The Catholic Boys New Zealand

The author of three books around the tough world of the SAS and infantry army, Mike Ledingham joins with two of his bothers to tell the story of their abuse by the same Catholic priest. On the face of it, the Ledinghams were a great example of a Catholic family with strong Irish roots growing up in New Zealand. The “faith” was strong in the family members, so much so the boys served as altar boys at the local church.

https://www.bms.co.nz/product-page/the-catholic-boys 

Survivor backs push to lift veil on church child abuse secret deals

A church abuse survivor has supported calls for religious groups to waive victims' secrecy obligations at Royal Commission hearings. Author Mike Ledingham​ welcomed Wednesday's announcement that Crown agencies would lift confidentiality obligations on State care abuse survivors. Simon Mount QC, counsel assisting the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry, said he expected churches to follow suit.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/114991825/survivor-backs-push-to-lift-veil-on-church-child-abuse-secret-deals 

'A Momentous Time For Survivors.' Hundreds of Sex Abuse Lawsuits Anticipated Today After New York State Passes Child Victims Legislation

It was the early 1950s and Peter Vajda was a boy attending a Catholic boarding school in the Bronx when he says a religious brother molested him. The brother is likely long dead, but the church survives. Just after midnight Wednesday morning, Vajda, now 75, filed a civil lawsuit naming the Archdiocese of New York as a defendant. Justice, he says, may have been delayed but he won’t let it be denied. “Now it’s their turn. Now it’s their time,” he told The Associated Press Monday. “And I want them to get everything they deserve in the way of punishment.”

https://time.com/5651719/new-york-child-victims-act-sex-abuse-lawsuits/ 

Lawsuit: Man regrets not exposing priest in late '70s to prevent other kids from sex abuse

A former Guam resident now living in California "extremely regrets" not exposing Father Raymond Cepeda in the late 1970s, which he said could have prevented the priest from also sexually abusing other children, according to one of two clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed on Wednesday. One of the latest plaintiffs is identified in federal court documents only with the initials U.U.U. to protect his privacy.

https://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2019/08/14/man-regrets-not-exposing-priest-70-s-prevent-others-abuse/2005788001/ 

Over 400 sex abuse suits filed in New York as litigation window opens

The Roman Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts, schools and hospitals, and the late financier Jeffrey Epstein are some of the targets named in a flurry of sex abuse lawsuits filed today in New York as the state began accepting cases once blocked by the statute of limitations. Hundreds of lawsuits were filed as plaintiffs rushed to take advantage of the one-year litigation window, created by state lawmakers this year to give people who say they were victims a second chance to sue over abuse that, in many cases, happened decades ago.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/over-400-sex-abuse-suits-filed-in-new-york-litigation-window-opens 

Jehovah’s Witnesses, Boy Scouts Also Hit With Abuse Lawsuits

Victims of sex abuse in New York are filing cases not only against Catholics but against members of other organizations like the Jehovah's Witnesses and Boy Scouts as well. Various non-Catholic groups are being bombarded with lawsuits in New York on Wednesday as a one-year window on abuse claims is opened due to the Child Victims Act (CVA) sparked by corruption within the Catholic Church.

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/jehovahs-witnesses-boy-scouts-also-hit-with-abuse-lawsuits 

Catholic Dioceses launch independent system to report misconduct by bishops

The Dioceses of the Boston Province have launched a third party, independent system to report abuse by Catholic bishops, according to a statement released Wednesday. The Bishops of the province have agreed to make a reporting system available now in the wake of Pope Francis’ landmark Vos estis letter and the nearly unanimous response to that letter by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in June 2019.

https://www.southcoasttoday.com/news/20190814/catholic-dioceses-launch-independent-system-to-report-misconduct-by-bishops 

Sex Abuse Victims of Boy Scouts, Catholic Clergy, Epstein Sue as New York Opens Litigation Window

The Roman Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts, schools and hospitals, the late financier Jeffrey Epstein are some of the targets named in a flurry of sex abuse lawsuits filed Wednesday in New York as the state began accepting cases once blocked by the statute of limitations. Hundreds of lawsuits were filed as plaintiffs rushed to take advantage of the one-year litigation window, created by state lawmakers this year to give people who say they were victims a second chance to sue over abuse that, in many cases, happened decades ago.

https://ktla.com/2019/08/14/sex-abuse-victims-of-boy-scouts-catholic-clergy-epstein-sue-as-new-york-opens-litigation-window/ 

Over 400 sex abuse suits filed as one-year window opens for litigation in New York state

The Roman Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts, schools and hospitals, the late financier Jeffrey Epstein are some of the targets named in a flurry of sex abuse lawsuits filed Wednesday in New York as the state began accepting cases once blocked by the statute of limitations. Hundreds of lawsuits were filed as plaintiffs rushed to take advantage of the one-year litigation window, created by state lawmakers this year to give people who say they were victims a second chance to sue over abuse that, in many cases, happened decades ago.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/08/15/world/crime-legal-world/400-sex-abuse-suits-filed-ny-litigation-one-year-window-opens/#.XVTlk0H7KUk 

George Pell's appeal against his child sex abuse convictions will be decided by a court next week

Cardinal George Pell could be released from custody next week if his appeal against his child sex abuse convictions is successful.
Key points: If the jury's verdict is judged to be unreasonable, Pell's conviction will be overturned If the judges find the court erred, a retrial could be ordered

The appeal outcome could itself be subject to a High Court appeal The Victorian Court of Appeal will rule on whether to overturn Pell's convictions for sexually abusing two choirboys when he was archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s. It was announced today that judgment will be handed down on Wednesday, August 21.

A jury found Pell guilty last December of sexual penetration of a child under 16 and four counts of committing an indecent act with a child, making him the highest ranked Catholic cleric ever convicted of child sex abuse. Three judges have scrutinised the case and will take their seats behind the bench to announce their decision from 9:30am on Wednesday. The proceedings will be live streamed on the Supreme Court of Victoria's website. So what are the possible outcomes?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-15/george-pells-child-sex-abuse-appeal-court-decision-explainer/11250226 

R.I. Catholic Diocese to turn over 70 years of records to attorney general

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence that will provide access to diocesan files and records dating back to 1950 as part of its ongoing review of allegations of clergy child sex abuse. The review, in conjunction with the Rhode Island State Police, is meant to identify any prosecutable cases and make sure that no credibly accused clergy members are in active ministry, according to a statement from the Attorney General’s Office.

https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190723/ri-catholic-diocese-to-turn-over-70-years-of-records-to-attorney-general 

After new reports on German choir abuses, bishop vows to boost prevention

A German bishop has vowed to intensify “preventive measures” after two church-sponsored reports confirmed systemic violence and abuse at his diocese’s cathedral schools between 1945 and 1995, including 30 years when their famous choir was run by Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, brother of retired Pope Benedict XVI. “The goal (of the reports), using methods and mechanisms of social psychology, was to identify factors which encouraged these cases,” said Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg.

http://catholicphilly.com/2019/07/news/world-news/after-new-reports-on-german-choir-abuses-bishop-vows-to-boost-prevention/ 

Lawsuit: Priest forced Asan altar boy to clean bathroom in the nude then abused him in '72

A lawsuit filed on Thursday alleges Monsignor Jose Ada Leon Guerrero sexually abused an Asan altar boy in early 1970s, starting with forcing him to clean a church bathroom in the nude as punishment for telling on another boy's marijuana use. Leon Guerrero, now deceased, allegedly sexually abused the minor boy for two to three months before the youth quit being an altar boy in 1972, the lawsuit says.

https://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2019/07/25/lawsuit-priest-forced-asan-boy-clean-bathroom-naked-then-abused-him/1824319001/ 

Release of abuse allegations 'painful,' but 'right thing to do'

As the Archdiocese of St. Louis released a list of names of archdiocesan clergy with substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor July 26, Archbishop Robert J. Carlson acknowledged that seeing the names "will be painful" and publishing them "will not change the past." "Nothing will" change the past "but publishing their names is the right thing to do," he said in a message to the faithful of the archdiocese, and it fulfills a promise he made last September to do so.

https://www.catholicregister.org/home/international/item/29970-release-of-abuse-allegations-painful-but-right-thing-to-do 

Monsignor tells girl to seek forgiveness, pray for accusing priest of sexual abuse

A former Guam resident now living in California on Wednesday filed a lawsuit alleging Father Raymond Cepeda sexually abused her around 1994 or 1995. The lawsuit says Monsignor Zoilo Camacho ordered the girl to seek God's forgiveness and say multiple prayers "for accusing Cepeda unjustly," causing the girl to feel abandoned and humiliated.

https://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2019/07/31/lawsuit-monsignor-tells-girl-pray-after-priest-accused-abuse/1875074001/ 

Devastating Report Confirms Ecclesiastical Abuse in Chile

The long history of sexual abuse and crime in the Catholic Church in Chile added another chapter with a devastating report on the deplorable attitude of late venerated Priest Renato Poblete. The report is the result of a canonical investigation conducted by the Society of Jesus following a complaint of sexual abuse, power and conscience presented by Marcela Aranda, who got pregnant with the priest and he forced her to have an abortion.

https://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=45003&SEO=devastating-report-confirms-ecclesiastical-abuse-in-chile 

Woman who kept her abuse by a priest secret for 66 years gets six-figure settlement

It took a brush with mortality to convince the now 85-year-old woman to “put all of her ducks in a row” and file a report against the Rev. Martin J. Fleming, her lawyer revealed Wednesday. Fleming in 1940 committed “two acts of childhood sexual abuse against 'Jane Doe' after her mother passed away,” attorney Michael Garabedian said in a statement. “She has been attempting to heal ever since.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/woman-who-kept-her-abuse-priest-secret-66-years-gets-n1037296 

Mural depicting Cardinal Pell painted near Vatican

Kneeling and shackled, Cardinal Goerge Pell is portrayed as shadowed by a demonic figure in a mural that popped up near the Vatican on Tuesday. The mural is the work of Australian artist Scott Marsh who had previously painted this image in Sydney. ROME - A large mural depicting Australian Cardinal George Pell shadowed by a demonic figure while handcuffed and wearing a prison tracksuit appeared on Tuesday about 50 yards away from the Vatican.

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-oceania/2019/07/31/mural-depicting-cardinal-pell-painted-near-vatican/ 

'Extensive violent abuse' at leading German choir school

The success of the choir had been more important than the wellbeing of the pupils, and the abuse had been worst in the preparatory school. Two new studies of the clerical abuse at the prestigious Regensburg Domspatzen choir, presented in Regensburg on 22 July, reject emeritus Pope Benedict’s view that the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church was a consequence of the pedagogy practised since the 1968 reform movement.

https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/11933/-extensive-violent-abuse-at-leading-german-choir-school- 

Best governance for Catholic organisations

A governance standard based on the corporate world may not be the best one for Catholic organisations, as their (Catholic groups’) outcomes are based on the Church’s mission and not profit. This was one of the points robustly discussed by 20 chief executive officers and chairs of Catholic business organisations from Australia and New Zealand at a programme hosted by the Australian Catholic University in Rome in the last week of May.

https://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/2019/07/25/best-governance-for-catholic-organisations/ 

Abuse: a pastor asks forgiveness for priests – congregation turns against him

frustration, indignation and bewilderment: After a controversial sermon in Münster to sexual abuse and forgiveness have been many Church-members against the criticized the pastor. These have drawn Parallels between failed marriages and the pastors exerted sexual violence, criticised a speaker who had participated in the scandal-worship at the end of June.

https://www.ccdiscovery.com/abuse-a-pastor-asks-forgiveness-for-priests-congregation-turns-against-him

A Response to Bishop Robert Barron’s ‘Letter to a Suffering Church’

"Why stay Catholic with so much scandals?" asks Bp. Robert Barron in his book Letter to a Suffering Church. The main thesis of the small book is that Catholics, scandalized by the sex abuse scandal, should not abandon the Church which historically has gone through equally trying times.

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/a-response-to-bishop-robert-barrons-letter-to-a-suffering-church

‘This is just the tip of the iceberg’: Six Michigan priests charged with sex abuse — and more victims are calling police ‘daily’

.In what prosecutors are calling “just the tip of the iceberg,” the pastor of a Catholic church in Waterford Township has been taken into custody and charged with criminal sexual conduct involving a minor. According to the Oakland Press, Father Joseph Baker, a pastor at St. Perpetua Parish since 2008, was arrested Monday morning by investigators from the attorney general’s office — making him the sixth priest apprehended in a far-reaching investigation.

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/07/this-is-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-six-michigan-priests-charged-with-sex-abuse-and-more-victims-are-calling-police-daily/ 

Confidence in Organized Religion at All-time Low in the U.S.

The data comes from a Gallup poll conducted from June 3rd to the 16th. The intent of the poll was to find out about the level of Americans confidence in “the church or organized religion” as well as 14 different institutions. Read more at World Religion News: "Confidence in Organized Religion at All-time Low in the U.S." https://www.worldreligionnews.com/?p=62628

https://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/confidence-organized-religion-time-low-u-s 

German Church can’t transform through quick ‘fixes’, Pope says

No quick “fixes” or organisational change will renew the Catholic Church in Germany, Pope Francis has said, maintaining that what is needed is a spiritual renewal and Gospel transparency. In a letter to “the pilgrim people of God in Germany”, published by the Vatican, the Pope said efforts to eliminate tension solely by “being in order and in harmony” would ultimately “numb and domesticate the heart of our people and diminish and even silence the vital and evangelical strength the Spirit wants to give us”.

https://www.irishcatholic.com/german-church-cant-transform-through-quick-fixes-pope-says/ 

featured Yakima Diocese names 21 known sex abusers within clergy

The Catholic Diocese of Yakima on Wednesday released what it says is a complete list of priests and clergymembers who committed sexual abuse while in the church. The list includes victimizers both living and dead, who served in parishes throughout the eastern Washington diocese. None are any longer serving in the ministry, but during their tenure priests named on the list attended the faithful in Ephrata, Moses Lake, Quincy, the Wenatchee Valley, Waterville, Chelan, Ellensburg and elsewhere.

http://www.ifiberone.com/columbia_basin/yakima-diocese-names-known-sex-abusers-within-clergy/article_b4d4bbea-a364-11e9-ba47-130dae13557c.html 

First Female Pastor Of Renowned Riverside Church Is Out After Making Harassment Allegation

Even in a progressive bastion like New York's Riverside Church — which touts LGBTQ equity, supports immigrants and focuses on environmental justice — one high-ranking woman seems to have been ousted in the aftermath of sexual harassment allegations. The church has been at the forefront of progressive Christian leadership since its inception in 1930.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliesachmechi/2019/07/12/first-female-pastor-of-renowned-riverside-church-is-out-after-making-harassment-allegation/#22c8f99c121f 

Suit alleges ‘Father Gerry’ sexually abused boys in his care

Gerald R. Miller, once known as “Father Gerry” to Altamont and Hilltown residents, has been accused of sexually assaulting two boys who had lived in his group home in Knox in the 1980s. Attorneys Martin Smalline and JoAnn Harri filed a complaint in May on behalf of their clients; a narrative attached to the complaint describes how the men were drugged and raped as teenagers by Miller.

https://altamontenterprise.com/07112019/suit-alleges-father-gerry-sexually-abused-boys-his-care 

Feminist theologian Dr. Mary E. Hunt kicks off DignityUSA conference

Hunt told the 325 attendees how happy she is that Dignity is celebrating 50 years as an organization, especially because each LGBTQ member continues to live their truth. She spoke about what Dignity's history means, looked at how things have changed over the past 10 years and remarked on what her dreams are for the centenary of the organization.

http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Feminist-theologian-Dr-Mary-E-Hunt-kicks-off-DignityUSA-conference/66553.html 

Priest Sexual Abuse Survivor John 'Tim' McGuire Pickets Churches

John Timothy 'Tim' McGuire told The Day what hurts most is being accused by Catholic congregants of looking for a payday. The 60-year-old New London man who says he was sexually abused when he was an 8-year-old altar boy by a Noank priest has taken to the street to open a dialogue he told the paper, and that conversation begins with picket signs he holds outside of local Roman Catholic churches.

https://patch.com/connecticut/stonington/priest-sexual-abuse-survivor-john-tim-mcguire-pickets-churches 

Reedley Priest On Leave Following Two Sexual Abuse Reports. 'They Didn't Believe Me,' Survivor Says

A Reedley priest who was accused of sexual abuse by two women earlier this week was put on paid administrative leave Thursday, officials at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno confirmed. Sylvia Gomez Ray, 52, spoke publicly about the alleged abuse she experienced in the 1980s from Msgr. John Esquivel on Monday in front of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Bakersfield. At the time, Gomez Ray was a secretary at St. Joseph’s.

https://www.kvpr.org/post/reedley-priest-leave-following-two-sexual-abuse-reports-they-didnt-believe-me-survivor-says 

Priest accused yet again – two men say he raped them in Brooklyn grade school

Two men have accused a priest, who is now dead, of raping them in the rectory at their Brooklyn parish in the 1980s, the Daily News has learned. The allegations were laid out Friday in an order to show cause filed by their lawyer, Keith Sullivan, in Brooklyn State Supreme Court, which names the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Church of St. Patrick. They have accused the Rev. John Abrams of raping them when they were students and altar boys at St. Patrick Catholic elementary school in Bay Ridge.

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-st-patrick-brooklyn-priest-rape-accusations-20190623-vt4wuru3vbferbv3oscpyqc32y-story.html 

Spanish prosecutors want inquiry into church sex abuse cases

Spain’s public prosecutors are suggesting opening a national investigation into the sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church, the first such official proposal in the country. In a written report to the Ministry of Justice, the Spanish prosecutor’s office says that new ways to face “a criminal reality of undoubted gravity” should include learning from the national commissions set up in Australia and the Netherlands, and the investigation led by bishops in Austria.

https://www.news957.com/world/2019/06/24/spanish-prosecutors-want-inquiry-into-church-sex-abuse-cases/ 

Thinking about married priests: Has this issue outgrown old 'left' vs. 'right' framework?

Long ago — in the mid-1980s — I covered an event in Denver that drew quite a few conservative Catholic leaders. There was lots of time to talk, in between sessions. During one break, I asked a small circle of participants to tell me what they thought were the biggest challenges facing the Catholic church. This was about the time — more than 30 years ago — laypeople people began talking about the surge in reports about clergy sexual abuse of children and teens.

https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2019/6/22/thinking-about-married-priests-has-this-issue-outgrown-old-left-vs-right-framework 

Australia: On Appeal: Cardinal Pell Historic Child Sexual Abuse Case

Cardinal George Pell has long been a controversial figure in Australian society. To many he is a longstanding symbol of conservative Australian Catholicism whose aggressive reputation in respect of the defence of historical child sexual abuse cases involving the Catholic Church was confirmed during his testimony at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

https://www.clydeco.com/insight/article/on-appeal-cardinal-pell-historic-child-sexual-abuse-case?utm_source=Mondaq&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=View-Original 

Tasmanian priest reveals own sexual abuse at hands of Catholic church

A parish priest in Tasmania has revealed for the first time he himself was abused by a priest as a schoolboy at Burnie's Marist Regional College, and says he wants to encourage others to come forward.  Father John Girdauskas told the ABC he was first sexually abused by Father Laurie Gallagher in the 1970s, when he was 14.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-24/catholic-priest-reveals-his-own-abuse-as-a-schoolboy/11241034 

Bp. Strickland demands that laypeople be allowed to investigate abuser bishops

Bishop Joseph Strickland called for the U.S. bishops to support proposed efforts before them to reveal specifics related to the scandal surrounding disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Speaking from the floor of the spring General Assembly last Thursday, Strickland expressed support for what Jefferson City, Mo., bishop Shawn McKnight had said earlier: that lay involvement is mandatory in dealing with holding bishops for either sex abuse or its cover-up.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bp-strickland-demands-that-laypeople-be-allowed-to-investigate-abuser-bishops 

Roman Catholic church could allow married men to become priests

The Vatican formally opened debate Monday on letting married men be ordained as priests in remote parts of the Amazon where priests are so few that Catholics can go weeks or months without attending a Mass. The call for study on the proposal was contained in the working document, released Monday, for an October meeting of South American bishops on the Amazon.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/roman-catholic-church-could-allow-married-men-to-become-priests-1.4471033 

Catholic Diocese of Buffalo abuse victim alleges cover-up

James Bottlinger said he was prepared to take his secret to the grave. But watching others speak out about the Catholic Church's handling of its child sexual abuse scandal gave him his "voice." Bottlinger rejected what is reportedly the largest compensation settlement ever offered by the Diocese of Buffalo, $650,000, because he says he wants answers instead regarding why church leaders repeatedly exposed children to a priest that they knew was a pedophile.

https://www.niagara-gazette.com/news/local_news/abuse-victim-alleges-cover-up/article_6b293100-e9b9-5b5b-b972-0acbbf991674.html 

The Catholic hierarchy still doesn’t get it

After decades of broken promises to clean up the Roman Catholic Church’s sexual-abuse scandal, American bishops made another attempt at reform last week. Unfortunately, the new measures adopted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops once again reinforce the idea that the church can investigate itself.

 https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/The-Catholic-hierarchy-still-doesn-t-get-it-14020579.php

Catholic church launches review into Texas priest accused of seducing woman during confession

The Catholic Church in Texas said it was reviewing allegations against a top priest accused of seducing a married woman while hearing her confessions. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston — which is led by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference — announced the review Friday, saying the confession issue was a “new development.”

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-catholic-church-to-review-texas-sex-abuse-case-20190608-lbhimr5shvgotmvolk5yox3ydu-story.html

Divorcing God Survivor Andrew Madden reveals clerical abuse ruined future to be priest

In Divorcing God, the comedian looks at whether we should completely cut our connection to the Catholic Church, or whether it would mean some of our charities and traditions would be ruined. Growing up as a gay man in Monaghan, he said: "I never heard anything homophobic from the altar but at the same time I never heard anything positive.

https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/4199059/andrew-madden-clerical-abuse-ruined-priest-documentary-oliver-callan/ 

Court orders Polish Church to hand over paedophilia file

A Polish court has ordered church authorities to hand over to prosecutors classified files regarding a paedophilia case, in a rare example of a clash between the state and the powerful Catholic Church in deeply devout Poland. The order came two days before the Vatican’s leading sexual abuse investigator, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, was due to visit Poland to train senior clergy on how to tackle the problem, prompting hopes for greater empathy towards victims.

https://www.euronews.com/2019/06/11/court-orders-polish-church-to-hand-over-paedophilia-file 

Florida Catholic church sex abuse investigation shrouded in secrecy

Roman Catholic Bishops were in Baltimore on Tuesday to confront the reignited sex abuse crisis. They're looking at increasing their accountability when it comes to sex abuse cases. Several Attorneys General, including Florida's, launched state investigations after a Pennsylvania Grand Jury report in August detailed hundreds of cases of alleged abuse.

https://www.nbc-2.com/story/40628798/florida-catholic-church-sex-abuse-investigation-shrouded-in-secrecy 

Statue of child-abusing priest removed from sight in Poland

A statue featuring a priest suspected of child sex abuse has been removed from the grounds of Poland’s major Catholic pilgrimage site in Lichen. The move comes shortly before Poland’s bishops are to meet with the Vatican’s sex crimes investigator, Archbishop Charles Scicluna. The bishops recently acknowledged there were hundreds of child sex abuse cases against priests in Poland. They are criticized for covering up the cases.

https://www.citynews1130.com/2019/06/12/statue-of-child-abusing-priest-removed-from-sight-in-poland/ 

Abolish the Priesthood

Abolish the Priesthood To save the Church, Catholics must detach themselves from the clerical hierarchy—and take the faith back into their own hands. “The Murder of a Soul” To feel relief at my mother’s being dead was once unthinkable, but then the news came from Ireland. It would have crushed her. An immigrant’s daughter, my mother lived with an eye cast back to the old country, the land against which she measured every virtue. Ireland was heaven to her, and the Catholic Church was heaven’s choir. Then came the Ryan Report.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/06/to-save-the-church-dismantle-the-priesthood/588073/ 

U.S. Catholic bishops approve new national sex abuse reporting hotline

U.S. Catholic bishops voted Wednesday to create a new national sex-abuse hotline run by an independent entity, a decision that represents one of the church’s most tangible steps yet in confronting its sex-abuse crisis. The hotline, which would field allegations that bishops committed abuse or covered it up, would take complaints by telephone and through an online link. It’s supposed to be operating within a year.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5384815/catholic-sex-abuse-hotline/ 

Madison Catholic Diocese hires detectives to probe clergy sexual abuse

The Catholic Diocese of Madison said Wednesday that private investigators have been hired to review personnel files in a probe of child sexual abuse by members of the clergy. “The Diocese of Madison reaffirms its commitment to protect children and young people, as well as to be open and transparent with victims, faithful Catholics and the larger community,” the diocese said in a statement.

https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/madison-catholic-diocese-hires-detectives-to-probe-clergy-sexual-abuse/article_afc2e437-999e-58c3-ab56-5aa004822e7c.html 

New sex-abuse reporting hotline OK’d by Catholic bishops

Rape is a crime against the law.... First report the crime to the POLICE... then the police will go to the church,,, Ann

===============================

U.S. Catholic bishops voted Wednesday to create a new national sex-abuse hotline run by an independent entity, a decision that represents one of the church’s most tangible steps yet in confronting its sex-abuse crisis. The hotline, which would field allegations that bishops committed abuse or covered it up, would take complaints by telephone and through an online link. It’s supposed to be operating within a year.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nation-and-world/new-sex-abuse-reporting-hotline-okd-by-catholic-bishops-1686197/ 

Lawsuit: Priest tells Barrigada boy he sexually abused for 2 years not to tell anyone

Father Louis Brouillard threatened to put a belt across a boy's mouth if he screamed and told him not to tell anyone, especially his mother, about the sexual abuses that lasted about two years in the 1970s, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court on Thursday. The plaintiff is identified in court documents only as D.N. to protect his privacy.

https://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2019/06/13/lawsuit-priest-tells-boy-not-tell-anyone-his-sexual-abuses/1441649001/ 

Prosecutors urge appeals court to uphold George Pell's convictions

Prosecutors argued in an Australian court on Thursday that child sex convictions against a Roman Catholic cardinal should not be overturned and said his accuser had been a compelling witness. Cardinal George Pell, 77, is the most senior Catholic to be convicted of children sex abuse and is appealing those guilty verdicts in the Victoria state Court of Appeal. He attended the hearing for a second day, wearing a cleric's collar and occasionally taking notes.

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/heather-du-plessis-allan-drive/audio/murray-olds-prosecutors-urge-appeals-court-to-uphold-george-pells-convictions/ 

Accused California Priest Smears Victims

A small California community in shock after its beloved pastor was suspended over allegations of homosexual predation. The case, involving abuse of young men, with evidence of at least one suicide, is exposing homosexuality and financial corruption in the Fresno diocese, under a bishop who appeared to look the other way.

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/accused-california-priest-smears-victims 

Cardinal Pell awaits the result of his appeal

I have heard it all now... some calling Pell a Martyr...
How can Pell be a Martyr when he covered up child rape... he turned many young men and women away... and spoke down to them... is it that you are taking the part of the catholic church... because you do not want to be seen... as helping the survivors of rape and abuse... by the catholic church nuns and priest... there comes a time when you have to put your feeling aside... and think what would Jesus do if he was on this earth today... He would look at His lost children... and gather then around Him... He would cast those also... who covered up the rape and abuse of His children... so as the crime of His servants would disappear...

I don't know in which way you think about these crimes done to Jesus children... but my thoughts will always be for the weaker ones... who have left their faith... because of the rape and abuse... done to them as innocent Children of Jesus... And that is what these men and women have to answer to Jesus for ... Would you say the same to all of us?... Ann

 ==================================

Cardinal George Pell’s conviction for historic child abuse has provoked intense interest in Australia and around the world. So far he has served about a hundred days of his six-year sentence. On Wednesday and Thursday his lawyer appeared before a Court of Appeal in an attempt to have the verdict overturned.

https://www.mercatornet.com/above/view/cardinal-pell-await-the-results-of-his-appeal/22538 

Law Firm’s List Names 43 Accused Priests in Fresno Diocese

Anderson & Associates announced the list of alleged sexually abusive Catholic clergy in a press conference in Fresno on Wednesday. During the press conference, Minnesota-based attorney Jeff Anderson told reporters, "We're here because the diocese of Fresno and the Catholic bishops in Fresno are dirty." "They're secret keepers," he added.

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/law-firm-releases-list-of-accused-priests-in-fresno-diocese 

‘I Can No Longer Continue to Live Here’

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — In a small town tucked in the hills outside Tegucigalpa, there is a stuffed gray bunny rabbit that knows a little girl’s secrets. “I tell him all my things,” she says. “About how I’m doing, and when I feel sad.” She feels sad a lot lately. “I start thinking about things that I shouldn’t be thinking,” she says.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/06/07/domestic-violence-immigration-asylum-caravan-honduras-central-america-227086 

Taking Action Against Church Corruption

Investigative journalists, whistleblowers and law enforcement working together. Church Militant is launching its Action Arm whereby investigative journalists, whistleblowers and law enforcement can coordinate their efforts in a secure manner to put corrupt clerics behind bars. Incriminating evidence from inside sources alone is not enough to take out bad bishops as seen by the recent case of Bp. Michael J. Bransfield, former bishop of the Wheeling-Charleston diocese.

 https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/taking-action-against-church-corruption

Northern Ireland parties draft response to Secretary of State on historical abuse

The BBC reports the parties have drafted a letter saying victims of historical institutional abuse should receive £10,000 instead of the proposed £7,500. That relatives of those deceased should received 100% of an award for compensation. And an application for those deceased should be dated 1953 as opposed to 2011. The letter is expected to be approved by the parties and then sent to Karen Bradley.

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-parties-draft-response-to-secretary-of-state-on-historical-abuse-report-38192837.html 

Sexual misconduct with adults next scandal facing the U.S. Church

As the U.S. bishops prepare to meet next week for their general assembly in Baltimore, they must be hoping it won’t be a repeat of this one. The bishops were hoping to finalize a tough new policy on child sex abuse and - even more importantly - abuse cover-up, after the Vatican put a halt on the issue during the USCCB’s fall assembly last year.

https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2019/06/07/sexual-misconduct-with-adults-next-scandal-facing-the-u-s-church/

Pell sued by victim for 'failure to protect' him from notorious abuser

A man abused by notorious paedophile Christian Brother Edward 'Ted' Dowlan is suing George Pell, alleging the disgraced cardinal did nothing to protect him. The man was a student at East Melbourne's Cathedral College when he was abused by Dowlan, who was first jailed in the 1990s for abusing boys in the 1970s and 1980s.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/pell-sued-by-victim-for-failure-to-protect-him-from-notorious-abuser-20190607-p51vkz.html 

Former altar boy alleges abuse by clergymen

A new lawsuit filed against the Capuchin Franciscans and Archdiocese of Agana alleges a former Catholic school student was sexually abused in the early 1970s by a church deacon and priest who went on to be a monsignor. G.G.G., using his initials for anonymity, filed a civil complaint in the District Court of Guam on Friday naming the late deacon Anthony Perez and the late Monsignor Louis Antonelli.

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/former-altar-boy-alleges-abuse-by-clergymen/article_77c91cca-88f5-11e9-9be7-b312bb31540d.html 

Bishop says church was not trying to hide files

The Latest on police searching the Catholic Diocese of Dallas (all times local): 4:30 p.m. Bishop Edward Burns has brushed aside statements in a police affidavit that his diocese stymied efforts to obtain files about clerical abuse, saying church officials are being as transparent as possible. The bishop for the Catholic Diocese of Dallas responded at a press conference to sworn statements from a city police investigator.

https://kristv.com/news/state-news/2019/05/15/the-latest-investigation-led-to-other-church-abuse-claims/ 

C’mon Pope Francis: You Can Do Better Than That

Pope Francis has received positive headlines for his new regulations requiring priests and members of orders to report child sex abuse to the governing bishop or superior, and some changes in the church’s investigation process. Lawmakers must stop waiting for the Church to fix itself.

https://verdict.justia.com/2019/05/10/cmon-pope-francis-you-can-do-better-than-that 

Pope orders abuse to be reported, bishops to be investigated

Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking new church law Thursday requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups by their superiors to church authorities, in a new effort to hold the Catholic hierarchy accountable for failing to protect their flocks.

https://www.hotsr.com/news/2019/may/10/pope-orders-abuse-to-be-reported-bishop/

President criticises those who perpetuated and ignored institutional abuse

Welcoming survivors from the Christine Buckley Centre to the Aras today, a charity which supports those who suffered trauma while in industrial schools and other historic institutions, Michael D Higgins condemned those who turned a blind eye to the “trauma inflicted on children by the failures of the Irish state”, and “distortion of religious ideology” that perpetuated the abuse.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/president-criticises-those-who-perpetuated-and-ignored-institutional-abuse-923289.html 

Bishop Brennan, Diocese of Fresno issued a statement regarding victims of abuse by the clergy

Bishop Joseph Brennan of the Diocese of Fresno issued a statement regarding victims of abuse by the clergy. photo Bishop Joseph Brennan of the Diocese of Fresno issued a statement May 10, 2019 regarding victims of abuse by the clergy. Earlier this week, a protest was held in Fresno by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which is also known as SNAP. It's demanding that the bishop release a list of priests and clergy accused of sexual abuse. The group says the bishop's statement "falls short" of showing compassion for victims. In response to Brennan's statement Friday, SNAP says:

https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/bishop-brennan-diocese-of-fresno-issued-a-statement-regardingvictims-of-abuseby-the-clergy/1995761630 

Catholic missionaries woo ‘nones’ on college campuses

More than 20% of all adults and over a third of millennials in the United States are not affiliated with a religion. For at least a decade, this number has been on the rise. Sexual abuse by clergy and a poor response by the church hierarchy has led many young Catholics to lose trust in their religious institution. Some 36% of those without religious affiliation report having grown up Catholic.

https://the-journal.com/articles/138158 

Overdue crackdown

hose who created/encouraged the mindset that to even talk about sexual misconduct would invite the proverbial “fires of Hell” will now have to be wary ~ the principle of accountability has been established, and it will progressively extend itself into all spheres of the Church’s functioning. The revised legal framework that Pope Francis has just prescribed to deal with sexual abuse could go down in history as the most progressive reform that the Catholic church has initiated since the Second Vatican Council of the early 1960s.

https://www.thestatesman.com/opinion/overdue-crackdown-1502754234.html 

Seth Meyers Lives In A Bubble

In his NBC-TV show this week, Seth Meyers told viewers that “Pope Francis has announced new rules designed to change how the Catholic Church deals with abuse accusations, and not 2,000 years too soon.” This guy lives in a bubble. There is no town or city in America that houses more sexual predators per square inch than Hollywood, yet late-night talk show hosts rarely take shots at their own home-grown molesters.

https://www.eurasiareview.com/11052019-seth-meyers-lives-in-a-bubble-oped/ 

Religion in Quebec: The bigger picture

A cross-dressing sailor deported because of her hidden religion. Bans on Protestant and Jewish immigration. A mandatory anti-pope oath for public officials. A restaurant owner’s liquor licence revoked over his Jehovah’s Witness activism. Quebec was born as a Catholic colony and the vast majority of its population still identifies with the religion, but other faiths have long been part of the province’s fabric.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/since-quebecs-early-days-religion-has-been-a-burning-issue 

SNAP, with its fiery brand of victim advocacy and support, has critics and controversy

Joey Piscitelli, Esther Hatfield Miller and a woman who identified herself as CJ, all members of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, hold signs and photos of themselves during a news conference outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno on Tuesday. They called on the bishop of the Fresno diocese to be more considerate of victims who are alleging abuse by popular Bakersfield priest Craig Harrison.

https://www.bakersfield.com/news/snap-with-its-fiery-brand-of-victim-advocacy-and-support/article_ad1fc3ce-736f-11e9-8e51-e38a1512a39c.html 

Very Deep Wound’: Sex Abuse Inaction Sees German Catholic Women Boycott Church

A grassroots women's organization in Germany has begun a week-long boycott of the Catholic church in the country in an effort to condemn sexual abuse by clergy members and open the priesthood to women. Protesters plan to hold rites outside German Catholic churches in 50 locations until May 18, according to Deutsche Welle.

https://sputniknews.com/society/201905121074926723-german-catholic-women-boycott-church/

How a Catholic AG Brought Prosecutors and Priests to the Table Over Issue of Child Sex Abuse

“As Attorney General of Georgia and a Roman Catholic myself, I remain concerned and angered by reports of abuse in the Catholic Church,” Chris Carr said. “Georgians—Catholic and Non-Catholic alike—need to be certain that reports of abuse anywhere and by anyone are taken seriously and handled properly.”

https://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/2019/05/08/how-a-catholic-ag-brought-prosecutors-and-priests-to-the-table-over-issue-of-child-sex-abuse/?slreturn=20190409002646 

Ex-judge tried to intimidate investigators of Saginaw Diocese sex scandal, Attorney General says

Former Appeals Court Judge Michael Talbot, who served as the Saginaw Diocese's delegate in overseeing allegations of sexual misconduct. Talbot left that position in Oct. 2018, the diocese said. When the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw last year appointed a former Michigan Court of Appeals judge to oversee its sexual abuse scandal, prosecutors weren’t happy. They decried the judge’s appointment as inappropriate.

https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw-bay-city/2019/05/ex-judge-tried-to-intimidate-investigators-of-saginaw-diocese-sex-scandal-attorney-general-says.html 

The Seal of the Confessional Is Under Attack in California

In response to pending bill requiring Catholic priests to report child sex abuse learned about through the sacrament, priests insist on upholding sacred trust. California state Sen. Jerry Hill introduced a bill to the state Legislature on Feb. 20 that would require Catholic priests to report child sex abuse learned about in the confessional.

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/the-seal-of-the-confessional-is-under-attack-in-california

How to Write about Sex Abuse

It’s good to have a response from Paul Baumann to my article in the New Yorker (titled “Acts of Penance” in the April 15 print issue, and “What Do the Church’s Victims Deserve?” online). Paul is one of the hundred or so people I spoke with while reporting the article.

https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/how-write-about-sex-abuse

Missouri bishop urges broader approach to help survivors, parishes heal

Missouri Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City came face to face with a victim of sexual abuse long before he was a bishop, when a friend in college confided in him about a rape. That experience, as a friend of a person who has suffered similar trauma, seems to have shaped his approach as a vocal bishop denouncing the clergy sex abuse scandal, even if, at 50, he's one of the youngest and most junior members of the U.S. Catholic bishops.

 https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/missouri-bishop-urges-broader-approach-help-survivors-parishes-heal

New names surface in priest abuse scandal

An attorney representing sexual abuse victims announced new names of Catholic priests "credibly accused" of sexual abuse against minors, not publicly identified by the Archdiocese of Boston. Attorney Mitchell Garabedian said during Tuesday's press conference that his client, 37-year-old Nadine Tifft, was sexually abused as a minor at the hands of then Boston Archdiocese priest Rev. John Sweeney.

http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/news/ci_32619928/new-names-surface-priest-abuse-scandal 

AG's Office: Charges related to Catholic Church investigation could be announced soon

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel could announce charges related to her office's investigation into the Catholic Church soon. Nessel's spokeswoman, Kelly Rossman-McKinney, tells the Detroit News several assistant attorneys general are assigned to the investigation and have been working long hours on the case.

https://www.fox47news.com/news/local-news/ags-office-charges-related-to-catholic-church-investigation-could-be-announced-soon 

N.J. priest sex abuse hotline has generated ‘hundreds of leads,’ AG says. The phones were ‘ringing off the hook.’

N.J. Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said a state hotline to report sexual abuse by clergy has generated many investigative leads A special hotline to report sexual abuse by clergy has generated hundreds of possible leads for criminal investigators, according to New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, who said the state’s five Catholic dioceses have been cooperating with his office.

https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/05/nj-priest-sex-abuse-hotline-has-generated-hundreds-of-leads-ag-says-the-phones-were-ringing-off-the-hook.html

Former Catholic priest ‘who got teen, 14, pregnant’ allowed to keep job as teacher

A TEACHER who got a 14-year-old girl pregnant while he was a Catholic priest can keep his job at a school, an arbitrator has ruled. Former Reverend Joseph DeShan, 59, began teaching in New Jersey in 1996 — six years after he impregnated the teen, who worked in his parish rectory in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the state ruling said.

https://www.thesun.ie/news/4067040/former-catholic-priest-who-got-teen-14-pregnant-allowed-to-keep-job-as-teacher/ 

George Weigel, wrong then, wrong now

The Catholic University of America decided to give the final guest speaker spot in its commendable series of four programs examining the priest sex abuse crisis to George Weigel. That was unfortunate, because his long-discredited narrative about the causes of the scandal and his illusory ideas about how to deal with it do a great disservice to the Catholic faithful in this moment when so much of the church is finally squaring up to the awful truth.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/editorial-george-weigel-wrong-then-wrong-now 

Pope Francis moves gay man to tears with consoling words about homosexuality and dignity

Pope Francis caused a man who identified as homosexual to cry when he told him that a person has “dignity” no matter if the person has homosexual tendencies “like this or has an attitude like this.” The man later interpreted the Pope’s words as an affirmation of his homosexuality and a message against those “who hold extreme religious views of anti-homosexuality.”

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-moves-gay-man-to-tears-with-consoling-words-about-homosexuality-and-dignity 

List Of 44 Sacramento-Area Priests Accused Of Sex Abuse Released

A Northern California newspaper has released a list of more than 40 Sacramento-area priests accused of sexual abuse. The Sacramento Bee published the list Tuesday containing the names of 44 priests and two permanent deacons in the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento. They were credibly accused of sexually abusing about 130 victims in the past 70 years.

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/04/30/list-of-44-sacramento-area-priests-accused-of-sex-abuse-released/ 

Lawsuit seeks release of Boy Scout sexual abuse files

A man who said he was abused by a Boy Scouts troop leader in the 1980s announced a lawsuit against the organization Tuesday, joining others nationwide who are pushing to open long-secret files containing the names of scout volunteers who were banned or considered risks for child sexual abuse.

http://www.startribune.com/lawsuit-seeks-release-of-boy-scout-sexual-abuse-files/509276191/ 

Chilean bishops, prosecutors seek probe into sexual abuse committed by Church members

Chilean bishops and prosecutors signed an agreement to streamline criminal investigations of sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic Church, the public ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The cooperation agreement facilitates the exchange of information around cases involving the abuse of children and handicapped people, while protecting the identities of victims and witnesses.

https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/international/498508-chilean-bishops-prosecutors-seek-probe-into-sexual-abuse-committed-by-church-members 

Statewide investigation launched into sex abuse allegations in Catholic Church

Georgia has become the latest state to launch an investigation into past sexual abuse claims within the Catholic Church, Attorney General Chris Carr said Tuesday. The repercussions could be widespread. In Pennsylvania, a grand jury report identified hundreds of priests accused of molesting at least 1,000 minors over the past seven decades in that state.

https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional/statewide-investigation-looks-at-sex-abuse-allegations-in-Catholic-Church/vDEyo8wwtCN57gRr20TchP/ 

Impregnated child but still teaching in NJ: Advocates fault limits on the law

A national organization representing sex-abuse survivors is calling on Catholic Church officials to help oust a defrocked priest who was once accused of impregnating an underage girl but who now works in this public school district. New Jersey 101.5 reported on Monday that a state Department of Education arbitrator blocked the district from firing middle school English teacher Joseph DeShan after parents raised concerns with his past.

https://nj1015.com/impregnated-child-but-still-teaching-in-nj-advocates-fault-limits-on-law/ 

Man Says His Alleged Abuser Was Not On Sacramento Diocese’s List

Kurt Hoffman was a freshman at Jesuit High School and on the swim team when he says his coach, Brother William Farrington, sexually assaulted him. "I was 14 years old in 1987 in the spring when he assaulted me," Hoffman said. Hoffman addressed the media Tuesday, the same day the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento released a list of more than 40 priests and deacons accused of sexual abuse. Cases were dated from the 1950s up to as recent as 2014.

https://fox40.com/2019/04/30/man-says-his-alleged-abuser-was-not-on-sacramento-dioceses-list/ 

2019-2020 Notre Dame Forum to address Church sex abuse crisis

The 2019-2020 Notre Dame Forum, titled “Rebuild My Church: Crisis and Response” will focus on the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, University President Fr. John Jenkins announced in press release Wednesday. “While we must never fail to be honest and forthright about terrible acts of abuse and failures of oversight, the forum is designed to be constructive and forward-looking,” Jenkins said in the release.

https://ndsmcobserver.com/2019/05/2019-2020-notre-dame-forum-to-address-church-sex-abuse-crisis/ 

'I was 10 years old': Sacramento man says he was abused by one of the priests on the list released list by the diocese

"He would give us alcohol and would get us drunk on the way home. He played little games and start touching the legs. It was hard to grow up as a kid with that in your mind." Anthony Cano, 59, says he was just 10 years old when he was abused by a Sacramento priest. His abuser was just named publicly, Tuesday, with the release of all the priests and deacons in the Sacramento diocese who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors and young people.

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/crime/i-was-10-years-old-sacramento-man-says-he-was-abused-by-one-of-the-priests-on-the-list-released-list-by-the-diocese/103-7c1e8de3-85b7-4a6d-a92c-c31268c811d6 

Church in Latin America faces crises from without and within

Colombian riot police block the way to the Colombian side in the Colombian-Venezuelan border in Cucuta April 2, 2019. There’s no such thing as a dull moment when it comes to the Catholic Church in Latin America, Pope Francis’s backyard and home to an estimated 40 percent of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-americas/2019/05/01/church-in-latin-america-faces-crises-from-without-and-within/ 

'Hail Satan ?' documentary sparks debate

Hours before its opening night Father Larry Gosselin of Old Mission Santa Barbara sent a message to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival urging the Executive Director Roger Durling not to allow the documentary 'Hail Satan?' to screen in the community. The note said: Dear Roger, With all my due respect and appreciation for you, and all that SBIFF brings to our community, I must express my grave concern and disappointment in learning of you bringing this film "Hail Satan" to our community.

https://www.keyt.com/news/-hail-satan-documentary-sparks-debate/1073722861

Confronting the Specters A Response to Paul Elie on the Sex-Abuse Crisis

Paul Elie, a friend and valued contributor to Commonweal for nearly three decades, has written a long article for the New Yorker on the renewed upheaval over clergy sexual abuse. It is a confusing and ultimately disappointing piece, which conflates older crimes and contemporary revelations while providing little explanation for the varying patterns of priestly sexual abuse and the church’s different responses over the past fifty years.

https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/confronting-specters 

There should be no limit on reporting sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church

The latest listing of sexually abusive priests testifies to the long history of sexual misconduct by Catholic clergy (“Archdiocese of Baltimore discloses the names of 23 deceased clergy accused of child sexual abuse,” April 24). Some of the abuse cases date to the 1940s. In several cases, there is a significant gap between the time the abuse occurred and when the victim(s) reported the abuse to the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-rr-timeline-child-sexual-abuse-catholic-church-letter-20190425-story.html 

CBS 21 Special Report | Abuse allegations against a nun

WARNING: This story contains graphic content and may not be suitable for some viewers. Since the Catholic Church Grand Jury Report was released in August, PA lawmakers have been looking at strengthening laws relating to child sexual abuse. This woman, Trish Cahill, was paid an out of court settlement by a New Jersey congregation.

https://local21news.com/news/local/cbs-21-special-report-abuse-allegations-against-a-nun 

Lawmaker: Murphy To Sign Bill Easing Limits on Sex Abuse Suits Soon

The measure, nearly 10 years in the making, would greatly expand the statute of limitations on civil suits brought by victims. New Jersey will soon institute a new law giving survivors of sex abuse far more latitude in how they can seek justice in court — a measure under development for nearly a decade that supporters say would be among the most expansive in the nation.

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/19/04/25/lawmaker-murphy-to-sign-bill-easing-limits-on-sex-abuse-suits-soon/ 

Benedict didn’t request sex abuse letter be given to Abuse Summit participants, source claims

A well-placed source in Rome has corrected the plausible theory that Pope Francis and Cardinal Pietro Parolin refused Pope Emeritus Benedict’s request that his sex abuse letter be distributed to participants of the February Sex Abuse Summit. The source who is familiar with the matter told LifeSiteNews that Benedict, in fact, never made such a request.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/benedict-didnt-request-sex-abuse-letter-be-given-to-abuse-summit-participants-source-claims 

Priest's accuser was an altar boy who said abuse happened more than once

The man who has alleged sexual abuse by Monsignor Craig Harrison said he was inappropriately touched on three separate occasions while he was an altar boy at St. Joseph Church in Firebaugh, according to new information released by the Firebaugh Police Department. The victim told police he was alone with Harrison when it happened.

https://www.bakersfield.com/news/priest-s-accuser-was-an-altar-boy-who-said-abuse/article_8b2a1ba4-6869-11e9-a557-170724aac5df.html

Download lagu Two of 12 abused Turpin children read statements during parents' sentencing Mp3

A son and a daughter of David and Louise Turpin spoke out in court Friday after the parents pleaded guilty to 14 felony counts of abuse of their children over several decades.

https://youtu.be/FG9DxtjeNwg

Child abuse 'NZ's dark side'

Ending child abuse is New Zealand's "Holy Grail", Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright told a conference today. Dame Silvia opened the 10th Australasian Child Abuse and Neglect Conference in Wellington by acknowledging the child abuse issue was not new to New Zealand. "There is a dark side to our bright country. So I welcome this opportunity to challenge the darkness while thanking those who seek to change it," she said

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10368239.

Emotional London vigil honours early Irish abuse campaigner

For many of those gathered at London’s Hampstead Heath on Friday to remember the life and death of campaigner Peter Tyrrell, Ireland evokes memories of torture and shame. Like Tyrrell himself, these survivors had emigrated from an island that had made them outcasts. On April 26th, 1967, Peter Tyrrell set fire to himself on Hampstead Heath aged 51. His body was identified a year later, with torn fragments of a postcard addressed to Dr Sheehy SK, Trinity College Dublin.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/emotional-london-vigil-honours-early-irish-abuse-campaigner-1.3874077 

How Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien's Catholic priest son abused young boys and was himself assaulted in the family home as a child

JRR Tolkien's eldest son, who became a catholic priest and abused children, may have been abused as a child himself evidence suggests. The Lord of the Ring's creator's firstborn said he often woke up sharing his bed with someone else when his father's Oxford friends stayed during his 1920s childhood, in a recording made by one of his chief accusers.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6967797/JRR-Tolkiens-Catholic-priest-son-abused-young-boys-assaulted-family-home.html

Woman abused by coach says lawyers trying to make her pay Sacramento Diocese’s court fees

The sexual abuse victim of a former St. Francis High School softball coach who sued the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento for failing to protect her said Wednesday she is being unfairly made to pay the church’s court fees. Bailey Boone sued the school and church in 2017 after she was sexually abused as a 16-year-old by her St. Francis softball coach, Michael Martis. Martis pleaded guilty to having sex with minors the same year, and was sentenced to four years in prison.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article229387169.html

2 more men accuse former priest and head of Hanna Boys Center of sexual abuse

Two men have filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s office alleging they were sexually abused by the same priest when they were teens at Hanna Boys Center, an attorney for the men announced at a press conference on Wednesday. One of the alleged victims, David Ortega, 33, told the Index-Tribune that he is coming forward with his allegations of abuse from 1999 to 2001, “because it ruined my whole life,” he said, and he doesn’t “want to see that happen to any other kids.”

https://www.sonomanews.com/news/9513331-181/2-more-men-accuse-former 

Bangladeshi student burned to death by fellow students for reporting sexual harassment by head teacher

A Bangladeshi teenager who braved the shame and taboo of being sexually harassed by reporting her ordeal to officials, has been doused with kerosene at school and burned to death. Nusrat Jahan Rafi, 19, filed a complaint with local police in late March after allegedly being touched inappropriately by the head teacher at her Islamic school, also known as a madrasa, according to the BBC. A police officer filmed her distraught testimony on his mobile phone and it was leaked after the teacher was arrested.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/bangladeshi-student-burned-to-death-by-fellow-students-for-reporting-sexual-harassment-by-head-teacher 

Evil in the Church

Stuck in heavy traffic scarcely moving near Philadelphia, I came across a notice which said: “You’re not stuck in the traffic – you ARE the traffic.” I thought of that recently when I realized what a mess the Catholic church is today. We’re not suffering from the wrongs of the church, we are the church that has gone wrong.

https://barbadostoday.bb/2019/04/19/evil-in-the-church/ 

Diocese Removes Former Hunterdon Priest

A priest who formerly served in Hunterdon has been permanently removed from the priesthood, according to a press release issued today, Good Friday, by the Diocese of Metuchen. Mark Dolak, 66, served in various Catholic churches throughout the state, including St. Catherine of Siena in Pittstown. He was ordained in 1979, according to the Diocese.

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/piscataway/sections/religions-and-spirituality/articles/diocese-removes-former-hunterdon-priest-5 

Accused of abuse, ex-priest in Hunterdon is permanently removed from priesthood by Pope Francis

Accused of sexually abusing children, a Roman Catholic priest who served a church in Hunterdon County has been permanently removed from priesthood by Pope Francis. The Diocese of Metuchen on Friday -- Good Friday -- announced the laicization of Mark Dolak. He was ordained in 1979 and faced multiple accusations of abuse that were deemed credible, the diocese had announced in February.

https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/hunterdon-county/2019/04/accused-of-abuse-ex-priest-in-hunterdon-is-permanently-removed-from-priesthood-by-pope-francis.html 

Washington state passes law extending statute of limitations for victims of sexual violence

There won't be any limits for the prosecution of sex crimes against children. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed into law on Friday an extension of the statute of limitations for some cases of sexual assault and removes the statute of limitation for serious sex crimes against children.

https://thinkprogress.org/washington-state-passes-law-extending-statute-of-limitations-for-victims-of-sexual-violence-49d88db6a08e/ 

Serious charge: the Catholic Church wanted to bring criminologist Pfeiffer Silence

He is the most famous criminologist of the country, and should inform the abuse in the Catholic Church. The research project failed. Now, Christian Pfeiffer has been making some serious accusations against dignitaries of the Church, against whose abuse officer Stephan Ackermann. It’s hush money, threats, and cover-up.

https://www.ccdiscovery.com/serious-charge-the-catholic-church-wanted-to-bring-criminologist-pfeiffer-silence 

With Catholic Church in crisis, one priest forges his own spiritual path

The Catholic Church has been rocked by repeated abuse scandals. Meanwhile many Catholics in Germany are closely following reform debates about celibacy and the increased involvement of laypeople. The Church is in a phase of upheaval. It's no wonder, then, that many priests are doubting their work.

https://www.dw.com/en/with-catholic-church-in-crisis-one-priest-forges-his-own-spiritual-path/a-48358127 

VIDEO: Pope Francis’ disturbing support of a Cardinal caught covering up sex abuse

One of the most problematic aspects of Pope Francis’ pontificate has been his promotion and support for prelates who undermine Church teaching. There are numerous examples, but today on Episode 5 of The John-Henry Westen Show, I’m going to talk about one of the most disturbing and prominent cases. Cardinal Godfried Danneels died on March 14 this year.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/video-pope-francis-disturbing-support-of-a-cardinal-caught-covering-up-sex-abuse

NZ’s male sexual trauma stories: ‘We have failed to protect our children’

Each Story in this link is about the rape of little boys... teens and young men... have a video were the man will tell you in their own words of pain and torment... about the beginning of their nightmares... you will share there pain as though they are standing right in-front of you... they are very brave men... New Zealand Men who were Abuse and Raped as little boys... teens and young men... these are post which will open your eyes... in how these men kept quite... because men do not tell about the raped... which happened to them as young children... they are suppose to be tough... guys who take anything dished out to them... even near to death some of them... as they were gang raped in the Army in the showers... The army should stand up to her crimes... and pay these brave men compensation for the pain... torture... suffering they have carried all of their lives... and who have just come forward to face their abusers... they each should be given a Medal of Bravery... for even being courageous enough in challenging their abusers...

 These men are New Zealand's Heroes... Ann Free Spirit =========================================  

NZ’s male sexual trauma stories: ‘We have failed to protect our children’
WARNING: This video series has graphic descriptions of rape, sexual violation, substance abuse and discusses suicide and self-harm. It is recommended for adult audiences only. Why did 10 men and one of their partners sit down and tell their harrowing story of sexual trauma to our cameras? In the finale of the series, peer support worker Paul Davenport and Males Survivors Aotearoa national advocate Ken Clearwater talk about New Zealand’s path to ‘owning’ how badly it has ‘failed to protect children’.
NZ’s sexual trauma story: ‘We have failed to protect our children’NZ’s sexual trauma story:

Link Below
https://www.star.kiwi/challenge-the-silence/ 

Vatican safeguarding commission institutes ‘virtual survivor’s advisory panel’

Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican, April 19, 2018.  To guarantee survivors are at the center of any long-term solution the Catholic Church gives to the sexual abuse crisis, the pope’s advisory commission is instituting a Virtual Survivor’s Advisory Panel, following local initiatives in Zambia, the Philippines and Brazil.

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/04/08/vatican-safeguarding-commission-institutes-virtual-survivors-advisory-panel/

Abuse survivor finds healing at Liturgy of Lament in Glendora

Joe approached the microphone, held his handwritten index cards out in front of him, and took in a deep breath. He exhaled with grace. “My name is Joe. I’m a surviving victim … thank you.” That is how he concluded an eight-minute witness talk, with several pauses and tears, during an impactful element of a two-hour Victim Survivor Listening Session at St. Dorothy’s Church in Glendora on Thursday, April 4. But it will likely mark the beginning of Joe’s further public healing process that he wants to continue.

https://angelusnews.com/news/tom-hoffarth/abuse-survivor-finds-healing-at-liturgy-of-lament-in-glendora 

NPR: ‘N.J. Lawmakers Pass Bill To Extend Statute Of Limitations For Sex Abuse’

Lawmakers in New Jersey passed a bill to extend the statute of limitations for sex abuse to when the victim is 55, or seven years after they realize their abuse. The governor has indicated support for the bill. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Revelations of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and rampant sexual harassment allegations exposed in the #MeToo movement have brought many survivors forward.

https://www.npr.org/2019/04/05/710398103/n-j-lawmakers-pass-bill-to-extend-statute-of-limitations-for-sex-abuse 

Royal Commission deserves neither blind faith nor sanctified mistrust

Could a practising Catholic do a good, honest job of chairing the Royal Commission into Abuse in State Care and Faith-based Institutions? Yes. To disqualify chairman Sir Anand Satyanand simply on the basis of his own faith, rather than any deeds, would be to indulge intolerance.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/opinion/111879792/royal-commission-deserves-neither-blind-faith-nor-sanctified-mistrust 

Can We Ever Fairly Compensate Victims of the Catholic Church Sex Abuse Scandal?

In an article appearing in the latest issue of the New Yorker, Paul Elie takes a look at how victims of the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal are obtaining justice. Is it enough that a priest is sent to prison? How much money is fair compensation? What happens if the abuse occurred so long ago that the statute of limitations has long passed?

https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2019/04/08/can-we-ever-fairly-compensate-victims-of-the-catholic-church-sex-abuse-scandal/ 

This is a country for old men (and old archbishops)

You don’t have to be Catholic to take an interest in the announcement last week that Pope Francis has chosen the Most Rev. Wilton D. Gregory, the longtime archbishop of Atlanta, as the new head of the archdiocese of Washington, D.C. That said, the Roman Catholic Church isn’t entirely consistent about when bishops and cardinals are considered too old to serve.

https://www.postbulletin.com/opinion/other_views/commentary-this-is-a-country-for-old-men-and-old/article_ac4b8ac2-c039-5528-a0ec-497f579c3d84.html 

Letter: Lack of credibility remains in Catholic Church

The pope stopped the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops from passing their own rules for stopping the molester priests and the cover-ups by bishops at their national meeting last November. Measures should include mandated reporting of credible allegations to police and prosecutors, etc. The Vatican said it wanted to wait until Pope Francis convened all the bishops and cardinals worldwide to the Vatican in February.

https://www.sj-r.com/opinion/20190408/letter-lack-of-credibility-remains-in-catholic-church

Irish Archbishop says ”hundreds” of pedophile priests in the Irish church

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has told an Irish TV documentary on church abuse there were “hundreds” of pedophiles in the church. He stated that so many children were abused that some of the pedophile priests responsible do not even remember who their victims were. “My people will ask, for example, a priest if a new case comes up from one of these historical cases: ‘Does this name mean anything to you?’

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/diarmuid-martin-hundreds-pedophile-priests-irish-church 

Winston Peters defends Sir Anand Satyanand over sex abuse inquiry criticism

Winston Peters says Sir Anand Satyanand is an innocent victim of a "verbal hate campaign" after calls for him to step down from a state inquiry into historic abuse. Sir Anand offered to resign from his role as chairman of the Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Care and Care in Faith-Based Institutions after disclosing he's Catholic and has known Bishops in "church and social settings''. But the Deputy Prime Minister says Sir Anand is a man of great integrity and should stay.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/04/winston-peters-defends-sir-anand-satyanand-over-sex-abuse-inquiry-criticism.html 

Sexual abuse, a troubling text by Benedict XVI

A German magazine has published a long essay by the former pope who seems to take the opposite position of Pope Francis on the issue of sexual abuse. Benedict XVI has linked the 1960s sexual revolution and cliques of homosexuals in seminaries to the ongoing crisis within the Catholic Church over sexual abuse of children.

https://international.la-croix.com/news/sexual-abuse-a-troubling-text-by-benedict-xvi/9889 

Church names 12 Nevada priests ‘credibly accused’ of sexual abuse

Twelve Nevada priests have been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse, and eight of them at one point served in the Las Vegas Valley, according to the Catholic Diocese of Reno. The Reno diocese published the list Friday as a “measure of transparency and accountability,” the Rev. Randolph Calvo, the bishop of Reno, said in an open letter to parishioners.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-nevada/church-names-12-nevada-priests-credibly-accused-of-sexual-abuse-1636536/ 

As A Lifelong Catholic, I Can't Ignore The Church's Contradictions

For over 50 years I had a Sunday ritual. Sometimes it was Saturday or Sunday night instead of the morning, but each week I automatically attended mass. It became a form of stability. We all thrive on consistency, and going to church was like eating for me. No questions asked.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/margaret-whitley/catholic-church-abuse_a_23706798/ 

Pennsylvania lawmakers to child-sex-abuse survivors: Take a number, have a seat

The Pennsylvania legislature, once again, is poised to turn its back on who knows how many survivors of child sex abuse. Promises of action? Pledges to victims? Repeated assurances that those who were violated (and long-voiceless) might find some measure of justice? You tell me.

https://www.mcall.com/opinion/mc-opi-sex-abuse-survivors-pennsylvania-victims-bill-20190410-e4gcyrf47jb3rk4o7jygxfasqi-story.html 

Nine months after Ted McCarrick sex-abuse crisis explodes, The New Yorker gives it some ink

It’s been more than nine months since the explosive news about former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick hit and only now has The New Yorker done a definitive piece on it all. We at GetReligion felt that McCarrick’s fall from grace was last year’s top religion story, along with the culpability of the Catholic Church’s highest officials in knowing about the cardinal’s sexual predilections for other men. They did nothing about it until finally it was revealed that he’d gone after boys as well.

https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2019/4/10Nine%20months%20after%20Ted%20McCarrick%20sex-abuse%20crisis%20explodes,%20The%20New%20Yorker%20gives%20it%20some%20ink 

Bishop Duca celebrates special Way of Cross to ‘heal this wound’ of abuse

Where there is darkness, light shines; where there is despair, hope. Bishop Michael G. Duca celebrated a special Way of the Cross for reparation for the sin of sexual abuse within the church April 5 at St. Joseph Cathedral in Baton Rouge, offering grace to survivors and asking the church to accompany them on their journey of healing.

 http://catholicphilly.com/2019/04/news/national-news/bishop-duca-celebrates-special-way-of-cross-to-heal-this-wound-of-abuse/

Put needs of survivors first, not strictly the law, panelists urge Church

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Amid the legal wrangling surrounding the long-standing clergy sexual abuse crisis, Barbara Thorp, a social worker who formerly led the Archdiocese of Boston’s office that supports and cares for abuse survivors, wants Catholic leaders to know that healing among survivors is a far more important path to pursue.

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2019/04/10/put-needs-of-survivors-first-not-strictly-the-law-panelists-urge-church/ 

US jury finds ex-priest guilty of sex abuse in New Mexico

A U.S. jury found a former Roman Catholic priest who was captured in Morocco guilty Wednesday of sexually abusing an altar boy at a veterans' cemetery and Air Force base in New Mexico in the early 1990s. The jury reached the verdict against 81-year-old Arthur Perrault following a trial in Santa Fe in which several men testified that they had been abused by him as children in his car, a church rectory and other locations.

http://www.startribune.com/us-jury-finds-ex-priest-guilty-of-sex-abuse-in-new-mexico/508390242/