RUMSON (NJ)
Rumson Patch

January 19, 2021

By Nicole Rosenthal

Fr. Thomas A. Rittenhouse is accused of sexually abusing a minor while assigned to the Rumson church from 1981 to 1982.

A priest who served for seven years at Holy Cross Church in Rumson was recently named in a sexual abuse complaint filed Tuesday against the Diocese of Trenton.

Fr. Thomas A. Rittenhouse was ordained in 1976 in the Diocese of Trenton and is accused of sexually abusing a minor while assigned to the Rumson church from 1981 to 1982.

He served at Holy Cross from 1981 to 1988.

"These survivors were betrayed by the Diocese of Trenton when they were left vulnerable to abuse, harm and immeasurable trauma," said attorney Greg Gianforcaro in a news release.

"Today, the Diocese is pouring salt on the wounds by continuing to dodge accountability. These courageous survivors deserve better."

FLORIDA
adamhorowitzlaw.com (law firm blog)

January 16, 2021

In 2011, actor Gabriel Byrne disclosed that he’d been sexually abused by a Christian Brother in Ireland.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/19/gabriel-byrne-child-sex-abuse

Now, he’s revealing that, years later, he called his abuser.

https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/13/gabriel-byrne-contacted-the-priest-he-accused-of-sexually-abusing-him-13894646/

While we at Horowitz Law feel deep sympathy for Byrne (as we do all victims of childhood trauma), we beg you to NOT follow his lead.

Every survivor is different. Every survivor heals in different ways. And we at Horowitz Law aren’t therapists. Still, we urge you to resist the temptation to contact the man or woman who hurt you as a child.

ONTARIO (CANADA)
Welland Tribune

January 18, 2021

By Kris Dubé

https://www.wellandtribune.ca/news/niagara-region/2021/01/18/catholic-church-protestor-and-sex-abuse-victim-william-osullivan-marching-to-parliament.html

William O’Sullivan wants give a “voice to the voiceless” by walking across a large portion of the province to raise awareness about child abuse within the Catholic Church.

The 50-year-old St. Catharines resident who grew up in Welland has spent more than two years in front of Parish Community of St. Kevin on Niagara Street in Welland to talk about what happened to him between the ages of nine and 12 at the hands of former priest Donald Grecco.

In October 2017, Grecco received an 18-month sentence for sexually abusing three boys between 1975 and 1982. It was his second conviction for sexually abusing children; his total number of known victims is six.

Six months later, Grecco was granted an early release from the Central North Correctional Centre.

Previously in 2010, he pleaded guilty to sexually molesting three former altar boys between 1978 and 1986 while a parish priest in Cayuga and later in Welland.

IRELAND
Independent

January 18, 2021

By Declan Brennan

Man (54) had been offered ‘derisory’ compensation for sex abuse he suffered as a child at hands of Catholic priest, court told

A VICTIM of clerical child sex abuse who caused €100,000 in damage to a church because he was upset by a “derisory” offer of compensation from the church has been given a fully suspended sentence.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was told that on July 26, 2017, Ian Kidd (54) got a letter from solicitors for the Catholic Church with a “final offer” of €30,000 for the abuse he suffered at the hands of a priest.

He found this offer derisory and became upset, his lawyer Marc Thompson BL said. Kidd filled a can with €5 worth of diesel and went to St Agnes’ Church in Crumlin.

IRELAND
The Irish Times

January 18, 2021

By Gavin Cummiskey

‘Lenny, show this lad the ropes, will ya?’

‘Yeah, unbelievable talent. Bit of a head case, though . . . He has a few issues, but not as bad as you, Lenny.’

Scratch the surface of Dub Sub Confidential and discover the memoir of a man who shadowed the goalkeeper that transformed the way Gaelic football is played forever.

Stephen Cluxton looms over John Leonard’s narrative especially when their lives move in opposite directions. But Cluxton is mere bait to hook the reader into a wild tale of debauchery, despair and eventually redemption.

The enigma of Irish sport is smiling on the cover, wearing a sketched crown to Leonard’s court jester cap. The insight into what makes Cluxton tick ensures this is a rare GAA manuscript as the secondary school teacher refuses to entertain the media or monetise his legendary status all because, as he tells the author, “Len, it’s not my job to speak to them. It’s my job to teach kids science. The rest is all bollix.”

Delve fully into Dub Sub Confidential and discover a darkly comic, enduring autobiography six years after it won sports book of the year. Leonard unveils a range of addictions and spectacular life choices that stem from child abuse at the hands of Father Ivan Payne. He skilfully shows how this horrific experience, while serving as an altar boy in Sutton, pursued him into adulthood.

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

January 18, 2021

Vincent Doyle tells Noel Baker how the discovery that he was the son of a priest opened the way to help others often left thinking "I'm the only one"

In the words and world of Vincent Doyle, everything turns on one sentence, posited early in his new book. "When I found out who I was," he writes, "like Truman, I wanted out."

Yet while Truman Burbank, "star" of the 1998 movie The Truman Show, lived in an entirely fake world, Vincent's was hyper-real, maybe a little surreal.

He had discovered, as an adult, that his father was the man he had known to be his godfather, and a different type of father at that: the Rev. John J Doyle, a Catholic priest.

As he writes in his book, entitled Our Fathers - A Phenomenon of Children of Catholic Priests and Religious and the first of its kind, the penny dropping made perfect sense once he considered the depth of the bond they had shared.

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

January 17, 2021

By Noel Baker

The Government's efforts to assist the children of priests have been questioned after the newly published mother and baby homes report revealed almost a dozen incidents where members of the clergy were or could have been the father of a child.

Coping International, which helps children of priests around the world, has received the backing of the Vatican and of senior archbishops here for its work, yet according to its founder Vincent Doyle, the Government has not followed suit — even after a UN report on Ireland raised concerns over the "lack of measures to ensure that children fathered by Catholic priests are able to access information on the identity of their fathers".

Mr Doyle said: "The Government's denial of the marginalising effects that accompanies the birth of children of the ordained, since 2014 to date, is itself a shadow of the regrettable intolerance that drips off each of the 3,000 pages of the mother and baby home report."

CONNECTICUT
Latin Times

December 30, 2020

By Pooja Prabbhan

More trouble’s in store for the Diocese of Norwich and former Bishop Daniel Reilly, as he now faces 35 lawsuits pertaining to accusations made by men who alleged that they were sexually abused as children and teens by Christian Brother K. Paul McGlade, who ran the former Academy at Mount Saint John in Deep River in the 1990s.

The property that boasts of a sprawling 87 acres of the campus has currently been shut down, while the school remains closed. Recent reports also suggest that McGlade has had a history of inflicting abuse on assaulting young boys in Australia before he came to Norwich.

Only one plaintiff among 35 others, goes with an identity. The reason being Garcia – the person concerned— wanted victims to come out in the open and share their experiences, and pursue justice.

NORWICH (CT)
The Day

December 30, 2020

By Joe Wojtas

The Diocese of Norwich and former Bishop Daniel Reilly now face 35 lawsuits in which men allege that as children and teens they were raped and sexually assaulted by Christian Brother K. Paul McGlade, who ran the former Academy at Mount Saint John in Deep River in the 1990s.

The latest lawsuit was filed Dec. 16 on behalf of Sam Garcia, 40, of Bridgeport by the Reardon law firm of New London. This is the only one of the lawsuits in which the plaintiff is identified by name. The others are only identified by pseudonyms, such as John Doe. Most of the 35 defendants are represented by Hartford attorney Patrick Tomasiewicz.

Attorney Kelly Reardon said her firm has one more lawsuit to file and she expects there eventually will be more than 50 plaintiffs in total. She said none of the cases has been settled but discussions with the diocese, Mount Saint John and the Christian Brothers are ongoing. Tomasiewicz declined to comment on the cases Tuesday, and the diocese did not respond to a request for comment.

BOSTON (MA)
Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian

January 19, 2021

The Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian has obtained settlements or arbitration awards for many victims and survivors who suffered sexual abuse by clergy or church personnel. The list can be found at at www.garabedianlaw.com/results-list.

Detailed information on the assignment records and claim history of these abusers, together with sources, is being provided on this website.

This information on individual priests can be accessed through links in the left sidebar or by reading below. Information can also be downloaded in pdf format. Please check back regularly as additional information is planned for release.

The firm added:

-- 38 sexually abusive priests to the Results List in June 2020 (view or download pdf), and

-- An additional 29 priests to the Results List in January 2021 (view or download pdf).

CHICAGO (IL)
SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests)

January 15, 2021

A Catholic priest from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, OH, has been placed on leave following “an allegation.” Now we call for Church officials in Cincinnati to be forthcoming with parishioners and the public about the nature of these accusations and to do outreach at each and every parish where the cleric worked so that victims, witnesses, and whistleblowers are encouraged to come forward and make a report.

According to the Dayton Daily News, Fr. Anthony Cutcher of Huber Heights, OH, has been placed on leave after Catholic officials received an “allegation.” So far, Diocesan leaders have not deigned to share any specific information about the accusation with their parishioners and have kept them in the dark regarding the nature of the allegation. In order to protect their flock and the public, Church officials should be completely transparent about the nature of the accusation, whether it involves sex crimes or sexual misconduct, or something else, like financial impropriety.

DAYTON (OH)
WHIO-TV

January 14, 2021

The pastor of St. Peter Catholic Church is on leave after the Archdiocese of Cincinnati received an allegation against him.

Father Anthony Cutcher was placed on a leave Monday, according to the Archdiocese. The details of the allegation and investigation were not immediately available.

“The Pastoral Center of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati recently received an allegation regarding Fr. Cutcher and has begun investigating it,” a statement issued Wednesday afternoon read. “By standard policy, Fr. Cutcher will remain on leave of absence pending the outcome of the investigation.”

The Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office said it was contacted by the Archbishop’s office earlier this week about the allegation.

DAYTON (OH)
Dayton Daily News

January 14, 2021

By Eileen McClory

Leave of absence comes two days before principal at same parish is found dead at park.

A priest at St. Peter Catholic Church in Huber Heights has been placed on leave after an allegation surfaced against him, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

The Rev. Anthony Cutcher on Monday was placed on a leave of absence, the Archdiocese said.

“The Pastoral Center of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati recently received an allegation regarding Fr. Cutcher and has begun investigating it. By standard policy, Fr. Cutcher will remain on leave of absence pending the outcome of the investigation,” the archdiocese said in a statement. “Please keep Fr. Cutcher in your prayers.”

NEW YORK (NY)
The Fordham Ram

January 18, 2021

By Erica Scalise and Helen Stevenson

In a statement by Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, the administration reversed its decision to bar student volunteering in Murray-Weigel Hall.

McShane said he made the decision to allow students on the premises based on the assurance that all Jesuits living in Murray-Weigel are not “restricted,” and are therefore completely free and innocent of any accusations of abuse.

McShane also confirmed there will be no restricted Jesuits living in Murray-Weigel in the future.

“Upon his return from a pastoral visit to the members of the Province assigned to schools and parishes in Micronesia, Fr. John Cecero, S.J., the Provincial Superior of the USA Northeast Province, acceded to my request that no restricted Jesuits be assigned to the Murray Weigel Hall Community for any reason for any period of time in the future,” he said.

NEW YORK (NY)
The Fordham Ram

December 27, 2020

Rev. William J. O’Malley, former adjunct professor in the School of Professional and Continuing Studies, theology professor at Fordham Preparatory School and one-time actor in the 1973 film “The Exorcist” was removed from Murray-Weigel Hall after he was accused of sexual abuse against a minor.

He began teaching at Fordham Prep in the 1986–1987 school year, one year after the alleged abuse at McQuaid Jesuit High School in Rochester took place, according to Rolling Stone. O’Malley was eventually let go from Fordham Prep after Prep’s then-president, Father Kenneth Boller said his teaching style was abrasive.

Fordham’s history with “The Exorcist” carries further than the priest that made the story famous. Sections of the film adaptation were filmed in Keating Hall according to previous reporting by The Ram.

AUSTRALIA
The Big Smoke

January 19, 2021

By Sonia Hickey

In 2020, authorities were investigating a $1 million transfer from the Vatican to Australia around the same time George Pell was charged. In 2021, they’ve given up.

Last year, financial crime watchdog AUSTRAC identified a $1.1 million transfer from the Vatican to Australia in 2017, the same year George Pell was charged with historical child sex offences.

But law enforcement agencies responsible for ascertaining the purpose of large transactions have ceased their investigations into the transfers, despite not ascertaining their purpose and amidst lingering suspicions the money may have been used as ‘hush money’ for complainants – conduct which, if established, could amount to the criminal offences of attempting to pervert the course of justice or influencing a witness not to attend court.

AUSTRAC is the Australian Government agency responsible for detecting criminal abuse of the Australian financial system. It was instrumental in gathering evidence and laying charges against Westpac over alleged money laundering and enabling transactions which supported child sex trafficking.

IRELAND
Irish Times

January 19, 2021

By Alyson Staunton

Extra-marital sex was a threat to our self-perceived identity of moral superiority

Since news broke of the discovery of a mass grave of babies in Tuam, there has been a fear that publication of the report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes would mark the third in an unholy trinity of Church malfeasance in its stewardship of institutions for the most vulnerable in society.

First there was the report into the industrial schools, then came the Magdalene laundries, both set against the wider backdrop of widespread clerical sexual abuse in the parishes. The auguries were not good.

Instead, to the vocal consternation of some, the Church has emerged relatively unscathed. The commission found no evidence of sexual and very limited evidence of physical abuse, but rather placed the mistreatment suffered by women and girls, some as young as 12, at the feet of the families and fath

GUAM
Guam Daily Post

January 18, 2021

By Haidee Eugenio Gilbert

Summons were issued to seven additional Catholic schools and one parish in connection with Guam clergy sex abuse lawsuits last week, ahead of a Jan. 15 federal court deadline to effectuate proper service on defendants who have not been served.

The additional summons were issued in connection with the cases filed by 13 clergy sex abuse plaintiffs represented by Lujan & Wolff.

The additional summons, or citations, were issued to:

-Father Duenas Memorial School
-Bishop Baumgartner Memorial School
-Santa Barbara Catholic School
-St. Anthony Catholic School
-San Vicente Catholic School
-Notre Dame Catholic School
-St. Francis Catholic School
-St. Francis of Assisi Church

MALTA
Malta Independent

January 18, 2021

By Karl Azzopardi

https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2021-01-18/local-news/Church-did-not-identify-any-criminal-offences-by-religious-sect-police-not-called-in-6736230240

A Church commission did not find any criminal offenses in relation to the local, highly controversial religious sect Kommunità Ġesu’ Salvatur (KĠS), despite finding various instances of psychological and spiritual abuse during its investigation of the community, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Malta told The Malta Independent. As such, no reports have been filed with the police.

Earlier this month, the Archdiocese released a statement in which it disassociated itself from KĠS, which has allegedly caused “psychological and spiritual abuse” to its members. This followed the work carried out by a Church commission which heard the experiences of all those who offered to meet up with it, including the leaders of the Community.

ITALY
ANSA English

January 18, 2021

An Italian priest has been placed under investigation on suspicion of sexually abusing minors.

The priest from Enna in Sicily is also a religious education teacher.

He is accused, on the basis of complaints from boys, of sexually abusing youngsters during leisure activities at the local oratory.

Police said his alleged victims were "mostly underage".

Other clerics found out about the abuse but kept silent, police said.

Similar episodes had been reported at nearby Piazza Amerina but the only action taken was the temporary transfer of the accused priest from the parish.

ENGLAND
Thisislocallondon.com

January 16, 2021

A former parish reverend and youth club leader has been jailed for historic sex offences against young boys.

Stephen Hardwicke indecently assaulted three boys aged between 10 and 18 years old in the the mid 1970s and early 1980s.

The 63-year-old was a leader at the Way In church youth group attached to Stanmore Baptist Church in Harrow at the time.

ENGLAND
Daily Mail

January 16, 2021

By Luke May

-- Stephen Hardwicke abused boys as young as 10 on trips in the 1970s and 1980s
-- He groomed his victims at a youth group connected to Stanmore Baptist Church
-- Hardwicke, 63, was found guilty of five counts of historic indecent assault

A former priest who sexually abused three boys as young as 10 on church youth club trips in the 1970s and 80s has been jailed for five years.

Stephen Hardwicke, 63, tricked boys aged between 10 and 15 to perform sex acts by using a card game, Harrow Crown Court heard.

The abuse took place when Hardwicke was a leader and helped at the Way In church youth group, which was connected to Stanmore Baptist Church in Harrow, London.

A court heard how some of the abuse happened on overnight trips to Wales or Hertfordshire.

The abuse happened before Hardwicke became a priest at St Laurence Cowley Church in Uxbridge - he was suspended once a police investigation was opened.

LONDON (ENGLAND)
Yahoo News

January 16, 2021

By Rebecca Speare-Cole

A former priest who ran a church youth club has been jailed for grooming and sexually abusing three boys - one as young as 10-years-old.

Stephen Hardwicke, 63, from Uxbridge in London, was sentenced to five years in prison for five counts of indecent assault at Harrow Crown Court on Friday.

The ex-parish reverend targeted the three boys aged between 10 and 18 over five years during the mid-1970s and early 1980s.

Hardwicke was a leader and helper at the Way In church youth group connected to Stanmore Baptist Church in Harrow, northwest London at the time.

The Jurist

January 17, 2021

By Ananaya Agrawal

https://www.jurist.org/news/2021/01/canada-supreme-court-declines-appeal-by-archdiocese-of-st-johns-for-child-sexual-abuse-at-mount-cashel-orphanage/

The Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday declined to hear the Catholic Church’s appeal against a suit for damages brought by victims of sexual abuse at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John’s Newfoundland. The decision brings finality to the 21-year-long litigation by former students who had suffered sexual abuse by five Brothers from the Christian Brothers Institute Inc, Ireland while they were boys living at the St John’s orphanage.

The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s or the archdiocese is now responsible to pay the Christian Brothers’ outstanding damages after the organization declared bankruptcy from settling child abuse claims in 2011. The church had denied responsibility for the Mount Cashel abuses which took place from the 1950s to 1970s. However, the Court of Appeal had concluded in 2020 that the relationship between the archdiocese and the Brothers was “sufficiently close to justify imposing vicarious liability on the Archdiocese.”

Further, the sexual assaults of the victims were sufficiently connected to the Brothers’ responsibility of caring for the boys. The assaults were thus deemed to be a “materialization of the risks created by the Archdiocese.”

ADELAIDE (AUSTRALIA)
The Standard

January 17, 2021

The former Archbishop of Adelaide, Phillip Wilson, who was convicted but later acquitted on charges of covering up child sex abuse in NSW, has died aged 70.

He had suffered a series of health issues in recent years, including cancer, but his death was unexpected, the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide said on Sunday.

"We know that Philip was much loved by people across the country, but especially in the places he served - in Maitland-Newcastle, in Wollongong and here in Adelaide," the serving Archbishop of Adelaide Patrick O'Regan said.

"He made major contributions to the church and the wider communities in which he ministered."

Wilson was in 2018 convicted of covering up the crimes of pedophile priest James Fletcher, who was found guilty of sexual abuse committed in the NSW Hunter region in the 1970s.

DUBLIN (IRELAND)
DublinLive.ie

January 17, 2021

By John Kierans

The Gardai may take criminal action over the Mother and Baby Report, Dublin Live can reveal today.

A copy of the Final Report was sent to the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris by the Cabinet on October 3 last to see if there are grounds for prosecutions.

It is understood senior officers are looking at a range of offences including allegations of cash for babies, child rape, physical abuse and slave labour.

The Gardai said in a brief statement given to Dublin Live; " Following the final report of the Commission of Investigation into the Mother and Baby Homes being presented to the Gardai, An Garda Siochana will now examine the detailed and extensive final report, and consider if there are grounds for criminal investigation."

IRELAND
The Times

January 17, 2021

By Colm Tóibín

For decades a deeply conservative Ireland put unmarried mothers in the care of the Catholic Church, a brutal ‘shadow state’ in which thousands of children died or were forcibly adopted. It claims to be sorry — so why won’t it open up its archives?

The report on mother and baby homes in Ireland, published last Tuesday, is one more investigation of a dark past in Ireland. This was a time when the Catholic Church operated as a sort of shadow state. All of us who were brought up in that state took its power for granted. The church controlled the schools and owned the hospitals; it ran orphanages and industrial schools and homes for unmarried mothers. A compliant state paid the church for these services and let it run them as it pleased.

The report, at almost 3,000 pages, establishes that over nearly 80 years from 1920 almost 60,000 women and the same number of children went through the system and 9,000 children died. According to the minister for children, Roderic O’Gorman, the report “makes clear that for decades, Ireland had a stifling, oppressive and brutally misogynistic culture, where a pervasive stigmatisation of unmarried mothers and their children robbed those individuals of their agency and sometimes their future”.