Abuse Tracker

NEW YORK
New York Post

By DYLAN BUTLER

Over a cup of coffee at a Queens diner two years ago, former Christ the King boys basketball coach Bob Oliva orchestrated his exit from the Middle Village school, a longtime friend of Oliva’s told The Post

The embattled coach, who is being accused of molesting a family friend on a trip to Massachusetts more than 30 years ago, carefully planned to end his storied 27-year career when word surfaced that he had abused a former student

Ray Paprocky, who has known Oliva for 30 years, said he confronted Oliva when a close friend confided that he was also abused.

GERMANY
Monsters and Critics

Berlin - Plans by the Catholic Church in Germany to tighten up its guidelines on sex abuse were welcomed Sunday by Chancellor Angela Merkel after a series of revelations of molestation by paedophile priests.

Most of the incidents can no longer be prosecuted because they happened so long ago, between the 1960s and the 1980s.

The church has been criticized for often allowing offenders to decide themselves whether to turn themselves in to police. It has also been accused of moving men with a paedophile past to new jobs where they again have contact with young people.

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

By Michael O'Keeffe
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Sunday, February 28th 2010, 10:57 AM

Ray Paprocky says he stood by Bob Oliva in the spring of 2008, in the weeks after a former player named Jimmy Carlino accused the legendary Christ the King boys basketball coach of sexually abusing him over the course of several years during the 1970s.

People sought out Paprocky's opinion because they knew he had been friendly with Oliva for more than two decades, and Paprocky says he told them the allegations were preposterous. Paprocky, Christ the King class of 1985, had played basketball for Oliva for three years. When he returned to New York after graduating from Florida Tech, Oliva hired him as an assistant coach and helped him land a teaching position at the Queens high school. Paprocky left in 1997 after seven years at the school, but he remained steadfastly loyal to Christ the King and Oliva, even after the ugly sexual abuse allegations emerged.

"I defended him," Paprocky says. "He was a mentor. I never thought of Bob Oliva as a pedophile."

PORTLAND (OR)
The Garden of Roses: Stories of Abuse and Healing

Virginia Jones

Twelve people expressed interest in the Abuse Awareness Walk, but only seven of us actually walked. No media, no marching, no signs just a leisurely stroll up NW 23rd Avenues and down NW 21st visiting shops, restaurants and cafes. Four of us have participated in the Walk Across Oregon since 2008. Three of us were new to the Walk. Two of the new people were survivors. One was a supporter.

We started out at New Renaissance Bookstore. I forgot to take pictures. The parking is good at the south end of NW 23rd where the bookstore is located. Further up the avenue you sometimes have to park five or six blocks away from your destination. New Renaissance Bookstore is a New Age bookstore with books and gifts from a variety of religions, including Christianity. What amazed me at the place is that they rent spiritually oriented videos. Not only did they have videos on Buddhism, Hinduism, and Australian aboriginal spirituality, they had the largest collection of videos on Catholic saints outside of a Catholic store or catalog that I have ever seen. They had videos on Francis of Assisi and Clare of Assisi, Anthony of Padua, Padre Pio, Vincent de Paul, Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross.

ITALY
Guardian (United Kingdom)

Roberto Mancini guardian.co.uk, Sunday 28 February 2010

Vaticano Spa (Vatican Ltd) a book about the murky financial dealings of the Catholic church (The subtitle reads: "from a secret archive – the truth about the church's financial and political scandals") has been a runaway success in Italy. Written by journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi and published by the Milan independent publisher Chiarelettere last year, more than 200,000 copies have been sold.

What's all the more astonishing is that this success has been in spite of being ignored by almost all the Italian media, with the exception of a single television programme on La 7, hosted by Gad Lerner.

Why the conspiracy of silence surrounding an Italian bestseller? Why aren't television, newspapers and magazines celebrating the success of a colleague? After all, Nuzzi has written for the Berlusconi family-owned weekly Panorama and now is a journalist for the daily Libero, considered to be the prime minister's house journal.

The explanation, according to Nuzzi, whom I asked for a comment for this article, lies in the subject matter:

"We thought that Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II), as he had promised, would have sorted out the Vatican finances after the scandal of Cardinal Marcinkus and the IOR (the pope's bank).

"But during the 80s and 90s, the whole system of shady deals and bribes was inherited by Marcinkus's successors and became increasingly dishonest and cynical. The pope knew about it, but did nothing to remove the heads of this power network.

JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
News Tribune

[letter to the National Review Board]

[SNAP statement]

By Jeff Haldiman
jhaldiman@newstribune.com
Published: Sunday, February 28, 2010

A national advocacy group for those abused by priests is calling on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to push local church officials to be more open about abuse investigations.

Speaking Saturday outside the Jefferson City Catholic Diocese Headquarters on West Main Street, David Clohessy, national director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), showed members of the media letters they were sending to these offices.

ARGENTINA
La Capital

28-02-10 | Por Daniel Abba / La Capital

La parroquia y la escuela “Nuestra Señora de Pompeya”, en Mendoza 5160. Puertas adentro, el sacerdote de 46 años, Reynaldo Narvais, acosó a sus víctimas y abusó de su autoridad.

Hace más de un año que las paredes de la parroquia “Nuestra Señora de Pompeya” resguardan un peligroso secreto. Fue desde que se conocieron los casos de abuso cometidos por el cura párroco del lugar contra al menos ocho personas del colegio que funciona en Mendoza 5160, entre ellas un docente y una menor de edad con discapacidad mental. En todo ese tiempo, la comunidad religiosa vivió sumida en un tortuoso silencio que muchos ya se niegan a aceptar.

MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

By Kevin Cullen
Globe Columnist / February 28, 2010

It’s been 44 days since 15-year-old Phoebe Prince saw no way out of the terrifying cul-de-sac she was forced into at South Hadley High School. The bullies who drove her to the noose might just as well have pushed her off a cliff, because that’s how utterly helpless she felt.

We are told that some of the people who tormented Phoebe have been disciplined. Some have left school. Whether it was on their terms or someone else’s, who knows? ...

If you can’t blame the victim, blame the lawyers.

That’s what Cardinal Bernard Law did in the face of scandal. People cried out for transparency, and he pointed to his lawyers and said, in so many words, “They told me I can’t say anything.’’

That’s a marvelous strategy, and it worked so well for Cardinal Law, didn’t it?

ISRAEL
Los Angeles Times

By Edmund Sanders

February 27, 2010

Reporting from Jerusalem - Many Israelis pride themselves on a kind of European sophistication when it comes to public sex scandals: For the most part, they shrug them off.

But those limits are being tested by a brewing controversy concerning an Orthodox rabbi who has been accused by a nongovernmental religious organization of sexually exploiting male students.

Rabbi Mordechai Elon, 50, a popular spiritual figure from a prominent family, has not been charged with any crime, and no evidence has emerged that any of the students allegedly involved were under age 18, according to police and child-protection advocates. No students have filed police complaints, a law enforcement official said.

NETHERLANDS
HRC Handelsblad

Published: 26 February 2010 17:28 | Changed: 28 February 2010 11:37

Amid the high-profile child sexual abuse scandals in the United States and other European countries, the reputation of the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands has remained unsullied. A joint investigation by NRC Handelsblad and Radio Netherlands Worldwide shows this is unjustified.By Robert Chesal for Radio Netherlands Worldwide and Joep Dohmen for NRC Handelsblad

Janne Geraets, now 57, suffered repeated sexual abuse from the age of 11 at the hands of a priest at the Roman Catholic school where he was a boarder. His ordeal began in 1964, at the Don Rua monastery in the town of 's-Heerenberg in the east of the Netherlands. He was being trained by the Salesian Fathers of Don Bosco, in the hope of one day becoming a missionary. After a party, one of the priests lured Janne to the infirmary under the pretext of giving him medicine to ease his sore throat. "All of a sudden he was right up against me," Geraets recalled. "He unzipped his trousers and forced my hand inside. I was in a state of utter confusion."

After the incident, Geraets returned to bed. But the next morning he was summoned by the same priest. "I remember how my heart was pounding as I knocked on the door. He opened it and said 'That should never have happened'. He gave me absolution; he pardoned my sin. That confused me even more."

SCOTLAND
Scotland on Sunday

Published Date: 28 February 2010
By David Leask
THE Pope must say sorry to child abuse survivors before he visits Scotland, a leading campaigner has demanded.

Benedict XVI earlier this month apologised to those hurt in Catholic children's homes in Ireland, saying he shared public "outrage and shame" over the scandal.

Now Helen Holland, an abuse survivor and former nun, has written to the pontiff asking him to do the same for those who suffered in Scotland ahead of his September papal visit.

The 51-year-old, a leading figure in several survivors' groups, accused church authorities in Scotland of continuing to fail to acknowledge the harm done to generations of children.

JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
KOMU

JEFFERSON CITY - Activists say a Jefferson City bishop kept sexual allegations made against a local priest secret for weeks, and protested at the Jefferson City Catholic Diocese on Saturday.

But the protest was lightly-attended, as just two members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, spoke out. They wanted to deliver a letter to Bishop John Gaydos about how he handled sexual allegations against mid-Missouri priest Thomas Seifner.

The protestors said the bishop should have told police and the public sooner about the allegations. Gaydos put Seifner on leave in December after allegations of inappropriate contact with a child five years ago. Seifner worked at 13 churches in seven counties, including Callaway, Cooper, Cole, Osage, Montgomery, Gasconade and Marion.

GERMANY
The Catholic Review (United States)

By Jonathan Luxmoore
Catholic News Service

OXFORD, England – Germany’s Catholic bishops have asked forgiveness from victims of sexual abuse at church-run schools and promised to “learn lessons” from secular institutions dealing with child molestation.

“We are assuming responsibility. We condemn the offenses committed by monks, priests and their colleagues in our dioceses, and we ask pardon, in shame and shock, from all those who fell victim to these appalling acts,” the bishops said in a February 25 statement.

“As bishops, we are concerned about cases of sex abuse by clergy and their collaborators. We want an honest clarification, free of incorrect considerations, whenever such occurrences are reported to us,” the bishops said.

GERMANY
IPS

By Julio Godoy

BERLIN, Feb 28, 2010 (IPS) - The Catholic Church has for decades protected paedophile priests and clerics who sexually abused children from judiciary prosecution, according to German theologians, law experts, and internal church documents.

The church hierarchy's complicity was confirmed recently through thousands of denouncements against numerous priests in Germany. In practically all the cases, the abusers were only transferred from one jurisdiction to another and never legally prosecuted. ...

The German theologian Uta Ranke-Heinemann told IPS that the Catholic Church "from the Vatican down to the priests on the field, have helped to guarantee the abusers absolute impunity. There are two internal documents in which the Catholic church takes care of maintaining the abuse in absolute secrecy," Ranke-Heinemann said.

The first document, titled "Crimen Sollicitationis" (Latin for "the crime of soliciting"), goes back to 1962, and was written by the Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, at the time prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the Inquisition.

The second paper, "De delictis gravioribus" ("on more serious crimes"), was written in 2001 by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, today's Pope Benedict XVI. He was also prefect of the congregation.

GERMANY
Deutsche Welle

The chairman of the German Bishops' Conference has rejected the call for a roundtable discussion on the child-abuse claims plaguing the Catholic Church in Germany.

"Sexual abuse of children is not a problem specific the Catholic Church," Robert Zollitsch told the newspaper Welt am Sonntag on Sunday, February 28.

He went on to say that sexual molestation had nothing to do with celibacy, homosexuality, or the Catholic teaching.

"Therefore, we do not need a round table specifically for the Catholic Church," the Archbishop of Freiburg said.

OREGON
The Oregonian

By Bryan Denson, The Oregonian
February 27, 2010.

From novitiate to priesthood, the Rev. Michael Toulouse stood apart. Superiors described him as frivolous, vainglorious, short on religious discipline, lacking judgment and prudence, a man with serious character flaws.

By 1950, they knew why: Toulouse was an accused rapist with a predilection for boys.

The priest died more than 30 years ago. But a group of men, some of them now gray, still seek justice for what they describe as Toulouse's serial molestation of them from 1948 to 1970.

They are among 500 people with open claims of abuse against the region's Portland-based Jesuits, who sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a year ago in the face of vast legal exposure. The case, now in mediation, makes them creditors in the bankruptcy.

NETHERLANDS
de Volksrant

DEN BOSCH - In navolging van de schandalen in Duitsland, Ierland en de Verenigde Staten komen ook in Nederland steeds meer verhalen aan de oppervlakte over seksueel misbruik door priesters. ‘De Rooms-Katholieke Kerk probeert het onder de pet te houden, maar het gebeurde hier ook’, zegt Joop Marrevee (77) uit Schiedam, die tussen 1948 en 1950 meerdere keren is aangerand op het internaat van de priesters van het Heilig Hart in Bergen op Zoom. ‘De leraar Latijn en Grieks zat gewoon aan je geslachtsdelen.’

[summary]

Following the scandals in Germany, Ireland and the United States, stories about sexual abuse by priests are surfacing in the Netherlands. The Roman Catholic Church has tried to keep the incidents under the cap but it also happened here, said Joop Marrevee, 77, of Schiedam. He was repeatedly raped between 1948 and 1950 at the Sacred Heart School in Bergen op Zoom.

He said the Latin and Greek teacher would sit on the genitals.

Hans, 66, of Rotterdam was raped and molested in the second half of the 1950s at a Franciscan seminary in Katwijk. A number of the priests were involved, he said. A doctor from the province of Utrech said he was gropped during the 1960s at a seminary in Vught.

Hans said scandals is foreign lands may appear to be far away but people should not pretend that it didn't happen in the Netherlands because it did. Incidents of abuse have also become known at a boarding school operated by the Salesians of Don Bosco in 's-Heerenberg.

SCRANTON (PA)
NEPArtisan

Tom Borthwick | February 25, 2010

The appointment of the new Bishop of the Diocese of Scranton, Monsignor Bambera, has drawn the ire of SNAP, which is the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests. Why? Turns out that, according to the group (this comes courtesy of the Times Leader), “Under oath, Bambera admitted that barely a decade ago, he refused to report a credibly accused predator priest to police, in violation of his diocese’s own child sex abuse policy.” And then it gets better: “He also admitted relying on the word of an accused priest without even questioning that cleric’s alleged victim. This decision raises a troubling question: Is it that hard for the Vatican to find good, smart priests who have not concealed horrific crimes against kids?”

Nice.

It is no secret that the Catholic Church, worldwide, has a sordid past, both recently and in history. Appointing somebody who admittedly believes the reputation of the Church is more important than justice and truth might need to rethink the master they supposedly serve. Last I checked, Christ didn’t care too much about reputation, and cared more about doing right.

IRELAND
Herald

By Peter DeRosa

Saturday February 27 2010

This is a fan letter to the heroic Irish victims of clerical abuse. Your story has gone around the world. Your courage has rewritten the history of Ireland over the past 60 years. You trashed the idea of the RC Church as a safe haven for women and children. It made the lives of many women a hell on earth. And what would St Patrick or James Connolly think of all those tender childhoods it stole?

Your bewilderment over the meeting between the Pope and bishops was palpable. You couldn't believe you were excluded. You weren't even present in their thoughts. Strange, seeing that Christ's 'hierarchy' was made up exclusively of children and the poor.

That meeting was never about you or your years-long struggle for justice. It was called to restore the shattered prestige and authority of the Roman Church. The Pope, who denied your existence for decades, even had the nerve to blame the "faithless" world for priest rapists and the antics of their episcopal pimps. Does he blame it, too, for Cardinal Connell's lies?

GERMANY
Deutsche Welle

A priest in southern Germany resigned on Friday for failing to report sexual abuse accusations in the latest development of a scandal rocking the Catholic Church in Germany.

Maurus Krass, prior and head of a monastic school in Ettal, Bavaria, resigned for not relaying to clerical authorities allegations of child sex abuse between 2003 and 2005. He was the second to resign in three days after Barnabas Boegle, also from Ettal, stepped down on Wednesday for the same reasons.

The German Episcopal conference recently appointed Stephan Ackermann, bishop of the western town of Trier, as head of the investigation into the scandal. He said on Friday that he would pursue "with determination" all clues related to abuse committed by members of the church.

GERMANY
Abendzeitung

Die eigenartigen Erziehungsmethoden der Mönche im Kloster St.Ottilien. Ehemalige Schüler berichten von sexuellen Übergriffen und Missbrauch durch zwei Pater in den 60er Jahren.

[summary]

Bare bottom spanking of students as monks watched. Naked boys wrapped in toilet paper. This is the description by a former student at the St. Ottilie monastery. Blows on a bare bottom were on the agenda for small offenses, he said. As a boy he could not trust anyone. The prefect controlled the home. If parents came to visit, the prefect was always behind the tables at lunch and watching with an eagle eye lest the students tell their parents of abuse.

Father G. had a special "party game." The students had to sit naked in a chair while a friend wrapped him with toilet paper. It was called "Egyptian Mummy" and it was humiliating for the students.

The former student said he felt very alone and he felt shame. He told his parents but they did not believe him. They told him a servant of God would never sin. The priest in question is said to have taken photos of the student and he worked as a teacher into the 1990s. He later was a pastor.

Further abuse victims at the monastery have come forward, it was announced Thursday. Another former student reported sexual abuse by another priest. The abbey has been in contact with the victim.

SPAIN
Barcelona Reporter

Sources of the archbishopric of Toledo have shown that once the x-priest, Samuel MM, 27, has undergone psychiatric tests the church officials will act "accordingly".

Priest sacked in Toledo, for allegedly embezzling 17,000 euros, to undergo a rigorous psychiatric examination

The Archbishop of Toledo has called for the former pastor of Totanés-Noez to be psychiatrically tested, after learning that he spent 17,000 euros on prostitutes and erotic web-sites.

OHIO
Record-Courier

By Diane Smith
Record-Courier staff writer

The Rev. Edward Wieczorek, pastor of St. Joseph parish in Randolph, was surpised to learn this week that his church is part of restructuring plan by the Diocese of Youngstown.

The proposal would create a “collaborative unit” between St. Joseph and St. Peter of the Fields in Rootstown, with only one priest serving both parishes. St. Ambrose in Garrettsville and St. Michael in Windham would face a similar fate if the plan is approved.

“Sharing a priest won’t be easy,” Wieczorek said.

ILLINOIS
Belleville News-Democrat

BY BETH HUNDSDORFER - News-Democrat Buzz up!

A Granite City man charged with child pornography was a leader in the Illinois Royal Rangers, a ministry of the Assemblies of God church.

Joseph Emil Klug, 29, was a staff member of the Frontier Group of the Royal Rangers and the leader of a Collinsville church's group. Klug was charged on Feb. 17 with child pornography after police said Klug put a video camera in a tent, recorded a boy masturbating, edited video clips and stills and sent it out over the Internet.

Illinois Royal Rangers Director Thomas Kesteleyn said he removed Klug when he heard the allegation on Feb. 9. Kesteleyn would not comment on whether the victim was a Royal Ranger.

CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By ARIELLE LEVIN BECKER

February 27, 2010

HARTFORD — - State lawmakers have introduced a proposal to eliminate the statute of limitations for civil cases involving child sexual abuse, exploitation or assault, allowing victims to file lawsuits at any time in their lives.

State Sen. Mary Ann Handley, D-Manchester, and state Rep. Beth Bye, D-West Hartford, described the proposal as a way to keep the legal system open to victims of crimes that often take years to come to terms with. The existing law requires victims of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits before they turn 48 — 30 years after they turn 18.

"It's a very lonely kind of abuse," Handley said during a press conference Friday. "It's a kind of abuse that people try to forget, try to ignore."

GERMANY
USA Today

BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors have opened investigations into allegations of sexual abuse at two Roman Catholic schools — the first legal action since reports of priests abusing students surfaced in January.

Senior prosecutor Andrea Titz in Munich is investigating claims of abuse against a member of a Benedictine-run boarding school in Ettal, Bavaria, her office said in a statement Thursday.

ARIZONA
The Arizona Republic

by Michael Clancy - Feb. 27, 2010
The Arizona Republic .
When the Catholic Church kicked Dale Fushek out of the priesthood last week, the Phoenix Diocese said the decision was made because of sexual-abuse allegations against him.

But other proven abusers, including several who actually served prison time, never had similar steps taken against them - at least not publicly.

Fushek is the third priest to be dismissed from the priesthood in the Diocese of Phoenix and the first under Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted. Two others - George Bredemann, who remains in prison, and Mark Lehman, who served a 10-year sentence - also have been defrocked.

IRELAND
The Irish Times

A JUDGE said yesterday he wanted to hear from a more senior member of the Franciscan order before passing sentence in relation to sex abuse at Gormanston College in the 1970s.

Convicted sex offender Fr Ronald Bennett (75) gave a schoolboy “sex education lessons” during which he told him how to seduce girls before removing his trousers and underwear, a circuit court judge was told yesterday.

Bennett was jailed in 2007 for 2½ years for indecently assaulting four other schoolboys at the Franciscan-run Gormanston College in Co Meath where he was sports master and spiritual adviser.

GERMANY
The Local

The child abuse scandal engulfing the Catholic Church in Germany continues to expand, with accusations that claims of abuse were ignored or hidden for years and the first resignations.

Barnabas Bögle, abbot of the Bavarian Ettal Benedictine monastery, and Maurus Kraß, head of the school and prior there, both resigned this week after admitting that regulations on reporting accusations of abuse had not been followed.

The number of former and current students at Ettal who have made accusations of abuse has risen to 20. It has also been claimed that claims were made in 2003, during a class reunion, but that nothing was done.

CONNECTICUT
New Haven Register

HARTFORD — State lawmakers are considering whether to eliminate the 30-year statute of limitations on civil lawsuits filed in child sexual abuse cases.

Proponents of the idea said Friday they’ve been motivated by stories from constituents who were abused as children decades ago, including patients of Dr. George Reardon, a Hartford doctor who is believed to have victimized hundreds of children beginning in the 1950s.

LELAND (NC)
Star News

A Leland pastor facing child sex charges recently sent a friend request to his alleged victim on the online social networking site Facebook.

That almost landed James T. Johnson back in jail, because his bond forbids contact with the girl or anyone under 18. But the prosecutor relented, and he remains on house arrest.

Johnson has been charged with three counts of indecent liberties with a child, two counts of first-degree sex offense with a child and one count of attempted first-degree rape of a child. The victim, now 13, was in elementary school when the alleged incidents occurred over a three year period.

INDONESIA
Jakarta Globe

More women have come forward with sexual abuse allegations against Indonesisan spiritual guru Anand Krishnan.

“They were made to perform oral sex, which nearly led to free sex,” said Theresia Purba, a lawyer representing three senior disciples of the Anand Krishna Foundation. “Free sex” is a term often used in Indonesia to refer to sexual intercourse outside of marriage.

The three on Thursday reported their allegations against the group’s founder to the Jakarta Police.

OHIO
WYTV

The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown is responding to a changing church population.

This week it released a draft plan which reconfigures and consolidates the parishes within the six-county diocese.

A decline in priests, a shift in population from the cities to the suburbs and a changing attitude toward the church all jump-started the 18-month planning process to reshape the local Catholic community.

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Fox 2

By Associated Press
2:07 PM CST, February 26, 2010

ST. LOUIS (AP) — An appeals court has ruled that the Archdiocese of St. Louis is not responsible for the hiring and supervision of an allegedly sexually abusive priest.

Peggy Nicholson filed suit claiming she was abused by a priest from Holy Guardian Angels Church in St. Louis when she was a child in the 1950s. The priest died in 1983.

UGANDA
The New Vision

By Anne Mugisa

The defilement suspect was a Catholic priest. The alleged victim was a 16-year-old former altar girl at various churches including Lira Cathedral and the crime was reportedly committed between March 16 and 18, 2001.

The Rev. Fr. Ambrose Owiny was indicted after the girl, the niece of another priest, revealed that she had been at his house and they had had sex. The girl had left school, St.Theresa Girls’ Secondary School in Masindi, on March 12, 2001 for presidential elections.

The day after the elections, her father escorted her to Lira taxi park, where she was supposed to board and return to school. As soon as her father left, the girl disembarked from the taxi and went to Loro Core Primary Teachers’ College to see a friend.

Benedict XVI - Ratzinger: God's Rottweiler

Paris Arrow

The Holocaust is the worst crime against the Jewish people and the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army is the worst crime against Catholic children in the 20th century. John Paul II does not deserve to be called a “saint” because of this hidden papal army he led for over a quarter of a century as he traveled around the World and sat the at the trillion dollar Chair of St. Peter in the Vatican see the John Paul II Millstone http://jp2m.blogspot.com/

Benedict XVI convened the entire Irish hierarchy in Rome for two days, and as conclusion, according to his papal infallibility and Catholic way of justice, he will write ONE papal letter to the Irish people and will perform ONE ceremony of Penance this Lent and this will finally appease the thousands of Irish victims of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army, the most heinous crime against children in history of Christendom.

GERMANY
Der Spiegel

Der Missbrauchsskandal im Benediktinerkloster Ettal weitet sich aus: Inzwischen haben sich rund 20 mutmaßliche Opfer gemeldet, die Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelt in zwei Fällen aus dem Jahr 2005. Der stellvertretende Abt und Schulleiter des Internats ist zurückgetreten.

[summary]

The abuse scandal at the Benedictine monastery Ettal is expanding. Some 20 alleged victims are now reported. The public prosecutor has determined two of the cases were in 2005. The deputy abbot and head teacher of the boarding school has resigned. Two ombudsmen appointed by the church spoke Friday of the Ettal situation at a press conference in Munich.

Allegations have been made against four priests, one of who is dead, said ombudsman Siegfried Kneissl. Former students have also reported physical violence and severe beatings.

The prosecutor has identified two cases of sexual abuse dating back to 2005 involving two students. Lawyer Burkard Goepfer, who was appointed Tuesday along with Kneissl as ombudsman, said the abuse was severe and not just about stroking under his T-shirt.

Monsignor Peter Beer, vicar general of the archbishop of Munich and Freising said the allegations will be fully investigated and prosecuted without compromise. He said as a priest and teacher this upsets him deeply.

Most of the victims who have reported abuse are now adults. The incidents are said to have occurred in the 1970s and 1980s and are therefore barred from prosecution under criminal law. Of current students, there are no reports of abuse but they will be questioned by a special investigator employed by the monastery.

The ombudsmen quoted from messages they have received. One former student recalled the constant and terrible shock of what was happening. One mother said her son suffered as a result of abuse and today is alcoholic. Another former student said his time at Etal was a hell which often comes up again.

Allegations have also been made at the St. Ottilie Abbey. Accusations were made against a former member of the religious order. A representative of the monastery has been in contact with the victim.

Meanwhile, there has been criticism of the German Bishops' Conference regarding the annoucement of steps to be taken to prevent sexual abuse in the church. Norbert Denef, spokesman for the victims, said the bishops have acted in a way that is a mockery of the victims. Archbishop Robert Zollitsch said Thursday that every case of abuse in the church will be immediately and automatically turned over to the prosecutor's office.

The movement "We Are Church" said it does not consider the response of the bishops to be sufficient. Federal Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger called the statement by the bishops' conference, however, a step in the right direction.

GERMANY
Catholic News Agency

Freiburg, Germany, Feb 26, 2010 / 11:05 am (CNA).- The German Catholic Bishops' Conference has chosen one of its own to lead investigations into the cases of abuse in the German Church in the 70s and 80s. The news was announced at the conclusion of the plenary assembly of German bishops on Thursday by conference president Archbishop Robert Zollitsch.

Vatican Radio reported that the bishops' statement read, "We German bishops accept our responsibility and condemn the crimes committed by religious, priests and lay collaborators in our dioceses."

"Mortified and shocked," they asked the pardon and forgiveness of "all victims of these horrible acts."

GERMANY
Expatica

A priest in southern Germany has become the second cleric to resign in three days over the sex abuse scandal involving Jesuit priests rocking the Catholic Church, the bishopric of Munich said Friday.

Maurus Krass, head of the monastic school in Ettal, southern Germany, resigned for failing to inform clerical authorities over child sex abuse accusations dating from 2003 and 2005, a statement said.

On Wednesday another priest from Ettal, Barnabas Bogle, also resigned for the same reasons.

NETHERLANDS
Gazet van Antwerpen

16/02 De Overpeltse Bart Aben (44), die tijdens zijn ambt als priester een jongen en meisje seksueel misbruikte, zit niet meer in de cel. De Tongerse onderzoeksrechter heeft dinsdag beslist om de man vrij te laten onder voorwaarden. Aben zal zich verplicht moeten laten opnemen voor een behandeling in een instelling.

[summary]

A 44-year-old priest has been accused to sexual abusing a boy and girl. The investigating judge decided on Tuesday to release the man under conditions. He will be required to go to a treatment facility. The Hasselt diocese has put he priest on non-active status.

CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By ARIELLE LEVIN BECKER
The Hartford Courant

HARTFORD - State lawmakers have introduced legislation to eliminate the statute of limitations on civil cases stemming from child sexual abuse, exploitation or assault.

State Sen. Mary Ann Handley, D-Manchester, and state Rep. Beth Bye, D- West Hartford, detailed their support for the proposal at a press conference Friday morning, joined by state Victim Advocate Michelle Cruz. Also in attendance was Timothy O'Keefe, a Hartford attorney whose firm represents more than 60 victims in a decades-old sexual abuse case involving the late Dr. George Reardon.

"Children don't always recognize that what's happening to them is abuse," Handley said. "At times, it takes a very long time to acknowledge that."

NETHERLANDS
Dutch News

Friday 26 February 2010

Three Catholic clerics from the Don Rua cloisters in 's Heerenberg, Gelderland, have been accused of abusing at least three children in the 1960s and 1970s, the NRC reports on Friday.

The paper says one former pupil claims to have been abused for two years by a member of the Salesian order at the cloisters when he was 11 and 12 years old.

Another priest was suspended after being accused of molesting a young boy and a third has been accused of abusing a girl when he was teaching English at a school in Doetinchem, the paper says.

NETHERLANDS
Radio Netherlands

At least three children in a Dutch boarding school run by Roman Catholic priests were sexually abused in the 1960 and 70s, research by Radio Netherlands Worldwide and daily NRC Handelsblad has shown.

The school was attached to the Don Rua monastry of the Salesians of Don Bosco in the eastern town of 's-Heerenberg. The clerics may have assaulted more children. Members of the order confirmed that the problem was discussed internally, but was never subjected to a thorough investigation.

The school's population consisted of about a hundred boys aged between twelve and eighteen. A former pupil said it was common knowledge at the school that certain priests abused boys. One case has been confirmed in which a priest from the Don Rua school sexually abused a child outside the monastry.

NETHERLANDS
Radio Netherlands

By Robert Chesal

"There was a knock at the door. I tried to scream but I couldn’t utter a sound." Janne Geraets, now 57, suffered repeated sexual abuse from the age of 11 at the hands of a priest at the Roman Catholic school where he was a boarder.

Amid the high-profile child sexual abuse scandals in the United States and other European countries, the reputation of the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands has remained unsullied. But a joint investigation by Radio Netherlands Worldwide and NRC Handelsblad reveals that this is unjustified.

Lured out of bed
Janne Geraets’ ordeal began in 1964, at the Don Rua monastery in the town of 's-Heerenberg in the east of the Netherlands. He was being trained by the Salesian Fathers of Don Bosco, in the hope of one day becoming a missionary. After a party, one of the priests lured Janne to the infirmary under the pretext of giving him medicine to ease his sore throat. "All of a sudden he was right up against me. He unzipped his trousers and forced my hand inside. I was in a state of utter confusion."

MASSACHUSETTS
The Pilot

By Jim Lockwood
Posted: 2/26/2010

BRAINTREE -- The archdiocese’s Office of Pastoral Planning is charged with working with parishes and archdiocesan central ministries to address the challenges the future will present.

And those challenges aren’t likely to be small. Current information suggests those challenges will include an increasing shortage of priests, a decline in already low Mass attendance, and financial strains on parishes.

The director, Father David Couturier, OFM Cap., said the formation of the office stemmed from a May 2007 planning report by the archdiocese’s Pastoral Planning Committee, headed by Father George Evans.

GERMANY
Augsburger Allgemeine

Gegen einen Mönch des Klosters St. Ottilien liegt ein Missbrauchsvorwurf vor. Das Kloster informierte gestern in einer Pressemitteilung, dass es einen anonymen Hinweis über missbräuchliche Handlungen in den 1960er und 70er Jahren im damaligen Seminar gebe.

[summary]

A monk at the St. Ottilie monastry has been accused of abuse. The monastery yesterday said in a press release that they received an anonymous tip about sexual abuse in the 1960s and 1970s. The abbey immediately released the brother of his current duties and informed the diocesan leadership in Augsburg. The allegations were examined by independent psychologists and lawyers under guideliness from the order.

GERMANY
RP

Rees (RP) Ein Pfarrer aus Rees ist in dieser Woche beim Bistum Münster wegen Fehlverhaltens gegenüber einem Kind angezeigt worden. Das Bistum habe diese Anzeige „unverzüglich“ an die diözesane Kommission für Fälle des sexuellen Missbrauchs Minderjähriger geleitet, teilte die Bischöfliche Pressestelle heute in Münster mit.

[summary]

A priest in the Munster diocese has been accused of misconduct with a child. The diocesan commission that investigated said it was not a case of sexual abuse but the priest behaved inappropriately toward the child. The priest has resigned his pastorate and will begin therapy. The results of the investigation will be turned over to the public prosecutor.

VATICAN CITY
National Secular Society (United Kingdom)

Irish builders and bankers who have reigned over a catastrophic virtual collapse in the country’s economy donated nearly €9m to the Vatican last year. Among those named as donors were property developers whose loans have been taken over by the state-run National Assets Management Agency (NAMA). Property developers Derek Quinlan, Treasury Holdings' Johnny Ronan, Ballymore Properties' Sean Mulryan and Paddy McKillen, one of the so called "Anglo 10" all made significant donations.

The Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums published recently reveals that these troubled property developers provided ‘financial support’ for the restoration of the historic Pauline Chapel in the Vatican Museum.

Fellow donors included former Anglo Irish bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick and the controversial former boss of Irish Nationwide Michael Fingleton. Other donors included Digicel owner Denis O’Brien and William Bollinger, the Irish co-founder of the €3bn Egerton Capital Hedge Fund.

GERMANY
The Irish Times

DEREK SCALLY in Berlin

THE HEAD of the German Catholic bishops’ conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, has criticised the federal justice minister for suggesting that the church had blocked investigation of clerical abuse cases.

The row has exposed a jurisdiction dispute between church and state authorities in abuse cases and overshadowed renewed pledges by bishops to tackle abuse.

A month after the first allegations became public about sexual and physical abuse at three Jesuit schools, over 130 alleged victims have come forward.

IRELAND
The Irish Times

Madam, – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has issued an apology to child migrants who were sent between the 1920s and 1960s to Britain’s former colonies, where many of them suffered abuse. Several hundred of the more than 130,000 child migrants involved in this scheme were either Irish or of Irish background.

In Ireland, the Government, members of the Catholic hierarchy, and various religious congregations, have apologised for the physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children, including children in State residential institutions.

Survivors of the Magdalene Laundries still await their apology: from the State, which was complicit in referring women and children into the laundries; from the religious orders that operated the profitable laundries; from the Irish hierarchy which reaped the benefits of that profit; from families that banished daughters, sisters and cousins behind convent walls; and from Irish society, which turned a blind eye while sending their dirty laundry to be scrubbed clean.

UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post

Published Date:
24 February 2010
By Sarah Freeman

It's the little things which Mick Kenny remembers.

One of the thousands of British youngsters promised a better life in Australia, when he arrived on the other side of the world in the early 1950s he was immediately stripped of the few belongings he had. Even his shoes were taken and he was forced to walk barefoot on the cold stone floors of a church-run orphanage he was told would now be home.

Occasionally, when the bishop dropped by, he and the dozen or so other children who shared a dormitory were hastily given sandals. However, when the official visit was over, the little luxuries were packed away and harsh reality returned.

PORTLAND (OR)
Catholic Sentinel

The Ember Day for Lent will be Wednesday, March 10.

An Ember Day is set aside for voluntary prayer and fasting. In the Archdiocese of Portland, Ember Days are observed during Advent, Lent and in September.

Archbishop John Vlazny reinstituted Ember Days here in 2002 as days of prayer and fasting for victims of child sexual abuse.

OCEAN CITY (MD)
The Dispatch

By Shawn J. Soper, News Editor
Originally published February 26, 2010

OCEAN CITY – A former Catholic priest charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse and assault on a minor in Ocean City is behind bars in Snow Hill this week after finally being extradited to Worcester County from North Carolina.

The Ocean City Police Department last year received a complaint about the sexual abuse of a minor. The alleged incidents were to have taken place in Ocean City between 1977 and 1983 and involved a former priest, later identified as Michael Lowell Barnes, 64, of Haywood County, N.C. At the time of the alleged abuse, the victim was a minor child.

Police began investigating the alleged pattern of sexual abuse on the minor dating back over 30 years and obtained an arrest warrant for Barnes. In early October, local detectives, in cooperation with the Maggie Valley, N.C. Police Department, located and arrested Barnes in North Carolina. According to police reports at the time, Barnes was taken into custody and held in a North Carolina jail on a $400,000 bond pending extradition to Worcester County to face charges related to the alleged incident.

GREECE
Kathimerini

An Athens court yesterday imposed heavy jail terms, ranging from 18 to 56 years, on four people found guilty of brutal sexual exploitation of minors. The four included a woman from Ilion, western Athens, who forced her three underage children to work as sex slaves two years ago.

The mother of three was sentenced to 37 years in jail for making her daughter, then aged 11, and her two sons, then aged 8 and 9, have sex with clients. The latter included a 63-year-old priest and an 83-year-old pensioner, who were sentenced to 24-year and 56-year terms respectively.

CAMDEN (NJ)
Catholic Star Herald

The Diocese of Camden has permanently removed retired priest Father Brendan V. Sullivan from ministry following a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.

The allegation was made to the diocese by an adult male who said Sullivan abused him in 1981 when he was 14 years-old.

Father Sullivan, 75, was permanently removed from ministry on February 23 and he may no longer function or present himself as a priest, a process called for in the “Essential Norms for Diocesan Policies Dealing with Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests or Deacons.” The Norms were approved by the U.S. bishops in 2002.

TEXAS
Austin American-Statesman

By Eric Dexheimer | Thursday, February 25, 2010

Attorneys for Prakashanand Saraswati, the Hindu leader who stands accused of groping two under-aged girls in the 1990s, have asked for another delay in the holy man’s trial in Hays County.

If District Court Judge Charles Ramsay grants the request, the trial, now scheduled for early April, likely won’t be heard until the end of the summer — nearly two and a half years after Prakashanand was arrested.

According to court documents filed last week, the founder and spiritual leader of Barsana Dham, the 200-acre ashram south of Austin, has been spending most of his time in India, where, the filings say, he underwent surgery on his lower back. A note from Dr. S.S. Kale of the All India Institute of Medical Science described the January operation as “serious” and said it took five hours to complete.

CANADA
Western Catholic Reporter

DEBORAH GYAPONG
CANADIAN CATHOLIC NEWS
OTTAWA - Bishop Raymond Lahey's trial on charges of possessing and importing child pornography has been set for the spring of 2011.

The trial will begin April 26, 2011 and run until May 6, Assistant Crown Attorney David Elhadad said in an interview.

The former bishop of Antigonish, N.S., is not expected to appear in an Ottawa court until his trial starts in more than a year's time.

ITALY
Liguria Oggi

Savona – Don Luciano Massaferro resta ancora in carcere. Il parroco di Alassio, accusato di violenza sessuale ai danni di una bambina di 14 anni della parrocchia, ha visto respinta, per la seconda volta, la richiesta di scarcerazione presentata ai giudici che seguono il suo caso.
Gli avvocati della difesa hanno richiesto che il sacerdote possa attendere gli esiti delle indagini agli arresti domiciliari ma il gip, ancora una volta, ha ritenuto preferifibile la custodia in carcere per evitare il ripetersi del reato ma anche per la possibilità di inquinamento delle prove.

[summary]

Father Luciano Massaferro remains in prison. A court has rejected for a second time his request for release. He is charged with abusing a 14-year-old girl in his parish at Alassio. Defense attorneys asked that the priest be placed under house arrest pending trial but the investigating judge once again ordered incarceration to avoid repetition of the crime and possibility of tampering with evidence.

SPAIN
The Huffington Post

Samuel Martin Martin, a 27-year-old Spanish priest, has been thrown out of the Church after it emerged he spent up to $23,000 of church money on a sex addiction and advertised himself as a male prostitute.

The priest spent the money, some of which had been collected in a drive for Haiti, on sex chat lines, internet porn sites and prostitutes over the year he was a priest at two parishes in the small towns Totanes and Noez. He apologized to parishioners during a recent mass and asked for forgiveness.

Martin had also posted adverts online offering himself as a prostitute.

"Heterosexual man for women and couples. Real photos. Well hung (15cm) to give you pleasure and happiness," he wrote. "I am open to everything except sadism. Hotels and private addresses. 24 hours. You won't regret it, I will give you pleasure like never before."

GERMANY/UNITED STATES
Voice from the Desert

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell)

We respectfully but firmly disagree with German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger who apparently calls for “a round table of representatives of the government, the church and victims” (according to Der Spiegel). Devastating, horrific child sex crimes have taken place and deliberate, callous cover ups are still taking place. Catholic officials aren’t well-intentioned men who just happen to have genuine differences of opinions from most of the rest of society. They have behaved, and are behaving, like criminals. The answer isn’t “round table” discussions; it’s vigorous governmental intervention and investigation and prosecution of powerful but corrupt wrong-doers.

Such a panel, Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger says, would be “a good way to give the Catholic Church an opportunity to enter into conversations with the victims over voluntary compensation.” Again, we disagree. For decades, the church hierarchy has had ample opportunity to “enter into conversations” with victims and provide “voluntary compensation.” That has rarely happened, in Germany or elsewhere. There must be pressure – public, parishioner, and governmental – to force the timid, self-serving monarchs of the church to do what’s right.

GERMANY
Badische Zeitung

Der Vatikan und seine Haltung zum sexuellen Missbrauch: 1962 und 2001 erließ Rom zwei Texte, hinter deren unklarer Sprache Kritiker heute noch geltende Vertuschungsstrategien erblicken.

[summary]

Between 1962 and 2001 the Vatican adopted two texts. One is Crimen Sollicitationis (The crime of solicitation), the forerunner of the modern document that was published in 1962 under Pope John XXIII. The second text concerns the Motu Proprio De Delictis gravioribus (about serious crime) that was published under Pope John Paul II and in 2001 replaced Crimen Sollicitationis.

Both texts can explain that investigation and prosecution of sexual abuse against minors is the sole responsibility of the Vatican. In addition. the documents require secrecy or silence. The Roman line was therefore to prevent state law enforcement from being notified and to retain silence. De Delictis graviorbus was the work of former Cardinal Jospeh Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

In fact, the two documents clarify that these cases of abuse must always be within the jurisdiction of Rome.

The 1962 document places sexual abuse within the context of confession. A violation of the confessional by a priest moves automatically to his excommunication. The victims had to swear an oath to keep silent about the church procedure.

The 2001 document De Delictis gravioribus, which is the work of the current pope, maintains the highest level of secrecy. The document does not specify excommunication for breaking secrecy but an appropriate penalty is mentioned.

GERMANY
News 24

2010-02-25 19:55

Freiburg - The Catholic Church in Germany said on Thursday it was setting up a telephone hotline for victims of sexual abuse by church staff members and would create a national office to review a rash of recent claims.

Bishops meeting in the southern city of Freiburg said they would drop the current arrangement where each of the 27 dioceses reviews complaints, and appoint Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier to manage all complaints nationwide.

Apart from a flurry of allegations that led to a set of guidelines in 2002, the 27-million-member Catholic Church in Germany had previously escaped the controversy over abuse that has strained the church in the United States and Ireland.

ISRAEL
The JC

The main story which roiled Israel last week is not, in itself, an important one. It involved one rabbi whose private life did not quite measure up to the standards he was preaching in public. He is not the first and is probably not the last.

Rabbi Moti Elon will never be able to regain his status as the promising next leader of the religious Zionist faction after it was revealed that he was engaged in sexual misconduct with young men asking him for advice.

Those who still refuse to believe - and some followers of this charismatic, bright, original, magnetic rabbi still refuse to believe - should be forgiven for their lack of imagination. Eventually, for most people, the truth will sink in. They will be forced into accepting that the members of Takana, the rabbinical voluntary organisation exposing Rabbi Elon's misconduct, had proof and solid evidence.

IRELAND
Mayo Advertiser

By Toni Bourke

The Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, has told the priests of the diocese that Pope Benedict asked for the forgiveness of the clerical sex abuse victims during a meeting with Irish bishops on February 15.

“The sense of pain, betrayal and anger expressed by victims was conveyed by the bishops. Scandal and shame was acknowledged by all who participated. A wide range of areas was covered in the discussion,” Archbishop Neary said in his letter to priests.

“Central to the visit was the outreach to survivors and the desire to accompany them in their pain and help them find hope,” explained Archbishop Neary. He said the contributing causes to what had taken place and the lessons to be learned for the future were underlined.

GERMANY
Washington Post

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER
The Associated Press
Thursday, February 25, 2010; 11:05 AM

BERLIN -- German prosecutors have opened investigations into allegations of sexual abuse at two Roman Catholic schools - the first legal action since reports of priests abusing students surfaced in January.

Senior prosecutor Andrea Titz in Munich is investigating claims of abuse against a member of a Benedictine-run boarding school in Ettal, Bavaria, her office said in a statement Thursday.

Barnabas Boegle, the abbot of the Ettal Monastery, which runs the school, stepped down Wednesday after eight former students said they had been abused by school priests in the 1950s, 70s and 80s.

GERMANY
Earth Times

Freiburg, Germany - The Catholic Church in Germany said Thursday it was setting up a telephone hotline for victims of sexual abuse by church staff and would create a national office to review a rash of recent claims. Bishops meeting in the southern city of Freiburg said they would drop the current arrangement where each of the 27 dioceses reviews complaints, and appoint Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier to manage all complaints nationwide.

Apart from a flurry of allegations that led to a set of guidelines in 2002, the 27-million-member Catholic Church in Germany had previously escaped the controversy over abuse that has strained the church in the United States and Ireland.

But last month more than 100 people told a church-appointed lawyer they had suffered sexual molestation while pupils from the 1960s to 1980s at schools in Germany run by the Jesuit order of priests. That prompted more revelations.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Gay News

The Rev. Thomas Doyle, who was famously released from his position with the Vatican embassy in Washington, D.C., after penning a report on the prevalence of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, will lead a local discussion on the future of the church.

Doyle will speak on behalf of the American Catholic Council, which seeks to foster a more accepting and affirming environment within the Catholic Church, at 7:30 p.m. March 9 at Chestnut Hill College, 9601 Germantown Ave., in the Social Room of Fourneir Hall.

The event is free, but goodwill offerings will be accepted.

ISRAEL
The Awareness Center

Rabbi Elior Chen, who fled to Canada shortly after one of his followers was charged with systematic child abuse including burning her toddlers, making them eat feces, and putting them in a suitcase for days. Chen was not charged with anything, but fled as news reports of the Jerusalem mother's detention were circulated, and it appeared she had committed the abuse following instructions from him on child disciplining techniques.

Chen is also accused of cult like practices.

ISRAEL
YNet News

Published: 02.25.10, 17:08 / Israel News

The Public Defender's Office has notified the Jerusalem District Court that it objects to the appointment of one of its attorneys to represent "abusive rabbi" Elior Chen. This, following Justice Yoram Noam's decision of dismissing attorney Ariel Atari, who formerly represented Chen.

AUSTRALIA
Episcopal Cafe

The Traditional Anglican Church has been severely criticized by an Australian judge who says he is "astonished" the church allowed Wilfred Edwin Dennis to re-enter the priesthood and commit sexual child abuse "strikingly similar" to crimes for which he was convicted in the 1970s.

More:

During his trial, the court heard Dennis had told the Archbishop of the Traditional Anglican Communion - a splinter group from the Anglican Church - that he had molested "more than 40" boys during his priesthood with the Anglican Church.

Dennis has appealed the conviction.

CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Press Release Services

CHICAGO (WBBM) — A former teacher at Mother McAuley High School in Chicago has been accused of sexual abuse in a civil lawsuit. The alleged victim: a 22-year-old suburban woman who says she was abused when she was a teenager.

With her face shielded from the cameras, the young woman told reporters why she is filing a lawsuit against the man she says is twice her age – the former teacher at a Chicago Roman Catholic high school who she says abused her when she was a minor.

“Because it’s slowly ruined my life. I’ve lost my self-worth and everything. And I don’t want this to happen to anyone else. I want to stop it from happening to anyone else.”

GERMANY
Vatican Radio

25.02.2010: Erklärung der Frühjahrs-Vollversammlung der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz

Enthüllungen sexuellen Missbrauchs Minderjähriger durch Geistliche und Mitarbeiter der Kirche erschüttern uns in diesen Tagen. Wir Bischöfe stellen uns unserer Verantwortung. Wir verurteilen die Verbrechen, die Ordensleute sowie Priester und Mitarbeiter unserer Bistümer begangen haben. Beschämt und schockiert bitten wir alle um Entschuldigung und Vergebung, die Opfer dieser abscheulichen Taten geworden sind.

[summary]

25.02.2010: Statement of the Spring General Assembly of the German Bishops' Conference

The bishops condemn the crimes of men and women religious and priests against people of our dioceses. We are shamed and shocked and ask all to forgive.

1. To uncover the truth

Sexual abuse of young people often inflicts a lifetime of painful wounds and teachers and educators have profoundly betrayed the trust of young people. They violate the privacy of young people instead of protecting them. The incidents become more serious when the perpetrator is a priest because a special closeness that binds human beings with a spiritual advisor. We want an honest education, free from false consideration, even when reported incidents go back a long time. The victims have a right to it.

2. The guidelines to evaluate

We are not at the beginning of dealing with such misconduct even if we have underestimate the extent of it until now. Eight years ago, we developed the Guidelines on how to proceed in cases of sexual abuse of minors by priests. They apply in all dioceses. The guidelines prevent concealment and obfuscation and the guidelines say the victims and their families should have human, therapeutic and pastoral support which is customized to each person. There is a contact person in each diocese that people can contact in case of suspicion or with questions. We will find out whether this can be improved or whether their work should be supplemented. We asked some leaders in the human resources area to review the assistance. They expect to hear proposals by mid-summer.

3. Strengthen prevention

We urge the comunities and particularly leaders in our schools and youth to cultivate a "culture of looking carefully." We support a pedagogy that is committed to strengthening the personality of each child and young person. In Germany, there are many initiatives in civil society and state institutions to combat sexual violence against children and adolescents. They help to strengthen awareness and prevetion. We want to learn from them and seek a prompt conversation to be clearer on what the church can do in its own area to prevent child abuse. The bishops will also hold talks with victims.

The celibacy of our priests, as our experts confirm, is not responsible for the crime of sexual abuse. A celibate life is for those who have the necessary human and emotional maturity. Prevention plans will include appropriate and careful training of future priests.

4. Locate responsibility

The Bishop of Trier, Stephan A. Ackermann, is now a special agent of the bishops' conference for all matters concerning sexual abuse of minors in the church. A support office will be set up in the secretariat of the bishops' conference. It will expand the cooperation between the dioceses in all relevant questions and provide connection with initiatives of civil society. We will also run a nationwide hotline for information on issues of sexual abuse of minors in the church.

GERMANY
domradio

Eine Verharmlosung oder ein Vertuschen dürfe es in Sachen Kindesmissbrauch nicht geben, sagt der Trierer Bischof Stephan Ackermann. Und: „Für diesbezügliche Fehler in der Vergangenheit können wir uns nur entschuldigen.“ In seinem neuen Amt wird Ackermann diesen klaren Worten nun Taten folgen lassen können.

[summary]

Child sexual abuse should not be triviliazed or covered-up, said Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier. "For related errors in the past, we can only apologized," he said. In his new post, Ackermann will be able to make these words into deeds.

The chief shepherd of Trier was made contact person for all issues concerned sexual abuse of minors in church. The action came at the end of the spring session of the German Bishops' Conference. A new central office is being set up at the Secretariat of the Bishops' Conference in Boston. The cooperation between dioceses and religious orders should be expanded. Ackermann said the office will also keep in touch with civil society initiatives and govrnment activities. The church will also set up a nationwide telephone hotline.

At age 46, Ackermann is the second youngest among the diocesan bishops. He has headed the Trier diocese since mid-May last year.

The crisis became known in his own diocese a few days ago. A chaplain abused a young person in Gerolstein in the early 1960s. The abuse was reported to the diocese years ago but no action was taken. For his own attitude, Ackermann made no bones about it. The church must first and foremost always remember to protect the victims.

GERMANY
Bistum Trier (Trier Diocese)

Trier/Freiburg – Der Bischof von Trier, Dr. Stephan Ackermann (46), ist ab sofort besonderer Beauftragter der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz für alle Fragen im Zusammenhang des sexuellen Missbrauchs Minderjähriger im kirchlichen Bereich. Das hat der Vorsitzende der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, Erzbischof Dr. Robert Zollitsch, am 25.

[summary]

Bishop Stephan Ackermann, 46, of Trier is now the special agent of the Germany Bishops' Conference for all matters related to sexual abuse of minors in the church. Announcement was made at the end of the bishops general assembly by Archbishop Robert Zollitsch.

Bishop Ackermann is scheduled to hold a press conference Friday to discuss his new role. He will be assisted by an office to be set up in the secretariat of the bishops conference. The archbishop said there will be cooperation between the diocese in all relevant questions and to ensure connection between the church and civil authorities. They also plan a nationwide hotline for information of issues relating to sexual abuse of minors in the church.

SPAIN
Telegraph (United Kingdom)

By Fiona Govan in Madrid

A Spanish priest has been sacked after it emerged he advertised himself as a male prostitute on the internet and spent church funds on telephone sex and internet pornography.

Samuel Martin Martin, 27, the priest of two small parishes in the central province of Toledo, posted images of himself posing in grey underpants and said he was available for sex sessions with women and couples for 120 euros an hour.

Calling himself Hector, the priest described himself in an online advertisement as: "Heterosexual man for women and couples. Real photos. Well hung (15cm) to give you pleasure and happiness."

The scandal has made headlines across Catholic Spain where newspapers reprinted the photo and text from the advertisement. "I am open to everything except sadism. Hotels and private addresses. 24 hours. You won't regret it, I will give you pleasure like never before," it said.

SPAIN
The Register (United Kingdom)

By Lester Haines

A Spanish priest who spunked €17k of church funds on sex chat lines, internet porn sites and prostitutes has unsurprisingly been given his marching orders.

Samuel Martin Martin, 27, racked up some impressive expenditure during his one year-tenure as spiritual shepherd to the villages of Totanes and Noez, in Toledo. As well as relieving pious parishioners of their hard-earned cash - including that from a whip-round in aid of Haiti, according to one flabbergasted local interviewed last night on Spanish telly - Martin also offered his sexual services online at €120 a pop.

ISRAEL
Haaretz

By Neri Livneh

Dr. Hana Kehat began her fight against sexual harassment within Israel's religious sector even before initiating the Takana forum, from which she has now resigned in the wake of the Rabbi Mordechai Elon affair. Kehat is a founder and board member of Kolech - a feminist, religious Zionist movement established more than 20 years ago which aims to achieve equality for women within the religious community.

Kehat, a lecturer in Bible and Israeli thought, started taking on sexual harassment at Kolech, where she exposed how such harassment on the part of Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen, head of the women's religious college at Bar-Ilan University, had been handled. The affair nearly led to her firing from Orot College by its director, Rabbi Neria Guttel, and demonstrated the great need to establish the Takana forum. Kolech put pressure on Bar-Ilan; as a result the university set up an investigatory committee headed by Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, today one of Takana's leaders.

Kehat's resignation from Takana, along with other members of Kolech from the forum they created, was carried out in protest against how the Elon case has been treated - with a lack of transparency - which resulted in the women being excluded from its handling.

AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

A Catholic educationist in New South Wales, Mr Peter John Ryan. 67, appeared in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday 25 February 2010, charged with sexual offences allegedly committed against a young male student in Bathurst NSW in 1977.

The case was prepared by detectives from Strike Force Belle, who are investigating certain matters involving St Stanislaus College in Bathurst.

St Stanislaus College is operated by the Catholic order of Vincentian Priests and Brothers, and it is believed that Mr Ryan was once connected with this order. However, he separated from the Vincentians many years ago, and has most recently worked (as a lay person) in the Catholic school system in the Parramatta Catholic diocese which covers Sydney's outer-western suburbs.

APPLETON (WI)
Fox 11

APPLETON - Todd and Troy Merryfield have filed an amended complaint against the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay in their fraud lawsuit.

Two weeks ago, a judge ruled the Merryfields can seek punitive damages for what they believe was an intentional cover-up of abuse by the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay. The revised pleadings are a restating of the previous claims with the request for punitive damages added.

In 2004, former priest John Patrick Feeney was convicted of sexually assaulting the brothers in 1978, when they were teenagers. He is serving a 15-year prison sentence.

TEXAS
The Lariat

Claire Taylor | Lariat Staff

Nearly four years after he killed his wife, Matt Baker, former Baptist pastor, was finally convicted and sentenced to 65 years in prison last month.

Baker drugged and suffocated his wife, Kari Baker, then made it look like suicide. It was only after his former mistress testified before the court, admitting her four-month affair with Matt and her knowledge of Kari's murder, that Matt was charged with her death.

Families shouldn't be forced to live with the uncertainty Kari's parents were left with for years after their daughter's death. If an autopsy had been performed on Kari's body in the first place, the truth of this case could have been revealed much sooner.

UNITED STATES
Healing and Spirituality

February 25, 2010

Dr. Jaime Romo

I first met Jeannie years ago at a SNAP conference. I continue to appreciate her wisdom, honesty, transformation and joy.

JR: Thank you for participating in this interview. I experience you as a nurturer or guide in various kinds of survivor healing efforts: the Farm, SNAP, and individual support. How would you describe your kind of advocacy?

JW: Back in the early 90’s, Jaime, when everything ‘hit the fan’ for me, I was overwhelmed with memories of the abuse. They didn’t seem ‘real’ – I felt totally out of control of my life and yes, crazy, for lack of a better word. I started hearing about other people with similar experiences. I started reaching out – I jumped into the advocacy movement of exposing the crimes of the church without much focus on my personal journey towards healing. I researched priest’s assignments through the church directories for people all over the country; I worked with a reporter to expose the issues locally; supported other survivors… It took quite awhile and painful insight to realize that in my personal journey, I was using all the activity to keep one step ahead of my-self and outrun, so to speak, the work I had to do to reclaim my life and really heal my soul.

AUSTRALIA
Earth Times

Sydney - British children shipped to Australia from 1947-67 gathered as adults Thursday to receive an apology from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for what he called the "deportation of innocent lives."The formal apology, to a group of 150,000 children ages 3 to 14 who sometimes refer to themselves as the Orphans of Empire, was delivered by Brown to the House of Commons Wednesday in London and is being relayed at British missions in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Zimbabwe, which was then called Rhodesia.

Brought up in orphanages where neglect, brutality and even sexual abuse were commonplace, child migrants to Australia received a formal apology last year in the Canberra Parliament.

As many as 10,000 children that Britain didn't want because they were born to single mothers or into poor homes were shipped to Australia as "good, white stock."

IRELAND
Irish Central

By John Spain

The picture of the Irish bishops gathered in conclave with the Pope in the Vatican just over a week ago summed up what is wrong with the Catholic Church, not just in Ireland but in Rome as well.

There they all were, a large group of elderly male celibates in white dresses smiling grimly for the cameras before they began their two-day discussion on sexuality and abuse.

What's wrong with the picture? Well, for a start there's not a woman in sight.

Nor are there any psychoanalysts or psychiatrists or psychologists or even an alternative therapist or two. Nor are there any ordinary adults who might be able to offer a real opinion on sexuality, speaking from the experience of a normal, well-adjusted person with an active sex life.

PITTSBURGH (PA)
GetReligion

Posted by tmatt

Semester after semester, I tell my students at the Washington Journalism Center that some of the hardest news stories to cover — period — are personnel disputes inside private colleges and universities. The simple fact of the matter is that the administrations on these campuses do not have to talk about the proceedings in these cases and, often, they cannot talk about the facts of these cases because of valid legal concerns about privacy.

In many cases, academic doors are closed for a reason.

But these stories often break out into the open anyway, because students hear gossip on campus or popular faculty members suddenly resign or simply vanish. And then there are the cases that get linked to alleged violations of laws — laws in heaven or on earth (or both). As you would imagine, these stories are especially complex on traditional religious campuses.

This brings me to a recent story by veteran scribe Ann Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It’s one of those worst-case-scenario cases that I’m talking about. Here’s the top of the story:

As Vatican officials consider whether a popular Benedictine monk may return to ministry after pornography was found on his computer, some students at St. Vincent College are rallying to support him, arguing that the case against him is flawed.

APPLETON (WI)
The Post-Crescent

APPLETON — Two sexual assault victims suing the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay will be able to pursue punitive damages as part of their case.

Attorneys for brothers Troy J. and Todd D. Merryfield, formerly of Freedom, filed a third amended civil complaint in the Outagamie County case this week. The new complaint added a punitive damage claim after Judge Nancy Krueger’s Feb. 12 ruling that allowed it.

Punitive damages are awards added beyond actual damages as a means to punish a defendant in cases of misconduct.

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

February 25, 2010

A judge says it is astonishing that an Anglican priest was allowed to return to the ministry after being jailed for sexually abusing an altar boy.

The former priest now faces another jail term for a "strikingly similar" offence involving another altar boy, South Australian District Court Judge Sydney Tilmouth said on Thursday.

Wilfred Edwin Dennis, now aged 74, was jailed in 1970 for six months for indecently assaulting an altar boy.

SCRANTON (PA)
The Times-Tribune

by laura legere (staff writer)
Published: February 24, 2010

Catholics looking for signs of Bishop-elect Joseph Bambera's readiness to lead the Diocese of Scranton could see it on the chain he wore drawn across his chest on Tuesday.

It was attached to a pectoral cross - an adornment in the Roman Catholic tradition that can be worn by bishops-elect but is generally worn only by ordained bishops. It was tucked into a pocket above his heart during his first public appearance as the future ordinary.

Observers and colleagues read it as a signal of the Vatican's confidence in the bishop-elect, who is expected to begin tackling the challenges facing the diocese even before his installation two months away.

WASHINGTON
Voice from the Desert

Statement by Peter Isely of Milwaukee, national board member of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests)

We’re grateful though not surprised by this ruling. As clergy sex crimes and cover ups slowly fade from the media spotlight, we’ve seen more church officials and church lawyers being more harsh and mean-spirited toward victims and their supporters. It’s hard for bishops, who sit atop ancient, rigid monarchies, to accept that there are limits to their powers and that secular authorities and procedures must be followed, even if the outcome doesn’t please the bishop.

We hope this decision will remind Catholic officials that if they can’t control their anger and fight victims excessively, once in a while their tactics will be exposed and their excesses will be punished.

We urge anyone who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups to call police, get help, expose predators, protect kids and start healing. We especially urge victims and witnesses in and around Spokane to come forward, in part to show Catholic officials that their threats and hardball legal maneuvers will not keep brave but wounded victims trapped in silence, shame and self-blame.

MARYLAND
Baltimore Sun

By Julie Bykowicz | julie.bykowicz@baltsun.com

February 24, 2010

Almost every aspect of Maryland's sex offender laws is receiving scrutiny this year as state lawmakers respond to the December killing of 11-year-old Sarah Foxwell on the Eastern Shore at the hands, authorities believe, of a registered child sex offender.

On Tuesday, a panel of delegates reviewed 30 proposals, including a contentious plan backed by Gov. Martin O'Malley that would add juveniles to the state sex offender registry.

Opponents said such a change would unfairly stigmatize young people who are often abuse victims themselves. The same measure would require more information of homeless registrants, something lawmakers have previously rejected.

WASHINGTON
Catholic Culture

February 24, 2010

A federal judge in the state of Washington has found the Spokane diocese and its attorneys in contempt of court for threatening to sue a bankruptcy trustee. The Spokane diocese had agreed to a bankruptcy settlement that specified payments to certain victims of sexual abuse, but the 2007 agreement did not spell out the handling of future abuse complaints. When the bankruptcy trustee, Gloria Nagler, approved payments to some new victims, the diocesan attorney threatened to file suit against Nagler.

ISRAEL
YNet News

Published: 02.24.10, 12:58 / Israel News

The Knesset plenum passed a preliminary reading of two bills stipulating that offers or treatment of a sexual nature suggested by religious or spiritual instructors to their students be considered sexual harassment. This also would apply if the recipient does not expressly decline the offer. The bills were initiated by MK Zevulun Orlev (Habayit Hayehudi) and MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima).

ISRAEL
YNet News

Aviad Glickman Latest Update: 02.24.10, 21:20 / Israel News

Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish on Wednesday bid farewell warmly to former Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and welcomed his replacement, Yehuda Weinstein.

Speaking in an event at the Jerusalem International Convention Center, Beinish expressed her hopes that Weinstein would deal with the challenges facing him as his predecessors had done.

During the event, Mazuz referred for the first time to the sexual harassment complaints filed against Rabbi Mordechai Elon. He said that the question whether to launch a criminal investigation against the rabbi was not on the agenda during his tenure.

ISRAEL
YNet News

Amnon Meranda Published: 02.24.10, 13:57 / Israel News

The Knesset plenum on Wednesday passed two similar bills in a preliminary reading stipulating that offers or treatment of a sexual nature suggested by religious or spiritual instructors to their students be considered sexual harassment. This also would apply if the recipient does not expressly decline the offer.

The explanation of the bill initiated by Knesset Member Zevulun Orlev (Habayit Hayehudi) expounded, "The bill for preventing sexual harassment defines the circumstances in which sexual offers or treatment focusing on the sexuality of the person be within the bounds of sexual harassment, even if the victim does not display to the harasser that he is not interested in the offers or treatment being put forth by the harasser.

"This refers to circumstances in which there is a relationship of authority or dependence between the harasser and the victim: in the framework of an educational framework (when referring to a minor or helpless person), attendant-patient relations, employer-employee relations, or service providers.

IRELAND
Colm O'Gorman

Has it struck anyone else as obscene that in their rush to rationalise the abject failure of the Pope to properly address the deliberate cover up of the rape and abuse of children by Roman Catholic Priests, Irish Bishops seem to be suggesting that victims must be patient and wait for the Vatican’s grand design for our healing to be revealed?

In a letter from Bishop of Ferns Dr Denis Brennan which was read at masses in the Diocese, Dr Brennan asserted that the visit by Bishops was only one part of a process designed to bring healing to victims.

Well excuse me, but since when did those who were responsible for the cover up of abuse and its resultant trauma get to dictate or design the healing process for victims?

SAGINAW (MI)
Catholic Culture

February 24, 2010

A former maintenace worker at the cathedral in Saginaw, Michigan, is alleging that he was sexually assaulted last July by a deacon.

The deacon, who in turn alleged that the maintenance worker had sexually assaulted him, has left the diocese and was not named in local media coverage. In November, Father James Bessert, the cathedral rector, resigned unexpectedly for health reasons.

SAGINAW (MI)
WJRT

[with video]

Terry Camp

SAGINAW (WJRT) -- (02/23/10)--The parishioners at a Catholic Church in Saginaw were surprised this fall when its priest suddenly resigned.

But an incident that took place in the church's rectory may have had something to do with that resignation, along with a Deacon leaving the diocese.

Another church employee tied to the incident no longer works for the diocese as well. He believes the diocese retaliated against him for claiming he was sexually assaulted.

FAIRFIELD (CT)
New Haven Advocate

By Sean Corbett

Long before the earthquake, Fairfield University graduate Doug Perlitz was in Haiti working as a missionary. By 2008, he had received close to $3.5 million for his efforts through the Haiti Fund of Project Pierre Toussaint (PPT), an organization he founded in 1997 to help Haitian orphans.

Then last September, Perlitz was indicted by a grand jury for sexually abusing at least nine children while in Haiti. The indictment states Perlitz gave street children food, alcohol, money, toys and other gifts for sexual favors. He's now awaiting trial in a Bridgeport jail.

Perlitz, a member of the class of 1992, kept close ties with Fairfield U. In 2002, he gave the university's commencement speech and was awarded an honorary degree. Father Paul Carrier, who was then Fairfield's director of Campus Ministry, also served as the chairman of the board of directors for the Haiti Fund.

GERMANY
Der Spiegel

Over the weekend, the head of the Protestant church in Germany was caught drunk driving. While German commentators condemned Margot Kässmann's actions, most did not feel that she should lose her job. Nevertheless on Wednesday it became clear that the bishop felt her position was untenable.

The head of the Protestant church in Germany, Bishop Margot Kässmann, has announced her resignation. Her decision to step down came after she was caught driving with three times the legal blood alcohol limit on Saturday night in Hanover.

Kässmann, the first woman to lead Germany's 25 million Protestants, addressed reporters on Wednesday afternoon. Just six minutes into the press conference she made it clear that she felt her position was untenable following the news that she had been stopped by police after driving through a red light.

IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

By Sharon Owens
Wednesday, 24 February 2010

When I was a young Catholic child in the 1970s, I was brought up to reject the British Royal family and everything it stood for: the class system, primogeniture, social elitism, the pomp and ceremony, the ritual, and the obscene wealth and privilege.

Well, guess what? I saw it all a few days ago when the Irish bishops were lining up in grand robes to kiss the hand of Pope Benedict. Yes, the Vatican surely leaves the House of Windsor in the halfpenny place when it comes to elitism, pomp and ceremony. I could have wept with frustration - except I never expected a full and frank apology from Pope Benedict. I wasn't expecting an admission of guilt either, because such a statement might open the floodgates of litigation. And I'm sure the Vatican doesn't want to lose any more money to the abuse survivors than it already has.

IRELAND
The Irish Times

OPINION: Should philosophy replace religion in Irish schools? asks MICHAEL CRONIN

DAVY RESEARCH concluded in a recent report that investment in education must remain a salient priority for Ireland. The question, of course, is what kind of education, and the answer is usually more science and mathematics. But in a period that has seen Irish bishops travel to Rome to account for the instances of abuse detailed in the Ryan and Murphy reports, the answer to the question of what might be a more desirable education for Irish children arguably lies in a more unexpected quarter – philosophy.

The past five years have revealed much that is rotten in public life, whether it be financial malpractice in banking (Ansbacher), planning corruption (Mahon tribunal), or child sexual abuse in institutions answerable to the majority church in the State. A constant in the repeated breaches of trust and violation of civil and moral laws is apparent abandonment of norms of ethical behaviour.

IRELAND
Longford Leader

Published Date:
26 February 2010
By Liam Cosgrove
A Co Longford clerical abuse survivor has described the furore surrounding the Pope's two-day Vatican summit with Irish Bishops last week as "part of the course" and questioned many support groups' growing clamour for a public apology.

Jim Flood, who like hundreds of others endured decades of abuse at the hands of paedophile priests at industrial schools up and down the country, expressed his surprise at the uproar which has since been aimed at Pope Benedict XVI and senior Irish clerics upon their return home.

A former attendee of Ferryhouse Industrial School on the outskirts of Clonmel for almost five years during the late 1950s and early 1960s, Mr Flood said other abuse survivors were simply expecting too much too soon from the Pontiff and his team of advisers.

IRELAND
Longford Leader

Published Date:
26 February 2010
By Liam Cosgrove
Bishop Colm O'Reilly has said he was not "overly surprised" by the wave of negative sentiment that gripped the region following the Rome summit.

In a frank and open appraisal of the 48 hour think-in with the Pope and his 23 fellow bishops, the Colmcille cleric said his sole focus throughout his visit was to address the concerns of his diocese back home.

He said the talks which were held behind closed doors dealt with a lot of the issues that were still outstanding despite claims many critics have since made to the contrary.

AUSTRIA
Austrian Independent

The Roman Catholic Graz-Seckau diocese has today (Weds) revealed how a former victim of sexual abuse by priests tried to blackmail them for one million Euros.

The dioceses made the statement when it confirmed reports about a case of sexual abuse of boys by a priest in the 1970s as reported by the newspaper Kleine Zeitung.

The newspaper quoted the now 46-year-old victim in today’s edition as saying the priest had abused him sexually in a meadow and he knew of 10 other victims. He said he had kept silent for so long since his parents and the other victims had refused to support him.

AUSTRIA
Kleine Zeitung

Auch in der Steiermark hat sich ein Opfer von Kindesmissbrauch durch einen Pfarrer gemeldet. Ein Zeuge spricht von mindestens zehn weiteren Opfern in den 70er-Jahren.

[summary]

A victim of child abuse by a priest has been reported in Styria. One witness spoke of at least 10 other victims as far back as the 1970s. The victims were boys and most from poor families. Klaus F., now 46 and a technician in Leoben, talked about what happened to him during childhood in a small Upper Styrian town. It is a story of massive sexual abuse by the local pastor. The pastor taught religion at the school. The allegation was confirmed by a credible witness from the region and he knows of at least 10 other victims. The witness wishes to remain anonymous, fearing reprisals from those who would prefer the story to rest. The priest, who was from the Admont, has since died.

The priest invited boys ages 10-14 from the primary school to stay with him at a camp. This is where sexual assaults and beatings occurred. The abbot from the Admont Bruno Hubl monastery confirmed that there was a youth camp at the time on a leased pasture.

GERMANY
SWR

Nach den neuen Missbrauchsvorwürfen im Bistum Trier hat die katholische Kirche möglichen weiteren Opfern Hilfe angeboten. Menschen, die von Priestern oder hauptamtlichen Mitarbeitern der Kirche missbraucht worden seien, sollten sich melden, teilte das Bistum mit.

[summary]

The Trier diocese has offered to help sexual abuse victims since new allegations of abuse by a priest have been made in the area. Those who were abused by priests or full-time church employees should contact the diocese.

It was revealed yesterday that a priest, now 76-years-old, abused children in the diocese. He left the priesthood at his own request. He worked in Gerolstein, Trier-Kurenz and Bettingen.

Monsigner Rainer Scherschel, diocesan representative in sexual abuse cases, said it was a grave mistake that no action was taken previously. The diocese now wants a full explanation of the abuse instances. A former altar boy in the parish of St. Boniface in Trier-Kurenz sent an e-mail last week to Scherschel and he stated he had been abused in the 1960s by the then-chaplain. He said he knew at least five other boys who were also abused by this priest. The diocese studied its records and found an indication a boy was abused in Gerolstein where the priest served from 1962 to 1965. There were no consequences for the priest at the time.

PITTSBURGH (PA)
KDKA

[audio presentation]

Judy Jones of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, talks to Robert about sexual abuse by priests and Rev. Alvin Adams. Adams has been permanently restricted to a supervised ministry as chaplain to a convent

AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

In 1989 a Christian Brother appeared in the Goulburn Local Court in southern New South Wales. He was convicted (and was given a suspended jail sentence) for sexually abusing a boy at St Patrick’s College, Goulburn. This was then a boys-only boarding school, conducted by the Christian Brothers.

The Christian Brothers managed to keep the court case out of the media at the time. Broken Rites learned about the court case four years later, in 2003.

AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

A member of the Catholic order of Christian Brothers, William Stuart Houston, of Melbourne, appeared in the Geelong Magistrates Court in June 1997, on 14 charges involving a boy at St Augustine's orphanage, Geelong, Victoria, in the 1960s. The police investigation had been conducted by the Geelong Criminal Investigation Unit.

After hearing evidence, Magistrate Ron Eggleston ruled that there was enough evidence to proceed with three of the charges. On 17 June 1997, Mr Eggleston ordered that Brother Houston, then aged 58, should stand trial in the Victorian County Court on one charge of buggery and two of indecent assault. Brother Houston (date of birth 18 February 1939) was remanded on bail pending a County Court hearing.

The magistrate’s order was reported in the Melbourne “Herald Sun”, 18 June 1997, page 10, with a photo of William Houston.

However, this trial has not yet been held as the Director of Prosecutions did not wish to fund a single-victim County Court trial in 1997.

AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher

An Australian Catholic priest, Father Hugh Edward Murray, who is facing indecent-assault charges, has applied to have his alleged victims cross-examined during the preliminary stage of a court hearing — as well as in a subsequent trial. However, on 17 February 2010, a Sydney magistrate ruled that a cross-examination (that is, the detailed questioning of witnessses) would be allowed at only one stage — at a trial.

Father Hugh Murray, 79, from Marsfield in Sydney's north, is currently listed for mention-days at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court. These are preliminary proceedings, conducted by a magistrate, who eventually must determine whether or not the magistrate's court should commit Murray to face trial before a judge in a higher court.

AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher

An Australian court has ordered a Catholic priest, Father Murray Alexander Moffat, to face trial over allegedly sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl.

Father Murray Moffat belongs to the Archdiocese of Brisbane, which includes the Brisbane metropolitan area, plus some surrounding regions. He has served in Brisbane parishes for 37 years. Before appearing in court, he was in charge of Mary Mackillop Parish in Birkdale, Brisbane. The archdiocese has said that Moffat is still a priest of the archdiocese and is merely on leave pending the outcome of the court proceedings.

AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher

Marist Brother Ross Francis Murrin was jailed in 2008 and 2010 for child-sex crimes, committed during his teaching career in Australian Catholic schools. There is evidence that his Marist superiors were aware many years ago about his criminal behaviour but they negligently allowed him to continue teaching, thereby endangering more children until the police finally caught up with Murrin in 2007.

AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher

A 54-year-old Australian Catholic priest, Father Robert Fuller, was jailed in Sydney on 24 February 2010 after he admitted seeking a 13-year-old girl, via the internet, for sexual purposes. The incidents occurred recently — in July and August 2009.

Father Fuller used a webcam to show himself masturbating during online chat sessions with somebody who he thought was a 13-year-old girl, a court was told.

BALTIMORE (MD)
Baltimore Sun

By Ben Nuckols
The Associated Press

The former boyfriend of an alleged religious cult leader testified Tuesday that he encouraged the mother of a starving 1-year-old boy to feed the child.

Steven L. Bynum took the stand at the trial of Queen Antoinette, her daughter and another man. The three are accused of denying food and water to toddler Javon Thompson after the boy did not say "Amen" before a meal.

BALTIMORE (MD)
Mirror (United Kingdom)

By Adrian Shaw 24/02/2010

A boy aged one denied food by a cult for not saying "Amen" at meals slowly starved to death, a trial has heard.

The sect leader, who called herself Queen Antoinette, ordered followers not to feed Javon Thompson until he said the blessing, jurors heard. The baby's mum Ria Ramkissoon, part of the 1 Mind Ministries group, did nothing to help the tot as he slipped to a slow and agonising death.

She later bizarrely prayed for his resurrection. Attorney Julie Drake told the hearing in Baltimore, USA: "In full view of every member of that household, Javon wasted away.

MARYLAND
Baltimore Sun

By Tricia Bishop | tricia.bishop@baltsun.com

February 24, 2010

The accused cult leader known as Queen Antoinette, charged with murder in a toddler's starvation death, once tried to prevent another baby from being fed, according to that child's mother, who testified Tuesday that she was manipulated into giving up her maternal duties.

To stay in the religious household run by Queen Antoinette, residents "had to be broken, and you were slightly reprogrammed," said 23-year-old Tiffany Smith. Smith once lived rent-free with several others in the home, which she described as peaceful yet controlling.

Antoinette and two other defendants, all of whom are representing themselves, are charged with orchestrating the death of 16-month-old Javon Thompson by refusing to feed him until he dutifully said "amen."

NEW YORK/BOSTON
New York Daily News

BY Mark Lelinwalla and Michael O'Keeffe
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERS

Wednesday, February 24th 2010

Several former associates of Bob Oliva, including a former major league pitcher who played for the Mets and Yankees, appeared Tuesday before the Boston grand jury reviewing evidence that the retired Christ the King boys basketball coach allegedly sexually abused a player during a trip to Massachusetts more than 30 years ago.

Jimmy Carlino, the former Queens resident who told the Daily News that Oliva molested him for several years during the 1970s, is scheduled to appear before the grand jury Wednesday. Carlino's attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, acknowledged that his client would testify Wednesday but declined further comment.

Michael Doolin, Oliva's lawyer, said he was aware of the grand jury proceedings and said the coach would prevail if an indictment is handed down.

GERMANY
Der Spiegel

The Catholic Church in Germany is under pressure as more and more cases of sexual abuse come to light. Now the government is demanding that the Church take rigorous action to investigate the incidents. By SPIEGEL staff.

For years, Jörg D. was plagued by feelings of shame, insecurity and rage. Finally, on Sept. 17, 2009, he sent the pope a four-page letter describing his plight. "I beg you for help, in whatever form possible," he wrote.

But Benedict XVI remained silent. To this day, Jörg D., now 25, has not received a response, "not even a two-liner, nothing, nothing at all."

Franz-Josef Bode, the bishop of the city of Osnabrück in northwestern Germany, hasn't been much help either. He advised D., a victim of abuse, to "forgive and forget."

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

AAP February 24, 2010

A SYDNEY priest who used a webcam to broadcast himself masturbating to a person he believed was a 13-year-old has told a court it was all part of a fantasy world.

Robert MacGregor Fuller, 54, has pleaded guilty to grooming and procuring a child under the age of 16.

During online chat sessions the priest, who served for some six years at All Saints church in the Sydney suburb of Liverpool, used a webcam to show himself masturbating to a police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl.

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

By Josh Jerga From: AAP February 24, 2010

The vow of celibacy imposed on Catholic clergy is "cruel" and "archaic", a judge has said in jailing a priest for grooming a 13-year-old girl for sex over the internet.

During online chat sessions between July and August last year, Sydney priest Robert MacGregor Fuller used a webcam to show himself masturbating to a police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl.

The 55-year-old pleaded guilty in October to grooming and procuring a child under the age of 16 and today he was sentenced to a maximum of 18 months behind bars.

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

A Sydney judge has condemned the vow of chastity as a "cruel requirement" as he sentenced a Catholic priest to at least six months in jail for grooming a girl for sex.

The parish priest was arrested last August when he went to the Parramatta Stadium car park to meet a person he believed was a 13-year-old girl he had been chatting with for three weeks on the internet.

Father Robert MacGregor Fuller had used a webcam to broadcast himself masturbating to 'Katie', who was in fact an undercover detective.

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Caroline Overington From: The Australian February 25, 2010

A JUDGE has implored the Catholic church to end the "cruel" practice of celibacy for priests, implying it may encourage some priests to commit lewd acts against children.

The suggestion received a sharp rebuke from Catholics, including those breakaway groups that oppose celibacy for Catholic priests, who said there was no evidence that celibacy encouraged criminal behaviour.

Sydney District Court judge Allan Hughes was speaking at the sentencing hearing of Robert MacGregor Fuller, 54, formerly of the All Saints Church in Liverpool, who had pleaded guilty to masturbating in front of a webcam to a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl. It was, in fact, a police officer. Fuller was arrested in a car park, when he went to meet the girl for sex.

IRELAND
Leinster Leader

By Conor McHugh
The resignation of James Moriarty from his position as Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin has yet to be accepted by the Vatican.

It had been thought that the meeting last week with the Pope would see the resignations of the former auxiliary bishops of the Dublin Archdiocese mentioned in the Murphy report, but the Vatican has since explained that the resignations are not a matter for the Pope, but for the Congregation for Bishops.

Bishop Moriarty, in a letter to the Kildare faithful at the weekend, said he believed it would happen before Easter.

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Thirteen cases which needed formal action have been identified following a Church of England review into child abuse in the church.

About 40,000 diocesan files dating back more than 30 years were examined during the investigation.

The review was launched in 2007 following claims the church had covered up abuse dating back decades.

IRELAND
The Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY and PADDY AGNEW

AN IRISH bishop told the pope and senior cardinals in the Vatican last week that the failure of Rome and the papal nunciature in Dublin to respond to correspondence from the Murphy Commission “gave a very bad impression”.

Bishop of Clonfert John Kirby said he also told the Vatican that “for years they did not appreciate the gravity of the problem” of clerical child sex abuse in Ireland.

He said there was a good response to what he said from the cardinals and Vatican officials. “There was recognition that some of the Roman Congregations were not helpful in the past. Canon law is to be updated to take greater account of the problem of clerical child sexual abuse. The obligation to report crimes to the secular state was recognised and will be encouraged,” he said.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Grainne Cunningham

Wednesday February 24 2010

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin last night spoke frankly of the damage sexual abuse of children does to the victims.

He said such abuse was in itself horrendous but was also an attack on the victim's self-esteem which lasted possibly a lifetime.

Dr Martin was speaking to a gathering of young people at the Church of St Therese, Mount Merrion.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Edel Kennedy

Wednesday February 24 2010

THE victims of clerical sexual abuse were "expecting too much" to come out of last week's meeting with the Pope, a bishop has claimed.

However, the Bishop of Clonfert, John Kirby, also acknowledged that the hierarchy in Rome did not appreciate the gravity of the problem of sexual abuse for many years because of an "obligation of secrecy". Dr Kirby said that canon law had to be updated as a result.

Last night, the survivors of abuse accused the Catholic Church of "the usual spin" after hearing the comments.

IRELAND
Waterford Today

The unprecedented visit of 24 Irish bishops to Rome to meet with senior Vatican church representatives and Pope Benedict XVI must have been a chastening experience for the Irish clerics. The extent of the clerical sex abuse scandal in Ireland over decades has sickened the nation and has poisoned the atmosphere between Irish clergy and many Irish Catholics.

The response to reports of the meetings between the Pope, curial cardinals and the Irish bishops must also have dismayed the Irish clergy. Many ordinary Catholics interviewed by press and electronic media were outspoken in their disappointment at what they felt was the lacking of a suitable apology from Rome to the victims of clerical abuse. Spokespersons for victims were equally scathing in their comments, with all of them stating that the lack of an apology by Pope Benedict was extremely hurtful. It was clear from these comments that the victims of clerical sex abuse are still hurting from their experiences and that the healing process has not yet commenced for many of the victims.

SOUTH AFRICA
The Southern Times

Johannesburg - Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg and former bishop Paul Verryn have been criticised for the conditions and exposure to danger of children who found refuge there.

But the church is providing shelter and assistance to youngsters to whom little or no assistance was initially offered by the state, said a child rights lawyer this week.

However, the last few children still residing at the church should be taken into care systems and a planned “reception centre” must be opened as soon as possible to take care of unaccompanied children.

OGDENSBURG (NY)
Watertown Daily Times

TIMES STAFF WRITER
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2010

OGDENSBURG — A national activist group against sexual abuse is upset about the election of the Rev. Terry R. LaValley as the 14th bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg.

David G. Clohessy, national director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, issued a statement saying the Chicago-based group is troubled by the promotion because of Father LaValley's "history of secrecy surrounding child sex crimes."

Father LaValley has been chairman of the Diocesan Review Board, which reviews policy and complaints related to sex abuse, since 2002. During that time, about eight priests have been removed for alleged sexual abuse.

GERMANY
Earth Times

Freiburg, Germany - A row between the German government and the country's Catholic church escalated Wednesday, as a minister who accused the church of failing to cooperate with the police in a child abuse case refused to back down. The row centres on revelations that some church school teachers had abused pupils in more than 100 cases between the 1960s and 1980s.

Justic Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger has accused the church of not showing enough enthusiasm in cooperating with the police inquiry.

That led to the country's most senior archbishop ringing Chancellor Angela Merkel's office to complain about the minister's remarks.

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Leagle

Introduction
Plaintiff Peggy Nicholson (Appellant) appeals the trial court's dismissal of certain negligence-based claims contained in her action filed against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis (Archdiocese) and Archbishop Raymond Burke (Archbishop). We affirm the trial court's dismissal.

Facts and Procedural Background
Appellant alleges that from approximately 1953 through 1957, when she was approximately four to eight years of age, Father William Poepperling (Poepperling) sexually abused her. During the time of the alleged abuse, Poepperling served as a Roman Catholic priest at Holy Guardian Angels Church in St. Louis, Missouri. Poepperling died on May 18, 1983.

Appellant filed this suit against the Archdiocese and Archbishop (Respondents) on August 25, 2005. Appellant alleged six counts, two of which she designated as being raised against Poepperling individually even though the petition did not specifically name the late Poepperling as a Defendant in the case caption. The six counts include: (I) Child Sexual Abuse and/or Battery—Defendant Poepperling; (II) Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress— Defendants Archdiocese and Archbishop; (III) Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress— Defendant Poepperling; (IV) Negligence—All Defendants; (V) Negligent Supervision, Retention, and Failure to Warn—Defendants Archdiocese and Archbishop; (VI) Intentional Failure to Supervise Clergy—Defendants Archdiocese and Archbishop.

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Leagle

Introduction
Plaintiff Mary SN Doe (Appellant) appeals the trial court's dismissal of certain negligence-based claims contained in her action filed against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis (Archdiocese) and Archbishop Raymond Burke (Archbishop). We affirm the trial court's dismissal.

Facts and Procedural Background
Appellant alleges she was sexually abused by Father William Poepperling when she was approximately four to six years of age in the late 1950s. Appellant attended Holy Guardian Angels Church in St. Louis, Missouri, where Father Poepperling served. Fr. Poepperling died on May 18, 1983.

Appellant filed this suit against the Archdiocese and Archbishop (Respondents) on April 26, 2005, and filed an Amended Petition on January 29, 2008. Appellant alleged six counts: (I) Child Sexual Abuse and/or Battery; (II) Breach of Fiduciary Duty; (III) Negligence; (IV) Negligent Supervision, Retention, and Failure to Warn; (V) Intentional Failure to Supervise Clergy; and (VI) Negligent Supervision of Children.

GUAM
Pacific News Center

In that statement, the Archdiocese said no member of Guam's clergy has ever been charged with or convicted of sexual abuse.

But the latest release from the group called SNAP accuse the Archbishop of being "disingenuous" and "minimizing" the issue.

Even though no charges have made against any priests, SNAP says accusations have been made by island residents who they claim to be in touch with.

It is the second letter in as many weeks from SNAP urging the Archbishop to publicly name the priests who are serving or have served on Guam who have been accused of sexual abuse.

MEXICO
Latin American Herald Tribune

MEXICO CITY – The Congregation of the Legion of Christ apologized to everyone that its founder, Mexican priest Marcial Maciel (1920-2008), “harmed with the immoral acts of his private life.”

The apology was offered by the Legion’s secretary-general, Evaristo Sada, in a speech last weekend at a church event that was posted later on the order’s Web site.

“With all my heart I wish to beg pardon of everyone that our founder harmed with the immoral acts of his private life, and of the people who have been injured by the consequences,” Sada said about Maciel, who died amid accusations of sexual abuse.

IRELAND
Catholic.net

MAYNOOTH, Ireland, FEB. 22, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Several Irish bishops recounted to the faithful their impressions of last week's meetings with Benedict XVI, called by the Pope to address the sexual abuse scandal shaking the nation.

The Holy Father called all of the acting Irish bishops to join him in Rome on Feb. 15 and 16, after having already met last December with Cardinal Sean Brady, president of the Irish episcopal conference, and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin.

Last Sunday, many of the bishops now back in Ireland spoke of the meetings during their homilies at Mass.

SCRANTON (PA)
Off My Knees

By Michael Baumann

The Vatican appointed Monsignor Joseph Bambera as the 10th Bishop of Scranton. Bishop-elect Bambera is a native of Carbondale, Pennsylvania and is only the second local priest to be appointed to lead the Scranton See. He has been running the day-to-day business of the Diocese since the premature retirement of Bishop Joseph Martino in August 2009. With a vacancy in the Bishop’s chair, Cardinal Rigali of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has served as Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese. ...

If I may be so bold as to offer the Bishop-elect a piece of advise… Get out and talk to your flock, listen to what they have to say about issues that are affecting their lives. Even if decisions have to be made at the Diocesan level that will be unpopular and will impact the structure of parishes and the assignment of resources (money, priest assignments, facility maintenance) go out and explain why you came to the decision you have made.

One of the things I was impressed with about Bishop-elect Bambera was that his goal after being assigned to run the Diocese temporarily, was to return to his parish. There were no reports that he aspired to the seat of this See. I hope this is indicative of his sense of service, his attachment to his parishioners and his compassion.

GERMANY
Catholic.net

FREIBURG IM BREISGAU, Germany, FEB. 23, 2010 (Zenit.org).- A suspicion of sexual abuse must be followed by a "perfect and absolutely transparent explanation," says the president of the German episcopal conference.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch affirmed this Monday when he spoke to the press about the program of discussions at the bishops' spring general assembly.

On the agenda is the issue of cases of sexual abuse of minors in certain Jesuit schools. Around 100 former students have come forward in recent days reporting they were abused; most were students at one school.

MEXICO
Two Circles

Mexico City : The Congregation of the Legion of Christ apologised to everyone because its founder, Mexican priest Marcial Maciel (1920-2008), "harmed with the immoral acts of his private life".

The apology was offered by the Legion's secretary-general, Evaristo Sada, in a speech last weekend at a church event that was posted later on the order's website.

"With all my heart I wish to beg pardon of everyone that our founder harmed with the immoral acts of his private life, and of the people who have been injured by the consequences," Sada said about Maciel who died amid accusations of sexual abuse.

SCRANTON (PA)
Times-Leader

By Mark Guydish mguydish@timesleader.com
Education Reporter

SCRANTON – News that Monsignor Joseph Bambera would rise to the post of bishop was scarcely three hours old – a press conference in Scranton was still 25 minutes away – when a group advocating for victims of priest sex abuse blasted the appointment.

“Bambera is a poor choice and his promotion worries and insults us,” wrote David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. “Under oath, Bambera admitted that barely a decade ago, he refused to report a credibly accused predator priest to police, in violation of his diocese’s own child sex abuse policy.

“He also admitted relying on the word of an accused priest without even questioning that cleric’s alleged victim,” the e-mailed statement from Clohessy continued. “This decision raises a troubling question: Is it that hard for the Vatican to find good, smart priests who have not concealed horrific crimes against kids?”

SCRANTON (PA)
The Times-Tribune

By Laura Legere (Staff Writer)
Published: February 24, 2010

A priest who has spent his life in the Diocese of Scranton, and the last six months learning to lead it, will become the 10th bishop of Scranton.

The Vatican announced Tuesday that Monsignor Joseph C. Bambera, a Carbondale native, will assume leadership of the 11-county diocese. Monsignor Bambera will become bishop at a time of significant challenges, including financial strain, changing parishes and lingering feelings of loss and uncertainty among many parishioners. ...

One group expressed opposition to the appointment of the new bishop.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests issued a statement saying Bishop-elect Bambera was a "poor choice" and an "insult" based on testimony he gave during a 2007 sexual abuse case when he said a priest was allowed to return to a parish after admitting to sexually assaulting two boys and undergoing counseling. The priest then abused a third child.

Diocesan spokesman William Genello called the accusations "unfair" and said Bishop-elect Bambera "followed all the protocols that were in place at the time to deal with incidents of this nature."

SPOKANE (WA)
The Spokesman-Review

John Stucke The Spokesman-Review

A federal judge ruled that the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, its law firm Paine Hamblen, and one of the firm’s attorneys, Gregory Arpin, are in contempt of court for using intimidation tactics against a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia Williams stopped short Tuesday of issuing costly sanctions, but ordered the diocese and its attorneys to pay what will be expensive legal costs of the trustee and others.

OGDENSBURG (NY)
North Country Public Radio

The Diocese of Ogdensburg, which includes most of the North Country's Roman Catholic parishes, has a new Bishop.

Pope Benedict named a local, Rev. Terry LaValley from Clinton County, to the post. ...

A national sex-abuse victims' group called SNAP quickly issued a statement today condemning the nomination.

David Clohessy of St. Louis, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests:

"LaValley’s promotion raises a troubling question: Is it that hard for the Vatican to find good, smart priests who have not been accused of secrecy surrounding clergy sex crimes?"

ISRAEL
The Jewish Week

by The Editors

It is difficult for American Jews to appreciate the shock, disappointment and disillusionment that religious Zionists in Israel are undergoing now in response to reports that one of their most respected leaders, Rabbi Mordechai “Motti” Elon, has been accused of “sexual exploitation” in relations with male students and lying about it to his rabbinic colleagues.

Scion of a prominent family — his father, Menachem, served on the Israeli Supreme Court, and his brother, Benny, is a prominent politician and former cabinet minister — Rabbi Elon was rosh yeshiva of a leading Jerusalem yeshiva and had a national following beyond the Orthodox community through a weekly television program and popular lectures on Jewish history, law and philosophy.

As the story has unfolded in recent days, it seems that when Rabbi Elon disappeared from public life and moved to the north five years ago, it was not for health reasons, as had been indicated. Rather, he had, in effect, quietly been banished by a group called Takana, formed after the Baruch Lanner scandal by religious Zionist rabbinic leaders in Israel to deal with cases of sexual abuse in the Orthodox community.

UNITED STATES
The Jewish Week

by Adam Dickter
Assistant Managing Editor

In the wake of recent scandals involving local Orthodox Jews, some sociologists think there could soon be a backlash against the political power of what has long been one of the most sought-after voting blocs.

“Situations like this have a cumulative effect,” said William Helmreich, a professor of sociology at City College and director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Queens College.

“No one knows when the tipping point will come — if it hasn’t already been reached — that people will simply conclude that Orthodox Jews are just generally more likely to have a general disrespect for government and to engage in shady practices,” Helmreich said.

PITTSBURGH (PA)
WPIX

[with video]

PITTSBURGH -- A Roman Catholic priest in Pittsburgh under investigation for allegedly fondling a teen girl nearly four decades ago will not be reassigned to a convent in Whitehall.

Earlier this week, Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh officials said the Rev. Alvin Adams, 69, would transfer from his position as a parish priest and Bishop Canevin Catholic High School chaplain to the convent next month.

However, the diocese revoked the assignment after parents of children in a nearby day care complained.

ARGENTINA
infoBan

[19/02/2010 | 18:17] El cura Julio César Grassi, condenado a 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual y corrupción de menores, conserva su libertad mientras la Cámara de Casación Penal de la provincia de Buenos Aires revisa la sentencia dispuesta por el Tribunal Oral de Morón (TOC 1).

[summary]

The priest Julio Cesar Grassi, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexual abuse and corruption of minors, remains free while a court in Buenos Aires reviews the sentence which was ordered by an earlier court. No decision has been made.

GERMANY
volksfreund

Trier/Gerolstein. Die Berichterstattung über sexuellen Missbrauch hat auch traumatische Erinnerungen von sechs ehemaligen Messdienern einer Trierer Pfarrei hervorgeholt: "Nach der Messe befingerte der Kaplan uns Ministranten im Genitalbereich", sagt ein Mann, der in der Region Trier lebt und anonym bleiben möchte. "Wir waren fassungslos!" Der sexuelle Missbrauch habe in der Sakristei stattgefunden. "Einigen machte er auch das Angebot, ihn aufs Zimmer zu begleiten."

[summary]

Six former altar boys in a parish of Trier have traumatic memories of being abused by a priest. Incidents happened in the sacristy where he fondled their genitals, according to one victim who wished to remain unnamed. Some boys were forced to accompany the priest to his room. The abuse was an open secret among the altar servers, he said.

Attempts to report the abuse previously were unsuccessfu. The priest was considered to be untouchable because he was charismatic and dynamic. He was considered to be very progressive. The priest also served as a religion teacher and coach. The man said they altar boys had no chance to be heard and were solely on their own in dealing with what had happened to them.

GERMANY
Saarbrucker Zeitung

Ein früher in Homburg tätiger Ordensgeistlicher ist wegen Vorwürfen des Missbrauchs beurlaubt worden. Unterdessen werden auch in der Region Trier immer mehr Missbrauchsvorwürfe gegen Priester laut.

[summary]
A previously active religious cleric in Homburg has been put on leave because of allegations of sexual abuse. Meanwhile, more abuse accusations have been revealed in the Trier region.

A priest working in the Munster diocese, a member of the Hiltruper Missionaries, for more than 20 years abused students at the Johanneum school in Homburg. The commission that is investigating the accusations will report to the bishop and the bishops will decide what to do next.

More and more cases of abuse by Catholic priests have been revealed in the Trier region. A priest working in the region is accused of abusing several altar boys. One abuse case has been made known from the former board school in Biesdorf. The cases go back more than 40 years but have become known now because the victims have come forward. A 31-year-old priest in Trier abused five altar boys from 1965 to 1967. One victim last week reported abuse to the diocese. Stephan Kronenburg, diocese spokesman, said they did not know of these cases until the victims recently reported the abuse.

AUSTRALIA
Bay Post

BY PAUL MCINERNEY
24 Feb, 2010
The sentencing of disgraced Catholic priest Kelvin Gerald Sharkey for sexually assaulting an altar boy 40 years ago has been delayed after his admission to hospital.

Legal Aid solicitor Nerissa Key told Wollongong District Court on Friday the retired 80-year-old Fairy Meadow parish priest suffered age-related health issues and his admission to hospital made it unlikely he would attend court for his sentencing, scheduled for March 11.

In November last year, Sharkey was too frail to enter the dock when he entered guilty pleas to indecent assault and buggery of a boy he abused for four years, starting when the victim was 12 years old.

OHIO
Cincinnati Enquirer

By Barrett J. Brunsman • bbrunsman@enquirer.com • February 23, 2010

BATAVIA TWP. – Police said a former youth minister at a Clermont County church fatally shot himself Monday, just hours after he pleaded guilty to sexual battery and unlawful sexual conduct involving a 15-year-old girl.

Christopher E. Evans, 39, was free on his own recognizance but due back in court Tuesday for a new bond hearing because prosecutors had obtained letters he wrote to the victim despite the judge ordering him to not contact her.

"I can't live without you," Evans wrote in one of the letters. "If you stop and think about everything that I have lost over you, you would see where I am coming from."

CANADA
CBC News

A priest who worked in Dalhousie, N.B., in the 1970s has been charged with indecent assault.

Charles Picot, who is in his 60s and still with the Catholic church in Montreal, will enter a plea in May, said Dalhousie RCMP Cpl. Allain LeBlanc.

This is the third time Picot has faced sex-related charges.

In 1993, he served seven months in prison for two counts of sexual assault and one of indecent assault.

GERMANY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Words protect no one. Only action protects kids. That’s what children need and parents deserve – not platitudes about alleged remorse and promised reforms.

It’s time for Catholic officials to stop pointing fingers at predators and start looking in the mirror. The real scandal isn’t predator priests. It’s complicit bishops.

There always have been and always will be child molesting coaches, teacher, and clerics. But in healthy institutions with ‘checks and balances’ and responsible leaders, they are ousted quickly. In the rigid, ancient, secretive, all-male church monarchy, however, they are protected and moved year after year. When the truth finally surfaces, Catholic officials profess shock and refuse to admit their own sizeable role in the devastating crimes. That’s the real crisis here – that even now, in 2010, after decades of stunning and hurtful scandal, Catholic bishops can’t bring themselves to admit they are the root cause of these crimes.

GERMANY
Ahlener Zeitung

Münster / Speyer - Erneut sind Missbrauchsvorwürfe im Bistum Münster bekanntgeworden. Ein Pater der Hiltruper Missionare soll vor mehr als 20 Jahren an Schülern sexuelle Handlungen vorgenommen haben, als er am Gymnasium Johanneum im saarländischen Homburg arbeitete. Das geht aus einer Erklärung des Bistums vom Dienstag hervor. Solange bis die Vorwürfe geprüft seien, sei der Priester durch den Bischof beurlaubt worden.

[summary]

Allegations of sexual abuse are now known in the Muenster diocese. A priest of the Hiltruper Missionaries is accused to abusing students when he worked at the Johanneum school in Saarland, Homburg. The diocese made the revelation in asttement on Tuesday. The priest has been suspended by the bishop.

After completion of the investigation, the review commission will report to the bishop. The bishop will decide what action to take.

IRELAND
RTE News

Tuesday, 23 February 2010 16:39
A representative of survivors of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests has said Pope Benedict XVI must ensure that no bishop here has covered up scandals before they accept his apology to victims.

John Kelly, of Survivors of Child Abuse, was responding to Archbishop Michael Neary's revelation that Pope Benedict had asked for the forgiveness of victims when he met the Irish hierarchy last week.

Meanwhile, the Bishop of Clonfert has said he hopes the Catholic Church worldwide will introduce a new process of reporting allegations of child sexual abuse by priests and religious to State authorities.

SCRANTON (PA)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton

[News Conference]

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Monsignor Joseph C. Bambera to be the next Bishop of Scranton.

The appointment was made at the Vatican and announced in the Diocese of Scranton by Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Scranton. The announcement was made at a 10 a.m. news conference that was broadcast live by the Diocesan Catholic Television station. The news conference will be rebroadcast on CTV tonight (Tuesday) at 9 p.m. and tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11:10 a.m. A video of the news conference is now available for viewing on the Diocesan website: www.dioceseofscranton.org.

Bishop-elect Bambera will be ordained a Bishop and installed as the tenth Bishop of Scranton on Monday, April 26, at 2 p.m. in St. Peter’s Cathedral, Scranton.

SCRANTON (PA)
WNEP

[with video]

By Andy Palumbo
11:18 AM EST, February 23, 2010

For only the second time in the history of the Diocese of Scranton, a native of the area has been chosen as bishop.

Monsignor Joseph Bambera was born in Carbondale, has served parishes in Lackawanna County's mid valley and most recently has been handling administrative duties for the diocese since former Bishop Joseph Martino stepped down in August.

The news went up on the Vatican web site at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Four hours later, Monsignor Joseph Bambera made his first statement as bishop-elect of the Diocese of Scranton.

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Pacific Daily News • news@guampdn.com • February 24, 2010

An Illinois-based support group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called on Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron to hold a public meeting with victims, Catholics, SNAP leaders and the public to answer questions and address victims' concerns, the network announced in a press release Monday.

The press release also called for the Catholic Church on Guam to "name all accused predator clergy who live/work or who have lived/worked on Guam."

The Archdiocese of Agana, in a statement Feb. 12, said: "To date no member of the Catholic clergy on Guam has been charged with or convicted of sexual abuse."

OGDENSBURG (NY)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg

[Watch Bishop-elect LaValley's press conference]

[press packet]

February 23, 2010
This morning, the Holy See announced that Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Reverend Terry LaValley, currently Diocesan Administrator of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, as the fourteenth Bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg to succeed the Most Reverend Robert J. Cunningham, Bishop of Syracuse, NY.

Bishop-elect LaValley, the second of six children of Ronald (deceased) and Doris LaValley, is a native of Mooers Forks, NY and was raised in St. Ann’s Parish. He was born on March 26, 1956 and completed his primary and secondary education at Mooers Central in Mooers, NY and Northeastern Clinton Central School in Champlain, NY. He received a B.A. from the University of the State of New York and a Certificate of Studies in Philosophy from Wadhams Hall Seminary-College.

VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Agency

Vatican City, Feb 23, 2010 / 11:44 am (CNA).- The Vatican announced today that Pope Benedict appointed Fr. Terry LaValley of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, N.Y. as its 14th bishop. Fr. LaValley has served as the diocesan administrator since the see was vacated by Bishop Robert J. Cunningham, when he was assigned to lead the Diocese of Syracuse, N.Y.

Bishop-elect LaValley grew up and was educated in New York state, though he left to serve a six-year tour of duty with the United States Navy before entering the seminary in 1983. Just five years later, Bishop-elect LaValley had earned a Master of Divinity degree and was ordained a priest. In 1994, he graduated from St. Paul’s University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada with degrees in canon law.

Over the years, Bishop-elect LaValley has held numerous positions in the diocese, such as Adjutant Judicial Vicar, Episcopal Vicar for Diocesan Services and Chancellor of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, pastor of St. Raphael’s Church, and rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral, culminating in his recent tenure as diocesan administrator.

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Appointed Fr. Terry R. LaValley of the clergy of the diocese of Ogdensburg, U.S.A., diocesan administrator and rector of St. Mary's Cathedral, as bishop of Ogdensburg (area 31,161, population 499,700, Catholics 116,000, priests 119, permanent deacons 62, religious 127). The bishop-elect was born in Plattsburgh, U.S.A. in 1956 and ordained a priest in 1988.

Appointed Msgr. Joseph C. Bambera of the clergy of the diocese of Scranton, U.S.A., delegate of the apostolic administrator of Scranton and pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas parish at Archbald and of St. Mary of Czestochowa parish at Eynon, as bishop of Scranton (area 22.913, population 1,095,092, Catholics 316,825, priests 352, permanent deacons 63, religious 627). The bishop-elect was born in Carbondale, U.S.A. in 1956 and ordained a priest in 1983.

MEXICO
Spero News

By Martin Barillas

More than 10,000 members of the Catholic movement known as Regnum Christi - Latin for “Kingdom of Christ” – and supporters of the controversial order of priests called the Legion of Christ met in Mexico City over the February 20-21 weekend. Rev. Evaristo Sada, Secretary General of the order, said that the crisis in the order and its associated lay movement caused by revelations of the double life led by its founder, Rev. Marcial Maciel, has brought about a time to “face the consequences and, with determination, correct what must be correct.”

“With all my heart, I wish to ask forgiveness of the persons who our founder may have affected as a result of the immoral acts in his personal life, and the persons who may have been wounded by their consequences. Father Alvaro (Rev. Alvaro Corcuera is the current leader of the order) has done so and has is doing so publicly and personally, but we again ask forgiveness because we sincerely regret what the Church and these persons have suffered.” So said, Rev. Sada in a talk entitled “How to walk on water without sinking.” Sada has been visiting various countries and meeting with members of the Legion and the Regnum Christi movement to share his reflections on their current situation. Sada said that, with regard to Father Maciel, he has had to “accept that, while I was living with our founder, I did not see the negative things that we now know; I did not see them, I was only able to see the good and I did not notice the bad. God permitted it so. Now that I know them, it pains me greatly to confirm it, it pains me for the people who have suffered, it pains me that it has brought discredit to Catholic priesthood.”

BERWYN (IL)
Chicago Breaking News

A former Roman Catholic priest sued in 1997 for allegedly abusing a youth at Chicago's St. Rita High School has resigned from his city job in west suburban Berwyn, according to a statement released by city today.

Frank Paduch, who has served as Berwyn's advocate for senior citizens, will have no more responsibilities with the city.

Paduch was placed on administrative leave last month after the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests protested his employment and alerted the city to the 1997 suit, accusing Paduch of sexual misconduct in the early 1980s. The Augustinian religious order reached a settlement two years later. Several years later, the city of Berwyn hired Paduch as its advocate for senior citizens.

OHIO
Cincinnati Enquirer

By Barrett J. Brunsman • bbrunsman@enquirer.com • February 23, 2010

BATAVIA TWP. – A former youth minister at a Clermont County church was found shot to death Monday, hours after he pleaded guilty to sexual battery and unlawful sexual conduct involving a 15-year-old girl.

Christopher E. Evans, 39, was free on his own recognizance but due back in court Tuesday morning for a new bond hearing because prosecutors had obtained letters he wrote to the victim despite a judge’s order that he have no contact with her.

A sheriff’s deputy patrolling the Slade Road entrance to Harsha Lake at East Fork State Park at 11:15 p.m. Monday discovered a man who apparently killed himself in a truck with a shotgun blast to the face. The truck was registered to Evans, said Lt. Randy McElfresh of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

NICARAGUA
El Nuevo Diario

Lorna Norori Gutiérrez*
END - 17:39 - 21/02/2010

En el año 2007, a través de los medios de comunicación, conocimos en Nicaragua la denuncia que por abuso sexual contra el sacerdote –en aquel momento- Marco Dessi, realizaban seis jóvenes de Chinandega. Esta denuncia no fue presentada en los tribunales nicaragüenses, sino en Italia, la razón que refirieron para hacerlo en aquel país era que en Nicaragua Marco Dessi tenía muchos vínculos con personas de poder y por lo tanto no confiaban en que se hiciera justicia para ellos.

[summary]

A complaint of sexual abuse by priest Marco Dessi was made in 2007 by six young people in Chinandega. The complaint was not filed in the Nicaraguan courts but it Italy. The reason given was Dessi had many links to people in power here and they were therefore not confident that justice would be served.

While the six young men carried forward the process in Italy, in Chinandega a campaign was in launched to support the abuser. With Marco Dessi, as with other abusers, supporters believed it is incredible that someone so kind, who has done so many social projects for the community, who has dedicated himself to caring for children and who serves God could be a molester.

Marco Dessi was convicted by the Italian judiciary and has been laicized by Pope Benedict XVI. Several people say that divine justice is now being applied in addition to human justice.

Chinandega people who supported the young people told us the city has operated on a saying that God is in heaven and Marco Dessi is on earth. This speaks volumes about the influence he had in different social sectors of Chinandega.

The abusers show no compassion for the people who have been harmed but decide to become the victims. That's the attitude assumed by abusers when they are discovered. Released from prison after completing a sentence, they continue to say they did nothing wrong.

When the six young men made the complaint about Marco Dessi, others also came forward to say they were also abused. Only one made a decision to make his complaint public. Others have preferred to remain anonymous. Support for the abuser by a sector of the population was one factor why other people decide not to make public a complaint.

MEXICO
Milenio

Ciudad de México.- La bancada del PRD en la Cámara de Diputados pedirá al Consejo de la Judicatura Federal (CJF) investigar la excarcelación del sacerdote Rafael Muñiz, contra quien la PGJDF ejerció acción penal por delincuencia organizada y pornografía infantil en 2009.

Además los diputados del Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD) advirtieron que vigilarán la actuación de jueces, ministerios públicos y autoridades encargadas de impartir justicia en los casos de sacerdotes acusados de abuso sexual contra niños.

[summary]

The PRD in the Chamber of Deputies has asked the Federal Judiciary Council to investigate the release from prison of priest Rafael Muniz. He was charged with a child pornography offense in 2009.

Members of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) want monitoring of performance of judges, prosecutors and authorities in charge of administering justice in cases of priests who are accused of sexual abuse against children. The PRD wants a thorough investigation of the procedural conduct in the Criminal Court for possible irregularities in bail granted to the priest.

Party members said it is unforgiveable that the Veracruz priest known as Siberian Wolf (Lobo Siberiano) through his internet name has obtained bail. Lawmakers noted the attorney general for the Federal District has filed an appeal regarding release of the priest who is accused to distributing child pornography.

A point of agreement to be submitted Tuesday calls for the judiciary to clarify how the priest of the Church of St. Peter the Apostle in Jalapa, Veracruz, obtained his release on bail. The PRD bloc hopes for support of PRI, PAN and other political parties to stop pedophilia and child pornography in Mexico.

SPAIN
Monsters and Critics

Toledo, Spain - A Spanish Catholic priest has been sacked on suspicion of spending 17,000 euros (23,000 dollars) on erotic phone lines, websites and prostitutes, church and municipal officials said Tuesday.

The 27-year-old priest had been responsible for two villages near the central city of Toledo for nearly one year.

In February, he confessed publicly during mass that he had taken money belonging to local religious associations, pledging to settle the affair.

GLEN ELLYN (IL)
Chicago Press Release Services

The former music director of a Glen Ellyn church accused of disseminating child pornography is expected to be set free today after a judge slashed the defendant’s bond in half.

An attorney for Brian K. Milnikel argued the 45-year-old Naperville man has a clean criminal record, strong ties to the community and does not pose a flight risk.

Milnikel has remained in the DuPage County jail on a $200,000 bond since his Jan. 19 arrest. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the felony. He pleaded not guilty at today’s arraignment. His roommate, Christopher F. Kontopoulos, 20, faces similar felony charges.

Glen Ellyn (IL)
Daily Herald

The former Glen Ellyn church music director accused of distributing child pornography may soon be a free man again after a judge slashed the man's bond in half.

Brian K. Milnikel of Naperville has a clean criminal record, strong community ties and does not pose a flight risk, his attorney argued Monday.

Milnikel, 45, remained in the DuPage County jail on a $200,000 bond since his Jan. 19 arrest. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the felony.

SCRANTON (PA)
Times-Leader

Mark Guydish

The Vatican announced in it's daily bulletin that Monsignor Joseph Bambera will be the new bishop of the Diocese of Scranton. Bambera has been serving as Apostolic Administrator Justin Rigali's local delegate since Bishop Joseph Martino retired, running day to day operations.

Bambera was born 1956 in Carbondale and did his seminary work in the now-closed Saint Pius X seminary in Dallas. He has been with the diocese since 1983. He worked in St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Scranton and in St. Peter's Cathedral. He also served at St. John Bosco in Sugarloaf Township, and currently at St. Thomas Aquinas in Archbald and St. Mary of Czestocha in Eynon.

St. Thomas Aquinas was closed for emergency ceiling repairs shortly before Martino resigned Aug. 31, and after a press conference announcing that Bambera would take over daily duties, he made reference to the fact.: "Things continue to fall on me."

OREGON
The Garden of Roses: Stories of Abuse and Healing

Virginia Jones

In the last two years we have handed out Sackcloth Penance Patch. In the story of Jonah in the Bible, the King of Nineva, when told by Jonah to repent of wrongdoing, listened, and told all of the people in his kingdom to wear sackcloth and ashes as a sign of atonement.

Whatever happened to sackcloth and ashes? Are we ever asked by God as His people to repent for anything? Is Lent a time when we might, as the prophet Joel states in the reading for Ash Wednesday, “fast and weep and mourn”? Is it a time to do penance as reparation for the sin of clergy abuse? No matter how long ago or recently these victims were abused, they need to know that someone is sorry for their pain. Someone is praying for them and asking God for His healing peace.

We must name evil. Abuse is evil. It is a sin that causes serious spiritual damage to individuals and communities. It is often perpetrated by people who have been abused them selves and need our prayers.

GERMANY
Financial Times Deutschland

In den USA musste der Orden bereits dreistellige Millionensummen zahlen. Angesichts der Missbrauchsfälle rechnen nun auch deutsche Versicherer mit Forderungen. Mehrere Anwälte prüfen bereits Sammelklagen. von Friederike Krieger, Köln

[summary]

Insurers fear claims against Jesuits

In the United States, the Jesuit order has already paid out three-digit millions for sexual abuse claims and now it could go higher with Germany insurance companies paying out on claims. Several attorneys have already examined a class action lawsuit.

Insurers and reinsurers are observing the sexual assault scandal at Jesuit schools with great attention. Compensation claims to victims could end up with the insurance companies because the religious order has public liability insurance which must be paid in certain circumstances. In the United States more than 10 insurance companies -- including Allianz and Munich Re -- have paid out more than $200 million.

Some 120 victims of abuse have been reported by Berlin attorney Ursula Raue who is working for the Jesuits to investigate the scandal in Jesuit schools. The majority are former students of Canisius College and other Jesuit schools. Many victims are struggling with mental health problems that result from the abuse. Therefore, they can claim damages and compensation by both their former tormentor and the institutions.

The offenders are not insured. Therefore the sexual abuse by a priest is not covered by insurance, said a spokesman for the insurance broker Ecclesia, which specializes in service to churches. It is different for claims against schools. Claims can be made if the organization's supervisory duties were violated and those cases fell under the employer's liability insurance. The insurers know that claims of sexual abuse can be expensive. Assaults by priests in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles cost the insurance companies about $227 million. In a court settlement, the archdiocese was obliged to pay about $660 million to 508 applicants. The insurers contributed about a third of the amount.

In Germany, however, victims cannot expect such high amounts. Chances of criminal prosecution are zero, said Dusseldorf lawyer Ruediger Deckers. According to Raue, the earliest known cases are in the mid-1980s. However, such revelations often come in several waves and it is not certain how many more cases will be known in coming weeks and months.

GERMANY
tagesschau

[with video]

Bundesjustizministerin Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger hat im Interview mit den Tagesthemen von der katholischen Kirche eine lückenlose Aufklärung aller Missbrauchsverdachtsfälle an katholischen Einrichtungen gefordert. "Ich erwarte dass die Verantwortlichen der katholische Kirche mit den Strafverfolgungsbehörden endlich konstruktiv zusammenarbeiten," so die Ministerin.

[summary]

Federal Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger in an interview with Tagesthemen said the Catholic Church must give a complete explanation of all suspected abuse cases within church institutions. She expects church authorities to cooperate with law enforcement in a constructive manner.

She invited church representatives to take part in a "round table: with independent representatives to allow for the processing of these terrible abuse cases.

UNITED KINGDOM
The Herald

A CALSTOCK clergyman has denied sexually assaulting four boys and seven girls, all under the age of 14, when he was working as a primary school teacher more than 30 years ago.

Appearing before Plymouth Crown Court, James Andrew Christopher Wilson, known to his parishoners as the Rev Canon Andrew Wilson, Rector and Rural Dean of Calstock, gave his address as the Rectory, Calstock.

He answered 'Not guilty' to all 11 charges, which cover the period from 1974 to 1980 and relate to 11 individual children.

IRELAND
Catholic News Agency

Carlow, Ireland, Feb 22, 2010 / 08:04 pm (CNA).- Amid the recent meetings between Pope Benedict VXI and Irish bishops on the sex abuse scandal plaguing the Church in Ireland, Bishop Jim Moriarty offered his resignation and said that it is “not a question of if but when” it will be approved by the Holy Father.

“In regard to my offer of resignation, separate from the general meeting, I had a private meeting with Cardinal Re, the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, who is dealing with it,” explained the bishop in a statement on the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin website this past Saturday. “The acceptance of my offer of resignation is proceeding. My understanding is that it is not a question of if but when. It will not happen immediately but should not go too far beyond Easter.”

UNITED STATES
Healing and Spirituality

Dr. Jaime Romo

February 23, 2010

Portia Nelson, in There’s a Hole in my Sidewalk, describes her life in five segments. In chapter one, she describes walking down a street and falling into a deep hole in the sidewalk. She’s lost and help­less, and it takes forever to find a way out. In chapter two, she walks down the same street with the same deep hole in the sidewalk. She pretends she doesn’t see it and falls in again. She is somehow surprised that she is in the same place. Again, she thinks it isn’t her fault and again it takes her a long time to get out.

In chapter three, she walks down the same street, sees the hole, and falls in anyway because it is a habit. She takes responsibility for herself and gets out immediately. In chapter four, she walks down the same street and walks around the hole in the sidewalk. In chapter five, she walks down another street.

I can imagine how I came to write this workbook in five segments. Stage one: A deep hole. I was sexually abused by my pastor as a teenager, memories of which lay buried for nearly 30 years. From the time I left seminary in 1984, I worked to bring social justice and the incarnation of God into the world through education.

ISRAEL
YNet News

The Jerusalem District Court has dismissed attorney Ariel Atari in a rare move and replaced him with a public defender. Atari represented Elior Chen, who is charged with several counts of severe child abuse.

ISRAEL
The Jerusalem Post

BY JONAH MANDEL
23/02/2010

Along with the pain, shock, and grief, "This is a chance to examine ourselves and work on our shortcoming."

As the bitter pill of the recently revealed alleged sexual misconduct of Rabbi Mordechai Elon is reluctantly being digested by the national religious nationwide, rabbis from within the sector are groping for the answers, and the questions, which would enable them to turn what many see as a tragic downfall into a beneficial, albeit painful, opportunity.

The Takana Forum’s announcement last week spelled out what scores had feared to be the case – “sexual abuse by a man possessing spiritual authority.”

Police have in the meanwhile launched a preliminary investigation into the allegations against Elon.

ISRAEL
Haaretz

By Yair Ettinger

Would the treatment that the religious Zionist Takana panel meted out to Rabbi Mordechai Elon, including the publication of serious allegations, have been so rigorous had it been discovered that an important rabbi was sexually abusing female students and not males? One member of the group who was asked this question said that "the forum handles all kinds of cases, this is a fact, but it could be that the intensity would have been lower. That's understandable. You don't expect this kind of thing from a rabbi, especially with people who were his students."

More than a week after the affair hit the headlines, the question of what Elon did exactly is still up in the air. I don't mean detailed descriptions - the panel rightly kept those to itself - but the accusers have not clearly convinced the public, and especially Elon's flock, that every aspect of the scandal it has created belongs in the public domain. Takana members are sparing with the details but generous with headline-making phrases like "protracted sexual relationship," "acts of great gravity" and "more than mere harassment." This leaves the public no choice but to believe that such respected public figures would not have dared to sling such mud at a rabbi like Elon without solid factual grounds.

Telegraph (United Kingdom)

By Julian Kossoff

Two days after his wedding, Mordechai Borger, 24, an Orthodox Jew, left his bride sleeping in their Brooklyn hotel room, went out onto the seventh floor balcony and leapt to his death.

The New York Post reported that this deeply pious young man was tormented by memories of being molested as a teenager at a yeshiva (an all-male religious college) and had killed himself after confessing to his new wife (who, incidentally, had been introduced by a “matchmaker”) that the mental scars made a physical relationship with her deeply problematic.

It ended a year in which a trickle of disturbing cases of sexual abuse among Orthodox Jews in the US, England and Israel began to filter into the public domain. But the heat really turned up on the simmering scandal last week, when the Israeli Rabbi Mordechai “Motti” Elon was accused of abuse. The police are now investigating.

SCRANTON (PA)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton

The Diocese of Scranton will conduct a news conference on Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 10 a.m.

The news conference will be broadcast live on Catholic Television: CTV. It will be rebroadcast at 9 p.m.

A video of the news conference will also be posted on the Diocesan website at www.dioceseofscranton.org

SCRANTON (PA)
The Times-Tribune

BY LAURA LEGERE (STAFF WRITER)
Published: February 23, 2010

Monsignor Joseph Bambera has been appointed the 10th bishop of the Diocese of Scranton, the Vatican announced this morning.

The pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Mary of Czestochowa churches in Archbald, the Rev. Bambera has run the daily operations of the diocese for the past six months as delegate to interim leader Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia.

He will become only the second local priest to head the 11-county see.

The diocese will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. this morning in the Guild building to make “an important announcement about the future of the diocese,” a spokesman said Monday.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Colin Gleeson

Tuesday February 23 2010

VICTIMS of child sexual abuse must forgive their abusers, a leading theologian has claimed.

Professor Eamon Conway, the head of Theology and Religious Studies at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, and also a Catholic priest, was speaking in Dublin's Trinity College last night.

During the talk, 'Roman Catholic Church and Child Sexual Abuse -- Explaining without Excusing', Prof Conway said that forgiveness from victims of abuse for their perpetrators was "an important part" of the healing process.

PHOENIX (AZ)
Arizona Daily Sun

HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services | Posted: Tuesday, February 23, 2010

PHOENIX -- State lawmakers voted Monday to give childhood victims of sex abuse an entire lifetime to sue those who assaulted them.

Without dissent, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a measure to repeal the existing laws that require civil suits to be filed within two years of someone turning 18. For incidents that take place in the future, there will be no statute of limitations.

SB 1292 also opens a window for those who were abused in the past 35 years, giving them one year from the time the law takes effect to file suit, even if the time limit had previously run out.

UNITED KINGDOM
Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Feb 23 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner
A FORMER Huddersfield man broke down in tears after a jury yesterday found him not guilty of indecently touching a young girl and physically assaulting her and a boy.

The jury at Bradford Crown Court took less than half an hour to clear William Dorgu on three sexual allegations and seven further assault charges following a six-day trial.

The court heard that the Nigerian had lived in Huddersfield before moving to Bradford, where he set up his own God Cares Ministry Church and started preaching.

GERMANY
euronews

A senior German cleric has publicly apologised for the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests. The country’s clergy is the latest to be hit by scandal, after abuse was uncovered in America and Ireland, forcing Pope Benedict to hold crisis talks last week.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch says he feels for the victims: “Sexual abuse against minors is always an awful crime. I support Pope Benedict’s words out of deep conviction, and I apologise to the victims of all such crimes.”

GUAM
KUAM

by Heather Hauswirth

Guam - The Archdiocese of Hagatna is refraining from commenting just yet on a second letter from the nation's largest organization supporting victims of sexual abuse by priests. SNAP Southwest Regional Director Joelle Casteix criticized Archbishop Anthony Apuron's response to the organization's call to come clean on disclosing the names of members of the clergy who have been accused of child molestation.

Casteix said she received phone calls from at least two people who claimed they had been abused by priests on Guam. Casteix added these same individuals alleged they knew of at least ten other people who were also sexually abused.

GUAM
Pacific News Center

Guam - The survivors network of abused priests is rejecting Archbishop Anthony Apuron's statement on priestly abuse.

In that statement, the Archdiocese said no member of Guam's clergy has ever been charged with or convicted of sexual abuse.

But the latest release from the group called SNAP accuse the Archbishop of being "disingenuous" and "minimizing" the issue.

GERMANY
The Local

Published: 23 Feb 10
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100223-25437.html

German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger on Tuesday accused the Catholic Church of failing to cooperate with officials in the investigation of alleged child sexual abuse at Jesuit schools in the 1970s and 1980s.

The member of the Free Democrats told broadcaster ARD that she did not have the impression that church leaders were working constructively with law enforcement. Meanwhile the abuse scandal uncovered at Berlin’s prestigious Canisius school last month continues to grow, with around 50 former students claiming they were sexually abused. ...

Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger also criticised the Catholic Church’s tendency to give internal investigations priority over state legal proceedings.

“Child abuse is an official criminal offence,” she told ARD. “So others can’t decide whether this crime will be looked into or not.”

CANADA
Times-Colonist

By Michael D. Reid, Times Colonist
February 23, 2010

It's a disturbing subject many people would rather not hear or talk about -- childhood sexual abuse.

So you can imagine the challenges Steve Rosen and Terri DeBono have had to face as they seek an audience for Boyhood Shadows: I Swore I'd Never Tell. ...

Other survivors whose histories are related in the film include Kim Allyn, a Santa Cruz deputy sheriff molested by a priest when he was an altar boy, CBS-TV anchorman Allen Martin, and Martin Moran, the New York author whose abuse by a camp counsellor inspired The Tricky Part, his book and one-man-show.

GERMANY
Catholic Culture

February 23, 2010

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg im Breisgau, the head of the German bishops’ conference, has apologized to abuse victims in the wake of a scandal centered on a Jesuit school in Berlin, where two priests systematically abused children in the 1970s and 1980s. Throughout the nation, 120 former students have alleged they were abused at seven schools.

“Sexual abuse of minors is always a heinous crime,” said Archbishop Zollitsch. I want to associate myself with this statement from Pope Benedict and apologize to all those who were victims of such crimes.”

“Abuse weighs heavily on the Church because children and young people have a particular trust in priests,” he added. “There should be no abuse, especially not in the Church.”

WACO (TX)
KXXV

WACO - An hour before the deadline, convicted murderer Matt Baker's court-appointed attorney filed a motion for a new trial for the former pastor.

Judge Ralph Strother scheduled a hearing for April 1st on that request by local attorney Stan Schwieger.

Baker claims his former defense attorney Guy James Gray failed to adequately investigate the case, or have any experts in the fields of forensic pathology or toxicology take the stand.

WACO (TX)
The Courier

WACO — A former Waco-area Baptist preacher convicted of killing his wife and trying to cover it up as a suicide is seeking a new trial.

Matt Baker was sentenced to 65 years in prison after his conviction last month. Now, he’s alleging ineffective representation by his trial attorneys.

Court officials say the motion for a new trial was filed Monday afternoon in a state District Court in Waco where his trial was held. The judge has 45 days to make a ruling on the appeal.

PHOENIX (AZ)
The Arizona Republic

by Michael Clancy - Feb. 23, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic .
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix is being mentioned as a possible replacement for Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles, who will retire next year when he turns 75.

Apparently in hopes of influencing the choice of a successor, Mahony, who has served as archbishop for 25 years, has asked Pope Benedict XVI to appoint a co-adjutor, or successor, bishop.

According to several Catholic sources, the selection process has begun. A list of three bishops, compiled by the papal nuncio, or ambassador, to the United States, will be submitted to the Vatican, and the choice likely will be made from that list. Mahony may have a say on whose names are on the list. A selection, according to Catholic bloggers, is likely within weeks, but no one can say for sure.

IRELAND
The Irish Times

OPINION: The anger among survivors of clerical sex abuse at the failure of the Catholic Church to deal adequately with the issue has prompted some formally to leave the church. This is my letter to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin seeking excommunication, writes BERNICE DONOGHUE

Dear Archbishop Martin,

I AM writing to request the amendment of my details in the baptismal register for the Parish of Mount Merrion in the Archdiocese of Dublin, where I was baptised. I made the decision to leave the church over 30 years ago, but recently have discovered that I continue to be included in the church’s internal statistics. I strongly object to this inclusion as I do not consider myself to be a member of the Catholic Church, hence I am asking you to amend the baptismal register to reflect this fact. In short, I wish to be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.

My reasons for leaving the Catholic Church are as follows:

1 I do not want to be a member of a church that aided and abetted a paedophile so that he could rape and sexually abuse me for four years of my childhood. I was abused by the Norbertine priest Brendan Smyth. When he was finally arrested and tried for his crimes I was horrified to learn how the church had handled over four decades the allegations against him. Time and again, his victims were ignored or silenced in order to preserve the church’s position, and so he was able to continue his crimes against children with impunity. After Brendan Smyth’s trial and conviction in 1997 (I was one of the sample cases used in the trial), I attempted to sue the Catholic Church for its criminal behaviour and was badly hurt by the experience. In fact, it was so damaging to my mental health that finally, after four long years, I could take no more of their denials and delaying tactics and settled for a paltry sum just so I could preserve my peace of mind and get on with my life. I’m sure the hierarchy were delighted – another trouble-maker silenced and no great dent in the coffers!

IRELAND
The Irish Times

PÁDRAIG McCARTHY

RITE AND REASON: THE MURPHY/Dublin report has been a primary source of news since November 26th. I am not aware of any journalist or professional commentator who has yet taken a critical look at the report. This is extraordinary. We have been dismayed and shocked at the report, but we must not lose our capacity for rational thought.

It is a welcome report. It vindicates those who have been abused, and those who were received with less than full care when they brought the matter to the notice of the diocese. It is a service also to the State and to the church. It takes us from the area of rumour and speculation and allows us to deal with facts.

It also challenges the church in its structures, values and personnel to deep renewal in its mission of truth and reconciliation, of hope and healing. For the protection of all, we need to implement genuine collective responsibility. Abuse of any person, child or adult, is an abomination. No society can guarantee to prevent abuse entirely, but we can do far better, church and State.

GERMANY
The Irish Times

DEREK SCALLY in Berlin

THE HEAD of the German Bishops’ Conference has apologised to victims of clerical abuse and promised a review of internal reporting regulations.

As Germany’s abuse scandal continues to widen, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch echoed Pope Benedict in condemning child abuse as “a heinous crime”.

“I apologise to all who were victims of such abuse,” said Archbishop Zollitsch at the start of a four-day meeting of bishops in Freiburg.

IRELAND
The Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY Religious Affairs Correspondent

IF LAY people, and particularly women, had been more involved in the Catholic Church the response to clerical child sex abuse allegations “would have been different,” Archbishop of Tuam Michael Neary has said.

In a reflection on the Irish bishops’ summit with Pope Benedict last week, he also said that “in the discussions he asked for the forgiveness of the victims”.

The archbishop said “the need for co-operation with civil authorities, HSE and gardaí, and the complete implementation of the church’s own norms and procedures were seen as central to the safeguarding of children”.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By John Cooney

Tuesday February 23 2010

A senior Catholic leader has admitted that the response of bishops to clerical abuse cover-ups would have been different if more lay men and women held positions of authority in the church.

Archbishop of Tuam Michael Neary said yesterday that the lesson was drawn when Ireland's 24 bishops met Pope Benedict and heads of the Vatican at last week's Rome summit.

This absence of married couples and a feminine presence in church administration arose during a discussion of the causes which contributed to the abuse of children, he said.

SCRANTON (PA)
Catholic Culture

February 22, 2010

The Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania faces a severe budget crisis. The alarming financial figures may offer a clue to the sudden resignation of Scranton's Bishop Joseph Martino last August.

The Scranton diocese ran a deficit of $15.5 million for 2009. The previous two years had seen multi-million dollar deficits, but the 2009 shortfall more than doubled the 2008 figure. The soaring losses showed that despite plans to close schools and parishes, the Scranton diocese had no real prospect of restoring a balanced budget.

MEXICO
La Jornada

Carolina Gómez Mena

Lunes 22 de febrero de 2010, p. 35
A menos de un mes de que concluya la auditoría que ordenó el papa Benedicto XVI a los Legionarios de Cristo, debido a los abusos sexuales cometidos por Marcial Maciel en contra de menores, Evaristo Sada, secretario general de dicha congregación, ofreció disculpas a los afectados por los “actos inmorales de la vida personal de Maciel”, y a la Iglesia, que “se ha visto dañada”.

Durante el Encuentro Juventud y Familia, Sada insistió en su testimonio ¿Cómo caminar sobre agua sin hundirse? y admitió: “cuando viví con nuestro fundador no vi las cosas negativas que ahora conocemos; sólo fui capaz de ver lo bueno y no me di cuenta de lo malo. Dios así lo permitió.

[summary]

Evaristo Sada, general secretary of the Legionaries of Christ, apologized to those affected by the personal life of Father Marcial Maciel, who was accused to abusing minors. This apology came less than a month after completion of an audit of the Legionaries that was ordered by Pope Benedict XVI.

Father Sada admitted that when he lived with Father Maciel he did not see the negative things that are now known. Maciel died on Dec. 30, 2007 at 87. He was accused of abusing seminarians ages 12 to 17 for nearly four decades. It is estimated the attacks began in 1948 and extended into the early 1970s.

The Vatican appointed five visitors to study the Legionaries: Ricardo Watty Urquidi, Bishop of Tepic (Mexico), Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Denver (USA), Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, Archbishop of Concepción (Chile), Giuseppe Versaldi, Bishop of Alessandria (Italy) and Ricardo Blázquez Pérez, Bishop of Bilbao (Spain).

MEXICO
El Economista

22 Febrero, 2010
Por actos inmorales, pide públicamente perdón el actual secretario general de Los Legionarios de Cristo, el padre Evaristo Sada, según información de W Radio.

A través de una carta, Sada pidió perdón respecto al actuar de su fundador el padre Marcial Maciel: " de todo corazón quiero pedir perdón a las personas, a las que nuestro fundador haya afectado a causa de los actos inmorales en su vida personal y a las personas que se hayan sentido heridas por sus consecuencias.

[summary]

Father Evaristo Sada, current secretary-general of the Legionairies of Christ, has asked forgiveness for immoral acts committed by founder Father Macial Maciel. In a letter, he said he apologized to the people for the immoral acts in Father Maciel's personal life and for people who were hurt as a consequence of his actions.

Father Sada said he understood there was disappointment, sadness and confusion since the negative information became known. He said in addition to the hurt discredit has been brought to the Catholic priesthood. The goal is for the organization to correct and improve.

Voice from the Desert

Icons & Iconoclasts: How Secrecy and Denial Shattered the Catholic Church’s Prestige—and How It Can Recover is a series essays on Catholic icons, i.e. Catholic heroes, and Catholic iconoclasts, i.e., Catholic rogues. The well-written essays examine two vital faces of Catholic culture—dynamism and dysfunction.

The heroes include Mother Teresa, Elizabeth Ann Seton, John Paul II, and Saint Thomas Aquinas.

The author’s rogue gallery includes Marcial Maciel Degollado, Bernard Cardinal Law, and Roger Cardinal Mahony.

IRELAND
Catholic Culture

February 22, 2010

On the first Sunday of Lent, several Irish bishops delivered homilies and/or public statements concerning the sex-abuse scandal in their country, which had been the topic of a special meeting last week with Pope Benedict XVI and the leaders of the Roman Curia.

Bishop Denis Brennan of Ferns acknowledged that Irish victims of sexual abuse "feel great disappointment because the outcome of our meeting fell far short of their expectations." But none of the bishops joined in the public criticism of the Holy See that has been ubiquitous in the Irish media. Instead the prelates called for a renewed commitment to reform within the Irish Church.

IRELAND
Sunday Tribune

Conor McMorrow and Shane Coleman

Justice Sean Ryan: reportTHE religious orders' final offer to cover the cost of the residential institutional abuse scandal is more than €200m short of the contribution the government wants it to pay, the Sunday Tribune can reveal.

The orders, which were heavily criticised in the Ryan report, have made a final offer totalling €348m, more than €200m less than what is required to ensure a 50:50 contribution from church and state.

The final bill is expected to reach €1.36bn.

OHIO
Cincinnati Enquirer

By Barrett J. Brunsman • bbrunsman@enquirer.com • February 22, 2010

BATAVIA - The former youth minister at a Clermont County church pleaded guilty this morning to sexual battery and unlawful sexual conduct involving a 15-year-old girl.

Christopher E. Evans, 39, could get up to 50 years in prison when sentenced April 26 by Judge Victor M. Haddad of Common Pleas Court. He also faces a fine of up to $100,000.

Evans said little during the hearing. As defense attorney James K. Ferris and the prosecutor conferred with the judge, Evans bowed his head and wiped tears from his eyes with a handkerchief.

GERMANY
The Irish Times

German archbishop Robert Zollitsch today apologised for the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests and said he would discuss the matter with the pope.

A growing number of sexual abuse cases at Jesuit high schools in Germany has come to light over the past month, with over 100 former pupils complaining of abuse. That has prompted apologies from leading church officials.

While paedophilia scandals have rocked the church in Ireland and the United States in recent years, there had been little abuse known in the pope's native Germany.

GERMANY
Deutsche Welle

The chairman of the German Bishops Conference has said he was "deeply shocked" by a child sex abuse scandal in Roman Catholic schools and asked for forgiveness from the victims.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch told the conference's annual meeting of German bishops in Freiburg on Monday that he apologizes in the name of the Church to the victims of sex abuse at Catholic schools.

"Sexual abuse of minors is always a heinous crime. I want to associate myself with this statement from Pope Benedict and apologize to all those who were victims of such crimes," he said.

MEXICO
Catholic News Agency

Mexico City, Mexico, Feb 22, 2010 / 01:40 pm (CNA).- Over the weekend, the Secretary General of the Legionaries of Christ, Father Evaristo Sada addressed members of the movement about moving forward following revelations of their founder's double life. The priest urged them to “assume the consequences” of their founder's actions and to correct the things within the Legion that need to be corrected.”

Fr. Sada's comments came during a meeting for the youth and families in Mexico City, which brought together 10,000 members of the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi movement.

“With all my heart I want to ask the forgiveness of those who were affected by our founder because of the immoral acts of his personal life," Fr. Sada began emphasizing that both he and the movement's superior general, Father Alvar Corcuera, have asked for forgiveness repeatedly “because we sincerely regret that the Church and these people have suffered.”

GERMANY
inFranken

22.02.10
Kirche Der bundesweite Skandal um sexuellen Missbrauch von Schülern durch Geistliche erfasst nun auch den Freistaat Bayern. Der Abt des Benediktinerklosters Ettal nahe Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Barnabas Bögle, räumte am Montag ein, dass in den 1970er und 1980er Jahren im Internat Schüler von Geistlichen sexuell missbraucht wurden.

[summary]

The nationwide scandal over sexual abuse of students by clergymen now also covers the state of Bavaria. Barnabas Bogle, abbot of the Benedictine monastery Ettal near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, conceded on Monday that sexual abuse by clerics occurred there in the 1970s and 1980s.

In a letter to all parents of the school at Ettal Monastery, Abbot Bogle said in the last week former boarding schools students came forth with allegations. He said he wanted to express his heartfelt regret there has been abysmal offenses against human dignity. He asked forgiveness of the former students and their parents. Parents entrusted their children to the monastery and that trust was abused, the abbot said.

GERMANY
Business Week

By Flavia Krause-Jackson and Tony Czuczka

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The head of Germany’s Catholic bishops apologized to victims of rape and molestation by priests dating back at least to the 1970s, echoing Pope Benedict XVI’s recent words of condemnation.

“Sexual abuse of minors is always a heinous crime,” Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, head of the German Bishops’ Conference, told a news conference today in Freiburg, Germany. “I support this wording by Pope Benedict out of a deep conviction and apologize to all victims of such crimes.”

Benedict is struggling to contain the damage to the Vatican’s reputation from European sex-abuse scandals that began in Ireland and have spread to his German homeland. On Feb. 16, he called repeated instances of sexual abuse a “heinous crime” after summoning Irish bishops to Rome.

AUSTRIA
Austrian Independent

The Salzburg public prosecutor’s office said today (Mon) it was investigating a priest in Salzburg archdiocese in connection with child abuse.

Office spokeswoman Barbara Feichtinger said the priest, a member of a religious order, had exposed himself to a seven-year-old boy and shown him obscene photos, morally endangering him.

She said the charge against the priest would not be "active sexual behaviour" but violation of paragraph 208 of the criminal code banning "moral endangerment of people younger than 16."

GERMANY
Javno (Croatia)

BERLIN, February 22, 2010 (AFP) - The head of the German Bishops' Conference said Monday he was "deeply shocked" by a growing child sexual abuse scandal in Roman Catholic schools and asked for victims' forgiveness.

"I am deeply shocked by the cases of abuse that have come to light," said Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, according to the text of a speech delivered at the conference's annual meeting.

"Sexual abuse of minors is always a heinous crime. I want to associate myself with this statement from Pope Benedict and apologise to all those who were a victim of such crimes," he added.

GERMANY
The Local

Published: 22 Feb 10
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100222-25429.html

Robert Zollitsch, the head of the German Bishop’s Conference (DBK), made a formal apology on Monday to the victims of widespread child abuse at Catholic schools and said there would be consequences.

“The abuse is of particular weight when it comes to the Church, because children and youth give a special trust to the priests,” Archbishop Zollitsch said ahead of the DBK’s conference in Freiburg, calling the crimes “heinous.”

The abuse scandal that was uncovered at Berlin’s prestigious Canisius school last month continues to grow, with around 50 former students claiming they were sexually abused in the 1970s and 1980s. But lawyers for victims have said more than 115 people across the country have since come forward with allegations of abuse by up to 12 different priests and teachers at other Catholic institutions too.

GERMANY
Tagesschau

Zum Auftakt der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz (DBK) in Freiburg hat sich ihr Vorsitzender, Erzbischof Robert Zollitsch, bei den Opfern sexuellen Missbrauchs an katholischen Schulen entschuldigt und Konsequenzen angekündigt. "Im Raum der Kirche wiegt der Missbrauch besonders schwer, weil es ein besonderes Vertrauen von Kindern und Jugendlichen in den Priester gibt", sagte Zollitsch.

[summary]

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, has apologized to victims of sexual abuse at Catholic schools.

The bishops, meeting at their genral assembly, will review guidelines on how to proceed in cases of sexual abuse of minors by priests and talk about possible changes, the chairman said. The bishops discussed questions of prevention. Future priests are human and also in the sexual sense but need to be suitable and mature enough to have their office, Zollitsch said. They also want to talk about how they can help the difficult situation of the Catholic schools.

The archbishop said he expects the conference will end Thursday with a statement about abuse.

Shortly before the conference, Eugen Drewermann, a church critic, said the church seems burdened by the outrage of some of its members when they really need to face reality. He said everyone knows the church only makes a commitment under intense conflict.

GERMANY
domradio

Der Vorsitzende der Bischofskonferenz, Erzbischof Zollitsch, hat sein tiefes Bedauern über die Missbrauchsfälle in der Kirche zum Ausdruck gebracht. Er sei über das, was in den vergangenen Wochen bekanntgeworden sei, „zutiefst erschüttert“. Im Raum der Kirche wiege der Missbrauch besonders schwer, weil Kinder und Jugendliche Priestern in besonderer Weise vertrauten.

GERMANY
Earth Times

Freiburg, Germany - German bishops sought forgiveness on Monday from more than 120 victims of sexual abuse at Catholic-run schools and institutions. "I apologize to the victims of such crimes," the chairman of the German Bishops Conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, said, pledging to carry out a thorough investigation.

Germany has been rocked a series of revelations over the past three weeks that priests at schools run by the Jesuits and other Catholic orders sexually abused those under their care.

Charges cannot be laid, because most the cases happened more than 30 ago. The scandal came to light last month when a former Jesuit priest now living in Chile wrote a letter of apology to former pupils.

ORANGE COUNTY (CA)
Orange County Weekly

By Gustavo Arellano, Monday, Feb. 22 2010

​Apologies for sounding like a broken record, but nothing at the Diocese of Orange has changed in regards to its sex-abuse scandal. Bishop Tod D. Brown has just appointed a longtime Mater Dei High administrator to serve as the superintendent of Orange County's Catholic schools, and that's like appointing Barbara Coe to run Latino Health Access.

Mater Dei assistant principal Gregory Dhuyvetter has been at Mater Dei since 1982--from that year until 1996 as a teacher, (which means he was there when principal Michael Harris and colleagues Thomas Hodgman and Robert Richardson were raping kids left and right), and from 1996 until the present, when Jeff Andrade and Larry Stukenholtz carried on the Monarchs' proud teacher-student schtupping tradition, and boys' basketball coach Gary McKnight continued the school's pedo-protecting ways--all under Dhuyvetter's watch.

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

An Anglican priest has denied a series of indecency offences against children.

Canon James Wilson, 61, of Calstock, Cornwall, is accused of 11 charges of sexually assaulting four boys and seven girls between 1973 and 1980.

Canon Wilson, who became a priest in 1987 and is rector and rural dean of Calstock, was released on bail after the hearing at Plymouth Crown Court.

GERMANY
Der Westen

Essen. Das renommierte „Franz Sales Haus“ muss sich mit einem neuen Missbrauchs-Vorwurf auseinandersetzen. Die Tat liegt rund 40 Jahre zurück. Bei dem heutigen Leiter des Hauses, Günter Oelscher, hat der Verdacht „persönliche tiefe Betroffenheit“ ausgelöst.

[summary]

The Franz Sales House is more than just a wheel-chair accessible home. It is a medium-sized business with 800 employees and 20 locations. Fifteen hundred people with disabilities are cared for there. Franz Sales has group homes, workshops and professional labor market integration, a private vocational college and a riding stable.

Now a darker shadow from the past threatens to jeopardize the reputation of the organization. A former resident of the Franz Sales House told Director Gunter Oelsch that as a teen-ager during the 1960s he was sexually abused and humiliated by an employee. He lived there for three-and-a-half years. The employee has not worked there in years.

In the summer of 2002, a priest resigned from Franz Sales. He admitted that he abused a young person during it time as chaplain. Oelsch said they can say with certainty there have been no sexual assaults at the house since the early 1990s.

GERMANY
Badische Zeitung

Klare Wort zum Auftakt: Der Vorsitzende der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, Robert Zollitsch aus Freiburg, hat sich erstmals zu dem Missbrauchs-Skandal geäußert. Er entschuldigt sich bei den Opfern und will das Thema bei seinem Papstbesuch im März ansprechen.

[summary]

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch apologized to victims of sexual abuse at the beginning of the German Bishops Conference spring meeting. This is the first time he has spoken on the scandal.

During his speech, the archbishop said he is deeply shocked by the allegations. He said he wanted to emphasize that sexual abuse of minors is always a heinous crime as was noted by Pope Benedict. He apologized to all those who were victims and said abuse within church space is particularly serious because children and adolescents have a special confidence in the priest. There should be no abuse, particularly within the church.

A good and important step was made by the bishops eight years ago when bishops created guidelines on how sexual abuse cases would he handled, he said. Whenever there is a suspicion there was must a seamless and absolutely transparent explanation. He said he welcomes the actions by the Jesuits to take responsibility and to draw lessons from the failings of some priests.

The archbishop said the 2002 guidelines are important and form the basis of their actions. Concern for the victims must be paramount, he said.

GERMANY
ZDF heute

Bischofskonferenz will erstmals Stellung nehmen

Mitte Januar wurden Missbrauchsfälle an einer Berliner Jesuitenschule publik - und seitdem gibt es ständig neue Vorwürfe. Die lange Liste der Missbrauchsfälle und das Schweigen der Kirche: ein Überblick.

[summary]

This is an overview of the numbers of cases of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church that have been revealed since mid-January.

In mid-January, Father Klaus Mertes, rector of Berlin's Canisius College, informed 500 students by letter that possible abuse occured at the school from 1975 to 1983. He apologized that staff had a blind eye to the allegations and he asked for victims to come foward.

Jan. 29: Father Mertes admitted at a press conference of seven previously known cases of abuse by two priests. The Berlin public prosecutor took over the investigation.

Jan. 29: The Berlin archdiocese acknowledged investigation into abuse against a former priest at Holy Cross parish in Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen. The incidents are alleged to have happened in 2001 but was known to the archdiocese since the summer of 2009.

Feb. 1: The scandal began to spread nationwide. Father Stefan Dartmann said during a visit to Berlin that 25 victims were known. Besides 20 students at Canisius, there were three at St. Ansgar School, Hamburg, and two at St. Blaise school in the Black Forest. The accused priests, Peter R. and Wolfgang P., were former Jesuits but were active in other Catholic institutions at home and abroad.

Feb. 2: The scandal moved to the Hildescheim diocese where one of the two accused former Jesuit priests served as pastor from 1982 to 2003. Two cases of sexual assault were known. Bishop Josef Homeyer said from today's perspective the allegations were seriously and implications for further developments were clearly underestimated. The Germany bishops were set to discuss the abuse issue at their plenary meeting to be held in Freiburg from Feb. 22 to 25.

Feb. 3: In Berlin, cases of abuse surfaced by one priest who was also a religion teacher at Notre Dame Catholic School. The Berlin archdiocese announced an investigation. Shortly therafter, Hans Langendorfer, secretary of the bishops' conference, said all cases of abuse would be investigated.

Feb. 7: Lawyer Ursula Raue, representing the Jesuit order, said that 30 former pupils of Canisius College had been abused. Additional cases were revealed in Bonn, Hamburg and St. Blaise. Pope Benedict XVI condemened sexual abuse of minors shortly thereafter as a violation of the rights of children.

Feb. 12: Berlin Cardinal Georg Sterzinky said the credibility of dedicated priests and teachers should not be destroyed because of the guilt of individuals. He also acknowledged shortcomings in the investigation of abuse cases.

Feb. 16: Bishop Walter Mixa of Augsburg attributed the abuse cases to increasing sexuality in public life and pointed to what he called abnormal sexual preference. He said incidents within the church were small.

Feb. 18: At least 115 victims of abuse since the 1950s were known in Jesuit schools. The sexual assaults were not isolated but were systematically committed. Meanwhile, reports on cases of sexual abuse involving the Pallottines began to surface. A student at the former St. Albert Seminary on the Rhine river Near Bonn said two years ago he reported that he and two other boys were abused in the early 1960s by a priest. The accused priest left the order in the 1960s and the school closed in 1967.

Feb. 20: Abuse cases were reported at two former homes of the Salesians of Don Bosco in Augsburg and Berlin. Also affected were the Daughters of Charity and a former children's home in Upper Swabia, the Marist board school in Mindelheim, Bavaria, and the former Franciscan boarding school in Grosskrotzenburg, Hanau. A large number of abuse allegations were made against former employees of the Franz-Sales House in Essen, a well-known facility for disabled people. An allegation was also made at St. Louis College. The federal justice minister urged the bishops to take action.

Feb. 22: Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, who heads the bishops' conference, is expected to make his first statement on the scandal at the bishops spring meeting.

GERMANY
Frankfurter Rundschau

Viele Priester, die sich an Kindern vergangen haben, sitzen irgendwann vor ihm. Wunibald Müller, Therapeut und Theologe, beschäftigt sich seit Jahren mit Missbrauch in der katholischen Kirche und ist Berater des Papstes. Welche Lehren aus den Fällen in Jesuiten-Schulen zu ziehen sind, wird ab heute die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz beschäftigen. Müller stellt klare Forderungen. Ein Essay über Täter und Opfer und die Fehler im System.

[summary]

Wunibald Muller, therapist and theologian, dealt for years with issues of abuse in the Catholic Church and was an adviser to the Pope. Then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the doctrine congregation at the time, asked for advice from experts on the topic in 2003.

The Vatican responded when new cases of clergy sexual abuse of minors became known in the United States. To avoid further damage, the church became to take more seriously than ever the fact that sexual abuse of minors was happening in the church ranks. Recent reports of sexual abuse within the Jesuit order have shown the topic has not gone away. The allegations have raised more questions.

One question is how we can explain that if more than 90 percent of sexual abuse happens in the family and among relatives, that misconduct among priests is not limited to a few but covers up to four percent of the clergy. The question can be answered in part when looking at risk factors for child abuse. The first risk is being a man. Although women can sexually abuse minors, most of the abusers are male. The relatively high levels of sexual abuse by priests can thuse be explained in that only men are ordained as priests.

The second risk factor is sexual immaturity, whether the person is homosexual or bi-sexual. There are a striking number of cases involving same-sex contact. The question of whether there is a connection between pedophilia and homosexuality.

IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Monday, 22 February 2010

An order has been granted in the US for the extradition of Ulster priest Fr Francis Markey (82) back to Ireland to face two charges of alleged rape of a 15-year-old boy in the Sixties.

Fr Markey, a native of Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, has 30 days to appeal the ruling. And the priest could either be jailed for a second time in the US, pending either extradition or an appeal being lodged against the order.

The priest's attorney has argued that his client should remain on bail while he fights the extradition bid.

The Awareness Center

by Vicki Polin

For most people, the holiday of Purim brings up great memories of dressing up in costumes and being silly. For others Purim is very difficult and confusing time of the year. It's a time that may conjure up past memories of parents or other adults who cared for them drinking a little too much alcohol and or being drunk. When this happened their parent, grandparent or another adult care provider might have lost their ability to control their anger, impulses and or inhabitions.

For some Purim often mean that families get together, routines are changed, there is also the added stress of cleaning and preparing meals. These issues alone can be extremely stress producing. Unfortunately the reality is that there are parents who are already inclined to use their children as an outlet for emotions and urges. They are even more likely to do so when under the pressure of increased anxiety. Many survivors of childhood abuse report that they were abuse became more intense around and over all holidays (both Jewish and secular holidays).

It is not uncommon for symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) to emerge after times of relative remission and/or intensify in those already struggling. You may experience an increase in disturbing thoughts, nightmares and flashbacks. Thoughts of self-harm, even suicide, may be an issue. The important thing to remember is these feelings are about the past, that the abuse is over, and that it is of utmost importance for you to be kind to and gentle with yourself.

ISRAEL
The Jerusalem Post

BY BEN HARTMAN
22/02/2010 05:47

A helpline for religious Jews dealing with questions about their sexual identity has received an influx of calls in the wake of allegations that prominent national-religious Rabbi Moti Elon had sexual relations with male students.

Rabbi Ron Yosef of Netanya said he founded the Web site Hod (a Hebrew acronym for “homo’im datiim” – religious homosexuals) two years ago in order to “have a real religious and social discussion on homosexuality, as well as acceptance of the other and to fight hatred.”

Yosef, 35, said that since he founded Hod, the Web site received more than 300,000 hits and 2,200 requests for guidance. But since the Elon scandal broke last Monday, it has received over 60 requests for help in less than a week, he said.

ISRAEL
Haaretz

By Ze'ev Segal

Any consideration of the actions of the Takana forum must begin with the fact that without Takana or an organization like it, indecent acts committed by spiritual leaders and rabbis would be unlikely to come to the attention of the legal authorities. That is why the public needs such an organization.

But such an organization is capable of operating alongside the law enforcement authorities rather than replacing them. Thus when it receives a complaint that arouses substantial suspicions of criminal wrongdoing, it has an obligation not to keep the matter from the appropriate authorities. In revealing suspicions of indecent acts on the part of Rabbi Mordechai Elon, Takana fulfilled that obligation, thereby refuting its critics, who view the group and others like it as a state within a state.

As has been reported, Takana informed then-attorney general Menachem Mazuz in late 2006 of allegations against Elon that aroused suspicions of sexual offenses on Elon's part. For reasons that have not been adequately explained, Mazuz determined at the time that "there was no way to deal with the specific complaints at the criminal level." With respect to Takana, the relevant question is whether it reported the allegations against Elon as soon as it had substantive information to convey, or only some time later.

ISRAEL
Haaretz

By Tomer Zarchin and Yair Ettinger

Police sources told Haaretz they believe their inquiry into indecent acts allegedly committed by Rabbi Mordechai Elon will grow into an official investigation within the next week or so. They said Elon himself, his associates and the members of the Takana rabbinical forum that revealed the allegations against him last week may be questioned.

On Thursday, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, State Prosecutor Moshe Lador, and Major General Yoav Segalovich, the chief of investigations and intelligence at the police, decided to begin a police inquiry into the allegations.

One of the national investigative teams is expected this week to collect all of the material sent from the rabbinical forum to the attorney general since 2006.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Maurice Hayes

Monday February 22 2010

Not even the most doting mother, all those years ago, could have imagined that one day Willie O'Dea would be the answer to a bishop's prayer, and not just one bishop, but the entire Irish hierarchy.

Even more than Michael O'Leary and Hangar 6, he has managed to get the bishops and the debacle of the Rome summit out of the headlines and off the front pages of the national broadsheets.

In the breathing space thus offered, some have begun to dilute their support for the Murphy report and to resile from total acceptance of its conclusions.

There are mutterings among the clergy about perceived weaknesses in the report, a search for loopholes that are less generous to the real victims of abuse than to solicitous to protect the church and those perceived to be in authority.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By John Cooney

Monday February 22 2010

A WORTHY dirge was penned by the writer Aubrey de Vere to Owen Roe O'Donnell about the failure of the earls in Kilkenny's Council Hall before their vanquished flight to the continent.

It can be paraphrased in verse about the reining in of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin by Pope Benedict, the curial cardinals and his 23 fellow bishops at last week's Rome summit:

"Pope, Cardinals and bishops, ye talked and talked/In the Vatican's Salla Bologna, such a grand hall;/But this man whose game ya balked/Was the one man 'mong you all!'

IRELAND
American Magazine

Posted at: 2010-02-22
Author: Austen Ivereigh

Look at the statements and homilies made by some of the Irish bishops yesterday following their two-day meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, and one thing will be perfectly obvious: they just don't understand the problem.

There is plenty there about sin and repentance, God's loving and healing mercy, and the evil of abuse of children -- and of course, mention of guidelines which prevent it happening again. But what none of them mentions is the culture of collusion and cover-up which prevented the priest perpetrators being dealt with until at least the mid-1990s.

Nothing about the decades of denial. No mention of clericalism. Not one reference to institutional idolatry.

IRELAND
Catholic Culture

February 22, 2010

An Irish bishop who tendered his resignation following the publication of the Murphy report said that those disappointed in the results of last week’s meeting between the Pope and the Irish hierarchy should focus on the Pontiff’s upcoming pastoral letter.

“The Vatican Press Release should not be viewed as the last word,” Bishop Jim Moriarty said in a statement. “Pope Benedict’s pastoral letter which is expected in mid-March is the document to focus on. A draft copy of the pastoral letter was shared with the Bishops and we had an opportunity to offer comments. While taking on board these comments, the pastoral letter will be the Holy Father’s document.”

NEW YORK
Albany Times Union

By RABBI HANOCH HECHT AND THE REV. ANTHONY EVANS
First published in print: Monday, February 22, 2010

The Child Victims Act is once again under consideration in the state Senate, with the Codes Committee likely voting on it this week. We and our fellow believers urge our elected representatives to pass it as quickly as possible to protect New York's children.

The bill would extend the statute of limitations for child sex abuse by five years, so that victims would not have to file charges before they are 23 or civil claims before they are 28.

Even more important, it would create a one-year window for victims to file claims and pursue justice in court -- even if the statutes of limitations in their cases have expired. Perpetrators typically abuse time and time again and well into their elder years, so identifying them today, even if they committed this heinous act 20 years ago, can make a significant and perhaps transformative difference in the lives of those abused.

OMAHA (NE)
KETV

OMAHA, Neb. --

There are now at least two young girls accusing Stewart Newman, 38, with sexual abuse.

Police reports obtained by KETV NewsWatch 7 show an 11-year-old girl's mother told police on Thursday that her daughter was sexually assaulted by Newman between September and December of 2009 while attending a fighting class at King of King's Lutheran Church.

Last Wednesday, the Omaha youth minister who works with children as a martial arts instructor, band leader and choir director was charged with sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl.

OMAHA (NE)
Action 3 News

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - A second girl has come forward with claims she was sexually abused by an Omaha man who runs a youth ministry.

Police say a woman reported her 11-year-old daughter was assaulted by Stewart Newman between September and December, while attending a fighting class Newman runs.

IRELAND
The Irish Times

ANN MARIE HOURIHANE

Surely it is Irish Catholicism that made us both so fixated on the apology and so reluctant to apologise, writes ANN MARIE HOURIHANE

FOR A country in which people say “sorry” when they bump into each other on the street – a habit as contagious as it is infuriating – it is strange that the real apology seems to be in trouble here.

In fact the saying sorry problem is worse than that. It is now quite common for people to say “Sorry now . . .” before launching into something aggressive or insulting. “Sorry now” has become the modern equivalent of that odious phrase “No offence”, which is really a carte blanche to be horrible. The comedienne Arabella Weir once built a character around the phrase “no offence”, a loathsome make-up assistant who used to demolish her unfortunate customers behind the shelter of the phrase.

But let’s look at being offended for a moment. On the one hand very few adults will have been offended by Tiger Woods having sex with cocktail waitresses. Amused, yes. Surprised, maybe. Sick to death of hearing about it, definitely. But offended, no.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Shane Hickey

Monday February 22 2010

THE head of the Catholic church in Dublin has said Catholicism cannot be renewed without confronting the abuse suffered by innocent children in the past.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said the entire church is this year examining itself and is "called to do penance" following the revelations about sexual and physical abuse.

Speaking at a lenten ceremony to bring new people into the church, Dr Martin said God alone could "reheal" the church.

OWEGO (NY)
Press & Sun-Bulletin

By Tom Wilber •twilber@gannett.com • February 21, 2010

Another sexual abuse charge has been filed against Ralph E. Johnson, a former rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Owego.

Pennsylvania State Police in Gibson have charged Johnson, 82, with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, a felony. He is accused of sexually assaulting a mentally disabled 14-year-old boy in 2001, according to police records.

The latest charge was filed after the incident was reported to police Feb. 7 -- 3 days after Johnson was charged in another case alleging sexual abuse of a boy.

GUAM
KUAM

[with video]

by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - The nation's largest support group for individuals who have been abused in religious organizations is continuing to push the head of the Catholic Church on Guam, Archbishop Anthony Apuron, to act. Three weeks ago the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) wrote a letter to the archbishop demanding he fully disclose the names of accused child molesting clerics who are working or have ever worked or lived on the island.

Apuron responded however that to date no member of the Catholic clergy on Guam has been charged with or convicted of sexual abuse. SNAP in a second letter today calls his response "horrible", as Southwest Regional Director Joelle Casteix said, "it was horrible for survivors of sexual abuse."

Casteix penned both letters to Archbishop Apuron, demanding he come clean with the names of priests on Guam who allegedly molested catholic children. SNAP claims they have received calls from two survivors on Guam who claim they were victims of sexual abuse by local clergy and knew of at least ten others alleging the same thing. Casteix says to hear the archbishop's response that no clergy member has been charged or convicted of sexual abuse is unacceptable.

PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Monday, February 22, 2010
By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
As Vatican officials consider whether a popular Benedictine monk may return to ministry after pornography was found on his computer, some students at St. Vincent College are rallying to support him, arguing that the case against him is flawed.

On Wednesday, 73 of them went to class in T-shirts printed with the question, "Where is Fr. Mark Gruber?" Beneath that was a quotation from the Rule of St. Benedict, which said a monk has true humility "if hard and distasteful things are commanded, nay -- even though injuries are inflicted, he accept them with patience and even temper, and not grow weary or give up, but hold out ..."

The back said, "Priest. Professor. Friend. Due process?"

AUSTRALIA
Catholic Culture

February 22, 2010

Father Jim Denham, a priest of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, will be sentenced next month on 29 counts of child sexual abuse. Twenty-seven of the 40 men who allege abuse by the priest are seeking a settlement with the diocese.

ISRAEL
The JC

By Miriam Shaviv
February 19, 2010

The best comment on the Rav Elon sex scandal comes from Adderabbi, who tries to put it all into context by quoting a passage on charismatic teachers from an absolutely brilliant new book on Jewish education -- written, ahem, by my father, Paul Shaviv, principal of TannenbaumCHAT in Toronto, the largest Jewish high school, grade-for-grade, in North America (and the largest private day school in Canada).

Much of what he says may be applied to charismatic rabbis in the public sphere, such as Rav Elon:

The ‘Pied-Piper’ is one of the most difficult situations for a Principal to deal with. Many excellent and highly professional teachers have elements of charisma in their personalities. In the ‘Pied Piper’ situation a powerfully charismatic teacher has exceeded appropriate boundaries. The teacher’s personality has become the centre of the classroom rather than the course content. A ‘Pied Piper’ will deeply affect and influence some students – but will almost always leave a trail of emotional wreckage in his/her wake.

IRELAND
Independent Catholic News

The Irish Bishops who returned from their meeting with Pope Benedict last week, addressed their dioceses in homilies and statements at the First Sunday of Lent Masses. Each Bishop spoke about the Rome meeting. In particular, Bishop James Moriarty said: "The Vatican Press Release should not be viewed as the last word, explaining that Pope Benedict would be issuing a pastoral letter in mid-March.

With regard to his own resignation, he said: "The acceptance of my offer of resignation is proceeding. It is not a question of if but when. It will not happen immediately but should not go too far beyond Easter."

The full texts of five bishop's addresses follow below.

IRELAND
The Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY

THE CATHOLIC Bishop of Down and Connor and the former Northern Ireland police ombudsman have supported Bishop Martin Drennan of Galway.

Bishop Noel Traenor said yesterday that in the Murphy report Dr Drennan was “not referred to as somebody bearing guilt”.

Speaking on the BBC Northern Ireland Sunday Sequence programme he said that, where the issue of collective responsibility in the Dublin archdiocese was concerned, “Bishop Martin Drennan is not burdened by guilt”.

ROME
The Irish Times

PADDY AGNEW in Rome

WHEN THE Irish bishops met for their general meeting in Maynooth last December to discuss the fallout of the Murphy report, one of the younger bishops proposed that they should all offer their resignations, it has emerged in Rome.

This move would have left Pope Benedict XVI an entirely free hand as to who and when to reappoint. The proposal did not go down well, meeting with a mixture of bemusement and incredulity.

The Catholic Church and in particular the Holy See do not like resignations. Perhaps the most high-profile sacrificial lamb offered up to public opinion as part of the fallout of clerical sex abuse was Boston’s Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned his position in December 2002 after 11 months of bitter polemics about his alleged mishandling of various child-abusing priests in his archdiocese.

IRELAND
The Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY and LORNA SIGGINS

ANY TEMPTATION to think that renewal of the Catholic Church can be achieved “without recognising the hurt and damage that was done to innocent children and how that hurt was ignored” has to be rejected, the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said.

“Lent this year is a moment in which the whole church in Dublin is called to do penance and seek reconciliation concerning how terrible facts of abuse of children were responded to,” he said.

It was “a time when we must all look at our responsibilities for the society and for the church which allowed such a situation to take shape”, he said. He also appealed “to all those who feel disillusioned with the church but still feel attracted by the message of Jesus, to turn to the authentic source of that message, which is the Word of God and especially the gospels”.