Jan 17, 2025
COLUMBIA — South Carolina's high court has ruled an alleged victim of sexual abuse within the Catholic Diocese of Charleston in the 1970s can pursue their case against the church after it tried to claim immunity under a long-defunct state law protecting charitable organizations from legal action.
The years-old case, filed in August 2018, alleged a John Doe was sexually abused as a junior high school student by two now-deceased employees of the diocese's Sacred Heart Catholic School in 1969 and 1971.
In addition to relief for the sexual abuse and emotional distress that resulted from the incident, the plaintiff also accused the diocese of gross negligence in relation to the incident along with a bevy of other charges ranging from fraudulent concealment and civil conspiracy to a breach of contract.
PJ D'Amico said he was a sixth grader the first time his priest sexually abused him. He said Fr. Alfred Soave, then-pastor at St. Hugh of Lincoln Church in Huntington Station, New York, abused him repeatedly through the eighth grade. D'Amico, 57, will receive compensation starting in 2025 from the Diocese of Rockville Centre. (Courtesy of PJ D'Amico)
January 16, 2025
By Sean Piccoli
Editor's note: The Catholic Church has spent billions of dollars settling claims from sexual abuse cases. National Catholic Reporter is investigating the costs to Catholics, parishes and the church in its new series "The Reckoning." NCR's investigative reports, including this series, are made possible in part through the generosity of Annette Lomont.
This is Part 2 of a two-part story on the sexual abuse settlement in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York. You can read Part 1 here.
PJ D'Amico said his "45-year ordeal" began the first time he was sexually abused by his priest.
D'Amico was a sixth grader who worshiped with his family at St. Hugh of Lincoln Church in Huntington Station, New York. He said the pastor at St. Hugh of Lincoln, Fr. Alfred B. Soave, abused him repeatedly through the eighth grade, including on the day of his confirmation.
D'Amico, 57, is one of about 600 survivors of sexual abuse who will receive approximately $323 million in payments beginning this year from the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, which oversees St. Hugh of Lincoln and 135 other parishes on New York's Long Island. After four years of federal bankruptcy proceedings, the Diocese of Rockville Centre agreed to settle the claims brought by people who said dozens of priests and other adults employed by the diocese sexually abused them in previous decades.
A federal judge approved the bankruptcy settlement in December, clearing the way for survivors to begin receiving restitution. For D'Amico, the settlement comes as both a relief and a painful reminder of a long struggle with a trusted institution that exposed him to lasting harm and then declared bankruptcy when faced with a deluge of lawsuits.
"It was more like 'uncle' than 'do the right thing,' " he said of the diocese's ultimate decision to reach an agreement that will compensate him and other abuse victims. "They finally realized it was going to cost more not to settle and made a pragmatic decision."
John Salveson, who said he was sexually abused by a Long Island priest beginning in 1969 at age 13 and received compensation from the diocese in 2017 under a different program, agreed that the bankruptcy settlement feels more practical than moral.
"This is strictly an economic issue for them," Salveson told the National Catholic Reporter. "This is a risk-management issue for them. And I spent way too many years trying to get them to see this as a moral issue. They just don't think it's a moral issue."
For his part, D'Amico said, "The monetary resolution is going to be both hard to accept and a relief to accept."
Mallory Challis | January 14, 2025
Missouri state Rep. Brian Seitz already has filed three bills this year pertaining to legislation in child sexual abuse cases. The proposed legislation aims to make it easier for survivors of child sexual abuse to seek justice for the crimes committed against them in the state.
Missouri has been at the center of a campaign for legal reforms in light of well-publicized cases at Kanakuk Kamps and other faith-based organizations.
Home secretary announces plans to implement key demand from Jay inquiry in England
Professionals who work with children will face criminal sanctions if they fail to report claims of child sexual abuse under a law to be introduced this year, Yvette Cooper has told MPs.
The home secretary has promised to implement a key demand from Prof Alexis Jay’s child sexual abuse inquiry after Keir Starmer turned down demands from Elon Musk and Kemi Badenoch for a new investigation into paedophile gangs.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill called POLITICO’s reporting “deeply disturbing” — and state lawmakers planned to discuss taking action.
Seton Hall is one of the oldest and most prestigious Catholic universities in the country. | Julio Cortez/AP
Lawmakers and victim advocates are calling for Seton Hall University’s president to resign after POLITICO revealed he was named in an internal report on sexual abuse allegations more than five years ago. They also want the Catholic university to release the findings as a measure of transparency and accountability.
A 2019 memo detailing the internal investigation, viewed by POLITICO, did not accuse the new president, Monsignor Joseph Reilly, of abuse. But it said he knew of sexual abuse allegations that he did not report. Investigators recommended, pursuant to a responsive action plan the school’s governing body adopted, Reilly be removed as a seminary leader and member of university boards.
January 7, 2025
By Ryan Murray and City News Service
Attorneys representing alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego Tuesday criticized Pope Francis' appointment of Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, bishop of San Diego, to become the new Archbishop of Washington, D.C.
McElroy, 70, will succeed retiring Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory in March. Until a new bishop is named, a Diocesan administrator will oversee the San Diego diocese on an interim basis, according to the Diocese of San Diego.
McElroy was named bishop of San Diego in 2015 and elevated to cardinal in 2022.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the Catholic community in our nation's capital and for the confidence His Holiness has placed in me, but I have truly loved the last ten years I've spent as bishop of San Diego," McElroy said in a statement. "I have never in my life felt more welcomed, more supported or more rewarded than I felt sharing my ministry with the priests, the women religious, and the faithful parishioners of our diocese."
A pair of priests who have been accused of molestation have since disappeared from the San Francisco Archdiocese’s list of priests in good standing. Attorneys representing people accusing the clergy of sexual abuse when they were children say they believe the priests were quietly removed from ministry in response to the allegations against them.
“I think they’re feeling heat,” said Jennifer Stein, an attorney representing one of the alleged victims who filed a lawsuit in 2022 accusing Rev. Lawrence J. Finegan of sexual abuse. “They’re feeling the pressure of having perpetrators on their good standing list with known allegations that have been public, and publicly available, for years, and in this case, for decades.”
Joseph Mouser
January 2, 2025
By
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A priest who formerly worked in Louisville is facing charges of child sex abuse, and this isn't the first time he's been accused.
Joseph Irvin Mouser, 86, was removed from public ministry in 2002 and is facing new charges of child sodomy and sexual abuse. The alleged abuse happened 35 years ago.
Although the accusations against the 86-year-old are new, court records state the incidents happened between 1989 and 1991.
The victim was younger than 12.
Melanie Sakoda works as the support director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
"Given the background of this particular priest, I don't think there's any question that he is capable of doing just this," she said.
SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - An arrest in April sent shockwaves throughout two communities that are separated by 1,400 miles.
An employee working at a Catholic district in Dubuque, Iowa, a town of about 60,000 people that borders both Wisconsin and Illinois, reported sexual abuse allegations from former altar boys to the Dubuque Police Department in May of 2023.
“They had somebody come and report to them what was going on and they brought it to our attention, which started the investigation,” says Luke Bock from the Dubuque Police Department.
That investigation led to 5 sexual abuse charges stemming from the 1980s being filed against Father Leo Riley, a priest who worked in Iowa until transferring to Florida in the early 2000s.
MARTIN NÉMETH DECEMBER 28, 2024
The leadership of the Hungarian Catholic Church has recently presented a divided picture in its handling of internal sex scandals and child protection cases. While some bishops have taken decisive steps to investigate such cases, some church statements still avoid clear apologies.
Bishop András Veres emphasised in a coldly worded statement that collective prayer and fasting were more important than empathy for the victims. At the same time, several bishops, such as Zsolt Marton and László Varga, have called for reform of the Church, with open apologies and an emphasis on the importance of prevention.
