Professor Kevin Lewis O’Neil is the Director of the Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies and Professor in the Department for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto. A cultural anthropologist, his work focuses on the moral dimensions of contemporary political practice in…
The Diocese of Camden and a bankruptcy creditors committee has come to an agreement to settle pending sexual abuse cases in bankruptcy court for $187.5 million. The approximately 320 abuse survivors were forced into federal bankruptcy court after the Diocese of Camden declared bankruptcy in…
The Georgia Supreme Court has reversed the trial court and appellate court’s ruling that decided a priest abuse survivors claims of sexual abuse were barred by the Georgia statute of limitations. However, the Supreme Court has reversed that ruling allowing the courageous survivor to move…
On Saturday, March 19, 2022, Pope Francis released his new Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium (To Preach the Gospel) which replaces the founding constitution “Pastor Bonus” that was penned by Pope John Paul II in 1988. As in all documents from the Vatican, it is important…
Under new laws that opened Louisiana’s window for victims of child sexual abuse to pursue civil claims, a lawsuit has been filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge. The suit has been filed by a man claiming former Baton Rouge and New Orleans…
As awareness of the traumatic depth of childhood sexual abuse, many states have adopted or are actively considering reform of restrictive statutes of limitations so that adults who were sexually victimized as children are able to seek justice in the courts. As of February 1,…
When former Bishop Howard Hubbard penned an Op-ed in the Times Union just as the Child Victims’ Act was about to expire, his former diocese was facing more than 300 lawsuits from survivors of childhood sexual abuse. His words offered regret for mistakes made in…
Both the House and Senate in the state of Kentucky have proposed legislation that would significantly revise the current laws governing the civil prosecution of childhood sexual abuse. Kentucky had been a state with restrictive statutes of limitations (SOL) prior to the proposed legislation. Currently,…
Catholicism, in what is now the 18th state of the Union, predates Louisiana’s statehood by nearly two centuries. Its culture, religion, and economy have all been deeply influenced by the Catholic Church which were first embedded in this multi-cultural state by Catholic France and Spain.…
“The scars of childhood sexual abuse may stay with survivors long-term and they deserve more time to report these devastating crimes,” stated Christina Step, spokeswoman for Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards. This came in August, 2021 at the signing of Louisiana House Bill 492 when…
