The Boston Phoenix
The Roman Catholic Church, which for the last 20 years or so has taken so many wrong-headed positions on social issues, has just made another disastrous mistake: as expected, it has reinforced and extended its ban on gay men — even if they are celibate — becoming priests.
On a simple but nevertheless very real level, the idea is absurd. The Catholic Church, for almost 1600 years, has either discouraged or forbidden its priests from marrying. It has always denied women ordination. As a result, it bars women from its most powerful administrative roles. It is no surprise, then, that the Church is without a doubt the world’s largest gay bureaucracy. As Damian Thompson, a devout Catholic, wrote recently in England’s arch-traditional Spectator (no doubt with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek): "In addition to being Europe’s smallest state, the Vatican also boasts the highest proportion of homosexuals per square foot."
It is impossible to escape the conclusion that the ban is a rebuke — if not an outright condemnation — of the years of service and devotion that gay priests living and dead have faithfully rendered to their church. Even the memories of such conservative icons as the late cardinals O’Connell, Spellman, and Wright (who may or may not have been faithful to their vows of celibacy but who would certainly today be recognized or outed as being gay) are devalued.
PEORIA (IL)
WQAD
PEORIA, Ill. New allegations of sexual abuse in the Peoria Catholic Diocese are based on incidents dating back to the 1950s.
Civil lawsuits filed today in Peoria accuse five priests and a nun of abuse. The nine alleged victims -- now ages 39 to 55 -- say they were as young as six and as old as 18 when the abuses happened.
The diocese says three of the priests were removed from active ministries in 2002 after allegations of abuse were made.
One of the accused priests called the allegations preposterous. The diocese says he was removed in the 1980s, but it was not related to abuse allegations.
IRELAND
Irish Times
Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent
The child abuse allegation, which has led to former Bishop of Galway Dr Eamon Casey standing aside from active ministry in an English parish, was made by a woman now living in the UK who has made similar unproven allegations against others in the past.
It is also understood she has endured bouts of ill-health over recent years.
The middle-aged woman, who is believed to have known Dr Casey most of her life, made the allegation for the first time last week concerning an incident she claimed took place over three decades ago in Ireland.
Her allegation was conveyed to a person in the south of Ireland who had been designated to deal with such claims. The child protection office in the southern English Catholic diocese of Arundel and Brighton, where Dr Casey has been serving as a curate, was contacted immediately and Dr Casey was informed.
CANADA
Anglican Journal
STAFF
The Anglican Church of Canada’s Indian residential schools settlement fund, with a goal of $25 million, remains on target, having collected $16.8 million as of the third quarter of 2005, according to General Synod’s financial office in Toronto.
The church’s 30 dioceses and General Synod, the national office, began in 2003 to contribute to the fund. It pays damages to claimants who are able to prove they suffered sexual or physical abuse at Anglican-run schools that were part of a nationwide system of boarding schools for native children. As of Oct. 17, 2005, a total of $6.6 million had been paid to claimants.
VATICAN CITY
New Zealand Herald
01.12.05
VATICAN CITY - Catholic liberals have slammed the Vatican's decision to bar "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies from the priesthood in the first major ruling by Pope Benedict XVI.
Opponents have said the ruling could trigger a witch-hunt and force gay clergy underground but Catholic leaders stressed it was merely emphasising the need for all candidates for the priesthood to be mature enough to control their sexuality.
The document said that practising homosexuals, those with deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or those who support "gay culture" should be weeded out by bishops and principals of theological colleges.
However, the "instruction" by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education said that candidates who had experienced homosexual leanings during a passing phase could be ordained if they had clearly overcome them for at least three years.
Conservatives argued the reform is necessary as theological colleges in the West have adopted an increasingly relaxed attitude to homosexuality, reflecting changes in social attitudes.
IOWA CITY (IA)
WQAD
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -- More allegations of sexual abuse have been made against a priest who was in the Davenport Diocese and later became the bishop of Sioux City.
Seven men claim they were sexually assaulted by former Bishop Lawrence Soens. They want to settle their cases through mediation rather than the courts.
The men's attorney, Craig Levein, says the cases were turned over to attorneys for the diocese and Soens last week. The diocese acknowledged receiving the cases, but says church officials and attorneys haven't had time to investigate.
The cases are the latest allegations against Soens, who is already defending himself in state court against lawsuits filed by two other victims.
CHICAGO (IL)
Editor & Publisher
By E&P Staff
Published: November 30, 2005 5:30 PM ET
CHICAGO Gay men are being portrayed inaccurately and unfairly in coverage of the Vatican's guidance on the role of gay men in the Roman Catholic Church, theAbuse Tracker Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) says in an "open letter to the news industry."
"Some of those reports have included references to sexual 'preferences,' and reporting without verification parishioner statements that most of the priests involved in the Church's sex-abuse scandal were gay," the letter, addressed to "fellow journalists," states. "Also, factually incorrect opinions that assert a cause-and-effect link between gay men and pedophilia are being reported without challenge."
The letter is signed by NLGJAAbuse Tracker President Eric Hegedus, a page designer for the New York Post, and the association's executive director, Pamela Strother.
UNITED STATES
Myrtle Beach Sun
RICHARD N. OSTLING
Associated Press
U.S. Roman Catholic leaders praised the contributions of celibate gay priests in response to a new Vatican pronouncement against homosexuals in the priesthood, a move that could imply some dioceses and religious orders want flexibility in applying church policy.
Two key American statements - one from the president of the U.S. bishops and the other representing religious orders - quickly followed the Vatican's "instruction" on gay clergy and supported it on several points: Priests should uphold the church's teaching against gay sex, personally maintain a celibate lifestyle and avoid support for "the so-called 'gay culture'."
The potential question involves what happens to candidates who meet those requirements but also have a continuing gay orientation.
The decree, released Tuesday by the Vatican's education agency with approval from Pope Benedict XVI, applies worldwide but is crucial for the United States, where clerical sex abuse crisis erupted and the gay rights movement is strong.
ROME
LifeSite
ROME, November 30, 2005 (CWNews.com/LifeSiteNews.com) - A Vatican consultant, in an interview with the I Media news service, has observed that the Church has always taught that homosexuals should not become priests, since they suffer from a "structural incoherence" in their approach to human sexuality. The question of whether homosexual men should become priests has been raised repeatedly by Church leaders, and always answered negatively said Msgr. Tony Anatrella, a French Jesuit who is a consultant to the Pontifical Council on the Family. The French priest-psychologist cited decisions by the Council of Paris in 819, and the 3rd and 4th Lateran Councils in 1169 and 1215.
Writing in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, in an article that appeared alongside the newly released instruction on homosexuality and the priesthood, Msgr. Anatrella wrote that the new Vatican Instruction barring homosexuals from Catholic seminaries was necessary because "homosexuality has become an increasingly worrisome problem," adding that the acceptance of homosexuality could have a "destabilizing" effect on the lives of individuals and on society at large.
Msgr. Anatrella said that homosexuality is "a tendency and not an identity." The Catholic Church, he argued, has a duty to warn against the acceptance of an "incomplete and immature" approach to human sexuality.
Spirit Daily
It was not the way it should have been released. For weeks now, there have been leaks about the contents of the Vatican instruction on homosexuals in the priesthood, which stripped it of its drama and thus some of its power.
But all is well that ends well and the crux of the media spin after official dissemination Tuesday seems to be that it is a tough document.
"The Vatican's long-awaited new guidelines on homosexual seminarians were released yesterday, barring even celibate homosexuals from seminary," reported The Washington Times, while liberal newspapers, citing upset in the gay community, went into a bit of apoplexy.
In an especially ironic twist, The Boston Globe -- which first and gleefully exposed the scandal of sex abuse -- now complains that homosexuals, who were responsible for an estimated 81 percent of that abuse, should not be singled out.
Herald Sun
Reuters
01dec05
THE Vatican newspaper says homosexuality risked "destabilising people and society", had no social or moral value and could never match the importance of a relationship between a man and a woman.
The remarks were contained in a long commentary published yesterday to accompany the official release of a long-awaited document that restricted the access of homosexual men to the Roman Catholic priesthood.
The article by Monsignor Tony Anatrella, a French Jesuit and psychologist, said homosexuality could not be considered an acceptable moral alternative to heterosexuality.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
David Quinn
Religious Affairs Correspondent
ANGRY members of Ireland's gay community branded a controversial Vatican document as "homophobic".
The document bans homosexuals who have been sexually active over the last three years from becoming priests.
Editor of Gay Community News Brian Finnegan accused the Church of trying to shift the blame for the paedophile scandals on to homosexuals.
But, this has been strongly denied by president of the national seminary Mgr Dermot Farrell.
He said the document makes "no connection between homosexuality and paedophilia," and that he personally did not believe there was any connection.
IRELAND
RTE News
30 November 2005 20:06
The former Bishop of Galway, Dr Eamon Casey, has withdrawn from active ministry in West Sussex in England.
The Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, Dr Kieran Conry said Dr Casey ceased working in the parish of Hayward's Heath after an allegation appeared to have been made in Ireland against him.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Bishop Conry said he was told about the apparent allegation by a child protection officer in England who had been given information from Ireland.
IRELAND
Online.ie
A colleague of Dr Eamon Casey has said details of the allegation which led to him stepping down from clerical duties in England last week are still unclear.
Kieron Conry, Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, told RTE radio today that a child protection officer had informed him of an allegation made in Ireland against the former Bishop of Galway, but that Dr Casey had yet to be contacted by the authorities.
"My information from him is that the police have not approached him. There has been no formal allegation made to him," he said. After the claim, Fr Casey had withdrawn from ministry and gone to live in private accommodation.
"He has been very cooperative. In light of what appears to be an allegation he has withdrawn," he said.
Bishop Conry said he would "wait and see" what develops, and that he did not feel it was appropriate to make further inquiries until a formal allegation was presented by the authorities. After speaking to Dr Casey some days ago, Mr Conry did not believe he had any plans to return to Ireland.
IRELAND
Online.ie
The Catholic Primate of Ireland has refused to comment on media reports about an allegation made against the former Bishop of Galway, Eamon Casey.
Reports this morning said Dr Casey had stood aside from his ministry in England and was planning to return to Ireland to contest the allegation.
The reports contained no detail about the allegation in question.
HAWAII
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
By Tom Finnegan
tfinnegan@starbulletin.com
LIHUE » A Hawaii man who recently received an apology and court settlement from a Catholic priest who molested him 29 years ago was arrested and charged yesterday with raping a girl nine years ago.
Eugene Saulibio, a 44-year-old father of three, was arrested by Kauai detectives at his Aiea home and charged with four counts of first-degree sexual assault. If convicted, each felony count carries a maximum 20-year sentence.
On Nov. 8, in a highly publicized court settlement of Saulibio's civil lawsuit, the Rev. Joseph Bukoski III and his order, the Fathers of Sacred Hearts, apologized for Bukoski's sexual abuse of Saulibio in 1976.
According to Kauai police, the charges against Saulibio stem from assaults in 1996, when the then-14-year-old girl was on vacation and staying in Saulibio's former Kauai home. She was friends with one of Saulibio's relatives, and was assaulted while staying there, police said.
IRELAND
RTE News
30 November 2005 17:00
The Catholic Primate of All-Ireland, Archbishop Seán Brady, has said the Church will publish its new guidelines on child protection before Christmas.
The Archbishop and a delegation of bishops briefed the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Brian Lenihan, on the guidelines this morning.
Dr Brady said the Church was actively seeking a chairperson to oversee the implementation of its new child protection policy.
Herald Sun
Reuters
01dec05
THE Vatican newspaper says homosexuality risked "destabilising people and society", had no social or moral value and could never match the importance of a relationship between a man and a woman.
The remarks were contained in a long commentary published yesterday to accompany the official release of a long-awaited document that restricted the access of homosexual men to the Roman Catholic priesthood.
The article by Monsignor Tony Anatrella, a French Jesuit and psychologist, said homosexuality could not be considered an acceptable moral alternative to heterosexuality.
IRELAND
Irish Examiner
30/11/05
By Harry McGee, Political Editor
STATE inquires into sexual abuse of children by priests in the Ferns Diocese has cost the State a total of €2.4 million to date.
Tánaiste and Health Minster Mary Harney has informed Labour Party finance spokeswoman Joan Burton that the costs of the inquiries into abuse in the Diocese had reached €2,379,264 as of this month.
However, invoices for legal representation have also been received from the Diocese of Ferns and from one other individual.
The Government has not made a decision on the contentious matter of paying costs to the Diocese.
Ms Harney said the Cabinet had sought the advice of the Attorney General on the matter and would make a final decision “in due course.”
IRELAND
Irish Independent
PERPLEXING paradoxes underlie Vatican guidelines reaffirming the ban on active homosexuals and “supporters of gay culture” becoming priests.
Redolent of an edict from another era, it appears to equate homosexuality with paedophilia, a cancer plaguing the Church as evidenced by the damning report on the scandal of clerical child abuse in Co Wexford.
Not surprisingly, the gay community is outraged over the thrust of the document, describing it as a blatant bid to scapegoat them for the problems besetting the church.
Objecting to its language and tone, they see it as “hateful” and “hurtful”.
Most of all, they resent the Vatican’s claim that homosexuality obstructs gay people from having what it calls a “correct” relationship with men and women.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
Sarah Murphy
THE Diocese of Ferns is facing a compensation bill of €5m in the coming year due to ongoing clerical sex abuse claims, the Irish Independent has learned.
It was revealed at the closed Annual General meeting of the diocese's finance committee in Enniscorthy last night that their compensation bill has risen by 50pc on last year's settlements, which totalled €2.8m in 17 cases.
The Church is currently in active negotiations with the Department of Education over the sale of St Peter's seminary in Wexford town, which is currently being used by Carlow Institute of Technology as an outreach centre.
The sale of the Bishop's Palace, which is conservatively estimated to be worth between €1m and €2m, is also now a distinct possibility.
The 19th century Bishop's Palace at Summerhillpalace was bought by the diocese from the Devereauxs, a prominent sea merchant family,in the latter half of the 1800s as it was believed at the time to give the best views of Wexford Harbour. Four bishops have lived there.
IRELAND
One in Four
Former Bishop of Galway Dr Eamon Casey is to return to Ireland from the UK to contest an allegation made against him in Ireland which emerged recently.
Mass-goers at Our Lady of Fatima church in Staplefield, west Sussex, were told on Sunday that Dr Casey (known there as Fr Casey) had stood aside from ministry and moved to another premises owned by the diocese of Arundel and Brighton to prepare for his return to Ireland to deal with the allegation.
No details of the allegation were available yesterday from the diocese of Arundel and Brighton, to which Dr Casey has been attached since 1998. A spokesman said yesterday he believed it "dates back some time". He said the former bishop was returning to Ireland so he could "clear his name".
One in Four
In the first major ruling of his seven-month papacy, Pope Benedict has reaffirmed unambiguously and unapologetically Catholic Church teaching on the incompatibility of the priesthood with practising homosexuality and its prohibition from the priesthood on those who "show profoundly deep-rooted homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called gay culture".
The much-leaked Instruction from the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education will be welcomed by many who will find comfort in the unwavering assertion of old certainties. But for many Catholics, in Ireland and throughout the world, the document will cause much soul-searching and even pain as, once again, their church stigmatises brothers, sisters and friends in gay relationships as moral outcasts living in "grave sin".
For what matters as much as the precise rules governing the accession to Holy Orders, in the end a matter for the church alone, is what the church is saying about homosexuality as a human phenomenon. In reinforcing the prejudices that have made up a social climate traditionally deeply hostile to equal treatment of gays the church contributes to perpetuate discrimination even as yesterday's Instruction explicitly condemns it.
IRELAND
One in Four
The most likely outcome to the Vatican's instruction on homosexuals and the priesthood will be to damage further the authority of the papacy, writes Religious Affairs Correspondent Patsy McGarry
There is, the Book of Ecclesiastes tells us, a time for everything under heaven. "A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted"
Following yesterday's publication - finally - of the Vatican's much-leaked Instruction concerning the criteria of vocational discernment regarding persons with homosexual tendencies, considering their admission to seminary and to Holy Orders, let us be grateful. For it is time.
IRELAND
One in Four
One in Four, the national charity that supports women and men who have experienced sexual abuse and/or sexual violence, today called upon the Vatican to make a clear statement that demonstrates their understanding that there is no link between clerical paedophilia and homosexuality. The Charity is concerned that the Roman Catholic Church continues to “blame” recent clerical sexual abuse scandals on homosexuality, therefore deflecting from and denying the institutional failure that is in fact responsible for clerical sexual abuse.
Speaking today, Colm O'Gorman, Director of One in Four, said, “Who the Roman Catholic Church or any other faith chooses to ordain to ministry is appropriately a matter for them, our only concern is that any admission to ministry should centrally consider child protection. We are concerned that the Vatican has thus far failed to respond to the findings of the Ferns Report which held the Vatican responsible in part for clerical sexual abuse in the Diocese of Ferns, instead we have seen comment upon issues as diverse as Harry Potter and now the ordination of homosexuals.”
SANTA FE (NM)
KOBTV
Last Update: 11/30/2005 10:10:49 AM
By: Associated Press
SANTA FE (AP) - Archbishop Michael Sheehan says there isn’t a lot of new teaching in a Vatican policy statement designed to keep men with deep-seated homosexual tendencies from becoming priests.
The Vatican document was officially released Tuesday. It’s the first major policy statement of Pope Benedict’s papacy.
WISCONSIN
KSTP
Updated: 11/29/2005 09:33:43 PM
Recently released video of the Hudson Police Department’s interviews with Father Ryan Erickson reveal a disturbed priest who admitted to having prior suicidal thoughts.
Hudson police interviewed Erickson for three hours about the murder of two men at a local funeral home. Erickson denied involvement in their deaths, but was later found guilty in a trial conducted after he committed suicide.
Erickson seemed visibly shaken toward the end of his interview. When a detective asked him if he was upset he was considered a suspect, he replied “Well, I’m nervous that I would be considered a suspect because I really am not. I mean, I know that I didn’t kill them and it bothers me there might be evidence that points to the fact I did.”
The New Republic
by Michael Sean Winters
Only at TNR Online | Post date 11.30.05
he unfortunately named (and unfortunately issued) Vatican document "Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with Regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in View of Their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders" is the first major document of Pope Benedict XVI's reign, but it has occasioned a very old Catholic pastime: finding ways to misinterpret, twist, or just plain ignore a Vatican ruling.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the archbishop of Westminster, adopted the most straightforward approach: pretending that the Vatican didn't mean to say what it just said. The English cardinal issued a statement that said, "The Instruction is not saying that men of homosexual orientation are not welcome in the priesthood." In fact, the entire point of the document is to say that homosexuals are not welcome in the priesthood.
The Swiss Bishops' Conference tried a slightly different maneuver: focusing on the dicta. The Vatican document contains much high falutin' language about the priest conforming himself to Christ, alongside its bigoted and arcane notions about human sexuality; and the Swiss bishops chose to emphasize the former while downplaying the latter. "At the heart of our reflections on becoming a priest," they wrote (translation mine), "there is no question of sexual orientation but instead the responsibility to follow Christ in a coherent manner." Okay, I can live with that.
FAIRBANKS (AK)
Anchorage Daily News
The Associated Press
Published: November 30, 2005
Last Modified: November 30, 2005 at 04:44 AM
FAIRBANKS -- The bishop of the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese published an open letter apologizing to victims of sexual abuse by church representatives.
In a full-page advertisement Sunday in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Bishop Donald Kettler offered to work toward bringing healing to those harmed by child sexual abuse and to update the diocese's efforts to prevent abuse from happening again.
"For any actions contrary to the mission of the Catholic Church by representatives of the Diocese of Fairbanks, I am sincerely sorry and will pray and work for the emotional and spiritual healing of those affected," Kettler wrote in the letter.
FORT WAYNE (IN)
News-Sentinel
I am in full support of the recent statement on Criteria for the Discernment concerning Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in View of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders.
The Church bears the serious responsibility of establishing criteria concerning who should be admitted to the seminary and ordained to the priesthood, and who should be helped to some other vocation in life. Recent events have shown when the Church does not do this well, the pastoral care of souls suffers, the parishes are torn apart and the people lose confidence in the leadership of that Church.
The priest calls his people to a life of holiness and they rightly expect that he, himself, is living such a life, both in public when they see him and in private when they do not.
AUSTRALIA
Online Catholics
By Alan Gill
About eight years ago a former British child migrant, who had been raised in the notorious Christian Brothers’ orphanage known as Boys’ Town, Bindoon, sent me a clipping from a Perth newspaper which he clearly found shocking, and expected me to be suitably horrified as well.
The article told the story of a priest, then working among AIDS sufferers and other disadvantaged people in the north-western corner of the state, who had “outed” himself as gay.
I was, indeed, surprised by the article, though not quite in the way my correspondent intended. On glancing at the photo which formed part of the clipping I recognised the features of a man whom I not only knew well, but had formally received me into the Catholic Church – after 40-odd years as a moderately high church Anglican – some three or four years earlier.
The article took pains to say that the MSC priest was celibate – indeed, it quoted him as saying he had not had sex for 15 years; all of which my correspondent in Perth seemed to have overlooked.
WASHINGTON (DC)
U.S. Newswire
WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a letter fromAbuse Tracker Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association President Eric Hegedus, and Executive Director Pamela Strother:
Dear Fellow Journalists:
Today, Tuesday, November 29th, the Vatican issued new guidance to its dioceses on the role of gay men in the Catholic Church. Members of theAbuse Tracker Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) have noticed a number of inaccurate and unfair portrayals of gay men in the reporting of this document, which has been widely leaked in advance of today's release date. Some of those reports have included references to sexual "preferences," and reporting without verification parishioner statements that most of the priests involved in the Church's sex-abuse scandal were gay. Also, factually incorrect opinions that assert a cause-and- effect link between gay men and pedophilia are being reported without challenge.
As journalists and leaders of NLGJA, we acknowledge our job to report assertions by Catholic officials that the presence of gay clergy has resulted in sexual abuse cases, and even stated beliefs that link pedophilia and gay men. However, if similar statements were made about other minority and stigmatized groups, reporters and editors would feel obliged to find sources to challenge those allegations, and to otherwise provide factual information to do so. NLGJA urges that the same professional standards be applied to stories concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
In addition, it's important to point out that the term "sexual preference" implies that sexuality -- whether heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual -- is the result of a conscious choice. That is a politically charged suggestion. In order to be accurate and neutral, journalists should use terms such as "sexual orientation," "sexuality" or "sexual identity" as appropriate.
PlanetOut
by Wayne Besen
November 29, 2005
A new Vatican "instruction" on gay priests says the Catholic Church can admit those who have clearly overcome homosexual tendencies for at least three years. But practicing homosexuals, those with "deep-seated" gay tendencies and those who support a gay culture should be barred. In essence, the Vatican has adopted an "ex-gay" viewpoint, stealing a page from evangelical Christianity.
The Vatican is completely out of touch with reality. There is no such thing as "overcoming homosexual tendencies." However, people can bury themselves deep in the closet, which is what the Vatican is ordering priests to do.
All sexuality -- homo or hetero -- is "deep-seated," so the Vatican's document is essentially meaningless. What it really is is a gag order meant to crush dissent within the church. What the church unrealistically seeks is an official, ironclad position that sweeps disagreement under the carpet while making church sexual abuse scandals vanish.
IRELAND
Irish Examiner
By Caroline O’Doherty
GAY rights activists have accused the Vatican of incitement to hatred in an official Catholic Church directive banning homosexuals and their supporters from the priesthood.
The “Instruction” issued from Rome yesterday excludes from seminaries “those who practice homosexuality, show profoundly deep-rooted homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called gay culture.”
It restates the Church view that homosexual practices are “intrinsically immoral and contrary to natural law.” The only concession it makes is to candidates for the priesthood who have “overcome” their homosexual tendencies at least three years before ordination.
Eoin Collins, director of policy change with the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, said the order was “invidious” and harked back to a time when it was believed homosexuality was a problematic condition that could be cured.
PBS
A directive released by the Vatican Tuesday banned practicing homosexuals, men with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies and those who support gay culture from entering the Catholic priesthood. After a background report, two Catholic priests with differing views on the announcement discuss the implications.
ARIZONA
Arizona Daily Star
By Stephanie Innes
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.30.2005
Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas on Tuesday praised a Vatican document that bars gay men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" from entering the priesthood as a succinct summary of church teaching on homosexuality.
But he added that it's unclear whether timing of the document was a response to the increasingly high-profile debate over gay rights, or to the sexual-abuse crisis of priests abusing children in the United States, or a response to something else. The document applies to Catholics worldwide, not just those in the United States.
"It's worded very abstractly. But this is a significant issue today in the culture and in some ways it's time for the church to articulate its position," said Kicanas, chairman of the communications committee for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and former rector of Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Ill..
VERMONT
Rutland Herald
November 30, 2005
By KEVIN O'CONNOR Herald Staff
Vermont Catholic Bishop Salvatore Matano will stand by gay priests as long as they stay celibate and teach that "homosexual activity is immoral."
The Vatican, in an announcement Tuesday, said the worldwide Catholic Church won't ordain men who are active homosexuals, have "deep-seated tendencies" or support "gay culture."
In response, Matano said the statewide Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington would obey the instruction in regard to men in seminaries, but won't question Vermont's 82 current priests.
"For those ordained and who find themselves with a homosexual tendency, it should be noted that this does not affect the validity of Holy Orders," Matano said in a statement. "Priests are expected to be celibate and to teach that homosexual activity is immoral. If a homosexually inclined priest is celibate, faithfully conveying church teaching, this instruction places no added burden upon him."
DALLAS (TX)
The Dallas Morning News
12:00 AM CST on Wednesday, November 30, 2005
By SAM HODGES / The Dallas Morning News
In the Dallas area, as in the nation, Catholics were deeply divided about Tuesday's Vatican ruling that men with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies should not be allowed to become priests.
For Bob Rowland, a conservative Catholic, the first major policy statement under Pope Benedict XVI was long overdue.
"The success of the new directive rests on the rapid application of decisive punishment for disobedience," said Mr. Rowland, a technical writer and retired Air Force officer in Irving.
But for Victor Kralisz, president of Dignity Dallas, a group of about 70 openly gay Catholics, the document is "a very sad business that undermines the good work and dedicated lives of a huge number of gay priests in this country and around the world."
Spotlighting News
Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Bishop John M. D'Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington. Chester Gillis, professor and chairman of the theology department at Georgetown University. Peter Tatchell, member of OutRage!, gay rights group.
They all have something in common, their view on the directive given by the Vatican, currently headed by Pope Benedict XVI, concerning recommended Catholic attitude toward homosexuality within church ranks.
Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, considers that according to the new Vatican directive, the first major policy statement since Pope Benedict XVI became Pope, men that are attracted to the same sex can be ordained as priests as long as they control their impulses and are not "consumed by" them. Below is a fragment of the interview he gave to The Washington Post:
"I think one of the telling sentences in the document is the phrase that the candidate's entire life of sacred ministry must be 'animated by a gift of his whole person to the church and by an authentic pastoral charity. If that becomes paramount in his ministry, even though he might have a homosexual orientation, then he can minister and he can minister celibately and chastely.'"
UNITED STATES
EiTB24
The Vatican's tougher stand on homosexuality has divided American Catholics, with some welcoming it as a renewal of a Church plagued by scandal and others warning it would further alienate Catholic leaders.
Reflecting the divisions foreseen by some churchmen and scholars, a Catholic priest in Arizona announced his resignation because of "aggressive anti-gay positions" at the Vatican and the U.S. Church.
"I could no longer stay in that institution with any amount of integrity," Rev. Leonard Walker, 58, told the Arizona Republic after resigning from the Queen of Peace Church.
Apparently trying to defuse controversy over the eight-page Vatican document officially released on Tuesday, the president of the U.S. Roman Catholic Church, Bishop William S. Skylstad, said priests with "homosexual inclinations" can be good priests and should not fear discussing the issue.
NEW YORK
New York Newsday
BY CAROL EISENBERG
STAFF WRITER; This story was supplemented with wire service reports.
November 30, 2005
As a long-awaited Vatican document prohibiting the ordination of men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" was released yesterday, a Mesa, Ariz., priest resigned in protest, while U.S. bishops offered differing views on whether it was a de facto ban.
Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said psychologically mature gay candidates who showed themselves capable of lifelong celibacy and selflessness would still pass muster.
"I think there has been an overreaction to the document," he said in an interview. "There's nothing really new in it. The focus is on discerning a man's affective maturity and his ability to live out of a sense of authentic pastoral charity."
Other Catholic leaders, including Bishops William Murphy of Rockville Centre and Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, said the document clearly restates the church's long-standing bar on homosexual priests, which both said they already applied. "Documents of the Holy See from 1961 on have repeated cautionary admonitions about accepting known homosexual men into the seminary to study for the priesthood," Murphy said in a written statement.
COLORADO
The Rocky Mountain News
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
November 30, 2005
Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput praised as "common sense" a Vatican document that greatly restricts homosexuals from the clergy, but he stopped short of saying he would categorically bar all seminary applicants who continue to experience same-sex attractions.
"It falls to every bishop - supported by seminary rectors and formation teams - to examine and discern the suitability of every candidate for priesthood on a case-by-case basis that respects the dignity of the individual," Chaput wrote in Tuesday's Denver Catholic Register. Chaput oversees two Denver seminaries that have 94 men enrolled.
The long-awaited Vatican document, released Tuesday in its official English translation, definitively bars from the priesthood practicing homosexuals, those who support the gay culture and those with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies."
However, many church leaders, including Chaput, appear to regard another passage as much less black and white. It identifies "transitory" homosexual tendencies arising from, for example, delayed adolescence.
LOUISVILLE (KY)
The Courier-Journal
By Peter Smith
psmith@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
While a new Vatican document says men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" should not be priests, Archdiocese of Louisville officials say each applicant will be evaluated carefully and not by a "checklist, a litmus test, or simple yes or no questions."
The document, released by the Vatican yesterday after years of preparation, says those with a "transitory problem" with homosexuality may be ordained if they have overcome it for at least three years.
It states that those who support the "gay culture," which is not defined, should not be priests.
The document does not have the force of church law.
Supporters say the document brings the priest-preparation process in line with Roman Catholic teachings, which say homosexuality is a disorder.
Gay.com
Christopher Curtis, GAY.COM/PlanetOut.com Network
Wednesday 30 November, 2005 10:19
After many weeks of leaks and speculation, the Vatican on Tuesday published its instruction on gays in the clergy.
The document has angered LGBT rights advocates and prompted one US priest to resign in protest.
Men with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies should not be ordained, according to the nine-page document, but those with a "transitory problem" can be ordained if they have overcome their feelings for three years.
Pope Benedict XVI approved the instruction August 31st, making it one of the first major documents he has approved for publication since being elected pope April 19th.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Margaret Ramirez and Manya A. Brachear, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune news services contributed to this report
Published November 30, 2005
The Vatican issued a long-awaited document Tuesday on the explosive issue of homosexuality in the priesthood, but the document banning men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" added more heat than light to the controversy.
In fact, several scholars said that the text of the document--which largely restates long-standing Roman Catholic teaching on homosexuality--matters less than its timing and prominence. It marks the first major policy statement since Pope Benedict XVI took office in April, and it comes at a time when Vatican officials are inspecting U.S. seminaries, while the sexual abuse scandal still reverberates in the church.
Almost immediately, there was heated debate and stark disagreement about the potential impact of the document in Catholic seminaries, to whom the "instruction" from the Congregation for Catholic Education is addressed.
Yahoo! News
By Joan Garry
I was raised Catholic. I never sat in a classroom without a crucifix on the wall. Catholic grammar school, Catholic high school and Catholic college. I sang Kumbaya while playing my guitar at Folk Mass.
I sang at my dad's funeral, too, with his barbershop chorus. The song was Be Not Afraid. For one person in the church that dark day, the song was filled with irony. The priest who said the Mass was under scrutiny for sexual abuse allegations. Not long after the funeral, he was gone.
There is no question that Pope Benedict XVI has a big mess on his hands. People are calling it a sex abuse scandal, but let's be honest - it's about abuse of power.
And now we also have an element of emotional abuse as seminarians all across the USA assess Tuesday's final mandate from the pope. When will they knock on my door? What will they ask? What will I say?
PUEBLO (CO)
TheDenverChannel.com
PUEBLO, Colo. -- A sexual abuse lawsuit filed Tuesday against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo was the first to name a former priest who committed suicide following allegations he molested a teenager.
Andrew A. Burke, a pastor at St. Piux X in Pueblo, left the ministry around 1973 due to a "psycho-sexual behavior disorder," according to the lawsuit.
Burke shot himself in the heart Sept. 21, coroner's officials said. His wife found him dead in their yard. He was holding a newly-purchased gun that still had the price tag on it.
Last year officials of the diocese told police a prisoner alleged that in the 1970s, Burke would make him strip down to his underwear, blindfold him, tickle him, then take a wet towel from a freezer and lay it across his chest.
The man alleged Burke then would masturbate or straddle him while rubbing his genitals against him, sometimes giving him alcohol.
Wisonsin State Journal
Bill Wineke Wisconsin State Journal
The Vatican on Tuesday issued its long-awaited statement on gay priests, and the statement may raise more questions than it answers.
This is what it says:
"The church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or support the so- called 'gay culture.' "
The first requirement is hardly controversial. The Catholic Church requires a celibate priesthood, so it stands to reason that it also will not admit to seminary or to holy orders those who practice heterosexuality. If you want to have sex, you can't be a priest.
WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette
By Kathleen A. Shaw TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
kshaw@telegram.com
The Vatican yesterday released a long-awaited document stating that the Roman Catholic Church will bar openly gay men, or men with marked homosexual tendencies, from becoming priests.
The Vatican believes the proliferation of actively gay priests is one cause of the sexual abuse scandal that has engulfed the church in recent years, because many of the victims were teenagers and not pre-pubescent children.
Phil Saviano, formerly of East Douglas, said the Vatican is merely establishing a “don’t ask, don’t tell” atmosphere that will allow more cover for abusive priests. Mr. Saviano received a settlement from the Worcester Diocese after he alleged abuse by the Rev. David Holley during the 1960s at St. Denis Church in East Douglas. Rev. Holley is now in jail in New Mexico after pleading guilty to abusing boys in that state.
Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus, who until coming to Worcester in 2004 was rector of Our Lady of Providence Seminary in Rhode Island, is away this week and was unavailable for comment on the document, according to Raymond L. Delisle, diocesan spokesman.
Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, commented that sexual orientation is now widely discussed and that the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education expressed “Christian realism” about what the church expects in candidates for priesthood. “This realism understands the challenges of our time,” he said in a statement.
The bishop said it is “not acceptable if a candidate practices homosexuality or, whether active or not, if he identifies himself principally by a homosexual inclination or orientation.” He added that a candidate for priesthood should also not support the “gay culture,” or be “so concerned with homosexual issues that he cannot sincerely represent the Church’s teaching on homosexuality,” he said.
Mr. Saviano, a founder of the New England Chapter of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said that as a gay man he finds the Vatican’s directive
“highly insulting.”
He said: “The problem to be addressed is not sexual orientation, but bad behavior. And the biggest problem has been bishops who perpetuate the bad behavior by covering it up, instead of enforcing consequences.
“If the Vatican is serious about cleaning house, and sending a positive message to parishioners, it should start with the bishops who coddled and protected abusers for decades and put thousands of children in harm’s way.”
Mr. Saviano, who has led support groups, said 40 percent of those coming to meetings are female victims of clergy sexual abuse. The number of women and girls abused by clergy has been vastly underreported, he said.
“How will a ban on gay priests protect little girls?” he said. “What is the message to victims of priests like Father Robert Kelley, who admits to having molested over 50 young girls in the Worcester Diocese?”
George “Skip” Shea of Uxbridge, who is married with children, said he will address the “gay issue” in his one-man show called “Catholic (Surviving Abuse and Other Dead End Roads)” scheduled Saturday at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City.
“How can this be a gay issue? The obvious answer is it isn’t a gay issue,” he said. He said he has attended support meetings where he was the only man present. The others were women. Mr. Shea settled a lawsuit with the Worcester Diocese within the last year after he made allegations that he was sexually abused starting at age 11 by the Rev. Thomas H. Teczar and Rev. Robert Shauris at St. Mary’s Parish, Uxbridge, during the 1970s.
“So if we are going to ban homosexuals from the priesthood, using their logic, I guess we should ban heterosexuals too, as there are a staggering number of female victims.
“And further continuing with their logic, maybe they should just ban men, as that is the only true common denominator, and let women run the church for a while,” he said.
The Rev. Richard McBrien, a theologian and professor at the University of Notre Dame, said the causes of the sexual abuse crisis “are far deeper than the existence of gay priests.” He described the “two elephants in the living room” as obligatory celibacy for priests and the church’s teaching on human sexuality in general.
Bernadette Brooten, Kraft-Hiatt professor of Christian studies at Brandeis University who trained as a Catholic theologian, said the Catholic Church since the Middle Ages has put more weight on same-sex issues, rather than looking at causes or issues related to sexual abuse.
Ms. Brooten said the church has avoided discussion of women who are abused by priests. A vulnerable woman may seek out a priest for counseling that results in an inappropriate sexual relationship.
“The woman has no recourse in the church, and they don’t get anywhere in the courts,” she said. Such relationships, she said, are dealt with severely by doctors and psychologists.
She said it appears the hierarchy of the Catholic Church is continuing a long-standing pattern of avoiding important issues of abuse, while concentrating on homosexuality.
“Galileo lives,” said Boston lawyer Carmen L. Durso, a College of the Holy Cross graduate who has represented clergy sexual abuse victims in Worcester and throughout the state. “Once again the church has decided to ignore science.”
Gay men and women do not choose to be homosexual, Mr. Durso said, but they are “destined by their DNA.”
He cited an examination of American clergy done by the Rev. Donald Cozzens in his 2000 book, “The Changing Face of the Priesthood.” Rev. Cozzens suggested that half of the diocesan priests in the United States are homosexual, while estimates for priests in religious orders are about 60 percent.
FALL RIVER (MA)
Providence Journal
By C. EUGENE EMERY JR.
Journal Staff Writer
FALL RIVER -- The Diocese of Fall River has said it will offer professional counseling to parishioners who feel they need it in the wake of this week's sentencing of Father Stephen A. Fernandes, 55, on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography.
A statement released by the diocese says Bishop George Coleman "is concerned, first and foremost, for the parishioners of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in New Bedford, where Father Fernandes was serving at the time of his arrest, as well as for the people of other parishes where he served."
Fernandes was sentenced to serve eight mouths at the Duke's County House of Correction on Martha's Vineyard and will be eligible for parole in three months. Investigators found about 650 pictures and 114 videos on his laptop of children engaging in sex acts.
Fernandes remains on administrative leave, as he has since his arrest a year ago. While on leave, he is not allowed to function as a priest.
ALBANY (NY)
Albany Times Union
First published: Wednesday, November 30, 2005
One of the teens who slept with former teacher Beth Geisel described his 42-year-old instructor as "a friend to have sex with" while appearing on "Inside Edition," a syndicated tabloid magazine television show, on Monday.
The teen, identified only as Michael, said he had sex with Geisel 10 or 11 times. His mother, identified as Tina Marie, said, "Never in a million years would I expect my son to have sex with his teacher."
Earlier this year, Geisel was found in a car in Cohoes with a 17-year-old.
An investigation showed the teacher had sex with students at Christian Brothers Academy, including a 16-year-old.
Geisel eventually pleaded guilty to third-degree rape. Last week, during her sentencing, Albany County Court Judge Stephen W. Herrick said she crossed the line from "teacher to consort," but also said she was as much a victim as the teens. Herrick said Geisel was a vulnerable woman who was being used and passed around.
ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune
By Richard Wronski
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 30, 2005
A judge will be asked to revoke the probation of a convicted sex offender found volunteering at a Mt. Prospect church where children attended preschool, officials said Tuesday.
Gregg A. Bornhoeft, 49, is scheduled to appear in Cook County court Dec. 9 on a charge of violating a provision of the Sex Offenders Registration Act, which prohibits offenders from working at or associating with any facility or program involving children.
Bornhoeft was a volunteer until last month at Community Presbyterian Church, 407 N. Main St., doing part-time electrical and carpentry work, said Cmdr. John Palcu of the sheriff's sex offender unit.
He also was undergoing counseling with the church's pastor, Rev. Gregory Rykse.
ALBANY (NY)
Albany Times Union
First published: Wednesday, November 30, 2005
ALBANY -- Clergy sex abuse victims, family members and friends parked themselves outside Bishop Howard Hubbard's office on Tuesday for a 12-hour vigil.
"We are here for those who have not received justice, who the diocese, up to this moment, have refused to deal with," said vigil organizer Mark Lyman, of the Albany chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. "Because victims of clergy sexual abuse have been left out in the cold for too long."
He pulled a rented Ryder truck up to the 40 N. Lake Ave. Pastoral Center. Inside was a picnic table, chairs and lights. Despite rain, protesters hunkered down for the long haul.
They carted blue portable folding chairs, hand-lettered posters and coolers. Pizza arrived later, as did police dogs and two city officers on horseback.
WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service
By Agostino Bono
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A Vatican document putting restrictions on admitting homosexuals to seminaries and ordaining them to the priesthood has drawn both praise and criticism from U.S. bishops and seminary officials.
While some praised it as a reaffirmation of church teaching on sexual morality and the need to assure the commitment to celibacy by candidates to the Latin-rite priesthood, others said the document is also hurtful to priests and seminarians who are homosexual and celibate.
Several bishops and seminary administrators said that the criteria in the Vatican document about judging homosexuals is already compatible with what is being done in the United States and noted that the document does not offer any specific procedures for screening seminarians, leaving bishops and religious superiors with flexibility in applying the criteria.
AUSTRALIA
Online Catholics
By Alan Gill
About eight years ago a former British child migrant, who had been raised in the notorious Christian Brothers’ orphanage known as Boys’ Town, Bindoon, sent me a clipping from a Perth newspaper which he clearly found shocking, and expected me to be suitably horrified as well.
The article told the story of a priest, then working among AIDS sufferers and other disadvantaged people in the north-western corner of the state, who had “outed” himself as gay.
I was, indeed, surprised by the article, though not quite in the way my correspondent intended. On glancing at the photo which formed part of the clipping I recognised the features of a man whom I not only knew well, but had formally received me into the Catholic Church – after 40-odd years as a moderately high church Anglican – some three or four years earlier.
The article took pains to say that the MSC priest was celibate – indeed, it quoted him as saying he had not had sex for 15 years; all of which my correspondent in Perth seemed to have overlooked.
UNITED KINGDOM
The Times
By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent and Richard Owen in Rome
A VATICAN ruling on homosexuals entering the priesthood received a surprising welcome from leading Roman Catholics in Britain yesterday after it became clear that it was not as severe as had been feared. However, gay pressure groups and liberal Catholics were critical.
Senior Catholics said that the ruling showed a slight softening of Pope Benedict XVI’s hard line against gays. The instruction from the Congregation for Catholic Education said that ordination was not permissible for men with “deep-seated” gay tendencies but was permissible for those who could show they had overcome “transitory” homosexuality for three years. It does not apply to those already ordained.
The instruction was welcomed by moderates because it is not an outright ban on all men of homosexual orientation, celibate or not, but it will disappoint traditionalists because it does not call homosexuality a “tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil”, a phrase used by the Pope in his previous post as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac MurphyO’Connor, said: “A priest is primarily a witness to Jesus Christ. Anything that detracts from this impedes that witness.
DENVER (CO)
9 News
DENVER (AP) - A Denver prosecutor says he can't bring charges in six recent complaints by men accusing priests of sexually abusing them as children.
District Attorney Mitch Morrissey says the alleged attacks happened too long ago and outside Denver. But he's keeping the complaints on file because the men could be called as witnesses if new allegations surface.
State law allows criminal charges in child sex-abuse cases until the alleged victim turns 28.
Morrissey can prosecute only cases in the city and county of Denver. Morrissey's spokeswoman, Lynn Kimbrough, says the recent reports came from Sterling, Estes Park, Hugo and Englewood.
UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
(Filed: 30/11/2005)
A long-awaited Vatican document that bars men with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies from the priesthood was officially published yesterday in the first major ruling of Pope Benedict XVI's reign.
The document, which has been widely leaked, earned the fierce opprobrium of liberals who said that it could trigger a witch-hunt and force gay clergy underground.
But Roman Catholic leaders in Britain played down its impact, saying that it was merely emphasising the need for all candidates for the priesthood to be mature enough to control their sexuality.
The document said that practising homosexuals, those with deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or those who supported "gay culture" should be weeded out by bishops and principals of theological colleges.
MINNESOTA
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Warren Wolfe, Star Tribune
Last update: November 29, 2005 at 9:07 PM
The key to enforcing a new Vatican document that bars homosexuals from entering seminaries or the priesthood could hinge on interpreting the phrase "deep-rooted homosexual tendencies."
"It's a new term for us, and it's going to take awhile to figure out exactly what it means, how to measure it," the Rev. David Kohner said Tuesday, hours after the Vatican officially released the document. A copy of it was widely disseminated last week.
As director of spiritual formation at St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Kohner is one of the people the Vatican says are responsible for enforcing the teaching.
The instruction from the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education says the church "may not admit to the seminary and Holy Orders those who practice homosexuality, show profoundly deep-rooted homosexual tendencies or support the so-called gay culture."
AUSTIN (TX)
American-Statesman
By Eileen E. Flynn
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
A long-awaited Vatican document that gives instructions on seminary admission standards for gay men does not decree an outright ban on homosexual clergy and upholds traditional church teaching, Catholic officials say.
But the Vatican's guidelines have spurred an angry response from some Catholics and have prompted one Austin priest to consider leaving the priesthood.
After reading the Vatican's instructions on seminary admission standards for gay men, formally issued Tuesday, the Rev. John Markey, an Austinite, said he is considering taking a leave of absence from his Dominican Order. Markey, who is gay, said the rules paint the church hierarchy as 'cynical and cowardly.'
The document, leaked last week and officially released Tuesday, instructs church leaders to ban from seminaries sexually active gay men as well as those who "present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support so-called gay culture."
Those are the guidelines the Rev. Arturo Cepeda, vocations director for the Archdiocese of San Antonio, said the church has followed all along.
But the Rev. John Markey, a Dominican Order priest who lives in Austin, said he smells a witch hunt.
The document, he said, reflects a "cynical and cowardly" church hierarchy bent on purging gay people from the church or at least silencing them.
Star-Ledger
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
BY JEFF DIAMANT AND MARK MUELLER
Star-Ledger Staff
At the nation's second-largest Catholic seminary, Mount St. Mary's in Maryland, Monsignor Steven Rohlfs is blunt about the kind of men who will be accepted to study for the priesthood.
Straight men.
Homosexuals, with all due respect, need not apply.
Rohlfs said it has been that way at Mount St. Mary's -- and at other big seminaries across the nation -- for at least three years now, since the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church prompted seminaries to re-examine how they recruit, accept and train candidates for the priesthood.
Which is why Rohlfs was a bit surprised by all the drama surrounding yesterday's release of Vatican guidelines barring most gay men from becoming priests.
"It's just not that much of an issue to us because the matter has already been addressed," said Rohlfs, the seminary's rector. "I think in the vast majority of seminaries that's the case."
ANCHORAGE (AK)
KTUU
Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - by Megan Baldino
Anchorage, Alaska - Two more men have added their names to a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by former Anchorage priest, Monsignor Francis Murphy.
According to the complaint, Joseph Doe II says in 1964, when he was 15, Murphy rubbed the teen’s body with lubricant. In the complaint, Joseph Doe III claims he was fondled by Murphy on at least three separate occasions. Both join Joseph Doe I in the lawsuit and the victims are seeking more than $100,000 in damages.
FLORIDA
St. Petersburg Times
By TAMARA LUSH and WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published November 30, 2005
Within hours of issuing a document that bars openly gay men from entering the Catholic priesthood, the Vatican on Tuesday defended the new policy, saying that homosexuality is a "sexual tendency not an identity."
Conservatives say this new policy may help reverse the "gay culture" of many U.S. seminaries, while liberal critics say the restrictions will create morale problems among clergy and lead to an even greater priest shortage in the United States.
"I'm afraid all it will do is make the closet bigger in the church," said Father Steve Rosczewski, a gay man who officiates services at the Holy Spirit Ecumenical Catholic Church in Largo after being dismissed as parish priest at a church in St. Petersburg.
The Rev. Len Plazewski, director of vocations for the Diocese of St. Petersburg, said he believes the Vatican document reflects standards already in place in most U.S. seminaries.
ROME
Los Angeles Times
By Tracy Wilkinson, Times Staff Writer
ROME — The Vatican on Tuesday formally released instructions that block actively gay men from the priesthood, a long-anticipated document that already has opened a debate over how it will be applied and whether it will have a healing, or detrimental, effect on the Roman Catholic Church.
Church conservatives are applauding the document for taking a strong stance against what many see as an immoral "gay subculture" within seminaries and church life, and for establishing clearer restrictions on who is suitable to become a priest.
But liberals said they feared the rules would be used to keep qualified men out of a depleted priesthood because of their sexual identity, even when celibate.
This is the first major instruction to be issued by Pope Benedict XVI, and the fact that it focused on homosexuality reflected the German pontiff's concern over morals he sees being eroded by Western secular culture.
Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, author of the eight-page document as prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, said Tuesday that it was crucial for the church to speak out now.
CONNECTICUT
Hartford Courant
November 30, 2005
By FRANCES GRANDY TAYLOR, Courant Staff Writer
Gay leaders denounced the Vatican's policy that would ban homosexuals from seminaries and the priesthood, while Roman Catholic Church leaders said the instructions published Tuesday were a clarification and "restatement" of existing policy.
"God is neither sexist nor homophobic," said Frank O'Gorman of People of Faith for Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights. "Sexual maturity, not sexual orientation, should be the criteria."
The Vatican guidelines would bar men "who are actively homosexual or show deeply seated homosexual tendencies," and who "support gay culture or are so concerned with homosexual issues that he cannot sincerely represent the church's teaching on sexuality," said Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Men who for three years have "clearly overcome" homosexual tendencies that were a "transitory problem" during adolescence can be eligible to become priests, according to the instructions, which were approved by Pope Benedict XVI and released by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education.
Boston Globe
By Bernadette J. Brooten | November 30, 2005
IF THE VATICAN aims to prevent clergy sexual abuse by barring gay men from the priesthood, it is profoundly misguided. Most strikingly, the latest Vatican statement doesn't ever name clergy sexual abuse as a problem. Instead, the Vatican refers ever so obliquely to the ''contemporary world," which must mean ''a world in which even priests have sex with boys."
The Vatican needs to address head-on the dual problem of priests abusing their power and their bishops protecting them. Otherwise, Catholics and non-Catholics will live with shaken confidence in the Roman Catholic Church, an important social institution by any measure. This document diverts attention away from Catholic bishops who have worked mightily to avoid just settlements with sexual abuse survivors, to open their financial records, or to include clergy as mandated reporters of child sexual abuse.
By defining homosexuality as the problem, the Vatican also masks the fact that numerous priests have had, and are having, sexual relations with adult women. Unlike therapists or physicians, priests are not usually legally prohibited from having sexual relations with the women whom they counsel. Women whose trust priests have betrayed have rarely been able to sue for damages, and the media have therefore seldom reported their stories.
PHOENIX (AZ)
The Arizona Republic
Michael Clancy
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 30, 2005 12:00 AM
The Phoenix Diocese will make no changes to the way it chooses priest candidates because its practices already are in line with a Vatican document banning gay men from seminaries, the diocese's vocations director said Tuesday.
"The bishop is not going to ask me to change anything," said the Rev. Don Kline, vocations director for six years for the diocese.
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, in a brief written statement, said he "welcomed" the document, which the Vatican released Tuesday. It rejects candidates who are "actively homosexual, have deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called gay culture." advertisement
The document offers no specifics on how dioceses, religious orders or seminaries should implement its conclusions.
DENVER (CO0
Denver Post
By Eric Gorski
Denver Post Staff Writer
For the 94 men studying for the priesthood at Denver's two Roman Catholic seminaries, a long-awaited Vatican document released Tuesday barring the ordination of active homosexuals is a confirmation of sorts.
The two seminaries - which over the past few years have attracted national attention and scores of candidates for their philosophy of staying faithful to church teachings - employ an intense screening process.
It is a process "very much in accord" with the new document, said the Rev. Michael Glenn, rector of St. John Vianney Seminary, which opened in 1999.
"I don't think this document changes in any way the way our seminary is going to function," Glenn said Tuesday. "We have a great respect for the human person. But we are also very careful and discerning of all the aspects that make them who they are."
VATICAN CITY
The Salt Lake Tribune
By Victor L. Simpson
The Associated Press
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican defended a policy statement designed to keep men with ''deep-seated'' homosexual tendencies from becoming priests, but said there would be no crackdown on gays who are already ordained.
The Vatican document, the first major policy statement of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy, was officially released Tuesday after being leaked earlier. Conservatives have said it may help reverse the ''gay culture'' of many U.S. seminaries, while liberal critics complain the restrictions will create morale problems among clergy and lead to an even greater priest shortage in the United States.
Matt Foreman of America'sAbuse Tracker Gay and Lesbian Task Force called the document ''appalling,'' saying it was an affront to thousands of gay priests. He accused the Vatican of ''a calculated campaign to blame gay men for the church's own criminal conduct in fostering and covering up decades of sex abuse.''
Bishop George H. Niederauer, leader of Utah's 200,000 Catholics, and Monsignor Terrence Fitzgerald, vicar general of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, were unavailable for comment. Several other priests contacted by The Salt Lake Tribune did not return phone calls.
FORT WAYNE (IN)
The Journal Gazette
By Kelly Soderlund
The Journal Gazette
The bishop of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Roman Catholic Diocese says he has long been following a new policy adopted by the Vatican that says men with “deep-seated” homosexual tendencies should not be ordained as priests.
Although Bishop John D’Arcy wouldn’t comment on how many gay candidates he has turned away, he said Tuesday during a news conference that it’s been his practice since becoming a bishop 20 years ago not to ordain those he believes cannot overcome their homosexuality, or who support gay culture.
“I do know that it has been a problem for some time,” D’Arcy said. “I think that in this diocese it’s been my policy since I came because of my experience in the seminary and my convictions and reading the documents. I think it’s been more of a problem in the seminaries than people realize.”
LOUISVILLE (KY)
The Courier-Journal
By Jason Riley
jriley@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Dozens of plaintiffs who filed claims alleging that they were sexually abused at Catholic orphanages and schools have asked that the Archdiocese of Louisville be dismissed from the lawsuits.
The requests, which will be heard in several different courts on Monday, are an effort to focus the 49 lawsuits on the group the plaintiffs consider responsible for the alleged abuse: the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.
"The day-to-day operations of that orphanage, the welfare of those children, were entrusted to the Sisters of Charity," said William McMurry, an attorney representing most of the plaintiffs.
The motions, filed Monday, also request that Catholic Charities of Louisville, a social service agency of the archdiocese, be dismissed from the lawsuits.
CHARLESTON (SC)
The Post and Courier
CHARLESTON, November 29, 2005 - Today the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education released a much-awaited Instruction concerning the admission of men to the priesthood who exhibit homosexual tendencies. In an official statement the Most Reverend Robert J. Baker, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, greeted the release as a timely affirmation of his Pastoral Letter, "The Redemption of our Bodies" (May 29, 2005).
Bishop Baker's statement follows:
The document released today by the Holy See, entitled "Instruction on the Criteria for Vocational Discernment with Regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in View of Their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders" is both timely and necessary. It reiterates the constant teaching of the Catholic Church through the ages and reinforces teachings given in my recent Pastoral Letter, entitled "The Redemption of Our Bodies."
We wish to underline at the outset the pastoral concern of the Church to the people discussed in this instruction and the importance of extending to them understanding and friendship. As the Church has compassion upon all people, it sees the person suffering from same-sex attraction no less than anyone else as a child of God. "We, as a Christian community, should reach out to those suffering from a homo-erotic inclination so that they may be surrounded by the love of friendship. Those who suffer from a homosexual orientation should not be abandoned to loneliness or despair" ("The Redemption of Our Bodies").
DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Free Press
November 30, 2005
BY the Rev. THOMAS J. O'BRIEN, SJ
I am coming out as a gay, chaste Jesuit priest because it hurts too much not to.
I deeply love the church and the Jesuits.
I have experienced unconditional love from Cardinal Adam Maida in granting me permission to function as a priest in this archdiocese.
I have experienced unconditional love from my Jesuit brothers -- especially those who know me well.
I have experienced unconditional love from my friends and family.
Being a priest in the Society of Jesus has been a joy for me.
DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Free Press
November 30, 2005
BY DAVID CRUMM and JACK KRESNAK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
A long-awaited Vatican document on homosexuality contains as many questions as answers about the church's effort to bar sexually active gay men from the priesthood, said Catholics who read the text released Tuesday.
"The worst thing about this document is that it's vague and uses phrases that people just don't use today, so it's hard to understand what they're even talking about," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit based in California who is an expert on the structure of the church. "Who uses a phrase like 'homosexual tendencies' except a document like this? And what does it mean?
"Conservatives will be able to interpret this statement as saying that all gays should be thrown out of seminaries. Or other bishops can interpret it as saying that homosexuals still can be ordained, if they're ready for a celibate life."
The key phrase in the document, issued by the Vatican agency that oversees Catholic schools, states that church leaders "cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture.' "
DELAWARE
The News Journal
By BETH MILLER
The News Journal
11/30/2005
The Vatican affirmed Tuesday its position that homosexual acts are grave sins, "intrinsically immoral," and no one who practices them or supports the "gay culture" should be ordained to the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church.
Opportunity was acknowledged, though, for those with "transitory" homosexual tendencies if they have been overcome for at least three years before ordination.
The instruction, released by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, had been leaked by an Italian Catholic news agency about a week ago. Its content came as no great surprise.
SCRANTON (PA)
The Citizens Voice
By:Mike Race 11/30/2005
SCRANTON - A federal judge has ordered the Diocese of Scranton to disclose new information in a civil suit involving sexual abuse allegations against the Rev. Albert M. Liberatore.
Father Liberatore pleaded guilty last year to nine criminal counts in two jurisdictions stemming from a sexual relationship he had with a then-teenaged altar boy while serving at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Duryea. The civil suit, filed a year ago, seeks damages against the diocese and several of its officials for allegedly failing to act once they learned of the abuse.
Since the suit was filed, lawyers for the diocese and the victim - identified in court papers only as "John Doe" - have been tussling over how much information the diocese must provide about its knowledge of Father Liberatore's actions and his treatment by a psychologist.
OMAHA (NE)
Sioux City Journal
OMAHA (AP) -- A Douglas County district court judge has declared that repressed memories are not reliable enough for filing claims of sexual abuse years after an alleged incident at Boys Town.
On Monday, Judge Sandra Dougherty ruled that Todd Rivers of Omaha could not present expert testimony that Rivers had repressed memories of abuse.
In his lawsuit, Rivers said a priest molested him in the 1980s.
Rivers' expert, Dougherty said, did not prove that such a diagnosis is scientifically valid.
Even if the memories do exist, the condition may not apply to Rivers, Dougherty said.
Rivers alleges that the Rev. James Kelly of Girls and Boys Town made him drop his pants during confession and re-enact how he would masturbate. Rivers also alleged that Kelly touched his crotch after he pulled up his pants.
Rivers said he didn't remember the incident until he "recovered" it in a dream nearly 20 years later, in 2002.
VERMONT
Times Argus
November 30, 2005
By Kevin O'Connor Rutland Herald
Vermont Catholic Bishop Salvatore Matano will stand by gay priests as long as they stay celibate and teach that "homosexual activity is immoral."
The Vatican, in an announcement Tuesday, said the worldwide Catholic Church won't ordain men who are active homosexuals, have "deep-seated tendencies" or support "gay culture."
In response, Matano said the statewide Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington would obey the instruction in regard to men in seminaries, but won't question Vermont's 82 current priests.
"For those ordained and who find themselves with a homosexual tendency, it should be noted that this does not affect the validity of Holy Orders," Matano said in a statement. "Priests are expected to be celibate and to teach that homosexual activity is immoral. If a homosexually inclined priest is celibate, faithfully conveying church teaching, this instruction places no added burden upon him."
DETROIT (MI)
The Detroit News
Kim Kozlowski / The Detroit News
DETROIT Sacred Heart Major Seminary officials hailed the long-awaited Vatican document released Tuesday that reaffirmed the church's ban on practicing homosexual priests and required those considering the vocation with such tendencies to overcome them three years prior to ordination.
"It"s going to be an enormous help, said the Rev. Steven Boguslawski, rector and president of the Archdiocese of Detroit seminary. We will study this document seriously and will critique our own admissions processes and formulation policies.
The document, released by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, says it cannot admit to the seminary men who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture
OREGON
The Oregonian
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
ASHBEL S. GREEN
A former Jesuit High School student who claimed that a teacher molested him in the 1980s has settled his lawsuit for $95,000.
The anonymous plaintiff, who sued under the initials "J.T.," settled with the school as well as the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, the Northwest branch of the Catholic religious order commonly known as the Jesuits.
The Rev. John Schwartz, whom J.T. accused of sexual abuse, was a Jesuit priest who taught at the school.
Schwartz, who left the school in 1987, denies wrongdoing.
Schwartz is no longer a member of the Jesuits and was working as a parish priest in Marin County in the Archdiocese of San Francisco when J.T. filed his suit in Multnomah County in October.
NEW JERSEY
NorthJersey.com
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
By JOHN CHADWICK
STAFF WRITER
The Roman Catholic Church's declaration Tuesday that men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" shouldn't become priests is drawing praise from traditionalists who believe gay sex is a sin and alarm from critics who think the church has gone too far.
The long-awaited document - which sets a standard seen by many as far more restrictive than what has been in force for decades at the nation's seminaries - also bans from the priesthood men who support the "gay culture" and reaffirms the church's prohibition against practicing homosexuals.
"Such persons, in fact, find themselves in a situation that gravely hinders them from relating correctly to men and women," said the document, issued by the Vatican's Conference for Catholic Education. "One must in no way overlook the negative consequences that can derive from the ordination of persons with deep-seated homosexual tendencies."
HAWAII
Honolulu Advertiser
By Curtis Lum and Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Staff Writers
A 44-year-old O'ahu man who recently settled a molestation lawsuit against a Catholic priest was arrested yesterday on charges that he sexually assaulted a minor girl in 1996.
Eugene Saulibio was indicted Nov. 21 by a Kaua'i grand jury on four counts of first-degree sexual assault. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest last Wednesday and state sheriff's deputies arrested him yesterday morning at his 'Aiea home.
Saulibio was flown to Kaua'i, posted $80,000 bail, and returned to O'ahu. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Kaua'i Circuit Court tomorrow.
FORT WAYNE (IN)
News-Sentinel
By Nicole Lee
nlee@news-sentinel.com
A document released by the Vatican today has, as expected, ignited further debate on the stance of the Roman Catholic Church regarding homosexual men and the priesthood.
The question remains, however: Will the document ultimately bridge or create further schisms within Catholicism?
Bishop John D’Arcy of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend is expected to discuss the document at an 11:30 a.m. press conference held at the Archbishop Noll Center.
The document, released by the Congregation for Catholic Education, a regulatory body for seminaries and schools, was approved by Pope Benedict XVI on Aug. 31.
MARTHA'S VINEYARD (MA)
Boston Herald
By Laurel J. Sweet
Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - Updated: 12:12 PM EST
Prince Bader Al-Saud, meet the Rev. Stephen Fernandes.
Fernandes, 55, a New Bedford Catholic priest convicted of child pornography charges, was sentenced yesterday to eight months in the “country club” of cans — the tony Dukes County Jail and House of Correction on Martha’s Vineyard.
At Fernandes’ request, and over the staunch objection of Bristol District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr., Barnstable Superior Court Judge Robert Kane banished the pervert priest to the island retreat that earlier this month became the new home of Al-Saud, a 23-year-old Saudi royal who pleaded guilty to motor vehicle homicide while drunken driving.
“It’s sickening,” an outraged Walsh said yesterday. “Could we do anything more for this defendant (Fernandes)? Why don’t we get him a computer while we’re at it?”
Fernandes stockpiled on the rectory computer hundreds of images and videos with sound effects of young boys undressing and having sex. The Our Lady of Fatima Church priest also pretended to be a girl online so that a teenage boy would frolic nude for him in front of a camera. He will be eligible for parole in three months.
GEORGIA
Cedartown Standard
11/29/05
By JONATHAN INGRAM, Standard Staff Writer
The International Communion of Charismatic Churches (ICCC) College of Bishops elected Bishop David Huskins as their new presiding bishop at a meeting in Rome on Nov. 17 and 18.
Huskins, who serves as Bishop over the Fellowship of Vineyard Harvester Churches, a nationwide fellowship that includes Cedar Lake Christian Center, had been serving as vice president of the ICCC. He will now assume the helm of the largest charismatic ecclesiastical order of bishops in the world.
“My goal is to seek to bring integrity and accountability back to the office of Presiding Bishop,” said Huskins. ...
The ICCC College of Bishops met under a cloud of accusation surrounding its former Presiding Archbishop Earl Paulk.
Paulk was asked by the group recently to resign after allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct surfaced from longtime staff members and close associates of Paulk, who all alleged his patterns of abuse had continued for many years.
VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service
By John Thavis
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- New Vatican norms aim to bar from the priesthood men with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies, not those who may have experienced and overcome transitory episodes, a Vatican official said.
Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, head of the Congregation for Catholic Education, strongly defended the document in an interview with Vatican Radio Nov. 29, the day it was officially released at the Vatican. Vatican Radio posted the transcript of the interview.
Cardinal Grocholewski said the document's distinction between deep-seated and transitory homosexual tendencies was important.
"Obviously, if we speak of deep-seated tendencies, this means that on the other hand there can also be transitory tendencies or transitory cases that do not constitute an obstacle," he said. "For example, some curiosity during adolescence; or accidental circumstances in a state of drunkenness; or particular circumstances, like someone who was in prison for many years."
The Guardian
Staff and agencies
Tuesday November 29, 2005
The Vatican today published its long-awaited statement on homosexuals and the priesthood, affirming that those with "deep-seated" gay tendencies should not be ordained.
The document also bans supporters of gay culture from entering the priesthood, but says that men who have "overcome" their homosexuality for at least three years would be accepted as priests.
The instruction from the Vatican does not affect men who are already priests but only those entering seminaries to prepare for the priesthood. Gay rights groups say this may force new clergy members to hide their homosexuality, burying the issue rather than confronting it.
Pope Benedict XVI approved the document at the end of August, but it was only officially released after it was leaked on an Italian Catholic news agency website last week.
The document confirms the Catholic church's view that deep-seated homosexual tendencies are "objectively disordered" and "grave sins". It also says heads of seminaries have a serious duty to see to it that candidates for the priesthood do not "present disturbances of a sexual nature which are incompatible with the priesthood".
Critics say the instruction may alienate gay men who would make excellent priests and would be able to honour their vow of celibacy.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
David Quinn
NORA Wall, the ex-nun who had her life sentence for rape quashed six years ago, is applying to the Court of Criminal Appeal for a certificate declaring a Miscarriage of Justice.
Her case appears before the court on Thursday and if she obtains the certificate, the way will be cleared for her to sue the State.
In 1999, Ms Wall sensationally became the first woman in the history of the State to be found guilty of rape. She also became the first person of either sex to receive a life sentence for the offence.
The sentence was quashed after just four days when it emerged that a key prosecution witness had given evidence despite an instruction from the Director for Public Prosecution that she not be permitted to do so. A number of other errors in their June 1999 trial also emerged.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
In February 1998 a number of men who had been abused by John Hannon, a former Franciscan Brother at the primary school they attended in Clara, Co Offaly, gathered in Tullamore District Court to see Hannon sentenced to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to 16 sample charges from an original total of 39, which included 28 counts of indecent assault, nine of buggery and two of attempted buggery.
Those men looked that day to the court for justice. They sought a response from this State to the crimes to which they had been subjected at a primary school run by the Third Order of St Francis, the so-called Brothers of the West. What they had not known was that the State was only too aware of the former Brother Hannon's propensity to abuse children, both boys and girls.
Files from the period show that both the congregation and the Department of Education were informed of allegations at Hannon's former school in Clifden, Co Galway and that there were concerns at a third school in Cummer, Co Galway.
IRELAND
One in Four
THE Franciscan Brothers are expected to agree to repay the State some of the hundreds of thousands of euro it cost to compensate two men for sexual abuse they suffered as schoolboys.
The State, through the Department of Education, initially accepted liability for the men’s ordeal at the hands of former Franciscan John Hannon, as the department had been made aware of complaints against him before he went on to commit abuse at a midlands primary school in the 1970s.
Awards running to six figure sums were made to each man and substantial legal costs were incurred, all of which was met by the department.
However, the State Claims Agency (SCA) has since taken over the case file, and is demanding the Brothers pay their share.
NEBRASKA
World-Herald
BY TODD COOPER
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
A Douglas County District judge has declared the notion of repressed memory unscientific and unreliable - effectively gutting a former Boys Town student's lawsuit claiming that a priest molested him in the 1980s.
In an order filed Monday, Judge Sandra Dougherty ruled that Todd Rivers of Omaha could not present expert testimony that he had repressed memories of abuse. She said Rivers' expert had not proved that such a diagnosis is scientifically valid.
But even if repressed memories do exist, Dougherty said, she questions whether such a diagnosis applied to Rivers.
Rivers alleges that the Rev. James Kelly made him drop his pants during confession and re-enact how he would masturbate. Rivers alleged that Kelly touched his crotch after he pulled up his pants.
The Australian
Jill Rowbotham, Religious affairs writer
November 30, 2005
THE Vatican has warned young homose