Talk is cheap. In the case of Archbishop of Philadelphia Charles J. Chaput, talk is also cynical, misleading and hurtful.Chaput apologized to survivors of clergy sex abuse during a homily at a “Mass for Healing for Victims of Clergy Sexual Abuse” Saturday in Philadelphia. Chaput also acknowledged the negligence of the “church’s pastors” in allowing the abuse to occur. What Chaput didn’t do – and hasn’t done – is take action to help sexual abuse survivors. In fact, he’s taken actions that hurt them. Let’s take a look at what Chaput hasn’t done. He hasn’t supported extending the Penns…
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With the arrest of Chaska’s World Learner’s School substitute teacher Matthew VanHecke in December, 2013 and his subsequent admission to “touching three juvenile girls” at the school where he worked in 2012 and 2013, it is imperative that lessons be learned from these horrific events.Schools and other institutions that provide services to children must understand that conducting a background check on a potential employee does not relieve them of their responsibilities associated with ensuring the safety of children under their care. According to officials from two of his employers, District…
Today the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s Report to the Vatican confirms what we have known for decades, top officials in the Catholic Church:1) have not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed;2) have not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children; and3) have adopted policies and practices which have continued to put children in danger While this report made international news today, it is not news to us. Just in the last few months we’ve revealed extensive cover-up through the release of documents and lists of…
Last month the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona took an undeniably positive first step toward transparency when they released their lists of accused priests. This was the first public disclosure of the two lists, which together name 46 priests accused of sexual abuse of minors, since these lists were compiled in 2004. Following suit were St. John’s Abbey, the Diocese of Duluth, and the Diocese of St. Cloud, which each released their list of accused priests in the last month. While the need for transparency has been stressed by leaders from dioceses s…
Pope Francis as the “person of the year”? Time Magazine thinks so.While Pope Francis has certainly distinguished himself from his predecessors by shedding the extravagant robes, choosing the guest house instead of the official papal apartment, and refusing standard Vatican security measures such as riding in the popemobile, what is less certain is whether the current Pope will set himself apart when it comes to the continuing child sex abuse scandal facing the Catholic Church. As a recent commentary in the Huffington Post points out, Pope Francis has yet to devote much, if any, attention …
It is tragic, unspeakable, and unacceptable for any child to be a victim of sexual abuse. However, one pattern we see far too often is a serial perpetrator like Chad Michael Geyen seeking out vulnerable children as victims. Criminals like Geyen know what kids they’re looking for, and they know where to find them. Chad Geyen found some of his vulnerable victims in the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program, and others through foster care programs, where he feigned concern for the well-being and future of numerous children in order to gain access to them. The Big Brothers and Big Sisters…
What a better place to find evidence of concealing clerical child abuse but in a newly opened secret archive. Karen Liebreich began digging in a previously closed archive and recounts her findings in “Fallen Order”. Liebreich tells the sordid story of the Piarist Fathers origins and things not remembered.One of those things not remembered is how a child abuser rose to become the General Superior of the Order. This sounds like foder for the Darknet but the story illustrates how the cover up of child sexual abuse occurs in roman circles.Father Stefano Cherubini Sch.P. was a rich roma…
An important lesson plan: our schools need to be safe for our children, not a safe haven for child predators. Bemidji School District was named in two lawsuits filed yesterday in Beltrami County on behalf of two more survivors who were sexually abused by former hockey coach and physical education teacher, John Wangberg, at Central Elementary School. We now represent five children who have filed lawsuits claiming the school was negligent in allowing Wangberg continued access to children despite receiving reports of inappropriate behavior with minors as early as 2008. Wangberg taught …
The old adage is that the Emperor Nero fiddled while Rome burned. While it is highly unlikely that a Roman emperor played a fiddle, the adage is a good description of how the Bishops and the last five Popes have neglected their duty of protecting children.What is burning?The Irish church my father showed me firsthand in the early 1980’s is simply gone.While prominent Catholics have withdrawn their support, the Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, John Nienstedt, has refused to speak. Nienstedt is silent regarding what he knew, what documents he has in the secret archives…
Today the Minnesota Supreme Court held in a four to one decision that clergy members will be held to the same standard of law as other professionals in the state, regardless of religion. In the case State v. Wenthe, a priest had an ongoing sexual relationship with an adult parishioner under the guise of counseling. As a result, the priest was convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for violating Minnesota Statutes section 609.344, subd. 1(l)(i) which prohibits sexual conduct between a clergy member and a parishioner during a single meeting when the purpose of the meeting …