The California attorney general’s office will review how the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has handled sexual abuse allegations, including whether it followed mandatory reporting requirements to law enforcement, according to a letter reviewed by The Times. The letter, dated Thursday, from Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra to Archbishop Jose Gomez, requests that church officials preserve … Read more
It wasn’t the news parishioners at St. John’s Catholic Church in San Lorenzo wanted to hear. Their former priest, Father David Mendoza-Vela was arrested on 30 counts of Lewd acts with a child on Thursday. Some couldn’t believe it. “He’s a priest, he’s a good priest,” one unidentified parishioner said. Alameda County Sheriff’s … Read more
The Catholic diocese of Oakland has released the names of 45 priests, deacons and religious brothers who officials say are “credibly accused” of sexually abusing minors. The San Francisco Chronicle says the list goes back to 1962, when the diocese was founded. None of the men are currently in the ministry. Of the 45 people named, 20 were priests. … Read more
The Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa released the names of 39 members of the clergy who church leaders say sexually abused children – or faced credible accusations of abuse. The Santa Rosa Diocese sent a news release containing the names to 140,000 parishioners, and the news media. Dan McNevin of SNAP – the survivor’s network … Read more
Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Alexander Salazar of Los Angeles Wednesday after the archdiocese’s oversight board found a prior allegation of misconduct with a minor to be credible. Bishop Salazar’s alleged misconduct, which is said to have occurred while he was a parish priest in the 1990s, was previously investigated by both … Read more
For the first time in a decade, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on Thursday updated its list of clergy accused of molesting children, addressing renewed outcry about how the Catholic Church responds to abuse allegations. “We owe it to the victim-survivors to be fully transparent in listing the names of those who perpetrate this abuse,” Archbishop Jose … Read more
It took decades for Joey Piscitelli to come forward with his story of abuse and another three years after that to take his accused rapist, Father Stephen Whelan, to court. But the Salesians of Don Bosco—the Catholic order that employed Whelan at a Bay Area all-boys high school where he was said to have assaulted Piscitelli from 1969 … Read more