ABUSE TRACKER

ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

August 25, 2020

By Jesse Bogan

https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/a-people-of-hope-new-st-louis-archbishop-calls-on-roman-catholics-to-face-difficult/article_b02187aa-e577-59ba-9855-0773538fd375.html

The Rev. Mitchell T. Rozanski was installed Tuesday as the 10th archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, the largest faith organization in the region.

Typically a packed affair, attendance at the Cathedral Basilica was thin. Only about 400 people with reservations were let in for the afternoon ceremony. Many were priests. Every other pew was intentionally left open to provide social distancing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Despite the pandemic, Rozanski was officially made shepherd of about 500,000 Roman Catholics in St. Louis and 10 counties. He also has influence over Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in Shrewsbury and numerous schools, hospitals, religious communities and charities that serve the broader community.

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NEW ZEALAND
Stuff.com.nz

August 26, 2020

By Sam Sherwood

The Gloriavale Christian Community, on the South Island’s West Coast, deals with issues internally.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care is looking into Gloriavale, with an investigation into the community possible.

It comes amid revelations Gloriavale leaders forced a 13-year-old girl to sit in a room with a man who allegedly groomed her, because their versions of events did not match up.

Stuff earlier revealed the community’s sexual assault policy gave offenders “second and third chances” to stop offending – along with more rounds of forgiveness and repentance meetings if they failed to stop – before leaders would consider kicking them out of the community.

On Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, established in 2018, confirmed it had Gloriavale on its radar.

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POLAND
Balkan Insight

August 26, 2020

By Claudia Ciobanu

While the Polish authorities focus on fighting an imagined threat to children from what they call the “LGBT lobby”, progress on combating pedophilia inside the Catholic Church, a well-documented phenomenon, remains slow.

Afew days after receiving her first communion in May last year, nine-year-old Julia told her mother she was sick and refused to go to church for further ceremonies planned in relation to this key moment in a Catholic family’s life.

“When I asked her why she didn’t want to go, she said she didn’t like the priest. When I asked her why, she said the priest was touching her,” Magda, Julia’s mother, told BIRN, speaking on the phone from Ruszow, a village of about 2,000 people in south-west Poland where the family lives.

According to the girl’s testimony, which experts verified as authentic as part of subsequent court proceedings, the local priest, Piotr M., had put his hands under her clothes and touched her in intimate areas.

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ALAMOGORDO (NM)
Alamogordo Daily News

August 25, 2020

By Nicole Maxwell

The Massachusetts-based Diocese named as a party in a child sexual abuse lawsuit along with two Alamogordo churches, called for dismissal in its response to the complaint.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester, in Massachusetts, said the statute of limitations had already expired in the case which accused a priest, Fr. David Holley, of sexually molesting children in Alamogordo.

Attorneys for the diocese also said in response that the lawsuit should have named the bishop and not the diocese. Holley had been incardinated — or working under the jurisdiction of — the Diocese of Worcester on May 15, 1967.

In New Mexico the statute of limitations is six years from the date of an assault against victims between the ages of 13 and 18.

The case was filed in the New Mexico Second Judicial District in Bernalillo County on March 31, 2020, and alleged that a victim was abused by Holley in Alamogordo in the 1970s.

The complainant, John Doe, named the Servants of the Paraclete, St. Jude Parish, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and the Dioceses of Worcester, El Paso and Las Cruces as parties in the lawsuit.

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ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Albuquerque Journal

August 24, 2020

By Colleen Heild

Two more former students of the now-closed St. Anthony Home for Boys came forward Monday to file childhood sexual abuse lawsuits against nuns who ran the orphanage after a top superior at the religious order recently stated she didn’t believe children had been molested there, their attorneys say.

The two men “are not motivated by compensation, as the sexual abuse happened many decades ago, but primarily want the truth to be known, and are asking the Court to put into public archives all documents that point to the need for accountability and transparency,” said their attorneys Brad D. Hall and Levi Monagle in a statement on Monday.

The allegations in both lawsuits focus primarily on the conduct of a specific nun at the now-closed orphanage in Albuquerque, which was operated by the Sisters of St. Francis, based in Colorado Springs.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
SNAP Network

August 24, 2020

A new book’s explosive claim that Pope Francis personally met with and “quizzed” a parish priest who was going to share his knowledge regarding a clergy sexual abuse and cover-up case with local police once again lays bare the hypocrisy of Catholic leaders in Rome.

Pope Francis and his colleagues drag their feet when it comes to investigating and punishing abusers and enablers. However, in this case, they reacted with lightning speed when they learned that Fr. Glen Walsh was going to give police information related to how Archbishop Phillip Wilson of Adelaide, Australia, handled abuse allegations. According to the book Altar Boys, Fr. Walsh was summoned to the Vatican and made to answer questions about why he was involved in a case against an archbishop and what he intended to tell the police.

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KALAMAZOO (MI)
WoodTV (Channel 8)

Felony charges have been issued against a well-known Kalamazoo pastor who’s been accused of paying teens for sex.

Rev. Stricjavvar “Strick” Strickland has been charged with 11 felony counts involving sexual assaults with children.

Strickland faces four counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person between the ages of 13 and 15, three counts of child sexually abusive activity and four counts of human trafficking of a minor.

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KALAMAZOO (MI)
MLive.com

August 24, 2020

By Ryan Boldrey

The Rev. Stricjavvar Strickland, of Kalamazoo’s Second Baptist Church, has been charged with 11 felony criminal sexual charges.

He had a warrant issued for his arrest Friday, Aug. 21.

According to court records, Strickland was yet to turn himself in as of Monday, Aug. 24.

Strickland faces 11 felony charges, including two counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct on a student, one on a person age 13-15 and one by force or coercion.

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DELAWARE
Delaware Online

August 25, 2020

By Esteban Parra

A 34-year-old Hartly man has been indicted on 89 charges he was involved in sexual relationships with two teenage girls who were members of a church youth group he’d been leading for the past three years.

Word of the sexual liaison came to light when John C. Sapp Jr. contacted Maranatha Fellowship church’s lead pastor in February requesting to “immediately meet with him,” according to court documents. It was during this meeting, at Sapp’s house with his wife there, that the youth leader confessed to “inappropriately touching” a girl.

Maranatha Fellowship did not immediately respond to messages sent to the church on Monday.

Delaware State Police investigators questioned the girl Sapp had mentioned.

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ROCHDALE (ENGLAND)
Rochdale News

August 25, 2020

By Nathalie Swanwick

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/136174/victims-of-sexual-abuse-urged-to-come-forward-following-former-middleton-priest%E2%80%99s-death

Executors of the estate of a former Middleton priest are looking for individuals who may have suffered sexual abuse at his hands to come forward.

Michael Studdert worked in Langley, Middleton, during the 1960s and is believed to have abused children in England, Wales, Poland, Denmark and Italy.

Following his death, Studdert’s estate was frozen to allow his victims a chance to file claims for compensation.

On three occasions between 1988 and 2006, Studdert was convicted of various charges relating to his possession of indecent images of children. In 1988, Studdert was convicted on four counts of possessing these images whilst working as a chaplain at Eagle House School in Berkshire.

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INDIA
UCA News

August 24, 2020

Tribal boy files police complaint against founder of Odisha shelter for poor children

A court in the eastern Indian state of Odisha has granted bail to a British missionary who was arrested on charges of sexually abusing a tribal boy.

John Patrick Bridge, a UK citizen, was arrested on Aug. 20 in Jharsuguda where he runs a residential institute for poor tribal children, superintendent of police PR Rahul told reporters.

“There are several small sects working in the diocese as well as in the state and since they don’t come under the Catholic diocese we have no control over them. We have very limited knowledge about their activities and we don’t interfere with their work,” Father Bartholomeo Bilung, vicar general of Sambalpur Diocese, told UCA News.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Tablet

August 25, 2020

By Liz Dodd

Ampleforth Abbey is to elect a new Abbot in 2021 after the Holy See concluded that Fr Cuthbert Madden, who stepped aside from the role in 2016 during an investigation into alleged misconduct, should not return to the community.

Fr Madden stepped aside as Abbot in 2016 after allegations of sexual misconduct were made against him. He has always denied any wrongdoing. North Yorkshire Police investigated the allegations and did not bring charges; the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (CSAS) Review Panel which examined Fr Cuthbert’s case did not find any sexual misconduct.

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SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
Crux

August 19, 2020

By Peter Rosengren

In an exclusive interview prerecorded and aired at a U.S. conference, Cardinal George Pell reminded his audience how important the church in the U.S. is for world Catholicism and Western civilization.

U.S. Catholicism “is vitally important for us in smaller countries, we rely on you for your scholarship, your leadership … the pastoral strategies that you implement and prove to be successful will be watched and imitated by us,” he said.

Despite the scandals in church leadership, which had been “deeply wounding,” many parts of the church in the U.S. are offering a way forward in the present crisis. He named U.S. bishops such as Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and the late Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago as outstanding examples of church leadership and vision in the present era.

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PERTH (AUSTRALIA)
The Record

August 20, 2020

By Desmond O’Grady

The Outsider, by the London Tablet’s Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb, is a sustained defence of Pope Francis. Lambert presents him as reviving the hopes of the Second Vatican Council and inspirer of renewal movements throughout the Catholic Church. Occasionally he waxes lyrical in his praise.

Among the aspects of the seven-year pontificate which he examines are the clerical sexual abuse scandal, the dismissal of the head of the Knights of Malta which he links with the dubia or questions posed by four cardinals to Pope Francis, and the fierce criticism of the Pope from certain Catholic media. Here he provides information on the backers of these media, mostly American, some of which want the pope to step down.

In his enthusiasm for Pope Francis, Lambert skirts the complexity of the situation. He considers that Francis has initiated a new era. He makes striking gestures in this direction which have a big impact. However, Francis must win in the Vatican too but, like his predecessors, he struggles to handle certain issues.

He has not solved the problems connected with the Church’s central bureaucracy the Roman Curia. There are several cases of Vatican employees being brusquely dismissed without any explanation or any opportunity for an appeal. Moreover, two journalists were put on trial before they were acquitted by a lay Vatican judge.

Lamb writes about Cardinal Pell before he was acquitted by the Australian High Court. He treats him as a dubious choice for the Vatican Economic Secretariat because of the accusations against him. But the crucial question surely is why and how his attempt to introduce a new rigor in Vatican finances were blocked.

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[“We pray that things are clarified”]

RECONQUISTA (ARGENTINA)
Pagina12

August 23, 2020

El cura Aldo Martini, párroco en Reconquista, saludó al ex cura Néstor Monzón, que cumple 16 años de condena por abuso sexual de menores.

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION: The priest Aldo Martini, parish priest in Reconquista, greeted the former priest Néstor Monzón, who is serving a 16-year sentence for sexual abuse of minors.]

El cura Aldo Martini, párroco en la Iglesia Inmaculada Concepción de la ciudad de Reconquista, en Santa Fe, saludó públicamente por su cumpleaños al ex sacerdote Néstor Monzón, condenado a 16 años de prisión por el delito de abuso sexual gravemente ultrajante en perjuicio de una niña y un niño. “Estamos rezando por él para que se aclaren las cosas”, señaló Martini en Radio Amanecer, la emisora católica de la región. Además, se refirió a la desaparición de Facundo Astudillo Castro, cuestionó a las Madres de Plaza de Mayo y reveló haber asistido a la marcha anticuarentena del 17 de agosto. Durante el saludo por el cumpleaños de Monzón, Martini llamó “padre” al ex párroco, quien en 2016 fue suspendido de los cargos eclesiásticos luego de que las familias de la niña y el niño abusados radicaran las denuncias.

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[They do not rule out more complaints against the priest Sidders for sexual abuse in a school in La Plata]

LA PLATA (ARGENTINA)
Misiones Online

August 23, 2020

La denuncia de una joven de 27 años de acoso y abuso sexual por parte de un sacerdote hace muchos años atrás en el colegio San Vicente de Paul de La Plata el jueves pasado, ante la Fiscalía de aquella ciudad, no sería el único caso que involucra al cura y no se descarta que al menos 20 niños más –hoy mayores de edad- habrían padecido situaciones similares, cuando el acusado fue el guía espiritual de la institución.

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[The Archbishop of La Plata asked that the denounced priest not have contact with minors]

LA PLATA (ARGENTINA)
Grupo La Provincia

August 23, 2020

El Arzobispado de La Plata se puso a disposición de la Justicia para colaborar con el “pleno esclarecimiento” de la denuncia por presunto abuso y corrupción de menores presentada contra un sacerdote que se desempeñó en una escuela católica de la capital bonaerense, al tiempo que recomendó “que no se le encomiende ninguna tarea en colegios o con menores de edad”.

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OAKLAND (MI)
Oakland Press

August 24, 2020

By Aileen Wingblad

https://www.theoaklandpress.com/news/copscourts/judge-denies-request-by-attorney-representing-priest-facing-rape-charge/article_facd0080-e62f-11ea-9447-9b413a011ba2.html

An attorney representing a Catholic pastor accused of a decades-old rape of a child was denied a request in court Monday to have certain witnesses stricken from the case.

The request was denied by Wayne County Circuit Judge Bridget Mary Hathaway, court records show.

A trial date for Fr. Joseph “Jack” Baker is pending after the trial scheduled for last spring was postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Baker, 58, is currently suspended from his duties at St. Perpetua Parish in Waterford due to the allegations. He’s charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct – sexual penetration with a person less than 13 years ago, which allegedly occurred in a storage room of St. Mary Catholic Church in Wayne in 2004.

The Oakland Press is not identifying the victim of the alleged rape due to the nature of the offense.

At a preliminary exam last year in 18th District Court in Westland, the alleged victim testified that the incident happened when he was a second-grader at the parish school. He said he was in the church’s storage room or sacristy when Baker sat him down and began talking to him, and then raped him.

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CINCINNATI
Cincinnati.com

August 24, 2020

By Kathy Weyer

St. Peter in Chains Cathedral is now a “minor basilica.” It is clear that Archbishop Dennis Schnurr is excited and proud, and it is clear that he welcomed members of the news media into the cathedral (now basilica) space on Aug. 15 so he could talk about ceremonial bells and special privileges.

This openness to the press is a dramatic shift.

Two years ago, Archbishop Schnurr was considerably less welcoming of the media into St. Peter in Chains Cathedral, when the Archdiocese of Cincinnati celebrated its first Mass for Healing for the Church and for Victims of Abuse. On that occasion, reporters were kept outside the church and could not bear witness to the history inside when the archbishop suspended the Mass as church ushers escorted a family member of a survivor of clergy abuse out of the church who had spoken out in anguish.

The news media could not see Archbishop Schnurr, as he stood silent at the podium, offering no acknowledgement of the man’s pain, no words of condolence or peace, and no prayer – just a “sorry for the interruption” and then resuming the liturgy.

What a juxtaposition

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WEST VIRGINIA
Weirton Daily Times

August 24, 2020

By Alan Olson

With Michael Bransfield issuing a six-sentence letter of apology to the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston last weekend for years of sexual and financial abuse, the church hopes to consider the matter closed. The marks from his tumultuous term of office, however, remain.

Bransfield issued his statement in a letter dated Aug. 15 claiming that he did not mean to make those under his power feel sexually harassed, as well as denying that a pattern of excessive and lavish spending was inappropriate. Nevertheless, he agreed to comply with a demand from The Vatican to pay back $441,000 and to take a reduced retirement package, in what one canon lawyer described as an “unprecedented” show of accountability from the church.

Bransfield was installed as bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in 2005, taking over from Bernard Schmitt, who had been bishop since 1989 and who had retired the year prior.

Before becoming bishop, Bransfield served as director of finance, executive director, and, ultimately, rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Tablet

August 24, 2020

By Simon Caldwell

Priests and all Catholics are being urged to learn the signs of domestic abuse and how to help victims.

The National Board of Catholic Women has responded to a surge in pandemic-related domestic abuse, including against gay and transgender people by issuing a booklet advising on how to detect the signs and to help.

The booklet, which defines abuse and provides examples of abusive behaviour, points out that domestic abuse also occurs in same-sex relationships and is experienced by transgender people as well.

“Whilst recognising the teaching of the Catholic Church on same-sex relationships, there will be parishioners who identify as LGBTQ+,” the booklet says. “As a matter of pastoral compassion, it is important that our priests and parishioners are aware of domestic abuse issues within these relationships.”

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HARARE (ZIMBABWE)
The Guardian

August 24, 2020

By Nyasha Chingono

Government calls Vatican representative for talks after scathing letter accuses Mnangagwa of corruption and abuse of power

The Zimbabwean government has summoned the Vatican representative in Harare over growing criticism by Catholic bishops of the country’s human rights record.

The move follows a scathing letter send by local clergy accusing President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s regime of abusing power in its crackdown on political activists, and of rampant corruption.

The letter reads: “The crackdown on dissent is unprecedented. Is this the Zimbabwe we want? To have a different opinion does not mean to be an enemy. It is precisely from the contrast of opinions that the light comes. Our government automatically labels anyone thinking differently as an enemy of the country: that is an abuse …

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NEW ORLEANS
WWL-TV, Channel 4

August 20, 2020

By David Hammer

The archdiocese is accused of filing for bankruptcy to limit future abuse claims

Sex abuse victims and others with claims against the Archdiocese of New Orleans argued the local church filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection “in bad faith” and the case should be thrown out during a virtual U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing Thursday.

Their claims appeared to be bolstered by a letter written to the Vatican by New Orleans Archbishop Greg Aymond on April 28, just two days before the May 1 bankruptcy filing. In the letter, Aymond assures his bosses in Rome, “The archdiocese is not insolvent. We have sufficient cash, cash equivalents and investments to cover 100 percent of our liabilities.”

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QUEENS (NY)
The New York Post

August 22, 2020

By Melissa Klein

A former teacher and administrator at a church-run school is facing 12 lawsuits alleging he sexually abused young boys beginning in the 1970s and continuing for more than a decade.

The latest in the spate of suits against Lawrence Svrcek was filed in Queens State Supreme Court. It alleges that he molested a victim identified only by the initials S.G. beginning in 1984 when the student attended Jamaica Day School, which was run by St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church.

Svrcek, 74, was a gym teacher, coach and later vice principal of the school. He was also a Boy Scout leader.

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TASMANIA
The Advocate

August 23, 2020

By Meg Powell

An empty “bush block” at Rosebery is the latest property owned by the Anglican Church of Tasmania to join the open market.

Bishop Richard Condie in 2018 announced a decision to sell off diocesan property to fund its contribution to the National Redress Scheme for survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.

A total of 108 properties were initially listed, and then cut down to 73 after local parishes chipped in thousands of dollars.

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UNITED STATES
Friendly Atheist via Patheos.com (blog)

August 23, 2020

By Val Wilde

“Scandal or wonderment” — that’s how former West Virginia bishop Michael Bransfield describes the fallout from the misuse of his position.

While he presided over the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, Bransfield was living it up on the parishioners’ dime: pouring millions of dollars into personal travel and luxury purchases, spending hundreds of thousands on gifts for other priests.

And yes, those gifts had ulterior motives attached: Some of them went to senior leaders in a bid to buy influence in the region, while others went to younger clerics Bransfield was later accused of sexually harassing.

Rather than stripping Bransfield of his priesthood, Pope Francis elected to write a strongly-worded letter of admonishment with a few weak-tea sanctions tossed in to encourage him to “make personal amends for some of the harm he has caused.”

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UNITED STATES
LifeSiteNews

August 21, 2020

By Phil Lawler

Bp. Michael Bransfield’s ‘apology’ is of the sort that could have been delivered with a one-finger gesture.

This morning I had planned to write about the disgraceful excuse for an “apology” proffered by a former bishop. But I see that Christopher Altieri, writing in the Catholic Herald has beaten me to the punch:

“Let’s be clear about two things: Bishop Michael J. Bransfield — improbably emeritus of the Diocese of Wheeling Charleston — did not apologize; nor did he get the “justice with a gesture of mercy” that his successor, Bishop Mark E. Brennan, suggested he might have got.”

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WELLINGTON (NEW ZEALAND)
Radio New Zealand

August 22, 2020

A victim of abuse at Marylands School in Christchurch says a new investigation is overdue but he hopes it will result in justice.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in state care has launched eight new investigations including one about the Christchurch school which was run by the Catholic religious order, the Hospitaller Brothers of St John of God, from the 1950s to 1984.

It will look into the nature and extent of abuse that occurred, why it happened and the impact it had on victims.

How the Catholic Church responded to the allegations will also be investigated.

Survivor Darryl Smith spent a year at the school in 1971 when he was seven years old.

“Everyone knew it was happening, the older boys would warn us to not go into certain rooms. It’s about time the school is being investigated.”

He wants people to be held accountable.

“As soon as the government found out this order was preying on little boys with special needs they should have stepped in. People were coming forward about abuse in the school in the 50s, long before I was even born.”

Smith said the order and church kept the abuse quiet and denied it for years.

“It’s time the order which I think are a pack of criminals are bought to justice. The church would investigate abuse allegations and then nothing would happen.”

Smith has written multiple books about the abuse he suffered in state care and travelled to the Vatican last year to meet with cardinals to discuss it.

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NEW YORK (NY)
America Magazine

August 20, 2020

By Colleen Dulle

The archbishop of Hamburg, Stefan Hesse, has called for an open debate on the ordination of women in the Catholic Church.

“One has to be permitted to think about and discuss the issues,” the German archbishop said on Aug. 19. He argued that “Ordinatio sacerdotalis,” St. John Paul II’s 1994 letter that stated the church cannot ordain women as priests, was positioned as a response to those who considered women’s ordination “open to debate” and affirmed the male-only priesthood “in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance.”

Archbishop Hesse said new arguments had emerged in the conversation around women’s ordination that needed to be addressed. “The historical perspective is one thing—but it isn’t everything,” he said.

Archbishop Hesse is a member of the forum on “Women in Ministries and Offices in the Church” in the “synodal journey” reform project launched by the Catholic Church in Germany. The project places laypeople—represented by German’s prominent lay organization, the Central Committee of German Catholics—in dialogue with that country’s bishops on a range of topics relevant to the church today, including sexuality, priestly celibacy and women’s roles. The lay committee openly supports ordaining women both as deacons and priests.

The archbishop said he hoped the reform talks would examine controversial issues and that the bishops would convey the results to Rome. “But I also hold the realistic view that this will not answer or resolve the issues,” he said.

The reform project, announced in 2019 as a “binding synodal process” in response to a 2018 report on sexual abuse in the German church, has caught the attention of Pope Francis and the Vatican. In June 2019, prior to the group’s first meeting, Pope Francis wrote a letter to the group that has been interpreted as suggesting the church in Germany take a separate, similar “synodal journey” focused on evangelization. This was followed by a Vatican legal review last September, which stated that the synodal journey’s plan to reach binding decisions meant the meeting was actually a “plenary council,” which would require approval from the pope.

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CANBERRA (AUSTRALIA)
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia

August 21, 2020

By the Governance Review Project Team of the Implementation Advisory Group, as amended by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia

[See also the leaked version of the report before amendments, and discussions of that draft in the National Catholic Reporter and Our Sunday Visitor.]

1.1 Genesis and background of the Review (page 10)

The final report of the Royal Commission commented adversely on the Church’s practices in respect to decision-making and accountability and their impact on the protection of children and the response to concerns about, and allegations of, child sexual abuse. The Commissioners said:

In accordance with contemporary standards of good governance, we encourage the Catholic Church in Australia to explore and develop ways in which its structure and practices of governance may be made more accountable, more transparent, more meaningfully consultative and more participatory, including at the diocesan and parish level.

This led to recommendation 16.7:

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference should conduct a national review of the governance and management structures of dioceses and parishes, including in relation to issues of transparency, accountability, consultation and the participation of lay men and women. This review should draw from the approaches to governance of Catholic health, community services and education agencies.

In their publicly released response to the Royal Commission of 31 August 2018, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) and Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) accepted the recommendation and entrusted the conduct of this governance Review (the Review) to the Implementation Advisory Group (IAG).

*

6.6.2 Identification and management of risk to children and other persons vulnerable to harm (page 78)

The response of many churches and other institutions to child sexual abuse and other abusive behaviour showed a poor response to the identification and minimisation of risk to children and others harmed, including:

• a lack of understanding and/or acknowledgement of the impact of abuse of those harmed;

• completely inadequate responses such as moving perpetrators to other areas or institutions and allowing them to remain engaged in ministry; and

• a tendency to allow legal advice that focused on a strict interpretation of legal liability to overshadow moral considerations and the paramount consideration of the protection of children.

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PARRAMATTA (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
Catholic Outlook – Diocese of Parramatta

August 23, 2020

By Fr Frank Brennan SJ

During the week, I participated in a webinar entitled ‘The Light from The Southern Cross: Promoting Co-Responsible Governance in the Catholic Church in Australia’. Zoom conferences and webinars are now commonplace for those of us enduring the pandemic lockdown. This webinar was run out of the offices of a large law firm in Sydney. The proceedings were chaired by the distinguished broadcaster Geraldine Doogue. More than 150 committed Catholics tuned in. There was quite a buzz to the proceedings. And most of the time, the technology worked well. Geraldine introduced the keynote presenter Francois Kunc who is a judge of the New South Wales Supreme Court. He had the unenviable task of providing a 15-minute overview of the 208-page report containing 86 recommendations for improved governance of the Catholic Church in Australia. I was one of nine responders. The other responders included three of the key authors who were part of the seven-member Governance Review Project Team commissioned to provide this report to the Church’s Implementation Advisory Group which had been set up by our bishops after the Royal Commission. Another responder was one of the theological advisers to the review team. The discussion was lively, informed, and respectful. Men and women were at the table in equal numbers. Appropriately, the laity heavily outnumbered the clergy.

LISTEN: https://soundcloud.com/frank-brennan-6/homily-23820

But something wasn’t quite right. There was no bishop on the panel. We were told that invitations had been extended but to no avail. Like most things in the Church, there’s probably a back story. But I was left thinking that a discussion about co-responsible governance in the Catholic Church could well do with a couple of bishops at the table. Most of us who spoke would have been in our 60s. When looking to future governance of our church, it’s probably best to start as we’d want to finish. If co-responsibility is to work, bishops and young people will need to be at the table.

This report had been presented to our bishops at the last minute before their last conference in May 2020. Instead of publishing it promptly, the bishops decided that they wanted to sit on it until their next meeting in November 2020. The report in draft form was leaked fairly soon after the bishops completed their meeting in May. Following the leak, the bishops did a rethink on their schedule. On 12 June 2020, Archbishop Coleridge, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, announced that the bishops “would provide their feedback before 17 July.” He wrote, “After this feedback has been received, the report will be amended. The amended version will then be published in late July or early August, accompanied by a reading guide. This version will be widely available, and people are encouraged to read the full report (and not just the recommendations) and to provide feedback to their local bishop to help him in shaping his response.” That’s the last we heard from our bishops before the webinar went ahead on 19 August. On Friday, two days after the webinar, the bishops finally published the revised report. If co-responsible governance of our Church is to be a reality, we all have to do better than this. And we all have to get moving if bishops are to receive feedback and formulate their own responses in time for their November meeting.

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CANBERRA (AUSTRALIA)
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia

August 21, 2020

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia have today published an “important and substantial” document on the review of diocesan and parish governance and management in Australia.

The review was recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The Church’s Implementation Advisory Group (IAG) oversaw the development of the report, The Light from the Southern Cross: Promoting Co-responsible Governance in the Catholic Church in Australia. The IAG engaged the Governance Review Project Team (GRPT) to research and study Church governance and to prepare the 208-page report, which includes 86 recommendations. “The Light from the Southern Cross makes an important and substantial contribution to the life and mission of the Church in Australia, and the bishops and leaders of religious institutes thank those responsible for its preparation and delivery,” Bishops Conference president Archbishop Mark Coleridge said.

CRA president Br Peter Carroll FMS added: “As leaders in the Catholic Church responsible for hundreds of Church entities, CRA and the Bishops Conference are working through numerous governance reforms and practices as outlined by the recommendations of the Royal Commission.

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
Times-Picayune and New Orleans Advocate

August 22, 2020

By Ramon Antonio Vargas

A priest whom the Archdiocese of New Orleans added this week to a list of clergymen faced with credible allegations of child molestation dating back to the 1980s has since been listed on a similar roster compiled by church officials in Las Vegas, where he spent his retirement.

Officials with the Diocese of Las Vegas said they moved to include Brian Highfill on their credibly accused list Friday as a result of two complaints filed against him by accusers he encountered while working in New Orleans. No one in Las Vegas had accused Highfill, 78, of any misconduct as of Friday, officials there said.

Highfill was ordained in 1974 and worked at a half-dozen different churches in the New Orleans area over the next six years, among them Metairie’s St. Catherine of Siena and St. Edward the Confessor. He later moved away from New Orleans and worked as a military chaplain for about two decades before retiring in the late 1990s in Las Vegas, where he continued in ministry as a volunteer.

After new revelations about the worldwide Catholic Church’s ongoing clergy sex abuse crisis surfaced two summers ago, a man named Mike Brandner Sr. contacted Las Vegas diocese officials in late August 2018 and provided them with love letters that his late younger brother, Scot, had started receiving from Highfill when Scot was a high school senior in 1980.

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ALEXANDRIA (LA)
Town Talk

August 22, 2020

By Melissa Gregory

A lawsuit filed this month in Alexandria calls a Catholic priest a “diseased pedophile who raped and sexually assaulted many young boys.” The priest, the Rev. Leo Van Hoorn, was among 27 named in a February 2019 letter from Bishop David P. Talley as having credible accusations of sexual abuse against minors.

The lawsuit claims Van Hoorn, who died in 2006 at age 74 in Baton Rouge, was “moved frequently throughout the various parishes of the Diocese of Alexandria.”

The Diocese of Alexandria is the sole defendant named in the lawsuit, which was recorded on Aug. 3. It has not answered the lawsuit yet, and a Friday email and telephone message seeking comment weren’t immediately answered.

Lawsuit:Fired Alexandria Police lieutenant expected to file lawsuit after appeal denied

The victim is referred to only as Lou Doe. The alleged abuse against Doe happened in 1962-63 while the child was in the first or second grade.

The Doe family’s children attended Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Pineville during the 1960s.

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SYDNEY (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
Sydney Morning Herald

August 20, 2020

By Harriet Alexander

A low-ranking parish priest who agreed to give evidence against an archbishop accused of concealing child sexual abuse was mysteriously summoned to the Vatican before he was due to testify and allegedly quizzed by the Pope about what he was planning to say in court.

As the priest emerged from the 2016 meeting, Cardinal George Pell was allegedly waiting outside. “Look what I have done for you,” Cardinal Pell said, and lifted his hand for the priest to kiss his ring.

According to The Altar Boys by investigative reporter Suzanne Smith, there’s no allegation Cardinal Pell intended to put pressure on Father Glen Walsh not to give evidence.

The explosive claim about the papal meeting, contained in The Altar Boys, indicates that the pressure brought to bear on priests who betray the brotherhood extends right up to the Vatican, and has prompted calls for a police investigation.

Father Walsh was a Crown witness in the case against Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson when he met with the pontiff on February 9, 2016. Archbishop Wilson was accused of failing to report to police the allegations of two former altar boys who claimed they had been abused by a priest in the Newcastle-Maitland diocese in the 1970s. At the time he was the highest-ranking Catholic ever to be charged with concealment offences.

Father Walsh later told confidants that the Pope asked him why he was involved in a court case against an archbishop, what he was planning to say in court, and who was walking with him on the journey. Father Walsh said he did not trust the interpreter and offered scant detail.

It was the pinnacle of what Father Walsh perceived as a sustained campaign by the priesthood to get him to toe the line on child sexual abuse. He was allegedly frozen out of the Maitland-Newcastle diocese after he defied the bishop to report a fellow priest for child sexual abuse in 2004 and was not welcomed back until early 2017.

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MELBOURNE (VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA)
The Age

August 21, 2020

By Cameron Houston

A victim of one of Victoria’s most notorious paedophile priests says law firm Slater and Gordon bungled his compensation claim against the Catholic Church, which paid out $75,000 for horrific sexual abuse.

Slater and Gordon has been accused of negligence in documents filed in the Supreme Court, including claims it failed to advise its client of his alternative rights to compensation that could have exceeded $1 million.

However, a Slater and Gordon spokeswoman said the statement of claim lodged by rival firm Arnold Thomas and Becker was “misconceived and fails to reflect current developments in the law”.

Slater and Gordon indicated it would vigorously defend the case, which could have implications for more than 320 victims of clerical abuse, who received about $10 million from the church’s compensation scheme set up in 1996 by George Pell.

Known as the Melbourne Response, the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne appointed an independent commissioner who investigated allegations of abuse and made a determination based on the evidence.

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NEWCASTLE (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
Newcastle Herald

August 22, 2020

By Ian Kirkwood

https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/6890316/the-altar-boys-clerical-abuse-expose-launched-at-newcastle-city-hall/

Newcastle City Hall rang with socially distanced applause last night during the launch of The Altar Boys by Suzanne Smith, as Geoffrey Nash – brother of abuse victim Andrew Nash – read the names of 38 priests, brothers and lay Catholic staff from the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle diocese he said had been convicted or acknowledged as child abusers.

COVID-19 restrictions meant just 140 people were at the concert hall for the launch.

Smith’s long career at the ABC included leading Lateline’s clerical abuse investigations, and a good slice of the audience had either spoken to her for the book, or were featured in it.

The book centres on two suicides: that of whistleblower priest Father Glen Walsh, and ABC journalist Steven Alward, a colleague and friend of Smith’s.

Alward’s life partner, Sydney writer Mark Wakely, sat quietly in the darkened hall as classical pianist Gerard Willems played some of Robert Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood as a memorium.

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TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade

August 21, 2020

By Nicki Gorny

Findlay – In their shock, their anger, their sadness and their heartache, parishioners turned to each other.

More than a hundred of them gathered on the grounds of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Findlay this week, spreading themselves out in the parking lot for a parishioner-led candlelight prayer vigil. In familiar verses and extemporaneous petitions, they prayed for a parish and a community rocked by the previous day’s arrest of their pastor on sex abuse-related charges.

“For St. Michael the Archangel Parish,” one parishioner offered as a petition, his voice rising clearly above the subdued crowd. “That we will stay strong and get through this together.”

“Lord,” they responded, echoing the words they say together every Sunday, “hear our prayer.”

With a vibrant congregation that encompasses approximately 3,300 families – and as the only Catholic parish firmly in northwest Ohio’s Hancock County – St. Michael the Archangel Parish is the largest parish in the 19-county Diocese of Toledo, according to Kelly Donaghy, the diocese’s senior director for communications. It covers a downtown stone church and a sprawling campus on the east side of the city, where a newly dedicated church opened with seating for 2,000 in the early 2000s; the parish’s main campus also encompasses an affiliated parish school and brand-new convent for several just-arrived Adrian Dominican Sisters.

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FINDLAY (OH)
The Courier

August 22, 2020

By Denise Grant

Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn didn’t mince words after learning of the arrest of the Rev. Michael Zacharias, pastor of St. Michael the Archangel parish, Findlay.

In a statement issued before noon Tuesday, the day of the arrest, Muryn said the Findlay Police Department will cooperate fully with the investigation.

“I am distraught by the news of the arrest of Father Michael Zacharias. These allegations are not taken lightly, and the Findlay Police Department and our community at large will support the full and thorough investigation by the FBI. Such abuse of power, and perversion of sexuality is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated by any organization, individual, or society,” said Muryn.

As of Tuesday, Muryn said the city’s police department was not involved in the investigation, and has no information that St. Michael’s School or its students were involved.

Zacharias, 53, was taken into federal custody Tuesday from his home at 2008 Greendale Ave. by the Northwest Ohio Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. He made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Toledo on Tuesday. He is being held in federal custody without bail.

He is charged with sex offenses involving two former students of Catholic schools in Toledo over a period of years.

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FINDLAY (OH)
The Courier

August 21, 2020

By Lou Wilin

News that their pastor was charged with sex trafficking has devastated members of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in ways that could cause some to leave the church.

Scandals occur in other church denominations, to be sure, and they all are painful. But experts point out that for Catholics, a scandal involving a priest — in Catholic tradition the mediator between people and their God — is even more devastating.

“They feel betrayed. They feel embarrassed,” said William Payne, professor of evangelism and world missions and director of Chaplaincy Studies at Ashland Theological Seminary. “That embarrassment is going to go down to your soul. It’s also going to make you angry that this happened, because this shouldn’t happen.”

Church members will be dealing with the pain for a long time, said Marcos Ghali, assistant professor of counseling at Ashland Theological Seminary Counseling Program. Members are experiencing something like the stages of grief.

“When you hear this sort of news, you go in denial. You maybe go in, like, anger, resentment, and maybe you will distance yourself for a while from church, from even everything that is relating to God and faith, because now you’re not really standing on solid ground — especially when these cases of abuse have been persistent now for some time,” Ghali said. “When you hear one after the other, it’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy, like when you tell yourself, ‘See, I told you. It is all fake’ or ‘You can’t trust religion anymore.’”

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DUNEDIN (NEW ZEALAND)
Otago Daily Times

August 22, 2020

By Daisy Hudson

A Christian Brother allegedly sexually assaulted a young boy while working at a Dunedin school — the same school where the man’s brother assaulted several boys.

Brother Don Murray was subject to a complaint in 2018, relating to a series of incidents during his time at St Paul’s High School in the 1970s.

Br Murray is the brother of pedophile and former priest Magnus Murray, who was convicted on sex offence charges in 2003. Br Don Murray died in Auckland in May.

In a complaint to police seen by the Otago Daily Times, Michael Chamberlain alleged Br Don Murray approached him when he was 14-year-old pupil at the school in 1971.

Br Murray is alleged to have said his brother had told him he should introduce himself to him, Mr Chamberlain says in the complaint.

Mr Chamberlain said he was befriended by Br Murray, who started taking him to play squash at a club in Kaikorai Valley Rd. It was in the showers after games that the alleged abuse began.

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CHATHAM-KENT (ONTARIO, CANADA)
Blackburn News

August 19, 2020

By Paul Pedro

A woman sexually abused by a priest in Chatham decades ago can’t believe the Diocese of London is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to overturn a lower court ruling in her favour.

Irene Deschenes was sexually abused by Father Charles Sylvestre between 1971 and 1973 at St. Ursula School in Chatham. She was just 10-years-old when the abuse started. She filed a lawsuit against the Diocese in 1996 and, in 2000, reached a settlement after the Diocese said it was unaware of concerns about Sylvestre until the 1980s. However, it was later learned that the Diocese was made aware of accusations against Sylvestre in 1962. Deschenes then went to court to have the settlement thrown out and a new lawsuit filed.

In May, the Ontario Court of Appeal decided to uphold a 2018 court ruling to throw out the earlier settlement. In his 2018 decision, Justice David Aston acknowledged that Deschenes “would not have settled as she did in the fall of 2000 if they had known about the 1962 police reports.”

The Diocese is now asking the Supreme Court of Canada to take up the case.

“I’m very disappointed that, once again, the Diocese of London continues to bully victims into submission,” said Irene Deschenes. “Being abused as a little girl by a Roman Catholic priest was harmful enough. That the Diocese continues to use all its vast resources to continue to legally bully me is very painful. I recognize that they have a right to legally defend themselves, but is it the right thing to do?”

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WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligncer and News-Register

August 22, 2020

By Alan Olson

https://www.theintelligencer.net/news/top-headlines/2020/08/drinking-harassment-lavis-spending-how-michael-bransfield-shook-the-faithful/

With Michael Bransfield issuing a six-sentence letter of apology to the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston last weekend for years of alleged sexual and financial abuse, the church hopes to consider the matter closed. The marks from his tumultuous term of office, however, remain.

Bransfield issued his statement in a letter dated Aug. 15, claiming that he did not mean to make those under his power feel sexually harassed, as well as denying that a pattern of excessive and lavish spending was inappropriate. Nevertheless, he agreed to comply with a demand from The Vatican to pay back $441,000 and to take a reduced retirement package, in what one canon lawyer described as an “unprecedented” show of accountability from the church.

Bransfield was installed as bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in 2005, taking over from Wheeling native Bernard Schmitt, who had been bishop since 1989 and had retired the year prior.

Before becoming bishop, Bransfield served as director of finance, executive director, and, ultimately, rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

Attempts this week to reach Bransfield were unsuccessful.

Who’s Bransfield’s ‘Next Pretty Boy?’

According to the investigation commissioned on behalf of Archbishop William Lori, who led the diocese for about a year following Bransfield’s departure in September 2018, Bransfield’s misconduct began far earlier than his time as bishop, with several witnesses telling lay investigators that he had engaged in “a decades-long campaign of predatory behavior” beginning in 1982 while serving in several official capacities at the National Shrine. One former colleague described Bransfield as “creepy.”

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CHERRY HILL (NJ)
Courier-Post

August 21, 2020

By Jim Walsh

Camden – A lawsuit accuses a former principal at two Catholic high schools of sexually abusing a child while serving at a Camden County parish.

The Rev. Kenneth L. Johnston was among three priests, all now dead, who were named in four suits filed Thursday against the Diocese of Camden.

The allegations of sexual misconduct were the first to be brought against Johnston, a former principal at Gloucester Catholic and St. James high schools. Johnston, also a pastor at three South Jersey parishes, was described as a “kindly, gentlemanly priest” in a June 2018 obituary.

Two lawsuits made accusations against the Rev. Eldridge Evans, a former teacher at St. James High. A third alleged wrongdoing by the Rev. Gerald P. Clements, who taught at Camden Catholic High School.

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LAS VEGAS (NV)
Associated Press via Albany Times Union

August 21, 2020

Church officials in Nevada said Friday they’re following their counterparts in Louisiana in adding a Roman Catholic priest who was suspended in 2018 to a list of clergy members credibly accused of sexual abuse.

The Diocese of Las Vegas said it suspended Henry Brian Highfill in August 2018 after learning he had been accused of abusing a now-deceased relative while Highfill was a priest in New Orleans from 1974 to 1981.

Highfill, 78, owns a home in Las Vegas, according to public records. He did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. No telephone number was found, and the diocese did not provide a contact for him.

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LAS VEGAS (NV)
Review-Journal

August 21, 2020

By John Przybys

The Diocese of Las Vegas is adding the Rev. Henry Brian Highfill to its list of clergy and other diocesan-affiliated people who have been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse.

Highfill served at several parishes in the Las Vegas diocese between March 1999 and 2005. However, the diocese says no allegations have been made regarding his time here.

According to a statement on Friday, the Diocese of Las Vegas was contacted in August 2018 by someone who had “secondary information” alleging that Highfill “abused a now deceased close relative.”

The allegation involved events dating back to Highfill’s service in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, where he was ordained in May 1974, the diocese said.

The Las Vegas diocese suspended Highfill from public ministry on Aug. 28, 2018, and turned over the results of its investigation to Las Vegas police and the New Orleans archdiocese. “The estimated time of abuse was between 1975 and 1981 and to date there has been no accusation or information of any incidents in Las Vegas,” the diocese said.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service/USCCB via Crux

August 21, 2020

By Simon Caldwell

Manchester, England – Responding to a pandemic-related surge in domestic abuse, including against gay and transgender people, the National Board of Catholic Women urged pastors and fellow Catholics to learn the signs of abuse and how to help victims.

The booklet, which defines abuse and provides examples of abusive behavior, pointed out that domestic abuse also occurs in same-sex relationships and is experienced by transgender people as well.

“Whilst recognizing the teaching of the Catholic Church on same-sex relationships, there will be parishioners who identify as LGBTQ+,” the booklet said. “As a matter of pastoral compassion, it is important that our priests and parishioners are aware of domestic abuse issues within these relationships.”

Trans persons suffer domestic abuse when their “sense of gender or sexual identity” is undermined by spouses or family members, said the booklet.

The board, a consultative body to the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, also defined as abusive withholding hormones and surgery “needed to express victim’s gender identity.”

The booklet, “Raising Awareness of Domestic Abuse,” was published in mid-August on the website of the bishops’ conference and will be distributed to parishes throughout England and Wales. A report about the document and a link to it were featured on Vatican News.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
BBC

August 21, 2020

By Phil Shepka

A website to track down potential victims of a paedophile priest for compensation from his £4.7m estate has received contact from individuals.

Michael Studdert was jailed for four years in 2006 over indecent images but was never convicted of physical abuse before his death aged 78, in 2017.

A High Court judge ruled there was a “real prospect” he may have committed sexual assaults in the UK and abroad.

The website for potential victims has been online since the end of July.

Daniel Winter, from the executors of Studdert’s will, said the website aimed to “allow survivors of historical assault to come forward and state an intention to seek financial compensation from his legal estate”.

In the meantime Studdert’s estate has been “effectively frozen”, Mr Winter, of Nockolds Solicitors, said.

Studdert was banned from working in a priestly function in the Church of England after being jailed in 2006 for possessing, making and distributing indecent images of children.

More than 100,000 indecent images were found at his home.

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LONDON (ONTARIO, CANADA)
London Free Press

August 21, 2020

By Jane Sims

[Includes the important December 6, 2018 video statement by Irene Deschenes, announcing that she had won a court challenge to re-open a civil suit against the Catholic Church.]

Once again, the Roman Catholic Diocese of London, as Irene Deschenes said, isn’t ready to “do the right thing.”

You could set your watch this week for when the diocese would drop its application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, hoping to overturn a lower court decision allowing the sexual abuse survivor to reopen her two-decades-old civil case.

Deschenes had already brushed away any fleeting thought that the church might back off so she could move forward. The application arrived right at deadline.

“It’s painful enough to try to recover from the effects of sexual abuse by a Roman Catholic priest,” said Deschenes, 58, at her news conference Thursday.

“It’s more painful to recover from the effects of legal bullying that the church and their lawyers put victims through again and again.”

The church hasn’t offered any comment, but if it thinks all this legal effort will stop Deschenes, one of Canada’s most fearless survivors of sexual abuse by a priest, it should think again.

Deschenes is both a victim and whistleblower of prolific pedophile Charles Sylvestre, the defrocked priest who died at 84 in 2007, months into his three-year sentence for indecently assaulting 47 little girls over four decades in Windsor, London, Sarnia, Chatham and Pain Court.

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TORONTO (ONTARIO, CANADA)
Global News

August 20, 2020

By Paola Loriggio

An Ontario woman who was sexually abused by a priest as a child says the Roman Catholic church is turning to Canada’s top court in an effort to further delay a decades-long legal battle.

Irene Deschenes says the Diocese of London has filed for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada after Ontario’s highest court granted her the right to sue the church a second time over the abuse.

While the diocese has the right to legally defend itself, that doesn’t mean an appeal is the right thing to do, Deschenes said in a news conference Thursday.

“It’s painful enough to try to recover from the effects of sexual abuse by a Roman Catholic priest; it’s even more painful to recover from the effects of legal bullying that the church and their lawyers put victims through again and again,” she said.

“Two decades is two decades too long. If we go to mediation, this painful process will be expedited and I can finally get on with my life.”

A spokesperson for the diocese did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Deschenes first filed a lawsuit in 1996 alleging she was sexually abused by Father Charles Sylvestre in the early 1970s, and that the diocese failed to prevent it. She settled out of court in 2000 after the diocese maintained it didn’t know of any concerns regarding Sylvestre or his behaviour until the late 1980s.

In 2006, Sylvestre pleaded guilty to having sexually assaulted 47 girls under the age of 18, including Deschenes. It also came to light that the diocese had received police statements in 1962 alleging the priest had assaulted three girls.

As a result, Deschenes sought to throw out the settlement and launch a new lawsuit, and a motion judge ruled in her favour. The diocese challenged the ruling, but its appeal was unanimously dismissed by the province’s top court in May.

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TORONTO (ONTARIO, CANADA)
CBC

August 19, 2020

The Catholic Diocese of London is taking its fight against Irene Deschenes to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Deschenes was sexually abused by Father Charles Sylvestre between 1971 and 1973, while she was a student at St. Ursula Catholic School and a member of his parish in Chatham, Ont. She was 10 years old when it started.

Deschenes reported the abuse in 1992 and filed a lawsuit four years later. She reached a financial settlement with the Diocese in 2000 believing church officials did not know Father Sylvestre was preying on young girls.

He pleaded guilty in August 2006 to sexual assaults involving 47 victims, including Deschenes. All the girls were under the age of 18.

“On assurance from the Diocese of London that it had no information or knowledge that the priest had engaged in sexual abuse of other girls prior to the time Irene was so abused in 1971, Irene accepted an out-of-court settlement,” reads a statement released Wednesday by the group Advocates for Clergy Trauma Survivors in Canada (ACTS-Canada).

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WHEELING (WV)
Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston

August 15 2020; released August 20, 2020

By Bishop Emeritus Michael J. Bransfield

I am writing to apologize for any scandal or wonderment caused by words or actions attributed to me during my tenure as Bishop of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese.

First, during my tenure I was reimbursed for certain expenditures that have been called into question as excessive, and I have been advised that I should reimburse a certain amount of money to the Diocese. I have now done so even though I believed that such reimbursements to me were proper.

Second, there have been allegations that by certain words and actions I have caused certain priests and seminarians to feel sexually harassed. Although that was never my intent, if anything that I said or did caused others to feel that way, then I am profoundly sorry.

I hope that this letter will help to achieve a kind of reconciliation with the Faithful of the Diocese.

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)
Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston

August 20, 2020

By Bishop Mark Brennan

I wish to announce to the faithful people of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston that the Congregation for Bishops in Rome has reached a decision on how former Wheeling-Charleston Bishop Michael J. Bransfield should fulfill Pope Francis’ requirement that the Bishop “make personal amends for some of the harm he caused” while serving in this Diocese. This decision comes after extensive input from me, as the representative of the Catholic people of the Diocese, and with consideration of governing factors in both civil and canon law.

First, Bishop Bransfield has been told to make a public apology to the people of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese for the scandal he created. He is urged as well to apologize privately to certain individuals who reported abuse and harassment. We have received his letter of apology to the Diocese, which is being made public on our diocesan website, and are aware that some individuals have received a letter from the Bishop.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

August 20, 2020

By Jeremy Roebuck

https://www.inquirer.com/news/michael-bransfield-west-virginia-philly-bishops-abuse-catholic-church-20200820.html

The Rev. Michael Bransfield — the Philadelphia-raised priest and former West Virginia bishop who resigned in 2018 amid a scandal over his lavish spending and sexual misconduct allegations — issued a tepid apology Thursday, his first to Roman Catholic faithful in his former diocese and one made under orders from the Vatican.

Despite saying he was “profoundly sorry” if anything he said or did made priests of seminarians uncomfortable during his 13-year tenure at the helm of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, Bransfield continued to defend himself and took no responsibility for the millions he spent on pricey personal accommodations in one of the country’s poorest states.

“I am writing to apologize for any scandal or wonderment caused by words or actions attributed to me during my tenure,” he wrote in a letter dated Saturday and posted to the diocesan website by his successor Thursday.

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TORONTO (ONTARIO, CANADA)
Catholic Register – Archdiocese of Toronto

August 20, 2020

The Archdiocese of Toronto has removed from ministry a Salesian priest accused of abuse against a minor in the Archdiocese of New York dating back to the late 1970s or early 1980s.

The archdiocese was made aware earlier this week that Fr. Nino Cavoto, pastor at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Toronto’s west end, is facing accusations from his time at a parish in the New York archdiocese where he served between 1979 and 1983. There have been no allegations of misconduct against him since he arrived in the Toronto archdiocese in 1983.

“Following our procedure relating to allegations of misconduct, the Archdiocese of Toronto has removed Fr. Cavoto from ministry pending the investigation,” the archdiocese said in a news release. “He is entitled to due process, as is any accused individual.”

The archdiocese looks upon allegations of misconduct as “an urgent matter” and is following its full “Procedure for Cases of Alleged Misconduct” protocol in the matter, added the release.

In the interim, Fr. Chris Cauchi has been appointed administrator at Our Lady of Sorrows.

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
Archdiocese of New Orleans

August 19, 2020

The Archdiocese of New Orleans has concluded a thorough investigation into allegations of abuse of minors lodged against Henry Brian Highfill. Highfill was removed from ministry pending the outcome of this investigation. Today, the archbishop has added his name to the Archdiocese of New Orleans Report Regarding Clergy Abuse, found online at nolacatholic.org and has affirmed Highfill’s removal from ministry.

Highfill has not ministered in the New Orleans area in 40 years. He remained incardinated to the Archdiocese of New Orleans and left to serve as a military chaplain through the Archdiocese of the Military.

Highfill’s pastoral assignments in the Archdiocese of New Orleans are [as follows].

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WWL Radio

August 20, 2020

By Kenny Kuhn

The Archdiocese of New Orleans adds another priest to it’s list of clergymen credibly accused of child abuse.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Archdiocese added 78-year-old Henry Brian Highfill to that list following the conclusion of an investigation into abuse allegations against Highfill.

“The Archdiocese of New Orleans has concluded a thorough investigation into allegations of abuse of minors lodged against Henry Brian Highfill. Highfill was removed from ministry pending the outcome of this investigation. Today, the archbishop has added his name to the Archdiocese of New Orleans Report Regarding Clergy Abuse, found online at nolacatholic.org and has affirmed Highfill’s removal from ministry,” the statement read.

The Archdiocese says Highfill has not ministered in the New Orleans area in 40 years, although he served as a military chaplain through the Archdiocese of the Military.

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WDSU 6 NBC

August 20, 2020

By Greg LaRose

The Archdiocese of New Orleans has added another priest to its list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse. Brian Highfill was assigned to five churches in the New Orleans area and one in Houma between 1975 and 1981, when the abuse is alleged to have occurred.

Allegations against Highfill include a relationship with a 10-year-old altar boy in the early 1970s when Highfill was a priest at St. Catherine of Siena in Metairie, according to a civil lawsuit another accuser filed in 2019 against the priest and the archdiocese. The court petition said Highfill “maintained a personal, intimate and improper relationship” with the victim, sending him letters, cards and gifts “that expressed his love, affection and yearning…” for more than 15 years.

The victim took his own life in 1993, according to the lawsuit. Relatives of the victim found Highfill ’s cards and letters and brought them to the attention of a monsignor with the Archdiocese of New Orleans within the following year. The monsignor “did not consider the cards and letters to be significant” and no action was taken against Highfill , the court document said.

In August 2018, a family member reached Archbishop Gregory Aymond and brought him Highfill ’s cards and letters to the victim, the lawsuit details. After the relative met with Aymond, the court filing said there was no further response from the archdiocese.

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MANSFIELD (OH)
Richland Source

August 20, 2020

By Emily Dech

The Rev. Michael Zacharias, a former priest at Mansfield St. Peter’s, was arrested Tuesday by the FBI in a federal sex abuse case.

On Friday, Bishop Daniel Thomas released a letter and a video statement to members of the Toledo Diocese, both are included below.

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TOLEDO (OH)
WNWO 24 News

August 19, 2020

By Sophia Perricone

St. Catherine of Siena’s Reverend Francis Speier is speaking out following the arrest of Findlay priest Michael Zacharias who once served at St. Catherine.

“I know Father. We run in different circles,” Speier said. “He’s a lot younger than I am so his social circle is a lot different than mine.”

Zacharias was arrested Tuesday morning on multiple sex trafficking charges and court documents reveal he met at least two of his victims at St. Catherine.

Speier says he’s angry about the abuse that has continued over decades, wondering why history continues to repeat itself.

“I would’ve thought by now, guys would have gotten smart, stopped what they’re doing, own up for their actions and move on.

The Catholic Diocese of Toledo put Zacharias on administrative leave. But Claudia Vercellotti, a survivor of church sexual abuse, wants more.

“Take down the tributes inside church entryways and on websites that pay special tribute to clerics, priests and other church leaders [about whom] credible allegations of clergy sexual abuse exist,” Vercellotti said.

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WVUE Fox 8

August 20, 2020

By Rob Masson

Attorneys for alleged clergy sex abuse victims and the Archdiocese of New Orleans, squared off in federal bankruptcy court Thursday in a battle over who will decide damages.

Attorneys for alleged victims say the church is solvent and does not belong in bankruptcy court, but the Archdiocese says it’s not that easy.

Nearly four months after the Archdiocese of New Orleans filed for bankruptcy, attorneys for dozens of alleged victims went before a federal bankruptcy judge asking that the entire matter be removed from her court.

“The plaintiffs want to get in-state court so that they can do discovery and fight over how much money and how many assets the church has and the church doesn’t want that to happen,” said Fox 8 legal analyst Joe Raspanti.

Attorneys for alleged victims produced documents showing that the Archdiocese of New Orleans has assets of around $520 million and is solvent. Because of that, they say there’s no justification for a bankruptcy filing which could hurt their clients’ cases.

“In bankruptcy court, it will be the decision of one judge. What the church is afraid of is a jury will feel sympathy which is understandable for these victims. That could give them a much larger award not to mention the discovery that they don’t want to happen,” said Raspanti.

Mark Mintz, the attorney for the archdiocese admitted that in spite of mounting costs the archdiocese is not insolvent and he said that the law doesn’t require insolvency for a bankruptcy action to be filed.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KSDK

August 20, 2020

Interview of Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski by Anne Allred and Dori Olmos

Archbishop-elect Rozanski shared his views on how to tackle a variety of challenges in the church, including racism, declining numbers and sex abuse allegations

The incoming leader of the Archdiocese of St. Louis recognizes the responsibility he’s about to take on.

“I’m grateful to our Holy Father, Pope Francis, for appointing me as the archbishop of St. Louis,” Reverend Mitchell T. Rozanski said during a Zoom call Thursday morning.

He recently moved to St. Louis from Springfield, Massachusetts, where he spent six years as a bishop.

“I realize the great responsibility that goes along with this position,” he added.

But he’s ready for the task ahead. In an interview with 5 On Your Side’s Anne Allred, Archbishop-elect Rozanski shared his views on how to tackle a variety of challenges in the church, including racism, declining numbers and sex abuse allegations.

Addressing sex abuse allegations in the Catholic Church

Rozanski said transparency is key. While working in Springfield, he tried to foster good working relationships with the investigators tasked with looking into allegations involving clergy.

“I think working that way, also keeping up our education about any type of child or minor sexual abuse is important so that everyone has an awareness of what to look for. There are signs of what to do, what to do about it to act upon it,” he said.

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MOGADISHU (SOMALIA)
Reuters

August 20, 2020

By Abdi Sheikh

Hafsa was married off at 13 by her father to a man who paid $100. She and her mother say she was beaten and raped for two years before they convinced him to divorce her.

“The man just slept with me, beating me always,” she said, sitting by her mother, who clutches her daughter tightly. “I regretted I was born.”

There is no law mandating a minimum age for marriage in Somalia. A bill introduced in parliament this month by a presidential ally caused a storm of criticism from lawmakers when they realised it would legalise marriage at puberty – as early as 10 for some girls.

Data from a government survey this year shows that nearly a third of girls are married before their 18th birthday – just under half of those before the age of 15.

“Some families marry off their daughters to reduce their economic burden or earn income. Others may do so because they believe it will secure their daughters’ futures or protect them,” said Dheepa Pandian, a spokeswoman from UNICEF, the United Nations’ Children’s Fund.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post

August 20, 2020

By Michelle Boorstein

The Vatican has approved much-reduced reparations, including an apology letter that takes no direct responsibility, for a former West Virginia bishop accused of misusing millions in church money and sexually harassing fellow clerics.

Bishop Michael J. Bransfield stepped down in September 2018 as leader of the Wheeling-Charleston diocese amid allegations that he spent millions on personal extravagances and gifts to fellow clerics and that he harassed seminarians and young priests who worked for him.

After an internal Vatican investigation concluded that the allegations were true, Bishop Mark Brennan, Bransfield’s successor in West Virginia, drew up a restitution plan in November that he said would be “an act of restorative justice” for Bransfield to accept.

“It is also for his own spiritual good and his own healing as a man who professes to follow Christ,” Brennan Brennan wrote when announcing the plan last fall.

Some canon law experts said it was the first case they’d heard of involving a bishop being made to pay restitution — publicly or privately. In addition to calling for Bransfield’s replacement to come up with a restitution plan, the Vatican also prohibited Bransfield from public ministry and from residing in the West Virginia diocese.”

But on Thursday, Brennan’s office announced the final plan approved by the Vatican’s Congregation of Bishops, which sharply reduces the money Bransfield was supposed to pay the diocese — money that was to be set aside for victims of abuse. The initial plan called for him to pay $792,638; the Vatican deal agreed to $441,000, according to a letter Brennan wrote to the diocese.

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ROCHESTER (NY)
WHAM

August 19, 2020

By Ginny Ryan

When Carol Dupre first shared her story of sex abuse in the Catholic Diocese of Rochester, she stood with her lawyer on the steps of Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Three years later, Dupre now stands with 503 others – just like her.

“I was glad to know so many people responded, but I was disappointed that it was such a large number for what I was told was a small diocese. I thought it was a sad commentary for the Catholic Church,” she said Wednesday it .

The deadline has passed for child sex abuse survivors to file civil lawsuits against the Diocese of Rochester, and 503 people have filed claims against the diocese under New York’s Child Victims Act amid the institution’s bankruptcy filing.

Dupre serves on the bankruptcy panel representing sex abuse victims in the case. She says she significantly underestimated the number that would file claims.

Her attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, says it’s because of victims like her who came forward. Garabedian, who is representing 95 survivors of child sex abuse in the greater Rochester region, previously estimated there would be 250-300 claims filed.

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AUSTIN (TX)
KXAN

August 19, 2020

By Kate Winkle

A lawsuit three women brought against a local Catholic organization and former priest has been settled, according to an attorney on the case.

“I can confirm that our important lawsuit and claims by these brave, wonderful women against the Schoenstatt Order and its priest were mediated and successfully resolved,” wrote Sean Breen in a statement. “I am so proud of and happy for each one of these women, that their voice was heard and so grateful for our system of justice and the right to a jury trial.”

In July, the women sued over allegations of sexual assault and false imprisonment, and claimed the Schoenstatt Movement of Austin engaged in “institutionalized negligence.” They also sued Gerold Langsch, a former priest at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in south Austin. All three were parishioners there.

Langsch was accused of inappropriately touching one of the plaintiffs when she was in hospice care in 2018. According to court documents, he had gone to her to administer her last rites. Langsch accepted a plea deal in that case in June 2019, in which he pleaded “no contest” and was sentenced to 300 days probation and fined $1,000.

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WVUE Fox 8

August 19, 2020

By Kendra Smith-Parks

78-year-old Henry Brian Highfill was removed from the ministry after an investigation into allegations involving the abuse of minors.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans added another name to the clergy abuse list on Wednesday.

78-year-old Henry Brian Highfill was removed from the ministry after an investigation into allegations involving the abuse of minors.

See below for the full statement:

“The Archdiocese of New Orleans has concluded a thorough investigation into allegations of abuse of minors lodged against Henry Brian Highfill. Highfill was removed from ministry pending the outcome of this investigation. Today, the archbishop has added his name to the Archdiocese of New Orleans Report Regarding Clergy Abuse, found online at nolacatholic.org and has affirmed Highfill’s removal from ministry.

Highfill has not ministered in the New Orleans area in 40 years. He remained incardinated to the Archdiocese of New Orleans and left to serve as a military chaplain through the Archdiocese of the Military.”

According to the report, Highfill’s ordination took place on May 11, 1971. His estimated time of abuse was 6 years from 1975 to 1981.

The allegation was received from 2018 and he was removed from Ministry in 2018.

See below for a full list of his pastoral assignments.

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ASHLAND (KY)
Daily Independent

August 19, 2020

By Henry Culvyhouse

A report released last week by the Lexington Diocese of the Catholic Church has 23 priests accused of sexual abuse in eastern and northern Kentucky.

The Daily Independent has identified at least seven accused priests as having posts in the area. One priest was accused last year, but not included on the list.

The founding Bishop of the Diocese — which was carved out of the Covington and Louisville Dioceses in 1988 — has also been accused of sexual misconduct. Bishop James Kendrick Williams, 83, was accused of of abusing two minors while he served in Louisville. He is listed in the Louisville Archdiocese as an abuser and his case has been referred to the Vatican. He resigned in 2002.

The report is the result of a two-year investigation commissioned by church officials, carried out by attorneys independent of the church. The report stresses that the allegations may not be used in a court of law, however 22 are considered “sustained and credible.”

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FINDLAY (OH)
The Courier

August 19, 2020

By Lou Wilin

He preached, ministered communion, heard confessions and won the trust of hundreds. He also manipulated and coerced drug-addicted boys and men into sex, and spoke in code of oral sex, body parts and semen, records filed in U.S. District Court, in Cleveland, allege.

At his own behest, the Rev. Michael Zacharias had a “confession video” taken in 2015 depicting himself performing oral sex on one of his victims, then an adult, according to court records.

At one point, Zacharias, in clergy attire, looks into the camera, and according to court records, states: “My name is Michael Zacharias. I first met (Victim #1) when he was in sixth grade at St. Catherine’s and I was a Seminarian.”

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OTTAWA (CANADA)
Ottawa Citizen

August 19, 2020

By Andrew Duffy

A former Ottawa priest has died in custody while waiting to be sentenced for the sexual abuse of two teenaged boys in a church rectory.

Barry McGrory had been at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre since December when he was arrested for failing to appear in court.

McGrory, the former pastor at Holy Cross Parish, died in hospital. He was 85.

Last June, Superior Court Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin found McGrory guilty on two counts of gross indecency and two counts of indecent assault for crimes dating to the 1960s. The judge said McGrory used his position in the Catholic church to “exploit vulnerable and naïve young men for his own satisfaction.”

*

McGrory was convicted of abusing three adolescent boys during his clerical career, and credibly accused by at least five other victims, both male and female.

At least three of those victims complained to senior church officials about McGrory, but their concerns were repeatedly dismissed.

McGrory himself said former archbishop Joseph-Aurèle Plourde was aware of his predilection for adolescents and did nothing.

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DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency via Catholic San Francisco – Archdiocese of San Francisco

August 17, 2020

Cardinal George Pell, who was acquitted this year after becoming the highest-ranking Catholic cleric ever to be convicted of sexual abuse, spoke this week about how he maintained hope during his 400 days in prison.

“The virtue of Christian hope is different than Christian optimism. No matter what your circumstances are in this life, eventually all will be well. A good God is in charge, even though terrible things happen,” Pell, 79, said in an interview aired Aug. 16.

Pell was initially convicted in Australia in 2018 of multiple counts of sexual abuse. On April 7, 2020, Australia’s High Court overturned his six-year prison sentence. The High Court ruled that he should not have been found guilty of the charges and that the prosecution had not proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Pell spent 13 months in solitary confinement, during which time he was not permitted to celebrate Mass.

The cardinal still faces a canonical investigation at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, though after his conviction was overturned, several canonical experts said it was unlikely he would actually face a Church trial.

Pell said despite the discomfort and humiliation of being in prison, he was often surprised by the decency and professionalism of the majority of the prison officers, who conversed with him and other men in solitary confinement.

Pell’s remarks were live-streamed as part of the 10th annual Napa Institute conference, held virtually this year Aug. 14-15.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Tablet

August 18, 2020

By Sarah Mac Donald

The Catholic Church in Ireland is living through a vocations “pandemic” which will see more new bishops ordained this year than new priests, a well-known cleric has warned.

Fr Paddy Byrne, who is parish priest of Abbeyleix and Ballyroan in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin told The Tablet he was “genuinely concerned” for the Irish Church as someone who is “passionate about my ministry and very worried about my future”.

The 46-year-old, who is the second youngest priest in his diocese, described the number of diocesan priestly ordinations this year for the Irish Church’s 26 dioceses as “abysmal”. He said: “Could you imagine in the middle of a pandemic if there were only two or three doctors graduating for frontline service?”

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NEW YORK (NY)
New York Post

August 17, 2020

By Priscilla DeGregory

Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein is claiming New York’s Child Victims Act is unconstitutional — in a bid to get a court to toss accusations that the fallen movie mogul sexually abused a woman nearly 20 years ago when she was just 16, court papers show.

Weinstein’s right to due process was violated when Kaja Sokola — a former model and aspiring actress from Poland — filed suit against him in December under the CVA, despite the fact that her claims of abuse are from 2002 and would normally be time-barred, the film producer’s lawyers said in court papers from last week.

The 68-year-old convicted rapist vehemently denies Sokola’s claims that he sexually abused her in his Big Apple apartment and also denies that he met her when she was 16, the court documents say.

“An indisputable timeline of events, corroborated by other evidence, will refute her claims of abuse,” Weinstein’s lawyer Imran Ansari wrote in Manhattan Supreme Court papers seeking to dismiss Sokola’s case.

But Weinstein — who was sentenced to 23 years in prison for the rape and sex abuse of two women — says the suit should be tossed out anyway since “The CVA is unconstitutional,” Ansari said in the court documents.

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TOLEDO (OH)
Federal Bureau of Investigation/U.S. District Court – Northern District of Ohio

August 17, 2020

By Special Agent Brian E. Russ

7. On July 29, 2020, Victim #1 was contacted by the FBI. Victim #1 revealed that “FrZ” refers to Father Zacharias, a priest, and that Zacharias had molested and raped him as a child. Victim #1 stated that Zacharias paid him in exchange for being able to perform oral sex on Victim #1 when Victim #1 was a minor, and that Zacharias continued to pay him money for sex even after Victim #1 turned 18, including when Victim #1 was drug-addicted and needed the money for his drug habit. Victim #1 stated that they continue to communicate via phone calls and text messages.

8. On August 3, 2020, Victim #1 was interviewed in more detail. Victim #1 said that he first met Zacharias in Catholic school in Toledo when he was in the sixth grade and Zacharias was in the Seminary. With a physically abusive and largely absent father, Victim #1 viewed Zacharias as a father figure. Over the years, and into junior high and high school, Zacharias spent time with Victim #1, came over to his house, gave him money, and showed him affection, including inappropriate touching, as well as inappropriate sexual comments.

9. Affiant is aware that all of this time, attention, and money by Zacharias is consistent with grooming – a process in which the sexual abuser befriends and establishes an emotional connection with a child, and sometimes also family members, to lower the child’s inhibitions with the objective of sexual abuse. This process can occur over many weeks, months, and even years.

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TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade

August 18, 2020

By Nicki Gorny

Findlay – The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday arrested the pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish, alleging that he groomed and sexually assaulted minors for years, beginning in Toledo.

Special Agent in Charge Eric Smith said the Rev. Michael Zacharias, 53, is believed to have groomed and sexually assaulted minors since the late 1990s.

The Northwest Ohio Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force took the priest into custody after he presided at a 7 a.m. Mass at St. Michael the Archangel Parish. Father Zacharias faces charges of coercion and enticement, sex trafficking of a minor, and sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud, or coercion, according to court documents.

He participated Tuesday afternoon in an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Toledo.

“This is obviously a sad day not only for the church family, for the community, but it also marks the beginning of healing for those victimized by Michael Zacharias,” Agent Smith said.

Agent Smith addressed the media at a morning news conference outside the priest’s residence on Greendale Avenue in Findlay, which abuts the parking lot of the parish grounds. He said the criminal complaint filed against the priest includes accounts from two victims, but his department believes there have been others.

Agent Smith encouraged anyone who has had unwanted sexual contact with Father Zacharias to contact the FBI at 216-622-6842.

“It’s imperative that those other individuals out there come forward,” he said on Tuesday. “Your contact with us will remain strictly confidential.”

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo announced that Father Zacharias was put on administrative leave effective immediately upon hearing word of his arrest. This means he cannot exercise public ministry, administer sacraments, or present himself as a priest. Administrative leave is a precautionary measure while an allegation is being investigated.

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MANSFIELD (OH)
Richland Source

August 18, 2020

Findlay – A former Roman Catholic priest at Mansfield St. Peter’s Church was placed on administrative leave by the Diocese of Toledo after his arrest in Findlay on Tuesday morning.

Bishop Daniel E. Thomas placed Rev. Michael Zacharias, 53, a priest of the Diocese of Toledo and pastor of St. Michael the Archangel parish in Findlay, on administrative leave after he was reportedly arrested by FBI agents on charges of sex trafficking, coercion and enticement.

According to a story in the Toledo Blade, FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric Smith said Zacharias is believed to have been grooming and engaging in sexual conduct with minors since the late 1990s.

He said there are two victims in the criminal complaint, but authorities believe there are more.

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SUNNYVALE (CA)
Yahoo News

August 18, 2020

By Kate Briquelet

A Catholic priest in Ohio was arrested Tuesday for child sex trafficking and is accused of grooming and abusing at least two victims since the ’90s.

The FBI cuffed Michael Zacharias, 53, after morning Mass at St. Michael the Archangel in Findlay. The pastor is charged with coercion and enticement, sex trafficking of a minor, and sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud, or coercion. According to the feds, Zacharias was taken into custody without incident at his residence.

Court filings describe how Zacharias preyed on two vulnerable boys and continued abusing them after they became adults by taking advantage of their struggles with addiction. One of the victim’s drug problems “stemmed from his confusion about his sexuality based on years of inappropriate touching by Zacharias,” an FBI agent noted in an affidavit.

Some evidence in the case even includes sickening videos Zacharias created with one of the victims, who kept the footage on a USB drive. “The great thing for you is that I actually paid you to make the videos and that you will one day ruin me with them and get rich,” Zacharias texted the victim in late July, according to an FBI affidavit.

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TOLEDO (OH)
WTOL

August 19, 2020

By Roxanne Elias

https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/following-priest-arrest-advocates-for-the-sexually-abused-share-insight-on-what-signs-to-look-for/512-9f050d09-9d4c-4e30-9037-54533bb66ff4

According to the experts, 93 percent of child sexual assault victims know the perpetrator.

Following the arrest of a Findlay priest, advocates of sexually abused victims are shedding light on how sexual abuse can happen to some of your most vulnerable loved ones.

“It’s shocking that in 2020 we’re still here with a clergy sexual abuse crisis in this country,” said Claudia Vercelloti.

For more than 20 years, Vercelloti been a spokesperson and volunteer with the Ohio Survivors Network of those abused by priests, also known as SNAP.

Vercelloti says she’s relieved to learn the FBI is spearheading an investigation following the arrest of Findlay pastor Michael Zacharias, who is facing federal sex trafficking of a minor charges.

Her organization is now helping victims on the road to recovery.

“Later it may be easier to say, ‘why didn’t you just ask for help?’ But to realize when you’re in the middle, it’s very difficult. And you’re feeling all sorts of different emotions that makes it really hard to make a rational choice to speak up,” said Dr. Victoria Kelly, the Vice Chair of Education in the Department of psychiatry at the University of Toledo.”

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WOODLAND PARK (NJ)
The Record and NorthJersey.com

August 17, 2020

By Abbott Koloff and Deena Yellin

Geoffrey Downs said he was a teenage altar boy in the 1980s when former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick abruptly pinned him to a wall and sexually abused him as they prepared for services in Metuchen.

McCarrick, who would go on to become one of the most prominent clerics in the U.S. Catholic Church, allegedly said he could arrange for the two to go to a Jersey Shore beach house where they could have “alone time.”

Downs, who sued McCarrick and the Metuchen diocese last week, said he knew about that house because he’d been there a few years earlier on a retreat with a group of altar boys. He said he had been awakened by a sound just before dawn, and witnessed a priest sexually abusing a young boy.

“I was well aware of the beach house and what it could mean,” Downs, 53, said in an interview Monday.

His lawsuit is the second civil complaint alleging child sex abuse at a Jersey Shore home used by Catholic clergy and connected to McCarrick. In a suit filed last month, a man said he was abused by the former cardinal at a beach house where the prelate allegedly shared boys with other clerics. The abuse allegedly occurred in the early 1980s, when McCarrick was the Metuchen bishop, about the same time as the activity alleged in Downs’ lawsuit.

Downs’ complaint, filed Aug. 11 in Middlesex County, alleges he was abused by McCarrick in 1982 or 1983, when he was 15 or 16 years old, at St. Francis of Assisi parish in Metuchen. He said he didn’t know the bishop but had seen him celebrating Mass at the parochial high school he attended. Downs said he was abused just the one time, and that he recoiled from McCarrick and then quit going to church altogether.

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ST. CLOUD (MN)
KNSI

August 17, 2020

By Jennifer Lewerenz

A hearing to dismiss a lawsuit against a private Catholic school in Waite Park is scheduled for later this month.

The lawsuit, filed in 2018, alleges sexual abuse at the hands of a priest and a family at Holy Innocents School. The case calls the school a “public nuisance” and says they are guilty of negligence and negligent supervision. The plaintiff, known as Doe 596 is asking for $50,000 in damages for the school to be closed.

The suit alleges the Sis family sexually abused Doe 596 from 1978 to 1984 while she was a Holy Innocents student. A priest who lived at the school, Father Lawrence Brey, is also named in the suit.

School officials say the allegations are decades old and beyond the statute of limitations.

The hearing is set for August 26th.

Holy Innocents School is not affiliated with the Diocese of St. Cloud, which has filed Chapter 11 as part of a settlement with survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

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NEW YORK (NY)
WNBC-TV

August 17, 2020

A diocesan priest in northern New Jersey is accused of allegedly groping a woman over the course of months, according to the Hudson County prosecutor.

Rev. Donato Cabardo, 56, was arrested Friday in connection with alleged sexual crimes that occurred in the rectory at St. Paul of the Cross Church in Jersey City where Cabardo is a diocesan priest, according to Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez.

Cabardo has been charged with two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact and one count of harassment, a petty disorderly persons offense.

Following his arrest, he was released on a summons complaint and is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 9.

Attorney information for Cabardo was not immediately known.

According to prosecutors, the alleged crimes involved an adult female victim and were first reported to the Archdiocese of Newark. The Archdiocese notified the New Jersey Clergy Abuse Task Force and the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit which then investigated the allegations.

Prosecutors say that their subsequent investigation revealed that between January and July 2020 Cabardo allegedly touched the victim’s breast and buttocks for the purpose of sexually arousing or sexually gratifying himself. He also allegedly pressed his cheek against her cheek and kissed her cheek, hand, face and head.

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NEW PROVIDENCE (NJ)
TapInto

August 17, 2020

By Steve Lenox

Jersey City, NJ – A Jersey City priest has been arrested and charged in connection with alleged sexual crimes that occurred in the rectory at St. Paul of the Cross Church earlier this year, according to Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez.

In a statement Suarez announced that Donato Cabardo was arrested without incident on Saturday after surrendering himself at the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office. Cabardo has been charged with two counts of fourth-degree Criminal Sexual Contact and one count of Harassment

According to the statement, the alleged crimes involved an adult female victim and were first reported to the Archdiocese of Newark. The Archdiocese notified the New Jersey Clergy Abuse Task Force and the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit which then investigated the allegations.

Between January and July 2020, the investigation found, Cabardo allegedly touched the victim’s breast and buttocks for the purpose of sexually arousing or sexually gratifying himself. He also allegedly pressed his cheek against her cheek and kissed her cheek, hand, face and head.

Cabardo, the third priest arrested by members of the Task Force since its inception in 2018, is due in court on September 9.

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LOUISVILLE (KY)
Courier Journal

August 17 2020

By Lucas Aulbach

Allegations of sexual abuse against 20 priests who served in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington have been substantiated or found to be credible, according to the diocese.

The list, released last week after a nearly 20-month review, is a part of an independent investigation being prepared by attorneys Allison Connelly and Andrew Sparks, according to a letter from Bishop John Stowe released in conjunction with the list. It was released Friday, with the full report to be released later.

Claims against one priest were unsubstantiated, the release said.

Of the claims against the other 20 priests on the list, 10 allegations were substantiated, four allegations were credible, six allegations were credible but involved minors outside the Diocese of Lexington. There are no pending allegations against any active priests, the report says.

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DETROIT (MI)
Associated Press

August 17, 2020

A Detroit priest who said he was defamed by a police officer in an investigation of alleged sexual abuse has settled a lawsuit against her for $125,000.

The Rev. Eduard Perrone said he doesn’t care about the money but wants to be reinstated at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, known as Assumption Grotto, a Catholic church he had led for 25 years until he was removed by the Detroit Archdiocese in 2019.

“It’s been a long, slow wait,” Perrone told the Detroit Free Press. “I’ve been ousted from my parish for 13 months, and I’m very anxious to get back.”

A former altar boy accused Perrone of assaulting him decades ago, according to a report by Nancy LePage, a Macomb County sheriff’s detective who specializes in child sex crimes.

Perrone, 72, denied the allegation and hasn’t been charged with a crime. He filed a lawsuit against LePage, saying she defamed him.

The county recently settled it for $125,000 after a panel of lawyers reviewed the case, a common step in Detroit-area lawsuits.

County attorney John Schapka said there was no wrongdoing by LePage. He said the case was settled to avoid a larger jury verdict and other costs.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Global Sisters Report of National Catholic Reporter

August 14, 2020

By Saji Thomas News

Kottayam, India – Two years after a Catholic sister accused a bishop of rape and intimidation, the official trial started Aug. 13 as a district court judge read the charges aloud to Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar.

The rape case is the first one to involve a Catholic bishop in India. The trial will resume Sept. 16 with testimony from the victim and cross-examination.

Judge G. Gopakumar of the Additional District and Sessions Court in Kottayam, Kerala, read out a brief statement of charges that said Mulakkal had repeatedly raped the former superior general of the Missionaries of Jesus and intimidated her with the influence of his office.

The nun has accused Mulakkal of subjecting her to rape and sodomy 13 times between 2014 and 2016.

The judge also listed the dates of the alleged crimes in the congregation’s convent at Kuravilangad, a village near Kottayam, and asked Mulakkal if he would agree with the charges.

The prelate, who stood before the judge in the witness box at the back of the courtroom, loudly replied, “No.” His response was heard by those inside the court and about two dozen watching the proceedings from the corridor.

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DENVER (CO)
Crux

August 14, 2020

By Inés San Martín

Rosario, Argentina – A former powerful Chilean archbishop removed from the priesthood by Pope in 2018 died Wednesday, without ever facing trial for allegation of sexually abusing minors.

The news of Francisco José Cox’s passing was announced by the Schoenstatt Fathers, his original religious order. He was 86.

Cox was first bishop of Chillan, between 1975 and 1981, and the archbishop of La Serena between 1990 and 1997. In between, he worked at the Vatican’s former Pontifical Council for the Family and in 1987 was tapped to organize the visit of St. John Paul II to Chile, which allowed him to become close to then-Archbishop Angelo Sodano, the papal representative in the country.

To this day, many observers point to Sodano, who would become the Vatican’s Secretary of State during the final years of John Paul’s papacy, as the architect of the abuse crisis that has rocked the Chilean Church.

Cox was 86 when he died early in the morning on Aug. 12, from “respiratory failure and multisystemic failure,” according to the statement by Schoenstatt.

He was buried the same day, with only his four brothers present.

The statement from Schoenstatt Chile notes that in 2018, Pope Francis removed Cox from the priesthood, after an investigation conducted by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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SURRY HILLS (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA]
The Australian

August 15, 2020

By Suzanne Smith

Father John Denham blighted the lives of the boys in his care – including a protégé who went on to become a high-flying journalist.

It was a normal day at the office in 1997 when ABC journalist ­Steven Alward received a phone call from his old school teacher Father John Sidney Denham. After the usual pleasantries, Denham said he needed a favour. There had been a big misunderstanding: the police had charged him with sexually abusing a former ­student. Denham said he would get off because the boy was 17 at the time, the relationship had been consensual and they’d been very much in love. According to Denham, this was an attack on a gay man and his 17-year-old lover. He wanted Steven to write him a reference on ABC letterhead.

It sounded plausible to Steven, because at the time NSW law discriminated against same-sex relationships regarding the age of ­consent: for heterosexual relationships it was 16, whereas for homosexual relationships it was 18. There was a campaign underway by the Council for Civil ­Liberties and other groups to reform the law. In this context, Denham was presenting ­himself as a victim of homophobia. The call ­worried Steven, but in the end he felt obliged to do something, so he came up with a ­compromise and wrote a ­personal reference without the ABC letterhead. He believed he was defending gay rights.

At St Pius X High School in Newcastle, ­Denham – the school’s ­Master of Discipline – had been a mentor to Steven. The teacher embodied all the traits of a bumptious, slightly camp ­academic. He talked as though he was a superior intellectual with a penchant for classical music, highbrow ­literature and fine wines. To the boys he admired, like Steven, he was the most attentive and ­encouraging teacher at the school. Even after ­Steven finished school in 1978, Denham had stayed in touch and they remained close friends.

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SYDNEY (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
ABC

August 16, 2020

By Siobhan Hegarty

Sixty per cent of churchgoers in Australia are women, yet in the decision-making ranks of the Catholic Church, female voices are largely absent.

The lack of women in leadership roles is a point of contention for many theologians — not just for equity reasons.

According to Robyn Horner, from the Australian Catholic University’s school of theology, the church’s sexual abuse crisis demonstrated the failings of a male-only leadership structure.

“I think the church has protected itself for a long time with patriarchal attitudes and the exclusion of women from decision-making roles, even if they’re not ordained roles,” she says.

“This just means there’s always a temptation to involve secrecy and silence and keep it as a boys’ club.”

Associate Professor Horner views the sexual abuse crisis as a line in the sand, “which says either the church is going to change or it’s going to die”.

As of this month, changes are being made.

Last Thursday, Pope Francis appointed six women to a group overseeing the Vatican’s finances. These positions are thought to be the most senior female appointments in the Church’s leadership structure.

But reformers in the Catholic Church are pushing for greater structural change.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Spectrum News

August 13, 2020

Friday marks the one-year anniversary of New York’s Child Victims Act, which allows child sex abuse victims to file lawsuits for decades-old allegations.

The Buffalo Survivors Group met Thursday to reflect on the past year and what has been accomplished. The group, regarding the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo’s bankruptcy proceedings, says this is a David versus Goliath moment.

“We feel that when this litigious nightmare is over, survivors will be left with nothing but a stripped carcass. To us, the Diocese of Buffalo has never been sincere about their apologies. It’s all about circling the wagons and protecting their reputation, money and assets,” Gary Astridge of the Buffalo Survivor Group said.

Members of the group are planning to send a letter to Pope Francis to request an audience so that they can share their painful experiences, seek an apology, and discuss changes to protest future generations.

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READING (PA)
Reading Eagle from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

August 15, 2020

By Peter Smith

[This is a substantially different version of an article previously blogged in Abuse Tracker.]

Two years after a landmark grand jury report told a sordid history of sexual abuse by priests and its cover-up by their superiors, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh is still coming to terms with its impact.

Just this week, 28 people filed lawsuits or notices of intent to sue in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, while a local lay group issued a report sharply critical of the diocese’s response, which it said is marked by “clericalism” and a bunker mentality.

Bishop David Zubik said Friday he marked the somber anniversary with prayers at Mass for the survivors of abuse. He said he believed the diocese has taken important steps in responding to the report, even as it undergoes a vast program of parish mergers and responds to unanticipated challenges such as the pandemic.

“Over the course of the two years, we’ve worked very hard to be ever more present to victim/survivors and acknowledge their need for healing,” he said.

On Aug. 14, 2018, a statewide grand jury issued a report into sexual abuse and cover-up spanning seven decades in six of Pennsylvania’s dioceses, including Pittsburgh’s. The report made headlines worldwide and, combined with scandals elsewhere during what one Catholic journal called a “summer of shame,” triggered the most intensive wave of scrutiny in years over the scandal.

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GENESEO (NY)
Livingston County News

August 14, 2020

By Matt Leader

https://www.thelcn.com/news/police/child-victims-act-lawsuit-outlines-new-sex-abuse-accusations-against-former-avon-priest/article_eed75330-6a12-5a03-933c-552f2dc7a874.html

Another person has come forward with accusations that former Catholic priest Joseph E. Larrabee sexually abused him when he was a child.

The victim, whose name the County News is withholding to protect his privacy, is now in his 50s. In a civil complaint filed late last this month in Livingston County Supreme Court, he accused of Larrabee of sexually abusing him “on at least four occasions” in 1982 and 1983 when he was between the ages of 12 and 14. According to the filing, the abuse occurred in the St. Agnes rectory.

The alleged victim and his family were parishioners at the time the abuse occurred. He attended St. Agnes School and was an alter boy at St. Agnes Church, according to the filing.

Larrabee’s latest alleged victim is being represented by Simmons Hanly Conroy, a law firm in New York City, and the Law Office of Mitchell Garabedian, which is based in Boston. Garabedian is also representing eight other alleged victims of Larrabee in eight separate Child Victims Act suits filed in Livingston and Monroe counties since February 2020.

“The alleged sexual abuse of the nine victims spanned a period of approximately 1982 to 1993 when the victims were approximately 12 to 21 years old. The sexual abuse victims were all minors when the sexual abuse by Fr. Joseph E. Larrabee began,” said Garabedian in a statement to the County News. “The victims are now approximately 44 to 54 years old. Some victims allege that they were sexually abused by Fr. Larrabee multiple times over the course of years. Fr. Joseph E. Larrabee was assigned to either St. John The Evangelist Church in Rochester, Church of the Good Shepard in Henrietta, or St. Agnes Church in Avon at the time of the sexual abuse.”

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FERNDALE (MI)
Church Militant

August 12, 2020

By David Nussman

Washington – Joe Biden’s running mate has a history of targeting Catholics and pro-lifers.

Senator Kamala Harris is Biden’s vice-presidential candidate, the Biden campaign announced Tuesday.

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Throughout her political career, Harris has touted her record of prosecuting sex crimes in San Francisco, where she was district attorney (DA) in 2003–2011.

But victims of Catholic clerical sex abuse say Harris neglected to follow through with their abuse allegations, despite an abundance of evidence gathered by the previous DA, Terence Hallinan.

Abuse victim Joey Piscitelli, for example, says Harris “did nothing” as the district attorney of San Francisco after he wrote to her about his molestation at the hands of a local priest.

Five years later, Piscitelli wrote to Harris, again urging her to assist alleged sexual assault victims by releasing records of their abuse lawsuits that had been compiled by Hallinan.

But Harris again failed to respond. Her refusal to release the records was seen as significant, as Hallinan’s team was gathering evidence as part of a wider investigation into clerical sex abuse. His inquiry lapsed when Harris became the new DA.

In June 2019, the Intercept released a graphic video detailing Harris’ dubious record on clerical sex abuse.

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NEW YORK (NY)
New York Post

August 15, 2020

By Kathianne Boniello

A beloved Bronx priest intentionally steered a boy to a known molester in the 1980s, leading to months of sexual abuse, according to a new lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court.

It claims Bishop John Jenik was allegedly abusing children himself when he “trafficked” a then-14-year-old Shawn Ganley to ex-con counselor Paul Gruber, whom Jenik knew was abusing other minor students at Our Lady of Refuge School, Ganley claims in court papers.

Gruber was convicted of sexual abuse charges in the mid 1980s after another victim’s parents complained, sparking a police investigation that Jenik allegedly tried to derail by intimidating kids into silence, Ganley has charged.

“It was terrifying,” Ganley told The Post, adding, “He was really leaning on me, telling me, ‘You don’t want to do this, you don’t want to give a statement.’”

Jenik, who oversaw the Our Lady of Refuge after-school program where Gruber volunteered, allegedly knew exactly what would happen when he suggested Gruber give Ganley an IQ test, claims Ganley.

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BEAUMONT (TX)
Beaumont Enterprise

August 16, 2020

By Monique Batson

Many would say the work of God brought Bishop-elect David L. Toups to Southeast Texas.

But it was the word of God that confirmed the move for the Gulf Coast native set to be ordained Friday as the sixth bishop to lead the Diocese of Beaumont.

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“I’ve been all over,” he said. “I’ve had a varied experience as a priest — a broadening experience working for a national church, a regional church and working on the ground level training future priests.”

It’s that experience, he believes that will help him handle issues faced in recent years by the Catholic Church.

In early 2019, the denomination was rocked by scandal when it released a list of priests credibly accused of having been involved in the molestation of children and young adults.

Of the 286 living and deceased priests named in Texas, 13 were with the Diocese of Beaumont.

“My job in the church has been on the proactive side,” Toups said. “I want to continue to reach out to anyone who has been hurt in any way. That’s not the message of Jesus Christ. Caring for persons that have been hurt remains a priority for me.

“I have been training the next generation of priests. I’ve had this wonderful opportunity to ensure the goodness, soundness and holiness of the next generation of priests. I see the beauty and joy and vision and wholehearted dedication of these young men.”

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DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Free Press

August 17, 2020

By Tresa Baldas

Father Eduard Perrone says he’s been vindicated in a sex abuse case against him, and he wants his job back.

The embattled priest found absolution in the justice system after suing a detective for defamation, alleging she fabricated the rape claim that got him suspended. The year-old lawsuit ended last week with a $125,000 settlement for Perrone — a rare win for an accused Catholic priest who convinced a three-person court advisory panel that he deserved compensation for being defamed.

Specifically, Perrone argued that the church built its case around a detective’s “fabricated” report that he had sodomized an altar boy 40 years earlier, though the now-grown man has said that didn’t happen, according to church and police records. He said the detective also tried to corroborate the sodomy claim by pressuring another former altar boy into making accusations against him, though that now-grown man has said he never saw Perrone harm a child and that the detective was trying to twist his words.

Meanwhile, Perrone still doesn’t have his job, and still no word from the church.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
KDKA-TV

August 14, 2020

By Andy Sheehan

Today marks two years since the release of the grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse.

Out of shock and shame that was the grand jury report, Bishop Zubik says the diocese emerged with one clear obligation — to compensate and care for victims of clergy sexual abuse — no matter the cost.

“First and foremost to people who are the victim/survivors to help them in every way we can possibly help them,” he said

To that end, the diocese established the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program — a fund to compensate all victims of clergy sexual abuse. Some 369 people have made claims and to date, most have received compensation including Paul Dorsch.

“How do you put a dollar value on that?” He said.

For Dorsch, it’s been a long road. He and others told me two decades ago about the sexual abuse they suffered as teenagers at the hands of Father Jack Hoehl, the former headmaster of Quigley High School, who as named in the report.

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TROY (NY)
WNYT-TV

August 15, 2020

Pastor Dominick Brignola is speaking out on the sexual abuse lawsuit against him, Victorious Life Christian Church and Deacon Mark Rhodes.

The lawsuit, filed by Albany woman Abigail Barker, claims that Deacon Rhodes sexually molested her in 1998. Brignola and the church are being sued for alleged negligence and cover-up.

“There’s no excuse to be kept in the dark about people in their church in their community that are predators,” says Barker.

Brignola claims he played no role in the alleged incident, saying the complaint states it happened in Barker’s own home.

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MASSACHUSETTS
MetroWest Daily News

August 15, 2020

By Arthur McCaffrey/Guest Columnist

We are in the midst of a global pandemic which has changed everybody’s lives, perhaps for ever. And yet here we have a Vatican pronouncement that things have not changed, that the priest is still the parish boss, that we should all get back to playing our traditional passive PPO (‘pray, pay, obey’) roles.

Between 2004 and 2016, dozens of parishes and hundreds of parishioners in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston (RCAB) protested Archbishop Sean O’Malley’s (SOM) attempts to close and sell off their parish churches in order to pay off a huge pile of debt incurred from paying out financial settlements to victims of clergy abuse.

In 2004, the newly arrived Archbishop slated over 80 diocesan parishes for closure, including many that were vibrant, viable, financially and religiously sound communities of faith. In response, a grassroots resistance movement spontaneously erupted. Many parishes actively challenged O’Malley’s decision, and several (including my own) went into full-time vigil, occupying their churches 24/7, so as not to be locked out. These became known as “Vigil” parishes, quickly spawning imitators all around the country as other bishops and other parishes disagreed about how best to honor heritage and keep their beloved churches open.

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SCRANTON (PA)
The Citizens’ Voice

August 14, 2020

By Frank Wilkes Lesnefsky and Terrie Morgan-Besecker

Attorneys filed more than two dozen lawsuits against the Diocese of Scranton this week, just days before the second anniversary of the 2018 state grand jury report that revealed widespread sexual abuse and cover ups among Roman Catholic clergy.

Of the 30 lawsuits, nearly all of which were filed between Monday and Thursday, Times-Shamrock Newspapers confirmed at least 24 pertain to sexual abuse. Although the remaining six suits appear to relate to sexual abuse, attempts to reach the attorneys to confirm were unsuccessful.

Twenty-eight of the lawsuits were writs of summons that put defendants on notice they are being sued but do not contain information about the allegations, which will be filed later. Attorneys filed two full complaints naming alleged abusers and outlining allegations.

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UNITED STATES
The Nation

August 14, 2020

By Hélène Barthélemy

E-mails shared with The Nation reveal a deep collaboration between the Department of Education and organizations that believe in a crisis of false rape allegations.

In July 2017, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos held a summit on Title IX, the 1972 federal statute that bans discrimination on the basis of sex at universities. Inside the Department of Education building, she met with the National Coalition for Men Carolinas (NCFMC), Families Advocating for Campus Equality (FACE), and Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE), three organizations that claim there is a crisis of false rape allegations against male college students. Outside, despite the sweltering heat in Washington, D.C., more than a 100 people rallied, hoping to prevent the department from rolling back protections for students who are victims of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. “Dear Betsy,” one sign read. “Help end rape culture, don’t perpetuate it.”

Nearly 3,000 pages of e-mails obtained by the anti-corruption organization Democracy Forward through a Freedom of Information Act request and shared with The Nation reveal that the July 2017 meeting was part of a much deeper collaboration between the DOE and these men’s rights groups. From May to September 2017, the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights partnered with NCFMC, FACE, and SAVE to develop regulations on campus sexual assault. E-mails make clear that staffers from these organizations participated in conference calls, offered legal advice, and met with high-level employees at the Department of Education. The DOE even hired the main funder of SAVE to help draft new regulations and teamed up with FACE to try to produce supportive op-eds.

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