Nov. 18, 2022

TOP STORIES

French cardinal says he abused 14-year-old girl 35 years ago
“Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, one of France’s highest-ranking prelates of the Catholic Church, said Monday (Nov. 7) that he had abused a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago and is withdrawing from his religious duties. The move comes after a report issued last year revealed a large number of child sex abuse cases within the French Catholic Church. ‘Thirty-five years ago, when I was a priest, I behaved in a reprehensible way with a young girl aged 14,’ Ricard said in a written statement.” By Associated Press on Cruxnow.com

• France: 11 bishops accused of sexual abuse, By Deutsche Welle
• French cardinal to be investigated over abuse confessions, By Associated Press on Cruxnow.com
• Cardinal Ricard among 11 French bishops accused of abuse, By BBC News
• Podcast: What a prominent cardinal’s admission of abuse means, By Colleen Dulle, Inside the Vatican, America: The Jesuit Review
• Vatican opens preliminary abuse probe into French cardinal, By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press
• Vatican to probe ‘reprehensible’ French cardinal in abuse case, By Agence France-Presse in The Manilla Times
• French Catholic leaders mired in sexual abuse scandals dig themselves deeper, By Tom Heneghan, Religion News Service

The abuse crisis should be the center of the pope’s ongoing synodal process
“As American Jesuit historian Fr. John O’Malley wrote in one of his last articles published in America magazine last February, the history of synodality is older than you think. There are different phases in the history of the synodal institution and way to govern the church: from the very early church to the medieval times to early modern Catholicism. The current phase is part of what Vatican II had in mind for church reform: a mix of aggiornamento (or updating in light of new issues) and of ressourcement (taking a fresh look at the ancient sources of the Christian tradition). At the same time, the current synodal process initiated by Pope Francis’ pontificate cannot be understood outside of the epoch-changing abuse crisis in the Catholic Church …” By Massimo Faggioli and Hans Zollner, S.J., National Catholic Reporter

What the synod heard from Catholics worldwide
“This week on ‘Inside the Vatican,’ producer Ricardo da Silva, S.J., joins host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell for a roundtable discussion on what stood out in the synod document. Ricardo was struck by how the report presented feedback in the respondents’ words, including quotes from more than 70 countries, and how it raised issues that had previously been taboo. Gerry, on the other hand, thinks little was surprising in the report, and emphasizes how the document was to be read ‘with the eyes of the disciple.’ Colleen describes how the report pulled no punches when discussing sexism in the church.” By Colleen Dulle, Inside the Vatican, America: The Jesuit Review

Pope: ‘Every time a woman comes in to do a job in the Vatican, things get better’
“A society that does not give women the same rights and opportunities as men will become impoverished, Pope Francis said at the end of a four-day visit to Bahrain. ‘Women are a gift,’ he said. After God made man, he didn’t create ‘a lapdog for him to play with. No, he created two who are equal, a man and a woman.’ ‘All the rights of women stem from this equality,’ he said, and a society that is not able to make room for women ‘does not move forward.’” By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service, in America: The Jesuit Review

ACCOUNTABILITY

Former Pope Benedict to mount legal defense over abuse cover-up accusation
“Former Pope Benedict XVI plans to defend himself in a civil lawsuit lodged at a German court by a man who accuses him of helping to cover up historical abuse, a court spokesperson said on Tuesday (Nov. 8). In the latest twist in a long-running scandal engulfing the Catholic Church, a so-called declaratory action was brought in June on behalf of a man, then 38-years old, who said he was abused by a priest as a child.” By Reuters

Vatican shocked over French bishops’ abuse scandal: Officials in rome are beginning to acknowledge that the rules of secrecy surrounding canon law may need to be revised
“Was Pope Francis aware – before the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) announced it this week – that 11 bishops in France are currently under civil or canonical investigation for committing or covering-up sexual abuse? When the 85-year-old pope was asked about the abuse cases during an inflight press conference on his return from Bahrain on Sunday (Nov. 6), he did not say so. However, he reiterated yet again that the Church is trying to ‘clarify everything.’ ‘There are people within the Church who still do not see this clearly, who do not agree with this… It is a process that we are undertaking and we are carrying it out with courage, and not everyone has courage,’ Francis said.” By Loup Besmond de Senneville, LaCroix International

Pope Francis accepts resignation of German bishop found guilty of embezzlement
“Pope Francis on Tuesday (Nov. 9) accepted the resignation of a German bishop who was convicted of embezzling money from a woman suffering from dementia. A German court found Auxiliary Bishop Johannes Bündgens of Aachen guilty of misappropriating 128,000 euros (about $128,000). Bündgens was sentenced to nine months suspended jail time and a 5,000-euro fine, CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, reported.” By A.C. Wimmer, Catholic News Agency

French cardinal’s admission renews scrutiny of church sexual abuse
“ A cardinal’s admission that he had behaved ‘reprehensibly’ with a 14-year-old girl over three decades ago was one of several revelations that threw a gathering of French bishops into turmoil this week, renewing scrutiny of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in France a little over a year after a landmark report on the pervasiveness of the issue. The admission of wrongdoing this week by Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, 78, who retired in 2019 after 18 years as the archbishop of Bordeaux, was one of two recent revelations that have stunned the Catholic community in France.” By Aurelien Breeden, The New York Times

• Cardinal Ricard’s confession sparks the latest Catholic crisis in France, By Msgr. Owen F. Campion, Out Sunday Visitor

FOR A SYNODAL CHURCH: COMMUNION, PARTICIPATION AND MISSION

CELAM document confronts the challenges of synodality
“The English text of the final document from the first Ecclesial Assembly for Latin America and the Caribbean has been released. This November 2021 meeting, convoked by CELAM, the continent-wide episcopal conference for Latin America and the Caribbean, was called an ‘ecclesial assembly’ rather than a ‘synod’ because it did not exclusively include bishops. That said, it placed itself in the direct lineage of CELAM meetings starting in Rio de Janeiro in 1955 …. For those unfamiliar with that history, the new text provides a useful historical account of the trajectory from Rio de Janeiro up to today.” By Michael Sean Winter, National Catholic Reporter

Submission portal opens for next Synod of Bishops phase
“Groups across Australia are now able to participate in the latest discernment process for the global Synod on Synodality, reflecting on the recently-published Working Document for the Continental Stage. The document, which was drawn from local and national consultation processes undertaken around the world, was published in late October. Capturing what the People of God said during the first year of the Synod journey, the document is designed to enable deeper discernment on the overall question of how the Church is ‘journeying together.’” By CathNews.com

POPE FRANCIS

Pope Francis says Catholic Church fighting child abuse ‘as best we can’
“Pope Francis said Sunday (Nov. 6) that the Catholic church was working ‘as best we can’ to fight clerical child abuse but admitted there were shortfalls. During a press conference on a plane while returning from Bahrain, where he had been promoting dialogue with Islam, the pontiff said child abuse inside the Church was a ‘tragic thing.’ ‘We are working as best we can, but there are people within the Church who don’t see it clearly,’ the 85-year-old Argentinian admitted on the return flight to Rome.” By Agence France-Presse on NDTBV.com

BISHOPS

U.S. bishops elect Broglio, archbishop for Military Services, as new president
“The U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference on Nov. 15 elected Archbishop Timothy Broglio, a former Vatican diplomat who has supported religious exemptions for coronavirus vaccines and has blamed gay priests for the clergy abuse crisis, as their new president. Broglio, who as the archbishop for the Military Services is essentially the nation’s chief Catholic chaplain, garnered 138 votes on the third round of voting at the bishops’ plenary assembly in Baltimore. He needed 119 votes, a majority of the 237 total votes cast.” By Brian Fraga, National Catholic Reporter

• Bishops elect Archbishop Broglio of military archdiocese as president of USCCB, By Kevin Cullen, America: The Jesuit Review
• U.S. Catholic bishops elect leaders for anti-abortion fight, By Elizabeth Diaz, The New York Times

Bishops elect anti-Francis archbishop as new president
“The U.S. bishops have sent a clear message of rejection to Pope Francis by selecting Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who heads the Archdiocese for the Military Services, as president of the bishops’ conference. The bishops’ choice of new leadership revealed the deeper ecclesiological orientation of the body. They had to decide if they wanted to be a part of the ongoing reception of the Second Vatican Council in the context of the magisterium of Pope Francis, or not, a choice made all the more obvious by the success of the synodal process so far.” By Michael Sean Winters, National Catholic Reporter

WOMEN’S VOICES

Pope says women’s rights fight is ‘continuous struggle,’ condemns mutilation
“Pope Francis said on Sunday (Nov. 6) the fight for women’s rights was a ‘continuous struggle,’ and condemned male chauvinism as deadly for humanity and female genital mutilation as a crime that must be stopped. Speaking to reporters on the plane returning from a four-day trip to predominantly Muslim Bahrain, he also praised women he has appointed to managerial jobs in the Vatican, saying they had improved things there. He made no mention of campaigns to let women move on beyond that and become clergy – the pope and his predecessors have said the question of women priests is closed.” By Philip Pullella, Reuters

• Pope Francis, returning from Bahrain, decries treating women as ‘second class citizens,’ By Christopher White, National Catholic Reporter

Women must be included in formation of priests, says abuse expert
“One of the church’s leading experts on safeguarding and clerical sexual abuse has said the exclusion of women from seminary formation has had ‘extremely harmful consequences,’ and this ‘needs to change.’ Jesuit Father Hans Zollner told more than 200 people at a ‘Stolen Lives’ webinar that ‘the role of women has been to clean up the mess that men have made.’ The webinar was organized by the Root & Branch lay reform movement in Britain in conjunction with Survivor Voices and Scottish Laity Network. Zollner said he regretted that workshops on safeguarding are attended mostly by women. ‘It seems that men are not only in the great majority responsible for the big mess and the hurt, but they also run away from facing that reality.’” By Sarah MacDonald, Cruxnow.com

CHILD PROTECTION

Vatican child protection leader: ‘Building credibility needs a track record’
“Fr. Andrew Small was appointed in June to one of the most important positions in the Catholic Church’s fight against abuse. The English priest was named secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors pro tempore (‘for the time being’) at a significant moment of transition for the body founded by Pope Francis in 2014. The decree establishing the commission eight years ago defined its ‘specific task’ as advising the pope on ‘the most opportune initiatives for protecting minors and vulnerable adults.’” By Luke Coppen, The Pillar

VATICAN

Vatican affirms it is opening abuse investigation of French cardinal
“The Vatican has decided to open an investigation into French Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, the retired archbishop of Bordeaux, who admitted in a public letter that he had abused a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago. ‘As a result of the elements that have emerged in the last few days and the statement made by the cardinal, in order to complete the examination of what happened, it has been decided to initiate an ‘investigatio praevia,’ or preliminary investigation,’ Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said Nov. 11.” By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

CHURCH FINANCES

Ex-Vatican auditor, threatening to reveal all, sues church, alleging damage to his reputation
“Former Vatican financial auditor Libero Milone filed suit on Friday (Nov. 4) against the Vatican Secretariat of State, demanding the Catholic Church pay for damages to his reputation that he alleges followed his unceremonious firing in 2017. At a meeting on Tuesday (Nov. 8) arranged by his lawyer, Milone told reporters that Cardinal Angelo Becciu, once the third-highest-ranking official at the Vatican, was ‘the mastermind of the so-called operation eject-Milone.’” By Claire Giangravé, Religion News Service

New Orleans priest accused of child rape now under scrutiny for financial crimes
“A Catholic priest who led one of New Orleans’ best-known inner-city churches until being accused of sexually molesting a child has been reported to federal authorities for possible financial crimes after an audit found he spent nearly $400,000 of his congregants’ money in questionable ways. John Asare-Dankwah ran the St Peter Claver church in New Orleans’ historic Treme neighborhood from 2014 until early 2021, when a lawsuit alleging that he raped a boy on an out-of-state overnight trip years earlier prompted church officials to indefinitely suspend him from his role.” By Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Guardian

VOICES

Old Latin Mass finds new American audience, despite Pope’s disapproval|
“Eric Agustin’s eight children used to call the first day of the week ‘Party Sunday.’ The family would wake up, attend a short morning Mass at a Catholic parish near their house, then head home for lunch and an afternoon of relaxing and watching football. But this summer, the family made a ‘big switch,’ one of his teenage sons said on a recent Sunday afternoon outside St. Joseph Shrine, the family’s new parish. At St. Joseph, the liturgy is ornate, precisely choreographed and conducted entirely in Latin. The family drives an hour round trip to attend a service that starts at 11 a.m. and can last almost two hours.” By Ruth Graham, The New York Times

No longer the bishops’ Church? Catholicism’s episcopal crisis
“There is little question about the importance of this fall’s plenary meeting of the USCCB. For one thing, the conference’s vice president, Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron, will not be the favorite in the presidential election because he won’t be a candidate … For another, it’s the first plenary since the Supreme Court overturned Roe. Finally, the new leadership will be at the helm through the 2024 U.S. presidential election, when we may learn how much American Catholic support there is for American democracy. But this bishops’ meeting is important on a deeper level as well. It comes as the Catholic Church is on its way to being, in some ways, a ‘post-episcopal’ Church—no longer a bishops’ Church. And that will likely have a dramatic impact on how Catholicism may influence and interact with American social and political values.” By Massimo Faggioli, Commonweal

Essay: Can Pope Francis survive the scheming of ‘the schismatics’?
“‘The schismatics’ is not the name of a new Broadway musical, but it might as well be. Some senior cardinals, deeply unhappy with the 2021-2022 round of the Catholic Church’s worldwide Synod on Synodality, seem to want the entire project to go away. It will not. The synod is projected to be a new-old way of being ‘church,’ a permanent recovery of how the church began and grew. Francis plans it as a change that will outlast his papacy. Even so, too many Catholics still have no idea what ‘synodality’ means. No matter what the naysayers say, it is not a parliamentary event to vote on doctrinal matters of faith and morals. Rooted in the teachings and process of the Second Vatican Council, synodality is understood as ‘walking together’ – a coming to consensus – about the renewal begun following Vatican II.” By Phyllis Zagano, Sight Magazine

Links: ‘Voices of Vatican II’; synodal spirituality; a Festival of Faiths
“Catholic News Service has done a wonderful thing, collecting commentary from those who participated in the Second Vatican Council and producing a 48-minute video. My favorite story came from Cardinal Paul Poupard, who had been a theological adviser at the council. He recalled someone approaching Boston Cardinal Richard Cushing, ‘who was known to have a knack for scaring up money.’ They asked him to pay for simultaneous translation so people could understand New York Cardinal Francis Spellman. Cushing reportedly replied, ‘It’s not worth it; we don’t understand him even when he’s speaking American.’” By Michael Sean Winters, National Catholic Reporter

How Vatican II failed Catholics – and Catholicism
“A couple of years ago at a party, I fell into a conversation with a friendly older gentleman, an Irish American of the baby boom generation and the greater tristate area. At some point, the discussion turned to family life and the challenges of dragging complaining kids to church, and I said something in passing about the Sunday obligation, meaning the requirement laid on Catholics to attend Mass, on pain of serious sin. He looked at me with a friendly sort of mystification. ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘but you know the church got rid of that after Vatican II’ … But I think about that encounter, and others like it, as intensely relevant to my column from a few weeks ago — on the failure of the Second Vatican Council to equip the church for the challenges of late modernity, the way its reforms aimed at resilience but led to crisis and diminishment instead.” By Ross Douthat, The New York Times

Women are now the Catholic church’s last hope
“A church must reflect the world in which it lives in order to thrive. In the Ireland of the past, that wasn’t a problem for the Catholic church. It shaped Irish society in its own image. These days that is not how things work. The church has lost the power to enforce its edicts unchallenged, and can only survive with the consent of those in the pews — and there are fewer of them now than ever before. The altar is looking equally sparse. That’s why Fr Seán Sheehy found himself on the roster to serve mass at St Mary’s Church is Listowel, Co Kerry, last weekend.” By Editorial Board of Independent.ie

CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE

UN sets November 18 as day o spotlight child sexual abuse
“The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution Monday (Nov.7) establishing November 18th as a day to spotlight the sexual exploitation and abuse of children. The day also will be used to stress the need for prevention, for perpetrators to be brought to justice, and for victims to be given a voice as part of the long process of healing. The resolution, which was sponsored by Sierra Leone and Nigeria and co-sponsored by more than 110 countries, was adopted by consensus and a bang of the gavel by the assembly’s acting president, which was greeted with loud applause.” By Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press

Catholic Church must bring abusers to justice
“It is vital that the Catholic Church, non-government organizations (NGOs), development agencies, and government put children at the heart of national and religious concerns. The Church and clergy must remember and act constantly on the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth when he made children the center of importance in the kingdom. ‘Whoever welcomes in my name one such child as this, welcomes me,’ he said.” By Fr. Shay Cullen, UCANews.com

ILLINOIS

Priest accused of sexually abusing 7-year-old missing from Chicago Archdiocese list, lawyers say
“The Archdiocese of Chicago last month doubled the length of a list of priests credibly accused of sex abuse, but lawyers for a man who received a six-figure payout from the church last year say the list is missing the name of Fr. George Clements. Clements, a civil rights activist who led the congregation of Holy Angels Church in Bronzeville for more than two decades, stepped down from the ministry at the request of Archbishop Blase Cupich in 2019, after he was accused of sexual abuse dating back to the 1970s.” By Andy Grim, Sun-Times Media Wire

INDIANA

Suspended Indianapolis priest get home detention in teen sex abuse case
“A judge on Wednesday (Nov. 9) sentenced suspended Indianapolis priest David Marcotte to a year on home detention under a plea agreement that ends his trial on allegations he sexually abused a teenage boy six years ago. During a hearing in Hamilton Superior Court, Judge Jonathan M. Brown addressed the teary-eyed parents of the victim as he accepted a plea agreement they both begged him to reject.” By Rick Rychaert, WRTV-TV News

• Archdiocese of Indianapolis priest plea deal is a miscarriage of justice, SNAP responds, By SNAPnetwork.org

MARYLAND

Maryland attorney general’s investigation of child sexual abuse in Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore nears completion
“The Maryland Attorney General’s Office’s four-year investigation into the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s history of child sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests is almost finished. A spokesperson for Attorney General Brian Frosh told The Baltimore Sun the investigation is ‘nearing completion,’ but declined to share details … In 2018, the office issued a grand jury subpoena to the archdiocese for records, and Archbishop William E. Lori told clergy the state was investigating. Ultimately, the archdiocese turned over more than 100,000 pages of documents to Wolf and Special Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Embry.” By Lee O. Sanderlin and Jonathan M. Pitts, The Baltimore Sun

MASSACHUSETTS

Priest indicted on child rape, assault and battery charges
“A Roman Catholic priest from Massachusetts accused of sexually assaulting a child more than a decade ago has been indicted by a grand jury on forcible child rape and indecent assault and battery charges, authorities said Tuesday. Monsignor Francis Strahan, 89, assaulted an altar boy on two occasions from 2004 until 2008 when the boy was between the ages of 11 and 13, according to a joint statement from Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Framingham police Chief Lester Baker.” By Associated Press

NEW YORK.

Bishop addresses clergy abuse settlement during Penfield mass
“The Rochester Catholic Diocese reached a $55 million settlement with over 400 survivors of sexual abuse earlier this week. Bishop Salvatore Matano addressed the settlement during Sunday (Nov. 7) mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Penfield, the first weekend since the proposed settlement was announced. In his remarks, the bishop again acknowledged the pain of those impacted. ‘The greatest of Challenges has been over past decades, where our church is plagued by a crisis so very painful. Painful to you my sisters and brothers. How necessary it is that I always in every way and whenever possible express my deep sorrow and express my apology to those so violated by those that whom they had put their trust and believed they were ministers of the lord,’ said Salvatore Matano, Bishop of Rochester Diocese.” By WHAM-TV13 News

PENNSYLVANIA

Panel explores how sexual abuse survivors can help church to heal
“Praising clergy sexual abuse survivors for their courage in bringing their painful experiences to light, a panel of current or former diocesan victim assistance coordinators urged the Catholic community to enter into ‘radical accompaniment’ with abuse victims to promote long-lasting healing. Such healing is needed not only for abuse survivors but for clergy and parishioners alike, the coordinators agreed during an online program Nov. 9 marking 20 years of the ‘Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.’” By Dennis Sadowski, Catholic News Service

Priest found not guilty of molesting 8-year-old boy at Plum church in 1998
“A Catholic priest in the Pittsburgh Diocese accused of molesting an 8-year-old boy at a Plum church in 1998 has been found not guilty. Court records show jurors returned the not-guilty verdict of aggravated indecent assault in the case against Father Robert Cedolia Monday (Nov. 14). Cedolia was placed on administrative leave in 2019 after the allegation was made against him through the Reconciliation and Compensation Program for the Diocese of Pittsburgh.” By WTAE-TV4 News

TENNESSEE

Alleged victim files second lawsuit against local Catholic priest
“A woman who alleges a Catholic priest in Gatlinburg sexually battered her in 2020 has filed a second lawsuit against the Knoxville diocese and the priest himself. The ‘Jane Doe’ plaintiff filed the complaint Nov. 10 in U.S. District Court in Knoxville. Earlier this year an attorney on her behalf filed a lawsuit in Sevier County that was subsequently non-suited. As a result of the woman’s accusations, Antony D. Punnackal faces indictment on two counts of sexual battery in Sevier County Criminal Court.” By WBIR-TV10 News

TEXAS

Former Pine Haven priest believed to be removed from Houston ministry
“A priest in the Somascan Order has apparently been removed from his post as pastor at a Houston parish after several New Hampshire lawsuits allege sexual abuse at the Somascan-run home Pine Haven home for troubled boys in Allenstown. Fr. Albert Zanatta, a member of the Somascan order who once served at Pine Haven, is still listed on the Houston Assumption Parish website as the pastor, though recent editions of the parish weekly bulletin indicate he is no longer serving in that capacity.” By Damien Fisher, InDepthNH.org

AUSTRALIA

Catholic church pressuring alleged victims of dead pedophile priests to accept ‘paltry’ payouts, lawyers say
“The Catholic church has adopted an increasingly aggressive approach to alleged victims of now-dead pedophile priests, using recent rulings to pressure survivors to accept ‘paltry amounts’ or risk having their claims permanently blocked, lawyers say. In June, the New South Wales courts permanently stayed a civil claim brought by a survivor, known as GLJ, who alleged horrific abuse at the hands of Father Clarence Anderson in Lismore in 1968 when she was 14. The court ruled there could not be a fair trial because Anderson was dead, leaving the church unable to properly respond to the survivor’s allegations.” By Christopher Knaus, The Guardian

Ex-Catholic brother faces child sex charge
“A former Catholic brother has been committed to stand trial on a child sexual charge after a court heard his alleged victim struggled for months to sign a police statement. Frank Terrence Keating, 80, on Monday appeared at a Brisbane committal hearing via video link charged with one count of carnal knowledge of a child. Prosecutors allege Keating committed the offence north of Brisbane in 1989.” By Laine Clark, The Times

CANADA

Sexual abuse survivors launch national day to encourage others to speak up
“For 20 years, Richard Jabara lived with the memory of his abuse — then he read an article that would change his life. His family had moved to Australia from the United States. Originally settling in Queensland, they eventually made the journey south to Melbourne. In Melbourne, Mr Jabara was groomed and raped by a Catholic priest … In Good Faith, chief executive Clare Leaney said a national day would help destigmatize the experience of survivors.” By Lucy MacDonald, ABC News

$10M settlement approved for sexul abuse survivors of Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth
“The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia approved a $10-million settlement Monday (Nov. 14) for survivors of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth. The class-action lawsuit was brought by people who allege sexual abuse by priests dating back nearly 70 years. The lead plaintiff in the action, 62-year-old Steven Gallant, said no amount of money could make up for the lifelong burden of being a sexual abuse victim.” By CBC News

He abused dozens of Indigenous children in Ontario. But did Jesuit priest’s legacy begin in Montreal?
“As a Jesuit priest in Ontario, George Epoch sexually abused dozens of children in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. But Epoch’s abuse allegedly dates back even earlier, to the 1950s, when he taught at Loyola High School, a private Catholic school in Montreal. Two students who were part of Epoch’s 1957-58 preparatory class told CBC News the priest inappropriately touched them. Alfred Martijn describes that year as a miserable one, filled with fear and unease. In those days, it was mandatory for the prep students to be boarders, so it was difficult to elude Epoch.” By Leah Hendry, CBC News

Former Coquitlam parish priest accused of sexual abuse
“A woman who alleges she was sexually groomed and abused as a child in the mid 1970s while attending Our Lady of Fatima Church in Coquitlam is suing a number of Catholic Church entities. The archdiocese of Vancouver and several other institutions associated with Chevrier’s work history are also named as defendants. L.V.’s lawsuit asserts that she had the inherent right to live out her childhood and youth ‘unaffected by the unhealthy, unsafe, and immoral interference and public nuisance of predatorial and systematic sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy.’” By Patrick Pennier, Vancouver Sun

P.E.I police seek other alleged victims as Catholic priest is charged with sex crimes
“A retired Roman Catholic priest is facing multiple sexual assault charges stemming from alleged incidents on P.E.I. in the 1990s. On May 17, 2022, police were told about several alleged sexual assaults involving a person who was a minor at the time and a man who is now 69. The incidents are alleged to have occurred between 1990 and 2010 in Summerside, P.E.I., according to the RCMP. When Summerside Police Services started investigating, it learned offences had also allegedly happened in other areas of the Island, according to a news release from the force.” By Alex Macisaac, CTV News Atlantic

FRANCE

French priest indicted for aggravated rape of a minor in Paris
“A French priest has been indicted in Paris for the aggravated rape of a teenager he reportedly met on the gay dating app, Grindr. The indicted priest who officiated over the parish at the church of Saint-Louis-Marie in Brocéliande in Brittany, is suspected of having drugged a 15-year-old he met on a dating application on 3 November, before raping him in a Parisian hotel room.” By RFI.fr

French bishops note anger over case of abusive bishop allowed to retire
“The French bishops’ conference overhauled its agenda for its November plenary meeting to deal with ‘the anger, shame, powerlessness (and) incomprehension’ they and their people felt after discovering that a bishop allowed by the Vatican to retire actually was disciplined for sexual abuse. Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort of Reims, president of the bishops’ conference, announced the changed agenda Nov. 3 and urged his fellow bishops to have as their first concern ‘the victims, those who spoke out two years ago and more recently, and those, perhaps, who have not yet made themselves known.’” By Catholic News Service on Cruxnow.com

IRELAND & NORTHERN IRELAND

Catholic Primate speaks of ‘crying need for atonement’ over child abuse
“There is ‘a crying need for atonement, inner healing and hope in the aftermath of the abuse scandals,’ Catholic Primate Eamon Martin has said. He sometimes wondered, he said, ‘why it is that, when we were studying theology here [in Maynooth] in the 1980s, we didn’t anticipate what was about to happen in the Church – perhaps we should have; was it because, in our studying and reading of theology and philosophy, we didn’t engage enough in open discussion and dialogue, or really grapple with the big questions of the day for the Church and its mission?’” By Patsy McGarry, The Irish Times

Horrors of Irish priests’ sexual abuse scandal continue to be uncovered
“Religious orders in Ireland continue to be flooded with allegations of historic abuse in schools throughout the country. The Jesuit congregation of Ireland has received 149 allegations of abuse against 43 Jesuit priests, paying out €7.4 million in compensation to the 78 people it has reached a settlement with. A spokeswoman for the congregation told the Irish Times that she expects further allegations to be made against Jesuit members in the coming months, especially after the introduction of a redress scheme in January 2022.” By IrishCentral

• Four people report abuse by Spiritan order following documentary, By Paul Reynolds, RTE.ie
• They roamed freely at night. We were easy prey,’ says Willow Park abuse survivor, By Patsy McGarry and Ronan McGreevy, The Irish Times
• Four new claims of sexual abuse by priests at Dubin school emerge after documentary, By IrishCentral

NEW ZEALAND

Abuse in care inquiry: Survivor condemns lack of ‘genuine repentance’ from churches in final hearing
“A survivor of abuse says churches have missed a golden opportunity to really reflect on how Aotearoa-New Zealand came to have such an appalling record of abuse of people in care. Faith-based organizations were given a chance to respond at the recent final public hearing of the Royal Commission in to Abuse in care. Jacinda Thompson suffered sexual harassment by her Anglican minister in the early 2000’s, and she has given evidence to the inquiry. She said that while abuse itself was condemned, most church leaders failed to accept responsibility for allowing it to flourish in the first place.” By Andrew McRae, Radio New Zealand

PHILIPPINES

Filipino priest arrested for abusing church volunteer
“The recent arrest of a Filipino priest for alleged sexual molestation and blackmail of a 16-year-old church volunteer has come as a surprise for the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao in the northern Philippines. Father Karole Reward Israel, 29, a newly ordained cleric who received his assignment sometime in May 2021, has been stripped of his priestly functions pending investigations and a trial. ‘The archdiocese will fully cooperate with the prosecution service towards the conduct of an unbiased preliminary investigation and will also extend its assistance to our priest,’ the archdiocese said in a statement.” By UCANews.com