Prosecutors Seek Complete Ban On Media Reporting Of Cardinal George Pell Trial

After Wednesday you may not hear about the trial of one of the world’s most senior Catholic Church officials again, until it’s over. And you won’t even hear about why you’re not hearing about it. Chris Graham reports. On Friday, the Victorian Department of Public Prosecutions lodged an application with the Country Court of Victoria for a ‘super injunction’ against media coverage of the trial of Cardinal George Pell, who is accused of a number of historical sexual offences.

https://newmatilda.com/2018/05/14/prosecutors-seek-complete-ban-media-reporting-cardinal-george-pell-trial/ 

Survivor’s story: daughter of a Saint says she was abused by priest

Linda Lee Stonebreaker says she was four-and-a-half years old when a Catholic priest picked her up at a preschool in River Ridge and sexually assaulted her in his car. The year was 1968, long before clergy abuse in the world’s largest Christian church entered the public’s consciousness, and before Stonebreaker was old enough to fully understand the gravity of what she says happened.

https://www.nola.com/news/2018/11/survivors-story-daughter-of-a-saint-says-she-was-abused-by-priest.html 

Catholic priest sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexual misconduct

A Catholic priest with the Diocese of Steubenville is headed to prison for 12 years for sexual battery charges involving a teenage member of his parish. The church is in Athens County, Ohio. Henry Christopher Foxhoven pleaded guilty to the charges in Athens County Court Tuesday morning. The sentence was part of a plea deal with prosecutors who believe justice was served in this case.

https://wchstv.com/news/local/former-catholic-priest-sentenced-to-prison-for-sexual-misconduct?fbclid=IwAR3Q6jP-PBW0vW2K9vD7TuE1R9Zz_0uoiKTvJ-9PjKN4kRCzz8PKOscusrk 

Parishioners React To Child Sex Abuse Allegations Against Butler Co. Priest

Father Joseph Feltz, 65, recently served as pastor of Saint Christopher Parish in Prospect, Butler County. He remains on administrative leave after allegations in a lawsuit claim he sexually abused a minor in the mid-’80s. “Faithful Catholics have been thrown to the lions for several thousand years now,” parishioner Bill Adams said. Adams says he knows Father Feltz very well and doesn’t believe the allegations.

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/11/25/father-joseph-feltz-allegations-parishioners-react/#.W_78cMEAaG0.facebook 

The ‘Satanic Evil’ of Child Sex Abuse in the Catholic Church

It’s no longer a secret that the Catholic Church suffers from a pervasive, decades-old child-sex-abuse epidemic, perpetrated by “a huge network of men: priests and bishops and cardinals and possibly even the Pope himself,” writer Caitlin Flanagan says. But, as Flanagan points out in the latest Atlantic Argument, children aren’t the only ones the Church has failed. Now mothers—including Flanagan herself—are having a crisis of faith in their religious institution.

https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/576856/sex-abuse-catholic/ 

Saginaw Loses Nearly Half Its Catholics Over 13 Years

The number of Catholics in Saginaw has plummeted to nearly half in just 13 years. A survey shows that in 2005, there were 50,328 Catholics in the Michigan diocese, that number dropping to only 27,599 today. The general population in the Saginaw diocese has dropped since 2010, showing an approximate 8,000-person decline from 199,851 to 191,934.

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/saginaw-loses-nearly-half-its-catholics-over-13-years 

Investigating a Brother Bishop

After the Vatican blocked U.S. Church leaders from voting on two proposals to strengthen bishop accountability, a third plan giving metropolitan archbishops responsibility for investigating accused bishops draws intense scrutiny. A new draft measure designed to strengthen bishop accountability is now on the table, after the Vatican blocked the U.S. bishops from voting on two related proposals at their annual fall assembly in November.

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/investigating-a-brother-bishop 

Former Wisconsin priest arrested on 30-year-old abuse accusations

A former Wisconsin priest was arrested Nov. 16 in Minneapolis and charged with sexual abuse of minors in accusations of behavior that date back to when he was serving in the priesthood in Wisconsin more than 30 years ago. Thomas E. Ericksen, 71, was charged by the Sawyer County District Attorney’s Office in Hayward, Wis., with first-degree sexual assault of a child, second-degree sexual assault against a child and second-degree sexual assault of an unconscious victim.

http://thecatholicspirit.com/news/local-news/former-wisconsin-priest-arrested-on-30-year-old-abuse-accusations/ 

Allentown bishop makes pledge to clergy sex abuse survivors

The bishop of the Diocese of Allentown made a personal pledge of accountability to victims and survivors of clergy sexual abuse. Bishop Alfred Schlert said the pledge follows a meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore that ended without a vote on issues of bishops' accountability. "In spite of the lack of a vote, I remain personally committed to preventing abuse, to keeping children safe and to dealing swiftly and effectively with allegations of misconduct," Schlert said in a statement Wednesday morning.

http://www.wfmz.com/news/lehigh-valley/allentown-bishop-makes-pledge-to-clergy-sex-abuse-survivors/896627490 

Sex-abuse case against defrocked priest is handed to York County jury

A York County jury will return Thursday to continue deliberations in the trial of a former Boston priest who is accused of repeatedly sexually abusing two boys on trips to Maine in the 1980s. Ronald Paquin, 76, was one of the priests exposed in the early 2000s by a sweeping Boston Globe investigation into clergy sex abuse. He is now facing criminal charges in York County, and his trial this week likely is the first in Maine for a priest embroiled in the Catholic Church’s ongoing scandal.

https://www.pressherald.com/2018/11/28/abuse-case-against-former-priest-is-handed-to-jury/ 

Investigators Raid Offices of President of U.S. Catholic Bishops

Dozens of local and federal law enforcement officers conducted a surprise search of the offices of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston on Wednesday, looking for evidence in a clergy sexual abuse case that has ensnared the local archbishop, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, who also serves as president of the United States Catholic bishops’ conference.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/us/houston-catholic-church-raid.html 

Egan: 'Sickened and discouraged' — being a Catholic priest in a scandalous age

It isn’t easy being the good shepherd in an era of sex scandals and shattered trust in the Roman Catholic church.
Here is how a leading cleric began a piece in a quarterly magazine, Gaudium, produced by his Ottawa-based religious order:
“I write this not only as a priest, member of the Companions of the Cross, or the General Superior of the Community, but also as a sickened and discouraged member of the Body of Christ, the Church.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/egan-sickened-and-discouraged-being-a-catholic-priest-in-a-scandalous-age 

To immunize priests against clericalism, start with seminaries

How do you learn "clericalism"? As the Broadway show "South Pacific" said about human prejudice, "you've got to be carefully taught." It's an attitude inculcated mostly in subtle ways, in little gestures and tainted language. It's absorbed in behavior and habits considered normal rather than aberrant, accepted as a natural way of life.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/ncr-today/immunize-priests-against-clericalism-start-seminaries 

Vatican, US bishops face class-action lawsuit from victims of clergy sex abuse

The U.S. bishops' conference and the Holy See face a class action lawsuit filed by six men who claim they were sexually abused by Catholic clergy during their childhoods. They are seeking financial damages as well as public contrition and reparation from the Church. The 80-page suit filed Nov. 13 claims that the Vatican and the bishops knew about - and covered up for - the “endemic, systemic, rampant, and pervasive rape and sexual abuse” of the plaintiffs and others at the hands of active members of the clergy, religious orders, and other Church representatives.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-us-bishops-face-class-action-lawsuit-from-victims-of-clergy-sex-abuse-79829 

Expansion ‘a bitter sweet milestone’

The announcement this week of an expanded Royal Commission into the abuse of children is a bittersweet milestone. At first glance, the inclusion of faith-based institutions seemed to be a triumph for the victims and supporters who campaigned tirelessly for churches to be part of the inquiry. The expanded inquiry would now include children and vulnerable adults abused while in the care of both the state and faith-based institutions.

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/insight/expansion-%E2%80%98-bitter-sweet-milestone%E2%80%99 

Bad Timing And it's only going to get worse for the bad guys.

In what could only be described as a case of bad timing — really bad timing — the bishop of Buffalo recently featured on 60 Minutes for covering up and lying about homosexual predator priests in his diocese has the very poor luck of just happening to be on the same return flight from Baltimore as the Church Militant crew. Richard Malone is facing mounting pressure to resign for his reported role in multiple cover-ups.

https://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/vortex-bad-timing 

10 priests accused of abuse

The Diocese of Gaylord has released a list of 10 priests who are either deceased or removed from public ministry against whom there have been credible and substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. The list was compiled after a lengthy investigation that began in 2002 and went back as far as 1971. The most recent credible incident of sexual abuse of a minor involving clergy in the Diocese of Gaylord is alleged to have occurred three decades ago.

http://www.thealpenanews.com/news/local-news/2018/11/10-priests-accused-of-abuse/ 

Detroit priest opens up about Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal

Sexual abuse revelations have rocked the Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic bishops of the United States traveled to Baltimore last week for their first time meeting since an explosive grand jury report by the Pennsylvania attorney general that detailed decades of sexual abuse involving hundreds of priests.

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/detroit-priest-opens-up-about-catholic-church-sexual-abuse-scandal 

Bishop 'could not keep silent'

Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of the Diocese of Jefferson City — one of the youngest and newest of those attending the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — was among the first and loudest to respond when the Vatican asked the conference to delay action on the sexual abuse crisis facing the church. Many were surprised. Maybe none more so than McKnight.

http://www.newstribune.com/news/local/story/2018/nov/20/bishop-could-not-keep-silent/753307/ 

Man testifies Montreal priest took him to confession after sexual abuse

Brian Boucher, 57, has been stripped of his parish responsibilities while he faces multiple counts of sexual assault brought by three victims. A man in his 30s testified Tuesday that Father Brian Boucher, a Catholic priest who has worked at a number of different churches in the Montreal region over 30 years, sexually assaulted him on a regular basis over a three-year period beginning when he was just 10 years old.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/second-man-testifies-at-montreal-priests-sexual-assault-trial 

Abuse in Scouting Ireland - Nobody was prepared for this outrage

“Be prepared” is the scouting motto, but it is unlikely that Scouting Ireland was ready to deal with the fact that a full review of the organisation has found evidence of 71 alleged abusers and 108 victims between the 1960s and 1980s. These shocking revelations were disclosed by Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone, and Scouting Ireland officials, at a meeting of the Oireachtas committee on children and youth affairs. However, safeguarding expert, Ian Elliott, who carried out the review, has said he expected the number of known victims to increase “quite considerably”.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/views/ourview/abuse-in-scouting-ireland--nobody-was-prepared-for-this-outrage-886969.html 

Gay-Friendly Bishops Raise Suspicions About Their Own Sexuality

For years, Catholics never questioned the sexual orientation of priests, bishops, cardinals or even the Pope. Most Catholics assumed their spiritual leaders were heterosexual men who sacrificed having spouses and children to serve Christ and His Church. This misconception was aided by the fact that Church leaders were able to cover up the growing number of homosexual bishops, priests and seminarians often by offering confidential out-of-court settlements to victimized seminarians and young men which covered up the sins of predator priests, bishops and even cardinals like Theodore McCarrick.

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/gay-friendly-bishops-raise-suspicions-about-their-own-sexuality 

Priest accused of child sex-abuse based on Staten Island

A former Staten Island pastor and celebrated Irish musician is the latest priest with a “credible” child sex-abuse allegation levied, according to a report. Monsignor Charles Coen, who led St. Joseph-St. Thomas R.C. Parish on Staten Island for about 10 years beginning in 1975, was among four monsignors and a priest named as having “an allegation of sexual abuse of minors brought against them in the Archdiocese’s Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program,” the Staten Island Advance reported, citing Catholic New York, the archdiocese’s newspaper.

https://nypost.com/2018/10/13/priest-accused-of-child-sex-abuse-based-on-staten-island/ 

Did California launch its own Catholic priest sex abuse investigation?

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Wednesday that his office will begin collecting reports from California residents about clergy sex abuse, a likely first step in the state opening an investigation of Catholic priest abuse similar to a scathing grand jury probe in Pennsylvania earlier this year. Becerra’s office created a website page devoted to clergy abuse, asking anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse or has information regarding sexual misconduct by clergy members to fill out an online complaint form or email ClergyAbuse@doj.ca.gov.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/11/08/did-california-launch-its-own-catholic-priest-sex-abuse-investigation/ 

Forgiven By Church: Pedophile Priest With HIV Who Raped 30 Children

A pedophile priest with HIV, who admitted to raping 30 young girls between the ages of 5 and 10 years old, has been absolved by the Roman Catholic Church and will not face criminal charges. Spanish-language news site Urgente 24 reports: The priest Jose Ataulfo Garcia was acquitted of any crime by the Archdiocese Primada de México after confessing to have sexually abused dozens of girls in the indigenous community of Oaxaca, reports the platform ‘Anonymous’ of Mexico. The crime of abuse and rape of 30 girls between the ages of 5 and 10, admitted by the cleric himself, adds to the fact that Garcia is a carrier of HIV.

http://www.social-consciousness.com/2017/06/forgiven-by-church-pedophile-priest-with-hiv-who-raped-30-children.html?fbclid=IwAR0CzbbcjIqL-OdOYaXkd2XPBz6PX0tO6cruK-F5FORbZv2urUiInTzlkuE

Sisters who survived priest abuse respond to Catholic Dioceses Victims Fund

This week PA Catholic Dioceses announced a plan to create a clergy abuse victims' compensation fund. On Thursday, we sat down with the Fortney sisters. Five of them were sexually abused by the same priest when they were growing up in the Harrisburg Diocese. We asked them what they thought about the victims' fund.

https://www.abc27.com/news/politics/this-week-in-pennsylvania/sisters-who-survived-priest-abuse-respond-to-catholic-dioceses-victims-fund/1585036827 

Why Iowans may never know the full extent of child sexual abuse and cover-ups by priests

Iowans may never know the extent of child sexual abuse by priests and subsequent cover-ups by dioceses in the state at the level of detail now known about Pennsylvania. Even after the revelation from Iowa Associated Press reporter Ryan Foley about abuse by the Rev. Jerome Coyle, who admitted in 1986 to abusing at least 50 boys over 20 years, a massive statewide investigation such as the one in Pennsylvania is unlikely in Iowa, because of the way the state’s laws are written.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/columnists/daniel-finney/2018/11/09/catholic-priest-child-sexual-abuse-rape-sioux-city-diocese-iowa-law-enforcement-grand-jury-coyle/1906594002/ 

Pa. Catholic churches offer fund for victims of priest sex abuse, but there's a catch

Be very careful in what the catholic church offer you... with money... you will not be allowed to talk about the abuse... this is hush money... to keep quite for the church... is so no one hears our voice... so therefore there will be no more victims / survivors coming forward... Ann

============================================ 

This could be a big help for people who can't wait for a lengthy court case or cannot emotionally endure that. But it restricts access to information that could help prevent more abuse. People who were sexually abused by priests as children have a new avenue for justice in settlement funds being set up by Roman Catholic Dioceses in Pennsylvania, but taking the money now means they can never sue the church in court.

https://www.ydr.com/story/news/2018/11/08/pa-priest-abuse-catholic-dioceses-start-fund-pay-victims/1932383002/?fbclid=IwAR1Yxd4KqpwAkHMsjtNlDvCJSk8Jz1IaGpbARsEozTcqj5SODNJJMhLkGr8 

Baton Rouge Catholic Diocese hires auditors to review clergy abuse files, list to come in 2019

Baton Rouge Bishop Michael Duca has hired a law firm and an auditing firm to scrutinize clergy files and to help the Catholic Diocese complete a list of clerics who were credibly accused of sexual abuse, which should become public by the end of January 2019. Catholic bishops across the state have announced intentions to release names of credibly accused clergy members, but Duca is the only one thus far who has announced a third-party review of files. Duca said in an interview Saturday that he wants the Diocese of Baton Rouge to receive the equivalent of a clean audit once all records have been inspected.

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_4f64e39a-e50d-11e8-9703-631dc747df5a.html 

Wellington Catholic school has no records of sex abuse

No... Because like the catholic church worldwide... nothing was recorder or written down... Ann ======================================================== 

Some old boys of St Patrick's College Wellington have spoken of being molested by Father Fred Durning, who had top positions at the school in the 1940s, 1950s and in 1982. The church recently admitted the priest, now dead, abused multiple boys. "Our college deeply deplores and regrets all incidents of abuse," St Patrick's rector Neil Swindells said in a statement.

https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/375653/wellington-catholic-school-has-no-records-of-sex-abuse 

New York parishioners are using the collection basket to ask embattled Catholic bishop to resign

 What a great IDEA... each Sunday exchange the gift of money ... to a note committing the church.... for acknowledgment to the victims / survivors... and you will hear their voices load and clear then hahahaa.... shhhh Ann

 =======================================

 In the deeply Catholic Rust Belt community of Buffalo, New York, some parishioners are using the Sunday collection basket to ask embattled Bishop Richard Malone to resign. Instead of giving money, some faithful are leaving handwritten messages giving the church an ultimatum. "We will resume our weekly offering when the Bishop resigns or is removed," read one handwritten note that was placed in a Sunday collection basket and shared with CNN.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/10/us/buffalo-diocese-embattled-catholic-bishop/index.html 

Clergy Child-Abuse Film in Catholic Poland Breaks Box Office Records

A Polish movie about pedophilia among the clergy has triggered a spike in negative attitude toward the church in one of Europe’s most Catholic nations. Titled “Kler,” the Polish word for “clergy,” the film has broken box-office records in the country of 38 million people, attracting more than a tenth of the population to watch it in theaters. It explores child abuse, romantic liaisons, corruption, greed and alcoholism among clerics and has drawn condemnation from the nationalist ruling party, which has vowed to “re-Christianize” the European Union.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-09/clergy-child-abuse-film-turns-more-poles-against-catholic-church 

New Zealand Catholic priest 'mends fences' with sex abuse victims

Ribbons put on a Wellington church by child sexual abuse survivors and their supporters have been promptly taken down by the parish priest. The ribbons were tied to the fence of the St Mary of the Angels Catholic church in Boulcott St on Thursday, but by Friday morning, they had been removed. They were put up to acknowledge historic sexual abuse of children in the Wellington Diocese, particularly at St Patrick’s College in Silverstream and Wellington City, and St Bernard’s College in Lower Hutt.

https://malesurvivor.nz/ribbons-tied-to-wellington-church-by-child-sexual-abuse-survivors-removed/

Now is the time to modify the Catholic Church's 'seal of confession'

The sacrament of reconciliation is depicted in a stained-glass window at St. Aloysius Church in Great Neck, New York.  How many children have been sexually abused, over time and throughout the world, by serial predators because priests, to whom these culprit priests, parents, teachers or other persons sacramentally confessed their crimes and sins, are bound by the absolute secrecy of the seal of confession?

https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/now-time-modify-catholic-churchs-seal-confession

Who will protect sheep from shepherds? Inquirer and Globe team spotlights sins of many bishops

I’m not sure that we’re talking about a true sequel to the massive 2002 Boston Globe “Spotlight” series about sexual abuse of children and teens by Catholic priests. Still, there’s no question that journalists at The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Globe have — working together — produced a disturbing report documenting the efforts of many U.S. Catholic bishops to hide abusive priests or, at the very least, to avoid investigations of their own sins and crimes during these scandals.

https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2018/11/5/who-will-protect-sheep-from-shepherds-inquirer-and-globe-team-spotlights-sins-of-bishops 

'We're not going to hide:' Alaska archbishop fights clergy sex abuse

Anchorage's archbishop, who has emerged as one of the few heroes in a major newspaper story on bishops' lack of oversight regarding clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, is continuing his inquiries in Alaska. An independent commission is currently examining church personnel files for the past half-century in Anchorage, after Archbishop Paul Etienne asked it to do so a few weeks ago. This isn't the first time Etienne has sought justice within the church.

https://www.ktva.com/story/39422836/were-not-going-to-hide-alaska-archbishop-fights-clergy-sex-abuse 

'I cried, and I prayed': Columbia Catholics speak about clerical sex abuse

Bishop Shawn McKnight of the Jefferson City diocese came to Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Monday night to hear Columbia Catholics share their thoughts about the clerical sex abuse crisis. McKnight spoke to open the “listening session” and again at the end, but mostly sat, listened and took notes.

https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/i-cried-and-i-prayed-columbia-catholics-speak-about-clerical/article_bb04af56-e169-11e8-96dd-e38e60aa5048.html 

Wellington priest who removed sexual abuse protest ribbons has change of heart

A Wellington priest who took down ribbons tied to the gates of his church by child sexual abuse survivors has had a change of heart. The ribbons were tied to the gates of the St Mary of the Angels Catholic church in Boulcott St on Thursday to acknowledge historic sexual abuse of children in the Wellington Diocese, particularly at St Patrick's College in Silverstream and Wellington City, and St Bernard's College in Lower Hutt.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/108396907/wellington-priest-who-removed-sexual-abuse-protest-ribbons-has-change-of-heart 

Rome Pressures Publisher to Restrict Book on Whistleblower Viganò

On Aldo Maria Valli’s new book ‘The Viganò case — the dossier which unveiled the Church’s greatest internal scandal’ An Italian author has just published a volume detailing the work of whistleblower Abp. Carlo Maria Viganò — but Church officials have pressured the publishing company to restrict future editions so as to protect Pope Francis’ image and reputation.

https://catholiccitizens.org/news/82024/rome-pressures-publisher-to-restrict-book-on-whistleblower-vigano/ 

Sioux City Diocese says it erred and will identify accused priests

An Iowa Roman Catholic diocese released a lengthy statement Tuesday about the revelation that it had covered up a priest's sexual abuse of boys for decades and promised to identify all priests who have faced credible allegations. The Diocese of Sioux City urged anyone who has ever been abused by one of its priests to report the misconduct. The diocese said it will use all information in its possession to create and publish a list of credibly accused priests, a step it had long resisted.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2018/11/06/priest-abuse-sioux-city-iowa-diocese-apologizes-sex-sexual-jerome-coyle/1907561002/ 

One in three living bishops accused of failure to respond to sexual misconduct

A Boston Globe and Philadelphia Inquirer investigation finds that while US bishops promised reform, they not only failed to adequately respond to sexual misconduct but failed to oust other bishops guilty of abuse. When US bishops gathered in Dallas in 2002, they promised major reform, after the clergy sex abuse scandal exploded in Boston and the Catholic Church in the United States found itself drowning in scandal.

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/one-in-three-bishops-accused-sexual-misconduct 

Editorial: Having failed their duty, Catholic bishops should turn over secret archives

In a far-reaching special report on Sunday, journalists from the Philadelphia Inquirer and Boston Globe found that the leaders of the U.S. Catholic Church are far better at covering up child sexual abuse than stopping it. For almost two decades, both cities have been epicenters of investigations into a sickening litany of abuse that has mushroomed across the country. The church’s pattern of protecting itself over parishioners only made the scandal worse.

https://www.postbulletin.com/opinion/other_views/editorial-having-failed-their-duty-catholic-bishops-should-turn-over/article_87960012-451e-5339-9d1a-36d7e44fc4db.html 

Bishop Malone admits mishandling of accused priest, says he won't resign

Bishop Richard J. Malone on Friday admitted he mishandled the reassignment of a priest who was accused of inappropriate contact with a child, but the embattled leader of Buffalo Catholics said he had no plans to resign. In an interview with WBEN radio, the bishop said he had a “good” record on child abuse despite what he calls his recent “mistakes.”

https://www.wkbw.com/news/i-team/bishop-malone-admits-mishandling-of-accused-priest-says-he-wont-resign 

They sued the Catholic church anonymously. Now Springfield couple wants their story heard.

t was cold and windy on Saturday morning as Gail Herbert stood outside the Catholic Center in Springfield, the place where she says she was sexually abused by a top diocesan official. Gail Herbert and her husband, Jon, no longer want to be anonymous. As the Herberts spoke about their "Jane Doe" lawsuit and the abuse allegedly perpetrated by the former director of family ministry for the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Catholic Diocese, Bishop Edward Rice came outside.

https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2018/11/03/springfield-couple-goes-public-abuse-allegations/1873271002/ 

NY’s Bishop John Jenik abused others, alleged victim says

The alleged victim of New York’s Bishop John Jenik spoke at a Nov. 1 press conference about his experiences with the bishop, which he said involved years of sexual abuse. Jenik, an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of New York, maintains his innocence. Michael Meenan, 52, said that Jenik cultivated an inappropriate relationship with him during the 1980s that involved dozens of trips upstate to Jenik’s country house, where he allegedly was groped while in bed with Jenik.

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2018/11/03/nys-bishop-john-jenik-abused-others-alleged-victim-says/ 

Sociologist: Clergy Sex Abuse On Rise Again, And Church Leaders Ignoring Why

After years in decline, Catholic clergy sex abuse could be on the rise again, warns a professor-priest’s analysis of relevant data. The professor’s report sees a rising trend in abuse, and argues that the evidence strongly suggests links between sexual abuse of minors and two factors: a disproportionate number of homosexual clergy, and the manifestation of a “homosexual subculture” in seminaries.

https://www.eurasiareview.com/03112018-sociologist-clergy-sex-abuse-on-rise-again-and-church-leaders-ignoring-why/ 

Spain child abuse: Victims fight back and appeal for change

The priest who tortured me is still giving Mass in the village down the road," says Emiliano Álvarez, a 52-year-old from Borrenes, north-western Spain. Like other victims who have come forward, Mr Álvarez claims he was abused by staff at the Seminario Menor boarding school in La Bañeza, in Zamora province, and that Spain's Catholic Church authorities have done little about it.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46064017 

Christianity and the elephant in the room

A US Grand Jury report released during August exposed more than 300 predator priests and uncovered over a thousand of their victims in Pennsylvania alone, resulting last month in the first ever subpoena to be served on a Catholic diocese in that American state. The elephant in the Vatican underlying the problem of widespread sexual abuse and its cover-up by the hierarchy is its policy of celibacy, imposed by the flimsiest biblical authority. This tradition, invented by the church long after the Gospels recording the teachings of Christ were written, has made paedophiles of priests, bishops and cardinals. It can spell the beginning of the end of the Christian era. But is there a pontiff courageous enough to dare reverse it?

https://cyprus-mail.com/2018/11/04/christianity-and-the-elephant-in-the-room/ 

Wolf a clear choice for governor

Pennsylvania is better than off than it was four years ago and Gov. Tom Wolf deserves some of the credit for it. Not all, but some. While completing a timely budget remains a hurdle for Wolf and the state legislature, his level-headed approach to governance over the past four years has earned him another four years in Harrisburg. His opponent, Scott Wagner, offers a fiery alternative, but his temperament is not what Pennsylvania needs right now.

https://www.dailyitem.com/opinion/wolf-a-clear-choice-for-governor/article_7f500eaf-081f-51bd-b2f3-16bde7edc57d.html 

Catholic bishops promised reform in sex-abuse scandal. But they didn’t look at their own misdeeds

American bishops promised reform after the clergy sexual abuse scandal exploded in Boston. But they largely ignored the misdeeds of one group: themselves. Bishop Robert Finn wasn’t going anywhere. He never alerted authorities about photos of young girls’ genitals stashed on a pastor’s laptop. He kept parishioners in the dark, letting the priest mingle with children and families. Even after a judge found the bishop guilty of failing to report the priest’s suspected child abuse — and after 200,000 people petitioned for his ouster — he refused to go.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/11/03/bishops/qVYEiZ5SY5wVzCgA3gvN5O/story.html 

Will the Catholic Diocese Whistleblower Face Legal Ramifications?

For months, Siobhan O'Connor leaked confidential church documents that highlighted the scope of the priest sex abuse scandal and its cover-up within the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo. But what legal fallout might she face? "The law will only recognize the confidentiality of a document if it's considered privileged or if it's a trade secret or some special category of document,” explained Christine Bartholomew, an associate professor at the University at Buffalo School of Law. “If they were confidential simply because the diocese wanted them to remain confidential, that is not something that creates criminal liability. She might still have civil liability depending on her terms of employment contract, but the law is pretty protective of whistleblowers.”

http://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/news/2018/10/30/legal-analysis-of-diocese-whistleblower 

Priest sexually battered 17-year-old altar girl who is now pregnant, Ohio cops say

An Ohio priest faces felony charges after authorities accused him of sexually abusing an altar girl who is now pregnant. Father Henry Christopher Foxhoven, a 45-year-old priest at Holy Cross in Glouster, Ohio, was charged Tuesday with eight counts of sexual battery in the case, according to a press release from the Athens County Sheriff’s Office. Foxhoven is accused of abusing the 17-year-old girl, who was a parishioner at Holy Cross, from Aug. 17 to Oct. 25, deputies said.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article220867505.html