishop to publicly call for Dr Welby to resign…

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Belfast court jails 89-year-old in sexual abuse cases after long PSNI investigation

PAUL DUNLEAVY, a Christian Brother and former school principal, was sentenced in Belfast last week to 10 years imprisonment, after being found guilty of 36 non-recent sexual abuse offences relating to nine victims. The sentence will begin in May 2026 at the conclusion of his current sentence for similar offences.

Dunleavy, now 89, has been convicted for a total of 72 non-recent sexual abuse offences from 1964-1991 involving 18 victims who were aged between seven and 14 years old at the time.

Offences include indecent assault, attempted buggery and gross indecency with or towards a child.

Head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Public Protection Branch, Detective Chief Superintendent Lindsay Fisher said: “Dunleavy was a teaching Christian Brother of the Catholic Church. He taught in four different primary and secondary schools in Belfast, Newry and Armagh from…

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Kelly-Anne Jennings, 40, rearrested on Oct. 24 for allegedly breaching bail conditions

An Ontario school teacher accused of multiple sexual offences involving students has been again released on bail after she was rearrested for allegedly breaching her bail conditions, CBC News has learned.

Kelly-Anne Jennings is on unpaid leave from her job as a Grade 8 teacher at St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School in Port Hope, Ont., as she faces 18 sex crime charges, including sexual assault on a boy under 14.

Jennings, 40, is accused of both making child pornography and distributing sexually explicit material to a minor, according to court records seen by CBC. All offences are alleged to have occurred between June 2022 and April 2024 in Port Hope, part of Northumberland County, east of Toronto.

Port Hope police Insp. Katie Andrews told CBC that Jennings spent five days in custody following her most recent arrest on Oct. 24 on charges…

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Decades of clergy sex abuse scandals are an “existential threat” to the Catholic Church and can only be remedied through transparency and prioritizing survivors, according to the outgoing Australian ambassador to the Vatican.

“Clerical abuse has resulted in lost credibility, a mounting devotional crisis and, it would not be hyperbolic to say, a real existential threat for the Catholic Church,” said Ambassador Chiara Porro.

The ambassador gave her remarks in a Nov. 21 lecture at the Pontifical Gregorian University. The event offered the Australian diplomat an occasion to offer public reflections on the theme of safeguarding, which had been one of her top priorities during her four-year posting here.

“Talking about child sexual abuse can be confronting and challenging. But as I have often said, it is absolutely indispensable, because child sexual abuse thrives on silence,” she said. “Breaking that silence is a vital step to drive the society-wide effort…

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A Church of England bishop has accused fellow bishops of “careerism” over their failure to condemn a church cover-up of abuse, claiming they have stayed silent because they want to be the new archbishop of Canterbury.

After the publication of the Makin review last month into the church’s failure to stop the serial abuser John Smyth, the Right Rev Helen-Ann Hartley, the bishop of Newcastle, called for Justin Welby to quit over the scandal days before he did so.

Since then, Hartley said, she has been frozen out by fellow bishops. “Some are certainly silent I think because they do see themselves, sadly, as potentially taking over from Archbishop Justin,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme. “There is definitely some careerism.”

Hartley said the church’s failure to stop Smyth, who abused 130 boys and young men in three countries over several decades, showed it should be put under special measures…

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Spanish bishops rejected a call from the national ombudsman for the Church to contribute to a state compensation fund for abuse victims. Ángel Gabilondo, who published a report in October 2023 estimating that 200,000 adults may have been abused by priests or religious in Spain, told a congressional committee that the Church should pay into a central fund which would compensate victims of abuse in all settings. 

Speaking at the bishops’ conference plenary meeting last week, its secretary general Bishop César García Magán, an auxiliary in the Archdiocese of Toledo, insisted the Church would maintain its own scheme despite criticisms. “We have come a long way,” he said. “We may have made a slow start, but we have made progress when others have not even begun.” The bishop argued that “the issue of the abuse of minors is a social problem” and called for “renewal in all areas of social…

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La mayoría de los grupos parlamentarios acogen la recomendación de reparar a los afectados, aunque discrepan si debería ser la jerarquía eclesial la que deba pagar la factura millonaria de los abusos

EL PAÍS puso en marcha en 2018 una investigación de la pederastia en la Iglesia española y tiene una base de datos actualizada con todos los casos conocidos. Si conoce algún caso que no haya visto la luz, nos puede escribir a: abusos@elpais.es. Si es un caso en América Latina, la dirección es: abusosamerica@elpais.es.

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La tribuna del Congreso de los Diputados se ha llenado este jueves de víctimas de pederastia de la Iglesia católica, durante años invisibilizadas, para escuchar, por primera vez en la historia de la democracia española, un debate parlamentario sobre el escándalo de los abusos relacionados con el clero. Un año después de terminar su Informe sobre abusos sexuales en el ámbito de la Iglesia católica…

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A Saskatoon priest accused of sexual assault says he meant to encourage and reassure a young girl when he hugged and kissed her during an encounter in 2023. He recounted the incident in his testimony at Saskatoon Provincial Court Friday.

As the only defence witness, Janko Kolosnjaji, 71, used a walker to approach the testimony stand two weeks after having hip surgery Friday during the trial which resumed after two months of delays and adjournments.

Kolosnjaji is accused of hugging and kissing a then 13-year-old, who can’t be named because of a publication ban, in a supply room at St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral on March 11, 2023. He was charged on April 19, 2023, and placed on leave shortly afterwards.

During his testimony, Kolosnjaji detailed various religious ceremonies and traditions where the “kiss of peace” is customary to show support and appreciation in Greek Catholic religion, like kissing a…

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Proposals have been announced to demolish a County Down parochial house in which the late priest Fr Malachy Finegan was accused of carrying out multiple sexual assaults.

The building on the Castlewellan Road in Hilltown is currently vacant and is partially boarded up, having been damaged in an arson attack in 2023.

The building’s future has been uncertain since 2018, when Hilltown man Sean Faloon told the BBC that Fr Finegan had abused him on a regular basis from the age of 10 and that some of the sex assaults took place in the parochial house.

Several years prior to the 2023 arson attack, an anonymous threat was issued warning that it would be burned down.

‘Time to reflect’

The current parish priest of Clonduff, Fr Charlie Byrne, revealed the demolition proposal during mass in St John the Evangelist Church Ballymaghery in Hilltown on Saturday evening.

“The last two years has…

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A former school chaplain and rector has pleaded guilty to making indecent images of a child.

Samuel Erlandson, 36, from Ruabon, Wrexham, admitted two charges at Mold magistrates’ court on 23 November.

He has since been dismissed as chaplain of St David’s College – a boarding school in Llandudno, Conwy county. It is understood the charges do not involve pupils at the school.

Erlandson is due to appear at Llandudno Magistrates’ Court for sentencing on 30 December.

Erlandson had also been rector of St Hilary’s Church Llanrhos and St Paul’s in Llandudno.

St. David’s College said it was “deeply shocked and distressed by the news”

“When we were told about his arrest we immediately took steps to ensure he had no further engagement with the school community, and as soon as we heard he had pleaded guilty we dismissed him from his role.”

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A new court date has been set for a former Romanian Orthodox priest, charged in connection with a historical sexual assault in the Russell area.

In June, Russell RCMP say a woman in her 60’s reported that a priest at a church in Lennard, Manitoba, had sexually assaulted her multiple times over the course of two years, in the early 1970’s.

The victim was between the ages of 11 and 12 at the time of the alleged assaults.

81-year-old Constantin Turcoane of Regina had his matter heard in Russell Court yesterday (Wed), where it was adjourned to February 26.

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“Tatort: Schweigen” has Inspector Falk investigate a case of systematic abuse in the Catholic Church. What real case does the plot allude to and what is the truth of the allegations?

Since 1970, “Tatort“, Germany’s favorite crime show, has repeatedly tackled phenomena and crises in the country in the form of socially relevant 90-minute episodes. It is therefore all the more surprising that there has not yet been a case about the abuse scandals in the churches.

The Catholic Church in particular has been in the spotlight since 2010. Was the abuse of children and young people in the church really systematic in nature?

How did this system work? Did the church cooperate in the film project? And what will happen with the new loner detective Falke (Wotan Wilke Möhring)?

What was it all about?

Hamburg detective Thorsten Falke (Wotan Wilke Möhring) retreated to a monastery for a while after…

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A victim of sex abuse predator Christian Brother Paul Dunleavy has told how he was targeted as soon as he stepped into the classroom for the start of his final year of primary school.

Brian Ellison was preyed on in the first weeks after starting his 11+ year at the Abbey Primary School in Newry, Co Down.

The 66-year-old was at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday as Dunleavy was jailed for further offences.

Dunleavy, with an address at Glen Road in Belfast, was found guilty of 36 charges against former pupils in September.

The offences were committed on dates between 1964 and 1991 while the 89-year-old worked at four schools in Belfast, Newry and Armagh.

He is already serving a prison sentence having been previously convicted on two separate occasions of sexual offences against children in his care.

Speaking after sentencing to The Irish News Mr Ellison said:…

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A number of adaptations to the liturgy in Masses of Indigenous communities in the Mexican state of Chiapas were approved by the Vatican earlier this month.

Not only the celebrations can be conducted in their original languages, but also a few parts of the Mass were changed in order to respond to the cultural traditions of those groups.

Some of those modifications have been in place over more than five decades, being gradually incorporated by parishes and Catholic communities, according to the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. But the Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas only began to work on an official systematization in 2007, Jesuit Father Felipe Ali Modad told Crux.

“Late Bishop Samuel Ruiz came back from the Second Vatican Council and promoted the work of inculturation of the liturgy. Translations of sacraments and prayers and the incorporation of new rites have been carried out since then,”…

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The Catholic-raised rapper-turned-mogul is behind bars on federal charges and awaits a May 2025 trial that could land him in prison for life.

The latest sex abuse lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs has come just as he was denied bail this week on federal charges that led to his arrest in September.

First reported by Deadline, the rapper-turned-mogul has been accused of beating Bryana “Bana” Bongolan and dangling her over the balcony of a 17-story high-rise in Los Angeles in 2016. She is seeking some $10M in damages for emotional distress, according to a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday by attorney James R. Nikraftar.

The apartment in question belonged to Cassie Ventura, Diddy’s ex-partner who sued him for rape, sex trafficking, and physical abuse in November 2023. The Catholic-raised businessman settled the very next day, precipitating an avalanche…

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In recent years, the German Synodal path emerged as a shock to German Catholics (mainly lay people and religious life) after the scandal caused by sexual abuse in the church and the lack of action against these crimes by the hierarchy. It was a process that began in 2019, which was finally joined by the bishops, and which proposed a series of measures that frightened many pastors and set off all the alarms in the Vatican.

Almost in parallel, sponsored by Pope Francis, the Synod on Syodality was launched which, in two phases and after previous and unprecedented consultations in diocesan, national and continental phases, took place in two historic assemblies held in the Vatican in October 2023 and October 2024.

The development of both initiatives – one at a key national level, the other at a universal level – crossed paths: the German Synodal Path held a total of…

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A popular New York City priest accused the Diocese of Brooklyn of a “witch hunt” after the diocese announced Nov. 18 that he had been relieved of parish duties after an investigation that uncovered evidence of mishandled parish funds.

“It’s causing scandal to the church,” said Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish in Brooklyn.

The diocese said the priest transferred nearly $2 million in parish funds to a businessman who was the former chief of staff to embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

In a 30-minute interview with National Catholic Reporter on Nov. 19, Gigantiello challenged the diocese’s characterizations of his financial dealings.

The diocese said Gigantiello did not inform diocesan officials nor seek required approval for the transfers, which Gigantiello arranged between January 2019 and November 2021, the diocese said.

In addition, the diocese said its review identified other instances where the priest used and…

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The Archdiocese of New York has announced staff cuts and a major revamp of its pastoral offices, as it sheds its longtime headquarters building and wrestles in court with its insurer to cover abuse claim payouts.

In a Nov. 8 letter, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York told the faithful that the archdiocese had begun “a restructuring of its pastoral offices,” following a monthslong “examination of these pastoral ministries and offices” initiated by the cardinal and directed by the archdiocesan vicar general.

“As a result of this study and consultation, several offices and responsibilities are being merged, and a number of programs and ministries returned to a more local and parish-based focus,” said Cardinal Dolan in the letter.

He said that “many of the pastoral office programs will now operate on more of a parish or local level,” an arrangement that “responds to a long-standing preference expressed by our…

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Paedophile Christian Brother handed fresh 10-year sentence

A victim of former Christian Brother Paul Dunleavy has described his abuser as “evil” after he was handed a ten-year jail term for sexually abusing children.

The 89-year-old was found guilty in September of 36 charges of historical sexual abuse against nine boys.

The charges included indecent assault and gross indecency with or towards a child.

The sexual offences took place between 1964 and 1991 while Dunleavy worked at four schools in Belfast, Newry and Armagh with the victims aged between seven and 14 at the time.

• Paul Dunleavy victim says abuse ‘destroyed my life’Opens in new window
• Paul Dunleavy: Former Christian Brother guilty of historic sex offences against school boysOpens in new window

Before Thursday’s hearting Dunleavy was already behind bars after he was previously convicted on two separate occasions of sexual offences against children.

…

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Retired priest charged in August with rape will plead not guilty if case goes to trial: lawyer

Warning: This story deals with allegations of sexual assault and discussion of suicide.

Shelley Trubiak says she suffered in silence for 52 years — but two years ago decided she couldn’t do that anymore, after she started having flashbacks of the abuse by a priest she says she suffered while growing up in her small western Manitoba community.

Trubiak, who is now 66, went to the RCMP in 2022, triggering a two-year investigation that led to the issue of an arrest warrant in August for Constantin Turcoane, who was 81 at the time.

The retired priest was charged with rape and sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 14, after Trubiak alleged he sexually assaulted her in the early 1970s, when she was 12 years old and a parishioner at his church in…

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Woman accusing former rural Manitoba priest of repeated sex assaults when she was a child confronted him more than a half-century later

More than 50 years after she says she was sexually assaulted by a church leader in rural Manitoba, Shelley Trubiak filed a report with the RCMP and then confronted the man, who was later charged.

The angry encounter took place at a furniture store in Regina, where former priest Constantin Turcoane made his living after leaving the church, she said.

“I was scared nothing was going to be done about the report I filed, and so I confronted him about what he did to me,” Trubiak, 66, said Thursday, recalling the summer day in 2022 when she walked into Turcoane’s business.

“That took a lot of weight off of me. I told him, ‘I hope you burn in hell.’”

Trubiak, who had filed a formal complaint with police…

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A former school chaplain and rector has pleaded guilty to making indecent images of a child.

Samuel Erlandson, 36, from Ruabon, Wrexham, admitted two charges at Mold magistrates’ court on 23 November.

He has since been dismissed as chaplain of St David’s College – a boarding school in Llandudno, Conwy county. It is understood the charges do not involve pupils at the school.

Erlandson is due to appear at Llandudno Magistrates’ Court for sentencing on 30 December.

Erlandson had also been rector of St Hilary’s Church Llanrhos and St Paul’s in Llandudno.

St. David’s College said it was “deeply shocked and distressed by the news”

“When we were told about his arrest we immediately took steps to ensure he had no further engagement with the school community, and as soon as we heard he had pleaded guilty we dismissed him from his role.”

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Clerics named in the review subject to safeguarding reviews

A FORMER Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler, is among the clergy who have been asked to “step back” from ministry while safeguarding reviews prompted by the Makin review are conducted, it was confirmed this week.

The Makin review concluded that John Smyth’s abuse became an “open secret amongst a whole variety of people connected with the Conservative Evangelical network” (News, 7 November). The individuals named in the report, running into dozens, range from those who actively covered up the abuse in the 1980s to those who learned of it in the past decade, after survivors made disclosures to the diocese of Ely.

On Sunday, the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen Ann Hartley, wrote on social media: “It’s clear from the 100s of emails I continue to receive that there’s a crisis of trust in the episcopate (not surprising, and not…

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In a letter published November 25, Cardinal Victor Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, announced the creation of a working group aimed at defining “spiritual abuse” as a crime to combat “false mysticism.”

The Vatican aims to strengthen its tools against spiritual abuse. Through a letter dated November 22 and released three days later, Cardinal Victor Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, announced the establishment of a working group to define “spiritual abuse” and codify it as a crime in canon law.

Currently, abuses of conscience and trust are treated as aggravating circumstances in other canonical offenses. However, the prefect of the dicastery seeks to “codify” spiritual abuse as a distinct crime. “False mysticism appears in the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s regulations in a very specific context: that of issues related to spirituality and alleged supernatural phenomena,”…

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A priest found guilty of sexually abusing minors has been sentenced to a lifetime ban from ministry by a church tribunal established by the Catholic Church in response to sexual abuse scandals, according to a statement published November 28.

A church tribunal established to address sexual abuse scandals has sentenced a priest from Tours, France, who led a renowned youth choir, to a lifetime ban from ministry due to sexually abusing multiple children.

“Father Bernard Tartu, a priest of the Archdiocese of Tours, has been found guilty of sexual abuse of minors by the National Canonical Penal Tribunal (TPCN),” the archdiocese said in a press release published November 28, confirming information initially reported by the French newspaper, Le Parisien.

The statement read that the 80-year-old priest has been sentenced to a “perpetual ban on the public celebration of any liturgical act or sacrament,” except the right to celebrate Mass privately.

He…

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Three former residents of the Bronx have filed a lawsuit against Fordham University and the Archdiocese of New York that accuses both institutions of negligence in a priest’s sexual abuse of children on Fordham’s Rose Hill campus in the mid-to-late 1970s. 

The lawsuit, filed by Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley, PLLC, and Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan, LLP., represents three anonymous plaintiffs identified only as John Doe 1, John Doe 2 and Jane Doe 1. The suit alleges that plaintiffs experienced multiple instances of sexual abuse on campus by Father John Joseph McCarthy, who worked at Fordham from 1956 to 1992.

According to the lawsuit, McCarthy would invite neighborhood children from the Bronx to play handball and other games on campus. “After the children were done partaking in these activities, Father McCarthy would take them to get ice cream and candy elsewhere on campus, including in his on-campus residence,”…

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St. Francis Xavier Catholic School System also fires Superintendent for ‘failing to meet reporting requirements’

The principal of a Catholic high school in Appleton was fired this month for violating a Diocese of Green Bay policy related to preventing sexual abuse of minors or at-risk individuals.

Mike Mauthe, longtime principal of the Xavier High School, was fired effective Nov. 14 after he was placed on administrative leave by the St. Francis Xavier Catholic School System.

Mauthe was placed on leave after a complaint against him was filed with the Diocese of Green Bay’s Office of Safe Environment, which later determined that he violated the diocese’s “Our Promise to Protect” policy, according to a letter sent to parents Friday and obtained by WLUK-TV.

The policy is the diocese’s pledge to create an environment that protects minors and at-risk individuals from harm by complying with laws around…

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The federally appointed group will help decide the outcome of a request by the state’s largest religious denomination for Chapter 11 financial protection after an onslaught of priest misconduct lawsuits.

A federal trustee has appointed five abuse claimants to an official committee representing creditors in the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese’s effort to reorganize its depleting finances in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The claimants — VTDigger doesn’t typically identify alleged victims of abuse without their consent — are part of a pool of more than 30 people whose unresolved priest misconduct lawsuits against the state’s largest religious denomination sparked the church to seek Chapter 11 protection this fall.

Under federal law, the diocese will present the court with a tally of its financial assets and liabilities as part of its bankruptcy petition. Judge Heather Cooper, based in Burlington, will then decide if church leaders can develop a reorganization plan that would require approval…

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Trump’s pick to become the next health secretary made the baseless comments in resurfaced footage

Vaccine skeptic Robert F Kennedy Jr compared medical institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to a “Nazi death camp” in resurfaced footage from autism conferences for parents.

Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services also compared vaccinating children to “sex abuse in the Catholic church” during remarks at the events.

The comments resurfaced in footage, first reported by NBC News, of RFK Jr speaking at a series of conferences put on by the group AutismOne, which has adopted the slogan “Make our Children Healthy Again.”

At one of the conferences in 2013, RFK Jr was asked by a member of the audience: “Why hasn’t the CDC acknowledged autism?”

RFK Jr said it was not for him to say “why someone else is…

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