Abuse Tracker

NEW JERSEY
Daily Record

Sunday, December 31, 2006

In a year featuring a record number of drug deaths in Morris County, debates over illegal immigration and property tax relief, and the continuing war in Iraq that took the lives of brave young local people, here are some significant dates: ...

Jan. 29

James T. Hanley, former Mendham priest and admitted child molester, angrily confronts some of his victims on a Paterson street. The victims had been warning neighbors about Hanley. They had asked Paterson Roman Catholic Diocese officials to take some responsibility for the former priest, to make sure he continues to go to therapy and is not a threat to children. One local church official responded by saying the diocese does have a moral obligation to do something.

Days later, a diocese spokeswoman said the first official spoke a little too soon. She said the diocese has no legal responsibility for Hanley, ending talk of moral obligations.

CINCINNATI (OH)
Cincinnati Enquirer

BY DAN HORN | DHORN@ENQUIRER.COM
Money is so tight at the Archdiocese of Cincinnati that the central office is now taking a bigger share of donations from its parishes' Sunday collection plates.

Church officials also are considering cutting staff - through attrition and, possibly, layoffs - and are pushing parishes to repay tens of millions of dollars in outstanding loans from the archdiocese.

Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk said he knows the measures are painful, especially for struggling parishes with their own money problems.

He said he has no choice: Without more revenue, the 19-county archdiocese could be out of money within three years.

"If we do nothing, we're in trouble," Pilarczyk said. "The financial policies of the archdiocese will have to be a lot tighter than they have been. The time comes when you run out of money."

The archdiocese's financial woes have been building for years because of an economic slowdown, rising insurance premiums, declining donations and the costs associated with the clergy-abuse scandal.

DARIEN (CT)
The Advocate

By Donna Porstner
Staff Writer

Published December 31 2006

DARIEN - The pastor of one of the richest churches in Fairfield County made headlines in May when he was brought down by accusations he stole from the church coffers to wine and dine his wedding planner boyfriend.

The scandal, which unraveled when the parish fell behind on bills, forced the Rev. Michael Jude Fay to resign as pastor of St. John Roman Catholic Church in Darien.

Another priest in the parish and the church bookkeeper blew the whistle on Fay's wild spending habits. A private eye hired by the Rev. Michael Madden and bookkeeper Bethany D'Erario said he documented that Fay racked up more than $200,000 on his parish credit card for airline tickets, limousine rides, designer clothing, alcohol and dinners at elite restaurants. Many of the purchases were made in Florida, where Fay owns a luxury condominium with Cliff Fantini, and in Philadelphia, where Fantini runs a wedding planning business under the name Cliff Martell.

CINCINNATI (OH)
CBS 5

(AP) CINCINNATI The Vatican has reinstated a priest suspended in 2002 over allegations of sexual misconduct and will allow him to return to active ministry after undergoing counseling, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati said.

The decision to reinstate the Rev. James Kiffmeyer was announced Friday, but church officials had not determined where he will serve.

Kiffmeyer, who previously taught high school in Cincinnati and Middletown, was accused of abusing two students in 1990 and around 1986, but the students did not report the allegations until 1997 and 2002.

MISSOURI
Neosho Daily News

By John Ford / Daily News Associate Editor
Published: Sunday, December 31, 2006 12:25 AM CST
E-mail this story | Print this page

NOEL - Rural Anderson native Janice Durbin knew she always wanted to help people.

Early in life, she achieved one aspect of that goal by becoming a registered nurse, working 14 years in several hospitals in Missouri, Texas and Florida in that capacity.

“I decided I liked school, so I got a couple of graduate degrees in history before I went to law school.” ...

Another major case facing the new prosecutor soon is the church sex abuse case.

Raymond Lambert, 51, pastor of Grand Valley Independent Baptist Church; his wife, Patty, 49; her brother, Paul Epling, 53; and her sister-in-law, Laura Epling, age not available, face a variety of child sexual abuse charges. Raymond Lambert's uncle, George Otis Johnston, pastors a spin-off church in Granby, the Grandview Valley Baptist Church. He has been charged with child molestation in McDonald County, and 17 child sexual abuse charges in neighboring Newton County.

The first of the proceedings, an arraignment for Laura Epling, who faces a charge of second degree sodomy, is set for Jan. 9. Pre-trial conferences for the Lamberts and Johnston are set for Jan. 16, while a preliminary hearing for Paul Epling - who faces an unclassified felony rape charge - has been set for Jan. 29.

CARROLLTON (IL)
The Telegraph

By MAGGIE BORMAN, The Telegraph 12/30/2006

CARROLLTON - A petition was filed this week in Greene County Circuit Court to revoke the probation of former Greene County pastor Jeffery D. Heberlein.

According to court documents filed Tuesday, Heberlein violated the terms of his probation by refusing to continue a polygraph test given on Dec. 5 at the Illinois State Police Division of Forensic Science Laboratory in Springfield.

In a plea agreement, Heberlein, 43, was sentenced to four years of probation in November in exchange for his guilty plea to one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a female minor. As part of the plea bargain, the state agreed not to ask for more than four years in prison.

Scott County Judge Lois Bell, who presided over the case, gave the defendant four years of supervised probation. The judge also ordered Heberlein to submit to regular polygraph exams at his own expense to monitor his adherence to conditions of probation and treatment, to verify his sexual history and to verify his version of the events in the sexual abuse of the minor.

CANADA
Edmonton Sun

Sat, December 30, 2006

Three Sikh priests arrested in sex case
By SUN MEDIA

WINNIPEG -- Three priests from a Sikh temple in the Winnipeg suburb of St. Vital have been arrested amid allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct, Sun Media has learned.

The three men, all of whom are priests at the Gurdwara Nanaksar temple, were arrested by Winnipeg police last Saturday and released from custody the next morning on promises to appear in court, which they are scheduled to do in February.

Police are still looking for a fourth suspect, believed to be in Vancouver.

Sgt. Kelly Dennison, a spokesman for Winnipeg police, declined to say exactly what charges the men are facing, but did say the charges are of a "sexual nature."

The lawyer representing the priests said his clients deny any wrongdoing.

TEXAS
The Dallas Morning News

From Staff Reports

The top religion news stories of 2006 in North Texas, as selected by the Religion staff:

1. The Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth loses a 19-month legal fight and releases documents showing that it kept child-abusing priests in ministry for years, hiding information from parishioners.

2. Bishop Charles Grahmann of the Dallas diocese submits his resignation, having reached the Vatican's mandatory retirement age of 75.

TEXAS
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

By Jim Jones
Special to the Star-Telegram

In March, evangelist Billy Graham, helped by his son Franklin Graham, gave a message of hope in New Orleans, which was still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
During 2006, I covered stories in New Orleans, Williamsburg, Va.; College Station; and Amman, Jordan. ...

Catholic sex scandal: Fort Worth Catholic Bishop Kevin Vann said he was "embarrassed, disheartened, appalled and angered" at behaviors revealed in the court documents released in November after legal action taken by the Star-Telegram, The Dallas Morning News and several accusers. The 700 pages of information detailed allegations against six priests, three of them deceased, who were accused of sexually abusing minors.

Protestant sex scandal: The Rev. Terry Hornbuckle, the founder of the Agape Christian Fellowship Church in Arlington, was found guilty of raping three women, including two of his church members. In August, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In a separate matter in March, the Rev. Larry Nuell Neathery, former pastor of the Westside Victory Baptist Church in Fort Worth, was sentenced to life in prison. He was convicted of 25 felony charges involving sexual assault or molestation of five boys.

CINCINNATI (OH)
WCPO

Reported by: 9News
Web produced by: Liz Foreman
Photographed by: 9News
First posted: 12/29/2006 3:21:17 PM
A priest who took a leave of absence from the priesthood after allegations of sexual contact with students has been reinstated by the Vatican.

Rev. James Kiffmeyer took a leave of absence from his teaching position four and a half years ago.

In a decree dated November 25, 2006, the Vatican's Congregation for Clergy wrote Kiffmeyer, "is to avoid situations and persons which might endanger his living up to his priestly commitment, and he is to closely guard his own personal behavior so that no further scandal be caused by any of his actions."

NEW YORK
Catholic Online

By Kate Blain
12/29/2006
Catholic News Service

NISKAYUNA, N.Y. (CNS) – She knew something was wrong when she started to hyperventilate.

It was 1986, and Dominican Sister Carol Davis, who had a flourishing ministry in counseling and leading retreats, had been thinking about contacting her biological father.

Her parents were long divorced, and she had a different last name from her biological father's. But every time she thought about looking him up, she felt terrified and faint.

Then the flashbacks started, and Sister Carol thought she was losing her sanity: She was remembering repeated sexual abuse at his hands during her childhood.

"A flashback, for a survivor, is like being back in that war zone: reliving it in a visceral, emotional way, as if it's happening in the present," she told The Evangelist, newspaper of the Albany Diocese.

OHIO
Dayton Daily News

By Tom Beyerlein
Staff Writer

Saturday, December 30, 2006

The Vatican has overruled Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk by restoring the ministry of the Rev. James Kiffmeyer, a former teacher at Middletown Fenwick High School who was accused of sexually abusing two students and stripped of his priestly duties by Pilarczyk in 2002.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati announced Friday that Kiffmeyer will be reassigned to new duties in the 19-county archdiocese, which includes the Miami Valley.

The Vatican's Nov. 25 decree reversed Pilarczyk's order that Kiffmeyer not present himself as a priest, wear clerical garb, serve as a minister or celebrate sacraments.

The decree directs Kiffmeyer "to avoid situations and persons which might endanger his living up to his priestly commitment, and he is to closely guard his own personal behavior so that no further scandal be caused by any of his actions."

CALIFORNIA
Christian Examiner

By Lori Arnold

OXNARD, Calif. — “Forgive-and-forget” is a platitude that has diluted the biblical response of repentance and reconciliation into a type of “fast-food forgiveness” that Dr. Leah Coulter is not buying.

She hopes Christians learn not to buy it, either.

After years of counseling victims of sexual abuse, Coulter, a professor at King's Seminary in Van Nuys, Calif., began to re-evaluate her own understanding of biblical forgiveness. The “forgive-and-forget” mantra, she soon realized, rendered many of her clients hostages of their past instead of empowered believers.

“At the bottom of emotional healing, there was an issue of someone being sinned against with no repenting,” Coulter said.

CINCINNATI (OH)
The Kentucky Post

Post staff report

The Vatican has overturned a more than four-year-old decision of Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk to place a former Elder High School teacher on administrative leave.

The Rev. James Kiffmeyer is back on active duty as a priest, and now the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati must find an assignment for him.

The archdiocese's Priest Personnel Board is studying where Kiffmeyer might serve, archdiocesan spokesman Dan Andriacco said.

Kiffmeyer took personal leave from the priesthood and from his teaching job at Elder in April 2002 after a former student accused him of sexual misconduct when Kiffmeyer was teaching at Fenwick High School in Middletown.

CINCINNATI (OH)
Cincinnati Enquirer

BY JANICE MORSE | JMORSE@ENQUIRER.COM
The Rev. James Kiffmeyer, a priest who had been on leave for almost five years because of sexual misconduct allegations, has been returned to active ministry, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati announced Friday.

It was not clear Friday where he would serve.

The archdiocese said Kiffmeyer has many supporters in Greater Cincinnati, and that he was reinstated because he exercised his right to appeal the suspension to the Vatican in Rome.

A group representing sexual-abuse victims criticized the Vatican's decision.

Kiffmeyer, formerly assigned to Elder High School in Price Hill and Fenwick High School in Middletown, went on personal leave in April 2002 after allegations from 1986 and 1990 surfaced.

BATON ROUGE (LA)
The Advocate

By ADRIAN ANGELETTE
Advocate staff writer
Published: Dec 28, 2006

Three more former altar boys have sued a one-time Baton Rouge area priest and the diocese, claiming they were sexually assaulted by him in the late 1970s.

The latest lawsuit, filed Wednesday in state district court in Baton Rouge, brings to 16 the number of former altar boys who claim Christopher Springer sexually assaulted them.

The lawsuit comes roughly a month after the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge settled a suit with one former altar boy. Terms of the settlement were confidential, though a diocesan attorney said the case was settled for less than $100,000.

PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

CEBU CITY -- "Whatever they like to do, I do not care," was Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal's reaction to the National Bureau of Investigation's (NBI) inquiry on the alleged harassment of high school students by a priest.

"I hope to respect the rights of others if they want also to respect my own rights...I have my own rights as an individual," Cardinal Vidal continued.

The prelate was referring to his right not to name the priest. He clarified, though, that he is willing to cooperate with the NBI if ever he gets a subpoena.

But he did not categorically say that he will go to the NBI.

PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

By Bobby Nalzaro
Saksi

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has identified the priest accused of making sexual advances on female students during a Life in the Spirit Seminar (LSS). But like some media outlets, the NBI has refused to publicly name him.

Is there double standard in the treatment of priests involved in controversies? Why the refusal to name the priest in the LSS? Had he been an ordinary person, I am sure the media would have treated him differently.

I have identified the priest in my dySS Super Radyo program days before and in my Superbalita column yesterday. Why? Because my sources are credible and I did some research.

RIO RANCHO (NM)
The Albuquerque Tribune

By Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Friday, December 8, 2006

If you've never believed that God works in mysterious ways, you haven't met Tahne Lovell.

And after you meet her, your emotions work in mysterious ways, fluttering fast as eye blinks from awe to revulsion, curiosity, pity, pride, incomprehension and admiration.

She had been a happily married Rio Rancho woman, finding love the second time around after a harsh divorce and too many lonely days raising three sons on her own. Larry Lovell, she says, was a godsend.

They had so much in common, meeting in 1993 at the title company where she worked when he was closing the deal on his new Rio Rancho home and they realized they lived on the same street.

Like their middle names - Jo and Joseph.

Like how she left her first marriage in 1991 and how that same year he left the priesthood. Or so he told her.

"He always said our marriage was made in heaven," she says in the gentle, timid voice of a woman who has seen the backside of life too many times.

They married in 1995.

"He had me on a pedestal," the 45-year-old woman says. "He treated me well. I kept thinking, `Is this real?' "

But of course it wasn't. The heaven she thought she had found in Lovell became a hellish nightmare when the past he had never told her about caught up with him in 2003 with a knock on the door and a warrant for his arrest on charges that he had sexually molested four San Gabriel Mission altar boys in California in the early 1980s.

More charges followed, several involving a boy at Sacred Heart parish in Prescott, Ariz., in the 1970s. Several more involving a boy at St. Anthony's Church in Phoenix in the 1980s. All while Lovell was a Roman Catholic priest.

PHILIPPINES
Balita

Friday, December 29 2006 @ 10:43 AM GMT

Cebu News
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, facing a series of cases of priests accused of child abuse and of enriching themselves, on Thursday appealed to members of the clergy under him to change their ways.

The 75-year-old prelate, who has been under pressure to act on cases of misconduct, spoke at the end of the annual Christmas reunion of diocesan and religious priests in Cebu.

"Please, my brother priests, what is it that you lack? How much more material things do we need before we say: I have enough? When we stop to face our own poverty, when do we tell ourselves, No more?" Vidal said.

About 500 priests in the gathering at the San Carlos Minor Seminary in Mabolo, Cebu City listened quietly when the cardinal, who suffers a heart ailment, spoke of the need to remember their roles as trusted stewards and the need to "renew" themselves.

CANADA
Whitehorse Daily Star

By STEPHANIE WADDELL

A Whitehorse lawyer who has represented numerous residential school survivors hopes judges in the Northwest Territories will follow the rest of the country in deciding to approve the settlement for survivors of the system.
“This is big step towards the end of the process,” Laura Cabott said in a recent interview. She spoke following Yukon Supreme Court Judge Ron Veale’s 25-page decision approving the package.
The deal was reached between first nations, federal government and church leaders. It would see survivors receive $10,000 for the first year they were in the system at an approved school and $3,000 for every subsequent year.
While the federal government paid for the school system across the country, churches ran the school system from 1920 until the last school closed in 1997.
In addition to the common experience payment, $125 million would also go to healing programs. Another $60 million would be poured into researching and documenting the survivors’ experiences and $20 million would be devoted to commemorative projects.

MIAMI (FL)
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

By Sofia Santana
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted December 29 2006

An attorney suing the Archdiocese of Miami on behalf of a Broward County man who said he was drugged and sexually abused as a child by a local priest can legally force Archbishop John C. Favalorato answer questions, an appellate judge ordered this week.

The archdiocese in November filed a petition in an attempt to keep Miami attorney Jeffrey Herman from interviewing Favalora. The deposition request came as part of the suit involving allegations against the Rev. Neil Doherty, 63.

Doherty is a retired priest who last worked at St. Vincent's Catholic Church in Margate and was arrested in January on two counts of sexual battery, indecent assault and molestation.

A 4th District Court of Appeal judge denied the petition Tuesday, court records show.

WILMINGTON (DE)
The News Journal

By MIKE CHALMERS, The News Journal

Posted Friday, December 29, 2006

Douglas J. McClure says memories of abuse were triggered by news stories.

Douglas J. McClure said he bottled up painful memories of sexual abuse by a Roman Catholic priest for 50 years, until it all came flooding back to him in 2005.

Now, the Wilmington resident wants the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and St. Ann's Catholic Church in Wilmington to pay for the trauma he suffered at the hands of the late Rev. Edward B. Carley in the 1950s. He sued them Thursday, seeking financial compensation for the 200 to 300 instances of abuse he said happened when he was 8 to 10 years old.

McClure claims in his lawsuit, filed in Delaware Superior Court, that a January 2005 story in The News Journal about Carley's alleged abuse of a St. Ann's classmate triggered memories of his own abuse.

The diocese admitted Carley abused boys and apologized for his "despicable actions" when it announced the $65,000 settlement with McClure's classmate. Carley was one of 20 priests the diocese named in November as having substantial or admitted abuse allegations against them.

SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican

Friday, December 29, 2006
By MARY ELLEN LOWNEY
mlowney@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - Newly appointed Monsignor George A. Farland issued a personal apology to victims of clergy abuse in a Christmas Day sermon that included an appeal to gays and lesbians.

Farland, who is pastor at Sacred Heart Church on Chestnut Street, won a standing ovation at one Mass for his words, which he said are aimed at healing wounds and welcoming those who may feel disenfran- chised within the Roman Catholic Church.

"If we're going to be a strong church and a healthy church again, I think we have to say, 'I'm sorry,' and, 'You are welcome here.' That's what I'm trying to do," he said.

WILMINGTON (DE)
The Daily Times

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- A former Marine and Vietnam veteran filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and a church in the city, accusing them of doing nothing to stop a priest from sexually abusing him and other boys in the 1950s and 60s.

The diocese has acknowledged that the Rev. Edward B. Carley, who died in 1998 at age 82, abused a young male parishioner during his time as the assistant pastor at St. Ann's Catholic Church, from 1954 to 1962.

The diocese paid $65,000 to that parishioner, John F. Dougherty Jr., to reimburse him for counseling he said he needed as a result of the abuse. Dougherty said Carley raped him when he was 10 years old and was serving as an altar boy at St. Ann's, and that Carley abused him repeatedly for several years afterward.

Douglas J. McClure, the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed Thursday, was a classmate of Dougherty's. Carley molested McClure two to three times a week over a period of two years, when McClure was between 8 and 10 years old, said his attorney, Thomas Neuberger.

WILMINGTON (DE)]
The News Journal

By MIKE CHALMERS, The News Journal

Posted Thursday, December 28, 2006 at 11:17 am
A Wilmington man, who said 50-year-old memories of sexual abuse by a parish priest came flooding back to him in 2005, today sued the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and St. Ann’s Church of Wilmington.

Douglas McClure, now 60, said the Rev. Edward B. Carley abused him 200 to 300 times between the time he was eight- and 10-years-old.

The Diocese has admitted Carley sexually abused children in the 1950s and 60s and apologized for his “despicable actions”.

Carley died in 1998 at a priest retirement community in Connecticut.

WILMINGTON (DE)
NBC 10

WILMINGTON, Del. -- A former Marine and Vietnam veteran is suing the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and a church in the city, claiming they did nothing to stop a priest from sexually abusing him and other boys in the 1950s and 60s.

Plaintiff Douglas McClure was a classmate of John Dougherty, who the diocese has already acknowledged was repeatedly abused by the Rev. Edward Carley. Dougherty was an altar boy and Carley was an assistant pastor at Saint Ann's Catholic Church.

The diocese paid $65,000 to Dougherty to reimburse him for counseling.

McClure claims he was molested by Carley two to three times a week over a period of two years, when McClure was between 8 and 10 years old. Carley died in 1998 at age 82.

A spokesman for the diocese said Thursday he had not seen a copy of the lawsuit and had no comment.

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

By JOE FEUERHERD

Sacred Heart parishioners and residents of Bath, Pa., were shocked last month when Elizabeth Fields, mayor of the tiny borough, was charged with stealing about $10,000 from the church’s Sunday collections. Fields was secretly videotaped in the parish rectory as she allegedly altered the collection tally sheets so the funds she pocketed would not be seen as a shortfall.

The community’s stunned reaction is typical, say experts, but theft at the parish and diocesan level is hardly surprising. In fact, it’s the norm.

A whopping 85 percent of U.S. dioceses have detected embezzlement over the past five years, according to Villanova University researchers. “No question about it, it’s a large number,” said Charles Zech, director of the school’s Center for the Study of Church Management and coauthor of the 15-page paper, “Internal Financial Controls in the U.S. Catholic Church,” that details the findings. Supported by a grant from the Louisville Institute, Zech and Villanova accounting professor Robert West surveyed 174 diocesan chief financial officers. Seventy-eight responded.

NEW YORK
New York Post

By ALEX GINSBERG
December 28, 2006 -- A devious cabal that included a pedophile rabbi stole a half-million-dollar home from a cancer-stricken woman, using a forged power of attorney to sell it and pocket the profits, Brooklyn prosecutors charged yesterday.

According to investigators, Margaret Franklin's Crown Heights home was stolen in August 2004 after Nathen Farkas, 31, forged a power of attorney, signing Franklin's name, that effectively handed control of her assets to co-defendant Russell Pitt.

The power of attorney was notarized by a third defendant, Jerry Brauner, 53, a rabbi who had been on probation since 2002 for the sexual abuse of a 15-year-old boy. ...

Brauner was held in lieu of $85,000 bail for lying about prior sex-abuse convictions when he applied for his notary's license.

CALIFORNIA
Central Valley Business Times

LOS ANGELES
December 27, 2006 10:42pm

The California Legislature went too far in trying to make cases of sexual abuse by priests retroactive, the 2nd District Court of Appeal says.

In affirming Superior Court cases which tossed out two lawsuits because they were not filed in time, the appellate court says the Legislature overstepped its authority when in 1998 it expanded the limitations period for actions against entities that employed or supervised abusers until three years from the date the victim discovers psychological injury occurring after age 18 was due to childhood sex abuse.

The two cases involved lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Bishop of Stockton (as a corporate entity) that had been dismissed as being filed too late. After the Legislature reached back in time with its 1998 law, the plaintiffs sued again, but this time the appeals court says the lawmakers meddled in the business of the courts.

MASSACHUSETTS
Religion News Service

(Boston, MA-December 27, 2006) In recent decades, more than 10,000 children were reportedly sexually abused by Catholic priests in the United States. In Hand of God, airing Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2007, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), filmmaker Joe Cultrera explores the very personal story of how his brother -- Paul -- was molested in the 1960s by their parish priest, Father Joseph Birmingham, who allegedly abused nearly 100 other children. Hand of God tells the story of faith betrayed and how the Cultrera family fought back against a scandal that continues to afflict scores of churches across the country.

From an early age, Paul Cultrera and his siblings were immersed in the beliefs and teachings of the Catholic Church, being raised in an Italian-Catholic family and attending all-Catholic school.

At 14, Paul became an altar boy at St. James Parish and came under the guidance of Father Birmingham, a young and friendly priest, who often took the boys on trips and invited them to the rectory for pizza parties. It was during a routine rite of confession that Paul's relationship with Father Birmingham changed.

WORCESTER (MA)
Milford Daily News

By Danielle Williamson/DAILY NEWS STAFF
Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - Updated: 10:47 PM EST

An ailing, retired Bellingham priest convicted last year of sexual abuse remains in Canada while awaiting a court date to see if he can skip sex offender treatment.

The Rev. Paul Desilets, 82, formerly of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish, was scheduled to appear in front of a judge last Friday in Worcester Superior Court. His defense team, however, moved to postpone the hearing and a new date has not been set, one of Desilets' lawyers said yesterday.

A judge was expected last week to decide on Desilets' lawyers motion to spend the rest of his life at a retirement home in Quebec.

Catholic Online

12/27/2006
National Catholic Reporter -- (www.ncronline.org )

Pope Benedict XVI’s personal preacher, it was reported recently, asked the pope to declare a day of fasting and penance to atone for the “abominations” committed inside the church “by its own ministers and pastors.”

The moment passed with relatively little fanfare, and that is unfortunate, because it is certainly noteworthy that a figure so close to the pope – Father Raniero Cantalamessa – would acknowledge that the crisis is severe. The church “paid a high price,” as a result of the scandal, he said.

Father Cantalamessa also suggested that “a day of fasting and penance” take place “at local and national levels, where the problem was particularly strong, to publicly express repentance before God and solidarity with the victims.” We have some suggestions that we’ll dare to pass on about how such days of repentance might occur.

CHICAGO (IL)
Renew America

Matt C. Abbott
December 27, 2006

The following is the text of a countersuit recently filed against the Chicago archdiocese in response to Father Robert Stepek's defamation lawsuit against his accusers. (There is also this story on the case.)

PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

STEWARDSHIP is hardly a term some will associate with the media in its coverage of sex abuses allegedly committed by members of the clergy.

During the third quarterly en banc meeting of the Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC) last September, Cebu Archdiocesan spokesperson Msgr. Achilles Dakay criticized the practice of local media to make public the name and photograph of priests accused of abuses but whose guilt has still to be established by the courts or church authorities.

As a community forum reviewing concerns raised about the media, the CCPC appointed during the same meeting its members, Mia Embalzado of St. Theresa’s College and Fr. Aloysius Cartagenas of the San Carlos Seminary, to consult members of the community, including the church and the media, to draw up standards guiding coverage of priests and religious officials.

PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday asked the Cebu Archdiocese officials to be clear in their policy, whether they will go on keeping the identity of erring priests from the public.

Osmeña said he cannot issue certifications or recommendations for some priests when he is asked now that he knows there is one priest whose character is questionable.

“What is the policy of the church, to be transparent or to hide? The mayor is sometimes asked to sign certifications that the priest is a person of good character. But how can I when I know one of them is questionable?” the mayor said.

“Is the church going to conceal that from the government? It really puts a cloud on everyone else. I’m just asking a question here but these are things that people would like to know,” Osmeña continued.

PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

By Frank Malilong Jr.
The Other Side

MY friend, Gerry Carillo, is already a good lawyer. There is no need for him to play policeman.

It pains me to watch a government panel, headed by no less than a Cebu City councilor, practically begging someone who is accused of wrongdoing to come out and incriminate himself in the guise of giving the suspect (yes, that is what he is) a chance to air his side. Nice try but it won’t work.

The task of Gerry’s panel is purely fact-finding: what really happened inside the confessional during a religious seminar for students at the Abellana National High School. Did one of the priests indeed make immoral advances towards the complaining high school girls in the course of their confession?

PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

FOR the organizers of the Life in Spirit Seminar (LSS) at the Abellana National School, this should be a damned if you do, damned if you don’t case.

Caught between the idea of shielding a priest from public scorn and the demand for justice from 20 students who complained of harassment, the LSS organizers hedged on the call to identify the accused.

As a result, they have become targets of criticism and the controversial incident subject of an investigation by the Cebu City Government.

Claiming ignorance

It is doubtful, however, whether divulging the name of the priest would have mattered, although it would have redirected much of the criticisms from the LSS organizers to the accused.

PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

By Bobby Nalzaro
Saksi

Scandals in the Roman Catholic Church or in other denominations are not new.

Remember the Iglesia ni Cristo pastor accused of rape by his househelp? The victim sought the assistance of dyMF Bombo Radyo broadcasters, who helped her seek justice. She ended up withdrawing the case. The broadcasters? They are facing libel suits filed by the pastor.

Leaders of US-based Christian fundamentalists were linked to scandals. Rev. Jim Jones of Jonestown misled his flock into committing mass suicide. Then there were the cases of Jimmy Swaggart, Jesse Jackson and James Baker.

Bob Stanley, in his article entitled “Scandals Within the Catholic Church,” said that an average of 3,500 religious in non-Catholic sects are charged with sexual misconduct every year. In Cebu, scandal hit the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association when its supreme master was charged with parricide.

The Catholic Church cannot accuse the media of sensationalizing stories involving the misconduct and malfeasance of priests. Media also reported the questionable conduct of leaders from other religions.

PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

By Bobby Nalzaro
Saksi

EFFORTS by City Hall and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to look into the case of a “mysterious” priest accused of sexually harassing participants of a Life in the Spirit Seminar (LSS) are but an exercise in futility. Why? Because the priest has fled to the US according to a very reliable source.

Anyway, I no longer consider the priest “mysterious” because I already bared his complete name in my DYSS radio program, although my editors in Sun.Star and Superbalita are still withholding his family name.

The priest is Father Ben, but his close friends, especially the older ones, call him Dong Ben. I got his name from a source days after the media reported the incident. My source said His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal summoned Father Ben to the Archbishop’s Palace. The cardinal, who is soft spoken, reportedly raised his voice when he confronted the priest about the LSS participants’ accusations.

PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

By Jujemay G. Awit
Sun.Star Staff Reporter

THE priest who allegedly harassed some 20 high school students will be treated like any other suspected criminal, because of the silence from the Cebu Archdiocese and a religious group.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7 scheduled a “friendly dialogue” yesterday on the accusations of students from the Abellana National School (ANS) that a priest inappropriately touched them during a confession as part of a seminar.

The Life in the Spirit Seminar was organized by the Oasis of Love and the Department of Education (DepEd) and held at the ANS last Nov. 14.

DSWD 7 invited Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal in behalf of the seven priests who heard confessions during that seminar, Nonito “Dodong” Limchua of Oasis of Love and ANS principal Ernesto Jacel.

PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

THE Catholic group Oasis of Love is pleased that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 will handle the harassment complaint filed by some high school students against a priest.

Oasis of Love organized the Life in the Spirit Seminar (LSS) where some 20 students of the Abellana National School (ANS) accused a priest of harassing them during confession.

The seminar was held last Nov. 14.

PHILIPPINES
Philstar.com

By Fred P. Languido
The Freeman 12/28/2006

One of the participants in the controversial Life in the Spirit Seminar organized by the Oasis of Love and the Department of Education at the Abellana National School last month positively identified the priest accused of inappropriately touching her classmates during confession.

The third year high school student identified the priest through the pictures shown to her by the National Bureau of Investigation.

The NBI took over the investigation of the case after the Department of Social Welfare and Development failed to compel church officials to reveal the identity of the priest.

DSWD regional director Teodulo Romo requested the NBI to take over the investigation when the priest, through the Archdiocese of Cebu, snubbed their invitation for a friendly dialogue with the victims last week.

UNITED STATES
Catholic Online

12/27/2006
Our Sunday Visitor (www.osv.com)

Five years ago, the clergy sex-abuse scandal erupted on the front pages of The Boston Globe. In the ensuing firestorm, bishops resigned, dioceses facing big lawsuits went bankrupt and hundreds of priests were suspended from ministry. The scandal has consumed much of the church's focus and energy since 2002 began.

After implementing the most stringent policies ever for addressing abuse, the church may have seen the worst of it. While some dioceses are still dealing with significant numbers of cases and resultant financial concerns, the ire has waned, the lawsuits have slowed and priests recently ordained have seemed to be avoiding cause for scandal. It's time to take stock of what has transpired.

First, the formation of seminarians and priests today is more closely scrutinized. The Vatican has recommended against admitting homosexual candidates. Compliance varies among dioceses, but a Vatican-led study of U.S. seminaries – planned primarily for reasons other than the scandal – and other advice has urged the bishops to re-examine their seminaries.

PHOENIX (AZ)
Arizona Daily Star

Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.27.2006
PHOENIX - The Catholic Diocese of Phoenix has agreed to pay $100,000 to a man who claimed he was sexually abused as a teenager by two priests and a lay minister at a Mesa church.
According to the joint stipulation filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, William Cesolini agreed to dismiss his civil lawsuit against the priests and St. Timothy's Parish.
The suit filed in January 2005 alleged that Cesolini, now 35, had been sexually assaulted in 1985 by a priest, Mark Lehman, and a former teen minister, Phil Baniewicz.

CONNECTICUT
WTMH

(Waterbury-AP Dec. 27, 2006 7:45 AM)_ A long-running legal battle over documents involving allegations of sexual abuse by priests continues.

The Diocese of Bridgeport says it's appealing a Waterbury judge's ruling that thousands of pages of court files involving lawsuits against priests accused of sexual abuse be made public. The case involves files concerning allegations of sexual abuse by as many as 23 priests in the diocese.

Lawyers for the diocese have notified court officials of plans to appeal the decision of Judge Jon Alander to unseal some 12-thousand documents that have been under seal since the diocese settled sexual abuse claims by 23 individuals in March of 2001.

CONNECTICUT
Hartford Courant

December 27, 2006
By DAVE ALTIMARI, Courant Staff Writer

As expected, the Diocese of Bridgeport has filed an appeal of a Superior Court judge's ruling that thousands of pages of secret court files involving lawsuits against some of its priests be made public.

The case now appears headed back to the state Supreme Court, and the files concerning allegations of sexual abuse by as many as 23 priests within the diocese will remain sealed.

Attorneys for the diocese notified the Superior Court clerk in Waterbury late last week that they planned to appeal the decision of Judge Jon M. Alander to unseal nearly all of the more than 12,000 documents that have been under seal since the diocese quietly settled sexual abuse claims by 23 individuals in March 2001.

The court filing did not indicate on what grounds they plan to appeal Alander's ruling. Hartford attorney Ralph W. Johnson III, who is representing the diocese, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By Bronislaus B. Kush TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
bkush@telegram.com

WORCESTER— Joseph L. Druce, who was found guilty earlier this year of the 2003 prison slaying of pedophile priest John J. Geoghan, has filed a civil suit charging there was a conspiracy to mislead him about the defense strategy employed during his murder trial.

Named as co-conspirators and defendants in the Worcester Superior Court suit were Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte; Boston Archbishop Sean O’Malley; the diocese of Worcester; the Massachusetts Department of Correction; Deacon David Isabelle, a chaplain at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center where the murder occurred; and John H. LaChance, Mr. Druce’s defense lawyer.

A jury on Jan. 25 convicted Mr. Druce of first-degree murder in the Aug. 23, 2003, killing of the 68-year-old Mr. Geoghan — determining that the slaying was premeditated and done with extreme atrocity or cruelty.

Mr. Druce was already serving a life sentence for murder when he beat and strangled the defrocked priest, a convicted child molester.

Mr. LaChance had argued his client was not guilty by reason of mental illness and maintained that he lacked criminal responsibility for his actions.

PHOENIX (AZ)
The Arizona Republic

Michael Kiefer
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 27, 2006 12:00 AM

The Catholic Diocese of Phoenix agreed to pay $100,000 to a man who claimed he was sexually abused as a teen by two priests and a lay minister.

According to the joint stipulation, which was filed last week in Maricopa County Superior Court, the man who made the allegations agreed to dismiss his civil lawsuit against the priests and church.

The lawsuit, filed in January 2005, alleged that William Cesolini, now 35, had been sexually assaulted in 1985 by a priest, Mark Lehman, and a former teen minister, Phil Baniewicz. The abuse supposedly took place at St. Timothy's Parish in Mesa, and both men were accused of abusing Cesolini on multiple occasions. advertisement

In the suit, Monsignor Dale Fushek, who was pastor of that parish and co-founded Life Teen, the nation's largest Catholic youth ministry with Baniewicz, was accused of giving alcohol to the teen and then watching and masturbating as Lehman sexually abused Cesolini, then 14. Furthermore, the suit alleged that Fushek acted negligently in not reporting the sexual abuse and that he, Lehman and Baniewicz threatened Cesolini if he reported them.

CONNECTICUT
Newsday

December 27, 2006, 1:01 AM EST

WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) _ The Diocese of Bridgeport has appealed a Superior Court judge's ruling that thousands of pages of court files involving lawsuits against priests accused of sexual abuse be made public.

The case could return to the state Supreme Court, and the files concerning allegations of sexual abuse by as many as 23 priests in the diocese could remain sealed.

Lawyers for the diocese notified a Superior Court in Waterbury late last week of plans to appeal the decision of Judge Jon M. Alander to unseal nearly all of more than 12,000 documents that have been under seal since the diocese settled sexual abuse claims by 23 individuals in March 2001.

The court filing did not indicate on what grounds they plan to appeal Alander's ruling. Hartford lawyer Ralph W. Johnson III, who is representing the diocese, could not be reached for comment Tuesday, The Hartford Courant reported Wednesday.

IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Saturday, December 23, 2006

A charity set up to defend priests and nuns wrongly accused of abuse is dissolving this Christmas.

Campaigner Florence Horsman-Hogan, who founded LOVE, said it was time for those who supported the religious orders to move on with their lives.

UNITED STATES
Tucson Citizen

Smile. Be good. Forgive and forget. Little girls grow up with this mantra even in the most democratic cultures. It's an insidious form of social control, so prevalent that when the media focus heroic accolades on women, there is a good chance the praise is tied to their passivity.
Heroines forgive their tormenters. They pray for them. They're heavenly examples of femininity. It almost seems as if women are admired for being victims.
This is why Flora Jessop gets my nod for this year's most admirable woman of 2006. Flora Jessop was the victim of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a Colorado City religious cult known for trading underage girls to pederasts.
Girls born into this polygamous cult often suffer sexual abuse at the hands of their immediate family, and most are forced into marriage with much older men. During their lifetime of indoctrination, they're told that they're destined for hell if they don't "keep sweet."

BOSTON (MA)
MarketVOX

Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley, leader of the fourth-largest U.S. Roman Catholic diocese, is the first of 186 cardinals worldwide to launch a podcast, reports Reuters. In September, O'Malley became the first U.S. cardinal to launch a blog.

Cardinal Sean's first video podcast, delivered on Christmas Eve - in English, Spanish and Portuguese - is hosted on iCatholic.com and can be played on demand. Downloadable video podcasts will be available in January. The site features other videos on demand and streams Catholic TV.

The Boston Archdiocese has relied on the web in part to help repair its reputation after a pedophile-priest scandal in 2002. O'Malley, a member of the Capuchin order, was appointed to head the Boston archdiocese in 2003.

DAVENPORT (IA)
Des Moines Register

ASSOCIATED PRESS

December 26, 2006

The new bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport says bankruptcy is a turning point as the diocese works to move past the church abuse scandal.

Bishop Martin Amos, 65, was installed on Nov. 20 to lead the diocese, which includes 106,000 Catholics in 84 parishes in 22 counties. He came to Iowa from the Diocese of Cleveland, where he served as auxiliary bishop. Amos succeeded Bishop William Franklin, who led the diocese since 1994 before retiring.

During his tenure, Franklin guided the church through the financial crisis which resulted from the sex abuse scandal and forced the diocese to become only the fourth in the country to file for bankruptcy.

Under that plan, the diocese must trim its $3.64 million budget by $270,000. The diocese has until Feb. 10 to submit a reorganization plan to a bankruptcy judge.

VATICAN CITY
International Herald Tribune

The Associated PressPublished: December 25, 2006

The Vatican's official English-language translation of Pope Benedict XVI's "Urbi et Orbi" Christmas Day address, delivered in Italian from the balcony in St. Peter's Basilica.

LIVINGSTON (MT)
Billings Gazette

By The Associated Press

LIVINGSTON - A lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct by a former Livingston clergyman has been settled for undisclosed terms. Criminal charges against him are still pending.

Terrence Passmore is accused of sexually molesting three girls nearly 10 years ago while he was a Church of God pastor in Livingston. Passmore denies any wrongdoing. He is scheduled for trial Feb. 5 on charges of rape and sexual assault.

The civil suit was filed on behalf of the girls, now adults. Their lawyer, Mark Hartwig, said an agreement among the parties prohibits discussing terms of the settlement, which became final last month.

SOUTH AFRICA
IOL

A 60-year-old pastor has been arrested in Yeoville in connection with the rape of a 13-year-old girl, said Gauteng police on Tuesday.

Director Govindsamy Mariemuthoo said the pastor, a Nigerian, was accused of raping the younger sister of a colleague at the shop where he works, in a number of incidents since 2005.

He allegedly gave her money for her silence.

IRELAND
One in Four

Irish Examiner

A PRIEST who allegedly molested two young girls as well as a number of other people in the United States in the 1980s is currently being housed by a Catholic Order in a Dublin suburb where he is not allowed unsupervised contact with the general public.

Confidential church files released by court order in the US have shown how Reverend John Howlett allegedly fondled two young girls around 1984.

He is one of six priests who worked in the Fort Worth diocese where the claims of sexual abuse was not made public. The acts are understood to have taken place while Bishop Joseph P Delaney was in charge at the diocese. Bishop Delaney has since died.

FRESNO (CA)
ABC 30

12/24/06 - A Fresno priest plans to return to his church next month after a mistrial in the civil case accusing him of molesting a parishioner.

Father Eric Swearingen issued a letter to the people of Holy Spirit Church in Northeast Fresno. He thanks them for their prayers and says he'll be back to work on January 8.

Juan Rocha sued Father Swearingen and the Catholic Diocese, claiming the priest molested him nearly 20 years ago.

A majority of jurors believed the abuse happened, but they were not convinced the church knew about it.

VATICAN CITY
Reuters

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict ushered in Christmas at midnight mass on Monday, saying the image of the baby Jesus born in a manger should remind everyone of the plight of poor, abused and neglected children the world over.

The 79-year-old Benedict, marking the second Christmas season of his pontificate, celebrated the mass for more than 10,000 people in St Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Thousands of others watched on large screens outside on a clear, starry night and millions more tuned in via television or radio round the world.

"The child of Bethlehem directs our gaze towards all children, particularly those who suffer and are abused in the world, the born and the unborn," the Pope said in his homily, making a reference to abortion.

"Towards children who are placed as soldiers in a violent world; towards children who have to beg; towards children who suffer deprivation and hunger; towards children who are unloved. In all of these it is the Child of Bethlehem who is crying out to us. It is the God who has become small who appeals to us." ...

The Catholic Church, particularly in the United States, is still reeling from a 2002 child sexual abuse scandal involving priests. This month a papal preacher suggested the Pope should call a day of penitence to seek forgiveness from God.

VATICAN CITY
Pravda

Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Christmas Midnight Mass in the splendor of St. Peter's Basilica early Monday with an appeal to help children who suffer and are abused, including those forced to beg or serve as soldiers and those deprived of food and love.

"The child of Bethlehem directs our gaze toward all children who suffer and are abused in the world, the born and the unborn," Benedict said in his homily, in a reference to the Vatican's staunch opposition to abortion.

He did not indicate if his mention of abuse also referred to many Catholics who have claimed that when they were youngsters they were victims of sexual abuse by clergy in lawsuits and other complaints in the United States and elsewhere.