News Story of the Day
Catholic priest accused of sexual assault fathered children of victims, court hears
Revelation emerges at hearing for Anthony Odiong, 55, charged with several counts and held in Texas on $5.5m bail
Anthony Odiong after his arrest in Florida in July. Photograph: Waco police
The Guardian
November 26, 2024
By Charlie Scudder and Ramon Antonio Vargas
A Roman Catholic priest with links to Texas and Louisiana who is facing criminal charges for allegedly abusing his position of authority within the church to pursue sex with vulnerable women fathered at least two children with them, authorities have alleged.
The stunning information about Anthony Odiong surfaced at a bail hearing on Tuesday in Waco, Texas, where prosecutors have charged him with several counts of sexually assaulting women to whom he ministered.
Odiong requested a reduction of the $5.5m bail on which he is being held in custody. But a judge denied that request after prosecutors established Odiong had communicated plans to flee to his native Nigeria if he were released – while simultaneously airing the most complete account yet about the alleged double life he had built.
Vatican to consider classifying 'spiritual abuse' as new Catholic crime
November 26, 20249:02 AM EST
Clergy Sex Abuse Survivor Reflects on His Reform Work
St. Louis man, David G. Clohessy, cites better victim support and resistant bishops among wins and losses in efforts to change the Catholic Church
As a child in Moberly, Missouri, David Clohessy and his siblings were abused by a Catholic priest. Although he suppressed that memory for years, eventually he got help and dedicated his life to forcing the Catholic Church to protect children and remove predator priests. (Courtesy | SNAP)
November 24, 2024
By Bill Tammeus
A 2002 series of Boston Globe articles turned a scandal about Catholic priests who sexually abuse children (and bishops who protect those priests) into a national story.
The Globe, however, wasn’t the first newspaper to expose this reprehensible crime. Credit for that goes to the independent, Kansas City-based National Catholic Reporter. NCR was writing about this years before the Globe.
None of this surprises David G. Clohessy, who lives in St. Louis but whose work frequently brings him to Kansas City. He’s been trying to ensure victims are heard and church officials are held accountable. He’s former national director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and currently volunteer director of Missouri SNAP.
But, developments in this scandal evolve slowly. Just a few weeks ago, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, 10 years after it was created, issued its first report, concluding that the church still fails to ensure that abuse cases are dealt with adequately and saying that the Vatican office charged with processing complaints is slow and secretive.
Legal win for clergy sex abuse survivors suing the Diocese of Buffalo
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — As bankruptcy proceedings continue for the Diocese of Buffalo, survivors of clergy abuse who are suing the Diocese in state court are celebrating a legal victory in federal court.
Their lawsuits that date back to 2020, can move forward, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court Western District of New York, Judge Carl L. Bucki.
Seven more lawsuits were filed against the Diocese of Lafayette over clergy sex abuse
Nov 20, 2024
Former Catholic priest Gilbert Gauthe, who was convicted of child sexual abuse, is escorted out of the Lafayette Parish Courthouse after a hearing in 2000.
Seven lawsuits were filed in recent weeks against the Diocese of Lafayette by people alleging they were sexually abused by clergy when they were children, the latest wave of lawsuits since a June court ruling giving abuse victims more time to seek restitution.
Four of the seven lawsuits were filed in November, one on Nov. 12, in 15th Judicial District Court in Lafayette. Three others were filed Oct. 29.
Chapter 11 helps church officials, not kids or victims
Worshippers are pictured in a file photo at the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, Calif. The Diocese of Oakland filed a formal Chapter 11 reorganization plan Nov. 8 in an effort to settle some 345 claims of sexual abuse. (OSV News/CNS file, Greg Tarczynski)
by Timothy Hale
November 20, 2024
Fr. Stephen M. Kiesle of the Diocese of Oakland, California, was convicted of lewd conduct for tying up and sexually abusing boys and was later sent to prison for abusing a girl. In 2023, he pleaded no contest to killing a pedestrian while driving drunk.
Fr. Mark Kristy of the Diocese of Sacramento was convicted of molesting a girl under 14 for three years and in 2022 was sentenced to a year in jail. For most of the last decade, he lived in Napa County.
Survivors of clergy abuse urge Vatican to expand zero-tolerance policy beyond US
Copyright AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File
The policy, which permanently removes priests for a single act of sexual abuse, is currently limited to the US.
Survivors of clergy sexual abuse called on the Vatican on Monday to extend the zero-tolerance policy adopted by the US Catholic Church in 2002 to apply to the global church, insisting that children worldwide deserve protection for predator priests.
Now Church's No2 the Archbishop of York is urged to step down for 'ignoring 11 separate complaints' - after Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was forced to quit
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, the CofE’s second most senior figure, is accused of ‘ignoring’ 11 separate complaints, some involving leading figures in the Church
November 16, 2024
By CAMERON CHARTERS
The Church of England faced further turmoil last night after the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell was urged to resign over his handling of abuse cases.
The demand comes after the CofE’s leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, was forced to quit last week over a cover-up in a child abuse scandal.
Archbishop Cottrell, the CofE’s second most senior figure, is accused of ‘ignoring’ 11 separate complaints, some involving leading figures in the Church, including bishops.
A case study in how the Vatican’s abuse reform efforts have failed
MEDIA ADVISORY | An Unlikely Alliance: Survivors and Clergy Call for a Universal ‘One Strike and You’re Out’ Church Mandate on Abuse and Cover-Ups
November 14, 2024
WHAT: At a news conference in Rome to mark the United Nations’ World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse, a diverse group of survivors, advocates and theologians will unveil a landmark zero-tolerance proposal calling for sweeping reforms to Canon Law, aimed at confronting the Catholic Church’s ongoing clergy sexual abuse crisis head-on.
WHEN: Monday, November 18, 2024, at 11:00 AM (local time)
WHERE: Inside the Villa Aurelia, Via Leone XIII, 459, 00165, Rome WHY: Nearly six years after the first Papal Summit on Clerical Sexual Abuse, the Catholic Church has yet to fully implement the measures that were proclaimed at that time to protect children and vulnerable adults, and to hold Church leaders accountable. Pope Francis has repeatedly declared a zero-tolerance approach to abuse, but his intention must be met with meaningful action. Real progress within the Church, on a global level, will only occur through consistent implementation of its own principles. The recent “Annual Report” from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors underscores the urgency for a shift in mentality—from self-defensiveness to accepting legal, moral, and spiritual responsibility. It also highlights the pressing need for proactive, well-resourced safeguarding measures.
WHO: ECA (Ending Clergy Abuse), a global coalition of survivors and human rights advocates from over 25 countries, and IADC (Institute of Anthropology and Interdisciplinary Studies on Human Dignity and Care), a research institute at the Pontifical Gregorian University focused on human rights and safeguarding within the Church, are co-leading this initiative. Also involved are Eckiger Tisch, a German non-profit supporting survivors and advocating for justice, and Bishop Accountability, a U.S.-based watchdog that has been documenting the worldwide Catholic abuse crisis since 2003.
To read the rest of the media advisory, go here.
