Vermont Catholic bankruptcy case may open to more accusers of clergy sexual abuse

A year after filing for bankruptcy under the weight of 31 unresolved clergy misconduct lawsuits, the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese is seeing its number of accusers rise nearly fourfold.

The updated total of 119 current claimants includes the initial 31 whose unresolved lawsuits spurred the bankruptcy filing. The new figure is almost double that of an earlier 67 accusers who settled abuse cases before the diocese sought Chapter 11 protection.

A year ago, the church said its assets had been reduced by half, to about $35 million. Since then, it has spent about $1.5 million — almost 5% of its remaining money — on legal bills, court records show.

On Tuesday, seven speakers told the judge of suffering depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, disassociation and problems with intimacy, sleeping and alcohol and drug use.

“Up to a year ago, I had planned to take my shame and humiliation to the grave,” said a Montpelier man identified as “speaker 4.”

Then he and others came forward upon the church’s bankruptcy filing.

“If the priests had been held accountable,” another speaker said, “we could have avoided all the pain.”

https://vtdigger.org/2025/10/01/vermont-...ual-abuse/

Priest later accused of child sex abuse was instructor at pope's seminary high school

The Rev. Nelson Daniel Rupp was one of 44 accused priests in the 2022 report. And Rupp is one of thousands of Catholic priests across the country accused of abusing kids.

But he appears to hold a distinction among them: He might be the only cleric publicly accused of molesting children, and who’s still living, to have worked at the seminary while the future Pope Leo XIV, then known as Robert Prevost, was a student there.

“I had him in class,” Rupp, now 84, told the Chicago Sun-Times, referring to Prevost’s time at St. Augustine high school seminary near Holland, Michigan, in or around 1973. “He was a teenager.”

“I only taught him for a few months. ... I think I was teaching Latin at that time. ... He struck me” as “just a delightful, wonderful young man,” Rupp said.

It’s widely known that as an adult, a bishop and a longtime leader in his religious order, the Augustinians, Prevost worked with, and had to deal with the ramifications of, alleged predator priests. Unknown probably to most is that while Prevost was a teen, he had proximity to a cleric who’s since been accused of sexually abusing and grooming children.

It’s unclear whether Rupp was engaged in sexual misconduct at the time and whether and when Prevost knew of any accusations. Neither the pope nor his press office responded to questions. Rupp denied molesting anyone and said he was wrongfully accused. The Augustinians refuse to confirm whether Rupp was one of Prevost’s instructors.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdo...used-abuse

Robert Morris, Texas megachurch pastor, pleads guilty to sexually abusing a child

Robert Morris, the Texas megachurch pastor who built Gateway Church into one of the largest congregations in the country, pleaded guilty Thursday in Osage County District Court to charges that he sexually abused a girl in the 1980s.

Morris, 64, entered the plea before Judge Cindy Pickerill, admitting to five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. Under a negotiated plea agreement, he was given a 10-year sentence, but he will serve only six months in the county jail. He must also register as a sex offender and pay $250,000 in restitution.

The plea represents a remarkable fall for Morris, who founded Gateway in 2000 in Southlake, Texas, and grew it into a megachurch with tens of thousands of weekly attendees. His sermons were broadcast to audiences around the world, his books became bestsellers in evangelical circles, and he served as a faith adviser to President Donald Trump.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rob...rcna234748

‘Most prolific pedophile priest.’ New lawsuit resurfaces notorious Miami sex abuse case

The most recent lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in June, is only the latest accusing the Catholic Church of failing to protect multiple underage boys from ex-priest Father Neil Doherty, a serial sexual abuser who was employed by the Archdiocese as a priest from 1969 until 2002 when he was removed.

“He is probably the most prolific pedophile priest in U.S. history. He sexually abused, we think, thousands of kids over the course of about 40 years,” said Daniel Ellis, senior lead attorney at Herman Law, the firm representing a victim identified only as John Doe 8 to protect his privacy.

At least four other civil lawsuits naming seven plaintiffs (John Doe 1-7) have been filed against the Archdiocese in the past five years naming Doherty as the primary abuser and seeking “compensatory damages” for the years of inflicted “emotional distress.” The more recent cases against Doherty appear to have been settled, though the law firm would not discuss details of those settlements.

In 2006, The Miami Herald reported that the church settled six civil suits involving, including two against Doherty, for $750,000.

The lawsuit alleges that church leadership — under Archbishop Edward McCarthy at the time — knew about the accusations against Doherty, but “took no action against him” and kept him in his position as pastor at St. Vincent’s Catholic Church in Margate for years after allegations were made.

Doherty, according to the lawsuit, was given a psychological evaluation in the 1990s that indicated that he should not have any access to children. Other allegations were made against Doherty decades earlier, as well as reports from other clergy about his “inability” to live the lifestyle of a priest that were made prior to his ordination.

Lawsuits against Doherty came pouring in the early 2000s along with a 17-month Broward state attorney’s investigation against the ex-priest, following the nationwide clergy sex-abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church in 2002. Doherty is one of at least 44 other priests that have been accused of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Miami, according to bishopAccountability.org, a digital database that tracks clergy sexual abuse claims.

The Herald and other outlets wrote extensively about Doherty’s allegations until he was sentenced to 15 years behind bars in 2013 after pleading no contest to six counts of lewd and lascivious acts upon a child.

Doherty served 10 of the 15 years and was released in 2023, according to Florida inmate records. He is now required to register as a sexual offender in the state of Florida and lives in Orlando as of 2023.

Doherty had an acute interest in psychology and worked for a number of years as a youth counselor in Miami. Under the guise of mental health counseling, Doherty would alleged “hypnotize” children, then drug them before the abuse took place. He preyed on children in the neighborhood, even when, as in John Doe 8’s case, they weren’t members of his own parish. Doherty allegedly invited John Doe 8 along with other children to play on the parish’s playground at their leisure.

https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/local/a...25336.html

Peruvian bishop is accused of having 17 secret lovers after being exposed by cleaning lady... as mistresses started fighting over him

Ciro Quispe López, 51, the bishop of Juli in Peru, resigned his prestigious post following an investigation by the Vatican that revealed some of the women nearly physically fought each other after finding out the truth.

Paola Ugaz, a Peruvian journalist, said: 'A nun who was one of Quispe’s lovers was jealous of a lawyer the bishop was also seeing and sent information about his affairs to a third lover who got into a fight with the lawyer.'

She added in an interview with The Times: 'It was a real soap opera but also lifted the lid on a serious abuse of power.

'Many of the 17 women were too scared to come forward because they were frightened of him.'

López is said to have been caught out after he accidentally sent photos and videos intended for his mistresses to his cleaner, who quickly filed a complaint to the Catholic Church.

López is also said to have been under investigation by the Vatican for allegedly embezzling church funds.

He is said to have been accused of removing chairs from church property to be used in a chicken restaurant chain that he had a financial interest in.

The chain is called Patas Arriba, which means 'upside down' by literally translates to 'legs in the air'.

The Vatican accepted López's resignation early last month, more than 20 years ahead of when bishops ordinarily retire at the age of 75.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...g-him.html

(Yesterday at 12:46 am)Fake Messiah Wrote:

The new Christian motto:
"Do evil, god forgives you."

(Yesterday at 12:50 am)Paraselene Wrote:

(Yesterday at 12:46 am)Fake Messiah Wrote:

The new Christian motto:
"Do evil, god forgives you."

'New'?

Boru

god love pedophiles

And it made many in its own image a little to closely.

(Yesterday at 12:50 am)Paraselene Wrote:

(Yesterday at 12:46 am)Fake Messiah Wrote:

The new Christian motto:
"Do evil, god forgives you."

How do they know god has forgiven him?  Where is the evidence (or are they just making stuff up again?)