News & Events

Apr 07, 2011: Survivors of man who alleged Philadelphia clergy abuse sue

It was one of the more searing allegations in the recent Philadelphia grand
jury report on clergy sex abuse:
A Bristol Township man killed himself after the Archdiocese of Philadelphia
refused to believe that a priest had molested him when he was an altar boy.
On Wednesday, relatives of the man, Daniel Neill, became the latest to sue
the archdiocese over its response to abuse victims. Neill shot himself in June
2009.
“It’s a wrongful death is what it is,” said Jeff Anderson, a lawyer for
Neill’s family.

The grand jury cited the handling of Neill’s complaint as one of three …

Apr 06, 2011: Wrongful Death Claim to Be Filed Against Philadelphia Archdiocese Wednesday

Press Release

April 5, 2011

 

Wrongful Death Claim to Be
Filed Against Philadelphia Archdiocese Wednesday

 

(Philadelphia) Attorneys for the family of “Ben”, the 36 year-old
former St. Mark Parish altar boy whose

tragic story of sexual abuse,
rejection and suicide was told in the recent Philadelphia Grand Jury Report

on clergy abuse in the
Archdiocese of Philadelphia, will file a wrongful death lawsuit against the
diocese

in the Court of Common Pleas,
Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, April 6, 2011.

 

The following St…

Apr 04, 2011: Oakland Tribune Viewpoint: Crisis in Catholic Church apparent in East Bay

AS A Catholic priest in voluntary exile from the
Diocese of Oakland since March 15, 2005, I decided a year ago to stand in public
solidarity with those being hurt the most by my church. Every Sunday I stand
outside Christ the Light Cathedral in Oakland with a sign that reads:
“Structural reform now! Include the Excluded: Women, Abuse Survivors, Gay
Persons.”
One recent Sunday a young man approached, read my sign
and said to me: “I have a better wording for your sign: (explitive) the pope.”
Another passerby said to me, “Why reform the Catholic Church? Why not just shut
it down…

Apr 01, 2011: St. John’s Abbey released names of accused as part of lawsuit settlement.

The identities of 17 monks who have faced “credible allegations of sexual
abuse” or other misconduct were made public Monday, representing a break in the
secrecy that has long surrounded most Minnesota clergy abuse cases.
The names were released by St. John’s Abbey of Collegeville as part of a
settlement of clergy abuse lawsuits announced on Monday by St. Paul attorney
Jeff Anderson.

Mar 31, 2011: Molest suit: From Santa Rosa to Dublin

Four men who claim they were molested by a Humboldt County priest in the 1980s have dropped their case against the Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa. But only so they can expand their target to include “an international conspiracy” that extends to Ireland, their attorneys said.The new suit will take aim not only the local diocese, but the Archdiocese of Dublin and the Catholic order that treated the priest for pedophilia, attorney Joseph George said Wednesday.

Mar 29, 2011: Germany opens door for more civil cases of sexual abuse

Adults who were victims of sexual abuse as children will soon have
considerably longer to sue for damages in German court. Germany’s cabinet
approved legislation on Wednesday that extends the statute of limitations to
take legal action in civil cases from three to 30 years after a victim’s 21st
birthday.

Mar 28, 2011: Suit Says Jesuits Ignored Warnings About Priest

Jesuit leaders in Chicago largely ignored or kept secret numerous reports, spanning four decades, that a prominent priest was sexually abusing teenage boys, lawyers for victims charged on Monday in a motion for punitive damages in a Chicago court. Included in the motion were more than 65 recently obtained church documents and depositions that, the lawyers said, demonstrated “a reckless disregard for the safety of others in the face of repeated reports of sexual misconduct” on the part of Chicago Jesuit leaders.

Mar 18, 2011: New York Archbishop: Sex Scandal Needs to Haunt Church

Calling the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal “hideous” and “nauseating,” New York’s Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan says the scandal “needs to haunt” the church for some time to come.In the wide-ranging interview, Dolan also discusses his past role as the archbishop of Milwaukee, his current mission and the state of the church in America with “60 Minutes” correspondent Morley Safer.

Mar 18, 2011: Timothy Dolan on the priest sex abuse scandal: “This needs to haunt us.”

(CBS News) Calling the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal “hideous” and “nauseating,” New York’s Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan says the scandal “needs to haunt” the church for some time to come.In the wide-ranging interview, Dolan also discusses his past role as the archbishop of Milwaukee, his current mission and the state of the church in America with “60 Minutes” correspondent Morley Safer. The profile of the leader of New York City’s two-million-plus Roman Catholics will be broadcast Sunday, March 20 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.Asked if he feared the impact of the scandal would go on forever, Dolan repli…

Mar 16, 2011: Avenging Altar Boy

The district attorney is burning a eucalyptus-spearmint candle on his desk. “I think the press looks down upon the D.A. drinking Jack Daniels during the day,” R. Seth Williams says with a broad smile, “so I light my little stress-relief candle.” It’s understandable if the former altar boy at St. Carthage in West Philly needs to light a votive. The 44-year-old Catholic, who still attends Mass with his family at the same church, now called St. Cyprian, is the first U.S. prosecutor to charge a church official for a sickeningly commonplace sin: Endangering children whom the Roman Catholic…

Mar 15, 2011: Delco man plans priest-sex lawsuit

One week after officials in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced that 21
priests were being suspended while allegations that they sexually abused minors
are reviewed, a Delaware County man is planning to file a lawsuit against the
archdiocese in connection with abuse he says he suffered at the hands of a
priest.