Posts Tagged clergy
Update on New York Archdiocese’s clergy sexual abuse victim compensation plan
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on December 21, 2016
By Stephen Rex Brown, New York Daily News
More than 60 victims have applied to a program founded by Timothy Cardinal Dolan to compensate people sexually abused as children by clergy in the New York Archdiocese.
“With still more time to apply, 65 people have provided accounts of abuse by priests when they were minors.
“Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator of the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, has thus far offered settlement amounts to 15 victims.”
Papal administrator of Guam archdiocese: Vatican preparing trial for accused archbishop / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on November 3, 2016
The papal appointee given authority to take charge of a Guam archdiocese rocked by allegations of sexual abuse against its archbishop has said the Vatican is preparing to put the prelate on trial.
“Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, who Pope Francis appointed in June to step-in over Agana Archbishop Anthony Apuron, told reporters Tuesday (Nov. 1) that ‘they just formed all the conditions for the trial.’
“‘I’m going to receive some news, some updates later,’ said Hon, who has been serving as the archdiocese’s apostolic administrator while also remaining the second-in-command of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.”
By Joshua J. McElwee, Naitonal Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Australian police complicit with Catholic Church in covering up clergy sexual abuse of minors / The Australian
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on October 18, 2016
The extent of Victoria Police complicity in covering-up child abuse by clergy in the scandal-plagued diocese of Ballarat has been detailed by former senior members of the force who shunned the influence of the so-called Catholic Mafia.
“An investigation by The Australian has confirmed extensive evidence of the force actively shielding wrongdoing and perverting the course of justice by forcing the transfer of a notorious clergyman rather than prosecuting him.
“The details of how the late Monsignor John Day abused hundreds of children in the 1960s and 70s but was protected by the force — and the church — are outlined in a new podcast examining the rarely-discussed fact that police worked with the church hierarchy to protect offenders like him.”
By Peter Hoysted and John Ferguson, The Australian — Click here to hear the podcast “Ballarat’s Children.”
Minnesota Diocese admits responsibility so AG drops criminal charges in cases
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Clergy, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Priests, Prophetic Voices, Voice of the Faithful on July 20, 2016
National Catholic Reporter said today that Ramsey County has dropped criminal charges against the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis after it revised an existing civil-claims settlement to admit wrongdoing. According to County Attorney John Choi, the text added to the settlement documents takes direct responsibility. It reads:
“Curtis Wehmeyer was a priest in this Archdiocese. The Archdiocese admits that it failed to adequately respond and prevent the sexual abuse of Victim 1, Victim 2, and Victim 3. The Archdiocese failed to keep the safety and wellbeing of these three children ahead of protecting the interests of Curtis Wehmeyer and the Archdiocese. The actions and omissions of the Archdiocese failed to prevent the abuse that resulted in the need for protection and services for these three children.”
The amendment also requires newly installed Archbishop Bernard Hebda to participate in at least three Restorative Justice sessions convened by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, extends court oversight of the diocese until 2020, adds a county-appointed representative to the diocesan review board, strengthens child protection, and sets up ongoing counseling services. (Note that VOTF also offers restorative justice options in our Healing Circles.)
You will find the full story here.
Summarizing the Questions
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, church reform, Clergy, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on June 10, 2016
The editorial staff of National Catholic Reporter has questions, like many of us, about the details of the new universal law in the motu proprio recently issued by Pope Francis. Does it replace the tribunal announced last year? Who is committed to making the new policy work? Will the process devolve like diocesan review boards into window-dressing appendages controlled entirely by the bishops themselves? As the NCR editors state, let a priest or bishop stray the slightest from “the narrowest orthodoxy” and removal is swift, but let a bishop cover up clergy sex abuse, and nothing happens to the bishop–for more than 30 years, the Church still has not held such bishops accountable. We all are waiting to see whether this new approach will. If at all.
Here’s the full editorial.
Pope Francis issues apostolic letter on bishop accountability
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on June 5, 2016
Pope Francis issued a moto proprio, apostolic letter, yesterday (Jun. 4) on removing negligent bishops from office, stating: “In the case that it relates to the abuse of minors or vulnerable adults, it is sufficient that the lack of diligence is grave.” The Pope’s action is meeting mixed reviews, as the following reports show:
Church laws may justify calls for French cardinal’s resignation / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on May 5, 2016
The solution to this problem (of not reporting clergy sexual abuse) is for Pope Francis to agree to the demands of two United Nations Committees and the wishes of the Catholic Bishops Conferences of the United States, England and Wales, Ireland and Australia to impose mandatory reporting under canon law irrespective of whether there are civil reporting laws. Regrettably, in September 2014, Pope Francis rejected the requests of the United Nations Committees. He is an absolute monarch when it comes to canon law, and he can change it with the stroke of a pen. The problem of the cover up will continue to fester until he does so.”
By Kieran Tapsell, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this article. Kieran Tapsell is the author of the 2014 book Potiphar’s Wife: The Vatican’s Secret and Child Sexual Abuse.
Francis rails against child sexual abuse, saying abusers must be ‘severely’ punished / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on May 1, 2016
Pope Francis railed against the sexual abuse of children in a weekly address in St. Peter’s Square Sunday (May 1), calling any such abuse a ‘tragedy’ and saying the church cannot tolerate the matter and ‘must severely punish the abusers.’
“Greeting members of an Italian association that has worked to raise awareness against pedophilia and to report sexual abuse crimes, who were present in the Square for the recitation of the Regina Coeli prayer, the pontiff thanked them for their work before departing from his prepared text.
“‘This is a tragedy,’ said Francis off the cuff, his voice raised and his arm extended from the window of the Vatican’s apostolic palace above the Square. ‘We must not tolerate the abuse of minors. We must defend minors. And we must severely punish the abusers.’
“The Catholic church around the world has been embroiled in scandals over its handling of sexually abusive clergy for decades, with survivors, advocates, law enforcement agencies, and some local jurisdictions saying members of the hierarchy covered up crimes in order to protect the institution at the risk of children’s well-being.”While Francis did not specifically mention the church or its response to abuse on Sunday, he spoke in the plural using a remarkably forceful tone.”
By Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Sex abuse and the Catholic Church: Why is it still a story? / The New York Times
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Statutes of Limitations, Voice of the Faithful on April 21, 2016
I have interviewed many survivors of child sexual abuse over many years, but this was the first time I had ever interviewed a survivor who was also a politician. State Representative Mark Rozzi sat behind his office desk at the State Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa. As he spoke he fidgeted with a small figurine he kept on his desk — a little dog with four heads, all snarling — a gift from a fellow survivor. We were discussing his long fight trying to pass legislation to make it easier for survivors to press charges and file lawsuits against their abusers.
“Well into the interview I asked him to tell me what had happened to him as a child. ‘The abridged version,’ I said. I had read his story elsewhere, but needed to hear it directly from him, even though I knew it would not play a big part in the article I planned to write. I figured that as a politician, he would have a well-practiced, pithy rendition.
“Twenty-five minutes of unrelenting trauma later, we had still gotten only as far as high school. Then, just as Mr. Rozzi was saying, “I’m going to tell you something I have never talked about to a reporter” — at that very moment — there was a knock at the door and his executive assistant came in to tell us that another legislator was waiting in the vestibule. Interview over.
“As I rushed to gather up my notebook, laptop and recorder, I realized I had no idea what he was about to reveal, but I had just gotten the answer to another question I am often asked: Why does the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church never seem to go away? Why is it still a story? It has been 31 years since National Catholic Reporter, an independent Catholic publication, broke the first story, about a serial abuser in Louisiana. It has been 22 years since I reported my first article about abusive priests (out on an Indian pueblo in New Mexico, for The Washington Post). Why is the news media still covering this?
“The answer lies with the victims.”
By Laurie Goodstein, The New York Times — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Voice of the Faithful
A lay movement for governance reform in the Roman Catholic Church, responding to the clergy sexual abuse scandal and supporting survivors.
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