ABUSE TRACKER

BUFFALO (NY)
WENY TV

November 1, 2018

By Dan Schrack

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, New York, is firing back at a former assistant-turned-whistleblower who says Bishop Richard Malone should resign over his response to reports of clergy sexual misconduct.

In a statement just before midnight Tuesday, the diocese calls statements made by Siobhan O’Connor during an earlier news conference “embarrassingly contradictory.” It attached emails from O’Connor praising Malone.

O’Connor secretly copied and leaked confidential files she says show Malone allowed an accused priest to remain on the job and excluded dozens of others from a list of problematic priests released publicly this year.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune Review

October 31, 2018

By Deb Erdley

Clergy sexual abuse survivors say they have the votes to pass a state bill establishing a window for older victims to sue their abusers, and they’re challenging the Pennsylvania Senate to return to Harrisburg for a vote.

“We have the votes. The votes are there to pass SB 261 as it stands,” said Ryan O’Connor. “We just need the majority to allow it to come to a vote.”

O’Connor, 47, of Verona, who has written of his abuse as a child at the hands of a parish priest in Johnstown, is traveling the state with Jim Van Sickle, another survivor who serves as Survivor Advocacy Coordinator for Stop Child Predator, a national nonprofit group.

“There is a lot of support in the Senate for this bill, and we’re asking that they return and vote on it,” Van sickle said.

Van Sickle and O’Connor spoke in Greensburg on Tuesday after making previous appearances in Lancaster, Allentown, Reading, Ebensburg, Scranton and Pittsburgh.

The bill that passed the state House by an overwhelming margin in September stalled in the Senate last month when Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, refused to bring it to the floor for a vote.

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DETROIT (MI)
Opus Bono Sacerdoti

October 2018
The accounts presented here are based on real events. Names have been changed and identifying details have been modified to protect the privacy of the people involved.

Because of your faithful prayers and continued generous support for our priests in need of caring assistance, when Father Jerry sent me the email below, you helped us immediately respond to him and assist him through some very troubling and difficult transitions.

“Dear Joe, I was informed that a man whom I do not recall ever meeting reported that sometime between 1983 to 1985, while giving him a blessing in his home, I had touched [him inappropriately]. The investigator who interviewed me informed me that the man has emotional problems and that his own father did not believe him. From my investigations, with the help of a private investigator, I have reasonably established that during the period in which this allegation is reported to have occurred, his family was not living in our state nor in our parish.

“Later in August, [my] bishop announced this accusation in all the parishes in which I had served. He informed the people that it had most likely occurred He removed me from ministry.

“[My] bishop has taken care of my material needs, food, insurance, a place to live. My health is somewhat poor, with a weak heart, and I walk with a cane and a walker . . .

“This evening, our Vicar for Priests gave me a surprise visit. He said that some parents from a public school, about a block from our residence, were protesting my living near their school. (I never go on the school property and have no contact with any of the children in any way.) He said they are demanding that the bishop evict me from my residence. He said they are planning to stage a protest march at a neighboring Catholic Church this Sunday. He said that [my] Bishop will evict me from here to some other location.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

October 31, 2018

By Charlie Specht

he Diocese of Buffalo has suspended another priest after an allegation of abuse.

Fr. Michael P. Juran was placed on administrative leave Wednesday evening, the diocese announced on its website.

Neither a spokeswoman for Bishop Richard J. Malone nor Fr. Juran responded to messages left for comment.

Juran was listed in the 2018 Buffalo Diocese directory under a Florida address, but Juran is not your average Buffalo priest.

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[Orléans: Pedophilia and silence of the Church at the center of a trial]

ORLÉANS (FRANCE)
Le Télégramme

October 30, 2018

Vingt-cinq ans après les faits, l’abbé Pierre de Castelet, accusé d’atteintes sexuelles sur mineurs, a évoqué, ce mardi, un « dérapage » devant le tribunal correctionnel d’Orléans, en l’absence de l’ancien évêque de la ville, poursuivi, lui, pour non-dénonciation.

Mgr André Fort, 83 ans, évêque d’Orléans de 2002 à 2010, ne s’est pas présenté au tribunal, « affaibli par sa maladie à la suite d’une opération », a déclaré son avocat, Me Benoit de Gaullier, à l’ouverture de l’audience. Le père Castelet, 69 ans, crâne dégarni, lunettes fines et regard droit, s’est donc assis seul sur le banc des prévenus, en présence de trois jeunes hommes d’une trentaine d’années sur le banc des parties civiles.

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[Kohlgraf sees no misbehavior of predecessors in the case of abuse: “The records give no evidence for that”]

COLOGNE (GERMANY)
Domradio.de

October 31, 2018

Im Zuge der Missbrauchsaufarbeitung sahen sich Bischof Heiner Wilmer und Erzbischof Stephan Burger mit Fehlverhalten der Vorgänger konfrontiert. Bischof Peter Kohlgraf hat ebenfalls Akteneinsicht genommen und äußerte sich am Dienstag.

Der Mainzer Bischof Peter Kohlgraf sieht bislang kein Fehlverhalten seiner Amtsvorgänger beim Umgang mit Fällen von sexuellem Missbrauch. “Dafür geben die Akten auf den ersten Blick nichts her”, sagte Kohlgraf am Dienstagabend in Mainz. Seine Amtsvorgänger Kardinal Karl Lehmann und Kardinal Hermann Volk hätten das Thema sexueller Missbrauch allerdings “unter den Maßgaben und Erkenntnissen ihrer Zeit” beurteilt, erklärte Kohlgraf bei einer Podiumsdiskussion.

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[Diocese of Würzburg shows pastors from the region for possible sexual offenses]

WÜRZBURG (GERMANY)
Main-Echo

October 31, 2018

Die Diözese Würzburg hat am Mittwoch einen Priester wegen des Verdachts einer Sexualstraftat bei der Staatsanwaltschaft Aschaffenburg angezeigt. Der Vorwurf beziehe sich auf Aktivitäten in den Sozialen Medien, heißt es in einer Erklärung des Bistums.

Nach Rücksprache mit Bischof Franz Jung habe Generalvikar Thomas Keßler den Pfarrer mit sofortiger Wirkung von seinen priesterlichen Aufgaben beurlaubt, bis die Vorwürfe geklärt seien.

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
Youngstown Vindicator

By Cristen Manion

October 31, 2018

The Youngstown Diocese released a list of priests who have been removed from their ministries over what the diocese calls credible allegations of sexual abuse spanning 75 years.

Bishop George Murry of the diocese announced Tuesday that 31 men have been found to have had credible inappropriate incidents. A number of them are deceased.

Our print partner, The Vindicator, combed through their archives to find information on where the ten living priests served

The Youngstown Diocese released a list of priests who have been removed from their ministries over what the diocese calls credible allegations of sexual abuse spanning 75 years.

Bishop George Murry of the diocese announced Tuesday that 31 men have been found to have had credible inappropriate incidents. A number of them are deceased.

Our print partner, The Vindicator, combed through their archives to find information on where the ten living priests served

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HARTFORD (CT)
Hartford Courant

October 31, 2018

By Dave Altimari

The Diocese of Bridgeport said Wednesday it has paid $52.5 million to settle 156 allegations of priest sexual abuse since 1953 and that it is still paying eight priests who abused children.

It is the first time that the diocese has given an overview of how much the priest-abuse scandal has cost. Bishop Frank J. Caggiano had promised to give a financial accounting in a letter to parishioners in September.

The diocese has hired former state Superior Court Judge Robert Holzberg to report on how it has handled allegations of sexual abuse. His report is due in the spring.

The diocese has been criticized for keeping secret many of the claims against its priests and for protecting priests who faced multiple abuse claims. One of its most notorious priests, Laurence Brett, fled the country and hid for years, while others were moved to other churches in the diocese with impunity. Former Bishop Edward R. Egan once said in a deposition that sexual abuse by clergy “happen in such small numbers.”

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BUFFALO (NY)
Associated Press

By Carolyn Thompson

October 31, 2018

Reacting to a whistleblower’s calls for Bishop Richard Malone to resign over his response to clergy sexual misconduct, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo called her statements “embarrassingly contradictory” and released glowing emails about Malone that she sent while she was an employee.

Malone was “stunned and dismayed” by statements made by his former executive assistant, Siobhan O’Connor, at a news conference Tuesday, the diocese said in a statement just before midnight. It said O’Connor’s critical comments contradict what she told Malone when she worked for him and after she left.

“In truly countless ways you have inspired and edified me. I am the better for having known and worked with you,” O’Connor wrote Aug. 21, shortly before leaving her job, the diocese said. The next day, WKBW-TV aired a damning story about Malone based on classified material secretly provided by O’Connor.

On Wednesday, she called the bishop’s response “needless deflection.”

“The documents under discussion should not be my emails to Bishop Malone,” O’Connor said in a statement through her Boston attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, who represents victims of clergy abuse.

Malone has resisted widespread calls to step down amid reports that he allowed an accused priest to continue to minister and excluded dozens of others from a list released publicly this year of problematic priests. O’Connor copied and leaked confidential files that included emails between Malone and diocesan attorneys and a 2015 letter of recommendation from Malone for a previously suspended priest who was seeking appointment as a cruise ship chaplain.

“Her prior, written communications to the Bishop demonstrate her complete admiration for the Bishop and his efforts to lead the Diocese,” the diocese’s statement read. “Her comments now are plainly and embarrassingly contradictory.”

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UNITED STATES
The Slowly Boiled Frog

October 30, 2018

Dorothy Cummings McLean, a prolific Catholic writer from Scotland, is very upset. She is dismayed to note: Jesuit-run America mag runs article denying link between homosexuality and clergy sex abuse. I give her some credit for a proper explanation:
The Jesuit-run publication America has carried an article by a professor-psychologist who claims that homosexuality is not the “root cause” of clerical sexual abuse. The photo accompanying the article contained an angel with a rainbow in the background.

Dr. Thomas G. Plante, a professor of psychology at the Jesuit Santa Clara University and an adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine, had his article published on October 22 in which he states that sexual orientation is “simply” not a factor in the clerical sex-abuse of minors.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

October 31, 2018

Reporters have a tough job. They need to churn out content quickly, accurately, and often on several different subjects over the course of the day. Reporters also have a powerful job in that their writing can affect the way people think about issues of the day and the way readers talk about those issues, whether gathering around the water cooler or dinner table.

But as the famous quote goes, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

Some recent reporting around a case of sexual abuse in Ohio has brought up an example of a subtle – yet pernicious – error in reporting. In this case, a priest in the Diocese of Steubenville spent years grooming and sexually abusing a young girl. The sexual abuse was revealed when the victim, now 17, became pregnant. Yet several articles on the subject have instead referred to this case as “a relationship” that “lasted three years.”

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[Chilean Court receives formal criminal complaint against Cardinal Errázuriz for false testimony in abuse and cover-up case]

CHILE
El Mostrador

October 30, 2018

La acción judicial fue presentada por el abogado Juan Pablo Hermosilla un día después que la Corte de Apelaciones llamara a los denunciantes de Karadima y al Arzobispado de Santiago a una conciliación, consignó El Dínamo. En el texto, se acusa a Errázuriz como “autor del delito de falso testimonio, en grado de consumado, previsto y sancionado en el artículo 209 del Código Penal”.

El Octavo Juzgado de Garantía de Santiago admitió a trámite la querella criminal que presentaron los denunciantes de Fernando Karadima contra el cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz.

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[The silence that weighs on abuses in the Society of Jesus]

CHILE
El Mostrador

October 31, 2018

By Alejandra Carmona López

Las últimas declaraciones de Marcelo Gidi aparecieron en días agitados para los jesuitas, porque hace dos semanas la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe les ordenó abrir un proceso contra el sacerdote Jaime Guzmán Astaburuaga, por denuncias de abusos a menores, y eso puso inevitablemente el foco sobre una de las comunidades eclesiásticas de las que menos se había hablado públicamente, hasta ahora, en este contexto de crisis que atraviesa la Iglesia católica. Las víctimas acusan indolencia cada vez que golpearon las puertas para denunciar a sacerdotes.

Ezzati tiene que aclarar toda su participación en todo lo que se le imputa, porque mientras no se aclare eso, las pedidas de perdón de él no tienen llegada, no son acogidas por nadie”, dijo Marcelo Gidi, el respetado sacerdote de la Compañía de Jesús, el fin de semana en la revista Sábado. Sus palabras causaron felicidad entre quienes pedían más sacerdotes como él en redes sociales, pero también provocaron incomprensión entre aquellos que han golpeado –sin resultados– las puertas de los jesuitas para relatar los abusos a que fueron sometidos.

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VIDEO

[Ombudsman for Children, Patricia Muñoz, discusses abuses of minors by Catholic clergy: “We follow closely, can set a precedent”]

CHILE
Emol TV

October 31, 2018

La Defensora de la Niñez, Patricia Muñoz, se refirió a las causas que lleva el ministerio público ante abusos a menores por parte de sacerdotes en la iglesia católica. La entrevista completa la puedes revisar en el siguiente link

Entrevista completa

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[“If you want financial compensation, ask for it and we will see:” recordings of Salamanca Bishop illustrate how Church tried to to silence victims and delay accusations]

SALAMANCA, SPAIN
El País

October 29, 2018

By Íñigo Domínguez and Julio Núñez

EL PAÍS accede a unas grabaciones al obispo de Salamanca, que ilustran las tretas de la Iglesia para acallar a las víctimas y dilatar las denuncias

La Iglesia católica presenta el proceso canónico como un arma idónea y estricta para actuar contra los abusos sexuales sobre menores, pero la experiencia de algunas víctimas que han pasado por ello es muy distinta. Además de que el máximo castigo es la expulsión del estado clerical, lo describen como un procedimiento opaco, distinto en cada caso y que cada obispo lleva como le parece, del que llegan a saber muy poco y en el que al final también se sienten engañados. Cuanto termina no tienen ni un papel, aunque tendrían derecho a ello. El sacerdote acusado puede recurrir la decisión, pero a la víctima se le ponen trabas. Y lo normal es que no reciban una compensación económica. Es más, el dinero se puede convertir en un arma de presión. Primero, para que las víctimas guarden silencio y, después, para echarles en cara que solo buscaban un beneficio económico.

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AUSTRALIA
Echo Net Daily

October 31, 2018

A Catholic priest formerly attached to the Lismore diocese has been jailed for four years and 10 months on charges of having sexually abused two teenage boys who stayed with him at the church house in Mallanganee in the 1980s.

The allegations against John Patrick Casey, 70, included performing oral sex on one of the boys, masturbating in the boy’s presence, and digitally penetrating the other boy’s anus.

Casey denied all the charges.

The jury found him guilty of sexual assault (category three) of a person under the age of 16 years, sexual assault (category four), indecent act with a person under 16.

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[The Church admits “terrible and disgusting” situations within but describes them as isolated]

MADRID, SPAIN
El País

October 30, 2018

El responsable de Asuntos Económicos de la Conferencia Episcopal Española (CEE), Fernando Giménez Barriocanal, defiende que “el rostro real de la Iglesia es el de los que dan su vida por los más necesitados”

El responsable de Asuntos Económicos de la Conferencia Episcopal Española (CEE), Fernando Giménez Barriocanal, ha admitido que se han producido situaciones “terribles puntuales, que causan estupor” y “repugnancia” en su seno, pero ha asegurado que el rostro real de la Iglesia no es ese.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Spectrum Local News

October 31, 2018

By Mark Goshgarian

A former employee of the Diocese of Buffalo revealed Tuesday why she blew the whistle on Bishop Richard Malone and the church abuse scandal.

Siobhan O’Connor started her comments with a prayer.

“By your infinite mercy, you bring great comfort and consolation to all those who’ve suffered abuse from clergy.”

O’Connor had worked at the Diocese offices for three years as an administrative secretary. She decided to serve as a whistleblower after people who say priests abused them as children started to come forward.

“If you’d ever told me in the beginning, back in July and August, that I would have to go on national television, I might have hesitated, because it’s very overwhelming,” she said.

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ORCHARD PARK (NY)
WIVB

October 30, 2018

By Jenn Schanz

Father Paul Seil told News 4 recent revelations about the Buffalo Diocese’s handling of alleged clergy sex abuse is disturbing and sad.

He said he’s heartbroken to say it, but believes Bishop Richard Malone should step down.

Seil is the pastor at Saint Bernadette’s in Orchard Park.

He said the Church’s handling of clergy sex abuse allegations has affected his own congregation; several families have left his parish over how Church leadership responded to abuse claims.

Following a 60 Minutes report on the Malone’s alleged covering up of abuse, Seil called the Bishop’s former executive assistant Siobhan O’Connor and fellow priest Father Robert Zilliox, both featured in the report, “heroes.”

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BUFFALO (NY)
WIVB/News 4 Staff

October 30, 2018

Siobhan O’Connor has been called the “whistleblower” who leaked secret records from the Diocese of Buffalo.

60 Minutes says those documents reveal that for years, Bishop Malone allowed priests accused of sexual assault, such as statutory rape and groping, to stay on the job.

On Tuesday, she joined survivors of sexual abuse in Buffalo and shared why she decided she needed to expose this information to the community.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WGRZ

October 30, 2018

Siobhan O’Connor held a news conference outside the Buffalo Diocese headquarters on Main Street in Buffalo.

The whistleblower who says Buffalo Bishop Richard Malone knew about sexual abuse allegations against priests and did nothing, held a news conference Tuesday morning to talk about why she stepped forward.

Siobhan O’Connor, answered questions from the local media about why she finally came forward. O’Connor, is the former executive assistant to Bishop Malone, and has leaked records to the media from the Diocese of Buffalo.

She says she is cooperating with authorities.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WBEN

October 30, 2018

By Brendan Keany

“I tried to do what I could from the inside, and I couldn’t”

There is now even more pressure on Bishop Richard Malone and the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo after a former executive assistant to Malone spoke with “60 Minutes,” detailing the bishop’s inaction regarding the widespread reports of clergy sexual abuse.

Siobhan O’Connor spoke to local media today following her national appearance on Sunday, and she says that going to the media was the only way to see tangible change.

“I tried to do what I could from the inside, and I couldn’t,” said O’Connor. “I knew that this was the way that action would be taken. So, going to that national platform, I thought was important, because I believe that our diocese is not alone in this crisis.”

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BUFFALO NY)
WKBW TV

October 29, 2018

Charlie Specht explains what’s next for the Buffalo Bishop after a woman comes forward exposing mishandling sex abuse claims in the Catholic church.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

October 30, 2018

In a Tuesday morning news conference, the attorney for Catholic Diocese of Buffalo whistleblower Siobhan O’Connor called on Pope Francis to instruct Bishop Malone to resign.

O’Connor said, “I also want people to understand that this is truly happening, and we have to stand up and fight for the soul of our church.”

O’Connor was joined by her attorney, Mitch Garabedian, and survivor advocates Bob Hoatson and Jim Faluszczak. In addition to O’Connor’s private push for change in the diocese, the three men have publicly put pressure on diocesan leaders for several months.

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BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

October 29, 2018

By Alan Pergament

If Buffalo’s Bishop Richard J. Malone thought silence is the way to treat the prestigious CBS news magazine “60 Minutes,” he was sadly mistaken.

The “60 Minutes” story Sunday about the alleged sexual abuse by priests in the Buffalo Diocese over decades was as powerful as could be and even more.

CBS correspondent Bill Whitaker did a great job, calmly doing the interviews with whistleblower Siobhan O’Connor, Deacon Paul Snyder III and the Rev. Robert Zilliox.

And the three people being interviewed were exceptional detailing their stories, their motivation for coming forward and the outrage that resulted from the revelations.

Their stories were so powerful they practically demanded answers from the Buffalo bishop.

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BUFFALO (NY)
CNS

October 30, 2018

How the Diocese of Buffalo handles cases of priests suspected of abuse was the subject of a report Oct. 28 by the CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes,” which talked to a woman who leaked diocesan files on those priests to a local TV station.

“60 Minutes” also interviewed a priest who resigned his role as a counselor to Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo citing lack of action by the bishop, and spoke to a permanent deacon who has called on the bishop to resign.

Bishop Malone “respectfully” declined a request by “60 Minutes” for an on-camera interview and sent the program a statement that said in part: “We continue to reach out to victims, remove clergy with substantiated allegations from ministry and cooperate with federal and state investigations.”

Acknowledging the show was free to interview “whomever they wish for this story,” he said: “It is clear to me and my staff that your roster of interviews did not include those who are aware of the full extent of the efforts of our diocese to combat child abuse.” Bishop Malone’s statement added, “Nor does it include those who urge me every day to stay the course and restore the confidence of our faithful.”

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BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

October 30, 2018

By Jay Tokasz

The former Buffalo Diocese employee who leaked clergy sex abuse documents to a local television station has recently turned over to the FBI some of those documents.

Siobhan O’Connor said she gave “the most pertinent documents I had” to FBI agents about two weeks ago and answered whatever questions they had.

“I knew that law enforcement needed to step in,” O’Connor said in an interview Tuesday. “I want people to be as much at ease as possible that the authorities have the proper information. My goal always was to go to law enforcement.”

She declined to comment further on what information the FBI agents sought.

At a news conference outside the diocese headquarters where she had worked for three years, O’Connor said Bishop Richard J. Malone and Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz should resign over their handling of the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

October 30, 2018

By Cameron Houston & Tammy Mills

The Catholic Church is about to be inundated with Supreme Court writs from Victorian survivors of clerical abuse who previously received modest ex gratia payments and will now attempt to sue the church for further compensation.

At least four Melbourne law firms have been briefed by dozens of victims seeking to challenge the validity of church settlements on the basis that payments were manifestly inadequate for the long-term suffering inflicted by paedophile priests.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

October 29, 2018

By Angus Thompson

A former Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing 36 children over more than 20 years took over the running of a homeless shelter after pleading guilty to separate abuses, a court has heard.

David Joseph Perrett, 81, was refused bail by a NSW Supreme Court judge on Monday following fresh charges being laid in a case that has so far seen 115 alleged counts of sexual abuse levelled against the retired clergyman.

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ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
The Albuquerque Journal

October 30, 2018

By Colleen Heild

Yet another lawsuit alleging Catholic priest abuse of an altar boy has been filed against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, but the alleged abuser wasn’t on a list of credibly accused priests released by church authorities more than a year ago.

The alleged victim, who lives out of state, hadn’t disclosed the abuse that occurred in the 1970s in Peralta, south of Albuquerque, until he sought professional help this year for what seemed to be an unrelated issue, according to a recent lawsuit filed in state District Court in Albuquerque.

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
The New Orleans Advocate

October 30, 2018

By Ramon Antonio Vargas and Matt Sledge

Archbishop Gregory Aymond has said he will soon release the names of clergy who, in the last 50 years, were removed from ministry after accusations that they sexually abused minors were deemed credible. Many of the allegations surfaced publicly in recent years, particularly after 2002 when the sex-abuse scandal in Boston caused the Catholic church to reform how it dealt with victims.

Below are 16 priests and deacons who either admitted to the sex abuse allegations made against them, left the ministry on their own after being accused, or were removed from ministry. Based on information from media reports, other documents, and the website bishop-accountability.org, each appears to meet the criteria outlined by Aymond for inclusion on the list, though it’s possible that some may be excluded.

Any clergy accused of sexually abusing a minor could seek to clear his name through a secret church tribunal, a process whose outcome is hardly ever known.

In alphabetical order:

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
The Legal Examiner

October 30, 2018

By Eric T. Chaffin

When a Pennsylvania grand jury investigated decades of alleged Catholic clergy abuse in Pennsylvania, they found records indicating that over 1,000 children had been sexually abused by over 300 “predator priests.” Unfortunately, most instances of abuse were too old to be prosecuted, but the jury did issue presentments against two priests that had been allegedly sexually assaulting children within the last decade.

Now, one of those priests has pled guilty to the sexual abuse of two boys. After the grand jury report came out, Rev. David Lee Poulson of Oil City was charged with abusing an altar boy and attempting to assault another boy at a hunting camp. The priest pled guilty to corruption of minors and child endangerment.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
The New Orleans Advocate

October 30, 2018

By John Simerman

There may be names on the list that sicken New Orleans-area Catholics, exposing once-revered men of the cloth as child predators based on allegations that never saw daylight.

The sordid histories of about 16 other clerics should be familiar to many, though, having been revealed in previous eruptions of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal by the diocese itself — or in spite of its silence.

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SANTA CRUZ (CA)
Good Times

October 20, 2018

By Jennifer Wadsworth

As San Jose Bishop names names, some fear known abusers left out

It took decades for Joey Piscitelli to come forward with his story of abuse and another three years after that to take his accused rapist, Father Stephen Whelan, to court. But the Salesians of Don Bosco—the Catholic order that employed Whelan at a Bay Area all-boys high school where he was said to have assaulted Piscitelli from 1969 to 1971—treated the allegations as a joke.

In closing arguments during a 2006 jury trial, the Salesians compared Piscitelli to James Frey, the author who famously tried to pass off his novel A Million Little Pieces as a gritty addiction memoir. The defense produced a short video, which showed a mock book cover titled My Story of Abuse by Joey Piscitelli before flashing the word “fiction” in big, bold letters across the screen.

“They just made a mockery out of it,” Piscitelli, a 63-year-old East Bay resident, recalls. “Their lead attorney would laugh at me.”

Though he ultimately won two appeals and a $600,000 judgment, it wasn’t until a dozen years later—at 2 p.m. on Sept. 26—that he felt a measure of vindication.

That was the day last month when high-ranking officials from California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office, in response to a Sept. 8 letter from Piscitelli, summoned him, two fellow Bay Area members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests—known as SNAP—and two from bishop-accountability.org to a 20th-floor conference room in a secure building on Harrison Street in downtown Oakland.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
The Vindicator

30, 2018

Catholic leaders today released a list of names of 34 priests connected to the Youngstown diocese priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse.

The Most Rev. George Murry, the Youngstown diocese bishop, told media during a news conference today that the diocese regrets that what amounts to 3 percent of priests who acted “inappropriately.”

Murry said this morning it is important for the diocese to acknowledge and apologize to victims of sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

“We have to do something to ensure, always, that children are protected,” Bishop Murry said.

“Our promise to our people is that this doesn’t happen again. We’re putting this list out to clear the debt and be open and honest,” Bishop Murry said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

[Sexual Abuse in the Spanish Church: “The Diocese of Segorbe-Castellón silenced the abuses I suffered”]

ARTANA, SPAIN
El País

October 28, 2018

By Oriol Güell

El sacerdote fue cambiado de parroquia en secreto y se le prohibió regresar a Artana, aunque la víctima nunca fue informada

La parroquia de Artana (Castellón), con 2.000 habitantes y un profundo arraigo religioso, oculta una página negra de abusos que Manuel Vilar Herrero saca ahora a la luz. “Fui víctima del cura”, resume este hombre de 50 años. “Empezaba con caricias y besos en el cuello. Luego seguía tocándote el culo y los genitales. Notabas cómo se iba excitando. Acababa restregándose contra ti, sin desvestirse, hasta que eyaculaba entre pequeñas convulsiones”.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

[Sexual Abuse in the Spanish Church: “He warned me that if I told, he would suspend me, send me to a boarding school”]

CADIZ, SPAIN
El País

October 28, 2018

By Joaquín Gil

Los Salesianos mantienen al sacerdote López Luna, investigado por abusar de un joven

Los Salesianos mantienen a un cura investigado por abusar en 2013 de un joven de 13 años. El sacerdote Francisco Javier López Luna dispone de un despacho en las oficinas del Centro Nacional de Pastoral Juvenil de esta congregación en el número 164 de la calle Alcalá de Madrid, según ha comprobado EL PAÍS.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

[Sexual Abuse in the Spanish Church: “It’s always here, it’s always in my mind”]

SPAIN
El País

October 28, 2018

By Julio Núñez

Leopoldo Martín, de 80 años, narra los abusos que sufrió en un internado religioso hace más de 70 años

Más de 70 años después, Leopoldo Martín, madrileño de 80 años, aún recuerda las tres pesetas que le condenaron a vivir un año en un colegio de curas vallisoletano que le marcaría para siempre: abusos sexuales, maltrato físico y, debido a una mala alimentación, una enfermedad —el latirismo— que le ocasionó una pronunciada cojera de por vida. Por aquel entonces, mediados de los años cuarenta, la pobreza en la que vivía junto a su madre viuda y con cinco hijos llevó a Martín a vivir en un internado de Madrid. “Entré con siete años. Yo era el que me encargaba de hacerle todas las mañanas la cama al auxiliar”. Cierto día, cuenta, le pegaron una paliza porque de aquella habitación habían desaparecido tres pesetas. “Me pusieron el cuerpo morado y me dijeron: ‘Leopoldo, si mañana no aparecen las tres pesetas te matamos’. Yo me escapé, con tan mala suerte de que me pillaron y, como castigo, me mandaron a un internado en Valladolid”.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

[Church victims break the silence: More than 100 people tell El País about clergy abuses that had been secret until now]

MADRID, SPAIN
El País

October 28, 2018

Más de un centenar de personas cuentan a EL PAÍS el relato de los abusos que sufrieron supuestamente a manos de curas y que hasta ahora permanecían ocultos

Más de un centenar de personas, supuestas víctimas de abusos sexuales en parroquias y colegios religiosos en distintas épocas —desde la década de los años cuarenta hasta los últimos años—, han trasladado por escrito a EL PAÍS su drama, oculto hasta ahora. Algunas de esas supuestas víctimas han dejado un testimonio grabado de su denuncia para este reportaje. “La impotencia, la rabia, la angustia y mi dolor siguen vivos”, cuenta una de las víctimas. “Yo era un ser extremadamente vulnerable. El profesor se pasó aquel verano metiéndonos mano a mí y a otros pocos alumnos suspensos. He compartido los recuerdos con mi familia y amigos…”, señala otro. “La rabia me dura 53 años después; sufrí los abusos de un cura, y sé que no fui el único”.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

[Sexual Abuse in the Spanish Church: “He was director of the school and abused me in the secretariat”]

SALAMANCA, SPAIN
El País

October 28, 2018

By Íñigo Domínguez and Amaya Iríbar

Teresa Conde relata los abusos que sufrió siendo menor, durante dos años, de un religioso de los Trinitarios de Salamanca

Teresa Conde, una profesora de 52 años, tardó 25 en contárselo a sus padres, en 2007. Y le ha costado 11 más ponerlo por primera vez por escrito en el mensaje que ha enviado a este periódico, para denunciar los abusos sexuales que afirma haber sufrido, cuando era menor, por parte de un religioso de los Trinitarios de Salamanca. Ahora, tras una vida en terapia, pensando en el suicidio “todos los días de mi vida”, y cuando ya es capaz de contarlo, lo cuenta: asegura que el fraile Domingo Ciordia Azcona, que en 1980 tenía 45 años, abusó de ella durante más de dos años, desde que ella tenía 14 hasta los 16. De primero a tercero de BUP. El religioso acusado falleció en 2016 en un accidente de tráfico.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

[Sexual Abuse in the Spanish Church: “The archbishop of Oviedo told me it was my word against his”]

MADRID, SPAIN
El País

October 28, 2018

By Julio Núñez

Una víctima de abusos sexuales por un sacerdote relata la pasividad de la Iglesia cuando denunció su caso

V.C., una víctima asturiana de 36 años, calló hasta 2015, cuando al fin se sintió preparada para denunciar al sacerdote que había abusado sexualmente de ella desde los seis hasta los 13 años en Villaviciosa (Asturias). De su puño y letra escribió una carta al arzobispo de Oviedo, Jesús Sanz Montes, donde le narraba los hechos y las terribles secuelas que le habían provocado. Cuando se reunió con él en la diócesis asturiana, Sanz, con la misiva en la mano, le comentó que no se podía hacer nada. “Me dijo que era mi palabra contra la suya, que le habían apartado unos años antes de mi denuncia por otros asuntos y que estaba bajo vigilancia”, relata ella. El obispo no la “invitó” a que lo denunciase ante la justicia, como marca desde 2010 el protocolo contra los abusos de la Conferencia Episcopal Española, y tampoco abrió un proceso eclesiástico contra dicho sacerdote.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

October 30, 2018

The Diocese of Youngstown publicly named 31 priests that have been removed from their duties due to “credible” allegations of sexual abuse.

In a news release, Bishop George Murray clarified that a “credible” allegation is one “that, after a thorough investigation and review of available information, appears more likely true than not in the judgment of the Diocesan Review Board, and is accepted as credible by the bishop.” While we’re glad that church officials have taken this first step, we believe that they must take two other steps immediately to show that they are being fully open and honest about the extent of abuse in their diocese.

First, Bishop Murray and other officials in Ohio should urge an independent investigation by their attorney general to dig into diocesan records and do a full review of all personnel files and abuse records. Only independent law enforcement professionals can truly determine when an allegation is “credible” or not, especially given that we have seen church officials deem accusations not credible only to be proven horribly wrong later.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WBFO Radio

October 30, 2018

By Michael Mroziak

The woman who formerly worked as the executive assistant to Roman Catholic Bishop Richard Malone stood on a sidewalk across the street from her former workplace Tuesday morning, explaining her decision to secretly share private diocesan documents regarding clergy linked to alleged sexual misconduct. It was Siobhan O’Connor’s first local appearance since her story aired on national news programs including CBS’s 60 Minutes.

O’Connor worked directly under Bishop Malone in the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo’s headquarters on Main Street from 2015 until August of this year, when she resigned her position. Before leaving her job, she had secretly gathered copies of confidential documents regarding the church’s sex abuse scandal and forwarded them to WKBW-TV investigative reporter Charlie Specht. She later appeared on 60 Minutes and interviewed with other national news outlets.

After being introduced in Buffalo by other speakers, including her attorney, O’Connor opened her own remarks with a prayer. She then pointed to her former employer’s offices across the street, noting that a fourth floor conference room window provided an unobstructed view of the corner where she was now standing. It’s the same corner where others, starting with Michael Whalen in February 2018, shared tales of sexual abuse by clergy.

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[Rome receives records in case of Penquista priest investigated for rape]

CHILE
BIoBioChile

October 29, 2018

By Alejandra Soto

La Congregación de la Doctrina de la Fe en Roma recibió los antecedentes de la denuncia en contra del sacerdote penquista Hernán Enríquez, acusado por el delito de violación a un menor en 2002.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

[Bishop Santiago Silva: “I have nothing to hide”]

CHILE
La Tercera

October 29, 2018

By Paola Moreno

El presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal declaró cinco horas ante la fiscalía de Rancagua.

Por más de cinco horas declaró este lunes, en calidad de imputado, el presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal, obispo Santiago Silva, por un eventual encubrimiento de delitos sexuales al interior de la Iglesia Católica.

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LONDON (ONTARIO, CANADA)
The London Free Press

October 30, 2018

By Jonathan Juha

A Catholic affiliate of Western University is doubling its campus size, acquiring lands from the area diocese in London in a deal that will help to restore a nearby seminary and pay off debts including from clergy sex-absue lawsuits.

The deal will see King’s University College take over 7.3 hectares of land east of Waterloo Street and north of Huron Street near St. Peter’s Seminary, a large green space many area residents think of as parkland.

The land transfer from the Diocese of London, announced Monday, negates the prospect of commercial development on the land, which a school official said wouldn’t fit with the neighbourhood, in favour of future educational use and green space, a move the area’s city councillor applauded.

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DETROIT (MI)
The Detroit News

October 29, 2018

By Chris Graveline

For the first time since 1988, Michigan voters will have the chance to elect an independent candidate for a statewide office. My name is Chris Graveline and I am running as a political moderate for a position that should be non-partisan, Michigan attorney general. Unlike the major party candidates, I can be truly independent since I have not sought nor will I accept any issue-advocacy PAC money or endorsements during this campaign.

The attorney general is Michigan’s top lawyer and its chief law enforcement officer. It is a position that demands fairness and impartiality. Unfortunately, both major parties have targeted the position of state attorney general around the country as a means to advance their policy arguments through lawsuit.

For example, Attorney General Bill Schuette repeatedly sued the Obama administration challenging its implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Similarly, the current Democratic nominee, Dana Nessel, has stated that she intends to “sue the Trump administration, all day, every day.” The parties want to transform this public office into their own law firm. This practice needs to end. There is too much work to do on behalf of Michigan’s citizens to allow it to continue.

Before initiating or joining a lawsuit on behalf of the people of Michigan, the attorney general should consider certain principles enunciated by Frank J. Kelley: (1) will the suit establish sound legal precedent; (2) will the suit affect many people and is not just of a localized interest; and (3) is the AG office legally authorized to get involved by statute or state constitution.

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WENATCHEE (WA)
Fiber One

October 29, 2018

By Jefferson Robbins

A civil suit accusing the Mormon church of allowing Indian children to be sexually abused in church-managed foster care in Wenatchee was dismissed last week after the case fell dormant.

Chelan County Superior Court Judge Kristin Ferrera dismissed the case Friday on a motion from County Clerk Kim Morrison, who noted that no further motions had been filed since Coeur d’Alene attorney Craig Vernon brought the suit in August 2017. Such motions and dismissals are common if parties to a civil case do not pursue it in court.

The Chelan County case was the last of about a dozen filed by Vernon’s law firm on behalf of sexual abuse survivors, most from the Navajo Nation or the Crow Tribe of Montana, against the LDS Church over the last three years. Most have since settled or reached out-of-court agreements. Vernon could not be reached for comment Monday morning.

Vernon’s lawsuit claimed the victim, a Crow tribal member who was not identified by name, was abused in the care of a Wenatchee family that fostered her under the now-discontinued Indian Placement Program. That program, carried out by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, removed children from American Indian communities and placed them in the foster care of white Mormon families between the 1950s and the mid-1990s.

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
The Associated Press

October 25, 2018

The Catholic Diocese of Little Rock says it has received 26 more allegations of clergy abuse one month after the diocese released a list of clergy members who have had credible allegations against them of sexually abusing minors.

The Catholic Diocese of Little Rock says it has received 26 more allegations of clergy abuse one month after the diocese released a list of clergy members who have had credible allegations against them of sexually abusing minors.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Bishop Anthony B. Taylor announced the additional complaints in a letter to church members Tuesday. The diocese released a preliminary list in September that identified 12 priests accused of abuse who served in Arkansas.

Taylor wrote that most of the recent allegations were made against priests already listed in last month’s report. He says that none of the allegations were against “priests who are currently in active ministry in Arkansas.”

Taylor added that the new reports concern events that occurred before 2002.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
WTAJ

October 26, 2018

By John Clay

SNAP, the Survivors Network, representing victims of sex abuse at the hands of Catholic priests is interested in a Department of Justice investigation. They are particularly interested in the actions of Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh.

Here’s the release from SNAP:

Today it was learned that the U.S. Department of Justice has put every US diocese under notice to not destroy, discard, dispose of, delete, or alter any? documents related to the sexual abuse of children as they investigate ?possible violations of federal law.? The letter, addressed to Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, is significant because it covers not only the state of Pennsylvania, where the D.O.J. has officially launched a federal probe, but across the entire U.S.

One Pennsylvania bishop likely at the center of the current federal investigation is Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh. Zubik has a long history in Pittsburgh. According to the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, as Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar of Clergy under Archbishop Daniel Wuerl, Zubik was involved in covering up child sex abuse.

Zubik was promoted to bishop of the Green Bay diocese in 2003. While in Wisconsin, court records show that Zubik systematically destroyed nearly all criminal evidence of abuse and cover up from that diocese relating to at least 51 known sex offenders. In fact, Zubik?s reissued the order for the shredding the day before the Vatican announced he would leave Green Bay and return to run the Pittsburgh diocese in 2007. At the time SNAP issued a letter for a federal investigation of the document destruction.

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
The Alliance Review

October 30, 2018

Bishop George V. Murry says 31 with roles in church accused; diocese includes churches, Catholic schools in Stark County.

Bishop George V. Murry of the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown released a list of priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor and reported to police. Since 1943, there have been 31 out of 1,026 priests or religious leaders accused of behaving inappropriately, Murry said during a news conference Tuesday.

“I am very sorry that the Church has failed to act aggressively to eliminate this evil,” Murry said in a statement from the diocese. “I humbly ask forgiveness from the victims and their families for the grave mistakes the Church has made.”

A credible accusation is one against a priest or deacon that, after thorough investigation and review of information, appears more likely true than not in the judgment of the Diocesan Review Board and is accepted as credible by the bishop.

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NEW YORK (NY)
LifeSiteNews

October 29, 2018

By Dorothy Cummings McLean

The Jesuit-run publication America has carried an article by a professor-psychologist who claims that homosexuality is not the “root cause” of clerical sexual abuse. The photo accompanying the article contained an angel with a rainbow in the background.

Dr. Thomas G. Plante, a professor of psychology at the Jesuit Santa Clara University and an adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine, had his article published on October 22 in which he states that sexual orientation is “simply” not a factor in the clerical sex-abuse of minors.

“Many people believe that homosexuality is the root cause of sexual abuse by clergy in the Catholic Church since about 80 percent of the known victims have been male,” he wrote.

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UNITED STATES
CBS News/60 Minutes

October 28, 2018

By Bill Whitaker

For the first time on television, the former executive assistant to Buffalo’s Bishop Richard Malone explains why she decided to speak out against the bishop for not taking action against priests accused of sexual abuse

The Roman Catholic Church is facing its biggest crisis in the United States since the Boston sex abuse scandal 16 years ago. 13 states are now investigating whether abuse was concealed by church leaders, including bishops who head each diocese. We have learned one place under scrutiny by federal investigators is Buffalo, New York. In August, information about dozens of accused priests was leaked from the diocesan secret archive. What it revealed, infuriated many of Buffalo’s 600,000 Catholics. Tonight, you will hear from a priest who will share his direct knowledge about what he has called a cover-up. But first, the anonymous whistleblower who uncovered proof that Bishop Richard Malone withheld the names of dozens of priests accused of abuse.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
SF Weekly

October 25, 2018

By Joe Kukura

The Catholic priest abuse scandal is back with a vengeance, as victims sue the Vatican and demand names in 3,400 sex abuse cases.

San Francisco has become the new front in childhood sexual abuse survivors taking on the Catholic Church. Two alleged victims filed a lawsuit against the Vatican on Wednesday, the Bay City News reports, demanding that the church “release the names of perpetrators and documents in 3,400 credible cases of childhood sexual abuse worldwide” which they claim the Vatican is sitting on and keeping secret.

None of the abuses alleged in this case took place in San Francisco, but a separate report from the same firm representing these victims does name 135 accused offenders in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

Wednesday’s filing does allege numerous abuses at Catholic churches throughout the Bay Area. Plaintiff Kathleen Stonebraker says she was abused at St. Joseph’s Church in Pinole while she was between the ages of 11 and 13, the suit names an additional 18 priests accused of abuse in the Diocese of San Jose and a few other other alleged perpetrators in Santa Clara County.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service

October 30, 2018

Discussion and voting on concrete measures to address the abuse crisis and a day of spiritual discernment and prayer will top the agenda for the U.S. bishops when they meet Nov. 12-14 for the fall general assembly in Baltimore.

Public sessions of the assembly also will be livestreamed, live tweeted and carried via satellite, according to an Oct. 29 news release from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The assembly will begin Nov. 12 with an address by Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, USCCB president, as well as remarks by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, papal nuncio to the United States.

The body of bishops will then adjourn to an on-site chapel for a full day of spiritual discernment and prayer. This will be followed by a Mass celebrated at the site of the assembly that evening.

In a letter sent Oct. 27 to all U.S. bishops, Cardinal DiNardo asked them to spend seven days before the meeting, from Nov. 5 to Nov. 11, in “intensified” prayer, fasting and reparation to prepare for their general assembly in Baltimore.

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ERIE (PA)
WTAJ

October 29, 2018

By Emma Catalano

The Diocese of Erie released a public disclosure list Monday of people who will not be accepted as employees or volunteers by the Diocese of Erie.

Some of the names on the list may be recognizable as a result of a criminal conviction or other public report. Other names are being disclosed publicly for the first time. Some people on this list cannot be convicted of a crime because of the passage of time, legal technicalities, their present whereabouts or mental state, or other factors.

Every person named on this list was credibly accused of actions that, in the diocese’s judgment, disqualify that person from working with children. Such actions could include the use of child pornography, furnishing pornography to minors, corruption of minors, violating a child-protection policy, failure to prevent abuse that they knew to be happening, and, in some cases, direct physical sexual abuse or sexual assault of minors.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WBFO

October 28, 2018

By Mark Scott

The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo will be in the national spotlight Sunday night when the CBS news program “60 Minutes” airs a segment on the response to the clergy abuse scandal here.

Siobhan O’Connor, former administrative aide to Bishop Richard Malone, will discuss her release of confidential documents related to the scandal.

“She spoke best when she said her heart is heavy as a whistleblower but her soul is at peace,” Seil said.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Catholic SF

October 28, 2018

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone talking to people after the listening session held Oct. 28 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Belmont. The Archdiocese of San Francisco organized five listening sessions in the wake of the most recent clergy abuse scandals. (Photo by Nicholas Wolfram Smith/Catholic San Francisco)

November 1, 2018
Nicholas Wolfram Smith

Closing out a monthlong series of town hall-style discussions about clergy sex abuse, the Archdiocese of San Francisco held its final listening session Oct. 28 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Belmont. More than 100 people gathered to hear Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone review archdiocesan policies to safeguard children and talk to him about the abuse scandals inundating the church.

The concerns brought to the session, from homosexuality in the clergy to bishop accountability, highlighted local Catholics’ desire to avoid a repeat of the scandals affecting them now. Existential questions for the church, such as how to trust a hierarchy that has seemed to place institutional preservation over pastoral care, were also foremost on several people’s minds.

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BURLINGTON (VT)
WCAX

October 29, 2018

The Burlington Catholic Diocese has launched a new website for victims of clergy abuse.

The announcement came Monday as part of an effort from the diocese to be transparent about how it handles, prevents and responds to child sex abuse.

The diocese calls the abuses of the past “inexcusable” and says it is committed to making sure those things never happen again.

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VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

October 29, 2018

By David Gibson

A global summit of Catholic bishops on Saturday issued a powerful call for the inclusion of women in decision-making roles in the church “at all levels” and sought to welcome gay people and commit the church to a historic shift on fighting clergy sexual abuse.

But in the wide-ranging final document, approved late Saturday after a series of votes by 249 cardinals and bishops, the synod on young people did not open the door to the ordination of women.

The document, based on deliberations over the past four weeks among bishops and young Catholics, used unusually strong language in advocating on behalf of women, saying integrating women fully into the Catholic Church was “a duty of justice.”

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune

October 25, 2018

By Kim Chatelain

New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond believes the decision to release the names of clergy credibly accused of abusing minors will lead to a renewal of the Roman Catholic church, the Clarion Herald newspaper reported. Aymond’s statement was part of a question and answer feature published in the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

The archbishop said that, ahead of his decision, he received calls and emails from both those who wanted the names released and those who felt the names should not be made public.

“After much prayer, I believe the just thing is to release the names,” Aymond said in the newspaper’s Q&A. “I was very much concerned that we would be able to do this accurately and completely. In prayer, it became very clear to me that this is the right thing to do in a spirit of justice and transparency.”

Aymond did not say when the names will be released, but noted it will be “sooner rather than later,” the Clarion Herald reported. He said a team of staff and outside legal professionals is currently reviewing files to compile the information that will be released.

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HENRICO (VA)
Henrico Citizen

October 26, 2018

Va. Attorney General Mark Herring

Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring today launched the Virginia Clergy Abuse Hotline and www.VirginiaClergyHotline.com as part of an ongoing investigation into whether criminal sexual abuse of children may have occurred in Virginia’s Catholic dioceses, and whether leadership in the dioceses may have covered up or abetted any such crimes.

The hotline and online reporting form are being launched in the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury report that documented decades of sexual abuse and cover-up by Catholic clergy in Pennsylvania.

“Like so many Americans, I read the grand jury report on clergy abuse in the Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania, and I felt sick,” Herring said. “It made me sick to see the extent of the damage done, the efforts to cover it up, and the complicity and enabling that went on by powerful people who should have known better and should have done more to protect vulnerable children.

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ERIE (PA)
Go Erie

October 30, 2018

By Ed Palattella

Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania on Monday said the late Sister Mary Carmel Skeabeck sexually abused a student at Villa Maria Academy in the late 1950s.

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania have set up a hotline to take calls about child sexual abuse following Monday’s disclosure that a nun was found to have sexually abused a student at Villa Maria Academy in Erie in the late 1950s.

The hotline number is 814-452-8903. Callers can also be directed for counseling by calling the hotline, the sisters said.

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UNITED STATES
ABC27

October 28, 2018

By Mark Hall

Several members of the Fortney family went on a 600 mile road trip on Saturday morning.

Lara Fortney-McKeever says that an emotional week sparked their travel plans.

“We met with senators face to face, and some said they would support Senate Bill 261 that would allow victims of sexual abuse to take their abusers to court, while others expressed concerns about the constitution,” said Fortney-McKeever. “So we decided that we had to do more.”

The State Senate didn’t bring SB 261 to a vote, so the Fortney sisters took the issue to several district offices of key senators outside of Pittsburg and State College.

Saundra Fortney-Colello says that most of the five offices that they visited were closed, so they did what they could to get their message across.

“We put five things on their doors, said Fortney-Colello, “We sent a message to them on Facebook, and talked to them directly.”

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
The Associated Press/5NEWS Web staff

October 26, 2018

The Catholic Diocese of Little Rock has received 26 more allegations of clergy abuse one month after the diocese released a list of clergy members who have had credible allegations against them of sexually abusing minors.

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor announced the additional complaints in a letter to church members Tuesday, the AP reports. The diocese released a preliminary list in September that identified 12 priests accused of abuse who served in Arkansas.

The Little Rock diocese’s internal review came in the wake of a grand jury report in August documenting seven decades of child sexual abuse by hundreds of Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania.

“I had hoped that the release of the names of those priests known to have abused minors might enable any as-yet-unknown victims to come forward to share their story and receive help, and this has in fact occurred,” Taylor wrote in the letter this week.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
WHTM

October 27, 2018

Clergy sex abuse survivors are taking their push for lawmakers to pass a statute of limitation reform law on the road.

The Fortney sisters are from the Midstate. Five of them say their pastor in the Harrisburg Catholic Diocese sexual abused them when they were between the ages of 2-13.

On Saturday, they will be taking a road trip across the state. The family will visit the offices of state senators in their home district’s urging them to pass a statute of limitations reform bill that passed the state house.

Earlier this month, the state house passed Senate Bill 261. It would allow survivors of sexual abuse to file a civil suit until they are 50-years-old instead of 30.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Tribune News Service

October 26, 2018

The historic seven-day spiritual retreat will be at Mundelein Seminary in suburban Chicago in January.

Pope Francis has called on Catholic bishops nationwide to gather for a historic seven-day spiritual retreat at Mundelein Seminary in suburban Chicago in January as church hierarchy grapple with the ongoing clergy sex abuse scandal.

As chancellor of the seminary, Archdiocese of Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich – now in Rome for a monthlong meeting of global church leaders – will serve as host of the gathering, which could include some 300 bishops from around the country.

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
WFMJ

October 30, 2018

By Mike Gauntner

The Youngstown Diocese is making public a list of priests who have been removed from their ministries over credible allegations of sexual abuse.

At a 10 am Tuesday news conference, Bishop George Murry announced that of the more than 1,000 men who have been priests and other religious leaders in the five-county diocese since it was founded in 1943, 31 men have been found to have had credible inappropriate incidents.

Bishop Murry said former FBI agents investigated 73 complaints about alleged abuse in the Diocese.

The investigators make recommendations to the bishop and a board made of attorneys, Catholic and Lutheran pastors, representatives from Children Services and others

Clergy of the Diocese of Youngstown against whom credible, substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor have been made:

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
WYTV

October 29, 2018

Bishop George Murry said the diocese has received allegations from 76 victims

Bishop George Murry, of the Youngstown Catholic Diocese, held a press conference Tuesday, releasing a list of priests and clergy members who have been removed due to sexual abuse.

Leaders say they are doing everything they can to help victims of abuse at the hands of clergy who, at one time or another, served in the local diocese.

Since 1943, there have been 31 out of 1,026 priests and religious leaders accused of behaving inappropriately, Murry said.

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
Salem News

October 30, 2018

Bishop George V. Murry, S.J., of the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown has announced the list of names of those who have served in the Diocese of Youngstown since its establishment in 1943 who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor and who have been reported to civil authorities.

“I am very sorry that the church has failed to act aggressively to eliminate this evil,” said Bishop Murry through a media release . “I humbly ask forgiveness from the victims and their families for the grave mistakes the church has made.”

For the purpose of this list a “credible accusation” against a priest or deacon who has served in the Diocese of Youngstown is an accusation that, after a thorough investigation and review of available information, appears more likely true than not in the judgment of the Diocesan Review Board, and is accepted as credible by the bishop.

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ALTOONA (PA)
WNPV Radio

October 30, 2018

Lansdale_Catholic Attorney Richard Serbin filed a lawsuit in 1987 on behalf of two brothers who were sexually abused by a pedophile priest, but the case was not brought to trial until 1994 due to interference and indifference from church officials, police and prosecutors. Richard Serbin spoke with WNPV’s Darryl Berger on WNPV’s AM Edition Tuesday morning.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

October 30, 2018

By John L. Allen Jr.

If you’re an American Catholic, or an Australian, Irish, German, Chilean, or from pretty much anyplace else scarred by clerical sexual abuse scandals, news that a global summit of Catholic bishops in 2018 could walk up to the brink of endorsing a “zero tolerance” policy, only to pull back at the last minute, may seem almost incomprehensible.

One key to understanding how it happened is grasping that many Catholic bishops don’t hail from such places – actually, a strong majority don’t – and they bring widely differing perspectives and sensitivities to the table.

Here’s the tick-tock of how we got here.

The Oct. 3-28 Synod of Bishops on young people, faith and vocational discernment opened against the backdrop of a tumultuous series of new chapters in the abuse saga, including the damning Pennsylvania grand jury report; the resignation of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick; a controversy in Australia over eroding the seal of the confessional; laicizations, bishops’ resignations and fresh revelations in Chile; and, of course, the infamous letter from Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò accusing Pope Francis of knowing about McCarrick and covering it up.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

October 30, 2018

By John L. Allen Jr. and Ines San Martin

As the dust settles after an Oct. 3-28 summit of bishops on young people, the faith and vocational discernment, many questions remain. Most are focused on the final document adopted by the bishops by an overwhelming margin last Saturday night – including who shaped it, what some of its language means, and the fact that it doesn’t contain an endorsement of a “zero tolerance” policy on sexual abuse.

Mexican Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, appointed by Pope Francis to lead the Archdiocese of Mexico City at the end of last year, was on the 12-member drafting committee responsible for producing the 60-page document.

Speaking with Crux on Monday, Aguiar Retes said that even though he agrees with the policy of “zero tolerance” when it comes to priests or church personnel who abuse minors, the document, addressed to young adults, touches on many forms of abuse, including “authoritarianism, abuse of power, imposition, lack of empathy,” and others, for which the Church “doesn’t have a zero tolerance attitude.”

Aguiar Reyes says the phrase “zero tolerance” was also eliminated from this text because Francis has called a meeting for the presidents of bishops’ conferences around the world Feb. 21-24, and it will be up to that meeting to address it.

Aguiar Retes spoke with Crux on Monday, two days after the synod’s final document was voted on. What follows are excerpts of that conversation, which took place in Italian.

Crux: Seeing that we’ve reached the end of the synod, could we ask you for a balance of the experience?

Aguiar Retes: For me, I’ve said this before, and I’ve heard this from many bishops and cardinals, particularly from those who’ve participated in a synod before, for me this was the fifth, everyone says the same: this was the best synod among those we’ve participated in.

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DUNKIRK (NY)
Observer

October 30, 2018

A sexual abuse survivor from the Diocese of Buffalo is hailing the “60 Minutes” report that aired Sunday night on the CBS network news magazine.

Matt Golden, who sued the Diocese of Buffalo in August claiming the diocese and Bishop Richard J. Malone created and exposed the public to dangerous predator priests and continue to do so through present day, said he was “not surprised” by what he saw in the segment.

Golden’s lawsuit claims the diocese continues to conspire and engage in efforts to conceal from the public and law enforcement, the identities of priests who have sexually abused minors and allow known child molesters, like the Rev. Dennis Riter who abused Matthew when he was a child, to live freely in the community without informing the public. To-date more than 80 priests have been accused of child sexual abuse in the Diocese of Buffalo.

Riter continues to serve Mass at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Dunkirk.

“Things will not change for the better in the Diocese of Buffalo unless all the Catholic Bishops in New York are forced to come clean and tell the truth,” Golden said. “This is why I brought suit against the Diocese of Buffalo and Bishop Malone, because they are protecting Fr. Riter, and how many others?”

The Diocese of Buffalo also offered a response to the “60 Minutes” segment. Here was the statement issued on Monday afternoon:

“Two stories aired on Sunday, October 28, regarding the Diocese. Many have sought our comment about both. Therefore, we issue this statement and will provide information in the days ahead that will add perspective to the stories. For now, we simply observe that the material reported in the stories was incomplete, out of context and in some cases plainly inaccurate.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

October 30, 2018

By Elise Harris and John L. Allen Jr.

For Archbishop Peter Comensoli of Melbourne, Australia, the clerical sexual abuse crisis unfolding throughout global Catholicism hits especially close to home given the drama that’s unfolded in his country in recent years, including a Royal Commission report on the Church’s failures and criminal charges of “historic sexual offenses” against Cardinal George Pell.

With his background, it might have been a shock that during the recently-concluded Synod of Bishops on youth, which came on the heels of multiple revelations and allegations of abuse around the world, not all of his fellow prelates felt the same urgency, resulting in the omission of a firm apology and a collective commitment to a “zero-tolerance” policy in the gathering’s concluding document.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Forbes

October 30, 2018

By Nicholas Malfitano

As the aftermath of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office’s grand jury report into child sexual abuse committed statewide by members of the Roman Catholic Church continues, alleged victims have taken to suing the Church.

But a class action lawsuit – filed by Carlson Lynch of Pittsburgh, Berger Montague of Philadelphia and Nye Peabody of California – differs from others that have been filed since the grand jury report stated a staggering 1,000 children were sexually assaulted by hundreds of priests throughout the state.

This lawsuit does not seek damages. It could have been difficult to pursue a class action seeking damages with circumstances like these because it might have been hard to show each class member was harmed in a common way and owed a similar amount – requirements for the certification of a class.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Tablet

October 30, 2018

By Jonathan Luxmoore

The French Church has been plunged into soul-searching after a second young priest in a month committed suicide after being accused of sexually improper conduct.

Fr Pierre-Yves Fumery, 38, took his life on 20 October after being sent away for psychological treatment because of his close relations with a teenage girl. That was a month after Fr Jean-Baptiste Sebé, also 38, committed suicide after authorities examined accusations he had assaulted a young woman.

“This is a terrible shock, even if we knew he was going through a difficult time,” Bishop Jacques Blaquart told journalists after Fumery’s suicide.

His Orleans diocese now ranks among the best in France in dealing with the sexual abuse crisis; its previous bishop went on trial this week for not denouncing an abusive priest.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WITF

October 29, 2018

By Katie Meyer

With two weeks left until election day, the campaign arm of Pennsylvania’s Senate Democratic caucus has made a major ad buy in Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs.

The topic is a high-profile bill related to child sexual abuse by priests that faltered in the state legislature.

Democrats say it’s a legitimate critique. Republicans say it’s an unfair blow. But both parties have the same question: will this make a notable difference in key Senate races?

The discord over Senate Bill 261 is long-simmering, but it came to a head in the final hours of the state legislature’s voting session when negotiations on the measure crashed and burned.

The bill, which would have made it easier for victims of child abuse to later sue their abusers, buckled under disagreements about a provision that would have opened a two-year window for lawsuits on old cases.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
National Catholic Register/CNA

October 25, 2018

By Jonah McKeown

More than 200 priests from the San Francisco Bay area are on the list. At least one California diocese has questioned the sources for the list.

A Minnesota-based law firm released a report Tuesday compiling the names of more than 200 priests from the San Francisco Bay area it says have been publicly accused of sexual abuse. At least one California diocese has questioned the sources for the list.

The law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates filed a lawsuit Oct. 1 against all of California’s dioceses, along with the California Catholic Conference and the Archdiocese of Chicago, alleging a sexual-abuse cover-up.

The Oct. 23 report lists the names and parish assignments of 212 priests from the San Francisco Bay area. The report says it is an effort to compile “information already available to the public from various sources in the public media” and to raise awareness of the issue of clerical sexual abuse.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Associated Press

Oct 30, 2018

The Diocese of Buffalo declined to address details of a television report where diocesan insiders called for the bishop’s resignation Monday, saying he hadn’t done enough when confronted with reports of clergy sexual misconduct.

In a statement, the diocese said it would add perspective “in the days ahead” while calling the material in the CBS 60 Minutes report “incomplete, out of context and in some cases plainly inaccurate.”

Sunday’s broadcast featured a former assistant to Bishop Richard Malone who secretly copied confidential files and gave them to the news magazine and Buffalo station WKBW-TV. It also featured a priest who advised Malone on legal matters saying he believed eight or nine active priests should have been removed from the ministry.

“A lot of cases probably should have gone to Rome at the time. They did not,” Father Robert Zilliox told 60 Minutes.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
California News Wire Services

October 25, 2018

The priest is now a registered sex offender living in Walnut Creek, according to the lawsuit.

Two sexual abuse survivors announced in San Francisco on Wednesday that they have sued the Vatican in federal court for allegedly failing to prevent and covering up the abuse of them and others as children by priests.

Kathleen Stonebraker of Pinole and James Keenan of Minnesota claim they were abused during their childhoods by Roman Catholic priests who were previously suspected or should have been suspected to be molesters but were allowed to remain in contact with young people.

Their lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Francisco on Tuesday. It accuses the Vatican, a sovereign nation officially known as the Holy See, of violating customary international human rights law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
AP/KDKA

October 24, 2018

Survivors of child sexual abuse and others are ramping up pressure on Pennsylvania’s Republican senators to vote on a bill to would give victims a two-year window to file lawsuits that would otherwise be outdated.

More than 100 people rallied at the state Capitol Wednesday following the Senate’s GOP majority’s decision last week to leave Harrisburg without voting on the legislation.

Several speakers focused their frustration on the Senate’s top-ranking Republican, President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati of Jefferson County.

Existing state law gives victims until age 30 to sue over child sexual abuse.

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ERIE (PA)
GoErie.com

October 30, 2018

By Ed Palattella

Original actions taken against the late Sr. Mary Carmel Skeabeck “appear to be insufficient by today’s standards,” according to Sisters of St. Joseph. Skeabeck was added to diocese’s list of accused on Monday.

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania started investigating child sexual-abuse allegations against one of its deceased members in May.

A complaint from an abuse victim triggered the probe.

The findings led the Catholic Diocese of Erie on Monday to place the nun, Sr. Mary Carmel Skeabeck, who died in 2015, on the diocese’s growing list of priests and laypeople credibly accused of child sexual abuse and other misconduct with minors since the 1940s.

Skeabeck, the first nun to be placed on the diocese’s list, “sexually abused a student on numerous occasions in the late 1950s while teaching at Villa Maria Academy” in Erie, the Sisters of St. Joseph, citing its investigation, said on Monday.

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FREMONT (CA)
Pacific Standard

October 26, 2018

By Emily Moon

A new report identifies 212 priests accused of sexual abuse in the Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose dioceses.

When Dan McNevin was nine years old, he served as an altar boy to Father James Clark in Corpus Christi Church in Fremont, California. There he worshipped alongside generations of his Irish Catholic family, attending mass and answering phones for the parish office. At first, says McNevin, now 60, Clark was “grooming him.” But soon the priest began to abuse him both physically and emotionally, undressing, touching, and assaulting him. He didn’t tell anyone, including his parents, for more than a decade. After three years, McNevin left the church forever; Clark did not.

Decades later, McNevin, then in his forties, confronted Clark’s superiors in the Oakland diocese, which governs all Catholic churches in the Alameda and Contra Costa counties, including Fremont. He says the area bishop told him the priest did not have a history of abuse, although he was a convicted sex offender, and denied shuffling him between posts (one way the Catholic church protects alleged abusers). McNevin believed the diocese—until he learned that the leaders of the same diocese had transferred a different offender 11 times. Then, in 2002, he met a survivor who had been molested by Clark five years after his own abuse. “I knew I got lied to,” he says. McNevin sued the Oakland diocese alongside several other victims, settling in 2005.

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MINNEAPOLIS (MN)
MinnPost

October 25, 2018

By Brian Lambert

Says Jean Hopfensperger for the Strib, “Jim Keenan, a Twin Cities clergy abuse survivor, is one of two plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday against the Vatican, demanding it release its files on thousands of priests who have sexually abused children. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court-Northern District of California by St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson, who argued the Vatican is the central repository for the names and histories of priests worldwide who have been engaged in misconduct, and is endangering others by not revealing their identities.”

Peter Cox of MPR reports, “First Avenue announced Wednesday that it has agreed to buy the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul from Minnesota Public Radio. Terms of the tentative deal were not disclosed. First Avenue owner Dayna Frank said the Minneapolis-based operator of music clubs was ‘excited about the opportunities for more events and performances in another iconic space in this community’. MPR CEO Jon McTaggart said in a statement Wednesday said the sale of the nearby theater would allow the company to better serve other audiences, but he expects part of the relationship to continue.”

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SAN BERNARDINO (CA)
San Bernardino Sun

October 25, 2018

By Joe Nelson

A lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges two brothers were molested by a priest at a Riverside parish in the 1990s.

Among the defendants named in the lawsuit are defrocked priest Carlos Rene Rodriguez, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Diocese of San Bernardino.

The lawsuit also alleges that for roughly 20 years, the Catholic Church was well aware of Rodriguez’s propensity for molesting young boys. Rodriguez even admitted to a priest that he molested one boy during a camping trip at the Grand Canyon in 1987, when he was associate pastor at St. Vincent de Paul of Los Angeles, but the priest failed to report Rodriguez to police, said Anthony M. DeMarco, the plaintiffs’ attorney.

When church officials became aware that the boy’s family planned to report Rodriguez to police, they transferred Rodriguez to a treatment facility for abusive priests in Maryland, DeMarco said.

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ATLANTA (GA)
CNN

October 28, 2018

By Mirtha Donastorg

With just four words, Chris Templeton’s tears started flowing. For the first time in his life, he was hearing the priest who abused him more than three decades ago say, “Guilty, your honor. Guilty.”

On Tuesday, Wayland Brown, 76, pleaded guilty to nine charges of criminal sexual conduct of a minor for abusing two boys in the 1970s and 1980s. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

But the relief that Templeton, 44, said he had been “looking for since day one” almost never came.

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[Sexual abuse should not be time-barred in Spain]

GERMANY
Frankfurter Allgemeine

October 30, 2018

Zwischen fünf und 15 Jahren beträgt die Verjährungsfrist für Sexualdelikte bislang. Doch viele Opfer sprechen erst nach Ablauf der Frist über die Taten. Jetzt soll sie abgeschafft werden.
Sexueller Missbrauch soll in Spanien künftig nicht mehr verjähren. Eine entsprechende Reform des Sexualstrafrechts gab Vizeregierungschefin Carmen Calvo nach einem Besuch im Vatikan bekannt, wie die Tageszeitung „El País“ am Dienstag berichtete. Die Politikerin habe die Änderung am Vortag in Rom mit Kardinalstaatssekretär Pietro Parolin abgesprochen.

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FALL RIVER (MA)
The Arlington Catholic Herald

October 23, 2018

The following announcement from the Catholic Diocese of Fall River, Mass., available at fallriverdiocese.org, was shared with the Diocese of Arlington on Oct. 22, 2018. Father Michael Kuhn, Y.A., served as chaplain at Paul VI Catholic High School from 2004-2008, and as assistant chaplain at Marymount University from 2017 to the present.

Anyone with information regarding this allegation should contact the Manassas City Police Department’s Investigative Services Division at 703/257-8092. The Diocese encourages anyone who knows of any misconduct or abuse on the part of any cleric or employee of the Diocese to notify civil authorities, as well as to reach out to the diocesan Victim Assistance Coordinator at 703/ 841-2530.

The diocesan child protection policy is online at arlingtondiocese.org/child-protection/.

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[Sexual Abuse Archdiocese of Cologne reports allegations against four priests]

GERMANY
KSTA

October 29, 2018

Im Zuge der umfassenden Aufarbeitung sexuellen Missbrauchs hat das Erzbistum Köln die staatlichen Behörden über vier weitere Verdachtsfälle informiert. Es gehe dabei um mutmaßliche Taten aus den 1970er und 1980er Jahren, teilte das Erzbistum mit. Zuständig seien die Staatsanwaltschaften Bonn, Düsseldorf und Koblenz. Zu prüfen sei unter anderem, ob die Vorwürfe noch strafrechtlich relevant oder inzwischen verjährt sind.

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[Sexual abuse at Arthez d’Asson: the trial of the abbot and the bishop begins in Orleans]

FRANCE
La Republique des Pyrenees

October 30, 2018

25 ans après les faits qui se seraient déroulés lors d’un camp de scouts à Arthez d’Asson, le procès de l’abbé Pierre de Castelet, accusé d’actes de pédophilie sur mineur, démarre ce mardi à Orléans.

Vingt-cinq ans après les faits, l’abbé Pierre de Castelet, accusé d’actes de pédophilie sur mineurs, et l’ancien évêque d’Orléans, Mgr André Fort, poursuivi pour non-dénonciation, comparaissent ensemble ce mardi devant le tribunal correctionnel.

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STEUBENVILLE (OH)
The Intellegencer

October 30, 2018

A priest who served multiple areas of East Ohio is suspended from the ministry after he admitted to sexual contact with and abuse of a minor, according to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville.

Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton revoked all ministerial faculties from the Rev. Christopher Foxhoven, 45, and suspended him from priestly ministry on Saturday. The diocese said Monforton took the action as soon as he learned Foxhoven had admitted the offenses.

Foxhoven most recently served as pastor of St. Mary of the Hills Parish in Buchtel, Ohio, and of Holy Cross Parish in Glouster, Ohio. Glouster is located in Athens County, while Buchtel is situated in both Athens and Hocking counties. Published reports indicate that at other points during Foxhoven’s career, he served Catholics in Belmont, Jefferson, Harrison and Monroe counties. He is listed as the celebrant for funerals that occurred in the St. Clairsville area in 2006 and 2007. He also participated in religious rites in Amsterdam in Jefferson County in 2009 and in Wintersville in 2010.

Past newspaper reports list him as the parochial vicar of the Basilica of St. Mary in Marietta, Ohio, in 2013. A parochial vicar is a priest who serves as an agent of or assistant to the parish pastor. The pastor, from the Latin for shepherd, is the priest who is the main spiritual leader of a parish.

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YAOUNDÉ (CAMEROON)
Crux

October 29, 2018

A “hijacking” of missionary schools by the government is to blame for the failing standards of moral education in Nigeria, according to the country’s Catholic bishops, in a meeting where they also discussed child protection policies in the Church.

Speaking Oct. 16 at the 3rd National Catholic Education Summit in Abuja, Archbishop Augustine Akubueze of Benin City said both schools and homes have failed in imparting the necessary values that should form the bedrock of a morally sound Nigeria.

Christian missionaries established the first schools in Nigeria, and in the 1940s over 90 percent of students educated in the country attended mission schools. Until 1970, the vast majority of Christians – concentrated in the south and east of the country – still attended religious schools.

The military government nationalized the school system after the 1967-1970 Biafran Civil War, when the southeastern part of the country attempted to secede.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune Review

October 29, 2018

By Michael DiVittorio

Catholic Diocese of Greensburg’s healing efforts continued Monday evening at St. Margaret Mary Parish in Lower Burrell.

Bishop Edward C. Malesic and other leaders heard from their flock in the third of seven scheduled “listening sessions” designed to help is 78 parishes move forward in wake of a decades-long, widespread sexual abuse scandal involving priests.

“The center of our church is not pedophilia,” Malesic said. “The center of our church is Jesus Christ.”

The two-hour session, moderated by the diocese’s Chief Communications Officer Jennifer Miele, at the church along Leechburg Road drew about 220 people from several churches.

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
The Times-Picayune

October 29, 2018

By Hanna Krueger and Kim Chatelain

Ex-deacon George Brignac, who was accused decades ago of raping an altar boy at the Holy Rosary School in a case that led to a more than $500,000 settlement from the Archdiocese of New Orleans, has been named in another lawsuit filed Monday (Oct. 29) that alleges he sexually molested another altar boy at the same school between 1977 and 1982.

The 17-page suit, filed in Orleans Parish Civil District Court, claims that Brignac sexually assaulted the unnamed plaintiff, who was between the ages of eight and 13 when the instances occurred, on multiple occasions while teaching at the Holy Rosary School in New Orleans.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WBNG TV

October 29, 2018

The Diocese of Buffalo says a televised report featuring a whistleblower who criticized the bishop’s handling of clergy sexual misconduct was incomplete and out of context.

In a statement Monday, the diocese didn’t address specifics contained in Sunday’s “60 Minutes” report, in which a former assistant to Bishop Richard Malone said she acted out of concern for victims.

Siobhan (shuh-VAHN’) O’Connor secretly copied and shared confidential files with CBS and Buffalo’s WKBW-TV.

Sunday’s airing also featured a priest who said he believes eight or nine active priests should have been removed from ministry.

The diocese says it will add perspective in the future and is making changes to be more transparent and effective.

Malone has resisted calls to resign. He says the diocese is cooperating with state and federal investigations.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WGRZ

October 29, 2018

By Steve Brown

When asked by 2 On Your Side about the future of the Buffalo Diocese, the pastor of St. Bernadette Church said he does not think the bishop can stay in his current role. The comments about Buffalo Bishop Richard Malone follow the scathing report on 60 Minutes that showcased the priest abuse scandal in the WNY diocese.

Father Paul Seil shared his thoughts on the issue with 2 On Your Side’s Steve Brown on Monday morning.

“I do not believe he (Bishop Malone) can be effective as a bishop any longer,” said Fr. Seil.

In the report that aired on CBS on Sunday, two whistleblowers within the diocese said the scandal is much bigger than the diocese is claiming.

Bishop Malone’s former executive secretary Siobhan O’Connor, told 60 minutes she knows of 118 priests listed in complaint reports. The diocese originally only released 42 names.

The priest of St. Mary’s Church in Swormville, Fr. Robert Zilliox, says there are “at least eight or nine” priests… who should have been removed from the ministry.

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LANSING (MI)
Channel 25 News

October 29, 2018

By Jason Lorenz

A Catholic priest accused of sexual harassment has been removed from a Fenton church by the Catholic Diocese of Lansing.

According to the diocese, Rev. Mathew Joseph was removed from his position as parochial vicar for St. John the Evangelist Parish in Fenton due to several complaints against him.

One of those complaints included what the diocese called a “credible allegation of sexual harassment of an adult female.”

Joseph is a priest with the Missionary Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament in Kerala, India.

Following the complaints, he was sent back to his order in India.

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