ABUSE TRACKER

A judge has denied the Delbarton School’s request for a new trial, months after a jury unanimously awarded $5 million to a former student who sued the all-boys Catholic school, alleging sexual assault by one of its monks nearly five decades earlier.

In a decision filed Dec. 29, state Superior Court Judge Louis Sceusi denied a motion brought by the Morris County school, ruling that the record fails to establish “clear and convincing evidence” of any miscarriage of justice that would require a legal do-over.

The jury arrived at a “fair and well-reasoned verdict” after its five-week trial this fall, Sceusi wrote.

The unanimous Oct. 8 verdict was a milestone, hailed by clergy abuse victims and advocates. It was the first civil sex abuse lawsuit against the Catholic Church to go to a jury in New Jersey since the state extended its statute of limitations in 2019….

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[Includes a 50-minute audio interview with reporter Dana Hedgpeth.]

On this edition of Your Call, Washington Post reporter Dana Hedgpeth discusses her reporting on the 523 Indian boarding schools established in the US.

Hedgpeth and her colleagues found that 3,104 students died at boarding schools between 1828 and 1970, three times as many deaths as reported by the US Interior Departmentlast year.

Two Native American tribes have filed a class-action lawsuit against the US government for its role in running a system that separated Native children from their families to eradicate their language and culture and force them to assimilate into White society.

Guest:

Dana Hedgpeth, reporter at The Washington Post and enrolled member of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe of North Carolina

Resources:

The Washington Post: Tribes sue U.S. government over deaths, abuse at boarding schools

The Washington Post: View Cache

[See also the complete Greater Grace World Outreach report.]

Independent investigator recommends ousting Greater Grace World Outreach leadership

It couldn’t be proven, he said. Besides, the decision wasn’t his. Also, the family that reported the sexual abuse was having marital problems. Those people, he insisted, were trouble. Even if their story had some truth to it, the victim was partly at fault, anyway. It was, he said, “the way she operated and how she moved about.”

The victim was 8 years old.

This interview with Pastor Steven Scibelli, director of missions for Greater Grace World Outreach (GGWO), was among many similar stories cited in a blistering 172-page report that dropped on Dec. 18, concluding a 14-month investigation into GGWO’s handling of sexual misconduct.

The verdict: GGWO’s approach protected the wolves and harmed the sheep, and the shepherds must go.

“GGWO leaders have been involved, sometimes…

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Today, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the launch of a comprehensive criminal investigation into Native American boarding schools and other institutions that were located throughout the State of Michigan. The Department of Attorney General is seeking to identify, document, investigate, and prosecute instances where criminal acts may have occurred at these institutions.

To support this effort, the Department is asking survivors, witnesses, and individuals with firsthand knowledge to come forward and share information that may assist the investigation.

“This investigation seeks to bring truth and accountability to a painful chapter in our state’s history,” Nessel said. “My office is committed to ensuring that survivors’ voices are heard and that any criminal acts uncovered are thoroughly investigated and, when possible, prosecuted.”

Individuals with information that may assist the Native Boarding Schools investigation can contact the Department of Attorney General via email or by phone at 517-897-7391. Tips can be…

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Friday announced a criminal investigation into Native American boarding schools that operated across the state. Nessel said her department will investigate and prosecute crimes that may have occurred at these sites.

Investigators are asking survivors, witnesses and anyone with information to come forward.

“This investigation seeks to bring truth and accountability to a painful chapter in our state’s history,” Nessel said in a statement. “My office is committed to ensuring that survivors’ voices are heard and that any criminal acts uncovered are thoroughly investigated and, when possible, prosecuted.”Advertisement

Tips can be submitted by email or phone at 517-897-7391 and may be anonymous. More information is available on the investigation’s website.

For more than a century, the federal U.S. government and religious organizations operated Indian boarding schools designed to assimilate Native children by suppressing language, culture and religion. Children’s hair was cut,…

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel launched a criminal investigation into Native American people experienced boarding schools that operated across the state between 1823 and 1983 on Friday, Dec. 19.

Her department wants to “identify, document, investigate and prosecute” criminal acts that may have occurred at these shuttered institutions, per a press release.

Nessel is asking survivors, witnesses and others with firsthand knowledge to share information that may assist in the investigation.

“This investigation seeks to bring truth and accountability to a painful chapter in our state’s history,” Nessel said.

The state has identified eight Indigenous boarding schools and institutions, the last of which closed in 1983:

• Baraga Chippewa Boarding & Day School, Baraga
• Catholic Otchippewa Boarding School, Schoolcraft County
• Holy Childhood, Harbor Springs
• Holy Family Orphanage, Marquette
• Mackinac Mission School, Mackinac Island
• MI Indian Industrial Boarding School, Mt. Pleasant
• New Mission House, Omena
• St. Joseph Orphanage, Assinins

Individuals with information that…

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is launching a criminal investigation into Native American boarding schools and other institutions that previously operated in Michigan. 

Nessel’s office plans to document, investigate and prosecute instances where criminal acts might have taken place at these boarding schools and institutions. 

“This investigation seeks to bring truth and accountability to a painful chapter in our state’s history,” said Nessel in a statement. “My office is committed to ensuring that survivors’ voices are heard and that any criminal acts uncovered are thoroughly investigated and, when possible, prosecuted.” 

Michigan was home to five federally run Native American boarding schools, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, including Holy Childhood of Jesus School in Harbor Springs, which began operation in 1829 and remained open until 1983. 

Other federally run schools in Michigan included the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School, the Mackinac Mission School on Mackinac Island, the Catholic…

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A New York State Supreme Court judge has ruled in favor of Harlem’s historic Abyssinian Baptist Church and its senior pastor, the Rev. Kevin R. Johnson, bringing an end to a yearlong legal battle that challenged the validity of his election.

In a decision issued Dec. 22, Judge James G. Clynes denied a lawsuit filed by four current and former church members who sought to nullify Johnson’s 2024 election and bar him from future consideration as senior pastor. The ruling affirms Johnson’s position as the duly elected leader of one of the nation’s most prominent Black churches, ReligionNews.com reported.

Johnson succeeded the late Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, who led Abyssinian for five decades before his death in 2022. Johnson was formally installed in September 2024 following an election held June 21–23 of that year.

The plaintiffs — Kevin McGruder, Jasmine McFarlane-White,…

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I am proud to be an American Baptist. Our denomination is not perfect; far from it.  But we have been on the right side of history more often than not. On this day, I feel compelled to point out what distinguishes us from Southern Baptists and independent Baptists, who are much in the news for their incidence of clergy sexual abuse and subsequent cover-ups.

American Baptists are Baptists; this means that we believe in congregational autonomy. Autonomy means each church chooses its own pastoral leadership. However, we have accountability within our system that provides a layer of protection for our churches. A system like this has been in place in the American Baptist family for decades.

A pastor who has American Baptist “standing” has completed a number of steps. In my region of Massachusetts, these include a background check, a course on ethical boundaries in ministry and an evaluation at a…

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Pierce County schools pay annually for liability and property coverage from one of two risk management pools in Washington state.

The Puyallup School District has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit that alleged a second-grade teacher abused an 8-year-old student with autism, Pierce County Superior Court records show.

Filed by the student’s parents last year, the lawsuit claimed that a Pope Elementary instructor locked the plaintiffs’ son outside the classroom on multiple occasions, “leaving him alone in the hallway for large stretches of time,” jerked him around by his arm and repeatedly yelled at him during the 2022-23 school year. The teacher had been the subject of a prior complaint for allegedly being aggressive with another student who had behavioral needs, according to the suit.

The district, which was accused of improperly placing the plaintiffs’ son in a general education classroom despite his special needs, failed to take…

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Some women, forced into prostitution by violence, desperation, or false promises, line the streets of Rome and Abruzzo at night — until they see a nun, dressed in a habit, offering them a way out.

“Ten years ago, I felt a calling within a calling,” Sister Carla Venditti told CNA. “I felt that God was calling me to something beautiful. I had to go out onto the streets because he was waiting for me there in the faces of the least among us.”

Venditti, of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, lives in Avezzano, Italy, and is known as the “anti-trafficking nun.” She goes out into the streets, ministering to women and girls who are being trafficked. Along with her fellow sisters and other volunteers, Venditti helps victims rebuild their lives.

Starting anew with love

“I look forward to Friday evenings so I can enter the world of…

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In summary

The law creates an array of measures to educate school staff, beef up reporting requirements and stop teachers credibly accused of abuse from getting jobs at other districts.

Facing a mountain of lawsuits, California K-12 schools will have a system in place beginning this year to prevent teachers and other staff from sexually abusing students.

A new California law creates an array of measures to educate school staff, beef up reporting requirements and stop teachers credibly accused of abuse from getting jobs at other districts.

The law, Senate Bill 848, goes into effect Jan. 1 and schools must have protocols in place by July. The law applies to all schools, including private schools.

“I’m proud to see this bill move forward. It’s been really personal for me,” state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, the bill’s author, told CalMatters after it passed. “For survivors, this is an important step toward…

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Dec. 15 began a most unusual week for the U.S. Catholic Church. A Spanish publication, Religión Digital, reported late on that day that Pope Leo XIV would appoint Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, to succeed Cardinal Timothy Dolan as archbishop of New York. The appointment, the story said, was expected the next day. In fact, two more days would pass before the appointment finally came, as Catholics in the United States speculated wildly.

Bishop appointments rarely leak. Many new bishops are named each month around the world. Confidentiality is kept with remarkable effectiveness, given that for each appointment the process is lengthy and consultative, and a lot of people know which candidates are being vetted. It works in part because everyone’s participation in the process is constrained by what is called a pontifical secret: To leak word is a grave sin for someone, and it can incur penalties under…

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Derwood, Md. — A Maryland church teacher in Derwood was sentenced Monday for sexual abuse charges. 

Ervin Alfaro-Lopez, 34, of Germantown, was sentenced to 20 years behind bars by a Circuit Court judge in Montgomery County. Alfaro-Lopez pleaded guilty in February to one count of sexual abuse of a minor and three counts of third-degree sex offense.

In May of 2023, detectives with the police department’s Special Victims Investigations Division opened an investigation after a victim reported being sexually abused by a teacher at a Derwood church located near the 15700 block of Crabbs Branch Way in Montgomery County.

Pastor Bernal Osorio with the Elim Giathersburg Church confirmed to WUSA9 that the alleged abuse happened in their Derwood location. 

After the first victim came forward in May, police say three more victims came forward between September 2023 and January 2024. All of the victims claimed to…

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A teacher at a church in Derwood, Maryland, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing four minors who were under his care at the church, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Ervin Alfaro-Lopez, 34, of Germantown, pleaded guilty in February to one count of sexual abuse of a minor and three counts of third-degree sexual offense. The charges stem from crimes against four young children during the time span of 2014-18, when the defendant was employed as a teacher at a church located in the 15700 block of Crabbs Branch Way in Derwood.

Charging documents provide detailed accounts from the four victims, stating Alfaro-Lopez was able to get the victims separated from other students to abuse them. In one case, Alfaro-Lopez directed a student to sit on his lap before abusing her while the rest of the kids were watching a movie…

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A prominent Catholic order failed to disclose the sexual misconduct of a key witness during a Supreme Court trial, which has prompted an appeal and is likely to result in a retrial.

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart also failed to provide the court with crucial documents that contained evidence of alleged sexual misconduct concerning former Monivae College teacher Brother John Frith.

Comments made by Court of Appeal Justice David Beach indicated a fresh civil trial was likely because of the serious disclosure breaches, which the appeals court bench ruled had likely skewed the outcome of the original hearing.

“Three other judges of this court could spend two days doing this, or the parties could come to the conclusion that it’s blindingly obvious – their words, not mine – that whatever happens, there has to at least be a retrial,” said Beach at a hearing on November 14.

Lawyer Michael Magazanik…

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Mandatory reporters in Minnesota can be charged with a misdemeanor if they do not report child abuse to authorities. But violators of the statute are rarely convicted, and fines are often similar to traffic tickets.

Co-published with Minnesota Star Tribune

A Minnesota senator wants to strengthen state laws meant to hold adults entrusted with children’s safety accountable for failing to report suspected child abuse, after an investigation by the Minnesota Star Tribune and ProPublica found that the leadership of a church in Duluth for years protected a child sex predator.

Sen. Erin Maye Quade, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party from suburban Minneapolis, said she’s focused on situations where such an adult has concrete knowledge that a specific person is abusing children and nonetheless stays silent, allowing the abuse to continue.

“If you know an adult who is committing child sexual abuse, you need to report that,” she said. “For that,…

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Decades of concealed clergy abuse are coming back to haunt the Archdiocese of New York

In what sounds like a joke, but very much isn’t, the Archdiocese of New York says its insurance company won’t give it the money it needs to pay victims of child sexual abuse because the Catholic group has supposedly allowed “a pattern of abuse to persist for many years.”

You may have seen news article about recent settlements by archdioceses to settle hundreds of lawsuits from survivors of abuse. The Archdiocese of New Orleans, for example, announced earlier this month that it would give about $305 million to roughly 600 survivors of clergy sexual abuse. (That particular group had already filed for bankruptcy as a way to limit their payouts.) \

Where was all this money coming from? The company Travelers, which insured the archdiocese between 1973 and 1989, when much of the abuse occurred.

The situation…

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Can the Church bring back the formerly faithful?

Catholicism is hot right now. The new American pope is popular for speaking his mind on political subjects such as AI and the death penalty. On Instagram and TikTok, Catholic influencers rank local Masses and their favorite Christmas hymns, and priests go viral for DJ’ing raves, while others protest ICE raids. The Catholic Church is at the center of the new Knives Out film, which premiered at No. 1 on Netflix this month. And more and more young people are going to Mass.

Today’s youth aren’t particularly religious. The Pew Research Center reports that 44 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds are unaffiliated with a faith. Yet at the same time, Catholic Gen Z is showing up strong. A new survey from the Catholic Leadership Roundtable found that members of Gen Z are now the most engaged Catholics—attending Mass, confession, and parish functions more frequently than any other generational cohort. (They…

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The Church of England is “learning lessons” and making its processes more rigorous to deal with reports of sexual abuse following recent scandals, a bishop has said.

The Bishop of Oxford, Dr Steven Croft, who will retire from his role in the summer after nearly a decade, said his diocese has improved its safeguarding training.

Dr Croft previously said he had learned from his own “mistakes”, including in the way he dealt with a rape allegation made against a parish priest who later took his own life.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby left the role earlier this year after a review found he “could and should” have reported a prolific child abuser to police in 2013.

Dr Croft currently oversees 800 churches in 609 parishes across Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.

He told the BBC: “Nationally and in all dioceses, I think our processes are better, I think our churches are safer…

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Mother-of-four Mary McCarthy alleges that she was raped twice by a priest in Co Mayo in 1990 – but her case was ultimately investigated by a Detective who was himself sued over an alleged rape

The Garda Commissioner has admitted to a woman who alleges she was raped by a priest that she was not treated properly in the original garda investigation.

Mother-of-four Mary McCarthy alleges that she was raped twice by a priest in Co Mayo in 1990 – but her case was ultimately investigated by a Detective who was himself sued over an alleged rape, and had to be re-investigated years later.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) refused to take her claims to trial in early 2006, and in a subsequent review of the case by gardai in 2022, it once again declined to charge the priest, even though gardai recommended charges – leaving her devastated.

“In…

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A chaplains group facing a legal battle with the Anglican Church in North America has launched a new denomination known as the Anglican Reformed Catholic Church.

Bishops with the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy recently established the ARCC, with it being officially incorporated in Alabama as a new nonprofit organization.

JAFC Bishop Derek Jones will serve as the leader of the new denomination, according to Virtue Online. The group’s leaders are calling ARCC “classic Anglican.”

“We live in the tradition and prayer book expression we have all known and loved in the JAFC for nearly 20 years,” they told Virtue Online.

“It is Reformed and Catholic as Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, Bishop John Jewel, Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, and other Anglican reformers envisioned — ancient in faithfulness to the witness of the Apostles and formulated in the ancient Creeds and Councils.”

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A New York State Supreme Court judge has ruled in favor of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church in a lawsuit brought by current and former church members who challenged senior pastor the Rev. Kevin Johnson’s 2024 election and sought to remove him.

Johnson succeeded the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, who served as a minister at the historically Black church for 50 years and died in 2022. Johnson was installed in September 2024.

In their lawsuit filed in October 2024 in the Civil Branch of the New York Supreme Court, the plaintiffs — Kevin McGruder, Jasmine McFarlane-White, Clarence E. Ball III and Rev. C. Vernon Mason Sr. — claimed Johnson’s election as Abyssinian’s senior pastor didn’t comply with the church’s bylaws. The group sought to nullify his election and render him ineligible in future church elections. 

But Judge James G. Clynes sided with Johnson and his church in…

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At least 13 lawsuits were filed in 2025, one as recently as Dec. 17, against the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette, alleging sexual abuse by priests and other employees against minors across Acadiana, bringing the total pending lawsuits filed since June 2024 to about 50.

The Louisiana Supreme Court in June 2024 upheld a Louisiana law giving abuse survivors a three-year window — until June 14, 2027 — to sue for damages.

The Catholic Diocese of Lafayette had challenged a 2021 “look back” law, arguing in court that it violated due process rights. The Supreme Court disagreed, opening the door for victims to file lawsuits against the diocese, churches and others.

The lawsuits filed in 2025 in the 15th Judicial District, which includes Lafayette, involve allegations of abuse at churches and schools in Church Point in Acadia Parish, Abbeville and Gueydan in Vermilion Parish, East Cameron in Cameron Parish, Grand Prairie…

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As one of his final acts in office, Mayor Adams late on Christmas Eve vetoed a City Council bill that would temporarily allow victims of gender-based violence to sue their perpetrators even if the statute of limitations for their claim has lapsed.

The veto, which Adams issued just a week before he leaves office on Dec. 31, came even though the City Council passed the bill in a unanimous 48-0 vote last month.

The Council has 30 days to override a mayoral veto after it’s formally received by the chamber, a step that won’t happen until January. Three-fourths of the chamber’s 51 members would need to support an override for it to be successful.

The gender-based violence bill’s author, Queens Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers, said in a statement late Wednesday that the chamber “must” next month “override this callous veto and restore survivors’ right to seek accountability.”

“By vetoing Intro 1297 on Christmas…

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A retired New York bishop has filed for personal bankruptcy protection in federal court after a state jury verdict found him, along with other officials, personally liable for the collapse of a Catholic hospital pension fund that left about 1,100 retirees without the lifetime monthly payments they were expecting.

It’s not clear whether a Catholic bishop in the United States has ever previously filed for personal bankruptcy protection.

Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, 77, who served as bishop of Albany from April 2014 until his retirement in October, is seeking protection from creditors for his assets valued at between $100,001 and $500,000, according to a filing Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of New York.

The seven-page filing does not list the bishop’s assets but states that he has between 100 and 199 creditors and debts totaling between $1,000,001 and $10 million.

Last week, a jury found Scharfenberger…

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The Archdiocese of Baltimore has agreed not to assert charitable immunity in its bankruptcy case.

Survivors of sexual abuse and their legal representatives view the decision as a pivotal moment in their pursuit of accountability.

Teresa Lancaster, a survivor and attorney, feels cautiously optimistic following the archdiocese’s Friday filing of a stipulation.

“I was delighted, because we were prepared to go to court today,” Lancaster said.

The stipulation also prevents parishes or schools from filing for bankruptcy unless they waive the legal protection.

Jonathan Schochor, an attorney helping represent the 900 survivors of sexual abuse in the church, emphasized the importance of this development.

“It’s off the table, finally,” Schochor said.

The legal protection could have shielded the church from paying survivors, and going to trial over it would have extended the already two-year-old case.

“I think it’s within the realm of possibility if the…

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Bishop Scharfenberger filed for bankruptcy after a court found him personally liable for the failure of a shuttered Catholic hospital’s pension plan.

Albany’s retired Bishop Edward Scharfenberger filed for bankruptcy this month, shortly after a New York court assigned him personal liability for the failure of a shuttered Catholic hospital’s pension plan.

In a December 12 judgement, Scharfenberger, who led the Albany diocese from 2014 until October of this year, was assigned 10% personal liability in a $54 million judgement for compensatory damages against the former board of St. Clare’s Hospital, which closed in 2008.

The bishop immediately filed for bankruptcy protections, with his personal assets estimated to cover between 2 and 5 percent of his liability for the hospital pensions.

The ruling is unique in that it held personally liable the bishop, as well as his deceased predecessor Howard Hubbard and deceased former diocesan vicar general, but not the…

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Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams issued a Christmas Eve veto of a bill that would have granted sexual abuse victims an 18-month window to sue the alleged perpetrators and facilitating institutions, including against Jeffrey Epstein’s estate.

The “Gender Motivated Violence Act” — unanimously passed by the City Council last month — would create a “look back” window for alleged victims to file lawsuits even if the statute of limitations on their claims was expired.

The mayor’s veto statement claimed the bill amounted to a free $300 million “debit card” for law firm Levy Konigsberg, which reps a large swath of alleged victims bringing such claims, including under previous “look back” legislation like the state’s Adult Survivors Act and the Child Survivors Act. 

In a statement to The Post on Thursday, soon-to-be Speaker Julie Menin vowed that the incoming council would vote to override Adams’ veto in the new year.

“The Mayor’s veto message…

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Nikki Heidenreich felt a swirl of emotions while reading a massive investigative report that examines sexual abuse at her former church, Greater Grace World Outreach: anger, disgust, vindication.

Anger that church leaders had downplayed the allegations of people who were abused as children, including Heidenreich’s sister, according to the report.

Disgust that high-ranking pastors blamed victims, including one who accused Heidenreich’s sister, who was 8 when she said a pastor molested her, of being culpable due to “the way she operated.”

But Heidenreich felt vindicated by the report, which was the culmination of a 14-month investigation by Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, or GRACE, an independent evangelical organization.

“I feel grateful for the fact that this wasn’t a sham investigation,” said Heidenreich. “I think it lays bare what we have known for a long time that these men [church leaders] were callous and malicious rather than simply…

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Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Ronald A. Hicks of Joliet as the next archbishop of New York, marking a decisive shift in leadership style for one of the most visible dioceses in the United States. 

Hicks, 58, succeeds Cardinal Timothy Dolan, whose resignation was accepted after he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 in February. The appointment, announced today (Dec. 18) by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, ends months of speculation and places a bishop with a markedly pastoral and missionary profile at the helm of an archdiocese facing institutional and financial restructuring and deep cultural change.

The appointment is widely seen as a signal from Rome that the center of gravity in U.S. Catholic leadership is continuing to move away from media-driven cultural confrontation and toward a model rooted in listening, social engagement and pastoral proximity — a model closely associated with both…

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A Brampton priest has been removed from pastoral ministry after being charged with sexual assault and sexual interference, the Archdiocese of Toronto says.

Rev. James Cherickal, pastor of St. Jerome’s Catholic Church, has been charged by Peel Regional Police, according to a statement by the Archdiocese of Toronto.

Peel police confirmed he was arrested and charged Dec. 18 with one count each of sexual assault and sexual interference.

A Brampton priest has been removed from pastoral ministry after being charged with sexual assault and sexual interference, the Archdiocese of Toronto says.

Rev. James Cherickal, pastor of St. Jerome’s Catholic Church, has been charged by Peel Regional Police, according to a statement by the Archdiocese of Toronto.

Peel police confirmed he was arrested and charged Dec. 18 with one count each of sexual assault and sexual interference.

“As the matter is now before the courts, and to protect the integrity of the investigation, no further information can be provided…

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Marking the sixtieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s decrees on priestly training and on priestly life and ministry, Pope Leo XIV’s new Apostolic Letter aims at a deeper understanding of the ministry and role of priests.

Fidelity expressed in humble service to every person, in constant dialogue with God and His People through ongoing formation, in the context of fraternity among priests and with the whole Church, in the missionary and synodal spirit that transcends any temptation to self-celebration: these are some of the priorities that Leo XIV wishes to see intensified in priestly life, contained in the Apostolic Letter  Una fedeltà che genera future (“A fidelity that generates the future”) signed on the feast of the Immaculate Conception and released today, 22 December.

The Letter was occasioned by the sixtieth anniversary of the conciliar decrees Optatam totius and Presbyterorum ordinis: documents the Pope said, “that constitute a milestone…

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At a time when so much pressure and so many demands are placed on priests, they should find support, freedom and relief in recognizing the gifts of laypeople and collaborating with them, Pope Leo XIV said.

“The ministry of the priest must move beyond the model of exclusive leadership, which leads to the centralization of pastoral activities and the burden of all responsibilities entrusted to him alone,” the pope wrote in an apostolic letter titled, “A Fidelity that Generates the Future.”

Vatican II decrees on priests

The letter, released Dec. 22, marked the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s decrees on priestly formation and on the life and ministry of priests.

Pope Leo used the letter to express his “gratitude for the witness and dedication of all priests throughout the world who offer their lives in celebrating the sacrifice of Our Lord in the Eucharist, proclaiming the Word and…

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Another former student at Paramus Catholic High School has filed a lawsuit claiming he was sexually assaulted by a gym teacher and a hockey coach at the school more than 30 years ago.

The plaintiff, whose identity is withheld, alleges he was the victim of “unpermitted sexual contact” by two employees identified in the lawsuit as former gym teacher Donn Ernst and former ice hockey coach Bernard Garris.

The alleged violations occurred from 1986 to 1989, when the student was 14 to 17, the lawsuit says.

The teenager came from a “devout Roman Catholic family,” and was vulnerable to the power that adults had over him, the lawsuit says.

“The culture of the Catholic Church over Plaintiff created pressure on Plaintiff not to report the abuse,” the lawsuit says.

The complaint, which was filed on Dec. 17 in Essex County, is the latest in…

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Catholic priest was removed from the ministry after a decision by the Archdiocese of Toronto

A Catholic priest in Brampton, Ont., has been charged with sexual offences and removed from the ministry, the Archdiocese of Toronto says.

It says the man is accused of one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference, an offence that applies when the victim is under 16 years old. 

A statement the archdiocese posted on its website over the weekend says Peel Regional Police laid the charges on Thursday.

Police confirmed Tuesday that “the individual in question was arrested and charged.”

“As the matter is now before the courts, and to protect the integrity of the investigation, no further information can be provided at this time,” Peel police said in a statement 

The archdiocese statement says the priest was most recently attached to St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Brampton, and also served at other parishes across…

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Accused, Fr. James Cherickal, had been serving at St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Brampton since 2024

A priest posted at a Catholic church in Brampton has been removed from pastoral ministry after being charged with sex crimes, the Archdiocese of Toronto said.

The archdiocese announced the charges and the priest’s removal in a statement on its website Saturday, saying that Fr. James Cherickal had been charged by Peel Regional Police last week on one count of sexual assault and another of sexual interference.

For reference, a sexual interference charge pertains to a victim under the age of 16.

Cherickal had been serving at St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Brampton since 2024 when he was charged, the statement said, with the Archdiocese of Toronto saying it learned of the allegations last week.

“Following our protocols and procedures relating to allegations of misconduct, Fr. Cherickal has been removed from pastoral ministry,” the…

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• A lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville has been dismissed at the request of the plaintiff due to health concerns.
• The lawsuit asserted the diocese mishandled a rape accusation against a seminarian and tried to discredit the accuser.
• Former Knoxville Bishop Richard Stika’s resignation in June 2023 followed multiple scandals, including his handling of the alleged rape.

The lawsuit that put an unwelcome spotlight on the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville and ultimately contributed to the departure of former Bishop Richard Stika has been dismissed at the request of the man who filed it.

Filed in 2022, the lawsuit asserted the diocese tried to discredit the man, identified by the pseudonym John Doe, and did not properly investigate his report that he was raped in 2019 by a seminarian who worked for the diocese and who was a favorite of Stika.

John Doe’s attorney, Patrick Thonson, told Knox News on Dec. 19…

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Fifty million people are currently being trafficked around the world, according to the 2023 Global Slavery Index, driving over $236 billion into the hands of criminals, with numbers continuing to rise.

The 2024 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report documented that between 2019 and 2022 the number of identified trafficking victims increased by 25%, forced labor rose by 47%, and the number of child victims rose by 31%, with a dominating 38% increase in girls. 

Earlier this month, the Sovereign Order of Malta, Praeveni Global, the Santa Marta Group, and the Institute of Anthropology of the Pontifical Gregorian University organized an international conference in Rome to discuss prevention efforts, strengthen collaboration, and promote comprehensive action plans. 

Conference panelists included law enforcement, activists, United Nations rapporteurs, and human rights experts as well as appearances from Cardinal Fabio Baggio, the undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development,…

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KRAKOW, Poland (OSV News) — Entering the centuries-old Royal Wawel Cathedral in Kraków on Dec. 20, Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś opened a new chapter of one of the oldest archdioceses in Catholic Poland, telling the faithful that without them he “doesn’t make sense.”

He pledged a more listening, synodal church and signaled openness to an independent diocesan commission on past abuse cases.

Archbishop Antonio Guido Filipazzi, apostolic nuncio to Poland, presented the papal bull of appointment to the faithful during the Mass of installation, attended by Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and dozens of bishops.

Thousands of faithful

Poland’s deputy prime minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, was also in attendance, as well as thousands of the faithful, most of whom did not fit into the 14th-century cathedral that…

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A former Paramus Catholic student has accused two former employees of sexual assault in the mid-1980s.

The unnamed plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Newark, the Brothers of the Christian Schools, District of North America and Paramus Catholic High School earlier Dec. 17.

The former student claimed that between 1986 and 1989, they were sexually abused by two separate teachers at the school − Donn Ernst and Bernard Garris. The suit said the pair were placed in positions where they had access to children “as an integral part” of their work.

Garris served as Paramus Catholic’s hockey coach while Ersnt was a gym teacher. Garris died in 2016, and Ernst died in 2021. The suit did not provide details about the abuse.

“We do not comment on matters in litigation, “said Maria Margiotta, the executive director of communications and public relations for the Archdiocese of Newark.

Garris and…

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The lawsuit had accused the diocese and its former bishop of covering up assault allegations.

A lawsuit accusing a former Knoxville seminarian of sexual assault – and the former Knoxville bishop of covering it up – has been dropped by the plaintiff, with his lawyer citing poor health as the reason for the decision.

“He was not able to continue the litigation because of some serious health concerns,” attorney Patrick Thonson told Knox News Friday on behalf of his client. “Obviously, conducting a case of this type is stressful and retraumatizing.”

The lawsuit argued that the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee and Bishop Rick Stika had mishandled allegations that a seminarian had raped a parish organist in the diocese.

The suit was initially filed in 2022, and then refiled in early 2023, after the diocese argued successfully in court that the former parish organist should not be permitted to file the…

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New York Archbishop-designate Ronald Hicks, who will be installed in early February, will arrive in an archdiocese seeking to raise $300 million to compensate more than 1,000 survivors of clergy sexual abuse while negotiating a universal settlement deal.

A settlement agreement could break years of legal gridlock involving the archdiocese and its longtime insurer Chubb, which has refused to cover abuse claims because, the company argues, the church is responsible for allowing misconduct to occur over several decades.

“Our goal has always been … to resolve expeditiously all meritorious claims, provide the maximum amount of compensation to the greatest number of victim-survivors and help them heal and move forward,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan wrote in a public letter Dec. 8.

The outgoing cardinal, who led New York Catholics for 16 years, noted that the archdiocese has reduced staff, cut its budget and sold its former Manhattan headquarters…

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In a decision promulgated yesterday, Judge Modesto Bahul Jr. of the Regional Trial Court Branch 2 convicted Mark Batolne of three counts of rape, sentencing him to 20 to 40 years in prison for each count.

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — A family court here sentenced a priest to life in prison for the rape of a 16-year-old student-scholar in 2023.

In a decision promulgated yesterday, Judge Modesto Bahul Jr. of the Regional Trial Court Branch 2 convicted Mark Batolne of three counts of rape, sentencing him to 20 to 40 years in prison for each count.

Prosecution lawyer Jose Adrian Bonifacio said the sexual assaults occurred in March 2023 in a room occupied by the student.

The court said the sexual assaults were aggravated by the use of a deadly weapon and its occurrence inside a building within the diocese’s compound.

The victim testified that she was raped six times…

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The Catholic priest was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of raping a 16-year-old student-scholar.

On December 17, the Baguio City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 2 convicted Father Mark Batolne with three counts of rape. Batolne was sentenced to reclusion perpetua for each of the three counts, with each term carrying 20 to 40 years, bringing his total prison sentence up to 120 years.

Presiding Judge Modesto Bahul Jr. ruled that Father Mark Batolne is guilty of raping the victim on three separate occasions.

The cases came from allegations that Batolne raped the 16-year-old student scholar in March 2023 inside the Bishop’s house compound, where she was staying at that time.

The prosecution claimed that the priest used his position as well as other means in two of the cases to take advantage of his victim.

Batolne was also ordered to pay the victim P75,000 as civil damages, P75,000 as…

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A woman alleges she was sexually assaulted as a child at Camp Morice in Fort St. James

Another lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince George, this time from a woman who claimed to have been sexually assaulted as a child at Camp Morice in Fort St. James.

In a notice of civil claim, filed Dec. 4 in BC Supreme Court in Vancouver, Ruby Ann Mortensen alleges that a Diocese-employed priest preyed upon her in 1972 at the camp.

Mortensen accuses Father O’Connor of using his position of authority and trust to molest her and prevent her from telling anyone.

“To facilitate the abuse, the perpetrator engaged in a pattern of behaviour intended to make the plaintiff feel that it was unsafe to report their wrongdoings,” said the lawsuit.

Mortensen accuses the diocese of knowing that O’Connor committed sexual assault, yet it failed to take action and continued to…

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A national movement to “end silence and expose abusers” is gaining momentum, as Alabama legislators filed a bill Wednesday to ban agreements used to coverup sexual abuse.

Alabama State Senator Matt Woods pre-filed a bill to prohibit any non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in civil cases pertaining to sexual abuse, assault or trafficking. Concurrently, Alabama State Representative David Faulkner pre-filed an identical House bill. Both versions must pass for the law to be enacted.

The bill’s text, expected to be debated by lawmakers in the new year, specifies it will be known as “Trey’s Law,” in memory of former abuse victim Trey Carlock. He was abused at a Kanakuk summer camp, a global network of Christian summer camps. He was silenced from telling his story by an NDA related to a settlement and subsequently took his own life in 2019.

Carlock’s sister,…

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[For a PDF of the letter as it appears on the Vatican website, click here.]

1. A fidelity that generates the future is what priests are called to today. Appreciating the value of perseverance in the apostolic mission gives us the opportunity to reflect on the future of our ministry and to help others experience the joy of the priestly vocation. The sixtieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, which occurs in this Jubilee Year, is an occasion for us to contemplate anew the gift of this fruitful fidelity, and to recall the teachings of the Decrees Optatam Totius and Presbyterorum Ordinis, promulgated respectively on 28 October and 7 December 1965. These two texts were born of a single inspiration of the Church, which is called to be a sign and instrument of unity for all peoples and is challenged to renew herself, aware that “the desired renewal of the whole Church…

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The judge rejects the claim of innocence, upholding the 16-year-old girl’s testimony of being molested 3 times within the Bishop’s Residence

BAGUIO CITY — A Catholic priest, who had managed a popular church-run radio station in the summer capital, was convicted of raping one of the church’s teen scholars in 2023.

In promulgation proceedings on Thursday, Baguio City’s Regional Trial Court Judge Modesto Bahul of Branch 2-FC (Family Court) sentenced Fr. Mark Elis Batolne to life imprisonment for molesting the then 16-year-old girl on March 8, March 12 and March 28 in 2023.

The incident marked as a first major scandal to hit the Diocese of Baguio in recent years.

READ: Priest’s rape trial set

The girl, in her testimony, said Batolne had carried a knife when he first assaulted her on March 8 and March 12 at her room in the attic of the Bishop’s Residence, according to court…

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The cases stem from allegations that the priest raped a 16-year-old student scholar in March 2023 inside the Bishop’s house compound in Baguio City, where she was staying at that time

BAGUIO, Philippines – A regional court in Baguio City on Wednesday, December 17, convicted a Roman Catholic priest on three counts of rape and sentenced him to up to 40 years in prison on each count, court documents showed.

The Baguio City Regional Trial Court found Father Mark Batolne guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and ordered his transfer to the national penitentiary. The court also ordered him to pay the victim P75,000 in civil damages, P75,000 in moral damages and P75,000 in exemplary damages for each count, with interest of 6% per year from the time the ruling becomes final until fully paid.

The cases stemmed from allegations that Batolne raped a 16-year-old student scholar in March 2023 inside…

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The PSNI has previously used a policy of Neither Confirm Nor Deny (NCND) to refuse to answer whether deceased Catholic priest Malachy Finegan had been used by the Royal Ulster Constabulary as an agent

PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has received a fresh challenge from a clerical abuse victim to reveal whether a prolific paedophile priest had been a protected RUC informer.

The PSNI has previously used a policy of Neither Confirm Nor Deny (NCND) to refuse to answer whether deceased Catholic priest Malachy Finegan had been used by the RUC as an agent.

However, following the final publication of the Kenova Report into the actions of the British agent known as Stakeknife last week, Mr Boutcher said the report made a “compelling case” for the reform of NCND and that “absolute secrecy cannot be guaranteed for agents who commit serious crimes”.

Depraved priest Finegan was a former president of…

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Vatican City — Pope Leo XIV tapped Bishop Ronald A. Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, to lead the influential Archdiocese of New York, replacing Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who led New York’s 2.8 million Catholics for 16 years.

Dolan, following Vatican rules, had tendered his resignation when he turned 75 in February.

Like Leo, Hicks, 58, is a supporter of Pope Francis’ welcoming and inclusive vision of Catholicism with an eye toward social justice.

Born in Harvey, Illinois, in 1967, Hicks grew up in South Holland, not far from the Chicago suburb where Leo was raised.

Dolan, a towering figure in the U.S. church and a natural fit in New York with his bluff style, sometimes drew ire from the city’s mostly Democratic voters for his apparent support of the Trump administration.

“Hicks’ personality is different from Dolan’s,” said Christopher White, author of Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave…

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Sources close to the Dicastery for Bishops confirmed the appointment to The Pillar.

Pope Leo XIV is expected to appoint Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet as the next Archbishop of New York, The Pillar has confirmed, with an announcement expected as early as Dec. 18.

Rumors about the prospect of a Hicks move to New York began circulating Monday, following a report forecasting the move at the Spanish Religión Digital website. Chicago media figures fueled speculation online about an imminent appointment, with rumors continuing to circulate among ecclesiastical figures and Church-watchers.

Sources close to the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome confirmed the appointment to The Pillar Dec. 16, indicating that the move is likely to be announced Thursday.

Hicks will succeed Cardinal Timothy Dolan, 75, who has served in New York since 2009. The bishop’s appointment will bring to an end months of speculation about Dolan’s successor, with several candidates speculated for the position.

…

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As survivors in New York are confronted with a settlement brokered under Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s leadership, Milwaukee survivors are joining them in condemning a process that forces survivors into prolonged litigation, keeps abuse records and files secret from Catholics and the public, and protects church officials who covered up child sex crimes. Hundreds of survivors in the Milwaukee Archdiocese were forced into a court-supervised bankruptcy settlement under Cardinal Dolan after a grueling five-year legal battle.

“Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s retirement with honor is not a moment for celebration,” said Peter Isely, one of hundreds of survivors in the Milwaukee Archdiocese who were forced into bankruptcy under Dolan’s leadership and a founding member of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “It is a bitter indictment of a Catholic hierarchy that continues to reward men who treated the rape and sexual assault of children and vulnerable people as real-estate transactions…

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New York’s next archbishop is being heralded a “unifier” who will stick firmly to papal doctrine — just don’t expect to see him on talk shows any time soon.

Pope Leo XIV appointed Ronald Hicks Jr., the current bishop of Joliet, Ill., to become the next Archbishop of New York, one of the most important seats in the nation for the church.

Sources claim after the outspoken Cardinal Timothy Dolan, 75, the church is closing ranks and has deliberately chosen someone who will follow the church’s official theological positions closely and quietly.

“I think Hicks will be much more like Pope Leo, more careful what he says. In the first year of being Archbishop he’s going to avoid political issues and emphasize his pastoral role,” Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit priest and senior analyst with Religion News Service, told The Post.

In contrast, “they broke the mold when they made Archbishop…

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The accuser has written a book and screenplay about the case

The presiding judge made key rulings before the partial settlement of a man’s sexual assault lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince George, religious orders and the estates of deceased clergy members.

BC Supreme Court Justice Kevin Loo, in Dec. 8 reasons for judgment on pre-trial applications, allowed plaintiff Dr. Nicholas John Harrison to make amendments to his notice of civil claim.

Harrison accused Brother Leopold and Father Rayner of physically and sexually assaulting him at Sacred Heart Elementary School between 1973 and 1977. He also accused institutions, such as the diocese and Catholic school board, of negligence.

Loo originally notified the parties of his decision in a Nov. 13 memorandum. The trial was scheduled to get underway four days later, but it was adjourned.

One of the amendments Loo allowed involved Harrison’s claim that he was coerced…

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How does Joelle Casteix explain the gendered and spiritual trauma of Catholic clergy abuse and the pathways from victimhood to survivor-led advocacy and recovery?

Joelle Casteix is a leading advocate for survivors of child sexual abuse in faith-based and institutional settings. A survivor of Catholic clergy abuse herself, she has spent decades exposing cover-ups, supporting victims, and explaining the unique spiritual and psychological harms of abuse perpetrated by religious authority figures. Drawing on both personal experience and research, she discusses “soul murder,” complex shame, and long-delayed disclosure, especially among women in patriarchal religious systems. Through writing, public speaking, litigation support, and peer support, Casteix works to transform victimization into agency, encouraging survivors to seek validation, redefine themselves, and, where possible, become powerful advocates for change.

In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Joelle Casteix about the gendered and spiritual dimensions of clergy abuse in Christian and especially Catholic contexts. Casteix explains how…

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Archbishop Ronald Hicks will take over as the 11th archbishop of New York on Feb. 4, 2026.

The timeline that follows is a look at his early and pastoral life to date.

Aug. 4, 1967 

Ronald Aldon Hicks is born in Harvey, Illinois, to Ronald and Roselee Hicks. He has a younger brother, Rick, and grew up in South Holland, Illinois — one suburb over from Dolton, where Pope Leo XIV grew up. 

May 21, 1994 

Archbishop Hicks is ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago.  

1994-1996  

Serves as an associate pastor at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Chicago.  

1996-1999  

Serves as an associate pastor at St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Orland Hills, Illinois. 

1999-2005 

Lives and ministers at St. Joseph College Seminary in Chicago as the dean of formation. 

July 2005  

Moves from Chicago to El Salvador to begin a five-year term as regional…

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[See also the full text of AG Nessel’s report, Diocese of Grand Rapids: A Complete Accounting.]

State Attorney General Dana Nessel on Monday, Dec. 15, released a report detailing allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct at the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids.

The report showed that 51 priests in the Grand Rapids Diocese were accused of sexual misconduct involving children or adults since Jan. 1, 1950.

No criminal charges have been filed related to the Grand Rapids Diocese. In some cases, the statute of limitations has expired. In others, the allegations did not violate state law or the priest has died, Nessel said in a statement.

Charges have been filed in 11 cases across the state, resulting in convictions in nine cases involving 38 survivors, Nessel said.

Of the 11 cases charged criminally, none of the cases were related to priests ministering in the Diocese…

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Federal authorities described the disgraced pastor’s actions as “predatory, measured, and inflicted profound trauma to the victim.”

A disgraced South Carolina pastor was indicted this week and accused of harassing his estranged wife for more than a year before she died by suicide in 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of South Carolina announced Thursday.

“The defendant’s alleged actions were predatory, measured, and inflicted profound trauma to the victim, her family, and loved ones,” FBI Agent in Charge Kevin Moore told local news station WMBF.

John Paul Miller, 46, was indicted on charges of cyberstalking and false statements after federal authorities said he began sending “unwanted and harassing communications” to his wife, Mica Miller, 30, in November 2022 and committed a string of “harassing behavior” up until her suicide on April 27, 2024.

Among the alleged acts John Paul Miller committed were posting a nude photo of…

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Pope Leo XIV has accepted Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s resignation after 16 years of leading the Archdiocese of New York and announced Bishop Ron Hicks, 58, of Joliet, Illinois, to be his successor.

Hicks, hailing from the same state as the first-ever elected U.S.-born Pope, will soon step into one of the largest and most public-facing roles in the American Catholic Church, as the second-largest Archdiocese in the country.

Hicks has been the leader of the Church in Joliet, seat of Will County in Illinois, since2020. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop, or deputy, under Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich.

“Hicks represents not just a new chapter for New York but for the American church as a whole,” said David Gibson, a U.S. Church expert.

Why did Cardinal Dolan resign?

Dolan confirmed he had submitted a letter of resignation to the late Pope Francisfollowing his 75th birthday back in February.

Francis…

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The Archdiocese of New York says it has agreed to sell the land beneath the Palace Hotel on Manhattan’s East Side to the hotel owner for $490 million — part of a real estate haul meant to fund a global settlement for church sex abuse survivors.

The deal became public just days after Cardinal Timothy Dolan announced the archdiocese would establish a $300 million fund to compensate survivors of sexual abuse as it seeks to negotiate a settlement with more than 1,000 people who allege they were abused as minors by priests and other church officials.

“The sexual abuse of minors long ago has brought shame upon our Church,” Dolan said in a letter to parishioners, adding the church was now looking to “provide the maximum amount of compensation to the greatest number of victim-survivors, and help them heal and move forward.”

Officials confirmed part of the Palace…

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A recent Michigan Attorney General’s Office report released this month detailing allegations of clerical sexual abuse and misconduct taking place within the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids also includes ties to Manistee. 

The Dec. 12 report includes allegations against two former priests with ties to Manistee. 

The investigation did not reveal any allegations of the sexual abuse of a minor regarding priests in active ministry and there have been no criminal charges resulting from the investigation.   

The 335-page document details reported abuse of 152 victim-survivors by 51 priests since 1950.   

Two of those priests had connections with Manistee. 

Manistee ties

The late former Guardian Angels Church priest, Edward Kubiak, is listed in the report with allegations said to have taken place from 1965-1967 involving a child from the time they were 10-12 years old. 

The Guardian Angels Church is no longer in operation through the diocese. In 2014, financial…

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A Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to animal abuse and was supposed to be reassigned to Shreveport will no longer be taking the position.

The priest, Charles Thessing, who pleaded guilty to animal abuse charges, was set to be assigned to Shreveport’s diocese.

Thessing’s charges originated in West Memphis, Ark. earlier in 2025. His sentencing agreement shows he was ordered to pay more than $2,000 to the West Memphis Animal Shelter, along with a fine and court costs.

In response, the Catholic Diocese of Shreveport has put out a statement from the Bishop’s office:

As previously announced, Father Thessing was scheduled to begin a new assignment in the Diocese of Shreveport on January 1, 2026. Father Thessing has since requested not to be considered for this assignment and has conveyed his decision to Bishop Malone.

Bishop Malone respects Father Thessing’s decision, and accordingly, Father Thessing will not be assigned to…

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[See also the full text of AG Nessel’s report, Diocese of Grand Rapids: A Complete Accounting.]

The Michigan government this week released its fifth report on diocesan abuse in the state, detailing dozens of allegations against more than 50 priests in the Diocese of Grand Rapids.

The report from the attorney general’s office, released on Dec. 15, comes after four other reports detailing abuse allegations in the dioceses of Lansing, Kalamazoo, Gaylord, and Marquette.

As with the other reports, the allegations detailed in the Grand Rapids investigation go back decades. The Dec. 15 report encompasses abuse allegations against “priests or deacons who are current or former clergy for the Diocese of Grand Rapids, that occurred in the diocese from Jan. 1, 1950, to the present,” the review says.

The alleged abuse reports were pulled from…

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Father Leo Riley, a Port Charlotte priest who was facing sexual abuse allegations and a lawsuit, died on Tuesday at 69, the Diocese of Venice announced.

The Diocese of Venice confirmed Father Riley’s death in a statement, but did not have any details on how he died or funeral arrangements.

Riley was previously arrested in April 2024 on capital sexual battery charges following reports of four people being sexually abused by Father Riley from 1984 to 1986, when he was the associate pastor of Resurrection Parish in Dubuque, Iowa.

In October 2024, three men filed a civil lawsuit in Charlotte County against Riley and the Diocese of Dubuque, alleging sexual abuse by Riley in Iowa.

Shortly after his arrest, a man in Sarasota came forward and shared his story of sexual abuse as a child, which he said he suffered at the hands of Riley while…

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Punta Gorda FL — Father Leo Riley, formerly of Dubuque, passed away in Punta Gorda, Florida on December 16 at the age of 69, according to the Archdiocese of Venice in Florida. Riley’s death comes after allegations of sexual abuse in Dubuque from the 1980s.

Riley was charged with five counts of second-degree sexual abuse in April of 2024. Four individuals came forward with allegations against Riley, who served as an associate pastor for the Church of Resurrection Parish in Dubuque at the time. The victims were all identified as grade school-aged boys.

The case was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired.

Then in October 2024, three civil lawsuits were filed in Florida court against Riley and the Archdiocese of Dubuque. Riley denied the allegations against him.

Riley was ordained in the Diocese of Dubuque in 1982 and remained there until 2002…

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A former Dubuque priest accused of sexually abusing altar boys has died at 69 years old.

Father Leo Riley was the associate pastor of Resurrection Parish in Dubuque from 1984 to 1986. He was serving as the priest of a church in Florida from 2005 until last year.

In October 2024, three men filed civil lawsuits against Riley, accusing him of sexual abuse. The lawsuits allege Riley sexually abused the men when they served as altar boys at the Dubuque church.

A similar case against Riley was dropped in Iowa due to the statute of limitations expiring.

A suggestion of death has been filed in both Sarasota and Charlotte counties in Florida. Funeral arrangements have not been confirmed at this time.

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A former Dubuque priest at the center of sexual abuse lawsuits has died – and now, an alleged victim is speaking out.

Father Leo Riley died Dec. 16 in Punta Gorda, Florida at the age of 69.

Fr. Riley was the associate pastor of Resurrection Catholic Church in Dubuque from 1984 to 1986.

He served at various churches in Florida from 2002 until 2023.

In July 2024, a judge dismissed sexual battery charges against Riley, here in Iowa, due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

That October, three men filed civil lawsuits against Riley and the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The suits alleged that he sexually abused the men when they served as altar boys.

TV9’s sister station ABC7 WWSB in Sarasota, Florida spoke with an alleged victim, who asked to remain anonymous, about his reaction to Riley’s death.

“It’s conflicting, you never want to try to like, celebrate someone else’s…

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The newly named leader of the Archdiocese of New York, Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks, introduced himself to the faithful of his new home Dec. 18 with a pledge to become familiar with its challenges and uphold human dignity.

He also highlighted his Chicago-area background, which is similar to Pope Leo XIV’s.

In a joint press conference aired live on several national broadcast networks, New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan introduced the former bishop of Joliet, Illinois, saying it has been a week since he came to know the 58-year-old “and I already love him and appreciate him and trust him.”

“Is there sadness in my heart? Sure, because I love the Archdiocese of New York. That sadness is already mitigated by the gift that this new archbishop already is,” Cardinal Dolan told media and clergy among other guests at the news conference at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.

Early Dec….

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Bishop Ronald Hicks will be walking into the heart of the Catholic Church’s lingering sex abuse scandal when he grabs the reins of the Archdiocese of New York — and there are already questions over what tack he will take.

Advocates for the victims of Catholic clergy and lay staffers were worried about whether the 58-year-old Illinois bishop would follow through on a $300 million settlement negotiated under New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan for some 1,300 child sex abuse victims.

“Cardinal Dolan has left Bishop Hicks with an archdiocese reeling and in free fall from the decades-old cover-up of clergy sexual abuse,” said attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who helped bring the clergy sex abuse scandal at the Archdiocese of Boston into the national spotlight more than two decades ago.

“Although I have settled childhood sexual abuse claims with the Diocese of Joliet, I have not had any direct dealings with Bishop Hicks,”…

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Of my teachers at Jesuit High School of New Orleans, Fr. Frank Coco was special. Balding, animated and jovial, Coco guided us through The Canterbury Tales, reading Old English aloud to show how language evolved.

Coco also played jazz clarinet. During carnival season, he invited us to seek him out with jazz legend Pete Fountain’s Half-Fast Walking Club. Come Mardi Gras morning, Coco — dressed as an Indian, bedecked with plastic beads, clarinet aloft — ambled along St. Charles Avenue with Fountain’s band. 

A few of us approached; he put his hand in a sack, saying, “Who-hooo: something for you!” and palmed us doubloons. Then he rejoined the band, wending jubilantly through the crowds.

Jump cut: In the summer of 1985, I was getting slammed in the Daily Advertiser of Lafayette, hub city of Cajun country in Louisiana, for my reporting in the weekly Times of Acadiana on the diocese’s…

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 A Western New York woman who says she was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest decades ago is finally ready to tell her story in court as part of the Diocese of Buffalo’s bankruptcy proceedings.

Ann Fossler, now living in Pennsylvania, is among nearly 900 Child Victims Act cases filed against the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo. She says she was sexually abused by Monsignor John Ryan from about age 7 to 10 during the late 1950s.

“Because I was so young when my abuse occurred, I really didn’t have a childhood,” Fossler said, tearing up. “I lost my innocence quite early, and it has colored the rest of my life.”

Fossler and her family were parishioners at Queen of Heaven Church in West Seneca, where Monsignor Ryan once served. She described how the abuse occurred in isolated locations.

“He had a cabin in the woods, so it was in…

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Pope Leo XIV on Thursday made his most important U.S. appointment to date, naming a fellow Chicagoan as the next archbishop of New York to lead one of the biggest U.S. archdioceses as it navigates relations with the Trump administration and its immigration crackdown.

Bishop Ronald Hicks, the current bishop of Joliet, Illinois, replaces the retiring Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a prominent conservative figure in the U.S. Catholic hierarchy. Hicks takes over after Dolan last week finalized a plan to establish a $300 million fund to compensate victims of sexual abuse who had sued the archdiocese.

Dolan had submitted his resignation in February, as required when he turned 75. But the Vatican often waits to make important leadership changes in dioceses if there is lingering abuse litigation or other governance matters that need to be resolved by the outgoing bishop.

The handover, though, represents a significant new chapter for the U.S. Catholic…

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Summary

• Pope Leo replaces Cardinal Dolan as Archbishop of New York
• Leo, first US pope, chooses fellow Chicagoan for New York role
• Bishop Ronald Hicks was serving in Joliet, Illinois
• Dolan, seen as conservative, prayed at Trump’s inauguration
• Hicks to be installed as New York archbishop on February 6

Vatican City – Pope Leo replaced Cardinal Timothy Dolan as leader of the Catholic Church in New York, the Vatican announced on Thursday, sidelining a prominent U.S. Church figure in a major shake-up of the country’s Catholic leadership.

Leo, the first U.S. pope, appointed a relatively unknown cleric from Illinois, Bishop Ronald Hicks, to replace Dolan as leader of the nation’s second-largest Catholic diocese, home to some 2.8 million Church members.

Dolan, Archbishop of New York since 2009 and a former president of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference, offered to resign in February upon turning 75, as required by Church law. Cardinals often serve until 80,…

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The appointment of Bishop Ronald A. Hicks is expected to bring a markedly different leadership style to New York’s archdiocese.

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday named an Illinois bishop to replace the powerful conservative Cardinal Timothy Dolan as leader of New York’s Roman Catholic archdiocese, a selection that signals his embrace of a more mild and unifying style after the political upheaval of Pope Francis’s papacy, while preserving the spirit of the late pope’s reforms.

The naming of Bishop Ronald A. Hicks to be the next Roman Catholic archbishop of New York is one of the most anticipated decisions of Pope Leo’s young papacy, his first major move indicating the direction he wants the church to take in his home country. Bishop Hicks is scheduled to be installed as archbishop on Feb. 6 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

The appointment echoes Pope Leo’s own ascent earlier this year, the unexpected elevation…

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The Michigan government this week released its fifth report on diocesan abuse in the state, detailing dozens of allegations against more than 50 priests in the Diocese of Grand Rapids. 

The report from the attorney general’s office, released on Dec. 15, comes after four other reports detailing abuse allegations in the dioceses of Lansing, Kalamazoo, Gaylord, and Marquette.  

As with the other reports, the allegations detailed in the Grand Rapids investigation go back decades. The Dec. 15 report encompasses abuse allegations against “priests or deacons who are current or former clergy for the Diocese of Grand Rapids, that occurred in the diocese from Jan. 1, 1950, to the present,” the review says. 

The alleged abuse reports were pulled from a variety of sources, including a government tip line, police investigations, and abuse reports disclosed by…

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For over 20 years, Ann Fossler stayed silent about sexual abuse she experienced from a Buffalo Diocese Catholic priest. Now, she is committed to telling her story.

Fossler was a parishioner of Queen of Heaven Church in West Seneca back in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She said from the ages of 6 to 10, she was sexually abused by Monsignor John M. Ryan, a former superintendent of Catholic schools for the Buffalo Diocese.

At a virtual press conference on Tuesday, Fossler recounted the years of sexual abuse she experienced from Father Ryan, saying he molested her over 20 times.

“It happened often in his car,” said Fossler. “He also had a cabin in the woods. So, it was in the car and then in the cabin in the woods. There was never anybody else present. It wasn’t a situation like a retreat or anything.”

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who…

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Murphy Lierley hadn’t seen the letter since he was 16. 

But as his mother, Mona, neared the end of her life in 2015, she revealed that she had kept the message a priest had penned to her son back in 2007, shortly before the priest was quietly removed from their parish in Grant. 

Reading the letter as a 24-year-old felt like a gut punch. 

Let’s go back in time to that call I got from the bishop about me “grooming” you. It caused more of a meltdown than you were aware of, though I’m sure you could tell I was getting weirder and weirder …

Now, if someone said this about me, I wouldn’t believe them, but I’m going to say it anyways: When I was with you, the hurt all went away. There is something about you that touches that place in my soul that was torn to shreds…

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Across four years of Southern Baptist clergy sexual abuse research, investigations and debate, one name continually rises to the surface: Rachael Denhollander.

The woman who began the public accusations against USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar in 2016 has played an outsized role in the Southern Baptist Convention’s reckoning with mishandled knowledge of clergy sexual abuse.

New documentation made public in the lawsuit Sills v. Southern Baptist Convention highlights how this one person not only has become the face of the abuse survivor community but also appears to have double- and triple-dipped in ways some consider unethical. None of these claims has yet been adjudicated in a court of law, as the evidence presented here is drawn from pre-trial depositions and documents.

Especially among those who want to discredit the sexual abuse crisis in the SBC or the way it was addressed, Denhollander is Public Enemy No. 1. Daily Wire columnist Megan Basham…

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Declaring, “It’s time to build something beautiful with these broken pieces,” disgraced former megachurch pastor, Micahn Carter, has announced he is planting a church in Indianapolis in the fall of 2026.

Carter has not specified the exact location of the church, called “The Place,” or the date of the church launch. The church’s official Instagram account includes a link so people can donate and a post showing footage of Carter, 46, leading worship with an original song.

The announcement comes three years after Carter resigned from Church of The Highlands (COTH) in Birmingham, Alabama, the flagship church of the Association of Related Churches (ARC).

His resignation followed allegations he raped his former secretary Mary Jones during his previous tenure at Together Church in Yakima, Washington — once a thriving ARC megachurch, which has since folded.  

Carter, who’s been married for about 20 years and…

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In May 2022, Megan Basham wrote to Texas pastor Tom Ascol as an intermediary to seek clarifying information from David Sills about his relationship with Jennifer Lyell and subsequent firing from the faculty of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

That email is among a trove of information made public through the discovery process in the defamation lawsuit Sills and his wife have brought against the Southern Baptist Convention and several other SBC entities and leaders. The Sillses claim they were defamed by SBC leaders who characterized David Sills’ 12-year sexual relationship with Lyell as abuse — a claim Lyell herself made consistently but Sills has denied.

Basham, who writes for the conservative news outlet The Daily Wire, is among those who say claims of mishandled sexual abuse cases in the SBC have been vastly overblown. She has publicly misrepresented Lyell’s own record — for example, claiming Lyell never took a class under…

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A comprehensive look at 51 Catholic priests accused of abuse in West Michigan, the survivors who spoke out and decades of allegations finally revealed.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel released a comprehensive report detailing allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct within the Diocese of Grand Rapids.

It spans 336 pages, through 51 priests and dates back over seven decades, despite resulting in zero convictions of sexual abuse related to the report.

Of the 51 priests listed in the report, 37 of them are known or presumed to be dead. The AG’s report stated that the 14 people who are living or assumed to be alive are not currently active in ministry within the Diocese of Grand Rapids. 

13 ON YOUR SIDE does not identify survivors of sexual abuse unless they want to identify themselves. All survivors will be titled by their order of allegations or as “the accuser.”

Multiple people…

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The archdiocese will sell the land of the luxury hotel for a $490 million settlement fund.

Amid the Archdiocese of New York’s negotiations relating to approximately 1,300 instances of alleged child sex abuse, the archdiocese said that it will sell the land of the Lotte New York Palace hotel for $490 million to service a settlement fund.

As reported by the Gothamist, the archdiocese, which has an extensive property portfolio, will sell the land to cover the $300 million it has agreed to set aside for people who have accused priests and other church staff of sexual abuse.

Not all of the money from the sale will go to the fund, however, as some of the money will pay off loans that the archdiocese took out for previous settlements.

The news comes not long after the archdiocese announced the sale of the former archdiocesan headquarters last year, of…

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[See also the full text of AG Nessel’s report, Diocese of Grand Rapids: A Complete Accounting.]

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has released a report detailing allegations of sexual abuse involving dozens of priests from the Diocese of Grand Rapids.

No criminal charges have been issued in connection with the report’s findings.

The 336-page report, released Monday morning, was made public to “acknowledge the reports of abuse from victims and to report the Department’s findings,” according to Nessel’s office. This is the fifth of what will eventually be seven reports detailing sexual assault allegations involving Catholic priests at the six Dioceses and the Archdiocese of Detroit.

In 2018 Nessel’s office executed search warrants at all seven of Michigan’s dioceses, seizing 220 boxes of paper documents and more than 3.5 million digital documents. Monday’s report is a compilation of information obtained from those documents, as well as the AG’s tip…

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A report by the Michigan Department of Attorney General has revealed allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct against 51 priests in the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids.

According to the 336-page report released Monday, 37 of these priests are known to be or presumed dead and, of the 14 who are living, none are in active ministry in the Grand Rapids Diocese.

The report is the fifth of seven, separate investigations by the department into clergy abuse in the state. While the reports on the Dioceses of Marquette, Gaylord, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Grand Rapids have now been released, the department says it plans to publish its reports on Detroit, where the Archdiocese is based, and Saginaw in the coming year before the expiration of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s term in office.

As part of these investigations, the department “simultaneously executed” a search warrant at the Archdiocese and its six…

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The Catholic Church has faced extensive documentation of abuse spanning decades, with much of the evidence coming to light over the past 25 years through ongoing investigations and policy reforms.

A pivotal 2002 Boston Globe investigation brought widespread attention to clergy sexual abuse after revealing a former priest had sexually abused approximately 130 people over three decades. This reporting sparked national scrutiny of how the Catholic Church handled such allegations.

The scope of the problem became clearer when a 2004 Conference of Catholic Bishops survey revealed that children had accused more than 4,000 priests of sexual abuse between 1950 and 2002.

In response to growing concerns, the Diocese of Grand Rapids implemented policies in 2002 specifically designed to address and prevent sexual abuse of minors by clergy members.

However, investigations have persisted throughout Michigan. In 2018, the state Attorney General’s office launched a comprehensive investigation into…

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The Michigan Attorney General’s Office released a report Dec. 15 detailing allegations of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Grand Rapids, the fifth of seven expected reports related to an investigation into the handling of abuse cases in each of Michigan’s Catholic dioceses.

Like Michigan’s other dioceses, the Diocese of Grand Rapids has “cooperated fully with the Office of the Michigan Attorney General since the launch of its investigation in 2018,” Grand Rapids Bishop David J. Walkowiak said in a letter to the faithful in response to the report.

“As part of the investigation, the Diocese gave the Attorney General’s Office our internal files, which they have retained for the past seven years,” Bishop Walkowiak said. “We share a common goal in this investigation — to shine a light into the darkness of sexual abuse and to better understand how we can improve our efforts to…

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[See also the full text of AG Nessel’s report, Diocese of Grand Rapids: A Complete Accounting, and a PDF of this response by Bishop Walkowiak.]

Dear Friends in Christ,

Today, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office released its report on the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests serving in the Diocese of Grand Rapids. This report follows an investigation into all seven Catholic dioceses in the state. The investigation did not reveal any allegations of child sexual abuse regarding priests in active ministry in the Diocese of Grand Rapids.

The Attorney General’s Office explains in its opening of the report, “The allegations are summarized here, and their inclusion does not reflect a determination by the Department that the allegations are credible or otherwise substantiated or indicative of a crime” (pg. 9). This report presents detailed descriptions and is hard to read.

I want to acknowledge the courage of victim-survivors…

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The Michigan Attorney General’s Office has issued the fifth of what will eventually be seven detailed reports on the topic of Catholic church clergy abuse in the state, this time focusing on the Diocese of Grand Rapids. 

The report, released Monday, is a compilation of allegations of sexual misconduct against either children or adults since 1950 in that region. The most recent report, issued in December 2024, looked into investigations at the Diocese of Lansing. The Saginaw and Detroit reports have yet to be released. 

The Most Reverend David John Walkowiak, who was named bishop of the Grand Rapids diocese in 2013, also gave a video statement and a press conference Monday to discuss the report.

“I offer my deepest and most sincere apologies,” Walkowiak said to the victim survivors of these cases. “I am sorry that a church leader in whom you placed your…

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A 300-page report released by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel Monday details accusations of sexual misconduct against both adults and children by Catholic clergy in the Grand Rapids area since 1950.

Of the 51 priests accused, 37 have died, and none of the remaining 14 is active in ministry in the diocese, said the attorney general’s office and the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids.

The report is the fifth in a seven-part series on allegations of abuse in each of the six Catholic dioceses in Michigan and the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Statewide, 11 cases of abuse by priests documented in the reports released so far have been charged criminally.

Nessel said none of the allegations from the Diocese of Grand Rapids have resulted in a prosecution, typically because the statute of limitations has expired, the person accused has died, the victim has declined to pursue…

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[See also the full text of AG Nessel’s report, Diocese of Grand Rapids: A Complete Accounting.]

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel today announced the release of a report by the Department of Attorney General concerning allegations of sexual abuse and other sexual misconduct that took place in the Diocese of Grand Rapids.

The report was released to acknowledge the reports of abuse from victims and to report the Department’s findings. The document is a compilation of excerpts from the information obtained from the tip line, victim interviews, police investigations, open-source media, paper documents seized from the Diocese of Grand Rapids, and the electronic documents found on the diocesan computers, as well as reports of allegations disclosed by the Diocese. 

The list of priests for which there were allegations of sexual misconduct against either children or adults since January 1, 1950, for the Diocese of Grand Rapids that was established in 1882,…

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A St. Bernard parish jury on Thursday convicted a former pastor of one count of indecent behavior with juveniles, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said.

Milton Otto Martin III, 58, awaits a Jan. 15 sentencing by Judge Darren Roy. He was booked into St. Bernard Parish jail at 5 p.m. Thursday, jail records show.

Jurors were sworn in Tuesday, and the trial concluded Wednesday afternoon, 34th Judicial District Court records show. Assistant Attorney Generals Barry Milligan and Erica Moore subpoenaed the Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowship’s custodian of records to help build a case against Martin, who in 2023 was listed as the First Pentecostal Church of Chalmette’s pastor.

Jurors acquitted Martin of felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile. Martin had initially been arrested in March 2023 after Louisiana State Police determined he had sex with a child multiple times from 2010-2013, when the child was between ages…

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Funds to pay the survivors from past sexual abuse is coming from a variety of sources including the sale of its former HQ on 1st Ave. Supporters of several historic but shuttered churches in Manhattan worry their buildings will be the next to be sold to developers.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York said it establishing a $300 million fund to pay for survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of priests and lay personnel going back decades. The fund is expected to cover about 1,300 pending cases against the archdiocese from claimants who said they were abused as minors. The archdiocese also disclosed that it had agreed to engage a mediator to oversee the settlement process.

“As we have repeatedly acknowledged, the sexual abuse of minors long ago has brought shame upon our Church,” said Cardinal Timouthy Dolan, in a statement released on the feast of the Immaculate…

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The Archdiocese of New York is selling 455 Madison Avenue’s ground lease to its hotel-operating tenant to balance the books after agreeing to pay settlements to victims of sexual abuse, Commercial Observer has learned.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan notified parishioners Dec. 8 that the archdiocese would take further action to compensate victims of sexual abuse at the hands of clergy members by selling real estate assets, stating that the scandal “has brought shame upon our Church.”

The sale of the ground lease at 455 Madison to hotel operator Lotte New York Palace would generate $490 million for a $200 million disbursement to the Church’s 2016 Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP). The remaining $290 million is slated to go toward the repayment of loans the church took out for previous settlements under the IRCP and the Child Victims Act, according to the archdiocese.

“The Archdiocese of New York has been working with victim-survivors and…

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