Church Accountability

Charge against Kansas City bishop the temper of the times

While Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City, Mo., may be the first American bishop to be criminally indicted for alleged failure to report child abuse, he’s hardly the first Catholic bishop in recent years to run afoul of the criminal justice system.
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Irish Catholicism, from the street and the pew

DUBLIN, IRELAND -- Catholic Ireland is bleeding. The Vatican has rubbed in the salt. The initial pain is from the catalog of clerical abuse, shortly to add yet another shocking report, this time from the Raphoe diocese, which covers most of Donegal. The gaping wound was caused by Rome’s and the Irish bishops’ systematic cover-up of abuse.
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Lawyers ask court for 'continuing supervision' of diocese

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Alleging that the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese broke a series of legal obligations in its mishandling of sexual misconduct by clergy, a law firm representing abuse victims today filed a formal complaint that could force the diocese to accept third-party supervision of its reporting procedures.
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Sex abuse flap riles Irish

Vatican denies subverting bishops' efforts to address abuse
By Arthur Jones and John L Allen Jr
DUBLIN, Ireland -- The self-described conservative Catholic mother of four said simply, “The Vatican is up on its hind legs.” That was one reaction -- and a not uncommon one -- to a Vatican report issued Sept. 3 countering Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s sharp accusations in July that top church officials had tried to keep the lid on the Irish bishops from forthrightly reporting sexual offenders to the civil authorities.
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California abuse conference focuses on bishops' accountability

May. 18, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee
Washington state Judge Terrence Carrol, Kathleen McChesney and Ohio Judge Michael Merz present during a panel titled "Reflections on the Dallas Charter" at the Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: A Decade of Crisis, 2002-2012 conference at Santa Clara University on May 11. (Joanne HoYoung Lee/Santa Clara University)

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Though a daylong summit on the clergy sexual abuse crisis in mid-May brought together a wide-range of leading experts on the topic -- from those who firmly defend the U.S. bishops' moves to address the issue to those who sometimes vehemently point to their weaknesses -- each seemed to find a key point of resonance.

Vatican laicizes Canadian bishop convicted of importing child porn

May. 16, 2012
By Catholic News Service
Retired Bishop Raymond Lahey of the Diocese of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, arrives at a police station in Ottawa in 2009. (CNS/Reuters/Chris Wattie)

OTTAWA, Ontario -- Raymond Lahey, the retired bishop of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, who was convicted of importing child pornography, has been laicized by the Vatican, said the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Another Legionary priest caught in scandal

May. 15, 2012
By John L Allen Jr
Screen grab of Fr. Thomas Williams in a television appearance.

A high-profile American priest in the Legionaries of Christ has acknowledged having had a sexual relationship with a woman and fathering her child, adding another chapter to the growing scandals surrounding the controversial religious order.

Unfinished work: Examining 10 years of clergy sex abuse

May. 11, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee
Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese (© Rick Reinhard 2012)

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Ten years after widespread news coverage of sexual abuse by priests rocked the U.S. Catholic church, hierarchical response to the continuing crisis indicates the church has “lost its ability to be a self-correcting institution,” Jesuit Fr. Tom Reese told a symposium of experts on clergy abuse Friday.

Reese delivered the keynote speech this morning at a daylong conference titled “Clergy Sexual Abuse Ten Years Later,” being held at Jesuit-run Santa Clara University. Following Reese is a series of panel discussions from a wide-range of sex abuse experts.

27-year-old letter clouds L.A. archdiocese's timeline of abuse

May. 10, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee
The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, Calif. (CNS file photo)

A recently uncovered letter from 27 years ago muddies the record of when officials with the LA archdiocese knew of alleged abuse by clergy there, say victims’ advocates, and the LA county district attorney’s office is seeking a copy in order to “review it and make a determination on what it means,” a spokesperson said.

SNAP order could 'chill' abuse cases, advocates say

May. 08, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee
Therese Albrecht, Barbara Blaine and Barbara Dorris, members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, hold portraits of themselves as youths at a protest in 2010 outside St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland. (CNS/Reuters/Dylan Martinez)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Missouri judge's decision to go forward in seeking a wide range of documents from the leading advocacy group for clergy sex abuse victims could have far-reaching consequences for survivors' support organizations, say victims' advocates and lawyers.

Hierarchy's inability to mourn thwarts healing in church

May. 07, 2012
By Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea
A snow-covered statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is seen at dusk on the grounds of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Rochester, N.Y. (CNS file photo)

COMMENTARY

The Catholic hierarchy from the papacy on down seems to be roiling through a series of manic episodes in which they execute perverted power plays against those perceived as enemies. This kind of mania often is exhibited by large identity groups whose power has been threatened and who are unable to respond adaptively to that loss through a process of healthy mourning.

Chaput removes five Philadelphia priests from ministry

Three priests cleared of accusations; 17 cases for suspended priests still pending

May. 04, 2012
By Brian Roewe
Archbishop Charles Chaput speaks at a May 4 press conference announcing the rulings on 8 of 26 priests suspended for sexual misconduct accusations. (Screen capture, Archdiocese of Philadelphia)

Five of the 26 Philadelphia priests suspended in the wake of sexual abuse allegations revealed in last year's grand jury report will be removed from public ministry, Archbishop Charles Chaput announced Friday at a press conference.

Three of the 26 will be returned to ministry, while 17 cases are still pending in various stages of the investigation process, Chaput announced.

Chaput said the fate of the five priests determined "unfit for ministry" is still unknown. Each has the option to appeal the decision to the Vatican. If they decline or fail in their appeal, they could face laicization, life under supervision or a life of prayer and penance.

The type of conduct each was found guilty of -- sexual abuse or a violation of boundaries -- will likely dictate their fates. Of the five, only one, Fr. John Reardon, was accused of sexually abusing a minor, according to documents released by the archdiocese.

SNAP ordered to hand over wide range of abuse documents

Group’s director also ordered to undergo second deposition

Apr. 20, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee
Television reporters speak to members of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, outside the Jackson County, Mo., courthouse in a 2011 file photo. (CNS photo/Dave Kaup, Reuters)

KANSAS CITY. Mo. -- A Missouri judge April 20 ordered the director of the leading advocacy group for victims of clergy sex abuse to give a second deposition and to turn over more documents to lawyers representing priests accused of sexual misconduct in the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese.

SNAP fires back at lawyers requesting documents

Apr. 17, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Lawyers' attempts to force the director of a national clergy abuse support group to submit to a second deposition and turn over more internal documents is "simply an attempt to harass" the organization, leadership of the group has said in a court filing.