What’s in a Name?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 17, 2026

On June 18, the Toledo Honor Committee will consider whether a downtown street should continue to bear the name of Monsignor Jerome Schmit. For decades, the family of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl — the Toledo nun who was murdered in 1980 and whose killer walked free for twenty-five years — has urged the city to remove the honor. They are not asking for much. They are asking the city to stop honoring the man who made sure that happened.

But the question before the committee is larger than whether one name should come down. It is whether another name deserves to go up.

A street name is an endorsement. It puts a name in the mouths of thousands of people who may know nothing about the man behind it. Every address written, every set of directions given, every 911 call made from that block repeats his name — with the city’s implicit authority behind it. Toledo has been vouching for Monsignor Schmit for decades. Most residents never agreed to that. Most don’t even know they’re doing it.

The record is not ambiguous. Retired Toledo police detectives testified that Monsignor Schmit walked into their interrogation of Fr. Gerald Robinson — the sole suspect in the murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl — and escorted him out of police headquarters, effectively ending the investigation. Fr. Robinson walked free. The crime went unsolved for twenty-five years. He was eventually convicted of the murder. As former Blade reporter David Yonke, who covered the trial and wrote a book about the case, stated in a letter to the Honor Committee: Monsignor Schmit and the Toledo Catholic Diocese helped prevent the arrest of Fr. Robinson for the murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.

Monsignor Schmit did not commit the murder. But he escorted the murderer to the getaway car.

Monsignor Schmit’s hierarchy of concern — revealed by his actions and now condoned by his continued public honor — placed the priest above the nun, the institution above the victim, and its clerical brotherhood above the city’s justice system.

Removing the names of church officials from public honors is not without precedent. But most of those cases involved the protection of abusive priests. This one involves the obstruction of a murder investigation. Toledo has the distinction of being the first American city to convict a Catholic priest of killing a nun. It should not also be the city that keeps honoring the man who nearly made sure he got away with it.

Justice was pushed aside when a monsignor — there not as a lawyer, not as a friend, but as the bishop’s representative — walked into that interrogation room and walked a murder suspect back out into the custody of the institution that would protect him for the next twenty-five years.

Which raises a different question.

If Toledo decides that this public honor no longer serves the public good, whom should it honor instead?

There is someone who does.

She never sought power or public recognition. She was a Sister of Mercy, a nurse, and a hospital administrator who spent her life caring for the sick in this city.

She was a registered nurse, a science teacher, a hospital administrator. She ran Mercy Hospital in Tiffin and Saint Charles Hospital in Toledo. In 1971 she took her final position — overseeing the chapel and sacristy at Mercy Hospital. It was, in every sense, her domain. She spent nearly five decades helping people through illness, suffering, recovery, and loss. Most of us will never know how many frightened patients she reassured or how many grieving families she comforted, because that is how a life of service works. It is not measured in headlines.

Sister Margaret Ann was choked unconscious and stabbed 31 times in the sacristy she kept. She died on Holy Saturday — one day before Easter, one day before her 72nd birthday.

Her unimaginable death should bring us to imagine her life.

Not the violence that ended it, but the service that defined it.

A city cannot change the past. It cannot undo tragedy. But it can decide what stories it wishes to carry forward.

The name of Monsignor Schmit will always lead us back to the moment three men walked into a Toledo police interrogation room and a murderer walked out.

The name of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl leads us somewhere else: to mercy, healing, and service. It leads to the common good.

The point of a public honor is to recognize someone who constructed justice in their life — not obstructed it.

There would be something especially fitting in a city extending a measure of mercy and justice to the memory of a Sister of Mercy.

Every street name eventually becomes a question. Someone asks, “Who was that?” If Toledo chose to honor Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, the answer would begin not with a murder, but with a life spent caring for others. That is a story worth telling, and a name worth repeating.

—

Peter Isely is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by a Catholic priest, a co-founder of SNAP (the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests), and currently serves as Director of Nate’s Mission.

"’Bait’ the Students": Federal Complaint Against Former Milwaukee Catholic School Teacher Sparks Calls for WI DOJ Investigation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 2, 2026

Patrick Conor Russell, a school teacher and coach who previously served at several Catholic elementary and secondary schools within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, was arrested by the FBI on federal charges involving the receipt, possession, and distribution of child sexual abuse material. 

According to court records, investigators allege that Russell possessed thousands of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. The Department of Justice claims that Russell used the secure messaging app Zangi to send a message to another individual stating, “If you were a student in my high school English class, what would you do to hit on me to let me know you wanted to (expletive)?" 

The complaint states that Russell identified himself on Zangi as a teacher and coach and had expressed a desire to find someone who could 'bait' the students at his school into sharing nude photos with him.

According to the DOJ, Russell admitted to law enforcement that he had engaged in online conversations about sexual exploitation of minors, requested and forwarded images and videos of minors, and masturbated to the ones he received.

Russell grew up in Brookfield, Wisconsin, attended Marquette University High School, and worked in multiple educational and athletic positions in Archdiocese of Milwaukee Catholic grade schools and high schools as well as Carmen Southeast High School, a Milwaukee public charter school, before relocating to Florida as a teacher and assistant football coach at St. Andrew's School in Boca Raton. These assignments include: 

• Marquette University High School 

• St. Benedict Grade School 

• St. Dominic Grade School

• St. John Vianney Grade School 

• St. Robert Grade School 

• Catholic Memorial High School 

• Carmen Southeast High School

Russell’s admissions to law enforcement and employment history working with Milwaukee-area children raise alarming questions regarding complaints, concerns, or evidence of child sex crimes prior to his relocation to Florida. 

Wisconsin law does not require religious institutions to report suspected child abuse or related misconduct in the same manner as many other organizations serving children, creating significant gaps in accountability and oversight. As a result, there is no assurance that allegations, concerns, or potential crimes would have been reported to law enforcement or disclosed when employees moved between institutions.

That concern is heightened by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's long history of resisting law enforcement scrutiny of clergy abuse. For years, Wisconsin church officials and religious orders have opposed investigations and withheld tens of thousands of pages of internal records relating to abuse allegations and institutional responses. Given that documented pattern of obstruction, any serious allegations or admissions involving Catholic clergy, ministers, or educators must be independently reviewed by law enforcement to determine whether Wisconsin victims, evidence, or prior concerns are connected to the case.

Survivors from Nate’s Mission urge victims, witnesses, and anyone with information about abuse and cover to make a report to the Wisconsin DOJ online or by calling 1-877-222-2620.

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Nate’s Mission Response to Diocese of Madison’s Statement on Fr. Andrew Showers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 6, 2025

The Diocese of Madison’s response to Thursday’s press conference is a textbook example of victim-blaming. To suggest that Ms. Moriarty and her father are responsible for the church’s failure to act because they did not feel comfortable with diocesan reporting procedures is deeply offensive. Survivors and their families should never be expected to place their trust in the same institution that has knowingly allowed abusers to remain in ministry and repeatedly misled the public. Bishop Hying’s refusal to return Mr. Moriarty’s phone call is not just a personal slight - it is an abdication of leadership

Bishop Hying insists he had “no way to act” without additional details, but that is false. When a parent contacts the diocese to report that a priest sexually assaulted his daughter, leadership has an obligation to take proactive steps to protect others from harm. The Diocese of Madison has the resources and authority to investigate its own clergy, yet it chose not to use them. That is a failure of Bishop Hying, not of the victim’s family.

We are furthermore disturbed by the diocese’s characterization of the 2021 confessional incident, where Fr. Showers questioned a middle-school child about masturbation and pornography. To minimize this behavior as merely “helping a young man make a thorough confession” is outrageous. This language obscures the reality: in any other setting, a teacher, counselor, or coach initiating sexual conversations with a child would have criminal consequences.

Bishop Hying is protecting himself, and the vulnerable have paid the price. Showers remained in ministry, active online in sexually inappropriate spaces, despite multiple concerns raised about his conduct. This reflects not a lack of information, but a lack of will to act.

Nate’s Mission calls on the Wisconsin Department of Justice to obtain the Diocese of Madison’s complete file on Fr. Showers and conduct a full, independent investigation. 

Quote from John Moriarty, father of Patricia Moriarty:
"I went to the Diocese of Madison in good faith, believing they would take action to protect others from the man who hurt my daughter. Instead, they are now turning around and blaming me for not giving them enough details. I’ve never been in this situation before. When I reached out to the Diocese of Madison, I told them I needed to speak to the bishop, and I said, “how Bishop Hying handles this will show how seriously he takes this.” The truth is, they had more than enough to act if they wanted to, and Bishop Hying refused to return my call. My daughter deserved protection, and so did every other person Fr. Showers came into contact with after my call. The diocese failed us - and they failed the public."

PRESS CONFERENCE: Victim to Speak Out About Previous Police Report Against Madison Priest Charged with Attempted Child Sexual Assault

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 3, 2025

MADISON, WI – Nate’s Mission and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) will hold a press conference at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 4th outside the Wisconsin State Capitol building regarding a prior police report against Fr. Andrew Showers, a Diocese of Madison priest recently charged with attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, attempted child enticement-exposing intimate parts and attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child.

At the event, the victim will publicly share her testimony for the first time regarding an early 2024 police report in Chicago alleging she was sexually assaulted by the same priest in January 2024.

The Diocese of Madison’s initial communication regarding Showers’ arrest falsely claimed that there had been “no previous allegations of misconduct related to Fr. Showers.” The diocese later issued a correction, acknowledging that a parent of a middle school child filed a report with Lodi police in December 2021 after Showers questioned the child about pornography and masturbation in the confessional.  

Representatives of Nate’s Mission previously reported the Chicago allegation to the Wisconsin Department of Justice during a meeting in April last year. Advocates say the priest’s continued access to ministry and the public underscores the groups’ concerns that both church and civil authorities failed to act decisively to protect both children and vulnerable adults.

Speakers will call on state leaders and church officials to take immediate action and to ensure full accountability for church leaders who shield abusive clergy.

WHO: Survivors, representatives from Nate’s Mission and SNAP
WHAT: Press Conference on abuse allegations against Fr. Andrew Showers
WHEN: Thursday, September 4, 2025, 11:00 am
WHERE: State Capitol Building, State Street Entrance, Madison, Wisconsin

Nate’s Mission and SNAP Respond to Death of Disgraced Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick: “This Is Not Justice”

Survivors' Last Chance for Justice Ended with Wisconsin Case Suspension

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4-4-2025

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) responds today to the death of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, one of the most notorious and powerful abusers in the modern history of the Catholic Church.

Let us be clear: McCarrick was never held accountable for his crimes. While he was eventually removed from public ministry, defrocked, and stripped of his red hat, he never stood trial for the vast harm he inflicted on children, young adults, seminarians, and others under his power. His death marks the end of his life—but it does not mark justice for his survivors.

But the McCarrick story is not just about one man. It is about the system that enabled him. For decades, church officials at the highest levels knew about McCarrick’s abuse and chose to protect him, allowing him to continue assaulting children and vulnerable seminarians. He was promoted, celebrated, and shielded by legions of bishops, cardinals, and even popes. Many of those same officials remain in positions of power today, unaccountable and unrepentant. One of them could become the next pope. 

There are many more McCarricks still hiding in plain sight within the Catholic hierarchy. SNAP will continue to fight for their exposure and accountability for their crimes. This is why SNAP announced the creation of Conclave Watch in Rome last month. Conclave Watch is a coordinated effort by survivors around the world to expose the abuse records of cardinal-electors and papal candidates and demand support for a binding, universal zero tolerance law.

Quote from Peter Isely, Founding Member of SNAP and Chair of the SNAP Global Advocacy Working Group:

“McCarrick may be dead, but his many victims are not. We are still here, still living with the harm he caused — and with the church’s failure to stop him. There is no reason to believe the next conclave won’t include more McCarricks — influencing, protecting, and electing one of their own, just like he did at the last conclave. That’s why the public must know who these candidates are. And we intend to make sure they do.”

See Nate's Mission's previous response to suspension of McCarrick case in Walworth County, WI:
PRESS STATEMENT HERE

Survivors deliver Vos estis lux mundi complaints against six cardinals to Vatican Secretary of State Parolin

Each cardinal, group says, is unfit to be the next pope

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 3-27-2025

VATICAN CITY – After announcing a new initiative called Conclave Watch at a press conference Tuesday in Rome, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), in partnership with Nate's Mission, formally delivered complaints yesterday against six cardinals to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See. The complaints, made under Pope Francis’ 2023 decree Vos estis lux mundi, charge each cardinal with for covering up and mismanaging cases of abuse.

The six cardinals named in SNAP’s Vos estis lux mundi reports charged with enabling or concealing clergy sexual abuse call for immediate investigation, public transparency, and removal from office where warranted: 
 

• Cardinal Péter Erdő - Read complaint

• Cardinal Kevin Farrell - Read complaint

• Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández - Read complaint

• Cardinal Mario Grech - Read complaint

• Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost - Read complaint

• Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle - Read complaint

The delivery marks the first time multiple high-ranking cardinals have been targeted under Vos estis lux mundi by coordinated, survivor-led action. Survivors argued at Tuesday’s press conference that the pope’s motu proprio is thoroughly insufficient to address the conduct of the most powerful members of the hierarchy, especially because the group has made complaints about cardinals, Fernández, Prevost, and Tagle, prelates whose dicasteries are the recipients of these very complaints.

“Survivors have done the work that church leaders refuse to do,” said Shaun Dougherty, SNAP President. “We’ve compiled the evidence, followed the Vatican’s procedures, and named the names. If Pope Francis is serious about his “zero tolerance” approach, he would appoint a truly independent investigator and open the abuse archives to that person - as he said he would in 2019.”

The complaints were previewed during a press conference held in Rome on March 25, where survivors announced SNAP’s new Conclave Watch initiative. This global effort is vetting potential papal candidates based on their handling of clergy sexual abuse and their support for the universal, legally binding zero tolerance law that SNAP has endorsed.

“While sympathy for Pope Francis in his declining health is understandable, we cannot ignore the tragic reality: the cardinals he has empowered include men who have covered up abuse,” said Peter Isely, SNAP Chair for Global Affairs. “Now some of these same men are being considered as candidates for the next pope.”

Survivors have also made a broader appeal to Pope Francis, warning him against issuing what they describe as a “misleading” papal exhortation on children that fails to mandate binding protections against their abuse under canon law. The letter, drafted by global survivors and personally delivered by Juan Carlos Cruz — a survivor, papal advisor, and member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors — urges Pope Francis to use his remaining time to implement a true zero-tolerance law that includes independent oversight of bishops.
 

READ THE FULL LETTER TO POPE FRANCIS. 
 

"Vos estis lux mundi allows bishops who have covered up abuse to investigate bishops who have covered up abuse — it lacks enforcement, transparency, and consequences for the powerful,” said Isely. “If the next pope is serious about ending clergy abuse, we must ensure he hasn’t covered it up, and that he endorses a binding and universal zero tolerance law.”

SNAP and Nate's Mission are calling on Catholics and whistleblowers around the world to share evidence of misconduct by church officials. The organization plans to launch a webpage soon sharing information about the abuse cover-up and misconduct of cardinal electors. 

The next pope must do what Francis refused: enact a universal zero tolerance law for abuse and cover-up

Sympathy for the pope must not mean ignoring his failure on abuse 

Unlike Francis, Benedict XVI, and John Paul II, successor cannot have covered up sex crimes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2-27-2025

Summary

• The next pope must institute a zero tolerance law for sexual abuse that immediately removes abusive clergy and leaders who have covered up abuse from ministry and mandates independent oversight of bishops. He must use his authority to enact fundamental, institutional changes to end the systematic practice of sexual abuse and its concealment.

• The next pope must not have any history of having covered up sexual abuse.

• Because of his history of covering up abuse in Argentina, Francis never possessed the necessary credibility to overhaul the Vatican’s management of sexual abuse cases.

• None of Francis’ reforms or initiatives have produced actual “zero tolerance” for abuse or ended the culture of extreme secrecy and control that enables it.

As Pope Francis lies in the hospital, potentially facing the end of his life, survivors around the world are mourning what they perceive as the "tragedy" of his papacy—a preventable catastrophe for the children and vulnerable people who were abused during his tenure.

Peter Isely, a founder and Chair of Global Advocacy of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said, "Francis began his papacy by promising us and the world that he would put an end to clergy abuse and cover-up. If we had known then what we know now—that he himself covered up sexual crimes in Argentina before becoming pope and that, for twelve years, he failed to use his authority to implement a universal zero-tolerance policy—we would have felt very differently."

The failure of Francis’ papacy to end sexual abuse and cover-up 

When Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope in 2013, there was no law mandating universal zero tolerance for sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Almost 12 years later, as revelations of sexual abuse and cover-up have continually poured in from around the world, there is still no law mandating universal zero tolerance for sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis has attempted to rewrite history. In 2019, the pontiff told CNN Portugal that the Catholic Church had “zero tolerance” and that he was “responsible that it doesn’t happen anymore.” Responding to media inquiries about abuse in 2022, Francis said, “Now, everything is transparent.” Recent history indicates this is unequivocally false. 

• Years after serial sexual and spiritual abuse allegations against Slovenian priest Fr. Marko Rupnik had been made public and after his 2020 expulsion by the Jesuits following a canonical trial, Francis received Rupnik in a private audience in 2022, the Diocese of Rome promoted his speech on YouTube, and Rupnik was welcomed into ministry in the Diocese of Koper in 2023. Over a year after public outrage finally pressured the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF) into investigating Rupnik’s case, Rupnik is still free to exercise his ministry while victims feel “betrayed” by the Vatican’s delay and lack of transparency. 

• After Bishop Rosario Gisana came under fire in 2021 when Italian media reported on a phone call intercepted by police where he told now-convicted priest Fr. Giuseppe Rugolo, “The problem is also mine because I buried this story,” Francis went out of his way to praise Gisana in 2023, saying, “He was persecuted, slandered, yet he stood firm, always, just, a just man.” Only this January, after a public prosecutor ordered Gisana to stand trial for giving false testimony in Rugolo’s case, did the Vatican dispatch an apostolic visitor (another Italian bishop) to Sicily to assess the accusations. 

• Abuse survivors and advocates were stunned when Francis named Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández as head of the DDF in July 2023. In his recent history, Fernández had severely mishandled cases of serious sexual abuse in three instances, especially that of Fr. Eduardo Lorenzo who Fernández supported by publishing a letter on the archdiocese’s website in 2019 in which Lorenzo declared his innocence and visiting the accused priest’s parish to concelebrate a special mass with him. When global survivors, including a victim of Lorenzo, called on the pope to remove Fernández from the DDF and rescind his promotion to cardinal, Francis opted instead to urge Fernández to focus on doctrinal matters, leaving abuse cases, which typically comprise 80% of the DDF’s work, to “competent professionals.” 

In response to media inquiries regarding the DDF’s delay in resolving the case against Fr. Rupnik, Cardinal Fernández said last month, “I think of many other cases, including others that are worse but less publicized.” 

Recent events lead survivors and advocates to ask, “What has changed since 2013?” 

What has changed since the abuse continued at the Provolo boarding school for the deaf until 2016, even after Francis was informed by victims’ letters in 2013 and 2014 and in person in 2015? 

What has changed since Francis admitted he made a “grave mistake” in Chile in 2018 when he called the accusations against Bishop Barros “all slander?”

What has changed since Francis referred to those who “spend their lives accusing, accusing, accusing” as relatives of the devil on the eve of his 2019 summit on abuse in the wake of the devastating Pennsylvania Grand Jury report and the revelations of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s long history of abuse?

Not much, it seems. 

The failure of Francis’ reforms

A false impression has been created that reforms instituted by Pope Francis are sufficient to address the ongoing catastrophe of sexual abuse and its institutional concealment in the Catholic Church. 

• Francis’ signature clergy abuse law Vos Estis Lux Mundi has been billed as an overhaul in the way the Vatican holds bishops and religious superiors accountable for their management of sexual abuse cases. Cardinal Blase Cupich called it “revolutionary.” Vos Estis is a half-measure that puts investigation of bishops in the hands of their fellow bishops, with no duty to report to the public or notify civil authorities if it is not required by local law. Promulgated in the wake of the McCarrick scandal, not one other bishop found guilty of abuse or cover-up has been defrocked or lost their title. Furthermore, the Vatican has not published records and findings from their investigations. 

• In 2019, Francis abolished the pontifical secret, a move that would allow the Vatican to share abuse documents with civil authorities and give victims updates on the status of their cases. Although it has been hailed as a major achievement in bringing about transparency surrounding sexual abuse and cover-up in the church, it has not changed the Vatican practice of withholding critical documents and evidence from investigations of abuse.  

• On February 22nd, the Dicastery for Legislative Texts published a September 2024 letter that instructed dioceses to avoid publishing lists of credibly accused clerics calling Francis’ own statement on the matter its "indispensable legal basis.” US Catholic dioceses and religious orders, each setting their own standard for publication, have largely made these disclosures in the wake of Pennsylvania’s Grand Jury report that named more than 300 abusive priests. Citing canon law prohibiting “slander,” especially that against deceased clergy, and claiming determinations of credibility “require a relatively low standard of proof,” the dicastery neglects that bishops make these determinations based on their own records, in many cases, records that include an admission of guilt by the accused clergy. 

• Since 2014, when Francis formed the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors as an advisory group, it has received consistent criticism for being ineffective and refusing to implement its recommendations - leading many of its own members to resign in protest. In the 11 years since its formation, the commission has only released a single report. Despite claims of its independence, in 2022, the commission was placed under the authority of the DDF, a Vatican office with a history of consistently covering up abuse that is currently led by Cardinal Fernández who has a history of covering up abuse. Their memorandum of understanding does not include measures for ensuring that abuse cases are handled properly or any powers to enforce this within the dicastery. 

The abuse and cover-up system is still fully intact, and despite continual exposure by abuse survivors and advocates, the Vatican allows bishops and religious order provincials to keep known abusers in ministry, transfers them to new parishes (and frequently, new countries), intimidates survivors into silence, and uses the full extent of their political and social power around the world to suppress outside intervention at any cost, withholding and destroying abuse-related documents and evidence and lobbying against any law that could empower survivors in the fight for accountability and reparations for what they have suffered. 

The failure of the last conclave

Through four decades of continuous exposure to sexual abuse by clerics and its concealment by the Catholic hierarchy, three popes have led the global Catholic Church. There is documented proof that Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis have all enabled abuse by covering up for offenders and allowing them to remain in ministry. 

The next pope must not have a history of concealing abuse. 

Pope Francis has never possessed the credibility to lead the global Catholic Church through a truly transformative era in terms of the Vatican’s management of sexual abuse cases because of his record on this issue in Argentina. 

Then Cardinal Bergoglio stated in a book of interviews published in 2010, “In my diocese, it never happened to me, but a bishop called me once by phone to ask me what to do in a situation like this and I told him to take away the priest’s faculties, not to permit him to exercise his priestly ministry again, and to initiate a canonical trial.”

However, the pope’s record, uncovered through the testimony of Argentine victims and their families, made public by Argentine media, and thoroughly researched and compiled by BishopAccountability.org, demonstrates that he indeed dealt with cases of abuse and did not follow the steps he prescribed in the interview. 

• After Fr. Julio César Grassi’s 2009 conviction for assaulting a boy from the Fundacion Felices los Niños (the Happy Children Foundation), a rescue mission for street children, Bergoglio, then president of the Episcopal Conference of Argentina, hired a criminal law scholar to prepare a two-volume book intended to exonerate Grassi, claiming that no such abuse occurred - even going as far as to compare Grassi’s trial to witch trials of the Middle Ages. The book was distributed to Supreme Court judges in Buenos Aires in an attempt to exert pressure during Grassi’s appeal process. It is believed Bergoglio’s intervention kept Grassi out of prison for four years following his conviction. 

• When the mother of a 15-year-old boy who was assaulted by Fr. Rubén Pardo in 2002 met with Bishop Stöckler of Quilmes for the second time, he told her Pardo had admitted to the abuse and had been sent out of the diocese without any report to civil authorities. When the mother learned Pardo had AIDS, she tried to report Pardo to an inter-diocesan ecclesiastical court in Buenos Aires. She then went to the Metropolitan Curia, Bergoglio’s former residence, to attempt to meet with him and was escorted off the premises by security. Soon after, the mother learned Pardo had been assigned to live in a vicarage owned by the Office of the Archbishop of Buenos Aires and presided over by Bergoglio, where Pardo heard children’s confessions and taught at a primary school.

• In 2000, Br. Fernando Enrique Picciochi, S.M., was criminally charged with repeated “corruption of minors.” Though Picciochi was placed in protective custody, he managed to escape Argentina and flee to the United States. One of Picciochi’s victims sought the help of Bergoglio in lifting the gag order imposed by the Marianists, meeting twice with Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires Mario Poli. Poli soon after ceased contact with the victim, and Picciochi was not extradited to Argentina until 2010. Poli was named Bergoglio’s successor as Archbishop of Buenos Aires and made a cardinal in 2014. 

• Though Rev. Mario Napoleón Sasso had been instructed to have no contact with children after his release from a church-run treatment center for pedophilia, in 2001, Bishop Rey assigned him to work at an impoverished parish in Pilar where he sexually assaulted at least five young girls. Although a woman from the parish soup kitchen had notified Bishop Rey and other church officials, Sasso wasn’t arrested until the woman took the case to law enforcement. In 2006, when families of the victims asked to meet with Bergoglio, then president of the Argentine Bishops conference, he did not respond.

• In 2001, the parents of two young girls filed a criminal case against Rev. Carlos Maria Guana, a diocesan priest under the direct supervision of Bergoglio, for sexual assault. A church spokesperson stated, “This individual has many years of priesthood and never was there a complaint,” but promised that the matter would be handled by Bergoglio. Research by Bishop Accountability demonstrated that as of 2017, Guana had still been in active ministry, having served as a deacon and hospital chaplain, indicating Guana may have been demoted by Bergoglio, rather than removed from ministry. 

When the Catholic cardinals of the world inevitably gather in Rome to select the next pope, the new pontiff will have no credibility with survivors if he has a history of having enabled sexual abuse by concealing it from the public and allowing perpetrators to remain in ministry in any capacity. 

The conclave must select a leader who is prepared to enact a binding and universal zero-tolerance law on day one - a law that immediately removes all abusers from ministry, mandates transparency, and includes independent oversight of bishops to ensure compliance. 

Survivors terrified of repeating history

The pope cannot completely prevent abuse from occurring, but he is the one with the primary authority and responsibility to ensure that it is not covered up. This is only possible if there is a universal zero-tolerance law within the church that is binding across the globe. 

SNAP President Shaun Dougherty said, “As we await the eventual passing of one pope and the election of another, the bishops of the world—including the 138 who will choose the new pope—collectively possess knowledge of thousands of priest offenders serving in parishes and schools around the world. A true zero tolerance policy would require these bishops to remove these offenders from ministry immediately, preventing them from committing further abuse.” 

The best way to stop the next sexual assault of a child is to intervene before it occurs. 

If Pope Francis survives his current health crisis, he may have a final chance to do what justice requires of him.  

If he does not do this, his successor must.

Bishop Grob agrees to meet with clergy abuse survivor group

Archdiocese of Milwaukee threatened to arrest abuse victims outside Monday night prayer service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 1-13-2025

Survivors and advocates of Nate’s Mission gathered outside a prayer service for incoming Archbishop Grob Monday night to hold a press conference and deliver a letter from Milwaukee clergy abuse victims to the newly promoted prelate.

After the press conference and before the prayer service began, Archdiocese of Milwaukee communication director Sandra Peterson threatened to have victims arrested, telling survivors they were not welcome at the prayer service and were forbidden from touching the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

As Milwaukee-area Catholics entered the cathedral, two Milwaukee police officers were dispatched to form a barrier between victims and the prayer service.

Thankfully, survivors were able to safely deliver their letter to Bishop Grob, who cordially accepted the letter and promised to meet with Nate’s Mission soon.

In the letter, shown below, clergy abuse victims have prepared a list of priorities pertaining to clergy sexual abuse for Grob’s first 100 days in office.

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January 13, 2025

Dear Archbishop-Designate Grob,

We are writing to you as clergy abuse survivors and advocates of Nate’s Mission. Our organization is named for Nate Lindstrom, a clergy abuse survivor who tragically died by suicide in 2020 when the church abruptly stopped support for his mental health treatment. Nate’s personal mission was to see that what happened to him as a child, and again as an adult navigating the church’s response to his abuse, would never happen to another person. In that spirit, we approach you with a series of urgent requests regarding your new responsibility for all the vulnerable, both children and adults, who have been sexually assaulted by religious leaders of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

The name “Nathan” holds a dual meaning for our group. Nathan Lindstrom was a beloved son, brother, father, and fellow survivor. The Old Testament prophet Nathan was called to confront King David for his transgressions. Like Nate Lindstrom and Nathan the prophet, we have found ourselves in this most difficult position of confronting the powerful with sexual sin. In the case of the Archbishop of Milwaukee, these sexual sins are egregious crimes of sexual violence, committed under their leadership and enabled through their concealment from the public and their failure to hold the perpetrators accountable.

For this confrontation, Archbishop Rembert Weakland called us “squealers.” Cardinal Timothy Dolan called us a “problem.” Your direct predecessor, Archbishop Jerome Listecki rejected our “agenda” and refused to meet with us.

We are your “problem” now. And our “agenda” is simple: justice for survivors of clergy abuse and the end of sexual abuse and its institutional concealment in the Milwaukee archdiocese.

As you begin your tenure, we urge you to take these five critical steps within your first 100 days to repair the harm inflicted on survivors by your predecessors, end the cover-up of sexual violence, and promote accountability in your church:

Schedule a meeting with abuse survivors and advocates of Nate’s Mission.

When you spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times last month, you stated regarding clergy sexual abuse in the Milwaukee archdiocese, “I have not studied the matter.” We were astonished and alarmed by this given the severity of the abuse and cover-up in Milwaukee and the long history of survivor advocacy in your home state. This is why it is imperative we meet as soon as possible to discuss what must be done to repair the harm to survivors, their loved ones, and Milwaukee’s Catholic community and eradicate the environment in which abuse and cover-up have thrived.


Provide all abuse-related documents and evidence to the Wisconsin DOJ.

Upon your installation tomorrow afternoon, you will inherit thousands of pages of documents and criminal evidence pertaining to the rape and sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. These documents have been withheld from Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul’s statewide clergy abuse investigation by outgoing Archbishop Jerome Listecki.

Archbishop Listecki did not only defy state authorities, but the Pope himself. In December 2019, Pope Francis abolished a church law which allowed bishops to withhold documents and evidence from civil and criminal authorities in all abuse-related investigations.

You must demonstrate an absolute reversal of this hostile approach to law enforcement and abuse survivors by being transparent with church records pertaining to sexual crimes against your flock.   

Update the Milwaukee archdiocese’s list of “restricted priests.”

A recent report by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Chicago Sun-Times identified the list of 48 restricted priests on the Milwaukee Archdiocese’s website as one of the “least comprehensive” in the country. The report recognized over 90 religious figures omitted from the Milwaukee archdiocese’s list who have been classified as credibly accused by other dioceses and religious orders and who at one point “lived, ministered, visited or potentially offended” within the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Furthermore, Nate’s Mission has received documents and evidence from Archdiocese of Milwaukee whistleblowers that include a list containing names and descriptions of abuse allegations against over 200 priests, nuns, Catholic teachers, coaches, and volunteers who are not included on the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s list of restricted priests. Stunningly, some of these Catholic leaders appear to be ministering to children and families in your new archdiocese.

As survivors, it was deeply painful and retraumatizing to view this list which included detailed descriptions of allegations of harm inflicted on the most vulnerable in your new diocese such as:
 

• A teenage girl raped at knifepoint by a seminarian 

• A teenage boy raped by a Franciscan friar and told he wouldn’t see his parents again if he did not comply 

• Young boys forced to perform sexual acts on each other by a dorm supervisor while he and another priest watched 

• A young girl physically assaulted by a nun and brought to a closet where she was forced to perform oral sex on priest 

• A young boy raped by a priest in the boiler room and told he would be thrown in the fire if he told anyone 

• A teenage boy drugged and raped by a church organist 

• A teenage boy burned by a salve applied on his genitals by a hospital chaplain

• A young girl raped by a priest who threatened to kill her mother if she told her about the abuse
   

In the best interest of public safety and in service of justice for what is described in these documents, we provided these lists to Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul and the Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office. Milwaukee Archdiocese lawyers, against the will of survivors, fought to ensure law enforcement could not access records related to these abuse claims to stop any investigation into them.


Immediately remove any individuals who collaborated in the cover-up of sexual abuse from positions of leadership - especially those involved in or aware of the concealment and transfer of known clergy sex offenders from one parish to another.

This includes longtime spokesperson and Chief of Staff, Jerry Topczewski, and Chancellor Barbara Anne Cusack. Publicly available documents, posted on your website, and victim accounts, appear to demonstrate that both actively assisted former Archbishop Rembert Weakland and Bishop Richard Sklba in facilitating the cover-up of child sexual abuse by dozens of clergy over several decades. Their continued presence in leadership undermines public trust, accountability, and any attempt at meaningful reform

Rename Bishop Sklba’s “Peacemaker Award.”

On December 3rd, we wrote to you regarding the annual “Peacemaker Award,” named after Bishop Sklba and given to middle-school students in Racine. Given his extensive role in the cover-up of child sexual abuse, this award is not merely insensitive; it is retraumatizing for many survivors, especially since the victims often share the same age as those being honored.

We again insist that you take immediate action to rename this award in honor of someone who has genuinely committed to protecting children and ensuring accountability. 

We look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Peter Isely
Nate’s Mission
Program Director

Sarah Pearson
Nate’s Mission
Deputy Director

James Egan
Archangel Foundation
President

Survivors to Archbishop Grob: “We are your ‘problem’ now.”

Milwaukee victims of clergy abuse to deliver letter to incoming archbishop before Monday night prayer service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 1-12-2025

Survivors of clergy sexual abuse from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee will deliver a letter to incoming Archbishop Grob outside the 6:00pm prayer service on the eve of his installation. This will be survivors’ second attempt to contact Grob since his appointment was announced last November.

In the letter, shown below, clergy abuse victims have requested a meeting with the incoming archbishop as the first action in a list of priorities pertaining to clergy sexual abuse for Grob’s first 100 days in office.

WHERE: Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, 812 N Jackson St, Milwaukee, WI

WHEN: Monday, January 13th, 5:00pm

WHAT: Survivors of clergy abuse and advocates will hold a press conference before delivering a letter to incoming Archbishop Grob prior to the 6:00pm evening prayer

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January 13, 2025

Dear Archbishop-Designate Grob,

We are writing to you as clergy abuse survivors and advocates of Nate’s Mission. Our organization is named for Nate Lindstrom, a clergy abuse survivor who tragically died by suicide in 2020 when the church abruptly stopped support for his mental health treatment. Nate’s personal mission was to see that what happened to him as a child, and again as an adult navigating the church’s response to his abuse, would never happen to another person. In that spirit, we approach you with a series of urgent requests regarding your new responsibility for all the vulnerable, both children and adults, who have been sexually assaulted by religious leaders of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

The name “Nathan” holds a dual meaning for our group. Nathan Lindstrom was a beloved son, brother, father, and fellow survivor. The Old Testament prophet Nathan was called to confront King David for his transgressions. Like Nate Lindstrom and Nathan the prophet, we have found ourselves in this most difficult position of confronting the powerful with sexual sin. In the case of the Archbishop of Milwaukee, these sexual sins are egregious crimes of sexual violence, committed under their leadership and enabled through their concealment from the public and their failure to hold the perpetrators accountable.

For this confrontation, Archbishop Rembert Weakland called us “squealers.” Cardinal Timothy Dolan called us a “problem.” Your direct predecessor, Archbishop Jerome Listecki rejected our “agenda” and refused to meet with us.

We are your “problem” now. And our “agenda” is simple: justice for survivors of clergy abuse and the end of sexual abuse and its institutional concealment in the Milwaukee archdiocese.

As you begin your tenure, we urge you to take these five critical steps within your first 100 days to repair the harm inflicted on survivors by your predecessors, end the cover-up of sexual violence, and promote accountability in your church:

Schedule a meeting with abuse survivors and advocates of Nate’s Mission.

When you spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times last month, you stated regarding clergy sexual abuse in the Milwaukee archdiocese, “I have not studied the matter.” We were astonished and alarmed by this given the severity of the abuse and cover-up in Milwaukee and the long history of survivor advocacy in your home state. This is why it is imperative we meet as soon as possible to discuss what must be done to repair the harm to survivors, their loved ones, and Milwaukee’s Catholic community and eradicate the environment in which abuse and cover-up have thrived.


Provide all abuse-related documents and evidence to the Wisconsin DOJ.

Upon your installation tomorrow afternoon, you will inherit thousands of pages of documents and criminal evidence pertaining to the rape and sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. These documents have been withheld from Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul’s statewide clergy abuse investigation by outgoing Archbishop Jerome Listecki.

Archbishop Listecki did not only defy state authorities, but the Pope himself. In December 2019, Pope Francis abolished a church law which allowed bishops to withhold documents and evidence from civil and criminal authorities in all abuse-related investigations.

You must demonstrate an absolute reversal of this hostile approach to law enforcement and abuse survivors by being transparent with church records pertaining to sexual crimes against your flock.   

Update the Milwaukee archdiocese’s list of “restricted priests.”

A recent report by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Chicago Sun-Times identified the list of 48 restricted priests on the Milwaukee Archdiocese’s website as one of the “least comprehensive” in the country. The report recognized over 90 religious figures omitted from the Milwaukee archdiocese’s list who have been classified as credibly accused by other dioceses and religious orders and who at one point “lived, ministered, visited or potentially offended” within the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Furthermore, Nate’s Mission has received documents and evidence from Archdiocese of Milwaukee whistleblowers that include a list containing names and descriptions of abuse allegations against over 200 priests, nuns, Catholic teachers, coaches, and volunteers who are not included on the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s list of restricted priests. Stunningly, some of these Catholic leaders appear to be ministering to children and families in your new archdiocese.

As survivors, it was deeply painful and retraumatizing to view this list which included detailed descriptions of allegations of harm inflicted on the most vulnerable in your new diocese such as:
 

• A teenage girl raped at knifepoint by a seminarian 

• A teenage boy raped by a Franciscan friar and told he wouldn’t see his parents again if he did not comply 

• Young boys forced to perform sexual acts on each other by a dorm supervisor while he and another priest watched 

• A young girl physically assaulted by a nun and brought to a closet where she was forced to perform oral sex on priest 

• A young boy raped by a priest in the boiler room and told he would be thrown in the fire if he told anyone 

• A teenage boy drugged and raped by a church organist 

• A teenage boy burned by a salve applied on his genitals by a hospital chaplain

• A young girl raped by a priest who threatened to kill her mother if she told her about the abuse
   

In the best interest of public safety and in service of justice for what is described in these documents, we provided these lists to Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul and the Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office. Milwaukee Archdiocese lawyers, against the will of survivors, fought to ensure law enforcement could not access records related to these abuse claims to stop any investigation into them.


Immediately remove any individuals who collaborated in the cover-up of sexual abuse from positions of leadership - especially those involved in or aware of the concealment and transfer of known clergy sex offenders from one parish to another.

This includes longtime spokesperson and Chief of Staff, Jerry Topczewski, and Chancellor Barbara Anne Cusack. Publicly available documents, posted on your website, and victim accounts, appear to demonstrate that both actively assisted former Archbishop Rembert Weakland and Bishop Richard Sklba in facilitating the cover-up of child sexual abuse by dozens of clergy over several decades. Their continued presence in leadership undermines public trust, accountability, and any attempt at meaningful reform

Rename Bishop Sklba’s “Peacemaker Award.”

On December 3rd, we wrote to you regarding the annual “Peacemaker Award,” named after Bishop Sklba and given to middle-school students in Racine. Given his extensive role in the cover-up of child sexual abuse, this award is not merely insensitive; it is retraumatizing for many survivors, especially since the victims often share the same age as those being honored.

We again insist that you take immediate action to rename this award in honor of someone who has genuinely committed to protecting children and ensuring accountability. 

We look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Peter Isely
Nate’s Mission
Program Director

Sarah Pearson
Nate’s Mission
Deputy Director

James Egan
Archangel Foundation
President

Survivors of clergy sexual abuse to speak out before the funeral of Bishop Richard Sklba

Sklba once characterized secretly returning abusers to ministry as an “experiment”

Group wants incoming archbishop to remove Sklba’s name from yearly church award given to middle school children

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12-3-2024

Survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their advocates will gather for a press conference at 11:30am before the funeral of Bishop Richard Sklba, a figure deeply implicated in decades of child sexual abuse and cover-up within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Over 10,000 court-ordered released internal church documents, dozens of depositions, and scores of victim testimonies revealed Sklba’s central role in managing and concealing well over 50 cases of abusive priests in Southeastern Wisconsin spanning over three decades. 

WHEN: Wednesday, December 4th, 11:30am

WHERE: Outside the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, 812 N Jackson St, Milwaukee, WI

WHO: Survivors of clergy abuse and advocates

WHAT: Survivors and advocates will hold an 11:30am press conference outside the Downtown Milwaukee Cathedral (prior to the 1:30pm funeral of Bishop Sklba) holding signs and photos, speaking about the prolific role of Bishop Sklba in the cover-up of clergy abuse crimes in Southeastern Wisconsin. Nate’s Mission will stay for the 1:30pm service to pass out flyers informing attendees about Bishop Sklba’s involvement in clergy abuse cases.   

WHY: There may be no Catholic official in the history of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee as intimately involved in the concealment of clergy sexual abuse than Bishop Sklba. 

“While Archbishop Weakland may have issued the orders to cover-up thousands of sex crimes and quietly shuffle known child abusers to new assignments, it was Bishop Sklba who ensured those orders were executed,” said Sarah Pearson, Deputy Director of Nate’s Mission. “This extensive operation relied on Bishop Sklba to craft and sustain a bureaucratic machine capable of keeping known sex offenders in ministry for decades by obstructing justice and silencing victims. Richard Sklba will be buried with full honors, adorned in ancient symbols of church authority, because he excelled in that role.”

Nate’s Mission will share a list and corresponding documentation detailing Sklba’s worst offenses. These include

• Weakland’s claim that Sklba was his “main go-to guy” for “all” of the sex abuse cases he handled

• Sklba’s authorization of a secret hush money payment of $450,000 for Archbishop Weakland, using church funds that were specifically prohibited from being spent on sexual abuse settlements

• Sklba’s refusal to meet with victims for over a decade at the height of the Milwaukee archdiocese’s abuse and cover-up crisis

• Sklba’s management of transfers of known abusers to Milwaukee area Catholic hospitals, where they ministered to patients and families, including visits with children in pediatric wards

• A secret arrangement brokered between Sklba and now-disgraced defense attorney Gerald Boyle, violating church rules by assisting in legal costs of defending alleged sex offender priests

• Sklba’s direct role in covering up the abuse of the Milwaukee archdiocese’s most notorious sex offenders including Fathers George Nuedling, Peter Burns, William Effinger, Dennis Pecore, Edmund Haen, Simon Palathingal, Eldred Lesniewski, Frederick Bistricky, Franklyn Becker, David Hanser, Lawrence Murphy, and Sister Norma Giannini

• Sklba’s creation of a program he called an “experiment,” in which known clergy sex offenders were intentionally returned to ministry and “monitored” by church staff, resulting in continued abuse of minors by several of the “experiment” participants

Survivors have also sent a letter to the recently announced Archbishop-Designate Grob, demanding the renaming of a yearly “Peacemaker” award given to grade school students in Racine, currently named in honor of Sklba. Grob is set to be installed as the new Archbishop on January 14, 2025.

“It is utterly disgraceful that the Archdiocese bestows a yearly award to middle school students who embody the values of peacemaking and the Catholic faith, named after Sklba,” said clergy abuse survivor and Nate’s Mission Program Director Peter Isely. “The average age of a victim of clergy offenders is a middle school child. Why should an award that celebrates peace bear the name of a man responsible for inflicting such widespread sexual violence against children—children the very same age as those receiving the award?”

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Bishop Sklba dies; Clergy abuse survivors respond

Sklba once called practice of returning abuser priests to ministry an “experiment”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11-21-2024

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee announced today that Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Richard J. Sklba has died.

Appointed an auxiliary bishop under the leadership of Archbishop Rembert Weakland, Sklba was Weakland’s right-hand man when it came to handling cases of rape and sexual abuse of children in the Milwaukee archdiocese. Weakland referred to Sklba as his “main go-to guy” in cases of sexual abuse in a 2008 desposition.

Thousands of pages of documents related to sexual abuse and its institutional concealment show that Sklba played a central role in transferring dozens of known sex offenders to new parishes without informing congregations, law enforcement, or the public. These documents were released in 2014 as part of the Milwaukee archdiocese's 2011 bankruptcy.

Under Sklba’s direct oversight, documents show that at least 23 priests with confirmed histories of sexually assaulting children were secretly transferred to new assignments. Seven of these priests were transferred more than once. Two were transferred five times.

With archdiocesan corporate attorneys, Sklba devised a strategy to pay off offender priests to secretly leave the priesthood, rather than facing possible criminal investigation or a church trial to remove them from the priesthood. Some of these priests were vocationally retrained for jobs with children and families before leaving the priesthood, several as counselors and psychologists licensed by the State of Wisconsin.

In a 1996 letter, Sklba referred to a program he oversaw, in which offender priests were secretly released back into Milwaukee parishes, as an “experiment.”

Peter Isely, clergy abuse survivor and Nate’s Mission program director said, “Next to former Archbishop Weakland, no single person is more responsible for the widespread sexual abuse and suffering of thousands of children in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee over several decades than Bishop Sklba. No Catholic leader in recent memory has so misled, deceived, and harmed so many Catholic families. Along with his routine pastoral duties and academic biblical scholarship, he spent his considerable energy, charm, and intelligence to orchestrate and maintain what can only be called one of the most consequential and damaging criminal conspiracies to obstruct justice and harm innocent children in the history of our community.”

###

Clergy abuse survivors alarmed by Milwaukee Archbishop-Designate Grob’s abuse record in Chicago

Victims call on US bishops’ National Review Board to investigate Grob’s handling of clergy abuse allegations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11-4-2024

This morning, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee announced that Reverend Jeffrey S. Grob has been named as the next Archbishop of Milwaukee. Grob was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Chicago in 2020. He will be installed January 14, 2025.

Survivors are deeply alarmed by the choice of Grob given his history in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

In September of 2022, Father David Ryan was temporarily removed from St. Francis de Sales in Lake Zurich, Illinois after a second round of allegations of abuse. Fr. Ryan was under the direct supervision of Bishop Grob.

Ryan had previously been reinstated in December of 2021 after facing allegations of abuse in fall of 2020. While the Archdiocese of Chicago was conducting an investigation into the alleged abuse, parishioners of St. Francis de Sales were encouraged to send letters of support for Fr. Ryan to Bishop Grob.

Parishioners of St. Francis de Sales were encouraged to send letters of support to Fr. David Ryan during an ongoing investigation into a second round of allegations of abuse

Source: St. Francis de Sales Lake Zurich Virtual Bulletin

Instead of ensuring the investigation process was safe for victims and witnesses and encouraging anyone with information to come forward, Grob’s focus was on the comfort and protection of the twice-accused cleric. Grob referred to the allegations as a “very unfair set of circumstances” and a “tough patch” for Fr. Ryan, pledging to “do everything possible to restore Fr. Ryan’s good name.”

As a key member of the senior management of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Grob had knowledge of hundreds of cases of sexual abuse, which were investigated in the Illinois Attorney General’s clergy abuse report released in 2023. The report concluded that the Archdiocese of Chicago showed a pattern of concealing and mismanaging allegations.

In January 2025, Archbishop-Designate Grob will inherit thousands of pages of documents and criminal evidence pertaining to the rape and sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. These documents have been withheld from Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul’s statewide clergy abuse investigation by current Archbishop Jerome Listecki.

Grob will oversee an unknown number of clerics who have been accused of sexual abuse and administrators who have covered it up.

Victims are writing to the National Review Board of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), urging the board to investigate Grob’s conduct handling allegations of abuse in the Archdiocese of Chicago, specifically the allegations against Fr. Ryan and possible intimidation of victims and witnesses during the internal investigation.

Survivors will also contact the Wisconsin DOJ to alert AG Kaul’s clergy abuse investigators of Grob’s conduct. 

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Survivors of clergy abuse urge Wisconsin AG Kaul to continue to pursue evidence after recent bankruptcy ruling

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 10-14-2024

A letter sent today to Attorney General Josh Kaul by Wisconsin survivors of clergy sexual abuse is voicing outrage regarding a recent ruling by a federal bankruptcy court that prohibits the Wisconsin DOJ from reviewing confidential reports detailing alleged abuses committed by nearly 300 clergy, religious, teachers and others in the Milwaukee Archdiocese. While Attorney General Kaul has the option to file his intent to appeal this decision by Monday, survivors are urging him to also explore more effective legal avenues to access crucial abuse documents from Wisconsin’s five Catholic dioceses as well as religious orders.

In a letter, survivors emphasized their disappointment that the thousands of pages of documents—considered direct criminal evidence—remain sealed, accessible only to church officials implicated in the abuses. They expressed concern that the bankruptcy judge’s decision prioritizes the protection of the Archdiocese’s assets over the critical enforcement of child abuse laws.

“The decision to keep this mountain of evidence sealed within the bankruptcy vaults is alarming. It allows only the very church officials implicated in these abuses to access the reports, perpetuating a cycle of secrecy and denial. It is unacceptable that a bankruptcy judge, who is not elected by the citizens of Wisconsin, holds such power over the enforcement of child abuse laws and protections,” the survivors wrote.

The letter underscores the importance of ensuring that charitable organizations, including religious institutions, do not misuse their status to conceal abuse.

The survivors urge Kaul and the DOJ to consider alternative methods for accessing vital evidence, including leading the reform of Wisconsin’s charitable trust statutes to better facilitate investigations into institutional abuse by obtaining evidence through subpoenas. This approach has been successfully used by other states’ attorneys general to obtain abuse documents, initiate criminal prosecutions, and enforce state laws pertaining to the legal use of charitable funds.

While calling for an appeal of the recent ruling, the survivors reiterated their commitment to supporting Attorney General Kaul’s ongoing statewide investigation. They encourage all survivors and witnesses to come forward to the Attorney General, reinforcing that every report of abuse must be treated with the utmost seriousness.

###

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Attorney General Josh Kaul
Wisconsin Department of Justice
17 West Main Street
P.O. Box 7857
Madison, WI 53707-7857

Dear Attorney General Kaul,

We, the survivors of clergy sexual abuse from Wisconsin, wish to express our heartfelt gratitude for your support and advocacy in our ongoing quest for justice, transparency, and accountability. Your commitment to protecting children and fighting for victims’ rights has been a source of hope for many of us.

However, we are deeply troubled and outraged by the recent ruling from the federal bankruptcy court, which prohibits you, as the chief law enforcement officer of our state, from reviewing the hundreds of confidential reports detailing child sexual abuse committed by nearly 300 members of the clergy, ministers, deacons, and others in positions of authority. This ruling, astonishingly, continues to deny the request that victims have made for you to access these crucial documents, which constitute direct criminal evidence.

The decision to keep this mountain of evidence sealed within the bankruptcy vaults is alarming. It allows only the very church officials implicated in these abuses to access the reports, perpetuating a cycle of secrecy and denial. It is unacceptable that a bankruptcy judge, who is not elected by the citizens of Wisconsin, holds such power over the enforcement of child abuse laws and protections.

We echo your concerns regarding the misleading public statements made by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which suggest that only 48 individuals have been identified as perpetrators. This representation is based solely on investigations allowed by the court, excluding the vital input and evidence that you should be able to examine.

Sadly, the bankruptcy judge has made it abundantly clear that protecting the assets and secrets of the Archdiocese is a priority over law enforcement and justice. We understand that today marks the deadline for you to file your intent to appeal this decision. Like you, our ultimate goal is truth and justice, not an endless cycle of litigation within the bankruptcy courts.

The responsibility of your office is to ensure that all charitable organizations, including religious institutions, are held accountable and do not misuse their charitable status to conceal and cover up child sexual abuse. This abuse is not a religious practice, nor is the covering up of such acts. Bankruptcy statutes should not be used to withhold criminal evidence from legal investigations.

We believe there are more appropriate means for you to obtain the criminal evidence contained in the files of the five dioceses in Wisconsin. Legal and constitutional experts across the nation have recommended using charitable trust statutes to access crucial evidence through subpoenas. We hope you will consider drafting legislation to reform these statutes, which are often outdated and not designed to facilitate investigations into widespread child sexual abuse within charitable institutions.

While we encourage you to file your intent to appeal to the federal bankruptcy court today, we understand the need to also explore more effective paths toward justice. We trust that you are ready to pursue these alternatives in the coming months in keeping with your commitment to conduct a full investigation and use all the powers of your office to obtain evidence.

Finally, we were heartened by your recent statement reaffirming your commitment to continue your investigation. We urge survivors, witnesses, and anyone with evidence of abuse within faith-based institutions to continue reaching out to your office, as many already have. It is vital that these voices are heard and that all reports of abuse are treated with the seriousness they deserve.

Sincerely,
 

Clergy abuse survivors of Wisconsin

Bankruptcy judge rules AG cannot investigate victims’ reports identifying 218 previously unnamed alleged sex offenders from Milwaukee archdiocese

Survivors expect AG Kaul to appeal the decision

Victims group calls decision a “danger” to public safety

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 10-2-2024

Clergy abuse survivors and advocates will hold a press conference outside the Federal Courthouse in Downtown Milwaukee on Tuesday afternoon to respond to Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge G. Michael Halfenger’s recent decision denying the Wisconsin DOJ’s motion to unseal documents related to the rape and sexual abuse of children and its institutional concealment within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. 

When: Thursday, October 3rd, 2024, 11:30am

Where: Steps outside U.S. Courthouse and Federal Office Building, 517 E. Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202

Who: Survivors of clergy sexual abuse, including a former priest and member of the creditors committee in the Milwaukee archdiocese bankruptcy

What: A press conference featuring victims of the Milwaukee archdiocese criticizing Judge Halfenger’s decision and discussing AG Kaul’s probable appeal

Why: On Monday, September 30th, Judge Halfenger ruled against Attorney General Josh Kaul, blocking the Wisconsin DOJ from investigating nearly 600 victim reports of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. These reports contain direct evidence of over 10,000 incidents of abuse by close to 300 Catholic clergy, teachers, and volunteers.

In January 2022, Nate’s Mission delivered thousands of pages of whistleblower documents and evidence to the Wisconsin DOJ. Among these was a secret list from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee containing at least 218 names of accused clergy and other Catholic personnel who have not been identified by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee on their list of “restricted priests.”

Last August, the Wisconsin DOJ filed a motion to confidentially review documents related to these victim reports that were sealed in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s 2015 bankruptcy case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Halfenger’s decision marks the second time a Milwaukee bankruptcy judge has refused the request by victims to turn over their reports to the Wisconsin Attorney General. In a motion by victims’ attorneys, unanimously approved by the bankruptcy’s creditor’s committee, survivors urged the court to make the documents available to the DOJ, to “determine if there are any crimes committed not only by the abusers but also by those who protected them.”

“All of us survivors absolutely wanted the Attorney General to investigate the crimes committed against us. It’s appalling that law enforcement in Wisconsin can’t access victim reports of rape and sexual abuse from our own community because a bankruptcy judge says so. That’s why we expect that AG Kaul will appeal and the decision will be overruled,” said Kevin Wester, a clergy abuse victim, former priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and member of the creditors committee. 

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McCarrick case suspended in Wisconsin; AG Kaul continues investigation

Wisconsin AG Kaul must demand McCarrick file from Vatican

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 1-10-2024

On Wednesday afternoon, a criminal case against now-defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was suspended in Walworth County. Last April, Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld charged McCarrick with fourth-degree sexual assault following a report made in Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul’s statewide clergy abuse investigation. The charges stemmed from a 1977 assault against an 18-year-old victim that took place on Geneva Lake. The victim said McCarrick began assaulting him when he was 11-years-old, including during confession, family weddings, and family holidays.

Though not identified in the criminal complaint, James Grein came forward as the victim in the case to FOX6 News last April. There is another adult male included in the Walworth County criminal complaint. He is not named, however, in December, Grein identified this man to the Catholic News Agency as Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, the late Archbishop of Chicago. Grein said of the charges, “It was important to hear that somebody else believed me, and they were going to go forward with the charges, and it gave me great relief.”

Last month, the Washington Post reported that the Wisconsin case against McCarrick "appears to be dead" after Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld told Judge David M. Reddy that his office would not challenge the incompetency assessment brought by an expert hired by prosecutors to examine McCarrick. This same expert provided an assessment that led to the dismissal of criminal charges against McCarrick in a Massachusetts court last August.

In a November 22nd hearing in Walworth County, it was determined that McCarrick would appear by phone at Wednesday afternoon’s status conference. Though McCarrick was waiting on the phone, Judge David M. Reddy appeared to reverse his previous decision, saying it “wasn’t necessary.”

Because the state declined to move for a dismissal of the charge against McCarrick, the case has been effectively suspended, and McCarrick has been released from bond. A hearing has been scheduled for December 27th, 2024 at 3:00pm in Walworth County. In this period, the state has the option to move for a reevaluation of McCarrick’s competency.

The case in Walworth County is the only remaining criminal charge against Cardinal McCarrick.

Peter Isely, Program Director of Nate’s Mission, said the following, “The court’s misdemeanor charge does not represent at all the full extent of the years-long abuse suffered by the victim, but it was the only charge that could be brought in Wisconsin under state law at the time. But it at least would bring McCarrick to some kind of justice. For a victim to see his offender before a judge - even if that appearance is by phone - it can be a day of emancipation and liberation from carrying the awful burden of shame and secrecy that are an inevitable consequence of these crimes. Inexplicably, Judge Reddy did not give the victim that day.”

In December, Grein stated “I need to hear him speak because I need to hear his voice different from the voice that I know that he has.”

The global case against McCarrick is not finished, because his accomplices have yet to be brought to justice for the decades-long cover-up and enabling of his abuse. Among these accomplices are three popes and several senior officials of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy.

Sarah Pearson, Deputy Director of Nate’s Mission, said, “Since his 2019 lifting of papal secrecy, Pope Francis has not turned over any evidence from the extensive Vatican archive to U.S. justice officials who are currently investigating McCarrick’s crimes. Nor has he required U.S. bishops to cooperate with state investigations by sharing criminal evidence in their possession. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul needs this evidence about McCarrick in his ongoing investigation of clergy sexual abuse.” 

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Top Synod official says he will “be shot” by “conservative bishops” for advocating for Zero Tolerance law at Synod

Survivors and advocates to introduce newly-proposed Zero Tolerance legislation

Cardinal Hollerich of Luxembourg says Pope Francis can’t enact Zero Tolerance because, “the Curia” tells him “what to do”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 10-01-2023

WHEN: 11:00am, 2 October, 2023

WHERE: Foreign Press Club, Via dell'Umiltà, 83, 00187 Roma RM

WHO: Global survivors of clergy abuse and advocates, including a survivor of the La Plata archdiocese whose abuser was defended and protected by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández 

WHAT: Clergy abuse survivors and advocates representing 25 countries on 5 continents illustrating why an official Zero Tolerance law is needed, a six-minute video of an impromptu encounter between Cardinal Hollerich and abuse survivors, photos of survivors from around the world, a presentation on ECA’s draft of a new binding and universal Zero Tolerance law

WHY: Rome, Italy – In an extraordinary impromptu encounter, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the Cardinal of Luxembourg and the relator general of the Pope's Synod on Synodality shared candid admissions with two survivors with the organization Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) as to why Pope Francis has failed to enact zero tolerance for sexual abuse and cover-up. Cardinal Hollerich is regarded by some as a leading candidate for the papacy, and the revelations have raised critical questions about the Catholic Church's approach to abuse. Both Cardinal Karol Wojtyla and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger once held the positions of relators general prior to their papacies.

In early September, an abuse survivor presented Cardinal Hollerich with a copy of a Zero Tolerance legislation drafted by canon lawyers who are recognized experts on the issue of abuse within the Church. The legislation proposes the penalty of dismissal from the clerical state for both abusers and those who have covered up abuse. Cardinal Hollerich committed to personally reading the legislation, delivering it to Pope Francis on September 18th, and urging the Pope to seriously consider its contents.

However, on Wednesday, September 27th, two survivors from ECA, who were on a recorded Zoom call, encountered Cardinal Hollerich passing by on the street in Rome. This chance meeting led to a conversation that brought to light several concerning revelations which will be demonstrated in a video of the conversation presented at the press conference.

In response to these revelations, survivors delivered another copy of the proposed legislation to Cardinal Hollerich on Friday, September 29th. They also provided a letter seeking clarification on his comments and inviting him to endorse the Zero Tolerance law at the ECA press conference scheduled for Monday, October 2nd.

Despite repeated statements from Pope Francis emphasizing 'zero tolerance' within Church law and practice, ECA will underscore the stark reality that there is currently no binding Church law that mandates permanent removal from the priesthood for any act of sexual abuse or participation in its institutional concealment.

The group will discuss the Hollerich revelations along with current alarming cases of abuse from several countries including Colombia, Italy, and Canada. On Thursday, September 29th, ECA called on Pope Francis to remove newly-elevated Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández from his role as head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF). Eighty-percent of the DDF’s workload, according to America Magazine, consists of investigating sexual abuse cases from around the world. Among the cases that will be highlighted are several that Fernández covered up while Archbishop of La Plata. A victim of the notorious Argentine pedophile priest, Rev. Eduardo Lorenzo, will share his experience of how Fernández not only protected, but actively supported and endorsed Lorenzo after credible allegations against him had surfaced.

ECA will demand that Cardinal Hollerich introduce the Zero Tolerance legislation at the convening of the Synod. The group also insists that discussion about sexual abuse during the Synod should be open to the media and the public. 

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Global clergy abuse survivors to Pope Francis: Fernández must go!

Group says “Fernández’s record of abuse cover-up and treatment of victims makes him unfit.”
Time has come for a lay person selected by survivor organizations to oversee clerical investigations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 09-27-2023

WHEN: 11:00AM, 28 September, 2023

WHERE: Piazza Adriana, next to Castel Sant'Angelo

WHO: Global survivors of clergy sexual abuse and advocates, including a survivor from the La Plata archdiocese whose abuser was defended and protected by Fernández 

WHAT: Clergy abuse survivors and advocates representing 25 countries holding signs and calling on Pope Francis to remove Fernández from his position at the DDF and rescind his elevation to the position of cardinal

WHY: Rome, Italy – Leaders of survivors and advocacy groups from around the world are demanding that Pope Francis replace Fernández as head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) and rescind his elevation to the position of cardinal. “No bishop who has covered up child sex crimes and ignored and dismissed victims of clergy abuse in his diocese should be running the office that oversees, investigates, and prosecutes clergy sex offenders from around the world, or be made a cardinal,” says Julieta Añazco, a victim from the La Plata archdiocese which Fernández led from 2018 until his appointment to the DDF.

As incoming archbishop of La Plata, Fernández inherited some of the most severe sex abuse cases by clerics in Argentina, including horrific abuse of students at the Antonio Provolo Institute for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children in La Plata, where more than two dozen children were allegedly sexually tortured at the hands of priests and other employees at the school. (The La Plata school’s director for years was the late Father Nicola Corradi, S.M., who was sentenced to 42 years in prison in 2019 for raping and sexually assaulting deaf children at the Provolo school in Mendoza.)

Pope Francis himself contributed to the cover-up of the crimes at the Provolo schools. He had been informed repeatedly that Provolo clerics previously accused of sexually assaulting children in Italy were working at the Provolo boarding schools for deaf children in Mendoza and La Plata.  He was notified in 2013 and 2014 via letter, and in person in 2015, according to the Washington Post. Yet he took no action against the accused clerics, and the abuse at the Mendoza school continued until 2016, when the school was closed. The La Plata school remains open today.

Investigating sexual abuse cases comprises 80 percent of the DDF's workload, according to America magazine, and in Fernández's recent history as Archbishop of La Plata, there are three significant cases where he mishandled serious instances of sexual abuse. Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) will present evidence from these cases demonstrating why Fernández is unfit to lead the DDF.

ECA leaders from around the world are in Rome for their yearly global assembly just before Pope Francis begins his Synod on Synodality. While in Rome, the group will conduct several events including a vigil for survivors and a second press conference on Monday, October 2nd regarding ECA’s newly proposed zero tolerance legislation. The full schedule of events is available here. 

Contact: 

United States - English
Peter Isely, ECA Founding Member
peter@natesmission.org
+1 414-429-7259

Tim Law, ECA Founding/Board Member
timalaw@aol.com
+1 206-412-0165

Canada - English
Gemma Hickey (they/them)
Pathways Foundation Founder/ECA Member
gemmamhickey@gmail.com
+1 709-690-5244

Evelyn Korkmaz, ECA Founding Member
ACTS Canada Founding Member
ekorkmaz16@hotmail.com
+1 613-854-1303

Latin America - Spanish/English
Adalberto Méndez, ECA Founding/Board Member
adalsamma@yahoo.com.mx
+52 155 36533007

Europe - German/English
Matthias Katsch, ECA Founding Member
makazade@gmail.com
+49 178 1674838

Italy - Italian/English/Spanish/Portuguese
Simone Padovani, ECA Founding/Board Member
simon.padovani@gmail.com
+39 392 1454211

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Voices for Justice: Survivor-Activists from Across the World Converge for Zero Tolerance ahead of Papal Synod

Rome, Italy – Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA), a global coalition of survivor leaders, activists, and human rights lawyers, representing victims in 25 countries on 5 continents, is proud to announce a powerful series of events in Rome, centering on our demand that Pope Francis sign into law a binding and universal zero tolerance mandate before his Synod on Synodality. 

Such a law would implement key recommendations to the Holy See from the 2014 United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - particularly an update to Canon Law putting the internal law of the Church in compliance with the CRC Convention relating to “children’s rights to be protected against discrimination, violence and all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.”

Over four years after ECA’s meeting with the organizers of the 2019 Papal Summit on the Protection of Minors, and after several insufficient canon law revisions, a cleric, Church employee, or volunteer who is known to Church officials to have sexually abused a child or vulnerable adult can remain in ministry. Global survivors are calling for this to end. 

The series of events will feature the following key activities:

1. Pilgrimage to Rome (21-26 September): Ten survivors and activists will pilgrimage/march (75 miles) to Rome from Montefiascone, along the Via Francigena, carrying an 8-foot wooden cross with a zero-tolerance message and distributing leaflets urging residents along the way to report clergy abuse to local civil authorities and to promote our message and planned activities in Rome. We will pass through the towns of Viterbo, Caprarola, Sutri, Campagnano di Roma, Isola Farnese to Rome.
   FULL SCHEDULE HERE

1. Completion of Pilgrimage at St. Peter’s Square (12:00pm, 27 September): Marchers traveling to Rome from Montefiascone will finish their 75-mile pilgrimage meeting survivors from around the world in St. Peter’s Square.

1. Press Event at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (10:00am, 28 September): Survivors and advocates will discuss and rate the handling of sex abuse cases by the Pope’s 21 cardinal-designates scheduled to be elevated on Saturday 30 September.

1. March and Vigil at Castel Sant’Angelo gardens, end of Via della Conciliazione (4:00pm-8:00pm, 30 September): ECA will host a march and vigil for clergy abuse survivors alongside a powerful photojournalistic presentation entitled “Shame,” including an emotionally-charged exhibit exposing the painful reality of child victims of clergy abuse from around the world through a collection of hauntingly-honest portraits and painstaking documentation. Beginning officially at 6:00pm, the vigil will feature contributions from clergy abuse victims, activists, and anti-abuse organizations.

1. Press Event at the Foreign Press Club (11:00am, 2 October): Survivors and advocates will demand that Pope Francis sign ECA’s new proposed Zero Tolerance law before his Synod on Synodality begins.

ECA believes that by coming together in the heart of Rome, we can amplify our voices, demand change, and ensure that survivors receive the support and justice they deserve.

For more information and event details, please visit www.ecaglobal.org. We encourage media representatives, Synod leaders and members, and concerned Catholics to join us in this crucial cause.
 

Contact: 

United States - English
Peter Isely, ECA Founding Member
peter@natesmission.org
+1 414-429-7259

Tim Law, ECA Founding/Board Member
timalaw@aol.com
+1 206-412-0165

Canada - English
Gemma Hickey (they/them)
Pathways Foundation Founder/ECA Member
gemmamhickey@gmail.com
+1 709-690-5244

Evelyn Korkmaz, ECA Founding Member
ACTS Canada Founding Member
ekorkmaz16@hotmail.com
+1 613-854-1303

Latin America - Spanish/English
Adalberto Méndez, ECA Founding/Board Member
adalsamma@yahoo.com.mx
+52 155 36533007

Europe - German/English
Matthias Katsch, ECA Founding Member
makazade@gmail.com
+49 178 1674838

Italy - Italian/English/Spanish/Portuguese
Simone Padovani, ECA Founding/Board Member
simon.padovani@gmail.com
+39 392 1454211

About ECA: The mission of ECA is to compel the Roman Catholic Church to end clergy abuse, especially child sexual abuse, in order to protect children and to seek justice for victims. ECA demands the end of the Church’s structural mechanism that allows abuse.

Local Wisconsin-Based Survivor-Activists Take on Leading Role in Global Campaign Against Clergy Abuse

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 09-19-2023

Nate's Mission, a Wisconsin-based project under the umbrella of the international anti-clergy abuse organization, Ending Clergy Abuse, is proud to announce its role as a leading force behind a dynamic week of action in Rome and Geneva. This global media campaign aims to amplify the collective global voice advocating for zero tolerance when it comes to sexual abuse and its cover-up within the Catholic Church.

In a momentous gathering of survivors, activists, and advocates from around the world, Nate's Mission leaders will take part in a week-long initiative that seeks to bring global attention to the ongoing issue of clergy abuse and the imperative need for a binding and universal zero tolerance law in the Church. Under current Vatican policy, a cleric, Church employee, or volunteer who is known to Church officials to have sexually abused a child or vulnerable adult can remain in ministry. Global survivors are calling for this to end.

This landmark event, set to unfold in Rome and Geneva, will showcase the power of collective action and international solidarity in addressing one of the most significant moral crises of our time. Through a series of events, press conferences, and advocacy efforts, Nate's Mission and Ending Clergy Abuse will push for systemic changes that prioritize the protection of the vulnerable and the pursuit of truth and justice.

A schedule of events for activities in Rome can be found in the press release below. Events in Geneva will be announced in an upcoming press release. 

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Voices for Justice: Survivor-Activists from Across the World Converge for Zero Tolerance ahead of Papal Synod

Rome, Italy – Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA), a global coalition of survivor leaders, activists, and human rights lawyers, representing victims in 25 countries on 5 continents, is proud to announce a powerful series of events in Rome, centering on our demand that Pope Francis sign into law a binding and universal zero tolerance mandate before his Synod on Synodality. 

Such a law would implement key recommendations to the Holy See from the 2014 United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - particularly an update to Canon Law putting the internal law of the Church in compliance with the CRC Convention relating to “children’s rights to be protected against discrimination, violence and all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.”

Over four years after ECA’s meeting with the organizers of the 2019 Papal Summit on the Protection of Minors, and after several insufficient canon law revisions, a cleric, Church employee, or volunteer who is known to Church officials to have sexually abused a child or vulnerable adult can remain in ministry. Global survivors are calling for this to end. 

The series of events will feature the following key activities:

1. Pilgrimage to Rome (21-26 September): Ten survivors and activists will pilgrimage/march (75 miles) to Rome from Montefiascone, along the Via Francigena, carrying an 8-foot wooden cross with a zero-tolerance message and distributing leaflets urging residents along the way to report clergy abuse to local civil authorities and to promote our message and planned activities in Rome. We will pass through the towns of Viterbo, Caprarola, Sutri, Campagnano di Roma, Isola Farnese to Rome.
   FULL SCHEDULE HERE

1. Completion of Pilgrimage at St. Peter’s Square (12:00pm, 27 September): Marchers traveling to Rome from Montefiascone will finish their 75-mile pilgrimage meeting survivors from around the world in St. Peter’s Square.

1. Press Event at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (10:00am, 28 September): Survivors and advocates will discuss and rate the handling of sex abuse cases by the Pope’s 21 cardinal-designates scheduled to be elevated on Saturday 30 September.

1. March and Vigil at Castel Sant’Angelo gardens, end of Via della Conciliazione (4:00pm-8:00pm, 30 September): ECA will host a march and vigil for clergy abuse survivors alongside a powerful photojournalistic presentation entitled “Shame,” including an emotionally-charged exhibit exposing the painful reality of child victims of clergy abuse from around the world through a collection of hauntingly-honest portraits and painstaking documentation. Beginning officially at 6:00pm, the vigil will feature contributions from clergy abuse victims, activists, and anti-abuse organizations.

1. Press Event at the Foreign Press Club (11:00am, 2 October): Survivors and advocates will demand that Pope Francis sign ECA’s new proposed Zero Tolerance law before his Synod on Synodality begins.

ECA believes that by coming together in the heart of Rome, we can amplify our voices, demand change, and ensure that survivors receive the support and justice they deserve.

For more information and event details, please visit www.ecaglobal.org. We encourage media representatives, Synod leaders and members, and concerned Catholics to join us in this crucial cause.
 

Contact: 

United States - English
Peter Isely, ECA Founding Member
peter@natesmission.org
+1 414-429-7259

Tim Law, ECA Founding/Board Member
timalaw@aol.com
+1 206-412-0165

Canada - English
Gemma Hickey (they/them)
Pathways Foundation Founder/ECA Member
gemmamhickey@gmail.com
+1 709-690-5244

Evelyn Korkmaz, ECA Founding Member
ACTS Canada Founding Member
ekorkmaz16@hotmail.com
+1 613-854-1303

Latin America - Spanish/English
Adalberto Méndez, ECA Founding/Board Member
adalsamma@yahoo.com.mx
+52 155 36533007

Europe - German/English
Matthias Katsch, ECA Founding Member
makazade@gmail.com
+49 178 1674838

Italy - Italian/English/Spanish/Portuguese
Simone Padovani, ECA Founding/Board Member
simon.padovani@gmail.com
+39 392 1454211

About ECA: The mission of ECA is to compel the Roman Catholic Church to end clergy abuse, especially child sexual abuse, in order to protect children and to seek justice for victims. ECA demands the end of the Church’s structural mechanism that allows abuse.

Father James Connell releases media statement regarding open records request to Wisconsin DOJ

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 05-09-2023

On April 27th, Reverend James E. Connell, J.C.D., a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and former Vice-chancellor, filed an open records request asking for communications between the Wisconsin Department of Justice and Catholic dioceses and religious orders. 

Thus far, Father Connell has received no response from the DOJ. 

Below is his video statement regarding his open records request:

Wisconsin clergy abuse survivors want AG Kaul to release all communications between church officials and DOJ

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 05-08-2023

Two national organizations join Milwaukee priest in releasing Open Records Request on second anniversary of AG’s statewide clergy abuse probe

Records will show whether DOJ is “cooperating with the cover-up” by not obtaining church abuse files and investigating church officials, says Fr. James Connell  

WHEN: Tuesday, May 9th, 2023, 1:00pm

WHERE: State Capitol Building, State Street entrance, Madison, WI

WHO: Directors of Nate’s Mission, a Wisconsin survivors’ project of the global organization Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) and the Senior Policy Counsel for the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF)

WHAT: Press event to release the Open Records Request by Fr. James Connell to Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul and discuss the experience of Wisconsin survivors on the second anniversary of Kaul’s statewide investigation into clergy abuse. A filmed interview with Connell about the filing will be shared and posted online after the event.

WHY: Last week, Fr. James Connell, retired vice chancellor of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and a church canon lawyer, filed an official Open Records Request with the Wisconsin Department of Justice regarding the Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul’s “Statewide Inquiry into Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse.”

Connell stated, “I don’t want the Attorney General to get off the hook. He promised he would do something two years ago, and that created hope - a lot of hope. Not just hope for the victim-survivors of clergy abuse, but hope for the people of the state in general.

In the absence of [the Church’s] cooperation…then all the more this is just cover-up. And I guess I would also say in my heart, if that’s what it turns out to demonstrate, then the Department of Justice is cooperating with the cover-up the Church has been doing all these years.”

Last week’s filing, made on behalf of Wisconsin victims of clergy abuse, coincides with the second anniversary of Kaul’s investigation. Connell was supported in his request by two national organizations, Ending Clergy Abuse and The Freedom from Religion Foundation. Typically the DOJ responds to a records request within ten days.

Last month, in an unprecedented act of retaliation, Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki removed Connell’s faculties to hear confessions for his public stance advocating for legislation in Wisconsin and elsewhere that would require clergy to join 30 other professions as mandated reporters of child rape and sexual assault, including when disclosed in the confessional. 

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