Healing your heart and your mind often starts with making peace with your body (and, as a result. how you nourish that body). In the next series of blog posts, I am going to do a deep dive into the big connection between childhood sexual abuse/childhood trauma and food issues. The connection is a troubling…Continue reading Childhood Sexual Abuse and Food Part One: Why do I have gut issues?
PLEASE LISTEN, SUBSCRIBE, AND SHARE! You asked. I answered. The PODCAST is finally here. Join me at the SpotTheLine table of experts as we talk about Andrew Cuomo, the fascinating history of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and abuse and assault prevention. Two episodes and a preview are up, everywhere you get your podcasts.
Today, the Associated Press released a blockbuster article about how the Catholic Church in the United States has obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in PPP loans, despite a lack of need. In Orange County, California, Bishop Kevin Vann treated PPP loans like a taxpayer-funded ATM machine. Catholic entities under Vann’s direct management collected more than…Continue reading Diocese of Orange snags more than $24 mil in PPP loans
If you think 2020 isn’t going well for you, take a look at the Boy Scouts: it’s estimated that up to 50,000 victims of child sexual abuse could come forward in the Chapter 11 Boy Scout bankruptcy. Survivors until November 15 to file paperwork and join the bankruptcy, which I predict will uncover decades of…Continue reading A Day of Reckoning for the Boy Scouts
Fresno Bishop Joseph V. Brennan promised a list. Did he think we forgot? Now that my white paper on the sexual abuse of women in the Catholic Church is complete—and getting a great response—I am beginning work on a complete analysis of California’s Catholic dioceses, sexual abuse, and cover-up. I thought I would start with…Continue reading Diocese of Fresno promised us a list of accused priests. Where is it?
What if the cornerstone of our conventional wisdom about the victims of the Catholic Church and clergy sex abuse crisis was wrong? What if, in a statistically viable sample of survivors of abuse in the Catholic Church, 50% of respondents were female? What if you also knew that this result is almost statically impossible to…Continue reading What if women comprised 50% of sex abuse victims in the Catholic Church?
The Arizona Child Victims’ Act has not been in the headlines much—Covid and the elections have stolen most of the news airtime in that state. Don’t let the quiet fool you: Arizona’s Catholic Bishops have a long and sordid history of enabling and protecting child sex predators. Today, victims filed two new child sex abuse…Continue reading Arizona Child Victims’ Act: Two New Lawsuits Filed
Since I began discussing forgiveness as the topic of my new book project, I have had a number of very smart friends send over great research materials. One person pointed out the two Greek words used in the Bible for forgiveness: charizomai, which translates roughly to “grace” or to “bestow a favor unconditionally” and aphiemi,…Continue reading Where does “forgiveness” come from?
“Forgive me.” “Times were different then.” “You need to forgive to heal.” “Let go of your anger and find healing and peace.” Heard these before? What is this is a lot of sociological, historical, and political bunk? That’s what I am looking to find out. I am working on a new book project. The idea…Continue reading Weaponized Forgiveness: A New Blog Series
This week, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) reported that allegations of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church TRIPLED in the past year. There is only one reason for this huge increase in reports: Statute of Limitation Reform. Survivors in many states (California, New Jersey, New York, Arizona) now have the right to…Continue reading Statute of limitations reform: A bittersweet, overwhelming success
In honor of Father’s Day, the LA Times published an essay by author Mimi Bull. The catch? Her father was a practicing Catholic priest. No one reading the essay will be satisfied. Mimi’s mother was forced into a life of secrecy and shame, unable to acknowledge the daughter she loved until Mimi was well into…Continue reading When your father is Father
Yesterday, Hollywood actor and Scientologist Danny Masterson was arrested and charged with raping three women. Two other women have alleged that Masterson raped them, but because of expired statutes of limitations and/or insufficient evidence, the LA District Attorney’s office declined to press charges. The victimization of these women did end at rape. From The New…Continue reading What role does Scientology have in covering up sex crimes?
Do you have information on the following men: Fr. Robert P. Byrne – Priest in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. For you true crime nerds out there, he was the family priest of Manson Family victim Steven Parent. I do not know whether or not he is alive. Edgar D. Cahn – May or may…Continue reading Can you help?
Over the weekend, Catholic hymn composer, performer, and youth conference organizer David Haas was dropped by his publisher after the company learned the musician was under investigation by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for sexual battery and other offenses. Haas also ran a music camp for teens called Music Ministry Alive, which according…Continue reading EXCLUSIVE: Catholic composer accused of sexual battery worked with known predator for years
Legislative work can be complicated. Take my word for it. And sometimes the hardest decision to make is the best one: if a law protects predators, it’s not a good law. That is what happened in Colorado. And Colorado did the right thing. Yesterday, the sponsors of a potential law to help future victims of…Continue reading Colorado: Refusing to settle for a second rate law
There are voices that have been silenced—or simply ignored—in the clergy sex abuse crisis. We have known for years that “priest dumping” has been a common practice in the Catholic Church: bishops and other officials send white, English-speaking predator priests to indigenous, refugee, or immigrant communities, or communities of color. These communities are devoutly Catholic.…Continue reading When adversity is your gift
Yesterday, I wrote about the Child Sex Abuse Civil Window cases that are beginning to flood the New York judicial system as the courts reopen. But what about California? There has been little news about California’s Child Victims’ Act cases because the courts have been closed for filings (a “court holiday”) and/or are only beginning…Continue reading What’s going on in California?
Eleven priests who have not appeared on any lists of accused clerics—either court documents, diocese lists, or press reports—have been named as alleged predators in new lawsuits filed against the Catholic Archdiocese of New York this week. The 11 were named in a press release today, which also announced 59 new lawsuits. The priests publicly…Continue reading Re-opening of NY courts exposes 11 newly accused clerics
In my talks to groups, I always try to impress on people how child sexual abuse destroys communities. When a predator undermines family and community bonds to target a child, the ripples of sexual abuse damage radiate farther than the child victim. It happened in my case—affecting (and destroying) my family, my peers, and the…Continue reading “Can’t you just let it go?”
Buried in the news about COVID and the global George Floyd protests, the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, VA, quietly announced today that it is starting “formal investigations” of child sexual abuse against four former priests. What is NOT interesting about the investigation is that there are four accused priests. What IS interesting is the relevant—but…Continue reading Tough Questions for the Diocese of Richmond
