News Story of the Day

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

By Editorial Board, Washington Post, April 19, 2016

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.

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.

By Neil Carlson, April 15, 2016, Valley News Live

Crookston, Minn.  Church goers in northwestern Minnesota can expect a protest of sorts this Sunday.
SNAP, the “Survivors Network of those abused by Priests”, plans to hand out leaflets opposing a decision by the church to lift the suspension of Father Joseph Jeyapaul. Jeyapaul was convicted of a sex crime in Greenbush, Minnesota and is now back in his home country of India.