![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-300x200.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has asked Poland’s forgiveness for Nazi “tyranny”, 80 years on from the start of World War Two.
Mr Steinmeier and other world leaders are in Poland to commemorate the outbreak of the conflict.
Early on Sunday, a ceremony was held in the Polish city of Wielun, where the first German bombs fell.
Mr Steinmeier condemned the “desire to annihilate” that led to the attack.
“I bow my head before the Polish victims of Germany’s tyranny. And I ask forgiveness,” Mr Steinmeier said, speaking in German and Polish.
Mr Steinmeier spoke alongside his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, who denounced Nazi Germany’s attack on Poland as “an act of barbarity”.
At the ceremony, which began shortly after 04:00 (02:00 GMT), a minute’s silence was observed in memory of the victims.
“Wielun was to show what kind of war it would be, that it would be a total war, a war without rules, a destructive war,” Mr Duda said.
Later on Sunday, other world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US Vice-President Mike Pence, will gather for a ceremony in the Polish capital, Warsaw.
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Poland suffered some of the worst losses of World War Two: about six million of its citizens were killed.
Eighty years on, Poland is still demanding compensation from Germany for the death and destruction inflicted.
Recent calls for reparations by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, whose governing Law and Justice (PiS) party has been accused of fanning nationalist sentiment, have fuelled tensions with Germany.
A Polish parliamentary committee is still assessing the amount of compensation, but Germany argues the matter is settled.
How did World War Two start?
At dawn on 1 September 1939, the German Luftwaffe (air force) bombed the city of Wielun, a town with no military significance. Thousands of people are estimated to have died in the bombings, designed to sow terror among the civilian population.
After the attack, ordered by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, Britain gave Germany an ultimatum to cease military operations.
When the ultimatum was ignored, Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September, igniting a six-year conflict that would kill tens of millions of people.
1 September 1939 | German army invaded Poland which began the World War II. 9 months & 14 days later the first Poles became prisoners of a new concentration camp built in the occupied Polish territories annexed into the Third Reich – #Auschwitz. https://t.co/45MCqODtva #80WW2 pic.twitter.com/kOgl0GKD5Y
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) September 1, 2019
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
