News & Events

Aug 17, 2010: Concealment of Clergy Sex Abuse Lands Irish Bishops with “Revised Responsibilities”

Pope Benedict XVI has decided not to accept the resignations of auxiliary bishops Raymond Field and Eamonn Walsh of Dublin. Field and Walsh submitted letters of resignation last December in the wake of the Murphy Report , an investigative summary that revealed a culture of cover-up surrounding rampant clergy sex abuse in Ireland. Auxiliary bishops Field and Walsh resigned just 24 hours after having their competence directly and publicly questioned by their superior, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.Archbishop Martin says the two men are now to be assigned “revised responsibilities.” This sounds fami

Aug 17, 2010: Unrestricted Priest Webmaster Arrested for Child Porn

This is a particularly sad story. A little over a year ago, Fr. Patrick Umberger of the Diocese of LaCrosse was kicked out of Noah’s Ark Water Park in Lake Delton, Wisconsin for following young boys to the bathroom. When water park personnel observed Fr. Umberger follow the boys into the bathroom, they called the police and revoked his season pass. Two days ago, it was revealed that the Diocese of LaCrosse knew about this incident, but never restricted Fr. Umberger’s involvement with kids. Instead, the Diocese allowed Fr. Umberger to continue as a pastor of a church, teach at the parish school

Aug 16, 2010: Detecting Child Pornography

A recent case in Kansas City, Missouri exhibits just how important constant vigilance by everyone of the signs of child pornography is in combating this tragic problem. In the Kansas City case, two workers went to the house of Richard Volberding to fix his water heater. While in Volberding’s house, the workers noticed images of what appeared to be naked children on Volberding’s computer. The workers called the police who got a search warrant and seized multiple computers containing thousands of images of child pornography. Recently, Volberding pled guilty to multiple counts of possession of ch

Jun 30, 2010: Press Conference: California Man First to Sue Vatican After U.S Supreme Court Refused to Hear Foreign Sovereign Immunity case against Holy See

Press Conference Today Wednesday, June 30, 2010 – 1:00 P.M. Pacific [Omni Hotel, Downtown Los Angeles]   California man first to sue Vatican after U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Foreign Sovereign Immunity case against Holy See   Alleges cover-up of sexual abuse by high Catholic officials in the Vatican, superiors in the Salesian Society and Bishops affiliated with the high school in Bellflower   The priest, Father Titian Miani, was known to have sexually assaulted students at a Native American boarding school in Canada, in Italy, and also in the California

Jun 28, 2010: Supreme Court won’t hear Vatican appeal over Oregon clergy sex abuse lawsuit

Supreme Court won’t hear Vatican appeal over Oregon clergy sex abuse lawsuit
 
By Associated Press
June 28, 2010 | 8:46 a.m.
  
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Supreme Court won’t stop a lawsuit that accuses the Vatican of conspiring with U.S. church officials to transfer a priest from city to city despite repeated accusations that the clergyman sexually abused young people.The high court Monday refused to hear an appeal from the Vatican, a decision that allows the lawsuit to move forward. No one has ever successfully sued the Vatican over sex abuse by clergy.Sovereign immunity laws