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He was abused by a priest. He’s still waiting for compensation

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 12:54:37 GMT

CBC - April 16, 2026

Halifax, NS - Timothy Clark reported sexual abuse by a priest in 1984 but says the church ignored him.

Decades later, his claim was approved under a class-action settlement against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth, yet he and more than 60 other accepted claimants have still not been paid. Delays are blamed on claim reviews, interviews, and late submissions, leaving many victims frustrated by poor communication and the lengthy process.

Journalist plans to create new archive of residential school survivor stories — before it's too late

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 16:54:48 GMT

CBC - April 14, 2026

A new project from award-winning journalist Connie Walker aims to create an archive of testimonies of abuse at residential schools before the accounts are destroyed in September 2027.

The project at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), where she is the Velma Rogers Research Chair in the School of Journalism, aims to preserve residential school survivors' stories and raise awareness about the upcoming destruction of Independent Assessment Process (IAP) records.

The files are being retained until 2027 to give survivors a chance to request a copy, opt-in to having the file preserved by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, or both.

Retired Catholic priest in P.E.I. sentenced to 5 years in prison for 1980s child sexual abuse

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 12:43:55 GMT

CBC - April 7, 2026

Charlottetown, P.E.I - A retired Catholic priest in Prince Edward Island who pleaded guilty last year to sexually abusing a child in the late 1980s at St. Margarets Parish has been sentenced to five years in a federal prison.

Brendon Earl Gallant, 80, was sentenced Tuesday in provincial court in Charlottetown. He pleaded guilty last summer to a charge of sexual assault .

The Diocese of Charlottetown has apologized for Gallant’s actions and said he was removed from active ministry as soon as the diocese learned of the investigation.

Retired P.E.I. Catholic priest again scheduled to be sentenced for 1980s sexual abuse

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 12:40:20 GMT

CBC - March 23, 2026

St. John's, NL - A third sentencing date has been set for a P.E.I. Catholic priest, who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child in his St. Margarets Parish in the late 1980s, after the first two hearings did not go ahead.

Brendon Earl Gallant, 80, pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault last summer . The court heard the victim was 12-years-old when Gallant took an interest in the child and began inviting him for sleepovers, where he would give the boy alcohol and invite him to sleep in his bed.

The Diocese of Charlottetown has apologized for Gallant’s action and said he was removed from active ministry as soon as he learned of the investigation.

If Gallant is sentenced to less than two years in jail, he’ll be able to serve that sentence on the Island. Any more time and he’ll go off Island to a federal penitentiary.

Mount Cashel’s Continuing Saga of Abuse and Conspiracy

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 12:33:59 GMT

The Tyee - March 23, 2026

St. John's, NL - Six men began their abuse of young orphans on one coast of Canada, then by a travesty of justice were sent to the opposite side of the country, where they allegedly abused more boys — as many as 200.

This month the offer of a $30-million class-action settlement to the second set of alleged victims to be paid by the Roman Catholic archbishop of Vancouver and two Lower Mainland Catholic schools adds another chapter to this tragic saga — a cycle of pain that a half-century later continues to ripple outward.

A settlement hearing is scheduled for the end of April by the B.C. Supreme Court to assess if the class-action payment agreement offer is fair and reasonable.

Alberta man challenges U.K. extradition order for historical child sexual abuse allegations

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 13:55:07 GMT

CBC - March 23, 2026

Edmonton, AB - An 87-year-old Alberta man is fighting extradition to the United Kingdom to stand trial for historical allegations of physical and sexual assault involving minors. Peter Murray of Wetaskiwin, about 70 kilometres south of Edmonton, is accused of assaulting 17 young students at boarding schools between 1965 and 1972, while he was a teacher in Scotland.

He is appealing the decision of the Canadian justice who approved his extradition, according to his defence lawyer.

Confidential settlement reached in abuse suit against priest

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 18:15:39 GMT

Bishop Accountability - March 28, 2026

Winnipeg, MB - Lawyers for a man who alleged he was repeatedly sexually assaulted as a child by a now-dead Catholic priest in rural Manitoba and Winnipeg in a 2023 lawsuit recently reached a confidential settlement with the Archdiocese of St. Boniface.

The plaintiff, now in his early 60s, claimed the alleged abuse began when he was eight-years-old in 1972 and lasted until 1982. The man, who the Free Press is not naming due to the nature of the allegations, claimed the sexual abuse came at the hands of that church’s priest, Fr. Rene Touchette.

Several other lawsuits filed in recent years against the St. Boniface and Winnipeg archdioceses over alleged historical sex abuses by their priests remain before the court.

Catholic Priest in Oakville charged with sexual assault

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 12:44:47 GMT

Oakville News - March 24, 2026

Oakville, ON - Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) have laid a sexual assault charge against an Oakville clergyman after receiving a complaint last month.

Police released a statement earlier today saying that authorities have charged a Catholic Priest employed in Oakville with sexual assault following a month-long investigation.

In early February 2026, HRPS say they began an investigation into "an allegation of sexual assault committed against an adult female while the victim was volunteering at an Oakville church."

As a result of the investigation, Reverend Ranjan D’Sa (53) of Oakville has been charged with one count of Sexual Assault.

Cardinal Ouellet Faces Defamation Lawsuit in Canadian Court Over Abuse Allegations

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 13:05:09 GMT

Zenit - March 18, 2026

Montreal, QC - In Montreal this March, Cardinal Marc Ouellet appeared in Quebec Superior Court to defend himself against allegations of sexual misconduct, as part of a broader defamation lawsuit he filed against his accuser. The case has reopened attention to a series of claims first publicized in a 2022 class-action lawsuit involving 101 individuals alleging abuse by clergy or staff within the Archdiocese of Quebec.

The case is unfolding at a moment of heightened attention to accountability within the Catholic Church in Canada, highlighting the complexities of balancing legal rights, canonical procedures, and the reputational and moral stakes for high-ranking clerics. Observers note that the trial’s outcome could have ramifications for how allegations of misconduct are addressed both in civil courts and within Church structures, particularly in cases involving defamation claims intertwined with historical abuse allegations.

Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse of boy in rural Manitoba in late 1980s

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 13:21:22 GMT

CBC - March 18, 2026

Winnipeg, MB - A now-dead Catholic priest is accused of repeated sexual abuse of a boy in a rural Manitoba community in a lawsuit filed in the Court of King's Bench in Winnipeg.

A statement of claim was filed March 6 against the estate of Father Eugene Verhulst and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Winnipeg.

The 47-year-old plaintiff alleges in the statement of claim that he endured inappropriate touching by Verhulst and was made to perform oral and anal sex from approximately age 10 to 12.

The archdiocese failed to act and protect the boy when it knew or ought to have known or was willfully blind to the abuse, the claim says, making the archdiocese vicariously liable for the abuse.

The man, who now lives in B.C., is seeking general damages, special damages, punitive damages, aggravated damages, exemplary damages and damages for breach of fiduciary duty.

Ex-teacher, retired priest named in separate lawsuits involving historical sex crime accusations

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 19:47:54 GMT

Free Press - February 25, 2026

Winnipeg, MB - A former teacher and a retired priest, who both were previously brought before Manitoba criminal courts on sex crime charges, have been accused in separate lawsuits over historical sexual abuse allegations.

Retired Catholic priest Arthur Masse and former teacher Kenneth MacKinnon Mealey have been accused of sex assaults in lawsuits recently filed in the Court of King’s Bench by a Vancouver law firm that specializes in alleged sex abuse cases, Prezler Law.

Lawyer for N.L. abuse survivors applauds agreement with unnamed party for ‘substantial’ payment

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:55:00 GMT

Bishop Accountability - March 13, 2026

St. John's, NL - Lawyers representing Catholic Church abuse survivors in Newfoundland and Labrador say a new agreement with an unnamed third party is “substantial” and marks a significant step toward further compensation, though details will not be public until late April. St. John’s lawyer Bob Buckingham said money from the agreement could begin flowing by the end of the summer, calling it a positive development for survivors. Justice Minister Helen Conway Ottenheimer declined to comment when asked if the provincial government was involved, citing respect for judicial independence.

The agreement arises from the ongoing insolvency proceedings of the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s, which has been under creditor protection since 2021. More than 300 survivors are part of a court-approved $121 million settlement, with about $37 million paid so far through church asset sales and a previous government deal involving school properties. Lawyers say while the new agreement will not eliminate the remaining shortfall, negotiations with other third parties and insurers are continuing to maximize compensation for survivors.

Cape Breton-born claimant in priest abuse settlement frustrated by delays

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:47:51 GMT

Cape Breton Post - March 11, 2026

Halifax, NS - Timothy Clark, a survivor of clergy sexual abuse, says he feels stuck in limbo as he waits for the final payout from a class-action settlement against the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth. Although a $10 million settlement was reached in 2022 and his claim has been approved, Clark says delays and limited communication have prolonged his trauma and prevented closure after years of coming to terms with the abuse.

Class counsel John McKiggan says the delays are due to factors beyond their control, including adjudicator changes, health and scheduling issues for some claimants, and the need to complete all contested claims before any funds can be distributed. Final hearings are now scheduled for the spring, which would allow the settlement to move toward completion.

Copy of ‘Silence protects systems’: Survivor of clergy sexual abuse says it’s incredibly daunting to take action against the Catholic Church

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:38:58 GMT

CKPG Today - March 12, 2026

Prince George, BC - When Leona Huggins was just twelve years, she was sexually abused by a priest. The priest who harmed her served a 10-month sentence and was later reassigned to ministry. Leona now supports survivors through her work at a Vancouver law firm and was the sole Canadian survivor invited to advise the planning committee for the late Pope Francis’ summit on the protection of minors in the Church. Huggins is still helping others who have been abused, founding a peer support group for clergy abuse survivors and continues to speak out to create an environment that will encourage not only those who have been harmed but also witnesses and whistleblowers to come forward.

$30M settlement reached in class-action over alleged abuse at 2 Metro Vancouver Catholic schools

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 14:48:06 GMT

CBC - March 9, 2026

Vancouver, BC - A proposed $30 million settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit brought by former students of Vancouver College and St. Thomas More Collegiate who allege physical and sexual abuse by members of the Christian Brothers. The settlement, which requires approval from the B.C. Supreme Court, applies to students who attended the schools between 1976 and 2013, depending on the school.

If approved, survivors could apply for compensation through a two-tier claims process, with payments of up to $30,000 or more for severe impacts. The settlement includes the schools and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver, but not individual alleged abusers. A court hearing is scheduled for April 30 and May 1.

Brampton priest charged with sexual assault, removed from ministry

Fri, 09 Jan 2026 14:49:00 GMT

Bishop Accountability - December 23, 2025

Brampton, ON - A Catholic priest in Brampton, Ont., has been charged with sexual offences and removed from the ministry, the Archdiocese of Toronto says. It says the man is accused of one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference, an offence that applies when the victim is under 16 years old.

It says the decision to remove the man from the pastoral ministry was made in accordance with its protocols and procedures relating to allegations of misconduct.

Archdiocese denies sex claims in latest historical lawsuit involving late priest

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 15:48:22 GMT

Free Press - September 23, 2025

Somerset, MB - The Archdiocese of St. Boniface has denied a man’s claims he was sexually abused by one of its priests in rural Manitoba decades ago.

The man, who’s in his late 60s, claimed in a lawsuit filed in the Court of King’s Bench earlier this year that he was sexually abused by now-deceased Catholic priest Rene Touchette in the village of Somerset, about 150 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.

In a statement of defence filed in late July, the archdiocese argued the lawsuit should be tossed out — and that the man has provided no proof of the alleged abuse.

Canadian court OKs priest's abuse suit against prominent priest, religious order

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 19:18:26 GMT

National Catholic Reporter - August 13, 2025

London, ON - Ontario’s Superior Court has ruled that Fr. Michael Bechard, a diocesan priest from London, Ontario, can proceed with his civil lawsuit against Basilian Fr. Thomas Rosica and the Basilian Fathers of Toronto for alleged sexual abuse. The defendants had sought to have the matter handled exclusively in a Catholic canonical court, but Justice Evelyn ten Cate found that Canadian civil courts have jurisdiction and should hear the case.

Bechard has also filed a separate complaint under Vos Estis Lux Mundi, Pope Francis’ 2019 rules for reporting abuse within the Church. The Diocese of London is not a party to the lawsuit and maintains its bishop acted appropriately when Bechard first reported the allegations in 2015.

Justice ten Cate ruled that religious organizations are not exempt from Canadian law and rejected the argument that Bechard’s oath to canon law barred civil action. She emphasized that the Church’s canonical courts cannot award damages or impose vicarious liability, making civil proceedings necessary to ensure justice.

Dear God and Company: Confronting Clergy Abuse and the System That Enables It

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 19:08:02 GMT

International Policy Digest - August 11, 2025

Clergy sexual abuse is not confined to any one faith, denomination, or country—it is a global crisis rooted in power, secrecy, and institutional self-preservation. In this conversation, survivors, advocates, clergy, legal scholars, and researchers confront the patterns that allow abuse to persist and the systemic enablers who shield perpetrators from accountability. From the misuse of spiritual authority to the failure of church leadership to act, their testimonies reveal both the depth of the harm and the urgent need for reform. Together, they ask the questions that religious institutions have long avoided—and challenge the structures that have turned sacred spaces into sites of betrayal.

Katherine Archer is the co-founder of Prosopon Healing and a graduate student in Theological Studies, soon to begin a Master’s in Counseling Psychology. Her work lies at the intersection of academic research and nonprofit advocacy, focusing on clergy abuse within the Eastern Orthodox Church. Archer champions policy reform to address adult clergy exploitation, advancing a vision of healing rooted in justice, accountability, and survivor support.

Irene Deschênes, a survivor of clergy sexual abuse, first reported her case to the Diocese of London (Ontario) in 1992. Nearly three decades later—after a Supreme Court of Canada ruling—she reached a civil settlement in 2021. With a background in sociology and a career in social services, Deschênes co-founded Outrage Canada, a national, non-religious coalition demanding accountability from the Roman Catholic Church and justice for victims. Known for asking Canadians, “Where’s the outrage?” she works to prevent further abuse, protect children, and keep survivor voices in the public conversation through media appearances and documentary work.

Amos N. Guiora, J.D., Ph.D., a legal scholar and former IDF officer, has made a career of confronting institutional complicity and promoting bystander accountability. Author of The Crime of Complicity, Armies of Enablers, and The Complicity of Silence, Guiora draws direct lines between Holocaust history and modern abuse cases. His advocacy was instrumental in Utah’s 2021 bystander law, and through the Bystander Initiative, he presses for survivor-centered legal reforms. “All hands on deck,” he insists.

Father Bojan Jovanović, a Serbian Orthodox priest and Secretary of the Union of Christians of Croatia, is recognized for his unflinching critiques of institutional failings within the Church. His book Confession: How We Killed God and his leadership in the Alliance of Christians of Croatia reflect his commitment to ethical reform and moral reckoning. Jovanović calls for transparency and open dialogue as prerequisites for restoring trust in religious life.

Rev. Dr. John C. Lentz Jr. led Forest Hill Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, for more than three decades. Known for his passionate preaching and deep commitment to justice, compassion, and community leadership, Lentz retired in 2024 after a distinguished ministry. During his tenure, he inherited and confronted the traumatic legacy of clergy sexual abuse, guiding the congregation through its aftermath.

John Metsopoulos, a former Connecticut state representative and Fairfield’s first selectman, has publicly accused two Greek Orthodox bishops—Metropolitan Athenagoras Aneste (2017–2019) and the late Metropolitan Iakovos Garmatis (1970)—of sexual and psychological abuse, as well as financial misconduct. Now living in Central America, Metsopoulos advocates for institutional accountability and supports fellow survivors through the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Dr. Hermina Nedelescu, a neuroscientist at Scripps Research in San Diego, investigates the brain’s circuitry to better understand the neurobiological roots of abnormal behavior, particularly in the context of trauma and substance use. Her current research examines how sexual trauma is encoded in the brain, with the goal of improving therapeutic strategies for PTSD and addiction comorbidity.

Professor David K. Pooler, Ph.D., LCSW-S, teaches at Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. Specializing in trauma, abuse, and institutional responses to misconduct, Pooler is a committed advocate for survivors. His research focuses on systemic injustice and ethical accountability within faith-based organizations.

Dorothy Small, a retired registered nurse, has been a vocal survivor advocate with SNAP for decades. Having endured both childhood and adult clergy abuse, she began speaking out long before the #MeToo movement brought wider attention to such experiences. A cancer survivor and grandmother, she now writes about recovery, resilience, and personal freedom, amplifying survivor voices and pressing for institutional reform.

Michelle Stewart is a cult survivor, author, and activist whose memoir Judas Girl: My Father, Four Cults & How I Escaped Them All recounts her harrowing upbringing in extremist religious groups. Now based in Colorado, Stewart advocates for survivors of religious abuse, focusing on the harms of coercive control and religious trauma in children. Through public speaking, education, and support work, she pushes for greater awareness and protection for the vulnerable.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Drawing on your experience, conversations, and research, what broad trends and facts have emerged—either definitively or with near-conclusive certainty—in international cases of clergy-related abuse? Which truths, when stated consistently and publicly, are most crucial for reshaping the informational landscape—not only around misconduct in general, but clergy abuse in particular?

Katherine Archer: Clergy abuse has nothing whatsoever to do with sex; rather, it is sexualized violence that, at its root, is about power and control. We are now learning that the majority of clergy abuse survivors may be adult women, but because historically adult abuse has been mislabeled as an “affair,” women do not easily come forward and report their experiences. Many women delay disclosure or never disclose, and this isolation in secret-keeping exacerbates the injury.

Finally, clergy sexual abuse cannot be separated from spiritual abuse. There is significant spiritual injury before or as part of the abuse, and it is inseparable from the clergy abuse. This causes a truly profound double-injury, in that typically a victim-survivor has greater difficulty turning to a Higher Power or to one’s spirituality or religion to heal from a tremendous injury. In this way, it differs from other types of violence, wherein one might decide to turn to a Higher Power to heal. The place of healing is also a place of injury. It is like taking medicine that also feels poisonous.

There is a third, even greater injury when a religious community aligns against a victim-survivor. I would say that in most communities, congregants might understand that a priest exploiting an adult congregant is abusive as a theoretical idea. Still, when it comes to a situation in front of them, they do not view the adult victim that they know as an injured party. It’s common to label the adult victim with a mental illness in a derisive, dismissive way, and this is yet another abuse. If a victim-survivor is experiencing symptoms of what is termed mental illness, perhaps the priest’s actions induced depression, anxiety, or whatever it may be. The victim is not “crazy.” This is ignorant, and it’s unacceptable.

Irene Deschênes: What I have seen, not only from my personal experience, but also with working with other survivors of clergy sexual abuse, is that the church hierarchy’s knee-jerk reaction is to contact their lawyers before doing anything else. One would think a moral institution that purports to offer compassion and care to the most marginalized in society would instead take a pastoral approach to survivors who come forward. Sadly, this happens more often than not. First, the Catholic Church attempts to litigate its way out of dealing with the real issue – care and healing of the victim they created. Don’t get me wrong, most survivors need the monetary compensation that a civil suit might provide to deal with an interrupted work history. However, most victims merely want to hear, “What happened to you was wrong. It should never have happened to you. This is what we’re going to do…and, what do you need from us?” These words were never spoken to any survivor I have worked with in the 33 years that I have been advocating for and with survivors.

Secondly, members of the hierarchy, globally, obfuscate when speaking to their flock, the media, the public, and, more importantly, to survivors that come forward. The Roman Catholic Church have staff and unlimited financial resources. How can survivors’ voices, individually or even collectively, ever be heard with limited to no resources to tell our truths?

Thirdly, the secrecy is mind-boggling. Whether it be with meeting a member of the hierarchy or in litigation, a lot of information is held to the chest. Canon law even speaks of ‘secret files’ that must be maintained. Most survivors are told they are “the only victim,” and there is no way to verify or refute it. The church hierarchy has this information but refuses to release it to the public or even to lawyers or plaintiffs. It’s common knowledge that perpetrators rarely only have one victim; therefore, it’s of great importance that victims know they are not alone and that there have potentially been allegations against a clergy perpetrator.

The seal of the confession is making news in the United States as of late. Roman Catholic priests who learn of a child being abused by a penitent (one confessing to a priest) are not required under canon law to report the abuse. In Canada, everyone is a mandated reporter. Everyone. However, those professionals who work with the marginalized in our communities have a greater obligation to report. Does canon law supersede civil law? The church seems to think so.

Finally, on our website, our values are the extreme opposite of what the church espouses vs. what they do, in my experience.

Dr. Amos Guiora: To fully appreciate clergy abuse requires that we recognize the critical role played by enablers. While attention is generally focused on the perpetrator of the abuse, the role of the person in a position of authority/status who knows or should know of harm to vulnerable individuals demands our attention. That is the individual I define as the enabler. In a series of books and articles, I have argued that the enabler must be held accountable for the harm they caused. It is for this reason that I have engaged with legislators, the media, the broader public, survivors, and thought leaders both in the U.S. and internationally, with the aim of criminalizing enablers by enacting legislation addressing the crime of enabling.

In examining clergy abuse, I have focused on the actor who directly protects the institution, indirectly the perpetrator. Interactions with clergy abuse survivors shed powerful light on the harm caused by the enabler upon recognition that the perpetrator had previously abused and should not have had access to the vulnerable individual.

As I learned when writing two books addressing enablers, Armies of Enablers, and The Complicity of Silence, and a series of law review articles, the impact of the harm caused by enablers was, more often than not, a revelation (the word is not used theologically) to the survivors whose primary focus, for understandable reasons, been on the perpetrators. However, when we would “reverse engineer” the interaction with the perpetrator, the survivor would come to understand that absent the enabler, the abuser would not have been able to commit the heinous crime/s they did.

While I am not a person of faith (I am a secular Jew), I have come to appreciate the powerful role of the Church as an institution and the clergy as an individual in the life of a person of faith. Undoubtedly, in the overwhelming majority of cases, this triangular relationship is positive. Of great significance to the believer, the question before us is what happens when abuse occurs and is reported to faith leaders. THAT (caps intended) is the question that demands our attention; as I have come to learn, in many cases, the report is either not believed or the abuse of clergy is “shuffled” off to another location. Both reactions are devastating for the survivor who was not only physically abused but, no less significantly, emotionally injured.

Understanding the harm caused to them would result in neither punishment of the perpetrator nor acknowledgment of the abuse to which they had been subjected, which often resulted in re-victimization. This is the essence of institutional complicity, whereby (in the faith context), faith leaders make the conscious decision to prioritize the “good name” of the church, thereby casting asunder the survivor for whom, in many cases, the abusive clergy was an individual whom they revered and held in the highest regard.

The all-but instinctual reaction to hunker down, reflective of institutional protection, is oft-repeated, almost akin to a time-tested manual with one clear purpose: protect the institution, consequences to the individual be damned. Criminalizing the enabler is necessary to address institutional complicity that protects the abuser while re-victimizing the survivor and placing in harm’s way individuals who will encounter an abusive clergy in the future. Who is the beneficiary of the act of enabling by those whose primary obligation is to protect the vulnerable?

In a clergy-faith context, failure to address the consequences of the harm caused by the enablers is akin to saying to people of faith: we knowingly abandon you, and no less egregiously, we are consciously placing other vulnerable individuals in harm’s way. That, in a nutshell, is the essence of enabling.

The time to act is now, with the understanding that as the lines are written, an individual who should have been protected is in harm’s way because of enablers who have committed the act of enabling. To address this, we need an “all hands-on deck” approach, inspired by a handwritten letter from a Holocaust survivor who once wrote me, “You give voice to the voiceless.”

Ask any survivor: we do not have the luxury of time; given the numbers and accounts of clergy abuse, addressing the crime of enabling demands our immediate attention.

Fr. Bojan Jovanović: First hard fact: Abuse within religious structures is not a “failure” of individuals, but a result of a hierarchical system that enables complete control, isolation, and impunity for perpetrators. Abuse happened—and continues to happen—precisely because of the power that religious office holds: the unquestioning of authority, manipulation of conscience, and the belief that the institution stands above the law. These are not isolated incidents; they are patterns.

The handling of internal disciplinary processes, without mandatory reporting to the state, has allowed rapists to be transferred from one location to another without any punishment. These “internal proceedings” are nothing more than a smokescreen to evade legal accountability. Every such cover-up is an act of complicity, which, in legal terms, qualifies as aiding and abetting or concealing a criminal offense.

Thousands of victims never got the chance to speak out because they were threatened with spiritual consequences—that they would be excommunicated, that they would “harm the Church,” that they would lose their community. This is institutional intimidation. In many cases, those who tried to report abuse were ridiculed, belittled, and their testimonies discredited.

To this day, in many countries, there is no legal framework that obligates religious officials to report suspected sexual abuse. This puts religious institutions above the law, and this must be dismantled in public discourse. Because an institution that delivers moral sermons while protecting rapists is not a sanctuary—it is an organization that must be held accountable like any other. If not more so.

Rev. Dr. John C. Lentz Jr.: What must be consistently stated in public discourse is the amount of clergy sexual abuse (aka “misconduct”) that continues to occur. Furthermore, it is not just a Roman Catholic issue.

I think it is important to note what denominations have done in the past 20 years or so to confront cases of abuse. For example. I know that in the Presbyterian Church USA, there are now criminal background checks for every hire of pastors, Directors of CE, Music directors, and staff. Sexual misconduct trainings are held for all elected leaders of the congregation, and all who volunteer with children (birth through 18) must have said training. Any allegations against a pastor must be reported to the Presbytery (regional governing authority,) and all allegations must be shared with all other Presbyteries if a job transfer is requested. However, it has not stopped abuse from taking place.

In the PCUSA, pastors are legally mandated to report cases of sexual abuse and misconduct. If a pastor is accused, then the Associate Pastor or Clerk of Session (ordained lay leaders) is legally mandated to report the pastor.

I think that most Protestant denominations have moved in the right direction in the matter of sexual misconduct and abuse in the past two decades. However, enabling and covering up continue. The status and perceived power of the pastor or priest continue to create barriers to reporting and accountability.

John Metsopoulos: It is not the fault of the abused, and it can happen at any age. It is a fallacy that it only happens to the young. The abuser uses many forms of abuse, including physical, sexual, emotional, and financial. They may use others to degrade the victims and increase their power and control over the victims. The abuser starts building up the abused, making them feel special, and then they begin to tear them down. In addition, the abuser attempts to alienate them from family, friends, and persons who might see a change in the behavior of the abused. Once they are isolated, the abused now has no one to trust, and the abuser now has complete control over the victims. The abused feels totally alone emotionally and mentally. The abused is further confused as they may enjoy the physical aspect of the abuse, as the body tends to respond to the abuse.

The abused hunt their victims, and seek out victims for the innocence of a person and their depth of faith. The stronger the faith, the greater the opportunity for the abuser. The abuser seeks out individuals whose family is going through turmoil. The abuser seeks out victims whose families have deep faith and would never believe a member of the clergy would abuse anyone. They make the victims feel that what is normal in their lives is abnormal and only they can bring normalcy. Abuse is a total, all-consuming devastation that leaves them alone and deprived of self-respect.

Dr. Hermina Nedelescu: The first truth is this: accused sexual offenders employed as “clergy” by Church institutions often remain in ministry—unimpeded—unless they are criminally convicted and physically imprisoned. Church administrators routinely go to extraordinary lengths to shield or reassign these individuals, often prioritizing institutional reputation over victim safety. This persistent pattern is exactly why enabling behavior must be criminalized, as law professor Amos Guiora has argued through his extensive work on the “enabler” phenomenon.

There is a noteworthy trend. In the Russian and even in Romanian Orthodox churches in Russia and Romania, sexual perpetrators are held accountable at higher rates than sexual perpetrators in Orthodox churches in the United States. Our preliminary data show that more accused clergy are defrocked or penalized by the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia compared to other jurisdictions.

The second truth is even more grotesque: victims of clergy sexual abuse are frequently blamed for their abuse. Church officials often reverse the roles, casting the victim as the perpetrator and the perpetrator as the misunderstood “man of God.” The immense power differential between clergy and laity suddenly disappears from their moral calculus.

We are talking about a crime—so, lacking any legitimate defense, they default to blaming the victim. I read about a case that involved a 4-year-old child accused of “encouraging” an adult man by wearing his boxer shorts. If defenders can stoop to blaming a toddler, they certainly won’t hesitate to call the abuse of an adult woman an “affair” or something “consensual.” That word—“consensual”—has become a favorite among Church apologists, conveniently ignoring the inherent coercion that comes from spiritual authority. But sexual abuse cloaked in sacraments is still sexual assault, which is a crime. Calling it “consensual” doesn’t make a crime any less criminal.

The third truth is a demographic pattern that should raise immediate red flags: clergy sexual abuse cases often involve victims who are decades younger than their abusers. Many of these clergy are well beyond retirement age, yet inexplicably remain in active ministry—exempt from both moral scrutiny and mandatory rest.

And finally, at a recent academic conference on religion and sexual abuse, we presented findings from our research into hundreds of clergy sexual abuse cases within Orthodox Christian communities. The data is clear: the Orthodox Church has a clergy sexual abuse problem. This is not hearsay. This is research-based.

Among U.S.-based Orthodox jurisdictions, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America stands out for having the highest number of reported sexual misconduct cases in the public domain. Oddly enough, this American jurisdiction answers to a high-ranking official based in Istanbul—who was even honored this year with the Templeton Prize for his climate change advocacy.

I find it deeply troubling that a man can be celebrated while disregarding the suffering of women and children who were, and continue to be, abused by clergy under his spiritual authority. There can be no climate justice without social justice. Yet while victims suffer here at home, ultimate decision-making power remains half a world away, seemingly more invested in liturgical pageantry and accolades than in justice for the abused.

Dr. David Pooler: In public discourse around clergy sexual abuse, we must first name it as a phenomenon that is about the abuse and misuse of power, role, and position of a religious authority. The responsibility for the safety of people in interpersonal relationships is on the professional in a position of power. And this is especially true in relationships where someone with more power represents God.

This religious authority does not have to be a pastor or priest only. It is far more about the way the person has power in any given religious system. Even a volunteer who is given much authority and power can use their position to have sex with someone they support.

When the victim is an adult, we must unequivocally state it is not an “affair” and the person being targeted is not “participating willingly.” We must smash the idea that the victim in adult clergy sexual abuse wants this or should be responsible for stopping it. The harm done to a victim is profound and complex. The reason this is so urgent is that officials and spokespersons within religious systems continue to use the idea that it is an unfortunate case of consenting adults who had an inappropriate relationship. The longer we tolerate a false and misleading narrative like this, the longer clergy sexual abuse can be done with impunity, and the harm done to survivors overlooked or minimized.

Dorothy Small: The firm facts and broad trends—based on my personal experience and on conversations with other survivors of clergy-related abuse, whether as adults or as children—are consistent across international cases: dismissal, disbelief, victim-blaming and shaming, retaliation and ostracism after reporting, loss of faith or religious community, and the protection of clergy perpetrators and institutions over the needs of the abused. Silence is rewarded; speaking out is punished, often for the very reasons I’ve listed.

Victims frequently struggle with the emotional impact of grooming tactics. Trauma bonding formed through intensive grooming creates a powerful attachment, akin to an addictive mood-altering substance on brain chemistry. This bond gives the illusion of being “in love,” fostering an addictive pattern that overrides rational judgment. Pursuit behaviors—chasing after what once felt good—are fueled by intermittent reinforcement, alternating “love-bombing” with withdrawal and emotional coercion. This cycle drives the exploited person to dismiss the pain in search of the next emotional high. The victim often falsely believes their involvement was “consensual,” when in reality it was the result of manipulation, not genuine care or love.

Regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, or culture, human beings tend to respond similarly to such abuse, though specific factors can create unique challenges. For example, males sexually abused by males often experience heightened embarrassment and shame, which can adversely affect sexuality. Adults abused by clergy frequently feel responsible not only for what happened but also carry the guilt and shame projected onto them by their abuser.

Michelle Stewart: While most Eastern Orthodox clergy are not abusers, the hierarchical structure creates an environment in which abuse can flourish. Though the majority of clergy are likely well-intentioned, the system of spiritual authority within the Eastern Orthodox Church often acts as a petri dish for misconduct. Allegations must typically pass through multiple layers of hierarchy, where, in my experience, the benefit of the doubt is more often given to the accused than to the victim.

A well-documented example is the case against my former brother-in-law, Fr. Matthew Williams. Another is St. Innocent’s Academy, where reports of student abuse were ignored or minimized for years. In both cases, the Church’s delayed response not only obscured the misconduct but effectively enabled it.

The Church frequently resists external oversight, minimizing legal accountability. When it does respond to allegations, legal action is often delayed or actively resisted. My first encounter with this came nearly twenty years ago in the case of Christ of the Hills Monastery, when ROCOR (Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia) vigorously defended monks accused of child sexual abuse—even supplying character witnesses. As the then-spouse of one such witness, I overheard private conversations in which participants acknowledged the allegations could be credible. Yet the institutional response prioritized church sovereignty over victim protection, with statements like “this is a matter for confession” or, more bluntly, “this is none of the legal system’s business.” Similar dynamics are now playing out in the Fr. Matthew Williams case.

Confession and the authority of the spiritual father are often weaponized to silence victims. In Judas Girl, reflecting on my own experiences and broader patterns of abuse—particularly within ROCOR—I wrote: “There is no greater predator than the one who convinces you they have power over your soul.” Those unfamiliar with Eastern Orthodoxy may underestimate the influence of the spiritual father, especially within the sacrament of confession.

While I do not advocate eliminating confession for those who find it spiritually meaningful, it is important to note two critical points: In many states, clergy are mandatory reporters; however, the seal of confession often exempts them. Many Orthodox believers are taught that obedience to one’s spiritual father is essential for salvation—even when that guidance is ethically or spiritually troubling.

In my own case, when I disclosed emotional or spiritual abuse by my husband or clergy during confession, I was rebuked and told I was spiritually deficient for harboring resentment. I was told such matters were not mine to speak of, but rather the abuser’s to confess. This pattern is not unique to me. Several victims I’ve spoken with shared that after disclosing sexual abuse during confession, they were advised not to speak publicly—reinforcing a culture of silence and spiritual coercion.

Jacobsen: What question is the most crucial to ask about clergy-related abuse to you?

Archer: The most urgent question is why all 50 states do not have legislation holding criminally liable clergy persons who misuse their position of trust and authority. A clergyperson is in a position of trust and power relative to their congregant. A doctor or therapist cannot sexualize a relationship with a patient because professional ethics and state boards recognize the power differential and expressly prohibit this behavior. It is known to be abuse. There are no state boards for clergy. Why is it that clergy get a “pass” on ethical standards, when I would argue that there is even more implicit trust and intimacy in a relationship of soul-care?

I view this from the perspective of an Orthodox Christian, with an understanding of the long history of soul-care within Orthodox Christianity; however, the spiritual intimacy between clergyperson and congregant holds within many other faith traditions as well. Orthodox tradition recognizes a long history of psychotherapy, or care of the psyche. This is different from mental health therapy as it is practiced with a superbill and a co-pay, but truly no different ethically if a priest sexually abuses a man or woman who has gone to him for help. It should be criminalized so that a victim-survivor can gain some understanding of the injury, and a priest cannot continue to pastor.

In the absence of this kind of law in every state, many church bodies “investigate” these abuses as though they were affairs. There may be substantial evidence of what we term misconduct, but it is viewed through the lens of it being an “affair.” This is a reprehensible protection of the institution over a human person who has experienced severe injury. Church investigating bodies, which include attorneys and clergy, inflict greater injuries when sexualized violence is mislabeled as an “affair.” As a society, we should demand that all clergy understand this issue– even if religious seminaries are not addressing this subject well enough for clergy to use the correct language.

Deschênes: The hashtag I used on Twitter was #thechurchcantpoliceitself—and that’s exactly what has been happening for a long time. There is no transparency, only secrecy. All matters are handled internally, leaving victims unaware of what discussions take place or what decisions are made. Many survivors are told the offending clergy is no longer serving their community. Yet, in reality, they often remain in place or are quietly transferred to another parish—sometimes across provincial or federal borders—where new victims can be found.

The Roman Catholic Church, as many can attest, has changed little in its thinking or modus operandi. The few changes that do occur happen over a lifetime, not years or decades. The Church should reevaluate how it responds to victims. One member of the hierarchy once said, when told that most victims simply want an apology, “That can’t happen, because then we set ourselves up for litigation.” Survivors who have endured litigation know how arduous, re-traumatizing, and drawn-out the process can be—delaying healing, if healing is even possible.

My question is: why not evolve and change your approach when a victim of sexual assault by one of your members comes forward? Why is litigation the first response? Why protect your “brother” instead of a member of your flock? What do you lose by treating victims with compassion and care?

I believe the secrecy exists to protect the Church’s reputation. It may have worked in the past. But with the internet, survivors can find one another, offer mutual support, and learn—often through the media—about credible allegations against clergy. What is the Church’s real reputation today? Person A: “Our parish priest was charged with sexual assault.” Person B: “Another one? Well, that’s the Catholic Church for you.” That is the reality now. What institution would want that?

Metsopoulos: What is the true number of cases of abuse by clergy? It seems that a true figure does not exist. It is important to get a true number, as it is a lot higher than the churches or their attorneys admit. They do not want to face the problem, as it is a problem that is at the core of the church’s organization. The abusers in the churches are the majority of the institution. The clergy all have incriminating evidence on each other and blackmail each other to silence each other preventing the truth from coming out. To get a true figure would decimate the churches, and it would become apparent that the rot goes all the way to the top.

Also, the legal professionals associated with the churches are not concerned with the truth coming out, but with protecting the church, allowing the abuse to continue.

The attorneys and churches, under the pretext of wanting to end clergy abuse, seek victims to share their traumatic events to bring justice, when in fact they are attempting to cover the tracks of the abusers and discredit the victims of abuse. The goal is not to achieve justice for the victims but to evade the law. The attorneys play both sides against the middle. They are the worst of the legal profession and, in some ways, worse than the abuser, by providing false hope for the abused.

Why are victims afraid to come forward?

The victims are victimized by the church, the public, friends, and family. They feel isolated, empty, and guilty for coming forward. They feel shame and guilt for allowing it to happen and allowing it to continue. They may confuse healthy sexual relations with abuse. In the end, the victim is victimized and left alone.

Nedelescu: The most urgent question is this: Why are church officials who knowingly enable clergy sexual abuse not held criminally liable?

People including Melania Sakoda and Cappy Larson have spent decades cataloging the crimes of abusive clergy within the Orthodox Church (all jurisdictions), and while that work is continuing by Katherine and I, it is no longer enough. A new frontier of accountability must now target the enablers—the bishops, chancellors, general counsels, and senior administrators who receive complaints, suppress evidence, intimidate victims, move or cover for perpetrators, and then dare to call themselves “spiritual leaders,” “protecting the Church,” or seeking “truth.”

These enablers rarely touch the criminal justice system. Why? Because our legal frameworks still treat institutional cowardice and bureaucratic cover-up as unfortunate oversights rather than as deliberate acts that perpetuate harm. And yet, without the enabler, the perpetrator cannot persist. The real scandal is not just the abuse—it’s the system that sustains it.

We must stop pretending these enablers are merely misguided managers. They are collaborators. Their silence, their memos, their settlement clauses—all of it—forms the infrastructure of abuse. And until we criminalize enabling behavior, the Church will continue protecting predators while branding survivors as “unstable,” “sinful,” “temptress,” or “misunderstood.”

The urgent question is no longer “Who abused?” but “Who knew—and did nothing?” And if the answer is a bishop or a synod or a patriarch, the next question must be: When will that enabler be indicted?

Pooler: To further advance the study of justice in clergy-related abuse, the most crucial question to ask is what barriers stand in the way of churches setting up rigorous protocols to prevent abuse from happening and responding well when abuse is discovered or reported? One answer is Clericalism, the invisible force at play that teaches people to trust a spiritual authority and distrust themselves blindly. Religious leaders benefit from this arrangement, and therefore, religious systems appear impervious primarily to outside feedback and seem to struggle to reflect and accurately appraise how well they train leaders, develop useful processes to deal with abuse, and respond to survivors. In my observation, churches are largely ineffectual in addressing these issues and cannot admit it to themselves or others. And truly, one of my most profound questions is “why”? It would seem to me that churches could lead the way and model to society the virtues of kindness, generosity, care, and create robust and thoughtful responses when a leader injures someone in their care. But churches appear to fail at this repeatedly and often. And a second question is, why aren’t churches asking this question for their own sake? The fact that there isn’t a great answer to either of these questions deeply troubles me.

Small: The most urgent question about clergy abuse is this: Why is it still an issue today, given the decades of documented complaints, known victims, and our expanded understanding of the serious, lifelong health consequences? Addiction, for example, is one such consequence, with far-reaching effects. It is a global epidemic, and research has long shown that at the root of addiction often lies complex post-traumatic stress and other severe mental health conditions, frequently stemming from abusive relationships and relational traumas.

In other caregiving professions, abuse has been met with legal consequences—heavy fines, imprisonment, and loss of licenses—effectively removing offenders from positions of trust. Yet in religious institutions, whose reach and influence are vast, the problem persists. This is a public safety crisis of epic proportions. The data clearly show the profound damage such abuse inflicts on mental and physical health. The most powerful institutions have the capacity either to heal and unify, as they were meant to, or to cause lasting harm, as history has shown.

Why, then, is it so difficult for religious institutions to sanction and remove offenders instead of shielding them—often by transferring them to new locations where they can prey on the vulnerable again? The Catholic Church’s global presence, for instance, allows abusers to be relocated to other countries, where they continue to exploit trust. Vulnerability is universal; trust itself makes anyone susceptible. While minors are the most at risk, vulnerability spans all ages.

Why is immediate corrective action so rare when credible accusations arise? At the very least, institutions could remove the accused from active roles and make their names public. By the time a survivor fully recognizes they were abused, decades may have passed. Concealing an abuser’s identity only leaves others at risk. During the grooming phase, a victim may sense something is wrong, but the perpetrator—armed with authority and institutional backing—can manipulate, plant doubt, and gaslight the target into confusion and compliance. This dynamic not only weakens victims but also enables escalating abuse.

Stewart: The most urgent question is: How can external accountability be meaningfully enforced within the Eastern Orthodox Church, particularly among the clergy?

Abuse can occur in any organization and may never be fully eradicated. However, the decisive factor is how institutions—especially those in positions of authority—respond when abuse surfaces. Their response determines whether the organization actively works against abuse or inadvertently becomes a breeding ground for it. In hierarchical systems like Eastern Orthodoxy, abuse is not merely the result of individual misconduct; it is often facilitated—and concealed—by the very structures designed to provide spiritual guidance. The rigid church hierarchy, combined with the protections of confession, can allow perpetrators to avoid legal scrutiny, while internal mechanisms have consistently failed to safeguard victims.

As documented abuse cases accumulate, the Church—and those responsible for holding it accountable—now stand at a critical crossroads. Raising awareness is an essential first step, but the next imperative is to implement enforceable mechanisms of accountability that address and dismantle the systemic enablers of abuse. While some within the Church hierarchy may resist what they perceive as external intrusion, there is, hopefully, a broader majority of clergy and faithful who are willing to support reform. Their participation is not only desirable—it is likely essential to achieving meaningful change.

Jacobsen: Everyone, thank you for taking a little time to discuss this straightforward topic with complex derivatives. I appreciate the courage, forthrightness, and honesty.

A priest and his power: Consent and the doomed rape case against a residential school principal

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 17:25:11 GMT

Bishop Accountability - August 6, 2025

Williams Lake, BC - Bishop Hubert O’Connor was one of the first Catholic clergy in Canada charged with sexual offences committed at a residential school. In the 1990s, he faced trial for rapes and indecent assaults at St. Joseph’s Indian Residential School in B.C., where he had been principal in the 1960s. The case centered on whether young Indigenous students and staff could genuinely consent to sexual advances from a respected religious authority.

O’Connor was initially found guilty of raping a former teenage student and one count of indecent assault, but was acquitted of other charges. The B.C. Court of Appeal later overturned parts of the ruling, citing that consent under the law at the time did not automatically account for power imbalances. Despite the controversy, Crown prosecutors stayed remaining charges after a restorative justice healing circle in 1998, where survivors addressed how his actions affected their lives.

Man sues over claim of sex abuse by priests

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 17:28:47 GMT

Winnipeg Free Press - June 17, 2025

Winnipeg, MB - A Winnipeg man is suing the Catholic Archdiocese of Winnipeg, alleging he was repeatedly sexually abused by two priests from ages 5 to 13 in the 1960s and ’70s.

The lawsuit claims over 100 assaults by Jesuit priests Harold J. Bedford and Robert L. MacDougall, both now deceased, and accuses the church of failing to protect him. He says he was silenced when he reported the abuse and witnessed other family members being assaulted.

The Archdiocese has not yet responded, and the allegations have not been proven in court.

Sentence delayed for Saskatoon priest convicted of sexually assaulting 13-year-old girl

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 17:20:34 GMT

CTV News - June 16, 2025

Saskatoon, SK - A Saskatoon priest found guilty of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl will have to wait to know his fate after a judge reserved her sentencing decision for another date at Saskatoon Provincial Court Monday.

The court heard sentencing arguments and victim impact statements after Ukrainian Catholic priest Janko Kolosnjaji was found guilty in February.

Researchers publish names of priests, religious who served in Canadian residential schools

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 13:00:10 GMT

Bishop Accountability - May 30, 2025

Winnipeg, MB - In May 2025, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation published a list of over 100 Oblate priests and brothers who worked in Canadian residential schools. The list aims to support transparency, accountability, and healing for Indigenous communities. These schools, many run by the Oblates, were part of a system that forcibly assimilated Indigenous children and led to widespread abuse. The release helps centralize scattered records and acknowledges the Church’s role in this dark chapter of Canadian history.

Retired priest charged with sexual offences against minor

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 12:46:23 GMT

The Eastern Graphic - May 28, 2025

Georgetown, ON - A retired Catholic priest appeared in Georgetown Provincial Court on Thursday facing three sex-related charges stemming from the late 1980s against a minor.

The 79-year-old man is charged with sexual touching of a person under 14 and sexual assault. He was also charged under Section 159 of the Criminal Code, which prohibited anal intercourse except between a husband and wife or people over the age of 18. That section has since been repealed but was in effect at the time.

Abuse claims against N.L. archdiocese swells to $121M following successful appeal by victims

Wed, 02 Apr 2025 19:45:37 GMT

CBC Lite - April 1, 2025

St. John's, NL - A Newfoundland court has increased the total liability of the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s to $121 million after a successful appeal by 59 victims of sexual abuse. These victims, previously excluded from compensation, were awarded $15.3 million in addition to the $104-million settlement approved in 2024 for nearly 300 victims. The case involves abuse by the Christian Brothers at Mount Cashel orphanage and other Catholic institutions in Newfoundland and British Columbia.

Despite selling over 100 properties, the corporation has only raised $40 million—far short of the required funds. A previous $22 million was distributed to victims, but insurance coverage was denied. The provincial government may also face legal pressure to contribute to compensation.

Justice Garrett Handrigan ruled that the corporation remains liable, reversing decisions that denied compensation to some victims. This includes 12 claimants in British Columbia, where church officials knowingly transferred abusive clergy from Newfoundland. However, past settlements will be deducted from new awards. The court will finalize this latest settlement after May 1.

Addressing the Impact of Clergy Sexual Abuse: A Path Toward Healing and Accountability

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 13:42:30 GMT

Aaron Lealess, Beckett Personal Injury Lawyers - December 12, 2024

Clergy sexual abuse is a grave and deeply troubling issue that has impacted countless individuals and communities worldwide. The abuse of power and trust by religious leaders has left scars that are not easily healed. In the wake of these crimes, both the victims and society as a whole must grapple with the consequences of such profound violations. Addressing the impact of clergy sexual abuse requires not only acknowledging the pain it has caused but also taking actionable steps toward accountability, justice, and healing for all involved.

The Lasting Trauma of Clergy Sexual Abuse

The emotional, psychological, and spiritual trauma caused by clergy sexual abuse is profound. Many survivors experience a range of effects, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a loss of faith. The abuse often undermines an individual’s sense of safety and trust, and when the abuser is a person in a position of religious authority, it can also lead to spiritual disillusionment.

For many survivors, the abuse occurs within an environment of silence and secrecy, where the church or religious institution may have actively shielded the abuser from accountability. This complicates the healing process, as victims may feel invalidated or isolated, unsure of where to turn for support. The damage done can extend beyond the individual, affecting families, communities, and the broader faith tradition itself.

The Importance of Accountability and Justice

One of the most important steps in addressing the impact of clergy sexual abuse is ensuring accountability. Church leaders, institutions, and society must recognize that sexual abuse is never acceptable, regardless of the perpetrator’s position within the church hierarchy. This includes:

Transparency and Investigation: Religious institutions must be open about allegations and investigations, ensuring that those who are responsible for abuse face legal and ecclesiastical consequences. A refusal to act or silence around such abuse only perpetuates the trauma.

Support for Survivors: Survivors of clergy sexual abuse must receive the care, recognition, and resources they need to heal. This includes legal support, access to counseling, and a safe space for survivors to share their stories without fear of retribution or disbelief.

Policy Changes: Religious institutions need to establish and enforce stringent protocols to prevent abuse, ensuring that leaders are properly vetted and trained to maintain safe environments. This should include creating clear channels for reporting abuse, as well as enforcing zero-tolerance policies.

Legal and Financial Responsibility: Faith-based institutions must be held legally accountable for failing to protect vulnerable individuals from abuse. This may include criminal charges, civil lawsuits, or other legal actions. The financial resources of the institution can be used to fund survivors’ compensation programs, therapy, and other necessary support services.

A Commitment to Restorative Justice

While criminal and legal measures are crucial, restorative justice offers a complementary approach. Restorative justice is a process in which offenders are held accountable for their actions while offering victims a chance to heal and restore their dignity. In the context of clergy sexual abuse, restorative justice can help:

Acknowledge the Harm Done: Survivors often feel as though their pain has been minimized or ignored. Restorative justice allows them to voice their experiences and receive the recognition they deserve.

Provide a Path to Healing: Instead of focusing solely on punishment, restorative justice allows for healing and dialogue between the survivor and the community, promoting understanding and reconciliation.

Prevent Future Abuse: By focusing on accountability and communal responsibility, restorative justice can help prevent future abuse by transforming the practices within faith communities

Moving Forward: Healing and Renewal

Addressing the impact of clergy sexual abuse is a long and challenging journey, but it is essential for the health and integrity of religious communities and society at large. In the aftermath of abuse, it is crucial for survivors to be empowered to reclaim their lives and their faith, should they choose to do so. This requires empathy, consistent support, and a genuine commitment to change.

As we move forward, it is important to remember that addressing clergy sexual abuse requires collective action, a commitment to justice, and a deep respect for those whose lives have been forever altered. Only through a shared commitment to accountability, compassion, and transformation can we create a future where abuse of any kind is not tolerated.

A good resource is Outrage Canada, which is a non-religious coalition of outraged Canadians that holds the Roman Catholic church of Canada accountable for ongoing crimes and advocates for all victims of Catholic clergy. They are committed to ensuring justice for victims, the safety of all children and the prevention of abuse by the Roman Catholic church.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted by a member of the clergy, reach out to an experienced personal injury lawyer.

‘Sugarcane’ exposes horrifying abuse of Native children in Canadian schools

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 13:53:34 GMT

PBS News - February 17, 2025

An investigation at an Indian residential school in Canada is the focus of the documentary, “Sugarcane," named after a Native reservation in British Columbia. The film is up for an Academy Award, and has already made history: it's the first time an Indigenous director from North America has been nominated for an Oscar. Jeffrey Brown spoke to the filmmakers for our series, "CANVAS."

Pope accepts resignation of Canadian bishop accused of sexual abuse

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 13:39:42 GMT

Yahoo News - February 18, 2025

Ottawa, ON - Pope Francis on Tuesday said he had accepted the resignation of a Canadian bishop who has been named in a class-action lawsuit against the church that alleges sexual assault.

The pope did not give a reason for replacing Jean-Pierre Blais, the 75-year-old bishop of Baie-Comeau in the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec, and the diocese said the resignation was not linked to the allegations. He also named a replacement: Reverend Pierre Charland, 62, currently a leading member of Canada's Roman Catholic Franciscan order.

In a statement, the pope noted that any bishop who turns 75 is automatically requested to offer his resignation. The pope makes a decision on whether to accept the offer "after he has examined all the circumstances", the statement said.

Catholic Diocese and B.C school settle abuse lawsuit for $3.4M

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 21:04:38 GMT

CBC Lite - February 11, 2025

Prince George, BC - A lawsuit had alleged sexual assault in the early 1990s, while the plaintiff was a student. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince George, B.C., says it hopes a $3.4 million settlement gives an alleged victim of sexual abuse by a school teacher "some degree of restitution for the harm that was so unjustly inflicted upon him by his abuser."

The settlement by the diocese and St. Thomas More Collegiate, a Catholic school in Burnaby, B.C., was announced in a statement released by lawyer Sandra Kovacs, who represented the anonymous man in the lawsuit.

Also named in the lawsuit was former teacher Alfred Patrick Quigley, who the anonymous plaintiff said sexually abused him in the 1990s.

Montana Democrats Want Priests to Report Confessions of Child Abuse

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 23:20:56 GMT

Montana Democrats want to require priests to report confessions of child abuse

Jan. 27, 2025

From: The Friendly Atheist

Seven Democratic lawmakers in Montana have filed a bill that would require clergy members to report child abuse to law enforcement authorities if they happen to learn about it through the act of confession.

As it stands, if someone walks into a confessional booth and admits to molesting a child, the priest doesn’t have to do anything with that information. Just say a couple of Hail Marys and be done with it.

Compare that to doctors, social workers, or public school teachers, who are required by law to file a report if they learn about, or suspect, a child being abused.

Why won’t religious leaders agree to report suspected abusers? In the Catholic Church, Vatican officials have long claimed that the “ seal of confession ” is sacrosanct. Anything said in a confessional booth must be kept secret no matter what. If there’s any potential that the “clergy-penitent privilege” might be broken—and that certain confessions may be used as evidence against the confessor—it could destroy the very nature of the sacrament.

St. John's appeals insurance denial ruling

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 14:05:46 GMT

The Catholic Register - January 27, 2025

[Note: Counsel for survivors is supportive of the Archdiocese’s appeal as it will be the survivor-claimants within the Insolvency of the Archdiocese who would benefit if the appeal were to succeed and these policies of insurance were determined to be valid.]

St. John's, Newfoundland - The Archdiocese of St. John’s is attempting to overturn a decision by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador that released Guardian Insurance from covering part of its settlement with clergy abuse survivors. The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s (RCEC) filed an appeal after Justice Peter Brown ruled that the archdiocese failed to disclose instances of clerical sexual abuse when applying for an insurance policy in 1980, which led to the nullification of the policy.

RCEC’s legal team argued that the court made errors in not properly weighing evidence and claimed that sexual abuse was not a significant factor in underwriting insurance policies in the early 1980s. They also contested the claim that the archdiocese made false representations about its knowledge of abuse.

The case involves the abuse by Fr. James Hickey, who was convicted of numerous sexual offenses, and other priests within the archdiocese. Survivors of the abuse have already received compensation, with more plaintiffs recently gaining the right to seek compensation. The archdiocese has raised funds through the sale of property to cover the settlements, but the total amount needed has increased as more claimants come forward.

Need for Mandatory Sexual Abuse Reporting from the Confessional: A Letter to Cardinal Leo, Jan. 6, 2025

Tue, 28 Jan 2025 18:36:16 GMT

President Irene Deschênes wrote to Cardinal Leo, Archbishop of Toronto requesting mandatory reporting of sexual abuse expressed in the confessional:

On January 6, 2025 Outrage Canada President Irene Deschênes sent a letter on behalf of the Outrage Canada Board to Cardinal Frank Leo, Archbishop of Toronto requesting that he assure the Board in writing, that Canon Law within your Archdiocese yields to and observes the mandatory reporting requirement of child abuse as noted under Ontario law, specifically section 125 of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, S.O. 2017, c.14, Sched. Here is an excerpt from her letter:

We write today, seeking your leadership, wisdom and compassion concerning the safety and well-being of Canadian children, in particular those of your archdiocese.

Outrage Canada is a national, non-religious coalition of outraged Canadians, committed to ensuring justice for victims, the safety of all children and the prevention of abuse by the Roman Catholic church. You can learn more about us at www.outragecanada.ca .

An issue which has arisen is the intersection of Canon Law and the secular law of the land (civil law). We understand that Canon 22 of the Code of Canon Law states: “Civil laws to which the law of the Church yields are to be observed in canon law with the same effects, insofar as they are not contrary to divine law and unless canon law provides otherwise.”

Could you please confirm, and assure us in writing, that Canon Law within your Archdiocese yields to and observes the mandatory reporting requirement of child abuse as noted under Ontario law, specifically section 125 of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, S.O. 2017, c.14, Sched1? As you know, this mandatory reporting requirement does NOT exempt communications under the seal of the confessional. When someone discloses child abuse it is a precious moment for intervention. Such intervention can prevent further abuse, aid healing and in fact save lives, as some victims resort to suicide as an escape. For you, as a steward and shepherd of the church, intervention is even more important, given the canonical penalties imposed upon clerics who are found guilty of sexual crimes against children. The broader harm done to the Catholic community when these tragic events come to light cannot be understated.

We believe that you are of the same mind as Outrage Canada on this urgent issue, and so we look forward to your assurances that credible accusations, or even suspicions of child abuse, are promptly reported to the secular authorities in your jurisdiction as civil law mandates, including those received within the confessional.

N.L. judge rules that 59 abuse victims who had their claims rejected should be compensated

Mon, 30 Dec 2024 16:13:05 GMT

CBC News - December 21, 2024

Dozens of abuse victims across Canada, whose claims for compensation were previously rejected, have won a legal victory against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's. In a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Justice Garrett A. Handrigan determined that 59 individuals who had their claims disallowed are entitled to compensation. These claims were part of a larger settlement process that had initially approved $105 million in compensation for 367 survivors, but some claims were rejected. The archdiocese has been selling properties to fund the compensation, raising around $44 million, and is in discussions with insurers and the provincial government for additional funds.

MARTIN: Class-action lawsuit shines light on torment of past abuse

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 14:35:00 GMT

Calgary Sun - December 5, 2024

Calgary, AB - It must be utterly horrible to be haunted by one’s past, especially one that stretches back more than four decades. But such is the reality for Bobbie Bees, the plaintiff at the centre of a class-action lawsuit against the federal government over acts of sexual abuse by a Canadian Armed Forces chaplain at an Edmonton base before the priest/soldier’s court martial in 1980.

Father Angus McRae, who was a captain stationed at Canadian Forces Base Namao between 1978 and 1980, was a child molesting pedophile who left in his wake several broken children.

Frustration mounts as ex-Christian Brother remains uncharged, 1 year after his arrest

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 18:35:16 GMT

CBC News - December 5, 2024

The article discusses the ongoing frustration of former students and complainants in the case of Edward English, a former Christian Brother who was convicted of child abuse at Mount Cashel Orphanage in Newfoundland. English, after being moved to British Columbia in 1975, is now accused of abusing students at two Catholic schools there, but no charges have been laid against him in BC, despite a year passing since his arrest.

The article also touches on the history of English's abuse, including his role in the Mount Cashel scandal and his eventual conviction in 1991. The legal system’s failure to pursue charges in BC has left victims feeling hopeless, with some suffering severe emotional consequences.

Iraq to lower age of consent for girls to just 9 years old and allow men to marry young kids: ‘This law legalizes child rape’

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 17:20:01 GMT

World News - November 10, 2024

Iraq is poised to pass a new law that would lower the legal age of consent from 18 to nine, allowing men to marry young girls, according to a new report.

The Shia conservative groups that dominate Iraq’s parliament have proposed an amendment to the country’s “personal status law” that could see a Taliban-style rollback of all women’s rights .

The chance would allow young girls to be married off and put nearly all family decisions in the hands of religious authorities, said Raya Faiq, who is coordinating a challenge against the bill with female Iraqi representatives.

“This is a catastrophe for women,” Faiq told The Guardian . “This law legalizes child rape.”

COP29 row breaks out with Vatican over gender rights

Tue, 26 Nov 2024 16:06:39 GMT

BBC - November 20, 2024

The Vatican has blocked discussions over women’s rights at the UN climate summit following a row over gay and transgender issues, sources have told BBC News.

Pope Francis’ representatives have aligned with Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, and Egypt to obstruct a deal which would have provided more support, including financial help, for women at the forefront of climate change, Colombia’s environment minister told the BBC.

Ont. law firm seeks information on convicted Catholic priest amid active abuse lawsuit

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 21:00:08 GMT

CTV News Windsor - November 21, 2024

An Ontario law firm is seeking information about the movements and activities of a Catholic priest who was convicted of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy before he died. Father Leo Charron was a parish priest in the Emeryville area from 1957 to 1958, in Windsor from 1959 to the mid-1960s and in the Pain Court and Stoney Point areas thereafter.

According to media reports, Charron was convicted in 1993 of indecent assault and gross indecency involving a 12-year-old boy and was sent to jail for four months. "There's a level of difficulty when you're dealing with historical matters decades ago, finding people, tracking down information and memories," said lawyer Rob Talach.

Canadian leads group pushing Vatican for zero-tolerance policy on abuse by clergy

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 19:58:50 GMT

CTV News - November 20, 2024

An international group led by a Canadian is in Rome this week to push the Catholic Church to adopt a zero-tolerance policy on abuse by clergy.

Newfoundlander Gemma Hickey is the board president of non-profit Ending Clergy Abuse, which is advocating for the church to adopt widespread rules requiring any priest or deacon found guilty of sexual abuse to be removed permanently from ministry.

The Traumatised Brain After Leaving Toxic Religion: A Blog by Clare Heath-McIvor

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 14:18:09 GMT

I sat in my neurologists office and looked at the images on his computer. White matter microangiopathy. He brushed it off with a glib, “It’s only minor. Something we would expect to see in a migraine sufferer of your age and symptomatology.” But it was there, in black and white. White patches all over my brain scan.

White matter microangiopathy is what happens when tiny lesions appear on your brain, slowing the connections between axons and neurons. In over 60’s, it can cause balance issues, slow walking (oh GOD I don’t ever want to become a slow walker), difficulty multitasking and more. For me, I’m probably asymptomatic for now. Thankfully, due to neuroplasticity, exercise, brain training and an intellectually heavy job, I might stay that way.

Bottom of Form

What I knew, what the neurologist was yet to know, is that my migraines are stress-reactive. It’s my body and brain saying, “Okay, this situation is too hard. I’m taking you offline.” It’s like forced dissociation - something I’ve learned is sorta adaptive. But why do I get migraines? Trauma. Specifically religious and other trauma. I am one of the many people who left a toxic church with a parting gift called PTSD. (although it may have started in another church). I returned to my home church searching for solace and found none. And cPTSD was added to my growing artillery of, uh, special skills.

These days, concentration is an issue. I have symptoms that show up like ADHD, but they’re not ADHD. They’re a trauma-shredded brain. But despite all that, it’s a pretty incredible brain. Its a brain that calms down when you feed it coffee - meaning I can slug an espresso and then immediately take a nap. It's a brain that can write academic papers and fiction and non-fiction books, coach executives, manage board presentations, and consult on a number of issues spanning strategic communications to cults, coercive control, religious indoctrination, extremism and more. It’s a great brain. But it is a trauma-addled brain.

And it’s a brain that cannot proofread a tweet to save itself. Or clean the fridge. My goodness. The fridge.

A week ago, electrodes were attached to my earlobes and the back of my skull, measuring the amplitude of my brainwaves. I should have been showing up about 6-12Mhz, given my resting state and the targeted brain segment. I was putting out 34. And now I had a number for how much my brain was working to process the flashbacks, the stress, the ongoing triggers, the grief, and the happiness I’ve found in the life outside.

And I knew why I was so tired. All the time. I’m a duck. Steady mood. Unflappable sense of humour. Happy. But neurologically, my feet are under the water and paddling like fury to keep it all afloat.

The truth is I am far from alone. Anecdotally, lots of people I’ve encountered through my podcasts (Unchurchable, and Survivors Discuss) and survivor groups have recounted similar things: CPTSD, PTSD, anxiety, depression, panic disorders, existential dread, paralysis over basic decisions, fear that every bit of bad luck is the judgement of a vengeful God. It takes a bit of processing by survivors, and ironically, it’s usually the after-effects of Institutions that believe they act on behalf of a loving God and show that love through means that inflict damage.

I don’t believe they mean it. I do think they are indoctrinated to think this is love, without looking at its fruit and scrutinizing it as being rotten. I do believe they lack the introspective ability and critical thinking to stop protecting the perpetrators and act like Jesus would and care for the vulnerable.

But where does it leave us? The people with brains shredded by religious abuse and abuse that occurred in religious settings (if I dare make such a distinction between the two?)

New Studies are looking at people like us.

This time last year, a study emerged from the Global Centre for Religious Research examining the percentage of US adults suffering from religious trauma {1}. The study, published in March of 2023, took data from 1,581 adults living in the US. Now, that is what we in the research world would call a pretty hefty sample size, allowing us to make some predictions about what it means for the rest of the population. Here’s what it found.

27-33% of people have experienced religious trauma at some point in their life.

That number hiked up to 37% if the participant was suffering from three of the six major religious trauma symptoms.

90% of the respondents know between one and ten people who they believe may suffer from religious trauma symptoms.

It could mean that up to one in five Americans suffer from symptoms of religious trauma syndrome.

Yikes. Yikes for America. Yikes for the rest of the Western world, where similar evangelical attitudes, methods and dominionist campaigns exist.

So what is religious trauma syndrome, and what are its symptoms?

While religious trauma syndrome is yet to be included in the Diagnostic Manual of the Psychological Profession (the DSMV) it is increasingly being recognized by psychologists and psychotherapists. Religious Trauma Syndrome its thought to be “a set of symptoms, ranging in severity, and experienced by those who have participated in or left behind authoritarian, dogmatic and controlling religious groups and belief systems.” {2, 3, 4}

How’s this for a symptom list?

Cognitive issues like confusion, difficulty with decision making, difficulty with critical thinking, identity confusion
Affect issues like anxiety, panic attacks, depression, suicidal ideation, anger, grief, guilt, loneliness and lack of meaning
Functional issues like sleep and eating disorders, nightmares, sexual dysfunction, substance abuse and somatization
Social and cultural issues such as ruptured family and social networks, employment issues, financial stress, interpersonal issues and issues fitting in with society.
Developmental Delays includes emotional, sexual intellectual, and social immaturity due to control of information and other restrictions.

It’s depressing to read, I know. Especially if you look at it and go, “tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.” But I write this to hammer home the idea that it’s treatable. Increasingly, the psychological profession is looking at this, realizing its potential severity, doing the research to provide much-needed empirical data, but most of all, turnings its eyes to supporting religious trauma sufferers.

As Australia jumps through more hoops to ban sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts (conversion therapy), and to stop the nations largest lobby group from pressuring a progressive government into caving on religious freedom laws (which would allow church institutions to discriminate against LGTBQ+ teachers), its worth noting the damage church does to many.

I’m not anti-God. I’m absolutely not anti-Jesus. But it’s time Church faces a reckoning over the trail of wreckage that leads from its pulpits. From the victims of the Hillsong scandals to the Gothard and IBLP kids to the homeschooled kids, the parentified kids, the kids denied medical care because prayer was supposed to work, to the people who lost agency because they entered a high control group where their decision-making ability was handed to the dear leader.

There’s a bit to sort through.

I’m happy these days. Sure, I get hit by waves of grief, and I miss my mum and siblings like nothing else. I also know it’s not time yet. It’s not safe for any of us to reconnect yet without doing damage. I have wonderful friends, a booming business, hobbies, rewarding projects, kids I adore, the freedom to choose and the wear-with-all to do so. Life is good. I also have white matter microangiopathy, migraines, PTSD, cPTSD and a little something called burnout.

I don’t know whether I’ll ever fully recover from what church did to me - made even more troublesome given the role of my family in church - but I do know that better is one day out here than a thousand days inside. I had roughly 13,505 days inside. I’ve clocked up about 1,460 days outside. And I can smile.

Hang in there religiously traumatized friends. Help is on the way. The psych system is starting to understand us. Scandal after scandal breaks for big church as Lady Justice begins her slow, deliberate march toward the steeple. And we got out.

I wish you peace and healing. Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

Clare Heath-McIvor

Sign the Petition: Remove Fr. Pereira from Barrie, Ontario Schools

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 01:17:39 GMT

A request from Melanie Sakoda, SNAP Survivor Support Director:

Parents in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, are concerned that Father Neil Pereira has been returned to ministry in their Catholic school district. The priest was arrested on July 26, 2023, and charged with sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference involving a a child. The charges were later withdrawn.

If you agree that Fr. Pereira should not be working in schools, please sign and circulate the parents' petition .

All charges stayed on 2nd day of trial against Manitoba priest accused of sexually assaulting girl

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 16:14:14 GMT

CBC News - November 13, 2024

Little Grand Rapids, MB - A Manitoba priest accused of sexually assaulting a now-nine-year-old girl in Little Grand Rapids First Nation last year has had all charges against him stayed, a day after the girl at the centre of the case testified against him. Following his arrest, Savari was suspended from all ministerial duties and "forbidden to have anything to do with former parishioners and children," according to a 2023 news release from the Archdiocese of St. Boniface.

Seminaries & Residential Schools: Polar Opposites

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 02:51:03 GMT

A Reflection by Richard Thain, DDS, OC Board Member, October 29, 2024

Seminary: Residential School:

Elitist, you are superior You are inferior

Build you up You are worthless

Strengthen your Catholic culture Destroy your Indigenous culture

Better than society Second-class citizen

Above the law You must obey

A Poem by David Gordon

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 02:31:06 GMT

I was a child, just a kid

Sent away at 13

From the city I lived

To the city of Edmonton
Far away from family home

Widowed mother, father dead

Entrusted into care

Of holy men in holy robe

To guard me from evil

Guide me closer to God

To lead me as I grow

I was a child, just a kid

Sent away at 13

From the city I lived

To the city of Edmonton
Far away from family home

Widowed mother, father dead

Entrusted into care

Of holy men in holy robe

To guard me from evil

Guide me closer to God

To lead me as I grow

In a residential school

Supposed to help boys

Grow into good men

We were students of God

Led by men of the cloth

Who suffered abuses within

No place to run

Nowhere to hide

No one to tell

A secret, I kept

Now deep inside

Betrayed by those

Who were trusted most

Beyond suspicion

Above reproach

The damage done

Faith shattered & broke

No longer a believer

In heavens or Gods

Fire or brimstone

All innocence lost

Stolen from me

From a Brother of trust

A wolf in sheep's clothing

In his moment of lust

Lust for a child

Unimaginable thoughts

Hands set upon me

By a man of the cloth

Crushed by the image

Of the boy that I was

Stripped naked, alone

By a man I should trust

Never the same

Damaged within

Lost all respect

For a man who would sin

Who took the innocence

Away from a child

Separated from heaven

By a million and one miles

A distant place

To travel from

Carried through decades

Of the things that were done

To boys like me

Who were frozen in time

By men of the cloth

Who committed they're crime

Unable to speak

Unable to tell

By the boys like me

Still tortured inside

By men like them...

Demons from hell

A lifetime of struggle

A lifetime of pain

Of being sexually abused

We've carried that shame

A shame set upon us

With measures of guilt

Self abuse through addictions

From the pain that we felt

With nowhere to run

And nowhere to hide

Boys who were abused

Become broken men

Tormented spirit inside

Wrestling with heartache

Trying to speak and be heard

Breaking down barriers

Still haunted by memories

Wanting truth, our last word

About men of the cloth

Who hid from they're sins

Inside institutions

Of religion & god

Hypocrites of faith...

Behind an illusion

Still keeping they're secrets within

For decades protected

By the followers of gods

At the expense of the children

Who's innocence was lost

Who no one believed

When they cried to be heard

About abuse never spoken

In the world of the church

A world now distant

From what I knew then

To the world I know now

About the men who would sin

The man I became

Is the boy left behind

With his innocence lost

Now frozen in time

No more faith in religion

Father, son, holy ghost

Or the men of the cloth

Who betrayed us the most

Stealing away innocence

With the things that they did

Sexually abusing us...

When we were just kids

Written by

David Robin Gordon

September 8th, 2024

Final Revision for Print

September 16th, 2024

Vancouver, BC Canada

Priest back in schools after sex-related charges withdrawn; parents unhappy

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 20:28:47 GMT

Barrie Today - November 6, 2024

Barrie, ON - Parents of students enrolled with the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board (SMCDSB) voiced their concerns Tuesday night about a priest working in local schools after sex-related charges stemming from an alleged incident in 2023 were withdrawn earlier this year. The meeting, held Nov. 5 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Amelia Street in Barrie, was at times tense as parents pressed the school board’s director of education, Frances Bagley, and Father Larry Leger, a priest with the Archdiocese of Toronto, for answers to their questions. About 50 people were in attendance, including parents and other school officials.

Father Neil Pereira, 34, was arrested by Peterborough police on July 26, 2023, and charged with sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference involving a minor. The charges were later withdrawn.

"Get the piano off your back"

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 17:14:43 GMT

Bernadette Howell, Spiritual Health Practitioner - November 6, 2024

Breaking silence. Confronting clergy abuse.

This blog post reflects on the impact of the documentary Prey, which tells the story of clergy sexual abuse survivor Rod MacLeod and his legal battle against the Basilian Fathers of Toronto. The author expresses gratitude for the readers of the blog and introduces the key story of Chris McLean, a survivor who, after watching Prey at the Windsor International Film Festival, decided to come forward and pursue justice for his own abuse. The documentary, first released in 2019, had a profound effect on McLean, inspiring him to take legal action.

The blog highlights the long and arduous process of seeking justice in cases of clergy abuse, emphasizing how victims often face years of legal battles, emotional strain, and invasive scrutiny, including psychological assessments. It also delves into the complexities of the legal system, particularly the differences between compensatory and punitive damages, and how the Catholic Church, despite acknowledging the abuse, typically disputes the financial consequences. The post critiques the Church's handling of abuse cases, including its tendency to offer inadequate settlements to survivors and appeal verdicts, which delays justice further.

Chatham author’s first novel delves into child sexual abuse by clergy

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:04:24 GMT

Windsor Star - October 30, 2024

Chatham, ON - It’s been nearly two decades since news came to light about young girls being sexually assaulted by a Catholic priest while serving at churches in Southwestern Ontario and the cover-up by the church, but Renée D. Bondy hasn’t forgotten about it.

The Chatham woman’s first novel [non]disclosure, published by Second Story Press, tells the story of a young girl who was abused by a Catholic priest. Like many victims, she kept a dark secret for years before finding her voice.

Where we go from here

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 15:08:57 GMT

Bernadette Howell, Spiritual Health Practitioner - October 29, 2024

Breaking silence. Confronting clergy abuse.

The Church is not ‘tradition’. The Church is not the past. The Church is where we go from here.”

This week, I want to speak to three different organizations you can join should you wish to actively play a part in ‘where we go from here’. She lists: Catholic Church Reform International (CCRI), Concerned Lay Catholics (CLC), and Outrage Canada.

You can be a fully involved member of the Catholic Church, active in your own parish and still become a member of Outrage Canada or you can be someone with no religious affiliation whatsoever, and still show your support by becoming a member of Outrage Canada.

I would encourage you all to add voice and become members of Outrage Canada .

‘Time to stop lying’ — Documentary Prey inspired Windsor clergy abuse survivor to come forward

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 14:40:45 GMT

Windsor Star - October 29, 2024

Windsor, ON - On Oct. 8, MacLean settled a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of London for the abuse perpetrated by Rev. Joe Nelligan in Windsor. “The documentary really touched me,” MacLean told the Star. “It was time to stop lying. Not telling the truth is no different than lying.

“For years, I didn’t tell people I knew that were strongly Catholic because I didn’t want them to get hurt. But I got to a point where I couldn’t keep living the lie.”

Prey focuses on Rod MacLeod, a survivor of sex abuse by Rev. William Hodgson Marshall, and his lawyer Rob Talach as they take on the Catholic church.

'Inside job': Clergy sexual abuse survivor shares story decades later

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 20:18:10 GMT

CTV News Windsor - October 29, 2024

Windsor, ON - After nearly 50 years in silence, Chris MacLean is ready to share his experience of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

MacLean, who now lives in Toronto, said he was taken advantage of by Father Joe Nelligan while attending Brennan High School in Windsor in 1979.

“It wasn't just my parish priest who I saw on a weekly basis, and if I didn't like him, I could just not go. He was at my high school,” MacLean told CTV News.

Catholic Church to pay $76 million to abuse victims in eastern Canada

Mon, 28 Oct 2024 16:13:57 GMT

Microsoft Start - July 6, 2024

The Catholic Church will pay 104 million Canadian dollars ($76 million) to hundreds of victims of sexual abuse from eastern Canada, according to a statement released Friday. This follows a 2020 court ruling where the Archdiocese of St. John was found liable for one of Canada's largest child sex abuse scandals at Mount Cashel Orphanage, a now-defunct boy's orphanage in Newfoundland and Labrador province.

Dear Cardinal-Elect, Frank Leo

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 17:19:20 GMT

Bernadette Howell, Spiritual Health Practitioner - October 15, 2024

Breaking silence. Confronting clergy abuse.

Open letter to newly appointed Canadian Cardinal Francis (Frank) Leo.

In your new role as cardinal, you will have far greater ability to address the horrors of clergy abuse and especially the lack of trust that continues to plague the health of this Church. This lack of trust is sadly born from the absence of accountability and transparency. With such proximity to senior leadership of the global Catholic Church as well as becoming an advisor to Pope Francis, you are now being placed in a political role where you can bring about real change should you wish to do so. And I have to believe that you do.

B.C. Catholic school, archdiocese face another sex abuse case

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 18:37:23 GMT

Vancouver Is Awesome - October 9, 2024

Vancouver, BC - A B.C. man is alleging he was subjected to sexual abuse and physical violence while a boy at a Vancouver Roman Catholic school. The victim said in an Oct. 7 Supreme Court of B.C. notice of civil claim that he suffered organized and protracted psychological, physical, spiritual and sexualized abuse by various lay and religious teachers and staff when he was a minor and a student at Vancouver College, a private Roman Catholic all-boys school between 1980 and 1984.

Two Priestly Paths Collide

Fri, 04 Oct 2024 14:58:14 GMT

The Catholic Register - October 2, 2024

One way or another, the lives and careers of Fr. Thomas Rosica and Fr. Michael Bechard have been entwined for nearly 30 years. The two priests are now locked in a civil case that may prove to be the final nail in the coffin of what was, up until five years ago, an illustrious ecclesiastical career.

Canada: Canon lawyer advised destruction of religious archives

Wed, 25 Sep 2024 18:25:43 GMT

La Croix International - September 25, 2024

Montreal, QC - A law firm claims religious archivists destroyed documents related to abuse to avoid lawsuits. Legal advice from a canon lawyer led to reducing sensitive records. Investigations later uncovered widespread document destruction, raising serious concerns about transparency and accountability within the Church.

There is no mention in the archives of the Archdiocese of Montreal “of any aggression towards women or any malicious act by once-renowned French Capuchin priest Abbé Pierre — accused of committing sexual assaults in his lifetime — during his visits to Montreal,” concluded retired judge André Denis this summer. There is also no such mention in the archives of the Archdiocese of Quebec, confirmed Auxiliary Bishop Marc Pelchat to Présence. Are documents missing or destroyed? Several observers are now asking this question.

Quebec Catholic monks face class actions over decades of alleged sexual abuse

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 12:33:49 GMT

France 24 - September 21, 2024

An order of Catholic monks in Quebec is facing a class action lawsuit filed by more than 80 victims, accusing the Brothers of Christian Instruction of widespread sexual assaults spanning decades. The alleged abuses, dating back as far as 1940, occurred in more than 20 schools run by the congregation, with most incidents reported between the 1950s and 1970s.

Sugarcane review – trauma and truth unearthed in Indigenous children’s schools scandal

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 12:57:32 GMT

SooToday - September 10, 2024

Powerful documentary probes the shameful story of hundreds of residential schools in Canada, largely run by the Catholic church, that subjected pupils to horrific abuse.

This deeply disquieting and indeed enraging documentary is about the hundreds of residential “Indian schools” for Indigenous children in Canada, largely administered by the Catholic church from the 1930s until the 1990s. It highlights the grotesque scandal of one in particular: the St Joseph’s Mission school in British Columbia (long since closed) where Indigenous children were routinely subject to physical and sexual abuse, with girls impregnated by their rapist-abusers. Some prosecutions of individual priests were brought. Reports were made. But very clearly, this hardly scratches the surface.

Six decades later, local victim of notorious predatory priest gets some justice — and peace

Wed, 11 Sep 2024 13:30:00 GMT

SooToday - September 10, 2024

The earliest known victim of Father Robert Whyte, who taught at St. Mary's College in the 1950s, has settled a lawsuit against the Catholic order that operated the school. Now in his late-70s, the man hopes to help others by sharing his story of abuse and healing.

About 10 years ago — decades after the abuse — Phil found out about the criminal trial and Whyte's 2014 death through an internet search. Two years ago, he began pursuing a civil case against the Basilian Fathers of Toronto.

Lawsuit accuses Fr. Rosica of sexually assaulting young priest

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 15:26:13 GMT

The Catholic Register - August 28, 2024

A lawsuit launched in March has accused Fr. Thomas Rosica, the national director of World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto, of sexually assaulting a young priest in the lead up to event.

It has led to Rosica’s faculties for priestly ministry being withdrawn. A faculty is authorization by an ecclesial authority, usually a bishop, that enables a priest to teach, sanctify or govern for the good of the Church. It is withdrawn pending the outcome of the process.

Ex-pupil questions how a serial child abuser was allowed to teach at prestigious U.K. school

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 15:13:42 GMT

CBC - September 3, 2024

A CBC News investigation found Paul Sheppard was a police officer in Stratford, Ont., for a brief time before being charged with 12 counts of physical and sexual assault against boys in 1986. He pleaded guilty to six counts of assault, in exchange for the sexual offences being dropped. Paul Sheppard was hired as a supply teacher in 1989 at the prestigious Ampleforth College in England. He quickly racked up allegations of inappropriate behaviour with students.

Canadian bishop faces probe over Rosica assault allegations

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 13:57:01 GMT

The Pillar - August 31, 2024

A Canadian bishop is facing a Vatican-ordered probe, on charges that he failed to act when informed about an allegation of sexual assault against once-popular media personality Fr. Thomas Rosica.

A teacher’s secret past

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 13:21:52 GMT

Ryan Cooke , CBC News - September 2, 2024

Paul Sheppard’s stories always felt far-fetched to Steacy Easton.

Students would watch Sheppard’s icy, blue eyes light up as he talked about teaching around the world. Flying air force jets. Arresting criminals.

The students sometimes did the mental math, wondering how their teacher, just shy of his 30th birthday, could have lived so many past lives before ending up at their boarding school.

“Nothing seemed plausible and everything seemed plausible, and he did a good job of trying to convince you,” said Easton. “I still don’t know what is true.”

'The forgotten boys': Three men file lawsuits claiming sex abuse at former Catholic boarding school in Edmonton

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 13:15:00 GMT

Jonny Wakefield , Edmonton Journal - August 21, 2024

Three more men have come forward claiming they were sexually abused by priests and staff at a defunct Catholic boarding school in Edmonton.

St. Mary’s Salesian Junior High is the subject of three new statements of claim filed in Court of King’s Bench this month, seeking millions in compensation for alleged abuse at the north side school.

RCMP arrest ex-priest involved in historical sexual assault in early 70s

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 15:08:03 GMT

Alex Karpa, City News Winnipeg - August 1, 2024

Lennard, MB - A former priest has been charged with a historical sexual assault in Manitoba dating back to the early 1970s.

At the time, she was 11 and 12-years-old. On June 13, police arrested 81-year-old Constantin Turcoane, after he turned himself into police, following a warrant for his arrest on charges of rape and sexual intercourse under 14.

Defrocked Montreal priest Boucher eligible for statutory release

outragecanada@gmail.com (Patricia Grell) — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 15:37:43 GMT

Anna Farrow, Catholic Register - July 2, 2024

Montreal, QC - Former Montreal priest and convicted sex offender Brian Boucher remains unrepentant as he prepares to leave prison this month, says the bishop instrumental is bringing him to justice.

While he was denied parole at his June 25 parole board hearing — according to the board report, parole was denied because Boucher refuses to admit to the crimes for which he was sentenced — Boucher is eligible for statutory release in July as he has served two-thirds of his eight-year sentence.

Press Release: RC Archbishop and Westminster Abbey Settle

Wed, 29 May 2024 14:47:40 GMT

Bernadette Howell Blog - May 28, 2024

Vancouver, BC -- In advance of a seven-week trial scheduled to commence June 3, 2024, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver, Westminster Abbey, and Seminary of Christ the King have settled with the plaintiff, anonymized as D.H. D.H. was raped at age 13 by Fr. Placidus aka Harold Vincent Sander, a Benedictine priest, when he was a grade eight boarding student at the Seminary of Christ the King (“SCK”) in 1977-1978. SCK still operates today: it is the last remaining Minor Seminary in Canada and has been operated by Benedictine monks since 1939.

Manitoba legislature prayer may be changed to be more inclusive, premier says

Sat, 27 Apr 2024 18:14:55 GMT

National Post - April 11, 2024

WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government is looking to change the daily prayer at the legislature to make it more reflective of the province’s residents, including people of different faiths, atheists and those who believe in secularism in the public sphere.

“I’m asking faith leaders and people who grapple with the questions of secularism and what does it mean to be a Manitoban today to look at this opening prayer and say, ‘Is there a way that we could spend this minute that more accurately reflects who we are as Manitobans today?”‘ Premier Wab Kinew said Thursday.

Former priest charged with sexually abusing children in Nunavut granted bail

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 14:03:43 GMT

CBC News - April 23, 2024

A former Catholic priest who worked in Nunavut and has previously been convicted of dozens of charges of sexual abuse has been granted bail to a supervised facility in Ontario while awaiting trial on new charges. Eric Dejaeger, 76, faces eight counts of historical sexual assault. He was previously convicted of 32 offences for sexually abusing people in Igloolik, many of them children. The new charges are alleged to have happened while Dejaeger was working as a priest in Igloolik between 1978 and 1982, according to court documents. He was arrested in Kingston, Ont., and taken into custody in Iqaluit in June last year .

"They knew": Victims of sexual abuse by Ontario youth leader sue Anglican Church

Sat, 20 Apr 2024 13:52:49 GMT

Global News - April 19, 2024

For more than 20 years, a group of men who grew up in a Mississauga neighbourhood kept a secret that, they say, altered the course of their lives. The boys fell victim to a youth group church leader and counsellor who preyed upon their innocence.

For the first time, they’re speaking publicly and seeking accountability.

The former youth leader at the Church of St. Bride’s, who was previously convicted of sexual assaults on young boys, is now being sued, along with the Anglican Church of Canada.

French priest accused of sex crimes in Nunavut has died

Sat, 13 Apr 2024 00:42:11 GMT

National News - April 12, 2024

When Tanya Tungilik learned French priest Johannes Rivoire had died overnight, she screamed.

“My first reaction was anger,” said the daughter of Marius Tungilik, the first Inuk to file a complaint of child sexual abuse against Rivoire. “I was angry that Johannes Rivoire didn’t die in jail like he was supposed to.

“I went for a drive afterwards, stopped by the side of the road, and just screamed my lungs out and cried.”

Rivoire was a missionary Oblate priest for the Catholic Church in Nunavut for 30 years.

He served in three remote communities between 1963 and 1993, where five children alleged he sexually assaulted them.

But Rivoire, who denied the accusations, died in hospital in Lyon, France after a long illness.

He was 93.

Long after pope's abuse summit, victims still traumatized by the system meant to address their cases

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 20:52:22 GMT

CTV News, Associated Press - Feb. 20, 2024

VATICAN CITY -- One afternoon in mid-December, Pope Francis had a meeting that wasn’t on his official agenda or otherwise recorded, that underscored the utter dysfunction of the Catholic Church’s response to the global clergy sex abuse scandal.

In the main reception room of the Vatican hotel where he lives, Francis met for more than an hour with a Spaniard who as a young seminarian was molested by his spiritual director. The former seminarian was desperate.

Roman Catholic Archbishop Settles Mid-Trial with Plaintiff for Chilhood Sexual Abuse Perpetrated by Fr. John Kilty, deceased and Raymond Clavin

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 14:48:23 GMT

BC Supreme Court Action No. S2010708, Vancouver Registry, New Westminster, BC, Feb. 13, 2024

Roman Catholic Church settles with John Doe on day 7 of a 19-day trial. Following six-and-a-half days of trial before Justice Catherine Murray in New Westminster, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver settled with the plaintiff, who remains anonymized as John Doe. John Doe was targeted by both Kilty and Clavin when he was just six years old as a grade one student at Holy Trinity Elementary School in North Vancouver, in 1974-1975. Both men sexually violated the young boy in various and severe ways, including penetrative rape. The Vancouver Archdiocese admitted the fact of the abuse and its vicarious (strict) liability before trial, but it maintained a denial of any direct fault.

Survivors group points to cracks in visa system for foreign priests after 8-year-old First Nations girl abused

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 01:19:19 GMT

CBC – June 4, 2023

There are too few checks and balances for international members of the clergy who come to work in Canada, according to a group that advocates for survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of religious leaders.

A Roman Catholic priest has been accused of sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl in a remote Manitoba First Nation, and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) says it's too easy for a foreign priest to be seconded into a Canadian congregation by using religious visas, with little, if any, scrutiny of their backgrounds.

Why it’s so hard to hold priests accountable for sex abuse

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 01:13:29 GMT

The Conversation – August 27, 2018

A grand jury report recently found shocking levels of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church. It uncovered, in six dioceses, the sexual abuse of over 1,000 children and named 301 perpetrator priests. It also found that religious officials had turned a blind eye to the abuse.

In response, Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church, wrote a letter addressed to “the People of God,” saying...

Woman claims sexual abuse by former parish priest

Sat, 10 Feb 2024 19:37:30 GMT

Cape Breton Post – February 3, 2024

A former parish priest, the Diocese (Catholic) of Antigonish and Bishop Wayne Kirkpatrick are all named in a civil suit that alleges incidents of sexual assault and a failure to investigate. A Sydney woman claims that between Jan. 12-14, 2022, then Father Patrick J. O’neill sexually assaulted her on two occasions in his vehicle after enticing her with alcohol in exchange for sexual favours.

Bishop urges Utah lawmakers to protect seal of confession in sex abuse reporting bill

Sat, 10 Feb 2024 19:32:24 GMT

National Catholic Reporter – February 3, 2024

“We do not oppose the proposed legislation, as initially written, but we are concerned about the possibility that the language could be changed to require that Catholic priests report such abuse even if they have learned about the abuse solely during the sacrament of confession,” Bishop Solis said in a Feb. 2 letter . The bishop said in his letter that any requirement that would force priests to break the seal of confession would force them to “face the untenable choice of breaking the law or being excommunicated.”

'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' culture of Catholic Church challenged at sex abuse trial

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 15:03:56 GMT

CBC News – February 5, 2024

Nearly 50 years after his first day at North Vancouver's Holy Trinity elementary school, "John Doe" still recalls with pride the buckle shoes he wore as part of a uniform that included a red sweater, white shirt and blue pants. He was six years old. And it was to be a year of memories Doe has spent a lifetime trying to shake — his father's death, the sudden switch to a Catholic school, and his rape there by a physical education teacher and the priest who governed Holy Trinity's operations.

‘The Keepers’: FBI to exhume body of 1969 unsolved murder victim

Sat, 27 Jan 2024 20:49:17 GMT

Global News – December 14, 2023

The FBI is planning to exhume the body of a 20-year-old woman whose unsolved 1969 killing has been the subject of widespread speculati on, and was featured in Netflix true crime docuseries The Keepers .

The 2017 docuseries focused on the slaying of a Baltimore nun days before Joyce Malecki was found dead, but raised questions about whether the two deaths were linked, as they unfolded under eerily similar circumstances.

Malecki, a young woman from the Baltimore area, was Christmas shopping in November 1969 when she vanished from a suburban mall. Days later, she was found dead inside a military base, nearby Fort Meade. An autopsy determined she had been strangled to death.

De l’appui pour les victimes

Sat, 27 Jan 2024 19:23:34 GMT

La Libérte – 26 janvier 2024 (Excerpt in English follows)

Si l’organisme en est à ses débuts, ses objectifs sont déjà bien fixés.

Originaire de l’Ontario, Irène Deschênes est une survivante d’abus sexuels commis durant son enfance par un prêtre de l’Église catholique. Elle est aujourd’hui à la tête d’un organisme, Outrage Canada, incorporé en avril 2023, qui souhaite que justice soit rendue plus rapidement pour les victimes.

Excerpt in English (provided by an OC volunteer):

Canon law is specific to the Catholic Church.

In canon law, it is canon no. 983 §1 which indicates that “the sacramental secret is inviolable; This is why it is absolutely forbidden for the confessor to betray a penitent in any way, by words or in any other way, and for any reason whatsoever. »Let us remember that canon law is specific to the Catholic Church. So, if a person of the clergy does not respect this rule, he risks excommunication as suggested in canon no. 1386 §1. “The confessor who directly violates the sacramental secret incurs excommunication latæ sententiæ reserved for the Apostolic See; anyone who violates it only indirectly will be punished according to the seriousness of the offense. »

To understand the interactions between canon law and civil law, Dr. Mariéle Wulf, director of the Center for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Persons at Saint Paul University, provides insight. “Canon law cannot replace civil law. It is, in fact, a legal system which can be applied within an institution and only within it. If a member of the clergy is guilty under civil law, the act is prosecuted in civil court. “The Church does not have civil or criminal jurisdiction. This is why it cannot convict a guilty person in the same way as a civil court because there are no prisons or police. In the event of criminally reprehensible behavior, the Church must therefore resort to civil justice. »

A national center

In this logic of not disclosing the statements of a confession, certain priests could therefore have been aware of deviant behavior in the Catholic Church and would not have acted as suggested by Irène Deschênes. “In my case, Father Sylvester also said that in the confessional he confessed to other priests and was forgiven. Then he continued to abuse other children. Then he would go to the confessional and confess, and then he would continue to abuse other children. This is how the archbishop is aware of the situation. He was aware and he was moving the problem from one community to another. A lawyer in our group calls this silent shuffling. »

Dr. Mariéle Wulf, however, recalls that “the Church can remove someone from their functions and prohibit them from accessing its own premises. That’s where its skills end. The complainant is therefore the Church itself, which excludes someone from its ranks. – Here too, reform is certainly necessary. For the moment, only the Church itself can file a complaint against the perpetrators of these acts. It should do it more clearly and firmly. But then, the Church must also rely on civil justice. »

“For the victims, it is not fast and effective enough”

In addition to this need to put an end to the law of silence, Irène Deschênes would like to see the establishment of an independent national reporting center. “This national reporting center would therefore extend to all institutions, and not just the church. It would be independent. People could therefore file allegations or complaints with this reporting center and people trained to carry out investigations would take care of it. “It would be a place where all the information would be gathered. So, if I want to know, for example, if Father Sylvester abused anyone else before me, the information will already be there. Obviously, nothing would be published without having solid evidence reported by investigators. Again, we would not publish addresses or personal contact details. The goal is not lynching. But rather it may assist people who seek help find it. » Dr. Mariéle Wulf recognizes that the work done within the Catholic Church takes time. “What the Church is trying to do is to be clearer in its approach and to work to raise awareness. For victims, it is not fast and effective enough. I understand it only too well. One of the difficulties lies in the fact that the Church as a whole is labeled as guilty. This does not justify cover-up within the Church – but neither does it justify casting general suspicion on an institution as a whole. »

Église catholique inc.

Sat, 27 Jan 2024 15:56:36 GMT

Radio Canada Enquête – Épisode du jeudi 25 janvier 2024

Alors que les actions collectives contre des congrégations religieuses et des diocèses pour des abus sexuels et physiques se sont multipliées au Québec au cours des dernières années, une question se pose, incontournable : est-ce que l’Église a les moyens de faire face aux réclamations de plus en plus importantes?

La structure de plusieurs de ces organisations est complexe, et les données publiques, incomplètes.

Enquête a compilé les actifs des congrégations religieuses et de leurs corporations liées, ainsi que ceux des diocèses et de leurs œuvres, mis en cause dans des poursuites devant les tribunaux.

Et lève le voile sur cette richesse méconnue.

journaliste : Sylvie Fournier

journalistes à la recherche : Daniel Tremblay et Benoît Michaud

réalisatrice : Jo-Ann Demers

monteur : Charles Bergeron

Archbishop of Quebec City faces sex assault allegations in lawsuit

Sat, 27 Jan 2024 15:47:24 GMT

Ottawa Citizen – January 25, 2024 (Photo credit: Alessandra Tarantino from Associate Press)

A senior leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec is facing allegations of sexual assault as part of a class-action lawsuit against the archdiocese in the provincial capital. Cardinal Gerald Lacroix’s name is among 15 added to a list of alleged perpetrators filed as part of the suit brought by the law firm Arsenault Dufresne Wee.

Clergy sex abuse survivor Irene Deschenes co-founds new group to help victims

Mon, 08 Jan 2024 01:18:43 GMT

CBC News – November 19, 2023

A London, Ont., woman who is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by a Roman Catholic priest is now heading a new organization aimed at delivering speedier justice for victims.

This month, Irene Deschenes helped found Outrage Canada, a national non-religious advocacy group with a mandate to hold the church accountable for sexual abuse by the clergy.

Ontario megachurch's former victim's advocate concerned after role goes to person with ties to denomination

Sun, 07 Jan 2024 19:27:44 GMT

CBC News - January 5, 2023

A former victim's advocate who was hired to support the The Meeting House congregation says she feels the Ontario megachurch's current leaders don't have the "same commitment" to survivors as it once did, two years after its primary teaching pastor was charged with sexual assault.

Melodie Bissell started working with the church as an independent contractor in March 2022, after allegations about Bruxy Cavey came forward. Cavey was charged by Hamilton police in June 2022.

London Catholic Diocese responds to anti-abuse group

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 03:53:49 GMT

Afternoon Drive, Live Radio, CBC Listen – December 13, 2023

A group of childhood sexual assault survivors who were abused at the hands of Catholic priests have founded a new group called Outrage Canada. One of the group's founders, Irene Deschenes was a victim of abuse by the London Catholic Diocese. Father John Comiskey, delegate for Bishop of London Ronald Fabbro, responds to the group and discusses further with host Colin Butler.

Group seeks federal probe of Church abuse

Sun, 03 Dec 2023 17:20:59 GMT

Catholic Register – November 15, 2023

A new national, non-religious coalition called Outrage Canada seeks a federal investigation to hold the Catholic Church accountable both for historic and current sexual abuse crimes against children. Irene Deschenes is on Outrage Canada’s board of directors, which launched a new website (outragecanada.ca) Nov. 2. She was one of the victims of Fr. Charles Sylvestre, convicted in 2006 for sexually abusing 47 young girls between the 1950s and 1980s. Deschenes endured two years of abuse while she attended St. Ursula Catholic School in Chatham, Ont., in the early 1970s.

For parts of three decades, Deschenes has litigated against the Diocese of London after first reporting her abuse at the hands of Sylvestre in 1992, and in 1996 filing a civil suit settled in 2000. It was reopened after police reports about Sylvestre dating back to 1962 were uncovered in a diocese filing cabinet.

Where there's smoke, there's fire

Sun, 03 Dec 2023 17:10:32 GMT

Catholic Register – November 30, 2023 (Opinion by Lea Karen Kivi)

There he stood. Alone. Vulnerable. Attired as a Prince of the Church wielding spiritual power, he was unprotected from the risks of downtown Toronto street life. A few days before I came upon him, I sat in a support group held by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). One man abused as a child was exploding with rage as he shared how the bishop involved with his case refused to meet with him. I was afraid to be in that room.

So, that foggy early winter night a decade ago, when I spotted Cardinal Thomas Collins illuminated by a streetlight on Queen’s Park Crescent, I felt afraid for him. What if that wounded survivor happened to be the one to cross his path that evening? Instead, it was I. Until his driver arrived to escort him away safely, I stood with the Cardinal, exchanging pleasantries to mask my concern.

330,000 children in France were victims of church sex abuse: report

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 03:47:15 GMT

Global News – September 21, 2023

An estimated 330,000 children were victims of sex abuse within France’s Catholic Church over the past 70 years, according to a report released Tuesday that represents the country’s first major accounting of the worldwide phenomenon.

The figure includes abuses committed by some 3,000 priests and other people involved in the church — wrongdoing that Catholic authorities covered up over decades in a “systemic manner,” according to the president of the commission that issued the report, Jean-Marc Sauve.

The head of the French bishops’ conference asked for forgiveness from the victims, about 80 per cent of whom were boys, according to the report. The bishops are meeting Tuesday to discuss next steps.

The independent commission urged the church to take strong action, denouncing “faults” and “silence.” It also called on the Catholic Church to help compensate the victims, notably in cases that are too old to prosecute via the courts.

Spain's report on Catholic Church sex abuse estimates victims could number in hundreds of thousands

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 03:06:49 GMT

CTV News – October 27, 2023 (photo credit Jesus Hellin/Europa Press via AP)

MADRID - Spain's first official probe of sex abuse by clergy members or other people connected to the Catholic Church in the country included a survey that indicated that the number of victims could run into hundreds of thousands. The survey was part of a damning report by the office of Spain's ombudsman, or "defensor del pueblo," following an 18-month independent investigation of 487 cases involving alleged victims who spoke with the ombudsman's team. Ombudsman Angel Gabilondo criticized the church's response to sex abuse scandals, saying it had often been to minimize if not deny the problem. He presented the nearly 800-page report to the speaker of the Spanish parliament's lower house Friday and then to reporters.

Diocese reaches settlement, bishop to address sex abuse with mass statement

Sat, 28 Oct 2023 13:40:17 GMT

London Free Press – September 7, 2018 (photo credit London Free Press)

On the heels of a settlement with an insurance company seeking compensation for sex abuse payouts – the culmination of a 10-year legal battle – the Roman Catholic bishop for Southwestern Ontario is issuing a sweeping statement responding to sexual abuse of minors by clergy, to be read at every parish....AXA Insurance had been seeking repayment of $10 million in settlements given to sex abuse victims – including those of Charles Sylvestre and John Harper – in relation to unproven allegations the diocese had exposed the insurer to higher risk by shuffling problem priests among parishes.

Not a few bad apples—the barrel is rotten: Tom Doyle on clerical child abuse

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 16:12:36 GMT

UK Column – May 9, 2023

Tom Doyle brings a wealth of knowledge , experience of bo th research and litigation, and a solid integrity to the examination of the abuse of children by clergymen in the Roman Catholic Church.

He speaks on this subject with an honesty, and courage that is peerless. His testimony is precise without being sensational. The analysis he outlines explains the role of church history, church government and church theology in creating this catastrophe.

The response from the bishops and cardinals is one of denial, cover-up, control and outright lies, often under oath. Despite all that has been revealed, they still refuse to address the horror of what has been done to the most vulnerable in society—little children. They do not grasp the lifelong suffering of the victims. Instead spending more time, care and resources on the abusers.

Catholic Church response to sexual abuse must centre on survivor well-being, not defensiveness

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 16:06:37 GMT

The Conversation – June 16, 2021

In light of the recent discovery of 215 Indigenous children in unmarked graves at a former Catholic-run residential school in British Columbia and investigations at other former residential schools , there have been renewed calls for the Pope to apologize for residential schools and for the Catholic Church to release its records .

The story has also turned public scrutiny on how the Catholic Church has responded to other calls to apologize and be accountable to victims in cases of sexual abuse both in residential schools and throughout the church .

Study finds 1,000 cases of sexual abuse in Catholic Church since mid-20th century

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 03:56:30 GMT

ABC News -- September 12, 2023

GENEVA -- A sweeping, year-long study of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and others in Switzerland published Tuesday has turned up more than 1,000 cases since the mid-20th century, as the Swiss church becomes the latest in Europe to reckon with the abuse scandal.

With few exceptions, those accused of wrongdoing were all male. Nearly three-fourths of the documents examined showed the sexual abuse involved minors.

The report, commissioned by the Swiss Conference of Bishops and led by two University of Zurich historians, offers a deep look at the sexual abuse and harassment that has confounded the Catholic Church across the globe in recent decades — upending the lives of many victims and their families, and tarnishing the image of the institution.

The authors said in a statement that they identified 1,002 “situations of sexual abuse" in the Swiss church, including accusations against 510 people. The abuse, they wrote, affected 921 people.

Victims March to Rome to Demand 'Zero Tolerance' on Church Abuse

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 03:49:47 GMT

Sojourners -- September 27, 2023

A group of Catholic Church abuse victims and their advocates on Wednesday called on Pope Francis to enforce “zero tolerance” against clerical sex abuse, after completing a six-day pilgrimage to Rome carrying a large wooden cross.

The 10 men and women walked 81 miles along the last stretch of the Via Francigena, a medieval trail that connects Canterbury, England, to Rome, ahead of a major Vatican summit on the future of the Church, starting next week.

Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse Settlement Results in Agreement to Pay $100M by Diocese of Syracuse

Thu, 03 Aug 2023 02:10:40 GMT

AboutLawsuits.com -- July 27, 2023

The Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, New York, will pay $100 million as part of a settlement to resolve hundreds of clergy sexual abuse lawsuits brought by parishioners, many of whom were children when they were assaulted or molested by priests or other members of the church.

The proposed agreement calls for the creation of a victim’s trust fund, of which the Diocese will provide $50 million, and individual parishes will contribute another $45 million, with the remaining $5 million coming from other entities within the organization.

Sinead O’Connor’s ‘SNL’ Protest Was ‘Monumental’ for Church Sex Abuse Survivors

Thu, 03 Aug 2023 02:10:17 GMT

Rolling Stone -- July 29, 2023

IN 1992, AFTER Sinéad O’Connor ripped apart a photo of Pope John Paul II on Saturda y Night Live in protest of the Catholic church ignoring child abuse, Frank Sinatra called her “one stupid broad” and said he would “kick her ass if she were a guy.” The following week’s SNL host, Joe Pesci, who was in full GoodFellas mode , pasted the photo back together and said if he’d been on her episode, “I woulda gave her such a smack.” He held up the back of his hand to the audience’s audible delight. Even Madonna , who was trying to shock the world at the time with her Sex book and Erotica album, criticized O’Connor for “ripping up an image that means a lot to other people.”

Sinead O'Connor Was Right

Thu, 03 Aug 2023 02:01:00 GMT

Call to Action -- July 27, 2023

I don’t remember watching Sinead O’Connor rip up her mother’s photo of Pope John Paul II— in 1992, I was barely four years old—yet that image of a shaved-headed, doe-eyed woman throwing the shredded photo at the camera never left my consciousness.

Perhaps it was the American outrage I remembered, outrage more concerned with Sinead’s action than her message: Fight the real enem y.

In Europe's empty churches, prayer and confessions make way for drinking and dancing

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 22:55:44 GMT

Yahoo!news -- June 22, 2023

The confessionals where generations of Belgians admitted their sins stood stacked in a corner of what was once Sacred Heart Church, proof the stalls — as well as the Roman Catholic house of worship — had outlived their purpose. The building is to close down for two years while a cafe and concert stage are added, with plans to turn the church into “a new cultural hot spot in the heart of Mechelen,” almost within earshot of where Belgium's archbishop lives. Around the corner, a former Franciscan church is now a luxury hotel where music star Stromae spent his wedding night amid the stained-glass windows.

Maryland AG releases report on alleged Catholic clergy sex abuse

Wed, 05 Apr 2023 15:48:38 GMT

Washington Post -- April 5, 2023

The investigation found that over 600 young people — from preschoolers to young adults — suffered sexual abuse and “physical torture” by more than 150 clergy members from the mid-1940s to 2002. The attorney general’s office had previewed some of its findings in a November court filing, but the report itself brought them to life in visceral and horrifying detail. “Tests of torture” that involved chaining and whipping teenagers. Two sisters abused as grade-schoolers “hundreds of times” by one priest. A deacon who admitted to molesting more than 100 minors over three decades. Clergy who preyed on children they met recovering at hospitals.

Ending the Global Child Sex Abuse Crisis

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 16:13:21 GMT

Magazine – Nov. 29, 2022

For the first time in history, the United Nations General Assembly has designated a new annual World Day for the prevention of child sexual exploitation—and it couldn’t come soon enough. According to the World Health Organization, one in five women and one in 13 men worldwide have been sexually abused as children, and 120 million girls and young women under 20 years old have been victims of forced sexual contact.

Talach: Catholic Church Deserves Same Scrutiny as Hockey Canada

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 15:15:58 GMT

London Free Press – Aug. 19, 2022

In communities all across Canada there are two buildings you are sure to find, a hockey arena and a Catholic church. Recently, both those institutions were in the news for their handling of sexual abuse. Hockey Canada was before a Parliamentary subcommittee for its handling of allegations arising from events on the night of their 2018 World Junior Team gala in London, and the head of the Catholic Church, the Pope himself, was criss-crossing Canada on an apology tour for the legacy of residential schools.

Three more women file sexual abuse claims against Quebec Catholic Church

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 15:19:09 GMT

National Observer – Aug. 18, 2022

After Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet was accused by a woman of sexual assault in a class-action lawsuit introduced this week, more women have come forward with similar allegations against members of the province’s Catholic Church.

At least three women filed formal sexual assault complaints against the archdiocese of Montreal since the allegations against Ouellet were made public, Christine Kirouack, ombudswoman for the city’s archdiocese, said in an interview Wednesday.

Pope Seeks Forgiveness for Sexual Abuse at Canadian Residential Schools

Thu, 28 Jul 2022 15:20:59 GMT

Reuters – July 28, 2022

Pope Francis on Thursday asked for forgiveness for sexual abuse at Canadian schools for indigenous children run by Catholic orders, addressing a deep wound that many survivors wanted him to acknowledge during his apology tour in Canada.

At an evening vespers service with priests and nuns in the Quebec City cathedral, the pope said the Church in Canada was on a new path after being “devastated by the evil perpetrated by some of its sons and daughters.”

Supreme Court declines Diocese of London appeal

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 16:22:49 GMT

The Chatham Voice--February 11, 2021

A ruling by the lower courts of Ontario allowing a survivor of sexual assault to reopen her case against the Diocese of London stands after the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the case. The Supreme Court of Canada, by convention, gave no reason for declining to intervene in the case.

The decision ends one more chapter in the legal battle between Irene Deschenes and the Roman Catholic Diocese of London. Between 1971 and 1973, Deschenes was sexually abused by Father Charles Sylvestre at St. Ursula School in Chatham. She was 10 years old at the time.

‘It’s overwhelming’: Survivors create public list of Catholic clerics accused of sexual abuse

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 16:24:47 GMT

CBC – Dec. 5, 2019

Starting at the age of 10, Miriam MacCormack says she was sexually abused by a Catholic priest for two years.

After five decades of struggle — including suicide attempts — MacCormack will see her abuser’s name made public. But not by the southwestern Ontario diocese of London, where the abuse occurred.