News Story of the Day
Former Archbishop Nienstedt's never-revealed secret
By: Tom Lyden, May 5, 2016, Fox 9
(KMSP) - When John Nienstedt resigned as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis last June, he left the Archdiocese in bankruptcy and under a criminal investigation that continues to this day. The criminal investigation stems from the cover-up of sexual abuse in the church. But of all the secrets Nienstedt is accused of keeping, there is one that has never been revealed: the secret in his own family.
More than 40 years ago, as a young priest, John Nienstedt, knew of an allegation involving one of his best friends and it was Nienstedt who introduced him to his victim.
Former Lumen Christi priest gets 20-40 years in prison for sex abuse
Ex-priest James Rapp will spend the next 20-40 years in prison for molesting students at Lumen Christi high school in Jackson between 1980-86.
"His crime and his position was a murder on our soul," said Andrew Russell, who Rapp abused while he was...
Peterson: Volunteers keeping clergy abuse in spotlight
By Gary Peterson, [email protected], April 30, 2016
They stood quiet as church mice outside Oakland's Cathedral of Christ the Light. They spoke only to those passers-by who engaged them. Their presence was their message, and the message is that molestation of children by clergy didn't disappear with the final credits of "Spotlight."
ILLINOIS AG MADIGAN CALLS FOR ELIMINATION OF CHILD SEX CRIMES STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
Associated Press (FILE) Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. (Stacy Thacker) Wednesday, April 27, 2016 09:47PM
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WLS) --Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is calling on lawmakers to eliminate the statute of limitations for child sex crimes and she has the support of organizations fighting to stop abuse.
Lawsuit says Catholic priest sexually abused Long Island man
By Bart Jones, [email protected], April 26, 2016, NewsDay
A Long Island man said Tuesday he was sexually abused as a boy by a Roman Catholic priest — the second case brought against the priest since last year.
San Diego priest who pleaded guilty to sexual battery finds new home at Oklahoma parish
SARAH K. BURRIS, 25 APR 2016, Raw Story
Fr. Jose Alexis Davila was convicted of inappropriately touching a 19-year-old woman in San Diego in 2011. Like most priests who have been caught or convicted of sex acts, Davila went to another church. The problem, however, is no one at the church was told about his crimes.
When the church of the Blessed Sacrament in Lawton, Oklahoma was introduced to Davila they were told only that “he has pastoral experience in the United States” but nothing about his criminal past or even the name of his previous church. None of the members hand any idea he was convicted for groping a teenager, according to KFOR News.
Priest convicted of sex crime in San Diego resurfaces in Oklahoma
By Abbie Alford, Reporter, April 22, 2016, CBS8.com
SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - A convicted San Diego priest who pleaded guilty to fondling a teenage girl in 2011 is now serving in parishes in Oklahoma City.
Father Jose Alexis DaVila admitted to abusing a 19-year-old woman and now he is involved with three churches. It's a move that is being called both stunning and hurtful.
Blessed Sacrament's website in Lawton Oklahoma says as of March 29, Father Jose Alexis DaVila left to serve the following parishes in Oklahoma: Saint Ann Church, Elgin and Missions, Mother of Sorrows Church in Apache, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Sterling.
Sen. Chuck Schumer pushes to extend statute of limitations for sex crimes victims
The New York Democrat has added a provision to his Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act of 2016 that would extend the statute of limitations in federal civil cases for victims of sexual abuse, sex trafficking and other crimes related to child pornography.
The Catholic Church’s defiance and obstruction on child sex abuse
IN THREE years at the helm of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has been a source of inspiration for millions of faithful around the world. In one critical respect, however, he has fallen short of his own promise: to come fully to terms with decades of child sex abuse by clergymen and the institutional cover granted to them by bishops and cardinals.
Francis has pledged “the zealous vigilance of the Church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all.” Yet there has been scant accountability, particularly for bishops. Too often, the church’s stance has been defiance and obstruction.
Sex abuse survivor to sue diocese that has reinstated priest
Ruth Gledhill, CHRISTIAN TODAY, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, 19 April 2016
A survivor of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest who has been reinstated by the Vatican is to sue the priest's diocese.
The New York Daily News reported that Megan Peterson's attorney Jeff Anderson is to file a federal lawsuit against the diocese in India.
Anderson will claim in the suit that the Ootacamund diocese has endangered children by reinstating Father Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul.