On his first day on the job in July 2001, Globe editor Martin Baron stopped by the desk of Eileen McNamara, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist. A week earlier, on July 29, 2001, McNamara had published a column about the Boston Archdiocese’s silence on three Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing children. One line, in particular, had irked Baron. McNamara had wondered whether an accused priest’s superiors had known about his crimes. Court documents were sealed. “The public,” she concluded, “has no way of knowing.”

McNamara recalls Baron standing over her desk: “Why don’t we find out,” he said.

Spotlight’s investigation of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church did not begin with a tip or newly obtained document, as so many investigations do. Instead, it started when a new

Aug 6 2021

What to Know About Priest Sexual Abuse in New York

Catholic Sexual Abuse

New York’s population is over 30% Catholic.

With the abundance of Roman Catholic Churches and schools in the state and the sordid reality of predatory clergy, it’s unsurprising that New York has a significant number of priest sex abuse claims. The widespread molestation and rape that clergy have committed against children have caused the Church to face serious financial troubles and severe damage to their reputation.

The statute of limitations was extended in several states and led to thousands of new priest abuse lawsuits throughout the U.S., including New York. Combined with the NY Child Victims Act, which allows

Apr 28 2021

New Diocese list of abusers includes 16 former local priests

Catholic Sexual Abuse

A recent bankruptcy court filing by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre sheds new light on the scope of sexual abuse by clergy who served on the North Fork, but critics say they believe an attached list of abusers omits the names of dozens more perpetrators.

The April 15 filing documents allegations against some former local priests who hadn’t previously been publicly accused of abuse and offers new details about locations where incidents occurred here and elsewhere on the East End.

But attorneys representing victims of clergy sex abuse say the report excludes allegations leveled at prominent figures in the Catholic church on Long Island, including the late Bishop John McGann and Msgr. Alan Placa.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian of Boston, Mass., whose work with clergy sexual

Apr 16 2021

Settlement helping victim of Colorado Catholic priest abuse start a new life

Catholic Sexual Abuse

A state-led investigation into child sex abuse by Catholic priests in Colorado in 2019 discovered 52 priests were responsible for sexually assaulting 212 children between the 1950s and 1999.

Now, one of the victims is telling a story of healing after he reached a settlement with the church.

“I never thought I would come out of the darkness,” said Troy Gallegos, a Denver man who kept his story a secret for more than four decades. “I’m still trying to climb out of there.”

Gallegos was a lead altar boy at Saint Francis De Sales Catholic Church in Denver. He said he kept the secret out of fear and out of respect for his mother’s visible position with the Denver Archdiocese.

“I used to hate to go to school because it was right next to the church,” Gallegos said. “I was always nervous because the

Apr 12 2021

Church Official Warns of Financial Flood from Clergy Sex Abuse Claims

Catholic Sexual Abuse

A top official with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe says a financial flood from clergy sex abuse claims is coming and a settlement would serve as the dam to prevent devastation to parishes across northern New Mexico.

A letter from the Rev. Glennon Jones is posted on the archdiocese’s website. It states that progress is being made in collecting donations for a bankruptcy settlement prompts by allegations of abuse perpetrated by priests and other clergy over decades.

The letter states that should the bankruptcy fail, nothing would be safe from liquidation to pay for legal costs and lawsuit settlements.

“What a tragedy it would be to lose hundreds-of-years-old churches and property to legal fees and lawsuit settlements, not to mention much of New Mexico’s cultural

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