Diocese of Portland Maine Catholic Bishop Robert Deeley is one of just a dozen or so U.S. prelates who steadfastly refuses to tell the public “Here’s who we educated, hired, trained, supervised, transferred and protected and are in fact child molesters.” Maybe he didn’t want to post such names because he was afraid of abuse and cover up lawsuits if…
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CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE
Attention to Clergy Sexual Abuse Began in Louisiana in 1983
Do you think the Catholic clergy sexual abuse and cover up crisis started in Boston in 2002? Think again. It really started much earlier, in 1983 in fact, down in Louisiana. And now – finally, thankfully – there’s a new Louisiana law that may benefit some of those very first clergy abuse survivors who stepped forward, long before the pubic…
Diocese of Rochester’s Accused Priest List — More of the Same
On this blog recently, we’ve noted how bishops in several New York and New Jersey dioceses are refusing to truly ‘come clean’ about their child molesting priests, nuns, brothers, bishops, seminarians and deacons. Not surprisingly, the Diocese of Rochester’s Accused Priest List published by Rochester Bishop Salvatore Matano is no different. For starters, ask yourself this: If I were a…
Two Anniversaries That Give Us Hope
For our own mental health, given the wealth of bad news in the world, we at Horowitz Law try hard to take note of good news and anniversaries of good news. Today, Dec. 14, marks the anniversary of the resignation of the poster child for the US Catholic church’s abuse and cover-up crisis – Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston. Never…
Florida Attorney General Report on Clergy Abuse & Cover Up Disappoints
The more we read the just-released report by Florida state authorities into Catholic child sex crimes and cover ups, the more disappointed we are at Horowitz Law. Here are some of the reasons why: —-Unlike reports issued in other states, Florida officials refused to make even one recommendation to reduce the chances of abuse and cover up in the future…
The Buffalo Diocese: Another Boston?
In 2002, cracks emerged in the nearly ironclad shield constructed by the Boston Catholic hierarchy that had securely hidden thousands of child sex crimes by hundreds of clerics. Thanks to brave victims, whistleblowers and journalists, eventually a horror was revealed that few thought possible. Now, almost two decades later, the same seems to be happening in the Buffalo diocese. In…
Don’t Fall For the Claim That Bishops are Being More Open
More bishops are being more open about abuse, right? Nope. Not really. Consider these cases from Mississippi, Virginia and Missouri publicized just this week. —–Case One: Fr. Paul Victor Canonici just died. He’s a credibly accused child molesting cleric who was ‘outed’ by Bishop Joseph Kopacz. https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2020/02/19/priest-abuse-father-paul-canonici-dies-mississippi-diocese-jackson/4805857002/ But according to the local newspaper in Jackson: Over the course of his…
It’s CALL YOUR ATTORNEY GENERAL time!
It’s CALL YOUR ATTORNEY GENERAL time! In practically every state, the top law enforcement official is called the state attorney general. In the last two years, about half of them have started investigations into the Catholic abuse crisis. If you have not called YOUR AG to share what you know or suspect about clergy crimes or cover ups, you should.…
Catholic Bishops Promised Transparency, But Apparently Not in Florida
We love our home state but have to ask: What’s wrong with Florida? We just blogged about how Florida’s Attorney General is – to put it kindly – ‘behind the curve’ on releasing information about Catholic wrongdoers, both offenders and ‘enablers.’ Now, a new investigation confirms what we at Horowitz Law have long said: Florida’s bishops are also ‘behind the…
Catholic Church Hides $2 Billion in Assets from Abuse Victim Settlements
Catholic Church Hides $2 Billion in Assets from Abuse Victim Settlements According to Bloomberg Businessweek in January 2020, a review of court filings by lawyers representing churches and victims over the last 15 years has shown that the Catholic Church in the U.S. has moved around more than $2 billion in assets in an effort to prevent the money from…