Former Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard was questioned last April by attorneys representing people who claim they were sexually abused by priests in the Albany Diocese. The deposition that Hubbard gave under oath was made public on Friday.
News Story of the Day
‘Vos estis’ report charges Brooklyn’s Chappetto put minors at risk
News: 'Vos estis lux mundi'; Diocese of Brooklyn
The Pillar
Bishop Raymond Chappetto retired last month as auxiliary bishop and vicar general in the Brooklyn diocese. He is now the subject of a Vatican-ordered investigation under the terms of Vos estis lux mundi, the 2019 policy promulgated by Pope Francis on investigating abuse or administrative misconduct allegations against bishops.
Judge rules parish, school assets can be used to pay sex abuse victims
- Feb 27, 2022
District Court of Guam Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood ruled on Saturday that funds from the Archdiocese of Agaña’s Catholic parishes and schools could be used to help pay survivors of sexual abuse.
In January 2019, the Archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy to allow it to restructure its finances to pay the plaintiffs in about 202 clergy sex abuse claims.
The church listed $22.96 million in assets, with $45.66 million in liabilities, according to PDN news files.
Attorney Edwin Caldie, who represented some of the survivors and other creditors, said that the parties currently are trying to agree on a settlement between what the claimants are asking and what the church can pay without losing its entire community.
“It’s complicated. The church chose to file for bankruptcy and so the bankruptcy code, all of the laws, federal laws, relating to bankruptcy, they’ll guide and they’ll help us figure out what that is,” Caldie said.
Balance
Additionally, because the claims against the church are higher than it can pay, those involved have to figure out how to balance what the church can pay through bankruptcy, while ensuring as much as possible is paid to all victims.
According to Caldie, both the Archdiocese and the committee of survivors have proposed plans for reorganization.
Although Caldie believes that the committee’s plan is feasible, the church disagrees.
“That’s going to be the starting point for our discussions now, with our mediator, to see if we can figure out common ground to settle.”
Byrnes
Although the ruling wasn’t in the Archdiocese’s favor, Archbishop of Agaña Michael J. Byrnes said they will work with the creditor’s committee to compensate victims and survivors while still supporting their ministries, schools and parishes.
“We were all inspired by the extraordinary courage of Mr. (Leo) Tudela and his heartfelt call for everyone to work together for the good of those who have suffered excruciatingly from clergy sexual abuse in our Church, “ Byrnes said in a news release. “On behalf of the entire Catholic Church on Guam, I sincerely apologize for the grave harm members of the Church inflicted on you in past years. I pray for each of you every day. Our entire Archdiocese prays for you at all our Masses.”
Leo Tedula, now 78, was among 5 survivors to publicly accuse the Guam clergy of sexual assault back in May 2016.
He told senators in 2016 that he was sexually abused on three separate occasions by three people, including a priest, Father Louis Brouillard, connected to the Archdiocese of Agaña when he came to Guam in 1956, according to PDN files.
Tudela was among four people who testified at an August 2016 legislative public hearing on Sen. Frank Blas Jr.’s measure that eventually became the public law that lifted the time restriction on lawsuits for victims of child abuse.
At the time, criminal prosecution was impossible in most cases because of the statutes of limitations that were in effect.
The deadline to prosecute offenders expired decades prior, but Guam law has since changed to eliminate time limits on prosecuting future offenders.
Contact reporter Julianne Hernandez at [email protected] or 671-488-1439.
ACTION ALERT Launch of Survivors' G7 Call to Action to End Childhood Sexual Violence
Tomorrow, Thursday, February 24, 2022, G7 leaders will be meeting in a virtual summit as a kick-off meeting to prepare for the main G7 Summit on June 26-28 June in Germany.
The G7 Survivors' Mobilization Task Force approved the G7 Call to Action to End Childhood Sexual Violence approved a Survivors' G7 Call to Action to End Childhood Sexual Violence last week
and dozens of survivors organizations and allies are joining this advocacy campaign.
ACTION REQUEST:
Please Contact the G7 Sherpas, Heads of State, and Cabinets Ministries are our top priority today because of the G7 leaders virtual call tomorrow. You can find the presentation with details of G7 sherpas here.
If you have additional information/contact information about G7 sherpas please do share it so we can update the presentation.
G7 TARGET LIST with a tab for every G7 country here If you have additional information/contact information please do share it so we can update the spreadsheet.
Meet Two Women Who Uncovered Clergy Sex Abuse In Colombia
By
02/03/22 AT 4:40 AM
They were working for a Catholic bishop and had clear-cut orders from Pope Francis himself -- probe reports of pedophile priests in a city in Colombia.
What these two investigators -- two Catholic women with experience conducting criminal probes -- found was an utter bombshell: a network of predatory clergymen that sexually abused at least 20 people, reportedly taking turns with one of them.
The abuse was committed in Villavicencio, a central Colombian city of half a million people with a cathedral in the town square, and parts of the surrounding area that fall under one archdiocese.
The pope says fighting clergy sex abuse is one of his priorities, and in 2019, he told the bishop of Villavicencio, Oscar Urbina, to investigate alleged abuses by priests.
Helping other survivors
‘Behind Sacred Walls’ tells one man’s story of being raped by priests
DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
[email protected]
Michael Roberts comes from a religious Catholic family that never missed Sunday mass. And like hundreds of other boys who have come forward, he was abused by the priest at his church.
But Roberts’ story of abuse by Catholic priests is a little different from others. He was a little older than most victims we’ve heard about; he was 17 when he was first raped. But, Roberts explains, he was a young and naïve 17 with no sexual experience.
The purpose of Roberts’ book, Behind Sacred Walls, is to help other victims of abuse by religious figures, not to expose or punish those who hurt him. In fact, Roberts changes the names of his tormentors and never reveals the parish that protected his rapists.
Father Gregory, as Roberts calls him, began inviting himself to dinner with the family every week. Then he invited Michael on day trips. His parents were delighted that their favorite priest was taking such an interest in their son. They couldn’t imagine he was grooming Michael for years of abuse.
When Roberts at first tried to get Father Gregory to stop, the priest told him, “Your family will never find out.” And rather than distance himself from the family, the priest continued to ingratiate himself to them.
And Roberts thought his family would never believe that this kindly priest, who showed such rage in private, was capable of rape.
Survivor advocacy group delivers Catholic Church whistleblower documents for state investigation into faith leader abuse
The group claims the 'thousands of pages' of documents include evidence of diocese policies meant to destroy evidence of abuse, fraud
Published: Tuesday, January 18, 2022, 3:20pm Wisconsin Public Radio
A survivor advocacy group says they’re turning over "thousands of pages" of documents to the state attorney general’s office related to the cover up of sexual abuse by leaders of the Catholic Church in Wisconsin.
Oversight panel to carry out church sex abuse reforms in Springfield Diocese
On Wednesday, Springfield Bishop William Byrne announced that the new Implementation and Oversight Committee will lead the implementation of recommendations put forward by an independent task force that assessed the diocese’s response to sexual abuse.
Last September, the task force recommended changes to the process of responding to allegations of sexual abuse. Among its findings were that law enforcement should first investigate such accusations, not solely the diocese. The task force also nominated the slate of candidates who will now become members of the oversight committee.
