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News & Events
Send questions to John@johnwodele.com
Clergy Abuse Attorney Jeff Anderson says documents point to Vatican’s direct control over the conduct, placement, and removal of individual priests for sexual abuse.
Aug 18, 2011: Ireland Prime Minister calls on Vatican to come up with $2 billion for abuse survivors
Ireland has been abuzz with news in the last few weeks. First, after sharply denouncing the Vatican’s response to clergy sexual abuse in Ireland, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny is now calling on the Vatican for money. In support of a compensation bill that would create a fund to compensate victims of child sexual abuse, many of whom were abused in Catholic schools or homes, Kenny is asking the Vatican to contribute close to $2 billion.
The Vatican, reeling from unprecedented criticism over its handling of sexual abuse cases in Ireland, took a pre-emptive strike Wednesday and published some internal files about a priest accused of molesting youngsters in Ireland and the U.S. The files published on the website of Vatican Radio represent a small, selective part of the documentation the Holy See must turn over to U.S. lawyers representing a man who says he was abused by the late Rev. Andrew Ronan. The man, known in court papers as John V. Doe, is seeking to hold the Vatican liable for the abuse.
Statement of Jeff Anderson on Vatican release of partial discovery in John V. Doe v. Holy See “Unfortunately my office…
The Crusader
By Christy DeSmith
Jeff Anderson on law school, legal tactics and his ultimate goal—deposing Pope Benedict XVI
The UK’s high court heard the case of a woman this month, “JGE,” who was six years old when she was sexually abused by a priest at a children’s home in Portsmouth, England. “JGE” was abused by Father Wilfred Baldwin, a priest in the Diocese of Portsmouth, who visited Firs children’s home regularly. In addition to her negligence claim against the nuns who ran Firs, “JGE” and her attorneys say that Fr. Baldwin was working as a priest in the Diocese, so the Diocese is also responsible.
News headlines resounded last week as Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny attacked the Vatican over its response to clergy sexual abuse. Reacting to the Cloyne report, which exposed the Vatican’s cover-up, failures and astounding mishandling of child abuse by Irish clergy, Ireland’s Prime Minister expressed unprecedented public fury. Kenny’s harsh words for the Vatican and top church officials revealed sentiments that are rarely, if ever, heard from civil leaders. It’s about time.
This morning Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Philadelphia Archbishop Cardinal Justin Rigali. This news comes only five months after a grand jury condemned Cardinal Rigali, Monsignor Lynn, and other top officials in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for not only failing to address the child sex abuse crisis but for their roles in concealing predator priests. While people have called for Rigali’s resignation since the issuance of the grand jury report, his departure is nevertheless abrupt and sooner than expected.
Statement by Jim Keenan of Savage, MN.Today, I’m asking a judge to publicly release the names of 46 Minnesota Catholic priests whohave been accused of sexually victimizing children.My motivation can be summed up in two words: kids’ safety.Sitting in two diocesan headquarters, and in the Ramsey County Courthouse, are the names ofthese accused predator priests. As best we can tell, none of them are locked up. Most are likelyliving with or near unsuspecting families. Some may still be molesting kids. And this afternoon,one of them may be tutoring a young girl who’s struggling in school, or taking…
With every new revelation of Catholic Bishops conspiring with the Vatican to cover-up the sexual abuse of children by priests, my heart gets more and more heavy. Today, it is a report of an Irish government investigation that revealed Catholic Church officials in Ireland (including a Bishop who had previously served as personal secretary to three Popes) covered up the sexual abuse of children over many years—and as recently as 2009 blatantly disregarded the Irish Bishops’ policies that required reporting to law enforcement. Similarly, in January of this year, a Philadelphia Grand Jury grand …
Attorneys file motion seeking release of names of priests accused of sexual abuse Names of 46 priests in Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis and Winona Diocese are contained in Ramsey County court documents. Attorneys for a Savage, Minnesota, man who was sexually abused as a child by a Minnesota priest are asking a Ramsey County judge to unseal court records that contain the names of 46 priests accused of molesting children in the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul and the Dioce…
A man who alleges he was sexually abused by a Catholic priest in the 1980s, but didn’t remember until 20 years later, should be able to go back to court and have experts testify about repressed memories, a three-judge panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals said Monday. The case brought in 2006 by Jim Keenan, 44, against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona was dismissed last October after Ramsey County District Judge Gregg Johnson ruled he hadn’t met the standard that would allow an expert to testify about repressed memories.
I praise Chicago Judge Jeffrey Lawrence for his latest order and commend him for acknowledging the hurt and destruction caused by Jesuit officials in their cover-up of Fr. Donald McGuire’s predatory actions. Judge Lawrence ruled yesterday that survivors John Doe 117, John Doe 118, and John Doe 129, all of whom were sexually abused by Fr. McGuire as minors, can seek punitive damages in their lawsuit against the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus. Greater than actual damages, which account for a plaintiff’s losses from harm caused by the defendant, punitive damages are int…