News Story of the Day

Cardinal apologizes to man who brought abuse claim in '88

Associated Press, November 30, 2016, Yahoo News

A former Roman Catholic bishop of Pittsburgh who now heads the Washington archdiocese has apologized for initially voicing doubts about a seminarian's claims in 1988 that as a young boy he had been sexually abused by a priest.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl says Tim Bendig, who is now a businessman, "told the truth about a priest who was a terrible danger to children and without his action that priest might have continued in the ministry."


Victim testifies against Louisville priest on trial for sexual abuse allegations

By Katrina Helmer, November 28, 2016, WDRB.com

Fr. Joseph Hemmerle is facing nine counts of sexual abuse and sodomy, and in court Monday, the victim explained to the jury the moment he says his life changed forever.

A victim, who is now 53 years old and lives in Texas, relived what he claims was a nightmare at camp.


Church with rapist leading worship postpones merger with second church facing sex abuse claims

By DAVID EDWARDS, November 23, 2016, Raw Story

Two Tennessee churches — both with current or former leaders connected to sexual abuse — have decided to restructure a merger in light of recent allegations.

Earlier this week, the Memphis Police Department confirmed that it was investigating a city of Memphis library employee, Christopher Carwile, after he was accused of sexually assaulting at least three children while working as a youth minister at the Church at Schilling Farms (formerly known as Immanuel Baptist Church) 18 years ago.

 


Forty Years Later, a Former Cleveland Paperboy Revisits the Sexual Assault that Changed His Life

http://www.clevescene.com, November 21, 2016

Posted By A Survivor 

I was among one of the last generations to experience the now antiquated way newspapers were delivered, which has been portrayed as a gleeful boy riding a bike while tossing folded newspapers to the homes of appreciative customers. In my case, I did my route on foot. I worked seven days a week, in any kind of weather, delivering the Plain Dealer to customers in apartment buildings on the westside of Cleveland. 


See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil


Yakima bishop passed over for committee appointment

By Jane Gargas, [email protected], November 16, 2016, Yakima Herald

Bishop Joseph Tyson of the Yakima Catholic Diocese has lost an election to chair a committee for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Instead, Bishop Timothy Doherty of Lafayette, Ind., is the new chairman-elect of the Committee on Protection of Children and Young People.

Elections were held Tuesday during the fall meeting of the national bishops’ conference in Baltimore.


Ex-Corning man settles abuse claim

By Stephen Borgna, [email protected], November 13, 2016, The Evening Tribune

CORNING | A former Corning resident has reached a settlement for sexual abuse he says he received at St. Mary’s Church in Corning in the 1960s.

Thomas Mclaughlin, who lived on West 6th Street at the time and now lives near Wilmington, North Carolina, settled for an undisclosed sum with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester for abuse he allegedly received from former priest John Gormley.

Gormley is no longer affiliated with the church. He left the priesthood in 1971. The Diocese of Rochester confirmed that Gormley was with St. Mary’s Church in Corning from 1962-1965 as an assisting priest.


SNAP to Yakima bishop: Withdraw from bid to lead USCCB's child protection committee

By 

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests have asked Yakima Bishop Joseph Tyson in a Nov. 10 letter to remove himself from "his race for chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People."

SNAP charged that Tyson had "done virtually nothing to undo the damage" done by past clerical sex abusers in the Yakima diocese and those who shielded them. A diocesan official on Nov. 11 responded that "almost without exception, our people express gratitude for the increased awareness they have gained, information that most are not receiving anywhere else" on sex abuse.


I-Team: Abuse Survivor Slams Cardinal Dolan’s Victim Compensation Plan

When Cardinal Timothy Dolan unveiled a plan to pay settlements to victims of priest sexual abuse, he touted the new victim compensation fund as a way to seek reconciliation with those who have been harmed by the church.

For at least one survivor of priest sexual abuse, the settlement fund has had the opposite effect.


Retired priest: Catholic church knew of Guam sex abuses for decades

Haidee V Eugenio , [email protected]November 10, 2016, Pacific Daily News

Guam’s Catholic church leadership has known for decades about clergy sex abuses that happened as early as the 1950s, a retired priest said in a signed statement released Nov. 1. The statement was released in connection with civil lawsuits filed by several former altar boys, who allege sexual abuse at the hands of Guam priests decades ago.


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