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

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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

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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