Roman Catholic sex abuse cases by country

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main article: Roman Catholic sex abuse cases

Contents 1 Australia 1.1 Archdiocese of Sydney 1.2 Archdiocese of Melbourne 1.3 Archdiocese of Brisbane 1.4 Archdiocese of Perth 2 Austria 2.1 Archdiocese of Vienna 3 Belgium 3.1 Diocese of Bruges 4 Brazil 5 Britain 5.1 Diocese of Arundel and Brighton 6 Canada 6.1 Archdiocese of St. John's 7 Croatia 7.1 Archdiocese of Zagreb 7.2 Archdiocese of Rijeka 8 Czech Republic 8.1 Archdiocese of Olomouc 9 France 9.1 Archdiocese of Paris 9.2 Archdiocese of Besançon 10 Ireland 10.1 Archdiocese of Dublin 10.2 Diocese of Ferns 10.3 Archdiocese of Tuam 11 Italy 12 Mexico 12.1 Archdiocese of Mexico City 13 The Netherlands 13.1 Diocese of Den Bosch 13.2 Diocese of Roermond 13.3 Diocese of Rotterdam 14 Philippines 15 Poland 15.1 Archdiocese of Poznań 15.2 Diocese of Plock 16 Slovenia 16.1 Archdiocese of Ljubljana 17 United States 17.1 Archdiocese of Anchorage 17.2 Archdiocese of Boston 17.3 Diocese of Dallas 17.4 Diocese of Davenport 17.5 Diocese of Honolulu 17.6 Archdiocese of Chicago 17.7 Archdiocese of Los Angeles 17.8 Archdiocese of Louisville 17.9 Archdiocese of Miami 17.10 Diocese of Orange 17.11 Diocese of Phoenix 17.12 Archdiocese of Portland 17.13 Diocese of San Diego 17.14 Diocese of Spokane 17.15 Diocese of Tucson 17.16 Archdiocese of San Antonio 18 See also 19 References

This page documents notable Roman Catholic sex abuse cases by country.

[edit] Australia

• In 1992, the nonprofit organization Broken Rites was formed to help the victims of church-related sexual abuse in Australia. Though Broken Rights is non-denominational, approximately 90% of the victims that have contacted the organization have been from a Catholic Background. ^[1]

[edit] Archdiocese of Sydney

• In June 2002, The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Australia, Sydney Archbishop George Pell temporarily "stood" aside from his post during an investigation into 40 year old allegations of child sexual abuse. ^[2] The allegations against Pell could not be proven or disproven due to the amount of time that had passed since the incident. ^[3] Pell accompanied Father Gerald Ridsdale to his 1993 trial and has been accused of covering the tracks of child sexual abusers in the Australian Priesthood. ^[4] Pell has publicly stated that he believes, "Abortion is a worse moral scandal than priests sexually abusing young people." ^[5]
• James Fletcher - sexually abusive priest sentenced to 7.5 to 10 years jail for sexual penetration of an altar boy, later died in prison[3].

[edit] Archdiocese of Melbourne

• Michael Charles Glennon - sentenced to at least 15 years in jail for sexually abusing four Aboriginal boys between 1984 and 1991^[6]
• Wilfred James Baker - self-confessed sexually abusive priest sentenced to four years in prison (parole after 2 years) for 16 counts of indecent assault and one of gross indecency, involving eight boys, aged 10 to 13, over a 20-year period between 1960 and 1979. Baker fondled the boys sexually in bed during weekend trips and rubbed himself against them.^[7]
• David Daniel - sentenced to six years jail, with parole after 4.5 years, for molesting four boys, a girl and an adult male. ^[8]
• Rex Elmer - self-confessed child sexual abuser sentenced in 1998 to five years jail (with parole after 3 years 4 months) for molesting 12 boys at St Vincent's orphanage in South Melbourne. ^[9]

[edit] Archdiocese of Brisbane

• Francis Edward Derriman - sentenced in 1998 to 12 months jail (suspended after serving four months) after being found guilty of indecently dealing with a teenage girl. ^[10]

[edit] Archdiocese of Perth

• Gerard William Dick - self-confessed sexually abusive priest sentenced to three and a half years jail in 1995 for ten incidents of indecently dealing with boys aged eight to ten at a Christian Brothers orphanage in Western Australia. ^[11]

[edit] Austria

[edit] Archdiocese of Vienna

• In 1995 Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër stepped down as head of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria following accusations of sexual misconduct. In 1998 he left the country. He remained a Cardinal. ^[12]

[edit] Belgium

[edit] Diocese of Bruges

• Former religious brother Luc D. f.v.d. of the congregation of the Fratres Van Dale convicted by Belgian court to 10 years imprisonment on 14 November 2005 for sexual abuse of 20 mentally handicapped persons over a period of 16 years. ^[13]
• Former religious brother Roger H. f.v.d. of the congregation of the Fratres Van Dale convicted by Belgian court to 10 years imprisonment for sexual abuse of mentally handicapped persons. ^[14]

[edit] Brazil

• In 2005 priests Tarcísio Tadeu Spricigo and Geraldo da Consolação Machado were convicted of child molestation while Fr. Felix Barbosa Carreiro was arrested and charged with child sexual abuse in the northeastern state of Maranhão after police seized him in a hotel room with four teenage boys. ^{[15] [16]}

[edit] Britain

[edit] Diocese of Arundel and Brighton

• In July 2000 the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Archbishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (later a cardinal), acknowledged he had made a mistake while he was Bishop of Arundel and Brighton in the 1980s by allowing a pedophile to carry on working as a priest. The priest at the center of the controversy, Father Michael Hill, was jailed in 1997 for abusing nine boys over a 20-year period.^[17]

[edit] Canada

[edit] Archdiocese of St. John's

• In the 1990s, criminal proceedings began against members of the Christian Brothers in Newfoundland. The proceedings were based on allegations of sexual and physical abuse against boys at the Mount Cashel Orphanage. It was alleged that the Brothers were allowed to escape prosecution at the time (1980s) if they left Newfoundland.^[18] Several Brothers left Newfoundland and went to teach at St. Thomas More Collegiate in British Columbia. These included Joseph Burke, Edward English, Edward French, and Kevin Short.^[19] The subsequent lawsuits^[20] by the Mount Cashel victims against the Christian Brothers organization threatened to close STMC in 2004.^[21]

[edit] Croatia

[edit] Archdiocese of Zagreb

• Ivan Čuček — convicted ^[22] in 2000 for sexual abuse of 37 young girls, sentenced to three years in prison, but later the Croatian Supreme Court reduced the sentence ^[23] to one and a half years in case he commits such crime again

[edit] Archdiocese of Rijeka

• Drago Ljubičić - detained ^[24] and later sentenced (in 2007) to three years in prison for sexually abusing 5 boys (10-12yrs). ^[25]

[edit] Czech Republic

[edit] Archdiocese of Olomouc

• In 2000 Fr. František Merta and Olomouc Bishop Jan Graubner were charged after allegations were made by a theology student, Václav Novák, that Merta had sexually abused altar boys since 1995. Novák persuaded a group of victims to come forward with their allegations against Merta. In 2001, Merta was found guilty of sexually abusing more than 20 boys and given a suspended sentence of two years. When he was a priest in Moravia, Archbishop Jan Graubner failed to report him. Instead, Graubner moved him from location to location whenever problems appeared. A book about Merta's child sexual abuse cases, Křičí Hlasem Zrady (They Are Shouting the Voice of Betrayal), was published in March 2001 by Václav Novák. ^[26]

[edit] France

[edit] Archdiocese of Paris

• François Lefort - sentenced to eight years in prison for the rape of six Senegalese minors[4].
• Pierre Dufour - sentenced to 15 years in prison for rape and sexual assault. ^[27][28]

[edit] Archdiocese of Besançon

• Jean Luc Heckner - sentenced to 16 years in jail on charges of raping seven young boys (11-14yrs) between 1992 and 1998. ^[29]

[edit] Ireland

• Several priests who abused children in the United States were Irish Nationals, notably Patrick Colleary, Anthony O'Connell and Oliver O'Grady.

[edit] Archdiocese of Dublin

• Fr. Paul McGennis, Dublin, Ireland. He abused M Collins when as a 13-year-old she was in Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in 1961. Collins was later told that McGennis had admitted abusing children. However the Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin, Desmond Connell, refused "on legal advice" to supply his file on McGennis to the Irish police. McGennis was nevertheless convicted and gaoled. Collins subsequently received an apology from Cardinal Connell.

[edit] Diocese of Ferns

Main article: Ferns Report

The Ferns Inquiry 2005 - On 22 October 2005 a government-commissioned report compiled by a former Irish Supreme Court judge delivered an indictment of the handling of clerical sex abuse in the Irish diocese of Ferns. The report revealed over 100 cases of child sex abuse in the diocese, involving a number of clergymen, including Monsignor Micheál Ledwidth, the former head of the National Catholic seminary, Maynooth College.

Among the facts revealed were:

• The failure of Bishop Donal Herlihy to exclude clearly unsuitable candidates from the priesthood;
• His failure to report incidents of proven sexual abuse to the legal authorities and his failure to acknowledge that abusers needed to be kept from children;
• The failure of his successor, Brendan Comiskey, to report incidents of abuse and remove abusers from positions where they worked with children.

Among the cases revealed were

• The rape of teenage girls on the altar of a church by one priest;
• The use of blackmail by another priest to force children to perform sex acts on him;

The report was also highly critical of the failure of the Garda Siochána (police) to properly investigate reported incidents. It noted with concern the disappearance of one police file detailing serious incidents of clerical sex abuse. It stated that the local health authorities failed to protect children even when aware of allegations.

Some survivors of abuse praised the actions of the new Apostolic Administrator (acting bishop) for instituting wholesale reforms, including the toughest anti-abuse rules in any diocese in the Catholic Church, and also his willingness to hand over all files and all information to the inquiry. Victims' spokesman and himself one of the victims of one of the abusers, Colm O'Gorman praised the administrator and compared his actions with the inaction and incompetence of his predecessors.^{[citation needed]}

Between 1960 and 1980 the Diocese of Ferns treated child sexual abuse by priests exclusively as a moral problem. Priests against whom allegations had been made were transferred to a different post or a different diocese for a period of time but then returned them to their former position. The Irish government held an official inquiry into the allegations of clerical sexual abuse in the Irish Catholic Diocese ehich led to the Ferns Report. It identified more than 100 allegations of child sexual abuse made between 1962 and 2002 against twenty-one priests operating under the aegis of the Diocese of Ferns.

Multiple allegations of abuse were made against the following priests (those still alive have not been identified in the The Ferns Report):

• Fr Donal Collins, transferred from St Peter's College in Wexford to London in 1966 but returned to the College in 1968
• Fr James Doyle, ordination postponed in 1973 but Doyle was ordained one year later.

These three are deceased:

• Fr James Grennan, sexually molested girls in Monageer church, County Wexford while he heard their confessions
• Canon Martin Clancy, molested his female victim in her own home
• Fr Seán Fortune, ministered in the village of Poulfour in Co. Wexford, in Belfast and in Dundalk. Allegations of abuse were made against him in all three places.^[30]

[edit] Archdiocese of Tuam

A eight-year (1999-2007) enquiry and report by Dr Elizabeth Healy and Dr Kevin McCoy into the Brothers of Charity Congregation's "Holy Family School" in Galway, the major city of the archdiocese, and two other locations was made public in December 2007. 11 brothers and 7 other staff members were alleged to have abused 21 intellectually-disabled children in residential care in the period 1965-1998. By 2007, two members of staff were convicted of abuse, eight had died and the rest had retired. It emerged that the congregation had attempted to transfer at least one accused brother to another place.

Dr Jimmy Devins, a junior government minister, regretted that "some of the most vulnerable people in society were let down in the past". Brother Noel Corcoran F.C., head of the congregation's services in Ireland, apologized sincerely. However the report was criticized for not naming the sex offenders who were convicted or dead, and for interviewing just 21 out of 135 complainants.^[31]

[edit] Italy

• It is difficult to ascertain the correct statistics for clerical sexual abuse in Italy because the Italian Government has a treaty with the Vatican that guarantees areas of immunity to Vatican officials, including bishops and priests.^[32]

• Before 2001, all cases were handled privately within Dioceses. In 2001 then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger sent a letter to all bishops ordering all sex-abuse cases be transferred to the Vatican. He imposed total secrecy on the proceedings, with the penalty of excommunication for any violations.^[32]

• In May of 2007 the Panorama Documentary Episode Sex Crimes and the Vatican was only allowed to run on the state run television station with equal time for church officials.^[32]

[edit] Mexico

• Fr. Marcial Maciel founded the Legion of Christ, a Catholic order of priests originating in Mexico. Nine former seminarians of his order accused Maciel of molestation.^[33] One retracted his accusation, saying that it was a plot intended to discredit the Legion. Maciel has maintained his innocence of the accusations. In early December 2004, a few months before Pope John Paul II's death, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who would replace him as Pope, becoming Benedict XVI) reopened a Vatican investigation into longstanding allegations against Maciel.^[34] Father Maciel then declined to be elected again as general director of the Legion on 20 January 2005 at the order's annual meeting; a spokesman denied that this decision was related to the investigation. On 19 May 2006, Pope Benedict XVI ordered 86-year-old Father Marcial Maciel to give up his ministry and retire to a life of "prayer and repentance." A Vatican statement said that he had only escaped a full trial in an ecclesiastical court because of his "advanced age [and] frail health."^[35] The statement noted that the sanctions had been personally endorsed by the Pope. Commentators said that this was a clear departure from the policy of Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, and appeared to be a first step toward fulfilling the new pontiff's vow to sweep "filth" from the church.

[edit] Archdiocese of Mexico City

• On September 11, 2007, Survivor's Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), per released documents, accused Mexico's cardinal of knowledge of a Mexican priest's sexual offenses upon children and in bad faith, transferred him to the United States for cover-up. Aguilar Mendez stated that he was raped by priest Nicolas Aguilar in Mexico City in 1994 (at age 12). SNAP wrote Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera and Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony. A damage suit accused Rivera and Mahony with negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy and sexual battery was filled in USA for acts and actor in Mexico seeking only monetary compensation in the USA.^[36]

[edit] The Netherlands

Cases of sexual abuse by religious members of the Roman-catholic Church in The Netherlands can since 1995 be notified to a central church institution, called Secretariaat Rooms-Katholiek Kerkgenootschap (SRRK). ^[37]

[edit] Diocese of Den Bosch

• Father J. Ceelen, pastor of the parishes of Lieshout and of Mariahout (municipality of Laarbeek) quits his post after allegations of sexual abuse on 1 September 2005.^[38]

[edit] Diocese of Roermond

• Father H.H.M. Jansen is denounced for sexual abuse during his activities as military pastor and as a faculty member of the seminary of Rolduc. ^[39]

[edit] Diocese of Rotterdam

• 13 March 1993 bishop Philippe Bär quits his post as bishop of Rotterdam and Dutch military bishop after allegations of multiple homosexual abuse. ^[40]

[edit] Philippines

• In 2002 the Catholic Church apologized for sexual abuse by hundreds of priests over the previous 20 years. ^[41]

• In 2003 at least 34 priests were suspended in a sex abuse scandal. 20 were from a single diocese.^[42]

[edit] Poland

[edit] Archdiocese of Poznań

• In March of 2002 Archbishop Juliusz Paetz quit following accusations, which he denied, of sexually molesting young priests.^[43]

[edit] Diocese of Plock

• In early 2007 allegations surfaced that former Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus was aware that several priests in his former diocese of Plock were sexually abusing minors. ^[44]

[edit] Slovenia

[edit] Archdiocese of Ljubljana

• Franz Frantar - detained in 2006^[45] for sexual abuse of up to 16 minors. He was later sentenced^[46] to three and a half years in prison. He initially escaped persecution by escaping to Malawi to work there as a missionary, but returned to Slovenia after Interpol warrant was issued.

[edit] United States

[edit] Archdiocese of Anchorage

• The Society of Jesus made a $50 million payout to over 100 Inuits who alleged that they had been sexually abused. The settlement did not require them to admit molesting Inuit children, but accusations involved 13 or 14 priests who allegedly molested these children for 30 years.^[47]
  • The Diocese of Fairbanks, a co-defendant in the case, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, claiming inability to pay the 140 plaintiffs filing claims against the diocese for alleged sexual abuse by priests or church workers during this period.^[48][49][50]

[edit] Archdiocese of Boston

• Allegations of sexual misconduct by priests of the Archdiocese of Boston, and following revelations of a cover-up engineered in large part by the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, became widespread in 2004 causing Roman Catholics in other dioceses of the United States to investigate similar situations. Cardinal Law's actions prompted public scrutiny of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the steps taken in response to past and current allegations of sexual misconduct by priests. The events in the Archdiocese of Boston exploded into a national scandal.

• Grassroots public advocacy groups like Voice of the Faithful hounded Cardinal Law after documents revealed his alleged role in covering up incidents of sexual misconduct of priests. For example, during Cardinal Law's tenure Fathers Paul Shanley and John Geoghan were moved from parish to parish within the diocese despite repeated allegations of molestation of children under the priests' care. Later, it was discovered that Shanley advocated the North American Man-Boy Love Association. The defense he provided was "failure to keep proper records." The cardinal said his practice was to seek the analysis of psychiatrists, clinicians, and therapists in residential treatment centers before deciding whether a priest accused of sexually abusing a child should be returned to the pulpit.

• In response to the scandal, over fifty priests signed a letter declaring no confidence in Cardinal Law and asking him to resign, something that had never before happened in the history of the Church in America. Law submitted his resignation to the Vatican and Pope John Paul II accepted it on December 13, 2002. In a statement Cardinal Law said, "To all those who have suffered from my shortcomings and mistakes I both apologize and from them beg forgiveness." He remained cardinal, which is a separate appointment, and participated in the 2005 papal conclave. After his resignation, John Paul appointed Law to several authoritative positions in Rome and the Vatican. He is currently the archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. He is also a member of the Congregations of Oriental Churches, Clergy, Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Evangelisation of Peoples, Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Catholic Education, Bishops as well as the Pontifical Council for the Family.

• Settlements in the Boston, Massachusetts suits could reach up to $100 million. In some cases insurance companies have baulked at meeting the cost of large settlements, claiming the actions were deliberate and not covered by insurance. This was additional financial damage to the Archdiocese already faced with the need to consolidate and close parishes due to changing attendance and giving patterns. In June of 2004, much of the land around the Archdiocese of Boston headquarters was sold to Boston College, in part to raise money for legal costs associated with scandal in Boston. ^{[51] [52]}

• Paul Desilets—self-confessed child sexual abuser was sentenced to one-and-a-half year in prison for molesting 18 children. ^[53]

[edit] Diocese of Dallas

• In 1997 a jury awarded $120 million to victims in a sex abuse case against the Diocese of Dallas. The trial included the testimony of Bishop Charles Grahmann where he admitted to never having taken the time to read the personnel file on Fr. Kos. This included the four-year history of allegations before he came to Dallas and the allegations that continued after he was bishop.

• Reverend Rudolph Kos. On July 10, 1998 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas agreed to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by Kos.

[edit] Diocese of Davenport

• On October 10, 2006, the Diocese of Davenport filed for Chapter 11 protection ^[54]. The decision to file for bankruptcy was being driven by many claims which focus on Bishop Lawrence Soens, who has been accused of fondling as many as 15 students during his tenure as priest and principal at Regina Catholic High School in Iowa City during the 1960s. Soens denies the allegations. A judge discharged one suit in October 2006.^[55]

Nov 27, 2007: $37 million is now allocated to 156 persons.

[edit] Diocese of Honolulu

• Reverend Arthur O’Brien of the Diocese of Honolulu, formerly of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, was convicted in 1992 of one count of sexual assault on a 10-year-old boy. Father O’Brien entered into a plea bargain with the prosecutor. The subsequent suggestion of the prosecutor that Father O’Brien's conviction be erased--which was a condition of the plea bargain--was rejected by the judge. He was permanently retired from clerical ministry by Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo in 1994.

• Reverend Mark Matson, C.R., former chaplain at Tripler Army Medical Center and a member of the Congregation of Clerks Regular of the Divine Providence, was convicted in Honolulu on March 8, 2000, of molesting a 13-year-old boy at Maunalua Bay Beach Park on August 5, 1998. At the time of his arrest, Father Matson was not affiliated with the Diocese of Honolulu and was living in the Hawai‘i Kai neighborhood of Portlock. He is serving a 20-year prison term at the Halawa Correctional Facility on O‘ahu.

• Reverend Joseph Bukoski, III, SS.CC., Honolulu, Hawaii. Fr. Bukoski is a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In 2003, he was canonically removed as the pastor of Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in Lahaina by Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo for allegations relating to sexual improprieties some 30 years earlier. Fr. Bukoski issued a written public apology to his victim on November 12, 2005.

• Reverend Mr. James "Ron" Gonsalves, Wailuku, Hawaii. Deacon Gonsalves was the administrator of Saint Ann Roman Catholic Church in Waihee, Maui. On May 17, 2006, he plead guilty to various counts of sexual assault on a 12-year-old male. Bishop Clarence Richard Silva has permanently withdrawn his faculties and has initiated laicization proceedings against Deacon Gonsalves with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

[edit] Archdiocese of Chicago

• Daniel McCormack - self-confessed sexually abusive priest was sentenced to five years in prison for abusing five boys (8-12 years) back in 2001.^[56]

[edit] Archdiocese of Los Angeles

• The Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay out 60 million dollars to settle 45 lawsuits it still faces over 450 other pending cases. According to the Associated Press a total of 22 priests were involved in the settlement with cases going as far back as the 1930s. ^[57] 20 million dollars of this was paid by the insurers of the archdiocese. The main administrative office of the archdiocese is due to be sold to cover the cost of these and future law suits. The archdiocese will settle about 500 cases for about $600 million.^[58]

• The 2006 documentary Deliver Us From Evil is based on accusations that the Archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony, knew that Oliver O'Grady, a priest who sexually abused children, including a 9-month-old baby, in a string of Central California towns for 20 years, was a sexual abuser but failed to keep him away from children. In 1984, a Stockton police investigation into sexual abuse allegations against O'Grady was reportedly closed after diocesan officials promised to remove the priest from any contact with children. Instead, he was reassigned to a parish about 50 miles east, in San Andreas, where he continued to molest children. Not long after, Mahony was promoted to archbishop of Los Angeles, the largest Catholic diocese in the country. In Deliver Us From Evil, O'Grady says Mahony was "very supportive and very compassionate and that another situation had been smoothly handled". Mahony denies knowing that O’Grady was a child molester. ^[59]

• Mahony appealed an attempt to gain access to church documents relating to sexual abuse all the way to the Supreme Court ^[60].

• In Encino the late Father Clinton Hagenbach, who established the first teen club at St. Cyril of Jerusalem Church's first teen club, has been accused of sexually abusing 18 boys. The archdiocese paid $1.5 million in 2002 to settle one of those claims.^[61]

[edit] Archdiocese of Louisville

• Fr. Louis Miller, Louisville, Kentucky, United States. On March 31, 2003, Rev. Louis Miller of the Archdiocese of Louisville pled guilty to 44 counts of "indecent or immoral acts" and six charges of first degree sexual abuse, relating to incidents involving at least 21 children between 1957 and 1982. Miller also pled guilty to 14 further charges in Oldham County, Kentucky. Miller was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on the Louisville convictions. The Archdiocese of Louisville made a $25.7 million settlement involving 243 victims of sexual abuse, which was approved by a Louisville court on August 1, 2003.

[edit] Archdiocese of Miami

• Since 1966, the Archdiocese of Miami Insurance Programs have paid $26.1 million in settlement, legal and counselling costs associated with sexual misconduct allegations made by minors involving priests, laity and religious brothers and sisters. ^[62]

• Archbishop John Favalora has been deposed in a lawsuit filed against retired Broward priest Neil Doherty; at least four lawsuits alleged the Archdiocese knew Doherty was a child sexual abuser and covered-up allegations. Doherty was removed from ministry in 2002 by Archbishop Favalora. Three years later, he was first publicly accused of sexual abuse in 2005. Favalora claims in his published deposition, that he removed Doherty after going through approximately 400 priest personal files and found old allegations of abuse against Doherty that took place under the administration of the previous and now deceased archbishop. Two of these Doherty cases were settled together with four others in July 2006 for $750,000. ^{[63] [64][65]}

• In October 2006, U.S. congressman Mark Foley confessed he was molested as a 16 year old teenager by Fr. Anthony Mercieca who acknowledged the molestation.^[66]. Although Foley never filed suit, another man came forward shortly thereafter and filed a lawsuit anonymously claiming similar abuse. That lawsuit was settled in July 2007. ^[67]. Fr. Mercieca denied any abuse of the second man. ^[68]

• In July 2007, Miami lawyer Jeffrey Herman announced new lawsuits against the Archdiocese, alleging sexual abuse by six previously accused priests, including Neil Doherty. One of the lawsuits is for an allegation that was previously investigated by the State Attorney's office and was deemed not credible. The investigation was dropped and the priest remains active in ministry. The Archdiocese has stated it will defend him vigorously. ^{[69] [70]}

[edit] Diocese of Orange

• On January 3, 2005 Bishop Tod Brown of the Diocese of Orange apologized to 87 alleged victims of sexual abuse and announced a settlement of $100 million following two years of mediation. The suits alleged sexual misconduct on the part of 30 priests, 2 nuns, 1 religious brother, and 10 lay personnel into the 1980s; 11 claims were against Eleuterio Ramos and 9 against Siegfried Widera, both deceased (Widera by suicide).^[71] About 25 cases involved abuse dating before the creation of the Diocese of Orange, one to 1936.^[72] It was the first settlement in California arising from the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and remained the largest settlement (though not the largest judgment) arising out of the scandal until the Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced a $660 million settlement in July 15, 2007. About half of the sum was covered by liability insurance. The diocese had also sharply cut costs to prepare for the settlement in the preceding months. These steps enabled the Diocese of Orange agree to the settlement without closing schools or parishes, or more severe measures required of other U.S. dioceses caught up in the scandal.^[73]

• In 2003 Nine men sued the diocese alleging that Msgr. Michael A. Harris, their former principal, sexually assaulted them while they attended Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana or Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita. Harris quit the priesthood in 2001 after the Los Angeles and Orange dioceses paid $5.2 million to one of his alleged victims.^[74]

[edit] Diocese of Phoenix

• On November 21, 2005, Monsignor Dale Fushek of the Diocese of Phoenix was arrested and charged with 10 criminal misdemeanor counts related to alleged inappropriate sexual contact with teens and young adults.^[75]

• Also in November of 2005 Fr. Paul LeBrun was found guilty of six counts in the sexual abuse of boys when he was stationed in the West Valley.^{[76] [77]}

• Fr. Joseph Briceno fled to Mexico and was later captured and charged with one count of sexual abuse, six counts of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of attempted sexual conduct with a minor. ^{[78] [79]}

• In December of 2006 the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix agreed to pay $100,000 to William Cesolini who claimed he was sexually assaulted as a teenager by a priest, Mark Lehman, and a former teen minister, Phil Baniewicz, at a Mesa church. Monsignor Dale Fushek, who was pastor of that parish and co-founded Life Teen, the nation's largest Catholic youth ministry with Baniewicz, was accused in the suit of giving alcohol to the teen and then watching Lehman sexually abuse Cesolini. ^[80]

[edit] Archdiocese of Portland

• The Archdiocese of Portland filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on July 6, 2004, hours before two abuse trials were set to begin. Portland became the first Catholic diocese to file for bankruptcy. An open letter to the archdiocese's parishioners explained the archbishop's motivation:

This is not an effort to avoid responsibility. It is, in fact, the only way I can assure that other claimants can be offered fair compensation. We have worked diligently to settle claims of clergy misconduct. In the last four years, we have settled more than 100 such claims. Last year alone the Archdiocese paid almost $21 million from its own funds. Major insurers have abandoned us and are not paying what they should on the claims.

Two cases are set for trials beginning today. One plaintiff seeks more than $130 million in compensatory and punitive damages, the other $25 million. We have made every effort to settle these claims fairly but the demand of each of these plaintiffs remains in the millions. I am committed to just compensation. These demands go beyond compensation. With 60 other claims pending, I cannot in justice and prudence pay the demands of these two plaintiffs.

• The archdiocese had settled more than one hundred previous claims for a sum of over $53 million. The filing seeks to protect parish assets, school money and trust funds from plaintiffs: the archdiocese's contention is that parish assets are not the archdiocese's assets. Plaintiffs in the cases against the archdiocese have argued that the Catholic church is a single entity, and that the Vatican should be liable for any damages awarded in judgment of pending sexual abuse cases.

• After the filing, an April 29, 2005 deadline was set by the bankruptcy court to allow other people to file complaints. According to an October 2005 archbishop's column in the Catholic Sentinel, nearly 200 more claims of all kinds were filed as a result. That column also noted that the archdiocese has filed suit against insurance companies to compel them to contribute financially to the settlement expected to arise out of the reorganization.

• A press release issued by the Archdiocese of Portland on April 17, 2007 announced a settlement plan had been reached and a bankruptcy court had approved a financial plan of reorganization.

[edit] Diocese of San Diego

• On February 27, 2007, the Diocese of San Diego filed for Chapter 11 protection, hours before the first of about 150 lawsuits was due to be heard. San Diego became the largest diocese to file for bankruptcy.^[81]

• On September 7, 2007, The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego agreed to pay $198.1 million to settle 144 claims of sexual abuse by clergy, the 2nd-largest payment by a diocese, terminating 4 years of settlement talks in state and federal courts.

[edit] Diocese of Spokane

• Under Bishop William S. Skylstad the Diocese of Spokane declared bankruptcy to protect it from claims of people abused by priests in December of 2004. The Diocese of Spokane as part of its bankruptcy has agreed to pay at least $48 million as compensation. This payout has to be agreed to by the victims and a Judge before it will be made. According to Federal Bankruptcy Judge Gregg W. Zive, money for the settlement would come from insurance companies, the sale of church property, contributions from Catholic groups and from the diocese's parishes.^[82]

[edit] Diocese of Tucson

• The Diocese of Tucson filed bankruptcy in September, 2004. The Diocese of Tucson reached an agreement with plaintiffs, which the bankruptcy judge approved on June 11, 2005, specifying terms that included allowing the diocese reorganization to continue in return for a $22.2 million settlement.

[edit] Archdiocese of San Antonio

• John Salazar - sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting a 18-year-old parishioner. ^[83]

[edit] See also

• Roman Catholic sex abuse cases
• Crimen sollicitationis
• Homosexuality in the Roman Catholic priesthood

[edit] References