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Remains of priest removed from Quebec Mohawk community after sex abuse allegations
KAHNAWAKE (CANADA)
Global News [Toronto, Canada]
August 11, 2022
The remains of a priest alleged to have sexually abused children have been exhumed and removed from the Mohawk community of Kahnawake.
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, which governs the community south of Montreal, says the remains of Rev. Leon Lajoie, who died in 1999, were exhumed Wednesday from the grounds of the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, where he was buried.11
Last summer, several members of the community alleged that they were abused by Lajoie and called for his remains to be removed to start a healing process.
Members of the community in March voted 233 to 195 in favour of the exhumation.
Lajoie, a Jesuit, arrived in Kahnawake in 1961 and was a parish priest until 1990.
An investigation by the Jesuits found no evidence of abuse by Lajoie, though it found evidence of a “serious sexual assault at St. Francis-Xavier Mission,” the church where Lajoie was buried, but the…
Abuse advocates: Wisconsin AG ‘walking back’ promises on diocesan abuse probe
MADISON (WI)
The Pillar [Washington DC]
August 11, 2022
A Wisconsin advocacy group for victims of clerical sexual abuse says the state’s attorney general has broken his word, downplaying a promised investigation into the state’s five dioceses as a “review” of abuse allegations.
While the attorney general has previously referred to the probe as an “investigation,” a state official said in March that the word “review” is more appropriate, adding that “investigation” would be “too strong of a word” to describe the initiative.
Advocacy group Nate’s Mission says the change in language came while the attorney general’s office claimed its inquiry was not well-funded, declined contact and records from whistleblowers, and decided not to push in court for diocesan personnel records which might contain evidence of wrongdoing.
“Survivors in Wisconsin for 30 years have been asking for an investigation like this. In the early 1990s, survivors in Wisconsin were some of the first in the country to come forward…
Judge rules accused priest Bialkowski can control widow’s $2 million estate
BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News [Buffalo NY]
August 11, 2022
By Charlie Specht
An Erie County judge has ruled that a Catholic priest who has been accused of sexually abusing children can spend a dead parishioner’s $2 million estate as he pleases, despite the objections of her relatives.
Erie County Surrogate’s Court Judge Acea M. Mosey dismissed allegations by the widow’s family that the Rev. David W. Bialkowski, former pastor of St. John Gualbert Catholic Church, “groomed” Ruth Peters to become the executor of her estate before her 2019 death.
“I conclude that there is no proof that the will was the product of fraud perpetrated on decedent by Bialkowski or any other person,” Mosey wrote in her decision.
The March 31 ruling clears the way for the suspended priest, who is on the diocese’s list of priests with “substantiated allegations of abuse of a minor” and who is accused in two Child Victims Act lawsuits of sexual abuse, to inherit $125,000…
Opinion: Still no progress on statute of limitations reform for sex abuse victims
CINCINNATI (OH)
Cincinnati Enquirer / cincinnati.com
August 7, 2022
By Theresa Dinwiddie-Herrmann
Three years ago, the Rev. Geoffrey Drew was arrested on nine counts of child rape, and local parents still see no efforts to protect their children.
At the time, Drew was the pastor of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Green Township, which gave him superintendent-like authority over the largest parochial elementary school in Ohio.
After his arrest, we learned that Archdiocese of Cincinnati employees were aware of Drew’s three decades-long and three Ohio countywide pattern of red flag behavior with children.
According to the evidence list, this included a 1983 letter from a Catholic school principal, vacations with boys, a formal complaint in seminary for having a child in his bedroom, a written plea for help by Dayton-area school boys at St. Rita in 2006,
Drew’s use of parish funds for a male nude massage service in 2012, and three Butler County investigations in 2013 and 2015.
Despite this and other…
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/category/news-archive/abusetracker/