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The sexual abuse scandal in Bridgeport Diocese is a significant episode in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States.
In May 2009, a decision by the Connecticut Supreme Court ordered the release of thousands of legal documents from lawsuits filed against priests accused of sexually abusing children (George L. Rosado et al. v. Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocesan Corporation et al., (SC 17807). [1] )
In 1993, during Cardinal Egan's time as Bishop of Bridgeport, 23 lawsuits were filed against the diocese, alleging sexual abuse by priests. [2] The 23 claims were settled in 2001, [2] which was one year after Egan left the Diocese of Bridgeport after being appointed Archbishop of New York. [3] Five priests were evicted from the ministry. [2] Two Diocese of Bridgeport priests, Kherian Ahearn and John Castaldo, were convicted on sex abuse charges respectively in 1993 and 2001. [4] However, many who were credibly accused during Egan's time as Bishop died without being prosecuted. [4] In April 2002, in a letter read out at Mass, Cardinal Egan apologized saying, "If in hindsight we also discover that mistakes may have been made as regards prompt removal of priests and assistance to victims, I am deeply sorry." [5] Nearly ten years later, in February 2012, the retired cardinal retracted his apology. In an interview with Connecticut magazine he said, "I never should have said that," and, "I don't think we did anything wrong." He repeatedly denied that any sexual abuse happened while he was leading the Bridgeport diocese. [6] [7]
On October 5, 2009, the United States Supreme Court rejected a request by the diocese to stay the Connecticut Supreme Court decision. [8] On Nov. 2, 2009 the United States Supreme Court decided [9] not to grant a writ of certiorari. [10]
Bishop William E. Lori has opposed legislation by State Representative Michael P. Lawlor and State Senator Andrew J. McDonald that would remove control of the diocese from the bishop and place it into the hands of laymen. The legislation had been written with the help of liberal Catholics, including Connecticut attorney Thomas Gallagher, a contributor to the group Voice of the Faithful. [11]
The Connecticut Superior Court held hearings in November 2009 on procedures and privacy safeguards. The court ordered that the documents be released on Dec. 1, 2009, in CD form, to be given to the four newspapers—the Hartford Courant, the New York Times, Boston Globe and Washington Post—that had originally filed the lawsuit seeking to force the diocese to open the records to public inspection. [12] The diocese has provided background and a statement on the suit and its status. [13]
In October 2019, former Connecticut Superior Court Judge Robert Holzberg released the results of his investigation, commissioned by Bridgeport Bishop Frank Caggiano, into the Diocese's handling of accusations of sexual abuse by its priests. Holzberg found that all three of Bridgeport's bishops over forty years had consistently failed to fulfill their moral and legal responsibilities. [14] Holzberg found that Egan took a "dismissive, uncaring, and at times threatening attitude toward survivors"; he characterized the bishop's behavior as "profoundly unsympathetic, inadequate, and inflammatory". [14] Holzberg's report, which stemmed from a year-long investigation, [15] accused 71 priests of sexually abusing 300 children since 1953. [14] However, it also praised the reforms which were made by Egan's successors William Lori and Frank Caggiano to combat sex abuse and compared their tenure to that of their predecessors as "a tale of two cities." [15]
In March 2020, it was announced that the pre-trial hearing for accused Danbury priest Jaime Marin-Cardona would begin March 27, 2020 and conclude April 21, 2020. [16] Marin-Cardona was officially charged with three counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, three counts of risk of injury to child and three counts of illegal sexual contact. [16] He was arrested on January 3, 2020 and released on bond four weeks later after agreeing to wear a tracking device and comply with protective orders. [17] He has pled not guilty to all nine charges. [16]
Edward Michael Egan was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport in Connecticut from 1988 to 2000 and as archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York in New York City from 2000 to 2009. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2001.
Paul Richard Shanley was an American Roman Catholic priest who became the center of a massive sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts. Beginning in 1967, the archdiocese covered up numerous allegations of child sexual assault against Shanley and facilitated his transfers to other states.
The Diocese of Bridgeport is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church located in the southwestern part of the state of Connecticut, and its boundaries are the same as that of Fairfield County, Connecticut. There are 82 parishes in the diocese. Its cathedral is St. Augustine Cathedral in Bridgeport. The Diocese of Bridgeport is a suffragan diocese within the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Hartford.
The Diocese of Harrisburg is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church that covers 15 counties of South Central Pennsylvania: Adams, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, Snyder, Union and York. The seat of the bishop is in St. Patrick's Cathedral, which stands one block away from the Pennsylvania State Capitol. Pope Pius IX erected the diocese on March 3, 1868. The Diocese of Harrisburg is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States, commonly known as the John Jay Report, is a 2004 report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, based on surveys completed by the Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States. The initial version of the report was posted on the Internet on February 27, 2004, with corrections and revisions posted on April 16. The printed version was published in June 2004. The church's own John Jay Report is online at John Jay Report.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal was part of a series of Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in the United States that revealed widespread crimes in the American Roman Catholic Church. In early 2002, TheBoston Globe published results of an investigation that led to the criminal prosecutions of five Roman Catholic priests and thrust the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy into the national spotlight. Another accused priest who was involved in the Spotlight scandal also pleaded guilty. The Globe's coverage encouraged other victims to come forward with allegations of abuse, resulting in numerous lawsuits and 249 criminal cases.
The sexual abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon in the United States is an important chapter in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States. During its course in July 2004, the archdiocese under Archbishop John George Vlazny filed for bankruptcy.
The sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic diocese of Orange is an important chapter in the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in the United States.
Frank Joseph Caggiano is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as the Bishop of Bridgeport in Connecticut since 2013. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn in New York City from 2006 to 2013.
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The sexual abuse scandal in Davenport diocese is one of a number of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States and Ireland.
There have been many lawsuits, criminal prosecutions, and scandals over sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy in the United States of America.
The ecclesiastical response to Catholic sexual abuse cases is a major aspect of the academic literature surrounding the Church's child sexual abuse scandal. The Catholic Church's response to the scandal can be viewed on three levels: the diocesan level, the episcopal conference level and the Vatican. Responses to the scandal proceeded at all three levels in parallel with the higher levels becoming progressively more involved as the gravity of the problem became more apparent.
The sexual abuse scandal in Providence diocese is a significant episode in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States and Ireland.
Walter William Curtis was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport in Connecticut from 1961 to 1988. Curtis previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey from 1957 to 1961.
The sexual abuse scandal in San Diego diocese is a significant episode in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States and Ireland.
The sexual abuse scandal in Hartford archdiocese is an episode in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States.
A grand jury investigation of Catholic Church sexual abuse in Pennsylvania lasted from 2016 to 2018, and investigated the history of clerical sexual abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses.
