TOP STORIES
Overdue Justice for Sexual Abuse Survivors: States Repeal Statutes of Limitations Throughout the Country
“For the first time in history, one in five victims of child sexual abuse victims in the U.S. have a chance to file civil lawsuits to seek justice and publicly expose those who committed or concealed the crimes against them. ‘Never before have so many suffering survivors had an opportunity to protect others by naming child molesters and uncovering cover ups of these horrors in court,’ said survivor and advocate Joelle Casteix of Orange County, Calif. For decades, what advocates call ‘archaic, arbitrary and predator-friendly’ statutes of limitations have prevented such litigation, because victims have been required to step forward usually in their 20s—far sooner than most are capable of, according to most research.” By David Clohessy, MsMagazine.com
More Clergy Abuse Is Finally Being Prosecuted, No Thanks To The Church, A Lawyer Says
“At the height of his career, former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was one of the most influential leaders of the Catholic Church in the U.S., heading the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. Last week, he became the first U.S. Cardinal to be criminally charged with a sexual crime against a minor, making the 91-year-old the highest-ranking Catholic Church official in the country to face criminal charges for clergy sexual abuse … Mitchell Garabedian spoke to All Things Considered’s Mary Louise Kelly about whether he’s seen progress in the way the U.S. justice system has prosecuted these cases, if there’s difficulty in building a defense against allegations that may be decades old and if the Church itself has begun to take meaningful action to end systemic abuse.” By Mary Louise Kelly, National Public Radio
Report shows that Catholic Church Spent Millions Meant For Residential School Survivors
“The Roman Catholic Church has spent millions of dollars intended to compensate residential school survivors on lawyers, administration and private fundraising, according to documents obtained by CBC News. The other churches involved in the landmark 2005 residential schools compensation agreement — Anglican, United and Presbyterian — paid the full amount of compensation owed without any issues.” By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News
NY let childhood sex abuse victims sue; 9,000 went to court
“For two years, New York temporarily set aside its usual time limit on civil lawsuits in order to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue churches, hospitals, schools, camps, scout groups and other institutions and people they hold responsible for enabling pedophiles or turning a blind eye to wrongdoing. That window closes Saturday (Aug. 14), after more than 9,000 lawsuits were filed, a deluge whose impact may be felt for many years. Four of the state’s Roman Catholic dioceses have filed for bankruptcy partly as a result of litigation unleashed by the state’s Child Victims Act. Thousands of new allegations against priests, teachers, scout leaders and other authorities have intensified the already harsh light on institutions entrusted with caring for children.” By Michael Hill, Religion News Service
Church Meets World from America: The Jesuit Review
This is where the Catholic Church meets the most interesting and consequential issues of our time. Each episode explores a different topic through immersive stories told by America’s editors. “Church Meets World” is the best of our award-winning magazine content reimagined in podcast form. It’s not only what you read in our pages but how you hear it. Presented by Maggi Van Dorn and Sebastian Gomes. In this episode: What Catholics still don’t understand about the clergy sexual abuse crisis.
- Deliver Us – The ‘Deliver Us’ podcast asks: Will the Catholic Church’s sex abuse crisis ever end? By America: The Jesuit Review
ACCOUNTABILITY
Brazilian bishop resigns after inappropriate video goes viral
“Bishop Tomé Ferreira da Silva of São José do Rio Preto resigned after a video of him exposing himself on an internet call went viral on social media Aug. 13. The resignation was accepted by Pope Francis and the Brazilian bishops’ conference Aug. 18. Archbishop Moacir Silva of Ribeirão Preto was appointed apostolic administrator of the diocese. A local paper, Diário da Região, reported that the bishop confirmed that he was the one who appears on the video but declined to comment on the case.” By Lise Alves, Catholic News Service, in The Pilot
Survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Pennsylvania still looking for justice 3 years after report
“Saturday (Aug. 140 marks the third anniversary of a landmark grand jury report that found Catholic church leaders in Pennsylvania covered up rampant sexual abuse involving hundreds of priests and at least 1,000 victims. Thirteen states and Washington D.C. have since made it easier for victims to file civil suits. But in Pennsylvania, many are still waiting for their day in court … In a statement to CBS News, Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward said the state’s constitution differs from others, and that legal experts suggest a statutory window there may be unconstitutional.” By Nikki Battiste, CBS News
Detention in church houses proposed for abuser priests
“Voluntary lifelong detention in church-run houses could be the best way of dealing with priest abusers, according to Fr Hans Zollner SJ, president of the Centre for Child Protection (CCP) at the Gregorian University. It was all-important to control and guide sex abusers and “to define exactly what they may and may not do, whom they may and may not meet and how they use the internet”, Zollner explained in an interview with ORF religion, the religious affairs program of the Austrian state broadcasting corporation on 31 July.” By Christa Pongratz-Lippitt, The Tablet
New Mexico diocese to sell off properties in online auction
“The Archdiocese of Santa Fe will be auctioning nearly 140 parcels of property next month as it seeks to settle a raft of sex abuse claims. Church officials announced Tuesday (Aug. 10) that an online auction will begin Sept. 21. Opening bids will start as low as $500 for vacant pieces of property that are spread throughout three counties in central New Mexico. Another auction is planned for November.” By Associated Press
POPE FRANCIS
Pope Francis called for unity: Will we hear him?
“Pope Francis’ motu proprio was promulgated after consultation with bishops throughout the world. Granting that the reformed rites are often celebrated without appropriate reverence, Pope Francis nonetheless determined that the experiment of Pope Benedict XVI did not work. Rather than lead to unity in the church, the presence of the two forms has only led to a fracturing of communion. Communities that celebrate the extraordinary form, according to Pope Francis, are likely to deny the validity of Vatican II, including the reformed rites. The solution of two forms of the Roman liturgy was not working.” By Timothy P. O’Malley, U.S. Catholic
BISHOPS
Argentine prelate, friend of Pope Francis faces trial for sexual abuse
“Argentine Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, a veteran prelate who once boasted of his friendship with the pope, will be tried criminally in October in his former diocese on allegations of sexual abuse against seminarians. A hearing in the case against the former bishop of Oran, in Argentina’s northern Salta region, will take place Oct. 12-15 of this year, as announced by the local public ministry, for what are known as ‘family and gender violence and crimes against sexual integrity.’” By Inés San Martín, Cruxnow.com
RELIGIOUS WOMEN
Franciscan Sister Appointed to General Secretariat of Synod of Bishops
“Cardinal Mario Grech has appointed Sr. Marie Kolbe Zamora, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, to serve as an official for the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. Zamora’s appointment commences at the Vatican on Sept. 1, 2021. Zamora will work with Cardinal Grech (General Secretary for the Synod of Bishops), Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín and Sister Nathalie Becquart (Undersecretaries for the General Secretariat), and the other members of the Secretariat team in its preparation for and implementation of Synod Assemblies.” By Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity
Editorial: On racism, the chasm between Catholic sisters and bishops is vast
“While creating space for the future, it is heartening that congregations are also reckoning with their past. As a recent Global Sisters Report article pointed out, congregations such as the Adrian Dominicans, Religious of the Sacred Heart, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, the Sisters of Loretto and others are examining their complicity in excluding Blacks from their membership, participating in the enslavement of people and perpetuating systemic racism. This painful but necessary process is an implementation of the resolution adopted during the 2020 assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, in which members were invited to participate in a ‘five-year commitment to work on dismantling racism.’” By National Catholic Reporter Editorial Staff
CLERICALISM
New official at Vatican’s Latin America office warns against clericalism
“(Gustavo) Guerra López will soon take up his role as the Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, and could potentially help shape the continental Church for years to come. Crux spoke with Guerra López at length, discussing what Latin America can offer to the global Church, the role of the laity, the synodality experienced in the mystery of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and his fears of becoming ‘clericalized’ by the machinery that is the central government of the Catholic Church.” By Inés San Martín, Cruxnow.com
FUTURE OF THE CHURCH
Catholic belief has ‘vanished’ in Ireland and church is in ‘crisis’, Dublin Archbishop admits
“The archbishop of Dublin has warned that Catholicism has ‘vanished’ in Ireland and the church is in the midst of a crisis. Archbishop Dermot Farrell was interviewed by Maynooth seminary for their journal Síolta, where he warned that an ‘aging clergy’ and ‘a major decline in the number of people who actively practice and live their faith’ could spell the end for Catholicism in Ireland if major changes are not implemented within the church. The child sex abuse revelations had irreparably damaged the church’s reputation in Ireland, he said, and the visibility of the Catholic faith has ‘vanished.’” By Rachael O’Connor, The Irish Post
My how the Irish Catholic Church has changed
“No week passes that I don’t drop into a quiet chapel here in Killaloe in Clare and elsewhere on my journeys through the west. I always select a late afternoon for my visits. At that time the chapels are virtually deserted and one does not encounter any clergy at all. That situation is a nearly incredible change from the past realities for the Irish people when the Catholic hierarchy ruled about every aspect of our lives far more totally and harshly indeed than whatever government we’d established in Leinster House in Dublin at the last election.” Cormac MacConnell, Irish Central
Global liturgy commission director criticizes Francis over Latin Mass restrictions
“The priest who heads a Catholic Church commission that prepares English translations of liturgical texts has attacked Pope Francis’ recent decision to reimpose restrictions on celebrating the Latin Mass ‘as full of errors and generalizations’ in a series of new social media posts. Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth, executive director of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, has shared articles, essays and videos critical of Francis on his Facebook page and has ‘liked’ comments from people angry about Traditionis Custodes, the apostolic letter the pope issued on July 16 that curtails use of the pre-Vatican II liturgy.” By Brian Fraga, National Catholic Reporter
VOICES
Our Opinion: Springfield Diocese’s failures underscore retraumatizing effects of clergy abuse scandal
“When institutions like the Catholic Church try to reckon with histories of systemic abuse, survivors often relate how the difficult but necessary process of unearthing the truth is deeply retraumatizing for them. They must relive horrors no one should endure. Their most vulnerable personal history is exposed. Character, motives, credibility are questioned — all of this not because they’ve done something, but because a powerful person did something to them when they were powerless.” By The Berkshire Eagle Editorial Board
A Tale of Two States and the Roads Taken and Blocked to Child Protection
“New York is striding into the future of child protection while Pennsylvania is mired in toxic politics that endanger children … Two years ago, to the day, the New York Child Victims Act window opened. Within days, over 4,000 cases had been filed. Then, when the pandemic shut courthouses, New York added a second year to the window, and by the time it closed nearly 10,000 complaints had been filed … While Pennsylvania lawmakers have tortured survivors with dashed hopes, Pennsylvania’s perpetrators and institutions have been given ample time to prey on more children and avoid truly effective child protection policies … As New York’s two-year window confirms, when victims get access to justice, the public and the state receive information that can only improve child protection in the future.” By Marci A. Hamilton, Verdict.Justia.com
Opinion: NY Must Overhaul Statute of Limitations Laws for Childhood Sexual Abuse
“The opportunity to hold child sexual abuse perpetrators—and the institutions that enabled them—accountable is about to expire for many suffering survivors who were assaulted in New York. On Aug. 14, the New York Child Victims Act’s two-year civil sexual abuse statute of limitations ‘window’ will close, and older victims whose claims had previously been time-barred will be foreclosed from seeking justice. This legislation also extends the statute of limitations to age 55 for child sex abuse survivors whose claims have not previously been time-barred. We urge our leaders to take immediate action to reform the current law to ensure that victims, no matter their age, have continuing access to the courts.” By Andrew Shubin and Debra Greenberger, CityLimits.org
STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
Child safety advocates launch billboard campaign against Sen. Kim Ward
“Child sexual abuse prevention advocates are making good on their promise to keep the heat on state Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward for her refusal to advance a bill giving adult survivors of child sexual abuse their day in court. This week, they took their battle to the Hempfield Republican’s backyard. Child USAdvocacy placed two full-size highway billboards — one on Route 119 in Hempfield and a second on Route 30.” By Deb Erdley, TribLive.com
New York’s Child Victims Act helps bring justice and peace for victims of abuse in Rochester
“With the deadline for the New York’s Child Victims Act coming up Friday (Aug. 13), one local man has said the ability to file a lawsuit has changed his life for the better. Brian Delafranier filed his lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Rochester two years ago claiming he was sexually abused for over a year by his parish priest, Reverend Robert Gaudio. Delafranier even inspired another person struggling with the abuse from the same priest to step forward and file a claim before the deadline.” By FingerLakes1.com
CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE
Survivors’ Voices: What Has Helped Me Heal, Part 2
“I returned yesterday from a beautiful weekend retreat with a group of five dear friends who are survivors of clergy sexual abuse. We talked, laughed, cried, prayed, and experienced so much love and healing together. Thank you to all who covered us in prayer over these last few days – We certainly felt God’s grace surrounding us.” By Sara Larson, InSpiritAndTruth.subscript.com
Tired of the drip, drip, drip of Catholic sexual abuse reports? Let’s try this.
“Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of a then-secret crime: Fr. Gilbert Gauthe molested a boy in Louisiana in 1972. Over a decade later, that crime — and dozens of others Gauthe committed — became national news. Thus began an unprecedented and at times overwhelming deluge of abuse and cover up reports which eventually led to over 7,000 U.S. priests being publicly accused of sexually violating children. If you’re a Catholic, chances are you’re tired of this seemingly endless stream of allegations of clerical corruption (though the flow of abuse reports has slowed in recent years). And at least a few times over the past two decades, you have likely worried, ‘I wonder if kids in my parish are safe?’” By David Clohessy, National Catholic Reporter
CALIFORNIA
Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno ‘credible’ list of abusers includes late Visalia priest
“The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno on Friday (Aug. 6) posted a list of priests who it says have faced ‘a credible accusation of sexual abuse.’ The list included Rev. Eric Swearingen, a Tulare County native who rose through the church’s hierarchy to lead Visalia’s Catholics despite an allegation of sexual abuse. He died in 2020 after a long illness.” By James Ward, Visalia Times-Delta
Fresno Catholic leaders list credible claims of sex assault by clergy
“The Diocese of Fresno has finished a lengthy investigation reviewing claims of sexual assault involving clergy members within the Diocese. The investigation began in May of 2019, reviewing more than 2,800 files to identify any priest, deacon, or other member of the church facing allegations of sexual abuse involving a minor within the Diocese. The files listed accusations that went back as early as the 1900s to the present. By KFSN-TV30 News
- Harrison appears on diocesan list of ‘credibly accused clergy,‘ By John Cox, Bakersfield.com
- Victim advocates respond to Fresno Catholic Diocese’s list of credibly accused clergy, By Jessica Harrington, ABC-TV30 News
LOUISIANA
Parole unanimously denied for priest
“The state parole board today unanimously rejected Fr. Michael Guidry’s request for early release. Guidry, 78, who was pastor of St. Peter’s Church in Morrow, pleaded guilty to the molestation of a 16-year-old boy. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, but was released for appeals because of COVID. After his sentencing appeals were denied he was sent back to prison. His victim was an altar server, as his brothers had been.” By KATC-TV3 News
MAINE
His Old Town priest abused him as a child. Soon, he’ll be able to sue over it.
“Robert Dupuis was part of a group of five boys who did chores around St. Joseph Catholic Church in Old Town in 1961, when he was 12. The boys mowed the lawn, shoveled snow and helped out at church banquets and suppers, working under the supervision of the Rev. John J. Curran. But when Dupuis was alone with Curran, the priest sexually abused him, he said. It began with hugs, then progressed to fondling.” By Judy Harrison, The Bangor Daily News
MASSACHUSETTS
How a Pittsfield parishioner exposed a molester, 25 years before another survivor reported her clergy abuse
“This is the story of a girl’s courage and a parishioner’s resolve. The details all came back to Russell G. Powell last weekend, 44 years after his confrontation with a priest in a Pittsfield basement. ‘I’m willing to say we were the first ones to discover [and report] he was a molester. I believe nothing was done except to transfer him to Springfield.’ — Russell G. Powell, speaking of his efforts, in 1977, to remove the Rev. Daniel L. Gill from service in a Pittsfield church.” By Larry Parnass, The Berkshire Eagle
‘Like it was yesterday.’ Sheri Biasin recalls priest’s abuse, in her own words
“I grew up in a really strict Catholic family. I mean, we did rosary before we went to bed — that sort of whole deal. That was very prominent in our life, and to go against it was like, ‘You’re going to burn in hell’ and ‘Wait to see what’s going to happen to you.’ The people in my family basically bowed to this man, Father Daniel Gill. When I look back now, I think, ‘Oh, my God, good thing I’m not there now, because I wouldn’t have been able to take it.’” By Larry Parnass, The Berkshire Eagle
- A survivor’s quagmire | Two decades after a Cheshire woman reported clergy abuse, she’s back to square one, again. Was her file lost or destroyed? By Larry Parnass, The Berkshire Eagle
MICHIGAN
Former Jackson Catholic school teacher sentenced in abuse case
“A former Catholic school music teacher in Jackson will serve more than a decade in prison as the fourth person convicted in the Michigan attorney general’s ongoing clergy abuse investigation.
Joseph Comperchio, 67, of Fort Myers, Florida, was charged last September for sexually abusing two children. In those cases, he faced two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.” By Chris Lewis, FOX-TV47 News
NEW YORK.
Message from Cardinal Dolan: Updates on COVID-19 and Child Victims Act
“Dear Family of the Archdiocese of New York; I apologize for intruding during these final weeks of what I hope has been a blessed and relaxing Summer, but allow me to update you on two important items that continue to affect the Archdiocese of New York: the coronavirus pandemic, particularly as it relates to our schools, and the Child Victims Act.” By Communications Department, Archdiocese of New York
Buffalo Diocese hit with 900 abuse claims in bankruptcy court, more than any diocese
“More than 900 child sex abuse claims were filed against the Buffalo Diocese in federal bankruptcy court by Saturday (Aug. 14), the deadline for abuse victims to come forward if they want part of a potential settlement that could cost the diocese tens of millions of dollars. The number of claims was double the largest number ever filed in the more than 20 prior diocese bankruptcies in the U.S. since 2004.” By Jay Tokasz, The Buffalo News
As NY Child Victims Act window closes, what was revealed in Binghamton sex abuse lawsuits?
“The boy was 6 years old when his family began attending church at St. Vincent de Paul in 1980. That’s where he met Fr. Robert Ours, who served at the parish during a four-year stretch of his two-decades-long career in the priesthood. Inside a confessional booth at the Vestal church, Ours allegedly fondled the boy multiple times over the course of a year, until 1983 … The nearly 40-year-old sex abuse accusations were revealed for the first time in an Aug. 2 lawsuit against Ours and the Vestal church, part of a wave of lawsuits that flowed into Broome County’s Supreme Court during the final months of New York state’s Child Victims Act.” By Anthony Borrelli, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
Rotterdam pastor under investigation for child sex abuse allegations
“A Rotterdam pastor is voluntarily stepping back from public ministry as he is investigated for allegations of child sexual abuse. ‘In light of a single allegation of sexual abuse that was first reported in a Child Victims Act case, Father Vincent Ciotoli, pastor of Our Lady Queen of Peace in Schenectady and St. Margaret of Cortona in Rotterdam, has voluntarily withdrawn from public ministry while the independent Diocesan Review Board investigates the claim,’ states a Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany release issued Saturday.” By Shenandoah Briere, The Rotterdam Daily Gazette
Sex abuse victims’ lawsuits continue to pour in as NY’s Child Victims Act nears its deadline to file
“The window to file lawsuits under New York State’s Child Victims Act will come to a close later this month, but until a few weeks ago, David Ferrick didn’t know that the law enabling victims of sexual assault to sue even existed. Ferrick, 52, learned about it last month in Fresno, California — thousands of miles away from his childhood home in Brooklyn, where he attended St. Cecilia’s Roman Catholic Church in Greenpoint and where he says in a newly filed lawsuit that a priest there molested him when he was just a 10-year-old altar boy. By Michael Gartland and Denis Slattery, New York Daily News
Man admits he sent death threats to Buffalo reporter who covered Catholic Church sex scandals
“A Western New York man pleaded guilty this week after being accused of sending death threats to a Buffalo television reporter who covered Catholic Church sex scandals, federal prosecutors said. Paul E. Lubienecki, 63, of Hamburg, admitted Tuesday to leaving as many as six threatening voicemails for the reporter between Aug. 20, 2019 and Feb. 4, 2020, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.” By James McClendon, Syracuse.com
NY cathedral rector denies ‘without reservation’ 50-year-old abuse claim
“Msgr. Robert T. Richie, rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, told cathedral parishioners in an Aug. 3 letter he has been named in a civil lawsuit alleging he ‘sexually abused a child on one occasion’ nearly 50 years ago. ‘I completely and without reservation deny this allegation,’ he wrote. ‘Nothing like this has ever occurred during my 50 years as a priest, or at any other time in my life. I am confident that once this matter is litigated in court, the allegation will be found to be absolutely false.’” By Catholic News Service in National Catholic Reporter
PENNSYLVANIA
Victims of child sex abuse continue to be denied justice in Pennsylvania
“With each passing day, Pennsylvania kids become more at risk of abuse while just across the state line, kids in New Jersey and New York are becoming dramatically safer. This may sound like hyperbole, but it’s not. A recent state Supreme Court ruling illustrates the problem and shows why. In July, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out a lawsuit from a woman seeking to recover damages from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown for allegedly facilitating sexual abuse she said she experienced at the hands of a priest in the late 1970s. The court’s ruling that her claim was too late under the state’s statute of limitations illustrates the problem with Pennsylvania law.” By David Clohessy and Jillian Ruck, The Philadelphia Inquirer
SOUTH CAROLINA
Pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church on leave after lawsuit is filed
“A Greenville pastor is on temporary leave while the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston reviews a lawsuit filed against him that alleges he had a sexual relationship with a married parishioner. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston said they are reviewing the lawsuit filed which names the Diocese of Charleston and Father Wilbroad Mwape, pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Greenville. ‘We have received a copy of the lawsuit and are currently reviewing it. We will respond to the pleading in due time,’ Maria Aselage, spokesperson for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, said.” By WYFF-TV4 News
WISCONSIN
With two cases in Brown County and 100 statewide, Wisconsin clergy abuse review shows power of independent inquiry
“Four months into an independent investigation launched by the state’s top attorney, two cases of alleged clergy abuse have been reported and turned over to the Brown County district attorney’s office. The two cases are among more than 100 reports statewide alleging abuse by faith leaders made possible by Attorney General Josh Kaul’s independent review, which began in April. One of the Brown County cases is ‘current,’ said Holli Fisher, program manager of the Sexual Assault Center of Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin, who was unable to disclose further details. The other one was from decades ago.” By Natalie Eilbert, Green Bay Press-Gazette
AUSTRALIA
Students who reported abuse by pedophile priest Anthony Caruana labelled liars, court hears
“The victims of a pedophile priest have told a court they were called liars when they told their parents about being abused by their teacher 30 years ago. Last month, Anthony Peter William Caruana was convicted of sexually abusing 12 students at a Catholic college for boys in the NSW Southern Highlands in the 1980s. A District Court jury found the 79-year-old guilty of 26 offences including 22 counts of indecent assault and four counts of sexual intercourse with a pupil.” By Tim Fernandez, ABC Illawarra
Adults face jail for not reporting sexual abuse
“New laws in Queensland that could jail adults for not telling police about the sexual abuse of a child have raised criticism from legal and academic circles about potential ethical dilemmas and how they will be enforced. The laws, introduced last month, require all adults to report known or suspected sexual offences against a person under the age of 16, or a person with an impairment. The laws were designed to force Catholic priests to break the seal of confession and implement recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Concerns have been raised as to how they could be applied to other professions.” By CathNews.com
CANADA
Judge hearing details of sex assault allegations against rural priest at prelim in Humboldt
“A provincial court judge in Humboldt, Sask., will hear the evidence today (Aug. 9) against a local Catholic priest charged with sexual assault. The preliminary hearing will determine whether Father Anthony Atter will stand trial on the allegations. The 45-year-old faces charges of sexual assault, sexual exploitation and sexual interference. The assaults allegedly took place from September to November 2020 and involved one complainant.” By Dan Zakreski, CBC News
Catholic Priest Accuses Residential School Survivors of Lying About Abuse
“A Catholic priest has been banned from preaching following a series of inflammatory comments about Indigenous residential school survivors during sermons at St. Emile Catholic Church, according to CBC News. The priest, Father Rhéal Forest, claimed residential school survivors lied about sexual abuse to get more money from court settlements in comments that were livestreamed on Facebook for weeks before being taken down after they were flagged by CBC Manitoba, according to CBC News.” By Andrew Kennard, Native News Online
GREAT BRITAIN, SCOTLAND, AND WALES
Fort Augustus Abbey school was ‘haven for pedophiles’
“A Catholic boarding school in the Highlands was a ‘haven for pedophiles’, a report from the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has said. It said that sexual abuse by monks at Fort Augustus Abbey, which closed in 1993, was a ‘desecration of their vows.’ The report came after the inquiry heard evidence of physical, emotional and sexual abuse over many years. It praised the BBC for bringing the issue into the public domain. It was a BBC Scotland documentary in 2013 that first raised the issues of abuse perpetrated by Benedictine monks in Scotland.” By Mark Daly, BBC News
- ‘Sadistic’ regimes at Benedictine schools in Scotland, By Brian Morton, The Tablet
IRELAND & NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Jesuits admit failure on abuser fueled trauma
“The head of the Jesuits in Ireland has said the order must take full responsibility for the wrongdoing of Fr Joseph Marmion, whom a number of former students say sexually, physically and psychologically abused them in the 1970s when he taught at Belvedere College in Dublin. In a 50-page report, Joseph Marmion – The Jesuit Response, Fr Leonard Moloney SJ says that while Marmion’s actions inflicted severe trauma on individual pupils, this was ‘magnified by the failure of the Jesuits to recognize the danger he posed to schoolboys in our care and in later ministries or to understand and respond to your needs as his victims.’ He said that the Jesuits did not grasp the destructive effects of his abuse.” By Sarah Mac Donald, The Tablet
Two Donegal sisters abused by same priest reveal they had no idea the other was also suffering as they speak out
“Two sisters abused by the same priest have said it was ‘heartbreaking’ to discover the other had gone through the same thing. Former priest Con Cunningham pleaded guilty to eight counts of indecent assaults between 1971 and 1975. Now 86, he abused sisters Paula and Margaret Martin, who were between nine and 12, and 11 and 13 years old when it happened. The abuse took place at a number of locations in Donegal, including at the girls’ home, at the parochial house in Fanavolty in Fanad and also at the Loreto College buildings in Letterkenny.” By Nicola Bardon, The Irish Sun
NEW ZEALAND
Pasifika abuse survivor calls for change in Catholic church
“A survivor of abuse in a faith-based institution is appalled at what she calls the Catholic church’s mishandling of victims’ stories of abuse. Frances Tagaloa has called out the Catholic church to change their processes when dealing with survivors, following the recent Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry Pacific investigation hearing. This comes after a couple of Pacific survivors gave their testimony at the recent Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry Pacific investigation hearing in South Auckland, including from a spokesperson named Ms CU.” By Sela Jane Hopgood, RNZ Pacific Journalist