ABUSE TRACKER

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Crux

May 14, 2019

By Inés San Martín

When the entire Chilean bishops’ conference presented their resignations to Pope Francis in Rome last year amid a massive scandal involving clerical sexual abuse and cover-up, Celestino Aos Braco had been a bishop of a small diocese for just four years.

As it turns out, it was scant preparation for the job the pope gave him in March: Apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Santiago, the capital of Chile and the eye of the local church’s storm.

Santiago is home to two of the country’s most infamous pedophile priests: Fernando Karadima and Cristian Precht, both of whom were expelled from the priesthood last year.

Aos spoke with Crux on May 4th, soon after the local church had signed a deal of cooperation with the Chilean prosecutor’s office – a deal that was rescinded by national prosecutor Jorge Abbott a few days afterwards.

Among other things, Aos said that comments from Francis last year about a “culture of cover-up” among the Chilean bishops led to impressions that all prelates in the country were equally guilty, an image he called “painful” and “unfair.”

Aos also discussed why he chose not to give communion to the faithful who wanted to receive it while kneeling down, even though it’s a practice allowed by the Vatican. He also spoke about his meeting with Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston while the two were in Rome in April.

What follows are excerpts of Aos’s conversation with Crux. The first part of that conversation is available here.

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.

CHERRY HILL (NJ)
Cherry Hill Courier-Post

May 14, 2019

By Jim Walsh

A Catholic priest, previously accused of sexually abusing a child at a parish in Atco, now is alleged to have molested an altar boy at a Ventnor church, according to a lawsuit filed Monday against the Diocese of Camden.

The suit claims a Philadelphia man, Justin Hoffman, was among multiple victims of the late Rev. Brendan Sullivan, who served at 10 parishes and two Catholic high schools between 1960 and 2004.

Hoffman accuses the diocese and a former leader, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, of failing “to warn or otherwise protect children of the diocese of Camden” from Sullivan, who’s described as a “serial molester and sexual abuser.”

A representative of the diocese could not be reached for immediate comment Tuesday morning.

The diocese in February included Sullivan’s name on a list of 57 clergymen credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors.

According to the lawsuit, Sullivan, who was determined no longer eligible to be a priest in 2010, “acknowledged the substantiated allegation of prior abuse” of a 14-year-old boy at Assumption Church in Atco.

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WOODBRIDGE (NJ)
NJ Advance Media

May 13, 2019

By Susan K. Livio

Todd Kostrub of Surf City started coming to the Statehouse in Trenton seven years ago to publicly share the dark secret that took him years to admit: His parish priest started raping him when he was a 7-year-old altar boy.

Kostrub said he revisited the shame and terrors of his memories to convince state lawmakers that survivors like him “deserve a taste a justice,” by expanding the window of time they get to sue their abusers in New Jersey. The law allowed childhood victims just two years past their 18th birthday to file a claim.

On Monday, Kostrub joined nearly 100 of fellow advocates at the Statehouse once again, this time to celebrate the enactment of the broadest statute of limitations law in the country for child and adult victims of rape.

Kostrub said he has hired a lawyer and is ready to savor whatever justice he can find.

“This is joy,” he said, hours after Gov. Phil Murphy signed the new statute of limitations legislation into law. “But I would trade anything in my life not to be here, to never have been a victim.”

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.

MINNEAPOLIS (MN)
The Associated Press

May 13, 2019

Five victims of sex abuse by Catholic priests plan to sue the Vatican and are demanding to know the names of thousands of predator priests they say have been kept secret.

Attorney Jeff Anderson plans to file his lawsuit on Tuesday.

The plaintiffs include three brothers who were abused by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer as recently as 2012 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Wehmeyer pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct and child pornography in connection with his contact with two of the boys, who were 12 and 14.

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)
AP/KDKA

May 13, 2019

A priest with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has been placed on administrative leave while officials investigate claims that he had “inappropriate contact” with adult women.

The decision regarding Fr. James Young was announced in a May 4 letter from Bishop David Zubik that was distributed this past weekend in the church bulletins of St. Ferdinand in Cranberry Township, St. Gregory in Zelienople and Holy Redeemer in Ellwood City.

Fr. Young is a member of the ministry team for the merged parishes.

Many members of those congregations say their faith remains strong, and this won’t impact the way they serve their church families or their communities.

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.

[Suspended priest accused of child sexual abuse in Illapel]

CHILE
El Día

May 10, 2019

By EFE (news agency)

Desde el obispado instaron a cualquier persona que disponga de antecedentes o pruebas sobre la denuncia o cualquier otra a que se ponga en contacto con ellos.

Desde el obispado de Illapel se suspendió al presbítero Renato Riveros después de ser informados que el sacerdote fue acusado ante la Fiscalía Nacional de presuntamente haber cometido abusos sexuales a un menor, según informó la diócesis a través de un comunicado.

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.

[Opinion: Causes and responsibilities of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church]

CHILE
El Mostrador

May 12, 2019

By Pablo Torche

En la práctica, la Iglesia Católica ha tendido a “normalizar” los abusos, concibiéndolos como una conducta sexual fuera de lo prescrito, pero sin percibir del todo su carácter deshumanizante, las gravísimas consecuencias que trae para la víctima ni el grado de perversión que revelan. Esta perspectiva puede explicar también que se hayan tratado de presentar como comportamientos excepcionales o aislados, lo que evidentemente constituyen patrones de conducta cada vez más consolidados. La única razón que se me ocurre para explicar esta grotesca confusión se relaciona con la visión misma de la sexualidad que sostiene la iglesia, lo que podría constituir una tercera línea explicativa de los abusos, sobre la que se ha discutido menos.

Las estremecedoras declaraciones de Marcela Aranda sobre la pesadilla que vivió a manos del sacerdote jesuita, Renato Poblete, renuevan la urgencia por tratar de comprender, al menos identificar, las razones o condiciones que hicieron posible estos horribles hechos. ¿Cómo puede entenderse que tantos hombres, que se supone debían consagrar su vida a Cristo, hayan incurrido en este tipo de abusos, de forma tan sistemática, en algunos casos hasta llegar a construir verdaderas cofradías del mal al interior de la Iglesia Católica? Tratar de comprender puede ser un primer paso para prevenir, un fundamento para avanzar hacia un mundo sin abusos.

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.

[Military bishop details prosecution of five armed forces priests accused of abuse]

CHILE
La Tercera

May 13, 2019

By Javiera Matus

El presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal, Santiago Silva, dio cuenta de desconocidas investigaciones canónicas realizadas contra presbísteros. Además, aseguró que altos mandos de las Fuerzas Armadas fueron informados de estas situaciones.

Desconocidos antecedentes reveló el 27 de agosto de 2018 el presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal, el obispo castrense Santiago Silva Retamales. Su declaración en calidad de testigo se la entregó al scal sur Guillermo Adasme, quien investiga presuntos delitos sexuales de sacerdotes. Entre otras materias, contó que tuvo conocimiento de cinco presbíteros de las Fuerzas Armadas denunciados por presuntos abusos sexuales.

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.

[Óscar Contardo: “On the subject of sexual abuse, the Jesuits are the same as any other congregation”]

CHILE
The Clinic

May 9, 2019

By Alejandra Matus

El autor de “Rebaño” sostiene que la idea de la excepcionalidad de esta Congregación en cuanto a su conducta más abierta y cercana a los que sufren, moderna y tolerante con los temas valóricos, ha persistido gracias a sus redes de poder y en los medios, y no a una conducta distinta en el tratamiento de las denuncias.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Hill

May 13, 2019

By Zack Budryk

Five victims of clergy sexual abuse are suing the Vatican for the disclosure of thousands of predatory Catholic priests’ names, according to the Associated Press.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include three brothers who were abused by ex-priest Curtis Wehmeyer, who pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct and child pornography in St. Paul, Minn.

Internal documents indicated local church leaders were aware of Wehmeyer’s history of sexual misconduct when it installed him to lead St. Paul’s Church of the Blessed Sacrament in 2009, and a 2014 internal memo expressed worries that then- St. Paul Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt’s judgment had been affected by his “social relationship” with Wehmeyer, the AP reported.

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

May 13, 2019

By Jacob Tierney

A Diocese of Greensburg priest has been placed on leave as law enforcement investigates an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor, the diocese said.

Officials said they received the allegation Monday against the Rev. Andrew M. Kawecki. He served as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Everson and St. John the Baptist Parish in Scottdale.

The allegation is in connection with an incident that allegedly happened 15 years ago, according to the diocese.

The diocese reported the allegation to the PA ChildLine.

“A credible allegation does not mean it has been substantiated or proven,” the diocese said in a statement. “This announcement in no way implies Fr. Kawecki is guilty.”

Kawecki was born in Gdansk, Poland. He was ordained in Greensburg in 1980.

He will remain on leave and will not participate in his parish duties until the investigation is complete.

Another pastor will be found for his parishes, according to the diocese.

“We know how important our actions and level of transparency are to survivors, parishioners and clergy,” the statement said. “That is why we are making this public announcement while the investigation is ongoing.

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ST. PAUL (MN)
Associated Press

May 13, 2019

By Amy Forleti and Michael Rezendes

Five men who say they were sexually abused by Roman Catholic priests when they were minors are planning to sue the Vatican and are demanding the names of thousands of predator priests they claim have been kept secret by the Holy See.

In a Monday news release announcing the lawsuit, St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson said he wants to show that the Vatican tried to cover up actions by top church officials, including former St. Paul-Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt. The lawsuit being filed Tuesday seeks the release of 3,400 names of priests who were referred to the Vatican for “credible cases of abuse.” That number was released by the Vatican in 2014.

The lawsuit comes less than a week after Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking new church law requiring all Catholic priests and nuns worldwide to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups by their superiors to church authorities. The law is part of a new effort to hold the

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post

May 13, 2019

Regarding the May 10 news article “Vatican issues decree requiring clergy to report allegations of sexual abuse”

The article credited Pope Francis with instituting a “sweeping new law.” Instead, the pope should be credited with “sweeping under the rug” child sexual abuse allegations.

The Catholic Church’s new rules mandate internal reporting to church authorities exclusively — not civil authorities. As long as reporting remains internal, abuse will continue. In the United States, sexual assault is a crime and should be reported to civil authorities for investigation and prosecution. Catholic clergy are not above U.S. law.

If a teacher sexually abused a child, the principal would remove the teacher and call the police. Why should we expect any less from a pope? Pope Francis needs to send a clear message to predators: “If you sexually abuse anyone in my church, you will be laicized, the police will be called, and we will cooperate fully in their investigation.” Until then, children and vulnerable adults will remain at risk.

As a society, we must not tolerate the protection of institutional reputations over the safety of children. That children are safe from sexual abuse in church is a very low bar to clear, and anything less is unacceptable.

Maureen Roden, Severna Park

The writer is a member of the board of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

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WOODLAND PARK NJ)
North Jersey Record

May 13, 2019

By Deena Yellin

New Jersey victims of sexual abuse will now have sweeping new abilities to sue their attackers, and it will be easier for them to seek damages from institutions such as churches that shielded the abuse.

Until now, survivors of sexual assault were prevented from taking their abusers to court because of the statute of limitations: Under New Jersey’s current law, survivors of sexual abuse have only two years to pursue litigation, and a victim of child sexual abuse has only until age 20.

After years of fighting, that changed Monday, when Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law that offers victims of child sexual abuse the ability to sue their abusers up until they turn 55, or within seven years of their realization that the abuse caused them harm.

In addition, victims previously barred by the narrow statute of limitations from suing their abusers and the institutions that protected them now have two years to file lawsuits seeking damages.

“Survivors of sexual abuse deserve opportunities to seek redress against their abusers,” Murphy said Monday after the signing. “This legislation allows survivors who have faced tremendous trauma the ability to pursue justice through the court system.”

New Jersey is the 11th state to pass such a statute of limitations bill, and the reform is pending in several other states. But New Jersey’s law is distinctive because the window lets those who were sexually assaulted as adults file lawsuits, said Pro

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Agency

May 13, 2019

By Ed Condon

Pope Francis’ recently promulgated policy on sexual abuse allegations made against bishops, Vos estis lux mundi, offers a new and much expanded interpretation of what constitutes a canonical sexual crime by a cleric.

That interpretation has raised real questions about how the law is to be applied, at the Vatican and in diocesan chanceries.

The new policy recognizes as explicitly criminal the abuse of authority in coercive sexual relationships, a move called for often in the wake of the Theodore McCarrick scandal. It also offers a new definition for “vulnerable” adults, a legal category of persons who could be subject to criminally coercive abuse.

The universal law of the Church previously defined a “vulnerable adult” as one who “habitually lacks the use of reason.”

The new definition classifies a “vulnerable adult” as “any person in a state of infirmity, physical or mental deficiency, or deprivation of personal liberty which, in fact, even occasionally, limits their ability to understand or to want or otherwise resist the offense.”

That definition could seem to cover a very broad swath of situations, which would be quite distinct from each other. Some Vatican and diocesan officials have told CNA they are concerned that the potentially broad applicability of the new definition could cause unjust expectations, and uncertainty about how to proceed in individual cases.

Specifically, some worry that Vos estis could foster a sense that nearly any sexual act committed by a priest is expected be treated on a par with the sexual abuse of minors, and lead to his removal permanent removal from ministry.

In a Church committed to zero-tolerance for sexual abuse, the new definition for “vulnerable adult” could make clergy discipline a decidedly more complicated undertaking.

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.

MINNEAPOLIS (MN)
Associated Press

May 13, 2019

Five men who say they were sexually abused by Roman Catholic priests when they were minors are planning to sue the Vatican and are demanding the names of thousands of predator priests they claim have been kept secret by the Holy See.

In a Monday news release announcing the lawsuit, Minnesota attorney Jeff Anderson said he wants to show that the Vatican tried to cover up actions by top church officials including former St. Paul Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt and former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was found guilty by the Vatican of sexually abusing minors and adults and defrocked by Pope Francis. The lawsuit, which will be filed Tuesday, seeks the release of 3,400 names of purportedly abusive priests.

The plaintiffs include three brothers who were abused by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer as recently as 2012 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Wehmeyer pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct and child pornography in connection with his contact with two of the boys, who were 12 and 14.

Wehmeyer’s arrest led prosecutors to file criminal charges against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for failing to protect children. It also led to the forced resignation of Nienstedt, who came under fire for his handling of Wehmeyer’s case.

Internal church documents show that church leaders knew Wehmeyer had engaged in sexual misconduct when they promoted him to lead The Church of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2009. The behavior included at least two occasions when Wehmeyer solicited men for sex. Yet, church leaders did not warn parishioners about his past.

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CHARLOTTE (NC)
Charlotte Observer

May 13, 2019

By Bruce Henderson

The Catholic Diocese of Charlotte said Monday it will publish by year’s end a list of clergy members who have been credibly accused of child sexual abuse. Survivors of abuse have criticized the diocese for not doing so sooner.

In a statement, Bishop Peter Jugis said that the 46-county diocese welcomes new procedures announced last week by Pope Francis that require priests and nuns to report sexual abuse by clergy. The procedures, which will apply to the church worldwide, include some measures already in use in Charlotte, Jugis said.

Jugis hinted at a change of heart when it comes to publishing the names of accused clergy, as other U.S. dioceses have done but Charlotte’s has not.

“Through my discussions with abuse survivors, I have come to believe that a full airing of abuse from the past is crucial in the healing process for victims and for the entire Church,” his statement said.

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BRIDGEPORT (CT)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

“He’s left 15 priests off his accused list,” they say, “including 11 who taught at Fairfield Prep.”
SNAP: “Help us get alleged predator out of classroom”
Despite settlement paid, ex-CT cleric now teaches school in NJ. CT’s 5-yr Statute of Limitations prevented criminal charges.
Group says Catholic officials must “beat the bushes” to find more victims

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will disclose names and information about 15 publicly and credibly accused child molesting clerics who worked in and around Bridgeport but have been left off the list published by the Bridgeport diocese.

They will also challenge Bridgeport’s bishop to
–add these 15 names to his official ‘accused’ list,
–include photos, whereabouts and work histories of ALL accused clerics, and
–help education officials oust a former Bridgeport predator priest who is now a teacher.

WHEN
Monday May 13 at noon

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

May 13, 2019

Earlier this month, a Conroe County Grand Jury indicted allegedly abusive priest Fr. Manuel LaRosa Lopez. Today, that case moves forward.

We hope that this trial will encourage other survivors in Texas to come forward, make a report to law enforcement, and find independent sources of healing. We also hope that this trial sends the message that, while one case may be moving in Conroe County, more work is desperately needed throughout Texas to protect children and vulnerable adults and to support survivors of sexual violence.

We are encouraging Texans across the state to take three steps that can make a difference:

First, contact Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and urge to him to follow in the footsteps of nineteen other attorneys general around the country and open an investigation into clergy sex abuse. AG Paxton can make a difference by opening a confidential hotline and email address that survivors can use to report their experiences. And while he is soliciting this information, AG Paxton should be passing information on to local district attorneys in an effort to find cases that can be prosecuted. Sample language can be found here.

Second, contact your county’s District Attorney and urge them to actively reach out to local communities, urging survivors to come forward and make a report of their abuse. District Attorneys can also encourage witnesses and whistleblowers to share any information they might have related to past or ongoing cases of clerical sexual abuse.

Finally, contact your state representatives and senators and urge them to create or sponsor legislation that will protect children, benefit survivors, and prevent future cases of abuse. For example, reforming statutes of limitations can help survivors find justice where none existed previously and can get important information about abusers into the hands of the public.
Similarly, representatives and senators can look to create legislation that would allow AG Paxton to convene a Grand Jury, something that has been effective in other places including most recently in Pennsylvania.

These elected officials are key to the creation and implementation of critical reforms that can help keep the vulnerable in Texas safer, create healing environments for survivors, and find justice for past crimes while preventing future ones. We hope everyone in Texas will

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.

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

May 13, 2019

Charlotte’s Catholic bishop will has finally decided to follow in the footsteps of most of his brother bishops and release a list of clergy who have been publicly accused of abuse. Yet, for some reason, he was unable to commit to releasing the list promptly, only agreeing to do so “by the end of the year.”

While we are glad that Bishop Peter Jugis is finally taking this much belated and long overdue step, it is challenging to understand why it took so long to reach this decision. In his statement, Bishop Jugis says that he began the review process last fall: why then, can he not put a preliminary list out today and then continue to add and update as more information comes in? That would be the better thing to do, and more in line with the Church’s pledges to be “open and honest” about the clergy sex abuse scandal.

The longer information about abusers remains hidden, the less informed communities are and the greater the risk to the vulnerable. Most bishops around the country have already released names and other information to the public. Bishop Jugis should not need the rest of the year to follow suit and should be able to commit to more than this vague deadline.

When the bishop does release his list, we hope that it is the single-most comprehensive list of its kind in the country. The extra time needed by Church officials in the Diocese of Charlotte should let them ensure that their list contains not only names and current status and whereabouts, but also headshots, work histories for each of the accused, dates the allegations were received and detailed information on what steps Church officials in Charlotte took in response to those allegations.

It is also worth pointing out that in his statement Bishop Jugissays that any allegation he uncovers in his “comprehensive review” will be forwarded to the Lay Review Board for examination, yet makes no mention of police or prosecutors. Institutions cannot police themselves and the only way to get to the bottom of the clergy abuse scandal and determine who knew what, when they knew, and what they did with that information is by involving the secular professionals in law enforcement.

While we are glad that Bishop Peter Jugis is finally taking this much belated and long overdue step, it is challenging to understand why it took so long to reach this decision. In his statement, Bishop Jugis says that he began the review process last fall: why then, can he not put a preliminary list out today and then continue to add and update as more information comes in? That would be the better thing to do, and more in line with the Church’s pledges to be “open and honest” about the clergy sex abuse scandal.

The longer information about abusers remains hidden, the less informed communities are and the greater the risk to the vulnerable. Most bishops around the country have already released names and other information to the public. Bishop Jugis should not need the rest of the year to follow suit and should be able to commit to more than this vague deadline.

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.

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

May 13, 2019

We commend Governor Phil Murphy, Senator Joseph Vitale, Assemblywoman Annette Quijano, NJ SNAP leader Mark Crawford, and the hundreds of survivors and advocates who made this dramatic reform of the statute of limitations (SOL) in New Jersey possible. The new law will be one of the best in the nation, granting all sexual abuse survivors the opportunity to access the justice system.

Previously NJ had only allowed child sexual abuse victims two years from their 18th birthday to file a lawsuit against their perpetrators and the institutions that protected them. The new statute will extend the civil SOL to age 55, or seven years after the victims discover the connection of their emotional and psychological harm to their sexual abuse. It also opens a two year ‘window to justice’ to allow those previously barred by the state’s extremely restricted SOL to take action. Finally, the new law extends the SOL for those who were sexually assaulted as adults from two years to seven years. These changes will help to bring accountability to any organization that harbors, conceals or protects those who sexually abuse children or vulnerable adults.

By taking this step today, New Jersey is providing an excellent example to other states of concrete legislation that can help survivors, create informed communities, and safeguard the vulnerable. We hope that legislators throughout the U.S. will seek opportunities to learn more and reform statutes of limitations laws or create “windows to justice” in their own states.

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.

CHARLOTTE (NC)
WCNC TV

May 10, 2019

As the Pope issues a new, groundbreaking law requiring Catholic priests and nuns to report sexual abuse and cover-ups by their superiors, we’re learning the name of yet another former Charlotte priest accused of past abuse.

Sex abuse attorney Jeff Anderson listed Father Eugene D. Corbesero’s name alongside more than 300 other publicly accused predators this week. The list shows Corbesero eventually left the Catholic Church but first spent three years at Our Lady of Consolation in Charlotte and St. Dorothy in Lincolnton.

The Diocese of Charlotte said the late former priest served from 1973 to 1976 but was technically a member of a religious order, not the diocese. 30 years later, he reportedly pleaded guilty in New Jersey for molesting a 12-year-old boy who was attending a sleepover at his house.

“I cannot speak to what prompted them to put his name on their list,” Patricia Guilfoyle said.

The new information surfaced after a survivor filed suit this week against bishops in New Jersey, as part of an effort to force them to release a list of all known predators. The Diocese of Charlotte has also so far refused to release list, which remains under consideration.

Corbesero joins a growing list of at least 15 publicly accused priests with ties to the Diocese of Charlotte, including the former chancellor Monsignor Mauricio West. He resigned in March after an adult student accused him of sexual misconduct while at Belmont Abbey in the 80s.

Survivors and advocates here continue to push for the diocese to release its own list of predator priests, not to just document history, but to make other possible victims aware who these people are, where they worked and when.

Just days ago, the Pope demanded more accountability and transparency moving forward, effective June 1.

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Get Religion blog

May 12, 2019

Clemente Lisi

A new decree by Pope Francis that now requires priests and nuns to report cases of abuse by other clergy — including any cover-ups by superiors such as a local bishop — is long overdue.

It’s so long overdue that one has to wonder why this wasn’t something put into practice by the church years ago.

Nonetheless, the pope’s attempt to finally create some accountability and transparency is well intentioned, although misguided given that it largely ignores the role of laypeople and relies primarily on clergy self-policing, something sex abuse victims and their families have long decried as part of the problem.

The new church law — known as Vos Estis Lux Mundi (You Are the Light of the World) — announced this week doesn’t require clergy to report these cases to civil authorities, such as the local police. That’s a big mistake. The primary responsibility of anyone who witnesses a crime is to alert authorities. In the case of predator priests, the Vatican has long argued that involving civil authorities could potentially endanger the lives of church officials in places where Roman Catholics are persecuted.

As a result, this papal decree gives bishops (and men above them like archbishops) lots of power and appears to be a contradiction of those same claims of clericalism the pope and his supporters in the Roman curia largely pointed to last year when confronted with allegations of sex abuse. The practice of policing oneself hasn’t worked well in the past for the church or any large secular or religious organization.

“People must know that bishops are at the service of the people,” Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the Vatican’s sex crimes prosecutor, told The Associated Press. “They are not above the law, and if they do wrong, they must be reported.”

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

May 12, 2019

By John L. Allen Jr.

Now that the dust has settled a bit on Vos Estis Lux Mundi, a new set of papal norms governing both reporting and investigation into accusations of clerical sexual abuse and its cover-up released by the Vatican on Thursday, the overall reaction seems reasonably clear.

For most people, it can be expressed this way: So far as they go, these rules seem promising, but we need to see them applied in practice – because experience has shown that in the Catholic Church, as in virtually any other context, a law’s only as important as the will to enforce it.

Since that’s an “only time will tell” situation, here are three other quick thoughts on Vos Estis to chew on while the jury remains out.

Papal populism?
When the Vatican presented the norms to the media Wednesday, they turned again, as they almost always do on the abuse scandals, to the most credible voice they’ve got: Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, formerly the Vatican’s top prosecutor on abuse cases and a man seen as the Elliot Ness of the Church on the issue, with an “untouchable” reputation for integrity.

One revealing moment came when Scicluna was surrounded by a scrum of Italian reporters, speaking in Italian for one of the country’s main broadcast outlets.

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FRESNO (CA)
Fresno Bee

May 10, 2019

By Yesenia Amaro

The Diocese of Fresno’s new bishop has denounced comments made by a priest’s defense attorney targeting alleged victims of sexual abuse, calling the statements “unacceptable.”

Rev. Joseph V. Brennan’s statement came Friday afternoon, two days after an advocacy group demanded he make a public apology over comments made by Bakersfield attorney Kyle Humphrey.

Humphrey is representing Monsignor Craig Francis Harrison after allegations of sexual abuse against the priest emerged in Firebaugh and Merced.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Channel 4 News

May 11, 2019

By Christina Bravo and Melissa Adan

A San Diego woman who says she was abused by a clergy member as a girl is urging other local sexual abuse victims to file reports with the state so religious leaders may be held accountable.

Cynthia Ann Doe is speaking out for the first time about what she says Monsignor Gregory Sheridan did to her when she was five years old and a parishoner at St. Jude’s Shrine of the West in the 60s.

Sheridan was named last November by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego among a list of more than 50 abusive priests in San Diego and San Bernardino of whom the diocese said it had received a credible allegation involving sexual abuse of a minor.

During a press conference outside the church’s doors, Doe did not publicly detail the priest’s acts but urged other victims to come forward so that Sheridan and the Diocese of San Diego could be investigated by the California Attorney General’s office.

“Release yourself from the burden of the anger and the shame of what happened to you as an innocent child, it is not your fault and it is not too late,” Doe said.

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Patheos blog
May 10, 2019

By Michael Stone

Moral failure: Pope Francis issues new church law that sexual abuse must be reported to church officials, but not the police, not the state, not the secular authorities.

The BBC reports:

Pope Francis has made it mandatory for Roman Catholic clergy to report cases of clerical sexual abuse and cover-ups to the Church.

Many in the mainstream media are praising the new law as “groundbreaking.” And to be fair, it is a slight improvement. Previously church officials were not mandated to report sexual abuse, or suspected sexual abuse, to anyone. The new church law changes that. The BBC notes:

For the first time, clerics and other Church officials will be obliged to disclose any allegations they may have heard. Previously, this had been left to each individual’s discretion.

Yet the new law mandates that reports be made to church superiors, not the police, not the state, not the secular authorities. Reporting on the story The Guardian notes:

However, the church law does not require police to be notified. The Vatican has said that different countries’ legal systems make a universal reporting law impossible, and that imposing one could endanger the church in places where Catholics are a persecuted minority.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

May 13, 2019

By Jolene Toves

An individual filed a complaint at the Superior Court of Guam, adding another case to the list of sexual abuse lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Agana.

Wishing to remain anonymous, the victim identified by the initials Z.S. had served as an altar boy at the Church of St. Jude in Sinajana since he was about seven years old.

When the victim reached the age of 15, he said Father David Anderson allegedly began touching, snuggling and groping him when he slept overnight in the convent.

According to the complaint, Father David would touch the victim inappropriately and would lay on top of the victim while he slept. The priest allegedly rubbed his genitals on the victim’s body causing “great shame and embarrassment to Z.S.

While he told his parents about what Father Anderson did to him, they did not believe him. He said the sexual abuse continued until he stopped serving as an altar boy.

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CHARLOTTE (NC)
WBTV

May 13, 2019

Peter J. Jugis, the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, announced on Monday that the Diocese welcomed new procedures for handling child sexual abuse cases recommended last week by Pope Francis.

These new procedures include new approaches to handling investigations and protecting the victims and whistleblowers involved in these situations.

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ROME
Crux

May 13, 2019

By John L. Allen Jr.

It’s now been almost a year since the latest wave of the clerical sexual abuse scandals in Catholicism erupted with news that the Vatican had removed then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick from ministry following allegations deemed credible by a review board in the Archdiocese of New York.

How bad have things become over that year?

Well, one measure is this: Arguably the most prominent Catholic bishop in America, and by consensus the most talented natural communicator and evangelist among the current crop of U.S. prelates, felt compelled to bring out a new book today in which he urges, almost begs, rank-and-file Catholics not to just walk away.

“I have written this book for my fellow Catholics who feel, understandably, demoralized, scandalized, angry beyond words, and ready to quit,” writes Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles, known to millions of Catholics in America and around the world through his Word on Fire ministry and his “Catholicism” TV series.

“What I finally urge my brothers and sisters in the Church to do is to stay and fight-and to do so on behalf of themselves and their families, but especially on behalf of those who have suffered so grievously at the hands of wicked men,” Barron writes.

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WARSAW (POLAND)
The Associated Press

May 13, 2019

A new documentary revealing cases of sexual abuse by priests has deeply shaken Poland, one of Europe’s most Roman Catholic societies, eliciting an apology from the church hierarchy and prompting one cleric to leave priestly life.

“Tell No One,” a film financed through a crowdfunding campaign, was released on YouTube on Saturday. By Monday, the documentary had more than 8 million views.

It triggered soul searching in a country where there is no higher authority than the Catholic Church and its clergy.

“Why do priests commit such crimes? Why did the bishops not react as they should? Why, for years, did a conspiracy of silence prevail among the clergy?” journalist Andrzej Gajcy asked Monday on the news site Onet, voicing some of the uncomfortable questions confronting many Poles.

The primate of Poland has thanked the brothers who made the film, Tomasz and Marek Sekielski, for their “courage.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
County Gazette

May 13, 2019

By Phil Hill

PRINCE Charles was “deceived” into supporting a paedophile bishop, it is claimed.

Peter Ball, who retired to Aller, near Langport, and is now in is late 80s, may have preyed on more than 100 boys and young men over decades.

A report concludes that the Church of England responded with “secrecy” to child abuse allegations against Ball, who was Bishop of Lewes, East Sussex, from 1977 to 1992 and Bishop of Gloucester in 1992.

He then resigned through ill health after accepting a caution – an admission of guilt – for one count of gross indecency.

The Prince of Wales was described as “misguided” for speaking in support of Ball to the Archbishop of Canterbury, while the Duchy of Cornwall was criticised for buying a property to rent to the disgraced priest.

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VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

May 12, 2019

By Frances D’Emilio

Pope Francis has given the church 19 new priests, ordaining the men in an elaborate ceremony Sunday in St. Peter’s Basilica, as the credibility of the Vatican and many of its clergy is threatened by widespread scandals of pedophile priests and systematic efforts at cover-ups.

Fifteen of the seminarians ordained by Francis are Italian; the others are from Croatia, Peru, Haiti and Japan. The seminarians’ ages range from mid-20s to 46.

Wearing white robes, the seminarians stood in three rows before the central altar after replying, “Here I am,” as their names were called one by one. Francis, reciting a ritual formula, asked if they were worthy to become priests. Later in the ceremony, the seminarians prostrated themselves in a sign of obedience to church authority and to God, on a carpet in front of the altar.

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ROME
Crux

May 12, 2019

By John L. Allen Jr.

Now that the dust has settled a bit on Vos Estis Lux Mundi, a new set of papal norms governing both reporting and investigation into accusations of clerical sexual abuse and its cover-up released by the Vatican on Thursday, the overall reaction seems reasonably clear.

For most people, it can be expressed this way: So far as they go, these rules seem promising, but we need to see them applied in practice – because experience has shown that in the Catholic Church, as in virtually any other context, a law’s only as important as the will to enforce it.

Since that’s an “only time will tell” situation, here are three other quick thoughts on Vos Estis to chew on while the jury remains out.

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SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Crux

May 13, 2019

By Inés San Martín

Though arguably it’s not easy being a Catholic bishop anywhere in the world these days, few prelates probably have ever stepped into an inferno quite the way Bishop Celestino Aós Braco of Chile did in March.

Since 2014, Aós had been serving as the bishop of Copiapó, a relatively sleepy diocese in the northern part of the country. Two months ago, however, Francis tapped him to become the apostolic administrator of Santiago, the national capital, which has been ripped apart by clerical abuse scandals and accusations of inaction against the last two archbishops, Cardinals Francisco Errázuriz and Ricardo Ezzati.

Aós, a 74-year-old Capuchin, hasn’t been on the job long, and there’s no guarantee he’ll keep it – as apostolic administrator, in theory he’s only keeping the seat warm until a new archbishop is named.

He may have few of the benefits of the post, but he certainly has all its headaches. Early on, critics pounced on his record as the Promoter of Justice in the Diocese of Valparaíso, Chile, where in 2007 he found “implausible” a complaint of sexual abuse made by a former seminarian against a former rector of a seminary now regarded as having been one of the epicenters of Chile’s abuse crisis.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
CBS 21 News

May 12, 2019

Monday is the last day for sex abuse survivors to file any claims for a victim compensation fund through the Harrisburg Diocese.

The fund was launched back in February. It gave survivors four months to file any claims.

The church has put aside millions of dollars for victims who want a settlement.

Monday is the last day any victim who was involved with the diocese can make a claim.

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[Three priests investigated for sexual abuse in Michoacán]

MEXICO
Informador.Mx

May 9, 2019

Autoridades eclesiásticas señalan que se le da seguimiento puntual a estos casos, y prometen tolerancia cero

El arzobispo de Morelia, Carlos Garfias Merlos, señaló que en Michoacán se investigan tres casos de presunto abuso de sacerdotes a niñas.

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CAPE TOWN
Eyewitness News

May 13, 2019

By Monique Mortlock

The father of a girl who was harassed by a church elder says the Seventh Day Adventist Church in George failed to adhere to church policy on reporting sexual abuse cases.

A George man said he was dissatisfied with a response by his church following a South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) complaint over the handling of a sexual assault matter involving his child.

The father said he’d lost trust in the church’s leadership and opened a civil case against the institution.

He claimed the Seventh Day Adventist Church in George failed to adhere to church policy on reporting sexual abuse cases after his daughter and another young girl were harassed by a church elder a few years ago.

“They basically said the pastor reported the case, but they’ve never supplied a case number to verify that the pastor did report the case,” the father said.

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ROSARIO (ARGENTINA)
Crux

May 12, 2019

By Inés San Martín

A group of Argentine bishops currently in Rome to meet their countryman Pope Francis have acknowledged that “abuses of power as well as sexual abuses” have caused distrust in the Church, but also expressed concern over what they called the “continuous attacks on the pope” associated with the abuse crisis.

The bishops also said that the terms of a national debate over the legalization of abortion “did us Argentines a lot of wrong,” expressing surprise at the level of anger they encountered.

The words belong to Bishop Oscar Ojea, president of the Argentine bishops’ conference, and they were expressed in a letter the bishops of the Buenos Aires region gave to Francis on Friday during their ad limina visit to Rome.

Ojea wrote that with the passing of the years, it’s become evident to the bishops that they still have a “long way to go” to be able to live up to the responsibility of being a conference to which the pope once belonged, and which he once led.

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[Victims of abusive priests protest in front of clergy home in Flores]

ARGENTINA
TN

May 2, 2019

By Miriam Lewin

Son parte de una organización mundial. Denunciaron a los obispos argentinos que protegieron a curas pedófilos en sus diócesis.

La elección del lugar para dar una conferencia de prensa en plena calle es simbólica. Por eso, Ending Clergy Abuse, la ONG que busca terminar con el abuso del clero (de ahí su nombre), la eligió para enunciar un desafío al Papa Francisco junto a otros sobrevivientes de lo que el pontífice llamó” flagelo”.

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VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

May 10, 2019

By Nicole Winfield

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

The law provides whistleblower protections for anyone making a report and requires all dioceses to have a system in place to receive the claims confidentially. And it outlines internal procedures for conducting preliminary investigations when the accused is a bishop, cardinal or religious superior.

Abuse victims and their advocates said the law was a step forward, but not enough since it doesn’t require the crimes to be reported to police and essentially tasks discredited bishops who have mishandled abuse for decades with policing their own.

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ROME
The Atlantic

May 12, 2019

By Emma Green

The leader of the Catholic Church has issued rules creating worldwide accountability for reporting allegations of abuse. But he still faces deep cynicism from the body faithful.

Before this week, the Roman Catholic Church had no global policy requiring priests and bishops to report and investigate allegations of sexual abuse. No formal measure held bishops accountable for misconduct and cover-ups, despite a number of high-profile, horrific cases of wrongdoing by the Church’s top leaders. With story after story exposing new abuses around the world, Catholics have grown cynical about the Vatican’s willingness to face the global sickness of sexual abuse, and many have abandoned the Church entirely.

On Thursday, Pope Francis took a significant step toward changing that.

The pope’s moto proprio, which will take effect in June and remain in place as an experiment for three years, is a definitive and concrete step forward for the Church, demonstrating that Pope Francis is taking sexual abuse seriously. The new law is not a panacea, however: It does not detail specific punishments for Church leaders who violate these norms, and it does not mandate the involvement of authorities outside the Church. After years of paralysis on this issue, the Church must grapple with the crisis of confidence among the faithful, along with skeptics who believe the Catholic Church is not capable of policing itself against abuses of power.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
NBC Bay Area

May 10, 2019

By Christina Bravo and Melissa Adan

The Priest was named last November by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego among a list of more than 50 abusive priests in San Diego and San Bernardino of whom the diocese said it had received a credible allegation involving sexual abuse of a minor

A San Diego woman who says she was abused by a clergy member as a girl is urging other local sexual abuse victims to file reports with the state so religious leaders may be held accountable.

Cynthia Ann Doe is speaking out for the first time about what she says Monsignor Gregory Sheridan did to her when she was five years old and a parishoner at St. Jude’s Shrine of the West in the 60s.

Sheridan was named last November by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego among a list of more than 50 abusive priests in San Diego and San Bernardino of whom the diocese said it had received a credible allegation involving sexual abuse of a minor.

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[New cases of sexual abuse shake Catholic Church – VIDEO]

CHILE
TVN

May 8, 2019

Conocimos la historia de Mario Montenegro, quien asegura haber sido abusado por un sacerdote en el Colegio Calasanz cuando él era un niño. Además, Isaac Givovich relató que fue violado en un colegio de los hermanos maristas cuando pequeño y que hasta el día de hoy ha afectado su vida.

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[How the Pope’s new rules affect Chile: priest do not have to report abuse to prosecutors]

CHILE
La Tercera

May 9, 2019

By María José Navarrete

El escrito tipica y penaliza canónicamente, por primera vez, los actos de encubrimiento, da un plazo de 90 días para las investigaciones y ja cómo abordar denuncias contra obispos.

“Los delitos de abuso sexual ofenden a nuestro Señor, causan daños físicos, psicológicos y espirituales a las víctimas, y perjudican a la comunidad”. Así comienza el documento, en forma de motu proprio, que hoy dio a conocer el Papa Francisco y que establece nuevas normas para enfrentar los casos de abusos en la Iglesia Católica.

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[Priest accused of harassing 5 students during confessions]

ARGENTINA
TN

May 9, 2019

Las víctimas tienen entre 12 y 15 años y asisten a un colegio de Dock Sud.

Un inesperado escándalo por acoso sexual estalló en el colegio Sagrado Corazón de Dock Sud. El acusado es un cura de unos 60 años que se habría amparado en la intimidad del momento de la confesión para abusar de por lo menos cinco alumnos. Una estudiante de 12 años fue la que sacó a la luz la conducta del religioso. Según su relato, estaba en plena clase cuando la llamaron para confesarse, aunque ella no lo había pedido. “Se sentó al lado de él y el hombre le tomó las manos, acercó su silla y comenzó a acariciarle las piernas. Las caricias no paraban, el cura le apretó las rodillas y comenzó a decirle que era muy linda y hermosa”, contó Mónica, su mamá, a Crónica.

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[The crisis of the Spanish Church has only just begun]

SPAIN
El País

May 12, 2019

By Frédéric Martel

Con el encubrimiento de los abusos y la negación de la sexualidad de los curas, la institución no va a encontrar nuevas vocaciones

La Iglesia católica española ha entrado en un final de ciclo, como ocurre en otros países. Ante la crisis de vocaciones, la Conferencia Episcopal ha lanzado una campaña que pretende atraer a futuros sacerdotes. Por su parte, el papa Francisco ha anunciado un endurecimiento de las normas a aplicar en caso de abusos sexuales, y a partir de ahora los sacerdotes y obispos de todo el mundo tendrán que ser más duros en su denuncia de los culpables. Son dos medidas que encajan en un mismo marco. Y ambas están condenadas de antemano a fracasar debido a que parten de un error inicial en su análisis de los problemas.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

May 13, 2019

By Haidee V. Eugenio

The Archdiocese of Agana is seeking more time to present its reorganization plan under the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, after all clergy sex abuse claims are filed by Aug. 15 and mediation is completed to settle those claims.

At the same time, the archdiocese revised its proposed sale price for the former Accion Hotel from the initial $5.4 million to $5.35 million.

Sale proceeds from the former hotel and seminary in Yona, as well as other property, will go toward paying more than 200 Guam clergy sex abuse claims against the archdiocese.

Archdiocese attorneys asked the federal bankruptcy court to give the church until Sept. 16 to file a plan for reorganization and disclosure statement, and until Nov. 18 to obtain acceptance of the plan.

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POLAND
Crux

May 11, 2019

By Paulina Guzik

When a 39-year-old Polish woman confronted the Catholic priest who she said sexually abused her, using a hidden camera, her first question was: “You destroyed my life … do you know that?”

That moment is also the opening scene of “Just Don’t Tell Anyone,” a 2-hour Polish documentary just released online.

“I just knew there were other victims, I knew it!”, says the traumatized victim after meeting the priest who abused her. She never reported the crime to anyone, instead keeping the secret for 32 years as the priest had asked her to do.

The documentary’s director, Tomasz Sekielski, depicts what is rarely seen in the media – victims confronting their predators. The result is a powerful portrait of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Poland, following the model laid out by Pope Francis – focusing on the victims, their wounds and their pain.

Stirring people up is precisely what the director wants.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Catholic New York

May 10, 2019

New papal norms on preventing clergy sexual abuse are “a blessing that will empower the Church everywhere to bring predators to justice, no matter what rank they hold in the Church,” said Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The new juridical instrument “calls for the establishment of easily accessible reporting systems, clear standards for the pastoral support of victims and their families, timeliness and thoroughness of investigations, whistleblower protection for those making allegations, and active involvement of the laity,” Cardinal DiNardo said May 9.

The new document, given “motu proprio,” on the pope’s own initiative, was titled “Vos estis lux mundi” (“You are the light of the world”). Cardinal DiNardo praised it for leaving latitude for national bishops’ conferences, such as the USCCB, to specify still more to account for their local circumstances.

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[“It was necessary to react:” echoes of Abbott’s decision to move clergy abuse cases from O’Higgins prosecutor’s office]

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Emol

May 10, 2019

By Tomás Molina J.

El jefe del Ministerio Público determinó derivar las investigaciones referentes a los abusos en la Iglesia y listas de espera -lideradas por Emiliano Arias- a Santiago.

Fue ayer, tras su regreso anticipado de Colombia por los problemas que están aquejando al Ministerio Público, que el fiscal Nacional, Jorge Abbott, llevó a cabo una intervención inédita en una región: sacó las investigaciones por abusos en la Iglesia y por las lista de espera de la fiscalía de O’Higgins, derivándolas a Santiago.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic News Service

May 12, 2019

By Matthew Gambino

The clergy sex abuse crisis that engulfed the U.S. Church – and has since spread globally – requires understanding it as context for what is happening in the Church and society, according to journalist Peter Steinfels.

The global nature of the crisis means each new instance of abuse in any country becomes part of a single narrative for the Catholic Church everywhere – unlike any other institution, said Steinfels in an April 25 talk at Villanova University’s law school.

In the United States, the case of the disgraced former cardinal and now-defrocked Theodore McCarrick has intensified long-simmering divisions of conservative and liberal factions in the Church, each offering their own agendas for reform, said Steinfels, a former New York Times reporter, retired editor of Commonweal magazine and a retired professor at Fordham University in New York.

The crisis has also become part of “a civil war over the papacy of Pope Francis,” Steinfels said.

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TWIN CITIES (MN)
The Catholic Spirit

May 10, 2019

By Maria Wiering

Archbishop Bernard Hebda praised Pope Francis’ May 9 legislation on clergy sex abuse, saying the pope’s actions “reflect the urgent need to take concrete steps and provide clear direction for reporting and investigating allegations of sexual abuse of minors and adults by all clergy, including bishops.”

“This scourge of abusive acts — and the lack of clear procedures to respond effectively to them — as well as the failure of some bishops and other Church leaders to respond appropriately to reports of abuse, has profoundly harmed far too many,” Archbishop Hebda said in a May 9 statement. “Inadequate responses in the past, moreover, have also weakened the credibility of the Church as she strives to give witness to the good news of Jesus.”

Pope Francis released the legislation, known in canon law as a “motu proprio,” to address clergy sexual abuse in the Church worldwide. The document, titled “Vox estis lux mundi,” or “You Are the Light of the World,” followed an international meeting of bishops in Rome in February to address clergy sexual abuse.

Although the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops began to address clergy sexual abuse in the 1980s, it enacted the first binding national policies on it in 2002, following the Boston Globe’s investigation of the issue in the Archdiocese of Boston. That year, the U.S. bishops released “The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” and the corresponding “Essential Norms,” often together referred to as the Dallas Charter, which established procedures for preventing and reporting sexual abuse in U.S. Catholic dioceses.

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ROCHESTER (NY)
WXXI/WSKG News

May 10, 2019

Pope Francis issued new church regulations this week that will change the way that the Catholic Church handles sexual abuse claims internally. The papal law has many requirements including mandating all church leaders to report sex abuse and cover-ups to other church leaders. It also requires the adoption of a new anonymous reporting system to be available at all dioceses.

Tim Thibodeau is a professor of history at Nazareth College. He studies the Catholic Church in depth. His reading of the document said that civil and criminal laws apply once the instances are reported to church leadership.

“As far as the investigation of a credible claim, I do think this has some teeth, but in the end this is not the criminal justice system. You’re not talking about going to the DA’s office. You’re going to a bishop’s office or archbishop’s office,” said Thibodeau. “I think it’s a remarkable document in the sense that it’s been four years in the making. And I think it’s been a long awaited and much needed solution to a huge problem.”

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POLAND
Emerging Europe

May 13, 2019

Father Franciszek Cybula, the former chaplain of president Lech Wałęsa, and Father Eugieniusz M, the custodian of the Shrine of our Lady of Sorrows and of the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń, are among a number of priests who molested children, according to Just Don’t Tell Anyone, a documentary by Tomasz Sekielski.

“He told me to come to his room, and when I got there, he was standing there with his trousers down and with an erected penis. He said ‘what should I do? It won’t go down,” says a young man who was 12 at the time and now, as an adult pays, a visit to the old priest.

“This didn’t exceed any boundaries… there was no ejaculation. There was a moment of petting,” Father Cybula admits. He later suggests financial compensation. The 79-year-old priest, who was Wałęsa’s confessor back in the 1980s, dies while the documentary is being produced. During his funeral the Metropolitan Archbishop of Gdańsk Sławoj Leszek Głódź delivers a sermon remembering Father’s Cybula’s good deeds.

“I reported the case to the Curia, so Głódź must have known about it and yet he didn’t even mention it,” the victim says.

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.

CINCINNATI (OH)
WCPO

May 13, 2019

By Corey Rangel

Becky Ianni is still haunted by years of sexual abuse that happened at the hands of her priest when she was a young child.

“I had buried my head, because he told me I’d go to Hell if I told on him,” Ianni said about the priest. “This was my darkest secret.”

After coming forward, it took a year-and-a-half for church leaders to agree to a settlement, she said.

Last week, Pope Francis issued a new church law that requires all Catholic priests and nuns to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups to church authorities. Churches have until mid-2020 to comply with setting up a reporting system.

The new law does not require them to report to police, as victims such as Becky have demanded. Previously, such reporting was left up to the conscience of individual priests and nuns.

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.

CANADA
Montreal Gazette

May 13, 2019

By Andy Riga

Thirteen years later, the “reasonable accommodation” debate about religion’s place in Quebec society rages on.

As the debate continues over Premier François Legault’s proposed religious symbols ban, the Montreal Gazette is publishing a timeline that looks at the history of religion and religious controversies in Quebec, and how the perception of religions has changed over time.

The chronology is in two parts.

The first instalment, published Saturday, focused on the period from before the French colonization of Quebec to the early 2000s.

Today’s second part examines more recent history, starting in 2006, when “reasonable accommodations” suddenly became an issue in the news media, sparking a debate that continues to make headlines 13 years later.

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.

TRENTON (NJ)
Anderson Advocates

May 13, 2019

Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors Given More Time to Seek Justice, Healing
Two-Year Window Allows Survivors of Any Age to File Lawsuits

(Trenton, NJ) – New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy today signed historic legislation that gives child sexual abuse survivors more time to seek justice and healing.

“This is a great day for survivors and New Jersey,” said attorney Greg Gianforcaro of Gianforcaro Law in Phillipsburg, NJ, who represents childhood sexual abuse survivors. “We thank Sen. Joseph Vitale and the other New Jersey state legislators who have supported survivors of sexual abuse and worked hard for decades to make this happen.”

Under the new law, which goes into effect December 1, 2019 in New Jersey, child sexual abuse survivors will be able to file sexual abuse lawsuits until age 55, or seven years from the date they discover the cause of their injuries, whichever is later. And there will be a two-year window for child sexual abuse victims of any age to bring lawsuits for sexual abuse in cases that were previously barred by the statute of limitations.

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.

PHOENIX(AZ)
Arizona Republic

May 13, 2019

By Laurie Roberts

Opinion: When it comes to childhood victims of sexual assault wanting to sue their attackers, Arizona is one of the most generous states – for the child rapists, that is.

It doesn’t seem as if Sen. Paul Boyer is asking for much.

He wants to give victims who were sexually assaulted as children more time to hold their rapists accountable. More time to do what they can to ensure that other children, today’s children, are protected.

Only in Arizona would such a thing be controversial.

Controversial enough, in fact, that Senate President Karen Fann refuses to put the bill up for a vote.

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.

WHEELING (WV)
The Weirton Daily Times

May 12, 2019

By Joselyn King

The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston has filed a motion to dismiss a sexual harassment suit against former Bishop Michael Bransfield.

The civil court action filed Thursday in Ohio County Circuit Court denies accusations set forth in a complaint filed March 22 by a former altar server and secretary to Bransfield, identified only as “J.E.” in court documents. The plaintiff alleges he was sexually assaulted by Bransfield in 2014 and was a victim of sexual harassment by him for years prior to that.

The motion filed Thursday by the Diocese asks that all counts be dropped, in that the statute for all tort claims under state law is two years. The diocese also denies most of the complaint’s allegations in its request for dismissal.

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 JERSEY
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

May 13, 2019

By Susan K. Livio

Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday signed a law sought by victims in the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal for two decades that will grant them greater freedom in New Jersey to sue their abusers and the nonprofits employers.

In his signing statement, Murphy acknowledged the legislation was the subject of a lengthy and emotional battle between victims and religious leaders.

“I recognize that this issue has evoked strong passions on both sides, as supporters of the bill rightly note that it greatly increases the ability of victims of sexual abuse to pursue justice through the court system,” Murphy said in his statement.

“Opponents argue that by exposing religious and nonprofit organizations to potentially massive financial liabilities, the bill may have the unintended effect of inhibiting these organizations from providing the services that many vulnerable New Jerseyans rely on,” the Democratic governor added.

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.

SAN DIEGO (CA)
NBC San Diego

May 10, 2019

By Christina Bravo and Melissa Adan

The Priest was named last November by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego among a list of more than 50 abusive priests in San Diego and San Bernardino of whom the diocese said it had received a credible allegation involving sexual abuse of a minor

A San Diego woman who says she was abused by a clergy member as a girl is urging other local sexual abuse victims to file reports with the state so religious leaders may be held accountable.

Cynthia Ann Doe is speaking out for the first time about what she says Monsignor Gregory Sheridan did to her when she was five years old and a parishoner at St. Jude’s Shrine of the West in the 60s.

Sheridan was named last November by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego among a list of more than 50 abusive priests in San Diego and San Bernardino of whom the diocese said it had received a credible allegation involving sexual abuse of a minor.

During a press conference outside the church’s doors, Doe did not publicly detail the priest’s acts but urged other victims to come forward so that Sheridan and the Diocese of San Diego could be investigated by the California Attorney General’s office.

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.

WASHINGTON (DC)
The Washington Post

May 12, 2019

By Marisa Iati

He was a 24-year-old seminarian from a blue-collar family. She was an idealistic 19-year-old psychology student. He wanted to teach. She wanted to be a missionary. They hung out at the Rathskeller, a now-defunct bar at Mount St. Mary’s College, to drink draft beer and eat soft pretzels.

When Theresa Engelhardt became pregnant with their son 15 years later, she ended her relationship with the Rev. Robert Dreisbach for the seventh — or was it the eighth? — and final time.

During the years that followed, the Diocese of Allentown in Pennsylvania offered her regular child-support payments, she said, in exchange for her silence and a promise that neither she nor her son, John, would contact Dreisbach.

Now 62, Engelhardt said she has a different perspective on her relationship with Dreisbach than she did as a love-struck student. Although she realizes that she was an adult who made her own decisions in the relationship, she says Dreisbach emotionally abused her by pressuring her to stay silent about their relationship to protect his career. And Engelhardt feels even more abused by the church, which she said treated her as unworthy when she became pregnant.

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.

WARSAW (POLAND)
Reuters

May 13, 2019

Polish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa has urged the Catholic Church to prevent further sexual abuse of children by members of its clergy after a new documentary film showed his priest to be one of the accused.

The film “Just don’t tell anyone”, which shows people confronting priests with accusations that they abused them as children, has attracted nearly 7 million views since it was posted on YouTube on Saturday. It presents allegations that known pedophiles were shifted between parishes.

One of the clergymen featured was Franciszek Cybula, who served as Walesa’s priest for 15 years – from 1980 when he co-founded the trade union Solidarnosc which helped bring about the fall of Communism, through to his becoming Poland’s first democratically elected president in 1990 and until his term ended in 1995.

“It is sad for me that I found out that my chaplain, my confessor, was behaving so badly,” Walesa was quoted as saying by Polska The Times daily on Monday.

Poland is one of Europe’s most devout countries and Catholic priests enjoy a high level of social prestige. Nearly 85 percent of Poland’s 38 million-strong population identify as Roman Catholics and around 12 million attend mass every Sunday.

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.

CALIFORNIA
The Mercury News

May 13, 2019

By John Woolfolk

California dioceses could face new legal woes but abuse may fall outside statute of limitations

The California Attorney General’s recent inquiry into how the state’s Roman Catholic dioceses complied with laws requiring them to report child sex abuse threatens new legal woes for a church still struggling to confront its sex abuse scandal.

But experts warn, if Pennsylvania’s groundbreaking grand jury report on church abuse is any guide, new revelations from the California probe may be too old to bring criminal charges.

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 JERSEY
NBC Philadelphia

May 13, 2019

By Mike Catalini

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Monday to ease restrictions on when childhood sexual abuse victims can seek damages in court.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Monday to ease restrictions on when childhood sexual abuse victims can seek damages in court, an action that comes after a wave of details last year about the abuse of minors in the Roman Catholic Church.

Murphy said in a statement that he recognized opponents’ worries that the expanded statute, which allows victims to sue institutions, will expose organizations to financial liability. But that is outweighed by concern over victims, the first-term Democrat said.

“I cannot deny victims the ability to seek redress in court for sexual abuse that often leaves trauma lasting a lifetime,” he said in a statement accompanying his signature.

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.

WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer

May 11, 2019

By Joselyn King

The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston has filed a motion to dismiss a sexual harassment suit against former Bishop Michael Bransfield.

The civil court action filed Thursday in Ohio County Circuit Court denies accusations set forth in a complaint filed March 22 by a former altar server and secretary to Bransfield, identified only as “J.E.” in court documents. The plaintiff alleges he was sexually assaulted by Bransfield in 2014 and was a victim of sexual harassment by him for years prior to that.

The motion filed Thursday by the Diocese asks that all counts be dropped, in that the statute for all tort claims under state law is two years. The diocese also denies most of the complaint’s allegations in its request for dismissal.

“(The) plaintiff had two years from May 2014 to file his complaint,” states the motion, filed on behalf of the Diocese by attorney James Gardill of Wheeling. “Plaintiff did not file his complaint until March 22, 2019 nearly five years after the alleged event.

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)
Post-Gazette

May 13, 2019

By Peter Smith

A priest with the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has been placed on administrative leave while the church investigates accusations of “inappropriate contact with adult women,” according to a letter by Bishop David A. Zubik to parishioners.

The letter, dated May 4, was distributed this weekend in the bulletins to the congregations of Saint Ferdinand in Cranberry, Saint Gregory in Zelienople and Holy Redeemer in Ellwood City.

In it, Bishop Zubik said the church is investigating accusations made against the Rev. James Young. The removal is not an implication of guilt, Bishop Zubik said, but will “safeguard the course of justice while preserving the rights of everyone involved.”

While on leave, Father Young is “not allowed to engage in public ministry at your parish or any place else. He cannot administer the sacraments, dress in clerical attire or identify himself as a priest,” Bishop Zubik wrote to parishioners.

Those restrictions will become permanent if the church finds that Father Young “did what he is

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NEW JERSEY
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

May 11, 2019

By Susan K. Livio

Gov. Phil Murphy will sign the broadest law in the nation Monday that will vastly expand the amount of time victims of sexual assault will be allowed to bring a lawsuit against predators and the nonprofit organizations that employed them.

Murphy has hinted he generally supports expanding New Jersey’s two-year statute of limitations for civil lawsuits, but had not said affirmatively he would sign the bill the state Legislature approved in March.

State Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, the bill’s prime sponsor, said he received confirmation Murphy was signing the bill on Monday, the last day he had to act before the law took effect automatically.

When Vitale said he learned there would be no signing ceremony, as major pieces of legislation often receive, he decided to host his own event on Monday afternoon.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KTVI – St. Louis

May 10, 2019

An alleged abuser and his victim met face to face after 45 years. The former SLU High School student`s journey started with a message from the Catholic Church.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

May 13, 2019

By Peter Feuerherd

David Spotanski wrote the kind of candid memo to his boss in February 2002 that some underlings compose, think better of, and then delete.

It was no ordinary missive from a chancery bureaucrat. The then-vice chancellor for the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois, felt the memo was so important that he went to then-Bishop Wilton Gregory’s house and personally read it aloud. The memo reflected rage, frustration and disgust about sex abuse in the church. In shockingly undiplomatic language, it didn’t mince words.

“Too many nights I wake up and wonder if an institution that can be this insensitive to the physical, spiritual and emotional wellbeing of its most precious members — its very future — is even worthy of my three children’s innocent faith,” wrote Spotanski.

Spotanski continued, stating he wanted “to share clearly with the President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops a perception to which he cannot relate. I can speak as a parent.”

He urged his boss to push for reforms that would require bishops to be fully transparent on sex abusers and to dismiss offenders. In particular, he wanted Gregory to push back hard on foot draggers among his fellow bishops.

At the time, then Boston Cardinal Bernard Law was coming under fire for revelations exposed by the Boston Globe for allowing abusive priests to continue in ministry. In the memo, Spotanski said, “Wilton, it could have been my eleven-year-old Jonathan those bastards sodomized under Law’s watchful eye.”

Some bishops and church leaders were putting the blame on the media for sensationalizing cases in Boston and other dioceses. Spotanski would have none of it.

“I personally don’t want the media to back off until I’m confident there are no more dirty little secrets buried amidst the Mysteries of our Faith,” he wrote.

After Spotanski shared the note with friends and coworkers, the memo went viral. Some who read it considered it a miracle that Spotanski wasn’t fired on the spot.

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.

LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimmage blog

May 8, 2019

By William Lindsey

The emeritus pope recently published a statement about the abuse horror show in the Catholic church which makes absolutely no mention at all of the roots of this horror show in clericalism, and which takes no responsibility, on the part of the clerical governing sector of the church, for this horror show and the cover-up of clerical abuse for years. The emeritus pope’s statements blaming the Catholic abuse horrors on the 1960s, not clericalism, were followed by a statement by the emeritus prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Müller, affirming the emeritus pope’s analysis and suggesting that the clericalism explanation of the abuse situation in the church is “ideological.”

Here’s a recent statement by one of the people who knows more than anyone else about the Catholic abuse story, Thomas Doyle. This is the opening part of an essay entitled “The Sexual Abuse Crisis is Not a Crisis” that I’d like to recommend to you in its entirety:

The clerical leadership of the Catholic church has been aware of sexual violation of minors and vulnerable adults for centuries. This tragic reality is a critical problem, even though it has been buried in secrecy. The secrecy ended in the mid-80s, when the media exposed the church’s cover-up of a prolific priest-perpetrator in Louisiana. Often referred to as a “crisis,” it is, in truth, not a crisis. It is something much worse. It is a worldwide manifestation of a complex, systemic and self-destructive condition in the church. It is giving us a view of today’s version of the Dark Side of the institutional church.

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.

DUNEDIN (NEW ZEALAND)
Otego Times

May 11, 2019

By Chris Morris

Russell Butler is in a race against time.

The 63-year-old South Dunedin resident and practising Catholic has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and recently received the Last Rites from a priest.

Now he spends his days in his small Melbourne St flat, surrounded by medication and family photos, facing the inevitable.

But, before he dies, Mr Butler has a story he wants to tell.

He wants people to know about the savage beating he says he received as a 10-year-old boy at the hands of a nun from the Sisters of Mercy.

And he wants his story put on record by the pending Royal Commission of Inquiry into historic abuse in state and faith-based care.

Mr Butler told ODT Insight the beating occurred in 1966, when he was a pupil at St Mary’s Primary School in Mosgiel.

At the time, most of the lessons at the Catholic school were still delivered by nuns from the Sisters
of Mercy religious order.

And, more than 50 years on, Mr Butler says he can still recall every detail of a lesson handed down one day by Sister Mary James.

That day, Mr Butler, a self-confessed “cheeky little Catholic boy”, had become embroiled in a playground fight.

Afterwards, he fled – running home to his parents’ house, before returning to school later in the day.

Upon his return, he was punished by the school’s head nun.

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STATEN ISLAND (NY)
Staten Island Advance

May 10, 2019

By Stephen Weiss

Re: How will church handle legacies of legendary Staten Island priests on sex abuse settlement list?

We shouldn’t be so worried about the legacies or reputations of the 30 Staten Island priests who have sexually abused children. We should be worried about the impact of that abuse on those that had to endure it and, equally as important – what the Church is doing to ensure it never happens again.

The Church has yet to implement meaningful policies to end the cycle of abuse they have allowed to continue – and have covered up – for decades. At the very least, the Church should implement a zero-tolerance policy of abusive clergy members and the priests and bishops who protect them.

The Child Victims Act is an important opportunity for those who have been abused to file claims against their abuser and the Church. I’ve spoken to dozens of sexual abuse survivors who are planning to take this step – what they care about most is truth, transparency and holding the Church accountable. That’s what we should all care about.

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LAFAYETTE (LA)
Acadiana Advocate

May 10, 2019

By Ben Myers

A Lafayette Diocese priest was accused of molesting minors during a monthslong State Police investigation in 2015 and 2016. Two alleged victims told authorities that former Rev. Albert Nunez had either sexually abused or attempted to abuse them in the 1970s, but the investigation was closed because the alleged victims did not press charges, according to a State Police report.

Nunez is not included in the diocese’s list of 37 clergymen “credibly accused” of sexual abuse against minors and vulnerable adults. The Lafayette Diocese last month became the last in Louisiana to release such a list, following months of public outcry.

One of Nunez’s alleged victims, who told authorities that Nunez had succeeded in abusing him, also told State Police that his late brother had confided in family members that he too was abused by Nunez. The victim, who had not initiated contact with investigators, told police he had reached a point of healing, but the investigation had reopened his wounds.

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BAKERSFIELD (CA)
Bakersfield Californian

May 11, 2019

By Stacey Shepard

In front of TV cameras and reporters, they said five people have called or emailed them in the past week claiming sex abuse by Monsignor Craig Harrison, a well-known and highly regarded Bakersfield priest. They castigated the bishop for his handling of the situation and passed out a list of nearly two dozen clergy the group claimed had been accused of sex abuse and had some past or present affiliation with the diocese.

This was, for many, an introduction to the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, as the group is known. While the group has been around 30 years and has nine chapters in California, none exist between Los Angeles and Sacramento.

The group’s sudden arrival on the scene in the wake of allegations against Harrison has come with the organization’s trademark brand of in-your-face, watchdog activism.

According to its website, the organization is considered a loose network of volunteers who provide peer support to victims of clergy and other institutional abuse, share their stories and empower others to “confront the truth.” The site says the group also engages in advocacy for laws to protect children from abuse, and “exposes predators.”

SNAP got its start in 1989 by founder Barbara Blaine, who had recently gone public with her story of abuse as a teen by a priest in Toledo, Ohio. She put an ad in the National Catholic Reporter looking for other victims of clergy sex abuse to start a support group, according to her obituary in the New York Times. Today, the organization is a nonprofit with chapters throughout the country and around the world.

“We’re not an anti-Catholic organization. We’re not anti-priest. All we are is anti-child molester,” said Joey Piscitelli, a SNAP volunteer leader in Northern California who was at the diocese in Fresno last week.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post

May 11, 2019

THE ESSENTIAL problem that gave rise to decades of clergy sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church was that bishops, whose authority over their domains is all but absolute, were too often complicit in enabling pedophile priests, covering up their crimes, and looking the other way as countless young victims were raped, molested, harassed and left scarred for life. Now Pope Francis, grappling with successive waves of scandals and revelations, has decreed elaborate new policies and procedures designed to beat back a scourge that has partly defined his papacy.

Unfortunately, as with so much the pope has said and done to contain the crisis, the laws he handed down, saying that sexual abuse must “never happen again,” are half-measures. The laws outline procedures mandating that priests and nuns report suspected abuse and coverup to their superiors, provide protections for whistleblowers, accelerate investigations and require that victims be informed of investigative outcomes if they desire.

However, even as he reshaped church law, the pope left its most fundamental features intact — bishops remain in charge, policing themselves and the church, and procedures for removing and punishing them remain uncertain. That was a bitter disappointment to victims of clerical sexual abuse, and it is likely to disappoint many of the church’s faithful, already disillusioned by a scandal that exploded nearly two decades ago.

The new protocols are not toothless — among other things, they apply retroactively, meaning priests and nuns will be expected to report old cases of abuse. And in announcing them Thursday, Francis acknowledged the suffering of victims and years of failure by his two predecessors to come to terms with the crisis. The church, he said, “must continue to learn from the bitter lessons of the past.”

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SAN JOSE (COSTA RICO)
Costa Rico Star

May 10, 2019

By Carol Vaughn

Alejandro “Alex” Castillo is on the lamb from the US after being accused of sexual misconduct with minors – something for which he already served one year in prison in 2012 – yet the church welcomed him back, even promoting him to Diocese’s Director of Department of Faith Formation and Evangelization for Oakland, California. He has now been placed on administrative leave while he skips around, one step ahead of the police. Lawyers in the US are preparing a strong case against Castillo on behalf of three of the boys Castillo allegedly abused. First they have to find him.

The Catholic Church has a relentless problem with child abuse, according to Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). Pope Francis, leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics attended a conference on sexual abuse in February, and called for “an all-out battle against a crime that should be erased from the face of the earth.”

Father Castillo personifies the problem of sexual misconduct, and how it is dealt with by the Catholic Church. He had a 20-year history of known and unreported predatory behavior. In the US he was intentionally placed in poor, Spanish speaking communities where children are less likely to report abuse. The recent lawsuit against him states, “Castilllo used his position as a priest to have unlimited access to the children. San Bernadino Church officials have known for years about Castillo’s predatory behavior, yet let him work in a parish with a school.”

Castillo, 65 years old, began his career in San Jose, working at a software development company, before hearing “the call”, and joining the seminary. He came to the US in 2008, and completed his theological studies at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park. He was ordained in 2010. He is completely bilingual, and that skill enabled him to organize missionaries in both Costa Rica and USA. Bishop Barber called Castillo “inspiring”. He said “Father Castillo’s deep commitment to our faith and to the people of God in our diocese is inspiring. I know he will lead our work in faith formation and evangelization with integrity and fidelity.” Unfortunately, that seems to not be the case at all.

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NEW YORK (NY)
Associated Press

May 11, 2019

By David Crary

It has been a wrenching season for three of America’s largest religious denominations, as sex-abuse scandals and a schism over LGBT inclusion fuel anguish and anger within the Roman Catholic, Southern Baptist and United Methodist churches. There’s rising concern that the crises will boost the ranks of young people disillusioned by organized religion.

“Every denomination is tremendously worried about retaining or attracting young people,” said Stephen Schneck, a political science professor at Catholic University. “The sex-abuse scandals will have a spillover effect on attitudes toward religion in general. I don’t think any denomination is going to not take a hit.”

For the U.S. Catholic church, the clergy sex-abuse scandal that has unfolded over two decades expanded dramatically in recent months. Many dioceses have become targets of investigations since a Pennsylvania grand jury report in August detailed hundreds of cases of alleged abuse. In mid-February, former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was expelled from the priesthood for sexually abusing minors and seminarians.

The Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination, confronted its own sex-abuse crisis three weeks ago in the form of an investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News. The newspapers reported that hundreds of Southern Baptist clergy and staff had been accused of sexual misconduct over the past 20 years, including dozens who returned to church duties, while leaving more than 700 victims with little in the way of justice or apologies.

For both denominations, allegations of cover-ups and insufficient sympathy for victims have been as damaging in the public eye as the abuse itself.

The United Methodist Church, the largest mainline Protestant denomination, ended a pivotal conference Tuesday in a seemingly irreconcilable split over same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBT clergy. About 53 percent of the delegates voted to maintain bans on those practices and strengthen enforcement, dismaying centrists and liberals who favored LGBT inclusion and now are faced with the choice of leaving the UMC or considering acts of defiance from within.

The Rev. Adam Hamilton, whose Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan., is the nation’s largest UMC congregation, said the outcome would push youthful pastors and other young adults away.

“Three out of four of millennials who live in the U.S. support same-sex marriage and do not want to be a part of a church that makes their friends feel like second-class Christians,” he told the conference. “Many of you have children and grandchildren who cannot imagine that we’re voting this way today. They wonder, have these people lost their minds?”

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.

FRESNO (CA)
Your Central Valley

May 10, 2019

Bishop Joseph Brennan of the Diocese of Fresno issued a statement May 10, 2019 regarding victims of abuse by the clergy.

Earlier this week, a protest was held in Fresno by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which is also known as SNAP.

It’s demanding that the bishop release a list of priests and clergy accused of sexual abuse.

The group says the bishop’s statement “falls short” of showing compassion for victims.

In response to Brennan’s statement Friday, SNAP says:
“Although Bishop Brennan’s comment is a good start it still falls short of showing compassion for crime victims of the Catholic Church. Bishop Brennan ought to be mandating that all the secret files be released for credibly accused clerics. Further, he ought to be mandating that anyone who is employed by the church, or is a volunteer lay leader, to report what they know to local law enforcement, Fresno District Attorney and finally California Attorney General Becerra.”

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.

BAKERSFIELD (CA)
KGET

May 09, 2019

By Jason Kotowski

A Sacramento attorney and clinical psychologist says he is representing two men from Merced and one from Bakersfield who allege Msgr. Craig Harrison sexually abused them when they were minors.

Joseph George said each man has filed a report with local law enforcement agencies as well as the state attorney general’s office regarding their allegations against the popular Bakersfield priest.

The attorney said he can’t file a lawsuit on behalf of the men because the civil statute of limitations is up. He said he’s representing them pro bono to guide them through the legal process and help ensure law enforcement does a thorough investigation.

Bakersfield police Thursday refused to confirm they have a current investigation involving Harrison. Last week the department said it did not have any open investigations involving the priest.

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BAKERSFIELD (CA)
The Bakersfield Californian

May 7, 2019

Eight priests with connections to Kern County have been accused of sexual abuse, according to a list released by the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

The advocacy group released a list on Tuesday of 23 priests who have worked in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno who the group says has had accusations of sexual abuse lodged against them. One name was later removed from the list.

The names came from the website bishopaccountability.org, an online archive that tracks accusations of sexual misconduct by Catholic clergy.

Here’s a look at the priests listed with local ties:

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NEW JERSEY
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

May 6, 2019

By Kelly Heyboer and Sophie Nieto-Munoz

More than 300 New Jersey priests, nuns, monks and other clergy accused of sexual misconduct — including many not included in the Catholic Church’s official list — were named in a report released Monday by lawyers representing an alleged victim suing the state’s dioceses.

The report by a Minnesota-based law firm is related to a lawsuit filed by Edward Hanratty, a sexual abuse victim from New Jersey that says New Jersey’s five Catholic dioceses created a “public hazard” by not naming all clergy members accused of sexually abusing children.

The 311 names in the report come from lawsuits, legal settlements, news reports and other public accounts of alleged abuse, the attorneys said.

In February, the Archdiocese of Newark and the state’s four other dioceses — Camden, Metuchen, Trenton and Paterson — released the names of 188 priests and deacons “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of children.

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COVINGTON (KY)
Cincinnati Enquirer

May 8, 2019

By Max Londberg

The Roman Catholic Church Diocese of Covington filed a lawsuit Tuesday in which it demands Facebook remove a page bearing the diocese’s name, citing federal copyright law.

The page, “Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington,” is not affiliated with the diocese. It has 372 likes as of Wednesday evening, and some of its posts are critical of the diocese and its schools.

One person wrote on the page that the diocese is a “breeding grounds for white privilege.”

The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Kentucky.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
KGO – San Francisco

May 9, 2019

Pope Francis has issued a new law requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups by their superiors to church authorities.

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SYRACUSE (NY)
The Associated Press

May 2, 2019

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse has paid nearly $11 million to settle claims of clergy sexual abuse with 79 people, who are now prohibited from suing.

The Post-Standard reports 85 of the 88 people who had applied to the Independent Reconciliation Compensation Program received offers.

Those who accepted signed releases that prohibit them from filing lawsuits. Kevin Braney declined compensation and recently sued the diocese after New York’s Legislature expanded the statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases in January.

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BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

May 10, 2019

By Jay Tokasz

Ronald C. Williams has served prison sentences in three states for child sex abuse felony convictions over the past 28 years.

But Williams’ penchant for sexually abusing children goes back to when he was a K-9 patrolman on the Buffalo police force and volunteered with the Boy Scouts, according to Bob O’Donnell of the Town of Boston.

O’Donnell said Williams, who had been his Cub Scout leader, abused him at least 10 times in the mid-1970s, when O’Donnell was 13 or 14 and Williams took him canoeing and camping on Eighteen Mile Creek.

“The guy pretty much raped me, more than once, by giving me enough alcohol so that I didn’t even realize what was going on,” said O’Donnell, who is now 54.

Williams is among the more than two dozen Western New York-area Boy Scout leaders since the 1950s who have been accused of molesting children or of sex-related offenses. Nineteen were charged with crimes.

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POINT PLEASANT (NJ)
Patch National

May 8, 2019

By Tom Davis

The names of more than 100 additional priests, clergy with NJ ties who have been accused of sexual abuse were released in a new disclosure.

The names of more than 100 additional priests and members of the clergy were released in a new disclosure this week made by attorneys who believe the state’s Catholic dioceses need to be more forthcoming about what they know. One of them reportedly served in the Point Pleasant area.

The law firms of Jeff Anderson & Associates released a report containing the names and histories of more than 300 people accused of sexual misconduct in the Archdiocese of Newark, Diocese of Camden, Diocese of Metuchen, Diocese of Paterson and Diocese of Trenton. Read more: Another 100 NJ Priests, Clergy Accused Of Sex Abuse In Disclosure

The same law firm released the names of 52 Boy Scout leaders allegedly named in the organization’s “perversion files” last month. Read more: 52 NJ Boy Scout Leaders Accused Of Sexual Abuse Named

Patch has identified only those who were formally accused of sexual abuse by law enforcement, Jesuits or the Catholic church. Patch also only listed names not previously disclosed.

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HILLSBOROUGH (NJ)
Patch

May 7, 2019

By Alexis Tarrazi

The man was among 100 more priests and clergy with New Jersey ties whose names were released in a new disclosure recently.

The name of a priest who served in Hillsborough was included in a list of more than 100 clergy who have been accused of sexual abuse.

Fr. Eugene M. O’Sullivan was assigned to St. Joseph’s in North Plainfield from 1985 to 1987 and Mary Mother of God in Hillsborough from 1990 to 1991.

Other priests with Somerset County ties include:

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INDIA
UCANews

May 10, 2019

Vice-principal of Jharkhand school accused of unlawful beating of student who forgot handbook

A Catholic school in India’s Jharkhand state has removed its priest vice-principal after he allegedly used corporal punishment on a student.

Father Prem James Tigga of Bishop Hartmann Academy, a high school in state capital Ranchi, was accused of beating a Grade 6 student on April 8 for allegedly not paying the previous month’s fees and not bringing his school handbook to the class.

Ranchi Archdiocese spokesman Father Anand David Xalxo said the Capuchin-run school has “admitted the mistake and has removed the priest from his office with immediate effect.”

“The school does not encourage corporal punishment for students,” he told ucanews.com.

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ASHLAND (WI)
CBS3

May 6, 2019

A former Winter priest accused of sexual misconduct says he doesn’t want a jury trial.

According to the Ashland Daily Press, Thomas Ericksen, 71, made that request during a court hearing last week.

The 71-year-old former Catholic priest is accused of sexually assaulting children while serving as a priest in Winter decades ago.

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NEW YORK (NY)
The New York Times

May 7, 2019

By Corina Knoll

An arbitrator ruled last month that Joseph DeShan can remain in the classroom, igniting a debate between parents determined to oust him and those who defend the longtime teacher.

It began last fall, when students new to Cinnaminson Middle School in New Jersey brought home rumors of a “rapist” at the school.

Eventually, their alarmed parents discovered that a teacher, Joseph DeShan, had a past life as a Roman Catholic priest in Bridgeport, Conn.: In the late ’80s, when then-Father DeShan was about 30 years old, he began a sexual relationship with a girl half his age, with whom he had a child.

This information was not a secret. The teacher’s past had first surfaced in 2002, when he was briefly removed from the classroom but was allowed to return by the superintendent at the time. The small community of 16,000 seemed to accept his past.

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BOSTON (MA)
WBSM

May 8, 2019

By Taylor Cormier

A Catholic priest with religious roots in New Bedford is one of eight priests named in new sexual assault allegations.

During a press conference in Boston Tuesday hosted by renowned attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Nadine Tifft, 37, of Indiana, accused Fr. John Sweeney of sexually assaulting her nearly 20 years ago.

Tifft, a teenager living in Vermont at the time, says in 2000 she attended a leadership retreat through her church. The retreat featured visiting church leaders from around New England. Tifft says one of the visiting priests, Fr. Sweeney, encouraged the young people to attend confession. After confession, Fr. Sweeney is alleged to have told several of the teenagers that they were possessed and he would perform exorcisms on them.

Tifft says that the sexual abuse of herself and others occurred during the “exorcisms” performed by Fr. Sweeney.

“We were teenagers who trusted that priest,” she said.

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AUSTIN(TX)
Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas

May 1, 2019

By Paola Nalvarte/TM

A senior representative of the Peruvian Catholic Church who accused an investigative journalist of defamation withdrew his lawsuit against her. Days prior, the Archbishop did the same with another journalist, who had just been sentenced criminally for the case against him.

Through a press release, the Archbishop of Piura, José Antonio Eguren, of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SVC), desisted from continuing with the criminal complaint for aggravated defamation that he made against Peruvian journalist Paola Ugaz. Among his reasons, he stated that in his decision to refuse to defend his honor, he seeks the unity of the Peruvian Catholic Church.

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HOUSTON (TX)
KHOU11

May 9, 2019

A longtime Catholic priest accused of child sex abuse has submitted his resignation, according to an e-mail sent Wednesday to parishioners of the Prince of Peace Catholic Community.

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VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

May 10, 2019

Pope Francis vowed Friday to combat the sexual abuse of nuns and urged religious sisters to just say no when clergy want to use them as maids.

Francis told 850 superiors of religious orders gathered for the triennial assembly of the International Union of Superiors General, the main umbrella group of nuns, that theirs is a vocation of service, not servitude.

The union’s president, Maltese Sister Carmen Sammut, told Francis that clergy abuse of sisters was “diffuse in many parts of the world,” and included sexual abuse, spiritual abuse, as well as taking of their property. She added that there were also cases of nuns abusing other nuns.

Francis said sexual abuse of sisters was “a serious, grave problem” of which he was well aware.

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NEW YORK (NY)
May 9, 2019

CBS2 News At 5

Vatican Announces Landmark Law Aimed At Ending Clergy Sex Abuse

Pope Francis is taking new steps to combat sex abuse in the Catholic Church and hold leaders accountable. CBS2’s Dick Brennan reports.

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ENGLAND
The Telegraph

May 8, 2019

By Gabriella Swerling

The Church of England is ignoring abuse victims, survivors claim, following a report which said that clergy should report sex abuse confessions to police.

The seal of the confessional is a priest’s obligation under canon law to hear a person’s confession of sin, or imagined sin, in complete confidence.

Under these rules, nothing that a priest is told during will be repeated or disclosed under any circumstances. This is also the rule of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 2015 the House of Bishops and the Archbishop’s Council commissioned a working party to assess this law in relation to safeguarding and protecting victims from sexual abuse.

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LOMPOC (CA)
KEYT

May 9, 2019

By Nathalie Vera

Clergy now exempt from mandatory reporting laws

A California bill advancing in the state Senate would require clergymen to report child abuse, even if they learn of it in confession.

Leaders of the Catholic Church claim the legislation would violate their freedom of religion.

Father Joy Lawrence Santos, of the Queen of Angels Church in Lompoc, says confession is one of the most sacred sacraments of the church.

“It’s all about God’s love, God’s mercy and forgiveness.”

Lawrence Santos says when a parishioner opens up to him about their sins, it stays between them and God.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service

May 9, 2019

New papal norms on preventing clergy sexual abuse are “a blessing that will empower the church everywhere to bring predators to justice, no matter what rank they hold in the church,” said Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The new juridical instrument “calls for the establishment of easily accessible reporting systems, clear standards for the pastoral support of victims and their families, timeliness and thoroughness of investigations, whistleblower protection for those making allegations, and active involvement of the laity,” Cardinal DiNardo said May 9.

The new document, given “motu proprio,” on the pope’s own initiative, was titled “Vos estis lux mundi” (“You are the light of the world”). Cardinal DiNardo praised it for leaving latitude for national bishops’ conferences, such as the USCCB, to specify still more to account for their local circumstances.

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