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Pope Francis allows bishops, cardinals to be tried by criminal tribunal
By Clyde Hughes
Pope Francis is seen during Easter Vigil Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on April 4.
Photo by Stefano Spaziani/UPI | License Photo
April 30 (UPI) -- Pope Francis issued a letter Friday to Catholic cardinals and bishops saying he has removed procedural hurdles that allowed them to avoid being prosecuted by the Vatican's non-clergy criminal tribunal.
The new rule allows cardinals and bishops accused of criminal offenses to be tried by Vatican city-state prosecutors instead of only the Court of Cassation, which is presided over by other cardinals.
The previous law specified that the Court of Cassations was the only court that could judge cardinals and bishops in criminal cases. The change means Vatican City judges, who are not cardinals, have the authority to rule on such cases.
The amendment, which applies to a Vatican law established a year ago, comes after the pontiff addressed the issue of prosecution at the inauguration of the judicial year on March 27.
"The overriding need for the current procedural system -- also by means of appropriate changes in the law -- to ensure the equality of all members of the church and their equal dignity and position, without privileges that date back to earlier times and are no longer in keeping with the responsibilities that each person has in building up the church," the pope wrote in his letter Friday.
The Court of Cassation consists of the cardinal prefect, two cardinal members of the Signatura and two or more judges appointed to three-year terms.
With the change, city-state prosecutors only need preauthorization from Pope Francis to try bishops and cardinals in any Vatican City criminal case.
Former Catholic school teacher charged with child sex crimes
released on bond
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E-mail to Joliet Catholic Academy detailed allegations involving 15 young men
in June 2020
By Alexis McAdams
Tuesday, May 11, 2021 3:43PM
JOLIET, Ill. (WLS) -- A former suburban Diocese of Joliet teacher who was fired after he was charged with child sex crimes has been released on a $10,000 cash bond.
Jeremy Hylka is charged with child grooming and other felonies after a video was posted online two weeks ago. A cell phone camera was rolling as police say Hylka showed up to a Joliet McDonald's under the impression he was meeting a teenage boy for sex.
Hylka had been hospitalized for unknown reasons. Hylka's attorney notified police that he would be released from the hospital on Tuesday at 6:30 a.m., according to Joliet police. Detectives traveled to Silver Oaks Hospital in New Lenox and placed Hylka into custody without incident, police said.
ABC7 has obtained an email that was sent to Joliet Catholic Academy in June 2020 detailing allegations of at least 15 young men who claim the longtime teacher acted inappropriately.
Although the charges were just filed, Joliet Catholic Academy was alerted to sexual misconduct allegations surrounding Hylka nearly a year ago.
"This was sent to the principal last June," said Amanda Johnson, a Joliet Catholic graduate. Johnson said she reached out to the school to alert them of these claims.
"I have received messages from more than 15 young men who have attended JCA within the last decade who had encounters with Jeremy," Johnson said.
Johnson said she also spoke on the phone with the JCA principal and contacted Joliet police.
"That conversation led me to believe that something would come of it," Johnson said. "I assumed that even one person was enough at that point - whether they wanted to stay anonymous or go on record."
Johnson said she collected evidence and trusted the school to investigate.
"I gave it to everyone I was supposed to," she said. "I tried to handle it with respecting everyone's privacy but also gave them what they needed to get the ball rolling."
Joliet Catholic Academy said they were made aware of online allegations against Hylka in June 2020. JCA said they immediately notified Joliet police and worked with the Diocese regarding the investigation. JCA officials said Hylka was put on leave and subsequently resigned as a result.
"I do not know if they did everything that they could have," Johnson said.
After resigning from Joliet Catholic Academy, Hylka was hired at St. Joseph Academy in Lockport. He was placed on leave in January as he was investigated for sexual abuse claims. Parents at St. Joseph were never notified about that investigation. He returned to work and was only fired after his arrest.
"Every time over the past year when someone tried to blow the whistle, they were blocked...whether it was actually blocked on Twitter, or just no returned calls, no returned emails," Johnson said.
She's hoping others come forward to speak up about the allegations.
"I am not a victim, it's never been about me," Johnson said. "Anything outside of pursuing the truth or what was going on felt like complacency."
Priest who held service for Biden’s inauguration RESIGNS as head of California university over ‘misconduct’ at booze-fueled dinner
14 May, 2021 00:30
Father Kevin O’Brien, who delivered the homily at the inauguration of his friend Joe Biden, has resigned as president of Santa Clara University and checked into rehab, over inappropriate conduct with students at dinner parties.
Santa Clara, which bills itself as “The Jesuit University in Silicon Valley,” announced on Wednesday that its board of trustees had accepted the resignation O’Brien submitted over the weekend. He had been president of the school since July 2019.
Lisa Kloppenberg, who was appointed acting president when O’Brien was suspended in March, will continue to serve until a replacement is made, the university said.
In a resignation letter, O’Brien cited personal issues related to “alcohol and stress management” and said he had been approached in March with concerns about his well-being, “based on accounts of my behavior over the past year in certain social settings with adults that did not meet the highest standards of decorum expected of me as a Jesuit.”
Last month, he entered a nonresidential rehabilitation program which “many Jesuits over the years have found helpful in living a full, healthy life of service,” and is expected to take four to six months, he added.
Details of O’Brien’s misbehavior remain a mystery. An investigation into by the Jesuit West Province, launched in March, found that the priest had “engaged in behaviors, consisting primarily of conversations, during a series of informal dinners with Jesuit graduate students that were inconsistent with established Jesuit protocols and boundaries,” wrote John Sobrato, chair of the university’s board of trustees.
The Province also said that “alcohol was involved” and “no inappropriate behavior was found in any settings outside of these dinners.”
Mere two months before his downfall, O’Brien delivered the inauguration service for his long-time friend Joe Biden. O’Brien knew the Bidens since 2006, when he was at Georgetown University in Washington, DC – another university run by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic religious order. O’Brien had joined them in 1996, after leaving a career in law.
Located in Silicon Valley, southeast of San Francisco, Santa Clara University is the alma mater of California Governor Gavin Newsom, among others.
Complaints about Ontario Catholic School teacher came years
before sex assault conviction
Julie Ireton · CBC News ·
Posted: May 18, 2021 4:00 AM ET
Looking back on her high school years, 31-year-old Emily Dickinson says she now knows she was taken in by a masterful manipulator — her former teacher Jeff Peters, who was recently convicted of sexual assault in Perth, Ont.
"Our relationship was certainly crossing a million boundaries in terms of messaging outside of school, making comments about me in a kilt, making sexually suggestive comments," said Dickinson. "I just thought I was so mature. You're not. You're being manipulated."
On April 29, Peters pleaded guilty to charges of sex crimes against two former students. The victims attended St. John Catholic High School in Perth between 2013 and 2016.
Students support victims of sexual abuse at Perth School
CBC has since heard from other women, including Dickinson, who say they were victimized by Peters before that.
Dickinson said she was never physically assaulted by Peters, but said her former teacher did groom her with sexually inappropriate comments and messages, then asked her to lie about what was going on.
Dickinson said her mother went to a school administrator more than a decade ago, asking for the behaviour to stop and for the teacher to be reprimanded.
"There's just a lot of frustration about knowing how preventable this whole situation was, and also just devastation. How many people were affected over these last 15 years? A lot more than two, I know that for sure," said Dickinson.
Former teacher Jeff Peters pleaded guilty in April to the sexual assault of two former students. These are photos of Peters found in high school yearbooks. (St. John Catholic High School)
'I lied'
Dickinson attended St. John between 2004 and 2008, when Peters taught a popular American history class that she said often included a trip to Washington, D.C., or Boston.
As a teacher, Peters was "engaging, interesting … buddy-buddy," she recalled.
Dickinson said the grooming started when she was 16. The two chatted using an online messenger, conversations that she described as "super sexual."
She said he gave her gifts and once told her, "I saw you in your kilt today. If I was a boy your age, you have no idea the things I'd do to you."
She said Peters had a "special" connection with other girls, too. In her last year of high school, Dickinson said a parent of one of those students went to the principal with concerns about Peters, and mentioned his closeness with Dickinson.
She was subsequently called to the office, she said, but went to Peters first.
"He was super calm and just was like, 'OK, all of those messages we have between us, they need to be deleted and you need to lie because they won't understand our relationship,'" she recalled. "So that's what I did. I lied."
Peters taught history and religion and also coached sports teams at St. John Catholic High School in Perth, Ont. (Julie Ireton/CBC)
Worried about her sister
Andrea Dickinson, Emily's mother, said she grew suspicious of Peters after Emily graduated and the teacher began turning his attention to her younger daughter.
"He started stalking [my younger daughter] in the hallway every day to ask how Emily was," she said. "I just thought, he's trying to ... start a relationship with my younger daughter, who also looks a lot like Emily."
Emily, who had just started at Carleton University, was also worried about her sister and told her mother about what had happened with Peters. Andrea Dickinson said she went to see the principal, who told her he'd deal with it.
"But literally nothing was done," she recalled.
Dickinson said she asked the school not to place her younger daughter in any of Peters's classes. But when the schedule came out, she had been. For other family reasons, the younger girl eventually left St. John.
CBC asked the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario for an interview or comment regarding parents having approached the principal about Peters years ago.
The board responded with a statement that read in part: "Given that the Board has referred this matter to the Ontario College of Teachers for review, it would be inappropriate to make any further comments at this time."
'Finally, they've got this guy'
When Andrea Dickinson heard Peters had been arrested and charged in 2019, she said she felt immediate relief.
"Oh my god, like finally, finally, they've got this guy," she recalled saying. "Between the 11 years, between the time I complained and he was arrested, you can only imagine how many girls were affected."
But the news left Emily with feelings of guilt.
"I wish I could have done more," she said. "Even though it's not my responsibility ... at the same time, now I'm older, I wish I'd done something to prevent this."
Now living in Toronto, Emily Dickinson knows many people in Perth feel the same way.
"It's a really small community and every single person would have been manipulated to some extent," she said. "What's most important to me is obviously showing respect and remorse to victims, because that's what's actually important here."
It's unfortunate you could not bring yourself to tell the truth when you had the opportunity. But you were still just a kid. He was counting on that!
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