ABUSE TRACKER

How does the 2025 Templeton Prize for Bartholomew I impact the Foundation’s credibility amid concerns over his silence on clergy sexual abuse?

The Templeton Foundation awarded its 2025 Prize to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople (Dimitrios Archontonis) in spite of the Patriarch’s silence on clergy sexual abuse in Orthodoxy, a group of survivors and advocates say.

In individual letters sent to the foundation over the past six months, members of the group acknowledged that the Patriarch earned recognition for his work on environmental issues, a long-term focus of the “first among equals” leader in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. However, they explained, the Patriarch’s silence on abuse makes his prestigious John Templeton Prize win painful for survivors — especially those who have approached him directly about their experiences.

“I have repeatedly written to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew — as the highest spiritual authority in the Orthodox Church — imploring him to acknowledge…

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HBO’s Maciel, wolf of God makes for good television, but its focus on the main character’s perversions blurs the Catholic Church’s institutional responsibility.

In evoking a wolf, the series portrays Maciel as the lone predator, a myth with which the Catholic Church and other entities gaslight victims of abuse.

The series brings the debate on clergy sexual abuse back to 2010, when Benedict XVI whitewashed the Vatican’s role, with the Gothic tale of Maciel as a lone wolf.

Over the last weeks, Spanish-speaking social media has been abuzz over the TV series devoted to the Legion of Christ’s founder, Marcial Maciel Degollado.

HBO’s Maciel, The Wolf of God offers an accessible look at the main character’s life, a good summary of what he did and some aspects of how he did it.

However, its focus on psychological and individual explanations and its neglect of the broader institutional and cultural context has…

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He has been charged with seven counts of sexual assault across five different counties

A former reverend and leader of a Methodist church has appeared in court over sexual assault charges. The Reverend Steven Wild appeared at Truro Magistrates’ Court in Cornwall on Monday (September 15), where he faced seven counts of sexual assault on females in Derbyshire, Cornwall, Devon, Merseyside and Bristol.

He was also charged with one count of indecent assault on a female in Cornwall in 2004. The alleged offences spanned between 2004 and 2019. Wild pleaded not guilty to the offences.

He was released on court bail and is next due to appear at Truro Crown Court on October 17. The 70-year-old, from St Ives, was suspended from his role as district chairman for the Methodist Church in the Duchy and the Isles of Scilly in September 2021, Cornwall Live reports.

It was later announced that Mr…

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A federal judge in Chicago on Monday ordered the pastor of a local chapter of the La Luz del Mundo megachurch held in custody to face federal charges alleging he helped cover up a widespread child sex trafficking operation that authorities say victimized young members of the church for decades.

Joram Núñez Joaquín, 37, was charged in a racketeering indictment unsealed last week in U.S. District Court in New York that also named church leader Naasón Joaquín García, 56, who is his uncle, and three others, including Joaquin’s 79-year-old grandmother.

García, who is currently serving a 16-year sentence on state sex abuse charges in California, is the head of La Luz del Mundo (The Light of the World), which claims to have 5 million followers in more than 50 countries. Believers consider him to be the “apostle” of Jesus Christ.

Joaquín, meanwhile, led a congregation of the church headquartered in…

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The government has appointed an eight-person group to provide advice in the light of recommendations from the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry.

The team will be led by Alana Ruakere, who currently heads Tui Ora, a Māori health and social service agency in Taranaki.

Other members of the group include:

• David Crichton, who suffered abuse and cultural disconnection in the care system and has worked previously on redress, survivor engagement and care reform, who contributes to the SAGE group on faith-based redress and Oranga Tamariki’s CPIU Steering Group.
• Valerie Tan, a clinical psychologist, academic and governance leader who founded the Asian Psychology Collective Aotearoa.
• Gary Williams, a tangata whaikaha survivor of abuse in care who has been a member of the Survivor Advisory Group of Experts to the Royal Commission, was on the Redress Design Group selection panel and is a member of the Survivor Experiences Board.
• Paul Gibson, who was a…

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THE Diocese of Raphoe has issued an apology to two Donegal sisters who were the victims of abuse by a former priest in the diocese.

Former Donegal priest Con Cunningham was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment in July 2021 for sexually abusing two minors in the Fanad area while serving in the Diocese of Raphoe in the early to mid 1970s.

He pleaded guilty to eight separate counts of indecent assaults in the early 1970s, involving two victims, Margaret and Paula Martin, who were aged between 11 and 13, and 9 and 12 at the time of the respective incidents.

Today, in a statement issued by Monsignor Kevin Gillespie, Diocesan Administrator in the Diocese of Raphoe,  the diocese has issued an apology to Margaret and Paula Martin.

The statement reads: 

Apology issued to Margaret and Paula Martin, Victims of Con Cunningham, former priest of the Diocese of Raphoe 

Following a…

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Tri-county parishioners wonder why Fr. Ed Burns Jr. left and if he’s facing an allegation of misconduct with a child

WEST CHESTER, Ohio — A West Chester priest has left his parish without explanation from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and worried parents are demanding answers.

“We’ve been told by our parish office to stop calling the parish office. To stop asking for information. They have nothing to give us. So where do we turn? We don’t know what to do,” said Angie Stofko, a parishioner at St. Michael Church who has a son at the school. “Yes, he’s gone. But for what? We have no clue.”

Father Ed Burns Jr. is pastor of the St. Carlo Acutis Parish, which includes St. Gabriel Church and school in Glendale, St. Michael Church and School in Sharonville and St. John Church in West Chester.

WATCH: We asked the archdiocese about Burns’…

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These charges include already convicted LLDM leader Naasón Joaquin Garcia, also named with five others.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged Naasón Joaquin Garcia and other leaders of La Luz del Mundo (LLDM) — a Mexico-based evangelical megachurch — with federal sex trafficking charges. The charges allege that self-proclaimed apostle Garcia managed a criminal network within the church that sexually abused church members for generations, then destroyed evidence.

The indictment also alleges financial crimes, sex trafficking, and the production and dispersal of child pornography. Founded in 1926, the church began with Naasón’s grandfather before being transferred to his father, then to Naasón himself. Each leader has called himself an “Apostle,” leading their followers to believe the leaders could bring about their salvation.

While founded in Guadalajara, Mexico, LLDM boasts several U.S. locations in California, Washington, D.C., Nevada, Texas, and New Jersey. The church has 2.8 million…

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Victims of clergy sex abuse got their chance to testify against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany on Wednesday.

Hearings are being held in bankruptcy court after the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after facing more than 400 lawsuits regarding clergy sex abuse. They allege decades of abuse and cover-ups from church officials.

The first person to testify, Jason Whitney, told NewsChannel 13 that the abuse started when he was 9 years old and continued for more than three years.

“I never actually thought I’d be here, but it feels good because there’s a stigma. Most men don’t want to come forward for things like this. There’s that worry that people are going to think down on them, but I’m good,” he said.

His attorney, Audrey Raphael, said she hopes that the court and church will listen and understand the impact of what happened to children like Jason when…

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Sandy Domalewicz said her brother-in-law abused her for years. Decades later, she was able to tell her story in an Albany courtroom.

An Albany County woman who alleges she was sexually abused as a child by her brother-in-law, who is a businessman from Guilderland, was awarded $270,000 in damages by a jury recently. It’s one of many such cases that are beginning to reach resolution through New York’s landmark Child Victims Act. 

The woman, Sandy Domalewicz, accused her older sister’s husband, Paul J. Madelone, of having inappropriate sexual contact with her for years beginning when she was 11 years old. 

Madelone, 78, who denies the allegations and is appealing the verdict, is a longtime Albany resident who has held executive positions in several large companies in the region. He previously served as a co-chairman of a committee for the region’s Center for Economic Growth, was vice chairman of the Capital…

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A federal bankruptcy judge on Friday signed off on a $246 million fund to pay abuse claims as part of the Catholic Diocese of Rochester’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan to emerge from bankruptcy.

Having witnessed six years of bankruptcy proceedings, sexual abuse survivors in the courtroom applauded and cheered when Judge Paul Warren signed the deal. According to a local NBC report, the judge told the survivors, “The money isn’t going to fix you. I hope it gives you a sense of validation and that what happened to you wasn’t your fault.”

Rochester Diocese Bishop Salvatore Matano said it was not anticipated that the bankruptcy proceedings would last six-years. He said he expects the final steps will be completed within weeks.

“Despite this lengthy process, bankruptcy was the only means possible to assure that all survivors would be justly compensated, and the best and fairest course of action for the…

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“Thank you, Lord!” a gentleman in the gallery blurted out as U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul R. Warren announced he was putting pen to paper Sept. 5 to sign an order confirming the Eighth Amended Joint Plan for Chapter 11 Reorganization of the Diocese of Rochester.

After five years and 50 weeks, the judge’s action closes the bankruptcy case and establishes a $256.35 million settlement fund for abuse survivors.

In a written statement issued just after the plan was confirmed, Bishop Salvatore R. Matano expressed his concern for abuse survivors, noting that “years of waiting (for resolution of the case) have added to the suffering and pain of those sexually abused and whose trust was betrayed.”

“With profound sadness, I apologize to the survivors, the victims of such sinful and tragic acts for which they were not responsible. The Diocese has accepted responsibility for the damage caused by abuse,” the bishop…

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Catholic church’s $165 million payout offer sees no takers

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland will seek to end its own bankruptcy proceedings, potentially sending hundreds of lawsuits by survivors of sexual abuse back to the courts.

In a motion filed this week, the diocese said its latest proposal to pay $165 million over five years — to settle roughly 350 claims of alleged abuse — drew hardly a response from the victims’ attorneys, and neither did several previous offers.

A local division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court may decide next month whether to allow the church to pull the plug on its Chapter 11 proceedings, which Diocese attorneys said have become expensive because their creditors have effectively “bled (the church) dry.”

“The cost is too high, and the survivors in this Chapter 11 Case — and the 500,000+ faithful Catholics in the Diocese of…

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Cinema, television and media have been exposing more and more the shady business inside the Catholic Church, whether it was through the Paramount+ series Murder of God’s Banker, Netflix’s miniseries Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi or the Academy Award-winning filmSpotlight. Through the years several dark sides of the Vatican have been exposed. For instance, the pedophile priest scandal broke about twenty years ago. But the question that rises is where were the nuns in all of this? The first reports of rapes by clergy and of secret abortions within the Catholic Church emerged in the early 1990s, but they were always kept hidden. Their story remained untold for decades.

Emmy-Award Winning filmmaker Lorena Luciano sets the record straight with her documentary Nuns vs. The Vatican, presented at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival. With her husband Filippo Piscopo — who has produced the film — she has dedicated her craft to investigative documentaries, tackling impactful…

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The Vatican continues to receive criticism for its handling of sexual abuse cases. Decades of ignoring complaints and accusations, or of transferring abusers to other parishes compounded the injury to victims. Its refusal to excommunicate the perpetrators, in spite of evidence and multiple complainants, is bewildering. As the allegations gained increased public attention, the Church finally agreed to address the issue. However, in many cases, victims and their supporters are still waiting for action. While most people are familiar with the claims of altar boys and other young men, Nuns vs. the Vatican shines a light on the plight of women abused by priests.

The Vatican’s demand for obedience and silence makes it expectedly difficult to find victims willing to speak on camera. However, a small group of former nuns publicly petition for action against Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik. The prominent Slovenian priest is revered for his artistic talents, which are featured…

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A Roman Catholic diocese has reached a settlement with sexual abuse survivors after several years of proceedings in bankruptcy court, marking the latest example of Catholic dioceses in the United States shelling out large sums as fallout from sex abuse scandals continues. 

In a letter to parishioners published last week, Bishop Salvatore Matano of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester in New York announced that the diocese had reached a $246 million settlement with survivors of clerical sexual abuse. Matano clarified that $55 million of the settlement will be covered by contributions from the Diocese of Rochester and its affiliated entities, while the remaining amount will be covered by insurers. 

“With profound sadness, I apologize to the survivors, the victims of such sinful and tragic acts for which they were not responsible,” Matano wrote. “The Diocese has accepted responsibility for the damage caused by abuse. I ardently pray…

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Pope Leo XIV affirmed that priests must be celibate and insisted that bishops take “firm and decisive” action to deal with sex abusers, as he gave marching orders on June 26 to the world’s Catholic hierarchs.

Leo met in St. Peter’s Basilica with about 400 bishops and cardinals from 38 countries attending a special Holy Year celebration for clergy in June. A day after he gave an uplifting message of encouragement to young seminarians, Leo offered a more comprehensive outline of what bishops must do to lead their flocks.

It is an issue the former Cardinal Robert Prevost would have long pondered, given his role as the prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops. In that job from 2023 until his election in May, the Chicago-born Prevost vetted bishop nominations for Pope Francis, identifying the type of leader who would further Francis’ view of a church where all are welcome…

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When Richard Salamone was 14 years old, a new pastor was assigned to his church in Little Falls in Herkimer County, and his parents “were hooked” on the priest’s charismatic demeanor. Attending Sunday church became a regular occurrence, and the priest would often join Salamone’s family for dinners featuring spaghetti and meatballs.

Little did Salomone and his parents know that was a facade, and that the teenage boy would soon become a target for the predatory priest. Salomone said the priest, Fr. John Patrick Bertolucci, went on to sexually abuse him, starting on a day when the priest had asked Salomone to spend a night at the rectory. Decades later, in 2002, Bertolucci would finally be removed from ministry by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany for sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy in the 1970s.

Over a three-day period that began Wednesday, Salamone was among dozens of victims who were sexually abused as children…

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Day three of testimony in the bankruptcy hearing of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany sexual abuse cases took place Friday in U.S. District Court Northern District of New York in downtown Albany. 

“I feel a lot of weight from hearing other people’s stories,” said Colleen Garbarini, one of dozens of peopl,e who took the stand since Wednesday to share their experiences. “I have shared my story publicly before, but doing it in front of court and in front of the people who have been accused of covering up this abuse has been helpful.”

Garbarini and other victims filed civil suits against the diocese under the Child Victims Act, which extended the statue of limitations allowing alleged victims to pursue legal action against their alleged abusers.

That law passed in 2019. Four years later, the diocese filed for bankruptcy.

The impact statements given will not impact that filing, but allowed…

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Hearing in federal bankruptcy court marked by accounts of crimes that left mental scars decades later

Around 50 people filled a federal courtroom on Wednesday afternoon as victims who were sexually abused as children by priests and other employees of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany began to tell the stories of what they endured and how it has affected their lives.

The proceeding comes as some are nearing death and many survivors have “waited decades to tell their stories,” according to a motion filed in June by the Official Committee of Tort Claimants, which represents the interests of hundreds of sexual abuse survivors. 

The hearing in federal bankruptcy court, which is scheduled to last two more days, is taking place as the diocese — which is affiliated with or operates dozens of churches, schools and other entities — faces hundreds of claims under both the Child Victims…

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Spread between iconic churches of the City of Lights, such as Notre Dame Cathedral, St. Eustache and St. Sulpice, over 800 religious men and women, and members of institutes of consecrated lay people, gathered in Paris Sept. 6-7, for a National Jubilee of Consecrated Life.

The Conference of Religious of France, known for its French acronym CORREF, which represents 350 congregations, communities and institutes of consecrated life, coordinated the organization of these two days.

Since 2016, it has been presided over by Sister Véronique Margron, provincial prioress for Europe of the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation. “This project was part of the Jubilee of Hope celebrated in Rome this year,” she told OSV News. “The majority of religious will not be able to travel to Rome for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life in October. That is why we invited them to come to Paris.”

“These days of prayer and celebration…

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Even before the jury was picked, there were apparent concerns that it was not going to end well.

A day before the start of a landmark trial that began this week alleging the sexual abuse of a former student by a priest, Delbarton — the private Catholic all-boys prep school — filed a complaint in federal court against its insurance carrier over its refusal to settle the matter…

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 Pope Leo has instructed the Catholic Church’s newest bishops to confront sexual abuse by priests and not to hide allegations of misconduct, in a text released by the Vatican on Friday.

Sexual abuse scandals have afflicted the Church in various places around the world in recent decades, damaging its standing as a moral voice, sparking costly lawsuits, and resulting in the resignations of several prominent bishops.

“(Allegations) cannot be put in a drawer,” the pope said in a closed-door meeting the day before with some 200 bishops appointed to lead Catholic dioceses across the world in the past year, according to a Vatican summary of the event.

“They must be faced, with a sense of mercy and true justice, toward the victims and toward the accused,” Leo said in the text.

Leo, elected in May after the death of Pope Francis, has previously told priests to be “firm and decisive” in confronting…

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Multiple schools have canceled scheduled football games against an Ohio Catholic school after a 200-page federal civil rights lawsuit was filed against several parties on behalf of a student who was allegedly hazed, physically assaulted, sexually assaulted and subjected to the creation and dissemination of child pornography.

According to reports from Youngstown-based news station WFMJ, multiple schools have made the decision to cancel games against Ursuline High School after two separate lawsuits were filed alleging abuse by some of its football players and a lack of concern by its coaches.

Ursuline confirmed Monday that the team’s head coach, Dan Reardon, had agreed to an indefinite suspension, and that assistant coaches, Tim McGlynn and Christian Syrianoudis, had been placed on administrative leave.

In light of the allegations, the following schools have made the decision to cancel games against Ursuline’s football team:

• Austintown Fitch High School (Austintown, Ohio)

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A federal grand jury in southern Georgia has indicted a pastor for various sexual offenses involving a minor.

On September 10, 2025, 35-year-old Bernadel Semexant, of Hinesville, Ga, was indicted on five charges of enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, sexual abuse of a minor, transfer of obscene material to a minor, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography.

Semexant was believed to have worked as a pastor at multiple House of Prayer Christian Churches (HOPCC) around the United States.

“The allegations in this indictment reflect a profound betrayal of trust by an individual in a position of spiritual authority. The FBI is committed to pursuing those who exploit children and ensuring they are held accountable”, said Paul Brown, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta.  “We urge anyone with information about Pastor Semexant or others in positions of trust within HOPCC to come forward—your…

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Prosecutor says “60 plus possible victims” had been identified

There could be as many as 60 possible new victims in a case involving a Catholic priest Derry magistrates Court has been told.

Edward Gallagher (58) of Orchard Park in Lifford Co Donegal had been charged with one count of attempted sexual communication with a child on dates between April 2 and April 17 2025.

He faced seven further offences including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and causing a child to watch sexual activity on April 17.

At Thursday’s hearing a prosecutor told the court that the triage of the devices in the case had been completed.

She added that “60 plus possible victims” had been identified and this would need to be further investigated before any more progress could be made in the case.

The prosecution applied for the case to be adjourned for another four weeks.

…

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Authorities on Thursday announced another indictment related to the House of Prayer Christian Church, a day after the church leader and seven others were rounded up.

This latest indictment – of Bernadel Semexant, 35, of Hinesville and Savannah – focuses on child sex crimes, while the ones Wednesday were more financial.

Semexant is charged with enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, sexual abuse of a minor, transfer of obscene material to a minor, receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

Semexant, a pastor with the church that some have called a cult and others have called a financial scam, may have worked at various church locations across the U.S., the Department of Justice said.

The church has locations in Augusta, Hinesville and Savannah in Georgia, as well as in North Carolina, Washington state, Texas and Tennessee.

Although the church has an Augusta…

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An alleged cult leader had his first federal court appearance Thursday, a day after being arrested during a raid of his lavish Columbia County mansion.

The man known as Rony Denis is accused of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aiding and assisting in filing a false tax return.

The church he founded is known as the House of Prayer Christian Church, but critics claim it’s a cult meant to lure service members and veterans.

Authorities say the aim was to drain veterans’ federal financial benefits to enrich the church and its leaders with such luxuries as an 11,000-square-foot West Lake mansion Denis lived in – one of his three homes – and his use of a Rolls-Royce.

And the money isn’t the only thing Denis is accused of stealing. Authorities say he stole someone’s identity in 1983 – so his name…

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A prominent Florida Assemblies of God (AG) pastor, who allegedly has left a stream of unreported child sex abuse cases in his wake, has finally been charged by police.

Mark Vega, the senior pastor at Ignite Life Center church in Gainesville, “intentionally endeavored” to hide multiple reports of child abuse, according to a sworn complaint filed with the Gainesville police department. 

Under Florida law, anyone who suspects child abuse is required to report this to authorities. And certain professionals, including those who rely “on spiritual means for healing,” must provide their names when reporting.

Police charged Vega, 55, with the third-degree felony on Aug. 20, according to Alachua County Circuit Court records.

Vega, who has yet to be taken into custody, is an influential AG leader who has been praised within the denomination as a pastor to emulate.

Vega previously…

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The defendants are accused of manipulating church members, misusing funds, and enriching themselves at the expense of others.

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia has indicted a pastor associated with the House of Prayer Christian Church of America on multiple sex offenses involving a minor.

On Wednesday, a federal court unsealed a five-count indictment against Bernadel Semexant, 35, of Hinesville and Savannah. The charges include enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, sexual abuse of a minor, transfer of obscene material to a minor, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography.

The charges carry significant penalties:

• Enticement of a Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity: 10 years to life imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and at least five years of supervised release.
• Sexual Abuse of a Minor: Up to 15 years of imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and at least five…

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Naasón Joaquín García and his associates used La Luz del Mundo Church to traffic women and children and produce and distribute child pornography, New York prosecutors said.

Manhattan federal prosecutors charged on Wednesday that the leader of a Mexico-based church that claims more than one million followers led a criminal enterprise that for decades sexually abused generations of church members and then destroyed the evidence.

A federal racketeering conspiracy indictment unsealed in Manhattan charged that the church leader, Naasón Joaquín García, 56, and five associates used the La Luz del Mundo Church to sex-traffic women and children and produce and distribute child pornography, among other crimes. His 79-year-old mother was among those charged Wednesday.

Mr. García is already serving a 16-year, eight-month state sentence after pleading guilty in California in 2022 to three felony counts of sexual assault involving three different minors.

The federal charges allege that the wrongdoing went far…

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Damian Murray tells Westminster Confidential about his long battle with the Roman Catholic charity which covered up child sex abuse for 11 years

This is a story of the concealment and denial of child sex abuse by a charismatic principal of a college and religious charity who escaped justice in his lifetime and the failure of many organisations, including the Charity Commission and the charity to do anything about it.

Father Kevin O’Neill, a Marist priest, was principal of the Roman Catholic St Mary’s College in Blackburn. It was closed down in 2022 with £8.2 million debts reportedly caused by falling student numbers. It had been propped up by the last Tory government with emergency funding since 2020.

He was principal of the college from 1978 to 1993 and worked in Blackburn since 1964. He was born in Barking, east London and attended the Roman Catholic St Mary’s College in…

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Rochester and Syracuse settlements included conditions for child-protection rules, prohibiting church staff from being alone with minors.

The Diocese of Buffalo has until October 1 to submit a new plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, following a tentative $272 million settlement agreement reached with survivors of sexual abuse.

While the size of the payout has drawn headlines, survivors say the most meaningful reforms could come through “non-monetary commitments” or rules aimed at protecting children and releasing decades of church records.

RELATED: Buffalo Catholic Diocese to have armed security guards at all elementary schools

Abuse survivor Kevin Koscielniak said the public deserves to know how the Catholic Church allowed abuse to persist for decades.

“These are crimes that were committed against children from an institution that was supposed to be so trusting and so worthy and so good,” Koscielniak said. “The public needs…

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Victims of clergy sex abuse got their chance to testify against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany on Wednesday.

Hearings are being held in bankruptcy court after the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after facing more than 400 lawsuits regarding clergy sex abuse. They allege decades of abuse and cover-ups from church officials.

The first person to testify, Jason Whitney, told NewsChannel 13 that the abuse started when he was 9 years old and continued for more than three years.

“I never actually thought I’d be here, but it feels good because there’s a stigma. Most men don’t want to come forward for things like this. There’s that worry that people are going to think down on them, but I’m good,” he said.

His attorney, Audrey Raphael, said she hopes that the court and church will listen and understand the impact of what happened to children like Jason when…

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A dozen victim impact statements were shared Wednesday in the Albany federal courthouse regarding alleged sexual abuse at the hands of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.

“Today was the first time in this case, in this sterile bankruptcy process that survivors, who the case is about, will have a voice,” said Taylor Stippel Sloan, an attorney with Jeff Anderson and Associates.

Alleged sexual abuse victims shared incredibly emotional and vulnerable stories of sexual abuse for the first time in court on Wednesday. Attorney Cynthia LaFave and Sloan represent a total of 190 people who filed lawsuits against the Albany Diocese for alleged sexual abuse. Most of this came about in 2019 when the New York State Child Victim Act made it possible for people to file lawsuits years after abuse occurred, temporarily lifting the statute of limitations.

Since then, over 400 child abuse lawsuits have been filed against the Albany Diocese,…

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“I handed my son over to the devil,” Joe Alarcon told me during an interview for BNG’s upcoming podcast, “Non-Disclosure,” which features interviews from survivors and their families about the serial sexual abuse that occurred at Kamp Kanakuk. Alarcon’s son, Ashton, is one of the survivors featured in the podcast.

The “devil” he was referring to was Peter “Pete” Newman, a serial child sexual predator who worked at Kamp Kanakuk and was convicted on felony charges in 2010 for sexually abusing 57 boys during his tenure there. Today, the victim advocacy organization Facts About Kanakuk says the number of survivors is at least in the hundreds, although some crime experts believe it’s possible there are thousands of Kanakuk abuse survivors.

For years, many families believed Newman’s abuse was just a one-off thing. He was just one bad apple, and when Kanakuk leaders learned of the abuse they reacted immediately to prevent…

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Michael King, 65, was arrested after a three-month-long investigation.

A man was arrested after a months-long investigation into inappropriate acts with children in Rowan County.

Michael King, 65, was arrested on Tuesday by the Salisbury Police Department. King faces charges of indecent liberties with a minor, second-degree rape, and rape by a custodian.

The incidents happened at multiple locations, including the Damascus Emmanuel Pentecostal Church, according to police.

King was arrested after a three-month investigation. He is being held in Rowan County jail with no bond.

 “The hard work of our investigators in bringing this case forward deserves recognition,” Salisbury Police Chief P.J. Smith said. “At the same time, it is profoundly concerning when a person in a position of trust is accused of violating that trust.”

Salisbury police are encouraging further victims to come forward. Anyone with information is asked to contact the department at 704-638-5211 or…

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A pastor entered a plea Monday on charges stemming from a human trafficking investigation at a central Pennsylvania massage parlor.

Online court records show Stephen Melton, 66, of Mechanicsburg, pleaded “nolo contendere” to trafficking in individuals – Recruit/entice/etc. Labor Servitude and guilty of patronizing prostitutes charges.

A “nolo contendere” plea means that the defendant does not admit guilt, but he waives his right to a trial and accepts whatever penalty he is given.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 21, court records show.

Melton visited GL Massage Spa close to 70 times over a five-month period, court documents filed by the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office show.

Melton claimed he was concerned about the employees being trafficked, and he would bring them flowers, food, and clothing, according to the charging documents. He also told investigators that it was convenient for him to go there before he went to work.

Investigators said…

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The longtime head of a Mexican megachurch who is serving more than 16 years in a California prison for sexually abusing young followers has been charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking for allegedly victimizing members of the church for decades, federal authorities said Wednesday.

A New York grand jury returned the indictment alleging that Naasón Joaquín García, 56, and five others, including his 79-year-old mother, exploited the church for decades, enabling the systemic sexual abuse of children and women for the sexual gratification of García and his father, who died in 2014.

García is the head of La Luz del Mundo (The Light of the World), which claims to have 5 million followers in more than 50 countries. Believers consider him to be the “apostle” of Jesus Christ.

The newly unsealed indictment said the criminal activity included the creation of photos and videos of child sexual abuse and had begun after…

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There’s been another delay in the case of a Roman Catholic priest charged with sexual assault.

But the Crown has promised it will be a brief one.

Now-51-year-old Thomas Offong was charged in December 2023 with one count of sexual assault against an adult woman — alleged to have occurred a month earlier in Avondale.

Offong pleaded not guilty and a one-day trial was scheduled for this past March, but it was postponed when the prosecutor took ill.

It was set over again in August but in provincial court today the Crown asked for one more “brief enlargement” to finalize its position, with the defence confirming they’re close to a resolution in the case.

Meanwhile, 21 months have now passed since Offong was charged, putting the case three months over the legal Jordan limit.

Offong has served in Avondale, Colliers, Conception Harbour and Burin, but also the Grand Falls-Windsor area,…

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A DFW-area pastor and Christian social media influencer is under fire after being arrested and charged earlier this week.  

Alonzo Diego Fuller, 39, and his wife, Asia, have led Journey Fort Worth Church since 2022. Fuller has promoted his music and shared sermons to his expanding social media following while leading the church, which meets in a local elementary school. 

The Dallas Morning News reported that Fuller was held in the Tarrant County jail Monday on a second-degree felony charge of sexual assault stemming from an alleged incident in June 2025. He was released on a $40,000 bond that same day.

Elders from Journey Fort Worth Church released a statement in a Facebook post about Fuller’s arrest on Monday. They shared that they’d been made “aware of serious allegations” made against the pastor by a former church member but that Fuller…

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A local pastor charged with public indecency for engaging in a sex act with a woman in a public park has pleaded not guilty.

Defense Attorney Allen Werstiuk entered the plea through writing ahead of Tuesday’s scheduled arraignment of Aaron Williams Jr., 56, of Ontario.

Williams is scheduled for trial on Nov. 20 before Mansfield Municipal Court Judge David Badnell. He is the pastor at Maddox Memorial Church of God in Christ.

In Ohio, a third-degree misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of a $500 fine and 60 days in jail.

More: Mansfield pastor charged with public indecency, ‘engaging in sex act’ in public park

Clearfork Reservoir Police Chief Scott Kotterman reported seeing two people in the rear seat of a vehicle in a picnic area while on patrol the afternoon of Aug. 30.

A 46-year-old woman also was charged with public indecency. The News…

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In short:

Former Catholic Priest John Sidney Denham has died in a NSW prison hospital.

Denham was found guilty of abusing 40 children, mostly at St Pius X College in Newcastle in the 1970s and 80s.

NSW prison officials confirmed he died on Friday.

______

One of Australia’s most prolific paedophile priests has died in prison.

In 2008, John Sidney Denham was charged by the nation’s first police strike dedicated to targeting abuse by members of the clergy.

In 2010, the defrocked Catholic priest was sentenced to 13 years and 10 months’ jail for the abuse of 39 boys and was given extra jail time in 2015 after more instances of abuse came to light.

Many of Denham’s victims have taken their own lives and one of the deaths sparked the child abuse royal commission.

Denham’s crimes occurred mostly at Newcastle’s St Pius X College, now known as Trinity College, in…

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A former chaplain for the New York Yankees has been charged with failing to report allegations of child sex abuse to authorities.

Mark Vega, 55, who now works as the senior pastor of Ignite Life Center church in Gainesville, Fla., did not share multiple reports of sex abuse at the church with law enforcement, according to a complaint filed in Alachua County Circuit Court on Aug. 20. Any person with knowledge of sex abuse of minors is required by Florida law to report to authorities, and failure to report is a felony.

Vega, who has not been arrested, did not immediately respond to messages from The Athletic.

The Gainesville Police Department confirmed that it submitted a sworn complaint to the State Attorney regarding the charge of failing to report suspected child abuse, abandonment or neglect. Ignite Life Center is affiliated with the Assemblies of God, a global Pentecostal denomination.

According…

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In 2012, after years of research, amateur historian Catherine Corless published an astonishing story in a local history journal detailing that 798 children had died at St. Mary’s Mother and Baby Home in this small town in Galway County. 

Even more shocking was Corless’ determination that all but two of the infants and young children were likely buried in a mass unmarked grave, part of which may have functioned as a sewage system.

Now, 13 years after the publication of her article, “The Home,” an excavation on behalf of Galway County Council is underway to try to recover the remains of the children buried at the home, which was run by the Bons Secours Sisters from 1925 to 1961. Six weeks into the excavation began in mid-July, the realization that the dig is actually happening “is still sinking in,” Corless said in an interview. 

The first tranche of…

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Documents from the Paradise and Pandora Papers leaks showed the “full extent” of the hidden financial schemes set up by Marcial Maciel, a priest found to have molested at least 60 children.

A new documentary series about the powerful Catholic priest behind the Legion of Christ religious order draws on the work of ICIJ and its partners to explore the sect’s scandalous history, including allegations of child sexual abuse and financial malfeasance.

Released on HBO’s streaming service last month, Marcial Maciel: the Wolf of God (Marcial Maciel: el lobo de Dios) is a four-episode series that shows how the late Marcial Maciel Degollado went from being a small-town priest in Mexico to creating an organization so large and influential within the Catholic Church that, at its peak, it amassed a $650 million yearly budget financed by wealthy patrons. The Legion of Christ built schools and universities in North…

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A Texas youth pastor accused of sexually abusing two girls and silencing them with threats of eternal damnation is facing more legal trouble. 

On Aug. 26, a Lubbock County Grand Jury returned an indictment against youth pastor Luke Cunningham, charging him with 16 counts of sexual assault of a child. That’s on top of charges for aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault of a child that Cunningham was slapped with last year. 

Cunningham’s charges stem from a litany of sexual assaults that prosecutors say occurred as far back as 2016. Last summer, news station KCBD revealed allegations that Cunningham had touched a girl’s genitals while serving as a youth pastor at Lubbock’s Turning Point Community Church in January of 2016. Prosecutors also say Cunningham later raped that same child in Oct. 2018, an instance during which he used his hands as deadly weapons….

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After the Archdiocese of New Orleans increased its settlement offer to clergy sexual abuse claimants from $180 million to $230 million on Sept. 8, attorneys of the victims urged their clients to accept the deal.

The archdiocese was able to increase its initial offer, announced in May, after securing a buyer for the $50 million sale of Christopher Homes, a property that has provided affordable housing and assisted living to low-income and senior citizens in the Gulf Coast area for the last 50 years.

“We knew we could do better, and we have,” said attorneys Richard Trahant, Soren Gisleson, John Denenea, and several other attorneys who represent about 200 of the 660 claimants.

The attorneys, who said the initial settlement was “dead on arrival,” urged their clients to hold out for a better offer, saying that they deserved closer to $300 million, a figure similar to the $323 million paid…

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The Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, denied accusations of a cover-up following the recent arrest of a Madison priest for alleged sex crimes.

Father Andrew Showers, 37, was arrested last month after an undercover operation by local police found that he allegedly attempted to meet with a 14-year-old girl for sex.

Showers has since been charged with attempted child enticement, attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, and attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age. 

In a separate case only recently made public, 23-year-old Patricia Moriarty had filed a police report alleging that Showers sexually assaulted her in January 2024. Moriarty’s father, John Moriarty, reported the incident to the diocese shortly after but did not provide the name of the priest or a copy of the police report, according to the diocese.

The victims advocacy group Nate’s Mission…

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The First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte, North Carolina has dismissed its senior pastor after an investigation showed a five-year history of committing adultery, then trying to cover it up.

The Christian Post reported that Pendleton Barnes Peery, a sixth-generation Presbyterian minister, was recently dismissed as senior pastor for breaking his marriage and ordination vows.  

According to WCCB-TV, an independent Charlotte station, Peery admitted to breaking his marriage vows in a letter to the congregation.

A church investigative committee reported Peery faces two charges of adultery and two charges of wrongful concealment of inappropriate conduct, WCCB reported.

The  Christian Post said that the Charlotte Presbytery was tipped off to Peery’s behavior by an informant. It then conducted an investigation without the knowledge of First Presbyterian leaders.

First Presbyterian has sent an email to its congregants saying the investigation found Peery had  View Cache

More charges have been filed against a former Lubbock youth pastor accused of sexually abusing two girls then telling them that if they told anyone about the crime the people they told would face eternal damnation.

A Lubbock County Grand Jury on Aug. 26 returned an indictment against Luke Cunningham charging him with 16 counts of sexual assault of a child.

Cunningham has been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since June 20, 2024 after a warrant for his arrest was issued the day before.

Two weeks later, a grand jury returned indictments against him charging him with one count of aggravated sexual assault and three counts of sexual assault of a child.

He is accused of sexually assaulting a teenager about Jan. 8, 2017. The second charge accuses him of raping a different teenager on Oct. 17, 2018 during which he used his hands as deadly weapons. The…

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 A Santa Ana pastor was convicted Monday of sexually assaulting three girls he met through churches in Riverside, Garden Grove and Santa Ana.

Carlos Ramirez Valdez, 61, was arrested in 2021. He was convicted of seven counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor younger than 14 and three counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 or younger, all felonies. Jurors also found true a sentencing enhancement for multiple victims.

Valdez was pastor of International Mission Church USA at 505 S. Main St., police said. From 2014-2017, he was a member of Iglesia De Dios Ebenezer Church at 2020 W. Chestnut Ave. in Santa Ana, police said.

At that church he lured an 8-year-old girl into a van during a service and sexually assaulted her, police said. Valdez repeatedly assaulted the girl in the van over a period of three years, police said.

The girl…

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Mark Vega, a former chaplain for the New York Yankees, is accused of covering up abuse allegations at his church, Ignite Life Center.

This article is part of “Pastors and Prey,” a series investigating sex abuse allegations in the Assemblies of God.

Police in Florida have charged a prominent Assemblies of God pastor with “knowingly and willfully” failing to report allegations of child sex abuse to authorities.

Mark Vega, 55, senior pastor of Ignite Life Center church in Gainesville and a former chaplain for the New York Yankees, “intentionally endeavored” to prevent reports of sex abuse at his church from reaching police, according to an Aug. 20 complaint filed in Alachua County Circuit Court. Under Florida law, any person with knowledge of child abuse is required to report to authorities; failure to do so is a felony.

Vega, who has not been…

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Canadian religious order says assault case should be considered by canonical tribunal

The Congregation of St. Basil has appealed a Canadian judge’s August 7 decision to allow a lawsuit to proceed against the congregation and its prominent member Fr. Thomas Rosica.

The lawsuit, filed in Ontario in March 2024, alleges that Rosica sexually assaulted a young priest who was helping him with preparation for the 2002 World Youth Day celebrations.

The lawsuit also charges that Rosica’s religious order, the Congregation of St. Basil, failed to properly supervise Rosica, and ignored complaints about his inappropriate interactions with young men.

Rosica, who denies the allegations, had asked the Canadian court to toss the lawsuit, because the case should be addressed exclusively in a canonical court.

Attorneys for Rosica and the Basilian Fathers argued that “the Court has no jurisdiction over the subject matter of this dispute as the Plaintiff and Fr. Rosica…

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An 88-year-old Virginia pastor was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison for child sex crimes, after a judge greatly reduced it from 55 years. According to Richmond County Circuit Court records, a plea deal allowed the pastor, who had previously faced 31 charges, to receive the shorter sentence.

Albert “Ben” Wharton, pastor of Victory Baptist Church in Warsaw, Virginia, from 1976-2002, pleaded guilty to eight of the counts against him, court records showed.

Wharton had previously been charged with 23 counts of aggravated sexual battery with a victim under 13 and eight counts of committing indecent acts with a child, according to court records. His crimes occurred at a school operated by Victory Baptist.

A circuit court judge originally handed down a 55-year sentence to Wharton, then suspended his sentence to just eight years behind bars. After his release at the age…

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The allegations of abuse date back decades.

A 15-year-old, then a student at the famed, all-boys Delbarton Catholic prep school in Morristown, claimed he was sexually assaulted by one of the Benedictine monks of St. Mary’s Abbey who oversee the school.

According to court papers, the student — identified only by his initials — reported the abuse the following year to the abbot who headed the school. He told the abbot the Rev. Richard Lott had sexually assaulted him and plied him and other students with alcohol, pornography and drugs.

Yet nothing was immediately done in response. Nor, as it would turn out, would any action be taken in response to similar complaints of sexual abuse lodged by other students over time, attorneys say.

More than 40 years later, the former student finally brought his allegations to court in a civil lawsuit against the…

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Lawyers for both sides gave their opening arguments on Sept. 9 in the lawsuit against Delbarton, the all-boys Catholic school in Morristown, where several former students have come forward with accusations of sex abuse by clergy.

The landmark trial is significant as it’s the first of hundreds of civil sexual abuse cases against the Catholic Church in New Jersey to go to trial. It’s also the first of 39 lawsuits against the prestigious school, where celebrities and other well-heeled parents around North Jersey send their sons to be educated for an annual $48,000 tuition.

Opening statements were delivered at the Morris County Courthouse in Morristown for the case, which was filed by a former student known by the initials T.M., or Tom. He is seeking damages from the institution.

Now in his 60s, T.M. alleges that he was abused by the Rev. Richard Lott, a Benedictine monk at…

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The Maryland Supreme Court on Friday heard about 2 1/2 hours of legal argument over whether the names of more than a dozen people contained in a report that details decades of allegations of sexual abuse and cover-ups within the Archdiocese of Baltimore can be made public.

Until now, the litigation has largely played out under seal. It’s unclear when the justices will issue their decision.

In 2023, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown released the 456-page report, which alleges that 156 priests and other personnel committed “horrific and repeated abuse” of vulnerable children as church leadership turned a blind eye. The names of 46 people initially were blacked out.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Robert K. Taylor Jr. later ruled the identities of all but three of them could be disclosed.

Brown then released a revised version of…

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Key Takeaways:

• Maryland Supreme Court hears challenges to clergy abuse report.
• Church officials argue reputational harm from unredacted release of names.
• State defends attorney general’s authority to investigate abuse.

Lawyers for Catholic clergy and other church leaders argued Friday that the Maryland Office of
the Attorney General abused its power in its investigation of child sexual abuse within the
Archdiocese of Baltimore and its publication of a report on its findings.

The Maryland Supreme Court on Friday heard arguments in three separate but similar cases brought by current or former church officials whose names would be included in the AG’s report on abuse within the archdiocese if it is allowed to publish an unredacted version. They have not been charged with crimes or accused of abuse, but the state contends they enabled abuse or did too little to prevent it.

The cases present a conflict between the reputational rights of uncharged people and the…

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The diocese said the person making the complaint declined to give the name of the priest, making it impossible to follow up on the allegations.

The Diocese of Madison has denied claims that it covered up a previous allegation of sexual assault against a priest arrested last month for attempting to meet a minor for sex.

In a September 5 statement, the diocese confirmed that a man had contacted the diocese last year to make an allegation against an unnamed Madison priest and was put in contact with appropriate diocesan officials.

That priest later was identified as Fr. Andrew Showers, who was arrested last month on unconnected charges, for allegedly attempting to meet with nefarious intentions a 14-year-old girl.

Following that arrest, a young woman and her father accused the diocese of failing to act last year on an allegation against Showers.

But the diocese said Saturday that while a…

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In the course of the summer, the U.S. bishops gather at different events, going on regional retreats, attending the Knights of Columbus convention, or celebrations of ordination anniversaries. This past summer, I have learned, there was some campaigning going on to make sure that Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City would be elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at their November plenary meeting.

It is understandable why some bishops would support Coakley. He is approachable and attractive, a fine speaker, and he knows how to run a meeting. Still, electing him president is a terrible idea.

First, Coakley was one of the 40 or so prelates who issued statements supporting then-Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, when Viganò issued his “testimony” accusing Pope Francis of covering up the crimes of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and, worse, calling on the pope to resign. The document made…

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As previous complaints have emerged about an accused priest recently arrested in an online sting operation, a Wisconsin diocese has said “there is no cover-up.”

Bishop Donald Hying of Madison, Wisconsin, issued a Sept. 6 message in both English and Spanish to faithful, saying he was “devastated” and “heartbroken” by allegations against Fr. Andrew Showers, who is now completely restricted from all public ministry and barred from having contact with minors as a police investigation continues.

The bishop and the diocese also issued statements clarifying their responses to 2021 and 2024 complaints about Showers, which respectively involved a penitent-clergy exchange with a minor during confession and the alleged groping of an adult woman at a public event.

Showers — who had been director of the diocese’s Office of Worship and parochial vicar for Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Madison — was arrested Aug. 24 and later charged with child enticement, use of a…

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[Includes a very brief video from the interview.]

Penguin Random House announced Monday that notoriously media-shy Pope Leo XIV has given his first-ever papal interview to Crux Senior Correspondent Elise Ann Allen as part of her new biography of the pontiff.

Titled León XIV: ciudadano del mundo, misionero del siglo XXI, or “Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the XXI Century,” the book will be published by Penguin Peru in Spanish Sept. 18 and will be available in bookstores nationwide.

English and Portuguese editions of the book, which will hit bookstores in Spain, Mexico and Colombia this fall, will be released in early 2026. Select excerpts of the pope’s interview will be released in Spanish and English Sept. 14, ahead of the book’s publication.

Since his election to the papacy May 8, history’s first North American pope and the first pope to hold Peruvian citizenship has emerged as a quiet personality…

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The Archdiocese of New Orleans has moved closer to a resolution of its long-running bankruptcy case, announcing a proposed multimillion dollar settlement for abuse claimants Sept. 8.

In its press release, the archdiocese said “individuals who experienced sexual abuse” involving either the archdiocese or one of its 157 affiliated Catholic organizations — including “parishes, schools, academies, Catholic Charities organizations, and other ministries” — could be eligible for compensation under a proposed settlement trust.

Claims can be filed for any “unwanted sexual behavior, contact, comments, or any conduct that was sexual in nature, whether or not it was recognized as abuse at the time,” said the archdiocese.

Those who had not already filed a claim in the bankruptcy case or served the archdiocese with a lawsuit by Aug. 14 must have their claims filed and received by Dec. 2 at 11:59 p.m. (Central time) or face possible “permanent loss of the right…

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Nearly a dozen attorneys who collectively represent more than 200 clergy sex abuse survivors in the Archdiocese of New Orleans bankruptcy have thrown their support behind a proposed settlement plan, signaling the long- running case could come to a close by the end of the year.

In court documents filed Monday, the group of survivors and their attorneys signed on to a revised settlement plan, which already has the support of the official court-appointed committee for all 650 abuse survivors and three of four church insurance companies.

Under the terms of the settlement, the archdiocese would pay $230 million into a trust for survivors, funded, in part, by a guaranteed $50 million from the anticipated sale of Christopher Homes, a group of church-owned apartment complexes for low-income seniors. Earlier versions of the plan included estimated proceeds from the apartment sale but no guaranteed amount.

The plan also would entitle…

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The New Orleans Archdiocese on Monday agreed to a $230 million proposed settlement for survivors of clergy sexual abuse, attorneys for some of the survivors said Monday. The agreement paves the way for a final resolution to yearslong negotiations amid a series of similar settlements from the Catholic Church.

The archdiocese had announced in May that it would pay at least $179.2 million in response to more than 500 abuse claims, which the bloc of attorneys said they opposed because they considered it to be lowballing the hundreds of survivors.

“We knew this was a bad deal, and we knew we could do better; and we have,” the group of 10 attorneys said in a statement. “The ‘power of no’ forced the Archdiocese to come up with significantly more money.”

The archdiocese had filed for bankruptcy in May 2020 rather than handle each abuse claim separately, which survivors point out allows church…

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The start of the Catholic Church’s “Sexual Devolution” could be dated quite precisely, to July 29, 2013.

That’s when Pope Francis, speaking to reporters on the papal plane back to the Vatican from Brazil, was asked about a “gay lobby” of homosexual priests in the Vatican. As NCR’s then-Vatican correspondent John L. Allen Jr. wrote at the time, Francis dismissed that idea and said of gay people, “If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?”

“Who am I to judge?” became the bumper sticker for his papacy, a sign of the mercy that Francis wanted to emphasize and the humility that we should all have before casting stones at others. The phrase also became a reference point for conservatives furious that Francis was giving a green light to homosexuality (and much else, they thought) and for liberals…

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[Brief video of comments by survivor John McHugh and Bishop Salvatore Matano.]

Sept. 5’s hearing will ensure payouts of $246 million to survivors of abuse and sexual abuse by priests, nuns and church officials in the Diocese of Rochester.

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One of the nation’s largest sexual abuse settlements unfolded in a federal bankruptcy court in Rochester, New York, on Friday, bringing about resolution for the nearly 500 survivors of child sex abuse by clergy within the Diocese of Rochester.

After a six-year legal battle, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York approved a $246 million settlement, which will average approximately $500,000 per survivor.

The settlement concludes a process that began when the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019 following the passage of the New York Child Victims Act, which allows abuse victims to file civil lawsuits until they are 55 years old. The law temporarily lifted the statute of limitations, enabling survivors to pursue claims against their abusers.

Bankruptcy attorney Ilan Scharf described the day as a “milestone for survivors in the Rochester area after being the first bankruptcy filed in…

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The 1953 Alfred Hitchcock film “I Confess,” based on an earlier play, features a priest suspected of murder. He’s innocent, and has even heard the murderer’s confession — but cannot clear his own name.

The Catholic sacrament of reconciliation, also known as penance or confession, has been a compelling set piece for fiction writers over the ages, from medieval novels to contemporary films. One reason the practice has intrigued both authors and audiences is the dramatic potential of the “seal of the confessional” — that is, the requirement that priests not disclose any identifying information about what they have heard during confession.

Recently, this sacrament has garnered nonfictional attention. Washington state passed a law on reporting child abuse, which was scheduled to go into effect in July 2025. In some circumstances, the law requires clergy to report abuse or neglect, even if it is revealed during…

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The Name of the Accused Priest Was Never Provided to the Diocese of Madison

At a press conference held by the organizations Nate’s Mission and SNAP on September 4, 2025, a woman came forward to say that, in January of 2024, she was assaulted by Fr. Andrew Showers, a priest of the Diocese of Madison. Last week, Fr. Showers was arrested in Clintonville, Wisconsin on separate charges. It is devastating to learn of this additional allegation. However, some statements made during the press conference stand in need of important corrections and clarifications, especially the unfounded accusation that Bishop Donald Hying and the Diocese of Madison are perpetrating a cover-up concerning the actions of Fr. Showers. To be clear: there is no cover-up, and in the Diocese of Madison’s continued commitment to transparency and truth, we offer the following corrections, responses, and supporting documentation.

Regarding the alleged sexual assault of an…

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The Diocese of Madison’s response to Thursday’s press conference is a textbook example of victim-blaming. To suggest that Ms. Moriarty and her father are responsible for the church’s failure to act because they did not feel comfortable with diocesan reporting procedures is deeply offensive. Survivors and their families should never be expected to place their trust in the same institution that has knowingly allowed abusers to remain in ministry and repeatedly misled the public. Bishop Hying’s refusal to return Mr. Moriarty’s phone call is not just a personal slight – it is an abdication of leadership

Bishop Hying insists he had “no way to act” without additional details, but that is false. When a parent contacts the diocese to report that a priest sexually assaulted his daughter, leadership has an obligation to take proactive steps to protect others from harm. The Diocese of Madison has the resources and authority…

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[Play Video]

MADISON (WKOW) — The Diocese of Madison has issued a statement addressing allegations of sexual assault against Fr. Andrew Showers, who is charged in a separate case with child sex crimes.

The statement comes after new testimony earlier this week from a woman who claimed Showers groped her under her clothes and made sexually inappropriate comments in 2024. You can read our full coverage of that story here. 

In its release, the Diocese said it was “devastating to learn of this additional allegation,” adding that it “prayerfully supports and stands behind those who have suffered harm, especially at the hands of those entrusted to pastorally care for us.”

The diocese also rejected accusations made during a press conference by advocacy groups that church officials attempted a cover-up. “To be clear: there is no cover-up, and in the Diocese of Madison’s continued commitment to…

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The Diocese of Madison has responded to the recent allegations brought against a Madison priest accused of child sex crimes.

[To see the Madison bishop’s response, click here.]

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – The Diocese of Madison has responded to the recent allegations brought against a Madison priest accused of child sex crimes. 37-year-old Andrew Showers was arrested last month following an undercover operation by Clintonville police. Authorities say the priest tried to meet up with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl for sex.

On Thursday, a woman brought forth allegations from a separate incident involving Showers. In January 2024, Patricia Moriarty alleges that she was out with friends in Chicago when Showers introduced himself to her as a priest. She claims he then groped her underneath her clothes and talked to her in a sexually inappropriate manner.

Moriarty shared her story on the…

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Sex abuse survivors react after judge confirms settlement against Catholic Diocese of Rochester

[For video, click here.]

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Carol Dupre’ has worn black every day for the last four years. She is one of 475 survivors in the sex abuse bankruptcy case against the Rochester Catholic Diocese. Today, after six years, the case closed and Carol wore white.

“I’m going to have some color put back in my life now,” Carol said.

Berkeley Brean, News10NBC: “Carol, what does the white symbolize for you?”

Carol Dupre’, survivor: “It’s the opposite of black. It’s a purity.”

The color drained from Carol’s life when she was abused by a priest as a 15-year-old girl. One by one, survivors walked out of the federal building. Moments before they left, Federal Judge Paul Warren had the confirmation order on his desk.

“Are you prepared for me to sign this order?” he…

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Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — A bankruptcy judge has approved a $246 million settlement plan between survivors of sexual abuse and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, marking the end of a nearly six-year legal battle.

Carol DuPré, a 78-year-old survivor, expressed relief as the settlement was finalized.

“When it was over, we just, we just hugged people we didn’t know, because we knew that they’d been through the same thing we’d been through,” said DuPré.

The settlement involves more than 500 survivors, with many cases dating back decades. They emerged under the Child Victims Act, which allowed survivors to pursue legal action despite the statute of limitations having passed.

DuPré said the confirmation of the settlement provides closure for survivors.

“I think that that’s more harmful sometimes than people realize, that you go back and you relive it, the meetings or the things on TV,” she said. “They’re triggers for…

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In short:

The Catholic Church tried to revive a legal loophole in 2022 that ruled the church could not be sued because it was not a legal entity, which was scrapped years earlier.

Last year, a new loophole was exposed after the court ruled churches cannot always be held liable for the actions of priests because they are not employees.

What’s next?

The government has pledged to close the new loophole, but advocates say delays in doing so are further traumatising victims. 

The Catholic Church attempted to reopen a highly controversial legal loophole that stopped it being sued by victims of sexual abuse for millions of dollars in damages, an ABC investigation can reveal.

Warning: This story contains details of alleged child sex abuse that may distress some audience members.

The “Ellis defence” was a legal loophole that held the church could not be sued because it did not exist…

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Disgraced former megachurch pastor Robert Morris waived his right to a preliminary hearing at a court appearance Thursday morning regarding accusations he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl over four decades ago.

Flanked by attorneys and wife Debbie, Morris appeared before Judge Cindy Pickerell at the Osage County District Court in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Morris confirmed he understood the implications of waiving the hearing.

Preliminary hearings are where a judge decides if there’s sufficient probable cause to proceed with a case. It’s also where unfavorable testimony may be heard.

Earlier this year, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a five-page indictment against Morris, alleging five counts of lewd molestation.

Pickerell ordered the 63-year-old Morris to return to court on Oct. 2 for his district court arraignment. During that court appearance, Morris will be able to enter a plea regarding the charges, ask for additional time, request a motion hearing, or set the case…

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The Very Rev. Bernard J. Owens, dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 4 issued a statement saying the cathedral’s communications manager, Brett Boardwine, has been placed on administrative leave after he was charged with attempted sexual conduct with a minor, and “importuning,” the legal term for soliciting a minor.

“Our highest priority is the safety of those in our care,” Owens said in his statement, which was sent to Episcopalians in the Diocese of Ohio via email. “While we currently have no reason to think anyone in the Trinity Cathedral community has been harmed, I have placed Brett on immediate administrative leave.”

FOX8 News in Cleveland reported that Boardwine, 31, was arrested on Aug. 12 for allegedly attempting to solicit sex with someone he thought was a 15-year-old boy after an online chat exchange on a social media platform….

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Three Broome County men, including a Harpursville church pastor, face attempted rape charges following joint investigations with the New York State Police, FBI and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

The New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation announced on Sept. 4 the results of the investigations, which targeted people using social media to lure children for sexual acts.

Ronald E. Wenzinger, 70, of Binghamton; John J. Tremark, 39, of Binghamton; and Juan A. Bolanoszul, 38, of Endicott were charged with second-degree attempted rape. The cases are not related.

New York State Police said Wenzinger is a reverend at the United Methodist Church in Harpursville.

In a letter posted on the church’s Facebook page April 6, Wenzinger announced he would be leaving the ministry between June 30 and Sept. 14 for “a new mission field involving low-income housing” after three years as pastor at the church.

State police said…

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A pastor and volleyball coach was arrested on Thursday in Wayne County.

51-year-old Chet Snyder is a pastor at Journey Church in Fairfield, the head girls’ Volleyball coach at Frontier Community College, and is now facing multiple sexual assault charges.

Before his arrest on Thursday, a young man filed an Order of Protection, no contact, against Snyder just a week ago. The charges against Snyder include: Unlawful Restraint, Aggravated Sexual Assault, and Criminal Sexual Assault.

An investigation is still ongoing, with updates in the coming days.

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Elders at a Fort Worth church are supporting their leader amid the troubling accusations.

A DFW-area pastor and Christian social media influencer is under fire after being arrested and charged earlier this week.

Alonzo Diego Fuller, 39, and his wife, Asia, have led Journey Fort Worth Church since 2022. Fuller has promoted his music and shared sermons to his expanding social media following while leading the church, which meets in a local elementary school. 

The Dallas Morning News reported that Fuller was held in the Tarrant County jail Monday on a second-degree felony charge of sexual assault stemming from an alleged incident in June 2025. He was released on a $40,000 bond that same day.

Elders from Journey Fort Worth Church released a statement in a Facebook post about Fuller’s arrest on Monday. They shared that they’d been made “aware of serious allegations” made against the pastor by a former church…

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There could be a delay in the start of the sexual assault trial of suspended Living Word Church Associate Pastor Randy Saylor, due to a hearing on Wednesday about a possible conflict of interest.

The trial for Saylor, 73, is set to begin Sept. 22 in Midland County Circuit Court. He is charged with three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct of a person under 13 and two counts of second-degree CSC with a relationship. Saylor is free on a $50,000 cash/surety bond.

Saylor’s attorney, Matthew Reyes, formerly represented a man who is set to be called by Assistant Midland County Prosecutor Courtney Driscoll as a witness in Saylor’s trial. The witness is the father of two of Saylor’s alleged victims and is expected to be cross-examined by Reyes during the trial.

Reyes represented the father in an abuse and neglect case that was filed after Saylor was charged. Driscoll said…

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A pastor and social media influencer in Fort Worth, Texas, was arrested Sunday on a sexual assault charge.

Alonzo Diego Fuller, 39, was arrested by Fort Worth police on a second-degree felony charge of sexual assault that, according to The Dallas Morning News, allegedly occurred in June.

On Monday, Fuller was released from the Tarrant County jail on a $40,000 surety bond, according to jail records.

But Fuller, founding pastor of Journey Fort Worth Church, said he “categorically denies” these accusations, which, he says, were brought by a former parishioner.

The church’s board of elders said these accusations are without merit, according to a statement posted Wednesday on Facebook.

“Pastor Diego fully supports and welcomes a thorough investigation by the criminal justice system and looks forward to the opportunity to clear his name,” they said. “He remains committed to…

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New charges were filed against a former Baltimore County youth pastor, who police said abused seven boys while he worked at Central Christian Church in Rossville.

A seventh victim has come forward, according to the Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger. Court papers said one victim told police that 52-year-old Thomas Pinkerton was a “father figure” to him “in a spiritual way,” meeting him when he was just 13-years-old.

The victim added that Pinkerton touched him inappropriately and, at one point, claimed when he kissed him, Pinkerton said that it was a “heavenly kiss” and that’s how Jesus would greet his disciples.

Police said there’s another victim in Georgia, where Pinkerton was living until he was arrested. He was extradited back to Maryland in August.

According to a statement, the church is offering counseling and spiritual support. Pinkerton remains in prison.

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A woman has come forward accusing Andrew Showers, the Madison priest who has been charged with three child sex crimes in Waupaca County, of more sexual misconduct. 

“I share my story not just for myself, but for everyone who is still carrying their pain in silence, like I once did,” Patricia Moriarty said.

Moriarty accused Showers of sexually assaulting her in 2024.

She said she met Showers in Chicago last year, where he introduced himself as a priest. Moriarty claimed that while they were in public, Showers groped her under her clothes and made sexually inappropriate comments.

Representatives from the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said Moriarty’s father contacted Madison Bishop Donald Hying. They received forms to fill out but were never spoken to directly by the bishop.

Peter Isely with SNAP believes another incident involving Showers and a middle school boy in…

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Two superiors we handed one year prison sentences on Tuesday, both of which are expected to be commuted

A Bolivian court sentenced two Jesuit priests on Sept. 2 to one year in prison for covering up the abuse of disgraced Fr. Alfonso Pedrajas, SJ. Pedrajas was accused of abusing at least 85 boys during his time in Bolivia and left a diary attesting to his crimes.

The priests convicted of covering up abuse, Fr. Marcos Recolons SJ and Fr. Ramón Alaix SJ, served as provincials of the Society of Jesus in Bolivia from 1993-1999 and 1999-2007, respectively. Pedrajas, who died in 2009, spent much of his ministry in Bolivia, including running a school for boys from poor rural families.

Recolons also served as councilor general of the Society of Jesus in Rome between 2004 and 2012.

According to the court ruling, both Recolons and Alaix knew of Pedrajas’ abuse both…

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One of the largest settlements under the Child Victims Act unfolded in a federal court in Rochester on Friday.

Nearly 500 survivors of child sex abuse walked away saying they are relieved and ready to move on.

“The healing can start now, which is more important than the money,” said Gregory Stanley. “I’m just glad it’s over.”

“Relief,” said Merle Sweet. “It’s all finally over.” 

“I am actually, for the first time, excited for the future,” said John McHugh.

After years of waiting, the settlement between the survivors of child sex abuse and the Catholic Diocese of Rochester is now settled. The move took place inside a federal bankruptcy court.

“This is a milestone day for survivors in the Rochester area after being the first bankruptcy filed in New York after the passage of the CVA,” said bankruptcy attorney Ilan Scharf. “We’ve had to fight many fights in courtrooms and mediations…

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Judge Paul Warren produced a blue shoelace at the end of the hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Sept. 5.

It wasn’t the promised ribbon, but it tied a bow, literal and symbolic, on the confirmation hearing that will ensure payouts to survivors of abuse and sexual abuse by priests, nuns and church officials in the Diocese of Rochester. The agreement will create a fund of $246 million for survivors, paid out by the diocese and its insurers.

Warren’s shoelace-tied confirmation marked the conclusion of an arduous six-year legal battle between survivors, the church and its insurers. A July 29 hearing was held over to September, where Warren signed the agreement to applause from an at-capacity courtroom.

“I haven’t forgotten what you said in your victim statements,” Warren said. “…The money isn’t going to fix you. It isn’t going to make it go away.”

But…

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Patricia Moriarty, a victim of Rev. Andrew Showers who was sexually assault in him in Chicago in January 2024, speaks at the Wisconsin State Capitol alongside Nate’s Mission advocates to push for stronger accountability for Madison Diocese officials, including Bishop Donald Hying.

An abuse survivors group has accused Diocese of Madison Bishop Donald Hying of ignoring multiple complaints against a Catholic priest charged with trying to arrange sex with a 14-year-old online.

Andrew J. Showers, 37, was arrested in a sting operation on Aug. 24, and charged with attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, attempted child enticement and attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16.

The diocese had once said there had been no previous complaints against Showers. But in a statement on Aug. 25, Hying said a parent had raised concerns about the priest back in December 2021.

…

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MADISON (WMTV) — New allegations are being brought against a Madison priest accused of child sex crimes.

Andrew Showers was arrested after an undercover operation last month in which a Clintonville police officer posed online as a 14-year-old girl. Showers had agreed to meet her for sex.

Now, Patricia Moriarty said she wants to share her experience with Showers, despite the painful memories it brings her.

“I share my story not just for myself, but for everyone who is still carrying their pain in silence like I once did,” Moriarty said.

Moriarty alleges that she was out with friends in Chicago in January 2024 when Andrew Showers introduced himself to her as a priest. She claims he then groped her underneath her clothes and talked to her in a sexually inappropriate manner.

“It’s a rollercoaster of emotions,” Moriarty said. “There’s days where you’re like,…

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Resolution of a sort came today for John McHugh, a survivor of child sex abuse by Catholic Church officials in the Diocese of Rochester. Maybe it was more of a new start, actually.

“I am, for the first time, excited for the future, because I can start to put some of this behind me and heal as best as I can,” McHugh said. “I won’t forget what happened but I can start to focus on the future instead of living in the past.”

Hear his comments in our video after the Sept. 5 federal bankruptcy court acceptance of a massive financial settlement that was years in the making.

Hear his comments in our video after the Sept. 5 federal bankruptcy court acceptance of a massive financial settlement that was years in the making.

Bishop Salvatore Matano also spoke and expressed sympathy for the…

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Sept. 1 marks a historic victory for child sexual assault survivors in Texas and Missouri. “Trey’s Law” has officially gone into effect, banning the misuse of nondisclosure agreements in civil settlement agreements pertaining to sexual assault claims.

In Texas, this legislation releases survivors from existing NDAs that restrict them from telling their stories, unless a court specifically orders otherwise.

Missouri’s House version of Trey’s Law (HB-737) also went into effect last Thursday. While the Texas version of Trey’s Law was expanded to make no provision for age, the Missouri version remains limited to civil disputes regarding cases of child sexual abuse.

Trey’s Law is named after Trey Carlock, a Dallas native who sued Kanakuk Kamps and other defendants after enduring a decade of grooming and child sexual abuse by camp director and serial child sexual predator Pete Newman. Carlock’s case settled out of court,…

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A family member of the Madison priest accused of child sex crimes expresses anger more than a week after his arrest.

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) -A family member of the Madison priest accused of child sex crimes expresses anger more than a week after his arrest.

“Andrew is my cousin. We are the same age; we graduated the same year,” Brenda Coy said.

Emotions are raw for the 37-year-old.

“Absolutely disgusted, angry. I’m just taken back as a survivor of sexual assault myself and after coming out to this family,” Coy said.

She learned last week that her cousin, priest Andrew Showers, is accused of child sex crimes.

“You don’t always know who someone is growing up or who they were in the past, but true colors really come out and sometimes it takes a certain instance for it to come out,” she said.

Coy said she felt a sense of relief…

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In the online Catholic landscape, a near-constant churn of sensationalized clickbait stokes fear, cultivates exclusion and funnels viewers down a pipeline of opinion and misinformation that, in many cases, drifts dangerously far from the church’s core teachings on justice, solidarity and dignity of the human person.

This theological departure has real-world consequences: political campaigns mobilize the Christian right to reduce the freedoms of marginalized groups, deny climate change, reject vaccine science – the list goes on. Pope Leo XIV has addressed this impulse: “Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for ‘security’ zones separating us from our neighbors, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms.”

So, the question becomes: How can left-leaning Catholics fight against online content designed to outrage and radicalize?

One answer is the creation and consumption of media that…

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The victims say the Archdiocese of Atlanta knew about priests sexually abusing children in the late ’70s and actively concealed it. 

ATLANTA (CN) — A group of 12 men who say they were sexually abused as children by Catholic priests argued to an appeals court Thursday that the church should be liable for concealing the abuse.

The plaintiffs claimed Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church knew its priests belonging to archdioceses across the country had a history of sexually abusing children, yet engaged in a “systematic cover-up effort” to conceal the danger the priests posed to minor parishioners, even as they encouraged them to serve as altar boys under the supervision of such priests.

The Archdiocese of Atlanta argued the men’s claims are time-barred because the abusive acts took place during the late 1970s and ‘80s. Under Georgia law, if a minor is subjected to sexual abuse, the general two-year statute…

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BALTIMORE — Maryland’s highest court is scheduled to consider arguments Friday on whether to release the names of more than a dozen people — mostly current and former clergy members — whose identities were concealed in the public version of a disturbing report released in 2023, chronicling sexual abuse within the Baltimore Archdiocese over decades.

The public arguments follow two years of secret court proceedings over releasing the names, which are blacked out in the Maryland Attorney General’s Office’s report. The lengthy document outlines sexual abuse and torture perpetrated by local diocesan clergy and staff on more than 600 children and young adults dating back to the 1940s.

None of the 14 anonymous archdiocese officials fighting the release of their names had been identified as a perpetrator of abuse in the report, though the Attorney General’s Office found that they either inadequately or inappropriately responded to allegations of abuse.

The Baltimore…

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Former student Billy Crane reflects on his own fight for justice

This week marks a historic moment in New Jersey, with the first civil sex abuse case against the Catholic Church in the state to go to trial. At issue is a string of accusations against the Delbarton School, a prominent Catholic college-preparatory school in Morristown.

The lawsuit, filed by a former student known only by the initials T.M., alleges abuse by a Benedictine monk in the 1970s, and accuses the Order of St. Benedictine — which owns and operates the school — of enabling that abuse.

Jury selection began Tuesday, despite attempts by the school to delay the trial over concerns of media exposure. Delbarton and the Order of St. Benedict face 39 pending lawsuits.

Former student Billy Crane knows this story all too well. He and his twin brother, Tom, sued Delbarton in 2012 alleging they were abused…

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A former priest convicted of abusing members of a “cult-like” church group will face a second trial next year.

Chris Brain, 68, ran the influential Nine O’Clock Service (NOS) in Sheffield in the 1980s and 1990s.

Last month, he was found guilty of 17 indecent assaults against nine women. A jury at Inner London Crown Court cleared him of 15 further counts of indecent assault, but could not reach a verdict on four counts of indecent assault and one rape.

Prosecutor Tim Clark KC told a hearing on Thursday that the Crown Prosecution Service was seeking a retrial on the remaining charges. The court heard it was scheduled to begin on 1 September 2026 and was expected to last about four weeks.

The five outstanding charges relate to four women who were part of the NOS, which blended live music and multi-media displays in services and attracted hundreds of young…

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