Category: Out Of Touch

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Catholic Church in California grapples with over 3,000 lawsuits alleging abuse

— Advocates have been stunned by the number of cases that surfaced during this revival window

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, headquarters for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, seen in 2013.

By Alejandro Molina

At least a third of the 12 Roman Catholic dioceses in California have either filed for bankruptcy or are contemplating doing so to deal with an influx of lawsuits filed by survivors of childhood sexual abuse after a state law opened a three-year window in which cases were exempted from age limits.

More than 3,000 lawsuits have been filed against the Catholic Church in California under a 2019 state law that also extended the statute of limitations to allow all alleged victims of sexual abuse to sue up to the age of 40.

Advocates have been stunned by the number of cases that surfaced during the window, which closed at the end of December.

So far, two dioceses have declared bankruptcy.

The Diocese of Santa Rosa, which is facing more than 200 lawsuits, filed for bankruptcy in mid-March. In its bankruptcy petition, it claimed assets valued between $10 million and $50 million. It estimated its liabilities in the same dollar range.

The Diocese of Oakland, grappling with about 330 sexual abuse lawsuits, filed for bankruptcy in early May. It claimed assets valued between $100 million and $500 million with estimated liabilities in the same dollar range, according to its bankruptcy petition.

Oakland Bishop Michael C. Barber, in a letter, said, “worship sites” will close, and the diocese will have to “re-imagine” how other locations are used.

“I ask for your commitment to work with me and our pastors in the upcoming months as we determine how best to address the outcome of the bankruptcy process and how to ‘right-size’ our parishes to serve the faithful and all who come to us seeking Christ’s tender love,” Barber said.

The Diocese of San Diego made the decision earlier this month to file for bankruptcy sometime this fall, said Kevin Eckery, spokesman for the diocese.

Cardinal Robert McElroy, bishop of the Diocese of San Diego, announced in early February the possibility of bankruptcy as the diocese faces “staggering” legal costs in dealing with some 400 lawsuits alleging priests and others sexually abused children. Most of the alleged abuse cited in the suits took place 50 to 75 years ago, and the earliest claim dates back to 1945.

Most of the diocese’s assets, McElroy said in a letter, were used to settle previous allegations, ending in a $198 million payout in 2007. Eckery has predicted the cost of settling the outstanding cases against the diocese could amount to $550 million.

The dioceses in Stockton, Fresno and San Jose did not answer a query from Religion News Service to learn of their plans to deal with the lawsuits. The Diocese of Orange said that it had not yet finalized the number of pending lawsuits and that it was not considering bankruptcy. Deacon David Ford with the Diocese of Monterey said the diocese prefers “not to make a statement right now,” regarding any potential plans for bankruptcy.

Bishop Jaime Soto, in a statement in late February, said bankruptcy could be an option for the Diocese of Sacramento as it grapples with more than 200 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse.

“To learn of this staggering number of claims is truly heartbreaking,” Soto wrote. “These claims represent real people whose lives have been damaged by the sins of individuals whom they had been taught to trust.

“… Given the number of claims that have been presented … resolving them may overwhelm the diocese’s finances available to satisfy such claims,” he wrote. “This financial challenge is unlike anything we have faced before.”

Rick Simons, a lawyer serving as the plaintiffs’ liaison for cases in Northern California, says the dioceses are addressing these cases “as they always have, by avoidance.”

Simons said a total of about 1,600 cases have been filed against the Catholic Church in Northern California. These cases — which are being coordinated through Alameda County Superior Court — span dioceses in Fresno, Monterey, San Jose, San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Sacramento and Oakland.

“They say sympathetic words of responsibility and empathy for the victims in their public statements, and all their actions are exactly the opposite,” Simons said of the bishops.

According to Simons, about 500 cases are stayed by the Santa Rosa and Oakland bankruptcy proceedings.

“I’m trying to get cases set for trial, both because trials provide an incentive for settlement and because trials establish values that can be used for settlement of other cases, and of course, the defense doesn’t want to have any trials,” Simons said.

The national Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is preparing a letter to Attorney General Rob Bonta requesting that he issue a report based on information gathered in the lawsuits as well as from when the dioceses were subpoenaed in 2019. The subpoenas were issued to review how the state’s Catholic dioceses handled sex abuse allegations, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“We don’t think any of these entities are or will be made insolvent by any awards that are granted to survivors,” said Dan McNevin with SNAP.

McNevin said it’s a “double bottom line” when dioceses declare bankruptcy because it freezes the discovery phase of lawsuits “and they also create this impression that they’re broke and that they can’t afford to pay victims what they’re owed.”

“They want to avoid a jury,” McNevin said.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the most populous Catholic diocese in the country, with some 4 million Catholics, is not planning to file for bankruptcy, despite grappling with at least 1,100 lawsuits. The majority of these cases involve alleged abuse that occurred in the 1970s and earlier, the archdiocese said, and the accused clergy have died or are no longer in ministry.

How the Los Angeles archdiocese plans to avoid bankruptcy with so many cases pending is not clear. In a statement, the archdiocese said it has been “providing, on an ongoing basis, pastoral financial settlements directly to victim-survivors, regardless of the openings of the statute and when the abuse may have occurred.”

In a statement to RNS in early April, the Archdiocese of San Francisco said it was still in the process of evaluating more than 400 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by clergy, volunteers or archdiocesan staff. These cases date back more than 50 years, and a vast majority of the accused are dead, the archdiocese said.

In addition, a large number of the allegations against the San Francisco archdiocese include names of alleged abusers who do not appear to be priests assigned to the archdiocese, it said.

John Andrews, spokesman of the Diocese of San Bernardino, said there are no current plans to file for bankruptcy.

San Bernardino Bishop Alberto Rojas said in a statement in March that the diocese is evaluating “different legal and financial options” to resolve more than 130 sexual abuse lawsuits. A vast majority of the lawsuits involve abuses alleged to have occurred more than 30 years ago, he said.

The diocese, Rojas said, has provided victims with more than $25 million in settlement monies since 2003. Those settlements were paid through a combination of savings and insurance coverage with “little or no impact to our core ministries.” Now, Rojas said, “we must acknowledge the significant financial impact they would have on our local church.”

McNevin, of SNAP, credits the number of outstanding sex abuse claims to “delayed disclosure,” a phenomenon common to survivors of child sex abuse in which individuals remain silent for years before coming forward.

A 2020 report by Child USA found the average age at the time of reporting child sex abuse to be about 52 years. “The average age of abuse is somewhere in the 11- to 14-year-old range, so it’s a 40-year lag,” McNevin said.

McNevin also attributes the flood of cases to the lower stigma associated with being an abuse survivor. “There’s been a lot more awareness … So people are not embarrassed to say it happened to them. They no longer fear being called a liar,” McNevin said.

As SNAP drafts a letter to Bonta, McNevin said they are calling on the attorney general to “examine these bankruptcies closely.”

Just as in New York, where the Diocese of Buffalo has submitted to government oversight, McNevin said there’s an opportunity for Bonta “to really impose an appropriate, safe structure that will keep exposure at a maximum.

“What will happen will be a secular imposition of structure onto the Catholic Church that will force it to be safer,” he said.

Complete Article ↪HERE↩!

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Bolivia’s Catholic Church acknowledges being ‘deaf’ to sex abuse victims

People protest with signs against sexual abuse by a priest outside the Bolivian Archbishopric office in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, May 19, 2023. Milton Murillo, a Bolivian priest, has been remanded in custody on suspicion of abusing seminarians a decade ago, shortly after news broke of what has turned out to be the largest pedophilia scandal in the Andean country’s history, involving the deceased Jesuit priest.

By CARLOS VALDEZ

Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Bolivia acknowledged Wednesday that the church had been deaf to the suffering of victims of sexual abuse, commenting as a pedophilia scandal involving priests is rocking the country.

In a statement, the Andean nation’s Catholic bishops said that “as a church, we are facing a painful moment … because we are certain that we have been directly or indirectly involved in the deep pain caused to innocent victims.”

The statement comes amid the fallout from the case involving a late Spanish Jesuit priest, Alfonso Pedrajas. According to a private diary accessed by the Spanish newspaper El País, Pedrajas allegedly abused dozens of minors in Catholic boarding schools in Bolivia in the 1970s and 1980s. He died of cancer in 2009.

Earlier this week, Jordi Bertemeu, one of the Vatican’s top sex crimes investigators, arrived in Bolivia.

The bishops said that while “we know there is no way to compensate for the damage caused, we are committed to do everything possible to … seek a reparation, with the support of professionals who provide assistance and help heal wounds and scars.”

The Prosecutor’s Office initiated an investigation — which remains confidential — and has called on the victims to testify. New cases of sexual abuse have been uncovered as a result of this probe and one priest was sent to pre-trial detention for three months earlier this month.

Bolivian President Luis Arce sent a letter to Pope Francis earlier this week, requesting that the church release any documents about sexual abuse by priests in Bolivia.

In the letter, Arce calls on church authorities to “move from pronouncements to concrete actions to prevent impunity.”

In their statement, the Bolivian bishops said the church would set up two commissions to “determine responsibilities.” They promised to provide updates, saying they would “contribute to a transparent investigation” by the justice system.

The Jesuit Society in Bolivia previously apologized to victims and pledged to support the investigation while denouncing Pedrajas’ superiors for an alleged cover-up. Many of the people singled out are no longer in office or have died.

Complete Article ↪HERE↩!

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In rare move, Vatican official chastised Texas Bishop Strickland at conference

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland

by Religion News Service

If Texas Bishop Joseph E. Strickland is known outside of his diocese for anything, it’s for controversy.

The conservative firebrand, who oversees the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, has sparked backlash from critics for everything from voicing support for priests who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to offering a prayer at a “Jericho March” event in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. More recently, Strickland challenged Pope Francis, announcing on his Twitter feed that he believes the pontiff is “undermining the Deposit of Faith.” His efforts have inspired some detractors to call for Strickland’s resignation, while others have urged Vatican intervention.

But according to multiple sources, Strickland has already been on the receiving end of the Vatican’s ire for more than a year: He was chastised by a representative of the Holy See in 2021, they say — a move that simultaneously signals the potential for formal Vatican disciplinary action and exemplifies the difficulty of reining in a controversial cleric.

“(Strickland) doesn’t really care,” Barber said of the alleged encounter. “It’s the truth that sets us free. If he goes down because he’s speaking the truth, oh well.”

A separate source who is familiar with the meeting but who chose to remain anonymous, as they have not been given permission to discuss the matter publicly, told Religion News Service the incident took place in November 2021 at the annual USCCB meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. The source said the nuncio specifically confronted Strickland about his Twitter feed, which had garnered controversy at the time for, among other things, posts that opposed the three major COVID-19 vaccines distributed in the U.S. at the time.

Asked about the encounter via email this week, Strickland said he would “prefer not to comment.”

The nuncio’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

For his part, Barber told RNS he did not wish to speak further about the incident and would not name the source of his information. Instead, he criticized Pope Francis, accusing him of being ambiguous about important moral questions and calling the pontiff a “disaster for the Catholic Church.”

Strickland would hardly be the first cleric in U.S. history to be reprimanded by the Holy See. In the 1980s, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — headed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who went on to become Pope Benedict XVI — launched an investigation into Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen, an outspoken liberal cleric and critic of nuclear power, who oversaw the Archdiocese of Seattle at the time. The Holy See ultimately appointed an auxiliary bishop to the region who shared authority with Hunthausen.

But it’s highly unusual for the public to learn about less formal admonishments doled out to bishops by Vatican officials behind closed doors. What’s more, Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University and an expert on U.S. Catholicism, said a nuncio privately dressing-down a U.S. bishop at a conference is particularly rare, and showcases the delicate situation facing modern popes when it comes to cowing outspoken, media-savvy clerics who buck the party line.

Strickland has become a popular figure in right-wing Catholic circles for his criticism of President Joe Biden and oppositional stance against COVID-19 vaccines, which includes expressing support for priests who have challenged their own bishops by refusing to get vaccinated. (Strickland’s position contrasts sharply with that of Pope Francis, who has advocated repeatedly for the use of vaccines, even calling them an “act of love.”) In addition to the Terry and Jesse Show, Strickland has appeared on a number of conservative and far-right Catholic websites, ranging from EWTN to Church Militant.

Church Militant also organized a protest outside the same November 2021 USCCB meeting where the nuncio is alleged to have confronted Strickland. Speakers at the event, where some participants waved anti-Biden “Let’s go Brandon” flags, praised Strickland from the stage. He also posed for photographs with staffers from Church Militant, an outlet that has railed against other bishops using language critics have decried as homophobic and racist.

Church officials wishing to curtail Strickland’s influence could take dramatic steps like they did with Hunthausen, Faggioli said, but “there’s no measure that can deprive him of the access to these various blogs or influencers” the bishop often utilizes to amplify his message.

“I believe that the fear is that, if he’s removed, his visibility will be amplified,” Faggioli said.

What’s more, if the alleged scolding was meant to cow Strickland, Faggioli said, it doesn’t appear to have had much of an effect. Since the 2021 meeting, the Texas bishop has been embroiled in multiple controversies over challenging the authority or rhetoric of church officials — be it his fellow bishops or the pope. And while Strickland’s much-maligned tweet about Pope Francis earlier this month was an attempt to distance himself from a podcaster who questioned whether Francis is, in fact, the pope, his effort still resulted in controversy.

“I don’t know how much that dressing down worked,” Faggioli said.

Complete Article ↪HERE↩!

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‘You cover up abuse’

— Right-wing Catholic group slammed over anti-LGBTQ tweet

By

CatholicVote, a right-wing non-profit that labels itself as the “top Catholic advocacy organization” in the United States, received a drubbing on social media this weekend over a comment that it posted about a CNN article.

The outlet reported on Friday that actors Idina Menzel and Jonathan Van Ness had released statements strongly condemning the wave of anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation that Republicans are spearheading throughout the country.

“At least 417 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the United States since the start of the year — a new record, according to American Civil Liberties Union data as of April 3. That’s more than twice the number of such bills introduced all of last year,” CNN explained.

“My son and his friends, they don’t even have to be told about being inclusive,” Menzel told CNN. “As a mother, I want my son to grow up in a world where you can love anyone. No matter who he becomes as a human being, he’ll be loved. He will have a home. He will be celebrated for who he is.”

Van Ness remarked that “child poverty is a way bigger threat to children right now. Child abuse is a way bigger threat to children right now. Gun violence is a way bigger issue for parents to be focusing on as opposed to what people are choosing to wear and how people are choosing to express themselves,” with which Menzel agreed, according to CNN.

After CNN published its interviews with Menzel and Van Ness, CatholicVote tweeted, “Protecting kids from explicit sexual content = ‘anti-LGBTQ.’ Noted.”

The blowback, which was swift and harsh, centered primarily on the Church’s extensive history of sexual abuse.

A nameless Twitter user kicked things off, writing, “We should protect kids from Catholic priests being that kids are always sexually abused in a Catholic Church.”

St. Martin’s Press publisher Jo Luehmann: “You all have entire bookshelves where you demonize non-Christians. The number of abuse survivors and victims in your churches is alarmingly massive. You cover up abuse of children in schools, churches and homes. Perhaps sit this one out.”

Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic instructor Alejandra Caraballo quipped that “maybe y’all should protect kids from priests, adding that “the only thing that’s sexually inappropriate around children are catholic priests.”

Wu Tang is for the Children: “Hey @CatholicVote, might want to clean up your BS first before offering up your thoughts here.”

Girl Geek: “If you really want to protect kids from sexual abuse, the best thing to do is keep them out of churches.”

Vs.: “CatholicVote boldly refuses to sit this one out.”

Victoria Brownworth: “Oh my goodness. Seriously? The pedophile priest cheering section has the unmitigated gall to show your faces here? Sit down and say 1,000 Hail Marys as penance.”

Bizzle (Alfalfa Male): “Oof. Damn. You may want to take a seat.”

drew olanoff: “You really want to involve yourselves in this conversation?”

LeftwardSwing: “You should probably stay out of this conversation. Over 150 members of the archdiocese in Baltimore alone.”

RWLatstetter #BERNIE2024: “STRANGE RELIGION YOU HAVE THERE! The average settlement in recent sexual abuse cases against the Catholic Church is around $300,000 – $400,000. To date, Catholic dioceses in the U.S. have paid over $3 billion in compensation to sexual abuse victims.”

Complete Article ↪HERE↩!

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Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence ‘outraged’ by getting boot from Dodgers on Pride Night

— The LGBTQ advocacy group defended itself a day after the Dodgers disinvited them from Pride Night, while politicians and groups condemned the team.

The Dodgers’ June 16 Pride Night is now mired in controversy.

By Jim Buzinski

A day after the Los Angeles Dodgers disinvited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence from their upcoming Pride Night after a leading anti-gay bigot and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio complained, the Sisters expressed “outrage and deep offense” at the team’s decision. At the same time, state politicians and LGBTQ organizations and supporters condemned the Dodgers’ action.

The events in the last 24 hours have become a PR headache from the Dodgers, with fans on social media expressing outrage and a Congressman urging a boycott of the June 16 Pride game, historically the largest one in sports (Disclosure: Outsports is a partner in the event). The media focus has centered on the Dodgers caving to anti-LGBTQ forces, not the kind of attention a team wants as it seeks to promote an event around inclusiveness.

In a statement posted on Twitter, the San Francisco Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence issued their first detailed comments about being disinvited from receiving the team’s Community Hero Award:

The San Francisco Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence a leading-edge Order of queer and trans nuns in San Francisco, Calif., today expressed their deep offense and outrage at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ recent decision to retract their offer of a Community Hero Award, to be presented to the Los Angeles Sisters, following criticism from religious conservatives.

The Dodgers capitulated in response to hateful and misleading information from people outside their community, who target not only the LGBTQQ++ community but also women’s autonomy over their bodies, people and communities of color, and other faiths and nationalities.

Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote, condemned the Sisters as a “blatantly perverted, sexual and disgusting anti-Catholic hate-group.” This is simply not true. The Sisters began in 1979 in response to the AIDS crisis, when gay men, who their faiths and families had abandoned because of their orientation, were sick and dying. The Sisters were among the first to raise money to help care for people with AIDS and to create and distribute safer-sex information.

In the decades since the Sisters have grown with chapters across the world. They are a 501(C)3 charitable organization that annually raises thousands of dollars to distribute to organizations supporting marginalized communities. They support other groups, including several mainstream churches, in their work. Sisters are regularly called upon to minister to the sick, the dying, and the mourning

Our ministry is real. We promulgate universal joy, expiate stigmatic guilt, and our use of religious trappings is a response to those faiths whose members would condemn us and seek to strip away the rights of marginalized communities,” said Sister Rosie Partridge, abbess of the San Francisco Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

The Sisters are not anti-Catholic, but an organization based on love, acceptance, and celebrating human diversity. To be condemned by representatives of the Catholic Church is particularly ironic, given that organization’s long history of condoning and concealing the sexual abuse of children. It’s a statistical fact that children are at less risk in the company of drag queens than clergy. Yet, the LGBTQQ++ communities are consistently targeted by the right, because it is easier to foment fear of the unfamiliar than to take a hard look at very real threats ranging from gun violence to global warming.

The San Francisco Sisters call on the LGBTQQ+ community and its allies to express their disappointment with the Dodgers by contacting them at fanfeedback@ladodgers.com or 866-DODGERS, option 9.

Do not let people who hate us all decide that some parts of our community are more tolerable than others, that some shall be seated at the table while others are locked out. We all stand on the shoulders of brave souls who endured much to get us this far and we owe it to them, and those yet to come, to condemn the voices of haters at every turn. The struggle continues, but we look forward to a better, more inclusive world where human diversity is seen as an advantage, not something to fear.

Meanwhile, state politicians and groups weighed in against the decision.

  • The Los Angeles LGBT Center, the region’s largest, pulled its participation from the event and called on the team to reverse its decision, saying:

“We call on the Dodgers to reconsider their decision, honor the Sisters, and bring the true spirit of Pride back to Dodgers Stadium. If the decision is not reversed, we strongly encourage the Dodgers to cancel Pride Night. Any organization that turns its back on LGBTQ+ people at this damning and dangerous inflection point in our nation’s history should not be hoisting a rainbow flag or hosting a ‘Pride Night.’ We want the Dodgers ally ship to be consistent with our experience partnering with them over the past many years. The people of Los Angeles County have consistently and overwhelmingly shown up for LGBTQ+ equality. If one of our most beloved institutions — the Dodgers — refuses to stand by us at this moment, we are terrified of what will come next. Los Angeles is a leader — not a follower. We call on the Dodgers to set an example.”

  • California State Sen. President pro tempore Toni Atkins tweeted: “Capitulating to demands from anti-LGBTQ officials in other states to remove the @LADragNuns from Pride Night is a shameful decision by the @Dodgers. I stand with the @LADragNuns — we will not give in to politicians who seek to silence our #LGBTQ+ community.”
  • The ACLU of Southern California pulled out from Pride Night, tweeting: “The Dodgers, which broke the color line in baseball in 1947 by signing Jackie Robinson, were champions of inclusion. Seventy-six years later, they take a giant step backward banning a long-standing drag charity. In unity with @SFSisters, we will not participate in Pride Night.”
  • U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, the openly gay former mayor of Long Beach, called for a boycott, saying, “This is shameful and you will not divide and separate our community. I hope we all boycott your ‘pride night’ and protest this cowardly decision.”
  • California State Sen. Scott Wiener from San Francisco, who is gay, got in a sports dig in his statement condemning the Dodgers: “In the past month, right wing mobs demanded that Anheuser Busch stop featuring a trans woman in an ad & that the Dodgers kick drag queens out of its Pride celebration. Both Anheuser Busch & the Dodgers caved. The danger to our community grows by the day. We expect more from our sports teams — even the Dodgers.”

My take

This whole controversy started with a letter from Sen. Marco Rubio to MLB Commissioner Rob Manford. Rubio represents Florida, literally on the opposite side of the country from Dodger Stadium, so it’s unclear why the Dodgers would give a damn about what Rubio says about anything. What pressure Manford might have put on the team is unknown.

Then longtime anti-gay bigot Bill “Gay Marriage is the Work of the Devil” Donohue of the Catholic League, an advocacy group that is not part of the church, weighed in to condemn the Sisters’ inclusion. No one who cares a whit about LGBTQ people should listen to a thing Donohue says. It’d be like someone organizing a Black History Month exhibit listen to input from the KKK.

The Dodgers’ biggest mistake was their knee-jerk reaction to the letter and caving in so quickly. Then game is not for a month, plenty of time to give the matter serious thought before reaching any decision. They then made it worse with a statement that threw the Sisters under the bus with zero acknowledgement to the heroic work they have done for 40 years, saying the decision was made because of the “strong feelings of people who have been offended.” So the standard is now anyone with “strong feelings” rule the day?

What happens next?

Damn if I know, but my guess is that more groups pull out as the word spreads. As for ticket sales, the Dodgers have the best attendance in baseball and the June 16 is against the hated San Francisco Giants so Dodger Stadium will be packed, though whether the team will match the 18,000 in specific Pride Night tickets from a year ago is unknown.

This whole thing is sad and infuriating because the Dodgers have been a pioneer for sports teams in addressing LGBTQ inclusion and that should be applauded. Yet they threw a lot of good will away when catering to the most extreme elements in society, people trying to reverse decades of progress at a time when LGBTQ people need all the allies we can get.

Complete Article ↪HERE↩!