In Spirit and Truth Reading Roundup: September 2023 Edition

Welcome to your monthly collection of news and commentary about the twin crises of abuse and institutional betrayal in the Catholic Church. It’s a long one, but with a lot of really interesting pieces. (Just a reminder: I highlight articles from a variety of sources and perspectives, and inclusion here does not mean that I agree with everything in a given article.)

As always, if you only have time to read a few pieces this month, I recommend you start with those in bold below. There are some really thoughtful pieces in the “Going Deeper” section at the end, and make sure you read the statement from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors at the end of the “International News” section. It’s shockingly honest about the ongoing problems in the Church.

By the way, I’m celebrating my 42nd birthday this week, so if you would like to give me a birthday gift, I would always appreciate a donation (perhaps $42?) to support the work of Awake. You can donate here:

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On the Rupnik Mess - Again

• First: Diocese of Rome praises Rupnik center, raises doubts on excommunication

• Then: Women who say they were abused by a onetime Jesuit artist denounce an apparent rehabilitation effort

• And: Superior ‘removed’ from community she co-founded with Rupnik

• Analysis: The Diocese of Rome’s Rupnik problem

• Analysis: On recent abuse scandals, Vatican talk is both too much and too little

• Analysis: The Rupnik business will stain and possibly define Pope Francis’s legacy

U.S. News

• Alabama: Victims say leaders ignored past and present abuse at McGill

• California: Long Beach-based priest charged with possessing more than 600 images of child pornography

• California: Catholic commune, Catholics United for Life, faces allegations of sex abuse and violence

• Louisiana: New Orleans archbishop - local Catholic institutions must help with cost of clergy abuse claims

• Louisiana: Why it took 48 years to charge a Catholic priest with rape

• Maryland: Baltimore Archdiocese considers bankruptcy amid possible sex abuse lawsuits + Letter from Archbishop Lori

• Massachusetts: McCarrick sexual assault charges dropped

• New Jersey: Judge Rejects Camden Diocese's $87.5M Settlement To Abuse Survivors

• New York: Recently ordained New York priest arrested over charges of sexual abuse of minor

• Tennessee: Interview with Knoxville Priest after Stika’s Resignation

• Texas: No charges filed against two Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse

• Texas: Priest arrested for sexually abusing parishioner in her 70s

International News

• Australia: Retired Bishop Christopher Saunders investigated for abusing young boys + Vatican shares investigation into child abuse allegations against Saunders with police

• Belgium: Bishop says the Vatican has for years snubbed pleas to defrock a pedophile ex-colleague

• Chile: Justice eludes victims of Catholic clergy sex abuse years after the crisis exploded

• Chile: Over 30 women with ties to Legion of Christ support claim by alleged victim of gang rape in Chile

• France: Catholic Foreign Missions Society under fire over alleged sexual abuse

• Phillipines: Pope Francis dismisses Borongan priest due to alleged sex abuse

• Spain: Malaga Priest, 34, ‘Drugged and Sexually Assaulted Four Unconscious Women While Recording the Attacks on His Mobile Phone’

• Switzerland: Swiss bishops plunged into crisis ahead of abuse report + Swiss bishops’ study finds more than 1,000 cases of clergy sexual abuse

• Vatican: Pope’s own abuse commission blasts system that leaves victims ‘wounded and in the dark’ + Complete statement here

From Awake

• As Awake Begins Our Fifth Year, We Unveil An Updated Mission Statement

• Survivor Story: Kathleen Klamka

• Survivor Panel Describes the Spiritual Impacts of Sexual Abuse

Going Deeper

• Catholic clergy abuse survivors of color endure compounded trauma + Catholic Church's response to abuse victims of color deficient, advocates say

• SNAP: Stories of Survival (Short Video)

• For Church leaders, closing the credibility gap isn’t easy (but it could be simple)

• For some survivors of childhood sexual abuse, ‘healing doesn’t mean it’s gone’

• Grand Jury Reports Only Scratch the Surface (On Abuse in Catholic Schools)

• With Catholic Church foot-dragging comes the chance to evade justice

• "We have to do this, because Legal said so." (No, you don't.)

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I will be back with a post from our Survivors’ Voices panel soon. Thank you for listening.

~ Sara