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Catholic Church Bans Priest From Hearing Confessions After
He Advocated Violating That Sacrament In Sex Abuse Cases
Story by Dave Malyon • Knewz
An Archbishop of the Milwaukee Catholic Church has revoked one of his priest’s privileges to administer the sacrament of confession following the priest’s advocacy for breaking the seal of confession in cases of child sexual abuse.
Catholic Church Bans Priest From Hearing Confessions After He Advocated Violating That Sacrament
In Sex Abuse Cases
© Knewz
© Knewz
In a statement released on March 22, Archbishop Listecki wrote, “I have informed Father James Connell that, effective immediately, he is to cease all such erroneous communications that distort the teachings of the Catholic Church about the confessional seal.”
He continued to call Connell’s claims false and said that they created “unrest” among “the people of God” and doubt in the privacy of the confessional.
He also mentioned in the statement that he had removed Father Connell’s authority to take confessions and perform absolutions.
This comes after the now-retired priest openly supported a Delaware bill mandating priests to share information about individuals confessing to child sexual abuse.
In his advocacy of the bill, Connell wrote: “No institution in our society, not even a recognized religion, has a significant advantage over governments’ compelling interest and responsibility to protect its children from harm by abuse or neglect,” per Catholic News Agency.
On an earlier occasion, the priest wrote to Pope Francis, appealing to the pontiff to release from sealing any confessions of sexual abuse against “vulnerable adults” and “children.”
The priest, who happens to be a canon lawyer, also filed a lawsuit against ten US states, calling the fact that priests were exempt from testifying in sexual abuse cases “unconstitutional.” The case, it turns out, was thrown out the very next day.
Connell is a known activist against covering up priestly sexual abuse within the Catholic church, and as a testimony to the latter, boycotted Archbishop Rembert Weakland, who was said to have paid hush money to a seminary. Be that as it may, Conell was also implicated in a similar cover-up scandal in 2009.
Diocese of Savannah responds to report detailing allegations
of child abuse by area clergy
WJCL - Updated: 11:26 PM EDT Mar 24, 2023
Graham Cawthon
SAVANNAH, Ga. —
The Diocese of Savannah issued a statement Friday, shortly after a report was released detailing suspected child abuse by Roman Catholic clergy in both Savannah and Georgia.
The report, from the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, is the result of a third-party review dating back to 2019 of records, files and documents from the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Diocese of Savannah concerning suspected child abuse.
According to the PAC, the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Diocese of Savannah and their attorneys fully cooperated in the review and made all documents available.
"We began the review by immediately evaluating whether any of the alleged sexual abuse reports occurred within the applicable criminal statute of limitations," the PAC wrote. "The review did not uncover ongoing or active allegations of sexual abuse that could be criminally pursued. Confirming that no prosecutable cases existed, the attention of the evaluation turned to the historical sexual abuse of children and sexual misconduct against adults within the church and the church’s response to allegations.
In all the situations contained in this report either the criminal statute of limitations had expired, the accused was deceased, the allegations had been reported to the proper authorities or the accused had been prosecuted by the appropriate jurisdiction."
The report goes on to detail numerous individuals dating back to the 1920s with ties to the Diocese of Savannah, their assignments within the church and detailed accounts of the accusations against them.
Wayland Yoder Brown - Ex-priest tied to raping boys in Savannah, Lowcountry
dies months into imprisonment
You can read the report in full here.
In its conclusion, the report read, "Based on records reviewed, since 2002, the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Diocese of Savannah have been notifying the appropriate authorities either by contacting the Department of Family and Children Services or law enforcement of child abuse allegations reported to their organizations."
"The Archdiocese of Atlanta and Diocese of Savannah appear sincere in their efforts to right past wrongs by providing pastoral care to victims and complying fully and timely with Georgia’s mandated reporter statute."
Shortly after its release, Bishop Stephen D. Parkes, on behalf of the Diocese of Savannah, issued a response.
"The sexual abuse crisis has been a blight on the Church and a source of profound suffering. While the sins of the past cannot be overlooked – and indeed must be acknowledged – I assure you that the Church of today is firmly committed to the safety and protection of children.
My heart aches for those who have been affected by the scandal of abuse in any way, from the victims and their families to those who have had their faith shaken by priests who betrayed the love of Christ. Please know that there is always an opportunity for healing and that the Church herself longs to console all who suffer.
Please join me in praying for all victims of abuse and for the efforts of the Church to end abuse in all forms and in all places. Let us pray also for the good priests damaged by the actions of others, and for the repentance of abusers.
May the Lord grant us his healing and his peace."
A statement from SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, was critical of the report's findings.
"This report, in our opinion, is a repetition of what the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Diocese of Savannah's list of "credibly accused clergy" already tells us. ...We hope that the low numbers of abusive clergy reported will encourage other still-silent victims and witnesses to come forward as well as parishioners and the public to press secular authorities in Georgia to do more investigating. It is our hope that this initial news will serve as a reminder to victims that they are not alone and that there are people who will support and believe them.
We are certain there are a lot more abusive clergy members than are being reported. This is based on our 30 years of experience, the (PAC) findings, and reports we have seen published by other state authorities.
We find it alarming to see that the report revealed that the Archdiocese of Atlanta started to treat reports of sexual abuse more seriously in the early 1990s. We know the average age at which allegations of child sex abuse are made is 52. That would imply that abuse victims from the 1990s and 2000s have yet to acknowledge the full effects the trauma has had on their life and have not stepped forward."
Rochester's Catholic diocese sex abuse settlement includes
$20.6 million from insurers
by WHAM
Fri, March 24th 2023, 2:34 PM PDT
(WHAM file photo)
Rochester, N.Y. — More than 400 Sexual abuse survivors who sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester under the New York Child Victims Act have reached a settlement with the diocese.
The $75.6 million settlement is the first of its kind in New York state. The payout includes a previously reported $55 million from the diocese and parishes, along with $20.6 million from two of the diocese's insurers.
The settlement also gives survivors the ability to legally prosecute the diocese's insurers.
Rochester's diocese was the first in New York state to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid a flood of lawsuits under the Child Victims Act. The dioceses of Buffalo, Syracuse, Rockville Centre (Long Island) and Albany have followed.
Is there a single diocese in the United States that has no history of child sexual abuse?
The settlement awaits approval from bankruptcy court and needs to be voted on by the survivors.
The diocese released a statement following the news:
Today, we filed a joint Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization, along with a joint disclosure statement in support of the plan, for the Diocese of Rochester. We are pleased to enter into this joint resolution with the Creditors Committee to provide recompense to the survivors.
Once again Bishop Salvatore R. Matano renews, with deep sincerity, an apology to the survivors of sexual abuse of minors, who have been harmed by these egregious acts, as well as to their families and the faithful of our Diocese who have endured this sad moment in our history.
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