Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Seán O’Malley as archbishop of Boston on Monday and named the bishop of Providence, Rhode Island, Richard Henning, to replace him as leader of one of the most important Catholic archdioceses in the United States.

The Vatican announcement didn’t mention O’Malley’s other main role as the pope’s main adviser on fighting clergy sexual abuse as head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, suggesting he would remain in that capacity until a new commission leader is named.

St. John Paul II had tapped O’Malley to take over in Boston in 2003 at the height of the clergy sexual abuse scandal that had exploded there following an investigation by The Boston Globe newspaper. Revelations of years of abuse and coverups by the church led to the downfall of then-archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace in December 2002.

“When I arrived it was…

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Pope Francis on Monday named a new leader for the Roman Catholic Church in Boston, succeeding the retiring archbishop, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, one of the pontiff’s key U.S. advisers and a lead Vatican official on clergy sexual abuse issues.

Archbishop-designate Richard Henning, 59, will replace O’Malley and will be formally installed into the role on Oct. 31. Originally from New York, Henning had led the Church in Providence, Rhode Island, only since last summer.

Henning is relatively new among U.S. bishops. He was first appointed as an auxiliary bishop of Rockville Centre, New York, by Francis in 2018 before he was made bishop of Providence, the capital of the smallest U.S. state, in 2023.

Hosffman Ospino, a prominent lay voice in the Boston archdiocese, praised Henning’s appointment.

Ospino, a theologian at Boston College who is originally from Colombia, told Reuters that Henning’s ability to speak Spanish would allow him to…

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Bishop Richard Henning will succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, one of the pope’s most trusted allies, who is retiring.

Pope Francis announced the next leader for the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston on Monday, to succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, one of the pope’s key allies and leader of the Vatican’s office on sexual abuse.

Bishop Richard G. Henning, who currently leads the Diocese of Providence in Rhode Island, will be elevated to the high-profile position in Boston. It is one of the largest and longest-standing seats of American Catholicism, and could put him in line to become a cardinal, with voting power to elect the next pope.

At a news conference Monday morning in Braintree, Mass., Bishop Henning said he was “deeply shocked and surprised” when he got the call from the apostolic nuncio, the pope’s ambassador to the United States, informing him of his new appointment.

By following in…

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A well-known priest, who is also a former school director and former head of a federation of Catholic schools in northern Italy, was arrested last week on charges of sexually abusing an adolescent boy, and is being detained while an investigation continues into the alleged grooming of several others.

The priest, Father Andrea Melis, 60, was arrested Friday, Aug. 2, after being accused of sexually abusing a young boy for more than three years, beginning when the boy was just 12.

According to various Italian media reports, an order for Melis’s arrest stated that he would ask for things such as kisses, cuddles, and other sexual favors in exchange for electronic cigarettes, prepaid cards, name brand clothing, dinners out and videogames, among other gifts.

Melis is currently under house arrest in an undisclosed location. He is also being investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Genoa for child prostitution and…

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President Andrzej Duda has stripped a former priest of one of Poland’s highest honours. Although no official reason was given, media reports indicate that the decision was taken due to the man being convicted of sexually abusing a disabled person.

Krzysztof Kuryłowicz, a former priest from the Society of Christ Fathers religious congregation, which serves Polish Catholic communities abroad, in 2011 received the Order of Polonia Restituta for “his outstanding merits in activities for the Polish community and the propagation of Polishness in Kazakhstan”.

Kuryłowicz arrived in Kazakhstan in 1991. After leaving the Central Asian country, he went on to serve as a chaplain to Poles in Riga, Latvia, reports broadcaster RMF.

Last month, Onet, a leading news website, reported that the council of the Order of Polonia Restituta – a committee responsible for giving its opinion on requests to award and revoke the order – asked Duda to revoke…

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Bishop Richard Henning will succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, one of the pope’s most trusted allies, who is retiring.

Pope Francis announced the next leader for the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston on Monday, to succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, one of the pope’s key allies and leader of the Vatican’s office on sexual abuse.

Bishop Richard G. Henning, who currently leads the Diocese of Providence in Rhode Island, will be elevated to the high-profile position in Boston. It is one of the largest and longest-standing seats of American Catholicism, and could put him in line to become a cardinal, with voting power to elect the next pope.

Cardinal O’Malley, a Capuchin Franciscan friar known for wearing his habit as an expression of humility, turned 80 in late June, five years past the typical age of retirement for Catholic bishops. He is part of Pope Francis’s inner circle of nine cardinal…

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — The Vatican is reportedly planning to name Providence Bishop Richard Henning as the new archbishop of Boston.

NBC News reported that it has confirmed through its Catholic Church sources that Henning will succeed Cardinal Seán O’Malley.

Many Catholics attending a Sunday service at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence told NBC 10 News that they’re happy to hear Henning is expected to be the new archbishop of Boston.

Henning is 60, and he hasn’t been in Providence for too long. He was named coadjutor bishop in 2022 and succeeded Bishop Thomas Tobin just last year.

NBC 10 News has learned that Henning was on Block Island Saturday night delivering a blessing at a social event and that he is expected to head to Montreal on Monday.

It’s unclear who would succeed Henning in the Providence Diocese.

O’Malley turned 80 years old in…

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence Richard Henning is set to be named the new archbishop of Boston, less than two years after he arrived in Rhode Island, 12 News has learned. 

Michael Kieloch, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Providence, declined to confirm or deny the upcoming announcement.

“If there was any announcement coming for any see and on any day, it would be the prerogative of the Holy See and the Nunciature to announce it first,” Kieloch told 12 News. (In Catholic terminology, a see is a bishop’s jurisdiction, while a papal nuncio is the pope’s representative in a country.)

Rocco Palmo, a well-sourced Vatican expert, reported on social media that the announcement will take place in Boston on Monday. 

Henning, 59, will replace Cardinal Sean O’Malley, one of the most prominent prelates in the United States and a close ally of Pope Francis. O’Malley, 80,…

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BOSTON (WHDH) – Cardinal Sean O’Malley is retiring from his position as the archbishop of Boston, according to 7NEWS sources.

A formal announcement is expected Monday. O’Malley, who is at the mandatory retirement age, has served as archbishop for the city for 20 years and is a close personal friend of Pope Francis.

He is expected to be replaced by the current Bishop of Providence, Richard G. Henning.

This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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Bishop Richard Henning of Providence has been selected to succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, who helped lead the Archdiocese of Boston out of the priest sexual abuse scandal that rocked the church more than 20 years ago, according to a person with knowledge ofthe situation.

O’Malley has served more than 20 years as Boston’s archbishop, taking over in the aftermath of the scandal that led to the resignation of his predecessor, Cardinal Bernard Law. O’Malley, 80, has been in the position more than five years past the typical retirement age for bishops.

The person who spoke to the Globe requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the announcement, expected to take place Monday morning.The archdiocese has not announced details about O’Malley’s successor.

Henning, 59, has been in his current role for just over a year. The news that he is expected to be named the next…

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BOSTON — Cardinal Sean O’Malley is retiring after more than 20 years as the leader of the Archdiocese of Boston, sources tell NewsCenter 5.

Bishop Richard Henning of Providence, Rhode Island, will be named the next archbishop of Boston, sources say.

The Vatican is expected to make the official announcement at 6 a.m. Monday, which is noon in Rome.

O’Malley, 80, is the ninth bishop and sixth archbishop in the more than 200-year history of the Archdiocese of Boston.

Pope John Paul II appointed O’Malley the archbishop of Boston on July 1, 2003, after the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law. At the time, the archdiocese was in turmoil, still grappling with the pain and fallout of the clergy sex abuse scandal.

Before Boston, O’Malley served for about 10 years as the bishop of the Fall River Diocese and then briefly as the bishop of the Palm Beach, Florida, diocese.

The…

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Greg Livaudais alleges abuse by Lawrence Hecker in 1974 – and wonders why the retired priest, 92, isn’t already in jail

As the retired Roman Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker awaits trial on rape and kidnapping charges in New Orleans, one of his many alleged victims wonders why Hecker isn’t facing more arrests in jurisdictions across south Louisiana. For years, Greg Livaudais, 66, has seen news coverage of the church abuse scandal – and it has stirred up painful memories of sexual abuse he allegedly suffered at Hecker’s hands in February 1974, when Livaudais was 16.

Those triggers started in 2002, when national news about a widespread cover-up in the Boston archdiocese prompted Livaudais to file a complaint against Hecker with the archdiocese of New Orleans in April of that year, when he was 44.

“He was recruited by [Father] Hecker to help with a retreat for the Boy Scouts. He also visited…

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[See the relevant lawsuit.]

Parishioners of a Kansas City Catholic church are concerned that one of their deacons may be accused of sexually abusing a teenager, and are calling on the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph to publicly address the allegations.

But the diocese hasn’t yet confirmed whether it’s the same man. A lawsuit filed in St. Louis County July 24 names Ralph Wehner as a member of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and accuses him of sexually abusing a teen for three years in the 1980s.

A deacon at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Kansas City is also named Ralph Wehner, with a biography on the staff page saying he originally hails from St. Louis.

“Brother Ralph Wehner sexually abused (victim) between approximately 1982 to 1984, when (the victim) was 13 to 15 years old. The abuse occurred on at least three occasions,” the suit reads.

As of Friday morning, the…

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ROME – Members of a Rome-based artistic center founded by former Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik, who is accused of abusing some 30 adult women, have voiced belief in his innocence and condemned calls to see his artwork removed.

Rupnik, 69, is among the Catholic Church’s most celebrated contemporary artists and muralists, with his works adorning famed chapels and cathedrals around the world, including the Marian shrine in Lourdes and the Vatican’s Redemptoris Mater chapel, sometimes dubbed the “Sistine Chapel” of the late St. John Paul II.

That chapel, situated inside the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, contains a giant mosaic installed by the Aletti Center, founded by Rupnik in 1999.

Currently under investigation by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), Rupnik is accused of sexually abusing at least 30 adult women, many of them nuns belonging to the Loyola Community he helped found in his native Slovenia in the 1980s.

…

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What motivated Fr. John Mattingly to embezzle from his congregation? How did he justify the theft to himself? And how did he commit the embezzlement without detection until after he retired?

On May 1, 2017, disgraced Catholic priest John Mattingly confessed to United States District Court Judge Deborah Chasanow to embezzling $400,000 from the parishioners of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Leonardtown, Maryland, where he had served as pastor from 1992 until his retirement in 2010. Father Mattingly’s court-imposed penance included one day in jail (time served), three years’ probation, and $400,000 in restitution.

This case deserves special attention because, unlike many of the 95 cases of Catholic priest financial fraud adjudicated through the courts, investigated by civil authorities who declined prosecution, or handled internally by Church authorities over the last fifty years, the 70-year-old priest made full…

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The long-running Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was made public after being formally tabled in Parliament on 24 July 2024.

The Royal Commission spent six years holding hearings and investigating events from 1950 until the present day. 

The final report, weighing 14kg, is almost 3000 pages long.

The final report said abuse was ‘unimaginable’ in state and faith-run institutions, explaining at least 200,000 people have been abused in these care facilities over the decades. The report said as many as 42 per cent of those in faith-based care by all denominations were abused.

The Government will formally apologise for the abuse inflicted in care and faith-based institutions at Parliament on 12 November 2024.

Immediately following the tabling of the report and its release to the public, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference and the Congregational Leaders Conference Aotearoa New Zealand said in a statement they welcomed the…

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The priest admitted to law enforcement he should not have torched hard drive containing possible child abuse images

A pastor of an Archdiocese of Cincinnati parish has resigned from his post following complaints from parishioners over his admitted effort to destroy evidence of a fellow priest’s possession of pornographic images, including material that possibly involved the sexual abuse of children.

In a July 30 letter, Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr of Cincinnati told members of St. Susanna Parish in Mason, Ohio, that he had accepted the resignation of Father Barry Stechschulte. The archbishop appointed retired archdiocesan priest Father Jeff Kemper as temporary administrator of the parish.

Archbishop Schnurr’s announcement followed a July 27 letter to Father Stechschulte from “Parents for Action” — a self-described “collective of parishioners and parents of St. Susanna” whose tagline is “protecting our children” — asking the priest to step down amid concerns about his ability to…

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Rosario Gisana, obispo de Piazza Amerina, fue grabado reconociendo que “encubrí el asunto” El obispo de la diócesis siciliana de Piazza Amerina, Rosario Gisana, evitó deliberadamente proteger a las víctimas de su diócesis y en su lugar buscó proteger a un sacerdote acusado durante mucho tiempo de haber abusado de varios menores cuando era seminarista En una conversación telefónica grabada por la policía y presentada ante el tribunal, Gisana le dijo a Rugolo: “Ahora este no es solo tu problema, sino también el mío, porque encubrí el asunto” El tribunal también plantea preguntas sobre si el obispo Gisana fue honesto con el Papa, quien lo había defendido públicamente. Otras grabaciones escuchadas durante el juicio parecieron revelar que Gisana afirmaba tener el apoyo papal porque le había hecho un favor a Francisco

El obispo de la diócesis siciliana de Piazza Amerina, Rosario Gisana, evitó deliberadamente proteger a las víctimas de su diócesis y en su lugar buscó proteger a…

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Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct Tiller’s status at the church. We regret the error.

BOURBON COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56) — A former Kentucky pastor has been charged after being accused of sexually abusing a teenager in Bourbon County.

Dicky Tiller, 53, was arrested on Tuesday in Boyd County by the Bourbon County Sheriff’s Department on July 30 and charged with one count of first-degree sexual abuse.

He formerly served as the pastor at Liberty Baptist Church in Canonsburg, according to his Facebook page, but a member of Liberty Baptist Church told FOX 56 that Tiller hasn’t been at the church for at least four years.

The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office told FOX 56 News that Tiller is a pastor at Spears Mill Baptist Church in Paris.

A citation said that Tiller, “being a person in a position of authority and special trust,”…

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Mounties have charged a former priest living in Regina with sexually assaulting a young girl in Manitoba five decades ago.

Police say they began investigating in 2022 after the complainant, who is now in her 60s, reported being sexually assaulted over two years in the early 1970s.

The alleged assaults happened when she was 11 and 12 and a parishioner at St. Elijah Romanian Orthodox Church in Lennard, near the Saskatchewan boundary.

Police say investigators tracked down multiple people to take statements, searched church records and worked with church-related organizations to gather additional material.

A warrant was issued for 81-year-old Constantin Turcoane, who turned himself in and was later released from custody.

He is to appear in court at a later date on charges of rape and sexual intercourse of a person under 14.

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The pastor of a Middletown church has been accused of collecting images of children being sexually abused.

Claud Talbert “Tab” Greenlee II, 56, was charged on Wednesday in Madison Circuit Court 3 with three counts of child exploitation, a Level 4 felony carrying up to 12 years in prison.

Greenlee, who has been a pastor at Tri-County Christian Church in Middletown, also faces three other felony charges alleging he possessed images of child sexual abuse.

Greenlee — previously listed at a Middletown address but most recently a resident of Anderson — was also employed as a teacher and baseball coach at Anderson’s Liberty Christian School. Officials at the school issued a statement in recent days reflecting that Greenlee, who had earlier been put on administrative leave from his teaching job, no longer works at the school.

More:Henry County youth pastor, coach charged with sexual misconduct with…

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‘The survivor we’re dealing with here has told us there were others’: RCMP

A former priest has been charged with sexually assaulting a pre-teen parishioner more than 50 years ago, in what police say could be just the beginning of a larger case against the now-81-year-old man.

A woman in her 60s told police in March 2022 that she had been sexually assaulted multiple times over the course of two years when she was a parishioner at St. Elijah Romanian Orthodox Church in Lennard, RCMP said in a news release Thursday.

She was 11 and 12 years old at the time.

Constantin Turcoane, 81, of Regina, turned himself into police after a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of rape and sexual intercourse under 14 — charges that existed under those names in the Criminal Code at the time.

He was released from custody and will appear in…

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The founding pastor of a Wichita Falls church accused of committing multiple sex crimes against two preteen girls is once again seeking to have his bonds reduced.

Paul Andrew Coleman, 68, of Wichita Falls, stands accused of one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and one count of indecency with a child by sexual contact.

PREVIOUS STORY: Former church pastor has new child sex crime charges filed

Coleman, the founder and former pastor of Good Samaritan Outreach Ministries on East Carolina Street, has been held in the Wichita County Jail on bonds totaling $425,000 since May 17, 2024.

On Thursday afternoon, August 1, 2024, a motion to reduce his bonds was scheduled to be heard in the 78th District Courtroom with Judge Meredith Kennedy presiding. However, due to scheduling conflicts with multiple witnesses, the defense was planning to…

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Police said a cyber tip led investigators to find the material on the suspect’s phone.

A teacher and pastor in Anderson is accused of possessing, producing and sharing child pornography.

Police said a cybertip led investigators to find the material on Claud Greenlee II phone.

According to Westfield police, investigators found several images on the device. Police say they found multiple chats on his Kik account asking other users for the material. 

“We see the accounts of Kik being used an app where material is traded because they have chat rooms where people with like interests can talk among each other and trade material,” said Kristina Korobov, a senior attorney at Zero Tolerance Project. 

Also in the chats, police say Greenlee stated he was a varsity baseball coach and a high school and middle school teacher.

“Today is the first day of school and I think about a…

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An executive of the embattled International House of Prayer-Kansas City (IHOPKC) is launching a new children’s ministry.

Lenny LaGuardia was IHOPKC’s executive director of the Children’s Equipping Center, one of several ministries IHOPKC has cut as they’ve faced financial and potentially legal troubles. IHOPKC’s founder Mike Bickle is accused of both child sexual abuse and adult clergy sexual abuse.

LaGuardia condemned Bickle’s alleged child abuse in February in a since-deleted account on X, adding that IHOPKC has “always deployed and enforced strict policies and processes which ensure children are safe while in our programs.”

IHOPKC has posted its child protection policy online, in which allegations must be made to the children’s director, the pastor, and then to LaGuardia. But LaGuardia was also on the executive team that some former leaders believed didn’t handle adult clergy sexual abuse allegations against Bickle transparently.

IHOPKC sent out…

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A Detroit pastor has been charged with criminal sexual conduct, according to local court records.

Kenneth Flowers, lead pastor at Greater New Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit, was arraigned last week on two charges, the court records stated. He faces one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with force or coercion and one count of criminal sexual assault with intent to commit sexual penetration.

If convicted, Flowers faces a maximum of 15 years in prison for the criminal sexual conduct charge and 10 years for the assault, according to Michigan law. 

Flowers told the Detroit Free Press, “I deny all those charges, and that is all I have to say.”

The Roys Report reached out to Flowers’ church for further comment but did not hear back prior to publication.

Court records indicate that Flowers stood mute at the arraignment,…

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A former Catholic brother who brazenly abused students on school grounds, including in a classroom, could be released from prison after serving 20 months behind bars.

WARNING: This story contains details of child sexual abuse which may cause distress.

If you or anyone you know needs help:

• Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
• Lifeline on 13 11 14
• Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support line 13YARN on 13 92 76
• Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
• Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636
• Headspace on 1800 650 890
• ReachOut at au.reachout.com
• MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
• QLife 1800 184 527

Frank Terrence Keating committed the offences against five students while he was working as a teacher and then principal at De La Salle College in Scarborough, in south-east Queensland, in the early 1980s.

On Friday, the Brisbane District Court heard Keating also sexually abused a student in his bedroom…

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Nearly 150 cases of sexual abuse occurring at juvenile detention centers across the state have been filed within Pennsylvania’s court systems.

On Wednesday, 70 new cases of sexual abuse at 10 juvenile detention facilities across the state of PA were filed, bringing the total number of cases to 148 statewide.

A 55-page lawsuit was filed Wednesday against the Department of Human Services (DHS), where 20 people are alleging they were sexually assaulted as juveniles while staying at state-run juvenile detention centers.

The lawsuit against DHS alleges the department turned a blind eye to the abuse.

Jerome Block, attorney with Levy Konigsberg law, is representing the victims and called the abuse “systematic and institutional.”

“What we’ve seen in these cases is a culture of secrecy, where the adults working in the facility seem intent on protecting each other essentially from getting caught, as opposed to protecting children,” Block said.

Block said…

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THE Catholic Church has apologised for its treatment of a West Belfast priest who was sexually abused as a young adult in the 1980s by a fellow member of the clergy.

Fr Paddy McCafferty, Parish Priest of Corpus Christi in Ballymurphy, suffered years of rape and violent sexual assaults when he was a young student training for the priesthood.

In 2012, James Donaghy was jailed for ten years after being convicted of 23 sex abuse charges. A review into the handling into the cases of Donaghy’s abuse by the late Bishop Patrick Walsh and the diocese, was carried out last year.

On Thursday, Bishop of Down and Connor, Alan McGuckian issued an apology to Fr McCafferty.

“On behalf of the diocese, I apologise to Fr McCafferty most sincerely and I readily acknowledge the toll all of this has taken on him over the years since his initial reporting in 2001.

…

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A two-day trial in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy wrapped up Tuesday.

A decision in that trial is one of the final pieces needed to fall into place before the now nearly five-year old bankruptcy can wrap up. The trial’s end leaves no clear indication of how soon the long-running case might conclude, however.  

The diocese filed the bankruptcy in September 2019, a month after New York’s Child Victims Act took effect. The CVA created a two-year window during which survivors of long-past sexual abuse could pursue molesters who violated them as children but otherwise would have been protected by a statute of limitations.

Four hundred eighty-five survivors filed claims in the diocese case. Several have died while the case has wended its way through the court.

Meanwhile, as of May 31, the diocese has spent $14 million to pay lawyers, accountants and consultant working…

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A pastor and teacher at Liberty Christian School in Anderson, who also serves as the baseball coach, has been arrested after police investigators found child pornography on his phone, according to court documents.

Claud “Tab” Greenlee II, 56, is charged with two counts of child exploitation, a Level 4 felony, along with three counts of possession of child pornography, both Level 5 and Level 6 felonies.

According to court documents, police received a cyber tip on July 10 about possible child porn being shared on the app Kik.

Investigators found the Kik profile and the images that featured child porn and traced the account back to Greenlee.

Central Indiana youth pastor, coach arrested for child solicitation, sexual misconduct

Police learned while investigating Greenlee that he was a pastor in addition to being a middle and high school teacher at Liberty Christian School in Anderson. Greenlee also coaches varsity baseball.

…

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Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, has announced the exit of founding elder Steve Dulin as an independent investigation of child sex abuse allegations made by Cindy Clemishire against founder Robert Morris remains underway.

Dulin’s exit, which continues the snowballing fallout from Clemishire’s allegations against Robert Morris, came in a statement from Gateway Church cited by WFAA.

The announcement also came less than a week after the church revealed that Morris’ son, James, and his wife, Bridgette, also mutually agreed with Gateway leaders to step down from the helm of the church just weeks after he took over in the wake of his father’s resignation. Both Dulin and James Morris, along with two other Gateway Church elders, were asked to take a leave of absence from the church after Haynes & Boone, LLP, the firm doing the independent investigation, recommended the move, according…

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A Lubbock County prosecutor in Texas argued during a hearing on Monday (July 1) that former Southern Baptist youth pastor Luke Cunningham had a history of preying on teenage girls in different churches. The first allegations against him date back to 2013. 

Editor’s note: This article contains information about child sex abuse and assault that some readers might find disturbing and/or triggering.

Cunningham, 41, was arrested at his home on June 20 and remains in custody at the Lubbock County Detention Center. He has been charged with two counts of sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated sexual assault. 

Cunningham’s bond is set at $500,000. While he has requested that his bond be reduced to $100,000 and that he be allowed unsupervised access to his own children, the judge has not yet ruled on the request. 

In Monday’s hearing, Lubbock County Assistant District Attorney Cassie Graham  View Cache

Dear Bishop Johnston:

In a lawsuit that has garnered considerable attention – and is widely available online and in the state’s largest newspaper and other news outlets – a Ralph Wehner stands publicly accused of molesting a child in St. Louis.

 We believe that many are worried and are asking themselves “Is the Ralph Wehner who is now in Kansas City the same Ralph Wehner who reportedly sexually abused a child in St. Louis?”

 Some are members of Our Lady of Good Counsel parish in Westport, where a photo and biographical information is posted on their website about a Ralph Wehner who works there.

 Others are Kansas City area Catholic church members and employees who know, have read or have been told that a Ralph Wehner now works at your chancery office downtown in the archives?

 Some are neighbors who live near a Ralph Wehner who has been in Kansas…

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Kentucky pastor, 53-year-old Dicky Tiller, was arrested in Boyd County by the Bourbon County Sheriff’s Department on July 30 and charged with one count of first-degree sexual abuse.

According to a filed complaint warrant, Tiller is accused of performing sexual acts with a juvenile victim in May 2024. A uniform citation reported that Tiller, “being a person in a position of authority and special trust,” used his role of pastor to abuse the juvenile.

The citation goes on to say that Tiller was the juvenile’s pastor at the time of the abuse.

Tiller is accused of using his cellular device to communicate with and photograph the victim, although “it is unknown if any illegal (photographs) we’re taken,” the citation states.

Tiller was arraigned on July 31 at 1 p.m. in Bourbon County.

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Investigation of the burglary exposes sexual abuse within several monasteries.

Two Italian priests have been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing two men and arranging the theft of their cellphones containing incriminating text exchanges while a Vatican judge is under probe for involvement in the public tenders of the Sicilian mafia.

The two Franciscan priests were among six people arrested in the case that began in April when two men in Afragola, a town near Naples, reported a burglary, said prosecutors in Naples in a statement.

The two perpetrators, carrying clubs and knives, seized the mobile phone from one of the victims and searched in vain for that of the second before fleeing, according to the prosecutor’s office.

The victims immediately made the connection “back to previous relationships with some friars in the Campania region and to sexual abuse and violence suffered,” the statement said.

The ensuing investigation found “substantial evidence”…

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A former Catholic brother convicted of sexually abusing 35 children more than three decades ago has been jailed again.

Frank Terrence Keating was sentenced in the Brisbane District Court today after earlier pleading guilty to indecent treatment and carnal knowledge charges involving children.

He worked as a teacher, then principal at the De La Salle college at Scarborough, north of Brisbane.

The 81-year-old has been convicted previously in Queensland and in Victoria for similar offences committed in that state.

Judge Paul Smith said Keating had committed a total of 63 offences against 35 children over about 20 years.

The offences for which he was sentenced today included offences against boys and a girl.

The court was told Keating had taken steps towards rehabilitation and avoided contact with children while living with his wife of more than 30 years in Victoria.

Keating, who has mobility problems, was brought into the courtroom in a…

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ORO VALLEY, Ariz. (KVOA) – A now former teacher at Casas Christian School in Oro Valley told the News 4 Tucson Investigators that he faced retaliation after reporting sexual misconduct allegations against another teacher.

It was a big story News 4 Tucson’s Chief Investigative Reporter Chorus Nylander broke in 2022. [Play Video]

A now former teacher at Casas Christian School in Oro Valley told the News 4 Tucson Investigators that he faced retaliation after reporting sexual misconduct allegations against another teacher.

The Oro Valley Police Department got involved and investigated the multiple claims from students that they experienced sexual misconduct from a teacher. Police were not able to find enough evidence to bring any charges against the teacher but the school decided to part ways with the teacher.

Durrell Lopez said he was the teacher who reported the student’s claims to school leadership about the other former teacher. 

For…

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Leaders of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer have taken legal action to remain priests in Christchurch. (File photo)
John Bisset / The Timaru Herald

The ousted leaders of a Catholic order in Christchurch who were investigated by the Vatican following abuse allegations say they will fight the Bishop’s decision all the way to the Church’s equivalent of the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Palmerston North Bishop John Adams – a supporter of the conservative theology which the Sons’ is known for – hadn’t ruled out accepting the Sons of The Most Holy Redeemer’s priests into his diocese, should they ask.

The Sons of The Most Holy Redeemer’s leadership allegedly abused and performed unauthorised exorcisms on members of its community, but the group denied any wrongdoing.

Although details of the investigation’s findings were secret, the Vatican’s recommendation to ban the priests from performing mass in the diocese,…

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LEICESTER, United Kingdom – Abuse of a young adult “is of no less magnitude than the abuse of a minor,” a bishop in Northern Ireland admitted in a statement on August 1.

Bishop Alan McGuckian of Down and Connor was speaking about the abuse suffered by Father Paddy McCafferty, who was sexually abused as a young adult in the 1980s by Father James Martin Donaghy, who was jailed in 2012 for 10 years.

Down and Connor is the diocese which includes Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland.

Donaghy was released from prison in 2017 after serving five years of his sentence. He was officially removed from the priesthood in 2015.

A review into the handling of the Donaghy’s abuse accusations by the now-deceased Bishop Patrick Walsh was carried out last year.

In his statement, McGuckian said the diocese received the final report in February.

“One of the victims [of Donaghy]…

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The Bishop of Down and Connor has apologised for the “misjudged and unfair” manner in which it handled the case of a vulnerable young cleric who was abused by predator priest James Donaghy.

It comes almost six months after the diocese received the final report of a review led by Dr Tony McGleenan KC into how the late Bishop Patrick Walsh dealt with a complaint by Fr Paddy McCafferty.

Bishop Alan McGuckian said the protection of children and vulnerable adults “must always be a priority” for the Church, but he acknowledged its focus on child sex abuse had “eclipsed” the cleric’s report of being abused by the paedophile priest as “a vulnerable young adult”.

“Fr McCafferty came forward out of concern for others who could be at risk,” he said.

“He showed courage and leadership in the face of incredulity, disbelief and animosity on the part of many, including clergy…

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August 2, 2024

Press Release – SNAP

Survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests demand more than Catholic Bishop of Palmerston North John Adams’ faith-based assertions that he believes there has been a culture change in the Church.

Survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests demand more than Catholic Bishop of Palmerston North John Adams’ faith-based assertions that he “believes there has been a culture change” in the Church. (Stuff, July 30)

Bishop Adams knows he has currently at least one priest in ministry under church investigation, contradicting his talk of “zero appetite for abuse”.

At least two Palmerston North senior clergyman accused of sexual assault, one of a child and one of a young man, are still in active ministry and being protected today by Bishop Adams.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in Aotearo regards the Bishop’s attempts at marketing a new and improved Catholic…

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Bishop Johan Bonny confirmed on July 25 that he was withdrawing from the high-profile role of key man on abuse, citing an excessive workload that he said was taking a toll on his health.

His departure leaves the Belgian Church scrambling to find a successor before Pope Francis’ September 26-29 visit, which is expected to include a private meeting with abuse survivors.

The 69-year-old bishop decided to step back from the role after he appealed unsuccessfully to Rome for an auxiliary bishop to help him oversee his Diocese of Antwerp, which serves around 1.2 million Catholics.

In a letter published July 1, Bishop Bonny said the Vatican had denied his request partly because it would upset the balance between French-speaking and Flemish-speaking bishops within Belgium’s bishops’ conference.

Bishop Bonny said: “The policy, the media, the negotiations… It’s a very big task and I have to combine that with caring for a large diocese…

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Paul Blancard was charged last September with sexual abuse between May 1967 and October 1970, while he was an assistant pastor at St. Helen’s Parish.

An 84-year-old man has pleaded guilty to sexual abuse during his time as a Catholic priest in Burnaby 57 years ago.

Paul J. Blancard appeared remotely in a Vancouver court Thursday from his home in London, Ont.

He entered a guilty plea to one count of “indecent assault” on a female in Burnaby between May 1, 1967 and Oct. 15, 1970.

The Archdiocese of Vancouver has confirmed Blancard, who was then in his late 20s, was an assistant pastor at St. Helen’s Parish during that time.

The victim’s name is protected by a publication ban.

The police investigation that led to the charge was launched in 2016, but Burnaby RCMP declined to provide further information on the case, including the age of the…

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The Catholic Church has apologised for its treatment of a priest who was sexually abused as a young adult in the 1980s by a fellow member of the clergy.

Fr Paddy McCafferty gave evidence in the trial of former priest James Martin Donaghy, who was jailed in 2012 for 10 years.

In a statement, the Bishop of Down and Connor, Alan McGuckian, said the priest was “not believed and supported by the diocese when he should have been”.

He said he apologised “most sincerely” to Fr McCafferty.

He said of the priest: “He showed courage and leadership in the face of incredulity, disbelief and animosity on the part of many, including clergy of the diocese.”

Donaghy from Lisburn, who is now in his 60s, was jailed for sex crimes against multiple victims.

A review into the handling into the cases of Donaghy’s abuse by the late Bishop Patrick Walsh and…

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(OSV News) — A retired FBI agent will head up the U.S. bishops’ consultative safe environment body, while a clergy abuse survivor, a nursing professor and two clinical social workers are also among the board’s Aug. 1 appointments.

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has appointed James Bogner as the next chair of the National Review Board. A former high-level FBI special agent with more than 35 years of law enforcement experience, Bogner succeeds outgoing chair Suzanne Healy, who recently completed her four-year term, having led the board since 2020.

Three new members have also been appointed to the board: Paulette Adams, a tenured professor emeritus at the University of Louisville School of Nursing; independent business owner Scott Surette, a survivor of clerical abuse; and retired clinical social worker Barbara Thorp of the Archdiocese of…

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Victims in schools with a Church of Ireland (or Protestant) ethos require an opportunity to report what happened to them

If, as reported, the scoping inquiry report into abuse in schools proposes a statutory investigation also confined to Roman Catholic schools, that is disappointing.

Victims in schools with a Church of Ireland (or Protestant) ethos require an opportunity to report what happened to them. Those schools should be subject to the same official investigation as Roman Catholic schools.

I hope, for the sake of secular Irish democracy, that the reports are mistaken about a sectarian limitation on any recommended statutory inquiry.

Abuse of pupils in King’s Hospital, Wilson’s Hospital, and St Patrick’s Cathedral Grammar schools is documented. King’s Hospital School pupils were abused by school swimming pool manager Derry O’Rourke.

In Deep Deception (2010, pp124-7, 136-7), Justine McCarthy detailed examples of such abuse. It included a 1980-81 King’s Hospital boarder…

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Two top officials within the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith will be ordained bishops.

The Vatican announced July 29 that Pope Francis has decided Msgr. John Kennedy, 56, the secretary of the dicastery’s disciplinary section, will be an archbishop and have the “titular see” of Ossero, an ancient diocese in Croatia that ceased functioning in the 19th century.

Msgr. Philippe Curbelié, undersecretary of the dicastery, will be a bishop and have the “titular see” of Utica. The Vatican did not provide a date for their episcopal ordinations.

Archbishop-elect Kennedy was ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland, in 1993. He started working as an official at the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2003. In 2022 Pope Francis named him secretary of the dicastery and head of the disciplinary section, which handles abuse cases.

Bishop-elect Curbelié was born in 1968 in…

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ROME (OSV News) — The artistic community founded by Father Marko Rupnik, the Slovenian priest accused of sexually, psychologically and spiritually abusing multiple women, dismissed calls from survivors to remove the artist’s work, saying such decisions are a symptom of “cancel culture.”

In a statement published July 24, Maria Campatelli, director of the Centro Aletti, said that while the center has remained silent as it awaits the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith’s investigation into the accusations, it viewed calls for the removal of the priest’s artwork as an attack against art and also a “desire for destruction.”

Though the art center has not commented on the Father Rupnik case before, “in the face of growing pressure for the removal of the works of art created by Centro Aletti,” the statement said, “we feel obliged to express our great concern regarding the widespread diffusion of the so-called ‘cancel culture,’ and of…

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Allegations of sexual abuse by more than two dozen women, mostly former nuns, against Father Rupnik continue to be investigated by the Vatican.

As Church leaders and Catholic groups around the world increasingly call for the removal of sacred art created by Father Marko Rupnik, the art institute founded by the disgraced former Jesuit is punching back, saying Father Rupnik’s art is being subjected to “cancel culture.” 

“In the face of growing pressure for the removal of the works of art created by Centro Aletti, we feel obliged to express our great concern regarding the widespread diffusion of the so-called ‘cancel culture’ and of a way of thinking that legitimizes the ‘criminalization’ of art,” Centro Aletti Director Maria Campatelli contends in a letter addressed to friends of the institution.

In the letter, Campatelli says the center continues to face a “time of trial” while the allegations of sexual abuse by more…

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Down and Connor Diocese admits failing to fully acknowledge the damage done to victims even after James Donaghy was convicted and sentenced to 10 years

The bishop of Down and Connor has apologised to a priest who was sexually abused as a young adult by a fellow member of the clergy.

Fr Paddy McCafferty gave evidence in the trial of James Martin Donaghy who was jailed for 10 years in 2012.

Months after a review was commissioned by Down and Connor Diocese, Bishop Alan McGuckian issued a full apology on Thursday.

The Catholic Church failed to show any “demonstrable regret” even after the serial sex abusing priest was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, Bishop McGuckian said.

In an apology to those targeted and abused by Donaghy, Bishop McGuckian said he wanted to “take this opportunity now to apologise sincerely to all the victims in that case…

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NEW YORK – James Bogner, a retired FBI agent with decades of law enforcement experience who currently holds a role in ensuring a safe environment in the Archdiocese of Omaha, has been appointed chair of the board created in 2002 to monitor the implementation of the Dallas Charter.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced Bogner’s appointment to lead the National Review Board on August 1. Bogner has been a member of the board since 2020.

Bogner will replace Suzanne Healy, who concluded her term as chair at the conclusion of the USCCB June plenary assembly. Healy joined the National Review Board in 2017 and served a four-year term as the chair from 2020-2024.

Bogner is a retired senior executive special agent with the FBI. During his career with the bureau, he served as the…

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Mediation in the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s bankruptcy case will “begin as soon as reasonably possible,” a judge has ruled, thrusting the proceeding into its most critical phase.

During the forthcoming negotiations, attorneys and mediators will work together to determine how much money the diocese and its insurers have to contribute to settle hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse committed by Catholic clergy and others in the church’s employ. They also will work toward developing a plan to prevent child sex abuse from occurring again.

Three mediators will facilitate negotiations: Robert J. Faris, chief judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Hawaii; Brian J. Nash, an attorney who specializes in mediation; and a third person to be named by the insurance companies involved in the case. Lawyers for the church and a committee of sex abuse survivors will have an opportunity to object to that person.

During mediation, the archdiocese and…

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Archbishop says accusation are ‘a complete fabrication’

[See lawsuit that includes allegation against Archbishop Lucas.]

Representatives with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests gathered outside of Omaha’s St. Cecilia Cathedral Wednesday, calling for Omaha Archbishop George Lucas to be suspended or voluntarily step down following recent sexual abuse allegations against him.

Lucas was accused of sexually abusing a teenage seminarian in St. Louis in the late 1980s in a lawsuit filed in Missouri. The person, who is identified only by the initials D.S. in the civil lawsuit, accuses Lucas of abuse while Lucas was his teacher at the now-closed St. Louis Preparatory Seminary School.

Lucas, who is originally from St. Louis, has been the Omaha archbishop since 2009. He has repeatedly denied the recent accusations.

“The allegation against me by an anonymous person is a complete fabrication,” he said in a statement released Wednesday. “It never…

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Victims of abuse are calling for the resignation of Archbishop George Lucas who was named in that lawsuit and alleges he sexually abused a child in St Louis.

• Victims of abuse are calling for the resignation of Archbishop George Lucas
• A 74 page lawsuit detailing alleged sexual abuse in St Louis rocked members of the Catholic Church thought the Midwest
• Watch to learn more about the archbishops response to the allegations

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

Last week a 74 page lawsuit detailing alleged sexual abuse in St Louis rocked members of the Catholic Church thought the Midwest. Wednesday at St Cecelia’s Catholic Cathedral victims of abuse are calling for the resignation of Archbishop George Lucas who was named in that lawsuit and alleges he sexually abused a child in St Louis.

Track: Archbishop Lucas was one of 56 PRIESTS in the St. Louis Archdieose accused of SEXUAL ABUSE.

David Clohessy a members of Survivors…

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Former Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has told the Irish Mail on Sunday he never had any idea Bishop Eamonn Casey was a child abuser.

Archbishop Martin said yesterday that he did not attend Bishop Casey’s funeral because of the deceased’s affair with Annie Murphy and unofficial reports he’d received that the Kerryman had also had affairs with other women.

‘I heard that there were other allegations against Eamonn Casey, but not concerning child abuse. I had heard that there were problems concerning his relations with other women,’ Dr Martin said. ‘I didn’t go to the funeral but not on the basis I’d heard any specific allegation against him.Advertisement0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0% 

‘I found it hard they could give such a celebratory thing for him in light of [his affair with] Annie Murphy,’ he added.

‘And he knew about Fr Michael…

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Following a review of abuse allegations made in October 2023 against Msgr. Michael Mellone, the pastor of Annunciation Parish in Washington, and Deacon Lawrence Bell of St. Martin of Tours Parish in Gaithersburg, Cardinal Wilton Gregory announced in July 17, 2024 letters to those parish communities that no evidence of misconduct was found, and both men may return to active ministry.

The cardinal explained that after the Maryland Child Victims Act took effect on Oct. 1, 2023, The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington received notice of a lawsuit that included a John Doe plaintiff’s allegations of sexual abuse of a minor made against Msgr. Mellone and Deacon Bell that dated back to the 1990s, when they served together at St. Martin of Tours.

“To be clear, apart from the lawsuit, we have received no prior complaints of any sort of improper conduct made against either Monsignor Mellone or Deacon Bell – at…

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A former altar boy who accused Manchester Bishop Peter A. Libasci of sexual abuse in the 1980s died earlier this month, leaving the status of his civil case against the bishop uncertain.

The 53-year-old man died earlier this month in New York. In 2021, he filed a lawsuit accusing Libasci, now head of the Catholic Diocese of Manchester, of groping him while Libasci was a priest in his early 30s in Rockville Centre, New York.

Christian Curran, the accuser’s attorney, sent the death certificate to the clerk of the Suffolk County (New York) Supreme Court on Tuesday after informing the court of his death last week.

The letter, in part, said, “We respectfully request the action be marked stayed at this time.”

Curran said he did not wish to comment Tuesday. Attempts to reach Libasci’s attorney, Michael J. Connolly, were unsuccessful.

In New York state, there are two ways a…

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Earlier this month a bombshell media report revealed that Father Stechschulte had in 2012 destroyed a hard drive reportedly containing inappropriate pictures of children

A priest in Ohio has resigned from his parish after parishioners demanded his ouster due to his having destroyed a hard drive containing possible child porn. 

Father Barry Stechschulte announced his departure from St. Susanna Catholic Parish in Mason, Ohio, in a message on the church’s website this week.

“[It] has become evident to me, after much prayer and discernment, that, for the good of our parish and school, I should step down as pastor, effective immediately, to be reassigned elsewhere in the archdiocese [of Cincinnati],” the pastor wrote.

Earlier this month a bombshell media report revealed that Father Stechschulte had in 2012 destroyed a hard drive reportedly containing inappropriate pictures of children — and potentially child pornography — and then delayed reporting the incident to…

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An Ohio pastor reportedly resigned from his ministry on Monday after nearly 500 people signed a petition demanding his ouster in 2021 after allegations of destruction of evidence

Father Barry Stechschulte stepped down from his position after a WCPO 9 report that he allegedly ordered the destruction of child pornography and delayed reporting it for six years while he served at another parish, according to the outlet.

Parents for Action expressed concerns in a letter to Stechschulte and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati obtained by the outlet. “The decision you made to destroy evidence instead of reporting it to the proper authorities has severely compromised the confidence many of us have in your leadership,” the organization reportedly wrote. “We believe that for the unity and peace of our parish to be restored, a change in leadership is necessary … we respectfully request your resignation from your position at St….

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A newly released police report detailed the role a Mason priest had in destroying a laptop with alleged pornographic material in 2012.

The Rev. Barry Stechschulte resigned from St. Susanna Catholic Parish on Monday after hundreds of parishioners and parents of students at its school signed a petition calling for his dismissal.

It happened just weeks after he stood before the congregation at Sunday masses and admitted to ordering the destruction of a computer hard drive related to a possible child pornography investigation at another church more than a decade ago and then failing to report it to police for six years.

He apologized and said he was so shocked and disgusted by the images he saw that he wanted to make sure no one else would be subjected to seeing them. He also told the congregation he realizes now that not reporting it to the police for…

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Yesterday brought news of the resignation of Fr. Barry Stechschulte as pastor of St. Susanna’s Church in Mason, Ohio, in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The priest resigned following mounting pressure after it was revealed that in 2012 — shortly after he became pastor of Holy Rosary Church in St. Mary’s, Ohio — he ordered Deacon Marty Brown to destroy a hard drive on an old desktop computer in the parish rectory.

A letter from Archbishop Dennis Schnurr to the parishioners of St. Susanna thanked Stechschulte for his service and announced that a retired priest, Fr Jeff Kemper, will serve as temporary administrator of the parish, effective immediately.

The frequency with which these types of scandals and crimes are revealed suggests that the truth is only shared with the faithful on a need-to-know basis, causing frustrated and disillusioned Catholics to wonder how much more Church leaders are hiding from…

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(7-30-24) The pastor of St. Susanna Church in Mason, Fr. Barry Stechschulte, has resigned after more than 500 people signed a petition calling for change after a recent report showed that he ordered the destruction of alleged child pornography and waited six years to report it to police while at a different parish.

After Father Tony Cutcher left Holy Rosary Church in St. Marys…Stechschulte arrived as the new pastor in July of 2012, he and Church Deacon Marty Brown told police that they had discovered what looked like child pornography while refurbishing an old desktop computer from a storage room, which had been used by Cutcher.

Stechschulte moved from Holy Rosary to become pastor of St. Susanna in Mason.

According to a St. Marys Police 2018 police report —

When Stechschulte, who was raised in Minster, arrived as the new pastor in July 2012, he and Deacon Marty Brown told…

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Archbishop George Lucas says the Catholic Church asked him to continue serving the diocese until successor found since allegation was anonymous

A week after a lawsuit filed in St. Louis accused Omaha Archbishop George Lucas of sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy, the archbishop issued a second statement, noting that he had submitted his resignation prior to the accusation.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha on Wednesday posted a video of the archbishop on its website and issued his full written statement to news media. He called the allegation made by an anonymous person in the lawsuit “a complete fabrication.”

“It never happened. I have never had sexual contact with another person,” the archbishop says, calling the allegation “disturbing.”

“My conscience is clear, and I am at peace before the Lord.”Omaha Archbishop George Lucas

Lucas says he submitted his resignation to Pope Francis on June…

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David Clohessy of Survivors Network of those Abused by Catholic Priests discuss abuse claims against Omaha Archbishop George Lucas

[See video.]

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Pope Francis said of Bishop Rosario Gisana: “He is good, this bishop. He was persecuted, slandered, yet he stood firm, always, just, a just man.”

A Sicilian court said a bishop recently praised by the Pope was “knowingly guilty” of covering up the crimes of a sex abuser priest.

Judges said Bishop Rosario Gisana of Piazza Amerina, in central Sicily, had protected Fr Giuseppe Rugolo, who was sentenced in March to four-and-a-half years in prison for sexual abuse of minors.

Antonio Messina told police the priest had abused him while he was a teenager. In 2020, Messina wrote to Pope Francis about the abuse.

After Messina and his family informed Gisana of the abuse between 2009 to 2013, a Church inquiry concluded that it had taken place while Rugolo was a seminarian. However, Messina said the abuse continued after Rugolo’s ordination.

In a telephone conversation recorded by police and presented…

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A clerical abuse scandal has been brewing in the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, where two priests are accused of having molested three minors almost a decade ago. 

What makes the case different from the many others that affect the Church around the world is that the diocesan bishop at the time the allegations first surfaced was the American Robert Francis Prevost, now a cardinal and prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, who led the diocese from 2014 until last year.

Local Catholics have expressed frustration at the course of the investigation, which began after an alleged victim filed a complaint in 2022, accusing the priests of inappropriate touching when she was a minor. Two years on, questions continue to be raised around the case.

Given Prevost’s role in enforcing Vos estis lux mundi, the papal motu proprio on episcopal negligence in abuse cases, the situation has attracted international scrutiny, with some in Peru…

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[See video.]

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A Diocese of Scranton priest revered for his work with the region’s poor is guilty under church law of sexually abusing two children, the diocese said Tuesday.

Monsignor Joseph P. Kelly is immediately and permanently prohibited from exercising priestly ministry and permanently barred from wearing clerical attire or presenting himself as a priest following the guilty verdict, according to a statement from the diocese.

While guilty under canon law, Kelly has not faced criminal charges.

The Vatican authorized the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, bishop of Scranton, to impose a permanent penalty on Kelly but did not authorize his dismissal as a priest due to his age, according to the diocese. Kelly is 83 years old.

Ordained May 28, 1966, Kelly had 17 assignments throughout his career, including in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties. He received widespread recognition from the community for his work with disadvantaged children and adults, serving as…

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A priest of the Diocese of Scranton has been found guilty under canon law of the sexual abuse of two minors.

According to a media release from the Diocese of Scranton, Monsignor Joseph P. Kelly was found guilty at the conclusion of a disciplinary process.

By Oct. 2020, seven individuals alleged that Kelley sexually abused them as children. Another allegation was received in Jan. 2023, according to the Diocese of Scranton. Five of the eight allegations were deemed credible and were investigated as required by the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church.

Bishop Joseph C. Bambera was authorized to adjudicate the accusations through trial processes. At the end of the trial, Kelly was found guilty under canon law of two of the accusations.

As a result, Kelly was immediately and permanently prohibited from the exercise of priestly ministry and permanently prohibited from wearing clerical attire or presenting himself…

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Strategic collaboration, especially with law enforcement monitoring crimes online, is needed in the fight against human trafficking, according to the head of an international network of religious orders and partners against trafficking.

“New challenges in preventing and combating human trafficking affecting children have emerged,” particularly as traffickers are using the Internet “to advertise and sell children online for sexual exploitation and to distribute child sexual abuse material,” said Maryknoll Sister Abby Avelino, international coordinator for the international network, Talitha Kum.

There is also another worrying trend, according to the Global Slavery Index 2023 report, of “orphanage trafficking,” in which children are recruited to live in private, donor-funded residential care facilities that have little to no government oversight and where they are exploited for profit, she said in an article published in the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, July 29.

July 30 marks the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, sponsored by…

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A former altar boy who accused Manchester Bishop Peter A. Libasci of sexual abuse in the 1980s died earlier this month, leaving the status of his civil case against the bishop uncertain.

The 53-year-old man died earlier this month in New York. In 2021, he filed a lawsuit accusing Libasci, now head of the Catholic Diocese of Manchester, of groping him while Libasci was a priest in his early 30s in Rockville Centre, New York.

Christian Curran, the accuser’s attorney, sent the death certificate to the clerk of the Suffolk County (New York) Supreme Court on Tuesday after informing the court of his death last week.

The letter, in part, said, “We respectfully request the action be marked stayed at this time.”

Curran said he did not wish to comment Tuesday. Attempts to reach Libasci’s attorney, Michael J. Connolly, were unsuccessful.

In New York state, there are two ways a…

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Joey Piscitelli told the Register that during the seven-year period Harris served as San Francisco’s district attorney, she repeatedly declined his requests to release relevant documents and to meet with him.

Kamala Harris is emphasizing her experience as a prosecutor in her campaign for president, which is drawing attention to her decisions as a district attorney two decades ago — including how she handled victims of sex abuse by Catholic clergy.

Some advocates for victims say she didn’t help them when she could have — particularly during a seven-year period when she had control of personnel files of Catholic priests accused of sex crimes.

It’s not a new claim; critics have made it during at least two of Harris’ prior runs for higher office.

Joey Piscitelli, 69, a clergy sex-abuse victim and activist, told the Register that when Harris was San Francisco’s district attorney from 2004 to 2011, he couldn’t…

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The Diocese of Scranton announced Monsignor Joseph P. Kelly, a former priest in the Diocese of Scranton, has been found guilty under canon law of the sexual abuse of two children.

According to a statement issued Tuesday by the Diocese of Scranton, Monsignor Joseph P. Kelly was found guilty under canon law of sexually abusing two children after a four-year canonical process.

As a result, Monsignor Kelly was immediately and permanently prohibited from exercising priestly ministry and was not allowed to wear clerical attire or present himself as a priest, the diocese stated.

The Vatican authorized Bishop Joseph Bambera to impose a permanent penalty on Monsignor Kelly, short of authorizing his dismissal from the clerical state, given his advanced age.

By October 2020, seven people had accused Monsignor Kelly of sexually abusing them as
children, some of who received compensation through the Independent Survivors Compensation Program. At that time,…

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A prominent pastor and community outreach leader in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman, according to a Texas court record.

As reported by CBS News, Koinonia Christian Church pastor Ronnie Goines was taken into custody on July 25. He has since been charged with two counts of sexual assault, according to the Tarrant County Court Clerk.

Goines, 51, was released from the Tarrant County Jail on July 27 on $3,000 bail.

Telephone messages left with the Arlington Police Department about the allegations were not returned. But according to KERA, a National Public Radio station, the charges resulted from a woman’s “outcry that was reported to the department” in June.

Goines is the founding pastor of Koinonia Christian Church in Arlington, Texas. His arrest marks at least the fifth Dallas-Fort Worth area pastor to be embroiled in scandal…

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Kenneth Flowers, a prominent Detroit pastor who leads Greater New Mount Moriah Baptist Church, tells me he is innocent of the charges. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

A prominent Detroit pastor has been charged with sexually assaulting a minor in Farmington Hills for an incident that allegedly occurred in December.

The Rev. Kenneth Flowers, 63, pastor of Greater New Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Detroit, was arraigned Friday in Farmington Hills District Court on one count of criminal sexual conduct with force or coercion and one count of criminal sexual assault with intent to commit sexual penetration. Court records show Flowers stood mute and a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf. He was released on a $25,000 personal recognizance bond, which means he did not have to post cash or a bond, but would owe the court $25,000 if he fails to…

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Josiah Anthony, the lead pastor at Cross Timbers Church in Argyle, has resigned due to allegations of “inappropriate and hurtful actions.”

NBC 5 obtained a letter from Cross Timbers Church, sent to its congregation following the pastor’s announcement of stepping down.

In the letter, church officials said the elder board recently became aware of events and circumstances involving Anthony over the past few years.

“Josiah’s been in a prolonged and sustained season of struggle with his emotional and mental health, which has been very painful for him and those around him,” the letter said.

“Throughout this struggle, some of Josiah’s decisions and actions were inappropriate and hurtful to current and former members of the CT family and staff. During this time, Josiah was not forthcoming and transparent with the staff and the elder board. Once all of this came to light over the last few weeks, it…

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An associate pastor with Living Word International Church in Midland now faces new criminal sexual conduct charges after a preliminary examination hearing on Monday, July 29.

Associate Pastor Randy Saylor, 71, is now charged with 11 criminal sexual conduct (CSC) charges from one case, according to Courtney Driscoll, the Midland County Assistant Prosecutor.

He is now charged with two counts of first-degree CSC with a victim under 13, three counts of first-degree CSC with a victim 13 to 15, related by blood or affinity, a count of second-degree CSC with a victim under 13, and four counts of second-degree CSC with a victim 13 to 15 related by blood or affinity.

All charges in this case involve the same victim over a period of time when the victim was 11 to 15 years old, Driscoll said.

The victim took the stand on Monday and testified in detail about the alleged…

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Several Texas pastors have resigned this year after allegations of misconduct, among other accusations. Some pastors face charges for their actions. 

In June, the American-Statesman reported on megachurch pastor Robert Morris resigning after allegations of child abuse. 

Morris resigned from his position as the senior pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, near Fort Worth, after a confession made in early June regarding his involvement in sexual behavior with a child during the 1980s. 

Here is a breakdown of Morris and the other Texas pastors who stepped down this year.

Robert Morris child sex abuse allegations 

Cindy Clemishire made allegations in a report that Morris had abused her when she was 12 years old. 

Clemishire, who is now 54, detailed her abuse in “The Wartburg Watch,” a blog focusing on nefarious issues in Christian churches. The alleged abuse continued for more than four years, Clemishire said.

According to WFAA, Morris’ defense…

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Two sexual assault charges against the former Meeting House pastor remain to be tried.

After a two-year delay, one of three sexual assault charges against Bruxy Cavey, former pastor of the Ontario megachurch The Meeting House, has been stayed.

Cavey’s defense lawyer, Megan Savard, argued on Monday to Ontario Court Justice Michael K. Wendl that the duration of time between the initial sexual assault charge, made by Hamilton police in June 2022, was too long and infringed upon Cavey’s rights to trial within a reasonable time. According to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a trial in Provincial Court must begin within 18 months of the charge and within 30 months in Superior Court. Justice Wendl, on July 22, ruled in favor of Savard’s argument, effectively putting an end to prosecution. 

Outside the courtroom on Monday, Cavey said that while he acknowledges a moral failure, “I don’t believe I failed…

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Bishop Gisana continues to lead the Diocese of Piazza Armerina despite being caught admitting to covering up the abuse

The bishop of a southern Italian diocese deliberately avoided protecting victims in his diocese and instead sought to protect a priest long accused of having abused several minors as a seminarian, a court in the southern Italian city of Enna ruled.

The court July 24 published its “Statement of Reasons,” an extensive 222-page document explaining the court’s guilty verdict against Father Giuseppe Rugolo, a diocesan priest, who was found guilty in March of sexually abusing two minors, including Antonio Messina, who was 16 at the time.

A copy of the court’s ruling was obtained by OSV News.

The three-judge tribunal — Francesco Paolo Pitarresi, Elisa D’Aveni and Maria Rosaria Santoni — stated that Bishop Rosario Gisana of Piazza Armerina was “well aware for many years of the reports made concerning the…

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A priest in Ohio has resigned from his parish after parishioners demanded his ouster due to his having destroyed a hard drive containing possible child porn. 

Father Barry Stechschulte announced his departure from St. Susanna Catholic Parish in Mason, Ohio, in a message on the church’s website this week.

“[It] has become evident to me, after much prayer and discernment, that, for the good of our parish and school, I should step down as pastor, effective immediately, to be reassigned elsewhere in the archdiocese [of Cincinnati],” the pastor wrote.

Earlier this month a bombshell media report revealed that Stechschulte had in 2012 destroyed a hard drive reportedly containing inappropriate pictures of children — and potentially child pornography — and then delayed reporting the incident to police. 

The pastor did not report the incident to police until 2018. In an apology to parishioners earlier this month…

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At least 973 Native American children died in the U.S. government’s abusive boarding school system, according to the results of an investigation released Tuesday by Interior Department officials who called on the government to apologize for the schools.

The investigation commissioned by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland found marked and unmarked graves at 65 of the more than 400 U.S. boarding schools where Native American children were forcibly assimilated into white society. The findings don’t specify how each child died, but officials said the causes of death included disease and abuse during a 150-year period that ended in 1969.

Additional children may have died after becoming sick at school and being sent home, officials said.

The findings follow a series of listening sessions held by Haaland over the past two years in which dozens of former students recounted harmful and often degrading treatment they endured at the hands of teachers and administrators…

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After the remains of hundreds of children were discovered on the grounds of former residential schools in Canada in 2021, leadership at a Catholic boarding school for Native youths in southeastern Montana wondered whether unmarked graves might exist on its properties serving the Crow and Northern Cheyenne reservations.

The resulting 16-month investigation — one of the first of its kind launched by a Catholic entity — found no indications of undocumented graves or deaths on school grounds. But the 149-page report, shared with NCR July 25, reveals that between 1884 and 1960 at least 113 students died while enrolled in institutions operated by the St. Labre Indian School Educational Association.

Disease and illness caused 90% of student deaths, according to the report, with 10 deaths from other causes, including accidents. The large percentage roughly parallels overall estimates in the Americas as disease decimated Indigenous populations following…

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An estimated 200,000 children and vulnerable adults in the care of state and faith-based institutions were abused or neglected between 1950 and 2019, according to the report on an independent inquiry by the New Zealand Royal Commission.

The report, which was released July 24, stated that the total number of those abused — many of whom belonged to the Indigenous Maori people — “may be higher than this estimate” due to poor record keeping and that the abuse and neglect of hundreds of thousands of children, young people, and adults was “a national disgrace.”

“These gross violations occurred at the same time as Aotearoa New Zealand was promoting itself, internationally and domestically, as a bastion of human rights and as a safe, fair country in which to grow up as a child in a loving family,” the report’s executive summary stated.

“If this injustice is not addressed, it will remain…

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Father Barry Stechschulte resigned after more than 500 people called for him to step down

The pastor of St. Susanna Church in Mason has resigned after more than 500 people signed a petition calling for change after our I-Team report showed he ordered the destruction of alleged child porn and waited six years to report it to police while at a different parish.

MASON, Ohio — After accepting the resignation of Father Barry Stechschulte, Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr has appointed a temporary administrator to St. Susanna Church in Mason.

Stechschulte announced in a message to parishioners Monday that he was stepping down as pastor after more than 500 people signed a petition calling for his resignation following a WCPO 9 I-Team report that showed he ordered the destruction of alleged child pornography and waited six years to report it to police while at a different parish.

A group of parents and…

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The pastor of St. Susanna Parish in Mason resigned Monday after admitting he ordered the destruction of material connected to an investigation into images possibly showing child sexual abuse while working at another church years earlier.

The Rev. Barry Stechschulte apologized to parishioners more than two weeks ago for his role in the matter and said at the time he remained committed to “maintaining a safe environment here at St. Susanna,” a large Catholic parish that also is home to a school. But on Monday, after hundreds of parishioners signed a petition seeking his removal as pastor, Stechschulte announced on the parish website he was leaving his post.

“The last couple of weeks have been difficult ones for all of us at St. Susanna,” Stechschulte wrote. “It has become evident to me, after much prayer and discernment, that, for the good of our parish and school, I should step down as…

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Five civil lawsuits filed against the Archdiocese of St. Louis July 24 allege multiple incidents of sexual abuse of minors and long-standing coverups, with a Nebraska archbishop — then a St. Louis archdiocesan priest — included among the accused.

A total of 60 plaintiffs claim that they were abused by clergy, religious and laypeople, with most alleged incidents taking place from the 1960s through the 1990s.

The lawsuits name Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis, who was appointed to his see in August 2020, “solely in his capacity as an officer, director and/or chief executive officer of the Archdiocese of St. Louis,” representing “all archbishops who officially supervised or failed to supervise the employee abusers” alleged in the cases. Rozanski is a Baltimore native.

One of the suits (A.S. et al. v. the Archdiocese of St. Louis) alleges that in 1988 a 16-year-old student at the now-closed St. Louis…

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The son of a disgraced Texas megachurch pastor who resigned over allegations of sexual abuse with a young girl abruptly quit the church on Thursday.

James Morris stepped down from his role as associate senior pastor of Gateway Church after his father, Robert Morris, admitted last month to having “inappropriate sexual behavior” with a family friend starting when she was just 12 years old.

The younger Morris and his wife Bridgette Morris, an executive pastor inside the church, decided to leave their positions together after meeting with Gateway elders, according to WFAA.

“They collectively made the decision” that the couple would step down from their roles, the church said in a statement obtained by the outlet.

“We as Elders affirm and believe that God has placed a desire in both Pastors James and Bridgette’s hearts to serve as senior pastors of a church at some point in the future,” the elders…

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Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Missouri volunteer director of SNAP, 314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com

We commend these wounded survivors for their courageous efforts to protect kids by exposing clergy who commit and conceal heinous crimes against children.

We are very grateful to them because any information about clergy sex crimes and cover ups is an immense gift to parents, police, prosecutors, parents, parishioners and the public. Girls and boys are safer now because these victims are speaking up and filing suits.

We’re not surprised that dozens more victims are now finding the strength to step forward and seek justice. It’s long been obvious that hundreds of clergy abuse victims are still suffering in shame, silence and self-blame, numbing their deep pain through drugs, alcohol, agoraphobia, anorexia and other self-destructive behavior. It’s also long been obvious that child abuse victims come forward when they are…

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Church leader in Sicily ‘knowingly guilty’ of failing to act over priest who slept with teenager and was given a four-year jail sentence

A Catholic bishop covered up for a sexually abusive priest, a court in Sicily has ruled, creating embarrassment for Pope Francis who recently praised the bishop and claimed he was being “persecuted”.

Rosario Gisana, bishop of Piazza Armerina in Sicily, was “knowingly guilty” of covering up for a priest who was handed a four-year jail sentence this year after his young victim went to the police, the court in Enna ruled.

Police who wiretapped Gisana during an investigation overheard him telling the priest, Father Giuseppe Rugolo: “This is now not only your problem but also mine because I covered up the affair.”

Antonio Messina, who waived his anonymity, was abused as a teenager by Rugolo between 2009 and 2013. He and his family first reported the priest to…

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A Catholic bishop believes there has been a culture change going through the church in the wake of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care’s final report.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry report, released last week, contained details of horrific abuse at institutions across New Zealand over decades.

More than 250,000 vulnerable people were abused and neglected at places they were meant to be cared for in, including faith-based institutions, from 1950 to 2019.

The bishop of Palmerston North, John Adams, spoke to Stuff as he wanted to put a face to the church’s response.

He said the church’s culture had been changing since the early 2000s when the Boston Globe newspaper in the United States revealed widespread sexual abuse by priests.

There had been a culture where things such as abuse were not spoken about, but that was changing.

“There’s zero appetite for that culture in the church now….

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An Italian bishop praised by Pope Francis has disputed a court’s ruling that he failed to exercise proper oversight of a priest convicted of sexual abuse.

In an interview published July 26 by Italy’s La Stampa newspaper, Bishop Rosario Gisana insisted that he had “not ‘facilitated the predatory activity’ of anyone,” despite wire-tap recordings of the bishop saying he had “buried” the case of a priest subsequently convicted of abuse. 

The Bishop of Piazza Armerina, Sicily, was responding to a 222-page explanation of a March 5 ruling on the case of Fr. Giuseppe Rugolo, a former religion teacher.

Rugolo was sentenced in the first instance by a court in the Sicilian city of Enna to four years and six months for sexual violence and attempted sexual violence against minors.

The priest and the episcopal curia of the Piazza Armerina diocese were ordered jointly to pay compensation, to be determined in a…

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SOUTHLAKE – Gateway Church elders on Saturday apologized to a woman who publicly accused Pastor Robert Morris of sexually assaulting her when she was a child.

The church also welcomed well-known pastor Max Lucado.

It all happened during the first services since Pastor James Morris stepped down. His father, founding Pastor Robert Morris, also resigned last month after the woman – Cindy Clemishire – said he sexually assaulted her when she was only 12 years old.

For the first time, Gateway elders addressed Clemishire directly.

“Cindy, in case you are watching, we want to again apologize to you on behalf of our entire church for the years of pain you have endured,” said Trey Wilbanks, a Gateway elder. “To be clear, we believe that this was sexual abuse of a child. Any description falling short of that does not…

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Tri-State priest resigns after destruction of potentially criminal evidence

CINCINNATI (WKRC) – The resignation of a popular local priest is sending shockwaves throughout a Tri-State community.

The pastor at St. Susanna Catholic Parish in Mason has stepped down after he admitted to ordering the destruction of pornography and photos of young boys. He said they were on another priest’s computer at a different church.0 seconds of 3 minutes, 8 secondsVolume 90% (WKRC)

Father Barry Stechschulte resigned on Monday after a groundswell of condemnation by many of the 14,000 people who attend St. Susanna in Mason. The resignation came four years after the pastor arrived.

The welcome note Father Stechschulte wrote in 2020 when he arrived at St. Susanna is in stark contrast to the note on the church’s website four years later, stating, “It has become evident to me, after much prayer and discernment, that for the good of our parish…

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Just when it appeared that justice was moving closer to being realized by victims of sex abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy in Washington, a King County Superior Court judge put the brakes on it, at least for now.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson launched an investigation last year into whether charitable donations to Catholic churches were used to conceal or facilitate sexual abuse. 

After the Seattle Archdiocese refused access to certain church records regarding priests, citing the state’s Charitable Fund Act, Ferguson appealed to the courts. He asked King County Superior Court to allow his office access to records that he said could possibly provide evidence that church leaders in Seattle, Spokane and Yakima used charitable funds — church donations and offerings — to support clergy members who abused parishioners. 

Ferguson’s investigation is important and should move forward, and his office should appeal King County Superior Court Judge Michael…

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[See the lawsuit that names Archbishop Lucas.]

ST. LOUIS COUNTY — A new lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese of St. Louis accuses the archbishop in Omaha, Nebraska, of sexually abusing a teenage boy here in the late 1980s, a charge he denied Thursday.

The boy, identified in the lawsuit only by the initials D.S., is one of 27 victims in St. Louis County who have sued the archdiocese and its leader of covering up decades of abuse by priests, nuns and other employees.

In the lawsuit, filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court, D.S. claims that the Rev. George Lucas — now the archbishop of Omaha — sexually abused him while attending the now-closed St. Louis Preparatory Seminary School in Shrewsbury.

“Father Lucas required D.S. to meet with him for regular one-on-one check-in sessions,” the lawsuit alleges. “Eventually, these check-in sessions proved to be a ruse for Father Lucas…

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The Erie County District Attorney’s Office is looking into sexual misconduct allegations involving a Buffalo Catholic priest.

On Tuesday, the Diocese of Buffalo announced its internal review board substantiated claims against Rev. Joseph Rogliano. He was accused of engaging in acts of sexual misconduct with adults.

The DA’s office will determine if the reported conduct is criminal and within the statute of limitations, a spokesperson tells 2 On Your Side Investigates. They are awaiting more information from the diocese. 

“Our office will investigate any complaint of sexual abuse or sexual misconduct involving a child or adult victim brought to our attention,” a spokesperson for the DA’s office said in a statement.

The memorandum of understanding between the Diocese of Buffalo and Erie County District Attorney only requires notification of allegations of sexual abuse involving people under the age of 17. 

Rogliano was initially placed on leave in September while the diocese…

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Allegations against a Buffalo Diocese priest have been substantiated following an investigation into claims of sexual misconduct, the diocese announced.

Rev. Joseph Rogliano of Family 21 was accused of sexual misconduct with adults. Bishop Michael W. Fisher determined the accusation to be substantiated as a result of an initial internal inquiry, an independent investigation and recommendations by the Independent Review Board.

Rogliano was placed on administrative leave in Sept. 2023 and retired in Feb. 2024.

Family 21 is composed of Blessed Trinity, SS. Columba-Brigid, St. Lawrence and St. Martin de Porres parishes.

Kayleigh Hunter-Gasperini joined the News 4 team in 2024 as a Digital Video Producer. She is a graduate of Chatham University.

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