ABUSE TRACKER

Clerical abuse advocates and survivors described the death of defrocked cardinal Theodore McCarrick on April 3 as a “gut punch” for victims still healing after many decades.

McCarrick, who died at the age of 94 in Missouri, was the highest-ranking church leader laicized in modern times when the Vatican expelled him from ministry in 2019 after the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith found him guilty of sexual abuse.

“With Cardinal McCarrick’s death, we lose one of the great villains of Roman Catholicism in the U.S. I think that’s really what it means,” said C. Colt Anderson, a professor of Christian spirituality at Fordham University who is writing a book on clericalism and the clergy sex abuse crisis. (In 1954, McCarrick graduated from Fordham, a Jesuit university in New York. In 2018, amid public allegations of sexual abuse against McCarrick, the university announced that its board…

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COMMENTARY: The Temple needed to be cleansed in the time of Caiaphas. It still does. It always will.

Former cardinal and laicized priest Theodore McCarrick has died. The exposure of his grave sins and crimes marked another phase of the sexual abuse crisis. Having lived out his last years in secluded dementia, there is little left to say about the details of his case.  

His death is an occasion to recall what McCarrick taught us about clerical corruption, and how prevalent it remains in the history of salvation. The days before Holy Week are a good time to be reminded of that.  

In the 2002 phase of the sexual abuse scandals, Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston was the principal figure of negligence and cover-up. In 2018, McCarrick was something different, a malefactor himself who rose high in the ranks. His case raised the specter of widespread ecclesial corruption. 

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Catholic and Muslim groups called out sexist and racist jokes by candidates in the Philippines’ May 12 elections, as the country’s poll body threatened to sue violators of its anti-discrimination rules.

One of the most controversial cases involves a Metro Manila congressional candidate, Christian Sia of Pasig City, who offered to have sex “once a year” with single mothers who “are still menstruating.”

“So here’s my offer for the solo parents of Pasig: Once a year, the solo parents who are still menstruating and are feeling sad, once a year, they can have sex with me,” Sia said in a campaign speech that went viral on social media.

The Commission on Elections ordered Sia to explain his statement because this is a possible election offense, which could be punished with one to six years in prison.

Sia responded to the Comelec on Monday by invoking freedom of speech and claiming…

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Voters should not elect candidates who lack values during the May elections, critics say

Two Philippine politicians who will contest in the upcoming midterm elections in May issued public apologies after their sexist remarks triggered strong backlash from various quarters, including the Church and netizens.

Critics say the remarks by Misamis Oriental City gubernatorial candidate Peter Unabia and Pasay City congressional candidate and lawyer Christian Sia exposed deep-rooted misogyny in the society of the Catholic-majority nation.

Unabia and Sia came under fire after they made lewd remarks about women on April 3.

Unabia, who is seeking re-election, said during a nursing scholarship program that nursing was a profession “only for beautiful women” and not for men and “unattractive” female applicants.

He added that nurses who are unattractive “could possibly bring harm to the health condition of their patients.”

Sia’s sexist joke during a political campaign rally was even more…

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There have been a series of sex abuse and suicide cases involving Catholic nuns in recent years

Catholic nuns in India are conducting a series of training programs as part of enabling women religious to address challenges posed by sexual abuse, poor mental health, and suicidal tendencies.  

The Conference of Religious Women India (CRWI) concluded its tenth training workshop from April 1 to 5 in the western state of Goa. About 50 nuns from across India attended the program, which is conducted in collaboration with the Church-run Christ University in Bangalore.

“We have begun strengthening the resilience of the religious sisters to face challenges at work and to foster community support for mental well-being,” said Sister Molly Mathew, who leads this training project.

The organization represents about 103,000 nuns working in various parts of India.

The CRWI assistant program coordinator, Sister Renjitha Ravi, said the workshop focused…

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A Catholic priest from Downey remains in custody after Los Angeles County prosecutors charged him with several counts of child sexual abuse on Monday. 

Jaime Arriaga, 41, was remanded without bail after pleading not guilty to six felony counts related to the case. Most of the charges from the alleged sexual abuse happened in early February, according to court records. However, prosecutors also charged him with an assault that allegedly happened more than a month later on March 22. 

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles said Arriaga started presiding at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in January 2024 as a transitional deacon before being ordained as a priest six months later. The archdiocese added that it learned about the allegations on April 2. It immediately dismissed Arriaga from the ministry and reported the case to investigators. 

Arriaga surrendered himself to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department the following day,…

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The former longtime counselor is not permitted within 1,000 feet of any school and will have to register as a sex offender.

A former head counselor at an all-boys’ Catholic high school in Ohio has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a student.

On Monday, 43-year-old Emily Nutley reportedly welled up with tears as she pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. Nutley is not permitted to be within 1,000 feet of any school.

One of the alleged sexual encounters occurred in the counselor’s office at the school after hours.

Nutley had been a head counselor at St. Xavier High School in Springfield Township.

As Blaze News previously reported, Nutley allegedly met the then-17-year-old victim in 2023 through a school program that assists students who are struggling academically; she was a program supervisor.

The prosecutor said Nutley had additional contact…

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As dioceses and shrines are questioning how best to limit the use of artwork created by Slovenian Father Marko Rupnik, who is accused of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse over three decades, the art center he founded continued to promote his latest mosaics at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil.

In a post on its Instagram page shared April 4, the Centro Aletti said that over the coming days, it would feature “100+ images of the South facade and colonnade” of the Marian shrine on its website. 

Father Rupnik, 70, was briefly excommunicated by the church in 2020 for absolving an Italian novice with whom he had sex. The excommunication was lifted after he repented.

The Jesuits disclosed in December 2022 that it had suspended the Slovenian artist after allegations of abuse had surfaced. In June 2023, Father Rupnik was expelled from…

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A man who used his position as a teacher, dorm master and head of the tuck shop to abuse several vulnerable young boys says he can’t recall the abuse.

Michael James O’Donnell, 76, was jailed for five years and two months in the Palmerston North District Court on Tuesday after he admitted the indecent assault and sexual violation of five students at Hato Paora College in the 1980s.

The historic sexual offending took place at several locations within the school grounds, including in O’Donnell’s own living quarters, as well as outside school when he took students with him to run errands.

Four of his victims wrote impact statements for the hearing, including Kamahl Tupetagi who asked the judge for his automatic name suppression to be lifted.

He had travelled from Australia to attend the hearing, and with a friend by his side spoke of the devastating and ongoing harm he endured…

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Trauma is a lot like having a shard of glass in your hand, explains clinical psychologist Hillary McBride.

After time, it’s often invisible to the eye. The wound is obscured, the initial injury only noticeable by the ways we adapt to avoid pain — holding a utensil differently, typing with one fewer finger.

Some traumas can be linked a single incident — or single sliver of glass — but in the case of spiritual trauma, it’s like having a handful of glass pieces, says McBride, and almost no memory of how they got there.

“Everyone around is saying, ‘It’s good, it’s right,’” said McBride. “’It’s supposed to hurt.’”

While spiritual trauma has always existed, it’s a field that’s long been understudied, argues McBride, who has become known for her writing on embodiment, including her 2021 book “The Wisdom of Your Body.” It can be difficult to observe, in part because it…

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A new archbishop will replace Joseph F. Naumann as the spiritual father and shepherd of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, church leaders announced this week.

Pope Francis appointed Most Reverend Shawn McKnight to lead the archdiocese after Naumann’s mandatory retirement at the age of 75.

According to church officials, McKnight will serve as the fifth archbishop and 12th bishop of the archdiocese.

Archbishop-designate McKnight currently serves as bishop in Jefferson City. He was born in Wichita and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Wichita in May 1994.

McKnight earned a doctorate degree in sacred theology in 2001 at the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm in Rome. He taught graduate courses in liturgy, homiletics and dogma for some time before returning to pastoral ministry.

McKnight will be installed as archbishop at a Mass of Installation on May 27, according to Marissa Easter, a…

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The Texas House today unanimously passed a proposed state law to prohibit non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) involving child sexual abuse and adult sexual assault.

HB 748, which is titled “Trey’s Law” in honor of Trey Carlock, a victim of child sexual abuse who took his life, passed 149-0. The bill, which applies to civil settlements, would nullify any NDAs that keep victims of abuse or trafficking from disclosing their abuse, as previously reported by The Roys Report (TRR).

“No more NDAs to silence victims of child sexual abuse,” posted Rep. Jeff Leach, author of the bill, on X. “No more protecting predators. Today, we stand with survivors. Today, we choose justice, truth, and courage.” 

Similarly, Rep. Mitch Little, a cosponsor of Trey’s Law, said in a floor speech that the Texas House is making a statement that “silence is no longer for sale” in the…

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A man who says a former Marblehead priest raped him on a trip to a Boy Scout camp in Orford, New Hampshire, in 1976 was one of five witnesses to testify on the first day of the Rev. Richard Losch’s criminal trial April 8. 

At Grafton Superior Court in New Hampshire, the alleged victim, now 64, testified that Losch invited him and three other Marblehead boys to the Indian Pond Boy Scout camp, where Losch was the director. The camp had not yet opened for the season. No other adults were invited.

(In keeping with Current policy, this article will not reveal the identity of an alleged victim of sexual assault. He will be referred to as Jack.)

After they arrived, Losch, who also served as a Tower School assistant headmaster and Boy Scout leader, informed Jack that they would be sharing a bed in a cabin, Jack said. Jack believes the…

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DOWNEY, Calif. (KABC) — A Downey priest is facing criminal charges of assault and lewd acts involving a minor, and one organization believes he may have victimized others.

Eyewitness News obtained video from June 1, 2024, when Jaime Arriaga was ordained as a priest. Now, he faces a new reality after he was arrested and charged with assault and lewd acts on a child.

Arriaga pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment on Monday and is being held without bail.

The 41-year-old was a deacon first and then a priest at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Downey since January 2024.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles said they received the report on Arrianga on April 2. He was arrested the following day. The Archdiocese said he has been removed from the ministry.

The Archdiocese issued a statement saying, in part, “Allegations of misconduct against anyone serving in the…

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Theodore McCarrick’s death takes the clergy sexual abuse crisis into one of its most frequent dead ends. Dead dogs don’t bite?

Back in August 2023, a court declared McCarrick unfit to face trial despite his earlier attempt at declaring himself not guilty of sexual abuse charges.

McCarrick’s death brings no solution or relief to the victims and it only perpetuates a playbook, a template, allowing factions of the Catholic Church to use victims as bargaining pieces in their internal quarrels.

In the wake of Theodore McCarrick’s death, the silence that often follows the demise of accused predators risks blurring our understanding of the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

While his passing may close one painful chapter for some, it offers no true resolution for victims and does nothing to dismantle the systemic failures that allowed his abuses, and countless others, to occur.

“Dead dogs do not bite” it is not a stated…

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From the Twisted Message: A prophet’s unchecked global sect series

Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of sexual violence against children.

Tucson police are investigating allegations that a longtime member of the Golden Dawn Tabernacle molested a boy in 2012 and the church’s pastor covered it up.

He admitted to molesting a boy. And his Tucson church protected him for years.

A member of a Tucson church admitted he molested a boy. The pastor said he knew and never went to the police, flouting state laws that mandate reporting of such incidents.

The police investigation comes after the Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism team and the Arizona Daily Star reported that Golden Dawn pastor Isaac Noriega admitted he knew and did not go to police about the alleged sexual abuse of an 11-year-old at the hands of a congregant named Jose Mora, a man who was still in…

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In an international operation spanning 38 countries, German investigators said on Wednesday that they had dismantled “KidFlix”, a major online platform for the distribution of child sex abuse images with 1.8 million users worldwide.

German investigators said on Wednesday that they had dismantled a major platform for the distribution of child sex abuse images with 1.8 million users worldwide in an international operation coordinated by Europol.

The move to shut down the “KidFlix” streaming service was “one of the biggest blows against child pornography in recent years, if not ever”, said Guido Limmer, deputy head of the Bavarian criminal police.

The investigation was led by German police and supported by authorities in 38 countries under the coordination of Europol.

In all, “KidFlix” is said to have hosted more than 91,000 videos with images of child sex abuse, totalling around 6,288 hours of film, according to Bavarian police.

Authorities were able to identify…

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A man abused as a child at a Missouri Christian camp agreed to remain silent, and took his own life. His sister is pushing several states to ban such nondisclosure agreements.

Like the children of many affluent evangelical families in Dallas, Elizabeth Carlock Phillips and her younger brother Trey Carlock spent their summers at a Christian sports camp in Missouri. After Mr. Carlock suffered years of sexual abuse by one of the camp’s directors, he reached a financial settlement to compensate him for his trauma, but at a suffocating price: He could never tell anyone about what had happened.

Mr. Carlock, a neuroscience researcher, cycled in and out of more than a dozen hospitals and treatment centers, and tried electroconvulsive therapy. He became increasingly detached from family and friends, and took his own life in August 2019. He was 28.

“Trey told a therapist, ‘They will always control me, and…

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Nearly 100 California sexual abuse lawsuits were filed in tandem against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — widely known as the Mormon Church — last year, and one of them involves Modesto, according to documents obtained by The Bee.

While the Modesto case is decades old, it was filed alongside 91 cases from 26 counties across the state, including Sacramento, San Joaquin, Fresno and San Luis Obispo. The complaints detail sexual abuse with various power dynamics throughout several decades.

The case filed in Stanislaus County details the story of one victim who alleges abuse from two people in two cities: Hayward and, later, Modesto.

The alleged abuse at the Modesto church took place in the early 1990s and involved a victim and an alleged abuser of similar age. The alleged perpetrator in Modesto was the son of an area bishop, according to a civil complaint. Both alleged…

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• A teacher at Hato Pāora College, Father Michael O’Donnell, has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for sexually abusing students.
• Kamahl Tupetagi, one of the victims, has waived his right to name suppression and spoken out about the lasting impact of the abuse.
• O’Donnell is the third staff member from the college to be convicted of historical sex crimes against students.

“Dear sir, my son Kamahl Willcocks is having a terrible time at the college he is in. When Kamahl came back for the last week of the August holidays, he was depressed and cried all the time.”

“I honestly think he is terrified of going back to Hato Pāora College.

“Please, Mr Cullen. Help my son.”

Those were the words a concerned mother penned to then-Minister of Social Welfare Michael Cullen in October 1988.

She was worried her son was being bullied by the other students at the…

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A CATHOLIC priest on trial in the Royal Court has claimed he “never ever” sexually abused his alleged child victim.

Piotr Antoni Glas (61) admitted he had a “foot fetish” – and had downloaded images of feet to his computer which the child later discovered – but said he never acted on that fetish.

Mr Glas said he abused the child’s faith and trust but denied this was sexual abuse.

The priest faces seven counts of committing indecent acts against a child which he denies.

Mr Glas, who has been on trial since the beginning of last week, also said that the family of the child never raised concerns with him.

“If something did happen sexually, I think [their] mother would be with me in five minutes,” he said.

Mr Glas, who was a Catholic priest in Jersey at the time of the alleged offending, is accused of placing the…

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How past, and future, inform the Philippines’ hierarchy

The Catholic Church in the Philippines currently has a record five members of the College of Cardinals.

In the 21st century, five cardinals — Gaudencio Borbon Rosales (appointed 2006), Luis Antonio Tagle (2012) , Orlando Beltran Quevedo (2014), Jose Advincula (2020), and Pablo Virgilio David (2024) — have strengthened Filipino Catholicism’s voice in the global Church.

The rise in the number of Filipino cardinals reflects the Philippines’ position as the country with the world’s third-largest Catholic population after Brazil and Mexico. The Philippines’ global influence is heightened by the 15 million-strong Filipino diaspora, concentrated in North America and the Middle East.

Tagle, David, and Advincula — the three Filipino cardinals under the age of 80 — bring distinctly Filipino perspectives on being Catholic to the Sacred College, informed by their experience of the Church at the national, continental, and world levels.

In the Philippines, the three are…

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(OSV News) – Here is a timeline of key events in the life of the late Theodore E. McCarrick, beginning with his ordination as a priest for the Archdiocese of New York more than 60 years ago. The timeline includes information on his episcopal appointments to dioceses and archdioceses and covers allegations of abuse lodged against him up to his death April 3, 2025.

1958, June 15 – Father McCarrick is ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of New York by Cardinal Francis J. Spellman.

1958 – Father McCarrick performs his first baptism in Tenafly, New Jersey. The child, James Grein, later would allege he was abused by Father McCarrick.

1969 – Msgr. McCarrick is named assistant secretary of education for the Archdiocese of New York.

1969 – Msgr. McCarrick allegedly exposes himself to James Grein, then an 11-year-old boy, in Northern New Jersey. As reported by The New York Times July…

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A CATHOLIC priest on trial for abusing a child has denied the offences happened but admitted he has an “issue with feet” and that he took a bag of children’s socks from a secondary school in Southampton and brought them to Jersey with him.

Piotr Antoni Glas (61) faces seven counts of committing an act of gross indecency against the child.

The presiding judge in the Royal Court trial, Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae, found on Friday that three of the charges previously faced by Mr Glas could not lead to a guilty verdict. The jury will still need to decide on the remaining seven charges, all of committing acts of gross indecency.

Giving evidence on the fifth day of his trial, Mr Glas told jurors that the complainant visited his home at their own request.

The defendant explained that he had suffered from back problems since he was a teenager,…

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From the CWR archives: Theodore McCarrick deceived many highly intelligent people, more than a few holy people, and a lot of the progressive U.S. Catholic world, for whom he was both hero and fundraiser.

Editor’s note: This essay was published originally on November 18, 2020, and is reposted in response to the news that McCarrick died recently at the age of 94.

From the day it was announced that the Vatican would conduct an investigation into the career of former Washington cardinal-archbishop Theodore McCarrick (compelled to renounce his cardinalate and subsequently laicized for sexual abuse and the abuse of power), it seemed unlikely that the McCarrick Report would fully please anyone.

That intuition hardened as two years passed without any report. During that period, I also came to the view that, whatever the report reported about details, it would not…

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For more than six years, lawyers for the Catholic Diocese of Camden quietly moved to squash the New Jersey attorney general’s ability to produce a detailed accounting of the sexual abuse of children committed by members of the clergy, and the institution’s efforts to conceal, harbor, and protect known sexual offenders — often putting additional children in harm’s way.

The Diocese successfully petitioned a lower court judge to seal the proceedings, so the public would not learn of their efforts, while New Jersey’s bishops publicly stated they would cooperate with the state’s investigation. The Camden Diocese lawyers argued that “the internal operations of the Catholic Church from long ago are not public affairs or conditions, are not imminent and pertinent.”

Furthermore, we also learned last month, they persuaded the judge that the state had no authority to issue a presentment against a…

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A principal at Southwest Covenant Schools in Yukon has been arrested as part of a child pornography investigation.

UPDATE: Canadian County Sheriff’s Office statement

On March 25, 2025, at approximately 6:30 a.m., deputies and investigators from the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant in Yukon, Oklahoma. The search was conducted as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations involving child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Upon entry into the residence, authorities gathered all occupants for questioning.

Kevin Cobbs, the suspect in the investigation, was briefed on the search warrant, and a copy was provided to them.

During questioning, Kevin admitted to viewing explicit material involving various adult and adult-female relationships but denied seeking or possessing images related to CSAM.

Investigators further examined Kevin Cobbs’ personal devices, including his iPhone. Upon review, investigators discovered a troubling image in a hidden folder in the photo app on Kevin’s phone of a minor….

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I remember the first time I heard about then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick liking to share a bed with young seminarians.

It was 2002, and I was working at the Vatican. A co-worker told me of how he took part in a weekend retreat with McCarrick years before, when he was a seminarian and McCarrick was a bishop. It was two to a bed in the house, and he got the call to share with McCarrick.

He said McCarrick only put a hand on his shoulder before falling asleep, but he also said he had heard stories of more “intimate” transactions taking place between McCarrick and others in similar circumstances.

It was then I learned McCarrick’s nickname was “Uncle Ted.”

RELATED: Disgraced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has died at age 94

At the time, McCarrick had recently been made a cardinal and was leading the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. Before coming…

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In short:

Peter Cotton was sexually abused by Christian Brother teacher Daniel McMahon at Aquinas College in Perth in the 1960s.

When he found out many years later McMahon had moved to Tasmania to become a priest, he made a complaint to the Archdiocese of Hobart.

What’s next?

Mr Cotton is worried the Tasmanian church has not learnt from the situation and warns, “if they’re not prepared to look into it seriously and make some admissions, they run the risk of this all happening again”.

Peter Cotton was in his first weeks at a Catholic boarding school in Perth in the 1960s when he was sexually abused by his class teacher.

That teacher was then-Christian Brother Daniel McMahon.

WARNING: This story deals with trauma and child sexual abuse.

Later, in 2002, Mr Cotton found out McMahon had moved to Tasmania in the 1990s to become a priest, and he was…

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The disgraced former cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, removed from the clerical state in 2019 after revelations of credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors and misconduct against adults, has died in Missouri. He was 94.

Archbishop of Washington from 2001-2006 and a once powerful figure in the Catholic Church in the U.S. known to successfully fundraise for Vatican causes, McCarrick was removed from ministry at the direction of the Vatican in June 2018 due to a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a teenager investigated by the Archdiocese of New York.

McCarrick’s attorney confirmed his death April 4 to OSV News. According to multiple sources, he died April 3.

“Today I learned of the death of Theodore McCarrick, former Archbishop of Washington. At this moment I am especially mindful of those who he harmed during the course of his priestly ministry. Through their enduring pain, may we remain steadfast in…

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A hospital in Daegu issued a public apology on Saturday after a nurse in its neonatal intensive care unit was accused of abusing newborns and posting unsettling photos of them on social media.

The nurse, who works at Daegu Catholic University Medical Center, ignited public outrage after sharing an image of herself holding an infant, with captions that appeared to suggest a desire to drop the baby.

Further scrutiny revealed that this was not the first time she had posted such photos.

In a two-minute video released on the hospital’s official YouTube channel, the hospital’s director, Kim Yoon-young, apologized.

“We deeply apologize for the distress caused by the inappropriate actions of a NICU nurse at our hospital,” Kim said. “To the parents who entrusted us with their precious children and were profoundly shocked and hurt, we offer our sincerest apologies.”

Kim said that the nurse had been removed from duty…

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Protecting children and vulnerable adults among the communities that the Catholic Diocese of Garissa in Kenya serve has always been a difficult task owing to the strong traditions of the communities that have “their own way” of handling cases of abuse.

According to Fr. Fredrick Namasaka, a Priest ministering in Garissa Diocese, who participated in the just-ended child safeguarding training in the Kenyan Episcopal See, communities under the pastoral care of the Diocese are “very traditional in the way they handle their conflicts”, and these include cases of abuse.

Speaking to ACI Africa on Thursday, April 4, the first day of the training that the Safeguarding Initiative Project of Kenya-based Tangaza University (TU) facilitated, Fr. Namasaka said that child abuse among the communities he serves is brought to the fore by the many arranged marriages of minors, who are denied the opportunity to go to school.

“Physical and sexual abuses are not…

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Maryland lawmakers have passed a measure to try to limit future liabilities from claims of sexual abuse at state and private institutions

Maryland lawmakers passed a measure Saturday to try to limit future liabilities from claims of sexual abuse at state and private institutions after thousands of people unexpectedly came forward with allegations of abuse, many of them in youth detention centers, putting potentially billions of dollars at stake for the state.

The wave of cases targeting the state’s juvenile justice system resulted after Maryland eliminated the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse claims two years ago with the Catholic Church abuse scandal in mind.

The measure, which now goes to Gov. Wes Moore, reduces caps on settlements from $890,000 to $400,000 for cases filed after May 31 for state institutions and from $1.5 million to $700,000 for private institutions. It also changes the 2023 law to only allow each…

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Defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic prelate to face criminal charges for the sexual abuse of a minor, died Thursday (April 3), according to Vatican media.

In a statement, the current Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Robert McElroy, told RNS, “At this moment I am especially mindful of those who he harmed during the course of his priestly ministry. Through their enduring pain, may we remain steadfast in our prayers for them and for all victims of sexual abuse.”

McCarrick, a greatly influential figure in the U.S. Catholic Church with a reputation as a fundraiser, also led the Diocese of Metuchen and the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey before becoming Archbishop of Washington in 2001, later being named cardinal by Pope John Paul II. 

He was the first cardinal to be stripped of his cardinal rights and resign from the College of Cardinals, making him ineligible to elect…

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Theodore McCarrick, a once-powerful Catholic cardinal who was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 after a Vatican investigation determined he had molested adults and children, has died. He was 94.

Archbishop of Washington Robert McElroy issued a statement Friday confirming McCarrick’s death a day earlier but provided no details. His statement focused on those McCarrick abused.

“At this moment I am especially mindful of those who he harmed during the course of his priestly ministry,” McElroy said. “Through their enduring pain, may we remain steadfast in our prayers for them and for all victims of sexual abuse.”

In recent court proceedings, it was disclosed that McCarrick had been diagnosed with dementia. He had been living in Missouri, and Vatican News reported he died there.

The McCarrick scandal created a crisis of credibility for the church, primarily because there was evidence Vatican and U.S. church leaders knew he slept with seminarians but turned a…

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“McCarrick was never held accountable for his crimes,” the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, a victims group, said in a statement after the former cardinal’s death. “While he was eventually removed from public ministry, defrocked, and stripped of his red hat, he never stood trial for the vast harm he inflicted on children, young adults, seminarians, and others under his power. … The McCarrick story is not just about one man. It is about the system that enabled him.”

Theodore E. McCarrick, the former cardinal and spiritual leader of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington who, more than a decade into retirement, was expelled from the priesthood after the church found him guilty of sexual abuse — a precipitous and historic fall for a globe-trotting Vatican emissary who was once one of the church’s most admired public figures — has died at 94.Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, archbishop of Washington, confirmed…

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The disgraced former cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, removed from the clerical state in 2019 after revelations of credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors and misconduct against adults, has died in Missouri. He was 94.

Archbishop of Washington from 2001-2006 and a once powerful figure in the Catholic Church in the U.S. known to successfully fundraise for Vatican causes, McCarrick was removed from ministry at the direction of the Vatican in June 2018 due to a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a teenager investigated by the Archdiocese of New York.

McCarrick’s attorney confirmed his death April 4 to OSV News. According to multiple sources, he died April 3.

“Today I learned of the death of Theodore McCarrick, former Archbishop of Washington. At this moment I am especially mindful of those who he harmed during the course of his priestly ministry. Through their enduring pain, may we remain steadfast in…

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Defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the once-powerful archbishop of Washington, D.C., who was removed from the priesthood amidst one of the worst sexual-abuse scandals in the history of the American Catholic Church, has died at the age of 94 in Missouri. 

His death on April 3 was confirmed by Cardinal Robert McElroy, the recently installed archbishop of Washington. The National Catholic Reporter had reported the news earlier, attributing it to two people briefed on the matter but who asked not to be named. 

Ordained in 1958, McCarrick became archbishop in Newark, New Jersey, in 1986 and then archbishop of Washington, D.C., in 2000, rising to power despite church officials’ knowledge of sexual-abuse accusations against him. 

A two-year Vatican investigation into McCarrick’s tenure found credible reports of his abusive behavior dating to 1999, including an inquiry confirming that he slept with seminarians. 

McCarrick was removed from the priesthood after a Vatican investigation…

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The following is a timeline of important dates from the McCarrick Report and elsewhere regarding abuse allegations against recently deceased former cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

Published by the Vatican on Nov. 10, 2020, the McCarrick Report examined the “institutional knowledge and decision-making” regarding McCarrick, who was found guilty of sexual abuse of minors and seminarians in 2019 and laicized after an expedited canonical investigation. 

July 7, 1930: Theodore Edgar McCarrick is born in New York City, the only child of Theodore E. and Margaret McLaughlin McCarrick.

1954: McCarrick graduates from Fordham University in New York with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy.

1954-1958: McCarrick attends St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York and attains a master of arts degree in theology.

May 31, 1958: New York Cardinal Francis Spellman ordains McCarrick to the priesthood at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. McCarrick is incardinated into the Archdiocese of New York.

November 1965: Pope Paul VI grants…

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He ascended to the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church before allegations of misconduct in 2018, and an investigation led Pope Francis to strip him of his title and priesthood.

Theodore E. McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington and the highest American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church to be accused of sexually abusing minors and seminarians — a charge that stripped him of his ministry, his place in the College of Cardinals and his priesthood, reducing him to the status of a layman — has died. He was 94.

Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, archbishop of Washington, confirmed the death in a statement, which provided no further details. A statement by the Vatican said he died on Thursday in Missouri, where he had been reported to be living.

The accusations against Cardinal McCarrick, who had helped shape many of his church’s policies for responding to its sexual abuse crisis,…

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Los Angeles County has reached a $4 billion agreement to settle nearly 7,000 claims of sexual abuse in juvenile facilities since 1959. Officials say the agreement still needs approval from the Los Angeles County board of supervisors. It would be the largest such settlement in U.S. history.

Here is a list of the largest settlements reached in recent years by organizations and victims of sexual abuse:

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2024 – Church abuse in LA

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay $800 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse, bringing the total payout by the Catholic archdiocese, which covers Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, to more than $1.5 billion.

2022 – Boy Scouts

The Boy Scouts of America reached a $2.6 billion agreement with more than 80,000 men who said they were molested as children by Scout leaders and others. At the time, it was the largest aggregate sexual abuse settlement…

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In 2021, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill to provide a two-year window to allow sex abuse survivors to file civil lawsuits, no matter the statute of limitations.

It came in the wake of a 2018 state grand jury report that found more than 300 Catholic clergy in Pennsylvania had abused more than 1,000 victims since the 1940s. 

The legislation still had to pass through the state senate, then have voters approve it as a ballot initiative before it became law. But due to a clerical error by the Department of State, those steps never happened and the bill had to start all over again.

In the wake of this fiasco, actor Jay Sefton co-wrote (with Mark Basquill) a one-man play starring himself. “Unreconciled” tells the story of how Sefton played Jesus in an eighth-grade Catholic school passion play in the Philadelphia suburb of Havertown under the direction…

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The Maryland House passed a bill April 3 that makes significant changes to the Child Victims Act, lowering the limits for future lawsuits for sexual abuse of a minor and limiting the civil damages to each claimant, rather than each incident of alleged abuse. The bill now moves to the Maryland Senate for action before the session ends April 7.

The CVA, which became law in 2023, removed any statute of limitations for civil claims child sexual abuse in the state and set limits for payouts from private institutions, including churches and private schools, at $1.5 million. It capped civil claims for anyone abused in a public institution at $890,000 per incident. “Incident” was not defined in the law.

House Bill 1378 would change those caps to $400,000 for public institutions, the same as the state torts limit, and $700,000 for private institutions and individuals, including churches, parishes and private…

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Brian Kim, pastor of HOUSE Denver church, is accused of bullying, spiritual abuse, and lying, according to former church leaders and members in a petition posted online.

The petition accuses Kim of 11 types of abusive leadership that span at least 10 years at HOUSE and two other ministries, including the International House of Prayer-Kansas City (IHOPKC).

“Our heart in bringing this charge is not to cause pain, division, or revenge,” the petition states. “Our desire is to protect the sheep and prevent further harm to those entrusted to Brian’s leadership and the leadership team surrounding him” (emphasis in original).

More than 40 people with ministry connections to Kim, including someone who hired him, are calling for either resignations or a third-party investigation of Kim and all of HOUSE’s elders.

“Our goal is to follow a biblical process, with the hope of fostering healthy church leadership, structure, and shepherding of…

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Richard Trahant is an officer of the court and, under Louisiana law, is also a mandatory reporter of child sex abuse. When he discovered that a self-admitted pedophile had been hired at Brother Martin High School in New Orleans, he did exactly what the law and his conscience demanded. He acted immediately and decisively to protect our children and our community from a self-confessed predator. His reward for doing the very right thing? A staggering $400,000.00 fine imposed by Federal Judge Meredith Grabill. This isn’t just an injustice; it’s a grotesque betrayal of every principle of law, morality, and basic human decency. A man who stood up for vulnerable children was punished for it.

Lady Justice is not just blindfolded; She is curled-up on the floor, weeping. And there’s no Kleenex tainted with Aloe Vera for Her tears. Lady Justice was raped by a phantasmagorical cast of downright evil characters…

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In 2018, Jay Sefton was writing the story of his life in op-eds and legal documents.

A survivor of sexual abuse by clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Sefton advocated for a bill stalled in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives that would allow a “lookback window” on abuse cases that had passed the statute of limitations so that alleged perpetrators could be tried in a court of law. He was also left frustrated by the archdiocese’s Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program (I.R.R.P.). (The I.R.R.P. is promoted as an opportunity for survivors to tell their story to an independent audience and receive both personal acknowledgment and financial compensation.)

With no satisfactory response from the Catholic Church or the Pennsylvania state government, Sefton decided to keep writing his story, but this time through storytelling and theater. As a professional actor who had spent 13 years living and working in Los Angeles, he…

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THE mother of the alleged victim of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest has said that she was “ashamed” she did not realise what was going on and still blames herself.

She was giving evidence in the Royal Court yesterday on the fourth day of the trial of Piotr Antoni Glas (61).

The woman told jurors it was “unfathomable” that her child was not protected and said “the last thing that anybody wants to register was that there was a possibility that their child had been abused”.

Mr Glas, who is known as Peter when his name is Anglicised, faces eight counts of committing acts of gross indecency and two counts of indecent assault against a child.

In her opening speech, Crown Advocate Carla Carvalho, prosecuting, described how the priest had “groomed” the child and their family, using his position as a priest to gain their trust before starting to…

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“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.” ― Bernard Shaw

The serious problems with Biblical™ counseling.

I have been writing about my concerns with the “biblical” counseling movement for several years. Here are many of the posts I wrote on the problems of this quasi-licensed (they are not), poorly trained, and poorly supervised movement within the mostly hardcore Reformed churches, many of which like to say they are Reformedish. This movement focuses on sin and eschews confidentiality. In other words, they may report a person to their pastor due to a “sin” discovered in counseling. Do you think I’m exaggerating? I have the proof. In 2024, I wrote The Pain of Living With Bipolar Disease in a “Biblical Counseling” World, which provides a summary of other articles I have written.

TWW readers are well aware of my concerns regarding the biblical counseling movement. I am not…

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Lawyer representing claimants says he’s optimistic they will be compensated what they’ve been awarded, once other relevant organizations are held accountable

The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s (RCECSJ) still has a long way to go to collect the money needed to compensate survivors of sexual abuse, according to the latest report by the firm overseeing its insolvency proceedings.

Still, a lawyer representing many of the claimants is optimistic that, when all parties are held accountable, the survivors will get close to the amount of compensation they’re owed.

The report by court-appointed monitor Ernst & Young details the archdiocese’s efforts to sell its properties to raise the money needed to settle with survivors of sexual abuse by Christian Brothers at Mount Cashel Orphanage and other Roman Catholic clergy, for which it has been found vicariously liable.

Last July, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador approved a $104 million…

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Daegu Catholic University Medical Center recently stated regarding the reported abuse of newborns in the intensive care unit, “We bow our heads in apology to all those who were shocked and hurt by this incident” on the 4th.

The hospital issued a statement that day, expressing its apology and noted, “We have begun preparing measures to prevent recurrence.”

It added, “The hospital director met with the guardian of the victimized child for about an hour and conveyed words of apology,” and noted, “We are faithfully cooperating with the investigations by the police and health authorities.”

The father of the victimized child, Mr. A, said, “During the meeting, the hospital director expressed his intention to make a public apology regarding the abuse.”

The hospital is undergoing disciplinary procedures against the nurse, Mr. B, who is at the center of the controversy. He has indicated his intention to resign.

Recently, Mr. B…

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The Maryland House passed a bill April 3 that makes significant changes to the Child Victims Act, lowering the limits for future lawsuits for sexual abuse of a minor and limiting the civil damages to each claimant, rather than each incident of alleged abuse. The bill now moves to the Maryland Senate for action before the session ends April 7.

The CVA, which became law in 2023, removed any statute of limitations for civil claims child sexual abuse in the state and set limits for payouts from private institutions, including churches and private schools, at $1.5 million. It capped civil claims for anyone abused in a public institution at $890,000 per incident. “Incident” was not defined in the law.

House Bill 1378 would change those caps to $400,000 for public institutions, the same as the state torts limit, and $700,000 for private institutions and individuals, including churches, parishes and private…

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Jersey’s Royal Court heard how a former Catholic Priest, charged with ten counts of sexual abuse against a child, carried out ‘exorcisms’ on his alleged victim.

Piotr Antoni Glas, 61, faces eight charges of gross indecency and two counts of indecent assault for alleged incidents involving a boy aged between 13 and 15.

Witnesses took the stand today (Thursday, 3 April) to give evidence for the prosecution of Mr Glas.

The court was told how Mr Glas would ‘playfight’ with the complainant before committing sexually motivated acts between 2004 and 2007.

The court heard how the alleged victim would occasionally sit on his lap and “play wrestling games” with him.

A witness said she saw Glas with a black eye after the teenager had allegedly attacked him to free himself after his face had been held against the priest’s groin.

As a result, the priest carried out a series of…

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The alleged victim of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest has denied tricking the priest when confronting the alleged perpetrator during a phone call.

The complainant told jurors on the third day of Piotr Antoni Glas’s trial in the Royal Court that the priest “would never admit to what he did” and would either lie or “twist the truth”.

Under cross-examination from the defence the complainant maintained that they “never had a doubt” about their allegations.

Mr Glas (61) faces eight charges of committing acts of gross indecency and two charges of indecent exposure, all of which the prosecution say were sexually motivated.

He is accused of placing the child’s feet against his face and masturbating, play-fighting until the child’s face was near his erect penis and the child’s feet in his face, and kissing the child on the mouth.

The gross indecency charges are alternative charges: this means that…

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THE mother of the alleged victim of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest has said that she was “ashamed” she did not realise what was going on and still blames herself.

She was giving evidence in the Royal Court yesterday on the fourth day of the trial of Piotr Antoni Glas (61).

The woman told jurors it was “unfathomable” that her child was not protected and said “the last thing that anybody wants to register was that there was a possibility that their child had been abused”.

Mr Glas, who is known as Peter when his name is Anglicised, faces eight counts of committing acts of gross indecency and two counts of indecent assault against a child.

In her opening speech, Crown Advocate Carla Carvalho, prosecuting, described how the priest had “groomed” the child and their family, using his position as a priest to gain their trust before starting to…

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Leawood – When Jane walked into the Mass of Atonement at Holy Angels Church in Basehor on April 26, 2023, she had hopes for continued and deeper healing.

What she didn’t expect was the outpouring of support from the Catholic community there.

“As I sat there before Mass observing, I was moved to tears,” she said. “It became clear how important it was for the community to recognize the harm that was done so many years ago.

“For so long, there was little acknowledgment of the harm inflicted by sexual abuse by representatives of the church.”

Jane, whose name has been changed for anonymity, is a survivor of abuse by a representative of the Catholic Church.

For the third year, the archdiocese invites survivors and supporters to a public Mass of Atonement on the Annual Day of Prayer in Atonement for Sexual Abuse in the Church, celebrated by Archbishop Joseph…

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The Archdiocese of Chicago filed a countersuit March 24 against seven alleged victims of clergy child sex abuse who either have pending settlements or have already received settlements in the millions of dollars. 

The lawsuit, provided to OSV News by the archdiocese, documents a network of at least 30 people, including convicted criminals, gang members and friends, many with family ties to each other, who allegedly conspired to defraud the church.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of a “scheme to manufacture and assert fraudulent claims of priest sexual abuse for financial gain.” It alleges “a quid pro quo among coconspirators” who, planning to share settlement payouts, coached each other in successfully pursuing a claim and connect them to lawyers “who are expected to aggressively seek settlement even for the most dubious claims.”

“In some instances, the coconspirators exchange money even before achieving a settlement, enabled by litigation funding loans…

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Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline has been elected president of the French bishops’ conference, succeeding Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort as the Catholic Church in France continues responding to revelations of sexual abuse.

The 66-year-old archbishop of Marseille was elected on April 2 during the bishops’ spring plenary assembly in Lourdes.

Aveline will officially assume leadership of the conference on July 1 alongside newly elected vice presidents Archbishop Vincent Jordy of Tours and Bishop Benoît Bertrand of Pontoise.

Aveline, who was born in Algeria and has served as a priest in Marseille for over 40 years, is known for his close relationship with Pope Francis.

The pope created him a cardinal in August 2022 and briefly visited Marseille in September 2023.

According to French media, Aveline is the most recognized French cardinal in Rome.

Aveline succeeds Moulins-Beaufort, who served as conference president since 2019…

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The former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has told the BBC he failed to follow up abuse allegations within the Church of England because the scale of the problem was “absolutely overwhelming”.

In November he became the first Archbishop to quit as a result of a scandal in the Church in more than 1,000 years, after a damning independent review found he did not follow up rigorously enough on reports about John Smyth, a serial abuser of children and young men.

In his first interview since resigning, Welby, 68, told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that the sheer scale of the problem was “a reason – not an excuse” for his failure to act after taking the job in 2013.

“Every day more cases were coming across the desk that had been in the past, hadn’t been dealt with adequately, and this was just, it was another case – and yes I…

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Being interviewed by a skilled journalist can be a high-risk event. This weekend just gone, Bishop Justin Welby, former Archbishop of Canterbury, submitted to a long in-depth interview at the hands of the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.

It may not have been the softest of soft-ball interviews that the BBC has conducted, but it came close. Kuenssberg pitched some unusually gentle questions.

The overwhelming response to the interview has been to ask why Justin Welby chose to do it?

There was a kind of quantum element to it: contradictory streams of thought within a single conversation. At one and the same time, there was an air of self-pity and victimhood running under the surface as an implicit sub-motif; while at the same time the questions and answers on the surface displayed an ineptitude and incoherence that were more likely to result in serious criticism than sympathy.

In answer to what went wrong, he claimed he had…

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(The following statement was issued on April 2, 2025 by the Maryland Catholic Conference, the official public policy entity for the Catholic Church in Maryland, including the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and the Diocese of Wilmington.)

In 2023, Maryland lawmakers passed the Child Victims Act (CVA), pledging to give all survivors of child sexual abuse an opportunity for justice.

That pledge did not last long. Since the CVA went into effect 18 months ago, thousands of claims have been made against the State of Maryland for child sexual abuse by State workers. In fact, the Maryland state government now appears to be the largest employer of child sex abusers in the State.

The response from lawmakers has not focused on understanding how this could have occurred, ensuring rigorous safeguarding, or prioritizing victim-focused support. Rather, the legislature’s response has been focused on how to limit the…

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The Maryland House Judiciary Committee passed a bill April 2 that makes significant changes to the Child Victims Act, lowering the limits for future lawsuits for sexual abuse of a minor and limiting the civil damages to each claimant, rather than each incident of alleged abuse.

The CVA, which became law in 2023, removed any statute of limitations for civil claims child sexual abuse in the state and set limits for payouts from private institutions, including churches and private schools, at $1.5 million. It capped civil claims for anyone abused in a public institution at $890,000 per incident. “Incident” was not defined in the law.

House Bill 1378 would change those caps to $400,000 for public institutions, the same as the state torts limit, and $700,000 for private institutions and individuals, including churches, parishes and private schools. It also sets the cap per claimant, rather than per incident, for both…

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A victims’ advocacy group has made a complaint against a top-ranking cardinal based in part on a case packaged and brought forward by an ex-priest defrocked over charges of sexual misconduct.

The former priest in question, Ricardo Coronado, has been accused of holding a long-standing grudge against the cardinal, American Robert Prevost, currently the prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops, and who also has ties to the Sodalitium Christiane Vitae (SCV), a Peruvian society of apostolic life recently suppressed by Pope Francis.

The advocacy group has said it stands by their claims, insisting that the interests of the victim should not be sidelined by whatever backstory there might be, however, in comments to Crux Prevost’s office disputed the assertions made in their complaint.

Coronado himself has denied the charges underlying his December 2024 laicization, saying through a lawyer there was “no crime.”

RELATED: Vatican envoy announces suppression of all branches of Peru…

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The ongoing case of Fr. Marko Rupnik, the disgraced religious artist and former Jesuit accused of decades of sexual abuse, has taken a number of interesting turns in the last week.

For Rupnik’s many alleged victims, and for Catholics around the world who have followed the scandal, the confirmed lack of progress at the Vatican can seem desperately slow.

But away from the Roman curia, the Church’s cultural current seems to be shifting on the priest’s legacy, away from a marked hesitancy to preempt the Vatican trial and towards a phase of reckoning with Rupnik’s alleged crimes and victims.

Not long ago, many Church authorities appeared nervous at appearing to take too firm a position on Rupnik ahead of an outcome in his trial. So what has changed?

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Last week, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, told journalists that his…

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Claims process finds that 59 victims should receive more than $15M in damage awards

The total value of claims the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s has been found liable for has swelled to $121 million after a successful appeal by dozens of victims of sexual abuse.

A report filed this week by the court-appointed firm overseeing the insolvency case against the corporation — the land-holding arm of the St. John’s archdiocese — recommends that the total damage award for 59 victims who were initially rejected during the claims process should total $15.3 million. That’s an average of just under $260,000 per victim.

That’s in addition to the historic $104-million settlement for nearly 300 victims that was approved in July 2024 by the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court.

The court will be asked to endorse this latest settlement at a hearing to be held after the May 1 deadline for claimants to appeal their awards. 

It’s…

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A former West Tennessee educator and youth pastor has pleaded guilty to federal child sex charges.

Philip Stephen Plyler has been sentenced to one count of federal child exploitation. Plyler was a former educator with Humboldt, Gibson, Milan and Madison County school districts. He was also a former youth minister.

In a document filed Monday by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Philip Stephen Plyler pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

In May of 2024, he was charged in a two-count indictment. The additional charge was dismissed.

SEE ALSO: Former educator indicted on federal child exploitation offenses

The former Gibson County resident is a 41-year-old from Fairmont, West Virginia. He was arrested in West Virginia in April of 2024 but then extradited to the Milan Police Department.

A federal grand jury in Jackson…

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Alluding to “mistakes made along the way” in more than 20 years of ministry, Art Lucier, one of western Canada’s most prominent charismatic pastors, pulled back from public ministry last weekend at Kelowna Harvest Church.

However, he didn’t apologize and blamed the timing of the accusations on Satan.

“Truth is, I did sin against the Lord and against heaven many times, and even against my vows and against my wife and against others,” Lucier told the church Sunday at about 90 minutes into the livestreamed service. “The enemy is now bringing up actually, though, these past sins, even though they’re under the blood.”

Since 2018, Lucier has been the pastor of Kelowna Harvest Church, in Kelowna, a lakeside town in British Columbia’s scenic Okanagan Valley. It is a part of Harvest Ministries International (HMI), a five-fold, revivalist ministry that Lucier founded and still leads as apostolic…

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“Pastor Johnny” will not be collecting $100 million from the Southern Baptist Convention as he had hoped.

Almost all Johnny Hunt’s defamation lawsuit against the SBC, its Executive Committee and Guidepost Solutions was dismissed in summary judgment March 31 by William Campbell, chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Only one count against the SBC remains active, which relates to a tweet by former SBC President Bart Barber. On December 5, 2022, Barber publicly tweeted: “Hunt was the subject of a third-party investigation in response to allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman half his age in ways that would, to my knowledge, constitute a felony in any jurisdiction in the US.”

Guidepost Solutions, the company that led the investigation into alleged mishandling of sexual abuse in the SBC and included allegations against Hunt in its final report, was relieved of all liability regarding Hunt’s claims.

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A church brother has been sentenced to community work after admitting sexual offending against an altar boy.

Herbert Simo Rustila, 38, appeared in the Whanganui District Court in February, having pleaded guilty to a representative charge of sexual conduct with the boy over a period of four years.

Rustila, also known as Brother Vincent, is a religious brother of the fundamentalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), which runs three schools and the Saint Anthony Church on its premises in Whanganui.

SSPX is a traditionalist Catholic church with about 600,000 followers across 72 countries and chapels in Auckland, Hamilton, Napier, Wellington, Whanganui and Whangārei.

The summary of facts supplied to Stuff said between 2018 and 2022, Rustila often asked the altar boy to help with cleaning and preparing for mass, offering chocolate and fizzy drink to the Saint Anthony’s School student.

Once, when they were in the church’s library, Rustila asked the victim,…

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The complainant woman said the pastor threatened her that if she made any complaints, he would post the video of the assault on social media.

Jalandhar pastor Bajinder Singh, who was convicted in a rape case, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Mohali court. The rape case was filed by a woman from Zirakpur, Mohali, in 2018. The pastor appeared in court today, and the sentence was announced against him in his presence. Pastor Bajinder was convicted by the Mohali court three days ago, then he was sent to Patiala jail.

Pastor Bajinder Singh was accused of taking the victim girl to his house on the pretext of sending her abroad. Then the priest allegedly raped her and also made a video of the assault. The priest also threatened her that if she made any complaints, he would post the video on social media.

The pastor was first booked…

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Advocates applaud the new requirements.

By May 1, all Utah organizations that provide services to children under 18 must check the names of their staffers or volunteers against two databases of registered sex offenders.

That’s according to a new law passed by the Utah Legislature and signed by Gov. Spencer Cox.

And The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the state’s largest religion and with the most youth volunteers, is rushing to comply.

The faith’s Utah area president sent a letter to all lay bishops and stake (regional) presidents telling them to check “both the Utah Child Abuse Offender Registry (also called the Utah Sex and Kidnap Offender Registry) and the National Sex Offender Public Website before allowing any individual 18 or older to hold a calling that places them into the ‘regular and repeated care, supervision, guidance, or control’ [of young people].” They are to complete this task before the…

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Beleaguered Cardinal Juan Cipriani has publicly clashed with the bishops’ conference of Peru, asking bishops to rectify a January statement that says abuse allegations against the cardinal are “verified.”

In an open letter last week, the cardinal insisted that it was a “lie” and a “grave mistake” for the country’s bishops’ conference to say his resignation as Lima’s archbishop was connected to the abuse allegations he’s facing at the Vatican.

Cipriani issued a letter to all the bishops of Peru on March 28, tracking issue with a January conference statement which addressed accusations of sexual abuse against him and his 2019 departure from office.

The cardinal said last week he written privately to the bishops’ conference leadership in January, immediately after their public statement.

But Cipriani’s March letter explained he had “waited two months since [his] last letter for a rectification [and] that has not happened” — prompting him to…

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The Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France announced Monday that the entrances to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, featuring art by the disgraced artist Father Marko Rupnik, are being covered.

Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes called the decision a “second step” after his initial decision in July 2024 to no longer light up the mosaics at night and during processions.

“You know my opinion about the presence of these mosaics on the doors of the basilica. It seemed to me, together with my collaborators, that a new symbolic step had to be taken to make the entrance to the basilica easier for all those who today cannot cross the threshold,” Micas said in an online post from the renowned Marian apparition site.

Mosaics by the alleged sexual abuser Rupnik, who is under investigation and awaiting a trial by the…

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Accusers are sparking legal questions as they seek to stop the state’s largest religious denomination from providing monthly pensions to two former priests whose files include allegations of sexual misconduct.

Accusers with unresolved clergy misconduct lawsuits are trying to stop the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese from paying monthly pensions to two unidentified priests who the church acknowledges face credible allegations of sexual abuse.

A committee representing more than 30 people with pending civil cases discovered the retirement benefits when the state’s largest religious denomination filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court after spending $34 million on past settlements.

“The survivors here should not have to see money going to pay individuals who are part of the reason the diocese is in this bankruptcy,” committee counsel Brittany Michael said at a March 25 online court hearing.

In response, diocesan leaders argue they can’t withhold the funds — a collective monthly total…

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How can we break the taboo on sexual violence in the Catholic Church in Africa? Priest and psychotherapist Stéphane Joulain provides training, prevention and awareness-raising on sexual violence particularly on the African continent, where little or nothing has been done to hear victims and make amends. This member of the White Fathers spoke to Justice Info about the “African silence”.

JUSTICE INFO: What do we know today about sexual violence in the Catholic Church in Africa? What work, research or commissions can give us an idea of its scale?

STEPHANE JOULAIN: I was once asked this question: when will there be a CIASE [Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church, which sat in France between February 2019 and October 2021] for Africa? I replied that France is a small country that undertook to conduct this commission at a cost of several million euros, and Africa is a continent of…

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A former Jersey Catholic Priest is alleged to have exploited a child for his own sexual fantasies while he was in a position of authority.

Jersey’s Royal Court heard from Crown Advocate Carla Carvalho for the prosecution how the priest would “fulfil sexual interest involving feet”.

Piotr Antoni Glas, 60, faces eight charges of gross indecency and two counts of indecent assault for alleged activities against a boy aged between 13 and 15.

The activities are alleged to have happened between 15 January 2004 and 14 January 2007.

The prosecution said Mr Glas would take advantage of the teenager, allegedly asking the boy to walk on his back to relieve back pain before moving into sexual acts involving the boy’s feet.

Six of the charges relate to allegations that Mr Glas placed the child’s feet against his face while he masturbated.

Mr Glas also allegedly tried to kiss the boy on…

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A top official of the Catholic religious order on Wednesday said he had sent a letter offering reparations to 20 women who say a famous ex-Jesuit artist abused them sexually, psychologically, and spiritually. The Slovenian artist, Marko Rupnik, is internationally known for his religious mosaics, including some at the Vatican.

The Rev. Johan Versuchen, Rupnik’s former superior, said he wrote to the alleged victims on Tuesday, telling them his order would help each with their individual needs. The offer could include counseling, financial compensation, or help finding work, the Associated Press reported. Versuchen also said he apologized and lamented in the letter that the Catholic Church has been slow to investigate and respond to the women’s claims.

The Jesuits expelled Rupnik in 2023 after he refused to cooperate with the order’s internal investigations into abuse claims, Catholic News Agency reported. But the Diocese of Koper in…

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A Catholic priest has gone on trial on ten charges of sexually abusing a child in the Island.

Piotr Antoni Glas (61) spent years grooming the child, using his position of trust to get close to the alleged victim and their family, including lending them money, the Royal Court heard.

Mr Glas, known as Peter when his Polish name is Anglicised, denies eight counts of committing acts of gross indecency and two counts of indecent assault against the child.

He is alleged to have committed the crimes while he was working for the Catholic Deanery in the Island.

Crown Advocate Carla Carvalho, prosecuting, said the priest took advantage of the child to act on what was described in court as Mr Glas’s “foot fetish” – putting the child’s feet against his face while he masturbated, and wrestling the child until the child’s feet were on the priest’s face and the…

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A federal judge used the findings of a justice department investigation to justify expelling clergy molestation survivors from a committee trying to negotiate settlements with the New Orleans Catholic archdiocese after their lawyer tipped off a high school that its chaplain was an admitted child molester.

But now, for the first time, having obtained a long-sealed report on the matter, WWL Louisiana and the Guardian can reveal that the judge, Meredith Grabill, made that decision even after the justice department’s bankruptcy trustee specifically said the lawyer’s clients should not be punished – though the trustee believed the attorney had violated a confidentiality order in trying to protect children from an abuser.

The lawyer, Richard Trahant, has always denied violating the secrecy orders governing the New Orleans archdiocese’s bankruptcy, one of the most contentious of the 40 such cases filed by Catholic institutions across the US amid the worldwide church’s ongoing reckoning with…

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The French Bishops’ Conference is holding a special session March 31–April 1 to assess anti-abuse efforts. Although many measures have been taken since the CIASE report in 2021, blind spots and unresolved questions remain for many victims.

Communities on the margins of official bodies

What can be done when the community where one experienced abuse does not adhere to the mechanisms of reparation set up by the Church? This is the case for Myriam Remy, a former member of the Community of the Beatitudes. The community refused to join the Commission for Recognition and Reparation (CRR), created in 2021 for victims in the religious world.

Not being a religious institute but an “ecclesial family of consecrated life,” the Community of the Beatitudes is not automatically under the CRR. However, the community could have joined, as it has often been asked to do and as other communities have done. Instead, its…

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Key Points

• Across the country, Catholic dioceses have found ways to trim or stall attorney general investigations into clergy sexual abuse and alleged cover-ups.
• In New Jersey, the state Supreme Court will hear arguments in April over a challenge brought by the Camden Diocese.
• But some legal experts say there’s nothing nefarious about the church exercising its legal rights and protecting confidential records.

When a Pennsylvania grand jury released the findings of a two-year investigation in 2018, it was a watershed moment in America’s clergy sexual abuse scandals.

The report compiled evidence and allegations that 300 Catholic priests had abused more than 1,000 children over several decades, while bishops covered up the crimes.

The shocking revelations inspired an array of other states to promise their own reviews, including New Jersey. Within days of the Keystone State report, then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced he was establishing a task force to look into allegations…

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Abuse survivors voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bankruptcy exit plan for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, moving it closer to final confirmation.

Each of the 324 survivors who returned a ballot voted to approve the plan and consented to its terms, according to data released late last month.

The centerpiece of the 94-page bankruptcy exit plan is a $100 million fund to pay abuse survivors if they end their lawsuits against the church.

A confirmation hearing on the plan is scheduled to begin April 28 in federal bankruptcy court in Syracuse and could last for days or weeks. Some survivors are expected to provide testimony.

Wendy Kinsella, the chief bankruptcy judge for the Northern District of New York, would then either approve or reject the plan.

Survivors need to sign off on the plan since they are among the diocese’s…

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The Maryland Catholic Conference issued the following statement on March 26, 2025 on House Bill 1378:

In 2023, Delegate C.T. Wilson said the Child Victims Act would allow “victims of child sex abuse to have their voices heard in court.” That won’t happen under HB 1378 for anyone abused in a State institution.

That’s because the Child Victims Act uncovered a terrible truth: The largest employer of abusers in the State of Maryland appears to be the State of Maryland itself. Several thousand claims of abuse by State employees have been filed over the past 18 months, far exceeding those against any other organization in Maryland. Delegate C.T. Wilson has indicated that the vast number of allegations – and subsequent liability for the State – led him to seek restrictions on State victims in HB 1378.

The reports of child sexual abuse within Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services and other…

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Nearly 1,600 victims of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have approached the National Independent Instance for Recognition and Reparation (Inirr) since 2022, according to a report unveiled on Tuesday.

“As of March 24, 1,580 people have approached the organisation, and 1,235 are now being taken into account,” according to Inirr president Marie Derain de Vaucresson who presented the three-year activity report to the media.

Derain de Vaucresson said that on average, Inirr is approached by 10 people per month, with a peak earlier this year. 

“This is obviously a consequence of media coverage surrounding sexual violence in the church related to the Betharram affair and the revelations about Abbé Pierre last summer,” she added.

Shaken

According to Derian de Vaucresson, of the 50 or so requests made since the beginning of this year, the average age of those who contact the organisation with complaints of abuse…

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Summary

• Lourdes covers Rupnik’s mosaics amid abuse allegations
• Vatican has reopened investigation into accused priest
• Jesuits contact alleged victims over possible reparations

The sanctuary of Lourdes, one of the world’s most popular Catholic pilgrimage sites, began on Monday to cover up a series of mosaics made by a prominent priest with ties to the Vatican who has been accused of sexual abuse.

The artwork is by Rev. Marko Rupnik, an internationally known artist, who has been accused by about 25 people, mostly former Catholic nuns, of various types of abuse.

Rupnik, who was expelled from the Catholic Jesuit order in 2023 but remains a priest, is not known to have commented publicly on the accusations. The Vatican in 2023 reopened an investigation into his conduct, which is ongoing.

Mosaics by Rupnik adorn the facade of the Rosary Basilica in Lourdes, near the France-Spain border, where some five million Catholics and other faithful visit…

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A youth counselor who formerly worked at several different churches, schools and agencies throughout Richmond County pleaded guilty to three charges of child sex crimes earlier this week.

David Lawrence Schneider was originally charged with 19 felony counts related to child sex crimes during an investigation announced by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office in August of last year.

According to court documents, Schneider pleaded guilty to the following charges in a motion hearing on Monday, March 24 — one charge of aggravated sexual battery and two charges of taking indecent liberties with a child by a person in a custodial role. One of the indecent liberties charges is from an incident in February 2016, the other two charges stem from a June 2024 incident.

Court documents also show that the rest of the felony counts have been dismissed.

Schneider’s next scheduled court…

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A former Cincinnati priest will have to register as a sex offender when is released from prison next year.

A judge made the ruling after Geoff Drew’s attorney submitted a motion asking for him not to be put on the registry.

In 2021, Drew pleaded guilty to rape charges after investigators accused him of repeatedly sexually assaulting a boy in the late 1980s and early 90s.

Police said the sexual attacks happened in Drew’s office at St. Jude Church.

Once released from prison next year, Drew will be required to register as a tier-3 sex offender.

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The founder of a religious nonprofit that aims to hold the evangelical community accountable engaged in “behavioral misconduct” with a key contractor, according to a report by a firm that independently investigates Christian institutions.

The 94-page document prepared after a six-month-long investigation by Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE) identifies systemic shortcomings at The New Evangelicals (TNE). Specifically, it revealed founder Tim Whitaker’s inappropriate treatment of Adele Mulford, then-TNE creative + brand director.

The TNE board engaged GRACE to conduct the investigation in August 2024, after Mulford accused Whitaker of a “rage driving” incident that left her scared for her safety. Mulford, who is referred to as “RV” in the report, also claimed Whitaker and the TNE board mishandled her initial concerns and attempts to resolve them.

Mulford told The Roys Report (TRR) she supports the findings and conclusions of the report.

“The documentation contained…

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Yesterday, federal bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali soundly rejected arguments that there was no bankruptcy purpose for the disclosure of meeting minutes prepared by the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s Independent Review Board and of anonymous claims data submitted by survivors of childhood sexual abuse in the bankruptcy. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is grateful to the judge for his ruling, as well as to the creditors committee and their attorneys for pursuing the public release of this information.

Pachulski, Stang Ziehl & Jones attorney Brittany Michael, who represented the creditors’ committee, called the ruling “unprecedented.”  Along with the creditor’s committee co-chair Margie O’Driscoll, we hope that this decision will set a precedent so that all Catholic dioceses will be forced to be accountable and transparent about abuse, even if they file for bankruptcy.  

California SNAP leader and survivor, Dan McNevin,…

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Can the Serbian Orthodox Church survive the truth about its darkest secrets, or will silence continue to shield abuse and injustice?

On March 9, 2025, Zagreb hosted the international and interfaith conference “Faith and Reason”, organized by the association “Alliance of Christians – Croatia”. This significant gathering brought together participants from different parts of the world—including the United States and Ukraine—with the goal of analyzing how faith is used and misused in contemporary society from various professional and religious perspectives. 

However, the most critical and sensitive part of the discussion focused on sexual abuse and pedophilia within religious communities—topics that have long been taboo, shielded by institutional walls and mechanisms that protected perpetrators rather than victims. Participants emphasized that confronting this issue is the only way to ensure justice for survivors and prevent future crimes.

One of the most controversial topics discussed was the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC). Through the…

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Motivational speaker Pauline Grogan’s first book, Beyond the Veil, propelled her into the spotlight as she exposed abuse she suffered while a Catholic nun in a convent. 12 years later, her latest work – Miss adventure: healing with music – traverses Grogan’s experiences of stroke and chronic neuropathic pain that only music could alleviate. Miss adventure: healing with music by Pauline Grogan, is available now. RRP $35.

Where did you go to write, and what did you need around you to put this story down on paper?

For me, the two strokes had brought a passionately lived life to an abrupt halt.

I began to keep a daily diary as a way of coping with isolation and loss of community involvement. Would a book be possible? I fell gratefully into the arms of an experienced editor on my wavelength and navigated an onerous process with ACC to fund voice recognition…

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For years, Catholic Community Services of Utah (CCS) has been providing legal support for hundreds of unaccompanied minor children. These children had escaped dangerous situations in their home country, including abuse or trafficking.

CCS’s Refugee services guided these children through the muck and mire of immigration court so that the children could stay in the country. However, with the Trump administration’s recent announcement to slash funding for the legal representation of immigrant children, the CCS is worried that 126 children that they oversee are now going to stand alone in the courtroom.

“Some of the children that we work with are as young as five or six,” said Virginia Maynes, senior immigration attorney in CCS’s unaccompanied minors’ program. She said these kids were alone when they came to the U.S

Some of their parents had passed away, and some had abusive parents. Maynes added: “Some…

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A group has launched a database aimed at vetting the responses of Roman Catholic cardinals to claims of sexual abuse in the hopes of influencing the next papal election.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) announced on Tuesday the creation of the database, known as “Conclave Watch.”

The database has the records of six cardinals at present, five of whom were cited by SNAP as having “decision-making roles in the Roman Catholic church on the handling of clergy abuse cases,” with more to be added soon.

“Many people have asked me … ‘Why now? The pope is sick. Now is not the time,’” said Shawn Dougherty, SNAP Board president and an abuse survivor, as quoted in the announcement. “And we determined if not now, when, and if not us, who?’’

According to SNAP, members of their board traveled to Rome, Italy, a few weeks ago…

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The Catholic Church in Maryland is urging the state Legislature to treat cases of child sexual abuse in state-run facilities equal to those in private institutions following a proposed bill that would “decrease the number of civil causes of action for child sexual abuse filed against the state.”

The Maryland Catholic Conference (MCC) said in a statement on Thursday that the bill “greatly exacerbates an existing difference in treatment for victims abused in state institutions and those abused in private institutions.”

If passed, the bill would reduce the state damage cap for abuse victims to $400,000 while keeping the cap for private organizations at $1.5 million.

The “overtly unequal treatment in HB 1378 is not only poor policy for victim-survivors but also unfairly targets nonprofit and religious organizations that have long served children in this state and have implemented strong safeguards for youth protection,” the Maryland…

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The Maryland Catholic Conference issued the following statement on March 26, 2025 on House Bill 1378:

In 2023, Delegate C.T. Wilson said the Child Victims Act would allow “victims of child sex abuse to have their voices heard in court.” That won’t happen under HB 1378 for anyone abused in a State institution.

That’s because the Child Victims Act uncovered a terrible truth: The largest employer of abusers in the State of Maryland appears to be the State of Maryland itself. Several thousand claims of abuse by State employees have been filed over the past 18 months, far exceeding those against any other organization in Maryland. Delegate C.T. Wilson has indicated that the vast number of allegations – and subsequent liability for the State – led him to seek restrictions on State victims in HB 1378.

The reports of child sexual abuse within Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services and other…

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Hoping to persuade Missouri lawmakers to end non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and the statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims, multiple survivors of abuse at two evangelical ministries testified powerfully in a hearing today.

“We waited too long to face the repressed trauma within,” said Tammy Woods, a survivor of alleged childhood sexual abuse by International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC) founder, Mike Bickle. “(We) couldn’t access the memories fast enough. And so, silence and helplessness remain our portion, while our abusers are empowered to continue their abuse.”

As reported previously by The Roys Report (TRR), Woods says Bickle assaulted her repeatedly when she was 14, and Bickle was a married pastor with children. But it took Woods 43 years to speak publicly of the alleged abuse, which is common. Studies show the average age childhood sex abuse victims come forward is 52.

Similarly, Deborah Perkins discussed how Bickle’s alleged sexual abuse…

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A former church leader is accused of raping a teen girl in his congregation more than 20 years ago, prosecutors in Utah said.

Armando Flores, now 69, is charged with one count of first-degree felony object rape and two counts of first-degree felony rape, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office said in a March 4 news release.

Flores was a “local church president” in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time, according to a court filing provided by prosecutors.

A defense attorney wasn’t listed in court records the morning of March 5.

McClatchy News reached out to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on March 5 and was awaiting a response.

Flores is accused of assaulting the girl on three different occasions between 2002 and 2004, when she was about 14, prosecutors said.

In one instance, he drove…

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A director of worship who worked at two Ohio Catholic churches was arrested during Mass and charged with sexually abusing a minor, according to officials.

Andres Andino, 59, had outstanding warrants when his license plate showed up on Avon Lake Police’s camera system March 16, the Chronicle Telegram reported. Police arrested him outside one of the churches that employed him in Avon Lake, about a 25-mile drive west of Cleveland along the Lake Erie coastline, according to the paper.

Bodycam footage obtained by WJW and other outlets showed the arrest.

“Put your hands together like you’re praying,” an officer told Andino as they handcuffed him.

“Somebody’s going to have to tell them,” Andino said, nodding his head toward the building. “I’m in the middle of Mass.”

A grand jury indicted Andino March 21, charging him formally with rape, sexual battery and unlawful sexual conduct with a…

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The Archdiocese of Chicago filed a countersuit March 24 against two people who claimed they were sexually abused by former priest Daniel McCormack as well as five other people, alleging that the individuals were part of a yearslong conspiracy to fraudulently obtain financial settlements from the archdiocese.

The suit’s purpose is to stop fraudulent claims from being made and to protect the interests of legitimate victim-survivors of clerical sexual abuse and the archdiocese, according to James Geoly, the archdiocese’s general counsel.

“The point of this action is to protect the interests of legitimate victims,” Geoly said. “We do not want this action to deter any legitimate victim from coming forward. I would encourage anybody who’s had a problem with a priest or cleric to do that.”

“We have always and continue to encourage victim-survivors to come forward,” emphasized Leah Heffernan, senior director of the archdiocese’s Office for the Protection…

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