Pope's stance on same-sex unions an important step for Catholic Church
'The church ... needs to listen to this community, which they so far have not done,' says Father James Martin
CBC Radio · Posted: Oct 22, 2020 12:45 PM ET
In a new documentary about the life and work of Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church for the first time expressed his support for same-sex civil unions. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)
The pope's endorsement of same-sex civil unions is a "highly significant" change in tone for the Vatican that could help change the way church leaders around the world approach the topic, says a Jesuit priest who has made supporting LGBT Catholics a cornerstone of his work.
"There are a lot of bishops around the world, in the United States and Poland and other places, who have been saying that same-sex civil unions are a threat to traditional marriage and have been really, you know, campaigning against them," Father James Martin, editor at large of America Media, told The Current's Matt Galloway.
"And I think this is going to make them think twice before they talk about those things now, knowing how the pope feels."
In the new documentary Francesco, about Pope Francis's life and work, the head of the Catholic Church described gay people as "children of God," and called for "a civil union law" so they are "legally covered."
Pope Francis is believed to be the first pope to have used the word gay publicly, and has in the past made comments suggesting gay people should not face discrimination. But this is the first time he has made such a clear endorsement on the record in his role as pope, said Martin.
While his latest comments have drawn ire and concern from some conservative bishops, Martin said many people in the LGBT Catholic community are "delighted."
"Obviously there are some that would want him to go further in terms of you know, having … wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples in the church," he said.
"But I think they're seeing this as another step in his outreach to LGBT Catholics, which he has been doing over the years, both in word and in deed."
Growing up gay in the church
Joey Laguio went to Catholic school all his life and knew he was gay from the age of about 10 or 11. "I just remember … sitting through one of the masses and being told that, you know, something about being gay was intrinsically disordered, and lots of these things about how I would go to hell," he told Galloway.
"It was very hurtful. I think at the time, I just remember like, sitting in the pew and my, like, hands shaking and 10-year-old me just wanting to, like, cry and stuff."
He said the experience left him feeling extremely conflicted, because he also experienced a lot of love from fellow parish members. "But also," said Laguio, "it felt like discrimination from at least a sermon level."
After so many years struggling internally and with navigating the Catholic Church, he said the pope's message is "really encouraging." Had he heard it as a kid growing up, it would likely have helped him open up to his family sooner about who he is, he added.
LGBT people 'treated like lepers,' says priest
Martin expressed his apologies to Laguio on behalf of the church, "because no 10-year-old boy should feel like that." However, many people share that experience, Martin added.
"Unfortunately, a good deal of the rejection from Catholic families comes from what they hear in mass and what they hear from bishops. And, honestly, LGBTQ people are treated like lepers in the church," said Martin.
"It's really shocking. So I really think the church basically just needs to listen to this community, which they so far have not done."
It's quite a curious paradox here where the church apparently has not listened to the LGBTQ community, while they have hired thousands of gay men as priests. Many of whom, probably preached against gay sex from the altar and then practiced it behind the altar.
While Laguio appreciates the pope's statement, he said a shift in doctrine, rather than just tone, would be the "ultimate signal" that the church's words can lead to action in support of LGBT people.
It's also important for the church to understand the experiences of people like Laguio. "The Holy Spirit works through the lives of people like him and not simply the pope or bishops," Martin said. "And I think we need to first listen before we can do anything."
This is most certainly a big step for the Catholic Church. But is it a step in the right direction, or a step further from God?
I have a theory that the 7 years of the Great Tribulation will occur in this decade. That the world is rapidly approaching Sodom in its moral code. This step is another step toward Sodom and brings God's Judgment that much closer. In my humble opinion, for what it's worth.
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Rev. Patrick Wattigny, accused of child molestation, arrested in Georgia
Archbishop Gregory Aymond removed Wattigny from public ministry shortly after
Wattigny allegedly admitted the abuse on Oct. 1.
Author: By David Hammer / Eyewitness Investigator, Ramon Antonio Vargas / The New Orleans Advocate
Published: 9:54 AM CDT October 23, 2020
SLIDELL, La. — Police in Georgia have arrested Roman Catholic priest Patrick Wattigny on a St. Tammany Parish warrant accusing him of sexually abusing a minor from 2013 to 2015 while he was leading a Slidell church, authorities said Friday.
Wattigny’s arrest comes a little more than
three weeks after he allegedly admitted to the Archdiocese of New Orleans that he had started sexually abusing an underage boy in 2013. He faces four counts of molestation of a juvenile, all stemming from the same alleged victim, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office said.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Wattigny started grooming the alleged victim when the boy was 15. It began with a conversation that led to telephone calls, text messages and then private visits, investigators said. Wattigny, now 53, is accused of molesting the teen at least four times between Christmas Eve 2013 and New Year's Eve 2015, including some occasions in a church rectory.
At the time, Wattigny was the pastor of St. Luke the Evangelist near Slidell.
Archbishop Gregory Aymond removed Wattigny from public ministry shortly after the priest allegedly admitted the abuse on Oct. 1. Church officials notified St. Tammany law enforcement, setting the stage for his eventual arrest.
Police in West Point, Georgia, arrested Wattigny about 7 p.m. Thursday at a home he owns there, records show. Assessor's records in Troup County, Georgia, show Wattigny bought the home, which was being foreclosed upon, in 2012.
Wattigny is being held in the Troup County Jail near Lagrange, Georgia. While some jails are sited in the middle of a town or city, Troup County’s jail is in a rural setting, surrounded on all sides by thick Georgia woods.
The jail’s website says the facility holds an average of 380 people per day, with about 3,000 people moving through each year. The website prisonpro.com says general population is housed in open dorms, but there are cells for troublemakers and others who might need to be isolated.
The same site says the facility has a chaplain and there are worship services available.
Wattigny as of Friday was awaiting transfer from Georgia to St. Tammany's jail in Covington. The Sheriff's Office said a transfer could occur by early next week.
Under Louisiana law, anyone who is in "a position of control or supervision" over a minor and engages in sexual activity with that child can be booked with molestation of a juvenile. Because the alleged victim is older than 13 but younger than 17, Wattigny would face between five and 20 years in prison if convicted of that specific crime.
“It is deeply disturbing when an individual in a position of authority uses that position to prey on the most defenseless of our population — our children,” St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the archdiocese issued a statement Friday saying, "Our prayers are with the victim of this abuse."
The statement added: "We have cooperated with the St. Tammany Sheriff's Office investigation and pledge our continued cooperation as this moves forward."
Wattigny is the second New Orleans-area Catholic clergyman to be arrested on child molestation charges in a little more than a year.
Last year, deacon George Brignac (6th story on link) was charged with raping a child between 1979 and 1982. Brignac died in June while awaiting trial.
The disclosures allegedly made by Wattigny to the archdiocese became public at the same time another north shore priest, the Rev. Travis Clark (above), was arrested in Pearl River on obscenity charges.
Clark allegedly had sex on the altar of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Pearl River with two dominatrices (3rd story on link) within view of a passerby using a nearby sidewalk.
Aymond this week said he would urge Wattigny and about a half-dozen other living diocesan clerics who are considered credibly accused of child molestation to undergo "laicization," a process by which they would leave the priesthood and return to the laity. Aymond said he would also make the same request of Clark.
Why would he even ask? Why give them a choice? These men are not 'poor examples of priests', they are demonic! They should have no place near the church.
Ordained in 1994, Wattigny spent the first six years of his career working at St. Peter Catholic Church in Covington; Visitation of Our Lady in Marrero; and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Kenner.
He became the pastor at St. Benilde Parish as well as the chaplain at Archbishop Rummel High School, both in Metairie, in 2000 and remained there until June 2013. That's when Wattigny became the pastor at St. Luke the Evangelist in Slidell, a post he held until his removal from ministry.
While pastor at St. Luke, Wattigny also served as chaplain of Pope John Paul II High School in Slidell, and was its president for the 2017-18 academic year.
It was at Pope John Paul where Wattigny's unraveling began.
In February, the mother of a student at Pope John Paul II High alerted the archdiocese that her son had received some 90 printed pages of inappropriate text messages from Wattigny.
Aymond has said he ordered Wattigny to discontinue the texts, which violated church policies requiring that communications with young people remain professional. But Wattigny later resumed texting the boy. He then resigned as school chaplain this summer at the archdiocese's request.
So, after 90 pages of inappropriate texts to the boy, the Archbishop decided he deserved another chance. Does that fit with church policy to report child sex abuse to local authorities immediately? I think AB Aymond is a very weak leader. Just my humble opinion, anyway.
The archdiocese also ordered Wattigny to undergo psychological evaluation and attend a 30-day retreat. Aymond has said it was during that process when Wattigny disclosed the alleged abuse of a separate boy which began in 2013, leading to the investigation which resulted in his arrest Thursday night.
Did Aymond interview Wattigny after finding out about the 90 pages of sexting? If not, why not?
Attorney Bill Arata, who represents the family of the boy who received the inappropriate texts from Wattigny earlier this year, thanked the Sheriff's Office "for doing what needed to be done."
“What my clients brought forward, what I produced to the archdiocese on multiple occasions was evidence of grooming … that continued even after they told us Pat Wattigny was instructed not to do it again,” Arata said. "These text messages fit his M.O."
An archdiocesan spokesperson said church officials turned over the texts to sheriff's deputies as part of the investigation.
Dino Cinel, historian, priest, pornographer, paedophile
It was not immediately clear whether Wattigny had retained a defense attorney. WWL-TV requested an interview with Wattigny through the Troup County Sheriff’s Office but jail officials declined.
Wattigny is now on a list of more than 70 priests and deacons that the archdiocese acknowledges are strongly suspected to be child molesters. His alleged confession counters the archdiocese's long-held contention that no clergymen in the New Orleans area had been sexually abusive to minors after U.S. bishops implemented a raft of safeguards for underage parishioners and students in 2002.
Besides Brignac and Wattigny, the only other New Orleans-area clergyman to be pursued by law enforcement for child sex charges was former priest Dino Cinel, who was murdered in Colombia in 2018. Cinel was acquitted of child pornography-related charges in the 1990s before voluntarily undergoing laicization in 2010.
Bishop Auckland, UK teacher hid his online activity
By Bruce Unwin
Chief Reporter (Durham), The Northern Echo
A SCHOOL teacher who shared videos of child abuse with “like-minded” individuals was today jailed for 27 months.
It followed a lengthy investigation begun in the USA that led to Robert Johnson’s home in County Durham.
Johnson was head of humanities at St John’s Catholic School and Sixth Form College, in Bishop, Auckland, until his offending came to light, in March last year.
An FBI inquiry into distribution of indecent material featuring children revealed seven offending videos found on the iphone of an arrested man in the USA emanated from someone with an Internet Protocol address in Neville’s Cross, Durham, between March and August 2018.
Durham Police were contacted and visited the home of the defendant, in Kell’s Buildings, and removed various electronic devices.
A computer expert was able to reveal that on nine occasions during six days between those dates, the internet was accessed at that address to enable the videos to be shared.
During the course of their inquiries Durham Police discovered Johnson was the author of adult erotic stories, using the pseudonyms Anna Austin and Scarlet Smith, which he sold on the internet through Amazon for extra money, while he admitted using a Virtual Private Network to illegally stream football matches.
In the course of two police interviews Johnson said there were times when he left his computer in sleep mode unattended while he was not there but other people, including workmen, were present. It led to his innocent wife’s devices being seized and examined by police.
He raised the possibility that he had been hacked, which was also mentioned during his trial at Durham Crown Court and was the subject of pro and counter arguments by respective computer experts for the prosecution and defence.
In opening the case, Anne Richardson, prosecuting, told the jury: “The Crown submits that here is an intelligent, computer savvy man, who has accessed the accounts and websites that have been found to have links to the indecent video links found on the devices in the USA, and that no matter how many coincidences he tries to put forward, this does not explain the hard physical trail of evidence that leads back to him, and only him, as the perpetrator.”
Johnson, 38, who was to have moved to an address in North Shields, denied two counts of distributing indecent images of children, in the two most severe categories.
The jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on both counts after an hours’ deliberation on the fourth day of the trial.
Johnson’s counsel, Michelle Healey QC, said the police investigation had caused “dreadful upheaval” for his family and himself, including the loss of his teaching career and reputation. Since leaving teaching he has worked from home as a self-employed proof reader.
Except, it wasn't the police investigation that caused the upheaval in his family, it was the reason for the police investigation.
Jailing him, Judge James Adkin told Johnson that despite his attempts to mask his online activities: “I have no doubt you uploaded that material.”
He said a reasonable inference was that those sharing material would have access to other people’s images and videos, as some sort of, “quid pro quo.”
Judge Adkin said the videos, more than an hour-long, featured real children being sexually abused.
He said those who circulate such videos across the globe, “encourage the viewing and collection of these images by others and by doing so indirectly promote more abuse."
The judge said: “For, without the market for it, encouraged and promoted by that distribution, the children who are victims would be less likely to be abused and filmed and fewer vulnerable children would be subjected to the long-term suffering that judges frequently see that such child abuse engenders. Offenders who encourage and promote abuse should face deterrent sentences.”
Johnson was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and registration as a sex offender, both for ten years.
A statement issued by St John’s school after the hearing said: “Robert Johnson began working as head of humanities at St John’s Catholic School and Sixth Form College in January 2015.
“He was suspended in March 2019 immediately after his arrest and did not return to the school again.
“The school co-operated fully with the police who confirmed that his illegal activity took place at his home and not on school premises or property.
“The school’s HR providers will support the school in following the appropriate employment procedures and make any necessary referrals to the statutory bodies.”
Senior Crown Prosecutor Robert Fothergill, of the CPS North-East, said during the FBI investigation, agents identified links between Johnson’s home computer IP address and a file sharing site being used to distribute indecent imagery.
It was referred to the National Crime Agency in the UK who then picked up the investigation alongside Durham Police.
Mr Fothergill said: “Robert Johnson made a significant attempt to protect his identity while using a cloud storage site to share indecent videos. He employed a number of pieces of sophisticated privacy software, including the use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to hide his IP address so that he might try to avoid detection.
“This has been a complex case involving multiple digital devices, ‘dummy’ email addresses and an array of privacy software. However, by piecing together the excellent work of Durham Police and digital forensic experts investigating this case, the Crown Prosecution Service has built a robust case to show the chain of links between Johnson and the indecent material shared online.
“I would hope that this case serves as a warning to those involved in criminal online activity that, while you may try to avoid detection, the digital trail you leave may well lead the police to your door.”
* The judge commended the work of PC Anna Pittam, who works with Durham City CID, during the investigation.
Ex-priest who was subject of Oscar-nominated documentary on sex abuse jailed for 22 months over child pornography
Eoghan Dalton
October 27 2020 08:26 PM
A former priest has been sentenced to prison for 22 months at Waterford Circuit Court for possessing child pornography.
Oliver O’Grady (75) had been
found guilty by a jury a fortnight ago, having been charged with one count of possessing a video of an underage girl engaging in a sexual act.
The court heard that he had the video on a date between December 14, 2015 and March 2016, at his residence at St Otteran’s Place, South Parade, Waterford city.
The case arose when a former housemate of O’Grady reported him to gardaà after discovering a sexually explicit video on the computer. The offence - which he denied - carries a maximum sentence of five years.
On Tuesday afternoon the defendant addressed the court for the first time having previously provided a written statement for the trial.
O'Grady said he had no knowledge of the video's existence until investigating gardaà brought it to his attention, and confirmed he accepted the guilty verdict delivered by the jury. However, he said the video of the child was "far worse" than what the court put forward, as it meant "that the girl had lost her right to be human".
The video, which was shown to the court, was just over a minute in length. One of the witnesses who alerted gardaà to the video, Ms Julie Sheehan, told the court that among the other files present on the computer were a will and testament belonging to Mr O'Grady. She said she viewed "five seconds" of the video before stopping: "After that I turned it off, it was enough to know."
As part of the address, which Judge Eugene O'Kelly later described as "bizarre", O'Grady thanked the prosecution and the gardaà for their work, his own counsel and the staff at the courthouse and those transporting him from the Midlands prison.
Judge Eugene O’Kelly heard O’Grady has eight previous convictions, including the repeated molestation of two brothers in California over a 10-year period, for which he served seven years in the 1990s. He was later deported back to Ireland. These crimes were the subject of an Academy Award nominated documentary in 2006 titled 'Deliver Us From Evil'.
280,000 CSAM images
Detective Garda Brian Morris outlined how on January 30, 2012 O'Grady was convicted of three counts of possession of child pornography, after a laptop he owned was left behind on an Aer Lingus flight. 280,000 images showing children in sexual poses and 1,000 video files of child pornography were discovered on the device.
He also received nine months imprisonment from Cloverhill District Court earlier this year for a failure to notify the court of a change in details, which related to his being placed on the sex offenders register.
As part of its case for leniency, the defence pointed out O’Grady previously received just 3 years in 2012, for possessing approximately over a quarter million images and 1,000 videos of child pornography.
Sean D. Rafter BL said the former priest suffered “two primary shocks” when growing up in Limerick. The first was the death of his father from a heart attack at age seven which left him and his five siblings in difficulty.
The defence added that O’Grady was himself a victim of abuse between the ages of 12 and 14 when he served at his local church. “Unfortunately the cycle perpetuates itself,” Mr Rafter said.
There was “no intervention, no assistance and no accountability” from the Catholic church when Mr O'Grady began to abuse children, he added. “That is the context of this man’s life.”
But State prosecutor Conor O'Doherty BL cited that the video at the centre of the case was at the higher level of child pornography, and the Judge said it amounted to the "exploitation and abuse of a child for the sexual gratification of others".
There was "no willingness" from O'Grady to deal with his problems despite already serving two prison terms, according to O'Kelly.
He handed down a 22-month sentence, backdated to when O'Grady was first arrested and placed in custody on October 26, 2019.
So, he will be out on bail next week? That should teach him. Good grief!
He will also be subject to post-release supervision by the probation and welfare service for two and a half years.
Disgraced Idaho priest serving lengthy sentence for child pornography
dies in jail
Meredith Spelbring and Karen Lehr, KIVI
Published at 1:57 pm, October 30, 2020
Courtesy Idaho Statesman
BOISE (KIVI) — Father William Thomas Faucher, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a long list of felony charges related to child sex crimes, died at Idaho State Correctional Institution Thursday morning.
Now his real sentence will begin!
Faucher, 75, was found unresponsive in the ISCI medical unit Thursday morning and attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, according to Idaho Department of Correction spokesman Jeff Ray.
He was pronounced dead at 10:52 a.m. and the death appears to be from natural causes, Ray said.
The Boise priest retired in 2015 and was arrested in February 2018 on charges of 10 felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, and two additional felonies for knowingly distributing by any means materials involving sexually exploitive material of a child. Faucher was also charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Investigators at the time found hundreds of images of child pornography on Faucher’s computer, including some he sent to another person.
When investigators searched his home they reportedly found an open electronic chat with another individual that “appeared to have been going on for quite some time”. In that conversation, prosecuting attorneys say Faucher expressed his desire for sexual relations with children and the desire to physically harm children.
The hundreds of alleged pornographic images contain children as young as infants and toddlers “being subjected to different acts of abuse and torture.”
Investigators also reportedly found marijuana, LSD and ecstasy/MDMA in Faucher’s home.
Faucher ultimately plead guilty to five of the 24 charges against him. He was just two years into his 25-year sentence at the time of his death.
The Catholic Church defrocked Faucher in 2019.
What, about 40 years too late?
