tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker/1 2008-07-05T17:55:59Z A Blog by Kathy Shaw Movable Type 3.33 tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12784 2008-07-05T17:54:42Z 2008-07-05T17:55:59Z

AUSTRALIA Sydney Morning Herald Sarah Price July 6, 2008 A CATHOLIC priest has said the money being spent on World Youth Day is an embarrassment and a scandal. Father Peter Confeggi, a parish priest at Mount Druitt, said there was...

Kathy Shaw AUSTRALIA Sydney Morning Herald Sarah Price July 6, 2008 A CATHOLIC priest has said the money being spent on World Youth Day is an embarrassment and a scandal. Father Peter Confeggi, a parish priest at Mount Druitt, said there was also a "large amount of dissatisfaction" with the spirituality that will be taught during the event, with many fearing it would be a right-wing brand of Catholicism. Others within the church who did not want to be named told The Sun-Herald of similar concerns about the six-day event, which will cost the church an estimated $150million and NSW taxpayers at least $86million. "There is a great dissatisfaction with the Restorationist spirituality, which is also devoid of any commitment to social justice," Father Confeggi said. tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12783 2008-07-05T17:49:17Z 2008-07-05T17:53:18Z

AUSTRALIA Herald Sun July 06, 2008 01:41am A CATHOLIC priest has spoken out against the large amount of money being spent on World Youth Day, calling it an embarrassment and a scandal for the church. Father Peter Confeggi has told...

Kathy Shaw AUSTRALIA Herald Sun July 06, 2008 01:41am A CATHOLIC priest has spoken out against the large amount of money being spent on World Youth Day, calling it an embarrassment and a scandal for the church. Father Peter Confeggi has told Fairfax newspapers the money could be better spend on struggling parishes like his in Mount Druitt, which is one of the most disadvantaged in Sydney. He says some of the money could also be directed to helping the 120,000 homeless people in Australia. ... The New South Wales Government is putting in $86 million and the Federal Government $20 million, with the rest coming from church coffers. tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12782 2008-07-05T17:35:16Z 2008-07-05T17:39:45Z

AUSTRALIA Herald Sun Marnie O'Neill and Bryan Patterson July 06, 2008 12:00am THE Pope will spend his first three days in Australia unwinding at a camp run by controversial Catholic organisation Opus Dei. Details of the pontiff's stay come as...

Kathy Shaw AUSTRALIA Herald Sun Marnie O'Neill and Bryan Patterson July 06, 2008 12:00am THE Pope will spend his first three days in Australia unwinding at a camp run by controversial Catholic organisation Opus Dei. Details of the pontiff's stay come as it emerges World Youth Day organisers have privately urged the Pope to issue an apology to victims of church sex abuse. Cardinal George Pell yesterday confirmed that the Pope would be taken straight to a semi-rural retreat operated by Opus Dei - made famous in best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code - on Sydney's outskirts after flying to the RAAF air base in Richmond next Sunday. tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12781 2008-07-05T12:49:53Z 2008-07-05T14:16:45Z

UNITED STATES Orthodox Reform [with link to Greek Press] The following article appeared in the June issues of the “Greek Press” on page 2. It is a available online at greekpressonline.com. It lists several GOA priests who allegedly have been...

Kathy Shaw UNITED STATES Orthodox Reform [with link to Greek Press] The following article appeared in the June issues of the “Greek Press” on page 2. It is a available online at greekpressonline.com. It lists several GOA priests who allegedly have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct; many with sexual abuse of minors. tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12780 2008-07-05T12:41:53Z 2008-07-05T12:43:03Z

AUSTRALIA Sunday Times July 05, 2008 06:00pm WORLD Youth Day organisers have privately urged the Pope to issue an apology to victims of church sex abuse. The plea has been made in a letter compiled by the event's co-ordinators from...

Kathy Shaw AUSTRALIA Sunday Times July 05, 2008 06:00pm WORLD Youth Day organisers have privately urged the Pope to issue an apology to victims of church sex abuse. The plea has been made in a letter compiled by the event's co-ordinators from the nation's bishops and sent directly to the Vatican. The bishops called on the pontiff to make a historic statement on sexual abuse in a list of suggested ``live'' issues he could address in his Australian speeches. Should the Pope say sorry? The Vatican has not yet responded to the list, which also suggests the Pope could talk about Aboriginal reconciliation. tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12779 2008-07-05T12:31:33Z 2008-07-05T12:38:09Z

EDINBURG (TX) Brownsville Herald EDINBURG - An Hidalgo County jury awarded $550,000 Thursday to the parents of a teenage boy abused by a Pharr church minister. The parents sued Trinity Worship Center, 4801 North Cage Blvd., for pain and suffering...

Kathy Shaw EDINBURG (TX) Brownsville Herald EDINBURG - An Hidalgo County jury awarded $550,000 Thursday to the parents of a teenage boy abused by a Pharr church minister. The parents sued Trinity Worship Center, 4801 North Cage Blvd., for pain and suffering they said they experienced when their son, then 14, had a sexual relationship with Robert Dale Franklin in 2004. Franklin, then a well-liked music minister at the church, had a checkered work history that attorneys said contained multiple signs he was abusing young men. Franklin, 42, pleaded guilty in 2005 to abusing the teen and remains incarcerated on an 18-year state prison term. Although state District Judge Mario E. Ramirez initially sentenced Franklin to six months in jail and a 10-year probation term for the crime, the judge revoked it in 2006 after Franklin was charged with drug possession months after getting out of jail. tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12778 2008-07-05T12:27:41Z 2008-07-05T12:29:39Z

NORWICH (NY) Press & Sun-Bulletin By William Moyer • Press & Sun-Bulletin • July 5, 2008 NORWICH -- St. Paul and St. Bartholomew Catholic churches in Norwich will both remain open, according to officials at the Diocese of Syracuse. About...

Kathy Shaw NORWICH (NY) Press & Sun-Bulletin By William Moyer • Press & Sun-Bulletin • July 5, 2008 NORWICH -- St. Paul and St. Bartholomew Catholic churches in Norwich will both remain open, according to officials at the Diocese of Syracuse. About 500 families in each parish had been waiting for 14 months to hear the diocese's decision about their churches. A trustee at St. Paul's said the decision confirmed local leaders' recommendation to the diocese that both churches are needed in the Norwich area. "We will be a stronger parish by being linked together," said Thomas Whittaker, of Norwich. "We had already been doing common things. We look at ourselves as the Roman Catholic community of Norwich." tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12777 2008-07-05T12:25:41Z 2008-07-05T12:27:00Z

WATERTOWN (SD) Argus Leader Brittany Westerberg • Argus Leader • July 5, 2008 WATERTOWN - The Rev. Dennis A. Hayes, a pastor at St. Martin's Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in Watertown, was arrested Thursday by the Watertown Police Department...

Kathy Shaw WATERTOWN (SD) Argus Leader Brittany Westerberg • Argus Leader • July 5, 2008 WATERTOWN - The Rev. Dennis A. Hayes, a pastor at St. Martin's Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in Watertown, was arrested Thursday by the Watertown Police Department and state Division of Criminal Investigation on charges of possessing child pornography, Watertown police detective Tim Toomey said. tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12776 2008-07-05T12:13:25Z 2008-07-05T12:14:34Z

YAKIMA (WA) KNDO/KNDU YAKIMA, Wash- Since the anouncement of abuse by Friar Frank Duffy, who worked in Yakima, the organization SNAP, wants victims to know they are not alone. With over 9,000 members they are helping people who've been abused...

Kathy Shaw YAKIMA (WA) KNDO/KNDU YAKIMA, Wash- Since the anouncement of abuse by Friar Frank Duffy, who worked in Yakima, the organization SNAP, wants victims to know they are not alone. With over 9,000 members they are helping people who've been abused by clergy, heal. The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests or SNAP began as a self-help organization and has evolved into a nation-wide support group with 63 chapters in the US. It was founded in the late 1980s by people who'd been abused by clergy. SNAP urges victims to come forward so they can get better and expose the people who have committed or concealed abuse. "We try to help navigate folks through, you know, a very difficult terrain. And really no one knows what you have to go through than those who've been through it," said Peter Isely, SNAP's Midwest director. tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12775 2008-07-05T12:09:40Z 2008-07-05T12:12:12Z

FRANCE Mirror (United Kingdom) By Damien Fletcher 5/07/2008 The water at Lourdes is said to heal the sick-but it is the mysterious flow of cash there which has begun to ring alarm bells. French police this week asked a senior...

Kathy Shaw FRANCE Mirror (United Kingdom) By Damien Fletcher 5/07/2008 The water at Lourdes is said to heal the sick-but it is the mysterious flow of cash there which has begun to ring alarm bells. French police this week asked a senior priest to explain the miraculous appearance in his bank account of £350,000 - money that was allegedly meant for the sick and dying. Father Raymond Zambelli, rector of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, denies any underhand dealings. But it has raised questions over the billions of pounds being made in the holy pilgrimage town in the Pyrenees, where eight million faithful are expected to flock this year. tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12774 2008-07-05T12:04:50Z 2008-07-05T12:05:51Z

OHIO Toledo Blade By DAVID YONKE BLADE RELIGION EDITOR As the number of Catholic priests in the United States declines and the ranks of Catholics increase, dioceses across the country are trying to do more with less. Many times that...

Kathy Shaw OHIO Toledo Blade By DAVID YONKE BLADE RELIGION EDITOR As the number of Catholic priests in the United States declines and the ranks of Catholics increase, dioceses across the country are trying to do more with less. Many times that leads to the closing of parishes. But some Catholic groups are making a push to find alternatives so that church doors will remain open. "Closing the parish community should be the absolutely last resort," said Sister Christine Schenk, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph religious order and the executive director of the Catholic reform group FutureChurch. tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12773 2008-07-05T11:56:07Z 2008-07-05T11:57:23Z

EDINBURG (TX) ABC 13 EDINBURG, TX -- A Hidalgo County jury is awarding $500,000 to the parents of a teenager who was sexually assaulted by a Pharr church pastor. The Monitor in McAllen reports the teenagers' parents today won the...

Kathy Shaw EDINBURG (TX) ABC 13 EDINBURG, TX -- A Hidalgo County jury is awarding $500,000 to the parents of a teenager who was sexually assaulted by a Pharr church pastor. The Monitor in McAllen reports the teenagers' parents today won the award in a lawsuit they filed against Trinity Worship Center. They sued for pain and suffering they said they experienced when their son, who was then 14, was sexually abused by then-pastor Robert Dale Franklin. tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12772 2008-07-05T11:52:24Z 2008-07-05T11:54:02Z

UNITED KINGDOM Daily Mail By Benedict Brogan Last updated at 12:42 AM on 05th July 2008 The Tories suffered an embarrassing setback last night after Boris Johnson was forced to sack his deputy for lying about his past. Ray Lewis,...

Kathy Shaw UNITED KINGDOM Daily Mail By Benedict Brogan Last updated at 12:42 AM on 05th July 2008 The Tories suffered an embarrassing setback last night after Boris Johnson was forced to sack his deputy for lying about his past. Ray Lewis, a charismatic community leader, was dumped after what looked like a catastrophic misjudgment by the new London mayor. A torrent of allegations about Mr Lewis, covering sexual misconduct, financial wheeler- dealing and physical abuse of pupils threatened to tarnish the Tory success story. Mr Johnson had tried to defend his deputy, but was forced to backtrack after it emerged that Mr Lewis had wrongly passed himself off as a magistrate. The announcement capped a day of chaos that was in danger of tainting David Cameron, following lurid tales of Mr Lewis's time as an Anglican-priest. tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12771 2008-07-05T11:48:58Z 2008-07-05T11:50:59Z

MINNESOTA Star Tribune Local authors are prolific producers of religious books. Here are some of the new books with Minnesota roots: ... "An Irish Tragedy: How Sex Abuse by Irish Priests Helped Cripple the Catholic Church" Joe Rigert (Crossland Press,...

Kathy Shaw MINNESOTA Star Tribune Local authors are prolific producers of religious books. Here are some of the new books with Minnesota roots: ... "An Irish Tragedy: How Sex Abuse by Irish Priests Helped Cripple the Catholic Church" Joe Rigert (Crossland Press, $10.99). Rigert, a veteran investigative journalist, is retired from the Star Tribune. His search for the roots of the Roman Catholic church's sex-abuse scandal led him to Ireland and a society, he argues, that fostered criminal sexual activity. tag:www.bishop-accountability.org,2008:/AbuseTracker//1.12770 2008-07-05T11:45:21Z 2008-07-05T11:47:02Z

COLORADO Daily Camera Associated Press Saturday, July 5, 2008 DENVER -- Tom Koldeway says he was about 9 years old when Harold Robert White, then a priest in the small mountain town of Minturn, started sexually abusing him. That was...

Kathy Shaw COLORADO Daily Camera Associated Press Saturday, July 5, 2008 DENVER -- Tom Koldeway says he was about 9 years old when Harold Robert White, then a priest in the small mountain town of Minturn, started sexually abusing him. That was 1970, and Koldeway, now 47, kept the secret for decades. When he finally told his siblings, he learned White had also abused his older brother and sister.