Media Statements

We hope that Fr Bartley Sorensen will be kept away from children for a long time. And we hope that anyone who may have knowledge or who may have been harmed by Sorenson will have the courage to contact the police, not the church officials. The law enforcement are the proper officials to be investigating sex crimes against kids.

We are grateful to police in Colorado for making this arrest. Children are always safer when predators are behind bars, and today we can be thankful that Fr. Charles Manning will be kept away from kids at least for a while.

Pope Benedict should oust the head of the Legion of Christ.

Fr. Alvaro Corcuera now admits recent and serious wrongdoing. That’s the easy and essentially meaningless part. (Many Catholic officials have made similar admissions.)

We are proud of these brave victims for not allowing themselves to be intimidated into silence, and for doing everything they could to protect other children from this predator, Michael Sabo. It is absolutely despicable that members of the victims’ synagogue threatened to pack the courtroom to shame the young female victim. These people ought to be ashamed of themselves and their attempts to protect an abuser over his victims.

A trial against an accused predator pastor began today in New Jersey.

We applaud this brave survivor for breaking her silence and reporting the abuse that she suffered to police. To come forward, especially at such a young age, is admirable. By doing so, she has likely spared many other children in Plainfield from the same fate that she allegedly met at the hands of Pastor George Benbow.

We are pleased that the jury has found Fr. John Fiala guilty. Considerable evidence showed that Fiala has committed several crimes. For the safety of kids, we hope he'll be locked up for a long time.

A support group for victims is admonishing the bishops of four Catholic dioceses for their “callous secrecy” about the death of a bishop who once worked at each location.

Accused serial predator priest Fr. Francis E. McGlynn has passed away, and despite repeated pledges to be “open and transparent” about clergy sex crimes, McGlynn’s supervisor Bishop Robert Finn apparently has told no one in the public or the parishes. We suspect he didn’t tell police or prosecutors either. Sadly, none of the hundreds of current or former KC diocesan employees saw fit to spread the news either.

Today, a new bishop has been officially installed as the Archbishop of Baltimore. Bishop William Lori previously worked as the Bishop of Bridgeport, CT, having led the diocese there since 2001. During Lori’s tenure, he has made several questionable and objectionable decisions. 

Despite a decade of vigorous public relations, a new survey shows that most Catholics don’t believe their bishops are “reforming” how they deal with clergy sex crimes and cover ups.