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Vatican enjoys diplomatic immunity, European human rights court says,
dismissing alleged child-abuse victims
12 Oct, 2021 14:58
The Vatican enjoys sovereign immunity that protects it from sexual-abuse lawsuits in local courts, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled, after a case was put forward by 24 people who claim to be victims.
On Tuesday, the top court dismissed a case submitted by two dozen people who claim to be survivors of child sexual abuse at the hands of the Catholic clergy from France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The alleged survivors had initially filed a class action in the Ghent Court of First Instance against the Holy See and several high figures in the clergy in 2011, demanding €10,000 ($11,600) in compensation for each victim because of the Church’s “policy of silence on the issue of sexual abuse.”
The lawsuit complained, “of the structurally deficient way in which the Church had dealt with the known problem of sexual abuse within it.”
Just over two years later, however, the Ghent Court said that it did not have jurisdiction over the Holy See, prompting the individuals to escalate their case to the top European court.
The ECHR on Tuesday sided with the Belgian court in a 6-1 ruling, which concluded that it agreed with its findings that the Holy See enjoyed “diplomatic immunity” and “was recognized internationally as having the common attributes of a foreign sovereign, with the same rights and obligations as a state.”
Last week, a bombshell missive unveiled that up to 330,000 children were sexually abused by clergy and lay members of France’s Catholic Church over a period of seven decades. Between 2,900 to 3,200 priests and clergy were accused of assault during this time.
Olivier Savignac, head of victims’ association ‘Parler et Revivre’ (‘Speak Out and Live Again’), said the startling figures equate to “one aggressor for 70 victims,” which he said is “terrifying for the French society, for the Catholic Church.”
In the wake of the damning report, Pope Francis expressed his regret at the findings of the expose, remarking that “it is also my shame, our shame, my shame, for the incapacity of the Church for too long to put them at the center of its concerns,” and implored French bishops to “continue to make every effort so that similar tragedies will not be repeated.”
It's not just shame for its incredible abuse of children but it's sin against God. When is the Pope going to call the church to a massive repentance?
Holy Name Province releases list of Franciscan friars
credibly accused of child sex abuse
Many of the friars named have ties to the Diocese of Buffalo
By: Sean Mickey
Posted at 11:25 AM, Oct 14, 2021
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — For the first time, Holy Name Province published a list of Franciscan friars with substantiated child sexual abuse and misconduct claims following a review of its files by an advisory firm.
Holy Name Province is not a place but a fraternity of Franciscan friars.
The newly released list contains the names of 23 friars, many of which have ties to the Diocese of Buffalo.
Among the clergy Holy Name Province has deemed to be credibly accused of child sexual abuse is Fr. Kevin J. Downey, O.F.M. Downey was a priest in the Diocese of Raleigh and an alumnus and former trustee of St. Bonaventure University.
Downey previously served as pastor at St. Bonaventure Parish in Allegany, N.Y.
He was placed on administrative leave by Holy Name Province in May 2016, just months after being named to the St. Bonaventure University Board of Trustees, following an allegation that he had committed sexual abuse of a minor in 1990.
An independent investigation found the claim credible, and Downey was removed from “all public ministries” in April 2017.
According to a university spokesperson, St. Bonaventure was not aware of any allegation against Downey when he was named a trustee. He then resigned before the allegation became public.
Despite the investigation's findings, Downey remains a friar, living at St. Anthony Friary in St. Petersburg, Fla., in the Diocese of St. Petersburg.
According to its website, friars living at St. Anthony “are engaged in serving the community as teachers, campus ministers, parish associates, parish missionaries, week-end helpers, confessors, chaplains and spiritual directors.”
The friary houses retired and active friars “living the Gospel values according to the Rule of St. Francis of Assisi.”
In a written statement issued to the 7 Eyewitness News I-Team, a Holy Name Province spokesperson said, “Fr. Kevin Downey is technically still a priest, but he was permanently removed from all public ministries and ministerial environments more than four years ago.”
The friary where Downey resides is within short walking distance to two public parks and Tampa Bay.
Despite being accused several years ago, Downey remains listed in the Official Catholic Directory without designation or annotation that he was found to have committed sexual misconduct against a child.
Anchin, Block and Anchin LLP reviewed files of every Holy Name friar dating back to 1950, according to the province. Many of the names published based on Anchin’s review, findings, and recommendations had previously been made public.
Holy Name Province sent the list to the bishops of archdioceses and dioceses where the friars had been stationed in ministry.
"It is our humble view that Holy Name has successfully addressed the scourge of sexual abuse of minors and is now a model for training, safe environment policies and procedures, preventive practices and education, oversight, and outreach to abuse survivors," wrote Fr. Kevin Mullen, O.F.M Provincial Minister in a letter on the province's website.
Except for Fr Downey, of course. He can still call himself a priest, which is a danger to any child he may encounter.
Some Franciscan friars, under the purview of Holy Name Province, with previously reported allegations were not included on the list.
The list of 23 friars with substantiated allegations include:
Eusebius Arundel (Deceased)
Severin Brady (Deceased)
Jordan Charbonneau (Deceased)
Joseph Collier (Deceased)
Adrian Donachie (Deceased)
John Dority (Deceased)
Kevin Downey (Removed from ministry)
Aidan Duffy (Deceased)
Matthew Gaskin (Deceased)
Louis Hamm (Deceased)
Linus Hennessy (Deceased)
Placid Hennessy (Deceased)
Rene Maynard (Separated from Province)
Jogues McVeigh (Separated from Province)
Roger McQuarrie (Deceased)
Paul Oligny (Deceased)
Raymond O'Reilly (Deceased)
John Rudy (Removed from ministry)
Bernard Splawski (Removed from ministry)
Richard Trezza (Removed from ministry)
Joseph Trunk (Deceased)
Donatus Walsh (Deceased)
Leonard Walsh (Deceased)
I wonder how many of those marked (Deceased) are residing in Hell right now?
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Fayette County Priest Andrew Kawecki Pleads No Contest
To Charges Of Repeatedly Sexually Assaulting Altar Boy
By Chris Hoffman
October 25, 2021 at 2:46 pm
UNIONTOWN, Pa. (KDKA) — A Fayette County priest accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting an 11-year-old altar boy in the back room of a church where they prepared Mass has pleaded no contest to indecent assault charges.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Father Andrew Kawecki was charged with indecent assault. His office charged the priest in August of last year. He was not named in the scathing grand jury report in 2018.
“It was identified following a surge of over 2,100 tips we received to our hotline since that report came out,” Attorney General Shapiro said Monday.
According to Shapiro, Kawecki started abusing Skyler Moncheck in 2004 when he was 11 years old. The assaults happened for three years at St. Cyril and Methodius Church in Fayette County. Kawecki abused the altar boy in a back room as they prepared for Mass.
That's not how I prepare for church! it's not exactly drawing closer to God before going to the altar.
“I would like to urge anybody who’s been in the same situation as me to come forward,” Moncheck said outside the Fayette County Courthouse.
Moncheck spoke at the press conference on Monday. He thanked the attorney general’s office for listening to him and getting justice. “If it wasn’t for their diligence, we wouldn’t be here today,” Moncheck said.
There was a second victim who came forward, but they were outside the statute of limitations. Shapiro said Kawecki will be registered as a sex offender for 10 years under Megan’s Law.
“Every single tip is acted upon, whether it’s by our law enforcement agency or another jurisdiction,” Shapiro said.
Kawecki served 15 different parishes in the Diocese of Greensburg from May 1980 to 2019. The diocese said it’s in the process of permanently removing Kawecki from the priesthood.
“The allegation against Fr. Kawecki came through the Comprehensive Reconciliation Fund in May of 2019. The Diocese of Greensburg immediately removed him from the parish and reported the allegation to ChildLine. The Diocese fully cooperated with the investigation. Bishop Kulick is spending time today in prayer for all victims of child sexual abuse, in particular those hurt by anyone associated with the Church. He is undertaking the process of permanently removing Fr. Kawecki from the priesthood. We ask that if anyone suspects that a child, young person or vulnerable adult has been abused by any person at any time, the person should call PA ChildLine at 1-800-932-0313, no matter when or where the suspected incident might have occurred. Today, we remind you that if you or someone you know has suffered abuse at the hands of anyone related to the Church, the Diocese is here for you to offer support, counseling, spiritual guidance and pastoral care,” the diocese said in a statement.
Kawecki will be sentenced on Jan. 14. Moncheck is expected to speak at the sentencing.
Monroe County priest charged with child sex abuse after
falling for 'predator catcher' set up
Hannah Phillips
Pocono Record
The priest arrived at a Tobyhanna Wawa to have sex with two teenage boys, police said.
Instead, he was confronted by a self-avowed "predator catcher" — a man who'd posed as a 15-year-old boy in sexually explicit text messages to Gregory Loughney, priest at Most Holy Trinity Catholic parish in Cresco.
"I made a mistake, and I need to report myself," Loughney said in a call to police immediately after the confrontation. "I messed up."
"I made a mistake", sounds like he regrets having been caught, rather than having attempted to sin against man and God. How is it so many Catholic pedophile priests don't understand sin?
Pocono Mountain Regional Police arrested Loughney, 42, Friday evening on charges related to attempted sexual assault of minors. In interviews with officers, the priest described the intimate text relationship he shared with "Cyrus," the person he believed was a teenage boy.
They met on a dating app and began to share sexually explicit messages and photographs over text, Loughney said. He continued to pursue a relationship with Cyrus despite believing the boy was a minor, he told police.
"I went down the rabbit hole," Loughney said.
The hole is deeper than a rabbit hole!
Cyrus, whose real name is Nicholas Goodlauage, belongs to a Facebook group known as 507 Predator Catchers. Members of the group pose online as teenagers or children and then film encounters with adults they say try to engage them sexually.
"The worst kind of bully is an adult that preys on children," their online bio says.
Loughney arranged to meet with Cyrus and his 16-year-old friend Billy at Wawa on the night of his arrest. No longer posing as a teenager, Goodlauage filmed their encounter.
"Why are you here to meet little boys?" Goodlauage said while standing in the aisles at Wawa. Loughney held up his hand to block his face from the camera. "You were going to take them back to your house, man?"
Loughney initially denied the accusation before he conceded in conversation with Goodlauage outside.
"I was wrong. I was reckless. I was foolish," he said.
Loughney "was going to have a three-way" with the boys, he told one of the officers who arrived first on the scene. Later, he told police that he wanted to bring Cyrus and Billy back to his home for dinner and cookies because Cyrus "was having a rough time in life," and the priest wanted to help him.
Pocono Mountain Regional Police Chief Chris Wagner called incidents like Friday's a "double-edged sword."
"We appreciate any help we can get from the public with bringing child predators to the justice system," he said. "On the other hand, we have to be cautious. Posing as a fictitious person online can become problematic if there's an enticement element."
A predator catcher who entices someone to commit a crime they normally wouldn't commit is considered entrapment, Wagner said. Amateur investigators run the risk of violating rules of criminal procedure that law enforcement has to abide when investigating cases like these. Whether entrapment will play a role in Loughney's prosecution is a legal decision that will be made "down the road.
The Diocese of Scranton announced on Saturday that Loughney was removed from active ministry "pending the outcome of the investigation."
“Learning the details of the behavior with which Father Loughney has been charged is extremely upsetting,” said Bishop Joseph C. Bambera. “In no way is this alleged behavior to be tolerated in the life and ministry of a priest.”
Loughney was charged with attempted statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors, indecent assault and criminal use of a cell phone. He is being held at the Monroe County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 4 at 9:45 a.m. under judge Danielle Travagline.
The most abortion-loving President in the history of the USA is considered a good Catholic by the Pope! God help us!
Biden says Pope told him he's a ‘good Catholic’ & to keep taking communion
as conservatives outraged abortion ‘didn't come up’
29 Oct, 2021 17:23
US President Joe Biden claimed on Friday that Pope Francis told him he was a “good Catholic” and should keep taking communion – outraging conservatives who pointed out Biden’s pro-choice stance on abortion.
Following a meeting between Biden and Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday, Biden answered “no” when reporters asked if the two had discussed abortion.
“We just talked about the fact he was happy I was a good Catholic and I should keep receiving communion,” he said.
Conservative Americans expressed outrage over the Pope’s alleged statement, arguing that “a good Catholic doesn’t support baby murder” and that Biden should not be allowed to take communion.
One social media user called for both Biden and the Pope to be “ex-communicated from the Church,” while others were skeptical that the Pope really had made such comments.
“Yeah, will need to hear from the Pope for this one. Considering his views on abortion, it is highly improbable he said that,” one Catholic traditionalist weighed in. Another proposed that Biden’s quote was “probably a grave distortion of what the pope said.”
Since his inauguration in January, Biden – the second Catholic US president in history following President John F. Kennedy – has reversed anti-abortion policies of the previous administration and attempted to stop Texas from implementing a controversial law banning abortions once a heartbeat has been detected in the womb.
Though 67% of American Catholics think Biden should not be disqualified from communion over his views on abortion, 55% of Republican Catholics do, according to a Pew Research poll this week.
Catholic bishops in the US have also repeatedly debated whether Biden should be allowed to receive communion, with Archbishop Joseph Naumann, who chairs the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, calling the president’s position a “grave moral evil.” Naumann has questioned how the president could call himself a “devout Catholic” while supporting things “contrary to the Church’s teaching.”
Pope Francis has stood against calls to deny Biden communion, saying in September that “communion is not a prize for the perfect...communion is a gift, the presence of Jesus and his Church.”
The Pope also stressed, however, that “abortion is murder” and that “those who carry out abortions kill.”
Biden’s views on abortion have changed over time. In the 1970s and ‘80s, Biden supported a ban on federal funding for abortion and even opposed federal funding for abortions in cases of rape and incest. In recent years, Biden’s views on the subject have become more liberal, opposing abortion personally but supporting the right for women to choose.
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