A Boise priest abused him and kept him quiet with beer. He was 12. Police never knew.

For two decades, Mark Holden kept the secret of the man who abused him: a man he believed was next to God, a man he thought was untouchable. Holden met the Rev. James McSorley in 1971 at Boise’s Sacred Heart parish. In public, Holden served McSorley as an altar boy. In private, Holden said, the 50-year-old priest soon became exploitive, using secluded time with the children to fondle Holden — and possibly others — on multiple occasions over the course of a year.

http://www.cdapress.com/article/20180524/AP/305249933 

Bishop who ignored warnings about preacher Jeremy Dowling who went on to abuse boys is identical twin of paedophile ex-bishop

One of the bishops who ignored warnings about a preacher who went on to sexaully abuse boys is the identical twin of a paedophile ex-bishop. It emerged this week that a leading figure in the Church of England in Cornwall went on to commit child sex offences for several years after allegations about his behaviour with young boys were raised with the diocese and not acted upon, an official investigation has revealed. The diocese failed to investigate the accusations against Jeremy Dowling, a lay preacher, allowing him to rise to influential positions including communications officer to the bishop, an independent review for the church concludes.

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/bishop-who-ignored-warnings-preacher-1608976 

Ballarat clergy abuse survivors applaud the end of the Ellis defence loophole

Ballarat survivors who suffered abuse in Catholic Church-run institutions have applauded the end of the Ellis defence following the passing of new laws on Friday, quashing the infamous loophole. The Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, speaking in Ballarat on Friday, said the passing of the Legal Identity of Defendants (Organisational Child Abuse) Bill 2018 quashed the legal technicality and will prevent unincorporated organisations from relying upon the ‘Ellis defence’ to avoid civil lawsuits.

https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/5428961/survivors-cheer-end-of-ellis-defence/ 

Catholic churches get grand jury report on sexual abuse before its public release

Mark Rozzi's phone rang relentlessly after an Erie newspaper reported Thursday that a judge released copies of a statewide grand jury report on sexual abuse in six Catholic dioceses to church officials more than a month before it is to be released publicly. Rozzi, a Democratic state representative from Berks County, has been a lightning rod for victims since publicly accusing a priest of molesting him more than 30 years ago and then testifying before the grand jury, which completed its investigation last month.

http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/13689563-74/catholic-churches-get-grand-jury-report-on-sexual-abuse-before-its-public 

The archbishop, the paedophile priest, the compassionate church employee and the damage done

IT’S one of the most spectacular own goals in Catholic Church history – how Archbishop Philip Wilson’s refusal to meet with a Newcastle child sex victim in 2008 laid the groundwork for his conviction for concealing a crime, a special commission of inquiry and a royal commission. It’s the extraordinary story of Anthea Halpin, notorious paedophile priest Denis McAlinden, the face-to-face apology from Wilson that never came and the documents that have helped change history.

https://www.bordermail.com.au/news/national/5430242/archbishops-spectacular-own-goal-the-missed-cuppa-thats-changing-history/ 

Pope Francis to Italian bishops: Don’t let gays into the seminary

Pope Francis has reportedly told the bishops of Italy that they are to exercise more discretion regarding candidates for priestly studies in diocesan seminaries, instructing them to exercise an “attentive discernment” regarding cases of possible homosexual orientation “If there is even the slightest doubt, it is better not to let them enter,” the Pope told them. The statements come in the wake of a widely-reported private conversation between Francis and a Chilean sex abuse victim who identifies as “gay,” in which Francis reportedly said, “God made you gay.”

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-tells-italian-bishops-to-not-let-gays-enter-the-seminary 

Cleric in Chile who recorded sex abuse charges reports himself

ROME - An ongoing crisis in Chile’s Catholic Church continues to develop, with new allegations, accusations and compromising media reports arising almost daily. Last week, most of the country’s bishops handed their resignations to Pope Francis, who had summoned them to Rome and presented them with a document accusing the Chilean hierarchy of destroying evidence and of a systematic cover up of sexual abuse. The man registering allegations reports himself

https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2018/05/26/cleric-in-chile-who-recorded-sex-abuse-charges-reports-himself/ 

Timeline of Archbishop Philip Wilson's case

An emotional two-page letter written by a sexual abuse victim has been credited with helping convict an Australian Archbishop of concealing such crimes dating back decades. Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson stood down on Friday after he was convicted for concealing child sex abuse at Newcastle Local Court. He is the highest-ranking Catholic official in the world to be convicted of covering up abuse in the church. The letter which helped bring his case before a court was penned by Peter Creigh, who was abused by paedophile priest James Fletcher more than 50 years ago.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5773769/Archbishop-Philip-Wilson-case-letter-led-downfall.html 

Cardinal George Pell’s Sexual Abuse Trials May Be Held in Secret

SYDNEY, Australia — An Australian court is to decide on Wednesday whether two planned trials for Cardinal George Pell, the senior Vatican official accused of sexual abuse, will be conducted in secret with the public barred from knowing what took place until the proceedings are over. On Friday, prosecutors in the state of Victoria applied for a “super injunction” against news coverage of the separate trials. Legal experts described the application as an extreme move aimed at keeping juries in both cases from learning anything that might cause bias.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/world/australia/george-pell-trial-super-injunction.html 

Priest faces sex charges

A priest of the Catholic Diocese of Erie has been charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse against two young boys over a period of eight years. David L. Poulson, 64, of Oil City, has been arraigned on a total of eight counts involving boys who were ages 8 and 15 at the time when the abuse started, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in announcing the charges Tuesday.

http://www.alliednews.com/news/priest-faces-sex-charges/article_157388d6-5498-11e8-92a2-0b4569086cd0.html 

Kenya: Witness Hitch in Catholic Priest's Sexual Abuse Case.

A Kitui court on Wednesday summoned several witnesses to testify in a case against a Catholic priest, who is alleged to have impregnated a student and attempted to kill her. The witnesses were summoned after the prosecution expressed frustration that they were unwilling to testify despite having recorded statements with police over the incident.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201805110114.html 

Pruitt Dined With Climate-Skeptic Vatican Official Charged With Sex Abuse, and the EPA Tried to Hide It

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt had a $240-per-person dinner at a Rome restaurant with a Vatican cardinal who was a climate-change skeptic and under investigation for sex abuse in 2017. The EPA office did not disclose the cardinal was at the dinner on public records, according to documents obtained by The New York Times. Cardinal George Pell pleaded not guilty to historical charges of sexual abuse at the end of April in his home country of Australia.

http://www.newsweek.com/pruitt-climate-skeptic-vatican-sex-abuse-922304 

Attacks on defense lawyers because of their clients are wrong

Most Americans understand and appreciate the vital nature of our adversarial system of justice, where both sides can obtain legal representation. But some lawyers who run for public office are continuously being lambasted for having done their jobs as lawyers. Matt Flynn, a lawyer who is seeking the Wisconsin Democratic nomination for governor, is being attacked because of his past legal representation of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in the sex abuse lawsuits involving priests.

https://www.sheboyganpress.com/story/opinion/2018/05/11/lawyers-attacks-defense-attorneys-wrong/602878002/