Faithful hold Marian procession in Nicaragua despite repression and persecution

Pope Francis prays before Our Lady of Fatima May 13, 2015. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA.

Vatican City, May 26, 2022 / 06:42 am (CNA).
The Vatican is inviting Catholics to join Pope Francis in praying the rosary for peace in Ukraine and around the world … […]

Father David Huneck, who has has agreed to plead guilty to two felony charges of child seduction and sexual battery. / Whitley County Sheriff’s Department

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 7, 2022 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

Father David Huneck, a former high school chaplain in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, has agreed to plead guilty Jan. 27 to two felony charges of child seduction and sexual battery after six allegations were brought against him for sexual crimes committed against both a 17 and a 19 year old girl.

The other four misdemeanor charges — contributing to the delinquency of a minor, furnishing alcohol to a minor, and two counts of battery — would all be dropped if the court accepts the plea agreement. 

According to the plea agreement, which has the possibility of being amended before the change of plea hearing on Jan. 27, Huneck’s sentence for child seduction would amount to one year with between 10 and 90 days to be served in jail. The court will address the conditions and rules of the remainder of Huneck’s one year sentence during the hearing.

The sentence for sexual battery would also be between 10 and 90 days served in jail concurrent to his first sentence. A concurrent sentence allows Huneck to serve both sentences simultaneously, so he would only have to serve his longest sentence. 

During sentencing, Huneck is able to request that his felony charges be counted as misdemeanors. The agreement also includes the possibility of Huneck serving his jail time on work release.

A probable cause affidavit shows that Huneck, 31, invited the two girls to his home on two separate occasions, in which he got intoxicated and groped and sexually harrassed the girls multiple times. The girls knew Huneck from their time at Bishop Dwenger High School, while he was chaplain. He was ordained in 2018.

The first night, Jun. 30, 2021, Huneck invited the girls to celebrate his birthday with cake. Huneck offered them alcohol, which they accepted. They did not become intoxicated, the affidavit said. 

Huneck then became seriously intoxicated and began groping the older girl, despite her efforts to slap his hands away. He then asked the older girl about her sexual encounters and inquired if she would have sexual encounters with him. He became so intoxicated, he lay down on the kitchen floor. While the two girls assisted him to his bed, he pulled the younger girl into bed with him and groped her, to which she asked him to stop. Huneck fell asleep, then the girls left. 

The girls said they returned to his home the second time because he apologized for his misconduct and had several normal encounters with him after the first night. Both girls considered him a spiritual advisor, friend, and central figure in their faith and were willing to forgive him. The older girl, however, said she “would not forget,” the affidavit says. 

Their Sept. 17 visit was similar to the first. Huneck offered the girls alcohol and invited them to watch a movie. They accepted. Huneck became intoxicated and began groping the older girl. He then exposed himself to the two girls. The two girls then left. Huneck then texted the older girl the next day apologizing, adding that he may be relegated to the “bad priest list.”

In a Sept. 28 statement, the Diocese of Fort Worth-South Bend said it immediately referred the incident to authorities when it was made aware of the abuse. Huneck subsequently resigned as pastor of St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church and as chaplain of the high school. He was also suspended from all public ministry.

In a follow up statement on Oct. 8, the diocese said its internal investigation resulted in finding the allegations against Huneck credible. Huneck has been added to a list of clergy credibly accused of the sexual abuse of a minor.

In a press conference on Sept. 28, Bishop Kevin Rhoades called the incident “tragic news” and “a shock to us all.” 

“Sexual abuse or misconduct by clergy, as you know, has caused enormous pain, anger, and confusion for victims, their families, and the entire Church,” Rhoades said. “We have worked so hard here in our diocese to strengthen a safe environment within the Church for our young people and we’ll continue to do so.”

He added that the diocese will continue to do its best to provide healing and help for the victims and said that caring for the victims is his priority.

[…]

Bogotá, Colombia, Sep 4, 2017 / 01:44 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Two days ahead of his symbolic visit to Colombia, Pope Francis sent a video message to the nation, telling citizens he comes as a pilgrim of hope, and urging them to continue working toward peace and dialogue in the nation.

“I feel honored to visit this land rich in history, culture, faith, and men and women who have worked with determination and perseverance so that it may be a place where harmony and brotherhood reign,” the Pope said in Spanish in his video message.

Colombians, he said, have worked so that their land might be a place “where the Gospel is known and loved, where to say brother and sister isn’t something strange, but a true treasure to defend and protect.”

Above all, especially given the country’s turbulent past, the Pope stressed that “the world today needs consultants of peace and dialogue.”

The message was published Sept. 4, just two days before the Pope is set to depart on a six-day trip to Colombia. The visit will include stops in four cities, including Bogotá, Villavicencio, Medellín, and Cartagena, and marks the Argentinian Pope’s third tour of South America since his election in 2013.

Pope Francis’ visit also comes just one year after a peace accord was signed between the Colombian government and the country’s largest rebel group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in August 2016.

After its initial rejection in an Oct. 2 referendum, a revised agreement was signed Nov. 24 and was subsequently approved by Colombia’s Congress on Nov. 30, this time bypassing a popular vote.

Since 1964, as many as 260,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in the civil war.

In his video message, the Pope said he will be coming to them “as a pilgrim of hope and peace, to celebrate with you the faith in our Lord and also to learn from your charity and your consistency in searching for peace and harmony.”

He offered thanks to the president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, and to the nation’s bishops for the invitation to come. He also voiced gratitude to all those preparing for the trip and to the Colombian people themselves, who “welcome me into your land and into your hearts.”

Francis said the theme of the trip, “Let us take the first step,” serves as a reminder that “it’s always necessary to take the first step for any project or activity.”

“It also pushes us to be the first to love to create bridges, to create brotherhood,” he said, adding that to take the first step also “encourages us to go to the encounter of others and to extend a hand, and to give each other the sign of peace.”

Peace, he said, is something Colombia has been searching for and working at for many years. And it’s not just any peace, but “a stable, durable peace to see each other and treat each other as brothers, never as enemies.”

This peace also serves as a reminder that “we are all children of the same Father, who loves us and consoles us,” the Pope said, adding that the Church is also called to contribute to this task in promoting reconciliation with God, each other and with creation, “which we are exploiting in a savage way.”

Pope Francis closed his message voicing hope that his visit would be like “a fraternal embrace for each one of you and in which we feel the comfort and tenderness of the Lord.”

“Dear brothers and sisters in Colombia, I wish to live these days with you with animated joy and with gratitude to the Lord,” he said, and asked that God bless the people of Colombia, and that he “protect your country and give you peace.”

[…]