CANADA
The Ottawa Citizen
Neco Cockburn, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Thursday, November 30, 2006
A publication ban protecting the name of an Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic diocese employee at the Cornwall sex abuse inquiry will remain in place until next week.
A judge withdrew from a hearing the matter Thursday.
Commission lawyer Peter Engelmann asked Justice Denis Power to recuse himself because of his involvement as a lawyer in civil legal proceedings that involved a central witness about 10 years ago. This witness will testify at the inquiry into historical child sexual abuse in the Cornwall area in January.
WILMINGTON (DE)
The News Journal
By SEAN O’SULLIVAN, The News Journal
Posted Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 5:59 pm
WILMINGTON -- A federal judge today tossed out a majority of the lawsuit filed by a Navy officer who claimed to have been molested while he was a student at the prestigious Archmere Academy in the 1980s.
An attorney says it is still possible, however, for Chief District Judge Sue L. Robinson to enter a default judgment against the priest whom Cmdr. Kenneth J. Whitwell said sexually assaulted him. That would allow Whitwell to recover damages.
In her ruling today, Robinson granted a motion to dismiss filed by the school, the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and Bishop Michael Saltarelli. Robinson found that Delaware law should apply to the institutional defendants, meaning a two-year statute of limitations on Whitwell’s claims applied and expired before the lawsuit was filed last year.
NEW YORK
Newsday
BY JOHN MORENO GONZALES
Newsday Staff Writer
November 30, 2006, 1:50 PM EST
In a proceeding in which he detailed a suicide attempt and acknowledged years of grappling with sexually compulsive behavior, Roosevelt-based Roman Catholic priest Thomas G. Saloy pleaded guilty today to a single count of possession of child pornography.
Wearing a green sweater and black slacks, the slightly built cleric firmly admitted to Judge Joseph F. Bianco that he had knowingly kept at least three sexually explicit images of minors in rectory computer, a felony that could cost him 5 years in prison or a psychological treatment facility. Saloy was put on administrative leave by the church after his Nov. 17 arrest.
Saloy, 45, who served for nearly a decade at Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church in West Babylon before transferring to Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Church in Roosevelt earlier this year, told the judge he had sought counseling as early as 2000, when he joined a group called Sexual Compulsives Anonymous.
NEW YORK
WABC
(New York - WABC, November 30, 2006) - A Roosevelt priest revealed he attempted to commit suicide as he pleaded guilty to a single count of child pornography Thursday.
Officials say Roman Catholic priest Thomas G. Saloy admitted that he kept at least three sexually explicit images of minors in a rectory computer at Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Church in Roosevelt.
The 45-year-old priest was put on administrative leave by the church after his November 17 arrest.
He reportedly told Judge Joseph F. Bianco that he had sought counseling as early as 2000, when he joined a group called Sexual Compulsives Anonymous.
NEW YORK
Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Roman Catholic priest from New York's borough of Queens pleaded guilty on Thursday to possessing more than 600 images of child pornography, the U.S. attorney's office said.
Rev. Thomas Saloy, 45, of Queen Elizabeth of the Most Holy Rosary Church, was arrested this month after he requested a child pornography image from an undercover police detective while online.
WILMINGTON (DE)
The News Journal
By GARY SOULSMAN, The News Journal
Posted Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 11:26 am
Catholic Bishop Michael Saltarelli is asking parishes and missions to dedicate the Advent season to the victims of clergy sexual abuse.
As head of the Diocese of Wilmington, the bishop is also asking each pastor to celebrate a special Advent prayer service, Mass or Eucharistic Holy Hour for the healing of those who’ve been harmed by clergy sexual abuse.
"Our efforts to protect God's children must be complemented by these spiritual efforts on behalf of victims and their families," the bishop said today.
Advent, a period of preparation for the birth of Jesus, begins in the diocese’s 57 parishes on Sunday and continues until Christmas. It’s a time of joy but also one of penance to prepare for Christmas, said Bob Krebs, diocese spokesman.
AUBURN (ME)
Sun Journal
By Christopher Williams , Staff Writer
Thursday, November 30, 2006 PHOTO GALLERY
AUBURN - A retired priest told police he was unhappy with the woman who accused Lewiston's Mayor Lionel Guay of groping her.
So, shortly after Guay was acquitted on all charges of unlawful sexual touching and assault, the priest sent Danielle Ramon two mailings taking her to task for making the allegations.
In his missives, the Rev. Bertrand Poussard, 64, of Waterville, called Ramon "ugly" and a "bitch." He insinuated that she was fat and a lesbian. He sent her copies of newspaper clippings about the trial, underlining text and making written asides directed at her in the margins. ...
Reacting to Poussard's written warning, a spokesman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests or SNAP said Poussard should be criminally charged.
"It's always hard for victims of sex crimes to come forward," saidAbuse Tracker Director David Clohessy of St. Louis. "It's even tougher when they're met with harassment."
COLUMBUS (OH)
The Columbus Dispatch
By Dennis M. Mahoney
The Columbus Dispatch
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
The Columbus Roman Catholic Diocese is urging people to report any abuse by a priest who served in the diocese in the 1980s.
Robin Miller, spokeswoman for the diocese, said in a statement yesterday that pastors at St. Patrick Church in Columbus and Holy Trinity Church in Somerset in Perry County will tell parishioners of abuse accusations already made against the Rev. Aaron Cote.
Parishioners will be urged to report any new allegations to the diocese's victim-assistance coordinator, Monsignor Stephan Moloney, and to law-enforcement authorities, she said.
Cote, a Dominican priest, has been accused of sexually abusing a teenager while Cote was pastor at Holy Trinity from 1987 to 1989. Now an adult, the accuser told a former teacher of the abuse in 2005, but he has been unwilling to discuss it with authorities.
NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger
Thursday, November 30, 2006
BY ALI WINSTON
JERSEY JOURNAL
A priest, accused by his former parishioners of leaving the Hudson County congregation with dozens of relics and more than $500,000 in donations unaccounted for, had bounced from one congregation to another before landing at St. De metrios Greek Orthodox Church in Jersey City, archdiocese officials said.
The Very Rev. Kyrillos Markopoulos, a native of Greece, first ar rived in the U.S. as an ordained priest in the Old Style Calendarist sect, which is separate from the mainstream Greek Orthodox Church. He first opened a "storefront" church -- St. Rafael, Nicholas and Irene -- in Astoria, Queens, in the early 1980s, said Bishop Savas of Troas, chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of New York.
NORWICH (CT)
Norwich Bulletin
By JOHN PENNEY
Norwich Bulletin
NORWICH -- The Diocese of Norwich has settled a priest molestation case for $1.1 million.
According to the offices of the Reardon Law Firm, Michael J. Long of Waterford brought suit against the Norwich Roman Catholic Diocese and St. Mary Star of the Sea Church of New London in 2002.
Long sued the diocese and church for damages suffered when he was molested in 1978 by the Rev. Bruno Primavera, the associate pastor at St. Mary at the time. Long was 15 at the time of the molestation. The lawsuit, which involved four years of litigation, ended with the largest settlement paid by the Norwich Diocese in a priest molestation case.
Attorney Joseph Sweeney of the Halloran & Sage law firm in Hartford represented the Diocese of Norwich in the proceedings. Sweeney said Primavera served in the diocese temporarily, before transferring in 1980 to a parish in Toronto.
Sweeney said Primavera was defrocked by the church in 1990 after some "trouble" in New Mexico. Primavera died in February.
"Something happened that is very troublesome," Sweeney said. "The diocese deeply regrets any pain Mr. Long experienced because of this episode and hopes he will use the settlement to get whatever help he needs."
CONNECTICUT
The Day
By Bethe Dufresne
A Waterford man has been awarded $1.1 million in a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich over molestation he suffered by a priest in 1978.
The plaintiff's attorney, Robert I. Reardon of New London, called it the largest settlement ever paid by the Norwich Diocese in a priest molestation case. The lawsuit was brought by Michael J. Long of Waterford in 2002 and was settled Sept. 14 in Hartford Superior Court. Reardon announced the award Wednesday.
Attorney Joseph T. Sweeney of Halloran & Sage in Hartford, representing the diocese, said Wednesday that two more lawsuits against the diocese regarding priest molestation are still left to be resolved.
Long sued the diocese and St. Mary's Star of the Sea Church in New London for damages suffered when he was molested at age 14-15 by Father Bruno Primavera, then associate pastor at St. Mary's.
Sweeney said that Primavera has since died.
JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Hal Dardick
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 30, 2006
A Will County judge Wednesday dismissed a child sexual abuse claim against a former priest and the Catholic Diocese of Joliet, saying the clock on the statute of limitations had run out.
But Circuit Judge Gerald Kinney gave attorney Michael Bolos the right to file an amended complaint that might bolster his argument that the statute had not expired.
As part of the case against the former priest, Bolos sought to make public two depositions that former Bishop Joseph Imesch gave in cases filed against two other priests, as was done earlier this year in a DuPage County case. That effort is on hold, Bolos said after Kinney's ruling.
Bolos' client sued the diocese of Joliet earlier this year, alleging Michael Gibbney, once pastor of Mary Queen of Heaven Church in Elmhurst and St. Dominic Church in Bolingbrook, repeatedly molested him in the late 1970s, starting when he was 11 years old.
UTAH
Deseret Morning News
By Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
The woman accusing Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs of forcing her into a child bride marriage remains willing to testify against him, her lawyer said.
"I think when the full story comes out, it will be compelling," lawyer Roger Hoole said outside a court hearing in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court on Monday. "She's a strong witness and we're looking forward to finishing up the preliminary hearing."
Hoole is representing the woman known in court documents as "Jane Doe IV." She says that at age 14, she was told by FLDS leaders she would be marrying her 19-year-old first cousin. When she objected to the union, Washington County prosecutors said Warren Jeffs threatened her "salvation."
DAYTON (OH)
Dayton Daily News
By Rob Modic
Staff Writer
Thursday, November 30, 2006
DAYTON — A Montgomery County grand jury on Wednesday indicted a Riverside pastor on 11 counts of sexual battery and a prosecutor said more charges "are expected."
Dennis Bowling, 45, remained in the county jail in lieu of $2 million bail as prosecutors arranged for more witnesses to appear before a grand jury.
Bowling, pastor of Kingdom Harvest Church, 2360 Valley Pike, for 19 years was arrested last week after a group of women from the congregation told police he had sexually assaulted several female members of the church.
Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck Jr. said eight counts were approved on Nov. 22 that involved Bowling and a 15-year-old girl during September.
The 11 counts handed up Wednesday each charge an offense that happened during the three-month period after Sept. 1. However, they do not indicate if they stem from assaults on one child or more.
NORWICH (CT)
WTNH
(Norwich-AP, Nov. 29, 2006 7:35 PM) _ The Diocese of Norwich agrees to pay one-point-one-million dollars to settle a sexual abuse claim.
Lawyers for the alleged victim, Michael Long of Waterford, say he was 15 years old when he was molested nearly thirty years ago by the Reverend Bruno Primavera.
Primavera was associate pastor of Saint Mary's Star of the Church Sea in New London at the time of the alleged abuse in 1978.
TUCSON (AZ)
Tucson Citizen
HEIDI ROWLEY,
Tucson Citizen
Former University of Arizona President Peter Likins and two Pima County sheriff's deputies will be honored Friday during the department's 21st annual awards banquet.
The banquet recognizes members of the department and the community for acts of heroism, contributions to the community or injuries in the line of duty. ...
Likins was also a member of the Diocese of Tucson Child Abuse and Sexual Misconduct Police Review Committee.
IOWA CITY (IA)
Press-Citizen
By The Associated Press
An Iowa City Catholic school and its former principal are asking a judge to dismiss lawsuits that implicate them in the sexual abuse of several students more than 40 years ago.
Regina High School and Lawrence Soens are being sued by more than a dozen men who claim they were sexually abused at the school.
Regina and Soens filed papers this month in Scott County District Court, asking a judge to dismiss some of the allegations based on lack of evidence.
Soens, a retired Sioux City bishop who served as Regina principal from 1959-1967, asked the court to dismiss the case of a man who says Soens sexually abused him in the 1960s when he attended Regina.
Regina's request involves the lawsuit filed by 13 men who claim Soens abused them while attending the school.
OAKLAND (CA)
Contra Costa Times
By Rebecca Rosen Lum
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
A national officer for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will take over as chancellor for the 87-parish Oakland Diocese, which covers Contra Costa and Alameda counties.
The move will mean a return to the Bay Area for Sister Glen Anne McPhee, secretary of education for the national organization, who grew up in Berkeley and attended St. Mary Magdalene Parish there.
She starts work Jan. 2. As chancellor, she will oversee schooling and communications. for the diocese. ...
She will oversee Catholic schools, the Catholic Youth Organization, communications, public relations, evangelization, catechetics, or teaching, and the lay ecclesial ministers council. She will also supervise outreach to survivors of clergy sexual abuse, including "No More Secrets," a program Flannery created.
She will have complete freedom to design and launch new programs said the Rev. George Mockel, vicar general for the diocese.
MEMPHIS (TN)
Commercial Appeal
By James Dowd
November 29, 2006
A retired priest of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis, who now lives in Nashville, faces new charges of sexually molesting a teenage boy more than two decades ago.
In a suit filed Tuesday in Circuit Court, plaintiff Henry Scott Baker, 41, alleged that as a teenager he was sexually abused by Rev. Paul St. Charles, who retired in 1986. The alleged abuse occurred in 1980 or 1981 when St. Charles was pastor at Church of the Ascension at 3680 Ramill.
GALLUP (NM)
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer
GALLUP — When Navajo County Superior Court Judge Gloria J. Kindig sentenced James M. Burns, a former Catholic priest with the Diocese of Gallup, to prison for two counts of sexual conduct with a minor, she ordered that he be registered as a sex offender.
Anyone who thinks that means Burns is now listed on the Arizona Department of Public Safety's sex offender Web site can think again.
He's not. And he's not alone in that exemption. Because of Arizona state law, not all convicted sex offenders are listed on the Web site. The state classifies sex offenders with risk assessment scores of Level 1 (Low) to Level 2 (Intermediate) or Level 3 (High), and only sex offenders at the latter two levels require public notification like the Web site listing.
What that means is a person can be living next to a convicted sex offender in Arizona and not know it. And for sex offenders like Burns, past information is hard to obtain without searching police reports and court files, and current information may be withheld from the public.
PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Inquirer
By David O'Reilly
Inquirer Staff Writer
Gov. Rendell yesterday signed into law four pieces of legislation that broaden Pennsylvania's criminal code for investigating and punishing child sex abuse and other sex offenses.
The bills include most of the measures called for in a 2005 Philadelphia grand jury report on clergy sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
"I'm thrilled, especially for the children of this state," Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham said in a telephone interview minutes before the signing ceremony. Her office conducted the grand jury investigation and issued its report.
Donna Farrell, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Archdiocese, said it was "very pleased" Rendell had signed the legislation. "We think it sends a message that children are a priority in Pennsylvania, and keeping them safe is everyone's responsibility," Farrell said.
FRESNO (CA)
San Luis Obispo Tribune
Associated Press
FRESNO, Calif. - Attorneys for an Army staff sergeant who claims he had been molested by a Catholic priest told jurors Tuesday that their client struggled to turn his life around after enduring sexual abuse.
Juan Rocha, 31, alleges that the Rev. Eric Swearingen of the Diocese of Fresno molested him between the ages of 12 and 15, when he was an altar boy at parishes in Fresno and Bakersfield.
Attorneys for Swearingen, who's now pastor of Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Fresno, acknowledge the priest allowed Rocha to sleep in his room at church rectories. But the Kern and Fresno County district attorney's offices decided not to file criminal charges against Swearingen after investigating Rocha's allegations in 2002, church officials said.
All behavior behind closed doors was appropriate, the diocese's lawyer, Carey Johnson, told jurors in opening statements of a civil trial Tuesday.
HARRISBURG (PA)
Centre Daily Times
By Martha Raffaele
The Associated Press
HARRISBURG -- Gov. Ed Rendell on Wednesday signed a package of bills intended to toughen penalties for sex offenders who prey on children, including a measure that would make changes recommended by a Philadelphia grand jury that investigated abuse by Roman Catholic priests.
The legislation would give alleged victims of child-sex crimes until their 50th birthday to file criminal complaints, 20 years longer than current law allows. Employers and supervisors could be held criminally liable if they know of alleged abuse by employees who care for children but fail to stop it, and caregivers would have to report suspected abuse regardless of whether the victim reports it.
The grand jury recommended legislative reforms in a September 2005 report that documented alleged assaults on minors by more than 60 priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese since 1967. The report also accused church leaders of covering up the abuse.
The panel said that, under the law at the time, too much time had elapsed for criminal charges to be filed against the church or the priests.
FORT WORTH (TX)
The Dallas Morning News
12:00 AM CST on Thursday, November 30, 2006
By BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
FORT WORTH – Bishop Kevin Vann apologized profusely Wednesday for sexual abuses by priests of the Fort Worth Catholic Diocese, but he repeatedly declined to criticize the cover-ups that left some clergymen in ministry and sometimes enabled them to hurt more people.
'Not being here at the time those decisions were made, I can't say they should have done this or that,' said Bishop Kevin Vann. He apologized for priests' sexual abuses, which were detailed in documents released Tuesday. "Not being here at the time those decisions were made, I can't say they should have done this or that," said the diocesan leader, who succeeded the late Bishop Joseph Delaney last year.
His remarks, made at a news conference, angered victims of the seven priests whose personnel files were unsealed Tuesday after a 19-month court battle by The Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
FORT WORTH (TX)
The Dallas Morning News
12:00 AM CST on Thursday, November 30, 2006
Court documents unsealed this week reveal the extent of sexual abuse in the Fort Worth Diocese and the cover-up by the late Bishop Joseph Delaney. Despite everything we've all read regarding this travesty in recent years, nothing dulls the shock. Nothing ever should.
The documents are outrageous on three fronts: one, in the disgusting detail of the acts these priests performed on children; two, in showing that Catholic officials kept these men in ministry despite it all; and three, in the plain fact that if their leaders had had their way, Catholics would never have learned any of this.
That they did learn of it is in large part due to the dogged reporting of this newspaper, in particular Brooks Egerton, as well as state District Judge Len Wade, who at the request of The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, reversed his earlier order sealing abuse lawsuit records.
Fort Worth's new bishop, Kevin Vann, wisely chose not to appeal the new ruling and now has to live with the fallout of a situation he did not cause but inherited. Painful? Excruciating, no doubt. Yet it must be done to rebuild the trust squandered by his predecessor, who cared more about saving face than saving children from abuse.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram
By DARREN BARBEE
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH -- Fort Worth Bishop Kevin Vann said Wednesday he is seeking to have two priests accused of sexual abuse defrocked.
"We are close to completing a process I began months ago to submit Philip Magaldi's case to the Holy See [in Vatican City] for laicization," Vann said at a press conference. "[Rudolf] Rentería's case is already in Rome awaiting their decision."
Vann said he is studying the feasibility of monitoring the two priests while the effort to remove them from the priesthood is pending. He added that such action would only be taken "subject to their individual rights."
FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram
The negative impact of wrongdoing by powerful people ripples beyond the immediate individuals and institutions involved.
Misconduct by a few federal lawmakers paints all politicians as corrupt and "only in it for themselves." The outrages by WorldCom and Enron executives have stockholders questioning the veracity of CEOs and presidents in other large U.S. corporations.
Sexual abuse cases involving Roman Catholic priests in one diocese raise eyebrows and under-the-breath questioning of all clergy.
As one of 10 Boston priests who were barred from ministry after being accused of sexual misconduct said, "All of us are being fed to the wolves."
The "wolves" to which he referred are the media, and the extensive coverage of the allegations of sexual abuse by priests no doubt nibbled on innocent men along with those who deserved it. But it's difficult to work up sympathy for the upper ranks of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth after reading the details of Star-Telegram staff writer Darren Barbee's eye-opening report of what the diocese's own files revealed about obfuscation by church leaders.
ROME
National Catholic Register
BY EDWARD PENTIN
Register Correspondent
December 3-9, 2006 Issue
Posted 11/29/06 at 8:00 AM
ROME — Rome’s largest English-speaking national seminaries are detecting an increase in numbers of vocations after a less fruitful period in the early part of the decade.
The Pontifical North American College, the Venerable English College and the Pontifical Irish College are all reporting higher numbers of candidates for the priesthood compared to a few years ago.
“We’ve seen a steady increase to the diocesan priesthood in the United States, and we are now seeing the benefit of that in the college,” said Father Dennis Gill, media spokesman at the North American College. He noted that vocations to religious orders are “still suffering quite a bit,” but that the college had experienced a “measurable increase.” ...
Like the North American College, the Irish College has been forced to deal with the fallout from clerical abuse scandals in Ireland.
“We like to think we’re emerging from a difficult and dark time,” Msgr. Bergin said. “There’s light on the horizon.”
WISCONSIN
Hudson Star-Observer
Meg Heaton Hudson Star-Observer
Published Wednesday, November 29, 2006
"There’s a hole in the dike now. Let’s hope it keeps going.”
That’s how Tom O’Connell characterized the news last week that Delaware Bishop Michael Saltarelli would make public the names of 20 priests who have been found to have sexually abused children or who have admitted to sexual abuse.
The move was the first since the O’Connell family filed a lawsuit last August against the bishops of all 194 Catholic dioceses across the country demanding that the names of predatory priests be made public.
Dan O’Connell and James Ellison were shot to death at the O’Connell Family Funeral Home in 2002. A St. Croix County judge found that there was probable cause to believe that the late Fr. Ryan Erickson committed the murders after he was confronted by Dan about the sexual abuse of minors. Erickson hung himself in December 2003 after being questioned by police about the murders.
FORT WORTH (TX)
The Dallas Morning News
05:07 PM CST on Wednesday, November 29, 2006
By BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
Fort Worth Catholic Bishop Kevin Vann apologized Wednesday for the sexual abuse committed by priests who formerly worked in the diocese.
At a news conference at the diocese headquarters Wednesday afternoon, the bishop described himself as "embarrassed, disheartened, appalled and angered" at material described in court records released Tuesday.
The court records showed Fort Worth Catholic Diocese leaders systematically helped predator priests stay in ministry for two decades by concealing information from parishioners, police and the public.
The records, which The Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram obtained after a 19-month legal battle, contain more than 700 pages from the personnel files of seven priests that the diocese had fought to keep secret.
"This sinful and criminal behavior is extraordinarily painful for those who have suffered abuse," said Bishop Vann. "As a church, we are united to that pain. Though we cannot experience it at the same level as those how have been directly violated, our unity within the body of Christ makes that pain our own as well."
EL SALVADOR
Houston Chronicle
Reuters
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — The Catholic Church in El Salvador begged forgiveness today for a priest who raped an altar boy and now faces charges he abused other children.
The priest, Jose Daniel Rivas, 60, will face a preliminary hearing into accusations that he sexually assaulted two children, and police are investigating three other possible cases, prosecutors said.
The priest was sentenced Tuesday for raping an 11-year-old boy last year in the town of San Cristobal, east of the capital.
"This situation saddens us. We have to ask God's forgiveness and hope this never happens again," San Salvador Archbishop Fernando Saenz told the televisor network Telemundo.
EL SALVADOR
Catholic World News
San Salvador, Nov. 29, 2006 (CNA/CWNews.com) - Archbishop Fernando Saenz Lacalle of San Salvador called on Catholics this week to pray for “the holiness of priests and religious” in response to the scandal caused by the conviction of a Franciscan priest to 20 years in prison for the sexual abuse of a minor.
Archbishop Saenz said the case of Father Jose Daniel Rivas, 58, was cause for great sadness in the Church in El Salvador, especially because of, “the sacred character, in this case, of the offender, and we should pray much and ask the Lord our God to never let such a thing happen again.”
HARRISBURG (PA)
Yahoo!
Wednesday November 29, 3:30 pm ET
HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell today signed into law four measures that will help protect Pennsylvania citizens - particularly children - from sex offenders, as well as aid police and prosecutors in their efforts to put such offenders behind bars.
"Today is an extraordinary day for victims of sexual assault in Pennsylvania and especially for the youngest victims," Governor Rendell said while signing a bill which establishes tough mandatory sentences for those who sexually assault children. The measure is known as Jessica's Law, named after a 9-year-old Florida girl who was kidnapped and murdered by a convicted sex offender.
"We are strengthening the Endangering the Welfare of Children statute, closing loopholes in the child abuse reporting law and dramatically extending the period of time during which we can prosecute sexual offenders who victimize children," Governor Rendell said. "It is past time that the criminals who commit these despicable acts receive the severe punishment they deserve."
CHICAGO (IL)
NBC 5
CHICAGO -- A suburban priest who stepped down from parish ministry after allegations surfaced that he may have abused two youths in the 1980s has filed a defamation lawsuit against his accusers.
The Rev. Robert Stepek, pastor of St. Albert the Great Parish in Burbank, voluntarily stepped down in May as the allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced. He argues in the complaint filed Tuesday that the accusations are false.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago is investigating the allegations. ...
Jeff Anderson, an attorney for the accusers, said he is confident Stepek's suit will be dismissed.
"This is a guy who is not only deep in denial, he is defiant. When it comes to him, nothing comes as a surprise," Anderson said. "Frankly, he is out of control on many levels. This is a guilty man doing very serious things to revictimize those he has already harmed once."
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests called the lawsuit "a desperate attempt" and said the church has conducted a complete investigation.
WISCONSIN
River Falls Journal
Ron Brochu, Forum Communications,
Published Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Bishop Raphael Fliss on Monday revealed he had removed Edward Beutner from the priesthood in 2002 after accusations of sexual abuse emerged.
That response, however, falls short of what is expected by victims, their representatives said Monday, leaving them to continually suffer from their injuries and fear additional people might be victimized.
Buetner, a former priest, had served at St. Ann's parishes in Somerst and at St. Bridget's in River Falls from 1973-74 and during 2002 at the St. Thomas More Newman Center on the campus of the University of River Falls.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram
THE REV. JAMES BERNARD HANLON
Ordained: June 6, 1981
Died: Feb. 17, 1990
Assignments: St. Michael, Bedford; Holy Family, Fort Worth; St. John the Apostle, North Richland Hills; St. Maria Goretti, Arlington; St. Patrick, Fort Worth; St. Rita et al., Ranger; medical leave, 1989
The diocese learned in 1989 that the Rev. James Hanlon had been diagnosed as HIV positive. The files indicate that diocese officials did not know about the diagnosis until he was no longer in active ministry. Cirrhosis of the liver, not HIV or AIDS, was cited as a factor in his death, according to the files and his death certificate.
FORT WORTH (TX)
NBC5i
Leaders in the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese were not forthcoming about the extent of sexual abuse allegations against half a dozen priests and helped them stay in the ministry, according to 700 pages of secret files released Tuesday by a judge.
The files involve clergymen accused of misconduct with minors. They show how Bishop Joseph P. Delaney, who died last year, and his top assistants -- the Rev. Robert Wilson and the Rev. Joseph Schumacher -- dealt with accusers and the priests.
Documents show that diocese leaders and other church officials counted the days until the risk of civil liability had passed in dealing with one accuser; allowed one priest who admitted abusing a child to keep working until his death; and withheld details about accusations to minimize public fallout.
In that 1995 case, a priest admitted to Delaney that he had abused three boys, but Delaney initially publicly spoke of just one victim, in part to control "how the matter is aired."
LOUISVILLE (KY)
The Courier-Journal
By Peter Smith
psmith@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Five Louisville men cannot sue two Roman Catholic dioceses in Wisconsin for allegedly failing to stop a known abuser before he could hurt them, an appeals court in that state said yesterday .
Too much time has passed for the lawsuit, filed in 2005 by five men abused by former parochial-school teacher Gary Kazmarek, the Court of Appeals of District 1 ruled.
Kazmarek is serving a 13-year prison sentence for molesting the five between 1968 and 1973, when they were younger than 15 and he was teaching and coaching at Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic School in Louisville.
The plaintiffs were among 243 people who shared in a $25.7 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Louisville.
FRESNO (CA)
Fresno Bee
By Pablo Lopez / The Fresno Bee 11/29/06 04:18:21
On one side of the Fresno courtroom stood the plaintiff — former altar boy Juan Rocha, 31, and a decorated Army staff sergeant.
The defendant is Father Eric Swearingen, 45, pastor of Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Fresno's Woodward Park.
In a civil trial that began Tuesday in Fresno County Superior Court, jurors have to determine whether Swearingen sexually molested Rocha in the late 1980s and early '90s when he was between 12 and 15 years old.
Lawyers agreed that Swearingen allowed Rocha to sleep in his room at church rectories in Fresno and Bakersfield. In dispute is what happened behind closed doors.
CANADA
Ottawa Sun
Wed, November 29, 2006
By Canadian Press
CORNWALL — A priest who was acquitted of sexually abusing a teenage boy will not suffer undue harm if his name is once again in the public realm, the Cornwall Public Inquiry judge ruled Tuesday.
Commissioner Normand Glaude dismissed a motion by the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese to enact a publication ban on the name of a priest expected to be identified in allegations being made by a witness this week.
In delivering his reasons for the decision, Glaude said the priest has been the subject of media attention in the past and would not be significantly impacted by additional publicity. Glaude also said it his not his intention to find fault when hearing any allegations made against any individual.
“I will not and cannot try or re-try the allegations that were made against him (the priest),” said Glaude, “nor will I make findings of criminal or civil responsibility.”
The name of the priest is protected under an interim publication ban while lawyers for the diocese seek a stay of the ruling prior to a judicial review of the decision. The Ontario Divisional Court was expected to decide Wednesday whether to extend the publication ban until such time as a judicial review can be heard.
MARLBORO (MA)
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
By Elaine Thompson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
ethompson@telegram.com
MARLBORO— For the second time in four years, a priest at St. Michael Catholic Church has been suspended or placed on leave because of an allegation of sexual abuse.
The Archdiocese of Boston, announced yesterday that the Rev. Steven W. Poitras, St. Michael’s parochial vicar, has been placed on administrative leave as a result of an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor in 1994. The archdiocese has initiated a preliminary investigation and forwarded the complaint to the state attorney general and the Essex County district attorney’s office, the statement read. A spokesman for the Essex County district attorney said that office does not confirm or deny an investigation.
The statement did not provide any details on the allegations or where the sexual abuse allegedly occurred.
“The decision to place Father Poitras on administrative leave does not represent a determination of his guilt or innocence,” the archdiocese said in a written statement.
Parishioners in the culturally diverse 3,000-plus family church community were notified during Masses last weekend.
“We were shocked … shocked to death. Everybody cried,” 58-year-old Celeste Braga, a native of the Azores and a Parish Council member, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “Even Father Walter (A. Carreiro) cried. He could hardly say what happened. It is a big loss that we are experiencing in our church.” She said “Father Steve,” as he is affectionately known, has been at St. Michael for about six years.
NEW JERSEY
The Jersey Journal
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
By ALI WINSTON
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Parishioners at a Jersey City church are furious with their former priest, who was reassigned more than two months ago - leaving unaccounted for more than a half-million dollars in donations and dozens of religious relics and icons.
In addition, all the records at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church on Summit Avenue maintained during the 131/2-year tenure of the Very Rev. Kyrillos Markopoulos - marriage licenses, baptismal certificates, receipt books for donations, even the church's property deed - are missing.
CHICAGO (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
Associated Press
CHICAGO - A suburban priest who stepped down from parish ministry after allegations surfaced that he may have abused two youths in the 1980s has filed a defamation lawsuit against his accusers.
The Rev. Robert Stepek, pastor of St. Albert the Great Parish in Burbank, voluntarily stepped down in May as the allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced. He argues in the complaint filed Tuesday that the accusations are false.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago is investigating the allegations.
"There's nothing more damaging to a priest's reputation than an allegation that he engaged in the type of misconduct with minors that Father Stepek is accused of having done," said Phillip Zisook, Stepek's lawyer.
Stepek's suit seeks more than $1 million in punitive damages from the accusers and states that they inflicted emotional stress upon him.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Gerry Doyle
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 29, 2006
A Burbank priest removed from ministry this month after allegations that he abused two youths were found to be credible by church authorities is suing his accusers.
The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, claims that the two defendants, identified as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, defamed Rev. Robert Stepek, pastor of St. Albert the Great Parish. The suit alleges that the accusations of abuse in the 1980s, leveled in May, were false and came as retaliation for slights against the two men committed about 20 years ago.
"There's nothing more damaging to a priest's reputation than an allegation that he engaged in the type of misconduct with minors that Father Stepek is accused of having done," said Stepek's lawyer, Phillip Zisook.
John Doe 2, an undergraduate seminarian in 1987, asked Stepek for a letter of recommendation, which he did not provide, the lawsuit states. The youth said that he would retaliate, the lawsuit states.
CHICAGO (IL)
WQAD
CHICAGO A Chicago-area priest who stepped down from parish ministry after allegations surfaced that he may have abused two youths has filed a defamation lawsuit against his accusers.
In a complaint filed in Cook County yesterday, the Reverend Robert Stepek argues that the abuse accusations are false. He is pastor of St. Albert the Great Parish in Burbank.
Stepek's suit seeks more than one-(M) million dollars in punitive damages.
The lawsuit identifies the defendants as John Doe One and John Doe Two.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram
By DARREN BARBEE
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Editor's note: This report was originally published June 5, 2005.
"T admits to being attracted to adolescents in every way, including sexually."
-- Bishop Joseph Delaney's notes, June 12-13, 1988, shortly before he hired the Rev. Thomas Teczar
"His time in therapy was very intense and painful but very successful. He no longer has the need to seek out adolescents for companions. ... Because of all the other good qualities for ministry in T's life, S feels he will be a very successful priest."
-- Delaney's notes from a June 14, 1988, conversation with Gilbert Skidmore, Teczar's therapist
"I am willing to give Father Teczar an opportunity to get back into active ministry, fully aware of the possible risks that may be involved. ... Please pray with me that my decision will be of benefit to all concerned and for the good of souls."
-- Delaney in a July 13, 1988, letter to Bishop Timothy Harrington in Worcester, Mass.
"I laid down a request that he not have any social relationships with anyone under 25 in future."
-- Delaney's notes from a Jan. 25, 1991, meeting with Teczar to discuss the priest's meetings with two young men in Bedford
TEXAS
Star-Telegram
By Eva-Marie Ayala
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
A former pastor convicted of raping three women has been temporarily moved to an East Texas prison.
Terry Hornbuckle, 44, was sent to the Gurney Unit transfer facility near Tennessee Colony in Anderson County last week. He will likely remain there until he is processed to be moved to a permanent facility where he will serve out his 15-year sentence, officials said.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram
THE REV. WILLIAM REECE HOOVER
Ordained: May 28, 1955, Dallas-Fort Worth
Died: Oct. 19, 1996
Assignments: St. James, Dallas; Holy Cross, Dallas; St. Patrick, Fort Worth; Christ the King, Dallas; Blessed Sacrament, Dallas; St. Cecilia, Dallas; St. Edward, location not known; St. Thomas, location not known; Holy Name, Fort Worth; St. Patrick, Fort Worth
The Rev. William Hoover was a fixture at St. Patrick Cathedral in downtown Fort Worth. Even after an allegation was raised against him in 1995, he continued to receive support from his congregation.
That year, Bishop Delaney announced that Hoover had admitted to molesting a child at Boy Scout outings while serving as the Scouts' chaplain about 38 years earlier.
After learning of the allegation, Hoover's congregation held at least one prayer service, "a Holy Hour for Father William Hoover." They also prayed for the victim.
NORTH ANDOVER (MA)
Eagle-Tribune
By Drake Lucas , Staff writer
Eagle-Tribune
NORTH ANDOVER - The Rev. Steve Poitras was perhaps best remembered in town for faking that he had cancer while he was an assistant priest at St. Michael Church in 1994.
This week, he was also accused of sexual abuse of a minor during the same time. Poitras left St. Michael Church in early 1995.
The Very Rev. John Delaney, vicar of the Lawrence area Catholic churches who came to St. Michael Church in 2000, said the allegation did not come from a parishioner of St. Michael Church and the abuse was not alleged to have happened at a church event. No other information about the victim was available.
Poitras was placed on leave from his current position as parochial vicar at St. Michael's parish in Hudson, and the archdiocese is investigating the allegation.
The Essex County district attorney is also aware of the allegation but would not confirm or deny there is an investigation. North Andover police are not investigating any allegations.
Bernice Subach, a parishioner at St. Michael Church who also attended when Poitras was there, said she does not believe the allegation against him. She said he was a great person, even after Poitras told the parish he had lied about having cancer.
HUDSON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Charles A. Radin, Globe Staff | November 28, 2006
The Rev. Steven Poitras, associate pastor of St. Michael Parish in Hudson, has been placed on administrative leave pending investigation of an allegation that he sexually abused a child in 1994, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston announced yesterday.
The Massachusetts attorney general's office and the Essex district attorney's office have been notified of the accusation, the archdiocese said in a statement; an internal investigation has also been launched. "The decision to place Father Poitras on administrative leave does not represent a determination of his guilt or innocence," the archdiocese said.
Kelly Lynch of the archdiocese's public relations firm, said parishioners were notified by the parish priest at Masses last weekend that Poitras was being put on leave because of an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.
She would not provide specifics of the alleged abuse, citing "the confidential nature of the investigation."
She said the alleged abuse did not occur at the parish to which Poitras was assigned.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe
By Charles A. Radin, Globe Staff | November 29, 2006
A leader of the now-closed Sacred Heart Parish in Medford has quit the pastoral council of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston to protest what he describes as the church's failure to ease the pain of parish closings in the Medford area.
Jack Coakley, 46, said yesterday that he resigned five weeks before the end of his two-year term both as a protest and as a last-ditch effort to get Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley to pay attention to young and middle-aged people he said are walking away from the church because of parish closings and other problems. Coakley submitted his resignation last Friday.
The council is a group of about 50 members of the laity and six clergy that advises O'Malley on matters of concern at the parish level in the archdiocese.
Coakley was cochairman of the Sacred Heart parish council when the archdiocese announced in 2004 that Sacred Heart and about 80 other parishes would be closed and their members merged into other congregations as part of the archdiocese's efforts to cope with a financial crisis caused by declining church attendance and the clergy sexual-abuse scandal.
JACKSONVILLE (FL)
Times-Union
Jacksonville Film Events, the non-profit organization that organizes the Jacksonville Film Festival, Reel People and Books Alive, will present a screening of the documentary Hand of God at 7:15 p.m. on Monday at The Atlantic Theatres off Atlantic Boulevard in Atlantic Beach.
Hand of God portrays the experience of a survivor of Catholic clergy abuse. As filmed by his brother, this is an outspoken and sometimes humorous look at a family's attempt to regain its spiritual footing.
Filmmaker Joe Cultrera grounds the story of his brother Paul's abuse in the details of their Sicilian-American Catholic upbringing. The film is making the rounds of independent film festivals across the country.
The filmmaker will be in attendance for questions after the film. Tickets are $10, and are available at the door.
FORT WORTH (TX)
The China Post
2006/11/29
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)
Leaders in the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese withheld information about the extent of sexual abuse allegations against half a dozen priests and helped them stay in the ministry, according to secret files released by a judge.
The 700 pages, released on Tuesday, show how the late Bishop Joseph P. Delaney and his top assistants dealt with accusers and the priests.
Documents show that diocese leaders and other church officials counted the days until the risk of civil liability had passed in dealing with one accuser; allowed one priest who admitted abusing a child to keep working until his death; and withheld details about accusations to minimize public fallout.
State District Judge Len Wade released parts of the files after diocese attorneys tried to keep them closed for about a year, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Dallas Morning News reported in their online editions Tuesday.
FORT WORTH (TX)
The Dallas Morning News
01:05 AM CST on Wednesday, November 29, 2006
The events that led to Tuesday's release of Fort Worth Catholic Diocese records began in 2003, when two Texas men filed a lawsuit alleging that the Rev. Thomas Teczar had sexually abused them when they were boys. They accused diocese officials of covering up the priest's prior misconduct in Massachusetts as part of a broader pattern of concealing clergy abuse.
Tarrant County state District Judge Len Wade oversaw the Teczar litigation and ordered the diocese to give the men records on seven other priests who had been accused of abuse. But the judge, at the diocese's request, sealed the records from the public and barred the accusers from discussing them publicly.
In 2005, The Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram asked Judge Wade to unseal the material, saying that Texas court records are by law public.
"The Morning News has a history of fighting in the courts to obtain information vital to public health and well-being," Editor Bob Mong said. "Our readers rightly expect as much of us. We also have a long and distinguished legacy of challenging the unnecessary sealing of important documents and records."
Lawyers for the diocese and the seven other priests sought to keep the records sealed, arguing that most of the clerics were no longer in ministry and were entitled to privacy. They have also maintained that there was no pattern of cover-up and that releasing the records would chill the free exercise of religion.
PORTLAND (OR)
The Oregonian
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
JESSICA BRUDER
A former Portland church youth leader surrendered to police this month after being accused of taking nude pictures and playing sexual games with three teenage boys, all members of New Song Church in Northeast Portland.
Jeremey Steven Thompson, 30, was indicted Nov. 20 in Clackamas County on two counts of child sex abuse and two counts of encouraging child sex abuse.
Police said that last summer Thompson drove the boys naked to Bagby Hot Springs, where he photographed the boys, ages 16 and 17, and led them in a salacious game of truth or dare.
BEDFORD (VA)
The Roanoke Times
By Mike Allen
981-3236
BEDFORD -- Troubled by unwanted sexual thoughts that he believed came from demons, a 13-year-old boy turned to someone he trusted for answers: his church's youth coordinator, Joseph Steven Shrewsbury.
But Shrewsbury told the boy that to get rid of the demon, the boy had to act out what the demon wanted, a Bedford County prosecutor said.
Tuesday morning, Shrewsbury, 30, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor, two counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of carnal knowledge for molesting the boy in August 2005.
Assistant Bedford County Commonwealth's Attorney Wes Nance said prosecutors will ask a judge to sentence Shrewsbury to serve about 15 to 20 years in the penitentiary.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram
By DARREN BARBEE
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH -- In public, Fort Worth Bishop Joseph P. Delaney and his trusted subordinates often spoke of the importance of being honest and open about allegations of sexual abuse by priests.
But the moral and spiritual leaders of the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese buried key facts about six men accused of molesting children in their secret archive, known as the confidential files.
On Tuesday, state District Judge Len Wade released portions of the files after about a year of legal maneuvering by attorneys to keep them closed. The files, which were sealed as part of a sexual abuse lawsuit against the diocese, reveal that Delaney and other church leaders sometimes intentionally misled the public, their congregations and the priests' accusers.
In the documents, those leaders describe how they hid payments to one victim while counting the days until the civil statute of limitations had expired and how they moved accused priests to other parishes.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
November 29, 2006
BY STEPHANIE GEHRING Daily Southtown
A Burbank priest filed a defamation lawsuit Tuesday against the two brothers who accused him of molesting them more than 20 years ago.
The Rev. Robert Stepek, former pastor of St. Albert the Great Catholic Church is asking for more than $1 million in punitive damages from the brothers, claiming they falsely accused him of criminal wrongdoing, sexual misconduct and deviant behavior out of revenge.
Pastor claims retaliation
Stepek said he refused to write a letter of recommendation for one brother who wanted to attend a graduate seminary school, saying the boy "had character deficiencies" that made him unsuitable for the priesthood.
He also claims the brothers are retaliating for a 2005 incident in which Stepek refused to pay for incomplete and unsatisfactory construction work at St. Albert. The brothers have a financial stake in a company that did work at the church, according to court papers.
MADISON (WI)
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
By Ryan J. Foley
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. – Five men, including one from Indiana, who were sexually abused by a Catholic school teacher in Kentucky cannot sue two Roman Catholic dioceses in Wisconsin for allegedly covering up the man’s abuse of dozens of children in the 1960s, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The District 1 Court of Appeals said the lawsuit by the men – Kenneth Hornback of Harrison County, Ind., and Dennis L. Bolton, Ronald W. Kuhl, David W. Schaeffer and Glenn M. Bonn, all of Louisville – is barred by the statute of limitations.
The plaintiffs’ lawyer criticized the ruling, and a national advocacy group for abuse victims called it “disgraceful.”
“The notion that kids ‘knew or should have known at the time of the assaults that they had been injured’ flies in the face of common sense and common decency,” said Barbara Dorris, a spokeswoman for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, citing part of the ruling.
CALIFORNIA
Petaluma Argus Courier
Published: Wednesday, Nov 29, 2006
By STEPHAN PASSALACQUA
Emotions run high in the area of child sexual abuse, particularly when committed by those who abuse positions of trust. The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office takes its responsibility seriously to ensure that these cases are reported promptly so that we may take immediate action to bring the perpetrators to justice. Under California’s child abuse mandated reporting law, failure to report suspected cases of abuse is a misdemeanor.
The intent of the mandated reporting law is to protect the most vulnerable members of our community, our children. Immediately reporting suspected abuse allows law enforcement to take swift measures to apprehend the perpetrators and ensure the safety of any child at risk.
In these cases, there is an urgency that will never be compromised.
That is why the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office has acted decisively to hold Bishop Daniel Walsh accountable for violating the law. Consistent with past practice, and as has been the case this year with more than 1,000 people facing misdemeanor charges, Bishop Walsh is eligible to take part in what is known as a pre-filing diversion program. If he does not successfully complete this rigorous four-month program, the misdemeanor charge for failing to report suspected child abuse will automatically be filed.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram
These articles contain sexually explicit language that may be offensive to some readers.
THE REV. PHILIP ANTHONY MAGALDI
Incardinated: Jan. 30, 1995
Assignments: St. Mary, Henrietta; St. John the Apostle, North Richland Hills
Over the Rev. Philip Magaldi's flamboyant career, he weathered perjury charges in New England and served time in a halfway house for embezzling $123,400 from his Rhode Island parish.
The diocese kept quiet about the first sexual abuse complaint against him in 1997. But a second, startlingly similar allegation -- and the threat of publicity -- about two years later forced Bishop Delaney to remove the priest from ministry.
Details of one allegation were not revealed until the documents were released Tuesday.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram
These articles contain sexually explicit language that may be offensive to some readers.
THE REV. JOHN HOWLETT
Religious order: Pallottine Society
Assignments: St. Mary, Graham; St. Brendan, Stephenville
Church leaders held their breath when complaints of sexual abuse resurfaced against the Rev. John Howlett in mid-1993. They placated the mother of female accusers -- who had come forward years before -- while hoping she would not go to the authorities or file a lawsuit before the statute of limitations expired.
At least three more women would later come forward to tell similar stories of betrayal, broken faith and childhoods destroyed because, they said, Howlett abused them. One woman told the diocese that the priest habitually sought sexual gratification from her beginning when she was 9. Another said she was 5 when Howlett began molesting her.
The files do not indicate any effort to contact police about the allegations. Today, Howlett lives in Dublin, Ireland, where he faces some restrictions on his travel and public appearances imposed by his religious order, the Pallottines.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram
These articles contain sexually explicit language that may be offensive to some readers.
THE REV. JAMES JOSEPH REILLY
Ordained: Oct. 14, 1945, Dallas-Fort Worth
Died: May 2, 1999
Assignments: Christ the King, Dallas; Sacred Heart, Wichita Falls; St. George, Fort Worth; Sacred Heart, Wichita Falls; Immaculate Conception, Denton; St. John parish and school, Ennis; St. Andrew, Laneri High School, Fort Worth; St. Augustine and Holy Spirit Seminary, Dallas; Holy Spirit Seminary; Our Lady Queen of Peace, Wichita Falls; St. Maria Goretti, Arlington; Holy Trinity Seminary
Monsignor James Reilly drifted out of life in the fog of Alzheimer's disease in 1999, even as painful memories kept his accusers coming forward.
As one man wrote to the diocese in 2000, "It's amazing that, even though he's dead, he still exerts some control in my life."
FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram
THE REV. RUDOLF JOHN RENTERIA
Ordained: Aug. 18, 1979
Assignments: St. Matthew, Arlington; Sacred Heart, Wichita Falls; Holy Family et al., Vernon; St. Philip the Apostle, Lewisville; Holy Family, Fort Worth; St. Paul's Hospital, Dallas
The June 29, 2002, news release was technically correct: Bishop Delaney was removing the Rev. Rudolf Rentería from active ministry because of a single accusation that he had abused a minor in 1981.
The news release stated that no other allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor had been made against Rentería during his time in Wichita Falls, Vernon or Lewisville.
But Delaney made no mention of another sex abuse allegation involving an 18-year-old that had more recently come to his attention.
MIAMI (FL)
Local 10
MIAMI -- Another lawsuit has been filed against the Archdiocese of Miami alleging that a priest repeatedly molested an altar boy over a lengthy period of time.
Attorney Jeffrey Herman announced the suit filed on behalf of a man who had served as an altar boy at St. Timothy Church. The suit alleges that the Rev. Gustavo Miyares groomed John Kleer by, among other things, giving him special attention and offering him wine which was intended for use in Mass.
Herman said, "He (Kleer) was betrayed by Miyares and it's time he paid the consequences."
The suit alleges that in the early 1980s, after he gradually gained Kleer's trust, Miyares began to sexually abuse him. Kleer said that when he questioned the sexual touching, Miyares told him that these were the kind of things that boys did to become a priest. Kleer was about 12 years old at the time of the alleged abuse.
MIAMI (FL)
CBS 4
Click PLAY On The Video Player For Kleer's Interview
Marybel Rodriguez
Reporting
(CBS4) MIAMI An attorney who has specialized in bringing sex abuse lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Miami announced the filing of another suit, involving alleged sexual abuse of a minor by a former Miami priest.
John Kleer, the alleged victim, joined Attorney Jeffrey Herman in making the announcement, claiming he had been sexually assaulted by Father Gustavo Miyares. It claims that Kleer was abused on many occasions in the 80’s when he was an altar boy, including at the church rectory,
Unlike many victims who have remained anonymous as they file their lawsuits, Kleer decided to bring his story to the public. He's 39-years-old now, married, and has a 12-year-old daughter.
"I can't hide it anymore," said Kleer. "It's destroyed me."
CALIFORNIA
CBS 5
(BCN) MARIN SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is handing out leaflets to parents whose children attend the St. Anselm School in Ross.
SNAP spokesman Joey Piscitelli said the protest is over the return of Rev. John Schwartz to the Saint Anselm parish for the Christmas season.
Schwartz took a leave of absence in October 2005 while the Archdiocese of San Francisco investigated the priest's alleged sexual misconduct in Oregon.
The diocese informed parish members this week that its investigation concluded the allegations "were not sustainable" and Schwartz would return to the Ross church until he takes up a new assignment at the end of the year.
FORT WORTH (TX)
KTEN
FORT WORTH, Texas Files released today show leaders of the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese weren't forthcoming on the extent of sexual abuse allegations against some priests.
The files show how Bishop Joseph P. Delaney, who died last year, and his top assistants dealt with accusers and the priests.
Documents show diocese leaders and other church officials counted the days until the risk of civil liability had passed in dealing with one accuser.
ZIMBABWE
New Zimbabwe
By Mduduzi Mathuthu
Last updated: 11/28/2006 21:54:57
Tuesday, November 29, 2006
Pastor Admire Kasi, the disgraced priest of infidelity who was defrocked by the Zimbabwe Assemblies of God (ZAOGA) church has, until last week, been denying that he has been sleeping with gospel singer Ivy Kombo for years.
After temporarily setting camp in the United Kingdom with the singer – purportedly to “spread the word of God” -- the bumbling pastor returned to Zimbabwe last week to announce he is getting married next February.
I don’t care about his marriage.
I do care, however, when Christian values are perverted by a man who curiously insists on being referred to as a pastor – despite years of telling lies and deceiving his suffering ex-wife, Sarah.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Fox News
FORT WORTH, Texas — Leaders in the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese withheld information about the extent of sexual abuse allegations against half a dozen priests and helped them stay in the ministry, according to secret files released by a judge Tuesday.
The 700 pages show how the late Bishop Joseph P. Delaney and his top assistants dealt with accusers and the priests.
Documents show that diocese leaders and other church officials counted the days until the risk of civil liability had passed in dealing with one accuser; allowed one priest who admitted abusing a child to keep working until his death; and withheld details about accusations to minimize public fallout.
State District Judge Len Wade released parts of the files after diocese attorneys tried to keep them closed for about a year, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Dallas Morning News reported in their online editions Tuesday.
The newspapers and several of the priests' accusers asked Wade to release the secret files _ notes, memos and e-mails created and maintained by diocese leaders.
FORT WORTH (TX)
WFAA
06:17 PM CST on Tuesday, November 28, 2006
By BRAD WATSON / WFAA-TV
Despite years of battling by the Fort Worth Catholic Diocese's attorneys, hundreds of pages of documents that contain information on how leaders dealt with allegations of sexual abuse against several priests were released Tuesday.
The documents released include internal notes, memos, letters and e-mails created and maintained by diocese leaders.
A judge presiding over one of the abuse cases released the 700 pages of documents, which show a diocese in turmoil and leaders agonizing over what to do over the allegations. It also reveals steps some took to mislead the public and keep the accused priests working.
The lawsuits against the Fort Worth Catholic Diocese covered six priests accused of sexual misconduct, some of which were allegedly against children.
The result decades later, said one abuse victim who is one of 11 former altar boys who settled a suit against the Rev. James Reilly, is continued pain.
CALIFORNIA
KTVU
POSTED: 8:29 pm PST November 28, 2006
MARIN CO. -- An organization of victims sexually abused by priests is protesting the return of a priest to a Marin County church Tuesday afternoon.
SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is handing out leaflets to parents whose children attend the St. Anselm School in Ross. SNAP spokesman Joey Piscitelli said the protest is over the return of Rev. John Schwartz to the Saint Anselm parish for the Christmas season.
Schwartz took a leave of absence in October 2005 while the Archdiocese of San Francisco investigated the priest's alleged sexual misconduct in Oregon.
The diocese informed parish members this week that its investigation concluded the allegations "were not sustainable" and Schwartz would return to the Ross church until he takes up a new assignment at the end of the year.
Piscitelli and other SNAP members claim the diocese hand-picked a panel for the investigation and its conclusion that Schwartz is credible was to be expected.
ROSS (CA)
Fresno Bee
ROSS, Calif. (AP) - A priest accused in a civil lawsuit of sexual abuse allegations will be returning to his previous assignment at St. Anselm Church in Ross.
Parishioners at the church were told Sunday that the Rev. John Schwartz was returning after an independent investigation by the Archdiocese of San Francisco concluded that the accusations against him were not credible.
Schwartz was scheduled to come back to the church next month for the Christmas season, but will be assigned to another parish after the holidays, officials said.
Schwartz was on vacation when the news of the $4 million lawsuit became public, and took a voluntary leave after the archdiocese said it would conduct an investigation.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Sioux City Journal
1:15 AM
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Leaders in the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese withheld information about the extent of sexual abuse allegations against half a dozen priests and helped them stay in the ministry, according to secret files released by a judge Tuesday.
The 700 pages show how the late Bishop Joseph P. Delaney and his top assistants dealt with accusers and the priests.
Documents show that diocese leaders and other church officials counted the days until the risk of civil liability had passed in dealing with one accuser; allowed one priest who admitted abusing a child to keep working until his death; and withheld details about accusations to minimize public fallout.
State District Judge Len Wade released parts of the files after diocese attorneys tried to keep them closed for about a year, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Dallas Morning News reported in their online editions Tuesday.
HUDSON (MA)
Milford Daily News
By Peter Reuell
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
HUDSON -- Parishioners at St. Michael Church yesterday called the Rev. Steven Poitras a "personable, dedicated" priest, and expressed shock and anger at a recently revealed allegation of sexual misconduct.
In a statement released Monday, the Archdiocese of Boston said Poitras had been suspended from his post as the second-ranking priest at the Manning Street church after being accused of sexual abuse of a minor.
According to the statement, the alleged abuse took place in 1994, when Poitras was assigned to a church in North Andover.
After receiving the allegation, archdiocese officials notified the state attorney general's office and the Essex County district attorney, and launched a preliminary investigation.
Parishioners, however, yesterday seemed reluctant to believe the allegations.
"He's a very nice person," Antonio Goncalves said outside the church. "It was very pleasant to have Mass with him."
MIAMI (FL)
Miami Herald
BY LAURA MORALES
llmorales@MiamiHerald.com
Another former altar boy has filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade County claiming that the Rev. Gustavo Miyares, a Hialeah Catholic priest, sexually abused him in the early 1980s.
The suit is the second in as many months against Miyares, who resigned last month from his post at Hialeah's Immaculate Conception Church.
In the first suit, a former altar boy accused Miyares and the Rev. Pedro Jove of fondling and raping him while attending a summer camp in 1981 at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach.
In the latest suit, a 35-year-old Collier County man who did not want to be identified said Miyares touched him inappropriately and that the abuse continued for more than three years when he was an altar boy at St. Timothy Catholic Church.
FLORIDA
Sun-Sentinel
By Madeline Baró Diaz
Miami Bureau
Posted November 29 2006
A Sunrise man filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Archdiocese of Miami, saying a priest abused him more than 20 years ago when he was an altar boy at a south Miami-Dade County church.
John Kleer, 35, said he came forward after another man sued the archdiocese in October, accusing the same priest, the Rev. Gustavo Miyares, of abusing him after they met at a Catholic summer camp in Boynton Beach. Miyares, longtime pastor of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Hialeah, resigned after the allegations came to light and can no longer serve as a priest.
"It literally jolted me," Kleer said. "I felt I could come forward and it wasn't just me against a priest."
The suit filed in Miami-Dade court accuses the archdiocese of concealing information about Miyares' abuse of children and seeks more than $10 million in damages.
FORT WORTH (TX)
The Dallas Morning News
12:00 AM CST on Wednesday, November 29, 2006
By BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
Fort Worth Catholic Diocese leaders systematically helped predator priests stay in ministry for two decades by concealing information from parishioners, police and the public, court records unsealed Tuesday show.
The records, which The Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram obtained after a 19-month legal battle, contain more than 700 pages from the personnel files of seven priests that the diocese had fought to keep secret.
Nearly half of the records deal with numerous sexual abuse complaints against the Rev. Philip Magaldi, who said Tuesday night that he remains in ministry despite diocesan statements to the contrary. The priest was an old friend of the late Bishop Joseph Delaney, who supervised all seven clergymen and appeared in the documents to have been motivated at times by fear of bad publicity.
"There is no way that – that I can defend myself before God or before the people of the diocese or before the world if ... [a reporter for The Dallas Morning News], for instance, tomorrow morning, published all of this," Bishop Delaney told Father Magaldi during one confrontation over an abuse complaint, according to the records. "There would be no defense."
FORT WORTH (TX)
The Dallas Morning News
12:00 AM CST on Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Here are details from church files unsealed Tuesday about seven priests accused of sexual abuse or inappropriate touching. All the records deal with complaints made to church officials during the tenure of Bishop Joseph Delaney, who died last year. There is no sign that police were notified about any of the priests. To read more of the court documents, go to DallasNews.com.
The Rev. Philip Magaldi
Initial allegation: He offered dinner and drinks to an 18-year-old who came to him for confession in 1995, hugged him, groped his buttocks, kissed him and paid him to administer enemas.
Where he worked then: St. John the Apostle, North Richland Hills
When reported: 1997
Priest's response then: Father Magaldi denied abusing the young man but admitted paying for the enemas, saying he needed help with a medical condition.
Diocesan response: Church investigators found the priest "guilty of sexual exploitation" and recommended that he be ordered to do volunteer work. Bishop Delaney left him at St. John and barred him from supervising altar boys – but, as previously reported, let him continue as chaplain of the diocesan Boy Scouts program.
What happened next: In 1998, a Massachusetts man said that Father Magaldi, while a priest in Rhode Island in the 1970s, had abused him for years, sometimes with enemas. The priest denied ever meeting the accuser. Bishop Delaney told the priest he had to remove him from ministry while investigating. But Father Magaldi kept working until 1999, when the Massachusetts man threatened to sue. After a suspension and the death of the accuser, he returned to part-time ministry. The priest was accused of misconduct with boys at his new job and removed again.
The priest today: He was allowed to continue his ministry at a retirement home until August 2006, when new Bishop Kevin Vann revoked all his priestly powers. Father Magaldi said Tuesday that he has defied the bishop's orders and remains in ministry at the home.
CANADA
CBC News
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 | 12:29 PM ET
CBC News
A Catholic priest accused of child sexual abuse will have his identity kept private at the Cornwall public inquiry, the commissioner has ruled — but only until Thursday at 5 p.m. unless a court decides otherwise.
The inquiry is looking into the way public and private institutions in Cornwall responded to scores of allegations of child sexual abuse made against prominent people in the eastern Ontario community over several decades.
Commissioner Normand Glaude dismissed a request Monday from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cornwall-Alexandria to put a publication ban on the priest's identity, but has given lawyers time to appeal.
Glaude did put a temporary ban in place while the diocese seeks a review of the ruling in the Ontario court of justice.
Until Thursday evening, the media cannot publish anything that might identify the priest and a live internet broadcast of the proceedings will be suspended while witnesses testify about him.
FORT WORTH (TX)
The Dallas Morning News
01:50 PM CST on Tuesday, November 28, 2006
By BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
A judge on Tuesday unsealed more than 700 pages of church records that show how Fort Worth Catholic Diocese leaders helped priests accused of sexual abuse stay in ministry.
The records cover seven clergymen who served under Bishop Joseph Delaney, who died last year. His successor, Bishop Kevin Vann, has said he hopes the records’ release “will mark the beginning of a new era for the Diocese of Fort Worth and for our larger community.”
“It is extremely distressing and painful to have read these files,” Bishop Vann said this summer. “I find it all the more painful because I grew up surrounded by great examples of what the priesthood should be.”
The events that led to the records’ release began in 2003, when two Texas men filed a lawsuit alleging that an eighth priest had sexually abused them when they were boys. They accused diocese officials of covering up the Rev. Thomas Teczar’s prior misconduct in Massachusetts as part of a broader pattern of concealing clergy abuse.
Tarrant County state District Judge Len Wade oversaw the Teczar litigation and ordered the diocese to give the men records on other priests who had been accused of abuse. But the judge, at the diocese’s request, sealed the records from the public and barred the accusers from discussing them publicly.
CANADA
Ottawa Sun
Tue, November 28, 2006
By Canadian Press
CORNWALL — Another priest has lost his battle to keep his identity secret at a public inquiry probing the institutional response to allegations of child sexual abuse here.
Commissioner Normand Glaude dismissed a motion by the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese seeking a publication ban on the identity of a priest expected to be mentioned during the course of testimony at the hearings this week.
Following the ruling, lawyers for the diocese said they will seek a judicial review of the decision, so Glaude has put in place an interim publication ban on the priests' identity until Thursday at 5 p.m. The diocese has until then to seek a stay of the ruling while it waits for the Ontario Divisional Court to review the decision.
The interim ban prevents the media from reporting the priests name or any identifying factors related to him.
MADISON (WI)
Star Tribune
Associated Press
Last update: November 28, 2006 – 9:48 AM
MADISON, Wis.— Five men sexually abused by a Catholic school teacher in Kentucky cannot sue two Roman Catholic dioceses in Wisconsin for allegedly covering up the man's abuse of dozens of children in the 1960s, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The District 1 Court of Appeals said the lawsuit by the men — Kenneth Hornback of Harrison County, Ind., and Dennis L. Bolton, Ronald W. Kuhl, David W. Schaeffer and Glenn M. Bonn, all of Louisville — is barred by the statute of limitations.
The five men were among 243 plaintiffs compensated under a $25.7 million church abuse settlement with the Archdiocese of Louisville. They were all under age 15 when they were sexually abused by Gary Kazmarek, a Catholic school teacher and coach in Louisville, between 1968 and 1973.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram
By DARREN BARBEE
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH -- Secret files that detail sexual-abuse allegations against several Fort Worth Roman Catholic priests -- and that some say offer evidence that church leaders failed to act -- were released this morning, ending months of legal wrangling.
The files comprise about 700 pages. They were sought by some of the priests' accusers as well as the Star-Telegram and The Dallas Morning News.
The documents apparently cover allegations made since the diocese was founded in 1969 through the early 2000s.
The files contain information about the clergymen Philip Magaldi, James Reilly, William Hoover, Rudolf Renteria, James Hanlon, John Howlett and Joseph Tu Ngoc Nguyen.
HUDSON (MA)
CBS 4
(CBS4) BRIGHTON An allegation of sexual abuse of a minor has prompted the Archdiocese of Boston to place a vicar at a Hudson parish on administrative leave.
The archdiocese released a statement which said Rev. Steven Poitras, who serves at St. Michael's Parish, is accused of sexually abusing a minor in 1994.
Attorney General Tom Reilly and the Essex County District Attorney's office have been notified about the incident, and according to the archdiocese, a preliminary investigation into the allegation has been initiated.
"The decision to place Father Poitras on administrative leave does not represent a determination of his guilt or innocence as it pertains to this allegation," the archdiocese said in a written statement.
ROSS (CA)
Marin Independent Journal
Nancy Isles Nation
Article Launched:11/28/2006 01:33:35 AM PST
A priest who was on leave from a Ross church while under investigation for sexual abuse allegations will return to his assignment next month for the Christmas season.
The Rev. John Schwartz had been in residence at St. Anselm's Church on Shady Lane until last October, when a civil lawsuit in Oregon seeking $4 million named him as an abuser.
Schwartz was on vacation when the news of the lawsuit became public, and he took a voluntary leave after the Archdiocese of San Francisco said it would conduct an independent investigation of the allegations.
Parishioners at St. Anselm's were told on Sunday that the accusations were not credible and that Schwartz would return to the church. He is expected to be assigned to another parish after the holidays.
HUDSON (MA)
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
The Associated Press
BOSTON— A priest at a Hudson church has been placed on leave by the Roman Catholic Boston Archdiocese pending an investigation into an allegation that he sexually abused a child in 1994, church officials said.
Parishioners at St. Michael Parish were notified at Masses last weekend that their associate pastor, the Rev. Steven Poitras, had been suspended.
The state attorney general's office and the Essex district attorney's office have been notified and the archdiocese is conducting an internal investigation, church officials said in a statement.
"The decision to place Father Poitras on administrative leave does not represent a determination of his guilt or innocence," the archdiocese said.
The archdiocese did not elaborate on the details of the alleged abuse.
CALIFORNIA
Index-Tribune
By David Bolling INDEX-TRIBUNE NEWS EDITOR
11.28.06 - Xavier Ochoa, the fugitive Sonoma priest charged with multiple counts of child sex abuse, remains at large as Sonoma County sheriff's detectives continue efforts to secure his extradition and arrest. Local and federal law enforcement authorities believe he is somewhere in his native Mexico.
Sheriff's Det. Greg Miller said Monday that efforts to locate and arrest Ochoa are ongoing, but there is no new definitive information on his location, and attempts to secure permission from the Mexican government for the priest's extradition have been going slowly.
MIAMI (FL)
Herald-Tribune
BY KELLI KENNEDY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
MIAMI -- A woman who claims a priest forced her to have sex, got her pregnant and then encouraged her to have an abortion, sued the Archdiocese of Miami Monday for negligence and vicarious liability.
The woman, identified as Jane Doe No. 30, is a Haitian immigrant who came to the United States to attend nursing school. She attended St. Vincent De Paul Church, where she received spiritual counseling from Father Marc Presume in 2005. The woman, who is in her early 20s, also received financial aid from the archdiocese to pay for her schooling, the lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court said.
She resisted sexual advances made by Presume, but he told her if she refused to have sex, the church would stop her financial assistance, the lawsuit said.
She had sex with him on several occasions and became pregnant. Presume told her to have an abortion, but she refused and gave birth to a boy, the lawsuit alleges.
WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic Online
11/27/2006
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Bishop Daniel F. Walsh of Santa Rosa, Calif., agreed Nov. 20 to enroll in a diversion counseling program in lieu of facing possible criminal charges for his delay in reporting allegations that one of his priests sexually abused a minor.
Bishop Walsh publicly apologized for failing to report the alleged abuse to authorities immediately and said he would accept "whatever punishment is imposed."
In other recent developments concerning clergy sex abuse:
- Ohio's nine dioceses have joined to set up a $3 million fund for independent counseling for victims of childhood abuse at the hands of Ohio church personnel.
- The Diocese of Pittsburgh, Pa., announced a new spiritual outreach program for abuse victims.
LOUISIANA
The Times-Picayune
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
By Bruce Nolan
A Delaware Catholic bishop recently disclosed to his flock that a priest who served in several parishes around New Orleans in the 1980s and '90s was suspended on grounds that he sexually abused a minor more than 26 years ago.
The Rev. Paul Calamari had left New Orleans in 1997 and was living under the jurisdiction of Bishop Michael Saltarelli of the Diocese of Wilmington in 2003 when his privilege to say Mass and perform other priestly duties was lifted, Saltarelli reported in his diocesan newspaper on Nov. 17.
Calamari was among 20 priests the Wilmington diocese removed from ministry between 1985 and 2003 on "admitted, corroborated, or otherwise substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors," Saltarelli said.
Calamari was ordained in New Orleans and served at St. Raphael, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary and Our Lady of Perpetual Help parishes, said the Rev. William Maestri of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Calamari was also the archdiocese's director of religious education for a time, Maestri said.
Calamari left New Orleans on medical leave for treatment at St. John Vianney Center in Downingtown, Pa., a psychiatric center for priests and other church ministers, Maestri said.
TUCSON (AZ)
Tucson Citizen
By Anne T. Denogean
Tucson Citizen
Bishop Manuel Moreno will be laid to rest today. But the conflicted feelings about a good and decent man who failed to protect his flock will linger.
Under Moreno, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson was shaken to its core by a sex abuse scandal that he could have done much more to prevent.
"I don't think that I've forgiven him," said Tucsonan Michael Moylan, who settled with the diocese last year over accusations that he was molested at age 16 by a local priest.
Moreno "didn't molest me, but he made it so that I could be molested because he hid the fact of what he knew," said Moylan, 36. "He knew Father Kevin was a child molester, and he let him come in."
Moreno allowed Kevin Barmasse to come to the Tucson diocese in 1983 after the priest was accused of molesting a boy in Lakewood, Calif. Barmasse, who has returned to California, has never been convicted of a crime.
TUCSON (AZ)
Tucson Citizen
By BLAKE MORLOCK
Tucson Citizen
Bishop Manuel D. Moreno's death still hasn't sunk in for Troy Gray, who settled a lawsuit in 2005 with the Diocese of Tucson over sexual abuse allegations.
Moreno knew Gray's family and his picture is in photos taken during Gray's confirmation.
Moreno allowed the Rev. Kevin Barmasse into the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson despite allegations of predatory behavior against the priest from southern California, and Barmasse molested Gray as a boy, Gray's lawsuit alleged.
Moreno's death left Gray conflicted.
HUDSON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Charles A. Radin, Globe Staff | November 28, 2006
The Rev. Steven Poitras, associate pastor of St. Michael Parish in Hudson, has been placed on administrative leave pending investigation of an allegation that he sexually abused a child in 1994, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston announced yesterday.
The Massachusetts attorney general's office and the Essex district attorney's office have been notified of the accusation, the archdiocese said in a statement; an internal investigation has also been launched. "The decision to place Father Poitras on administrative leave does not represent a determination of his guilt or innocence," the archdiocese said.
Kelly Lynch of the archdiocese's public relations firm, said parishioners were notified by the parish priest at Masses last weekend that Poitras was being put on leave because of an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.
She would not provide specifics of the alleged abuse, citing "the confidential nature of the investigation."
CHICAGO (IL)
Daily Herald
BY SHEILA AHERN
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Monday, November 27, 2006
The longtime pastor of the Misión San Juan Diego church in Arlington Heights has resigned while the Archdiocese of Chicago continues to investigate an alleged sexual assault that took place in the church's rectory.
The Rev. Moises Marin resigned and a few weeks ago a new priest took over his duties, said Susan Burritt, director of media relations for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
"(Marin) voluntarily resigned," Burritt said. "He is still a priest of the archdiocese, but currently he does not have an assignment."
A 26-year-old Palatine man alleges he was sexually assaulted by the Rev. Juan Sanchez-Espinoza on Aug. 5 at the parish's rectory, which is located in Palatine. Sanchez-Espinoza was living at the San Juan Diego rectory at the time, but he was not assigned to the parish, Burritt said.